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Survey: Chinese People with Negative Impression of Japan Rises to 66 Percent

On October 20, A Japanese private nonprofit group, “Genron NPO,” and the China International Publishing Group, a Chinese Communist Party-owned foreign-language publishing organization, released the results of a joint public opinion survey conducted in both countries. The number of Chinese people who answered that they have a “bad” impression of Japan increased by 13.2 percentage points over last year to 66.1 percent. Genron NPO said the reasons are the intensification of the U.S.-China confrontation and historical issues.

Previously, since 2013, impressions of Japan had been on an improving trend. The reason for the worsened impression of Japan is that more Chinese people, by an increase of 8.7 percentage points, blamed Japanese politicians’ for their inappropriate words and actions. Also, many Chinese said they could not understand why Japan follows the U.S. in foreign relations. A representative from Genron NPO had the following analysis: “The disruption of tourist visits to Japan due to the epidemic, which had been the driving force behind the improvement in impressions, is also a major factor.” He pointed out, “Communication between the government and the people has decreased, and the focus is now heavily on confrontation.”

The population of Japanese people who have a negative impression of China also increased. It grew by 1.2 percentage points to 90.9 percent. About half of them cited Chinese official ships sailing near the Senkaku Islands (known as the Diaoyu Islands in China) as the reason.

Source: Kyodo News, Chinese channel, October 20, 2021
https://china.kyodonews.net/news/2021/10/70b859022627-66.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

The World’s Incredible Dependence on Chinese Containers

On October 18, 2021, the French newspaper Les Echos published an article entitled, “The World’s Incredible Dependence on Chinese Containers.” The article pointed out that the global container industry is heavily dependent on China and almost all container boxes are made in China. China produces more than 96 percent of the world’s dry cargo containers, 100 percent of the world’s refrigerated containers and more than 90 percent of tank containers. The shortage of containers is one of the main bottlenecks affecting maritime cargo transportation and global supply chains.

In the Spring of this year, the purchase price of the popular 40-foot container on the market exceeded US$6,500,  which is double the price from a year ago and reached the highest point since 1998. The prices of refrigerated containers and tank containers are also on the rise. According to Eurotainer, the world’s leading tank container leasing company, within one year, the purchase price of tank containers has risen from US$13,000 to US$21,000.

Drewry, a maritime research and consulting firm, said the first six months of this year saw China’s dry container production jump 235 percent year-on-year to 3 million 20-foot equivalent units. Manufacturers’ order books are full and delivery times are getting longer and longer. Driven by this strong demand, the container manufacturer China International Marine Containers Co. (CIMC) achieved a net profit of 4.39 billion yuan (600 million euros) in the first half of this year, an increase of 1,739 percent over the same period last year.

Source: Radio France International, October 18, 2021
https://rfi.my/7q89

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Hong Kong Official: Legislation for Article 23 of the Basic Law Should Include Espionage

Wen Wei Po, the Hong Kong based pro-Beijing newspaper, published an exclusive interview with Chris Tang, the Secretary for Security of Hong Kong. Tang said that the Hong Kong National Security Law’s provision relating to colluding with foreign countries or foreign forces who endanger national security mainly targets “agents,” but “does not cover” much about real foreign spies.

He said that there is a lot of evidence showing the existence of espionage activities in Hong Kong, and that the US Central Intelligence Agency recently announced the establishment of a “China Mission Center” to strengthen the collection of intelligence.

“Who are these people? What are they if not spies?” In the face of the “long arms” of foreign countries, Tang expressed the belief that Hong Kong needs legislation to strengthen the regulation of espionage activities.

Earlier this month, Tang said that Article 23 of the Basic Law stipulates that Hong Kong needs to legislate to prohibit seven crimes, five of which are not included in the National Security Law, and that even the current Crimes Ordinance is not sufficient to deal with them.

Article 23 of Hong Kong Basic Law states that Hong Kong “shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People’s Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the Region, and to prohibit political organizations or bodies in the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies.”

Source: Wen Wei Po, October 18, 2021
https://www.wenweipo.com/a/202110/18/AP616cb961e4b08d3407e0a48c.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Journalists in China Mandated to Receive 90 Hours of “Continuing Education” Every Year

On October 15, China’s top media regulator, the National Press and Publication Administration, issued a draft interim provision on “Continuing Education for Professional Journalists and Technical Workers.” The provision requires journalists, editors and other news personnel to receive no less than 90 hours of continuing education each year.

The provision states that the continuing education of journalists should “closely focus on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) mission for journalism and public opinion work, carry out in-depth education on Marxist journalism,  …  and guide professional journalists and technical workers in using the correct political direction, public opinion and value orientation.”

The contents of the study include policies, regulations, and professional knowledge, as well as new theories and technologies needed for keeping up with the industrial trend. It will become an important qualification for journalists to receive promotions and press credentials.

The provision also emphasizes that doing so is conducive to the building of a team of politically committed, professional, and ethical journalists with whom “the party and the people can have peace of mind.”

This year, the Chinese government has further escalated control over the media. Earlier this month, China’s Development and Reform Commission released a draft of the “Market Access Negative List (2021 Edition),” which requires that private capital shall not engage in the news gathering, editing or broadcasting business.

Source: National Press and Publication Administration, October 15, 2021
http://www.nppa.gov.cn/nppa/contents/279/99411.shtml

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

China to Ban Private Capital in the News Business

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently announced a draft “Negative List” for a Market Access List (2021 Version), and invited public comments. The draft stated that non-state capital is prohibited from carrying out news and media-related businesses, and from introducing news published by “overseas entities.”

The draft stated that non-state capital shall not engage in the news gathering, editing and broadcasting business, shall not invest in the establishment and operation of news organizations, including but not limited to news agencies, newspaper publishing units, radio and television broadcasters, radio and television stations, as well as online news information gathering and publishing services.

Non-state capital is also not allowed to operate pages, frequencies, channels, columns, or public accounts for news agencies; it shall not engage in the live broadcast business in the areas of political, economic, military, diplomatic, social, cultural, science and technology, health, education, sports and other activities related to the political direction, public opinion guidance and ideologies.

In addition, the draft points out that non-state capital is also not allowed to introduce news published by foreign entities and it cannot hold forums, summits, and awards ceremonies in the field of news media and any public opinion related business.

Source: Central News Agency, October 9, 2021
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202110090064.aspx

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Deutsche Welle: German Scholar Gives up Teaching in China

Deutsche Welle’s Chinese website published an interview with Alicia Hennig, a scholar at the Dresden University of Technology. Hennig explained why she no longer wants to teach in China after she was in the country for 15 years.

She started teaching when she worked at a Chinese university in 2015. At the time, China had already begun to restrict the use of Western textbooks. She had to order her Philosophy of Economics textbooks from overseas, but the books were held up in customs.

When she was at Southeast University in Nanjing in October 2018, classrooms were already equipped with surveillance cameras. This was one reason that she did not want to continue teaching business ethics in China. Human rights is also a topic in the curriculum. She said, “I don’t want to teach in China anymore because I’m worried that I won’t be able to have a real discussion in the classroom.”

Hennig also found that organizing conferences with foreigners (non-Chinese) became extremely difficult because of the review process and the need to ensure that ideological red-lines were not crossed. She added that there is a lot of ideological oversight and censorship in Chinese universities. The school dean once asked her to remove certain comments from social media.

Regarding the issue of some German schools wanting to collaborate with Chinese universities, Hennig cautioned that, in addition to the possibility that the bureaucrats used corruption in dealing with academic funds, it is also important to pay attention to the fields of collaborative research. “The field of humanities is very much restricted in terms of ideology; (cooperation in) natural sciences and also technology cannot exclude (Chinese) military applications.”

Source: Deutsche Welle, October 12, 2021
https://p.dw.com/p/41XWc

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Acquires Canada’s Neo Lithium

China’s state-controlled Zijin Mining Group Co. acquired all the shares of Canada’s Neo Lithium Corp. for Canadian$6.50 per share in cash, for a total amount of C$960 million, making it the second acquisition a Chinese company has made within two months of a Canadian lithium mining company.

The transaction is still subject to consideration and approval at the Neo Lithium’s shareholders’ special meeting. It will also require regulatory and court approvals from the Chinese and from Canadian regulators.

Neo Lithium’s core asset is the Tres Quebradas (3Q) Lithium Project, a newly discovered lithium saline and brine reservoir complex in Catamarca Province, the biggest lithium producer in Argentina. It is estimated that its total lithium carbonate-equivalent resources are approximately 7.565 million tons. In September, Chinese electric vehicle battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) acquired all shares of Canada’s Millennial Lithium Corp. in a cash transaction worth Can$377 million. CATL, is a supplier to the U.S. company Tesla Inc. It also became the third-largest shareholder in Neo Lithium last year after purchasing 10 million of its shares.

Source: Radio France International, October 11, 2021
https://rfi.my/7oq3

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Experts: Severe Power Shortages to Occur Frequently in the Coming Five Years

State media China News Weekly (中国新闻周刊) quoted experts who expect that, against the backdrop of “carbon peak” and “carbon neutral” targets, it is expected that a larger scale and more severe power shortages will occur frequently during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021 to 2025).

The recent blackouts in China have affected more than 10 provinces, among which the Northeastern provinces have had to “pull the plug” and cut residential power usage completely.

Between 2016 and 2020, China cut its coal production capacity of over 1 billion tons. Yuan Jiahai, a professor at North China Electric Power University, pointed out the fact that the country’s annual coal production was between 5 and 3.75 billion tons, respectively before and after the cut in capacity.

Since last year, the coal-producing province of Inner Mongolia has been affected by the coal business-related anti-corruption campaign. A large volume of coal production capacity has been reduced due to factors such as an increased measure of safety supervision of coal mining, environmental protection, and the criminalization of the overcapacity of production.

On the demand side, since 2017, China’s coal consumption has rebounded back to an annual level of 4 billion tons, while the advanced coal production capacity released in these two years is about 200 million to 300 million tons per annum. There is a gap between total coal supply and demand.

According to Feng Yongsheng, a scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, against the backdrop of the “carbon peak,” and the “carbon neutral” target, because the generation of renewable energy is random, volatile and intermittent, a high proportion of new energy in the power system will lead to a growing gap between the peak and base power load, or the difference in the electric generation between high demand and minimum level required. Feng expected that during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021 to 2025) period, there will be frequent occurrences of large scale and sever power shortages in China.

Source: Central News Agency, October 4, 2021
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202110040256.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources