POLITICS & SOCIETY
China approves plan for nuclear power safety
China's cabinet, the State Council, has approved a plan for nuclear power safety and radioactive pollution control. By the end of 2020, China aims to have 58 million kilowatts of nuclear power capacity in operation and more than 30 million kilowatts under construction. China currently operates 36 nuclear reactors, and is building 20 new ones, world's largest number of reactors under construction, according to an official with the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The safety of the country's nuclear facilities should be markedly enhanced by 2020, with lower occurrence rate of radiation accidents and better capabilities in emergency response and safety supervision, according to the plan. By 2025, China should have modernized its supervision system and capacity on nuclear safety and radioactive pollution control, the plan said. The plan also pledged to improve China's radioactive waste disposal capacity to match the development of its nuclear industry.
Source: South China Morning Post
Beijing will rely more on ‘legal means’ to strengthen authority in Hong Kong
Beijing will rely more on “legal means” to strengthen its authority in Hong Kong – such as establishing a set of legal precedents so the interpretation of the Basic Law could be better integrated into the city’s common law system, according to two mainland government advisers. They said Beijing would not seek frequent interpretations of Hong Kong’s Basic Law as they understood the importance of upholding the city’s autonomy in its internal affairs. The aim was to ensure Beijing’s authority over “principle issues” – such as sovereignty and national security – is protected. Article 48 (8) of the Basic Law states the city’s leader should implement directives issued by the central government. Beijing has not yet issued any directive to the Hong Kong chief executive.
Source: South China Morning Post
Chinese Communist Party targets university known for global outlook
A university in Guangdong that is known for its international outlook has been accused by Communist Party inspectors of doing a poor job of toeing the ideological line and resisting illegal religious “infiltration”. The criticism of Shantou University, which was founded in 1981 with donations from the Li Ka Shing Foundation, comes as colleges and universities across the country are under ideological pressure from the party. Every academic institution in China is controlled by a party committee answering to senior cadres. Party secretaries in key schools such as Peking and Tsinghua University are appointed by the Central Organisation Department, while local institutions like Shantou University are subject to provincial party committees.Guangdong provincial party discipline inspectors conducted a 50-day inspection last October and November of Shantou University. It was found to have “weak links” in its ideological work, and to have made inadequate efforts to guard against “illegal religious infiltration”, according to a statement on the university’s website.
Source: South China Morning Post
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
China, New Zealand sign B&R deal
New Zealand on Monday became the first Western country to sign a cooperation agreement with China on the Belt and Road initiative. Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his New Zealand counterpart, Prime Minister Bill English, witnessed the signing of the memorandum of understanding, which adds to the long list of ground-breaking achievements the two countries have scored in bilateral cooperation, the Xinhua News Agency reported March 27. "This is an excellent start. New Zealand used to be a close US ally, but now its decision-making is getting increasingly independent and it is a good example for other Western countries to learn how to deal with China," said Wang Yiwei, director of the Center for International Studies at the Renmin University of China. New Zealand was also the first Western country to conclude bilateral negotiations on China's accession to the World Trade Organization, to recognize China's full market-economy status, to sign and implement a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with China, and to join the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a founding member.
Source: Global Times
Major nations responsible for keeping world peace: Chinese vice premier
The world's major nations are responsible for maintaining global peace, and all countries should remain committed to a road of stable and peaceful development, China's Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said on March 25 at the opening of the Boao Forum for Asia in southern China's Hainan province. His comments followed media reports this week that North Korea was in the final stages of preparing for another nuclear test. Earlier this month, Pyongyang launched four ballistic missiles in response to joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises, which it regards as preparation to war. Beijing has also been angered by the U.S. deployment of the THAAD, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, missile defense system in South Korea, which it says will both harm China's own security and do nothing to ease tensions.
Source: Reuters
China’s Silk Road Fund ‘seeking investment projects in Europe’
China’s Silk Road Fund is looking for investment projects in Europe, according to a senior bank official. The fund, which provides financing for China’s “One Belt, One Road” trade initiative to forge closer commercial ties with Asia and beyond, is seeking investment opportunities with a unit of the European Investment Bank, the European lender’s vice-president Jonathan Taylor said. “Cooperations between the European Investment Fund, a subsidiary of the EIB, and the Silk Road Fund are under discussion,” Taylor said at the start of a five-day trip to China. “Discussions between the EIF and the Silk Road Fund are centering on investment in Europe,” he told a press conference. During his trip, Taylor will meet senior officials at the Ministry of Finance, the National Development and Reform Commission and the central bank to discuss cooperation financing green initiatives.
Source: South China Morning Post
ECONOMY
Bank-to-bank lending ‘growing unchecked,’ say experts
An increasing amount of money in China has been trapped inside the financial industry, flowing from one bank to another, increasing the risk of bubbles and thwarting the government’s efforts to stimulate the economy, analysts said. The part of money being created by banks, which is not included in the calculation of M2 — the most oft-cited money supply indicator — has been “growing unchecked,” according to a research report by Haitong Securities. The growth was fueled to a large extent by banks’ lending to each other aggressively and investing in each other’s wealth management products, the report said. China’s M2, which includes cash, individual and corporate deposits, grew by 12.2%, 13.3% and 11.3% in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively, down from a temporary peak of 27.6% in 2009, when a massive stimulus plan boosted the supply of credit.
Source: Caixin
Hong Kong stocks end the week flat
Hong Kong’s stock market recovered from earlier losses to end March 24’s trading largely flat, with the Hang Seng Index edging up and the Hang Seng China Enterprise Index drifting lower. The Hang Seng Index added 0.1 per cent or 31 points to close at 24,358, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises index dipped 0.1 per cent to 10,477. China Huishan Dairy Holdings was suspended from trading in Hong Kong after it plunged 91 per cent from HK$2.80 to HK$0.42 as of 1pm March 24. Property shares lost ground after news that Union Pay, the country’s biggest interbank payments platform, barred its mainland customers from buying homes in Hong Kong using its services, effective March 24. Hong Kong developer New World Development shed 1.5 per cent to HK$9.8 at the close while Henderson Land lost 1.2 per cent to HK$48.3. Sino Land declined 1 per cent to HK$13.8.
Source: South China Morning Post
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
China to launch new weather satellite later this year
China will launch a new meteorological satellite in the second half of this year, which will be capable of detecting auroras, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced March 23. The satellite, the country's fourth Fengyun-III meteorological satellite, is expected to improve weather disaster forecasting ability as well as environmental monitoring. Compared with its previous three Fengyun-IIIs, the new one will be more reliable, stable and accurate, as it will be equipped with several new remote sensors, according to CASC scientist Zhu Wei. The new satellite will carry sensors to detect changes in auroras and the ionosphere, and a microwave imager to provide constant all-weather monitoring of global weather indicators, Zhu said. China plans to launch another four Fengyun-IIIs in the future, helping shorten the interval between world weather forecast updates from six hours to four hours and double the frequency of updates for weather disaster monitoring.
Source: Xinhua
China's underwater glider sets new world record
A domestically developed underwater glider set a new world record by reaching a depth of 6,329 meters, breaking the previous record of 6,003 meters held by a US vessel, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The underwater glider named Haiyi, which means sea wings in Chinese, went underwater aboard the deep-sea submersible mother ship Tansuo-1 during a mission in the Mariana Trench early this month. Although oceans cover about 71 percent of the Earth, many parts, especially deep-sea areas, are still unexplored. By reaching 6,000 meters, Haiyi allows Chinese scientists to explore 97 percent of the maritime space. Haiyi, developed by the Shenyang Institute of Automation under CAS, is used in monitoring vast areas of the deep-sea environment, such as sea water temperature, salinity, turbidity, chlorophyll and oxygen content. During the recent mission, Haiyi, dived down 12 times and travelled about 130 kilometers, collecting high-resolution data for scientific research.
Source: China Daily, March 23, 2017
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Shirley Yam, “Crocs, traitors and scarecrows abound but lieutenants are scarce” South China Morning Post, March 28, 2017
Oded Eran, “why US allies Israel, Saudi Arabia are cosying up to China”, South China Morning Post, March 28, 2017
Huileng Tan, “World looks to China for growth but it has its own problems at home”, CNBC, March 25, 2017
He Fan, “Opinion: U.S. Protectionism Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Hurt Australia-China Ties”, Caixin, March 24, 2017
“Commentary: China, Australia show how free trade works for mutual gains”, Xinhua, March 24, 2017
Qu Junya, Ouyang Wei, “Commentary: Trade surplus among benefits from a free trade ride China offers”, Xinhua, March 23, 2017
David Dodwell, “Be afraid: China is on the path to global technology dominance”, South China Morning Post, March 24, 2017
Contributors:
- Sreeparna Banerjee
- Pratnashree Basu
- Swagata Saha
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