International News
Xi Jinping expects to be in command till 2035
Certainly, some critique put him on a par with Deng Xiaoping or even Mao Zedong. Some years ago, Xi Jinping had made a classic statement – “One must build a good cage. If the cage is too loose, or is very good but the door is not closed, and one is free to go in and out, then that is of no use.”
Now, the Communists party in China moves on to a new central task — to achieve the “second centenary goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernisation.
The mega Chinese goal is tied to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China — which would be 2049 — but Xi has pushed the date for “basically” realizing this goal forward to 2035.
Conveniently, that leaves the door open for Xi to still be in command of the party at the big celebration 13 years from now.
Marxists in once upon a time Red forte Tripura – used to often say the line from a play. The line of the play was of course penned obviously with a pro-Left liberal sentiment:
“Every war or struggle is for power; and power can never do good to anybody”.
The economic policy that Xi has put forward contains a similar sort of contradiction.
The central idea of the “dual circulation” policy is that China should increase its trade surplus with the wider world, while simultaneously becoming more dependent on its domestic economy to drive consumption.
Many economists think that this will be a hard balance to manage. But, in a sense, the strategy should not be seen as an exercise in economics but in politics. It mirrors precisely the idea of being highly connected to the world while closed to it physically.
But compared with real openness, it is one that would leave both sides poorer.
“China remains connected to the outside world largely through the virtual environment, in particular social media and video apps. Yet the vision of the world created within the country is very partial. State media pumps out images of the west still devastated by the virus,” says an article ‘The Guardian’.
China, Xi – And Peace in India’s North East
This is one of the most perilous periods in international history. There’s something big happening everywhere — China, Ukraine, Indo Pacific and of course Britain where Liz Truss had the shortest stint ever in history as Prime Minister.
On the last day of Communists Party Congress in China on Saturday, Oct 22, former President Hu Jintao, was ‘removed’ unceremoniously and by force by so-called ‘unnamed Chinese communist agents’.
Both China and the Chinese communists have many admirers in India and also in the northeast closer home as well.
To them New Delhi ‘could not be trusted’ but Xi Jinping’s polity should be applauded.
China is that country which has seen almost 30 years of 9 and 10 per cent of average growth even till fiscal 2016-17.
This was surely an unprecedented performance by any country at the global stage.
Importantly, during this period, around 50 per cent of global growth came from China and India was by default and otherwise part of the beneficiary list.
The drop in Chinese growth rate had impacted global trade and commerce too. In fact, the global trade shrunk as a result of the negative impact on China’s own growth graph.
At one time even India benefited and the country’s global trade was growing at an average of seven percent a year.
The politics of China and also the other global challenges make a lot of sense even in the neighbourhood.
It would impact now and it impacted regional politics even in the past.
In the context of northeast India, Mon and Tuensang were the battlefields of various ultra groups.
In the eighties, Indian security force reports used to suggest that communist China’s help and logistic support was crucial at least for one camp
Even the church lobby was unhappy.
One such internal security analysis had said that the league of western Christian countries led by the US and the United Kingdom were bemused while the Indian jawans reportedly watched from a distance what they called a snake-mongoose fight.
But enough water has flown in river Dhansiri near Dimapur since then. ‘Christ’ and his principles and values are now a public pledge. ‘Nagaland for Christ’ – as they put it.
However, it is altogether a different chapter that violence and threats pursue at different levels.
According to the annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs, 2020, incidents of insurgency in six out of eight northeastern states declined by 80 per cent since 2014 and civilian deaths were down by 99 per cent.
The year 2020 also had recorded the lowest insurgency incidents and casualties among civilians and security forces in the last decades. This was the year of the Galwan valley conflict nevertheless.
But around September 2020, in a retort to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement aimed at China that — the era of expansionism is over — the rebels also had issued a joint statement saying, as the entire world has made up its mind against expansionism, the people of West Southeast Asia are also countering the expansionism of India.
One must study these statements based on the availability of Chinese-made arms in the Northeast.
In 2020, when it was realised at the Government of India level that the Naga peace talks had been stalled, as expected the apprehension was Chinese hands.
On September 18, 2020, there was a clear setback to all efforts for reconciliation as the NSCN-IM issued a statement from its headquarters saying a separate Naga flag and constitution “must form a part of the Indo-Naga political solution”.
Given the contest, one source had said even during the UPA regime in 2011-12, Chinese agents including a woman posing as a TV journalist reportedly visited the headquarters of the NSCN-IM near Dimapur and held a three-hour-long meeting with top NSCN-IM leaders.
On September 28, 2022, NSCN-IM issued a statement alleging that the government of India has “hindered” the peace parleys.
It also said, “therefore there is an imperative need for third party intervention” in Naga talks.
Tehran, July 27: Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on said Ukraine’s attack on an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea “cannot go unanswered.”
In a post on the social media platform X, Araghchi accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of ordering “a blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel’s behest to drag Europe into its war.”
He said he had “made clear that what the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED” in phone calls with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday and Sunday respectively, Xinhua news agency reported.
He made the remarks on Saturday in a phone call with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, in which the two sides discussed the latest regional developments, according to a statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Araghchi condemned the Ukrainian attack, urging the EU, UN Security Council, and international community to hold its “perpetrators” and supporters to account, according to the statement.
The two sides also addressed developments in the Strait of Hormuz, stressing the need for diplomatic initiatives to manage regional tensions, it added.
In a separate statement, the ministry said it summoned Ukraine’s charge d’affaires in Tehran on Saturday over the attack, formally delivering a note of protest condemning the “hostile and criminal” act.
According to the Iranian foreign ministry, the attack took place at 3:00 a.m. local time on Saturday (2330 GMT on Friday) and led to the vessel’s explosion as well as a sailor’s death.
The semi-official Mehr news agency on Sunday reported that three sailors were also injured in the attack.
Citing the Governor of Iran’s northern Gilan province Hadi Haghshenas, it said that the steel-laden vessel was en route from Russia’s Astrakhan Port to Iran’s Anzali Port in Gilan when it came under attack.
The ship’s bridge was destroyed, leaving it unable to continue its voyage, Haghshenas said, adding that the incident would be pursued through domestic and international legal channels.
Zelensky said on Saturday that his country’s forces had hit a Russian warship and vessels used for transporting Iran-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea.
Tehran, July 26: Iran and Oman held several rounds of technical talks in Tehran to discuss arrangements for safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said on Sunday that the talks were “useful and forward-looking” and progress had been made.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Baqaei said the talks were held on Friday and Saturday at the level of Deputy Foreign Ministers, during which, they discussed common principles and practical mechanisms for ensuring safe maritime traffic through the strategic waterway while respecting the sovereign rights of the two littoral states, Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.
Baqaei added that Oman delegation left Iran on Saturday. However, the two nations would continue the technical and political consultations.
When asked regarding the current situation about navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that there had been no change in the status of maritime traffic in the waterway, IRNA reported.
The Strait of Hormuz links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. It is one of the world’s most important energy corridors, carrying oil and liquefied natural gas exports from major Gulf producers to international markets.
The talks between the two nations come amid renewed tensions in West Asia following military exchanges between the US and Iran.
Meanwhile, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the United States’ naval blockade against Iran remains fully in effect, announcing that American forces have redirected multiple commercial vessels, boarded ships for verification, and disabled one tanker that allegedly attempted to violate the blockade.
In a post on social media platform X, CENTCOM added: “The US naval blockade against Iran remains in full effect. As of July 25, CENTCOM has redirected 12 commercial vessels trying to run the blockade, disabled 2 that didn’t comply, and boarded 2 to ensure total compliance.”
The US Central Command said that US forces earlier completed a verification boarding of the Comoros-flagged tanker M/T Charminar in the Arabian Sea.
Describing the operation, CENTCOM said: “Earlier today, US forces completed a verification boarding aboard Comoros-flagged M/T Charminar in the Arabian Sea, and the tanker is now continuing its journey.”
CENTCOM also announced action against another vessel, saying American forces had disabled the Mozambique-flagged tanker M/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman after its crew allegedly attempted to breach the blockade.
According to the command, “CENTCOM forces disabled Mozambique-flagged M/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman on July 24 after the crew attempted to violate the blockade multiple times and ignored repeated warnings. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran.”
The military command emphasised that US forces remain prepared for further operations in the region, saying: “American forces remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready.”
International News
Iran’s FM urges EU to take ‘decisive’ action against Ukraine’s attack on Iranian ship
Tehran, July 26: Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi called on the EU to take “decisive” action against Ukraine’s targeting of an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea.
He made the remarks on Saturday in a phone call with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, in which the two sides discussed the latest regional developments, according to a statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Araghchi condemned the Ukrainian attack, urging the EU, UN Security Council, and international community to hold its “perpetrators” and supporters to account, according to the statement.
The two sides also addressed developments in the Strait of Hormuz, stressing the need for diplomatic initiatives to manage regional tensions, it added, reports Xinhua news agency.
In a separate statement, the ministry said it summoned Ukraine’s charge d’affaires in Tehran on Saturday over the attack, formally delivering a note of protest condemning the “hostile and criminal” act.
Earlier in the day, the ministry said the Ukrainian attack had caused the vessel to explode, killing a sailor and wounding another.
The ministry said Iran has never intervened in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, adding the strike could further “spread the flames of the war and insecurity in a dangerous manner.”
Also on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country’s forces had hit a Russian warship and vessels used for transporting Iran-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea.
Earlier, the ministry said in a statement that the attack, carried out by the Ukrainian government, violated the UN Charter and constituted an “act of aggression.”
Iran has never intervened in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the ministry said, adding the strike could further “spread the flames of the war and insecurity in a dangerous manner.”
It stressed Iran will not hesitate to defend its national interests and security, warning that Ukraine will be responsible for the consequences of its “adventurism.”
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