Presidential election puts US political system to the test

By: Azhar Azam

The November 2020 presidential election in the US would be a cesspool of controversies, including allegations and counter-allegations, racism and bigotry with the Republican President Donald Trump indicating that he might reject the results if presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins.

In a recent interview with Fox News' host Chris Wallace, the master of shifting blame claimed that mail-in balloting, being pressed by Democrats as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, is "going to rig the election" and declined to be gracious enough to accept the potential defeat. "No, I'm not going to just say yes. I'm not going to say no, and I didn't last time either.”

Trump, who overly played down the threat of COVID-19 and is yet to come up with a public health strategy to contain the spread of disease, resisted the argument that the US has the seventh-largest mortality rate in the world and skirted taking responsibility for the dramatic surge in infected patients, passing the buck to the veteran US doctors.

He also challenged Biden's mental sharpness, reiterating that if elected, Biden would ruin the country and be pushed to the radical left.

The defamatory comment "Joe doesn't know he's alive" was just a drop in the bucket about his imperious approach toward his political opponent and a playback of his aggressive foreign policy that bullies the US international relationship and global trade system.

Opposing a new Fox national poll, which like other surveys, revealed Biden's glaring lead over Trump, he dubbed the erstwhile vice president "mentally shot." But one of the pollsters found precisely an inverse trend among the registered voters – showing that in mental soundness, intelligence and judgment capabilities – the former topped the latter in each of the measures.

Trump's petulant instinct to cull and defy outcomes when they do not favor him could brew into a blistering and sulfurous post-election crisis that would be chock-full of political disputes, charges of rigging and even violence in the streets over partial results due to mail-in voting and weeklong ballot counting.

Any hold up in the announcement of results over absentee voting could confound stark US challenges and its drift from an economic and health ordeal to political indecision.

Trump's fustian following the low turnout at his election rallies and dipping approval increases the risk of a nightmare scenario if he is voted out by public ballot.

By endorsing Attorney General William Barr's remarks that expanding votes-by-mail "absolutely opens the floodgates to fraud," Trump has already illumined his bullheaded nature that he would not vacate the White House benignly and has been preparing himself for a hard line irrespective of whether it will shove the country toward political disaster.

Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning Hoover Institution and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) at Stanford University – alongside nearly 20 experts, political scientists, former lawmakers and historians – cautioned that there was "significant scope" of unprecedented crisis after the US wraps up the presidential election at the end of the year.

As many states are not ready to host absentee voting, and some like New York and Kentucky took longer than a week to declare recent congressional primary winners, the political uncertainty in the US is set to eclipse all previous grim records.

The "deep skepticism and concern across the political spectrum" could impinge on the economic fortune of millions of Americans who have been tricked by Trump's nonsensical economic, trade and foreign policies and are being bulldozed by his horrible virus prevention and control blunders.

Thanks to its own president, the US political system is confronted with a challenge: Protect the Americans gearing up to queue in Nile-long voting lines from in-person balloting and the potential health risks or satiate Trump, perhaps the most hedonistic and unpredictable head of state ever, lest he rejects Biden's victory.

On the other hand, if Trump grabs another term, it won't be easy for the US to prevent a turndown from Democrat partisans who are still trying to bind their wounds after the 2016 defeat over the so-called foreign meddling believed to have harmed Hillary Clinton and boosted Trump's candidacy, which forced them to question the legitimacy of the vote.

Experts told CNN if Trump wins, there is serious potential for civil unrest that could overshadow the large and sometimes violent protests that occurred after Trump's 2016 win.

Historian Douglas Brinkley warned that if Trump won the Electoral College again after losing the popular vote for a second time, it would trigger "a lot of clamoring that our democracy is broken."

As the virus continues to spread and new China tensions threaten to wipe 20 percent to 30 percent off the American markets, the end of the fierce campaign for the US presidency could be the stage for another spell of deep-seated political rivalry.

With Trump signaling that he would not give up and the Democrats ambitious to secure a ticket to the executive mansion, the US political system is put on a test.

*This is one of my opinion pieces that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)" https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-07-26/Presidential-election-puts-U-S-political-system-to-the-test-Sr0OrYy4us/index.html and was republished by "China Daily" http://124.127.52.76/a/202007/27/WS5f1e39d1a31083481725c306.html

US aggressive China policy pleads for an extensive overhaul

By: Azhar Azam

Out of sheer frustration and akin to some of the other loudmouthed White House officials including President Donald Trump himself, the US Attorney General William Barr on Thursday made a narcissistic attempt to obscure China’s peaceful economic rise, its landmark Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)and territorial integrity in South China Sea (SCS).

In a speech swarmed with malice and fears of China’s emergence to the global center, he contended “Made in China 2025” as a centerpiece of its high-tech domination that threatens to end American technological leadership and alleged Beijing is “engaged in economic blitzkrieg” and seeks to surpass Washington as the world’s eminent power and replace American Dream with “Chinese solution.”

Barr completely overlooked that it is the sovereign right of China to take appropriate measures to boost its economy and protect the hard-won prosperity of its 1.4 billion people. Beijing has always welcomed the development of all the countries and expects them to hail its growth as well, which advocates win-win cooperation, enhanced trade and mutual advancement.

Amid Covid-19 challenges that have dragooned global economy to the biggest slump in 90 years and trade to fall dramatically, China thrashed all market expectations and imported 2.7% more goods in June by 2.7% as compared to a year earlier. Experts believed it was an indication of the country's accelerating economic recovery; it was also an upbeat sign of the revival of global trade and manufacturing activities by Beijing-powered initiatives.

BRI has transformed from infrastructure plan into a more wider model of health, social-economic progress and reciprocal growth for unlocking development potential but Trump’s aides still are entwined in presenting that Chinese investments would spread its power and influence or serve strategic interests domestic economic needs of Beijing.

Although the coronavirus outbreak has slashed China’s total foreign trade by 4.9%, it is fluffing to make any impact on its trade with BRI countries that rose 0.9% in the first four months of 2020 or investments, which surged 13.4%. It winked about the nascent trust and belief of the partner nations on Beijing and was yet another strong punch to the US propagation.

The Chinese government is steward of the country’s borders and the warden of peace inside the state that lays the onus of securing China’s defense on land, in air and at sea an essential duty of the overseers in Beijing as well as binds them to make legislation to safeguard people’s lives and national security interests.

China has unvaryingly respected the territorial integrity of all nations and adhered to international principles of non-interference and non-intervention in the domestic affairs of other countries, hoping to be returned with same force of commitment from international community on its sovereignty and right to self-govern its soil in a legal and political manner.

But Washington consistently fails to behave as a responsible international state and continues to see Beijing’s wholesome global economic contribution, its massive inter-continental connectivity BRI program, indigenous “Made in China 2025” blueprint to upgrade manufacturing sector, steps to bring back Hong Kong’s lost legacy of being a peaceful society and defending of maritime jurisdiction in SCS through the lens of delusive theme of “strategic competition” with China.

Beijing ranks consensus, cooperation and dialogue before discord, rhetoric and confrontation – therefore unlike the US provocative military actions that serve as a regional node to peace and stability in SCS – it has exercised maximum restraint and looks to resolve the oceangoing disputes with neighboring countries through diplomatic channels.

For the existing US federal government, anyone individual, enterprise or country – which believes in strengthening international trade in a chaotic global health and economic environment – undermines American national and foreign policy objectives and is labeled “pawns of Chinese influence” or indicted to build “the Great Firewall of China.”

In a bid to intensify off-the-cuff anti-China campaign and reverse the declining trend in Trump’s approval ratings ahead of 2020 presidential elections, the US president and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been mounting torrential pressure on American companies to relocate their manufacturing in America. Joining the two, Barr also blasted Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Apple and Hollywood for their collaboration with Chinese Communist Party.

Apple denied the charges and pressed the US for engagement with Beijing “even where we may disagree with a country’s laws.” The technology giant carried the steep worries of many US companies that were stewed of stirring up nationalistic sentiments for political gains and urged a dialogue between the two largest economies of the world to prevent a loggerhead-situation.

In a perfect clap-back to Barr and other hawkish US officials, Apple on Friday opened an entirely new megastore in Beijing’s Sanlitun that is twice in size of the original all-glass building and unveiled several firsts for it in China, a major source for Apple to find manufacturing partners and pouch beefy revenues from its App Store and iPhone sales.

The inauguration of Apple Sanlitun was itself a full-throttle rebuke and passed a cloaked message to hardliners in the Trump administration to abscond their hostile attitude toward anyone, which does not kneel to its exceptionalism and was even pushing their own companies on a sticky wicket.

Until and unless, Washington stops seeing Beijing as a “strategic competitor” and changes its Cold War mentality, it would continue to encounter such pushbacks from inside America and across the globe. The US’ aggressive China policy and swaying tactics to dominate the world are unsustainable and plead for an extensive overhaul, starting off from ending its crusade against Beijing and the global economy.

*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-07-19/U-S-aggressive-China-policy-pleads-for-an-extensive-overhaul-SfNTFabfuo/index.html

A holistic global approach for Africa?

By: Azhar Azam

Coronavirus has ruthlessly exposed delicacies in the contemporary healthcare systems and deep fissures in labor markets of global economic and technological colossuses. In view of that, battered governments are forced to simultaneously see to precipitate glut of Covid-19 patients and provide financial support to millions of jobless workers.

If most-advanced and well-heeled economies are being melted by caustic heat of deleterious contagion, the preparedness of the vulnerable nations – particularly the ones located in Africa continent – to defy this blood-curdling challenge and outlast its social and economic shocks, would be implausible and fathomless.

As thorny lung disease continues to cause tragic human losses and blow up social and economic order across the world – African Economic Outlook estimates the region could witness its GDP to contract by up to 3.4%, leading into 30 million jobs to the brink of extinction with brunt to be felt by working poor.

Even if potentially-star region managed to somehow escape from lethal ramifications of the pathogen, its impact on continent’s livelihoods would be stupefying – drastically increasing number of people facing food insecurity from 73 million and making region one of the worst-hit landmass by end of 2020.

While up to 45 million people in southern Africa face hunger after a devastating drought and two cyclones last year – the tremor of plunging international oil prices was likely to double budget deficits with Nigeria and Angola alone to slash their revenue by $65 billion, expecting loss of $50 billion to region’s fastest growing holidaying business.

Metals and minerals – such as copper, cobalt, iron ore, platinum, chrome and magnesium – is another industry hundreds of thousands of Africans are associated with. Now infection-elicited lockdown in region has padlocked the production of these vital raw materials, stroking a severe knockback to Africa’s economy and labor market.

Foreseeing a heavy and durable economic toll, which would threaten progress and prospects, widen inequalities within regional countries and deteriorate existing fragilities – the UN Economic Commission of Africa plea to the G-20, to intervene and bolster African health response, was a bleak warning about imminent crisis.

In a continent where basic necessity of regular hand washing poses a stark challenge due to unequal access to water and which accounts for only 1% of global health expenditure but carries 23% of worldwide disease burden – the potential surge in infections would indeed plunder myriad number of poor in deprived region.

Terrorism too poses a significant threat to peace and security in Africa – particularly in parts of Sahel, Lake Chad Basin region and Horn of Africa. Outlining reach of Al-Shabaab in Somalia and East Africa and collaborative attacks by affiliates of Islamic State and Al-Qaeda in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – the UNSC in March sought more global support to strengthen its counter-terrorism efforts in Africa.

People in Sahel and West Asia have paid a very high cost over towering terrorist activities. Amid a devastating surge of five-fold attacks that killed more than 4,000 civilians and military personnel in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger since 2016 – survivors were badly needing safety, food and water everywhere.

Though France in February deployed another 600 troops to Sahel, south of Sahara, to reinforce its already 4,500 military muscle engaged in Operation Barkhane ongoing since 2014 – but its intervention is embraced with ire and protests by people who denounce its presence as “neo-colonial, imperialist.”

Niger, fourth-largest uranium ore producer in world, is prey of French commercial objectives. For Paris, deriving of its electricity from nuclear energy, West African country is the major source of uranium from where its companies have been extracting radioactive material for about 50 years without benefiting local people.

Chinese debt relief to a number of African nations is a welcome development to prevent its embattled partners from more deepened socio-economic crisis. The continent however seeks such an initiative from its western allies too, allowing it to turn the tide and thwart grim situation from further degeneration.

*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared in "The Express Tribune":
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2255368/a-holistic-global-approach-for-africa

Curbs on Huawei would barricade the UK's 5G pathway to growth and glory

By: Azhar Azam

Notwithstanding all pushbacks and barriers put up by the Trump administration and amid a fierce competition in the 5G space, the Shenzhen-based Huawei continues to leapfrog the hurdles and makes new milestones in 2020 as preliminary estimates by Dell’Oro Group placed the Chinese telco giant at the top of the global equipment market for the first quarter of this year.

The revelation followed Huawei’s maiden entrance to the UK-headquartered Brand Finance’s top-10 most valuable brands listing earlier this year and its whooping surge by 42 places to emerge as 6th most innovative global company in the ranking compiled by the Boston Consulting Group, located in the US.

While Huawei and ZTE accounted for 39% of the global market – more than that of 35% combine total of rivals Finnish Nokia, Swedish Ericsson and American Cisco – the data by Silicon Valley’s leading independent market analysis and research firm heightened the importance of Chinese companies, their ability to embrace an unfavorable environment in parts of the world and flexibility to pommel the morbid challenges.

As there is no 5G firm in the US that can match the low-cost and high-performance services provided by Huawei, the officials in Washington are frustrated about lagging too far behind in the next-generation race. Although the Trump administration is pinning its hopes on or wants to take controlling stakes in Nokia and Ericsson, it is yet worried whether the two Nordic companies can really compete with Huawei in the long run.

Rapping sanctions and issuing of federal orders to restrict Huawei’s access to the American technology over its national security and foreign policy concerns, hence, remain the sole “intelligent solution” for the US to obstruct the growth of the world's largest telco. It has also been bullying its allies to espouse same reasoning to slap their 5G doors for Huawei.

The UK nonpartisan decision in January – though allowed Huawei a “limited role,” with a 35% cap, in building its 5G network – boosted trust of the Brits on their government over its bold attitude to brush off the US illegitimate demands by putting national interests first but their longtime ambition to take advantage from world class connectivity is threatened to shake.

BBC on Saturday reported that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will shortly review his pronouncement about Huawei and might set a deadline to stop Huawei working in the UK due to a shift in balance of risk as briefed by the National Cyber Security Centre of Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ) to the Britain politicians.

With the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre never found any “malicious Chinese state activity” and whatever risks were still manageable – London’s recoil from the prior stance could delay the deployment of 5G in the country and would cost billions to the UK economy, fettering its plans to stay competitive in the hyper-connected and hyper-broadband world.

Any flimsy, rash and perverse conclusion would take the breath away from the major UK mobile communications and fixed broadband service providers, BT and Vodafone, which have spent hefty sums and have had the sweats pouring down at their backs while installing Huawei masts to connect the smartphones to the 5G networks.

The weepy move could not only adversely impact almost 50 million Britain customers of the two key British companies who would be facing signals blackout but will also shove around 70,000 road cabinets to undergo an expensive and toll-taking process of rooting out Huawei gears from all over the country.

Uptight executives of the UK network providers last week met MPs and sought them up to seven years even if they were to replace Huawei kits with another option. But it is surprising what drove Johnson to backtrack from his previous posture “British deserve to have access to the best possible technology (Huawei)” and sustain significant fortune and time losses to the Kingdom.

It isn’t a brainteaser to find out some hawkish elements of the Trump administration in backstage that were annoyed by Huawei’s participation in building the UK’s 5G infrastructure and have been wielding stealthy attempts through a “Conservative backbench revolt” to urge Downing Street for a reevaluation.

Member of the Huawei Interest Group of Conservative MPs Bob Seely’s comments, he believes the government would not allow any Huawei kit to be installed after 2021 and all such equipment must be removed by 2025, hinted about the growing US influence among the deniers of cooperation and empathy toward China in the Johnson administration.

This stubborn attitude would only entice a rift in China-UK bilateral relationship that has been going through peaks and troughs despite Beijing’s efforts to step up coordination on stability of global market and economic growth and calls to stability for stronger and could tarnish Britain’s image as an open and free trade country.

And the US has played an irrefutable role through export of its decoupling doctrine to strong-arm its strategic partner. Even though the UK in May proposed to forge an alliance of ten democracies to create alternative suppliers of 5G and other equipment but as the pitch was a make-up of the Atlantic Council’s D-10 Strategy Forum introduced in 2014, it raised doubts that Britain has arched to the mounting US pressure.

Former director of operations and intelligence at the UK MI6 intelligence service, in spite of his incredulity toward China, excommunicated that the issues with Huawei were not so much about the generally-conceived cyber espionage – “after all, that’s happening in any place” – and debunked fears of Beijing becoming the world’s dominant player in 5G technology.

Taking note of flowing Chinese investments of more than 50 billion pounds over the last decade in British energy, manufacturing, telecoms and transport sectors and the higher improbability of removing Huawei’s existing infrastructure without considerable expense and delay in the rollout of 5G – Johnson should prevent to take a political decision that could have deeper implications to global and UK economy during a global health threat and would additionally bow up the Conservatives promise to provide gigabit download speeds to every home by 2025.

Consumers across the world have a very positive view about Huawei. As the shine of some US tech halos such as Facebook and Uber pales by the decline in their reputation, Huawei continues to enjoy a very strong respect across the global population and withstands its leadership position in the world’s most valuable and strongest brands.

Through potential curbs on Huawei, London must not give Washington the license to barricade the pathway to growth and glory of its telecoms operators that craves to maintain their headship in the world of 5G by strengthening their alliance and support from the leading global provider of next-generation technology.

*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-07-15/Curbs-on-Huawei-would-barricade-UK-s-5G-pathway-to-growth-and-glory-S7UFowz03u/index.html

Protect Afro-Sino relationship from virulent Western efforts

By: Azhar Azam

A latest briefing paper by the China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at John Hopkins University of School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) unequivocally belied the Western media propaganda that Beijing was responsible for the debt distress of African countries, stating the borrowed loans were based on the “wish lists” of the regional governments and labeled reports about lack of transparency in Chinese financing or it did not provide systematic data on loans “often inaccurate.”

Using Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) from the World Bank, which noted China’s share of public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) debt for 40-low African borrowers roughly made 22% in 2018, the Washington-based research program said that Beijing was a small lender in over half of the 22 countries experiencing debt crisis and their debt problems were not made in China.

Interestingly, China only accounted for a quarter or more of all PPG debt in seven of those 22 countries in Africa. With four of them having already negotiated debt restructuring with Chinese lenders in 2018 and 2019, the trumped-up charges about the so-called Beijing’s “debt trap diplomacy” to “colonize” the region were a last-gasp effort to foment its African allies.

Over the past few years, there has been a piercing buzz, mostly in the West, the African nations were vulnerable to Chinese extensive infrastructure lending that allegedly seek to gain control on continent’s key ports and would expose the continent to its unsustainable debt-load, with some describing the multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) a “Trojan horse.”

CARI itself impugned an article by The New York Times in May 2020 that claimed borrowers of Chinese loans “put up ports, mines and other crown jewels as collateral.” It said to witness only one such case in Chad that was built on collateralized lending, a form of project in which repayment is secured not through existing assets but future receivables – that too because of Chinese export credit insurer’s refusal to insure the loan over associated risks.

While the paper noted that Chinese lending has relatively been modest in more than half of those at highest risk of debt crisis, making up less than 15% all debt, the striking attributes of financing from Beijing – including low interest rates and grace period of 10 to 15 years – was a strong push-back to the westernized conjured arguments.

After the Covid-19 slashed GDP growth of the locomotive of world economy, China, in the first few months of the year, it still reached out to support its African partners and announced to cancel interest-free government loans of the relevant countries within the framework of (Forum of China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

It was visibly an unprecedented show of solidarity and realization of the economic twinges of it regional allies by Beijing – which, in a single stroke, simultaneously jostled away the cesspool of assertive elements in the western media as well, promulgating false and misleading news about China’s cooperation with Africa.

The African proclivity toward Beijing should be grossly viewed in the backdrop of China’s economic rise and development over the past decades. Chinese unflagging determination, to transform the lives of its people and build a middle-income society through poverty alleviation, fits perfectly in the long-term African plan to transmogrify its feeble destiny.

Highlighting Beijing’s economic role internationally, Reuters’ market analyst John Kemp last year said there is no scenario in which the global economy can achieve healthy growth unless five economies, especially China, see their output and incomes rise strongly. He further emphasized on Chinese cyclic position that allowed a rapidly growing middle-class to ramp up domestic demand for air travel, tourism, oil, motor vehicles and other industrial products.

It is usually held when China sneezes, the whole world catches the cold but for Africa it is something like shifting to the ventilator. It was lately re-evidenced after the African Development Bank (AfDB) warned the continent is facing grim threats of losing about $190 billion in GDP, adding another 49 million people into poverty and fizzling out of additional 25 to 30 million jobs over the coronavirus outbreak.

The tirade of notional hearsays about self-proclaimed Chinese economic invasion in the continent therefore takes a hard beat. By just a tip of its hand, from “debt trap” to debt-relief, Beijing putrefied all the bigoted diffusion and demonstrated its economic interests didn’t supersede region’s prosperity. The move instead indicated China’s keenness to lift infrastructure, increase trade and improve wellbeing of the most deprived people in the continent through its investments and concessional loans.

Beijing does not gauge its amity with Africa in tonnes of cargos or billions of dollars. ​For China, the datum-points for a stable and durable bilateral relationship are mutual respect, international diplomatic and political congruence and win-win cooperation. By endorsing the newly introduced Chinese legislation in Hong Kong, the African governments reaffirmed that they were well aligned with China and had their all-out backing to quell violence and promote peace in the autonomous region.

As China supports the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to enrich continent’s connectivity and brace industrial supply chains and explores new areas to such as digital economy, smart city, clean and fifth-generation to advance Africa’s development – the armor-plated Afro-Sino bonds would only be walled to protect their longstanding alliance from the virulent western efforts.

*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-07-10/Protect-Afro-Sino-relationship-from-virulent-Western-efforts-S0W3QV5lFm/index.html

Blanket injunction on Chinese apps shows India's broader implications

By: Azhar Azam

As talks between senior military leaderships of China and India resumed at Chushul in Ladakh on Tuesday to reduce border tensions and discuss the modalities of disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – the decoupling efforts by the political government in New Delhi may sabotage the crucial dialogue to defuse volatile situation in the region.

Watershed remarks “Nobody has entered our borders or captured our posts” by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have undone the qualms about alleged Chinese intrusion in the country’s territory and handed out an opportunity to prevent the spread of skirmish into economic war but unfortunately, India is going the way.

On Monday, the Indian technology ministry issued an order to ban nearly five dozen Chinese apps including hugely popular TikTok, social networks Helo and Likee, news aggregator Newsdog, trendy UC browser, online apparel retailer SHEIN, one of the world’s largest standalone mobile apps WeChat and the fastest cross-platform SHAREit – claiming that they were engaged in activities “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity” and defense, security and public order in India.

The top ministers also reportedly considered, as a harbinger, to possibly restrict Chinese tech behemoths like Huawei and ZTE from participating in India’s fifth-generation network rollout. Auction of high-speed 5G spectrum in India has been delayed by at least a year as the South Asian nation is fastened with the coronavirus pandemic.

Even though the two countries were making arduous attempts to fend off the standoff and reach on a unanimous consensus following Indian military incursion in Galwan Valley, resulting in an knifelike clash between the two armies – the bump ’n grind type of steps would derail the growth of Indian business starters that were trying to manifest their worth in the international technology circuit..

Chinese companies have played a critical role in setting up the Indian startups. While Gateway House, a Mumbai-based think tank, estimated that roughly 18 out of the total 30 Indian unicorns were cruising through investment from Beijing – the slew of needless measures can pierce investors’ faith and force them to suspend their financing in India, impeding the evolution of the domestic companies.

India’s encroachment of the rights of international firms not only shocked millions of users but also disappointed several businesses that were making connections through Chinese apps. Experts’ belief, it was “a purely political move” and “payback for the claimed border violations and recent violent conflict,” confounded the contention that China’s companies by any means posed any threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the Union.

The Modi administration indeed does not want to suffer any bellyaches in the form of dried up investment, which could be emanated from holding up investment by investors from the second-largest economy of the world over rising uncertainty. That is why; it has tacitly excluded Ant Financial that backs $16 billion payment giant Paytm and Tencent, on whom Edtech Byju relies for funding.

Clearly, the ruling BJP is striving to keep the “battle” with China limited and would further look to cool off the media-fueled wild nationalistic sentiments by showing up its calculated rage toward Beijing. But the gerrymandering of foreign investment to achieve political mileage would be horrendous for the fast-dropping Indian economy.

Foreign investors necessitate a favorable and healthy environment and guarantee that could ensure the protection of their long-term investment. The manipulation of their interests by the government can shake up their confidence severely and urge them to pull out current and planned Chinese investments of more than $26 billion and could potentially throw a chill wave of panic among other investors from the world.

Since March, the Covid-19 outbreak has bottled-up the Indian health sector and put economic activities on halt over the countrywide lockdowns. After Modi sought help from people across all walks of life to contribute generously in the PM CARES (Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation) Fund, the Chinese companies operating in India have immediately extended their unreserved support to culminate the social anxieties.

Responding to Modi’s call, the now-banned TikTok in April donated about $4 million while the other Chinese companies including Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo and OnePlus also provided a total of nearly $2 million collectively. In return, they are smothered by New Delhi for political catalysts that set an infelicitous pattern of targeting specific firms, which could bully more companies other than Beijing’s in future and force the existing one to retrench their investment.

A legal advisor to Chinese companies warned if the order is not reversed, it could tempt the aggrieved firms to cut back their operations, causing loss of employment to India. Many TikTok users also expressed their displeasure on the blacklisting. Though Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma lauded the ban, Alibaba's exuberant share – 40% in the app’s parent organization, One97 Communications – accentuated how reliant the digital payment startup was on Chinese firm. Native industry overall too is fearful of the dissolution of opulent investment from Beijing.

ByteDance’s TikTok is the first Chinese tech company to emerge as the major Facebook competitor. This miraculous growth pushed Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of the mega social media company, to reportedly admit that the social video sharing platform was doing well with “young folks” in the US and around the world.

Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019 found that China had bested the US by 206 to 203. While the “Big 4” – China, the US, India and the UK – made up a staggering 90% share, Chinese Ant Financial, ByteDance and ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing grabbed all the three top positions, with valuations of $150 billion, $75 billion and $55 billion respectively.

Two in the top-3 Indian unicorns, One97 Communications ($10 billion) and Byju ($6 billion) that are drawing investment from Alibaba and Tencent, were also in the listing. This, alongside the revelation that more than 99% of Xiaomi smartphones (and TVs) sold in India are manufactured locally, showed Chinese companies have greatly supported to develop and expand the native industry.

If not reviewed, the blanket injunction on Chinese apps and manufacturing companies could have broader implications for the long-contemplated Indian economic and technological growth. The potential back-flight of investment would accelerate the melting-pace of the Indian economy, worsening job outlook amid a global stagnation as well as shatter the “Make in India” campaign. Revision and revocation of the divisive order hence remain the only viable solution for New Delhi.

*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-07-06/Blanket-injunction-on-Chinese-apps-shows-India-s-broader-implications-RSCSDLjDqw/index.html

Time magazine bitterly exposed the US malicious activities in HKSAR

By: Azhar Azam

A shocking report by the Time magazine discovered that the Trump administration was deeply involved in inflaming violence and supporting rioters in Chinese Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) through less-known but very powerful US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees several internet freedom and foreign news initiatives including Voice of America and Radio Free Asia.

It further revealed that the US federal government had frozen roughly $2 million of funding, aimed to help the violent protesters in HKSAR to evade Chinese surveillance, just five days after Trump’s ally Michael Pack took the charge as the new head of the controversial agency. Pack believed that “bolstering (Chinese) firewall circumvention” was still “a top priority of his, indicating to continue the US disruptive backing for the subversive elements trying to destabilize the autonomous region.

Though Washington seldom respected international laws and basic norms governing international relations and has consistently been legislating over HKSAR that tantamount to its gross intervention in China internal affairs and sovereignty – the fresh epiphany was yet another irrefutable evidence of American involvement in the region to fuel violence and extremism in a bid to denigrate Beijing globally.

Distribution of funding by the US Congress through Washington-based Open Technology Fund (OTF), officially a non-profit organization but actually financed by the Congress with government insight, vindicated Chinese stance that the so-called pro-democracy protests in HKSAR had a veiled, profound US backing US with the sole intention to push the Asian financial hub into a havoc.

The findings also highlighted that the social unrest, vandalism, attacks on law enforcement agencies and street violence had its origins in a foreign country, which has been trying to spice things up in HKSAR, and the rioters, disturbing peace and playing with the prosperity of the Hongkongers, were only the puppets of a larger game plan that was conceived and controlled thousands miles away.

Washington claimed that the new security legislation to safeguard national security in HKSAR, proposed by the Chinese National People’s Congress (NPC) on May 22 and adopted on Tuesday, was a procedural step, contradicting the spirit and practice of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and “One Country, Two Systems” framework.

But the latest revelations showed that Chinese HKSAR legislation was a timely and rational decision by Beijing – to protect the city from secession, subversion, terrorist activities and collusion with a foreign country or external elements – as well as to ensure the basic human rights of a large number of citizens who were filled to brim because of widespread violence that has pushed their motherland to the brink of social and economic collapse and threatened their safety.

The joint- and welcome-statement "Non-interference in internal affairs of sovereign states is an essential principle enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations” by as many as 52 countries at the 44th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the adoption of the HKSAR law was an endorsement to China’s right to shelter its national security and prevent the city from a more intensified upheaval.

In the wake of growing chaos, the large-numbered peace-loving local residents were looking at their custodians in Beijing to take some solid peace-ensuring measures to make rioters accountable. The novel legislation would ascertain an environment where they could practice their rights freely and pursue work to improve the household economy without any tyranny of violence and vandalism.

Unsurprisingly, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came up with his entrenched spite toward China and said on Wednesday “This (HKSAR legislation) is outrageous and affront to all nations,” echoing to implement Trump’s directive to end HKSAR’s special status though failed to describe how the US would strip the territory of its privileges.

While the declaration, the legislative power on HKSAR security issues rests with China, by more than four dozen nations strongly opposed Pompeo’s hollow-uttered remarks, his secluded voice looked more to pressurize Beijing. About severing ties with HKSAR, the experts doubted that the move would hurt China, given the US extensive business interests in the region.

Professor of economics at Syracuse University and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics Mary E. Lovely said Trump’s’ Hong Kong policy was “dramatic but doomed,” which will do little harm to China and would further isolate Washington from its allies. Terming removal of HKSAR special custom “toothless,” she also blasted the US tariff campaign that stressed out American businesses and consumers rather than on someone they were intended for.

The Time detailed several other projects in HKSAR that were cramped by the US fund freeze and could just be the thin edge of a much larger wedge. Nevertheless, following better understanding of the territory’s issues at the internal arena, the violent protests in HKSAR are now gradually losing the momentum.

As the new law would further assist to curb social unrest and invoke stability and development in the city, it would help the people to regain their well-being that was lost due to the foreign intervention and the unruly activities of their pawns. The malicious US efforts in HKSAR anyways are now bitterly exposed.

*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-07-04/Time-magazine-bitterly-exposed-the-U-S-malicious-activities-in-HKSAR-RQU8yrqkFy/index.html

CPEC needs a push but US has no right to question its transparency

By: Azhar Azam

On Thursday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan witnessed the signing event of $2.4 billion worth of Kohala Hydro Project, the largest energy sector investment in the annals of the history of Pakistan. The 1,124-megawatt power project will be implemented by China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC) through its subsidiary under the framework of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Branding the tripartite agreement between Chinese firm and the governments of China and Pakistan “the country’s biggest foreign investment,” Khan hailed the project for shoring up Islamabad’s efforts to promote a “green and clean energy power generation”, slash its over-dependence on imported fuel and creating additional jobs.

Yet another landmark CPEC project followed the barren 2020 Fiscal Transparency Report by the US Department of State that chided Pakistan for not adequately disclosing its debt obligations, with a special focus on financing to state-owned enterprises for CPEC projects and sought Islamabad to improve transparency over the government-guaranteed loans.

The US forthright interference in the sovereign matters forced Pakistan to quickly fire back as in a veiled nod to Washington, the chairman CPEC Authority and media advisor to Khan, Lt. Gen. (retired) Asim Saleem Bajwa, called out detractors of the avant-garde corridor to stop giving false impression about the project, reaffirming that it would reduce the loan burden.

A stir-the-port effort, claiming Washington was concerned about transparency in CPEC projects by the US top diplomat for South and Central Asia Alice Wells in May, was also responded strongly by Pakistan. In a statement, Islamabad rebuked her assertion and stated the CPEC was positively and transparently contributing to the national development.

Washington, which holds an ingrained and chronological record of ditching and tightening the screws on Islamabad through suspension of economic and military aid even at the crucial junctures, has no right to question the fate-changer project that is central to the economy and prosperity of the poor South Asian nation and so far brought $25 billion in direct investment from China compared to just over $1 billion from the US between 2012 to 2019.

Islamabad, having been hacked off with the malicious US debt-trap tittle-tattles inseparably linked with the CPEC, is accelerating the pace of the project that anchored its government-to-government and people-to-people relationship with Beijing and underpins Khan’s vision of generating 10 million jobs and complete Pakistan’s economic turnaround.

Within a few years, the corridor has completely ameliorated the country’s energy and infrastructure landscape. While the addition of 5,320-megawatt to the power sector helped Pakistan to transform from power station into an energy-surplus destination, the construction of 1,544km of roads and erection of 820km of cross-border optical fiber would reduce transportation cost and time, a key metric to foster economic development, increase trade, alleviate poverty, unleash employment opportunities and attract foreign investment.

In addition, the blueprint of recently signed $7.2 billion revolutionary ML-1 project between China and Pakistan – including singular features such as doubling of Karachi-Peshawar track, uplifting the number of passenger from 55 to 80 million and five-fold increase in cargo load to 25 million tons – provides Pakistan Railways to veer from losses to profitability, produce 174,000 direct jobs and fasten its progress toward automation and digitalization.

While the facelift of the critical national institution would assist Railways to regain the confidence of passengers, it will ease pressure on Pakistan economy that has been gridlocked over allocation of substantial amount on accounts of subsidies, cash development loans and equity injections for the survival and operations of public sector enterprises.

The CPEC gives Pakistan a peerless edge to rapidly improve its social and economic development as well as fast-track self-reliance through industrialization. While it can prove a growth-puller in the time of global recession, the establishment of special economic zones (SEZs) and other infrastructure projects has a great potential to push Pakistan’s GDP growth close to 7% and breed skilled workers.

As the toxic fallouts of the Covid-19 continue to bite Pakistan, the efforts to elevate stature of CPEC by relocating technology and industry could support the plunging domestic economy, flood lurching job market, pull international investments, cut import bill, fortify foreign exchange reserves and assist to pay back foreign loans.

Last year, a study by Islamabad-based research edifice found SEZs are likely to create 575,000 direct and over one million indirect jobs in just four of the nine proposed economic zones. So, it’s all set for Pakistan youth bulges to employ their skills in the fields of chemicals, ceramics, electrical appliances, pharmaceuticals, light engineering, marble, plastic and packing, gem and jewelry, food processing and steel industries and play an important role in reviving the country’s economy.

However in the face of CPEC’s gradually maturing benefits, there is a dire need to swiftly overcome procedural delays and technical issues like Rashakai SEZ whose groundbreaking has been deferred by nearly six months. What’s more, government ought to settle tariff issues with Chinese energy firms in a polite way since any chaffing can put Beijing in an awkward position against their companies and it might also thwart more investments from other foreign investors.

After launching of CPEC phase-2, the improvident and redundant arguments within Pakistan about proximity of project with economy must end too as proceeding on the corridor is assiduously in the interest of Pakistan. Any kind of misperception at this time would hold back industrialization advancement and chop up years of hard work and overall progression of project.

Last and foremost, the US bears no prerogative to disseminate misleading statements, raise doubts or grill Pakistan on the transparency of the CPEC projects. It is purely a bilateral economic and infrastructure agreement between Beijing and Islamabad and Washington may better leave it at the disposal of the two all-weather allies how they drive the project.

*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-06-29/CPEC-needs-a-push-but-U-S-has-no-right-to-question-its-transparency-RIh7fwLuIU/index.html

Consequences of a showdown between two Koreas

By: Azhar Azam

Following reports that the US President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to slash the country's troops in Germany by 9,500 from an existing level of 34,500 and White House said that he is continuously assessing American military presence overseas – the concerns have mounted in Seoul about his possible analogous plans in South Korea.

Seoul currently hosts a 28,500-strong US Forces Korea (USFK). Trump in December said it is up for debate whether stationing that much troops in the South is in the national security interest of the US and his decision “can go either way.” In April, he however retreated but questioned the cost-sharing formula for the upkeep of American troops.

The two long-time allies have locked their horns to conclude the negotiations on apportionment of military expenditure even though Washington has backed off from its initial demand of $5 billion to $1.3 billion a year, still 50% more from last year while Seoul is insisting on 13% increase.

In a buildup to soaring frictions between the two bordering countries, after North Korea on Tuesday said that it would suspend its all communications lines with South Korea, the long-drawn-out deadlock in burden-sharing consultations could urge Trump to threaten Seoul on scaling back the number of the USFK.

North’s certitude to sever the liaison links, including the hotlines between the political and military leaderships of two nations if Seoul does not stop defectors from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets and other materials into North, elevated fears in South that the US president might adopt a tougher policy on cost-sharing agreement.

The officials in North are particularly enraged with South over airing of about 5,000 balloons in the past few weeks by its activists carrying flyers slating Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions amid slackened efforts to provide it the relief on international sanctions in exchange for rolling back its fissile program.

Seoul is also troubled with Washington’s bellicose attitude to extort it on capitulating over a new cost-sharing pact albeit the former last year unveiled plans to spend an additional $239 billion on military modernization between 2020 and 2024, an influx that will include everything from anti-missile systems to reconnaissance satellites, to be bought mostly from the US.

The White House on the other hand is wary of Seoul’s warm-heartedness toward Beijing after South Korean ambassador to the US Lee SOO-hyuck told reporters last week that he feels pride his country being able to “choose” between the two superpowers, complaining reduced US interest in Korean peninsula due to Covid-19 and burden-sharing issues.

South Korea is trying to rebalance its relationship with its longstanding ally, the US and largest trading partner, China. On May 27, North Korean Director of Foreign Affairs Go Yun-ju attended a conference hosted by the American Research Center at the Sejong Institute and said, “Korea is in an alliance with the United States and has a strong economy connection with China,” offering South’s role to reset China-US relations.

Although the US Department of Defense and Seoul had reached an agreement to fund $200 million for 4,000 furloughed Korean nationals who work for the USFK through the end of 2020, the arrangement did not resolve the months of impasse on Special Measures Agreement (SMA), the mechanism by which South shares the cost of American troops to defend its territory.

Irked by Berlin’s reluctance to ratchet up its defense budget, adhesion to Iran nuclear deal and support for Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline – Trump’s move to cut the US troops in Germany is widely seen as a pressure tactic to force South agree on cost-sharing accord and that the current nuisances between two Koreas would help him in making Seoul more flexible.

The growing rifts now endanger the collapse of the Panmunjom Declaration, which pledged ending Korean War and beginning of a “new era of peace” in the peninsula and drove the two heads on a consensus to go for trilateral talks involving the US or four-way dialogue including China. As Kim Jong-un's powerful sister Kim Yo-jong has already threatened to tear the historic treaty apart, the apprehensive situation now threatens a full-blown military confrontation.

While Seoul should prevent any provocation, Pyongyang also needs to understand that military adventurism can further weaken its international credibility. With the increasing realization of the higher associated costs of war and its subsequent ceaseless and fatal consequences amid a global pandemic, the nations across the world aren’t in an ideal position to play an effective mediation role between the two rivals.

If North and South fail to assess the changing global dynamics and don’t make a swift progress to end the going deadlock and shun a cliff edge that was the tip-sheet of the past era – it won’t be either of the sides who will decide the fate of the war, it would potentially the massive civilian casualties, sprang from pouring missiles and Covid-19, which would lay the landmines for the destruction of the economies and infrastructure of the two.

*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared in "The Express Tribune":
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2252465/consequences-of-a-showdown-between-two-koreas

Lack of sincerity doubts the U.S.' engagement in 'Indo-Pacific'

By: Azhar Azam

*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-06-28/Lack-of-sincerity-doubts-the-U-S-engagement-in-Indo-Pacific--RFGRiBJSCc/index.html

A report by a Chinese think tank, National Institute of for South China Sea Studies (NISCSS), said that the Trump administration has been trying to exert the US security, political and economic influence in the Asia-Pacific through the troop deployment from its Indo-Pacific Command and large-scale high-tech and latest weaponry and a broad series of controversial “Indo-Pacific” strategies.

The study pressed the US to drop the impression of starting a new cold war and hail China’s concept of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation that would reduce the risk of a military conflict between the largest and second-largest economies of the world and ensure peace and stability in the region.

Urging a military-to-military cooperation, the paper suggested that the two sides should prioritize to resolve differences and set up hotline links, implement confidence and crisis prevention agreement and work to create a felicitous environment for communication and dialogue on nuclear security, cyber and outer space and artificial intelligence.

It is now a secret of Polichinelle that the US has been making frantic and grievous efforts to dominate the Asia-Pacific and the Strait of Malacca, from where nearly 60% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) flows, to overcome its economic headlocks by positioning the so-called security forces assistance brigades (SFABs).

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy in January asserted that Washington would send its training and advisory units in 2021 and 2022 to the Asia-Pacific to “neutralize all the investments in China and Russia have made.” The move to deploy multi-domain task forces – with a focus on the realms of intelligence, information, cyber, electronic warfare and space (I2CEWS) – was to be bolstered by making new alliances with the regional partners and signing a new agreement with the National Reconnaissance Office that develops the US spy satellites.

The US Department of Defense in early 2018 announced to stand up one National Guard and five active-duty SFABs and installed the first in Afghanistan in May 2018. The Fort Bragg, NC-based 2nd SFAB replaced the first in the spring of 2019, which is now slated to be swapped by another this month. Washington has so far arrayed the brigades in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa and lately sent a unit to assistant the Colombian army.

Although the Pentagon claimed the success of the first SFAB in Afghanistan, the US Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) expressed his skepticism in the ability and competence of the specialized forces. Speaking on June 2019 report, SIGAR chief John Sopko said that the training and advisory mission couldn’t develop the capabilities of Afghan security forces because it failed to find enough experienced advisors and despite offerings of a number incentives, “the first SFAB was (just) filling billets right up to the day they departed.”

American embassy on May 28 announced the arrival of a SFAB in Colombia to help its fight against drug trafficking. But it wasn’t welcomed in the country either over doubts whether the effort was part of a security strategy between the two countries or linked with a veiled alliance against Venezuela. The leaders of opposition party slammed the move and accused the US for starting a regional war.

It is thus somewhat incredulous how the US task forces in the Pacific would help the country to ensure the pretended “ironclad and enduring commitment” to the region and strengthen American position to conduct global commerce, build investors’ confidence and allot it to compete economically. Instead, any sort of incitement in its priority-theater would nonplus global economy, quiver capital markets and shake up stockholders’ trust.

The US should needs to remodel its strategy and stop baiting nations in the Asia Pacific for annexing a teeming influence in the vital shipping lanes and pursue the path of cooperation, mutual existence, peaceful development and shared growth that would be the bedrock of a renewed Sino-US collaboration in an era tensed global economic topography.

Making headway, China’s commitment to defend world peace, advance development worldwide and upholding international order provides an ideal footprint to thwart frictions and promote cooperation between the two countries in the Asia-Pacific. It nevertheless should bet counterweighted with the equitable response and trust building measures from the US.

It is by dint of unswerving Chinese efforts to lift mutual assurance and multilateral engagement with ASEAN nations that their conviction in Beijing is climbing. The State of Southeast Asia survey 2020 by a Singaporean firm ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute earlier this year found that 7 out of 10 ASEAN member states preferred China over the US.

Beijing’s concept of the Asia-Pacific is comprehensive and pragmatic. It describes irrespective of what initiatives and ideas are proposed, that should not affect the existing cooperation, mechanisms and achievements in the region and emphasis should be given on consensus, openness and inclusiveness without engaging in geographical confrontations.

The issue of South China Sea is however a matter of sovereignty and maritime right but Beijing is still committed to resolve the row with ASEAN countries through political consensus and peaceful dialogue. In its extensive promise with the regional allies, China hasn’t drilled a single oil well before a concord was reached. Wherefore, it remains ASEAN’s largest partner for 11 consecutive years that is the attestation of growing empathy between the two sides.

Only a strong and stable China can bankroll peace and development in the region and beyond while its economic growth is also in the interest of the US as it would ensure Beijing to meet its purchase commitments under the phase-1 trade deal with Washington and help the Trump administration to stem the flow of rising job losses and even reverse the trajectory.

China usefulness, as key contributor to the US economy, has proven many times in the past and was again established when recently country’s conflict-sensitive Dow futures dove nearly 400 points after the White House trade advisor Peter Navarro incorrectly claimed that the trade deal was “over” and Trump had to intervene to paraphrase that the treaty was “intact.”

This is pretty obvious that in a rapidly-maturing, well-informed and technologically-transformed world, the countries can’t be conned by the US assertions that its approach for the Asia-Pacific is to safeguard “sovereignty, freedom, openness, rule of law, fairness and reciprocity” and doesn’t exclude China. Washington’s claims about playing a constructive role can only be endorsed if it ceases to exacerbate situation in the Asia-Pacific and sincerely engages Beijing for a durable peace and sustainable economic development in the region.