CiCM 23rd August 2023

NEWS IN CHINA

PBOC set up a new office to combat money laundering :The People’s Bank of China has established a separate office to combat money laundering. Beijing People’s Procuratorate and the PBOC have established the office to launch coordinated investigative efforts to cease money laundering. According to Ye Ping, Deputy head of the Procuratorate, the objective of this system is to strengthen money laundering investigations and improve the efficiency while maintaining financial management. She also added that it will help prosecutors apply big data and financial information in their investigations. The collaboration of the Procuratorate and the PBOC started in 2020 with the signing of a memorandum of understanding. The joint venture also included four other authorities including the Beijing High People's court and the Beijing Public Security Bureau.
The Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. met the Commerce Secretary to discuss economic ties : On August 22, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng met with the U.S. Secretary of the Commerce Gina Raimondo to discuss China-U.S. trade ties and the upcoming visit of Gina Raimondo to China. Xie Feng conveyed that Chinese policy towards the United States is guided by three principles of the President Xi Jinping : mutual respect, Peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. He urged that in testing times of global slump, it is imperative to walk together because the interests of both the economies are intertwined. He also invited the U.S. to work in the same direction, to strengthen the cooperation and make joint efforts to stabilize the China - U.S. relations.
Xiao Yi, former advisor sentenced for lifetime : On August 22, Xiao Yi, a former senior political advisor from Jiangxi province was given a life sentence by a court in Zhejiang for taking bribes and illegally providing aid to virtual currency companies. He has also received an additional six-year prison term for abuse of power from Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court. He has been stripped of his political rights and personal property. All the plains acquired illegally along with the interest will go to the national treasury. According to the court, during 2008 to 2021, he worked in various positions for the party including Party chief of Fuzhou, Jiangxi and Vice Chairman of CPPCC, where he engaged in construction contracting, project development, job promotion unscrupulously, accepting 125 million yuan while rest of 57.82 million yuan he had not received. The Central Commission on Discipline and Inspection announced on May 10, 2021 for the first time that Xiao Yi was under investigation for serious violation of discipline and law and was later arrested on December 7, 2021 for suspicion of bribery and abuse of power.
The Ministry of Justice issued new regulations for legal aid: In a press conference held on August 23, the Ministry of Justice revised the “Regulations on the Procedure for Handling Legal Aid Cases” which was implemented in 2012. The revised initiative is expected to standardise the procedure for handling legal aid cases while improving the quality and protecting the interests of the people. The revised version will come into effect on September 1, 2023. The regulations are being covered in 46 articles and six chapters particularly emphasizing upon five themes. Those five themes will include strengthening at the level of approach, optimisation of the whole process, simplification of the review procedure and refinement of the appointment procedure. In practice, the legal aid personnel will make the appointment with the concerned person and notify them about available options including the requirements of investigation, review and prosecution.
Scholars gathered to discuss Silk Road and Climate change : A conference was held on August 23 in Lanzhou, the capital of northwest China’s Gansu Province to discuss the evolution of Silk Road Civilisation and climate change. It attracted over 200 experts from countries like Germany, Russia, Iran, the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain and Mongolia. These experts hailed from the ANSO ( Alliance of International Science Organisation) Silk Road Forum and the ATES (Association for Trans Eurasia Exchange and Silk Road Civilization) Open Science forum. The discussions reflected on the openness of the Silk Road and how instrumental it has been in integrating the geography since ancient times and the same spirit of openness and integration should be aspired in scientific and technological cooperation. Chen Sahu, director of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences stated that the conference was aimed towards enhancing scientific research cooperation among the Silk Road countries and sought to deliberate on high quality development in areas of climate, environment and society along the Silk Road.
Xi Jinping addressed the 15th BRICS Summit : President Xi Jinping gave a speech on August 23 during the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. The speech was titled as “Seeking Development Through Solidarity and Cooperation and Shouldering Our Responsibility for Peace.” In his speech, Xi Jinping stressed on the importance of BRICS in times of brutal geopolitical competition. The utility of BRICS lies in deepening business and financial cooperation and in that order, China will also set up China-BRICS Science and Innovation Incubation Park as well as BRICS Global Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation Mechanism. He also urged for greater diplomatic and political cooperation, establishment of the AI study group and strengthening of people to people exchanges. Moreover, he also highlighted the role of BRICS in enhancing educational opportunities and endorsement of the principle of fairness and justice at the global scale.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER IN CHINA

The Civil Bureau’s Chinese Valentine’s Day livestream goes viral : A local bureau of Civil Affairs in the Youxian District of Sichuan province,designated to register marriages, attempted to livestream the marriage registration ceremony on the occasion of the Qixi Festival which is considered as the equivalent of Valentine's Day. The livestream has gained immense traction on social media as online viewers noted the absence of long queues and the vacant stage. Some viewers commented that for some time the livestream shifted to city view instead of the empty hall. Another user commented that they only saw two couples coming in. Moreover, netizens pointed out that the fuss was not about people not turning up but the historically low marriage rates of the country. The same day, on Douyin the issue of rising numbers of singles in China, was trending on number 2 after the news of Civil Bureau’s failed effort of live-streaming.

INDIA WATCH

China’s growing ties with the Central Asian States, had reintroduced the historical competition over the region and this time the contenders seem to be the United States and China with the addition of the ‘New’ in the lexicon of “The Great Game”. With two superpowers looming in India’s backyard, the space to maneuver in Central Asia has shrunk significantly for India. Though India has several millennia old historical, cultural and civilisation links with Central Asia, it has not been able to take advantage of its close linkage and secure the extended neighbourhood. To circumvent the lack of a land boundary, India has invested in projects like the International North South Transport Corridor(INSTC) and the Chabahar Port. However, these projects are confronted with insurmountable hurdles and India’s strategic interests are too crucial to ignore and therefore, new ways need to be devised. Firstly, India enjoys tremendous goodwill among the common citizens because of the influence of Indian cinema. Such an aspect requires to be utilised to its maximum potential. Secondly, Tajikistan stations India's first overseas base, Gissar Military Aerodrome and to supplement such an initiative, India can invest in other non military infrastructure projects such as hospitals, dams, roads etc. Thirdly, India must engage more diplomatically and economically. On the diplomatic front India can build the foundation with Track 2 dialogues, leading to ministerial communication routinely. On the economic front, India and the central Asian states must come to an agreement to have preferential terms of trade to reap the immense potential.

Prepared By

Rahul Kheswa

Rahul Kheswa has recently completed his MA in East Asian Studies with a specialisation in China from the University of Delhi. For his BA, he majored in History and Political Science. During his MA, he learnt elementary Mandarin Chinese through elective course. Rahul’s research interest lies in Chinese society and continental philosophy.