POLITICS AND SOCIETY
China to push agricultural reform
Chinese government will make sure that supply side structural reform in agriculture heads in the right direction, according to an official statement released on 20 December. As reform is crucial to the sector's long-term growth, no disruption will be tolerated, said the statement after the central rural work conference which ended on 20 December. Three bottom lines are no decline in grain production capacity, no change to the income growth trend for farmers, and no problems in rural stability, the statement said. The meeting also required precise poverty reduction gets another ten million people out of poverty in 2017. China is likely to fulfill this year's target of bringing 10 million people out of poverty ahead of time, marking a good start for lifting all its poor out of poverty by 2020.
Source: China Daily
China's ministry labels Hong Kong democracy activists 'foreign proxies'
China's Ministry of Public Security has published a video that depicts Hong Kong as a base for "colour revolutions" and labels two prominent figures of the city's universal suffrage movement, Joshua Wong Chi-fung and Benny Tai Yiu-ting, as proxies for foreign forces. The ministry posted the video with a title "Who wants to topple China the most?" on its official Weibo microblog. It has circulated on YouTube since at least late September although it's unclear who made it or originally uploaded it. The ministry's move comes after Hong Kong's chief executive said he would not seek a second term, triggering a guessing game over which senior officials could marshal the support of the city's 7.2 million inhabitants and the backing of the leadership in Beijing. The video, which runs more than seven minutes, is composed of short clips and photos along with text and an unidentified narrator. It argues that the countries and movements involved in the "Arab Spring" that swept North Africa and the Middle East beginning in 2010 ultimately led to turmoil and despair. It warned Hong Kong was being used as an operational base to stage such a "colour revolution," with foreign forces, particularly the United States, using universal suffrage leaders as proxies.
Source: South China Morning Post
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
China, Britain issue statement on Afghanistan in London
China and the United Kingdom (UK) issued a statement on Afghanistan on 21 December at the 8th China-UK Strategic Dialogue held in London, saying that the two countries remain committed to their long-term support for the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its people."The future security and stability of Afghanistan are of vital concern to us, and we will continue to work closely together and with the international community to achieve a prosperous future for Afghanistan," the statement said. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to support an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led political settlement to the Afghan conflict. As members of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, China and the UK would continue to support international efforts to assist the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces in bringing safety and security to Afghanistan. "We will continue to work with each other and Afghanistan's regional partners, including the Heart of Asia — Istanbul process, to help develop the economy, improve the security situation and implement the ambitious reform program being led by the Government of Afghanistan," the statement added.
Source: Global Times
China urges Mongolia to learn lesson from Dalai Lama visit
China on 21 December urged Mongolia to keep its promise not to allow the Dalai Lama to visit the landlocked country again. "China hopes Mongolia will learn lessons from the Dalai Lama's visit last month and respect China's core interests," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing. Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil on Tuesday expressed regret over the negative impact of the Dalai Lama's visit on Mongolia-China relations, saying the Mongolian government will not allow future visits, even in the name of religion, according to local media. "China attaches importance to the Mongolian foreign minister's explicit statement... China urges Mongolia to honour its commitment and make efforts to improve bilateral relations," Hua said.
Source: Global Times
New joint patrol launched on Mekong river
A new round of joint patrols between China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand were launched at a Chinese port on the Mekong River on 20 December to make the border river safer. The 53rd mission since 2011 will use seven ships and 190 law enforcers. The ships set sail from Guanlei Port in Xishuangbanna, southwest China's Yunnan Province, and will travel over 500 km. The joint patrols started in December 2011 to tackle safety concerns after a gang hijacked two cargo ships and killed 13 Chinese sailors in Thai waters on 5 October 2011. A total of 386 vessels and over 8,000 law enforcers covered 26,000 km of waterways during previous joint patrols. The number of vessels passing major ports of the four countries on the river, and trade volume of the ports, have markedly exceeded the levels before the patrols began in 2011, Xishuangbanna border police said.
Source: Global Times
ECONOMY
Alibaba suspects US’s decision to blacklist Taobao influenced by politics
Alibaba Group Holding on December twenty two questioned a US government decision to return its customer-to-customer marketplace to a blacklist of "notorious marketplaces." The comment came after US Trade Representative (USTR) on 21 December announced that it had put Alibaba's Taobao on the 2016 blacklist. Alibaba said it was "very disappointed" that its Taobao marketplace was put back on the US's market blacklist, suspecting USTR's action was influenced by the current political climate, according to a statement sent to the
Global Times on 22 December. The company noted that the move ignored Alibaba's work over the past four years, including the creation of a special team to crack down on counterfeit goods in 2015.
Source: Global Times
China-Russia trade to expand despite world economic slowdown: Chinese ambassador
China has been Russia's top trading partner for six successive years, and bilateral cooperation is set to further grow despite slowing global growth, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui has said. Russia was one of China's main suppliers of energy, and electro-mechanical and high-tech products, and even the continuing decline in world commodity prices did not prevent the stable improvement of bilateral cooperation, Li said in a recent interview with the
Interfax news agency. The pairing of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, agreed between leaders of both nations in 2015, would create favorable conditions for their over-all cooperation in various sectors, he said.
According to Li, China's direct investment in Russia has already exceeded 10 billion US dollars, and the two countries have planned sixty six priority projects for a total of ninety billion dollars. Cooperation is developing in such sectors as nuclear energy, electric power, chemical industry, agriculture, mining, among others, he added. The ambassador hoped that China and Russia would develop new forms of trade and find new ways of growth.
Source: Xinhua
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
China starts construction of first polar research vessel
Source: The Maritime Executive
Construction of China's first domestic-built polar research vessel and icebreaker began on 20 December in Shanghai, giving a boost to the nation's polar expedition efforts, according to the Polar Research Institute of China. The vessel is scheduled to be completed in 2019, when it is expected to team-up with research vessel and icebreaker Xuelong (Snow Dragon). Xuelong is currently China's only icebreaker carrying out polar research expeditions. Yang Huigen, head of the institute, said the move would improve the nation's capabilities in supporting polar expeditions and surveying the polar marine environment. On completion, the new vessel alongside veteran Xuelong will give China's polar research more diversified services. The new vessel will be 122.5 meters long and 22.3 meters wide, with a displacement of 13,990 tonnes and a navigation capability of 20,000 nautical miles. It is being built by Jiangnan Shipyard (Group).
Source: Xinhua
China to lead global market for VR and AR headsets, IDC says
China is on pace to become the world’s largest market for virtual and augmented reality headsets by 2020, as major domestic suppliers emerge and the application of these devices expands to various industries, according to technology research firm IDC. "The United States may lead in
the technologies, but China is going to lead in terms of usage scenarios," IDC China research manager Neo Zheng told the South China Morning Post on December 20. “Apart from the video games sector, VR and AR headset vendors in China attach great importance to education, as well as the real estate, manufacturing, design and healthcare sectors,” he said. Data from IDC showed that shipments of virtual reality (VR) headsets in China are forecast to reach 15.5 million units in 2020, up from an estimated 609,000 this year.
Source: South China Morning Post
'Nature' journal appreciates China's achievements in science
British scientific journal 'Nature' has noted China's achievements in aerospace, genetic engineering, and climate change in a report released on 16 December regarding science events that shaped the year 2016, reports Xinhua News Agency. The journal lists a series of achievements China made in the aerospace sector while the US, Europe, and Japan suffered errors and failures in several space missions. China launched the world's first quantum satellite in August and powerful new heavy-lift rocket Long 5 March in November. Its 500 meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest radio telescope, was put into use in September. It also highlights the two Chinese astronauts who spent one month aboard the Tiangong II space laboratory, in China's longest manned mission in October and November.
Source: China Daily
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jun Mai and Nectar Gan, Will Xi Jinping cut seats at Politburo top table from seven to five?, South China Morning Post, 19 December 2016
Wang Chao, Inclusive society starts from education, China Daily, 17 December 2016
Lisa Murray and Angus Grigg, China's Xi Jinping is critical to the new global order - if he keeps control, Financial Review, 21 December 2016
Zhao Hong, China’s Maritime Silk Road faces a wave of challenges, East Asia Forum, 16 December 2016
Hu Weijia, China should speed up tax reform to remain competitive against other markets, Global Times, 21 December 2016
Hu Weijia, Politics of Pakistan election won’t significantly affect Chinese efforts in the country, Global Times, 20 December 2016
Dong Yue, Peng Qian, Zhang Yuan, (Along Belt & Road) Spotlight: Cutting-edge technologies boost archaeological excavations along Belt and Road, Xinhua, 19 December 2016
Simon Chadwick, How Chinese corporations are leading the way in country’s global grab for football, South China Morning Post, 21 December 2016
Contributors:
- Sreeparna Banerjee
- Pratnashree Basu
- Ambalika Guha
- Swagata Saha
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