On Tuesday March 5, Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta (NG, or Independent Newspaper) published an editorial in which it described how the Chinese Embassy conducted an unprecedented interference in Russia’s press freedom. Continue reading
Geo-Strategic Trend - 132. page
Swedish Ambassador Acted for China
Anna Lindstedt, Sweden’s Ambassador to China, was reported to have arranged “Chinese businessmen” to put pressure on a political dissident on behalf of China. She was then called back to Sweden for an investigation. The Swedish Foreign Minister, Margot Wallström, said that she was “very angry” about what Lindstedt did.
Angela Gui’s father, Gui Minhai, was held in custody in China for political reasons. Lindstedt invited Angela Gui to meet two “Chinese businessmen” who claimed that they could help with her father’s case. She went to Stockholm and met Lindstedt and the two “Chinese businessmen.” The two “Chinese businessmen” put pressure on her, representing the Chinese Communist Party’s position. They asked her to stop making public statements. One even threatened that she would never see her father again if she did not keep her mouth shut.
Angela Gui noticed that Lindstedt was helping those two “Chinese businessmen.” Lindstedt asked her to cooperate; otherwise “China might punish Sweden.”
Gui pointed out to Lindstedt that those “Chinese businessmen” were trying to control her. Lindstedt responded that she felt sorry that Gui had that thought.
Angela Gui exposed the meeting on a blog. She also inquired of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden about Lindstedt’s arranging the meeting. The ministry was not aware of such a meeting and thought that Lindstedt was in Beijing. Lindstedt was later recalled.
About Gui Minhai (桂民海)
Gui Minhai, also known as Michael Gui, is a Chinese-born Swedish scholar and book publisher. He was one of the three owners of a book publishing company, Causeway Bay Books in Hong Kong, that is known for publishing politically sensitive books banned in China. He disappeared in Thailand in 2015 and later appeared on China Central Television (CCTV) in January 2016 where he admitted he was guilty of drunk driving and killing a student. Several other people connected to the publishing company also disappeared from Hong Kong around the same time and ended up in China.
Gui Minhai was released in October 2017 and stayed with his wife in a rental apartment in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. The couple tried to leave China, but in January 2018, he was arrested again, in front of two Swedish diplomats who were accompanying him on a train to Beijing.
Sources:
1. Epoch Times, February 15, 2019
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/19/2/15/n11048172.htm
2. Boxun, January 24, 2018
https://www.boxun.com/news/gb/intl/2018/01/201801240656.shtml
3. China Worker, February 21, 2019
https:// chinaworker.info/en/2019/02/21/19791/
Beijing’s Ten Years of “Festival of Spring” Global Tour
On the evening of February 25th, at Warner Theatre in Washington DC, the American Troupe of “Festival of Spring” completed the final performance of its global tour. China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater, a subsidiary of the Chinese Ministry of Culture, put together the show of “Festival of Spring.” The presenters included the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. The former is also an office under the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department; the latter is a liaison organization between the CCP and the overseas Chinese community.
For the season of 2019, six troupes of the “Festival of Spring” program were reported to have travelled to 29 cities in 16 countries with 33 shows, including Medan (of Indonesia), Barcelona, New York, Nairobi, Suva (of Fiji), Philadelphia, and Washington D.C.
According to People’s Daily, since 2009, the program of “Festival of Spring” has toured overseas every year during Chinese New Year holiday season. So far, it has dispatched 75 arts groups and done 450 performances in 331 cities across five continents, with nearly 7 million theater or public square audience members.
Tang Cuiying, head of the American Troupe of “Festival of Spring” and a board member of the China Overseas Friendship Association, a CCP led United Front Work organization, stated, “The overseas performances are to bring the blessings and greetings from the homeland to the overseas Chinese, so that they can enjoy the melodies and love from the homeland in an atmosphere of reunion and happiness.” Tang is also an official at the Bureau of Overseas Chinese Affairs under the CCP’s United Front Work Department.
Source: People’s Daily, March 1, 2019
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2019-03/01/nw.D110000renmrb_20190301_2-20.htm
Canada’s New Brunswick to Shut Down Confucius Institute
Canada’s Education Minister in the New Brunswick government, Dominic Cardy, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), that he is planning to terminate the Confucius Institute in New Brunswick by June out of concern that teachers only teach what the Chinese Communist Party approves and the Institute presents a “one-dimensional” view of China. Cardy already sent the Confucius Institute a letter of intent to discontinue the program.
Cardy says he’s recently received five complaints from students who attended the Confucius Institute programs. Each told of topics in Chinese history that were off-limits to discussion, such as Taiwan’s recognition and Tibet. Cardy explained, “Their job is to create a friendly, cheerful, face for a government that is responsible for more deaths than nearly any other in the history of our species.”
New Brunswick is not the first case to remove the institute. In 2014 the Toronto District School Board voted to remove the institute from their schools following protests. McMaster University and the University of Manitoba have also removed the Confucius Institute from their campuses over freedom of education concerns.
Source: Radio Free Asia, February 27, 2019
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junshiwaijiao/lf-02272019093950.html
China Times: Digital Silk Road Is beyond One Belt One Road
Major Taiwanese newspaper China Times recently reported that the world has been focusing on China’s eye-catching, ambitious, One Belt One Road. However, beyond that grand plan, China has been pushing the Digital Silk Road in Southeast Asia. This effort can not only bring more potential business opportunities, but also grab strategic controls, such as international data streams. Without direct national support on both the policy end and the financial end, the Digital Silk Road is relatively “low key,” compared to the One Belt One Road program. However it is pushed by major Chinese technology heavyweights like Huawei, ZTE, Alibaba, and Tencent. All of these vendors have strong government backing. The Chinese technology firms have already unseated earlier leaders in the region such as Samsung, on online critical market segments like e-commerce, car sharing, mobile devices, and financial services. The Chinese reach in Southeast Asia also got heavily into the infrastructure level, including telecommunication and submarine fiber cables. A large amount of strategic information, such as government and financial communications, is flowing through physical channels implemented by Chinese providers. The “China Model” in the digital world is getting more and more popular among regional dictatorships.
Source: China Times, February 21, 2019
https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20190221003711-260408
Saudi’s Crown Prince Hails Cooperation with Beijing
On February 22, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Xi thanked Bin Salman for promoting the development of bilateral relations. Bin Salman praised the numerous remarkable achievements resulting from Chinese and Saudi cooperation. He expressed that one day would not enough for him to name them.
The Crown Prince launched the visit to Asian countries after the Khashoggi incident. Agence France-Presse quoted Najah al-Otaibi, a senior analyst at the pro-Saudi think-tank Arabia Foundation, “Riyadh wants to strengthen alliances in Asia — especially now — with the continuing fallout with the United States over Khashoggi’s murder as well as other issues and attempts by the EU to put Riyadh on a black list over money laundering allegations.”
Saudi Arabia had signed an agreement to form a $10 billion Saudi-Chinese joint venture to develop a refining and petrochemical complex in northeastern Liaoning province. Saudi also announced the signing of 35 non-binding memorandums of understanding, including deals related to energy, mining, transportation, and e-commerce. China is Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner.
Source: Radio France International, February 22, 2019
http://rfi.my/3huK.T
UDN: Huawei Dismissed Australia’s Decision on 5G
United Daily News (UDN), one of the primary Taiwanese news groups, recently reported that 100 days after the Australian government announced its ban on Huawei communications technology for the country’s 5G infrastructure, Australian communications heavyweight TPG Telecom declared it would give up building 5G infrastructure on the national level entirely. TPG had invested around US$2 billion in the 5G infrastructure based on Huawei technology. It is quite amazing that a single Chinese company can have such a profound impact on a fairly sizable section of a nation’s infrastructure. The Huawei ban was a major financial setback for the company, which may take quite some time to recover. Huawei’s Vice Chairman explained that Huawei did not expect to enter all markets. He even named Australia in his comment that the entire Australian telecommunications market is smaller than the size of Guangzhou Mobile and the New Zealand market is smaller than that of his hometown – a mid-sized city in Hunan Province, so “losing a few countries really doesn’t matter.”
Source: UDN, February 21, 2019
https://udn.com/news/story/7086/3657468
Putin to Launch “Independent Internet”
In his annual state of the nation address on Wednesday, February 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia must guard against the possibility of Western countries blocking Russia from the global Internet, and that (therefore) it is necessary for Russia to create its own cyberspace.
Putin endorsed legislation now working its way through parliament that would authorize the state to control the exchange points that connect Russia’s Internet resources to those of the outside world. On February 12, the State Duma adopted the first reading of this “Internet-isolation” bill.
Once the bill is finally approved, the legislation will require the local Internet, known as the RUnet, to pass through exchange points managed by Russia’s telecommunications regulator, Roskomnadzor. Once in force, the system will protect Russia in the event of a cyberwar while also filtering Internet traffic to the country.
Russian media reported on February 11 that a test, which will cut off all data routes connecting Russia to outside cyberspace, will occur before April 1, though a firm date has yet to be set.
Source: The Paper, February 21, 2019
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_3018136