DPG China Monitor
China Monitor
Authors Brig. Arun Sahgal (Retd.), Ph.D.
, Sanket Joshi
Date: August 02, 2024
The monitor features developments related to China during the month and is compiled by our research team of Brig. Arun Sahgal (Retd.), Ph.D., Senior Fellow, and Sanket Joshi, Research Associate, from open-source reports and publications.
India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met twice during the month, on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan on July 4, and during the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ meetings in Vientiane, Laos on July 25. They agreed on the need to work with purpose and urgency to achieve complete disengagement at the LAC in order to stabilise and rebuild bilateral relations. EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar reaffirmed the importance of “mutual respect, mutual interest, and mutual sensitivity” in ties, while emphasising “strong guidance” to resolve the border issue. FM Wang Yi called upon the two countries to rebuild relations to serve their common interests and aspirations of the “Global South”.
The 30th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held in New Delhi on July 31, 2024. The two sides reviewed the current situation along the LAC and agreed to jointly uphold peace and tranquility in the border areas, in accordance with relevant bilateral agreements, protocols, and understandings reached between them.
Meanwhile, China's construction activity in the Ladakh sector continues unabated. The PLA has built a heavy-duty bridge in the Pangong Tso area suitable for carrying tanks to assist China's rapid military build-up.
At NATO's 75th anniversary celebrations in Washington, President Biden emphasised America's steadfast commitment to the alliance. The “Washington Summit Declaration” issued by NATO on July 10, 2024, expressed concern about China's ambitions and coercive policies, as well as the deepening strategic partnership between China and Russia, undermining and reshaping international rules-based order. Reacting sharply, China described NATO as a seed of ‘war and chaos’ and expressed concerns about the alliance's expansion in the Asia-Pacific creating divisions and bloc confrontation.
Following the NATO Summit, China and Russia held a live-fire naval exercise “Joint Sea-2024” off the southern coast of China, deepening their defence cooperation. They also conducted joint air patrols near US territories in Alaska.
US-China tensions over Taiwan persisted. On July 17, 2024, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that it had suspended arms control and nuclear non-proliferation consultations with the US due to Washington's continued arms sales to Taiwan.
On July 18, 2024, the 20th CPC Central Committee, at its third plenary session, adopted a resolution on “comprehensively deepening reform to advance China's modernisation”. Its principal objective is to create a high-standard socialist market economy by 2035, modernise the country's governance system, and lay the foundation for building China into a great modern socialist country by the middle of this century.
China's GDP grew by 5 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2024 to CNY 61.68 trillion (USD 8.65 trillion), and registered 4.7 percent growth in the second quarter of the year.
To read this China Monitor, Vol. VII, Issue 7, please see the PDF attached.
India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met twice during the month, on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan on July 4, and during the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ meetings in Vientiane, Laos on July 25. They agreed on the need to work with purpose and urgency to achieve complete disengagement at the LAC in order to stabilise and rebuild bilateral relations. EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar reaffirmed the importance of “mutual respect, mutual interest, and mutual sensitivity” in ties, while emphasising “strong guidance” to resolve the border issue. FM Wang Yi called upon the two countries to rebuild relations to serve their common interests and aspirations of the “Global South”.
The 30th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held in New Delhi on July 31, 2024. The two sides reviewed the current situation along the LAC and agreed to jointly uphold peace and tranquility in the border areas, in accordance with relevant bilateral agreements, protocols, and understandings reached between them.
Meanwhile, China's construction activity in the Ladakh sector continues unabated. The PLA has built a heavy-duty bridge in the Pangong Tso area suitable for carrying tanks to assist China's rapid military build-up.
At NATO's 75th anniversary celebrations in Washington, President Biden emphasised America's steadfast commitment to the alliance. The “Washington Summit Declaration” issued by NATO on July 10, 2024, expressed concern about China's ambitions and coercive policies, as well as the deepening strategic partnership between China and Russia, undermining and reshaping international rules-based order. Reacting sharply, China described NATO as a seed of ‘war and chaos’ and expressed concerns about the alliance's expansion in the Asia-Pacific creating divisions and bloc confrontation.
Following the NATO Summit, China and Russia held a live-fire naval exercise “Joint Sea-2024” off the southern coast of China, deepening their defence cooperation. They also conducted joint air patrols near US territories in Alaska.
US-China tensions over Taiwan persisted. On July 17, 2024, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that it had suspended arms control and nuclear non-proliferation consultations with the US due to Washington's continued arms sales to Taiwan.
On July 18, 2024, the 20th CPC Central Committee, at its third plenary session, adopted a resolution on “comprehensively deepening reform to advance China's modernisation”. Its principal objective is to create a high-standard socialist market economy by 2035, modernise the country's governance system, and lay the foundation for building China into a great modern socialist country by the middle of this century.
China's GDP grew by 5 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2024 to CNY 61.68 trillion (USD 8.65 trillion), and registered 4.7 percent growth in the second quarter of the year.
To read this China Monitor, Vol. VII, Issue 7, please see the PDF attached.
