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Gangsters Attacked and Wounded Protesters in Hong Kong

The Epoch Times reported that gangsters attacked protesters in Hong Kong at the Yuen Long Train Station on Sunday July 21. About 430,000 protesters joined in an anti-extradition parade to protest that the Hong Kong government has not responded to citizen’s appeals. When the parade was at the Train Station of Yuen Long, more than one hundred gangsters came out to beat the protesters. The gangsters wore white clothes and masks. They used batons to beat people rather brutally and even entered the train cars to beat people inside. At least 36 people, including Democratic legislator Lam Cheuk Ting and a reporter from Stand News, were wounded and sent to four hospitals. One is still in critical situation. (Editor’s note: Newer reports had the injury count at 45).

The report cited six videos of the gangsters brutally beating protesters. Another video showed a youth kneeling at a train car door begging the gangster not to enter, but someone in white punched him and he fell down.

Many people asked, “Where were the police.” An article in the Guardian stated, “When police arrived at the station after 11pm, the assailants had left and angry protesters demanded to know why they had taken so long to get there.”

Sources:
1. The Epoch Times, July 22, 2019
http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/19/7/21/n11400120.htm
2. YouTube, July 22, 2019

3. The Guardian, July 22, 2019
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/22/where-were-the-police-hong-kong-outcry-after-masked-thugs-launch-attack

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

BBC Chinese: Multiple Reports Showed HK Protests Impacted Retail

BBC Chinese recently reported that, over the past month or so, Hong Kong has had several major protests against the “Extradition Bill.” More protests are expected in the coming days. The frequent protests have had an impact on the local retail industry because they introduced uncertainty into this region’s traditional “shopping haven.” According to a data report that the Hong Kong Retail Management Association (HKRMA) provided, most of its members suffered a decline in sales in the past month, with an expectation of a further downturn. The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (KFTU) also released reports showing that, since June, there has been a significant decline in tourists from the Mainland. In the meantime, the hotel occupancy rate declined by 20 percent. However, many owners of the local small businesses and restaurants polled expressed their support for the city-wide protests and even strikes because the damage from passing the Extradition Bill is considered to be much more significant than the temporary loss of retail sales. Most analysts expressed the concern that the political situation may cause the U.S. to re-evaluate Hong Kong’s special tariff status, which can heavily damage Hong Kong’s position as a financial center.

Source: BBC Chinese, July 19, 2019
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-49045962

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

DW Chinese: Tension Is Increasing between Prague and Beijing

Deutsche Welle Chinese recently reported that the friendly relationship between the City of Prague and the City of Beijing is changing. Early this year Prague’s Mayor, Zdenek Hrib, expressed his intent to remove the content in the agreement between the two cities that acknowledges Taiwan being a part of China. The new agreement is still under negotiation. However, Mayer Hrib’s opinion angered Beijing. In June, Beijing cancelled the Czech Philharmonic’s concert in Beijing despite the fact that they had signed a contract. Hrib used this as an example to describe Beijing as an unreliable business partner. Hrib’s predecessor had signed the relationship agreement, partly in the interest of getting a panda. In explaining its position, Prague expressed that human rights are more valuable than the right to have a panda in the zoo. Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek is planning to step in.

Source: DW Chinese, July 19, 2019
https://bit.ly/2y9Lj5b

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

LTN: China Paused Funding of Kenya Railroad Project under One Belt One Road

Major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN) recently reported that China temporarily delayed the funding of the Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) construction under the One Belt One Road initiative. Only half of the 470-kilometer railway project, leading to nowhere, has been completed. China has put the funding on hold due to its concern over project feasibility problems. Another reason may be significant resource waste. In addition, it may have something to do with Kenya’s debt level. The total funds on hold has reached US$4.9 billion. Critics pointed out that the SGR project was too costly and may not turn profitable in the long run. Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta visited China this May, hoping to get the funding resumed. However, the Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Wu Peng told local media that he could not understand the source of Kenya’s confidence. The SGR has been labeled the largest project in half a century. Most of Kenya’s debts, that is, around 22 percent of all that it owes, is to China.

Source: LTN, July 19, 2019
https://ec.ltn.com.tw/article/breakingnews/2857749

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

CNA: Supervision Chinese Officials Impose over NGOs Is the Toughest in the Past 20 Years.

The Chinese Social Organization Report was recently released. It stated that the regulatory reviews that the NGOs in China are facing are the toughest in the past 20 years. On July 12, the Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences University and the Social Sciences Literature Publishing House jointly released the “Blue Book of Social Organizations: China’s Social Organization Report” (2019). The report used “unprecedented in 20 years” five times to describe the current state of social organizations in China, including efforts to crack down on illegal social organizations, cleaning up the standardization of registered social organizations, the strictness of annual inspections, the punishment of social organizations, and the supervision of social organizations. The intensity and the strictness of the social organization registration reviews are the toughest they have been in more than the past 20 years.

From April 1st to the end of December last year, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security jointly launched a special campaign to crack down on illegal social organizations. In 2018, more than 1,600 social organizations were de-listed and punished for serious violations of the law. The report said that these illegal social organizations include those who use the projects such as the “One Belt and One Road,” “military and civilian integration,”  “poverty alleviation,” and other national strategies to defraud people of their money.

In addition, in recent years, Chinese NGOs, especially those that advocate citizenship Initiatives, have already faced difficulties in surviving. For example, in 2014 and 2015, in the context of frequent labor movements, organizations for labor rights protection have been suppressed. The “Regulations on the Management of Domestic Activities of Foreign NGOs,” which was implemented on New Year’s Day in 2017, has also restricted NGOs from receiving financial support and talent training from overseas.

There are currently more than 800,000 social organizations in China. They are regulated by the “Regulations on the Administration of Social Organizations,” the “Regulations on the Administration of Foundations,” and the “Provisional Regulations on the Registration of Private Non-Enterprise Units.” Last year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued the “Soliciting Opinions for Social Organization Registration Management,” which is expected to be revised this year.

Source: Central News Agency, July 17, 2019
http://https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201907170199.aspx

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

RFI: Thirteen Universities Shut Down Confucius Institute Program on Campus

Last year, the U.S. Department of Defense launched a Language Flagship program to provide funding for universities in the U.S. to develop Chinese language education. A federal law was passed to require that the funding for the program come from only one source. The universities must choose between the Pentagon and the Confucius Institutes for funding their Chinese Language education program. So far, 13 universities in the United States have chosen to close their Confucius Institute. It is expected that more Confucius Institutes at universities will close this year after their contracts expire.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz said the Confucius Institute has exposed American universities to the threat of spying and intellectual property theft, both of which have taken place at many universities. Cruz added an amendment to the US military spending bill last year stipulating that any university with a Confucius Institute could not also get the Chinese training funds from the Department of Defense.

After the opening of the first Confucius Institute at the University of Maryland in 2004, the number has expanded to more than 100 Confucius Institutes in the U.S. and more than 500 around the world. The Confucius Institute is considered to be China’s overseas expansion of soft power and supervision of Chinese students. It does not allow the discussion of sensitive issues such as democracy, human rights, Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan.

The deputy head of education at the University of Oregon, who recently closed their Confucius Institute, said that making choices between the two was painful, but they had to make a choice. The Department of Defense’s “Language Flagship Program” provides nearly $1 million a year for Chinese language programs.

Source: Radio France Internationale, July 19, 2019
http://rfi.my/4HuH.T

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

RFA: Falun Gong Practitioner Ordered to Take off T-Shirt during Chinese Embassy Sponsored Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival

According to a news article that RFA published, a Falun Gong practitioner said that when the Dragon Boat Festival was held in Ottawa,  Canada’s capital, last month, he appeared at the event wearing a T-shirt with the words “Falun Dafa” on it. {Falun Gong is also known as Falun Dafa.} The event organizer of the Dragon Boat Festival went up to him and ordered him to take off his T-shirt, saying that the Dragon Boat Festival was an event that the Chinese Embassy sponsored.

Gerry Smith recalled that John Brooman, the event organizer, told him that this is a Chinese cultural activity. The Chinese government paid tens of thousands of dollars to help rent the park. They don’t allow political messages to appear in this park. Brooman later threatened to expel other Falun Gong practitioners from the park. On the official website of the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, the Chinese Embassy is clearly listed as the “gold sponsor” of the event. Smith later sent an e-mail to Brooman expressing his disappointment and said that he will also file a complaint with the Ottawa City Council. Brooman wrote back to Smith saying that he didn’t intend to offend him and that he did not want to politicize the event. Smith said, however, that he only wore a Falun Gong T-shirt. Other Falun Gong practitioners were practicing the exercises outside the dragon boat event venue and did not hold banners or distribute flyers. Ottawa City officials told Smith that no one can ask him to take off his clothes. He can report the incident if it happens again. Both Brooman and the Chinese Embassy did not respond to RFA inquiries.

A representative from the Falun Gong group in Ottawa told RFA that this is not the first time that Communist China has used money to exercise its control in Canada. It disregards Canada’s fundamental values and tries to exercise its influence. This is exactly how they export the persecution overseas. Another example is that, each year, the Falun Gong group in Ottawa has been kept from participating in the annual parade that is held in Chinatown.

Source: Radio Free Asia, July 18, 2019
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shehui/lf-07182019122111.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

RFA: CCP Encourages Party Members to Invest in the Stock Market

Amid the stagnant, weak stock market, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) recently issued an order to encourage party members to invest in the stock market.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that, in the past, Beijing had discouraged people working in the government from buying stock. On June 24, however, Beijing asked them to invest in the stock market. The CCP Central Committee for Disciplinary Investigation’s (CCDI’s) website claimed, “The stock market is a main component of China’s socialist market economic system. For the staff members of the party and the government to invest their legally-obtained property in the stock market will support our country’s development. Party cadres can legally invest in legitimate stock transactions.”

People commented that this indicates that the CCP is desperate to inject money into China’s stock market and at this time they are looking at party members’ money. Some also pointed out that this gives the party members a money laundering opportunity so they can cleanse their illegal money.

Source: RFA, June 25, 2019
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jingmao/ql1-06252019073624.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Government/Politics