NIAS Area Studies
PAKISTAN READER
Photo : Li Hao/Global Times
IN FOCUS
by Keerthana Nambiar
Xi Jinping’s State pivot
According to an analysis in the Wall Street Journal by Kevin Rudd, former Australian Prime Minister, something significant is happening in China, that the West cannot comprehend. Recently, the world has been witnessing Xi Jinping’s new economic policy structure and the whirlwind of activities surrounding China’s private sector. Starting with the hefty fines on Alibaba, Tencent along with the private tutoring sector which Beijing has managed to quash $120 million dollars. In July this the Chinese cyber-regulator removed China’s ride-hailing giant, Didi’s app from stores; the Chinese Government took in a one percent equity stake in Byte Dance’s, and a similar decision was made to secure equity in China’s micro-blogging platform, Weibo.
However, the Chinese Government has also been putting forward a series of regulations in the telecoms, energy, transport, finance, defense, and internet sectors under close cybersecurity scrutiny to protect what is described as “critical information infrastructure”. In August by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee passing China’s first national data privacy law, the so-called Personal Information Protection Law, requiring any corporation or individual handling Chinese citizens’ personal data to obtain prior consent from consumers first, and preventing data from being passed to other corporations in “unsecure” countries.
The driving forces
First, the fundamentals of ideology. Marxism-Leninism has been the fundamental prism of the Communist Party’s life and work which is often downplayed by the West. Even though the concept has developed with the changing political seasons it acts as a guide for political actions. It authorizes the approach ranging from solving economic, inequalities to the environmental crisis.
Second, the power of demography. ‘China may grow old before it grows rich’ this horrifying prospect of reality is one of the driving forces for Xi Jinping. The Census in May 2021 revealed the fertility rates stand by 1.3 which is lower than in Japan and the US who are relatively ageing faster.
Third, the economic de-coupling. ‘China now strategically decouples its economy from West and present itself as a strategic rival’. The currency market is a long-running, undeclared race for domination between the U.S. dollar and the Chinese yuan. And the widespread mutual economic interaction between China and the US has opened up multiple alternative channels of communication between the two countries. The ongoing rivalry in the US-China economic corridor has eroded the traditional partnership between both countries.
Implications
Xi Jinping’s ‘New Development Concept’ is the assimilation of the ideology, demographic, and decoupling forces. His economic mantra ‘combining an emphasis on greater equality through common prosperity reduced vulnerability to the outside world and greater intervention in the economy’ Much of the party’s recent crackdown can be understood under the lens of ‘new development concept’. A ‘dual circulation economy’ is to reduce make China the major driving force ‘leveraging the gravitational pull’ of domestic market and maintaining the Chinese supremacy on the global market.
Xi Jinping is keen that, on the overall balance between the roles of the state and the market in China and pivot toward the state is in the interests of the Party. In doing so, it reflects Xi Jinping’s wider role of the Party, the state, and the transformation of modern China into a global great power, where the Chinese Communist Party remains in complete control.
References
https://asiasociety.org/policy-institute/xi-jinpings-pivot-state
https://www.wsj.com/articles/xi-jinping-term-tencent-alibaba-crackdown-communist-party-ideology-authoritarian-11632079586?mod=hp_opin_pos_4#cxrecs_s
IN BRIEF
by Juan Mary Joseph
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
UN Chief cautions against US-China cold war
On 20 September, the South China Morning Post reported that the UN Chief Antonio Guterres warned of a potential new cold-war that could divide the world into two groups. The comment was made at the annual gathering of world leaders. He urged the two greatest economies of the world to cooperate with each other to concur issues like climate change, trade deficits, technology sharing and political disagreements on human rights issues. He said: “Unfortunately, today we only have confrontation. We need to re-establish a functional relationship between the two powers.” He also expanded on the dangers of walking into another cold war and the possible misfortunes that may fall upon all countries in such eventuality. (US-China cold war could split world in two, UN chief Antonio Guterres says, South China Morning Post, 20 September 2021)
Taiwan Foreign Minister says China "weaponizing trade" over fruit
On 19 September, Taiwan threatened to take China to the World Trade Organization if China doesn’t resolve an issue over the latter suspending Taiwanese sugar apple and wax apple imports before 30 September. China's customs administration said it had repeatedly detected pests called "Planococcus minor" in Taiwanese sugar apples. Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu tweeted that China was "weaponizing trade" over fruit. Taiwan's Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung criticised the Chinese announcement during the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated by both countries. (Min Zhang, Tony Munroe and Ben Blanchard, Taiwan threatens to take China to WTO in new spat over fruit, Reuters, 19 September 2021)
INTERNAL
On 19 September, the Global Times published a report regarding the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s participation at the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). President Xi Jinping delivered a video address at the 6th Summit of the CELAC in Mexico City. He propagated the importance given to the developing in the CELAC in the Chinese Foreign Policy and extended support to cooperate with other regional economies. He said: "In July 2014, the leaders of regional countries and I jointly announced the establishment of the Forum of China and CELAC, which has developed a new way for the comprehensive cooperation between China and Latin America." (Xi delivers video speech to CELAC 6th Summit, calls for building community of shared future between China, LatAm, Global Times, 19 September 2021)
Hong Kong's first 'patriots-only' election kicks off
On 19 September, Reuters reported that less than 5000 Hong Kong people from mostly pro Chinese establishment circles began voting for candidates to an election committee. The committee in turn will choose 40 seats in the revamped Legislative Council in December, and choose a China backed chief executive in March. The electoral system, which has been taken over by the Chinese, will now see that “only patriots” rule the city. Security in the city has been beefed up with around 6000 police officers expected to be deployed in the city. (Sara Cheng and Alun John, Hong Kong's first 'patriots-only' election kicks off, Reuters, 19 September 2021)
Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions to disband
On 19 September, Hong Kong’s opposition trade union coalition, the HKCTU’s (Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions) Co-President Joe Wong told a news conference that it would disband after passing a motion the previous week. The HKCTU which represents more than 93 affiliated organisations had run crash courses to establish unions for new organisations during the anti-government protests in 2019.While HKCTU’s co-founder Lee Cheuk-yan is in jail over his role in the protests, its chief executive, Mung Siu Tat, announced on Facebook that he had left Hong Kong. (Pak Yiu, Hong Kong opposition trade union group to disband, Reuters, 19 September 2021)
China defends its clampdown on tech firms
On 19 September, Reuters reported that the security regulators in China defended their decision to impose restrictions on numerous industries while they privately met executives from the Wall Street Journal. Vice Chairman Fang Xinghai of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) explained that the decision was taken to strengthen regulations for consumer-facing business platforms and to improve national security and data privacy. Fang also said that the crackdown on the education and gaming sectors was to prevent and control anxiety in the society. The crackdown by the government has led to sharp shifts in the Chinese share markets. (Aishwarya Nair, China defends clampdown on tech firms in a meeting with Wall St execs - Bloomberg News, Reuters, 19 September 2021)
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Chinese version of TikTok limits app usage for those under 14
On 18 September, the Chinese version of TikTok, short video app Douyin, said that all of its authenticated users below the age of 14 can now only access the app in a "youth mode", which will limit the usage for only up to 40 minutes a day, between 6 am and 10 pm. The most stringent measure in the history of the platform comes as the latest in China’s measures to shield children from inappropriate content.
(Ryan Woo, Chinese version of TikTok limits use of app by those under 14, Reuters, 18 September 2021)
China launches Tianzhou-3, in prep for Shenzhou-13
On 20 September, the Long March-7 Y4 rocket was launched accompanied with the Tianzhou-3 cargo spacecraft from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in the Hainan Province. The Tianzhou-3 mission was launched soon after the success of the Shenzhou-12 mission. After about 597 seconds, the spacecraft separated with the rocket and entered the preset orbit. The mission aims to transport supplies, equipment and fuel to the Tianhe for the upcoming Shenzhou-13 mission, scheduled to launch in October for a six-month stay. (Deng Xiaoci, China successfully launches Tianzhou-3 for second space station supply mission; to support upcoming six-month Shenzhou-13 manned mission, Global Times, 20 September 2021)