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Supporting Taiwan’s “Freedom Pineapple” to Stop China’s Economic Intimidation

China’s General Administration of Customs announced on February 26 that it will halt the importation of Taiwan’s pineapples starting on March 1, citing “harmful organisms” detected in the fruit.

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu responded by starting a “Freedom Pineapple” campaign on Twitter to condemn Beijing’s politically-driven ban on the fruit. “China now bans our pineapples to punish farmers in the south. Remember Australia’s Freedom Wine? I urge like-minded friends around the globe to stand with Taiwan & rally behind the Freedom Pineapple.”

Last year, Australia advocated investigating the source of the COVID-19 disease and angered China. China imposed trade barriers on Australian wine, beef, barley and other products. Democratic countries took action to support Australia and called for drinking Australian wine.

Some Twitter posts used the hashtag that included: “India should show solidarity with Taiwan,” “We would love to buy them in the U.S.,” “Help Taiwan’s farmers counter China’s weaponization of trade,” “Delicious pineapple cakes from Taiwan,” “Taiwan has probably the best pineapple in the world,” and “Democracy pineapples.”

Taiwan’s president also tweeted, “After Australian wine, unfair Chinese trade practices are now targeting Taiwanese pineapple, but that won’t stop us. Whether in a smoothie, a cake, or freshly cut on a plate, our pineapples always hits the spot. Support our farmers & enjoy delicious Taiwanese fruit!”

J. Michael Cole, a researcher at the Canada based Macdonald-Laurier Institute, echoed the campaign on Twitter, “In the latest round of attempts by China to punish Taiwan, Beijing has announced it will cancel all imports of Taiwanese pineapple staring on March 1. I don’t know about you, but I am suddenly craving Taiwanese pineapple.”

Source: Central News Agency, February 27, 2021
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/202102270027.aspx

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Campaigns against “Illegal Religions”

China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported on February 21 that a document that the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the State Council issued on January 4 stated that the authorities would “step up the crackdown on illegal religions and overseas infiltration activities in rural areas.” The Xinhua report showed that there was an official instruction behind the campaign against “illegal religion” in a number of areas of China over the past two months.

The so-called “illegal religions” refers to Christian house churches, Catholic underground churches, or some Buddhist, Taoist, Islamic or other religious organizations that do not participate in official religious activities.

On February 8, a meeting of the CCP’s branch of the United Front Work Department in Shantou City, Guangdong Province asked that “all towns (neighborhoods) must … keep a close eye on religious and folk festivals” and “focus on investigations of and cracking down on illegal religious activities.”

On February 9, government officials in Duyun City, Guizhou Province carried out activities against “pornography and illegality” and “illegal religions.” Officials visited local communities to “prevent, in a timely manner, obscene and pornographic publications, illegal religious publications, and other cultural rubbish from appearing in the community .” In addition, authorities in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, published an article on its official WeChat account on February 19, stating that a local neighborhood had organized staff and volunteers to “investigate illegal religions … and to find any illegal teaching of religious knowledge or any organization of religious activities.”

On February 20, a CCP official in Yunnan Province told local government officials to “resolutely combat the spread of illegal religious activities.”

On February 23, the branch of the CCP’s United Front Work Department in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province established a task force to conduct a “special inspection” of local religious venues, to “focus on inspections for the existence of illegal religious publications,” and to “acquire detailed knowledge about the purchase or donation of religious publications in all venues.”

On February 23, a Christian venue in Liaoyang City, Liaoning Province received a “Notice of Banning Illegal Religious Activity Sites.” The local authorities had issued it and the venue was fined 200,000 yuan (US$ 30,870). Equipment and supplies related to religious activities were confiscated.

On February 24, in Fuyang City, Anhui Province, the police closed down two local religious assembly sites, including one Christian house church venue, in the name of “carrying out an illegal religious private assembly.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, February, 25, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shehui/sc-02252021074232.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Japan Can Shoot at Foreign Official Vessels Landing on Senkaku Islands

At a Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP’s) defense and security panel on February 25, Japan’s government officials said, amid rising concerns about the escalation of the Sino-Japanese rivalry surrounding the Senkaku Islands, that if a foreign official ship were to forcibly land on the Senkaku Islands (called the Diaoyu Islands in China), the Japanese coast guard might consider this as a vicious crime and might use weapons to suppress the opponent’s resistance. Analysts believe that this is a reaction and measure to strengthen deterrence against Chinese coast guard vessels entering Japanese territorial waters.

According to the LDP members at the meeting, this is the first time government officials have referred to the coast guard’s possible firing on foreign official vessels aiming to land on Japanese territory.

The interpretation (of the LDP’s response) is partly based on applying the use of the police power under a police law to the coast guard. Earlier Japan’s coast guard was only allowed to fire weapons directly at foreign vessels in cases of self-defense and emergency escape.

In addition, the government also stated that, when a foreign government ship takes away any Japanese citizens, the Japanese coast guard can board the opponent’s ship and retake the hostages. For small drones flying around territorial waters, the self-defense forces can regard it as a violation of airspace and respond with actions that including shooting them down.

Source: Kyodo News, February 25, 2021
https://china.kyodonews.net/news/2021/02/a1946ad0ab43.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Beijing’s Infiltration in Action: Purchase of British Private Schools

The British newspaper the Daily Mail reported on February 21 that “Hundreds of independent schools left in dire financial straits by the coronavirus pandemic are being targeted by Chinese investors.” “Nine of the 17 schools under Chinese control are owned by firms whose founders or bosses are among China’s most senior Communist Party members.”

“One firm admitted its acquisition of British schools is aimed at supporting China’s controversial Belt and Road strategy, which aims to expand Beijing’s global influence.”

As companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are seeking to expand their influence on the British education system, the public is concerned that Beijing’s tentacles are reaching British classrooms.

“Schools are using educational tools for teaching children a ‘whitewashed’ view of China.”

Ma Jian, a Chinese-born British writer, told Radio Free Asia that the CCP is pursuing Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Dream” and its next target is the young generation of democratic nations. “Britain has basically turned itself into a trading branch of China. Not only has it coupled with China in business, economy, and trade, but also in cultural affairs. You will find that universities, research institutes, middle schools, and elementary schools have got a lot of money from China. Companies are implementing of Xi Jinping’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ and ‘Chinese Dream’ by means of the acquisition of these private schools. The education deals are aiming at the next generation.”

Wang Jianhong, a scholar who has been concerned about the human rights situation in China, also believes that these Chinese companies are controlled by Beijing. Taking advantages of the rule that democratic countries cannot interfere much in market transactions, the Chinese government has been promoting its global expansion. After years of infiltration into the British academic community, the academia has seen the trend of self-censorship and even whitewashing for the CCP. “The CCP has been stepping up its investment in Britain’s private schools and education system. How could an ordinary Chinese company buy British private schools? They definitely have government background. As the basic education in the UK is directly owned by companies controlled by the CCP, we are worried about the ideological infiltration into the curriculum. Even if you have got rid of the Confucius Institute, the CCP has all kinds of methods, including the acquisition of private schools.”

Some British politicians expressed a sense of concern. Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said: “China’s strategic understanding and reach means that they have an advantage in seeking to influence others and using established brands, including some of our own, to achieve that position. … We need to decide what it is we are prepared to defend, but before that we would need to understand what it is we want.”

Reported by the Daily Mail, “A key player in the market is Bright Scholar, which bought a number of schools and colleges in 2018 and 2019, including Bournemouth Collegiate School, St Michael’s School in Llanelli, Carmarthanshire – where Justice Secretary Robert Buckland and singer Cerys Matthews were once pupils – and Bosworth Independent College in Northampton. … Bright Scholar is owned by Yang Huiyan, who is reportedly worth £20 billion, making her Asia’s richest woman, and was founded by her father Yang Guoqiang, a member of the Communist Party’s highest- ranking advisory council.”

“The Wanda Group, which invests in technology, real estate, hotels and the media, bought the schools in 2017 through City of London based asset manager London & Oxford Group. … It was founded by Wang Jianlin, a former People’s Liberation Army soldier who is worth an estimated £10 billion and is a member of China’s senior Communist Party advisory council.

“Two more schools – Kingsley School in Bideford, Devon, and Heathfield Knoll School in Worcestershire – are owned by China First Capital Group, which has senior Communist Party members on its board.”

“Riddlesworth was bought by the Confucius International Education Group in 2015 and its website lauds its links with the late Princess. … The firm’s owner, Kong Lingtao, who claims to be a direct descendant of the Chinese philosopher Confucius, also boasts of his visit to Buckingham Palace in 2014, when he met Prince Philip.”

Another company, the Ray Education Group, bought Adcote School for Girls near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, and Myddelton College in Denbigh, Wales, in 2018.

“On its website, Ray Education details plans to use its British schools to help expand to other countries as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road strategy to boost China’s global economic and political influence.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, February 22, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/uk-school-02222021112954.html
Daily Mail, February 20, 2021
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9282617/British-private-institutions-bought-Chinese-firms.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Chinese Hackers Exploit NSA-linked Tools to Attack U.S. Targets

On February 22, Check Point Research, an American-Israeli cybersecurity company, published an exhaustive report discussing certain cyber tools. The report stated that cyber tools that the Equation Group, a group believed to be affiliated to the Tailored Access Operations (TAO) unit of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), had fallen into the hands of a Chinese hacker group, which then repurposed them in order to attack U.S. targets.

In 2014, the Chinese group APT31 (APT is abbreviation of Advanced Persistent Threat), also known as Zirconium or Judgment Panda, made a replica of an exploit originally attributed to the Equation Group, known as EpMe. An exploit is a hack that leverages a security hole or flaw, as opposed to a hack that requires installing malware. The Chinese hackers then used that tool, which Check Point has named “Jian” or “double-edged sword,” from 2015 until March 2017, when Microsoft patched the vulnerability it attacked.

Check Point pointed out, “Both exploit versions for APT31’s “Jian” or Equation Group’s “EpMe” are intended for … elevating the privileges of the attacker in the local Windows environment.” “The tool is used after an attacker gains initial access to a target computer — say, via zero-click vulnerability, a phishing email, or any other option — to give the attacker the highest available privileges, so they could “roam free” and do whatever they chose on the already infected computer.”

Check Point believed that the Equation Group exploit samples could have been acquired by the Chinese APT in one of these ways:

Captured during an Equation Group network operation on a Chinese target.
Captured during an Equation Group operation on a 3rd-party network which was also monitored by the Chinese APT.
Captured by the Chinese APT during an attack on the Equation Group infrastructure.

The research report also mentioned that APT31 used “Jian” to conduct network attacks from 2015 to March 2017 until Microsoft patched the vulnerabilities.

APT31, a state-sponsored hacking collective, is alleged to conduct reconnaissance operations at the behest of the Chinese Government, specializing in intellectual property theft and credential harvesting, with recent campaigns targeting U.S. election staff with spear-phishing emails containing links that would download a Python-based implant hosted on GitHub, allowing an attacker to upload and download files as well as execute arbitrary commands.

Sources: Check Point Research, February 22, 2021
https://research.checkpoint.com/2021/the-story-of-jian/
WIRED, February 22, 2021
https://www.wired.com/story/china-nsa-hacking-tool-epme-hijack/

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Chinese Defense Companies and the Burmese Military Regime

Although China has repeatedly denied assisting the Burmese (Myanmar) military in launching its February coup, many people believe the opposite. Recently, a Burmese citizen’s group disclosed in a report that five Chinese companies have long been selling weapons to the military government.

The civil organization “Justice for Myanmar” recently disclosed in a report that 16 foreign companies supplied conventional weapons and equipment to Tatmadaw (the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar). Among them there were five Chinese firms, namely China North Industries Group Corporation Limited (Norinco), Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), and China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC). India, Israel, Russia, and Singapore, each have two companies on the list.

Zhang Shengqi, chairman of the Myanmar-Burma Assistance Association, told Radio Free Asia on Thursday, February 18, that Chinese companies have been selling weapons to Myanmar for a long time, and that this is no longer a secret. Zhang said, “It is no secret that China provides arms to the Burmese government forces. The Burmese military is a military ally of China in the south. Ten years ago, the Chinese government moved its security line from southern Yunnan province to southern Myanmar. The whole country of Myanmar is regarded as within the security line of China’s defense. The stability of Myanmar directly affects China’s interests and national security. If Myanmar chooses to have a pro-US, instead of pro-China, stance, Myanmar will once again fall into an endless civil war.”

In recent years, China invested in the Kyaukpyu deep-water port in the western Rakhine State of Myanmar, a US$ 1.3 billion project. After completion, it will become China’s gateway to the Indian Ocean. In addition, the US$ 8.9 billion Mandalay high-speed rail project will connect northern Myanmar with southwest China. In the future, China may transport energy and materials without relying entirely on the Malacca Strait.

Zhang Shengqi expressed the belief that China has huge economic and strategic interests in Myanmar and that geopolitics doomed the special relationship between the two countries. “The military port and China-Myanmar oil pipeline in the Bay of Bengal are the lifeblood for the Chinese military’s energy. China has to protect its military investment and presence in Burma and support Burma’s stability. … The Burmese people have no choice.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, February 17, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junshiwaijiao/ql2-02172021234248.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Stanford University Researcher Faces Expanded Federal Charges

According to the Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs announcement Friday, February 19, 2021, “A federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment charging Chen Song,” who described herself as a neurologist coming to the United States to conduct research at Stanford University related to brain disease, with visa fraud, obstruction of justice, destruction of documents, and false statements in connection with a scheme to conceal and lie about her status as a member of the People’s Republic of China’s military forces while in the United States.

“We allege that while Chen Song worked as a researcher at Stanford University, she was secretly a member of China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army,” said U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson for the Northern District of California. “When Song feared discovery, she destroyed documents in a failed attempt to conceal her true identity. This prosecution will help to protect elite institutions like Stanford from illicit foreign influences.”

Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division stated, “Members of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army cannot lie on their visa applications and come to the United States to study without expecting the FBI and our partners to catch them.” “Time and again, the Chinese government prioritizes stealing U.S. research and taking advantage of our universities over obeying international norms.”

If convicted, she faces a maximum statutory penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for the visa fraud count; up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each of the obstruction and alteration charges; and up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for the false statements charge. In addition, the court may order additional terms of supervised release.

Source: Department of Justice, February 19, 2021.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-charges-against-stanford-university-researcher-expanded

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

A Chinese City Ordered All CCP Members to Watch Anti-American TV Series

On Sunday February 14, the Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of Tianjin, a city in northeastern China, issued a “Notice on Attentively Watching the TV Series ‘Crossing the Yalu River,’” asking all CCP organizations in government agencies and civil groups to watch the TV program streamed by China Central Television (CCTV), the official mouthpiece broadcaster. The notice also requested feedback from CCP branches regarding how the notice was implemented.

The TV program is based on the Korean War, the very first and only direct military conflict between Communist China and America in the 1950’s. Over the past few years, Beijing’s propaganda machine has produced a few Korean War movies and TV series to stir up anti-American sentiment among the Chinese people.

The notice stated that the TV program “shows the entire process from the initial decision-making to the final signing of the armistice agreement of China’s resistance to American aggression and assistance to North Korea. … It is a reference textbook for studying CCP history, the new China history, and the history of socialist development.” The notice asked that all subordinate government organs make good use of the Chinese New Year holidays and organize everyone to attentively watch the series.

The move may be also related to the fact that the year 2021 is the 100th anniversary of the founding of Chinese Communist Party. The authorities have planned to launch a series of publicity activities across the country to glorify the CCP.

Source: Radio Free Asia, February 17, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/ql1-02172021031054.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics