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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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China Is Building Its Influence In Central Asia

The French newspaper Le Monde published an article on how China is building up its influence in Central Asia. Russia used to provide military security guarantees to the countries there that were former republics of the USSR. However, as Russia is trapped and weakened in the Ukraine war, it has started losing its grip in Central Asia. Recently confrontations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan demonstrated that Russia is not very effective as the police there.

On the other hand, China’s influence is growing. Beijing is the dominant economic power in that region. Its involvement in the past related more to grabbing local natural resources, such as Kazakhstan’s uranium and oil and Turkmenistan’s natural gas. It has also built up its influence through the Belt and Road Initiative. Now, Beijing is expanding to the security field. It supports these countries to be more independent and to have less control from Russia.

Source: Radio France International, October 20, 2022
https://www.rfi.fr/cn/专栏检索/法国世界报/20221020-趁俄罗斯受到削弱，中国正在中亚布网络，准备伏击

 

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

SK Hynix Considers Abandoning Fab Factories in China

Chinese online high-tech news site ICS Smart recently reported that major South Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix just reported its poor third-quarter results. To make matters worse, SK Hynix has doubts about the future fate of its fab factories in China due to new US export control regulations. The company explained that, due to the deteriorating global macroeconomic environment, sluggish demand for DRAM and NAND products, sales and prices have declined, resulting in a sharp decline (-20.5 percent) in revenue month-over-month. Also, on October 7 this year, the United States issued new export control regulations against China, restricting wafer manufacturers located in China from obtaining multiple advanced chip technologies, unless licensed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. This impacts the fab factories of Korean companies such as SK Hynix and Samsung in China. Although on October 11, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics both obtained a license from the US Department of Commerce for an additional year, yet after that, what will happen? SK Hynixs’ chief marketing officer Kevin Noh said on a conference call that, as a contingency plan, the company is considering selling fab factories, selling equipment, or moving equipment to Korea. Records show that, as of 2020, SK Hynix had invested more than US$20 billion in China. Under the new U.S. regulations, the operation of SK Hynix in China will be subject to many restrictions.

Source: ICS Smart, October 26, 2022
http://www.icsmart.cn/57115/

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

Apple Sales Have Grown against Market Trend Despite Global Declines

Well-known Chinese news site NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) recently reported that, while the performance of mobile phones is getting stronger and stronger, consumers have less motivation to change their phone. Therefore the mobile phone is now getting more and more difficult to sell. Research firm Canalys, the leading global technology market analyst firm, has just released its global smartphone market report for the third quarter of 2022. Data shows that the global smartphone market continued to decline in the third quarter of 2022, with shipments down 9 percent year-over-year. Samsung still ranks first with a market share of 22 percent. Its market share slightly increased by 1 percent compared with last year’s 3rd quarter. Apple’s market share has risen from 15 percent in Q3 last year to 18 percent this year. The gap with Samsung is getting smaller and smaller. The three Chinese domestic giants, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo, ranked third to fifth with a market share of 14 percent, 10 percent, and 9 percent respectively, which is consistent with last year’s ranking. Apple’s iPhone 14 series is having hot sales, especially the 14 Pro series, which is still in short supply. Currently the consumer smartphone replacement cycle has been extended from 18 to 20 months in previous years to 30 to 36 months at present. Also the global mobile phone market has fallen for three consecutive quarters. Still, Apple has grown against the market trend, while Chinese domestic smartphone vendors have been losing ground.

Source: NetEase, October 27, 2022
https://www.163.com/dy/article/HKMAHSB60530T38M.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

CNA: U.S. and Singapore Held Strategic Dialogue again after Six Years

Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that the United States and Singapore just held a Strategic Partnership Dialogue in Washington to discuss a number of bilateral and regional issues. The joint statement of the two sides after the meeting included the issue of the Taiwan Strait for the first time. The United States reiterated that the differences in the Taiwan Strait must be resolved peacefully and Singapore emphasized the importance  of stabilizing the relationship between the United States and China. The dialogue touched on a number of issues related to bilateral cooperation, including economics and trade, defense, security, and more. The two parties also discussed many regional issues, including tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the situation in Myanmar. The U.S. emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, called for the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences, and expressed its opposition to any unilateral changes to the status quo. Singapore stated that stable U.S.-China relations are critical to regional and global peace, stability and prosperity and that the U.S. and China should maintain open channels of communication to reduce the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation. The first U.S.-Singapore Strategic Partnership Dialogue was held in 2012. It was held for three consecutive years from 2014 to 2016. It was suspended for many years and was not resumed until this year. This is the first time that the two sides have made a joint statement after the strategic dialogue on the Taiwan Strait issue. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited Washington in March for bilateral talks with U.S. President Joe Biden. The joint statement issued by the two sides at that time only emphasized the importance of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and encouraged the peaceful settlement of disputes, without mentioning Taiwan or the Taiwan Strait.

Source: CNA, October 26, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/202210260040.aspx

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

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

Consulate Calls for Essays on CCP’s Congress from Princeton’s Chinese Students

An anonymous Chinese student at Princeton University told Radio Free Asia that the Association of Chinese Students and Scholars at Princeton University (ACSSPU) had posted a notice on its WeChat group that the Chinese Consulate in New York issued a call for essays from these students. The Consulate organized an essay contest to “welcome the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).” It asked the Princeton students to write a 1000-word essay on their study of the CCP Congress, incorporating their overseas experiences.

According to the screenshot provided by the source, the sender of the essay contest message is Wu Yu. The ACSSPU’s official website hosted the notice on Princeton’s website. Wu Yu is the organization’s Director of Propaganda.

Teng Biao, a law scholar and adjunct professor at the City University of New York, said in an interview with RFA that, in addition to diplomacy, Chinese embassies and consulates have a very important role to play, which is to infiltrate and conduct overseas propaganda. The Chinese Students and Scholars Association receives money from the embassies and consulates in cooperation with the CCP’s United Front work. “The United States has laws targeting these agents. We have been calling for these Chinese Students and Scholars Associations to be declared as foreign agents of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, October 24, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/us-article-10242022112043.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Lianhe Zaobao: U.S. Plans to Ban All Huawei and ZTE Equipment from New U.S. Sales

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that an internal document revealed the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to ban approval of new U.S. communications equipment using products from Chinese communications equipment companies Huawei and ZTE. The report cited national security grounds. FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel issued the proposed ban to three other commissioners last week for final approval. The ban stipulates that neither Huawei nor ZTE can sell new equipment in the United States without authorization from the U.S. government. Rosenworcel said in a statement that the FCC remains committed to protecting national security by ensuring untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within the United States. This is the first time the US FCC has banned the sale of electronic devices on national security grounds. The FCC had earlier banned U.S. companies from using federal funds to buy equipment from those companies, but the new order will extend that ban to all purchases. The FCC rules would also explicitly prohibit the sale of video surveillance equipment for public safety in the United States. This will affect U.S. sales by Chinese companies Hydra Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision and Dahua Technology. However, the rule is not retroactive, meaning U.S. companies can still sell FCC-approved Chinese communications equipment. The Chinese embassy in the U.S. earlier this year criticized the FCC for “abusing state power” and again for “maliciously attacking” Chinese telecom operators without a factual basis.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, October 14, 2022
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20221014-1322739

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations