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Hans India
25 minutes ago
- Hans India
'Stable, predictable, constructive ties': Modi, China's Wang Yi discuss steps to ease tensions
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the latter's official residence, 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, in New Delhi, as India continues efforts to ease tensions in ties with China. The meeting took place against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump's recent move to impose tariffs, including a 50 per cent tariff on India. Modi stressed the need for peace and stability along the India-China border and reiterated India's commitment to a fair and mutually acceptable boundary resolution. The PM wrote on X after meeting Chinese FM Wang Yi: "Glad to meet Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Since my meeting with President Xi in Kazan last year, India-China relations have made steady progress guided by respect for each other's interests and sensitivities. I look forward to our next meeting in Tianjin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. Stable, predictable, constructive ties between India and China will contribute significantly to regional as well as global peace and prosperity.' Renowned for his claims of mediating peace between rival nations, Trump may have inadvertently set the stage for an unexpected thaw in India-China ties. Despite Beijing's backing of Pakistan during Operation Sindoor after the Pahalgam terror attack, the recent easing of strains between New Delhi and Beijing is seen, in part, as a fallout of Trump's actions, though he has taken no credit. According to the ministry of external affairs (MEA), Wang Yi is in India at the invitation of National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval to take part in the 24th round of Special Representatives' (SR) Talks on the India-China boundary issue. During his two-day visit, Wang Yi also held bilateral discussions with External Affairs Minister Jaishankar. Sources indicated that China has promised to address three of India's concerns - rare earths, fertilisers, and tunnel-boring machines. During his public remarks, Jaishankar underlined that 'differences must not become disputes, nor competition conflict,' adding that the visit offered both sides an opportunity to review bilateral ties and exchange views on global and regional developments.
Indian Express
25 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Why China has constructed a rail line between restive Xinjiang and Tibet
Earlier this month, China established the Xinjiang-Xizang Railway Co Ltd, which state media described as a 'significant step in the development of one of China's most advanced transport projects'. The planned railway is important because it will connect two historically restive Chinese border regions adjoining each other — the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the northwest, and Tibet, officially Xizang Autonomous Region, in the south of the country. Both autonomous regions are large, have unique demographics, and harsh terrain and climatic conditions that make the construction of infrastructure projects challenging. Increasing access inside these regions, however, has been an important Chinese policy goal in recent decades. The proposed line will run close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The plan to connect Xinjiang with Tibet has been mentioned in Chinese official documents for years, and is part of China's policy to boost rail infrastructure in the region. China opened the high-elevation Qinghai-Tibet Railway in 2006, linking Tibet with the rest of the country by rail for the first time. The line, the highest in the world, is a remarkable feat of engineering — according to the government, about 85% of the route passes at an altitude of more than 4,000 metres, where the average annual temperature is below zero, and air oxygen content is only 50-60% of the standard in lowland areas. The Xinjiang-Xizang line will run 'from Hotan in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region to Shigatse and Lhasa in Xizang', and will be 'part of China's five planned railway corridors into Xizang', a report in China Daily said. Suyash Desai, a Non-Resident Fellow at the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, who studies China's defence, foreign, and nuclear policies, said that a larger connectivity loop is planned across these regions. 'The Hotan-Shigatse railway line will be one part of a route that goes around Tibet-Xinjiang, Southern and Central Xinjiang, and Golmud in Qinghai province,' Desai said. The railways constitute one layer of this connectivity loop; the other is an extensive road network. The new company has a registered capital of $13.22 billion, but the estimated cost of the project remains unknown. The project has multiple aims, from facilitating the movement of soldiers to harnessing untapped economic potential in these regions. 'China has been engaged in a lot of big-ticket projects for decades, but its minority regions still have the capacity to absorb additional infrastructure,' said Jabin Jacob, associate professor at the Department of International Relations and Governance Studies at Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida. 'It is also about knitting together far-flung, politically unstable, economically weak provinces more strongly to the central authority, and is intended to generate easier population movement into these provinces', he said. Desai pointed out that the railways, which now extend to many far-flung regions, facilitate the large-scale mobilisation of troops and movement of defence equipment. This military objective is important in the desert-like parts of Xinjiang, where the conventional economic incentive for investment is not strong. 'When you bring development, the restiveness in these regions could go away,' Desai said. 'This has happened to an extent, with jobs bringing a noticeable element of prosperity in eastern Tibet in particular. Historically, these regions have lagged behind the more prosperous eastern coast of China,' he said. The minority Muslim Uyghurs and Buddhist Tibetans have long been subjected to an official policy of 'Sinicisation', or a centering of the cultural practices of the majority ethnic Han Chinese. The state has typically employed a carrot-and-stick approach towards these populations, which has ensured that no major protests or uprising-like incidents have occurred in more than a decade and a half, Desai said. Jacob said this relative calm suggests that 'draconian measures such as constant surveillance, destruction of religious sites and control of places of worship, have succeeded to a large extent'. 'Infrastructure development in minority regions is part of the effort to reorient their economic development towards centrally directed pathways, to improve control, and 'Sinicise' under pressure of both state control and Han migration into these regions,' he said. These infra projects picked up steady pace about two decades ago. 'China started looking towards its western region with a 'Go West' strategy in 2000. They identified 12 provinces for attention, including these two (Xinjiang and Tibet),' Desai said. Official data show that between 2000 and 2016, the government invested 6.35 trillion yuan ($914 billion) in 300 major projects, mostly in the infrastructure and energy sectors, in China's western region. As it emerged strongly as a global economic force, China started to take a more assertive approach all-round. 'Earlier, they largely believed in the philosophy of 'hide your capability and bide your time' propounded by [the architect of China's economic miracle] Deng Xiaoping,' Desai said. The assertiveness crystallised and became more conspicuous after Xi Jinping became general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, he said. Among the reforms that were introduced in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was a stronger focus on the western region. The new railway could pass through Aksai Chin. Though lagging behind China, India has made an infrastructure push of its own over the last several years, including after the 2020 Galwan clash. In 2023, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated 90 border infrastructure projects, from a tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh to a military airfield in Ladakh.
CNBC
25 minutes ago
- CNBC
Pop Mart shares fall after Labubu-maker posts near-400% profit surge
Shares in Chinese toymaker Pop Mart fell Wednesday, a day after the company posted a near-400% surge in net profit, driven by booming global demand for its Labubu dolls. Pop Mart's revenue jumped 204.4% year on year to 13.88 billion yuan ($1.93 billion), and its net profit attributable to shareholders soared 396.5% to 4.57 billion yuan for the first six months of 2025, compared with last month's forecast of at least 200% revenue growth and 350% rise in profit. Pop Mart dropped as much as 4.7% before paring losses to 0.85% as of 10.15 a.m. local time (10:15 p.m. ET Tuesday) The Beijing-headquartered company's Labubu plushies — sharp-toothed, big-eared ugly-cute dolls have taken the world by a storm, with its $30 keychains spotted on the bags of Rihanna and K-pop band Blackpink's Lisa. The company markets its toys in "blind boxes," where buyers discover the character only after opening the mystery box. In June, Chinese state media urged stricter oversight of blind-box toys and trading cards sold to children under the age of eight, suggesting measures such as age verification at checkout and parental consent for online purchases. While not directly naming Pop Mart, state media criticized businesses for encouraging kids to spend excessively on "mystery boxes" and "blind cards." "We think the longevity of popularity for Pop Mart's key IPs remain uncertain. While sales growth of Labubu and other IPs remain robust, there is no guarantee that consumers will continue to favor them in the next 5-10 years, as their preferences may change very fast," said Jeff Zhang, equity analyst at Morningstar. Pop Mart's stock has rallied more than 200% since the start of the year, data from LSEG showed. "Shares likely remain overpriced as investors are overlooking the high business risk in the long run, in our view," Zhang added. Asia-Pacific, excluding China, was the company's largest overseas market, with revenue soaring 257.8% to 2.85 billion yuan compared to the same period a year ago. The Americas made up its second-largest overseas market, with revenue jumping over 1,000% to 2.26 billion yuan. Intellectual Property is at the "core" of Pop Mart's business, the toymaker said in its earnings statement, adding that it will seek to continue expanding its global business footprint.
