At SCO summit, India, Pakistan squabble over Kashmir, ‘terrorism’

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 Hafsa Adil

As the fallout from a recent heated exchange between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan continues to play out in the public sphere, analysts say both officials put up a “performance” for their respective domestic audiences.

During his visit to India for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari urged member nations to avoid using “terrorism” as a diplomatic instrument.

“Terrorism continues to threaten global security,” the foreign minister said during his address at the SCO. “Let’s not get caught up in weaponising terrorism for diplomatic point scoring.”

He also criticised India’s decision to scrap the special status of the disputed region of Kashmir, saying New Delhi’s unilateral move in 2019 had undermined the environment for holding talks between the neighbours.

“The onus is on India to create a conducive environment for talks,” Bhutto Zardari said.

India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar took strong exception to Bhutto Zardari’s statement, calling him the “spokesperson of a terrorism industry”.

“Victims of terrorism do not sit together with its perpetrators to discuss terrorism,” said Jaishankar at the SCO summit held in the Indian city of Goa, referring to deadly attacks on Indian soldiers in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi has accused Pakistan of backing Kashmir rebels – a charge Islamabad has denied.

The Indian foreign minister also said that Kashmir’s special status was “history”, rejecting Pakistan’s demands to reverse the scrapping of the region’s special status.

In comments made during an interview with India Today news channel, Bhutto Zardari later said Islamabad was willing to engage and address any concerns India might have, but added New Delhi will also have to address Islamabad’s concerns.

Despite the multilateral nature of the summit, the broadside between Bhutto Zardari and his Indian counterpart Jaishankar shifted the focus from matters of regional security towards the standoff between the two South Asian neighbours.

The two countries did not hold any bilateral talks during the summit, which was also attended by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia and Uzbekistan.

Two days after the summit’s conclusion and Bhutto Zardari’s return to Pakistan, the Indian foreign minister continued to engage in indirect criticism by saying “he [Bhutto Zardari] spoke about everything, including India’s role in Kashmir, the G20, India’s foreign policies except the finer details of the meeting he was invited for.”

Playing to the crowd

As the host nation for the summit, India’s Hindu nationalist government reluctantly invited Bhutto Zardari, who became the first Pakistan foreign minister to visit India in 12 years amid heightened tensions between the neighbours, who have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.

Analysts say the indirect public exchange between the two officials has been “entirely on expected lines”.

“Both foreign ministers were more worried about the internal politics in their own countries than making any progress on issues concerning their foreign policies,” Sushant Singh, a senior fellow at India’s Centre for Policy Research, told Al Jazeera.

Prior to setting off for India, Bhutto Zardari said his country was committed to establishing peace in the region and urged the attendees to isolate terrorism from “geopolitical partisanship”.

According to Singh, Jaishankar’s comments are reflective of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s endeavour to demonstrate that Pakistan doesn’t matter to India.

“Modi’s dominant narrative has been to portray India as an emerging great global power, and to portray Pakistan as being insignificant to India,” Singh said.

India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari pose for a photograph
India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari pose for a photograph during the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Goa, India on May 5, 2023 [India’s Ministry of External Affairs/Handout via Reuters]

‘India’s petty behaviour will limit its potential’

Bhutto Zardari’s statement that Islamophobic wolf whistling won’t be an effective “terrorism” strategy has been welcomed by Pakistan’s media.

“It is important for Pakistani leaders to continue to highlight and underscore the wild levels of hatred that can form mainstream Indian public discourse and public policy,” Mosharraf Zaidi, of Pakistan-based public policy think-tank Tabadlab, told Al Jazeera from Islamabad.

Zaidi said India’s “petty behaviour” will limit its potential as a major world power, but that should not deter Pakistan from “resisting India’s hegemony”.

The brief meeting between the two ministers, as Bhutto Zardari walked up to Jaishankar and was greeted by his Indian counterpart with a Hindu greeting of “namaste” with clasped hands, has been subject to analysis on social media in both countries.

However, Zaidi said that while much attention should not be given to the nature of the physical engagement, as the greeting was “respectful”, the way in which Jaishankar talked about Pakistan should be scrutinised.

“India can afford to misbehave as it did at the conference because its powers and stakes far exceed the cost of this kind of behaviour,” he said.

India’s ‘two-fold’ problem

Singh, the Indian expert, noted that Jaishankar and India may have chosen to keep away from bilateral talks with Pakistan as they do not wish to “up the ante” with India’s western neighbour.

“India is under pressure due to its border crisis with China, and it would be very difficult for it to manage a two-front challenge by engaging with Pakistan,” he said.

A clash in the Ladakh border region between Indian and Chinese soldiers left 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese dead three years ago. It turned into a long-running standoff in the rugged mountainous area, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.

Last month, India’s defence minister accused China of eroding the “entire basis” of ties between the two countries by violating a bilateral agreement.

According to Zaidi, India’s conflict with China is political and territorial.

With Pakistan, however, the standoff has continued since both countries were separated in a bloody partition in 1947.

“India’s hatred for Pakistan is existential and cuts across all political parties, but is especially stark and profound when it comes to the Bharatiya Janata Party of which Jaishankar is a representative,” Zaidi said.

Despite the apparent lack of attention towards Pakistan, Singh predicted that India could “invoke Pakistan at any point”.

“Pakistan can always be brought out of the close by Modi as and when he wants, and it can be used as a proxy for Indian Muslims or invigorating Hindu nationalist tendencies in the country.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

“رب ضارة نافعة”.. عقوبات أميركا دفعت الصين لحل معضلة الرقائق

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فيما تتنافس الدولتان الكبريان اقتصادياً، يبدو أن الولايات المتحدة بدأت تخسر سباقها مع الصين في مجال التكنولوجيا والتطور التقني.

فعلى مبدأ “رب ضارة نافعة”، دفعت العقوبات الأميركية شركات التكنولوجيا الصينية إلى تسريع الأبحاث من أجل تطوير الذكاء الاصطناعي دون الاعتماد على أحدث الرقائق الإلكترونية الأميركية، حسب ما ذكرت صحيفة “وول ستريت جورنال”.

الصين تتحمل العقوبات الأميركية

وباتت الشركات تدرس الأساليب التي تسمح لها بتحقيق أفضل وأحدث أداء للذكاء الاصطناعي بأشباه موصلات أقل عدداً أو أقل قوة.

كما بدأت تبحث كيفية دمج أنواع مختلفة من الرقائق لتجنب الاعتماد على نوع واحد من الأجهزة، مثل “هواوي تكنولوجيز” للاتصالات، وشركة الأبحاث “بايدو”، ومجموعة “علي بابا” العملاقة للتجارة الإلكترونية من بين الشركات التي تسعى إلى الحصول على مزيد من الأداء من رقائق الكمبيوتر الموجودة بالفعل.

ورأت نقلا عن باحثين ومحللين أنه إذا نجحت هذه الأبحاث، فإنها ستسمح لشركات التكنولوجيا الصينية بتحمل العقوبات الأميركية، وتجعلها أكثر مرونة في مواجهة القيود المستقبلية.

كذلك لفت التقرير إلى أن العقوبات الأميركية باتت تحفز شركات التكنولوجيا الصينية على تسريع البحث لتطوير ذكاء اصطناعي متطور دون الاعتماد على أحدث الرقائق الأميركية.

بدورها، اعتبرت باحثة الذكاء الاصطناعي سوزان تشانغ، أن على الصين تشجيع الابتكار في تطوير الذكاء الاصطناعي العام، وذلك بعد أن فرضت وزارة التجارة الأميركية قيودا شاملة على توريد الرقائق إلى بكين في أكتوبر الماضي.

في موازاة ذلك، سعت الشركات الصينية إلى استخدام تقنيات برمجية مختلفة لتقليل الكثافة الحسابية لتدريب نماذج الذكاء الاصطناعي واسعة النطاق، وهو نهج تسارع عالميا مؤخراً، بما في ذلك بين الشركات الأميركية.

وتظهر الأوراق على عكس الشركات الأميركية، أن الشركات الصينية كانت أكثر جرأة في الجمع بين تقنيات برمجيات متعددة معا.

“ChatGPT” نوبة جنون عالمي

يشار إلى أن إطلاق أوبن إيه آي لـ ChatGPT في نوفمبر الماضي، نوبة جنون عالمي لتطوير الذكاء الاصطناعي.

وفي حين أن العديد من هذه الأساليب لا يزال يتم تسويتها في مجتمع الأبحاث العالمي ويصعب تنفيذها، فقد شهد الباحثون الصينيون بعض النجاح.

وتتصارع كل من أميركا والصين، أعظم قوتين اقتصاديتين في العالم، سياسيا على عدة ملفات، واقتصادياً أيضاً.

فيما يحتل السباق في مجال العلوم والتكنولوجيا الدور الأهم في هذا الصراع الخفي.

(المصدر: العربية)

‘Brutal interference’: China tabloid rounds on S Korea criticism

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China’s state-run Global Times has lashed out at the South Korean embassy after it sent a letter to the tabloid criticising its coverage of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s visit to the United States.

In an editorial on Monday headlined “This newspaper has something to say about S. Korean embassy’s ‘protest’”, the English-language tabloid bristled at a “strong protest” sent to its editors last week by Seoul’s embassy in Beijing.

The letter, sent on Friday, criticised the Global Times’s reporting of the visit as well as a number of its columns and editorials. A letter was also sent to the editor of the Huanqiu Shibao, a newspaper that is part of the Communist Party’s People’s Daily.

The embassy accused the state-run papers of “using sensational, provocative and inappropriate language” that “disparaged our president as well as the foreign policy of our government”.

“Some of the criticism levied at our president, using words so vulgar that they are barely repeatable, will make one wonder if they even come from news media at all,” the embassy added.

The Global Times, known for its nationalistic reporting, showed no contrition for the rare public rebuke from a foreign embassy.

“Such words that crossed boundaries and came with strong emotions should not come from a diplomatic institution,” the editorial said. “We cannot accept the rather brutal interference in our independent reporting.”

‘Bowing to Japan’

Yoon, a conservative politician who was elected last year, is seeking to build closer ties with the US and Japan amid heightened tensions in the region over the challenges posed by North Korea’s aggressive weapons testing, and an increasingly assertive China.

He has overseen deepening military ties with Washington and spent six days in the US in April where he was honoured with a state dinner marking 70 years of the two countries’ alliance, and also addressed a joint session of US Congress.

President Yoon hosting Japanese PM Fumio Kishida and his wife for dinner at the presidential house. There are lots of dishes on the table, which has a white table cloth. There are white and blue curtains on the windows behind them. A chef is standing at the end of the table.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has worked to improve ties with Japan and overcome strains that are a legacy of Japan’s colonial rule [The Presidential Office/Handout via Reuters]

The month before, Yoon had travelled to Tokyo, the first visit by a South Korean leader in 12 years, as he sought to overcome years of historical animosity stemming from Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean peninsula.

The Global Times reporting accused him of “blindly following the US” and “bowing to Japan to please Washington” claiming Seoul’s actions contributed to tensions in the region.

The South Korean embassy singled out reporting on April 26, April 30, May 3 and May 4, although it did not mention specific articles.

“I wonder how the Chinese people would react if the Korean media published daily reports criticising the Chinese leader in the same way,” the letter said, adding that professional journalists needed to abide by certain standards.

The Global Times editorial noted that Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida started a landmark two-day visit to Seoul on May 7, and that it was happy to see an improved relationship between the two countries providing it did not “harm” China’s interests.

Insisting that its editorials had been “as polite as possible”, the paper continued: “Since the current South Korean government came to power, it has catered to the actions of the US, Japan and other countries of undermining regional stability. It has also repeatedly made wrong remarks on major issues that concern China’s sovereignty and grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs, such as the Taiwan question. Now it is targeting a Chinese media.

“If South Korea’s diplomacy continues in this direction, the consequences will not only be the estrangement of relations between China and South Korea, or the loss of South Korea’s ‘national dignity’ in front of Washington and Tokyo. Rather, it will stimulate, induce, and aggravate the imbalance and even collapse of the situation in Northeast Asia. It will be unbearable for South Korea.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

Xi to host first China-Central Asia summit this month

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President Xi Jinping will host a two-day summit with the leaders of five Central Asian nations next week, Beijing said on Monday, as China moves to increase its influence in the region.

Leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are expected to attend the China-Central Asia Summit from May 18 to 19, said China’s foreign ministry.

The summit in the historic city of Xi’an on the ancient Silk Road is the first of its kind since the establishment of formal relations 31 years ago, according to the ministry, and will focus on strengthening economic and diplomatic ties with Beijing.

China, the world’s second-largest energy consumer, has invested billions of dollars to tap natural gas reserves in Central Asia.

Rail links connecting China to Europe criss-cross the region and are key to the success of Xi’s trillion-dollar global infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative.

Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday that Xi would deliver a keynote speech during the summit, billed as China’s first major diplomatic event of the year, and the leaders would jointly sign “important political documents”.

“The heads of state will review the development of China-Central Asia relations and exchange views on China-Central Asia cooperation in various fields and on major international and regional issues of common concern,” Wang told a regular briefing.

‘Mutual support’

Beijing adheres to a policy of “good-neighbourliness and friendship” with regard to Central Asia, Foreign Minister Qin Gang said during a meeting with his regional counterparts in Xi’an last month.

“All parties reiterated… firm mutual support on issues concerning each others’ core interests, stern opposition to external interference in internal affairs, and resolute rejection of… force creating chaos and turbulence in Central Asia,” according to a Chinese foreign ministry report on the meeting.

The republics of Central Asia were part of the Soviet Union and have been dominated by Moscow since the mid-19th century.

But Russia’s influence has been increasingly challenged since its invasion of Ukraine, with Beijing courting Moscow’s traditional allies in the region.

In 2022, China’s exports to Central Asia grew 60 percent year-on-year to $1.4 billion, according to data released by the Chinese ministry of commerce last month.

In September last year, Xi travelled to Kazakhstan on his first trip abroad since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Countries, including Kazakhstan, that border China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang have remained quiet over accusations of human rights violations by Beijing targeting Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.

(Source: France 24)

China’s war chest: how Beijing is using its currency to insulate against future sanctions

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Amy Hawkins

For more than a decade, Beijing has been trying to reduce its reliance on the dollar, motivated by risks emerging from the US economy – such as the financial crash of 2008 – and the desire to boost its own sphere of influence.

But in the last year, a drive to insulate China’s economy from dollar-based sanctions has emerged as possibly the most important incentive for decoupling from the dollar, as China looks to prepare for the possibility of conflict with Taiwan.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the most powerful tools for inflicting economic harm on Moscow was to essentially cut the country off from transactions based on US dollars, limiting its ability to trade with other countries.Quick Guide

China’s war chest

But as well as punishing the Kremlin, there has been an unintended winner from west’s sanctions regime: the Chinese yuan. Last year the share of Russian imports paid for in yuan rose from 4% to 23%. In February the yuan overtook the dollar as the most traded currency on the Moscow exchange for the first time in its history.

China’s push to boost the internationalisation of its currency predates the war in Ukraine and although the yuan is still far behind the dollar in terms of global activity, between March 2021 and March 2023 its share of the trade finance market – the multi-trillion dollar ecosystem that underpins 80% of world trade – more than doubled, according to data from Swift, an interbank messaging platform.

China is also encouraging other countries to adopt the yuan for international transactions. Argentina and Brazil recently reached agreements to pay for Chinese imports in yuan rather than US dollars.

In April Bangladesh announced that it had approved a payment in yuan worth $318m to settle part of a Russian loan that had been used to finance a nuclear power plant development. It is a rare example of the yuan being used for an international transaction that does not involve China.

Daniel McDowell, a China fellow at The Wilson Center, a thinktank, said: “To date, international use of the RMB as a payment currency has primarily involved China on one end of the deal.”

“To do business with Russia, foreign partners do not really have alternatives – they will have to consider using less traditional payment currencies, like RMB and rubles”.

A defence against sanctions

China’s economy is far more intertwined with the west’s than Russia’s is, and many analysts think it would be impossible for the west to punish China economically without inflicting massive self-harm.

Still, China wants to protect itself as much as possible, and the internationalisation of the yuan is one part of that defence.

In March, a Chinese company used yuan to buy 65,000 tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from TotalEnergies, a French multinational, the first time that China’s currency has been used in an international LNG transaction.

Beijing does not want to be dependent on the use of dollars for essential imports, so this is a key step in ensuring China’s energy security. In an article published last year, Xu Jin, the chief economist at China Energy, a state-owned company, wrote that China “must work faster to drive the internationalisation of the RMB” in order to protect its energy supplies in the wake of sanctions on Russia.

A clerk counts banknotes at a bank outlet in Hai’an, Jiangsu province
A clerk counts banknotes at a bank outlet in Hai’an, Jiangsu province Photograph: Xu Jinbai/EPA

China has also developed an alternative to Swift as well as a digital currency, the e-CNY. These technological innovations are less important than the political factors that influence the yuan’s international popularity, but they are part of Beijing’s broad campaign to transform its currency into an attractive alternative to the dollar.

The campaign to decouple from the dollar is also linked to national pride. A recent report on China’s quest for financial self-reliance notes: “By definition, China can’t claim to be a great power … if it continues to rely on the dollar for trade, foreign borrowing, and the pricing of energy and commodities.”

But for China’s leaders, a more prominent international role for the yuan needs to be balanced against the party’s grip on domestic financial markets.

Truly internationalising the yuan would mean loosening the government’s control over capital flows and allowing the market to play a bigger role in the currency’s valuation. That is not a risk that the party is willing to take, either politically or philosophically. A central tenet of its economic philosophy is that the state should have a prominent role in the economy.

Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, notes: “It’s not the invisible hand,” that the party wants controlling the market, “it’s the very visible hand of the state regulators.”

“A more prominent role for the RMB in the global financial system is a nice to have thing. But domestic financial stability is a must-have thing if you want to keep the country running and stay in power”.

(Source: The Guardian)

China says relations with US on ‘cold ice,’ but stabilizing ties a ‘top priority’

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Nectar Gan and Mengchen Zhang

Hong Kong (CNN) — China’s foreign minister said Monday a “series of erroneous words and deeds” by the United States had placed relations between the two superpowers on “cold ice,” but stabilizing ties is a “top priority.”

Qin Gang made the comments during a meeting in Beijing with US ambassador Nicholas Burns, their first since a dispute over a Chinese balloon shattered efforts to mend ties earlier this year.

Qin said US actions and words had undermined “hard-won positive momentum” following Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s meeting with US President Joe Biden in Indonesia last year.

“The agenda of dialogue and cooperation agreed by the two sides has been disrupted, and the relationship between the two countries has once again hit the cold ice,” he said according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.

In a brief post on Twitter, Burns said he and Qin discussed “challenges in the US-China relationship and the necessity of stabilizing ties and expanding high-level communication.”

Tensions between the world’s two biggest economies soared in February after a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over the continental US and was subsequently shot down by the American military.

The incident prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a planned trip to Beijing – a visit seen as an important step in repairing fraught diplomatic ties that are at their worst in decades. There has been no indication whether the trip will be rescheduled.

“The top priority now is to stabilize Sino-US relations, avoid a downward spiral and prevent any accidents between China and the US,” Qin told Burns, according to the Chinese readout. “This should be the most fundamental consensus between China and the US.”

Qin urged the US to “reflect deeply” and “meet China halfway” to push bilateral relations out of their current predicament.

“(The US) can’t talk about communication on the one hand, but keep suppressing and containing China on the other hand,” he said, adding that Washington must respect China’s bottom lines and stop undermining its sovereignty, security and development interests – in particular on the issue of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy Beijing claims as its own.

Reiterating Beijing’s talking points, Qin urged the US to stop the hollowing out of the “one China” principle and end support for “Taiwan independent” forces.

Under Washington’s longstanding “one China” policy, the US acknowledges Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never officially recognized the Chinese Communist Party’s claim to the democratic island of more than 23 million. Under the Taiwan Relations Act, Washington is also bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

Under Xi, China has ramped up economic, diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan in recent years, increasing fears he may one day make an attempt to follow through on his goal of “reunifying” the island with the mainland.

‘Better channels’

Monday’s meeting was Qin’s first with Burns since the former Chinese ambassador to the US was promoted to foreign minister in December.

It also followed Burns’ comments last week that the US is “ready to talk” to China.

“Our view is we need better channels between the two governments and deeper channels, and we are ready to talk,” Burns said at an event at the Stimson Center, which he attended virtually.

“We’ve never been shy of talking, and we hope the Chinese will meet us halfway on this,” he said.

Beijing cut off talks with Washington on major issues, from climate change to military relations, in August last year in response to then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s high-profile visit to Taipei.

The two sides resumed climate talks following Xi and Biden’s meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia last November.

Burns told the Stimson Center event that the US has been calling on China to open all of the channels suspended following Pelosi’s Taiwan trip. He reiterated Blinken’s visit to China would be rescheduled “when conditions are appropriate.”

West Bank demolitions and displacement | January-March 2023

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HIGHLIGHTS

  • During the first quarter of 2023, a total of 290 structures were demolished/seized and 413 people were displaced. This represents a 46 and 78 per cent increase, respectively, compared with the same period in 2022, which already saw the highest number of demolitions recorded in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 2016.
  • Forty-three of the structures demolished during the reporting period were provided as humanitarian aid. A further eleven are at risk of demolition due to stop-work orders.
  • The number of demolished structures in East Jerusalem during the first quarter of 2023 is more than double the same period in 2022 and is the highest since April 2019.
  • During the first quarter of 2023, two donor-funded schools became at increased risk of imminent demolition in Bethlehem and Ramallah governorates.

STRUCTURES DEMOLISHED/SEIZED

""

JAN-MAR FIGURES

Structures Targeted
East Jerusalem79
Area C197
Area B5
Area A9
People Impacted
Displaced413
Affected11,266

ASSISTANCE DEMOLISHED/SEIZED IN 2023

""

Overview

During the first quarter of 2023, Israeli authorities demolished, forced people to demolish or seized 290 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. All but nineteen (19) of the structures were targeted for lacking building permits, which are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain. As a result, 413 people, including 194 children, were displaced, and the livelihoods or access to services of over 11,000 others were affected. The number of structures targeted in the first quarter of 2023 have increased by 46 per cent compared with the same period in 2022, which already saw the highest number of demolitions recorded in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 2016.

Donor-funded structures. Forty-three (43) of the targeted structures, all located in Area C communities, had been provided as humanitarian aid. An additional eleven donor-funded structures, including two elementary schools, received stop-work orders. The total number of donor-funded structures targeted since the beginning of 2023 (43) is 26 per cent higher than during the same period in 2022 (34 structures).

Critical incidents. During the reporting period, the incident that resulted in the most structures demolished occurred on 27 February, in Lifjim community in Nablus. Citing the absence of Israeli-issued building permits, the Israeli authorities demolished 15 donor- funded structures. As a result, three households comprising 17 people, including ten children, were displaced and the livelihoods of another 14 people, including eight children, were affected. The incident that affected the largest number of people took place on 23 January, when Israeli authorities sealed off an under-construction water well in Habla (Qalqilya) in Area B, without prior notification. The well would have been the sole drinking water and irrigation source for about 5,000 dunums of cultivated land. Some 8,000 Palestinians from 1,300 families in three surrounding villages were affected.

Residential structures. More than 35 per cent (102 structures) of all structures targeted (demolished and seized) in the first quarter of 2023 were residential, resulting in the displacement of 413 Palestinians, including 194 children. This is 78 per cent higher than the number of people displaced during the same period in 2022. Seventeen of the affected homes were donor funded humanitarian assistance to seventeen Palestinian households in seven communities. Four of these households were displaced for the third time since February 2022 in the herder community of Mantiqat Sh’ib Al Butum community, near Yatta in southern Hebron.

Non-residential structures. All of the nonresidential structures that were targeted between January and March (188 structures), supported the agricultural, herding and commercial livelihoods of communities, including animal shelters, storage rooms, and agricultural road. Twenty-six of these structures were donor-funded humanitarian aid delivered to eleven Area C communities in response to previous demolitions.

A Palestinian family forced to demolish their home in Jabal al Mukabbir, East Jerusalem. ©Photo by OCHA, 1 February 2023

A Palestinian family forced to demolish their home in Jabal al Mukabbir, East Jerusalem. ©Photo by OCHA, 1 February 2023

Firing Zones. Nearly 70 per cent of all affected structures in the first quarter of 2023 (197 of 290) were in communities partially or entirely located in Area C. Among the most affected were four Palestinian herding communities located in Israeli-designated ‘firing zones.’ Nearly 30 per cent of Area C is designated as such, and the 38 Palestinian communities in these military training areas are among the most vulnerable in the West Bank, with limited access to essential services and basic infrastructure. In the herding communities of Zatara al Kurshan in Bethlehem, Isfey al Fauqa, Idhna and Beit Ula (all in Hebron), the Israeli authorities demolished 16 structures, three of which were donor funded as humanitarian assistance in response to previous demolitions. As a result, twelve people were displaced and five people were otherwise affected.

Military order 1797. Additionally, in the Area C communities of Beit Fajjar and Al Fureidis (both in Bethlehem), Hebron city and Arab al Fureijat (Hebron), Al ‘Auja (Jericho), and Deir ‘Ammar (Ramallah), the Israeli authorities demolished a total of nine structures based on Military Order 1797, which provides only a 96-hour notice and very limited grounds for legally challenging a demolition. This resulted in the displacement of one household, comprising three people, including one child, and affected another nine households, comprising 103 people, including 32 children. A total of 237 Palestinian-owned structures have been demolished based on this order, since it came into effect in July 2019.

Seizure procedures. Twenty-five structures out of the 197 structures targeted (demolished and seized) in Area C of the West Bank were seized by the Israeli authorities without warning, which prevented the owners from being able to object in advance. This is a significant decrease compared with the 35 per cent in 2021, and 20 per cent in 2020. Seizure procedures enable the authorities not to provide prior notice, thus preventing affected people from objecting in advance.

Schools at risk of demolition. During the reporting period, two donor-funded schools in Bethlehem and Ramallah were put at increased risk of imminent demolition. On 8 March, an Israeli court ordered the immediate demolition (within 60 days) of a school in the herding community of Jubbet adh Dhib, in Bethlehem. The school was built in 2017 and serves more than 40 students (15 boys and 25 girls) from grades 1-4 from three different communities. Additionally, on 9 February, the Israeli civil administration issued two stop-work orders against a room and a water cistern that are part of a donor-funded school in Wadi As Seeq Bedouin community in Ramallah. The school was built in 2017 with support from an international NGO and opened to serve 82 students in grades 1-6 from Wadi as Seeq and three nearby communities. According to the Education Cluster, it is estimated that at least 58 schools in the West Bank (50 in Area C and 8 in East Jerusalem) have pending demolition or stopwork orders. These schools serve around 6,500 students in the most vulnerable areas of the West Bank. At least seven out of the 58 schools are legally unprotected as their lawyers have exhausted all legal measures to protect the schools. The demolition of any of the schools jeopardizes the students’ right to education. Last year, Israeli authorities carried out three full or partial demolitions of two schools in Area C. One, the Isfey Al Fouqa School–located in an area designated by the Israeli authorities as ‘Firing Zone 918’ in Masafer Yatta (Hebron), was demolished twice, impacting over 85 students (37 females) and 18 teachers.

East Jerusalem. In East Jerusalem, the Israeli authorities demolished or forced people to demolish 79 structures, all but three of the structures were targeted for lacking Israeli-issued building permits. This is double the number of structures demolished during the same period of 2022. February, saw the highest number of demolished structures in East Jerusalem in a single month since April 2019; with a total of 36 structures demolished, compared to a monthly average of eleven demolished in 2022. The communities most heavily affected were Jabal Mukabbir, and Hizma which both accounted for 40 per cent of demolition incidents in East Jerusalem during the first quarter of 2023. About 45 per cent of the structures demolished in East Jerusalem were homes, while agricultural or livelihood-related structures accounted for some 55 per cent of all demolitions in East Jerusalem.

Structures demolished by their owners. During the first quarter of 2023, 32 per cent of the structures demolished in East Jerusalem (24 out of 79 structures) were destroyed by their owners following the issuance of demolition orders, compared with 27 per cent in the previous five years. The proportion of structures destroyed by their owners represents a 37 percent increase compared with the equivalent period in 2022. About one quarter of this year’s demolished homes were reported in Jabal al Mukabbir area, resulting in the displacement of three households, comprising 22 people, including 14 children. These demolitions are supported through Israeli legislation which limits the authority of Israeli courts to intervene and enables the Jerusalem Municipality to exert pressure on families to demolish their properties themselves. In one such incident, in the Silwan area of East Jerusalem, the affected family paid around 100,000NIS in fines since 2017 for building without a permit before they received a final demolition order in February 2023, following which they were forced to self-demolish their home. In addition to demolitions on grounds of lacking a permit, Silwan is one of the neighborhoods most affected by settlement activity, with at least 470 Palestinians at risk of eviction due to legal action by settler organizations, out of at least 970 Palestinians in such a situation in all of East Jerusalem.

Risk of eviction from East Jerusalem. Furthermore, in East Jerusalem, on 15 March, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a request to appeal by a Palestinian family (Sub-Laban/Gaith family) against eviction from their home in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem where they have been living since 1954, and the transfer of the property to an Israeli settler organization. Two elderly members of the Sub-Laban/Gaith family currently reside in the family home, while six members, including two children of the same family were already evicted in January 2017. Forced evictions are a gross violation of human rights. Forced evictions resulting in displacement could amount to forcible transfer, which is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. 

According to OCHA, at least 218 Palestinian households have eviction cases filed against them so far, the majority initiated by settler organizations, placing at least 970 people, including 424 children, at risk of displacement.

Punitive demolition or sealing. Furthermore, during the first quarter of 2023, six Palestinian-owned homes and one agricultural-related structure were demolished or sealed by the Israeli authorities on punitive grounds, in response to Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis that occurred in 2022 and 2023. Three of these structures were in Area B, one in Area C and three in East Jerusalem. As a result, nine households were displaced (comprising 43 people, including 14 children) and 18 households were otherwise affected (comprising 92 people, including 51 children). These punitive demolitions are a form of collective punishment, prohibited under international law and often trigger confrontations and clashes between the Palestinian communities and Israeli forces. In 2023, clashes erupted during punitive demolitions, in which Israeli forces shot and killed four Palestinians, including one child, and injured 43 others.

(Source: OCHA)

China Proposes Legislation That Critics Say May Increase Overseas Surveillance

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Xiaoshan Xue & Adrianna Zhang

Concerned over its shrinking population, China is proposing new legislation to encourage ethnic Chinese around the world to relocate to China, bringing with them technical and entrepreneurial skills learned abroad.

Changes aimed at creating a more welcoming environment for millions of “the Chinese sons and daughters at home and abroad” are laid out in an April 24 report to the National People’s Congress. However, critics fear the new policy could also open a back door to increased monitoring and harassment of overseas Chinese.

The proposed legislation comes after China reported in January that its population had fallen for the first time in six decades, a decline that began a decade or so earlier that will have profound implications for its economy and the world.

Frederic Rocafort, an attorney and former U.S. consular officer in Guangzhou, said while declining population numbers may not reach a level of concern that calls for large-scale immigration, any country can benefit from adding talent to its workforce.

“Overseas Chinese could also play a role in increasing Han populations in certain areas. Meanwhile, Overseas Chinese could help China address demographic challenges by encouraging settlement in China by members of the diaspora,” Rocafort, international practice group chair at Harris Bricken, a law firm based in Seattle, told VOA Mandarin via email on April 26. “At the same time, there are also economic reasons, such as encouraging the diaspora to invest in China — it is also a way of accelerating technological development. Members of the diaspora could also contribute favorably to China’s economic agenda.”

Han are the dominant ethnic group within China.

Overseas Chinese total 10.7 million, according to a UNESCO report. If the descendants of Chinese immigration that began on a large scale in the 16th century are included, there are about 60 million overseas Chinese, according to the report. The UNESCO report says, “Since the 1980s, over two-thirds of the foreign investment accepted by the Chinese government has come from expatriates.”

The government-affiliated Global Times, says the 60 million overseas Chinese are found “across 200 countries and regions.” The proposed legislation does not define who is “overseas Chinese,” saying only that “the profound Chinese culture is the common soul.”

It is unclear whether the new legislation will regulate the details of the overseas activities of Chinese government organizations.

The report also suggested continuing to promote “the construction of harmonious overseas Chinese communities and guiding overseas Chinese to abide by the laws of the country where they live.”

Last month, the FBI arrested two New York City residents for allegedly operating an underground, illegal police station for China’s Ministry of Public Security in one of the city’s Chinese enclaves. Both men are American citizens and one had “a long-standing relationship of trust” with the Chinese government, according to prosecutors.

The station, one of more than 100 that China operates worldwide, allegedly monitored and harassed Chinese activists and dissidents in the United States as part of what U.S. prosecutors call China’s “transnational repression” campaign.

Rocafort said strengthening ties to the diaspora is a way of counteracting the increasing negativity toward the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in countries like the U.S.

“Overseas Chinese might be perceived within China as more receptive to more nuanced views on the CCP, which they could then transmit to audiences in other countries where they have ties,” he said.

Rocafort believes that irrespective of how this proposed law may define overseas Chinese, it is almost certain that many American citizens who are ethnically Chinese will fall under the category.

He urged the United States government to consider the implications of American citizens being more tightly brought into the Chinese government’s orbit and to take notice of any provisions that call for activities overseas by any Chinese government organizations (or organizations potentially linked to the Chinese government), “even if ostensibly benign, as they could help deepen CCP influence abroad.”

“Countries like the United States must be vigilant and carefully monitor any attempts by the Chinese government to increase its influence abroad under the guise of protecting diaspora communities,” he said. “Their potential as advocates for the CCP is likely part of what is behind efforts to promote integration by overseas Chinese.”

Teng Biao, a former human rights activist in China who is now a visiting professor at the University of Chicago, told VOA that one purpose of the legislation is to protect Chinese people who break local laws in foreign countries.

He said if the legislation passes, China’s “infiltration and overseas surveillance will be intensified. The lure of overseas Chinese, including foreign citizens of Chinese descent, always functions together with the harassment and attacks against overseas activists and dissidents.”

(Source: Voa News)

China’s foreign minister touts ‘friendship’ on Myanmar visit

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China’s foreign minister has met Myanmar’s top general in Naypyidaw, hailing the “friendship” between the two nations and pledging to boost ties as violence escalates in the Southeast Asian country two years after a military coup.

Qin Gang’s meeting with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Tuesday makes the diplomat the highest-ranking Chinese official to meet Myanmar’s coup leader since he snatched power from the elected government in February 2021.

China is a major ally and arms supplier of the internationally isolated military and has refused to condemn Min Aung Hlaing’s takeover.

The coup, which deposed elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, prompted widespread peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with deadly force. Thousands of people have been killed in the crackdown, leading to armed resistance throughout the country that the military has been unable to quell.

The Chinese CGTN broadcaster said Qin told Min Aung Hlaing that Beijing attaches “great importance” to its “friendship” with Myanmar and said the two men agreed to “further promote comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries”.

“China advocates that the international community should respect Myanmar’s sovereignty and play a constructive role in helping it achieving peace and reconciliation,” Qin said, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.

Myanmar’s state-run MRTV quoted Qin as saying that his visit “not only indicates the friendship of the two countries but also China’s stance on Myanmar on the world stage”.

For his part, the general told Qin he appreciated Beijing’s “objective and fair stance on Myanmar-related issues and welcomes China to play a greater role”.

Major arms supplier

China has strategic geopolitical and economic interests in Myanmar, its southern neighbour, and is one of the few large nations that has maintained good relations with its military since the coup.

Along with Russia, Beijing is a major arms supplier to Myanmar’s military. It is also Myanmar’s biggest trading partner and has invested billions of dollars in the neighbouring country’s mines, oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure.

China’s Foreign Ministry said earlier that Qin’s visit would follow up on the outcomes of President Xi Jinping’s visit in January 2020, deepen cooperation and “support Myanmar’s efforts to maintain stability, revitalize the economy, improve people’s lives, and realise sustainable development”.

Qin’s meetings in Naypyidaw also included a meeting with Than Shwe, a 90-year-old former general who ruled Myanmar for nearly two decades until he stepped down in 2011, paving the way for a transition to civilian rule that ended with Min Aung Hlaing’s coup.

During the meeting, Qin praised Than Shwe’s “important contribution to the development of China-Myanmar relations”, while the former general thanked Beijing for its “strong assistance to Myanmar’s economic and social development”.

Qin also made an unusual trip to the China-Myanmar border on Tuesday, where he called for stability and a crackdown on cross-border criminal activity.

The 2,129km (1,323-mile) frontier runs through densely forested mountains and has long been notorious for drug smuggling into China from the “Golden Triangle” region where the borders of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet.

The United Nations says the production of opium in Myanmar has flourished since the military seized power in 2021, with the cultivation of poppies up by a third in the past year as eradication efforts dropped off and the faltering economy lured more people into the drug trade.

Qin’s visit to Myanmar came a day after he met Noeleen Heyzer, the UN’s special envoy for Myanmar, in Beijing.

Qin told Heyzer that international society should respect Myanmar’s sovereignty and support all parties in Myanmar within the constitutional and legal framework to bridge differences and resume a political transition through dialogue, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency.

Qin also said the Myanmar issue was complex and there was no “quick fix,” it said.

Heyzer called for dialogue between the opposing sides in Myanmar and said the will of the country’s people should be respected.

She added that the UN appreciated China’s “important role in promoting the settlement of the Myanmar issue” and called on Beijing to make “positive contributions” to the country’s peace, stability and development.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

هل يؤدي “تشات جي بي تي” اشتراكي إلى خسارة الصين معركتها من أجل القيادة العالمية؟

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باتت الصين أول دولة تسن قواعد لتنظيم تطوير تطبيقات المحادثة القائمة على تكنولوجيات الذكاء الاصطناعي مثل “تشات جي بي تي”. الأولوية المعطاة لهذا التطوير والتنظيم هي الحرص على احترام تطبيقات المحادثة هذه “القيم المركزية للاشتراكية”، وهو مفهوم يفتقر بشدة للتعريف، حتى في الصين نفسها، وقد يؤدي في النهاية إلى تخلف شركاتها عن نظيرتها في أمريكا الشمالية.

هل الذكاء الاصطناعي على غرار “تشات جي بي تي” قابل للانصهار والتوافق مع القيم الاشتراكية على الطريقة الصينية؟ إن هذا بالضبط ما تريد بكين ترويج إمكانيته، فقد نشرت للتو لوائح جديدة لتأطير وتعزيز تطوير هذه التكنولوجيا وفقا لعقيدة النظام الاشتراكي، وذلك حسب صحيفة نيويورك تايمز في مقالها المنشور يوم الأربعاء 26 أبريل/نيسان.

هذه الإجراءات، التي قدمت إلى سلطات الحزب الشيوعي الصيني في 11 أبريل/نيسان للمصادقة عليها، تجعل من الصين أول دولة تفرض قواعد على هذا القطاع التكنولوجي الواعد، الذي بدأ في الازدهار منذ إصدار “تشات جي بي تي” تطبيق المحادثة الذكي الذي طورته شركة “أوبن آي” في نوفمبر/تشرين الثاني عام 2022.

مخاوف من انحرافات الذكاء الاصطناعي

يشرح غوانيو تشياو فرانكو، متخصص في التكنولوجيات الناشئة في الصين من جامعة رادبود (هولندا) بالقول: “أرادت بكين التحرك وأخذ زمام المبادرة في أسرع وقت ممكن لأنه كما هو الحال في جميع البلدان، فقد فهم القادة الصينيون أن هذه التكنولوجيا سيكون لها تأثير عميق على المجتمع”.

لذلك فإنه من المستحيل، بالنسبة لنظام حريص للغاية على السيطرة، أن يترك تطبيقات المحادثة تلك دون رقابة. لا سيما وأن بكين تعرف ما يمكن أن ينتج عن تلك التكنولوجيا. وفي فبراير/شباط 2022، سحبت السلطات تطبيق “تشات يوان”، أول بديل صيني لـ”تشات جي بي تي”، على وجه السرعة بعد أن ذكر أن الاقتصاد الصيني كان في “حالة يرثى لها” وأن الصراع في أوكرانيا كان “حربا عدوانية روسية”، بينما تتبنى الصين الخطاب الروسي الذي يستخدم تعبير “عملية عسكرية خاصة”.

وتهدف القواعد الجديدة إلى تجنب الزلات التي يقع فيها الذكاء الاصطناعي. فبصورة ملموسة وحسب صحيفة “ساوث تشاينا مورنينغ بوست”، فإنه يجب على الشركات الصينية المطورة لتطبيقات بديلة  لـ”تشات جي بي تي” التأكد من أن خوارزمياتها لا تنتج محتوىً تمييزيًا، ولا تنتهك خصوصية مستخدمي الإنترنت، ولا تنشر معلومات كاذبة. وهي المخاوف ذاتها التي تنتاب الحكومات في جميع أنحاء العالم في مواجهة تحديات الذكاء الاصطناعي.

لكن المادة 4 من هذه القواعد واللوائح الجديدة تتضمن أيضا التزامًا بتصميم تطبيقات ذكاء اصطناعي “يحترم القيم المركزية للاشتراكية [الصينية]”. فهل هي دعوة صريحة لجعل روبوتات المحادثة تتوافق مع قواعد “الكتاب الأحمر” الصغير لماو تسي تونغ؟ في الواقع، “هناك قائمة بالمفاهيم المدرجة في القيم المركزية للاشتراكية”، كما يؤكد غوانيو تشياو فرانكو. هناك، على وجه الخصوص، الديمقراطية والازدهار والمساواة والعدالة والوطنية والشعور بالواجب أو حتى التعلق بقيم العمل.

هل الهدف من كل ذلك هو إرضاء شي جينبينغ؟

هي إذن خليط من القيم العظيمة التي تتشاركها أيضا معظم الدول الغربية. لكن من الصعب وضع قواعد يجب اتباعها عند تطوير خوارزميات الذكاء الاصطناعي المتوافقة مع هذه “الاشتراكية”. غوانيو تشياو فرانكو يقول إنه “صحيح أن هذه مفاهيم غامضة إلى حد ما”.

في الواقع، “يجب علينا تخيل أن فكرة ’القيم المركزية للاشتراكية‘ هي مفهوم شامل يسمح للنظام بمرونة معينة فيما يتعلق بما هو مسموح به أم لا” كما يؤكد شين صن، المتخصص في السياسة الاقتصادية والصناعية الصينية. في مواجهة تكنولوجيا تتطور بسرعة مثل تطبيقات المحادثة بالذكاء الاصطناعي، تعاني بكين قليلا في تحديد أين تضع مؤشر رقابتها بالضبط. إن مفهوم “القيم المركزية للاشتراكية” هذا غير واضح بما يكفي ما يجعله قابلا للتكيف مع جميع المواقف.

ومع ذلك، فإن استخدام هذا الشعار مثير للدهشة في حد ذاته. ففي الواقع، سنت السلطات بالفعل قواعد “الحوكمة الجيدة للذكاء الاصطناعي” في عام 2019 كجزء من “تشريع أخلاقي للذكاء الاصطناعي” في عام 2021، ولم يظهر أي توجه لإدراج “القيم المركزية للاشتراكية” في هاتين المدونتين السابقتين.

لكن في عام 2023، قرر واضع التشريع الذهاب بعيدا. فهو ربما كان ميالا إلى اتباع خطى الرئيس “شي جينبينغ الذي يشير بشكل متزايد إلى هذه القيم. وربما كان ذلك من باب إظهار أننا نضع أنفسنا على الطريق لاتباع مثال الزعيم ” كما يقول غوانيو تشياو فرانكو.

في هذه الفرضية، سينضم الذكاء الاصطناعي إلى العدد المتزايد من قطاعات الاقتصاد الخاضعة للرقابة والسيطرة الإيديولوجية، وقد أصبح بالفعل أحد أولويات الرئيس جينبينغ.

وهو ما سيعقد الأمر بشدة أمام الشركات الصينية التي ترغب في منافسة “تشات جي بي تي”. كيف يمكن تطوير ذكاء اصطناعي “متوافق اشتراكيا”؟ يجيب شن صن بالقول: “من البديهي في هذه الحالة من وضع مرشحات على المدخلات في الخوارزميات وأخرى على المخرجات”.

هل حكم إذن على الشركات الصينية بأن تتخلف عن ملاحقة نظيرتها الأمريكية؟

ستستلزم هذه الرقابة المزدوجة أولا فرز المعلومات في قاعدة البيانات التي تغذي الذكاء الاصطناعي للعثور على إجاباته. ثم “من المحتمل أن يكون من الضروري إنشاء نظام للتحقق من الإجابات النهائية للتأكد من أنها لا تحتوي على أي شيء مخالف للوائح” حسب شين صن.

لكن السر الكبير المتعلق بتطوير الذكاء الاصطناعي لا يزال محجوبا. “فالمشكلة هي أننا لا نعرف على الإطلاق لماذا تختار هذه الآلات إجابة واحدة بدلا من أخرى بناء على البيانات التي نقدمها لها”، كما يوضح لفرانس 24 جوزيف سيفاكيس، مدير الأبحاث في جامعة غرونوبل والحائز الفرنسي الوحيد على جائزة تورينغ (أي ما يعادل جائزة نوبل للذكاء الاصطناعي). بعبارة أخرى، لن يتمكن أي مهندس من أن يضمن للحزب الشيوعي الصيني بنسبة 100 بالمئة أن روبوت المحادثة الخاص به سيبقى بشكل صارم في إطار “القيم المركزية للاشتراكية”.

إضافة إلى حالة عدم اليقين الأولية هذه يجب أن نضيف أيضا ما يحيط باللوائح الجديدة. “إن أكثر ما يطالب به رجال الأعمال الصينيون هو الوضوح فيما لديهم الحق في القيام به وما لا يجب أن يقوموا به” ” حسب غوانيو تشياو فرانكو. يجادل شين صن بأن هذا الغموض حول “القيم المركزية للاشتراكية” يجبر “الشركات على المضي قدما بحذر شديد مما يخاطر بوضعها في موقف صعب بالمنافسة، وخاصة مع أمريكا الشمالية”.

وفي ذلك من الكفاية بما يضع السلطات الصينية أمام تناقضاتها الخاصة. في الحقيقة، يعد الذكاء الاصطناعي جزءا من قائمة القطاعات التكنولوجية ذات الأولوية لبكين في معركتها من أجل القيادة العالمية. بل إنه أمر مركزي لأن السلطات “تعتبر الذكاء الاصطناعي يشبه إلى حد ما الكهرباء، أي تقنية تسمح بالتطوير في مجالات أخرى ذات أولوية [مثل الروبوتات أو التكنولوجيا الحيوية – أسرة التحرير]”، كما يؤكد غوانيو تشياو فرانكو.

لذلك فإن بكين ستصعب المهمة للغاية على نفسها بهذه القواعد الجديدة التي تخاطر بإبطاء الابتكار في قطاع أساسي. لكن “الدول الأخرى ستفكر هي أيضا في أفضل طريقة لتنظيم هذا القطاع”، كما يؤكد غوانيو تشياو فرانكو وهو ما سيحد من التأخير الأولي للصين.

لا يزال من الضروري إذن أن تتفق السلطات والمطورون في هذا القطاع على تعريف التوافق مع الاشتراكية على الطريقة الصينية عند تطوير تطبيقات المحادثة الذكية. سيكون هذا تحديدا موضوع المشاورات التي تعتزم الحكومة إجراءها مع المجموعات الصناعية الصينية التي تريد منافسة “تشات جي بي تي”. وعدد هذه المجموعات لا شك كبير ويتضمن أسماء شهيرة ومتنفذة مثل علي بابا وبايدو وتينسنت.

النص الفرنسي: سيباستيان سايبت | النص العربي: حسين عمارة

(المصدر: فرانس 24)

“هجوم ديموغرافي مضاد”.. لماذا ينشر مؤثرون هندوس بيانات مضللة عن عدد المسلمين في الهند؟

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يكرر آميت أبادهياي معلومات مضللة عبر الإنترنت، مدعيا معرفته سبب زيادة عدد السكان في الهند بقوله إن جيرانه المسلمين ينجبون كثيرا من الأطفال، ولذلك يتعين على الهندوسيات أن ينجبن أكثر.

وهذا الصيدلي واحد من عديد من المؤثرين الهندوس على وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي الذين نجحوا في جذب جمهور عريض عبر نشر بيانات ديموغرافية خاطئة، للادعاء بأن الهند تخضع لإعادة تشكيل لتصبح دولة مسلمة.

وبالنسبة إليهم، إن إعلان بلادهم الأكثر تعدادا للسكان في العالم الشهر الماضي لم يكن مدعاة للاحتفال، بل دعوة من أجل العمل، وذلك وفق تقرير بثته وكالة الصحافة الفرنسية.

ويقول أبادهياي، الذي يدير من بيته في ولاية أوتار براديش صفحة ذات شعبية على فيسبوك، “أقول لكل زبائني الهندوس إن عليهم إنجاب مزيد من الأطفال لمواجهة المسلمين.. وإلا سيصبحون (المسلمون) تهديدا وسيقومون بمحو الديانة الهندوسية من الهند”.

ويشارك أبادهياي بشكل متكرر منشورات معادية للإسلام على صفحته التي يتابعها نحو 40 ألف حساب.

وحذر منشور في أبريل/نيسان الماضي من مؤامرة مزعومة للمسلمين “لمضاعفة عدد سكانهم من أجل السيطرة على الهند”.

ويبلغ عدد سكان الهند 1,4 مليار شخص، بينهم 210 ملايين مسلم. لكن معدل الولادات انخفض لدى الجميع في العقود الأخيرة بالتوازي مع الاتجاهات العالمية.

ووفقا لأحدث مسح وطني لصحة الأسرة في البلاد، بلغ معدل الخصوبة الكلي 2,0 طفل لكل امرأة، ويرتفع بشكل هامشي لدى المسلمات ليصبح 2,3.

وأفادت توقعات -صدرت في العام ذاته عن مركز بيو للأبحاث- بأن عدد المسلمين في الهند سيصبح 311 مليونا بحلول عام 2050.

وعلى الرغم من أعدادهم المتزايدة، سيبقى المسلمون أقلية في البلاد التي سيصبح عدد سكانها 1,7 مليار نسمة في منتصف القرن، حسب توقعات المركز الأميركي.

لكن هذا لا يمنع انتشار معلومات مضللة بشكل كبير في البلاد، عبر فيسبوك وتطبيق واتساب وغيرهما من منصات التواصل الاجتماعي، تدعي بأن الهند في طريقها لتصبح دولة ذات أغلبية مسلمة.

وفي تعليق ساخر مرحب بتجاوز الهند للصين من ناحية عدد السكان، شكر المنشور السكان المسلمين “لإنجابهم من 5 إلى 10 أطفال” لكل شخص.

وحذّر منشور آخر -عبر تويتر- من أن الديانة الهندوسية قد تختفي قريبا، وستقوم الغالبية المسلمة المفترضة باستبدال “الشريعة الإسلامية” بدستور البلاد، على حد تعبير كاتبه.

نظريات مؤامرة

وكانت نظريات مؤامرة تدعي وجود مخطط إسلامي لضمان التفوق العددي للمسلمين في الهند جزءا من الدعاية القومية الهندوسية لسنوات.

ويتبنى اليمين المتطرف في دول أخرى نظريات مشابهة تقول إن الأقليات والمهاجرين “يحلون محل” غالبية السكان.

وهذه النظريات لقيت في بعض الأحيان دعما من حزب “بهاراتيا جاناتا” الهندوسي القومي الذي يتزعمه رئيس الوزراء ناريندرا مودي.

وكان النائب من الحزب القومي الهندوسي راكيش سينها قدّم عام 2019 مشروع قانون يقترح تحديد عدد الأطفال في الهند بطفلين لكل منزل، وقد حصل مشروعه على دعم 125 من النواب الآخرين.

وتم سحب هذا المشروع بعد اتهامات من منتقدي النائب باستهداف المسلمين بعد أن ألقى خطابا ركز فيه على نسب الولادة المتفاوتة بين الهندوس والمسلمين، وهو الأمر الذي نفاه النائب.

وعادت هذه الادعاءات إلى الواجهة بُعيد إعلان الأمم المتحدة أبريل/نيسان الماضي تفوق الهند على الصين في ما يخص عدد السكان.

وفي خطاب عام، قال إشوار لال، وهو عضو في جماعة قومية هندوسية مرتبطة بالحزب الحاكم، إن “الهندوس يتزوجون مرة واحدة وينجبون طفلين، بينما يتزوج المسلمون 4 مرات وينجبون كثيرا من الأطفال، إذ بإمكانهم تشكيل فرق كريكت خاصة بهم”.

وفي الشهر ذاته، حضّت خطبة دينية -في موقع حج شهير عند سفوح الهيمالايا- الهندوس على شن “هجوم ديموغرافي مضاد”.

وقال الكاهن رافيندرا بوري لحشد من المئات في الموقع الديني إن “الهندوس تراجعوا من إنجاب طفلين إلى إنجاب طفل واحد”، مؤكدا أن “هذا يسبب خللا في التوازن السكاني”.

واعتبر الكاهن أن الحل يتمثل في أن ينجب المؤمنون الهندوس 3 أطفال: “واحد لخدمة الوطن، والثاني للاعتناء بالمنزل، والأخير لخدمة الدين ليصبح كاهنا”.

وكان الرئيس السابق لمفوضية الانتخابات الهندية ش. ي. قريشي كتب على نطاق واسع عن انتشار المعلومات المضللة حول نسب الولادة لدى المسلمين في الهند.

وقال إن الادعاءات بأن المسلمين سيصبحون قريبا الديانة ذات الأغلبية في الهند أصبحت أداة “دعائية” بارزة للقوميين الهندوس.

وأكد لوكالة الصحافة الفرنسية “يواصلون استفزاز الهندوس لإنجاب مزيد من الأطفال عبر إثارة الخوف من أن المسلمين سيفوقونهم عددا”، ولكنه أشار “هذا لن يحدث أبدا”.

المصدر : الفرنسية

India’s ties with Russia remain steady. But Moscow’s tighter embrace of China makes it wary

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Sumathi Bala

India’s relationship with Russia remains steadfast as both sides seek to deepen their economic ties. But Moscow has also grown close to Beijing since invading Ukraine, and that raises critical national security concerns for New Delhi.

Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar recently said the country was ready to restart free trade negotiations with Russia.

“Our partnership today is a subject of attention and comment, not because it has changed, but because it has not,” he said, describing the relationship as “among the steadiest” in the world.

Russia also wants to “intensify” free trade discussions with India, Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said during a visit to Delhi. Manturov is also Moscow’s trade minister.

Despite the display of economic cooperation, India’s leaders are “carefully watching” as Russia becomes more isolated and moves closer to “China’s corner,” said Harsh V. Pant, vice president for studies and foreign policy at Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank.

Russia’s “weak and vulnerable position” and growing reliance on China for economic and strategic reasons, will definitely be worrying for India, he told CNBC.

It’s becoming “more difficult with every passing day because of the closeness that we are witnessing between Beijing and Moscow,” Pant noted. “The pressure on India is increasing, it certainly would not like to see that happen.”

New Delhi will try as much as possible to avoid a potential “Russia-China alliance or axis,” Pant added. “As that will have far reaching consequences and will fundamentally alter India’s foreign policy and strategic calculation.”

There are national interest reasons “why India continues to buy cheap Russian oil and trade with them, this FTA is part of that,” said Sreeram Chaulia, dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs in New Delhi.

But it appears “this relationship is going down from being a very high-value strategic partnership to a transactional one,” he noted, adding Moscow’s “tighter embrace of China” doesn’t bode well for India’s national security needs.

India, which holds the current G-20 presidency, still hasn’t condemned Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

A reliable partner?

In its latest foreign policy doctrine published in late March, Russia noted it will “continue to build up a particularly privileged strategic partnership” with India.

New Delhi’s longstanding ties with Moscow date back to the Cold War. It remains heavily dependent on the Kremlin for its military equipment. This defense cooperation is vital given India’s tensions along the Himalayan border with an increasingly assertive China, said ORF’s Pant.

But Russia hasn’t been able to deliver critical defense supplies it had committed to India’s military due to the Ukraine war, which could strain the relationship, said analysts.

In March, the Indian Armed Forces acknowledged to a parliamentary committee that a “major delivery ” from Russia “is not going to take place” in a report. “They have given us in writing that they are not able to deliver it,” the IAF official said. The report did not mention the specifics of the delivery.

“Russia has already delayed the delivery of S-400 anti-missile delivery systems to India due to the pressures of the Ukraine war,” said the Jindal School’s Chaulia. “So, there is a big question mark on Russia’s reliability.”

India’s reliance on Moscow, historically, was seen as pivotal “to help moderate China’s aggression,” he added, to maintain a stable balance of power against Beijing.

Now, the country cannot expect Russia to play “the same strategic role for India as it used to prior to the Ukraine war. That’s because of the technological degradation of its military and weakening position as a result of the war,” he said.

‘No limits’ partnership

Still, Indian authorities will continue to make every “effort till last minute” to create “some space,” in the Russia-China dynamic, Pant added, “so that the space could be exploited by India to ensure its leverage over Moscow remains intact.”

But China is also making moves to strengthen its ties with Russia. In March, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and the two leaders vowed to deepen their relations.

Both sides sealed a “no limits” partnership in February last year — just before Russia invaded Ukraine — and agreed to have no “forbidden” areas of cooperation.

A “Russian tilt” in favor of Beijing “would clearly be bad for India” if war broke out between both nations, noted Felix K. Chang, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a Philadelphia-based think tank.

Even without a war, “China’s warm relationship with Russia could encourage Beijing to pursue its interests more forcefully in South Asia, whether on its disputed Himalayan border or with India’s surrounding neighbors,” he wrote in April. “That too could shift the power balance between China and India and lead to greater regional tensions.” 

So India needs to “pick up the pace” in its embrace of the West, Chang added, “given how close the Russian-Ukrainian war has brought China and Russia.”

Move toward the U.S.

The West recognizes the challenge India faces in the Indo-Pacific region, said Pant from ORF, “that it needs Moscow in managing Beijing in the short to medium term, given its defense relationship with Russia.”

“That sensitivity is, perhaps, what’s driving the Western outreach to India, despite differences over  Ukraine,” he said, adding national security concerns are driving India closer to the U.S.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts from Australia and Japan at the third Quad leaders summit in Sydney on May 24. The Quad is an informal security alignment of the four major democracies that was forged in response to China’s rising strength in the Indo-Pacific.

While America sees “China as the main challenger to U.S. global primacy, it does not see India that way,” said Rajan Menon, director of the grand strategy program at Defense Priorities, a Washington-based think tank.

“To the contrary it views India, nowadays, as a partner to counterbalance China,” he noted.

“That overlapping strategic interest explains why Washington has not reacted to India’s alignment with Moscow in the way it has to the ‘no-limits’ friendship China has forged with Russia,” Menon said.

As for Russia, how it balances this evolving India-China dynamic will be its biggest test, noted Pant.

“It’ll be interesting to see how this triangle works. In the past, it had worked because there was this uniform sense among the three countries to talk of a multipolar world, where American unipolarity was the target,” he noted.

“Today, for India, it’s China’s attempt at creating hegemony in the Indo-Pacific is the target. For Russia and China, the priorities are different than for India,” Pant added. “Russia’s ability to manage India and China will be under the scanner,” as far as New Delhi is concerned.

(Source: CNBC)