CiCM 27th July 2023

NEWS IN CHINA

Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Türkiye. Discussions were conducted in a bid to enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields. Wang articulated that China supports Türkiye in upholding independence and taking a development path suited to its own national conditions, adding that the two countries share extensive common interests with no fundamental conflict of interests. He also articulated China’s wish to work with Türkiye to promote China- Türkiye strategic cooperation to a new level, restart practical cooperation in various fields as well as promote the joint construction of projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. Erdogan made clear Türkiye’s willingness to intensify high-level exchanges with China, strengthen the synergy between Türkiye 's Middle Corridor initiative and deepen cooperation in the areas of trade, energy and tourism etc. He also reaffirmed Türkiye’s adherence to the one-China principle and the belief that China's development is not a threat.
Volkswagen Group declared its intentions to strengthen cooperation with Chinese partners in the electric vehicles (EV) market as part of its "in China for China" strategy. Volkswagen made clear its aims to strengthen cooperation with local Chinese partners to exploit the booming EV market through the company’s acquisition of a 4.99 per cent stake in the Chinese electric vehicle startup XPeng "with" a capital increase worth approximately USD 700 million. Concurrently, the group's Audi brand signed a strategic memorandum with its Chinese joint venture partner SAIC to expand their existing cooperation further. According to the technological framework agreement with XPeng, two Volkswagen-branded electric models for the mid-sized segment are planned to be released in China in 2026. This comes amid a 2 per cent dip in its sales in China during the first half of 2023.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force open-day event and the Changchun Aviation Exhibition commenced in Changchun. The event kicked off with 45 aircrafts of 13 different types delivering a visual show to the audience. During the flight performances, a YU-20 aerial tanker, two J-20 stealth fighter jets and two J-16 heavy fighter jets formed a formation and conducted mock in-flight refuelling for the first time in public. Further, the J-20s also formed a four-aircraft diamond formation, performed straight-up ascends, fast turns as well as a challenging four-aircraft tactical fly-through in opposite directions. Military experts who witnessed the show articulated how the flight performances by the J-20s were combat-oriented and precise, while also being very practical. The YU-20 demonstrated the release of jamming flares as well as the Afghan landing manoeuvre which impressed the audience.
Commemorative activities were held to pay tribute to Chinese People’s Volunteers (CPV) who fought in the 1950 Korean War. A large gathering of performers and visitors were seen on the banks of the Yalu River in Ji'an City, where the first troops of the CPV crossed the border to fight alongside the army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) against U.S. aggression. The 27^th of July marked the 70th anniversary of the victory of the ‘War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea’ and in commemoration, song and dance performances as well as a photo exhibition were held. On the same day, a mourning ritual was held at a cemetery in Shenyang, Liaoning Province which holds the graves of 123 CPV martyrs. The event witnessed the presence of representatives from the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the armed police force, the Party and government departments, as well as students from universities, and primary and secondary schools.
A recently released report revealed that China's large-scale afforestation programme captured 400m tons of carbon dioxide over the past 40 years. The report based on satellite remote-sensing technology titled, "Scientific Report on Global Carbon Emissions and Carbon Fluxes Remote Sensing Assessment", highlighted how through measures like carbon sink, China has added to the effective reduction of global land-use carbon emissions. Satellite remote sensing showed how per year over the past decade, global terrestrial ecosystems absorbed an average 13.7 billion tons of CO2, of which China's terrestrial ecosystems absorbed about one-tenth. China was also revealed to have the highest soil carbon sequestration rate within the average soil absorption of about 1.3 billion tons of CO2 per year globally owing to China’s implementation of large-scale agriculture conservation and ecological management measures. The report also demonstrated that Chinese carbon satellites not only achieves high-precision observation of global atmospheric CO2 concentrations, but can also demonstrate net carbon fluxes which can further improve the country's satellite monitoring and emission-curbing capabilities.
Chinese scientists identified a pair of genes hindering two varieties in the rice family from crossbreeding. According to experts, the discovery of these genes and their subsequent removal can lead to the creation of next-generation, super-high-yield rice crops which can aid in China's efforts to reduce its reliance on food imports. The finding also marked a major advancement in humanity's long-standing struggle to overcome reproductive isolation which has limited efforts to put together well-performing genes through hybridisation. The research experiment led by Wan Jianmin of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) was revealed to be the first of its kind to explain rice hybrid sterility at the molecular level which can help speed-up the hybridising effort targeting two rice varieties widely grown in the country: the Hsien rice and the Keng rice strain. Wan revealed that the end product of this hybridisation is expected to raise rice output by 15 per cent compared with the existing high-yield varieties.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER

Princess-costumed medic who rushed to the aid of a man passed out on the street wins ‘legend’ title online: Netizens hailed the ‘princess-cum-doctor’ a ‘legend’ while the man she attended to earned the online nickname of ‘the fainted guy’. The medic, Zhang Xinyu, was returning from a comic convention when she encountered a collapsed man on the street and began the first-aid procedures. The event came to light when a video taken by Zhang’s friend went viral with 7 million views on Douyin. Social media users were moved and impressed by Zhang’s professionalism and dedication with some even comparing the incident to a manga plot. One user mused online whether this was the classic lucky encounter manga heroes have. Putting himself in the man’s shoes, another user wrote ‘Am I in heaven? Why am I being saved by an animation character?’. Many also expressed their concerns online regarding Zhang’s ruined dress which attracted the attention of Gaoding Ruxin, the online shop that sells it who have now offered to replace her dress for free.

INDIA WATCH

China’s identification of the two genes causing hindrances in the successful hybridisation to produce super-high yield crop variety is a major advancement in reducing dependency on food imports. This comes in light of President Xi Jinping’s approach to food security which aims to achieve self-sufficiency by 2025 according to the 14th Five-Year Plan with an emphasis on domestic supply. To ensure domestic supply of foodgrains, the government established stockpiles of food including corn, rice, wheat, and pork. In 2006, it introduced a support price for wheat to protect farmers from losses, which has continued since then with yearly revisions. The government also initiated a “farmland red line” policy which targeted the preservation of around 120 million hectares of arable land for crop farming. India, in 2021, imported $33.6 billion worth processed food and related products from all sources. Understanding the dependence on food imports, India has also put into place several programmes to develop self-sufficiency. The National Food Security Mission was launched in 2007 to increase the production of rice, wheat, and pulses focusing on promoting the adoption of improved technologies, better seeds, and modern farming practices. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is a crop insurance scheme launched in 2016 to provide financial support to farmers in case of crop failure while also encouraging farmers to take up crop diversification and adopt modern agricultural practices. In 2023, the Cabinet also approved a historical Multi-State Cooperative Seed Society, which is intended to be the apex organisation for production, procurement, processing, and distribution of quality seeds, strategic research & development as well as to develop a system for the preservation and promotion of indigenous natural seeds. However, there is a need for incentivising more agri-seed research and development focused on developing high-quality seeds. Focus should also be put in developing more sustainable cropping and production patterns considering the potential alteration of soil and natural systems with the development and usage of high-yield variety crops. Hence, India must develop and adopt a more ecosystem-centric approach to increase domestic crop production and self-sufficiency, thereby ensuring long-term food security.

Prepared By

Maria Sony

Maria Sony is currently pursuing my master's in International Studies from Symbiosis International University. She completed her bachelor's in History honours from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi. She has a keen interest in Asian area studies and soft power projections. She also loves learning new languages and she is currently completing a course in Mandarin.