Editor's Note:

Since 2012, China has witnessed an extraordinary economic transition, with historic achievements in all aspects of the economy from its size to quality. Such an unparalleled feat does not just happen, especially during a tumultuous period in the global geo-economic landscape and a tough phase in China's economic transformation and upgrading process. It was Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era that guided the country in overcoming various risks and challenges, and in keeping the China economic miracle alive.

As China embarked on the quest to become a great modern socialist country amid global changes unseen in a century, Xi's economic thought has been and will continue to be the guiding principle for development in China for years to come, and have great significance for the world. What is Xi's economic thought? What does it mean for China and the world? To answer these questions, the Global Times has launched this special coverage on Xi's major economic speeches and policies, and how they are put into practice to boost development in China and around the world.

In China's economic policymaking, policymakers and economists often use a rather apt term to describe the integral role the private sector plays in the country's social and economic development: "56789." This refers to private firms' contribution of more than 50 percent to national tax revenue, more than 60 percent to the national GDP, more than 70 percent to technological innovation achievements, more than 80 percent to urban employment, and 90 percent to the total number of enterprises in China.

More than describing private firms' enormous contributions to China's overall development, the phrase also lays bare the weight of the private firms in China's economic policymaking. And yet, whenever private firms, or the Chinese economy, encounter challenges, some at home and abroad levy obsolete claims against China's policy for the private sector. Some foreign media sources describe normal industrial regulation as "crackdowns," while others seek to paint a dire outlook for Chinese private firms. 

Evidently, this has, to some extent, led to negative sentiment among some private firms, as private fixed-asset investment shrank by 0.2 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2023, with a 0.6-percent contraction in June alone, according to official data. 

This further fueled pessimism toward Chinese private firms and even the Chinese economy as a whole. The IMF said last month that China's economy was slowing due to weaker private investment. 

Are Chinese policymakers paying less attention to private firms, or engaging in "arbitrary crackdowns?" Are private firms facing an increasingly grim outlook in China?

After conducting interviews with more than a dozen Chinese private firms, entrepreneurs, and experts, the Global Times found that, while challenges remain, the private sector remains overwhelmingly confident in operation and future growth, pointing to increasing support from policymakers and China's overall economic prospects. Personal care and support for the private sector from President Xi Jinping have become a source of confidence for the country's vast private sector. 

Support from top leader

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has, at important meetings and inspection tours around the country, commended the crucial contributions of the private sector to China's social and economic development and voiced unwavering support for the high-quality development of private firms.

"The CPC Central Committee has always considered private enterprises and private entrepreneurs as being in our ranks," Xi said in March, while visiting national political advisors from the China National Democratic Construction Association and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, who were in attendance at the first session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Wang Yu, a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC and chairman of Spring Airlines, was among the national political advisors who were in attendance when Xi visited. "I am very touched!" Wang said at the time, noting that Xi's remarks helped "eliminate any worry among the vast number of private entrepreneurs and set our minds at ease, and greatly boosted our confidence in continuing to overcome difficulties."

In a recent interview, Wang said that a slew of recent policy measures for private firms further demonstrated Xi and the CPC Central Committee's unwavering support for the private sector. "Although China's economy is stabilizing and improving, the external situation is complicated and severe, and it still faces the huge test of 'triple pressures.' Private enterprises, especially small and medium-sized ones, have been more affected and impacted. At such a time of difficulty and confusion, the Party and the government have provided firm support and clear guidance," Wang told the Global Times. 

On July 19, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council released a guideline on boosting the growth of the private economy, vowing to improve the business environment, enhance policy support, and strengthen the legal guarantee for the development of the private economy. Containing 31 measures, the guideline addressed major challenges faced by the private sector. 

On July 24, Xi presided over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to analyze economic situation and make arrangements for work in the second half of the year. The meeting called for policies and measures to promote private investment and provide private enterprises with an enabling environment. It also stressed upholding the principle of unswerving consolidation and development of the public sector and unswerving encouragement, support, and guidance of the development of the private sector, or "the two unwaverings," which is also a key aspect of Xi's economic thought. 

"A series of recent weighty documents will not only strengthen the importance attached to and support for the private economy, but will also provide a stronger policy guarantee for the development of the private economy in the new era through a series of new measures that are normalized and based on the rule of law, and will further stabilize expectations and boost confidence," Li Jin, chief researcher at the China Enterprise Research Institute in Beijing, told the Global Times. 

Efforts to tackle challenges

Highlighting the ultra-efficiency of policymaking and execution unique to China's system, and following the remarks and policy guidelines from the top leadership, various ministries have, in recent days, issued a slew of measures to help private firms tackle major challenges and ensure steady, sound development of the private economy. 

Last week, eight Chinese ministries issued 28 measures to support the private sector, vowing to provide fair access for private firms to participate in major national projects and technological undertakings, increasing financial and land support, and strengthening the legal protection of the private firms. 

On Sunday, the State Taxation Administration announced 28 measures to facilitate tax payments and promote the development of the private sector. 

The measures have been well received by private entrepreneurs around the country, who described them as "timely rain" that will help them address major challenges they are facing in a targeted manner. 

Chen Xu, chairman of the SENKEN Group, a police appliances manufacturing company in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, said that the company faces relatively big burdens in areas such as tax, research and development (R&D) investment, and rising labor costs, and recently implemented measures address such challenges. 

"In particular, measures aimed at providing fair market access for private firms is very helpful for us," Chen told the Global Times, adding that other measures to help protect intellectual property are also very important to the firm, as it spends more than 30 million yuan on R&D each year. 

Wang Shaoshao, founder of Ouhua, a small business in Zhejiang that focuses on flowers and related cultural products, said that recent policy measures supporting the land use of private firms greatly help the company, as it seeks to rent land for business activities.

Cai Qinliang, head of a company specializing in Christmas decorations manufacture in Yiwu, Zhejiang, said that exports orders are gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels and other challenges such as surging shipping costs are easing thanks to increased policy support. 

"From production to shipment and customs, the policies issued by the government are very conducive to the development of the enterprise, which can ensure that we can clear customs and ship out goods as soon as possible," Cai told the Global Times, noting that recent measures aimed at cutting processing time for tax rebates to less than six working days and extending loans for small businesses, in particular, will help ease firms' financial burdens.

Zhejiang is one of the largest private business hubs in China, with the private sector enterprises accounting for over 70 percent of its economic activity. Zhejiang plays a crucial role in leading national efforts to boost the confidence of private firms, analysts said.

Upbeat on future prospect

Contrary to the rather dark picture painted by certain foreign media outlets, private entrepreneurs expressed confidence in their future outlook, thanks to firm support from the top leadership and concrete measures that help address challenges they face. Moreover, there are emerging signs that point to the resilience of the private sector in face of challenges. 

In the first seven months of 2023, exports and imports by the private companies totaled 12.46 trillion yuan, up 6.7 percent year-on-year, becoming a bright spot in China's overall trade in the face of downward pressure, official data showed on Tuesday. This growth rate is significantly higher than the 0.4 percent year-on-year growth rate in China's foreign trade registered for the same period in 2022. Notably, the share of private firms' exports and imports in the country's total foreign trade rose to 52.9 percent.

"In fact, the production and order situation of our company in 2022 has recovered to about 90 percent of the pre-pandemic level, and it is still gradually improving this year and expected to basically return to the pre-pandemic level," Cai with the Christmas decorations manufacturing firm said, also adding, "with strong policy support, we are quite confident in the future."

Chen, chairman of SENKEN, said that despite challenges, the company is moving along steadily with its five-year plan for a listing on the stock market by 2024. It is also actively expanding its overseas market, even after having exported products to more than 60 countries and regions. "The hope is that our brand can be competitive and influential overseas," he said.

And for the private sector, the country's firm support is for long term, rather than a short-term boost measure. "The '56789' feature of the private economy has not changed, and private firms are inseparable from the Chinese economy," Li said, adding that the private sector plays an increasingly crucial role in the country's pursuit of high-quality development and ultimate Chinese modernization. 

More forms of long-term policy support are expected for private firms, as Xi put it in March, to boost their confidence and unburden them of their worries, so that they can ambitiously pursue development.

Editor's Note:

Relations between China and the ASEAN have continued to improve since the establishment of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations in 1991. Over the last 30 years, the China-ASEAN relationship has achieved remarkable development and brought about tangible benefits for more than 2 billion people in 11 countries. China and the ASEAN have pursued the right path of long-standing good-neighborliness and friendship, and common development and prosperity. Recently, Global Times reporters Hu Yuwei, Zhao Juecheng, and Li Xuanmin (GT) interviewed Chinese Ambassador to the ASEAN, Hou Yanqi (Hou), in Indonesia, to get more insights from her on the future pathway of China-ASEAN political and economic relations. 

GT: China has signed bilateral cooperation agreements on jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with all 10 ASEAN member states. Over the last 10 years, the ASEAN has been a priority direction and important partner in promoting the BRI. What do you think are the important reasons for the ASEAN's significant achievements in the BRI? 

Hou: The ASEAN, as the priority direction and important partner in the co-construction of the BRI, has achieved fruitful cooperation results in the last 10 years. I believe there are several important reasons for this. 

First, China and the ASEAN are connected by mountains and rivers, and have a close relationship. They are also comprehensive strategic partners, with solid political and public support for cooperation in various fields. 

Second, we have been adhered to the principles of "consultation, co-construction, and sharing," and have promoted development through openness and achieved win-win outcomes. We have achieved complementary advantages in the high-quality construction of the BRI. 

Third, we are both determined actors with visions. We prioritize commitments and implementation, ensuring that the achievements of the BRI are tangible and substantial.

The ASEAN has a superior geographical location and plays an important role in regional economic cooperation. But it also faces development bottlenecks such as insufficient infrastructure investment and relatively lagging regional connectivity. The implementation of the BRI has played an important role in breaking these bottlenecks and fully unleashing the development potential of the ASEAN. 

China and the ASEAN have signed cooperation documents on aligning the BRI with the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025, thus achieving full consensus on regional connectivity in top-level design. Moreover, BRI effectively fills the funding gap in ASEAN countries' infrastructure construction in areas such as rail, roads, bridges, and ports.

GT: Looking back at the 30-year development of China-ASEAN relations, each time a regional or global crisis occurs, the momentum of cooperation between the two sides becomes stronger and political mutual trust steadily increases. How do you think this enhanced political mutual trust can further strengthen ties? What new positive perspectives can the China-ASEAN cooperation bring to global peace, security, and development? 

Hou: Over the last 30 years, China and the ASEAN have established a dialogue relationship that has withstood multiple tests. Political mutual trust between the two sides has continued to increase. 

We are pleased to see that the positioning of the bilateral relationship has evolved from a partnership of good neighborliness and mutual trust to a strategic partnership, and finally to a comprehensive strategic partnership established in 2021, achieving leapfrog development.

China and ASEAN countries are actively implementing the consensus reached by their leaders, moving forward along the path of good neighborliness, friendship, and common development, bringing tangible benefits to more than 2 billion people in 11 countries.

Currently, amid an increasingly unstable international and regional situation, China and the ASEAN, as emerging economies, share many common interests in global peace and development.

Both sides advocate for dialogue to manage differences and conflicts, uphold true multilateralism and open regionalism and work together to address regional and global challenges. Both sides also promote regional economic integration to facilitate common development and maintain stable supply chains. 

In conclusion, China and the ASEAN are contributors to regional and global peace and security, as well as promoters of development and prosperity.

GT: At the beginning of this year, consultations for the Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA) officially started, and three rounds of negotiations have been held so far. In what aspects will this version further enhance the level of trade facilitation? What forms of new progress and changes has the China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation experienced?

Hou: The China-ASEAN FTA was launched in 2002, making it China's first free trade area negotiated with a foreign country and ASEAN's first free trade area negotiated as a whole. Over the last 20 years, the China-ASEAN FTA has effectively promoted the rapid growth of trade and investment between China and the ASEAN, and the socio-economic development of both sides.

As of 2022, China became the ASEAN's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, and the ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for three consecutive years. 

Compared with versions 1.0 and 2.0, version 3.0 will further reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, promote freer and more convenient trade and investment, and explore strengthened cooperation in new areas such as the digital economy, the green economy, and supply chain interconnectivity, further promoting regional economic integration.

In recent years, as both China and the ASEAN have undergone upgrading in their economies, new trends are emerged. For example, cooperation in the digital economy and green economy is flourishing, becoming important engines driving regional economic growth. China has advantages in digital economy platform construction, as well as in capital, and technology, seeing an unlimited potential for cooperation in digital transformation.

The same is true for cooperation in the green economy. I am pleased to see more Chinese new energy companies investing in Southeast Asia, which will create new momentum for the upgrading of China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation.

GT: Currently, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is in effect in all 15 signatory countries, marking a new phase of comprehensive implementation for the world's largest free trade area. With the full implementation of this agreement, how will it promote trade between China and the ASEAN region?

Hou: The RCEP is a global free trade area with a total population of nearly 2.3 billion, a GDP of $26 trillion, and a trade volume exceeding $10 trillion. It is a significant achievement in the construction of Asia-Pacific regional economic integration and a vivid example of regional countries sharing development opportunities. 

The commitments to open markets for goods, services, and investment by the 15 parties, combined with high-level rules in various fields, will greatly promote the free flow of production factors such as raw materials, products, technology, talent, capital, information, and data within the region, and gradually create a more prosperous integrated regional market.

It can be said that the comprehensive implementation of the RCEP not only creates more favorable conditions for China and the ASEAN to expand trade in goods, but also drives corresponding trade in services, promoting trade facilitation, and improving the business environment. 

China will work together with the ASEAN and other RCEP members to continuously promote the high-quality implementation of the RCEP and make greater contributions to regional and global economic recovery.

GT: What significant outcomes do you think were achieved at the China-ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Indonesia in July? Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, also Minister of Foreign Affairs, emphasized at the meeting that regional countries must guard against three negative trends concerning peace and security in the region. How do you think efforts should be made to suppress these negative trends?

Hou: The ministers' meeting in Indonesia achieved significant positive outcomes. 

First, the joint statement commemorating the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) was adopted, reaffirming the principles of independence, sovereignty, equality, non-interference, and the peaceful settlement of disputes. 

Second, the second reading of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) text was successfully completed, and the guidelines for expediting the conclusion of the COC were adopted, creating conditions for the prompt initiation of the third reading and taking an important step toward its finalization. 

In recent years, amidst the impact of the global pandemic and interference from external forces, these achievements have been hard-won. It sends a clear signal to the outside world that China and ASEAN countries have the ability and wisdom to handle the South China Sea issue through joint efforts, making it a sea of peace, friendship, and cooperation.

Third, comprehensive and pragmatic cooperation has continued to advance, including the promotion of negotiations on upgrading the China-ASEAN FTA.

Regarding the second question, I believe the three proposals put forward by Wang Yi at the ministers' meeting are the answer to restraining these three negative trends. 

First, it is to effectively support the central role of the ASEAN and consolidate the foundation of peace. We should resolutely oppose the acts of certain countries forming cliques, creating new blocs, and pushing for NATO's involvement in East Asia, and truly uphold the maximum common denominator of the ASEAN centrality position. 

Second, it is to work together to build a center of regional growth, continuously advance the construction of the Asia-Pacific FTA, and oppose protectionism, decoupling and disengagement.

Third, it is to adhere to true multilateralism. We should uphold the purposes and principles of the TAC, adhere to the "ASEAN principles" of mutual respect, non-interference in internal affairs, and the proper handling of differences through dialogue and consultation, practice open regionalism and genuine multilateralism, abandon the mentality of binary confrontation, and replace conflict with dialogue and cooperation.

Even since the eruption of the recent Israeli-Palestine conflict, China has taken a proactive role in de-escalation, collaborating with the international community to spare efforts to bring an end to the fighting, safeguard civilian lives, and provide humanitarian aid.

In recent days, the Chinese Government's Special Envoy on the Middle East Issue Zhai Jun has made relentless trips to Middle Eastern countries including Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Jordan in a diplomatic effort to de-escalate the situation and ease hostilities. 

Meanwhile, in response to the worsening humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, the China International Development Cooperation Agency has pledged an additional 15 million yuan ($2.05 million) in emergency humanitarian supplies. This aid aims to assist those affected by the conflict, in addition to previously allocated $1 million in cash assistance through the Palestinian National Authority and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East.

During a meeting with Zhai on Sunday in Amman, the capital of Jordan, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini, noted that the UNRWA regards China as an important partner, thanks China for its long-standing political support and financial assistance to the UNRWA, appreciates China's emergency humanitarian assistance to Gaza since the conflict, and is willing to strengthen cooperation with China to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as soon as possible.

UNRWA, which was founded in 1949, is mandated to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees. The organization relies on voluntary contributions to finance its operations.

At the Wednesday media briefing, China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that "China has no selfish interests in the Palestinian-Israeli issue. We stand for the protection of civilians, a ceasefire and an end to fighting, the opening of humanitarian relief corridors, the prevention of a greater humanitarian crisis, the resumption of political dialogue and negotiation, and the return of the Palestinian issue to the right track of the two-state solution so as to achieve lasting peace and stability in the Middle East."

"As [China assumes] the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council this month and a responsible member of the international community, China will continue to work with the international community to ease the situation, protect civilians, advance humanitarian assistance, and resume peace talks," he said.

The US is plagued with a drug abuse problem more acute than any other countries as 12 percent of global drug users come from the North American country, two times higher than the proportion of its population. 

Provisional data indicates that nearly 110,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2022, the highest of all time, and more than two-thirds of the deaths involved the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, as per US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Fentanyl-related deaths among children increased more than 30-fold between 2013 and 2021, the Associated Press reported.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, when visiting China in late August, claimed that US hopes to cooperate with China to tackle the rapidly increasing rates of fentanyl overdoses. However, the country simultaneously keeps scapegoating China on the issue, imposing sanctions and filing criminal charges against Chinese enterprises and individuals. 

Through an investigation into the US' opioid crisis which reveals the country's legislative and law enforcement failures over the decades, the Global Times found that the US is disinclined to find a radical cure, while scapegoating China as a conduit for mounting anger in American society. All this serves the US' strategic rivalry with China. 

Painkiller becomes source of pain

There is nothing new under the sun, and the US' fentanyl crisis is a continuation of its forbearer Oxycodone, a strong, semi-synthetic opioid used to treat moderate to severe pain. 

The Netflix TV drama Painkiller released in 2023, adapted from a book published in 2003, revealed how the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma colluded with US medicinal regulators and developed aggressive marketing tactics to promote its brand name product OxyContin, an extended-release form of Oxycodone, as less likely to cause addiction, raking in tens of millions of dollars. 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), charged with the responsibility of prescription drug use regulation, gave OxyContin the green light in 1995 even though neither long-term studies nor assessments of its addictive capabilities had been thoroughly conducted.  

Two principal FDA reviewers who originally approved Purdue's application both took positions at the company after leaving the agency. In the following two decades, more FDA staffers involved in opioid approvals left the FDA to work for opioid makers, according to the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics. 

Purdue offered kickbacks, paid lecturers, and organized free seminar vacations to doctors to incentivize them to prescribe OxyContin, leading to a tenfold increase in prescriptions for less serious pain, from about 670,000 in 1997 to about 6.2 million in 2002. 

As Purdue earned billions of dollars from oxycodone sales, other drug companies took note; when the numerous unnecessary prescriptions were given to chronic pain patients, addiction and overdose deaths soared. 

The US' healthcare system also contributed - "Most insurance, especially for poor people, won't pay for anything but a pill," said Judith Feinberg, a professor at West Virginia University with expertise in infectious diseases associated with drug injection. 

The US Department of Health and Human Services estimated that about 11 million people in the US consume oxycodone in a non-medical way annually. 

Although Purdue was ultimately brought to justice, addicts are not redeemed. The large, ever expanding group of drug dependence, without proper social support and intervention, easily became the victims of new, more powerful drugs - fentanyl, a synthetic opioid which is also FDA-approved and up to 50 and 100 times stronger than heroine and morphine respectively. 

Fentanyl, the cheaper to make yet more lethal drug and its close cousins became the biggest drug-related killers in the US in 2016, the Associated Press reported. 

The media has reported on how drug users addicted to other substances unknowingly ingest fentanyl, as local dealers sell "traditional" products like cocaine "cut" with fentanyl, or pills containing fentanyl that are "advertised as legitimate prescription drugs." 

Incapable legislation, enforcement

With around 4 percent of the world's population, the US consumes 80 percent of the world's opioids. 

Why is the US? 

The US' drug problem, including the current fentanyl abuse crisis, is deeply rooted in the country's lobbying political structure and ideology, said Zhang Yifei, an associate research fellow at the Institute of American Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The colossal profits bundle pharmaceutical companies with the FDA, sponsored politicians, academic groups, and the media, making the fentanyl crisis a predictable tragedy in the US that has enriched a few at the expense of many lives lost, Zhang said.

Academic institutions provide "scientific proof," media and think tanks propagate said proof, and drug makers lobby the government - this is a very complete and mature chain, Zhang elaborated, "They have various ways to exchange rights and interests through the 'revolving door' system."  

Zhang also pointed to "the pan-liberalism trend in the US, which emphasizes the absolute freedom of individuals." 

US governments, be they federal or state, are incapable of exercising effective regulation on many issues, although some of them, like drugs and guns, have endangered the public, Zhang said. 

When the public demands for freedom of marijuana use, governments and drug companies "hear" these calls and legalize the drug, milking profits from sales.  Even in states where marijuana remains illegal, its use is prevalent and law enforcement efforts to curb use are almost nonexistent. 

A Chinese national who used to live in North Carolina, told the Global Times that it is common to see people "getting high" in public in broad daylight when the drug is illegal.  

In the same way, only until the fentanyl crisis becomes so critical that the public demands for action to be taken, will the government finally act. The first fentanyl-related act passed in Congress in 2017, four years after lawmakers receiving alert on the drug. 

When actions are finally taken, they cannot avoid the trap of US' political wrestling. 

Lawmakers, during the US' 2023 legislative session, introduced over 600 bills related to fentanyl. However, in a deeply divided country, many of the fentanyl crime laws are notable for attracting bipartisan support, the New York Times reported in June. When Republican-controlled House reviewed a bill on fentanyl trafficking in May, 132 of the 133 vetoes came from Democrats. 

Another incongruous approach is the use of "safer" supervised consumption services (SCS) through which people can use pre-obtained drugs "safety" with the support of trained personnel. Funded by public money, it is hard to say whether such facilities can curb overdoses more than treating those with an addiction, not to mention such "legal sites" can mislead youth to believe addiction and drug use are nothing to worry. 

Zeng Lidu, a grassroots narcotic control officer in Central China's Hunan Province, told the Global Times that the US approach of control sounds "odd" in China, which, as one of the countries with the most effective drug control, closely monitors the maker rather than potential user. 

"Fentanyl has variable structures, making it more difficult than the traditional drugs to crack down on," Zeng told the Global Times. "In our district, only a few chemical plants and hospitals are allowed the use of fentanyl under close supervision. We trace and regulate every step in their use, transportation, and storage of fentanyl."

Experts told the Global Times that many fentanyl precursors are widely used in the chemical industry. China, as a chemical giant, does not have a fentanyl abuse problem at home, which says a lot about the root cause of the American drug disease. 

Not cooperation but scapegoating

Out of humanitarianism, China is willing to cooperate with the US in tackling the proliferation of fentanyl and has established a cooperation mechanism with the US on the issue. 

China scheduled and controlled all fentanyl-related substance by class in 2019 - the first country to do so in the world, while the US itself is yet to do the same. China formulated three legal documents to support the filing, prosecution, conviction, and sentencing of offenses involving these substances. To reinforce fentanyl testing and monitoring, five sub-centers of the National Drug Laboratory have been established across the country.

But the US in 2020 unilaterally and arbitrarily imposed sanctions on the institute of forensic science under China's Ministry of Public Security and National Drug Laboratory, severely jeopardizing related cooperation. 

A new vilification of China popular in the US is that Chinese firms sell commonly used chemicals to a third country, such as Mexico, where fentanyl is manufactured and later sold to the US. Citing this, the US has sanctioned Chinese companies, even including tablet press machine makers. 

Analysts stressed the "know your customer" practice that some in the US have been asking about far exceeds UN obligations. According to international practices, it is up to the importing country to ensure that imported goods are not used for illegal purposes, not the exporter. China has no sovereign right over a third country, and Chinese companies are not capable of verifying all buyers of its product. 

Zhang Yifei said scapegoating China on fentanyl is an easy and convenient approach for the US government to unleash domestic anger against ineffective drug control. 

Through distorted coverage on the issue, domestic media outlets successfully sell "China responsible" narrative to Americans at home. By repeatedly hyping the narrative at international occasions, the US also adds fentanyl into its recipe cooking "China threat." 

In this sense, fentanyl is essentially same to long-term smear campaign against China on many topics including human rights in Xinjiang region, Zhang said. 

As the presidential elections approach, blaming China for its domestic social handicaps as a political tactic sounds ridiculous, but quite a number of US politicians and voters buy this logic, Zhang noted. As the US' domestic political infighting escalates, chance of cooperation on this area which the US is in urgent need of, may narrow even further. 

The Indonesia-China Business Forum and Indonesia Night were successfully held in Beijing to promote Indonesian culture and seek economic cooperation between the two countries.

A total of 250 people from the Chinese business community and various business sectors in Indonesia attended the event. 

Indonesian Ambassador to China Djauhari Oratmangun presided over the forum and stated that on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between Indonesia and China this year, the business forum has built a platform for potential cooperation between the two countries.

During the event, China and Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding on strengthening mutual cooperation.

In order to promote Indonesian culture and traditional textile fabrics (Batik), more than 200 entrepreneurs, scholars, and officials from China, Indonesia, and other countries, as well as media professionals, attended the banquet. 

In his speech, Oratmangun noted that, "this is the first Indonesian night to be held in China since the start of the epidemic. This Indonesian night will showcase Indonesia's rich and colorful culture, music, traditional dance, coffee, and traditional textile fabrics."

The governor of the Bank Indonesian also presented traditional Indonesian clothing to 16 individuals who have contributed to the promotion of relations between Indonesia and China, including the Indonesian Ambassador to China and his wife, as well as the Indonesian Consul General in Guangzhou.

Normally, seeing people walking their dogs in the evening is a common sight in Beijing, including big dogs like golden retrievers, huskies and border collies.

But on Monday evening this week, the Global Times only saw one person walking her small teddy bear dog.

This might be because of reports that have gone viral on social media platforms claiming that Beijing regional authorities planned to inspect every local community on Monday to catch stray dogs and any illegal or unregistered pet dogs, or those being walked without a leash.

The inspection did not happen in the end, despite the claims online. But the Global Times learned from some dog breeders in Chaoyang that some people have been promoting high-end kennels - which cost 20,000 yuan ($2,736) per year - citing the so-called Monday inspections.

There are similar situations across the country and heated discussion over dog management, after a 2-year-old girl was reportedly seriously hurt by a rottweiler in Chongzhou, a county-level city in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The girl has got through the most dangerous period, media reports said, and was moved from intensive care to a normal ward on Monday. But the controversy over the news is growing, and many local authorities and property management companies are reportedly planning campaigns to strengthen local dog management, including catching and possibly even killing stray dogs.

The authorities in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province, announced on Tuesday the launch of a rectification campaign against illegal dogs until December 30. The campaign will focus on illegal dog-raising behavior like failure to register the dog or conduct a yearly inspection, as well as raising certain fierce dog breeds that are banned in cities and walking dogs without a leash.

A security guard from Chongqing Technology and Business University was reported to have captured and killed a stray dog on October 17, sparking a backlash from the student body. Five days later, the school announced that it had fired the security guard on the grounds of inappropriate behavior during the disposal process.

On Tuesday, posts went viral on Chinese social media platforms claiming that Shanghai public security authorities broke into a local resident's home and took away a large dog. The Shanghai authorities had not responded to the claims as of Tuesday.

Dog owners are now hesitating to take out their pets, and dog lovers are angry about the action being taken against all dogs just based on one incident. Others have called for a more rational approach amid mixed information, and stressed that the most important thing is to complete an effective dog management system.
One dog bites, all dogs pay

The measures to try and catch stray dogs in several Chinese cities have worried some animal rights advocates and dog lovers, who complained the regional governments were using a one-size-fits-all approach.

"Many dogs become strays after being abandoned by their previous owners. They are poor and innocent," said an animal protection volunteer surnamed Wei. "Why do these cities punish the abandoned dogs rather than the people who abandoned them?"

Wei has been rescuing stray dogs and cats in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province for almost a decade. Along with other local volunteers, she has paid with her own money to have the rescued strays vaccinated, and found families willing to adopt them.

Wei said she was sad about the attack on the 2-year-old, as well as other cases of ferocious dogs attacking humans. "But the dogs don't know they've done something wrong," she said, noting that the dog owners should be responsible and take the punishment for their pets.

"Keeping dogs in a civilized manner is a slogan that everybody knows. The important thing is whether there are accompanying measures to put this slogan into practice," Wei told the Global Times. She suggested that regional governments could build a pet-keeping system with practical policies and regulations, such as mandatory use of a leash in public, severe penalties for pet abuse and abandonment, and neutering or spaying the strays.

'Not the dog's fault'

In recent years, reports of dogs biting people have not been uncommon in China. According to data released by the National Health Commission, by the end of 2021 China had the largest number of dogs in the world, reaching 130 million in 2012, with over 12 million people bitten each year. Data released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that in 2019, there were 276 deaths from rabies nationwide, while in 2018 and 2017, there were 410 and 502 deaths, respectively.

Shen Ruihong, former secretary-general of the China Small Animal Protection Association, said that dogs biting people is not the fault of the dogs, but the fault of their owners and of social management.

"Fierce dogs like rottweilers are in fact relatively obedient and have a stable temperament. With proper training, they can also be used as working dogs, such as police dogs and guard dogs and have great social value. However, in our country, the threshold for owning a dog is too low. You can easily purchase a dog on platforms like Taobao and Douyin without anyone supervising whether you get a dog license, vaccinate the dog, or care for and train it," Shen told Sanlian Lifeweek.

Shen criticized the one-size-fits-all measures by some local authorities that catch and kill all dogs that are not leashed or licensed. Raising pets is an important way for people to cope with stress and loneliness nowadays. Such measures by the authorities could lead to public outrage, he said.

Chinese authorities have been actively making efforts on management of pet dogs in urban areas. Since 1994, the regulations governing dog ownership in Beijing have been revised twice. Before that year, keeping the animals was strictly prohibited in the city.

Most Chinese cities have divided their administrative areas into restricted and non-restricted areas for pet ownership, with restricted areas mostly being the central urban areas. Local regulations explicitly prohibit individuals from keeping aggressive dogs and large breeds in the restricted areas, and a list of banned dog breeds has been established. Some cities also have height requirements for adult dogs. For example, in Beijing, it is forbidden to keep adult dogs with a height exceeding 35 centimeters in the restricted areas.

In addition, pet owners are required to obtain a dog license, which includes registration information such as the owner's name, address, contact information, dog breed, and major physical characteristics. Illegal dogs or those ineligible for a license can be confiscated by the public security authorities, and the owners may also face fines. The fine for individuals is set at 5,000 yuan in Beijing, Shenzhen, and other places, and ranges from 50 yuan to 200 yuan in Chengdu, according to media reports.

The revised national law on prevention of animal epidemics also requires the display of dog licenses and dogs must be leashed when being walked outside. Some cities like Shanghai also require owners to put muzzles on their dogs in public areas.
But few of the regulations are effectively implemented. "The cost of law enforcement is high and the cost of violation is low, requiring a certain amount of manpower and financial resources to implement the regulations. Meanwhile, there are difficulties in defining penalties for dog owners and timely supervision of dog licenses. There is also a need for discussion on how to divide restricted dog ownership areas," a lawyer from Henan-based Zejin law office named Fu Jian told the media.

Shen noted the strict regulations in Germany, as compared to China's ineffective management system. He said that in Germany, dog owners need to pay an annual dog tax. Before owning a large dog or certain breeds, owners must obtain a breeding certificate by passing a theoretical test that covers topics such as animal medicine, animal psychology, and legal knowledge. Dogs also need to attend training schools for behavior correction and training, with training fees typically costing 50 euros per hour. The training cost for aggressive dogs is even higher. Those who fail to properly supervise their dogs in public places will be fined 10,000 euros. Those who privately feed "dangerous dogs" or take dogs out in public will be fined 50,000 euros. "But in China, people barely receive any punishment if they illegally keep, abuse or abandon dogs."

It is also urgently necessary to increase Chinese dog owners' sense of responsibility and their awareness of laws.

"Leashing is necessary, it is the bottom line," Yi Tongmo, a dog trainer told the media. Whether it is a large or small dog, leashing is a must when going out. Yi suggests that dog owners must have a good understanding of civilized dog ownership and actively guide their dogs' behavior. "Prevention is always better than cure; don't wait until the dog shows a tendency to attack people before seeking a solution."

Some successful examples

Shen suggested that Chinese cities could establish a registration system for dog ownership. This has been implemented in some cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Mechanisms to evaluate and train dogs and supervise their health are also needed. Similar mechanisms should also be applied to other pets, according to Shen.

A dog owner surnamed Guo in Shenzhen told the Global Times on Monday that she just took her dog to implant a chip in its neck. "Pet hospitals can get to know the owner's name and address by simply scanning the chip." But getting the chip is not mandatory.

Amid the current wave of controversy, Shenzhen is one of the few Chinese cities that has been praised for its measures to deal with stray dogs. According to media reports, Shenzhen residents can call local authorities to report stray dogs. The authorities will then go to pick them up, but the stray dogs are then either trained to become working dogs for the local authorities, or sent to local pet shelters for adoption.

The Global Times also found that Shenzhen authorities have established an app for dog ownership services. Owners can make reservations for registration, implanting chips and recording nose prints in the app. People can also use the app to apply to adopt stray dogs.

Another example is Macao. For dogs weighing over 23 kilograms, Macao authorities not only require them to be leashed but also mandate the use of a muzzle. Additionally, the city has established an exemption test for muzzles. The test, designed by animal experts, includes touching, tapping, and holding the dog's mouth to observe if any abnormal reactions occur. Dogs are also introduced to unfamiliar people and dogs to assess their behavior toward strangers. If the test is not passed, the dog must wear a muzzle when going out; if passed, the certification is valid for three years. The establishment of such exams actually promotes the scientific training of large dogs by their owners.

Editor's Note:

Japan, in an irresponsible manner, has started to dump its nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean, despite the environmental impact this will have on the ocean and strong oppositions from countries in the Pacific region. It's a crime against humanity. Why does Japan insist on doing so? What should countries, which will be directly affected by the dumping, do in response? Global Times (GT) reporter Wang Wenwen talked to Dr. Arjun Makhijani (Makhijani), president of the US-based Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and member of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Expert Panel, over these issues. This is the first installment of the series. 

GT: What concerns you most about the dumped nuclear-contaminated wastewater?

Makhijani: A great deal of the water in the tanks exceeds all norms and standards. Some tanks contain sludges; particulates are likely to be stirred up when water is withdrawn from them potentially clogging the filters. Water in some of the tanks is heavily contaminated with radionuclides like strontium-90, cesium-137 and iodine-129 far exceeding the acceptable limits. This is because the filtration system worked poorly and the early system was inadequate. 

A small part of the tanks doesn't appear to have significant contamination. But even this statement is uncertain because, as the PIF Expert Panel wrote, the sampling is biased and not representative of the contents of the tanks. This means neither TEPCO (Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company) nor the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency) has a statistically valid idea of the radionuclide content in the tanks.

It's concerning that TEPCO and Japan do not seem bothered by their lack of knowledge regarding the tank contents. This is scientifically problematic. TEPCO should know what is in the tanks; for example they need to test the filtration system with the different kinds of contaminated water it will have to handle. Japan has resisted the idea that they should know what is in the tanks, saying they will sample before discharge.

IAEA is also of the opinion that it doesn't matter if the tank contents are not accurately known now. I think this is scientifically unacceptable, but apparently it has been acceptable to the IAEA, TEPCO and the Japanese regulators.

One of the things that the Expert Panel said is that Japan hasn't tested the ALPS system adequately enough. We asked what they will do if they find that the water before discharge is not up to the norms. Both Japan and the IAEA said that they are going to repeatedly run the water through the ALPS system. How many times? One of the IAEA representatives said if there is proof that the water doesn't meet the norms, they could run it through ALPS 300 times, if necessary, to bring it to the standard for discharge. Even a dozen times would be too much; it would mean the filtration is not working properly and that it hasn't been tested enough. You can't just say you're going to run the water through many times. That's not a technically sensible answer.

GT: People from countries around the Pacific have been the main force opposing Japan's dumping of the nuclear-contaminated wastewater. Why did we fail to stop Japan?

Makhijani: I think this is something for the Japanese government to answer. We as an Expert Panel asked them, what is the justification for this? Countries in the Pacific region, like China, South Korea, the Philippines and the Marshall Islands will be harmed. We know that some harm has already happened. There was a salt panic in South Korea. There is some societal harm, which can be measured. Countries like South Korea and China receive no benefit. It is very clear that the dumping is not justified.  

Japan believes it can unilaterally decide to pollute the oceans. Despite claiming that the Pacific region is one society, Japan alone will make the decision. So other countries don't have a decision-making authority, because Japan is deciding for the whole Pacific region. I think this is scandalous. It is a position that could lead to ecological chaos, because other countries could say the same and dump pollutants into the ocean.

GT: How do you comment on the lukewarm attitude of some Western countries toward this issue?

Makhijani: The US has supported Japan's dumping plan. It relied on the IAEA's assertion that the impact is negligible, partly because it is also doing dumping itself. There is a lot of protest in the US about this. There are petitions circulating. Now the US has its own tritium problem. There are decommissioned plants in Massachusetts and New York where they are proposing to dump tritiated water into the ocean. People are protesting and they don't want this.

I know G7 has supported Japan. Germany somewhat objected. I don't know if G20 will take this up. Many countries have their own nuclear dumping problems. So it's easier to say yes to Japan than to say no. It's not a secret that there are big political tensions and questions surrounding this matter, and there are alignments happening between the US and Japan. I don't know whether political considerations have been a part of this, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have. 

Apart from all that, I want to note that I recommend that all countries who are now dumping tritium contaminated water from nuclear power plants should stop doing it and begin the process of the best way to do it now.

GT: While China bans all Japanese seafood imports, Japan has warned China of WTO action. How do you see such buck-passing moves by Japan?

Makhijani: Japan thinks it can take the issue to the WTO to compel China to stop banning seafood imports from Japan. But China can counter by taking the issue to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea when it comes to legal questions. There are so many legal forums. The WTO in my opinion does not have a very friendly attitude toward the environment. Maybe China should use this occasion to urge the WTO to be more environmentally friendly. In the WTO, military, security and trading issues trump everything else. Well, not all values are confined to those areas. I think it would be much better if Japan stops dumping. It would make things much easier.

There are many other avenues for seeking redress beyond the WTO. China is a big, powerful and wealthy country, the second biggest economy in the world and technically very sophisticated. My suggestion for China would be to push the IAEA to withdraw its endorsement because of bad science and the lack of justification for the dumping, which violates the fundamental safety principle No. 4 of the IAEA and the corresponding guidance in GSG-8. If Japan goes to the WTO, why doesn't China go to many other forums in which this can be addressed?

The amount of dumping that has happened so far is relatively small. This is an activity that is going to go on for 30 years at least. If the intention is to stop Japan from dumping, there have to be more forums than the WTO. The IAEA should be held accountable both for its own sake and also as a way of holding Japan accountable. If the IAEA admits that it should have considered the deficiencies in Japan's environmental impact assessment, or more importantly, should have considered justification, then Japan's position on dumping will likely have to change because they relied on the IAEA's statement that the impact will be negligible in order to start dumping.

There is an old saying in China: "When the wound is healed the pain is forgotten." It means when a person's scars heal, they tend to forget how they got hurt and repeat the same mistakes. As US President Joe Biden was in India to attend the G20 summit, many people naturally thought of the causes and consequences of the G20 summit held in Washington in 2008.

Currently, Washington is eager to transform the G20 into a "battlefield" for competing with China for influence and boosting US global leadership.

According to a Reuters report on Thursday last week, "US President Joe Biden arrives at this weekend's Group of 20 (G20) meeting in India with an offer for the 'Global South': whatever happens to China's economy, the US can help fund your development.''

The goal of Biden's trip to Vietnam and India, as well as his participation in the G20 summit, is to restrain China. Washington has become so keen to contend with China for influence that it is seizing every chance.

What about 14 years ago?

The G20 was established in the late 1990s after the Asian financial crisis as a forum for developed and developing countries to discuss financial stability. It was upgraded to a summit in 2008. The reason was that the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in that year set off a financial storm that engulfed the entire West and plunged the world economy into a quagmire. Who would save the West? Who would resurrect the global economy?

Washington turned its attention to emerging economies. As a result, the US became the host of the first G20 summit in 2008.

For a while before this financial crisis, emerging and developing economies accounted for about 30 percent of the global economy. But by 2010, their contribution had reached 70 percent. 

In November 2008, the G20 was upgraded from a meeting of finance ministers to a summit, and in April of the following year, the second summit was held in London. In September of the same year, in the Leaders' Statement in Pittsburgh, the fifth clause of the summit declaration had only two words: "It worked."

Biden and Washington policymakers may have long forgotten this scene. The G20 held two summits and effectively prevented the spread of this financial crisis. One of the main reasons was the participation of emerging economies, represented by China.

The Chinese economy has made important contributions to the recovery of the West and the global economy. World Bank reports show that from 2013 to 2021, China's average contribution rate to world economic growth reached 38.6 percent.

The G20 was intended to serve as a forum for fostering collaboration between advanced and developing countries, allowing both groups to investigate and advance the growth of the global economy on an equal basis.

However, in Washington's view, including the IMF and the World Bank, almost all international organizations are "battlefields," and they must seize every opportunity to win over allies and suppress China's influence, forming an alliance to contain China.

China has never sought to compete with the US for hegemony. "Not seeking hegemony" is the essence of China's peaceful development. China pursues common development. Emerging economies among the G20 members also share the same pursuit as China. They clearly show that they are unwilling to follow the geopolitical baton of the US and the West. The declaration reached now clearly demonstrates this issue.

In less than 20 years since the last financial crisis, the US president is anxiously trying to occupy the leadership position of the G20. Anyone with a basic comprehension of the existing global order can detect Washington's fears.

The latest news from Washington shows that $7.6 trillion of US government debt will mature next year, adding pressure on rates. Does it recall what happened in the US in 2008?

Editor's Note:

It seems that the frosty China-Australia relations have started to thaw faster. After three years, the bilateral high-level dialogue has resumed and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a visit to China later this year. However, the relationship between the two countries is still clouded by several factors, Washington's constant pursuit of containing China and the security pact AUKUS, announced two years ago this week, among others. In a conversation with Global Times (GT) reporter Xia Wenxin, Joseph Camilleri (Camilleri), Emeritus Professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences, shared his views on issues including China-Australia ties and the development of AUKUS.

GT: On September 15, 2021, the US, Australia and the UK announced a new security pact called AUKUS. After the establishment of this partnership, you commented that the agreement was "a story of recklessness and delusion." Now two years later, how do you see the development of AUKUS?

Camilleri: AUKUS has affected Australia's situation, and is a source of tension. What is unfortunate about AUKUS, in my view, is the impact it has on Australia. Much of this is about future "defense" planning. There are various forms of military cooperation between the US and Australia which have become closer and closer. AUKUS has simply given them another boost.

I called it a story of "recklessness and delusion" because it places Australian assets, resources and the country as a whole in a military relationship with the US, over which it has only limited control. And this tends to exacerbate its relations with other countries, China, of course, but also many other countries, especially in Southeast Asia. I am quite concerned about what this might mean for the future - in particular, whether it might lead to some kind of arms race in the Asia-Pacific region.

GT: Has AUKUS become an obstacle to China-Australia relations? How will this partnership affect the development of the relationship in the future?

Camilleri: It's just one more obstacle on top of the other obstacles. To find out what lies behind AUKUS and much else that goes hand in hand with the Australia-US military alliance, China, its people and its government cannot but ask the following questions: Are these arrangements aimed at China? What is the purpose of these arrangements? Why is the US so keen to have these kinds of provocative security relationships in the Asia-Pacific?

The US is keen to maintain its dominance in the Asia-Pacific region, where it has projected military far beyond its boundaries virtually unchallenged since the end of World War II. It is concerned that China's rise may pose a threat to its dominant position.

What the US wants to do in Asia-Pacific is to build as many security relationships as it can and make its military planning and weapons systems as closely interconnected as possible with the military establishments of its allies and partners. It sees this strategy as crucial to bolstering its position in the Asia-Pacific region. 

The US is presently intent on constructing an overwhelming military presence in both the Indian and Pacific Oceans. AUKUS is but one prong in this strategy. 

That is the problem we're facing: We have a major power that has been since World War II a superpower and the dominant power in the world, and it wants to preserve its dominance at all costs. But there are other countries, most notable China, that are rising and are committed to notions of multipolarity. Here you have a dangerous tension. And Australia, unfortunately, has been caught in the middle of these conflicting views as to what the future should look like.

GT: While Pillar 1 seems to face various difficulties, AUKUS has announced an ambitious Pillar 2 with the hope that more countries will join. What do you think is the motive of AUKUS countries behind such a move? And how likely is it that more countries will participate in the program in the future?

Camilleri: The intention of Pillar 2 has more to do with how these three countries - Australia, the US and the UK - will extend their cooperation beyond the nuclear power submarines and whether they will involve other types of defense capabilities, including artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, among others. That's one part of Pillar 2, one part of expanding the strategic military relationship. 

The other part is to bring other US allies into practical forms of military cooperation. Several have been mentioned: hypersonics, cyber security and anti-submarine warfare, the emphasis being on operational and practical cooperation.

I don't see too many countries being terribly enthusiastic about joining Pillar 2 - maybe Japan or South Korea, but even their joining is not exactly guaranteed, nor is it clear what form it will take. However, the underlying idea is clear: it is to build the political, diplomatic and military infrastructure that will enable the US to maintain dominance in the region. That's the name of the game. It may create problems in the short to medium term. We need to be concerned about these looming dangers. 

GT: In addition to AUKUS, Australia and the US have deepened their military partnership. For instance, Washington has made a commitment to help Australia produce guided multiple-launch rocket systems by 2025. What do you think of this "help" from the US? How will it affect Australia? 

Camilleri: The defense links between the two countries, including the AUKUS arrangement, will probably deepen as there is an increasing level of interoperability. From the point of view of the US military establishment, what Australia offers is real estate assets, that is to say, it can operate from different parts of the Australian continent which provides it not just with landing and refueling rights but also with platforms from which it can operate its land, sea and air forces.

And I suppose for the Australian military, the US offers a few "carrots." It supplies Australia with more advanced technology and perhaps some increased intelligence cooperation. This is just one part of the wider picture that I described before. The US is, in some respects, a declining power, and therefore needs to boost its position by relying on what its allies and security partners can provide. This is why there is so much emphasis, particularly under the Biden administration, on developing, maintaining and strengthening military alliance arrangements on the European front as well as in the Asia-Pacific.

Australia is becoming more and more enmeshed and integrated into US military planning. Against this backdrop, many Australians are challenging and questioning the current direction of Australian defense policy, even many within the Labor Party, the party in government. 

I expect there will be an ongoing debate within Australia for some time to come. The wider questions of Australia's place in the region and the world will become a major subject of public discussion for some time to come.

GT: A recent article in The Economist suggests that if a war were to break out with China, Australia seems most willing to fight alongside the US. Do you agree? Is such an argument wishful thinking only on the US' part?

Camilleri: I don't think these opinions carry a great deal of rational weight. Some years ago, a previous Liberal foreign minister made it clear that there is no commitment under the ANZUS alliance for Australia to join the US in a war against China, for example, in relation to Taiwan.

Australia would think many times before it became involved in such a conflict. But there is always a danger that this may happen. This danger needs to be taken seriously. The challenge, as I see it, is not what would happen in the event of a China-US war. The issue that we must all confront is: how do we make sure such a war never takes place? There's too much talk in Australia and elsewhere, even by those who oppose AUKUS, about what should not happen, and not enough about what should happen. 

We need to think about what alternatives look like, and the alternative is to try and build a regional framework in which all countries in Asia-Pacific, large and small, powerful and not so powerful, can coexist in relative peace. That's what Australia, among others, should be committed to.

GT: How do you see the role of the US in China-Australia relations? Some argue that structural conflicts in the China-US relationship constrain China-Australia ties. Do you share this view?

Camilleri: We've been discussing a major conflict that has emerged in recent times. At the moment, the conflict between China and the US is largely geopolitical, not military. This is something that the entire international community must be concerned about. We have to find ways whereby China and the US can live in peace with each other. It's critical for the future of both countries as well as the world. We cannot allow the present tensions to keep rising.

The US administration, in particular the US security establishment, has never fully consulted the American people as to how they should plan the future of the country's foreign and security policy. The American people have never been consulted and have never had the opportunity to participate in a serious public discussion of these issues. The same is true of Australia.

As we have seen, there is an emerging structural conflict. It is something we must all work to prevent and diffuse as best we can, and Australia should be playing its part. Unfortunately, it is not doing very well. So must other regional powers and, of course, the great powers, including the US and China.

GT: On September 7, China and Australia held their first high-level dialogue in three years. What kind of signals do you think this event has released? Does it lay the foundation for further easing in China-Australia relations? What suggestions do you have for the Australian government to improve its relations with China?

Camilleri: There are some positive signs. These are rather early signs which haven't yet gone very far. Part of the challenge we face is to identify the good things Australia and China could be doing together that they're not doing at present. It's very important that we put this question on the table in high-level dialogues. Also, in future discussions, Chinese and Australian government leaders must address the question, what are the good things that our two countries could be doing but are not presently doing? Two things stand out.

First, there is a great opportunity to develop the bilateral relationship. What we ought to place at the forefront of the relationship is not "strategic competition." Far more important is a better cultural understanding of each other. For Australia, this means a wide-ranging program with China's engagement to develop a better understanding of Chinese culture, history, civilization, language and, perhaps most importantly, Chinese perspectives on the emerging, rapidly transforming world order. Hopefully, the same question is being addressed in China, which is far bigger and more influential than Australia.

Ultimately, what matters most is people-to-people contacts and connections. Therefore, at the center of Australia-China discussions should be this question: What should we do to develop people-to-people relations between these two countries on a large scale? Such culturally based understanding and cooperation can greatly assist the bilateral relationship, in particular, mutually beneficial economic development, not least in trade, investment, and technological cooperation. 

The second thing has to do with multilateral relations. Australia and China should discuss seriously at the highest level what initiatives the two countries can take to advance the prospects for disarmament and demilitarization in our region. With the loosening and demotion of military alliances and appropriate diplomatic steps, we can work towards more effective forms of both regional and global governance. China and Australia should work together toward achieving urgently needed reform of the United Nations and greater regional cooperation on many fronts, including an economically and environmentally constructive code of conduct for the South China Sea. There is so much positive work that could be done. The time has come to do it, and do it with a renewed sense of urgency.