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Proof of Grandparent’s Vaccination Required for Students’ Admission

Due to the low vaccination rates among the elderly population, there have been reports in China that the country sometimes uses unconventional means to add incentives for the senior population to be vaccinated.

The Chinese cybersphere recently circulated the story that a middle school in Jiangsu Province requires newly admitted students to provide proof that their grandparents have had the COVID-19 vaccination. Those who fail to submit the proof will not be eligible to register for the new semester.

The story sparked widespread discussions. According to officials from Xuelang Middle School in the city of Wuxi, the school at the center of the controversy, the purpose of the requirement was for “the students to have a safe environment.” After the exposure of the story, the school has dropped the requirement that grandparents must offer proof of vaccination. However, it is still required that negative PCR test results are provided for family members living with the student.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), July 26, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202207260226.aspx

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Beijing Is Buying Lithium Mines Worldwide

The lithium battery is critical for electric cars. Chinese companies have been buying lithium mines around the world.

China’s Ganfeng Lithium announced on July 11 that it will buy 100 percent of Argentina’s Lithium shares for US$962 million. Lithea has two projects at lithium salt lake in Argentina, which can produce 30,000 to 50,000 tons of lithium carbonate. Ganfeng has another four lithium salt lake projects in Argentina, three lithium mines in Australia, two lithium stone projects (one in Mali and one in Ireland) and one lithium clay project in Mexico.

China owns 6 percent of the global lithium reserves and produces 13 percent of the global lithium output. Chinese companies manufacture half of the total lithium batteries.

Chinese companies intensified competition to control the lithium resources outside of China. Six companies, including four Chinese companies, bid for lithium resources in Bolivia. Ganfeng Lithium beat CATL to buy the Canadian company Millennial which has two lithium salt lake projects. BYD, a Chinese electric car company, signed an agreement to buy six lithium mines in Chile. Tianqi Lithium bought 24 percent of the shares of SQM, a lithium mine company in Chile.

Source: Epoch Times, July 17, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/7/17/n13782559.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

U.S. Veteran: How the Chinese Consulate Tries to Control the Voting in U.S. Elections

The U.S. will hold its mid-term elections on November 8. To prevent foreign governments from interfering in the U.S. elections, the State Department offered a $10 million reward for reporting such interfering activities.

Yan Xiong, a candidate running for the U.S. Congress in New York State’s 10th district, said the Chinese Consulate in New York ordered the Chinese diaspora not to vote for him. He told the Epoch Times on July 24, “The Chinese Consulate informed Chinese associations not to let their people vote for me. Many people called me or wrote to me to tell me about it.” There are many in the Chinese diaspora in the 10th district. Mr. Xiong feels his case is solid evidence that Beijing is interfering in the U.S. election.

Mr. Xiong is a Chinese-American human rights activist. He was a law student at Beijing University and a student leader in the Tiananmen democracy movement in 1989. He came to the U.S. in 1992 as a political refugee and served in the U.S. military for 27 years. He retired as a chaplain in the army.

Mr. Xiong told the Epoch Times newspaper about another instance of Beijing’s interference cases in March. He was planning the opening ceremony of his campaign office on March 19. The Chinese Consulate asked Chinese association leaders not to support him, to give him no donation and not to vote for him. The Chinese Consulate called people from Fujian Province and Guangdong Province in for a meeting on either March 17 or 18, giving them a choice: “Would you rather do business in China or support his campaign?” Those people then didn’t come to Mr. Xiong’s gathering. An immigrant from Fuzhou City, Fujian Province confirmed independently to the Epoch Times that the President of a Fuzhou Fellowship Association received a Chinese Consulate’s notice saying not to support Mr. Xiong.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on March 16 that  five people were Chinese agents. Their actions included ruining Mr. Xiong’s election. Qiming Lin, a member of China’s State Security Department asked a private detective (who happened to be an FBI undercover agent) to defame Mr. Xiong, such as by digging into his past affairs looking for something to use against him  or tax evasion information or by setting him up with a woman, or directly beating him or creating a car accident.

An independent news commentator Ge Bidong shared a story about the Chinese Consulate’s interference on May 12, 2021. Ge and his friend running for a position visited Zhou. The President of the Shanghai Chinese Association was there. Zhou told them that the campaign in New York “cannot do without the Chinese Consulate” and the business associations and fellowship associations won’t let a person pass without the Chinese Consulate’s support for that candidate.

Mr. Ge and his candidate friend had previously been  imprisoned in China.

“The (Chinese) Consulate said that your things are an ‘internal conflicts’ but the Falun Gong issue is a ‘conflict with the enemy.’” Zhou told them, “As long as you are not Falun Gong, you will be fine.” Zhou also promised to take them to the Chinese Consulate and “all your things will be resolved.”

Source: Epoch Times, July 26, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/7/26/n13789113.htm.

Briefings | | |   @CS Government/Politics US-China Relations

HKET: Hong Kong Ranked Second Worst among World’s Best Cities

Hong Kong Economic Times (HKET), the leading financial daily in Hong Kong, recently reported that the British magazine Time Out just released its annual survey showing the results of ranking the 53 best cities in the world. This year the survey results show that the UK’s Edinburgh was selected as the best city in the world. Mumbai, India, was ranked 14th and became the top city in Asia. Hong Kong was second to the bottom, only ahead of Doha, Qatar. With the easing of the Covid pandemic, the Time Out magazine surveyed about 20,000 residents around the world. Then it integrated Internet editorial evaluations to deliver the annual Time Out Index results. This year’s survey focuses on assessing urban tourism and living advantages. It also includes the consideration of traffic and personal safety factors. Hong Kong now ranks at 52nd, far below Taipei’s 16th and Tokyo’s 24th. It lost to Bangkok by one. Hong Kong’s new ranking is a free fall from its previous spot of 20th.

Sources:
(1) HKET, July 12, 2022
https://bit.ly/3S9PZzN

(2) Time Out (HK), July 12, 2022
https://bit.ly/3aZqSyS

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Global Times: German Foreign Minister Called Erdogan’s Appearance a Challenge to NATO

Global Times recently reported that the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, attacked a three-person photo taken earlier this week of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Raisi, describing Erdogan’s appearance in this photo as a “challenge” to NATO. The photo was taken on the 19th, when Raisi, Putin and Erdogan held three-way talks in Tehran, the capital of Iran. In the photo, Raisi stood in the middle between Putin and Erdogan smiling, and the three held hands and gestured to the camera. Baerbock claimed that Ankara’s membership in the alliance makes the picture of the Turkish and Russian leaders “incomprehensible.” Although Turkey is a NATO member, unlike other NATO members, Turkey has chosen neutrality in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, while NATO as a whole regards Russia as a threat. According to the Kremlin, Putin thanked the Turkish side for mediating and providing a platform for negotiating the grain exports and transportation issues. In Baerbock’s view, this group photo proves the importance of standing with partners that share the same values because “there are other members who don’t support our values, and they also unite when they have doubts.” Some netizens did not agree with Baerbock, saying that Turkey is not a puppet of the United States.

Source: Global Times, July 23, 2022
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/48wgejrd1Nb

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

In a Move Seen as a Warning to China, Britain Plans to Deploy Nuclear Submarines in Australia

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that, as part of the US-UK-Australia Trilateral Security Partnership (AUKUS), the British military plans to send a fleet of nuclear submarines to the Port of Perth in Australia. Some, however, said that the usefulness of the deployment is questionable, considering that China has the largest navy in the world. The Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces, Admiral Tony Radakin, is expected to make a decision at a naval meeting in Sydney that will see British submarines deployed in Australia  “within China’s striking range,” until 2040. The operation is part of the AUKUS alliance and Australian submarines will be integrated with British submarines to work together to improve Australian personnel’s operational skills on nuclear submarines. The British military declined to disclose the number of nuclear submarines to be deployed in Australia. and the UK Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the matter. Sending nuclear submarines to patrol the South China Sea will be the toughest move the UK has ever taken against China to date. The spokesperson for China’s Embassy to the UK said the move further exposed the deep-rooted Cold War mentality of the US, the  UK and Australia, as well as the sinister intention of provoking group confrontation and creating conflict and division. It will also damage the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region. China firmly opposes this new development.

Source: Sina, July 23, 2022
https://mil.news.sina.com.cn/china/2022-07-23/doc-imizmscv3129681.shtml

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Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

The CCP Is Trying to Block the UN from Publishing a Xinjiang Report

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tried to block the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet from publishing the Xinjiang Human Rights report, which was planned to be published by the end of August.

Beijing sent Michelle Bachelet a letter asking her not to publish it. Beijing also tried to get diplomats from other countries to sign a joint letter to support Beijing.

Liu Yuyin, a spokesperson for China’s diplomatic mission in Geneva said that nearly 100 countries supported China on the Xinjiang issue, “opposing using human rights as an excuse to interfere with China’s internal affairs.” He said at the last UN Human Rights Council, which ended on July 8, that these countries issued public statements and a “joint letter.”

Source: Epoch Times, July 20, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/7/20/n13784940.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

U.S. Congressional Leader Plans to Visit Taiwan

The European Parliament Vice President, Nicola Beer, led a delegation to visit Taiwan from July 19 to July 21. This is the first time that a European Parliament Vice President officially visited Taiwan. Beer told reporters that, “Now is the moment to stand firm on the side of Taiwan,” calling Europe and the island part of a “family of democracies.” She said,“We won’t turn a blind eye to China’s threats to Taiwan.”  “Europe was late for Hong Kong, we won’t be late for Taiwan.”

In the U.S. the Speaker of the House,  Nancy Pelosi, has also been reported as planning to visit Taiwan in August. However, Biden said that the military believes it is not a good idea at the moment. China strongly opposed the Speaker’s trip both publicly and privately.

An article ridiculing Pelosi was widely published among Chinese media. It said that Pelosi’s trip was the Democrats’ plan to show that they are not too “soft” on Beijing. It also said that Pelosi’s plan was to gain some political points and get herself out of pressures from scandal. The article said many factors can still impact whether there will indeed be a trip. Maybe one day Pelosi will become “tactically COVID positive again.”  That statement referred back to April when Pelosi announced a planned trip to Taiwan but later cancelled it by claiming that she caught COVID.

Sources:
1. Radio France International, July 19, 2022
https://www.rfi.fr/cn/国际/20220719-欧洲议会副议长到访台湾-强调支持台湾民主
2. SINA, July 21, 2022
https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2022-07-21/doNc-imizmscv2950539.shtml

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend US-China Relations