China: Western Media Cannot Alienate China, Russia

Posted by AsiaViews | Jan 21, 2018 | 0 |

By Yu Sui*

China Daily

17 Jan 2018

China and Russia are expected to deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership this year in line with the pledge Chinese and Russian presidents made in their New Year greetings. Thanks to the two countries’ mutual understanding and respect for history and ideology, their relationship has been stable in recent years. The two sides also share the goal of national rejuvenation, and are committed to building harmonious international relations.

Over the past five years, President Xi Jinping has held talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at least 20 times, including five times in 2017. Owing to the long-term efforts of the two countries’ leaders, China and Russia have established a comprehensive strategic partnership based on mutual respect, equality and fairness, without ever attempting to build an alliance.

The frequent meetings between the two leaders have also deepened the political and strategic trust between the two countries, which is expected to lead to a new type of major-country relationship between China and Russia, and defeat the attempts of some Western countries to create misunderstandings between the two neighbors.

Some Western media outlets have hyped up reports about an online petition with about 55,000 signatures in Russia opposing Chinese investors’ attempt to buy up properties on the shores of Siberia’s Lake Baikal. Last year, a similar report－on a proposal to divert the lake’s water to China’s arid northwestern region－was refuted by the local people.

At the national level, the Russian government seeks more trade cooperation with China to offset the negative impact of the sanctions imposed by the West after the Crimea crisis on Russia’s economy. Therefore, the two sides will strengthen all-around pragmatic cooperation, especially in the fields of energy and aerospace.

The supply of 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China every year after the completion of the China-Russia East-Route Natural Gas Pipeline in 2020 will be the highlight of their cooperation in energy. As far as aerospace technology is concerned, Premier Li Keqiang and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev agreed at the China-Russia Prime Ministers’ Regular Meeting late last year to deepen cooperation in such fields as carrier rocket, deep-space exploration, and satellite navigation and communication. They also vowed to enhance cooperation in high-speed rail technology and investment, and promote the Moscow-Kazan high-speed rail project.

The two countries will hold cultural activities from 2018 and 2019, and upgrade their joint military drills, apart from making efforts to integrate the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union. And as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, they will continue making serious and sincere efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and deal with other global issues, including terrorism.

Besides, Beijing-Moscow cooperation in Russia’s Far East development program and China’s “northeast revitalization” project can be of great mutual benefit. If Russian collaboration can help develop the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region’s frontier areas and expand cross-border trade and cooperation, China’s participation in the Far East program can boost the region’s development.

That China-Russia relations will yield more fruits and make greater contributions to the world economy is beyond doubt no matter what the Western media outlets claim.

*The author is a professor at China Center for Contemporary World Studies.

(Accessible at: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201801/17/WS5a5e9321a310e4ebf433e2f5.html)

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

China: Western Media Cannot Alienate China, Russia