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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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Ideological and Politics Teachers at Chinese Universities Jumped 60 Percent in Five Years

According to the Chinese Ministry of Education, as of November this year, the total number of full-time and part-time registered teachers of ideological and political theory courses in higher education institutions in the country exceeded 100,000, an increase of nearly 60 percent since 2015. This represents an average annual growth rate of 14.4 percent.

Liu Guiqin, an official with the Ministry of Education, stated that the ideological and political courses in Chinese universities will “deepen the reform and innovation” during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period. It will also further strengthen these courses by focusing on “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”

In 2019, at a national conference, Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, emphasized the importance of ideological and political courses.

Since the 2018 launching of “Marxist theory” as an undergraduate major in universities nationwide and the implementation of the “Special Plan for the Training of Reserve Talent for Ideological and Political Courses in Universities,” the total number of undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students who have the major of “Marxist theory” across the country has exceeded 62,000.

Source: Radio Free Asia, December 3, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/kejiaowen/bx-12032020152936.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

U.K. Daily Mail Reports Information from Leaked Data Base: Massive CCP Infiltration of UK Firms

The U.K. Daily Mail reported that a leaked database revealed that loyal members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have conducted a massive infiltration of British consulates, universities and some of the UK’s leading companies.

The database was originally leaked on the Telegram, the encrypted instant messaging app. Then in September a Chinese dissident passed it to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), which comprises more than 150 legislators around the world who are concerned about the influence and activities of the Chinese government.

The leaked database of 1.95m registered party members reveals how Beijing’s malign influence now stretches into almost every corner of British life, including defense firms, banks and pharmaceutical giants.

According to a report from The Epoch Times, an analysis of the database further revealed that the list included members who worked for the 610 office (an extrajudicial entity set up specifically to persecute practitioners of Falun Gong).

Sources:
1. U.K. Daily Mail, December 14, 2020.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9046783/Leaked-files-expose-mass-infiltration-UK-firms-Chinese-Communist-Party.html
2. The Epoch Times, December 16, 2020.
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/20/12/16/n12623600.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China News: China Imposes Sanctions on the U.S.

China News, a state-owned Chinese news agency with an international orientation, recently reported that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs just announced sanctions on U.S. government officials and some non-government organization (NGO) staff, as well as their relatives. The sanctions announcement claimed these American individuals seriously interfered in China’s internal affairs and harmed China’s core interests in Hong Kong. China has also decided to cancel US diplomatic passport holders’ visa-free treatment for temporary visits to Hong Kong and Macau. On December 8, the United States sanctioned 14 Vice Chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China for their responsibilities in violating China’s treaty promise to the people of Hong Kong. This new China-issued counter-sanction is the answer to the U.S. action. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also urged the U.S. to stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs as well as China’s internal affairs, warning the U.S. not to go down this “dangerous and wrong” path.

Source: China News, December 10, 2020
https://www.chinanews.com/gn/2020/12-10/9358930.shtml

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

China Times: U.S. Stock Indexes Removed Chinese Companies

Major Taiwanese news network China Times recently reported that, starting in December and January, the S&P and Dow Jones Indexes will remove 21 Chinese Mainland companies from stock and bond index component lists. A week ago, FTSE Russell also announced the removal of Chinese components from its global series of indexes. U.S. President Trump issued an executive order on December 11 requiring U.S. investors and agencies to remove their stakes in companies related to the Chinese military, with a list of 31 entities. The U.S. Department of Defense also listed four additional Chinese companies in their blacklist. Some of the blacklisted Chinese companies are well-known and large-scale companies, such as SMIC (China’s top domestic chip maker), Hikvision (the world’s largest video surveillance manufacturer), and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC, China’s third largest oil company). The U.S. House of Representatives also passed a bill on December 1, requiring the removal for three years of all foreign companies listed in the U.S. stock markets that have not complied with the audit standards set by PCAOB (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board). SMIC and Hikvision declined to comment on the news.

Source: China Times, December 10, 2020
https://www.chinatimes.com/cn/realtimenews/20201210005950-260410?ctrack=mo_money_headl_p01&chdtv

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

HKET: China Banned TripAdvisor from Its App Stores

Hong Kong Economic Times (HKET), the leading financial daily in Hong Kong, recently reported that China banned major U.S. travel service app TripAdvisor from the China region’s App stores on both Apple and Android markets. As of now, a search in the Chinese App stores will no long find TripAdvisor. This is part of the latest wave of the removal of 105 apps in the Chinese app market. The Chinese authorities claimed these are apps spreading obscene, violent, bloody and other illegal information. Some offered illegal services facilitating gambling and prostitution. Some of the applications did not comply with the “requirements of the government reviews.” It is unclear what caused the removal of a reputable global travel service provider like TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor does provide the capability for customers to make comments on services. China expressed the intent to continue this campaign of “cleaning up the app market” with similar future waves.

Source: HKET, December 9, 2020
https://bit.ly/3a75tAW

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations

First Chinese Official Sanctioned for Persecuting Falun Gong Practitioners

On December 10, World Human Rights Day, the U.S. State Department announced sanctions on 17 foreign government officials and their immediate family members accusing them of serious human rights violations. In addition to the big names from Russia, El Salvador and Jamaica, the sanctions list also included a police officer from Xiamen City, Fujian Province, who was involved in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

The statement specifically called out Huang Yuanxiong, director of the Wucun Police Station, Siming Branch of the Xiamen Public Security Bureau in Fujian province, accusing him of detaining, torturing and interrogating Falun Gong practitioners and seriously infringing on their religious freedom. It stressed that the world will not disregard the Chinese government’s violations of the internationally recognized freedoms of thought, conscience, and religious belief and the systematic suppression of human rights. Teng Biao is a Chinese lawyer who has defended Falun Gong practitioners in China and is currently residing in the U.S. Teng called the sanction significant because this is the first time that the U.S. imposed sanctions on Chinese officials who participated in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Teng said that Falun Gong (practitioners) have been persecuted for more than 20 years. It is a major human rights disaster which has not received enough attention in the world. Zhang Erping, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Information Center said that he welcomes the U.S. taking the lead on this human right issue and hoped that the sanction will make the Chinese officials take a look at their own consciences and consider whether to side with justice or with the abusers.

This year the U.S. has unexpectedly launched a number of sanctions on China’s human rights abusers. In July and August, the U.S. imposed financial and visa sanctions against Chen Quanguo, the Xinjiang Party Secretary; Wang Mingshan, the Public Security Director of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region; Carrie Lam, the Hong Kong Chief Executive; and Xia Baolong, the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office. Recently it imposed sanctions on 14 CCP members on the Chinese parliament’s standing committee. As of today, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on total of 30 Chinese and Hong Kong officials.

Source: Radio Free Asia, December 11, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/hj-12112020141938.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

RFI: Canada Is No Longer Training with the PLA

On December 10, Harjit Sajjan, Canada’s Minister of National Defense, said that Canada is no longer training with the Chinese military. Prior to this, James Bezan, Opposition Critic for National Defense, questioned why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would maintain such a relationship with China.

According to the Globe and Mail, the Trudeau administration invited the PLA to a joint military exercise at the Canadian Forces Base in 2019. The exercise was called off following the arrest of two Canadian citizens in China because Canada detained Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s  Chief Financial Officer. Trudeau reportedly raged at the cancellation of the military exercises. For decades, the Canadian armed forces have participated in various joint and regional military exercises with more than 20 Pacific Rim countries. It is unknown whether Canada would consider a joint training with the PLA in the future. The statement that Sajjan issued stated that “our government always stands up for Canadians at home and abroad and this includes our relationship with China, but let me be very clear. We we do not train with the Chinese military.”

The disclosed document also suggested that Trudeau’s administration was concerned that China would take the cancellation “as a retaliatory move related to the Meng Wanzhou case” and it “could also damage Canada’s long-term defense and security relationship with China”

At the same time, the military exercise drew criticism from the Conservative Party. Michael Chong, the foreign affairs critic of the opposition Conservative Party, and James Bezan, the defence critic, said the documents showed a “stunning lack of leadership” from Trudeau and the Liberal government. They said in a statement, “Clearly, the Prime Minister and the Liberal ministers are more concerned about how Beijing might react than they are in defending Canadian interests. The Liberal government has become so timid that it can’t even say no to Chinese soldiers arriving on our territory.”

According to a disclosed memo, the U.S. Pentagon had already pressed the Canadian Armed Forces to rethink interactions with the PLA because that the PLA would benefit from it.

The Canadian Forces Base is located in Petawawa, Ontario, bordering the states of New York, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Source: Radio France Internationale, December 12, 2020
https://rfi.my/6vzV.T

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Professor Claims Chinese Academy of Sciences Developed Hypersonic Jet Engine

At the end of November, the team of Professor Jiang Zonglin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Mechanics published a research paper in the Chinese Journal of Aeronautics, a peer-reviewed academic publication. In his paper, he claimed that the Academy has developed a “standing oblique detonation ramjet engine,” or sodramjet for short. The team said that the engine could take a flight at up to 16 times the speed of sound and an aircraft powered by such an engine could reach anywhere in the world within two hours.

According to the South China Morning Post, the sodramjet was an American idea. An engineer named Richard Morrison came up with the idea and presented it in a 1980 paper that can be downloaded from NASA’s website.

Dr. Uzi Rubin, founder and first director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization, an expert in hypersonic missiles, said the new design was still “very experimental” and its advantages still remained uncertain. He said, “Even though it looks promising … it will take about a generation for it to be used commercially.”  “I believe that hypersonic human flight is not imminent, if it can be done at all.”

Source; Radio Free Asia, December 6, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/5-12062020143200.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military