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Hello and welcome to World Today, I'm Ding Hen in Beijing.
Coming up, Hong Kong market launches the first offshore China government-bound futures contract.
25 American states are suing over President Donald Trump's new tariffs.
US and Japan intervened to boost the yen for the first time since 1998.
And Myanmar's former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has meeting with the International Red Cross.
To listen to this episode again or to catch up on our previous episodes, you can download our podcast by searching World Today.
First up, Hong Kong Stock Exchange has launched five-year China government-bound futures contracts.
The move is part of a broader effort to bolster fixed-income and currencies markets in Hong Kong.
The new contracts have a size of 500,000 yuan or more than 74,000 US dollars.
They are serving as the only China government-bound futures contracts available in the offshore market.
They are said to enhance collaboration and connectivity between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong financial markets.
So for more, joining us now on the line is Dr. Zhou Mi, Senior Research Fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Thank you very much for joining us, Dr. Zhou Mi.
Thanks for having me.
So first of all, according to Hong Kong Stock Exchange, global institutional investors are very eager to trade offshore China government-bound futures.
What do you think is really driving this eager sentiment?
Well, in my understanding that, you know, when we're talking about investments, actions or behaviors, they have to be decided by two factors.
The first is availabilities, whether they are able to find some alternative ways to invest in certain kinds of products, the financial products like you have just introduced as the futures of the
RMB debts.
So I think that is one important thing because Hong Kong is one of a very important door or windows for China's financial market connecting the outside world.
And second is that whether the investors have the intentions to invest in certain kind of financial products like they are
Very interested in investing in China's economy-related financial products.
I think both of these factors just come together in Hong Kong, and they really want to share
The opportunities of China's development.
As we can find from the first half of this year, China's GDP has grew for 4.7%.
I think it's comparatively much higher than almost most of this Western economy.
Countries or economies.
So the investors that really want to share the opportunities of China's economies and if they are able to invest in the government-born futures of China, I think that they really want to have that to balance their investment portfolios in
Different kinds of financial products or different kinds of investment targets.
Actually, many international institutional investors had been actively trading in the Chinese onshore bond market.
As of the end of March this year, foreign investors held 3.2 trillion yuan of onshore Chinese bonds, accounting for 1.6% of the total.
So what is the difference when we talk about trading Chinese bonds in offshore markets?
Well, there are several differences.
First of all, as I just mentioned that we are having Hong Kong as one of the most important door or windows for the cross-border
Transactions.
So when they are investing there, they benefit from these opportunities and the very special conditions as investments.
But I have to say that compared with the, you know, the unsure
Bond market, the offshore bond market is still very, very limited.
So the investors when they are trying to invest in Hong Kong, they have to compete with each other, with each other competitors.
So that may be our factors or a reason we expect to have to see that the investment of this offshore market in Hong Kong is a little bit more challenging for the investors compared to when they are doing the businesses in the onshore market in the mainland China.
Well, the second, I think that is also coming from the flow of the capital.
As we know that China hasn't opened the capital account totally.
So when they are trying to invest in the onshore bond market in mainland China, they have to
Trying to abide by the administrations or administrative requirement by the administrations for certain amount or a different kind of usage.
But in Hong Kong, that is much freer.
When they are doing businesses there, they can use or they can borrow the international capitals from this market much easier.
So that is the second reason.
While the third one, I think that's the...
The mechanisms for deciding the interest rate in the onshore or offshore bond markets are different.
So Hong Kong dollar has some kind of anchor with the US dollars.
And while the onshore bond market is more related with the central bank of China,
So they may be decided by the different kind of anchors of the interest rates, and they have different methodologies or strategies to deal with these differences.
So in what ways can the new contracts we're talking about today help bolster the fixed income and currency markets in Hong Kong?
I think that they will attract many investments to Hong Kong.
When we say that Hong Kong is an international country,
Our financial center, I think that is definitely decided by the activities of these investors.
So if they are able to provide the investors with so many different choices, especially a very important one, different from the United States or US dollar,
Dominated investments.
They are very attractive.
So Hong Kong is a very good place for a different kind of financial investment.
I think that will
Strengthen its position because people will believe that in the future, Hong Kong will be able to provide them with more opportunities, not just for this amount of investment in the Chinese government bond, but also possible ways for more openness as we can find from the
Chairman of the administration, he mentioned that Hong Kong will play an even more important role in China opening up, especially in the financial areas.
According to data from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city handles about 70% of global payments in the offshore yuan market.
It also holds deposits of more than 1 trillion yuan, which represents the largest pool outside the Chinese mainland.
So how much does the support from Beijing matter for Hong Kong to be the largest offshore yuan trading hub, in your opinion?
Well, in my understanding, there may be coming from two mechanisms.
The first one is, as you mentioned, about the Chinese government.
When we're trying to do more experiments in Hong Kong first, like to open certain kind of practices on the different currencies and also the different financial products, I think that is very helpful for the international investors to have more choices in Hong Kong by the investment portfolios.
But the second, I think that is also very important, the mechanisms coming from the market itself, because Hong Kong is the largest place for China's outward investment, for many Chinese companies from the mainland.
So they come to Hong Kong first, and they really have more interest in the trade and the investment.
So they reflect some demand or some mechanism powers coming from the market.
Both of this mechanism has a very important role in supporting Hong Kong as a very attractive place because we are saying China is one very special economy with a sustainable and stable economy.
Growth of the economy.
And I think that is definitely will create more attractiveness for the foreign investors and also to have a bridge to connect to the mainland China and also the foreign markets.
It looks to me or it looks to many people that currently there is a rising demand for renminbi denominated fixed income assets because
On one hand, or first of all, there are geopolitical tensions, hostilities, wars in the Middle East are going on.
And second, a record amount of U.S. government debt is really...
Driving or prompting some investors to diversify away from the US dollar-denominated assets.
But over the longer term, Dr. Jomi, what other factors might sustain the demand for yuan-denominated assets as well?
Well, I agree with you that the factors you have mentioned are just important factors to create so many uncertainties.
We know that for the investors, they are balancing from the two targets.
The first one is profitability, and the second is risks.
So many of these investors especially hate the risks.
So in the coming future, I think that China's abilities and also sustainability will be one very important way for investors.
They believe that China is continue to have growth based on a certain speed or continuously.
And second, I think that China is, you know, China's openness are another factor.
So the investors can benefit from the openness and the super large domestic market.
So they are connecting with, you know, the yuan-related products.
So they benefit from the stabilities and the opportunities of China's openness.
And the third one, I think that it is also because that more and more transactions, no matter in the way of trade or investment, are using the RMB as a currency.
This is definitely when they are talking about the portfolios, the financial investment.
They will think more about that reason.
I think that China's willingness and abilities to deal with the world in a much more certain way is the reason why we are saying that the UN will be more welcome in the future.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Dr. Zhou Mi, Senior Research Fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Coming up, 25 states in the United States sue over President Donald Trump's new tariffs.
This is World Today.
Stay tuned.
Hello, I'm Yin Liang, Cramer Chair Professor of Economics at Willamette University.
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25 U.S. states have sued the Trump administration over its latest tariffs, calling them a pretext for replacing import duties struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in February.
Last month, Washington imposed double-digit tariffs on 60 trading partners, alleging that they had not done enough to crack down upon imports produced by forced labor.
Following the Supreme Court's ruling earlier this year, Trump had to turn to a temporary 10% worldwide tariff that somehow expired last month.
So for more, joining us now on the line is Dr. Joseph Syracusa, professor of global futures with Carding University.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Thank you.
So first of all, as we look at the list of these 25 American states, what do they have in common?
Well, most of them are democratic.
They don't like Donald Trump.
They don't like his policies.
And they don't like what tariffs have done to their state economies.
And I might add that New York and California are very, very large state economies, particularly California, which I think is the fifth largest economy in the world.
They see that Trump has reverted to tariffs, his version of tariffs, which once again bypasses the Constitution, bypasses the legal authority of Congress, that is the
The House of Representatives is the only body in the American government which is obligated or by constitutional rights to raise monies or raise taxes.
They're going after him because they see it as a way to restore the economic status quo before all this happened.
And they also see it as an attempt to attack him.
Now, the last time he put in these tariffs, the Supreme Court ruled against him.
This time it's going to the Supreme Court.
U.S. International Court, and it'll finally make its way to the Supreme Court.
So they're continuing their fight against Donald Trump and his version of foreign economic policy.
So the forced labor tariffs actually are targeting countries that supply 99% of America's imports.
Given that such a sweeping mandate is hitting almost all U.S. trading partners uniformly, how credible do you think the Trump administration's claim is that this is a targeted enforcement against forced labor?
Oh, I think it's not much of an argument.
Trump has no ground to stand on here.
These nations know all about child labor and the like.
Look, these double-digit tariffs...
Recently imposed on these 59 countries were designed to pick up
Uh the shortfall in revenue when the supreme court ruled several months ago that the tariff was illegal
Uh donald trump's administration had to give that money back to the people who paid the import duties
Okay and so he decided to uh
Try a sort of an end around or an overreach.
To sort of shore up the money, to bring some money back in.
But he took a terrible beating the first time around.
And of course, this is his misunderstanding of tariffs.
I mean, tariffs were tried in the 1920s and 30s and in the 19th century.
They didn't work very well.
And they're in contrast to what America's overall policy has been,
For the last 50 years, and that was a globalization, an open-door world, freer trade, lower tariffs, and the rest of it.
This is all against that.
It's counterintuitive.
And it doesn't work.
And of course, Donald Trump likes the tariffs because he doesn't think he has to go to Congress to get any authority.
It allows him to rule the American government through executive orders.
He doesn't like to share power.
But, you know, the Supreme Court said that he has to because he's raising taxes illegally.
Unlike the Liberation Day tariffs imposed last year, we know the forced labor tariffs are imposed under Section 301.
Which allows the president of the United States to impose tariffs or impose other kind of economic sanctions against the countries that are found to engage in unfair trading practices.
So this time around, Professor, do you think courts in the United States will rule in favor of the Trump administration?
No, I do not.
All the arguments that obtained in the first decision to or the decision to knock back the tariffs the first time for the Supreme Court are going to hold up in court again.
He's illegally trying to raise money through the tariffs.
He doesn't have the power to do that.
And that has to come from Congress.
And these states will also argue, not only is it illegal,
That is unconstitutional, they're going to argue that it basically does damage to their economies.
It's hurting businesses, it's hurting individuals who have small businesses, and it's hurting the state economy.
It's creating chaos in various money markets and investment markets.
They're going to say that not only is it unconstitutional or illegal, but it also creates a great deal of chaos.
They're asking for a judicial remedy here, and I think they're going to get it.
Some say the Trump administration is playing a legal cat-and-mouse game with courts regarding his tariffs.
What is your take on this, Professor?
Well, that's a nice way of saying that he's used all the sophistry or dissembling arguments he can make.
He's making almost any case.
If a court knocks something back, he tries to do an end run by using other kind of wording, invoking other kinds of laws.
And it is a cat and mouse game, but you know...
It's not going to win because everybody can see right through it.
And right now, Donald Trump needs money.
You know, as you mentioned in your last package,
The American debt is astronomical, and it's getting worse.
These wars in the Middle East are costing billions of dollars, probably up to a trillion dollars.
It's been going on for five months, and Congress is not in the mood to give Donald Trump anything.
The war is unpopular.
He is unpopular.
His policies are unpopular.
And the Republicans are not going to rally the troops.
In fact, the only person in Congress who might have been able to do this are people like Senator Lindsay, who passed away a couple of weeks ago.
So Trump's lost his usual life.
Cheerleaders in the Congress, particularly in the Senate.
But look, he's trying to do an end run here.
And he's using all the legal arguments.
Now, what the founding fathers meant is what the founding fathers said, that money bills, duties, and things like that can only originate in the House of Representatives.
Those are 435 men and women who represent the 50 United States.
And they're the only people that can raise this kind of thing.
The White House cannot do this kind of thing.
And Trump's got away with it so far because he's able to do it for several months.
Before the courts knock him back.
And so, and of course, you know, I've been saying on your show now for the last couple of years is that
Trump doesn't understand tariffs.
They are import duties.
They increase inflation.
They make it harder for Americans to buy things that are made overseas.
And he uses these tariffs like he uses sanctions.
He uses them to punish other countries.
It's not about opening American trade.
Of course, his big argument is that all of this provides opportunities for American manufacturers.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Now, Professor Syracuse, you said earlier that President Donald Trump's administration needs money.
How desperate is the administration in this regard?
Oh, very desperate.
They're running out of money to replace all these Patriot missiles they use as interceptors in the Middle East and America's allies like Israel use these interceptors in the Middle East.
They need money desperately.
The idea that they had to give the tariff money back.
Trump kept saying that the tariff is the most beautiful word in the American dictionary.
Well, not exactly.
That's because he didn't understand it properly.
So then he just started to use it as an impugnative way.
That is, he started to torture Mexico and Canada and Chinese manufacturers this way by imposing these tariffs.
It doesn't work because it doesn't stand up.
So now he's invoking a law that says that he's...
Trying to protect the American consumer and American businesses from competition from nations that use child labor or have child labor
Uh elements in their and their exported goods
Well that's ridiculous uh
Sure child labor goes on but the countries the united states deals with uh know that pretty well and they try to keep that kind of thing out of there and it's not a real reason you know
And
Trump just reverted to it because he's frankly out of other arguments.
So this is the cat and mouse game.
If this doesn't work, he tries something else.
And of course, everything he's used so far has been found unconstitutional.
And at the end of the day, the president of the United States must yield to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Lastly and briefly, Professor, as America's major trading partners watch the U.S. domestic legal fight over tariffs, what kind of mindset should they be holding?
Well, they should realize that Trump is playing the short game here.
America's trading partners who have a wonderful relationship with the American economy.
Uh should play a longer game
They should wait for trump to get out of office
He only has two years to go and he's not going to be replaced by anybody who thinks this is a good idea because it's manifestly a bad idea
And you know what?
Americans are very practical.
If something doesn't work, they just try something else.
And if that doesn't work, they try something else again.
And if it doesn't work the third time, as in Trump's case, they stop altogether.
So I'm sure that things will return to normal.
That is, there'll be easier trade policies around the world and the American economy.
And its trading partners, China, Canada, Mexico, will continue to prosper.
But I think they just have to sort of put up with this nonsense right now.
I just think they should play the long game and watch the Trump administration sort of disappear into the sunset.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Joseph Syracuse, Professor of Global Futures with Curtin University.
You're listening to World Today.
I'm Dinghan in Beijing.
We'll be back after a short break.
Your backwards world today.
I'm Ding Hen in Beijing.
The US and Japan have taken the rare step of joining forces to support the Japanese yen,
The move comes after the yen fell to a 40-year low against the U.S. dollar, raising concerns about inflation in Japan and broader risks to global financial markets.
Both governments say that they are ready to intervene again if necessary.
The coordinated intervention was the first U.S.-Japan joint operation to buy the Japanese yen since the year 1998, and it was the first coordinated intervention involving these two countries since the G7 acted to weaken the Japanese yen following the 2011 earthquake hitting Japan.
For more on this, my colleague Zhao Yang spoke with Professor Li Lun, Assistant Professor of Economics with Peking University.
So Professor Li Lun, thank you very much for joining us.
For the first time since 2011, the U.S. and Japan have jointly intervened in the currency market to support the Japanese yen.
So how significant is this move and what message does it send to the global financial markets?
Yeah, so I think the move is pretty significant because, you know, it's the significance is really in who participated.
So, you know, Japan has repeatedly intervened for its domestic monetary market for several times.
But this is the first time that US directly participates.
So, you know, there's a usual visible sign of this Washington's involvement because we have seen that the Treasury Secretary Scott Besant have, you know, made a handwritten note during a cabinet meeting on July 31st, and it says,
Buy Japanese yen $5 to $10 billion.
So this is directly saying that, you know, in terms of the financial scale, it's pretty substantial in terms of the resolve for the US government to kind of
Help with this market, it's also very important.
And also, I think the immediate market response was pretty strong.
So I think we have seen that the yen has strengthened a little bit after the intervention.
So a coordinated intervention like this could
It actually forced investors to close some of the speculative positions, especially those investors who are speculating the yen to be falling even further.
So I think the broader message is that the US-Japan foreign exchange framework is basically allowing this intervention in the future, allowing basically measures to be against the so-called disorderly depreciation.
And I think in the future, there's going to be more financial and possibly diplomatic ties between the United States and Japan as well.
Well, the Trump administration says supporting the yen is in America's interest.
So how do you explain that?
Why would the U.S. choose to do so?
First, there's a very clear interest in terms of trade policy, because if the yen is extremely weak, it's going to make Japanese products even cheaper in dollar terms, and it can partly partially offset
Some of the US tariffs that Trump is intended to impose.
And also, I think a stronger yen also makes American goods and services more affordable to Japanese consumers and businesses.
So in other words, for the US government to support the yen, it can improve the price competitiveness of US exports.
Without actually imposing another trade agreement.
And I think in terms of the financial stability interest, Washington also have something in that too, because Japan is one of the world's largest holder of overseas assets.
So if
Tokyo or Japan have to sell large quantity of dollar assets, including the US government securities, then there's probably going to be some fluctuation in the financial stability, especially in the prices of US treasury bonds.
And why has the yen weakened to a 40-year low in the first place?
Is this mainly about the interest rate differences or are there deeper problems in Japan's economy?
So I think the most immediate or most direct explanation is in the interest rate differences.
So for example, when we look at the Federal Reserve's
Policy rate in the U.S. is currently between 3.5 to 3.75%, and that rate is only 1% in Japan.
So I think
A safe way to kind of make money is that investors could borrow in yen and also purchase higher yielding dollar assets.
And this is going to create a persistent demand for dollars and also a persistent selling pressure
On the yen.
So this momentum is going to continue as long as there's going to be interest rate differences.
But I do think that interest rates are not the whole story because between 2011 and 2026, the yen has depreciated by approximately 51% against the dollar.
So I think
Uh you know economists are also you know analyzing the reasons
I think uh you know japan's for example dependence on imported energy is another structural vulnerability because in the u.s iran conflict you know a lot of electricity a lot of fossil fuels for for japan was imported and it's it's actually
When there's a combination of higher oil prices and a weaker currency, it's also going to raise Japan's import bill, the energy bill, and also worsens its terms of trade.
So people will generally have less confidence in Japan's economy.
So I do think when we talk about demographic problem,
Productivity slow down.
There's also factors that could limit the potential growth and reduce the expectation of Japanese interest rate, especially in the future.
So I do think overall, to summarize, I think the most immediate reason is the interest rate gap.
But I think people have
Fewer and fewer confidence about Japan's growth potential, especially in the future, about skepticism about Japan's energy dependence, and also in terms of the demographic pressure and uncertainty about the future.
And for years, a weak yen has helped the Japanese exporters while squeezing households through the higher imports costs.
So which sector of the Japanese economy would benefit from a stronger yen, and which are likely to face the greater headwinds?
Yeah,
So I think the Japanese households would definitely be among the beneficiaries because when they have a stronger yen, it's going to lower the domestic currency cost of imported goods, of imported fuel, clothing, medicines, and other consumer goods.
And that's going to be important, especially when we're when we're saying, you know, the Japanese inflation is going to is already have increased.
And also, in terms of the self sufficiency of their energy, it's only around 15%.
So this is particularly important for domestic.
Uh you know households and domestic consumers in japan and also for import dependent businesses
They would also benefit including for example airlines electricities utilities transportation uh food processors retailers and so on so forth
But i do think you know there's going to be headwinds which are going to fall on automobiles machineries electric electronics
The sectors that usually depend heavily on exports because a stronger yen is going to reduce the yen value of their overseas profits and also making the Japanese exports more expensive in foreign currency terms.
So I do think
You know, in terms of tourism, there's also going to be mixed effects because a stronger yen is going to benefit Japanese residents traveling abroad, but it would definitely make Japan more expensive for international tourists.
So this could also slow revenue growth for some domestic hotels and tourism dependent regions in Japan.
So overall, I think, you know, a moderately stronger yen would kind of be redistributing the purchasing powers from exporters to households and importers.
But I think the overall outcome is still something that remains a mystery.
And what do you think are the main challenges the Japan economy is facing today?
Yeah, so I think there are a couple, at least three.
So I think the first is how to restore the purchasing power of Japanese households.
So the household, the headline inflation of Japanese economy is
1.7% in June.
But I do think the Bank of Japan is actually expect more that the core inflation to be around 2.5% in the 2026 fiscal year.
So i i if you look at the real household expenditure in japan it's down by 0.4 year-on-year in may
So actually there's a lot of continuing pressure on consumption
And if we look at the real amount of goods that japanese consumers are buying
Is actually decreasing.
So how do we restore, how do they restore the household purchasing power is very important.
And I think the second challenge is that they need to figure out a way to kind of how to normalize the monetary policy
Without destabilizing the economy or destabilizing the market for the government bond.
Because Japan, what they really need right now is a higher interest rate to contain the inflation and also support the yen.
But its public debt is very high.
And also the large bond holdings they accumulated during the years is going to make this monetary policy very difficult and costly.
And I think the third challenge is demographic.
So Japan's population has declined for 14 consecutive years.
And there's an increasingly older population.
For example, their population age 65 or above is almost 30% of their population.
So this is going to create labor shortages,
Rising pension and also rising expenditure in healthcare in the future.
And finally, I think another concern is that, different from China, Japan doesn't really have a very strong innovation or productivity engine.
So their productivity growth is
Only 0.3% between 2019 and 2024.
So this lack of innovation or productivity is not going to help, especially when they're already facing a lot of pressure in their macroeconomic situation when we're talking about their energy vulnerability as well.
Lin Lun, Assistant Professor of Economics from Peking University, speaking with my colleague Zhao Yang.
You're listening to World Today.
I'm Ding Han in Beijing.
India has eased some trade and investment restrictions on China as the country seeks closer economic ties with the world's second-largest economy.
The policy changes include relaxing investment rules for Chinese-owned e-commerce companies and allowing companies with up to 10% Chinese ownership to invest without prior government approval.
At the same time, New Delhi says it will adjust its approach against what it calls unfair trade practices, including dumping.
Meanwhile, a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Economic Advisory Council has called for further easing of business travel and people-to-people exchanges.
So joining us now in the studio is my colleague Song Rui Xin.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Hello, Ding Han.
So first of all, Rui Xin, what is really driving India's decision here?
I think the key point is that this is not a sudden change in India's China policy.
And it is more about India making a practical adjustment based on economic realities.
Like India has realized that China is still deeply connected to its own economy.
And a lot of India's imports from China are not finished consumer products.
So there are things like machinery, electronic components and auto parts.
So while India wants to reduce risks and build more domestic capacity, completely cutting economic ties with China is, let's say, simply not realistic.
And I think there is a geopolitical factor as well.
For years, India has been strengthening ties with the United States, but at the same time, it does not want to put all these acts in one basket.
So with this growing uncertainty in global trade and more tensions with Washington, India has an incentive to keep economic channels open with both China and the U.S.
So what could these policy changes mean for trade and investment between China and India?
Well, this thing is very complex.
I think these changes could lead to a more stable and predictable economic relationship between the two countries, although it does not mean all tensions will disappear.
For now, one important area is investments, let's say.
Since 2020, Chinese companies investing in India have faced much stricter screening.
You probably have noticed this as well.
The recent relaxation, even though limited, sends a signal that India is becoming more open to some Chinese investment.
Under certain conditions.
And for Chinese companies, this could create new opportunities in areas like manufacturing, technology and e-commerce.
And this will also impact on supply chains, I believe.
One thing that is often misunderstood here is that China-India trade is not only about Chinese products entering the Indian market,
I mean, a large part of this trade involves goods like components and materials that Indian companies use to produce goods themselves.
So in many factors and even sectors, China is actually part of India's manufacturing ecosystem.
This is especially important for India's ambitions to expand manufacturing and exports for itself.
At the same time, I don't think we should expect trade disputes to disappear completely.
India will continue using tools, I believe, like anti-dumping measures when it believes domestic industries are under pressure.
And so the relationship is unlikely to move from competition to full cooperation.
And let's say a better way to describe it is managed competition with deeper economic engagement.
And if we look ahead, if India becomes more involved in regional trade frameworks, this could create even more space for economic interactions with China.
So overall, direction is not a complete reset, but a move toward a more practical and predictable relationship.
We are also seeing calls for easier business travel, more visas, etc.
What do you think this suggests about the broader direction of India's approach towards China?
I think these moves send a very important signal that India is trying to rebuild practical connections with China, even though strategic differences remain.
Because things like visas and flights may sound like small administrative issues, but they actually matter a lot.
Like businesses need people to travel, you know, and companies need engineers, managers and partners to communicate face to face.
But there is also a bigger geopolitical calculation here.
You remember just a couple of days ago, Modi's sister moment with Japan's prime minister.
So India has always tried to maintain this strategic autonomy, but it works with the United States and Japan and Australia through the court, but it also remains active in groups like BRICS.
So I would describe India's current approach as cautious engagement.
Thank you very much for joining us.
That was my colleague Sun Rui Xin.
This is World Today.
Stay tuned.
You're back with World Today, I'm Ding Han in Beijing.
Myanmar says former State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi has met with the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross to Myanmar.
Photos released by Myanmar's authorities show that the meeting took place in a wood-paneled room.
Aung San Suu Kyi was also seen cutting a birthday cake.
The ICRC has confirmed regarding this meeting but didn't disclose details of the discussion.
In April this year, Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to move from a prison to a designated residential area to serve the remainder of her sentence as part of a bigger nationwide prisoner amnesty.
So for more, joining us now on the line is Rong Ying, Chair Professor at the School of International Studies with Sichuan University.
Thank you very much for joining us, Dr. Rong.
Thank you for having me.
First of all, what messages is Myanmar's government trying to send by releasing the information and relevant photographs of this meeting?
The Myanmar government, by sending photographs of Aung San Suu Kyi, has tried to send up very significant but nuanced messages, engagement, responses to the concerns that have been expressed by regional countries, ASEAN in particular, but also I think the international community as well.
If you look at the photos and the meetings with ICRC, it's very clear that first and foremost, the government of Myanmar wanted to show, to tell the outside world that Aung San Suu Kyi is innocent.
And the healthy condition.
This is very much responded to the concern expressed repeatedly by her families, family members, and also the internet community, because since the imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi, there's little or no news about whereabout and also her conditions.
Even though I think, excuse me, in private, we know that there are reports that Myanmar government, the foreign minister, but mostly recently when he met with his counterpart of ASEAN said, we treated Aung San Suu Kyi well, like sister and so forth, but no evidence.
So the meeting with ICRC resident representative in Myanmar and the fact that including the photo celebration of birthday and so on and so forth, so very strong.
It also meant to, of course, to show the outside world, particularly Thailand, where
The President Mianle, who is scheduled to visit in just a few days time.
And thirdly, one has to take into account the nuances of messages, which I think it is more kind of a humanitarian world.
Because the ICRC, which again, very importantly, confirmed the meeting, said the visit by its resident representative is conductive.
For visiting people deprived of liberty.
So it's a kind of a more humanitarian.
In other words, arguably, the Myanmar government would argue that it's not a sort of treatment or own way of treating Aung San Suu Kyi, which according to the government,
And so forth so it's a very significant and important development question of myanmar and also very much targeted to international community and asean in particular
More than five years since Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted, do you think there are signs that memoir is returning to normalcy?
I think very much so.
At least I think the conclusion of general elections, which signifies Myanmar's transition to normal government that is run by elections.
So this is very much a fact and a kind of reality.
Where the ASEAN countries, the regional countries and international community will have to live with, will have to recognize.
And of course, the situation in general
Still, there are a lot of challenges, particularly on the question of peace and reconciliation sort of aspect, the way that humanitarian challenges and so forth.
And not to mention, I think, the earthquakes that hit Myanmar so much.
Again, I would argue that the international community, regional countries would have to recognize the Myanmar issue, the Myanmar question has been there for so many years, and it is very complicated.
It takes consistent, but I think patient engagement and dialogue.
From all the stakeholders to ensure that peace and stability will be returned and the country will become normal so that they can focus more on development
In the process where these political differences, humanitarian-ish concerns, and peace and stability for the region would be properly addressed through greater dialogues and negotiations.
The UN has welcomed the ICRC's visit to Aung San Suu Kyi.
A UN spokesperson says that Secretary General Antonio Guterres stresses the importance of dialogue between all Myanmar parties and his special envoy on Myanmar, Julia Bishop.
Stresses how the UN, the ASEAN and other key players can help peacefully resolve the current conflict.
What is your thought regarding the statement from the UN?
Do you believe things are indeed in the right direction?
Well, definitely.
The fact that the UN welcomes this development
To the progress, even though limited, in Myanmar.
The UN definitely has played a very important role.
As I said, I think ASEAN very much so, and Myanmar's neighboring countries and the international community as a whole.
Or two issues is not the right way.
It would take patient and proactive diplomacy, and most importantly, engagement from the international community to encourage the Myanmar government to go along continuously in the right way.
And this is why the international community in general, the UN,
Spokesperson's statement representing the Secretary-General should also be welcomed in the right direction.
As you said earlier, Dr. Rong, the Prime Minister of Thailand, Anutin Chawalagong, is scheduled to meet with Myanmar's President Myint Lai
In Thailand later this week.
And speaking at the headquarters of the ASEAN on Tuesday, Chawalagong, the Thai Prime Minister, called for a calibrated re-engagement with Myanmar.
So do you think that's something that ASEAN will have to do in the days ahead?
For example, can ASEAN members reach consensus in this regard?
Myanmar questions on the whole.
Primarily, the question or the problem ASEAN would have to take care of.
Has come up position, which shortly after the military coup back in 2021, the so-called five-point consensus, which remains the foundation
ASEAN's efforts to resolve the Myanmar conflict.
And the fact that in implementing a five-point consensus, I think ASEAN has always tried to strike a balance to ensure that ASEAN's concerns or ASEAN's sort of frustration on Myanmar
Question would be properly addressed.
On the other hand, I think it's also related to the principle where ASEAN has always been very important for ASEAN that's non-interfering internal affairs.
And so this is something I think how in reality or in practice,
ASEAN would have to go along.
On the one hand, it would have to address, want to express its concerns, want to help to put pressure on Myanmar to address its concerns.
On the other hand, to ensure the principles would not go too far.
The past five years have seen that on the
Important, but in reality we have seen there are some divisions or differences among the ASEAN countries in how to
With that consensus to address the issues.
And in particular, I think how to ensure the approach becomes more pragmatic, more calibrated,
To the changing realities on the ground.
In this case, Myanmar's latest development, elections, and so on and so forth.
Thailand, as one of the important member of the ASEAN, also close neighbor of Myanmar, has very much played an important role.
So by using this opportunity of the workforce coming visit President Mianle, it's clearly Prime Minister noting that I would like to push for a more pragmatic shift or pragmatic way to implement the five-point consensus.
Meantime, ensure the effectiveness
For diplomatic talks and to ensure ASEAN's unity, ASEAN's sort of centrality will remain on these critical sort of issues for ASEAN.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Dr. Rong Ying, Chair Professor, joining us from the School of International Studies with Sichuan University.
That's all the time for this edition of World Today.
A quick recap of today's headline news.
Hong Kong market launches first offshore China government-bound futures contract, 25 American states are suing over President Donald Trump's new tariffs, and the United States and Japan are intervening to boost the Japanese yen for the first time since 1998.
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I'm Dinghan in Beijing.
Thank you so much for listening.
Bye for now.
