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Mingpao: Hong Kong Lawyers Marched in Black

Mingpao, one of the primary Hong Kong newspapers, recently reported that, on June 7, around 3,000 Hong Kong lawyers marched in silence against the government’s recent plan to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance. The proposed amendments effectively extend the Mainland’s criminal laws to Hong Kong. The Hong Kong legal community, along with the local residents, are deeply concerned about the independent status of Hong Kong’s its legal system. All participants in the march were dressed in black, with no signs, banners or slogans. The group walked from the Court of Final Appeal to the city government headquarters. The protesters were led by seven former chairpersons of the highly respected Hong Kong Bar Association. The number of participants in the march is considered to be the highest since Hong Kong returned to China. Multiple members of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council also joined the march. The Legal community is also worried about the fact that the government criticized the judges expressing their opinions and did not consult them on law amendments. The focal point of these local public opinions is that, in the past, it was the Mainland government trying to bypass the Hong Kong legal system

This time it is the Hong Kong government.

Source: Mingpao, June 7, 2019
https://bit.ly/2F0r6CB

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Social Stability

CNA: The Pope Chases the China Dream; What about the Underground Churches?

Primary Taiwanese news agency CNA (The Central News Agency) recently reported that, in a press interview, the Pope again brought up the China Dream, without mentioning the struggling Mainland underground churches that the communist government is suppressing. He explained that the China-Vatican agreement “has no issue” and the opposition is minor. This was a strong blow to the feelings of the Mainland underground church members, since the Pope always used to mention their sacrifice while discussing the need to have a dialogue with the Chinese government. The Pope changed his tone this time by saying the agreement is supported by “all” Chinese believers. He indicated that only a few underground church leaders opposed the agreement, feeling excluded from the decision-making. However, these were the people who had been jailed for decades for safeguarding their belief. The Pope’s dismissal of the “minority” is more of a political angle rather than a soul-saving angle. The Chinese communists are sill, today, demolishing legal churches, removing crosses, and deleting words like “Bible” and “God” from textbooks.

Source: CNA, May 29, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/201905290320.aspx

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics

VOA: Assertive Statements by China’s Defense Minister Made China Miss Opportunity to Reshape Its Bullying Image

VOA reported that Taiwan condemned some remarks that Wei Fenghe, a top official at the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, made at the Shangri-La Dialogue. At the same time, Wei’s statements which were simply made in accordance with the CCP’s textbook, and his inflexible response to questions, resulted in China missing an opportunity for the international community to reassess Beijing’s bullying behavior.

According to the article, during his speech at the 18th Shangri-La Dialogue, which the IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies) had organized, General Wei Fenghe, China’s Minister of National Defense, sent the following message to the Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party and the external forces: “First, no attempt to split China will succeed. Second, foreign intervention in the Taiwan question is doomed to failure. Third, any underestimation of the PLA’s resolve and will is extremely dangerous.” Wei also claimed that, “If anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will have no choice but to fight at all cost for national unity. … If the PLA cannot even safeguard the unity of our motherland, what do we need it for?” The Taiwan Affairs Council immediately issued a statement of solemn condemnation saying that Taiwan was never part of the China and that the CCP’s military imposes a serious threat to the Taiwan Strait and to regional peace.

Bonnie Glaser, director of the CSIS China Power Research Department at the Washington Center for Strategic Thinking and International Studies, told the Voice of America, after listening to Wei Fenghe’s speech, that disregarding (U.S. acting Secretary of Defense) Shanahan’s rather amiable speech the day before, Wei Fenghe still went ahead and delivered his bluntly prepared speeches. It made China lose an opportunity to resolve differences with the United States.

Source: Voice of America, June 2 and June 3, 2019
https://www.voachinese.com/a/beijing-rigid-view-shangri-la-20190602/4942254.html
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-taiwan-independence/4942336.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

UDN: South Korean Industries Push New Laws to Prevent Core Technologies from Leaking to China

United Daily News (UDN), one of the primary Taiwanese news groups, recently reported that South Korean industrial associations are pushing new laws to impose heavy punishment for leaking the nation’s core technologies. In the past years, major South Korean industries like semiconductors, displays, and automobiles have been seeing a severe outflow of core technologies and key talent to China. The proposed new laws include a redefinition of core national technologies and information protection, as well as punishment for leaking the core technologies. The damage from losing technologies and talent to China is having a more and more significant impact. The proposal also asked for establishing limitations on the movements of core people and for a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to be a required document for talent working on core technologies to sign.

Source: UDN, May 18, 2019
https://udn.com/news/story/6809/3820027

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

CCP Hires a Canadian Lobbyist Firm to Promote Its Viewpoints

The South China Morning Post reported that Beijing has hired a Canadian lobbyist firm and that the staff members of that firm have been promoting the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) viewpoint without identifying their association with Beijing.

The Chinese Consulate-General in Toronto hired Solstice Public Affairs as its lobbyist last August. This hiring is special because it is the first federal lobbyist that China has engaged. “No other country appears to have engaged a private firm to provide such services in Canada. Diplomats typically undertake such services.”

Karen Woods (whose Chinese name is Wen Lin), a Senior Associate at Solstice, is also a co-founder of the Canadian Chinese Political Affairs Committee (CCPAC). Since the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, she has been appearing on TV and publishing lengthy pieces in Canadian newspapers.

Her 750-word opinion piece on The Toronto Star on December 18, 2018, stated, “[The] Huawei case has generated a dark cloud which is shrouding the psyche of many Chinese-Canadians.” She warned of a “new wave of ‘Sino-phobia,’” and grimly concluded that “in a West rebuilt on Cold War ideologies and McCarthyism, there is likely to be little space for Chinese-Canadians.”

In February 2019, Karen Woods and three other representatives of her CCPAC published another Huawei-themed op-ed in the National Post and associated publications, as an open letter to “Uncle Xi” Jinping. It contended that Chinese President Xi’s anger at Meng’s arrest was understandable but misplaced, and that if China wanted to “win over the hearts and minds of the West,” it should release Canadian detainees Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who are widely believed to have been arrested in retaliation.

Some people have pointed out that Wood’s views represented those of the CCP. However, she did not disclose her lobbying firm’s connection to Beijing when she published those articles.

The South China Morning Post believed that the “behavior of Solstice and its staff blurred the lines between outright lobbying, journalism, and private activism. In ways both crude and subtle, they have attacked critics and propelled viewpoints that often uphold Beijing’s talking points and interests on a range of subjects.”

Solstice hired Woods partly on the strength of her Chinese community activism, said Brockwell, a veteran political lobbyist who is Woods’ senior at Solstice. Woods and Brockwell have appeared together at Chinese consular functions in Toronto, including the welcoming ceremony for the new Consul-General, Han Tao, last August.

During his interview with the South China Morning Post, Brockwell said repeatedly, and in multiple contexts, that Karen Woods did indeed work for the Chinese consulate, although her op-ed articles were not part of that work. He acknowledged that articles that the Solstice staff wrote in their private capacities served simultaneously as “client development.”

Source: South China Morning Post, April 18, 2019
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3006638/how-chinas-canadian-lobbyists-blurred-lines-pr-journalism-and

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics

People’s Daily: China Launched Satellite to Influence Bolivia’s Telecommunications

People’s Daily reported that the first communication satellite Túpac Katari that China launched has affected the role that Bolivia plays in its ability to broadcast such issues as education and tele-medicine. The article quoted Ivan Sambra, the director of the Bolivian Space Agency, who said that from January to April 2019, the commercial services provided by Bolivia brought about US$ 8 million in economic income to the Bolivian government. Over the past five years, the satellite has helped Bolivia accumulate more than $100 million in revenue.

On December 21, 2013, Túpac Katari was successfully launched at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, making Bolivia the sixth country in Latin America to have satellites after Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela. The satellite was named after the national hero of Bolivia’s 18th century anti-colonial ruler. The China Academy of Space Technology which is affiliated with China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation developed it. It used the Dongfanghong-4 satellite platform with a design life of 15 years. Túpac Katari provides coverage for at least 26 radio stations and 30 local TV channels for the Bolivian people free of charge. At present, the utilization rate of the satellite has reached 70 percent. According to the plan of the Bolivian Space Agency, by the end of this year, Túpac Katari will be running at full capacity. It is reported that the service scope of Túpac Katari has also extended to Colombia.

Ivan Sambra also stated that in the future, Bolivia will also launch a second satellite for Earth observation, and China will be the preferred partner.

Source: People’s Daily, May 11, 2019
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2019-05/11/nw.D110000renmrb_20190511_4-03.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

“Belt and Road” Alliance for Music Education

The Central Conservatory of Music, China’s leading music school, recently held the conference of the “Belt and Road” Alliance for Music Education. The events included three sessions: “The Dean’s Forum,” “The ‘Belt and Road’ Music Art Exhibition,” and “The Music Academic Workshop.” Deans and musicians from music schools or art schools from 30 countries and regions, including Russia, Italy, and Korea, attended the conference.

In May 2017, under the guidance of the Ministry of Education, the Central Conservatory of Music held the inaugural conference for the “Belt and Road” Alliance for Music Education. At present, the Alliance has 61 member institutions, including 37 foreign members and 24 domestic members. Zhao Min, secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Conservatory of Music, believes that with the mechanism of the “Belt and Road” Alliance for Music Education, China can proactively meet the demands from the alliance partners, build more exchange platforms for culture, art, education, and training, and carry out humanitarian exchanges and cooperation.

Source: People’s Daily, May 10, 2019
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2019-05/10/nw.D110000renmrb_20190510_6-14.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Netherlands Telecom Giant KPN Decided Not to Use Huawei 5G Equipment

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the Netherlands’ largest telecommunications company, Royal KPN NV, announced recently that it will select a European supplier for its core 5G mobile network. KPN is one of the first set of companies that officially stated it would exclude Huawei for 5G. The United States is the one pushing for banning Huawei among its allies, citing national security concerns. Huawei denied any possibility of spying on customers because of Chinese government pressure. KPN explained that the decision of not choosing Huawei was based on the need to protect critical national infrastructure and the potential future impact it might have on the Netherlands policies. The government of the Netherlands has not made an official decision yet. However, the government formed a working group with KPN and other telecommunications companies to coordinate the risk management aspects of building the nation’s 5G infrastructure. In the past decade, Huawei has been one of KPN’s primary suppliers.

Source: Sina, April 26, 2019
https://t.cj.sina.com.cn/articles/view/2101850115/7d47b00302000fpb3

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology