Geo-Strategic Trend - 72. page

Pro-communism Chinese news site Kun Lun Ce recently reported, with the authorization of the Russian Communist Party, that on October 1, the City of Moscow sealed off the Central Building of the Russian Communist Party and arrested the leading cadres of the Russian Communist Party on a large scale. The Moscow City Government organized a siege of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and its Moscow City Committee. Internal Affairs, Public Security, National Guards, and the Taxation departments were Involved in the siege. The government mass-arrested and imprisoned the main cadres of the Russian Communist Party at all levels in the Central Federal District. The article mentioned that the Communist Party’s legal department did not recognize remote electronic voting results and some Party leadership members “arbitrarily” discussed the issue of elected representatives and voters online. The Russian Communist party called for the establishment of a committee to investigate the “political persecution.” Coincidentally, it was on October 3 to 4, 1993, that Yeltsin’s supporters in Moscow “violently” suppressed the Supreme Soviet.

Source: Kun Lun Ce, October 1, 2021
http://www.kunlunce.com/ssjj/ssjjhuanqiu/2021-10-04/155571.html

The Japanese government is tightening its control over sensitive technology leaks through international students. Universities in Japan will need to come up with measures to face the challenge. Kyoto News recently conducted a survey of 56 private or public universities that have either an affiliation with Chinese universities that have ties with the military or that have a large number of foreign students. Among them, 31 universities have implemented or are considering stricter identity checks on international students who are majoring in sensitive technology studies.

The results showed that only 24 universities would implement or consider implementing the vetting of students who signed an agreement not to take controlled technology out of Japan. Also, only a few universities disclosed whether they have received any foreign funding. All of these are indications that there is a lack of effective responses to the risk of technology leaks.

The Japanese government announced in June that it would strengthen export controls over sensitive technology and adopt a licensing program for universities that receive research funding from foreign governments or allow foreign students to access technologies.

Surveys show that more than half of the universities have or are considering increased identity checks on past academic qualifications, work resumes, and other areas of concern. Ten universities have asked their international students to answer whether they intend to join military-related organizations, and 14 universities now validate the details of financial support from foreign institutions.

The Japanese government is also urging the control of Japanese scholars to get them to take part in joint overseas research. According to the survey, less than 30 percent of the universities have a filing mechanism to report the joint research. There are currently 14 universities that have Confucius Institutes. One university said it was considering a restructure of its operations.

As of last May, the number of international students in Japan was about 280,000. China is the largest by nationality, accounting for more than 40 percent of the total.

Source: Kyodo News, September 7, 2021
https://china.kyodonews.net/news/2021/09/7e30cbd2f43c-31.html

Global Times recently published a commentary on the fact that the Speakers of both the Upper and Lower Houses of the British Parliament announced a prohibition against the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang. Zheng has been prohibited from entering the British Parliament Building. This was at the request of several congressmen who China has sanctioned. Forbidding envoys of other countries from entering the parliament is an extremely rare move. It shows brutality, impulsiveness, and rule-breaking. If this restriction is enforced and continues, then China should take reciprocal retaliation against the British mission in China, and, in the future, the British ambassador to China should not be allowed to enter the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. In fact, there are no major conflicts between China and Britain. Even the conflicts surrounding Hong Kong have just been magnified. China and Britain are so far apart. China can neither threaten Britain’s security nor have a real power competition against the UK. The ideological differences are actually the easiest to shelve between countries. Britain is the “certain pawn” of the United States’ strategy to contain China.

Source: Global Times, September 15, 2021
https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/44mRTKh7rTN

On September 14th, the lower house of the Swiss Parliament passed the “Improving Relations with Taiwan” bill by an overwhelming majority. The bill will require the Swiss Federal Council to submit a report on how to deepen relations with Taiwan in the economic, trade, political, scientific and cultural fields.

Yan Minru, a Taiwanese writer who has lived in Switzerland for more than three decades, told Radio Free Asia that Taiwan’s success in combating COVID, coupled with four recent China-related incidents in Switzerland, alerted Switzerland to the infiltration from China and made them realize that they should start to support Taiwan.

Those four China-related incidents are described as follows:
1. During the Hong Kong protest, Zurich University of the Arts used an art exhibit to show support for Hong Kong protesters. The Chinese embassy pressured the university, telling them not to interfere with China’s internal affairs. The university insisted they had the right to freedom of speech and it would be unconstitutional if they gave in and cancelled the exhibition. Their position was well received by the media.

2. Gerber, a Ph.D. student at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, criticized China on twitter. His professor and adviser then received threats from some Chinese students. The university asked Gerber to find another adviser. Since Gerber studied China’s environmental pollution which is a sensitive subject, Gerber was unable to find a new adviser. He had to drop out of school and wasted three years of research work.

3. About two years ago, for about a year, the Swiss German-language weekly Le Monde published articles written by a former Chinese ambassador to Switzerland on a monthly basis. The articles were full of propaganda. New Zurich Daily later exposed that the articles were published through the process of trade involving a paid advertisement with the Chinese embassy.

4. A large number of Chinese were smuggled into Switzerland. The Swiss government allowed several Chinese officials to come to Switzerland to verify the status of the refugees. The process lasted for two weeks. The Swiss government even paid for the Chinese officials’ airfare, hotel accommodations, health insurance, and gave them a US$217 daily allowance. They even let these officials use the Swiss office facilities. It caused strong public opposition.

Source: Radio Free Asia, September 15, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/hx2-09152021082637.html