Xi’s overreach is starting to create a global environment hostile to the realization of his “Chinese dream.” But that may not deter him from taking more aggressive actions. In this light, the risks of a Chinese military clash with U.S. forces in Asia can no longer be discounted.-Brahma Chellaney

India asks China to ‘sincerely work’ on Ladakh disengagement amid hints it is ‘slowing down’

MEA says India and China will ‘soon’ convene another meeting of the WMCC, a mechanism for bilateral talks on border issues.

• India asked China Thurs to “sincerely” work with it for a “complete disengagement and de-escalation” process in Ladakh to enable the “full restoration” of peace and tranquility in border areas as decided during bilateral talks between National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
• “Respecting and strictly abiding” by the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the basis of peace and tranquility in the border areas, something that was also agreed upon during Doval-Wang talks on 5 July, MEA.
• Doval and Wang are also the special representatives (SRs) for border affairs. Their talks earlier this month helped catalyze disengagement between the Indian and Chinese armies at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, after months of tensions triggered by Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) incursions in the area.
• However, there have been reports that the process has been slow, and may last through the region’s bitter winter.
• The last round of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC), talks took place on 10 July, between Naveen Srivastava, joint secretary (East Asia), and Wu Jianghao, director general of the department of boundary and oceanic affairs in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

‘India fully committed’

• Sources said the disengagement process has not been taking place smoothly and, in the last few days, the pace has slowed down owing to “China’s approach to the issue”.
• “We have also made it clear that India is fully committed to observing and respecting the LAC and that we will not accept any unilateral attempts to change the status quo along the LAC,” Srivastava added at the briefing.
• “The two sides have agreed during the conversation of the special representatives to work towards complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquility,” he said.
• Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said Indian and Chinese troops are deployed “very close to each other” in Ladakh and that disengagement is “work in progress”.

India restricts Chinese companies from participating in public procurement bids

While private sector has been exempted from any such restriction, the order takes into its ambit all public sector banks and financial institutions

India has cancelled railway and road tenders secured by Chinese companies and has barred 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, on national security grounds.

• India on Thurs night further upped the ante against China by restricting bidders from countries with which it shares land border from participating in tenders for government procurement without approval from competent authorities on the ground of defense and national security.
• It however exempted such countries to which India provides lines of credit or developmental assistance, thus effectively confining the restrictions to China and Pakistan.
• Relaxation has been provided in certain limited cases, including for procurement of medical supplies for containment of covid-19 global pandemic till 31 December 2020.
• While private sector has been exempted from any such restriction, the order takes into its ambit all public sector banks and financial institutions, autonomous bodies, Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and Public Private Partnership projects receiving financial support from the government or its undertakings.
• “The Government of India on Thurs amended the General Financial Rules 2017 to enable imposition of restrictions on bidders from countries which share a land border with India on grounds of defense of India, or matters directly or indirectly related thereto including national security,” fin min said in a statement.
• According to the order, any bidder from such countries sharing a land border with India will be eligible to bid in any procurement whether of goods, services (including consultancy services and non-consultancy services) or works (including turnkey projects) only if the bidder is registered with a registration committee to be constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
• Political and security clearance from the MEA and MHA respectively will also be mandatory.
• “In respect of tenders already invited, if the first stage of evaluation of qualifications has not been completed, bidders who are not registered under the new Order will be treated as not qualified. If this stage has been crossed, ordinarily the tenders will be cancelled and the process started de novo,” it added.
• The DPIIT in April notified changes in its foreign direct investment (FDI) policy by mandating government clearance for all FDI inflows from countries with whom it shares land borders.

“Great to be with the @USIBC India-Ideas-Summit. As I said in India, the U.S. desires a new age of ambition in the US-India relationship. It is important that great democracies, global powers, and good friends like us work together, especially to confront challenges from the CCP”. Pompeo Tweeted.

Pompeo unleashes on China, urges West to ‘change’ the Communist Party

Leading democracies including Australia should band together to “induce change” in the Chinese Communist Party and support China’s dissidents, says US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

In a firebrand speech delivered to an audience at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Los Angeles on Thurs (Fri AEST) – which will next year celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Henry Kissinger’s epoch-making visit to China – Mr Pompeo unleashed a rhetorical barrage against Beijing.

Lambasting China’s President, Xi Jinping, as a “true believer in a bankrupt totalitarian ideology”, Mr Pompeo said it was time to reprise Ronald Reagan’s famous “trust but verify” approach to the Soviet Union. Only for China, it should be “distrust and verify”.

“We, the free nations of the world, must induce change in the CCP’s behavior in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijing’s actions threaten our people and our prosperity,” he said.

‘We can’t ignore the Chinese people’…’Hub of spying’…he further added.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo maliciously attacked the Communist Party of China (CPC) and China’s socialist system, and he made remarks that ignored the facts, were full of ideological bias and turned black into white, which showed his Cold War mentality, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

• China ordered the US to close consulate in Chengdu. As far as I know, based on reciprocal principle, Chinese side also gave the consulate 72 hours to close. Chinese side notified the US side at 10am Fri. It means by 10 am Monday Beijing time, US Chengdu consulate will be closed.- Hu Xijin
• Few hrs earlier, she tweeted through Global Times (State Media)
  • “The US has no ability to crush today’s China, because China is already powerful enough but it does not take the dangerous road of expansion.”
  • China-Australia scientific cooperation remains active amid freezing bilateral relations. Though Canberra has joined the US’ anti-China clique, it should leave scientific research out of its political schemes:
  • China didn’t immediately announced its retaliation to the forced closure by the US of China’s consulate in Houston, with analysts said that China will not act cursorily like what the US did, and its retaliation will make sure the US will feel the pain: Global Times

While US officials have repeatedly called China out on its aggression against India, India’s own foreign ministry still equivocates. Its latest statement makes no explicit reference to China’s aggression, other than the massing of troops. Nor it seeks a return to status quo ante. And I don’t understand what preventing to MEA India to say so. –Brahma Chellaney

China Calls UK Citizenship Route For Hong Kong Residents Violation of International Law

• The Chinese embassy in London said the UK policy of providing a pathway to citizenship to British National (Overseas) living in Hong Kong violates international law and the basic norms governing international relations.
• The embassy expressed grave concerns and lodged strong opposition to the decision of the British government, threatening to take “effective counter-measures”.
• China expressed grave concerns and lodged strong opposition to the decision of the British government, threatening to take “effective counter-measures”.
• “The Chinese side urges the UK side to recognize the fact that Hong Kong is part of China….immediately correct its mistakes and stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs, which are China’s internal affairs, in any form. Such interference will be self-defeating,” it concluded.
• The significant change in the immigration system is aimed to allow BN(O) citizens to apply for two periods of 30 months’ leave or 5 years’ leave, giving them a path to full British citizenship. It will also enable those born after July 1, 1997, to a BN(O) registered parent to apply to come to the UK. Announcing the decision, Home Secretary Priti Patel said:
  • “The UK has a strong historic relationship with the people of Hong Kong and we are keeping our promise to them to uphold their freedoms. BN(O) citizens will now have a choice to come and live, work and study in the UK, building a new life for them and their family.”
  • The Chinese banking and insurance regulator in Shenzhen on Fri approved a request by British bank HSBC to shut down its branch in Shenzhen’s Longgang.