From a military rules-of-the-road agreement with Washington to US$20 billion in loans for Southeast Asia, Beijing has set aside the tensions of recent years to present a softer side to the world in the past week.
However, proof of whether Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is serious about narrowing differences that have marked his first two years in office will depend on how China’s festering disputes are managed in the months ahead.
The possibilities for disagreement are many, from cyberspying to land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea and the deeply emotional issue for China of how Japan deals with next year’s 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Photo: Reuters
China set nerves on edge with its air defense identification zone over the East China Sea, by sending an oil rig deep into waters disputed with Vietnam and by unveiling advanced new weapons, including a prototype stealth fighter.
However, in recent days, China has gone out of its way to set minds at ease as Xi hosted the APEC summit.
China made conciliatory gestures to Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan, and, with US President Barack Obama, agreed to a climate deal and to lower the risk of misunderstandings during military encounters.
“We still have to observe what happens in the next six to 12 months or even longer, but I think that now we stand at the beginning of a substantive change in Chinese foreign policy,” said Shi Yinhong (時殷弘), head of the Center for American Studies at Beijing’s Renmin University, who has also advised the government on diplomatic issues.
Reliance on the military has been replaced by money to guide China’s diplomacy, Shi said, pointing to the US$40 billion New Silk Road fund and US$50 billion China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank announced before APEC.
More than US$120 billion has been promised since May to Africa, Southeast Asia and Central Asia.
“The message is that China sincerely hopes that it can play its role as a responsible power,” the official China Daily newspaper wrote in an editorial on Monday.
The root causes of past disagreements have, for now, been set aside.
Xinhua news agency sought to temper expectations following Xi’s meeting with Obama last week, saying that, despite the “amicable tone,” “still much has to be done to translate promises into reality.”
As if to remind the US of China’s growing military power, the day before Xi and Obama’s summit, the Chinese military unveiled a sophisticated new stealth fighter jet at an air show in the south of the country.
“A lot of problems exist and there will be a lot of uncertainty in the days to come,” said Jia Qingguo (賈慶國), dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, who has also advised the government on diplomacy.
China has long sought to address fears in the region, and globally, that economic growth will inevitably bring a more muscular diplomatic and military approach.
During a summit of Southeast Asia leaders in Myanmar last week, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) proposed a friendship treaty, yet held to the line that Beijing will only settle South China Sea disputes directly with other claimants.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said he and Xi had a good meeting in Beijing, but the Philippine military says there has been no sign of China reducing its presence in parts of the South China Sea that Manila also claims.
Then there is Japan.
China and Japan, the world’s second and third-largest economies, have argued bitterly for two years over disputed islands, which Taiwan also claims, regional influence and the legacy of Japan’s wartime occupation of China.
While Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held breakthrough talks just before APEC, in recognition of the economic damage inflicted by their row, suspicion runs deep.
“Whether or not incidents or disturbances can be prevented from happening again between the two countries depends on Japan’s attitude and actions,” Acting Chinese Ambassador to Japan Han Zhiqiang (韓志強) was quoted saying in state media last week.
China has already promised high-profile events to mark next year’s World War II anniversary, offering another opportunity to accuse Japan of not properly atoning for its past.
“Japan is particularly worried about how the anniversary will be handled in China,” one Beijing-based Western envoy said.
India presents another problem, with no sign of lasting resolution to a festering border dispute.
In recognition of the world’s concerns, Xi, speaking to Australia’s parliament on Monday, channeled an ancient expression to assuage worries: “A war-mongering state will eventually die, no matter how big it is.”
He did not finish the saying, whose last line reads: “Though the world is peaceful, you will be in danger if you forget about preparing for war.”
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday declared martial law in an unannounced late night address broadcast live on YTN television. Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to such a measure in order to safeguard free and constitutional order, saying opposition parties have taken hostage of the parliamentary process to throw the country into a crisis. "I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free
CHAGOS ISLANDS: Recently elected Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told lawmakers that the contents of negotiations are ‘unknown’ to the government Mauritius’ new prime minister ordered an independent review of a deal with the UK involving a strategically important US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, placing the agreement under fresh scrutiny. Under a pact signed last month, the UK ceded sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining control of Diego Garcia — the island where the base is situated. The deal was signed by then-Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Oct. 3 — a month before elections in Mauritius in which Navin Ramgoolam became premier. “I have asked for an independent review of the
France on Friday showed off to the world the gleaming restored interior of Notre-Dame cathedral, a week before the 850-year-old medieval edifice reopens following painstaking restoration after the devastating 2019 fire. French President Emmanuel Macron conducted an inspection of the restoration, broadcast live on television, saying workers had done the “impossible” by healing a “national wound” after the fire on April 19, 2019. While every effort has been made to remain faithful to the original look of the cathedral, an international team of designers and architects have created a luminous space that has an immediate impact on the visitor. The floor shimmers and
‘VIOLATIONS OF DISCIPLINE’: Miao Hua has come up through the political department in the military and he was already fairly senior before Xi Jinping came to power in 2012 A member of China’s powerful Central Military Commission has been suspended and put under investigation, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday. Miao Hua (苗華) was director of the political work department on the commission, which oversees the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest standing military. He was one of five members of the commission in addition to its leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) said Miao is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline,” which usually alludes to corruption. It is the third recent major shakeup for China’s defense establishment. China in June
RSS