The External Affairs Ministry asserted that it reserves the right to “suitably respond” to such actions.
India has described as “unacceptable” China issuing stapled visas to some sportspersons from Arunachal Pradesh and asserted that it reserves the right to “suitably respond” to such actions.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said today that India has already lodged its “strong protest” with the Chinese side on the matter.
Mr Bagchi said it has come to the government’s notice that stapled visas were issued to some Indian citizens who were to represent the country at an international sporting event in China.
“This is unacceptable and we have lodged our strong protest with the Chinese side reiterating our consistent position on the matter and India reserves the right to suitably respond to such actions,” Mr Bagchi said.
US President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping (L) shake hands as they meet on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 14, 2022. Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images
Half of Americans polled widely view China as the biggest threat facing the U.S., a new Pew research center survey revealed.
In an open-ended question, Americans were asked to name any country as the greatest threat to the U.S. — 50% named China.
This was almost three times more than the share who named Russia (17%), said Pew in its latest survey published on Thursday.
While it’s difficult to compare responses from year to year, Pew noted that “Americans have not always seen China as the top threat to the United States.”
“When we last asked a question of this sort in 2019, equal shares of Americans pointed to China and Russia as the greatest threat facing their country,” it said.
The survey reflects Americans’ view of China have become more negative over time — particularly since 2020, added Pew. The poll covered more than 3,500 adults in the U.S. from March 20 to 26 2023.
“The share of Americans with an unfavorable opinion of China has risen from 79% in 2020 to 83% in 2023,” said Laura Clancy, a research analyst at Pew research center.
“In that time, the center had asked Americans about several specific issues including the partnership between China and Russia, which 62% call a very serious problem for the U.S.,” she told CNBC via email.
Fraught relations
U.S.-Chinese relations recently hit their lowest point in years. Tensions have escalated over a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon which flew over the United States.
The battle for technological supremacy between the two economic superpowers has also led to punitive measures like trade and investment restrictions in tech.
Beijing’s closer ties with Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine, as well as China’s continued aggression over the Taiwan Strait, also roiled relations between the two countries.
“There are a number of problems, we’ve asked about that Americans can name … in the U.S.-China relationship, including China’s policies on human rights and its growing technological power,” said Pew’s Clancy.
“Generally speaking, people who see any of these problems as very serious are also more likely to have negative views of China.”
Large majorities of those polled also saw China as an economic and national security threat. 78% said Beijing posed a great of threat to the U.S. economy and 73% to security.
In contrast, only 36% found Russia posed a great deal of threat to the economy and 66% to security.
Mending ties
The survey findings come on the back of a flurry of diplomatic engagements between the two countries in recent weeks, aimed at soothing ties.
Last week, veteran U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a surprise visit to Beijing, according to state media. The warm welcome that Kissinger got in Beijing was seen as the latest example of China’s efforts to go outside diplomatic channels to influence Washington.
The Biden administration has also sought to restart high-level contacts with China through recent high-profile diplomatic visits.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry have all visited Beijing recently.
The countries have raised objections in preparatory talks for a summit in Johannesburg next month where Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will discuss potentially expanding the group to include Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
China has repeatedly lobbied for expansion during those meetings, said the officials.
India and Brazil are pushing back against a Chinese bid to rapidly expand the BRICS group of emerging markets to grow its political clout and counter the US, officials with knowledge of the matter said.
The countries have raised objections in preparatory talks for a summit in Johannesburg next month where Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will discuss potentially expanding the group to include Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. China has repeatedly lobbied for expansion during those meetings, said the officials, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private.
Dozens of other nations are also clamoring to join the alliance, fueling western concerns the group is moving to become a counterweight to Washington and the European Union.
Brazil wants to avoid expansion partly because of these worries, while India wants strict rules on how and when other nations could move closer to the group, without formally expanding it. Any decision will require consensus among the members who will meet Aug. 22-24.
India and Brazil want to use the summit to discuss potentially bringing in additional countries with observer status, the officials said. South Africa supports discussing different membership options to accommodate this, but doesn’t necessarily oppose expansion, two of the officials said.
“The BRICS leaders meeting last year authorized the expansion of membership, adding more members to BRICS is the political consensus of the five BRICS countries,” China’s foreign ministry said in a response to Bloomberg.
The meeting aims to showcase the bloc’s goals to establish itself as a serious political and economic force. The group has already discussed the potential establishment of a common currency, although significant progress toward that goal isn’t expected.
The summit comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing, and after South Africa fretted over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attendance. He’ll participate virtually so South Africa doesn’t have to execute an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for him.
BRICS members have refused to join the likes of the Group of Seven in blaming and sanctioning Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, although the New Development Bank started by BRICS froze Russian projects and Moscow hasn’t been able to access dollars via the bloc’s shared foreign currency system.
Russia does not hold a firm position on expanding BRICS said Fyodor Lukyanov, head of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, which advises the Kremlin.
“It’s broadly in favor of BRICS expansion, but without any huge enthusiasm. It’s following the others’ lead. We won’t block any decision.”
Formed officially in 2009-2010, the bloc has struggled to have the kind of geopolitical influence that matches its collective economic reach. Current BRICS members represent more than 42% of the world’s population and account for 23% of global gross domestic product and 18% of trade.
Draft rules for admission to the group were drawn up after India’s opposition to China’s push for expansion, said two Indian officials. The guidelines are expected to be discussed and adopted during the leader’s summit next month, the officials said.
India has put forward the idea that BRICS nations should look to emerging economies as well as democracies like Argentina and Nigeria if they want to expand the group, rather than Saudi Arabia, with its dynastic and autocratic rule, one of the officials said.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed issues with Saudi Arabia’s potential admission with the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman last month, the official said. The Ministry of External Affairs in India didn’t comment. Saudi Arabia’s government didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Joining BRICS would bolster Crown Prince Mohammed’s attempts to diversify his nation’s economy, an effort that has bought it closer to Russia and China in recent years. China is the kingdom’s top oil customer, while it relies on relations with Russia for the OPEC+ alliance.
“The Saudis are having their Asian moment right now,” said Saudi analyst Salman Al-Ansari, who said bilateral trade is expected to grow exponentially.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 14, 2023. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana//File Photo
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that while Ukraine has recaptured half the territory that Russia initially seized in its invasion, Kyiv faced “a very hard fight” to win back more.
“It’s already taken back about 50% of what was initially seized,” Blinken said in an interview with CNN on Sunday.
“These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough,” he said, adding: “It will not play out over the next week or two. We’re still looking I think at several months.”
Late last month, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was quoted as saying that the counteroffensive’s progress against Russian forces was “slower than desired.”
Ukraine has recaptured some villages in the south and territory around the ruined city of Bakhmut in the east, but has not had a major breakthrough against heavily defended Russian lines.
When asked if Ukraine will get U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, Blinken said he believed it would. “And the important focus is on making sure that when they do, they’re properly trained, they’re able to maintain the planes, and use them in a smart way.”
A view through a train window shows the section of a road split and sloping to one side following an alleged attack on the Crimea Bridge, that connects the Russian mainland with the Crimean peninsula across the Kerch Strait, in this still image from video taken July 17, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that the bridge linking the Crimea peninsula to Russia “brings war not peace” and was therefore a military target.
Explosions on the Crimea bridge on Monday killed two civilians and put part of the road bridge out of service, which had only recently returned to full operation after being severely damaged in a similar attack in October.
Ukraine welcomed Monday’s attack, but officials did not directly claim responsibility, and Moscow blamed Ukraine. Crimea was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014 and Kyiv wants to reclaim it as it fights back against Russia’s 17-month-long full-scale invasion.
The road and rail bridge, built by Russia and brought into service in 2018 was “not just a logistical road”, said Zelenskiy, speaking by video link to the Aspen security conference in the United States.
“This is the route used to feed the war with ammunition and this is being done on a daily basis. And it militarises the Crimean peninsula,” Zelenskiy said in comments heard through an interpreter.
“For us, this is understandably an enemy facility built outside international laws and all applicable norms. So, understandably, this is a target for us. And a target that is bringing war, not peace, has to be neutralised.”
Zelenskiy, answering questions from a moderator, denied any link between the attack and Russia’s withdrawal this week from a U.N.-backed deal to export grain from Ukrainian ports.
Russia, he said, had hindered the operation of the grain corridor from the very start.
“And later, they took this situation around the Crimea bridge, using it just as an example,” he said. “If not the Crimea bridge, they would have found another example, another reason.”
The White House confirmed Ukraine has started using controversial cluster munitions against Russian forces. Meanwhile, Moscow has launched joint naval and air drills with China in the Sea of Japan. Listen to a Daily podcast special as you scroll as the team asks: is Russia’s war doomed?
Crimea bridge reopens after short closure
A key bridge linking Crimea to Russia has reopened after a very brief closure.
An air raid sounded in the area but traffic resumed shortly after, Russian news agencies reported.
CNN said the bridge was closed for around 20 minutes.
The nearly 12-mile crossing, known as the Kerch Bridge, came under fire on Monday.
A Russian couple were killed and their 14-year-old daughter was wounded in what Moscow said was a Ukrainian attack that knocked out the road part of the vital supply line.
