LLD – Page 94 – Chinascope

German MP: It Is Pure Insanity for Germany to Continue Low-interest Loans to China

According to a German newspaper, Bild, an MP recently asked the federal government to stop providing low-interest loans to China immediately. He said, “It is pure insanity” for such a practice to continue. It supports China in surpassing Germany in the high-tech field.

The Chinese channel of the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle quoted the Bild article titled, “Blanker Irrsinn (Pure Insanity).” In 2017 alone, Germany’s total development aid to China reached 628 million euros. In addition, since 2013, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW, Credit Institute for Reconstruction) and Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (GED, German Investment Corporation) have provided 630 million euros in low-interest loans for vocational training in China’s machinery manufacturing, chemical, electronics and automotive industries.

Olaf in der Beek, a Member of Parliament at the German Bundestag and head of the Free Democratic Party’s (FDP) Development Committee, said, “If anyone still gives money to China and supports them in surpassing us in the high-tech field, it is pure insanity.” He pointed out, “No one really believes that the offensive campaign under the name ‘Made in China 2025’ is just a coincidence. China wants to surpass Made in Germany, and the German federal government has been using low-interest loans to finance China. This phenomenon must end.”

The article said, “Experts believe the reason that China strongly opposes the revision of its developing country status is that it does not want to give up the benefits of the status it has as a developing country. In fact, China does not need to rely on foreign assistance and China is already one of the world’s largest foreign aid providers.”

Source: Deutsche Welle, October 23, 2019
https://p.dw.com/p/3RmlH

Briefings | | October 30, 2019 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Chinese Scholar: China Has the Ability to Destroy the U.S., but Should Avoid a Hot War

Jin Canrong, a scholar at Renmin University of China, spoke at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum. He stated that China and the United States should show transparency to each other and that both countries ought to avoid a hot war. Jin said, “China has the ability to destroy the United States.” He said that the U.S. can destroy China ten times but China need only destroy the U.S. once. The Beijing Xiangshan Forum was an international event that the Chinese military hosted. Jin made the above remarks when the Taiwan based Central News Agency interviewed him.

Jin added that many Chinese scholars today hope to return to the “keeping a low profile” foreign policy from the Deng Xiaoping’s era, believing that with a continuation of that policy, China will attract little attention and there will be no problems (between the two countries). Jin refuted the idea as “being very naïve.” “Keeping a low profile would lead Americans to think it is deception.” If Deng Xiaoping were still alive, Jin believes Deng will also change his strategic thinking because Deng’s strategy came out of “practice.” It is useless even if the policy has not changed. Anyway, China is too strong to hide it.

Jin said that China and the U.S. should also avoid a cold war, which is no good for either side. The game played between the two powers needs to be transparent. Therefore, it was necessary to show some strength during the recent military parade so as to avoid miscalculations by the hostile parties. After all, in history, “miscalculations” caused many wars.

Source: Central News Agency, October 21, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201910210268.aspx

Briefings | | October 28, 2019 | US-China Relations

Beijing’s Angry Response to Pence’s China Speech

On October 25, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying commented on Vice President Mike Pence’s China speech for the Wilson Center. Hua said, “(the Pence speech) deliberately distorted China’s social system and its human rights and religious conditions and unreasonably criticized China’s domestic and foreign policies. Pence’s remarks were exactly the same as his speech given last October, full of arrogance, hypocrisy, political prejudice and lies.”

Hua continued, “On these issues, Pence headed a handful of American politicians in calling white black and black white, made carping comments, and spread rumors and slander. Their purpose was to interfere with China’s internal affairs and obstruct China’s stability and development. However, dark clouds cannot cover up the sun and lies cannot cover up the truth. Any attempt to undermine China’s national unification, ethnic unity, and social stability, as well as any plot to damage the reputation of and splash dirty water on China is destined to be only daydreaming and to be cast aside by history.”

“People like Pence easily make irresponsible remarks and boss around other countries. At the same time, they turn a blind eye to the serious problems in the United States. They attempt to cover up their political problems by defaming other countries and diverting the attention of the American public.” Hua added, “We advise some people in America to take a hard look in the mirror, see clearly their own problems, mind their own business, stop yelling around the world, and pack up the set of tricks that harm others without benefiting themselves.”

Source: Xinhua, October 25, 2019
http://www.xinhuanet.com/2019-10/25/c_1125153705.htm

Briefings | | October 27, 2019 | US-China Relations

Comac C919 Aircraft Development Benefited from Secrets Hacked from Western Companies

Crowdstrike, a U.S. cybersecurity research and consulting firm, recently released a report that examined China’s series of aggressive and frequent hacking operations that occurred during the years when Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd. (Comac) was developing its C919 commercial aircraft. Officials from China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), underground hacking groups and personnel, cyber security researchers, and employees (moles) of multiple companies in many countries were involved in the operations. The purpose of these hacking operations was to assist Comac’s development of the C919 commercial aircraft, obtain a large number of intellectual property rights from foreign companies, narrow the gap between China’s aviation industry and foreign manufacturers capable of making large passenger aircraft, and eventually to be able to compete with industry giants Boeing and Airbus.

Crowdstrike’s report revealed that MSS designated the Jiangsu provincial State Security division to carry out hacking attacks, while the Jiangsu division appointed two coordinators. One coordinator led the hacking team and the other was responsible for recruiting people from aerospace companies in different countries. Between 2010-2015, the hackers attacked a list of companies including U.S. electronic instruments and electromechanical devices manufacturer Ametek, U.S. multinational conglomerate Honeywell that produces engineering services and aerospace systems, French multinational aircraft engine, rocket engine, aerospace-component and defense company Safran, U.S. gas turbine manufacturer Capstone, and General Electric.

These hacking operations are different from similar actions in the past. They attempted to recruit and utilize China’s underground hacking gangs whose mission is to gain access to the target company’s network and install malware such as Sakula, PlugX, and Winnti, use these software to find the proprietary intellectual property and trade secrets of the target company, and send the information to the remote servers. If these practices were unsuccessful, another MSS team would try to recruit Chinese employees in the target company and have them install malware on the company’s computer network.

Source: Radio Free Asia, October 15, 2019
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junshiwaijiao/nu1-10152019122804.html

Briefings | | October 18, 2019 | Defense/Military

China Built Another Railway in Kenya

On October 16th, a new railway was put into operation in Kenya. China built another railway at a cost of US$1.5 billion. The track connected the capital city Nairobi with Naivasha, a small town in the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. The Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta hosted the opening ceremony of the railway.

The railway is an extension of a rail line built earlier to connect Nairobi and Mombasa, the second-largest city in the country. The Nairobi-Mombasa railway, which cost US$3.2 billion, started operating in 2017. China funded and built that as well.

Kenya’s railway development has been part of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative. It includes multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects designed to enhance overland and maritime trade between China and Europe, Asia and Africa.

Kenyatta was re-elected in 2017 for anther five-year term. He pledged to develop infrastructure in Kenya, and railway construction has always been his favorite project. The Kenyan government has been borrowing in order to fund infrastructure projects. The national total public debt is currently about 55 percent of GDP. It was at 42 percent when Kenyatta took office in 2013.

Source: Voice of America, October 16, 2019
https://www.voachinese.com/a/Kenya-Opens-Chinese-Built-Railway-20191016/5126354.html

Briefings | | October 17, 2019 | Geo-Strategic Trend

As Subsidy Ebbs, China’s Electric Vehicle Sales Down by 34 Percent

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China’s auto sales in September were 2.271 million. This represents the continuation of a decline stream that has lasted 15 months in a row and is down 5.2 percent from the same period last year. The sales for the first nine months of the year were 18.371 million, down 10.3 percent year-over-year. In September, the national sales volume of passenger vehicles was 1.933 million, down 6.3 percent year-over-year. As the Chinese government scaled down its car subsidies, the electric vehicle sales for September was 80,000, down 34.2 percent from the same period last year, seeing a third consecutive month of decline.

In March of this year, China announced it would reform its subsidy system and limit the scope of subsidies to a few top brands. Back in 2017, the Chinese government provided a total subsidy of 22 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion) to electric vehicle manufacturers.

Contributing to the decline is the slowdown in the overall economy and the plummet in consumer confidence amid the US-China trade war. The market once expected that large cities would relax their traffic restrictions or the government would provide new subsidies to new car buyers. However, those expectations failed to materialize and the industry suffered a blow.

Source: Central News Agency, October 15, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201910150158.aspx

Briefings | | October 16, 2019 | Economy/Resources

The 10th World Chinese Language Media Forum

On October 12, the 10th World Chinese Language Media Forum was held in Shijiazhuang city of Hebei province. The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office under the State Council, the provincial government of Hebei Province, and the China News Agency sponsored the event. According to China’s official Xinhua News Agency, more than 600 from senior management along with influential media leaders from over 400 Chinese media outlets in 61 countries and regions attended the forum.

Shen Yueyue, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress gave a speech at the opening ceremony. She said that the Chinese language media “have made important contributions to shaping China’s image, spreading Chinese culture, and promoting exchanges between China and foreign countries.” Shen hoped that “Chinese media would take advantage of having access to both Chinese and foreign resources to tell the China story well.”

Source: Xinhua, October 12, 2019
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2019-10/12/c_1125096389.htm

Briefings | | October 13, 2019 | Geo-Strategic Trend

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