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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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German Federal Minister of Education Minister Calls for Termination of Confucius Institutes

According to the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, Anja Karliczek, the Federal Minister of Education and Research, has called for the termination of all Confucius Institutes in Germany.

Karliczek has written a letter to the German Rectors’ Conference and to the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs. She advises to reassess the roles of Confucius Institutes in German higher education and to draw the right conclusions.

The Confucius Institutes at the universities of Duisburg-Essen and Hanover received wide attention last week, as a planned online lecture about a book on the head of state, Xi Jinping, was canceled because of the intervention of Chinese government representatives.

Karliczek writes that for some time she has been “very concerned” with the activities of the 19 Confucius Institutes at German universities. Their influence on the work at the universities is “unacceptable.” The minister recommends that universities “carefully analyze their cooperation with institutes” and “resolutely counter China’s influence.”

Karliczek said that, In addition, universities should maintain closer contact with the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Federal Intelligence Service,.

Confucius institutes, installed at the university campuses of many Western countries as a Chinese language teaching facility, are considered a propaganda and infiltration tool of the Chinese Communist Party.

Der Spiegel commented that university policy falls into the purview of the individual federal states. It is a matter of concern when a German federal minister expresses explicit concerns and criticism over with the work of universities and their cooperation agreements.

Source: Radio France International, October 31, 2021
https://rfi.my/7sNG

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

The Fourth World Laureates Forum

The Fourth World Laureates Forum opened on November 1 in Shanghai. China’s state newspaper People’s Daily reported that more than 130 of the world’s top scientists, including 68 Nobel Laureates, are participating in the 3-day event.

The forum organizers announced the creation of the World Laureates Association Prize, including two individual awards: the Mathematics and Intelligence Science Award, and the Medical and Life Science Award. Each is to be awarded once a year, with an award amount of RMB 10 million (US$1.6 million). The awards will be launched formally and awarded in 2022. The award money comes from the Shanghai World Laureates Development Fund, with a contribution of 500 million yuan ($78 million) from Sequoia China.

The World Laureates Association and the Chinese Association for Science and Technology (CAST), jointly organized the 4th World Laureates Forum under the guidance of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.  (CAE). CAST, CAS, and CAE are all Chinese government agencies.

The World Laureates Association was established in Shanghai in 2019. There are 72 scientist members, including 51 Nobel Prize Laureates, six Wolf Prize winners, six Lasker Award winners, four Turing Award winners, two MacArthur ‘Genius Grants’ winners, and one Fields Medal winner.

Source: People’s Daily, November 2, 2021
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2021-11/02/nw.D110000renmrb_20211102_4-13.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

People’s Daily: China Suspending National Defense Mobilization Laws

People’s Daily recently reported that the Standing Committee Member of the National People’s Congress just adopted an official decision to suspend these provisions in the National Defense Mobilization Law, the Civil Air Defense Law, the National Defense Transportation Law, and the National Defense Education Law: national defense mobilization, militia mobilization, economic mobilization, civil air defense, transportation readiness, national defense education leadership administration, military and local functions configuration, work organization settings, as well as commend and control of national defense mobilization resources. The Chinese congressional decision cited the Communist Party Central Committee’s policies on “deepening the reform” of the national defense mobilization system. The above-mentioned provisions in these respective laws will remain suspended until the Party fully develops the reform measures and is ready to amend the laws. At the same time, popular Chinese news site The Paper reported that The Chinese Central Military Commission approved free medical care for military spouses, as well as preferential medical care for parents of military personnel and the parents of their spouses.

Sources:
(1) People’s Daily, October 24, 2021
http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2021/1024/c1001-32262288.html
(2) The Paper, October 27, 2021
https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_15095548

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Xinhua: U.S. Poll Showed Biden’s Approval Rate Suffered Quickest Fall Since World War II

Xinhua recently reported that, according to the latest Gallup poll, U.S. President Joseph Biden’s approval rate for the third quarter fell by 11.3 percentage from the first quarter. This is the deepest rate decline among U.S.Presidents since the end of World War II. Former President Barack Obama experienced a major nine-month decline in his approval rating of 10.1 percent. Former President Jimmy Carter had a nine-month support rate drop of 8.9 percentage. According to Gallup, when Biden first came to power, he gained a relatively stable approval rating, which remained between 54 and 57 percent from January to June. However, with the worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Biden’s approval rate dropped to 50 percent in July. When the Taliban took control of Kabul in August and with the hurried U.S. withdrawal, the US government’s Afghanistan policy was accused of being a disastrous defeat. Biden’s support rate fell further to 43 percent in September. For the same nine-month period, George W. Bush gained 13.1 percent support in his approval rating and his father, George H. Bush gained 12 percent in his approval rating.

Source: Xinhua, October 25, 2021
http://www.news.cn/world/2021-10/25/c_1211417652.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Song by Namewee Offended Communist China but Went Viral Everywhere Else

A song, “It might Break Your Pinky Heart” by Malaysian songwriter Namewee and Australian singer Kimberley Chen reached 16 million views on YouTube in 10 days. The music video uses pink as the theme color. The footage and lyrics contain underlying sarcasm about communist China which is “too fragile” to allow any criticism. The song was taken off the shelves in China immediately after it went live. Both singers’ Weibo accounts were suspended. On Youtube, there were hundreds of thousands of comments. One viewer from mainland China wrote: “Thank you for singing loud for us because We don’t dare to speak out ourselves. Yet this is the reality in China.” Namewee wrote on his Facebook page on October 25 that the song was not that powerful. It was famous because people have awakened.

Source:

1. Epoch Times, October 27, 2021
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/10/27/n13334369.htm
2. Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rp7UPbhErE

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Global Times: FCC Revoked China Telecom’s Authorization to Operate in the U.S.

Global Times recently reported that, the United States once again unreasonably suppressed Chinese companies in the U.S. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) just announced that it would withdraw China Telecom’s authorization to provide domestic interstate and international communications services in the United States. The FCC voted to revoke China Telecom’s authorization in the name of national security considerations. China Telecom must stop service within 60 days. In 2019, the FCC revoked China Mobile’s authorization and it is currently working on the same action against two other Chinese state-owned companies:  China Unicom and Pacific Networks. At the end of 2020, the New York Stock Exchange announced the initiation of delisting procedures for China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom. While all these things are happening, three major U.S. retailers, Best Buy, Home Depot, and Lowe’s, have also removed products from China’s Hikvision and Dahua Technology on the grounds of so-called “human rights issues.”

Source: Global Times, October 328, 2021
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/45Lc8o8fUWf

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations

Beijing Cracks Down on TV Stations for Producing too Many Entertainment Programs

Beijing continues to crack down on the entertainment industry and the star-chasing culture. The latest target is the top four TV stations in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Hunan. These stations produce popular entertainment programs and bring in 25 percent of China’s national advertising revenue.

On October 29, Xinhua News reported that the Central Propaganda Department and the General Administration of Radio and Television recently told these four stations that they can’t have too many entertainment and star-chasing programs. Instead, they need to “operate by following the political principles and promote the core values of socialism.”

On the same day, the General Administration of Radio and Television also announced that from October this year until the end of 2022, the National Radio and Television and Internet Audiovisual Program Service will launch an “Our New Era” theme campaign to “display fully the great achievements and historical experiences of the Chinese Communist Party’s century-old struggle and display fully the new era of Xi Jinping’s socialist ideology with Chinese characteristics.”

The recent events are the continuation of Beijing’s three-month crackdown on the entertainment industry. Back on August 27, the Cyberspace Administration and the General Administration of Radio and Television issued a notice to ban star-chasing behavior and celebrities who have scandalous records. In September, the General Administration of Radio and Television issued another notice to ban cyber-celebrity programs. It also required that the celebrities who are invited to join the programs must be politically aligned with the party.

Source: Epoch Times, October 29, 2021
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/10/29/n13338288.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics