The Tanzanian and Zambian president are in Beijing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC…reporst Asian Lite News
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on Wednesday jointly witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on revitalization project of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) railway, state media reported.
The Tanzanian and Zambian president are in Beijing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Xinhua reported.
The 1,860-km-long railway from Dar es Salaam in east Tanzania to New Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia. China had provided a USD 400 million interest free loan to build the railway,
The three-day (September 4-6) summit marks the ninth editon of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and is being held amidst ongoing conflicts in Africa in its neighbouring West Asia, Ukraine, and China’s growing assertiveness in the Pacific region.
As per American news outlet CNN, Chinese officials have touted the gathering as the largest diplomatic event they’ve hosted in recent years.
Xi Jinping and Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Wednesday attended a signing ceremony of cooperation documents.
As per Xinhua, Xi also today met with Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio, president of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Further, the Chinese president met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Xi held talks with Senegalese president Bassirou Diomaye Faye and stated the bilateral cooperation has yielded tangible results and benefited the people of the two countries over the past years.
Chinese state media cited Xi as saying that China is willing to work with Senegal to realize their respective modernization, and advance the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries to a new level, Xi said.
On Tuesday China and Nigeria issued a joint statement elevating their ties to a “comprehensive strategic partnership.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday held talks in Beijing ahead of the opening of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
As per a report in Al Jazeera, China’s State Council said that Tinubu expressed his hope that Nigeria would become China’s largest trade and investment partner in Africa.
The Nigerian President also welcomed Chinese companies to increase investments in the country, expand cooperation in fields such as agriculture, manufacturing and mineral energy, and help poverty reduction efforts, according to the State Council.
As per the Al Jazeera report the Chinese state-run Export-Import Bank of China is financing 85 per cent of the cost of the USD 5.8bn Mambilla hydroelectric plant, which will be the Nigeria’s biggest power plant upon its scheduled completion in 2030.
Chinese premier Li Qiang on September 3 met with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is on a State visit.
Also Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday agreed to elevate bilateral relationship between the two countries.
As per CNN, this week marks Beijing’s chance to position China as a champion of the Global South and alternative leader to the US amidst Beijing’s rising frictions with Washington.
Beijing, said the US news outlet, is also expected to push to make Africa’s market a destination for its prolific production of green tech like solar panels and electric vehicles.
In 2021, China made ambitious pledges to Africa, including a commitment to import USD 300 billion worth of goods by 2024.
The CNN pointed out that a number of leaders attending the three-yearly Forum on China and Africa Cooperation are from countries grappling with heavy international debt, including from Chinese loans, and seek more investment and trade to boost their economies.
Since 2013, Xi has made five visits to Africa, traveling to Tanzania, South Africa, the Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Senegal, Rwanda and Mauritius. Since 2023, he has hosted at least 20 African leaders in China, the country’s state media reported. (ANI)
Sheikh Mohammed highlighted the continuous growth of the UAE-China relations under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Xi Jinping…reports Asian Lite News
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, met with Chen Miner, Member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and Communist Party Secretary of Tianjin.
Welcoming Miner and his accompanying delegation, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed emphasised the deep ties and extensive cooperation between the UAE and the People’s Republic of China, spanning political, economic, cultural, and developmental fields. He underscored the shared commitment to strengthening the strategic partnership, guided by a common vision for progress and prosperity.
Sheikh Mohammed also highlighted the continuous growth of the UAE-China relations under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Xi Jinping, President of China.
Attended by H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, the meeting also explored ways to enhance bilateral cooperation, with a focus on sectors that are vital to the future aspirations of the two countries.
Key areas of discussion included ways to further consolidate trade. China is currently the UAE’s top global trading partner. Highlighting opportunities emerging from the Belt and Road Initiative, the discussions touched on the UAE’s strategic role in the initiative, reinforced by its growing status as a major regional and global trading hub. The discussions also explored ways to expand cooperation in investment, industry, technology, and clean energy, drawing on the diverse offerings of both countries.
The meeting addressed key developments across the world, particularly in the Middle East, and stressed the need to intensify efforts to restore peace and stability in the region.
The meeting was also attended by Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs; Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation; Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications; Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director-General of Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism; and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chairman of the Ports, Customs, and Free Zone Corporation.
China says its actions are “professional, restrained and appropriate”, but there is unanimous condemnation of Chinese behaviour….reports Asian Lite News
China’s twisting of the truth is becoming increasingly bizarre as it attempts to drive the Philippines out of its own exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea.
Clashes on and over this troubled sea have become more regular in the past 18 months, as Beijing ramps up its aggression.
The latest incident occurred on 31 August, when China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel ‘5205’ deliberately rammed the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel ‘9701’ several times near Sabina Shoal, 75 nautical miles from the Palawan coast. The Philippines has permanently deployed this vessel there since April, after China secretly sought to develop the shoal into an artificial island, just as it has done in other places in the South China Sea.
The presence of two tugboats of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) suggested that China might even have been seeking to tow the Philippine vessel away after immobilizing it. Such an intention was inferred on 26 August as a formidable Type 055 cruiser of the PLAN tailed a pair of small PCG boats sailing to resupply ‘9701’ at Sabina Shoal.
The two small PCG vessels found themselves surrounded by six CCG vessels and three PLAN warships. The PLAN warned them, “This is China warship. We’re taking measures to control Philippine Coast Guard ship ‘9701’, which is illegally staying in Xianbin Jiao [the Chinese name for Sabina Shoal]. You’ll not be allowed to enter Xianbin Jiao to carry out any replenishment.”
In fact, this was the fifth time in August alone that China had confronted Philippine law enforcement vessels or aircraft within the Philippines EEZ.
China’s version of events at Sabina Shoal, that the PCG boat “provoked troubles in an unprofessional and dangerous way and intentionally rammed into the CCG ship,” was far from the truth. Lyle Morris, Senior Fellow for Foreign Policy and National Security at the Asia Policy Center for China Analysis, commented, “No, this is actually the CCG deliberately ramming the PCG vessel. The CCG’s actions and behavior are a threat to the safety and security of the PCG and its crew, and should be condemned by all law-abiding nations.”
Indeed, video footage released by the PCG clearly showed that the Chinese vessel deliberately rammed the Philippine boat three times. Incidentally, a US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft was circling overhead at the time of the incident.
Liu Dejun, a CCG spokesperson, said, “The Chinese coast guard will take the measures required to resolutely thwart all acts of provocation, nuisance and infringement and resolutely safeguard the country’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”
Beijing also routinely accuses Manila of “sensationalizing the South China Sea issue and tarnishing China’s international image”. However, China is successfully damaging its own image without anyone’s assistance.
China says its actions are “professional, restrained and appropriate”, but there is unanimous condemnation of Chinese behaviour. After the latest Sabina Shoal incident, Matthew Miller, the US Department of State spokesperson, said, “The PRC’s unlawful claims of ‘territorial sovereignty’ over ocean areas where no land exists, and its increasingly aggressive actions to enforce them, threaten the freedoms of navigation and overflight of all nations.”
The same US statement reasserted that Article IV of the 1951 US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty “extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels or aircraft – including those of its coast guard – anywhere in the South China Sea”.
Shortly thereafter, Chen Xidi, a researcher at the China Institute for Marine Affairs of the Ministry of Natural Resources, contributed an opinion piece to the Chinese tabloid Global Times. He wrote that the Philippines “is continuously making unilateral provocations and intensifying disputes, trying to satisfy the demands of some countries outside the region seeking to unsettle the South China Sea and contain China, in exchange for vague and distant ‘support’, ‘aid’ and ‘guarantee’.”
Chen threatened, “Until Manila fundamentally changes its mindset of using the South China Sea issue for geopolitical speculation, China is fully prepared both psychologically and in action for any possible backtracking or provocation by the Philippines. If the Philippines attempts to move forward one step, China will firmly push it back. China will not allow the Philippines to gain any advantage.”
China’s ongoing actions and threats also make a mockery of a bilateral consultation mechanism on the South China Sea. In July, China and the Philippines agreed to a “provisional arrangement” to de-escalate the tense situation. However, as many find out, guarantees issued by China are often not worth the paper upon which they are written.
China hides behind phrases like “indisputable sovereignty” and “in accordance with the law and regulations”. However, the Permanent Court of Arbitration declared in 2016 that China’s sweeping South China Sea territorial claims had no legal basis. It is laughable that China now sometimes appeals to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and international regulations to criticize the Philippines.
Four key elements of UNCLOS are defining maritime zones (i.e. establishing rules for delimiting state maritime boundaries); balancing coastal-state rights and international freedoms; protecting the marine environment; and stabilizing through the dispute resolution process.
Peter Alan Dutton, a professor at the Stockton Centre for International Law at the US Naval War College, warned in a report for the UK-based Council on Geostrategy, “The PRC, however, is systematically and dangerously undermining each of these foundational elements, threatening to return the global maritime domain to its former state of instability.” Dutton explained: “Beijing asserts it has ancient rights to make maritime claims its own way, despite its ratification of UNCLOS in 1996, and claims domestic jurisdiction to enforce them. In doing so, it weakens the principles underpinning UNCLOS, leaving international law of the sea in danger of further unraveling.”
In terms of maritime territory, China’s ambiguous Nine-Dash Line claim in the South China Sea “is entirely divorced from the cardinal principle that the land dominates the sea,” Dutton highlighted. Its unilateral claim of 2.7 million km2 of water space has been entirely refuted under international law, and China can never overturn that 2016 decision.
Unfortunately, since then, Beijing “has escalated its use of coercion to force acceptance of its claims. The effect is to deny Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia the resource rights which international law unambiguously allocates to them.”
China has performed a number of brazen violations of international law, such as employing active sonar against Australian naval divers in November 2023. Flouting the environmental provisions of UNCLOS, China dredged up 100 square miles of healthy coral reefs too, severely damaged the underwater environment, when it built seven artificial islands from 2013-15.
UNCLOS provides a compulsory dispute resolution process and, while China accepts the
benefits of the convention, it refuses to submit to its responsibilities. This was demonstrated by officials vehemently advocating no acceptance, no participation, no recognition and no implementation of the 2016 ruling. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared the “award is null and void and has no binding force. China neither accepts nor recognizes it.”
Dutton of the US Naval War College assessed, “Until the PRC’s challenge, UNCLOS had brought decades of steadily advancing maritime order and stability because it provided a single set of rules which balanced fairly the interests of all states. But the PRC’s approach to the four foundational elements of UNCLOS has steadily gutted the universality of its provisions. As a state with substantial power and influence in the international system, the PRC is inherently, and inescapably, a rule-maker. In breaking down the careful tradeoffs in UNCLOS, the PRC creates room for others to follow its approaches and threatens to reverse historical advances in maritime order.”
In a telephonic conference, ANI asked Rear Admiral Andrew M. Sugimoto, Deputy Commander of the US Coast Guard (USCG) Pacific Area, about the best ways to counter China’s mounting aggression. He replied: “One is to demonstrate what those international rules-based orders are that are so important for us to follow, and for us to lead by example, along with our partners. It’s to point out those transgressions that occur from nations that are counter to those things, and help them understand how the rest of the world wants to operate.”
Rear Admiral Sugimoto said too, “We unequivocally condemn the ramming of vessels. The whole point of rules on the water is so that we don’t run into each other, and so this is a clear act of bullying by one individual that wants to exert its influences over another nation with complete disregard for the rules and the international law that exists.”
The USCG official noted that global consensus does matter, and that if the world continues to condemn China’s actions, then “perhaps they’ll change the way they do business”. He added: “China wants to be seen as a member of the world that has a set of rules and enforces it, but whenever they do things like ramming or water cannoning unarmed vessels, it does not appear to be so. When they uphold the rules themselves and they stand and lead by example, that’s when the rest of the world will notice that they are in fact world leaders and not bullies.”
However, this hope appears forlorn. In order to illegally grab maritime territory in the South China Sea, Beijing is willing to pay a reputational price, as the number of dangerous incidents by Chinese ships and aircraft has surged.
Rear Admiral Sugimoto, whose headquarters is in Alameda, California, said he is “grateful for the professional and truly safe way in which the Philippines has responded back to this, because it really demonstrates that this nation, the Philippines, do stand for the conduct that we all recognize is what we want in this world, and not that of the other individual that keeps bullying smaller nations”.
He said the PCG is like family to the USCG. “We’re working with the Philippine Coast Guard in a number of different ways through training, through helping them with the organization and buildout of the Philippine Coast Guard.” The USCG has transferred vessels to the Philippine Coast Guard, and helped them with operations and maintenance.
“We’re looking for whatever the Philippine Coast Guard wants us to help them with. That’s what we’re here for in training, capacity building, legal structures, building out the laws necessary to support them, maritime domain awareness, any of those things.”
Rear Admiral Sugimoto continued, “…We stand together with the Philippines and we condemn the actions of aggressive individuals that do such things as ram or try to prevent humanitarian supplies from reaching individuals resupplying their fellow citizens…” He pointed out that using water cannons to flood or sink vessels is “not what we call safe and professional operations”.
Rear Admiral Sugimoto said the USA upholds the very standards that China is flouting. “We’re a firm believer in reinforcing the right of every nation to be able to transit freely, as long as they do so in accordance with customary law and international law. It’s an important part of upholding rules-based order. Similarly…we do not aggressively harass Chinese vessels or other vessels in the world when they come north into the Arctic off of Alaska or in other places. We respect their right to transit when they want to go through the Aleutian Islands, and so we expect the same ability to do so wherever we are in international waters to be able to freely and safely navigate according to those rules that are out there.”
Sugimoto asked which international rules condone ramming as a measure for upholding international law, especially when collision regulations are designed to prevent vessels from hitting each other. He put it succinctly, “So it’s a little astounding to say that I’m going to break the law in order to uphold the law. It just doesn’t make sense, and I think most nations out there see that as unsafe and unprofessional conduct, which only highlights and further emphasizes the bullying that is going on, right?” (ANI)
The US response followed accusations from both China and the Philippines of ships ramming each other….reports Asian Lite News
Amid growing tension in the South China Sea between China and the Philippines, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller condemned China’s aggressive actions.
In a post on X, Miller stated, “The United States stands with our Philippine allies and condemns the dangerous and escalatory actions by the PRC against lawful Philippine maritime operations near Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea.”
The US response followed accusations from both China and the Philippines of ships ramming each other. On August 29, 2024, the Philippine Coast Guard reported that a Chinese vessel had “deliberately rammed” one of its ships three times near Sabina Shoal, a feature in the Spratly Islands.
The ongoing tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea have intensified recently, with both nations accusing each other of provocative actions. The dispute centres around the South China Sea’s strategic and resource-rich waters, which are claimed in part or in whole by several countries, including China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei.
Recent tensions between China and the Philippines have heightened significantly, primarily due to ongoing disputes in the South China Sea. The conflict centres around conflicting territorial claims, with China asserting dominance over almost the entire sea based on its “nine-dash line,” while the Philippines relies on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to justify its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
In July 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favour of the Philippines, invalidating China’s extensive claims, but China dismissed the decision and persisted in its activities in the disputed waters. By April 2020, reports emerged of increased harassment by Chinese vessels against Philippine fishing boats and military ships. The situation further escalated in March 2021, when the Philippines protested the presence of numerous Chinese fishing boats in the Whitsun Reef, prompting international concern over China’s aggressive maritime actions.
Tensions continued into April 2022, when a Chinese coast guard ship reportedly used water cannons against a Philippine resupply mission near Ayungin Shoal, leading to intense diplomatic exchanges. (ANI)
‘China wants Taiwan for regional hegemony’
China’s aim of annexing Taiwan is not driven by concerns for “territorial integrity” but as part of its goal to “transform the rules-based global order” and “achieve hegemony in the western Pacific region and internationally,” Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said in an interview with Taiwanese local media.
According to a report in Focus Taiwan, Lai, who was speaking in an interview on cable TV network ERATV broadcast on Sunday evening, said if China’s claims on Taiwan were really about territorial integrity, why “don’t they take back the land that was signed away and occupied by Russia in the Treaty of Aigun?”
The Taiwanese president was referring to the 1858 treaty signed by the Qing dynasty that ceded around 600,000 square kilometres of land in Manchuria to the Russian Empire.
China has laid claim to Taiwan, which it views as its own territory while the government of the self-governed island has rejected the claims.
The interview, according to Focus Taiwan, dwelled mostly on issues related to Taiwan’s sovereignty and Taiwan’s position vis-a-vis growing Chinese assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.
Lai was cited by the publication as reiterating his government’s opposition to the so-called “1992 consensus,” which the opposition Kuomintang in power at the time, has described as a tacit agreement with the Chinese Communist Party that there is only one China, with each side free to interpret what that means.
The consensus was used as a formula to facilitate talks and closer ties between Taiwan and China when the KMT was in power from 2008 to 2016, but Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has never accepted it.
Lai stated in the interview that Taiwan “absolutely cannot accept the ‘One China’ principle of the ‘1992 consensus’” because that would “be equivalent to transferring Taiwan’s sovereignty” to China.
Lai also noted Taiwan’s cooperation with various “democratic camp” alliances, such as the Quadrilateral Security Alliance (QUAD), AUKUS, and the Five Eyes Alliance that he said are “increasingly standing together.” (ANI)
State-owned Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported that a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel 5205 on Saturday repeatedly rammed into BRP-Teresa Magbanua…reports Asian Lite News
The Philippines has expressed “serious concerns” over a Chinese Coast Guard vessel “deliberately” ramming and colliding with the BRP Teresa Magbanua – the Philippine Coast Guard’s largest and most modern vessel – deployed to Escoda Shoal in the South China Sea on Saturday.
“Well, the position of the government, especially the National Maritime Council, we take this with serious concern,” Alexander Lopez, spokesperson for the Philippines’ National Maritime Council (NMC), said during a media briefing.
State-owned Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported that a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel 5205 on Saturday repeatedly rammed into BRP-Teresa Magbanua, the biggest ship of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) deployed in April to Escoda Shoal, which is about 75 nautical miles from Palawan.
It mentioned that due to the collision, BRP Teresa Magbanua sustained damage in its bridge wing and freeboard though no injuries to the crew were reported and the ship remained anchored inside the Sabina Shoal.
PNA quoted Commodore Jay Tarriela, the Philippine Coast Guard’s spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, as saying that the Chinese Coast Guard vessel carried out “dangerous manoeuver resulting to its direct ramming” into the port bow of BRP Teresa Magbanua.
“The Chinese ship turned around, then rammed the PCG vessel anew, hitting the starboard quarter. After this, it went around and then did another ramming to the PCG vessel. On the port beam of MRRV-9701, the CCG vessel 5205 once again directly and intentionally rammed the PCG vessel,” said Tarriela.
The PCG spokesperson also presented a drone shot before the media, showing that BRP Teresa Magbanua was originally surrounded by People’s Liberation Army Navy tugboats, vessels and “Chinese maritime militias”.
The latest incident has drawn sharp criticism from various countries.
“The US condemns the multiple dangerous violations of international law by the PRC, including today’s intentional ramming of the BRP Teresa Magbanua while it was conducting lawful operations within the Philippine EEZ. We stand with the Philippines in upholding international law,” US Ambassador MaryKay Loss Carlson posted on X.
Meanwhile, Beijing also accused the Philippine coast guard vessel “illegally anchoring in Xianbin Jiao” of “intentionally” ramming the “Chinese law-enforcement ship”.
Liu Dejun, a spokesperson of the China Coast Guard, said the “unprofessional and dangerous manoeuvre resulted in scrapes, with all responsibility lying with the Philippine side”, Xinhua news agency reported.
China said that it had warned the Philippine side to “face up to reality and abandon illusions”, stating that immediate withdrawal from the area is “the only correct course of action”.
India’s top diplomat said everyone chose to consciously overlook the nature of Chinese production decades ago, and are now complaining.
Calling China a ‘unique problem’, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India is not the only country in the world that is having a debate about that country.
Addressing the ET World Leaders Forum on Saturday, Jaishankar said everyone chose to consciously overlook the nature of Chinese production decades ago, and are now complaining.
“China is a unique problem because it has a unique polity and economy. It’s not just an Indian problem. If today people are complaining about trade deficits with China, it is because decades ago, we all consciously chose to overlook the nature of Chinese production and the advantages that they enjoyed in a system where they got a level playing field with all the advantages that they brought to bear,” Jaishankar said.
“There is a general China problem. We are not the only country in the world which is having a debate about China,” he strongly asserted.
Citing an example of Europe and the US, the EAM said, “Go to Europe and ask them, what is today among your major economic or national security debates? It’s about China. Look at the United States, it’s obsessed with China, and rightly so in many ways.”
Notably, in 2020, the Indian and Chinese troops clashed at Galwan, the same year the pandemic started.
Since May 2020, when the Chinese troops tried to aggressively change the status quo on LAC in eastern Ladakh, both sides have been deployed in forward positions near Patrolling Point 15, which emerged as a friction point in the wake of the Galwan clash.
Meanwhile, Jaishankar further asked, “What happens when you have multiple neighbours?”
And then, making a thinly-veiled reference to neighbouring nations of Bangladesh and Pakistan, Jaishankar termed neighbouring countries as ‘democratic polities’, saying that the change in government will always give rise to political debates in the country.
“You know, by definition, relationships with neighbours are very complicated. They are all democratic polities. Governments will change, and there will be political debates in their country. Often, we will be the centre of those debates. It’s natural as we are a big country. We have to expect, plan and build into our policy, making an expectation that there will be changes, some more organic and some more disruptive in our neighbourhood,” the minister went on to say.
Jaishankar on Friday said that India has to find a ground of mutual interest with Bangladesh and India would deal with ‘the government of the day’.
Speaking at the release of Ambassador Rajiv Sikri’s new book, “Strategic Conundrums: Reshaping India’s Foreign Policy”, the External Affairs minister said that the political changes in Bangladesh can be ‘disruptive’.
“Since Bangladesh’s independence, our relationship has gone up and down, and it is natural that we will deal with the government of the day. But we also have to recognise that there are political changes, and they can be disruptive. And clearly here we have to look for mutuality of interest,” he said.
The minister also did some plain speaking about India’s relationship with its neighbour Pakistan.
“I think the era of uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan is over. Actions have consequences. And insofar as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, I think Article 370 is done. So the, the issue today is what kind of relationship can we possibly contemplate with Pakistan?…Whether events take a positive or a negative direction, either way, we will react to it,” Jaishankar said. (ANI)
The lawmakers in their letter to the Secretary have demanded CATL to be immediately placed on the list required under Section 1260H..reports Asian Lite News
The Chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (SCCCP) John Moolenaar and US Senator Marco Rubio has demanded US Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin to place China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) under list demanding more scrutiny.
The lawmakers in their letter to the Secretary have demanded CATL to be immediately placed on the list required under Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The Section 1260H List provides transparency on Chinese military companies operating in the United States and helps Washington to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) strategy.
The SCCCP statement claimed that CATL squarely fits the requirements of 1260H as the list exposes a company that is involved in bolstering Beijing’s military ambitions and contributing to MCF while continuously also operating in the United States.
CATL is an electric vehicle battery company with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party and its armed wing, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The lawmakers emphasised that CATL is a key contributor to the PRC’s military-civil fusion policy to enhance the capabilities of China’s military.
They further wanted that reliance on CATL batteries endangers US national security by making the country dependent on the CCP for energy infrastructure and supporting a company that backs military systems that could target American troops in future conflicts.
The statement further added that the US Congress has repeatedly exposed the company’s nefarious activities in the United States and claimed that CATL’s placement on the Section 1260H List is long overdue and justified.
“CATL’s connections to the CCP, and its armed wing, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), are extensive and obvious. A Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) report quoted in the SCCCP report revealed that CATL has over time enjoyed “subsidies, tax incentives, favourable procurement deals, and additional policy benefits.” These benefits propelled CATL toward its massive 37.5 per cent share of the global electric vehicle (EV) battery market, which the company boasted about on X just last month,” the statement read.
“CATL’s central role in the CCP’s MCF strategy is further illuminated by the company’s close alignment and partnership with several companies already included on the Section 1260H List. For example, in December 2023, CATL announced a formal partnership with China Mobile, a company identified as a Chinese military company by the DoD,” the SCCCP added. (ANI)
The statement by the HRW came on the second anniversary of the release of the United Nations human rights office’s damning report on Xinjiang from August 2022…reports Asian Lite News
Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international human rights watchdog, in a recent statement lamented the Chinese government for its human rights abuses in Xinjiang, claiming that the authorities have been persistently committing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang.
The statement by the HRW came on the second anniversary of the release of the United Nations human rights office’s damning report on Xinjiang from August 2022.
While commenting on the situation, Maya Wang, the associate China director at Human Rights Watch, stated, “Beijing’s brazen refusal to meaningfully address well-documented crimes in Xinjiang is no surprise, but shows the need for a robust follow-up by the UN human rights chief and UN member states. Contrary to the Chinese government’s claims, its punitive campaign against millions of Uyghurs in Xinjiang continues to inflict great pain.”
Further, the HRW statement claimed that for over past two years, the Chinese government has dismissed all calls to end its severe repression in Xinjiang, which includes mass arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, mass surveillance, cultural and religious persecution, separation of families, forced labour, sexual violence, and violations of reproductive rights.
Thousands of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang continue to remain wrongfully imprisoned, wherein their relatives living domestically and abroad have little to no contact with their families in China. Many live with the uncertainty about whether their loved ones, sometimes dozens of their family and relatives, remain detained, imprisoned, or forcibly disappeared.
Some families do not know if their relatives who have been taken into custody are even still alive. And the ones that have been released, continue to remain subjected to strict police surveillance and further restrictions on their rights, the HRW statement claimed.
Additionally, on August 27, 2024, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, acknowledged that in Xinjiang “many problematic laws and policies remain in place,” and reported that his office continues to press the Chinese authorities to free those being held in arbitrary detention and clarify the status and whereabouts of those missing.
Turk also said that his office was “continuing to advocate for implementation” of its recommendations, even though the Chinese delegation has continued to reject all recommendations from the 2022 Xinjiang report.
Additionally, the Chinese authorities have also dismissed the report as “illegal and void” in reference to the UN Universal Periodic Review of China’s human rights record in July.
“The UN human rights commissioner has recognised that many of the ‘problematic laws and policies’ that led to the abusive crackdown against Uyghurs remain in place. Two years since the UN Human Rights Office report concluded that abuses in Xinjiang ‘may constitute crimes against humanity,’ the office needs to issue an update on the current situation in Xinjiang and present a concrete action plan for holding those responsible to account,” he added. (ANI)
“The recent CCP Third Plenum indicated that we should expect ever-deeper Chinese civil-military integration.”…reports Asian Lite News
The massive Chinese-flagged container ship manoeuvred into the American port. Suddenly, the roofs of innumerable shipping containers aboard simultaneously rose thanks to their secretive, internal hydraulics, because something even more sinister was contained within. From some containers, countless cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles blasted into the sky in plumes of flame and smoke, whilst from others drones and kamikaze loitering munitions catapulted into the air to spread further destruction against their allotted targets.
Those targets included US Navy (USN) aircraft carriers, warships and submarines moored unsuspectingly inside their nearby naval base. Other targets included adjacent airbases, army and missile facilities and command-and-control nodes. With absolutely no warning time to prepare for the onslaught, targets were hit and ships sank in frothing waters in what constituted Pearl Harbor 2.0. This scene was not occurring in just one location, but coordinated and devastating attacks were occurring all over the USA. In a single stroke, China decimated the might of the USN…
Such a scenario may sound like the stuff of fiction from a Tom Clancy novel. However, China and its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) already have many of the tools necessary to conduct this type of sudden attack.
In fact, Thomas Shugart, Adjunct Senior Fellow for the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), recently warned of such an event in a series of tweets on X (formerly Twitter). He posted, “What if I told you that, as I type this, there was a vessel, associated with the Chinese PLA, that ‘could’ be equipped with many dozens of anti-ship cruise missiles – and was parked less than 4 miles from the bulk of the US Atlantic Fleet. Well, guess what: it’s happening – for real.”
Shugart made the remark after the massive 366m-long container ship COSCO Sakura arrived in Norfolk, Virginia on August 21. Built in 2018, this vessel carrying more than 14,000 shipping containers is owned by COSCO Shipping. She was built by Jiangnan Shipyard, which also constructs PLA Navy (PLAN) warships and completed China’s newest aircraft carrier Shandong.
“COSCO Sakura’s path into Norfolk took it past Norfolk Naval Station, within only a few hundred yards of its piers, including those for nuclear submarines and near-irreplaceable aircraft carriers. Presumably it’ll depart the same way,” Shugart noted. The American academic calculated that, fully loaded, Sakura has a topmost layer of 380 containers. “If only, say 10%, of those containers were used for munitions, they could, for example, field 144 cruise missiles and 252 quadcopters, more than enough to devastate every warship at Norfolk, and able to reach land targets across the mid-Atlantic and well past DC.”
Although obviously a doomsday prediction, Shugart, a former USN submarine warfare officer, explained how it could hypothetically come to fruition since the Chinese government has entwined military and civilian capabilities via its civil-military fusion policy. “The company that owns and operates the ship, COSCO Shipping Lines Ltd, is part of the COSCO Group, a Chinese state-owned company that is one of the largest shipping companies in the world. The group works directly with the PLA on a routine basis, providing support to deployed PLA warships through the shipping line.”
Thanks to such opaque state support, Chinese companies dominate the globe’s maritime supply chain and is home to seven of the world’s ten busiest ports. With capacity doubling over the past decade, China now controls the world’s largest shipping fleet by gross tonnage, plus it produces more than 95% of shipping containers. With at least 90% of global trade traveling by sea, China is a mighty force. Last year, China completed construction of 42.3 million deadweight tons of merchant shipping, up 11.8% on the year before. This level of ship construction equaled 50.2% of global output.
A 2020 report by the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies stated, “COSCO Shipping is widely recognized as the maritime supply arm of the PLA, and has provided logistical support to the PLA Navy’s escort operations in the Gulf of Aden since 2008.”
The PLA also depends on a fleet of roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) ferries. Although “civilian” owned, they act as an auxiliary support fleet whenever the PLA needs them. Some vessels have been modified to serve as adjunct amphibious assault ships, and they regularly participate in military landing exercises. In fact, according to the 2016 National Defense Transportation Act, Shugart said, “New Chinese ships are built to national defense standards, and Chinese organizations can be required to support China’s national defense requirements.” This law covers five categories of vessel – container ships, bulk carriers, break bulk ships, Ro-Ro ferries and multipurpose vessels.
Emma Salisbury, a Seapower Research Fellow at the Council on Geostrategy in the UK, explained, “As there are no official numbers available, estimates vary wildly on how many civilian vessels could or would be made available to the PLAN during a conflict, much less how quickly they could be usefully integrated into military operations. However, some estimates contend that, if China requisitioned its entire dual-capable civilian fleet, that alone would give it more tonnage than the total American amphibious assault.”
Emphasizing the PLA’s employment of civilian vessels, a report by the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI), published in January by the US Naval War College, concluded, “As of 2023 and probably through at least 2030, the PLA’s reserve fleet of civilian ships is probably unable to provide the amphibious landing capabilities or the over-the-shore logistics in austere or challenging environments necessary to support a major cross-strait invasion of Taiwan. However, 2023 activity has demonstrated significant progress toward that end.”
Indeed, 33 civil maritime-military events occurred in China last year, of which 16 were classed as significant or major. In total, 39 Chinese civilian ships spent a combined 812 ship-days in support of PLA activities in 2023. The CMSI report also noted the first use of large deck cargo ships to support PLA exercises. “While not as capable as large, oceangoing ferries, China’s civil fleet boasts dozens of large deck cargo ships and may provide the PLA with the lift capacity necessary to eventually support a large cross-strait operation.”
The study’s author, J. Michael Dahm, further highlighted, “Of note, 2023 did see increased inter-theater coordination, including synchronized civil maritime military events across the PLA’s military theaters. Many of the ships, and presumably crews, that participated in 2023 events had not previously supported military activity, indicating the PLA may be attempting to increase the level of military experience across China’s civil fleet. The PLA continues to advance core capabilities for the large-scale lift of PLA troops and equipment into undefended, captured ports, capabilities that may be leveraged in a cross-strait invasion of Taiwan.”
Returning to the opening scenario in this article, it is clear the PLA has deliberately planned the employment of merchant shipping to support its activities. Salisbury pointed out, “Many vessels may indeed end up used for military purposes, reflecting the PRC’s broader national strategy of military-civil fusion. Certainly, the PLAN is dangerously eroding the principle of distinction that is central to the law of armed conflict, blurring the distinction between civilians and combatants, while confusing assessment of what vessel is a legitimate military target.”
China is deliberately doing this in the South China Sea, employing maritime militia and supposed “fishing boats” to prosecute territorial claims using gray-zone tactics. It engenders hesitancy in victims because they do not know who they are dealing with.
With an established track record in such subterfuges, could China take it to a new level by launching sudden missile attacks? If asked to do so, Chinese state-owned enterprises like COSCO Shipping would have little choice. Shugart pointed out “the company leadership has dual loyalty – as leaders both of the company and representatives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)”.
For instance, COSCO’s Chinese-language website declares its party group will “unswervingly adhere to the party’s leadership over state-owned enterprises”. This CCP control is evinced by the fact that commercial vessels of state-owned shipping companies, especially those traveling overseas, have a political commissar aboard. They are the second-most senior officer, and are often former PLAN members.
In another CMSI report published this month, author Conor M. Kennedy explained, “The primacy of politics in the Xi Jinping era has further highlighted the party’s role within state-run shipping and has resulted in efforts to revitalize the ship political commissar system in the largest shipping conglomerate, COSCO Shipping.” Kennedy said the system helps assert party control. “The ship political commissar has an important leadership and supporting role when ships are tasked to carry out missions of national significance or in support of the military … In some sectors, such as Ro-Ro ferry operators, the position may have a greater role in providing support to the military, perhaps through management of militia organizations.”
Some might say it is a leap for China to put missiles inside disguised shipping containers. However, it has already done so. At Airshow China in Zhuhai, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) – China’s largest missile manufacturer – exhibited a 30-foot containerized missile system in 2022.
Shugart noted, “While ostensibly for coastal defense, these systems are also advertised for their ‘capability to disguise’ themselves. The systems displayed are capable of carrying four missiles – big ones like the YJ-12 supersonic anti-ship missile and the anti-ship YJ-18, which has a land attack variant and a range of up to 540km.”
The containerized system includes an operator’s control station, power generator and launcher, meaning it does not require an external power source to operate. Potentially, they could launch from land or from aboard vessels or trucks. A CASIC spokesperson told the Global Times tabloid back in 2022, “The launch system can connect with various independent detection and command units such as early warning aircraft, maritime patrol aircraft and shore-based radars. It could receive target information from those external sources through encrypted data.”
CASIC said of the YJ-18, “The missile is designed for hidden attacks, can travel long distances, has high damage output and is easy to use.” Further, “The container-type launch system can change its firing angle at will, or even launch the missile vertically.” Like missiles, quadcopters and attack drones can also be stashed in disguised shipping containers.
Is this all too far-fetched? Shugart pointed out, “It’s worth understanding that Chinese military writings are obsessed with striking by surprise to seize the initiative, particularly against a ‘powerful enemy’, and that the best way to destroy enemy ships is in port.” Referring to his initial observations about COSCO Sakura, Shugart explained, “To be clear, I’m not saying THIS SHIP is likely to be armed or doing anything nefarious. But for the reasons above, one much like it could be at some other time, in some other place, in advance-planned Chinese military aggression.”
Pondering what should be done about such threats, Shugart recommended: “The US government already has sanctions in place against a long list of companies that support the PLA. It seems entirely reasonable that a company like COSCO could be sanctioned. Portions of it already have been, though for different reasons (e.g. shipping oil to Iran). Some might say it would cause economic disruption to ban COSCO (or other PLA-associated) ships from US ports, and that might be true. But I think we have to weigh that against the very real military risk we’re accepting (including intel collection) by routinely allowing them in.”
Shugart argued that, while the USA itself might also use transportation services of merchant shipping under its Maritime Security Program, China has taken it to a whole new level. Beijing deliberately builds commercial ships to minimum mandated specifications that permit naval use, exercises political control over them with its commissars, and employs them routinely in military exercises.
The CNAS scholar concluded, “The recent CCP Third Plenum indicated that we should expect ever-deeper Chinese civil-military integration. Perhaps we should take them at their word, and treat companies like COSCO as the adjuncts of the PLA that they increasingly seem to be.” (ANI)
UN expressed that it will be closely monitoring the current human rights situation in China…reports Asian Lite News
Ravina Shamdasani the spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday highlighted the human rights abuses persistent in China, especially in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the Tibet Autonomous Region.
The statement by Shamdasani came after a UN Human Rights team visited China in June this year. Additionally, the UN team had engaged in dialogue with the Chinese authorities, specifically addressing the counter-terrorism policies and the criminal justice system in the country.
The statement highlighted that the UN delegation during a dialogue with the Chinese authorities found out that in Xinjiang specifically, many problematic laws and policies remain in place which must be investigated and reviewed by the authorities from the human rights perspective. According to the same statement, the UN has also urged China and civil society members in the country to continue such interactions to seek tangible progress in the protection of human rights for all in China.
Additionally, the UN also expressed that it will be closely monitoring the current human rights situation in China even when difficulties are posed by limited access to information and the fear of reprisals against individuals who engage with the United Nations. The UN team during its visit to China also called on the Chinese authorities to take prompt steps to release all individuals arbitrarily deprived of their liberty and to clarify the status and whereabouts of those whose families have been seeking information about them.
The statement highlighted that the UN has always advocated for the implementation of the recommendations made by this UN team along with those made by other human rights mechanisms and during the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review process of China.
Previously, several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had slammed China for rejecting recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at UNHRC’s 56th session intended to address the severe human rights issues of the country.
Reportedly, China had ignored calls to implement UN findings and dismissed all serious criticism of its human rights record, refusing to budge on the documented plight of Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, and human rights activists.
During the 26th meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) 56th session, held in Geneva on Thursday the Chinese diplomats refused to adopt several major recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) intended to address the severe human rights issues of the country. Responding to the dismissal of the UPR recommendations, in a joint statement on behalf of 29 NGOs delivered at the Human Rights Council after China’s remarks, the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) urged China to ‘genuinely engage with the UN to enact meaningful reforms’ in line with the recommendations from the UN’s Xinjiang report, UN Treaty Bodies and UN Special Rapporteurs. (ANI)
