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China Encourages College Graduates to Join the Army

In July, China’s Ministry of Education issued a notice requiring students at local schools and colleges to watch a promotional video and a mini film that the Recruitment Office of the Defense Ministry produced.

The government has also recently adjusted its conscription system. Beginning in 2020, China will increase the frequency from “one conscription and one retirement every year” to “two conscriptions and two retirements every year.” The recruitment process, conducted once in each half of the year, will target college graduates.

For quite a long time, China’s troops came mainly from rural areas. After China initiated the recruitment from universities and colleges years ago, more and more students have enlisted in the army. Li Baoyang, a researcher from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, believes that China’s urbanization process has made college graduates the main source of recruits. “Especially since the start of the 21st century, China’s rural areas have basically been ‘empty nests,’ and there are very few young and middle-aged populations. Now, the rural areas are generally dilapidated, and there are few soldiers to recruit.”

People’ Liberation Army (PLA) Daily, the newspaper for the Chinese military, once reported that Shanghai ranked top in the country in recent years in terms of the proportion of college graduates who enlisted. Nationwide, the percentage of enlisted college students has soared from 17 percent in 2006 to 90 percent in 2018.

A number of incentive policies have also been introduced throughout the country to attract college students to the army. Soldiers receive preferential considerations when applying for government jobs. They also receive a subsidy after two years of service. State-owned enterprises also reserve 15 percent of their positions for retired college student soldiers. In recent years, the authorities have relaxed the recruitment standards. In 2014, the minimum height for male recruits nationwide was reduced from 162 cm to 160 cm, and the weight limit rose from 25 percent to 30 percent exceeding the standard.

In 2020, the population of college graduates will reach 8.74 million, another record high. At the same time, the epidemic and the prolonged economic slowdown have diminished the labor demand. With the serious imbalance in supply and demand, college graduates are facing unprecedented pressure looking for jobs. Joining the army may be an attractive choice. The number of Chinese college students who signed up to join the army last year reached 1.24 million, close to 15 percent of the total graduates.

Source: Radio Free Asia, August 10, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junshiwaijiao/hc-08102020134352.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Has China Developed a Nuclear Missile Early Warning System?

Kyodo News Agency learned on August 2 that a nuclear missile expert from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said that China has an early warning system that can detect nuclear missiles before they land and can use nuclear weapons to counterattack. The expert pointed out that at present only the United States and Russia possess this technology. If the claim is true, China will enhance its nuclear combat capability and change the world’s strategic balance.

The early warning system is the key to high-end missile defense (MD) technology, composed of manmade satellites and maritime radar, used for detecting the launch of ballistic missiles. China has always been opposed to the United States’ missile defense development.

Yang Chengjun (杨承军) is a retired officer who served for years in Chinese military’s nuclear missile forces, also known as the PLA Rocket Forces. He is also widely known as a security expert in the National Security Commission of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Yang’s article, titled, “It is inappropriate to hype up nuclear-related issues on the Internet,” was published in a government magazine, Motherland (祖国)” (electronic version on May 12). It states that the Chinese military has an early warning system that can detect nuclear missile attacks within minutes after their launch and conduct a nuclear counterattack before they land. He emphasized that China’s comprehensive nuclear combat capability is not inferior to the United States or Russia.

The system is said to be able to detect nuclear missiles in three stages: the initial stage after launch, the intermediate stage of cruising beyond the atmosphere, and the final stage of returning to the atmosphere. If a counterattack can be carried out within a few minutes, it implies that China has mastered the technology to use early warning satellites to detect heat sources during launch. China is believed to be developing this technology.

Source: Kyodo News Chinese, August 2, 2020
https://china.kyodonews.net/news/2020/08/73db29416aa3.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Serbia Purchases China’s Missile Defense System

Serbia has purchased a new generation of medium-range radar-guided surface-to-air missiles from China. The move is considered the latest sign of deepening cooperation between Beijing and Belgrade.

According to Reuters report on August 3, “the purchase of the FK-3 missile defense system was included in the state-run arms company Jugoimport SDPR’s annual report, submitted to the state Business Registers Agency last week and seen by Reuters.”

The FK-3 is an export version of China’s latest generation of HQ-22 medium-range air defense missiles, which first appeared at the 2016 Zhuhai Air Show.

“Jugoimport SDPR said it made 163 import deals with 31 countries for $620.3 million in 2019. The weapons purchases included armed drones from China and Europe’s first known purchase of the FK-3.”

The FK-3 air defense missile, which Serbia purchased has a maximum range of 100 kilometers and a shooting height of 50 meters to 27,000 meters. The source said that Serbia has purchased 3 sets of FK-3 systems.

“In late June, Serbia’s air force received six CH-92A combat drones armed with laser-guided missiles, the first such deployment of Chinese unmanned aerial vehicles in Europe.”

China’s state media Global Times said that this drone is mainly used for reconnaissance and surveillance, but it also has certain strike capabilities.

The Serbian military traditionally uses the technology of the former Soviet Union. In recent years, Belgrade has purchased MiG-29 fighter jets, missiles, helicopters, tanks and armored personnel carriers from Russia.

China has been pumping money into Balkan countries, mainly on soft loans, infrastructure and energy projects. Beijing sees Serbia as part of its “One Belt, One Road” initiative and an important springboard to enter the Balkans.

In April last year, the Chinese government stated that, under the framework of the “One Belt, One Road,” the cooperation between the two countries achieved remarkable results. In the past six years, until 2019, the bilateral trade volume increased by 55.7 percent; the number of tourists from China to Serbia has also increased significantly. 2018 saw more than 100,000 Chinese tourists; the total contractual value of infrastructure construction projects of Chinese-funded enterprises exceeded US$5 billion. In recent years, China’s construction in the western Balkans and issuance of preferential loans in the name of promoting the development of infrastructure has attracted widespread international attention. The European Union expressed its concern that Southeast European countries in the western Balkans might suffer from China’s “debt trap diplomacy.”

Source: Voice of America, August 3, 2020
https://www.voachinese.com/a/serbian-purchase-missile-defence-system-shows-ties-deepening-china-20200803/5528464.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China Raises Alarm over Expected Food Shortages

After severe flooding, about one-sixth of China’s land is soaked in water. Much of these lands serve as the main grain growing regions. Both China’s President Xi Jinping and Vice Premier Hu Chunhua recently talked about food security [Editor’s note: meaning food shortages] The pandemic, flooding, the deterioration of Sino-US relations, and the complex international situation are all directly or indirectly affecting food security.

On July 27th, Vice Premier Hu Chunhua spoke at a national food security video conference. Hu asked that food production be strengthened and that China ensure that there would be no mistake about food security. China has a governor’s responsibility system for food security, an institutional arrangement that provincial governments are held accountable for the protection of arable lands and food production in the region.

When Xi Jinping visited Jilin province a week earlier, he also emphasized that safeguarding food security must be placed in a prominent position, and that one “cannot relax” to increase food production.

Among the flooded areas in the southern provinces, substantial parts are major grain producing regions. According to the official statistics, grain production in the summer increased by 0.9 percent. However, the autumn production is a huge challenge. Due to the floods in southern China, some areas may see a “destructive reduction in production or even a total crop failure.” An alarm over food security was raised as autumn grain production accounts for three quarters of the annual total.

Lujiang County, located in central Anhui province, bordering Lake Chao on the north and the Yangtze River on the south, is one of China’s first commercial grain production bases. However, the recent flooding has devastated the vegetable production in Lujiang. The latest statistics show that, as of July 23, the disaster had affected 83,400 mu (13,745 acres) of vegetables, and 55,400 mu (9,131 acres) saw no harvest, causing a reduction of 80,423 tons of production.

Source: World Journal, July 29, 2020
https://www.worldjournal.com/7069933

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Pompeo’s Advisor’s Name Removed from Honor Stone in China

Miles Yu became immediately famous after the Washington Times reported that Yu is a chief China policy adviser at the U.S. State Department. Recently the high school that Yu once attended in China chiseled his name off the honor stone tablet.

Miles Yu, 57, graduated from Yongchuan High School in Chongqing city in 1979. In the same year, he was admitted to the prestigious Nankai University for having the highest scorer in liberal arts field in Sichuan Province on the national college entrance examination. Over the years, Yongchuan High School has engraved the names of top-score graduates on a campus stone tablet in commemoration.

Radio France International (RFI) shows a video in which a stonemason hired by the school was using an iron chisel to scrape away the characters of Yu’s Chinese name from the stone, followed by comments from overseas Chinese community, such as

A: Sooner or later, this name will be engraved again.
B: It turns out that Mr. Yu was the number one student on the college entrance examination and I admire him even more.
C: This is a magic country where history can be tampered with.

There were also some from mainland China, such as

D: The imperialistic U.S. government uses a person who has been away from China for so long to make its China policy. It will only get worse and worse. Let the name be kept as a laughing stock.
E: Maybe it (the name) will be engraved again someday.
F: By doing this, won’t it make people be more curious about the name that was erased, and attract more attention?

Source: Central News Agency, July 29, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/202007290293.aspx

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Minister of Public Security Emphasizes Social Control

On July 27, Zhao Kezhi, China’s Minister of Public Security, delivered a speech at the video conference of the National Public Security agency.

Zhao emphasized that “in the face of a profoundly changing external environment and severe and complex situations, public security organs at all levels must resolutely implement the decisions and deployment of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core. We must … carry forward the fighting spirit, make preparations, be on guard against different risks and challenges, and strive to achieve the ‘two safeguards’ in the actions of maintaining the nation’s political security and social stability.” Here the “two safeguards” is a new slogan coined during Xi Jinping’s regime, meaning to safeguard the position of Xi Jinping as the core of the CCP Central Committee and the core of the whole party, and to safeguard the authoritative and centralized leadership of the CCP Central Committee.

Zhao asked “strictly to guard against and crack down on the disruptive sabotage activities of hostile forces at home and abroad, carry out anti-infiltration, anti-subversion, anti-separatism and anti-evil religion struggles, and resolutely safeguard national political security.” “It is necessary … further to step up social control, strengthen warnings and early assessment, strengthen overall prevention and control … eliminate hidden risks, and severely crack down on different types of illegal and criminal activities in accordance with the law.”

Source: Public Security Department of Hunan Province, July 27, 2020
http://gat.hunan.gov.cn/articles/221/2020-7/65371.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Corruption Allegation in Namibia involves 5G deal with Huawei

As the “Five Eyes Alliance” countries are taking countermeasures against China’s telecom giant Huawei, Huawei continues to accelerate its expansion in Africa.

Al Jazeera ran an exclusive report on July 15 that Brunhilde Cornelius, a city councilor in Namibia’s capital city Windhoek, disclosed that, in order for Huawei to obtain an exclusive contract for 5G network construction in the city, a local politician was bribed and asked to give up her opposition to the deal.

Earlier this year, Cornelius publicly opposed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the city council and Huawei. According to Al Jazeera, Cornelius filed a charge with the police on June 19. Cornelius, who is also the secretary-general of the opposition Rally for the Democracy and Progress Party (RDP), alleged the bribe was offered by Nicanor Ndjoze, her colleague who is also the RDP’s director of elections. Ndjoze allegedly paid bribes on behalf of his nephew, Reckliff Kandjiriomuini, the head of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) division of the City of Windhoek (COW).

Cornelius said that Ndjoze mentioned a bonus fund of about US$2.4 million, which could be used for potential beneficiaries of the deal that would give Huawei the exclusive right to develop local 5G network construction. She was told that she could receive an amount between US$300,000 and US$360,000 dollars. According to Cornelius, Ndjoze told her on May 12 that she could get the money if she gave up her opposition to the MOU. Allegedly, Ndjoze also told Cornelius that his nephew, Kandjiriomuini, led the transaction with Huawei. Kandjiriomuini hoped that Ndjoze would help persuade his party members to accept bribes and sign the MOU.

Andy Keiser, a former professional staff member of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee testified before the U.S. Congress in June 2018, exposing that Huawei and ZTE have been subject to corruption investigations, charges, or corruption convictions in as many as 21 countries in the past 12 years. In 2009, Nuctech, a Chinese state-owned IT firm was involved in a bribery and corruption case in Namibia.

Source: Radio Free Asia, July 17, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/bribe-07172020091246.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Beijing to Deploy Korean War TV Dramas to Arouse Nationalism

China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) is a ministry-level executive agency that controls state-owned TV and radio broadcasters, as well as other non-state movie and television studios. On July 17, NRTA held a nationwide video conference with its subsidiary entities to arrange and schedule TV dramas that have the theme of the Sino-Japanese War during WWII and the Korean War. The Chinese government has been calling the former  the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the later the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. It also emphasized TV dramas with the themes of battling the corona virus so as to “tell the touching story of China’s action against the (Wuhan) pneumonia epidemic.”

The year 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Sino-Japanese War, which was actually fought by the Nationalist government, the predecessor of today’s Taiwan government. It lost the civil war to the Communists in 1949. To Beijing, the Sino-US relations pose the biggest challenge since the establishment of diplomatic relations. The theme of the Korean War has also become the focus of the regime’s propaganda. Claiming to be the winner of the war, for decades, the Chinese Communist Party has been using it to promote anti-American nationalist sentiments .

Source: Central News Agency, July 23, 2020.
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202007230400.aspx

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations