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LTN: Huawei Western Europe Sales Are in Free Fall

Major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN) recently reported that, according to the latest numbers from IDC, Huawei sold 2.5 million smartphones in the Western Europe market, representing a year-over-year free fall of 58.7 percent. Huawei sold 6.2 million smartphones in the same period last year. This was the largest decline in history. Given the U.S. sanctions, Huawei could not have built-in Google services, which hold a high market share in Europe. Google also took extra steps to prevent end users from manually installing its services by checking the smartphone processor model. This sales result led Huawei’s market share in Western Europe to fall from 20 percent to 8.8 percent. In the meantime, the Apple iPhone 11 obtained a 1.1 percent growth, with a total output of 8.2 million smartphones sold. This was achieved without the help of iPhone 12. With the free fall of Huawei’s market share, other Chinese brands, Xiaomi and OPPO achieved a 151.6 percent and a 566.2 percent growth, respectively. Xiaomi is now the number three smartphone vendor in Western Europe, after Samsung and Apple.

Source: LTN, November 30, 2020
https://3c.ltn.com.tw/news/42477

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

HK01: Japan Decided to Decommission Unmanned Aircraft Made in China

Popular Hong Kong new online media HK01 Network recently reported that the Japanese government decided to replace all unmanned aircraft that provincial governments operated with more secure Japanese products. It is effectively decommissioning around one thousand China-made unmanned aircraft. This “reevaluation” process is set to start in 2021. These aircraft took videos, photos and saved flying records. This information was then transferred via the communications network. With the deployment of 5G technology, the risk of network-based information leaks is expected to increase. Chinese unmanned aircraft vendor DJI has been the subject of such topics as security leaks for a few years now. In 2017, the United States Army ordered an immediate stop to the use of DJI products. The new Japanese government policy review will identify “critical tasks” that should use higher security standards, such as defense, criminal investigation, intelligence topography emergency rescues and more. Current unmanned aircraft will have to be replaced according to the new rules. The new rules will also include an added procurement process for future purchases, which will require cabinet level risk assessment to evaluate “supply chain risk.” This past spring, the Japanese government conducted a study on government use of unmanned aircraft  and found around 1,000 DJI products. Government officials also explained that, even for work not listed as “critical tasks,” in principle the government should still use domestic products.

Source: HK01, November 30, 2020
https://bit.ly/36KfyBC

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

U.S. Terminates Five PRC-Funded Propaganda Programs Disguised as “Cultural Exchanges”

The US State Department announced on Friday, December 4, that it would terminate five exchange programs with China, one of which is related to Hong Kong.

These programs include the Policymakers Educational China Trip Program, the U.S.-China Friendship Program, the U.S.-China Leadership Exchange Program, the U.S.-China Transpacific Exchange Program and the Hong Kong Educational and Cultural Program.

Such programs were conducted under Section 108A of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act (MECEA), which allows U.S. government employees to travel using foreign government funds.

The state department’s statement called these programs PRC funded propaganda programs disguised as “cultural exchanges.”

“While other programs funded under the auspices of the MECEA are mutually beneficial, the five programs in question are fully funded and operated by the PRC government as soft power propaganda tools. They provide carefully curated access to Chinese Communist Party officials, not to the Chinese people, who do not enjoy the freedoms of speech and assembly. The United States welcomes the reciprocal and fair exchange of cultural programs with PRC officials and the Chinese people, but one-way programs such as these are not mutually beneficial.”

Source: U.S. State Department, December 4, 2020
https://www.state.gov/termination-of-prc-funded-propaganda-programs/

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Mainland Media Not Allowed to Rent Studio in Taiwan to Record Political Programs

Taiwan’s government recently expelled a reporter from China’s Southeast Television who was stationed in Taiwan. He was expelled for violating relevant regulations that prohibit renting a studio in Taiwan in order to host a political program. The Mainland Affairs Council stated that, since that time, there have been no further violations in Taiwan.

During the regular press conference that the Mainland Affairs Council held, Chiu Chui-cheng, the spokesperson for Taiwan, said that on November 17, the Mainland Affairs Council in Taiwan had contacted the Ministry of Culture to remind Taiwanese media reporters and asked them to inform their affiliated media on the mainland not to set up studios in Taiwan to record such programs.

Source: Central News Agency, December 3, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202012030326.aspx

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

CCP Scholar: CCP Can Use Wall Street to Influence the U.S. Political Circle

On November 28, Di Dongsheng, Vice Dean of the School of International Relations at Renmin University and Vice Director and Secretary of the Center for Foreign Strategic Studies of China, delivered a speech at a forum on the topic of the opening of China’s financial sector and the implications in Shanghai. In his speech, Di disclosed that, prior to 2016, China used its connections with Wall Street to influence U.S. political circles but has failed to do so under the Trump’s administration. He indicated that China will restore its ties again under Biden’s administration.

The event had a live audience and was broadcast live via Guan Video, the Chinese online video-sharing platform. Other participants at the event included Zhang Zhixiang, former President of the Asian Development Bank and former Director of the International Department of the Central Bank of the Communist Party of China; the State Council Development Researcher Ding Yifan, deputy director of the Center’s World Development Institute; and Yao Yang, dean of the National Development Institute of Peking University.

Below is a translation of a partial summary of the speech:

At 3:35 minutes: The Trump administration is in a trade war with us. So why can’t we influence the Trump administration? Why is it that, between 1992 and 2016, China and the U.S. used to be able to settle all kinds of issues  No matter what kind of crises we encountered, be it the Yinhe Incident, the (U.S.) bombing of the (Chinese) embassy in Belgrade, or the Hainan Island incident, things were resolved in no time. It was like (a couple) “fighting starting at the bedhead but ending at the bed end” [editor’s note: this is a Chinese Idiom meaning disagreements between a couple are usually resolved quickly]. Everything was fixed within two months. Why? Here is the smoking gun: we have people at the top of the America’s core inner circle of power and influence. We have our old friends.

At 4:33 minutes: Di told a story. In 2015, before Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.S., the CCP needed to do warm up preparation work on public opinion. To help to build up the momentum, before Xi’s visit, the CCP wanted to hold a book release event for the first edition of the English version of Xi Jinping’s new book “Xi Jinping: The Governance of China.” Di was assigned the task to book the event and also be the host and guest speaker at the event. When Di contacted the Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington to book the event, he was told that he had given too short a notice and the time slot was already booked. Di quickly found out that the owner of the bookstore was a Democrat, a former a journalist in Asia, and didn’t like the CCP. In the end though, the book release event was held at the time the CCP wanted because an elderly Jewish lady intervened. The lady spoke fluent Mandarin with a Beijing dialect. She told Di that she had Chinese citizenship, held Beijing permanent resident status and owned a Siheyuan (quadrangle dwellings) on Chang’an Street in the Dongcheng district. She was the president of the Asia region of a top financial institution.

At 9:30 minutes: For the past 30 to 40 years, we have been utilizing the core power of the U.S. As I said before, since the 1970’s, Wall Street had a very strong influence on the domestic and foreign affairs of the U.S. So we had a channel to rely on. The problem was that after 2008, Wall Street’s role declined. More importantly, after 2016, Wall Street couldn’t influence Trump,  … so during the U.S.-China trade war, they (Wall Street) tried to help. I know that my friends on the U.S. side told me that they tried to help but they couldn’t do much.

At 10:26 minutes: But now we see Biden was elected. The traditional elite, the political elite and the establishment … they are very close to Wall Street. So you heard it, right? Trump has been saying that Biden’s son has some sort of global foundation. Did you notice it? Who helped him (Biden’s son) to build the foundations? There are a lot of stories in all this.

Source:
1. Youtube, December 4, 2020
https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwGLItcb498&feature=youtu.be
2. Epoch Times, December 6, 2020
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/20/12/6/n12599572.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

China to Build a Dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo River, Worrying Downstream Countries

A few days ago, Chinese officials confirmed the “Hydropower Development Plan for the Lower Yarlung Tsangpo River,” which is expected to generate 70 gigawatts of electricity, tripling the capacity of China’s largest Three Gorges Dam power station.

The news has caused tension in India. On December 1, a senior official from the Ministry of Jal Shakti (the Indian cabinet ministry in charge of water affairs) told Reuters that India is planning to build a ten-gigawatt hydropower project in the east to offset the impact of China’s upstream dam construction on water flow.

Jagannath P. Panda, a researcher with the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses based in New Delhi said, “This has been a genuine concern for India for a long time.” In 2002, China and India signed a memorandum on cooperation in the field of water conservancy. In 2018 another memorandum on this river was signed for the purpose of sharing hydrological data to help the downstream countries to deploy flood control or ecological protection plans.

Although India expects China to consult India before building any dam upstream and to maintain transparency of information, China has been “selectively” sharing hydrological information over the past years, or refusing to provide information when relations between the two countries became tense. Every year in the rainy season, India, downstream of the river, has been plagued by floods.

The Yarlung Tsangpo River flows through China and many South Asian countries. Originating in Tibet, the river runs more than 2,000 kilometers in China before heading south into India. Indians call it the Brahmaputra River, which is nearly 650 kilometers long inside the country. After entering Bangladesh, it was renamed the Yamuna River and merged with the Ganges in the Bay of Bengal. Its tributaries also flow through Nepal and Bhutan and are the economic lifeline of many countries in South Asia.

On November 26, the Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) confirmed that it has finalized a hydropower development plan for the lower part of the river and plans to launch the project during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period (2021-2025). Yan Zhiyong, Chairman of PowerChina called this project an unprecedented “historical opportunity.” He said that China will benefit from the geographic advantage of the “big bend” on the lower reaches of the river, which gathers nearly 70 gigawatts of technologically developable resources, a scale tripling the capacity of Three Gorges Dam. Chinese officials have done some beautiful math for Tibet: the dam will provide nearly 300 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean, renewable, and zero-carbon electricity every year, bringing in 20 billion yuan (US$ 3 billion) in fiscal revenue.

Farwa Aamer, a scholar from the East-West Center, a U.S. think tank based in Honolulu, Hawaii, explains that the deep anxiety of South Asian countries comes from the scarcity of water resources caused by climate change and the possibility that China’s construction of dams may directly affect the agricultural economy and natural ecology of downstream countries. In addition, the relationship between South Asian countries and China is complicated and lacks a platform for cross-country dialogue. South Asian countries are also quite worried about whether water resources will become a strategic tool for China when relations with China are tense.

Source: Radio Free Asia, December 1, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/huanjing/jt-12012020102607.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

45 Japanese Universities Make Agreements with China’s “Seven Sons of National Defense”

According to a Kyodo News report on November 29, seven defense related Chinese universities that conduct military technological research made an academic and student exchange agreement with a total of 45 public and private universities in Japan, among which nine Japanese universities have joint research programs.

The seven Chinese universities, including Beihang University and Northwestern Polytechnical University, are under the administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which oversees China’s national defense industry. They are known as the “Seven Sons of National Defense.” It has been reported that these universities are also involved in developing the equipment for the People’s Liberation Army. Three universities that are likely to transform their technology into the development of weapons of mass destruction are on the “foreign user list” of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The United States has four of the universities on the list of countries to which exports are banned. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute believes that the risk of cooperating with these seven Chinese universities is “very high.”

Kyodo News interviewed 51 Japanese universities that were in agreement with the Chinese side in the 2017 survey that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan conducted. Kyodo received responses from 49 of them. Six universities had already completed the agreement and 16 universities indicated that they may adjust their agreements. The Shibaura Institute of Technology understands that the Chinese universities are on the “list of foreign users” and is waiting for the end of that agreement. Some universities have also replied that they will adjust parts of multiple agreements or that only the portion on student exchanges will be maintained.

Among the 9 universities that have joint research programs with China, Chiba Institute of Technology replied that it has “discontinued” the programs. Hokkaido University (in the field of nanotechnology) and Osaka University (in the field of nuclear research) stated that they will conduct joint research on the basis of thorough management. As of November 28, seven universities including Kyoto University did not respond to the questions about the existence of a joint research with China.

Source: Kyodo News, November 29, 2020
https://china.kyodonews.net/news/2020/11/5a131355030b-45.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Many Examples of Malicious Reporting and Attacks on Academic Freedom

On November 5, the School of History at China’s Capital Normal University in Beijing hosted an offline lecture, “Shen Zhihua: The Establishment and End of the Soviet Socialist Model.” The lecture was simultaneously broadcasted live on the Chinese video sharing platform Bilibili. The lecturer Shen Zhihua is a well-known expert on Cold War history. He is a tenured professor at the History Department of East China Normal University. The lecture and live broadcast were interrupted after the event had been going on for about one hour. After the incident, the organizer’s social media account issued a statement, “This lecture was forced to transfer to the Tencent meeting (an online video conference platform) halfway through it, due to malicious reporting.” The statement condemned such malicious reporting that seriously interfered with normal academic exchanges, while reserving the rights to pursue further responsibility.

This is one of many incidents in recent years in China in which academic freedom was attacked by “reporting.”

Yang Shaozheng is a former professor at the School of Economics of Guizhou University. He was discharged from office in 2018 for criticizing the government in class and online. Yang told Voice of America (VOA) that, if the authorities would abide by their own constitution and protect citizens’ freedom of speech, there would not be a market for such malicious reporting. “It is precisely because the constitutional provision of freedom of speech is ignored that anyone who says what the Communist Party thinks is politically incorrect will be punished. As a result, malicious reporting happens everywhere.”

You Shengdong, who is 73-years-old, is a former professor of economics at Xiamen University. In 2018, he was reported and later fired because his classroom lectures were not in line with the Chinese communist ideology. Professor You told VOA that the trend of reporting on Chinese university campuses has been rampant and teachers are worried that they cannot teach freely.

“In the past few years, the political and academic atmosphere in Chinese universities has deteriorated. When teachers are giving lectures, there are cameras recording them and informants watching them. I was reported and other teachers were reported. The situation is getting worse.” “If there is no freedom of speech in a country, especially in universities, how can truth be spread? How can knowledge be taught? How can students be taught? In any country, if it is for the people, then it should allow a hundred flowers to bloom instead of seeing that all speak with one voice.”

It has been reported that many universities even openly recruit informants to keep an eye on the teachers, requiring student informants to report on the teachers who spread superstitious ideas, Western values, and criticism of the principles of the Party.

In addition to professors Yang and You, there is a long list of scholars who have been punished for their words.

Deng Xiangchao, deputy dean of the School of Arts at Shandong Jianzhu University, was disciplined and ordered to retire in 2017 because he re-posted articles critical of Mao Zedong. Deng was also dismissed from all government positions.

Shi Jiepeng, a professor at Beijing Normal University, was dismissed in July 2017 for “erroneous remarks on the Internet” and “crossing the red line of ideological management.”

Tan Song, associate professor at Chongqing Normal University, was expelled from the school and detained by the police in September 2017 for investigating the history of land reform, the anti-rightist movement, the Anti-Japanese War, and the Wenchuan Earthquake, as well as for talking about the 1989 student’s movement in class.

Xu Chuanqing, associate Professor at Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, was reported in September 2017 for blaming students for not taking classes seriously. Xu used Japanese students as role models and predicted that Japan would become a superior nation. In 2018, he was given administrative sanctions.

Zhai Juhong, an associate professor at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, was disciplined. In May 2018, he was expelled from the Party and given an administrative penalty because he criticized Xi Jinping’s constitutional amendments and discussed the institution of China’s National People’s Congress in the classroom.

Wang Gang, an associate professor at Hebei University of Engineering, set up a Wechat group with a focus on civil rights and posted articles that conjectured that China would not embark on the path of constitutional democracy. In July 2018, the school dismissed Wang.

Cheng Ran, a lecturer at Xiangtan University, was demoted because he “quoted a large amount of false information and reports from foreign media” in the classroom and he made remarks that “impaired the image of the Party and state leaders.”

In March 2019, Tang Yun, an associate professor at Chongqing Normal University, had his teacher’s qualification revoked and he was demoted because students reported him for making remarks that harmed the nation’s reputation.

In the famous case of Xu Zhangrun, a professor at Tsinghua University Law School, Xu was suspended in March 2019 for criticizing Xi Jinping’s constitutional amendment, demanding redress of the 1989 student’s movement, and for other remarks.

In April 2019, a student reported Lv Jia, an associate professor at Tsinghua University, for “opposing the Party and violating the constitution.” The Tsinghua communist party discipline organs subsequently put Lv under investigation.

In April 2017, Zi Su, a teacher at the Party School of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee, suggested that the Chinese Communist Party implement intra-party democracy and asked Xi Jinping to resign. In April 2019, he was arrested, charged with “inciting subversion” and sentenced to 4 years.

Huang Chun, a retired female professor at Guizhou Minzu University, was put under administrative detention for 15 days due to her remarks on Twitter and WeChat about Hong Kong’s anti-extradition law amendment bill movement and the 1989 student’s movement.

Liu Yufu, a teacher at Chengdu University of Technology, was under administrative penalty in October 2019 because of his remarks in class and over the Internet.

Cao Jisheng, a lecturer at Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, was subjected to administrative sanctions and a record of demerit in October 2019 for making “inappropriate remarks” in a WeChat group.

Source: Voice of America, November 17, 2020
https://www.voachinese.com/a/academic-seminar-interrupted-malicious-tip-offs-criticized-as-deprivation-freedom-speech-in-China-20201117/5665744.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability