Asia Communique - Week 3; Exclusive: Huawei continues to fund start-up companies in Canada
Quad meeting - Huawei - Pew survey on China - India's nuclear weapons policy
Exclusive: Huawei continues to fund start-up companies in Canada
A Canadian company in the domain of cybersecurity has recently received funding from Huawei Technologies, according to a source.
Huawei has awarded funding to a Canadian company for using its technology, the source added.
The start-up companies have been accepting funding from Huawei because of the financial difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the years, Huawei has been accused of intellectual property theft in several countries.
Chinese state media have been increasingly interested in Canada’s artificial intelligence-driven research and innovation sector.
Quadrilateral Dialogue meeting in Tokyo
Foreign Ministers of the Quadrilateral Dialogue - also called the ‘Quad’ - countries met in Tokyo on October 6. Before meeting in Tokyo, the Quad dialogue countries had held a meeting last year at the ASEAN regional forum in Bangkok.
The Quad countries issued no joint statement at the end of the meeting. The four nations gave their read-outs of the meeting.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying called the Quad a ‘closed clique’ during the daily briefing on Friday.
“First of all, on “the Quad,” I want to say that this is now the 21st century, and we are living in an era of globalization. The interests of all countries are so inextricably intertwined that organizing closed and exclusive cliques will not help enhance mutual trust and cooperation, especially when the international community is now in the depth of major and urgent tasks of fighting the pandemic and reviving the world economy” Hua Chunying said.
Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution put together four slides that analyze the outcome of the summit in Tokyo.
Secretary Mike Pompeo mentioned the military stand-off at the India-China border during his opening remarks.
China’s international image takes a nosedive
According to Pew Research’s Global Attitudes survey, global views on China have increasingly turned negative. Pew Research said that unfavorable views on China in 14 surveyed countries have historic highs.
Pew Research has been surveying advanced economies about views on China since 2002. The media widely reported the findings of the Pew survey around the world.
Credit: Pew Research Center: Global Attitudes and Trends
“As you mentioned just now, the survey only sampled 14 developed countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, and some other western countries. They only represent the western countries' perception of China, not the general view of the international community,” foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.
Hua Chunying further added, “Perhaps you still remember the online survey on China-US relations by Global Times in July among 140,000 Chinese netizens. The results show 96 percent believing the US deliberately tries to sow discord between the Chinese people and the CPC and disrupt China's solidarity and stability. Over 97 percent support China is taking countermeasures to fight back the US provocation. It shows that the Chinese people clearly see the malicious provocations of a handful of US politicians. They should reflect upon and correct their misguided China policy and measures.”
By 2017, the views on China had improved significantly in the majority of the surveyed countries. I have been saying that China’s assertiveness on the international stage has been very prominent since the Doklam crisis. The results of the survey somewhat confirm my suspicion.
‘Get lost,’ Taiwanese Foreign Minister tells China
Taiwanese Foreign Minister told China to ‘get lost’ in a tweet in response to a Chinese Embassy's letter to the Indian media.
On October 7, the Chinese Embassy’s press section had issued a letter to the Indian media to follow the ‘One-China policy’ in their reporting on Taiwan’s National Day. The advisory to the press said that “Taiwan shall not be referred to as a “country (nation)” or “Republic of China.”
Indian Ministry of External Affairs responded to the letter issued by the Chinese embassy.
India remains committed to ‘no-first-use policy’ – Foreign Secretary Shringla
On October 3, the Indian Foreign Secretary said that India remains committed to the ‘no-first-use’ on nuclear weapons, Indian newspaper The Hindu reported.
“We believe that nuclear disarmament can be achieved through a step-by-step process underwritten by a universal commitment and an agreed multilateral framework. India remains convinced of the need for meaningful dialogue among all States possessing nuclear weapons, for building trust and confidence,” said Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
The remarks were made at a meeting to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
Foreign Secretary Shringla’s remarks come when the possibility of further escalation at the Line of Actual Control with China remains high.
“Of course, we are. There is no question of not taking on the threat there. We are very well positioned there, and China can’t get the better of us in any conflict scenario there.” Indian Air Force Chief RKS Bhadauria said recently.
An undated video showing an encounter between the People’s Liberation Army and the Indian Army was leaked on Twitter. The video was also widely shared on the Chinese social media platform, Sina Weibo.
“We would like to have peace and tranquility at the border,” India’s ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, said during a webinar organized by The Heritage Foundation.
Journalist Sushant Singh wrote an article for The Hindu on the political ownership border crisis in India.
Canadian judge once again denies Meng’s request for documents
Late Thursday, Canada’s Department of Justice said that Justice Heather Holmes turned down Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou’s request to release further documents.
Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes of the British Columbia Supreme Court “upheld a majority of Canada's privilege claims,” according to the CBC.
Meng’s legal team had requested to view the emails exchanged between the US and Canada’s law enforcement authorities.
The hearing on the original extradition trial will resume in the British Columbia Supreme Court on October 26. An update on the last hearing can be viewed here.
Pakistan blocks TikTok
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority blocked TikTok on Friday, citing failure to remove the "immoral and indecent" Pakistani newspaper Express Tribune has reported.
“In view of the number of complaints from different society segments against immoral/indecent content on the video-sharing application TikTok, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued instructions for blocking the application,” Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said in a statement.
Reuters reported that PM Imran Khan had taken a personal interest in the violations and told the regulators to block all 'vulgar' content.
TikTok was given final warming in July this year after receiving a series of complaints by ‘different segments’ of society.
Social Talk
The news about Chinese actor Zhu Yilong condemning the ‘illegal methods’ used to obtain his personal information was the leading trend on Sina Weibo. The hashtag ‘Zhu Yilongfang Reply Hidden Marriage and Child’ was viewed over 1.6 billion times as of 16:24 EST on Friday.
On Sina Weibo, the hashtag ‘Lakers vs. Heat’ was viewed over 1.1 billion times as of 16:24 EST on Friday. China’s CCTV on Friday announced that the broadcast of NBA games would resume on October 10. In 2019, Chinese state media broadcaster had stopped the airing NBA games in China after controversy over support for Hong Kong protests.
In India, the Twitter hashtag ‘Arnab’ was widely used, and over 662,000 tweets were tweeted with the hashtag in connection to the Television Ratings Points scandal.
Business Street
China’s Dida Chuxing – a ride-hailing company – is preparing to file for an IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/China-s-Dida-Chuxing-poised-for-Asia-s-first-ride-sharing-IPO - Nikkei Asian Review
Chinese Exports to the U.S. Get a Lifeline From Coronavirus-Related Demand
https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-exports-to-the-u-s-get-a-lifeline-from-coronavirus-related-demand-11602235800 - Wall Street Journal
Off-track Reads
‘New Cold War’ series
https://www.ft.com/content/4fda1b2c-48f5-42e0-9b87-58816adf2a78 - Financial Times
Modi’s Himalayan Dilemma
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2020-10-06/modis-himalayan-dilemma
Kamala Harris and the ‘Other 1 Percent’
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/10/kamala-harris-india-politics-singh/616624/
Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei’s interview with The Times London
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ai-weiwei-interview-i-will-disappear-9bd59xjj8
Upcoming Watch
The 7th round of Corp Commander-level talks between India and China to resolve the ongoing escalation of military build-up in Eastern Ladakh will occur on October 12. Ahead of the talks, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane and several top military officials reviewed the situation in Eastern Ladakh during a meeting, Indian newspaper Economic Times has reported.