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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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Pandemic: Unconfirmed Report: 100,000 People Sent to Help Shanghai

During the day on April 4, China reported 16,412 COVID cases (1,173 confirmed infection cases and 15,239 asymptomatic cases). Shanghai reported 13,354 cases (268 confirmed infection cases and 13,086 asymptomatic cases). Jilin province reported 2,472 cases (792 confirmed infection cases and 1,680 asymptomatic cases). The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is known for hiding COVID information, so the actual infection count remains unknown.

Shanghai previously announced a lock-down in Pudong (the east half of the city) from March 28 to April 1 and in Puxi (the west half of the city) from April 1 to April 5. The whole city remained in lock-down after the planned dates.

An Internet article titled “A Great Battle to Determine the Fate of China Is about to Start in Shanghai” mentioned the following:

  • Almost every street in Shanghai has COVID positive patients.
  • The top CCP leadership is mobilizing the whole nation’s resources to fight the prevention of COVID  and to control the battle. The military and 16 provinces are sending 100,000 people to Shanghai to help. Among them, the military is sending about 10,000 people.
  • The whole state machine is running at full speed to send people and supplies to Shanghai. By April 3, over 150 civilian planes, over 10 military planes, and several dozen high-speed trains had brought many people to Shanghai.
  • Shanghai will move tens of thousands of infected patients out to neighboring provinces (Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province) to quarantine them and to reduce Shanghai’s case count. Shanghai set a target of having a zero COVID count by April 11 and will reopen on April 18.

Another article on the Internet showed an urgent official document that the CCP ordered six cities in Zhejiang Province (Hangzhou, Ningbo, Huzhou, Shaoxing, Jinhua, Taizhou) to prepare to receive 30,000 people from Shanghai.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Source:
1. Epoch Times, April 5, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/4/5/n13696233.htm
2. Epoch Times, April 6, 2022
https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2022/04/06/a103393636.html

Hot Topics | | |   Social Stability

China-Europe Railway Express Arrived in Moscow

On March 25, a local Chinese newspaper, Hubei Daily, reported that the China-Europe Railway Express, “Yangtze River,” carried 41 containers of goods, left the train station in Xianning, a city located in China’s Hubei province, and departed for Europe.

The contents of the containers on this China-Europe rail train include auto parts, medical supplies, household appliances, and household goods. 41 containers weighed about 770 tons, with a total value of more than 14 million yuan (US$2.20 million). The train hummed through the port of Manzhouli, a city in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and was expected to arrive in Moscow in 14 days after a journey of 9700 kilometers, or about 6000 miles.

Compared with sea freight, railway freight saves at least a month in travel time.

Source: Hubei Daily, March 26, 2022
https://epaper.hubeidaily.net/pc/content/202203/26/content_160930.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Multiple Chinese Provinces Saw Negative Population Growth in 2021

Chinese media reported that local governments have recently released their residential population data for 2021. According to China Business Network, Among the 23 provinces that have made their data available, nine provinces experienced a decline in population growth. Among these provinces, only four had more than 500,000 births in 2021, with Guangdong being the only province with over 1 million new births. In terms of birth rates, only Guizhou and Qinghai provinces had birth rates higher than one percent. Nine provinces showed negative population growth, including Hebei, Jiangsu, Hunan, Hubei, Shanxi, Chongqing, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai and Heilongjiang.

Source: Radio Free Asia, April 5, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/1-04052022105230.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Chinese Student Expelled for Criticizing School’s Covid Policy

A graduate student at Ludong University, located in Yantai city of Shandong Province, was recently expelled from the university after criticizing the school’s Covid-19 policy and protesting on campus.

A document from Ludong University dated March 31 called, “Decision on Expulsion of Sun Jian,” was recently circulated online.  The document said a graduate student, Sun Jian, began to post on his Wechat account “untrue and inappropriate comments” about the national, provincial, and the school’s epidemic control measures. in December of last year, Sun “refused to correct himself despite repeated criticism and education.” On March 27, after he held a sign in protest on campus the police took Sun away, On March 28, Sun continued to post videos and comments through a few social media platforms. The document charged that Sun “seriously violated national laws and regulations and school discipline.” The decision was that Sun should be expelled from school.

In his December Wechat posts, Sun pointed to the great inconvenience imposed upon students’ lives due to the school’s Covid prevention policy. He questioned “why students cannot enter and leave the campus freely when there is no Covid case in the city of Yantai.” Sun felt that he was attending a “Ludong Detention Center” instead of a university.

In addition to opposing frequent mass Covid testing, he also brought up the inequality in the process, as the university put strict restrictions on student travel, but there were no such restrictions on faculty members.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), April 4, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202204040175.aspx

 

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Global Times: Australian Prime Minister Refused to See China’s New Ambassador

Global Times recently reported that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a press conference that it was “inappropriate” for him to meet with China’s new ambassador to Australia before Beijing lifts the freeze on ministerial exchanges between Australia and China. In January this year, the new Chinese ambassador made a friendly speech on the day he took office, and then met with people from all walks of life in Australia, showing a very obvious goodwill. Morrison’s preconditions for meeting can be seen as a threat to some extent. However, Morrison said meeting the new Chinese ambassador would be seen as a “weakness” for him. He regarded this as a perfectly proportionate response, especially when China completely cut off minister-to-minister level dialogues between the two countries. He later confirmed, “I assure you, as Prime Minister, this is my last message to China.” Xiao Qian, the 15th Chinese Ambassador to Australia, explained during his meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Payne. He spoke about China’s position and about the relations between the two nations, saying that the China-Australia friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation are in the common interests of both sides. Political analysts expressed the belief that Morrison’s position may be linked to the approaching election. Another specific context for Morrison’s remarks about refusing to meet the Chinese ambassador was the security agreement signed between China and the Solomon Islands.

Source: Global Times, March 28, 2022
https://hqtime.huanqiu.com/share/article/47MusHenhqv

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s March Manufacturing PMI Continued to Decline

Well-known Chinese financial site Caixin recently released its official Chinese Manufacturing PMI index number for the month of March, which was 48.1. The January Caixin PMI was the lowest for the manufacturing sector since March 2020. The manufacturing sector has been affected by the Covid-19 outbreaks in many parts of the country, It weakened significantly in March, while supply and demand contracted, external demand deteriorated, employment remained stable, inflation pressure continued to rise, and market optimism weakened. In the meantime, the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics also reported March that the manufacturing PMI fell below 50, at 49.5, as the government official number. The Bureau indicated that the manufacturing sector prosperity is heading down; market demand has weakened; the inventory of primary raw materials continues to decrease; the employment level has decreased; and raw material supplier delivery times continue to slow.

Caixin PMI is a well-respected economic indicator that financial institutions monitor globally. PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) is an indicator of financial activity reflecting purchasing managers’ acquisition of goods and services. A PMI number below 50 typically reflects a decline.
Sources:
(1) Caixin, April 1, 2022
https://pmi.caixin.com/2022-04-01/101864263.html
(2) National Bureau of Statistics, March 31, 2022
http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/202203/t20220331_1829202.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

ESMC: Huawei 2021 Consumer Revenue Cut in Half, with Significant Net Profit Increase

Electronics Supply and Manufacturing (ESM) China, the China branch of AspenCore (the largest electronic industry media group, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, USA), recently reported that Huawei just released its 2021 annual report. The company reported a total revenue of RMB 636.8 billion (around US$100 billion) in 2021, which reflects a year-over-year decline of 28.6 percent. This is the first time in a decade for Huawei to report a revenue decline. Its consumer business saw the sharpest drop of 49.6 percent. The company explained that this sharp decline was the result of rounds of U.S. sanctions, the covid impact, and a decline in demand. However, in the meantime, Huawei’s net profit reported an eye-catching year-over-year increase of 76 percent. Diving deep into its annual report numbers shows that the vast majority of the net profit increase came from the sale of its high-end mobile device branch Honor. The company sold Honor last year due to the cut-off of its chip supply from Taiwan as a result of U.S. sanctions. The annual report also showed Huawei’s cloud services achieved a 34 percent growth. On the investment side, Huawei devoted 22.4 percent of its annual revenue into research and development (R&D). In the past decade, the company spent more than RMB 845 billion (around US$133 billion) on R&D. The report also mentioned that, in the future, Huawei plans to focus on using less advanced manufacturing processes to achieve product competitiveness.
Source: ESM China, March 29, 2022
https://www.esmchina.com/news/8837.html
Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Pandemic: E.U. Asked Shanghai Government Not to Separate Parents and Children

On April 2, the Chinese authorities reported a new high COVID count: 13,146 cases (1,455 confirmed infection cases and 11,691 asymptomatic cases). Shanghai had 8,226 cases (438 confirmed infection cases and 7,788 asymptomatic cases). Jilin Province had 4,455 cases (956 confirmed infection cases and 3,499 asymptomatic cases). Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is known for hiding COVID information, the actual infection numbers are unknown.

The CCP sent medical support teams from many provinces, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Beijing, Fujian and other provinces, to Shanghai to help. Online videos showed many police from Shandong Province showed up in Shanghai; some Shanghai residents said they were sent to maintain “stability.” In other words, their task was  to put down any protests that the locked- down people initiated. Some protests broke out in residential communities due to the lack of a food supply. Also, a special airplane from Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province flew 120 food delivery people to Shanghai. Their job was to help to pick vegetables and package them for distribution. This indicates that the Shanghai’s food packaging and delivery system is also facing a severe resource shortage.

The French Consulate in Shanghai delivered a letter to the Shanghai government to request that the Shanghai authorities preserve the human rights of the citizens of the European Union who are in Shanghai. A few requests were:

  1. Under no circumstances should the parents and children be separated. They asked this because regarding the Chinese citizens, the  Shanghai authorities have separated the parents from their children.
  2. It is better to set up a special quarantine environment and provide English-speaking workers to the asymptomatic patients or patients with light symptoms.
  3. People who have only been exposed to COVID patients but are not infected should not be sent to centralized quarantine sites. Instead they should be allowed to manage their own health at home. They asked this because the Shanghai authorities gathered many exposed, but not infected, Chinese citizens and put them in centralized quarantine sites.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Sources:
1. Epoch Times, April 3, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/4/3/n13692063.htm
2. Epoch Times, April 2, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/4/2/n13691139.htm
3. Radio France International, April 2, 2022
https://www.rfi.fr/cn中国/20220402-法驻沪总领事馆-不要因防疫将父母和孩子分开

Hot Topics | | |   Social Stability