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Former Armed Police Chief of Xinjiang Named the New Military Commander of Hong Kong

For the first time, Peng Jingtang, who comes from the Armed Police Force and has experience in Xinjiang, replaced the commander of the Chinese military forces in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong media analyzed this as a signal that Beijing believes that, after the implementation of the national security law, it is still necessary to prevent the Hong Kong version of a color revolution.

On January 10, the Hong Kong media Hong Kong 01 cited public information that Peng Jingtang served as a brigade commander of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Jinan Military Region, and was a director of the military training division of the PLA Jinan Military Region Command, chief of staff of the Armed Police Force in Xinjiang, and deputy chief of staff of the national Armed Police Force

. In July 2018, Peng was promoted to the rank of Major General.

Hong Kong 01 commented that Peng’s appointment indicates that the dust has not settled in Hong Kong with the passage of the National Security Law. For Beijing, it is still necessary to prevent Hong Kong from becoming a base for opposition to the Chinese regime, and to avert a Hong Kong version of the color revolution. The appointment of Peng Jingtang, a veteran counter-terrorism leader, as the commander of the PLA in Hong Kong is both a deterrent and a precautionary measure.

Source: Hong Kong 01, January 11, 2022
https://www.hk01.com/深度報道/722361/反恐幹將接掌駐港解放軍-傳遞三大信號

70 Percent of Tsinghua Graduates Look for Jobs in the State Sector

Mainland Chinese newspaper The Paper reported that there were 7,441 graduates from the country’s prestigious Tsinghua University class of 2021, a slight increase of more than 400 over the class of 2020. 3,669 of them signed a “tripartite employment agreement.” The tripartite employment agreement refers to the agreement signed by graduates, employers and schools to guarantee the rights and obligations of the student. Among those, 15.8 percent secured their first jobs in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and in government organizations, 30.3 percent found jobs in institutions such as universities and research units, and 23.8 percent in state-owned enterprises. In short, a total of nearly 70 percent entered the state related sector.

In comparison, in year 2019 and 2020 respectively 61.2 percent and 64.9 percent of Tsinghua graduates found their jobs in the state sector. The proportion in 2021 is not only higher, but also growing at an accelerated pace.

As a matter of fact, the high percentage of graduates from China’s top universities looking for government related jobs is no small number. For example, 50.05 percent of graduates from Shanghai Jiaotong University entered CCP and government organs, institutions, state-owned enterprises and the military, while the percentage from Xiamen University graduates was nearly 60 percent.

As the economy slows down, new graduates prefer the state sector, so they have stable jobs. This is a manifestation of people’s assessment on their prospects for the near future. According to China’s Ministry of Education, there will be 9.09 million college graduates in 2021, a year-over-year increase of 350,000, and another 10.76 million college graduates in 2022, an increase of 1.67 million. Tackling unemployment is a major challenge for the Chinese government.

Source: The Paper, January 3, 2022
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_16131271

China Launches New Rounds of Infrastructure Projects in 2022

As China’s economy is plagued by sagging demand, the uncertainty of supplies and lower expectations, the government once again has

resorted to massive infrastructure projects to stimulate growth. After only 10 days into 2022, China has already started over 5,000 major infrastructure projects, with a total investment of more than 3 trillion yuan (US$ 0.47 trillion).

At an Economic Work Conference in December 2021, the central government proposed to “deploy infrastructure investments ahead of the time,” implying an increase in infrastructure investments in 2022. At the time, the Ministry of Finance issued an added quota of 1.46 trillion yuan (US$ 0.23 trillion) for the special debts in 2022.

At the beginning of the year, several provinces disclosed plans to issue local government bonds in the first quarter, on the scale of about 800 billion yuan (US$125 billion), including over 550 billion yuan (US$86.3 billion) in new special bonds. Other financing tools are also being promoted, including real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the infrastructure sector, the green government-social capital cooperation (or Public-Private Partnership PPP) projects.

The Securities Times, a mainland based financial news outlet, reported that as of January 10, at least 11 provinces have held project start-up activities, involving more than 5,000 major projects with a total scale of investment of more than 3 trillion yuan (US$0.47 trillion). This compares to the level of 1.2 trillion yuan (US$0.19 trillion) from January of 2021. The key areas of investment include 5G network, industrial Internet, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and big data center.

Source: Securities Times, January 11, 2022
https://www.stcn.com/stock/djjd/202201/t20220111_4058632.html

CNA: Taiwan Sets up Fund to Invest in Lithuanian Industries

Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that the Taiwanese Representative to Lithuania said that the Taiwan National Development and Reform Commission will set up a US$200 million “Taiwan Central and Eastern European Investment Fund” to invest in Lithuanian industries. The initial plan will give priority to the technology sector and the relevant details will be discussed with the Ministry of Economic Innovation of Lithuania. Initial investments will focus on industries that will strategically benefit both parties and will start to operate in a few months. The Taiwanese central bank will support the new fund. After last year, when Lithuania  allowed Taiwan to open a representative office in the country under the name “Taiwan,” it has been facing pressure from China to reverse its decision. However, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that he had not been consulted on the naming issue. The spokesperson for Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis confirmed that the Government of Lithuania looks forward to developing business, scientific, technological and cultural relations with Taiwan, and that the people of Lithuania and Taiwan are close because of shared values and an open society based on the foundation of innovation.

Source: CNA, January 5, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/202201055013.aspx

Lianhe Zaobao: North Korea Announced it Will not Participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that the North Korean Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports sent a letter to the Chinese Olympic Committee, the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Paralympics Organizing Committee, and the General Administration of Sports of China. The letter said that, due to the conspiracy activities of hostile forces as well as the global epidemic of infectious diseases, North Korea could not participate in the coming Winter Olympics Games. The North Korean Ambassador to China conveyed the letter when he met with the responsible officials of the General Administration of Sports of China. North Korean also pointed out in the letter that the United States and its followers are trying to hinder the smooth holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics. North Korea sent the letter to the General Administration of Sports of China on the day when they tested a hypersonic missile. In theory, North Korean athletes can still participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics as individuals, but based on North Korea’s travel ban, their athletes won’t be able to go abroad to participate in the competition.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, January 7, 2022
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20220107-1230472

Global Times: Japan Signed New Agreement with the U.S. after the Australian Agreement

Global Times recently reported that the Japanese and American governments signed a cooperation research agreement on defense equipment after the “Security Consultative Committee” (2+2) meeting attended by the foreign affairs and defense cabinet officials of the two sides. The agreement is aimed at countering the development of new weapons such as hypersonic missiles that China and North Korea have advanced. The joint statement of the meeting issued by both Japan and the United States repeated some of the same information about many negative China-related issues, such as the human rights concerns related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong, the importance of peace and stability in Taiwan, the East and South China Sea issues, the Senkaku Islands being subject to the Japan-US Security Treaty, as well as other issues. This was the first Japan-US “2+2” meeting since Fumio Kishida took office as Prime Minister of Japan. It is worth noting that just one day before, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison held a video conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and signed a historic defense and security cooperation agreement. Before that, Japan had only signed such an agreement with the United States. The Australian Agreement was viewed as a blatant interference in China’s internal affairs, against the backdrop of China’s rising military and economic power.

Source: Global Times, January 7, 2022
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/46IsIXTegrG

Taiwan Bought Lithuanian Black Rum Because China Blocked it

Major Taiwanese news group Eastern Media International recently reported that, ever since Lithuania and Taiwan set up representative offices in each other’s capital last year, the Chinese Communist Party has been angry. Chna launched an economic and trade retaliation against Lithuania. On December 18 last year, Taiwan Liquor Company received a message from the Taiwan representative in Lithuania, and the Taiwanese Ministry of Finance, saying that there were 20,400 bottles of Lithuanian black rum blocked by Chinese Customs and the rum was about to face the fate of drifting in the Pacific. Taiwan Wine Company immediately approached the seller and acquired this shipment of black rum. In the meantime, Lithuanian beer has its own wholesaler in Taiwan. Together with private resellers, the sale of Lithuanian beer in Taiwan has exploded 24 times. Taiwanese consumers are cheering for Lithuania’s support of Taiwan’s position on the world stage.

Source: ETToday, January 3, 2022
https://finance.ettoday.net/news/2160176

AI Finance Hosts Broadcast for 70 Days without Anyone Knowing Host Was Not Real

National Business Daily has several daily TV programs reporting on financial news. One of them is “N Xiao Hei Financial News” with a male host and another one is “N Xiao Bai Mutual Funds” with a female host.

Xiaoice, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system developed by Microsoft Software Technology Center, announced on December 20, 2021, that it had broadcast those two programs with AI virtual hosts for 70 days. Until the announcement, the general public didn’t realize those hosts were not real persons. Apparently the technology was able to make the AI persons appear close enough to their original human hosts. Also the whole content editing was a streamline of full automation, without human involvement. That way, National Business Daily could broadcast AI TV programs 24/7.

Source: Phoenix, December 20, 2021
https://tech.ifeng.com/c/8C7ltJX9sCF