Nuctech told CNN that its offices in Poland and the Netherlands were being inspected. The company makes baggage security scanners for airports and other equipment…reports Asian Lite News
European Union officials have raided the offices of Chinese security equipment maker Nuctech as part of an investigation into subsidies, demonstrating growing tensions between the bloc and China.
The European Commission said it conducted “unannounced inspections” at the premises of security equipment maker in Europe which it suspects might have benefited unduly from state subsidies. However, it did not mention the name of the firm.
In a statement released on its website, the EU’s executive body said, “The commission has indications that the inspected company may have received foreign subsidies that could distort the (EU’s) internal market.”
On Wednesday, Nuctech told CNN that its offices in Poland and the Netherlands were being inspected. The company makes baggage security scanners for airports and other equipment.
Earlier in 2020, the US included Nuctech in the list of entities subject to stricter license requirements “for its involvement in activities that are contrary to the national security interests of the United States.”
In a statement, Nuctech said, “Nuctech is cooperating with the European Commission and is committed to defending its reputation of a fully independent and self-supporting economic operator.”
The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU, whose members include Chinese state-owned and private firms, expressed its “strong dissatisfaction” about the raids. It further said that raids had been conducted “without prior notice and without solid evidence.”
China Chamber of Commerce to the EU said, “The European side manifested its intention to weaponize the Foreign Subsidies Regulation as a tool to suppress lawfully operating Chinese companies in Europe.”
Speaking to CNN, a European Commission spokesperson said that officials conduct unannounced inspections based on “substantiated indications” that the company in question might have received “distortive foreign subsidies benefitting its activities in the EU.”
The spokesperson further said, “An inspection is an investigative step which never pre-judges the outcome of the commission’s investigation.”
The raids carried out by the EU under its new powers against excessive foreign subsidies follow a probe launched by the bloc into China’s state support for its wind turbine firms and Chinese companies bidding for a solar farm contract in Romania.
The Foreign Subsidies Regulation came into effect in July 2023. The regulation is aimed to address market distortions caused by subsidies from foreign governments and ensuring that EU companies are competing on a level playing field.
The raids were conducted on the same day when the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that G7 developed economies was starting work to tackle imports that have been caused by “structural overproduction” elsewhere, “an overproduction that is achieved to a large extent by subsidies, massive subsidies,” CNN reported.
In a speech, Leyen said, “We have to be very vigilant that our producers are not at risk to be forced out of the market.” Although she did not mention China, however, there is growing evidence of tensions between China and its major trading partners, including the EU and the United States, relating to an oversupply of cheap Chinese goods in foreign markets.
In recent years, China’s global trade surplus in goods has increased and is now approaching USD 1 trillion, CNN reported. During her visit to China in March, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned of the risk to jobs and businesses in the US and elsewhere posed by overproduction of certain goods in China.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is currently on a visit to China, voiced concerns on Thursday about China’s trade policies and “non-market economic practices.” He expressed concerns about China’s trade policies during his meeting with Shanghai’s Party Secretary Chen Jining, according to a US government spokesperson. (ANI)
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin had in February this year accused Washington of “interfering” in their countries’ affairs during a telephone call…reports Asian Lite News
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he has plans to visit China this May, Kyodo reported citing Russian news agency TASS.
This would mark the first overseas trip of Putin after his fifth term in office begins May 7.
“I have a visit (to China) scheduled in May,” Putin was quoted as saying in his address at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs congress on Thursday, Kyodo reported.
The announcement by Putin came shortly after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin had in February this year accused Washington of “interfering” in their countries’ affairs during a telephone call.
Xi Jinping had met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Beijing earlier this month, marking the first face-to-face discussion between Lavrov and Xi in six years. Their last meeting in 2018 occurred just before Putin’s inaugural visit to China following his re-election.
Since then, China and Russia have intensified their economic, trade, and diplomatic collaborations, particularly in the aftermath of Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Despite Beijing claiming neutrality in the conflict, it has emerged as a crucial economic partner for Russia, providing vital support to its isolated economy. The two nations have also aligned diplomatically against perceived Western containment efforts.
Beijing has been importing Russian oil after other countries placed sanctions on Russian imports.
Putin’s last visit to Beijing occurred in October 2023 during the Belt and Road Forum, while Xi visited Moscow for a state visit in last March in 2023.
Addressing a Digital Press Briefing on Wednesday, Commander Whiting said that the US would welcome more transparency from China….reports Asian Lite News
Highlighting on China’s progress towards establishing an international lunar research station, US Space Command Commander, General Stephen Whiting, on Wednesday emphasised that the Chinese are not very transparent with what they do in space, further hoping that there’s not a military component to that.
Addressing a Digital Press Briefing on Wednesday, Commander Whiting said that the US would welcome more transparency from China.
Responding to a question of US’s assessment of China’s progress towards establishing an international lunar research station and whether they see any military applications for that project, Whiting also said that China’s ambitions also appear to be exploratory.
“Obviously, we’ve seen the announcements of China’s ambitions to go to the Moon. And those appear to be exploratory and scientific on the surface, but the Chinese aren’t very transparent with what they do in space, and so we hope there’s not a military component to that, but we would certainly welcome more transparency, he said.
Further responding to another question on speculations about the Russians using nuclear weapons in space, perhaps as an anti-satellite weapon, Whiting said that that Russia’s a signatory to the Outer Space Treaty just like the United States and most of the international community, and that treaty was signed in 1967 and it prohibits the placement of nuclear weapons or weapons – other weapons of mass destruction on orbit.
“We would certainly call on all nations to abide by the terms of those treaties. And we welcome the partnership the US has made with Japan in submitting a United Nations Security Council resolution that essentially asks member states to endorse the Outer Space Treaty prohibitions against nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction on orbit, and we look forward to that being passed in the Security Council,” he added.
Further, the Commander of US Space Command, emphasised on the pacing challenge of China with his Japanese and Korean counterparts.
He highlighted that he visited the Japanese Self-Defense Forces Space Operations Group that they’ve established, and have grown that partnership.
“However, their focus on space domain awareness along with the us to keep track of those threats in space that we see – and many of those are emanating from China – has put an impetus on us developing improved space domain awareness capability,” he said.
Whiting further expressed his excitement for the Japanese to bring on board their deep-space radar capability that they’ve been working for many years and that the US has been partnering with them.
“When that achieves initial operational capability, we expect that will provide both of our countries an enhanced understanding of what China is doing in space,” he said.
The Chinese spaceflight to the Tiangong space station, Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceship, is set to be launched today at 8:59 p.m. Thursday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, announced the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.
Shenzhou-18 is the 32nd flight mission of China’s manned space program, and the third manned mission during the application and development stage of China’s space station.
The crew will stay in orbit for about six months, and are scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in late October this year, reported Xinhua. (ANI)
The Chinese Communist Party secretary for Shanghai, Chen Jining, welcomed Blinken partly in English and spoke of the importance of US businesses to the city…reports Asian Lite News
Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Thursday on the United States and China to manage their differences “responsibly” as he went on a charm offensive ahead of expected tough talks.
A day before meeting Beijing’s top brass to tackle thorny issues including Russia, Taiwan and trade, Blinken’s visit to Shanghai has seen him sample local food, watch a basketball game and stroll along the city’s famous Bund promenade.
Visiting the local Communist Party leader in a room with sweeping views of the Shanghai skyline, Blinken said US President Joe Biden was committed to “direct and sustained” dialogue between the world’s two largest economies after years of mounting tension.
“I think it’s important to underscore the value — in fact, the necessity — of direct engagement, of speaking to each other, laying out our differences, which are real, seeking to work through them,” Blinken said.
“We have an obligation for our people — indeed an obligation to the world — to manage the relationship between our two countries responsibly.”
The Chinese Communist Party secretary for Shanghai, Chen Jining, welcomed Blinken partly in English and spoke of the importance of US businesses to the city.
“Whether we choose cooperation or confrontation affects the well-being of both peoples, both countries and the future of humanity,” Chen told him.
The country’s financial capital, Shanghai is often a stepping stone to power in China, with President Xi Jinping previously serving briefly in the city.
China has not announced plans for Blinken to meet Xi, although on Blinken’s last visit in June, they saw each other in a meeting announced at the last minute.
On Thursday, Blinken also met students at the Shanghai campus of New York University, where he voiced hope for more Americans to study in China.
He insisted the United States was committed to welcoming Chinese students.
Beijing has repeatedly alleged that Chinese nationals with valid travel documents, including students, have been subject to aggressive interrogations and deportations at US airports.
“President Biden and President Xi are determined to strengthen our people-to-people ties,” Blinken said.
Blinken, the first US secretary of state in 14 years to visit Shanghai, opened his visit Wednesday evening at a restaurant serving steamed buns.
Sporting a suit without a tie, he ate with his senior staff in a shopping arcade as curious onlookers snapped pictures.
Blinken then went to watch a basketball game between the Shanghai Sharks and Zhejiang Golden Bulls, staying until the end of the nail-biting play-off.
Such softer diplomacy, once a staple of US-China relations, would have been unimaginable until recently, with hawks in both countries speaking of an emerging new Cold War.
Blinken’s aides hope his smiling persona at public events draws an implicit contrast to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and his gruffer approach when he visited China earlier this month.
Blinken is expected to raise concerns about China’s relationship with Russia when he meets the leadership in Beijing.
Although US officials were initially pleased that Beijing has not shipped weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine, they now say that China’s alarm at Moscow’s setbacks on the battlefield has prompted it to export vast quantities of industrial supplies to Russia.
US officials believe China is more receptive to Western concerns as it seeks to focus on managing economic headwinds at home and wants to avoid friction with the West.
But China is also furious about a series of moves by Biden — who is facing a tough re-election fight in November against Donald Trump — they say serve to constrain the Chinese economy.
Most recently, the US Congress approved legislation that would force the divestment of blockbuster social media app TikTok from its Chinese owners or face a ban in the world’s largest economy.
Biden supports the legislation, arguing that TikTok, popular among young people, poses security and privacy concerns. China has accused the United States of unfair economic coercion.
Unusually, Trump has distanced himself from a TikTok ban. He has otherwise championed a tough line on China, with vows to raise tariffs drastically if he returns to office.
US officials also say that Blinken will encourage China to act with restraint as Taiwan inaugurates a new president next month.
China claims the self-governing democracy as its own and has not ruled out using force to seize it.
Privately, US officials were relieved by China’s approach during Taiwan’s election, believing that easing US-China tensions helped. They assessed that Beijing’s assertive military moves did not go beyond past precedent.
A senior US official previewing Blinken’s trip said that the United States and China were at a “different place than we were a year ago, when the bilateral relationship was at an historic low point”.
“We also believe, and we have also clearly demonstrated, that responsibly managing competition does not mean we will pull back from measures to protect US national interests,” he said.
The Biden administration’s eagerness to engage China stands in stark contrast to its efforts to isolate Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
After initially being pleased that Beijing has not directly supplied weapons to Russia, the United States in recent weeks has accused China of lavishing industrial material and technology on Moscow.
China has been raising irredentist claims on territories and resources of its neighbours on one pretext or another in order to finally grab them, writes Prof. Srikanth Kondapalli
China’s leadership is following what its communist party founder Mao Zedong used to say – “do not let your neighbour sleep normally.” Hence, following this dictum, China has been raising irredentist claims and upsetting most of its neighbours on one pretext or another in order to lay claim or even grab unilaterally territories and resources.
This has been the case with the disputed South China Sea and East China Sea islands. China’s arrogance is also more prominently displayed on the India-China border areas. When China’s economic growth rates were meagre, the then Premier Zhou Enlai was willing to acknowledge during his visit to Delhi in 1960 that South of the McMahon Line (the current day Arunachal Pradesh) as a part of India in lieu of getting Aksai Chin region.
Now the dragon is wagging its tail vigorously after becoming the second largest economy in the world. It has no bounds to observe. Previously, China considered the India-China boundary areas as “disputed” in nature that needs talks to resolve rather than war. However, that tone has changed and Beijing is increasingly using coercive diplomatic postures or even war preparations to resolve the dispute.
China’s shrewd move on Arunachal Pradesh
While China has been eyeing for Arunachal Pradesh since 1986, when its foreign ministry think tank published an article by Jing Hui claiming this region as “more important” for his country, in recent times China has been pushing the angle of sovereignty more vigorously, even on the verge of mounting thousands of troops on the borders with India.
At least since 2003, Beijing has been configuring Arunachal Pradesh as “southern Tibet” (Zangnan). With Tibet defined as its “core interest” by the then State Councillor Dai Bingguo, by extension, the so-called “southern Tibet” has also now become China’s core interest to be defended by its military.
In November 2006, a day before President Hu Jintao visited New Delhi, the then China’s envoy Sun Yuxi for the first time claimed the “entire area” south of McMahon line as “disputed” territory. Since then, China began claiming the whole area as its own. China’s propaganda machinery went full steam to dish out the new “line” to raise nationalism.
However, as India had developed and consolidated the region since 1951, and the costs of any military escalation proved high for China since the Samdurong Chu incident in 1987, China began intensive “three warfares” viz., media, psychological and legal warfare techniques against India.
China’s game of renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh
Firstly, China began renaming place names in Arunachal Pradesh. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs renamed over 50 place names in Arunachal Pradesh four times – 6 place names on April 18, 2017, 15 on December 29, 2021, 11 on April 2, 2023 and 30 places on March 30, 2024.
Since February 2010, a Chinese researcher Hao Xiaoguang, at Institute of Surveying and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been publishing articles based on his research on the geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh with the intention to change the place names as the 2002 map of China hardly had 6 Chinese names for the entire Arunachal Pradesh.
What is different now about the China-India Tawang faceoff?
It is said that after Hao’s 15 years of research, fieldwork, cartography, toponymy, geography, surveying, ethnography, and history a comprehensive method was evolved to change the place names in Arunachal Pradesh. The initial intention was to provide alternative names to the places as the existing Chinese maps were devoid of any names.
On April 2, 2023, China renamed 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh. In this round, China intended to “upgrade” the administrative hierarchy for “easier control.” Thus, two country level administrative units in India were “upgraded” by China to city level organisations.
A commentator in “Tibet Online” stated on April 23, 2023 that “If the Indian government continues to go further and further down the wrong path, it will end up in the end of “stealing the chicken but losing the rice”.”
The last round of renaming occurred on March 30, 2024, when 30 places were targeted – including about 11 places where people have been living and voting in the Indian elections.
China controlled areas, needless to say, have never held popular and competitive elections. Commenting on this round of renaming, a commentator “Korolev” argued that China’s actions are “a direct declaration of sovereignty.”
In addition, by renaming places, as a long-term measure, “China is already making more adequate preparations to regain what was lost.”
Commenting on these 4 times renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh, coinciding with the Dokhlam crisis in 2017, Galwan in 2020 and other border incidents, Sun Xuwen argued that this is a “step-by-step and planned approach to the issue of recovering the southern Tibetan region, rather than a one-on-one approach like India.”
Further, terming the US as the “primary contradiction” for China to resolve now, Sun suggests that “The heat [exerted by China on India] must not be too great, causing secondary conflicts to escalate into major conflicts. Therefore, on this issue, it is more appropriate to respond with supplementary naming. In a word, with the outcome of the game between China and the United States still undecided, the United States continues to maintain a high-pressure posture against China in the Asia-Pacific region. If the geopolitical situation in South Asia further deteriorates, it will put China in a very passive position.”
On the question of why China did not resolve the issue by military means rather than attempting a “soft approach,” a commentator argued that “The claims of territorial disputes between the two neighboring countries will inevitably lead to a conflict of force between the two sides. The medium- and long-term national policies are: first, focusing on the southeast direction to complete the great cause of reunification; second, there are two centenary goals to complete the great rejuvenation of the nation. Therefore, instead of supporting this radical southwest policy, we can only make solid preparations in the early stage, including negotiations, and occupy the moral high ground internationally. Negotiations are the front stage, and the backstage relies on national strength, especially military power, to wait for favorable conditions. Timing, one or more clever moves to recover!”
Conclusion
China’s intentions on renaming places already under effective jurisdiction of India, are thus clear. To counter China’s antics and harassment, while strengthening conventional and strategic deterrence capabilities, India should explore international legal regimes, organise bilateral and multilateral meetings with China’s neighbours in distress, share border management practices and data related to border transgressions and evolve counter-measures to effectively address on any impending border skirmishes.
(The writer is Professor in Chinese Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University; views expressed here are his own) – India News Network
China’s leader refuses to compromise on his vision for the nation, and so he has begun shutting out the world and shoring up things at home….reports Asian Lite News
Chairman Xi Jinping ascended the highest throne of the Chinese political hierarchy nearly 14 years ago. His leadership was initially almost faultless from China’s point of view, as the nation prospered economically, diplomatically and militarily. However, Xi’s style of governance has initiated huge concerns at home and abroad, and his aura of untouchability has been tarnished by a confluence of factors.
In years past, Xi assessed that China was enjoying a “period of strategic opportunity,” allowing him to focus on domestic development. However, Xi reported to the 20th Party Congress in 2022 that the nation had entered a period in which “strategic opportunities coexist with risks and challenges, and uncertain and unpredictable factors are rising”.
Professor Steve Tsang, Director of the SOAS China Institute at SOAS University of London, told ANI of some of the challenges currently facing Xi.
“The biggest challenge China faces in governance terms is the concentration of power in Xi’s hands, as the end of the zero-COVID policy followed almost immediately the 20th Party Congress at which Xi amassed even greater power in his own hands, with no one in the new leadership lineup who can speak frankly to advise him to avoid predictable mistakes.”
Professor Tsang added, “Issues like a weak economy, bursting of the property bubble, local government debts and deteriorating relations with the West are challenging, but not necessarily unsurmountable, if the government can get its act together. With collective leadership replaced by strongman rule, it now all depends on Xi understanding them and getting the right policies, and he is just not getting it right.”
Xi is interested only in top-down control, but this approach conflicts with private-sector, demand-driven economic growth. One of Xi’s solutions amounts to epithets for the people to prepare for “struggle”. China’s leader refuses to compromise on his vision for the nation, and so he has begun shutting out the world and shoring up things at home.
Professor Tsang, co-author of the book ‘The Political Thought of Xi Jinping’ published earlier this year, observed: “Most of the key challenges are structural and would have been there whoever might have been the leader in China, such as an unbalanced economy and the transformation of a demographic bonus to a demographic deficit, etc. But Xi’s policies have made most of them worse.”
The Hong Kong-born academic gave the following examples. “He pricked the property bubble. His anti-welfare approach makes it politically impossible to stimulate domestic consumption. His cutting down of tall poppies in the private tech sector has reduced its vitality.”
Economic data from China has been gradually disappearing for a number of years as the government tightens control and as Xi puts ideology before economic growth. Whether exports, youth unemployment rates or cement production, such diverse figures have all vanished. The property market makes up 30 per cent of China’s GDP, but the government stopped releasing data such as land sales or consumer confidence too.
Furthermore, figures are suspicious. As one example, official export data from the China Customs Bureau is diverging noticeably from that of import data in other countries. In other words, China is overstating how much it is exporting.
Indeed, some are describing official data as “bordering on useless,” and Xi appears to think that keeping everybody in the dark will help maintain power and social stability in an increasingly closed society. The Annual Government Work Report at last month’s National People’s Congress (NPC) still promised 5 per cent GDP growth, but again such figures are becoming untrustworthy.
The sectors struggling most are China’s property market, indebted local governments and the banking system, as the COVID-19 rebound stalls. A sizeable proportion of China’s 400 million middle class have bought unfinished apartments, with dim prospects of them ever being finished. Property developer Evergrande, for instance, owes debts of RMB2.5 trillion. Despite Xi’s 2020 pronouncement that poverty had been eliminated in China, actually 43 per cent of the population – around 600 million people – live on less than USD150 per month. Even though the government recently raised monthly benefits for the elderly by 19 per cent, it still only amounts to RMB123.
Doctor Willy Wo-Lap Lam, Senior Fellow at The Jamestown Foundation think-tank in the USA, noted: “The annual plenary session of the NPC…should have seen the articulation of a clear-cut direction to tackle the dire economic situation. Instead, the focus has turned to how supreme leader Xi Jinping is exercising his power. Evidence has continued to emerge that the 71-year-old General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and commander-in-chief is more interested in consolidating his own power and stoking the flames of nationalism than reintroducing market-oriented policies to remedy the nation’s financial malaise.”
Xi continues to bend the rules and conventions in order to solidify power. For example, Xi canceled the end-of-NPC press conference, an event held for nearly 30 years. It is the only time where senior CCP cadre faces the media, and Xi has now spurned this arrangement going forward.
Doctor Lam commented: “This reduces the premier’s ability to cultivate a personal identity independent of Xi, as well as limiting the transparency and accountability – to the extent that it exists – of the government.”
Indeed, this is just one more instance of Xi sidelining the decision-making power of the government. In 1987 Deng Xiaoping established separation of party and government so that the excesses of another Mao Zedong could be avoided. Yet the political hierarchy has meekly accepted Xi’s reversal of that policy. Indeed, the NPC even endorsed Xi’s revision of the State Council Organic Law so that the State Council’s principal task is merely to implement policies and laws thought up by Xi as party leader.
In other words, the NPC has become even more a rubber-stamp parliament than before.
Doctor Lam further noted: “Xi has in the past few months repeatedly violated party practices. The CCP leadership postponing the Third Plenum of the 20th Central Committee indefinitely, which was expected to be held at the end of 2023, is a notable example. The party’s Charter also points out that changes in the composition of the Central Military Commission could only be effectuated in a plenum. Yet disgraced former defense minister Li Shangfu was dropped from party documentation last month. And contrary to conventional processes, not a single word was given to acknowledge or explain the disappearance of a dozen-odd generals as members of the NPC and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.”
Is Xi grooming successors, or is there any indication that Xi might pass on the baton?
Some, for example, have highlighted the meteoric rise of Hu Haifeng, son of former Chinese leader Hu Jintao. Earlier this year he was promoted to the vice-ministerial rank of deputy civil affairs minister. This has occurred, even as his ageing father remains almost invisible after his chilling removal from an NPC meeting in October 2022.
However, Professor Tsang remarked, “There is no successor lined up or in sight. Xi Jinping Thought is committed to promoting one leader, and Xi has shown no inclination to anoint a successor. He is not seeing a need for a successor for a long time.”
Significantly, Xi is carefully controlling the power of his subordinates and promoting his favorites. Premier Li Qiang and Executive Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang – the State Council’s top two people – have not received major portfolios. Furthermore, Vice-Premier He Lifeng, who directs the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, seemed to gain his position through his acquaintance with Xi in his Fujian years in the 1980s-1990s rather than through any inherent technocratic expertise.
Asked whether there are any hints of opposition in the CCP to Xi’s leadership style, Professor Tsang said, “There is plenty of unhappiness about his approach and the direction of travel he has set for China, but no organised opposition of any kind. Xi’s first priority has always been one of eliminating internal opposition so his hold to power is tight, and he is still successful so far.”
As Xi’s difficulties on the home front multiply, some analysts are concerned that Beijing will lash out externally to deflect the populace’s attention. US President Joe Biden described China’s economic woes as a “ticking time bomb” last August, suggesting that its leaders might “do bad things”. And analysts such as Richard Haass, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, have argued that China could exhibit “even more aggressive nationalism” to cement its legitimacy and accelerate unification with Taiwan.
“Diversionary wars” are designed to boost the status of leaders wanting to stay in power, as their people tend to rally around the flag. However, with the possible exception of the battle with Soviet forces for the disputed island of Zhenbao/Damasky in 1969, there is no real track record of modern China starting a conflict to distract the population and bolster support.
Perhaps more likely in China’s case is the country lashing out at others to show its strength and to deter others from taking advantage of any perceived weaknesses. This is what it did when it attacked India along their disputed border in 1962, to show its resolve and deter future challenges.
Similarly, China reacted with a display of force when the Japanese government purchased three Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in 2012.
Even in 1989, during the tensions that climaxed with the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the CCP preferred to use violence against its own citizens and was relatively conciliatory afterwards to help stabilise things abroad.
Of course, China under Xi is a very different prospect. Nonetheless, M Taylor Fravel, Director of the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, argues a diversionary war is rather a mythical prospect for Beijing.
He noted, “China’s lack of diversionary behaviour also highlights a flaw in the logic of waging a diversionary war. According to such a rationale, leaders looking to boost their popular support should start a conflict with a stronger adversary – because prevailing over a worthy opponent highlights a leader’s acumen – or over a nationalist issue that the public cares greatly about. Yet both are dangerous gambits because, if leaders initiate a diversionary crisis or war that fails to produce the desired results, they risk expediting the collapse of their government.”
Fravel continued: “In other words, it is difficult for a leader to find a target that carries minimal risk but can also boost popular support. China could easily start and win a conflict with the Philippines over the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, where Manila beached a naval vessel in the late 1990s to underscore Philippine sovereignty over the reef. Yet the Chinese public would likely be unimpressed – they would expect China to defeat a much weaker state. And although the Chinese public views Taiwan as a much more salient issue, a conflict over the island would be costly and the result uncertain. The worst outcome for any Chinese leader would be to try to take the island but fail, which induces caution.”
Fravel concluded: “If China’s economic woes get worse, its leaders will probably become more sensitive to perceived external challenges, especially on issues such as Taiwan. Increased pressure on China could easily backfire and motivate Beijing to become more aggressive in order to demonstrate its resolve to other states despite its internal difficulties. In times of domestic unrest, China may lash out, but that reflects the logic of deterrence, not diversion.”
One thing is certain, however, and it is that Xi is facing unprecedented challenges at home and overseas. After amassing so much power and centralising political authority, it is difficult to see him relinquishing it or permitting others to steer him on a different course.
As Doctor Lam of The Jamestown Foundation concluded, “Irrespective of the diagnosis, so long as Xi keeps arrogating all powers and responsibilities to himself, the long-term outlook on the political, economic and diplomatic fronts will not improve.” (ANI)
Noting that there is indeed competition between China and the United States, the ambassador said the Chinese people do not shy away from competition, but competition must be fair…reports Asian Lite News
Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng has said that China does not consider the Thucydides Trap an inevitable part of its relationship with the United States. To avoid stepping into it, Washington should try to work with Beijing.
Xie made the remarks on Friday during a fireside chat with Harvard Kennedy School’s founding dean, Graham Allison, whose book “Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?” has since its publication in 2018 become a must-read for anyone devoted to or interested in the study of U.S.-China relations, Xinhua news agency.
“Now that we have all realized the extreme danger of the ‘Thucydides Trap,’ why should we still jump headlong into it?” Xie said at the event held at Harvard University. “From the very start, China does not see the ‘Thucydides Trap’ as inevitable.”
China is willing to work with the U.S. side based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation to promote the sound, steady and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations, and jointly navigate around the trap, he said.
Xie said the Chinese side has shown sincerity in cooperating on issues of U.S. concern. However, dialogue and cooperation should be reciprocal and based on mutual respect, and one cannot focus on one’s own interests. It is hoped that the U.S. side will take earnest actions to implement their leaders’ important consensus on issues of concern to the Chinese side, he added.
The two sides should advance cooperation in a reciprocal spirit and prudently manage differences to turn the “San Francisco Vision” created during the China-U.S. summit in the United States into reality and promote the sound, stable and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations, Xie said.
Noting that there is indeed competition between China and the United States, the ambassador said the Chinese people do not shy away from competition, but competition must be fair.
“It should be like competing for excellence in a racing field, not beating one another in a wrestling ring,” he said. “What the U.S. side is having in mind, though, is not competition, but bullying.” He mentioned specific U.S. moves such as blocking China’s access to certain advanced technologies and accusing China of being “over-competent” or having “overcapacity” in certain industries.
Xie said it would be self-deluding to suppress and encircle China in the name of competition on the one hand, and try to manage competition and avoid direct conflict on the other.
“The relationship should not be simply defined by competition,” Xie said. “If we allow competition to dominate China-U.S. relations, it would only give rise to strategic risks. No one would come out as a winner.”
Beijing has previously hit back at claims of an orchestrated overseas espionage campaign…reports Asian Lite News
London’s Metropolitan Police on Monday said it had charged two men with allegedly spying for China in a move that could stoke new tensions with Beijing.
The charges came as German prosecutors announced the arrest of three German nationals suspected of spying for China and providing access to secret maritime technology. The British pair are accused of breaking the Official Secrets Act 1911 and will appear in a London court on Friday.
Police named the men as Christopher Berry, 32, and Christoper Cash, 29, who previously worked at the UK parliament as a researcher. They are accused of having given “articles, notes, documents or information” to a foreign state. The alleged offenses are said to have taken place between 2021 and last year.
Beijing has previously hit back at claims of an orchestrated overseas espionage campaign.
The Met Police said in September they had arrested a man in his 20s on spying allegations, with the Sunday Times reporting he was a researcher in Britain’s parliament. The newspaper named him as Cash and said he had had contacts with MPs from the ruling Conservative Party.
They included security minister Tom Tugendhat and Alicia Kearns, the chairman of the influential House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. Tugendhat was reported to have only had limited contact with the suspect, and none when he was security minister.
Domestic intelligence service MI5 last year warned that a Chinese government agent called Christine Lee had been “engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, engaging with members here at parliament.”
In July 2023, the Commons intelligence and security committee claimed China was targeting the UK “prolifically and aggressively” and that the government did not have the “resources, expertise or knowledge” to deal with it.
Meanwhile, German authorities said they have arrested three people on suspicion of spying for China.
The main suspect, named as Thomas R, is accused of spying for the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS). Prosecutors allege his network operated a front company which co-operated with German research organisations.
The accused are said to have collected sensitive information, including designs for an engine suitable for use on combat ships, to pass on to China.
In a separate development, two men in the UK were charged with spying for China after being accused of providing information which could be “useful to an enemy”, according to police.
In the German case, prosecutors allege Thomas R obtained “innovative technologies for military use” on behalf of an MSS employee. They also allege he used a company – run by the two other suspects, named as Herwig F and Ina F – which contacted people working in science and research.
A first project regarding the operation of high-performance marine engines for use on combat ships is alleged to have already been completed.
At the time of their arrest, the accused were allegedly in further negotiations on other projects that could be of use for China’s navy, prosecutors said.
They added that the arrests took place in the western German states of Hesse and North-Rhine-Westphalia. The three suspects are also accused of exporting a laser to China, which is banned under EU “dual use” regulations. The rules prohibit sending goods which can be used for military and civilian purposes to certain countries.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the arrests of the three suspects in Germany were a “great success for our counterintelligence”. “The area affected in the current case – innovative technologies from Germany that can be used for military purposes – is particularly sensitive,” she added.
The arrests come a week after Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Beijing, where he raised issues including China’s support for Russia since the invasion of Ukraine.
The Chinese foreign minister’s visit comes just days before Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is due to arrive in Papua New Guinea, once again highlighting a tussle for influence between China and US allies…reports Asian Lite News
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi targeted Western powers in the AUKUS trilateral security partnership and accused them of provoking division and raising nuclear proliferation risks in the South Pacific, Nikkei Asia reported on Sunday.
AUKUS is a trilateral security partnership designed to create a stronger, more resilient trilateral submarine industrial base, supporting submarine production and maintenance in all three countries.
This comes as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi lauded diplomatic achievements with Papua New Guinea on his visit to the country on Saturday, part of Beijing’s initiative to strengthen ties with the Pacific Island nations.
The Chinese foreign minister’s visit comes just days before Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is due to arrive in Papua New Guinea, once again highlighting a tussle for influence between China and US allies.
Nikkei Asia reported, referencing announcements made by AUKUS nations that they are considering cooperating with Japan on sharing advanced technology earlier this month, Wang said, “Recent attempts to draw more countries to join in such an initiative of stoking bloc confrontation is completely inconsistent with the urgent needs of island countries.”
He slammed US and Australia’s relationship with Pacific island nations, saying, “The South Pacific region should not become an arena for great power competition. No country should regard island countries as its ‘backyard’ and should not engage in zero-sum games or exclusionary arrangements,” alluding to historical views that Australia considered the South Pacific to be its backyard.
Beijing and Port Moresby will also start free trade agreement negotiations as soon as possible and build police cooperation, according to a press release published by the Foreign Ministry after Wang’s meeting with Tkatchenko, Nikkei Asia reported.
In recent years, Beijing’s attempts to push for police and security agreements with Papua New Guinea had been unsuccessful, Nikkei Asia reported.
During a tour of Pacific island countries in June 2022, Wang proposed a wide-ranging regional security deal that would increase China’s involvement in police training, cybersecurity and sensitive marine mapping while gaining greater access to natural resources. The deal ultimately collapsed, with Papua New Guinea among those that rejected the proposal.
“There has been resentment over the Pacific agreement on security matters,” Papua New Guinea’s foreign affairs secretary Elias Wohengu told the Post Courier newspaper at the time. Wohengu indicated that Papua New Guinea was unlikely to sign a security deal, saying, “On the security status of Papua New Guinea, we will deal with it ourselves.”
Washington and Canberra has criticised China, which has made in the Solomon Islands.
“The increased policing presence in the Solomon Islands is concerning,” John Aquilino, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told reporters in Sydney earlier this month. “That’s the foot in the door.”
But while the big players jostle for influence, Papua New Guinea has stayed “pragmatic in its approach to global powers,” said Australian National University PhD candidate Michael Kabuni.
This has meant positioning Australia and the US as security partners while maintaining ties with China as an important economic partner, it reported.
Thousands protest against over-tourism in Canary Islands
Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of the Canary Islands in Spain to call for changes to the mass tourism model that they claim is overtaking the Atlantic archipelago, according to Al Jazeera.
The protests started at noon on Saturday (11:00 GMT), and an estimated 57,000 people participated, according to reports in Spanish media that cited the central government’s emissary in the islands.
The demonstrators waved flags, as they crowded the streets of the main towns on each of the seven islands in the archipelago, holding signs with messages like “A moratorium on tourism,” according to Al Jazeera.
“Canary Islands are not up for sale,” and “Respect my home,” the slogans read.
Approximately twenty social and environmental organisations called for the protests, claiming that the overcrowding of tourists feeds an unsustainable business model that hurts both the environment and local people.
They have suggested an eco-tax to safeguard the environment, a tourism moratorium, and a crackdown on the sale of houses to non-residents in order to pressure the authorities into limiting the number of tourists.
Spain’s Canary Islands, an archipelago of 2.2 million people, were visited by nearly 14 million foreign tourists in 2023, up 13 per cent from the previous year, Al Jazeera reported, citing the official data.
The authorities in the islands are concerned about the impact on locals.
Meanwhile, the President of the Canary Islands Fernando Clavijo stated on Friday that he was “proud” of the area’s status as a top travel destination in Spain, but he also noted that additional restrictions were required as the industry’s growth is on a boom. (ANI)
The Bluebook reportedly criticises China’s actions in the South China Sea and its efforts to alter the status quo in the East and South China Sea…reports Asian Lite News
China is challenging Japan’s recent evaluation of the threat posed to the Indo-Pacific region by Beijing, dismissing it as a hyped-up threat and a false accusation, Voice of America reported.
According to Japanese media reports and the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s annual Diplomatic Bluebook (an annual report on Japan’s foreign policy and international diplomacy published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan), released on Tuesday, China’s military activities are described as the “greatest strategic challenge.”
However, an official English version of the report has not been made public, as per Voice of America.
The Bluebook reportedly criticises China’s actions in the South China Sea and its efforts to alter the status quo in the East and South China Sea.
Following this, Japanese media says that for the first time since 2019, Japan seeks to build “a mutually beneficial relationship” with China “based on common strategic interests.”
According to Voice of America, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian rebuffed Japan’s criticisms during a news briefing on Tuesday. Lin stated, “Japan has resorted to the same old false accusations against China and hype of the ‘China threat’ in its 2024 Diplomatic Bluebook.”
Further, he affirmed, “We urge Japan to change its wrong course of action, stop stoking bloc confrontation, truly commit itself to advancing a strategic relationship of mutual benefit with China and work to build a constructive and stable China-Japan relationship fit for the new era.”
Director of the Japan Programme at the Washington-based Stimson Centre, Yuki Tatsumi, said, “Japan’s concerns about Chinese behaviour, both military and paramilitary, have been intensified for the last few years due to the acceleration of Beijing’s aggressive behaviour in the East and South China Sea.”
“In addition, Tokyo has been put on alert about Beijing’s increasingly hostile and aggressive rhetoric and behaviour towards Taiwan.” she added.
According to a Thursday report by The Japan Times citing unnamed Japanese officials., Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin could meet in early May in Hawaii.
According to the report, Kihara and Austin would discuss setting up a proposed allied command and control structure and a body to identify the kinds of weapons the two countries will develop and produce together.
These plans were announced on April 10 at a bilateral summit in Washington.
The Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) announced on Tuesday that it will conduct a naval deployment including six surface ships, submarines, and two air units starting May 3 to support a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The deployment includes visits to more than a dozen countries, including the U.S., the Philippines, India, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, the Marshall Islands, Fiji and Palau. It is meant “to strengthen cooperation with the allied partner navies through conducting exercises,” said JMSDF.
Daniel Sneider, lecturer in international policy and East Asia Studies at Stanford University, said even as Tokyo is building its defences and is concerned about Beijing’s assertiveness and especially its relations with Moscow, its mention in the Diplomatic Bluebook of wanting to build relations with Beijing reflects Tokyo’s balanced approach towards China.
“The Bluebook reflects a balance between, on one hand, some degree of warning the Chinese off doing things that disrupt the order” in the region “and, on the other hand, making it clear that Japan really is not interested in some type of full-scale confrontation with China,” including economic warfare, said Sneider.
As to China, it tends to see “any attempts on the part of the Koreans and the Japanese to engage and improve relations as a sign of weakness,” continued Sneider.
China, Japan and South Korea plan to hold trilateral talks in May for the first time since 2019. They will meet in Seoul ahead of a Washington-Seoul-Tokyo trilateral summit expected in July. (ANI)
