Briefings – Page 166

Transitioning from Forced Abortions to Forced Births?

As China’s population crisis worsens, the Communist regime announced that it will intervene in the area of abortions among unmarried people.

The China Family Planning Association under the Chinese Communist Party of China released a directive titled, “China Family Planning Association’s Priorities for 2022.” It requires the development of special actions for abortion intervention among unmarried people to reduce unintended pregnancies and abortions among adolescents. In the past, the family planning agency enforced the one-child policy by forcing abortions.

According to media reports, the number of China’s annual abortions has hovered around 9.5 million over the past five years. This number came from an article published in 2021 in the Chinese Journal of Practical Gynecology and Obstetrics.

Separately, the Institute of Science and Technology under China’s National Health Commission conducted a survey in 2021 of 39,820 women who had abortions. Women under 25 who had abortions accounted for 47.5 percent. Other studies have shown that women under 20 who have abortions are becoming a significant portion of those women who have abortions.

This comes as China is facing a demographic crisis after its birthrate has fallen for the fifth consecutive year. Fewer babies were born in 2021 than during the Great Famine between 1959 and 1961. Beijing has directed governments at all levels to find ways to stop the population problem from worsening. The priorities issued by the China Family Planning Association have sparked concerns that women may be forced to give birth. It is estimated that there were 400 to 600 million abortions during the one-child policy between 1980 and 2015.

Sources:
1.) The China Family Planning Association, January 28, 2022
https://www.chinafpa.org.cn/tzgg/202201/t20220128_45623.html

2.)The Paper, February 9, 2022
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_16629651

Briefings | | February 15, 2022 | Government/Politics Social Stability

Reference News: U.S. Eased Trump-Era Steel Tariffs on Japan

Reference News, a well-known branch of Xinhua, recently reported that the United States said it had agreed to lift the import tariffs it had imposed on Japanese steel under the Trump administration. It was a further move after the United States reached a similar agreement with the European Union last October. This showed that the Biden administration is stepping up its efforts to strengthen economic ties with Asia-Pacific countries to counter China’s growing influence.The Biden administration officials told reporters that the deal would allow Japan to export up to 1.25 million tons of steel annually to the United States duty-free. This is similar to the level of exports in 2018 and 2019. Such arrangements will help reduce the cost for U.S. steel importers. At the same time, it will maintain tariffs that exceed the protocol levels of steel to prevent the imports from increasing. The American Iron and Steel Institute welcomed the government’s announcement. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the deal would “level the playing field against China.” However, the current 10 percent tariff on Japanese aluminum will remain in place, while the new tariffs cover less steel than the 1.8 million tons of steel the U.S. imported from Japan in 2017, according to U.S. Commerce Department statistics. The World Steel Association’s data shows that Japan and the United States are among the world’s top steel producers behind China, the European Union and India.

Source: Reference News, February 10, 2022
http://www.cankaoxiaoxi.com/finance/20220210/2468694.shtml

Briefings | | February 15, 2022 | Geo-Strategic Trend

CNA: Taiwan Ranked 8th in the Global Democracy Index

Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) just released its Global Democracy Index 2021 Report. According to the Report, Taiwan ranked 8th out of 167 countries and regions, and is the only “full democracy” regime in Asia to hold a spot in the top 10. According to the Report, the top 10 are Norway, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Ireland and Taiwan, with Australia and Switzerland tied for the ninth place. Many European and American democracies, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, the United States, Canada, and others did not rank as high as Taiwan. Among them, France is 22nd, Spain is 24th, the United States is 26th, and Italy is 31st. They are in the “flawed democracy” category. Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom fall outside the top 10, although they are in the same “full democracy” category as Taiwan. South Korea and Japan are ranked 16th and 17th respectively. China is classified as “authoritarian” and ranked 148th. More than a third of the world’s population lives in authoritarian countries, a large number of which are in China. EIU noted that, “China has become richer, but not more democratic. On the contrary, China has become less free.” Afghanistan, Myanmar and North Korea are the three least democratic countries in the world.

Source: CNA, February 10, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/202202100357.aspx

Briefings | | February 14, 2022 | Geo-Strategic Trend

China Times: Number of U.S. Viewers Tuned In to the Beijing Olympics Declined Sharply

Major Taiwanese news network China Times recently reported that the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics received 16 million viewers in the United States on the NBC network. This includes the counts across all NBC platforms, including the USA Network, the NBC Sports app and the Peacock streaming service. The program was first broadcast live at 6:30 am ET and rebroadcasted during the evening highlights. This is being compared with the 2018 Pyeong Chang Winter Olympics in South Korea, when the opening ceremony attracted 28.3 million viewers on the NBC network. The Prime-time broadcast then alone attracted 27.9 million U.S. viewers to watch in front of their TVs. This year’s viewership represents a 43 percent drop from four years ago. The International Olympic Committee has been trying to save the ratings among young people for the games for years now. They have added breakdancing, skateboarding, surfing, sports climbing and other events that young people may like. They have also been adjusting the rules of some events to speed up the pace of the competition, hoping to improve the visibility of the event. NBC paid $7.65 billion for the U.S. regional broadcasting rights of the Olympics. NBC is authorized to broadcast the Olympics until the year 2032.

Source: China Times, February 6, 2022
https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20220206001996-260403?chdtv

Briefings | | February 14, 2022 | Government/Politics

China’s Top 100 Real Estate Companies Suffered Poor Sales in January

Jiemian News, the online news site under the Shanghai United Media Group, recently reported that in January, the sales of China’s top 100 real estate companies fell by 40 percent year-over-year. The real estate market is still experiencing a low performance. In the meantime, top revenue segments are shrinking in size. According to data from the China Index Academy, in January, 2022, there were only 15 housing companies with sales exceeding RMB 10 billion (around US$1.57 billion), a decrease of 14 from the number in the same period last year. Only 22 housing companies had sales exceeding RMB 5 billion (around US$787 million), a decrease of 31 from the same period last year. The third camp (RMB 3 – 5 billion, US$472 – 787 million) fell the fastest. With only 20 left, with the average sales growth rate was at -33.8 percent. In January, the Chinese real estate market got off to a bad start with a sharp decline in supply and demand. In 29 key monitored cities, for the commercial housing market, supply decreased by 43 percent year-over-year, and sales decreased by 46 percent year-over-year. In the first-tier cities, the sales of commercial housing in Beijing and Guangzhou were sluggish, with a year-over-year drop of nearly half. And in Shenzhen, the decline was as high as 60 percent. Industry insiders expressed the belief that the intensified downward pressure on the market and the strong wait-and-see mood of home buyers are the main reasons for the decline in many cities. It is expected that the supply will shrink in February due to the Chinese New Year holiday and sales may continue to decline. A number of research institutions pointed out that the financing environment for housing companies in 2022 remains discouraging, and the debt repayment pressure on these companies will remain heavy in the short term.

Source: Jiemian News, February 7, 2022
https://www.jiemian.com/article/7078670.html

Briefings | | February 14, 2022 | Economy/Resources

Chinese Student Association at George Washington University Attempted to Silence Criticism of the CCP

The Chinese Student and Scholar Association (CSSA) at George Washington University (GWU), located in Washington, DC, dragged the school into a political controversy. Some students posted an Olympic Game-themed cartoon drawing created by cartoonist Ba Duicao, a China-born Australian citizen, to show the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) human rights violations. For example, a skier dressed in China’s red national flag was shooting a person wearing an East Turkestan flag.

The Chinese Student and Scholar Association and the Chinese Culture Association at GWU protested to the school, claiming these posters spread racial discrimination and hatred and that the Chinese students felt they were insulted.

GWU President Mark Wrighton replied to the two groups in an email, saying that he would take action to find out the people who posted the posters and hold them accountable.

However, soon Mr. Wrighton realized that the CSSA had misled him. He published a statement to admit that he made a mistake in responding too quickly without knowing the full details. He concluded that the posters were a political statement but not racial in nature and so the school would not take any action against the student who posted them. He stated that he supports freedom of speech.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission pointed out in its 2018 annual report that the CSSA’s at U.S. universities have close ties with China’s embassies or consulates in the United States and receive funding from them as well. For example, the GWU CSSA introduced itself as the “only official Chinese student association” that is “dually accredited” by the Chinese Embassy in the United States and George Washington University.

Source: Radio Free Asia, February 7, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junshiwaijiao/rc-02072022101053.html

Briefings | | February 10, 2022 | Government/Politics US-China Relations

Many Chinese Companies Reported Big Losses in 2021

Chinese companies listed on China’s stock markets – either the Shanghai stock exchange or the Shenzhen stock exchange – are required to report their profits and losses from 2021 by the end of January. Thus, many companies with big losses submitted their information on January 28, the last trading day in January.

Suning.com Co had the largest loss, around 43.3 billion yuan (US $6.8 billion), more than the company’s market cap of 36.4 billion yuan. The company was on the Fortune 500 list in August 2021 and ranked number one among the Chinese retail companies.

The second largest loss was from China Fortune Land Development, a real estate developer, with an estimated loss of 33.1 to 39.1 billion yuan. Caixin reported that, by January 29, out of the 66 real estate companies which published their 2021 performance information, 30 reported a loss.

After the real estate companies, pig farming companies are the next group with the largest losses. Jiangxi Zhengbang Tech, ranked around 370 in Fortune’s China’s Top 500 companies. It estimated a 19 billion yuan loss for 2020.

Airlines are the next losing group. Air China estimated it had a 14.5 to 17 billion yuan loss, followed by China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines. Each reported around a 12 billion yuan loss.

The electric utility companies are the next group due to the coal price increase in China. Shanghai Electric, Datang International Power Generation Company, Oceanwide Holdings, and Huaneng Power International all reported losses of over 10 billion yuan.

Source: Epoch Times, February 4, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/2/4/n13555782.htm

Briefings | | February 10, 2022 | Economy/Resources

Briefings - 166. page