Clear signals in Tianjin + Dispute over Mekong + Hong Kong’s Olympic hero

Dear reader,

The recent quarrel between the US and Chinese foreign ministers in Alaska back in March is still fresh on everyone’s mind. The meeting between diplomats from Beijing and Washington in Tianjin was supposed to have more gentle tones. However, things did not quite go as hoped: The People’s Republic used the talks for a series of verbal attacks, ranging from long lists of demands to accusations – our author Michael Radunski summarized the heated discussion in the eastern Chinese port city and illustrates Beijing’s main goal.

But the west of the People’s Republic also holds potential for conflict with the US. Here, the Mekong River is flowing through the region. Here, Beijing is damming the upper reaches of the river, threatening the livelihoods of millions of people in Southeast Asia. The US fears that the riparian states are becoming more and more dependent on the People’s Republic, and is increasingly intervening in the conflict. In his report, Frank Sieren shows how Southeast Asian countries are at risk of getting caught in the crossfire between the two superpowers.

In today’s Profile, we turn our attention to a small sensation in Tokyo: For the first time in 25 years, an athlete from Hong Kong managed to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. Throughout the metropolis, thousands gathered in front of large public TV screens and witnessed the victory of foil fencer Edgar Cheung Ka-long. Through his victory, Hong Kong finally experienced a new moment of unity, pride, and joy. But how the political leadership will spin this win to its own advantage, remains to be seen.

We hope you enjoy our latest issue!

Your
Amelie Richter

Clear signals in Tianjin: “China has had enough”

The goal of America’s Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s visit to China, which lasted from Sunday to Monday, was to prevent misunderstandings. And after two meetings with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his deputy Xie Feng, there is certainly no lack of clarity left.

Xie expressed clearly how China currently assesses relations with the US: The US would attempt to demonize China. “The People’s Republic is being turned into an ‘imagined enemy’ in order to hide problems and differences in the US“, Xie said. This is the reason why relations between Washington and Beijing are at an impasse. America’s policy of demonization and smear campaign against the People’s Republic must end immediately. “We urge the United States to change its highly misguided mindset and dangerous policy,” China’s deputy foreign minister stressed.

China’s claims

Xie then presented the American visitor with two lists of Chinese demands: The US must lift all sanctions against Chinese officials, withdraw the extradition request against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who is being held in Canada, allow Confucius Institutes as well as Chinese state media to operate freely in America, and lift visa restrictions against Communist Party members and Chinese students.

All of these are prerequisites for the normalization of China’s relations with America, Xie concluded after his meeting with Sherman in Tianjin. The deputy foreign minister was invited to the port city near Beijing because no political delegations are currently being received in the Chinese capital due to the pandemic.

Earlier, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi had also made it clear that it was time to teach the U.S. a lesson: “If the United States has not learned how to get along with other countries on an equal footing by now, then it is our responsibility, together with the international community, to give the US a good tutorial in this regard.”

The Chinese state newspaper Global Times was full of praise for this unequivocal statement. “In the past, China had stressed on creating a good atmosphere for China-US talks.” Even when it came to heated discussion, China did not go public with any statement. But these days are over now. “Chinese society has become fed up with the bossy US.”

Wu Xinbo of Fudan University in Shanghai puts it somewhat more diplomatically: “China is displaying a proactive attitude in its relations with the US. This is the new standard in diplomacy.“

China’s stance is clear: After decades of economic and political ascent, it feels strong enough to take the US superpower head-on. The days when reformer Deng Xiaoping tried to hide his own strengths and bide his time now seem to be over. Now, Beijing wants to negotiate with the US on an equal footing.

USA signals willingness to talk

Unlike US President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump, Sherman had struck a remarkably conciliatory note prior to her trip to China. The trips’ intention was to “keep the channels of communication open at the senior level”, the US State Department said. The talks were important to “reduce the risk of misunderstandings” and to establish “protective barriers” so that competition with China did not drift into a full-blown conflict.

So much for the public restraint on the part of the US delegation. But during their meetings behind closed doors, the US Deputy Secretary of State was also very specific. She expressed concerns “about a range of PRC actions that run counter to our values and interests and those of our allies and partners, and that undermine the international rules-based order,” according to the statement released by the US State Department. Specifically, one of the issues she addressed, was “Beijing’s anti-democratic actions in Hong Kong,” “the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity” in China’s province of Xinjiang, abuses of Tibetans, and Beijing’s conduct in cyberspace, as well as its increasingly strict censorship and restrictions on freedom of expression.

The news agency AFP subsequently quoted an official of the US delegation that Sherman had appeared very brisk and decisive. Officials on both sides subsequently labeled the meetings in Tianjin as very tense.

Still, Sherman urged cooperation: “There are some things that rise above specific differences that are the global responsibility of great powers.” And her Chinese counterpart also asserted that Beijing did not want an uncontrolled escalation of their relations. Stability is in the interest of both sides, and China wants to work with the US, Xie was quoted.

Biden’s China policy in mind

As Chinese journalist Chen Qingqing summed up the meeting in the Global Times: “China’s bottom line should make many US policymaker realize where the China policy of US President Joe Biden has led to over the past six months.”

Like his predecessor Trump, Joe Biden is taking a hard-line approach on China. But unlike his hot-tempered Donald Trump, Biden does not dash forward on his own. Rather, since his inauguration, Biden has been doing everything in his power to revitalize America’s alliances and thus establish a united front against China. NATO, for example, prescribed itself a realignment in which China is declared a systemic challenge (as reported by China.Table). The Quad dialogue was also revived – an alliance between the US, India, Japan and Australia to contain China actions (as reported by China.Table). Particular unanimity was achieved a week ago when the US, EU, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, as well as Japan and NATO, jointly held the government of the People’s Republic responsible for criminal cyberattacks (as reported by China.Table).

For China, this all adds up to a global search for allies, a competition in which the People’s Republic is currently losing its footing. For the authorities in Beijing, the visit of the US Deputy Secretary of State was an opportunity to make a public statement on its own soil.

What was evident at the foreign ministers’ last meeting in Anchorage (Alaska) was confirmed in Tianjin. The air between the US and China seems to be permanently soured, a room for compromises is becoming smaller and smaller due to public verbal assaults. However, things are not as bleak as the heated exchange might show. Beijing’s strategy reaches far beyond Sherman’s visit to Tianjin. Rather, it should be considered as an intermediate step – on the way to the first meeting between President Biden and China’s head of state, Xi Jinping. Only at this level can, and should, attempts to be made to ease the strained relations between the two great powers. October is being discussed as a possible timeframe for a meeting – and both sides shouldn’t hesitate much longer.

The Mekong becomes a contested lifeline

Water is increasingly becoming the focus of geopolitical disputes. The current focus lies on the Mekong, the twelfth longest river in the world, which is considered the lifeline of continental Southeast Asia and rises in China. The governments of the riparian states are at odds over who is entitled to how much of the river’s water. The dispute recently gained momentum after the US Department of Justice accused Beijing of being responsible for an attack by Chinese hackers on servers of Cambodia’s foreign ministry in order to tap into internal information about the dispute over the stream’s water. Beijing denies any involvement. Southeast Asian riparian states accuse the People’s Republic of diverting large amounts of water and drying up lower river streams.

The conflict was a topic of discussion in late June at the first Mekong-U.S. Partnership Senior Officials’ Meeting, a forum to coordinate strategic countermeasures by the affected states and the United States. The US is committed to a “secure, prosperous and free” region of the Mekong, according to a statement. The Americans are interested in stable economic development throughout the region in order to push back Chinese influence over these states and to better position themselves in the region. However, in Southeast Asia, concerns are growing that the neighboring states are at risk of being worn down in a conflict between China and the US. Especially since these countries are also dependent on cooperation with China in order to protect their own interests.

“The strategic competition between China and the United States might also produce complications for the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation and United States-Mekong Partnership because the lower Mekong countries, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam might find it more difficult to distance themselves from geopolitics in the cooperation process,” said Le Dinh Tinh, Ph.D., Director General, Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, Hanoi. He expects the Mekong River dispute, along with tensions in the South China Sea, to become major challenges for U.S.-China relations in the years to come. No one wants to choose sides or be forced to choose sides, Tinh stressed. The Mekong River is too important for the survival of every country it flows through. Through the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation, Southeast Asian governments are trying to reach a compromise with Beijing.

If one were allowed to describe in one word the greatest risk to China’s growth, and thus the country’s stability, it would be water. If China runs out of water, especially clean water, not only its industry and agriculture along the Mekong would be affected, but the entire country as a whole. The reason for this is that the water is being shipped via tank ships to other regions of the People’s Republic which are dependent on it. Alternatives are scarce because, for example, desalination plants for seawater cannot produce the required quantities. It is possible to live for a long time with bad air quality, but without water or with contaminated water, life quickly becomes difficult.

The 4350-kilometer-long river transports water from the so-called “third pole” in the Tibetan highlands, from an altitude of 5200 meters downwards towards Southeast Asia, where it forms the basis of life for millions of people. Its delta is one of the most densely populated agricultural regions in the world. In China, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam, the river supplies up to 60 million people with water, food and energy. Rice in particular is grown along its banks. With its inlets, the Mekong is also one of the world’s most important fishing areas inland. Twenty percent of all freshwater fish caught worldwide originate from this river. This is the only reason why Vietnam, for example, with its 95 million inhabitants, is the second-largest coffee producer and the third-largest rice producer worldwide.

The situation had already dramatically worsened in 2019. Northern Thailand experienced one of the worst droughts in over 40 years. In some places, the Mekong River was three meters below its normal level, the lowest in 100 years. Parts of Cambodia were also affected: The Tonle Sap Lake, where Cambodians rely on fishing to meet about 70 percent of their protein needs, saw an 80-90 percent drop in catch rates in some places. Fisheries contribute 18 percent to Cambodia’s national product, and six million Cambodians depend on fishing for their livelihoods, which is nearly 40 percent of the population. Some highly populated areas in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta had temporarily lost access to freshwater as a result of the drought. Rice farmers were no longer able to plant anything, and the fear of food shortages went so far that the military had to intervene with the delivery of water supplies.

USA tries to blame China

The US holds the People’s Republic responsible for the development. Last year’s study by Washington consulting company Eyes on Earth, which was financed by the US State Department, is supposed to prove that Beijing had dammed and retained large amounts of water from the Mekong. In their study, researchers primarily examined satellite data from 1992 to 2019, which, as they claim, have shown that southwest China experienced above-average rainfall and snow melt between May and October 2019. Their conclusion: if China had not held back the water, there would have been no shortages in Southeast Asian states along the river.

Irregularities are said to have increased after 2012. That year, the People’s Republic had commissioned the Nuozhadu Dam in the Province of Yunnan, which holds a reservoir with a volume of about 23,000 million cubic meters. It is one of numerous dams “that have turned off the tap of the Mekong River,” according to the authors.

The Americans’ involvement is deeply geostrategically motivated. Washington fears that through its economic zones, power plants, and ports planned along the river’s edges, Beijing will further expand its influence into Southeast Asia. Troop relocations and naval operations along the Mekong River could be possible in the future.

MRC countries refuse to be instrumentalized

Washington’s course of action is not only met with gratitude throughout the region. Not only China but also – surprisingly – the Mekong River Commission (MRC), in which Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand have joined forces, perceive it as interference in their internal affairs. Beijing’s statement calling the study “baseless” and “contrary to all the facts” was to be expected, but that the MRC is not pleased being backed by Washington comes as a surprise: “The Mekong Commission backs Beijing’s defense,” noted Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post. The MRC mainly questions the methodology of the study. Its researchers had taken too little account of the factors of less rain and exceptionally high temperatures in 2019.

The MRC seems convinced it can solve the problems with China on its own, partly to avoid getting caught up in the power struggle between the two superpowers and because they are building dams themselves. However, Beijing needs to be more transparent: “China should consider providing more data that covers more stations and includes the dry season,” the 13-page long MRC response to the US study said. It’s tenor: “There is a problem that is getting bigger, but we want to solve it amongst ourselves, please. Critics, in turn, see this as evidence of the littoral states’ dependence on China.

At least, Beijing opened the floodgates in February. Water levels had been higher in the first few months of this year without any increase in rainfall. But no matter how often Beijing opens its floodgates: it’s little more than a gesture in good faith. All countries along the Mekong should have the same right to benefit from the river and to act on any risks, no matter where the source is. But this sensible goal may remain out of reach for the time being.

Security Act: guilty verdict in first Hong Kong trial

For the first time, a Hong Kong court has found a defendant guilty under the National Security Act. The 24-year-old accused had crashed a motorcycle into a group of police officers a little over a year ago, injuring three people. Because a flag with the inscription “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times” was mounted on his motorcycle during the rampage, authorities had initiated investigations for violations of the security law. The accused now faces life imprisonment. The sentence is expected to be announced this week.

The act was committed just one day after the new law came into effect, after the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in Beijing had amended the Basic Law of Hong Kong accordingly. The Basic Law is also known as Hong Kong’s mini-constitution. The Chinese government had drastically tightened the legal framework in response to the mass protests of 2019 and 2020 against the growing influence of the People’s Republic in the city.

The judges followed the prosecution’s argument, which accused the defendant of deliberately trying to generate a lot of attention for the slogan of the protest movement and to provoke fellow pro-democracy activists into breaking the law. With the introduction of the security law, the public display of the slogan had been banned.

Currently, 47 politicians and activists in Hong Kong, all accused of conspiring against the state under the Security Act, are in custody awaiting trial. Lawyers criticize the laws’ vague wording, which enables the state to exercise arbitrary jurisdiction over political dissent. grz

Tencent suspends new user registrations on WeChat

Tencent has temporarily suspended new user signups for its messenger and payment service WeChat. A technical update to comply with new regulations and laws in China regarding data security and privacy is stated as the reason, according to a report by Bloomberg on Tuesday, citing a statement made by the tech company. New users are not expected to be able to register until early August. This action caused Tencent’s shares to plummet even further on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Its value dropped by nine percent on Tuesday, the highest drop since October 2011. The social media and gaming giant has lost more than $100 billion of its value over the last two days.

For Tencent, the crash already began earlier this week after an announcement that regulators were cracking down on private tutoring companies (as reported by China.Table). Tencent has invested heavily in the education sector in the past. Chinese authorities recently heavily increased their grip on tech corporations. ari

Report: no investment in coal along the BRI

According to reports, China has not invested in any coal projects along the New Silk Road in the first half of 2021. Since the Belt and Road Initiative was launched in 2013, China has made investments in climate-damaging coal-fired power generation each subsequent year, as stated by a report by the Beijing-based think tank International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF) published on Tuesday. In general, the volume of investment has dropped. According to the report, BRI financing in 140 countries totaled $19.3 billion in the first six months of 2021, down by 29 percent from last year. The average transaction size has also become smaller, dropping from an average of $1.3 billion in 2018 to $550 million in 2021. One reason for the decline, according to the IIGF, was restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The energy and transport sectors accounted for 65 percent of all BRI investments in the first half of the year. In the energy sector, 37 percent of funding went to natural gases, 30 percent to oil and 28 percent to hydroelectric power, the paper further lists. The IIGF predicts an acceleration of “green projects and financing” in the second half of 2021, partly due to the “Guidelines for Greening Overseas Investment and Cooperation” issued by China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE). These guidelines call for the application of stricter and, where appropriate, international environmental standards to BRI projects.

The report also sees potential for international cooperation in the fight against climate change along the BRI. Although the G7 countries and the EU want to compete with the New Silk Road with their “B3W” and “Globally Connected Europe” strategies, there are “opportunities for tripartite collaboration and financing to provide more sustainable development opportunities for BRI countries.” Pressure is mounting on China under US President Joe Biden’s administration to make the BRI more eco-friendly and to curb coal production abroad (as reported by China.Table). In late 2020, staff from The Ministry of Ecology and Environment collaborated on a study with international and Chinese experts called the “Green Development Guide for BRI Projects,” which includes a climate traffic light to evaluate projects. ari

New nuclear missile silos discovered

According to US scientists. China has begun the expansion of its nuclear arsenal. Nuclear experts of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) have used satellite images to discover the construction of a new nuclear silo field near Hami (Kumul) in Xinjiang. In June, researchers of the FAS had already discovered construction sites near Yumen in the province of Gansu. “The construction of the silos at Yumen and Hami represents the most significant expansion of China’s nuclear arsenal to date,” a report released on Tuesday stated.

Work on the second site in Hami, about 380 kilometers northwest of Yumen, began in March and has not yet progressed far. Based on the preparatory work, the scientists estimate that about 110 silos are to be built. In the pictures published by the FAS, dome halls can be seen over 14 construction sites, and in other places, the ground is being prepared for construction.

It is still unclear whether all silos will be equipped with missiles, or some will merely serve as a threat backdrop. According to FAS estimates, China possesses around 350 nuclear warheads. Experts suspect various reasons why the Chinese government constructs these missile silos: Among other reasons, it could be a reaction to the modernization of the nuclear forces of the US, Russia, and India. China could also be concerned that its existing silos are vulnerable to attacks. So far, according to the FAS assessments, China currently operates a small nuclear arsenal that is said to be sufficient for “minimal deterrence.” Beijing may have concluded that it needs to expand its threat potential. ari

Dismay over barrier in Zhengzhou

The way Chinese authorities handle the expressions of mourning for flood victims in the provincial capital Zhengzhou has led to an outrage on social media and apparently resulted in a reconsideration by the authorities. A photo published on the short message service Weibo depicted a screen made of plastic barriers in front of a subway station in the city of Henan, behind which numerous bouquets of flowers had been laid out to mourn flood victims. Just over a week ago, several people were killed in this station as a result of severe flooding caused by heavy rainfall, and more are believed to be missing. According to comments made online, the barrier was intended to prevent more people from visiting the scene of the tragedy.

Screenshot of the Weibo account Directube, which posted the photo.

Western message platforms such as Twitter criticized the Chinese authorities’ handling of expressions of grief and shared the photo of the Shakou Lu Zhan subway entrance. In other videos, people are shown as they were removing the barrier for a candlelight vigil. However, the fence had been briefly rebuilt the day after. In the end, the local government of Zhengzhou apparently had a change of heart: the barrier was reportedly removed on Tuesday afternoon, as videos on Weibo and Kuaishou showed. ari

Edgar Cheung Ka-long – Hong Kong’s Olympic hero

For the moment, concerns about new Covid infections seemed to be forgotten. Hong Kong’s government had no objection to public viewing in many of the city’s shopping malls on Monday, as thousands of people, some of them standing tightly together, watched the first Olympic victory by one of its athletes ever since the territory was handed over by the UK to the People’s Republic of China. Just a few weeks ago, Covid was stated as the official reason why citizens were forbidden to collectively remember the Tiananmen Square massacre.

It is no surprise that the authorities turned a blind eye this time. After two grueling years that have many left dead or injured, an unprecedented political purge and the gutting of a democratic society, the triumph march of 24-year-old foil fencer Edgar Cheung Ka-long toward the gold medal finally provided the battered metropolis on the Pearl River with a much-needed moment of unity, pride and joy. For the government, Cheung’s sensational success embodies the performance of the new authoritarian Hong Kong that it wants to market to its people as a model for the future.

Born in the year of the return of Hong Kong

Whether the athlete himself approves of the instrumentalization of his Olympic victory will possibly remain his secret, nor will he be able to change its symbolism. Cheung was born in 1997, just a few weeks before the People’s Republic of China reclaimed sovereignty over the Special Administrative Region. The first and, up until now, last time a Hong Kong athlete won gold at the Olympics was by surfer Lee Lai-shan in Atlanta in 1996. Back then, the British national anthem “God save the Queen” was still played during the medal ceremony. This time, the Chinese “March of the Volunteers” anthem accompanied the hoisting of the national flag.

That Cheung would one day win the most important competition in his discipline could not be expected. His decision to pursue a professional career in sports, on the other hand, came less of a surprise. His parents were already competitive athletes who played basketball in Hong Kong and China. In love, he also sought an equal and was engaged in a relationship with Hong Kong track cyclist Vivian Ma Wing-yu for several years. The two were a popular subject of the Hong Kong tabloid press until they separated earlier this year. With 1.93 meters, Cheung stands tall and with his stylish K-pop haircut is very popular with women. His following suddenly exploded by many thousands of followers on social media after his victory in Tokyo.

He picked up fencing at the age of ten and specialized in the foil, where, unlike the épée, only the torso of the opponent is counted as a hit area. It quickly became apparent that the young boy had talent and sufficient ambition to take on the best of the world. Introverted and focused, he went his way, his youth coaches recalled. It was a path that led him to victory at the Asian Games as a teenager six years ago and at the Rio Olympics in 2016. In Brazil, he was still bested by the elite, the very same elite that now bows their heads in recognition. grz

Synchronized Olympic gold: the world champions Chen Yuxi (15) and Zhang Jiaqi (17) won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in the synchronized 10 m platform final. For their second of five jumps in the finals, the two teenagers even scored three perfect 10s for their performance.

CHINA.TABLE EDITORIAL OFFICE

Amelie
Richter

Marcel
Grzanna

Fabian
Peltsch

Julia
Fiedler

Angela
Köckritz

Jörn
Petring

Dear reader,

The recent quarrel between the US and Chinese foreign ministers in Alaska back in March is still fresh on everyone’s mind. The meeting between diplomats from Beijing and Washington in Tianjin was supposed to have more gentle tones. However, things did not quite go as hoped: The People’s Republic used the talks for a series of verbal attacks, ranging from long lists of demands to accusations – our author Michael Radunski summarized the heated discussion in the eastern Chinese port city and illustrates Beijing’s main goal.

But the west of the People’s Republic also holds potential for conflict with the US. Here, the Mekong River is flowing through the region. Here, Beijing is damming the upper reaches of the river, threatening the livelihoods of millions of people in Southeast Asia. The US fears that the riparian states are becoming more and more dependent on the People’s Republic, and is increasingly intervening in the conflict. In his report, Frank Sieren shows how Southeast Asian countries are at risk of getting caught in the crossfire between the two superpowers.

In today’s Profile, we turn our attention to a small sensation in Tokyo: For the first time in 25 years, an athlete from Hong Kong managed to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. Throughout the metropolis, thousands gathered in front of large public TV screens and witnessed the victory of foil fencer Edgar Cheung Ka-long. Through his victory, Hong Kong finally experienced a new moment of unity, pride, and joy. But how the political leadership will spin this win to its own advantage, remains to be seen.

We hope you enjoy our latest issue!

Your
Amelie Richter

Clear signals in Tianjin: “China has had enough”

The goal of America’s Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s visit to China, which lasted from Sunday to Monday, was to prevent misunderstandings. And after two meetings with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his deputy Xie Feng, there is certainly no lack of clarity left.

Xie expressed clearly how China currently assesses relations with the US: The US would attempt to demonize China. “The People’s Republic is being turned into an ‘imagined enemy’ in order to hide problems and differences in the US“, Xie said. This is the reason why relations between Washington and Beijing are at an impasse. America’s policy of demonization and smear campaign against the People’s Republic must end immediately. “We urge the United States to change its highly misguided mindset and dangerous policy,” China’s deputy foreign minister stressed.

China’s claims

Xie then presented the American visitor with two lists of Chinese demands: The US must lift all sanctions against Chinese officials, withdraw the extradition request against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who is being held in Canada, allow Confucius Institutes as well as Chinese state media to operate freely in America, and lift visa restrictions against Communist Party members and Chinese students.

All of these are prerequisites for the normalization of China’s relations with America, Xie concluded after his meeting with Sherman in Tianjin. The deputy foreign minister was invited to the port city near Beijing because no political delegations are currently being received in the Chinese capital due to the pandemic.

Earlier, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi had also made it clear that it was time to teach the U.S. a lesson: “If the United States has not learned how to get along with other countries on an equal footing by now, then it is our responsibility, together with the international community, to give the US a good tutorial in this regard.”

The Chinese state newspaper Global Times was full of praise for this unequivocal statement. “In the past, China had stressed on creating a good atmosphere for China-US talks.” Even when it came to heated discussion, China did not go public with any statement. But these days are over now. “Chinese society has become fed up with the bossy US.”

Wu Xinbo of Fudan University in Shanghai puts it somewhat more diplomatically: “China is displaying a proactive attitude in its relations with the US. This is the new standard in diplomacy.“

China’s stance is clear: After decades of economic and political ascent, it feels strong enough to take the US superpower head-on. The days when reformer Deng Xiaoping tried to hide his own strengths and bide his time now seem to be over. Now, Beijing wants to negotiate with the US on an equal footing.

USA signals willingness to talk

Unlike US President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump, Sherman had struck a remarkably conciliatory note prior to her trip to China. The trips’ intention was to “keep the channels of communication open at the senior level”, the US State Department said. The talks were important to “reduce the risk of misunderstandings” and to establish “protective barriers” so that competition with China did not drift into a full-blown conflict.

So much for the public restraint on the part of the US delegation. But during their meetings behind closed doors, the US Deputy Secretary of State was also very specific. She expressed concerns “about a range of PRC actions that run counter to our values and interests and those of our allies and partners, and that undermine the international rules-based order,” according to the statement released by the US State Department. Specifically, one of the issues she addressed, was “Beijing’s anti-democratic actions in Hong Kong,” “the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity” in China’s province of Xinjiang, abuses of Tibetans, and Beijing’s conduct in cyberspace, as well as its increasingly strict censorship and restrictions on freedom of expression.

The news agency AFP subsequently quoted an official of the US delegation that Sherman had appeared very brisk and decisive. Officials on both sides subsequently labeled the meetings in Tianjin as very tense.

Still, Sherman urged cooperation: “There are some things that rise above specific differences that are the global responsibility of great powers.” And her Chinese counterpart also asserted that Beijing did not want an uncontrolled escalation of their relations. Stability is in the interest of both sides, and China wants to work with the US, Xie was quoted.

Biden’s China policy in mind

As Chinese journalist Chen Qingqing summed up the meeting in the Global Times: “China’s bottom line should make many US policymaker realize where the China policy of US President Joe Biden has led to over the past six months.”

Like his predecessor Trump, Joe Biden is taking a hard-line approach on China. But unlike his hot-tempered Donald Trump, Biden does not dash forward on his own. Rather, since his inauguration, Biden has been doing everything in his power to revitalize America’s alliances and thus establish a united front against China. NATO, for example, prescribed itself a realignment in which China is declared a systemic challenge (as reported by China.Table). The Quad dialogue was also revived – an alliance between the US, India, Japan and Australia to contain China actions (as reported by China.Table). Particular unanimity was achieved a week ago when the US, EU, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, as well as Japan and NATO, jointly held the government of the People’s Republic responsible for criminal cyberattacks (as reported by China.Table).

For China, this all adds up to a global search for allies, a competition in which the People’s Republic is currently losing its footing. For the authorities in Beijing, the visit of the US Deputy Secretary of State was an opportunity to make a public statement on its own soil.

What was evident at the foreign ministers’ last meeting in Anchorage (Alaska) was confirmed in Tianjin. The air between the US and China seems to be permanently soured, a room for compromises is becoming smaller and smaller due to public verbal assaults. However, things are not as bleak as the heated exchange might show. Beijing’s strategy reaches far beyond Sherman’s visit to Tianjin. Rather, it should be considered as an intermediate step – on the way to the first meeting between President Biden and China’s head of state, Xi Jinping. Only at this level can, and should, attempts to be made to ease the strained relations between the two great powers. October is being discussed as a possible timeframe for a meeting – and both sides shouldn’t hesitate much longer.

The Mekong becomes a contested lifeline

Water is increasingly becoming the focus of geopolitical disputes. The current focus lies on the Mekong, the twelfth longest river in the world, which is considered the lifeline of continental Southeast Asia and rises in China. The governments of the riparian states are at odds over who is entitled to how much of the river’s water. The dispute recently gained momentum after the US Department of Justice accused Beijing of being responsible for an attack by Chinese hackers on servers of Cambodia’s foreign ministry in order to tap into internal information about the dispute over the stream’s water. Beijing denies any involvement. Southeast Asian riparian states accuse the People’s Republic of diverting large amounts of water and drying up lower river streams.

The conflict was a topic of discussion in late June at the first Mekong-U.S. Partnership Senior Officials’ Meeting, a forum to coordinate strategic countermeasures by the affected states and the United States. The US is committed to a “secure, prosperous and free” region of the Mekong, according to a statement. The Americans are interested in stable economic development throughout the region in order to push back Chinese influence over these states and to better position themselves in the region. However, in Southeast Asia, concerns are growing that the neighboring states are at risk of being worn down in a conflict between China and the US. Especially since these countries are also dependent on cooperation with China in order to protect their own interests.

“The strategic competition between China and the United States might also produce complications for the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation and United States-Mekong Partnership because the lower Mekong countries, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam might find it more difficult to distance themselves from geopolitics in the cooperation process,” said Le Dinh Tinh, Ph.D., Director General, Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, Hanoi. He expects the Mekong River dispute, along with tensions in the South China Sea, to become major challenges for U.S.-China relations in the years to come. No one wants to choose sides or be forced to choose sides, Tinh stressed. The Mekong River is too important for the survival of every country it flows through. Through the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation, Southeast Asian governments are trying to reach a compromise with Beijing.

If one were allowed to describe in one word the greatest risk to China’s growth, and thus the country’s stability, it would be water. If China runs out of water, especially clean water, not only its industry and agriculture along the Mekong would be affected, but the entire country as a whole. The reason for this is that the water is being shipped via tank ships to other regions of the People’s Republic which are dependent on it. Alternatives are scarce because, for example, desalination plants for seawater cannot produce the required quantities. It is possible to live for a long time with bad air quality, but without water or with contaminated water, life quickly becomes difficult.

The 4350-kilometer-long river transports water from the so-called “third pole” in the Tibetan highlands, from an altitude of 5200 meters downwards towards Southeast Asia, where it forms the basis of life for millions of people. Its delta is one of the most densely populated agricultural regions in the world. In China, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam, the river supplies up to 60 million people with water, food and energy. Rice in particular is grown along its banks. With its inlets, the Mekong is also one of the world’s most important fishing areas inland. Twenty percent of all freshwater fish caught worldwide originate from this river. This is the only reason why Vietnam, for example, with its 95 million inhabitants, is the second-largest coffee producer and the third-largest rice producer worldwide.

The situation had already dramatically worsened in 2019. Northern Thailand experienced one of the worst droughts in over 40 years. In some places, the Mekong River was three meters below its normal level, the lowest in 100 years. Parts of Cambodia were also affected: The Tonle Sap Lake, where Cambodians rely on fishing to meet about 70 percent of their protein needs, saw an 80-90 percent drop in catch rates in some places. Fisheries contribute 18 percent to Cambodia’s national product, and six million Cambodians depend on fishing for their livelihoods, which is nearly 40 percent of the population. Some highly populated areas in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta had temporarily lost access to freshwater as a result of the drought. Rice farmers were no longer able to plant anything, and the fear of food shortages went so far that the military had to intervene with the delivery of water supplies.

USA tries to blame China

The US holds the People’s Republic responsible for the development. Last year’s study by Washington consulting company Eyes on Earth, which was financed by the US State Department, is supposed to prove that Beijing had dammed and retained large amounts of water from the Mekong. In their study, researchers primarily examined satellite data from 1992 to 2019, which, as they claim, have shown that southwest China experienced above-average rainfall and snow melt between May and October 2019. Their conclusion: if China had not held back the water, there would have been no shortages in Southeast Asian states along the river.

Irregularities are said to have increased after 2012. That year, the People’s Republic had commissioned the Nuozhadu Dam in the Province of Yunnan, which holds a reservoir with a volume of about 23,000 million cubic meters. It is one of numerous dams “that have turned off the tap of the Mekong River,” according to the authors.

The Americans’ involvement is deeply geostrategically motivated. Washington fears that through its economic zones, power plants, and ports planned along the river’s edges, Beijing will further expand its influence into Southeast Asia. Troop relocations and naval operations along the Mekong River could be possible in the future.

MRC countries refuse to be instrumentalized

Washington’s course of action is not only met with gratitude throughout the region. Not only China but also – surprisingly – the Mekong River Commission (MRC), in which Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand have joined forces, perceive it as interference in their internal affairs. Beijing’s statement calling the study “baseless” and “contrary to all the facts” was to be expected, but that the MRC is not pleased being backed by Washington comes as a surprise: “The Mekong Commission backs Beijing’s defense,” noted Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post. The MRC mainly questions the methodology of the study. Its researchers had taken too little account of the factors of less rain and exceptionally high temperatures in 2019.

The MRC seems convinced it can solve the problems with China on its own, partly to avoid getting caught up in the power struggle between the two superpowers and because they are building dams themselves. However, Beijing needs to be more transparent: “China should consider providing more data that covers more stations and includes the dry season,” the 13-page long MRC response to the US study said. It’s tenor: “There is a problem that is getting bigger, but we want to solve it amongst ourselves, please. Critics, in turn, see this as evidence of the littoral states’ dependence on China.

At least, Beijing opened the floodgates in February. Water levels had been higher in the first few months of this year without any increase in rainfall. But no matter how often Beijing opens its floodgates: it’s little more than a gesture in good faith. All countries along the Mekong should have the same right to benefit from the river and to act on any risks, no matter where the source is. But this sensible goal may remain out of reach for the time being.

Security Act: guilty verdict in first Hong Kong trial

For the first time, a Hong Kong court has found a defendant guilty under the National Security Act. The 24-year-old accused had crashed a motorcycle into a group of police officers a little over a year ago, injuring three people. Because a flag with the inscription “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times” was mounted on his motorcycle during the rampage, authorities had initiated investigations for violations of the security law. The accused now faces life imprisonment. The sentence is expected to be announced this week.

The act was committed just one day after the new law came into effect, after the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in Beijing had amended the Basic Law of Hong Kong accordingly. The Basic Law is also known as Hong Kong’s mini-constitution. The Chinese government had drastically tightened the legal framework in response to the mass protests of 2019 and 2020 against the growing influence of the People’s Republic in the city.

The judges followed the prosecution’s argument, which accused the defendant of deliberately trying to generate a lot of attention for the slogan of the protest movement and to provoke fellow pro-democracy activists into breaking the law. With the introduction of the security law, the public display of the slogan had been banned.

Currently, 47 politicians and activists in Hong Kong, all accused of conspiring against the state under the Security Act, are in custody awaiting trial. Lawyers criticize the laws’ vague wording, which enables the state to exercise arbitrary jurisdiction over political dissent. grz

Tencent suspends new user registrations on WeChat

Tencent has temporarily suspended new user signups for its messenger and payment service WeChat. A technical update to comply with new regulations and laws in China regarding data security and privacy is stated as the reason, according to a report by Bloomberg on Tuesday, citing a statement made by the tech company. New users are not expected to be able to register until early August. This action caused Tencent’s shares to plummet even further on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Its value dropped by nine percent on Tuesday, the highest drop since October 2011. The social media and gaming giant has lost more than $100 billion of its value over the last two days.

For Tencent, the crash already began earlier this week after an announcement that regulators were cracking down on private tutoring companies (as reported by China.Table). Tencent has invested heavily in the education sector in the past. Chinese authorities recently heavily increased their grip on tech corporations. ari

Report: no investment in coal along the BRI

According to reports, China has not invested in any coal projects along the New Silk Road in the first half of 2021. Since the Belt and Road Initiative was launched in 2013, China has made investments in climate-damaging coal-fired power generation each subsequent year, as stated by a report by the Beijing-based think tank International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF) published on Tuesday. In general, the volume of investment has dropped. According to the report, BRI financing in 140 countries totaled $19.3 billion in the first six months of 2021, down by 29 percent from last year. The average transaction size has also become smaller, dropping from an average of $1.3 billion in 2018 to $550 million in 2021. One reason for the decline, according to the IIGF, was restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The energy and transport sectors accounted for 65 percent of all BRI investments in the first half of the year. In the energy sector, 37 percent of funding went to natural gases, 30 percent to oil and 28 percent to hydroelectric power, the paper further lists. The IIGF predicts an acceleration of “green projects and financing” in the second half of 2021, partly due to the “Guidelines for Greening Overseas Investment and Cooperation” issued by China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE). These guidelines call for the application of stricter and, where appropriate, international environmental standards to BRI projects.

The report also sees potential for international cooperation in the fight against climate change along the BRI. Although the G7 countries and the EU want to compete with the New Silk Road with their “B3W” and “Globally Connected Europe” strategies, there are “opportunities for tripartite collaboration and financing to provide more sustainable development opportunities for BRI countries.” Pressure is mounting on China under US President Joe Biden’s administration to make the BRI more eco-friendly and to curb coal production abroad (as reported by China.Table). In late 2020, staff from The Ministry of Ecology and Environment collaborated on a study with international and Chinese experts called the “Green Development Guide for BRI Projects,” which includes a climate traffic light to evaluate projects. ari

New nuclear missile silos discovered

According to US scientists. China has begun the expansion of its nuclear arsenal. Nuclear experts of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) have used satellite images to discover the construction of a new nuclear silo field near Hami (Kumul) in Xinjiang. In June, researchers of the FAS had already discovered construction sites near Yumen in the province of Gansu. “The construction of the silos at Yumen and Hami represents the most significant expansion of China’s nuclear arsenal to date,” a report released on Tuesday stated.

Work on the second site in Hami, about 380 kilometers northwest of Yumen, began in March and has not yet progressed far. Based on the preparatory work, the scientists estimate that about 110 silos are to be built. In the pictures published by the FAS, dome halls can be seen over 14 construction sites, and in other places, the ground is being prepared for construction.

It is still unclear whether all silos will be equipped with missiles, or some will merely serve as a threat backdrop. According to FAS estimates, China possesses around 350 nuclear warheads. Experts suspect various reasons why the Chinese government constructs these missile silos: Among other reasons, it could be a reaction to the modernization of the nuclear forces of the US, Russia, and India. China could also be concerned that its existing silos are vulnerable to attacks. So far, according to the FAS assessments, China currently operates a small nuclear arsenal that is said to be sufficient for “minimal deterrence.” Beijing may have concluded that it needs to expand its threat potential. ari

Dismay over barrier in Zhengzhou

The way Chinese authorities handle the expressions of mourning for flood victims in the provincial capital Zhengzhou has led to an outrage on social media and apparently resulted in a reconsideration by the authorities. A photo published on the short message service Weibo depicted a screen made of plastic barriers in front of a subway station in the city of Henan, behind which numerous bouquets of flowers had been laid out to mourn flood victims. Just over a week ago, several people were killed in this station as a result of severe flooding caused by heavy rainfall, and more are believed to be missing. According to comments made online, the barrier was intended to prevent more people from visiting the scene of the tragedy.

Western message platforms such as Twitter criticized the Chinese authorities’ handling of expressions of grief and shared the photo of the Shakou Lu Zhan subway entrance. In other videos, people are shown as they were removing the barrier for a candlelight vigil. However, the fence had been briefly rebuilt the day after. In the end, the local government of Zhengzhou apparently had a change of heart: the barrier was reportedly removed on Tuesday afternoon, as videos on Weibo and Kuaishou showed. ari

Edgar Cheung Ka-long – Hong Kong’s Olympic hero

For the moment, concerns about new Covid infections seemed to be forgotten. Hong Kong’s government had no objection to public viewing in many of the city’s shopping malls on Monday, as thousands of people, some of them standing tightly together, watched the first Olympic victory by one of its athletes ever since the territory was handed over by the UK to the People’s Republic of China. Just a few weeks ago, Covid was stated as the official reason why citizens were forbidden to collectively remember the Tiananmen Square massacre.

It is no surprise that the authorities turned a blind eye this time. After two grueling years that have many left dead or injured, an unprecedented political purge and the gutting of a democratic society, the triumph march of 24-year-old foil fencer Edgar Cheung Ka-long toward the gold medal finally provided the battered metropolis on the Pearl River with a much-needed moment of unity, pride and joy. For the government, Cheung’s sensational success embodies the performance of the new authoritarian Hong Kong that it wants to market to its people as a model for the future.

Born in the year of the return of Hong Kong

Whether the athlete himself approves of the instrumentalization of his Olympic victory will possibly remain his secret, nor will he be able to change its symbolism. Cheung was born in 1997, just a few weeks before the People’s Republic of China reclaimed sovereignty over the Special Administrative Region. The first and, up until now, last time a Hong Kong athlete won gold at the Olympics was by surfer Lee Lai-shan in Atlanta in 1996. Back then, the British national anthem “God save the Queen” was still played during the medal ceremony. This time, the Chinese “March of the Volunteers” anthem accompanied the hoisting of the national flag.

That Cheung would one day win the most important competition in his discipline could not be expected. His decision to pursue a professional career in sports, on the other hand, came less of a surprise. His parents were already competitive athletes who played basketball in Hong Kong and China. In love, he also sought an equal and was engaged in a relationship with Hong Kong track cyclist Vivian Ma Wing-yu for several years. The two were a popular subject of the Hong Kong tabloid press until they separated earlier this year. With 1.93 meters, Cheung stands tall and with his stylish K-pop haircut is very popular with women. His following suddenly exploded by many thousands of followers on social media after his victory in Tokyo.

He picked up fencing at the age of ten and specialized in the foil, where, unlike the épée, only the torso of the opponent is counted as a hit area. It quickly became apparent that the young boy had talent and sufficient ambition to take on the best of the world. Introverted and focused, he went his way, his youth coaches recalled. It was a path that led him to victory at the Asian Games as a teenager six years ago and at the Rio Olympics in 2016. In Brazil, he was still bested by the elite, the very same elite that now bows their heads in recognition. grz

Synchronized Olympic gold: the world champions Chen Yuxi (15) and Zhang Jiaqi (17) won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in the synchronized 10 m platform final. For their second of five jumps in the finals, the two teenagers even scored three perfect 10s for their performance.

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Clear signals in Tianjin + Dispute over Mekong + Hong Kong&#8217;s Olympic hero

Feature

Clear signals in Tianjin: “China has had enough”

China’s claims

USA signals willingness to talk

Biden’s China policy in mind

The Mekong becomes a contested lifeline

Water as a factor of social stability

USA tries to blame China

MRC countries refuse to be instrumentalized

News

Security Act: guilty verdict in first Hong Kong trial

Tencent suspends new user registrations on WeChat

Report: no investment in coal along the BRI

New nuclear missile silos discovered

Dismay over barrier in Zhengzhou

Profile

Edgar Cheung Ka-long – Hong Kong’s Olympic hero

Born in the year of the return of Hong Kong

Executive Moves

Dessert

China.Table Editors

CHINA.TABLE EDITORIAL OFFICE

Feature

Clear signals in Tianjin: “China has had enough”

China’s claims

USA signals willingness to talk

Biden’s China policy in mind

The Mekong becomes a contested lifeline

Water as a factor of social stability

USA tries to blame China

MRC countries refuse to be instrumentalized

News

Security Act: guilty verdict in first Hong Kong trial

Tencent suspends new user registrations on WeChat

Report: no investment in coal along the BRI

New nuclear missile silos discovered

Dismay over barrier in Zhengzhou

Profile

Edgar Cheung Ka-long – Hong Kong’s Olympic hero

Born in the year of the return of Hong Kong

Executive Moves

Dessert

China.Table Editors

CHINA.TABLE EDITORIAL OFFICE

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