CiCM 29th June 2023

NEWS IN CHINA

The Third Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14^th National People’s Congress on Wednesday, saw the successful adoption of the Law on Foreign Relations of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The adopted law, which is set to come into effect on July 1, 2023, is hailed as China’s first ever comprehensive legislation on foreign relations; and comes in a period where party-state leaders have extensively criticised American dominance. The legislation condenses the country’s existing doctrines and divides it into 6 chapters titled —General Principles, Functions and Powers for the Conduct of Foreign Relations, Goals and Mission of Conducting Foreign Relations, The System of Foreign Relations, Support for the Conduct of Foreign Relations, and Supplementary Provision, respectively. The umbrella law also stipulates that China carry out its diplomatic practices under the guidance of “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” among others which include the Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping Thought. Article 5 of the law requires that PRC’s foreign relations will be conducted under the central leadership of the party. Article 16 regulates subnational international interactions, by requiring provinces, autonomous regions, and cities to follow the central authorities’ prescriptions.

Researchers at the National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) have detected proof of nanohertz gravitational waves. The research is based on observing pulsar timing and was carried out through the Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST). Utilising the high sensitivity of the FAST, the Chinese researchers timed the millisecond-pulsars (nanohertz gravitational waves have extremely low frequencies) for 41 months. The detected nanohertz gravitational waves can help scientists study supermassive objects including blackholes, formation and evolution of galaxies, and the structure of the early universe, eventually aiding space-exploration, according to Chang Jin—the director of the NAOC. The results of the experiment were published in the Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics journal. The Chinese Academy of Sciences started a pilot project in 2016 to study multi-band gravitational waves under which researchers from Chinese Pulsar Timing Array (CPTA) made the present observations.

The bill to cut down on the size of the Chinese University’s Council had its first reading before the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LEGCO) on Thursday. The private member’s bill was proposed by Executive Council Member Tommy Cheung Yu-yan, who is part of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Council and two other lawmakers--Bill Tang Ka-piu and Edward Lau Kwok-fan. CUHK announced that it did not have the opportunity to scrutinise the private member’s bill, which if passed will downsize the Council from 55 to 34. This would bring down the number of university representatives from 27 to 11, while LEGCO representatives remain unchanged at 3. The rest of the membership would be opened to external members; two-thirds of the council would be dominated by representatives who are neither staff nor students of the CUHK. The ratio of external representatives to internal, is slated to change from 1:1 to 2:1, affecting internal autonomy over voting procedures. Contrary to the university’s statement however, Cheung however alleged that the bill had been shown to council members since November 2022, with no oppositions raised then. These proceedings backed by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu came amidst the background of the CUHK’s handling of the 2019 protests. Further, reappointment of protest supporter and former President Rocky Tuan for a three-year term also caused the legislature to make this new law. As per this new bill, the council chairman and vice-chairman would now be directly nominated by the chancellor without consultation with the council.

A completion ceremony was held in Pyongyang to mark the renovation of the China-North Korea Friendship Tower. Built in 1959 under the orders of Kim Il Sung. It honoured the participation of Chinese soldiers alongside the North Korean forces in the Korean War; depicted paintings of battles waged against South Korean and American forces. The completion of the internal renovations comes just ahead of the 70^th anniversary of the armistice that ended the war. Over 100 Chinese and North Korean officials are reported to have attended the ceremony. Chinese Ambassador to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Wang Yajun led the Chinese delegation. At this occasion, representatives from both sides expressed their wish to strengthen traditional friendship between both countries.

A roof collapse in an underground coal mining track in Shanxi Province on Thursday, left four individuals trapped. The collapse occurred around 1:47 am at the Taisheng jingtong Xingwang Coal Company in Datong, owned by Jinneng Holdings. Search-and-rescue operations were launched to locate the trapped workers. It was reported that three of the trapped individuals have been rescued successfully as of 12:55 pm; the vitals of all three rescued individuals are in stable condition. Operations are still underway to locate the fourth individual, according to the latest report.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER IN CHINA

Netizens ask, ‘will you still use payment applications that start charging handling fees?’ as WeChat Pay gears up to impose service fees on the campus industry: Recently several universities and colleges in China have announced that they will withdraw WeChat payment options on campuses, effective July 1, 2023. The Tencent service which previously did not charge the universities, will now impose a 0.6 per cent handling charge on the university’s ~~all~~ payment activities—with the exception of paying tuition fees. Weibo users shared their displeasure with the imposition under the tag #支付软件开始收费你还会用吗#. Several users shared that they would prefer to switch to other payment services, with some noting that this is the perfect opportunity to promote the digital renminbi - China’s most recent financial pet project. Some users went as far as to criticise the monopoly of Alipay and WeChat Pay in China and ask for the market to be opened to foreign services—suggesting that foreign companies like PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard, be introduced as payment alternatives in China.

INDIA WATCH

China’s new legislation on managing its foreign relations is the first of its kind. Even though it technically only condenses all of the country’s existing foreign policy doctrines into one legal toolkit, it will help add an additional layer of legitimacy to China’s actions. Foreign policy hawks may argue that the Law on Foreign Affairs primarily targets Western powers — primarily the United States. This law will also have repercussions for India. The dominant narratives shrouding Sino-India conflicts and issues are centred around non-aggression and non-interference and by extension, the fulfilment of good faith. China’s new umbrella law codifies all these principles. It stresses on non-aggression and non-interference while requiring its counterparts to fulfil ‘in good faith its obligations,’ under international treaties and agreements. The legislation will prove to be yet another concrete source for China to utilise and shape narratives on India. For instance, the chapter on ‘The System of Foreign Relations,’ stresses on upholding international norms and upholding agreements, but only when the conditions of equality and reciprocity are fulfilled. It was recently reported that the last Chinese correspondent in India has left, after India had denied visa extensions. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin had alleged that Chinese journalists were being discriminated against in India, and in retaliation denied visa extensions to Indian journalists in China. The essence of these reported progression of events are now further codified in China’s new legislation; China now has a stronger domestic legal framework to carry out retaliations against India, when conflicts arise.

Prepared By

Tamiliniyaa Rangarajan

Tamiliniyaa Rangarajan is a fourth-year undergraduate student of International Relations and Governance Studies, at Shiv Nadar University. Her research interests are geared towards understanding the implications of political economy, and culture and soft power- applying these to the Chinese context. In her spare time, she likes to experiment with photography and pick up foreign languages.