Geo-Strategic Trend - 73. page

The “United Front” is both a strategy and an ecosystem of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).  It is a guided or CCP-controlled group charged with advancing both China’s domestic control and its international influence. The media represent an important front. Beijing’s “World Media Summit” is an annual platform to influence overseas media.

According to China’s official Xinhua news agency, the fourth World Media Summit was held in Beijing on November 22. Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee and head of Central Propaganda Department, attended the plenary session and read the CCP Chair Xi Jinping’s congratulatory letter and delivered a keynote address.

Huang pointed out that Xi Jinping’s congratulatory letter fully affirmed the achievements of the summit and placed great expectations on the global media to shoulder their social responsibilities and promote the building of a “community of human destiny in a better way.”

Huang told the media “to adhere to objectivity, truthfulness, and scientific and rational judgment; to oppose rumors and bias, and to be responsible in disseminating public information.” Huang then went ahead with the party line: “The CCP and the State have made historic achievements and have made important contributions to the peaceful development of the world.”

Xinhua news agency hosted this year’s summit. Nearly 400 Chinese and foreign guests from more than 260 media and institutions in nearly 100 countries and regions attended the meeting online and in person.

Source: People’s Daily, November 23, 2021
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2021-11/23/nw.D110000renmrb_20211123_4-04.htm

Nepal, a country that borders Tibet, is giving consideration to joining the U.S. Millennium Challenge (MCC) aid program. Local media have recently exposed a classified report from Nepal’s national security authorities that revealed that  China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) has a long history of intelligence espionage and would stop at nothing to thwart the program.

Khabarhub, a Nepali English language media, revealed the classified report on November 12. “Khabarhub obtained the document on the condition of confidentiality and anonymity. It covered in detail the Chinese intelligence apparatus, its modus operandi inside Nepal, and the people involved in it.” “The report also included details about intelligence officials working as diplomats, journalists, and even businessmen.”

“The document states that China is ‘playing a role’ in souring Nepal’s relations with third countries, particularly with the United States, and is currently actively propagating, lobbying and spending against the MCC.”

“The 50-page confidential intelligence document also details all of China’s intelligence priorities, objectives, networks, and individuals in Nepal. Many details of the past are also mentioned in the document.”

“Nepali security forces have concluded that the Chinese intelligence officials’ top priority is to invalidate MCC at any cost. The security authorities have also concluded that the Chinese intelligence agency is actively involved in lobbying against MCC and is disseminating disinformation.”

“Nepali security and intelligence officials warn that the rapid advance and increased Chinese intelligence volume could even play a role in changing Nepal’s political position.”

“Lately, besides gathering intelligence, the Chinese are actively influencing and spending money on Nepali politicians, journalists and even businessmen.”

The report also identifies a Chinese national, Ning Lin, a name at the top of the security authorities’ list of those involved in crafting anti-MCC rhetoric in Nepal. Lin, (also known as “Oscar Ning”), a Chinese intelligence agency (MSS) official, carries two passports and is said to have come from the Chinese province of Hubei.

Source: Khabarhub, November 12, 2021

Nepali security authorities identify a Chinese intelligence agency official involved in anti-MCC propaganda

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that a senior official at the Ministry of Public Security of China is seeking to compete for a post in the Interpol Executive Committee. INTERPOL will hold a conference in Istanbul from November 23 to 25, and will elect the new members of the executive committee, including two executive committee members from Asia. Hu Binchen, deputy director and First-Grade Inspector of the International Cooperation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security of China, is one of the candidates for the member from Asia. The INTERPOL Executive Committee consists of 13 members, responsible for overseeing the daily work of the Secretary-General and the General Secretariat. Meng Hongwei, former deputy minister of the Ministry of Public Security of China, was elected as the president of INTERPOL in 2016. However, in 2018, Meng disappeared after returning to China. He was later sentenced to jail for 13.5 years. In March 2019, China’s official anti-corruption agency reported that Meng had “refused to implement the decisions of the Party Central Committee.”

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, November 16, 2021
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20211116-1213956

On Thursday, November 11, multiple Indian media reported that  the Indian government told the country’s Supreme Court  that the Indian military needs to expand the roads along the India-China border to meet the need to transport the army’s current state-of-the-art BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and other military equipment. Earlier India’s Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat told a forum that China has become India’s number one security threat.

The move came after India unveiled an INR120 million strategic project to connect four pilgrimage sites in North Akhand with a 900-kilometer highway. The government on Thursday petitioned the Supreme Court to revise the plan, as Attorney General K. K. Venugopal reportedly claimed that local terrain conditions were harsh and that the 5.5-meter-wide road was insufficient to transport the 12.8-meter-long BrahMos missile and its launcher. If the Indian military cannot transport the device and other heavy mechanical equipment to the northern border of India and China, it will be difficult for India to respond in the event of war.

The BrahMos missile is the most advanced long-range supersonic missile of the Indian military. Rawat said that the Indian military has prepared for “any misadventure.” “If a Galwan [Editor: referring to the place of a previous clash] were to happen again, it would not be in our hands; it is up to the Chinese. They can carry out a Galwan again but should they do it, they will get in the same coin they got last time.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 13, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/7-11132021171839.html