With a China-US trade war brewing, President Xi Jinping vowed to further open China’s economy at the Boao Forum for Asia, an annual summit dubbed the Asian Davos, which lasted from April 8 to 11. Xi’s speech came days after United States President Donald Trump threatened an additional $100 billion in Chinese tariffs, which further raised concerns among US businesses and global markets over a full-fledged trade war. Reports this week that China has been eyeing a military base in Vanuatu turned out to be groundless. Also this week, removal of news service Toutiao from app stores by Chinese authorities spurred discussions about China’s internet controls.
All eyes on Beijing’s pledge to expand reform and opening-up
This week, the global media watched closely as President Xi Jinping vowed a “new phase of opening-up” in his keynote speech at the Boao Forum for Asia on April 10. The Diplomat reported that Xi made four major proposals including opening-up financial services and automotive joint ventures, reducing restrictions on foreign investment, strengthening intellectual property protections, and expanding imports. There was also focus on the speech of Yi Gang, governor of China’s central bank, who laid out a clearer timetable to open China’s financial services sector to foreign investors. As reported by Financial Times, Yi said foreign financial groups in China would be allowed to take majority stakes in securities, fund management, futures and life insurance companies “within a few months”.
Measures unveiled at the forum were welcomed by Trump and widely acknowledged by global media. However, some Western media remained skeptical on whether China would follow through on its pledges of openness. Financial Times quoted experts as saying that Xi’s speech lacked “concrete details and implementation timetables”. Yet it was believed that Xi’s keynote burnished China’s role as a guardian of free trade and world order. The New York Times said Xi’s speech was “the Chinese government’s latest effort to position the country as an advocate of free trade and reliable growth”.
It’s also worth noting that the US media in particular pictured Xi’s promise of opening up as a conciliatory move amid the escalating trade conflict. Bloomberg reported that “US President Donald Trump praised Xi Jinping’s ‘kind words’ on trade after the Chinese leader reaffirmed pledges to open his nation’s banking and manufacturing sectors — signaling an effort to defuse a burgeoning trade war”. Chinese media, on the other hand, refuted such interpretation. The Diplomat quoted People’s Daily as stating that China’s new opening-up measures were not concessions due to the US trade pressure but a long-planned national strategy.
Cool heads should prevail amid growing China-US trade tensions
The China-US tit-for-tat trade spat took a downward turn this week, after Trump threatened an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese products, and Beijing vowed to fight back at any cost. The world’s mainstream media seems deeply concerned by the developments. First, the mainstream media, especially the US media, raised concern that a trade war would rock Wall Street, put US farmers in a precarious position, and in turn, undermine recovery of the US economy. The Wall Street Journal wrote that the National Association of Manufacturers was worried a trade war could bring significant added costs to manufacturers and American consumers. Business Insider referred to a new study by the Tax Foundation that said not only would Trump's new tariffs actually damage the US economy, but would also cost tens of thousands of American jobs over time.
Second, the mainstream media warned that the trade rift will not only cause China and the US to suffer, but also have spillover effects on the global economy. International institutions including the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund have also sounded an alarm on the rise of protectionism and its harmful impact on global growth. Bloomberg said the world should get ready for unintended consequences of the China-US trade war, which could spill over to Australia, Brazil, Guinea, Japan and Ukraine, to name a few.
Third, many mainstream media questioned Trump’s political focus on trade deficits and held the view that his tariff strategy will not work. The New York Times said Trump and his economic team have misunderstood trade by elevating the myth and fallacy of trade deficits into a pretext for protectionism. Barry Eichengreen, professor of economics at the University of California, wrote for Project Syndicate that the Trump administration’s sequencing and reckless use of the tariff instrument is not helpful to solve its intellectual property concerns and could deny it of any right to win sympathy.
Some of the world’s mainstream media talked about the Thucydides’s trap and analyzes the underlying China-US rivalry behind the trade tension. The Hill commented that the looming trade war is the opening bell on a new era of US-China parity, where China acts as an equal, not as a lesser power. This new relationship may make destructive clashes between the two giants more likely, Financial Times wrote, and it is more important than ever for them to maintain a reasonably cooperative relationship. Most mainstream media urges China and the US to let cool heads prevail and solve their trade dispute through negotiations within the existing trade system before a trade war gets out of control.
China denies planning military base in Vanuatu
On Tuesday, China and Vanuatu both insisted that there were no plans for Beijing to open a military base in the Pacific nation after Fairfax Media suggested that the Asian giant was pushing the proposal, sparking concern about Beijing's increasing influence in the South Pacific region.
A Chinese embassy spokesman said the idea that China is planning to establish a military base in Vanuatu is “ridiculous”. Ralph Regenvanu, foreign minister of Vanuatu, said there was no such proposal, stating that Vanuatu was a non-aligned country and not interested in militarization or any sort of military base.
Regardless of the truth, the fact that the Australian media raised alarm about the threat of Chinese military expansionism speaks volumes about its foreign policy, particularly toward the South Pacific. Malcolm Turnbull, the Australian prime minister, said his government would view with great concern the establishment of any foreign military bases in Pacific island countries. The Conversation said that, with this declaration, Canberra was clearly sending signals to Beijing and Port Vila that it maintains significant strategic interests in this region.
Beijing regulates news apps for a better online environment
Toutiao, Phoenix News, NetEase News and Tiantian Kuaibao — all popular Chinese news apps — were temporarily removed from app stores in China this week. According to People’s Daily, inappropriate content online poses great danger to the public, and the nature and future of a platform are determined by its sense of social responsibility.
Some global media commented that China shows “a resurgent effort to clean up online content”. Reuters said the clampdown targets have broadened, ranging from “livestreams and blogs to mobile gaming”. The New York Times added that Chinese regulators are now aiming at “content that they deem pornographic or in poor taste” besides politically sensitive topics.
It was reported that the regulatory measure had had an immediate effect. Mainstream media widely quoted the public apology of Zhang Yiming, CEO of Toutiao, in which he said he “took full responsibility for the app not promoting core socialist values” and promised to expand a content review team.
Business Insider made a comparison between Toutiao and Facebook, and concluded that China has much more power than the US to direct the actions of businesses.
With a China-US trade war brewing, President Xi Jinping vowed to further open China’s economy at the Boao Forum for Asia, an annual summit dubbed the Asian Davos, which lasted from April 8 to 11. Xi’s speech came days after United States President Donald Trump threatened an additional $100 billion in Chinese tariffs, which further raised concerns among US businesses and global markets over a full-fledged trade war. Reports this week that China has been eyeing a military base in Vanuatu turned out to be groundless. Also this week, removal of news service Toutiao from app stores by Chinese authorities spurred discussions about China’s internet controls.
All eyes on Beijing’s pledge to expand reform and opening-up
This week, the global media watched closely as President Xi Jinping vowed a “new phase of opening-up” in his keynote speech at the Boao Forum for Asia on April 10. The Diplomat reported that Xi made four major proposals including opening-up financial services and automotive joint ventures, reducing restrictions on foreign investment, strengthening intellectual property protections, and expanding imports. There was also focus on the speech of Yi Gang, governor of China’s central bank, who laid out a clearer timetable to open China’s financial services sector to foreign investors. As reported by Financial Times, Yi said foreign financial groups in China would be allowed to take majority stakes in securities, fund management, futures and life insurance companies “within a few months”.
Measures unveiled at the forum were welcomed by Trump and widely acknowledged by global media. However, some Western media remained skeptical on whether China would follow through on its pledges of openness. Financial Times quoted experts as saying that Xi’s speech lacked “concrete details and implementation timetables”. Yet it was believed that Xi’s keynote burnished China’s role as a guardian of free trade and world order. The New York Times said Xi’s speech was “the Chinese government’s latest effort to position the country as an advocate of free trade and reliable growth”.
It’s also worth noting that the US media in particular pictured Xi’s promise of opening up as a conciliatory move amid the escalating trade conflict. Bloomberg reported that “US President Donald Trump praised Xi Jinping’s ‘kind words’ on trade after the Chinese leader reaffirmed pledges to open his nation’s banking and manufacturing sectors — signaling an effort to defuse a burgeoning trade war”. Chinese media, on the other hand, refuted such interpretation. The Diplomat quoted People’s Daily as stating that China’s new opening-up measures were not concessions due to the US trade pressure but a long-planned national strategy.
Cool heads should prevail amid growing China-US trade tensions
The China-US tit-for-tat trade spat took a downward turn this week, after Trump threatened an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese products, and Beijing vowed to fight back at any cost. The world’s mainstream media seems deeply concerned by the developments. First, the mainstream media, especially the US media, raised concern that a trade war would rock Wall Street, put US farmers in a precarious position, and in turn, undermine recovery of the US economy. The Wall Street Journal wrote that the National Association of Manufacturers was worried a trade war could bring significant added costs to manufacturers and American consumers. Business Insider referred to a new study by the Tax Foundation that said not only would Trump's new tariffs actually damage the US economy, but would also cost tens of thousands of American jobs over time.
Second, the mainstream media warned that the trade rift will not only cause China and the US to suffer, but also have spillover effects on the global economy. International institutions including the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund have also sounded an alarm on the rise of protectionism and its harmful impact on global growth. Bloomberg said the world should get ready for unintended consequences of the China-US trade war, which could spill over to Australia, Brazil, Guinea, Japan and Ukraine, to name a few.
Third, many mainstream media questioned Trump’s political focus on trade deficits and held the view that his tariff strategy will not work. The New York Times said Trump and his economic team have misunderstood trade by elevating the myth and fallacy of trade deficits into a pretext for protectionism. Barry Eichengreen, professor of economics at the University of California, wrote for Project Syndicate that the Trump administration’s sequencing and reckless use of the tariff instrument is not helpful to solve its intellectual property concerns and could deny it of any right to win sympathy.
Some of the world’s mainstream media talked about the Thucydides’s trap and analyzes the underlying China-US rivalry behind the trade tension. The Hill commented that the looming trade war is the opening bell on a new era of US-China parity, where China acts as an equal, not as a lesser power. This new relationship may make destructive clashes between the two giants more likely, Financial Times wrote, and it is more important than ever for them to maintain a reasonably cooperative relationship. Most mainstream media urges China and the US to let cool heads prevail and solve their trade dispute through negotiations within the existing trade system before a trade war gets out of control.
China denies planning military base in Vanuatu
On Tuesday, China and Vanuatu both insisted that there were no plans for Beijing to open a military base in the Pacific nation after Fairfax Media suggested that the Asian giant was pushing the proposal, sparking concern about Beijing's increasing influence in the South Pacific region.
A Chinese embassy spokesman said the idea that China is planning to establish a military base in Vanuatu is “ridiculous”. Ralph Regenvanu, foreign minister of Vanuatu, said there was no such proposal, stating that Vanuatu was a non-aligned country and not interested in militarization or any sort of military base.
Regardless of the truth, the fact that the Australian media raised alarm about the threat of Chinese military expansionism speaks volumes about its foreign policy, particularly toward the South Pacific. Malcolm Turnbull, the Australian prime minister, said his government would view with great concern the establishment of any foreign military bases in Pacific island countries. The Conversation said that, with this declaration, Canberra was clearly sending signals to Beijing and Port Vila that it maintains significant strategic interests in this region.
Beijing regulates news apps for a better online environment
Toutiao, Phoenix News, NetEase News and Tiantian Kuaibao — all popular Chinese news apps — were temporarily removed from app stores in China this week. According to People’s Daily, inappropriate content online poses great danger to the public, and the nature and future of a platform are determined by its sense of social responsibility.
Some global media commented that China shows “a resurgent effort to clean up online content”. Reuters said the clampdown targets have broadened, ranging from “livestreams and blogs to mobile gaming”. The New York Times added that Chinese regulators are now aiming at “content that they deem pornographic or in poor taste” besides politically sensitive topics.
It was reported that the regulatory measure had had an immediate effect. Mainstream media widely quoted the public apology of Zhang Yiming, CEO of Toutiao, in which he said he “took full responsibility for the app not promoting core socialist values” and promised to expand a content review team.
Business Insider made a comparison between Toutiao and Facebook, and concluded that China has much more power than the US to direct the actions of businesses.
