China’s Xi wants bigger global role after Saudi Arabia-Iran deal

China's President Xi Jinping (front) speaks during the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 13, 2023. (Photo courtesy: AFP)
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Updated 13 March 2023
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China’s Xi wants bigger global role after Saudi Arabia-Iran deal

  • In talks brokered by China last week, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to renew diplomatic relations
  • Xi urges China to “actively participate in reform and construction of global governance system”

BEIJING: President Xi Jinping called Monday for China to play a bigger role in managing global affairs after Beijing scored a diplomatic coup as the host of talks that produced an agreement by Saudi Arabia and Iran to reopen diplomatic relations.

Xi gave no details of the ruling Communist Party’s plans in a speech to China’s ceremonial legislature. But Beijing has been increasingly assertive since he took power in 2012 and called for changes in the International Monetary Fund and other entities it says fail to reflect the desires of developing countries.

China should “actively participate in the reform and construction of the global governance system” and promote “global security initiatives,” said Xi, the country’s most powerful leader in decades.

That will add “positive energy to world peace and development,” Xi said.

On Friday, Xi was named to another term in the ceremonial presidency after breaking with tradition in October and awarding himself a third-five year term as general secretary of the ruling party, putting himself on track to become leader for life.

The National People’s Congress on Sunday cemented Xi’s dominance by endorsing the appointment of his loyalists as premier and other government leaders in a once-a-decade change. Xi has sidelined potential rivals and loaded the top ranks of the ruling party with his supporters.

The new premier, Li Qiang, tried Monday to reassure entrepreneurs but gave no details of possible plans to improve conditions after Xi’s government spent the past decade building up state companies that control banking, energy, steel, telecoms and other industries.

Li’s comments echoed promises by other Chinese leaders over the past six months to support entrepreneurs who generate jobs and wealth. They have vowed to simplify regulations and taxes but have given no indication they plan to rein in state companies that entrepreneurs complain drain away their profits.

The ruling party will “treat enterprises of all types of ownership equally” and “support the development and growth of private enterprises,” Li said.

“Our leading cadres at all levels must sincerely care about and serve private enterprises,” he said.

Chinese officials earlier indicated anti-monopoly and data security crackdowns that knocked tens of billions of dollars off the stock market value of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and other tech companies were ending. But entrepreneurs were rattled anew in February when a star banker who played a leading role in tech deals disappeared. Bao Fan’s company said he was “cooperating in an investigation” but gave no details.

Li said Beijing will make a priority of job creation as it tries to revive economic growth that sank to 3 percent last year, the second-lowest level in decades. This year’s official growth target is “around 5 percent.”

The premier expressed confidence China can cope as its workforce shrinkage. The number of potential workers age 15 to 59 has fallen by more than 5 percent from its 2011 peak, an unusually abrupt decline for a middle-income country.

Li said that while China is losing its “demographic dividend” of young workers, better education means it is gaining a “talent dividend.” He said some 15 million people still enter the workforce every year.

“Abundant human resources is still China’s outstanding advantage,” he said.

Abroad, Beijing also has built on China’s growing heft as the second-largest economy to promote trade and construction initiatives that Washington, Tokyo, Moscow and New Delhi worry will expand its strategic influence at their expanse.

Those include the multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative to construct ports, railways and other trade-related infrastructure across an arc of countries from the South Pacific through Asia to Africa and Europe. China also is promoting trade and security initiatives.

Xi’s government rattled the United States and Australia in early 2022 when it signed an agreement with the Solomon Islands that would allow Chinese navy ships and security forces to be stationed in the South Pacific nation.

The foreign minister, Qin Gang, warned Washington last week of possible “conflict and confrontation” if the United States doesn’t change course in relations that have been strained by conflicts over Taiwan, human rights, Hong Kong, security and technology.

Xi called Monday for faster technology development and more self-reliance in a speech loaded with nationalistic terms. He referred eight times to “national rejuvenation,” or restoring China to its rightful place as an economic, cultural and political leader.

He said that before the ruling party took power in 1949, China was “reduced to a semi-colonial, semi-feudal country, subject to bullying by foreign countries.”

“We have finally washed away the national humiliation, and Chinese people are the master of their own destiny,” Xi said. “The Chinese nation has stood up, become rich and is becoming strong.”

Xi also called for the country to “unswervingly achieve” the goal of “national reunification,” a reference to Beijing’s claim that Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy, is part of its territory and is obliged to unite with China, by force if necessary.


NATO chief calls for ‘quantum leap’ in defense and says Russia could attack in 5 years

Updated 8 sec ago
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NATO chief calls for ‘quantum leap’ in defense and says Russia could attack in 5 years

LONDON: NATO members need to increase their air and missile defenses by 400 percent to counter the threat from Russia, the head of the military alliance said Monday, warning that Moscow could be ready to attack it within five years.
Secretary-General Mark Rutte said during a visit to London that he expects the 32 NATO members to agree to a big hike in military spending at a summit in the Netherlands this month.
Speaking at the Chatham House think tank, Rutte said Russia is outpacing the far bigger NATO in producing ammunition, and the alliance must take a “quantum leap” in collective defense.
“Wishful thinking will not keep us safe,” Rutte said. “We cannot dream away the danger. Hope is not a strategy. So NATO has to become a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance.”
Rutte has proposed a target of 3.5 percent of economic output on military spending and another 1.5 percent on “defense-related expenditure” such as roads, bridges, airfields and sea ports. He said he is confident the alliance will agree to the target at its summit in The Hague on June 24-25.
At the moment, 22 of the 32 members meet or exceed NATO’s current 2 percent target, which was set in 2014. Rutte said he expects all to reach 2 percent by the end of this year.
The new target would meet a demand by US President Donald Trump that member states spend 5 percent of gross domestic product on defense. Trump has long questioned the value of NATO and complained that the US provides security to European countries that don’t contribute enough.
Rutte said he agreed that “America has carried too much of the burden for too long.”
Rutte said NATO needs thousands more armored vehicles and millions more artillery shells, as well as a 400 percent increase in air and missile defense.
“We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies,” he said.
“Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years,” Rutte added. “We are all on the eastern flank now.”
Rutte also held talks Monday with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and praised the UK’s commitment to increase defense spending as “very good stuff.” Starmer has pledged to boost military spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2027 and to 3 percent by 2034.
Like other NATO members, the UK has been reassessing its defense spending since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
European NATO members, led by the UK and France, have scrambled to coordinate their defense posture as Trump transforms American foreign policy, seemingly sidelining Europe as he looks to end the war in Ukraine.
Last week the UK government said it would build new nuclear-powered attack submarines, prepare its army to fight a war in Europe and become “a battle-ready, armor-clad nation.” The plans represent the most sweeping changes to British defenses since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago.

UK think tank calls for national strategy to tackle anti-Muslim hatred, rebuild social cohesion

Updated 09 June 2025
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UK think tank calls for national strategy to tackle anti-Muslim hatred, rebuild social cohesion

  • Polling by Savanta/ComRes showed majority of Britons hold either neutral or positive views toward Muslims
  • Equi argued that this provided a foundation for progress for building societal trust

LONDON: A new report from the think tank Equi released Monday has urged the UK government to adopt a coordinated national strategy to address anti-Muslim hatred, while warning that social division is harming trust in institutions and threatening the country’s cohesion.

Released as British Muslims marked Eid Al-Adha, the report highlighted growing levels of anti-Muslim narratives and attacks, but also pointed to polling by Savanta/ComRes that showed that the majority of Britons hold either neutral or positive views toward Muslims.

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Equi argued that this provided a foundation for progress, and said that building trust, inclusion and civic resilience must be treated as a national priority.

“Britain’s diverse and welcoming cultural identity is one of its greatest strengths. But we cannot leave social cohesion to chance,” said Prof. Javed Khan, managing director of Equi.

“Failing to address social division is not only unjust but fiscally draining, at a time when resources are scarce,” he added.

The report identified anti-Muslim hatred as a key barrier to intercommunity trust, particularly in the aftermath of flashpoints such as the 2024 summer riots.

It estimated the cost of anti-Muslim hatred last year at a minimum of £243 million ($328.9 million), including expenses linked to policing, imprisonment, and insurance claims.

The report also pointed to alienating government policies, such as Prevent, and rising misinformation as major factors eroding social trust.

Many British Muslims, it noted, feel disproportionately scrutinized and disconnected from wider society.

Among its recommendations, Equi called for a strategic program of public awareness campaigns to counter misinformation and stereotypes, combined with cross-government engagement with local authorities, faith groups and civil society organizations to help rebuild trust.

It also advocated for increased investment in youth and community initiatives that promoted shared experiences and inclusive participation as a means of strengthening intercommunity ties.

“Knowing most Britons are not getting sucked into divisive language that can destroy community relations should give us great hope. The government should use its unique platform to articulate a unifying vision for the nation; one that focuses not on responding to division, but on championing shared values like respect, equality and liberty,” Khan said.

“As Britain’s 4 million Muslims celebrated Eid, this report provides a timely and urgent reminder that with clear focus and leadership, a stronger, peaceful and cohesive UK is within reach.”


How Gulf ties became key focus of India’s foreign policy over past decade

Updated 09 June 2025
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How Gulf ties became key focus of India’s foreign policy over past decade

  • Modi is the only Indian PM to have officially visited all GCC states
  • By 2018, the GCC became India’s largest regional trading bloc

Ties with Gulf countries have become a key focus of India’s foreign policy over the past 10 years, the latest report by the Council for Strategic and Defense Research shows, highlighting New Delhi’s special focus on Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Headquartered in the Indian capital, the CSDR is a think tank specializing in research on geopolitics, foreign policy, and military strategy. Its report published last month, “From Trees to Forests: The Evolution of India-Middle East Ties post 2014,” highlights India’s investment in bilateral relations with Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which are independent of larger global frameworks.

The effort to strengthen the connection started before Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014, but it has gained momentum with his frequent visits to the six-member bloc comprising Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.

“In the last 10 years, India has substantiated this effort by filling crucial gaps in political, economic, and military contact with key states, with a special focus on Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” Bashir Ali Abbas, senior research associate at CSDR and the report’s author, told Arab News.

“In the last 10 years, the Middle East has also emerged as a strategic space for India, with new defense relationships, and economic visions which also fit with the Gulf’s own focus on economic diversification.”

While India’s relations with the Gulf region span centuries, it currently has the largest concentration of the Indian diaspora — about 9.7 million people.

“And India’s top oil suppliers at any point in time inevitably are at least three Gulf states. This alone necessitates that India pay close attention to the region,” Abbas said.

“In India, policy makers and official decision-making institutions have updated their understanding of the region, but more importantly its changing nature. This evolved understanding has enabled the rise of new strategic partnerships, and PM Narendra Modi is the only Indian PM to have officially visited all six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council.”

By 2018, the GCC became India’s largest regional trading bloc, with an annual trade value of $104 billion in FY2017-2018. The volume that year surpassed India-ASEAN trade of $81 billion, and India-EU trade — $102 billion.

Currently, it is even higher, with the Indian government estimating it at $162 billion in FY2023-24.

In 2019, India became only the fourth state to establish a Strategic Partnership Council with Saudi Arabia, following Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to New Delhi.

During the Kingdom’s presidency of the Group of 20 largest economies in 2020, the two countries started to forge partnerships and bilateral programs that saw further development as India took the G20 presidency in 2023.

Over the past four years, the countries have since also engaged in a series of bilateral navy, air force and army exercises.

“Today, India sees Saudi Arabia as a strategic partner, with political and economic ties robust enough to also substantial cooperation in defense and security,” Abbas said.

“Given both India’s own Viksit Bharat 2047 development vision and (the crown prince’s) Vision 2030, India and Saudi Arabia are now driven by shared economic and strategic goals.”

With the UAE, India signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in 2022, following which their bilateral trade grew to $85 billion in just over a year. The number of multi-sectoral memoranda of understanding between Indian and Emirati public and private entities has since reached over 80, according to the CSDR report.

“India also sought to reframe other bilateral relationships where fresh opportunities had arisen,” it said, adding that New Delhi was “closing the Gulf circle,” with strategic partnerships signed with Kuwait during Modi’s visit in 2024, and with Qatar during Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani’s state trip to New Delhi in early 2025.

The relations “will certainly see a positive trajectory in the near and distant future — especially if it is backed up by greater avenues of intellectual contact,” Abbas said.

“Greater intellectual contact and an evolved popular understanding will enhance the strategic relationships between India and its Arab partners, through the injection of more ideas, perspectives, and actors who can work as champions for closer ties.”


How Gulf ties became key focus of India’s foreign policy over past decade

Updated 09 June 2025
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How Gulf ties became key focus of India’s foreign policy over past decade

  • Modi is the only Indian PM to have officially visited all GCC states
  • By 2018, the GCC became India’s largest regional trading bloc

Ties with Gulf countries have become a key focus of India’s foreign policy over the past 10 years, the latest report by the Council for Strategic and Defence Research shows, highlighting New Delhi’s special focus on Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Headquartered in the Indian capital, the CSDR is a think tank specializing in research on geopolitics, foreign policy, and military strategy. Its report published last month, “From Trees to Forests: The Evolution of India-Middle East Ties post 2014,” highlights India’s investment in bilateral relations with Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which are independent of larger global frameworks.

The effort to strengthen the connection started before Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014, but it has gained momentum with his frequent visits to the six-member bloc comprising Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.

“In the last 10 years, India has substantiated this effort by filling crucial gaps in political, economic, and military contact with key states, with a special focus on Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” Bashir Ali Abbas, senior research associate at CSDR and the report’s author, told Arab News.

“In the last 10 years, the Middle East has also emerged as a strategic space for India, with new defense relationships, and economic visions which also fit with the Gulf’s own focus on economic diversification.”

While India’s relations with the Gulf region span centuries, it currently has the largest concentration of the Indian diaspora — about 9.7 million people.

“And India’s top oil suppliers at any point in time inevitably are at least three Gulf states. This alone necessitates that India pay close attention to the region,” Abbas said.

“In India, policy makers and official decision-making institutions have updated their understanding of the region, but more importantly its changing nature. This evolved understanding has enabled the rise of new strategic partnerships, and PM Narendra Modi is the only Indian PM to have officially visited all six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council.”

By 2018, the GCC became India’s largest regional trading bloc, with an annual trade value of $104 billion in FY2017-2018. The volume that year surpassed India-ASEAN trade of $81 billion, and India-EU trade — $102 billion.

Currently, it is even higher, with the Indian government estimating it at $162 billion in FY2023-24.

In 2019, India became only the fourth state to establish a Strategic Partnership Council with Saudi Arabia, following Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to New Delhi.

During the Kingdom’s presidency of the Group of 20 largest economies in 2020, the two countries started to forge partnerships and bilateral programs that saw further development as India took the G20 presidency in 2023.

Over the past four years, the countries have since also engaged in a series of bilateral navy, air force and army exercises.

“Today, India sees Saudi Arabia as a strategic partner, with political and economic ties robust enough to also substantial cooperation in defense and security,” Abbas said.

“Given both India’s own Viksit Bharat 2047 development vision and (the crown prince’s) Vision 2030, India and Saudi Arabia are now driven by shared economic and strategic goals.”

With the UAE, India signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in 2022, following which their bilateral trade grew to $85 billion in just over a year. The number of multi-sectoral memoranda of understanding between Indian and Emirati public and private entities has since reached over 80, according to the CSDR report.

“India also sought to reframe other bilateral relationships where fresh opportunities had arisen,” it said, adding that New Delhi was “closing the Gulf circle,” with strategic partnerships signed with Kuwait during Modi’s visit in 2024, and with Qatar during Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani’s state trip to New Delhi in early 2025.

The relations “will certainly see a positive trajectory in the near and distant future — especially if it is backed up by greater avenues of intellectual contact,” Abbas said.

“Greater intellectual contact and an evolved popular understanding will enhance the strategic relationships between India and its Arab partners, through the injection of more ideas, perspectives, and actors who can work as champions for closer ties.”


Don’t let deep sea become ‘wild west’, Guterres tells world leaders

Updated 59 min 55 sec ago
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Don’t let deep sea become ‘wild west’, Guterres tells world leaders

  • United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday the world could not let the deepest oceans “become the wild west,” at the start in France of a global summit on the seas

NICE: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday the world could not let the deepest oceans “become the wild west,” at the start in France of a global summit on the seas.

World leaders are attending the UN Ocean Conference in Nice as nations tussle over contentious rules on mining the seabed for critical minerals and the terms of a global treaty on plastic pollution.

US President Donald Trump has brought urgency to the debate around deep-sea mining, moving to fast-track US exploration in international waters and sidestepping global efforts to regulate the nascent sector.

The International Seabed Authority, which has jurisdiction over the ocean floor outside national waters, is meeting in July to discuss a global mining code to regulate mining in the ocean depths.

Guterres said he supported these negotiations and urged caution as countries navigate these “new waters on seabed mining.”

“The deep sea cannot become the wild west,” he said, to applause from the plenary floor.

Many countries oppose seabed mining, and France is hoping more nations in Nice will join a moratorium until more is known about the ecological impacts of the practice.

French President Emmanuel Macron said a moratorium on deep-sea mining was “an international necessity.”

“I think it’s madness to launch predatory economic action that will disrupt the deep seabed, disrupt biodiversity, destroy it and release irrecoverable carbon sinks — when we know nothing about it,” the French president said.

The deep sea, Greenland and Antarctica were “not for sale,” he said in follow up remarks to thunderous applause.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for “clear action” from the seabed authority to end a “predatory race” among nations seeking critical minerals on the ocean floor.

“We now see the threat of unilateralism looming over the ocean. We cannot allow what happened to international trade to happen to the sea,” he said.

Macron said a global pact to protect marine life in international waters had received enough support to become law and was “a done deal.”

The high seas treaty struck in 2023 requires ratifications from 60 signatory countries to enter into force, something France hoped to achieve before Nice.

Macron said about 50 nations had ratified the treaty and 15 others had formally committed to joining them.

This “allows us to say that the high seas treaty will be implemented,” he said.

Other commitments are expected on Monday in Nice, where around 60 heads of state and government have joined thousands of business leaders, scientists and civil society activists.

On Monday, the United Kingdom is expected to announce a partial ban on bottom trawling in half its marine protected areas, putting the destructive fishing method squarely on the summit agenda.

Bottom trawling involves huge fishing nets indiscriminately dragging the ocean floor, a process shockingly captured in a recent documentary by British naturalist David Attenborough.

Macron said on Saturday that France would restrict trawling in some of its marine protected areas but was criticized by environment groups for not going far enough.

On Sunday, French environment minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher hinted at “important announcements” during Nice about the creation of new marine protected areas.

Samoa led the way this past week, announcing that 30 percent of its national waters would be under protection with the creation of nine marine parks.

Just eight percent of global oceans are designated for marine conservation, despite a globally agreed target to achieve 30 percent coverage by 2030.

But even fewer are considered truly protected, as some countries impose next to no rules on what is forbidden in marine zones or lack the finance to enforce any regulations.

Nations will face calls to cough up the missing finance for ocean protection.

Small island states are expected in numbers at the summit to demand money and political support to combat rising seas, marine trash and the plunder of fish stocks.

The summit will not produce a legally binding agreement at its close like a climate COP or treaty negotiation.

But diplomats and other observers said it could mark a much-needed turning point in global ocean conservation if leaders rose to the occasion.

“We say to you, if you are serious about protecting the ocean, prove it,” said President Surangel Whipps Jr of Palau, a low-lying Pacific nation.