A Japanese figure skater has defied President Xi Jinping’s “sissy men” campaign at the Winter Olympics and won the Chinese public’s support. From China’s position on Ukraine to Xi’s order to curb the Covid-19 surge in Hong Kong, we bring you the leading stories from China that we are reading this week.
China over the week
For now, China likes the distraction of the current crisis at the border of Ukraine, as it diverts the attention from Beijing.
In what came as a surprise to many, President Xi Jinping spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron over the phone about the situation in Ukraine on Wednesday.
“I have stressed many times that China and the EU should adhere to correct mutual understanding, mutual respect, dialogue and cooperation, mutual benefits for win-win results,” said Xi during his call with Macron.
During the call, Xi also stressed that the parties of the Russia-Ukraine crisis should adhere to a political settlement and also called for a diplomatic resolution to the military tensions.
But Xi wasn’t the only Chinese leader who chimed into the Ukraine situation.
Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi participated in the Munich Security Conference virtually. Wang called on Russia and Ukraine to return to the Minsk agreement.
But Wang didn’t stop at calling for diplomacy in the Ukraine crisis.
“The world is facing the risk of division and confrontation again,” said Wang Yi.
“If NATO keeps expanding eastward, is it conducive to maintaining peace and stability in Europe?” he questioned.
Despite other countries pulling out some of their diplomats in Kyiv because of a potential invasion by Russia, Beijing is keeping its diplomats stay put in the city.
Although Covid cases have dropped within the Chinese mainland, they are surging in Hong Kong. Xi is worried about the latest surge in the region.
According to Hong Kong’s Wen Wei Po, Xi Jinping has instructed Politburo Standing Committee member Han Zheng to pay “high attention” to the surge driven by the Omicron variant. Xi also expressed his “kind concern” to the residents of Hong Kong.
The Chinese President added that the primary responsibility of curbing the latest surge in Covid lies with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.
In the past few days, Hong Kong’s hospitals have been overwhelmed with the latest surge in Covid cases. The hospitals have reached 90 per cent capacity in Hong Kong. Beijing may like Hong Kong to adopt a ‘dynamic zero’ or ‘zero-Covid’ policy, but the concept wasn’t mentioned in Xi’s message to the Hong Kong government. Experts believe that Hong Kong can’t adopt the same strategy as mainland China.
The Beijing Winter Olympics closing ceremony was held on the evening of 20 February. President Xi attended it after having physically disappeared from media attention over the past few days.
Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu has defied the nationalist sentiments in China, winning the people’s hearts. Hanyu has been described as ‘China’s latest Olympic crush’, and his fans refer to him lovingly as “Youzi”.
Hanyu’s androgynous look has won the heart of the Chinese public amid Xi’s growing crackdown on ‘men with feminine characteristics’.
“Face like jade, body posture like pine, fluttering like a pine tree, like a swimming dragon”, Chinese State-run CCTV described Hanyu.
The hashtag “Hanyu Yuzuru is here so beautiful” was viewed 440 million times on Weibo.
The Chinese public also celebrated China’s medal tally surpassing the US’ record during the Olympics. The hashtag “China’s gold medals surpass the United States” was viewed 12.34 million times on Weibo.
Also read: China loves Guntur chillis — How the Andhra district produced a spicy global product
China in world news
Every year in February, world leaders, experts on international security and journalists gather in the German city of Munich. Despite Russia being the centre of attention at this year’s Munich Security Conference, China was another country that was discussed.
Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar issued a message on the India-China relations in Munich.
“The state of the border will determine the state of the relationship, that’s natural,” said the minister.
The India-China relations are going through a “very difficult phase”, Jaishankar further added. He also explained the nature of violations by China at the border to the attendees of the conference. “That changed because we had agreements with China not to bring military forces to the…we call it the border but it’s Line of Actual Control, and the Chinese violated those agreements,” Jaishankar added.
The military enthusiasts in South Asia were abuzz this week over the sighting of a China-made Chengdu J-10 fighter jet in Pakistan.
China is likely to supply 25 Chengdu J-10 (or JC-10) aircraft jets to Pakistan in the coming weeks — part of a deal to bolster its military capabilities. Financial Times reported citing a journalist at a Chinese military publication. China will also expand its support for Pakistan’s navy.
The JC-10 is equipped with an indigenously built Shenyang WS-10 engine known as ‘Taihang’. A JC-10 was seen during a flight test somewhere in Pakistan, a video of the test circulated on social media as well.
The deal to purchase the Chengdu J-10 fighter jet was announced on 29 December by Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad at an event in Rawalpindi.
A Chinese military affair commentator pointed out that the J-10 seen during exercises in Pakistan had a Pakistani flag painted on the aircraft’s vertical tail. The commentator implied that the JC-10 had already been inducted into the Pakistan Air Force.
The purchase and induction of the J-10 fighter aircraft is seen as a direct challenge to India’s recent purchase of Rafale jets. This is the first time that J-10 aircraft has been exported to another country.
“For India, Pakistan’s JC-10 is not scary on its own, the terrible thing is the weapons it may carry. The jet is far superior to the ‘Rafale’,” said a Chinese military blogger on Weibo.
China’s military presence is being increasingly felt around the corners of the globe as its vessels venture far from its shores.
Australia has accused a Chinese vessel of flashing a laser at one of its P-8A Poseidon military aircraft.
“We strongly condemn unprofessional and unsafe military conduct. These actions could have endangered the safety and lives of the ADF personnel,” said Australian Defence Force in a statement.
Canberra added that the laser came from one of the two People’s Liberation Army vessels “which transited through the Torres Strait” and are currently in the Coral Sea, east of Australia.
One of the primary accusations against Chinese companies operating in the African continent is that they don’t employ as many local people.
South Africa will sue China’s telecom company Huawei for employing far too many foreign nationals. The authorities in South Africa have alleged that Huawei’s 90 per cent workforce in the country is comprised of foreigners, which violates their 40 per cent foreign employee limit.
Also read: China mocking India over AUKUS has got a fitting reply from US. Indo-Pacific is on
What you must read this week
This time, Tibet stand silent as Olympics return to China — Dake Kang and Sam McNeil
Meet the scientist at the center of the covid lab leak controversy — Jane Qiu
China’s Taoist Temples Try a Little Marketing 101 — Zhu Yiwen
Experts this week
Chen Xufei, director of the Public Diplomacy Teaching and Research Section of the Department of Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs Management, China Foreign Affairs University, wrote, “Russia attaches great importance to Chinese netizens. The Russian’s Weibo account launched a poll of Chinese netizens after the Malaysian airlines flight 17 crash in 2014. As cyberspace has become an important channel for Chinese people to access domestic and international information, for both the United States and Russia, microblogs like Weibo aren’t simply a window into government affairs, but rather a smokeless battleground for fierce public diplomacy competition between them. This is the basis of the article’s analysis and the competitive public diplomacy strategies of these two crucial countries in the international arena.”
The author is a columnist and a freelance journalist, currently pursuing an MSc in international politics with focus on China from School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He was previously a China media journalist at the BBC World Service. He tweets @aadilbrar. Views are personal.
This is a weekly round-up that Aadil Brar writes about what’s buzzing in China. This will soon be available as a subscribers’-only product.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)