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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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Lithuania Withdraws from 17+1, Calling on Other Countries to Follow Suit

Amid the deterioration of relations between the 27 EU countries and China, Lithuania believes that China constitutes a “division of the 17+1 mechanism.”  The country’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis announced that Lithuania has decided not to attend the 17+1 summit. Landsbergis called on EU member states to respond to China in unison, and called on other member states to withdraw from this mechanism.

The 17 + 1 mechanism was a cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. It was an initiative of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote business and investment relations between China and the 17 CEE countries.

On Thursday, this Baltic country’s parliament formally adopted a resolution that found Beijing to be committing “genocide” and a “human holocaust” against Uighur Muslims. The Lithuanian parliament also called on the United Nations to organize a mission to Xinjiang to investigate the mass detention of Uighurs and asked the European Union to revise its relations with Beijing.

Lithuania has taken several initiatives in recent months that have infuriated Beijing including vetoing Chinese investments and opening commercial offices in Taiwan. The Chinese Foreign Ministry lodged a protest on March 4, “strongly opposing” the establishment of Lithuanian official institutions in Taiwan.

In February this year, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia took the lead in lowering the level of participation in the summit between China and CEE countries, sending in a minister instead of a president or a prime minister. Six countries followed suit.

China has attached unprecedented importance to the February 17+1 summit. President Xi Jinping personally chaired the conference, which was usually hosted by Premier Li Keqiang. Although the Chinese Foreign Ministry has also been making frequent behind-the-scenes moves to get leaders of member states to attend, this year’s summit saw the lowest level of participation ever since the mechanism was established in 2012.

Analysis suggests that the 17+1, which was seen from the beginning by the EU as a mechanism to try to divide Europe, is now losing its initial aura. The failure of the Chinese to deliver on their investment promises, as well as the disproportionate trade benefit brought to Beijing, has disappointed the host countries. The outbreak of the corona virus epidemic has impaired China’s image even worse. Beijing’s recent counter-sanctions against the EU over the Uighur human rights issue have caused unprecedented damage to bilateral relations. The European Parliament’s recent decision to freeze the “EU-China Comprehensive Investment Agreement” is another example of the apparent deterioration of bilateral relations.

Source: Radio France International, May 23, 2021
https://rfi.my/7QAU.T

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

National English Public Speaking Contest Organizer Picked Topic: To Praise the Party

A national annual English public speaking contest that the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press hosted drew wide critics online. Considered among the top ranking English public speaking contests in China, the contest [Editor’s note: https://uchallenge.unipus.cn/] is open to college students under the age of 35. The preliminary contest is held from June to October; the provincial finals are held before November 8; and the national finals are held from December 6th to 10th. In the past years, the assigned topics have been closely related to life events or have been about Chinese culture. This year, however, the topic is “Red Star over China.” It asked the contestants to sing praises to the party. People complained that the organizer is simply “training a new generation of party spokespersons.” The authorities have deleted all of the online negative comments.

“Red Star over China” is a 1937 book by an American pro-communist journalist, Edgar Snow. The book describes to Western readers an accounting of the Chinese Communist Party when it was a guerrilla army.

Source: Radio Free Asia, May 21, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/speech-05212021035809.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Invested in 700 Land Deals in Japan; Most Are Near Military Facilities

Chinese buyers are among the foreign investors who are buying Japanese real estate on a large scale before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. They are targeting land that is close to military facilities. The Japanese government set up an expert panel in November last year to review the national security risks of such land transactions. The panel found that at least 700 some deals involved Chinese companies.

Sankei Shimbun, a daily newspaper in Japan, reported on May 13 that most of these investment programs involved land that is located near defense bases, including: Self-Defense Forces (SDF), U.S. military bases, the Japanese Coast Guard and space development facilities.

According to the study, Chinese entities purchased 80 parcels of land in Japan’s “high security zone,” including 20 acres near the Hokkaido Self-Defense Force’s Chitose Air Base. Another deal was on Taketomi Island in Okinawa, which is near Taiwan. A third suspicious purchase gave buyers linked to Beijing control over what the SDF described as an “absolute choke point” near the vital Cape Noshappu radar base, which monitors the Russian border.

The report also mentioned a new wave of land purchases that appear to be focused on air and sea radar facilities off the coast of Japan. Examples are deals involving U.S. military bases on Okinawa and Japanese defense sites in Tottori Prefecture. The report stated that Chinese investors are targeting these areas. The reason is that these lands overlook the aforementioned facilities, enabling them to keep tabs on the activities of Japanese and U.S. ships, warplanes and personnel.

The Japanese Cabinet is considering a bill which designates real estate purchases by foreign investors within one kilometer of key facilities as meriting special review, including a requirement for the buyers to declare in advance how they plan to use the property.

Source: Epoch Times, May 16, 2021
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/5/16/n12953830.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

China to Build Airport in Kiribati in the Pacific

Beijing plans to rebuild an airport based on an abandoned U.S. military airfield runway and a bridge on Kanton Island, in the Republic of Kiribati. The move shows China’s ambition to further its foothold in the Pacific Ocean.

The island nation of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean has a population of 120,000 but has one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world, covering an area of more than 3.5 million square kilometers of waters. Kanton Island is midway between Hawaii and Australia and 3,000 kilometers southwest of the U.S. military base in Hawaii. Any major infrastructure on the island would provide China with a stronghold deep into the region where the United States has maintained strong ties with and its allies since World War II.

Kanton has been a nature reserve since 2006. China plans to build a 2-kilometer long airstrip. During the World War II, the U.S. military used the island as part of an air ferry route between Hawaii and the South Pacific region. After the war, commercial airlines used the island as a trans-Pacific stopover for refueling.

Until the late 1960s, the U.S. had used the island for space and missile tracking; today, Kanton is used only for emergencies. Analysis indicates that once the existing runway is upgraded, it will be long enough to support the deployment of fighter jets. If further upgraded and extended, it will be able to support the deployment of large transport aircraft and maritime patrol aircraft.

China also has plans to build container ports in the region. Kiribati and Solomon established diplomatic relations with Beijing in 2019 after breaking diplomatic ties with Taiwan. They also joined the “Belt & Road Initiative.” Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Kiribati President Taneti Maamau on January 6, 2020.

The other four island nations in the Pacific region — the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Nauru, and Palau — continue to maintain diplomatic and economic relations with Taiwan. Palau’s new President Surangel Whipps has called for greater U.S. investment in the region.

China’s economic development efforts have resulted in the partial or complete purchase of more than a dozen ports around the world since 1990, with Southeast Asia among the major areas of Chinese investment. The current increase in Chinese investment in Pacific ports and islands is part of its longer-term strategic consideration. There have been concerns about the dual commercial and military use of these ports, although Beijing does not acknowledge its military purposes.

Source: Radio France International, May 7, 2021
https://rfi.my/7NQG.T

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Surveillance of Uyghurs’ iPhones

An article on the website of the French weekly magazine Le Nouvel Observateur described a hacking competition, secretly organized by the Chinese government, which offered a reward of $200,000 to anyone who could hack into an iPhone. The competition finally paid off.

In November 2018, a Chinese hacker managed to find a way to intercept information on an iPhone remotely. A few months ago, the U.S. security authorities informed Apple of the information. A May 6 article published in the MIT Technology Review magazine detailed the above process. However, it did not reveal the channel through which the Chinese hacker gained the access. The article commented that, since 2018, Chinese hackers have stopped participating in the annual international hacking competition held in Vancouver, Canada, which is a side event of the Computer Security Conference. It is clear that Beijing believes that the findings of Chinese hackers should be used by China’s security apparatus. Starting in 2018, Beijing has been holding a competition called the Tianfu Cup Chinese Hacking Competition. A hacker named Qixun Zhao won the first Tianfu Cup prize for successfully hacking into the iPhone. He named his discovery “Chaos” and the Chinese media praised his work, calling it “the perfect remote jailbreak of the iPhone.” Two months later, Apple quietly patched the loophole. During this two-month gap, it was possible that the Chinese security authorities had monitored all iPhone users, especially those of Uyghurs. Research by the U.S. government and Google shows that the findings by Chinese hackers provided a great deal of assistance to the Beijing government’s mass surveillance of Uyghurs.

Source: Radio France International, May 15, 2021
https://rfi.my/7OpC.T

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Private School to Adhere to CCP Leadership

On May 14, China’s State Council announced the newly revised regulations for private school education, which will be implemented in time for the new school year on September 1. The contents stipulate that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations in private schools should participate in and supervise major school decisions. This is considered the beginning of the CCP’s strengthening of control over the education industry and part of the CCP’s “Strengthening Social Control Plan.”  It is still unclear which field will be its next target, but the uncertainty has caused education stock prices to drop.

The Voice of America (VOA) Chinese website reported that Article 1 of this newly revised regulation stipulates that private schools should “adhere to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.” The specific method for implementing the leadership of the CCP is for the grassroots CCP organizations in schools to “participate in major school decisions and supervision.”

The article also mentioned that the school’s decision-making body “should have the participation of the person in charge of the CCP organization,” and that the relevant supervision agency should also have “representatives from the party’s grassroots organization.”

In addition, this regulation also prohibits any social organization or individual from using a merger and acquisition to control private schools or non-profit based pre-schools. At the same time, it also requires increased supervision of schools that are run by social organizations when their partner is from a foreign country but has a majority of the control.

Before the 1980s, except for a few private schools in remote areas, China’s primary and secondary education were basically government-run public education. After the reform and opening up in the 1990s, domestic private capital and international capital gradually flowed into the elementary education field. Many private schools were formed in large and medium-sized cities. These schools adopted foreign teaching materials and used advanced teaching technology. They were mostly favored by wealthy urban residents who paid hefty fees to send their children to these schools.

Source: Central News Agency, May 16, 2021
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202105160196.aspx

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Times: 42 Percent of AmCham HK Members Consider Leaving Hong Kong

Major Taiwanese news network China Times recently reported that the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AmCham HK) just released a report showing that 42 percent of its members are considering or planning to leave Hong Kong. Most of the member surveyed pointed out that the issue was concerns about the Hong Kong’s National Security Law. Around 43 percent of those who are considering or intending or to leave are staying in Asia. The most likely destinations are Tokyo, Taipei, Singapore and Thailand. Some members are worried about their children’s education after passage of the National Security Law. The survey sample included 325 member companies of AmCham HK, which covers about a quarter of all its members. Most of the members who decided to stay cited a “good quality of living” (77 percent). AmCham HK suggested in an announcement that the Hong Kong government should pay more attention to foreign talent’ concerns to prevent a reduction in Hong Kong’s competitiveness.

Source: China Times, May 12, 2021
https://www.chinatimes.com/cn/realtimenews/20210512002963-260409?chdtv

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Global Times: U.S. Secretary of State Suspended Visa Issuance for Certain Chinese Applicants

Global Times recently reported, based on stories told by some Chinese applicants for U.S. visas, that their visa applications were rejected. The U.S. visa officials said that the reason for the rejection was an order from the Secretary of State, who suspended the issuance of a visa to the spouse and children of active-duty employees of the Chinese Ministry of Public Safety, the Ministry of National Security and the Immigration Bureau. This is a very good example that shows how the U.S. intentionally undermines normal personnel exchanges between China and the United States due to political reasons. This is not the way to develop a healthy relationship between the two countries. The spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed a few other similar cases and commented at a press conference that, with the same logic, maybe China should not issue a visa to U.S. intelligence personnel and their families as well. The United States should correct its wrong-doing.

Source: Global Times, May 13, 2021
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/436ea7rDqEd

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations