CiCM 1st-2nd March, 2025

NEWS IN CHINA

Chinese Ambassador urges U.S to Prioritize Peaceful Coexistence and Cooperation: Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng, stated that China and the United States must coexist peacefully for a long time, as both nations are major world powers. He summoned the U. S. to have an accurate view of China, claiming that if they view one another as competitors, they will win, and the rest of the world will lose. The speaker beckoned for U.S. to adhere to the three China- U.S. Joint Communiqués guidelines regarding Taiwan, oppose Taiwan's independence, and stop supporting its international expansion. Additionally, Xie emphasized the bilateral trade between the United States and China surpassed $680 billion in the previous year, with approximately 73,000 US businesses making investments in China. He warned against trade wars and tariff wars, as well as any attempt to decouple and disrupt supply chains. He urged both nations to maintain peace, development, and cooperation while rejecting hegemonism, unilateralism, and protectionism while emphasizing China’s achievement in counternarcotics cooperation.
China Rejects Canada’s Criticism of Repatriating Illegal immigrants from Thailand: Chinese Embassy in Canada has vehemently disagreed with Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly's comments denouncing the return of forty Chinese nationals to China from Thailand. Calling the comments untrue and an intrusion into China’s domestic affairs, the embassy denounced Canada’s remarks. According to a spokesperson, China, working with Thailand, complied with both international and national laws. Further the spokesperson said that illegal migration and human smuggling are recognized crimes on a global scale. If the rights of the individuals involved were upheld, the spokesperson claimed that the repatriation was a legal way to fight border crimes. Furthermore, China emphasizes its human rights protection legal framework and denounced Canada for its own human rights problem such as discrimination against minorities and lack of protection for homeless and indigenous people. To prevent strained relations between China and Canada, the Chinese embassy urged Canada to stop disseminating false information, stop using double standards and concentrate on its own human rights issues.
China’s extreme weather: Blizzard in Shandong, Heatwave in Shanghai : China witnessed stark climate contrasts on March 2, 2025, as Shandong Area fought a serious snowstorm whereas Shanghai experienced record-breaking heat. In Shandong, overwhelming snowfall driven to uncommon ruddy alarms for street icing and snow squalls, with Jinan recording 17.9 mm of snowfall and Yangxin District collecting 13 cm of snow. Schools in Jinan and Zibo were closed, over 100 toll stations closed, and high-speed railroad lines confronted delays. Major visitor attractions, counting Mount Tai, suspended operations due to dangerous conditions. In the interim, Shanghai, found a completely opposite weather with temperatures taking off to 28.5°C within the city centre and surpassing 29°C in rural zones. Inhabitants grasped the sudden summer-like climate, but meteorologists cautioned of an up-and-coming cold front with rain and a 15°C temperature drop. These extraordinary climate designs emphasize shifting climate patterns influencing existence and framework over China.
CPPCC annuals sessions’ proposed agenda unveiled: The main agenda for the upcoming third session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), was revealed on Saturday. The top political advisory body’s session will open on March 4 according to a decision made by the Standing Committee of the body. According to the proposed agenda, the session will hear and deliberate upon a work report of the Standing Committee and on a report on how the proposals from political advisors have been dealt with since the previous session of the CPPCC National Committee. Further, GDP growth target and policy requirements for high-development will be unveiled, along with measures to expand domestic demand and promote science and technology innovation are expected to be detailed. Review of government budgets and a plan for national economic and social development for the year will be worked out. During this year’s session, lawmakers will deliberate upon a draft revision of the Law on Deputies to the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses at All Levels, making it the fourth amendment to the law since its enactment in 1992.
Chinese Police crackdown on drug-related crimes: Accounting for a year-long effort, Chinese police cracked approximately 38,000 nationwide drug-related crimes, seizing over 28 tonnes of drugs of various kinds as stated by the Ministry of Public Security. This was a part of a national anti-drug campaign where the public security authorities, from January 2024 to January 2025, apprehended seven criminal fugitives on their wanted list, involved in serious drug-related crimes. In a statement released on Friday, the ministry said that the police officers have cracked 151 cases involving materials used for making illicit drugs, seizing more than 1,400 tons of related material. The department also worked with Office of China National Narcotics Control Commission and the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration to come up with a guideline to tackle the manufacturing and sale of “high-inducing electronic cigarettes” largely consumed by the youth. The country’s authorities have also supported counternarcotics cooperation within different international frameworks like the United Nations, INTERPOL and so on.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER

Deceased Singer Khalil Fong’s illness sparks online concern over Pneumothorax: Post the announcement of the passing of renowned musician Khalil Fong by his music company on the social media platform Sina Weibo on Saturday, netizens and fellow celebrities have been conveying their condolences. Even though, the cause of the musician’s death remains undisclosed, media reports and discussions on social media platforms about his prior health issues have brought attention to pneumothorax. In 2010, Fong was admitted multiple times to the hospital due to pneumothorax induced due to overworking. Apart from mourning, netizens focused on the symptoms of pneumothorax and how to prevent the same. Many netizens saw Fong’s illness and his inability to let go of his music career as a learning and as a sign to call on friends and family, attaching more importance to their health and try to avoid overexertion. Following the musician's demise, the most searched topics on the internet were, "What is pneumothorax” and “Why are tall, thin people more prone to pneumothorax.” Many news and medical outlets took the opportunity to publish content on pneumothorax on their social media platforms. Jiankang Shibao, a medical and hygiene newspaper, published content on pneumothorax on its Weibo account and website following Fong’s death. A 24-year-old biomedical engineering student shared on Xiaohongshu that upon seeing Fong’s battle with pneumothorax, is resonated with him, recounting his own experience with the disease.

INDIA WATCH

Chinese news outlet China Daily, reports that Indian stock markets are crumbling due to looming US tariffs: China Daily, the Chinese news outlet, reported that concerns over US trade protectionism and potential tariffs being levied on India has triggered a sell-off at India’s stock markets in the past few weeks. This intense sell-off has sent the key index to the lowest level in nine months. The source also reported that India’s blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index tumbled 1.86 percent hitting a fresh nine-month closing low, coupled with the BSE Sensex plummeting 1.9 percent. Due to a “quit emerging markets” trend being set off amidst Trump’s “America First” policy huge capital outflows have occurred, diminishing hundreds of billions of dollars in market capitalization. The report further mentioned that besides the US tariff and global trade war concerns, analysts said other factors might also have contributed to the drop in Indian stocks. Quoting the director of the Kolkata-based Sanjay Agarwal Broking, the article stated that India is a relatively expensive market compared to others worldwide. The ongoing sell-off trend could be attributed not only to high stock valuations but also to the weakening rupee and slowed growth in corporate earnings. The article also mentioned that analysts have disputed the “Buy China, Sell India” phenomenon, reasoning that the Indian stock sell-off must be seen from the lens of emerging market trends in general.

Prepared By

Riddhi Deokar

Riddhi Deokar is a Second-year bachelor’s student pursuing Global Affairs with a minor in Public Policy at OP Jindal Global University. She exudes a strong interest in learning and researching about Northeast Asian and Middle Eastern dynamics, specifically learning about China’s equation with the two regions. She endeavours to contribute to solutions addressing gender issues in the political realm. She pursues her linguistic aspirations, learning French and Mandarin. She is also a TEDx speaker, spreading her message about the theory of 'Relative Happiness'. Understanding varied perspectives and keeping an open mind while analysing and researching global issues is an effort she keeps making.