Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2017)
ASIA / PACIFIC Page 4 n THE ASIAN REPORTER November 6, 2017 Make China Great Again! Xi leads China into muscular new era By Christopher Bodeen The Associated Press EIJING — In this summer’s Wolf Warrior II, Chinese action star Wu Jing portrays a tough super-patriot who rescues both fellow countrymen and oppressed Africans with help from the People’s Liberation Army. Audiences loved what became China’s biggest-grossing movie ever. Some reportedly sang the national anthem as the movie closed on an image of a Chinese passport and the words, “Please remember, at your back stands a strong motherland.” This red-blooded nationalism has been channelled skillfully by presi- dent and ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping as he seeks to strengthen the party’s role in Chinese life and shepherd the country’s rise to prominence at a time when the United States and others in the west are seen to be in retreat. Xi’s muscular foreign policy could become even more assertive following the national congress of the ruling Communist Party, where delegates agreed to support his policies and endorsed his second five-year term as party secretary general, observers said. “Xi’s on a roll,” said June Teufel Dreyer, professor of political science at the University of Miami. She pre- dicted he would continue expanding China’s influence by gradually increasing pressure on other countries, a tactic seen in Beijing’s steady island-building efforts in the South China Sea, for instance. In an address to the opening session of the congress, Xi reiterated that China pursues an “independent foreign policy of peace” and maintains a defensive military posture. However, he also warned other countries not to underestimate China’s willingness to stand up for itself. “No one should expect China to swallow anything that undermines its interests,” Xi told delegates at Beijing’s hulking Great Hall of the People. For years, after its emergence from hardline Marxism in the late 1980s, China stuck to reformist leader Deng Xiaoping’s dictum to “keep a low profile and bide one’s time, while also getting things done.” That began to change after the last decade’s global financial crisis, from which China emerged relatively unscathed, and the country’s foreign policy has since shifted into high gear under Xi. China has succeeded in leveraging its booming economy and mountain of foreign currency holdings to influence other nations and further its global ambitions. A key watershed came this year, when the People’s Liberation Army began manning China’s first overseas base in Djibouti, reversing decades of rhetoric eschewing such facilities as imperialist Cold War holdovers. The overall goal seems clear: Restore China to its traditional role as East Asia’s leading nation and a global economic and cultural force. B APPLAUDING APP. A woman plays Tencent’s smartphone game that allows users to clap for Xi Jinping by pressing on their phone screen as many times as possible in 19 seconds. Ordinary young Chinese may not have paid close attention to Xi’s three-and-a-half hour marathon speech, but they’re happy to “applaud” the president in the newest viral phenomenon to sweep China’s internet. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Viral smartphone game lets ordinary Chinese “clap” for Xi BEIJING (AP) — Ordinary young Chinese may not have paid close attention to Xi Jinping’s three-and-a-half hour speech last month, but they’re happy to “applaud” the president in the newest viral phenomenon to sweep China’s internet. Tencent, the internet giant behind the Wechat messaging app, rolled out a game that allows users to clap for Xi by pressing on their phone screen as many times as possible in 19 seconds. Within three days, the game racked up 1.2 billion plays, as many shared their scores on social media and challenged friends. Xi kicked off the ruling Communist Party’s 19th national congress and declared a “new era” of China’s rise on the world stage. Delegates granted him a second five-year term as party leader. MONUMENTAL CONTROVERSY. A worker sweeps in front of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, in this June 3, 2013 file photo. India’s famed monument of love, the white marble Taj Mahal, is finding itself at the heart of a political storm with some members of India’s ruling Hindu right-wing party claiming that the mausoleum built by a Muslim emperor does not reflect Indian culture. (AP Photo/Pawan Sharma, File) Monument of love, the Taj Mahal, at heart of political storm LUCKNOW, India (AP) — India’s famed Taj Mahal is finding itself at the heart of a political storm, with some members of the country’s ruling Hindu right-wing party claiming that the mausoleum built by a Muslim emperor does not reflect Indian culture. The most recent attack came when Sangeet Som, a lawmaker from the Bharatiya Janata Party, called the 17th-century monument “a blot on Indian culture” that was built by “traitors.” But Som wasn’t the first to attack the mausoleum that Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built in the northern city of Agra in memory of his favorite wife. The federal government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has also been accused of attempting to rewrite history textbooks, especially where India’s past Muslim medieval rulers are concerned. New Owners Newly remodeled All new equipment. Belmont Eco Laundry has large capacity washers and dryers, perfect for those comforters, sleeping bags, big family loads, work clothes, and more! You’ll get your laundry done in record time, leaving you time to spend with family and friends. Visit us at Belmontecolaundry.com for more details. 4725 SE Belmont St. Open daily 8 to 10 MCGA. A visitor looks at models of Chinese tanks at an exhibition highlighting China’s achieve- ments under five years of leadership by Xi Jinping at the Beijing Exhibition Hall in Beijing. Xi’s muscular foreign policy could become even more assertive following the recent party congress. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Xi said as much in his opening allegedly cheating at trade, instead address when he outlined a vision of offering measured responses. Xi, raising China’s international stature. meanwhile, pulled off a successful By 2050, Xi said, China would be “a visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Florida global leader in terms of composite estate that was heavy on the sort of national strength and international positive optics Beijing prefers. Trump is soon travelling to Beijing. influence.” In China’s latest border standoff “Xi presents very bold visions for where China should be headed and with India, Beijing agreed to a what China must become,” said mutual pullback of forces just days Jingdong Yuan, an Asia-Pacific ahead of a China-hosted summit of security expert at Australia’s large developing economies attended University of Sydney. by both Xi and his Indian counter- A more forceful post-congress part, Narendra Modi. approach could include expanding Beijing has also softened its ap- China’s role in international bodies proach to charm Philippine President and new China-sponsored initiatives Rodrigo Duterte, offering him infra- such as the Asian Infrastructure structure investment and military Development Bank. China could also assistance against Muslim rebels, become more assertive in regional hot while agreeing to allow Philippine spots such as the South and East fishermen to return to their China Seas and its contested border traditional grounds in Scarborough with India. Shoal, which China seized in 2012. Perhaps no strategy reflects Xi’s The approach seems to be working. vision more clearly than the “Belt and The results of a recent Pew Research Road Initiative” launched around the Center survey show two-thirds of time of Xi’s elevation five years ago. Filipinos believe strong economic The massive undertaking seeks to relations with China are of greater link China to Southeast Asia, Central importance, as opposed to 28 percent Asia, Africa, Europe, and beyond who say getting tough with China with a sprawling network of roads, over territorial disputes is more railways, ports, and other economic important. When last asked the projects valued in the hundreds of question in 2015, Filipinos were billions of dollars. The goal is to make divided almost evenly on what was China an indispensable economic more important. partner with expanded political q influence, while offering new Volvo’s electric car brand opportunities for Chinese businesses Polestar unveils first model weighed down by overcapacity and Continued from page 2 shrinking markets at home. To do this, China has refined its The market also faces competition diplomacy to take advantage of from General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet favorable global trends while not Bolt and BMW AG’s electric brand, going so far that it would damage BMW i, which has released four relationships with its neighbors and electric models. Volkswagen AG’s the United States, Yuan said. Audi unit plans an electric SUV next In some areas, China has proved year. unyielding. Beijing, for instance, Sales of fully electric and hybrid angrily rejected last year’s ruling by vehicles have risen, but last year’s an international tribunal in The total was only 2.6 million, or about Hague in a Philippine case that three percent of the global market. invalidated most of China’s Navigant, a research firm, forecasts territorial claims in the contested that will rise to about 3.7 million in South China Sea. 2018 and to more than 9 million by It has also taken a hard line against 2025, or about nine percent of sales. South Korea’s deployment of a U.S. Polestar expects China, where the anti-missile system that Beijing calls government is promoting electric car a security threat. South Korea has development, to account for about been vilified in Chinese state media, one-third of global sales, according to with Chinese group tours banned and Ingenlath. South Korean businesses in China hit China is the world’s biggest market hard. for electrics and hybrids. It accounted However, the pragmatic approach for 40 percent of last year’s global more often wins out. demand with sales of 336,000 units — Beijing has largely resisted the more than double U.S. sales of urge to fire back when U.S. President 159,620. Donald Trump lambasts China for Geely also launched another new not doing enough on North Korea or brand, Lynk & Co., in 2016.