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PHOTO: Xinhua   On February 20, 2019, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani visited China and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.   Xi said that China’s resolve to develop a comprehensive strategic partnership with Iran will remain unchanged no matter how the international and regional situation changes, hailing that China and Iran have a long history of friendship and share long-tested mutual trust and friendship. He called on both sides to step up communication and coordination, meet each other halfway to property advance their pragmatic cooperation, and strengthen exchanges in security, terrorism, and culture.   President Xi also called for closer collaboration and coordination within multilateral frameworks to jointly promote the building of a new type of international relations and foster a community with a shared future for humanity. He recognized exchanges between legislative bodies of two countries as an important part of the comprehensive strategic partnership, calling on the National People’s Congress of China and Iranian Parliament to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, learn from each other’s experience in state governance, cement communication and coordination in international and regional organizations, and play a bigger role in promoting bilateral relations.   Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani responded that Iran views and develops relations with China from a strategic and long-term perspective, and that strengthening bilateral cooperation is not only in the fundamental interests of the two countries but also important for peace, stability, and development in Asia and the world. He added that Iran is willing to deepen political mutual trust with China, promote pragmatic cooperation and increase mutual support in international and regional affairs.   The delegation included Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who met with his counterpart Wang Yi in Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Tuesday. The Foreign Ministers agreed to continue to strengthen communication and coordination on the Iran nuclear issue, safeguard their respective legitimate rights and interests, implement the nuclear agreement, and defend multilateral rules.   Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that he was “really delighted” to meet with Zarif “given the major changes in the Middle East and the international landscape”, and “would like to take this opportunity to have this in-depth strategic communication with my old friend to deepen the strategic trust between our two countries and to ensure fresh progress of the comprehensive strategic partnership”. He added that China attaches importance to and looks forward to Iran’s playing a more significant role in regional affairs.   Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif said that Iran considers China an important and all-around cooperation partner. He said, “Our relationship with China is valuable to us. We consider the comprehensive strategic partnership between Iran and China as one of our most important relations.” He commended the Belt and Road Initiative and said Iran stands ready to actively participate in the cooperation on the initiative.   Also on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang defended energy cooperation between China and Iran at a regular news conference, saying that the energy collaboration between the two nations is legitimate, lawful, governed by the framework of international law and should be respected and safeguarded.     BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)

PHOTO: Frontier Myanmar. Military officers who are unelectred members of parliament arrive to attend a session on February 19.   Myanmar’s parliament approved on February 19, 2019 the creation of a 45-member joint committee to write a bill to amend the army-drafted 2009 constitution that the current government views as undemocratic, despite opposition by lawmakers from the military and the main opposition party.   Before the voting began, several members of parliament, including a military legislator, made requests to discuss the issue during the parliamentary meeting, but parliamentary Speaker T Khun Myat rejected them.   The measure was approved by a vote of 389-192, establishing a committee comprising of 18 lawmakers from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party, eight military MPs, two MPs each from the opposition Union Solidarity Party (USDP), Arakan National Party (ANP), and Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD). Remaining posts were filled by lawmakers from other parties.   The term of the committee will run until a draft constitutional reform bill is submitted to parliament. Deputy speaker Tun Tun Hein, who chairs the newly formed joint committee, said “we will focus on producing a draft bill for amendments to the constitution…we will not try to amend the constitution by taking a shortcut.”   Lower house lawmaker Thaung Aye from USDP said that lawmakers from the main opposition party will work with the committee if it focuses on amending the constitution according to law; if not, it will be difficult for them to cooperate.   Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has said the military would not oppose changes to the constitution if they believed the changes were in the national interest.     BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)

PHOTO: MSEAP.ORG   More than 600 politicians, including about 35 heads of state and government and more than 80 ministers, high-ranking military officials and representatives from business, science, and international organizations met from February 15-17 to attend the 55th Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, Germany.   In his opening speech, the MSC chairman Wolfgang Ischinger called on European leaders to “speak with one voice” when facing “a new era of wholesale rivalry between the United States, China, and Russia” and urged Europe to take its security more into its own hands.     Nuclear deterrence and arms control: the INF Treaty   NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed the importance of dialogue with Russia, saying that Moscow has “another chance to become compliant again” after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the alleged breach of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.   Earlier on February 2, U.S. announced its withdrawal from the bilateral Cold War-era agreement which bans stationing short- and intermediate-range land-based missiles with a range between 500 and 5500 kilometers that can carry nuclear warheads in Europe, triggering a six-month process of leaving the agreement.   This decision came after accusations of the U.S. and NATO towards Russia for development of the 9M729 ground-based cruise missile which is believed to be capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads and whose estimated 500 to 5500 km range is considered to violate the accord. Moscow in return blamed the alliance for not adhering to the treaty.   Meanwhile, China rejected joining the INF ban agreement for nuclear medium-range missiles. China’s Director of Foreign Affairs Office Yang Jiechi said that China is based on military armaments for “strictly defensive needs” and that China is “against the multilateralization of the INF Treaty”.     Peace and multilateralism   Prime Ministers of Greece and North Macedonia, Aleixs Tsipras and Zoran Zaev, received the Ewald-von-Kleist award that honors “outstanding contributions to international peace and conflict management” for achieving a breakthrough in the three-decade-long Macedonian name dispute with the Prespa Agreement.   German Chancellor Angela Merkel launched an emotional plea for multilateralism, calling China to participate in disarmament, and criticizing U.S. for punitive tariffs on German cars. She also disagreed with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence who urged European allies to withdraw from the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal, saying it was worth preserving “the small anchor” that the pact represents.   In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif told the audience that it wsa in Europe’s interest to stick to the Iran nuclear deal, and said that the recently created INSTEX trade mechanism by Britain, France, and Germany to bypass U.S. sanctions on Iran was inadequate.   On the situation in Syria, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov clarified that there was an agreement between Russia, Turkey, and Iran to clear the area of Idlib, the last opposition stronghold, in a military operation, emphasizing that loose interpretations of international humanitarian law as in the case of 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia will not be applied to the Idlib operation.   Yang Jiechi, a member of China’s politburo, also urged his “strategic partners” in Europe to break their dependence on U.S. technology. “We should reject technological hegemony”, he told the crowd of European leaders, appealing for support in China’s escalating trade war with the U.S. and the dispute over Huawei.     Europe strengthening NATO and transatlantic cooperation   German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen reaffirmed the country’s commitment to NATO and transatlantic relations with the United States, and admitted that the U.S. demand for higher defense spending was justified.   French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian praised the European contribution in NATO, referring to recent European initiatives such as the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESC) and the European Defense Fund.   Similarly, EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said that “joining forces, synchronization of natural defense programs and industry is in Europe’s strategic interest”.   Georgia’s Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze spoke about Georgia’s expectations towards a possible NATO membership at a round table devoted to alliance enlargement prospects hosted by the Munich Security Conference. He said “a further NATO enlargement is the best option for increased security and peace in Europe and Georgia is ready to continue its efforts and provide a very solid basis for this” after his meeting with officials from U.S., U.K., and Belgium.     BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)

  PHOTO: MSEAP.ORG   The Office of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) concluded its Global Parliamentary Network meeting held from February 13 to 15, 2019.   On Wednesday the 13, parliamentary representatives held bilateral meetings with OECD experts on a topic of their request.   On Thursday, participants gathered at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris, France, and discussed a wide range of issues from better housing opportunities, future of global energy markets, tax challenges in the digitalized economy, principles for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in society, and free and fair elections.   Friday’s discussions revolved around the issues of governance of critical tasks, loss of biodiversity, and a fair transition to the future of work. In the afternoon, parliamentarians held a Meeting of the Parliamentary Group on Tax which discussed tax policies for inclusive, balanced, and sustainable growth, capacity building and the international tax standards, and fighting tax crime and other financial crimes.   The meetings were chaired by Anthony Gooch, the OECD Director of Public Affairs and Communications.   Among the MSEAP member countries, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Georgia, Greece, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey sent parliamentary representatives to the event.   Parliamentary networks and intergovernmental bodies such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Parliamentary Network On the World Bank and IMF, Women Political Leaders Global Forum (WPL), and European Parliament were also participated in the OECD Parliamentary Days.   You can find the program agenda, speakers’ presentations and speeches here: http://www.oecd.org/parliamentarians/meetings/gpn-meeting-february-2019/.   BY: MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)