Tag: China

China May Use Pak As Proxy

China Tightens Grip Over Tibet Amid Ongoing 20th National Party Congress

By LokMarg

Amid the ongoing 20th National Party Congress, Beijing has started reinforcing tight control over the highly surveilled Tibet autonomous region and the authorities continue to increase their repression in the name of the Zero-Covid policy.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping opened the ruling Communist Party’s twice-a-decade National Congress on Sunday. Regional experts say that Chairman Xi Jinping will undoubtedly extend his term in power for another five years, according to Tibet Rights Collective.
He will either be re-elected as general secretary of the CCP or will be newly elected as chairman of the CCP, a title that has lain dormant since 1982 and was once the highest position ever held by Mao Zedong. The congress is taking place at one of the most perilous periods in international affairs in recent years. A war is raging in Ukraine as President Vladimir Putin attempts to burnish his credentials as a great Russian leader, and China remains a staunch supporter of this would-be tsar.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s atrocities in Tibet continue to take place as minorities are at the receiving end of the repressive Chinese government policies, especially the Uyghurs.

Recently, a new Human Rights Watch report pointed towards DNA collection drives by CCP among Tibetans in and outside Tibetan Autonomous Region from children as young as five years old without consent which clearly explains the possible implications of Xi Jinping’s re-election on Tibet and Tibetans.

Moreover, Beijing’s quest to sinicize Tibetan Buddhism in compliance with Chinese policies, which they refer to as “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” also explains how the election of the Chinese premier for the third term will prove for Tibet.

In 2021, Xi Jinping made an unannounced visit to Tibet and was the first Chinese President to do so in 30 years. Not only this, but he also visited the region during his vice-presidency, to mark the 60 years since the Communist takeover, and gave an aggressive speech from Potala Palace, promising to “smash anyone who attempts to destabilize Tibet, according to Tibet Rights Collective.

Also, when Xi Jinping began his second term without designating a successor as party leader, China scrapped the two-term limit on the presidency, paving the way for Xi to rule for life if he chooses.

Since China illegally occupied Tibet in the 1950s, the brutality of the Chinese Communist government on the people of Tibet started and turned the lives of the Tibetan people into a living hell.

The lack of basic human rights is also an issue that has been raised on every occasion to gain the attention that it deserves on international platforms. But sadly, it has never been considered a case worthy of being seriously taken up by organizations such as the United Nations. (ANI)

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CBSE Announces Dates For Class 10 And 12 Exams | Lokmarg

Bihar: Question Paper Frames Kashmir, India As Two Separate Countries

By LokMarg

A Class 7 exam question paper in a school in Bihar allegedly contained a question that distinguished Kashmir from India, sparking a new controversy.

The Education Department of the Bihar government has been conducting Mid-term examinations for the students of classes one to eight, which continued from October 12 till October 18.
It came to the fore when the students of class seven were asked in their English exam: “What are the people of the following countries called? One is done for you.”

The paper setter cited the example of China and asked “As the people of China are called Chinese, what are the people of Nepal, England, Kashmir, and India called?”

This question was allegedly asked these students in Araria, Kishanganj, and Katihar and further “highlighted the mindset” of the paper maker and setter.

“We got this via Bihar Education Board. The question had to ask what are people from Kashmir called? But, it mistakenly carried as what are people of the country of Kashmir called. This was human error,” Headteacher SK Das clarified.

However, District Education Officer Subhash Kumar Gupta refused to speak about the matter on camera.

Meanwhile, the educationists and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have alleged the matter is a conspiracy and have sought a probe by the Union Education Minister.

Bihar BJP state president Sanjay Jaiswal took to his social media and shared the image of the question paper alongside captioning it as: “…Bihar government is still silent on my concern that they feel Kashmir as not a part of India. This question itself advocates that the officials in Bihar government consider Kashmir as a different country as Nepal, England, China, and India,” he wrote in a Facebook post in Hindi.

He further alleged that “Nitish Kumar is so restless with his desire to become the Prime Minister that they are inflicting anti-national question papers on the children of class 7.”

More details on this matter are awaited.

Notably, in 2017 as well, a similar question was asked in Bihar and a student in the Vaishali district pointed out the error. (ANI)

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5G Base Stations In Xinjiang

China Sets Up 5G Base Stations In Xinjiang For Uyghur Surveillance

By LokMarg

China recently launched thousands of 5G base stations throughout its Xinjiang region, raising concerns the technology will be for greater digital surveillance of Uyghurs rather than the state use of economic development, according to a US government-funded news service.

China’s Information Technology Ministry last month announced the number of 5G base stations in use across China has exceeded 1.96 million.

“The high-quality industrial internet network covers over 300 cities in China, accelerating the transformation and upgrading of traditional Chinese enterprises,” ministry official Wang Peng was quoted saying by state media outlet Xinhua.

With the aim to fully digitize its economy and society, Beijing’s build-out in Xinjiang is part of the expansion of the 5G tech for broadband cellular networks that started in 2019.

Xinjiang has the largest land area of all the provinces and autonomous regions in China with an area of 642,800 square kilometers, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported.

“The 5G network rollout across the entire region will augment an existing pervasive digitized system that monitors the movement of residents through surveillance drones, facial recognition cameras, and mobile phone scans as part of China’s efforts to control the predominantly Muslim population,” RFA quoted experts as saying.

Josh Chin, a journalist with The Wall Street Journal, said, “It’s definitely an interesting development. I have to imagine it will only make surveillance that much more pervasive and efficient.”

The rollout of 5G base stations across the vast, sparsely populated region is “overkill,” according to Geoffrey Cain, a U.S. journalist, and China analyst.

“It’s very extreme, and it also strikes me as very suspicious,” he told RFA.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in her long-awaited report in August said the Chinese government has committed abuses that may amount to crimes against humanity targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic communities in Xinjiang.

The report by the outgoing UN rights chief contains victim accounts that substantiate mass arbitrary detention, torture, and other serious human rights violations and recommends world to take action to end the abuses.

It outlined China’s crimes against humanity due to its “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Uyghurs and other Muslims.

Adrian Zenz, in an interview with ANI, termed this bombshell report as ‘overall positive, very conservative and cautious in its approach. Zenz is a Senior Fellow and Director in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, Washington, DC.

“My assessment of the report is overall positive, it’s useful but of course, it’s not perfect at all and there are some shortcomings in it. The report is very conservative and cautious in its approach,” Zenz said. (ANI)

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Full Control Over Hong Kong Achieved: Xi Jinping

By LokMarg

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday told the 20th Communist party Congress that the country has gained full control over Hong Kong and turned it from chaos to governance, according to Reuters news agency.

Delivering a report to the twice-a-decade party meeting in Beijing, Xi said China has also waged a major struggle against Taiwan separatism and is determined and able to oppose territorial integrity.
Along with the crackdown on Hong Kong, Xi Jinping also defended the military aggression against Taiwan, saying he “safeguarded” the country’s “dignity and core interests” for ensuring security.

“In the face of turbulent developments in Hong Kong, the central government exercised its overall jurisdiction over the special administrative region as prescribed by China’s Constitution and the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,” state media outlet Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.

He said it was ensured that Hong Kong is governed by “patriots” after the “order” was restored in the region.

On the self-governed island of Taiwan, he said, “In response to separatist activities aimed at Taiwan independence and gross provocations of external interference in Taiwan affairs, we have resolutely fought against separatism and countered interference.”

He said that China has demonstrated their resolve and ability to safeguard “China’s sovereignty and to oppose “Taiwan’s independence.”

Faced with “changes in the international landscape”, the Chinese President said the country has “maintained firm strategic resolve and shown a fighting spirit. “Throughout these endeavours, we have safeguarded China’s dignity and core interests and kept ourselves well-positioned for pursuing development and ensuring security.”

During his speech, Xi also defended his flagship COVID policy by saying his government put the people and their lives above all else and tenaciously pursued a zero-COVID policy.

“In responding to the sudden attack of COVID-19, we put the people and their lives above all else and tenaciously pursued a dynamic zero-COVID policy,” Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.

Regional experts say that Chairman Xi Jinping will undoubtedly extend his term in power for another five years.

He will either be re-elected as general secretary of the CCP or will be newly elected as chairman of the CCP, a title that has lain dormant since 1982 and was once the highest position ever held by Mao Zedong.

The congress is taking place at one of the most perilous periods in international affairs in recent years. A war is raging in Ukraine as President Vladimir Putin attempts to burnish his credentials as a great Russian leader, and China remains a staunch supporter of this would-be tsar.

At the same time, Taiwan Strait tensions are at their highest in decades, as China attempts to pummel Taipei into acquiescence.

Besides this, diplomatic tensions with the US, the after-effects of a global pandemic, China’s own par and efforts to stamp out COVID-19, and all the ingredients for a brewing storm are present. (ANI)

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Pak To Summon Blome, Issues Demarche Over Biden’s Statement

By LokMarg

The Pakistan government is set to summon US Ambassador Donald Blome for an official demarche over American President Joe Biden’s statement regarding the country’s nuclear capability, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said.

While addressing the news conference, Bilawal said, “We will call their ambassador and issue a demarche, but I don’t think this was an official function […] it wasn’t an address to the parliament or an interview,” according to Dawn
This statement came after US President Biden, at a Democratic congressional campaign committee reception, said that Pakistan may be “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” as the country has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion”, according to the statement released by the White House.

“And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion,” the White House quoted Biden as saying.

The remarks on Pakistan were made while Biden was talking about US foreign policy with regard to China and Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Biden concluded by saying he considered Pakistan to be the most dangerous country in the world.

“This is a guy (Xi Jinping) who understands what he wants but has an enormous, enormous array of problems. How do we handle that? How do we handle that relative to what’s going on in Russia? And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion,” said Biden, as quoted in a White House press release of his remarks at the Democratic party event.

Addressing the conference at the Bilawal House in Karachi today, the foreign minister said that Pakistan’s nuclear assets “meet each and every international standard in accordance with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) as far as security and safety is concerned”.

“I am surprised by the remarks of President Biden […] I believe this is exactly the sort of misunderstanding that is created when there is a lack of engagement.”

Bilawal said that Pakistan had embarked on a “journey of engagement” and just marked the 75th anniversary of bilateral engagements with the US, according to Dawn.

“If this was such a concern, I imagine it would’ve been raised in that meeting with me, I believe that we have just started our journey of engagement and we will have many more opportunities to engage with the US and address any concerns and misconceptions they might have to this specific question,” Bilawal said as quoted by Dawn.

Although, Bilawal said that he doesn’t believe it negatively impacts the relations between Pakistan and the US. but still, Biden’s remarks could be seen as a setback to the Shehbaz Sharif government’s bid to improve ties with the US. (ANI)

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Hamas Palestinian Biden

US Make Efforts To Counter China’s Growing Influence In Pacific

By LokMarg

To counter China’s growing influence in the Pacific, the United States has dialed up every effort and made attempts that would reduce the possibility of other countries in the Pacific region getting into China’s orbit, Global Strat View reported.

Recently, US president Joe Biden held a summit with 14 Pacific Island where they issued an 11-point Declaration on US-Pacific Partnership, declaring that they shared a vision for a region where “democracy will be able to flourish.”
“We share a vision for a resilient Pacific region of peace, harmony, security, social inclusion, and prosperity, where individuals can reach their potential, the environment can thrive, and democracy will be able to flourish,” read the declaration on US-Pacific Partnership.

Washington’s plan to deepen diplomatic engagement with the Pacific comes as concerns about China’s expanding influence in the region.

During the summit, US President said, “The security of America, quite frankly, and the world depends on your security and the security of the Pacific islands.”

According to the Global, Strat View citing Derek Grossman, an analyst with the global think tank RAND Corporation, earlier, Washington had not been that active in strengthening the ties with Pacific countries. Still, the latest summit shows that the US is changing its outlook, especially in the wake of China’s expanding influence in the region.

“We are still all working from, generally speaking, the same sheet of music, which is we don’t want the Chinese establishing a military foothold in the region, and we don’t want them corrupting the institutions of the region,” he said as quoted by Global Strat View.

Biden announced that Pacific island nations will receive around USD 810 million in funds under the ‘Pacific Partnership Strategy.

The US is working at a micro level in order to remain strong in the Pacific region. This involves financial investments, defense cooperation, police training, COVID assistance, and climate support.

One of the highlights of the summit is the participation from the Solomon Islands as it has recently, in May, met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

In the recent summit, Solomon Island opposed China’s reference to US Pacific Partnership Declaration. It had previously denied US and UK ships access, resulting from Beijing’s influence. All this has added to the US concerns about the Solomon Islands became a China ally, reported Global Strat View. (ANI)

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Jaishankar about China LAC

Jaishankar Reiterates India’s Interest In Joining UNSC As Permanent Member

By LokMarg

Reiterating that a permanent seat, as well as reforms of the UN Security Council, remains India’s main priority, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Thursday asserted that India voices the interest and aspirations of a broad set of countries and added that the contemporary global issues cannot be solved by few countries only.

While addressing Auckland community business Jaishankar said, “There is a widespread acceptance that the problems of today cannot be solved by one, two, or even five of the countries in the United Nations Security Council. When we look at the reforms at the United Nations Security Council, we have an interest in becoming a permanent member of the security council.”
Currently, United Nations Security Council, also known as the Permanent Five or P5, are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States and India have been reiterating its bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council.

Over the multilateral Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) grouping, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar reiterated that not joining RCEP was the “right decision.”

During Jaishankar’s address to Auckland Community business, he noted, “When it came to the RCEP, we took a decision in 2019 not to proceed in joining the RCEP. We weigh the pros and cons. We did an evaluation and many of the critical issues were not addressed in the final outcome.”

He continued saying, “India went back to the other 15 countries and shared some of its anxieties with them but they collectively took the view that they had gone as far as they could. So we decided that it was not in our interest.”

India joined the 15-nation ‘Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations in 2012. In 2019, 15 nations, including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand among others, signed the free trade agreement. However, India walked out of the negotiations, citing national interests.

He also emphasized that climate change also remains one of the top issues in today’s time.

Pointing to the discriminatory approaches adopted in the world in responding to the COVID pandemic, Jaishankar said that the pandemic has revealed to us “how iniquitous and how selfish this world is.”

“I am not taking a moral position. There were several discriminatory policies. If you go to South Africa there is a strong sense of anger and how they were treated during COVID,” Jaishankar added.

Moreover, Jaishankar said Thursday that India is one of the biggest manufacturers of vaccines, and even while vaccinating Indians, the country has helped others.

Addressing the Auckland community business here, Jaishankar said, “During Covid, we were one of the biggest manufacturers of vaccines. We still are. And even while we were vaccinating our own people we took a very conscious decision to help others and we prioritized countries that don’t have access to the free vaccines.”

Jaishankar also said that the entire world is suffering from the Russia-Ukraine war and mentioned the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan as also a big issue.

Responding to a question about the existence of a binary view in the world and India’s position in that, Jaishankar believed that the binary view is “outdated” and said, “One of the changes we have seen in the last few years is the US itself much more open to working with countries outside the traditional alliance or treaty or relationship.”

“So, you have mechanisms like the court, which involves some traditional alliance for the US but also a country like India, which has historically stayed away from alliances and treaties,” he added.

“You know my sense of why we should really pit the binary framework to rest if you look at the distribution of power which are the major economies of the world. Economies large enough to have an impact on global decision-making,” he added.

He also said that in the 1970s and 80s the decisions were mainly taken by G7 countries but with time the decisions’ centrality shifted to G20.

Jaishankar said that India is the fifth-largest economy in nominal terms and is expected to become third largest by the end of the decade.

The External Affairs Minister recalled that India was requested to press the Russians on the issue regarding the safety of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant when the countries increased their fighting near the nuclear facility.

Jaishankar said, “When I was in the United Nations, the big concern at that time was the safety of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant because there was some fighting going on very proximate to it.”

“There was a request to us to press the Russians on that issue which we did. There have been other concerns at various points in time, either different countries have raised with us or the UN has raised with us. I think at this time whatever we can do, we will be willing to do,” the EAM added.

Earlier, Jaishankar held talks with his New Zealand counterpart Nanaia Mahuta and took up visa issues being faced by Indian students due to Covid-19 measures imposed by the country.

In Auckland, EAM will participate in an event on October 6 along with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to felicitate members of the Indian community in New Zealand for their exceptional achievements and contributions.

After wrapping up his New Zealand visit, the EAM will be visiting Canberra and Sydney. (ANI)

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5G Base Stations In Xinjiang

India Abstains From UN Voting On Violations In China’s Xinjiang

By LokMarg

India on Thursday abstained from voting on a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on holding a debate on the human rights situation in China’s Xinjiang.

The draft resolution on “holding a debate on the situation of human rights in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China” was rejected in the 47-member Council after 17 members voted in favour, 19 members voted against, including China, and 11 abstentions, including India, Brazil, Mexico and Ukraine.

“India has never supported country-specific issues in Human Rights Council,” sources said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan voted against the resolution. Pakistani envoy’s statement in UNHRC over Xinjiang exposes the country’s double standards.

On one hand, Pakistan claims to speak for Muslims and on the other hand, it “appreciated” China’s “efforts” to protect its minority in Xinjiang, a region which has been widely known for Beijing’s grave human rights violations.

It is pertinent to mention that 12 out of 17 (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)countries voted in favour of China. Four of these OIC countries abstained.

Somalia is the only OIC country that voted in favour of the decision of holding a debate on the human rights situation in China’s Xinjiang.

A UN report said that the violations have taken place in the context of the Chinese Government’s assertion that it is targeting terrorists among the Uyghur minority with a counter-extremism strategy that involves the use of so-called Vocational Educational and Training Centres (VETCs), or re-education camps.

In a strongly-worded assessment at the end of the report, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that the extent of arbitrary detentions against Uyghur and others, in the context of “restrictions and deprivation more generally of fundamental rights, enjoyed individually and collectively, may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”

The assessment was initiated following serious allegations of human rights violations against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim communities brought to the attention of the UN Human Rights Office and UN human rights mechanisms in late 2017, particularly in the context of the Chinese Government’s policies and measures to combat terrorism and “extremism”.

The OHCHR said that the government policy in recent years in Xinjiang has “led to interlocking patterns of severe and undue restrictions on a wide range of human rights.” Even if the VETC system has as China says, “been reduced in scope or wound up”, said OHCHR, “the laws and policies that underpin it remain in place”, leading to increased use of imprisonment.

The systems of arbitrary detention and related patterns of abuse since 2017, said OHCHR, “come against the backdrop of broader discrimination” against Uyghur and other minorities.

“This has included far-reaching, arbitrary and discriminatory restrictions on human rights and fundamental freedoms, in violation of international laws and standards”, including restrictions on religious freedom and the rights to privacy and movement.

The assessment is based on a rigorous review of documentary material currently available to the Office, with its credibility assessed in accordance with standard human rights methodology.

Particular attention was paid to the government’s laws, policies, data and statements. The Office also requested information and engaged in dialogue and technical exchanges with China throughout the process.

The information was assessed against applicable international human rights law and builds on the work of a number of UN human rights mechanisms.

Notably, the UN’s assessment comes at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping is poised to break with tradition by taking on a third term. (ANI)

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IAF Seeks More Fighter Jets

IAF Seeks More Fighter Jets In View Of Threat From China, Pak

By LokMarg

Citing the increasing number of fighter aircraft in the Chinese and Pakistan air forces, the Indian Air Force on Tuesday said it would need more combat aircraft to meet security challenges.

“The environment around us remains hostile and there would be a requirement for 42 squadrons of fighter aircraft by the Indian Air Force.” We have to see the case of China and Pakistan also, “Indian Air Force Vice Chief Air Marshal Sandeep Singh said.

He was speaking at a press conference where he was asked whether the IAF could lower its authorized squadron strength number from 42.

The IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, said the aircraft numbers authorized to the force were as per the requirements in view of the security challenges.

IAF is authorized to have 42 squadrons, which would mean around 800 fighter aircraft, but at present, it is stuck at 30 squadrons only due to delays in the development of the LCA Tejas as well as in the procurement of high-ability multirole fighters.

The situation is going to worsen further with the planned decommissioning of the MiG-21s in near future and all squadrons of Jaguar, Mirage-2000, and MiG-29 fighters by the middle of the next decade.

The IAF has plans of inducting around 200 LCAs and 114 multirole fighters in the next 15 years along with six squadrons of Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft.

Pakistan, which has to defend borders mainly with India, only has around 25 squadrons of combat aircraft, while the Chinese Air Force has a large number of aircraft, including fifth-generation fighters like the J-20. (ANI)

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China May Use Pak As Proxy

China May Use Pak As Proxy To Arm Myanmar Junta

By LokMarg

Even as the world’s eyes are fixed on ongoing rights abuses in Myanmar, China has tried to engage with the military regime in the Southeast Asian country while hoping to export military hardware to the junta.

Since the Myanmar military launched its “disastrous” coup last year, an UN-appointed independent human rights expert said that conditions have worsened, “by any measure”.
“With each report, I have warned that unless UN Member States change course in the way they collectively respond to this crisis, the people of Myanmar will suffer even further,” UN expert Tom Andrews told the Human Rights Council in Geneva last month.

He said that conditions have “gone from bad to worse, to horrific for untold numbers of innocent people in Myanmar”. Andrews presented a grim assessment of 1.3 million displaced people.

Writing for The Irrawaddy news, a regional political analyst, since the coup in February 2021, Beijing has been careful to engage not only with the junta but to open an informal dialogue with the parallel National Unity Government (NUG).

“But China is not a trusted neighbor, and Beijing’s undisclosed support of the Myanmar military is being closely monitored. “Unlike Russia, China cannot openly sell arms to the regime,” said Yan Naing, a pseudonym for a political analyst on Myanmar and China.

Citing intelligence sources, Yan suggested that Beijing is considering using Pakistan as an intermediary to sell and export military hardware to the junta.

“With coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing making repeated visits to Russia with a shopping list for jet fighters, helicopters, and missiles, China is concerned that it will lose Myanmar as a customer for its weapons,” the political analyst said.

In recent years, Pakistan’s security ties and defense cooperation with Myanmar have increased since the military takeover. Pakistan is reportedly delivering two JF-17 Thunder Block-II aircraft to the Myanmar Air Force, according to Yan.

He argues that the Military junta is also considering purchasing heavy machine guns and grenade launchers from Pakistan.

Yan states that security experts claim that China has covertly increased its engagement with the Myanmar military. Beijing has got Islamabad involved as a proxy to supply weapons to the regime, he adds.

The regional political further argues that Beijing is wary of the anti-China sentiment in Myanmar and the likely backlash if it is seen to be supplying arms to the junta. (ANI)

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