More Focus on Responsibilities in Upgraded Sino-African Ties

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Tanzania, South Africa and Congo-Brazzaville immediately after the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference last March. Li Keqiang just concluded his first Africa trip as Chinese premier, visiting Ethiopia, Nigeria, Angola, Kenya, and the African Union headquarters from May 4 to 12.

The two high-profile visits in one year fully displayed the current Chinese leadership’s continuous emphasis on developing Sino-African relations and enhancing South-South cooperation. During his visit, Premier Li proposed to actively promote Sino-African collaboration in industry, finance, poverty alleviation, ecological and environmental protection, personnel and cultural exchanges, and peace and security. Each of the six areas has a specific roadmap and overall program, presenting an “upgraded version of Sino-African All-round Cooperation” that is true to its name.

Reading between the lines of Premier Li’s elaboration of the blueprint for the upgraded version of Sino-African cooperation, one can feel the emphasis on “contribution” and “responsibility”.

Every time when I visited Africa, I heard African friends expressing heart-felt praises of and respect for China’s economic achievements and its becoming the world’s second largest economy. Though China remains a developing country in per capita GDP, growing comprehensive national strength allows us to make long-term plans for Sino-African relations from a broader perspective, and contribute more to African development. Li proposed during his visit to try to raise Sino-African trade to around $400 billion by 2020, doubling current volume, and to increase direct investment in Africa from the current $25 billion to $100 billion. Chinese loans to African countries will increase another $10 billion, expanding the promised lending quota to $30 billion. Besides, he pledged to help Africa build networks of high-speed rails, expressways, and regional air transport, realizing the African dream of connecting all African capitals with high-speed rails, facilitating African integration. Undoubtedly, all the six projects and three networks meet African needs. Each of them has created a stir in Africa. And the successful implementation of each will bring tangible changes there, and become a hallmark of Chinese contribution to African development.

While contributing to local progress in Africa and the rest of the world, China, as its national strength grows, must also assume due responsibilities. In the past dozen years, with the rapid expansion of interactions and the diversification of participants in cooperation programs, problems and challenges have emerged along with achievements, which Premier referred to as “growing pains”.

While visiting Angola (where there are 260,000 Chinese citizens, nearly one-fourth of Chinese population in Africa), Li convened a special meeting with representatives of Chinese companies and local Chinese chamber of commerce. While emphasizing government efforts to protect Chinese citizens’ rights and interests overseas and limelight on consular protection, Li also asked Chinese firms to strictly follow laws and rules of resident countries, and assume due responsibilities for project quality, commodity quality, consumer rights and interests, as well as for local communities and environment. In Kenya, he visited the memorial ivory burning site with the Kenyan president, displaying Chinese sincerity and resolution for collaboration in the crackdown on illegal poaching and ivory trafficking. Li also announced a Chinese government aid of $10 million to help Africa promote wild life protection, biodiversity preservation, and sustainable development. Li also vowed to support transfer of labor-intensive industries from China to Africa, localization of Chinese industries, and jobs creation in African countries; and to earmark more than half of Chinese aid for Africa, with special emphasis on such public-welfare programs as poverty alleviation, public health, and disaster prevention.

Such responsibilities also found expression in the inclusiveness of development-aid programs for Africa. Premier Li stated at the World Economic Forum Africa Summit that, with a combined population upwards of 2.3 billion, China and Africa will not only improve livelihoods of their own peoples, but also promote balanced progress of the world economy by enhancing cooperation. This is in itself the greatest inclusive growth the world over. Helping Africa develop, allowing almost one-third of human beings share the fruit of growth through mutually beneficial cooperation, China will contribute tremendously to balanced development of the world economy and humanity’s overall progress. That will be an important manifestation of China’s role as a responsible big country. Li also stated that Chinese cooperation with Africa will follow the principle of “Africa needs, Africa agrees, Africa participates”, and that the formats of cooperation should include three-party and multi-party ones. In fact, China and the United States have conducted several rounds of consultations over cooperation on African development, with topics covering peace and security, peace-keeping, climate change, and humanitarian relief. And the two parties have had preliminary cooperation in peace talks between Sudan and South Sudan, joint operations against Somali pirates, and anti-terror endeavors in Nigeria.

From Li’s Africa trip, we have seen an upgraded version of Sino-African relationship, and felt the strong Chinese sense of responsibility. On its own way to national rejuvenation, China should maintain a balance between “righteousness” and “interest” and be faithful to its moral obligations.

He Wenping is a Senior Fellow at the Chahar Institute and a Research Fellow with the Institute of West Asia and Africa Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

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Hanoi’s charges ‘irresponsible’

Expert: Philippines, Vietnam form front to challenge China on territory

Beijing slammed Hanoi on Thursday for “making irresponsible accusations” against China on the international stage, following Vietnam’s decision a day earlier to consider pursuing legal action over China’s islands in the South China Sea.

The issue is being internationalized and complicated, observers said, as Vietnam may align with the Philippines and follow Manila’s example and file a case at an international court, a development one analyst said indicated a “front” was being formed against China.

During a visit to Manila on Wednesday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Hanoi was considering various “defense options” against China, including legal action, Reuters reported.

Dung did not elaborate on the other options being considered, but at a joint news conference with Philippine President Benigno Aquino Dung said Vietnam and the Philippines “call on countries and the international community to continue strongly condemning China and demanding China immediately end the violations”. However, Aquino did not mention the territorial tensions with China in his speech.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a news conference on Thursday that Vietnam is simply confusing right and wrong.

“As for who is challenging another country’s sovereignty, who is creating tensions and who is sabotaging peace and stability in the South China Sea, facts speak louder than words,” Hong said.

Last year, Manila submitted a case to a UN arbitration tribunal in The Hague challenging China’s claims in the South China Sea. Beijing has refused to participate, insisting that the best way to resolve matters is bilateral talks.

On Thursday, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said the country is closely watching how the Philippines fares in an international court over its maritime dispute with China, according to Reuters.

Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said: “It is pretty obvious that Vietnam and the Philippines are forming a front to confront China on the South China Sea issue as the two countries have both been stirring trouble recently in regional waters and have demanded that ASEAN release a statement on this issue.

“Beijing’s measures to respond to the apparently anti-China alliance forged by Vietnam and the Philippines should vary given the different conditions of the two countries,” Wu said.

“Bilaterally, China and Vietnam have open and smooth communication channels, which ushers in the possibility for more diplomatic consultations to solve problem. For the Philippines, China should take multiple measures, including economic ones, to pull Manila back to the negotiating table,” Wu said.

Li Guoqiang, deputy director of the Center for Chinese Borderland History and Geography at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Hanoi and Manila tend to perceive China as a common opponent and therefore share similar policy options, but it is unlikely that the two countries will frame an “anti-China coalition”.

“Vietnam and the Philippines have different interests in the South China Sea. They are playing different roles and have a different influence in the region,” Li said. “A coalition against China will risk great damage to their ties with China, which neither of them can afford.”

“In the big picture, the two countries should realize that the South China Sea does not account for the entirety of relations,” he added.

On May 2, Vietnam sent military ships to harass Chinese oil drilling operations around Zhongjian Island in the Xisha Islands, well within China’s territorial waters. Anti-China protests in Vietnam followed and soon turned violent, claiming the lives of two Chinese citizens and injuring hundreds of others.

“China repeatedly asked the Vietnamese to stop the violence. However, instead, they turned a blind eye,” Hong said.

Hong said Vietnam should immediately end the maritime harassment, punish the perpetrators of the riots and compensate for the property damage.

By Pu Zhendong (China Daily)

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Russia, China veto draft UN resolution on Syrian civil war

Russia and China, two permanent members of the UN Security Council, on Thursday wielded veto power over a draft resolution which is intended to refer the Syrian civil war to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The unadopted draft resolution, proposed by France, received 13 votes in favor and two against.

“The draft resolution has not been adopted owing to the negative votes of permanent members of the council,” said Oh Joon, the South Korean permanent representative to the United Nations, who holds the rotating council presidency for the month of May.

The Thursday vote at the 15-nation UN body made it a fourth double veto by Russia and China on a West-drafted resolution on Syria.

Syria is not a state party to the Rome Statute which established the ICC, so the only way the Middle East country can be referred to The Hague-based tribunal is by the Security Council.

Under the UN Charter, the adoption of a draft resolution requires nine votes in favor and the absence of a negative vote by any of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

France, another permanent council member, circulated the draft resolution among the council members on May 12 in a bid to refer the Syrian civil war, current in its fourth year, to the ICC for review of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“The Security Council reaffirms its strong condemnation of the widespread violations of human rights law by the Syrian authorities and pro-government militias, as well as the human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law by non-State armed groups, all committed in the course of the ongoing conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011,” said the draft resolution.

After the council vote, Vitaly Churkin, the Russian UN ambassador, said at the Security Council that the vetoed draft resolution, if adopted, would “lay the ground for the eventual outside military intervention” in Syria.

Churkin blamed France, which initiated the draft resolution, for trying once again to “create a pretext for armed intervention in the Syrian conflict,” while “fully aware of the failure it will meet” in the wake of the council vote.

“It is striking that there is not a single word on the political settlement and the negotiation process among the Syrians ” mentioned in a communique at the end of the May 15 meeting on Syria in London, he said.

Citing the case of Libya, Churkin said the referral to the ICC would not help resolve the crisis.

The Security Council has previously referred Libya and Sudan’s Darfur to the ICC.

“We call on our Western colleagues to abandon the futile, dead-end policy on Syria,” he said.

“We share their emotions caused by the crisis in Syria, which has been dragging on for far too long,” Churkin said, referring to the countries sponsoring the draft resolutions.

Russia has already voiced its opposition to the referral of Syria to the ICC. On Wednesday, Churkin called a “public stunt” the planned council vote.

The Geneva communique, issued in June 2012 on the principles of accountability and national reconciliation in Syria, will continue to serve as the basis for “the core efforts” to strive for the political solution to the Syrian crisis, he said. “We are convinced that the justice in Syria will eventually prevail.”

“Those guilty of perpetrating grave crimes will be punished,” he said. “But in order for this to happen, peace is first needed, first and foremost.”

Also speaking at the council after his vote, Wang Min, the deputy Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, said that China “has serious difficulties” with the draft resolution.

“What is most urgently needed now is to urge the government of Syria and opposition to immediately start a ceasefire and end violence so that the third round of the Geneva negotiations can be resumed to push forward the political process and start the political transition,” Wang said.

Little progress has been achieved at the two round of peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition in Geneva in February this year. The international community is striving for the third round of negotiations in order to bring an end to the Syrian conflict, which has reportedly left some 150,000 Syrian people dead over the past more than three years.

“Under the current circumstances, to forcibly refer the situation of Syria to the ICC is neither conducive to building trust among all the parties in Syria, or to the early resumption of the negotiations in Geneva, it will only jeopardize the efforts made by the international community to push forward the political settlement,” he said.

“We believe that at a time when there is a serious divergence of views concerning the draft resolution among all sides, the Security Council should continue to hold the consultations, rather than forcibly push for a vote on the draft resolution, so as not to undermine the unity in the council or obstruct the coordination and cooperation in the council in dealing with the questions such as Syria and other major serious issues,” he said.

The Thursday vote came just days before international Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi is scheduled to step down on May 31.

“It is clear in this case that no side in this tragedy is innocent,” said UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, who was addressing the Security Council on behalf of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

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Terror fight ‘must be intensified’

The latest attack in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region highlights the need to intensify the fight against the growing threat of terrorism at multiple levels, according to security analysts and experts.

Ma Pinyan, a senior anti-terrorism researcher, said there had been a growing number of attacks and there was also the possibility that more people had become terrorists despite a crackdown on extremist activities in recent years.

“Not enough efforts are being made to solve terrorism at its roots,” said Ma, deputy director of the Ethnic and Religious Study Center at Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences.

“The ideological basis for terrorism is religious extremism. The extremists have increased their efforts to indoctrinate people.”

On Thursday morning, two cars without license plates plowed into people at an open-air market in Urumqi, the regional capital, with the occupants throwing explosives into the crowds.

The attack killed 31 people and injured at least 94 others. The Ministry of Public Security described it as “an extremely severe terrorist incident”.

It was the second terrorist attack in Urumqi in less than a month. On April 30, a railway station explosion killed three people, including two attackers, and injured 79 others.

Xinjiang Party chief Zhang Chunxian said in March that the penetration of religious extremism had led to more attacks.

Tourism decline

Meng Nan, a Central Asian studies researcher at Xinjiang University, said the terrorists had become more focused and sophisticated in their attacks.

They chose the morning market for the latest attack because they could cause maximum panic, Meng said.

The attacks in Xinjiang would trigger a decline in the number of tourists to the region during the peak season, he said.

Besides economic damage, such attacks “can attract the attention of anti-China forces in the West, who will support the terrorists with funding or weapons”, Meng added.

Ma said the timing of the attack, which came as China was hosting the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia in Shanghai, also meant that it was deliberately provocative.

He said modern forms of communications had also made the fight against terrorism more challenging.

All these factors meant that counterterrorism efforts must be intensified and carried out at all levels, the experts said.

Liu Lei, Xinjiang military command commissar, said religious extremists in the region tended to recruit jobless young people from rural areas.

He said most members of the violent or terror-related groups cracked in Xinjiang in recent years were jobless and aged between 10 and 25.

More must be done to ensure that people at the grassroots had jobs so that they did not fall prey to extremists, Liu said.

Ma said China needed to strengthen counterterrorism cooperation with Afghanistan and Pakistan, which were increasingly becoming bases for the planning of attacks and training of terrorists in Xinjiang.

Effective measures

A special law on counterterrorism was urgently needed, Ma said.

Dai Peng, a professor at People’s Public Security University of China, said the nation should enhance its capacity to combat terrorism in terms of intelligence gathering at border areas.

Basic counterterrorism measures also included cutting terrorists’ sources of funding and weapons, Dai said.

“Police should take effective measures to cut off their source of funding. Whenever banks discover the illegal inflow or outflow of funds by suspected terrorists, they should freeze the accounts immediately.”

Police and customs officials should maintain the pressure in cracking down on arms smuggling, he said.

Meng said the government should improve cooperation on information gathering and sharing with other countries to target terrorists at home and abroad who increasingly used the Internet to spread their extremist activities.

Security checks and patrols at public places such as hospitals, schools, shopping malls and theaters must be strengthened because those areas were major targets for terror attacks, Meng said.

Everyone should stay on high alert for suspected terrorists and report them to the authorities immediately, Meng said, adding that a consensus should be reached — that terror attacks could cause huge damage to all ethnic groups and nationalities.

Zhang Yan and Cui Jia contributed to this story.

By XU WEI and WANG QIAN (China Daily)

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Terror attacks kill dozens in China’s tense Xinjiang region

A series of explosions tore through an open-air market in the capital of the volatile western Chinese region of Xinjiang on Thursday, killing dozens of people and wounding many more, state media reported.

China’s Ministry of Public Security said the attack in the heavily policed city of Urumqi was “a serious violent terrorist incident” and vowed to crack down on its perpetrators. President Xi Jinping called for the terrorists behind it to be “severely” punished.

Two SUVs slammed into shoppers gathered at the market in Urumqi at 7:50 a.m. Thursday, and explosives were flung out of the vehicles, China’s official news agency Xinhua said.

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As Xi speaks of conciliation, neighbors voice disquiet

Even as President Xi Jinping called this week for a new security concept for Asia, frictions between China and several of its neighbors underscored the challenges facing regional cooperation.

“No country should attempt to dominate or infringe upon the rights and interests of other countries,” Mr. Xi said in Shanghai on Wednesday at the fourth summit meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia.

“We should abide by the basic norms governing international relations, such as respecting sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity; non-interference in internal affairs; respect social systems and chosen development paths,” he said, the state news agency Xinhua reported.

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Vietnam Threatens Legal Action Against China

Vietnam’s prime minister said Thursday for the first time that his country is considering legal action against China over its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, a move that Beijing would likely fiercely oppose.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea as its own, bringing it into conflict with the far smaller nations of Vietnam, the Philippines and three others that have rival claims. Beijing also has a territorial dispute with Japan over a cluster of islands in the East China Sea.

Last year, the Philippines filed a complaint against China before an international tribunal in The Hague to challenge the legality of its claims, antagonizing China. Beijing wants any disputes with countries to be resolved bilaterally even as it continues to engage in what many in the region regard as provocative assertions of its sovereignty in the waters.

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