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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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China Times: Number of U.S. Viewers Tuned In to the Beijing Olympics Declined Sharply

Major Taiwanese news network China Times recently reported that the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics received 16 million viewers in the United States on the NBC network. This includes the counts across all NBC platforms, including the USA Network, the NBC Sports app and the Peacock streaming service. The program was first broadcast live at 6:30 am ET and rebroadcasted during the evening highlights. This is being compared with the 2018 Pyeong Chang Winter Olympics in South Korea, when the opening ceremony attracted 28.3 million viewers on the NBC network. The Prime-time broadcast then alone attracted 27.9 million U.S. viewers to watch in front of their TVs. This year’s viewership represents a 43 percent drop from four years ago. The International Olympic Committee has been trying to save the ratings among young people for the games for years now. They have added breakdancing, skateboarding, surfing, sports climbing and other events that young people may like. They have also been adjusting the rules of some events to speed up the pace of the competition, hoping to improve the visibility of the event. NBC paid $7.65 billion for the U.S. regional broadcasting rights of the Olympics. NBC is authorized to broadcast the Olympics until the year 2032.

Source: China Times, February 6, 2022
https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20220206001996-260403?chdtv

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China’s Top 100 Real Estate Companies Suffered Poor Sales in January

Jiemian News, the online news site under the Shanghai United Media Group, recently reported that in January, the sales of China’s top 100 real estate companies fell  by 40 percent year-over-year. The real estate market is still experiencing a low performance. In the meantime, top revenue segments are shrinking in size. According to data from the China Index Academy, in January, 2022, there were only 15 housing companies with sales exceeding RMB 10 billion (around US$1.57 billion), a decrease of 14 from the number in the same period last year. Only 22 housing companies had sales exceeding RMB 5 billion (around US$787 million), a decrease of 31 from the same period last year. The third camp (RMB 3 – 5 billion, US$472 – 787 million) fell the fastest. With only 20 left, with the average sales growth rate was at -33.8 percent. In January, the Chinese real estate market got off to a bad start with a sharp decline in supply and demand. In 29 key monitored cities, for the commercial housing market, supply decreased by 43 percent year-over-year, and sales decreased by 46 percent year-over-year. In the first-tier cities, the sales of commercial housing in Beijing and Guangzhou were sluggish, with a year-over-year drop of nearly half. And in Shenzhen, the decline was as high as 60 percent. Industry insiders expressed the belief that the intensified downward pressure on the market and the strong wait-and-see mood of home buyers are the main reasons for the decline in many cities. It is expected that the supply will shrink in February due to the Chinese New Year holiday and sales may continue to decline. A number of research institutions pointed out that the financing environment for housing companies in 2022 remains discouraging, and the debt repayment pressure on these companies will remain heavy in the short term.

Source: Jiemian News, February 7, 2022
https://www.jiemian.com/article/7078670.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

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