CChinese President Xi Jinping inspected the combat readiness of troops at the border. PLA Deli The spotlight once again shines on the Red Army Division of the People’s Liberation Army. Chinese communities around the world welcome the Year of the Rabbit. Han Zheng may replace Wang Qishan as the next Vice President of China. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is likely to visit China in February. chinscope Beijing looks at a relatively quiet week of news from—and the world.
China in a week
“Best wishes in the Year of the Rabbit,” Xi said on a video conference call with PLA troops from four places.
On 20 January, Xi marked the Lunar New Year with an inspection of ‘frontline troops’ Unlike previous years, Xi did not leave Beijing this time, and met with the troops via video call. But there was an India angle in the video greeting broadcast by with cctv Daily News Branch, Xinwen Lianbo,
The border guards seen in the video telecast were guarding the Khunjerab Gate post in the Karakoram area on the China-Pakistan border, which is the nodal point for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
“The border guard post of the Khunjerab Border Defense Company of the Xinjiang Military Region guards the western gate of the motherland,” Told a readout of the video broadcast by Xinhua News Agency.
Xi’s message was to PLA troops stationed in the Xinjiang Military District.
“Xi Jinping asked about the company’s border patrol management and control, praised them as the country’s defense and the old model of border guarding, and encouraged everyone to make unremitting efforts and make new contributions,” Reported Xinhua New Agency.
New Year greetings extended to PLA jawans prominently Reported by major Chinese Communist Party (CCP) newspapers, including front page People’s Daily.
Accompanied by border troops, Xi inspects PLA Air Force Aviation Brigade, 173third Formation of Falcon Commandos of PLA Navy and Armed Police Force.
Ahead of the Chinese New Year, the PLA media has extensively covered border troops in the Xinjiang region – with one finger always pointing towards India.
“From the initial formation of ‘a border guard company built in a crevice of the stone’ to the bridgehead of the western section of the New Eurasian Continental Bridge in China, which has attracted worldwide attention. No matter how much the environment has changed, the border guard has always Have stood up to the winds of the plateau,” Told Poetic description of soldiers at border posts.
But this year something else was missing.
Since 2018, Xi has signed on Ordered the mobilization of the army for military training during the first week of every new year. But no such troop order was signed and published by the PLA media in 2023. The lapse cannot be explained simply as a lapse and may indicate that the PLA has achieved the training target set by the Central Military Commission.
Armies around the world shut down training activities ahead of a potential conflict, but the omission does not indicate that the PLA has called off all training activities for the rest of the year. We do not know the exact context of this move and PLA activities along the border may need to be closely monitored for the rest of 2023.
While the military inspection by Xi may not appear to be related to the recent border hostilities in Ladakh, the PLA has published an article to emphasize the presence of border troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Article, A Red Army Division in Xinjiang Military Region: Listen to the party’s order, continue to bleed and move forwardPosted on 5th page of PLA Deli On 16 January. The Red Army Division is a specialized division of the PLA, which has served in Ladakh since the days of the 1962 war.
The article stresses the need to promote and implement the ‘Spirit of the 20s’th Party Congress of the CCP. Similar articles have appeared, highlighting the prominence of frontline border defence, since the conclusion of the party congress in October last year.
The same article states that the new troops are being trained and deployed in the Xinjiang Military District, which also includes areas in Ladakh.
“In the winter season, the division had another batch of new soldiers at the training base after they completed training under the company. A regiment of five battalions. Ding Weichang, a company instructor, specially introduced the new soldiers to the company’s hall of honor. taken away,” said one article published By PLA Deli On 16 January.
It quotes several PLA officers on their experience of serving in the Red Army Division, expressing their readiness to obey the CCP and prepare for future wars.
“On the new journey, we must stick to the front line of border defense, develop excellent skills, fight, prepare for war, and build at the same time, and achieve the goal of a century-old army.” should try,” said Li Lei, director of a regiment’s political work department.
Xi’s message to soldiers stationed at Khunjrab Gate post and PLA Deli The article may surprise some. But the story of defending the Karakoram region from neighboring India has spread across Chinese state media and the PLA’s WeChat accounts.
The 2023 Lunar New Year celebrations will be surprisingly different this time. Millions of Chinese will be able to visit their hometown for the first time in two years. Beijing recently lifted its COVID-19 restrictions, leading to a sharp drop in New Year’s travel to the country.
High-speed trains to and from major population centers like Beijing and Shanghai are packed.
“The total number of passenger trips for the year’s travel congestion, or ‘chunyun’, is expected to reach 2.1 billion, nearly double that of last year, or 70.3 percent of 2019’s reading,” according to the Ministry of Transport. Reported Xinhua News Agency.
Meanwhile, a Chinese government epidemiologist has claimed that 80 percent of the country’s population has been infected with Covid, downplaying the possibility of a new wave during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The Chinese political process may appear like a black box, but China-foolish watchers try to read every move with an eagle eye to see what comes next.
A list of representatives was recently proposed for 14.th The National People’s Congress will start in March. Xi has been ‘unanimously elected’ as the Congress deputy from Jiangsu.
But the selection of another Chinese politician has triggered speculation about who will replace Wang Qishan as China’s next vice president. Han Zheng, who has stepped down since 19th The Standing Committee of the Politburo has been elected as the representative of 14th National People’s Congress from Shandong. Han’s selection has triggered speculation that he may be tipped to replace the current vice president, who plays a key role in the Politburo and even attends some Standing Committee meetings.
We do not know whether Han will be accorded the same status as Wang in Xi’s relatively strong third term.
Read also: China’s uncertain politics will force foreign firms to look for alternative production centers
China in world news
Beijing and Washington expressed interest in normalizing their bilateral ties when US President Joe Biden and Xi met in Bali last year. Now, both sides are looking to re-engage in dialogue to find areas of cooperation where the cracks of disagreement are not too wide.
According to the State Department, Antony Blinken is likely to visit China on 6 February.
“I will have the opportunity to travel to China in the coming weeks to follow up on the President’s discussions to move forward on those lines of communication between us.” Told Blinken during a press conference in Washington.
Given the current geopolitical climate, one could have expected Beijing to miss the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. But in reality it was not so.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, in fact, Present To send a message to the high-powered billionaire crowd at Davos that Beijing was here to stay. Liu sought to signal that China is “back and open” for business after lifting stringent COVID controls. But the narrative of Davos has become increasingly disconnected from the reality of intense geopolitics and changing supply chains. Therefore, Liu’s message did not make the top headlines.
must read this week
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China’s COVID Surge with Yanzhong Huang and Zongyuan Zou Liu – Council on Foreign Relations
The writer is a columnist and freelance journalist. He was previously China media correspondent with the BBC World Service. He is currently a MOFA Taiwan Fellow based in Taipei and tweets @aadilbrar. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)