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

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Airbnb Shutting Down Its China Domestic Business

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that Airbnb will officially close its domestic business in China. Nearly 150,000 listings and experienced businesses in China will be taken offline completely. Only the outbound international business will be retained. This is expected to be completed this summer. Airbnb’s future presence in China will be composed mainly of engineers involved in the research and development of global products and technology projects, as well as the business and customer service teams responsible for Airbnb’s Chinese users’ outbound international travel. The total staffing level will be around several hundred people. In recent years, China’s domestic listings and experience service business has accounted for less than one percent of Airbnb’s global revenue. Airbnb set up a small-scale team in China in 2014. It officially launched its business in the Chinese market in 2015. The Covid pandemic did disruptive damage to the entire travel industry, including online short-term rentals. Airbnb is essentially the last large-scale U.S. Internet business that will have left China.

Source: Sina, May 24, 2022
http://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/csj/2022-05-24/doc-imizirau4437577.shtml

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations

India Wants to Be the Pharmacy of the World

Well-known Chinese news site NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) recently reported that, according to Indian government data, India is now the world’s third-largest pharmaceutical manufacturer based on production rankings. At the same time, India is also one of the countries with the lowest pharmaceutical manufacturing costs in the world. As the world’s number one generic drug manufacturer, India’s share of generic drug exports accounts for 20 to 22 percent of the world’s total. In the U.S., one third of the tablets are made in India, while in the U.K., a quarter of the tablets are produced in India. However, before becoming the pharmacy of the world, India still needs to remove its dependence on China. India has embarked on an ambitious plan to reduce its dependence on China for key ingredients in its pharmaceutical industry. India wants to be self-sufficient in its journey to become the pharmacy of the world. Since the outbreak of COVID, India has become a key player in the world’s anti-epidemic action with its pharmaceutical production capacity. According to the Indian government, as of May 9, India has provided more than 201 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to about 100 countries in Southeast Asia, South America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East through government projects and the COVID-19 Vaccine Access Facilities (COVAX). India leads the world in drug production, yet relies heavily on China for key active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). For cost reasons, about 68 percent of India’s APIs are imported from China. In terms of life-saving antibiotics such as penicillin, cephalosporins and azithromycin, India’s dependency on China is even as high as 90 percent. According to a policy called the “production linked incentive scheme” launched by the Indian government two years ago, starting in March this year, 32 factories across India have been producing 35 APIs. The plan aims to incentivize companies in various industries in India to boost their domestic manufacturing output by $520 billion by 2025. India’s pharmaceutical industry sees weaning its dependence on China as a priority. Blind “offshoring” has now become “friendshoring.” One country today will outsource operations to other countries with a similar political system and with whom it has historically had good relations.

Source: NetEase, May 27, 2022
https://www.163.com/dy/article/H8DIAAMQ051481US.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

The United States Clarified that China Has Long Misrepresented the U.S.’ “One China” Policy

Ned Price, a Spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, stated, on his official Twitter account on May 20, that the United States stated openly that China has long been misrepresenting the U.S. “One China Policy.”

“The PRC continues publicly to misrepresent U.S. policy. The United States does not subscribe to the PRC’s “one China principle,” We remain committed to our longstanding, bipartisan one China policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances.”

On its official Twitter account on May 22, the U.S. Embassy to China published  the Chinese translation of Ned Price’s statement.

Polygraph.Info, Voice of America’s lie reporting website, explained how China misrepresented the U.S. “One China” Policy:

The 1972 Shanghai Communiqué issued at the end of then U.S. President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China stated:

“[T]he United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States does not challenge that position.”

The U.S. said it “acknowledges” the Chinese position but did not endorse it. Using similar language, a 1979 normalization communiqué establishing U.S. – China diplomatic ties also did not state affirmatively that the U.S. recognized Taiwan as part of China.

However, the Chinese side used the verb “recognize” (承认) instead of “acknowledge” (认识) in the Chinese text of the 1979 joint communiqué. The Beijing has since kept saying the United States recognizes “one China.” The Chinese text did stay faithful to the verb “acknowledge” in the 1972 Shanghai communiqué.

Sources:
1. Twitter, May 22, 2022


2. VOA, October 11, 2021
https://www.polygraph.info/a/factcheck-one-china-policy-principle/31499875.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Beijing Tries to Strengthen Its Ties with the Pacific Islands

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin announced on May 24 that State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will pay official visits to the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste.  The visits will take place from May 26 to June 4. He will pay a “cloud visit” to the Federated States of Micronesia, hold a video meeting with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Cook Islands and the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Niue, and host the second China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Fiji.

China has recently disclosed that it signed a security treaty with the Solomon Islands, which includes police training,  a possible military exchange and setting up a naval base in the Solomon Islands for the People’s Liberation Army.

An intelligence officer for a U.S. ally said that Beijing is negotiating with Kiribati and at least one other Pacific island on a treaty similar to the Solomon Islands’ treaty.

Sources:
1. People’s Daily, May 26, 2022
http://cpc.people.com.cn/n1/2022/0526/c64094-32430646.html
2. Radio France International, May 21, 2022
https://www.rfi.fr/cn/国际/20220521-中国寻求与基里巴斯签协议-美澳担忧

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Microsoft Bing Performs Political Censorship on Chinese Content in the U.S. and Canada

The Citizen Lab of the Munk School on Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto, reported they consistently found that Microsoft Bing censors politically sensitive Chinese names and that, over time, their censorship has spanned multiple Chinese political topics. It consists of at least two languages, English and Chinese and applies to different world regions, including China, the United States, and Canada.

Microsoft has censored search results on its search engine Bing in China. The lab found that even in the United States and Canada, Bing censors sensitive words in Chinese on its autocomplete feature.

In 2021, Bing was found to have censored image results for the query “tank man” in the United States and elsewhere including queries about the 1989 Tiananmen Square Movement anniversary.

Source: Citizen Lab, May 20, 2022
https://citizenlab.ca/2022/05/bada-bing-bada-boom-microsoft-bings-chinese-political-censorship-autosuggestions-north-america/

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Received CCP’s Propaganda before Trip to Xinjiang

Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Chile, began a high-profile visit to China’s Xinjiang China on May 24. Beijing is accused of a brutal crackdown on Uighur Muslims.

The Chinese government has isolated Bachelet’s delegation from Western media on the grounds of the epidemic. As details of the exact locations of the visit have not been released, questions have been raised as to whether such a visit is a controlled tour.

According to the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the Chinese government made its goals clear before Bachelet entered Xinjiang. At a one-on-one meeting with Michelle Bachelet on Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed hope that this visit would help clarify the “misinformation” about China.

To that end, Wang gave Bachelet a copy of Xi Jinping’s book. According to China’s state media, it was an English translation of “Excerpts from Xi Jinping’s Discourses on Respecting and Safeguarding Human Rights,” .

Source: Radio France International, May 24, 2022
https://rfi.my/8RYY

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Birthrate Slips

China recently announced the result of the latest national population census, claiming its total population reached 1,411.78 million, an increase of 72.06 million over the 1,339.72 million in 2010. The figures translate to a low annual growth rate of 5.38 percent over the past decade.

The number of new births was 12 million in 2020. Recently published provincial-level population data gives the number of births in 2021 as merely 10.62 million, a drop of 11.5 percent. Among all the provinces, only Guangdong’s new births stayed above 1 million, with a number of provinces hitting a record low in 2021.

The decline in births may be caused by late marriages and an increasing number of highly educated women who chose to have fewer or no children. The COVID-19 epidemic is seen as one of the factors influencing young people’s attitude toward marriage and their decision to marry and have children.

11 out of the 31 provinces registered negative population growth in 2021, including Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, Chongqing, Mongolia, Hunan, Hubei, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hebei and Shanxi.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), May 18, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202205180088.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources