The Global South arrives in Beijing
...and the China-Palestine relationship | October 17, 2023
Dear reader:
The gap between much of the West and much of the developing world widened greatly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and Israelโs reaction have expanded that political, ideological, and โ in some cases economic โ gap between the Global South and the North into a yawning chasm. Beijing is hoping to capitalize on this in the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation which takes place in the Chinese capital today and tomorrow. Guests include Vladmir Putin, a senior Taliban dignitary, several leaders of major nations like Indonesia, Chile, and Kazakhstan, and representatives from 140 countries in total. (There are 193 member states of the United Nations.) Like it or not, Xรญ Jรฌnpรญng ไน ่ฟๅนณ is forging a new world order, and the leaders of most of the worldโs countries seem eager to play along. Our Word of the Day is: The Global South (ๅ จ็ๅๆน quรกnqiรบ nรกnfฤng), which official state media is starting to use more frequently although the preferred word in official documents is still developing countries (ๅๅฑไธญๅฝๅฎถ fฤzhวn zhลng guรณjiฤ). Weโre going to host two Global South events at at our 2023 NEXTChina Conference in New York on November 1 and 2:
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Jeremy Goldkorn
Editor-in-Chief ย |
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Chinaโs Belt and Road Forum begins in Beijing |
The third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation kicked off in Beijing today to mark the 10th anniversary of the launch of Beijingโs $1 trillion global infrastructure initiative.
Some of the men Xi met with today:
The big kahunas, however, arrive today: Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in Beijing this morning, and the Talibanโs acting minister for commerce and industry Haji Nooruddin Azizi is expected to attend. Click here for all the details. ย Nadya Yeh |
NEWS BRIEFING
Hereโs what else you need to know about China today:
Chinese foreign minister Wรกng Yรฌ ็ๆฏ held a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry today. They discussed continuous efforts to โhelp deescalateโ the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as well as Egyptโs โactive participationโ in Belt and Road cooperation, Chinese state broadcaster CGTN reported. โBasically all our drones come from the Peopleโs Republic of China,โ Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in a video clip to Russian lawmakers yesterday. โWe are also very grateful to our partners for that,โ he said, adding that the Kremlin plans to increase the countryโs civilian drone production to at least 41% by 2025. Last month, the U.S. sanctioned 28 entities, 11 of which were Chinese, for allegedly supplying a Russian firm with parts to make drones for Moscowโs war effort in Ukraine. Russia joined China in banning seafood imports from Japan as a โprecautionary measure,โ two months after Tokyo began releasing treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant. Foreign travel is coming under greater scrutiny from the Chinese government, which is placing tighter restrictions on private travel abroad for civil servants and employees of state-linked enterprises, as well as scrutinizing their foreign connections, Reuters reported. Reuters cites 10 current or former employees who have stated that curbs have been expanded in the last two years to include bans on foreign travel, increased limits on the frequency and duration of trips, drawn-out approval processes, and pre-departure confidentiality training. They said the measures were not related to the COVID pandemic, under which the Chinese government imposed strict travel restrictions. The report also cites efforts by central and local authorities to tighten the rules around state or government workersโ personal trips outside China, as well as to track their personal and family ties to foreign countries. A Hong Kong court handed a victory to the LGBTQ community by rejecting two government appeals that would have denied same-sex married couples the right to rent and own public housing. The ruling by Hong Kongโs Court of Appeal called the bids โdiscriminatory in natureโ and marks the latest in a series of legal breakthroughs for queer rights in the city. Chinaโs Coast Guard (CCG) drove away several Japanese vessels from disputed waters in the East China Sea, a CCG spokesperson said in a statement today. The contest area was around a group of uninhabited islands which are claimed and known as the Senkaku Islands by Japan, but which China calls the Diaoyu Islands (้้ฑผๅฒ Diร oyรบ dวo). โWe urge the Japanese side to immediately stop all illegal activities in these waters and ensure that similar incidents will not happen again,โ the spokesperson said. Chinese stainless steel and nickel giant Tsingshan will invest in a $233.2 million plant in Chile to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP), which is used in the batteries that power the majority of electric vehicles in the Chinese market, Chilean President Gabriel Boric said yesterday. The plant in northern Chile, home to the worldโs biggest lithium reserves, is expected to begin operations in May 2025. Notable video: Australian journalist Chรฉng Lฤi ๆ่พ was released last week after more than three years of imprisonment in China on vague national security charges. Today, she gave her first TV interview since her return to Australia. She said she was jailed because she shared an official document a few minutes before its release by the government. Chinese state media: Xinhua News Agencyโs home page is all about the energetic meeting schedule of Xรญ Jรฌnpรญng ไน ่ฟๅนณ who today met with various leaders in town for the Belt and Road Forum:
The Peopleโs Dailyโs top story is about the launch ceremony of the multilingual book Xi Jinping Talks about the Belt and Road. Also covered are meetings of other senior leaders with some of the above-mentioned visitors, as well as Vice Premier Dฤซng Xuฤxiรกng ไธ่็ฅฅ with a โhigh-level delegation from Turkmenistan,โ Politburo Standing Committee member Lว Xฤซ ๆๅธ met with Kenyan President William Ruto. Finally, Vice President Hรกn Zhรจng ้ฉๆญฃ met with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair ย |
CHINA TIES
The China-Palestine relationship, explained |
Chinese President Xi Jinping Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in Beijing on June 14, 2023. (Photo via Kyodo) |
China was the first non-Arab country to forge regions with Palestine, in 1965. But to this day, trade between the two has been minimal, whereas Chinese investment and trade with Israel is magnitudes larger.
The outbreak of war has thrown a wrench in Beijingโs efforts to mediate peace in the region. In trying to stay neutral in the Israel-Hamas war, China has angered Israel.
China walks a fine line in its relationship with Palestine. Alex Colville tries to make sense of it in this weekโs China Ties. |
BOOKS AND HOSTAGES
Kidnappings in China, 100 years ago and now โ Q&A with James Zimmerman |
Illustration for The China Project by Nadya Yeh |
Itโs becoming more and more difficult for investors, journalists, and scholars to get information about China. How does this affect doing business there? And what can we learn from the story of a hijacked train in Shandong in 1923?
Those were the subjects of an interview with James M. Zimmerman, author of The Peking Express: The Bandits Who Stole a Train, Stunned the West, and Broke the Republic of China, which recounts the story of a train from Shanghai to Beijing that was hijacked in 1923.
We recently chatted via video call about his new book, Chinaโs economy, and how safe it is to do business in China. Click through for a lightly edited transcript of our conversation. ย |
MORE FROM THE CHINA PROJECT
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FROM THE NEWSBASE
Below are links from our NewsBase to other noteworthy reports published in the last 24 hours from and about China.BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY:U.S.-China tech war Volkswagen in Xinjiang Electric vehicles AI Apple Baidu SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND ENVIRONMENT:Wildlife POLITICS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS:BRI Travel restrictions on Chinese citizens Taiwan U.S.-China competition and tensions Israel-Hamas conflict Indonesia Serbia India Papua New Guinea Russia SOCIETY AND CULTURE:LGBTQ Soccer Esports ย |