Chinascope – Page 189

Subnational Infiltration: Using Western Countries’ Local Governments to Counter the State’s Policy

The Voice of America (VOA) published an article that discussed two research reports exploring the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) subnational infiltration of Western countries. According to the reports, in a systematic way, the CCP takes advantage of the pluralistic and decentralized nature of the Western political system to rope in and encourage local governments to confront and dismantle, at the sub-national level, their state’s negative policies toward China. The VOA called it “encircling the cities from rural areas,” a military strategy that the CCP used to win the civil war in China in the late 1940’s.

In the U.S., the CCP’s strategy is to bypass Washington and to target the governors, mayors, and non-governmental organizations directly. The purpose is to foster a positive connection between Beijing and the local officials or organizations.

The two reports refer to the “All Over the Map” strategy. This strategy addresses the Chinese Communist Party’s “subnational Interests in the United States” as reported by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) and the “Big fish in small ponds strategy,” which is China’s subnational diplomacy in Europe” as discussed in an article by the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS).

The FDD report states that China has a long history of trying to influence local governments in the United States, including through events and forums that promote U.S.-China relations and friendship cities (or sister cities), Internet forums, governors’ forums, and other examples. Though at the national level, the U.S., holds a critical attitude toward Beijing, the National Governors Association expresses positive descriptions about Beijing.

The MERICS article pointed out that, within the five biggest member countries of the European Union – Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Poland, local governments have established 146 partnerships with the CCP. In many situations, Beijing or its entities can sign investment or cooperation treaties with Europen cities or regions, which usually do not need the central government’s participation.

Source: VOA, December 7, 2021
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-subnational-diplomacy-20211207/6343105.html

Hot Topics | | December 23, 2021 | Geo-Strategic Trend US-China Relations

China Is Shipping Goods over Land

Due to COVID and the container shortage, the global supply chain has been problematic for quite some time. Shipping over land has become a new option for supply chain companies.

The path from China to Southeast Asia occurs as follows: Container trucks deliver the containers to the Kunming train station. The trains ship the containers to Vientiane in Laos in 20 to 24 hours, and then trucks deliver them to the target regions, such as Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and even Singapore. The total duration is about a week and the cost is half that of an of air shipment.

The path from China to Europe is as follows: The container truck delivers the containers to the Chengdu train station or Shanghai train station, and then a train ships the containers to European countries via the Siberian Railway. It takes about two weeks to deliver them.

Source: Sing Tao Daily, December 13, 2021
https://std.stheadline.com/realtime/article/1787009

Briefings | | December 23, 2021 | Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

Pandemic: COVID Spreads to Xi’an

COVID-19 continued spreading in China. The National Health Commission reported 100 cases on December 22, among which, 71 were local residents and the rest were carried in from overseas. Xi’an city, Shaanxi Province reported 63 cases. The CCP is known for hiding information, so the actual infection count is unknown.

Xi’an city had infection cases for several days. Authorities locked down certain areas and then conducted testing for all residents in Xi’an. They found infection cases outside of the lockdown areas – meaning the virus could still spread. The authorities locked down more areas and started the second round of testing the whole city. The authorities also stopped long-distance buses and forbade taxis and mobile-app taxis from going into high-risk areas or going out of the city.

Xi Jinping’s Red Lines for Art and Literature

Recently, Xi Jinping drew some red lines for the art and literature in China. In addition to “spreading contemporary Chinese values and telling China’s stories well,” he instructed that art and literature should not take the “vulgar” route, and “cannot be tainted with the stink of money and be the slaves of the market.”

On Tuesday December 14, Xi, as well as other Politburo Standing Committee members, spoke at the congresses of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC) and the China Writers Association (CWA), where he gave the above instructions to the delegates.

CFLAC is an umbrella organization composed of nationwide associations of writers and artists in various fields. Although CFLAC claims it is a non-governmental organization whose mission “is to unite and serve writers and artists, to train literary and art talents, and to promote the development and prosperity of literature and the arts,” It is under the direct leadership of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department. With a national, provincial, and city-level hierarchical organization structure, CFLAC aims to control millions of Chinese writers and artists so that their work toes the Party line. CWA is a subordinate organization of CFLAC.

At the congress, Xi expressed the hope that “the vast number of artists, remember their mission … and make new and greater contributions for the comprehensive construction of a modernized socialist country and the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

Peng Liyuan, Xi’s wife and Vice President of CFLAC, was also sitting on the podium alongside other Politburo Standing Committee members.

Xi drew some red lines for art and literature work. “Literature and art should be popular, but should never be vulgar; be lifelike, but not promote unhealthy culture; be innovative, but not engage in strange and ridiculous things; it should be rewarding, but not be tainted with the stink of money or be the slaves of the market.”

Source: People’s Daily, December 15, 2021
http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2021/1215/c1024-32308066.html

Briefings | | December 22, 2021 | Government/Politics

CCP’s Meeting with European and American Marxist Parties

On December 15, the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held a meeting with European and American Marxist parties through a video conference. Representatives of more than 20 European and American Marxist political parties and left-wing political organizations from Spain, Britain, the United States and other countries attended the meeting.

Song Tao, head of CCP’s International Liaison Department, said, “The CCP is willing to strengthen exchanges with Marxist parties around the world and promote the continuous development of the world socialist cause.” Song also relayed the remarks of Xi Jinping on the CCP’s concept of democracy.

According to the official People’s Daily, leaders of European and American Marxist parties spoke highly of the great developmental achievements that China has made under the leadership of Xi Jinping’s CCP Central Committee, and they endorsed Xi’s idea of democracy. They also expressed their willingness to strengthen cooperation with the CCP, uphold multilateralism, and jointly promote the cause of world socialism.

Source: People’s Daily, December 17, 2021
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2021-12/17/nw.D110000renmrb_20211217_7-03.htm

Briefings | | December 21, 2021 | Geo-Strategic Trend

COVID Diary Writer Removed from Presidium of the Chinese Writers’ Association

Fang Fang, the author of the “Fang Fang’s Diary” that recorded the epidemic during the outbreak in Wuhan City, has been missing from the list of the presidium of a recent nationwide congress of the Chinese Writers’ Association (CWA).

Fang, born in Wuhan, is a member of CWA and was once on its national committee, the association’s governing body. CWA is a government affiliated organization that the Chinese Communist Party uses to control Chinese writers.

After the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan from late 2019 to early 2020, Fang wrote daily from January 25 to March 25, 2020, detailing her observations and personal reflections during the city’s closure. The diary was once an important source of information about the development of the epidemic in Wuhan, as it was closer to the truth than the official media reports.

During the publication of her diary, public and private pressure were already mounting against her. In April of 2020, after the announcement that her diary would be published overseas, she immediately became the target of nationwide criticism from pro-Beijing forces.

In an interview with foreign media, Fang did not back down in the face of pressure. She said that she had been ostracized by the Chinese authorities and the literary community, and that her literary career had changed forever. This was the first time she had encountered such a situation since she started her literary career in 1982. Fang believed that this shows that “far-left nationalism” is deeply rooted in China, especially in the minds of government officials.

In addition to Fang Fang, another famous Chinese writer Zhang Kangkang, who once supported Fang during the incident, was also excluded from the list of the presidium of CWA.

Source: Central News Agency, December 16, 2021
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202112160295.aspx

Briefings | | December 21, 2021 | Government/Politics

RFI Chinese: Chinese Company Will Build a Thousand Schools in Iraq

Radio France Internationale (RFI) Chinese Edition recently reported that, according to officials from the Iraqi Ministry of Construction and Housing, Iraq needs to build a total of 8,000 schools “to fill the gap in the education field.” Iraq’s payment method will be petroleum products. Not long ago, with the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kazimi as a witness, Iraq signed 15 agreements with two Chinese companies. China Power Construction Group will build 679 schools, and Sinotech will build 321 schools. These school construction projects are part of the cooperation framework agreement between the governments of China and Iraq. The first batch of school buildings will start soon and will be delivered in one year. It will take two years to complete the construction of all 1,000 schools. This is the number of schools built in the first stage. Around 3,000 schools are expected to be built in the second stage, and 4,000 schools will be built in the final stage. There are 40 million people in Iraq. Of those, nearly 3.2 million school-age children are out of school. Iraq is a country with extremely rich energy reserves, but after decades of the war and corruption that has plagued the country, its infrastructure is declining.

Source: RFI Chinese, December 19, 2021
https://rfi.my/80uM

Briefings | | December 21, 2021 | Geo-Strategic Trend

People’s Daily: The Central Economic Work Conference Took Place in Beijing

People’s Daily recently reported that The Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from December 8th to 10th. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and the rest of the members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee, attended the conference. The conference focused on summarizing the economic work in 2021, analyzing the current economic situation, and planning the economic work for 2022. The conference identified that the Chinese economy is facing the triple pressures of shrinking demand, supply shocks, and weakening expectations. The conference also recognized that, with the impact of the pandemic, the external environment has become more complex, severe and uncertain. The Party leadership asked for the people to adhere to the general tone of seeking progress while maintaining stability. The conference demanded that next year’s economic work should be steady and focus on stability. All regions should take responsibility for stabilizing the macro economy, and all branches of the government should actively introduce policies conducive to economic stability. The official report of the conference used the word “stability” 25 times. The conference also laid out seven key policies: First, macroeconomic policies must be stable and effective; second, micro-economic policies must continue to stimulate the vitality of the market; third, structural policy should focus on smoothing the national economic cycle; fourth, science and technology policies must be firmly implemented; fifth, the reform and open-up policy must activate the growth momentum; sixth, regional policies should enhance the balance and coordination of development plans; lastly, social policies must hold the bottom line of people’s livelihood.

Source: People’s Daily, December 11, 2021
http://cpc.people.com.cn/n1/2021/1211/c64094-32305295.html

Briefings | | December 21, 2021 | Economy/Resources Government/Politics

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.