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China Bullies Japan into Joining Ping Pong Tournament

A recent dispute within the China-Japan Table Tennis Association highlighted that the Chinese Communist Party can bully other countries over any matter. China plans to host the 2023 Mixed Team Table Tennis World Cup in Chengdu in December. Initially, Japan’s Table Tennis Association refused to participate in it, citing reasons including the absence of world ranking points and short notice (notice came out in August). Beijing responded by recalling Chinese players (a total of 14) who are playing in the Japanese Table Tennis League back to China. In the end, the Japan Table Tennis Association gathered enough players to participate in China’s competition. Soon after, the Chinese players resumed their playing in the Japanese league.

Source: Epoch Times, November 13, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/11/13/n14115239.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Sichuan Hospital Job Listing Requires Nurses to Have Master’s or Doctoral Degree

West China Second Hospital recently posted a job ad seeking 34 nurses. Surprisingly, the job posting required that applicants possess a master’s or PhD degree. Typically, nursing roles in mainland China require only an undergraduate degree.

Fierce competition for jobs in China has led to “degree inflation,” with a spiraling trend of employers demanding higher and higher qualifications from job applicants. This year saw a record 4.74 million people take China’s graduate school entrance exam, up from only 2.38 million in 2018. In Beijing there are now over 160,000 individuals who hold a master’s or doctoral degree, surpassing for the first time the roughly 130,000 people in Beijing who hold only an undergraduate college degree. Similar trends are happening across China.

Some Chinese netizens reacted strongly to the Sichuan hospital’s job posting on social media, expressing outrage or lamenting over what they saw as increasingly unrealistic academic requirements for jobs.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), November 14, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202311140329.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

2023 World Association for Performing Arts Convenes in Beijing

A report in China’s state newspaper People’s Daily stated that the 2023 World Association for Performing Arts (WAPA) and the Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music launched in Beijing on November 13. Over 300 representatives from 187 international art institutions in 30 countries gathered to “discuss new developments and challenges facing symphonic activities worldwide.”

According to People’s Daily, WAPA is an international, professional, non-profit organization voluntarily formed by theaters, cultural groups, art schools, and other performing arts institutions. It is headquartered in Beijing with its secretariat at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA). WAPA aims to “build an open exchange platform to promote outstanding performing arts, strengthen technology integration, and encourage civilizational exchange and common prosperity.”

NCPA President Wang Ning, also the Chair of WAPA, said that the NCPA has long promoted cultural integration and Sino-foreign communication, and that the NCPA will continue working with global institutions to support WAPA in organizing activities and weaving “a spiritual bond of beauty and commonality in the global performing arts.”

Cormac Sims, Administrative Director of the British Royal Opera House, applauded WAPA’s initiative as “an important link between countries.” He looks forward to “making more progress together.”

WAPA regularly organizes forums on performing arts and symphonic music. The 2023 Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music has the theme “Seeking New Horizons, Sharing and Coexistence.” Discussions will focus on music education and audience expansion, contemporary symphonic music visions, and co-creation platforms. Artists and industry leaders will address symphonic music developments and promote global exchange and mutual understanding.

Source: People’s Daily, November 14, 2023
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2023-11/14/nw.D110000renmrb_20231114_2-04.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry Confirms China’s MSS Hacked Presidential Office

South Korea’s newspaper of record Dong-a Ilbo reported that China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) hacked the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs last January and leaked 4.5GB of emails. The hacking took place during former President Moon Jae-in’s presidency. South Korean authorities admitted that the attack came from China and said that the MSS also infiltrated the computer network at Korea’s Blue House presidential office.

The Dong-A Ilbo report quoted a South Korean government source saying that an investigation by Korea’s National Intelligence Service concluded that MSS was behind the attack. To pull off the hack, the MSS exploited vulnerabilities in spam-blocking equipment. This gives South Korea strong evidence that China was trying to steal confidential information regarding Korea’s government and presidential office.

Korea’s foreign ministry confirmed that emails were leaked but said they “did not contain any secrets” and were mostly personal spam. However, the Korean investigation found evidence that the MSS attempted to go further with its hacking, “trying to invade the [Korean] Wa Dae computer network to gain access to confidential documents from the South Korean Ministry of National Defense.” According to the article, the South Korean government has been aware of the hacking since January 2022. An ally notified South Korea through intelligence channels that there were signs of Chinese hackers breaching the foreign ministry, and the incoming Yoon administration immediately investigated.

Analysts suggest the vulnerability to cyber-attacks may have been a motivating factor behind President Yoon’s decision to move the Korean presidential residence from the historic Blue House to the Ministry of Defense Building.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 10, 2023
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/kr-hacker-11102023020930.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

RFA: China’s October Exports Continued Trend of Decline

Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported that the latest data released by China’s General Administration of Customs shows China’s exports fell in October by 6.4 percent year-over year in US dollar-terms. Imports increased by 3.0 percent during the same period.

Exports from China to major trading partners such as the European Union, the United States, and Japan all declined during the first ten months of 2023. In October, China’s trade surplus was US$56.53 billion, a 30.8 percent reduction year-over-year. China’s exports have now fallen for six consecutive months.

During the first ten months of 2023, China’s exports to the ASEAN group (China’s top trading partner) increased by 0.6 percent. Meanwhile, exports to the EU, the United States and Japan (China’s 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-ranked trading partners), fell by 5 percent, 9.9 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.

China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) deficit in the third quarter of 2023 was US$11.8 billion. This is the first time that China’s foreign exchange regulatory authorities have recorded an FDI deficit since they began compiling data in 1998. As the United States has ramped up its technology blockade against China, companies have accelerated the relocation of their supply chains away from China, replacing China’s position in the supply chain with countries in Southeast Asia or Mexico. Due to Mexico’s proximity to the North American market, even Mainland China companies have been moving production to Mexico.

Currently, more than US$1 trillion from Wall Street private equity funds is locked up in China, and Chinese companies like Evergrande have refused to repay their bonds. Such debt defaults have greatly shaken foreign businesses’ confidence and willingness to invest in China. Many U.S. investment banks worry that their investments may need to be written off as donations.

Source: RFA, November 7, 2023
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jingmao/hcm-11072023082542.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Lianhe Zaobao: People in Over 20 Countries Favor the United States Over China

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey comparing people’s views on China and the United States in 24 countries, most people support the United States far more than China.

Most respondents had a more favorable impression of U.S. President Joe Biden than of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Around 56 percent were more confident in how Biden has handled foreign affairs, while 19 percent were more confident in Xi Jinping than Biden. Across 24 countries, including Japan, Canada and Mexico, more people believe that the United States is more likely than China to consider their own country’s interests.

In countries such as South Korea, the United Kingdom, and India, the greater portion of respondents believe that the United States has contributed more to global peace and stability than China. The survey found that China has a poor image in North America, Europe and Asia, but a better image in Africa and Latin America. High-income countries tend to favor the United States more. In Japan and South Korea there are gaps of 57 percent and 62 percent, respectively, between the portions of respondents who support the United States versus those who support China. Even in the majority of middle-income countries, respondents are more confident in Biden than in Xi Jinping, with the exception of Indonesia and Hungary, where the U.S. and Chinese leaders were nearly tied in terms of respondent perceptions.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, November 7, 2023
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/world/story20231107-1448477

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

CNA: Estonia to Allow Taiwan to Establish Representative Office

Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that the Estonian government has agreed to allow Taiwan to open an economic and cultural representative office in the Estonian capital Tallinn under the name Taipei. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna issued a statement after a regular review of Estonian policy regarding China. The statement indicated that, like many other European Union countries, Estonia is ready to accept the establishment of a non-diplomatic Taipei economic and cultural representative office to promote bilateral relations. However, Tsahkna also emphasized that Estonia does not recognize Taiwan as a country based on the one-China policy framework. He said that Estonia wants its China policy to be consistent with the EU and supports Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) to fight against global disasters like the pandemic. He pointed out that “Obviously, it is also important for us that we defend fundamental values, including democracy and human rights. We stress this every time we meet with Chinese representatives.”

Source: CNA, November 4, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202311040003.aspx

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China Introduces New Housing Reform

The CCP recently introduced a significant “housing reform” program, outlining a dual-track system primarily focusing on affordable housing to resolve housing market issues. The policy, titled “Guiding Opinions on Planning and Constructing Affordable Housing,” emphasizes two goals:

  1. increasing the construction and supply of affordable housing in major cities, and
  2. limiting investment-oriented commercial housing.

The policy stipulates that 60% of the housing market be allocated to affordable, public rental, and low-cost housing (保障性住房, affordable housing), and 40% be designated as “improved housing” housing (改善性住房, commercial housing). The policy targets three main groups as recipients of affordable housing: low-to-medium-income earners, new graduates, and “talented persons” recommended by the government for housing. Affordable housing is restricted to one unit per applicant, and it is forbidden from being turned into commercial housing. The reform aims to repurpose unused land and commercial housing inventory.

Beijing will carry out the housing reform in cities with over 3 million residents. There are 35 such cities in China, including Beijing, and Shanghai.

Some have raised concern over potential consequences of this policy:

  • it may put additional pressure on China’s commercial real estate market, pushing more real estate developers to bankruptcy;
  • it may result in financial loss for Chinese investors, who are heavily invested in real estate; and
  • China’s local governments may not have sufficient money to fund the development of affordable housing.

Source: Epoch Times, November 10, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/11/10/n14114014.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Government/Politics