News Report: Not All See China’s Great Power Diplomacy as Huge Success

Chinese President Xi Jinping

William Ide

BEIJING — Analysts say China’s foreign policy achievements are likely to be a key focus next month when the Communist Party hosts a crucial once-in-five-year leadership meeting. But don’t expect China’s leaders to say much about the challenges and setbacks they’ve faced since Xi Jinping came to power, even though a growing number of some scholars here are doing just that.

Since Xi began assuming leadership in China in 2012, the world’s second largest economy has been rapidly expanding its global footprint and influence. Beijing is engaging and seeking to play a more prominent role in international affairs, while laying out its own initiatives, such as the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and the near trillion-dollar trade program, the Belt and Road.

Xi has visited nearly 30 countries, five continents and championed what some here call “Great Power Diplomacy." He has also been advocating what he calls the “China Solution,” Beijing’s proposals and answers to the world’s toughest problems.

The foreign policy focus is so important that some analysts say China’s need to play a more central role in global affairs is likely to be added to the communist party’s constitution during the meeting, along with other changes.

State media recently released a six-party series ahead of the 19th Party Congress on “Great Power Diplomacy.” Advocates of that idea, argue that as a rising great power, China should do what it feels is right anytime and whenever it wishes.

News Story: S. Korean, Indian defense chiefs vow closer ties on N. Korea

SEOUL, June 14 (Yonhap) -- The defense ministers of South Korea and India on Wednesday agreed to deepen their partnership on regional security issues and expand defense industry cooperation, Seoul's ministry said.

Defense Minister Han Min-koo briefed his Indian counterpart Arun Jaitley on the security conditions involving North Korea in their talks here, according to Han's office.

It was the first meeting between the defense chiefs of the two countries in two years.

"He requested that India continuously participate in the international community's efforts for sanctions and pressure on North Korea," it said.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Story: Abe offers conditional cooperation with China's Silk Road initiative

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that Japan is ready to cooperate with China's "One Belt, One Road" cross-continental infrastructure development scheme under certain conditions.

Speaking at a forum in Tokyo on Asia's future, Abe said those conditions would include "harmony with a free and fair Trans-Pacific economic zone," alluding to the terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact, to which Japan is a signatory but China is not.

The One Belt, One Road initiative, put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, would involve massive investment to connect up both a land-based economic belt based off the ancient Silk Road and a maritime corridor spanning from China to Southeast Asia, India, Africa and Europe.

Xi has said he wants to create a "big family of harmonious coexistence" through the project, but skeptics see it as a bid to position China as a viable alternative to U.S. global leadership.

Read the full story at The Mainichi

News Story: Most Major Western Leaders To Skip China's Silk Road Summit

Only one leader of a big Western country is attending China's most important diplomatic event of the year, a summit next month on President Xi Jinping's New Silk Road strategy, as China's foreign minister denied it had been snubbed, Reuters reported.

Xi has championed the "One Belt, One Road" or OBOR initiative to build a new Silk Road linking Asia, Africa and Europe, a landmark program to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure projects including railways, ports and power grids.

Reuters reported that China has dedicated $40 billion USD to a Silk Road Fund and the idea was the driving force behind the establishment of the $50 billion China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

According to Reuters, diplomatic sources in Beijing said China had hoped for at least some senior Western leaders to attend the summit, including British Prime Minister Theresa May, but a list of attendees announced by Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday included only one leader from the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Story: B&R Initiative heralds new era for Australia-China ties

by Will Koulouris

SYDNEY, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative has been lauded by experts here in Australia as being the catalyst for economic and trade cooperation between Australia and China.

In an interview on Friday, former Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb sat down with Xinhua on the sidelines of an economic forum attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Sydney, and said the Belt and Road Initiative will play a pivotal role in both China and Australia's economic success well into the future.

"Without a doubt. There is growing contact as people get to understand what the Belt and Road Initiative is," Robb said. "It is the potential for Australia."

Robb shared his hope that both Australia and China will be able to work side by side in advancing the Belt and Road Initiative, utilizing their "complementary" abilities.

"Australia can bring a lot of projects, especially expertise in social infrastructure, hospitals, schools, aged care facilities, all of these sorts of things. And of course we have construction capabilities which will compliment China's," Robb said.

Robb stressed that there has been real progress in Australia recently concerning the Belt and Road Initiative. And after people see related businesses booming, more will take part in it.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: 1914 Redux? Growing Asia-Pacific Tensions Demand New US Strategy

By MAJ. PAUL SMITH

American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is paying his first visit to Asia this week. Just before he left, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton told reporters the Trump Administration “will have its own formulation” of the Pacific pivot, or the rebalance to Asia declared by the Obama Administration.

“Pivot, rebalance, etcetera — that was a word that was used to describe the Asia policy in the last administration. I think you can probably expect that this administration will have its own formulation. We haven’t really seen in detail, kind of, what that formulation will be or if there even will be a formulation,” she said.

In this timely op-ed, Maj. Paul Smith, who works in the J-9 of U.S. Pacific Command but is, of course, writing in a personal capacity, compares today’s international security situation to that preceding World War I and sees worrying parallels. He calls for a reassessment of our strategy toward China. Read on. The Editor.

The global environment today eerily resembles that of Europe in the early twentieth century, when a rising tide of nationalism swept through the continent. That nationalism led to increased trade competition, networks of intertwined and complicated alliances and social and political ferment that sparked a war that eventually spread to engulf much of the world in the flames of World War I.

Are we headed towards another global conflict? If so, then where? Most importantly, can this crisis be averted?

The geopolitical climate most similar to pre-war Europe lies within the Asia-Pacific. This region consists of a highly complex web of interwoven treaties and alliances, is home to the world’s most formidable rising power, and has historical flashpoints, that if triggered, could lead to armed conflict. These same issues had been present in Europe for years before the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand began the chain of events that eventually plunged, first Europe then much of the world, into the Great War. 

Read the full story at Breaking Defense

News Story: Australian experts, politicians closely watching "Trump effect"

by Will Koulouris

SYDNEY, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on Friday, raising questions about what impact his presidency will have around the globe, including here in Australia.

The rise of Trump has led to uncertainty, with his rhetoric suggesting the possibility of a trade war and other protectionist measures.

Tom Switzer, senior fellow of the United States Study Center in Sydney, told Xinhua that Australia should and will continue following the United States on policy, but should ensure the relationship does not affect Australian interests.

Not all view the Australia-U.S. relationship in the same way, however, with James Laurenceson, deputy director of the Australia-China Relations Institute, told Xinhua he does not follow the view that Australia always follows the United States.

"Look at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. We were under pressure from the United States not to join that, we joined it. When it comes to trade deals, we are heavily in favor of RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) and a free trade area championed by China. We want that too," Laurencenson said.

"The truth is that we follow our own national interests. So in each case we are going to weigh up those interests."

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: This is Why a US-Chinese 'Trade War' Under Trump Unlikely to Happen

China is allegedly preparing for trade spats with the US after President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20, Bloomberg reported, adding that Beijing may intensify scrutiny over US companies operating in the Chinese market in case Trump decides to take any actions against China's businesses.

“The report suggested that China might target well-known US firms for higher tax or antitrust investigations, launch anti-dumping probes into US products, and cut back government purchases of US goods,” Chinese newspaper People’s Daily reported.

However, there has been no official confirmation of such claims from the Chinese government so far. On the other hand, the Chinese government's recent policies and statements suggest a further opening up the domestic market to foreign capital.

Despite that, there are experts in China who are advising to be prepared for any backlash by the US when Trump comes into office.

Huang Yiping, a renowned Chinese economist, suggested that given Trump's tough stance on China and his protectionist trade policy rhetoric, China should consider the potential fallout if Trump imposes higher tariffs on Chinese goods.

News Story: China's "One Belt One Road" to play crucial role in South Asia infrastructure development - Nepalese minister

KATHMANDU, Dec. 22 (Xinhua)-- The "One Belt One Road" initiative introduced by Chinese President Xi Jinping can play a crucial role in the infrastructure development of Nepal and the entire South Asia region, a Nepalese minister said here Wednesday.

Nepalese Minister for Federal Affairs Hitraj Pandey made the remarks during a meeting with a visiting delegation of the Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Congress of China, which arrived Wednesday at the invitation of Nepalese Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti.

"Nepal has already welcomed the 'One Belt One Road' initiative introduced by the dynamic Chinese leadership under President Xi Jinping, while we have also become one of the founding members of the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)," the minister said.

"Our government believes that China's such tremendous initiatives can play crucial role in the infrastructure development in Nepal and the entire South Asia region," he said.

The minister said that Nepal wants to reap benefit from China's rapid socio-economic development.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: U.S.,China must have close, friendly relationship - former U.S. Secretaries of State

NEW YORK, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright stressed the importance of the U.S.-China relationship Monday night in New York, while expressing optimism for cooperation between the two countries as the U.S. moves to transition into the Trump administration.

The two former top officials in U.S. foreign policy made their remarks at an event called, "Leaders Speak: Secretaries of State."

"The U.S. and China must have a close and friendly relationship," said Kissinger, former Secretary of State under the Nixon administration and a crucial figure in the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic ties in 1979.

"The peace of the world relies on our ability to do this," he added.

On recent China-related remarks posted by the President-elect Donald Trump on social media regarding Taiwan, both former top foreign policy officials agreed that any deviation of current U.S. foreign policy norms will not be in the common interests of both countries.

Kissinger noted that in the early term of the Bill Clinton Administration, the then president tried to deviate from the established policy pattern toward China.

"In two years, President Clinton realized that our established pattern was in our common interests" and then "became one of the strongest supporters of this way of international relations," said Kissinger.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: China vows firm support for UN

BEIJING, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met United Nations Secretary-General designate Antonio Guterres in Beijing on Monday, vowing stronger cooperation with the UN and firm support for its work.

Calling the UN the "most universal, representative and authoritative inter-governmental international organization," Xi said it has played an irreplaceable role in addressing global challenges.

Countries around the world expect the UN to play a greater role as the international situation develops, Xi said.

"The UN should uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, safeguard international peace and security, promote common development, and, in particular, implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change," Xi said.

He called on the UN to take care of developing countries' interests, and give more voice and do more for such countries.

Guterres, on a China trip from Monday to Tuesday, said he appreciated China's support for his election as UN chief. He was appointed by the UN General Assembly in October to succeed Ban Ki-moon as UN secretary-general.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: China says U.S. joining AIIB would be "good"

BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday said it would be "good" if the United States could join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the comments in response to a question about whether China welcomes the United States to join the Beijing-based multilateral development bank.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's national security adviser, James Woolsey, called the Obama's administration's opposition to the formation of the AIIB "a strategic mistake" in a letter to the newspaper, according to Reuters.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: China shifts gears on building ties with int'l bodies

MOSCOW, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday concluded its week-long Eurasian trip with a series of proposals to promote regional cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries as well as among members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Li's proposals mark China's efforts to inject new impetus into regional cooperation, showing the importance China attaches to the role of regional mechanisms as well as its determination to enhance cooperation and safeguard regional peace and stability.

Observers hold that China has developed a pattern of regional cooperation different from those by the West, which better meets the interests of the countries concerned, rendering it a comparative advantage in carrying out more mutually beneficial and win-win regional cooperation.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Xi, Duterte agree on full improvement of ties

BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday agreed that the two countries will properly handle differences and achieve full improvement and greater progress in bilateral ties.

Calling the countries "neighbors across the sea," Xi said that though their relations have gone through twists and turns, the foundation of the China-Philippines friendship and the willingness to cooperate remain unchanged.

China highly values its relations with the Philippines, and is ready to work with the country to cement political trust and mutually beneficial cooperation, properly handle differences and become good partners, Xi said during talks with Duterte in Beijing.

He said managing differences in the South China Sea issue through dialogue and consultation was an important foundation for the healthy and stable growth of China-Philippines relations.

Both sides need to draw experiences from the past to open up promising prospects for the bilateral relationship, Xi stressed, calling on both sides to develop friendship and cooperation while properly handling differences.

"China and the Philippines have had foundation for friendship for generations and no reason for hostility or confrontation. Both sides should spare no efforts to promote neighborly relations," Xi said.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and the Philippines have largely managed their differences on the South China Sea issue through dialogue and consultation, Xi said. "It is political wisdom and a successful practice worth passing down as well as an important foundation for the healthy and stable growth of China-Philippines relations."

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: AIIB holds first int'l advisory panel meeting

BEIJING, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Wednesday held the inaugural meeting of its International Advisory Panel, covering green infrastructure among other topics.

The panel discussed the global economic situation and its implications for the bank's operations, the need to promote green infrastructure in the new global agenda and the importance of increasing private sector involvement in infrastructure in the region, the AIIB said in a statement.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Philippines Eyeing Aid Windfall From Diplomacy Shift

Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is rebalancing his foreign policy away from old ally the United States to former U.S. Cold War foes China and Russia, in a move that may generate a windfall of aid for the developing Southeast Asian country.

Duterte said last month his country would reject U.S. military aid in patrolling the contested South China Sea and fighting a violent Muslim rebel group in his archipelago’s south. The Philippines will cross to “the other side of the ideological barrier,” and work on alliances with China and Russia, the 71-year-old president was quoted telling reporters last week.

China has said it wants talks with Duterte’s government, which took office June 30, to settle a knotty maritime sovereignty issue. Duterte sent an envoy to Hong Kong in August to start making amends. China is likely to provide infrastructure financing for projects the Philippines “so sorely needs,” said Carl Baker, director of programs with the think tank CSIS Pacific Forum.

Beijing has already helped build infrastructure in other poor regions of Southeast Asia, from a pledged $6 billion railway in Laos to Cambodia’s first oil refinery, leading to speculation the Philippines may be next.

“In terms of an economy such as the Philippines, after so many years developing it’s still a question mark over the extent of infrastructure improvement,” said Song Seng Wun, an economist in the private banking unit of CIMB in Singapore. “The Philippine president obviously has seen what Chinese money has done for the Indochinese economy -- Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia in particular.”

Although the president and former mayor of the second-largest Philippine city is known for rash comments, some of which his government has tried to temper, at least some citizens are taking him at face value.

Think Tank: East Asia 2036

Mike Scrafton

Earlier this year PwC reported it had identified ‘the equivalent of US$250 billion in projects… [which have] been built already, recently started construction or have been agreed on and signed’ related to China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. OBOR is a massive undertaking with two fundamental components. The maritime ‘road’ strategy is focused on developing ports in the Indian Ocean,the coast of Africa and the Mediterranean. The ‘belt’ involves investment in infrastructure cooperation in a zone that stretches from Xinjiang (the north-western part of China) to the Baltic Sea. These activities will have consequences for East Asia that go beyond trade and will shape the strategic environment in coming decades.

The scale of the initiative is impressive. A European Parliament report estimated that it could involve, ‘an area that covers 55% of world GNP, 70% of global population, and 75% of known energy reserves’. The vision and framework for the initiative were released by the Chinese Government in March 2015 and it emphasises cooperation between China and the countries involved in ‘policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds’. If even partially successful, China will eventually sit at one end of ‘a massive trade network reaching from often neglected central Asia to Central Europe’. As of May 2016 China held US$3.19 trillion in foreign exchange reserves and US$746 billion in its sovereign wealth fund. With US$890 billion worth of deals officially in train, ‘the massive trade and investment effects across Eurasia could well reshape a significant part of the global economy’.

News Story: "A to Z" of China's diplomacy under Xi's leadership

BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) -- A "major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics" has taken shape since Xi Jinping became the top leader in late 2012.

Following are 26 key words or phrases that relate to this new style of diplomacy.

AIIB

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a new development bank proposed by China, started operation on Jan. 16, 2016.

The new global multilateral financial institution, to support infrastructure projects in Asia, was formally established in Beijing on Dec. 25, 2015. Headquartered in Beijing, it now has 57 founding members.

AIIB also means a great deal to the global economic governance system. It is a product of the evolving economic landscape, and will help make the global economic governance system more just, equitable and effective.

Belt and Road Initiative

The Belt and Road initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was first promulgated by Xi in 2013, who envisioned a trade and infrastructure network that connects Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes. Over 70 countries and organizations have voiced support for and willingness to join the initiative.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: CPEC road project in central Pakistan to be completed by April 2018

FAISALABAD, Pakistan, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Part of a major highway extension project in central Pakistan, which falls under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative, is expect to be completed in less than two years' time, a project manager said Sunday.

"We will deliver the project on time and up to standard," Wang Feng of China Railway First Group Co., Ltd (CRFG) told Xinhua at the site.

The CRFG is commissioned to pave 30 km of a 192 km-long project to connect the central cities of Faisalabad and Khanewal with a four-lane highway.

Once completed, the road will halve commute time between the two cities to 2 hours.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: AIIB approves half a bln USD for its first four projects in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Tajikistan

DHAKA, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank or AIIB has approved 165 million U.S. dollars in loans for a Bangladesh project - the first batch of loan for the country from the China-led development bank.

The banks Board of Directors Friday approved its first 4 loans totaling 509 million U.S.dollars to finance 4 projects including that one of Bangladesh.

Three of the 4 projects are co-financing operations with multilateral development bank (MDB) partners, said the global lender in a website post on Friday.

The three other approved loans are a 216.5 million U.S. dollars loan for Indonesia, a 100 million U.S. dollars loan for Pakistan and a 27.5 million loan for Tajikistan.

Read the full story at Xinhua