CiCM 1st June 2023

NEWS IN CHINA

The People’s Bank of China reported that 125 billion yuan ($17.61 billion)) was injected into the Chinese economy in the month of May to meet the liquidity demand of the economy. The money is injected via Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) to ensure that the banking system maintains enough liquidity to balance between consumption and inflation in the economy. The total debt generated in the Chinese economy till the end of May 2023, stands at 5.15 trillion yuan, as per the report.
In a bid to regulate the daily artificial intelligence application in China, the pubic security departments in multiple cities have issued official notifications, warning about several cases of AI fraud as the cyber criminals use AI tools to mimic people’s voices and appearances through “deepfakes”. In one of the cases that happened in Inner Mongolia autonomous region, a victim transferred 4.3 million yuan to an account after having a video chat with a person who masqueraded their face as the victim’s friend. Though the bank of victim was successful in halting the transfer of 3.7 million yuan, this has raised concerned all over major cities. The authorities urge the citizens to stay cautious and avoid such traps by staying cautious of different types of frauds in cyberspace. Concerning the issue of deep-fakes, the Cyberspace Administration of China and other two ministries of Information Technology and Public Security issued certain provisions on how to conduct an in-depth analysis of internet information as AI face swapping has become a means of online fraud.
The defense chiefs of China and Singapore agreed to work on developing a direct hotline connection between the two military leaders. The agreement was reached upon after a series of joint exercises between militaries of both the nations. The agreement was officiated in the backdrop of upcoming Shangri La dialogue by signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between both the defense ministers. This move is considered as a confidence building measure between the armies of two nations as a hotline connection implies that both the armies have a mutual trust and understanding. This arrangement is added in the existing Agreement on Defence Exchanges and Security Cooperation that both the nations had signed in 2019, as a way of deepening military ties.
During a regular press conference of China’s Ministry of Commerce, Shu Hengting, the official spokesperson of ministry announced that the Minister Wang Wentao had raised concerns about the trade policy of the US for semiconductor sales to China during bilateral talks between US and China that happened in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministerial meeting. The CHIPS Act 2022 barred the sales of certain semiconductor parts to China which was later followed by Japan, Taiwan, and Netherlands. However, the talk did not end with any concrete measures or commitments from either side that can enable free and open trade between the US and China.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning accused India of giving unfair and discriminatory treatment to Chinese media reporters based in India. Two Chinese journalists from Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television were denied renewal of visas by New Delhi. The accusation was also followed by a warning that the visa approval of Indian journalists working in China will be subject to how India will resolve the issue in the same direction for Chinese journalists.
“Kuafu-1 satellite detected more than 200 flares since it was commissioned” affirmed the chief scientist Gan Weiqun. The satellite has three payloads on board: the Lyman-alpha Solar Telescope (LST), the Hard X-Ray Imager (HXI), and the Full-disk Vector MagnetoGraph (FMG). The satellite finished six years last week since it was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. The data collected by the satellite is of great value to the physicists in China and the world for in-depth research in the future.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER IN CHINA

Apple removes Baidu Network Disk App from its App Store. Weibo netizens concerned: The news of Apple removing Baidu Network Disk, a cloud storage and data transfer app from its App Store without citing any concerns has been trending on the Weibo. The existing application infrastructure within China relies heavily on applications and tools created indigenously. However, iPhones and other Apple products are widely used in China. Baidu, one of the tech giants of China often compared with Google, holds a market hegemony when it comes to cloud services. Neitzens of Weibo discussed all the possible reasons behind this as there are very few safe alternatives for cloud transfers in China. Baidu cited that the new version is under development which will be later launched in the Apple App Store. However, speculations by Weibo users suggests that the ongoing distrust between the tech companies of the two nations over privacy concerns and politicisation of application data mining might be the reason behind such an abrupt action.

INDIA WATCH

The denial of visas by New Delhi to Chinese reporters have caused issues between relations between India and China. It was reported that China and India had removed nearly all of each other’s journalists in last few weeks. The narrative escalated further as Mao Ning, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson continued to connect these events with India holding a G20 meeting in Kashmir which was negatively covered by Chinese media due to historical reasons of this contentious territorial issue. However, the Indian side responded positively by stating that there are several Chinese journalists in India who are free to conduct their journalistic endeavors freely. There are many cases when the rights of individuals who pursue cross-border journalism are hindered because of the prevailing political conflict between the two nations. Foreign journalists who tend to critically report the policies of their host nation’s government tend to receive unequal and discriminatory treatment by the establishment of the host nation in order to deter foreign correspondents from amplifying issues that can be detrimental to future diplomatic dialogues between the two nations. While journalistic freedom is the bedrock of free press, such issues at times may cause escalation of the conflict in absence of proper diplomatic dialogues. The Indian spokesperson Arindam Bagchi later affirmed that the Chinese side will continue facilitating Indian journalists as the foreign ministries of both the sides are in constant touch to resolve this conflict amicably.

Prepared By

Nisarg Jani

Nisarg Jani is an undergraduate in International Relations, currently seeking a master’s degree in Politics and International Relations. His research interest lies in South Asia studies, Chinese studies with the sub themes on cultural and security studies of the given region. He aims to work as a lingua franca between academia and policy making.