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Geo-Strategic Trend - 48. page

The China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) Is Delinquent in Malaysia

More than 50 subcontractors and local suppliers for the Light Rail Transit 3 (LRT3) packages GS05 and GS06 in Malaysia protested to China’s Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) because they have been delinquent on payments for over a year.

The peaceful demonstration took place at Seksyen 1, Shah Alam, on September 14.

The protesters said that the China Railway 17th Bureau Group, or CRCC 17, owed them payments coming to a total of 25 million MYR (Malaysian Ringgit), or US $5.5 million. CRCC 17 has promised to make the payment several times in the past, but has never done so.

In the past couple of years, China’s real estate companies have struggled to pay their debts on time, but those were mostly private companies and related to construction projects within China. This case involves a state-owned enterprise that is delinquent on an overseas project.

Source: eNanYang.my, September 14, 2022
https://www.enanyang.my/财经新闻/抗议拖欠2500万-承包商要中铁17局还钱

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

Boston University: How Much African Debt Did China Forgive?

On August 19, 2022, China announced it would waive 23 interest-free loans (IFLs) for 17 African countries. The loans  had been due by the end of 2021 . Beijing didn’t specify the details. The Global Development Policy Center of Boston University estimated that each of the forgiven debts might be between $45 million and $610 million, with a possible total of $2.2 billionl, or around 1 percent of the $159.98 billion that China committed to lend to African countries from 2000 to 2020.

The research also pointed out that,  from 2005-2022, Beijing did ten debt cancellations for African countries including the most recently announced one. IFL provisions and cancelations are important diplomatic and symbolic tools in China’s lending practices and are likely to continue to be in the future.

Source: Boston University, September 9, 2022

China’s Interest-Free Loans to Africa: Uses and Cancellations

 

 

Briefings | | |   @CS Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

RFA Chinese: WeChat Notified Overseas Users that Data will be Sent to China

Radio Free Asia (RFA) Chinese Edition recently reported that a large number of overseas WeChat users have been notified that, if they accept the WeChat service agreement, their personal information will be sent back to servers in China. Experts pointed out that WeChat once intended to set up domestic and overseas versions to avert any allegations of infringement overseas. The fact is, however, that WeChat has never stopped acting as the CCP’s censorship proxy. Jurists are calling on Western countries to legislate to ban Chinese apps to prevent the CCP from its long-arm intrusions. On September 6, WeChat users in many countries said that when they were about to read the content of their WeChat subscription, they suddenly received a prompt saying that once the overseas users activate the WeChat function, their personal information will be sent back to China for processing. Under international pressure and the requirements of privacy protection regulations, in September last year, WeChat “separated” into the domestic version of Weixin and the international version of WeChat. It then asked non-China-bound mobile phone users to re-sign the WeChat agreement to show that the company complied with the  laws and regulations of the host country. So now it has just torn off the original mask. Experts said that the Chinese government has always used WeChat in China as a tool to control society and censor speech, which is actually part of its establishment of China’s high-tech totalitarian control, and it has always used WeChat as a tool to export censorship overseas. The United States and other Western countries should consider and re-evaluate WeChat’s threats to national security, data security, personal privacy, etc. Western countries should pass legislation on Chinese apps, or even block Chinese apps, like India has done.

Source: RFA Chinese, September 7, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/wechat-09072022123951.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics Information/Technology

China-Latin America Cooperation in Science and Technology Innovation

According to China’s official newspaper People’s Daily, the 2022 China-Latin America and the Caribbean Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation was recently held via video conferencing. More than 20 participant representatives from the science and technology authorities in Latin American and Caribbean countries participated online. During the forum, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and the counterpart officials in Latin American countries signed memorandums of understanding on cooperation to accelerate the construction of sustainable food innovation centers. Participants expressed their willingness to continue to deepen the cooperation between Latin America and China in the fields of clean energy, digital technology, agricultural technology, and satellite communications.

The report mentioned the Sino-Bolivian satellite cooperation project and China’s Sinovac Biotech’s vaccine plant in Chile.

Source: People’s Daily, September 8, 2022
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2022-09/08/nw.D110000renmrb_20220908_4-03.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Oriental Daily: Russia Bought Artillery Shells and Rockets from North Korea

The popular Hong Kong newspaper Oriental Daily recently reported that, according to newly declassified U.S. intelligence, the Russian Defense Ministry has purchased millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea, a move that shows that global sanctions have severely restricted Russian supply chains and forced Russia to turn to “excluded countries” for military supplies. According to British media, Russia only received the first batch of drones made in Iran very recently. Apparently, the U.S-led sanctions and export controls are hurting Russia’s ability to acquire military supplies. No details were provided about the North Korean deal on exact weapons, timing or size of the shipment. The transaction could not be independently verified at this time. Russia is expected to try to buy more North Korean arms in the future. North Korea has been seeking closer ties with Russia as European and Western countries have pulled out. North Korea even hinted at sending construction workers to help rebuild Russian-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine. North Korea’s ambassador to Moscow recently met with envoys from Ukraine’s Donbas region, two Russian-backed separatist territories, and expressed optimism about cooperation in the “field of labor migration.” North Korea is the only country other than Russia and Syria to recognize the self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk.

Source: Oriental Daily, September 6, 2022
httpps://www.orientaldaily.com.my/news/international/2022/09/06/510520

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Turkish Media: China is Selling Russian LNG to Europe at Inflated Price

The Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak reported on Friday, September 2, that China will sell Russian LNG (liquid natural gas) to European countries at an inflated price. In practice, this represents an indirect violation of the European embargo.

According to Chinese customs data, in the first six months of 2022, China imported 2.35 million tons of fuel from Russia at a value of $2.16 billion.

The newspaper said Russian LNG exports to China via the Siberian pipeline have increased by 63 percent. .

The article added, “Experts stressed that the supply of LNG exceeds China’s domestic demand and that the Chinese government will sell LNG purchased from Russia to European countries that are coping with the energy crisis,” .

Source: Sputnik News (Russia), September 3, 2022
https://sputniknews.cn/20220903/1043653866.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Global Times: India’s First Domestically Built Aircraft Carrier Officially Commissioned

Global Times recently reported that, on September 2, after 17 years of construction and testing, India’s first domestically built aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant, was officially deployed. India has become one of the few countries in the world to have the most advanced defense technology. India now has two active-duty aircraft carriers. However, the new aircraft carrier still has serious shortcomings. The deployment of carrier-based aircraft has not yet begun. In addition, the aircraft carrier also lacks a radar system. Some Western media also touted India, saying it marks its entry into the elite alliance of the world’s naval powers. Western media also described India’s domestic aircraft carrier as “a response to the Chinese threat.” It is to “deal with rival China’s much larger and growing fleet.” China is regarded by India as its most powerful competitor. China is ahead of India in terms of the number and technology of aircraft carriers. However, Western analysts expressed the belief that India has had decades of experience in aircraft carrier operation and combat. India imported its first aircraft carrier  from the UK in 1961. The new Indian aircraft carrier also raises doubts in neighboring countries. The Center for Strategic and Contemporary Research, a Pakistani think tank, recently issued a report saying that India’s first domestically-made aircraft carrier may seize air and sea dominance in the far seas of Pakistan and achieve a blockade of the line of transportation with Pakistan.

Source: Global Times, September 3, 2022
https://mil.huanqiu.com/article/49UqiWaUCAD

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

India Is Helping Sri Lanka to Reduce its Reliance on The CCP

In an interview with the New Tang Dynasty (NTD) TV, Cleo Paskal, a researcher at the U.K. policy institute Chatham House, said that India is helping Sri Lanka to reduce its dependence on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Paskal said that India has provided loans and sent fertilizer to Sir Lanka. It has been trying, regarding the political war, to create a situation for Sri Lanka in which it is not-so-dependent on the CCP.

By August 2022, Sri Lanka had US $10 billion in debt. Of that amunt,, 44 percent was owed to Beijing. Japan holds 32 percent and India holds 10 percent.

India has become Sri Lanka’s lifeline. It provided around US $4 billion in lines of credit and swaps, to sustain Sri Lanka’s economy.

India also opposes the docking of China’s spy ships at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota Port. In December 2017, Sir Lanka rented the Hambantota Port to China for 99 years, to convert to equity the US $1.4 billion that it owed to China and didn’t have means to pay back, .

Source: Epoch Times, September 4, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/9/3/n13816991.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend