CiCM 5th June 2023

NEWS IN CHINA

The Shenzhou XV crew returned to Earth after a six-month mission following several ‘fruitful experiments’ which also included the completion of the Tiangong space station. A re-entry capsule carrying the three astronauts — mission commander Major General Fei Junlong, Senior Colonel Deng Qingming and Senior Colonel Zhang Lu — touched down at the Dongfeng Landing Site in north western China's Gobi Desert at 6:33 AM where the members were observed to be in pretty good condition. Deng, the last among the first generation of Chinese astronauts to go to space, revealed to the State broadcaster that he was very happy to return to ‘the embrace of Earth and his motherland’, while thanking all the space industry workers involved in the mission as well as the Chinese people for their attention. During their 186-day mission, the Shenzhou XV astronauts conducted four spacewalks and installed equipment outside the Tiangong station, attaining the most experience as a Chinese crew in terms of extravehicular space activities.
The inauguration ceremony of the National History Museum of China was held in Beijing, unveiling the country’s only state-level comprehensive natural museum. The museum covers an area of 200 thousand square metres, and is used for protecting, collecting and studying valuable natural heritage. At present, the museum contains more than 370,000 collections. What makes it stand out even more is the fact that it has published over ten papers in international academic journals including Nature and Science. Every year, the museum holds temporary exhibitions and exhibition tours with varying themes. It also organises science population and educational activities such as “Night at the Museum” which have attained large popularity in China.
Leshan, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, 19 people were killed and five others injured after a mountain collapsed at a state-owned forest farm. Other workers at the mine were evacuated to safety and search and rescue efforts were carried out throughout Sunday. The cause of the collapse is still under investigation. More than 180 rescue professionals were actively involved in the rescue operation at the scene, equipped with 14 specialised rescue machines. The tragedy occurred when rocks fell on the site of a mining company, burying a few production and living facilities. Local sources claim that rubble on the mountainside slid and collapsed on nearby buildings, including a dormitory for employees. Many of the victims and injured workers were identified as being from various places and were not locals. A staff member at the local authorities said rescue operations are still underway at the scene.
On World Environment Day, all parts of China carried out various widely participated public activities. This year, the activities were conducted based on the theme of "Building a modernization where man and nature live in harmony". This comes in conjunction with China’s overall actions to accelerate the green transformation of development methods and lifestyles. Recent years have seen China’s efforts to accelerate the reduction, standardisation, and recycling of express packaging. It plans to reduce repackaging of e-commerce express shipments by 90 percent by the end of 2023 and to bring the number of mail express shipments using recyclable express packaging to 1 billion. The government has encouraged the implementation of the model of "replacing plastic with bamboo" and has also put up rewards and subsidies for local purchases of bamboo products, with a reward of up to 10,000 yuan. This falls in line with the spotlight of this year’s World Environment Day, the issue of plastic pollution.
A Chinese naval training ship docked at Brunei as part of a three-day goodwill visit. During the on-deck reception for the naval ship, Qi Jiguang, Chinese Ambassador to Brunei, Xiao Jianguo said that the two countries share a good exchange and cooperation-based relationship in the field of military defence. The ship is scheduled to carry out courtesy calls, professional exchanges and cultural and sports interactions with officers and soldiers of the Royal Brunei Navy as well as hold an Open Day event for the public. During his on-deck address to about 200 people which included officials from the Brunei government, affirmed forces, diplomatic corps as well as Chinese representatives, Xiao added that ‘through these communications and activities, I believe the relationship between our two countries and armies will be further promoted, and the understanding and friendship between the two peoples will be further enhanced, which surely will be conducive to regional peace and security as well”.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER IN CHINA

Scene from a 2010 Chinese TV Drama goes viral on social media: A viral meme originating from the Chinese TV series ‘Three Kingdoms’ has gained significant popularity on social media. The scene from 2010 drama series captures Cao Cao, prominent warlord in Chinese history, angrily flipping his rice bowl when told of a surprise attack, only to later on gather the spilled rice back into the bowl. This scene recently resurfaced and has struck a chord with individuals reluctantly facing reality. It is now being widely employed to convey sentiments of self-inflicted humiliation or the hesitation to carry out certain actions or objectives. The memes originating from the series went viral on Twitter with the hashtags “CaoCaoFlipsTheRiceBowl” and “CaoCaoRetrievingHisBowlofRice”. On the internet, netizens have applied Cao Cao’s meme in various situations on Twitter to express their own internal struggles. Both white-collar workers and students use the hashtag “CaoCaoFlipsTheRiceBowl” on Fridays to tweet their frustrations and eagerness to leave their work behind for a peaceful weekend. On Mondays, they tweet “CaoCaoRetrievingHisBowlofRice” to signal the resumption of their daily routines.

INDIA WATCH

The Chinese good-will visit to Brunei signals increasing military, economic and cultural relations between the two nations. China and Brunei already share a significant relationship, strengthened by signing the MoU on jointly promoting the Belt and Road initiative in 2017. China has several investments across the country including the Temburong Bridge. The two countries have also initiated joint military exercises called the ‘Dragon-17’ since 2017 while also conducting several mutual high-level visits, with president Xi Jinping visiting Brunei in 2018. China has initiated several energy related projects and infrastructural investments including Hengyi Petrochemical Refinery, which is a joint venture between China’s Hengyi industries and Brunei’s government. China’s presence in Brunei could also mean increased Chinese military presence in the South China Sea which could undermine India’s security interests in the region. China’s economic investments in the country, especially under its Belt and Road Initiative, could limit India’s economic engagements in Brunei. Brunei’s alignment with China could also lead to the former adopting positions favourable to China in international organisations and forums. Against such a scenario, India needs to strengthen diplomatic engagement with Brunei through high-level visits, regular exchanges and dialogue mechanisms. Considering that India is a country that imports 80 per cent of its energy requirements, it can increase its energy imports from Brunei. Such a move will not only aid India in its goal of energy import diversification but also increase economic engagement and investment opportunities in Brunei. In the long run, it is in India’s interest to foster deeper and more comprehensive bilateral relations with Brunei to both counter China’s influence as well as establish stronger relations with Brunei and the wider Southeast Asian region.

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.