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CCP Directive Demands Loyalty from Retired Cadres

On May 15, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) issued a document that called for the strengthened “party buildup work” of retired cadres. The document requires retired cadres, especially former leaders, consciously to maintain a high degree of loyalty to  CCP chair Xi Jinping as “the core of the CCP’s Central Committee,” and not  to criticize the Central Committee’s major policies improperly. The document is seen as a move to regulate the minds of retired senior cadres to maintain the unity of the whole CCP before its 20th national congress in November this year.

According to the CCP’s Central Organization Department, this document proposes to “ensure that retired cadres continue to listen to the Party and follow the Party.” It requires that the retired cadres conduct an in-depth study of the CCP’s theories and consciously practice “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era.”

In addition, retired cadre CCP members are told to abide strictly by the CCP’s disciplinary rules, not to spread politically negative remarks, and to oppose and resist all kinds of “wrong thinking.”

Source: Radio France International, May 16, 2022
https://rfi.my/8QBZ

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Was California Church Shooting of Taiwanese a Politically Motivated Hate Crime?

“One person was dead and several others injured during a shooting that took place at a California church on Sunday,” the police said.

Sheriff’s deputies in Orange County responded to a report of a shooting at the Geneva Presbyterian Church on El Toro Road in Laguna Woods at around 2 p.m. local time. “Four victims have been critically wounded, one with minor injuries,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Department wrote on Twitter. “All victims are adults and are en-route to the hospital. One victim is deceased at the scene.”

The suspect David Wenwei Chou was arrested and charged with one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder. Chou is a second-generation waishengren – born in Taiwan to those who had evacuated from mainland China during the ROC’s retreat in 1949.

County sheriff Don Barnes suspects it to be a politically motivated hate crime regarding Taiwanese-Chinese tensions. According to his statements, there were notes in Chou’s vehicle alluding to “his hatred of the Taiwanese people,” which is believed to stem from his past residence there, possibly during his youth. The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan has played a significant role in Taiwan’s democratization.

Chou was not affiliated with the Taiwanese church. He was pictured as a retired professor in a 2019 local news story on the founding of the Las Vegas chapter of the National Association for China’s Peaceful Unification (NACPU), also known as The China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification (CCPPNR). CCPPNR is an umbrella organization, founded in 1988, by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to promote unification between mainland China and Taiwan on terms defined solely by the People’s Republic of China. In September 2020, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that the State Department had begun reviewing the activities of the CCPPNR in the U.S. In October 2020, the State Department designated the NACPU a foreign mission of the People’s Republic of China.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), May 17, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202205170148.aspx

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Lianhe Zaobao: EU Chamber of Commerce in China Survey Shows EU Companies Have Cut Their Forecasts

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that the latest survey report of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China showed that China’s strict COVID control measures have brought huge uncertainty to European companies in China. Nearly 60 percent of the companies have lowered their annual revenue forecasts as a result. China’s image as an investment destination has also been affected. More than half of the companies lowered their revenue forecasts by 6 percent to 15 percent, and more than 30 percent of companies lowered their revenue forecasts by more than 16 percent. Around 77 percent of the respondents expressed the belief that China’s attractiveness as an investment destination has declined. Around 23 percent are considering moving current or planned investments out of China. As many as 75 percent of the companies surveyed said that their operations were negatively affected. This negativity was reflected in three main aspects. These are logistics and warehousing pressure, business travel, as well as the cancellation of offline meetings. What these businesses need is a time frame for reopening. Compared with the impact of the lockdown measures, the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on European companies in China is much less.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, May 7, 2022
http://www.kzaobao.com/shiju/20220507/116457.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

CNA: China is Building a New Nuclear Submarine

Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that, according to images uploaded by AllSource Analysis, an image intelligence company based in Colorado in the  U.S. and satellite images from Planet Labs, a submarine appeared at the Huludao Port Shipyard in Liaoning Province. According to these satellite images, China is building a new and large nuclear submarine equipped with a propulsion system that is more advanced than the improved Model 093 currently in service. This has sparked speculation that China will build a new generation of submarines with a vertical launch system. Experts said that the Chinese Communist Party exposed the new submarine to warn the United States about arms sales to Taiwan. It can be seen clearly from the images that this new type of nuclear-powered attack submarine has a larger and longer hull and that the propellers at the rear are tightly covered, which seems even more suspicious. However, the new submarine is still smaller than the 11,000-ton active ballistic missile nuclear-powered submarine Model 094. The improved Model 094A is equipped with a vertically-launched JL-3 ballistic missile with a range of 10,000 kilometers, covering the continental United States. The U.S. Department of Defense released a report to Congress in November last year, stating that the U.S. estimated that the Chinese military would build an improved version of the Model 093 or Model 093B submarine in the mid-2020s to strengthen its Navy’s anti-ship combat capabilities. The ship-based vertical launch system is quite capable. It enables ships to launch missiles with longer ranges and higher accuracy. However, the ship-based vertical launch system of submarines needs to use more advanced technology.

Source: CNA, May 14, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202205140119.aspx

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Lianhe Zaobao: Survey Showed COVID Measures Are Stifling U.S. Companies’ Confidence in China

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that a survey that  the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham) released showed that, due to China’s COVID prevention measures, 58 percent of the surveyed U.S. companies in China have lowered their revenue forecasts for 2022. More than half (52 percent) of the companies have postponed or reduced investment in China. The survey was conducted from April 29 to May 5. A total of 121 U.S. companies in China participated in the survey. The results showed that core employee shortages and supply chain disruptions are currently the biggest challenges for U.S. companies in China. More than 15 percent of U.S. companies with operations in Shanghai said their operations in Shanghai have been completely closed since the outbreak in March. In terms of supply chain challenges, 61 percent of respondents cited disruptions to transportation networks as the main reason. On the side of competent workers, 49 percent of the respondents said that, due to the COVID policies, foreign talent is less likely or refuses outright to relocate to China. Some have planned to leave China permanently. Colm Rafferty, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said in a statement, “This year’s revenue forecasts are down, but what’s more worrying is that chamber members don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.” He mentioned that two former AmCham China presidents recently faced challenges when they traveled to China from the U.S. One completed a 22-day quarantine in Shanghai and another 15 days in Beijing before being freed. The other just completed a 43-day quarantine and lockdown in Shanghai. He then choose to fly directly back to the U.S.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, May 10, 2022
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20220510-1271090

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

China Has Suffered Heavy Setbacks on Two Lines of the “Belt and Road” and Attempts to Find an Eastward Way

On May 04, 2022, Epoch Times reported that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dealt a serious setback to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) “Belt and Road,” a $4 trillion global strategic plan that it has implemented for nearly a decade. As the CCP is reluctant to condemn Russia, opposes sanctions against Russia, and cooperates with Russia with “No Limit,” the differences between the CCP and the Western free world in terms of values and between democracy and totalitarianism have been further exposed. The West’s distrust of the CCP has thus deepened, causing the West to drift further  away from China. Also, the future of China-EU trade is not optimistic. This has forced the CCP to look eastward.

The frequency and volume of “China-Europe Railway Express” have plummeted 

The “Belt and Road” mainly transports Chinese goods to Europe through the “China-Europe Railway Express (CERE)” via Russia, Belarus and Poland, which runs more than 98 percent of the China-Europe Railway Express. Since European customers are resisting the Russian invasion, many European companies do not want their products to be transported through Russian territory and have basically terminated the CERE via Russia. The frequency and volume of the CERE have dropped significantly and the flow of railroad cargo has decreased by 30 percent and, in some instances, even as much as 50 percent.

Therefore, in the short term, China must switch from rail transport to sea transport, or bypass Russia-Belarus and take the route through  the Caspian Sea and Turkey. This route, however, is immature and has limited transportation capacity, long cycle times and high prices.

The “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor” has serious security risks

The Southern route of the “Belt and Road” is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It goes through Pakistan to the southwestern port of Gwadar, that is under construction. Its eventual use is still pending. Much worse is that there are serious security concerns.

The fishermen of Gwadar port account for more than 70 percent of the local population and large Chinese trawlers have occupied the fishing areas of the locals and robbed the local fishermen of their jobs. The economic prosperity promised by the “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor” has not materialized and people have become poorer. The local ethnic independent armed group, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), opposes any Chinese investment. Since November 15 last year, thousands of local people have launched a series of protests. Chinese citizens have become the targets of suicide bombings by the BLA. For example, on April 26, a suicide bombing attack against the Chinese occurred in Karachi, a city in southern Pakistan, killing three Chinese nationals. It was the work of the BLA.

The CCP tries to find a way to the east 

On April 21, in a video speech at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022, the CCP’s General Secretory Xi Jinping reported that it was China’s intention to work actively to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA). Shortly after the speech, China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.

Katsuji Nakazawa, former China bureau chief for Nikkei Asia, determined that “China’s (the CCP’s) latest development in the Pacific is related to the stagnation of the ‘Belt and Road’ due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Its attempts to create a large-scale economic zone extending westward from Eurasia have been bogged down because of the Russian invasion and China (CCP) now has to look east.”

Related postings on Chinascope:
• Russia-Ukraine War Accelerates Deterioration of CCP’s “Belt and Road” Global Strategy – Chinascope

Source:
Epoch Times, May 4, 2022.https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/5/4/n13726633.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

U.S. Updated Its Taiwan Relationship Description

On May 5, the U.S. Department of State updated its bilateral relations fact sheet on Taiwan . There were many changes. Particularly worth noting is the second paragraph.

Updates: “The United States has a longstanding one China policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three U.S.-China Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances. Though the United States does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, we have a robust unofficial relationship as well as an abiding interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States makes available defense articles and services as necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability. The United States continues to encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait differences consistent with the wishes and best interests of the people on Taiwan.”

Previous version: “The United States does not support Taiwan independence. Maintaining strong, unofficial relations with Taiwan is a major U.S. goal, in line with the U.S. desire to further peace and stability in Asia. The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act provides the legal basis for the unofficial relationship between the United States and Taiwan, and enshrines the U.S. commitment to assist Taiwan in maintaining its defensive capability. The United States insists on the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait differences, opposes unilateral changes to the status quo by either side, and encourages both sides to continue their constructive dialogue on the basis of dignity and respect.”

Sources:
1. U.S. Department of State Website, May 5, 2022

U.S. Relations With Taiwan


2. Way Back Machine
https://web.archive.org/web/20190608140339/https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-taiwan/

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Zero-Covid Policy – No Sign of Changing Course

As more cities in China brace for a possible lockdown, the Chinese Communist leadership shows no sign of changing the course of its zero-COVID policy.

On May 6, the CCP in Shanghai held a mobilization meeting to, “Resolutely Win the Great Shanghai Defense War.” The CCP Shanghai Secretary Li Qiang asked “military orders to be issued at every level.” Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng requested that every building, street and door must be checked in Pudong New District, Xuhui District, and Minhang District so that not one household is missed. The Mayor of Pudong New Area ordered that “even if one is smashed, he must complete the task.” Experts believe that this move was driven by political considerations and has no bearing on public health.

On May 7, CCP Shanghai Secretary Li Qiang inspected Jiading District. He reiterated the rhetoric. “The top priority is to reduce new cases and prevent rebound.” He called on people to “grit their teeth, stick it out, and resolutely win the battle of Shanghai’s defense.”

On the same day, the Xuhui District issued an emergency notice. From May 1 through 15, all residents must stay at home except for going out to have COVID testing. The community will stop accepting group purchases and express delivery. If a resident has placed an order, he must cancel or postpone the delivery time until after May 15. In addition, the authorities will suspend food distribution for those who do not participate in the COVID testing of them. The neighborhood committee will no longer issue exit permits to anyone to leave the community.

Earlier, a neighborhood committee in Pudong District issued a notice stating that it had received an order from above that if one has tested positive, all the residents on the entire floor would become “positive contacts” and “all the residents above and below the floor where the positive case occurs will be transferred and quarantined.”

Source: Epoch Times, May 8, 2022

https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/5/8/n13729974.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics Social Stability