What’s the difference between Bart Baker and Liu Erdou (a cat TikTok Douyin creator)? Liu Erdou is actually famous on Douyin.
When it comes to things related to technology and the internet, China is kind of similar to North Korea, in the sense that the government monitors everything. It’s like an invisible bubble the people are trapped inside. But China’s case is worse because the citizens are at least aware of the existence of the internet and know how to use it, unlike North Koreans. Imagine having the knowledge to do something revolutionary, but not the power to do so. As many articles in the past, present and future have and will state, regulating content to curb bouts of democratic and critical thinking against the Chinese government worked very little till 2012. That’s when the bubble had an added shield of Vibranium attached to it.
China says that it’s “China’s sovereign right to decide what is harmful and not”. Sure, of course. But a legitimate government would actually listen and try to understand the grievances of its people, not bar them for speaking out their concerns. To me, “China’s sovereign right to decide what is harmful and not” should be decided by society itself instead of the autocratic government but it’s of no use trying to scream at walls. And one girl sitting on her computer in a different country with the Freedom of Speech and Expression isn’t going to change that.
Is China Ever Trustworthy?
“Oh, well, China has definitely invested so much in India and so many other countries. Surely those governments and regime trust them to a certain extent!”
Well……I just think that there are 3 levels in dealing in business with China.
The government needs the flow of money so it informally or unknowingly accepts China as its overlord
It’s strategically important for commerce, but the government doesn’t need to depend on China entirely
Out-right economical war
India falls in the second category, so, unfortunately, appeasing China is not a requirement, but it is advised for the smooth sailing of India’s ship in the sea to develop itself. So, usually, it’s the countries and nations that would be part of the 3rd category, or somewhere between the 2nd and the 3rd categories that would make more hard-hitting allegations over Chinese malware and spying.
Oh, remember Liu Erdou, the cat TikTok star? They come 3rd, with Dilraba Dilmurat and Chen He being almost at the same level of followers. Did I mention Dilraba Dilmurat is a Chinese actress, singer and model of Uyghur ethnicity? So, imagine my surprise when I got to know that the Chinese government had been stalking Uyghur's phones and siphoning information from them from any part of the world they were in since 2013. Their villages were visited by officials regularly with them noting the serial numbers used to identify smartphones, or the police would confiscate them entirely.
GhostNet, 2009 was essentially a ring of spyware operated by hackers that spied on computers in more than 100 countries, and even the offices of the Dalai Lama. They were mostly text-book email viruses (how much do you bet that they tried to use the Nigerian Prince excuse?) mostly to Tibetan exile groups, but the foreign ministries of Iran, the embassies of India, South Korea, Pakistan etc. too had been bugged.
Recently, FireEye Inc. came out and said that a cyber-spying group called ‘APT41’ targeted more than 75% of its customers dating back to late January, during those blessed times when we didn’t have to worry about stepping out of the house too much (unless you are a woman, but that’s an entirely different discussion). But then again, FireEye said it had assessed “with moderate confidence” that APT41 was composed of Chinese government contractors.
When we talk about Chinese digital spying, we have to talk about Huawei. There are way too many articles on the internet about it, and if I were to begin writing about it, this would be at least 10 pages long and I’m sure that you do not have the time for that. For a brief summary, lots of countries tried to sue the tech giant on the ground of ‘National Security Concerns’ for spying for the Chinese government leading to the US, followed by many other nations and international institutions like Japan, the EU and New Zealand to restrict full trade with Huawei, with some banning them (the EU took the matter to the WTO). Some cases are still pending. But I must remind you, that these are mere allegations thrown by the nations, as the facts are never easily uncovered.
Fight over World Dominance, but we’re not supposed to call it that
It’s a trade war, everybody! No one’s hurt, and it’s going to be that way in the future too!! Neither one of us would voluntarily risk our people to fight in a silly war, what are you talking about? (Say America and China sitting and having tea while they text their best friends to stir things up in Asia, mostly India to incite a reaction from any side to know how far each one could go.)
I do think their relationship is quite fitting; both follow the same economic ideology (more or less) and both could care a damn about the pain and hardships they’re inflicting on the people of their country. It seems like the Cold War and the countless other wars (that lead to the biggest recession experienced by humanity till now) didn’t teach anyone anything, and honestly, that’s quite sad to see.
The trade war started in 2018 and due to recent events, there are two ways it can play out.
The trade war cools down to help the US economy lift up, along with its dependent economies too
The US keeps the tariffs up, harming millions of people all around the world, truly proving the fact that not everyone is fit to be the Head of State. Believe me, I know I’m not up to it.
Since there’s little to no chance that the first option is going to happen, all I can do is hope to see a change of heart in politics all around the world, but that’s like me hoping to run away with aliens.
The Rise of Tech Giants
I wish that the end to this isn’t as disappointing as the entire ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ was.
Till 2012, Chinese internet was the world’s internet. A person in South America could know what was going on in China, mainly through a human information chain, where people share information directly, forming a sort of a chain, and one person compiles it and posts it on the internet. Similar to how gossip pages run, but here it really is about life and death. It’s basically mini-scale and not-really-professional-but-completely-valid journalism if you will.
Everything changed when Xi Jinping became the President of the People’s Republic of China. He understood the impact that the internet had and made the bubble I spoke about at the start: the ‘Great Firewall of China’. I love the pun. This, in turn, helped Chinese businesses and startups pick up the tech markets and venture into new avenues apart from manufacturing and agriculture, two sectors that China is known for. This blockage wasn’t only to stop the flow of information, but it also closed markets for other tech companies from selling their products in the now 2nd largest economy in the world.
For most of the time after that, Chinese software was prevalent only in China. But when their market had been utilised, they started branching out, into the cruel, real-world of the ‘west’ to see whether their innovations would stand the tests of time, Karens, and boomers alike. And they did exactly that. TikTok is arguably the most used app on every Gen Z’s phone at the moment and DU Recorder keeps popping up on stan Twitter, or the widespread use of CamScanner and ShareIt among the ages of 3-99 (because we’re playing old school Lego) appeases the professional audience. It seemed as if the West had embraced the Chinese apps for what they were. Until….
If you point one finger at someone else, 3 point back at you
Yes, because what Asia needs, a developing economy as a whole, is two of the most influential nations to be at loggerheads with each other. Yeah, the people of both countries are using their human resource well with both suffering from Brain Drain but at least they aren't losing people to each other’s countries!!1! (I hope the ‘1’ was enough to make the sentence sound sarcastic). Yay development!
In all seriousness, both China and India realise each other’s importance, especially as a great market. China and India can’t really lose each other as partners in the new-rising world if each wants to secure their footing as a top nation.
India has tried to cut down imports from the P5 nation significantly, and those efforts have brought some fruits to India. The trade deficit with China reduced to USD 48.66 bn in FY20. The trade deficit between the countries was at USD 53.56 billion in 2018-19 and USD 63 billion in 2017-18, showing a declining trend in Indo-China trade. Which could be a cause for concern to China in the long run, if India keeps up with its trajectory.
In 2019, 73% of India’s youth use Chinese smartphones, 68% of pharmaceuticals were imported from China and in 2017, 800,000 Indians visited China as tourists.
India too has benefitted from China. According to Invest India, there are roughly 800 Chinese companies in the domestic market. They have roughly 75 manufacturing facilities for smartphones, consumer appliances, automobiles, optical fibre, chemicals and more. Oppo, Vivo, Fosun International, and Haier are some of the largest Chinese brands and manufacturers in India. Adani Global Ltd., Jindal Steel & Power Ltd., Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co. and Aurobinda Pharma Ltd. are some of the Indian firms present in China.
The FDI numbers which were $4.4 Billion in 2019, however, don’t present a complete picture of China’s business reach in India.
If China thinks they can keep at their attempt to act like a Scorpio, they’re wrong. The other Signs are trying to start a revolt. It’s just not fair. I’m a Scorpio, I would know.
India tries to block the opponent (this is a super short segment)
On April 18, 2018, India banned TikTok of ByteDance for the first time since its launch to the world on the grounds of inappropriate imagery not being regulated. They also banned popular gaming app PUBG of Tencent the same year as it caused a major distraction to students and working individuals. Bangladesh too banned TikTok just 2 months before India did in 2018 for the same reasons. Even the US spoke out with these claims.
The government justified the decision to ban TikTok this time based on “data security” and “privacy” concerns which also pose a threat to India’s “sovereignty and security.” This time, at least, society too agreed with the decision taken.
So, banning those 59 apps isn’t really new. Ask India to ban something that goes against the general security of the nation, they might as well do it. They did it with Maggi, India’s unofficial ‘National Food’, so what’s stopping them from banning an app?
Now what?
F in the chat for those who think that blocking 59 Chinese apps is the only rebuttal we have against China. Usually, given the current government, we should have seen something happening already. But maybe things are taking time this time because now we actually have a worthy opponent. Also, the attack at the border completely took India by surprise.
We need to wait and see what the Indian government comes up with next, but It was quite shocking to see the PMOI at the border. There will be a time when it’ll be too late to do something, but I don’t really think we’ll reach there.
Surely, this ban has kind of hit China where it hurts. They were trying to release their technology to the savage capitalist market when not only did the pandemic hit affecting economies everywhere, but now India took the brave step of banning the apps (and more to come soon, hopefully), ruining the hopes of a Truly ‘Scorpio China’ uprising.
Seeing the global reception to the ban was definitely delightful as an Indian. 89% of Indians agree on the Chinese app ban. I think that was the most unified we could see India after the Kargil War. Sad that people come together only after the death of so many brave soldiers but that’s life, I guess.
Or, in a twist of events, maybe this policy might backfire and affect India horribly. Fewer investments in the tech industry could truly hurt. But we’ll just have to wait and watch.
This match can’t remain completely bilateral. I’m not saying that it needs to turn into a hot war per se, but it can’t have just 2 players. If it remains purely a ‘China and India’ fight, it might mean defeat to India. Other nations should show their support from the sidelines for whatever nation their foreign policy dictates needs to be supported.
Basically: less hard power, more soft power.
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