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Huawei to Launch 5G Infrastructure in Southeast Asia

Agence France-Presse reported that China’s telecom giant Huawei is ready to launch 5G infrastructure across Southeast Asia. Zhou Mingcheng, Huawei’s VP for global public affairs, said at the ASEAN meeting in Bangkok on Sunday that China and the United States are engaged in a trade war, as well as a technological war. Zhou said, “We are here to support the 5G development in ASEAN countries.” The 10-members of ASEAN have a total population of more than 600 million. ASEAN countries hope to embark on the latest technology so as to become globally competitive in business, infrastructure, and transportation.

After Huawei set up a regional headquarters in Thailand in 2015, for three years in a row, Thailand has been the company’s largest destination for investments in Southeast Asia. From 2016 to 2018, Huawei won a total purchase order of US$2.09 billion in Southeast Asia. Although the United States has repeatedly issued security warnings against Huawei’s 5G network, traditional American allies Thailand and the Philippines, instead of paying heed, have been anxious to explore the superfast 5G network that Huawei has promised. In early February of this year, Thailand launched Huawei’s 5G test platform, Huawei’s first test platform in a Southeast Asian country. Global Telecom, the Philippines’ largest mobile telecommunications operator, already started to use Huawei technology this summer, launching the first 5G broadband service in Southeast Asia.

However, not all ASEAN countries like Huawei. Vietnam has chosen to side with the United States and has partnered with other companies, including Ericsson and Nokia.

Source: Voice of America, November 3, 2019
https://www.voachinese.com/a/5150592.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

A China Built High-voltage Power Transmission Project in Mongolia

The completion ceremony for the China built 330 kV power transmission project connecting Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar to Mandalgovi, the capital of Dundgovi Province in Mongolia, was recently held in Mandalgovi. The power transmission project is the first cross-region high-voltage transmission line in Mongolia, aiming at improving the local power supply, enhancing grid security and stability, and reducing electricity costs. The website of the Dundgovi provincial government claimed that the project achieved the interconnection of the Mongolian central power system and the southern power system, ensuring the safe and reliable operation of the southern power grid in the country.

Mongolia’s Minister of Energy stated that the project will solve the problem of the local power shortage. In recent years, China has launched projects to help the livelihood of those in Mongolia, greatly promoting the economic and social development of Mongolia.

The Chinese ambassador to Mongolia said that China has been providing aid and preferential loans to Mongolia to support the country’s infrastructure and major livelihood projects. It plays an important role in pairing China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” with Mongolia’s “Development Path” strategy and promoting Mongolia’s economic and social development.

Source: People’s Daily, October 31, 2019
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2019-10/31/nw.D110000renmrb_20191031_4-16.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Non-productive Activities Add to the Burden of China’s Private Sector

In addition to a lack of corporate confidence, China’s private enterprises are often called upon to participate in “political studies.” They are forced to invest in non-productive activities, negatively impacting their operational efficiency.

One private enterprise employee told the Central News Agency that, because she was the only Communist Party member in the group and because she is honest and reliable, the entire company relied on her to handled different political activities such as taking photos, compiling reports, and organizing training. Although most of the events are for show, they still require a considerable amount of time.

An economist who did not want to be named told the reporter that China is facing the pressure of economic growth, but the current practices only make the situation worse. Under the banner of “the Party managing everything,” companies frequently hold political studies. Private enterprises also have Communist Party branches and are mandated to organize Party activities. All these practices increase spending and reduce production.

Xiang Songzuo, a professor at the Renmin University School of Finance, mentioned in an article in October that security inspections and non-productive activities are now everywhere. They are all fiscal expenditures. The fiscal revenue growth in the first three quarters of this year was only 3.3 percent, while the expenditure growth reached 9.4 percent. “On one hand, there is a serious shortage of economic vitality; on the other hand, non-productive fiscal expenditures are growing rapidly.”

Source: Central News Agency, November 3, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201911030013.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Chinese Are a Main Target of the Growing Xenophobia in Russia, Says Report

Last month, the Moscow based Levada Center, a non-governmental polling and sociological research organization, issued a report about growing anti-immigrant sentiment. According to the report, Russian’s xenophobia has continued to grow for the last three years in a row. Among the interviewees, the percentage that advocates restrictions on migrant laborers has risen to 72 percent this year. That is up from 67 percent in 2018 and 58 percent in 2017.

The relationship between China and Russia is getting closer; the major Russian media, especially the official media, are full of reports praising China. Nevertheless, for the last two years, the Chinese have once again become a main disliked group in Russian society. The report said that the least favored group is the Gypsies, followed by African-American and Central Asian immigrants. The Chinese and the Chechens followed these groups.

Over the past two years, Russia has again experienced negative population growth. The shortage of labor hurts the local economy. A large number of Central Asian immigrants are coming to work in Russia. Compared with the Central Asians, the Russian society has more resistance to accepting Chinese immigrants. The report shows that 39 percent of this year’s respondents advocate restricting Chinese immigrants. That is only one percentage point lower than the number who are against the Gypsies. In contrast, although the relations between Russia and the Ukraine have deteriorated, only 18 percent of the respondents oppose Ukrainian immigrants.

Source: Voice of America, October 22, 2019
https://www.voachinese.com/a/5131547.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Financing Difficulties Caused 400 Chinese Real Estate Companies to Go Bankrupt

The real estate industry has been the first to bear the brunt of the Chinese government’s actions to tighten corporate finance. A mainland Chinese paper The 21st Century Business Herald quoted from court data that at least 408 real estate firms have declared bankruptcy. Guangdong province is leading the number of bankruptcies, followed by Zhejiang and Jiangsu.

At the same time, a researcher at the Guangdong Real Estate Research Association, who observes China’s real estate dynamics, said that the information mainly comes from the court’s bulletin board, and that there is room for the discussion of some data. The researcher pointed out that most of the companies that entered into bankruptcy procedures were small and medium-sized firms that had been plagued by financing problems. He also said that firms that have difficulty do not necessarily choose bankruptcy. Some will “sell the project as well as the land to large companies.” Meanwhile the Chinese government and state banks maintain a high degree of vigilance over the industry and exert tight control over the scale of housing credit. A major shock to the market will bring about systemic risks.

September and October are traditionally the peak season for the Chinese housing market. However, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the sales price of new commercial residential buildings in 70 large and medium-sized cities increased by 8.4 percent in September. That was 0.4 percentage points lower than the increase in August. It was the smallest climb in the past year, while the housing prices have been on the rise for 48 months in a row.

Source: Central News Agency, October 30, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201910300291.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Xi Jinping’s New Book on the CCP’s Leadership

According to China’s official Xinhua news agency, on October 27, the Institute of Party History and Literature, a research body of the Central Committee of Chinese Communist Party, published general secretary Xi Jinping’s new book. The book, Ensuring the Party’s Leadership over All Work, contains over 70 “key discourses” from Xi’s speeches and other documents written between November 2012 and July 2019. A partial list of titles included are translated below:

Ensuring that the Party Has Always Been the Strong Leadership Core of the Cause of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics,
Strengthening the Party’s Leadership in Economic Work,
Doing Propaganda and Ideological Work Better,
The Key to Doing a Good Job in Ethnic Work Is in the Party and in the People,
Strengthening and Improving the Party’s leadership in Literary and Art Work,
Implementing the Party’s Leadership in the Whole Process and all Aspects of Governing the Country by Law,
Ensuring the Party’s Absolute Leadership over the Army Is the Soul of a Strong Army.
On Strengthening the Party’s Leadership in United Front Work,
Social Organizations Must Consciously Adhere to the Leadership of the Chinese Communist Party,
Ensuring the Party’s leadership in News and Public Opinion Work.
Ensuring the Party’s Basic Policy on Religious Work and Doing a Good Job in the New Situation,
Ensuring the Party’s Leadership over State-owned Enterprises Is a Major Political Principle,
Strongly Holding the Party’s Leadership over the Work of Colleges and Universities,
Strengthening and Improving the Party’s leadership in the Work of Agriculture, Farming, and in Rural areas,
Ensuring that the Control of Diplomatic Work Lies in the Central Committee of the Party,
Resolutely Shouldering the Political Responsibility of Developing Ecological Civilization.

Source: Xinhua, October 27, 2019
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/leaders/2019-10/27/c_1125158604.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China to Inspect Elementary and Middle School Libraries Nationwide for “Illegal” and “Inappropriate” Books

On October 21, 2019, the website of China’s Ministry of Education published a “Notice on Launching a Special Campaign to Examine and Cleanse Books in Nationwide Elementary and Middle School Libraries.” The notice states that, in order to conduct an “in-depth study of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” and to create a healthy and safe environment for educating people, the Ministry requires that schools do self-checks and cleanups according to the published guidelines. The local education authorities must also run spot-checks to make sure that the schools have implemented the Notice. Books and periodicals that endanger national unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and that violate the “Party’s principles and policies” and contradict the core values of socialism will be cleaned up.

According to the “Elementary and Middle School Library Book Review and Clearing Standards” attached to this notice, the books to be cleansed are classified into “illegal books,” “inappropriate books,” and “books with a poor appearance so they are not worthy of preservation.” Electronic books are not spared.

“Illegal books” include: books that violate the existing laws and regulations such as the Constitution, including those that endanger national unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; books that violate the CCP’s principles and policies, and that defile and demonize the Party, state leaders, and heroic figures; books that joke about the history of the Party, the country, and the military; books that violate religious policy; foreign books obtained through informal channels; and books that the authorities have ordered to stop circulating.

“Inappropriate books” include: books that do not conform to the “social core values”; books in which the  world view, philosophy and values are biased; books that promote narrow nationalism and racism; and books that are of poor taste and unhealthy.

Source: Central News Agency, October 30, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201910300288.aspx

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Beijing’s Subway System to Use Facial Recognition for Security Checks

The Beijing Subway Company announced that it plans to use facial recognition technologies to perform security checks and establish a database. Beijing Metro will also establish a passenger “white list,” which enables the company to enforce the notorious social credit system.

An official with the Beijing Metropolitan government observed that the current method of security inspections is inefficient, considering the massive volume of passengers using the rail transit. In addition to continuously optimizing security inspection equipment, the Beijing Subway will also apply facial recognition technology to classify passengers and do research to establish “personnel classification criteria” to build a corresponding “facial database.” The facial recognition system will screen the passengers and tell the security personnel what different measures to take .

The Beijing Subway currently has 21 routes with a total operating mileage of 699 kilometers. The annual transportation volume is 3.848 billion riders, with an average daily ridership of approximately 10.54 million.

Source: Central News Agency, October 29, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201910290107.aspx

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology