Russia-Ukraine war centers Asian agenda
US to raise Ukraine at ASEAN conference, China urges Russia talks
Russia’s war in Ukraine is a top concern as world leaders prepare for a series of summit meetings in Cambodia and Indonesia in coming weeks. The high-level meetings follow China’s leadership shakeup and President Xi Jinping’s ascension to a third five-year term and come amid rising tensions with the US.
China urges Russia to enter talks on Ukraine, avoid nuclear escalation
China Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin offered new detail on Thursday’s telephone call between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, suggesting Beijing would like to see negotiations on Ukraine.
"All related parties should step up diplomatic efforts to promote easing tension in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and hopefully resolve it as soon as possible,” Wenbin said at a press briefing in Beijing on Friday.
The two discussed the threat of dirty bombs and nuclear weapons. Wang urged Lavrov to avoid escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict to prevent a humanitarian disaster, Wenbin said, according to CGTN.
Lavrov said Russia was willing to discuss negotiations with Ukraine and the US. Wang said China would welcome that action, Wenbin said.
ASEAN Summit
The Biden administration is seeking to make Ukraine a central issue at the upcoming ASEAN Summit in Cambodia, Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Kritenbrink told a Center for Strategic and International Studies panel.
“Given the salience of the Russia-Ukraine war, given its impact globally” including on energy prices and food security “our desire is not to send a message of business as usual”.
In connection with that, Kritenbrink said the US will seek to elevate the ASEAN conference to a “comprehensive strategic partnership” which “will be reflected in the breadth and depth of the agenda we roll out”.
John Hamre, president of CSIS, noted: “It is a dynamic time in Asia. It is astounding what is going on right now… There was once a time where the focus was all on Europe or the Middle East. But it’s Asia now.”
More tech export controls are coming
Alan Estevez, Commerce Department undersecretary for industry and security, said the Biden administration is working with US allies to impose another round of restrictions on sales of advanced computer chips to China. The aim is to limit China’s advances in quantum computing and its ability to build military grade computers.
Further, Commerce is looking at other potential restrictions on biotechnology and artificial intelligence, Estevez said in remarks to the Center for a New American Security.
Germany’s Scholz to Beijing
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Beijing next week, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit announced on Friday.
Scholtz will meet November 4 with President Xi Jinping and incoming Premier Li Keqiang in the first meeting of Chinese leaders with a Western head of state since the party Congress.
Scholtz will be accompanied by German business leaders who are seeking access to China’s market. On the agenda for discussion are climate change, the Ukraine-Russia war, Beijing’s oppression of Uighurs in Xinjiang and regional tensions in East Asia, Hebestreit said.
Party shuffle: CCP names two new regional party chiefs
The China Communist Party’s Central Committee announced on Friday that Beijing Mayor Chen Jining will be the new Shanghai party secretary. He replaces Li Qiang, a Xi loyalist who is poised to become China’s next premier.
Another Xi loyalist, former propaganda chief Huang Kunming will assume the top party post in China’s southern Guangdong Province, an economic powerhouse that includes the cities of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. He replaces Xi Li who has been elevated to the Politburo Standing Committee and will take charge of Beijing’s anti-corruption agency.
Competing narratives
There’s a sharp divergence of interpretations in China and US media of the outcome of China’s national congress and the adoption of Xi’s new agenda.
Xinhua, the official state news agency of the PRC, declared “China’s far-reaching blueprint boosts global confidence”.
“Observers worldwide are confident that the CPC will deliver on the aspirations of the Chinese people for a better life. They also have faith in China's commitment to fostering common prosperity worldwide, and building a human community with a shared future,” Xinhua said.
But New York times columnist Li Yuan describes heavy political repression in China.
“Xi has all but silenced nearly all opposition. Some dissenters have been sentenced to long jail terms. Censorship has grown so harsh that people use a Chinese expression, “ten thousand horses standing mute,” to describe the fear of speaking out.”
A pair of Washington Post analyses find Xi’s authoritarianism is “making the world nervous” and his new leadership cadre signals a focus on advancing China’s military capabilities aimed at Taiwan and the US.
The Wall Street Journal did a frame-by-frame breakdown of the weird removal of former President Hu Jintao by security from the party congress.
Shipping rates and maritime power
The World Container Index benchmark price of shipping a 40-ft container from Shanghai to Los Angeles has dropped below $2,500 as rates revert to more normal pre-pandemic levels.
The spike in shipping rates and related supply chain disruptions have given rise to new calls for US maritime subsidies amid fears about China’s control of the seas and naval use of commercial vessels.
Clandestine police stations?
The non-governmental organization Safeguard Defenders, which monitors disappearances in China, has published a report documenting China’s establishment of 54 overseas police stations.
“One of the aims of these campaigns, obviously, as it is to crack down on dissent, is to silence people," Laura Harth, a Safeguard Defenders director told the Associated Press. “So, people are afraid. People that are being targeted, that have family members back in China, are afraid to speak out."
Chinese officials said the stations were used to help Chinese nationals renew driver’s licenses and to investigate corruption. China claims 230,000 suspects of fraud were “persuaded to return” to China from April 2021 to July 2022, the report said.
New questions about TikTok at CFIUS
China’s ByteDance planned to use the popular social media platform TikTok to monitor the location of certain American citizens, according to reporting by Forbes magazine based on internal company documents.
The disclosure prompted watchdog group Public Citizen to raise alarms with Congress,the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which are reviewing TikTok’s operations in the US.
A company spokesperson denied the company is seeking to surveil Americans.
US Defense review
The new US National Defense Strategy, released by the Pentagon on Thursday, places a primary focus on China.
“The PRC remains our most consequential strategic competitor for coming decades,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin writes in the introduction to the report.
Austin cites China’s “coercive” behavior in the Indo-Pacific region and its military’s “rapid modernization and expansion”. China intends to reshape the international order, Austin said.
Here’s a link to the document.
— By William Roberts