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Why Are Chinese People Reluctant to Have Children?

According to the latest data from China’s Ministry of Public Security, there were 10.35 million newborns in 2020 with household registration, a sharp drop of 15 percent from the 11.79 million in 2019. The number compares with the 11.87 million newborns in 1961, one of the years of the great famine in China’s history.

However, the number of newborns with household registration is not exactly the same as the number of births in that year. The main reason is that the household registration was not declared for some newborns. Taking 2019 as an example, the Ministry of Public Security shows 11.79 million, but the National Statistics Bureau shows 14.65 million.

Sanlian Life Week, an influential Beijing-based weekly magazine, recently published an article quoting the recent population data that some Chinese cities released. The birth rate in many places fell sharply last year, showing a decline exceeding 10 percent. It was even more than 30 percent in some areas.

The report said that China’s fertility rate, which measures the average number of children per woman, was once higher than 6, but it is now below 1.5. Why don’t Chinese people want to have children? The most important reason is that they cannot afford to have children. Buying or renting houses has emptied many young people’s pockets of their income. Even for a middle-class family, raising children is a very large expense.

The report continued that compared with those born in the 1970s and 1980s, the relative income of those born in 1990’s and 2000’s dropped significantly. The term “relative income” is the ratio of expected future income level to living expenses. The higher the ratio, the stronger the financial ability to raise children.

In addition, the support that society provides for raising children is also insufficient. The report pointed out that in China, “the number of childcare institutions for the age of 0-3 is almost zero.” Without the help of the grandparents, it is almost impossible for double-income families to raise their children independently.

To alleviate the pressure on pensions, the authorities began to study the policy of delaying retirement. However, the report noted that this may in turn further reduce the fertility rate, because most families need the elderly to help take care of their children. If the elderly delay retirement, the families will lose their support. As a result, many young families choose to give up having children.

Source: Central News Agency, February 14, 2021
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202102140135.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Chinese Communists to “Revive Traditional Culture”

On February 14, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the General Office of China’s State Council issued the “Opinions on the Implementation of the Inheritance and Development Project of China’s Excellent Traditional Culture,” highlighting the need to “rejuvenate China’s traditional culture comprehensively by 2025.” The key tasks include “increasing publicity and education,” displaying the charm of Chinese culture through the Internet and media, promoting “red” tourism, developing education activities surrounding the theme of “loving China,” and fostering patriotism.

The “Opinions” requires the use of overseas Chinese cultural centers and Confucius Institutes to promote the global spread of Chinese traditional culture and strengthen cultural exchanges and cooperation with countries along the “Belt and Road Initiative.” It also encourages developing international trade of cultural products.

Song Yongyi, a historian at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in an interview with Radio Free Asia that the Chinese Communist Party itself is against traditional culture. Song said that Xi Jinping’s idea of the “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),” came from the Tang Dynasty over 1,000 years ago. According to historical records, the government of the Tang Dynasty reaching out to the countries west of China was not done mainly for military purposes, but for economic and cultural exchanges. Song said, “When he (Xi Jinping) went to those (Belt and Road) countries, he occupied their ports and turned them into his military ports to develop his military. This is probably not the case throughout the history of traditional China. He was there to promote his ideology, and promote the so-called ‘China model.'”

The Opinions openly stated that the policy highlights and basic principles for the revival of traditional culture are “to grasp firmly the direction of advanced socialist culture and adhere to guidance that centered on people.”

Hu Ping, editor-in-chief of the U.S. based Chinese language magazine Beijing Spring, said, “He (Xi Jinping) is facing a big problem, because the CCP cut its teeth on opposing traditional culture. The CCP is a political group that has been perhaps the most hostile and most negative toward traditional Chinese culture throughout China’s history. Temples of Confucius are an example. For dynasties and generations, even foreign invaders did not damage the Temples of Confucius, but they were smashed during the Cultural Revolution. Now having the CCP play the role of inheriting and promoting traditional culture is itself a huge irony.”

Hu Ping believes that the CCP will only use it as banner, an “icon” of traditional Chinese culture as a decoration, but it actually castrates the soul and essence of traditional Chinese culture. It has been reported that China has recently been aggressively repairing and renovating Buddhist and Taoist temples. At the same time, its control and suppression of traditional religious activities has been unprecedented. The CCP does not respect religious freedom.

Source: Radio Free Asia, February 16, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/zhengzhi/hx-02162021102517.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Chinese Communist Document Highlights Red Gene: Kids Must Follow the Party

Approaching the centenary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Central Committee of the CCP issued an official document, “The Central Committee’s Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening the Work of the Young Pioneers in the New Era.” The document reemphasizes that the Young Pioneers are a reserve team for accomplishing communism. The kids ought to “listen to the party and follow the party.”

The Young Pioneers is a youth organization in China for children aged six to fourteen; it is like many that exist in Communist countries around the world. It provides organizational structure for the CCP to indoctrinate children with Communist ideologies at a very early stage in their life. Established in 1949, the Young Pioneers now have over 100 million members.

The “Opinions” document states that the CCP has always regarded cultivating good children as a strategic and basic work so that the “red nation will never change its color.”

In the CCP’s documents for the past four decades, such discussions about the Young Pioneers are very rare. The document also mentioned that it is necessary for the Young Pioneers to strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the children’s organizations in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, and strengthen friendly exchanges with children’s organizations and institutions in countries around the world, especially those related to the “Belt and Road Initiative.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, February 4, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/ql2-02042021043111.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Report Reveals Beijing’s Sponsorship of High-Technology Research in Leading UK Universities

Civitas, a London based think tank, recently released a report titled, “Inadvertently Arming China?: The Chinese military complex and its potential exploitation of scientific research at UK universities.”

The report found that there is a ‘pervasive presence of Chinese military-linked conglomerates and universities in the sponsorship of high-technology research centres in many leading UK universities.’

The report, by Radomir Tylecote and Robert Clark, finds that at least 15 UK universities have productive research relationships with Chinese military-linked manufacturers and universities. The UK taxpayer sponsors much of the research at the university centres and laboratories through research councils, Innovate UK, and the Royal Society.

In many cases, these UK universities are unintentionally generating research that China’s military conglomerates sponsored and which may be of use to them, including those with activities in the production of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and also including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) as well as hypersonic missiles and research in which China is involved in a new arms race and seeks ‘massively destabilizing’ weaponry.

This report analyses the relationships that at least 15 UK universities have established with 22 Chinese military-linked universities as well as weapons suppliers or other military-linked companies. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) deems many of these Chinese universities to be ‘Very High Risk.’

Sponsorship of high-technology research in UK universities covers areas such as:
▪ Metals and alloys;
▪ Aerospace physics and hypersonic technology;
▪ Ceramics, piezoelectrics and rare earths;
▪ Drones and radar;
▪ Shipbuilding;
▪ Data science, AI, and facial recognition; and
▪ Robotics (land, sea and space)

The report recommends the UK government should list all those Chinese military-linked companies and institutions that it wants to bar from sponsoring science research in UK universities and from research cooperation in general.

The authors also suggest the UK set up a new government organization similar to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), whose role would include monitoring and assessment of university sponsorship.

Source: Civitas, February, 2021

Inadvertently Arming China?

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Chinese Ships Enter Senkakus for Two Days Since New Law Allows Use of Arms

On February 7, the Japanese Coast Guard announced that two Chinese Coast Guard vessels entered the Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands at about 3:50 am. The ships turned towards a Japanese fishing boat, about 22 kilometers south of Taisho Island, and made an attempt to approach. Since China’s new law, effective starting this month, allows its coast guard to use military force in waters the country claims, the Chinese government ships have sailed into the Japanese territorial waters near the Senkakus for two consecutive days.

According to the Japanese Coast Guard, the Japanese fishing boat had five people onboard, and Japanese patrol boats were deployed to ensure its safety. Japan’s Coast Guard also issued a warning and demanded the Chinese Coast Guard vessels leave their territorial waters. The two ships left one after another around 9:10 am and sailed to the contiguous area outside the territorial waters.

It is the fifth day this year that a Chinese official ship entered Japanese territorial waters near the Senkakus. Two additional Chinese Coast Guard vessels were sailing in the contiguous area outside the territorial waters, one sporting a cannon-like weapon. The vicinity of the Senkakus, including the contiguous area, has seen Chinese official ships for nine consecutive days.

China’s new coast guard law has stoked concern in Japan, with some in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party urging bolstered measures in the area such as joint military exercises between the Self-Defense Force and the U.S. military near the Senkakus.

The islets sit in the rich fishing waters of the East China Sea and are believed to be home to vast mineral and gas deposits.

The new law allows the Chinese Coast Guard to take “all necessary measures,” including the use of weapons, against foreign organizations or individuals that violate Chinese sovereignty or China’s jurisdiction.

Source: Kyodo News, February 7, 2021
https://china.kyodonews.net/news/2021/02/0c5805c975b6.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

A U.S. Report on a Pro-Chinese Propaganda Spam Network

On February 4, 2021, Graphika, an independent U.S. market research firm issued a report called “Spamouflage Breakout,” detailing the activities of a sprawling pro-Chinese propaganda network that Graphika has dubbed “Spamouflage.” The network uses “fake accounts and reaches real social media users, including some recipients with heavyweight influence. It sends hundreds of videos that praise China, criticize the United States, and attack the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement and exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui.”

Graphika took note that elements of the network were already active in the second half of 2018, when it primarily attacked Chinese émigré billionaire Guo Wengui (郭文贵, also known as Miles Kwok). In 2019, the main target became the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement. After the global outbreak of the corona virus pandemic in 2020, the activities changed focus to praise China. The report alleged that as early as February last year, social media accounts acclaimed China’s rapid response to the fight against the epidemic. Starting in June, the cyber army began to criticize the United States for failing to control the virus.

The network used videos mostly pieced together from news clips, which were full of prejudice and contained false information. The report cited an example of a fake information video titled “Vaccines will not get America out of this mess.” Without providing any evidence, it argued that “the safety of the [U.S. developed Pfizer-BioNTech] vaccine was in doubt, but it was quickly approved.” On January 21, it followed up with another video that claimed the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had been approved in haste despite serious risks.

It has been found that the network has successfully engaged real users. “Nevertheless, in the past three months Spamouflage has been amplified by, among others, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, a Pakistani politician, a senior figure at Huawei Europe, a UK commentator and former member of parliament, George Galloway, and four YouTube channels for Chinese viewers with tens of thousands of followers. This is the first time that we have observed Spamouflage content reaching external audiences in this way.”

The report highlighted a few fake social media accounts that Spamouflage has used. One of them called @jingrunhe, screen name “贺景润 He Jingrun,” uses a young woman as its profile picture. This account was created on July 7, 2009, but its first recorded tweet was only posted on January 7, 2020, soon after the United States killed Iranian General Qasem. Then the account repeatedly spread videos and posts that showed a strong alignment with the Chinese government messaging on issues including Hong Kong, Taiwan, relations with the United States, U.S. sanctions, and China’s increasingly troubled relationship with Australia – including an accusation of war crimes against Australian troops. Many Chinese diplomatic accounts interacted with this account. As early as February 2020, the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Deputy Spokesman Lijian Zhao, one of the best known of China’s “wolf warriors,” retweeted her; he was to do so five times in the next three months. “According to a scan with Meltwater, China’s ambassador to Iran retweeted her 25 times and tweeted her a quote eight times; China’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic retweeted her 15 times and quoted her nine times; the Chinese Embassy in France retweeted her 18 times and quoted her tweet nine times; and the ambassador to Panama retweeted her nine times and quote-tweeted her 15 times.” In addition, He Jingrun was also retweeted by the Twitter account of Huawei Europe, with over five million followers and shared by Huawei Europe senior executive Mike Bai, with over 800,000 followers. Amplified by real people, this account was also retweeted by Chilean politician Hugo Gutierrez (126,000 followers, four retweets), Panamanian TV personality Annette Quinn (109,000 followers, two retweets) and philosopher Fernando Buen Abad (108,000 followers, 13 retweets). It was also retweeted 37 times by Pakistani politician Khurram Nawaz Gandapur (91,000 followers).”

Source: Graphika, “Spamouflage Breakout,” February 4, 2021
https://graphika.com/reports/spamouflage-breakout/
Radio Free Asia, February 5, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/us-fake-02052021025056.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Experts Warn of Coming Collapse of China’s Population Growth

At a press conference on January 18, China’s National Bureau of Statistics postponed the release of 2020 birth data.

In an article on Caixin.com, Liang Jianzhang, the founder of the Trip.com Group and a professor at Peking University, quoted data from local governments and media. The number of births in Wenzhou city in 2020 was 19.01 percent lower than in 2019. Hefei city’s new births in 2020 dropped by 23 percent compared to 2019. The same measure in Taizhou City in 2020 saw a decrease of 32.6 percent. Liang suggested that the fertility rate can be fundamentally reversed only by implementing changes in family planning policies, reducing housing costs, and cutting taxes.

Yi Fuxian, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of Big Country with an Empty Nest, recently tweeted that “today’s Northeast region is China’s tomorrow.”

Yi pointed out that the size of the economy in the northeast region as a percentage of the whole country shrank from 13.1 percent in 1980 to 9.1 percent in 2010 and 5.0 percent in 2020. A key contributor is the aging population.

Yi told Radio Free Asia, “(The central government) predicts that the economy will double by 2035 and that the annual growth rate will average 4.7 percent between 2021 and 2035. From the perspective of population, I think this possibility is very low. China’s economy may be able to maintain a growth rate of 4 percent or 5 percent by 2025, after which the growth rate will continuously decline.”

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the birth rate in the three northeastern provinces in 2019 was only 0.61 percent, even lower than the 0.68 percent birth rate in Japan, the world’s oldest country. The reasons for the decline in the fertility rate in Northeast China, according to Yi, include the high level of urbanization, a high proportion of the population working in the state sector, high compliance with the government’s family planning policy, a low marriage rate and a high divorce rate.

Source: Radio Free Asia, February 2, 2021
http://https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shehui/cm-02022021114604.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Ukraine Issues Sanctions against Chinese Companies

According to the Ukraine’s official website, on January 29, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky approved the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of the Ukraine (NSDC) to sanction the Chinese legal persons and individuals that invested in the Ukrainian aerospace company Motor Sich. The sanctions will take effect immediately.

Four Chinese companies — Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings Co., Ltd, Hong Kong Skyrizon Holdings Co., Ltd, Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment Co., Ltd, Beijing Xinwei Technology Group Co., Ltd. — along with a Chinese citizen, Wang Jing, born on December 24, 1972, had restrictive measures imposed on them for a period of three years.

The sanctions on Wang also include freezing his assets and temporarily restricting the use, trade and disposal of his property. The order partially or completely suspended his assets from being transported across Ukrainian territory. Wang’s visa status is revoked, and there is a ban on his entering Ukrainian territory.

Skyrizon Aircraft is the company (legal person) that invested in Motor Sich.

At the end of last year, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added China’s Skyrizon Aircraft to a Military End-User (MEU) List over its ability to develop military products including aircraft engines. The list includes 58 Chinese and 45 Russian companies.

Source: Sputnik News, January 29, 2021
http://big5.sputniknews.cn/china/202101291032991427/

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend