Geo-Strategic Trend - 96. page

According to a Kyodo News report on November 29, seven defense related Chinese universities that conduct military technological research made an academic and student exchange agreement with a total of 45 public and private universities in Japan, among which nine Japanese universities have joint research programs.

The seven Chinese universities, including Beihang University and Northwestern Polytechnical University, are under the administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which oversees China’s national defense industry. They are known as the “Seven Sons of National Defense.” It has been reported that these universities are also involved in developing the equipment for the People’s Liberation Army. Three universities that are likely to transform their technology into the development of weapons of mass destruction are on the “foreign user list” of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The United States has four of the universities on the list of countries to which exports are banned. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute believes that the risk of cooperating with these seven Chinese universities is “very high.”

Kyodo News interviewed 51 Japanese universities that were in agreement with the Chinese side in the 2017 survey that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan conducted. Kyodo received responses from 49 of them. Six universities had already completed the agreement and 16 universities indicated that they may adjust their agreements. The Shibaura Institute of Technology understands that the Chinese universities are on the “list of foreign users” and is waiting for the end of that agreement. Some universities have also replied that they will adjust parts of multiple agreements or that only the portion on student exchanges will be maintained.

Among the 9 universities that have joint research programs with China, Chiba Institute of Technology replied that it has “discontinued” the programs. Hokkaido University (in the field of nanotechnology) and Osaka University (in the field of nuclear research) stated that they will conduct joint research on the basis of thorough management. As of November 28, seven universities including Kyoto University did not respond to the questions about the existence of a joint research with China.

Source: Kyodo News, November 29, 2020
https://china.kyodonews.net/news/2020/11/5a131355030b-45.html

Hong Kong Economic Times (HKET), the leading financial daily in Hong Kong, recently reported that, the British government just introduced the Communications Security Bill, which is designed to monitor the nation’s 5G mobile network and its fiber network. The new rules will impose a 100,000-pound daily fine or a fine totaling ten percent of sales on the violators if Huawei equipment is used. The UK government required all communications companies to eliminate all Huawei equipment before the year 2027. The government also set aside 250 million pounds to help communications vendors to replace Huawei’s 5G equipment. The new bill covers all electronic hardware and software that process internet traffic. The bill is expected to take effect starting next year at the earliest. According to British Telecom (BT), the government’s Huawei ban will cause BT to suffer a 500 million pounds loss. Oliver Dowden, British Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, just established a working group to help telecommunications providers. He’ll release more details on this before the end of the year.

Source: HKET, November 26, 2020
https://bit.ly/36lwFK1

Although the outside world generally believes that China has adopted a policy of repression against religion, recent studies have shown that the Chinese government is quietly using Buddhism as a tool to expand its “sharp power” internationally and increase its political influence.

On the one hand, during the 2020 epidemic, the Chinese government massively destroyed unapproved or foreign-published Buddhist books and demolished a great number of outdoor Buddhist statues. On the other hand, Chinese Buddhist institutions have used Buddhist teachings to appease the society that the epidemic has affected and to maintain national security.

At a recent seminar that Georgetown University held, David L. Wank and Yoshiko Ashiwa, who have been studying Chinese Buddhism, pointed out that these religious activities that the Chinese Buddhist organizations overseas have carried out are part of the Chinese government’s operations to expand its political influence.

“In 2015, the BAC (Buddhist Association of China) Ninth National Congress formally recognized the global promotion of Chinese Buddhism as a key activity. It called for Chinese Buddhism to ‘go out’ (zou chuqü) of China to other countries in order to ‘tell the Chinese story well’ to their peoples so they could realize China’s accomplishments and peaceful intentions.”

Wank said that, although the BAC’s global plan began in 2015, it has been launching actions since Xi Jinping took office in 2013. The Chinese government has diverted a large amount of resources to Buddhism.

Since the early 1980s, the Chinese government has used Buddhism as a tool of its foreign policy to achieve its political goals.

“The revival of Buddhism has helped persuade overseas Chinese business people that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is no longer following ‘leftist’ ideology and that they are welcome to come worship and invest in the PRC (People’s Republic of China).”

Wank also pointed out that, after the 1989 student movement, the Chinese government used Buddhism to improve its international image that the Tiananmen Square Massacre had damaged, and it used religious exchange activities to promote its “One China” policy.

“Chinese leader Hu Jintao, assumed office in 2002; he used the Confucian term ‘harmony’ to refer to his new approach to reduce economic inequalities in China and to manage international relations.”

“In 2006, the BAC reintroduced itself to global Buddhist society by convening the World Buddhist Forum, the first major international religious conference in the PRC.”

Wank and Ashiwa identified different strategies that the Chinese government adopted to use Buddhism in different countries.

First are Asian countries where the Buddhist majorities are economically dependent on China, including Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Mongolia, and Sri Lanka. The Chinese government’s strategies include “establishing bilateral Buddhist friendship associations; setting up Buddhist broadcasting networks; organizing joint religious and cultural rituals, such as praying for peoples’ health during the coronavirus pandemic and commemorating historical Buddhist ties between the countries; and providing funds to restore temples.”

Second are Western countries with recent histories of Buddhism and a growing popular appreciation of Buddhist culture as Asian culture in daily life. In these countries, efforts have been made to build Chinese Buddhist temples in order to further Buddhist cultural activities. For Buddhists and Chinese tourists, these projects are sites for worship and pilgrimage, while for the general populations of these countries, they are presented as Chinese cultural theme parks.

Third are strategies for Asian countries—India, Japan, Taiwan—that Beijing sees as geopolitical rivals and that the BAC views as competing for global status in Buddhism.

“In 2017, the Nanhai Buddhist Academy opened in the PRC, with strong state backing, to compete with India’s recently revived Nalanda University as the world center of Buddhist teaching. The academy is a center for creating Buddhist culture and Sinicized Buddhism as well as Buddhist friendships using such methods as inviting clerics from other Asian countries for study.”

The two researchers believe that the promotion of Chinese Buddhism around the world is exerting an influence that is beneficial to the Chinese government.

First, many activities—such as conferences, rituals, and inviting people (clerics, politicians, ministers of culture) to the PRC—further the aim of the UFWD to develop ties with individuals who may become favorably disposed to the PRC.

“These overseas Buddhist activities develop a network of individuals who may become favorably toward Chinese government. This is one of the main strategies of the United Front Work. This network includes Chinese Buddhists, famous overseas Buddhists, foreign leaders in cultural affairs.”

Wank also pointed out that temple-building projects in other countries may bolster the status of the Chinese clerics associated with them in the eyes of societies and governments of the host country. This can offset the status of those Buddhists that the Chinese government considers competitors, such as the Dalai Lama.

Giving resources to major Buddhist temples and schools can create dependencies and pro-China factions in Buddhist-majority countries.

Ashiwa’s analysis is that the teachings of Chinese Buddhism may also have a more far-reaching impact. “In Buddhist teachings, secular leaders have the potential to become Buddhists in the future. What we are concerned about is how this image of leaders will be shaped to such an extent that people’s political obedience is fostered, and how this will affect the perception and behavior of Chinese and overseas Buddhists.”

Both researchers believe that the current Chinese state promotion of Buddhism is operating on an unprecedented scale. An issue that the CCP will have to face is how Sinicized Buddhism representing Chinese great civilization will cooperate with other locally embedded Buddhist traditions in Asian countries, as well as Westernized Buddhism. Without well-considered strategies, the global promotion of Buddhism may trigger results that are contrary to CCP expectations.

Source: Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University. November 17, 2020.
https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/events/china-s-global-promotion-of-buddhism

NHK Chinese Edition recently reported that the U.S. Department of Defense announced the successful initial test of a new ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) interceptor. The interception test was the first real-world use of the newly developed SM-3 Block IIA interceptor missile. On November 16, the interceptor correctly blocked an ICBM near Hawaii. The target ICBM for the test was launched in the Marshall Islands over 4,000 kilometers away. The United States Navy identified the target with high-performance radar and launched the interceptor from a warship equipped with the Aegis Combat System. Before this, the same model interceptor was only attempted on MRBMs (Medium-Range Ballistic Missiles). This was the first experiment on an ICBM. Currently North Korea has gained significant improvements with their ICBM technology. The United States has been very much concerned. This new success demonstrated that the U.S. has also significantly improved its defense capability. Japan is also planning to deploy the SM-3 Block IIA interceptor on its Aegis ships to improve the level of its defense.

Source: NHK Chinese, November 18, 2020
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/zh/news/267915/

Recently, Epoch Times has obtained a number of internal CCP documents that expose how the CCP used the Lancang-Mekong cooperation to export its ideology to Southeast Asian countries along with the “Belt and Road” initiative.

According to the “Application for 2018 Special Funding on the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation project” that the Yunnan Nationalities University submitted, the total project funding was 7.62 million yuan (US$1.16 million), where 200,000 yuan (US$30,474) was self-raised funds. The application shows that China plans to build the Lancang-Mekong Vocational Education Base at Yunnan Nationalities University. It will consist of the International Vocational Institute, the Vocational Education Alliance, the Research Institute on Vocational Education and Industry Development, the Industry-Education Integration Zone and the International Cadre Academy. One of the objectives of the education base is to “gain advanced knowledge in a number of fields, including Chinese politics, economics, social studies and the humanities.” The specific courses consist of “The Theory and Practice of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics,” “Innovative Theory Research of the Chinese Communist Party” as well as several others. At the same time, the content of the training includes courses on “Chinese Culture.” One of the examples is “spreading China’s voice in areas such as current affairs, history and foreign policy.” The trainees were also asked to understand the “Belt Road Initiative” and to learn more about China’s experience through the reform and development.

A separate document that the Epoch Times obtained included a report dated May 28, 2020, from the Yunnan Police Academy titled, “Activities on Promoting the Joint Development of the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative.” The document reveals that, since 2015, the Academy has trained 56 foreign students from Afghanistan, Argentina, Angola, Pakistan, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, and Myanmar and has granted them master’s degree. The Ministry of Public Security provided full scholarships for these students. The academy also recruited 26 undergraduate Law students from Laos with full scholarships. Most of the graduates who returned to their home country are working in a field that has a direct interaction with China so these graduates can assist China in cooperating with their home countries in police enforcement. The Academy has established a Southeast Asian police training base to train police officers from the “Belt and Road” countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia. From 2016 to 2019, the Academy held 67 training courses and trained 1,241 officers.

Source: Epoch Times, November 12, 2020
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/20/11/12/n12542962.htm

Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing Ta Kung Pao newspaper carried an article stating that the Chinese regime is preparing to blacklist “Taiwan independence” diehards, and may launch crackdowns and impose life-long sanctions, referring to the legal provision of the “crime of committing secession.”

A Ta Kung Pao front page article on November 15 claimed that “Authorities in mainland China are preparing to blacklist ‘Taiwan independence’ diehards, and punish those who have made aggressive ‘Taiwan independence’ remarks and committed vile ‘Taiwan independence’ actions, along with their major sponsors. Legal provisions from the anti-secession Law, criminal law, and the national security law will be used to bring those people to justice and hold them accountable for life.” The article pointed out that the crime of secession can have a sentence of up to life in prison.

Shuh-Fan Ding, a professor at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, told Radio Free Asia that the purpose of the blacklist is more for intimidation than for real punishment. “The mainland wants to have a psychological impact. First, it aims to warn the people about ‘Taiwan independence’; second, it attempts to reduce Taiwan’s support for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) through intimidation because the DPP is considered a ‘Taiwan independence’ party.’” Shuh-Fan believes that, considering the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) handling of the Hong Kong issue last year, this crackdown and sanctions against “Taiwan independence” will also have a counterproductive effect.

Paul Huang, a Taiwanese freelance writer, said that the CCP’s implementation of the “Taiwan Independence” diehards list, similar to the promulgation of the Hong Kong national security law, is to enforce Beijing’s will. “What I am worried about is that the mainland will enact an unlimited authorization bill, or that the list can be expanded at any time without any warning. Then hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese in mainland China may be upset because of this. One must be cautious with his words and deeds even inside Taiwan. This is the biggest concern.” “We need to look at the detailed enforcement (measures). If it is just a blacklist, similar to the US Department of Commerce’s sanctions mechanism against China, it is just a concept of denying entry. If it is more offensive, the mainland will turn this into a law that can be criminally prosecuted, much like Hong Kong’s national security law.”

Since the enforcement of the Hong Kong national security law in June this year, Beijing has arrested a number of student leaders for violating the national security law and inciting the secession of the nation. The CCP’s General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward the “Five Points” on Taiwan in 2019, namely, cross-strait reunification, the Taiwan version of “one country, two systems,” no promise of abandoning military reunification, deepened cross-strait integration and development, and promotion of the consensus of peaceful reunification. At the same time, the “Five Points” was formally written into the decision of the Fourth Plenary Session of the CCP’s 19th Central Committee.

The Mainland Affairs Council, the Taiwanese government’s agency handling cross-strait affairs, issued a statement in this regard, stating that the mainland’s use of force and legal means to bully and threaten dissidents with the intent of intimidating Taiwan into self-censorship, inciting cross-strait antagonism, and sabotaging peace and stability will only be futile and counterproductive. The Mainland Affairs Council stated that Taiwan will not give in under threats.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 16, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/bx-11162020103136.html