China’s state-run media Global Times published an editorial commenting on the Biden Administration’s China Policy after Biden had taken over the White House for one year. Below in an excerpt from the editorial.
On Jan 19th, “Rosenberg, the senior director of China affairs at the White House National Security Council, made a special elaboration on the United States’ China policy. She said that the United States will strengthen its deterrence against China in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region to ensure victory in the competition with China. At the same time, it will strive to manage competition with China, maintain communication channels with China, and set up guardrails to restrain competition and manage potential risks.”
“We have heard this many times over the past year. ‘Competition’ is a key word repeatedly emphasized by the Biden administration in its relations with China. U.S. Secretary of State Blinken once proposed the ‘3C’ policy, that is, ‘competition, confrontation, cooperation.’ Among these ‘3Cs,’ ‘cooperation’ has been increasingly marginalized, and “competition” has become more and more prominent, dominating the C position. But what exactly does Washington mean by ‘competition’?”
“Rosenberg revealed that the United States is about to launch a so-called ‘Indo-Pacific Economic Framework’ with regional partners. Obviously, this ‘Indo-Pacific Economic Framework’ is aimed at China. It wants to create a small economic and trade circle that surrounds China but excludes China, and aims to poach the foothold of economic and trade cooperation between China and foreign countries (including China and the United States). Rosenberg specifically mentioned the Taiwan Strait, where the U.S. has continued its unabated actions. This is a provocation to China’s core interests and continues to undermine the political foundation of China-U.S. relations.”
“Rosenberg also said that the United States is committed to working with its allies to shape the strategic environment encircling China. As soon as the words were out, we immediately saw them in action. On the 20th, Japan and France held the ‘2+2’ talks between foreign ministers and defense ministers. On the 21st, Biden held online consultations with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. On the same day, Britain and Australia held ‘2+2’ talks between foreign ministers and defense ministers. The three events have a common theme: ‘countering Chinese influence.'”
“Through ‘listening to the words and watching the deeds’ of the United States in the past two years, “it is not difficult for the Chinese to come to the judgment: In Washington’s mind, confrontation and containment are the essence, cooperation is an expedient measure, and competition is a discourse trap. The White House has changed owners, but its China policy has not changed. President Biden has repeatedly said that he does not want to mess up the U.S.-China relationship and does not want a conflict between the two countries; but the actual actions of the United States are constantly weakening the foundation of China-U.S. cooperation, while creating and accumulating the risk of Sino-U.S. conflict.”
Source: Global Times, January 20, 2022
https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/46TyxitXGcW
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
Pandemic: Eight Provinces and Municipalities in China Reported COVID-19 Cases
On January 25, eight provinces and municipalities in China reported COVID-19 cases, including Beijing, Henan, Hebei, Tianjin, Shanghai, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, and Xinjiang.
Beijing has seven high risk or medium risk regions. The Beijing government reported 15 infection cases on January 25. Xu Hejian, Vice Minister of the Propaganda Department of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee said, “The current pandemic situation in Beijing is serious and complicated.”
The Chinese Communist Party is known to hide the COVID-19 information. So, the actual infection situation is unknown.
Related postings on Chinascope:
Source: Epoch Times, January 25, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/1/25/n13528036.htm
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
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
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
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
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