China’s Global Security Initiative



International Desk
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The “Global Security Initiative” (GSI) announced by Xi Jinping in April 2022 was finally elaborated nine months later in the form of a concept note after the start of his unprecedented third mandate as the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and as the Supreme leader of China. The initiative is supposed to present a new plan for a “common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security.” Instead of a new plan and vision, the GSI seems repackaged from Xi’s speeches on a global Sinocentric order at the Conference on Interaction and confidence building measures in Asia (CICA) and other past statements.

On the surface the basic principles of the GSI include China’s offer of itself as an honest broker in conflicts while respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations and upholding the principles of the United Nations Charter. Noble ambitions which are not followed through by actual Chinese policy. In the South China sea, China is a regional bully which ignores the interests of Vietnam and Philippines in the South China sea with the People’s Liberation Army and the Coast guard encroaching on local fishermen’s activities. China also inhibits these small countries from oil exploration in their own territorial seas due to such intimidation with also illegal military installations on artificial islands aimed at absolute control and insecurity. The same insecurity which China offers to protect against in the GSI. China does not respect the UN Convention on Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) in the South China sea, neither does it heed to the 2016 ruling of the arbitral tribunal. Such unilateral actions show its contempt for the UN Charter and UN entities when they are contrary to China’s needs. Another point in the GSI that China doesn’t respect in practice where it seeks to replace UN institutions with those that it can control or dominate. An example is its attempt to control ASEAN and its consensus-based decisions. Two years where ASEAN has been deadlocked in its 56-year history were 2012 and 2016 when the declaration mentioned the South China sea. ASEAN was unable to issue a statement due to veto by Cambodia, a close Chinese ally.

According to the concept paper, China also wants to build international platforms and mechanisms for exchange and cooperation to address challenges in areas like counter terrorism, cyber and information security and bio security.

China had put forward a Global Initiative on Data Security a few years back which made a lot of news. But what does not make it to the news often is how Beijing backed hackers have for years been stealing data from a number of countries. According to a cyber security firm called TeamT5, government and military units in South and Southeast Asia have become a common target for China’s hackers. In the second half of 2022, there was a 20 per cent increase in China linked cyber-attacks against Southeast Asian countries compared to 2021. Countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia and India have all had to face increasing frequency of cyber- attacks over the past few years.

Besides cyber-attacks, sensitive data of many countries is also at risk of finding its way to China. Let us not forget the case of African Union where from 2012 to 2017, sensitive data from the servers of AU headquarters in Addis Ababa found its way every night to servers in Shanghai. AU officials were unaware until this data theft was revealed in 2017. The incident made it to the news only in 2018 revealing the lengths to which China would go to spy on countries and organizations it seeks to manipulate for its own interests.

Coming to addressing the challenges in areas of counter terrorism, China practices the placing of technical holds and blocks on listing of terrorists by the UNSC 1267 Committee. Between June and October 2022, China placed technical hold on listing of at least five terrorists, undermining not only the multilateral resolve to combat terrorism but also the legitimacy of a UN body. Similarly on biosecurity, we all know how important it is to find the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic so that all of humanity can benefit and the world does not have to face a shock of this scale again. The investigations into the origin of the pandemic are, however, held up because China failed to cooperate and provide unrestricted access to the WHO team that was given this task. What is even more disturbing is that China systematically destroyed data that could have been useful for the investigation.

The list of such examples can be endless but let us look at one last aspect. The paper claims that ‘Humanity is an indivisible security community. Security of one country should not come at the expense of that of other.’ But recent revelations show that the principle of indivisible security means that China’s security cannot be compromised even at the expense of that of other countries. According to a report in September and December 2022 by human rights organization Safeguard Defenders, China operates a network of over 100 overseas police stations based on bilateral security arrangements and joint policing initiatives to monitor, harass and repatriate Chinese citizens and silence protestors against China. Several countries are now investigating how China managed to set up these police stations without their knowledge and what loopholes were missed out in the bilateral security cooperation agreements they signed with China.

   

76 more killed in Gaza, death toll rises to nearly 32,500



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Even after the UN Security Council passed a cease-fire resolution, the Israeli barbaric attacks on the Palestinian-besieged Gaza have not stopped. Another 76 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in the last 24 hours by Israeli attacks. The death toll has increased to about 32,500 people. The number of injured has reached about 75000 people.

Al-Jazeera reported this information in a live update on Thursday (March 28).

Quoting the Ministry of Health of Gaza, the report said that since last October, the number of dead in Palestine has reached 32490 in the Israeli barbaric attack in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, an emergency ceasefire resolution was passed in the besieged Gaza Strip. The resolution passed by the UN Security Council on Monday (March 25) calls for a cease-fire in Gaza as well as the immediate and unconditional release of hostages held by Hamas.

In this proposal, 14 countries of the Security Council voted in favor of the proposal. Israel's close ally, the United States, abstained from voting.

Welcoming the proposal, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, after a long wait, the Security Council has passed a resolution regarding the cease-fire in Gaza. This proposal must be implemented. Failure of any party to implement the ceasefire and its terms would constitute an unforgivable offence. 

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Israel wants to wipe out Palestinians: UN



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Gazans are going through one of the worst times in living memory. The lives of Palestinians are in danger due to the long-term killings and severe food shortages. The world is criticizing the surprise attack on the destitute Gazans. However, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu is unwilling to stop the attack. In this situation, the international organization, which could not find any solution after repeated efforts, said that Israel is going to wipe out the Palestinians.

On Monday (March 25), the special envoy for human rights in Palestine, Francesca Albanez, released her detailed report. She said that since the start of the attack, Israel has targeted Gazans. The Israeli forces assumed that these Gazans could be attacked, killed, or even destroyed. Israel's genocidal action has become clear through this. They are trying to erase Palestinians from Palestine.

The news agency AFP reported this information.

According to the report, Albanez attacked Israel in harsh language at the meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council. She said Israel destroyed Gaza. She also said, 'What is happening in Gaza shows the intention of genocide. We cannot turn away from it. We have to face it, we have to stop this genocide and action must be taken against those who took this step.''

Francesca Albanez is working as Special Envoy for Palestinian Human Rights. She told the United Nations Human Rights Council last Monday that the organization's member states should end arms embargoes against Israel and arms supplies to Israel.

Support for the UN expert panel, which has been working on allegations of genocide against Israel since the start of Israel's assault on Gaza, has been growing in Palestine. Various countries are now showing interest in investigating the allegations of genocide.

Ambassadors of different countries are supporting this report of Albanez. Ambassadors from Muslim and Arab countries, as well as Latin American countries, are among those supporting Albanez's report to hold Israel accountable.

Pakistan has supported this Albanez report on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The OIC has also called for an arms embargo on Israel. When Albanez presented the report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Pakistan's representative said, "We appreciate your courage in documenting the genocide in Gaza."

Accusations of genocide against Israel are intensifying as it continues to operate in Gaza's Rafah area in defiance of international calls. The Ministry of Health of Palestine said on Wednesday that 76 people were killed in the attack in the last 24 hours. With this, 32490 people have been killed in Israel's attacks since October 7.

The representative of Egypt, on behalf of the Arab countries, said they were deeply concerned about Israel's structural and systematic attack on the Gaza Strip, making it uninhabitable. Qatar represented the Gulf countries in the meeting. They want international action to stop the war that Israel is waging in Palestine. 

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Romania sent back 5 Bangladeshis with ban



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Immigration police in the Arad region bordering Romania forcibly returned 20 migrants to their respective countries on charges of attempting to cross the border illegally. Five Bangladeshis are among the migrants.

Romania's General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) announced this information in a press release on Monday (March 25).

According to the notification, on March 23, the Immigration police of Arad region of Romania forcibly sent back to their respective countries a total of 20 immigrants, including 18 people from South Asian countries and 2 people from Egypt. The concerned migrants were taken from the migrant detention center in Arad region to the airport in the presence of law enforcement agencies.

Apart from five Bangladeshis, the migrants include nine Sri Lankans, three Pakistanis, two Egyptians and one Indian national. A legal notice to leave Romania was issued against them earlier. But as they did not return on their own initiative, forced expulsion was implemented with an escort according to the law.

Upon leaving Romania, they are banned from entering all EU member states, the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation for five years.

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18 killed in Gaza after relief sack fell on head



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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18 people were killed while collecting airdropped aid in the besieged Gaza Strip. The casualties occurred during an airdrop of relief near the Mediterranean coast in northern Gaza. At that time, 12 people were killed when relief sacks fell on their heads and 6 others died after being trampled in haste while collecting relief. AFP reports.

Hamas, the armed political group that controls the valley, said in a statement that the tragedy occurred on Tuesday (March 25).

In the statement, Hamas said, "A request to the international community, please stop dropping the relief bags from the planes." Instead, take steps to remove the obstacles in sending relief by road.'

More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the last six months of Israeli forces' operations, and about 74,000 others have been injured.

On the other hand, 1,200 Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack by Hamas fighters on October 7. Also, 240 people were taken hostage by Hamas fighters, 108 of them have been released so far.

A third of the people of the Gaza Strip are directly dependent on aid from the United Nations and other donor countries and groups. Since the beginning of the operation in the valley, the Israeli forces have been blocking the delivery of relief supplies, resulting in a death march in Gaza since last February due to lack of food.

In this situation, the United States and its allies in the Western world announced air relief supplies to the Gaza Strip from that month.

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