A Slew of Chinese External Engagements + New Announcement for 'Eye on China'
The 'Eye on China' newsletter features this week's most important developments on India-China relations, Chinese Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy, Economy and Tech, and the military!
Before we proceed with today’s edition – an important note to our readers:
From the next edition onwards, we’re going to be doing something new with ‘Eye on China’. We’re hoping to revamp the format, length, and look and feel of the newsletter, and narrow our focus towards Chinese discourses pertaining to foreign and military issues. We’ll continue, however, to publish our section on ‘India-China relations’ as is.
We are also planning to integrate into the newsletter a fornightly podcast series covering various aspects of China, hosted on the Takshashila Institution’s daily public policy podcast – All Things Policy.
We hope that our readers and subscribers will enjoy the new version of EoC, and we are, as always, open to comments, brickbats, and the occasional praises too!
– Team EoC-Takshashila
Section A: India-China Relations
- Bharat Sharma and Kingshuk Saha
China Releases New Official Map
On August 28, the Chinese natural resources ministry released a ‘standard map’ last week, eliciting a number of diplomatic responses from a number of countries, including India.
The map includes Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin plateau as China’s official territory. Regarding the release, the Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesperson said:
We have today lodged a strong protest through diplomatic channels with the Chinese side on the so-called 2023 "standard map” of China that lays claim to India’s territory.
We reject these claims as they have no basis. Such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary question.
The map also includes Taiwan, as well as large parts of the South China Sea, parts that China has disputes over with other countries in the region.
ASEAN Wonk surmises diplomatic responses by these countries over the issuance of the map:
Chinese Premier Attends G20 Summit
At the invitation of the Government of India, Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the 18th G20 Summit on September 9 and 10.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang urged on Saturday the Group of 20 (G20) members to resolutely advance economic globalization and promote unity, cooperation and inclusion within the G20.
Keeping in mind the future of humanity, Chinese President Xi Jinping has proposed the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, Li said at the first session of the 18th G20 Summit.
Noting that humanity shares a common destiny, Li urged all countries to respect one another, seek common ground while shelving differences, and live together peacefully, adding that no one can remain immune in the face of major crises and common challenges. Solidarity and cooperation is the right path for the world, he added.
The G20 members should stick to the original aspiration of unity and cooperation, and shoulder the responsibility of the times for peace and development, Li said.
He urged the G20 members to act as partners in promoting global economic recovery through effectively strengthening macro-economic policy coordination to convey confidence and provide impetus for world economic growth.
The G20 members should resolutely promote economic globalization, jointly maintain the stability and smoothness of industrial and supply chains, and be partners in promoting global open cooperation, Li said.
The G20 members should also work together to protect the earth's green home, promote green and low-carbon development, protect the marine ecological environment, and be partners in promoting global sustainable development, he said. The G20 needs unity instead of division, cooperation instead of confrontation, and inclusion instead of exclusion, he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced that G20 member states had adopted a consensus leaders’ document for the summit, saying with the “…hard work of our teams, and with the cooperation of you all, there is consensus on the New Delhi G20 Summit Leaders Declaration”.
What remains unclear is how China came around to accept the consensus document, given that Beijing had strong reservations about the mention of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the language to be used in the context of the conflict.
The consensus declaration adopted by the G20 leaders called for a “comprehensive, just, and durable peace in Ukraine”, urging member states to “refrain from the threat of use of force to seek territorial acquisition” or act against the territorial integrity of any state.
China’s G20 delegation, led by Premier Li Qiang, remained silent on it, avoiding, until late on Saturday, any interaction with foreign media.
Neither Li, China’s second-ranking leader in the Communist Party of China’s hierarchy, at the summit instead of President Xi Jinping nor his delegation offered any comment on the declaration. HT also reached out to the Chinese embassy for a comment, but there was no response.
Given that several reports in the run-up to the summit said that Beijing had emerged as the primary stumbling block against a consensus document, it’s unclear how the differences were ironed out.
A comment piece published by Xinhua, China’s official news agency, on Saturday evening, was the closest Beijing has come to making an indirect reference to the document while criticising the US.
Premier Li attended the G20 Summit which was skipped by President Xi for unknown reasons and adopted a cooperative tone in his speech and called for solidarity and cooperation among the member states to meet common challenges.
Section B: Military Developments in China
- Anushka Saxena
September marks China’s annual ‘National Defense Education’ Month
On September 5, 2023, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the CPC, along with other official authorities, issued a ‘Notice on Organizing the 2023 'National Defense Education Month' Activities’.
The “Notice” is based on the theme "Strengthen National Defense with Vigor and Advance Towards Rejuvenation with Determination." It calls for the organized implementation of "National Defense Education Month" activities throughout September 2023.
China Military Network (81.cn) reports that six kinds of activities are expected to be organised as part of the celebrations:
Conducting grassroots propaganda activities, focusing on strengthening the understanding of the idea that "A strong country requires a strong military, and a strong military ensures national security" through reports, discussions, exchanges, and typical demonstrations.
Organizing red education activities on important dates such as the Victory Day of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression on September 3, the September 18th Incident, Martyrs' Day on September 30, and the third Saturday of September, which is the National Defense Education Day.
Implementing national defense education activities in schools, combining theme-based party and youth league days, class meetings, and study and practice activities. This includes using opportunities such as military recruitment, military academy admissions, and civilian personnel recruitment to promote active participation in national defense service among eligible young people.
Opening military camps to the public. Various military camps will be open to the public according to established procedures, allowing visitors to view weapons and equipment, experience military life, and engage in interactive exchanges.
Conducting mass propaganda and education activities, including speeches on "Loving Our National Defense," national defense knowledge competitions, essays, national defense sports events, defense competitions, defense science exhibitions, military chess tournaments, and public screenings of "National Defense in My Eyes."
Organizing online propaganda and education activities. Central and local key news websites and the "Study in China" learning platform will establish special web pages for National Defense Education Month, launching a series of topics under "Patriotism and a Strong Military" to gather positive energy and boost morale.
Interested readers may want to peruse this excellent edition of ‘China Brief’ from February 2023, on trends in mass education in China, especially in the military domain, and activities organised as part of the month: https://jamestown.org/program/party-pushes-national-defense-education-for-all/.
To read more on developments concerning Chinese military forces, please refer to :
Spacebattles (a more informal channel for public discussions).
Section C: Foreign Policy Watch
- Kingshuk Saha
Chinese Premier Attends ASEAN Summit
Chinese Premier Li Qiang, at the invitation of President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, was in Jakarta from September 5 to 8 and attended the 26th China-ASEAN Summit, the 26th ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Summit, and the 18th East Asia Summit.
China firmly supports ASEAN's central position in regional cooperation and its greater role in international affairs, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said here on Tuesday. Li made the remarks upon his arrival here for an official visit to Indonesia.
To welcome Li, honour guards marched along the red carpet to pay tribute, and local people in traditional costumes performed Indonesian folk dances. Coordinator for Cooperation with China and Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Lu Kang, Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Hou Yanqi and other officials greeted Li at the airport.
Noting that the visit is his first to an Asian country as premier, Li said that China stands ready to have in-depth exchanges of views with all parties on major issues of regional cooperation, strengthen solidarity and coordination, share development opportunities, work together to meet challenges and promote East Asia to continuously serve as an important engine for global development.
Li pointed out that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indonesian President Joko Widodo, China-Indonesia relations have developed rapidly, setting an example for developing countries to work together and cooperate for joint development.
Zhai Kun, Deputy dean of the Institute of Area Studies of Peking University, said: “As a close cooperative partner of ASEAN, China has always been respecting ASEAN's central role in the region, and getting closer with all ASEAN countries and shares common interests.”
Xu Liping, Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "Facing rising turbulence among the international community and the challenge of reverse globalization, China continues its attendance at the multilateral event held by ASEAN and chaired by Indonesia, where it presents China's solutions to global challenges with sincerity despite interruptions brought by external forces. These have shaped an image of China as a responsible major power."
Chinese Premier Qiang's three-day visit to Indonesia was not only to deepen the ties with the region with which it shares a historic relation and is one of its key trading partners but also to smooth ruffled feathers resulting from the new Chinese map.
China bans use of iPhones for Government Employees
The Chinese government has banned the use of iPhones by its employees for official work.
Erik Woodring, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said:
“China is critical to Apple‘s success, but Apple is also critical to the Chinese economy. While the potential for a broad decoupling between Apple and China in this multipolar world exists, we don’t believe recent headlines are necessarily foreshadowing this ‘worst case’ scenario.”
Shares in Apple, the world’s most valuable public company, continued to tumble on Thursday after a report that China would extend a ban on iPhones for government workers. The company is on track to lose $200 billion of market value, with shares falling about 6 percent over two days to roughly $175 as investors react to a potential threat in one of its biggest markets.
But the ripples will be felt more broadly: If one of the most successful operators in the world’s second-largest economy is at risk, can any Western company thrive there? Apple manufactures most of its hardware in China, and the country accounted for about a fifth of total revenue last year.
Apple doesn’t break out iPhone sales in the country, but TechInsights, a market research firm, estimates that in terms of second-quarter shipments, China was a bigger market than the United States.
Apple has avoided the pitfalls that have snared other Western companies amid rising U.S.-China tensions, building market share and remaining a sought-after brand. Tim Cook, Apple’s C.E.O., praised the company’s “symbiotic” relationship with China in March on his first visit to the country since the start of the pandemic.
Apple is a big source of jobs in the country, and even if it wanted to shift operations, it would be difficult to replicate the best-in-class supply chain it has built in China over decades. Some analysts say the reports about a government ban are “overblown.”
Daniel Ives, Managing Director at Wedbush Securities, posted: “On the recent China news over the last few days we believe in the worst-case scenario any China government agency iPhone ban is way overblown as to quantify its less than ~500k iPhones of roughly 45 million we expect to be sold in China over the next year. iPhone 15 on deck.”
The recent ban by China on the iPhone is part of the great tech game between China and the U.S. Apple is not only a leading technology company but also the world’s most valuable company. China banning the iPhone is bad optics at a time when it wants to attract foreign investments and its economy is sluggish.
China-Australia High-level Dialogue
The 7th of China-Australia High-level Dialogue took place in Beijing on 7th September after a gap of three years.
Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Penny Wong said:
“This is the first time the dialogue has been held since early 2020 and it represents another step towards increasing bilateral engagement and stabilizing our relationship with China.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with an Australian delegation at the seventh session of the China-Australia High-Level Dialogue on Thursday in Beijing, calling for enhanced cooperation to promote the steady and long-term development of the China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership.
Noting that China-Australia relations have long been at the forefront of China's relations with Western countries, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the economies of the two countries are highly complementary, the people of the two countries are friendly to each other, and there are no disputes left over from history or major conflicts of interests between the two countries.
“China will work with Australia to promote the sound, steady and sustainable development of China-Australia relations, bring more benefits to the two peoples and contribute to regional peace, stability and development," said Wang. He spoke highly of the China-Australia High-Level Dialogue, saying that it has played a due role in deepening mutual trust, expanding cooperation and enhancing friendship between the two sides.
The restoration of the high-level dialogue between Australia and China reflects their desire to restore the relations that have deteriorated in the last few years due to their increasing geopolitical divergence impacting their bilateral and economic relations.
UK Foreign Secretary Visits China
James Cleverly, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the UK visited China on Wednesday. It was the first visit of a UK Foreign Secretary for over 5 years.
Beijing underlined at high-level talks on Wednesday the urgency for China and the United Kingdom to show mutual respect, jointly tackle weather global challenges and spur two-way trade and investment.
Vice-President Han Zheng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met separately in Beijing with visiting UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly.
Observers noted that keywords such as "global" and "communication" demonstrated the common ground shared by both sides at the meeting, reflecting goodwill expressed by both sides to repair their strained ties.
Vice-President Han is no stranger to the British political community, as he attended the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and related activities as President Xi Jinping's special representative in May.
Speaking to Cleverly, he noted that China and the UK have had ambassadorial-level diplomatic relations for more than half a century and "have achieved positive results in practical cooperation in various fields".He underlined the two nations' shared identities: permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and major global economies.
In the face of risks and challenges in the current international situation, China and the UK "should uphold the spirit of mutual respect and win-win cooperation, take care of each other's core interests and major concerns, maintain communication in international and regional affairs, and jointly promote world peace and development.”
China has long been among the UK's largest export markets. Last year, China was the UK's second-largest trading partner in goods imports and its fifth-largest in goods exports, according to the UK Office for National Statistics.
This year, the UK is the Guest Country of Honor for the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services, which is scheduled to open this weekend in Beijing. During the meeting, Han also noted that economic and trade cooperation is the basis for the sound and stable development of China-UK relations.
In his meeting with Cleverly, Foreign Minister Wang said that the UK foreign secretary's visit reflected the importance and positive attitude he attaches to ties with China, and said the two countries “should conduct and step up regular exchanges in various fields.”
Gao Jian, Director of the Center for British Studies at Shanghai International Studies University, said “Although the visit is more of symbolic than practical significance, it will provide an opportunity to improve China-UK relations.”
Scott Singer, a co-founder of the Oxford China Policy Lab, said: “Certain types of cooperation can enhance human and global security and thus make Britain safer. The key is identifying those areas where there is a high possibility of joint gains and low national security risk.”
The visit by Cleverly was the first in five years by the British foreign secretary to China. It is a small but incremental step in defrosting the relations between the two countries. It would be naïve to expect China under Xi would be swayed by the UK’s platitude on human rights and the rule of law.
US Commerce Secretary Visits China
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was on a four-day official visit to China from August 27 to 30.
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Monday she and her counterpart, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, had agreed on steps to improve communication between the world’s top two economies on business and trade following four hours of “very open” discussions in Beijing.
Raimondo’s trip to Beijing and Shanghai, which ends on Wednesday, follows recent visits from three other key Biden administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Climate Envoy John Kerry.
“The economic relationship between the United States and China is one of the most significant in the world. We share over $700 billion of trade,” Raimondo said as she kicked off the meeting in the Chinese capital. Raimondo went to Beijing to discuss US-China commercial ties, challenges faced by US businesses and areas for potential cooperation, according to a statement issued by the US Commerce Department ahead of her trip.
Experts believe Beijing will use the opportunity this week to lobby for the lifting of US export controls and other restrictions, which have become a sticking point for policymakers.
Last October, the US government banned Chinese companies from buying advanced US chips and chipmaking equipment without a license. Washington has since convinced other countries, such as the Netherlands and Japan, to take similar action. China has strongly objected to the curbs in recent months, accusing the US of politicizing business issues.
Washington extended an apparent olive branch to Beijing last week, with the Commerce Department announcing it had removed export controls for 27 Chinese companies, just days before Raimondo’s visit.
China’s Ministry of Commerce responded warmly to the move, calling it “conducive to the normal trade between Chinese and American companies.” However, several hot-button issues continue to weigh on both sides.
Stephen Olson, senior research fellow at the Hinrich Foundation, said: “China will continue to believe that the U.S. is determined to block its rise, and the U.S. will continue to believe that China is determined to usurp the post-war global order.”
The Global Times said on the visit:
Chinese observers welcomed the positive progress made in the China-US economic and trade relationship during Raimondo's visit but urged the US side to match its words with deeds. They said both sides are anticipated to maintain the largely stable China-US relationship over the next period to pave the way for a possible meeting of the leaders of the two countries at the APEC leaders' meeting in November in the US.
They said the progress in the China-US relationship is also due to growth in China's strength, and that China is no longer passive and will be increasingly capable of pushing China-US relations back to the normal track.
Instead, the frequent visits of senior US officials to China reflect that Washington knows very well that it cannot deal a fatal blow to China with restrictions or by "decoupling," and rather the hegemonic measures will backfire on the US itself. Raimondo landed in Beijing on Sunday and met several senior Chinese officials before flying to Shanghai.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Raimondo on Tuesday in Beijing, calling on both sides to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation, the Xinhua News Agency reported. China is willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with the US on the economy and trade, and to promote the sound development of bilateral economic and trade relations, Li said, noting that he hopes that the US will work with China in the same direction.
As the tension rises between the two countries, there are shrill cries for decoupling from China in the U.S. However, the U.S. is caught in the dilemma of "To be, or not to be" while it wants to decouple from China to restrict its access to critical technologies but at the same time does not want to miss the investment opportunities in China. The visit by Raimondo was a balancing act to keep the line of communication and business open.
Eye on China is a weekly newsletter curated by the Indo-Pacific Studies Programme at The Takshashila Institution, a public policy think-tank based out of Bengaluru, India.
Contributors :
India-China Relations: Bharat Sharma
Military Developments in China: Anushka Saxena
Foreign Policy Watch: Kingshuk Saha
