Immediately following an extensive tour of South East Asian nations, which included both bilateral visits and meetings as well as participation in regional and international fora, on July 13, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held the 14th meeting of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, together with Pham Binh Minh, Vietnam’s Standing Deputy Prime Minister.
Citing the two countries special friendship, Wang Yi said that their two parties should “provide strong theoretical support for the development of the socialist cause of the two countries.”
Pham Binh Minh said, “China and Vietnam are brotherly and friendly neighbors with the same socialist cause, and also comprehensive strategic cooperative partners. Vietnam sticks to the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the path of socialism, and pursues an independent, all-round and diversified foreign policy. Relations with China are the top priority of Vietnam’s foreign policy, and it’s Vietnam’s strategic choice to develop friendly relations with China.”
The next day, Wang Yi held the Sixth Meeting of the China-Cambodia Intergovernmental Coordination Committee via video link, together with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong. Wang noted that next year will see the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cambodia, and added:
“China and Cambodia have built a community with a shared future under the guidance of high-level exchanges, strengthened solidarity and mutual assistance with the goal of safeguarding common interests, deepened mutually beneficial cooperation in a people-centered approach, and strengthened multilateral coordination and collaboration with the purpose of championing international fairness and justice, thus consolidating political mutual trust and cementing the foundation for strategic cooperation. Facts have proved that the building of a China-Cambodia community with a shared future serves the fundamental and long-term interests of the two peoples, meets the trend of the times, and conforms to the big picture of peace and stability in the region, thus representing a completely right direction.”
The following reports were first carried on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The 14th Meeting of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation Is Held
On July 13, 2022, the 14th Meeting of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation was held in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The meeting was co-chaired by State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vietnamese Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, and attended by officials in charge of relevant ministries, commissions, and local governments from both sides in an online and offline format.
Wang Yi said, General Secretary Xi Jinping and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong have maintained strategic communication to steer bilateral relations. All departments of both sides have made joint efforts to continuously push for new progress in practical cooperation. This year, both China and Vietnam have important domestic political agendas. It’s important to strengthen coordination in a holistic approach, and make joint efforts in the direction of building a strategic community with a shared future. Facing the risks and challenges on the way forward and the arduous tasks of reform and development, we should inherit and carry forward the special friendship, consolidate solidarity and mutual trust, and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to serve respective national construction and development, and make greater contributions to peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
July 11 marked the 61st anniversary of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea)-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. Signed in Beijing by Premier Zhou Enlai and President Kim Il Sung, the treaty is still in force. It is China’s only formal alliance with any country.
Marking the occasion the leading newspapers of the Communist Party of China and the Workers’ Party of Korea, Renmin Ribao (People’s Daily) and Rodong Sinmum (Workers’ Daily) both carried authoritative articles.
According to People’s Daily: “The China-DPRK friendship, personally provided by the leaders of elder generation of the two countries in the struggle against the imperialists’ aggression, is a precious wealth common to both sides.
“China, as a good comrade and neighbor, will as ever continue to support the DPRK developing the economy, improving the people’s living standard and accelerating socialist construction. And it heartily wishes the fraternal Korean people greater successes on the road of achieving the prosperity of the country and creating happiness.
“No matter how the international and regional situation may change, invariable are the firm stand of the Chinese party and government to reliably defend the China-DPRK relations and consolidate and develop them on good terms, the Chinese people’s feelings of friendship toward the Korean people and the support of China to socialist Korea.”
Roding Sinmun noted that the treaty had served as “a motive force accelerating the struggle of the Korean and Chinese peoples for socialism” and continued:
“Our people sincerely hope that everything will go well in China and successes will be registered in socialist construction of China.
“We will as ever extend full support and solidarity to all the measures taken by the Chinese party and government to defend the core interests of the country, preserve the development of the state and defend the life and security of the people, and will always be with the Chinese people on the road of further developing the bilateral relations of friendship with socialism as the core.”
The following reports were originally carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Chinese Paper on China-DPRK Friendship
The Chinese People’s Daily carried its commentator’s article on July 11, the 61st anniversary of the conclusion of the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance.
With world attention still focused on the multiple crises – political, economic, humanitarian – gripping the South Asian island nation of Sri Lanka, we are very pleased to republish this admirable and thorough article by our Advisory Group member Benjamin Norton, originally carried on Multipolarista. With the Sri Lankan situation being cynically distorted into a supposed example of alleged Chinese ‘debt trap diplomacy’, Benjamin makes clear that 81% of Sri Lanka’s external debt is owed to US and European financial institutions, along with those of Japan and India. China accounts for just 10%. Sri Lanka has already suffered the imposition of no less than 16 IMF structural adjustment programs – a key factor in the country’s economically parlous state.
Benjamin notes that the Sri Lankan protests have been “driven by skyrocketing rates of inflation, as well as rampant corruption and widespread shortages of fuel, food and medicine – a product of the country’s inability to pay for imports.” He considers claims that the popular protests constituted some kind of “anti-China uprising” in the former British colony to be “even more detached from reality” than those suggesting ‘debt trap diplomacy’ on the part of Beijing. With regard to that issue, he shows in detail how both the BBC and mainstream academics have debunked such notions.
Facing a deep economic crisis and bankruptcy, Sri Lanka was rocked by large protests this July, which led to the resignation of the government.
Numerous Western political leaders and media outlets blamed this uprising on a supposed Chinese “debt trap,” echoing a deceptive narrative that has been thoroughly debunked by mainstream academics.
In reality, the vast majority of the South Asian nation’s foreign debt is owed to the West.
These structural adjustment programs clearly have not worked, given Sri Lanka’s economy has been managed by the IMF for many of the decades since it achieved independence from British colonialism in 1948.
As of 2021, a staggering 81% of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt was owned by US and European financial institutions, as well as Western allies Japan and India.
This pales in comparison to the mere 10% owed to Beijing.
According to official statistics from Sri Lanka’s Department of External Resources, as of the end of April 2021, the plurality of its foreign debt is owned by Western vulture funds and banks, which have nearly half, at 47%.
The top holders of the Sri Lankan government’s debt, in the form of international sovereign bonds (ISBs), are the following firms:
BlackRock (US)
Ashmore Group (Britain)
Allianz (Germany)
UBS (Switzerland)
HSBC (Britain)
JPMorgan Chase (US)
Prudential (US)
The Asian Development Bank and World Bank, which are thoroughly dominated by the United States, own 13% and 9% of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt, respectively.
Liu Jianchao was recently appointed as the Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, succeeding Song Tao, who completed his term of office. On being informed of his appointment, in a message to a relevant official of the International Department, Friends of Socialist China wrote: “We wish him every success in his responsible work, and good health, and stand ready, as ever, to maintain and develop our greatly valued friendship and our close cooperation.”
Comrade Liu’s first announced engagement in his new role was to meet separately with the Ambassadors of the four other socialist countries to China, namely the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Vietnam, Laos and Cuba. In a brief report, the International Department noted that the meetings, “focused on exchanging views on consolidating and deepening the traditional friendship between China and the four countries, and relations between the ruling parties of China and the four countries, continuously promoting cooperation in various areas, and jointly boosting the development of socialist causes in the new era.”
A longer report was issued on his next reported engagements, which took place on June 23 and 24, when he held video calls with the leaders of Nepal’s two main communist parties – Prachanda, Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) and KP Sharma Oli, Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), both of whom are also former Prime Ministers.
According to Liu, the CPC and the two Nepalese parties share similar philosophies and close ties. In turn, both Nepalese parties said that they give top priority to relations with China and the CPC.
Following the calls, the CPC signed memoranda of exchange and cooperation with both parties.
Some days later, Liu also held a video call with Nepalese Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka, who is also the leader of the Nepali Congress party.
The following report on the online meeting with the Nepali communist leaders was originally carried on the website of the CPC International Department.
On June 23 and 24, Liu Jianchao, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, held video calls with Prachanda, Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) and former Prime Minister of Nepal, and KP Sharma Oli, Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) and former Prime Minister of Nepal respectively.
Liu said that China and Nepal are friendly neighbors linked by mountains and rivers, and development partners sharing the same destiny. In October 2019, General Secretary Xi Jinping paid a historic visit to Nepal. China-Nepal relations were upgraded to the China-Nepal strategic partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship for development and prosperity, and entered a new era of rapid development. The Chinese side is willing to work with the Nepali side to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, deepen mutual political trust, actively promote practical cooperation in major projects and various fields under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and push the friendship across the Himalayas to new heights.
Liu said, the CPC and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) share similar philosophies and close ties. The CPC is willing to strengthen inter-party exchanges, promote “political parties plus” cooperation, enhance people-to-people bond, and respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, so as to play a role in facilitating the healthy and stable development of China-Nepal relations. The 20th CPC National Congress will be held in the second half of this year, which will draw a blueprint for China’s development in the next phase and will certainly provide new impetus for the development of China-Nepal relations. The CPC is willing to strengthen exchanges with political parties in Nepal on state governance and administration.
Prachanda and Oli said, the friendship between Nepal and China has grown ever stronger as time goes by and the Nepali side appreciates the Chinese side’s support for Nepal in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity and opposing foreign interference and China’s valuable help for Nepal to fight against the Covid-19 epidemic. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) give top priority to the relations with China and the CPC. The two Parties will continue to firmly uphold the one-China principle, support the issues related to each other’s core interests and major concerns, adhere to the path of independent development, and will never allow any forces to use the Nepali territory to engage in any anti-China activities. The major achievements and historical experience of the CPC’s century-long struggle have provided important inspiration and lessons for the Nepali political parties. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) are willing to strengthen cooperation with the CPC in such areas as the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, so as to promote the long-term and stable development of Nepal-China relations. We look forward to the 20th CPC National Congress and wish it a complete success.
After the video calls, the Chinese representatives also signed memorandums of exchange and cooperation with the representatives of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) respectively.
There has been much media attention and international public concern regarding the economic and humanitarian crisis that has recently developed in Sri Lanka. In this regard, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released an unusually detailed, and in our view significant, report on a June 9 meeting between their Asian Affairs Department’s Director-General Liu Jinsong and the Sri Lankan Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona.
Liu began by noting that this year is the 70th anniversary of the Rubber-Rice Pact. Concluded five years before the two countries established diplomatic relations, this pact is considered the root of the modern friendship between the two countries and was of particular importance as the newly independent Sri Lanka concluded the deal at a time when crippling sanctions had been imposed on China following its entry into the Korean War. Liu described it as “breaking the Western ideological barriers and sanctions”.
According to Liu, “the reasons for Sri Lanka and other developing countries to fall into debt difficulties are very complex. One of the backgrounds is that certain developed countries have long implemented quantitative easing policies, irresponsibly unleash a deluge of strong stimulus policies, and recently raised interest rates and shrunk the balance sheet abruptly, leading to drastic changes in the international financial environment, with developing countries particularly impacted. Some countries imposed unilateral sanctions and tariff barriers and built various small cliques, which have undermined the security of global supply and industrial chains, and fuelled the soaring prices of energy, food and other commodities, worsening the economic and financial situations of developing countries including Sri Lanka.”
Outlining some of China’s practical help to Sri Lanka, he added that: “China believes that the wise and tenacious Sri Lankan people will stick to the independent domestic and foreign policies and overcome difficulties together with confidence and in solidarity.”
On June 9, 2022, Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Liu Jinsong met with Ambassador of Sri Lanka to China Dr. Palitha Kohona. The two sides had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on Sri Lanka’s economic and financial debt issues.
Liu Jinsong said, 70 years ago, China and Sri Lanka upheld the spirit of independence, braved external pressure and reached the Rubber-Rice Pact on the basis of equal consultation and mutual benefits, breaking the Western ideological barriers and sanctions, opening the door to friendly exchanges and also setting an example of mutually beneficial cooperation between different types of countries. The Buddhist Sigalovada Sutta says, “True friends are the ones who stand by you when you need them.” China and Sri Lanka have always been such friends. China is ready to work with Sri Lanka to draw wisdom from the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, carry forward the spirit of the Rubber-Rice Pact characterized by “independence, self-reliance, unity and mutual support”, jointly advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, implement the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative, and create a better future for the two countries and peoples.
Liu Jinsong said, the reasons for Sri Lanka and other developing countries to fall into debt difficulties are very complex. One of the backgrounds is that certain developed countries have long implemented quantitative easing policies, irresponsibly unleash a deluge of strong stimulus policies, and recently raised interest rates and shrunk the balance sheet abruptly, leading to drastic changes in the international financial environment, with developing countries particularly impacted. Some countries imposed unilateral sanctions and tariff barriers and built various small cliques, which have undermined the security of global supply and industrial chains, and fueled the soaring prices of energy, food and other commodities, worsening the economic and financial situations of developing countries including Sri Lanka.
Liu Jinsong said, China fully relates to the current difficulties faced by Sri Lanka and always provides assistance within its capacity. China immediately provided 500 million yuan of emergency humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka. The first batch of materials arrived on June 3. China’s local governments and enterprises as well as the Red Cross Society of China have all lent a helping hand to the Sri Lankan people by providing them with diversified aids in multiple batches that improve people’s lives. The Buddhist Association of China and temples in different places voluntarily raised funds for the Sri Lankan people, and teachers and students from Caihe No. 3 Primary School in Hangzhou also sent love to children from low-income families in Sri Lanka thousands of miles away. China is ready to continue to work with Sri Lanka to jointly tackle risks and challenges and help Sri Lanka overcome the current difficulties, ease the debt burden and realize sustainable development. China believes that the wise and tenacious Sri Lankan people will stick to the independent domestic and foreign policies, and overcome difficulties together with confidence and in solidarity.
Kohona said, Sri Lanka has always pursued an independent and non-aligned foreign policy and opposed power politics and bloc confrontation. China-Sri Lanka friendship enjoys a time-honored history. China has provided full support and assistance in many important periods of Sri Lanka’s national development and is a reliable strategic partner of Sri Lanka. China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Chinese-funded projects have made important contributions to Sri Lanka’s economic development. Sri Lanka thanks China for mobilizing all resources possible to provide emergency humanitarian assistance at the most difficult time in Sri Lanka, and hopes to continue to work with Chinese friends to tide over the difficulties.
After the meeting, Ambassador Kohona presented to Director-General Liu Jinsong a sample commemorative album for the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Sri Lanka and China produced by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in China.
As his first official bilateral visit after taking office as Pakistani foreign minister, Bilalwal Bhutto Zardari met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Guangzhou on May 22nd. Wang said that this visit “carries forward the fine tradition of friendly exchanges between China and Pakistan… China and Pakistan are true friends sharing weal and woe and good brothers having a heart-to-heart affinity.”
For his part, Bilalwal said that: “Pakistan and China enjoy time-honoured amicable relations. I am particularly proud that all three generations of my family are firmly committed to the Pakistan-China friendship. As an ‘ironclad’ friend, Pakistan is heartened by China’s great achievements and firmly believes that no force can stop China from forging ahead.”
Bilalwal’s father Asif Ali Zardari, former president, his late mother Benazir Bhutto, and especially his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, both former Prime Ministers, as well as the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) they have led, have all made major contributions to the development of the friendly relations between Pakistan and China, together with successive generations of Chinese leaders, over more than half a century.
The two foreign ministers affirmed their will to further promote cooperation through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and the Global Security Initiative (GSI).
A joint statement released by the two countries following the talks noted that the visit coincided with the 71st anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations and touched on a number of other issues, including defence cooperation, the Ukraine crisis and the situations in Jammu & Kashmir and Afghanistan.
The following report of the talks between Bilalwal and Wang and the full text of their joint statement were originally published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
On May 22, 2022, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Guangzhou.
Wang Yi said, China welcomes the fact that Bilawal carries forward the fine tradition of friendly exchanges between China and Pakistan, and paid a visit to China, which was his first official bilateral visit after taking office as foreign minister. China appreciates the new Pakistani government’s firm commitment to developing the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries. China and Pakistan are true friends sharing weal and woe and good brothers having a heart-to-heart affinity. The friendship between China and Pakistan, jointly nurtured by several generations of leaders of the two countries, remains strong with new vitality. History has witnessed and will continue to witness that no matter how the international landscape may evolve, China-Pakistan relations are rock-solid and unshakable. China is ready to, as always, prioritize Pakistan in its neighborhood diplomacy, and join hands with Pakistan to meet risks and challenges, continuously consolidate the “ironclad” friendship between China and Pakistan, let the building of a China-Pakistan community with a shared future take root, make China-Pakistan relations a powerful stabilizing factor in the region, and enable China-Pakistan cooperation to provide more robust vitality for regional development and revitalization.
This article by Austin Ong, originally published in the Manila Times, discusses US President Biden’s visit to Asia and the recent US-ASEAN summit, during which the US offered $150 million in infrastructure development funding to the countries of Southeast Asia. Ong notes that this is a very small amount compared with China’s ongoing investment in the region, which includes the recently-completed high-speed railway link between Laos and Yunnan, alone worth $6 billion. The US has also failed to offer ASEAN members tariff-free access to its domestic market; whereas China was a strong proponent of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which came into force at the beginning of this year. The US’s economic commitments to Asia pale in comparison to its military commitments such as the AUKUS trilateral pact, which will provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. This indicates very clearly that while China focuses on win-win cooperation and development, the US continues to pursue hegemony.
Optimism was replaced with frustration and disbelief after the much feted hosting by Washington of visiting Asean leaders resulted only in a paltry $150-million pledge. For such a vital region at the heart of great power competition, the sum is infinitesimal. It is hard to imagine how this small drop in the bucket will get to be apportioned to 10 countries with pressing developmental needs raring to recover from a pandemic. Biden’s meeting with Asean leaders is the first meeting of a US President since 2017, was rescheduled twice, and came a year after Blinken did not show up for his first virtual meeting with the Asean ministers which the US had arranged. The US blamed it on a technical glitch as Blinken was enroute to Israel. Twelve days later, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi met with his counterparts in person at the Special Asean-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in China.
Furthermore, Biden’s pledge speaks volume of where the US is focused on — security — much to the dismay of regional countries which hoped the US will step up in providing economic goods to provide a counterweight to China. Of America’s $150 million commitment to the region, $60 million will go to deepening maritime cooperation led by the US Coast Guard ships in the South China Sea. Absent robust dialogue and crisis management mechanisms, this may only raise tensions and trigger an arms build-up in the region and chances for miscalculations.
The US only allotted $40 million in infrastructure. To put things in perspective, under China’s decade-old Belt and Road Initiative, the China-funded high-speed railway in Laos which opened last December is worth $6 billion. The two friendship bridges donated by China to help decongest Manila’s notorious traffic are already worth $150 million, in addition to over $350 million in grants for various livelihood projects from 2016 to 2021. Billions of dollars worth of major infrastructure and development projects across the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, even in Myanmar are being fast-tracked. While some projects face issues and may even get derailed, they are still light years away from what the US is investing in the region.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met by video link on May 11th with new Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. It was Bhutto Zardari’s first official bilateral engagement since assuming office. The meeting also occurred against the background of recent terrorist attacks targeting Chinese nationals in Pakistan.
Wang Yi stressed that the friendship between China and Pakistan will be passed on from generation to generation and will not be shaken or changed by a single incident.
Bhutto Zardari’s mother, Benazir Bhutto, and especially his grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, both former Prime Ministers, were pioneers of the special friendship between China and Pakistan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the last foreign leader to meet with Chairman Mao Zedong on May 27th 1976. The last publicly known photos of Chairman Mao also date from that meeting.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday said that the friendship between China and Pakistan will be passed on from generation to generation and will not be shaken or changed by a single incident.
Wang made the remarks when meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari via video link, calling on the two sides to thwart any attempt to undermine bilateral ties.
China and Pakistan are unique and time-tested all-weather strategic cooperative partners, Wang noted.
In this recent presentation to the International Manifesto Group webinar, The Case Against NATO, Dr Jenny Clegg traces the makings of an Asian NATO via such mechanisms as AUKUS and the Quad whose fundamental purposes are to contain and confront a rising China. She further draws attention to the extension of NATO influence into the Asia Pacific through its Partnerships for Peace for example with Japan, South Korea and Australia; and also considers the impact of the Ukraine crisis in relation to these developments with the increase of tensions, divisions and militarisation in the region
NATO serves as the nuclear-armed fortress that helps to elevate the West above the ‘Rest’; it anchors Europe to its western orientation, severing it from its Eurasian geography.
But NATO members are also Pacific powers – the US, Canada, but also France and Britain, which maintain possession of a few islands and hence some considerable maritime territory.
In this Pacific presence can be seen the makings of an Asian NATO as a counter to the growing Eurasian dimension.
Whilst the world’s focus is on Russia in the Ukraine, for the US, China is the ‘pacing challenge’, and from this perspective, the Ukraine crisis can be seen as the first phase in the US’s last-ditch battle to retain its world supremacy, a battle pitting ‘democracies against autocracies’ in which NATO is to serve as the armed vanguard against the so-called Russia-China alliance.
The world before NATO was to be a new world of the UN Charter which, in the coordination of the wartime allies – the US, UK, Soviet Union and China – and in its commitment to national sovereignty, held the promise of a multipolar world.
It was this new world of the equality of nations that the US set out to smash in driving the first Cold War.
From Cold War to thaw back to Cold War in the Asia Pacific
The Cold War in the Pacific divided China and Korea and involved two hot wars – in Korea and Indochina – at the cost of countless lives and countless war crimes.
The US sought to set up an Asian NATO – however Australia lacked trust in Japan after WW2; Japan’s military was constrained under Article 9 of its constitution; and many South East Asian states, having fought to gain independence, chose non-alignment over subordination in a military alliance.
SEATO – Southeast Asia Treaty Organization – was set up in 1955 to block the ‘communist domino effect’ but it lacked unity and folded in 1977. The US instead relied on bilateral alliances and a spread of some 400 military bases to encircle China.
The Cold War never ended in the Pacific – China and Korea remain divided. Nevertheless, a degree of thaw in the 1990s allowed China to improve its relations in the region whilst ASEAN extended membership to the three communist-aligned Indochinese nations along with Myanmar. Regional economic growth entered a new phase.
But then, sending things into reverse, Obama embarked on his Asian pivot launching the freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea. Following this, Trump declared China a strategic competitor, initiating the Quad to draw India into a new network with Australia, Japan and the US.
2020 saw the counter-hegemonic trend gather momentum with agreement on RCEP – the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, embracing large parts of East Asia and Oceania; the EU was also about to sign a major investment deal with China – these two developments recalling the coalition of Germany all the way across to China which Brzezinski foresaw in 1997, claiming this would be hostile to the US.
The US then prepared to strike back, launching the New Cold War, followed in September 2021 by AUKUS – a mini–Asian NATO, an intervention by the outside Anglosphere which started to sow disunity within the region, undermining its resolve for Asians to deal with Asian affairs.
NATO in the Pacific
NATO itself has been expanding into Asia since 2012 with its Partnerships for Peace programme drawing in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
By 2014, an equation was already being drawn between Russia and the Ukraine and China in the South China Sea.
At the 2019 NATO summit, Pompeo raised the issue of the China threat and, in 2021, the NATO 2030 document widened its focus to include the ‘IndoPacific’, making very clear a strategy of: Russia first then China.
Biden has advanced on Trump’s anti-China approach in two key ways, elevating the Quad and bringing the Taiwan issue more into view. But the Quad lacks military muscle – hence the announcement of AUKUS.
The US and UK are to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, not only violating the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but also subverting the nuclear weapons free zones of South East Asia and the South Pacific – both important advances of regional independence in the 1980s. These submarines will extend Australia’s naval reach much further into the South and East China Seas.
Australia is to be transformed into a forward base for the US military, providing the core of a regional ‘hybrid warfare’ network, with looser links bringing nations into various regional networks under US direction, covering diplomacy, intelligence sharing, media narratives, supply chains and so on.
The pact also represents a new level of cooperation in military technologies – in quantum computing and digital technologies – as exemplified in the recent announcement on the development of hypersonic weaponry.
Accompanying the promotion of arms sales and the implementation of sanctions, AUKUS then is designed to secure US dominance over East Asia’s future growth in its support of US competition at the cutting edge of new technologies.
The impact of the Ukraine crisis
Amidst the Ukraine crisis, fears have been raised of a Chinese military takeover of Taiwan – in a completely false parallel between Ukraine, a sovereign state and Taiwan, recognised by the UN as a part of China.
As in Europe, militarisation in East Asia is accelerating: Japan has just increased its military budget by $50bn; Australia has estimated the cost of AUKUS at an eye-watering $250bn. With the newly elected conservative president in South Korea, a North East Asian arc with Japan and the US, comes into view, and with both Japan and South Korea strengthening military links with Australia, there are possible ties here into AUKUS in the South.
AUKUS only received a lukewarm reception amongst regional powers with Indonesia and Malaysia most openly expressing their reservations. Again, as in Europe, pressure is being brought to bear to erode the long held stabilising positions of Japan’s peace clause and ASEAN’s non-aligned inclinations, using the threat of sanctions to splinter and subordinate the organisation so as to clear the obstacles to militarisation.
Rather than Ukraine-Taiwan, Ukraine-the South China Sea may offer a better parallel: whilst Russia insists on Ukraine’s neutrality, China has been seeking the neutrality of the South China Sea in negotiations on a code of conduct which limits permission for outside powers to set up naval bases.
The marker of the Cold War battle line of ‘democracies versus autocracies’ is being drawn by the US around the so-called democratic right of nations to choose their allies. This is also the meaning behind the ‘free and open IndoPacific’ – that is freedom to join in the making of an Asian NATO.
Why is it that the US is blocking peace negotiations on Ukraine’s neutrality? Why can’t it accept the legitimacy of Russia’s security concerns? Not least, because this would set a precedent for China over Taiwan and the South China Sea. And it is China that is seen as the real, comprehensive challenger.
Amidst false allegations that China is supplying arms to Russia and propping Russia up, NATO is strengthening its links with the Pacific 4 – Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. The upcoming summit this June will set the stage for an attempt to legitimise NATO’s increasing penetration into the IndoPacific region as the necessary opposition to the so-called ‘Russia-China alliance’.
In conclusion
NATO expansion is the root cause of the war in Europe; through its links into the Asia Pacific, it is equally intent to divide and destabilise a region now forecast to overtake Europe as the centre of the world economy by 2030.
Russia first, China next, NATO is bringing on a new world order – it’s called the jungle.
If China has not criticised Russia, at least one reason is because it looks to the long term – to a new security plan not just for Europe but one which restores its Eurasian orientation, a new Eurasian Security Order
China, in taking its stand on the indivisibility of security, on security for all – not of one at the expense of another – is keeping alive the spirit of the UN Charter.
In the following video, Vietnamese blogger and broadcaster Luna Oi, who spoke at our Summit for Socialist Democracy in December, showcases Hanoi’s new metro system, which opened to the public in January this year. Luna shows how efficient and convenient the metro is, and notes that, since it is subsidized by the Vietnamese government, it is also very affordable. The Hanoi metro is a good example of China-Vietnam cooperation: built by China Railway Sixth Group, its operation is 100 percent in the hands of the Vietnamese metro company.
The current political crisis in Pakistan, which, at time of writing, has seen Prime Minister Imran Khan forced to relinquish office following his loss of a parliamentary vote of no confidence, a vote he had attempted to derail by dissolving parliament, only to have the dissolution overruled by the Supreme Court, has led to considerable speculation in some anti-imperialist circles, focused not least on the nature and extent of the US role in the crisis and the prospects for China/Pakistan relations.
In an attempt to provide some clarity on these matters we are pleased to republish two important and thoughtful articles from China’s GlobalTimes, both published on April 10. They deserve to be carefully read in full, but we highlight here some salient points by way of introduction.
“[Imran] Khan implied that the US was behind the motion against him. Chinese scholars argue that even if the US was playing tricks from behind the scene, it cannot sow discord between China and Pakistan.”
It goes on to quote Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, as saying:
“There is no difference between Pakistan’s major political parties in their friendship and the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership with China. If there’s a difference, it would lie in which party will uphold such relations better.”
Qian further notes that, “In China-Pakistan relations, the Pakistani military has played the role of a stabilizer and ballast stone in building a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future”, adding that, “no matter which party is in power in Pakistan in the future, it should not be labeled as pro-US.”
“The potential successor of Khan is from the Sharif family which has been promoting China-Pakistan ties for a long time, and cooperation between the two countries could be even better than under Khan.”
This article also quotes Qian Feng as noting: “The latest political change in Pakistan is mainly caused by political party struggles and issues with the economy and people’s livelihoods,” adding that “due to the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, many people in the country believe that Khan’s administration has failed to stop the economic situation from worsening… In general, current internal problems in Pakistan have nothing to do with its solid ties with China, so there will not be a significant impact on China-Pakistan cooperation. Khan is from a newly rising political party – the Pakistan Movement for Justice, and when traditional major political parties like the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) or the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) return to power, China-Pakistan cooperation could be even better because these traditional major parties have much closer and deeper ties with China.”
“When [Shehbaz] Sharif [candidate for Prime Minister] was regional leader of the eastern province of the Punjab, he struck many BRI cooperation deals with China directly to improve local infrastructure and economic development, and his family have maintained long-standing ties with China as his brother Nawaz Sharif is a three-time former prime minister and the leader who kicked off the CPEC project,” the paper quoted unnamed experts as saying.
Neither article seeks to deny that the US is interfering in Pakistan and attempting to create discord both internally and in the country’s relations with China. However the newspaper quotes Rana Ali Qaisar Khan, executive member of the Central Standing Committee of the Pakistan National Party, one of the country’s historic left-wing parties, with its main base in Balochistan Province, as saying, “the US has always tried to influence many countries’ domestic affairs, including Pakistan’s, but its role should not be exaggerated and the current political situation in Pakistan is mainly caused by internal reasons.”
Whilst international media coverage understandably focused on President Xi Jinping’s March 18 telephone conversation with US President Biden, the Chinese leader also held two other important conversations that day with leaders of countries that have particularly friendly relations with China.
Speaking with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Xi said that their two countries “share a special friendly relationship of comrades and brothers”. This phrase is particularly significant – whilst it has been used several times by the Chinese leadership to describe their ties with South Africa, it is highly unusual, if not unique, for China to describe its state relations with a non-socialist country as embracing comradeship. In this context, it is worth noting that the friendship between the Communist Party of China and the African National Congress of South Africa date back to at least 1953, when Nelson Mandela sent ANC Secretary General Walter Sisulu to China to gain support for the steadily building anti-apartheid struggle, following Sisulu’s participation in the fourth World Festival of Youth and Students in Romania. China consistently supported the South African people’s struggle against apartheid and for national liberation.
President Xi further said that the relationship with South Africa is of great significance both for China/Africa relations as well as solidarity and cooperation among developing countries. The two leaders also exchanged views on the development of the BRICS grouping, which links Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and which China chairs this year. They noted that their two countries share a very close position on the conflict in Ukraine, standing for dialogue and negotiation. There have been a number of suggestions that South Africa could play an important role in this regard. Clearly alluding to the US pressures that both countries are facing, the two leaders agreed that sovereign countries are entitled to independently decide on their own positions.
The same day, President Xi also spoke with Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, with a key focus being their bilateral Belt and Road Cooperation. Xi stressed that China would pay particular attention to developing roads and education in Cambodia’s rural areas so as to help develop agriculture and lift farmers out of poverty. Noting that next year will see the 65th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, President Xi said that their ties had become even more unbreakable whilst Prime Minister Hun Sen described the two countries as true ironclad brothers. Discussion also centred on the prospects for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), to which both belong, and relations between China and ASEAN, a ten-country bloc of South East Asian nations that Cambodia chairs this year.
China ready to move ties with South Africa to deeper level
China stands ready to work with South Africa to move their ties forward toward a deeper level with higher quality and broader scope, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday afternoon.
Without the consent of the Afghan people, the US willfully disposes of assets that belong to the Afghan people, even keeping them as its own. This is no different from the conduct of bandits. This latest example has once again laid bare that the “rules-based order” the US claims to champion is not the kind of rules and order to defend the weak and uphold justice, but to maintain its own hegemony. As the culprit of the Afghan crisis, the US should not exacerbate the suffering of the Afghan people. It should unfreeze their assets, lift unilateral sanctions on Afghanistan as soon as possible, and assume its due responsibility to ease the humanitarian crisis in the country.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Weng Wenbin strongly denounces the US theft of Afghanistan's assets. He calls for a full unfreezing of those assets, along with an end to sanctions. pic.twitter.com/1Pes4eTZiE
This article by Stephen Ndegwa, first published in CGTN, discusses the ‘debt trap’ narrative in the context of Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent trip to several countries in Africa and Asia. Ndegwa notes that, although Western media and politicians often decry Chinese infrastructure loans as being exploitative, these accusations don’t stand up to scrutiny. Indeed, the debtor countries don’t share these criticisms and are highly appreciative of China’s support for their sovereign development.
One of the most popular rules of power says if you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. Well, that could be so. But those who religiously apply this maxim, which purportedly emanated from Nazi Germany’s Joseph Goebbels, forget that it carries a rider. The lie can only be maintained for as long as the originator shields people from the truth.
This has been the case with the so-called debt trap, a phrase generally coined by Western countries that alleges that China ensnared developing countries with unserviceable debt to take over their national assets. China’s aim, so goes the lie, is to enable China to get a foothold in various strategic locations around the world.
Interestingly, even after the United States-led Western bloc’s warning that choices have consequences, China’s partners do not seem to be relenting in expanding and deepening their Sino cooperation. The stress-free partnership has given developing countries much-needed breathing space that has helped them make economic choices best suited to their needs, rather than experimenting with high-blown models that have no practicality.
We are pleased to republish this article by Tom Fowdy, originally carried by RT. The author calls out the grotesque hypocrisy of imperialist criticism of China for having built a high speed railway to Vientiane, the capital of Socialist Laos – a small country on which the United States dropped more bombs than were dropped in the whole of World War II, killing some 10% of the population and making it the most bombed country in history.
This is the Western media’s bizarre messaging to the people of Laos, a nation that was carpet bombed by America, and which is now being vilified for accepting a new $9 billion railway line paid for by China.
Thursday was National Day in Laos, a celebration marking 46 years since the landlocked Southeast Asian nation deposed its monarchy and became a revolutionary communist state, an effort which was supported by Vietnam.
This year, the anniversary had added significance, as it saw the opening of a major new project, an electrified high-speed and freight railway system connecting the capital city, Vientiane with its northern neighbour, China.
We are pleased to republish this report in Xinhua marking the completion of a high-speed railway linking China and Laos. The railway is an example of China’s win-win approach to relations with foreign countries and its support for sovereign development.
The streamlined “China-standard” bullet train, or electric multiple unit (EMU) train, for the China-Laos railway arrived at the newly built China-Laos Railway Vientiane Station on Saturday.
The EMU train was officially delivered to the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd., a joint venture based in the Lao capital Vientiane in charge of the railway’s construction and operation, at a handover ceremony held in the station with the attendance of Chinese Ambassador to Laos Jiang Zaidong and Lao Minister of Public Works and Transport Viengsavath Siphandone.
Embedded below are two important video interviews conducted recently by CGTN regarding the situation in Afghanistan and China’s potential role in helping to construct a future of peace, stability and development in that country. Both interviewees make it clear that China is ready and willing to engage with the new government; China encourages the Taliban to govern in a tolerant, pluralistic and inclusive way, respecting the rights of women and of ethnic minorities; China encourages the Taliban to end its support for terrorist forces such as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement; and China will work with the Afghan government and other countries in the region to support Afghanistan’s reconstruction.
The first interview is with Yue Xiaoyong, Special Envoy for Afghan Affairs, Chinese Foreign Ministry:
The second interview is with Senior Colonel Zhou Bo (retired), a senior fellow of the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University and former director of the Center for Security Cooperation at the Chinese Ministry of National Defense:
