Geo-Strategic Trend - 122. page

Major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN) recently reported that the Australian authorities have started an investigation into agreements signed between 13 Australian universities and the Chinese Confucius Institute. These agreements all allow the Chinese government to review and control the teaching content of the Confucius Institutes. The Australian government suspected that these agreements are in fact in violation of the anti-foreign-interference laws passed last year. The investigation found that all these agreements have a certain levels of compromise of the university’s academic freedom. In exchange they receive Chinese funding support, 3000 Chinese books and some other educational resources. Among the 13 universities, four of them – the University of Queensland (UQ), Griffith University (GU), La Trobe University (LTU) and Charles Darwin University (CDU) – compromised the most. They all accepted in writing that they would allow the Chinese government to inspect teaching quality. Australian Inspector General Christian Porter confirmed that the government is evaluating the application of the new laws.

Source: LTN, July 25, 2019
https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/2864124

United Daily News (UDN), one of the primary Taiwanese news groups, recently reported that there has been an increasing number of incidents in which the labels of Chinese products are replaced with “Made in Vietnam” labels. These incidents are getting more and more attention. The Vietnamese government has ordered its various ministries to keep a close eye on these activities of “country of origin wash.” The ministries were also asked to come up with plans to prevent and to strike against these illegal cases. The U.S. Customs already reported last month on the discovery of shipments of Chinese products through a number of different countries with an “origin wash.” U.S. President Trump already hinted recently that Vietnam could be the next target to be sanctioned after China. The Vietnamese government was deeply troubled by these “wash” activities and announced its intent to treat it as a priority on inspecting Chinese imports. The government also aimed to stop smuggling activities from China. Some detailed action plans have already been deployed.

Source: UDN, July 26, 2019
https://udn.com/news/story/12639/3951819

Christian Lindner, a member of the German parliament and leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP),was  recently the head of a delegation to visit Asia. In China, on the last stop of the delegation’s trip, Lindner received rude treatment from Beijing. A Chinese official berated him for 30 minutes. It is believed to relate to the German lawmaker’s brief stop in Hong Kong and his meeting with the city’s pro-democracy lawmakers.

The long scheduled Asia trip included Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and China. When Lindner finally arrived in China, he received a cold reception. A number of prearranged meetings with senior Communist Party officials were cancelled at the last minute. A Chinese official shouted at Lindner for 30 minutes on the Hong Kong issue. The German Der Spiegel magazine broke the story, and Süddeutsche Zeitung (a South German Newspaper) and Focus magazine did follow-up reports.

According to Handelsblatt, a leading German-language business newspaper, Chinese officials strongly condemned Germany about the wave of protests in Hong Kong. They claimed that the German public opinion’s support of the protests and Germany’s refugee protection given to Hong Kong dissidents provoked people’s violence in breaking into the city’s Legislative Council.

Berlin’s daily newspaper Berliner Zeitung reported that Lindner replied and refused to accept any charges. In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Lindner said that, since China abandoned polite diplomacy, he also was straightforward. Chinese officials were not happy with what he said. After he finished speaking, the welcome meeting was over.

Source: Radio France International, July 25, 2019.
http://rfi.my/4JLM.T

After three years, China has resumed constructing nuclear plants. According to the Paper, as of the end of June, nuclear power projects in Shandong Rongcheng, Fujian Zhangzhou, and Guangdong Taipingling have started or approved the start of construction. The completion of the Zhangzhou Nuclear Power Plant in Fujian province means that it will be the third closest nuclear power plant to Taiwan. 2015 was the last time that China approved the construction of nuclear power units. It approved a total of eight new nuclear power units that year.

Li Fulong, director of the Development Planning Department of the National Energy Administration of China, made the above remarks at a press conference on the 25th. According to the article, the Shandong Rongcheng project has started construction. The Fujian Zhangzhou and Guangdong Taipingling nuclear power projects have been approved, but construction has not yet started. The statistics from China Nuclear Energy Association affirmed that, as of March 31, 2019, China had a total of 45 nuclear power units in commercial operation.

The distribution map of the mainland’s neighboring Taiwan nuclear power plant provided by the official website of the Atomic Energy Commission of the Republic of China shows that the nearest nuclear power plant to Taiwan is the Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant, only 162 kilometers away from Miaoli Tongyu. It is followed by the Fujian Ningde Nuclear Power Plant, 229 kilometers away from Taiwan. The Zhangzhou Nuclear Power is to be located in Yunxiao County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province. After completion, it will become the third nuclear power plant that has a close proximity to Taiwan.

Source: Central News Agency, July 28, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201907280059.aspx

The Epoch Times reported that gangsters attacked protesters in Hong Kong at the Yuen Long Train Station on Sunday July 21. About 430,000 protesters joined in an anti-extradition parade to protest that the Hong Kong government has not responded to citizen’s appeals. When the parade was at the Train Station of Yuen Long, more than one hundred gangsters came out to beat the protesters. The gangsters wore white clothes and masks. They used batons to beat people rather brutally and even entered the train cars to beat people inside. At least 36 people, including Democratic legislator Lam Cheuk Ting and a reporter from Stand News, were wounded and sent to four hospitals. One is still in critical situation. (Editor’s note: Newer reports had the injury count at 45).

The report cited six videos of the gangsters brutally beating protesters. Another video showed a youth kneeling at a train car door begging the gangster not to enter, but someone in white punched him and he fell down.

Many people asked, “Where were the police.” An article in the Guardian stated, “When police arrived at the station after 11pm, the assailants had left and angry protesters demanded to know why they had taken so long to get there.”

Sources:
1. The Epoch Times, July 22, 2019
http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/19/7/21/n11400120.htm
2. YouTube, July 22, 2019

3. The Guardian, July 22, 2019
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/22/where-were-the-police-hong-kong-outcry-after-masked-thugs-launch-attack

Deutsche Welle Chinese recently reported that the friendly relationship between the City of Prague and the City of Beijing is changing. Early this year Prague’s Mayor, Zdenek Hrib, expressed his intent to remove the content in the agreement between the two cities that acknowledges Taiwan being a part of China. The new agreement is still under negotiation. However, Mayer Hrib’s opinion angered Beijing. In June, Beijing cancelled the Czech Philharmonic’s concert in Beijing despite the fact that they had signed a contract. Hrib used this as an example to describe Beijing as an unreliable business partner. Hrib’s predecessor had signed the relationship agreement, partly in the interest of getting a panda. In explaining its position, Prague expressed that human rights are more valuable than the right to have a panda in the zoo. Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek is planning to step in.

Source: DW Chinese, July 19, 2019
https://bit.ly/2y9Lj5b

Major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN) recently reported that China temporarily delayed the funding of the Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) construction under the One Belt One Road initiative. Only half of the 470-kilometer railway project, leading to nowhere, has been completed. China has put the funding on hold due to its concern over project feasibility problems. Another reason may be significant resource waste. In addition, it may have something to do with Kenya’s debt level. The total funds on hold has reached US$4.9 billion. Critics pointed out that the SGR project was too costly and may not turn profitable in the long run. Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta visited China this May, hoping to get the funding resumed. However, the Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Wu Peng told local media that he could not understand the source of Kenya’s confidence. The SGR has been labeled the largest project in half a century. Most of Kenya’s debts, that is, around 22 percent of all that it owes, is to China.

Source: LTN, July 19, 2019
https://ec.ltn.com.tw/article/breakingnews/2857749