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Beijing’s Bullying: Blacklisting “Taiwan independence” Personnel

Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing Ta Kung Pao newspaper carried an article stating that the Chinese regime is preparing to blacklist “Taiwan independence” diehards, and may launch crackdowns and impose life-long sanctions, referring to the legal provision of the “crime of committing secession.”

A Ta Kung Pao front page article on November 15 claimed that “Authorities in mainland China are preparing to blacklist ‘Taiwan independence’ diehards, and punish those who have made aggressive ‘Taiwan independence’ remarks and committed vile ‘Taiwan independence’ actions, along with their major sponsors. Legal provisions from the anti-secession Law, criminal law, and the national security law will be used to bring those people to justice and hold them accountable for life.” The article pointed out that the crime of secession can have a sentence of up to life in prison.

Shuh-Fan Ding, a professor at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, told Radio Free Asia that the purpose of the blacklist is more for intimidation than for real punishment. “The mainland wants to have a psychological impact. First, it aims to warn the people about ‘Taiwan independence’; second, it attempts to reduce Taiwan’s support for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) through intimidation because the DPP is considered a ‘Taiwan independence’ party.’” Shuh-Fan believes that, considering the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) handling of the Hong Kong issue last year, this crackdown and sanctions against “Taiwan independence” will also have a counterproductive effect.

Paul Huang, a Taiwanese freelance writer, said that the CCP’s implementation of the “Taiwan Independence” diehards list, similar to the promulgation of the Hong Kong national security law, is to enforce Beijing’s will. “What I am worried about is that the mainland will enact an unlimited authorization bill, or that the list can be expanded at any time without any warning. Then hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese in mainland China may be upset because of this. One must be cautious with his words and deeds even inside Taiwan. This is the biggest concern.” “We need to look at the detailed enforcement (measures). If it is just a blacklist, similar to the US Department of Commerce’s sanctions mechanism against China, it is just a concept of denying entry. If it is more offensive, the mainland will turn this into a law that can be criminally prosecuted, much like Hong Kong’s national security law.”

Since the enforcement of the Hong Kong national security law in June this year, Beijing has arrested a number of student leaders for violating the national security law and inciting the secession of the nation. The CCP’s General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward the “Five Points” on Taiwan in 2019, namely, cross-strait reunification, the Taiwan version of “one country, two systems,” no promise of abandoning military reunification, deepened cross-strait integration and development, and promotion of the consensus of peaceful reunification. At the same time, the “Five Points” was formally written into the decision of the Fourth Plenary Session of the CCP’s 19th Central Committee.

The Mainland Affairs Council, the Taiwanese government’s agency handling cross-strait affairs, issued a statement in this regard, stating that the mainland’s use of force and legal means to bully and threaten dissidents with the intent of intimidating Taiwan into self-censorship, inciting cross-strait antagonism, and sabotaging peace and stability will only be futile and counterproductive. The Mainland Affairs Council stated that Taiwan will not give in under threats.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 16, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/bx-11162020103136.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Elderly Population to Reach 400 million in 2035

China has become an aging society. It is estimated that the number of elderly people over 60 will reach 400 million in 15 years, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the population. Some organizations predict that the labor force will shrink substantially in the future. Statistics show that there were 14.65 million newborn babies nationwide last year. The birth rate dropped to about 10 per thousand. It is projected that, in ten years, it will further drop to less than 11 million births every year. After the “two-child policy” was adopted, there was no peak in the number of births.

Zheng Gongcheng, a Chinese scholar, said at a recent forum that the process has been accelerating. It is expected that by 2035, China will be considered a “super-aged society.” The average annual increase in the elderly population is about 10 million, and the total will reach about 400 million by then. The number of the elderly population, that is, those over 80 years old, will increase by more than 1 million annually.

A country is defined by the United Nations as “aging” if the percentage of those over 65 exceeds 7 percent; it is considered “aged” if it exceeds 14 percent, and “super-aged” when it is over 20 percent. In 2011, the weighted average of the percentage of the global aging population was 8.1 percent, indicating that the world has entered the era of aging.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 14, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/elderly-11142020091031.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Beijing Issues Joint Operations Guideline for Chinese Military

On November 13, the Central Military Commission (CMC), the Chinese Communist regime’s top military command group, issued the “Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Joint Operations Guideline (Trial Version).”

The “Guideline” aims to build the PLA into a world-class army force, with a focus on the establishment of a system of laws and regulations for joint operations. It attempts to answer the “important questions of ‘what wars to fight and how to fight.’” The goal is to strengthen the preparedness for the wars.

The “Guideline” is supposed to be the top-level regulation of the Chinese military. It focuses on some fundamental issues of implementing joint operations, including unifying operational strategies, defining rights and responsibilities, and directing operations. It also sets out to clarify “important principles, requirements and procedures for join operation command, combat preparedness, national defense mobilization, and political work.”

The CMC asked that the “Guideline” be used as the base for organizing and implementing joint operations and joint training, so as to improve the ability to win.

Source: People’s Daily, November 14, 2020
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2020-11/14/nw.D110000renmrb_20201114_2-01.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

200,000 Chinese Journalists Passed the “Xi Thought” Exam

At the end of 2019, Chinese authorities ordered journalists to pass an exam featuring Xi Jinping’s speeches. According to the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), as of October 30, 2020, a total of 205,000 Chinese journalists had passed the “Xi Thought” exam and obtained a passport-sized Chinese journalist ID card with gold letters against a red background.

Cheng Yizhong, a senior Chinese media person who participated in the founding of Southern Metropolis Daily and Beijing News, told Radio Free Asia that this shows that China now has high confidence in its propaganda outlets and this has nothing to do its press freedom. “(The Chinese government) is confident that it has reached a state of complete control over the terminal (reporter) and information. … With a press ID card, it is easier to maintain control.”

According to the announcement of the NPPA, a Chinese journalist’s ID is good for a term of five years, contingent on annual reviews. The press ID’s can only be issued by news organizations that the government certifies.

RFA also interviewed a young man surnamed Li, who completed his master’s degree in journalism in the United States and chose to work in China’s state media. For Li, taking the press card exam is a career development requirement for which he had no choice. Li showed a screenshot of his phone and repeated the exam questions and standardized answers.

Question: As General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, what is the most basic principle of news and public opinion work?
Answer: The Party’s leadership over news and public opinion work.

Question: As Xi Jinping emphasized, what is the basic guidance for news and public opinion?
Answer: Unity, stability, and positive propaganda.

Question: What should cyberspace be?
Answer: A new space for the Party to build consensus.

In 2020, according to data from the U.S. non-profit organization the Committee to Protect Journalists, China is the country that has the largest number of imprisoned journalists in the world. In the annual World Press Freedom Index report from Reporters Without Borders, China ranked fourth to the last around the world. The number is even higher than in dictatorship regimes such as North Korea. The report also mentioned that if Chinese journalists had the right to report freely, the COVID-19 pandemic could have been avoided, or at least it would not have come to be as tragic as it is now.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 6, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/meiti/jt-11062020095028.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Beijing Punishes Chinese People for Accessing Overseas Social Media

In recent years, while the Chinese Communist regime has an iron grip on domestic websites and social media, it has punished netizens who use VPN software to circumvent the Internet fire wall and express themselves on foreign social media such as Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube. The suppression it uses includes home visits from the police to issue warnings, deletion of posts and closure of accounts, and imprisonment for those who publish unfavorable comments about the government.

The court may soon hear the case of Shen Liangqing, a former prosecutor and human rights activist in Anhui Province. Last year, the authorities arrested him on suspicion of “disturbing the peace.” The evidence against him in the indictment involves his comments on Twitter and Facebook.

According to the information provided by the website of Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch, the indictment claimed that between 2017 and May 2019 when he was arrested, Shen Liangqing used information networks and software to post articles on overseas social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, attracting more than 20,000 followers. The indictment also stated that some of Shen’s posts were “false information” in that they “distorted” historical events and socially sensitive topics to attack and disrupt the normal social order. The indictment added that there were 42 pieces of this kind of information on Twitter, with a total of 470,000 clicks. On Facebook, 13 pieces of the aforementioned content were reposted 16 times and liked 130 times.

A well-known netizen and human rights activist with an account name “xiucaijianghu,” whose real name is Wu Bin, from Huzhou, Zhejiang, has been arrested and punished for “spreading rumors” and “disturbing the peace.” His Weibo and WeChat accounts have been suspended many times. So was his Twitter account. On March 24 this year, the authorities of Zhouzhou city of Hunan province took “xiucaijianghu” away due to his on-line comments, and he lost contact. He said on his new Twitter account in September this year: “The government forcibly closed my Twitter account using my mobile phone. One hundred thousand followers and ten years of tweets disappeared.”

A Chinese student with the surname Luo studied in the United States in 2018. He was detained after his return to China in 2019 because he posted satirical content about Xi Jinping and he was later charged with “disturbing the peace” and sentenced to half a year. The case reportedly attracted the attention of a few US lawmakers, including Republican Senator Ben Sasse and Marco Rubio. Sasse said, “This is what ruthless and paranoid totalitarianism looks like.”

In July of this year a Chinese student, who was studying in Melbourne, Australia, used humorous language and pictures to ridicule the Chinese authorities on Twitter. The police in China constantly harassed her family members, and her father was even taken to the police station to be interrogated. In addition to receiving a direct call from the Chinese police and being forced to surrender her Twitter account’s password, she also received death threats.

Chinese netizens may also be punished for simply using VPN to browse overseas websites or use overseas social media. According to a report from “Bitter Winter,” a European online magazine focusing on religious freedom and human rights in China, on May 19 this year, the police in Ankang city of Shaanxi province issued an administrative warning and a fine to a man for accessing the overseas Internet using circumvention software.

Source: Voice of America, November 10, 2020
https://www.voachinese.com/a/Chinese-authorities-punish-citizens-for-retweeting-or-reposting-on-foreign-social-media-20201110/5653617.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Senior Chinese Official Threatens to Take Taiwan by Force

Wang Zaixi, former deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under China’s State Council, recently published an article in the state media People’s Political Consultative Conference Newspaper. Wang said, “It may be difficult to achieve the purpose of reunification across the strait if we do not use military force and rely solely on political negotiations, non-governmental exchanges, and unconditionally making compromises.”

Regarding the reason why China should pursue military means, the former senior official said that it is because the situation in Taiwan has undergone fundamental changes and that the possibility of peaceful reunification is diminishing. In his view, the “Taiwan independence” forces have already taken a strong hold in Taiwan and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which advocates “Taiwan independence, has taken the stage and fully grasped power in Taiwan. The Kuomintang (KMT), which opposes “Taiwan independence,” has lost its ability to check and balance the issue.

Wang also proposed the “Peking Mode,” a third option in his view. The so-called “Peking Mode” is also a warfare choice, where the reunification is achieved through using military force as a threat and winning the war without a battle. “This mode can minimize casualties and reduce costs.” “The Peking Mode” got its name from the Battle of Pingjin during the Chinese civil war between 1948 and 1949, when the Chinese Communist’s military surrounded the city of Peking (today’s Beijing) and forced the 250,000 KMT troops to surrender.

When Xi Jinping, head of Chinese Communist Party, inspected the navy a few days ago, he said, “We must put all our minds and energy on preparing for a war and maintain a high level of alertness.” This remark was regarded as a threat to the DPP government. Wang Zaixi declared that mainland China now basically has the strength and conditions to resolve the Taiwan issue.

In December 2019, Wang also made a comment on when and how to “solve the Taiwan issue.” He said, “If the KMT had won the election, cross-strait relations would ease, but reunification will take more time. If the DPP continues to govern, the cross-strait relations will intensify, but it may accelerate the reunification process.”

Source: Radio France International, November 9, 2020
https://www.rfi.fr/cn/中国/20201109-中国国台办前副主任王在希-不动用武力两岸恐难实现统一

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

New Indicator of CCP Official’s Performance Evaluation — Safeguarding Xi’s Core Position

China’s state media Xinhua News Agency reported on November 5 that the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) Central Committee has issued the “Notice on Improving the Performance Evaluation to Promote High-Quality Development.” The item listed in the notice requires CCP cadres to implement the “two safeguards” as a basic criterion for evaluating an officials’ performance. The so-called “two safeguards” are the slogans that the authorities put forward after Xi Jinping took office: “Safeguard Xi Jinping’s core position in the CCP Central Committee and the entire party; safeguard the authority of the CCP Central Committee and centralized leadership.”

According to the report, this notice required all regions and units to implement “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” and implement the “Regulations on the Evaluation of the CCP and the Government’s Leading Cadres.”

The CCP Central Committee issued the full text of its “Work Regulations” in mid-October. This regulation requires that the Central Committee, the Politburo and their members take the lead in safeguarding “General Secretary Xi Jinping’s core position in the Central Committee and the entire party.”

Source: Central News Agency, November 5, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/202011050337.aspx

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Announces the Draft Maritime Police Law

On November 4, the Chinese legislature — the National People’s Congress —announced the draft of the Maritime Police Law. This draft stipulates the tasks and rights of the Chinese coast guard when carrying out surveillance activities in the waters surrounding China. It stipulates that the China Coast Guard has the authority to remove or interrogate forcibly those who are on foreign ships illegally entering China’s territorial waters.

The draft further states that if a foreign vessel conducts illegal activities in the waters under China’s jurisdiction and does not obey the order, the coast guard can use weapons to enforce the law. Regarding the maritime police’s law enforcement area, in addition to China’s territorial waters, the draft also includes the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf.

Chinese Coast Guard ships have repeatedly invaded Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa County, where China claimed sovereignty, and have even followed Japanese fishing boats.

China has included the Coast Guard in the Armed Police Force, which is under the jurisdiction of the Chinese military. With the introduction of large ships, the coast guard may further strengthen its maritime activities in the future. The outside world is worried that after the Maritime Police Law is enacted, the Chinese coast guard ships will affect Japanese fishing boats operating in the waters around the Senkaku Islands.

Source: NHK Chinese, November 4, 2020
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/zh/news/265528/

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military