China acts big, India small

While the Bush administration applies pressure on Beijing to raise the value of the Yuan by at least 10 per cent, Democrats are threatening a 27 per cent punitive tariff on import of Chinese goods.

Beijing, as always, is playing it cool. It is giving in a bit by increasing the bandwidth of Yuan trade from 0.3 per cent to 0.5 per cent. Its annual trade mission, timed to precede this week8217;s talks, has been traveling round the US with promises to buy more American products including soya beans worth nearly US3 billion. Beijing is acutely aware that Washington could become a lot more confrontational if the Republicans, who are generally free trade-oriented, lose the White House in the next polls.

Think of India in a similar situation, of having to negotiate the value of its currency with the US. That would have caused our talking heads to thump the tables about India8217;s 8216;sovereign right8217; to define where its currency stands.

Currency might well be the ultimate symbol of national sovereignty. In a world of interdependence, though, absolute sovereignty is elusive even for the strongest powers.

China, unlike India, has no time to waste on such puerile slogans as 8216;national sovereignty8217;. Beijing recognises the importance of managing its relationship with the US and preventing a premature confrontation. If that involves some domestic compromises, then so be it.

In contrast, the UPA government appears bereft of any strategy as it lets the big moment in its bilateral relations with the US drift away.

African arms

China has denied allegations from Amnesty International that it was selling arms to Sudan in violation of the UN embargo. The Chinese denial focused more on the charge of illegality rather than the fact of arms sales. A spokesperson said Beijing 8220;has always maintained a responsible approach to arms sales, dealing with sovereign states, rather than individuals or organisations8221;.

Beijing8217;s arms sales exploit a grey area in the resolution, which may technically allow Khartoum to buy weapons as long as they are not used in Darfur.

India should be assessing the scale and scope of Beijing8217;s growing military relationship with Africa. According to Amnesty, Beijing has provided at least six K-8 jet trainer aircrafts that could also be used for ground attack missions. Beijing is also reportedly getting ready to deliver another six shortly to Khartoum.

Military diplomacy

UNDER a 1999 agreement, China and Egypt decided to produce 80 of the K-8 aircrafts in Egypt and in 2004 a further 40. China is also jointly producing a version of the K-8 aircraft in Pakistan. The other countries that have reportedly received the K-8 include Myanmar, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

The K-8, developed by China Aviation Industry Corporation II, has become the symbol of Beijing8217;s penetration of military aviation markets in Latin America, Africa, South East Asia. Meanwhile, China has completed the development of L-15, an advanced training aircraft.

The writer is professor at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore