Tag Archives: elections

Listing Masood Azhar as Global Terrorist: China Helps India to a Pyrrhic Victory

11 May 2019Comparative Politics, Foreign Policy, War and Conflictanti-terrorism, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Chinese foreign policy, domestic politics, elections, Indian foreign policy, Masood Azhar, UNSC 1267 CommitteeJabin T. Jacob

In an age of extremes, of hyperbole, and of tall promises, a headline announcing that getting Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar sanctioned by the UN’s 1267 Committee is a ‘big’ diplomatic win for India[1] should not be surprising. It would however, be worrying if Government of India officials or responsible political leaders were to also parrot this line.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN was calm in his tweet declaring that Azhar had been designated a terrorist.[2] Finance Minister Arun Jaitely, however, at a press conference on behalf of the ruling BJP could not resist taking potshots at the opposition Congress, criticizing it for asking, “what is the big deal?” and went on to call the listing ‘badi kootnitik vijay’ (big diplomatic victory).[3] Continue reading Listing Masood Azhar as Global Terrorist: China Helps India to a Pyrrhic Victory →

China and National Security – the Congress’ 2019 Election Manifesto

6 May 2019Foreign Policy, Political Parties1962 Sino-Indian conflict, boundary dispute, Congress (I), cybersecurity, economic relations, elections, Indian foreign policy, Line of Actual Control (LAC), military modernization, military reforms, technology, United StatesJabin T. Jacob

National security, like other issues of national importance, is seldom determined by the actions of any one government administration alone. Both failures and successes trace their roots to strategies and policies developed and actions implemented over time by successive governments.

While national security deserves a place in the electoral discourse, in the present elections it has been reduced to simplistic binaries and an unhealthy focus on Pakistan. China has undoubtedly been a major beneficiary of this proclivity of Indian politicians and people to get carried away by emotion and prejudice.

It is only the Indian National Congress so far that has come out with a full-fledged ‘Plan on National Security’. Continue reading China and National Security – the Congress’ 2019 Election Manifesto →

Chinese Views of India’s Elections: Watch and Disparage

23 April 2019Comparative Politics, Political PartiesAsian values, Communist Party of China (CPC), democracy, economic development, elections, governance, Sino-Indian relationsJabin T. Jacob

The Communist Party of China’s mouthpieces now regularly carry reports of elections being held in different parts of the world. The criticism both overt and subtle that is found in Chinese analyses of these elections reflects the CPC’s insecurities and the desire to promote its own model of politics and development to the rest of the world.

How are the Chinese looking at India’s current general elections? Continue reading Chinese Views of India’s Elections: Watch and Disparage →

Raising China as an Issue in Indian Elections

22 October 2018Comparative Politics, Foreign Policyborder management, Chinese economy, elections, India-China relations, infrastructure development, one belt, one road' (OBOR) / 'belt and road' initiative (BRI), Sino-US relationsJabin T. Jacob

US Vice-President Mike Pence delivered a key speech on his country’s China policy early this month on 4 October 2018.[1] His speech drove home the message of the burgeoning challenge to American interests from China. Using specific examples, he pointed out how the Chinese sought to influence American domestic politics, stole American technology, and undermined other countries through debt-trap infrastructure projects under its Belt and Road Initiative.

Implications for India

Pence’s speech on China has also been read as being politically motivated given the November mid-term elections to the US Congress.[2] While this may be so, it also offers Indians an opportunity to think why their country’s foreign policy challenges from China do not form more of an issue at least during parliamentary elections. Continue reading Raising China as an Issue in Indian Elections →

Parsing Tsai Ing-wen’s Inaugural Presidential Speech

3 June 2016Comparative Politics, Foreign Policy, Political PartiesCross-strait relations, democracy, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), elections, federalism, Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wenJabin T. Jacob

Originally published on 27 May 2016 on ICS Delhi Blog.

Tsai Ing-wen and Chen Chien-jen were sworn in on 20 May as the 14^th President and Vice-President of the Republic of China on Taiwan, marking the third successful peaceful transition of power on the island through democratic elections. Tsai, the first female president of the island, is expected to take a more moderate position on Taiwan’s relations with China, even if her Democratic Progress Party is not likely to give up its pro-independence stance. It is this latter reality that is likely to keep the Chinese on tenterhooks about Taiwan’s direction under Tsai.

Focus on Domestic Issues Continue reading Parsing Tsai Ing-wen’s Inaugural Presidential Speech →

Sino-Sri Lankan Ties post-Rajapaksa

26 January 2015Comparative Politics, Foreign Policy, War and ConflictChinese foreign policy, Chinese investments, democracy, economic development, elections, Indian foreign policy, infrastructure development, Sri LankaJabin T. Jacob

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s loss in the Sri Lankan presidential elections in January 2015, raises a number of questions in the context of China’s role and influence in the country. How relevant now are the statements on China that the winner, Maithripala Sirisena, and his supporters made during the election campaign? And what are the implications for Beijing and New Delhi?

Read full article at: Jabin T. Jacob, ‘China-Sri Lanka Ties Post-Rajapaksa: Major Changes Unlikely’, ICS Analysis, No. 26, January 2015.

Taiwan’s 9-in-1 Election Results: Warning for the KMT-CPC Relationship

26 December 2014Comparative Politics, Political Parties, Sub-nationalismCommunist Party of China (CPC), democracy, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), elections, Kuomintang (KMT), Sunflower Movement, Taiwan, Taiwanese independence movementJabin T. Jacob

The major losses suffered by Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang (KMT) in the nine-in-one local elections – called so because there were elections held to nine levels of local government – at the end of November are the result of both internal and external reasons. With elections to the Taiwanese presidency and to the Legislative Yuan due in 2016, China will have to both rethink the scope and recalibrate the pace of its embrace of the island that has held out against it since 1949.

Background

Over the years, the Communist Party of China (CPC)-ruled mainland has adopted a variety of approaches to bring Taiwan – dubbed a ‘renegade province’ – around. While for most of the Maoist and Dengist eras, there were really no serious attempts at coercion, rapprochement with the US in 1971 did bring about the ‘one China’ policy that put the Republic of China on Taiwan on very shaky footing as far as its international standing was concerned. Continue reading Taiwan’s 9-in-1 Election Results: Warning for the KMT-CPC Relationship →

China and Narendra Modi

23 August 2014Comparative Politics, Foreign Policy, Political PartiesBJP, boundary dispute, Chinese foreign policy, Communist Party of China (CPC), democracy, elections, Narendra Modi, Sino-Indian relations, Tibet, Xi JinpingJabin T. Jacob

Chinese views of Narendra Modi’s election victory are interesting for a number of reasons. One, there are implications for China’s own political system about a democracy’s ability to provide a clear majority to a ‘decisive’ leader. Two, there are hopes for a more pragmatic relationship and greater speed on the economic side of the relationship. And three, there is evidence of an increasingly sophisticated understanding of India’s internal politics. Prime Minister Modi, meanwhile, has an advantage in having visited China before in his capacity as Chief Minister of Gujarat but the Chinese are still unsure if this necessarily means either greater friendliness or an ability to better understand China and its national interests. Continue reading China and Narendra Modi →

Grand Old Parties: The Chinese Communist Party and the Congress (I)

23 September 2011Comparative Politics, Political PartiesCommunist Party of China (CPC), Communist Youth League (CYL), Congress (I), corruption, democracy, elections, guanxi, Hu Jintao, Nehru-Gandhi family, nepotism, political factions, princelings, Xi JinpingJabin T. Jacob

The Communist Party of China (CPC) celebrated the 90^th anniversary of its founding in July this year. From being unambiguously communist in ideology and a party of the masses, the CPC today is an elitist organization that has under its canopy competing factions with differing economic philosophies united only by a common desire to preserve the Party in power.

To take a China-India comparison, one might ask – is the CPC evolving into the equivalent of India’s Congress (I)? Continue reading Grand Old Parties: The Chinese Communist Party and the Congress (I) →