Analysts say they’re still skeptical as the Chinese communist regime continued its rosy overtures at The Boao Forum for Asia 2024, which concluded on March 29.
Zhao Leji, head of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) rubber-stamp legislature, called on Asia to “manage its own security” at the forum to counter U.S. efforts to strengthen alliances between liberal democracies in the region against authoritarian and totalitarian governments. Experts pointed out that, on the contrary, the CCP has been acting aggressively and jeopardizing peace in Asia, which will have a negative effect on the economic development of the region and the world.
The regime also repeated its overtures that it is a strong force for the world’s economic recovery this year, citing its efforts to deregulate domestic markets despite that the central government has been rolling out increasingly left-leaning policies. The CCP has been desperate to attract foreign investment that has been exiting China since the disaster of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Zhao, as chairman of the CCP’s National People’s Congress, delivered the Boao Forum’s keynote speech. His ranking was of a lower level than the speakers of previous years, when the keynote was usually delivered by the chairman of the country or the premier of the State Council.
This year, the participating countries at the Boao were mostly those who seek financial aid from China or who owe huge debts to China because they fell into the debt trap of the CCP’s Belt and Road Initiative, borrowing large amounts for infrastructure development, such as Sri Lanka.
In the keynote speech, Mr. Zhao said China will open its markets wider, continue to reduce its no-access list for investment by certain foreign entities, cancel restrictions to manufacturing access, and treat enterprises with foreign investments in the same way as domestic companies. He said China’s “door will only open wider and wider” and that China will be a strong driving force for the world economic recovery this year.
Analysts have said that this is another attempt by the CCP to attract much-needed foreign investment to save its slumping economy.
Last year, Beijing announced a series of economic policies to stimulate growth and attract foreign investment. However, as foreign investors continue to hold concerns about the CCP’s sweeping anti-espionage laws—implemented in July 2023—exit bans and raids on foreign consulting and auditing firms have also grown. Foreign companies have been seeking to “de-risk” and move their supply chains and operations out of China and away from the interference of the CCP.
According to the CCP’s official data, in 2023, foreign direct investment in China decreased by 8 percent; in the first two months of this year, foreign direct investment in China was about 215.1 billion yuan ($30 billion), a year-on-year decrease of nearly 20 percent.
China’s real estate industry remains weak, and local government debt continues to increase, which casts a huge shadow on the country’s economic development.
Cheng Cheng-Ping, a professor at the Department of Finance at Yunlin University of Science and Technology in Taiwan, told The Epoch Times on March 29 that Mr. Zhao’s statements are false and vague and that there is a high possibility that they will not come to fruition.
Sun Kuo-Hsiang, a professor at the Department of International Affairs and Entrepreneurship at the University of Nanhua in Taiwan, told The Epoch Times on March 29 that although Mr. Zhao said China is now more open to foreign investors, China cannot lead the economic integration of the entire Asian region because of the current problems of the Chinese economy.
“Mainland China is actually facing a situation where the economy is on the verge of death and is constantly getting boosted politically,” Mr. Sun said.
“The CCP says it is opening up its economy, but what the outside world sees is superficial opening up. In fact, controls are becoming increasingly strict, so the opening is just a slogan.”
Mr. Cheng said CCP leader Xi Jinping puts the CCP’s security first and economy second. This has a huge negative effect on the development of China’s economy and potentially Asia’s economy.
Asia Security
Mr. Zhao told the participants at Boao that Asia should manage its own security and not allow itself to become an “arena for geopolitical contests,” implying that the main source of instability was the United States.In his speech, he tried to portray China and its Global Security Initiative (GSI) as a framework for world peace.
The GSI was introduced by CCP leader Xi Jinping in 2022. It suggests resolving conflicts through dialogue. However, behind the vague concept, it’s the CCP’s goal to weaken the U.S. role in global security, especially in Asia, international analysts have warned.
The CCP has increased its military aggression and threats around Taiwan and in the South China Sea in recent years. The confrontation with the Philippines over disputed water territory has escalated in recent months.
The United States has sought to strengthen alliances in the Indo-Pacific region with countries such as Japan, the Philippines, India, and Australia to contain the CCP.
Mr. Cheng said: “The biggest problem in Asia right now is the risk of war. The CCP says it wants to be a strong driving force for the world, but now it seems that it is the biggest destructive factor. It attempts to annex Taiwan, either through peaceful means or military force, its sovereignty claims over the South China Sea, and the recent conflict with the Philippines, etc., have all endangered peace in the region.”
Mr. Cheng noted that Xi is unwilling to give up his alliance with Russian President Vladimir Putin, give up his attempt to annex Taiwan, or reduce military deployment against Taiwan. Under such geopolitical policies, China’s economy will only get worse, he said, as the CCP continues to challenge the U.S.-led liberal democratic world order.
“In the past, [China] was the largest engine of economic growth in the world, and it also drove Asian countries’ economy. But this driving force and ability have disappeared,” Mr. Cheng said. “If Xi insists to focus on geopolitics and the regime’s political security, it is simply a negative factor.
“In addition, the CCP’s own internal problems will become more and more serious, which will be a destructive force to Asia and the world.”
