09/05/2020
- Nations may need help from China during virus outbreaks but remain wary of Beijing as adversary in disputed waters
- Analysts say code of conduct negotiations are too sensitive and important for virtual meetings and may be delayed until coronavirus crisis is resolved
On April 18, the US Navy Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (front) and Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry transit the South China Sea. The presence of both Chinese and American navy ships in the area in recent weeks worries Southeast Asian nations. Photo: US Navy
Negotiations between China and its Southeast Asian neighbours for a
South China Sea
code of conduct have been postponed as the nations involved put their efforts into containing
the Covid-19 pandemic, creating uncertainty about whether the two sides can work together amid rising tensions in the contested territory.
Southeast Asian nations are increasingly caught in a dilemma whether to maintain relations with Beijing during the pandemic while also fearing that tensions over the disputed waters are spiralling out of control. Both Chinese and United States navies are sending vessels to the area more frequently.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi expressed concern over recent activities in the South China Sea, noting that they might potentially escalate tensions at a time when global collective effort to fight Covid-19 was essential.
Speaking on Wednesday, she called on all parties to respect international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“While negotiation of the code of conduct is being postponed due to Covid-19, Indonesia calls on all relevant parties to exercise self-restraint and to refrain from undertaking action that may erode mutual trust and potentially escalate tension in the region,” she said.
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. Photo: AP
Calls for a binding code of conduct surfaced in 1995 when China occupied Mischief Reef
, a maritime feature claimed by the Philippines. China did not agree to start talks until 1999, and subsequent negotiations led to a non-binding Declaration on Conduct in 2002.
The
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China agreed in 2018 on a draft code laying the foundations for conduct in the disputed waters. At that time, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China hoped to complete the negotiation by the end of 2021, a move he said could show China and Asean could jointly maintain regional peace.
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But tensions over the South China Sea have not calmed and, in fact, have surged in recent months with both Beijing and Washington seen to be using the Covid-19 pandemic to create a stronger presence there.
This year, the US has conducted four freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea and China has scrambled air and sea patrols to expel US vessels.
The confrontation between Beijing and Southeast Asian nations has also intensified. Last month,
a Vietnamese fishing boat sank after a collision with a Chinese coastguard vessel near the Paracel Islands, known in China as the Xisha Islands, and in Vietnam as the Hoang Sa Islands.
On Saturday, the 35th escort fleet of the Chinese navy also
conducted drills in the Spratly Islands chain – known as Nansha Islands in China – after completing an operation in the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia. Analysts said the drill aimed to boost far-sea training for combat ships and boost protection against piracy for Chinese merchant ships.
Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, based at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the code of conduct talks had been delayed because of the pandemic, but Beijing was consolidating its position in the South China Sea amid the outbreak.
“So it’s doing what it can now to consolidate and further enhance its position before talks restart, and by then these moves will raise Beijing’s leverage in the negotiations with its Asean counterparts,” he said.
“The current situation gives it a window of opportunity amid this interlude on the talks, to further advance its physical hold in the South China Sea, especially while Asean parties have their hands full on the pandemic”.
Asean nations have turned their attention to coping with coronavirus outbreaks in their own countries. On April 14, a live video conference for the special Asean Plus Three Summit on the coronavirus pandemic was held in Hanoi. Photo: AFP
Kang Lin, a researcher with Hainan University, said progress for the code of conduct would still go ahead, but it might be affected as face-to-face meetings between officials were disrupted.
“The negotiations involves multiple departments, such as diplomacy, maritime affairs, fisheries and even oil and gas-related departments,” he said, adding that those discussions might go online and might not be as effective.
“It is not easy to predict to what extent it will affect next year's goals. If the pandemic cannot be eliminated in the first half of next year, it may be longer than the three-year period we had previously scheduled,” he said.
Richard Heydarian, an academic and former Philippine government adviser, said video-conference meetings would be inadequate for negotiations about the future of the South China Sea.
“The problem with the negotiation of the code is that these are very sensitive, difficult negotiations. I don't think you can really do it just online, these are things that are done in the corridors of power,” he said. “It’s close to impossible to have that right now with the suspension of all international meetings in the Asean.”
Heydarian said Southeast Asian nations hoped to get help from China to contain the pandemic, but were showing unease about Beijing.
“I think there is a lot of resentment building against China,” he said. “There is also a lot of desperation to get assistance from China and, at the same time, complete helplessness with the fact that it is very hard to conduct any important extended international meeting on the level of Asean and beyond under current circumstances.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said on Thursday that China would push forward negotiations on the code of conduct, and hoped the code would be useful for peace and stability over the South China Sea.
Source: SCMP
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04/11/2019
- Hopes were high a regional summit could finally wrap up negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
- But despite claims of ‘significant progress’ in the 16-nation talks, India remains a stumbling block
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s Premier Li Keqiang attend the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Summit in Bangkok. Photo: AFP
Fifteen of the countries involved in negotiating a mammoth 16-nation Asian
trade pact were on Monday hoping to seal the deal after seven years of talks but faced a fresh setback as India signalled it was pulling out over terms that were against New Delhi’s interests.
A joint statement by all 16 states involved in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) said 15 economies had “concluded text-based negotiations for all 20 chapters and essentially all their market access issues”, and would undertake legal scrubbing of the proposed pact before a formal signing in 2020.
But “India has significant outstanding issues, which remained unresolved”, the statement said.
“All RCEP participating countries will work together to resolve these outstanding issues in a mutually satisfactory way. India’s final decision will depend on satisfactory resolution of these issues.”
Multiple Indian media outlets reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told a Monday evening meeting of leaders from the RCEP countries that “neither the talisman of [Mahatma Gandhi] nor my own conscience permit me to join the RCEP”.
“When I measure the RCEP agreement, with respect to the interest of Indians, I don’t get a positive answer,” he was quoted as saying.
Indians protest against the Modi-led government’s backing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Photo: AFP
Henry Gao, a law professor at the Singapore Management University focusing on international trade law, said an RCEP without India would be “even more worthwhile” for the so-called RCEP-15.
He cited two reasons: India’s “low ambitions” for the pact, and the high level of integration among the countries of East and Southeast Asia which are part of the RCEP-15.
“A mega trade deal like RCEP will only further accelerate the integration process and greatly boost trade and economic growth in the region,” Gao said.
Explained: Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
Earlier expectations were that the joint statement would declare at least a “substantial conclusion”, “near conclusion” or “in principle conclusion” of the RCEP, which aims to create a free-trade zone spanning 39 per cent of the world economy.
The phrasing used to describe the progress of negotiations is being closely parsed because, since it requires endorsement from all RCEP countries, it accurately captures the sentiment of all the 16 negotiating teams.
Last year, Singapore, as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), pushed for a conclusion of the deal, but eventually the joint statement declared that only “substantial progress” had been made.
Asean countries plus six others are negotiating the trade pact. Photo: AFP
Indian media, citing government sources, said the pact’s inadequate protection against import surges, the possible circumvention of rules of origin, and a lack of “credible assurances” on market access and non-tariff barriers, proved too much for New Delhi to swallow.
facing fierce domestic criticism for being in the pact despite opposition even from
Hindu nationalist support base, last week piled on a fresh set of demands that other countries balked at, negotiators from Southeast Asian countries said over the weekend.
Furious efforts that continued up to Sunday night failed to bridge the gap between India and the 15 countries.
India’s concerns about RCEP remain the major obstacle to world’s largest trade deal
Indian critics of the RCEP say the deal will have a ruinous impact on the South Asian economy, which has trade deficits with the other 15 countries.
The biggest opposition has come from the country’s long protected industries, such as its dairy sector, which fears it could be wiped out by lower tariffs on Australian and New Zealand products that would result from the RCEP.
Indian government sources on Monday said the country had not made last-minute demands, but Southeast Asian negotiators said major demands were made as late as Thursday.
Gao, the Singapore-based law professor, said it “makes sense for India to stay out” as it would have faced “a lot of competition from Chinese manufactured products” if it were part of the deal.
“India could temporarily shield its firms from Chinese competition by staying out, but whether this will work in the long term is a different question,” he said.
Source: SCMP
Posted in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australian products, Chinese manufactured products, Chinese premier Li Keqiang, conscience, India alert, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, mahatma gandhi, negotiations, New Delhi, New Zealand products, pulls out, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), seven years, Singapore, Singapore Management University, Southeast Asian negotiators, talisman, trade deal, Uncategorized, World economy |
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27/08/2019
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) holds talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 26, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)
BEIJING, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) — Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif here Monday.
Noting that the world today sees rising unilateralism and power politics, Wang expressed willingness to work with other countries to safeguard multilateralism, uphold basic norms governing international relations, and maintain the legitimate rights and interests of all countries.
Talking about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, Wang expressed support for all efforts conducive to maintaining the deal.
China understands the legitimate claims made by the Iranian side and believed that the Iranian side should receive reasonable returns as the country continued to implement the deal, Wang said, adding that China as a responsible country is willing to continue to implement the deal and play a constructive role in easing the tensions in the Gulf region.
Zarif briefed Wang on his tour of Europe and his communications with relevant parties on safeguarding the nuclear deal, and reiterated Iran’s stance to resolve relevant problems through dialogue and negotiations.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, dialogue, Europe, international relations,, Iran nuclear deal, Iranian Foreign Minister, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), multilateralism, negotiations, power politics, tour, Uncategorized, unilateralism |
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22/07/2019
- Some 150,000 residents of Baishizhou have to leave by the end of September to make way for malls, hotels and high-end residential projects
- They worry about finding affordable housing in the city, and their children’s education
Urban villages like Baishizhou provide affordable housing, mostly for migrant workers. Photo: Phoebe Zhang
As their eviction deadline nears, all Chen Jian can think about is the wrecking ball – and where his family is going to go. He often dreams about the negotiations – with officials, real estate developers, landlords. On other nights, he cannot sleep at all.
“I’m mostly worried about my daughter – she starts secondary school in September,” said Chen, 41, who works as a quality supervisor for a foreign trading company.
His family of four lives in a cheap one-bedroom flat in Baishizhou, one of the last standing chengzhongcun, or “urban villages”, in the flourishing commercial zones of southern Chinese city Shenzhen.
The villages provide affordable housing – costing from a few hundred to a few thousand yuan per month – to a mostly migrant worker population that provides services and labour.
But Baishizhou, in the Nanshan district, will not be standing for much longer. Many tenants in the area have received eviction notices since June, telling them to move out before the end of September to make way for a real estate project led by Shenzhen-based developer LVGEM Group.
The developer bought the land and buildings from their landlords, and it plans to knock them down and replace them with malls, hotels, high-end residential projects and skyscrapers.
Some 150,000 people are affected, mostly migrant workers, and they will have to find new homes, change jobs or even move back home at short notice.
Chen Jian lives in a one-bedroom flat in Baishizhou with his wife, daughter and son. Photo: Phoebe Zhang
For Chen and more than 2,000 other families, their children’s education is the most urgent issue. He said they could move somewhere else nearby, but the rent would be more than four times higher. A cheaper area would mean a long walk to school for his daughter from the nearest subway station.
As the breadwinner, Chen’s monthly income of 12,000 yuan (US$1,750) has to cover the whole family. His wife takes care of their three-year-old son and their daughter, 12.
“If I were here by myself, I would just pack up my bags and go,” said Chen, who moved to Shenzhen from Henan province. “But I can’t – I have children, I would do anything for my children.”
Families who’ve lived in old Chinese town for generations being kicked out to make way for tourists
Urban villages are a phenomenon that grew from China’s rapid development. In the 1980s, soon after Shenzhen became the country’s first special economic zone, the local government expropriated mostly vacant land from villagers and allowed developers to build commercial properties there.
The locals invested the large sums of money they received into new living spaces in their villages, which they rented out to the migrant workers that flowed into the city amid a manufacturing boom.
These chengzhongcun emerged as a tangle of damp alleyways, where electricity and telephone wires hang like spiderwebs. They bustle with fruit carts, soy milk shops, cobblers, karaoke parlours, short-stay love hotels and hair salons offering massage services. The “handshake buildings” where people live are packed together so tightly that residents could reach out of the window and shake their neighbour’s hand in the opposite flat.
“I call this ‘voluntary urbanisation’,” said Duan Peng, an architect based in the city. Since he moved to Shenzhen in 2001, Duan has spent many days and nights in Baishizhou. He said its development was in line with the government’s urban planning policy, since it allowed migrant workers to live in a relatively prosperous area in the city centre rather than on its periphery.
“Handshake buildings”, where residents can shake their neighbours’ hands through the windows, are a feature of China’s urban villages. Photo: Phoebe Zhang
Chen moved to Shenzhen with his wife in 2000, and both their children were born there. They moved to Baishizhou in 2008 after he was introduced to his landlord, who is from Chen’s hometown and rented him the flat for 650 yuan a month.
The rent has gone up by just 300 yuan in the 11 years they have lived there. They have watched as new developments sprang up around them – amusement parks, a golf course, malls and an area that is home to some of the country’s top tech companies including Huawei, Tencent and DJI.
How the eviction of Beijing’s migrant workers is tearing at the fabric of the city’s economy
But away from the shiny new developments, 150,000 migrant workers from all over the country are packed into 2,500 buildings in Baishizhou, where rents and services are affordable.
The urban village is full of people like Chen. Small business owner Wang Fang came to Shenzhen from northeast China in 2003 and has lived in Baishizhou ever since. Six months ago, she signed a three-year lease on a commercial space and opened a dumpling restaurant, but she is worried about the future.
“I can’t go back home, I already have a Shenzhen hukou,” she said, referring to the household registration document that gives access to public services. “I don’t have land there any more and can’t make a living there [as a farmer].”
She has not been told she has to leave the restaurant, but Wang and her two sons have until the end of September – when the building’s water and electricity will be cut off – to vacate their flat.
“It’s only a matter of time before the business is shut down as well,” she said.
Small shops and street vendors line Baishizhou’s bustling alleyways. Photo: Phoebe Zhang
According to an online poll of 1,031 Baishizhou residents this week, about half said they may have to find another job, and more than 600 were concerned about their children’s education. The survey, conducted by Shenzhen University urban planning professor Chen Zhu, also found that 70 per cent of those polled planned to find another flat in the city, while 28 per cent would leave.
Duan said the evictions and redevelopment would inevitably affect the surrounding areas, as well as the residents.
“The prices of services in the neighbourhood will increase, because many of the workers [now providing those services] will move far away, and rents will increase as well,” he said.
But for many such redevelopments, while the government, landlords and village officials might be consulted, the tenants are left out.
“Most of these residents, their voices and their interests aren’t on the negotiating table – their losses aren’t calculated in the real estate developer’s demolition costs,” Duan said.
A receptionist at LVGEM said he was not aware of any complaints about the redevelopment, while emails to the company went unanswered.
Meanwhile the developer’s partner, Baishizhou Corporation, told Southern Metropolis Daily it would provide legal services, rentals support and school buses for tenants who will be displaced.
But it is not enough for migrant workers like Chen. Like many of those facing eviction, he fears he will have to pay more rent, and there may not be a school bus service in his area.
He mentions a slogan plastered on walls in the city, “Once you come, you’re a Shenzhener” – part of a government campaign to lure talent and investors.
Chen said he worried that Shenzhen wanted only hi-tech workers and luxury residential compounds in the city, leaving little room for low-income workers.
“Despite what the slogan says, you ask yourself, are you really a Shenzhener?” he said.
Source: SCMP
Posted in affordable housing, automotive special economic zone (SEZ, Baishizhou, breadwinner, chengzhongcun, commercial properties, dumpling restaurant, education, evictions, forced out, hotels, household registration document, hukou, landlords, malls, migrant workers, Nanshan district, negotiations, officials, real estate developers, residential projects, residents, Shenzhen, Shenzhen University, Shenzhener, skyscrapers, subway station, tourists, Uncategorized, urban villages, wrecking ball |
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CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 