Global Times, China’s state media, published a commentary on the U.S. and other Western countries’ sanctions against Russia. The author of the article was the deputy Chief editor of Securities Daily (Chinese), Dong Shaopeng. The article said:
“At present, the sanctions against Russia by the United States and Western countries have not only increased in scope, but also showed a trend of “crossing the border” and even cats in Russia are sanctioned . The International Federation of Feline Animals (FIFe) has announced that any cats raised in Russia will not be allowed to register on the official pedigree of FIFe outside of Russia. Pet exhibitors from Russia are not allowed to participate in the FIFe Pet Show outside of Russia.”
“The essence of the sanctions is unilateral punishment . . . Under certain conditions, as a means to correct imbalances in the political and economic fields, sanctions are justified.”
“However, in the context of power politics and hegemonism, the rationality of sanctions has been largely eliminated, and sometimes sanctions and oppression have been mixed together. The United States and Western countries often initiate sanctions out of self-interest, rather than upholding international law or international morality. They have wantonly expanded the scope of the so-called sanctions, not only habitually bullying the weak, but even making up excuses to abuse sanctions, which has radicalized the “sanction culture.” In this Russia-Ukraine conflict, the United States and Western countries and entities have imposed sanctions on the use rights of transnational financial infrastructure, public communication tools, international sports competitions, cultural exchange projects, and more, and they have imposed sanctions in areas that belonged to friendly exchanges. The instrumentalization of these domains and platforms has completely distorted the normal communication mechanism between people and countries, violated the norms of international relations and general political principles, and fully exposed the ugliness of its hegemony and power.”
Source: Global times, March 2, 2022
https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/471UMdqcRVV
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Xinhua: SWIFT Sanctions Not enough to Bring Russia to Its Knees
China has not yet taken sides publicly on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but its official Xinhua News Agency has commented on the impact of the expulsion of some Russian banks from the SWIFT system, stressing that the sanctions the West has imposed are not enough to bring Russia to its knees, but will harm the interests of Europe and the U.S. themselves.
A number of Western countries, led by the United States and the European Union, announced on February 26 that they would expel several Russian banks from the Society for the Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) system. This is by far the most serious financial sanction against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Xinhua commented in one article, citing analysis that SWIFT sanctions are expected to have a greater impact on the Russian economy than before, but are “hardly effective enough to suppress Russia” and are “insufficient to bring the Russian economy to its knees.”
The article said that, in recent years, Russia has made efforts to build a financial firewall against several rounds of Western sanctions. For example in the 2014 Crimean crisis, it vigorously pursued an import substitution policy and further consolidated its dominant position of state-owned banks. Russia’s relatively low level of foreign debt and high foreign exchange reserves means that it is relatively “self-sufficient.”
The report also said that energy exports, which are considered the lifeblood of the Russian economy, have not yet been completely blocked, highlighting the dilemma of the West. The U.S. and Europe have yet to announce the SWIFT exclusion list, but the basic consensus is to maximize the impact on Russia and minimize their own damage, leaving room for the EU to settle energy transactions with Russia.
Xinhua claims that, if sanctions affect energy supply, oil and gas prices will further rise, exacerbating inflation in Europe and the U.S. and causing supply chain problems and possibly causing Russia to collect more revenue from energy exports. It continued, “And Russia’s exclusion from the SWIFT system does not mean it can’t trade. It is just that it will be more difficult and costly to trade.”
The article said that the Central Bank of Russia developed a local version — System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS) in 2014. Currently 23 foreign banks are connected to the SPFS system. As of May 2021, 20 percent of inbound transfers in Russia are completed through the SPFS system. The SPFS system can replace SWIFT to a certain extent, but due to the habit of use and relatively few customers, the sanction will prompt some customers to use the Russian system.
Xinhua pointed out in another article that Russia’s exclusion from the SWIFT system will put pressure on the German economy. The direct investment of German companies in Russia is about 24 billion euros. After SWIFT is banned in Russia, it will be very difficult for German companies to conduct remittance and other business in the country. Although there are other alternatives, the process is more complex and more expensive. European companies may have short-term financial problems.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), March 1, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202203010212.aspx
Chinese Scholar on the Russia-Ukraine War: Geopolitical Scale Tilts towards China again
As Russia was invading Ukraine, Chinese political scholar Zheng Yongnian wrote that the war in Ukraine will divert the strategic energy of the United States and that, “the geopolitical scales are tilting towards China again.”
Zheng is regarded as an advisor for the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) General Secretary Xi Jinping. According to Zheng, the new world order is unfolding along two lines: the eastward expansion of NATO and the sense of insecurity in Russia, and the rise of China and the U.S. preventive defenses against it. The current Russian military actions in Ukraine have tipped “the geopolitical scale in China’s favor again.”
Zheng considers that the European geopolitical dispute triggered by the war in Ukraine will greatly delay the shift of U.S. strategic efforts to the Indo-Pacific region. As long as China itself does not make strategic mistakes, not only will the United States not interrupt its modernization process, but China can play a more important role in the process of constructing the New World Order.
Zheng added that the United States is no longer able to maintain the original world order centered around a single superpower. In addition, the New World Order will develop towards diversification. “In today’s world, there is not only Putin’s Russia, but also Modi’s India, Erdoğan’s Turkey, and France and Germany of the European Union.” Western liberal ideology will continue to exist, but will no longer dominate the international order.
“In this situation, we need calmly to analyze the new changes and trends in the interaction between major countries and to be more rational and less emotional.”
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), February 27, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202202270133.aspx
Huawei to Train 50,000 Tech Experts in Russia
According to Russia’s Sputnik News, a February 24 Asia Times article highlighted the challenge that the cooperation between Russia and China in the field of technology poses to the United States
The article noted, “One of largest research centers of China’s tech giant, Huawei, is located in Moscow. The company plans to train 50,000 technical experts at five research centers in Russia.” “The company is building a mobile broadband system in Russia. Its cooperation with Russia also extends to cloud computing, video surveillance, facial recognition systems, and other artificial intelligence applications.”
Source: Sputnik News, February 25, 2022
https://sputniknews.cn/20220225/1039562275.html
Lianhe Zaobao: Scholars Concluded Zero Probability of U.S. Sending Troops to Taiwan
Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently published a commentary by its Beijing Commissioner. The commentary referred to comments from Chinese and Hong Kong scholars. Even for Ukraine, which is so important geopolitically to the United States, the United States has made it clear that it will not send troops. Based on this, it is fair to say that in the event of a war in the Taiwan Strait, the United States will provide military assistance and share weapons, but the possibility of sending troops directly is zero. The phrase “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow” has continued to appear in public opinion after the situation in Ukraine heated up. The Ukraine crisis is indirectly related to China because of the psychological expectations caused by the Taiwan issue. In terms of geopolitics, Ukraine is more important to the United States than Taiwan. The United States also psychologically regards Ukraine as a “semi-member” of NATO, but Taiwan does not have such a status. External events are a factor for Beijing to consider, but not a decisive factor. Even if there is a window now, for Beijing, the problem is not the reunification of the two sides of the strait, but how to solve the various governance problems that arise after the reunification. The Ukraine issue also made it clear that Russia and the U.S. cannot really come together, which is critical to China. If Russia is classified as part of the West, under the current relationship between China and the West, China will face a very dangerous situation.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao, February 20, 2022
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/china/story20220220-1244522
CNA: Freedom House Ranked Taiwan’s Degree of Freedom Second in Asia
Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that the human rights organization, “Freedom House” just released the 2022 Global Freedom Report. Although global democracy has declined for 16 consecutive years, Taiwan still scored 94 points, second only to Japan in Asia. Freedom House’s 2022 Report issued a warning that global democracy has been on the decline, and that authoritarianism is increasingly likely to replace democracy and become the international standard model of national governance. Globally, Taiwan is tied for 17th place with Iceland, Estonia, Chile and Germany, which also scored 94 points. In Asia, Japan scored 96 points. The Report evaluates 210 countries and regions around the world, and uses the local people’s access to political rights and civil liberties as the evaluation indicators. This year, China maintained its score from last year, with negative 2 points for “political rights” and only 11 points for “civil liberties”, for a total of 9 points, and was once again listed as a “Not Free” country. The report pointed out that in recent years, Beijing’s authoritarian regime has become increasingly oppressive, and the Communist Party has continued to strengthen its control over all aspects of people’s lives, undermining a series of early moderate legal reforms. As for Hong Kong, which China has strongly suppressed, this year it scored 10 points in “political rights” and 33 points in “civil liberties”, a total of 43 points, a sharp drop of 9 points from last year’s 52 points. The Report indicated that today, only two out of ten people in the world live in a free country.
Source: CNA, February 25, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/202202250016.aspx
Global Times: Eight Chinese Military Planes Entered Southwest of Taiwan Airspace
Global Times recently summarized and commented on Taiwanese media reports about the event that on February 26th eight Mainland Chinese military aircraft “harassed” the southwestern airspace of Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone. This occurred while the USS Johnson missile destroyer was passing through the Taiwan Strait. The aircraft from the Mainland included J-16 and J-11 fighter jets and a Yun-8 anti-submarine aircraft. The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese military has organized troops to monitor the U.S. warship’s passing operations. The U.S. has carried out this provocative act and attempted to support Taiwan by making some gestures. It is both hypocritical and futile. The spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Defense said that, since 2021, the Chinese military has regularly organized bombers, reconnaissance planes, and fighter planes to conduct patrols and combat drills approaching the surrounding area of Taiwan. The actual number of planes dispatched will only be more, not less than the number hyped by the Taiwan media. The goal is very clear, and that is to take decisive action to counter the vicious actions of forces inside and outside of the island who frequently collude and challenge the one-China principle. The Taiwan Air Force claimed on the evening of the 26th that, for the eight Mainland military aircraft, the Taiwan Air Force sent air patrol forces to respond and broadcasted that they would drive them away, and they conducted active monitoring of the anti-aircraft missile system in place.
Source: Global Times, February 27, 2022
https://taiwan.huanqiu.com/article/46z18H1igqE