India and China’s economic engagement in Sri Lanka is better understood as complementary rather than purely competitive, shaped by their distinct strategic priorities and capabilities. While China has focused on large-scale, capital-intensive infrastructure projects aligned with long-term commercial and connectivity interests, India’s approach has emphasized smaller, regionally distributed initiatives and crisis-responsive financial support. Sri Lanka, driven by economic necessity and lessons from its financial crisis, has sought to balance both partners to diversify risk and maximize developmental gains. This dual engagement reflects a pragmatic strategy aimed at leveraging the strengths of each power to support stability, connectivity, and long-term growth.

The Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress marks a key development in the Communist Party of China’s approach to ethnic governance by consolidating existing policies into a unified legal framework. While framed around harmony and shared prosperity, it seeks to reshape identity through standardised cultural, linguistic and religious practices. The law extends state priorities into everyday life, shaping areas such as education, family responsibilities, urban development and digital governance, while tying the idea of unity more closely to national security and long-term development goals.

China’s revival of zìlì gēngshēng (self-reliance) under Xi Jinping has crystallised into a core organising principle of its political economy, institutionalised through the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030). No longer a historical slogan, it operates as a strategic doctrine linking technological capability, national security, and regime legitimacy. Rather than autarky, it reflects a calibrated response to supply chain vulnerabilities—simultaneously hedging against external shocks and driving domestic industrial upgrading. Its evolution from Maoist survivalism to Xi-era technological sovereignty underscores its conceptual elasticity. Yet, persistent tensions between self-reliance and globalization, and between indigenous innovation and external dependence reveal a model of selective integration—where openness is conditional and subordinated to control, resilience, and systemic endurance.

China’s AI development is driven by a state-coordinated strategy that integrates data systems, computing infrastructure, policy frameworks, and industry collaboration to build global competitiveness. The government has prioritized data as a key production factor, established regulated data marketplaces, and expanded compute capacity through initiatives like the Eastern Data Western Computing strategy. Strong public-private partnerships, especially with major tech firms, and investments in education and research have accelerated innovation and large-scale AI deployment. At the same time, evolving governance frameworks aim to ensure security, ethics, and standardization. However, challenges such as high resource consumption, regulatory complexity, and dependence on advanced semiconductors continue to shape the limits of China’s AI ambitions.

This is the fifth of a six-part series analyzing the Taiwanese TV series ‘Zero Day Attack’ for the Organisation for Research on China and Asia’s (ORCA) ‘Reviewing Chinese Culture’ segment.

The Special Issue “India’s Soft Push for Power in South Asia: Shaping A Favourable Tomorrow” was ideated keeping in mind the increasing need for Indian policymakers to mitigate challenges emerging against New Delhi’s South Asian policy. Through each chapter, contributed by emerging Indian scholars specializing in India’s neighborhood policy, the publications envisions new and existing strategies to effectively leverage India’s soft power appeal in South Asia.