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Coming up, China's Premier Li Qiang calls for joint efforts to achieve new successes for East Asia.
China's industrial profit growth peaks up to near two-year high.
India and China resume direct flights as ties improve.
Malaya's party secures victory in Argentina's midterm elections.
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First up.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has called for joint efforts to achieve new successes for the development of East Asia.
He made remarks while addressing a summit involving the ASEAN China, Japan and South Korea in Malaysia.
The Chinese premier said China is willing to strengthen the alignment of development strategies with all parties and will continue to adhere to openness and cooperation.
He also called on all parties to uphold free trade and the multilateral trading system, uphold protectionism and properly resolve differences via dialogue and consultation.
So for more.
Joining us now on the line is Dr Rong Ying Chair, Professor at the School of International Studies, Sichuan University.
Thank you very much for joining us.
So on this very occasion, the Chinese premier talked about the economic miracles enjoyed by East Asia as a whole.
So do you agree with this idea that openness and cooperation are somehow the key to prosperity, making this region's economic miracles continue into the future?
It is true.
I think, if you look at East Asia itself, the region and also particularly, I think, you compare it with other regions that have been conflict going on, development has been stagnating and so on and so forth.
I think it is fairly true that over the past decade we've seen this part of the world has enjoyed a fast I think possibly arguably the fastest growth economically, creating miracles one after another.
I think this is very much, I think, true.
And most importantly, if I can see, is that we need to certainly value this progress and achievement, but the most important to learn and draw good lessons and experiences.
I think the Premier Li Chang's statement is, I think, should be understood in this context.
In other words, the miracles we have had in the region East Asia is not a kind of accidental, rather than joint efforts by all the countries in the region.
Most importantly, I think it's because of the I mean the peace and stability that had been enjoyed the fastest growth economically.
Economic growth has been enjoyed.
I mean it was largely or primarily because of the joint efforts of all the countries in the region, mostly by upholding the principles of seeking common grounds to address the differences through talks and negotiations.
That is the most important thing.
And related to that.
I think equally important is that the commitment for open free and trade and against the various kind of protectionism, promoting the regional economic sort of integration.
This is very much so and it is particularly important or relevant in this context as we are now facing, first and foremost, that the global trade.
I mean terror, war by the united states and others, and most importantly i think we see geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry and so and so forth take at the verge of taking over, could negatively affect the region as a whole.
Now talking about trade or cooperation in East Asia, I guess we have to mention this Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, where Australia and New Zealand are members as well.
Why do you think the RCEP, in its first summit held since 2020, has called for wider trading efforts and a faster inclusion of new members?
Yeah, that's exactly, I think, the reason we can be, and we should be, confident about what has happened in this part of the world.
Having said that, I think, the difficulties, the challenges ahead, I think the RCP itself has demonstrated, as I mean showcased, the resilience and, I think, the commitment by the country in the region that if we follow, if we stay committed to the principles and experience successful appearance of that, And the RCP definitely, I think we look at it.
So, ever since it had been sort of signed, coming into effective now it becomes the largest regional trading sort of organization and taking over sort of 30 of the world's GDP.
And because of that there are more countries in addition to the I mean 15 members has expressed an interest in becoming part of that.
Hong Kong, I mean, countries and economies, Hong Kong, I mean, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Chile.
So I mean primarily again at the summit of the RCEP, expressed its support and arguing that it is important for the group for the RCEP to expand continuously.
And related to that is, I think, in response to development in trade and investment.
I think for the purpose of opening, openness and cooperation, RCEP itself also have to be upgraded.
So new areas, new issues of trade and investment for example, the digital trade, the green development and as well as the government procurement policies and the question of stable and secure supply and value chain should be coming.
And last but not least, I think the a commitment of to the multilateral trading system well can have to be also being uploaded.
So we have a very promising but i think important progress have been achieved, but we need to work more.
In the meantime, we understand.
In a Sunday meeting, bilateral meeting with the acting president of Singapore, Premier Li Qiang said China is ready to work with Singapore and other members of the ASEAN to make this China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 30 a success.
We understand the negotiations for this Free Trade Area 3.0 have already concluded.
It concluded sometime earlier this year.
What do you think we can expect with regard to its signing and implementation in the near future?
First and foremost, I think we were expecting that this agreement would come into effect, become effective, within this year because, as we know, it has to still go through uh, i mean internal, necessary internal procedures and i think, given the political commitments uh for to that, from both from chinese side and the asean side, i think we are fully confident about that.
The most important thing is that, by working together to push for the three i mean ft 30 and once again and not only demonstrate the commitment but, most importantly, i think uh uh showcase to the outside world that China and ASEAN are ready to working together to take the lead to shape the regional economic integration process and to fulfill the commitment of openness and cooperation.
That is the most important thing.
And so I mean related to that is, of course, because of that we are going to see the regional economic cooperation sort of dynamic or pattern is going to be reshaped by that, particularly in terms of three areas or three dimensions, on the question of rules, on the question of digital or intelligent transformation and also the question in terms of supply and chains.
All these three dimensions or three issues are very much important in the I mean also very much related to the RCEP.
So, last but not least, because of that, I think the FTA China and South Asia ASEAN FTA 30 is going to play a very important role in promoting, helping promoting the China ASEAN closer sort of a community of shared future, which is again have very much important political and economic significance.
So, Dr Rongying, here we are actually talking about a series of ASEAN-centered regional summits that are held annually.
This is a very significant diplomatic occasion for ASEAN annually.
And this year, apart from Chinese premier leaders of Brazil, Lula da Silva, Mr Lula da Silva and leaders of Canada and the European Council are also present in this region.
They are engaging with regional leaders.
What do you think this tells us about the role of Southeast Asia, or ASEAN, in today's global landscape?
That's a great question.
I think, first and foremost again.
Once again, I think the success of ASEAN, or the miracle of East Asia, has once again demonstrated that the principles, the visions of openness and cooperation remains relevant, and I would argue that even more important or relevant in today's context, as we have seen tariff wars and we've seen, I think, de-globalizations and so forth.
And secondly, I believe that the growing interest of other powers, region I mean particularly from the global south.
I mean the countries you mentioned.
A lot of them are very important on global south, again served as a testament to the convening power of ASEAN.
And thirdly, I think it is also an initiative from ASEAN's side that to strengthen this sort of engagement with outside players particularly, I think, the Global South, serve the best interest not only reinforce the centrality of ASEAN in this complex and changing part of the world, but most importantly, I think it's commitment or readiness to work as a bridge between ASEAN and Global South.
So all in all, we're going to see ASEAN play a more important role in this area.
This is a very important and, I think, positive development.
Your point is well taken.
But thank you very much for joining us, Professor Rongying, joining us from Sichuan University.
Coming up.
We're going to explore how China can achieve greater self-reliance in science and technology over the next five years.
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I'm Ding Hen in Beijing.
Top Chinese leaders have adopted recommendations for the country's 15th Five-Year Plan, outlining a roadmap for advancing science, technology and talent development.
The communique of a key meeting held last week says that China should enhance self-reliance and strength in science and technology to steer the development of new quality productive forces.
It also says that China should advance innovations and breakthroughs in core technologies and key fields.
In addition, the meeting's communique calls for deeper integration of science and industry, turning lab results into real productivity, while advancing the Digital China Initiative.
So for more, my colleague Zhao, Yang earlier spoke with Dr Yan Liang, professor of economics with Willamette University.
So Yan, the 15th five-year plan emphasized the self-reliance in science and technology.
So how central is artificial intelligence to this vision?
And what do you see as China's main competitive advantages in AI development?
Well, I think AI is a very important sector or technology to develop because, on the one hand, it is one of the emerging frontier technologies that is really going to cause the technological revolution in the global economy.
And on the other hand, AI is a general purpose technology.
So GPT, which means it can be integrated and applied to a variety of sectors in various economic fields.
So in that sense, AI is really essential to China's technological self-reliance and also quality productive forces for the next level of high level development.
And as far as China's competitive advantages in AI is concerned, I think actually China has many advantages.
So, as we know, to build successful AI technology, unique data, and China has more than 1 billion internet users.
So that would become a really large source of data to train these AI models.
China also has the very class, high class level of infrastructure.
This means it's not only data centers, but also very affordable and renewable energies because AI for training models and for model influences they utilize a lot of energies.
So China's affordable accessible, reliable renewable energies would provide really essential advantage for China.
In addition, China has the global's.
You know, half of the AI talents are in China.
According to Jinsen Huang, the NVIDIA CEO.
So China has all these human talents that would help to propel AI development.
And last but not the least, I think the Chinese government has the strategic vision to promote AI and there's a very large class of private entrepreneurs.
They're also being very innovative and also keep investing in AI.
And I think, last advantage is China has a very large user case, because China has very large manufacturing capacity and very complete industrial supply chain.
So that means AI can be applied to manufacturing, to services, to many other sectors that we're very eager to use as AI and also manufacture AI embodied equipment and machineries and electronics.
So all these just show that China is going to have a lot of leading advantages in the AI technologies.
And the communique also stresses turning lab results into real productivity.
So how effectively is China bridging the gap between AI research and applications?
Yes, I think China is leading in the AI research.
For example, by this past July, China has already released more than 1,500 large language models.
And when you look at the world top 20 large language models, according to the Open Science compass, China has 14 out of the 20 top language models.
So in that sense, you know, China is really leading in the AI research.
Not to mention, China holds 60 of the AI patent.
But I think to really translate these kinds of innovations and research and technologies into industrial application.
That is really the key to really not only monetize the AI technologies but really help to drive these kinds of productivity growth and to really achieve the high quality productive forces.
And I think in that sense, China is also doing great.
There are over 5,000 AI related firms.
They're integrating AI in manufacturing in smart factories.
They're also applying AI to various service industries like healthcare education tourism, research and so on and so forth.
So I think China, as I mentioned earlier, giving its very large manufacturing base, China is now accounting for 30 of the global manufacturing capacity.
So I think there's a lot of potential to integrate AI into smart manufacturing, advanced equipment manufacturing.
So this kind of industrial application would really not only drive AI technologies forward, but really utilize AI in a very productive way.
And, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization, China's influence in the global AI market continues to grow.
So what do you think are the key drivers behind this expansion?
And what is the future trajectory for AI development in China?
Well, I think China's success is not only because it has been building very successful, also very top-notch language model.
As I mentioned earlier, out of the top 20, China account for 14, and these are based on the reasoning knowledge, math and coding skills.
So these models, they're not only very competent, but they're also open sourced.
At least many of them are open sourced.
So that really promote the utilization and the network effect of using Chinese AI.
And, on the other hand, I think China again is applying AI technologies and integrate it very effectively into the broader sector.
So I think that is really showing that the China's sort of the system of AI development and utilization is really going to be leading the rest of the world.
And in terms of the future development, I think, on the one hand, you know the government has been emphasizing continuously, you know, developing these AI technologies, meaning the cutting edge technologies.
Continue to perfect these models, continue to build better models.
But on the other hand, I think the emphasis is really put on how to make the AI more integrative, to really apply AI in various sectors.
Again in an accelerated, in a productive way, so that AI can be monetized but, more importantly, to really drive productivity growth.
So again, the example would be smart manufacturing and also AI applications in healthcare, for developed biotech, AI technologies embodied in these low altitude devices, and so on and so forth.
So I think that is really those both directions.
Are you know really the directions, the goals going forward?
And the Chinese government has emphasized in the 15th Five-Year Plan that it really aims to make AI a global public good that benefits humanity.
So what is your interpretation of this vision?
And what does this broader outreach mean?
Well, I think that's an excellent question, because we know that AI is a very potent technology, but it could also be a double edged sword, because AI could be monopolized.
AI could be a tool for really profit seeking, rather than to be applied in a more productive way to benefit everyone.
There's also dangerous applications of AI.
So I think the governance is very important.
And, as we know, China has launched in 2023 the Global AI Governance Initiative to promote fair, safe and beneficial AI development.
So really, what this approach and this framework emphasizes is that this is going to be a people-centered approach.
So AI development should be benefit to humanity, but also focus on security and wellbeing, instead of being used in a malicious way or only for profit seeking.
There are also the principles of this framework that talked about fairness and non-discrimination, trying to bridge the AI gap between the leading countries and the rest of the world.
There's emphasis on the respect for sovereignty, especially when it comes to data protection, and also to promote inclusivity and to prevent misuses of AI.
So I think all of these are really important principles that really help to provide the governance framework.
And in addition to this framework, we're starting to see the action plan, for example, being rolled out in this July this year.
And so I think there's now a lot of emphasis on both practical implementation of this action plan to develop AI infrastructure, managing data and help to build international consensus on standards, and also a lot of engagement with the global south to really offer economic benefits and to narrow the kinds of AI gap.
And now with the development of AI and also some talk about AGI.
So, looking forward, what do you think are the most promising areas of AI applications in the near future?
Well, I think in China, the emphasis are in smart manufacturing, using AI to produce high-end equipment, advanced manufacturing products.
Again, given China's already very solid industrial basis, I think this is a great application to further enhance productivity, reduce waste, economize on energy uses, and so on and so forth.
But there are also other broader uses, for example, in health care.
As we know, China is facing an aging population and medical resources are unevenly distributed.
So using AI could help to accelerate biotech developments, but also help to provide more universal health care, especially to rural and hinterland population.
AI can also be applied in climate solutions using AI to monitor climate, to prevent any climate catastrophes and also to apply to more intelligent agricultural production.
AI application in education, in low-altitude economy, in green transportation, autonomous driving, for instance.
All of these are really promising, i think, areas of application.
And again, as china build these competent and cost-effective ai models um, and with the very uh you know large market, I do believe that China is going to lead in the AI application and that would really enrich its own economy but also benefit the AI development for the rest of the world.
I think that is also China's long-term goal in the decades ahead.
Professor Yan Liang from Willamette University talking with my colleague Zhao Yang.
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China's industrial profits soared 216 in September from a year ago, the biggest gain since November 2023.
This jump extended a strong rebound that began in August.
For the first nine months of this year, profits at major industrial companies grew by 32, accelerating from a 09 rise in the first eight months.
Profits for the manufacturing sector jumped by 9.9% year-on-year in the January to September period.
The National Bureau of Statistics reports that high-tech manufacturing has helped drive broader profit growth, with sectors' earnings surging more than 26 in September.
So for more.
Joining us now on the line is Mr Liu Zhiqing, Senior Fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China.
So thank you very much for joining us today, Mr. Liu Zhiqing.
First of all, what do you think is driving this ongoing rebound in corporate profitability?
I think the corporate profitability has been driven by three factors in China.
The first is the policy driven, because we know that all these corporate businesses are supported by the policy making and the policy in favourable to have more chances and opportunities.
This is the main point.
The second I think is quite important that all the corporate costs have been highly efficient and reduced for the past time because of the energy price, labor costs and also raw materials price are quite stable.
This is very important for the profitability.
And the third is something related with the market demand.
Because the market demand is quite stable, all these corporate have have been driven to have more production and in this way that they can have more opportunities to get more profit in the past time.
So do you think this rebound in corporate profitability is a sign that Chinese manufacturers have weathered the uncertainties in external and internal environments this year?
I think at least this is one of the reasons very important science to test our economy, because I take this profitability index, or the figure, as the thermometer to test the temperature of the economy, especially for the corporate operation and the management and also the future potential resilience.
So in this way this is quite important for corporate to make, to build up its own system, how to make more profitable, Because we know that the way to increase the profitability of one company should do something on the other side to reduce the cost.
This is also one way that we can increase it. profitability.
Nowadays I met some companies that are trying their best to promote their production.
At the same time, they have to take more measures to reduce their cost.
This is also one important way for the company.
So anyhow, this is a very important sign to make judgment of the company's future and the potential.
China's overall exports have so far this year at least, remained quite resilient.
So for the final quarter, how do you expect the trade growth to perform?
I should say frankly that the trade Business or trade export, has been under very strong pressure in the past time.
But all this export.
Especially those small and middle-sized companies try their best to have more business.
From the statistic.
It's quite interesting to notify that the profitability from the state-owned company is negative.
That means no increase.
But the private companies, they increased around 6%, which is the highest.
That shows the dynamic and the resilience of these companies.
So this is a very important sign for the government to pay more attention, to give more measures, support to support these companies in order to get more export business.
As we know, this time is a very sensitive for foreign companies, especially for uh us, that they have to get enough good product to celebrate their holidays, that also including christmas day, as we know always that From September onward, all this time period is very important to have such products exported.
That's why the Chinese market is still very positive and with very high optimistic.
Now you talk about supporting companies or corporations.
Then, at another level or at a higher level, do you see any urgency for the government to roll out more stimulus measures to achieve China's whole year growth target of around 5 for 2025?
Yes, I think so.
In principle, the high government should consider and prepare more measures and policies.
As we know that the policy basket in China is quite active, and also they have more adequate tools to support the real economy and the real company's business.
But in my opinion, the major urgency that policy is that to have more support in financial section, because only by doing so that the companies have more financial support and also can reduce their costs in order to increase their efficiency and their profitability.
So this policy is quite urgent and also we need full swing support from the government at all levels.
Now over a longer term.
According to this recommendation that top Chinese leaders have adopted for China's next five-year plan, China is set to upgrade the country's industrial system, or industrial capability.
So how would you expect China's manufacturing industry, for example, to develop over the next five years?
I think we know the next five years is not too long, but it's also not very short.
And we have to concentrate and focus on the urgent points of what we need to do.
At this moment, I think that two things should be be considered as the focusing of the economy.
First is that all the manufacturing that are related to export products.
They should be given more priorities in financing, in raw material supply.
And the third is a market mechanic at the market access the mechanic for this company in order to get easier.
There's a in the market in marketing, so the other way that they can have more opportunities to get in touch with the external business.
And secondly, we have to enlarge and strengthen our relations all over the world.
Even we are facing really uncertainties and caused many pressure from other superpowers in the world.
But China has to do its best to have more friends, more partners, in order to expand our business opportunities and capabilities.
Only by doing so that China has the chance to upgrade its industrial system and also it has chance to upgrade its capability of producing more the competitive products to deal with all these pressures and uncertainties imposed by the Western powers.
Now we are facing the pressure of the tariffs, but the tariffs is not everything, because we can do a lot of new products with new high quality products.
That's, as we always say, new quality.
Productive force will be become the major driving force to upgrade, to modernize our real economy.
The real economy is the key.
But thank you very much for joining us.
Mr Liu Zhiqing, Senior Fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China.
Coming up, India and China resume direct flights as ties improve.
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Direct flights between China and India have resumed after a five-year suspension, as relations between the two countries begin to improve.
Indigo, namely India's largest budget airline, relaunched its direct flights between Kolkata, the capital city of the Indian state of Western Bengal, and Guangzhou, a major city in southern China, on Monday, carrying about 180 passengers.
And additionally, China Eastern Airlines will also resume flights between Shanghai and Delhi starting November 9th, with three weekly services.
Flights between China and India were first suspended in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more.
My colleague Xu Yaowen spoke with Gao Xirui, a PhD candidate in political science at the University of Hong Kong.
Mr Gao, the resumption of direct flights between India and China is widely seen as a concrete step in implementing the agreement breached between the two countries' leaders during their meeting in Tianjin.
It also follows India's restoration of tourist visas for Chinese citizens.
So, from your perspective, does this air bridge indicate a shift from a period of tension to one focused on pragmatic cooperation?
And how significant is the move for the two countries' bilateral ties?
So, from my perspective, I think the resumption of direct flights between China and India is indeed a significant development, especially taking into account the absence of indirect flight for the past several years, since the Galvan Valley Clash.
But it's essential to view it within the broader context, especially of bilateral relations.
So, while the direct flight is a signal of a step towards normalizing ties, the core issues, particularly border security, remain central to the relationship.
Tensions arising from border disputes have historically been temporary.
So, for instance, after the 2020 Galvan Valley Clash, which resulted in casualties, direct flights were suspended.
But such standoffs or skirmishes don't last quite long.
So however, such tensions have not always led to a complete breakdown in diplomatic relations.
So the current resumption of flights indicate mutual recognition of need for dialogue and cooperation, even underlying challenges.
We have also noticed that the first resumed route connects Kolkata and Guangzhou, rather than capital or economic hubs like New Delhi, with Beijing or Shanghai, and also is operated by IndiGo, India's largest low-cost airline.
Considering Kolkata's role as a key hub for eastern India, linking to sectors like textiles and IT, and Guangzhou's position in China's Pearl River Delta, a manufacturing and trade center, What does this route choice reveal about the current demands in China-India economic and people-to-people exchanges?
I think there are economic and strategic perspectives.
So economically, I think it's quite intuitive because I think these demands are quite high.
I mean the business demands between Guangzhou and Calcutta, the third largest countries in India and China.
So economically, I think it makes sense.
But strategically, the choice of Calcutta, Guangzhou can be deliberate.
So, for example, from New Delhi's perspective, resumption of direct flights is not probably a simple yes or no question.
Probably it can be a tool that can be used in multiple layers.
I mean starting with a smaller cost-effective route between Guangzhou and Calcutta allows both governments to maintain control over the issue.
For example later, depending on the bilateral ties, larger carriers and major routes such as from Shanghai to Mumbai or even Beijing to New Delhi can be reintroduced strategically.
So it's a way of keeping the leverage while gradually rebuilding the connectivity.
So at the same time, these cities I believe are not random.
They reflect real economic demands.
So Kolkata, as I just said, links to textile and IT in Eastern India and Guangzhou, you know, is the manufacturing hub in the Pearl River Delta.
So by just starting with this route, I think most economic demands can be met while they still hold the leverage.
So that's a very strategic move.
Well, we know other than this Kokada and Guangzhou route.
China Eastern Airlines is set to restart the Shanghai-Delhi route next month, which has raised expectations for more airlines and routes.
And based on the experiences of direct flights being suspended since 2020, and considering the current realities, such as India's new restricted requirements for Chinese tourist visas and potential air traffic control coordination issues between the two countries, what specific say political, economic or logistical factors might speed up or slow down the full restoration of China-India air connectivity?
Like we just talked about, so the process is intentionally gradual.
It's starting with not the largest city offered both sides flexibility.
So it's a multi-layered approach rather than binary choice.
So manufacturers would come in and play a role.
I think Some factors that would influence the pace would include, like import-export flows or strategic considerations, especially such as rare earth trade and some machinery for manufacturing.
So logistic issues like air traffic coordination and, most importantly, India's visa requirements also would matter.
Essentially, I think it's New Delhi wants to retain some options.
So it may accelerate or slow full restoration of China-India air connectivity.
And there are asymmetric options.
You know, thinking on both sides.
For example, I think China would be happy to see the resumption of the red flag, because I think it would make it better and easier for our export.
But the Indian government may be indifferent.
But the Indian businessman you know, they think the resumption of direct flight is helpful to their import from China.
So there are these kind of asymmetrical thinkings between different, you know, rows.
So I think.
Both of them may accelerate or slow, but it still depends on how New Delhi thinks about it.
One last question, Mr. Gao.
So, given the current global uncertainty, especially from supply chain disruptions to regional security tensions, how might smoother air connectivity between China and India contribute to regional stability and cooperation?
I think this is quite important is that It is important to build not just economic ties but to resume the cultural and knowledge exchange between China and India.
So with the direct flight, you know, Chinese scholars can travel to India and Indian scholars can travel to China.
And we have. maybe we can see more and more students going to two countries.
They will try to, you know, stabilize the regional stability and they will their demand, for example take direct flights or to require visa.
We'll ask two countries to cooperate and to lift those barriers.
I think this kind of smooth air connectivity will enhance the people-to-people communication.
So it's definitely a good thing amid these kind of global uncertainties.
And I think it makes China and India you know they can share their ideas or communicate, instead of like have no input of information, which is quite dangerous and not healthy to the bilateral ties.
Gao Xirui, a PhD candidate in political science with the University of Hong Kong, talking with my colleague, Xu Yawen.
Coming up, Malay's party secures victory in Argentina's midterm elections.
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I'm Ding Han in Beijing.
Argentina President Javier Malai has led his party to a landslide victory in the country's midterm elections.
His party, Libertad Avenza, won nearly 41 of the vote, securing 13 out of the 24 seats in the Senate and 64 out of the 127 seats in the lower house.
Before the elections, the party held just 7 seats in the Senate and 37 seats in the lower house.
These gains will make it easier for President Malay to push ahead with his program to cut state spending and deregulate the Argentinian economy.
The elections were the first nationwide test of the president's popularity since he took office in late 2023.
So for more.
Joining us now on the line is Professor Jiang Shixue from the College of International Relations, Sichuan International Studies University.
Thank you very much for joining us.
So, Professor Jiang, first of all, why do you think President Malai's party was able to win really big this time, which I guess is a better than expected result for his party?
What does the election result tell us?
Well, for kind of election, I think the economy always plays a very important role.
Well, you know, in the past one or two years since the military came to power, The economy looks like moving forward in the right direction.
I think the so-called austerity policies have paid off.
People believe that Milan will create economic miracle for the economy which has been suffering for so many years.
And secondly, I want to point out that, as my friend from Argentina told me, Many people are very disappointed about the so-called leftist party's policies in the past several years, before Millet came to power.
So on the one hand, we can say Millet has not done a really very good job.
On the other hand, we can say that because the Peronist party or the left wing party has left a very terrible impression on many voters in Argentina.
So people just do not want to see that the old past will return.
So they want to vote for Milley.
Now Milley's critics argue that his so-called austerity measures have led to job losses, a decline in manufacturing, crumbling public services, a fall in people's purchasing power and an imminent recession.
Do you think these economic downsides are the necessary price that Argentina and its people have to pay for Mr Malai's economic recipe?
You know, in every country around the world, when the government implements this kind of austerity policies well, people tend to suffer in terms of many, many things, as you mentioned just now.
So that's really the price people in Argentina have to pay.
But the problem is whether or not this kind of process will really create an economic future in the coming years.
One of my friends who is a businessman in Argentina says this kind of austerity policy is good for foreign investment.
But my friend who is a scholar in Argentina said poverty has been on the rise.
So quite a few people are quite angry over Milan's austerity policies.
So just one coin has two sides.
So if you go to Argentina, you can hear different points of views.
And I believe that the real picture will be the future.
Who knows what will be in the next two years, because in two more years there will be a presidential election.
Really, who knows what will happen by that time.
So, by the way, since you talk about, the next presidential race in this country is set to take place in two years from now.
So between now and then, do you expect Mr Malai to implement even more radical economic policies?
Yes, you're right.
Because Miller has a kind of a big support from the Congress.
So he will do everything he believes possible to push forward his austerity policies, despite the anger from the public.
So I can believe that many more austerity policies will follow in the next two years.
So really, as I mentioned just now, who knows what will happen.
So we know the United States has offered Argentina a potential US40 billion lifeline via a combination of a currency swamp, buying pesos, the Argentinian currency and arranging private investment.
Of course, a condition, according to U.S.
President Donald Trump, is that Mr. Milley's political party wins the midterm elections.
So to what extent can the possible U.S. support help Argentina?
Well, first of all we must point out that just President Milley is kind of a trump in South America.
They are in the same political camp as we know that birds of a feather just flock together.
So that's because of Miller's rightist policies.
The US would be happy to offer a certain kind of financial help.
Well, this kind of help, I think, has played a very positive role to the winning of this kind of midterm election by President Milley.
Well, this is good news if the economy really can grow.
But here again, who knows what will happen for the economy in the next two years?
Because the economy in Argentina is really in a terrible shape.
So President Milley needs to do more things to overcome these kind of economic hardships.
Lastly, and very briefly, Professor Jiang, do you think Washington's behavior of setting a condition for its economic support to Argentina constitutes interference in this country's internal affairs?
It depends on how you would define the meaning of the word interference.
Well, let's say that suppose the current government in Argentina is kind of a left-wing party, then I can be sure that the US will never offer this kind of financial help.
As you know, that President Milley is cut from the same cloth from Trump, so they stand in the same political camp.
So we can understand that the US just wants to see that President Milley, the right-wing president, can maintain its power group on the political stage in Argentina.
So that's why the US is generous enough to offer this kind of financial help for Argentina.
Yeah, your point's well taken.
But thank you very much for joining us.
Professor Jiang Shixuan joining us from Sichuan International Studies University.
That's all the time for this edition of World Today.
I'm Dinghan in Beijing.
Thank you so much for listening.
Bye for now.
