Geo-Strategic Trend - 49. page

Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that the United States and Singapore just held a Strategic Partnership Dialogue in Washington to discuss a number of bilateral and regional issues. The joint statement of the two sides after the meeting included the issue of the Taiwan Strait for the first time. The United States reiterated that the differences in the Taiwan Strait must be resolved peacefully and Singapore emphasized the importance  of stabilizing the relationship between the United States and China. The dialogue touched on a number of issues related to bilateral cooperation, including economics and trade, defense, security, and more. The two parties also discussed many regional issues, including tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the situation in Myanmar. The U.S. emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, called for the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences, and expressed its opposition to any unilateral changes to the status quo. Singapore stated that stable U.S.-China relations are critical to regional and global peace, stability and prosperity and that the U.S. and China should maintain open channels of communication to reduce the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation. The first U.S.-Singapore Strategic Partnership Dialogue was held in 2012. It was held for three consecutive years from 2014 to 2016. It was suspended for many years and was not resumed until this year. This is the first time that the two sides have made a joint statement after the strategic dialogue on the Taiwan Strait issue. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited Washington in March for bilateral talks with U.S. President Joe Biden. The joint statement issued by the two sides at that time only emphasized the importance of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and encouraged the peaceful settlement of disputes, without mentioning Taiwan or the Taiwan Strait.

Source: CNA, October 26, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/202210260040.aspx

An anonymous Chinese student at Princeton University told Radio Free Asia that the Association of Chinese Students and Scholars at Princeton University (ACSSPU) had posted a notice on its WeChat group that the Chinese Consulate in New York issued a call for essays from these students. The Consulate organized an essay contest to “welcome the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).” It asked the Princeton students to write a 1000-word essay on their study of the CCP Congress, incorporating their overseas experiences.

According to the screenshot provided by the source, the sender of the essay contest message is Wu Yu. The ACSSPU’s official website hosted the notice on Princeton’s website. Wu Yu is the organization’s Director of Propaganda.

Teng Biao, a law scholar and adjunct professor at the City University of New York, said in an interview with RFA that, in addition to diplomacy, Chinese embassies and consulates have a very important role to play, which is to infiltrate and conduct overseas propaganda. The Chinese Students and Scholars Association receives money from the embassies and consulates in cooperation with the CCP’s United Front work. “The United States has laws targeting these agents. We have been calling for these Chinese Students and Scholars Associations to be declared as foreign agents of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, October 24, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/us-article-10242022112043.html

Well-known new Chinese news site The Paper recently reported that India has successfully launched a ballistic missile from its first domestically produced Destroyer-class nuclear submarine, hitting a target area in the Bay of Bengal with very high accuracy. This shows that the India’s nuclear submarine officially has the ability to launch ballistic missiles from a submerged state. India has become the sixth country in the world after the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom to have nuclear strike and counterattack capabilities on land and from the sea and air, enhancing its “trinity” nuclear deterrence capability, while also bringing more instability to the already-complex situation in South Asia. As an important platform for sea-based nuclear forces, nuclear submarines have the advantages of self-sufficiency, endurance, and high raid power. They can stay away from bases and go deep into enemy-controlled areas for long-term patrol and for surveillance activities, which can effectively make up for the lack of range of submarine-launched ballistic missiles. However, India currently has only one strategic nuclear submarine capable of using submarine-launched ballistic missiles. It also has the lowest number of missiles in the world. According to the plan of the Indian Navy, five nuclear submarines are part of its strategic plan. The sea-based nuclear force has always been a weak link in the construction of India’s nuclear force system. This is a major technical challenge for India due to the high technical reserve required to launch missiles from nuclear submarines. This recent success shows that India has made significant progress in the construction of sea-based nuclear forces. However, the number, technical level and range of missiles that are among India’s strategic nuclear submarines are far behind those of the world’s leading nuclear powers.

Source: The Paper, October 22, 2022
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_20396208

Three members of the European Parliament, Bart Groothuis, Nathalie Loiseau, and Reinhard Bütikofer, sent a letter to Strasbourg, France regarding the use of China-made baggage scanning equipment at the Strabourg airport. They asked for an independent investigation to see if the technology of the manufacturer Nuctech  caused spy risk. Groothuis also expressed concern that the airport may have to rely on a Chinese company for innovation, maintenance, and technical support.

Nuctech is a partially state-owned security inspection products company in China. Its products include X-ray scanning materials and sensors for use at ports and airports. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) put China on its blacklist in 2020.

The Strasbourg Airport signed a contract with French distributor DETEKT’IN in early October, in which DETEKT’IN will supply and maintain Nuctech’s equipment at the airport.

Some other French airports, such as Bordeaux, have already used Nuctech’s equipment.

Source: Epoch Times, October 15, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/10/15/n13846264.htm

Primary Taiwanese news agency TheCentral News Agency (CNA) recently reported that the financial services company Allianz just released its Allianz Global Wealth Report 2022. The Report shows Taiwan’s per capita net assets amounted to 138,220 euros (approximately US$134, 363), surpassing Japan and Singapore to rank first in Asia and 5th in the world (after the United States, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden). The latest report, compiling data for 2021, analyzes the asset and debt positions of nearly 60 countries, indicating 2021 may be the last year of substantial economic growth, and 2022 will be a turning point, with the world likely to undergo a “dramatic shift.” The report also highlights that Asia is richer than Europe. The total financial assets of private households in China are estimated at 32 trillion euros, accounting for 14 percent of the world’s total financial assets. Japan is at 16 trillion euros. China and Japan are second only to the United States’ 103 trillion euros. Asia has overtaken Europe as the second richest region after the U.S. However, the Report bluntly says 2022 will be a turning point. At the beginning of the year, the Russian-Ukrainian war stifled the recovery after the epidemic and turned the world upside down, fueling soaring inflation, and governments of various countries resorted to monetary tightening policies to curb inflation. In addition, the war also deepened the energy and food crises. The report argues that monetary tightening is squeezing the economy and markets after the value of household financial assets hit a record high for three years in a row. “in real terms, households will lose ten percent of their wealth.”

Source: CNA, October 14, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/afe/202210140102.aspx