CHINAwatch

President Xi's in-person meeting with President Putin, Day 2

Live exclusive interview on RT on 22 March 2023

 

Deciphering the Xi-Putin meet in Moscow

Exclusive live interview with RT on 21 March 2023

China's ruling party approves sweeping reshuffle at end of week-long gathering in Beijing

Exclusive live TV interview on 22 October with PressTV on the 20th Party Congress and its global implications 

Putin accuses US of 'trying to prolong Ukraine war, destabilize region'

Live TV interview with Press TV on 16 August, 2022

Implications of the Biden-Xi 2-hour 17-minute talk

Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) - Hong Kong Today morning news programme on 29 July, 2022 (Go to the segment "Pelosi visit could be 'dangerous flashpoint')

China warns Asian nations to avoid being used as 'chess pieces' by big powers

Live TV panel discussion on 11 July, 2022 with Press TV.

President Xi signed order for national military preparedness

Exclusive live TV interview with RT on 13 June, 2022.

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What The Economist omits to address in President Xi's vision of a global security order

The Economist article of 5 May 2022 claims that "Xi Jinping lays out a worldview with Chinese-Russian roots".

Laced with arguments soothing to Western ears, the article points out that Beijing's worldview primarily serves its own best interest, not wanting to lend support to a US-led Western coalition to punish, ostracize, and cripple, if not totally topple, Putin's Russia.

Well written regardless, the article glosses over the following dimensions:

(a) Should the pot call the kettle black? After all, all nations act in their own best interests, not least the United States. The war in Ukraine is seen as a godsend to revive US leadership and European/NATO unity. It would weaken if not destabilize Putin's Russia. Likewise, it presents a timely opportunity to implicate Beijing, which, as the article rightly points out, remains the United States' primary adversary. If all goes according to plan, a crumbling Russia would further empower the United States to prevail on China. 

(b) Beijing so far refrains from getting actively involved as a broker over Ukraine. Any even-handedness would be seen by the United States as pro-Russia. Following the US hymnbook would be ignoring Russia's security concerns; nor would it be in China's best interests. 

(c) The existing US-led "liberal order" seems on the verge of breaking down. It can't prevent the war over Ukraine from happening. Nor is the United States prepared to get directly involved. It is full of self-serving hypocrisy and double-standards. Witness Guantánamo Bay, illiberal treatment of US immigrants; selective embrace of Arabian authoritarian regimes; and indiscriminate coercion against other countries' rightful development.

(d) The United States seems turbo-charged to segregate the world into two camps, framing this a contest of the century between democracy and authoritarianism. However, notwithstanding draconian across-the-board sanctions and other restrictions, according to Wang Huiyao, founder and president of Center for China and Globalization (CCG) in Beijing, in 2021, "global trade hit a record $28.5 trillion, up 25% year-on-year and 13% higher than in 2019, before the pandemic struck. For all the talk of decoupling, U.S.-China trade swelled more than 20% last year, to $687.2 billion. Even with war in Ukraine, global trade is forecast to grow in 2022, albeit at a slower pace". "Cross-border investment also surpassed pre-pandemic levels last year, swelling to $1.65 trillion. China, in particular, is more integrated into the global economy than ever. In 2021, its foreign direct investment inflows rose by a third to an all-time high of $334 billion. In the first quarter of this year, they grew by more than 25% year-on-year". Click here "Globalization isn’t dead, It’s just not American anymore", Wang quipped. 

(e) Why should a world with diverse history, race, culture, ideology, politics, and stages of development, including ancient civilizations, be dictated by a US-defined one-size-fits-all formula? After all, the West represents only 8% of the world's population. The developing world now accounts for 57% of the world GDP. 123 countries have China as the largest trading partner compared with 57 for the United States. Not to mention the legitimacy of different regimes in the eyes of their own people. According to latest reports of Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center and Edelman Trust Barometer findings, over 90% of China's people trust the CCP government, multiple rankings above virtually all Western countries including the United States. Click here

(f) Why shouldn't President Xi's idea of a new global security order be at least equally good, if not better, for the world? What is wrong with his call for a security order that is “common, comprehensive, co-operative and sustainable” eschewing divisive alliances and blocs? Wouldn't this at the very least reduce spiraling global conflicts? 

(g) Why should (c) (d) (e) and (f) above be branded as having "Russian roots"? 

Some fresh perspectives on Xinjiang and Tibet

Some fresh perspective is provided by Shaun Rein, an American Chinese of Jewish extraction, author of "End of Cheap China" and Founder of China Market Research Group, in a video podcast of 20 February 2022 hosted by Cyrus Janssen, a Canadian blogger who lived in China a long time and now relocated back in Canada.

Shaun visited Xinjiang and Tibet long enough to be able to share some insights on criticisms of China regarding Xinjiang and Tibet. He also offered some tips on how China could improve its communications with the West.   

A summarizing expose of 12 March, 2022 with real-life videos alleging hidden CIA operations is provided by Felix Abt, author of "My Seven Years in the Hermit Kingdom" in Covert Action Magazine, Covert Action Institute, a non-profit organization incorporated in the State of New York. 

How the Ukrainian Crisis Impacts on Eurasia Geopolitics and US-China Relations

A PowerPoint presentation to the EGN Founding Chairmen Group in  Hong Kong on 7 April, 2022.

Download How the Ukrainian Crisis Impacts on Eurasia Geopolitics US-China Relations including HK