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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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Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

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The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.

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The Complicated Relationships in China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Epoch Times published a report analyzing the work relationship of China’s newly appointed Ambassador to the U.S. Qing Gang with top diplomats in China. Duowei, a media close to Jiang Zemin’s group, stated that Qin has “the trust and appreciation of Xi Jinping” and that he “can have direct access to the White House at critical moments.” This means that he has “direct access to Xi Jinping.” This also means that those in the White House would like to talk to him as he can bring Xi’s message to them.

According to Hong Kong media, there are many groups in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The larger cliques include the Beijing Foreign Studies University clique, the Beijing International Studies University clique (with Foreign Minister Wang Yi as the clique leader), the Beijing Language and Culture University clique, the Shanghai International Studies University clique, the China Foreign Affairs University clique, the University of International Relations clique, the Beijing University clique, the Fudan University clique, and others as well. Qing Gang was from the University of International Relations, so this clique may gain more influence now; but other cliques may balance or counteract some of them.

What is even more complicated is the diplomacy leadership. Xi is said to “guide the diplomacy work directly.” Wang Huning, a Standing Committee Member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo, might be the man behind the diplomatic scene. The next person is Yang Jiechi, CCP Politburo Member and Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Work Committee. Next is Wang Yi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. After Wang, it is Qi Yu (齐玉), Party Secretary of the CCP Committee at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Then there are the Deputy Ministers. Since Qing Gang can access Xi directly, how he will work with these leaders above him is yet to be seen.

Source: Epoch Times, July 31, 2021
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/7/31/n13129795.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Pandemic: COVID-19 Delta Variant Has Been Spreading in China Since July

The COVID-19 Delta variant has spread to many provinces across China. On August 3, China reported 96 cases of infection in 15 provinces. The Chinese Communist Party is known for hiding the actual infection status, so the actual number might be much higher.

As for the origin of this wave of COVID, it started in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province in July. Zhangjiajie, a tourist city in Hunan Province became a center for its spread, as over 2,000 people attended an in-door performance there. Zhangjiajie didn’t call it a “lockdown,” but it is not allowing people to leave the city. Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province detained a patient who didn’t report his travel to Nanjing. It also offered money to encourage citizens to report people who have COVID. Wuhan City, Hubei Province announced that it would test all of its 13.5 million residents. Beijing reported six cases officially, but other information indicated that 15 community neighborhoods in 11 districts had confirmed cases. China also cancelled all sports competition.

Sources:
1. China government site, August 4, 2021
http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2021-08/04/content_5629348.htm
2. Epoch Times, August 3, 2021
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/8/3/n13136774.htm

Hot Topics | | |   Social Stability

Waves of Emigration One Year after Implementation of Hong Kong’s National Security Law

A year after the implementation of the Hong Kong’s National Security Law, the region has faced waves of departures of Hong Kong residents. In the first five months of this year, the Hong Kong police received 15,707 applications for a “Certificate of No Criminal Record,” a necessary document for many Western countries’ immigration processing. Ming Pao cited the Education Bureau statistics that, as of October of last year, primary and secondary schools lost about 15,400 students within a year.

A parent told Voice of America that the contents of elementary school textbooks carry ideologies from mainland China, focusing on China’s achievements without mentioning any issues such as the “2008 Chinese milk scandal.” She and her husband no longer wanted their son to receive one-way and untrue information about China.

“Hong Kong is not a good place for study, because the academic freedom is now gone,” said 16-year-old Michael, a leader of the local student organization.

As for the “age gap” in Hong Kong’s population after a large number of primary and secondary school students born and raised in Hong Kong emigrated to foreign countries, Michael estimates that they will soon be replaced by the influx of new immigrants of mainland Chinese at a rate of 150 per day. Hong Kong will gradually become one of China’s ordinary Chinese cities.

Source: Voice of America, July 31, 2021
https://www.voachinese.com/a/hong-kong-schools-suffering-student-exodus-due-to-emigration-under-nsl-20210731/5986115.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China Launches Campaign against Cyber Industry

On Monday July 26, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced that it will launch a six-month special campaign against the country’s Internet industry. The campaign focuses on “threats to data security and violations of user rights.” MIIT’s action is seen as part of a larger purge of high-tech companies and a police action against so-called “misuse” of personal information. The MIIT had launched a similar campaign in November 2019, targeting applications (apps) that violate users’ rights. By June 11 of this year, a total of 117 apps had been put under examination. The Chinese government is intensifying enforcement actions against tech giants in the areas of anti-monopoly, data security, and financial compliance. Tech giants have almost total control of China’s entertainment, retail and other industries.

Source: Voice of America, July 26, 2021
https://www.voachinese.com/a/China-launches-6-month-campaign-to-clean-up-apps-20210726/5979646.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

RFI: Brief Pro-U.S. Experience of a National CCP Advocate

Jin Canrong, a professor at Renmin University of China, is known for his aggressive anti-American stance. He has national fame as an “anti-American pioneer” and a diehard advocate for the Chinese Communist Party.  Many people put him alongside Fudan University professor Zhang Weiwei and Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin.

For example, on July 20, heavy rains in Henan flooded the Zhengzhou subway and the entire Beijing-Guangzhou tunnel. According to local authorities, hundreds of cars were submerged with at least 300 fatalities.

On the morning of July 23, Jin Canrong posted on weibo, “In addition to natural disasters and man-made disasters, we need to be wary of another possibility; that is, an attack by weather weapons of a hostile country.” He meant that the United States may have triggered the Henan flood using weather weapons.

On the evening of the same day, Jin surprised many with a weibo posting that showed  him having dinner with a U.S. embassy diplomat.

He was “invited to have dinner with the new political officer of the U.S. Embassy, ​​Mr. Su Weiguang [the Chinese name of the diplomat], and they exchanged views on Sino-US relations and the Taiwan issue. …”

Jin Canrong also posted a photo of himself and the U.S. diplomat.

Jin Canrong’s aggressive stance on the United States is well known such that his two postings have caused an uproar in public opinion among Chinese netizens.

“What a day Jin Canrong had! He was tough as a nail when scolding the American imperialist during the day and thoroughly enjoyed a big dinner that the American imperialist paid for at night. Work hard at sunrise and rest at sunset.”

“During the day, everything is work as part of his official duties. At night it is life and a personal relationship!”

In response to public criticism against the posting on the U.S. weather weapon, Jin Canrong defended it. “I just saw the posting. I did not know who wrote it.” Jin’s weibo account is maintained by Beijing ceskywebsolutionsco., ltd., of which Raojin owns 97 percent.  Jin said that the posting on U.S. weather weapons was ghost-written by his fan at the direction of Raojin.

Fang Zhouzi, a well-known science writer, had a question:

“Has Jin Canrong rebelled? He posted a weibo suggesting that the heavy rain in Henan was an attack that the U.S. ‘weather weapon made.’ After having dinner with a U.S. political officer, he came out clean, saying that the weibo posting was written by his team partner, and he did not know anything about it. What other microblogs he posts are ghost-written by others? That team seems to be Hu Xijin’s partner’s team. Are Hu Xijin’s postings also ghost-written by someone else?”

Source: Radio France Internationale, July 27, 2021

https://rfi.my/7bdr

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

STCN: U.S. SEC Froze Chinese Company IPOs

China Security Times (SecuTimes or STCN) recently reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stopped processing the registration of U.S. IPOs of Chinese companies and their other sales of securities. The SEC is crafting a new investor risk disclosure guidance to respond to Beijing’s recent regulatory crackdown. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler later publicly stated on the SEC official website that he raised concerns about the way Chinese companies are going public in the U.S. He said that the Chinese government has recently put forward new guidance and restrictions on Chinese companies raising funds overseas, including conducting cyber security reviews for these companies. The SEC plans to require overseas issuers related to Chinese operating companies to make more disclosures and especially to ensure that they are clearly disclosed in a prominent position. The SEC also plans to conduct additional targeted examinations on the listing applications of companies with major business operations in China. In June, the SEC removed the chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). That Board was considered negligent in promoting independent audits of Chinese companies listed in the United States. The SEC is also under pressure to finalize the delisting rules for Chinese companies that do not meet the U.S. audit requirements. Around 418 Chinese companies are listed on U.S. exchanges.

Source: STCN, July 30, 2021
https://news.stcn.com/sd/202107/t20210730_3495645.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

U.S. and The Philippines Resumed Visiting Forces Agreement

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that Philippine President Duterte met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on July 29. The two sides announced the full resumption of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and agreed that there is room for strengthening the relationship between the two countries. Secretary Austin, at a joint press conference on the next day, expressed his gratitude to President Duterte for his decision to fully restore the VFA. The VFA is one of the critical military agreements signed by the Philippines and the United States in 1998. It includes agreements on military exercises. President Duterte proposed to terminate the VFA last year. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier that the differences and contradictions between China and the Philippines, as President Duterte has repeatedly emphasized, should not affect the friendship and cooperation between the two nations. Some analysts expressed the belief that Duterte is trying to please the military in exchange of their support for his election effort next year. Secretary Austin visited three Southeast Asian countries including Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines in late July to strengthen alliances in the region.

Source: Sina, July 30, 2021
https://mil.news.sina.com.cn/2021-07-30/doc-ikqcfnca9980186.shtml

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

BBC Chinese: China’s Taishan Nuclear Power Plant Shut Down for Inspection

The BBC Chinese Edition recently reported that the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) announced on July 30 that “a small amount of fuel damage” occurred in Unit One of the Guangdong Taishan Nuclear Power Plant. The company decided to shut down the unit for inspection to identify the cause of the fuel damage and to replace the damaged parts. The Guangdong Taishan Nuclear Power Plant has the largest single-unit nuclear capacity in the world. In mid-June, the outside world questioned the safety of the plant. US media revealed that Framatome, the French supplier of the Taishan Plant,  asked the US Department of Energy for help, describing the Taishan Plant as facing “an imminent radiological threat.” At that time, CGN called the reports “rumor” and “hype” of the Western media. CGN’s latest announcement now says some small fuel damage does exist, but it was within the allowable range of the specifications. Framatome was once a subsidiary of Areva and was resold to EDF (Électricité de France) in 2009. In 2015, the French regulatory authorities found quality problems in Areva components. That brought the construction of three nuclear power plants in China, France, and Finland to a halt. The China Taishan Plant resumed construction later, but the plants in France and Finland remain delayed.

Source: BBC Chinese, July 31, 2021
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-58037951

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology Social Stability