China Perspective: Military service and the prospect of war
Dear reader,
While we intensively discuss risky economic dependencies and anxiously watch China’s increasingly rougher tone towards Taiwan, we patiently wait for the China strategy of the German government. Originally, a national security strategy should already have been drafted in the first year of the German government coalition. Which was then supposed to be followed by the China strategy. But so far, neither paper exists.
The individual government parties use the time to define their positions. Currently, it is the turn of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP). For example, it wants a stress test for the economy and infrastructure, and to pool China expertise. In his analysis, Finn Mayer-Kuckuk finds astonishing parallels between the Liberals and the positions of the Greens.
A visitor who would not even be allowed to enter the USA will arrive in the UK this Sunday. The governor of the autonomous province of Xinjiang, Erkin Tuniyaz, is traveling to London on behalf of the Chinese government. He plans to meet representatives of the British Foreign Office. Geneva and Brussels are also on his itinerary. His visit is an insult to Uyghur lobby groups, human rights organizations and German and British MPs because Tuniyaz bears particular responsibility for the crimes against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Marcel Grzanna describes the background and reactions.
High-resolution footage captured by reconnaissance aircraft offers the US military new information about the Chinese balloon. They show antennas capable of intercepting communications – equipment that weather balloons typically do not carry. The fairytale of a weather balloon never convinced anyone, anyway. Michael Radunski analyzes the latest developments surrounding spherical aircraft and the implications.
This week’s China Perspective is about military service in times of saber rattling. A new reservist law will come into force in March and is unsettling young Chinese, as our Chinese author writes. The army offers promising students from poorer families a chance for free education. This makes the military an attractive choice during peacetime. But what if a violent “reunification” with Taiwan could become a reality?
Your Julia Fiedler
Feature
Strong opposition to Xinjiang governor’s Europe trip
Erkin Tuniyaz, Governor of Xinjiang, travels to Europe.
The US-sanctioned governor of Xinjiang, Erkin Tuniyaz, is traveling to Europe. Probably to try and downplay the human rights crimes committed by his government against the Uyghurs. This move is met with disapproval by politicians and human rights activists.
Blacklisted in the US, at least accepted as a guest in Europe: The governor of the autonomous province of Xinjiang, Erkin Tuniyaz, is traveling to London next Sunday on behalf of the Chinese government, where he is expected to meet with representatives of the British Foreign Office. Exactly one week later, Tuniyaz then wants to make an appearance in Brussels to launch a diplomatic charm offensive with the EU member states.
Uyghur lobby groups, human rights organizations, as well as German and British MPs, harshly criticized the visit. Tuniyaz has been sanctioned by the United States for two years for his role in the human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. The US government even refers to Beijing’s treatment of the Uyghurs as genocide. The EU, on the other hand, has so far limited sanctions to four lower-ranking Xinjiang officials, while Tuniyaz is still allowed to enter.
Visit is Beijing’s response to criticism
Clear criticism of the visit comes from the EU Parliament. “The governor of Xinjiang is partly responsible for the human rights crimes that the Chinese leadership is still committing in the autonomous region,” MEP Reinhard Buetikofer (Greens) told China.Table. “Talks with China must continue. But that excludes people who, like Erkin Tuniyaz, are personally so closely involved in these crimes.”
Civil Society
Human Rights
London
London
Xinjiang
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