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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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Chinese Student Association at George Washington University Attempted to Silence Criticism of the CCP

The Chinese Student and Scholar Association (CSSA) at George Washington University (GWU), located in Washington, DC, dragged the school into a political controversy. Some students posted an Olympic Game-themed cartoon drawing created by cartoonist Ba Duicao, a China-born Australian citizen, to show the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) human rights violations. For example, a skier dressed in China’s red national flag was shooting a person wearing an East Turkestan flag.

The Chinese Student and Scholar Association and the Chinese Culture Association at GWU protested to the school, claiming these posters spread racial discrimination and hatred and that the Chinese students felt they were insulted.

GWU President Mark Wrighton replied to the two groups in an email, saying that he would take action to find out the people who posted the posters and hold them accountable.

However, soon Mr. Wrighton realized that the CSSA had misled him. He published a statement to admit that he made a mistake in responding too quickly without knowing the full details. He concluded that the posters were a political statement but not racial in nature and so the school would not take any action against the student who posted them. He stated that he supports freedom of speech.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission pointed out in its 2018 annual report that the CSSA’s at U.S. universities have close ties with China’s embassies or consulates in the United States and receive funding from them as well. For example, the GWU CSSA introduced itself as the “only official Chinese student association” that is “dually accredited” by the Chinese Embassy in the United States and George Washington University.

Source: Radio Free Asia, February 7, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junshiwaijiao/rc-02072022101053.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics US-China Relations

Pandemic: Baise City, Guangxi Autonomous Region Locked Down

While the virus continues spreading in China, Beijing continues its zero COVID-19 policy. On February 7, Baise City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region announced it would lock down the city. Guangxi reported 72 COVID cases on February 8, among which, 54 cases were from Baise. The Chinese Communist Party is known for hiding cases of COVID infection and the number of deaths, so the actual infection count is unknown.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Source: Epoch Times, February 9, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/2/9/n13565744.htm

Hot Topics | | |   Social Stability

Many Chinese Companies Reported Big Losses in 2021

Chinese companies listed on China’s stock markets – either the Shanghai stock exchange or the Shenzhen stock exchange – are required to report their profits and losses from 2021 by the end of January. Thus, many companies with big losses submitted their information on January 28, the last trading day in January.

Suning.com Co had the largest loss, around 43.3 billion yuan (US $6.8 billion), more than the company’s market cap of 36.4 billion yuan. The company was on the Fortune 500 list in August 2021 and ranked number one among the Chinese retail companies.

The second largest loss was from China Fortune Land Development, a real estate developer, with an estimated loss of 33.1 to 39.1 billion yuan. Caixin reported that, by January 29, out of the 66 real estate companies which published their 2021 performance information, 30 reported a loss.

After the real estate companies, pig farming companies are the next group with the largest losses. Jiangxi Zhengbang Tech, ranked around 370 in Fortune’s China’s Top 500 companies. It estimated a 19 billion yuan loss for 2020.

Airlines are the next losing group. Air China estimated it had a 14.5 to 17 billion yuan loss, followed by China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines. Each reported around a 12 billion yuan loss.

The electric utility companies are the next group due to the coal price increase in China. Shanghai Electric, Datang International Power Generation Company, Oceanwide Holdings, and Huaneng Power International all reported losses of over 10 billion yuan.

Source: Epoch Times, February 4, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/2/4/n13555782.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Lianhe Zaobao: China Scored 45 on the Global Corruption Perceptions Index

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that Transparency International just published the Global Corruption Perceptions Index for 2021. China scored 45 out of the full 100 points. Transparency International analysts explained that, although China is not the bottom country, its corruption problem has spread to the international community. The report showed that, of the 180 countries, Western Europe has the highest average score and sub-Saharan Africa the lowest. The least corrupt countries at the top of the list are Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, all with 88 points; the United States with 67 points; and China with 45 points. Chinese corruption crosses borders and flows to other parts of the world, including through foreign aid and corrupt contracts, into places including Africa. According to Roberto Kukutschka, a research expert at Transparency International, the agency’s Corruption Perceptions Index collects, compares and synthesizes the assessments of international experts and international institutions including the World Bank. Data for the ranking were collected from within China. However, the Corruption Perception Index measures only domestic corruption, not illicit financial flows between countries.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, January 25, 2022
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20220125-1236585

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China and Argentina sign MoU on Belt & Road Initiative

According to a joint statement issued Sunday after a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Argentine counterpart Alberto Fernandez, China and Argentina have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Belt & Road Initiative,.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported that Fernandez is paying a visit to China, during which he attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.

The MoU is on jointly promoting the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It is between the government of the People’s Republic of China and the government of the Argentine Republic. It was signed as the two countries marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties this year.

The statement said that they also studied bilateral trade cooperation and agreed to continue to expand trade, enhance financial support for China’s export settlement to Argentina and actively encourage trade diversification,.

The two sides agreed actively to advance bilateral investment and to expand how they complement each other in economic activity and seek new economic opportunities. The statement added that they agreed to boost green sustainable development, and investment and cooperation in the digital economy.

According to the statement, the meeting outlined the framework of major projects for investment in infrastructure construction in Argentina, discussed the possibility of expanding localized participation in infrastructure investment projects, and identified key areas for investment cooperation to expand Argentina’s exports.

Source: Xinhua News Agency, February 6, 2022
http://english.news.cn/20220206/931db89ad713488e8e1aeece22bff660/c.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Survey of Nearly 2,000 Female Teachers: Less than 4 Percent Are Willing to Have Three Children

A recent scholastic paper studied the responses of 1,907 female teachers regarding a questionnaire survey on the status of female teachers regarding work, life, marriage and childbirth.  According to The Paper, a Chinese news portal, two scholars at Beijing Normal University conducted the research,

The survey found that unmarried female teachers showed a lower willingness to have children, with 32.41 percent not wanting to have any children, 36.73 percent wanting only one child, 29.63 percent willing to have two children, and only 1.23 percent willing to have three children. Among the overall female teachers, including both married and unmarried, 18.77 percent do not want to have children, 38.96 percent are willing to have only one child, 38.91 percent are willing to have two children, and only 3.36 percent are willing to have three children.

The study concluded that for the average female teacher who did not want to have children, the most significant factors that would have changed her willingness to have children were having a higher income levels, a reduced workload and lower education costs for the children.

The questionnaire was distributed to female teachers in 13 provinces in China. 78.55 percent of the female teachers surveyed were married, 16.99 percent were unmarried, and 4.46 percent were divorced or widowed.

Source: The Paper, February 4, 2022
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1676229

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

“Privileged Internet Freedom” during the Beijing Winter Olympics

On February 4, a Chinese netizen posted a picture taken at the “Beijing Winter Olympics reception lobby.”

The picture was of a notice board with a blue background, with a large Wifi logo above and six smaller icons, each representing YouTube, Google Chrome, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram. The six applications are banned in China and ordinary Chinese Internet users cannot access them .

This posting was deleted two hours after it had been posted. At present, a number of netizens have also been blocked from resending the picture.

According to Beijing News, a newspaper based in Beijing, there are 82 “official reception hotels” for the Beijing Winter Olympics, located in Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou. These official hotels are responsible for hosting the International Olympics Committee and the International Paralympic Committee families, international sports federations, national and regional Olympic and Paralympic committees, the press and other media, and other stakeholders.

Yu Debin, the head of the Games Service Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee, told Beijing News that these officially designated hotels will “launch overseas satellite channels in accordance with the law, with a good 5G network and barrier-free network transformation.”

Source: China Digital Times, February 4, 2022

【图说天朝】依法翻墙：北京冬奥会的“特供网络”

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

UDN: Mainland China Manufacturing PMI Fell in January

United Daily News (UDN), one of the primary Taiwanese news groups, recently reported that, affected by the severe economic environment and the Covid epidemic, Mainland China’s economy had a sluggish start in January this year. The official and private Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) announced yesterday both fell from the previous month. The former was 50.1, approaching the break-even line, the latter was only 49.1, hitting a new low in 23 months. Analysts expressed the belief that after the Chinese New Year, the Mainland authorities need to increase fiscal and monetary policy support in a timely manner to ensure the realization of the goal of “maintaining stability” in the economy. According to data released by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, in January 2022, the manufacturing PMI was 50.1, narrowed by 0.2 percentage points, indicating that the economic expansion has slowed down. Also released on the same day by Caixin, the “Private Edition” PMI data that mainly reflects small and medium-sized enterprises in China showed that, in January 2022, the Caixin manufacturing PMI recorded 49.1, which was below the growth line of 50, and fell 1.8 percentage points from the previous month. This was the lowest since March 2020. PMI is an indicator of financial activity reflecting purchasing managers’ acquisition of goods and services. A PMI number below 50 typically reflects a decline.

Source: UDN, January 31, 2022
https://udn.com/news/story/7333/6071883

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources