Skip to content

Briefings - 280. page

FCC Rejects Phoenix TV’s Application

On Monday June 22, the Federal Communications Commission said it rejected the request of a radio station in Mexico to continue broadcasting Mandarin Chinese language programs to southern California and ordered it to cease operations within 48 hours. The statement reads, “The application was dismissed because the parties failed to include in their application a key participant, Phoenix Radio, which produces the Mandarin programming in its studio. Phoenix Radio is partially owned by two entities with Chinese government ownership, Extra Steps Investment Limited and China Wise International Limited. The parties have 48 hours to cease broadcast operations related to this application.”

After the rejection, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) issued a statement applauding the FCC’s decision. “Today’s decision sends an important message to the world that the U.S. will not allow China to exploit FCC loopholes and spread its propaganda over our airwaves. More importantly, this decision is a critical step in countering the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to control what Americans see, hear, and ultimately think.”

Source: VOA, June 22, 2020
https://www.voachinese.com/a/fcc-dismisses-application-to-deliver-chinese-programs-across-border-20200622/5473019.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Sohu: Forging One’s Personal History and Obtaining Foreign Nationality Are New Violations for Public Officials

On June 20, the Standing Committee of the 13th National Congress reviewed and passed a Law on disciplinary measures which apply to Public Officials. Among the list of violations, in addition to corruption, bribery, abuse of power, and misuse of public funding, the following have been added and will also be considered violations: tampering with and forging one’s personal history; obtaining a foreign nationality or an overseas permanent residence; or illegally obtaining a passport for personal use.” These will also be considered violations. Moreover, falsely framing others when it results in damage to their reputation and refusing to pay child support or other obligations to family members have been added to the list as well.

Source: Sohu,June 20, 2020
https://www.sohu.com/a/403336823_260616

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Concerns over Safety of Three Gorges Reservoir as Water Level in Three Gorges River Rose above Warning Limit

Since the beginning of June, heavy rains have been reported in regions of southern China. As a power plant in the upper stream of the Three Gorges Reservoir was damaged by a flash flood and mudslide, concerns over the safety of the Three Gorges Reservoir were brought up again. On June 21, the CCTV Economy channel reported that the water level in the Three Gorges Reservoir rose to 147 meters (482 feet) which exceeded the flood control limit by about 2 meters (6.56 feet). On June 11, the Ministry of Water Resources held a press conference and stated that China has entered the flood season and there are a total of 148 rivers in the country that exceed the flood warning level. In the early morning on June 17, heavy rain upstream of the Three Gorges Dam damaged a power plant in Damba County of Ganzi, Sichuan province and resulted in a mudslide. A video posted on twitter showed the flood water and mudslide wiped out the villages along the way. Meanwhile people re-tweeted a warning from a licensed structural engineer telling the people in the Lower Yangtze River region to escape.

Wang Weiluo, a specialist on the safety of Three Gorges Reservoir and currently residing in Germany told Epoch Times that heavy rain in the Three Gorges region caused a flash flood and a mudslide. It will be disastrous if the reservoir collapses at the lower Yangtze because it is a high density populated area. Wang said that the Three Gorges Reservoir shouldn’t have been started in the first place. Many people opposed the idea. One famous irrigationist wrote three letters to Jiang Zemin, then the head of the CCP, warning of the potential risk of the project and predicting that, if the reservoir were to be built, it would be demolished in the end. Jiang and Li Peng, then Prime Minister, still went ahead with the project. The three Gorges Reservoir project started in 1994 and was completed in 2009.

Source: Epoch Times, June 21, 2020
https://www.epochtimes.com/b5/20/6/21/n12201515.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

College Professor Dismissed from CCP Membership and Suspended from Teaching for Pro-Hong Kong and Japan Remarks

Liang Yanping, a professor at the School of Liberal Arts of Hubei University in China, was dismissed from her CCP party membership and suspended from teaching. Liang was alleged to have “repeatedly published and reposted erroneous remarks about Japan and Hong Kong on social media which seriously violated the party’s political disciplinary rules and the teachers’ professional ethics.” According to the official statement from Hubei University, she was also said to have had an extremely negative social impact. Liang is also the first university professor who was disciplined for openly supporting Fang Fang for her Wuhan Diary.

In her personal Weibo and WeChat account, on November 8, 2019, Liang posted an article to commemorate a Hong Kong college student who died during an anti-extradition protest. She also posted a selfie wearing a black hat and facial mask to support Hong Kong protesters. On December 9, 2012, Liang posted a comment and questioned the death toll of the Nanjing Massacre and whether 300,000 was the accurate count. Liang was also accused of being “pro-Japan.”

Fang Fang published her comments in her weibo account, calling Hubei University a disgrace to universities in China and Hubei province and made the accusation that the leftists and online thugs hijacked Hubei University, the media, and the publishers.

Source: Radio France Internationale, June 20, 2020
http://www.rfi.fr/cn/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20200620-%E6%8C%BA%E6%96%B9%E6%96%B9%E9%81%AD%E4%B8%BE%E6%8A%A5-%E6%B9%96%E5%8C%97%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E6%95%99%E6%8E%88%E6%A2%81%E8%89%B3%E8%90%8D%E8%A2%AB%E5%BC%80%E9%99%A4%E5%85%9A%E7%B1%8D%E5%81%9C%E6%AD%A2%E6%95%99%E5%AD%A6

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Communist Parties of China and Nepal Hold Joint Seminar

People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), reported on June 19, that the CCP and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) organized an opening session of the video seminar series on the governance of the party and the country. Song Tao, head of the CCP’s Department of External Relations, and Wu Yingjie, head of CCP Committee of Tibet, participated and gave speeches. Speakers also included Pushpa Kamal Dahal, aka Prachanda, head of the CPN and the former Prime Minister of Nepal, Ishwar Pokhrel, a current Secretariat member of the CPN and Nepal’s Minister of Defense. Other attendees included over 100 people from the CPN central committee, heads of the Nepal government agencies and the CPN committees of seven Nepal provinces.

Song Tao said that China and Nepal are “good neighbors, friends, and partners for generations.” Last year, CCP head Xi Jinping visited Nepal and reached an “important consensus” on strengthening exchanges of political experiences between the two parties. The joint seminar was supposed to implement the “important consensus,” to deepen mutual trust, and to promote high-quality cooperation in the areas of the “Belt and Road” project.

In return, Prachanda and Pokhrel “spoke highly of the great achievements of the CCP for leading the Chinese people in epidemic prevention and control, as well as economic and social development.”

Source: People’s Daily, June 20, 2020
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2020-06/20/nw.D110000renmrb_20200620_4-02.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

HKSAR Strengthens Nationalism Education: Schools Must Raise the National Flag and Play the National Anthem

The Education Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) recently issued guidelines to primary and secondary schools that require raising China’s national flag and letting it flow and playing the national anthem on three holidays: New Year’s Day, the HKSAR’s Establishment Day on July 1, and Chinese National Day on October 1.

A Hong Kong radio station reported that the education bureau also announced that it will implement “national anthem” education in the music classes from the first grade of elementary school to the third grade of junior high school.

In particular, the education bureau also pointed out that if students exhibit “abnormal behavior” while singing the national anthem, the school should handle it through counseling and if the situation is serious and involves illegal behavior that cannot be handled by the school, it may consider seeking police assistance.

Source: Central News Agency, June 18, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202006180398.aspx

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China Mandates Real-name Registration for Online Literature

China’s online literature has grown rapidly in recent years. According to the “2019 Online Literature Development Report” that the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) released in February, the number of online literature users has reached 455 million. Fifty percent of users are online readers; the number of online authors has reached 17.55 million.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported on June 15 that China’s National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) issued a “Notice on Further Strengthening the Administration of Online Literature Publishing.” The Notice demands “rectifying the order of the online literature industry, strengthening the management of online literature publishing, and leading the online publishing units with a correct publication orientation.”

The Notice requires that online literature publishing units establish and improve content review and the approval mechanism. It strictly regulates the posting and publishing behavior and enforces the “real name registration for online literature creators.” Online publication platforms are told to be explicit in exhibiting posting rules and service agreements.

Source: Central News Agency, June 16, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202006160103.aspx

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

EU Considers Tightening Up Foreign Investment Rules

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the European Union is considering further tightening up foreign investment policies. It is aiming at the Chinese government’s subsidies to Chinese companies’ international acquisitions. The EU is preparing investigations into the conduct of the Chinese investors. This new plan is supplemental to the EU’s foreign investment review mechanism passed in April. Another important driver behind this new action is to address the wary when some EU companies become the target of acquisitions in the current coronavirus environment. The European Commission has informed the member countries about this intent to establish a new legal tool, designed to ensure a fair competitive environment. The EU April Foreign Investment Review Policy already allowed member country governments to step in to foreign acquisitions on strategic assets. The new rule will focus on subsidies.

Source: Sina, June 6, 2020
https://bit.ly/3e0vLUw

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend