Foreign news

The CPC’s fifth plenum and China’s 14th Five-Year Plan 2021-2025

Published

6 years ago

October 26, 2020

I’m Robert Lawrence Kuhn and here’s what I’m watching: The fifth plenum of the 19th Communist Party of China Central Committee, its agenda and impact.

Foreigners wonder how China is thinking, where China is going? Party plenums are clues. Party plenums are formal meetings of the Central Committee, the highest level “Congress,” as it were, of the ruling Communist Party of China, attended by more than 300 full and alternate members.

The fifth plenum marks an inflection point between China’s two centenary goals: the first, the moderately prosperous society, achieved this year, 2020, highlighted by the elimination of all extreme poverty.

The fifth plenum rolls out a framework of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, 2021 to 2025, the first five-year plan of economic and social development looking ahead 30 years to China 2050. The 14th Five-Year Plan is deemed critical, given decreasing international trade such that demand for Chinese goods is less, and a volatile global environment such that sensitivity to China’s rise is more, thus preparing the country for economic challenges at home and growing hostilities abroad.

The focus will be on what President Xi Jinping has called the “Double Development Dynamics” strategy, rebalancing toward China’s domestic market – according to leadership, to “facilitate better connectivity between domestic and foreign markets for more resilient and sustainable growth.”

Essential is high-quality growth and self-sufficiency in science and technology – hi-tech independence – especially the design and manufacturing of semiconductor chips, which undergird all the frontier technologies: artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, supercomputing, quantum computing, even smartphones. Other technologies include renewables, material science, new energy vehicles, biotechnology, and space science.

The plenum will also present a midterm economic strategy called “2035 vision,” the half-way mark to China 2050, when China intends to become a fully modernized, socialist nation and a great power in the world, particularly in science and technology and in defense. This implements what Xi stated at the 19th CPC National Congress in late 2017: China will “basically” realize socialist modernization by 2035.

According to a recent Politburo announcement, “We must seek development that has higher quality, higher efficiency, higher fairness, higher sustainability, and higher safety. We must seek a synthesis of scale, speed, quality, efficiency, and safety.”

There are cautions. China’s race for self-sufficiency in semiconductor chips, supplying vast funding, can entice non-expert companies, with the all-too-predictable failures and wastes. Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission asserted that companies with no experience, no technology, and no talent should stop blindly rushing into the industry.

Advancing science and technology should be a global good in that all humanity benefits, no matter the country of origin — the COVID-19 vaccine being a prime example. The challenge for China in presenting its 14th Five-Year Plan, founded on science and technology, is to show the world why all should root for, not against, its success.

I’m keeping watch. I’m Robert Lawrence Kuhn.

Scriptwriter: Robert Lawrence Kuhn

Cameraman: Morgan Compagnon

Video editor: Hao Xinxin

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Foreign news

Court of Arbitration Declares Indus Waters Treaty Fully Operational Rejects India’s ‘Abeyance’

Published

1 month ago

August 31, 2026

The Gleamer

Cyril Ogar

The Court of Arbitration has unanimously reaffirmed that the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) remains fully in force, ruling that India cannot unilaterally place the 1960 agreement in “abeyance” or suspend its obligations under the treaty.

The decision represents a significant legal development in the longstanding dispute between India and Pakistan over the management and use of the Indus river system.

The Court’s finding addresses a fundamental issue at the heart of the dispute: whether either party can unilaterally suspend the treaty outside the legal framework agreed by both countries.

In its unanimous determination, the Court made clear that the IWT continues to bind both India and Pakistan and that its obligations cannot be set aside through a unilateral political declaration.

The ruling means India remains subject to the treaty provisions governing the use of the Western Rivers, including requirements relating to the design and operation of hydroelectric projects, as well as the dispute-resolution mechanisms established under the agreement.

The Court has also ordered interim measures concerning the Ratle Hydroelectric Plant, restricting specified construction activities while the broader dispute remains under consideration.

The measures are aimed at preserving the effectiveness of the arbitration process and preventing developments that could prejudice the outcome of the proceedings.

For Pakistan, the decision represents significant legal validation of its longstanding position that the IWT is a binding international agreement and contains no provision allowing either party to unilaterally place it in abeyance.

Pakistan has consistently maintained that disagreements over the treaty should be addressed through the institutional mechanisms established by the agreement, rather than through unilateral action.

The IWT provides a structured framework for resolving disputes through mechanisms including the Permanent Indus Commission, Neutral Expert and Court of Arbitration processes.

The latest ruling therefore reinforces the principle that treaty obligations cannot simply be disregarded because of deteriorating political relations between signatories.

The significance of the decision extends beyond the India-Pakistan dispute. It underscores the broader international-law principle that agreements governing shared rivers and other transboundary resources must be respected and disputes resolved through established legal and institutional channels.

The Indus river system supports agriculture, livelihoods, food security and communities across the region, making the stability of the treaty particularly important.

The ruling also highlights the distinction between seeking to amend an international agreement through mutually agreed procedures and attempting to alter its obligations unilaterally.

The IWT has endured wars, prolonged diplomatic tensions and periods of limited bilateral engagement. Its continued operation demonstrates the importance of rules-based mechanisms in managing shared resources when relations between neighbouring states become strained.

For Pakistan, the outcome provides an opportunity to frame the decision not merely as a bilateral legal victory, but as an affirmation of international law, treaty compliance and peaceful dispute resolution.

The central message from the ruling is clear: the Indus Waters Treaty remains in force, its obligations continue to bind both parties, and disputes concerning shared waters must be addressed through the legal mechanisms agreed by India and Pakistan.

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