CiCM 12th June 2023

NEWS IN CHINA

The Shanghai Carbon Neutral Expo running from 11th to 14th June has seen a variety low-carbon and green energy products being exhibited. In lieu of this, the Shanghai Municipal Sanitation Management Department has advocated for the use of a solar powered, lithium battery operated road sweeper. The road sweeper has solar panels attached to the masthead and can run for about 150 hours without refuelling. The sanitation vehicle has been specially designed to produce less noise, which can be operated during the day. Moreover, according to the Shanghai Bureau of Greening and City Appearance, several districts such as Huangpu, Jing’an, Xuhui and Putuo have taken the lead in purchasing the solar-powered sanitation vehicle.
Apple’s new AR headset, “Vision Pro” may face a trademark claim in China as the Shenzhen-based smartphone company, Huawei already owns the name since 2021. The highly anticipated augmented reality headset could become a bone of contention for the two companies, as Apple Vision Pro is expected to hit markets next year, starting with the US and then branching out to different countries. Experts have stated that from a legal perspective, the brand name would constitute trademark infringement based on Chinese Intellectual Property Rights laws. These claims come amidst the two companies already butting heads when Apple lost a copyright claim attempted to block Huawei’s use of the name “MatePod” in 2021. Moreover, the US has previously imposed sanctions on Huawei’s advanced chip supplies as well.
Disaster relief programmes have begun in China’s southern province of Guanxi, as heavy rains are expected to hit the surrounding areas in the next few days. Almost 2,500 people have been evacuated as Baisha, in Hepu county in the Guanxi-Zhuang autonomous region has experienced torrential rains. Rescue operators have set about repairing the dyke breaches as large parts of the coastal region has seen unprecedented levels of rainfall with high chances of flooding. A record-breaking 542mm of downpour has resulted in the administration issuing warning and executing evacuation plans. The forecast by the China Meteorological Administration has predicted that heavy rains will also hit Hainan province.
The Ministry of Education of China has stated that since the implementation of the student loan policy in 1999, more than 20 million students from benefitted from the initiative. More than 400 billion yuan has been issued in the form of student loans, with the principal amount only steadily increasing since 2014. Moreover, as part of the policy, several steps have been taken to relax the loan repayment period as well. Initially, the expected period of repayment was 6 years, the policy has been reworked to extend it to a maximum of 22 years. New measures such as the scope of the student loans has been expanded to include not just schools and universities but also money for research grants, preparatory schools and postgraduate studies as well. The loan issuing system has also been made easier and more convenient with online processing methods.
Chinese Electric Vehicle maker, Human Horizons has signed a USD 5.6-billion deal with Saudi Arabia’s investment ministry in the on-going Arab-China Business Conference. The Conference, now in its 10th year has seen over 3,000 attendees and is being held in Riyadh for the first time. The Human Horizons deal comes amid a concerted effort by Riyadh to push for sustainability and an eco-friendly development model in its energy sector. The Shanghai-based company’s newly acquired deal also comes under the Saudi Vision 2030 plan, that aims to expand and diversify Saudi Arabia’s oil-dependent economy to other modes of production and manufacturing. David Zhang, professor at Huanghe Science and Technology College stated that “premium or luxury EV models might sit well with the Saudi market. Human Horizons is the right pioneer to test the market with its expensive models before other Chinese EVs foray into Saudi Arabia.”

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER IN CHINA

China cracks down on cyberbullying as netizens react to severity of punishments in a draft document released by top court: Top Chinese social media site, Weibo saw traction on the recently released draft document on cyberbullying. Particularly, netizens have reacted with the hashtag: #政策网暴水军平台/What responsibilities should I take on? As a method to generate awareness on issues related to online harassment, data infringement practices and identity theft. Several measures to curb cyberbullying includes severe punishments for data service providers. The draft also mentions how it is imperative for social media platforms to take accountability for breaching privacy and more so, there is also an emphasis on ensuring that these social media sites have in-built mechanisms to detect unwanted behaviour. Criminal liability can also be attached to a single individual that may be working for the website. Lastly, the draft documents come in the midst of rising cases of online violence and victims may also file complaints in the form of civil lawsuits.

INDIA WATCH

Huawei is the world's third largest smartphone manufacturing company after Samsung and Apple. In its bid to create a more concrete international presence, the company had decided to shift part of its operations to India[A1] around 2016. This development had initially come amidst the battle of sanctions that the US has consistently imposed on the Shenzhen-based telecommunications company. India has long been viewed as a “battleground” for several American and Chinese tech companies when it became no longer feasible to carry out operations. However, given rising security concerns in India as well, Huawei has had to downsize its operation in India, with the possibility of its 5G network rollout uncertain as well. This has created a unique opportunity for India to covertly undermine Chinese presence in its telecom sector, although there is a debate around Chinese network providers being cheaper than their Korean and German counterparts. Hence, there is a growing need for India to adopt a homegrown approach to the communications sector. In addition to that, over the years, amid the rising US-China tensions coupled with political gridlocks, India has also become a prime destination for ‘relocation’. Moreover, with India in a bid to increase its production capacity has only welcomed these developments. Interestingly, several American companies have shifted their assembly lines to India in a bid to counter the dominance of Chinese manufactured digital products. This gives India an opportunity to not only expand its production capacity but also cement its place as a viable destination for investment purposes. Even Taiwanese Apple manufacturer Foxconn has diverted about 10% of all production to India and Vietnam. India may emerge as a victor in the battle for dominance between China and the US.

Prepared By

Toshika Shukla

Toshika Shukla is a 4th year undergraduate student at Shiv Nadar University, majoring in International Relations and Governance Studies. Through the course of her study, she has gained a keen interest in areas such as soft power diplomacy, gender studies, and cultural relations. Her interests also revolve around questions of power, China’s domestic policies combined with theoretical perspectives of analysis.