China
Asia Fact Check Lab: Did the U.S. steal oil from Syria as China claims?
In Brief
Over the past few months, China has repeatedly accused the U.S. of “illegally stealing” oil from Syria in an act of “banditry.”
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) found that the accusations echo those made by official Syrian media reports. The Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad has no control over the northeast area of the country, which is occupied by the anti-government coalition known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). U.S. and international media have reported that a U.S. company had secured an oil deal in the area, but it did so with the approval of the SDF, which helped to oust ISIS terrorist forces that previously controlled the oil production there. The U.S. currently authorizes non-governmental organizations to purchase petroleum in Syria, but the products have to stay in Syria for non-profit use.
In Depth
“The illegal plundering of natural resources in Syria by foreign troops must stop immediately,” Dai Bing, China’s ambassador to the U.N., said during the U.N. Security Council briefing on Syria, according to a Jan. 26 report by Chinese state media Global Times. The article said that U.S. troops have been “slammed” for “stealing” oil from Syria.
China has repeatedly accused the U.S. of taking Syria’s oil in recent months. At a Jan. 17 press conference for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a China Central Television (CCTV) reporter quoted Syrian state news reports that the “illegal” U.S. garrison in the country had smuggled 53 tankers of oil from the northeast province of al-Hasakah into northern Iraq. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin has described the actions as “illegal looting” and “banditry” and said that the U.S. is exacerbating the humanitarian disaster in Syria.
Where do these allegations of stealing oil come from?
The information cited recently by the CCTV reporter in the Jan. 17 press conference followed a Jan. 14 report by the Syrian Arab News Agency. The SANA report cites anonymous local sources accusing the U.S. military of stealing 53 tankers of oil. The short report provides few details and only a single photo of an oil tanker. No explanation or sourcing accompanied the photo, and no mention was made of the agreement between the U.S. company and SDF.
Reporters from official Chinese media outlets quoted similar SANA reports that featured general accusations without any additional context at previous press conferences. The SANA reports never cite the location where the theft allegedly occurred and sometimes appear to reuse the same photo.
Is the U.S. getting oil in Syria?
Credible media outlets report that U.S. companies have extracted oil in northeast Syria. But Chinese claims that the U.S. is stealing Syrian resources lack sufficient context.
The SDF occupies the northeastern part of the country, independent of the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad. In 2020, Delta Crescent Energy, a little known U.S. oil company, signed a contract with the SDF that allowed the company to extract oil. The State Department has not disclosed many details about the deal, but a report by U.S. media outlet Politico said that some of the oil was refined to use in the region, with the rest exported to Iraq and Turkey.
The Syrian government has strongly criticized the agreement, saying that the U.S. is taking the country’s oil without its permission. State-sponsored media in Russia and Iran have also described the U.S. actions as the “theft” and “plunder” of Syrian resources.
U.S. and international media outlets and think tanks have covered the oil deal Delta signed with the SDF in 2020. CNN reported the deal was signed in secret and that Delta Crescent was created by former political and military officials during the Trump administration. News reports note that the agreement was approved by the U.S. in order to keep Russia, Syria’s Assad government and ISIS terrorist forces that had controlled the region from benefiting from oil production there.
A story recently published by Esquire revealed how Delta Crescent was first awarded the contract and the company’s ensuing difficulties with the Biden administration. The company’s license expired in 2021, with reports at the time indicating that the White House planned to abandon support for oil operations in Syria.
“Syrian oil is for the Syrian people. The United States does not own, control or manage any of those resources, nor do we wish to,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson told AFCL. The spokesperson said the department does not comment on the operations of private companies there.
The spokesperson told AFCL that SDF will continue to deny ISIS access to oil and gas revenue in northeast Syria, which it previously used to fund its terror campaign.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which first authorized Delta Crescent’s oil deal in Syria, now only allows NGOs to purchase refined petroleum products from Syria. The products have to be used in Syria for non-profit purposes. Oil extraction is not an authorized activity, according to the current Code of Federal Regulations and Syria General License issued by OFAC in 2022.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) is a new branch of RFA, established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. Our journalists publish both daily and special reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of public issues.
Read the rest of this article here >>> Asia Fact Check Lab: Did the U.S. steal oil from Syria as China claims?
China
China’s November 2024 Economy: Navigating Mixed Signals and Ongoing Challenges
In November 2024, China’s economy exhibited mixed results: industrial production rose by 5.4%, while retail sales grew only 3%, below forecasts. Fixed asset investment also faltered. Policymakers are anticipated to introduce measures to stimulate domestic demand and combat deflation.
China’s economy showed mixed performance in November 2024, with industrial production and exports showing resilience, while retail sales and fixed asset investment underperformed, amid ongoing challenges in the property sector. Policymakers are expected to implement targeted fiscal and monetary measures to boost domestic demand and address deflationary pressures.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released China’s economy data for November 2024, revealing a mixed performance across key indicators. Retail sales grew by 3 percent year-on-year, a significant slowdown from October’s 4.8 percent growth and well below the 4.6 percent forecast. Industrial production, however, showed resilience, rising by 5.4 percent and exceeding expectations of 5.3 percent growth.
The property sector continued to drag on the broader economy, with real estate investment contracting by 10.4 percent for the January-to-November period, further highlighting the challenges in stabilizing the sector. Fixed asset investment also fell short of expectations, growing by 3.3 percent year-to-date, down from 3.4 percent in October.
In November, China’s industrial value added (IVA) grew by 5.4 percent year-on-year (YoY), slightly accelerating from the 5.3 percent recorded in October. This modest improvement reflects continued recovery in key industries, supported by recent stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing the economy.
The manufacturing sector led the growth, expanding by 6.0 percent YoY, while the power, heat, gas, and water production and supply sector grew by 1.6 percent. The mining industry posted a 4.2 percent YoY increase. Notably, advanced industries outpaced overall growth, with equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing rising by 7.6 percent and 7.8 percent YoY, respectively, underscoring the resilience of China’s innovation-driven sectors.
Key product categories showed robust output gains in November:
From January to November, IVA increased by 5.8 percent YoY, maintaining steady growth over the year despite headwinds from a slowing property market and external uncertainties.
| This article was first published by China Briefing , which is produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The firm assists foreign investors throughout Asia from offices across the world, including in in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, and India . Readers may write to info@dezshira.com for more support. |
Read the rest of the original article.
China
Ukraine war: 10% of Chinese people are willing to boycott Russian goods over invasion – new study
Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, some Chinese citizens express dissent through potential boycotts of Russian goods, reflecting a complex relationship despite government support for Russia.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the Chinese government has been criticised for its refusal to condemn the war. In 2024, the economic and diplomatic relationship between the two nations appears stronger than ever.
Because of strict censorship and repression imposed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), it is difficult to know the extent to which the general public shares their government’s support of Putin’s regime. But a newly published study I carried out with colleagues found that more than 10% of Chinese people surveyed were willing to boycott Russian goods over the war in Ukraine.
This is a surprisingly large figure, especially since existing surveys indicate that Chinese people hold a broadly positive view of their neighbour. We used a representative sample of 3,029 Chinese citizens for this research, to dig into public attitudes to Russia. The survey was done in 2022 after the Ukraine invasion.
We were aware that due to widespread censorship, our participants might not be willing to give honest answers to questions about Russia’s actions in Ukraine. They might also not feel safe to do that in a regime where disagreement with the CCP’s position is often met with harsh punishment. This is why we asked them to tell us if they would be willing to boycott Russian products currently sold in China.
We felt this question was a good indicator of how much the participants disapproved of Russian foreign policy in Ukraine. More importantly, we were also curious to find out whether Chinese citizens would be willing to take direct political action to punish Russia economically for its aggressive behaviour.
In our study, we split respondents into the three different ideological groups in China: “liberals”, who support the free market and oppose authoritarianism; “the new left”, who sympathise with the policies pursued in China under Mao Zedong; and “neo-authoritarians”, who believe the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is an extension of the rivalry between authoritarian China and the liberal United States. These groups were based on the main political beliefs in China.
We found that liberals were most likely to say they were willing to boycott Russian products. Liberals believe that China should work with, rather than against, western democracies. They also place a high value on human rights and democratic freedoms. Because of their beliefs, they are likely to think that Russia’s actions against Ukraine were unprovoked, aggressive and disproportional.
Chinese and Russian economic and diplomatic relations seem closer than ever in 2024.
American Photo Archive/Alamy
The new left and neo-authoritarians we surveyed were more supportive of Russian products. The new left see Russia as a close ally and believe that Nato’s expansion in eastern Europe was a form of aggression. Neo-authoritarians, on the other hand, believe that supporting Russia, an allied autocracy, is in China’s best interest.
Boycotting Russian goods
Asking Chinese participants if they are willing to boycott Russian products might seem like a simple matter of consumer preferences. However, our study reveals a great deal about the way in which regular citizens can express controversial political beliefs in a repressive authoritarian regime.
Boycotting products of certain companies has long been studied in the west as a form of unconventional political action that helps people express their beliefs. However, in the west, boycotting certain products is simply one of many ways people are able to take political action. In a country such as China, boycotting a Russian product might often be the only safe way to express disagreement with the country’s actions.
This is because citizens do not have to tell others they chose not to buy a product, and their actions are unlikely to attract the attention of the authorities.
Since Russian goods are readily available to Chinese consumers and China is encouraging more Russian exports to reach its market, the Russian economy could be significantly affected by an organised boycott campaign in China. The considerable level of support for a boycott expressed by some of our participants, as well as previous acts of solidarity with Ukraine in China, suggest that such a campaign could already be taking place in the country.
This could harm Russia because it regularly exports a number of different products such as meat, chocolate, tea and wine to China. These goods made up 5.1% of China’s total imports in 2023 – and this figure is likely to increase if Russia becomes more isolated from the west, and therefore more dependent on China for its trade.
While 5.1% of the Chinese market might seem like a low figure, China is home to over 1.4 billion people. In this context, even a small boycott could result in a serious loss to Russian companies.
Our research shows that Chinese citizens don’t always support the official position of the communist party. It also shows that many people there will express even the most unpopular political opinions – if they can find a safe way to do it.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
China
Australia Can Enhance China’s Credibility in the CPTPP
In early 2024, China sought to join the CPTPP, potentially offering modest economic benefits to Australia. Key reforms include limiting state-owned enterprise subsidies, enhancing data flows, and banning forced labor.
China’s Interest in the CPTPP
In early 2024, China expressed a keen interest in joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade agreement involving eleven Pacific Rim economies and the United Kingdom. This move is anticipated to yield modest economic benefits for Australia. However, it also opens the door for vital reforms in areas such as the control of subsidies for state-owned enterprises, allowing free cross-border data flows, and prohibiting forced labor practices.
Economic Implications for Australia
A May 2024 report from the Australian Productivity Commission indicated that China’s accession to the CPTPP might raise Australia’s GDP by only 0.01%. This modest gain isn’t surprising, given Australia’s existing preferential trade arrangement with China through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Nonetheless, the CPTPP encompasses more than just tariff reductions, focusing on broader trade principles and standards.
Reform Commitments Required from China
For China to become a CPTPP member, it must demonstrate adherence to high-standard rules initially developed with the country in mind. This commitment will help alleviate concerns among member nations like Japan and Canada, particularly regarding China’s economic practices and geopolitical tensions, such as those with Taiwan. Membership would necessitate reforms, including limiting SOE subsidies, enabling freer data flows, and banning forced labor, with significant penalties for non-compliance.
Source : Australia can encourage China’s credibility in the CPTPP
- China’s November 2024 Economy: Navigating Mixed Signals and Ongoing Challenges
- Ukraine war: 10% of Chinese people are willing to boycott Russian goods over invasion – new study
- Australia Can Enhance China’s Credibility in the CPTPP
- Gordonstoun Severs Connections with Business Led by Individual Accused of Espionage for China
- China Dismantles Prominent Uyghur Business Landmark in Xinjiang – Shia Waves
- China Expands Nationwide Private Pension Scheme After Two-Year Pilot Program
