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Oriental Daily Malaysia: Nepal to Ban TikTok

Oriental Daily, Malaysia’s most popular online Chinese-language newspaper, recently reported that Nepal said it would ban China’s TikTok app. According to the report, calls to rein in the app in had been growing, and “social harmony and goodwill were at risk” due to abuse of the popular video app.

TikTok has been partially or completely banned in some other countries, many citing security concerns. Local Nepalese media reported that Nepal registered more than 1,600 TikTok-related cybercrime cases over the past four years.

Nepal’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology said the decision to ban TikTok was made at a cabinet meeting. The Minister’s colleagues are working on the technical matter of how to implement shutting down the app. The Chairman of the Nepal’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said that network service providers have been asked to block the app. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nepal’s neighbor India banned TikTok and dozens of other apps developed by Chinese developers in June 2020, saying that they could harm national security and integrity. Another South Asian country, Pakistan, has taken action against the app at least four times because the government expressed the belief that TikTok’s content was “immoral and indecent.”

Source: Oriental Daily Malaysia, November 14, 2023
https://www.orientaldaily.com.my/news/international/2023/11/14/610553

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

More International Students in the U.S. Come From China Than Anywhere Else

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently published an article highlighting statistics from the Open Doors Report, a publication on international students studying in the U.S. The Open Doors Report is jointly released by the U.S. State Department and the non-profit Institute of International Education

According to the article, the 2022-23 academic year saw the number of international students in the U.S. higher-education system reach 1.057 million, an increase of nearly 12 percent over the year before. This was the biggest annual increase in more than 40 years.

China remains the largest source of international students in the United States. During the 2022-23 academic year, the total number of Chinese students studying in the United States was 289,500. This number has declined for the third consecutive year, although there are still more Chinese students in the U.S. than students from any other non-U.S. country.

Meanwhile, American universities are concentrating on recruiting students from India. In the 2022-23 academic year, the total number of Indian students in the United States reached 268,900, an increase of 35 percent. There are 24 U.S. states in which the number of students from India exceeds the number of students from China, including Illinois, Texas and Michigan. The majority of these Indian students – nearly 166,000 – are pursuing master’s degrees or working toward other advanced credentials.

Among international students in the U.S., graduate enrollment increased by 21 percent and undergraduate enrollment increased by only one percent. This is contrary to the trend of the past decade, which saw greater increases in undergraduate enrollment.

Mathematics and computer science majors, which attract more international students than any other major, saw enrollment increase by 20 percent over the previous year, with Engineering and Commerce following close behind.

After China and India, the other countries that sent the most students to the United States were South Korea, Canada, and Vietnam.

Source: Sina, November 14, 2023
https://edu.sina.com.cn/a/2023-11-14/doc-imzuqpzn9533439.shtml

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Taiwan Confirms Deployment of Supersonic Missiles That can Reach Beijing

According to Chinese news site Sohu (NASDAQ: SOHU), Taiwan’s Chinese Academy of Sciences recently announced the debut of a supersonic cruise missile named Ching Tien. The missile was officially approved for development a few years ago and completed formal operational evaluation at the end of last year. The missile has entered the mass production stage, and the first batch of missiles has been deployed to the Taiwanese military’s missile command headquarters.

The Taiwan authorities expect to deploy 15-20 Ching Tien missiles on mobile launch platforms in northern and central Taiwan. The missiles are 14 meters long with a range of around 2,000 kilometers, sufficient to reach Beijing from Taiwan. With the missile’s deployment, the Taiwanese military now has a strategic weapon for medium and long-range strikes for the first time.

It is expected that mass production efficiency of this missile will further improve starting next year. Taiwanese authorities appear to be fully engaged in missile development activities, and the message is very clear: if the Mainland can use missiles to attack Taiwan, then Taiwan must also have the ability to attack Mainland China’s coastal and inland cities, including Beijing.

The new Taiwanese missile lacks the stealth penetration capabilities of some U.S. cruise missiles. Meanwhile, Mainland China’s military has already deployed a large number of air defense and anti-missile systems in the southeastern coastal areas, potentially providing some defensive protection against the new missiles.

Source: Sohu, November 18, 2023
https://www.sohu.com/a/737359248_121451179

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

Taiwan Investigates CCP Spy Network Targeting Retired Military Generals

Taiwanese authorities are investigating a case involving retired military generals implicated in espionage on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The investigation centers around suspect Zhu Kangming, who served as the secretary to Taiwanese Lieutenant General Jiang Weiguo (the brother of former Taiwanese President Jiang Jingguo). Zhu is accused of trying to help the CCP entice over 20 retired military generals to visit mainland China and accept the CCP’s hospitality.

It is reported that Zhu is a Hong Kong resident. Though he is not a retired military officer, he has connections with many important military leaders in Taiwan. From 2017 to 2023, he has continuously identified and introduced high-ranking military officers with certain specific ranks and/or in certain specific military branches, trying to persuade them to visit China or the United States for hospitality. These trips provided opportunities for the CCP’s United Front organs to contact, influence, and possibly recruit those officers, potentially convincing them to support the CCP’s “peaceful reunification” and “one country, two systems” ideologies.

Source: United Daily News, November 11, 2023
https://udn.com/news/story/7321/7567270

Briefings | | |   @CS Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s New Head of Culture and Tourism is Also Key Official in Central Propaganda Department

On November 14th, the official website of China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism reported that Sun Yeli (孙业礼) became the Party Secretary of China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Sun is expected to become the head of the Ministry as well. Sun also serves as the Deputy Minister of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) Central Propaganda Department.

The CCP’s decision to give Sun this joint appointment will help ensure that China’s cultural and tourism work serves the party’s needs. The Ministry’s primary responsibility is to “implement the party’s policy on cultural work,” and its secondary responsibilities include “coordinating the development of cultural and tourism industries.”

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism was formed through the integration of the Ministry of Culture and the National Tourism Administration in 2018.  Before Sun Yeli, the two prior Ministers of Culture and Tourism – -Luo Shugang (雒树刚) and Hu Heping (胡和平) — also served as high-ranking officials in the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department.

Source: Epoch Times, November 14, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/11/14/n14116083.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

CCP Trials State-Owned Cafeterias

Back in late 1950s, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rolled out community-owned cafeterias, providing free food to the populace at a massive scale. This quickly depleted the country’s food stock and led to hunger and famine. It seems that now the CCP is bringing this infamous practice back.

A recent article in China Digital Times criticized a CCP pilot program for state-owned cafeterias, discussing the cafeteria that recently opened in the Yanshi Community of Shijiazhuang city, Hebei Province. Since the start of the cafeteria’s trial operation in early October this year, the cafeteria has served more than 20,000 customers. It targets thousands of residents in the Yanshi community and surrounding areas, aiming to ensure that customers can “eat to a full stomach with 5 yuan (US$ 0.70) and eat well with 9 yuan (US$ 1.25).” Given current market conditions, it is impossible to sustain those prices without continual subsidies from the government.

The article’s author criticized state-owned cafeterias as follows: The government is using tax revenue collected from the populace at large to subsidize food for specific groups of people (i.e. people living in certain communities) — it is not fair to those who are not served. Meanwhile, if the government builds cafeterias to serve the whole populace then it is just taking people’s money (as tax) and giving it back (as subsidy to cafeteria), adding on top the inefficiency (financial waste) resulting from bureaucratic operations.

Source: China Digital Times, November 7, 2023
https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/701932.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Government/Politics

CCP Hires “Fans” to Stage Warm Welcome for Xi Jinping in San Francisco

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is known for faking things. Whenever its leader visits a country, the Chinese embassies or consulates arrange for Chinese students and other people to stage “voluntary” welcome scenes at the airport or on the street, meant to look like “grassroots” support for the VIP.

Online information shows that such a welcome was put on when Xi Jinping came to San Francisco for the APEC meeting on November 15. An online screenshot revealed that the leader of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) at the University of Southern California (USC) notified the association’s cadres:

“[I] Just received a notice from the Chinese Consulate at Los Angeles, next week from the 13th to the 17th, Xi Jinping will visit the United States. Students from USC CSSA are invited to go to San Francisco to welcome him. Since it is inappropriate to publicize the schedule, we currently only know the following:

  • Students who sign up will all ride a bus to SF.
  • For everyone’s safety, you are not allowed to arrange your own trip or engage in independent activities.
  • All travel expenses and accommodation for food and board are covered.
  • If you want to participate, please contact me before 4:00! Once you sign up, you cannot withdraw.”

On November 16th, a posting on social media platform X showed that some students complained about not getting what the CCP promised earlier (Note: the Chinese consulate usually brings people from multiple places, so this may not come from the USC CSSA):

“1. The Chinese embassy claimed there would be free meals, but only some people received them, and most ordinary students did not.
2. There was a promise of a $400 subsidy per person, but in the end the CSSA told students it will be only $100.
3. Students who expressed desire to withdraw from the participation were directly warned that it would be recorded in their files in China, making them unable to join the communist party or take civil service exams in the future.”

Source: Epoch Times, November 16, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/11/16/n14117681.htm

Briefings | | |   @CS Government/Politics US-China Relations

German Media: CCP’s Harassing Dissidents in Germany

German Media outlet Der Tagesspiegel (Daily Mirror) reported that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has extended its psychological terror tactics into Germany, targeting overseas dissidents. The report says that the CCP employs tactics such as tracking, hacking email accounts, silencing with hush money, and sending threatening emails with “bloody corpse photos.” For example, two Chinese state actors followed a Hong Kong activist when he went to have lunch with some German congresspeople, taking pictures of them openly so that they would know they were being followed. Another dissident reported that someone opened a porn account with her name on the social media platform X, leading male strangers to ring her doorbell almost every day; she also received rape threats and death threats. Another dissident received several dozen threatening calls in one day, and a scholar received threatening emails with photos of blood-stained corpses.

Source: Epoch Times, November 10, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/11/10/n14114056.htm

Briefings | | |   @CS Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics