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CNA: China’s State-Run Media Attacked the Dalai Lama for Three Consecutive Days during the 60th Anniversary of Tibet’s Anti-Violence Event

The Tibet anti-violence event reached its 60th anniversary. On March 8, China’s state-run media, The Tibet Daily launched a series of articles on “Recognizing the Reactionary Essence of the 14th Dalai Lama,” directly attacking the Dalai Lama as the “head of the feudal serfdom system of the old Tibet’s joined politics and religion.” The article called him, “The head of the separatist reactionary camp” and “the head of the separatist activities.”

The article accused the Dalai Lama of selling himself out to the international anti-China forces to find a backing for Tibet’s independence and to carry out separatist activities under the banner of national religious culture and environmental protection.

The second series of commentary articles, published on March 9, pointed out that the Dalai Lama is “a loyal tool of the international anti-China forces” and declared that the international anti-China forces are doing their best to make full use of the Dalai Lama as a tool and do everything possible to support his separatist activities. They beautify his image politically, provide support financially, offer a communication platform on public opinion, and support armed rebellion militarily.

The third series of commentary articles published on the following day accused the Dalai Lama of being the ultimate source of the class, thought, and organization that has created social unrest in Tibet. The articles said that the Dalai Lama travels around the world, running around and working hard, all (for the purpose of) beautifying the feudal serf system and attempting to restore this system.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), March 10, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201903100056.aspx

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Guangdong Tops China’s “Stability Maintenance” Budget

The Hong Kong based newspaper Ming Pao published an article by Bruce Lui, a senior lecturer in the Department of Journalism at the Hong Kong Baptist University. The Chinese government’s “stability maintenance” expenditure last year was 1.37 trillion yuan (US$200 billion). It is expected that the actual cost of “stability maintenance” this year will exceed 1.4 trillion yuan.

China’s official defense budget for 2019 is 1.19 trillion yuan (US$180 billion). Lui said that the phenomenon of the stability maintenance expenditure continuously surpassing military spending shows whether the Beijing authorities purpose “is mainly to prevent people or to prevent foreign enemies.” Although most of the outsiders think that these maintenance funds are mostly used in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Sichuan, as a matter of fact, according to past years from the China Statistical Yearbook, the top seven provinces in year 2017 in terms of “stability maintenance” spending were Guangdong, Jiangsu, Xinjiang, Shandong, Zhejiang, Sichuan and Beijing, .

Guangdong spent around 121.4 billion yuan (US$18.05 billion), about 11 percent of the national total, more than twice that of Xinjiang province.

Lui’s article said that, after Chinese President Xi Jinping took office, Guangdong has always topped the stability maintenance spending, with an average annual growth rate of 13 percent. In recent years, it has increased at a rate of about 20 percent to 30 percent, much faster than the spending in Xinjiang.

He believes that Guangdong’s huge stability maintenance costs relate to Hong Kong. For years Hong Kong’s stability maintenance fund has come out of Guangdong. Intelligence, national security, military and research personnel from Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and even Zhuhai have been traveling to Hong Kong to collect all forms of intelligence and have launched operations. This has resulted in a constant increase in spending.

These personnel have exaggerated the situation in Hong Kong and the problem of Hong Kong independence so that they are able to obtain more manpower, material, and financial resources. “For those who can initiate a special project regarding Hong Kong independence, funds will be put in place.”

Lui pointed out, “Hong Kong people are deeply integrated into the Greater Bay Area. This area is not only an economic area, but also an important area for stability maintenance. Technology will keep you under surveillance without any trace.” “When Hong Kong’s people see the news of the Xinjiang Re-education Camp next time, can you think of some sort of “re-education camps” that are more expensive, invisible but more technologically advanced running around you?”

Source: Central News Agency, March 13, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201903130272.aspx

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Top Lawmaker: China’s GDP Not Credible Due to Data Fraud

According to Yin Zhongqing, deputy director of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the total amount of all local GDP added together is greater than the national GDP due to data fraud.

“There is a discrepancy between regional and national GDP figures and it has negatively affected the credibility of the government,” said Yin at a press conference on March 10 during the second session of the 13th NPC. “Some local governments tend to cook their books, inflate some statistics, or conceal some data to stand out from the competition.”

According to Yin, a number or factors contribute to data fraud. First, people do not comply with the law and data fraud persists despite repeated crackdowns. Second, local governments, businesses, and residents are overburdened with data calls from different government agencies. Third, many government agencies apply different standards, resulting in inconsistencies in the data collected. Fourth, punishment over data fraud is “too light.” Fifth, a lot of statistical indicators are still defined according to the planned economy and do not reflect actual development.

Source: Beijing News, March 10, 2019
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2019/03/10/554694.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Mainland Movie “The Wandering Earth” Suffered Box Office Flop in Hong Kong

Known as China’s first space movie, The Wandering Earth had a smashing 4.5 billion (US$669 million) in box office revenue in mainland China but suffered a devastating flop in Hong Kong. The opening day box office revenue was only HK$320,000 (US$40,000). For the showing at 9:50 pm in a Broadway Cinema in Mong Kok, only 7 out of a total of 300 seats were sold. A Radio France Internationale article reported that, in order to improve the poor box office performance, some Hong Kong patriotic organizations and individuals launched a “rescue the Earth” campaign. Some schools, such as the New Territories School Head Association, even gave out free tickets saying it was “in the name of the upcoming 70th anniversary.”

According to the Radio France Internationale article, the official party media Global Times even reported the poor box office performance of The Wandering Earth in Hong Kong but attributed the cause to the economic gap and cultural differences between Hong Kong and the mainland. In the article that Radio France Internationale published, it reported that the Global Times seems to have forgotten the fact that, among movies made in Hong Kong in 2018, the top box hit was a low budget movie called Agent Mr. Chan, which took in revenue of 44.7 million Hong Kong dollars (US$5.69 million). As for the movie that achieved the highest box office revenue in Hong Kong last year, it was Hollywood’s “Avengers: Infinity War,” which had a box office revenue exceeding 150 million Hong Kong dollars (US$19.11 million). Another mainland movie, “Red Sea Action” had director Lin Chaoxian, who was from Hong Kong, but its box office revenue was only 8.7 million Hong Kong dollars (US$1.1 million), which was a lot lower than the mainland box office of 3.65 billion yuan (US$465 million). Therefore, it argues that citing poor economic performance in Hong Kong as the reason for the low box office performance of The Wandering Earth seems to be a bit untenable.

Source: Radio France Internationale, March 9, 2019
http://cn.rfi.fr/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20190309-%E6%B5%81%E6%B5%AA%E5%9C%B0%E7%90%83%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E7%A5%A8%E6%88%BF%E5%87%84%E6%83%A8%E7%88%B1%E5%9B%BD%E5%AD%A6%E6%A0%A1%E6%B4%BE%E7%A5%A8%E6%95%91%E5%9C%B0%E7%90%83

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China’s Three-Self Churches Vow to Eliminate Foreign Influence

China’s Three Self Churches belong to the Chinese Communist Party-controlled Three Self Patriotic Movement. The three ‘Self’s are self-governance, self-support, self-propagation, and the rejection of foreigners’ influence on church leadership.

Rev. Xu Xiaohong, Chairman of the National Three Self Churches, gave a speech at a session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which started on March 5.

Xu said, “It must be recognized that the surname of Chinese churches is ‘China,’ not the ‘West.’ The anti-China forces in the West are trying to influence China’s social stability and even subvert China’s political power through (the use of) Christianity. They are doomed to fail. For individual black sheep that participate in the subversion of national security under the banner of Christianity, we firmly support that the state brings them to justice.”

Xu added that on this issue one needs “continuously to eliminate the ‘foreign imprints’ on China’s Christian churches,” and “continuously to carry forward and practice the core values of socialism.”

Estimates have been made that more than half of China’s 60 million Protestants worship in unregistered churches.

In response to Xu comments, Xu Yonghai, an elder of the Divine Love Fellowship of the Beijing Christian House Church, said that since the 1950’s, members of the Three Self Churches have been leading armed police to search for elders and pastors. “In 1995, the authorities arrested me. This was also due to the role of the Three Self Churches.”

Source: Central News Agency, March 12, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201903120052.aspx

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Retired General: Military Increases Spending Because China Feels Threatened

China announced that, from 2018 to 2019, its military spending will grow 7.6 percent to 1.19 trillion yuan (US$177 billion). The “Qiang Guo Internet Forum,” under People’s Daily invited Luo Yuan, a retired PLA admiral to comment on the increase in military spending. Luo said that China’s “limited defense spending” is to safeguard its national sovereignty. Some countries, who adopt a double standard, should not judge it as a “China threat.” The increase was rather because “China feels threatened.”

According to the Central News Agency, Luo said that whenever it is the time for the Lianghui (China’s “Two Sessions”), some western media stir up the “China Threat theory.” The military spending increase is solely for the purpose of safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity and for implementing the settlement of retired military personnel and veterans; it will not pose a threat to other countries. Luo commented that the environment around China is not secure. U.S. military ships frequently enter and exit the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, which poses a provocation to China’s sustainable development interests. Luo said, “When some countries show off their military power at the doorstep of our family … Taiwan independence and other separatist forces are eager to move forward.  … If, once the country needs it, we don’t make a few moves to win the battle, the PLA won’t live up to the ‘glorious title it has been given.” China’s military goal is to build the army into a “world-class army” but there are still gaps and pressures in these areas. China needs to have a sense of urgency and anxiety.

Source: Central News Agency, March 5, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/201903050035.aspx

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Largest Apple Supplier Foxconn Recorded Four Year Low on Revenue

Major Taiwanese newspaper, China Times, recently reported that Apple’s largest supplier, Foxconn, headquartered in Taiwan, just announced its February revenue numbers, which showed a month-over-month decline of 35.85 percent and a year-over-year decline of 4.39 percent. This is the lowest point in four and one-half years. Foxconn pointed out that the primary causes of the decline were the U.S.-China trade war and weak orders from Apple. According to the latest supplier list that Apple released, Foxconn remains the largest supplier with 35 manufacturing locations. Further looking into the February Foxconn report, the computing products category is still satisfactory, but consumer electronics and communications equipment were below expectations.

Source: China Times, March 8, 2019
https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20190308004618-260410

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

China February Exports Reached Three Year Low

BBC Chinese recently reported that China’s February total exports suffered a year-over-year decline of 20.7 percent. This is the lowest point in three years. China’s imports declined by 5.2 percent. These numbers brought down the Asian stock markets significantly. Some suggested that the numbers might be the result of the Chinese New Year. However, most economists expressed their belief that the general expectation was a decline of 4.8 percent. The reality was five times worse than the expectation. Even with the seasonal impact factored in, the official numbers were quite negative. Some researchers indicated that the U.S. Tariff is having an impact on exports to the U.S. globally. Although the U.S.-China trade talks are still on-going, yet the uncertainty kept bringing doubts to the market. Currently the global market demand is still weak. Even if President Trump and President Xi quickly reach an agreement, China’s export outlook remains very bleak.

In the meantime, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), China’s February domestic passenger vehicle sales recorded a year-over-year decline of 18.5 percent and a month-over-month decline of 45.4 percent.

Sources:
1. BBC Chinese, March 8, 2019
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/business-47495127
2. East Money, March 9, 2019
http://finance.eastmoney.com/a/201903091064544862.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources