Geo-Strategic Trend - 62. page

On April 12, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense released a National Defense Handbook, a wartime survival manual that provides the necessary information in the event of an impending war or other disasters. The move highlights Taiwan’s determination to improve its defense capabilities against the backdrop of continued tensions across the Taiwan Strait and growing voices inside mainland China calling for an armed attack on the island.

Liu Tai-yi, an official of the ministry’s All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency, said that the Handbook follows the practices of Sweden, Japan and other countries. It includes sections such as “Emergency Response QR Code,” “Air Raid Alert and Fire Evacuation,” “Building Collapse and Fire Response,” “Power Failure Response,” “Water Failure Response,”  “Medical Emergency,” “Shortage of Necessities Response,” “Disaster Prevention (War Preparedness) Materials and Rescue Preparation,” “Basic Knowledge of Survival,” “Emergency Reporting Line,” and “Reserve Military Mobilization Information.”

The handbook contains illustrations and references that suit people of different age groups. It also provides Q&A with the design of various wartime real-life scenarios, as well as the division of responsibilities of the central and local governments.

Source: Deutsche Welle (Chinese channel), April 12, 2022
https://p.dw.com/p/49pcD

Well-known Chinese news site NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) recently reported that, according to a survey titled, “New Government’s Economic and Foreign Security Policy Survey” that the National Economic Association of Korea released, 90 percent of South Koreans believe that the new government needs first to cooperate with the United States in the fields of the the economy, diplomacy and security. South Korea just completed its presidential election. As one of his initial activities after the election, President-elect Yoon Suk-Yeol has sent a coordination mission to the United States. In terms of South Korea-China relations, 84.9 percent of the respondents to the survey believed that even if there may be short-term difficulties, the new South Korean government should dare to speak out about the contradictions between the two countries. In the question set with a total score of 10 points on country favorability, the United States had the highest favorability score of 7 points, Japan had 3.7 points, and China had only 3.2 points. This latest poll tells us that the future of China-South Korea relations is not optimistic. Looking at the options for cooperation in the economic field, the poll showed only 4.3 percent favorability. Regarding “cooperation with North Korea, China, and Russia”, 68 percent agree “cooperation with the United States and Japan is necessary,” and 27.7 percent believe that “it is necessary to remain neutral.” Around 77.1 percent of the respondents support the new government’s policy of placing the US-Japan-Australia-India Security Dialogue (QUAD) at the top of its foreign policy and 69 percent support the phased participation of South Korea in QUAD.

Source: NetEase, April 4, 2022
https://c.m.163.com/news/a/H44QHFFA0534V2AI.html?spss=backflow-index-hotlist

Global Times (a newspaper under the CCP) recently reported that, for the first time, NATO’s foreign minister’s meeting invited Japan and South Korea. Experts reminded people to be vigilant regarding NATO’s globalization. NATO’s frantic eastward expansion is considered the “bane” of the Ukraine crisis. Now, NATO seems to have China on its mind. At a news conference, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg said  that NATO’s foreign ministers will discuss NATO’s new strategic vision, which will, for the first time, “take into account China’s growing influence and coercive policies on the global stage.” According to the schedule that NATO released, NATO foreign ministers will hold talks with the foreign ministers of a series of “global partners,” including four Asia-Pacific countries: Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. Nikkei Asia reported that this is the first time for a Japanese foreign minister to attend the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting. The same is true for the foreign minister of South Korea. The foreign ministers of four non-NATO countries in Europe, namely Ukraine, Sweden, Finland and Georgia, were also invited to attend the meeting. Experts expressed the belief that NATO is a geopolitical weapon and tool of the United States. They say its development goal is very clear. It is to build a global security system based on the interests and values of the United States and the West. In other words, NATO’s involvement in the Ukraine crisis is only a transitional process. Its deeper and long-term goal is China.

Source: Global Times, April 7, 2022
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/47VCIBCbst5

On March 25, a local Chinese newspaper, Hubei Daily, reported that the China-Europe Railway Express, “Yangtze River,” carried 41 containers of goods, left the train station in Xianning, a city located in China’s Hubei province, and departed for Europe.

The contents of the containers on this China-Europe rail train include auto parts, medical supplies, household appliances, and household goods. 41 containers weighed about 770 tons, with a total value of more than 14 million yuan (US$2.20 million). The train hummed through the port of Manzhouli, a city in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and was expected to arrive in Moscow in 14 days after a journey of 9700 kilometers, or about 6000 miles.

Compared with sea freight, railway freight saves at least a month in travel time.

Source: Hubei Daily, March 26, 2022
https://epaper.hubeidaily.net/pc/content/202203/26/content_160930.html

Global Times recently reported that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a press conference that it was “inappropriate” for him to meet with China’s new ambassador to Australia before Beijing lifts the freeze on ministerial exchanges between Australia and China. In January this year, the new Chinese ambassador made a friendly speech on the day he took office, and then met with people from all walks of life in Australia, showing a very obvious goodwill. Morrison’s preconditions for meeting can be seen as a threat to some extent. However, Morrison said meeting the new Chinese ambassador would be seen as a “weakness” for him. He regarded this as a perfectly proportionate response, especially when China completely cut off minister-to-minister level dialogues between the two countries. He later confirmed, “I assure you, as Prime Minister, this is my last message to China.” Xiao Qian, the 15th Chinese Ambassador to Australia, explained during his meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Payne. He spoke about China’s position and about the relations between the two nations, saying that the China-Australia friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation are in the common interests of both sides. Political analysts expressed the belief that Morrison’s position may be linked to the approaching election. Another specific context for Morrison’s remarks about refusing to meet the Chinese ambassador was the security agreement signed between China and the Solomon Islands.

Source: Global Times, March 28, 2022
https://hqtime.huanqiu.com/share/article/47MusHenhqv

On March 30, Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in China to participate in the third meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries. The meeting was to be held in Tunxi, an ancient town in East China’s Anhui Province. At a press briefing held on the same day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, when answering a Reuters reporter’s questions: There is “no limit to China-Russia cooperation, no limit to our pursuit of peace and maintaining security, and no limit to our opposition to hegemony.” China-Russia relations are non-aligned, are not confrontational and do not-target any third country.

The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Iran, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan or their representatives will attend the meeting from Wednesday to Thursday. Qatar and Indonesia will attend as guests. Lavrov will participate in two multinational conferences on Afghanistan along with representatives from Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. This is his first visit to China since Moscow began its invasion of Ukraine last month.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the Russian Foreign Minister will also attend a separate Troika meeting with the Chinese and U.S. envoys on Afghanistan. Wang Wenbin said of the Troika meeting, “China, the United States, Russia and Pakistan are all countries with significant influence on the Afghan issue,” 

Unlike many Western countries, China has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion into Ukraine and has lagged behind many others in providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Also, China does not recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan, but has ignored harsh criticism from the United States and other countries. It has kept its embassy in Kabul open and has not commented on Taliban moves to restrict girls’ education and other human rights violations.

Successive Afghan governments have always regarded the country’s mineral resources – estimated at $1 trillion – as a key to a prosperous future, but none have been able to exploit them amid ongoing conflict and violence. Now, several countries including Iran, Russia and Turkey, are seeking to invest in order to fill the vacuum left by the U.S. withdrawal last year.

Alexander Cooley, a humanitarian Columbia University political scientist and expert on Central Asia stated that, at the week’s conference, China will seek to position itself as the leader in humanitarian aid and economic development programs in Afghanistan. It will  also call publicly on the United States to unfreeze the Afghan government’s assets and accounts. Cooley told the Associated Press that, “China is quietly asserting itself as the leading outside force in the region.”  “In doing so, it will position itself as a critic of the U.S. regional policy and as the alternative leader to the humanitarian coalition of Afganistan’s neighbors.”

Source: RFI March 30, 2022
https://rfi.my/8IPB