China
China appoints special envoy to Pacific island countries
China has named a special envoy to Pacific island countries, adding to its diplomatic arsenal in a region where Beijing increasingly vies with the United States for influence.
China’s government had announced plans for the envoy role in mid-2022, when then-Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Pacific island states after a period of limited face-to-face contact because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beijing revealed the appointment of Qian Bo – until recently China’s ambassador to Fiji – in response to a question from Chinese state media during a regular press conference at the foreign ministry last week.
As special government envoy, Qian will “make strong efforts to advance further development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Pacific Island countries,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Feb. 15.
During the past two decades, China has become a source of infrastructure, loans and aid for economically-lagging island nations in the Pacific as it seeks to isolate Taiwan diplomatically and gain allies in international organizations such as the United Nations.
Some analysts say Beijing also hopes to establish a military presence in the Pacific in a challenge to American dominance. Last year, the Asian superpower signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, alarming the United States and Australia, which have stepped up their efforts to counter China’s increased sway.
Four of the 14 countries that recognize Taiwan are in the Pacific. The Solomon Islands and Kiribati switched their recognition to China from Taiwan in 2019.
The appointment of a special envoy shows that greater influence in the Pacific remains a goal for China, according to Mihai Sora, a Pacific analyst at Australia’s Lowy Institute and a former Australian diplomat in the region.
Beijing is aiming to better coordinate its diplomatic and strategic moves in the Pacific at a time when Pacific island countries have less appetite for large infrastructure loans and have also increased their security cooperation with Australia and the United States, Sora told BenarNews.
China has special diplomatic envoys for several countries, regions and global issues including Myanmar, the Middle East, Afghanistan and climate change and in the past decade has increasingly sought to mediate in conflicts. It already had an envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum, an organization made up of 16 Pacific island nations as well as Australia and New Zealand.
“We’ll all watch with interest. It seems like overkill. But perhaps it is an indication of their intentions to aggressively increase their influence in the region,” said Matthew Wale, leader of the Solomon Islands opposition.
The Mercator Institute for China Studies has said that China’s higher diplomatic profile and attempts at conflict resolution are linked to the Belt and Road Initiative, a sprawling Chinese plan, begun in 2013, to build a global network of Chinese financed and constructed railways, energy pipelines, highways and other infrastructure.
Through more active diplomacy, China wants to both protect its economic interests and build a reputation as a responsible global power, Mercator said.
The single armed conflict in the Pacific islands region is between Indonesia and Papuan independence fighters, who want the Indonesian-governed western half of the island of New Guinea to be an independent state, and who have grassroots support in some island nations such as Vanuatu.
China would not want to get involved as it would draw further attention to its own colonial policies in Tibet and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Wale said. China also has ambitions for Indonesia to be a key part of its infrastructure plans.
“The special envoy is more to see how best to build and leverage China’s relationships at the regional level,” Wale told BenarNews.
Qian, the Pacific envoy, was China’s ambassador to Fiji from 2018. He was formally replaced in February by Zhou Jian, previously ambassador to Qatar and a deputy-director in the Chinese foreign ministry’s Policy Planning Department.
Qian’s role likely has greater clout within the Chinese government than the envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum and he will be able to deal with more complex and substantial issues, according to Wang Yiwei, an international relations professor at Renmin University in Beijing.
“It reflects the increased importance that the Chinese government attaches to the affairs of this region,” he said, according to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news organization.
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China
New Report from Dezan Shira & Associates: China Takes the Lead in Emerging Asia Manufacturing Index 2024
China has been the world’s largest manufacturer for 14 years, producing one-third of global manufacturing output. In the Emerging Asia Manufacturing Index 2024, China ranks highest among eight emerging countries in the region. Challenges for these countries include global demand disparities affecting industrial output and export orders.
Known as the “World’s Factory”, China has held the title of the world’s largest manufacturer for 14 consecutive years, starting from 2010. Its factories churn out approximately one-third of the global manufacturing output, a testament to its industrial might and capacity.
China’s dominant role as the world’s sole manufacturing power is reaffirmed in Dezan Shira & Associates’ Emerging Asia Manufacturing Index 2024 report (“EAMI 2024”), in which China secures the top spot among eight emerging countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The other seven economies are India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.
The EAMI 2024 aims to assess the potential of these eight economies, navigate the risks, and pinpoint specific factors affecting the manufacturing landscape.
In this article, we delve into the key findings of the EAMI 2024 report and navigate China’s advantages and disadvantages in the manufacturing sector, placing them within the Asia-Pacific comparative context.
Emerging Asia countries face various challenges, especially in the current phase of increased volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). One notable challenge is the impact of global demand disparities on the manufacturing sector, affecting industrial output and export orders.
This article is republished from China Briefing. Read the rest of the original article.
China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The practice assists foreign investors into China and has done since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at china@dezshira.com.
China
Is journalist Vicky Xu preparing to return to China?
Chinese social media influencers have recently claimed that prominent Chinese-born Australian journalist Vicky Xu had posted a message saying she planned to return to China.
There is no evidence for this. The source did not provide evidence to support the claim, and Xu herself later confirmed to AFCL that she has no such plans.
Currently working as an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, or ASPI, Xu has previously written for both the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, or ABC, and The New York Times.
A Chinese language netizen on X initially claimed on March 31 that the changing geopolitical relations between Sydney and Beijing had caused Xu to become an expendable asset and that she had posted a message expressing a strong desire to return to China. An illegible, blurred photo of the supposed message accompanied the post.
This claim was retweeted by a widely followed influencer on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo one day later, who additionally commented that Xu was a “traitor” who had been abandoned by Australian media.
Following the publication of an ASPI article in 2021 which exposed forced labor conditions in Xinjiang co-authored by Xu, the journalist was labeled “morally bankrupt” and “anti-China” by the Chinese state owned media outlet Global Times and subjected to an influx of threatening messages and digital abuse, eventually forcing her to temporarily close several of her social media accounts.
AFCL found that neither Xu’s active X nor LinkedIn account has any mention of her supposed return to China, and received the following response from Xu herself about the rumor:
“I can confirm that I don’t have plans to go back to China. I think if I do go back I’ll most definitely be detained or imprisoned – so the only career I’ll be having is probably going to be prison labor or something like that, which wouldn’t be ideal.”
Neither a keyword search nor reverse image search on the photo attached to the original X post turned up any text from Xu supporting the netizens’ claims.
Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Shen Ke and Malcolm Foster.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.
Read the rest of this article here >>> Is journalist Vicky Xu preparing to return to China?
China
Guide for Foreign Residents: Obtaining a Certificate of No Criminal Record in China
Foreign residents in China can request a criminal record check from their local security bureau. This certificate may be required for visa applications or job opportunities. Requirements and procedures vary by city. In Shanghai, foreigners must have lived there for 180 days with a valid visa to obtain the certificate.
Foreign residents living in China can request a criminal record check from the local security bureau in the city in which they have lived for at least 180 days. Certificates of no criminal record may be required for people leaving China, or those who are starting a new position in China and applying for a new visa or residence permit. Taking Shanghai as an example, we outline the requirements for obtaining a China criminal record check.
Securing a Certificate of No Criminal Record, often referred to as a criminal record or criminal background check, is a crucial step for various employment opportunities, as well as visa applications and residency permits in China. Nevertheless, navigating the process can be a daunting task due to bureaucratic procedures and language barriers.
In this article, we use Shanghai as an example to explore the essential information and steps required to successfully obtain a no-criminal record check. Requirements and procedures may differ in other cities and counties in China.
Note that foreigners who are not currently living in China and need a criminal record check to apply for a Chinese visa must obtain the certificate from their country of residence or nationality, and have it notarized by a Chinese embassy or consulate in that country.
Foreigners who have a valid residence permit and have lived in Shanghai for at least 180 days can request a criminal record check in the city. This means that the applicant will also need to currently have a work, study, or other form of visa or stay permit that allows them to live in China long-term.
If a foreigner has lived in another part of China and is planning to or has recently moved to Shanghai, they will need to request a criminal record check in the place where they previously spent at least 180 days.
There are two steps to obtaining a criminal record certificate in Shanghai: requesting the criminal record check from the Public Security Bureau (PSB) and getting the resulting Certificate of No Criminal Record notarized by an authorized notary agency.
This article is republished from China Briefing. Read the rest of the original article.
China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The practice assists foreign investors into China and has done since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at china@dezshira.com.
- New Report from Dezan Shira & Associates: China Takes the Lead in Emerging Asia Manufacturing Index 2024
- Is journalist Vicky Xu preparing to return to China?
- Guide for Foreign Residents: Obtaining a Certificate of No Criminal Record in China
- China Unveils Plan to Upgrade Industrial Equipment
- China deepens engagement with new Indonesian president as top diplomat visits Jakarta
- New Publication: A Guide for Foreign Investors on Navigating China’s New Company Law
