Tag: China

Emmanuel Macron wants to charm China — after failing with Putin

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PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron is jetting off on an ambitious diplomatic mission to woo Beijing away from Moscow. Officials in Washington wish him luck with that.
France hopes to dissuade China’s leader Xi Jinping from getting any cozier with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and wants the Chinese instead to play a mediation role over the war in Ukraine.
However, it is unclear what leverage Macron has — and the backdrop to his three-day trip starting Tuesday isn’t easy. Europe continues to reel from the impact of cutting off trade ties to Russia and geopolitical tensions are ratcheting up between China and the U.S., the world’s two biggest economies.

The French president wants to play a more personal card with his Chinese counterpart, after drawing fierce criticism for hours of fruitless phone calls with Putin last year — an effort that failed to stop Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Macron is expected to spend several hours in discussions with Xi, and the trip includes a visit to a city that holds personal value for the Chinese president.
“You can count with one hand the number of world leaders who could have an in-depth discussion with Xi,” said an Elysée advisor who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
But while expectations in France of a breakthrough are moderate, the view among other Western officials is even bleaker.
Given Macron’s failed attempts at playing a center-stage role in resolving conflicts, such as stopping the war in Ukraine or salvaging the Iran nuclear deal, there are doubts in the U.S. and elsewhere that this trip will deliver major results.
The White House has little expectation that Macron will achieve a breakthrough, according to three administration officials not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. Xi is unlikely to act on Macron’s requests or curtail any of China’s assertive moves in the Pacific, the officials said.
White House aides ruefully recalled Macron’s failed attempts to insert himself as a peacemaker with Putin on the eve of the invasion more than a year ago and anticipate more of the same this time.
There is also some concern in the Biden administration about France’s potential coziness with China at a time when tensions between Washington and Beijing are at their highest in decades, even though the White House is supportive of the trip, the three officials said. There is no ill will toward Macron’s efforts in Beijing, they stressed.
But what might further complicate Macron’s endeavors is an emerging feud between the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is traveling with the president, and the Chinese.
Last Thursday, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen delivered a keynote address on EU-China relations at the European Policy Centre in Brussels | Valeria Mongelli/AFP via Getty Images
In a high-profile speech on EU-China relations Thursday, von der Leyen urged EU countries to “de-risk” from overdependency on China. She also implied that the EU could terminate the pursuit of a landmark trade deal with China, which was clinched in 2020 but subsequently stalled. Her remarks sparked swift blowback from Chinese diplomats. Fu Cong, China’s ambassador to the European Union, said Friday he was “a little bit disappointed.”
“That speech contained a lot of misrepresentation and misinterpretation of Chinese policies and the Chinese positions,” Fu told state-owned broadcaster CGTN.
The Europeans’ visit will also be scrutinized from a human rights perspective given China’s authoritarian pivot and alleged human rights abuses across the nation.
“President Macron and von der Leyen should not sweep the Chinese government’s deepening authoritarianism under the rug during their visit to Beijing,” said Bénédicte Jeannerod, France director at Human Rights Watch. “They should use their public appearances with Xi Jinping to express strong concerns over widespread rights abuses across China, heightened oppression in Hong Kong and Tibet, and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.”
Macron’s playbook
Speaking ahead of the visit to Beijing, the French leader said his aim was to “try and involve China as much as possible to put pressure on Russia” on topics such as nuclear weapons.
But will Macron’s charm work on Putin’s “best friend” Xi?
China has sought to position itself as a neutral party on the conflict, even as it has burnished its ties with the nation, importing energy from Russia at a discount. Despite massive international pressure on Moscow, Xi decided to make the Kremlin his first destination for a state visit after he secured a norm-breaking third term as Chinese leader. Meanwhile, POLITICO and other media have reported that the Chinese have made shipments of assault weapons and body armor to Russia.
Western European leaders that were cozy with Moscow just before the war started are now calling for engagement with China, including Macron himself. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was in China just days before Macron’s arrival, saying that the world “must listen to its voice” on Russia and Ukraine.
During his visit, which aides have been discussing since at least November last year, Macron will spend several hours with Xi in Beijing, and accompany him to the city of Guangzhou. The Chinese leader’s father, Xi Zhongxun used to work there as Guangdong province governor.
“Altogether the president will spend six to seven hours in discussions with the Chinese leader. The fact that he will be the first French president to visit Guangzhou is also a personal touch, since President Xi’s father used to be a party leader there,” said the Elysee official cited earlier.
The French are hoping the time Macron spends privately with Xi will help win Chinese support on issues such as stopping Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine or halting the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children.
It’s also expected that Macron will try to test Xi’s reaction to Russia’s threat to host nuclear missiles in Belarus, a decision that flies in the face of China’s non-proliferation stance, barely a month after Beijing revealed its 12-point plan for resolving the conflict in Ukraine.
Despite massive international pressure on Moscow, Xi decided to make the Kremlin his first destination for a state visit after he secured a norm-breaking third term as Chinese leader | Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images
“It’s absolutely fundamental to have moments of private encounters,” said Sylvie Bermann, France’s former ambassador to China. “Diplomacy is about playing the long game …With China, I don’t think it is easy to strike up relationships as Westerners. But maybe it means that we’ll be able to talk when the time comes.”
Despite the show of goodwill however, the French president will not hold back from sending “some messages” to Beijing on supporting Russia, particularly when it comes to arms deliveries, a senior French official said.
“We aren’t going to threaten, but send some warnings: The Chinese need to understand that [sending weapons] would have consequences for Europe, for us … We need to remind them of our security interests.” The official said Macron would steer clear of threatening sanctions.
Antoine Bondaz, China specialist at Paris’ Foundation for Strategic Research, questioned the emphasis on trying to bond with Xi. “That’s not how things work in China. It’s not France’s ‘small fry’ president, who spends two hours walking with Xi who will change things, China only understands the balance of power,” he said. “Maybe it works with Putin, who has spent over 400 hours with Xi in the last ten years, but Macron doesn’t know Xi.”
EU unity on show as trade takes center stage
Trade will also feature high on Macron’s priorities as he brings with him a large delegation of business leaders including representatives from EDF, Alstom, Veolia and the aerospace giant Airbus. According to an Elysée official speaking on condition of anonymity, a potential deal with European plane maker Airbus may be in the works, which would come after China ordered 300 planes for €30 billion in 2019.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna are also traveling with the president.
With the EU facing an emerging trade war between China and the U.S., the presence of von der Leyen, will add yet another layer of complexity to the mix. The French president said in March that he had “suggested to von der Leyen that she accompany him to China” so they could speak “with a unified voice.”
“I don’t have a European mandate, as France has its independent diplomacy — but I’m attached to European coordination,” he said.
A joint trip with the EU head sets him apart from Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor whom French officials criticized in private for hurrying to China for a day trip with Xi last year, focusing more on German rather than EU interests.
With von der Leyen by his side, Macron may well hope to be seen as the EU’s leading voice. In the U.S., the French president had tried that tactic and obtained some concessions on America’s green subsidies plan for the bloc.
In China, that card may be harder to play.
Clea Caulcutt reported in Paris, Stuart Lau in Brussels and Jonathan Lemire in Washington.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

April 1, 2023
China spent USD 240 bn on 20 countries in rescue lending

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New Delhi: China has developed a system of “Bailouts on the Belt and Road” that helps recipient countries avoid default, and continue servicing their BRI debts, at least in the short run, a new report has found.
In total, more than 20 debtor countries have received USD240 billion in Chinese rescue lending since 2000. The scale of China’s global bailout lending programme is also growing fast. More than USD185 billion was extended in the past five years alone (2016-2021), as per a report by researchers from the World Bank, Harvard Kennedy School, AidData, and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
Thirteen countries made total drawings of USD170 billion in situations of economic or financial distress. Examples include Argentina (2014-2021), Mongolia (2012-2021), Suriname (2015-2021) and Sri Lanka (2021), which drew on their RMB swap lines right before and/or after sovereign defaults on their external creditors.
Other important users include Pakistan (2013-2021), Egypt (2016-2021) and Turkey (2021), which made large drawdowns during protracted balance of payments crises, as demonstrated by their crashing currencies in the face of dwindling foreign exchange reserves. Another group, including Russia (in 2015 and 2016) and Ukraine (in 2015), activated their swap lines in the face of sanctions and deep geopolitical crises.
China’s role as an international crisis manager can therefore be compared to that of the US Treasury during previous Latin American debt crises or to a regional financial institution like the European Stability Mechanism, which helped to avert, delay, or resolve defaults by highly-indebted borrowers, rather than to a global financial backstop with “deep pockets”.
The global swap line network put in place by the People’s Bank of China is increasingly used as a financial rescue mechanism, with more than USD170 billion in liquidity support extended to crisis countries, including repeated rollovers of swaps coming due.
The swaps bolster gross reserves and are mostly drawn by distressed countries with low liquidity ratios. In addition, the report shows that Chinese state-owned banks and enterprises have given out an additional USD70 billion in rescue loans for balance of payments support. Taken together, China’s overseas bailouts correspond to more than 20 per cent of total IMF lending over the past decade, and the bailout amounts are growing fast.
However, China’s rescue loans differ from those of established international lenders of last resort in that they are opaque, carry relatively high interest rates, and are almost exclusively targeted to debtors of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the report found.

China’s swap line network has become an important tool of overseas crisis management. In total, the report found that USD170 billion have been extended by the PBOC to central banks of countries in financial or macroeconomic distress. This amount involves a large number of rollovers, as short-term PBOC swap loans are often extended again and again, resulting in a de facto maturity of more than three years, on an average.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 28, 2023
China aims to replace US as global net security provider, says Army chief Manoj Pande

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Pune: Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande has said transgressions remain the potential trigger for escalations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and asserted India has adequate reserves and was prepared to deal with any contingency.
Speaking at an event here on Monday, he also said China wants to replace the United States as a global net security provider and cited Beijing’s involvement in brokering recent peace talks between arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran and putting forth a peace plan to end the 13-month-long Russia-Ukraine war.
The Army chief said China has accrued significant capacities for force mobilization, application, and sustenance of military operations and maintained the long-pending boundary issue can not be divorced from bilateral relations between the two Asian giants.
General Pande said Chinese attempts to carry out transgressions across the LAC in violations of past agreements/protocols remain a matter of concern for India, but the Army’s preparedness remains of a high order, comments coming in the backdrop of the border standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 2020.
He was speaking at the 2nd Strategic Dialogue on ‘Rise of China and its Implications for the World’, organized by the Savitribai Phule Pune University and the New Delhi-based Centre for China Analysis and Strategy.
“I think the most important aspect of our operational environment remains our legacy challenges of the unsettled and disputed borders. Pockets of dispute and contested claims to the territory continue to exist due to differing perceptions of the alignment of the Line of Actual Control. Transgressions remain the potential trigger for escalations,” the Chief of Army Staff cautioned.
Hence, Sino-Indian border management requires close monitoring as infirmities can lead to a wider conflict, General Pande said.
“As we all knew we have agreements/protocols — (signed in) 1993, 1996, 2005, and 2013 — in the military domain to maintain peace and tranquillity on the LAC. Of concerns remain the violations of these by China — with their attempt to carry out — transgressions across the LAC,” he said.

The decades-old boundary issue cannot be divorced from bilateral relations, General Pande asserted and went on to quote External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who had said, “for (India-China) ties to return to the positive trajectory and remain sustainable, they must be based on three mutual sensitivity respect, and interest.”
New Delhi has repeatedly maintained that its ties with Beijing cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.
General Pande said engagement mechanisms exist at political, diplomatic, and military levels between the two countries which are optimally utilized to ensure stability along the LAC.
Talks are continuing under these establishment mechanisms, he said.
“China has accrued significant capacities for force mobilization, application, and sustenance of military operations. It has built infrastructure of military significance — be it roads, airfields, helipads, and so on,” the Army chief added.
He said the Indian Army’s strategic orientation and long-term capability development have been with a focus on the northern border.
“We have carried out the required rebalancing of the forces to affect the desired response on the northern border,” General Pande said.
The Army chief insisted India has adequate reserves and was prepared to deal with any contingency.
“Our preparedness remains of a high order and troops continued to deal with PLA (China’s People’s Liberation Army) in a firm, resolute, and measured manner while ensuring the sanctity of our claims,” he asserted.
General Pande stated that the Indian Army has ramped up its efforts to fructify the operationally critical logistical requirements, especially roads in the forward areas.
The Indian Army is working in synergy with all agencies in the forward areas to upgrade infrastructure, he added.
General Pande said after becoming an economic powerhouse, China is looking to enhance its global role.
“Brokering peace talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and putting forth the Chinese 12-point peace plan for ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, are reflective of a Chinese urgency to replace the US as a global net security provider,” he said.
Talking about China’s rapid economic rise, General Pande noted that the Communist giant’s growth in the economic domain has been unprecedented.
“Within a few decades of initiating widespread reforms, it transitioned from a largely agrarian economy into a world leader in manufacturing and services sectors. Due to its industrial prowess, it also earned a name for itself as the ‘world’s factory’. Following this success, many developing countries and their leaders have looked to emulate China,” he said.
The Army chief pointed out that China today stands as the world’s largest economy in Purchasing Power Parity terms (based on buying power) and its economic expansion was multifaceted.
“On the one hand, it is building an ‘international network of coercion through predatory economics’, while on the other it claims to pull more than 100 million of its own people out of poverty.
“Its efforts to expand the sphere of influence through economic manoeuvring, weaponization of resource supply chains, financing large infrastructure projects with scant regard for environmental and safety standards and straddling recipient countries with unsustainable debt, are there for the world to see,” he said.
The Chief of Army Staff said issues of concern continue to exist in cases of theft of Intellectual Property Rights, stealing trade secrets and technology from foreign companies as also unfair trade practices.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 28, 2023
Britain secures agreement to join Indo-Pacific trade bloc

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LONDON — Britain will be welcomed into an Indo-Pacific trade bloc late Thursday as ministers from the soon-to-be 12-nation trade pact meet in a virtual ceremony across multiple time zones.
Chief negotiators and senior officials from member countries agreed Wednesday that Britain has met the high bar to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), four people familiar with the talks told POLITICO.
Negotiations are “done” and Britain’s accession is “all agreed [and] confirmed,” said a diplomat from one member nation. They were granted anonymity as they were unauthorized to discuss deliberations.

The U.K. will be the first new nation to join the pact since it was set up in 2018. Its existing members are Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and Canada.
Britain’s accession means it has met the high standards of the deal’s market access requirements and that it will align with the bloc’s sanitary and phytosanitary standards as well as provisions like investor-state dispute settlement. The resolution of a spat between the U.K. and Canada over agricultural market access earlier this month smoothed the way to joining up.
Member states have been “wary” of the “precedent-setting nature” of Britain’s accession, a government official from a member nation said, as China’s application to join is next in the queue. That makes it in the U.K.’s interests to ensure acceding parties provide ambitious market access offers, they added.
Trade ministers from the bloc will meet late Thursday in Britain, or early Friday for some member nations in Asia, “to put the seal on it all,” said the diplomat quoted at the top. The deal will be signed at a later time as the text needs to be legally verified and translated into various languages — including French in Canada. “That takes time,” they said.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 28, 2023
China expects Saudi, Iran to improve ties under Beijing brokered peace deal

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Beijing: Weeks after China brokered a landmark peace deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday said he expects both countries to improve their ties as arch-rivals in the Middle East faced an array of challenges to implementing it.
Xi in his phone conversation with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman said it is hoped that Saudi Arabia and Iran will uphold the spirit of good neighbourliness and continue to improve their relations on the basis of the results of their talks in Beijing, official media here reported.
China is ready to continue to support the follow-up process of the Saudi-Iranian talks, Xi said, referring to the China-negotiated peace deal between the arch-rivals to end their hostilities.
The agreement signed on March 11 in Beijing was regarded as a major diplomatic coup for China’s efforts to emerge as a major power rivalling the US to enlarge its strategic influence especially in the Middle East.
“The Iran-Saudi rapprochement has been touted as a momentous development in the region. But how it ultimately impacts the Middle East remains a very open question, as the long adversarial powers are fighting a proxy war in Yemen and continue to support opposing sides across the region,” said a report by the US Institute of Peace.
“Amid perceived US retrenchment from the Middle East, the deal is a diplomatic win for China as it increasingly seeks to present an alternative vision to the US-led global order,” it said.
Following the Iran-Saudi deal, Xi during his March 20 visit to Russia made a strong pitch for Russia-Ukraine peace talks to end their current war.
In his phone call with the Saudi Crown Prince, Xi said with the joint efforts of China, Saudi Arabia and Iran successfully held and achieved significant results, helping the two countries to improve their relations.

It is a significant demonstration effect on enhancing the unity and cooperation of regional countries and easing regional tensions, and thus having been widely praised by the international community, he said.
It is hoped that Saudi Arabia and Iran will uphold the spirit of good neighbourliness and continue to improve their relations on the basis of the results of their talks in Beijing, Xi said, adding that China is ready to continue to support the follow-up process of the Saudi-Iranian talks.
As Xi and Crown Prince Mohammed held talks for the successful implementation of the deal, both countries appear to be building a “more meaningful” relationship with a landmark USD 10 billion deal to construct a state-of-the-art refining complex in north-eastern Liaoning province.
Under the deal announced on Sunday, Riyadh will invest in the integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex to consolidate energy ties amid uncertainty over Russian supplies, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday.
For now, analysts expect China to continue buying heavily discounted Russian crude, but there are fears that US-led sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine “could greatly disrupt the global oil supply chain, leading to big price fluctuations”, Joey Zhou, a Shanghai-based petrochemicals analyst, told the Post.
“We expect Middle Eastern companies would be willing to participate in [more] joint ventures with Chinese firms to ensure they have a secure outlet for their oil,” he said.
“To obtain a more competitive position for feedstock costs, Chinese producers are also likely to welcome Saudi or Emirati funds by involving them in existing or new plans for integrated refinery and petrochemical complexes,” Zhou said.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 28, 2023
Russian body armor on the battlefield in Ukraine has links to China

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While it’s unclear if the Russian military’s use of the Klass vests is widespread, it is the first confirmation that Chinese-made protective equipment is being used by Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
The new information highlights how Russia continues to rely on China for help propping up its war effort in Ukraine despite western pressure on Beijing to scale back its support for Moscow.
The revelation also raises questions about how the U.S. plans to address with Beijing the issue of “dual-use items” — commercial equipment that can also be used for military purposes.
“The administration has likely seen a lot of things in the record that are discomforting. But they could say ‘well, it is not a surface-air missile system so maybe we’ll just kind of look the other way on this,’” said Ivan Kanapathy, the former director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia at the National Security Council. “The line is fuzzy by design. And the assessment is being influenced by the U.S.-China relationship, perhaps naively hoping that China isn’t already in the Russia camp,” Kanapathy said.
The Biden administration has so far been hyper-focused on preventing Beijing from sending large amounts of weapons to Moscow — weapons that could significantly alter the course of the fighting on the ground.
But a pattern may be emerging that suggests the administration needs to look more closely at dual-use items. This month, POLITICO reported that Chinese companies linked to the Beijing government were sending commercial assault rifles, drone parts and body armor to Russian entities. The drones have for months been seen on the battlefield.
The Treasury Department declined to comment. NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the U.S. has imposed “extensive” sanctions and export controls against companies that have enabled Russia’s war in Ukraine. “We will continue to take action against companies that provide support to Russia’s war effort,” Watson said.
POLITICO reviewed dozens of photos on social media sites and Google as well as several videos published on the Russian site VKontakte of Klass body armor parts. The videos, including one published in November 2022, specifically provide a glimpse into the manufacturing process of the Klass body armor.

Antifragmentation suits, bulletproof vests and textiles and stacks of specialized fibers appear in the clips. The photos, some of which were published on eBay, show the fully constructed Klass vests being sold by Ukrainians who say they captured them on the battlefield in the last year.
It was not clear when those Klass vests were manufactured, or if they included Chinese components, but the import data shows that it’s likely they did.
Klass, based in Moscow, imported parts for the manufacturing of its armored vests from China multiple times in 2022, including in November and December from several Chinese companies, according to the trade and customs data. Those parts included aramid fibers — the same kind of fibers found in Kevlar vests.
The Russian distributor has a long-standing business relationship with Russia’s national guard, the ministry of internal affairs, the federal penitentiary services and other state military units, the data shows. In a press release posted on its website, Klass said it presented its body armor products to the leaders of the ministry of internal affairs in November 2022.
The Chinese companies that shipped the products include Yantai Tayho Advanced Materials Ltd, a producer of specialized fiber, and Beijing Tongyizhong New Material Technology Corp, a seller of polyethylene fiber products, a subsidiary of one of Beijing’s state-owned investment holding corporations.
Neither Klass nor the two Chinese companies responded to a request to comment.
Klass body armor products have previously been recovered from the battlefield in Ukraine before Russia’s invasion in 2022, said Lynn Hughes, an analyst on the research team at Import Genius who first identified the body armor components being shipped from China. The Ukrainian army picked up a Russian ballistic vest manufactured by Klass in 2019, according to a report from Conflict Armament Research published that same year.
Ukrainians who captured the Klass body armor on the battlefield in 2022 are now trying to sell them for money. POLITICO contacted several sellers on eBay — all of whom said they had either served in Ukraine or knew someone who did and that they had taken the Russian vests directly from the battlefield.
“This bulletproof vest was used in the Russian army and was obtained by the Ukrainian military during the counter offensive in the Kharkiv region,” said one of the sellers, who was granted anonymity for security reasons. “During the liberation of the city of Izyum in one of the houses where the [Russians] temporarily lived, they ran away so quickly that they abandoned their things.”
U.S. officials have said they aren’t overly concerned about these “dual-use” items showing up on the battlefield, as Russia has long imported this kind of technology from China.
In response to a question about POLITICO’s initial report March 16 about Chinese companies sending assault rifles, drone parts and body armor to Russia, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby described the relationship between the Chinese and Russian entities as “long standing.” He said the U.S. had not seen evidence that suggested the items had ended up on the battlefield.
“We don’t want anyone to do anything that will help them kill more Ukrainians, period,” Kirby added.
But some of the dual-use items are being used in fighting in Ukraine — and not all of the contracts are longstanding, according to the data.
The 1,000 assault rifles the Chinese state-backed defense contractor sent Russia in the summer of 2022 marked the first time China’s North Industries Group Corporation sent the distributor a large shipment of weapons. The last time it sent the Russian distributor Tekhkrim rifles was in 2018, and it sent only two of them, according to an analysis of historical trade data by C4ADS, a research organization based in Washington.
C4ADS has also studied the use of Chinese drones by Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine. The drones have been widely reported and photographed as being deployed by Moscow during the war. The U.S. sanctioned one of the main Chinese suppliers of those drones last year.
“The administration continues to downplay it because they’ve drawn a red line. Declaring that China has crossed that line is irreversible and necessitates a strong U.S. response. But not declaring it gives China wiggle room,” Kanapathy said. “Xi Jinping is getting that sense, having pushed it little by little. And if the U.S. continues to say, ‘no, we haven’t seen a violation,’ then what is China’s takeaway?”
The Chinese embassy declined to comment.
The Biden administration must decide which exports pose the biggest risk and then whether to penalize individual sellers or take broader action against the Chinese government, a move that would carry broader economic consequences and almost certainly invite retaliation from Beijing.
Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Commerce Department has imposed export restrictions on hundreds of products that contain American-made components or technology and could be used to support the Russian military. It has also added a long list of companies, including several based in China, to a trade blacklist as punishment for shipping controlled goods to Russia.
And the Biden administration has sought to expand its crackdown on Russia’s access to technologies with U.S. components that can be used for military and commercial purposes since the war entered its second year. In February, the Commerce Department issued new restrictions on a range of products, including toasters and coffee makers, in a bid to further strangle the Kremlin’s supply of semiconductors.
But the products listed in the Import Genius data likely do not contain U.S. materials, making it difficult for the administration to directly stop their shipment to Moscow. The Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on some Chinese companies that have supported Russia’s efforts in Ukraine, but it is not clear they are eyeing the businesses included in this report.
The Commerce Department declined to say whether its officials were aware that Chinese-made body armor has been used in Ukraine or have any immediate plans to target the companies involved in their sale.
“We continually review reports of Russian military equipment used in Ukraine to assess whether there are actions we and our allies can take to impair Russia’s ability to produce or acquire such equipment,” said Commerce Department spokesperson Jessica Stallone. “We will not hesitate to use all the tools at our disposal to obstruct the efforts of those who seek to support Putin’s war machine.”
William Reinsch, a former undersecretary of Commerce for export administration during the Clinton administration, argues it’s impossible for the U.S. to completely cut Moscow off from many exports. Not only are some foreign-made products beyond the government’s reach, but the sale of illicit goods will always be lucrative enough to attract bad actors, said Reinsch, who is now at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“If your policy is zero leakage,” he said, “then you’re doomed and you’re going to fail and you’re going to spend a lot of money trying to stop things that you won’t be able to stop.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 28, 2023
U.S. wants allies to line up against China. Europe is starting to listen.

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The Biden administration is also sharing hosting duties this year with the Netherlands, Costa Rica, South Korea and Zambia to emphasize the breadth of the democratic coalition. And it comes three weeks after the Netherlands joined hands with the U.S. to limit the export of advanced semiconductor technologies to China.
But solidifying alliances with countries in regions beyond Europe has proved just as difficult, if not more so.
The Solomon Islands — a longtime U.S. ally on strategically vital sealanes linking Australia with Hawaii — turned a deaf ear to Biden’s democracy rhetoric by inking a controversial security pact with Beijing in 2021.
Parts of Africa have also been a hard sell, particularly because so many countries there have benefited from China’s large infrastructure investments. While 27 African countries voted in favor of a March 2022 U.N. resolution against Russia’s aggression, 16 others — including South Africa — abstained from the vote while Eritrea voted against it.
In Latin America, Costa Rica is the sole country that joined U.S. sanctions against Russia. And the region’s Mercosur trade grouping denied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request to speak to the body in July.
China is taking its own multipronged approach to courting the globe.
On Ukraine, Beijing is trying to show its friendlier side — but to both Russia and the West. Xi’s visit with Putin produced multiple “strategic cooperation” deals that included an increase in Russian gas sales to Beijing as well as agreements to expand cross-border transport links by building new bridges and roads.
At the same time, China has gone on a global public relations push to paint itself as the country advocating for peace in Ukraine. Beijing is marketing a 12-point potential peace plan. And Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang assured Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a phone call earlier this month that Beijing wants “a constructive role” in ending the conflict.

China also hosted its very own International Forum on Democracy last week, claiming 300 participants from 100 countries. The group discussed “diverse forms of democracy, slamming monistic and hegemonic narratives on the subject,” Chinese state media reported.

China hosted its very own International Forum on Democracy last week, claiming 300 participants from 100 countries.
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PRNewsfoto/Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
“We uphold true multilateralism, work for a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations, and make global governance more just and equitable,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said earlier this month.
That rhetoric underscores Beijing’s shift from blanket rejection of criticism of its political system to a semantic redefinition of democracy and human rights.
“What the Chinese are trying to do is not fight against democracy and human rights and reject them — they’re trying to pick Biden’s pocket and co-opt them by defining them as what China does,” said Daniel Russel, Obama’s former assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
Asked about the Biden administration’s democracy summit, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in D.C., Liu Pengyu, said the U.S. is “trying to divide the world into ‘democratic’ and ‘non-democratic’ camps based on its criteria, and openly provoke division and confrontation.”
As much as Beijing wants to keep trade lanes open with Europe, it is also getting more aggressive toward trading partners that turn against it. China imposed a trade embargo against Lithuania in 2021 after Taiwan set up a diplomatic office in the EU country. More recently, it threatened the Netherlands with possible retaliations for siding with the U.S. on semiconductors.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 28, 2023
Why Saudi-Iran Rapprochement Is Chinese Victory?

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by Asad Mirza
The manner in which China has brokered a peace deal between arch-foes, Saudi Arabia and Iran, it may help China to emerge as a global peacemaker, eclipsing the USA.
President Xi Jinping with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (Mbs) in Riyadh on December 9, 2022
Last week a major diplomatic coup was staged by China, when it announced the results of its successfully mediated efforts, of bringing two old foes to the negotiating table and signing a friendship deal.
The Chinese-brokered Saudi-Iran rapprochement comes as a major diplomatic breakthrough between two regional neighbours after years of mutual animosity, suspected attacks and tales of rivalry between the two countries.
The move also represents Beijing’s first foray into Middle Eastern politics, an area that has always been regarded as a prerogative of the US, since when most of these nations become a free and independent entities, after the end of the colonial era.
On March 10, both Riyadh and Tehran announced that after seven years of severed ties, they would reopen embassies and missions within two months and implement security and economic cooperation agreements signed more than 20 years ago.
Much of the world was stunned when the two arch-rivals announced they were restoring diplomatic relations, this was not only because of the breakthrough after years of mutual animosity but because of the mediator, who played a key role in bringing the foes to the negotiating table, i.e. the Chinese government.
By this move, China has ostensibly taken up a role that the US could not have fulfilled, or it never tried to perform that role. In addition, this also comes as Beijing’s first major diplomatic foray into the Middle East mediation, an area where often rivalries are built around nuances and subtleties, which are hard to fathom for an outsider, though in recent times they have up the shape of hardnosed economic and strategic interests.

Apparently, the Saudis had been engaged in talks with Iran from around the same time as the Al Ula Summit held in Saudi in 2021, which ended the blockade of Qatar and mended the internal rifts of the Gulf Cooperation Council. In the subsequent two years, the United Arab Emirates restored its diplomatic relations with Iran and even replaced China as Iran’s top import partner; Kuwait, too, has returned its ambassador to Tehran.
The negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia since 2021 largely took place in Iraq and Oman. Other regional countries, including Kuwait and Pakistan, had attempted to arrange for talks between Tehran and Riyadh on numerous occasions in the past seven years, which were largely unsuccessful.
As tensions simmer between the world’s two largest economies: the US and China, US policymakers had sounded an alarm over competition and security concerns with China, but what does Beijing’s ascendance in the region mean for the Middle East – and for the larger US interests?
In recent times, China has been pushing for reconfiguring the regional security architecture in the Persian Gulf since 2020. In a UN Security Council meeting arranged by Russia in October 2020, China presented its proposal for security and stability in the Gulf region, arguing that with a multilateral effort, the region can become “an Oasis of Security.”
Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to resume diplomatic relations after four days of intensive previously undisclosed talks in Beijing.
Apparently, the edifice of this Chinese plan to transform into a global peacemaker seems to be the Global Security Initiative – GSI, which was unveiled by Chinese President Xi Jinping in February 2023. It is portrayed as a banner for China to reform the current international security order, especially at a time when the US is prioritising alignment with countries that share the same political system and ideology, through its Democracy Summit.
Mainly, with growing power and influence China has a fair say in international peace and security architecture building. The GSI Concept Paper released by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in February 2023 identified “bringing about security changes through political dialogue and peaceful negotiation” as core concepts and principles.
China’s successful brokering of the peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran has given it confidence that this track could work. The aspiration is that China can fill the gap in regions the US has failed to lead or ignore.
According to the Chinese understanding of the region, Iran and Saudi Arabia are “pivot countries” whose political, economic, and military power make them indispensable partners for Beijing, making balance between the two the most consequential strategy.
For both countries, China is the largest trading partner. Beijing has granted Tehran and Riyadh the status of comprehensive strategic partners – the highest in China’s partnership diplomacy in the Middle East.
Asad Mirza
But China’s balancing act is more articulated than just signing similar partnership agreements with both partners. While economic relations are unequivocally unbalanced in Saudi Arabia’s favour, China guarantees Iran political support and a financial lifeline in the face of US pressure. Yet, offering different goods to equal partners often shakes the balancing act. In December, the joint China-GCC communiqué that followed Chinese President Xi Jingpin’s trip to Saudi Arabia generated anger in Iran, exposing the limits of China’s diplomacy from the sidelines.
The GSI Concept Paper also emphasises the need to support political settlements of hotspot issues such as the war in Ukraine. Therefore, President Xi’s efforts to promote a political settlement to the Russia-Ukraine conflict would be essential to watch. If another success is achieved after his Russia visit, it may lend more credence to the GSI.
(Asad Mirza is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. In his career spanning more than 20 years, he was also associated with BBC Urdu Service and Khaleej Times of Dubai. Views are personal.)

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#SaudiIran #Rapprochement #Chinese #Victory
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

March 26, 2023
Honduras establishes ties with China after Taiwan break

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China and Taiwan have been locked in a battle for diplomatic recognition since they split amid civil war in 1949, with Beijing spending billions to win recognition for its “one China” policy.
China claims Taiwan is part of its territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary, and refuses most contacts with countries that maintain formal ties with the island democracy. It threatens retaliation against countries merely for increasing contacts.
The Honduran Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Twitter that its government recognizes “only one China in the world” and that Beijing “is the only legitimate government that represents all of China.”
It added that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and as of today, the Honduran government has informed Taiwan of the severance of diplomatic relations, pledging not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan.”
Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told a news conference Sunday that Taiwan had ended its relations with Honduras to “safeguard its sovereignty and dignity.”
Wu said that Honduran President Xiomara Castro and her team always had a “fantasy” about China and had raised the issue of switching ties before the presidential election in Honduras in 2021. Relations between Taiwan and Honduras were once stable, he said, but China had not stopped luring Honduras.
Honduras had asked Taiwan for billions of dollars of aid and compared its proposals with China’s, Wu said. About two weeks ago, the Honduran government sought $2.45 billion from Taiwan to build a hospital and a dam, and to write off debts, he added.
“The Castro government dismissed our nation’s longstanding assistance and relations and carried out talks to form diplomatic ties with China. Our government feels pained and regretful,” he said.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said her government would not “engage in a meaningless contest of dollar diplomacy with China.”
“Over these past few years, China has persistently used various means to suppress Taiwan’s international participation, escalate military intrusion, and disrupt peace and stability in the region,” she said in a recorded video.
Analysts have warned over the implications of the newly formed ties between China and Honduras. Political analyst Graco Pérez in Honduras said Beijing’s narrative would highlight the benefits, including investment and job creation, “but that is all going to be illusory.”
Pérez noted that some other countries have established such relations, but “it didn’t turn out to be what had been offered.”
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#Honduras #establishes #ties #China #Taiwan #break
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 26, 2023
Saudi-Iran rapprochement: A victory for China

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The manner in which China has brokered a peace deal between two arch foes: Saudi Arabia and Iran may help Beijing to emerge as a global peacemaker, eclipsing the US.
Last week a major diplomatic coup was staged by China, when it announced the results of its successfully mediated efforts, of bringing two old foes at the negotiating table and signing a friendship deal.
The Chinese-brokered Saudi-Iran rapprochement comes as a major diplomatic breakthrough between two regional neighbours after years of mutual animosity, suspected attacks, and tales of rivalry between the two countries.
The move also represents Beijing’s first foray into Middle Eastern politics, an area that has always been regarded as a prerogative of the US, since when most of these nations become a free and independent entity, after the end of the colonial era.
On March 10, both Riyadh and Tehran announced that after seven years of severed ties they would reopen embassies and missions within two months and implement security and economic cooperation agreements signed more than 20 years ago.
Much of the world was stunned when the two arch-rivals announced they were restoring diplomatic relations, this was not only because of the breakthrough after years of mutual animosity, but because of the mediator, who played a key role in bringing the foes to the negotiating table, i.e. the Chinese government.
By this move China has ostensibly taken up a role that the US could not have fulfilled, or it never tried to perform that role. In addition this also comes as Beijing’s first major diplomatic foray into the Middle East mediation, an area where often rivalries are built around nuances and subtleties, which are hard to fathom for an outsider, though in the recent times they have up the shape of hard-nosed economic and strategic interests.
Apparently, the Saudis had been engaged in talks with Iran from around the same time as Al Ula Summit held in Saudi in 2021, which ended the blockade of Qatar and mended the internal rifts of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

In the two years since, the United Arab Emirates has restored its diplomatic relations with Iran and even replaced China as Iran’s top import partner; Kuwait, too, has returned its ambassador to Tehran.
The negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia since 2021 largely took place in Iraq and Oman. Other regional countries, including Kuwait and Pakistan, had attempted to arrange for talks between Tehran and Riyadh on numerous occasions in the past seven years, which were largely unsuccessful.
As tensions simmer between the world’s two largest economies: the US and China, American policymakers had sounded an the alarm over competition and security concerns with China, but what does Beijing’s ascendance in the region mean for the Middle East — and for the larger US interests?
In recent times, China has been pushing for reconfiguring the regional security architecture in the Persian Gulf since 2020. In a UN Security Council meeting arranged by Russia in October of that year, China presented its proposal for security and stability in the Gulf region, arguing that with a multilateral effort, the region can become “an Oasis of Security”.
Apparently the edifice of this Chinese plan to transform into a global peacemaker seems to be the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which was unveiled by Chinese President Xi Jinping in February 2023.
It is portrayed as a banner for China to reform the current international security order, especially at a time when the US is prioritising alignment with countries that share the same political system and ideology, through its Democracy Summit.
Mainly, with growing power and influence China’s to have a fair say in international peace and security architecture building. The GSI Concept Paper released by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in February 2023 identified “bringing about security changes through political dialogue and peaceful negotiation” as core concepts and principles.
China’s successful brokering of the peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran has given it the confidence that this track could work. The aspiration is that China can fill the gap in regions the US has failed to lead or ignore.
According to the Chinese understanding of the region, Iran and Saudi Arabia are “pivot countries” whose political, economic, and military power make them indispensable partners for Beijing, making balance between the two the most consequential strategy.
For both countries, China is the largest trading partner. Beijing has granted Tehran and Riyadh the status of comprehensive strategic partners — the highest in China’s partnership diplomacy in the Middle East.
But China’s balancing act is more articulated than just signing similar partnership agreements with both partners. While economic relations are unequivocally unbalanced in Saudi Arabia’s favour, China guarantees Iran political support and a financial lifeline in the face of US pressure. Yet, offering different goods to equal partners often shakes the balancing act.
In December 2022, the joint China-GCC communique that followed Xi’s trip to Saudi Arabia generated anger in Iran, exposing the limits of China’s diplomacy from the sidelines.
The GSI Concept Paper also emphasises the need to support political settlements of hotspot issues such as the war in Ukraine.
Therefore, President Xi’s efforts to promote a political settlement to the Russia-Ukraine war would be essential to watch.
If another success is achieved after his Russia visit, it may lend more credence to the GSI.
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#SaudiIran #rapprochement #victory #China
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 25, 2023