VIF Information Alerts - 16 January 2020

France, US block China move on J&K at UNSC
Published: The Indian Express

16 Jan 2020

For the third time since August, Beijing raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at a closed-door meeting of the United Nations Security Council late Wednesday night. Vietnam, which is the UNSC President for the month of January, allowed the issue to be brought up by China. However, members of the UNSC, including France and the US, blocked the attempt by China for a discussion on the Kashmir issue. Sources said the plan was to tell Beijing that this is not the appropriate forum.Click here to read... [2]

ASEAN states lose faith in US ability to counter China
Published: The Australian

16 Jan 2020

Growing concern over China’s economic and strategic influence across Southeast Asia, and a perceived US retreat from the region, is forcing ASEAN nations to look to Japan, the EU and — as a distant third option — Australia as trusted counter-weights.
Some 52.2 per cent of the 1308 Southeast Asians surveyed across government, academia, civil society, business and media now see Beijing as the region’s most influential political and strategic power — close to double the number of those who believe the US is the most powerful player. Of those who say China has greatest strategic influence, 85.4 per cent fear how it might use that power.Click here to read... [3]

US signs 1st phase of trade deal with China; tariffs remain in place
Published: Deccan Herald

16 Jan 2020

The US on Wednesday signed the first phase of a trade deal with China, which President Donald Trump described as historic, concluding more than a year of tough negotiations including several months of suspension of talks between the two largest economies of the world.
The first phase of the trade deal includes Intellection Property (IP) Protection and Enforcement, ending forced technology transfer, dramatic expansion of American agriculture, removing barriers to American financial services, ending currency manipulation, rebalancing the US-China trade relationship and effective dispute resolution.Click here to read... [4]

Taiwan already ‘independent,’ Tsai warns China
Published: Taipei Times

16 Jan 2020

China must rethink its hardline stance toward Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in a BBC interview that aired yesterday, adding that the nation is already independent and that any invasion would be “very costly” for Beijing. Tsai on Saturday last week won a second term with a record 8.2 million votes, an outcome that was seen as a forceful rebuke of China’s ongoing campaign to isolate the nation.Click here to read... [5]

China waging information war abroad, says new report
Published: Hindustan Times

15 Jan 2020

The Communist Party of China (CPC) has dramatically expanded its ability to shape media narratives about China across the world including in India, a US democracy group has said. It has urged governments to tighten regulations and impose penalties on the “transgressions” by Chinese officials who try to shape opinions overseas.Click here to read... [6]