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:

China ties remain Vietnam's priority after Biden's visit

By: Azhar Azam

On September 10, U.S. President Joe Biden visited Hanoi to meet Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam's Central Committee. They elevated U.S.-Vietnam relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and discussed ways to promote a technology-focused and innovation-led Vietnamese economic growth, expand people-to-people exchanges through cooperation in education and workforce development programs and "increase peace, prosperity and stability" in the region.

Biden's stop in Hanoi is largely an effort to show that the U.S. is a better economic and security partner than China, beefing up "a credible alternative to the coercive and unsustainable lending practices of China," according to U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Biden's trip comes at a moment when Washington is still striving to move on from the "painful" legacy of the Vietnam War that left millions of Vietnamese dead. The U.S. State Department in its 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices accused the "authoritarian" Vietnamese government of unlawful killings, torture and cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment.

As a federal government agency, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, has just recently leveled serious allegations of "egregious, ongoing, and systematic violations" against Hanoi, and recommended the U.S. State to designate Vietnam as a "Country of Particular Concern". In light of these allegations, the Vietnamese people and the country's government would wonder how the U.S. could be trusted as a reliable partner in bringing peace and prosperity to them.

Through his high-stakes visit, Biden is seeking to reinforce America's regional position and impose a "new economic world order," which echoes former U.S. President George H. W. Bush's doctrine of creating a "new world order" based on self-styled shared democratic and capitalist values. The redressed version of Washington's aspirations to dominate the world by controlling the global economy inevitably sees China's vision of common development as the greatest obstacle.

For Biden, elevating their relationship with Hanoi and increasing the U.S.'s imports from Vietnam are some of the ways to carve the Southeast Asian country away from Beijing. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, bilateral trade between the two countries in 2022 had exceeded $138 billion.

While this year marks the 15th anniversary of China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership, trade between the two neighboring countries last year had leapfrogged to about $235 billion, making Vietnam Beijing's largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its sixth-largest trading partner worldwide.

Hanoi understands the importance of a robust relationship with Beijing. As a result, the China-Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership has generally maintained a stable and positive momentum with high-level and people-to-people exchanges, contributing to enhanced economic relations and political trust between the two governments and greater peace and stability over land and sea.

In October, Trong became the first foreign leader to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping after the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The U.S. efforts to solicit Vietnam as an ally in its rivalry with China, therefore, have been encountering resistance in Hanoi. The U.S. is clearly driving a wedge in China-Vietnam ties, which has become a priority of their foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific.

During his trip to Beijing in June, the Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minch Chinh met President Xi in Beijing and conveyed Trong's greetings and best wishes. Both sides expressed satisfaction at the growth of the bilateral relationship and agreed to promote the traditional friendship, properly handle disagreements and maintain peace and stability.

For his part, Pham reassured that developing ties with Beijing in a long-term manner was always the strategic direction and topmost objective of his country. He also promised setting up a working group on trade and investment to make bilateral cooperation "more pragmatic and effective" and welcomed Chinese companies to participate in Vietnamese infrastructure projects. The Vietnamese are pragmatic, and they know that they will benefit from the fraternal relations and "comrades-plus-brothers" friendship with Beijing; so they don't want to drag their country into the U.S. strategic competition with China, which could negatively impact Hanoi's economy.

Both China and Vietnam adhere to a policy of peaceful resolution of disputes. This urges the two countries to jointly preserve peace and prosperity as Biden arrives to implement the U.S. agenda in the region.

*My article that first appeared at CGTN:

Japan's 'environmental terrorism'

By: Azhar Azam

A Japanese civic group has filed a complaint against the country's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) President Tomoaki Kobayakawa to the Tokyo District Prosecutor's Office over discharge of potentially contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea, reported the Kyodo News.

The complaint stated that although the nuclear contaminated water was purified using the Advanced Liquid Processing System, radioactive substances other than tritium – which are considered to be irremovable – still remained. This allegation of serious negligence redraws focus on Japan's irresponsible conduct and the need to protect the health of the people consuming aquatic products.

Lately, experts have discovered an inconsistency between the reality and the TEPCO's assurances, which were "not supported by the quantity and quality of the data," said Ken Buesseler, an oceanographer of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The water that will be discharged for decades has "real implications for ocean life and the human lives," according to Robert Richmond, a marine biologist at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

Back in 2021, the UN's human rights experts had expressed deep regret on the decision, warning that it could impact millions across the Pacific region. Describing it as "very concerning," they cautioned the release of "contaminated water into the marine environment imposes considerable risks to the full enjoyment of human rights of concerned populations in and beyond the borders of Japan."

Questions also lingered about transparency of the water discharge as experts said the Japanese data shouldn't be taken at face value, and Pacific Islands and neighboring countries raised shared concern. However, the Group of Seven countries seemed to agree with the plan, given that they welcomed "steady progress of decommissioning work" at the plant and Japan's "transparent efforts" based on scientific evidence, according to their communique issued in May. The UN nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency, also stated Japan's approach and activities were "consistent with" relevant global safety standards.

Notwithstanding the criticism at home and abroad, Japan brushed aside grim concerns about dangerous environmental impacts and human rights and began dumping water into the sea. This deliberate act to pollute the Pacific Ocean, based on limited and flawed scientific assessment, is unacceptable and faces a strong denunciation.

In neighboring South Korea, a large gathering of reportedly more than 50,000 citizens protested against Tokyo's decision and urged their government to intervene to prevent the looming disaster from the Japanese release of 1.3 million metric tons of contaminated radioactive water, enough to fill 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The opposition parties in the country showed solidarity with the civic groups and slammed Tokyo over the controversial release, calling it "environmental terrorism" as mothers of young children criticized Tokyo for "passing the responsibility to future generations." "Japan has ultimately chosen the path of an environmental war criminal," said Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung in a party meeting.

Han Duck-soo, the South Korean Prime Minister, in a public statement published in August, had also sought the Japanese government to "disclose information transparently and responsibly." A public poll in South Korea, showing seven in 10 South Koreans were opposed to releasing the radioactive water, highlighted the growing unrest within the region.

One of the major issues is the extraction of 880 tons of melted fuel debris, contained in three of the reactors. The International Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning Research estimates that reactor No. 1 has accumulated 279 tons of such debris. A study in March confirmed the melted nuclear fuel had broken through a pressure vessel and damaged a concrete pedestal heavily, stoking concerns that an earthquake could knock down the structure.

Dumping of nuclear-contaminated water clearly disregards the scientific evidence and violates the human rights of the people and communities in Japan and the wider Asia-Pacific region that have the right to live in a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.

The "deliberate pollution" of the marine environment infuriated Greenpeace Japan, which called the act an "outrage" and expressed deep disappointment on the Japanese government's announcement to release the contaminated water into the ocean, snubbing "concerns" of the fishermen, Fukushima residents and the international community, especially in the Pacific region.

A large proportion of the Japanese also oppose their government's plan and are reluctant to accept the TEPCO's assurances for the company in 2018 admitted that the contaminated water contained radioactive compounds after asserting they had been filtered out. This spells out that Japan's irresponsible act is a threat to the environment and the Japanese people, which is being reflected in their legal proceedings against Kishida and Kobayakawa.

*My article that first appeared at CGTN

How can Raimondo ease the China-U.S. relationship?

By: Azhar Azam

From August 27 to 30, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is travelling to Beijing and Shanghai to hold meetings with senior Chinese officials and U.S. business leaders there. She looks forward to having "constructive discussions" on issues relating to the China-U.S. commercial relationship and areas of potential cooperation, said her department in a press release.

Evidently, the U.S. seems to realize that neither China or the U.S. should seek to change the other, and that a stable Chinese economy is a "good thing" for the world, with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stressing this high-level engagement provides an opportunity to ensure there is a "basic, stable foundation" in the relationship.

Both sides have taken measures that will set the trajectory of their relationship in the future. Earlier this month, China lifted pandemic-era restrictions on group tours to more countries including the U.S. This "significant win" – as Raimondo described it, stating the Chinese travelers contributed $30 billion to the U.S. economy before COVID-19 – could be a "boon" for the country's travel and tourism industry, according to Reuters.

Prior to the pandemic, Chinese tourists had spent more than any other nation, $277 billion in 2018 and another $255 billion in 2019 overseas to be exact, according to the United Nations' World Tourism Organization. As they are expected to infuse more than $200 billion into international tourism, the China-U.S. agreement to double weekly flights could boost America's tourism industry in addition to promoting people-to-people exchanges and bilateral trade.

These positive signals are coming on the heels of the recent drop in the U.S. credit rating by Fitch, one of the top rating agencies, from AAA to AA+. This has been the culmination of 20 years of "steady deterioration in standards of governance," rising debt and growing polarization, said the rating agency. This drop is just the second in U.S. history, after the Standard and Poor stripped the world's largest economy of its highest rating in 2011. This explains why the U.S. government in the last few years has been proactively shifting the attention of the Americans from simmering domestic crises by hyping up the "China threat" to hide their inability to fulfill their promises to the people.

Yet the shortsighted approach won't work anymore as this rating downgrade coupled with high debt burden and "erosion of governance" could result in the fiscal deterioration over the next three years. A 22-year high interest rate, the fastest and a more aggressive hiking cycle since the early 1980s, and surveys after surveys also paint a tepid picture of the U.S. economy. This elevates fears that the recession may have been delayed but not cancelled.

In a recent political fundraiser, President Joe Biden said he didn't intend to hurt China and wanted a rational relationship with the world's second-largest economy, insisting the Chinese economy was in "trouble." The U.S. media too is recklessly echoing his statement, not knowing that China has substantial fiscal space to strengthen the economic recovery albeit facing some headwinds.

Biden's recent executive order, aimed at regulating the U.S. investments in China, does not bode well to the revival of the relationship. Amid efforts of engagement, the hawkish position deviates seriously from market economy and fair competition and could dramatically reduce new U.S. businesses in China, which might put them at a disadvantage to others. Although the new proposed regime may have a "moderate" impact, as Foreign Policy reported, and the Treasury Department contends the program will not entail a "case-by-case" review of the U.S. outbound investments; still such measures unvaryingly tend to escalate tensions.

Nevertheless, ahead of Raimondo's visit, the removal of 27 Chinese firms from the "Unverified List" by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is a step in the right direction to ease the relationship. Going forward, this conciliatory approach should more frequently be deployed to address China's concerns around the U.S. economic, trade and technology policies and export and investment controls, the key sticking points in the bilateral relationship.

Despite the frictions, China and America are each other's third-largest export markets, together account for 40 percent of the global output and remain deeply integrated in creating apps and movies, supporting jobs, financing businesses and providing homes to millions. They also collaborate on trade and investment and in science and technology in vital areas including climate change, public health and research on telecommunications and computer sciences.

American companies, operating huge manufacturing networks in China, rely on Chinese consumers to derive their revenues; Beijing is the second-largest foreign creditor to Washington. China's personal care products market, which is projected to be worth almost $80 billion by 2025, offers great opportunities for the U.S. companies to export their products to an increasingly sophisticated, large Chinese middle class.

Raimondo's visit hence comes at a crucial time when Sino-America relations have been squeezed by the U.S. administrations' trade, technology and investment restrictions. By holding meaningful discussions on resolving these core issues, the U.S. commerce secretary could turn the tide, contribute to the restoration of a normal trade and economic relationship between the two global powers and help both countries jointly steer their respective economies and the world economy at large toward a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable future.

*My article that first appeared at CGTN

Third Belt and Road Forum: Green development takes center stage

By: Azhar Azam

Delegates from 110 countries have so far confirmed their participation in the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) – scheduled to be held in Beijing in October including three high-level forums on connectivity, green development and digital economy – told the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Tuesday.

Launched in May 2017, the forum is one of the most high-profile international events for its key focus on cooperation in the areas of infrastructure development, increased trade and shared growth. Marking the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has galvanized nearly $1 trillion in investment and established more than 3,000 cooperation projects, greatly elevates the forum’s importance.

As the global challenges got more densest with climate change, pollution and loss of iconic species spilling over borders as well as poverty, inequality, peace and security becoming major international issues – the BRI launched several clean and affordable connectivity and renewable energy projects in the developing countries on a scale “never" seen before.

Speaking at the first BRF, the Chinese President Xi Jinping characterized infrastructure connectivity as the foundation of development, stressed to embark on a path leading to peace and shared development and urged to intensify efforts to eradicate poverty. He blazed the trail by launching 100 each of "happy home," poverty alleviation and healthcare and rehabilitation projects in the BRI countries as well as suggesting to pursue a "new vision" of carbonless, green and sustainable development.” An unprecedented number of international leaders in a joint statement welcomed and supported the BRI in enhancing connectivity across regions and pledged to eliminate poverty and promote peace, equality and sustainable development.

According to the World Bank study in 2019, the BRI could increase trade between BRI and world countries by about 3.5 times, pushing global real income by more than 4 times with its projects lifting about 40 million people from extreme and moderate poverty. The BRI, launched two years before the adoption of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, was also lauded by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its October 2022 progress report for operating in support of the 2030 Agenda’s vision of achieving “common development and shared prosperity.”

The report highlighted each of the project’s five pillars – policy coordination, facilities, connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial cooperation and people-to-people-exchanges – were intrinsically linked to the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). "Country experiences" indicated, it said, the BRI had supported the implementation of the 2030 Agenda by helping bridge a number of gaps in achieving the SDGs such as through job creation, income generation, reliable development financing for sustainable infrastructure, trade expansion and increased market access.

In September 2021, Xi at the annual UN summit declared that China would stop building new coal-fired power projects overseas and vowed to step up support for developing countries in producing green and low-carbon energy. The promise – seen as drawing a “big line in the sand,” “an absolute seminal moment,” “great contribution,” “real game-changer” – was welcomed by the UN, climate campaigners and international leaders.

Beijing, in fact, has since long been aiming to incorporate green development into the BRI. At the very first BRF, the Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the establishment of the BRI International Green Development Coalition (BRIGC), an open, inclusive and voluntary international network to promote universal consensus and collective actions on the development of Green Belt and Road and implementing the SDGs. in addition to contributing to the creation of a more equitable and prosperous world and offering opportunities to countries to benefit from an international cooperation platform. The vision to forge a more equitable and prosperous world offered opportunities to countries to benefit from an international cooperation platform.

The potential coherent synergies and complementarities between the BRI and the 2030 Agenda and China’s commitment to strengthen cooperation with the BRI countries – including through collaboration mechanisms such as China-ASEAN, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, Euro-Asia Economic Forum, Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and China-Arab States Cooperation Forum – deepened interregional coordination and exchanges on ecological and environmental protection. Such policy dialogues could serve as effective platforms to promote sustainable partnerships with the BRI member states and support the SDGs.

China has so far signed more than 50 cooperation documents on ecological environmental protection, established the BRIGC comprising a group of 42 Chinese international institutions – including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) International, whose 2017 report found a considerable overlap between the BRI projects and sensitive environments – and launched the Initiative for Belt and Road Partnership on Green Development with 31 countries.

Appreciating China’s promotion of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), Marco Lambertini, special envoy of the WWF International says Beijing, within the framework of the BRI, has made “huge progress” in reducing fossil fuel and promoting renewable energy investments. Andrew Steer, President and CEO of Bezos Earth Fund, places China at the center of the renewable energy transition and intellectual revolution since it, long before many countries, set green as a new goal. He further states Beijing's ability to develop clean technologies may put it as lead financier of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), countries’ self-defined national climate finance pledges and what he describes as a "gift" to the world.

At a time when “centrifugal geopolitical forces” are attempting to divide the world as climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss need a strong global response call for urgent global action, the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), which has been serving as a vehicle for more than 30 years to promote policies and practices to prevent these triple threats, hosted its annual general meeting in Beijing from August 28 to 30. In a meeting of nearly 500 domestic and international participants, Beijing pledged to play an active role in global environmental governance and gained applause for its determination to move forward “smartly” and “sustainably” and leadership in the clean energy transition.

China has already created an estimated of 54 million green jobs, which will expand as its renewable sector grows. It is also likely to install more solar and wind energy alone in 2023 than the entire capacity of the US and the European Union combined. With the BRI redirecting finance in a nature-positive way and turning into a crucial source of vital funding for the GBF and countries' NDCs, these projects have a “pivotal role” in promoting green investments as well as accelerating clean energy and green industries in developing countries while closing their infrastructure gaps, increasing trade and generating employments, in a nutshell bringing long-term and planet-friendly growth to the world. For environmentalists and nations hit hard by climate change, green development inclusion as one of three high-level forums at the third BRF is exciting news.

Manila needs to protect regional stability

By: Azhar Azam

During his state visit to China in January, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. held a productive meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a joint statement, two leaders reaffirmed their support to each other’s development and territorial integrity and agreed to handle differences through peaceful means. Beijing and Manila also signed 14 cooperation documents to boost cooperation in several areas from trade to renewable energy.

"We agreed that maritime issues between the two countries do not comprise the entirety of our relations," said Marcos in a speech on arriving back home. In June, he reiterated the China-Philippines “healthy” and “deepening” relations outweighed their differences. After former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte met Xi on July 17, Marcos said he was aware of the trip and welcomed the communication.

The consensus to “shelve” disputes and push trade in 1988 laid the foundation of a mutually beneficial relationship; this could be the basic premise of a strengthened Beijing-Manila ties amid US efforts to disrupt the decades-old close cooperation through false promises of addressing the regional security concerns by building military facilities in the Philippines, claiming they would bring “economic opportunities (and) jobs.”

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), bilateral China-Philippines trade in 2022 had exceeded $39 billion ($28.22+$10.97bn). With the signing of the new deals as well as investment pledges of $22.8 billion from Chinese investors, Manila can greatly benefit from the Chinese leading role in the global renewable energy, electrical vehicles, agriculture sector and infrastructure development.

The Philippines’ largest source of energy, the Malampaya gas field, is expected to peter out over the next five years. At this critical time, Chinese companies’ investments in the Philippines’ renewable energy would help Manila to meet its domestic need and close the clean energy gap with the rest of the region. The Philippines Misamis Oriental province's recent deal with the investors from China, to collect waste and turn it into resources for power generation, is another example of bilateral energy cooperation.

In April, the POWERCHINA held the groundbreaking ceremony of its 64.2 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic project in Tanauan and Malvar project. The solar power plants of 140 MW with Chinese cooperation by the year-end are expected to power 84,000 households, displacing 100,000 tons of coal per year. China, therefore, holds a key for the Philippines' transition to clean energy and its target of having 50% of renewable energy in the power generation mix by 2040.

After FAW Hongqi, China’s one of the most prestigious luxury passenger car brands, in March announced to make a debut in the Philippine market – the Chinese Yadea Group Holdings, one of world’s largest electrical two-wheeled vehicle makers, also revealed its plan to invest $1 billion in the country. The annual production capacity of three to five million units will meet the domestic demand as well as will have the potential to export these e-motorcycles, aligning with the country’s key objective to build export-oriented industries.

The initial export of durian to China, the Philippines Bureau of Plant Industry reckons, this year will generate 10,000 direct and 2,000 indirect jobs as well as fetch $150 million in export revenue. Manila pegs the total income from export of the “king of fruits” to China in 2023 at $260 million, which means creation for more employment for the Filipinos.

Akin to the other agreements, a bilateral deal on a broader agriculture cooperation seized in China by Macros is being fully implemented as the two neighbors are set to open discussion to boost bilateral agriculture cooperation with officials of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs soon visiting Manila. Per the Philippines News Agency, the country by April had dispatched 200 metric tons of agricultural produce to Beijing.

The China International Import Expo (CIIE) has also helped the Philippines exporters to showcase their products in one of the biggest world’s markets. Thanks to the world’s largest trade fair, Manila companies’ sales last year increased by five times compared to the revenue they generated in the 2018 CIIE.

As the two countries deepen synergy between their respective Belt and Road Initiative and “Build, Build, Build” and “Build Better More” with around 40 government-to-government projects completed or underway, there is a need to solidify this crucial relationship and protect it from outside efforts to draw a wedge between Beijing and Manila on the issue of the South China Sea.

These attempts and the anti-China alliances such as the “Quad 2” would spark rifts in the bilateral relationship, undermine regional peace and hamper the Philippines economic ambitions. Manila’s decision to house the US military bases and joint military drills to develop the so-called “credible deterrence posture” further threatens to deteriorate the time-tested partnership and will hinder its progress to join the league of 20 leading economies by 2050.

Duterte too has warned the US military facilities in the Philippines have grown to 17 under the Enhanced Defense and Cooperation Agreement between Manila and Washington. The “invaluable asset” to calm tensions demanded an “open discussion” on the issue. This again elevates serious concerns about the regional stability and escalation of unwanted tensions in Asia-Pacific.

Manila shouldn’t allow the dispute to dominate the centuries-old ties; there's pretty much consonance in the approach of the two countries such as on enhancing trade, energy, investment and infrastructure cooperation that could drive the relationship back on track. At the first anniversary of Marcos as the Philippines president, the archipelago needs to demonstrate this beneficial relationship really overshadows odd differences and it sincerely seeks to “further strengthen the China-Philippines relationship of Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation.”

Biden’s proposed budget gambles with US economy and Pacific future

By: Azhar Azam

Joe Biden’s budget proposal for the fiscal year 2024 claimed the US president, during his two years in office, had slashed the budget deficit by more than $1.7 trillion; a large part of the deficit reduction had resulted from the expiring and shrinking expensive spending related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)'s most recent non-partisan analysis for the US Congress also torments Biden’s assertion to reduce the deficit by almost $3 trillion over the next decade by projecting the country's deficit will continue to climb and outpace the $20 trillion mark between 2024 and 2033.

Biden, verily, is responsible for much of the deficit America would accumulate over the next few years. In September 22, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated his policies through legislation and executive actions were slated to add more than $4.8 trillion to the country’s deficits between 2021 and 2031.

Data from the US Treasury Department – showing America’s deficit has increased 52% to about $723 billion in just five months of October 2022 to February 2023 as compared to the same period last year – doubts Biden will be able to deliver on his commitment as deficit amplifies with public and gross federal debt rising to $43.5 trillion and $52 trillion respectively by 2033, according to the CBO. Biden's own proposal predicts the deficit and federal debt to swell to about $2 trillion in 2024 and $50.6 trillion through 2033.

The Washington Post editorial on March 9 warned “If nothing changes, the United States will soon be in an uncharted scenario that weakens its national security, imperils its ability to invest in the future, unfairly burdens generations to come and will require cuts to critical programs such as Social Security and Medicare,” which Biden's blueprint promises to protect and strengthen but the CBO cautions are heading to insolvency within the ten years.

If three of the major programs – the Highway Trust Fund, Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund – are bankrupted, associated benefits to Americans will be cut by up to 45%, per the CBO. Other measures such as 1% payroll tax and raising taxes on gas and diesel may delay the insolvency; they will put Americans, facing tsunami-like inflation, under tremendous financial burden.

The situation requires the Biden administration to combine forces to tackle these pressing issues of public interest but it is overlooking them for speculative security threats from China. Apprehensive about Beijing's successful courtship of the Pacific Island Countries (PICs), Biden has included more than $7 .1 billion in his federal budget proposal for economic assistance to three of these nations – the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau – in exchange of military basing rights and other preferential treatment over the period of 20 years to bring them under its orbit. This is what the US has been negotiating for some time through the Compact of Free Association to retain its military access in the Pacific.

China doesn’t make political interference or consider the Pacific as an arena of strategic competition. Beijing is one of PICs’ leading trading and investment partners as well as a key source of regional infrastructure development under the Belt and Road Initiative. As climate change is the region's top concern, China's role as a “responsible global actor” in the fight against common international challenge and support through launching of the Center for Disaster Risk Reduction Program has earned goodwill and drawn appreciation from the PICs.

The appointment of a special envoy to the PICs, Qian Bo, by the Chinese government has immediately unnerved the former US officials about conceding Washington’s influence to Beijing; it reestablishes China’s commitment to develop infrastructure and financially assist the economically-lagging region. Meeting its pledge to increase the provision of materials and help PICs counter the non-traditional threats, Beijing recently gave $500,000 to Vanuatu in addition to $100,000 donated by the Chinese Red Cross Society to bolster the South Pacific nation efforts to cope with the aftershocks of the twin cyclones, Judy and Kevin, which have affected almost half of the population.

In an attempt to out-compete China and restore US global leadership, Biden’s budget proposal requests billions in spending to reinforce America's role in the Indo-Pacific with a particular focus on PICs and supports the Department of Defense’s $9.1 billion Pacific Deterrence Initiative. This military adventurism in the past contributed to significant economic setbacks to the country's economy, squeezing its ability to invest in public infrastructure. Washington needs to draw a lesson from history for this militaristic approach will endanger the PICs' future and widen the US budget deficit at a much faster pace by draining more national resources to strategic competition with Beijing out of fear later closing the economic, industrial and technological gap with the former.

How can ASEAN turn itself into an epicentrum of growth

By: Azhar Azam

The Southeast Asian leaders have gathered in Jakarta under the chairship of the host Indonesia President Joko Widodo for their final summit this year to counter the challenges to its “community’s strength” and reaffirm the centrality of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Upon his arrival in Jakarta to hold meetings with regional and international leaders, the Chinese Premier Li Qiang made his debut on the ASEAN stage and voiced strong support for the bloc’s central status in regional cooperation and bigger role in global affairs. This provided a boost to the grouping, which is looking to protect its regional and international relevance in the face of growing tensions across the region and sluggish global growth.

After holding their discussions, Li on Wednesday met heads of state of the economic and political bloc. During the 26th China-ASEAN Summit, two sides reviewed the progress of cooperation, discussed the future direction particularly the “ways to advance the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” and exchanged views on regional and global issues.

When it comes to supporting multilateralism and shoring up regional integration, peace and growth, China and ASEAN are on the same wavelength. This was reflected in the joint statement, emphasizing since establishment of the China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations in 1991, mutually beneficial cooperation has significantly grown and matured, witnessing a steady development on both sides.

ASEAN not only acknowledged the spirit of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in “promoting peace” and infrastructure development; all member states have signed BRI cooperation agreements with China. It also pledged to expand the BRI cooperation as well as “explore development cooperation” within the framework of Global Development Initiative to complement the realization of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, support its building process and further strengthen ASEAN-led mechanisms.

This agreement alongside a consensus on “full implementation” of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership as well as recognition of China’s “active efforts” to promote closer China-ASEAN cooperation including its vision to build a close community with a shared future and Beijing’s initiative “to build a peaceful, safe, secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable” region endorsed China’s commitment to support regional connectivity, unimpeded trade, economic integration, people-to-people exchanges and regional peace and stability.

Kamala Harris, the US Vice-President, has also arrived in Jakarta. The US President Joe Biden is facing criticism for skipping the ASEAN summit for around the same time, he will be flying to Asia to attend the G20 Summit in India and then visiting Vietnam. Washington says he isn’t subbing ASEAN; it signals the relationship with Southeast Asia has pared down on the US foreign policy priorities.

Biden’s regional strategy has a structural flaw. His administration wants to push Asia-Pacific into instability by pressurizing ASEAN to enter into a strong defense partnership with the US. Washington is seeking to assert its hegemony in the region as a “Pacific power” so that it could tamper with regional peace and prosperity and the ASEAN Declaration, which adheres to principles of the United Nations Charter to safeguard regional peace and stability and aims to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development.

Five of the US seven treaty alliances – separately with Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand – are in Asia-Pacific, indicating Washington’s main focus is on strengthening the network of allies and partners to contain China. The US military every year conducts nearly 120 exercises with regional states. This describes the US is trying to turn Asia-Pacific into a “competition arena” and great-power rivalry, something ASEAN is extremely wary of.

ASEAN policy of nonalignment and noninterference as well as observance to consensus-based decision-making are argued to contribute to group’s ineffectiveness to address global challenges and declining relevance; they serve as a bulwark against foreign intervention and ambitions to stoke tensions across Asia-Pacific and form the bedrock of regional peace and prosperity in addition to attracting starkly diverse member states.

The US incommodious approach to the region’s peace and security and cold response to the peaceable grouping’s aspiration of economic integration is disappointing and has driven the ASEAN countries to place “economic diplomacy” as it principal foreign policy goal to safeguard regional stability, hasten sustainable growth and solidify comprehensive strategic partnership with China.

Last Month, Biden during a campaign reception boasted of bringing the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) – an alliance comprising Australia, Japan, India and the US – and putting the US in a position where he soon would have Vietnam and Cambodia, wanting to mend ties with America “because they want to know China that they are not alone.” The US president’s claim is misguided and overstated.

As Washington mulls over to upgrade its relationship with its former foe over its proximity to Beijing; Vietnam seems reluctant, realizing the US ulterior motives. China is Vietnam’s biggest trading partner and an important source of imports for the Vietnamese manufacturing sector. Given an ever-growing, stable and sound relations with Beijing has always been a strategic choice for Hanoi, it’s unlikely Vietnam will support any US attempt to drive a wedge between two strategic partners and undermine regional peace, stability and growth.

China and Cambodia too are ironclad partners. Phnom Penh considers Beijing a true strategic safeguard and has committed not to vacillate in its resolve to consolidate and deepen the bilateral relationship. China’s development projects continue to improve the country's lagging infrastructure and benefit the general public With the new Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet assuring to maintain an “unchanged stance” toward China, Phnom Penh’s message is sharp and distinct: it favors peace over instability and prosperity over poverty.

Beijing and ASEAN are each other’s top trading partners and great friends; they also share similar views on deepening cooperation in areas such as agriculture, clean energy, closing the development gap in the region, cybersecurity, disaster risk monitoring, digital economy, e-commerce, food and energy security infrastructure, human resource and social development, innovation and technology, investment, maritime connectivity and security, poverty alleviation and public health. 

All these commonalities offer huge development potential for ASEAN, will further elevate its relevance internationally in near-term and could help to turn Southeast Asia into an epicentrum of growth. At the same time, the region shouldn’t shift focus away from external forces, trying to challenge regional peace and stability by building military alliances and bringing nuclear threats on its shore, for such efforts could thwart the region's ambition.

How developing world sees 74 years of China's independence?

By: Azhar Azam

At the Great Hall of the People in the heart, China’s President Xi Jinping addressed a grand reception, which was presided over by the Chinese Premier Li Qiang and included foreign diplomats, to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the founding of modern China. Beijing had embarked upon a new journey to build a strong nation and economy, he said, urging his nation to strengthen unity and confidence to climb over the challenges and meet this year’s economic and social development targets.

Over the past 74 years, Beijing has always prioritized education for its social and economic development. Since the establishment of the country in 1949, China has worked to eliminate illiteracy and promote basic education; from 1970 onwards, it has been aggressively promoting university education.

China has developed the world’s largest state-run education system comprising an estimated of 291 million students and 18 million teachers in more than 529,000 schools; two of the Chinese universities, Tsinghua and Peking universities, according to the Times Higher Education, have overtaken the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University.

In a short span of less than seven and a half decades, China has indeed accomplished what developed countries took hundreds of years to triumph. Beijing now boasts the world’s biggest social security and healthcare systems that ensure an increased wage rates to the people, leading to unemployment insurance benefits and sick leave pay during the healthcare period, permit them to open private pension account, encourage enterprises to hire unemployed youth graduates and alleviate the burden of financial burden on account of medical expenditure.

These measures not only radically increased the life expectancy from 35 to 78 years in China and helped it emerge as one of the world’s largest manufacturing sectors and the world’s second largest economy; a long-term people-centric approach contributed to the international fight against poverty by slashing more than 800 million people from the global impoverished headcount.

A World Bank report in April 2022 revealed China alone had contributed close to three quarters of global extreme poverty reduction. “China’s poverty reduction story is a story of persistent growth through economic transformation,” said Manuela V. Ferro, the Bank’s Vice President for East Asia and Pacific.

This era of Beijing’s high GDP growth rates, which by many measures continues to be one of the most successful economic stories the world over, is far from over as China is expected to expand at a faster pace (5.2% per the IMF forecast) in 2023 than it actually needs to fund its social spending and other programs and the country makes a transition from “Made in China” to “Smart Manufacturing by China” with 5G technology, high-speed railways, new-energy vehicles and cross-border e-commerce providing new engines of growth to the Chinese economy.

In an age of globalization, China keeps opening up for the rest of the world, promoting outbound investment, hosting exhibitions such as the China International Import Expo and reinforcing connectivity and increasing trade through the Belt and Road Initiative to share the benefits of its development with other nations. Xi’s Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative offer the world to jointly address the global development and security challenges and strengthen exchanges between civilizations as well as contribute to economic growth, infrastructure development, job creation, green transformation, social inclusion and improvement of people’s livelihoods across the world.

This approach is urging the world leaders to deepen ties and draw lessons from Beijing. Congratulating China for its remarkable successes over the past decades, spotting Beijing’s futuristic approach and emergence as a global powerhouse to tackle the pressing international issues – Guyana’s Prime Minister Mark Phillips seeks to collaborate with China on food, energy and climate change and learn from China’s infrastructure investment, industrial promotion and support for manufacturing sector to drive economic growth and employment opportunities.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili struck a similar tone as he pledged to boost cooperation with China in trade, economy, tourism, culture and within the BRI framework. In Greece, former and current government officials participated in the reception and expressed a desire to further expand cooperation in trade, energy, tourism and science and technology, stressing the BRI had opened up new opportunities to strengthen economic and commercial cooperation.


Several government delegates in Qatar, which will host the Sixth China-Arab Friendship Conference, Armenia, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Norway and Vietnam also joined China’s independence day celebrations, supported Beijing's role in the global economy and acknowledged its projects’ contributions to their growth. In India, the mainstream media published special pages, highlighting China’s initiatives, characterizing Beijing as a green power and hailing its high-quality growth, innovation-driven development.

In Nigeria that also celebrates its independence on October 1, the government representative lauded the Chinese efforts to bring development and growth to the African country by actualizing several projects and took inspiration from Beijing’s outstanding accomplishment in critical areas such as infrastructure, technological innovations, and aerospace technology, ecological development, and cultural evolution.

Top executives of the big technology companies including Apple’s Tim Cook and Tesla’s Elon Musk heaped praise on China for its rapid innovation and "very strong" capability in artificial intelligence. The United Nations too is upbeat about Beijing’s investment in tackling climate change; the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has eulogized the role of exhibitions such as the China-ASEAN Expo and the BRI to promote trade, investment and tourism. The Solomon Islands describes the Chinese investments as “less restrictive, more responsive and aligned to our national needs.”

Over the years, China has played a vital role in the global economy and development. The former US President Barack Obama in 2016 “very much” welcomed Beijing’s contributions to global development, peacemaking and refugee assistance. As the country celebrates its 74th anniversary, meeting this year's economic and social targets is equally important for other countries, particularly the developing nations, for this will further empower the world's largest economy to help them overcome their own economic, social and security challenges.