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Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

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Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

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Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

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Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

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The Wuhan Government Publicized Debtor Names in the Newspaper to Collect Debts

To collect money back from its debtors, on April 26, the Finance Bureau of Wuhan City, Hubei Province, published a full-page debt collection announcement in the Yangtze River Daily (the primary local newspaper in Wuhan).  The announcement listed 259 debtors and their unpaid balances as of the end of 2018. The debtor list included Finance Bureaus at the city’s districts, research institutes, state-owned enterprises, listed companies, and a few private enterprises. The amount each one owed ranged from ten thousand yuan to over ten million yuan, with the total exceeding 100 million yuan (US $14 million).

Wuhan city’s fiscal income in 2020 was 123 billion yuan, down 21.3 percent from 2019 (pre-COVID time). It recovered  158 billion yuan in 2021. The amount came down slightly to 151 billion yuan in 2022. Income in the first quarter this year was 50.8 billion yuan, down 8.5 percent from a year ago.

The debt that Wuhan city is publicly collecting is relatively small compared to Wuhan’s fiscal income, but the act of public debt collection revealed that the city is in such a poor financial situation that it had to resort to a harsh solution. Another issue was that China’s Ministry of Finance required each local government to clean (take back) all money it lent out prior to 2018.

Sources:
1. Central News Agency (Taiwan), May 30, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202305300260.aspx
2. China Digital Times, May 30, 2023
https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/696630.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Government/Politics

China’s War Simulation: 24 Hypersonic Missiles Will Completely Annihilate the Ford Aircraft Carrier Strike Group

Both the South China Morning Post and China Finance Information reported the war simulation result published on the Journal of Testing Technology (测试技术学报). Cao Hongsong’s research team at North Central University conducted 20 rounds of digital war simulation exercises. In each round, China fired 24 hypersonic anti-ship missiles and was able to sink an average of five or six U.S. ships including the USS Ford aircraft carrier, effectively destroying the entire aircraft carrier strike group.

North Central University is a second-class national confidential unit. It is jointly owned by Shanxi Province, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the National Defense Science and Industry Bureau. The Journal of Testing Technology is a journal jointly run by the university and the China Military Industry Association.

The simulation fired two types of hypersonic missiles: Category A with 2,000 km range and Category B with 4,000 km range. China’s attack came in three waves from six launching bases. The first wave had 8 Class A missiles, mainly to deplete U.S. SM-3 interceptors. The second wave, the main attack wave, contained 8 Class B and 2 Class A missiles and sank the U.S. aircraft carrier and cruisers. The third wave consisted of six Class A missiles to sink the remaining U.S. ships.

Source: Sohu, May 26, 2023
https://www.sohu.com/a/679199532_121432636

Briefings | | |   @CS Defense/Military

Xi Jinping: China to Withstand “High Winds and Rough Waves”

The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party’s National Security Commission held a meeting today, stating that China is facing an “obvious increase in the complexity and severity of national security issues” and needs to be prepared for “significant tests that may include high winds and rough waves.”

According to Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Central National Security Commission, presided over the first meeting of the 20th Central National Security Commission on the afternoon of the 30th. During the meeting, he made the following remarks.

Xi Jinping emphasized the need to fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the CCP, deeply understand the “complex and severe situation facing national security,” correctly grasp the “major national security issues,” accelerate the modernization of the national security system and capabilities, “safeguard the new development pattern with a new security framework,” and strive for a new phase in national security work.

The meeting highlighted that China is currently facing an “obvious increase in the complexity and severity of national security issues.” The national security front must establish strategic confidence, a firm belief in victory, and fully recognize its own advantages and favorable conditions. It is necessary to adhere to bottom-line thinking and extreme thinking and be prepared to withstand “significant tests that may include high winds and rough waves.”

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), May 302, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202305300394.aspx

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Chinese Universities Plagued by Rising Depression Rates

According to the “2022 China National Mental Health Report” released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a comprehensive survey was conducted on nearly 80,000 university students to assess their mental health. The findings of the report revealed that the detected rates of depression and anxiety risks were approximately 21.48 percent and 45.28 percent respectively.

Furthermore, a study published in the journal “Frontiers in Psychology” delved into the mental health status of approximately 100,000 university students from 43 cities and 23 universities across the nation. The study revealed that the average prevalence of mental disorders among these students was 22.8 percent.

Another domestic study shed light on the psychological stress experienced by university students, with a staggering 73.2 percent of participants reporting varying degrees of stress. The study identified academic pressure and uncertainty as the primary contributors to mental health impacts.

Notably, students who perceive high academic pressure face a 1.43 times higher risk of developing mental disorders. Moreover, uncertainty stress, which stems from the ambiguity surrounding present and future development, was reported by approximately 54 percent of university students. The risk of mental health issues associated with uncertainty stress was found to be 2.55 times higher compared to other stress factors.

Furthermore, it was revealed that one-fourth of university students lack social support, an essential factor in maintaining good mental health. Research has demonstrated that the absence of social support has become a significant contributing factor to mental health problems among university students. Specifically, a study that focused on Chinese university students revealed  that over one-fourth of them lacked sufficient social support.

Source: ifeng.com, May 25, 2023
https://news.ifeng.com/c/8Q4lx0sgK17

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Leaked Internal Documents: Experts Enlisted for Cyber Army’s Reconnaissance Operation

On March 24, 2023, China’s Ministry of Public Security’s Eleventh Bureau issued an internal notice announcing plans to organize over 40 “experts in cyber intelligence, big data system construction, and data mining” from across the country to engage in a month-long period of “Special Reconnaissance Operations ” in Beijing from March 27 to April 27, 2023. The main objective of this operation was to “send personnel to participate in the battle for public opinion against overseas ‘Internet armies’ and effectively safeguard political security online.”

The leaked notice, suspected to have been obtained through email hacking, revealed that the operation was undertaken by the “Twenty-Fourth Division of the Eleventh Bureau,” led by a person named “Hu Fengming” (胡凤鸣). Several “Public Security Bureau Network Security Defense Brigades” were mentioned in the notice, which also included a list of 32 participating police officers with their real names.

The Network Security Defense Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, also known as the Eleventh Bureau, is an internal agency responsible for handling criminal cases related to computers and information networks. It oversees the management of the national public information network security police, commonly known as the “Internet police.”

The leaked notice was independently verified by China Digital Times (CDT) through online searches and cross-referencing, confirming the identities of some of the listed police officers. As of now, CDT has confirmed that 11 individuals are indeed Internet police officers from various regions (with some screenshots as evidence), leading to the belief that the leaked notice is genuine.

It appears that Chinese authorities are aware of the leak and have taken action. As of the time of this writing, the Baidu Baike pages (Chinese encyclopedia) of the individuals on the list have been taken offline. Weibo (a popular social media platform) has also cleared all names from the list.

Source: China Digital Times, May 24, 2023
https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/695957.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

In the First Four Months, China’s Sizeable Industrial Enterprises Saw Profits Drop by 20.6 Percent

The National Bureau of Statistics of China recently released official data on industrial enterprises for the first four months of this year. The total profits of industrial enterprises above a designated size reached RMB 2,032.88 billion (around US$288 billion), a year-over-year decrease of 20.6 percent. Among them, State-owned companies saw a year-over-year profit decrease of 17.9 percent; joint-stock companies had a profit decrease of 22.0 percent; foreign and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan-invested companies had a profit decrease of 16.2 percent; and privately-owned companies suffered a decrease of 22.5 percent. During the first four months, the manufacturing industry saw a profit decrease of 27.0 percent and the electricity, heat, gas and water production and supply industry had a profit increase of 34.1 percent. Among the 41 major industrial sectors, the total profit of 13 industries increased year-over-year. One industry was flat, and 27 industries declined. It is notable that the general equipment manufacturing industry profit increased by 20.7 percent and the automobile manufacturing industry profit increased by 2.5 percent. However, the textile industry profit decreased by 30.2 percent, the agricultural and sideline food processing industry profit decreased by 36.3 percent, and the computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry profit decreased by 53.2 percent.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, May 27, 2023
http://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202305/t20230526_1940198.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Global Times: Japan Officially Introduced Export Control Measures for Semiconductor Equipment

Global Times recently reported that the Japanese government officially introduced export control measures for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, which will be implemented on July 23. China’s Ministry of Commerce responded on the same day that this is an abuse of export control measures and a serious departure from free trade and international economic and trade rules. China firmly opposes this. Japan announced in late March this year that it would amend the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law to strengthen export controls on 23 items of chip manufacturing equipment in an effort to “cooperate with the United States to prevent technology from flowing to China and being transferred to military use.” According to the Japanese Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Industry, the restricted scope includes semiconductor cleaning, thin film deposition, heat treatment, etching, product inspection and more.The Japanese Minister of the Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura previously stated that “this is not aimed at any specific country.” However, considering the latest export management trends of countries related to semiconductor manufacturing equipment, public opinion believes that this is a measure against China. While Japan’s restrictions on semiconductors are less extensive than in the United States, about ten Japanese manufacturers will be affected to some extent by the new rules. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce of China stated that the measures announced will seriously damage the interests of Chinese and Japanese companies, seriously damage the Sino-Japanese economic and trade cooperation, disrupt the global semiconductor industry structure, and impact the stability of the global industrial supply chain.

Sources:
(1) Global Times, May 24, 2023
https://3w.huanqiu.com/a/de583b/4D17o6aPvPe?agt=11
(2) Xinhua, May 23, 2023
http://www.news.cn/fortune/2023-05/23/c_1129640086.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

EU Chamber of Commerce: European Companies Pause on Investments

Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that the president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said that China’s economic growth is not what it used to be. At present, European companies are cautious about investment. Although large companies continue to invest, smaller companies have pressed the pause button or they have left. He believes that the biggest problem in China’s economy is the real estate industry, which accounts for a quarter of the total Chinese GDP. There are almost no new developments. In addition, in the field of exports, China exported 6.4 million containers to the EU last year, while the EU only exported 1.6 million containers to China. This shows China’s dependence on European consumers. In terms of industrial production, energy supply problems continue to arise. Youth unemployment remains high. China’s large private enterprises are facing serious difficulties. They are being punished, while state-owned enterprises are being rewarded with strong government support. In China, the EU Chamber of Commerce does not yet see the same way that they did  during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, but the country is heading in that direction.

Source: CNA, May 27, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202305270037.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend