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China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

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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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Attorneys In China Are Required to Sign Commitment to Practice That Endorses the Party’s Leadership

A local Commitment to Practice statement for attorneys was posted on the Internet. Attorneys are required to sign in order to practice law. The statement specified that the signee agree to five promises. The first promise is to “Uphold the guidance of Socialism with the Chinese Characteristics of Xi Jinping’s new era, to uphold the authority of the communist party’s central committee with Xin Jinping as the core and central leadership, and to endorse the communist party’s leadership.”

The second item is to follow the law for attorneys , attorney’s business ethics and practice disciplines, and other requirements for attorneys. The third to fifth items are to follow the regulations on attorney’s interactions with other legal professional, follow the management of the judicial administrative office and the attorney association, and to establish the right law practice ideas.

The exposed picture is said to be a local version. However, attorneys are saying different regions have similar commitment documents for them to sign and they all stress  following the party’s leadership.

Source: Epoch Times, August 29, 2022
http://cn.epochtimes.com/gb/22/8/29/n13813299.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

For The First Time, Taiwan Shot Down China’s Drone

On September 1, for the first time, Taiwan’s military force shot down a civilian drone from China after sending a warnings to China not to invade its air space.

China views Taiwan as a rebel-occupied island and claims it is a part of China’s own territory. China has escalated tension in the Taiwan Strait for several months. Recently, a few dozen airplanes flew into Taiwan’s air space on a daily basis. After U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island  China has fired missiles in the area surrounding Taiwan.

China also sent civilian drones to the Taiwan-controlled islands that are closer to the mainland. On the Internet, China even displayed the image of Taiwanese soldiers.’Their faces were taken by the drone at a short distance.

Tsai Ing-wen, President of Taiwan, gave the order on Tuesday to the Ministry of National Defense to take necessary and strong countermeasures in a timely manner to defend national security. Tsai said that, though Taiwan would not provoke disputes. that did not mean that it would not take proper actions.

On the same day, shortly after President Tsai’s order, Taiwan fired warning shots at China’s drones for the first time in Kinmen, a Taiwan-controlled island opposite to China’s Xiamen City. The Chinese drones flew away.

On Thursday, troops on the islet warned another Chinese drone but to no effect. Then they shot down the drone, with its remains falling to the sea.

Source: U.S. News and World Report, September 1, 2022
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-09-01/taiwan-shoots-down-unidentified-drone-in-kinmen

Briefings | | |   @CS Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

U.S. and China Compete for Submarine Cable System for African Countries

Russian media Sputnik reported that the U.S. and China are competing on building a submarine Internet cable system for the African countries. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during his visit to Africa that the U.S. was raising money to build such a cable network to connect Africa to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Europe. This will be one of the first projects under the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) initiative, which was offered by the G7 to counter China’s expansion.

On the other hand, China has started its own “Peace” cable project, which starts from Pakistan, then moves to the East African, Africa continent, and then to Europe. The second phase of the project will connect South Africa and Singapore.

China has provided a lot of capital to build telecom infrastructure in Africa. These network projects have established Chinese companies’ dominance in Africa, especially Huawei and ZTE. Huawei has built or is building millions of digital processing centers and offered cloud computing services in many African countries, including Zimbabwe, Senegal, Zambia, Togo, Tanzania, Mozambique, Mali, and Madagascar.

Sputnik quoted a Russian expert who predicted that China will win the competition against the U.S.

Source: Sputnik, August 20, 2022
https://sputniknews.cn/20220820/1043236644.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

China Opens a Direct Shipping Route to Scotland

China and the United Kingdom opened a direct shipping route between the two countries. The route starts at China’s Ningbo Port, Zhejiang Province and ends at Greencok, Scotland.

Six freight ships, each can carry 1,600 containers. They , will run on this route. Since it avoids the traffic jam at the Rotterdam port, the entire shipping duration is cut down from 60 days to 33 days.

The Greenock Ocean Terminal started operating in 1969. It can handle 100,000 containers in a year.

Source: BBC, August 28, 2022
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-62704644

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

China Officially Declared Bankruptcy of Two Village and Town banks

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBRC), the country’s top regulator of the financial industry, announced on Friday August 26 via its official website that two banks in Liaoning Province were approved to enter bankruptcy proceedings. The two banks are Liaoyang Rural Commercial Bank and Liaoning Taizihe Village Bank. The announcement is tantamount to officially declaring the bankruptcy of the two grassroots banks.

China’s village and town banks have recently plunged into a series of crises, to the extent of bank runs. As the most grassroots financial institutions, they are often directly dealing with less urbanized residents in the vast rural areas, rendering the banks’ operations highly related to the stability of the Chinese society.

According to a publication of the People’s Bank of China, in July, Shenyang Agricultural and Commercial Bank had already completed the takeover of business branches, employees and deposits from the two banks.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), August 26, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202208260260.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

2022 Overseas Chinese World Conference for Promoting the Peaceful Reunification of China

According to China’s official Xinhua News Agency, on August 27, the Overseas Chinese World Conference for Promoting the Peaceful Reunification of China was held in Sichuan.

Zheng Jianbang, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and vice chairman of the National Association for China’s Peaceful Unification (NACPU), said in a video message that opposing “Taiwan independence” and promoting the peaceful reunification of China is the common ideal and glorious cause of yhe Chinese people at home and abroad.

It was reported that more than 3,000 people from 360  NACPU branch organizations in more than 120 countries and regions around the world participated in the conference through online and offline means.

China’s state TV network CGTN mentioned names of several participants, including Cao Yanling, chairperson of the Federation of Overseas Chinese Associations in Europe, Guan Liang, vice president of the China Overseas Friendship Association, and Xu Changbin, president of the All-Africa China Peaceful Reunification Promotion Association.

In October 2020, the U.S. State Department designated NACPU as a Foreign Mission of the People’s Republic of China. A statement from then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the NACPU was controlled by China’s United Front Work Department, a Chinese Communist Party body charged with spreading its influence and propaganda overseas.

Source: People’s Daily (PRC), August 228, 2022
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2022-08/28/nw.D110000renmrb_20220828_3-04.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China to Build Internet Infrastructure for the Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands received a $66 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of China, which will be used to build telecommunications towers on one of  the islands. Huawei will rtake on the project.

This is the first loan the Solomon Islands has received from China since it switched diplomatic relations from Taiwan to Beijing. With this 20-year loan at a one percent annual interest rate, the pacific government aims to improve telecommunications infrastructure to provide mobile communications and Internet service in its rural areas for the first time in 30 years. 161 mobiles are expected to be built, 48 percent of which will be completed by November 2023, when the Solomon Islands will host the Pacific Games.

Internet penetration in the Solomon Islands is currently below 30 percent. In 2018, Australia became involved after the Solomon Islands government announced it would award the contract for underwater communications cables to Chinese telecom giant Huawei. The excuse was that Chinese companies could not be allowed to intervene in critical communications infrastructure due to national security concerns. The Australian government promised that, in exchange, it would be willing to cover part of the expenses for the cable laying.

Not long ago, during her visit to the Solomon Islands, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman promised that the U.S. will open an embassy in the Solomon Islands within the year.. Earlier Vice President Kamala Harris announced that the United States will provide $60 million in annual assistance to Pacific Islands.

Source: Sputnik New (Russia), August 20, 2022
https://sputniknews.cn/20220820/1043224071.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Korea Warned about Its High Dependency on China

Well-known Chinese news site NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) recently reported that the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry just released a report, warning that, in the past 20 years, South Korea’s export dependence on China for semiconductor products has surged nearly 13 times. The report said that, as South Korea is the fourth largest economy in Asia, Seoul needs to act to address associated risks. South Korea’s increasing reliance on China for value-added industries will increase the risk of South Korea being hit harder if the gap in production skills between the two countries narrows further. The report emphasized that the business community and the government must be fully committed to further technological development. They must take steps to diversify our exports so that China cannot take advantage of this dependence. The 2021 data showed that the precision instrument industry has the highest dependence on China’s exports, accounting for 42.5 percent of the overall exports to China, with semiconductors at 39.7 percent. Since 2003, China has surpassed the United States as South Korea’s largest export destination . Chipmakers are under pressure to side with Washington as the U.S. seeks to counterbalance China as a rising tech power. The report also expressed the concern that South Korea’s trade deficit with China is also growing, despite a surge in reliance on Chinese exports.

Source: NetEase, August 23, 2022
https://www.163.com/dy/article/HFDVQ9LJ0511CRN2.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend