China and Middle East jointly beat back US-led human rights propaganda

By: Azhar Azam

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on an official trip to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain and a working visit to Oman. In the face of bullying of Beijing and Arab states by some Western countries under the pretext of human rights, the two sides have a shared interest to protect themselves from outside intervention.

A bilateral consensus between Beijing and Mideast nations was therefore a pressing priority to jointly counter the coordinated Western propaganda in addition to discussing regional affairs and strategic issues, building a strong wall against pandemic, reviving the region's economy and promoting synergy through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

While Wang's interaction with Mideast leaders will deepen ties with all the six countries that have signed up for the BRI along with Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar and Yemen, the visit would safeguard the UN-governed international system and rules-based global order.

Beijing never took sides in the regional conflicts so that tensions may not spin out of control and status quo could be retained. China's impartial stance, growing respect as a political and development ally and consistent position to iron out differences through peaceful means make it a potential deal broker to tune up regional peace and stability.

That's why in the first leg of his six-nation trip, Wang gained support from Saudi Arabia, where Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman firmly backed China's position on the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Taiwan region, blasted attempts to interfere in Chinese internal affairs and described Western disinformation as an effort to pit the Muslim world against Beijing.

Saudi Arabia, together with Bahrain and the UAE, is one of the U.S.' key allies and has been among numerous Muslim states that rejected the alleged Chinese abuses in Xinjiang and supported the security law for peace in Hong Kong at the UN. As U.S. President Joe Biden gears up to target Saudi Arabia on the so-called human rights violations, China firmly stands by the Kingdom to protect its national sovereignty from external interference.

In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured Wang his country firmly opposed any form of terrorism and expressed desire to build closer ties with China. With the EU threatening to "use the instruments and options" and impose economic sanctions on Ankara, Wang's proposal to increase exports of Turkish products and currency swaps could help the battered Turkish economy, stabilize the shedding lira and offset the bloc's mounting pressure.

Ahead of Wang's visit, Beijing continued its long-standing commitment with Tehran and urged Washington to demonstrate a sense of urgency and take practical actions to secure the Iran nuclear deal. Biden signaled to rejoin the 2015 nuclear treaty but hooked up the talks with Iranian suspension of uranium enrichment.

Tehran is one of the rare areas where the U.S. seeks Chinese cooperation, and China is determined to play an active role in bringing the comprehensive deal back on track. As Biden is cautious to reinstate the international-brokered agreement, a recent push by 43 U.S. senators, to look for a broader deal with Iran without returning to the original pact, endangers the restoration and doubts American sincerity on a critical issue.

The U.S. was first to unilaterally withdraw from a binding treaty and force Iran to retaliate, so it is Washington that should lift sanctions on Tehran and lead the way for constructive and meaningful negotiations, or its goal of nuclear non-proliferation would loom in the dark.

Amid Western mercenary attitudes to stockpile vaccines for their population, Gulf nations such as the UAE and Bahrain are quickly inoculating their people using the China-made Sinopharm vaccine. But some irresponsibly link purely a humanitarian gesture to save valuable lives with "vaccine diplomacy" and seek support for each other's counter-terrorism efforts, fearing evolution of the Mideast-China relationship through a new type of cooperation.

Unlike U.S. politicians who see national security threats emanate from China, Russia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or Iran – ordinary Americans think otherwise. They believe the biggest threat comes from inside the country, "from other people in America and domestic enemies." After the Capitol riots, only 6 percent of Americans felt the U.S. democracy and rule of law was "very secure," with 51 percent saying political violence would increase in the next few years.

The U.S. is caught up in an obsession that it can round out its strategy, aimed at regaining the lost American global leadership, through forced alignment against China. Just days after the EU imposed restrictions on Chinese officials, the bloc has realized that it should pursue an independent China policy, free from U.S. influence, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Brussels and Washington didn't agree on everything over Beijing.

With Mideast countries voicing strong support for China, including on human rights, the U.S. should quickly understand it lacks resources and ability to dominate the globe and its bullying of nations in the pretext of human rights violations would fail in a multipolar world. As the Middle East has been drifting away over Washington's panic-mongering policy and Biden's arm-twisting of Arab states accelerates this break-up process, the regional nations discover a much more earnest and honest partner, China, to jointly beat back the U.S.-led whisper campaign.

*This is one of my opinion pieces that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":  
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-03-28/China-and-Middle-East-beat-back-U-S-led-human-rights-propaganda-YZXsVdA5pe/index.html

U.S. intention to discuss all issues and continue dialogue can make Anchorage talks a success

By: Azhar Azam

In the bone-chilling cold of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska, close to halfway between Beijing and Washington, the heated discussion between American and Chinese top diplomats is underway. Alaskans, whose economy is highly dependent on trade with other countries including China, are being emboldened to offer a warm welcome.

After returning from a trip to Asia, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan meet Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Washington predicts a "difficult conversation" with "a long litany of disagreements" while Beijing hopes to manage differences and bring the China-U.S. relationship back on track.

Even if outcomes of the first China-U.S. in-person talks since the U.S. President Joe Biden took over do not result in a major breakthrough on deep-seated issues, an agreement on global challenges such as climate change and global health security can show the way to patch things up on other disputes like trade and technology and set the direction for future engagement between the world's leading economies.

Prior to the meeting, Blinken said that the U.S. does not intend for "a series of follow-on engagements" at this point. As Biden wants to lead with diplomacy and given avenues of cooperation, where he promised to welcome China, cannot be achieved by a one-off conversation, it is crucial for the U.S. president to keep Beijing engaged or his call to defuse the international threats through collaborative response will be seen as brinkmanship by the world.

The convergent views on shared concerns are great but open-door policy must be pursued to make progress on all frictional issues. Washington has finally recognized that its relations with Beijing in coming years would encompass cooperation and not just all-out competition. So by keeping the deliberations alive, a much-needed working relationship can be constructed and strengthened.

In addition, the process to reach a bilateral consensus on complex issues shouldn't be time-barred as not all of those can necessarily be realized quickly. Resolution to disputes sometimes takes years of untiring diplomatic efforts while ensuring the two economies do not decouple. The China-European Union (EU) investment deal is one good example of how the two sides prevented closing off all channels, sticked to consistent dialogue, maintained economic and trade ties and finally secured a symbiotic pact after seven years of marathon talks.

Ahead of the big talks, Biden hastily looked to promote the core of his foreign policy, aligning the U.S. allies against China. Earlier, he held a first-ever leadership summit of the Quad along with prime ministers of Australia, India and Japan. The U.S. president also sent Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to Tokyo and Seoul to show off strong support from American partners.

Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have been long-time U.S. allies but struggle to tide over deep divisions amid fraying relations over latter's court rulings in 2019, ordering Japanese companies to pay compensation for forced labor during World War II. Meanwhile, their economic and trade relations with China continue to grow. The joint statements in Tokyo and Seoul may for now catch some media hype to the U.S. favor, however serious bilateral Japan-ROK rifts and their economic interests with China could blow up the regional plans in the long run.

Washington is keen to sign up South Korea to the Quad, but Seoul does not want to join the anti-China alliance that could provoke its largest economic partner and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ally. As observers say Seoul's motive is not to balance against Beijing, it would be more interested in improving the regional security environment through peace with China, which often played a key role in bringing Pyongyang to nuclear talks.

The EU is the other key target of the U.S. administration's strategy to contain China. Biden and his aides cast doubts on implementation of the China-EU investment agreement. But unlike Washington that seeks to build a transatlantic alliance to cap China's rise, Beijing is committed to fulfill every single commitment of the deal; bolster support for shared priority issues such as climate change, reforms of the United Nations and Middle East and stand by Brussels in efforts to take a bigger role in global affairs.

Bringing like-minded countries on the same wavelength or an approach to see the U.S. allies as "force multipliers" recalls the U.S. cold war mentality. The U.S. needs to review and alter its thoughts as China is now the cornerstone of the global economy, deeply integrated with the U.S. economy.

Moreover, the nations today are deeply unattractive toward a Cold War 2.0 and have grown up enough to avoid becoming the center of global geopolitics. The COVID-19 has made them realize that all states should settle disputes through dialogue and focus on restoring the global economy as well as fighting climate change and pandemics to make the world more secure for mankind.

In a globalized world, there is no place for outdated and confrontational ideology. Finding commonalities by American and Chinese negotiating teams is the best way to mitigate differences and protect interests of the two. Any attempt to establish "ground rules" and draw "red lines" for the China-U.S. relationship will not replicate Chinese positive response to send its top diplomats to the U.S.

A truce in diplomatic war and unanimity to discuss all issues are two of the major points that are supposed to be high on agenda since tense relations cannot be calmed unless counterparts agree on softening attitude, ending interference in each other internal affairs, dispelling misunderstandings and continuing dialogue on all frictional matters.

The bottom line is that the U.S. need not use gatherings as a bulwark against China like it did to gain leverage in Anchorage talks. The Biden administration should read the global pulse and show intent to discuss all issues, agree to continue the dialogue to build on the all-important negotiation and make sincere efforts to translate it into a success for his country, China and the whole world.

*This is one of my opinion pieces that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-03-19/U-S-intention-to-continue-dialogue-can-make-Anchorage-talks-a-success-YKxZr3YZm8/index.html  

Withdrawal of foreign troops and intra-Afghan dialogue remain crucial

By: Azhar Azam

Notwithstanding changes in the U.S. foreign policy and reverting former President Donald Trump's decisions on some global issues, one of America's international commitments that the current U.S. President Joe Biden should honor is troop withdrawal from Afghanistan within the agreed 14-month timeline to meet the years-long Taliban condition for talks with the Afghan government.

By retaining Zalmay Khalilzad as the U.S. envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, who negotiated the peace deal between Washington and the Afghan Taliban, and emphasizing on a political solution to the conflict, the Biden administration signaled not to deviate from the treaty. However, lately it's been in shambles on the complete pullout from the battle-weary country.

With the deadline of May 1 approaching fast, a Pentagon report saying "In wake of the February 2020 agreement, all is not well" and noting that the departure of the U.S. and coalition troops could be more devastating to the "survival of the Afghan state" would further test the decision-making ability of the new U.S. government.

The report leaves the U.S. president who is studying the pact his predecessor sealed a year ago in disarray. As reassessments take time in the U.S., the institutional review process to reconsider the withdrawal of the remaining 2,500 soldiers, along with nearly 10,000 NATO forces, additionally threatens to shatter last year's deal on the heels of an arduous diplomatic activity and could go on to halt the Afghan peace process.

An undated letter by the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani encouraged moving forward settlement quickly through a high-level diplomatic effort under the UN-convened six-nation mission and enforcing a ceasefire between conflicting parties. It also expressed concern that "the security situation will worsen and that the Taliban could make rapid territorial gains." The letter shows an ambivalent Biden team with no clue whatsoever about how to proceed on the critical phase of the intra-Afghan dialogue.

Washington's leaked documents – whether to adhere, negotiate an extension of the U.S. withdrawal or even defy the pact altogether and keep presence in Afghanistan – earlier showed that the Biden administration is in search of political wiggle room through a twin-pronged strategy in the eventuality of military withdrawal or continued presence.

Blinken claimed he did not intend to dictate terms and wanted to enable both sides to reach a peace agreement as rapidly as possible. But the "moonshot" peace plan including formation of an inclusive government was shortly rejected by the Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh as he said Kabul will not tolerate a "bossy and imposed peace" and that the U.S. "can make decisions on their troops, not people of Afghanistan."

The U.S. draft proposal for peace in Afghanistan – including principles of Afghan constitution and foreign policy, terms for governing the country during a transition period and agreed conditions for a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire – to jumpstart Afghan peace negotiations may be a good prospect but could derail the process at the same time.

Since Washington appears to extend its stay without an outright endorsement from either the Afghan government or Taliban to the power-sharing formula, armed factions' rejection to the ceasefire and election and every passing day required to remove the U.S. weaponry and equipment from Afghanistan before May 1 could disrupt the peace negotiations.

As a means to circumvent sharp criticism back home, the Biden administration should not bark up the wrong tree – intra-Afghan dialogue – and must not distract itself from the real objective – ending the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, which was Taliban's fundamental demand to engage in the breakthrough consultations.

After NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg last month said the alliance will not withdraw its forces from Afghanistan "before the time is right" amid U.S. calls to delay the pullout, Taliban's co-founder and lead negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in an open letter addressed to the American public reiterated that the implementation of the Doha agreement was in the interest of all and the most effective way of ending the war.

The move to defer the troop withdrawal and seek more time to advance the peace process and impose a foreign agenda of forming an interim government would be barren and could push the country toward more instability as well as sabotage the crucial peace talks as Afghans haven't historically welcomed this idea.

If the U.S. is truly committed to end the longest American war and wants to demonstrate urgency in the peace process, it should withdraw forces from Afghanistan and actively support Afghan-led, Afghan-owned negotiations that will more effectively settle the entrenched internal disputes, prevent terrorist groups from launching attacks and lead the way for a peaceful political transition.

The deteriorating peace conditions, reduced international financial support, continued political dissent and re-surging violence with warlords sourcing funds and stockpiling ammunition to secure their territories for a potential civil war – warn the U.S. and international community to realize sensitivity of situation and adopt an objective and impartial stance to accelerate the peace talks among Afghan parties.

What the Biden administration needs to do is complete its review quickly, stick to the promise of troop withdrawal, facilitate a constructive and peaceful reconciliation between the Kabul government and Afghan insurgents and let the onus of success of talks rest with Afghan stakeholders who are best placed to wipe off uncertainties hanging around the future of Afghanistan.

The people of Afghanistan have suffered a lot in attempts to make the country a battlefield of international competition and launch a new cold or proxy war against other states. A full-bodied support from the U.S. and international community for intra-Afghan dialogue and Afghan reconstruction would help them earn the right to live a secure life and improve household economy, which is also tied to withdrawal of foreign troops in an organized way and an extensive global mediation role for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace process.

*This is one of my opinion pieces that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-03-15/Withdrawal-of-foreign-troops-and-intra-Afghan-dialogue-remain-crucial-YE0SooWV3O/index.html

An empathetic China-US relationship is vital to face much bigger global challenges

By: Azhar Azam

Under former President Donald Trump, the US has been quite demanding on cooperation. He had an obsession to use allies and partners as an instrument to magnify American power, extend influence, shape the international environment to advantage and identify areas of cooperation with competitors from a position of strength through military means.

His successor Joe Biden covets to lead with diplomacy and encounter rivals also from a position of strength by bolstering alliances and widening the circle of cooperation because the US strength is multiplied when it combines efforts to “address common challenges, share costs and widen the circle of cooperation." He believes by restoring US credibility, he would ensure America, not China, sets the international agenda, allowing the country to prevail in strategic competition with not just Beijing but any other nation.

Apparently, two approaches take diverse tracks yet push for one shared thread – the US should unilaterally control the world, American cooperation isn’t universal and allies must embrace stated foreign policy goals of the respective administrations. The ambitions seek partners to shore up the US national security strategy with stark warning they dare not defy the US and better show no audacity to compete with Washington.

The renascent US nationalism contravenes international law that gives every state the right to protect its national interests and dragoons the law of nations serve American objectives. It further belittles norms of reciprocity and mutual respect and enervates the UN Charter, which is binding on all member states and codifies major principles of international relations from sovereign equality to prohibition of use of force.

In a pandemic-driven forever different world from 2017 when Trump took over, the Biden administration needs to radically change the US bullheaded belief, refrain from forcing international law down to the US national interests and set about working with all states without exception to develop a constructive and mutually beneficial cooperation.

The US relationship with China, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says, is the “biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century.” That’s not because a stable and open international system is being challenged by Beijing; it’s for Washington’s galactic and worldwide supremacy is under threat from Chinese economic, diplomatic, military and technological power.

As one of the key US officials in the Obama administration, the longtime Biden confident realizes that western democratic model cannot be promoted or imposed through costly military interventions or by trying to topple “authoritarian regimes by force.” There seems to be a change in the new US government as it is replacing its myopic lens and looking at the world with “fresh eyes.”

It augurs well for the planet that sensing the world is at inflection point and no country can alone act against global challenges such as pandemics, climate crisis, cyber threats, international economic disruptions, terrorism and proliferation of nuclear weapons – Biden asserted to welcome Chinese cooperation on issues attached to climate change, global health security, arms control and non-proliferation.

Biden has also committed himself to multilateralism, returned to global institutions, pledged to restore international cooperation and vows to head off a costly arms race, reduce the role of nuclear weapons and engage China and Russia in meaningful arms control negotiations.

However, his vision is incomplete unless he expands his scope of cooperation to Beijing and realigns world’s second largest economy and emerging global technological powerhouse on trade and technology as well as doesn’t shirk Chinese proposal of complete disarmament, prohibition and destruction of fissile materials.

Whatever differences, the two sides carry, have stemmed from Trump’s trade war, sanctions on China’s technology companies and aggressive diplomacy. As Beijing is ready to resume dialogue and cooperation on equal footing, the relationship can still be brought back on track given Washington carts off some tariffs on Chinese goods and eases bans on its tech firms to build a climate of confidence for cooperation.

Trump’s offensives have infected the delicate China-US relationship and driven Beijing to take retaliatory actions to safeguard its national development, trade and technology interests. Biden has signaled to soften the US attitude toward China but there is no clarity how he would reduce existing trade and technology tensions and prevent new frictions from transpiring.

If Biden could come out of Trump’s shell and stop forging alliances against China to retain the US international influence, widen an inclusive cooperation to Beijing, scale back American antagonism and prevent the relationship to reach at the breaking point – not only climate, health, arms and nuclear challenges could be tackled strongly but improved trade and technology ties would also strengthen to the fight against global economic crisis and rising poor headcount.

The European Union disregard for Biden’s request to delay the Beijing-Brussels investment deal until his inauguration set an example that European nations were bashful to be a part of Washington’s “great game” at the cost of their economies, sharply contracted by 6.2% in 2020 over the pandemic.

On the other hand, the plan to rally global governments against China is a relic of the past US administration and has put American international credibility in a prone position. Biden’s promise to lift the country’s reliability including among Washington’s partners and assurance to reverse Trump’s policies is a confession of the US amoral strategy.

While the US seeks China’s cooperation on issues that are in American interests only and China is ready to engage on most of them, the Biden administration should also show some flexibility. Like an arrangement with Europe, Washington can talk to Beijing and agree to at least temporarily suspend tariffs on each other’s goods and set up a propitious stage for painstaking negotiations in future.

The US is the largest economy of the world so a great deal of responsibility to keep temperature low between two superpowers and unite the global community on shared challenges behooves the White House. A comprehensive engagement from Biden with China, toning down differences and focusing on reciprocal cooperation, may blossom forth relatively a supportive China-US relationship that would help to achieve common objectives and confront the global threats at full tilt.

*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared in "News24": 
https://www.news24.com/news24/Columnists/GuestColumn/opinion-an-empathetic-china-us-relationship-is-vital-to-face-much-bigger-global-challenges-20210313

Intensifying student debt adds to US complexities

By: Azhar Azam

It's not just the economic crisis that has stunned the U.S., the world's biggest economy is also embroiled in rising student loan debt, which has reached a scary figure of about $1.7 trillion or even more. The situation alarms Washington as it is now the second-highest consumer debt category behind the mortgage and exceeds credit card and auto loans.

COVID-19 is not the only factor that has mired 45 million borrowers in an inescapable debt trap. Even before the pandemic upended the U.S. economy, more than 25 percent of American borrowers were unable to pay off their loans over growing economic inequality and states' disinvestment in higher education, with women bearing the brunt of the total volume.

Roughly one in five adults in the U.S. holding student loans has been behind on payments, including a disproportionate number in the black community. The challenge turned out to be intergenerational as one in 10 Americans reaching the age of 40s and 50s were finding it hard to settle their dues, buy a house, start a business or save money for retirement.

The tag price, including tuition and boarding and lodging, is very high in the U.S., up to $75,000 per annum for a four-year degree program in private and $30,000 at public institutions. This huge cost, accompanied by the racial wealth gap, restricted 44 percent of adults earning less than the median to resume study beyond high school.

Even U.S. lawmakers have to borrow and get defaulted on student loans or face threats of disqualification for running state office on personal debt. Some of them believed it was easier to become the youngest Congresswomen in American history than to repay student loans.

Fearing educational future at risk, Generation Z and Millennials – young voters who started their education at the peak of the Great Recession – voted Joe Biden in flocks on his promise to blow off some steam from intensifying debt and cut down on higher education costs.

During his campaign, Biden pledged $10,000 in debt forgiveness, provide affordable education and make public colleges and universities tuition-free for all families having income below $125,000. But the Democrats want him to cancel up to $50,000 per buyer to alleviate the anxieties of struggling students. Biden disagrees and says it would be erasing "the billions of dollars in debt for people who have gone to Harvard and Yale and Penn (University of Pennsylvania)."

However, the U.S. president wasn't valid as just 0.3 percent of the borrowers attended Ivy League colleges, and only three percent of Harvard students took Financial Aid & Debt from the federal government.

The Biden administration's massive $1.9 trillion stimulus package may support the economy to prevent a complete economic downturn, yet the "American Rescue Plan" doesn't extend any direct student loan relief. In its place, the president has asked the U.S. Justice Department to review his authority to cancel the student debt through an executive order, hinting at a possible retreat from his assurance.

Even though student debt is climbing all over the world, but considering average loans in the U.S. is around $36,000 compared to $2,400 in Germany, it is dubbed as a breaking point in the country. With millions of workers losing their jobs due to the pandemic, their inability to ante up the mortgages and credit card loans has bewildered Americans. The U.S. total household debt, including mortgages and student loans at the close of 2020, had ballooned to a staggering $14.56 trillion.

A pragmatic approach that can help the Biden administration to control the worsening debt crisis is by improving the U.S. trade ties with the world's second-largest economy, China, where the pent-up demand has assisted Japan to increase its exports by 37.5 percent in January against 4.8 percent and 1.6 percent drop to the U.S. and European Union respectively.

But the latest report from the U.S. Trade Representative uses "all available tools" against China's alleged unfair trade practices, and coercive technology transfers give a touch of the former Trump administration's assertive and confrontational China policy. The new U.S. administration should not spice up the toxic Trumpist malady in an effort to distract Americans from real domestic issues.

After a trying 2020 that has washed away millions of jobs from the U.S. market, the beleaguered Americans expect Biden to eliminate inequalities, restore jobs and stabilize the national economy through a balanced domestic strategy and indiscriminate international cooperation, allowing them to escape from an endless debt cycle threatening to push them into poverty.

Rather than inviting more tensions, the White House should look to lift tariffs on Chinese goods and revamp its trade relationship with China, which is helping Americans get back to work by increasing its imports from the U.S. by more than 17 percent or over $18 billion in 2020, according to official U.S. trade data.

The other important measure the Biden administration needs to consider is reestablishing people-to-people exchanges between the two sides. The direct contact would be crucial for American people and students since Chinese students contributed about $16 billion to the U.S. economy in 2019, and real estate purchases by Chinese that benefit the U.S. students in 2018 reached $30 billion but are dying away over uncertainties of Chinese students' future as a consequence of China-U.S. frictions.

 
*This is one of my opinion pieces that first appeared at "China Global Television Network (CGTN)":

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-03-04/Intensifying-student-debt-adds-to-U-S-complexities-YmvfiAhqSc/index.html