Unexpected deaths of high-ranking politicians in strategic partner states are the unpleasant side effects of life. Forrest Gump once said that life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. That’s also the case with relations between Iran and China.
Beijing probably regrets President Ebrahim Raisi’s death. Foreign policy is generally easier when a partner state-driven by its own major interests-invests in relations. Raisi was very keen to win China’s favor for his country, as became clear during his state visit in February last year.
Whether his successor will seek a similarly intensive dialogue with China or pursue a less accommodating course will be eagerly anticipated in Beijing. However, it is also clear that China’s influence in the region is by no means dependent on Iran’s domestic political decisions. Beijing is also on excellent terms with the Saudis, writes Michael Radunski, and shows that China is concerned with more than just bilateral relations.
The People’s Republic shows how diversification works. Mainly politically and not economically, but the mechanisms are basically the same. Beijing therefore reaches calmly into the box of chocolates and waits and sees what it gets.
Meanwhile, the people of Taiwan decided in a democratic election in January what they will have for the next four years. Namely William Lai from the Democratic Progressive Party as the new president. On Monday, Lai gave his inaugural speech and reassured his compatriots why they wanted him as the head of the government.
Lai called on Beijing to recognize the existence of the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name) and respect the wishes of the Taiwanese people. His statement, “The Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other,” was met with thunderous applause from the crowd, David Demes reports from Taipei.
Xi Jinping expressed his deep condolences over the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in an official message on Monday. Since taking office, Raisi had made an important contribution to consolidating and expanding the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Iran, Xi wrote. With Raisi, the Chinese people have lost a good friend.
Xi is absolutely right about this. After all, Raisi pursued a “Look East” policy during his time as President: During his presidency, Iran’s relations with the West deteriorated, while ties with China – and also Russia – were significantly strengthened. Beijing happily took note of this, praising Tehran as a “friend” and “strategic partner.” But in everyday life, China acts tough. This is because the leadership in Beijing is pursuing a larger goal: China wants to expand its influence in the Middle East – and Iran is just one of many players in this endeavor.
Iran’s President Raisi laid the groundwork for the recently strong bilateral relations in February 2023. His Beijing visit was the first by an Iranian president to China in 20 years. At the time, Xi praised the “steadfast cooperation,” friendship, and “strategic partnership” between China and Iran.
However, even then, it was clear on Chinese state television that Beijing probably has more in mind than good bilateral cooperation: “The more ruthless America acts, the closer those who seek stability and development and alternative paths to prosperity must move together,” one commentary said.
Iran is a welcome partner in the big conflict with the United States. And so the rhetorical flowers have had economic consequences: Since Raisi visited Beijing, China’s investments in Iran have increased tenfold – from 200 million US dollars to two billion US dollars, as the Iranian news agency Tasnim reported, citing the Chair of the Organisation for Foreign Investment. According to the report, the money is primarily channeled into logistics, infrastructure, and mining.
Oil trade between China and Iran is also at a record high. According to data company Vortexa, Tehran sold an average of 1.56 million barrels per day in the first three months of the year – almost all of which was exported to China. While the US-led West continues to impose more and more sanctions on Iran, China is only too happy to accept the oil.
However, Beijing clearly shows that it may be a friend in rhetoric, but otherwise a tough negotiator. In other words, Beijing mercilessly depresses the price of Iranian oil. A Reuters analysis shows that by buying crude oil from sanctioned countries such as Iran and Russia, China saved ten billion US dollars in 2023 alone. And when Iran demanded higher prices in January, exports to China immediately came to a standstill.
Moreover, trade is settled in Chinese renminbi. This means that Iran can either use it to buy Chinese goods or park assets at a Chinese bank.
But China is by no means solely bound to Iran. On the contrary, China seeks to strike a political balance – even in a region as complicated as the Middle East. It even maintains good relations with its various adversaries: The Palestinians, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. “This extremely difficult balancing act has been successful above all because China has stayed out of everything so far,” says Alexander Gabuyev, Director of the renowned Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre.
So far, this has been very successful. Almost exactly a year ago, China managed to persuade Saudi Arabia and Iran, who have been enemies for years, to work on normalizing their relations. It is more or less the blueprint for China’s strategy: presenting itself internationally as a better alternative to the US.
Taiwan celebrated its democratic achievements and cultural diversity yesterday with a vibrant and colorful ceremony. In the morning, former vice president Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, and the former Taiwanese representative to the USA, Hsiao Bi-khim, were sworn in as president and vice president. The two had won the presidency for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in January. This is the third DPP presidency in a row – something that has never happened before. Outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen stepped down after eight years in office.
In his inaugural speech, Lai sharply criticized the People’s Republic of China for the ongoing threat to Taiwan and the region. “China’s gray zone coercion are the greatest strategic challenge to global peace and stability,” the 64-year-old said. Lai called on Beijing to recognize the reality of the existence of the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name) and respect the wishes of the Taiwanese people. His words, “The Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other,” were met with thunderous applause from the crowd. This phrase originated from a 1999 DPP policy paper and was popularized by Lai’s predecessor, Tsai.
Unlike his predecesso’s first inaugural speech, which mentioned the “historical reality of the 1992 talks” without mentioning the “1992 Consensus” by name, Lai completely refrained from even hinting at the consensus, which had become increasingly unpopular in Taiwan over the years. China equates the consensus with the “one China principle,” according to which both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China, and sees it as a prerequisite for all contacts with Taiwan.
Lai also did not follow the demand of some Taiwanese media to adopt Xi Jinping’s choice of words about the “Chinese nation” (zhonghua minzu). The Director of the Ma Ying Jeou Foundation of former KMT President Ma sharply criticized Lai’s speech and accused him of advocating Taiwanese independence.
The Chinese Taiwan Affairs Office struck a similar tone in the afternoon, stating that Lai’s speech “sent a dangerous signal of seeking ‘independence’ and provoking and undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, fully exposing his true nature as a ‘Taiwan independence worker.’” The Office also criticized Taipei for allegedly seeking foreign support and arms purchases to realize Taiwanese independence.
Political scientist Wen-Ti Sung from the Australian National University considers this formulation as proof of China’s concern about Taiwan’s closer security cooperation with international partners. Hashtags related to his inauguration were censored on the Chinese microblogging service Weibo.
In his speech, Lai indicated that he would first tackle less controversial topics such as tourism and student exchanges in order to build trust. Under President Ma, many Chinese students had come to Taiwan. China discontinued such programs in April 2020. There is speculation that Taiwan could soon resume allowing group travel to China and facilitate professional exchanges.
The ceremony in Taipei was attended by representatives from 29 countries, including Taiwan’s twelve remaining “diplomatic allies.” The participation of former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė attracted particular attention. A delegation of German MPs and representatives of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom were also present in the VIP gallery outside the President’s Office.
The next four years will show how effectively Lai can govern without a majority in parliament. Since the January elections, the opposition KMT has joined forces with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to jointly expand the power of parliament and block all DPP bills. Last week, scuffles broke out in parliament when DPP MPs tried to stop the passage of several bills that the KMT and TPP wanted to fast-track through parliament without proper debate.
Lai stressed Taiwan’s leading role in the chip industry and declared the goal of making Taiwan the Asian production hub for drones for the democratic world. The country will also continue to work on the development of satellites. Presumably, this also involves making Taiwan’s communications more resistant to Chinese aggression.
Hu Chunfeng responded with a tirade of outrage. The person asking was crazy. He would surely receive a visit from someone and bear the legal consequences for his question. “Do you think Xi Jinping is a dictator?” – How dare you? Finally, Hu angrily kicked the user from the live broadcast. The visitors Hu predicted referred to the Chinese police or state security.
The livestreamer was instantly aware that even asking whether Xi was a dictator was crossing the line and could call the security authorities to the scene. His instincts were not wrong: This remarkable livestream was his last for the time being. Initial reports said Hu wanted to take three days off because he was not feeling well. A short time later, the sick note was replaced by the message: “This account is currently blocked.”
The status has not changed so far. 15,000 subscribers are still waiting for new content. One thing is clear: Hu Chunfeng fell victim to the hysteria of the Chinese censors. Apparently, they are worried about not being consistent enough to nip any spark of civil society debate in the bud.
Another livestreamer’s channel had already been blocked on Bilibili in 2022. Shortly before the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre on June 4, cosmetics influencer Austin Li held a tank-shaped cupcake up to the camera. Li was only allowed to return to broadcasting three and a half months later.
“The platforms are acting out of fear, because the topic of whether or not Xi Jinping is a dictator isn’t a topic that can be discussed at all,” Liu Lipeng told Radio Free Asia. Liu himself used to work as a censor for the online portal Sina.com and now lives in exile in the US. “Anything relating to Xi Jinping is taboo, and is a sensitive topic of the highest order,” Liu said.
The mere mention of Xi’s name in China’s social media makes the censors nervous. Not even references are allowed anymore. After the death of former Premier Li Keqiang in late 2023, the pop song “Too Bad It Wasn’t You” went viral on social media. But not for long – the censors quickly intervened and prevented further associations.
A year and a half ago, the internet portal China Digital Space reported that 35,467 different sentences and terms referring to President Xi Jinping had already been censored in 2016. It is safe to assume that the number has increased further since then.
The US democracy consultancy Freedom House drew a link between the case of the blocked livestreamer Hu and a decision by US technology company Apple on April 19. The company announced that it would remove the messenger services WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China, thus complying with Beijing’s order. The authorities believed that they had discovered “seditious” content about Xi in these apps.
“The contrast between these two cases is startling,” Freedom House said.
An ordinary Chinese internet user had “risked everything to express his dissatisfaction with Xi’s increasingly repressive rule,” while one of the world’s largest companies had “once again bowed to pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).” Since 2017, Apple has removed hundreds of virtual private networks (VPNs) from its China App Store, enabling users to access censored content or blocked applications unnoticed. Most expats use such VPN tunnels.
Meanwhile, ex-censor Liu believes that Hu Chunfeng’s reaction was wrong to prevent his channel from being blocked. “His reaction was too dramatic, which made it spread further,” Liu said. Instead, Hu Chunfeng should have responded enthusiastically and convincingly that Xi Jinping was, of course, not a dictator. Instead, Hu Chunfeng gave the impression that he had answered the question simply through his impulsive reaction. grz
Has the Star Wars copyright been infringed here? It is probably not that simple. After all, the famous stormtroopers from the popular Star Wars saga could be associated with anything but Zen Buddhism. Maybe Master Yoda. This Zen trooper is currently on display at the Hong Kong Affordable Art Fair.
Unexpected deaths of high-ranking politicians in strategic partner states are the unpleasant side effects of life. Forrest Gump once said that life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. That’s also the case with relations between Iran and China.
Beijing probably regrets President Ebrahim Raisi’s death. Foreign policy is generally easier when a partner state-driven by its own major interests-invests in relations. Raisi was very keen to win China’s favor for his country, as became clear during his state visit in February last year.
Whether his successor will seek a similarly intensive dialogue with China or pursue a less accommodating course will be eagerly anticipated in Beijing. However, it is also clear that China’s influence in the region is by no means dependent on Iran’s domestic political decisions. Beijing is also on excellent terms with the Saudis, writes Michael Radunski, and shows that China is concerned with more than just bilateral relations.
The People’s Republic shows how diversification works. Mainly politically and not economically, but the mechanisms are basically the same. Beijing therefore reaches calmly into the box of chocolates and waits and sees what it gets.
Meanwhile, the people of Taiwan decided in a democratic election in January what they will have for the next four years. Namely William Lai from the Democratic Progressive Party as the new president. On Monday, Lai gave his inaugural speech and reassured his compatriots why they wanted him as the head of the government.
Lai called on Beijing to recognize the existence of the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name) and respect the wishes of the Taiwanese people. His statement, “The Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other,” was met with thunderous applause from the crowd, David Demes reports from Taipei.
Xi Jinping expressed his deep condolences over the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in an official message on Monday. Since taking office, Raisi had made an important contribution to consolidating and expanding the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Iran, Xi wrote. With Raisi, the Chinese people have lost a good friend.
Xi is absolutely right about this. After all, Raisi pursued a “Look East” policy during his time as President: During his presidency, Iran’s relations with the West deteriorated, while ties with China – and also Russia – were significantly strengthened. Beijing happily took note of this, praising Tehran as a “friend” and “strategic partner.” But in everyday life, China acts tough. This is because the leadership in Beijing is pursuing a larger goal: China wants to expand its influence in the Middle East – and Iran is just one of many players in this endeavor.
Iran’s President Raisi laid the groundwork for the recently strong bilateral relations in February 2023. His Beijing visit was the first by an Iranian president to China in 20 years. At the time, Xi praised the “steadfast cooperation,” friendship, and “strategic partnership” between China and Iran.
However, even then, it was clear on Chinese state television that Beijing probably has more in mind than good bilateral cooperation: “The more ruthless America acts, the closer those who seek stability and development and alternative paths to prosperity must move together,” one commentary said.
Iran is a welcome partner in the big conflict with the United States. And so the rhetorical flowers have had economic consequences: Since Raisi visited Beijing, China’s investments in Iran have increased tenfold – from 200 million US dollars to two billion US dollars, as the Iranian news agency Tasnim reported, citing the Chair of the Organisation for Foreign Investment. According to the report, the money is primarily channeled into logistics, infrastructure, and mining.
Oil trade between China and Iran is also at a record high. According to data company Vortexa, Tehran sold an average of 1.56 million barrels per day in the first three months of the year – almost all of which was exported to China. While the US-led West continues to impose more and more sanctions on Iran, China is only too happy to accept the oil.
However, Beijing clearly shows that it may be a friend in rhetoric, but otherwise a tough negotiator. In other words, Beijing mercilessly depresses the price of Iranian oil. A Reuters analysis shows that by buying crude oil from sanctioned countries such as Iran and Russia, China saved ten billion US dollars in 2023 alone. And when Iran demanded higher prices in January, exports to China immediately came to a standstill.
Moreover, trade is settled in Chinese renminbi. This means that Iran can either use it to buy Chinese goods or park assets at a Chinese bank.
But China is by no means solely bound to Iran. On the contrary, China seeks to strike a political balance – even in a region as complicated as the Middle East. It even maintains good relations with its various adversaries: The Palestinians, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. “This extremely difficult balancing act has been successful above all because China has stayed out of everything so far,” says Alexander Gabuyev, Director of the renowned Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre.
So far, this has been very successful. Almost exactly a year ago, China managed to persuade Saudi Arabia and Iran, who have been enemies for years, to work on normalizing their relations. It is more or less the blueprint for China’s strategy: presenting itself internationally as a better alternative to the US.
Taiwan celebrated its democratic achievements and cultural diversity yesterday with a vibrant and colorful ceremony. In the morning, former vice president Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, and the former Taiwanese representative to the USA, Hsiao Bi-khim, were sworn in as president and vice president. The two had won the presidency for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in January. This is the third DPP presidency in a row – something that has never happened before. Outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen stepped down after eight years in office.
In his inaugural speech, Lai sharply criticized the People’s Republic of China for the ongoing threat to Taiwan and the region. “China’s gray zone coercion are the greatest strategic challenge to global peace and stability,” the 64-year-old said. Lai called on Beijing to recognize the reality of the existence of the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name) and respect the wishes of the Taiwanese people. His words, “The Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other,” were met with thunderous applause from the crowd. This phrase originated from a 1999 DPP policy paper and was popularized by Lai’s predecessor, Tsai.
Unlike his predecesso’s first inaugural speech, which mentioned the “historical reality of the 1992 talks” without mentioning the “1992 Consensus” by name, Lai completely refrained from even hinting at the consensus, which had become increasingly unpopular in Taiwan over the years. China equates the consensus with the “one China principle,” according to which both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China, and sees it as a prerequisite for all contacts with Taiwan.
Lai also did not follow the demand of some Taiwanese media to adopt Xi Jinping’s choice of words about the “Chinese nation” (zhonghua minzu). The Director of the Ma Ying Jeou Foundation of former KMT President Ma sharply criticized Lai’s speech and accused him of advocating Taiwanese independence.
The Chinese Taiwan Affairs Office struck a similar tone in the afternoon, stating that Lai’s speech “sent a dangerous signal of seeking ‘independence’ and provoking and undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, fully exposing his true nature as a ‘Taiwan independence worker.’” The Office also criticized Taipei for allegedly seeking foreign support and arms purchases to realize Taiwanese independence.
Political scientist Wen-Ti Sung from the Australian National University considers this formulation as proof of China’s concern about Taiwan’s closer security cooperation with international partners. Hashtags related to his inauguration were censored on the Chinese microblogging service Weibo.
In his speech, Lai indicated that he would first tackle less controversial topics such as tourism and student exchanges in order to build trust. Under President Ma, many Chinese students had come to Taiwan. China discontinued such programs in April 2020. There is speculation that Taiwan could soon resume allowing group travel to China and facilitate professional exchanges.
The ceremony in Taipei was attended by representatives from 29 countries, including Taiwan’s twelve remaining “diplomatic allies.” The participation of former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė attracted particular attention. A delegation of German MPs and representatives of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom were also present in the VIP gallery outside the President’s Office.
The next four years will show how effectively Lai can govern without a majority in parliament. Since the January elections, the opposition KMT has joined forces with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to jointly expand the power of parliament and block all DPP bills. Last week, scuffles broke out in parliament when DPP MPs tried to stop the passage of several bills that the KMT and TPP wanted to fast-track through parliament without proper debate.
Lai stressed Taiwan’s leading role in the chip industry and declared the goal of making Taiwan the Asian production hub for drones for the democratic world. The country will also continue to work on the development of satellites. Presumably, this also involves making Taiwan’s communications more resistant to Chinese aggression.
Hu Chunfeng responded with a tirade of outrage. The person asking was crazy. He would surely receive a visit from someone and bear the legal consequences for his question. “Do you think Xi Jinping is a dictator?” – How dare you? Finally, Hu angrily kicked the user from the live broadcast. The visitors Hu predicted referred to the Chinese police or state security.
The livestreamer was instantly aware that even asking whether Xi was a dictator was crossing the line and could call the security authorities to the scene. His instincts were not wrong: This remarkable livestream was his last for the time being. Initial reports said Hu wanted to take three days off because he was not feeling well. A short time later, the sick note was replaced by the message: “This account is currently blocked.”
The status has not changed so far. 15,000 subscribers are still waiting for new content. One thing is clear: Hu Chunfeng fell victim to the hysteria of the Chinese censors. Apparently, they are worried about not being consistent enough to nip any spark of civil society debate in the bud.
Another livestreamer’s channel had already been blocked on Bilibili in 2022. Shortly before the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre on June 4, cosmetics influencer Austin Li held a tank-shaped cupcake up to the camera. Li was only allowed to return to broadcasting three and a half months later.
“The platforms are acting out of fear, because the topic of whether or not Xi Jinping is a dictator isn’t a topic that can be discussed at all,” Liu Lipeng told Radio Free Asia. Liu himself used to work as a censor for the online portal Sina.com and now lives in exile in the US. “Anything relating to Xi Jinping is taboo, and is a sensitive topic of the highest order,” Liu said.
The mere mention of Xi’s name in China’s social media makes the censors nervous. Not even references are allowed anymore. After the death of former Premier Li Keqiang in late 2023, the pop song “Too Bad It Wasn’t You” went viral on social media. But not for long – the censors quickly intervened and prevented further associations.
A year and a half ago, the internet portal China Digital Space reported that 35,467 different sentences and terms referring to President Xi Jinping had already been censored in 2016. It is safe to assume that the number has increased further since then.
The US democracy consultancy Freedom House drew a link between the case of the blocked livestreamer Hu and a decision by US technology company Apple on April 19. The company announced that it would remove the messenger services WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China, thus complying with Beijing’s order. The authorities believed that they had discovered “seditious” content about Xi in these apps.
“The contrast between these two cases is startling,” Freedom House said.
An ordinary Chinese internet user had “risked everything to express his dissatisfaction with Xi’s increasingly repressive rule,” while one of the world’s largest companies had “once again bowed to pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).” Since 2017, Apple has removed hundreds of virtual private networks (VPNs) from its China App Store, enabling users to access censored content or blocked applications unnoticed. Most expats use such VPN tunnels.
Meanwhile, ex-censor Liu believes that Hu Chunfeng’s reaction was wrong to prevent his channel from being blocked. “His reaction was too dramatic, which made it spread further,” Liu said. Instead, Hu Chunfeng should have responded enthusiastically and convincingly that Xi Jinping was, of course, not a dictator. Instead, Hu Chunfeng gave the impression that he had answered the question simply through his impulsive reaction. grz
Has the Star Wars copyright been infringed here? It is probably not that simple. After all, the famous stormtroopers from the popular Star Wars saga could be associated with anything but Zen Buddhism. Maybe Master Yoda. This Zen trooper is currently on display at the Hong Kong Affordable Art Fair.
