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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 CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.

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CCP, Master of Hostage Diplomacy

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Net Ease: China’s Water Cannon Injures Filipino Admiral, Renders Filipino Ship Inoperable

Chinese Internet portal NetEase has published a commentary claiming victory following an incident on March 5 when China’s maritime police used high-pressure water cannons against a Filipino boat, causing injuries to several Filipino crew members and damaging the ship. The Filipino boat was on a resupply mission for Filipino troops stationed at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the South China Sea that is claimed by several countries including China and the Philippines.

The Associated Press reported that the Chinese water cannons shattered the windshield glass of the Filipino boat’s cockpit, resulting in four injuries. The NetEase article bragged that Filipino Admiral Alberto Carlos, who was aboard the resupply boat, was among those injured in the incident, adding that Adm. Carlos is Commander of the Philippines’ West Theater and calling him a “big fish” (i.e. an important person in the Philippines’ military).

From the NetEase article: “The Chinese Coast Guard ship fired a high-pressure water cannon at the supply ship where Carlos was, instantly shattering the glass in the cockpit of the Philippine supply ship. The situation in the Philippine ship’s cabin was chaotic. Four Filipino personnel were bleeding and injured, including Adm. Carlos. Subsequently, Chinese water cannons swept across the superstructure of the Philippine ship, destroying external equipment including communication antennas, causing serious damage to the Philippine ship.”

According to the NetEase article, a U.S. Morpheus-class littoral combat ship was in nearby waters during the incident. “The U.S. ship tried to enter the Second Thomas Shoal to assist the Philippine ship. However, not far from the Littoral Combat Ship, a PLA Navy warship and a carrier-based helicopter were on patrol, and so the U.S. ship dared not to act rashly.” The article also commented that, although the U.S. has signed a Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines, the Biden administration dared not take real actions to help the Philippines; it only offered lip service.

There have been several previous incidents involving clashes between the Chinese Coast Guard and the Philippine military, including another incident with a water cannon in August 2023 and an incident in February 2023 when the Chinese maritime police used a laser against a Philippine boat, temporarily blinding one Philippine soldier.

It is not clear whether the NetEase article is just an individually-authored piece or if it was written at the behest of orders from the CCP. The article appears to be written by an individual journalist, but the Chinese Communist Party has a long-standing practice of writing articles and then letting its fans (members of the “fifty-cent” party) publish the articles in their name, packaging the articles as “public opinion.”

Sources:

NetEase, March 9, 2024
https://m.163.com/dy/article/ISQ2OUKI05561T48.html

Associated Press, March 6, 2024
https://apnews.com/article/south-china-sea-philippines-disputed-second-thomas-shoal-5fec2d298151891d79cc077ff02f3a74

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

CNA: Chinese Overseas Democracy Activists Hold Conference on Blueprints for Democratic China

Taiwan’s Centra News Agency report that Chinese overseas democracy activists Wei Jingsheng, Wang Dan, Wang Juntao, and others convened the “First Overseas Chinese National Consensus Conference” in Washington, D.C. to discuss blueprints for a democratic China following a future collapse of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The two-day conference on March 2 and 3, and on March 4 the group released a “Declaration of the First National Consensus Conference on China’s Democratic Movement.” The declaration enumerated a 10-point consensus on future democratic processes.

The declaration stated: “At this critical moment, people concerned about China’s democratization should seriously study the Chinese situation and the experiences and lessons of various countries in the world and propose plans and approaches for rebuilding a constitutional political system in China.” The declaration emphasized that “overthrowing the tyranny of the CCP” and “establishing a free, equal, just, and harmonious civil society” must be the first step towards democratic nation-building in China.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), March 5, 2024
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202403050211.aspx

Briefings | | |   @CS Government/Politics

China Among Largest Foreign Direct Investors in Indonesia’s New Capital City

In 2019 Indonesian President Joko Widodo ratified a motion to move Indonesia’s capital city from Jakarta to the new planned city of Nusantara, which is currently under construction and is to be inaugurated in 2024. China has become one of the biggest foreign investors in this new “smart city,” focusing mainly on infrastructure and industrial projects. The Nusantara Capital Administration has held investment forums and conferences in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, to attract China’s money. Widodo said in October 2023 that in two years Beijing would bypass Singapore to become the country that contributes most to Indonesia in terms of foreign direct investment.

Research published by the University of Kentucky in 2021 showed that China had already invested in “smart cities” in Southeast Asia countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Myanmar.

Source: Voice of America, March 6, 2024
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-to-invest-in-indonesia-new-capital-20240305/7514971.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics

Growth in Beijing’s “Stability Maintenance” Spending Decelerates

The Second Session of China’s 14th National People’s Congress submitted a report by the Ministry of Finance regarding central and local government budgets in 2023. The report revealed that defense expenditure in 2024 will amount to 1.67 trillion yuan (US$ 230 billion), an increase of 7.2 percent from a year ago, while public security expenditure will be 2276.62 billion yuan, an increase of 1.44 percent. In 2023, public security expenditure (a.k.a. “stability maintenance” expenditure) was 2089.72 billion yuan, representing an increase of 6.4 percent from 2022. The growth rate for stability maintenance spending this year has dropped by nearly five percentage points.

A commentator attributed the decrease in the growth rate of stability maintenance funding to the reduction in central government fiscal revenue. To compensate for reduced fiscal revenue, Beijing has increasingly leaned on local governments and street offices to foot the bill for stability maintenance: “Some 20 percent to 40 percent of local fiscal revenue will be used for stability maintenance.”

To make up for insufficient stability maintenance funding, local governments and local police have been attempting to boost revenue by issuing fines. Some local governments have also implemented temporary policies to increase fees charged to enterprises and individual merchants.

Source: Radio Free Asia, March 6, 2024
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/zhengzhi/gt1-03062024014146.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Government/Politics Social Stability

China Unveils Plan to Bolster Industrial Data Security Capabilities Amid Security Concerns

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has released a new plan aimed at enhancing data security capabilities in China’s industrial sector over the period 2024-2026. The plan emphasizes the importance of ensuring data security as crucial for national security and economic development. It calls for promoting the application of technologies like secure multi-party computation, anti-ransomware, data traceability, and commercial cryptography in the industrial field.

Specific measures include selecting a batch of general data security technologies and products with broad application value across industries; developing data security solutions tailored for different industries, scenarios, and small-to-medium enterprises; and creating typical data security use cases to promote across regions. The MIIT plan aims to train over 30,000 people and cultivate more than 5,000 data security talents by the end of 2026. It targets having over 45,000 enterprises implement classified data protection, covering at least the top 10% of large industrial firms (by annual revenue) in each province.

This push for data security comes amid Chinese government efforts to accelerate its replacement of foreign software and hardware with domestic alternatives as a response to recent years’ national security concerns.

Beijing has also been making efforts to strengthen its oversight of user data for reasons related to national security. One manifestation of this is in a $1.2 billion file levied on Chinese company Didi in 2022 over data security violations. Another is in plans announced by China’s Ministry of State Security in December 2023 regarding inspections targeting security risks related to handling of geographic data. The Ministry of State Security alleged that “certain foreign organizations” have made attempts at intelligence theft via mapping software.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), February 26, 2024
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202402260267.aspx

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

China Faces Continued Youth Employment Pressures Despite Job Creation Goals

Beijing recently released a government work report, setting a goal of creating over 12 million new urban jobs this year. The report said that China currently has an urban unemployment rate of around 5.5%. The report proposed policies to stabilize employment and increase incomes.

China will have over 11.7 million college graduates this year, another record high, posing significant challenges to the overall youth job market. Zhang Chenggang, a scholar at the Capital University of Economics and Trade, said that college graduate employment remains challenging. He believes new areas for youth entrepreneurship and more effective paths for youth employment need to be explored. He noted issues including slow wage growth, workers exiting the labor market, and prolonged working hours for employees under competitive pressures (which reflects insufficient vitality in the job market).

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), March 5, 2024
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202403050298.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China’s Official Media Blasts European Parliament Statements on Taiwan

China Daily, the official English-language mouthpiece of Chinese government, recently published an editorial criticizing the European Parliament (EP) for making statements about Taiwan.

During a recent plenary session, the EP adopted the “Annual Report on the Implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, 2023” in a vote of 338 in favor, 86 against and 122 abstentions. The report included language stating that “Neither Taiwan nor China is subordinate to the other” and “only Taiwan’s democratically elected government can represent the Taiwanese people on the international stage.” China Daily has argued that this wording is “problematic” and an “infringement on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The annual report also calls for supporting Taiwan’s participation in international organizations. China Daily has responded by accusing the EP of “interfering in China’s internal affairs.” It argues that the report will negatively impact China-EU relations, accusing some European Parliament politicians of being influenced by a “Cold War mentality” or “instigated by Washington to challenge China over Taiwan.”

Source: China Daily, March 3, 2024
https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202403/03/WS65e4799fa31082fc043ba45f.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Sina: US-led “Shared Principles on 6G” Aims to Curb China’s 6G Development

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDQ: SINA) recently published an article commenting on a “Joint Statement Endorsing Principles for 6G” that was jointly released by the United States as well as nine other countries. The article stated that “this US-led effort is obviously aimed at curbing China’s 6G development.”

The Sina article quoted sources saying “this move is intended to compete for dominance of the 6G standard.” The article also stated that “China has an extremely large user base, and Chinese technology companies such as Huawei have their own independent 6G strategies. … China has established a 6G promotion group in 2019 to systematically promote various tasks such as demand, technology, standards and international cooperation. The group also launched 6G technology trials.”

The ten countries party to the statement include the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Japan, South Korea and Sweden. A copy of the statement released by the White House on February 26 enumerated six “shared principles” to be fulfilled by 6G networks: “Trusted Technology that is Protective of National Security”, “Secure, Resilient, and Protective of Privacy”, “Global Industry-led and Inclusive Standard Setting & International Collaborations”, “Cooperation to Enable Open and Interoperable Innovation”, “Affordability, Sustainability, and Global Connectivity”, and “Spectrum and Manufacturing.”

Sources:
Sina, February 28, 2024
https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2024-02-28/doc-inakqwnf2276916.shtml

The White House, “Joint Statement Endorsing Principles for 6G: Secure, Open, and Resilient by Design.”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/02/26/joint-statement-endorsing-principles-for-6g-secure-open-and-resilient-by-design/

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology