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Crackdowns on Comic Conventions Highlight China’s Suppression of Japanese and Western Cultural Influence

Several comic conventions and video game events in China have recently been canceled, including the Qingdao Comic Con, the Zibo comic show, the Qingdao AS New Year’s Party, and miYoSummer 3. The cancellations appear to be due to government restrictions and censorship targeting Japanese and Western cultural influences.

The Qingdao Comic Con scheduled for mid-February was canceled just weeks before the convention’s scheduled start. The cancellation followed online backlash in China criticizing the event for promoting Japanese culture and anime. The organizer cited “safeguarding visitor safety” as the reason for cancellation. The Qingdao AS New Year’s Party, scheduled for early February, faced similar pressure after recent public fomentation over comic shows, leading authorities and organizers to indefinitely postpone the event. Staff from the Zibo comic show said authorities ordered a stop to Shandong province’s animation exhibitions during the Chinese Spring Festival. HoYoverse, scheduled for summer 2024, also abruptly canceled its popular miYoSummer video game show in January.

Interviewees attribute the cancellations to government crackdowns reinforcing nationalistic boycotts of Japanese culture in particular. Some pointed out an incident in 2022 involving a Nanjing temple honoring Japanese war criminals which sparked widespread anti-Japanese sentiment and comic show cancellations last summer. Rigid over-enforcement is also exacerbated by the CCP’s culture encouraging government orders cascading down to the grassroots level.

Source: Radio Free Asia, January 24, 2024
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/kejiaowen/gt2-01242024052706.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

CNA: China Faces Overlapping Influenza A and B Epidemics

Taiwan’s Central News Agency recently reported that China is experiencing overlapping epidemics of influenza A and influenza B.

The current influenza season in China began with the H3N2 influenza A strain in October 2023. Over the past 1-3 weeks, influenza B detection rates in some regions of China have exceeded influenza A rates. According to China’s National Health Commission, influenza A cases have been slowing and influenza B cases are on the rise. Multiple provinces are now seeing more influenza B than influenza A infections, with some hospitals now finding influenza B as the cause of more than 50% of positive flu tests.

China’s current influenza B epidemic largely affects young adults in their 20s-50s rather than the elderly. The symptoms also tend to be milder compared to influenza A.

With the ongoing dual influenza outbreaks, there has been a sharp rise in demand and sales of influenza medications in China. Experts have emphasized that previous infection with influenza A does not provide full immune protection against influenza B — people remain susceptible to influenza B even if they have already had influenza A this season. High-risk groups in China have been advised to take vaccines against both the influenza A and B viruses. Authorities continue monitoring the situation as the country remains in the midst of back-to-back flu epidemics.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), January 15, 2024
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202401150085.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China’s Once-Booming Piano Industry Hits Sour Note as Market Shrinks

China used to have a thriving piano industry, but piano sales have plummeted in recent years as the number of piano learners shrinks. After a decade of expansion, China’s piano sector now faces huge changes. Piano seller Mr. Fan says sales have declined precipitously since 2019, with 2023 sales between 10% and 30% of previous levels. Many dealers and companies face closure. The music education market is also declining, with teachers struggling financially.

Mr. Fan cites two main reasons for the decrease in demand. First, middle-class incomes and expectations have fallen in recent times. Second, parents feel that practicing piano is fruitless in the face of extreme competition, preferring to spend money on vacations. Some also believe that the decline may reflect parents diversifying interests as children age.

Piano consumption used to concentrate among middle-class families in top-tier mainland Chinese cities. A 2008 policy enabled “piano fever,” allowing extra exam points to art students who had high grades in piano classes. This grade-boosting policy, which incentivized piano lessons and piano practice, ended in 2018. Along with falling birth rates across China and relatively poorer financial prospects for Chinese parents, the piano industry has toughened.

During the pandemic, piano companies like Hailun and Pearl River Piano reported weak sales. They blamed factors including suspension of school and of in-person piano lessons. In 2023, major piano makers announced plunging revenues, which they ascribed primarily to weak demand.

Industry statistics indicate that at the beginning of 2022, China had 650,000 music instruction centers and 25,000 piano stores, and that about 30% of these closed by the end of 2022. The sector faces declining consumer demand, loss of disposable income, and waning confidence in the value of musical training.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), January 16, 2024
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202401160288.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

More Taiwanese Foreign Investment in U.S. Than in China, a First in 30 Years

In the near future, Taiwanese investment in mainland China is expected to plunge to around 10% of investment levels seen in 2023. Although some investment data from the end of 2023 have not yet been released, available data suggest that Taiwan’s 2023 investments in the U.S. were about triple those in mainland China, with the U.S. attracting about nine times more investment from Taiwan than in 2022. This marks the first time since 1993, when Taiwanese regulations allowed for investment in China, that America has attracted more Taiwanese funding than China. The decline of Taiwan’s investment in China is attributed both to the economic slowdown affecting the mainland as well as to inability of Taiwan and Mainland China to set aside political issues across the Taiwan Strait.

U.S.-China confrontation has led to punitive tariffs, worsening the business climate for Taiwanese companies operating in China. Another factor driving Taiwanese investment trends are steps taken by Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party government to reduce Taiwan’s economic dependence on China. The DDP under Tsai Ing-Wen even offered financial incentives for Taiwanese companies operating in China to move their production back onshore to Taiwan.

Data show that Taiwan’s total foreign investment approvals from January-November 2023 rose 87% year-over-year to $25.7 billion. Meanwhile, Taiwanese investments into mainland China dropped 34% during the same period, falling to just $2.9 billion or 12% of total foreign investment approvals. Back in 2010 when Taiwan and China signed the landmark Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, 84% of Taiwan’s investment went to the mainland. That fell to 34% in 2022 and was 12% in 2023.

Approvals for Taiwanese investments in Europe and the U.S. have surged, with investments in the U.S. for January through November of 2023 totaled $9.6 billion, nine times higher than the same period in 2022. Taiwan’s 2023 investments in Europe and the U.S. comprised 37% of total Taiwanese overseas investment. Taiwan’s investments in Germany rose 25-fold to $3.9 billion (15%), exceeding investments in mainland China figure. Taiwanese investments in semiconductor facilities and other technology are playing a key role in driving this trend.

Source: Nikkei, January 2, 2024
https://zh.cn.nikkei.com/china/ccompany/54450-2024-01-02-08-47-53.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China Launches Nationwide University Probe into Retracted Research Papers to Address Academic Integrity Crisis

Given the large number of withdrawals of papers published by Chinese scholars in international journals, China’s Ministry of Education has recently required universities to launch self-checks of retracted papers.  Education departments in several provinces followed suit, also mandating self-checks of retracted papers. Numerous Chinese schools have made announcements on the topic, saying that publishers’ retractions of Chinese papers in 2023 has negatively impacted China’s academic reputation.

Wuhan University has reviewed papers from the past three years. Shandong University requested that all faculty and graduate students comprehensively identify retracted papers. The Henan Education Department received a ministry list of retracted papers from China’s Ministry of Education and has asked schools to investigate papers on the list, verifying each paper’s research process and data acquisition. Verified academic transgressions will be “dealt with” by Henan’s Education Department.

Around 30 Chinese universities conducted similar reviews in mid-2023, citing a ministry notice issued in April 2023 calling for the clean up academic misconduct dating back to 2018.

China publishes the second most papers in the Science Citation Index (SCI), following only the United States. The rate of paper retractions by Chinese scholars is very high, accounting for 52% of all SCI retractions in 2022 out of 5,488 worldwide. The main reasons for retraction are that papers come from “research paper mills,” contain plagiarism, contain unreliable data, or that peer review fraud occurred.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), January 4, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202401040296.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China Detains Alleged MI6 Spy

China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) announced on Monday (January 8th) that the head of a foreign consulting firm, surnamed Huang, was found to be spying for the British foreign intelligence agency MI6. According to MSS, Huang was recruited by MI6 in 2015 and established an “intelligence cooperation relationship” with them.

MSS claims that MI6 instructed Huang to enter China several times using his identity as a cover to collect China-related intelligence and identify potential recruits for MI6. Huang allegedly provided his MI6 handlers with “9 classified-level state secrets, 5 secret-level state secrets, and 3 intelligence reports.”

MSS states that MI6 provided Huang with professional intelligence training in the UK and equipped him with special espionage gear to facilitate intelligence gathering in China. Chinese national security authorities allegedly uncovered evidence of Huang’s espionage and have taken him into criminal custody. No further details (besides the surname) were provided regarding Huang’s identity, current status, or location. The MSS announcement did not elaborate on Huang’s background, which consulting firm Huang was running, or who his MI6 handlers were.

Source: Deutsche Welle, January 8, 2024
https://p.dw.com/p/4ayJ9

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Beijing Criticizes US Proclamation Cracking Down On Corruption, Accuses US of Harboring Corrupt Fugitives

On December 11, 2023, U.S. President Biden issued “A Proclamation on Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons Enabling Corruption.” On January 7th, Chinese state media outlet China Discipline Inspection and Monitoring News criticized this proclamation as U.S. “hypocrisy” and “double standards” on anti-corruption efforts. Its article reported that 20 of China’s most wanted fugitives are currently hiding in the U.S.

The article states that, in recent years, the U.S. has expanded the concept of national security “to justify long-arm jurisdiction and suppress its rivals, while perpetuating its own hegemony.” The report argues that U.S. anti-corruption efforts highlight hypocrisy and hegemonic goals, as well as expose the U.S. as “the world’s largest safe haven for corruption assets and fugitives.”

Specifically, the article claims that the U.S. hosts the highest concentration of persons from developing countries who are suspected of corruption and white-collar crimes. Of the “100-Person Red Notice List” published by the Chinese Interpol office, 20 out of the 38 fugitives who have not yet been brought to justice in China are said to be hiding in the U.S. (The “100-Person Red Notice List” refers to 100 Chinese former state officials who were suspected of corruption and became fugitives targeted for pursuit by Chinese authorities.)

Some Chinese netizens questioned why the CCP’s state media is criticizing the new U.S. entry ban, which ostensibly would make life harder for corrupt individuals fleeing from Chinese authorities. Some netizens speculated that corrupt people [within the CCP] and their families are angry that they can no longer travel to or study in the U.S. One netizen remarked that many families of corrupt Chinese officials will now have to return to China.

Sources:
Central News Agency (Taiwan), January 8, 2024
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202401080123.aspx

The White House (US), December 11, 2023
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/12/11/a-proclamation-on-suspension-of-entry-as-immigrants-and-nonimmigrants-of-persons-enabling-corruption/

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

RFA Report: Korean Students Studying in China Down 80% Over Six Years

A recent report by the Korean Ministry of Education reported that the number of South Korean students going to China for higher education has decreased by nearly 80 percent over the past six years.

In 2017, there was a peak of 732,400 Korean students in China. As of April 1, 2023, there were only 158,570 Korean students in China, a 6.5 percent drop from 2022 and a 78.3 percent plunge compared to 2017. Each of the past six years has seen a declining number of Korean students in China compared with the year before.

The proportion of Korean international students who study in China has also shrunk substantially. In 2017, 30.5 percent of all Korean students abroad were in China. By 2021 the figure fell to 17.2 percent, and it has remained below 20 percent since then.

Analysts cite several reasons for the sharp decline in Korean students opting for Chinese universities. China’s slowing economic growth is likely a major factor discouraging foreign students, as were China’s strict epidemic control policies of recent years. A third potential factor could be Koreans’ declining opinions of China — polls have shown that the percentage of Koreans holding negative views about China has risen in recent years, especially among young Koreans.

Source: Radio Free Asia, December 26, 2023
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/3-12262023110441.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend