Dear Friend,

In the month of September, the ICS maintained its steady output of publications and informed discussions on a wide range of issues relating to China and East Asia. We were also busy with a series of international conferences and dialogues held in China, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Activities

The 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China is slated to begin on 18 October 2017, and the ICS faculty and associates held their first workshop of authors for a planned book on the event. A two-day symposium is slated for December to analyse the outcomes of the Congress.

I was invited by the Indian Express,  as part of their 'Explained' series for a conversation and Q&A on India-China relations post-Doklam standoff (the full transcript can be read here). The ICS also hosted a special seminar on Sino- Indian relations in the context of the changing global order by Dr. Wang Dong, Associate Professor at Peking University's School of International Studies.

Continuing the China Symposia initiative undertaken by the ICS jointly with the Ananta Centre, two sessions on India and China as Rising Powers in the World Order: Influences of History and Culture were organised at the School of International Relations and Strategic Studies, Jadavpur University on 14 September 2017. ICS Honorary Fellows Prof. Sabaree Mitra and Mr. Ravi Bhoothalingam led the sessions that also saw Amb. Krishnan Srinivasan, former Indian Foreign Secretary serve as moderator (watch on YouTube). This month also witnessed the ICS' first collaboration with the Jaipur-based CUTS International on China and the Multilateral Trading System (YouTube and Soundcloud)

Our Wednesday Seminars topics in September covered 'Taiwan-China Economic and Trade Relations' (YouTube and Soundcloud), 'China in the UN Security Council' (YouTube and Soundcloud), 'Environment and Energy in China under Xi Jinping' (YouTube and Soundcloud) and 'China's Investments in Southeast Asia' (Soundcloud).

ICS Events Abroad 

There were three ICS events abroad with an ICS delegation led by Ambassador Biren Nanda participating in the 1st China-South and Southeast Asia Dialogue organised together with the Hainan Institute of World Watch (HNIWW), Haikou, and the Thai-Chinese Culture Economy Association, Bangkok at Haikou, Hainan. There was also a separate ICS-HNIWW bilateral on India-China relations in the wake of the Doklam Standoff. The two other events were part of bilateral MoUs that the ICS has with the Vietnam Institute of Chinese Studies under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences in Hanoi led by Assistant Director Dr. Aravind Yelery and with the Institute of Chinese Communist Studies in Taipei, Taiwan led by myself. The last two events focused specifically on the 19th party Congress of the CPC in addition to India-Vietnam and India-Taiwan relations respectively. There were other productive conversations in Hanoi and Taipei.

Publications

ICS Governing Council member, Amb. Shyam Saran's book, How India Sees the World: Kautilya to the 21st Century was released on 6 September at the India International Centre by former Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. You can see Amb. Shyam Saran discussing the book on The Wire, CNN News18, NDTV.

A new ICS volume has been published titled, China and its Neighbourhood: Perspectives from India and Vietnam edited by ICS Fellow Dr. Jabin T. Jacob and Dr. Hoang The Anh of the Vietnam Institute of Chinese Studies, Hanoi. The book is an outcome of the collaboration between the two institutions and was released in English and Vietnamese editions in Hanoi during our bilateral visit there, from 19-23 September.

Emeritus Fellow Amb. Kishan Rana has an ICS Occasional Paper out on China's Belt and Road Initiative and its Impact on India. The month also saw two ICS Analyses- one on Public-Private Partnerships in Healthcare in China and India by Adjunct Fellow Prof. Rama V. Baru and Associate Fellow Dr. Madhurima Nundy, and another on Supply Side Economics with Chinese Characteristics by Amb. Shyam Saran.

In the Media

ICS Fellow Dr. Jacob wrote in the South China Morning Post on the changing nature of India- China engagement against the backdrop of the Doklam standoff. Adjunct Fellow Dr. Atul Bhardwaj too, had a perspective on the Doklam standoff in The Wire, while I gave an interview to the Asian Age on the success of quiet diplomacy in resolving the crisis in Doklam. Dr. Jacob also offered his views on the BRICS Summit in Xiamen on Rajya Sabha TV while Amb. Saran discussed the Rohingya refugee crisis in the India Today.

Faculty Updates 

Assistant Director Dr. Yelery was a panellist at the 2nd BRICS Symposium on Development and Governance in Shanghai on 24 September while Research Associate Dr. P. K. Anand gave a talk on labour relations and welfare in China under Mao Zedong at The Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Former Director Prof. Alka Acharya and Dr. Jabin Jacob were both panellists at the Defence Services Staff College's annual China Seminar in Wellington, Tamil Nadu. The latter was also a speaker at the 1st Taichung-India Forum for Commerce and Cultural Cooperation in Taiwan at the end of September.

Do visit the ICS website, follow us on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to the ICS' YouTube and Soundcloud channels for more details. You can also sign up to receive information about our events and publications. Thank you once for your support to the ICS and I look forward to seeing you at our future events.

Warm regards,

Ashok K. Kantha
Director
Institute of Chinese Studies

Previous Updates

August 2017

July 2017