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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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Top U.K. Judges Resigned from the Hong Kong Court

Robert Reed, the President of the U.K. Supreme Court, and Patrick Hodge, the Deputy President of the U.K. Supreme Court, resigned with immediate effect from their positions as  non-permanent judges on the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (CFA), the highest court in Hong Kong.

They took this action because of the severe deterioration in Hong Kong’s political environment and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) intervening in the judicial process in Hong Kong.

Reed said, “I have concluded, in agreement with the (U.K.) government, that the judges on the Supreme Court cannot continue to sit in Hong Kong without appearing to endorse an administration which has departed from the values of political freedom and freedom of expression.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, March 30, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/al2-03302022131611.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics

Sharp Drop in Travel during China’s Qingming Festival Due to Covid-19 Flare-up

A recent COVID-19 flare-up and the authorities’ lockdown policy have depressed travel and tourism during the Qingming Festival from April 2 to 4. The Qingming Festival, also called Tomb Sweeping Day in China, is a time to remember and pay respect to ancestors.

 

According to China’s Ministry of Transportation, on April 5, 53.781 million traveled by railway, highway, waterway, and air combined during the Qingming Festival holiday, a sharp drop of 62.7 percent compared year on year with 2021.

 

Among those who traveled, those who  chose to use the railways fell by 83.7 percent compared with the same period in 2021. Travel by highways declined by 53.2 percent; trips via waterways were down by 77.0 percent, and air travel was down by 87.0 percent.

 

According to China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism data center, 75.419 million domestic trips took place across the country during the three-day festival, a year-on-year decrease of 26.2 percent. Domestic tourism revenue was estimated to be around 18.78 billion yuan, a decline of 30.9 percent, year on year.

 

Sources: 

Jiamian, April 6, 2022

https://www.jiemian.com/article/7298725.html

China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, April 6, 2022

http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2022-04/06/content_5683589.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

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