Geo-Strategic Trend - 129. page

Prior to embarking on a five-day trip to China, Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir once again expressed his intent to cancel two major infrastructure projects in Malaysia that a Chinese company had funded. The Chinese side responded with concern that the cancellation of the projects will cause the Chinese company to suffer a significant financial loss and will also cause a setback in the “belt and road” project. Deutsche Welle reported that, In July, Mahathir said that there was some unfairness in a few of the projects in which the Chinese companies had invested. It will be an important issue that he will bring up when he visits China. On August 13, Mahathir stated again that he intends to cancel several agreements that the previous administration had signed for infrastructure projects that would cost billions of dollars. He stated, “Malaysia does not need these projects.” One high ranking Chinese  bank official who participated in sourcing the funding for the Malaysia projects told Deutsche Welle that cancelling the project would be a major setback for the development of China’s Belt and Road project overseas. It would result in a huge financial loss to the Chinese investors and would result in the loan becoming a bad debt. Mahathir also stated that he will demand that China respect freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, “No one should develop a permanent station in the disputed region in the South China Sea and cause an unnecessary increase in tension.”

Source: Deutsche Welle, August 14, 2018
https://p.dw.com/p/335WX?maca=zh-Twitter-sharing 马来西亚喊停 “一带一路”将受挫

The Paper reported that Transportation Minister Li Xiaopeng visited Panama from August 8 to August 11 to attend the signing ceremony of the “Memorandum of Understanding on Maritime Cooperation between the Ministry of Transportation of the Maritime Bureau of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Panama.” During his meeting with Li Xiaopeng, Juan Carlos Varela, Panama’s President, expressed the desire to strengthen the pragmatic cooperation between Panama and China in the fields of maritime transportation, air transportation, and transportation infrastructure construction and to utilize the advantage of Panama’s location to build a “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” with China. Currently, Panama’s ships receive preferential tax treatment in China; there are also direct flights between these two countries; and China also participates in canal, railway, and subway construction projects in Panama.

Source: The Paper, August 12, 2018
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2344378

Development Reimagined, a Beijing based consulting Company, announced that China ranked second in terms of the number of cultural centers in Africa, only behind France.

Currently the region has 48 Confucius Institutes, which debuted in 2004. This is the second largest foreign cultural system in Africa. France ranks first with 180 cultural institutions. The others are the United States (40), the United Kingdom (38), Portugal (34) and Germany (21).

What makes the Confucius Institute different is that it is seated inside the campus of universities and its courses are part of the academic programs.

According to Dr. Ishmael Mensah, Dean of the Confucius Institute in Ghana, courses offered by Confucius Institutes are becoming more and more popular, with 2,000 students attending classes during the semester.

Source: Sputnik News, August 14, 2018
http://sputniknews.cn/society/201808141026115441/

Xinhua recently reported that the trade talks between the United States and Japan started on August 9. Because of the large number of disagreements, the talks could not be finished as scheduled and the two parties decided to continue on the second day. The Nikkei Index dropped by 1.33 percent citing worries about U.S. trade protectionism. Xinhua referred to a Nikkei (Japan Economics Newspaper) report, which indicated that the U.S. wanted to shift the talks into a free trade negotiation between the two countries, while Japan wanted to frame the talks under the TPP international agreement. The Xinhua article also quoted an Asahi News report on widespread concerns among Japanese industries, especially agriculture. The Trump administration had already threatened, not long ago, to increase the tariff on Japanese automobiles by 25 percent. According to Japanese media, the positions between the two countries are far from each other. Japanese Prime Minister Abe will soon face an election for the head of the party, while the U.S. President is about to be challenged in his first mid-term election. Nikkei is the world’s largest financial newspaper. Asahi News is the second largest Japanese daily newspaper.

Source: Xinhua, August 11, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2018-08/11/c_129931131.htm

On August 12, the Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency (IRNA), the official news agency of Iran, quoted the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), which said that China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) purchased shares of the French oil company Total in the Iranian gas project “South Pars 11.”

Mohamad Mostafavi, investment and business manager at Iran’s National Oil Company, said, “CNPC bought shares of the French company Total. Its shares currently account for 80.1 percent of the ‘South Pars 11’ project.”

He added that cooperation with large Chinese companies also carries strategic importance for NIOC. In June, Total of France announced that, if the company could not obtain a sanction waiver from the US government with the support of France and the European authority, it would withdraw from the “South Pars 11” project.

Source: Russian Sputnik News, August 12, 2018
http://sputniknews.cn/china/201808121026105342/

Russia’s newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta (Independent Newspaper) recently carried a lengthy article that criticized China’s “One Belt, One Road” policy. The article stated that, the more actively China promotes the “One Belt, One Road” policy and the more money it puts in, the more local anti-China protests there are and the louder the anti-China slogans are.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta, a pro-government Russian daily newspaper, quoted from a Kazakhstan sociologist that, in 2007, only 18 percent of local people disliked Chinese immigrants. The figure rose to 33 percent in 2012. By 2017, as many as 46 percent of the local people hated Chinese immigrants.

The article stated that many people in Central Asian countries believe that China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative exhibits the intention to occupy Central Asia. People who hold this mentality are not only concentrated in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan where there is a strong anti-Chinese sentiment. Within a short 10 years, such an attitude has spread throughout Central Asia. It has expanded to different religions and different ethnic groups, becoming a very fashionable part of the public opinion in the region.

Anti-Chinese sentiment is also politicized. The elites in Central Asia have used anti-China sentiment as a tool and actively use it when battling for political power. In the future, political forces that oppose the ruling class will play the Chinese card to accuse the incumbents of selling out national interests. Anti-Chinese sentiment has even turned into a profitable business. Local politicians in Central Asia have learned to use this tool to make a fortune. In the near future, this “commodity” will also be sold internationally to any foreign geopolitical buyer.

The article also said that China’s implementation of the “Belt and Road” and its local business operations have destroyed the ecological environment of Central Asia and have become a hotbed for corruption. The Chinese people are very willing to hand over envelopes filled with money to local officials in order to solve problems, including tax issues.

The article quotes from analysts that China’s expansion of influence in Central Asia is seriously threatening Russia’s interests. However, it is still unclear whether the anti-China sentiment in Central Asia has links with Russia. China and Russia are fiercely competing for influence in Central Asia. China’s “One Belt, One Road” seems almost incompatible with Russia’s “Eurasian Economic Community.”

Source: Radio France Internationale, August, 6, 2018
http://rfi.my/2yj4.T

Xinhua recently published a commentary that offered an opinion on the planned mid-October Washington Leadership Summit which will include the U.S. and eight Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It appears the U.S. is planning to establish a NATO-like defense-oriented organization in the Arab world. However, this dream has three obstacles. First, these Arab countries have a lot of internal disagreements and they are not aligned with the U.S. vision and interests. Second, the relationship between the U.S. and the Arab “allies” is not all that good due to such facts as the U.S. often suspects them of having ties to terrorists. Third, it is very hard for the U.S. to apply control and limits to the function of an “Arab NATO,” especially regarding its relationship with Israel. It would be more realistic if the U.S. were not to  be a member of the organization and would not appoint its military commander. The bottom line is, the U.S. may have a lot to gain in terms of arms sales, but to turn this dream into a profit, it probably has a long way to go.

Source: Xinhua, August 1, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2018-08/01/c_1123207977.htm