Geo-Strategic Trend - 120. page

Deutsche Welle Chinese Edition recently reported that The World Economic Forum (WEF) just released its annual Global Competitiveness Report. The United States fell from number one to number two this year. The top five globally are Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. China ranked number 28 globally and number 8 in the Asia-Pacific region. Compared to last year, Germany’s rank suffered a very big decline globally, from the third to the seventh place. This was mainly due to the low implementation rate of fiber network deployment (number 72) and mobile bandwidth (number 58). The slide in the U.S. rank was primarily the result of trade tariffs and the worry about their long-term investment impact. However, Singapore’s move to the top was largely due to the increased port benefits at the time of a trade war between the two largest economies. The WEF report is based on data in categories of infrastructure, health, the labor market, the financial system, market openness, and the ecosystem for innovation.

Source: DW Chinese, October 9, 2019
https://bit.ly/2VBqXfU

Xi Jinping’s visit to India received a lot of attention. In China, the media covered Xi’s visit except for one welcome ceremony when two thousand Indian students wore Xi Jinping face masks. On October 11, Xi Jinping went to Chennai to meet with Indian Prime Minister Modi. During the welcoming ceremony, two thousand local students wore face masks with Xi Jinping’s picture on it while they formed Xi Jinping’s name in Chinese characters. Even though it was such a grand welcoming ceremony, China’s official media did not mention the scene. One of the reasons could be related to Hong Kong’s facial mask law. The Hong Kong authorities have put forth an effort to ban facial masks and people wearing masks are the image of Hong Kong protestors. The Indian students wearing a mask that had the image of Xi Jinping smiling on it might not go over well given the current circumstances in Hong Kong.

It was not easy for Xi Jinping to visit India. China and India have differences: a long-standing unresolved border issue, as well as Kashmir’s territorial disputes, and China’s close ties with Pakistan who is an enemy of India. This is the second time that Xi Jinping and Modi have met. The location was Chennai. Their talk avoided Kashmir and the atmosphere of the talks was still peaceful. Modi even said that the India-China relationship has begun a “new era.”

Source: Radio France Internationale, October 13, 2019
http://rfi.my/4f7U

On October 12, the 10th World Chinese Language Media Forum was held in Shijiazhuang city of Hebei province. The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office under the State Council, the provincial government of Hebei Province, and the China News Agency sponsored the event. According to China’s official Xinhua News Agency, more than 600 from senior management along with influential media leaders from over 400 Chinese media outlets in 61 countries and regions attended the forum.

Shen Yueyue, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress gave a speech at the opening ceremony. She said that the Chinese language media “have made important contributions to shaping China’s image, spreading Chinese culture, and promoting exchanges between China and foreign countries.” Shen hoped that “Chinese media would take advantage of having access to both Chinese and foreign resources to tell the China story well.”

Source: Xinhua, October 12, 2019
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2019-10/12/c_1125096389.htm

An internal analysis report from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz in Germany or BfV), Germany’s domestic security agency, pointed out that German tourists and business travelers visiting China are facing the threat of Chinese intelligence agencies eavesdropping on them. The internal report warned that, since May 2019, new regulations which open the door for Chinese intelligence agencies have been introduced into China’s visa application. “At the visa application stage, the intelligence agency can screen the targets for eavesdropping based on the applicant’s information.” BfV believes that the new application form for Chinese visas has added a great number of questions, thus facilitating espionage.

Deutsche Welle also checked application forms on the China’s Visa Application website and found that the newly added contents were mainly professional information compared to the previous versions. The new form requires a complete detailing of professional experience, including the contact details of the companies and also the name and contact information of the direct supervisor. In addition to the educational history, the new form also requires information on language skills. Information on military service, past experience abroad, special skills such as explosives, nuclear engineering, participation in charitable organizations, and the history of any mental illness.

In contrast, Chinese citizens who apply for a short-term in Germany and are issued a visa to the Schengen Area are not required to provide such detailed information. However, for Chinese citizens to apply for a visa to the United States, the information required is much more detailed.

The German language Focus magazine that obtained the above mentioned BfV report revealed that the BfV report pointed out that the personal sensitive information that the applicants fill out for a Chinese visa will help Chinese intelligence agencies to be able to prepare better for potential eavesdropping. “China has been installing comprehensive monitoring facilities in public in recent years. This further facilitates the surveillance.” “If the visitor is selected in advance, the intelligence agency will immediately put him through comprehensive and nonstop monitoring as soon as he enters the country.” It is “almost unavoidable” that his paper materials and digital information on smartphones and computers will be subject to inspection.

The report also emphasized, “The greater the risk, the more caution should be taken when staying in the concerned country.” BfV suggested that the less sensitive the information is that German travelers carry to China, the better. “It’s best to carry a brand new phone for one-time use, instead of a smartphone that stores sensitive information.” The laptop one carries should also not contain important company data.

Source: Deutsche Welle, October 9, 2019
https://p.dw.com/p/3Qwt2

On Monday, October 7,the Czech Republic’s capital city of Prague decided to end the sister city relationship that it started with Beijing three years ago. After the current mayor Zdeněk Hřib took office, he requested that the “one China principle” term in the sister city agreement be removed. In response, China has repeatedly cancelled the Czech orchestra’s trips to China.

The city councilor of Hara, Kordová Marvanová, proposed the bill to end the sister city relationship with Beijing. She believed that the agreement of the sister city relationship should not contain a declaration of a political position. In addition, Prague should not support an authoritarian regime in this way.

In March 2016, when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Czech Republic, the two countries signed a number of treaties and agreements, including the establishment of a sister city pairing between Prague and Beijing. The agreement stated that Prague was committed to abiding by the “one China principle” and recognized that “Taiwan is an inalienable territory of China.” It was the mayor of Prague, Adriana Krnáčová, who, at that time, pushed the agreement.

In November 2018, 37-year-old Zdeněk Hřib, a strong supporter of Taiwan, succeeded Krnáčová as the current mayor. Starting in January of this year, Hřib has called on Beijing to remove the “one-China” clause from the sister city agreement. Hřib visited Taiwan in March. Hřib said that Prague only wants to focus on cultural cooperation, not politics. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the riots in Tibet on March 10 of this year, many buildings including the Prague City Hall raised the snow lion flag of the Tibetan government in exile.

In retaliation, over the past six months, China has cancelled the itineraries of the Prague Philharmonic, the Pražák Quartet, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Guarneri Trio Prague in coming to China. The cancellations caused dissatisfaction in the Czech Republic’s political and cultural circles. Last month, the Czech Culture Minister Lubomír Zaorálek summoned Zhang Jianmin, the Chinese ambassador to the Czech Republic, to criticize the Chinese side for canceling the performance of the Czech orchestra as “seriously hurting China’s image.” Zaorálek said that bilateral cooperation can only be based on mutual respect, and China’s behavior is not in line with that. He was frightened that China would stop at nothing in order to force the outside world to accept its political views. Zaorálek added that if the Beijing authorities continued this behavior, the Czech Republic would stop the cultural exchanges with China.

Source: Deutsche Welle, October 7, 2019
https://p.dw.com/p/3QqJS

Xinhua recently reported that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in his speech to Japan’s congress that Japan intends to “start a new era” for the Japan-China relationship and to push for a “new stage” in that relationship. Abe also mentioned that, in addition to improving leadership level visits, Japan plans to expand exchanges on both the economic level and the youth relationship level. In his speech, Abe also discussed critical topics such as an amendment to the constitution, a consumer tax hike, and social security reform. The speech was delivered to the temporary congressional assembly, which ends on December 9. Abe just restructured his cabinet on September 11.

Source: Xinhua, October 4, 2019
http://www.xinhuanet.com/2019-10/04/c_1125072121.htm