CiCM 29th January 2024

NEWS IN CHINA

Papua New Guinea to have security ties with China: Following a deadly riot in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea (PNG) which left at least 15 dead, the country has reached out to China for a possible security alliance. Earlier in September 2023, China had reached out to the South Pacific nation offering assistance with the training of the police force, equipment, and surveillance technology. However, PNG announced that Australia and the USA were its security partners and that it would not take any action that jeopardized its relationship with these countries. China was stated to be an important economic partner only. However, after the riots over labour payments PNG has sought more help from China. The Chinese embassy in Papua New Guinea also complained to the government citing questions on the safety of the Chinese citizens living in Port Moresby. This development with China comes after PNG has already signed a US$132 million security deal to boost policing with Australia last month. PNG’s foreign minister Justin Tkachenko stated that the deal was still in the early stages of negotiations and that they would recheck whether the deal duplicates the already existing security alliance with Australia.
China’s disciplinary watchdog investigated over 100,000 violation cases: The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision on Sunday announced that over 100,000 cases of violations of the eight-point decision on improving Party conduct were investigated in the year 2023. They shared the exact number of people involved in such cases and the actions taken thereafter. According to their website, 153,662 individuals were either reprimanded, educated, or punished in 2023. 108,695 individuals were punished according to the Party regulations. Around 86.7 percent of all cases were of failure to fulfill responsibilities and duties or of fraudulent acts in serving the economic and social development of the country. Officials are the provincial or ministerial level were also investigated for similar accusations. There were 1o cases of this kind. 649 cases involved officials at the departmental level.
Chinese government advised to focus on the development of the financial sector: One of the biweekly sessions of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body was held on Monday. The session was presided over by Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the chairman of the CPPCC National Committee. The committee hosted advice to the government by 12 political advisors. It was observed that finance was not only a matter of nation-building but also the basics of modernization in China. Therefore, CPPCC was urged to promote and strengthen investigation and research, conduct in-depth consultations, and put forward pragmatic and effective measures for consideration. To do this, it was advised that Xi Jinping’s political and financial expectations be understood clearly to promote high-quality development of the financial sector.
Beijing’s museums have an elaborate plan to mark the Spring Festival: Commemorating the Spring Festival in China, over 100 museums in Beijing are ready to cater to and host the public with around 215 exhibits and activities planned. These exhibits are divided into four categories namely "Dragon Walks in China - Joint Exhibition of Chinese Zodiac Cultural Relics in the Year of the Dragon", "One Object, One Product - Special Exhibition of Guanbo Collection - Year of the Dragon Collection", "Top Ten New Year Theme Exhibitions" and "Top Ten Fine Cultural Relics Exhibitions". Moreover, the following museums will not close during New Year’s Eve: the National Art Museum of China, the History of the Communist Party of China Exhibition Hall, the Chinese Archaeological Museum, the China Aviation Museum, the National Classics Museum, and the Beijing Art Museum. While the Capital Museum has 600 new cultural and creative projects being published online, they plan to open to the public physically soon.
China’s research vessel stopped by the Indonesian Coastguard: The Chinese government vessel "XIANG YANG HONG 03" was stopped by the Indonesian Coastguard in the Sunda Strait after it switched off the automatic identification systems (AIS) transponders. However, the ship captain claimed that the AIS on the ship was malfunctioning and not working. The ship was asked to immediately leave Indonesia’s country's exclusive economic zone. According to international law, all ships in Indonesian waters should have the AIS on at all times. The ship was headed to Maldives after China and Maldives agreed to elevate their bilateral relationship to strategic cooperation.
China reopened its embassy in Nauru: The government of Nauru earlier this month announced that they were establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwana and recognizing the People's Republic of China. They signed a joint communique with China on January 24, to resume diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. The embassy was reopened on Monday. Luo Zhaohui, the head of the China International Development Cooperation Agency represented the Chinese government in the event. Both governments reiterated that this recognition of the one-China principle is the political foundation for the restoration and development of their bilateral relations. The Chinese officials said that they were looking forward to promoting people-to-people exchanges between the two countries to strengthen cooperation in various fields to enhance human capital and provide more opportunities for young people from Nauru to study and receive training in China.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER IN CHINA

Influencer arrested after claiming immortality and insulting followers: Guo, an influencer in China notoriously known for insulting and bullying her followers during live broadcasts was arrested by the police after she conned people for money claiming she was possessed by the immortals and could tell fortunes, heal diseases, and has other similar supernatural abilities. She also posted thank you notes from people she had allegedly helped. In the recent past, she had bullied a follower who tried to expose her by inciting her followers to verbally abuse the whistle-blower and naming her pet dog after him. Her offensive behavior drew an even bigger online audience, further intimidating victims seeking justice and luring people to her tactics. While she has now been arrested, her story sparked major criticism online, with many calling for both the platform and Guo to be held accountable.

INDIA WATCH

Indian scholars on various occasions have claimed that China is actively working to map the Indian Ocean bed to study the marine life and seismic activity to collect data to facilitate the movement and operations of their submarines. The Chinese vessel XIANG YANG HONG 03 was stopped by the Indonesian Coastguard in the Sunda Strait over allegations of nonfunctional and closed automatic identification systems (AIS) transponders. These transponders are important and necessary to be kept on at all times since they provide information about the ship to other ships in the sea and land authorities automatically. The ship headed to Maldives never made it to its destination. The ship was initially scheduled to dock in Sri Lanka which refused such a request by the Chinese authorities probably due to pressures and constraints from New Delhi. Sri Lanka has also put a year-long moratorium on foreign research vessels from operating in its waters. India had previously raised objections to the presence of Chinese vessels on Sri Lankan ports. Indian scholars sees this vessel as a “spy ship” which is collecting information that could be used by China to have an edge in the Indian Ocean military and navy in the future. The confusion on the Sunda Strait can be attributed majorly to the Maldives for this reason. On one hand, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu asked India to remove all its military troops and personnel from Maldivian territory by March 15. It is important to highlight here that this demand comes after Muizzu’s state visit to China and the upgradation of the Maldives - China bilateral relationship to a “strategic” one. On the other hand, it is allowing Chinese vessels to dock in Maldives before the stipulated deadline of March 15 completely ignoring the security concerns that India might face. With the increasing Chinese footprint and influence in the Indian neighborhood, India is apprehensive of Chinese goals and has serious concerns about their movements to surveil the Indian military assets. With the Maldivian archipelago being at a strategic location in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) with both Chinese and Indian presence, Maldives should not have allowed the movement of the Chinese vessels to dock in their territory until all Indian troops had left. Despite the negatively heightened diplomatic tensions between India and Maldives, the Malé administration should have been mindful of the long bilateral and successful diplomatic relationship with India. India was among the first countries to recognize Maldives after its independence in 1965 and to establish diplomatic relations with the country. Moreover, it has been an important economic partner and a significant source of tourism for them.

Prepared By

Kanak Mohiley

Kanak Mohiley is one of the founder directors at the Shree Swami Sarang Global Peace Foundation based out of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. She completed her undergraduation in Political Science and History from Miranda House, University of Delhi in 2021. Currently, she is a student at the Jindal School of International Affairs where she is pursuing Masters of Arts in Diplomacy, Law and Business. She is also a student of International Humanitarian Rights diploma course at The National Academy of Legal Studies and Research, Hyderabad. Kanak is an excellent orator, a well versed researcher and an enthusiastic learner. Her main areas of interest include: security studies, development studies, governance issues and soft power diplomacy.