{"id":92767,"date":"2024-10-31T12:34:30","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T10:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=92767"},"modified":"2024-10-31T12:34:30","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T10:34:30","slug":"the-asia-pacific-report-45","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/the-asia-pacific-report-45\/","title":{"rendered":"The Asia-Pacific Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n31 October 2024 | 12:35 CAT
\n4-minute read<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Border tensions between India and China de-escalate after troops withdrawn from key areas along disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The withdrawal of troops, a major outcome of the BRICS summit held in Russia last week, signifies improving bilateral ties between the two countries and an end to the four-year stalemate at the contested border areas.<\/p>\n

After weeks of discussions involving military negotiators as well as Indian and Chinese diplomats, an accord on patrolling arrangements along the LAC on the India-China border was reached.<\/p>\n

Since the announcement of the agreement on the eve of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s visit to Russia for the BRICS summit, both countries have withdrawn troops from several friction points along the LAC, particularly in eastern Ladakh. The disengagement has focused on areas like Gogra Hot Springs and parts of the Pangong Lake region, where both sides had fortified positions.<\/p>\n

A disagreement between the two countries surfaced in July 2020, when a military clash reportedly killed twenty Indian and four Chinese soldiers on the western sector, which lies between Ladakh on the Indian side and the Tibet and Xinjiang regions on the Chinese side.<\/p>\n

It is not clear whether the accord means that India and China will withdraw the tens of thousands of additional troops stationed along key points of the disputed border in the eastern Ladakh region since the 2020 military clash.<\/p>\n

The LAC notional demarcation line between the two regional powers is a border in the Himalayas. With a length of 3\u00a0488km, it separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory and was introduced by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in 1959. The term later came to refer to the boundary formed after the Sino-Indian conflict in 1962. \u00a0Now, the LAC refers to the disputed, de facto boundary separating the countries and is divided into the western, middle, and eastern sectors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis reduction in tensions at the border suggests that they\u2019ve been able to come to some kind of agreement,\u201d Sanusha Naidu said on Radio Islam\u2019s \u00a0Asia-Pacific Report<\/a> earlier today. \u201cBoth India and China have decided to remove their troops from that border area and try to find subtlety towards making sure that the tensions between the two countries in terms of the disputed border areas is no longer seen as a key issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

China to implement zero-tariff policy for all imports from world\u2019s least developed countries (LDCs) that have diplomatic ties to China<\/strong><\/p>\n

The policy aims to boost China\u2019s commitment to increase trade relations with at least 43 LDCs, 33 of which are African countries. The announcement is resultant of the FOCAC summit held in September 2024 and will enable LDCs to access China\u2019s market- a move that is expected to give Beijing more influence in global trade and lower shipping costs from parts of Asia and Africa.<\/p>\n

Naidu said that it marks the first major step for China, which is considered a global economic powerhouse, and expands market access for Africa\u2019s agricultural products.<\/p>\n

While the tariff scheme will apply to every import category, Naidu said that non-tariff barriers remain unclear.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe downside is that it\u2019s not clear what these products are going to be. And secondly, the zero-tariffing treatment to these products has not necessarily made more clear the non-tariff boundaries,\u201d Naidu said.<\/p>\n

Non-tariff barriers (NTBs) are\u00a0obstacles to international trade that are not import or export duties. China has reportedly used sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures as a non-tariff barrier to restrict trade.<\/p>\n

An example is China\u2019s use of foot and mouth disease (FMD) as an SPS to stop exports from Africa to China. China imposed restrictions on South African meat imports due to FMD multiple times, with notable bans beginning around 2019 and extending intermittently in subsequent years. By invoking SPS regulations, China argued that these restrictions were necessary to protect its own livestock and agricultural health standards. While compliant with World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations on SPS measures, the tactic has been seen as a form of NTB impacting South Africa\u2019s agricultural export market.<\/p>\n

\u201cSouth Africa is one of those countries where they had to negotiate with China around how to ensure that our beef industry doesn\u2019t get caught up in that. If there\u2019s a foot and mouth disease outbreak in one of our abattoirs, it doesn\u2019t mean that it affects every abattoir,\u201d Naidu explained.<\/p>\n

Potential extended political crisis in Bangladesh as doubts surface over Hasina\u2019s resignation<\/strong><\/p>\n

It remains unclear whether Sheikha Hasina formally resigned after she absconded earlier this year, which raises complications for leadership in Bangladesh and has triggered calls for new elections in the midst of economic volatility.<\/p>\n

On August 5, Hasina left for India after student protests unseated her 15-year administration, which was marred by allegations of electoral fraud and human rights violations. Now, calls are being made for President Mohammed Shahabuddin to resign after he made comments that raised doubts about former Prime Minister Hasina\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n

President Shahabudin reportedly said that he had not seen Hasina\u2019s resignation letter, provoking anger from the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus as well as student activists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis in itself created another burden in terms of where is the whole issue of her resignation. How does it fit into the idea that there needs to be new elections held because there\u2019s an interim government in place,\u201d Naidu said, adding that the issue could extend the political crisis in the country.<\/p>\n

According to the Constitution of Bangladesh, Hasina will remain as the de facto prime minister in the absence of a formal resignation. The parliament, where Hasina\u2019s party the Awami League has a majority, will have to amend the constitution if fresh elections are held.<\/p>\n

Listen <\/strong>to the Asia-Pacific Report<\/a> on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za 31 October 2024 | 12:35 CAT 4-minute read Border tensions between India and China de-escalate after troops withdrawn from key areas along disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC) The withdrawal of troops, a major outcome of the BRICS summit held in Russia last week, signifies improving bilateral ties between the two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":90718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Asia-Pacific-Report.jpg?fit=2268%2C2268&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-o8f","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 14:29:21","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}