Israel’s warmania threatens to spark new economic challenges and fuel geopolitical tensions

By: Azhar Azam

An initial assessment of a UN-commissioned study has warned should Israel’s assault on Palestine completes its third month, it could wipe off $10 billion from Egyptian, Jordanian and Lebanese GDP, pushing another 230,000 people into poverty. If the war prolongs, economic losses would hit $18 billion, triggering risks such as oil price volatility, refugee influx and pressures on public debt and fiscal space.

More than 50 years ago, the 1973 Yom Kippur War prompted Arab states to place an oil embargo on Israeli supporters including the US. This led petrol prices to quadruple and ushered a decade of stagflation in industrial economies, wreaking havoc to consumers and economies of the industrial countries.

Dollar devaluation, spiking oil prices and an imminent recession precipitated a rift in the transatlantic alliance as Europe disassociated itself from US Middle East policy and stockpiled oil supplies, securing a short-term cushion. The embargo flushed Arab states with petrodollars, helping them to spend extravagantly on social and economic development; declining leverage of US and European oil corporations, "Seven Sisters," alongside other factors exacerbated the situation for foreign oil-dependent America.

Following Hamas deadliest Oct 7 attacks on Israel since Arab-Israeli war, economists have been sensing a déjà vu, fearing it could be a reiteration of 1970s; neither US is reliant on the Middle East for oil as it was in 1973 nor Mideast countries are interested in using oil as a weapon or taking harsh measures including freezing diplomatic and economic ties and blocking transfer of arms from US bases to Israel.

But because of Israel’s inhumane offensive, world economy, still recovering from the pandemic-wrought economic shock, has again reached an inflection point since after Bloomberg Economics’ projection – oil prices could soar to $150 and global growth drop to 1.7%, a recession that might take about $1 trillion of global output – World Bank has echoed similar concerns.

If the conflict were to escalate, said Bank’s chief economist Indermit Gill, the global economy would face a "dual energy shock for the first time in decades" from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East with oil prices jumping to as high as $157/barrel, leading to skyrocketing inflation. Earlier banking giants at the Future Investment Forum, known as “Davos in the Desert”, in Saudi Arabia sounded alarm this conflict could dole out a heavy blow to the world economy and would mean "more insecurity".

Following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, asset manager BlackRock rebutted it wasn't the 1970s; a period during which the Arab embargo along with the Iranian revolution and the Vietnam War jolted the world economy. Yet just months after this prediction, Russia's invasion of Ukraine drove Brookings into constructing some analogy between two eras. With the Ukraine conflict grinding on, Israel's diabolical strikes on Palestinians sharply raise the specter of the 1970s-like economic crisis, particularly if war spills over and engulfs the entire region.

The impact could be much stronger as far right-wing and ultranationalist Jews in Netanyahu government, months before the conflict, rejected the internationally-supported idea of a two-state solution and propagated Jews "have exclusive and indisputable rights" on Israel and Palestinian territories, pledging to expand settlements to occupied West Bank. Israel's unabated targeting of Palestinians in West Bank unclothes this obnoxious, condescending mindset.

Israel's stubborn approach to take control of Palestine's territories and unyielding aggression against Palestinians, especially children and women, is accelerating stoking geopolitics, which had gone dormant over US-brokered reconciliation between Arab states and Israel but never really vanished.

Even as Arab states seem divided on taking 1970s-like measures against Israel, their demand from the International Criminal Court to investigate Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity mark a tectonic shift in regional geopolitics with economic ramifications the world over.

As the war prolongs, Saudi Arabia has put the normalization deal with Israel on hold and ramped up engagement with regional states and rivals such as Iran and Syria. Riyadh is also pushing back against the US in condemning Hamas; Egypt, despite its fraught relations with the armed faction and burgeoning economic relations with Israel, is hardening position on Israeli actions of forced displacements.

The conflagration of violence against civilians in Gaza and West Bank, Western double standards and US unconditional support for Israel are driving more Arab public antipathy toward Israel, which in turn could urge their leaders to lower the boom on Israel. As the US, despite consuming itself with arming Ukraine, has diverted arms from Kyiv and is quietly sending ammunition and missiles to protect its ally – other major powers could soon be sucked in for a geopolitical showdown.

By promising "hell" to Gazans, demanding Nakba, threatening to drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza Strip, saying "North Gaza (will be) more beautiful than ever" and keeping world focus on Gaza to advance their far-right "agendas" in West Bank – Israel's right-wingers are treading a path that could upend US-mediated peace deals and make Middle East a geopolitical flashpoint.

In the middle of the Ukraine war, the US Federal Reserve warned periods of elevated geopolitical risks historically brought about enormous negative impacts on the global economy with war destroying human and physical capital, shifting resources, disrupting supply chains, delaying investment and eroding consumer confidence.

The Syria conflict through 2020 had resulted in 11.3% GDP reduction across the Mashreq region (Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon). The UN assistant secretary general Abdullah Al Dardari, who led the recent study, drew parallels between mass displacement in Syria and Gaza wars, revealing the latter suffered the same level of destruction in just one month what the former endured in five years.

As Dardari warned war impacts could reverberate in the neighboring countries, economic implications of such a development coupled with Israel’s unbridled enmity for Palestinian children and women would intensify Arab public abhorrence toward Jewish state, forcing their leaders to cede their ambivalence and do something concrete to stop Israel from killing civilians.

While Arab leaders won’t respond with 1970s-like embargoes, even a symbolic action will suffice to spark new challenges to the world economy, fuel more divisions internationally and exacerbate geopolitical tensions. By succumbing to hawkish elements, sticking to warmania, rejecting ceasefire calls and continuing cascading attacks on civilians – Netanyahu government is abetting this crisis to pop up.

*My article (unedited) that first appeared at the Express Tribune.

Nato’s struggle for relevance risks peace

Azhar Azam

Just hours after Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged member states to “stay on course” in supporting Ukraine, he in the ensuing alliance’s defense ministers meeting insisted allies reiterated their determination to support Kyiv enrollment into the organization and support the country through new financial pledges, a new training center for Ukrainian pilots and provision of more air defense and ammunition.

As Stoltenberg did a volte-face to cover up the cracks within Nato, rifts over arming Ukraine have plagued the transatlantic alliance. After US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and former British defense secretary Ben Wallace in July suggested Kyiv should express “gratitude” to the West for its military support, filing of a complaint by Ukraine at the World Trade Organization against three Nato members (Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) in response to their import bans on Ukrainian farm produce irked Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki who in September dialed back from his commitment of bolstering Ukraine's defense, suspending weapon transfers to Kyiv.

The fissures in Nato are widening as US and European Union (EU) struggle to develop a consensus on providing additional military aid to Ukraine with Hamas-Israel war undermining diplomatic support for Ukraine in the South and key coalition members remain ambivalent hastening the process of Kyiv's enlistment to the elite panel. While an EU proposal of extending $21.4 billion military package to Kyiv over the next four years has been subject to internal schism since European countries are unwilling to pledge such large sums years in advance, it indicates Brussels is expecting war to last long that will take a further toll on the war-battered bloc's economy.

America's willingness to channel military assistance to Israel is additionally making Nato's fundamental objective of securing a lasting peace in Europe more distant as US President Joe Biden’s request is encountering steep challenges to get through the Congress where House and Senate are divided over providing $61.4 billion in military and other assistance to Kyiv.

Sensing an impasse in the Ukraine war and seeing enthusiasm fading away for Kyiv in American and European capitals, Stoltenberg's frustration has become more marked. Hoping the US would sustain its support for Ukraine despite divisions, he warned the EU about “dangerous” implications if Russia wins.

His apprehensions compounded after Slovakia's new Prime Minister Robert Fico in October announced to stop military aid to Ukraine, stating an immediate halt of military operations was the best solution for Ukraine and urging the EU “should change from an arms supplier to a peacemaker.” His warning not to vote for any sanctions on Russia that “will harm us, like most sanctions have” and intent to block Kyiv’s bid to join Nato, in addition to testing fragile EU-Nato unity, signals a cynicism on a military solution.

Since end of the cold war, Nato has been transforming itself to survive and keep its relevance in world affairs. The organization carried out military operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1995-2004) and Kosovo (1999); it participated actively in the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan. The alliance is currently engaged in non-combative advisory and capacity-building missions in Africa and Iraq and maritime security in the Mediterranean.

But while Stoltenberg's December 2019 promise, the organization would "no way" move into the regional waterways has been belied by actions, Nato's move to expand its scope to the Indo-Pacific by opening a liaison office in Japan and secretary general's insistence to work with partners – Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea – in the recent summit is an effort that may help to preserve the organization's relevance and elevate its chances of survival but risks subverting regional peace and putting world powers at each other’s throats.

For the first time in June 2022, these countries attended Nato summit in Madrid. The coalition's push to strengthen ties and expansion into the Indo-Pacific partners was seen by former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating and French President Emmanuel Macron as foolish and "a big mistake." Still, Nato continues to hold dialogue with the Indo-Pacific countries, which may shove the region into a new cold war.

With the Ukraine conflict grinding on, war fatigue is infiltrating the Ukrainians and West as symbolized by divisions within the US Congress to continue sending arms to Kyiv and European amnesia about Ukraine's EU and Nato membership. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's acknowledgment – “Yes. A lot of people, of course, in the world are tired” and that recruiting troops had become a serious challenge – as well as the fact – EU has delivered less than a third of the artillery shells it promised to Ukraine in one year through March 2024 – indicate the war, if not earlier, is entering a stalemate.

Heightened tensions in the Middle East have raised concerns the US may not be able to sustain the level of diplomatic and military support to Ukraine it has given so far; the Hamas-Israel conflict just highlights the underlying problem of war fatigue. The contraction of America’s deep pockets for Ukraine before the Mideast crisis was symptomatic of this looming phenomenon.

Stoltenberg is watching the new backsliding arthritically, fretting this could cost his job in July when Nato will likely name its new secretary general. Former Norwegian prime minister, whose term has been extended four times during the Ukraine war, is facing intense competition from rival candidates, campaigning to replace him as a “consensus builder” and with “clear vision” on Russia.

The secretary general is indeed trying to exploit tensions in the Western Balkans and Indo-Pacific to dilate the Nato purview, scoop up the organization's relevance and bolster its struggle for survival. While these efforts are shifting focus from ending the crisis on the European shores and fueling more divisions within the grouping, such attempts to spark confrontations could turn into a full-blown global conflagration, igniting war flames and engulfing other parts of the world that will be a disaster for the entire plant.

*My article (unedited) that first in the "Express Tribune"

Xi's Vietnam trip to chart a new course of growth and stability

By: Azhar Azam

Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, in a notable demonstration of Hanoi's special relationship with Beijing, last year became the first foreign leader to visit China after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Now Chinese President Xi Jinping is repaying the favor and arrived in Vietnam for a two-day state visit on Tuesday.

Exchanges between the Chinese and Vietnamese can be traced back to over 1,000 years ago, during which they coexisted peacefully as neighbors. Since the establishment of their formal diplomatic relationship in 1950, Beijing and Hanoi have generally maintained a strong relationship. These strong ties endured a brief interruption, before ties were resumed in 1991.

From then onward, the partnership has been booming as Hanoi in 1998 adopted and adheres to a "Three Nos" defense policy: no military alliances, no siding with one country against another and no foreign military bases on its soil. Signing a land border treaty, demarcating the border and other cooperation agreements transformed the Chinese-Vietnamese border into a boundary of peace, stability and development, injecting a new impetus in the bilateral relationship. Both sides remain committed to maintaining peace and stability at sea.

China and Vietnam officially entered into a comprehensive cooperative strategic partnership in 2008; they have been informally tied in a high-level partnership since 1999 when top leaders of the two countries reached consensus that they should be "good neighbors, good friends, good comrades and good partners." Xi's visit follows a series of high-level visits by Chinese diplomats. In their interaction, all Vietnamese leaders were upbeat about their country's relationship with China, which was considered as "a strategic choice and a top priority" in the Southeast Asian country's foreign policy of independence.

In his visit to Vietnam, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed enhancing strategic connectivity between the Belt and Road Initiative countries. The BRI has been commended in Vietnam for its potential to deliver public goods within Vietnam's "Two Corridors, One Belt" framework. With him and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son lauding stable development in the strategic partnership, this historic relationship after Xi's trip will be on the cusp of bringing sound economic progress and delivering more stability to the region.

Beijing is Hanoi's largest trading partner. Bilateral trade, according to Vietnamese data, is on course to leapfrog its 2022 total of $175 billion and has already hit $140 billion in the first 10 months of 2023. This, as well as an estimated $26 billion of Chinese investment, preferential loans and non-refundable aid to Vietnam are contributing to socio-economic development and playing a key role in building infrastructure, reducing poverty, generating jobs and boosting the economy in the country.

During Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Beijing in June, the leaders agreed to continue implementing their joint statement about deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership, maintaining high-level exchanges, promoting party-to-party, government-to-government and parliamentary exchanges, limiting disagreements and fostering maritime cooperation.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) and CPV have been exchanging experiences on party building to fast-track their national development. Hanoi admires the CPC's achievements and seeks to adopt its governance and economic model to combat corruption and attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country.

A consensus between Xi and Trong in October 2022 on sharing party-building experiences to improve national governance and prevent and control corruption has the potential to boost the Vietnamese government's ability to administer the country in addition to delivering benefits to the people, accelerating economic growth and emerging as an important FDI destination.

Xi's visit comes just three months after U.S. President Joe Biden upgraded America's relationship with Vietnam to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Yet it's largely an effort to exploit Hanoi's position in Asia-Pacific to intensify his strategic competition with China.

While geopolitical consequences of this new development shouldn't be overstated, Vietnam will not pursue such alignment for its leaders often describe their relationship with China as one of "comrades and brothers," an enthusiasm often lacking in the U.S.-Vietnam relationship. A U.S.-Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership is also a moot point due to the far-reaching implications it would have on the geopolitical landscape, economy and stability of Asia-Pacific, particularly Southeast Asia.

Before the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting, Hanoi sought to address existing economic and security challenges and strengthen dialogue and cooperation, reminding the APEC leaders that they 30 years ago had agreed on a joint vision of bringing peace, security and prosperity to the people of the Asia-Pacific.

This and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong's remarks at the forum – "the global economy is facing a new wave of protectionism and other challenges stemming from… geopolitical tensions" – indicate Hanoi is wary of making itself a theater of America's self-provoked strategic rivalry with China and doesn't want to trade peace and development for geopolitics.

With leaders of the two countries looking to build on shared historical similarities and showing determination to deepen collaboration on economy, governance and regional peace, Xi's visit marks a significant milestone in strengthening the longstanding strategic partnership to jointly counter the geopolitical threats and chart a new course for bilateral economic growth and regional stability.

*My artcile that first appeared at CGTN:

North is inundating South with plastic waste

By: Azhar Azam

Due to its cost-effectiveness, versatility, sterile material and convenience of use in various applications such as cloth, beauty and food packaging – plastic has transformed everyday life; it's turning into one of the greatest environmental challenges as the world, according to UN, annually produces more than 430Mt of plastic, two-thirds or 230Mt of which are short-lived products that quickly become waste, filling the ocean and often working its way into the human food chain.

If it were a country, environmentalists warned, the "Plastic Kingdom" would easily be the world’s fifth largest greenhouse gas emitter. According to Oceana, two garbage trucks' worth of plastic every minute enter the oceans; impacts of plastic pollution, per WWF, cost up to 1 million lives each year in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), tipping the world off the level of mismanaged plastic waste may increase by almost 90% by 2040.

Addiction to plastic, what UN experts call an "environmental nightmare," is adversely affecting the aquatic ecosystem with 23Mt every year leaking into and polluting lakes, rivers and seas. The pandemic intensified the challenge given that 1% of single-use masks used weren't disposed of properly, up to 10 Mt of them could enter and pollute the ocean every month.

Plastic waste, which accounts for 85% of total marine litter, poses serious threats to marine life, human health through ingestion of plastic-contaminated seafood and livelihoods of coastal communities. A UNEP report in 2021 revealed the lopsided injustices being brought about by plastic to marine wealth, underscoring monetary value of losses of marine natural capital, up to $2,500 billion per year had far exceeded the global plastic market, $540 billion.

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of plastic. As it’s also one of the world’s most populous countries, this may be surprising. Beijing in 2021 accounted for 20% of worldwide plastic demand, its per capita plastic waste generation, per ADP, was just about 18kg compared to Australia’s 59 kg, US’ 53kg and Korea’s 44kg. The UN estimated China's plastic waste per capita in 2021 at 46.6kg; still, it was just a fraction of what every person in America (220.5kg), Canada (177.9kg) and EU (121.6kg) produced.

Beijing produces more than 60Mt of plastic waste every year; its recycling rate of 30% is higher than the global average of 9%. In comparison, the US, per Greenpeace, in 2021 recycled just less than 5% of total plastic waste generation. In the EU, each person in 2021 generated 35.9kg of packaging plastic waste. The bloc's recycling rate, 38% , was however better than both China and global average.

Up until 2017, China was considered among the world’s largest plastic waste importers for it had long absorbed about half of global plastic scrap including a significant share of the EU plastic waste exports. Once Beijing in 2018 imposed import bans on 24 types of recyclable waste, its plastic waste imports dropped by 95% within a year, thinning out developed world's options to get rid of its waste. Germany, Japan, US, UK and other European countries are top plastic waste exporters. China wasn't even in the top-10.

After China’s ban on import of plastic waste, the US redirected its exports to developing countries. An analysis of the US Census Bureau data in 2018 by Greenpeace’s Unearthed found that nearly half of the country’s plastic waste exports in the first six months of 2018 had gone to poor Asian countries. An IPEN study this March unveiled that the UN data didn’t account for 1.8 million metric tonnes of plastic waste, which was exported to developing countries by the EU, Japan, UK and US and had inundated them with much more plastic waste than previously thought.

The developed world shouldn't see LMICs as a dumping ground of its plastic waste. Plastic pollution is disproportionately harming these countries, needing at least $26 billion to develop their capacity and infrastructure to safely manage the plastic waste. This act of exploiting the vulnerabilities of the developing nations and exposing them to the worst effects of plastic pollution should be reversed immediately.

*My article that first appeared in the "Express Tribune."

Why is ‘authoritarian’ BRI gaining traction against hybrid initiatives?

By: Azhar Azam

Through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has smartly picked up key sectors where it could invest its resources and expertise in infrastructure development and power generation to meet the critical requirements of the host countries while expanding its influence across the Global South.

Russia, Per AidData, by far is the largest recipient of China's investments ($125bn); four-fifths of this has gone to 33 industry, mining and construction projects. With major global development spending in Venezuela ($91bn), Angola ($52bn), Brazil ($41bn), Kazakhstan ($42bn), Indonesia and Pakistan ($35bn each), Iran ($17bn) and Papua New Guinea ($6bn), China has fortified its footprint from Africa, Central, South and Southeast Asia, Middle East and Oceania to Latin America and the Caribbean.

By the time the US realized forging an alliance of democratic countries as a counterweight to BRI, more than 100 countries had signed cooperation agreements with China. In fact, since launching the project 2013 through commitment year 2017, AidData revealed, Beijing had outspent Washington and other powers by a scale of 2-1.

As the US and the European Union retracts from their values-driven Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) and Global Gateway (GG) to create space for states they historically criticized over human rights violations in the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC), it's perhaps too late to carve the South away from China given Beijing has made inroads into the problems of the developing world.

Compared to very few projects that have been materialized within the frameworks of the PGII and GG, characterized as "long on rhetoric but short on action," the Chinese mega global development plan has built a sprawling network of bridges, roads, rails, ports and other infrastructure such as and undertaken several energy and social infrastructure projects in the South.

A desire to overhaul their connectivity and power infrastructure as well as to create jobs and foster economic growth accompanied by construction of hundreds of special economic zones tempted developing countries into committing themselves to the BRI, which in turn allowed China to lock in relations with the Asian, African and Latin America and the Caribbean states both at public and government levels.

For instance, Beijing was projected to have commissioned 50GW of coal-fired power plants between 2013 and 2020 in those regions. For developing countries, struggling to attract investments in this critical sector, the Chinese investments provided them an opportunity to overwhelm their energy crisis and end years of blackouts. China's more than $25 billion of electricity projects, adding over 8,000MW to Pakistan's national grid, is one such example.

Of late, BRI has been instrumental in providing clean and green electricity to partner nations. China's 720MW Karot Hydropower Project in Pakistan, 750MW Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Zambia, 600-MW Karuma Hydropower Project in Uganda, 1.7 billion kilowatt-hours of solar power projects in Kazakhstan and raft of deals with South Africa to overhaul its creaky energy sector underscore why the BRI is set to be "greenest" this year.

Beijing's approval of adding more than 50GW of new coal power in the first half of 2023 has drawn criticism. But China's power generation isn't entirely focused on fossil fuel energy generation as its renewable electricity production is increasing at a "staggering" pace too. This trend has been endorsed by researchers including BloombergNEF that expect China's clean power installations to hit 154GW of solar and more than 64GW of onshore and offshore wind in 2023, beating its target of doubling solar and wind power to 1,200GW by 2025.

The Chinese companies spearheading several mass projects across continents are also establishing or upgrading other basic infrastructure systems such as schools, hospitals, stadiums, water and sanitation facilities and solid waste management systems in Asia and Africa, allowing China to present itself as a reliable partner of the South at the grassroots level.

A widening digital divide between developing and developed world and severely lagging internet-use in least-developing countries is threatening to exclude world’s poorest from next industrial revolution and leave them in technological wake, warned the UN recently. Aligning their countries with Group of 77 and China, representatives of several dozens of countries expressed concern about the challenge and the need to urgently close the gap.

The “aspiring cyber superpower” through the BRI technological arm, Digital Silk Road, is building or upgrading one of the most critical infrastructures, submarine cable network, in the Middle East and North Africa. The Pakistan and East Africa Connecting Europe or the PEACE fiber-optic cable in 2022 connected the cities of Karachi in Pakistan to Marseille in France; China is believed to have put in service or is currently laying such networks in 76 countries.

As the US boasts of countering an ‘authoritarian’ initiative with a democratic one, China continues to roll out projects and rally support from the developing world for its BRI and invoke empathy of the South people. This was evidenced by the third Belt and Road Forum that attracted several heads of states, mostly from the South.

By spending just one-eight of what America spent in its wars on terror over the last 20 years, China has demonstrated its value to the South. With the West-led initiatives striving to establish their merit to the developing world and the BRI putting the North to test, the Chinese narrative of BRI as a centerpiece of global development seems to be winning.

*My article that first appeared in the "Express Tribune."

Great-power spy conflict is brewing in Asia

By: Azhar Azam

Citing anonymous US officials, a Bloomberg report said the US was constructing a web of intelligence links in Asia to counter China. The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the new and strengthened partnerships, formally known as intelligence liaison relationships; America's efforts to develop isolated-but-overlapping alliances for covert activities including an intelligence-sharing arrangement with the Quad is a risky maneuver at a time when it's sending officials and lawmakers in droves Beijing to reconsolidate the relationship.

This flashbacks to 2013 when whistleblower Edward Snowden fled the US for Hong Kong and told the South China Morning Post that "The United States government has committed a tremendous number of crimes against Hong Kong" and "the PRC (China) as well." His allegations, America was spying on the European embassies, led to expulsion of the CIA station chief in Germany after the country's agencies found Angela Merkel's mobile phone was bugged by a couple of American spies.

Merkel “made it clear” to then US President Barack Obama that “spying on friends is not acceptable at all.” Leaders of Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands stalwartly backed her complaint and sought an explanation from the US. A furious Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff called off her state trip to the US in protest of eavesdropping on her mail and cell phone, forcing Obama to ban such surveillance activities; in Paris, an American ambassador was summoned before Obama promised his French counterpart to end those espionage practices.

Following a 10-year break, highly-classified leaked Pentagon papers – unearthing this April the US was eavesdropping on the US allies including South Korea and whom America was reportedly pressuring to supply arms to Ukraine but it remained hesitant since its law restricts export of weapons that would “affect” international peace – stirred the pot again and disclosed the US hadn’t scaled back its clandestine operations regardless that were having damning effects on its international relations.

Opposition Democratic Party of Korea, which controlled the National Assembly, equated the alleged US espionage with “a serious violation of national sovereignty.” The officials of the Five Eyes alliance – a "covert club" of English-speaking countries that aims to keep redefining the geopolitical landscape according to its foreign policy goals – expected the US to “share damage assessment” and expressed concern the leaked Ukraine war information could handicap their countries in the battlefield.

The UN too chided the US on the reports of spying on the private conversations of its Secretary-General António Guterres and other senior officials, stating such actions “ were inconsistent with the US obligations as enumerated in the UN Charter and convention on the privileges and immunities.

Latest episode redraws focus on the fact that America's sanctions and exports control on the Chinese companies such as Huawei, which it has accused of espionage for Beijing and declared a national security threat, target to hobble China's economic and technological advancement. This push is being supported by the US efforts to fabricate a seamlessly integrated web of intelligence networks around the Middle Kingdom.

Washington’s Huawei chase dates back to the early 2010s when an 18-month review reportedly found no evidence that it had been spying for China. “As far as the report cited is concerned, it proves again that allegations against Huawei are unfounded,” said a Chinese spokesperson. A German IT watchdog, Federal Office for Information Security, in 2018 also dismissed spy accusations on the company.

In July 2020, the US ordered the closure of a Chinese consulate in Houston for it ““was a hub of spying and intellectual property theft.” The political move, ahead of the presidential election in the country, marked a dramatic step in escalating tensions between the world’s largest economies and threatened to be "very damaging" to the bilateral relationship. The balloon saga earlier this year, that the US President Joe Biden admitted wasn’t a “major (security) breach” describes the fragility of the China-US relationship and the extent to which America is captivated by the China threat.

The US arguably operates the world's largest and most sophisticated surveillance system; its spy network in China, where the CIA misconstrued itself as “invincible,” has suffered a catastrophic blow. A Foreign Policy magazine’s report in 2018 told how a firewall, brought over from the Middle East by America’s intelligence to communicate with dozens of its spies in China, compromised their identities in 2010 and turned out to be one of the agency’s “worst intelligence failures in decades.”

Yet the US intelligence isn’t inclined to pull the plug on or suspend espionage operations in China. Announcing the establishment of the China Mission Center, the CIA Director William Burns in 2021 vowed to “further strengthen our collective work on the most important geopolitical threat we face in the 21st century, an increasingly adversarial Chinese government.”

His public statement this July at the Aspen Security Forum – the US agency had “made progress” on reestablishing its intelligence network in China, inviting immediate condemnation from Beijing, just a month after the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Beijing “to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation" - as well as the Reuters recent report about the revival of cold war submarine spy program by the US navy to counter China signal America is trying to buy more time to undergird its military footprint in East Asia.

For America, espionage activities are critical part to confine China’s economic and technological rise and guarantee the US dominance across these modern-day realms; they strips the US of the right to impugn the Chinese counter-espionage law that encourages and rewards the people to report suspicious activities and strives to dismantle clandestine operations being overseen by America through its spies such as John Shing-wan Leung who backstory was published by China’s Ministry of State Security last month.

After India cold-shouldered the US regional agenda over fear of reigniting two-front conflict with China and Pakistan and once the tripartite conference in Camp David focused on strengthening the US coordination with Japan and South Korea separately, just pledging to bring the trilateral security partnership “to a new height,” America’s bid to concoct NATO clones in the region, as expected, have nosedived. With deputy foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea agreeing to hold a leaders’ summit at the “earliest mutually convenient time,” the US reliance on stepping up espionage operations will likely increase.

Akin to Afghanistan where the US used Pakistan as a lever to defeat the former Soviet Union, it's seeking Southeast and East Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam to play the same role for Washington as did Islamabad in South Asia to help it emerge as the most dominant world power before being abandoned, leaving the country's economy and security in tatters.

But this expansive and generational great-power spy conflict between America and China will have consequences for wider Asia and Biden's mantra of preventing the competition with Beijing from veering into a conflict given the latter has been and remains a formidable (original link) peer competitor to the former across the realms of economy, technology and military.

*My article that first appeared in the "Express Tribune."

China can play a crucial role in Argentina's economic revitalization

By: Azhar Azam

China is a very large country. It is a country that objectively leads international trade, and it is a country that has really treated Argentina very well," Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said recently. Recalling his several meetings with Xi Jinping, he said the Chinese president has been very supportive of him.

In February 2022, Fernandez came to China to meet Xi and attend the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. At a time when the South American country greatly needed support to boost its economy, he signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), marking a true jubilation of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Argentina diplomatic relation. "This strategic decision will allow the national government to sign different agreements that guarantee financing for investments and works for more than $23.7 billion," said Argentina's government.

Fernandez highly praised China's alacrity to treat other countries with "great respect" rather than seeking them into submission, and the role of BRI in promoting development in Argentina and serving as a paradigm for unconditional multilateralism. It was clearly reflected in his recent interview, in which he called Beijing a "genuine investor" and a "valuable partner and friend."

According to Argentina's media, ahead of his trip to China to attend a host of meetings including the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Fernandez reaffirmed his intent of joining the BRICS and extending his support for the BRI.

Following signing the MoU on the BRI, Argentina in June agreed on a cooperation plan with China, including new infrastructure projects. Buenos Aires has been keen to move forward with infrastructure projects, in an effort to improve its connectivity with the world market and better integrate itself with regional and international economies, especially those in Asia.

The cooperation plan on infrastructure projects aims to increase Argentina's productivity, promote its development, and improve the people's well-being. For instance, the China Machinery Engineering Corporation told Fernandez it had completed around $2.47 billion of infrastructure projects in Argentina, reducing the cost of transportation and generating 4,800 direct jobs.

With the plan encompassing 13 sectors of strategic cooperation including education, tourism, sports, science and technology, and defense – Argentina's participation in the BRI contributes to the country's all-round development.

Argentina's decision to join the BRI is crucial for its economic diversification and green development since Beijing has already invested in Argentinian sectors and industries such as agriculture, finance, meat, automotive, fishing, and telecommunication as well as oil and gas, transportation, and alternative energy and the project – believed to have the potential to "facilitate an economic recovery" based on sustainable development and clean energy transition. As a BRI partner, it will attract more Chinese investments.

China is Argentina's second-largest export destination and trading partner. Bilateral trade between the two countries was projected to have increased from $2.3 billion in 2001 to $21.4 billion in 2022. Argentina's ambassador to China is hopeful that the BRI could turn Beijing into Buenos Aires primary trading partner as China's global development initiative continues to solidify its position as the most "significant infrastructure plan."

Buenos Aires has also signed a currency swap deal with Beijing, helping the country to stem the sharp contraction of its foreign exchange reserves after a historic drought slashed its main source of dollar revenue, grain exports. In June, the Argentinian central bank said it had signed a deal to renew the total 130 billion yuan (around $18.4 billion) swap line for three more years, eventually doubling the free accessible part of the swap from 35 billion yuan to 70 billion yuan.

Shortly after South Africa's President in August announced to admission of six countries including Argentina into the BRICS, Fernandez hailed it a "great opportunity," saying the invitation to join the group of emerging economies would herald new economic possibilities for his country such as joining new markets, consolidating existing markets, raising investment, creating jobs and increasing imports.

BRICS has emerged as a strong force in the Global South with 64 percent of its GDP. Once it becomes a member on January 1, 2024, Argentina will be the second Latin American country besides Brazil to join "the most relevant forum" globally that in 2022 roughly represented 26 percent of global GDP and 21 percent of global trade respectively and whose contribution in international economic output will reach 29 percent with the addition of six more countries, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Argentina's enrollment into BRICS will elevate its own and the region's profile internationally, opening the floodgates of a "profound trade development" and helping the government to rein in several economic crises. Upon his arrival, Fernandez, according to the president's office, locked a deal with a Chinese company that plans to invest $2.2 billion in two lithium projects in Argentina, creating 10,000 jobs, and met Huawei president in Latin America and the Caribbean, underscoring the importance of foreign investment. All these latest developments and statistics emphasize Beijing's critical role in Argentina's economic revitalization and the necessity to shore up the strategic partnership.

*My article that first appeared at CGTN:

Democracies and kingdoms share responsibility of Gaza massacre

By: Azhar Azam

A spree of Israeli merciless bombings on Gaza Israel's attacks has slaughtered more than 7,000 Palestinians including 3,000 children. The situation is gruesome for 1.4 million internally displaced, 50,000 pregnant women and thousands of injured, being crucified over fast-depleting water, food, fuel, electricity and health necessities and deadly infectious diseases.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu indeed is heading the most right-wing government of ultranationalist Jews in Israeli history. His top aides want to tighten the country's control on the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, Israel captured in 1967 and Palestinians aspire to make their future state. Extreme rightist Zionists have unvaryingly used dehumanizing language against Palestinians and Arabs by calling them as “drugged cockroaches” and seeking to make their life “unbearable.”

After Hamas' deadliest Oct 7 attacks since the 1973 Yom Kippur (Arab-Israel) War, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised “no gas, no food, no electricity” to Palestinians, describing them as "human animals." Israeli General Ghassan Alian sought same treatment and said “you wanted hell, you will get hell.” Ramzay Baroud, in his glaring piece, shed light on the Jewish mindset and US support of the Palestinian genocide with irrefutable proof.

Netanyahu's fellow party member Ariel Kallner demanded a neo-Nakba, launching a much stronger mass displacement and ethnic-cleansing of Palestinians than that of 1948. Israeli President Isaac Herzog suggested civilians were legitimate targets. Palestinians are sought to flee to Jordan or face a “Great Nakba.”

Ruthless Israeli regime is getting unreserved diplomatic and military support from Washington to implement its horrific agenda. US President Joe Biden immediately pledged to send ammunition to Israel. During his visit to Israel, he told Netanyahu “I’m a Zionist.” Presidential hopeful Nikki Haley patted Netanyahu "finish them.” We are in a religious war…Level the place,” said Senator Lindsey Graham. Anthony Blinken ignited controversy by posing himself as “not only as the United States Secretary of State but also as a Jew.”

Many evangelical Christians believe the existence of Israel is crucial for “fulfilling the prophecy” vis-à-vis Armageddon. Baptist preacher and Fox News contributor Robert Jeffress, who once insisted “God gave Jerusalem – and the rest of the Holy Land – to the Jewish people.” cited the Bible to declare it a “worldwide conflict.” As this year marks 50th anniversary of the Arab-Israeli War, some in the US even want Israel to end this war in Iran.

US unflinching support to Israel's brutality reached the tipping point once latter devastated al-Ahli Hospital. Biden singled out an "errant rocket fired by a terrorist group" and wailed about Israel's victimization. His counterparts such as Canada's Justin Trudeau and UK's Rishi Sunak back his stance, saying Israel has no role in the blast; one wonders how they will discharge Israel of 76 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza, affecting 34 including 19 hospitals per WHO.

On top of $3.8 billion of military assistance to Israel every year, Biden has asked Congress to approve $14 billion for his ally's war chest as part of a $105 billion aid package. Next day, the Pentagon announced it would send missile defense systems to the Middle East. The US has also scaled up its naval power through two aircraft carriers and 2,000 Marines.

Biden's assertion not to back a ceasefire, until all hostages are released, is telling. The US State Department is rather emphatic: "Any ceasefire would give Hamas the ability to rest.. get ready to continue launching terrorist attacks against Israel,” indicating Washington has permitted Tel Aviv to kill Palestinians with absolute impunity.

What a turnaround! Washington, London and most European capitals that championed human rights and stood with Ukraine against Russia have suddenly become more pronounced in defending Israeli human rights violations in Gaza, termed as a “flagrant and obvious" western hypocrisy by Human Rights Watch. Ironically, same day Biden announced $100 million in aid to Palestinians, Israel besieged them and snapped them of water, basic human right, food and other services.

By funding Israel’s savagery and rejecting aid agencies' calls of ceasefire, Biden and Western leaders share responsibility of Israel's willful and systematic domicide and genocide of Palestinians. After Israel's shelling on a refugee camp in Gaza, the Obama administration in 2014 had at least called out Israel, demanding it avoid stocking humanitarian disasters.

This administration deserves more condemnation also because just this year, it has passed a revised Conventional Arms Transfer Policy to ensure these weapons don’t facilitate or contribute to "violations of human rights or international humanitarian law," which requires to spare civilians and protect hospitals.

Biden’s policy sparked a dissent within White House, resulting in senior State official resignation since he saw the approach of arming Israel “shortsighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory," and chided Congress for not taking human rights issues "seriously." America's iniquitous use of veto power to deny “humanitarian pauses” will be instructive to analyze its eccentric approach to human rights.

US discrimination of Palestinians enraged the Arab and Muslim world. A furious Amman, following the hospital blast, panned Tel Aviv for pushing the region to “brink of the abyss” and shelved a four-way summit comprising leaders from US, Egypt, Jordan and Palestinian, hinting at US aversion to end “war and massacre against Palestinians.”

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE too strongly reproached and held Israel responsible for the detonation of the hospital. Blinken, by making it "clear" to Amman, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Cairo "the United States stands with Israel" helped fuel anti-Israel sentiment.

When a Wall Street Journal report alleged that Iran had “helped plot” attacks on Israel, Tel Aviv rejected the claim. Biden endorsed Israel and witnessed “no clear evidence.” Israel and the US ostensibly didn't want to open new war fronts. Iran too exercised caution to prevent escalation with either; Hezbollah, notwithstanding launching small-scale attacks on Israel, assured Lebanese government it will not enter the war.

Despite extreme rhetoric, Iran has avoided a direct military standoff with Israel or US and it's highly unlikely they will engage in a conflict except for trading barbs. Israel's attack on Gaza rather allows Iran to gain leverage in negotiations with America such as gaining access to its $6 billion, already transferred to Qatar but are staved off by Washington, as part of a US-Iran prisoner swap deal.

Possibility of war spilling over and gripping the region is however real. US warnings to Iran and deployment of two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean raise the prospects of such a tragedy. Blinken says they are “meant as a deterrent”; it serves twin US objectives: bolster Israel security and strengthen America’s posture in gas-rich zone. But at the same time, it could further spell crisis across the region and beyond for Turkey’s Erdogan has cautioned this hinders his efforts to promote peace and will lead to “serious massacres” in Gaza.

Biden contends Hamas attacks aim to disrupt normalization process between Israel and Saudi Arabia; his marked tendency toward Israel undermines likelihood of any deal. Due to Israeli onslaught, Riyadh – which “every day” was getting closer to Tel Aviv and with whom Netanyahu preempted a deal as “within reach” – was forced to take a jab at western “double standards” and Israeli “criminal practices.”

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in his meeting with Sunak, described Israeli targeting of Gazans “heinous crime.” Nevertheless, Riyadh is also pursuing to normalize ties with Israel. Just last month, Saudi Arabia alongside Jordan and UAE agreed to join Biden’s plan to build India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor that also included Israel.

Most countries in the wider Mideast have developed relations with Israel. UAE in 2021 – after normalization in 20220, which Palestinians branded as “despicable,” “betrayal,” and an expected “poison dagger” from an Arab country – opened an embassy in Tel Aviv and became only the third major Arab state to maintain full diplomatic relations with Israel. Cairo and Amman signed peace treaties with Israel in 1979 and 1994.

After Erdogan last year characterized Herzog’s visit to Ankara as “historic” and a turning point” in the bilateral relationship, Turkey restored formal ties with Israel. Qatar cut ties with Israel in 2009 over the Gaza war and has held Israel “solely responsible” for the escalation, condemning Israeli strikes on al-Ahli Hospital; it's diplomatically and militarily too weak to be heard internationally.

Palestinians would see these developments anxiously since they could force Arab states to moderate their criticism of Israel, encouraging it to mete out more severe punishment to them including through “new Nakba”. Their suspicions aren’t unfounded given UAE in 2021 deplored west’s failure to designate Hama as terrorist organizations and recently called its attack a “serious and grave escalation.”

About 1.4 million Palestinians – including one million children, facing “critical and protection and humanitarian crisis”– need an immediate ceasefire and assistance. These kids are shaking with fear as Israeli bombs keep hunting them to enforce the principle of Israel’s right of self-defense. While western leaders must not give an unfettered authority and allow Israel to quench its bloodthirst by killing Gazans, regional countries should also stop weighing up their selfish interests before the situation spirals out of control and heat of war reaches their palaces.

Brussels commitment to fair trade vital for China-EU relations

By: Azhar Azam

China and the European Union (EU) are set to hold a series of sectoral dialogues ahead of the all-important China-EU Summit by the end of the year. First of the events, the China-EU High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue (HED) has been put on the agenda for September 25, which will be co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, the vice premier of China and Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis.

Dombrovskis expressed concerns about the bloc's "unbalanced economic relationship" but also emphasized Beijing and Brussels were "key trading partners" and pledged to reassure his Chinese counterparts Brussels doesn't want to "decouple" from Beijing.

In a recent meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in India, the European Council President Charles Michel exchanged views with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and reaffirmed interest in maintaining "stable and constructive relations" and continuing a plethora of dialogues including the HED, in particular political dialogue, to "foster mutual understanding" and address global challenges. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen admitted Beijing had a "key role" in countering global challenges such as development, climate change and the Ukraine crisis.

Last year's economic and trade dialogue focused on global economic challenges and reforming the World Trade Organization (WTO), ending in a consensus that a stable global economy was a "shared responsibility," and the EU's vehemence to step up cooperation with China in financial regulatory matters including green finance. Addressing challenges to bilateral relations and achieving some "specific deliverables" across the areas of financial services tops Brussels' agenda to reinforce ties with Beijing and make the ongoing summit a success.

Beijing has protested against the EU designation of China simultaneously as a partner, competitor and "systemic rival" and Brussels' "discriminatory" treatment of its companies. On August 9, the EU raised anti-dumping duties – which a European Parliament-commissioned study in 2020 warned had prompted "strong trade-dampening effects," on fiber cables from China to the maximum (from 39.4 percent to 88 percent). Brussels took similar measures on imports of tungsten carbide from China, renewing anti-dumping duties for another five years.

With a European Commission launching an investigation into the Chinese electric vehicles (EV) subsidies seen as a "naked protectionism" by China, such measures could provoke retaliation and undermine the EU's economic and trade interests. Since the probe is driven by fears of Chinese lead in producing cheap and more consumer-friendly EVs that Beijing has achieved by taking an initiative a generation earlier, the move questions the EU commitment to free trade and openness, shore up the relationship, jointly tackle climate change and tends to gain leverage in the HED and digital dialogue.

The European Commission argues the dumped and subsidized imports from China are the "greatest challenge" to its manufacturing industry even as by its own stats, the U.S. is the "most frequent user" of trade defense instruments against the EU exports, with 38 measures in force. This urges the EU to part ways with America's approach that its members have warned could upend the level-playing field, labeling it as "enormously protectionist."

Since December 2001, when China joined the WTO, the EU economy, producers and consumers have greatly benefited from trade with China. Studies revealed China's rapid "climb up" the technology ladder had provided cheaper goods to European consumers with increased trade between the two "important trade and economic partners," allowing the European exporters to gain easier access to a large Chinese market. China is also the EU's largest source in terms of rare earths and other raw materials, which are critical for the bloc's green and digital transition.

In a joint statement of the 20th China-EU Summit in 2018, leaders agreed the comprehensive strategic partnership had greatly boosted the bilateral relationship, bringing positive "outcomes" in politics, economy, trade, culture and people-to-people exchanges. They further vowed to strengthen the "global dimension" of their partnership to promote peace, security and sustainable development and held a shared view that dialogue and cooperation on foreign and security policy was an "important pillar."

As the two important global players commemorate the 20th anniversary of their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, this consensus document – which emphasized improving "trade and investment liberalization and facilitation" and firmly supported a "transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive multilateral trading system" – remains the guiding principle to overcome differences and bolster the relationship between the world's largest developing and emerging country and biggest trading bloc.

*My article that first appeared at CGTN:

Whoosh: A boon for Indonesia?

By: Azhar Azam

Joko Widodo on Monday inaugurated Indonesia’s and Southeast Asia’s first bullet train. "The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train marks our efficient, friendly and integrated mass transportation system," the Indonesian president said at the ceremony. The 142-kilometer long and $7.3 billion high-speed rail line, part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), connects the capital Jakarta with the one of the most creative and cleanest cities, Bandung, which also boasts as the country’s Silicon Valley and a top economic hub.

It has officially been named as Whoosh that comes from the sound of a fast train and is an acronym for Waktu Hemat, Operasi Optimal, Sistem Handal (time saving, optimal operation, reliable system) in Indonesian language and shows trust in China's capability in implementing high-speed rail projects. The Jakarta-Bandung railway not only cuts travel time from three hours to less than an hour by offering a speed of 350 kilometers per hour; the project is also environment-friendly for it runs on electricity with no direct carbon emissions.

The project marks the modernization of the Indonesian infrastructure and will be an economic boon for the country due to its potential to raise productivity. The public’s “high enthusiasm” for the mass transport project is indicative of its effectiveness for the people; it serves Jakarta’s National Strategic Projects that aim to boost economic growth and achieve equitable and regional development as well as community welfare.

Jakarta in 2015 announced to hold a “beauty contest” between China and Japan for the construction of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, inviting a “third party” to make an objective technical assessment to ensure transparency. Beijing won the bidding over its better “financial structure” that unlike Tokyo didn’t require any Indonesian government financing or guarantee.

China and Indonesia in 2017 agreed on the feasibility agreement for infrastructure financing and means of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway in Beijing. Presidents of the two countries witnessed the signing of the landmark agreement that was undertaken by the PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China, a joint venture between an Indonesian consortium of four companies and China Railway International.

It exemplifies a practical cooperation between Beijing and Jakarta as trains have been specifically modified for Indonesia’s tropical climate and are equipped with a safety system including threat detection sensors and a disaster monitoring terminal that can respond to earthquakes, floods, strong winds and other emergency situations, the world’s largest country frequently faces over its proximity to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. During construction phase, it was expected to generate 40,000 jobs a year and gave a boost to associated industries such as smelting, manufacturing, infrastructure, power generation, electronics, services and logistics

At his visit to Indonesia last month, the Chinese Premier Li Qiang took a ride of the Whoosh from Jakarta to West Java, a 40-kilometer distance that took just 11 minutes. He returned to attend the East Asia Summit and met the world leaders including the US Vice President Kamala Harris, whose country has just 735 kilometers of high-speed rail network as Americans are "hopelessly stuck with a highway and airline mindset."

The criticism on the rise of the Whoosh cost takes a hit with the UK HS2 railway project expect cost rising from $45.5 billion to $128.5 billion, 8.5 times more than comparable project in Europe. By the time it becomes operational almost six years later, it will be six times more expensive than the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail network.

The operationalization of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway puts Indonesia in the ranks of only a handful of countries in the world that has the latest rail technology. The Whoosh, welcomed fervently by the Indonesian people, will encourage further transformation of the country’s public transportation through a cooperation with China, which was relatively a newcomer but now leads the world thanks to its serious efforts and heavy investments in the rail sector.

China has the world’s largest high-speed rail network of around 40,000 kilometers. Beijing plans to extend the system to 70,000 kilometers by 2035. It is also the world’s largest for bullet trains that can travel up to 350 kilometers per hour. The country’s Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway – the world’s longest bullet train spanning 2,298 kilometers – by last December had handled 1.7 billion passengers during 10 years of its operations, slashing travel time from more than 40 hours to about 8 hours. China additionally owns the world’s fastest public train, Shanghai Maglev, which could run at 460 kilometers per hour.

Beijing has emerged as undisputed world leader in high-speed rail network; its domestic and overseas bullet train projects such as the Whoosh contributes to global campaign against climate change as the world seeks to acclimatize itself to the concept of “flygskam,” a Swedish term that means “flight shame” and discourages short-haul air travel because of its potential to emit carbon 100 times less than airplanes.

Other than providing a more greener environment, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway will reduce traffic congestion, enhance efficiency and productivity, improve connectivity between economic centers while offering a captivating fusion of speed and convenience and bringing benefits for local communities in the form of new job opportunities and higher economic growth as well as rapid transportation services and faster access to their destination and workplaces.

*My article that first appeared in Express Tribune: