Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon
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Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua will lead delegation at two-day summit that is expected to be attended by 400 officials and 200 businesspeople
Observers say it is Beijing’s latest effort to regain momentum in the region and will be closely watched in the US
Samoan capital Apia will host the third China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development Cooperation Forum, which begins on Sunday. Photo: Alamy
China will seek to expand its economic and diplomatic influence in the South Pacific at a forum this weekend, amid growing concern from the US and its allies over Beijing’s push in the strategically important region.
Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua will lead the Chinese delegation at the third China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development Cooperation Forum in the Samoan capital Apia, which begins on Sunday. It is expected to be attended by 400 officials and more than 200 businesspeople.
Hu, the former Communist Party chief of China’s manufacturing powerhouse Guangdong who now overseas commercial and agricultural affairs, is expected to deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony.
Beijing sees the two-day forum as “timely” and “a good opportunity to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the Pacific”, a commerce ministry spokesperson told the official Economic Daily newspaper.
Trade, agriculture and fisheries, as well as tourism, infrastructure and climate change were at the top of the agenda for the forum, the spokesperson said.
Leaders of all the Pacific nations – except the four that do not have formal diplomatic ties with Beijing – are expected to attend the forum. Australia, which has “observer status” at the summit, will send Ewen McDonald, deputy secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of its Pacific office.
Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua will lead the Chinese delegation at the forum. Photo: EPA-EFE
The forum comes after China hailed a “new breakthrough” in the region following the decision last month by the Solomon Islands and then Kiribati – despite warnings from the US – to cut diplomatic ties with Taipei and switch to Beijing.
They are the latest of Taipei’s allies to be poached by Beijing as it ramps up pressure on the self-ruled island that it sees as a renegade province to be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Observers said this weekend’s forum was Beijing’s latest effort to regain momentum in the Pacific.
“Having one of China’s top 25 officials visit the region so soon after [Chinese President] Xi Jinping spent close to three days in Papua New Guinea last November is certainly significant,” said Jonathan Pryke, director of the Pacific Islands programme at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, referring to Hu’s position in the 25-member Politburo.
“It shows clearly China’s attempt to recapture momentum after the West, and in particular Australia, have redoubled their efforts in maintaining and building relationships in the Pacific,” he said.
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill (second from left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (second from right) pose for a photo during Xi’s visit in November. Photo: AFP
First held in Fiji in 2006, the forum is part of China’s efforts to expand its reach in the resource-rich region.
Back then, premier Wen Jiabao announced 3 billion yuan of concessional loans to Pacific nations and promised to facilitate more trade, medical aid and tourism with the countries. Chinese capital has been pouring into the region – particularly from the mining and fisheries sectors – ever since.
Of note was a 440 million yuan investment, supported by loans from the Export-Import Bank of China, to build a central business centre at Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga.
US and allies sideline China in PNG’s Bougainville by helping fund independence vote
As China’s influence grows, the South Pacific – a region traditionally under US hegemony, and on Australia’s doorstep – has “increasingly become a major power that cannot be neglected” and “an important part of China’s greater strategic landscape”, according to Shi Chunlin, an associate professor at Dalian Maritime University.
Trade has increased between China and the eight Pacific nations that have diplomatic ties with Beijing, rising to a combined US$4.32 billion last year – up 25 per cent from 2017.
China has also become the largest trading partner of new ally the Solomons, the second-largest to Papua New Guinea and Fiji, and the third-largest to Samoa.
China’s direct investment in the region has also jumped, reaching US$4.53 billion last year, a more than fourfold increase from the US$900 million of 2013.
Pryke said Beijing was expected to offer new support and loans to the Pacific nations.
“But the Pacific are much more picky about how they want to engage with all partners than they were a decade ago,” he added.
Returning from a trip to China earlier this month, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare confirmed Beijing would provide a US$74 million grant to build a new stadium for the 2023 Pacific Games in the capital Honiara – something its former ally Taipei had committed to fund.
China Sam Group also reportedly signed an agreement on September 22 to lease the island of Tulagi in the Solomons, the site of a former Japanese naval base. The agreement mentioned the development of a refinery on the island, but critics said it could also potentially be used as a military base.
China is now the second-largest donor in the region, only after Australia, which has viewed Beijing’s financial largesse with suspicion.
Last year, in an apparent effort to counter China’s rising influence in the region, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that Pacific countries would be offered up to US$2.18 billion in grants and cheap loans to build infrastructure.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison last year announced up to US$2.18 billion in grants and cheap loans for infrastructure in Pacific nations. Photo: EPA-EFE
The US, meanwhile, has also been wary of China’s push in the Pacific, amid an escalating geopolitical competition between the world’s two largest economies across many fronts – from trade to tech supremacy and security. The US has long maintained exclusive defence access in the region through its Guam military base and security pacts with the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau.
Derek Grossman, a senior defence analyst with the US-based Rand Corporation, said this year’s forum in Samoa was likely to be higher profile than previous years after Beijing lured away two more diplomatic allies from Taipei.
He said it would be “closely watched in the US for how Beijing continues to leverage sweet economic deals via its Belt and Road Initiative to potentially entice others to switch”.
“The US, along with close friends Australia, Japan and New Zealand, are becoming increasingly concerned over the prospects for China to one day curry enough influence in these small island states to gain port access that could be used for new naval bases,” he said.
The most important issue at the forum, he said, would be “whether the West assesses that China is making further inroads with these states”.
“The likely answer will be that it is, suggesting that the US and its partners will have to compete with China in this region to ensure that it remains ‘free and open’, per the US Indo-Pacific strategy,” he said.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he thinks a trade deal between the United States and China will be signed by the time the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings take place in Chile on Nov. 16 and 17.
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China says will work with the U.S. to address each other’s core concerns
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will provide Beijing’s perspective on the progress of the talks in a speech on Saturday, according to a tweet from editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a tabloid published by the People’s Daily of China’s ruling Communist Party.
“I think it will get signed quite easily, hopefully by the summit in Chile, where President Xi and I will both be,” Trump told reporters at the White House, without providing details.
“We’re working with China very well,” Trump also said.
The White House has announced that China agreed to buy up to $50 billion of U.S. farm products annually, as part of the first phase of a trade deal, although China seems slow to follow through.
The so-called phase 1 deal was unveiled at the White House last week during a visit by vice premier He as part of a bid to end a tit-for-tat trade war between Beijing and Washington that has roiled markets and hammered global growth. U.S. officials said a second phase of negotiations could address thornier issues like forced technology transfer and non-financial services issues.
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) – India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to sweep two state polls next week, the first since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landslide win in a parliamentary election in May, a leading pollster said.
The BJP is set to comfortably win elections in the western state of Maharashtra and the northern state of Haryana, leaving the main opposition Congress party trailing, according to a survey by polling agency CVoter released on Friday.
CVoter estimates that a BJP-led alliance in Maharashtra will pick up 194 of the 288 seats on offer. In Haryana, the party is predicted to win 83 of the state’s 90 seats, leaving just three for Congress.
Voting in the elections will be held on Monday with the results expected to be announced on Thursday.
Several Congress party officials conceded they had all but given up hope of posing a serious challenge to Modi and the BJP.
In particular, the resignation of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in July, after weeks of drama following the loss to the BJP in the general election, has sown internal confusion, triggering infighting and exits, two party officials in New Delhi said.
“It’s going to be a rout, and it will deflate morale even further,” one of the officials said, referring to the state elections. “It’s like a slow-moving disaster.”
They requested anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
Pranav Jha, the secretary in charge of Congress’s communication department, said the party was undergoing a period of “cleansing and churning” and remained committed to taking on the BJP.
“The people of India…can see through the diversionary drama of the ruling party, and realise that jobs, economy and issues of farmers can only be put on track by the Congress party,” Jha told Reuters.
Modi, analysts say, has moved decisively, including withdrawing special rights for Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir state, and consolidating the BJP’s hold over India’s Hindu-majority electorate.
INFIGHTING, INDIFFERENCE
In Maharashtra, one of India’s most industrialised states which includes Mumbai, two Congress officials said the top leadership’s relative indifference and infighting had hurt their already weak campaign.
Congress’s state wing had asked for Gandhi, his mother and current party chief Sonia Gandhi, and his charismatic sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to join the campaign, one of the two officials said.
But only Rahul Gandhi came and spoke at a handful of rallies.
“Senior leaders from BJP have covered every district. They have been visiting Maharashtra for the last two months to build momentum,” said one Congress official, who is contesting the upcoming poll.
“There wasn’t any concrete effort from Congress leaders in New Delhi to give energy to our cadre,” he said.
The list of recent resignations from the party include Ashok Tanwar, Congress’s former chief in Haryana who quit earlier this month and is now campaigning against his old party.
“The state of affairs in the Congress party is so dire that the decision makers can’t win an election themselves, while the soldiers on ground who stay in touch with the masses are neglected,” Tanwar wrote in his resignation letter.
The situation has even riled Congress allies. Two leaders from the Nationalist Congress Party, which is in alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra, said their partner was slack.
“It looks like Congress is not very serious about the state elections,” one of the leaders said. “Congress is not in the picture. Congress leaders are not attacking the ruling party the way we expected.”
In New Delhi, Congress officials said there was a sense of inertia at the party headquarters, without any understanding of who will become president after Sonia Gandhi, who is only holding charge temporarily.
“Without a clear leadership, nothing is going to change,” one of the officials said, “If it continues like this, the party will fade away.”
BEIJING, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) — China and Mauritius signed a free trade agreement (FTA) here Thursday, the first FTA between China and an African country, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).
The China-Mauritius FTA is the 17th FTA signed by China.
The agreement covers trade in goods and services and investment and economic cooperation.
The FTA will not only provide a more powerful institutional guarantee to deepen bilateral economic and trade relations, but also boost China-Africa economic and trade cooperation, according to the MOC.
Negotiations on the China-Mauritius FTA were officially launched in December 2017. The two sides formally concluded the negotiations on Sept. 2, 2018, after four rounds of intensive negotiations.
In the area of trade in goods, China and Mauritius will eventually achieve zero tariffs on 96.3 percent and 94.2 percent of product tariff items, respectively, involving 92.8 percent of import volume for both countries from each other.
For the remaining tariff items of Mauritius, the tariffs will also be greatly cut, and the maximum tariffs for most of the involved products will not exceed 15 percent.
China’s main exports to Mauritius, such as iron and steel products, textiles and other light industrial products, will benefit from it.
Special sugar produced in Mauritius will also enter the Chinese market gradually.
The two sides also agreed on rules of origin, trade remedies, technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary issues.
In the area of trade in services, China and Mauritius both promised to open up more than 100 sub-sectors.
Mauritius will open up more than 130 sub-sectors in important service fields such as communications, education, finance, tourism, culture, transportation and traditional Chinese medicine to China.
This is the highest level of opening up in the field of services in Mauritius so far.
In the field of investment, the agreement has been greatly upgraded from the 1996 China-Mauritius bilateral investment protection agreement in terms of protection scope, protection level and dispute settlement mechanism.
This is the first time that China has upgraded the previous investment protection agreement with an African country, which will not only provide stronger protection for Chinese enterprises to go to Mauritius, but also help them further boost investment cooperation in Africa through the platform of Mauritius, according to the MOC.
Meanwhile, the two sides also agreed to further deepen economic and technical cooperation in agriculture, finance, medical care, tourism and other fields.
The two sides will undergo respective domestic procedures for the agreement to take effect.
J-20 stealth fighters make a flight demonstration during an activity celebrating the 70th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) air force in Changchun, capital of northeast China’s Jilin Province, Oct. 17, 2019. It’s the first time that J-20 stealth fighters and Y-20 transport aircrafts make a flight demonstration at the northeastern China during the activity. (Xinhua/Lin Hong)
CHANGCHUN, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) — China’s J-20 stealth fighters Thursday joined an air show held to celebrate the 70th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) air force.
The airshow in Changchun, capital of northeast China’s Jilin Province, was kicked off by three parachutists carrying the national flag, the flag of the PLA and the flag of the PLA air force, respectively.
The J-20 stealth fighters, Y-20 large transport aircraft, J-16 fighters and the new training plane JL-10 treated the audience to a performance of demonstration flights.
Two J-11BS, China’s third-generation fighters, carried out a simulated air battle, and China’s airborne troops showcased anti-terrorist operations to display the air force’s achievements in real combat training.
Three aerobatic teams of the PLA air force also performed aerobatic flights, and the air force selected 71 pieces of equipment for static display in the five-day air show.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with a business delegation from the United States, which is led by Chairman of the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) Evan Greenberg, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)
BEIJING, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) — Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with a business delegation from the United States on Thursday, which was led by Chairman of the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) Evan Greenberg.
Li said that as China and the United States are respectively the world’s largest developing country and the largest developed country, the healthy and stable development of the Sino-U.S. relations will benefit the two sides and the world.
Li called on the two sides to focus on coordination, cooperation and stability, take a long-term perspective and remain down-to-earth, and resolve relevant issues through dialogue and consultation on the basis of equality and mutual respect, so as to advance bilateral economic and trade ties on the right track.
Li expressed the hope that people of U.S. industrial and commercial circles, including those from the USCBC, will continue to play a positive role in promoting the development of bilateral relations and enhancing mutual understanding between the two peoples, he said.
China’s door of opening-up will not be closed, but will only open wider, Li said.
Enterprises from all countries, including the United States, are welcome to expand investment in and cooperation with China to achieve mutual benefit, said Li.
The U.S. delegates said the U.S. business community hopes to maintain contacts with China, does not want to see decoupling between the two countries, and also does not want to see trade wars or imposition of additional tariffs.
They expressed the hope that both sides will seize the opportunities and reach a substantive agreement through negotiations and consultations, so that enterprises from both countries can engage in healthy competition and achieve common development in a fair and determined environment.
China’s economy grew at a slower pace than expected in the third quarter as it struggled with a US-led trade war and softer domestic demand.
In the three months to September, the economy expanded 6% from a year earlier, official figures showed.
The result fell just short of expectations for 6.1% growth for the period.
The slowdown comes despite government efforts to support the economy, including measures such as tax cuts.
The latest figures mark a further loss of momentum in the world’s second largest economy, which had already seen growth languishing at its slowest pace in around three decades.
The rate remained within the government’s target range for annual growth of between 6% and 6.5%.
The strength of the Chinese economy is closely watched as slowing growth can have far-reaching consequences for the global economy.
The country has become a key engine of growth in recent decades. Its healthy demand for a range of products, from commodities to machinery, has supported growth around the world.
Some analysts worry that a sharp slowdown in China could hurt an already sluggish world economy and increase the risk of a recession.
Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics, said pressure on the Chinese economy “should intensify in the coming months”.
He said more intervention by policymakers to support the economy was likely “but it will take time for this to put a floor beneath economic growth”.
What challenges does China face?
China has been fighting a trade war with the US for the past year, which has created uncertainty for businesses and consumers.
At the same time, it faces domestic challenges including a swine fever outbreak that has fuelled inflation and hit consumer spending.
Image copyright GETTY IMAGESImage caption China accounted for 16% of global gross domestic product in 2018, according to the McKinsey Global Institute
This week the International Monetary Fund trimmed its 2019 growth forecast for China to 6.1% from 6.2% due to the long-running trade dispute and slowing domestic demand.
But there have been some signs of progress toward resolving the trade battle, with the US and China reaching a “phase one deal” earlier this month.
Any analysis of China’s economic data has to come with a caveat: Many economists believe the actual figures are much lower than what we are told, but it’s the trajectory of growth and signalling from the government that you should pay attention to.
The fact that the growth figures have come in below market expectations indicate that China’s economy is hurting more than many thought.
There were signs from China that these numbers were going to be worrying. Earlier this week, Premier Li Keqiang made the unusual move to warn local officials that they must do “everything” to make sure they hit growth targets for this year.
China’s economy is being hit on three fronts: The US-led trade war, slowing demand at home and rising domestic challenges including the outbreak of swine fever that has dealt a huge blow to its pork farmers. It’s also pushed up prices for consumers.
China’s slowdown is nothing new. But these challenges pose new headaches for policymakers who are trying to manage the slowdown. The country’s political stability depends on economic security – and over the last forty years, that’s what the Communist Party has delivered. They’re under pressure to keep that contract.
Image copyright GETTY IMAGESImage caption The US says Huawei equipment has back doors that would enable Chinese surveillance
Chinese tech giant Huawei, which has been banned from selling 5G equipment to US telecom companies, is making an aggressive push to market itself in India.
“It’s been squeezed out of countries by a few governments already, and so a possible contract with India for 5G would be especially important,” Arun Sukumar, a tech analyst at the Observer Research Foundation, told the BBC.
“It’s worth noting that even though Huawei is comfortable at the moment, it will need to continue to invest across the world and into new markets in order to stay afloat – and what’s a bigger market than India?”
Huawei has also been banned in Australia, and several other countries are considering following suit.
The US says Huawei equipment contains back doors that would enable Chinese surveillance.
But the company has repeatedly denied claims that the use of its products poses security risks, and says it is independent from the Chinese government.
The size of India’s wireless market – dwarfed only by China – make it a vital market for any company, but the troubles Huawei is facing at present make could make India critical to its future.
The US has been pressurising India and its other allies to boycott the company and has not ruled out punitive measures against those who fail to do so.
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said during a visit to Delhi that the US hoped that its “geopolitical partner India does not inadvertently subject itself to untoward security risk”.
Jay Chen, CEO of Huawei India, told the BBC’s Devina Gupta that the company was even willing to sign an undertaking with the Indian government, promising that its equipment would contain no back doors as alleged by the US.
“We have read in the media that the US government is trying to lobby with the Indian government but I still believe that we should focus on what we can do and try our best,” he said.
Image copyright GETTY IMAGESImage caption The company provides technology infrastructure to launch 5G networks
India has not commented on US charges against Huawei and has invited it to participate in its upcoming 5G spectrum trials, although a date for this has not been announced yet.
Mr Sukumar told the BBC that to exclude Huawei from the 5G process could actually prove detrimental to India.
“No more than five companies have the infrastructure to launch 5G, and Huawei’s infrastructure is more affordable than other Western ones like Nokia and Erikson. India’s telecom industry is already struggling, so to ally with Huawei – which could provide the service at the lowest rate – is very attractive,” he said.
India does not have a homegrown alternative to Huawei’s technology – and the company is well aware of this.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of runners have signed up for the Indian capital’s half marathon and other races on Sunday, officials said, despite the air quality hitting dangerous levels in one of the most heavily polluted cities in the world.
New Delhi’s air quality index was around 300 on Thursday, classified as very poor and meaning prolonged exposure can cause respiratory illness.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has described the city as a “gas chamber” in winter, has ordered emergency measures, including restricting the number of private vehicles on the roads under an “odd-even” scheme based on number plates.
Race organisers said pollution was a worry but they would take steps to reduce the impact on runners. Hours ahead of and throughout the race, the course will be sprayed with water.
“The air quality is a concern and will remain a concern, there is no question about it,” said Vivek Singh, joint managing director of Procam International that conducts the race sponsored by telecom operator Bharti Airtel.
“The measures that we take for those few hours to give our runners a good experience have worked in the past.”
The race has been moved this year to avoid a sharp rise in pollutants during Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, when hundreds of thousands of firecrackers are lit.
But farmers burning crop stubble in the states north of Delhi have turned the air over Delhi toxic. The forecast for the next few days and into Sunday is “very poor”.
A record 40,633 people have signed up for the 21-km, 10-km and a 5-km races. Last year there were 34,916 runners, many of whom wore masks.
A former Olympic gold medallist, Carmelita Jeter of the United States, is the international event ambassador.
Doctors have advised citizens to restrict their outdoor activities and said runners must be made aware of the risks they are taking.
“Just two weeks before the odd-even scheme comes into play, how have the civic authorities allowed more than 30,000 people to expose themselves to toxic air?” asked said Desh Deepak, senior chest physician at the city’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, learns about applications of smart robot and 5G technology in fields like remote driving, education and tourism, at an experience park in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, Oct. 15, 2019. Han made a research trip to Chongqing on Monday and Tuesday. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)
CHONGQING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — Vice Premier Han Zheng has called on southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality to promote high-quality development and continue to break new ground in all areas.
Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during a research trip to Chongqing on Monday and Tuesday.
Chongqing should play a key role in advancing the large-scale development of the western region, promoting the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
During his visit to an auto research and development center and a new-energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturer, Han stressed more input in research to make breakthroughs in key auto parts, and called for the building of homegrown auto brands, wider application of NEVs in urban public transport and the sustainable development of the industry.
Efforts should be made to foster intelligent industries, popularize intelligent technologies and knowledge, and develop intelligent economy, he added.
In his visit to a semi-conductor firm, Han encouraged local companies to enhance their competitiveness and asked local authorities to further improve the business environment.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 