Takeaways from Xi’s Congress

Originally published at The Indian Express, 24 October 2022. p.14. Published online as ‘Xi Jinping’s Congress: What are the implications for China, the world, and India?’ What are the main takeaways  from the CPC Congress?  The CPC’s 20th Congress underlined General Secretary Xi Jinping’s role not just as the core of the Central Committee but also …

A Third Term For Xi Jinping Holds Little Assurance For India

Originally published at BQ Prime, 22 October 2022. India has several reasons to pay close attention to the ongoing 20th Party Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).  As a neighbour to China and as a country of similar size of population and length of history, it would be natural for India to assume …

എല്ലാം നയിക്കുന്ന പാർട്ടി

Co-authored with Anand Parappadi Krishnan and originally published as ‘എല്ലാം നയിക്കുന്ന പാർട്ടി; ചൈനീസ് പാർട്ടി കോൺഗ്രസിന് കൊടിയേറുമ്പോൾ’, 24 News, 15 October 2022. ചൈനീസ് കമ്മ്യുണിസ്റ്റ് പാർട്ടിയുടെ (സി.സി.പി) ഇരുപതാം ദേശീയ കോൺഗ്രസ് ഒക്ടോബർ 16-ന് ആരംഭിക്കും. ചൈനയുടെ സാമ്പത്തിക-രാഷ്ട്രീയ കരുത്ത് വർധിച്ചതോടെ, ഓരോ അഞ്ച് വർഷത്തെ ഇടവേളയിലും നടക്കുന്ന ഈ സമ്മേളനത്തിന്റെ പ്രാധാന്യവും ഉയർന്നിട്ടുണ്ട്. ഈ സമ്മേളനങ്ങളും അതിൽ ഓരോന്നിലും ജനറൽ സെക്രട്ടറിമാർ അവതരിപ്പിക്കുന്ന രാഷ്ട്രീയ റിപ്പോർട്ടും പുറം ലോകത്തിന് …

India’s Xinjiang Abstention: Neither Morality nor Self-Interest Clear

Originally published as ‘What national interests has India achieved by abstaining at UNHRC vote on Xinjiang?’, Moneycontrol, 14 October 2022. In Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, George Smiley is asked a question about what morality was — whether it was a method or if it was “vested in the aims”. “Difficult to know what one’s aims …

Why factional politics might no longer matter in China

Originally published at 9DashLine, 6 October 2022. It is axiomatic that authoritarian states will be more vulnerable to sudden leadership changes or to regime collapse than open, democratic systems. Therefore, it is natural for China’s leaders to worry, and not entirely surprising that the Chinese Party-state has spent more on internal security than it has …

A Significant Non-Meeting: Modi and Xi at Samarkand

Originally published as ‘Samarkand SCO: Significance of the Modi-Xi non-meeting’, Moneycontrol, 19 September 2022. Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not meet one-on-one with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Uzbekistan on the sidelines of the 22nd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Council of Heads of State. At least there is no publicly shared evidence of the meeting …

100 Years of the Communist Party of China, Special Issue 2

China Report Vol. 58, No. 3, August 2022100 Years of the Communist Party of China, Special Issue 2Guest Editors: Jabin T. Jacob & Bhim B. Subbahttps://journals.sagepub.com/toc/chra/58/3 CONTENTS 1. Introduction – ‘Carrying Forward the Great Founding Spirit’: Governance in the Communist Party of China Today Jabin T. Jacob & Bhim B. Subba https://doi.org/10.1177/00094455221108226 2. The Relationship …

A litany of economic woes but in China politics rules

Originally published at 9DashLine, 24 August 2022. The list of problems the Chinese economy faces is long. A rural banking collapse in Henan province has affected deposits worth billions of dollars, including the life’s savings of several customers.[1] Chinese property developers have defaulted to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars[2] as a result …

China-Taiwan crisis: Implications and options for Japan

Co-authored with Chisako T. Masuo and originally published at India Today, 9 August 2022. It would be easy to portray the tensions generated by the visit of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan as something largely involving the US and China; sometimes, even the Taiwanese are not considered as part of the …