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Kyodo News: 31 Japanese Universities Stepped Up Vetting of International Students to Prevent Technology Leaks

The Japanese government is tightening its control over sensitive technology leaks through international students. Universities in Japan will need to come up with measures to face the challenge. Kyoto News recently conducted a survey of 56 private or public universities that have either an affiliation with Chinese universities that have ties with the military or that have a large number of foreign students. Among them, 31 universities have implemented or are considering stricter identity checks on international students who are majoring in sensitive technology studies.

The results showed that only 24 universities would implement or consider implementing the vetting of students who signed an agreement not to take controlled technology out of Japan. Also, only a few universities disclosed whether they have received any foreign funding. All of these are indications that there is a lack of effective responses to the risk of technology leaks.

The Japanese government announced in June that it would strengthen export controls over sensitive technology and adopt a licensing program for universities that receive research funding from foreign governments or allow foreign students to access technologies.

Surveys show that more than half of the universities have or are considering increased identity checks on past academic qualifications, work resumes, and other areas of concern. Ten universities have asked their international students to answer whether they intend to join military-related organizations, and 14 universities now validate the details of financial support from foreign institutions.

The Japanese government is also urging the control of Japanese scholars to get them to take part in joint overseas research. According to the survey, less than 30 percent of the universities have a filing mechanism to report the joint research. There are currently 14 universities that have Confucius Institutes. One university said it was considering a restructure of its operations.

As of last May, the number of international students in Japan was about 280,000. China is the largest by nationality, accounting for more than 40 percent of the total.

Source: Kyodo News, September 7, 2021
https://china.kyodonews.net/news/2021/09/7e30cbd2f43c-31.html

Beijing Plans to Lead the World in Human Rights Work

Although the world recognizes that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a poor record on human rights, the CCP does not view it that way. In its “National Human Rights Action Plan (2021 to 2025)” published on September 9, the CCP states that it plans to be active in helping the world manage human rights.

The plan listed the following as some of its goals for creating and implementing its action plan: “To participate actively in global human rights governance; to deepen (China’s) involvement in the work of the United Nations human rights mechanisms; to promote the construction of a fairer, more equitable, reasonable, and inclusive global human rights governance system; and jointly to build a community with a shared future for mankind.”

Source: People’s Daily, September 9, 2021
http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2021/0909/c1001-32222401.html

China’s Central Bank Governor: Large Fintech Firms May Lead to Market Monopoly

Yi Gang, the Governor of China’s central bank, recently pointed out that the “winner-take-all” attribute of large fintech firms could lead to market monopoly. Yi noted that there are more than 4,000 small and medium-sized banks in China. He expressed concern about the banks increased reliance on large technology companies.

As China recently took a heavy-handed approach toward fintech giants such as Alibaba and Tencent, the website of the People’s Bank of China released Yi’s speech on September 14th at a Sino-German video conference on financial technology .

Yi noted that China’s rapid development in fintech has also highlighted a number of problems. These include the payment institutions entering into the financial sector and offering a variety of financial products such as insurance and microfinance. They thereby add to the chances of cross-product and cross-market contagion of financial risks.

Yi said Chinese regulatory authorities will bring all financial activities under financial supervision and make sure that financial businesses must be licensed. China also requires that payment methods be divorced from other financial products. In addition, Yi vowed to strengthen anti-monopoly efforts and promote large Internet companies to protect consumers’ choice of payment methods.

Yi also noted that the development of fintech will have an impact on the traditional banking industry. “Small and medium-sized banks are facing greater challenges. With limited resources of their own, small and medium-sized banks can only rely on the technology and platforms provided by large IT companies for customer maintenance, credit analysis and risk control.”

Source: People’s Bank of China, September 18, 2021
http://www.pbc.gov.cn/goutongjiaoliu/113456/113469/4345544/index.html

HK01: Xi Jinping Said, “The Days When the Hong Kong Real Estate Tycoons Influenced Hong Kong Policy Are Gone

HK01 reported on September 21 that, in 2018, Xi Jinping made a clear statement in an internal meeting of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) Hong Kong and Macau Coordination Group. He Stated, “The days of the Hong Kong business community influencing the Central Government’s policies on Hong Kong are gone.” A source familiar with the situation said that the “Hong Kong business community” actually refers to the real estate developers there.

The article also reported that the richest real estate tycoon invited key officers from the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong for a family banquet. The tycoon had all important members of his family attend the banquet. He explained (to one of the key officers) that his family’s comments during the anti-Extradition Law movement were not “sympathetic to the gangsters or the violence.” {Editor’s comment: This is likely referring to Li Ka-shing, who is Hong Kong’s richest man and also published a neutral-toned page in the newspaper regarding the Hong Kong protest. Some people felt his message was pro-Hong Kong protesters.}

The article mentioned that Reuters recently reported that Beijing requested Hong Kong real estate developers to solve the housing shortage problem. It stated, “The rules of the game have changed” and Beijing will no longer tolerate “monopoly.”

For a while, the CCP has not been happy with Hong Kong’s real estate tycoons. During the anti-Extradition Law protest, these tycoons remained silent. It was not until a mainland newspaper criticized them for not lining up with the central government that they start making statements to support the government’s actions to “stop violence.” In September 2019, the People’s Daily also blamed the Hong Kong protest on the real estate developers for making the housing prices unaffordable.

In July this year, Xia Baolong, the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council (central government), stated that he expects the housing problem in Hong Kong will be greatly improved.

HK01 is a newspaper close to Xi Jinping’s group.

Source: HK01, September 21, 2021
https://www.hk01.com/政情/679198/01消息-習近平內部會議明言-地產商-左右治港-已一去不復返

September 22, 2021, Pandemic Report: COVID Is Spreading in China

COVID-19 continues to spread in Fujian Province, with an accumulative 418 confirmed cases from September 10 to September 21. The two major cities impacted are Xiamen and Putian. For the past four days the number of cases in Xiamen has surpassed the number in Putian. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is known for hiding the details about the actual spread of COVID in China, so the actual number of infections is unknown.

Vice Premier Sun Chunlan visited Xiamen and Putian on September 18. Sun usually represents the central government to visit locales about their COVID-19 work only when the local pandemic situation has become extremely severe.

Also, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province reported eight confirmed cases from September 21 to September 22. The CCP Harbin Municipal Committee Secretary Wang Zhaoli said that the current situation in Harbin is severe and complex.

Related postings on Chinascope:

Sources:
1. Radio Free Asia, September 22, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/4-09222021100621.html
2. China’s government site, September 20, 2021
http://www.gov.cn/guowuyuan/2021-09/20/content_5638441.htm
3. Lianhe Zaobao, September 22, 2021
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20210922-1196116

China Stepped up Control of Web Contents

China has been strengthening its overall supervision of cyberspace. On September 15, the Cyber Administration of China (CAC), the country’s top cyber regulator, released the “Opinions on Further Clarifying the Responsibilities of the Online Platform Operators in terms of Information Content.”

The CAC pointed out that the main purpose of releasing the “Opinions” was to focus on different indications of web chaos, and “to ensure that the online platform always adheres to the correct political direction, public opinion guidance and value orientation.”

The “Opinions” gives ten key tasks, including setting up online community rules, the preparation of lists and directories of illegal and unhealthy conduct, the establishment of user credit records and evaluation systems, and the maintenance of records on users’ violations.

The “Opinions” requires the online platforms to improve the content approval mechanism, implement the chief-editor’s responsible system, further expand the scope of manual audits, and establish a dynamic updating mechanism for the database of illegal activities.

Source: Cyber Administration of China, September 15, 2021
http://www.cac.gov.cn/2021-09/15/c_1633296790051342.htm

Global Times: British Ambassador to China Should No Longer Visit the Great Hall of the People

Global Times recently published a commentary on the fact that the Speakers of both the Upper and Lower Houses of the British Parliament announced a prohibition against the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang. Zheng has been prohibited from entering the British Parliament Building. This was at the request of several congressmen who China has sanctioned. Forbidding envoys of other countries from entering the parliament is an extremely rare move. It shows brutality, impulsiveness, and rule-breaking. If this restriction is enforced and continues, then China should take reciprocal retaliation against the British mission in China, and, in the future, the British ambassador to China should not be allowed to enter the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. In fact, there are no major conflicts between China and Britain. Even the conflicts surrounding Hong Kong have just been magnified. China and Britain are so far apart. China can neither threaten Britain’s security nor have a real power competition against the UK. The ideological differences are actually the easiest to shelve between countries. Britain is the “certain pawn” of the United States’ strategy to contain China.

Source: Global Times, September 15, 2021
https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/44mRTKh7rTN

Chinese Version of TikTok Limits Kids under 14 Years Old to 40 Minutes per Day

On September 18, China’s short video application Douyin announced that all real-name users, including new users, under the age of 14 have been put into teenage mode, which only allows usage of 40 minutes a day. The app will also block these users between 10 pm and 6 am every day. The announcement stated that no user can exit the teenage mode by himself.

The announcement called on users under the age of 14 who have not yet registered with their real names to launch the teenage mode by themselves and suggested parents should help their children complete the real name registration for the teenage mode.

China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) issued a notice on August 30 that all online game companies can only provide up to one-hour service to minors from 8 pm to 9 pm every Friday to Sunday and on legal holidays.

Douyin is a short video social media smartphone application developed by ByteDance, a Chinese partially state-owned multinational internet technology company. TikTok is an overseas version that is not available in mainland China.

Source: Beijing News, September 18, 2021
https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/163194918814195.html