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The CCP Tries to Cool Down the Blank Sheets of Paper Protest

As protests against the authorities’ extreme COVID control policy are mushrooming throughout China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been attempting to douse the fire with what appears to be both carrots and sticks. Blank sheets of paper have become a symbol of resistance among those protesting Beijing’s COVID lockdown policies. They are showing up at protests across the nation. In a nation where a protest message could get a person jailed, opponents of the Chinese regime are innovating by using a a blank page to call for change. Thus, the blank sheet of paper has become a symbol of resistance

The CCP issued a tough message through the Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC), the top CCP organ in charge of domestic security, and through the judicial system, with a meeting on November 28 to announce it would “resolutely crack down on the infiltration and sabotage activities of hostile forces, and resolutely crack down on illegal and criminal acts that disrupt the social order.”

Truckloads of armed police have been dispatched to Shanghai and Beijing. In Guangzhou, the police have clashed with protesters. Demonstrators have thrown glass bottles at the police, and the police have used tear gas to disperse the protestors.

On the other hand, the central government has also made a conciliatory gesture regarding COVID restrictions. The National Health Commission stated on November 29 that “COVID control should lock down quickly and open up quickly (afterwards)” and “wherever it can open up, it should open up.”

Some local authorities have yielded to protesters’ demands and relaxed COVID controls in certain regions. The Guangzhou government ended the lockdown in Haizhu District on Nov 16 after the public protest. Urumqi in Xinjiang released several residential neighborhoods on Nov 26 after people took to the streets and the Shanghai government announced that on Dec 1, it would end the control in 24 high-risk regions.

Whether the CCP’s “hard and soft” strategy will completely quiet down the protest remains to be seen.

Sources:
1. Chinascope, November 29, 2022
http://chinascope.org/archives/31170
1. The Paper, November 29, 2022
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_20945808
2. China Outlook, November 30, 2022
https://news.creaders.net/china/2022/11/30/2552449.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics Social Stability

Global Times: Let the World’s Top Scientists Be Proud that They received Award from China

On November 6, 2022, China held a World Laureates Forum in Shanghai. Chen Jining, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, Wan Gang, Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, Shen Haixiong, Vice Minister of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the China Central Radio and Television Station, and Roger Kornberg, Chairman of the World Top Scientists Association and winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.

China’s state media Global Times published a commentary discussing the objectives of the forum. Below are the main points from the commentary:

“At the opening ceremony of the Fifth World’s Top Scientists Forum (World Laureates Forum) held in Shanghai, the first World Top Scientists Association Award (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Top Scientists Award’) was awarded. The World’s Top Scientists Association initiated the award and hosted the event along with  the Shanghai World’s Top Scientists Development Foundation. The ‘Top Scientists Award is a science award for global scientists. It was officially announced at the 4th World’s Top Scientists Forum on November 1, 2021. The Top Scientist Award is awarded once a year. At present, two individual awards have been established, the ‘Intelligent Science or Mathematics Award’ and the ‘Life Science or Medicine Award.’ Ten million Chinese Yuan (~US$1.5 million) is given to each award winner. The same award can be given to and shared by up to 4 people. This award is also the highest bonus science and technology award established by China to date.”

“The establishment of the Top Scientist Award has a certain significance for the development of science and technology in China.”

“First of all, among the fiercely competitive world science and technology awards, large-scale investment in the establishment of international science and technology awards shows the determination and confidence of Chinese entrepreneurs and the scientific and technological circles to dare to participate in the competition for the world’s top science and technology awards.”

“Second, the international science and technology awards issued locally will help to increase the public attention given to science and technology, broaden the horizons of the scientific and technological circles and the public, and deepen the understanding of international scientific and technological progress and of global scientists.”

“Third, the Top Science and Technology Association Award is an international award led by non-governmental organizations and recommended by top scientists. It highlights its non-governmental, academic, and international nature, and is conducive to showing China’s more open international image in the field of science and technology and to promoting global academic exchanges and cooperation with scientific research to build a more open scientific community.”

Source:
1. Website for China Association for Science and Technology                                                                                                                      https://www.cast.org.cn/art/2022/11/6/art_79_201895.html

2. Global Times, November 14, 2022
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics Opinion

China to Implement Nationwide Health Code by 2025

On November 9, China’s National Health Commission (NHC), the country’s top agency in charge of health policies, announced on its official website that the NHC, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (NATCM), and the NHC’s subordinate National Administration of Disease Control and Prevention jointly issued a proposal, which envisioned that, by 2025, a dynamically managed electronic health record and a fully functional electronic health code will be set up for every Chinese national.

According to the document, as the health codes currently in use in most regions are for “intra-provincial use,” at the national level, there is a lack of sharing and recognition of health codes across regions. The official goal is that by 2025, China will build an “ioperable” monitoring platform for the whole population, with each resident equipped with a dynamically managed electronic health file and a fully functional electronic health code. By that time, the Chinese government will be able to use big data to track so-called “risk groups” and monitor the Chinese population in real time over the long run.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 10, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/code-11102022062758.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Canceled Video Speech by EU Council President at Shanghai Trade Expo

The Chinese authorities blocked a video by European Council President Charles Michel. It was not allowed to be shown on November 4 at the opening ceremony of the China International Import Expo (CIIE), a major trade expo in Shanghai. Beijing had planned to show Michel’s speech along with those from other foreign dignities, including the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, the director-general of the World Trade Organization, and the presidents of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Belarus.

However, in his pre-recorded video speech, the European Council president asked China to take the right side on the Russia-Ukraine war. Michel said, “China has a role in using its influence to stop Russia’s brutal war … through your so-called ‘no-limits’ partnership with Russia.” “You, China, can help put an end to this.”  His video also warned about Europe becoming overly dependent on Russia or China. “In Europe, we want balance in our trade relations  … in order to avoid over-dependencies,” Michel said. “This is also true of our trade relations with China.”

Michel’s office asked China for an explanation.

Source: China News, November 8, 2022
https://news.creaders.net/china/2022/11/08/2544742.html

Briefings | | |   @CS Government/Politics

The CCP Conducted More Interference in Canada’s Election Than any Other Country

According to the Canadian media, the Global News’ report on November 7, Canadian intelligence officials warned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that China has allegedly interfered in Canada’s elections, including funding a clandestine network of at least 11 federal candidates running in the 2019 election.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) reported that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) efforts in interfering in Canada’s election included payments through intermediaries to candidates affiliated with the CCP, placing their agents into the offices of Members of Parliament (MPs) in order to influence policy, seeking to co-opt and corrupt former Canadian officials, and mounting aggressive campaigns to punish Canadian politicians whom the CCP views as threats to its interests.

The intelligence report asserts that China conducts more foreign interference than any other nation.

In 2019, China’s Consulate in Toronto directed a large clandestine transfer of funds to a network of at least eleven federal election candidates and to numerous Beijing operatives who worked as the candidate’s campaign staffers. The funds were allegedly transferred through an Ontario provincial MPP and a federal election candidate staffer. Separate sources who are aware of the situation said a CCP proxy group, acting as an intermediary, transferred around $250,000 to these candidates and staffers.

Some, but not all, members of that alleged network were willing affiliates of the CCP.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on the same day, apparently in response to the Global News’ report, that China and other countries are finding ways to interfere with the Canadian democratic system. The Canadian government has taken strong measures to prevent this. The government established a special committee of senior officials to handle foreign interference during the two federal elections in 2019 and 2022.

Sources:
1. Global News, November 7, 2022

Canadian intelligence warned PM Trudeau that China covertly funded 2019 election candidates: Sources


2. Radio Canada, November 8, 2022
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/zh-hans/新闻/1931263/中国-干涉-资助-加拿大候选人-政府措施

Briefings | | |   @CS Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics

After the Confucius Institute, the CCP Switched to Promoting the Lu Ban Workshop

The Chinese Communist Party has been promoting the “Lu Ban Workshop (鲁班工坊)” in countries along the path of its Belt & Road Initiative (BRI).

Launched by the Tianjin Municipal Government, the Lu Ban Workshops are named after Lu Ban, a famous Chinese craftsman. They provide vocational education, from mechatronics to applied electronics, and from automation to robotics, to residents of hosting countries, with a focus on local needs.

Xi Jinping has personally promoted the Lu Ban Workshop on several occasions, including at his meetings with presidents from the target countries.

The first workshop was established in Thailand in 2016. There are now 25 Lu Ban Workshops in 19 countries, including Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Portugal, and in Central Asian countries.

The Lu Ban Workshop has essentially the same export model as the Confucius Institute: Chinese vocational and technical schools seek local partners in targeted countries and offer courses in those local schools to teach skills related to Chinese standards.

There has been growing concern over the Confucius Institutes as they promote the CCP ideology and impose CCP policy at the local partner school. In the past few years, there has been a wave of interest in closing Confucius Institutes and 104 of the 118 Confucius Institutes at U.S. universities have been closed.

Source: VOA, November 6, 2022
https://www.voachinese.com/a/luban-workshop-china-2022-11-06/6821047.html

 

Briefings | | |   @CS Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics

How Did the 20th Party Congress Pick the Central Committee Members?

Radio Free Asia published an article by Cheng Xiaonong, a Chinese political commentator, on how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) selected its Central Committee members for the 20th Party Congress.

Xi Jinping started planning the candidate selection work at the end of 2020. Three months later, Xi held a Politburo Standing Committee meeting and a Politburo meeting to  launch the 20th Party Congress Cadres Evaluation Leading Group officially, with him the head of the group. Xi allocated quotas to each province and ministry.

The CCP Central Organization Department started the cadres evaluations in July 2021. It sent out 45 evaluation teams, in three batches, to 31 provinces, 124 central and state apparatuses and state-owned enterprises. The Central Military Commission also sent eight evaluation teams to 25 central units and theaters.

The evaluation results were presented to the Politburo for review. Xi called six politburo standing committee hearings on the evaluation report. In the end, Xi made the call on candidates.

The list was finalized at the CCP politburo standing committee on September 7. The vote had two steps. First, a 222-member list was given to the 20th Congress representatives to vote for 205 positions. Second, the representatives were given a 205-member list to vote for 205 members.

It is not very clear whether the ballot would still be valid if someone wrote any name on it that was outside the “official” list, but that “off the list” candidate for surely wouldn’t be elected.

Source: Radio Free Asia, October 28, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/pinglun/chengxiaonong/cxn-10282022121015.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics