Earlier, WHO had dismissed the claims that virus leaked from a lab
Li said China had maintained communication with the WHO and provided the WHO mission support during their work in China concerning the origins of the virus…reports Asian Lite News
China is willing to continue working with the World Health Organization (WHO) on tracing the origin of Covid-19, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday.
Li said China had maintained communication with the WHO and provided the WHO mission support during their work in China concerning the origins of the virus, stressing that the Chinese side has acted in a fact-based manner and with an open, transparent and cooperative approach, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Meanwhile, World Health Organisation (WHO) team, investigating the origins of Covid-19 said on Tuesday that laboratory leak of the virus is “extremely unlikely.”
Addressing a press conference at the end of the joint WHO-China study, more than a year after the initial cases of Covid-19 were reported from Wuhan in China’s western Hubei province, Peter Ben Embarek, the head of the WHO mission, said more work was required to identify the source of the virus.
Liang Wannian, a member of the WHO-China joint study team, said that there is no evidence of transmission of the novel coronavirus before December 2019 in Wuhan.
The battle of systems for mastery over the Indo-Pacific will be decided during the current decade. The reality is that the PRC seems much more formidable than it actually is in operational terms, as became clear at Galwan last year, writes Prof. Madhav Nalapat
The founder of the People’s Republic of China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Mao Zedong, sought to create a New China out of the debris left behind by the decades of chaos since the close of the 19th century. To achieve that, he sought to engineer a “New Citizen”. Thus began the process in the 1950s of “dispensing with the olds to bring in the new”. Dissatisfied with the slow pace of progress of his societal reforms in a population taught from childhood to revere tradition, Mao launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in 1966.
The GPCR was technically continued until 1976, but in effect was abandoned by the close of 1971. By then, its managed dissent against much of the CCP leadership at different levels had paralysed the party apparatus and rendered it helpless in the face of Mao assisted by the military led by Defence Minister Lin Biao. The presumed heir to Mao suffered the same fate in 1971 as did the NKVD executioners of Stalin’s Red Terror in the USSR. Lin Biao “died while attempting to flee to Russia” in a commandeered aircraft. With a shattered party unable to question his moves, Mao carried out the longstanding wish of his to befriend the US as a counter to the USSR.
Mao also saw to it that the most prominent reformist still left in the CCP, Deng Xiaoping, was preserved from death or irreparable obloquy. Soon after Mao’s demise in 1976, Deng took control of the CCP and launched his production reforms in the favourable investment conditions created by the alliance with the US. Within a generation, the PRC had become a major economy that rejuvenated its once shattered agriculture and industry. Another generation later, the PRC became the other superpower soon after the reins of control were handed over to Xi Jinping in 2012.
XI JINPING’S TITANIC GAMBLE
It had been Mao’s dream since the 1930s to make his country the centre of global gravity, but it was CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping who first expressed this objective aloud. Even more telling than his words were Xi’s actions. So far as India was concerned, he made his intentions clear in 2013 by approving the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which cut through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and ended in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean through the backbone of Pakistan. From the start, the CPEC was, in essence, a security pact that created an amalgamated GHQ-PLA alliance designed to counter India within the subcontinent and beyond. In this partnership, it was the PLA that was in the driver’s seat, with the PRC paying the bills and GHQ undertaking “special projects” in India and elsewhere as part payment.
In the US, for example, the PRC and Pakistan missions have worked closely if not always visibly together, with the latter facilitating access to domestic policymakers by the former, especially in quarters where PRC diplomats are usually unwelcome. With the commissioning of the CPEC, Xi has linked the PRC to the destinies of Pakistan, as a meltdown in that country through civil disturbance or reverses on the battlefield would have a knockdown effect on the PRC itself. Given the gulf between society in Pakistan and that in China, it is a titanic gamble that General Secretary Xi has embarked upon. In that process, he appears to have dispensed with any substantive effort at crafting policy that would establish a cooperative relationship with India. There remain several policymakers in the Lutyens Zone who remain oblivious to this fact, and who comfort themselves in the honeyed words uttered by diplomats such as Wang Yi in their friendlier moments towards India.
It is a matter of astonishment that the security consequences of CPEC, especially regarding the CCP position on Kashmir, may not have been adequately factored in by several policymakers in India, perhaps as part of the hangover of the long decades of reliance on the USSR. The implicit assumption is that there is no real difference so far as India is concerned between that entity and present-day Russia. Through design and by circumstance, Presidents Putin and Xi have fashioned a military alliance that is growing stronger by the day. The implications of this are obvious, and yet appear to be disregarded in many of the still extant elements of policy. It is a relief that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Modi 2.0 is finally making headway in clearing away the underbrush of outdated concepts. The PM is replacing them with those that more closely reflect the priorities of the 21st century in the circumstances caused by the battle of systems. This is the basis of Cold War 2.0 between the US and the PRC.
Fortunately for Xi, romantics still in thrall to the pull of the “peaceful and mutually gainful co-existence” illusion abound in the US and the EU the way they do in India. Hence, the CCP’s confidence that the relationship between Washington and Delhi will never come even remotely close to that between Beijing and Moscow, but will remain a half-hearted and patchy pairing that would be of little value in a substantive crisis. Such a crisis could be caused not just by kinetic action against one or another of the two biggest democracies in the world, but through asymmetric actions such as cyberattacks on power, water and financial grids, especially in India, where awareness of such a mode of aggression is not as high as it needs to be.
HABIT OF HOPE OVER EXPERIENCE
Australia or Japan rushed to form part of a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) led by the PRC rather than await the revival (under a new name) by President Biden of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). There has been a rush towards European brand extinction through the EU signing a comprehensive trade protocol with Beijing. Such steps make clear that in policymaking, hope triumphs over experience among elites in the more advanced democracies. Whether it be the carefully choreographed rollout of a digital currency that will be anchored to Blockchain or the creation of alternative (to US-led) Eurasian land and maritime supply chains through the Belt & Road Initiative, General Secretary Xi has made no secret of his intention to position Beijing at the top of the geopolitical pole displacing Washington, before he goes into retirement.
In the case of India, it is not the sometimes soothing tones of Foreign Minister Wang Yi but the movements of the PLA that have made it transparent that the PRC (specifically the PLA) is fully backing GHQ Rawalpindi’s objective of attempting to seize control of much of the (remainder since the 1948 ceasefire) state of Jammu & Kashmir. That there will be further moves in this direction is a given. Under the circumstances, withdrawal from positions as the Kailash Heights may again be ascribed to the primacy of hope over long experience. There may of course be data in the possession of the government that may have made such a withdrawal desirable even before any PLA disengagement takes place along the entire Line of Actual Control (LAC), but from an outsider’s perspective, it is difficult to fathom what such considerations could be.
CHINA’S INDIA OBSTACLE
That Xi Jinping is fixed on achieving during his tenure as CCP General Secretary the objective of comprehensively overtaking and replacing the US in power and standing throughout the globe is now obvious, as is the methodical manner in which the General Secretary is seeking to achieve that goal. Obstacles need to be cleared up, and among the most significant is an India that exhibits strong growth and stability. Although growth has decelerated during the past few years in this country, the potential is for India to (a) become the destination of choice for investors looking for an exit from the PRC, (b) link with other Quad members and secure the Indo-Pacific as a waterway that is free and open to all countries, rather than having to go through a gatekeeper (c) put into the field fighting formations if need be in the millions on land, sea and air that can partner with others of like disposition to blunt any effort by the PRC and its allies to overawe other countries through kinetic means, and (d) combine with partner countries to ensure superiority in technology and in innovation, including those needed for the carrying out of the various types of warfare enunciated in the PLA doctrine of “all out war”.
This being the case, trusting that an unconstrained India would remain friendly or at least relatively harmless to core CCP objectives is too big a risk for those in charge at Beijing to take. Better, they feel, to sign on to the GHQ Rawalpindi strategy of promoting a societal meltdown in India through expansion of faultlines and economic slowdown through a drumbeat of asymmetric attacks in multiple sectors. These would serve to weaken both public as well as state confidence and will to resist, besides enervating the economy. The only good result from the CCP leadership viewpoint would be an India incapacitated from ever achieving anything close to its potential. At all costs and by all available means, a repeat on the part of India of the spectacular performance of the PRC during 1981-2010 needs to be prevented.
Given this, those Lutyens Zone policymakers with an optimistic perspective of the trajectory of Sino-Indian relations may be suffering from the same syndrome that began in 1951 and lasted until the final months of 1962. It is clear from his public statements that Prime Minister Narendra Modi fully understands the seriousness and nature of the threat that is being faced by India from the GHQ-PLA duo. The need now is for that consciousness of reality to filter down to policymaking levels that have too long been invested in earlier formulae geared towards appeasing Pakistan and the PRC in the expectation that such generosity will get reciprocated. It has never been, but that has not stopped those in favour of a policy of consistent appeasement from their refrain of “Peace in our time” being just around the curve. Of course, provided another concession is made to either Rawalpindi (Islamabad is inconsequential in policy towards India) or Beijing, or to both simultaneously.
BIDEN CLEAR-EYED ABOUT BEIJING
As predicted, access to information about the activities of the Sino-Russian alliance in the US (together with US-based networks associated with Pakistan) has resulted in a considerable dimming of the G-2 (US-PRC partnership) mentality that was prevalent during the initial six years of the Obama administration. A substantive pivot to the Indo-Pacific finally took place only during the final two years of President Obama’s period in office, but in the case of Biden and Harris, in less than two weeks from 20 January 2021, the new US administration pivoted to an Indo-Pacific strategy. Of course, elements within the Biden administration with a long history of lucrative contacts in the PRC have been loath to use that term, preferring to continue to describe the region in the manner favoured by Beijing, which is Asia-Pacific.
After all, come 2025 and in the eventuality of a Democratic Party defeat in the presidential polls, they may need to tap their former patrons across the Pacific once again to keep themselves in the style to which they have become accustomed. Fortunately, unlike the expectation in some of capitals that appeasers would dominate the policymaking process in Washington once President Biden got sworn in, such elements are much fewer in number and lower in influence than was earlier expected. The Secretary of State, the Defence Secretary and the National Security Advisor in particular are clear-eyed about the reality of Cold War 2.0, even though sometimes the US President himself seems to be hesitant to acknowledge this in public. This diffidence has not constrained Joe Biden from ensuring that clear signals have gone to Beijing that the 46th President of the US is resolute in confronting the most important security challenge facing his country. These included the invite given to the well-regarded Bikhim Hsiao, Taiwan’s Representative in Washington, to attend the inauguration of the President. This is the first time since 1979 that such an invitation had been given.
INDIA-TAIWAN: PARTNERSHIP IN DECOUPLING
Taiwan is equally a significant future partner for India in the development of advanced tech. R&D centres could be set up by Taiwanese tech companies in locations in India. Rather than further clog the roads of Bangalore or Delhi, what would make better sense would be to locate them in smaller towns that have the ecosystems needed to nourish Big Tech. The emerging San Joses of India need to be discovered, but they are there. Their ecosystems include quality education, restaurants, cafes and other opportunities for diversion from work, as well as engineering colleges and medical schools that could provide skilled recruits for tech enterprises relocating to India from the PRC as well as take care of health needs.
Not only Taiwan but Japan as well would be a likely entrant in such a tech relocation from the PRC to India. This is why Beijing is aware that the only country that has the capacity to absorb investment on a scale that matches the People’s Republic of China is India. And they intend to do something about it, together with “all-weather” ally GHQ Rawalpindi. Such a downsizing of India’s potential and future needs to take place before the alliance between India and the US in particular acquires dimensions such as the relocation to India of segments of the assembly lines of key weapons platforms relating to land, sea, air and space.
INDIA’S DECADE HAS ARRIVED
The battle of systems for mastery over the Indo-Pacific will be decided during the current decade. The reality is that the PRC seems much more formidable than it actually is in operational terms, as became clear at Galwan last year. Swarms of drones and robot soldiers look good on paper but have yet to prove their value in actual combat. By contrast, India has a reservoir of up to 40 million youths who can be trained in combat in eighteen months. A National Service Corps as well as much greater coverage of the National Cadet Corps would kickstart the process of training such youth, giving them experience and knowledge in a manner that reinforces their faith in the future of India. Not singly but together, the US and India possess the capability of ensuring that the waters of the Indo-Pacific remain free and open.
In times to come, those in the Biden administration who are restraining talk of a “free and open Indo-Pacific” will inevitably lose to those who are better aware of the existential nature of the struggle that is being waged with a determined foe, and of the importance of pairing with India to bring this about. Meanwhile, the Modi government has not been idle. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar in particular has almost imperceptibly fashioned defence collaboration agreements with Sri Lanka, the Maldives and now the Philippines, with more to follow. An Indo-Pacific Charter may be next, as also a Freedom Alliance that would resist efforts at seeking to appropriate any part of the global commons for the exclusive use of any single country or the grabbing of territory by force. By around 2023, the chessboard would be set and the game would begin in earnest, although limited kinetic action may take place even earlier. This would include the asymmetric warfare that the GHQ-PLA combination specialises in. This is not simply a threat but also India’s opportunity. This could be India’s time, provided correct policy choices be made.
Despite being India’s largest trade partner China has expressed its “deep concern” to the WTO over restrictions on opportunistic takeover of Indian companies, reports Asian Lite News
After the standoff and the subsequent pull back of troops along the Pangong Lake in Sikkim, Beijing now wants India to let Chinese companies to have a free run in India.
Despite being India’s largest trade partner – amounting to $77.7 billion – China has expressed its “deep concern” to the World Trade Organization over the restrictions on opportunistic takeover of Indian companies after the outbreak of the pandemic.
Terming India’s move as “inconsistent with multilateral trade rules,” Beijing has cautioned New Delhi that tight controls may affect business interests on both sides. The comments were made during a discussion on India’s trade policy at the WTO.
“We would express our deep concern on the recent revised FDI policy, namely Review of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy for curbing opportunistic takeovers/acquisitions of Indian companies due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, which applies to countries sharing land borders with India, or where the beneficial owner of an investment into India is situated in or is a citizen of any such country. Such measure is not consistent with WTO non-discrimination principle and will surely affect business interests both of India and these countries,” China said.
India took the decision to put the FDI restrictions in April after the People’s Bank of China raised its stake in the country’s largest mortgage lender, Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd, from 0.8% to 1.01% through open-market purchases in the March quarter. The move led to concerns that India’s most-valued companies could be susceptible to hostile takeovers as their market value had taken a severe hit because of Covid-related uncertainties.
China said it acknowledges India’s efforts to enhance competitiveness in manufacturing and services sectors through ‘Make In India’ and ‘Digital India’ initiatives but remains concerned that some of the measures are not consistent with WTO principles. India’s commitments, such as the tariffs on some ICT (information and communications technology) products, exceed the bound tariffs notified by India, it said.
“We are also concerned with the application of ‘national security’ to the normal trade, which led to more than 200 Chinese apps (being) banned in India. These measures have caused negative consequences for the supply chain and local consumers as well,” it added.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned hundreds of Chinese apps, slowed approvals for investments from the neighbor and called for self-reliance after a deadly clash along their disputed Himalayan border, India continues to rely heavily on Chinese-made heavy machinery, telecom equipment and home appliances. As a result, the bilateral trade gap with China was at almost $40 billion in 2020, making it India’s largest.
Total imports from China at $58.7 billion were more than India’s combined purchases from the US and the UAE, which are its second- and third-largest trade partners, respectively. Heavy machinery imports accounted for 51% of India’s purchases from its neighbor.
That said, India did manage to lower imports from its Asian neighbor amid demand disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The South Asian nation also managed to increase its exports to China by about 11% from a year ago to $19 billion last year, which makes any further worsening of ties with Beijing a threat to New Delhi’s export revenue.
As two countries with different social systems, China and the US naturally have differences and disagreements, said Foreign Minister…reports Asian Lite News
Beijing says differences and disagreements with Washington are natural as two countries have different social systems, reports Asian Lite News
Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi said that Beijing is ready to work with the US to bring bilateral relations back on the right track.
Making the remarks at a press conference, Wang said the two sides should follow through on the outcomes of the phone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart President Joe Biden on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year last month, and set bilateral relations on a new path of healthy and steady growth.
As two countries with different social systems, China and the US naturally have differences and disagreements, the Foreign Minister said.
“What matters most is to manage them effectively through candid communication to prevent strategic miscalculation and avoid conflict and confrontation,” he said.
‘Beijing hopes’
It is not surprising that there is competition between China and the US as their interests are intertwined, but the two sides should have healthy competition on the basis of fairness and equity, Wang said.
Beijing hopes that the US will meet China half way and remove all its unreasonable restrictions on bilateral cooperation as early as possible, and not create new obstacles, the State Councillor said, noting that Beijing is ready to work with Washington in fields including anti-pandemic fight, economic recovery and climate change.
Wang also said that China welcomed the US’ return to the Paris Agreement and expects that Washington will “shoulder its responsibility and make its due contribution”.
Joe Biden
“We hope that renewed China-US cooperation on climate change will bring positive ‘climate change’ to the (bilateral) relations.”
In the last two years, tensions between the world’s two largest economies escalated.
The former administration of US President Donald Trump had levied tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese goods, to which Beijing also responded with duties of its own.
China has been very aggressive, says US
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said China has been “aggressive” in the region and in some cases they have been “coercive.”
“China has been busy modernizing its military and developing capabilities and trying to close the competitive edge that we have always enjoyed,” Austin told ABC News on a talk show.
“They have also been very aggressive in the region. In some cases, they have been coercive. And some of that coercion has been directed against our allies. And our allies are very important to us,” he said, referring to Beijing’s disputes with its neighbours.
China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims.
China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are also vital to global trade.
President Joe Biden in his foreign policy address had described China as the “most serious competitor” to the US and vowed to confront Beijing on various fronts, including human rights, intellectual property and economic policy.
Beijing says the boundary dispute, an issue left from history, was not the whole story of the China-India relationship, reports Aarti Tikoo Singh
China talked of peace, partnership and prosperity with India, insisting that it is committed to settling the boundary dispute with New Delhi through dialogue and consultations.
After troops of both countries disengaged along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh last month, New Delhi had warned Beijing over a week ago that it was not in the interest of either side to prolong the remaining boundary issues.
At his annual press meet, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the right and wrongs of what happened in the border area last year are clear, so are the stakes involved. “It again proves initiating confrontation will not solve the problem. Returning to peaceful negotiation is the right way forward,” he said.
XI CHINA
China’s position, he said, is very clear. “We are committed to settling the boundary dispute through dialogue and consultations,” he said, adding that at the same time the Xi Jinping regime has resolved to safeguard its sovereign rights and interest.
The foreign minister said, “China and India are each other’s friends and partners and not threats and rivals. Both need to help each other succeed instead of undercutting each other, we should intensify cooperation instead of harboring suspicion over each other.”
The boundary dispute, an issue left from history, is not the whole story of the China-India relationship, he said. “It is important that the two sides manage the dispute properly and at the same time expand and enhance cooperation to create enabling conditions for settlement of the issue.”
Following the disengagement along the LAC in Pangong Tso area, there has been no progress over other disputes in Gogra-Hot Springs area, Demchok and Depsang plains.
However, Wang said it falls on both sides to solidify existing consensus, strengthen dialogue and communication and improve the various management mechanisms to jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border areas.
In the year ahead, he said, Beijing hoped that India will work with China to truly deliver on important common understanding of the leaders of the two countries that India and China are not threats to each other but opportunities to each other’s development.
Together, the Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi governments can bring greater benefit to the people of China and India, and make greater contribution to efforts for an Asian century, the Chinese Foreign Minister said.
The China-India relationship, he argued, is essentially about how the world’s two largest developing countries get along and pursue development and rejuvenation together, he said that. “As two ancient civilisations next door, and two major emerging economies each with over one billion people, China and India have broad common interests and tremendous potential for cooperation,” Wang pointed out.
Domestically, he said, both countries face historical mission accelerating growth. And internationally, he said, the world expects both the countries to safeguard the common interests of developing countries and advance multi-polarity in the world. “Our positions are the same or close due to similar national realities,” he said.
The US, the 24-page document said, must also contend with the reality that the distribution of power across the world is changing, creating new threats. “China, in particular, has rapidly become more assertive…reports Asian Lite News
In line with the previous government’s China policy, the Biden administration has announced that the US will support China’s neighbours, Taiwan and human rights in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.
The interim US national security strategic guidance signed by President Joe Biden, which was released on Wednesday said that today, more than ever, America’s fate is inextricably linked to events beyond its shores where it faces a world of rising nationalism, receding democracy, growing rivalry with China, Russia, and other authoritarian states, and a technological revolution that is reshaping every aspect of life.
The US, the 24-page document said, must also contend with the reality that the distribution of power across the world is changing, creating new threats. “China, in particular, has rapidly become more assertive. It is the only competitor potentially capable of combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to mount a sustained challenge to a stable and open international system.”
XI CHINA
Russia, it said, remains determined to enhance its global influence and play a disruptive role on the world stage. Both Beijing and Moscow have invested heavily in efforts meant to check US strengths and prevent the US from defending its interests and allies around the world. Regional actors like Iran and North Korea continue to pursue game-changing capabilities and technologies, while threatening US allies and partners and challenging regional stability.
Beijing’s agressive behaviour
The Biden administration in its vision document said that in many areas, China’s leaders seek unfair advantages, behave aggressively and coercively, and undermine the rules and values at the heart of an open and stable international system.
“When the Chinese government’s behaviour directly threatens our interests and values, we will answer Beijing’s challenge. We will confront unfair and illegal trade practices, cyber theft, and coercive economic practices that hurt American workers, undercut our advanced and emerging technologies, and seek to erode our strategic advantage and national competitiveness.”
The US, it said, will ensure that its supply chains for critical national security technologies and medical supplies are secure. The Biden government will continue to defend access to the global commons, including freedom of navigation and overflight rights, under international law.
“We will position ourselves, diplomatically and militarily, to defend our allies,” the Biden government said adding that it will support China’s neighbours and commercial partners in defending their rights to make independent political choices free of coercion or undue foreign influence. It will also promote locally-led development to combat the manipulation of local priorities.
“We will support Taiwan, a leading democracy and a critical economic and security partner, in line with longstanding American commitments. We will ensure that US companies do not sacrifice American values in doing business in China. And we will stand up for democracy, human rights, and human dignity, including in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet. On all these issues, we will work to forge a common approach with like- minded countries.”
This work is urgent, the government said, arguing that the alliances, institutions, agreements, and norms underwriting the international order the US helped to establish are being tested. Amid rapid change and mounting crisis, the system’s flaws and inequities have become apparent, and gridlock and inter-state rivalry have caused many around the world-including many Americans-to question its continued relevance.
“The US cannot return to business as usual, and the past order cannot simply be restored,” the Biden administration said.
“Our democratic alliances,” the US government said, “enable us to present a common front, produce a unified vision, and pool our strength to promote high standards, establish effective international rules, and hold countries like China to account.”
That is why the US will reaffirm, invest in, and modernise the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and our alliances with Australia, Japan, and the Republic of Korea – which, along with our other global alliances and partnerships, are America’s greatest strategic asset, the document said.
Is it a new tactics or they are serious with India to finding solutions for global issues like post-Covid economy and environment. Beijing backs New Delhi to host this year’s summit, but no clarity if Xi Jinping would attend the summit expected to be held later this year, reports Asian Lite News
https://youtu.be/w76SmdFZnGc
China has expressed its support for India in hosting this year’s BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) summit and said it will work with New Delhi to strengthen the cooperation among the five-member grouping of emerging economies.
India has assumed the BRICS Chairmanship for 2021 and is set to hold this year’s summit.
On February 19, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar launched India’s BRICS 2021 website at the BRICS Secretariat at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan in New Delhi.
Asked about India assuming the BRICS Chairmanship this year, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing that Beijing backs New Delhi in hosting the summit.
“The BRICS, consisting of emerging markets and developing countries, is a cooperation mechanism with global influence. In recent years, with growing cohesion, stronger practical cooperation and rising influence, BRICS has become a constructive force for stability in international affairs. China attaches high importance to the BRICS cooperation mechanism.
XI CHINA
It stays committed to consolidating BRICS strategic partnership and the positive momentum in BRICS solidarity and cooperation. We support India in hosting this year’s BRICS meetings and stand ready to work together with it and other members to strengthen communication and cooperation in various fields, advance the three-pillar-driven cooperation in economic, political and cultural sectors, and expand ‘BRICS Plus” cooperation to realise solid, sound and sustained progress in BRICS cooperation and to contribute to the international community’s efforts to defeat COVID-19, resume economic growth and improve global governance,” Wang said.
Wang, however, did not specify whether Chinese President Xi Jinping would attend the summit expected to be held later this year.
Xi has attended all the annual summits of the five-member bloc in the past, including the one last year hosted via video link by Russia in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi took part.
PM Modi travelled to the Chinese city of Xiamen in 2017 for the BRICS summit after India and China resolved the 73-day standoff at Doklam.
Observers don’t rule out the chances of Xi’s travel to India if this year’s BRICS conference is held in person doing away with the virtual concept provided the Covid-19 is contained by the time of summit dates.
China’s announcement backing India to host the BRICS summit came as the armies of the two countries began disengagement of troops locked in over eight-month-long standoff in eastern Ladakh.
Both countries have reached a mutual agreement for disengagement of troops from the most contentious area of North and South Pangong Lake.
Military commanders of both the armies held the 10th round of talks on the Chinese side of the Moldo/Chushul border meeting point on February 20.
A joint statement issued at the end of a lengthy round of talks said the two sides positively appraised the smooth completion of disengagement of frontline troops in the Pangong Lake area, noting that it was a significant step forward that provided a good basis for resolution of other remaining issues along the LAC in the Western Sector.
The Chinese care more about their global strategy than the fight against Covid. They are using all tactics to win their goals in Europe. Estonia’s top foreign intelligence service believes that by using various topics, such as Iran, the climate or health care, China wants to find as much common ground with Europe as possible and make European leaders believe that China is a reliable partner contrary to what the US claims, a special report by Ateet Sharma
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzu_JrOUCPs
In a stinging report on the Xi Jinping regime, whose activities “raise new security issues” every year, Estonia has warned the world that China, faced with growing confrontation with the West, is going all out to create a division between the US and Europe.
“Implementing China’s foreign policy doctrine, or creating a ‘community of common destiny’, will lead to a silenced world dominated by Beijing,” the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service (EFIS) wrote in its annual report.
The 82-page report mentions in detail the threats emanating from China’s “increasingly confrontational foreign policy” as well as its influence operations and the “threats of sinicising” Chinese technology.
It also throws light on China’s tightening cooperation with Russia, a relationship “mostly dominated” by Beijing.
The Baltic country, a former Soviet republic which became independent in 1991, lies on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland bordered by Latvia and Russia and shares maritime borders with Finland and Sweden.
At 45,227 square kilometres, Estonia is just a little bigger than Denmark, Switzerland, or the Netherlands. However, the small size hasn’t deterred the peaceful nation to regularly take China head on, accusing it of using overseas investments for political purposes and pursuing its hawkish expansionist agenda.
Only last week, Estonia had joined Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovenia in snubbing China by sending ministers instead of respective heads of states to the February 9 virtual summit of the 17+1 bloc convened by Beijing.
The format is used by China to engage with Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) – most of them European Union members. Many nations however believe that it is a tool used by Beijing to step up its political influence in Central Asia, as a side effect of economic investment.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said last Tuesday that “17 plus 1 could make more than 18.”
“China-CEEC cooperation is based on mutual respect and has no political strings attached,” Xi said while delivering the keynote speech at the China-CEEC summit.
His words didn’t cut much ice with many member countries, including Estonia.
The country’s top foreign intelligence service believes that by using various topics, such as Iran, the climate or health care, China wants to find as much common ground with Europe as possible and make European leaders believe that China is a reliable partner contrary to what the US claims.
It said that the Chinese leadership understands that a united West is an insurmountable obstacle for China that must be broken. However, despite its calls for closer cooperation, China has no intention of changing itself but instead wants to use its size and influence to muffle any critical voices from Europe.
“Putting President Xi Jinping’s ideology at the centre of party and state politics clearly indicates that Xi Jinping’s leadership is meant to make China the most powerful country in the world by 2035. However, current events also show that, far from moving towards liberalism, China is becoming an increasingly authoritarian regime centred around the growing personality cult of Xi Jinping,” the EFIS annual report stated.
It details the Chinese strategy of influencing the ‘target’ countries’ policies towards China which was patently evident during the Covid-19 crisis as Beijing actively tried to brand itself as a ‘saviour’.
“The emphasis was put on the need to put politics aside and confront the virus devastating humankind. Simultaneously in China, the media, heavily controlled by the Communist Party, was actively defaming, demonising and ridiculing Western democracy, saying that only an authoritarian system like China could successfully defeat the virus.
They failed to mention that the democratic and self-governing island of Taiwan was much more successful in managing the epidemic.”
The report said that foreign think tanks with informal links to the Chinese government seek to adapt the CCP’s message to Western pluralism. However, topics such as personal freedom, the status of Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the situation of the Uyghurs and Tibetans are addressed strictly within the limits acceptable to the Chinese authorities.
It also mentioned hown China, following Xi Jinping’s strategic guidelines, is devoting all its resources to technological development to become a world leader in the field and make other countries dependent on Chinese technology. Chinese media and analysts have made no secret of the long-term goal of employing the Chinese BeiDou satellite navigation system in all Chinese technology and exporting the system to countries that have joined the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
“In other words, China is establishing an autonomous global ecosystem where in the era of the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, cloud services and ultra-high-speed networks (5G today, 6G in the future) integrated Chinese technologies will play a key role,” the report said.
Citing example of Huawei, the report said that while the organisation emphasises that the company is owned by its employees, led by Huawei’s trade union committee, it should be understood clearly that all Chinese trade unions belong to the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the chairman of which is also the CCP’s party secretary.
“The current party secretary is also a vice-chairperson of the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament. The trade unions follow the same vertical chain of command as the provinces – they are actually headed by the party secretary and not by the provincial governor, whose responsibilities are administrative.”
Thus, EFIS believes that by integrating Tallinn into China’s autonomous technology ecosystem, Estonia will become vulnerable and dependent on China – a reality which should dawn on the rest of the world too.
Indian and Chinese military dialogue to de-escalate tension at the Line of Actual Control started on Saturday morning. The 10th round of Corps Commander meeting started at 10 a.m. at Moldo on Chinese side.
Indian military delegation is led by Lieutenant General P.G.K. Menon, Commander of 14 Corps based in Leh. The Corps Commander will discuss disengagement at friction areas like Hot Springs, Gogra and 900 square km Depsang plains.
The build-up in Depsang was not being considered part of the current standoff that started in May last year as escalations here took place in 2013.
However, India has insisted during recent military commander meetings to resolve all issues across Line of Actual Control.
“The initial attempt will be to resolve Gogra and Hot Springs. Finding a solution to Depsang might be tricky and take longer,” said an official.
Disengagement process in progress in south of Pangong Lake
The representatives during the current round of “corps commander level” meet will also check the status of disengagement at northern and southern banks of the Pangong Lake.
However, just a day ahead of the meeting, China began a “psywar”, where it released a video of Galwan Valley clashes on social media accusing Indian Army of being aggressive and leading to the clash.
Indian Army didn’t react to the video of the clash released by China and maintained silence over the issue.
The video was released on a private news channel in China and thereafter it went viral.
It is after eight months that China has released a video of the clash which took place on June 15 last year. India had lost 20 soldiers and China only this week claimed clearly its four casualties, earler it had been evasive.
Pangong Lake
China, for the first time, has released the names of their soldiers killed in the clashes on Friday.
So far disengagement process at both banks of the Pangong Lake has taken place.
It was on February 10 that China made an announcement that New Delhi and Beijing has agreed to disengage at Pangong Lake.
Indian Army team along with Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) team are physically verifying and re-verifying disengagement at Pangong Lake.
The agreement states that Chinese troops will move back to Finger 8 and Indian troops will pull back to the Dhan Singh Thapa post between Finger 2 and 3 of the north bank of Pangong Lake. Further, there would be temporary moratorium on military activities, including patrolling to the traditional areas.
The mountain spur jutting into the lake is referred to as Finger in military parlance. The north bank of the lake is divided into 8 Fingers. Indian has claimed its territory till Finger 8 and China dispute it claims till Finger 4.
India and China are engaged in a ten-month-long standoff at the Line of Actual Control. The confrontations began on the north bank of Pangong Lake, both in the waters and the bank as Chinese incursions increased in early May last year.
China highly commends its efforts and expects the government to accelerate internal integration, smoothly carry out its work, and get ready to participate in the comprehensive political process…reports Asian Lite News
A Chinese envoy on Thursday asked for efforts to boost the political process and relieve the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
The Yemeni government has tried its best to provide services for people’s livelihood under very difficult circumstances Since its return to Aden.
China highly commends its efforts and expects the government to accelerate internal integration, smoothly carry out its work, and get ready to participate in the comprehensive political process, said Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.
The escalation of conflict in northern Yemen has caused civilian casualties and undermined mutual trust between the government and the Houthis, threatening the political mediation efforts.
China urges all parties to the conflict to heed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ appeal for a cease-fire, put down their guns, exercise restraint, and refrain from any actions that may increase tension so as to create a safe environment for the peace process, he told the Security Council.
China welcomes the US move to revoke its designation of the Houthis as terrorists and the appointment of a US special envoy to promote the political process in Yemen. “We hope the US will adopt more measures conducive to the peace process in Yemen and commit itself to maintaining peace and stability in the Gulf region.”
China appreciates the recent shuttle diplomacy carried out by UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths and hopes all the parties can seize this positive momentum to meet each other halfway and create conditions for lasting peace in Yemen, he said.
The settlement of the issues in the Gulf region needs both the joint efforts of regional countries and the constructive role of key powers. China welcomes the recent visit to Iran by Griffiths and hopes that the exchanges will bring about positive impact on the political settlement of the Yemeni issue, he said.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has proposed a multilateral platform for dialogue in the Gulf region. China is ready to conduct consultations with countries that have similar ideas to advance the forging of new consensus on maintaining peace and stability in the region, said Geng.
He also called on the international community to increase assistance to Yemen in order to alleviate the humanitarian situation.
