Chinese Peril

China's Spreading Influence in Eastern Europe Worries West
Associated Press
In this photo taken Friday, March 1, 2019, a woman walks by Chinese flag placed on a street in Belgrade, Serbia.

BELGRADE, SERBIA — Coal-powered plants, mobile networks, major bridges, roads and railways: Chinese investments have been booming throughout Central and Eastern Europe's cash-strapped developing countries, even as European Union officials scramble to counter Beijing's mounting economic and political influence on the continent.
EU member Croatia is hosting a summit Thursday between China and 16 regional countries -- the 8th so far -- that focuses on expanding business and other links between China and the region, which Beijing sees as a gateway into Europe.
The gathering in Dubrovnik of the so-called 16+1 initiative consists of Central and Eastern European countries that have endorsed China's ambitious global "Belt and Road'' investment project, which has triggered concerns among some key EU states about increased Chinese political and economic clout in the region.
China has already invested billions of dollars in various infrastructure projects in Central and Eastern Europe. 

Western leaders worry that further investment in the states that are EU members -- or those hoping to join -- could mean lower environmental and other standards than those in the rest of the bloc.
Thorny issues include the flouting of EU competition rules, potential over-borrowing by some of the states, the quality of constructions, and security concerns over high-speed 5G network technology supplied by Chinese companies. 

Critics also say that in return for allowing Chinese expansion into the region, Beijing should give better reciprocal access for European companies to Chinese markets.
Top Chinese officials have sought to alleviate EU fears of unfair competition from Chinese state-controlled companies, which benefit from the government's financial backing. 

Chinese dictator Xi Jinping agreed during a recent visit to Paris to work with European leaders to seek fairer international trade rules.
French President Emmanuel Macron, Xi Jinping and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker hold a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, France, March 26, 2019.

​Of the 16 participating countries -- Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia -- 11 are EU member states, and the remaining five want to join.
Beijing has marketed its expanding initiative as a way to give some of Europe's neediest countries a financial boost, helping them gain access to more trade and investment. 

That has been mostly welcomed by the Central and Eastern European nations.
Major Chinese-led infrastructure projects in the region include a planned high-speed railway from the Hungarian capital, Budapest, to Belgrade in neighboring Serbia. 

The line will link up with the Chinese-controlled port of Piraeus in Greece as an entry point for Chinese goods to Central and Eastern Europe.
The project has drawn scrutiny from the EU because Chinese state-owned banks would provide financing, and Chinese companies would supply technology and the actual building. 

That conflicts with EU rules requiring public works to be broken into segments small enough to attract multiple bidders.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose own government often has been criticized for anti-democratic policies, says Hungary's relations with China should be based on "mutual respect.''
Hungary last year did not sign an EU report criticizing China's human rights record and business policies.
In Serbia, an EU membership candidate, Chinese companies are building major bridges and highways. 

They are also constructing a large coal-powered electricity plant even as China is trying to curb pollution at home by implementing renewable energy projects and reducing the use of lignite, by far the most polluting fossil fuel.
Power grid stand against the residential and office buildings in Beijing as the capital of China is shrouded by mild pollution haze on June 5, 2017.

Serbian analyst Mijat Lakicevic said the strategically-located Balkan country situated between East and West is a perfect place where "China can realize its economic concept, the way it wants to enter (Eastern European) markets,'' without much concern over fair bidding processes or pollution standards.
Bosnia, a potential EU candidate, is at odds with the bloc over its decision to issue a public guarantee for a 600-million euro ($676 million) loan from China's Export-Import Bank to expand Bosnia's largest coal-fired power plant.
EU's energy watchdog has warned that the move could eventually harm Bosnia's bid to join the EU because the agreement violates EU's subsidy and environment rules. 

Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn has said the issue "raises serious questions'' about the Balkan country's "commitment to international treaties (and) European rules.''
Chinese companies are also involved in the construction of a $380-million Peljesac bridge in Croatia, which links two coastal parts over the Adriatic Sea, as well as a highway linking the Adriatic in Montenegro to neighboring Serbia.
In the Czech Republic, the National Cyber and Information Security Agency followed U.S. authorities' warning against the use of hardware or software made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. 

That, however, did not change Czech President Milos Zeman's positive stance toward Huawei.
Zeman publicly criticized the Czech watchdog, saying it harms the Czech Republic's business interests as it could affect Huawei's plan to invest $370 million in 5G networks in the Czech Republic.
U.S. officials mounted an international campaign to keep Huawei gear out of any foreign 5G network that might carry sensitive U.S. intelligence.

Western nations condemn China at UN for repression of Muslims

By NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE
Uyghurs people demonstrate against China during the Universal Periodic Review of China by the Human Rights Council, walking to the place des Nations in front of the European headquarters of the United Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.

Canada has publicly accused China of repressing Muslims amid a “deterioration of human rights” in the world’s second largest economy.
China must “end prosecution and persecution on the basis of religion or belief,” Tamara Mawhinney, Canada’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said Tuesday as China was subjected to a rare moment of global scrutiny before the UN Human Rights Council, which examines each country’s treatment of its people every five years.
Ms. Mawhinney called on Beijing to “release Uyghurs and other Muslims who have been detained arbitrarily and without due process for their ethnicity or religion.” 

Canada, she said, is “deeply concerned by credible reports of the mass detention, repression and surveillance of Uyghurs and other Muslims in East Turkestan,” referring to the region in western China where, western scholars have estimated, hundreds of thousands of Muslims have been incarcerated in centres for political indoctrination.
The U.S., too, on Tuesday urged China to “abolish all forms of arbitrary detention, including internment camps in East Turkestan.”
The public censure marked a new step in the international condemnation of Chinese conduct in what Beijing calls an “anti-extremism” campaign.
But criticism levelled by a smattering of democratic nations — Croatia, Japan and Switzerland among them — was all but drowned out by a chorus of flattery for Beijing.
More than 150 countries signed up to speak on Tuesday, and dozens of them — authoritarian regimes from Africa, Asia, Europe and South America — used their allotted 45 seconds to compliment China for fighting poverty, combatting corruption, encouraging entrepreneurship, responding to climate change, reducing smog, expanding forests, opposing double standards in human rights, imposing low tariffs on imports, providing radio broadcast coverage to virtually its entire population and penning a “high-quality” report on its own human rights.
China has cited separatist groups as a security threat in East Turkestan, where Beijing has in recent years built a network of concentration camps for political indoctrination amid an intensive campaign against what it calls "extremism".
Inside such camps, authorities force the disavowal of religion and recitation of loyalty to the Communist Party and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, former detainees have said.
Residents of the region say fears of detention without trial are so widespread that religious observance has largely been halted in a region that makes up one-sixth of the Chinese landmass.
But even among Muslim nations, China received little criticism Tuesday, underscoring the influence China has amassed as the world’s second-largest economy, and an increasingly important global source of trade, foreign investment and aid.
Indonesia commended “China’s strategic approach” to ensuring the “well-being of its population.” 
Malaysia pointed to China’s “many achievements in human rights.” 
Kuwait suggested Beijing focus “on the prevention of juvenile delinquency to ensure minors’ physical and psychological health.” 
Saudi Arabia recommended China “continue friendly exchanges in the field of cultural and religious issues.” 
Syria urged China to counter “extremist religious movements and continue its struggle against terrorism and separatism.” 
Pakistan said China should “continue its efforts to maintain and promote peace and stability.”
The upbeat assessment is ”partially a reflection of China's economic clout amongst these countries, but also its leadership role amongst countries that are actively trying to undermine human rights standards,” said Frances Eve, a researcher with the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders.
Among Muslim nations, only Turkey spoke out strongly against Chinese practices that involve “restrictions on basic rights and liberties, like confinement of individuals without any legal grounds, and their separation from families and society.”
More forceful denunciations of China’s conduct came largely from western nations.
Switzerland said it is “concerned about repression” and demanded the closure of what it termed “re-education centres” in East Turkestan.
France called on Beijing to “put an end to mass internment in camps” and guarantee freedom of religion.
Germany said China should ”end all unlawful detention, including unconstitutional mass detention of Uyghurs and other Muslims in East Turkestan.”
“Despite China’s best efforts — through propaganda and platitudes — to reduce the [UN review] to fawning adulation, numerous states expressed serious concerns,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.