The Indian President In China: Snippets from Shanghai

Alka Acharya, Director, Institute of Chinese Studies is visiting Shanghai to participate in the Shanghai Forum 2016, 28-30 May 2016.

Had I been in Beijing during the Indian President’s visit to China from the 26-28th May – or even in Guangdong – the impact and sense of the visit could possibly have been different. As it happened, I landed in Shanghai the day the President reached Beijing from Guangdong – and I had the opportunity to assess the visit from China’s commercial capital. Reports on President Pranab Mukherjee’s China visit were routinely issued in the various bulletins – more regularly in the CCTV English channel – but they were quite pro forma in fact and not every hour – it did not appear to be billed very high. Scholars I interacted with at Fudan University or even those who had come from other parts of the world to attend the Shanghai Forum, were more interested in discussing the G-7 meeting that was taking place and what China thought of it. The newspapers too made a brief mention of the visit, noting that the two countries had pledged to maintain peace in the border areas and that the visit was expected to advance the relationship. The buzz was all around the G7 meeting in Tokyo, Obama’s visit to Hiroshima (that occupied huge media attention); the statement on the South China Seas made from the G7 platform and the upcoming G-20 summit in Hangzhou.

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Parsing Tsai Ing-wen’s Inaugural Presidential Speech

Jabin T. Jacob, Assistant Director and Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies.

Tsai Ing-wen and Chen Chien-jen were sworn in on 20 May as the 14th President and Vice-President of the Republic of China on Taiwan, marking the third successful peaceful transition of power on the island through democratic elections. Tsai, the first female president of the island, is expected to take a more moderate position on Taiwan’s relations with China, even if her Democratic Progress Party is not likely to give up its pro-independence stance. It is this latter reality that is likely to keep the Chinese on tenterhooks about Taiwan’s direction under Tsai.

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China’s Strategy to Implement OBOR

K. Yhome is a Research Fellow with the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. This article is based on interactions with Chinese government officials and think-tankers during a visit to China as part of a delegation organized by the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi from 21-29 April 2016. 

Since Xi Jinping announced the ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR) initiative in 2013 this has become another name for China’s diplomacy. Not only is the entire Chinese diplomatic and economic energy being directed towards this one project, the ancient Silk Roads that once connected China with the outside world, are now being presented through art and cultural heritage not only to popularise it within and outside the country, but also as a strategy to counter the growing perception that the OBOR is China’s grandstrategy for dominating the region.

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Tax Reforms in China: The Year Ahead

Aravind Yelery, Associate Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies.

China’s ‘new normal’ rate of economic growth also means fall in revenues and possible uncontrolled expenditure patterns in China. In this situation “deepening the reform of the tax system [and] establishment of a modern financial system”[1] become important. The leadership is under overwhelming pressure to revamp its tax system to suit changing fiscal dynamics. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is planning to reduce the tax burden on Chinese businesses and raise hopes of economic growth. Since April 2016, the PBoC has convened a series of meetings of its various departments in Beijing to discuss the way forward and plan the ground for the upcoming 13th five year plan and tax reforms were flagged as the top priority.[2] The closed-door meeting called for tax cuts and a gradual expansion of tax bases. This signals a willingness of leadership to take new and concrete steps toward reducing business taxes in China, streamlining the tax system and integrating various tax-related laws in 2016.

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Understanding Recent US-China Dynamics in a Theoretical Context

Kajari Kamal, PhD student, University of Hyderabad.

The Pentagon recently submitted its 2016 Annual  Report to the US Congress on ‘Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China’[1], hitting hard at China’s military growth and drawing attention to China’s efforts to enhance its reach and power, especially evident in the territorial and maritime sovereignty claims in the South and East China Seas. China retaliated by condemning the report and calling it a deliberate distortion that has severely “damaged mutual trust.” This geopolitical cut and thrust witnessed in the last few days was a rather enigmatic sideshow to the larger strategic contest that has been playing out ever since the Obama administration’s famous strategic “pivot” from the Middle East to East Asia, was announced.

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Changing Chinese Diplomatic Approaches – From ‘ABC’ to ‘Indo-Pacific’

K. Yhome is a Research Fellow with the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. This article is based on interactions with Chinese government officials and think-tankers during a visit to China as part of a delegation organized by the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi from 21-29 April 2016. 

An interesting abbreviation that tells a lot about the concerns of the strategic community of China today is the so-called ‘ABC approach’. An official in the China’s ministry of foreign affairs (MOFA) opined that Beijing would stand against any regional or global move that adopts what he called the ‘All-But China’ or ABC approach.

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Expatriates in China and India

Ambassador (retd.) Kishan S RanaHonorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies.

Ability to attract and retain high quality, globally mobile talent is one of the attributes of internationalization, in an interconnected world. This is the theme of an article in China Daily, carried in an issue dated 13 May 2016. This publication is an official Chinese mouthpiece and will not carry anything critical of that country; with that caveat, the issue merits attention.

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China’s Burgeoning Overseas Investments

Ambassador (retd.) Kishan S RanaHonorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies.

Today’s newspapers carry a remarkable news item. In 2015, China’s total overseas direct investment (ODI) was $106.8 billion. In less than six months of 2016, this was overtaken with a total of $110.8 billion, making the country the world’s biggest ODI investor, ahead of the US.

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When the British Tried Selling Harrier to China in 1970s

Atul Bhardwaj, Adjunct Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies.

Last week, the Indian Navy bid adieu to the British-built Sea Harrier. The lone Subsonic-Sea Harrier flew among the newly inducted supersonic fighters, MiG 29k to mark the ceremony at Goa. The 1970s vintage machine was de-inducted from the Royal Navy in the year 2006 after serving for good twenty-six years. The Indian Navy had refurbished the aircraft, in 2009, to add another few years to its life. For almost three decades the Harriers were a pride of the Indian Navy flying from aircraft carriers.

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Impressions of an Indian woman in China

Asma Masood is a Research Officer with the Chennai Centre for China Studies. This article is based on interactions with Chinese government officials and think-tankers during a visit to China as part of a delegation organized by the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi from 21-29 April 2016. 

“Don’t worry,” an Indian lady friend from Shanghai advised before my China visit. “This is Ram Rajya. You will be safe.” These words were reassuring, but I felt a smidgen of doubt. After all, living in India as a woman, one becomes accustomed to keep glancing over one’s shoulder.

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