NIAS Area Studies
PAKISTAN READER
Photo : The Straits Times
HIGHLIGHTS
CHINA & TAIWAN
“External interference cannot stop the historic cause of our reunion,” says Xi Jinping
On 10 April, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with the Taiwanese former president and Kuomintang leader Ma Ying-jeou. Xi inferred with Ma that any external interference would not stop China from unifying with Taiwan. Ma was visiting China as part of the “journey of peace” 11-member youth delegation. Xi stated that China was written the invisible history of both Taiwan and China, which has been engraved and that proves that they are compatriots by blood. He also said: “There is no force that can separate us... Differences in systems cannot change the objective fact that we belong to one nation and one people.” In return, Ma also stated that the young people of China and Taiwan represent the future of China hinting at a joint and same future. Ma also stressed that Chinese people on both sides should peacefully handle the dispute and avoid conflicts, while they should oppose Taiwanese independence. (“China’s Xi tells ex-Taiwan leader ‘external interference’ cannot block unification,” The Straits Times, 10 April 2024)
ECONOMY
China’s consumer price rose but slowly, says Wall Street Journal
On 10 April, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Chinese consumer price rose but at a slower pace in the month of March. WSJ looked into the data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which reported that the consumer price index rose to 0.1 per cent in March compared to 0.7 per cent in February. There has been a 0.4 per cent growth. The weak consumer prices can lead to the revival of deflation. The food price in China has dropped to 2.7 per cent while the prices of non-food items have increased by 0.7 per cent. When compared with February there has been a 1.1 per cent growth. In March the producer prices index fell by 2.8 per cent compared to February’s 2.7 per cent. While the consumer price index grew the producer price index is seeing an 18-month high. (Jason Douglas, “China’s Consumer Inflation Softens,” The Wall Street Journal, 10 April 2024)
CHINA READER DAILY WIRE
INTERNAL
Save Uyghur Org calls for the boycott of Shien over the use of Uyghur forced labour
On 10 April, VOA reported that the Human Rights group Save Uyghur Org called for the boycott of Shein and urged people celebrating Eid to stop buying from there. The post stated that it is disappointing that thousands of Muslim women buying jilbab from Shein despite that there is well-known information regarding the exploitation of Uyghur labour by these companies. The head of the organization Arslan Hidayat said that Shein has used forced labour and furthered the oppression of the Uyghur Muslims. She said: “It is crucial for Muslims to use their consumer power to protest against the use of forced labour and to demonstrate solidarity with the Uyghur community,” and that “It is incumbent upon us to prioritize ethical consumption practices and advocate for justice for the Uyghur people.” The company spokesperson responded to VOA's question via email and stated: “We take visibility across our entire supply chain seriously, and we are committed to respecting human rights. To comply with U.S. law, we require our contract manufacturers to only source cotton from approved regions.” Bloomberg also found that Shein’s clothes contain cotton from the Xinjiang region which is prohibited under US law of Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, 2022. (Kasim Kashgar, “Fashion retailer faces boycott amid allegations of Uyghur forced labour in China,” VOA, 10 April 2024)
Widening “she-cession” in China continues after the pandemic, says an Opinion in SCMP
On 11 April, an opinion in the South China Morning Post looked into the problem of “she-cession,” in China by Many Zuo. Mandy looked into a survey by Peking University where the study found that there has been a major employment disparity in the men and women workforce. The study found that this workplace disparity was widened due to Covid and has continued to increase since then and that is when they coined the term “she-cession.” The pay gap has increased to 30 per cent in 2020 and an article by the China Economic Review stated that while the pandemic has ended the disparity is on the rise. Compared to men, women's unemployment rate was 5.1 per cent higher than that of men and they worked 1.4 hours less a day. The overall gender parity has been low for decades due to a lack of political empowerment and sex ratio at birth. The university report stated: “If policymakers hope to prevent COVID-19 from widening existing gendered gaps in the labour market, they must provide more safe options for childcare.” And that during this period working mothers have been the most affected where they have more familial responsibility and suffered greater unemployment impact. (Mandy Zuo, “China’s gender gap widening post-pandemic, with ‘she-cession’ still a real threat to economy,” South China Morning Post, 11 April 2024)
ECONOMY
China refuted Fitch downgrading credit outlook, say Chinese Finance and Foreign Ministry
On 10 April, Global Times reported on the Chinese Ministry of Finance refuting Fitch downgrading the Chinese credit outlook. Fitch agency moves the Chinese credit rating to negative from stable. The ministry and other critics stated that their growth will remain unchangeable and that the government has the ability to maintain sound sovereign credit. The ministry expressed its regret over the Fitch downgrade and said while they expressed the same concerns as they have, the credit downgrade fails to show the forward-looking Chinese fiscal policy that aims to push growth. The Ministry said: “In the long run, maintaining a moderate deficit and making good use of precious debt funds will help expand domestic demand, support economic growth, and ultimately help maintain good sovereign credit.” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning also stressed that the Chinese economy has not changed and that the government’s ability to have a sound credit has not changed either. Some called the report biased where an economist from Peking University Cao Heping said: “Even as a growing number of economic data showed improvements in the first two months, Fitch actually moved to cut China's ratings outlook. That shows that foreign rating agencies specifically selected some unfavourable indicators in their evaluation.” (Wang Cong and Qi Xijia, “China refutes Fitch's credit outlook cut,” Global Times, 10 April 2024)
CHINA & SOUTHEAST ASIA
“To keep the peace in the South China Sea and the freedom of navigation,” Marcos route to the trilateral summit with the US and Japan
On 09 April, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr left for his meeting with the US and Japanese leaders in Washington. While leaving he made some statements that they followed the discussion to further strengthen economic cooperation and come up with a deal to maintain freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. This will be the first-ever trilateral summit between the US, Japan and the Philippines. Marcos said: “The main intent of this trilateral agreement is for us to be able to continue to flourish, to be able to help one another, and of course to keep the peace in the South China Sea and the freedom of navigation.” The details of the cooperation will be informed later. The freedom of navigation in the South China Sea comes in light of increased tension between Chinese and Philippines guards and civilians. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it: “opposed to the cobbling together of exclusive small circles and to confrontation between different groups in the region.” (“Summit with US, Japan aimed at economy, South China Sea cooperation: Marcos,” Al-Jazeera, 09 April 2024)
CHINA & AFRICA
Zambian Drug Enforcement Commission raids Chinese firm led cybercrime group
On 09 April, BBC reported on the Zambian Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) finding a sophisticated crime syndicate that included 77 people out of which 22 were Chinese. The centre of the raid was the Chinese company called Gloden Top Support Service; they recruited Zambians who thought they were working at the call centre. The breakthrough came after months of investigation and intelligence gathering as there was an alarming rise in internet fraud cases in Zambia. The Chinese firms recruited unsuspecting Zambian youth aged between 20-25 to work for them. They were asked to engage in deceptive conversation following a script. From the raid, they found 11 sim boxes and devices that can route calls and bypass phone networks. 13,000 SIM cards domestic and international were seized. There were people from other countries involved like Singapore, Peru, UAE and others from within Africa. (Wycliffe Muia, “Zambia uncovers 'sophisticated' Chinese cybercrime syndicate,” BBC, 09 April 2024)
CHINA & THE AMERICAS
US Commerce Department bans four Chinese companies for seeking AI chips for Chinese military
On 10 April, US Commerce Department’s Kevin Kurland informed that the US would likely add four Chinese companies to the export blacklist trying to seek AI chips. The companies are part of the already 11 new additions to the list of Commerce Department Entity List, the supplier's license to ship and export to these companies will be demined. The Chinese entities were acquired in light of attempting to seek US items to support Chinese military modernization. The companies are Beijing Anwise Technology Co, Sitonholy (Tianjin) Co, Linkzol (Beijing) Technology Co, Xi’an, and Like Innovative Information Technology Co. The Commerce Department also halted the export to five companies that helped Russia produce drones one was also a Chinese company called Jiangxi Xintuo. Another Chinese company was added Shenzhen Jiasibo Technology Co for collecting aerospace items for an aircraft company in Iran. (“US blacklists 4 Chinese firms for helping military get AI chips,” South China Morning Post, 10 April 2024)
“Despite attempts by foreign states to interfere, those elections held in their integrity,” says Canadian PM on Chinese interference in elections
On 11 April, The Guardian reported on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's statement on Chinese interference in the Canadian elections. Trudeau admitted that China did meddle in the past two elections but the election results were not affected by them. He also said that it was “improbable” that China chose one party over the other. The main opposition leader of the conservation party Erin O’Toole said that the Chinese interference cost them nine seats but it did not change the course of elections. Trudeau said: “While individual [Chinese] officials may well have expressed a preference or another, the impression we got and consistently would get is that … it just would seem very improbable that the Chinese government itself would have a preference in the election.” A spokesperson from the embassy stated that: “China has never had any interest in interfering in Canada’s internal affairs,” and that “China strongly deplores and resolutely opposes this.” (“China meddled in past two Canada elections, says Justin Trudeau,” The Guardian, 11 April 2024)
EAST ASIA & THE PACIFIC READER
EAST ASIA
Democratic Party’s resounding win in the South Korea National Assembly election 2024
On 10 April, South Korea voted for its new National Assembly where the liberal Democratic Party came victorious. The party won a resounding majority and this has severely affected President Yoon-Suk-Yeol and the conservative party. The National Election Commission of South Korea reported that the main opposition and the Democratic Party won 174 seats of the 300 while the People’s Power Party won 109 seats. The election turnout was 67 per cent and was the highest in the last 32 years. DP leader Lee Jae-Myung said that their top priority is to work towards economic recovery and that: “The ruling and opposition parties must join forces to overcome the crisis in consumers’ economic livelihood.” (“Opposition win in South Korea election to deepen policy stalemate for Yoon,” The Straits Times, 11 April 2024)