Geo-Strategic Trend - 136. page

DW News reported that Yonhap News Agency, a Korean media, made a suggestion in an article that, in addition to the arrest of two Canadian citizens, China has three more ways to take revenge on Canada for its arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

China can hit Canada in the following three areas:

• Real Estate: Despite the drop in Vancouver’s housing prices, some Chinese investors can choose to cancel or delay their plans to purchase Canadian properties.
• Tourists: 680,000 Chinese visited Canada in 2017 and spent on average US $2,400 per person. If China restricts Chinese visitors from going to Canada, it will have some impact.
• Trade: China is Canada’s second largest trade partner, after the U.S. There have been reports that the negotiation on the free trade treaty between China and Canada has been postponed.

Source: DW News, December 17, 2018
http://news.dwnews.com/global/news/2018-12-17/60105785.html

At an interview with Sputnik News on December 18, Kemarsky Andrei Vadimovich, Head of the African Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated that Russia does not rule out the emergence of prerequisites for joint projects with China in Africa.

Kemarsky expressed that the volume of Chinese cooperation with African countries is much greater than the Russian trade and economic cooperation with the continent.

“We are interested in sharing the experience of cooperation with Africans. There is a lot to learn from Chinese partners. In turn, China seems to be interested in our cooperation with Africa, in particular in the field of science and technology, the promotion of high technologies, where we already have some good ideas. Some prerequisites for joint projects cannot be ruled out.”

Source: Sputnik News, December 18, 2018
http://sputniknews.cn/politics/201812181027142092/

On Monday December 17, 2018, a UK defense think tank, The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) published a report, “Armed Drones in the Middle East, Proliferation and Norms in the Region.” A key finding of the report was that, “despite the selective drone export policy that the U.S. upholds, over the past few years, several countries across the Middle East (Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE) have acquired armed drones either by purchasing them from China or (Israel, Iran, and Turkey) by building them domestically.”

“China has often been described as a no-questions-asked exporter of drones, a country that is ‘less encumbered by human rights considerations over its sales of drones.’ The country is not a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR – – an informal and voluntary partnership among 35 countries to prevent the proliferation of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology capable of carrying above 500 kg payload for more than 300 km.).”

“Beijing has capitalized on a gap created in the market. Over the past few years, it has supplied armed drones to several countries that are not authorized to purchase them from the US, and at a dramatically cheaper price.”

The report states, “It remains to be seen whether and how the loosening of restrictions that the current U.S. administration has imposed on the exportation of armed drones will alter the dynamics in the region. Nonetheless, the proliferation of armed UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) in the Middle East is unlikely to stop and could, in fact, even accelerate, either through domestic production or through reliance on external suppliers, such as Beijing.”

In recent years, China’s UAV manufacturing technology has improved rapidly, causing widespread concern in the international community. In November, the official Chinese news agency quoted Lei Qiang, a chief drone pilot of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) who stated that, although the Chinese drone started late, it has developed rapidly in recent years. Both technology and production have seen great improvement. China’s “UAV development ranks among the world’s top echelons.”

Source: Royal United Services Institute, December 17, 2018
https://www.rusi.org/publication/occasional-papers/armed-drones-middle-east-proliferation-and-norms-region
Xinhua, November 7, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2018-11/07/c_1123679748.htm

Radio France Internationale published an article which stated that, not only did Huawei bribe many Australian politicians and the U.S. think tank, The Brookings Institute, it also gave money to top universities through the “Seeds for the future” project. The universities that received the money include Cambridge, Oxford, Manchester, York, Nottingham, Surrey, and other institutions in the UK. Huawei also acknowledged that it has cooperated with over 20 universities in the UK over the past five years. Through the “Seeds for the Future” project, Huawei has established contacts with many universities through the British Council to attract young talent and it has paid travel expenses for UK students to live in China for one month.

In addition, The Daily Telegraph reported that, for many years, Huawei has sponsored technology research projects on mobile and audio networks. Huawei promised to invest 5 million pounds (US$6.3 million) to establish a 5G Innovation Center at the University of Surrey. Huawei also invested more than 1 million pounds (US$1.25 million) in a computer lab at the University of Cambridge to support a Manchester University project to develop graphene. Graphene is the thinnest but hardest material in the world with the lowest resistivity. British physicists developed this nanomaterial in 2004.

Previously, Australian media reported that Huawei had sponsored a number of Australian politicians and family members to travel to China. The list of invitees included former Australian Foreign Minister Bishop. In addition, the Washington Post reported that the Brookings Institute, an authoritative U.S. think tank, was to receive a large donation from Huawei and was to speak favorably about Huawei.

Source: Radio France Internationale, December 14, 2018
http://rfi.my/3RCw.T

Jiemian News, the online news site under the Shanghai United Media Group, recently reported that German robotics giant Kuka AG officially announced the leave of its Global CEO, Till Reuter, who has served the company for the past decade. His original term had been extended to 2022. Sources explained that Reuter did not intend to leave the company. However, he had a major disagreement with the company Supervisory Board Chairman, Gu Yanmin, and decided to move on. Gu is the Deputy President of China’s Midea Group that acquired Kuka in 2016. The Midea Group currently holds 94.55 percent of Kuka. Kuka announced its major investment plan in China this past March. The plan will establish a new manufacturing base in Guangdong China to deliver an annual Chinese operation capacity to make 100,000 industrial robots by the year 2024. Kuka’s latest announcement indicated that there is no change in terms of intellectual property protection agreements it had with China.

Source: Jiemian News, November 27, 2018
https://www.jiemian.com/article/2657485.html

Xinhua reported that, on December 5, at the 33rd Madrid International Dance Festival and upon the invitation of the Ministry of Culture of Madrid, the China Central Ballet performed “Red Detachment of Women.” A total of three more performances are planned, from the 5th to the 7th. This is the first time since its establishment that the China Central Ballet has performed in Spain.

According to Wikipedia, “Red Detachment of Women” is a Chinese ballet which premiered in 1964 and was made one of the Eight Model Operas which dominated the national stage during the Cultural Revolution. It depicts the liberation of a peasant girl from Hainan Island and her rise in the Chinese Communist Party.

Chinascope reported that, in February 2017, prior to the “Red Detachment of Women” performance at the Melbourne Arts Festival, the Australian Values Alliance called for a boycott of the ballet, saying that the ballet promoted hatred and violence using the form of ballet and that Western countries should be alert to China’s use of cultural exchanges to infiltrate Western society.

According to Voice of America, “Red Detachment of Women” was performed in Pyongyang in April 2018. Kim Jong-un and his wife attended the performance.

Sources:
1. Xinhua, December 7, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/ent/2018-12/07/c_1123816415.htm
2. Chinascope, February 6, 2017

Duowei: Australian Chinese to Boycott Chinese Ballet “Red Detachment of Women”

3. Voice of America, October 24, 2018
https://www.voachinese.com/a/3709487.html

On December 4 and 5, the 13th Confucius Institute Conference was held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. During the two-day session, the conference held two panel discussions, eight presidents’ forums, and 20 workshops. According Hanban, the global headquarters of the Confucius Institute, more than 1,500 representatives from more than 150 countries and regions attended the conference.

Sun Chunlan, Vice Premier of the State Council and Chairman of the Headquarters Council of the Confucius Institute, attended and delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. Chen Baosheng, the Minister of Education and Vice Chairman of the Headquarters Council of the Confucius Institute, hosted the opening ceremony. Vice Minister of Education Tian Xuejun attended the closing ceremony and delivered a speech. Forums and workshops had 460 participants who made a total of 220 speeches.

At present, 154 countries and regions have established 548 Confucius Institutes, 1,193 Confucius Classrooms in primary and secondary schools, and 5,665 Chinese teaching centers. 46,000 full-time and part-time teachers have been teaching the Chinese language to 11 million students.

Source: Hanban, December 5, 2018
http://conference.hanban.org/pc/news_details.html?main_lan=cn&_id=17