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Columbia University’s Cancellation of Human Rights Forum Draws Criticism

Amnesty International, an international human rights organization, was scheduled to hold a seminar at Columbia University on Thursday, November 14. The topics included the human rights situation in China, including Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, and Beijing’s infiltration overseas. The day before the meeting, Columbia University told the organizers that the seminar had to be cancelled. According to Radio Free Asia’s interview of Teng Biao, a human rights activist and lawyer from China who was supposed to speak at the seminar, the explanation that the University gave was that a Chinese student group said that it would go to the seminar to hold a protest. As the school could not guarantee the safety of the participants, it decided to cancel the event.

A commentary published on the overseas Chinese website Boxun compared the incident with an event in 2017 at the University of California-San Diego, in which the Dalai Lama had been invited to give a commencement speech. Despite the opposition from the campus Chinese students’ organization, the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA), UCSD stood behind its decision to host the Dalai Lama.

The commentary questioned whether the so-called Chinese student organization mentioned by Columbia University is the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA), a network of organizations that the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department oversees. The commentary questioned whether the CSSA has registered as a foreign agent with the U.S. Department of Justice pursuant to The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The commentary also questioned whether Columbia University has upheld freedom of expression and academic freedom.

Mr. Teng Biao pointed to the fact that, in recent years, there have been multiple incidents in which the Chinese Communist Party used Chinese students to interfere with freedom of speech and academic freedom on a U.S. campus and that these incidents deserve high attention from American society. It is understood that Columbia is the only Ivy League university in the United States that {still} hosts a Confucius Institute.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 15, 2019.
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/lh-11152019155936.html
Boxun, November 16, 2019
https://www.boxun.com/news/gb/pubvp/2019/11/201911161023.shtml

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Greek Police Detained Falun Gong Practitioners during Xi Jinping’s State Visit

On November 10, 2019, when some of Falun Gong practitioners in Athens, the capital of Greece, came to the “Freedom Park” outside of the Megaro Moussikis subway station, to do their exercises as they have always done on weekends, a group of security police officers arrived to stop their exercises. The police took the practitioners to the police headquarters in Athens. The police checked the four Falun Gong practitioners and their identity cards, turned off and confiscated their mobile phones, and detained them for two hours. When the Falun Gong practitioners asked why, the answer was “execution of orders.” The practitioners further asked, “Since you have canceled our exercises today, why do you take us to the police station?” The answer was still “execution of orders.” During the period, a police officer sympathetic to Falun Gong practitioners made phone calls and attempted to reverse the decision, but his efforts were in vain: the order must be executed.

Falun Gong is a meditation practice that originated in China. Starting in 1999, the Chinese communist regime launched an extensive persecution campaign against Falun Gong. Many Falun Gong practitioners have been monitored, arrested, physically and mentally tortured and murdered.

November 10 was the day when the Chinese Communist Party President Xi Jinping arrived in Greece for a state visit. Due to the interference of the Chinese Embassy in Greece, it was not the first time that the activities of local Falun Gong practitioners had been cancelled. It was also not the first time that local Falun Gong practitioners had been brought to the police station. Similar incidents have occurred in other countries, including Australia, Iceland, Denmark, France, and Serbia, whenever Chinese Communist Party officials visited those countries.

Source: Falun Gong’s Zhenjian Website, November 14, 2019.
http://www.zhengjian.org/node/255202

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Xi Jinping’s Books Placed in Nanjing Hotel Rooms

A journalist with the Taiwan based Central News Agency reported that, when traveling to Nanjing on a business trip in early November, she found two copies of English versions of Xi Jinping’s Talks about Governing the Country in her hotel room cabinet. She thought that it was an impressive practice for the hotel to place the writings of the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in the hotel room, instead of the Bible, as is the practice in many hotels in the West. She later found out that the Xinhua Newspaper Media Group in Jiangsu province had actually invested in and built the hotel where she had stayed. Xinhua News Agency is the official propaganda outlet for the Chinese Communist Party.

This practice still shows China’s ambition to promote its ideology to people from other countries. As Xinhua News Agency reported, the circulation of Xi Jinping’s Talks about Governing the Country has exceeded 20 million copies and has been translated into more than 20 languages. At the end of October, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party issued the “Outline for Implementing the Moral Development of Citizens in the New Era.” It included the information on the regulation of Internet contents.

In terms of book publications, the general morale in the country is not high. Since last year, the film, news, and publishing industries have been placed under the management of the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party of China. The number of officially allowed book titles is shrinking and there are more controls on what kind of books can be published. A senior editor said that it would take half a year to apply for even a book number for books in social sciences. If it were a development, arts appreciation, or health book, the book number would be approved in a week.

Source: Central News Agency, November 10, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/201911100052.aspx

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Beijing May Ask HK Government to Reintroduce Article 23

Article 23 refers to Article 23 of the Basic Law, which states that the Hong Kong Government “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 of the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies.” In 2003, the Hong Kong Government made an attempt to pass Article 23. As the Hong Kong people doubted the motivation of the legislation, 500,000 people took to the streets in protest. Since then, the Hong Kong Government has not re-introduced the legislation.

On November 9th, Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, the official agency coordinating Beijing’s ties with Hong Kong, published an article entitled, “Adhering to and improving the ‘one country, two systems,'” in a way to interpret the decision out of the recently concluded Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The article stated that Hong Kong’s failure to complete the Article 23 legislation under the Basic Law is one of the reasons for the intensified Hong Kong independence movement in recent years. Zhang emphasized the need to establish and improve the legal system for Hong Kong to safeguard national security. Liu Zhaojia, vice president of the National Hong Kong and Macao Research Association of China, an NGO based in mainland China, commented that, from the perspective of Beijing, many of the actions in the recent anti-extradition law protests involved separatism and external forces, in violation of Article 23. If it had already been legislated, Beijing believes there would be a legal basis for handling the ongoing situation in Hong Kong.

On the pan-democracy camp, Tanya Chan, a Legislative Councilor representing Hong Kong Island and also a founding member of the Civic Party, pointed out that the anti-extradition law movement has nothing to do with Hong Kong independence. Chan criticized Zhang Xiaoming’s words, saying they were pouring oil on the flames. Pressuring the Hong Kong government to push Article 23 legislation will only tear the society further apart.

Source: Central News Agency, November 10, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201911100184.aspx

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Cambodia’s Anti-China Sentiment

China’s large-scale investment in Cambodia has won strong support from the Hun Sen government and has benefited some Cambodians as well. However, the influx of Chinese people and money has affected the lives of local people and caused dissatisfaction. People complain that the Chinese drive too fast and drink too much alcohol, that they do not respect Cambodians, and that they do business with Chinese only. NGO’s have put forth the criticism that the Chinese don’t care about human rights, the law, or the environment.

China’s influence has become a major issue for the Cambodian opposition party. Teav Vannol, chairman of the Cambodian opposition Candlelight Party, said that many Cambodians traditionally dislike Vietnamese because of the history of Vietnam’s invasion. Now they are even more unhappy with the Chinese.

China has become Cambodia’s largest investor, donor, and creditor. Many Cambodians worry that China’s “One Belt, One Road” project and the Cambodian government’s growing dependence on Beijing will make the country a vassal of China. Vannol observed, “If you go back to history, King Sihanouk drove out the Americans in 1965 and then China’s Chairman Mao became the big brother. You see what happened next. The war broke out in 1970. In 1975 Pol Pot and the Chinese Communist Party took control of the country, and you saw the destruction of Cambodia. This is my biggest concern. I am worried that history will repeat itself.”

A Cambodian government spokesman said that Cambodia’s constitution, diversity, and the existence of political parties that support the United States have determined that the country will not be completely tied to China. Cambodia must be a neutral and sovereign independent country.

Source: Voice of America, November 6, 2019
https://www.voachinese.com/a/anti-china-backlash-in-cambodia-caused-by-influx-of-chinese-people-and-money-20191106/5155286.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China Seeks to Become a Space Superpower

China is considering the development of an economy outside of the Earth’s perimeter and is planning to establish an Earth-Moon economic zone by 2050. Science and Technology Daily, the official newspaper of the Ministry of Science and Technology, quoted Bao Weimin, director of the Science and Technology Commission of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), who said that China plans to build an Earth-Moon space economic zone by the middle of this century. Experts predict that China’s annual output in the zone may reach US$10 trillion. Bao said that the development of the space economic zone will not only bring about huge economic benefits, but it will change the current socio-economic model. CASC is the main state-owned contractor for the Chinese space program.

Bao added that China should develop a reliable and low-cost space transportation system between the Earth and the Moon. According to its plan, China will accomplish the basic technology development by 2030 and the manufacture of key transportation technologies by 2040. By the middle of this century, China may successfully establish a space economic zone.

Beijing plans to launch a Mars exploration mission in 2020 and a Mars landing in 2021. Science and Technology Daily quoted Zhang Yulin, former chief of the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO), who said that the plan for the future development of China’s manned space flight is neither a simple moon landing nor a manned Mars exploration. Rather, it is to preempt an opportunity to steadily develop and utilize the Earth-Moon space via continuous technological breakthroughs and accumulation. In recent years, China has made rapid strides in the space industry, including a large number of lunar exploration research projects. China’s annual investment in space projects is as high as US$8 billion, second only to the United States.

Source: BBC Chinese, November 6, 2019
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-50320040

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

China’s High-speed Rail: 12 Out of 18 Railway Bureaus in the Red

According to a November 4th report from mainland Chinese media China Business Network, China State Railway Group Company, Ltd. (China Railway, CR) for the first time announced the profitability of its subsidiaries. Out of its 18 railway bureaus, 12 are in the red.

The 18 bureaus are: Taiyuan, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Shanghai, Xi’an, Nanchang, Jinan, Hohhot, Qinghai, Guangzhou, Nanning, Urumqi, Kunming, Lanzhou, Beijing, Shenyang, Harbin and Chengdu. The most serious loss makers are the Shenyang, Harbin, and Chengdu Railway Bureaus. The net loss of the three subsidiaries in 2018 was 11.4 billion yuan (US$1.63 billion), 12.9 billion yuan (US$1.85 billion) and 12.8 billion yuan (US$1.83 billion) separately. In the first half of 2019, their losses were 6.7 billion yuan (US$0.96 billion), 6.5 billion yuan (US$0.93 billion), and 5.1 billion yuan (US$0.73 billion). The data shows that, in 2018, only the Taiyuan, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Shanghai, Xi’an, and Nanchang Railway Bureaus were profitable.

The financials of the railway bureaus are related to a number of factors, including regional economic development, railway freight traffic, passenger traffic, and high-speed rail construction investment. For example, in terms of the construction of high-speed rail, not only is the initial investment huge, but the operation and maintenance costs are high. The report predicts that the situation of the large-scale losses of high-speed rail will continue in the future. China’s high-speed rail is currently the world’s largest high-speed rail network. As of September of this year, the total mileage has exceeded 30,000 kilometers, of which over 10,000 kilometers can operate with a speed of 300 kilometers per hour.

Source: Central News Agency, November 7, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201911050298.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Bank Runs and Concerns about the Financial Standing of China’s Small Banks

On November 6, the Yingkou Coastal Bank in Liaoning Province had a surge of a large number of depositors withdrawing funds. The police department of the Yingkou area, in an attempt to reassure the customers about the bank’s financial standing, issued a statement on the same day. The bank run was caused by concerns about poor management and liquidity problems in small regional banks. The police statement said, “Due to the Internet rumors that the Yingkou Coastal Bank was deeply mired in a financial crisis, a large number of depositors went to the bank to withdraw their funds.” The police took a leader who was suspected of disrupting the public order back to the station for investigation and said that it would severely crack down on actions of “spreading rumors” and “making trouble.”

This is now the second bank run in China recently. After an executive of the Yichuan Rural Commercial Bank in Henan Province was taken away last week for investigation, panic spread among depositors, who rushed to the bank to withdraw cash.

According to a Reuters’ report earlier this year, as China’s economic growth has slowed to its lowest point in nearly 30 years, the government made a rare move by taking over an almost unknown Inner Mongolian Merchant Bank. It also bailed out the Jinzhou Bank in Liaoning province and the Hengfeng Bank in Shandong province. It thus has raised concerns about the financial realities of hundreds of small regional banks in China.

Source: Voice of America, November 6, 2019
https://www.voachinese.com/a/fears-over-chinas-smaller-banks-trigger-bank-run-20191106/5155431.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources