We’re a day late this week because of some commitments the team was caught up with. Apologies for bringing you up to speed on a Sunday!
Section A: India-China Relations
This section is brought to you by Anushka Saxena
This has been an eventful week for India-China relations:
First, on 2 April, Global Times reported that China's Ministry of Civil Affairs has standardized the names of 11 places in Zangnan (southern part of Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region) in Chinese characters, Tibetan and pinyin, in accordance with regulations on geographical names issued by the State Council, China's cabinet.
The report boldly but not surprisingly added: “Zangnan is located in Southwest China's Xizang region which has been China's territory since ancient times. In order to strengthen the standardized administration of place names, China's move to standardize the names in Zangnan completely "falls within China's sovereignty" and it is also in accordance with the regulation on the administration of geographical names, Zhang Yongpan, a research fellow of the Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday [3 April].”
A revised rule on the management of place names by the State Council came into effect on May 1, 2022. The regulation requires strict management over the naming and renaming of localities and sites.
Responding to continuing media reports (including the one by GT) on the Chinese Civil Aviation Ministry releasing the third batch of Sinicised locations in Arunachal Pradesh, on 4 April 2023, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi made a strong rebuttal to such provocations, saying, “We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We outrightly reject this.” He adds: “Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality.”
The Tribune reports: It was the third batch of standardised geographical names for Arunachal issued by China’s ministry. The first batch of the standardised names of six places was released in 2017 and the second batch of 15 places was issued in 2021. The official names of the 11 places were released on Sunday. It also gave precise coordinates, including two land areas, two residential areas, five mountain peaks and two rivers, and listed the category of places’ names and their subordinate administrative districts, Chinese state-run Global Times reported on Monday.
The Hindustan Times carries a succint graphic on this:
In 2021, China had defended the renaming of 15 places in Arunachal, claiming the state was “actually southern Tibet, an inherent part of its territory.” On Tuesday, this was reiterated by Mao Ning, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, during her regular press conference.
She said: “Zangnan is part of China’s territory. In accordance with relevant stipulations of the administration of geographical names of the State Council, competent authorities of the Chinese government have standardized the names of some parts of Zangnan. This is within China’s sovereign rights.”
In the early 1950s, China started indulging in cartographic deception, staking claims to large parts of Indian territory. The Indian leadership looked at these claims as a negotiable misunderstanding and complacently trusted Zhou Enlai’s lies. Even while announcing the ill-conceived and ill-fated “forward policy” in October 1962 to assert Indian authority over territories under cartographic challenge, Prime Minister Nehru smugly believed that the Chinese would never attack India. In 1959, he condemned the British Tibetan expert George Patterson for spreading “bazaar rumours about the Chinese” and threatened to expel him.
Despite his hollow claims recently in Moscow about standing “guard over the world order based on international law”, President Xi Jinping continues to pursue that old Maoist strategy of violating sovereign national boundaries of neighbours using cartography as a weapon.
The recent rechristening of villages, unpopulated areas, rivers and hills in Arunachal Pradesh by the State Council, the Chinese cabinet, is another example of that cartographic deception. Never in known history did Arunachal Pradesh have any remote contact with China.
There was never any Chinese presence there, nor was there any familiarity between the two peoples. Tibetans from Lhasa used to travel to Kolkata via Sikkim and sail onwards to mainland China. At most, the Monpas of Tawang spoke Tibetan, but a few miles down the road, the Sherdukpens of Bomdila spoke a different dialect and hundreds of other tribes further to the east spoke languages that were closer to Assamese.
China continues to call parts of Arunachal Pradesh as Zangnam or South Tibet and makes repeated claims over its territory. The recent renaming exercise is also a continuation of that deceptive claim based on concocted maps.
Beijing's move comes at a time when India-China relations are at their worst in decades.
For its part, India has bolstered its military strength in Arunachal in recent years, with a particular focus on the Tawang sector, especially after the 2020 conflict in eastern Ladakh.
The Indian government has increased infrastructure development in forward areas of the region, and is carrying out significant infrastructure upgrades in eastern Arunachal.
By the way, China very recently decided to skip a G20 meeting on 26 March. New Delhi's decision to hold the meeting in Arunachal was dubbed as a "diplomatic curveball" for Beijing.
Now, on 8 April, the Indian Union Ministry of Home Affairs has announced, in what is believed to be a response to Chinese sinicization of Arunachal names, that Miniter of Home Affairs Amit Shah will be visiting Arunachal Pradesh on 10 and 11 April, with the purpose of launching the centrally sponsored ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ (VVP).
The programme, aimed at the comprehensive development of villages at the India-China border, will be launched in Kibithoo, a border village in the Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh.
We have covered the VVP in the 18 February 2023 edition of Eye on China - if interested, do peruse here.
This was followed up with India and China “sparring over” the suspension of visas for two Indian journalists operating out of Beijing.
In a surprising move, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) decided to “freeze” the visas of two Indian journalists based in Beijing, indicating that more “countermeasures” could follow against other Indian journalists, unless New Delhi offers reciprocal visa and tenure terms to Chinese journalists in India.
On Tuesday, a Chinese MFA official informed The Hindu’s Beijing correspondent Ananth Krishnan as well as the Prasar Bharati correspondent Anshuman Mishra, both of whom are presently in India, that they should not return to China as their journalistic visas had been “frozen”.
Anshuman Mishra, a correspondent for the state-run Prasar Bharati, is the second journalist asked to leave the country.
In New Delhi, Arindam Bagchi said India hoped "Chinese authorities would facilitate their continued presence and reporting from China."
Mao Ning said that this move is retaliation to a development from last month, when the Indian government had informed a New Delhi-based correspondent of Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency that his Indian visa would not be renewed, resulting in his return to China by 31 March.
“Chinese journalists have suffered unfair and discriminatory treatment in India for a long time. In 2017, the Indian side shortened the period of validity of visas held by Chinese journalists in India to three months or even one month without any valid reason. Since 2020, the Indian side has refused to review and approve Chinese journalists’ applications for stationing in India.”
“What is worse, in December 2021, a CGTN journalist stationed in India was asked by the Indian side, with no explanation till now, to leave the country within ten days when his visa was still valid for two months and his term would not end in half a year. A few days ago, the Indian side asked a journalist of the Xinhua News Agency to leave the country by March 31, citing the reason that he had been in the country for six years.”
“Over the years, the Chinese side has actively communicated with the Indian side with restraint and goodwill. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in India have expressed concerns to the Indian side on many occasions on the issue of Chinese journalists’ visas. Regrettably, however, the Indian side ignored this and even went further down the wrong path.”
“Considering this, the Chinese side has no choice but to take appropriate counter-measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese media organizations. Indian journalists are welcome to work in China. If the Indian side takes positive measures to correct their mistakes, China stands ready to work together with the Indian side and continue to provide facilitation for Indian journalists.”
KJM Varma of the Press Trust of India and Sutirtho Patranobis of Hindustan Times have been told by China's foreign ministry that they could remain in Beijing for the time being.
According to sources, there were grievances from both parties regarding the handling of journalist-related issues.
The correspondent for The Hindu was interrogated by Chinese authorities for nearly half an hour at the airport before his return to India on 31 March.
Seven years ago, there were 14 Chinese journalists in India, all working for state-run organisations. However, in July 2016, three journalists from Xinhua got expelled, including bureau chiefs in New Delhi and Mumbai. They were reportedly engaged in activities other than their journalistic duties and had drawn the "adverse attention of security agencies."
The numbers have since gone down further.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many of them left India and were not replaced by their organisations.
The Swarajya report concludes by painting a grim picture: “Currently, there is reportedly only one Chinese journalist in India.”
Next, the Bhutanese king was on a two-day visit to India and arrived in New Delhi from April 3-5, 2023. During the meeting, Prime Minister Modi assured Wangchuck of help to support Bhutan's upcoming 13th five-year plan and also promised to extend an additional standby credit facility.
India and Bhutan remain in “close coordination” over all security matters, said Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, indicating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck discussed the latest situation along the India-Bhutan border as well as the progress in boundary talks between China and Bhutan, particularly above the Doklam trijunction point, during a meeting in Delhi on April 4.
Responding to a number of questions about the possibility of a boundary deal between China and Bhutan that could negatively impact India’s strategic interests in the region, Mr. Kwatra told journalists that the two leaders had discussed the “entire gamut” of bilateral cooperation and issues of national and regional interests, and that the two countries share an “exemplary” relationship of “trust, goodwill and mutual understanding”.
In last week’s edition of Eye on China, we have discussed in detail evolving developments surrounding India-Bhutan-China trilateral relations, in the context of Bhutanese PM Dr. Lotay Tshering’s comments for a Belgian newspaper on Doklam, and the ensuing back and forth between Bhutan and China, and Bhutan and India.
On the trijunction, he had said: “Doklam is a junction point between India, China, and Bhutan. It is not up to Bhutan alone to solve the problem. We are three. There is no big or small country, there are three equal countries, each counting for a third. We are ready. As soon as the other two parties are also ready, we can discuss. India and China have problems all along their border. We are therefore waiting to see how they will resolve their differences.”
Briefing the media after the Modi and King of Bhutan held talks, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra also reiterated India’s “earlier statements” on the determination of the trijunction — the Doklam area where Indian and Chinese troops eyeballed each other for 73 days from June 16 to August 28, 2017 — seeking to convey that Tshering had not said anything different from India’s own position on this issue.
An Indian Express report adds to this: These “earlier statements” — made by the Ministry of External Affairs on June 30, 2017; by former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Parliament in August 2017; and by then Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar to the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs during 2017-18 — referred to the “Common Understanding” reached between the Special Representatives of New Delhi and Beijing that the trijunction boundary points between India, China, and third countries would be finalised in consultation with those third countries.
Kwatra said, “both countries maintain a longstanding tradition of very close consultations on matters relating to their mutual interest and, of course, security also. Now in this context the intertwined and indivisible nature of our security concerns is self-evident”. In the duration of the King’s visit, China went ahead with the freezing of the visas of the two Indian journalists, as well as the renaming of 11 Arunanchal cities.
Finally, on 7 April, a report by Bloomberg claimed that India has confronted Myanmar in recent months with intelligence showing that China is providing assistance in building a surveillance post on a remote island in the Bay of Bengal, according to Indian officials with knowledge of the matter.
In it, Bloomberg said that the Indian government recently confronted Myanmar over intelligence reports that China is constructing a surveillance military base in its Great Coco Islands, an archipelago around 55 km away from India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Indian government representatives at various levels have shared satellite imagery with Myanmar counterparts that they said depicted Chinese workers helping to construct what appears to be a listening post on the Coco Islands in the Indian Ocean, said the officials, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive information. The workers were also seen extending an airstrip, they said.
In the meetings, representatives from Myanmar's ruling junta denied any Chinese involvement and dismissed India's concerns, the officials said. Still, India remains worried that the infrastructure will allow China to monitor communications from naval bases and track missiles from test sites on its eastern coastline, they said.
Major General Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for Myanmar's ruling State Administration Council, called the allegation that China was building a spy facility in the Coco Islands "absurd." He denied that the topic ever came up with Chinese or Indian officials, and said Myanmar would never allow access to foreign troops.
"Myanmar and India always have discussions at many levels, but there was no specific discussion on this issue," he said. "The Indian government already knows perfectly well that only Myanmar security forces are based there, and they are doing defense activities for their own country."
In a response to questions, Arindam Bagchi, a spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs, said the country would take "necessary measures to safeguard its interests.” "The govemment keeps a constant watch on all developments having a bearing on India's security," he said [cryptically].
The Chinese ambassador to Myanmar, Chen Hai, who met with some junta ministers earlier this week, didn't respond to a request for comment. China's Foreign Ministry didn't immediately reply to questions.
Military tensions between India and China have risen since 2020, when the worst fighting in decades erupted on their Himalayan border Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has also taken action to restrict Chinese apps in India and woo foreign investors looking to diversify away from the world's second-biggest economy.
India has assessed that China has no offensive military capabilities on the specific island-Great Coco Island-and Chinese research vessels used for snooping in the Indian Ocean haven't docked there to avoid stoking suspicions, the officials said. They added that no Chinese personnel are stationed on the islands permanently, even though the workers show up often to help set up equipment.
India plans to continue pressing Myanmar's junta to block China from operating the spy post, the officials said, but they assess that the generals have become more economically dependent on Beijing since a 2021 coup brought several rounds of sanctions from the US and Europe.
Thoughts: This is an interesting development given that India has, in the past, expressed concerns about Chinese infrastructural investments in its neighbouring countries, as well as India’s proximity with Myanmar on the issue of inciting violence on the Northeast border. China’s trsyt with Sri Lanka on landing its surveillance vessel ‘Yuan Wang’ in the country’s Hambantota port has previously irked India on cybersecurity and spying related concerns.
Similarly, India perceives threat from the militarisation of Gwadar port, where Chinese occupation provides the CPC with ‘deep berthing’ rights which further paralyzes Pakistan’s control over its territories. An analyst argued for The Kootneeti: “Violating India’s sovereignty, these projects channelized their foundation through the disputed areas of J&K, which unveils China’s existence permanently in the north-western frontiers. China has been setting up military commands in the Afghan-Tajik border, Skar-du airbase in POK and POK – Xinjiang to provide assistance and re-equipment during any war with India.”
And now, the issue of India’s concerns with Coco Islands is in the news again. I believe it was an essential step taken by India, if rreported correctly, to inform Myanmar of its concerns, which impinge directly upon its security imperatives. From being able to gain intelligence to ending India’s leverage in the IOR by letting its warships dominate regional maritime trade, Chinese presence on the Coco Islands carries strategic implications that India must continue to look out for.
Section B: Chinese Domestic Politics
This section is brought to you by Amit Kumar
This week, the following pieces of news have been of interest:
Yet again, CPC launches party-wide education campaign on Xi Jinping Thought for a New Era
On April 4, Xi attended a meeting on the education campaign, where he made a speech and stressed the importance of the study and implementation of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
The meeting was held as a teleconference, with the attendance of members of the central leading group for the education campaign on the study and implementation of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, that is headed by Politburo Standing Committee member Cai Qi.
Following is the summary of Xi’s speech as reported by Xinhua:
Xi stressed that the great goals of building China into a stronger country and realizing national rejuvenation are inspiring and stimulating us to forge ahead.
Our generation of Communists has been entrusted with glorious missions and important responsibilities. We need to take this education campaign as an opportunity to equip all Party members with the Party's new theories, further advance their understanding of Marxism, and improve the Party's ability to govern and lead, so as to enhance cohesion and pool strengths to forge ahead with enterprise and fortitude on the new journey and strive in unity to build a modern socialist country in all respects and advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts.
Xi stressed that the focus of the education campaign would be the leading officials at and above the county and director level is a major initiative to implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress. He underlined the great significance of achieving unity in thinking within the Party and maintaining close ties with the people, and advancing the cause of the Party and the country.
He expects the education campaign will yield concrete results in helping Party members and officials to affirm and consolidate their convictions and continue to improve their capacity for political judgment, thinking, and implementation.
The education campaign is meant to guide Party members and officials to become more conscious of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership, stay confident in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics, uphold Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and uphold the Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership, and closely follow the Party Central Committee in thinking political stance, and action. In doing so, they can focus their ingenuity and energy on the same goal and come together as a mighty force to forge the Party into "one piece of adamantine iron" that is invincible.
Xi stressed the need for Party cadres to be guided to strengthen the courage and ability to carry on fight, forge ahead with determination, take on responsibilities and demonstrate enterprise in their work. Efforts to have a problem-oriented mindset so as to identify shortcomings and deficiencies and know what to do with them.
They need to be guided to have regular political "health checks" through intra-Party activities, thereby "sweep off the dust," rectify misdeeds, andsolve prominent problems of impurity in thinking and organization in the Party. They need to be guided to comprehensively advance the Party's capacity to purify, improve, renew, and excel itself. This will ensure that our Party always retains its vigor and vitality, and remains the strong leadership core in building socialism with Chinese characteristics.
It is imperative to…constantly boost all Party members' political, ideological, theoretical and emotional identification with the Party's new theories.
We must consciously transform ourselves with the Thought, have a good command of its requirements for maintaining firm ideals and convictions, raising our ideological level and enhancing our Party consciousness, and forever preserve the political character of Communists.
We must be more purposeful in practicing the Thought of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and use it to transform the world and promote the development of our cause.
Characters must be tempered and loyalty intensified. All the Party members and officials must be guided and educated to build up political characters, so that they will keep following the banner, the will and the mission of the Party. They must remain loyal to the Party, the people and Marxism, love the Party sincerely, concern themselves about the Party at all times, firmly protect it and do their utmost to promote it.
The Party's purpose must be applied to deliver for the people. All the Party members and officials should be educated and guided to firmly maintain a people-centered philosophy of development, do whatever they should for the people and rely on the people in everything they do, consciously seek the people's opinions on the work of the government and know about what the people need, always breathe the same air as the people, share the same future with the people, stay truly connected to the people, work hard to solve the most pressing difficulties of immediate concern to the people, and ensure that work on improving people's livelihood, warming the cockles of their hearts and respecting their will is done to their greatest satisfaction, so as to let the people have a stronger sense of fulfillment, happiness and security.
All the Party members and officials should be educated and guided to have stronger awareness of disciplines and rules, and continue to rectify pointless formalities, bureaucratism, hedonism, and extravagance, placing the rectification of pointless formalities and bureaucratism in an even more prominent position.
They should also exercise power in a just and fair manner, in accordance with the law, for the interests of the people, and with integrity, build a clean work relationship among colleagues, and between ranking officials and their subordinates, and cultivate a cordial and clean relationship between government and business, so as to play a good role in guiding, creating and safeguarding a good political atmosphere within the Party and a good social tendency as well.
In accordance with the work plan of the CPC Central Committee on encouraging investigations and researches throughout the Party, Party members and officials, especially leading officials at all levels, should be organized to go to rural areas, communities, enterprises, hospitals, schools, new economic organizations, new social organizations and other grassroots units, to sort out problems and difficulties and use the Party's new theories to study new situations and solve new problems.
We should focus on high-quality development, the primary task of building a modern socialist country in all respects, strengthen theoretical study to guide work on development, deepen investigations and research to promote the solution of development problems, integrate study, investigations and research into the accomplishment of the tasks deployed at the 20th CPC National Congress, and test the results of the education campaign with the new achievements in promoting high-quality development.
The major leaders of Party committees (leading Party members groups) should earnestly fulfill their duties as the first person responsible, plan personally, command in front, and supervise and guide the education campaign. The CPC Central Committee will dispatch guiding groups to supervise and guide the implementation of the education campaign. The Party committees of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and leading Party members groups (Party committees) of competent authorities shall dispatch circular guiding groups to strengthen the supervision and guidance of the education campaign in their respective regions, departments and units.
Previously, the two volumes of Xi Jinpings’ 146 selected speeches, instructions and directives from Nov 2012 to Oct 2022 have been published. Xinhua informs that “The books are an authoritative resource for the whole Party and the entire nation to thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, says the statement.”
Later, on April 6, Xinhua Informed that the study outline of Xi Jinping Thought is to be published that will serve as “an important piece of material for Party members and officials as well as the public to thoroughly understand the thought.”
On the same day, a book on Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era was published. Xinhua reports: “The book, a compilation of excerpts on the Thought, brings together contents excerpted from over 410 pieces of reports, remarks, explanations, speeches, talks, articles, congratulatory letters and instructions made by Xi, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, between November 2012 and March 2023.”
Next, the State Council held an executive meeting on April 7 that was presided over by Premier Li Qiang. The meeting held discussions on policies and measures to promote the stable scale and optimal structure of foreign trade, reviewed and passed the ‘Interim Regulations on the Management of Unmanned Aircraft Flights (Draft)’.
Xinhua reports: “ The meeting pointed out that promoting the stable scale and optimized structure of foreign trade plays an important supporting role in stabilizing growth and employment, building a new development pattern, and promoting high-quality development. It is necessary to continuously enrich, adjust and improve relevant policies in response to practical problems in different fields, implement a combination of stable foreign trade policies, and help companies stabilize orders and expand markets. It is necessary to find ways to stabilize exports to developed economies, and guide enterprises to deeply explore the markets of developing countries and ASEAN and other regional markets. It is necessary to give full play to the role of the major foreign trade provinces as the main force in stabilizing foreign trade, encourage localities to introduce supporting policies according to local conditions, and enhance policy synergy.”
On the Interim Draft Regulations on the Management of Unmanned Aircraft Flights, it said: “It is necessary to fully implement the overall national security concept, coordinate development and safety, take the implementation of the "Regulations" as an opportunity, regulate the flight of unmanned aircraft and related activities, actively promote the sustainable and healthy development of related industries, and effectively maintain aviation safety and public safety. National Security. Adhere to safety as the foundation, focus on the entire chain of production and sales, assembly and modification, registration and identification, personnel qualifications, and operation monitoring, speed up the improvement of regulatory systems and mechanisms, improve the regulatory service platform, improve regulatory service capabilities, and ensure safe and orderly flight activities. Adhere to innovation-driven development, vigorously promote key core technology research, accelerate the construction of an independent, controllable, safe and reliable industrial chain supply chain, promote technological integration and innovation, enrich application scenarios, improve the industrial ecology, and better promote the high-quality development of related industries.”
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Section C: Economy and Tech
This section is brought to you by Anushka Saxena (with inputs on ‘Micron cyber-probe’ by Kingshuk Saha)
The following pieces of news are of significance from the past week:
To begin with, on 4 April 2023, as part of and in tandem with the crackdown on TikTok across countries in the West, the UK announced penalties against the platform company’s British arm.
The Wall Street Journal (China) reports on the matter: TikTok's U.K. arm was fined 12.7 million pounds ($15.8 million) by a U.K. government department on Tuesday for repeated breaches of data protection law, including failing to lawfully use children's personal data.
It adds: TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited and TikTok Inc. were fined by the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The ICO estimates that more than 1 million British children under the age of 13 have used the platform in 2020, in breach of age restrictions set out in the company's terms of service. The two companies are owned by Bytedance Ltd., an unlisted Chinese technology company. The ICO said it found that personal data belonging to children under 13 was being used without parental consent, while the platform "did not do enough" to adequately check who was using their platform and to remove minors Child users, in breach of the UK General Data Protection Regulation.
The Guardian adds: After the announcement of the fine, one of the largest the watchdog has given, Rishi Sunak was accused of moving too slowly in taking action against TikTok – and was called “naive for assuming TikTok could ever regulate itself.”
UK data protection law does not have a strict ban on children using the internet but requires organisations that use the personal data of children to obtain consent from their parents or carers. TikTok itself bans those under 13 in its terms and conditions. The failure to enforce age limits led to “up to 1.4 million UK children” under 13 using the platform as of 2020, the ICO estimated.
The responses to the fines have been on two ends of the spectrum between TikTok UK and Global Times:
In a statement, the TikTok UK spokesperson said: “TikTok is a platform for users aged 13 and over. We invest heavily to help keep under 13s off the platform and our 40,000-strong safety team works around the clock to help keep the platform safe for our community. While we disagree with the ICO’s decision, which relates to May 2018 – July 2020, we are pleased that the fine announced today has been reduced to under half the amount proposed last year. We will continue to review the decision and are considering next steps.”
A report by TechCrunch adds: TikTok claims it has taken a number of steps to address the issues it’s being fined for today. Although it continues to deploy an age-gate in which users are asked to input their date of birth in order to create an account (meaning that, if they’re underage, they can lie to circumvent the measure).
TikTok further suggests it has improved transparency and accountability in this area — saying it produces regular reports about the number of underage users removed from the platform (in the last three months of 2022, it said the figure stood at over 17 million suspected underage accounts removed globally; but it does not report this data a per country basis); as well as offering family pairing to help parents keep tabs on kids’ usage.
Global Times said on the matter: “While it is hard for outsiders with limited information to tell whether the fine is justified or not, the timing of the ICO announcement may speak more volume compared with the actual figure of fine. It makes markets worry about more regulatory setbacks for the app in the UK. The ICO's fine came at a time when Western governments and institutions have in recent weeks followed the US to issue bans over the usage of TikTok on official devices citing unsubstantiated security concerns.”
It adds: The UK is trapped in a vicious cycle. In order to seek closer ties with the US, it has chosen to follow Washington's Cold War mentality on many fronts, including its own economic policies, regardless of the fact that over-politicizing economic issues has become a major drain on its own growth momentum and development potential. With its economic woes worsening, the UK is more inclined to be sided with the US by doing more damaging decisions to its economy.
This development has been accompanied by a ban on TikTok announced by Australia from all government devices on 4 April 2023.
CNN reports: Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced the ban on Tuesday after receiving advice from intelligence and security agencies, saying the directive would be imposed “as soon as practicable.”
The decision puts Australia in line with its allies from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance – the US, Britain and Canada have already announced similar restrictions, while New Zealand’s parliament also ordered the app be removed from all devices with access to the legislature.
Surveys have estimated that as many as seven million Australians use the app -- or about a quarter of the population.
China said it had "lodged stern representations" with Canberra over the ban and urged Australia to "provide Chinese companies with a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment".
"China has always maintained that the issue of data security should not be used as a tool to generalise the concept of national security, abuse state power and unreasonably suppress companies from other countries," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
Australia’s move is interesting to note because on the one hand, there is significant diplomatic rapprochement between itself and China in the works on issues concerning trade and commerce.
Australia has become a priority for China’s move away from wolf-warrior diplomacy’, with significant moderation in China’s tenor on Australia being witnessed lately.
However, even though China is the largest and most significant market for Australian exporters, its national interests in cybersecurity and alliance with the West is supreme. This is the consideration that governed its decision to ban Huawei’s 5G in the past, and now the ban on TikTok this week.
The Chinese Cyberspace Administration (CCA) has initiated a cybersecurity probe against Micron Technology Inc., the largest chip manufacturer in the US.
On being asked about the Micron probe, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, “Relevant Chinese authorities conduct cyber security review over cyber products that have impacted or may impact national security by laws and regulations. This is a normal regulation measure for safeguarding national security. All Chinese companies and foreign companies in China must abide by China’s laws and regulations and must not harm China’s national security.”
The Global Times Reports: On March 31, the Cyberspace Administration of China announced a cybersecurity review of Micron's products sold in China. According to the announcement, the review is in accordance with China's national security law, cybersecurity law, and cybersecurity review measures, aiming to protect the security of the supply chain of critical information infrastructure and ward off cybersecurity risks caused by product problems, in a bid to maintain national security. Amid increasing US sanctions and escalating technology "decoupling," national security is still the main path of China's overall development.
It adds: Supply chain security and digital security are inevitable requirements for a digital China, and strengthening digital security including cybersecurity has become the key, experts noted.
China has promulgated more than 140 laws on cyberspace, forming a cyber legislation framework with the Constitution as its foundation. This framework is supported by laws, administrative regulations, departmental rules, local regulations and local administrative rules. It is also endorsed by traditional legislation and underpinned by specialized cyber laws governing online content and management, cybersecurity, information technology and other elements, according to a white paper on the cyberspace rule of law released on March 16.
In February, the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, China's cabinet, unveiled guidelines for digital development in the world's second-largest economy, calling for building a credible and manageable digital security apparatus to maintain network security by improving the system of network security laws, regulations and policies.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley said, “We can't speculate as to the reason for the inquiry, and there shouldn't be any near-term impact, in our view. That said, it could be a potential positive, as any form of supply chain anxiety could prove helpful in a meaningfully oversupplied market.”
Samm Sacks, a senior fellow at Yale Law School, said, “The Micron case has sent a warning to foreign business and left Micron’s future uncertain. Not only are there no criteria known to pass it, but there’s also not a specific end game that’s ever been articulated if you don’t pass it. That could have a chilling effect. Many companies are now having a come to Jesus’ moment. Is it worth the cost now to be in this incredibly difficult market?”
The review of Micron by China signals its intention of taking Western tech companies as Chinese companies are increasingly being targeted in the West. This will further escalate the tech war between China and the West.
Further intensifying its response to the West-led tech war, Zhang Yuzhuo, Chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council, said that the regulator will support centrally administrated SOEs to overcome difficulties and forge ahead toward breakthroughs in the development of the integrated circuit industry chain, so as to better promote the sector's high-quality development.
Zhang made the comments during his visit to Empyrean Technology Co, a chip subsidiary of China Electronics Corp, on Thursday, 6 April 2023. The Beijing-based Empyrean is engaged in the development of electronic design automation or EDA tools.
Zhang was appointed head of the agency two months ago, after his predecessor Hao Peng was reassigned as party secretary of Liaoning province last November. Previously, Zhang held multiple roles at state-owned companies and in local governments, including chairman of oil and gas giant Sinopec and party secretary of the Binhai New District of Tianjin, a port city in northern China.
SCMP reports: Zhang praised Empyrean Technology as a market leader in China’s electronic design automation (EDA) industry, and urged the company to come up with more “iconic and pioneering achievements” and strive to be the world’s leading provider of EDA tools.
It adds: Zhang also said the regulator would further implement “precise policies” to increase support for talent and funding related to the industry, and support state-owned companies in “overcoming difficulties” in the development of China’s integrated circuit supply chain.
China is intensifying its narrative of technological and scientific superiority, even though in the case of the semiconductor supply chain itself, China has a minor role to play in manufacturing, assembly, testing, and packaging.
Hence, Zhang’s visit, and his assurances to Empyrean, fit rightly in the context of China doubling down on its efforts to gain self-reliance in chip manufacturing, amidst increaing pressure and export-related restrictions from US and its allies in the semiconductor supply chain.
China's services trade value continued to expand in the first two months of 2023, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed Thursday, 6 April 2023.
The total trade value stood at about 969.6 billion yuan ($141 billion) in the January-February period, rising 1.7 percent year-on-year, according to the ministry.
Imports of services climbed 14.7 percent year-on-year to 557.3 billion yuan in the period, while exports of services totaled over 412.3 billion yuan, down 11.8 percent from a year ago, resulting in a deficit of 144.9 billion yuan.
Trade in knowledge-intensive services reached nearly 406.9 billion yuan in the January-February period, expanding 6.4 percent year-on-year, the data showed.
Travel services saw a notable recovery during the period, with trade in this sector advancing 39.8 percent from a year earlier to over 209.4 billion yuan, according to the ministry.
China's services trade value rose 12.9 percent year on year in 2022 to 5.98 trillion yuan ($884 billion), data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on Monday.
Exports of services expanded 12.1 percent year on year to around 2.85 trillion yuan, while imported services totaled 3.13 trillion yuan, up 13.5 percent from the previous year, resulting in a deficit of 275.7 billion yuan.
Exports of knowledge-intensive services increased by 12.2 percent to reach 1.42 trillion yuan, driven by categories such as intellectual property royalties and computing and information services.
Travel services maintained recovery momentum, with trade in the sector rising 8.4 percent from the previous year to 856 billion yuan, data showed.
China registered a services trade deficit of 100.4 billion yuan in February, but recorded a trade surplus of 210.9 billion yuan from the foreign trade of goods, according to data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) on Friday.
In February, the country’s goods export totaled 1.54 trillion yuan, while imports reached 1.33 trillion yuan. Services exports hit 178.2 billion yuan, while imports totaled 278.7 billion yuan.
Overall foreign trade of goods and services in February surged 10% year over year to 3.32 trillion yuan. In US dollar terms, the country recorded a surplus of $16.2 billion from the foreign trade of goods and services in February.
Some more news from Alibaba’s restructuring. SCMP reports:
Alibaba Group Holding’s logistics arm Cainiao, one of six units to be split off from the e-commerce giant as part of its restructuring plan, is seen as the most likely candidate for an initial public offering (IPO) due to its “unique advantages and growth potential”, analysts say.
Cainiao Network, which is estimated to be worth over US$20 billion, is holding discussions with banks for an IPO in Hong Kong as early as the end of this year, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter. Cainiao declined to comment.
“Within the Alibaba ecosystem, Cainiao has provided significant support for [the e-commerce business] of Taobao and Tmall,” said Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst at iiMedia Research. “As an open logistics system, it also has significant growth potential [as a stand-alone company].”
For context, here is an excerpt from my recent article (6 April) on ‘CPC’s tryst with private regulatory interventionism’: Alibaba’s announced on 28 March that it would break up into six separate entities, of which five will, in the future, have the option to launch their own IPOs.
This came after Alibaba CEO Jack Ma’s return to the public spotlight in China almost a year after he retreated from the scene. Having relinquished control of Alibaba’s fintech service entity Ant Group in January 2023 after it was forced to give up its IPO in 2020 during the state’s crackdown on “sprawling private financial services,” while also having faced a US$ 275 billion fine for anti-monopoly violations in 2021, Jack Ma is now seeming to display a business-as-usual-attitude with his first recent reappearance at a school in Hangzhou.
Reportedly, the decision has been manoeuvred by Jack Ma himself, who continues to hold considerable sway over senior executives and decision-makers within Alibaba, and thought that such a break up would not only sit well with the Chinese state’s anti-monopoly rhetoric, but will also enable more flexibility and access to capital for the subsidiary entities.
Given that in the immediate aftermath of the announcement Alibaba witnessed a short-lived but massive spike in share prices, analysts suggest that foreign firms might be regaining trust in China’s tech ecosystem and are viewing Jack Ma’s return as promises of regulatory easing working.
Finally, there are some interesting figures and anecdotes from the Press Conference held by the State Council Information Office on 6 April:
First, Wang Jun, Director of the State Administration of Taxation highlighted figures from China’s ‘W’ shaped growth figures in the past 15 months.
He said:
It can be seen from the curve in the figure that in the past 15 months, the growth rate of sales revenue of national enterprises has basically shown two "V" shapes, forming a "W" shape. The first "V" shape is after the relatively high growth rate of 6.6% from January to February last year, the growth rate dropped month by month to the lowest point of -7.4% in April, and returned to a relatively high point in June, with an increase of 7.5% . The second "V" shape started in July last year, and then slowly fluctuated and declined. In December last year, it reached a sub-low point of the year, which was the lowest point of the second "V" shape - 3.1%. With the smooth transition of epidemic prevention and control, macroeconomic policies have taken effect, and the growth rate of sales revenue of enterprises has gradually picked up this year. From a year-on-year perspective, this recovery increased by 4.7% in the first quarter of this year. More importantly, from a quarter-on-quarter perspective, it has increased by 6.2 percentage points compared with the fourth quarter of last year, and the growth rate has increased month by month, all the way up to March this year, with a year-on-year increase of 12.8%.
Second, Xing Huina, deputy director and spokesperson of the Information Bureau of the State Council Information Office, highlighted “Six Points on How Economic Operations have become Better”:
First, the trend of economic operation has gradually picked up for the better. “In March, among the 473 middle—class industries and 1,382 small—class industries in the national economy, 79.7% and 75.8% of the industries achieved positive growth, respectively, while the proportion from January to February was about 56%; from April 1st to 5th, the proportion of middle-class and small-class industries that achieved positive growth increased to 86.9% and 82.3%, respectively. I give this specific example and list these specific figures to tell you and your friends that the current proportion is close to the level of 2019 before the epidemic.”
The second is that the business entities are gradually active for the better. “First of all, the number of new tax-related business entities is gradually increasing. In the first quarter, there were 3.434 million new tax-related business entities across the country, an increase of 7.2% year-on-year, an increase of 8 percentage points over the whole of last year. Secondly, the vitality of business entities that have been hit by the epidemic and have more difficult production and operation has accelerated.”
Third, industrial production has gradually resumed for the better. “In March, the sales revenue of industrial enterprises across the country increased by 7% year-on-year, an increase of 1.2 percentage points over the whole of last year. Among them, the manufacturing of smart consumer equipment and the manufacturing of communication equipment increased by 36.4% and 12% year-on-year, respectively.”
Fourth, consumer demand is gradually expanding for the better. “In the first quarter, contact service industries such as accommodation, catering, sports and entertainment, and resident services rebounded more significantly. Everyone can feel it in their daily lives. The potential was released relatively quickly. Sales revenue increased by 22.8%, 13.7% and 9.4% year-on-year, respectively, an increase of 22.7, 17.6 and 6.5 percentage points over the whole of last year, which has exceeded the level of 2019 before the epidemic.”
Fifth, the momentum of innovation has gradually increased for the better. “In March, the sales revenue of the high-tech industry increased by 15.6% year-on-year, an increase of 5.7 percentage points over the whole of last year. Among them, high-tech service industries such as scientific and technological achievement transformation services and information services grew faster, increasing by 45.5% and 19.8% year-on-year, respectively. In March, the core industries of the digital economy grew by 14.1% year-on-year, an acceleration of 7.3 percentage points over the whole of last year. Among them, the digital element-driven industry and the digital technology application industry grew faster, increasing by 24.5% and 19.8% year-on-year, respectively.”
Sixth, green development is gradually strengthening for the better. “In the first quarter, the sales revenue of the ecological protection and environmental governance industry increased by 18.1% year-on-year, and clean energy power generation such as wind energy and solar photovoltaic increased by 21.8% year-on-year, both maintaining high growth rates and significantly faster than the overall national level.”
Third, Cai Zili, Chief Auditor of the State Administration of Taxation, in response to a question from a China Daily reporter on the effect of tax support for the development of the manufacturing industry, said:
In recent years, the Party Central Committee and the State Council have deployed and implemented a series of tax refund and fee reduction measures, and the manufacturing industry is the top priority of support. In particular, "heavy" burden reduction measures such as lowering the value-added tax rate in the manufacturing industry and other fields, taking the lead in increasing the super deduction ratio of manufacturing R&D expenses, and increasing the intensity of manufacturing value-added tax refunds have been successively launched, effectively supporting the manufacturing industry to ease the burden. [Priorities have been to] reduce operating pressure, enhance innovation motivation, and stimulate development potential.
Tax data shows that from 2018 to 2022, the sales revenue of manufacturing enterprises increased by an average of 9.4% annually, of which the sales revenue of the equipment manufacturing industry increased by an average of 10.3% annually; the purchase of smart, R&D and energy-saving equipment by the manufacturing industry increased by an average of 13.5% annually. In 2022, the added value of the national manufacturing industry accounts for 27.7% of GDP, an increase of 1.4 percentage points from 2020, showing a good momentum of steady progress and quality improvement.
In the next step, we will accurately implement and continue to optimize and improve tax and fee support policies in accordance with the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, further assist the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry, and strive to create a good ecology that is conducive to the development of advanced manufacturing industries.
This, he said, will be done through three measures: support high-end, help intelligence, and guide greening.
Finally, Wang Daoshu, deputy director of the State Administration of Taxation, in response to a question on preferential tax policy in recent years, said:
Preferential tax policy is an important part of active fiscal policy. Since the beginning of the year, in accordance with the deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, the finance and taxation departments have issued two batches of preferential tax and fee policies for the continuation and optimization of implementation.
The policy is expected to reduce the tax burden of business entities by more than 1.8 trillion yuan throughout the year.
Generally speaking, these preferential policies for taxes and fees have three characteristics:
First, they highlight the continuity and the continuation of the continuation. For example, continue to implement a batch of policies with good implementation effects and high social expectations, such as halving the urban land use tax for logistics companies’ bulk commodity storage land, reducing the employment security fund for the disabled, and stabilizing social expectations in a timely manner.
The second is to highlight the accuracy, the optimization of the policy. For example, optimize the implementation of a number of policies to support the rescue and development of small and micro business entities, such as the reduction of value-added tax for small-scale taxpayers, the reduction of income tax for small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households, and highlight the support for small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households.
The third is to highlight the institutional nature, the innovation of the policy. Increase the super deduction ratio of enterprise R&D expenses from 75% to 100%, and implement it as a long-term institutional arrangement to further create a good tax environment that encourages enterprises to invest in innovation. At the same time, the orderly withdrawal of some temporary arrangements and policies that have achieved the desired effect after they expire will not only promote the standardization of the tax policy system, but also strengthen the basis of the tax system that is conducive to fair competition.
Section D: Foreign Policy Watch
This section is brought to you by Kingshuk Saha
There have been some very interesting developments over the past few days, which are worth capturing in this week’s section.
French President Emmanuel Macron's Visit to China
French President Emmanuel Macron at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping was on a state visit to China from 5 to 7 April.
FRANCE 24 Reports: French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a three-day state visit in a bid to dissuade China from supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Macron’s visit is being billed as an attempt to engage with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid deteriorating EU-China relations due to widening rifts over the Ukraine war. Macron’s visit is also billed as a bid to “rebalance trade ties” with Beijing, a longstanding aim of French presidential visits to China, which typically feature business leaders in the presidential delegation.
It adds: The latest visit, Macron’s first in three and a half years, sees 60 French business leaders travelling with the president, including the bosses of Airbus and EDF (Électricité de France). The inevitable watch for the “signing of lucrative contracts” is likely to be more interesting this year, with Macron arriving in China with von der Leyen. Beijing has been especially irked over the EU chief’s recent comments on China’s unfair trade practices, setting the stage for some scrutiny by China analysts.
Bénédicte Jeannerod, French director at Human Rights Watch, said “President Macron and von der Leyen should not sweep the Chinese government’s deepening authoritarianism under the rug during their visit to Beijing. They should use their public appearances with Xi Jinping to express strong concerns over widespread rights abuses across China, heightened oppression in Hong Kong and Tibet, and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang”.
President Xi, after meeting President Macron at the joint press conference, said“President Macron's visit to China is the first by a European head of state after the full resumption of China's exchanges with the world and the successful conclusion of China's "two sessions." The visit will inject new momentum and bring new vitality to China-Europe relations. China supports Europe in achieving strategic autonomy, upholds that the China-Europe relationship is not targeted at, subjugated to, or controlled by any third party, and believes that Europe will take an independent approach to develop its relations with China”
President Macron, during his meeting with President Xi said, “I know I can count on you to bring Russia to its sense and bring everyone back to the negotiating table. We need to find lasting peace for Ukraine. A peace that respects internationally recognized borders and that avoids any form of escalation. And I believe that it is also an important question for China, as much as it is for France and Europe. This peace, this stability, is what we are trying to work towards.”
I opine that President Macron wants to use his China visit to portray his image as a peace builder and deeper business ties with China as a large business delegation travelled with him. But at the same time, Macron also sees a genuine role for China in mediating peace between Russia and Ukraine.
The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia met in Beijing on 6 April
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Beijing in the first formal meeting of the foreign ministers in seven years.
TEHRAN TIMES Reported: The meeting between the chief diplomats from the two countries followed a historic peace deal brokered by China last month between the two major countries in the Persian Gulf region. It was the first formal gathering of top diplomats from the two countries in more than seven years. In their statement, they agreed to launch arrangements to reopen embassies and consulates within the two month-period stipulated in the deal announced on March 10, 2023.
Part of the statement also said, "The two sides emphasized the importance of following up on the implementation of the Beijing Agreement and its activation in a way that expands mutual trust and the fields of cooperation and helps create security, stability and prosperity in the region. “It added, “The technical teams will continue coordination to examine ways of expanding cooperation including the resumption of flights and bilateral visits of official and private sector delegations and facilitating the granting of visas for the citizens of the two countries.” Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan also said a “new chapter” has been opened between Saudi Arabia and Iran which will create “new horizons for friendly and brotherly ties”. He also said his country is ready to implement the agreements between the two countries and welcomed the exchange of delegations between Tehran and Riyadh. The Saudi chief diplomat also said restoration of ties has created a “new positive atmosphere in the entire region” and Saudi Arabia is ready to reinforce this spirit through cooperation with Iran.
The Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers announced that the two countries had restored diplomatic relations following a meeting in Beijing on Thursday. The meeting between Saudi Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian followed a historic peace deal brokered by China between the two Middle East powers last month.
After the meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang witnessed the signing of a joint statement by the two sides that announced diplomatic relations would be restored with immediate effect. Qin said China “firmly supports” efforts to “strengthen solidarity and cooperation”, adding that Beijing would offer help to these countries to “get rid of external interference”, and “take the future and destiny of the Middle East into their own hands”.
“China supports the two sides continuing to enhance trust and clear doubts, and to take new steps on the road to de-escalation according to the communique,” Qin said. Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian hailed the meeting as the start of official diplomatic relations and cooperation following a “common agenda”.
China’s role in helping to restore relations between the two countries highlights its rising global influence and enhanced presence in the Middle East, despite the ongoing rivalry between the Saudis and Iranians both have become increasingly close to Beijing. After the signing of the deal, the two foreign ministers promised to meet before the end of the holy month of Ramadan to continue the process. In the run-up to the agreement, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia in December, where he also took part in summits with the Arab League and Gulf Cooperation Council.
In February, Xi also met Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi when he visited China. The three parties jointly signed a communique on March 10 committing Iran and Saudi Arabia to reopen the embassies within two months while resuming talks on security, trade, investment and culture. Since the signing of the communique, xi has spoken by phone to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler in late March, and promised to help develop the kingdom’s relations with Iran.
Mao Ning, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, said on the meeting: “China is ready to continue to play an active role in mediation, support the two sides in increasing their relations, realize good-neighbourly friendship and contribute Chinese wisdom and strength to the security, stability and development of the Middle East region.”
The restoration of peaceful relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia by China may lead to a China-centric peace and stability in West Asia, and also deepen Chinese economic and strategic influence in the region.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi was on a two-day visit to China
Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japanese foreign minister, was on a two-day state visit to China from 1 to 2 April. It was the first visit in three years by a Japanese foreign minister to China.
On the eve of the visit, Mao Ning, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said “China and Japan are close neighbours, and maintaining a sound and stable development of relations serves the shared interest of both countries and the region at large. China attaches importance to the Japanese foreign minister's visit. Chinese leaders will meet him, and the Chinese foreign minister will hold talks with him to exchange views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common concern.”
Yoshimasa Hayashi is the first Japanese foreign minister to have visited China in three years and three months, indicating the special nature of the visit and the difficult situation facing China-Japan relations. On Sunday, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang met and had lunch with Hayashi. On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs also met with Hayashi separately.
The Chinese side's courtesy reflects the sincerity and importance attached to China-Japan relations. During this three-year and three-month period, a series of negative diplomatic, military and economic moves by Japan has given us reasons to be concerned about possible regressions in Japan's policy toward China and to question whether Japan continues to adhere to the direction of peaceful development.
During this time, the Japanese side has accumulated a large pile of issues that it needs to clarify and explain to China. The good thing is that both China and Japan still have the will to strengthen exchanges and communication, and neither wants their bilateral relations to continue to decline. Hayashi's visit to China at this time mainly has constructive significance, but it remains to be seen to what extent it will ease China-Japan relations.
What is noteworthy is that the Japanese public's biggest focus on Hayashi's China visit is the arrest of a Japanese citizen suspected of engaging in espionage activities in China. Some claimed Hayashi is coming to demand the release of the man and even attacked China for engaging in "hostage diplomacy."
Magnifying an individual case between China and Japan and distorting and sensationalizing it is a common practice by Japanese public opinion. Understanding and interpreting the China-Japan relationship from a narrow, petty-minded perspective, many Japanese have come to a dead end when it comes to their perception of China.
Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Sunday he had lodged a strong protest during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart over China’s recent detention of a Japanese businessman and called for the citizen to be released as soon as possible.
Hayashi told reporters following the meeting with Qin Gang that he also sought consular access to the Japanese citizen and urged China to provide transparency in the judicial process. The businessman, arrested in China last month, is a senior employee of the Japanese pharmaceutical firm Astellas Pharma.
Hayashi added that he and Qin had agreed to maintain close communication “at all levels” to improve ties, including between leaders and foreign ministers. At the outset of the talks, which lasted about three hours, Hayashi said that despite “many challenges,” it is becoming “increasingly important” that Japan and China aim for “constructive and stable” bilateral relations agreed upon by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese leader Xi Jinping during their summit talks last November.
Yoichiro Sato, a professor at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan, said on the matter: “As China is dragged into a de facto alliance with Russia, solidarity among the US, Japan and Europe grows… Japan’s effort one last time before the [G7] summit to allow China to distance itself from Russia and make concessions on the pending diplomatic issues with Japan did not succeed.”
I opine that the visit of foreign minister Hayashi did not lead to any breakthrough in its relations with China as there is deep mistrust exists between both nations. It can be a starting point for the normalization of relations between both countries.
Section E: Military Developments in China
This section is brought to you by Anushka Saxena
This week, the following developments have been of interest pertaining to Chinese military and defence:
The breaking news is the PLA’s response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen’s visit to the US and her meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, as part of the broader set of diplomatic and military countermeasures China announced against Tsai’s US ‘transit’.
First, on 5 April, the PLA sent its aircraft carrier Shandong to pass through the Bashi Channel and appear on the southeastern side of Taiwan, in a foretaste of China’s threatened retaliation against Tsai and the US.
On the deployment of Shandong, USNI reports: CNS Shandong (17), its embarked air wing and its escorts passed through the southeast waters of Taiwan to start its first training voyage in the Western Pacific, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday. The release added that both sea and air units along with ground-based radars detected and monitored the group’s movement.
It adds: The Joint Staff Office (JSO) of Japan’s Ministry of Defense said Shandong was accompanied by frigate CNS Liuzhou (573) and fleet oiler CNS Chaganhu (905) was sighted by the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Wednesday. The PLAN ships traveled eastward in an area 186 miles south of Hateruma Island. Japanese guided-missile destroyer JS Sawagiri (DD-157) shadowed the PLAN ships.
On Wednesday itself, Haixun 06, or Sea Patrol 06, a Chinese rescue vessel, was also sent to the Taiwan Strait for a joint patrol operation. It is the most advanced ship operated by the Fujian Maritime Safety Administration. It is tasked with monitoring maritime traffic, conducting law enforcement, responding to emergencies and searching for and rescuing ships and crew. It is also capable of handling pollution and extinguishing fires.
The Maritime Safety Administration of coastal Fujian province stated in a news release on Thursday (6 April) night that the patrol vessel, the first large patrol/rescue vessel in the Taiwan Straits, sailed from south to north according to its designed route and inspected the central part of the Straits.
China Daily reports on the patrol operations: In addition, the taskforce patrolled areas where commercial fishing boats sail densely, and illegal sand mining activities usually take place. They also checked navigation-aid facilities and the order of ship radio communication along the way to maintain safety and stability of maritime traffic.
Next, Asia Times reports that an unnamed spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday: “We urge the US to honor its solemn political commitments to China on the Taiwan issue, stop grossly interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop US-Taiwan official exchanges and the enhancement of the substantive US-Taiwan relations, and stop weakening and hollowing out the one-China principle.”
Then, on 8 April, PLA Eastern Theatre Command’s official Weibo account announced an exercise around the island of Taiwan.The release reads:
[Eastern Theater will organize combat readiness and police patrols around Taiwan and "Joint Sword" exercise] The spokesperson of the eastern theater, Colonel Shi Yi, said that from April 8th to 10th, 2023, Beijing time, the eastern theater of the Chinese People's Liberation Army will be held as planned. The Taiwan Strait, the northern and southern parts of Taiwan Island, and the sea and airspace to the east of Taiwan Island organize combat readiness and police patrols around Taiwan Island and the "Joint Sword" exercise.
As part of the first day of said exercises, Al Jazeera reports: A Chinese warship in seas facing the Taiwan Strait fired multiple rounds of artillery in the Luoyan Bay area on the coast of Fujian province, about 50 km (30 miles) northwest of the Matsu islands that are near the mainland but controlled by Taiwan.
It adds: Smoke and muzzle flares were visible from the stern of the vessel, an amphibious landing ship, as sailors fired shells towards targets on land and water, the Reuters news agency reported. Fishing boats and huge cargo vessels cruised nearby, avoiding the drill area.
In the aftermath, the Republic of China (Taiwan) Ministry of National Defense released a statement:
The language of the statement is slightly stronger than usual, reading that the PLA is “attempting coercion.” This is considering the ROC MoND releases data regarding Chinese ADIZ flybys and other vessel activity every single day, but in a report format.
Referred within this article is a database compiled by American defense analysts Gerald Brown and Ben Lewis, which has recorded Taiwan ADIZ Violations since September 2022, upto March 2023. This is an excellent compilation, which can be viewed here.
By the way, here is Taiwan’s show of strength against PLA drills around the island. It reads: “The National Army has no military threat from the CCP,” “Officers and soldiers are ready,” “Prepare for war,” “Facing the battle, not avoiding it,” and “Defend National Security.” It carries the signature of the Defense Spokesperson for Taiwan.
Next, on 6 April, Xinhua News Agency reported that Colonel Wang Hui, spokesperson of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Garrison in Macau, announced that Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission, has lately signed an order appointing Colonel Yu Changjiang, commander of the Sansha Garrison District in Hainan Province, as the Macau Garrison Officer.
It added: A few days ago, General Wang Xiubin, commander of the Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, visited the Macau Garrison (under the Southern Theatre Command) and announced Yu Changjiang's appointment order.
According to the above information, the commander of the Sansha Garrison is an officer with the rank of colonel, while the commander of the Macau Garrison is an officer with the rank of major general.
The WeChat account of the Macau garrison then released a message on 6 April:
Major General Yu Changjiang, the new commander of the Macao Garrison, said that he will resolutely implement the decisions and instructions of the Party Central Committee, the Central Military Commission and Chairman Xi, fully implement the "one country, two systems" policy, perform defense duties in accordance with the Basic Law and the Garrison Law, comprehensively strengthen the building of the troops, and comprehensively improve the performance of tasks. capabilities, resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and resolutely safeguard the prosperity and stability of Macau.
(1) To guard against and resist aggression and safeguard the security of the Macao Special Administrative Region;
(2) Undertake defense duties;
(3) managing military facilities;
(4) Undertake relevant foreign-related military affairs.
Further, the Garrison Law also stipulates that the Macau Garrison does not interfere with the local affairs of the Macau Special Administrative Region. When necessary, the Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region may request the Central People's Government of the Macau Garrison to assist in maintaining social order and disaster relief.
Finally, two pieces of artwork from China's Jiangnan Shipyard have recently emerged depicting what appears to be a new aircraft carrier design. This could be a glimpse at one concept for a planned future Chinese carrier commonly referred to as the Type 004.
It adds: When it comes to Jiangnan's apparent new carrier concept, details are limited. From what can be seen, the design clearly has a catapult-assisted takeoff but arrested recovery, or CATOBAR, configuration, just like Fujian. The PLAN's two existing carriers, the Type 002 Shandong and Type 001 Liaoning, are both short take-off but arrested recovery (STOBAR), types with prominent ski jump-type bows.
A French blog observing Chinese defense developments, speculating on the nature of the carrier, tweeted on 7 April: For the second time this week, Jiangnan Changxing shipyard, which is building China's first conventionally-powered CATOBAR aircraft carrier, released an illustration of what could be the Navy's next nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Chinese.
The attached illustration is as follows:
Via @HenriKenhmann on Twitter
Other analysts have speculated that China’s Type 004 Aircraft Carrier, construction of which began at Jiangnan Shipyard in December 2017, is planned to be larger than the Type 003. Type 004 is expected to have nuclear propulsion which could also power onboard weapons like lasers and railguns. Speculation is those Type 004 aircraft carriers will carry Shenyang J-35 stealth fighters. China plans to have five-six carrier groups and the first Type 004 aircraft carrier is likely to be launched in the near future.
“It is interesting to speculate on a possible name for the Type 004 aircraft carrier when it is eventually launched? China’s three aircraft carriers have been named after provinces of China (PRC): Type 001 Liaoning, Type 002 Shandong and Type 003 Fujian. The province names Jiangsu, Guangxi and Zhejiang have already been used as ship names: the first on a bulk carrier (Jiangsu), the second on a Type 075 amphibious assault ship (Guangxi) and the third on a container ship (SITC Zhejiang). A possible name for the new PLA Navy aircraft carrier could be Guangdong. Guangdong is a coastal province of significant economic and geopolitical importance. Therefore, I hypothesise that China’s new aircraft carrier Type 004 could be named Guangdong.”
Remains to be seen if this turns out to be true!
For interested readers, ChinaPower by CSIS did an amazing tracker and analysis of the Jiangnan Shipyard in 2018, which is responsible for the illustrations for this new carrier (Type 004). It is available here. Even though it is relatively dated, it has some good photos and points to note:
Among its many components, the commercial shipyard consists of eleven T-shaped piers, four dry docks (which also serve as construction ways), numerous block construction areas and fabrication/assembly shops, storage areas, as well as administration, engineering, and various support buildings.
Throughout 2018, the commercial shipyard produced, modified, or repaired numerous commercial vessels – including very large crude carriers (VLCC), large liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers, very large ore carriers, and a collection of smaller commercial vessels.
Throughout 2018, there was significant construction, modification, and repair activity at Jiangnan. Much of this activity centered on building and fitting out the Type 052D, Type 052D modified variant, and Type 055. In April, two Type 052D destroyers were observed and by October this number had increased to five. Of these vessels, two were modified with a longer flight deck on the stern. Over the same period, two Type 055 cruisers were present in most images, although three were observed in April.
The first Type 055 cruiser was launched in June 2017 and three additional cruisers were launched in 2018. The cruisers were built at Jiangnan and Dalian shipyards.
To read more on developments concerning Chinese military forces, please refer to :
A recent book published on Chinese naval power: Manfred Meyer (edited by Larry Bond and Chris Carlson), Modern Chinese Maritime Forces (Admiralty Trilogy Group, 1 April 2023). Content and foreword is available here.
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.
