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Chinese Citizen Estimates 54 Million Jobless Chinese Aged 24 to 40

A Chinese article (written by an individual) estimated that there are 54 million unemployed youth (aged 24 to 40) in China. The article’s main points were:

  • From 2020 to 2023, the gaps between the number of new jobs (for graduates) and the number of graduating students were -2.49 million, -2.20 million, -4.49 million, and -5.82 million, respectively. Thus there should be a total over 15 million graduated students without jobs.
  • About 10 percent of Chinese companies were dissolved in 2022. This means roughly 10 percent of previously-employed workers became unemployed. There should be about 25 million jobless youths as a result.
  • Due to the COVID pandemic, about 14 million young migrant workers lost their jobs within cities.

People aged 24 to 40 account for about 22 percent of China’s population. Using the Chinese government’s population estimate of 1.4 billion, the 24-40 age group should have about 308 million people, resulting in an unemployment rate of 17.5 percent.

Source: Cyzone.cn website
https://m.cyzone.cn/article/728631

Briefings | | |   @CS Economy/Resources

South Korean Scholar: Chinese Foreign Ministry Official Tells South Korea “Who Is the Boss”

Liu Jinsong (刘劲松), China’s Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited Seoul in late May. China’s state media only reported that Liu conveyed China’s “stern” position to Korea and did not go into the details of the visit. Choo Jae-woo, a professor at Kyung Hee University in South Korea, wrote to The Korea Times that Liu enumerated “Four Not-allowed” positions to demonstrate to South Korea “who is the boss.” China’s “Four Not-Allowed” positions are:

  1. China will not cooperate with South Korea if it infringes on China’s core interests (e.g., the Taiwan issue);
  2. China will not cooperate with South Korea if it moves toward a pro-U.S. and pro-Japan foreign policy;
  3. China will not engage in high-level exchanges (e.g., Xi Jinping’s state visit to South Korea) if relations between the two countries remain tense; and
  4. South Korea will not be able to play a leading role on the North Korea issue if the situation deteriorates.

Mao Ning, China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson, responded to a question on Liu’s visit at a press conference: “Regarding the current difficulties and challenges in Sino-South Korean relations, responsibility [for the difficulties] does not lie on China’s side. In the recent dialogue, China has expressed its stern position on its core issues to the Korean side. The Korean side should understand the problems in depth and treat them carefully, walk in the same direction that China takes, and put in positive efforts to enhance Sino-South Korean relations.”

Sources:
1. Sina, May 31, 2023
https://news.sina.cn/2023-05-31/detail-imyvscth0982061.d.html?cre=tianyi&mod=wpage&loc=12&r=0&rfunc=78&tj=cxvideo_wpage&tr=214&wm=6090
2. Epoch Times, June 6, 2023
https://cn.epochtimes.com/gb/23/6/5/n14010574.htm

Briefings | | |   @CS Geo-Strategic Trend

Guangxi Plans Investment Management Measures to Shield Government from SOE Liabilities

China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region circulated a document titled, “Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Investment Management Measures” for public review and opinion. The review period is June 5 to June 16. The proposed measures would exclude the government from taking on the liabilities of state-owned enterprises (SOE’s). This may indicate that the government no longer has the resources to cover SOE debt.

Article 15 of the measure states:

…

SOE’s and state-controlled enterprises should follow the principle of prudence in external investment and financing, strictly control the asset-liability ratio, and not take on too much debt. … When doing debt financing, they should declare that they do not carry government financing functions, that the debt raised is for corporate use, and that the local government does not assume responsibility for the debt. …

Money which is raised from the market by SOE’s and which results in debt but which lacks (needed) continuous funding or … results from decision-making errors, are the responsibility of the SOE’s to handle. Following the principle of “who raised the debt is responsible for the debt;” the government does not assume any responsibility for debt repayment.”

Source: Guangxi Government Site, June 4, 2023
http://fgw.gxzf.gov.cn/hdjl/yjzj/opinionDetail.shtml?opinionid=6116

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Government/Politics

State Media: China Spearheads Four-Country Joint Patrol of Gulf Region

An article posted in Chinese media suggested that China is leading the efforts to form a new maritime patrol in the Persian Gulf.

The article stated:

China is leading the coordination on forming a new joint patrol in the Persian Gulf. Four countries – Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman – are in discussion to establish a mechanism to defend the safety of navigation in the region.

On contrary, the Combined Maritime Force (CMF), a 34-country patrol group that the US created in the region, is in limbo. The United Arab Emirates recently quit the group and joined the China-led group, as the UAE was disappointed with the US actions. Clearly, the Gulf countries place more value on China’s peace efforts than on those of the US.

If the four-country group works, the US CMF will collapse. The Gulf region is not a place to allow the US to keep messing things up.

Source: Net Ease, June 2, 2023
https://www.163.com/dy/article/I67NK4BQ0515D8SH.html

Briefings | | |   @CS Geo-Strategic Trend

State Media: “As Expected, China Did not Indulge the US, It Rejected Meeting of Defense Ministers”

A Chinese media commented that China has rejected U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s request to meet with China’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu as not to “spoil” the U.S. (as one might spoil a child).

The article stated:

Why did China reject the meeting request? The U.S. should reflect on itself. In the past year, the U.S. created many frictions and caused Sino-U.S. relations to hit rock bottom. The U.S. has maliciously speculated about China’s military threat to the U.S., continued to impose malicious sanctions on China, and even embarrassed China in the diplomatic field. It wants to restore high-level communication, especially on military matters, to avoid misjudgments by either side that might lead the two countries into military conflict. This is for the U.S.’s own interest – so that it can continue its military surveillance and border provocation and not to worry about getting its military into danger.

Not removing the sanction on Li Shangfu is another reason for China to reject the meeting.

Since 2021, China has rejected or not answered more than 10 requests initiated from the U.S. Department of Defense on key leadership contact. The U.S. should look at itself for reasons – it has unshirkable responsibility for damaging the relationship between China and the United States.

Source: Net Ease, May 30, 2023
https://www.163.com/dy/article/I5VL0HNG05562BTO.html

Briefings | | |   @CS US-China Relations

Chinese Marine Police May Begin Arresting Foreign “Offenders”

China passed the Provisions on Procedures for Marine Police Agencies to Handle Criminal Cases on May 15. The law will be in effect starting on June 15. There are concerns over whether China will use this law to arrest citizens of other countries in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

Article 15 stated:

For maritime criminal cases occurring outside the territory of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the jurisdiction shall be determined in accordance with the following principles:

(3) If a foreigner commits a crime against the state or a citizen of the PRC in waters other than the territorial waters of the PRC and is punishable under the Criminal Law of PRC, he is under the jurisdiction of the marine police agency of the place where the foreigner landed, entered, or resided after entering, the jurisdiction of the marine police agency of the place where the victim resided before leaving the country or currently resides, or the jurisdiction assigned by the Chinese Maritime Police Bureau if he has not entered the country and there is either no victim or the crime is against the state of PRC.

(4) For crimes under international treaties created or participated in by PRC and within the scope for the PRC to exercise criminal jurisdiction under the treaty obligations, the jurisdiction is the marine police agency of the place where the suspect was apprehended or the place he landed or entered.

Source:
1. Epoch Times, June 1, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/6/1/n14007942.htm
2. Peking University Law Library, May 2023
https://law.pkulaw.com/chinalaw/bc12742e184847e1bdfb.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

The Wuhan Government Publicized Debtor Names in the Newspaper to Collect Debts

To collect money back from its debtors, on April 26, the Finance Bureau of Wuhan City, Hubei Province, published a full-page debt collection announcement in the Yangtze River Daily (the primary local newspaper in Wuhan).  The announcement listed 259 debtors and their unpaid balances as of the end of 2018. The debtor list included Finance Bureaus at the city’s districts, research institutes, state-owned enterprises, listed companies, and a few private enterprises. The amount each one owed ranged from ten thousand yuan to over ten million yuan, with the total exceeding 100 million yuan (US $14 million).

Wuhan city’s fiscal income in 2020 was 123 billion yuan, down 21.3 percent from 2019 (pre-COVID time). It recovered  158 billion yuan in 2021. The amount came down slightly to 151 billion yuan in 2022. Income in the first quarter this year was 50.8 billion yuan, down 8.5 percent from a year ago.

The debt that Wuhan city is publicly collecting is relatively small compared to Wuhan’s fiscal income, but the act of public debt collection revealed that the city is in such a poor financial situation that it had to resort to a harsh solution. Another issue was that China’s Ministry of Finance required each local government to clean (take back) all money it lent out prior to 2018.

Sources:
1. Central News Agency (Taiwan), May 30, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202305300260.aspx
2. China Digital Times, May 30, 2023
https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/696630.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Government/Politics

China’s War Simulation: 24 Hypersonic Missiles Will Completely Annihilate the Ford Aircraft Carrier Strike Group

Both the South China Morning Post and China Finance Information reported the war simulation result published on the Journal of Testing Technology (测试技术学报). Cao Hongsong’s research team at North Central University conducted 20 rounds of digital war simulation exercises. In each round, China fired 24 hypersonic anti-ship missiles and was able to sink an average of five or six U.S. ships including the USS Ford aircraft carrier, effectively destroying the entire aircraft carrier strike group.

North Central University is a second-class national confidential unit. It is jointly owned by Shanxi Province, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the National Defense Science and Industry Bureau. The Journal of Testing Technology is a journal jointly run by the university and the China Military Industry Association.

The simulation fired two types of hypersonic missiles: Category A with 2,000 km range and Category B with 4,000 km range. China’s attack came in three waves from six launching bases. The first wave had 8 Class A missiles, mainly to deplete U.S. SM-3 interceptors. The second wave, the main attack wave, contained 8 Class B and 2 Class A missiles and sank the U.S. aircraft carrier and cruisers. The third wave consisted of six Class A missiles to sink the remaining U.S. ships.

Source: Sohu, May 26, 2023
https://www.sohu.com/a/679199532_121432636

Briefings | | |   @CS Defense/Military