Archive for September, 2014

« Older Entries  |   Newer Entries »
17/09/2014

Project Mausam, India’s answer to China’s maritime might: Explained – News Oneindia

In a significant move, the Narendra Modi Government will soon launch ‘Project Mausam’ for countering Beijing’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean region. This transnational program is aimed at restoring India’s ancient maritime routes and cultural links with republics in the region.

'Mausam' to check China’s maritime might

Project Mausam: India’s answer to China’s ‘Maritime Silk Road‘

It is Narendra Modi Government’s most significant foreign policy initiative to counter-balance the maritime silk route of China.

The project emphasises on the natural wind phenomenon, mainly the monsoon winds used by Indian sailors in ancient times for maritime trade.

This initiative will enable India re-connect and re-establish communications with its ancient friends in the Indian Ocean region.

It would lead to an enhanced understanding of cultural values and concerns.

The project purposes to determine the Indian Ocean “world” – expanding from East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka to the Southeast Asian archipelago.

What is China’s maritime silk route?

It an initiative to develop regions along an ancient route connecting Western China with South and Central Asia.

The aim of this initiative is to strengthen China’s economic ties with various nations, including those within Asia and Europe.

It proposes China to work with partners to develop maritime infrastructure, especially ports.

Originally, the “maritime silk road” was proposed to foster cooperation and goodwill between China and the ASEAN countries.

The “maritime silk road” is parallel to the land-based “new silk road,” which runs westward from China through the Central Asian states.

The route is likely to see China further intensify its naval activities in the region.

It extends from its naval base in Hainan Island (South China Sea) to Bagamayo in Tanzania, Africa, with several of the ports encircling mainland India.

Hambantota (Sri Lanka), Gwadar (Pakistan), Chittagong (Bangladesh) and Marao Atoll (Maldives) are the ports being built by China as per the initiative.

What is Silk Route?

It is a series of trade and cultural transmission routes.

It connected the West and East by linking traders, merchants and other persons from China to the Mediterranean Sea.

It derives its name from lucrative Chinese silk trade, a major reason for the connection of trade routes into an extensive transcontinental network.

via Project Mausam, India’s answer to China’s maritime might: Explained – News Oneindia.

Related articles

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Diplomacy, Economics, Foreign invasion, GeoPolitics, History, India alert, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Trade | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , ,
17/09/2014

Will Chinese President Xi be able to compete with Japan’s Abe for India’s affections?

Any adjustments in the India-China-Japan triangle will have an impact all across Asia.

East Asia has eagerly set out to court New Delhi’s new government. That’s obvious from the spate of state visits that have taken place of late between India, China and Japan. Earlier this fortnight, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Japan. Today, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s begins his first official state visit to India. Trade, investment and infrastructure are the buzzwords on the road towards deepening ties.

The complexities of the India-China-Japan triangle are far too intricate to be spelt out in a simplistic fashion. Will trade and investment become the motive force that will fashion ties, more so at the cost of pressing strategic realities that appear conflicting at times? Going by the school of interdependent liberalism, states will be propelled to adopt a cooperative framework by economic symbiosis and the web of multilateral international institutions and frameworks.

In the case of China, India and Japan, while investments  have taken precedence, the competitive race is far too obvious. Last fortnight, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that this country’s private and public investment in India will double to $34 billion over the next five years. Within a fortnight comes Xi Jinping with his administration’s plans to invest around $500 billion overseas in the next five years, with big-ticket investments coming India’s way likely to exceed $200 billion. It is being suggested that China could spend $35 billion merely on power and highway projects ‒ almost the same amount as Japan’s total investment in India.

Growing trade deficit

It is apparent that cooperation through economic considerations has its share of hidden problems. India continues to be hurt by  the growing trade deficit with China, which stood at a record $ 36 billion in 2013-’14. In fact, China accounted for more than 50% of India’s current account deficit in 2012-’13. Indian exports to its neighbour fell nearly 10% during that period.

By seeking economic and military clout, could China reject the liberal regional order and seek to replace it with its own Sino-centric Asian order? China’s much-debated rise is always under scrutiny, given its role as Asia’s largest economy and the fact that it is the No. 1 trading partner for almost 120 economies around the world.

More so, in the strategic sphere, are Asian nations, including India and Japan, prepared to recognise such an order? So profound is the presence, rise and status of the People’s Republic of China that one is often confronted with a debate whether a potential Asian century could actually become a Chinese century.

The Chinese government chose to downplay Modi’s earlier indirect reference to China during his visit to Japan, where he took a swipe at the “18th century expansionist mindset of some countries”. But the reaction of state-controlled Chinese media over Modi’s remark was noticeably irate. Chinese media fervently cautioned against any attempt by Tokyo to structure a united front against Beijing with New Delhi as its pivot. All this very palpably falls into the realist paradigm of international relations, which posits that states often find themselves in a zero-sum contest for power and influence, where the prevailing international power balance remains a key determinant of the region’s future stability and strategic order.

Geo-strategic realities

Realignments in any part of the India-China-Japan security triangle will have far-reaching impact all across Asia. It should be remembered that Xi Jinping’s address at the 18th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012 contained a reference to “rejuvenating China”, which has been interpreted as an oblique reference to “reclaiming lost historical territories”. This approach could well have a direct bearing on Japan and India, with whom China contests territories and borders.

On another level, the camaraderie between Modi and Shinzo Abe speaks volumes. Systemic conditions present a favourable platform for the duo to guide their countries to “… the dawn of a new era in India-Japan relations”, as they agreed to in the Tokyo Declaration last fortnight. Moreover, providing cement for this approach, Modi underlined the significance of India and Japan being democracies, which affords them a solid basis to converge at various levels on the Asian stage. As for the ties between China and Japan, there could not have been a worse time for relations between them, with the bitter contest over the East China Sea amidst a rising tide of nationalist sentiment against one another in both countries.

Whether Xi Jinping will manage to find success in making inroads into Delhi and buying a sizeable share of Indian attention is too early to say. However, one thing is for sure ‒ it will not happen at the cost of Japan.

via Scroll.in – News. Politics. Culture..

Related articles

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Diplomacy, Economics, Foreign invasion, GeoPolitics, History, India alert, Neighbour conflict, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
17/09/2014

Is China’s promised $100 billion India investment more dangerous than its border policy?

Experts believe that China deliberately uses trade as part of its geo-strategic arsenal.

The script is almost predictable. Right before meetings of Indian and Chinese heads of state, something happens on the border to remind everyone that sentiment between the two countries is not exactly neighbourly. Last year it was a standoff in Daulat Beg Oldi about infiltration by the Chinese army. This year, with everyone excited at China’s promise to pump $100 billion into India, there’s another incursion by the Chinese into Demchok in Ladhak.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in India today and will visit Ahmedabad on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday. But Chinese troops have also been reported to have moved 500 meters into Indian territory.

Beijing’s approach seems to be sweet-talking – this time taking the form of foreign direct investment – coupled with regular pinpricks that remind India that they have the stronger position on the border.

But could the proposed investment be as much of a threat to India as the border dispute?

Trading places

India’s total trade with China was around $65 billion in 2013-’14. Of that, only $14 billion were Indian exports heading into China, leaving India with a trade deficit of $36 billion. If oil imports are included, Chinese imports are responsible for nearly half of India’s overall trade deficit. This is a great many Indian eggs in one Chinese basket.

For many economists, this isn’t a problem. It’s simply the way efficient markets ought to function, with India buying the goods it needs from the most competitive seller. “The more competitive the trading partner, the more India should buy from it, and the bigger should be the bilateral trade deficit,” wrote commentator Swaminathan Aiyar last year. “China is the most competitive exporter of all, so India should run its biggest trade deficit with this country.”

Yet India does feel the need to reduce the trade deficit with China. Answering a question in the Lok Sabha earlier this year, minister of state for commerce Nirmala Sitharaman admitted that the balance of trade was heavily in China’s favour and that India was taking steps to address this.

“With a view to reducing the trade deficit with China, efforts are being made to diversify the export basket,” Sitharaman said.

via Scroll.in – News. Politics. Culture..

Related articles

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Diplomacy, Economics, Foreign invasion, GeoPolitics, Good news, History, India alert, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Trade | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
16/09/2014

Xi’s India visit highlights changing power dynamic – Businessweek

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to India this week highlights subtle shifts in the regional power dynamic that are bringing warmer ties between the two Asian giants, challenging China’s traditional relationship with Pakistan, and opening a new chapter in Beijing’s ongoing competition for influence with arch-rival Japan.

Xi is due in New Delhi on Wednesday for a three-day visit focused on trade, investment and the resolution of decades-old border disputes. With the world’s second-largest economy and a proven track record at building highways, railways, and industrial zones, China has much to offer India as it seeks to upgrade its creaky infrastructure.

The visit is the latest sign of easing suspicions between the two huge countries — which between them have 2.6 billion people — dating from a month-long border war in 1962 that left around 2,000 soldiers dead. That conflict ended in a standoff with both sides accusing the other of occupying its territory.

Xi’s visit “will definitely enhance the bilateral political mutual trust,” Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao told reporters in Beijing last week.

While ties have been steadily growing for years, they’ve been given a major boost under new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who’s signaled he wishes to pursue a more vigorous foreign policy. Xi is the first Chinese head of state to visit in eight years, while the country’s prime minister, Li Keqiang, made India his first overseas visit shortly after taking office last year.

“Good relations with India are a key part of China’s regional strategy and Xi’s visit creates the opportunity for direct face-to-face communication on the problems that still exist, such as the border issue,” said Zhao Gancheng, Director of the Asia-Pacific Center of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies.

via Xi’s India visit highlights changing power dynamic – Businessweek.

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Economics, GeoPolitics, Good news, India alert, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
16/09/2014

Almost Half of China’s Rich Want to Emigrate – Businessweek

Even as the number of Chinese millionaires grows, the number of those aiming to leave China is getting ever larger.

A shopper at Lee Gardens mall in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong

About half of China’s wealthy are considering moving to a new country within five years, says a just-released report by U.K.-based bank Barclays. The survey of more than 2,000 individuals around the world, all with personal wealth over $1.5 million, showed Chinese are more eager to emigrate than the very well-off in any other region.

Forty-seven percent of rich Chinese planned to move abroad in the next half-decade. That compared with 23 percent in Singapore and 16 percent in Hong Kong. One-fifth of rich Brits intended to emigrate, while only 6 percent of Americans and 5 percent of Indians had that plan, reported the South China Morning Post today, citing the report.

Not surprisingly, given China’s high-pressure, exam-based school system, bettering children’s education and improving their future job prospects were named as the main reasons to emigrate by 78 percent of respondents. A better economic situation was mentioned by 73 percent, while health care and social services were cited by 18 percent; the U.S. and Europe were the favored destinations.

“The reality is that most ultra-high net worth individuals in China are probably making money in China right now,” noted Liam Bailey, head of residential research at London brokerage Knight Frank, in the report. “So, for business reasons, they need to be relatively close. That might prevent some of them going further afield.”

via Almost Half of China’s Rich Want to Emigrate – Businessweek.

Posted in Affluence, China alert, Economics, emigration | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , ,
16/09/2014

BJP Fares Poorly in By-Elections in India’s Most-Populous State – India Real Time – WSJ

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s landslide victory in national elections a few months ago spawned predictions of an unstoppable political juggernaut. But results of by-elections show cracks in the BJP’s dominance.

India’s governing party held onto only three of 11 seats that went to the polls for the legislative assembly of Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most-populous state. The BJP had won all these seats in the last state elections in 2012.

The regional Samajwadi Party, which governs the state but suffered a big blow in national elections, won the remaining eight seats, according to India’s Election Commission.

Just four months ago, the BJP won a historic 72 of 80 seats for the national Parliament from Uttar Pradesh on the back of a wave of support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This result helped propel the party to a majority in the lower house of Parliament, with 282 of 543 seats.

The magnitude of the win raised expectations that the BJP would come out on top in the by-polls, which are mid-term elections held for those seats that have fallen vacant since the previous election.

The results showed that while Mr. Modi had swung the national election by making it a presidential-style vote for or against his leadership, his charisma might not be enough to carry his party to power in state elections, where local issues and caste equations dominate the vote. It also raised questions about the BJP’s prospects in crucial upcoming state elections in Maharashtra and Haryana.

Some also saw the outcome as fallout from a polarizing BJP campaign that critics say sought to consolidate Hindu votes in Uttar Pradesh by spreading animosity against Muslims – and marked a return by the party, which has roots in India’s Hindu nationalist movement, to the religious agenda that defined its strategy a decade ago.

via BJP Fares Poorly in By-Elections in India’s Most-Populous State – India Real Time – WSJ.

Posted in India alert, Internal politics, Politics | 1 Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , ,
16/09/2014

Give the public a role in Clean Ganga project, says Rajendra Pachauri

India’s holiest river is due for a clean-up, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking personal responsibility for restoring the Ganga and ridding the 2,500 km long river of industrial effluents and untreated sewage.

Uma Bharti, Modi’s minister for water resources and Ganges rejuvenation, has said the river would be clean in three years. Earlier this month, India’s Supreme Court asked the government for a roadmap on the project so that the court could monitor it.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), spoke to Reuters on the Ganga project, the need for transparency and how the public could help.

via India Insight.

Related articles

Posted in Economics, India alert, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
16/09/2014

India says to defend China border after standoff ahead of Xi visit | Reuters

More than 200 soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army crossed into what India considers its territory in Ladakh in the western Himalayas last week, and used cranes, bulldozers and a Hummer vehicle to build a 2-km (1.2-mile) road within it, the Hindustan Times said.

A dog rests on the Indian side of the Indo-China border at Bumla, in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, November 11, 2009. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Indian soldiers challenged the Chinese troops and asked them to withdraw, the newspaper said. Then, on the night of September 10, soldiers demolished a temporary track built by Chinese forces.

There was no immediate comment by India’s defense ministry.

Both China and India are trying to put a positive spin on Xi’s first summit meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi since the Indian leader took office in May. He arrives on Wednesday after touring the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

The two countries are expected to ramp up commercial ties and open the way for Chinese investment in Indian infrastructure, including railways, but the contested border remains a stumbling block to better political ties.

via India says to defend China border after standoff ahead of Xi visit | Reuters.

Related articles

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Foreign invasion, GeoPolitics, History, India alert, Neighbour conflict, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
15/09/2014

India’s Economy Looks a Lot Like China’s — In 2001 – India Real Time – WSJ

India today doesn’t look quite like the economic dynamo that, just a few years ago, some predicted would overtake China as emerging-markets champion.

But the race looks a lot closer if you account for one key fact: China got a 13-year head start on India in opening its economy and giving companies greater freedom to invest and produce. In exports, capital spending and foreign investment, India today is remarkably similar to China circa 2001.

That should both console and concern India as it gets back on its feet after three years of weak growth and high inflation. Console, since it suggests the country’s economy could remain on a China-like trajectory for years to come. But concern, because India’s delay could mean that the country has missed out on some big advantages that catalyzed China’s boom.

The latter point is especially worth considering given how assiduously India’s recently elected prime minister, Narendra Modi, is working to follow the blueprint for China’s export- and investment-driven success.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the Indian capital this week he will encounter a recipe for economic revival that ought to look very familiar. Delhi is aiming to boost exports and raise India’s share in world trade by 50% over the next five years. “Sell anywhere,” Mr. Modi said in an Independence Day exhortation to global business last month. “But manufacture here.”

via India’s Economy Looks a Lot Like China’s — In 2001 – India Real Time – WSJ.

Related articles

Posted in China alert, Economics, India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , ,
15/09/2014

Chinese City Launches Special Lane for Cellphone Addicts – China Real Time Report – WSJ

If you’re tired of walking behind someone who’s trudging along as they text, has this Chinese city got the sidewalk for you.

Last week, the city of Chongqing unveiled a lane specially designated for people who want to walk as they use their cellphones. “Cellphones, walk in this lane at your own risk” is printed in the lane in white lettering. The adjoining lane reads “No cellphones.”

On Monday, Weibo users reacted to the news with a mixture of amusement and scorn. “It’s such a lazy design. Shouldn’t the cellphone lane be placed [farther from the road]? It is not practical at all,” wrote one user.

Another dismissed the innovation, writing, “It’s just another imitation of foreign inventions,” the user wrote, referring to a similar experiment launched in Washington, D.C., earlier this year. “Besides, it seems only to be serving as a tourist attraction,” the user wrote of the road, which is located in a Chongqing tourist area called “Foreign Street Park.”

Still another wondered whether the road would make anything safer. “Is the goal here to encourage still more people to use their cellphones while walking?”

via Chinese City Launches Special Lane for Cellphone Addicts – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, mobile tech, Social & cultural, social media | 1 Comment »

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries  |   Newer Entries »
CCChang

Law of Unintended Consequences

continuously updated blog about China & India

ChiaHou's Book Reviews

continuously updated blog about China & India

What's wrong with the world; and its economy

continuously updated blog about China & India