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Briefings - 217. page

China to Build Airport in Kiribati in the Pacific

Beijing plans to rebuild an airport based on an abandoned U.S. military airfield runway and a bridge on Kanton Island, in the Republic of Kiribati. The move shows China’s ambition to further its foothold in the Pacific Ocean.

The island nation of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean has a population of 120,000 but has one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world, covering an area of more than 3.5 million square kilometers of waters. Kanton Island is midway between Hawaii and Australia and 3,000 kilometers southwest of the U.S. military base in Hawaii. Any major infrastructure on the island would provide China with a stronghold deep into the region where the United States has maintained strong ties with and its allies since World War II.

Kanton has been a nature reserve since 2006. China plans to build a 2-kilometer long airstrip. During the World War II, the U.S. military used the island as part of an air ferry route between Hawaii and the South Pacific region. After the war, commercial airlines used the island as a trans-Pacific stopover for refueling.

Until the late 1960s, the U.S. had used the island for space and missile tracking; today, Kanton is used only for emergencies. Analysis indicates that once the existing runway is upgraded, it will be long enough to support the deployment of fighter jets. If further upgraded and extended, it will be able to support the deployment of large transport aircraft and maritime patrol aircraft.

China also has plans to build container ports in the region. Kiribati and Solomon established diplomatic relations with Beijing in 2019 after breaking diplomatic ties with Taiwan. They also joined the “Belt & Road Initiative.” Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Kiribati President Taneti Maamau on January 6, 2020.

The other four island nations in the Pacific region — the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Nauru, and Palau — continue to maintain diplomatic and economic relations with Taiwan. Palau’s new President Surangel Whipps has called for greater U.S. investment in the region.

China’s economic development efforts have resulted in the partial or complete purchase of more than a dozen ports around the world since 1990, with Southeast Asia among the major areas of Chinese investment. The current increase in Chinese investment in Pacific ports and islands is part of its longer-term strategic consideration. There have been concerns about the dual commercial and military use of these ports, although Beijing does not acknowledge its military purposes.

Source: Radio France International, May 7, 2021
https://rfi.my/7NQG.T

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Surveillance of Uyghurs’ iPhones

An article on the website of the French weekly magazine Le Nouvel Observateur described a hacking competition, secretly organized by the Chinese government, which offered a reward of $200,000 to anyone who could hack into an iPhone. The competition finally paid off.

In November 2018, a Chinese hacker managed to find a way to intercept information on an iPhone remotely. A few months ago, the U.S. security authorities informed Apple of the information. A May 6 article published in the MIT Technology Review magazine detailed the above process. However, it did not reveal the channel through which the Chinese hacker gained the access. The article commented that, since 2018, Chinese hackers have stopped participating in the annual international hacking competition held in Vancouver, Canada, which is a side event of the Computer Security Conference. It is clear that Beijing believes that the findings of Chinese hackers should be used by China’s security apparatus. Starting in 2018, Beijing has been holding a competition called the Tianfu Cup Chinese Hacking Competition. A hacker named Qixun Zhao won the first Tianfu Cup prize for successfully hacking into the iPhone. He named his discovery “Chaos” and the Chinese media praised his work, calling it “the perfect remote jailbreak of the iPhone.” Two months later, Apple quietly patched the loophole. During this two-month gap, it was possible that the Chinese security authorities had monitored all iPhone users, especially those of Uyghurs. Research by the U.S. government and Google shows that the findings by Chinese hackers provided a great deal of assistance to the Beijing government’s mass surveillance of Uyghurs.

Source: Radio France International, May 15, 2021
https://rfi.my/7OpC.T

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Private School to Adhere to CCP Leadership

On May 14, China’s State Council announced the newly revised regulations for private school education, which will be implemented in time for the new school year on September 1. The contents stipulate that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations in private schools should participate in and supervise major school decisions. This is considered the beginning of the CCP’s strengthening of control over the education industry and part of the CCP’s “Strengthening Social Control Plan.”  It is still unclear which field will be its next target, but the uncertainty has caused education stock prices to drop.

The Voice of America (VOA) Chinese website reported that Article 1 of this newly revised regulation stipulates that private schools should “adhere to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.” The specific method for implementing the leadership of the CCP is for the grassroots CCP organizations in schools to “participate in major school decisions and supervision.”

The article also mentioned that the school’s decision-making body “should have the participation of the person in charge of the CCP organization,” and that the relevant supervision agency should also have “representatives from the party’s grassroots organization.”

In addition, this regulation also prohibits any social organization or individual from using a merger and acquisition to control private schools or non-profit based pre-schools. At the same time, it also requires increased supervision of schools that are run by social organizations when their partner is from a foreign country but has a majority of the control.

Before the 1980s, except for a few private schools in remote areas, China’s primary and secondary education were basically government-run public education. After the reform and opening up in the 1990s, domestic private capital and international capital gradually flowed into the elementary education field. Many private schools were formed in large and medium-sized cities. These schools adopted foreign teaching materials and used advanced teaching technology. They were mostly favored by wealthy urban residents who paid hefty fees to send their children to these schools.

Source: Central News Agency, May 16, 2021
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202105160196.aspx

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Times: 42 Percent of AmCham HK Members Consider Leaving Hong Kong

Major Taiwanese news network China Times recently reported that the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AmCham HK) just released a report showing that 42 percent of its members are considering or planning to leave Hong Kong. Most of the member surveyed pointed out that the issue was concerns about the Hong Kong’s National Security Law. Around 43 percent of those who are considering or intending or to leave are staying in Asia. The most likely destinations are Tokyo, Taipei, Singapore and Thailand. Some members are worried about their children’s education after passage of the National Security Law. The survey sample included 325 member companies of AmCham HK, which covers about a quarter of all its members. Most of the members who decided to stay cited a “good quality of living” (77 percent). AmCham HK suggested in an announcement that the Hong Kong government should pay more attention to foreign talent’ concerns to prevent a reduction in Hong Kong’s competitiveness.

Source: China Times, May 12, 2021
https://www.chinatimes.com/cn/realtimenews/20210512002963-260409?chdtv

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Global Times: U.S. Secretary of State Suspended Visa Issuance for Certain Chinese Applicants

Global Times recently reported, based on stories told by some Chinese applicants for U.S. visas, that their visa applications were rejected. The U.S. visa officials said that the reason for the rejection was an order from the Secretary of State, who suspended the issuance of a visa to the spouse and children of active-duty employees of the Chinese Ministry of Public Safety, the Ministry of National Security and the Immigration Bureau. This is a very good example that shows how the U.S. intentionally undermines normal personnel exchanges between China and the United States due to political reasons. This is not the way to develop a healthy relationship between the two countries. The spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed a few other similar cases and commented at a press conference that, with the same logic, maybe China should not issue a visa to U.S. intelligence personnel and their families as well. The United States should correct its wrong-doing.

Source: Global Times, May 13, 2021
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/436ea7rDqEd

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

CAC: International Transfer of Car Data not Allowed without Approval

Well-known Chinese news site NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) recently reported that the Chinese Nation Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC, also known as the State Internet Information Office) just published the draft Automobile Data Safety Administrative Regulations for public comments. The proposed regulations will ban cross-border transfer of any data collected through an automobile camera or other sensors. This new move is expected to cause damage to Tesla’s operation in China. Modern electric automobiles, like market leader Tesla’s, are usually equipped with various sensors like GPS receiver, camera, radar, sonar, and lidar. Typically, these sensors generate a large amount of data that will be uploaded to the manufacturer’s database servers. These data can be coupled with the owner’s personal information for storage. Though Elon Musk promised not to provide data to any government, yet Tesla is after all an American company. It is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. government, which can turn the promise into an empty promise. China has banned Tesla in some government areas as well as some military areas. The new regulations require approval before data leaves China and consent from the owner. Also, even approved data needs to remove personally identifiable information such as human faces. An analyst expressed the belief that China is worried about national security if sensitive data falls into the hands of the U.S. government.

Source: NetEase, May 13, 2021
https://www.163.com/dy/article/G9TIETVK0511838M.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

For the first time, US Sanctioned Head of 610 Office for Persecuting Falun Gong

On May 12, the State Department announced a sanction against Yu Hui. Yu Hui is the first director of the 610 office for the U.S. to sanction publicly. [Editor’s Note: The 610 office, named after the date of its creation on June 10, 1999—is an extralegal police task force responsible for carrying out the mission of eliminating Falun Gong.] This is also the first time, since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started suppressing Falun Gong in 1999, that the U.S. government has named and sanctioned a CCP official because of the Falun Gong issue.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press briefing, “We will continue to consider all appropriate tools to promote accountability for those responsible for human rights violations and abuses in China and elsewhere.” He then announced the release of the department’s annual report on international religious freedom, which cited arbitrary arrests, house raids, societal discrimination, and the forced harvesting of organs from live Falun Gong practitioners. Blinken said the designation was applied to Yu for his involvement in “gross violations of human rights, namely the arbitrary detention of Falun Gong practitioners for their spiritual beliefs.”

On December 10, 2020, the U.S. State Department imposed sanctions on 17 foreign current and former government officials for serious human rights violations. One of them was Huang Yuanxiong, a police chief from the Wucun Police Station of the Xiamen Public Security Bureau. Pompeo, then the U.S. Secretary of State, stated that Huang Yuanxiong seriously violated Falun Gong practitioners’ freedom of religious belief and “was connected with the detention and interrogation of Falun Gong practitioners simply for practicing their beliefs.” According to relevant regulations in the U.S., Huang and his spouse are not allowed to enter the U.S.

On March 8, according to Minghui, [Editor’s note: Minghui is a website dedicated to reporting on the Falun Gong community worldwide with a focus on China: https://en.minghui.org] Falun Gong practitioners in 38 countries have recently submitted lists of names to their respective governments of agents from the 610 Office at all levels in China. So far, about 9,300 names have been placed on the list. Yu Hui’s name was on the list that was handed over to the U.S. government.

In a statement to the Epoch Times Newspaper, Zhang Erping, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Information Center in New York, stated that the U.S. decision “will surely send a potent message across China that the world is watching and that there will be real-world consequences for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.” Zhang said, “As the news spreads among the CCP security apparatus, it will very likely make some think twice about perpetrating further abuses.”

Sam Brownback, former U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said. “I think it sends a very strong signal to China. It sends the signal that we’re not going to let them get away with this war on faith.”

Source: Epoch Times, May 13, 2021
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/5/13/n12945359.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Austrian Military Officials Receive Chinese Language Training at Confucius Institute

The Austrian newspaper Die Presse reported on May 14 that a spokesman for the Austrian military confirmed that civil servants have taken Chinese language courses at the Confucius Institute. In exceptional cases, teachers from the Confucius Institute also came to teach at an Austrian military base, such as the Theresian Military Academy in the Wiener Neustadt, a city south of Vienna.

Richard Trappl, the 70-year-old Austrian director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Vienna, wrote to the newspaper that “the Confucius Institute at the University of Vienna can be considered as a language intermediary agency, such as the Cervantes Institute or the Berlitz Language School.” He declined multiple interview requests from the reporter. The newspaper reported that officials from the Austrian military also receive Chinese language training at the controversial institution. Sweden, also a member of the European Union, closed its last Confucius Institute back in April last year. Universities in the United States, Germany and Australia have also recently ended, suspended or renegotiated their cooperation with Confucius Institutes.

A spokesman for the Austrian military confirmed to the newspaper that officers are taking Chinese language courses at the Confucius Institute. In exceptional cases, CI teachers also have come to teach at the premises of the armed forces, for example at the Theresian Military Academy in the city of Wiener Neustadt. The newspaper mentioned that Austrian officers started to learn the Chinese language in 1997, when one military officer was sent to Beijing. At that time there was no Confucius Institute.

Beijing Foreign Studies University and the University of Vienna jointly established the Confucius Institute at the University of Vienna on September 25, 2006. It was the first Confucius Institute in the country,

In the past two years, two Austrian military employees received language training from the Confucius Institute and paid 7,900 euros. Several Sinologists told the newspaper that, even without the Confucius Institute, there are enough highly qualified native-speaking teachers in Vienna to conduct language courses on this scale.

In addition to the Austrian military, the Confucius Institute also taught at the country’s Academy of Diplomats. While the Austrian Foreign Ministry recruits future diplomats from the Academy, it has not sent staff to the Confucius Institute for language training. A spokesperson for the ministry said, “In line with the political positioning of the EU, Austria sees the People’s Republic of China not only as a partner and economic competitor, but also as a strategic adversary that advocates alternative models of governance.”

Source: Radio France International, May 16, 2021
https://rfi.my/7Ots.T

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend