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- Huawei promises doubters secure networks
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- People’s Congress downsizes ministries
- UN committee: abolish boarding schools in Tibet
- Taiwan will not tolerate ‘provocations’
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At the week-long National People’s Congress, the focus is shifting from one policy area to the next. After economic policy over the weekend, foreign policy came next on Tuesday. Minister Qin Gang was given ample space to present China’s view of things.
Premier Li still expressed soft tones on Sunday. But yesterday, Qin was all the more wolfish. He did not adopt the hoped-for role as a neutral mediator between the two sides in the Ukraine war. For him, Russia is a victim of Western intrigue. He believes that global stability is best helped by closer relations between Moscow and Beijing.
Here the contradictions in China’s goals once again show. The country wants to present itself as a confident broker. In the overall picture of its interests, however, it wants to preserve a strong Russia as a counterweight to the USA and the EU. Therefore, whenever China has taken a step toward Ukraine, it takes a step back toward Russia. Beijing maintains its closeness to Moscow.
On the occasion of the People’s Congress, we asked two of the most distinguished experts on the inner workings of the Chinese Communist Party about the current state of the party. Sophie Reiss from Merics and Marina Rudyak from the University of Goettingen uncover the hidden vulnerabilities of the system in an interview with Michael Radunski.
Today, Huawei responded to the apparently imminent exclusion of Chinese equipment from Germany’s telecommunications networks. The company is urging politicians to remain level-headed. Network operators such as Telekom and Telefónica, in turn, warn that the switch away from the biggest supplier cannot happen overnight.
Finn Mayer-Kuckuk
Feature
Qin Gang lashes out at US – backing for Russia
The Chinese Foreign Minister’s big press conference is a regular date in the calendar of the People’s Congress. It could have been a perfect opportunity for Qin Gang to clarify how exactly China envisages its peace initiative for Ukraine. Not much has been heard since Beijing presented its very vague twelve-point paper on the conflict a good fortnight ago.
But Qin let the opportunity pass. It quickly became clear that he wants to set other accents. He sees the blame for the situation, which he still refuses to call a war, in the EU, the USA and NATO. As every year, the event was meticulously orchestrated, with those present reciting questions that they had to submit and coordinate in advance. So first, a compliant journalist asked how China managed to become such a modern country in such a short time.
‘Unwavering’ relations with Russia
The second question asked by a foreign media representative came from the Russian news agency Tass. Could China imagine abandoning the US dollar and the euro when trading with Russia? China would use any currency that was “efficient, secure and credible”, the foreign minister replied meaningfully. He immediately added that relations between the two countries were unshakeable. “The more unstable the world becomes, the more imperative it is for China and Russia to steadily advance their relations,” Qin said.
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