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The Great Translation Movement and the Communist Party’s Concern

The Great Translation Movement (TGTM), which has the goal of informing the Western world about the true thoughts of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese people it has brainwashed (by translating what the Chinese actually say), has created a real impact in Western society. As a result, the CCP media recently denounced it, indicating that it has reached a level at which the CCP can no longer ignore it.

TGTM started in March this year, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The CCP published strong domestic propaganda to support Russia and misled some of the Chinese people so that they posted messages online to support Russia and ridicule Ukraine (in one example, they even wanted to bring some of the beautiful Ukraine  women to China to “save” them). A group of Chinese with consciences started to translate these extreme views into Ukrainian. Later the movement expanded into translating CCP propaganda and people’s postings on WeChat, Weibo, Tiktok, and extreme Chinese leftist websites, into English, Korean, and Japanese. The movement has an official Twitter account TGTM_Official, with more and more volunteers joining to supply translations. Western media and society in general have picked up this information in order to demonstrate the CCP’s true qualities and true self to the world so the world’s people can understand its true nature.

China.com.cn, China’s official site which is run by the Chinese government body’s China Internet Information Center (CIIC), posted an article on April 27, 2022, to comment on this movement. It called The Great Translation Movement an “Internet virus” and said it had been mutating and creating a relatively large negative impact on China’s overseas propaganda and international image.

To stop the spread of this “Internet anti-China virus,” that article claimed, China needed to take necessary counter measures. It indicated that, on its official side, China needs to strengthen its domestic Internet platform in order to control and regulate netizens’ behavior. From the civilian angle, China needs to utilize the postings by Chinese students studying overseas and the Chinese diaspora who have patriotic sentiment toward China, leading them to promote the “true” China and build a good international image for China.

Source: China.com, April 27, 2022
http://www.china.com.cn/opinion2020/2022-04/27/content_78189333.shtml

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics

RFA Chinese: Ukraine Concerned about Chinese DJI Drones

Radio Free Asia (RFA) Chinese Edition recently reported that the Ukrainian government has called for restrictions on drones that the Chinese drone maker DJI has been producing. The Ukrain argued that the product didn’t just have technical glitches. These were actually DJI’s deliberate effort to undermine Ukraine’s defense. The Ukrainian government has also accused Russia of using DJI drones to attack Ukraine. The Chinese drone company DJI supplies both Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine determined that the DJI drones posed a security risk to Ukrainian troops and civilians. They observed that the Russian DJI drones worked well when the very same Ukraine DJI drones faced many technical issues. A DJI spokesperson denied the allegations that accused the company of assisting the Russian offensive while meddling in Ukrainian products. In the meantime, U.S. startups are beginning to fill the Ukrainian market for drones. The companies include Seattle-based BRINC Drones and the Silicon Valley firm Skydio, according to the Wall Street Journal. The companies’ drones are helping to search for survivors in the rubble of cities over Ukraine and find where the Russians are hiding. The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. DJI is the world’s largest commercial drone maker and its products are widely used in the United States.

Source: RFA Chinese, April 22, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/5-04222022121812.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

U.S. F-15 Fighters Patrolling Airspace Near Taiwan with Live Ammunition

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported, based on a Global Times social media posting, that the U.S. military stationed in Japan dispatched several F-15C fighter jets carrying live air-to-air missiles to conduct combat air patrols in the airspace near Taiwan. Mainland China announced very recently that it would allow the Chinese J-20 stealth fighters to conduct normal combat patrols in the East China Sea. That led the United States to decide to show its muscles and send a military signal to China. Taiwanese media reported that eye witnesses provided pictures showing the F-15C fighter jets of the U.S. Air Force had flown back to Kadena Air Force Base in Japan carrying AIM-120C advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles and AIM- 9 live rounds of Sidewinder missiles. An unnamed source confirmed that the F-15C fighter group, supported by two KC-135 aerial tankers, returned to the Kadena Base after a seven-hour mission. The purpose was to carry out a combat air patrol mission in the airspace near Taiwan. This was the response after six U.S. congressmen visited Taiwan on April 14th and China later announced military exercises. U.S. fighter jets carry live ammunition only when they conduct quick response alerts or actual combat missions. This recent move was rather unusual. Afterwards, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Defense responded by emphasizing that, when defending national sovereignty and security, the People’s Liberation Army has always been brave and good at “showing the sword.”

Source: Sina, April 22, 2022
https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2022-04-22/doc-imcwipii5856420.shtml#/

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend US-China Relations

Luo Siyi: Lessons from the Ukraine War: Counting on U.S.’ ‘Kindness’ Is Pointless

Luo Siyi, a Senior Researcher at the Chongyang Financial Research Institute, Renmin University of China, published an article on Guancha.cn (the Observer) discussing the intentions of the U.S.  in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war. Some excerpts from the article follow:

“For more than 20 years, the foreign military expansion of the United States has been obvious. Even so, the occurrence of the Ukraine war also represents a qualitative change in U.S. military policy. Before the Ukraine war, the United States had only taken military action against developing countries that were far weaker in military power and did not possess nuclear weapons.”

“However, the U.S. threat to bring Ukraine into NATO, triggering a war in Ukraine, shows that U.S. military policy is not limited to attacking developing countries that are far weaker than itself. Although the United States knew in advance that its eastward expansion of NATO into Ukraine would affect Russia’s most important interests (a move that clearly crossed Russia’s red line when Russia’s extremely powerful military and nuclear capabilities are on par with the United States),  it was still prepared to take the risk.”

The U.S. is combining its basic political stance (the U.S. insists that Ukraine ‘has the right’ to join NATO) along with the military facts (the U.S. provides arms to Ukraine). It clearly shows that the U.S. has deliberately provoked a confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, even though this will inevitably lead to the United States and Russia being in a direct conflict. Therefore, when assessing the Ukraine crisis, it should be noted that the U.S. escalated its military threats from targeting developing countries. Such threats are unjust but without the direct risk of triggering a world war — to targeting a powerful country like Russia, which may lead to a global military conflict.”

”The United States is fully aware that the one-China policy involves China’s most important national interests and is the foundation of U.S.-China relations. To abandon the one-China policy is to cross China’s red line, which is more dangerous than trying to incorporate Ukraine into NATO. So it is clear that the U.S. is trying to undermine the one-China policy in a provocative way, just as it deliberately decided to cross Russia’s red line on Ukraine.

“On the question of whether the U.S. provocation against China and Russia is temporary or long-term and permanent, the clear conclusion of this article is that the U.S. military escalation trend will continue.”

Source: Guancha.cn, April 22, 2022
https://www.guancha.cn/LuoSiYi/2022_04_22_636204.shtml

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend US-China Relations

China’s Ministry of Commerce: Companies Should Not Condemn Russia under Pressure

Russian news agency Sputnik reported that China’s Ministry of Commerce asked Chinese companies not to yield to the pressure to condemn Russia.

At the ministry’s press conference on April 14, a media reporter asked the Ministry spokesperson Su Jueting, “According to some China companies, some of their foreign business partners have asked them to state their opposition to Russia’s military actions against Ukraine. Otherwise their normal business cooperation will be affected. Do you want to say something?”

Su responded, “Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began, some countries have imposed a series of sanctions on Russia. This has disrupted the normal economic and trade relationship between China and Russia. Some foreign companies have violated the normal market principles and threatened Chinese enterprises to pick a side. Here, we reiterate that China always firmly opposes unilateral sanctions and ‘long-arm jurisdictions’ that have no basis in international law and are not authorized by the United Nations’ Security Council. China also opposes undue bans or restrictions on normal economic and trade activities between Chinese enterprises and those of other countries.”

Su also stressed that, according to the Foreign Trade Law and other relevant laws and regulations, in order to maintain a fair and free foreign trade order, companies and individuals must not succumb to external coercion or to make improper statements. China will take necessary measures to firmly protect Chinese enterprises’ legitimate rights and interests.

Source: Sputnik, April 14, 2022
https://big5.sputniknews.cn/20220414/1040683843.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

Chosun: South Korea May Join the Anti-China Siege Network

South Korea’s largest newspaper Chosun recently reported, in its Chinese Edition, that Hong Nam-Ki, South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister of Economy and Minister of Planning and Finance, said at the 6th Foreign Economic Security Strategy Conference that the discussions on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) will be more concrete and accelerated (than previously). South Korea is positioned to move toward an active and engaged direction. IPEF is an economic alliance that the the United States is building along  with allies and partners in the Asia-Pacific region to reduce its dependence on China in the fields of the global supply chain, infrastructure, the digital economy, and renewable energy. Hong Nam-Ki’s remarks may actually mean South Korea has decided to join the IPEF. Regarding CPTPP (The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership), which does not include the United States, considering that most of the member countries are agriculturally developed countries, it is expected to cause a considerable blow to South Korea’s agriculture. Thus the South Korean government is formulating corresponding support plans. With the recent expansion of Covid-19’s  spread in China, major cities such as Shanghai have been closed down and there has been a major supply chain impact from China. Hong Nam-Ki expressed that he was worried about the related impact on production lines in South Korea and he suggested to improve the country’s preparedness for the need to respond.

Source: Chosun, April 17, 2022
https://cnnews.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?nNewsNumb=20220456957&cate=&mcate=M1001

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Indonesians Regard China as their Top Security Threat

Singapore News Network recently reported that, according to the result of a survey that the Australian Lowy Institute conducted, the Indonesian people identify China as their biggest security threat. The survey showed that only 43 percent of Indonesians believe that Chinese investments are beneficial to Indonesia. That figure is down from the 54 percent in 2011. A whopping 50 percent believe that China’s goal is to dominate Indonesia. The survey also showed that China has replaced Malaysia as the country considered by the most Indonesians to be a potential aggressor Also, about half of the respondents believe that China will pose a security threat in the next ten years, which is an increase of ten percentage points from the previous survey results. However, only 55 percent of the respondents expressed trust in Australia, down 20 percent from 2011. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they trust the U.S., down 16 percent. Around 65 percent of those surveyed trust Japan, but this is down 15 percent from the past. Survey results clearly showed Indonesians have little trust in big powers. Evan Laksmana, a senior researcher at the Center for Asia and Globalization at the National University of Singapore, who participated in this research, said that, for the Indonesian people, China is no longer seen as a mere economic opportunity, but as a series of challenges.

Source: Singapore News Network, April 7, 2022
https://www.sgnews.co/21142.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend