Conversations on Vietnam Development
TS NGUYỄN THÀNH TRUNG 04/04/2023 10:44 GMT+7
TTCT – Trung Quốc đang tăng cường kiểm soát biên giới với các nước láng giềng Đông Nam Á bằng một hàng rào dựng lên nhanh chóng, với mục đích rõ ràng.
Ở thành phố vùng biên Thụy Lệ (tỉnh Vân Nam), ngay cực nam biên giới Trung Quốc – Myanmar, có một ngôi làng nhỏ vẫn được gọi là “một làng hai nước”.
Một đoạn hàng rào biên giới Trung Quốc – Myanmar. Ảnh: Newsweek
Stephen Chen in Beijing,SCMP
Published: 6:00pm, 1 Apr, 2023
China operates one of the world’s largest ocean surveying fleets but survey routes have often lacked transparency and varied from one mission to another. Photo: Xinhua
Beijing has for the first time listed the specific locations to be visited regularly by Chinese ocean research vessels, including disputed areas of the South China Sea and waters close to US Pacific bases.
The 33 areas, or “reference sections”, cover a wide span of regional waterways – from the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea to the western Pacific and eastern Indian oceans – according to the announcement from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), a top government research funder.
30 March 2023 Brussels, European Commission
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a real pleasure to be here at this very special event co-hosted by two of Europe’s most knowledgeable and independent-minded think tanks. In a time when global affairs are becoming harder to decrypt – and in an era where facts are routinely challenged – the work that you do at these think tanks has never been more important for Europe. Because it is only by having a deeper understanding of the world as it really is – not as we may wish it to be – that we can develop better informed policies. This is why I believe think tanks are an essential part of our democracy. In just ten years, MERICS has developed a unique expertise in analysing the political, economic and social trends in China and how these impact Europe and the world. And we must preserve and uphold your right – and that of all think tanks –– to be analytical and to be critical. So I want to express my solidarity with you and all the other individuals and institutions who have been unfairly sanctioned by the Chinese government. I would also like to congratulate the European Policy Centre on its recent 25th anniversary. From the outset, you have been a truly European voice in the world of policy and academia. This spirit is very much in the image of one of your founders, and one of Europe’s most unheralded fathers – Max Kohnstamm. Max Kohnstamm lived through personal trauma and tragedy during World War II. This experience inspired him to dedicate his life to building a united Europe. One question always guided his work: ‘Do we believe that states are forever condemned to remain […] never to trust another state? Or do we believe in the possibility of change, of gradually changing men’s minds and their behaviour?’. This commitment to creating a better understanding between people lives on through Europe’s think-tank community.
Tiếp tục đọc “Speech by President von der Leyen on EU-China relations to the Mercator Institute for China Studies and the European Policy Centre”SÁNG ÁNH 25/03/2023 13:32 GMT+7
TTCT – Saudi Arabia làm lành với Iran mở ra hy vọng về một Trung Đông bớt đi những tang thương bom đạn.
4 h sáng 14-9-2019, quân Houthi (thân Iran) từ Yemen bắn qua Saudi 25 máy bay không người lái, có lẽ giá thành là 15.000 USD một chiếc, tức tổng trị giá 375.000 USD. 19 chiếc trúng đích là khu Nhà máy dầu Abqaiq-Khurais, làm tê liệt sản xuất trong hai tuần.
Khu nhà máy này chiếm 1/2 sản xuất dầu của Saudi (mà dầu của Saudi thì chiếm 5% của thế giới) – khoảng 5,7 triệu thùng/ngày.
Cuộc tấn công khiến Saudi mất 365 triệu đô la một ngày với giá dầu lúc đó là 64 USD/thùng. Tuy dần dà cũng khắc phục được, thị trường chứng khoán Saudi mất ngay 40 tỉ USD.
Xi Jinping used the annual legislative session to lock in his tenure as president and reinforce China’s assertive foreign policy and the reemergence of its economy.
Article by Ian Johnson
March 17, 2023 4:05 pm (EST)
This month saw the Chinese rite of spring known as the lianghui, or “two sessions”: the annual meetings of the national advisory committee and the country’s parliament. Neither body holds much power, and it’s easy to write the whole exercise off as empty theater. Yet, public rituals are meant to deliver messages, and this year’s lianghui offered two important points: President Xi Jinping and his muscular foreign policy are here to stay, and China is back open for business after three years of fighting COVID-19—even if its return to growth is bolstered through unsustainable deficit spending.
Tiếp tục đọc “How to Read Xi’s Muscular Message on China’s Global Role”Al Jazeera English – 23-3-2023
The United States has denied Chinese claims that a US destroyer was driven out from waters around the contested Paracel Islands after it “illegally” entered the area.
China’s state media described the US ship as having trespassed in “Chinese territorial waters”.
The US Navy on Thursday disputed the PLA statement, saying the destroyer was conducting “routine operations” in the South China Sea and was not expelled by Chinese ships.
Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu joins us live from Beijing to give us the latest updates.
In 2021, there were roughly 30 million more men than women in China, and a study estimates that there are over 62 million “missing” women—females who would be alive without gender discrimination. This gap may become a factor contributing to social instability.
For centuries, China boasted the largest population of any country, giving it significant global heft. That is changing as China’s population shrinks and ages at a faster rate than almost any other country. In 2022, China’s population dropped for the first time in decades, and in 2023 India surpassed China to become the world’s most populous nation. China’s changing demographics pose major, prolonged challenges for the country and its leaders. China has for decades reaped the economic dividends that came with having a young workforce to fuel China’s emergence as a global industrial powerhouse. Now, the number of Chinese retirees will soon skyrocket, reducing the size of China’s workforce and putting pressure on China’s social safety net and healthcare system.
https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/12095348/embed
China’s population grew at a breakneck pace during the mid-twentieth century, swelling nearly 50 percent between 1950 and 1970. Driven by fears of the extraordinary challenges of effectively governing a rapidly expanding population, the Chinese government began to institute population control measures in the 1970s. The “later, longer, fewer” (晚稀少) campaign, which was initiated in 1973, raised the legal age of marriage to 23 for women and 25 for men, encouraged at least a three-year period between births, and limited births to two children. Those who did not adhere to the new regulations faced penalties. This policy proved successful. Between 1970 and 1980, China’s fertility rate (the number of births per woman) plummeted from 6.1 to 2.7.https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8tnj5/1/SHARE
Tiếp tục đọc “How Severe Are China’s Demographic Challenges?”
Updated: Jan 13,2016 9:18 PM Xinhua
Download from China Gov’s website >>
China’s Arab Policy Paper
January 2016
Foreword
Friendship between China and Arab states dates back to ancient times. Over two thousand years ago, land and maritime Silk Roads already linked the Chinese and Arab nations. In the long stretches of history, peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, learning from each other, mutual benefit and win-win results have always been the main theme of exchanges between China and Arab countries.
The founding of the People’s Republic of China and the independence of Arab countries created a new era for China-Arab friendly exchanges. From 1956 to 1990, China established diplomatic relations with all 22 Arab countries. China firmly supports Arab national liberation movement, firmly supports Arab countries’ struggle to uphold sovereignty and territorial integrity, pursue and safeguard national interests, and combat external interference and aggression, and firmly supports Arab countries’ cause of developing the national economy and building up the countries. Arab countries have given China strong support in restoring its lawful seat at the United Nations and on issues like the Taiwan question.
Tiếp tục đọc “Full text of China’s Arab Policy Paper”Read full articles on Pacific Forum:
Part one >>
Part two >>
Excerpt:
The study’s main finding is that Taiwan’s fall would have devastating consequences for the United States and many countries in the region and beyond. Regardless of how it happens (without or despite US/allied intervention), Taiwan’s fall to the PRC would be earth shattering. The PRC could eclipse US power and influence in the region once and for all. Taiwan’s fall could lead to the advent of a Pax Sinica where Beijing and its allies would pursue their interests much more aggressively and with complete impunity. Nuclear proliferation in several parts of the Indo-Pacific could also be the net result of Taiwan’s fall, leading to much more dangerous regional and international security environments. To several authors, it would thus be necessary to build an Asian equivalent to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to prevent PRC adventurism and ultimately retake Taiwan.
Accordingly, the United States, its allies, and others should take major action—rapidly—to prevent such a development. In particular, the United States should lead an effort to strengthen collective deterrence and defense in the Indo-Pacific; this is especially important in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has shown territory takeovers still happen in the twenty-first century. The United States should also give serious consideration to establishing region-wide nuclear sharing arrangements; at a minimum, it should jumpstart research to examine the benefits, costs, and risks that such arrangements would bring to the Indo-Pacific security architecture, as well as assess the opportunities and challenges that such a development would present.
Read full articles on Pacific Forum:
Part one >>
Part two >>
UPDATED 7:13 CH 27 THG 2, 2023 SGT
MANILA – The Philippines has filed 10 diplomatic protests against China over alleged “violations” in the South China Sea barely two months into 2023, underscoring renewed tensions between the two nations over the disputed waters.
These form part of the 77 diplomatic protests filed against China under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday.
Tiếp tục đọc “Philippines files 10 protests against China in 2 months over South China Sea row”Source: Xinhua
Editor: huaxia
2023-02-21 09:16:30
BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) — China on Tuesday released “The Global Security Initiative Concept Paper.”
Please see the attachment for the full text of the Paper. Enditem
Download Full text: The Global Security Initiative Concept Paper >>
READ FULL TEXT below
The Global Security Initiative
Concept Paper
The issue of security bears on the well-being of people of all countries, the lofty cause of world peace and development, and the future of humanity.
Today, our world, our times and history are changing in ways like never before, and the international community is confronted with multiple risks and challenges rarely seen before. Regional security hotspots keep flaring up, local conflicts and turbulence occur frequently, the COVID-19 pandemic persists, unilateralism and protectionism have risen significantly, and traditional and non-traditional security threats are entwined. The deficits in peace, development, security and governance are growing, and the world is once again at a crossroads in history.
Tiếp tục đọc “China: The Global Security Initiative Concept Paper (full text)”FEBRUARY 20, 2023
by Noah Barkin, GMF
China’s post-pandemic charm offensive with Europe was supposed to shift into overdrive this past week.
Instead, a visit by China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, showed just how challenging it will be for Beijing to get its relationship with Europe back on track, at a time when China’s ties with Russia appear to be deepening and those with Washington are sinking to new depths.
Wang’s appearance at the Munich Security Conference, sandwiched between trips to Paris, Rome, Budapest, and Moscow, was the clearest illustration to date of the diplomatic dilemma China faces as it emerges from three years of self-imposed COVID isolation, the last of which clouded by the war in Ukraine.
Tiếp tục đọc “China misreads the room in Munich”SÁNG ÁNH 12/02/2023 09:22 GMT+7
TTCT – Dù là đồng minh có hiệp ước của nhau và vừa thắt chặt thêm tình hữu nghị về quân sự, quan hệ Mỹ – Philippines thật ra không phải lúc nào cũng bằng phẳng.
Khi tôi đến thăm Subic Bay năm 1998, khu chế xuất vừa hoạt động và hãng xưởng còn lưa thưa. Đây là khu miễn thuế, ra vào phải qua kiểm soát hải quan, chỗ mua sắm chỉ có vài hàng quán mới mở và loãng khách với một khu phức hợp và ba rạp phim.
Cả khu còn do quân đội Philippines quản lý, hoang vắng với những nhà kho tiền chế và bungalow quân đội Mỹ bỏ lại nằm bắt bụi từ 1992.
Tiếp tục đọc “Căn cứ mới của Mỹ ở Philippines: Không dễ ăn của ngoại…”
As China’s economy moved away from state planning and policymakers introduced market reforms in the 1980s and 1990s, many observers expected that in addition to promoting the growth of the Chinese economy, privatization would also have substantial political implications. Most importantly, it was thought that the rise of the private sector could lead to the establishment of an independent business class that would seek to defend its interests, both in the short term through greater policy lobbying and over the longer term by pushing for institutionalized political change, including democratization. The actual economic and political trajectory of China’s private sector has been more complicated and has been a central area of contestation for economic and political power between firms and the Chinese party-state. Although Chinese companies have pushed to have greater autonomy, they have also faced immense pressure to adapt and cede authority in order to survive and grow.
What does Japan’s military expansion mean for the region? | Inside Story
Al Jazeera English – 19 thg 12, 2022
Japan says the strategic challenge posed by China is the biggest it has ever faced.
Besides Beijing, Japan has two other nuclear-armed neighbours in North Korea and Russia.
It has expressed concerns about intensifying Russian military activity in its far east, even as Moscow presses on with its war against Ukraine.
And a North Korean missile flew over Japan in October. Tiếp tục đọc “What does Japan’s military expansion mean for the region?”
CVD 