Chinascope – Page 182

Economy: 200,000 People in China Stopped Paying their Mortgage

Recently a message was widely discussed on the Internet. On January 14, Professor Han Fuling of the Central University of Finance and Economics obtained some “insider information” and posted it: When 2022 started, over 200,000 people had stopped making their mortgage payments and were sued by the four major banks in China. The next day, Professor Han posted a message from an attorney in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province: “So many people have stopped their mortgage payments. We were exhausted after sending (that many) attorney letters.”

Recently China’s real estate prices in certain cities have dropped. Many people lost their jobs last year. Thus, people may be unable or are unwilling to make their mortgage payments. However, China does not have a way to protest if individuals decide to go bankrupt. If the person defaults on his mortgage payment, he will not only lose his down payment, but he is still responsible for (and thus, has to pay) the financial loss to the bank. If the bank auctions off the house but can’t fully recover the money, then that the person still owes the bank.

Source: Radio Free Asia, January 21, 2022
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/zhuanlan/jingmaorediansaomiao/econ-01212022154111.html

Hot Topics | | January 27, 2022 | Economy/Resources

Economy: Beijing’s Foreign Exchange Settlement Surplus Is Due to Drop in Chinese Tourists Who Go Overseas

In January 2022, China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange published data showing that the total foreign exchange settlement in 2021 had a surplus of US $267.6 billion, an increase of $110 billion from the $158.7 billion surplus in 2020.

Epoch Times pointed out that this surplus was mainly due to the drop in Chinese tourists’ spending overseas. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 20 million Chinese traveled abroad, a drop of 87 percent from a year earlier. Chinese tourists’ spending overseas was $116 billion. It was less than what the foreign tourists spent in China.

In 2021, an estimated 25.6 million Chinese went abroad. The total tourists’ spending difference has not been released, but in the first half of 2021, Chinese tourists’ spending overseas was US $44.4 billion less than what the foreign tourists spent in China. Following this trend, the annual tourists spending gap will be around US $100 billion. Therefore, China’s foreign exchange settlement surplus may just come from Chinese tourists spending less overseas.

Source: Epoch Times, January 25, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/1/25/n13529285.htm

Hot Topics | | January 27, 2022 | Economy/Resources

German Media: IOC Supports China’s Violation of Human Rights

As the Beijing Winter Olympics are approaching, the German media is paying more attention to China and is becoming more critical of China.

Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), a public radio company based in Hamburg, criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for playing dirty games and turning a blind eye to forced labor in China. The radio station reported that thousands of ethnic Uyghurs are being held in Xinjiang and the cotton used by the Olympic Committee’s sponsor, Anta sports, also comes from Xinjiang. The IOC has turned a blind eye to this fact. The Beijing Winter Olympics are controversial for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it hardly ever snows where this event is held. Ski areas and related construction projects are built in nature reserves. The second is the widespread concern about human rights in China, especially for the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. According to a months-long investigation by NDR and the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, the IOC plays a dual role here. On the one hand, IOC officials present themselves as supposedly politically neutral. On the other hand, they are in cahoots with the Chinese government and support China’s actions that undermine human rights.

Business Insider in Germany found multiple security vulnerabilities in China’s “My2022” application for the upcoming Olympics. The German Olympic Sports Federation is also concerned about the Chinese government’s surveillance. The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab reported that all games participants and visitors are required to use the My2022 application. Users are expected to enter personal data, such as health forms and passport data. However, the Lab found major security vulnerabilities in its analysis, including access to sensitive data, such as travel itineraries and medical information. Voice messages and shared files were also not adequately encrypted.

Source: Radio France International, January 25, 2022
https://rfi.my/86zz

Briefings | | January 25, 2022 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Who Will and Won’t Attend the Beijing Winter Olympics?

As Beijing prepares for its Winter Olympics, countries including the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia have said they will not send government representatives, citing concerns about China’s human rights record, including allegations of the government’s abuses against the Uighurs and other minorities. Different countries reacted differently to the boycott. Some countries joined with diplomatic boycotts, while others quietly downgraded their Winter Olympics delegations. Russia and other countries, on the other hand, have explicitly expressed support for China.

Some countries have clearly declared a diplomatic boycott. They are the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Lithuania, and Denmark.

Some countries decide not to send a delegation for other reasons. Austria, Belgium, Holland, New Zealand, Latvia, and Sweden announced that they will not send ministerial level officials out of concerns about Covid-19. Estonia’s president Alar Karis said he is not attending the games for “political reasons.” Japan will only send a small non-official delegation and refused to call it a diplomatic boycott.

At the same time, some heads of state and some heads of international organizations decided to show up at the event. They include United National General Secretary António Guterres, and the presidents of Russia, Poland, Argentina, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan.

Unlike the leaders mentioned above, North Korea, China’s traditional ally, has expressed strong support for Beijing, but Pyongyang (North Korea) says it will not be able to participate in the Winter Olympics amid a “conspiracy of hostile forces” and the epidemic. That means North Korean athletes will also miss the games.

Source: BBC Chinese, January 25, 2022
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-60035694

Briefings | | January 25, 2022 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Scholar: Chinese College Students Born in the 2000’s Hold Dichotomous World View

Yan Xuetong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of Tsinghua University, recently pointed to the intergenerational differences between college students born in the 2000’s and the previous generations. Yan highlighted their idiosyncrasies in terms of ideology, aesthetic standards, values and moral concepts.

Yan observed that Chinese college students born in the 2000’s often look at the world with a dichotomous view, treating countries other than China as the same group, and regarding universal values such as peace, morality, fairness and justice as unique Chinese traditions. They tend to believe that only China is righteous and innocent, while all other countries, especially those in the West, are “evil,” and that Westerners have a natural hatred toward China. In addition, Yan believed that this generation is deeply influenced by the Internet and they take what they have learned from cyberspace, such as economic determinism and conspiracy theory as common sense.

Yan pointed out at a conference that contemporary students often have a strong sense of superiority and self-confidence, and they are easily influenced by the Internet. He suggested that teachers should help students understand the twists and turns of history and the diversity of the world; they should also help them enhance their ability to think logically and critically.

Source: Mingpao, January 14, 2022
https://news.mingpao.com/pns/%e4%b8%ad%e5%9c%8b/article/20220114/s00013/1642097061362

Briefings | | January 25, 2022 | Government/Politics

Chinese Real Estate Developer Aoyuan Announced USD Bond Default

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that China’s Aoyuan Group, the 25th largest real estate developer in China, announced in advance that it will default on its U.S. dollar based bonds. It will not pay the interest in the next few years for its over US$1 billion U.S. Dollar debts. The announcement somewhat caught the market and investors by surprise. Not only did it not initiate any tender offer for the dollar bonds due this week, but it also announced a default before the expiration date. This practice is obviously different from other real estate companies. After the official announcement of default, Aoyuan will enter the stage of debt restructuring. In its announcement, Aoyuan stated that it is working with advisors (including legal, financial and other advisors) to evaluate its capital structure and liquidity and to conduct due diligence. In terms of operations, affected by the tight liquidity, the performance of Aoyuan has continued to be sluggish. Aoyuan said that the continued downturn in the market has dampened consumer confidence and made it difficult for the Group to realize inventories and sell assets on reasonable terms. The company pointed out that the management team of the group, including the senior management, remains stable and is committed to improving the firm’s operations.

Source: Sina, January 20, 2022
https://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/s/2022-01-20/doc-ikyamrmz6322579.shtml

Briefings | | January 25, 2022 | Economy/Resources

Samsung Overtakes Intel as Global Chip Leader

Well-known Chinese news site Sohu (NASDAQ: SOHU) recently reported that the U.S. research firm Gartner just revealed data showing that, in 2021, Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor revenue increased by 31.6 percent to US$75.9 billion, surpassing Intel to become the world’s highest-revenue chipmaker. The second-ranked Intel’s semiconductor revenue was $73.1 billion last year, with an increase of only 0.5 percent. It was the slowest sales growth among the top 25 chip manufacturers. Intel’s competitor AMD, in the server processor segment, market share has soared from 14th to 10th. However, Gartner’s ranking does not include foundry companies such as TSMC. It is worth mentioning that, in order to consolidate its position as the world’s number one, Samsung intends to return to China to seize more market share. Recently, it has established a new team called the “China Market Innovation Group,” which directly reports to the co-CEO. In 2018, 60 percent of Samsung’s chip revenue came from the Chinese market. Each year in China, it has easily earned RMB 300 billion (around US$47.3 billion) a year. It is fair to say that Samsung becoming the chip king in that year definitely had help from the Chinese market. In 2021, the global semiconductor industry sales surged 25.1 percent to $583.5 billion. This is the first time the industry exceeded the $500 billion revenue mark. As chip demand continues to surge, chipmakers such as Intel and Micron have expressed the belief that the global semiconductor boom will continue into 2025.

Source: Sohu, January 20, 2022
https://www.sohu.com/a/517898283_334198

Briefings | | January 25, 2022 | Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

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