Geo-Strategic Trend - 78. page

The Epoch Times reported that it has received information from several sources that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using its United Front Work Department to lobby India’s scholars, news reporters, and companies. The goal is to weaken India and eventually force it to yield to the CCP.

The article reported several examples:

Some well-known Indian newspapers published whole-page commentaries by Sun Weidong, China’s Ambassador to India, on the issues of Tibet, Hong Kong, COVID-19, and the CCP’s 100^th Anniversary. The purpose of these commentaries was to promote the CCP’s viewpoint. For example, The Hindu (one of India’s  main daily newspapers) published Sun’s commentary that Beijing’s passing the national security law in Hong Kong was good for India’s interests and therefore India should respect and support the CCP’s efforts in having passed this law in Hong Kong.

An anonymous New Delhi source said that China’s United Front Work Department has established groups to do lobbying in all key departments in every South Asian country.

The CCP is pushing its own leadership on Buddhism over its rival India. Ever since 2006, Beijing has hosted the World Buddhist Forum (WBF). The CCP controlled Panchen Lama gives a speech each time but the Dalai Lamar is never invited. Beijing even promoted its Belt & Road Initiative at the 2018 WBF conference.

Beijing is also promoting Lumbini in Nepal. Lumbini is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mahamayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama around 563. In promoting it as a main Buddhist site, Beijing is attempting to counter India which has the most important Buddhist pilgrimage centers. Beijing built the Zhong Hua Chinese Buddhist Monastery in Lumbini. The Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation (APEC) also has a 3-billion-dollar project for the Lumbini Recovery Plan.

The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), under the CCP’s United Front Works Department, directs many friendship associations in other countries. When the world criticized the CCP for its national security law in Hong Kong, many friendship associations in South Asia published a joint statement to support the CCP. Also, when Beijing and India had a border clash, the India-China Friendship Association stated that it was “making every effort to promote peace (with China) among Indians.”

Source: Epoch Times, July 31, 2021
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/7/31/n13129773.htm

According to China’s state media People’s Daily, on August 24, the State Internet Information Office of China, also known as the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) hosted a Forum on China-Africa Cyberspace Development and Cooperation. The Forum was held online.

Zhuang Rongwen, the head of CAC, China’s top regulator of cyberspace, proposed to promote the development of the digital economy and deepen tolerance and mutual trust with African countries. The initiative also included strengthening cyberspace governance, and a deepening of cooperation in the development of cyberspace. Zhuang explained that China has launched the “China-Africa Initiative on Building a Community of Common Destiny in Cyberspace” and welcomed the support and participation of African countries. In the coming three years, China will work with the African side to design practical cooperation initiatives in the digital field.

China’s National Computer Network Emergency Response Center (CNCERT) also signed a memorandum of cooperation with the National Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRT) of the Benin Republic.

Source: People’s Daily, August 25, 2021
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2021-08/25/nw.D110000renmrb_20210825_10-03.htm

Popular Hong Kong new online media HK01 Network recently reported that, on August 19th, China Global Television Network (CGTN) of China Central Radio and Television, interviewed Suhail Shaheen, spokesperson for the Taliban in Afghanistan. When talking about rebuilding and maintaining peace in Afghanistan, Shaheen expressed the hope that, in the future, China can contribute to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Shaheen mentioned that members of the Taliban have visited China many times and China has played a constructive role during the process of promoting peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. Shaheen said that China appointed a special envoy to Afghanistan earlier, and the two parties kept in touch. Now, China has appointed a new special envoy to Afghanistan, and the connection remains. Recently, the Taliban delegation met with the new special envoy. The Taliban hopes that China will continue its contribution to the future of Afghanistan. “The Afghan people look forward to it,” he said. Shaheen also explained that, according to the current structure of the Taliban, Afghanistan will set up a governing committee in the future, and the new head of the government may be the leader of the Taliban.

Source: HK01, August 20, 2021
https://bit.ly/3y36BOm

China’s state-run media, Global Times, published an editorial warning Taiwan that today’s Afghanistan may be tomorrow’s Taiwan. The article stated that, “The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan led to the rapid collapse of the Kabul regime. The U.S. used helicopters to transport diplomats to the airport to flee Kabul while Taliban soldiers poured into the presidential palace. This scene left a deep impression on the world and gave a critical hit to the credibility and reliability of the United States.”

The article said, “Some parts of Asia have felt the hit of the U.S. abandoning the Kabul regime particularly hard, with Taiwan being the first to bear the brunt. Taiwan is undoubtedly the region in Asia that is most heavily dependent on the United States for protection. The DPP authorities have exacerbated this aberrant line of dependence. After the United States abandoned Afghanistan, the situation suddenly turned upside down. The United States left the country alone and only cared about its own withdrawal. Is this some kind of harbinger of Taiwan’s future destiny?”

The article warned: “Once a war breaks out across the strait and the mainland forcefully seizes the island of Taiwan, the United States will have to have much more determination to implement military intervention in Taiwan than it did to to persist in Afghanistan and northern Syria, and not to abandon South Vietnam in 1975.”

“The DPP authorities need to stay awake with their last bit of brain power, and all kinds of the “Taiwan independence” forces that are still dreaming need to be able to wake up. They should understand from the Afghan incident that once a full-scale war breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, the resistance of the Taiwan military will collapse in the span of hours. The aid of the U.S. military will not come. The DPP authorities will soon surrender, and some high-ranking officials may escape by plane. Such a situation will be a sure thing.”

Source: Global Times, August 16, 2021
https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/44NXKQHceOw

The first generator for the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station, an infrastructure project in Zambia, which Chinese companies built, was recently put into operation. The power plant is the largest single infrastructure project in Zambia. It is also the largest hydropower plant in the country.

Zambia has been tackling power shortages for a long time. Only about 25 percent of the urban population and 3 percent of the rural population have a stable electricity supply. According to China’s state media, People’s Daily, the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station, Power Construction Corp of China, or Power China, plans to install five turbine power generating units, with a total installed capacity of 750 megawatts. Once the five generating units go into full operation, the country’s power supply will see an increase of 38 percent.

Source: People’s Daily, August 12, 2021
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2021-08/12/nw.D110000renmrb_20210812_3-17.htm

Many countries around the world have expressed concern about China’s growing influence on international academic campuses. Beijing’s Confucius Institutes, by investing heavily overseas to promote the study of the Chinese language and culture, are viewed as China’s move to increase its soft power.” According to the National Association of Scholars (NAS), there were 103 Confucius Institutes in the U.S. in 2017. As of July 9, the number had dropped to 41, with several schools set to close later this year or next.

This year, Taiwan started to explore the international Chinese language teaching market more actively. The Overseas Community Affairs Council under the Executive Yuan of Taiwan announced in June that it would set up 20 “Taiwan Chinese Language Learning Centers” in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France and other countries in the hope of promoting the Chinese language. Seventeen of these will be in the U.S.

Since last year. the U.S. has been seeking to expand the platform for learning Chinese. Last December, the U.S. and Taiwan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on international education cooperation and launched the “U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative.”

In March of this year, twenty-one Republican members of the U.S. Congress wrote a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Education to consider using a program with Taiwan to offer “censorship-free alternatives” to the China-backed Confucius Institutes on many U.S. college campuses.

Taiwan’s representative in the U.S., Hsiao Bi-khim, said in an interview, “The learning environment in Taiwan (Centers) is different from that in the Confucius Institutes. The biggest difference is that we are in a free space. There will be no government to influence or challenge personal freedom in this regard due to the issue of speech.”

Source: BBC Chinese, August 13, 2021
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-58170293

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that Lithuanian ambassador to China Diana (Diana Mickeviciene) had just arrived in Beijing and completed the mandatory quarantine. Then they immediately told her to “go back home.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying commented on the matter and emphasized that the meaning of the one-China principle cannot be distorted. Hua said that Lithuania allowed Taiwan to set up a “representative office” under the name of “Taiwan,” which seriously damaged China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. China has the right and should make a legitimate and reasonable response. China will never agree to the act of adhering to the one-China principle, while in fact openly engaging in official contacts with the Taiwan authorities, or even standing for the “Taiwan independence” forces. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania said that it “regrets” China’s decision. According to French media, Mickeviciene had just arrived in Beijing when she was told that she must return to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, as soon as possible.

Source: Sina, August 12, 2021
https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2021-08-12/doc-ikqcfncc2497414.shtml