VIF Information Alerts - 25 July 2018

‘Join BRI and share development bonus’: China reached out to Bhutan

Published: Hindustan Times
24 Jul 2018

China has invited Bhutan to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and share its “development dividend”, Beijing said on Tuesday, a day after a senior Chinese minister visited Thimpu and held talks with the Bhutanese leadership on wide-ranging issues, including the disputed border. This was the first high-level visit by a Chinese politician to Bhutan since the Doklam standoff was resolved at the end of last August.

An official said China’s vice foreign minister Kong Xuanyou, accompanied by the country’s points-person for Bhutan Luo Zhaohui, discussed with the Bhutanese leadership the gamut of the bilateral dispute, which included the situation along the China-Bhutan-India border in Doklam. Kong met Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, besides foreign minister Damcho Dorji.Click here to read... [2]

Its Eye on China, Britain Pushes Back on Foreign Takeovers

Published: The New York Times
24 Jul 2018

Britain on Tuesday joined a growing group of Western nations hardening their use of national security as a litmus test for Chinese investments, with the government in London unveiling a blueprint to sharply tighten its oversight of foreign takeovers.

The proposal, which follows a pledge by Prime Minister Theresa May to protect sensitive industries, widens the scope of deals that Britain can thwart to protect its competitive edge. The new rules being suggested extend the government’s reach when it comes to foreign takeovers, lowering the threshold to include acquisitions of even small companies, intellectual property, individual assets or company shares.Click here to read... [3]

German Spy Chief Says China’s Tech Takeovers Are a Security Risk

Published: Bloomberg
24 Jul 2018

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s top counterintelligence official said Chinese acquisitions of high-tech companies in Germany represent a potential national-security threat. The head of Germany’s top domestic intelligence agency, Hans-Georg Maassen, highlighted the issue in an annual report on security risks that included cyber attacks from China and Russia as well as a rise in threats from Islamist, far-right and far-left fringe groups.

The report painted a picture of Chinese government influence through state companies that had the potential to jeopardize German economic and security interests by siphoning of technological know-how. Conventional cyber attacks on companies have ebbed in recent years and given way to targeted takeovers, Maassen said.Click here to read... [4]

Bulk of Chinese financing goes to three CPEC projects

Published: The Express Tribune
24 Jul 2018

Just three projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – all of them on the eastern route – received 90% of total Chinese financing of $1.8 billion in the just ended fiscal year as other infrastructure and social-sector projects were far behind their completion deadlines, showed official documents.

At the beginning of previous fiscal year 2017-18, Pakistan had estimated receiving $1.6 billion in Chinese loans and grants for about one and a half dozen projects. The disbursement exceeded the target, but the number of projects that received about 90% of loans was only three, showed the statistics compiled by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.Click here to read... [5]

Defence budget may appear to be decreasing due to high economic growth: Govt

Published: The Economic Times
24 Jul 2018

The government today said the defence budget as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product may appear to be decreasing due to an increasing trend of GDP growth of the country. Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said the defence budget, including allocation for miscellaneous expenditure and pensions, was Rs 4.04 lakh crore, which is 16.6 per cent of total expenditure of government for the year 2018-Click here to read... [6]