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Former President of Micronesia: The CCP Coerces, Bribes, and Infiltrates Pacific Island Countries

David Panuelo, the Former President of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), stated that Beijing is infiltrating various Pacific island nations through economic coercion, bribery, and other means.

He gave an example, stating that when the Vice President of Micronesia was still a senator, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempted to bribe him with a bag full of money, but he refused.

He said that Chinese diplomatic personnel contacted him when he was

He mentioned that during his visit to Beijing, Chinese diplomatic personnel specialized in Pacific island nations contacted him to conveyed the intentions of the CCP leader, Xi Jinping. They emphasized that China would “fulfill all requests made by Micronesia.”

In July of last year, when he traveled to Fiji to participate in the Pacific Islands Forum, he was followed by two Chinese men. Micronesia discovered that they were working at the Chinese Embassy in Fiji, and one of them was an intelligence officer.

Source: Epoch Times, December 1, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/12/1/n14128093.htm

Briefings | | |   @CS Geo-Strategic Trend

China Concedes in Dispute with Lithuania over Taiwanese Representative Office, Lifts Sanctions

China recently lifted the severe trade restrictions imposed on Lithuania after the Baltic state established a “Taiwanese Representative Office” in late 2021.

The sanctions were part of Beijing’s vigorous efforts to prevent  other countries around the world from establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Representatives of the Chinese government said that it would only be permissible for the Taiwanese office in Lithuania to be referred to as a “Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office,” and that the terminology “Taiwanese Representative Office” was unacceptable. Under normal diplomatic relations between sovereign states, a similar outpost of one country within another would be called an “Embassy.”

German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quoted Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on the new development in China-Lithuania relations: the Chinese government has ended its attempt at “economic coercion,” and the name “Taiwanese Representative Office” will remain despite Beijing’s criticism. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung praised Lithuania, saying that the small country had won the principles-based fights.

Lithuania conducts trade with China worth tens of millions of euros. China’s restrictive measures led to an 80% drop in Lithuania’s 2022 exports to China. The EU raised the issue of Chinese-Lithuanian trade with the World Trade Organization at the end of 2022.

Many EU countries, including Eastern European countries, no longer see China as a favorable partner. Last year, Baltic countries Latvia and Estonia followed Lithuania’s lead in withdrawing from the China and Central and Eastern European Countries (China-CEEC) initiative, also known as the 14+1 initiative (formerly 17+1). These Baltic states have established trade offices with Taiwan. The Czech Republic also got closer to Taiwan, deviating from its historically-close ties with China. China’s support of Russia during the Russia-Ukraine war further alienated many countries in the EU.

Facing serious economic challenges domestically, China now seeks to ease relations with Western countries. This recent move on trade with Lithuania is one such effort, potentially lightening tensions with the European Union (EU) ahead of the upcoming China-EU Summit. In another such effort, Beijing has cancelled travel visa requirements for citizens of five different EU countries, enabling easier travel to China.

Source: Back China, December 3, 2023
https://www.backchina.com/news//2023/12/03/889175.html

Briefings | | |   @CS Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

Consular Volunteer Programs: Another of the CCP’s Long-Armed Control Mechanisms

According to a report by Spain-based human rights organization Safeguard Defenders, Beijing has established a “Consular Volunteer” mechanism over the past decade. The Consular Volunteer Programs, which operate out of Chinese consulates in foreign countries, engage in information gathering, infiltration, and surveillance globally. Beijing does not notify host countries about such programs, violating the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The report follows Safeguard Defenders’ disclosure last year of over 100 overseas police stations established by the Chinese government in more than fifty countries.

Such “Consular Volunteer networks” have been established in several dozen Chinese overseas communities, including in the U.S., Belgium, Sweden, Italy, the U.K., Spain, Greece, Portugal, France, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Turkey, Chile, Malaysia, Japan, the UAE, South Africa, and other countries across five continents. The report by Safeguard Defenders has released an investigative report titled “China’s Consular Volunteers.”

According to the report, the programs would recruit Chinese overseas individuals, some unpaid but provided with operational expenses directly managed by the consulate. Working as “volunteers,” these individuals are controlled by the Chinese government to engage in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) united front work.

The CCP’s integraiton of overseas united front networks with consular services has enabled it to systematically obtain personal information, home addresses, and contact details of different targets. The gathered information may be used to systematically harm or manipulate overseas groups or use coercive means against those who have political views unaligned with Beijing.

The Safeguard Defenders report noted that the G7 group issued a joint statement after its May 2023 summit in Hiroshima, explicitly demanding that China comply with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Just a few months later, China’s State Council promulgated a set of “Consular Protection and Assistance Regulations,” effective starting September 1, 2023, which encouraged Chinese overseas consulates to recruit volunteers and to recognize and reward the volunteers’ performance.

Sources:

Radio Free Asia, November 22, 2023
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/hx2-11222023091732.html

SafeguardDefenders.com, November 21, 2023
https://safeguarddefenders.com/en/blog/chinas-consular-volunteers

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

Pro-CCP Crowd Attacked Anti-CCP Protesters During Xi Jinping’s Visit to San Francisco

Chinese Embassies and Consulates in the United States organized many Chinese associations and student associations to welcome Xi Jinping when he attended the APEC meeting and the Biden-Xi Summit in San Francisco from November 15 to 17. These pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) people outnumbered the anti-CCP protesters by several times. Over a dozen incidents were reported where pro-CCP people attacked anti-CCP protesters and injured them.

A representative of the Chinese Democratic Party, which opposes the CCP and is banned in mainland China, said that 24 of the group’s members were assaulted by individuals associated with pro-CCP overseas groups, resulting in several injuries. The China Democracy and Human Rights Alliance, as well as the Democracy Front, reported that several of their protesters were also assaulted.

Protester Jia Junwei told Voice of America that “They chased me continuously. After surrounding me with the Chinese flag, a woman in her forties or fifties knocked me down. Then, they kicked my head, and used the flagpole to attack my head. Later, I was taken to the hospital.” Hong Kong protester Zhou Qihong, 74, was assaulted twice on November 15 and 17 in different locations by pro-Communist thugs. Topjor Tsultrim, a member of the Free Tibet organization, informed Voice of America, “At least 30 Tibetan protesters were beaten by pro-CCP groups. The attack at the airport protest site on November 17 was the most intense one against the Tibetan protesters. Three young Tibetan university students were attacked by over 20 Chinese individuals with metal rods, resulting in head injuries and broken bones. Eventually, they had to be taken to the hospital. On the same day, several Tibetans were struck with flags, stabbed with iron rods, and women’s hair was pulled. One of our activists was recording everything when her phone was snatched from her and thrown into the river.”

The San Francisco police didn’t arrest any pro-CCP persons. They did arrested protester Jie Lijian, however.

Jie was released from the San Francisco County Jail without bail on November 20. He told Voice of America, “We were peacefully protesting, and people from Chinese overseas groups attacked my back and head with flagpoles and steel pipes. I began vomiting and needed to use the restroom. In the process of finding a restroom, I was isolated and arrested by the police in an alley.” Jie also said, “If I didn’t defend myself in a situation where my head was being attacked with steel pipes, I wouldn’t be here speaking with everyone. I might have been beaten to death by the other party.”

Many human rights activists believe these attacks should not be allowed to happen in the U.S. They show the CCP’s long-armed influence on U.S. soil. Chinese human rights groups and pro-democracy activists have kept tally of beatings and injuries by the pro-CCP groups; they are planning to provide evidence criminal conduct to the FBI and Congress.

Source: Voice of America, November 22, 2023
https://www.voachinese.com/a/congress-urged-to-probe-attacks-on-chinese-dissidents-in-xi-jinping-protest-20231121/7364581.html

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

CCP’s United Front Minister Meets Future Elite Thai Leaders Trained by China

On November 23rd, a high-level Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official met with representatives of the “Thailand-China New Era Leadership Elite Training Program” in Beijing. The official, Shi Taifeng, is a CCP Politburo member and Minister of the CCP’s United Front Work Department. Shi promoted China’s ideology of the “China-Thailand Community for a Shared Future for Mankind” and the CCP’s “Belt and Road Initiative.” On the same day, Wan Lijun, Chairman of the CCP’s Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, also met with the visiting Thai delegation. Sahathai Maneechot, former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, expressed intention to strengthen close ties with the CCP’s Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and to collaborate on the CCP’s “Community of Shared Future for Mankind.”

The “Thailand-China New Era Leadership Training Program” started as early as 2018, initiated by the Chinese Association in Thailand. It is held several times a year, with high-ranking figures from Thailand’s political, military, business, and academic sectors participating.

At the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China in September of this year, China’s Premier Li Qiang announced the “Ten Thousand People Training and Seminar Program,” in which China will train 10,000 talents for ASEAN countries in the fields of governance, anti-corruption, and green development.

Sources:
1. Epoch Times, November 25, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/11/25/n14123929.htm
2. Chinascope, September 15, 2023

Li Qiang Announced China’s Leadership Training Programs for ASEAN Countries

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

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

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