Chinese <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-xi-meeting-in-iowa-would-be-poignant-reminder-of-better-us-china-ties-260213">President Xi Jinping</a> on Monday holds talks in Greece, where he is eagerly awaited by the new pro-business government.

Xi touched down in Athens on Sunday at the start of a three-day visit aimed at deepening cooperation with Greece across the board.

"It is our duty to steadily upgrade our cooperation in all sectors, by delving deeply into existing fields and expanding the range of investments", the Chinese president said in an article published in "Kathimerini" newspaper on Sunday.

Xi is due to meet Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during the trip, with the two countries set to sign cooperation documents on education, shipping and energy.

According to the Chinese foreign ministry, the visit to Athens will have "historical significance" for the development of China-Greece relations, and will also "inject new impetus" into the development of China-EU relations and Beijing's "Belt and Road" initiative.

Greece is one of the backers of the plan for a massive network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks spanning Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe that will see trillions invested in new infrastructure across 126 countries.&nbsp;

"Relations with Greece are a priority for China," Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias told Thema radio on Thursday.

"They came and invested in Greece when others stayed away" during the economic crisis, Dendias said.

Xi's visit comes on the heels of a four-day trip to Shanghai by Greece's new conservative Prime Minister Mitsotakis earlier this week at the head of a delegation of more than 60 businessmen.

Elected in July, Mitsotakis has made foreign investment and privatisation a linchpin of his administration's policy to restore Greece's sluggish economy to growth after a gruelling 10-year crisis.

"I want the first words by Greek authorities to those who come to invest to be 'how can I help you?'" said Mitsotakis, who plans to visit China again in April.

Greece has been building progressively closer trade&nbsp;relations with China for more than a decade, spearheaded by a 2008 deal by a previous conservative government to cede container terminals at the main port of Piraeus to Chinese shipping giant Cosco.

Cosco has already invested some 600 million euros ($660 million) in Piraeus, creating 3,000 jobs, and its overall footprint could reach one billion euros, Mitsotakis said during his Shanghai visit.

According to the Greek government, Greek shipowners have also built more than 1,000 vessels worth over $50 billion (45 billion euros) in China in the past 15 years.

Greece expects 500,000 Chinese visitors over the next two years, compared to under 200,000 in 2019, Mitsotakis said during his trip.

Over 5,000 Chinese have purchased property in Greece, taking advantage of a five-year 'Golden Visa' residency programme launched in 2013.

Cosco in 2008 acquired Piraeus' two main container terminals on a 35-year lease. In 2016 it also took over the Piraeus port authority,&nbsp;and the third remaining container terminal,&nbsp;until 2052.&nbsp;

Greece has also signed up to China's new "Belt and Road" project, a $1 trillion global investment programme aiming to forward Chinese goods to markets further afield.

The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/brics-can-set-example-for-the-rest-of-the-world-brazilian-envoy-260567">BRICS summit</a> takes place in Brasilia from November 13 to 14.

Xi will attend the closing ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum, the closed-door meeting of leaders from hosts Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa, as well as a public meeting, and issue a joint declaration.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday holds talks in Greece, where he is eagerly awaited by the new pro-business government. Xi touched down in Athens on Sunday at the start of a three-day visit aimed at deepening cooperation with Greece across the board.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday holds talks in Greece, where he is eagerly awaited by the new pro-business government. Xi touched down in Athens on Sunday at the start of a three-day visit aimed at deepening cooperation with Greece across the board. "It is our duty to steadily upgrade our cooperation in all sectors, by delving deeply into existing fields and expanding the range of investments", the Chinese president said in an article published in "Kathimerini" newspaper on Sunday. Xi is due to meet Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during the trip, with the two countries set to sign cooperation documents on education, shipping and energy. According to the Chinese foreign ministry, the visit to Athens will have "historical significance" for the development of China-Greece relations, and will also "inject new impetus" into the development of China-EU relations and Beijing's "Belt and Road" initiative. Greece is one of the backers of the plan for a massive network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks spanning Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe that will see trillions invested in new infrastructure across 126 countries. "Relations with Greece are a priority for China," Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias told Thema radio on Thursday. "They came and invested in Greece when others stayed away" during the economic crisis, Dendias said. Xi's visit comes on the heels of a four-day trip to Shanghai by Greece's new conservative Prime Minister Mitsotakis earlier this week at the head of a delegation of more than 60 businessmen. Elected in July, Mitsotakis has made foreign investment and privatisation a linchpin of his administration's policy to restore Greece's sluggish economy to growth after a gruelling 10-year crisis. "I want the first words by Greek authorities to those who come to invest to be 'how can I help you?'" said Mitsotakis, who plans to visit China again in April. Greece has been building progressively closer trade relations with China for more than a decade, spearheaded by a 2008 deal by a previous conservative government to cede container terminals at the main port of Piraeus to Chinese shipping giant Cosco. Cosco has already invested some 600 million euros ($660 million) in Piraeus, creating 3,000 jobs, and its overall footprint could reach one billion euros, Mitsotakis said during his Shanghai visit. According to the Greek government, Greek shipowners have also built more than 1,000 vessels worth over $50 billion (45 billion euros) in China in the past 15 years. Greece expects 500,000 Chinese visitors over the next two years, compared to under 200,000 in 2019, Mitsotakis said during his trip. Over 5,000 Chinese have purchased property in Greece, taking advantage of a five-year 'Golden Visa' residency programme launched in 2013. Cosco in 2008 acquired Piraeus' two main container terminals on a 35-year lease. In 2016 it also took over the Piraeus port authority, and the third remaining container terminal, until 2052. Greece has also signed up to China's new "Belt and Road" project, a $1 trillion global investment programme aiming to forward Chinese goods to markets further afield. The BRICS summit takes place in Brasilia from November 13 to 14. Xi will attend the closing ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum, the closed-door meeting of leaders from hosts Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa, as well as a public meeting, and issue a joint declaration.

President Xi to hold talks in Greece en route to BRICS summit

Timeline: China's military drones make it a mobile warfare specialist

China is encroaching into Nepal's land through an ongoing road expansion project in Tibet, Nepal's Survey Department has said.

Nepali news portal Khabarhub cited a detailed report issued by the department which said that around 36 hectors of land in four different districts, including Sankhuwasabha, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchowk and Humla, which touch the Chinese border.

A data revealed that around six hectors of land in the Bhagdare River in the Humla district and four hectors of land in Karnali district have been encroached upon that now falls in Tibet's Furang area.

Similarly, around six hectares of Nepali land in Sanjen River and Jambhu Khola of Rasuwa, have also fallen into Kerung in southern Tibet.

China has also encroached more than 10 hectares of land in Sindhupalchowk district's Bhotekoshi and Kharanekhola areas those are now under Nyalam area of Tibet, the report said.

In Sankhuwasabha, nine hectors of land have been encroached due to the road expansion in the autonomous region of Tibet where areas around Kamukhola, Arun River and Sumjung River now has fallen into Tingisyan County area.

With this, the survey data further divulged that some places near the Arun Khola, Kamu Khola and Sumjung now also fallen into Tibet's Tingisyan area. 
According to the ministry's data, Nepal would lose several hundred hectares of land.

The survey was released following a tense situation between India and Nepal over a new map showing Kalapani in Uttarakhand.

However, after a strong objection by the Nepali government, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that the new political map released by India after bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir accurately depicts its sovereign territory and did not revise its <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/jammu-and-kashmir-thousands-of-bunkers-being-constructed-for-safety-of-citizens-in-villages-near-line-of-control-259832">boundary with Nepal </a>in any manner.

Responding to a question on the same, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the boundary delineation with Nepal is ongoing under the existing mechanism and New Delhi is committed to finding a solution on the matter through dialogue in the spirit of the close and friendly bilateral relations between the two countries.

"Our map accurately depicts the sovereign territory of India. The new map has, in no manner, revised our boundary with Nepal. The boundary delineation exercise with Nepal is ongoing under the existing mechanism. We reiterate our commitment to find a solution through dialogue in the spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relation," he said.&nbsp;

China is encroaching into Nepal's land through an ongoing road expansion project in Tibet, Nepal's Survey Department has said. Nepali news portal Khabarhub cited a detailed report issued by the department which said that around 36 hectors of land in four different districts, including Sankhuwasabha, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchowk and Humla, which touch the Chinese border.

China is encroaching into Nepal's land through an ongoing road expansion project in Tibet, Nepal's Survey Department has said. Nepali news portal Khabarhub cited a detailed report issued by the department which said that around 36 hectors of land in four different districts, including Sankhuwasabha, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchowk and Humla, which touch the Chinese border. A data revealed that around six hectors of land in the Bhagdare River in the Humla district and four hectors of land in Karnali district have been encroached upon that now falls in Tibet's Furang area. Similarly, around six hectares of Nepali land in Sanjen River and Jambhu Khola of Rasuwa, have also fallen into Kerung in southern Tibet. China has also encroached more than 10 hectares of land in Sindhupalchowk district's Bhotekoshi and Kharanekhola areas those are now under Nyalam area of Tibet, the report said. In Sankhuwasabha, nine hectors of land have been encroached due to the road expansion in the autonomous region of Tibet where areas around Kamukhola, Arun River and Sumjung River now has fallen into Tingisyan County area. With this, the survey data further divulged that some places near the Arun Khola, Kamu Khola and Sumjung now also fallen into Tibet's Tingisyan area. According to the ministry's data, Nepal would lose several hundred hectares of land. The survey was released following a tense situation between India and Nepal over a new map showing Kalapani in Uttarakhand. However, after a strong objection by the Nepali government, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that the new political map released by India after bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir accurately depicts its sovereign territory and did not revise its boundary with Nepal in any manner. Responding to a question on the same, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the boundary delineation with Nepal is ongoing under the existing mechanism and New Delhi is committed to finding a solution on the matter through dialogue in the spirit of the close and friendly bilateral relations between the two countries. "Our map accurately depicts the sovereign territory of India. The new map has, in no manner, revised our boundary with Nepal. The boundary delineation exercise with Nepal is ongoing under the existing mechanism. We reiterate our commitment to find a solution through dialogue in the spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relation," he said.

Survey shows China encroaching Nepal's land

French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday issued a joint statement reaffirming their strong support for the "irreversible" Paris Agreement on climate change, from which the US&nbsp;announced its exit this week.

The two countries "reaffirm their strong support for the Paris Agreement, which they consider an irreversible process and a compass for strong action on the climate," the statement said.

The Trump administration has already <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-administration-begins-formal-exit-from-paris-climate-pact-259963">filed paperwork to withdraw</a> the United States from the Paris Agreement on combating climate change.

The US&nbsp;move is the first formal step in a one-year process to exit the global pact, part of a broader strategy by President Donald Trump to reduce regulation of American industry.

But scientists and many world governments are <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/11000-scientists-caution-against-climate-emergency-warn-of-unavoidable-human-suffering-260246">urging rapid action</a> to combat the worst effects of climate change.

The vast majority of national commitments made in the 2015 Paris Agreement are not enough to prevent serious harm from global warming, scientists said in a new research report issued Tuesday.

China and France pledged at this year's G20 summit to "update" their contributions against climate change beyond their current ones to reflect "their highest possible ambition."

The 2015 Paris climate agreement encourages countries to make stronger pledges if they can.

Macron is travelling with a business delegation of 30 companies.

The French president is visiting China for the second time since he took office. During his last trip last year, he said Beijing's flagship "Belt and Road" project to develop global trade infrastructure should not be "one-way."

French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday issued a joint statement reaffirming their strong support for the "irreversible" Paris Agreement on climate change, from which the US announced its exit this week.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday issued a joint statement reaffirming their strong support for the "irreversible" Paris Agreement on climate change, from which the US announced its exit this week. The two countries "reaffirm their strong support for the Paris Agreement, which they consider an irreversible process and a compass for strong action on the climate," the statement said. The Trump administration has already filed paperwork to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on combating climate change. The US move is the first formal step in a one-year process to exit the global pact, part of a broader strategy by President Donald Trump to reduce regulation of American industry. But scientists and many world governments are urging rapid action to combat the worst effects of climate change. The vast majority of national commitments made in the 2015 Paris Agreement are not enough to prevent serious harm from global warming, scientists said in a new research report issued Tuesday. China and France pledged at this year's G20 summit to "update" their contributions against climate change beyond their current ones to reflect "their highest possible ambition." The 2015 Paris climate agreement encourages countries to make stronger pledges if they can. Macron is travelling with a business delegation of 30 companies. The French president is visiting China for the second time since he took office. During his last trip last year, he said Beijing's flagship "Belt and Road" project to develop global trade infrastructure should not be "one-way."

China and France reaffirm support of Paris climate agreement, call it 'irreversible'

China will closely monitor the US&nbsp;"entity list", which has led to sanctions on a few Chinese tech firms, and take measures to safeguard its rights and interests, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said.

Firms on the US&nbsp;"entity list" are barred from buying US&nbsp;parts and components without US&nbsp;government approval.

Huang Libin, a spokesman for the MIIT, said on Tuesday that China will not close its doors and blindly rely on Chinese-made technology, and it will further open up the telecommunications, internet and auto sectors to foreign investment.

"We will look at the trade friction between China and the United States with an open mind and a big heart," he told reporters during a briefing.

"We will not blindly emphasize 'self-reliance', and not decouple from the development of international industries."

China will closely monitor the US "entity list", which has led to sanctions on a few Chinese tech firms, and take measures to safeguard its rights and interests, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said.

China will closely monitor the US "entity list", which has led to sanctions on a few Chinese tech firms, and take measures to safeguard its rights and interests, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said. Firms on the US "entity list" are barred from buying US parts and components without US government approval. Huang Libin, a spokesman for the MIIT, said on Tuesday that China will not close its doors and blindly rely on Chinese-made technology, and it will further open up the telecommunications, internet and auto sectors to foreign investment. "We will look at the trade friction between China and the United States with an open mind and a big heart," he told reporters during a briefing. "We will not blindly emphasize 'self-reliance', and not decouple from the development of international industries."

China will monitor US entities list, further open to foreign investment

A widely downloaded Chinese propaganda app that quizzes users on Communist Party heroes and military achievements may be "studying them right back" through data collection and potential security breaches, an internet freedom campaign group says.

The app - called "Xuexi Qiangguo" or "Study to make China strong" - has accumulated 130 million users since its launch by the Communist Party's propaganda arm in January, according to state media in August.

Marketed as an education tool, it awards points for sharing articles and watching videos such as speeches by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

But the Open Technology Fund (OTF) - a US government-funded group that campaigns for internet freedom, says users also provide a plethora of data to the app, including location and emails.

OTF contracted the independent German tech firm Cure53 to study the app.

While the Communist Party advertises it as "a way for citizens to prove their loyalty and study their country, the app's maintainers are studying them right back", OTF wrote on its website.

The app's terms and conditions also say users may have to hand over more personal information, such as fingerprints and ID numbers, depending on the features or third-party tools they want to access.

The Chinese government has come under increasing scrutiny for high-tech surveillance, from facial recognition-enabled security cameras to apps used by police to extract personal information from smartphones at checkpoints.

And though "Study to make China strong" is an education app, Cure53 said it contains code that could run "arbitrary commands", reminiscent of a backdoor, on certain phones.

The app "maintains a level of access that no app would normally have over a user's device", said OTF.

The investigation, which was conducted in August, only looked at the Android version of the app, partly because of its market dominance, said Sarah Aoun, the group's director of technology.

OTF is considering tackling the iOS version next, Aoun told AFP.

"This is just another way of expanding that digital control through a very intrusive app that is being pushed onto its citizens," said Aoun.

The Communist Party's propaganda arm, which is responsible for the app, did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

Dozens of provincial and county governments across the country reportedly held workshops to promote the app earlier this year.

Chinese journalists will also have to use the app for online press accreditation exams later this month and November, said a notice last week from the State Council, China's cabinet.

"It is unusual to see so much data gathered for an education app," said Jane Manchun Wong, who reverse-engineers apps for security vulnerabilities and unreleased features.

"It's like reading a book about the great nation but the book somehow searches your home," she told AFP.

The app also scans for 960 applications, including gaming, travel and chat apps, appearing as if "attempting to find which popular apps are installed on the phone", said Cure53's report.

A spokesperson at DingTalk, an enterprise chat platform that was used to build the app, told AFP that it had "no 'backdoor code' or scanning issues".

But OTF said users' data and their phones could be further jeopardised if the code that "amounts to a backdoor" runs successfully.

Currently, this code only affects phones where users have installed software that gives them "superuser" privileges, such as the ability to modify the device's code.

But apps can also abuse this level of privilege to take over a user's device.

"The code they found is creepy", Baptiste Robert, a French security researcher, told AFP -- but cautioned against the use of the word backdoor.

The investigation also found "no evidence" that the code was used during testing, with Cure53 concluding that "further investigation" was needed to determine how it was used.

The code "can raise suspicion," Robert said, but to conclude that there is "vast espionage from China is complicated".

A widely downloaded Chinese propaganda app that quizzes users on Communist Party heroes and military achievements may be "studying them right back" through data collection and potential security breaches, an internet freedom campaign group says.

A widely downloaded Chinese propaganda app that quizzes users on Communist Party heroes and military achievements may be "studying them right back" through data collection and potential security breaches, an internet freedom campaign group says. The app - called "Xuexi Qiangguo" or "Study to make China strong" - has accumulated 130 million users since its launch by the Communist Party's propaganda arm in January, according to state media in August. Marketed as an education tool, it awards points for sharing articles and watching videos such as speeches by Chinese President Xi Jinping. But the Open Technology Fund (OTF) - a US government-funded group that campaigns for internet freedom, says users also provide a plethora of data to the app, including location and emails. OTF contracted the independent German tech firm Cure53 to study the app. While the Communist Party advertises it as "a way for citizens to prove their loyalty and study their country, the app's maintainers are studying them right back", OTF wrote on its website. The app's terms and conditions also say users may have to hand over more personal information, such as fingerprints and ID numbers, depending on the features or third-party tools they want to access. The Chinese government has come under increasing scrutiny for high-tech surveillance, from facial recognition-enabled security cameras to apps used by police to extract personal information from smartphones at checkpoints. And though "Study to make China strong" is an education app, Cure53 said it contains code that could run "arbitrary commands", reminiscent of a backdoor, on certain phones. The app "maintains a level of access that no app would normally have over a user's device", said OTF. The investigation, which was conducted in August, only looked at the Android version of the app, partly because of its market dominance, said Sarah Aoun, the group's director of technology. OTF is considering tackling the iOS version next, Aoun told AFP. "This is just another way of expanding that digital control through a very intrusive app that is being pushed onto its citizens," said Aoun. The Communist Party's propaganda arm, which is responsible for the app, did not respond to AFP's request for comment. Dozens of provincial and county governments across the country reportedly held workshops to promote the app earlier this year. Chinese journalists will also have to use the app for online press accreditation exams later this month and November, said a notice last week from the State Council, China's cabinet. "It is unusual to see so much data gathered for an education app," said Jane Manchun Wong, who reverse-engineers apps for security vulnerabilities and unreleased features. "It's like reading a book about the great nation but the book somehow searches your home," she told AFP. The app also scans for 960 applications, including gaming, travel and chat apps, appearing as if "attempting to find which popular apps are installed on the phone", said Cure53's report. A spokesperson at DingTalk, an enterprise chat platform that was used to build the app, told AFP that it had "no 'backdoor code' or scanning issues". But OTF said users' data and their phones could be further jeopardised if the code that "amounts to a backdoor" runs successfully. Currently, this code only affects phones where users have installed software that gives them "superuser" privileges, such as the ability to modify the device's code. But apps can also abuse this level of privilege to take over a user's device. "The code they found is creepy", Baptiste Robert, a French security researcher, told AFP -- but cautioned against the use of the word backdoor. The investigation also found "no evidence" that the code was used during testing, with Cure53 concluding that "further investigation" was needed to determine how it was used. The code "can raise suspicion," Robert said, but to conclude that there is "vast espionage from China is complicated".

China propaganda app fraught with security concerns: Report

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/nepal-china-ink-18-agreements-two-letters-of-understanding-255661">China and Nepal hailed the "beginning of a new era" in relations</a> Sunday as President Xi Jinping ended his visit with promises of a railway and tunnel connecting the two countries.

Xi, in the first state visit by a Chinese leader in 23 years -&nbsp;announced $493 million&nbsp;of aid between 2020-2022 "to uplift the living standard of Nepali people" during talks with President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, an official said.

Kathmandu has also sought closer ties and much-needed energy and infrastructure investments from Beijing.

In a joint statement, the two countries said Xi's visit "marked the beginning of a new era in Nepal-China relations and served as an important milestone in the history of friendly cooperation".

During the visit, Nepali and Chinese officials signed&nbsp;at least 15 agreements, including a feasibility study for a cross-border railway project that would give Beijing access to the south through Nepal's open border with India.

"We will develop a multi-dimensional trans-Himalayan connectivity network and help Nepal to realise its dream to transform itself from a landlocked country to land-linked country," Xi said in his address during a banquet on Saturday evening.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/china-to-carry-out-feasibility-study-on-trans-border-railways-linking-nepal-xi-255565">They also undertook to carry out another feasibility study to construct a tunnel from China's Kerung to Kathmandu</a> and to repair existing highways, as well as to strengthen hydropower, security, trade and education links.

Prime Minister KP&nbsp;Sharma Oli's foreign affairs adviser Rajan Bhattarai said Xi showed "China is ready to help Nepal with [an]&nbsp;open heart on its goal of development and prosperity, [helping with]&nbsp;infrastructure development and enhancing connectivity".

Nepali Times editor Kunda Dixit said the key test would be if China's deals help boost the impoverished nation's economy.

"The big test of whether or not Xi's visit will benefit Nepal is if these infrastructure projects will help Nepal become more self-reliant and use access to China to sell our goods, not increase our dependence," he told AFP.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/nepal-eyes-railway-deal-with-china-during-xi-visit-255507">China has intensified its presence in Nepal in recent years</a>, pumping millions of dollars into projects ranging from roads to hydropower plants.

In 2017, Nepal signed up to China's Belt and Road initiative, a vast global infrastructure programme, which includes the building or upgrading of highways and airports in the country.

China and Nepal hailed the "beginning of a new era" in relations Sunday as President Xi Jinping ended his visit with promises of a railway and tunnel connecting the two countries.

China and Nepal hailed the "beginning of a new era" in relations Sunday as President Xi Jinping ended his visit with promises of a railway and tunnel connecting the two countries. Xi, in the first state visit by a Chinese leader in 23 years - announced $493 million of aid between 2020-2022 "to uplift the living standard of Nepali people" during talks with President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, an official said. Kathmandu has also sought closer ties and much-needed energy and infrastructure investments from Beijing. In a joint statement, the two countries said Xi's visit "marked the beginning of a new era in Nepal-China relations and served as an important milestone in the history of friendly cooperation". During the visit, Nepali and Chinese officials signed at least 15 agreements, including a feasibility study for a cross-border railway project that would give Beijing access to the south through Nepal's open border with India. "We will develop a multi-dimensional trans-Himalayan connectivity network and help Nepal to realise its dream to transform itself from a landlocked country to land-linked country," Xi said in his address during a banquet on Saturday evening. They also undertook to carry out another feasibility study to construct a tunnel from China's Kerung to Kathmandu and to repair existing highways, as well as to strengthen hydropower, security, trade and education links. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's foreign affairs adviser Rajan Bhattarai said Xi showed "China is ready to help Nepal with [an] open heart on its goal of development and prosperity, [helping with] infrastructure development and enhancing connectivity". Nepali Times editor Kunda Dixit said the key test would be if China's deals help boost the impoverished nation's economy. "The big test of whether or not Xi's visit will benefit Nepal is if these infrastructure projects will help Nepal become more self-reliant and use access to China to sell our goods, not increase our dependence," he told AFP. China has intensified its presence in Nepal in recent years, pumping millions of dollars into projects ranging from roads to hydropower plants. In 2017, Nepal signed up to China's Belt and Road initiative, a vast global infrastructure programme, which includes the building or upgrading of highways and airports in the country.

China's Xi promises aid, development in Nepal visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), on Sunday, exchanged congratulations on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic ties.

In his congratulatory message, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said that on behalf of the CPC, the Chinese government and the Chinese people, he extends warm congratulations to Kim, and via Kim to the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the DPRK government and the DPRK people.

The establishment of China-DPRK diplomatic ties 70 years ago bore epoch-making significance in the history of the two parties' and the two countries' relations, Xi said.

Noting that the DPRK is among the first countries to establish diplomatic ties with China, Xi said that over the past 70 years, under the care and joint efforts of successive leaders of the two parties and two countries, the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK has stood the test of time and changes in the international landscape, grown stronger with the lapse of time, and taken roots in the hearts of the two peoples.

The two countries, added Xi, have reaped plentiful fruits in bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields, which has not only greatly promoted the prosperity and progress of their respective socialist causes, but also played a significant and positive role in maintaining regional peace and stability.

Xi pointed out that the traditional bilateral friendship is a priceless treasure shared by the two parties, two countries and two peoples, and that to maintain, cement and develop bilateral relations is an unshakable policy of the CPC and the Chinese government.

Reaffirming that he highly values the development of China-DPRK relations as well as the mutual trust and friendship with Kim, Xi noted that since last year he and Kim have met five times and reached a series of consensuses, jointly ushering bilateral ties into a new era.

China, he added, stands ready to work with the DPRK to take the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations as an opportunity and promote a long-term, healthy and stable development of bilateral ties, so as to create more benefits for both countries and both peoples.

In his message, Kim said that on behalf of the WPK, the DPRK government and the DPRK people, he extends the warmest congratulations and the sincerest wishes to Xi, and via Xi to the CPC, the Chinese government and the Chinese people.

Hailing the establishment of DPRK-China diplomatic ties as an epoch-making event, Kim said that over the past 70 years, the two parties and two peoples have joined hands in weal and woe and weathered all tempests in the course of defending and promoting the cause of socialism, and have written a history of a great friendship.

The DPRK-China relationship has now entered an important and critical period of inheriting the past and forging ahead into the future, Kim said, adding that it is the unwavering position of himself, the WPK and the DPRK to resolutely carry forward the traditional friendship with China and realize an all-round revitalization of the friendly and cooperative ties between the two countries.

Kim said he is willing to work hand in hand with Xi to satisfy the two peoples' shared aspiration of cementing and developing the DPRK-China friendship, which is admired by the world, and by dint of friendship and unity, to firmly uphold the socialist cause and safeguard peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the world.

China and the DPRK's relationship has a long history. The DPRK was one of the first countries to establish a diplomatic relationship with the People's Republic of China just five days after the PRC was founded on October 1, 1949.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), on Sunday, exchanged congratulations on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic ties.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), on Sunday, exchanged congratulations on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic ties. In his congratulatory message, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said that on behalf of the CPC, the Chinese government and the Chinese people, he extends warm congratulations to Kim, and via Kim to the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the DPRK government and the DPRK people. The establishment of China-DPRK diplomatic ties 70 years ago bore epoch-making significance in the history of the two parties' and the two countries' relations, Xi said. Noting that the DPRK is among the first countries to establish diplomatic ties with China, Xi said that over the past 70 years, under the care and joint efforts of successive leaders of the two parties and two countries, the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK has stood the test of time and changes in the international landscape, grown stronger with the lapse of time, and taken roots in the hearts of the two peoples. The two countries, added Xi, have reaped plentiful fruits in bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields, which has not only greatly promoted the prosperity and progress of their respective socialist causes, but also played a significant and positive role in maintaining regional peace and stability. Xi pointed out that the traditional bilateral friendship is a priceless treasure shared by the two parties, two countries and two peoples, and that to maintain, cement and develop bilateral relations is an unshakable policy of the CPC and the Chinese government. Reaffirming that he highly values the development of China-DPRK relations as well as the mutual trust and friendship with Kim, Xi noted that since last year he and Kim have met five times and reached a series of consensuses, jointly ushering bilateral ties into a new era. China, he added, stands ready to work with the DPRK to take the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations as an opportunity and promote a long-term, healthy and stable development of bilateral ties, so as to create more benefits for both countries and both peoples. In his message, Kim said that on behalf of the WPK, the DPRK government and the DPRK people, he extends the warmest congratulations and the sincerest wishes to Xi, and via Xi to the CPC, the Chinese government and the Chinese people. Hailing the establishment of DPRK-China diplomatic ties as an epoch-making event, Kim said that over the past 70 years, the two parties and two peoples have joined hands in weal and woe and weathered all tempests in the course of defending and promoting the cause of socialism, and have written a history of a great friendship. The DPRK-China relationship has now entered an important and critical period of inheriting the past and forging ahead into the future, Kim said, adding that it is the unwavering position of himself, the WPK and the DPRK to resolutely carry forward the traditional friendship with China and realize an all-round revitalization of the friendly and cooperative ties between the two countries. Kim said he is willing to work hand in hand with Xi to satisfy the two peoples' shared aspiration of cementing and developing the DPRK-China friendship, which is admired by the world, and by dint of friendship and unity, to firmly uphold the socialist cause and safeguard peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the world. China and the DPRK's relationship has a long history. The DPRK was one of the first countries to establish a diplomatic relationship with the People's Republic of China just five days after the PRC was founded on October 1, 1949.

Xi, Kim exchange pleasantries on 70 years of diplomatic ties

After the 17th consecutive weekend of increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong, the first protester was wounded by a live bullet on Tuesday. &nbsp;

Eighteen-year-old student Tsang Chi-kin, one of a group of about a dozen students attacking a policeman who had become separated from his comrades, was shot in the chest as he struck the man with a metal pole. He is expected to survive.

A hundred other Hong Kongers, civilians and police, were treated in hospitals on the same day for injuries incurred during what the Beijing regime calls “riots”. &nbsp;

The violence has grown over the months, and sometimes that is an accurate description of what is going on in the streets. Even if the protesters are in the right, they are definitely a lot less non-violent than they were at the start.

What is remarkable (though rarely remarked upon) is the restraint shown by the police who, although employed by the Hong Kong city government, ultimately serve the repressive dictatorship in Beijing.

It’s only relative restraint, of course – we are not talking about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or ‘kindly British bobbies’ here – but during months of escalating violence, they have still managed not to kill anybody. Even on Tuesday, when the rest of China was marking the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic, the protests in Hong Kong continued and nobody died.

To understand how remarkable this is, ask yourself this. How many protesters would American police have killed by now if equally violent protests had been taking place in the streets of a major American city every weekend for the past four months?

This is not proof of how nice China’s rulers are. It’s evidence of how worried they are. They dare not make too many concessions to the protesters, but they want to avoid using major force against them—doing another Tiananmen Square massacre, so to speak – because they think the price would be very high. They are right about that.

When Britain returned the colony of Hong Kong to China in 1997, it was China’s main financial window on the world. That’s why it was granted a special status in China (‘one country, two systems’) for the next 50 years. It has free speech, the rule of law, all sorts of privileges that do not exist in the rest of China – but ultimately it must bow to Beijing.

Two decades later, its status as a global financial centre remains a major asset for the regime, but there are red lines that President Xi Jinping will never cross, like letting Hong Kong people choose their own government in a free election. This is now one of the protesters’ demands (although it wasn’t at the start), but it simply is not going to happen.

The Communist Party rules through carefully chosen, mostly non-Communist puppets in Hong Kong, but it does rule. As Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, explained in a private meeting with business leaders last month, her freedom of action is “very, very, very limited.”

She got into trouble in the first place by putting forward a new extradition law that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to be tried in Chinese courts, where accused people have few rights and the conviction rate is 99 per cent. She probably did it against her own better judgement, but the orders came from above.

When the public pushed back, sensing that this could be the beginning of the end for Hong Kong’s relative freedom, Lam probably wanted to drop the matter, but it took her months to persuade Beijing to let her do it.&nbsp;

In June she “shelved” the law, in August she said it was “dead”, but only in early September did she actually get Beijing’s permission to withdraw it.

Too little, too late. By then the protests had escalated far beyond the specific law to sweeping demands for democracy in Hong Kong. Most people outside China will sympathise, but it cannot happen. The Communist regime’s first priority is its own survival, so it will not permit such an example to flourish on Chinese soil. &nbsp;

The protesters have won what they originally came out for: the withdrawal of the extradition law. Their other demands will never be granted, because they imperil the ultimate authority of the Communist Party. It’s time to collect their winnings and step away from the table.

If they don’t, Beijing will ultimately crush the protests no matter how much economic and reputational damage that does. In August it doubled the number of troops it keeps in Hong Kong under the guise of ‘rotating’ the garrison: the replacements came in, but the others didn’t actually leave. Sooner or later, if things go on like this, they will be used. 
&nbsp;

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-collect-winnings-step-away-2794435">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp;

&nbsp;

After the 17th consecutive weekend of increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong, the first protester was wounded by a live bullet on Tuesday. Eighteen-year-old student Tsang Chi-kin, one of a group of about a dozen students attacking a policeman who had become separated from his comrades, was shot in the chest as he struck the man with a metal pole.

After the 17th consecutive weekend of increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong, the first protester was wounded by a live bullet on Tuesday. Eighteen-year-old student Tsang Chi-kin, one of a group of about a dozen students attacking a policeman who had become separated from his comrades, was shot in the chest as he struck the man with a metal pole. He is expected to survive. A hundred other Hong Kongers, civilians and police, were treated in hospitals on the same day for injuries incurred during what the Beijing regime calls “riots”. The violence has grown over the months, and sometimes that is an accurate description of what is going on in the streets. Even if the protesters are in the right, they are definitely a lot less non-violent than they were at the start. What is remarkable (though rarely remarked upon) is the restraint shown by the police who, although employed by the Hong Kong city government, ultimately serve the repressive dictatorship in Beijing. It’s only relative restraint, of course – we are not talking about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or ‘kindly British bobbies’ here – but during months of escalating violence, they have still managed not to kill anybody. Even on Tuesday, when the rest of China was marking the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic, the protests in Hong Kong continued and nobody died. To understand how remarkable this is, ask yourself this. How many protesters would American police have killed by now if equally violent protests had been taking place in the streets of a major American city every weekend for the past four months? This is not proof of how nice China’s rulers are. It’s evidence of how worried they are. They dare not make too many concessions to the protesters, but they want to avoid using major force against them—doing another Tiananmen Square massacre, so to speak – because they think the price would be very high. They are right about that. When Britain returned the colony of Hong Kong to China in 1997, it was China’s main financial window on the world. That’s why it was granted a special status in China (‘one country, two systems’) for the next 50 years. It has free speech, the rule of law, all sorts of privileges that do not exist in the rest of China – but ultimately it must bow to Beijing. Two decades later, its status as a global financial centre remains a major asset for the regime, but there are red lines that President Xi Jinping will never cross, like letting Hong Kong people choose their own government in a free election. This is now one of the protesters’ demands (although it wasn’t at the start), but it simply is not going to happen. The Communist Party rules through carefully chosen, mostly non-Communist puppets in Hong Kong, but it does rule. As Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, explained in a private meeting with business leaders last month, her freedom of action is “very, very, very limited.” She got into trouble in the first place by putting forward a new extradition law that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to be tried in Chinese courts, where accused people have few rights and the conviction rate is 99 per cent. She probably did it against her own better judgement, but the orders came from above. When the public pushed back, sensing that this could be the beginning of the end for Hong Kong’s relative freedom, Lam probably wanted to drop the matter, but it took her months to persuade Beijing to let her do it. In June she “shelved” the law, in August she said it was “dead”, but only in early September did she actually get Beijing’s permission to withdraw it. Too little, too late. By then the protests had escalated far beyond the specific law to sweeping demands for democracy in Hong Kong. Most people outside China will sympathise, but it cannot happen. The Communist regime’s first priority is its own survival, so it will not permit such an example to flourish on Chinese soil. The protesters have won what they originally came out for: the withdrawal of the extradition law. Their other demands will never be granted, because they imperil the ultimate authority of the Communist Party. It’s time to collect their winnings and step away from the table. If they don’t, Beijing will ultimately crush the protests no matter how much economic and reputational damage that does. In August it doubled the number of troops it keeps in Hong Kong under the guise of ‘rotating’ the garrison: the replacements came in, but the others didn’t actually leave. Sooner or later, if things go on like this, they will be used. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Hong Kong needs to understand that Chinese Communist regime’s first priority is its own survival

It was after 10 years that I visited China. Capital Beijing has undergone a sea change, even though Sino-Indian relations have yet to achieve dizzying heights. &nbsp;

Beijing is booming with sky scrapers, once the prerogative of Shanghai. Gone are the days when it was termed as the city of bicycles; today latest models of cars zip through its boulevards. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Developments in Beijing, as far as Sino-Indian ties are concerned, can be summarised as being pre and post-Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. &nbsp;

Let’s take three issues, which have broadly dominated Sino-India relations before and after Wuhan. They are the border dispute, Sino-India relations viz a viz Pakistan and trade imbalance between the two nations. &nbsp;

The memory of Doklam is still fresh in Indian minds. The stand-off between India and China dominated much of 2017 until the Wuhan summit – the first informal summit between Modi and Xi in April, 2018. &nbsp;

Doklam was one of the biggest military standoffs in recent history between the two Asian giants. Talking to a cross section of Indian and Chinese leadership, it is evident that both sides want to move faster on the understanding reached at Wuhan.

The second round of the informal summit between Modi and Xi is slated for October 2019, the likely venue for this meeting being Varanasi. But before this, border talks between special representatives of India and China will be held. This is the first Sino-India meeting of Modi 2.0 and will be led by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi. &nbsp;

Apparently, India is examining certain proposals put forth by the Chinese side, and in the words of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, are “Looking for early harvest”. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Officials, witness to the Wuhan Summit, say that both leaders had hit it off quite well. They spent a considerable time alone, in the company of interpreters, but minus officials. This has helped both to understand each other well and away from stated positions, which officials usually insist on before any big meeting. &nbsp;

Both Modi and Xi are strong leaders and realise that if the two nations need to progress faster, they have to first close ranks. And this is the direction that the relationship between India and China is moving. &nbsp;

One can draw this inference from the fact that officials were open to discuss issues more elaborately than at any point of time earlier. As one observer said, instructions from Xi have gone down the Chinese official hierarchy and they are following it to the minutest detail.

The fact is the President Xi has travelled only twice outside Beijing to host a foreign leader and that is for Modi. &nbsp;

The second issue, Sino-India relations viz-a-viz Pakistan, is connected to the first. China’s relations with Pakistan is parabolically described as ‘Iron Brother’. But let’s examine this in the light of pre and post Wuhan. China has started to appreciate India’s position viz-a-viz terrorism and agreed on designating Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. There was tremendous pressure from Pakistan on China, but eventually it sided with India. &nbsp;

On the recent developments in Kashmir, India explained its position to China. A statement by MEA said that the “EAM (S Jaishankar) also stressed that the future of the India-China relationship will obviously depend on mutual sensitivity to each other’s core concerns” - India’s sensitivity is “Kashmir”, while for China is implies “Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong”. &nbsp;

The MEA went on to add that changes in Kashmir, “Had no bearing on Pakistan as it was an internal matter. It did not impact the LoC.”

The Pakistan Foreign Minister’s dash to Beijing, just ahead of Indian External Affairs Minister’s visit, almost crying and pleading with China, resulted in Beijing taking up the issue with India. This is probably one of the reasons why China went along with Pakistan at the informal meeting at UNSC on Kashmir. It had more do with pacifying Pakistan. &nbsp;

Of course, it would be naive to imagine that Beijing is moving away from Islamabad. Economic considerations weigh heavily on China’s mind with President Xi’s ambitious CPEC project currently underway in Pakistan. Also, Beijing will not want its ally to fall into US hands, which is why it is in her interest to continue shielding Islamabad. &nbsp;

Finally, trade. Figures reveal that in 2016, trade between the two countries stood at $70.08 billion; in 2017, it was $84.44 billion and in 2018, it went up to $95.54 billion. &nbsp;

Jaishankar, during his trip to Beijing, stressed that “the economic relationship had seen some progress, but the increasing trade deficit was a matter of concern.’’ India is keen that the Chinese side take steps to address this imbalance by enabling greater access for Indian pharmaceutical and IT products and services in the domestic Chinese market. &nbsp;

The trade potential remains vast. With the US-China trade war looming, there are opportunities for both the countries. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Relations between India and China are on the move and the credit for this goes to both Modi and Xi. As both countries get ready to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, the only way forward is to move ahead.

Direct contact between the political leadership, officials and even the two militaries, will carry forward this momentum.

The Wuhan effect is reflected across the spectrum of relationship between India and China. With the second informal summit due in just over a month, can it provide the impetus needed and will China stick to the Wuhan course? &nbsp; 
 
(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-unfolding-the-spirit-of-wuhan-2784044">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.) &nbsp; 
&nbsp;

It was after 10 years that I visited China. Capital Beijing has undergone a sea change, even though Sino-Indian relations have yet to achieve dizzying heights. Beijing is booming with sky scrapers, once the prerogative of Shanghai.

It was after 10 years that I visited China. Capital Beijing has undergone a sea change, even though Sino-Indian relations have yet to achieve dizzying heights. Beijing is booming with sky scrapers, once the prerogative of Shanghai. Gone are the days when it was termed as the city of bicycles; today latest models of cars zip through its boulevards. Developments in Beijing, as far as Sino-Indian ties are concerned, can be summarised as being pre and post-Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Let’s take three issues, which have broadly dominated Sino-India relations before and after Wuhan. They are the border dispute, Sino-India relations viz a viz Pakistan and trade imbalance between the two nations. The memory of Doklam is still fresh in Indian minds. The stand-off between India and China dominated much of 2017 until the Wuhan summit – the first informal summit between Modi and Xi in April, 2018. Doklam was one of the biggest military standoffs in recent history between the two Asian giants. Talking to a cross section of Indian and Chinese leadership, it is evident that both sides want to move faster on the understanding reached at Wuhan. The second round of the informal summit between Modi and Xi is slated for October 2019, the likely venue for this meeting being Varanasi. But before this, border talks between special representatives of India and China will be held. This is the first Sino-India meeting of Modi 2.0 and will be led by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi. Apparently, India is examining certain proposals put forth by the Chinese side, and in the words of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, are “Looking for early harvest”. Officials, witness to the Wuhan Summit, say that both leaders had hit it off quite well. They spent a considerable time alone, in the company of interpreters, but minus officials. This has helped both to understand each other well and away from stated positions, which officials usually insist on before any big meeting. Both Modi and Xi are strong leaders and realise that if the two nations need to progress faster, they have to first close ranks. And this is the direction that the relationship between India and China is moving. One can draw this inference from the fact that officials were open to discuss issues more elaborately than at any point of time earlier. As one observer said, instructions from Xi have gone down the Chinese official hierarchy and they are following it to the minutest detail. The fact is the President Xi has travelled only twice outside Beijing to host a foreign leader and that is for Modi. The second issue, Sino-India relations viz-a-viz Pakistan, is connected to the first. China’s relations with Pakistan is parabolically described as ‘Iron Brother’. But let’s examine this in the light of pre and post Wuhan. China has started to appreciate India’s position viz-a-viz terrorism and agreed on designating Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. There was tremendous pressure from Pakistan on China, but eventually it sided with India. On the recent developments in Kashmir, India explained its position to China. A statement by MEA said that the “EAM (S Jaishankar) also stressed that the future of the India-China relationship will obviously depend on mutual sensitivity to each other’s core concerns” - India’s sensitivity is “Kashmir”, while for China is implies “Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong”. The MEA went on to add that changes in Kashmir, “Had no bearing on Pakistan as it was an internal matter. It did not impact the LoC.” The Pakistan Foreign Minister’s dash to Beijing, just ahead of Indian External Affairs Minister’s visit, almost crying and pleading with China, resulted in Beijing taking up the issue with India. This is probably one of the reasons why China went along with Pakistan at the informal meeting at UNSC on Kashmir. It had more do with pacifying Pakistan. Of course, it would be naive to imagine that Beijing is moving away from Islamabad. Economic considerations weigh heavily on China’s mind with President Xi’s ambitious CPEC project currently underway in Pakistan. Also, Beijing will not want its ally to fall into US hands, which is why it is in her interest to continue shielding Islamabad. Finally, trade. Figures reveal that in 2016, trade between the two countries stood at $70.08 billion; in 2017, it was $84.44 billion and in 2018, it went up to $95.54 billion. Jaishankar, during his trip to Beijing, stressed that “the economic relationship had seen some progress, but the increasing trade deficit was a matter of concern.’’ India is keen that the Chinese side take steps to address this imbalance by enabling greater access for Indian pharmaceutical and IT products and services in the domestic Chinese market. The trade potential remains vast. With the US-China trade war looming, there are opportunities for both the countries. Relations between India and China are on the move and the credit for this goes to both Modi and Xi. As both countries get ready to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, the only way forward is to move ahead. Direct contact between the political leadership, officials and even the two militaries, will carry forward this momentum. The Wuhan effect is reflected across the spectrum of relationship between India and China. With the second informal summit due in just over a month, can it provide the impetus needed and will China stick to the Wuhan course? (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Unfolding the spirit of Wuhan: Relations between India and China are on the move

'Homeland Dream': How Chinese gaming giants unveil titles to play up patriotic value

China’s infrastructure and energy-driven $1 trillion Belt and Road initiative involves risky bets across a swath of land populated by often illiberal or autocratic governments exercising power without independent checks and balances.

Seeking to reduce risk, China is bumping up against the limits of its own long-standing foreign and defence policy principles, foremost among which its insistence on non-interference in the domestic affairs of others, the equivalent of the United States' preference for stability rather than political change.

If popular revolts in Algeria and Sudan as well as smaller, issues-oriented protests elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa are anything to go by, China appears to be betting against the odds.

Anti-corruption sentiment fuelled the 2011 popular Arab revolts that toppled the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen and are at the root of current anti-government protests across the globe in countries as far-flung as Brazil, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Russia, Zambia, the Czech Republic, Albania and Romania

China’s risks were evident in the wake of the fall in 2011 of Col. Muammar Gaddafi when the post-revolt Libyan authorities advised China that it would be low on the totem pole as a result of its support of the ancien regime.

The risks are also evident with Baloch militants targeting Chinese assets and personnel in Pakistan.

To minimise the risk and expand its aggressive domestic anti-graft campaign, China’s top anti-corruption body, the Communist party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), is embedding inspectors in Belt and Road projects, who will be based in recipient countries.

The move helps China counter allegations that it exploits corruption in recipient Belt and Road countries to further its objectives.

Anti-corruption is a signature policy of President Xi Jinping and has allowed him to purge senior Chinese leaders as well as tens of thousands of low-level bureaucrats.

The CCDI is building on the success of a pilot project in Laos where it embedded in late 2017 inspectors in a $6 billion railway project being built by state-owned China Railway Group. The anti-graft officials, working with the Chinese company, established a joint inspection team with their Laotian counterpart.

The question is whether the anti-corruption effort in countries like Laos or Central Asian nations that consistently rank in the bottom half of Transparency International’s corruption index will bump up against China’s non-interference principle.

Or in other words, can China successfully guard against corruption in Belt and Road projects without pressuring recipient countries to adopt broader transparency and anti-corruption measures?

“How can you strike hard on corruption here at home and give a free hand to Chinese people and business groups [that are] reckless abroad?” CCDI’s director-general for international co-operation La Yifan asked in a Financial Times interview.

La said China had organised seminars with more than 30 countries to link up anti-corruption regulators. “That is my dream, that we create a network of law enforcement of all these Belt and Road countries,” he said.

Imposing transparency and anti-corruption in Belt and Road partners would be the equivalent of all kinds of environmental, safety and human rights criteria that the United States haphazardly and opportunistically maintains in dealings with foreign countries that have been severely criticized by China.

China has long prided itself on what it terms win-win economic situations in which it imposes commercial terms that often primarily benefit the People’s Republic.

The terms, coupled with the clampdown on Turkic Muslims in China’s province of Xinjiang, has fuelled anti-Chinese sentiment in Turkey and Central Asia with their close ethnic and cultural ties to the troubled Chinese region.

Turkish officials highlighted these sensitivities by denying Chinese media reports that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had praised the success of Beijing’s brutal approach in Xinjiang during a recent visit to China.

Muslim nations have largely remained silent about the clampdown that amounts to the most frontal assault on faith in recent history or in some instances even tacitly endorsed it.

In the absence of democracy, “Governments can manage their pro-Beijing stance without informing their public, but a pro-Beijing policy over the Uyghur issue can barely be sustained in Turkey. Turkey is still a functioning democracy and total control of the public is not possible. Besides, there is a very strong Uyghur lobby and public sentiment towards the Uyghurs in Turkey,” said Turkish Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies director Selcuk Colakoglu.

Taking its anti-corruption campaign global raises the broader question of whether it would threaten a pillar of autocracy that China’s non-interference principle has de facto sought to perpetuate.

Political scientists Alexander Cooley and John Heathershaw argue that what they call the instruments of global authoritarianism -- an army of largely Western bankers, lawyers, brokers and intermediaries that park illicitly gained monies in off-shore accounts and manage the investment of those funds – help keep autocrats in power.

The success of the globalisation of China’s anti-corruption effort as well as its campaign to significantly reduce graft at home, would establish autocrats’ ability to satisfactorily deliver public goods and services alongside brute power as the cornerstone of their sustainability.

In doing so, it would give greater meaning to China’s assertion that it does not want to fundamentally alter the established multi-lateral world order but rather make it more equitable and more a reflection of a world that is multi- not unipolar.

It would also cement China’s model of economic reform and state capitalism without political liberalisation as the example autocratic and authoritarian regimes want to emulate even if the jury is out on whether autocrats can remain relatively clean without a system of independent checks and balances. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

China’s infrastructure and energy-driven $1 trillion Belt and Road initiative involves risky bets across a swath of land populated by often illiberal or autocratic governments exercising power without independent checks and balances.

China’s infrastructure and energy-driven $1 trillion Belt and Road initiative involves risky bets across a swath of land populated by often illiberal or autocratic governments exercising power without independent checks and balances. Seeking to reduce risk, China is bumping up against the limits of its own long-standing foreign and defence policy principles, foremost among which its insistence on non-interference in the domestic affairs of others, the equivalent of the United States' preference for stability rather than political change. If popular revolts in Algeria and Sudan as well as smaller, issues-oriented protests elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa are anything to go by, China appears to be betting against the odds. Anti-corruption sentiment fuelled the 2011 popular Arab revolts that toppled the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen and are at the root of current anti-government protests across the globe in countries as far-flung as Brazil, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Russia, Zambia, the Czech Republic, Albania and Romania China’s risks were evident in the wake of the fall in 2011 of Col. Muammar Gaddafi when the post-revolt Libyan authorities advised China that it would be low on the totem pole as a result of its support of the ancien regime. The risks are also evident with Baloch militants targeting Chinese assets and personnel in Pakistan. To minimise the risk and expand its aggressive domestic anti-graft campaign, China’s top anti-corruption body, the Communist party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), is embedding inspectors in Belt and Road projects, who will be based in recipient countries. The move helps China counter allegations that it exploits corruption in recipient Belt and Road countries to further its objectives. Anti-corruption is a signature policy of President Xi Jinping and has allowed him to purge senior Chinese leaders as well as tens of thousands of low-level bureaucrats. The CCDI is building on the success of a pilot project in Laos where it embedded in late 2017 inspectors in a $6 billion railway project being built by state-owned China Railway Group. The anti-graft officials, working with the Chinese company, established a joint inspection team with their Laotian counterpart. The question is whether the anti-corruption effort in countries like Laos or Central Asian nations that consistently rank in the bottom half of Transparency International’s corruption index will bump up against China’s non-interference principle. Or in other words, can China successfully guard against corruption in Belt and Road projects without pressuring recipient countries to adopt broader transparency and anti-corruption measures? “How can you strike hard on corruption here at home and give a free hand to Chinese people and business groups [that are] reckless abroad?” CCDI’s director-general for international co-operation La Yifan asked in a Financial Times interview. La said China had organised seminars with more than 30 countries to link up anti-corruption regulators. “That is my dream, that we create a network of law enforcement of all these Belt and Road countries,” he said. Imposing transparency and anti-corruption in Belt and Road partners would be the equivalent of all kinds of environmental, safety and human rights criteria that the United States haphazardly and opportunistically maintains in dealings with foreign countries that have been severely criticized by China. China has long prided itself on what it terms win-win economic situations in which it imposes commercial terms that often primarily benefit the People’s Republic. The terms, coupled with the clampdown on Turkic Muslims in China’s province of Xinjiang, has fuelled anti-Chinese sentiment in Turkey and Central Asia with their close ethnic and cultural ties to the troubled Chinese region. Turkish officials highlighted these sensitivities by denying Chinese media reports that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had praised the success of Beijing’s brutal approach in Xinjiang during a recent visit to China. Muslim nations have largely remained silent about the clampdown that amounts to the most frontal assault on faith in recent history or in some instances even tacitly endorsed it. In the absence of democracy, “Governments can manage their pro-Beijing stance without informing their public, but a pro-Beijing policy over the Uyghur issue can barely be sustained in Turkey. Turkey is still a functioning democracy and total control of the public is not possible. Besides, there is a very strong Uyghur lobby and public sentiment towards the Uyghurs in Turkey,” said Turkish Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies director Selcuk Colakoglu. Taking its anti-corruption campaign global raises the broader question of whether it would threaten a pillar of autocracy that China’s non-interference principle has de facto sought to perpetuate. Political scientists Alexander Cooley and John Heathershaw argue that what they call the instruments of global authoritarianism -- an army of largely Western bankers, lawyers, brokers and intermediaries that park illicitly gained monies in off-shore accounts and manage the investment of those funds – help keep autocrats in power. The success of the globalisation of China’s anti-corruption effort as well as its campaign to significantly reduce graft at home, would establish autocrats’ ability to satisfactorily deliver public goods and services alongside brute power as the cornerstone of their sustainability. In doing so, it would give greater meaning to China’s assertion that it does not want to fundamentally alter the established multi-lateral world order but rather make it more equitable and more a reflection of a world that is multi- not unipolar. It would also cement China’s model of economic reform and state capitalism without political liberalisation as the example autocratic and authoritarian regimes want to emulate even if the jury is out on whether autocrats can remain relatively clean without a system of independent checks and balances. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Belt and Road project: China expands its anti-corruption campaign

China has been rattled by three events. The first is the trade and technology dispute with the United States, which seems no nearer to resolution. The second is Washington’s decision to sell $2.20 billion (Rs 15,000 crore) worth of advanced military hardware to Taiwan that China regards as a part of the mainland. The third is the cascading series of violent protests in Hong Kong over China’s attempt to impose its authoritarian will on the thriving mercantile city that Britain handed back to China in 1997 under a 50-year agreement that guarantees its democratic freedoms.

Each of these events has the potential to erode China’s global credibility as it seeks to replace the United States as the world’s preeminent economic superpower.

The US overtook imperial Britain as the world’s largest economy in the 1890s. China’s 2019 GDP of $27.4 trillion by purchasing power parity (PPP) is already larger than America’s ($21.4 trillion). At current exchange rates too, the gap between the two countries is narrowing: China’s 2019 nominal GDP is $14.2 trillion against America’s $21.5 trillion. At their current respective rates of economic growth (roughly 6% and 3%), China’s nominal GDP could overtake US GDP in less than 20 years.

Apart from the three events that could slow China’s ascent – trade, Taiwan and Hong Kong – several other pressure points are building up. China rarely cares about international opinion, but the media exposé of the horrific treatment of over one million Chinese Muslims kept in prison-like detention camps in Xinjiang is creating global outrage.

The sale of military hardware, including battle tanks and anti-aircraft missiles, by the US to Taiwan after a self-imposed, decades-long embargo has meanwhile enraged Beijing. Last week, the Chinese government demanded that the sale be cancelled. But instead of paying heed to Beijing, the US further infuriated the Chinese by granting Taiwan’s anti-China President Tsai Ing-wen a two-day stopover in New York and Denver during her current visit to the Caribbean.

China has vowed to integrate Taiwan into the mainland, using military force if necessary. The sale of US military weaponry to Taipei is seen by Beijing as a deliberate aggravation.

Equally galling to Beijing are the protests in Hong Kong. When the former British colony was handed back to China in 1997, Hong Kong’s economy was nearly 20% of China’s. Today it is a mere 3%. But Hong Kong’s value to Beijing goes beyond the size of its economy. It is home to over one hundred global banks and has a vibrant stock market. In future, it could attract Chinese companies to list there rather than on the New York Stock Exchange, giving China access to an alternative source of global finance at its doorstep.

As The Economist observed: “Hong Kong is China’s conduit. It accounted for nearly 60% of direct investment both into and out of China in 2012-16. It has a mighty share of offshore yuan-denominated payments. Western firms put money and headquarters there because it is seen as part of the Western system. Its currency is tied to the American dollar. It ranks third in the world as a financial centre; its banking assets are worth a whopping 851% of GDP.”

So how might the anger on Hong Kong’s streets against China’s totalitarian regime play out? In its report, The Economist noted: “For many global firms, Hong Kong is both a gateway to the Chinese market and central to the Asian continent – more than 1,300 of them have their regional headquarters there. If Hong Kong came to be seen as just another Chinese city, Hong Kongers would not be the only ones to suffer. The threat is real. Since he took over as China’s leader in 2012, Mr Xi Jinping has been making it clearer than ever that the legal system should be under the party’s thumb. China must ‘absolutely not follow the Western road of judicial independence,’ he said in a speech published in February.&nbsp;

In 2015, Mr Xi launched a campaign to silence independent lawyers and civil-rights activists. Hundreds of them have been harassed or detained by the police. The authorities on the mainland have even sent thugs to other jurisdictions to abduct people, including a publisher of gossipy books about the party, snatched from a car park in Hong Kong and a tycoon taken from the Four Seasons hotel in 2017. The message is plain. Xi not only cares little for the rule of law on the Chinese mainland. He scorns it elsewhere, too.”

A paranoid China has warned the US against sending any “misleading signals” to “ultra-radicals” in Hong Kong. While Hong Kong’s China-friendly chief executive Carrie Lam has declared that the much-reviled extradition legislation is now “dead”, Hong Kongers believe it will at some stage be revived.

As a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China till 2047, Hong Kong has less than a generation to come to terms with a transition from a free-wheeling capitalist city to being part of Communist China.

It is not a prospect anyone in Hong Kong relishes. For Beijing though, Hong Kong is part of a larger global affliction that includes uncertainty over Taiwan’s future, the international outrage over Xinjiang’s Muslims, and America’s relentless trade assault.

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-china-s-moment-of-truth-2773069">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

China has been rattled by three events. The first is the trade and technology dispute with the United States, which seems no nearer to resolution. The second is Washington’s decision to sell $2.

China has been rattled by three events. The first is the trade and technology dispute with the United States, which seems no nearer to resolution. The second is Washington’s decision to sell $2.20 billion (Rs 15,000 crore) worth of advanced military hardware to Taiwan that China regards as a part of the mainland. The third is the cascading series of violent protests in Hong Kong over China’s attempt to impose its authoritarian will on the thriving mercantile city that Britain handed back to China in 1997 under a 50-year agreement that guarantees its democratic freedoms. Each of these events has the potential to erode China’s global credibility as it seeks to replace the United States as the world’s preeminent economic superpower. The US overtook imperial Britain as the world’s largest economy in the 1890s. China’s 2019 GDP of $27.4 trillion by purchasing power parity (PPP) is already larger than America’s ($21.4 trillion). At current exchange rates too, the gap between the two countries is narrowing: China’s 2019 nominal GDP is $14.2 trillion against America’s $21.5 trillion. At their current respective rates of economic growth (roughly 6% and 3%), China’s nominal GDP could overtake US GDP in less than 20 years. Apart from the three events that could slow China’s ascent – trade, Taiwan and Hong Kong – several other pressure points are building up. China rarely cares about international opinion, but the media exposé of the horrific treatment of over one million Chinese Muslims kept in prison-like detention camps in Xinjiang is creating global outrage. The sale of military hardware, including battle tanks and anti-aircraft missiles, by the US to Taiwan after a self-imposed, decades-long embargo has meanwhile enraged Beijing. Last week, the Chinese government demanded that the sale be cancelled. But instead of paying heed to Beijing, the US further infuriated the Chinese by granting Taiwan’s anti-China President Tsai Ing-wen a two-day stopover in New York and Denver during her current visit to the Caribbean. China has vowed to integrate Taiwan into the mainland, using military force if necessary. The sale of US military weaponry to Taipei is seen by Beijing as a deliberate aggravation. Equally galling to Beijing are the protests in Hong Kong. When the former British colony was handed back to China in 1997, Hong Kong’s economy was nearly 20% of China’s. Today it is a mere 3%. But Hong Kong’s value to Beijing goes beyond the size of its economy. It is home to over one hundred global banks and has a vibrant stock market. In future, it could attract Chinese companies to list there rather than on the New York Stock Exchange, giving China access to an alternative source of global finance at its doorstep. As The Economist observed: “Hong Kong is China’s conduit. It accounted for nearly 60% of direct investment both into and out of China in 2012-16. It has a mighty share of offshore yuan-denominated payments. Western firms put money and headquarters there because it is seen as part of the Western system. Its currency is tied to the American dollar. It ranks third in the world as a financial centre; its banking assets are worth a whopping 851% of GDP.” So how might the anger on Hong Kong’s streets against China’s totalitarian regime play out? In its report, The Economist noted: “For many global firms, Hong Kong is both a gateway to the Chinese market and central to the Asian continent – more than 1,300 of them have their regional headquarters there. If Hong Kong came to be seen as just another Chinese city, Hong Kongers would not be the only ones to suffer. The threat is real. Since he took over as China’s leader in 2012, Mr Xi Jinping has been making it clearer than ever that the legal system should be under the party’s thumb. China must ‘absolutely not follow the Western road of judicial independence,’ he said in a speech published in February. In 2015, Mr Xi launched a campaign to silence independent lawyers and civil-rights activists. Hundreds of them have been harassed or detained by the police. The authorities on the mainland have even sent thugs to other jurisdictions to abduct people, including a publisher of gossipy books about the party, snatched from a car park in Hong Kong and a tycoon taken from the Four Seasons hotel in 2017. The message is plain. Xi not only cares little for the rule of law on the Chinese mainland. He scorns it elsewhere, too.” A paranoid China has warned the US against sending any “misleading signals” to “ultra-radicals” in Hong Kong. While Hong Kong’s China-friendly chief executive Carrie Lam has declared that the much-reviled extradition legislation is now “dead”, Hong Kongers believe it will at some stage be revived. As a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China till 2047, Hong Kong has less than a generation to come to terms with a transition from a free-wheeling capitalist city to being part of Communist China. It is not a prospect anyone in Hong Kong relishes. For Beijing though, Hong Kong is part of a larger global affliction that includes uncertainty over Taiwan’s future, the international outrage over Xinjiang’s Muslims, and America’s relentless trade assault. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

China’s moment of truth: Trade, Taiwan and Hong Kong are rattling the dragon

The United States and China have reached a truce in their escalating trade war. Following a meeting between US president, Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping at the G20, the two leaders agreed to renew talks. Tariffs, which began to be introduced by both sides on an array of imports in 2018, will not be raised further.

But a number of tariffs remain and trade relations are still far from normal between the world’s two largest economies. This may not be a cold war. But it is a great power rivalry focusing on technological supremacy and which side has the best development model.

China’s economy is slowing down and recent tariffs from the US on its exports have not helped. China’s growth rate declined from 6.6 per cent&nbsp;in 2018 to 6.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2019. But in the long term, the pressure exerted by Trump’s administration will strengthen China. It will help China speed up its efforts to restructure its economy, focus more on innovation, and also boost the country’s national pride.

Technological advancements are central to empire building and the rise of new powers, with steam power and then electronic technologies driving previous British and American empires. The fourth industrial revolution will shift international competition away from labour, territory, nuclear arms, and soft power to new technology including robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and wireless services.

Wake up call

Until recently, US policymakers operated under the assumption that the US was the world’s technological superpower and Silicon Valley was the globe’s innovation hotbed. China was regarded as a copycat that builds clumsy clones of American technologies or uses its big state-owned enterprises to purchase innovative US companies and absorb their intellectual property and know-how.

But when it comes to 5G – the next generation of superfast internet technology – the US has lagged behind. No American company has comparable wireless equipment to Huawei. This spurred Trump to wage war on the Chinese tech company. First he declared a national emergency, banning sales and the use of telecoms equipment deemed to pose “unacceptable risks”. Then he lobbied allies to do the same.

US-based companies followed suit. First, Google removed Huawei from its Android service, then the Wi-Fi Alliance, Bluetooth, and others followed suit.

Huawei’s 5G capabilities and the fallout from them can be seen as China’s Sputnik moment. In the same way the Soviet Union was the first to launch a satellite into space, creating the appearance that the Soviets were winning the engineering challenge of the day, China is outpacing other countries in the development of 5G today. China realises the dangers of technological dependence, economic entanglement, and scientific reliance on the US.

Innovation revolution

Huawei is a product of the Chinese government’s industrial policy strategy. The vision to move up the economic value chain from a low-end manufacturer to a global innovation leader led to the launch of its Made In China 2025 initiative and an Artificial Intelligence Development Plan to channel resources into strategic sectors such as computing, AI, robotics, and aerospace.

China aims to achieve an AI self-sufficiency manufacturing rate of 80 per cent, minimising its dependence on other countries for the complex parts needed in this tech. It also aims to become a leading technology hub in AI by 2030. This is bearing fruit, as in 2017, 48 per cent of global AI funding was Chinese compared to 38% being American. Chinese AI company iFlyTek often beats Facebook, Alphabet’s DeepMind, and IBM’s Watson in competitions to process natural speech, even in its “second language” English.

China is now the world’s biggest producer of scientific research papers and Semantic Scholar, the academic search engine for scientific articles, suggests Chinese scholars have surpassed their US counterparts in producing AI papers.

So the Huawei ban and tariffs on Chinese goods will not slow China – they will stimulate its new innovation system and boost scientific research aimed at becoming more independent.

Domestic boost 
 
Another consequence will be an acceleration of China’s attempt to rebalance its economy away from external demand and investment towards domestic consumption. This started in 2008 with the global financial crisis and has become increasingly necessary as China’s middle class develops. Since then large-scale government-led infrastructure investments, measures to increase household income, reductions of income tax, and improvements to social welfare systems have helped grow domestic consumption.

When Trump first announced tariffs in 2018, China’s domestic consumption was responsible for 76.2 per cent of its GDP growth, and the Chinese stock market absorbed the impact and bounced back after an initial sharp decline. Since then, the Chinese government has introduced new policies to boost domestic consumption further, including more tax cuts, improved childcare, and elderly care initiatives and incentives. So the trade war has helped China’s efforts to redistribute wealth and restructure its economy.

The trade war has also rallied the Chinese public around its government. US treatment of Chinese companies has been perceived as bullying and people have compared it to the way that the British Empire forced unfair trade practices on China in the 19th century. This topic is incredibly emotive in Chinese society and has boosted domestic support for the government.

The Chinese word for crisis is composed of two characters – one for danger and the other for opportunity. The country’s ability to capitalise on the current challenge from the US will strengthen it for years to come. 
 
(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-china-trade-war-is-making-china-stronger-118852">original article)</a>

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

The United States and China have reached a truce in their escalating trade war. Following a meeting between US president, Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping at the G20, the two leaders agreed to renew talks.

The United States and China have reached a truce in their escalating trade war. Following a meeting between US president, Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping at the G20, the two leaders agreed to renew talks. Tariffs, which began to be introduced by both sides on an array of imports in 2018, will not be raised further. But a number of tariffs remain and trade relations are still far from normal between the world’s two largest economies. This may not be a cold war. But it is a great power rivalry focusing on technological supremacy and which side has the best development model. China’s economy is slowing down and recent tariffs from the US on its exports have not helped. China’s growth rate declined from 6.6 per cent in 2018 to 6.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2019. But in the long term, the pressure exerted by Trump’s administration will strengthen China. It will help China speed up its efforts to restructure its economy, focus more on innovation, and also boost the country’s national pride. Technological advancements are central to empire building and the rise of new powers, with steam power and then electronic technologies driving previous British and American empires. The fourth industrial revolution will shift international competition away from labour, territory, nuclear arms, and soft power to new technology including robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and wireless services. Wake up call Until recently, US policymakers operated under the assumption that the US was the world’s technological superpower and Silicon Valley was the globe’s innovation hotbed. China was regarded as a copycat that builds clumsy clones of American technologies or uses its big state-owned enterprises to purchase innovative US companies and absorb their intellectual property and know-how. But when it comes to 5G – the next generation of superfast internet technology – the US has lagged behind. No American company has comparable wireless equipment to Huawei. This spurred Trump to wage war on the Chinese tech company. First he declared a national emergency, banning sales and the use of telecoms equipment deemed to pose “unacceptable risks”. Then he lobbied allies to do the same. US-based companies followed suit. First, Google removed Huawei from its Android service, then the Wi-Fi Alliance, Bluetooth, and others followed suit. Huawei’s 5G capabilities and the fallout from them can be seen as China’s Sputnik moment. In the same way the Soviet Union was the first to launch a satellite into space, creating the appearance that the Soviets were winning the engineering challenge of the day, China is outpacing other countries in the development of 5G today. China realises the dangers of technological dependence, economic entanglement, and scientific reliance on the US. Innovation revolution Huawei is a product of the Chinese government’s industrial policy strategy. The vision to move up the economic value chain from a low-end manufacturer to a global innovation leader led to the launch of its Made In China 2025 initiative and an Artificial Intelligence Development Plan to channel resources into strategic sectors such as computing, AI, robotics, and aerospace. China aims to achieve an AI self-sufficiency manufacturing rate of 80 per cent, minimising its dependence on other countries for the complex parts needed in this tech. It also aims to become a leading technology hub in AI by 2030. This is bearing fruit, as in 2017, 48 per cent of global AI funding was Chinese compared to 38% being American. Chinese AI company iFlyTek often beats Facebook, Alphabet’s DeepMind, and IBM’s Watson in competitions to process natural speech, even in its “second language” English. China is now the world’s biggest producer of scientific research papers and Semantic Scholar, the academic search engine for scientific articles, suggests Chinese scholars have surpassed their US counterparts in producing AI papers. So the Huawei ban and tariffs on Chinese goods will not slow China – they will stimulate its new innovation system and boost scientific research aimed at becoming more independent. Domestic boost Another consequence will be an acceleration of China’s attempt to rebalance its economy away from external demand and investment towards domestic consumption. This started in 2008 with the global financial crisis and has become increasingly necessary as China’s middle class develops. Since then large-scale government-led infrastructure investments, measures to increase household income, reductions of income tax, and improvements to social welfare systems have helped grow domestic consumption. When Trump first announced tariffs in 2018, China’s domestic consumption was responsible for 76.2 per cent of its GDP growth, and the Chinese stock market absorbed the impact and bounced back after an initial sharp decline. Since then, the Chinese government has introduced new policies to boost domestic consumption further, including more tax cuts, improved childcare, and elderly care initiatives and incentives. So the trade war has helped China’s efforts to redistribute wealth and restructure its economy. The trade war has also rallied the Chinese public around its government. US treatment of Chinese companies has been perceived as bullying and people have compared it to the way that the British Empire forced unfair trade practices on China in the 19th century. This topic is incredibly emotive in Chinese society and has boosted domestic support for the government. The Chinese word for crisis is composed of two characters – one for danger and the other for opportunity. The country’s ability to capitalise on the current challenge from the US will strengthen it for years to come. (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

US-China trade war is making China stronger

New Delhi’s strategy of prioritising BIMSTEC over SAARC, if only to isolate Pakistan and its China connection, has not deterred Beijing from stepping up its overtures to India’s other neighbours. So much so, that China’s shadow looms large over SAARC and the region.

Last week, the Chinese leadership had meetings with both the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. Both Hasina and Gyawali pledged to raise bilateral relations to new heights and advance their cooperation with China on its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). &nbsp; 
 
After his meeting with Gyawali, China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China stands ready to work with Nepal and take the BRI cooperation as an opportunity to explore building a Trans-Himalayan Multidimensional Connectivity Network. &nbsp;

In his effusive response, Gyawali said that Nepal sees in China a most important partner for sustainable development; and, it would like to further deepen the comprehensive cooperative partnership with China, enhance high-level exchange and step up BRI cooperation.

A day after that came Premier Li Keqiang’s meeting with Hasina, who also met President Xi Jinping. Both sides were emphatic in reiterating their commitment to advance cooperation on BRI. Of course, in the case of Bangladesh, BRI cooperation will be under the umbrella of the Bangladesh China India and Myanmar (BCIM) forum. Li said that the two countries should work together and build the BCIM Economic Corridor.

In effect, India would have to contend with two China-driven economic corridors: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the north-west and BCIM-EC in the north-east and east. The BCIM risks being subsumed within BRI as BCIM-EC. In effect, New Delhi has to contend with not only China’s all-weather friend in SAARC. It has to also reckon with China as the more powerful magnet in SAARC and BCIM, and members of these two groupings in BIMSTEC being locked into BRI by China. &nbsp;The BCIM-EC will be a big-ticket project of China's next only to CPEC. 
 
(Disclaimer: WION Edit is the channel's take on the big events of the world) 
&nbsp;

New Delhi’s strategy of prioritising BIMSTEC over SAARC, if only to isolate Pakistan and its China connection, has not deterred Beijing from stepping up its overtures to India’s other neighbours.

New Delhi’s strategy of prioritising BIMSTEC over SAARC, if only to isolate Pakistan and its China connection, has not deterred Beijing from stepping up its overtures to India’s other neighbours. So much so, that China’s shadow looms large over SAARC and the region. Last week, the Chinese leadership had meetings with both the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. Both Hasina and Gyawali pledged to raise bilateral relations to new heights and advance their cooperation with China on its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). After his meeting with Gyawali, China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China stands ready to work with Nepal and take the BRI cooperation as an opportunity to explore building a Trans-Himalayan Multidimensional Connectivity Network. In his effusive response, Gyawali said that Nepal sees in China a most important partner for sustainable development; and, it would like to further deepen the comprehensive cooperative partnership with China, enhance high-level exchange and step up BRI cooperation. A day after that came Premier Li Keqiang’s meeting with Hasina, who also met President Xi Jinping. Both sides were emphatic in reiterating their commitment to advance cooperation on BRI. Of course, in the case of Bangladesh, BRI cooperation will be under the umbrella of the Bangladesh China India and Myanmar (BCIM) forum. Li said that the two countries should work together and build the BCIM Economic Corridor. In effect, India would have to contend with two China-driven economic corridors: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the north-west and BCIM-EC in the north-east and east. The BCIM risks being subsumed within BRI as BCIM-EC. In effect, New Delhi has to contend with not only China’s all-weather friend in SAARC. It has to also reckon with China as the more powerful magnet in SAARC and BCIM, and members of these two groupings in BIMSTEC being locked into BRI by China. The BCIM-EC will be a big-ticket project of China's next only to CPEC. (Disclaimer: WION Edit is the channel's take on the big events of the world)

WION Edit: SAARC vs BIMSTEC vs BCIM

The membership of China's 98-year-old powerful ruling Communist Party has exceeded 90 million, the party announced in Beijing&nbsp;on Sunday.

The Communist Party of China (CPC), which remained the sole governing party of the country since it came to power in 1949, had 90.59 million members with 4.61 million primary-level party organisations as of last year, the Organisation Department of the CPC.

The party is headed by President Xi Jinping, 66, who is regarded as the most powerful leader after the party founder Mao Zedong.

Xi is expected to remain in power as the head of the party, the military and the presidency for life after China's parliament -- the National People's Congress -- last year ratified a constitutional amendment, removing the two-term limit for the president.

Besides adhering to ideology of Marxism, the CPC members are banned from following any religion. All offices, factories and business outfits are mandatorily required to have CPC branches.

In 2018, the CPC recruited nearly 2.06 million new members, 72,000 more than 2017.

Among the new members, 44.9 per cent held junior college degrees or above.

In less than 100 years, the CPC has seen its membership grow from more than 50 when it was founded in 1921, 4.49 million in 1949 when China was founded, to more than 90 million, the Xinhua report said.

Statistics show that more than 80 per cent of the existing party members joined the CPC in 1978.

The CPC also saw steady growth in the proportion of female members and those from ethnic minority groups. 
As of the end of 2018, the party had nearly 24.67 million female members, accounting for 27.2 per cent of the total membership, compared with merely 11.9 per cent in 1949.

The proportion of members from ethnic minority groups has grown from 2.5 per cent to 7.3 per cent.

The membership of China's 98-year-old powerful ruling Communist Party has exceeded 90 million, the party announced in Beijing on Sunday. The Communist Party of China (CPC), which remained the sole governing party of the country since it came to power in 1949, had 90.

The membership of China's 98-year-old powerful ruling Communist Party has exceeded 90 million, the party announced in Beijing on Sunday. The Communist Party of China (CPC), which remained the sole governing party of the country since it came to power in 1949, had 90.59 million members with 4.61 million primary-level party organisations as of last year, the Organisation Department of the CPC. The party is headed by President Xi Jinping, 66, who is regarded as the most powerful leader after the party founder Mao Zedong. Xi is expected to remain in power as the head of the party, the military and the presidency for life after China's parliament -- the National People's Congress -- last year ratified a constitutional amendment, removing the two-term limit for the president. Besides adhering to ideology of Marxism, the CPC members are banned from following any religion. All offices, factories and business outfits are mandatorily required to have CPC branches. In 2018, the CPC recruited nearly 2.06 million new members, 72,000 more than 2017. Among the new members, 44.9 per cent held junior college degrees or above. In less than 100 years, the CPC has seen its membership grow from more than 50 when it was founded in 1921, 4.49 million in 1949 when China was founded, to more than 90 million, the Xinhua report said. Statistics show that more than 80 per cent of the existing party members joined the CPC in 1978. The CPC also saw steady growth in the proportion of female members and those from ethnic minority groups. As of the end of 2018, the party had nearly 24.67 million female members, accounting for 27.2 per cent of the total membership, compared with merely 11.9 per cent in 1949. The proportion of members from ethnic minority groups has grown from 2.5 per cent to 7.3 per cent.

Membership of China's 98-year-old Communist Party exceeds 90 million

By Amitrajeet A Batabyal&nbsp;

President Donald Trump’s trade war with China is based on two basic and complementary assumptions: The US economy is strong and, perhaps more importantly, stronger than the Chinese economy.

Last summer when the war began heating up, both assumptions were certainly true. The American economy was booming, while China’s was slowing. Hence, the US was in a better position to withstand any pain in a tariff war of attrition.

But the first of those assumptions, at least, is beginning to falter as signs grow of economic weakness in the US.

As an economist who conducts research in international trade, I believe that a weaker US economy would likely affect Trump’s ability to engage in a prolonged trade war with China – no matter how much he might want to.

Signs of Weakness

The US economy has been expanding for a decade now, and no economy can continue to grow indefinitely. The May jobs report was the latest indicator that the party may be coming to an end.

The report showed that the US economy added only 75,000 jobs that month, a significantly lower number than the 224,000 jobs added in April. Even though the unemployment rate stayed at the extremely low figure of 3.6 per cent, worryingly, there was virtually no wage growth. In addition, another key metric, the so-called ISM Manufacturing Index, fell to its lowest level in Trump’s presidency in May.

And while GDP growth has remained fairly robust, there have been other harbingers of underlying weakness in recent months, including a bond market signal that a recession may be on the horizon and a broad measure of the health of the US economy that recorded its slowest increase in more than two years.

Putting this all together, it suggests a key premise behind Trump’s trade war with China may not hold up for much longer.

Trade War’s Role

One of the reasons to blame for economic sluggishness is the trade war itself and specifically Trump’s use of tariffs to prosecute it.

Contrary to what he has said in the past, elementary trade theory shows that tariffs not only hurt the intended target but the tariff-imposing nation as well. This fundamental theoretical prediction is now being borne out in practice.

For instance, a recent and ongoing study by a group of economists shows that the higher prices resulting from Trump’s tariffs on China have been paid largely by US retailers, and some of them may soon be passed on to consumers. A separate study focused on washing machines found that tariffs resulted in an average 12 per cent increase in the price of the appliance, whether it was imported or made domestically.

Then there’s the impact of the retaliatory tariffs. Studies show that the US coal, crude oil and agricultural sectors have all been detrimentally affected by Chinese tariffs imposed in response. In addition, there is a reason to believe that the slowdown in American job growth is being felt most acutely in the sectors that are most susceptible to trade tensions such as manufacturing, construction, mining and logging.

In other words, if the deleterious impacts of Trump’s trade war with China continue to be felt in an economy that is weakening, it is certainly likely that there will be much greater opposition to these tariffs from industry groups and lawmakers.

These possibilities cast serious doubt on Trump’s ability to continue – let alone achieve the concessions he might need to win – a protracted trade war with China.

Fed to the Rescue?

Trump may end up having an unexpected ally in the Federal Reserve, however.

Evidence of weakness has already ended the US central bank’s policy of monetary tightening by raising interest rates. The latest data will no doubt put considerable pressure on the Fed to actually cut rates to avoid a more sustained slowdown.

If it does, then the Fed-driven stimulation will mitigate some of the pain felt by Americans as a result of Trump’s trade war with China and allow him to continue to prosecute his trade war.

High Stakes

That being said, it is still too early to say definitively that the US economy is cooling.

And, given Trump’s unpredictability, it’s impossible to forecast what may happen no matter what. At least for now, the president appears to have no intention of backing down.

But for me, a weakening economy adds to the reasons why this trade war is not only futile but harmful. For one thing, I believe tariffs alone cannot address the underlying structural problems that afflict US-China trade.

And let’s not forget that the trade war has global repercussions. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development recently warned that an escalation of this trade war – as Trump has repeatedly threatened – will damage the rest of the world, trimming 0.7 per cent off global growth by 2021. That may not sound like much, but this trimming amounts to a whopping $600 billion in lost economic activity.

It’s a reminder that the stakes of this war are enormous.

(Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics, Rochester Institute of Technology)

(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the<a href="https://theconversation.com/could-a-weakening-us-economy-imperil-trumps-trade-war-against-china-118576"> original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

By Amitrajeet A Batabyal President Donald Trump’s trade war with China is based on two basic and complementary assumptions: The US economy is strong and, perhaps more importantly, stronger than the Chinese economy.

By Amitrajeet A Batabyal President Donald Trump’s trade war with China is based on two basic and complementary assumptions: The US economy is strong and, perhaps more importantly, stronger than the Chinese economy. Last summer when the war began heating up, both assumptions were certainly true. The American economy was booming, while China’s was slowing. Hence, the US was in a better position to withstand any pain in a tariff war of attrition. But the first of those assumptions, at least, is beginning to falter as signs grow of economic weakness in the US. As an economist who conducts research in international trade, I believe that a weaker US economy would likely affect Trump’s ability to engage in a prolonged trade war with China – no matter how much he might want to. Signs of Weakness The US economy has been expanding for a decade now, and no economy can continue to grow indefinitely. The May jobs report was the latest indicator that the party may be coming to an end. The report showed that the US economy added only 75,000 jobs that month, a significantly lower number than the 224,000 jobs added in April. Even though the unemployment rate stayed at the extremely low figure of 3.6 per cent, worryingly, there was virtually no wage growth. In addition, another key metric, the so-called ISM Manufacturing Index, fell to its lowest level in Trump’s presidency in May. And while GDP growth has remained fairly robust, there have been other harbingers of underlying weakness in recent months, including a bond market signal that a recession may be on the horizon and a broad measure of the health of the US economy that recorded its slowest increase in more than two years. Putting this all together, it suggests a key premise behind Trump’s trade war with China may not hold up for much longer. Trade War’s Role One of the reasons to blame for economic sluggishness is the trade war itself and specifically Trump’s use of tariffs to prosecute it. Contrary to what he has said in the past, elementary trade theory shows that tariffs not only hurt the intended target but the tariff-imposing nation as well. This fundamental theoretical prediction is now being borne out in practice. For instance, a recent and ongoing study by a group of economists shows that the higher prices resulting from Trump’s tariffs on China have been paid largely by US retailers, and some of them may soon be passed on to consumers. A separate study focused on washing machines found that tariffs resulted in an average 12 per cent increase in the price of the appliance, whether it was imported or made domestically. Then there’s the impact of the retaliatory tariffs. Studies show that the US coal, crude oil and agricultural sectors have all been detrimentally affected by Chinese tariffs imposed in response. In addition, there is a reason to believe that the slowdown in American job growth is being felt most acutely in the sectors that are most susceptible to trade tensions such as manufacturing, construction, mining and logging. In other words, if the deleterious impacts of Trump’s trade war with China continue to be felt in an economy that is weakening, it is certainly likely that there will be much greater opposition to these tariffs from industry groups and lawmakers. These possibilities cast serious doubt on Trump’s ability to continue – let alone achieve the concessions he might need to win – a protracted trade war with China. Fed to the Rescue? Trump may end up having an unexpected ally in the Federal Reserve, however. Evidence of weakness has already ended the US central bank’s policy of monetary tightening by raising interest rates. The latest data will no doubt put considerable pressure on the Fed to actually cut rates to avoid a more sustained slowdown. If it does, then the Fed-driven stimulation will mitigate some of the pain felt by Americans as a result of Trump’s trade war with China and allow him to continue to prosecute his trade war. High Stakes That being said, it is still too early to say definitively that the US economy is cooling. And, given Trump’s unpredictability, it’s impossible to forecast what may happen no matter what. At least for now, the president appears to have no intention of backing down. But for me, a weakening economy adds to the reasons why this trade war is not only futile but harmful. For one thing, I believe tariffs alone cannot address the underlying structural problems that afflict US-China trade. And let’s not forget that the trade war has global repercussions. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development recently warned that an escalation of this trade war – as Trump has repeatedly threatened – will damage the rest of the world, trimming 0.7 per cent off global growth by 2021. That may not sound like much, but this trimming amounts to a whopping $600 billion in lost economic activity. It’s a reminder that the stakes of this war are enormous. (Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics, Rochester Institute of Technology) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Could a weakening US economy imperil Trump’s trade war against China?

Top US lawmakers have introduced a resolution in the Senate, recognising the 30th anniversary of the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/post-tiananmen-chinese-citizens-subjected-to-new-wave-of-abuses-us-224032">Tiananmen Square massacre </a>in China and condemning the increasing repression and human rights violations by the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).

On June 4, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/taiwan-urges-china-to-repent-for-tiananmen-china-paper-says-event-is-merely-history-224036">1989, Tiananmen Square</a> in Beijing witnessed the brutal massacre of students rebelling against the CPC, demanding democracy. Thousands were believed to have been killed in the protests.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-tiananmen-square-massacre-30-years-on-224387/embed" width="560" height="350" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" autoplay=1 allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

The massive square became famous all over the world with an iconic picture of a young man standing before a row of battle tanks in a bid to stop them.

&nbsp;

Expressing sympathy with the family, friends, colleagues and classmates of the victims of the massacre, the Senate resolution, introduced Tuesday, condemns the use of violence as a means to repress the legitimate aspirations of the Chinese people to speak and associate freely, including to petition the government and challenge the policies and ideology of the CPC.

It calls on the Chinese Government to invite full and independent investigations into the Tiananmen Square massacre by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The resolution also calls on China to release all political prisoners, including prisoners held because of their participation in the Tiananmen Square protest or actions pursuing reforms called for by the individuals gathered there.

People around the world stand in solidarity with the victims and survivors of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, who stood for freedom and democracy in China thirty years ago, House Majority Leader Steny H Hoyer said on Tuesday.

"The brutal government crackdown on the Tiananmen Square and the Chinese government's subsequent efforts to hide the history of that episode, remain a powerful reminder that a billion of our fellow men and women who live in the People's Republic of China continue to be denied basic rights and freedoms and a chance to have a voice in shaping their own future," he said.

"As we mark this sombre anniversary, we do so at a time when the Chinese government continues to engage in a systematic repression of Muslims, Tibetans, other ethnic minorities and political dissidents," he added.

Hoyer said that the United States must use its relationship with China to push for the human rights and freedom of its people, "just as we did for those living behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. We must never abandon our solidarity with those who yearn for freedom," Hoyer said.

Senator Bob Menendez, who along with several other lawmakers introduced the resolution against the communist nation, said the China that challenges US today is the country that chose its path on those fateful days in June of 1989.

"Beijing's crackdown on civil society and human rights, repression of ethnic and religious minorities, including in Xinjiang, and introduction of an Orwellian system of mass surveillance is deeply concerning. Democracy will not defend itself," he said.

"The challenges of 2019 require Congress to stand up as a separate and co-equal branch of government to defend democracy. We owe those who stood in Tiananmen 30 years ago nothing less," Menendez said.

Senator Marco Rubio said that thirty years after the tragic events of Tiananmen Square, the free world is faced with an increasingly aggressive Chinese Communist government that is more repressive domestically, ignores international norms and is exports its authoritarian model globally.

Senator Ed Markey said,"thirty years ago, the brave voices of democracy were stifled by a horrific Chinese government crackdown."

"Today, we are witnessing the same brutality against religious minorities, journalists, and human rights defenders. As we recognize the importance of the US-China relationship, members of Congress have an obligation to call out the ongoing assault against human rights and liberties in China and to stand with those fighting for their basic rights and dignities," he said.

Senator Jim Inhofe said that in the past 30 years, Chinese regime has moved from slaughtering students in Tiananmen Square to incarcerating Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in concentration camps, persecuting Christians and people of other faiths, and building an invasive surveillance system to export around the world.

"Now, the Chinese Communist Party wants to expand their authoritarian model beyond their periphery. We can and must not accept this. That's why I'm working to implement the National Defense Strategy ? which emphasizes strategic competition with China. June 4 is a painful reminder of what is at stake in this competition for America's interests and values," he said.

Senator Ben Cardin said the violent crackdown on dissidents will forever be a stain on China's history, despite all attempts by the communist government to erase such memories.

"The world remembers a lone man standing in front of a tank, ready to sacrifice himself for freedom. The world will remember the cruelty and the authoritarian response to people who only wanted to have more control over their own livelihoods," he said.&nbsp;

Top US lawmakers have introduced a resolution in the Senate, recognising the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in China and condemning the increasing repression and human rights violations by the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).

Top US lawmakers have introduced a resolution in the Senate, recognising the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in China and condemning the increasing repression and human rights violations by the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC). On June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square in Beijing witnessed the brutal massacre of students rebelling against the CPC, demanding democracy. Thousands were believed to have been killed in the protests. The massive square became famous all over the world with an iconic picture of a young man standing before a row of battle tanks in a bid to stop them. Expressing sympathy with the family, friends, colleagues and classmates of the victims of the massacre, the Senate resolution, introduced Tuesday, condemns the use of violence as a means to repress the legitimate aspirations of the Chinese people to speak and associate freely, including to petition the government and challenge the policies and ideology of the CPC. It calls on the Chinese Government to invite full and independent investigations into the Tiananmen Square massacre by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The resolution also calls on China to release all political prisoners, including prisoners held because of their participation in the Tiananmen Square protest or actions pursuing reforms called for by the individuals gathered there. People around the world stand in solidarity with the victims and survivors of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, who stood for freedom and democracy in China thirty years ago, House Majority Leader Steny H Hoyer said on Tuesday. "The brutal government crackdown on the Tiananmen Square and the Chinese government's subsequent efforts to hide the history of that episode, remain a powerful reminder that a billion of our fellow men and women who live in the People's Republic of China continue to be denied basic rights and freedoms and a chance to have a voice in shaping their own future," he said. "As we mark this sombre anniversary, we do so at a time when the Chinese government continues to engage in a systematic repression of Muslims, Tibetans, other ethnic minorities and political dissidents," he added. Hoyer said that the United States must use its relationship with China to push for the human rights and freedom of its people, "just as we did for those living behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. We must never abandon our solidarity with those who yearn for freedom," Hoyer said. Senator Bob Menendez, who along with several other lawmakers introduced the resolution against the communist nation, said the China that challenges US today is the country that chose its path on those fateful days in June of 1989. "Beijing's crackdown on civil society and human rights, repression of ethnic and religious minorities, including in Xinjiang, and introduction of an Orwellian system of mass surveillance is deeply concerning. Democracy will not defend itself," he said. "The challenges of 2019 require Congress to stand up as a separate and co-equal branch of government to defend democracy. We owe those who stood in Tiananmen 30 years ago nothing less," Menendez said. Senator Marco Rubio said that thirty years after the tragic events of Tiananmen Square, the free world is faced with an increasingly aggressive Chinese Communist government that is more repressive domestically, ignores international norms and is exports its authoritarian model globally. Senator Ed Markey said,"thirty years ago, the brave voices of democracy were stifled by a horrific Chinese government crackdown." "Today, we are witnessing the same brutality against religious minorities, journalists, and human rights defenders. As we recognize the importance of the US-China relationship, members of Congress have an obligation to call out the ongoing assault against human rights and liberties in China and to stand with those fighting for their basic rights and dignities," he said. Senator Jim Inhofe said that in the past 30 years, Chinese regime has moved from slaughtering students in Tiananmen Square to incarcerating Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in concentration camps, persecuting Christians and people of other faiths, and building an invasive surveillance system to export around the world. "Now, the Chinese Communist Party wants to expand their authoritarian model beyond their periphery. We can and must not accept this. That's why I'm working to implement the National Defense Strategy ? which emphasizes strategic competition with China. June 4 is a painful reminder of what is at stake in this competition for America's interests and values," he said. Senator Ben Cardin said the violent crackdown on dissidents will forever be a stain on China's history, despite all attempts by the communist government to erase such memories. "The world remembers a lone man standing in front of a tank, ready to sacrifice himself for freedom. The world will remember the cruelty and the authoritarian response to people who only wanted to have more control over their own livelihoods," he said.

US lawmakers introduce resolution recognising Tiananmen Square massacre anniversary, condemn China's human rights violations

China's President&nbsp;Xi&nbsp;Jinping and<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-plans-5-tariff-on-mexican-imports-over-illegal-immigration-222998"> US President Donald&nbsp;Trump</a>&nbsp;are likely to find it "difficult" to&nbsp;make&nbsp;major&nbsp;progress&nbsp;towards ending their countries'&nbsp;trade&nbsp;war when they meet at a G20 summit in Japan in June, a&nbsp;former&nbsp;Chinese&nbsp;central&nbsp;bank&nbsp;chief&nbsp;said on Friday.

Trade&nbsp;tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated sharply earlier this month after the&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;administration accused&nbsp;China&nbsp;of having "reneged" on its previous promises to make structural changes to its economic practices.

Washington later slapped additional tariffs of up to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to hit back with additional levies on around $60 billion of US imports due to take effect on Saturday.

Dai&nbsp;Xianglong, who headed the People's&nbsp;Bank&nbsp;of&nbsp;China&nbsp;(PBOC) from 1995-2002 and remains an influential figure in&nbsp;China, told a seminar in Beijing that&nbsp;China-US trade&nbsp;friction was a long-term issue.

China&nbsp;has approached the&nbsp;trade&nbsp;talks with the principles of equality and cooperation, whereas the US&nbsp;approach has been "bullying and America First", Dai said.

"It's&nbsp;hard&nbsp;to reconcile these," he added.

"I expect that next month's meeting of the leaders in Japan it will be difficult to achieve major&nbsp;progress."

Dai said he did not rule out stronger retaliation by&nbsp;China.

Trump&nbsp;has said he is planning on meeting&nbsp;Xi&nbsp;during the G20 summit, set for June 28-29 in Osaka, though&nbsp;China&nbsp;has not formally confirmed this.

Since the latest round of US&nbsp;tariffs, which caught Beijing by surprise, Chinese state media has gone on the offensive.

The People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's flagship newspaper, warned this week that&nbsp;China&nbsp;was ready to use its dominance of rare earth, crucial minerals used in electronics, to strike back in the&nbsp;trade&nbsp;war.

The increasingly intense public relations battle with the United States with the deluge of sharply worded commentaries and warnings out of&nbsp;China&nbsp;in the last two weeks risks complicating the run-up to any&nbsp;Xi-Trump&nbsp;meeting in Japan.

At the Beijing seminar on Friday,&nbsp;former&nbsp;Chinese vice commerce minister Wei Jianguo said initiating a&nbsp;trade&nbsp;war with&nbsp;China&nbsp;might be the biggest strategic mistake made by the United States since World War II or even it's founding.

There is a need to prepare for the likelihood for the&nbsp;trade&nbsp;war to ratchet up tensions to geopolitical areas including the South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Sea, said Wei, adding that the&nbsp;trade&nbsp;conflict might last for 30 years or even half a century.

China's President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump are likely to find it "difficult" to make major progress towards ending their countries' trade war when they meet at a G20 summit in Japan in June, a former Chinese central bank chief said on Friday.

China's President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump are likely to find it "difficult" to make major progress towards ending their countries' trade war when they meet at a G20 summit in Japan in June, a former Chinese central bank chief said on Friday. Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated sharply earlier this month after the Trump administration accused China of having "reneged" on its previous promises to make structural changes to its economic practices. Washington later slapped additional tariffs of up to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to hit back with additional levies on around $60 billion of US imports due to take effect on Saturday. Dai Xianglong, who headed the People's Bank of China (PBOC) from 1995-2002 and remains an influential figure in China, told a seminar in Beijing that China-US trade friction was a long-term issue. China has approached the trade talks with the principles of equality and cooperation, whereas the US approach has been "bullying and America First", Dai said. "It's hard to reconcile these," he added. "I expect that next month's meeting of the leaders in Japan it will be difficult to achieve major progress." Dai said he did not rule out stronger retaliation by China. Trump has said he is planning on meeting Xi during the G20 summit, set for June 28-29 in Osaka, though China has not formally confirmed this. Since the latest round of US tariffs, which caught Beijing by surprise, Chinese state media has gone on the offensive. The People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's flagship newspaper, warned this week that China was ready to use its dominance of rare earth, crucial minerals used in electronics, to strike back in the trade war. The increasingly intense public relations battle with the United States with the deluge of sharply worded commentaries and warnings out of China in the last two weeks risks complicating the run-up to any Xi-Trump meeting in Japan. At the Beijing seminar on Friday, former Chinese vice commerce minister Wei Jianguo said initiating a trade war with China might be the biggest strategic mistake made by the United States since World War II or even it's founding. There is a need to prepare for the likelihood for the trade war to ratchet up tensions to geopolitical areas including the South China Sea, said Wei, adding that the trade conflict might last for 30 years or even half a century.

Hard for Xi, Trump to make progress on trade: Former China central bank chief

The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/need-to-take-concrete-measures-to-enhance-youth-exchanges-between-india-and-china-chinese-envoy-177767">outgoing Chinese envoy to India, Luo Zhaohui</a>, has said that he will be leaving India with a lot of fond memories.

Speaking to WION, Luo said, he is leaving with "a lot of memories, fond and friendly memories".

He said that this was not the first time he was in India, adding that he will miss the food.

"Not my first time to India, the second time to India. Will miss the food. A lot of similarities between India and China like history."

He will be going back to Bejing as he has been promoted to the rank of vice minister.

Zhaohui was Chinese envoy to India for two years and eight months. He played a key role in lowering down the heat in the aftermath of the Doklam crisis in 2017. The crisis saw a standoff between the Indian and the Chinese army on the Bhutanese territory of Doklam on which Beijing sought to build a road.

Last year's Wuhan Summit between the Indian PM and Chinese President saw a reset of ties. PM Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping met four times last year starting with Wuhan, followed by the meetings on the sidelines of the SCO, the BRICS and the G20 summit.&nbsp;

Both the leaders are likely to meet again on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan this year.

The outgoing Chinese envoy to India, Luo Zhaohui, has said that he will be leaving India with a lot of fond memories. Speaking to WION, Luo said, he is leaving with "a lot of memories, fond and friendly memories".

The outgoing Chinese envoy to India, Luo Zhaohui, has said that he will be leaving India with a lot of fond memories. Speaking to WION, Luo said, he is leaving with "a lot of memories, fond and friendly memories". He said that this was not the first time he was in India, adding that he will miss the food. "Not my first time to India, the second time to India. Will miss the food. A lot of similarities between India and China like history." He will be going back to Bejing as he has been promoted to the rank of vice minister. Zhaohui was Chinese envoy to India for two years and eight months. He played a key role in lowering down the heat in the aftermath of the Doklam crisis in 2017. The crisis saw a standoff between the Indian and the Chinese army on the Bhutanese territory of Doklam on which Beijing sought to build a road. Last year's Wuhan Summit between the Indian PM and Chinese President saw a reset of ties. PM Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping met four times last year starting with Wuhan, followed by the meetings on the sidelines of the SCO, the BRICS and the G20 summit. Both the leaders are likely to meet again on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan this year.

Leaving India with fond memories: Outgoing Chinese envoy to WION

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he received a "beautiful letter" from his <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/as-us-chinese-officials-meet-for-trade-talks-trumps-tariffs-on-china-set-to-take-effect-217361">Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping</a>, adding that he would speak to him amid <a href="https://www.wionews.com/americas/donald-trump-xi-jinping-and-trade-a-high-stakes-game-of-chicken-216697">trade tensions</a> between the world`s two largest economies.

"We were getting very close to a deal and then they started renegotiating the deal. It was their idea to come back. He just wrote me a beautiful letter. I just received it. I`ll probably speak to him by phone," Trump was quoted by USAToday as saying while speaking to reporters at the White House.

Meanwhile, officials from China and the US are participating in the 11th round of high-level economic and trade consultations in a bid to chalk out a deal to stop the trade war between the two countries.

Despite the negotiations, Trump, at times, has threatened to increase tariffs on Chinese products.&nbsp;

But, he has backed down his warning amid signs of progress towards finalising a new trade agreement.

However, Trump on Wednesday had alleged that China "broke the deal," escalating the threat of slapping a new round of tariffs on Beijing.

"You see the tariffs we`re doing? Because they broke the deal! The (Chinese) Vice Premier (Liu He) is flying in tomorrow, good man, but they broke the deal.

They can`t do that...If we don`t make the deal, nothing wrong with taking in over 100 billion a year. We never did that before," Trump had said during a rally.

In response, China threatened to take "necessary countermeasures" if the US increases tariffs on Chinese goods worth USD 200 billion from 10 per cent to 25 per cent from May 10, according to an official statement.

"China deeply regrets this, and will be forced to take necessary countermeasures if the US side puts the tariff measures into effect," Chinese state media quoted an official statement as saying.&nbsp;

They further said that escalating trade frictions are against the interests of "the two peoples as well as people of the world.

"Both the US and China are trying to negotiate a way out of the trade dispute which is ongoing since last year.

Trump met Xi on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina in December, where both the leaders agreed to hold talks and work towards a trade deal to end the tensions between the two nations.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he received a "beautiful letter" from his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, adding that he would speak to him amid trade tensions between the world`s two largest economies.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he received a "beautiful letter" from his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, adding that he would speak to him amid trade tensions between the world`s two largest economies. "We were getting very close to a deal and then they started renegotiating the deal. It was their idea to come back. He just wrote me a beautiful letter. I just received it. I`ll probably speak to him by phone," Trump was quoted by USAToday as saying while speaking to reporters at the White House. Meanwhile, officials from China and the US are participating in the 11th round of high-level economic and trade consultations in a bid to chalk out a deal to stop the trade war between the two countries. Despite the negotiations, Trump, at times, has threatened to increase tariffs on Chinese products. But, he has backed down his warning amid signs of progress towards finalising a new trade agreement. However, Trump on Wednesday had alleged that China "broke the deal," escalating the threat of slapping a new round of tariffs on Beijing. "You see the tariffs we`re doing? Because they broke the deal! The (Chinese) Vice Premier (Liu He) is flying in tomorrow, good man, but they broke the deal. They can`t do that...If we don`t make the deal, nothing wrong with taking in over 100 billion a year. We never did that before," Trump had said during a rally. In response, China threatened to take "necessary countermeasures" if the US increases tariffs on Chinese goods worth USD 200 billion from 10 per cent to 25 per cent from May 10, according to an official statement. "China deeply regrets this, and will be forced to take necessary countermeasures if the US side puts the tariff measures into effect," Chinese state media quoted an official statement as saying. They further said that escalating trade frictions are against the interests of "the two peoples as well as people of the world. "Both the US and China are trying to negotiate a way out of the trade dispute which is ongoing since last year. Trump met Xi on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina in December, where both the leaders agreed to hold talks and work towards a trade deal to end the tensions between the two nations.

Received a 'beautiful letter' from Xi, says Trump amid trade tensions

By Charles Hankla 
 
Last week President Donald Trump seemed to be on the cusp of a trade deal with China. A couple of threatening tweets later, the odds of ending the 16-month-old US-China trade war have dropped dramatically.

Whether or not American and Chinese trade negotiators ultimately salvage a deal – the US says China backpedaled on a commitment and intends to raise tariffs within days – the episode highlights drawbacks in Trump’s trade strategy, which tends to be protectionist, confrontational and negotiated one on one.

Unfortunately, Trump’s policies are only an acceleration of a trend in international trade that’s been going on for several decades. It’s a move away from multilateralism – in which many countries agree on certain trading principles – and toward bilateralism – which pits nation against nation, raising the stakes.

I am a specialist in the politics of trade. My observations lead me to believe that the increasing abandonment of multilateralism will have pernicious long-term consequences. Not only will trade become more costly for businesses and consumers, it may even make the planet a more dangerous place.

World trade – Trump style

Before we can understand what has changed, we need to revisit how trade deals have historically been done.

In the decades following World War II, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was the center of gravity for trade negotiations. While that system wasn’t perfect, most of the world’s countries could at least participate, to one degree or another, in hammering out the rules of trade.

This multilateral trading order reached its heyday in 1995, with the creation of the World Trade Organisation. But more recently, the system has weakened. Today, most of the world’s new agreements are struck between only two countries or within a single region.

Trump has shown little appetite for continuing the multilateral negotiations his predecessors were working on. He’s also hammered on regional accords, famously renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement and withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Trump’s clear preference is for bilateral deals where the US can use its market power to force concessions from its negotiating partners. But Trump has added a level of confrontation and antagonism to world trade not known in the postwar era.

For evidence, look no further than his threats to raise tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods if a deal falls through.

In essence, the United States under Trump has begun to see itself as the victim, rather than the guarantor, of the liberal trading order. This new perspective has made American negotiators more willing to extract temporary concessions from trading partners, even when these come at the cost of destabilizing the system as a whole.

Rules upon rules

One pernicious consequence of abandoning multilateralism is the mounting complexity and discriminatory nature of global trading arrangements.

In international trade, the fewer rules there are the better. One real benefit of the WTO system is that the same rules, more or less, apply to everyone.

But the world’s increasing rejection of multilateralism is creating a complex web of trade regulations that are tremendously hard to navigate. The number of preferential trade agreements jumped from just over 50 in 1990 to nearly 300 in 2010.

More deals like these mean that one set of rules is overlaid by more rules that only apply when trading with specific countries in certain goods and services. For this reason, the economist Jagdish Bhagwati has called bilateral deals “termites in the trading system.”

These “termites” and the informational burdens they create have real costs for companies and consumers, whether in Europe, Asia or the United States. And this growing complexity weakens competition by giving certain companies an edge over others based on their national origin, distorting the efficiency of global markets.

In the end, these burdens can discourage smaller companies from engaging in global commerce, make it more expensive for even the largest businesses and drive up the cost of products for consumers.

Trade conflicts

A second drawback to Trump’s approach is that it increases the risk of war, at least over the long term.

As the political economist David Lake has pointed out, one purpose of the trading system that the US helped set up after World War II was to forestall mutually antagonistic trading blocs like the ones built by Adolf Hitler or, earlier, by the European and Japanese colonial powers.

The origins of the two world wars may have been principally political, but there is little doubt that economic conflicts between blocs contributed to the military tensions.

During the postwar era, the multilateral system took a major step toward insulating trade from such international disputes and strategic competition. Outside of relations with the communist bloc, which only later participated in multilateral trade deals, there is ample reason to believe that economic interdependence helped produce the “long peace” of that period.

For this reason, we should all be worried about the wobbly state of the global trading system. Bilateral and regional deals are making it easier for large countries to use trade policy more explicitly as an arm of foreign and military policy.

Modern bilateral deals are not recreating the colonial systems of the past, but they do tend to center on major powers in what some scholars have called a “hub” and “spoke” pattern. The “hub” often enjoys significant influence over the “spoke,” and not just in commercial affairs. China’s overtures to African countries over a free trade deal, for example, are likely linked to its strategic interest in securing access to national resources.

While I’m not suggesting that these deals are likely to trigger a shooting war anytime soon, an increasingly fractured world will gradually reduce interdependence among countries – which can act as a strong incentive to avoid a fight.

If the rising number of bilateral deals become an instrument of security policy, and trade increasingly flows only to strategically friendly countries, we should all prepare for more violent conflict in the future. 
 
(Charles Hankla is Associate Professor of Political Science, Georgia State University) 
 
(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/trumps-one-on-one-approach-to-china-has-dangerous-implications-for-global-trade-and-world-peace-116505">original article)</a>

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) 
 
&nbsp;

By Charles Hankla Last week President Donald Trump seemed to be on the cusp of a trade deal with China. A couple of threatening tweets later, the odds of ending the 16-month-old US-China trade war have dropped dramatically.

By Charles Hankla Last week President Donald Trump seemed to be on the cusp of a trade deal with China. A couple of threatening tweets later, the odds of ending the 16-month-old US-China trade war have dropped dramatically. Whether or not American and Chinese trade negotiators ultimately salvage a deal – the US says China backpedaled on a commitment and intends to raise tariffs within days – the episode highlights drawbacks in Trump’s trade strategy, which tends to be protectionist, confrontational and negotiated one on one. Unfortunately, Trump’s policies are only an acceleration of a trend in international trade that’s been going on for several decades. It’s a move away from multilateralism – in which many countries agree on certain trading principles – and toward bilateralism – which pits nation against nation, raising the stakes. I am a specialist in the politics of trade. My observations lead me to believe that the increasing abandonment of multilateralism will have pernicious long-term consequences. Not only will trade become more costly for businesses and consumers, it may even make the planet a more dangerous place. World trade – Trump style Before we can understand what has changed, we need to revisit how trade deals have historically been done. In the decades following World War II, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was the center of gravity for trade negotiations. While that system wasn’t perfect, most of the world’s countries could at least participate, to one degree or another, in hammering out the rules of trade. This multilateral trading order reached its heyday in 1995, with the creation of the World Trade Organisation. But more recently, the system has weakened. Today, most of the world’s new agreements are struck between only two countries or within a single region. Trump has shown little appetite for continuing the multilateral negotiations his predecessors were working on. He’s also hammered on regional accords, famously renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement and withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Trump’s clear preference is for bilateral deals where the US can use its market power to force concessions from its negotiating partners. But Trump has added a level of confrontation and antagonism to world trade not known in the postwar era. For evidence, look no further than his threats to raise tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods if a deal falls through. In essence, the United States under Trump has begun to see itself as the victim, rather than the guarantor, of the liberal trading order. This new perspective has made American negotiators more willing to extract temporary concessions from trading partners, even when these come at the cost of destabilizing the system as a whole. Rules upon rules One pernicious consequence of abandoning multilateralism is the mounting complexity and discriminatory nature of global trading arrangements. In international trade, the fewer rules there are the better. One real benefit of the WTO system is that the same rules, more or less, apply to everyone. But the world’s increasing rejection of multilateralism is creating a complex web of trade regulations that are tremendously hard to navigate. The number of preferential trade agreements jumped from just over 50 in 1990 to nearly 300 in 2010. More deals like these mean that one set of rules is overlaid by more rules that only apply when trading with specific countries in certain goods and services. For this reason, the economist Jagdish Bhagwati has called bilateral deals “termites in the trading system.” These “termites” and the informational burdens they create have real costs for companies and consumers, whether in Europe, Asia or the United States. And this growing complexity weakens competition by giving certain companies an edge over others based on their national origin, distorting the efficiency of global markets. In the end, these burdens can discourage smaller companies from engaging in global commerce, make it more expensive for even the largest businesses and drive up the cost of products for consumers. Trade conflicts A second drawback to Trump’s approach is that it increases the risk of war, at least over the long term. As the political economist David Lake has pointed out, one purpose of the trading system that the US helped set up after World War II was to forestall mutually antagonistic trading blocs like the ones built by Adolf Hitler or, earlier, by the European and Japanese colonial powers. The origins of the two world wars may have been principally political, but there is little doubt that economic conflicts between blocs contributed to the military tensions. During the postwar era, the multilateral system took a major step toward insulating trade from such international disputes and strategic competition. Outside of relations with the communist bloc, which only later participated in multilateral trade deals, there is ample reason to believe that economic interdependence helped produce the “long peace” of that period. For this reason, we should all be worried about the wobbly state of the global trading system. Bilateral and regional deals are making it easier for large countries to use trade policy more explicitly as an arm of foreign and military policy. Modern bilateral deals are not recreating the colonial systems of the past, but they do tend to center on major powers in what some scholars have called a “hub” and “spoke” pattern. The “hub” often enjoys significant influence over the “spoke,” and not just in commercial affairs. China’s overtures to African countries over a free trade deal, for example, are likely linked to its strategic interest in securing access to national resources. While I’m not suggesting that these deals are likely to trigger a shooting war anytime soon, an increasingly fractured world will gradually reduce interdependence among countries – which can act as a strong incentive to avoid a fight. If the rising number of bilateral deals become an instrument of security policy, and trade increasingly flows only to strategically friendly countries, we should all prepare for more violent conflict in the future. (Charles Hankla is Associate Professor of Political Science, Georgia State University) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Donald Trump’s one-on-one approach to China has dangerous implications for global trade

Washington will not send officials to a Beijing summit on <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/in-nod-to-debt-concerns-china-belt-and-road-summit-to-urge-sustainable-financing-212224">Chinese President Xi Jinping's</a> signature global infrastructure project, the US embassy said amid a raft of disputes between the two powers.

Leaders from 37 countries and officials from dozens more are expected to attend the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lankan-politicians-praise-china-proposed-belt-and-road-initiative-210416">Belt and Road Forum from Thursday</a> to Saturday, but Washington has dismissed the initiative as a "vanity project".

"The United States has no plans to send officials from Washington to the Belt and Road Forum," a US embassy spokesperson said.

"We call upon all countries to ensure that their economic diplomacy initiatives adhere to internationally-accepted norms and standards, promote sustainable, inclusive development, and advance good governance and strong economic institutions," the spokesperson said.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi had told journalists at a briefing last week that American diplomats, state government representatives and members of the business community will be attending the forum.

At the first Belt and Road summit in 2017, the US was represented by White House adviser Matt Pottinger.

Since then, more countries have signed up to Belt and Road, most notably Italy, which became the first G7 nation to join the global scheme that aims to link Asia to Europe and Africa through massive investments in maritime, road and rail projects.

Washington will not send officials to a Beijing summit on Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature global infrastructure project, the US embassy said amid a raft of disputes between the two powers.

Washington will not send officials to a Beijing summit on Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature global infrastructure project, the US embassy said amid a raft of disputes between the two powers. Leaders from 37 countries and officials from dozens more are expected to attend the Belt and Road Forum from Thursday to Saturday, but Washington has dismissed the initiative as a "vanity project". "The United States has no plans to send officials from Washington to the Belt and Road Forum," a US embassy spokesperson said. "We call upon all countries to ensure that their economic diplomacy initiatives adhere to internationally-accepted norms and standards, promote sustainable, inclusive development, and advance good governance and strong economic institutions," the spokesperson said. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi had told journalists at a briefing last week that American diplomats, state government representatives and members of the business community will be attending the forum. At the first Belt and Road summit in 2017, the US was represented by White House adviser Matt Pottinger. Since then, more countries have signed up to Belt and Road, most notably Italy, which became the first G7 nation to join the global scheme that aims to link Asia to Europe and Africa through massive investments in maritime, road and rail projects.

No plans to send officials for China's Belt and Road forum: US

WION Speed News: Watch top national and international news of the morning - March 25, 2019

Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Italy, Monaco and France this week, the foreign ministry said Monday, with Rome expected to join his global trade infrastructure programme despite reservations in other European countries.

Xi will pay state visits from March 21 to March 26, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement, without providing more details about his itinerary.

An Italian official said last week that Rome would sign a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Beijing to officially support Xi's massive $1 trillion Belt and Road initiative, also known as the New Silk Road.

Beijing has financed infrastructure, maritime, rail and road projects in Asia, Africa and Europe, but critics warn that it mainly benefits Chinese firms while setting up a "debt trap" in more financially vulnerable countries.

Following Italy's announcement, French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that European Union countries should have a "coordinated approach" regarding China.

"It's a good thing that China is participating in the development of many countries, but I believe in the spirit of equality, reciprocity. The spirit of equality means respecting the sovereignty of nations," Macron said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Italy, Monaco and France this week, the foreign ministry said Monday, with Rome expected to join his global trade infrastructure programme despite reservations in other European countries.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Italy, Monaco and France this week, the foreign ministry said Monday, with Rome expected to join his global trade infrastructure programme despite reservations in other European countries. Xi will pay state visits from March 21 to March 26, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement, without providing more details about his itinerary. An Italian official said last week that Rome would sign a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Beijing to officially support Xi's massive $1 trillion Belt and Road initiative, also known as the New Silk Road. Beijing has financed infrastructure, maritime, rail and road projects in Asia, Africa and Europe, but critics warn that it mainly benefits Chinese firms while setting up a "debt trap" in more financially vulnerable countries. Following Italy's announcement, French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that European Union countries should have a "coordinated approach" regarding China. "It's a good thing that China is participating in the development of many countries, but I believe in the spirit of equality, reciprocity. The spirit of equality means respecting the sovereignty of nations," Macron said.

China's Xi to visit Italy, France as Rome joins 'New Silk Road'

This is the way the cookie crumbles. A high-stakes international thriller, expected to climax in China backing the UN move to list Masood Azhar as a terrorist, ended in a whimper with India compelled to call its diplomatic defeat a “disappointment”. This should not have happened.&nbsp;

What could have been a high point of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five years -- in the aftermath of the Pulwama suicide bombing followed by India's air strikes deep inside Pakistan – turned out to be a setback for India on the foreign front.&nbsp;

It is just as well that South Block maintained a visage of equanimity and, without naming China, made the point that “India is disappointed by this outcome”. Foreign policy observers are, however, divided on whether such a response to the outcome was appropriate and adequate. Vivek Katju, a former secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs struck, said that “India should have named China” (as the offending veto wielder among the UN Security Council's Permanent Five). Such a school of thought also includes those who feel that China should be named, shamed and “made to pay”, including with boycott of Chinese goods.&nbsp;

In contrast, Gautam Bambawale, a former High Commissioner to Pakistan who succeeded Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale as Ambassador to China, struck a pragmatic note saying that “We must continue to work with China to convince them to remove the hold” on the proposal for listing Azhar as a terrorist. Bambawale opted for understatement while summing up the denouement, “We're disappointed that China has once again for the fourth time blocked listing of Masood Azhar at UNSC under 1267 sanctions.&nbsp;

It is quite obvious that China is doing this as they have said they do not have enough information about Masood Azhar. We from India have already given more and more information. Rest of the world is convinced. So many countries, including France, the UK and the USA have backed the resolution. It is only one country, China, which is still objecting to it”. Yet he hinted that Beijing must be prepared for consequences, when he said that&nbsp;China must have factored in that there is a diplomatic cost of taking this step. If China opposes terrorism, it must allow this listing to go ahead”.&nbsp;

While Katju can be said to have spoken straight from the heart in expressing outrage against China, Bambawale wants New Delhi to make a cool appraisal and adopt a calculating approach towards China. He has seen and experienced China for 30 years, and knows that times have changed. India-China relations can no longer slide back to acrimony and finger-pointing and, accordingly, Indian diplomacy has changed its language.&nbsp;

When China thwarted India's efforts to get Azhar blacklisted in 2016, India had expressed “surprise” and “concern”. Naming China, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said: “We had expected China would have been more understanding of the danger posed to all by terrorism and would join India and others in fighting the common challenge of terrorism”. In 2017, when China again blocked a similar proposal, India did not name China, but referred to a “single country” as it has done now.&nbsp;

Sino-Indian relations were tense in 2017 and hit a low point with the Doklam stand-off. It was an uphill task to retrieve the situation and revive steps for strengthening ties, which India managed to do by adhering to the principle that differences would not be allowed to become disputes. Gradually, the strains disappeared. Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping met four times in 2018 and the Wuhan Summit became a turning point.

Gokhale managed to do a splendid job of reviving ties. He turned the relationship around not only with China, but also Nepal, which had been driven to adopt an anti-Indian stand and lean towards Beijing.

The tonal similarity in MEA's statement and that of Bambawale suggest that the latter and the&nbsp;Foreign Secretary are on the same wavelength; and remain one in striving to strengthen and deepen China-India relations. Both favour pursuing new and non-confrontational ways to not just staying engaged with China but building on the gains made so far without letting differences and deficiencies become obstacles.

At a time when the GoI is faced with the issue of how to deal with China – which is of critical importance after Pulwama, the air strikes and China's hold on blacklisting Azhar – Bambawale has come up with a map for moving forward beyond Wuhan.

Both India and China, as he observes, have to “navigate incredibly difficult waters” to get along. India’s best way forward, including on the Azhar issue, is a transactional approach to dealing with China; which will permit the listing if India can do something in return for China; and, strike a bargain.

His set of suggestions, which has attracted attention among observers of Sino-Indian ties is called the 'Pune Plan of Action on India-China Relations'. It is a path-breaking plan, which includes: continued, intense high-level political interaction; enhanced and expanded military exchanges; boosting Chinese tourism to India; promoting sale of Indian films and yoga, both of which are popular in China; drawing more Chinese students to Indian universities; creating a financial model for Chinese firms to modernise Indian railway stations; persuading China to join the International Solar Alliance; and, expanding engagement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Such a transactional approach, based solely on pursuit of mutual interests with tangible outcomes, may succeed in securing China's support for India's interests in world bodies. It would also be more rewarding than giving in to outrage, indignation and knee-jerk reactions like boycott of Chinese goods. Above all, such a course would signify that the leadership and relationship of the two countries have attained a sustainable level of strategic maturity.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

This is the way the cookie crumbles. A high-stakes international thriller, expected to climax in China backing the UN move to list Masood Azhar as a terrorist, ended in a whimper with India compelled to call its diplomatic defeat a “disappointment”.

This is the way the cookie crumbles. A high-stakes international thriller, expected to climax in China backing the UN move to list Masood Azhar as a terrorist, ended in a whimper with India compelled to call its diplomatic defeat a “disappointment”. This should not have happened. What could have been a high point of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five years -- in the aftermath of the Pulwama suicide bombing followed by India's air strikes deep inside Pakistan – turned out to be a setback for India on the foreign front. It is just as well that South Block maintained a visage of equanimity and, without naming China, made the point that “India is disappointed by this outcome”. Foreign policy observers are, however, divided on whether such a response to the outcome was appropriate and adequate. Vivek Katju, a former secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs struck, said that “India should have named China” (as the offending veto wielder among the UN Security Council's Permanent Five). Such a school of thought also includes those who feel that China should be named, shamed and “made to pay”, including with boycott of Chinese goods. In contrast, Gautam Bambawale, a former High Commissioner to Pakistan who succeeded Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale as Ambassador to China, struck a pragmatic note saying that “We must continue to work with China to convince them to remove the hold” on the proposal for listing Azhar as a terrorist. Bambawale opted for understatement while summing up the denouement, “We're disappointed that China has once again for the fourth time blocked listing of Masood Azhar at UNSC under 1267 sanctions. It is quite obvious that China is doing this as they have said they do not have enough information about Masood Azhar. We from India have already given more and more information. Rest of the world is convinced. So many countries, including France, the UK and the USA have backed the resolution. It is only one country, China, which is still objecting to it”. Yet he hinted that Beijing must be prepared for consequences, when he said that China must have factored in that there is a diplomatic cost of taking this step. If China opposes terrorism, it must allow this listing to go ahead”. While Katju can be said to have spoken straight from the heart in expressing outrage against China, Bambawale wants New Delhi to make a cool appraisal and adopt a calculating approach towards China. He has seen and experienced China for 30 years, and knows that times have changed. India-China relations can no longer slide back to acrimony and finger-pointing and, accordingly, Indian diplomacy has changed its language. When China thwarted India's efforts to get Azhar blacklisted in 2016, India had expressed “surprise” and “concern”. Naming China, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said: “We had expected China would have been more understanding of the danger posed to all by terrorism and would join India and others in fighting the common challenge of terrorism”. In 2017, when China again blocked a similar proposal, India did not name China, but referred to a “single country” as it has done now. Sino-Indian relations were tense in 2017 and hit a low point with the Doklam stand-off. It was an uphill task to retrieve the situation and revive steps for strengthening ties, which India managed to do by adhering to the principle that differences would not be allowed to become disputes. Gradually, the strains disappeared. Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping met four times in 2018 and the Wuhan Summit became a turning point. Gokhale managed to do a splendid job of reviving ties. He turned the relationship around not only with China, but also Nepal, which had been driven to adopt an anti-Indian stand and lean towards Beijing. The tonal similarity in MEA's statement and that of Bambawale suggest that the latter and the Foreign Secretary are on the same wavelength; and remain one in striving to strengthen and deepen China-India relations. Both favour pursuing new and non-confrontational ways to not just staying engaged with China but building on the gains made so far without letting differences and deficiencies become obstacles. At a time when the GoI is faced with the issue of how to deal with China – which is of critical importance after Pulwama, the air strikes and China's hold on blacklisting Azhar – Bambawale has come up with a map for moving forward beyond Wuhan. Both India and China, as he observes, have to “navigate incredibly difficult waters” to get along. India’s best way forward, including on the Azhar issue, is a transactional approach to dealing with China; which will permit the listing if India can do something in return for China; and, strike a bargain. His set of suggestions, which has attracted attention among observers of Sino-Indian ties is called the 'Pune Plan of Action on India-China Relations'. It is a path-breaking plan, which includes: continued, intense high-level political interaction; enhanced and expanded military exchanges; boosting Chinese tourism to India; promoting sale of Indian films and yoga, both of which are popular in China; drawing more Chinese students to Indian universities; creating a financial model for Chinese firms to modernise Indian railway stations; persuading China to join the International Solar Alliance; and, expanding engagement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Such a transactional approach, based solely on pursuit of mutual interests with tangible outcomes, may succeed in securing China's support for India's interests in world bodies. It would also be more rewarding than giving in to outrage, indignation and knee-jerk reactions like boycott of Chinese goods. Above all, such a course would signify that the leadership and relationship of the two countries have attained a sustainable level of strategic maturity. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Chinese 'checkers' frustrate India

Recent Chinese pressure on Myanmar to approve a controversial dam project and the arrest in recent days in Kazakhstan of a human rights activist suggest that China in a seemingly tone-deaf pursuit of its interests is forcing governments to choose between heeding increasingly anti-Chinese public sentiment and pleasing Beijing to ensure continued political and economic support.

Apparent Chinese disregard of public opinion, whether as a matter of policy or because of haphazard insensitivity, is compounded by the powering of anti-Chinese sentiment in several countries as a result of commercial terms of China-funded Belt and Road projects that favour the use of Chinese rather than local labour and materials.

The Chinese approach risks anti-Chinese sentiment meshed with social and economic discontent exploding into popular protests that could prove destabilising. It potentially could complicate Chinese efforts to ensure that the Muslim world continues to refrain from criticising China’s crackdown on Turkic Muslims in the strategic but troubled north-western province of Xinjiang.

Chinese pressure on various countries aimed at imposing its will strokes with China’s adoption of a more aggressive diplomatic posture that has seen its diplomats employ blunt, undiplomatic language and repeatedly break with diplomatic protocol.

As a result, increasing Chinese pressure on Myanmar to revive the suspended Myitsone dam project in ethnic Kachin state is putting the government between a rock and a hard place.

The government is being forced to choose between ignoring popular concerns that the dam would disrupt the traditional economy of the Kachin in a region wracked by ethnic insurgency and cost Myanmar control of the Irrawaddy River, its most important waterway, or risk the ire of China on which it depends politically and economically.

China has reportedly offered in return for the dam to support Myanmar that has been condemned by the United Nations, Western countries and some Muslim nations for its repressive campaign against the Rohingya, some 700,000 of which fled to Bangladesh in 2017.

China has invested some $15 billion in scores of projects in Myanmar

China’s state-controlled Global Times newspaper recently quoted Xiamen University Myanmar expert Fan Hongwei as saying that “the abrupt suspension of such a significant project has blurred political trust between China and Myanmar.”

Former Myanmar President Thein Sein in 2011 suspended the $3.6 billion dam project in response to a campaign that brought together conservationists, scholars, and political activists including Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Activists assert the dam, if built as previously designed, would flood 600 square kilometres of forestland in northern Kachin state and export 90 per cent of the power produced to China.

Myanmar is not the only country that has recently experienced Chinese attempts to force it to act in ways that could have unintended consequences.

Kazakh police, despite widespread public criticism of the crackdown in Xinjiang, last weekend raided the office of Atajurt Eriktileri, a group that has reportedly documented more than 10,000 cases of ethnic Kazakhs interned in China and arrested activist Serikzhan Bilash.

Activists suspect that the raid was the result of Chinese pressure aimed at squashing criticism of the crackdown in Xinjiang.

Similarly, Russian leaders are facing mounting public anger in the Lake Baikal region and the country’s Far East at their alleged connivance in perceived Chinese encroachment on the region’s natural resources including water.

A petition by prominent Russian show business personalities opposing Chinese plans to build a water bottling plant on the shores of Lake Baikal attracted more than 800,000 signatures, signalling the depth of popular resentment and pitfalls of the Russian alliance with China.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi sought to put a good face on differences with China over his country’s demand that the focus of the China Pakistan Economic Project (CPEC), a $45 billion-plus crown jewel of the Belt and Road, be shifted from infrastructure and energy to poverty alleviation, job creation and agriculture.

China has acknowledged Pakistan’s demand but suggested that the refocussing would happen in good time.

Qureishi asserted CPEC had entered its second phase but provided few details. The minister said agreements on the second phase that would involve the creation of four economic zones would be concluded at some unspecified date in the future.

China notably refrained in recent months from contributing to a financial bailout of Pakistan that was achieved instead with the help of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who have committed some $30 billion in funding and investments.

Pakistani and Chinese officials have gone out of their way in recent months to deny any dent in what they have described as an all-weather friendship.

“There is no threat to CPEC. Our government considers it a game changer,” Qureishi insisted this week.

China’s deputy chief of mission in Islamabad, Lijian Zhao, insisted in an interview last year and in a series of tweets that China “always supported &amp; stood behind @Pakistan, helping #develop it’s #infrastructure &amp; raise #living standards while creating #job.”

Ultimately, the proof will be in the pudding. Indications so far are that China is digging in its heels on the assumption that its political and economic clout will allow it to get its way. Its an approach that ignores potential black swans and does little to garner soft power. 
&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Recent Chinese pressure on Myanmar to approve a controversial dam project and the arrest in recent days in Kazakhstan of a human rights activist suggest that China in a seemingly tone-deaf pursuit of its interests is forcing governments to choose between heeding increasingly anti-Chinese public sentiment and pleasing Beijing to ensure continued political and economic support.

Recent Chinese pressure on Myanmar to approve a controversial dam project and the arrest in recent days in Kazakhstan of a human rights activist suggest that China in a seemingly tone-deaf pursuit of its interests is forcing governments to choose between heeding increasingly anti-Chinese public sentiment and pleasing Beijing to ensure continued political and economic support. Apparent Chinese disregard of public opinion, whether as a matter of policy or because of haphazard insensitivity, is compounded by the powering of anti-Chinese sentiment in several countries as a result of commercial terms of China-funded Belt and Road projects that favour the use of Chinese rather than local labour and materials. The Chinese approach risks anti-Chinese sentiment meshed with social and economic discontent exploding into popular protests that could prove destabilising. It potentially could complicate Chinese efforts to ensure that the Muslim world continues to refrain from criticising China’s crackdown on Turkic Muslims in the strategic but troubled north-western province of Xinjiang. Chinese pressure on various countries aimed at imposing its will strokes with China’s adoption of a more aggressive diplomatic posture that has seen its diplomats employ blunt, undiplomatic language and repeatedly break with diplomatic protocol. As a result, increasing Chinese pressure on Myanmar to revive the suspended Myitsone dam project in ethnic Kachin state is putting the government between a rock and a hard place. The government is being forced to choose between ignoring popular concerns that the dam would disrupt the traditional economy of the Kachin in a region wracked by ethnic insurgency and cost Myanmar control of the Irrawaddy River, its most important waterway, or risk the ire of China on which it depends politically and economically. China has reportedly offered in return for the dam to support Myanmar that has been condemned by the United Nations, Western countries and some Muslim nations for its repressive campaign against the Rohingya, some 700,000 of which fled to Bangladesh in 2017. China has invested some $15 billion in scores of projects in Myanmar China’s state-controlled Global Times newspaper recently quoted Xiamen University Myanmar expert Fan Hongwei as saying that “the abrupt suspension of such a significant project has blurred political trust between China and Myanmar.” Former Myanmar President Thein Sein in 2011 suspended the $3.6 billion dam project in response to a campaign that brought together conservationists, scholars, and political activists including Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Activists assert the dam, if built as previously designed, would flood 600 square kilometres of forestland in northern Kachin state and export 90 per cent of the power produced to China. Myanmar is not the only country that has recently experienced Chinese attempts to force it to act in ways that could have unintended consequences. Kazakh police, despite widespread public criticism of the crackdown in Xinjiang, last weekend raided the office of Atajurt Eriktileri, a group that has reportedly documented more than 10,000 cases of ethnic Kazakhs interned in China and arrested activist Serikzhan Bilash. Activists suspect that the raid was the result of Chinese pressure aimed at squashing criticism of the crackdown in Xinjiang. Similarly, Russian leaders are facing mounting public anger in the Lake Baikal region and the country’s Far East at their alleged connivance in perceived Chinese encroachment on the region’s natural resources including water. A petition by prominent Russian show business personalities opposing Chinese plans to build a water bottling plant on the shores of Lake Baikal attracted more than 800,000 signatures, signalling the depth of popular resentment and pitfalls of the Russian alliance with China. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi sought to put a good face on differences with China over his country’s demand that the focus of the China Pakistan Economic Project (CPEC), a $45 billion-plus crown jewel of the Belt and Road, be shifted from infrastructure and energy to poverty alleviation, job creation and agriculture. China has acknowledged Pakistan’s demand but suggested that the refocussing would happen in good time. Qureishi asserted CPEC had entered its second phase but provided few details. The minister said agreements on the second phase that would involve the creation of four economic zones would be concluded at some unspecified date in the future. China notably refrained in recent months from contributing to a financial bailout of Pakistan that was achieved instead with the help of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who have committed some $30 billion in funding and investments. Pakistani and Chinese officials have gone out of their way in recent months to deny any dent in what they have described as an all-weather friendship. “There is no threat to CPEC. Our government considers it a game changer,” Qureishi insisted this week. China’s deputy chief of mission in Islamabad, Lijian Zhao, insisted in an interview last year and in a series of tweets that China “always supported & stood behind @Pakistan, helping #develop it’s #infrastructure & raise #living standards while creating #job.” Ultimately, the proof will be in the pudding. Indications so far are that China is digging in its heels on the assumption that its political and economic clout will allow it to get its way. Its an approach that ignores potential black swans and does little to garner soft power. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Chinese pressure tactics put countries between a rock and a hard place

A Turkish-Chinese spat as a result of Turkish criticism of China’s crackdown on Turkic Muslims in its strategic but troubled north-western province of Xinjiang complicates efforts by Kazakhstan and other Central Asian states to at best deal quietly behind closed doors with the plight of their citizens and ethnic kin in the People’s Republic.

China’s threat that the Turkish criticism of its massive surveillance and detention campaign, involving the alleged incarceration in re-education camps of up to one million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims would have economic consequences and the temporary closure of the Chinese consulate in the Mediterranean port city of Izmir serves as warnings to others in the Muslim world what could happen if they break their silence.

The Chinese effort to get the Muslim and broader international community to maintain silence, if not acquiesce in the crackdown that constitutes the most frontal assault on Islam in recent history, was boosted when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on a visit to Beijing last month appeared to endorse Chinese policy.

Prince Salman’s endorsement of China's right to undertake "anti-terrorism" and "de-extremism" measures was widely seen as tacit support for the crackdown by the custodian of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

China has denied allegations of widespread abuse of human rights and insisted that the camps are re-education and training facilities that have stopped attacks by Islamist militants and separatists.

The Crown Prince’s remarks contrasted starkly with the characterisation last month of the crackdown by Turkey’s foreign ministry &nbsp;as an “embarrassment to humanity,” the ministry demanded that Chinese authorities respect the human rights of the Uyghurs and close what it termed “concentration camps.”&nbsp;

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called twice last week on China to make a distinction between perpetrators of political violence and innocent civilians while insisting that Turkey wished to continue cooperation with the People’s Republic.

“The fact that we have a problem with China on an issue should not necessarily hinder our cooperation on other matters,” Cavusoglu said.

Turkey is hoping that Chinese investment in nuclear, e-commerce, finance, and infrastructure will narrow its gaping trade deficit with China that last year stood at $17.8 billion.

That is not how China appeared to envision its future relationship with Turkey.

“There may be disagreements or misunderstandings between friends, but we should solve them through dialogue. Criticising your friend publicly everywhere is not a constructive approach,” said Chinese ambassador to Turkey Deng Li.

“The most important issue between countries is mutual respect. Would you stay friends if your friend criticized you publicly every day?” Deng asked.

“If you choose a non-constructive path, it will negatively affect mutual trust and understanding and will be reflected in commercial and economic relations,” Deng added.

Deng’s comments were not only designed to whip Turkey back into line but also to prevent Central Asian nations from speaking out despite mounting domestic pressure.

Deng’s comments reflected greater Chinese intolerance for criticism of its crackdown amid attempts to convince the international community by taking diplomats and journalists on carefully managed tours of Xinjiang that one participant called a “dog and pony show.”

The ambassador’s rings particularly loud in Kazakhstan whose ethnic kin constitute the second largest Muslim community in Xinjiang after the Uyghurs.

A former re-education camp employee, Sayragul Sauytbay, who fled to Kazakhstan told a Kazakh court last year that she was aware of some 7,5000 Kazakh nationals and Chinese of Kazakh descent being incarcerated.

Atajurt Eriktileri, a Kazakh group that supports relatives of people who have disappeared in Xinjiang, says it has documented more than 10,000 cases of ethnic Kazakhs interned in China. The Xinjiang Victims Database says it has collected some 3,000 testimonies of prisoners and their families, half of which are from ethnic Kazakhs.

Askar Azatbek, a former Xinjiang official who became a Kazakh citizen, went missing in December after allegedly having been kidnapped while on the Kazakh side of Khorgos, a free-trade zone on the border with China.

So has Qalymbek Shahman an ethnic Kazakh Xinjiang businessman who was refused entry into Kazakhstan, sent to Uzbekistan and disappeared in Thailand to where he was returned by Uzbek authorities. Shahman hasn’t been heard from since.

"I wanted to go to Kazakhstan because China's human rights record was making life intolerable," Shahman said in a videotape from Tashkent airport before being forced to fly to Thailand, which has a track record of complying with Chinese repatriation requests.

For now, Central Asian leaders are walking a tightrope. Officially, they insist that Xinjiang is a Chinese internal affair. At the same time, the leaders are trying to curb domestic criticism.

Serikzhan Bilash, the head of Atajurt Eriktileri, was fined in February by an Almaty court for operating an unregistered organisation.

Sauytbay has fired her lawyer after he became unreachable at key moments in her asylum application and encouraged her to not talk about it publicly. “I don’t want to talk…until I have some kind of protection. I’d prefer that protection to come from Kazakhstan, but I might need help from other countries,” Sautbay said.

Sauytbay is certain to hope that Turkey’s willingness to confront China, if maintained, makes Central Asia’s tightrope act increasingly risky, particularly in an environment in which public criticism of the crackdown, anti-Chinese sentiment and social and economic discontent are meshing.

 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

A Turkish-Chinese spat as a result of Turkish criticism of China’s crackdown on Turkic Muslims in its strategic but troubled north-western province of Xinjiang complicates efforts by Kazakhstan and other Central Asian states to at best deal quietly behind closed doors with the plight of their citizens and ethnic kin in the People’s Republic.

A Turkish-Chinese spat as a result of Turkish criticism of China’s crackdown on Turkic Muslims in its strategic but troubled north-western province of Xinjiang complicates efforts by Kazakhstan and other Central Asian states to at best deal quietly behind closed doors with the plight of their citizens and ethnic kin in the People’s Republic. China’s threat that the Turkish criticism of its massive surveillance and detention campaign, involving the alleged incarceration in re-education camps of up to one million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims would have economic consequences and the temporary closure of the Chinese consulate in the Mediterranean port city of Izmir serves as warnings to others in the Muslim world what could happen if they break their silence. The Chinese effort to get the Muslim and broader international community to maintain silence, if not acquiesce in the crackdown that constitutes the most frontal assault on Islam in recent history, was boosted when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on a visit to Beijing last month appeared to endorse Chinese policy. Prince Salman’s endorsement of China's right to undertake "anti-terrorism" and "de-extremism" measures was widely seen as tacit support for the crackdown by the custodian of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. China has denied allegations of widespread abuse of human rights and insisted that the camps are re-education and training facilities that have stopped attacks by Islamist militants and separatists. The Crown Prince’s remarks contrasted starkly with the characterisation last month of the crackdown by Turkey’s foreign ministry as an “embarrassment to humanity,” the ministry demanded that Chinese authorities respect the human rights of the Uyghurs and close what it termed “concentration camps.” Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called twice last week on China to make a distinction between perpetrators of political violence and innocent civilians while insisting that Turkey wished to continue cooperation with the People’s Republic. “The fact that we have a problem with China on an issue should not necessarily hinder our cooperation on other matters,” Cavusoglu said. Turkey is hoping that Chinese investment in nuclear, e-commerce, finance, and infrastructure will narrow its gaping trade deficit with China that last year stood at $17.8 billion. That is not how China appeared to envision its future relationship with Turkey. “There may be disagreements or misunderstandings between friends, but we should solve them through dialogue. Criticising your friend publicly everywhere is not a constructive approach,” said Chinese ambassador to Turkey Deng Li. “The most important issue between countries is mutual respect. Would you stay friends if your friend criticized you publicly every day?” Deng asked. “If you choose a non-constructive path, it will negatively affect mutual trust and understanding and will be reflected in commercial and economic relations,” Deng added. Deng’s comments were not only designed to whip Turkey back into line but also to prevent Central Asian nations from speaking out despite mounting domestic pressure. Deng’s comments reflected greater Chinese intolerance for criticism of its crackdown amid attempts to convince the international community by taking diplomats and journalists on carefully managed tours of Xinjiang that one participant called a “dog and pony show.” The ambassador’s rings particularly loud in Kazakhstan whose ethnic kin constitute the second largest Muslim community in Xinjiang after the Uyghurs. A former re-education camp employee, Sayragul Sauytbay, who fled to Kazakhstan told a Kazakh court last year that she was aware of some 7,5000 Kazakh nationals and Chinese of Kazakh descent being incarcerated. Atajurt Eriktileri, a Kazakh group that supports relatives of people who have disappeared in Xinjiang, says it has documented more than 10,000 cases of ethnic Kazakhs interned in China. The Xinjiang Victims Database says it has collected some 3,000 testimonies of prisoners and their families, half of which are from ethnic Kazakhs. Askar Azatbek, a former Xinjiang official who became a Kazakh citizen, went missing in December after allegedly having been kidnapped while on the Kazakh side of Khorgos, a free-trade zone on the border with China. So has Qalymbek Shahman an ethnic Kazakh Xinjiang businessman who was refused entry into Kazakhstan, sent to Uzbekistan and disappeared in Thailand to where he was returned by Uzbek authorities. Shahman hasn’t been heard from since. "I wanted to go to Kazakhstan because China's human rights record was making life intolerable," Shahman said in a videotape from Tashkent airport before being forced to fly to Thailand, which has a track record of complying with Chinese repatriation requests. For now, Central Asian leaders are walking a tightrope. Officially, they insist that Xinjiang is a Chinese internal affair. At the same time, the leaders are trying to curb domestic criticism. Serikzhan Bilash, the head of Atajurt Eriktileri, was fined in February by an Almaty court for operating an unregistered organisation. Sauytbay has fired her lawyer after he became unreachable at key moments in her asylum application and encouraged her to not talk about it publicly. “I don’t want to talk…until I have some kind of protection. I’d prefer that protection to come from Kazakhstan, but I might need help from other countries,” Sautbay said. Sauytbay is certain to hope that Turkey’s willingness to confront China, if maintained, makes Central Asia’s tightrope act increasingly risky, particularly in an environment in which public criticism of the crackdown, anti-Chinese sentiment and social and economic discontent are meshing. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Turkish-Chinese spat puts Asian leaders on the spot

China sees "enormous potential" in Saudi Arabia's economy and wants more high-tech cooperation, the Chinese government's top diplomat said, as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman began a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/president-xi-jinping-says-ties-with-iran-unchanged-as-saudi-crown-prince-arrives-in-china-198743">two-day trip to Beijing</a>.

The Saudi delegation, including top executives from Aramco, arrived on Thursday on an Asia tour that has already seen the kingdom pledge investment of $20 billion in Pakistan and seek additional investment in India's refining industry.

The crown prince will meet President Xi Jinping, who has made stepping up China's presence in the Middle East a key foreign policy objective, despite its traditional low-key role there.

Meeting Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, State Councillor Wang Yi said the main features of their ties were respect, understanding and support for each other, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.

"All countries in the world have the right to develop, and Saudi Arabia is an emerging market country with enormous potential," the ministry paraphrased Wang as saying.

China supports Saudi's efforts to diversify its economy and is willing to strengthen high-tech cooperation, Wang added.

Saudi Aramco, the world's top oil exporter, will sign a pact to build a refinery and petrochemical project in northeastern Liaoning province in a joint venture with China's defence conglomerate Norinco, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The investments could help Saudi Arabia regain its place as the top oil exporter to China, a position Russia has held for the last three years. Saudi Aramco is set to boost market share by signing supply deals with non-state Chinese refiners.

China has had to step carefully in relations with Riyadh, since Beijing also has close ties with Saudi regional foe Iran.

On Wednesday, Xi told the speaker of Iran's parliament that China's desire to develop close ties with Iran would stay unaltered, regardless of the global situation.

China is also wary of criticism from Muslim countries about its camps in the heavily-Muslim far western region of Xinjiang, which the government says are for de-radicalisation purposes and rights groups call internment camps.

Wang said both countries face the threats of terrorism and extremism, and should strengthen cooperation to safeguard security and stability.

China was not seeking to play politics in the Middle East, the widely-read state-run tabloid, the Global Times, said in an editorial on Friday.

"China won't be a geopolitical player in the Middle East. It has no enemies and can cooperate with all countries in the region," said the paper, published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily.

"China's increasing influence in the Middle East comes from pure friendly cooperation. Such a partnership will be welcomed by more countries in the Middle East."

China sees "enormous potential" in Saudi Arabia's economy and wants more high-tech cooperation, the Chinese government's top diplomat said, as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman began a two-day trip to Beijing.

China sees "enormous potential" in Saudi Arabia's economy and wants more high-tech cooperation, the Chinese government's top diplomat said, as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman began a two-day trip to Beijing. The Saudi delegation, including top executives from Aramco, arrived on Thursday on an Asia tour that has already seen the kingdom pledge investment of $20 billion in Pakistan and seek additional investment in India's refining industry. The crown prince will meet President Xi Jinping, who has made stepping up China's presence in the Middle East a key foreign policy objective, despite its traditional low-key role there. Meeting Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, State Councillor Wang Yi said the main features of their ties were respect, understanding and support for each other, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Thursday. "All countries in the world have the right to develop, and Saudi Arabia is an emerging market country with enormous potential," the ministry paraphrased Wang as saying. China supports Saudi's efforts to diversify its economy and is willing to strengthen high-tech cooperation, Wang added. Saudi Aramco, the world's top oil exporter, will sign a pact to build a refinery and petrochemical project in northeastern Liaoning province in a joint venture with China's defence conglomerate Norinco, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. The investments could help Saudi Arabia regain its place as the top oil exporter to China, a position Russia has held for the last three years. Saudi Aramco is set to boost market share by signing supply deals with non-state Chinese refiners. China has had to step carefully in relations with Riyadh, since Beijing also has close ties with Saudi regional foe Iran. On Wednesday, Xi told the speaker of Iran's parliament that China's desire to develop close ties with Iran would stay unaltered, regardless of the global situation. China is also wary of criticism from Muslim countries about its camps in the heavily-Muslim far western region of Xinjiang, which the government says are for de-radicalisation purposes and rights groups call internment camps. Wang said both countries face the threats of terrorism and extremism, and should strengthen cooperation to safeguard security and stability. China was not seeking to play politics in the Middle East, the widely-read state-run tabloid, the Global Times, said in an editorial on Friday. "China won't be a geopolitical player in the Middle East. It has no enemies and can cooperate with all countries in the region," said the paper, published by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily. "China's increasing influence in the Middle East comes from pure friendly cooperation. Such a partnership will be welcomed by more countries in the Middle East."

China sees 'enormous potential' in Saudi economy as crown prince visits

Dispatch: Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives in China

By Amitrajeet A Batabyal

Talks between the US and China to end the trade war appear to be in trouble with the March 2 deadline for a deal fast approaching.

In the ongoing trade talks between the US and China, a lack of trust – key to any successful negotiation – appears to be hobbling the ability to reach a deal. Hence it is not clear negotiators will be able to achieve anything substantive before they hit President Donald Trump’s deadline, triggering automatic tariff hikes if there’s no agreement.

As a trade economist, I believe the answer to the trust conundrum lies in learning from an international body the president disdains: the World Trade Organisation.

Empty words? 
 
From the American perspective, a key issue is that in the past the Chinese have made all sorts of promises to address US&nbsp;concerns that they later reneged on. Or, China has taken so long to act that when it finally did it made little difference.

Several examples of Chinese promises going unkept readily come to mind.

When China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, it was given “developing country” status. This allowed China to levy high tariffs on imports from the US&nbsp;and Europe even as it benefited from low duties on its exports.

The understanding at that time was that as its economy grew, China would gradually adopt market-based economic principles and commit itself to the basic tenets of liberalised trade and globalisation. But this has not happened.

Sometime after China joined the WTO, the country imposed a 21 per cent to 30 per cent tariff on cars. It was only this past December, and under pressure because of the current trade talks, that the Chinese finally agreed to temporarily reduce the tariff to 15 per cent. In contrast, the corresponding US tariff on Chinese auto imports has long been 2.5 per cent.

More generally, also after becoming a WTO member, China promised to open up its banking, telecommunications and electronic payment processing sectors. But action in these areas has either been non-existent or half-hearted.

Even now, the Chinese telecommunications industry remains very much under government control, and the government has effectively precluded Facebook and Google from offering their services in China.

Concerns about the reliability of the Chinese are not limited to economic and technological matters. To see this, note that on a state visit to the US in 2015, President Xi Jinping promised not to militarize the artificial islands on disputed reefs that the Chinese were building in the South China Sea.

However, we now have clear evidence that he has done exactly what he promised he would not do.

Holding China’s feet to the fire

Given all this, I believe it would be rather naïve on the part of the US to agree to any Chinese promises in the current trade talks without also building a robust enforcement mechanism into any deal.

Indeed, the negotiators themselves seem to understand this, but difficulty finding a way to enforce any agreements – both past and present – is making it harder to come to a deal. And that’s where the WTO and its enforcement mechanisms come in.

For example, China agreed to just such a mechanism with its WTO ascension. This enforcement rule permitted a nation to automatically levy tariffs on certain Chinese goods and services if that country’s domestic market was hurt by those same exports. Unfortunately, like most WTO rules, this rule had a finite life and was allowed to lapse at the end in 2013. Even though this mechanism has been infrequently used, President Barack Obama took advantage of it with some success in 2009 to impose tariffs on Chinese-made tires that were harming US manufacturers.

If such an enforcement mechanism can be built into a trade deal, then the US would not have to plead its case before some international body before it retaliated against the Chinese. Instead, when confronted with one or more broken promises, it would have the legal right to act unilaterally to hold China accountable.

That said, since the current negotiations are between two sovereign nations, the key is to devise an enforcement mechanism that is agreeable to both the US and China. Only then will a resulting trade deal be self-enforcing.

Since the US and China are both members of the WTO, another but less potent enforcement mechanism would lie in utilising its dispute settlement mechanism to address any disagreements that may arise after a deal is reached. The US has had success in the past in using this WTO mechanism as well to hold China accountable.

A deal worth the paper it’s printed on

The venerable Chinese sage Sun Tzu once said that “in the midst of chaos, there is also the opportunity.”

The US now has an opportunity to conclude a meaningful trade deal with China that also has enforcement built into it. Therefore, the American negotiators ought to seize this opportunity and ensure a deal isn’t backed primarily by Chinese promises.

Otherwise, it won’t be the last time a US president fumes about unfair Chinese trading practices.

(By Amitrajeet A Batabyal is Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics, Rochester Institute of Technology)

(This article was originally published on the Conversation. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-china-trade-talks-will-the-chinese-keep-promises-to-stop-bad-behavior-111900">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

 
&nbsp;

By Amitrajeet A Batabyal Talks between the US and China to end the trade war appear to be in trouble with the March 2 deadline for a deal fast approaching. In the ongoing trade talks between the US and China, a lack of trust – key to any successful negotiation – appears to be hobbling the ability to reach a deal.

By Amitrajeet A Batabyal Talks between the US and China to end the trade war appear to be in trouble with the March 2 deadline for a deal fast approaching. In the ongoing trade talks between the US and China, a lack of trust – key to any successful negotiation – appears to be hobbling the ability to reach a deal. Hence it is not clear negotiators will be able to achieve anything substantive before they hit President Donald Trump’s deadline, triggering automatic tariff hikes if there’s no agreement. As a trade economist, I believe the answer to the trust conundrum lies in learning from an international body the president disdains: the World Trade Organisation. Empty words? From the American perspective, a key issue is that in the past the Chinese have made all sorts of promises to address US concerns that they later reneged on. Or, China has taken so long to act that when it finally did it made little difference. Several examples of Chinese promises going unkept readily come to mind. When China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, it was given “developing country” status. This allowed China to levy high tariffs on imports from the US and Europe even as it benefited from low duties on its exports. The understanding at that time was that as its economy grew, China would gradually adopt market-based economic principles and commit itself to the basic tenets of liberalised trade and globalisation. But this has not happened. Sometime after China joined the WTO, the country imposed a 21 per cent to 30 per cent tariff on cars. It was only this past December, and under pressure because of the current trade talks, that the Chinese finally agreed to temporarily reduce the tariff to 15 per cent. In contrast, the corresponding US tariff on Chinese auto imports has long been 2.5 per cent. More generally, also after becoming a WTO member, China promised to open up its banking, telecommunications and electronic payment processing sectors. But action in these areas has either been non-existent or half-hearted. Even now, the Chinese telecommunications industry remains very much under government control, and the government has effectively precluded Facebook and Google from offering their services in China. Concerns about the reliability of the Chinese are not limited to economic and technological matters. To see this, note that on a state visit to the US in 2015, President Xi Jinping promised not to militarize the artificial islands on disputed reefs that the Chinese were building in the South China Sea. However, we now have clear evidence that he has done exactly what he promised he would not do. Holding China’s feet to the fire Given all this, I believe it would be rather naïve on the part of the US to agree to any Chinese promises in the current trade talks without also building a robust enforcement mechanism into any deal. Indeed, the negotiators themselves seem to understand this, but difficulty finding a way to enforce any agreements – both past and present – is making it harder to come to a deal. And that’s where the WTO and its enforcement mechanisms come in. For example, China agreed to just such a mechanism with its WTO ascension. This enforcement rule permitted a nation to automatically levy tariffs on certain Chinese goods and services if that country’s domestic market was hurt by those same exports. Unfortunately, like most WTO rules, this rule had a finite life and was allowed to lapse at the end in 2013. Even though this mechanism has been infrequently used, President Barack Obama took advantage of it with some success in 2009 to impose tariffs on Chinese-made tires that were harming US manufacturers. If such an enforcement mechanism can be built into a trade deal, then the US would not have to plead its case before some international body before it retaliated against the Chinese. Instead, when confronted with one or more broken promises, it would have the legal right to act unilaterally to hold China accountable. That said, since the current negotiations are between two sovereign nations, the key is to devise an enforcement mechanism that is agreeable to both the US and China. Only then will a resulting trade deal be self-enforcing. Since the US and China are both members of the WTO, another but less potent enforcement mechanism would lie in utilising its dispute settlement mechanism to address any disagreements that may arise after a deal is reached. The US has had success in the past in using this WTO mechanism as well to hold China accountable. A deal worth the paper it’s printed on The venerable Chinese sage Sun Tzu once said that “in the midst of chaos, there is also the opportunity.” The US now has an opportunity to conclude a meaningful trade deal with China that also has enforcement built into it. Therefore, the American negotiators ought to seize this opportunity and ensure a deal isn’t backed primarily by Chinese promises. Otherwise, it won’t be the last time a US president fumes about unfair Chinese trading practices. (By Amitrajeet A Batabyal is Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics, Rochester Institute of Technology) (This article was originally published on the Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

US-China trade conflict: Lack of trust hobbling the ability to reach a deal

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