Last Updated on 11/09/2024 by Arun jain
Welcome to foreign policyof China Brief.
This week’s highlights: The US Congress Former Chinese foreign minister considers series of bills targeting China as lawmakers return from summer break Qin Gang A resurgence in marginal position and China dominating the medal table Paralympics.
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China Week begins in Washington
The US Congress has launched a so-called China Week, in which a Series of bills MLAs are scheduled to vote when they return from their summer vacation. Technology is at the heart of many of the proposed measures, reflecting A growing consensus About the state of US-China competition in Washington.
The battle over semiconductor manufacturing is still raging, but legislation that has already been passed—or is likely to be passed—aims to limit China’s access to and cooperation in a wide-range of areas, such as Biotechnology And drone.
It is relatively easy to get bipartisan support for such bills, especially those that focus on blocking China rather than funding new US initiatives. In a lobbyist-ridden city like Washington, it’s important that these steps are taken Damage to some companiesBut they get it Full support from other They stand to win when their Chinese competitors lose out in US markets.
Focusing on cutting off Chinese companies rather than supporting local innovation could leave Americans struggling to find replacement products, which has happened in the States. Banned Chinese drones. In addition, there is Beijing Very interested In trying to conquer the scientific future, however, it does not ignore other forms of power on the ground— Naval expansionism from Diplomacy and Investment In areas often left behind by the United States.
There are some proposed measures that go beyond tech, such as efforts to strengthen Taiwan’s defenses; Review Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in the United States; and target Confucian InstitutesWhich are academic centers run by Beijing in universities around the world. (There is Less than a dozen (Such institutions have been abandoned in the United States, although many of the closed institutions have effectively reopened under new names.)
There are also such bills represents Anti-China paranoia, such as that will make Agreements with the World Health Organization (WHO) are subject to Senate confirmation with two-thirds approval — a virtual impossibility that has prevented the United States from formally ratified International treaties in the past. The rationale for the bill is China’s alleged undue influence over the WHO, but the measure would undercut most US cooperation with the organization.
It is also old: although China’s influence in the WHO is unquestionable causing problems In early 2020, as the official declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic delayed, the body increasingly called China’s own lack of cooperation.
That bill is unlikely to get anywhere. Attempting to revive the discredited “China Initiative” could be even more dangerous Language Relating to major expenditure bills. The China Initiative, a program created under former US President Donald Trump that overwhelmingly targeted ethnic Chinese scientists in the United States (often on flimsy evidence), Dozens failed or abandoned K forced some scientists to return to China.
What will Beijing make of China Week? Chinese officials frequently a Blurry view of Congress. US representatives, less encumbered by diplomatic necessity than others in Washington, are fond Rhetorical declarations Chinese targets human rights abuses and political gestures Taiwan. The Chinese Embassy in Washington has already used his beloved nickname, “McCarthyism,” to describe legislation aimed at Beijing.
However, China’s political leadership often fails to distinguish one part of the US government from another, tending to see intergovernmental clashes and even partisanship as a facade for deeper forces of class, race, or capital. For example—based on their past behavior—it is difficult to convince Chinese officials that the US president cannot veto. Congress trip to Taiwan.
It doesn’t help that China policy is one of the few remaining areas in Washington where there is real bipartisan effort — and where US President Joe Biden continued effectively Trump’s approach. China Week, then, is likely to reinforce the view in Beijing that the US presidential election in November is relatively unimportant – that whoever wins, it won’t change things significantly for China.
What we are following
Qin Gang’s new job. Former Foreign Minister of China Qin Gangwhich disappeared from public view in July 2023, reappeared Small post At World Affairs Press, a translation and publishing house run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
News counters wild rumours Qin died or was hanged, supporting the popular theory that his downfall was caused by The alleged affair with the newscaster. A more serious failure—such as Qin being compromised by foreign powers—would lead to an even more dire fate.
In his demotion, Kin joins a so-called ally The wolf warrior Zhao Lijian, the aggressive former foreign ministry spokesman unloaded Last year at an unimportant border post. But their new positions reflect the insecurity of officials under Chinese President Xi Jinping — who have pure Hundreds of high-level officials – instead of abandoning hyper-nationalism.
Careers of other wolf-warrior diplomats, such as ambassador to France Lu Shayeremains unaffected; Meanwhile, the nationalist tabloid boss was Hu Zijin Silence lately For daring to suggest that China needs economic reform.
China reigns supreme in the Paralympics. The Paralympic Games wrapped up in Paris this week and – as has been the case since 2004 – China. Dominated the medal table. This is result Huge state sports funding for the Olympics, as well as the sheer size of the country. But while the Paralympics have brought important visibility to people with disabilities in China, the lives of most people remain. Very limitedPersons with disabilities often earn significantly less income and face barriers to finding employment in the first place.
The 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing saw minor improvements to disability access, with the addition of ramps at some prominent tourist sites, such as a section of the Great Wall. Yet most of the changes were minimal: Beijing’s approx 70,000 taxisFor example, joined by a fleet of only 30 vehicles designed for wheelchair accessibility; As of 2020, there was no accessibility status Significant improvement.
Tech and business
A football fiasco. Even as it triumphs in the Olympics and Paralympics, China remains strangely unsettled in team sports. Japan crushed China’s national team won 7-0 in a World Cup qualifying match last Thursday on the soccer field. Chinese fans have expressed grief over this A national disgrace Following the game; There has been a sense of sports and national power bound together For decades in China.
Corruption is often blamed for China’s soccer failures, but this year another crackdown – leading to 43 Ban for life This week – did little to improve things. Football, Xi’s Favorite gameThe heavy-handedness has become a metaphor for the failure of his approach to fighting corruption. Repeated crackdowns by the Chinese Communist Party have done little to effect change, possibly due to a lack of outside oversight or free speech.
Cloud seeding was blamed for the storm. Clothes dryers are rare in China, and most people still hang their laundry on balconies—which is why Underwear rain During an unexpected wind storm in the megacity of Chongqing this week. People did not have time to bring laundry with the speed of the sudden storm Hurtling clothes In the sky and known as “9/2 Chongqing underwear crisis”.
Chongqing residents, mostly jubilant if also angry, blamed the sudden storm on cloud seeding used to break a 12-day heat wave, which authorities denied. Cloud seeding is a increasingly common A Chinese weather manipulation technique, where particles of salt or silver iodide are scattered in clouds to change rainfall patterns. As China faces increasingly extreme weather, such measures are becoming routine in the summer.
Most read FP this week
A bit of culture
Although disability was often stigmatized in pre-modern China, Daoist philosophers such as Zhuangzi (late 4th century BC) took a different approach. Chapter 5 of the text named Zhuangzi“Signs of Virtue in Its Whole,” includes a cast of outcasts who, despite being deformed by birth or disfigured by criminal conviction, emerge as unlikely paragons of virtue.-Brendan O’Kane, translator
Excerpt from “Marks of Righteousness in Its Perfection.”By Zhuangzi
No-toes Shushan, a deranged criminal of Lu, rose to his heels to visit Confucius. “It was your own carelessness that made you like this,” said Confucius. “What’s the use of coming to see me now?”
“I lost my legs because I was careless of my duties and careless of my body,” said No-Toes. “I’m here now because I still have something more valuable than my legs, and I’m trying to keep them whole. ‘The heavens cover all things, and the earth carries all things.’ I thought you were like heaven and earth, sir—I never imagined you would be like this This!“
“It was less for me,” said Confucius. “Won’t you come in, please? I want to learn a lot from you.” But no-toes left.
“Disciples, notice his example!” Master said. “This man is a criminal who had his forelegs amputated for his crime—and yet, he devotes himself to learning, hoping to atone for the evil he once practiced. How much more among us whose virtue remains perfect Must!”
No-Toes said Laozi what happened “That Confucius—he’s still a long way from perfection, isn’t he? Why does he try to imitate you? He’s trying to make a name for himself with his strange notions and strange doctrines—does he not know that a perfect man is fame. And looks upon reputation as fetters and fetters?”
Laozi said: “Why not get him to regard death and life as a single thread, and to see ‘permissible’ and ‘impermissible’ tied into a single thread? Will he free him from his shackles?”
“Heaven forbid it,” said No-Toes. “How could he ever be free?”
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