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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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RFA: Ministry of Public Security Announced Internet ID Card Pilot Program

The Ministry of Public Security recently announced that China has launched a new pilot program on “Internet ID Cards” in Fujian and Guangdong provinces. Instead of using the personal ID to register for internet service, the new technology uses the applicants’ biometrics. To obtain a certificate, the applicant must provide the police with biological and personal data such as face, fingerprint and ID card chip. After verification, the Ministry of Public Security will issue a certificate. When netizens open or use different online services, they can use the certificate instead of entering identity information for authentication. According to the official statement, the network card is linked to the applicant’s biometrics and ID card, and has multiple passwords. It is extremely difficult to be forged.

The Ministry of Public Security chose Guangdong and Fujian as the pilot sites for network ID cards.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 27, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/GF1-11272020050155.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China Held the 3rd China Think Tank Forum on International Influence in Beijing

On December 5, “The 14th Five-Year Plan and a Powerful Country in Thought—the 3rd Forum on the International Influence of China’s Think Tanks and the 6th Symposium on the Construction of New Types of Think Tanks” was held at the Renmin University of China. More than 200 well-known think tank scholars, social elites and media professionals gathered together to discuss strengthening the international influence of think tanks, enhancing the global distribution of Chinese think tanks and promoting an effective way to build a community with a shared future for mankind by means of a country that is powerful in thought.

Liu Yuanchun, vice president of Renmin University of China, pointed out in his opening speech that the Chinese communist Party’s “14th Five-Year Plan and 2035 Vision” put forward new requirements for “newly improved national governance efficiency” and “newly improved social civilization.” The vision also proposed the research direction and mission for the work of Chinese think tanks in the new era. To this end, the Forum concluded that Chinese think tanks in the new era should increase China’s international influence in the dissemination of results, promote international cohesion in the setting of initiatives, and form international synergy in the implementation of plans.

Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng also delivered a keynote speech.

Source: China News, December 6, 2020
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2020/12-06/9355352.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Chinese Arms Companies’ Sales Increased by 4.8 Percent in 2019

On December 7, 2020, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) issued a report on the state of the global arms industry in 2019. “The data showed that arms sales of the world’s 25 largest arms-producing and military services companies (arms companies) totaled US$361 billion in 2019.”

“12 U.S. companies appear in the top 25 for 2019. They account for 61 percent of the combined arms sales of those top 25.”

“The top 25 also includes four Chinese companies. Three are in the top 10: Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC; ranked 6th), China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC; ranked 8th) and China North Industries Group Corporation (NORINCO; ranked 9th). The combined revenue of the four Chinese companies in the top 25—which also includes China South Industries Group Corporation (CSGC; ranked 24th)—grew by 4.8 per cent between 2018 and 2019.”

SIPRI Senior Researcher Nan Tian said, “The Chinese arms companies are benefiting from military modernization programs for the People’s Liberation Army.”

“After the USA, China accounted for the second largest share of the 2019 arms sales of the top 25 arms companies. Its share was 16 percent.”

Source: SIPRI, December 7, 2020
https://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2020/global-arms-industry-sales-top-25-companies-85-cent-big-players-active-global-south

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

EU Adopts its Own ‘Magnitsky’ Act to Sanction Human Rights Abuses

The European Union has agreed to enact a measure similar to the Magnitsky Act in America that will allow the 27 member bloc to sanction those responsible for human rights abuses.

The decision came at a meeting of the European foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday and will allow the EU to freeze assets and impose travel bans on individuals involved in serious human rights abuses.

The new framework is modeled after the Magnitsky Act, a U.S. law named for investor and activist Bill Browder’s late attorney Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Russian jail after uncovering a massive fraud scheme allegedly involving government officials.

The EU said in a statement that the move allows the bloc “to target individuals, entities and bodies — including state and non-state actors — responsible for, involved in or associated with serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide, no matter where they occurred.”

Concretely, the 27 EU nations could ban targeted people from traveling in Europe and freeze the assets of both officials and “entities” such organizations, companies or banks. Europeans will also be forbidden from making funds available to them.

The sanctions would apply to acts like genocide, crimes against humanity, serious human rights violations or to abuses such as torture, slavery, extrajudicial killings, and arbitrary arrests. Other violations can be punished if they are “widespread, systematic or are otherwise of serious concern.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, December 7, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junshiwaijiao/cl-12072020143715.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Global Times: German Government Called Off Chinese Acquisition

Global Times recently reported that, in the name of national security, the German government prohibited the Chinese acquisition of a German satellite technology company IMST. IMST developed the critical components of Germany’s TerraSAR-X observation satellite. The acquisition would have resulted in intellectual property loss, which would have benefited the Chinese military. The German government also explained that this acquisition would also damage Germany’s “technological sovereignty” in the future mobile wireless communications field. IMST’s achievements benefited from government public funding. It is problematic to sell China a company funded by tax payer money. However, IMST plans to take this matter to court. The company is strongly against classifying IMST as a military supplier. IMST sold 22 percent of its voting rights to China in 2018. However, starting in 2018, the German government tightened the bar for government intervention from 25 percent to 10 percent of a company’s stake.

Source: Global Times, December 5, 2020
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/40yJwj40bUN

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

LTN: Huawei Western Europe Sales Are in Free Fall

Major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN) recently reported that, according to the latest numbers from IDC, Huawei sold 2.5 million smartphones in the Western Europe market, representing a year-over-year free fall of 58.7 percent. Huawei sold 6.2 million smartphones in the same period last year. This was the largest decline in history. Given the U.S. sanctions, Huawei could not have built-in Google services, which hold a high market share in Europe. Google also took extra steps to prevent end users from manually installing its services by checking the smartphone processor model. This sales result led Huawei’s market share in Western Europe to fall from 20 percent to 8.8 percent. In the meantime, the Apple iPhone 11 obtained a 1.1 percent growth, with a total output of 8.2 million smartphones sold. This was achieved without the help of iPhone 12. With the free fall of Huawei’s market share, other Chinese brands, Xiaomi and OPPO achieved a 151.6 percent and a 566.2 percent growth, respectively. Xiaomi is now the number three smartphone vendor in Western Europe, after Samsung and Apple.

Source: LTN, November 30, 2020
https://3c.ltn.com.tw/news/42477

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

HK01: Japan Decided to Decommission Unmanned Aircraft Made in China

Popular Hong Kong new online media HK01 Network recently reported that the Japanese government decided to replace all unmanned aircraft that provincial governments operated with more secure Japanese products. It is effectively decommissioning around one thousand China-made unmanned aircraft. This “reevaluation” process is set to start in 2021. These aircraft took videos, photos and saved flying records. This information was then transferred via the communications network. With the deployment of 5G technology, the risk of network-based information leaks is expected to increase. Chinese unmanned aircraft vendor DJI has been the subject of such topics as security leaks for a few years now. In 2017, the United States Army ordered an immediate stop to the use of DJI products. The new Japanese government policy review will identify “critical tasks” that should use higher security standards, such as defense, criminal investigation, intelligence topography emergency rescues and more. Current unmanned aircraft will have to be replaced according to the new rules. The new rules will also include an added procurement process for future purchases, which will require cabinet level risk assessment to evaluate “supply chain risk.” This past spring, the Japanese government conducted a study on government use of unmanned aircraft  and found around 1,000 DJI products. Government officials also explained that, even for work not listed as “critical tasks,” in principle the government should still use domestic products.

Source: HK01, November 30, 2020
https://bit.ly/36KfyBC

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

U.S. Terminates Five PRC-Funded Propaganda Programs Disguised as “Cultural Exchanges”

The US State Department announced on Friday, December 4, that it would terminate five exchange programs with China, one of which is related to Hong Kong.

These programs include the Policymakers Educational China Trip Program, the U.S.-China Friendship Program, the U.S.-China Leadership Exchange Program, the U.S.-China Transpacific Exchange Program and the Hong Kong Educational and Cultural Program.

Such programs were conducted under Section 108A of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act (MECEA), which allows U.S. government employees to travel using foreign government funds.

The state department’s statement called these programs PRC funded propaganda programs disguised as “cultural exchanges.”

“While other programs funded under the auspices of the MECEA are mutually beneficial, the five programs in question are fully funded and operated by the PRC government as soft power propaganda tools. They provide carefully curated access to Chinese Communist Party officials, not to the Chinese people, who do not enjoy the freedoms of speech and assembly. The United States welcomes the reciprocal and fair exchange of cultural programs with PRC officials and the Chinese people, but one-way programs such as these are not mutually beneficial.”

Source: U.S. State Department, December 4, 2020
https://www.state.gov/termination-of-prc-funded-propaganda-programs/

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations