Chinascope – Page 288

More Than 80 Latin American Politicians and Scholars Sign Letter Supporting Taiwan

On September 28, More than 80 political and opinion leaders from countries including the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba jointly issued a statement of support for Taiwan. On Monday, October 5, Directorio Democrático Cubano Secretary-General Orlando Gutierrez presented this joint declaration to Taiwan’s office in Miami.

In an interview with Radio Free Asia, Gutierrez said that Latin America regards Taiwan as an economically developed and democratic island country that has a positive impact on the world. Therefore, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) recent frequent provocative measures have drawn great sympathy in the region. “When they saw the CCP’s military provocations and threats to Taiwan, especially during the memorial period of the late former President Lee Teng-hui, Congressional members and intellectuals from various countries responded. They wrote this letter, expressing their support for Taiwan and opposition to any aggression or military actions that the CCP might take against the Republic of China (Taiwan).”

The declaration, in Spanish, issued an “urgent call to the world and especially to the leaders of democratic nations to deplore the climate of terror that the Xi Jinping regime has promoted against [the ROC] and its president Tsai Ing-wen.”

Among those who have signed the letter are Costa Rican Congressman Dragos Dolanescu, former Dominican Minister of Energy and Mining Pelegrín Castillo, former Mexican prosecutor René Bolio, and Colombia Senator María Fernanda Cabal.

Dominican media reported that former Dominican Minister Castillo stated that many Dominican leaders are increasingly aware that, despite their remote location, they are closely connected to Taiwan when safeguarding freedom and democracy. Costa Rican Congressman Dolanescu also expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s choice to abandon diplomatic relations with Taiwan and instead recognize China. He emphasized that it is more meaningful to support Taiwan because the two countries share common characteristics including democracy, freedom of speech and respect for human rights.

Source: Radio Free Asia, October 6, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/cm-10062020132706.html

Briefings | | October 7, 2020 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Japan to Step up Screening Student Visas in 2021

According to Yomiuri Shimbun, a major Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, starting in 2021, the Japanese government will be more strict in reviewing the visa applications of international university students and foreign researchers in order to prevent advanced technology and information from flowing to China.

Japan’s National Security Agency will work with the Ministry of Foreign Affair, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Defense to build a system to share information about suspicious personnel so that overseas diplomats can use the platform for visa approval and issuance. Suspicious visa applicants may be subject to denial. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set aside a budget of 220 million yen (US$ 2.1 million) for this purpose.

The report refers to the U.S. and Australia’s heightened alert to China’s organized use of students to obtain foreign technology. As Japan is not conducting rigorous visa screening, experts worry that Chinese students who the U.S. turns away may choose to study in Japan.

Source: Central News Agency, October 5, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/202010050203.aspx

Briefings | | October 6, 2020 | Geo-Strategic Trend

HKEJ: All Three Top Apple Suppliers Invested in India

The Hong Kong Economic Journal (HKEJ) recently reported that the three largest Apple suppliers – Taiwanese manufactures Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron – are all betting high on India’s Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI). Anonymous sources revealed that the total additional investments that these three vendors have planned is now at the level of US$900 million. The US$6.65 billion PLI program is India’s new investment encouragement initiative to expand the total output of India’s smartphone manufacturing industry. Sources have said that Foxconn received 40 billion Rupees (around US$543 million), Pegatron received 13 billion Rupees (around US$177 million) and Wistron received 12 billion Rupees (around US$164 million). Today Foxconn’s Indian manufacturing volume can meet the full demand of Chinese buyer Xiaomi and it is planning to increase its iPhone volume. Wistron now produces 200,000 second generation iPhone SE per month in India and its plan is to double that figure by the end of this year. Pegatron does not operate in India at this time, but new factories are in the planning stage.

Source: HKEJ, September 29, 2020
https://bit.ly/2Gt5vGp

Briefings | | October 6, 2020 | Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

DW Chinese: The Pope’s Refusal to See Mike Pompeo May be Related to China

Deutsche Welle Chinese Edition recently reported that the Pope refused to see U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, citing the need to remain neutral in the middle of the U.S. presidential election. However, another possibility is the background at this time. It is that the Vatican-China agreement is due for renewal. Since it was signed, the details of the agreement have never been released. The Vatican has remained quiet on Chinese human rights matters since then, like on the issues of Uighurs concentration camps in Xinjiang and even the Hong Kong situation. Secretary Mike Pompeo has recently urged the Vatican to maintain its moral authority when facing the Chinese communists. The Pope also refused to see the 88-year old retired Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, who arrived in Rome a couple weeks back and waited for four days without any success. This refusal has nothing to do with the U.S. presidential election. In the past two years, China gave the Vatican a say in the appointment of two Catholic Chinese bishops and the Pope also blessed eight bishops that Beijing had previously appointed without any input from the Vatican.

Source: DW Chinese, September 29, 2020
https://bit.ly/33wEP0J

Briefings | | October 6, 2020 | Geo-Strategic Trend

The U.S. Issued Three Major Measures against the CCP around China’s National Day

The U.S. released three major measures against the CCP around October 1, which is China’s National Day. On October 2, the U.S. Immigration Service issued a policy announcement prohibiting Communist Party members and those who have joined the Communist Party from applying for U.S. immigration status. On October 1, U.S, Congressman Scott Perry and three other Congressmen jointly introduced legislation to “add the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to the Top International Criminal Organizations Target (TICOT) List and to provide United States law enforcement agencies a strategic directive to target the CCP’s malign activities.” On September 30, the Republican China Task Force of the U.S. House of Representatives released the results of an expansive survey on the CCP and an action plan to address the growing danger of the CCP. The Task Force mentioned that the CCP, like the Soviet Union, will be a threat to the United States for generations. The report stated that the United States’ diplomatic strategy towards the CCP has failed, and Washington must respond to the CCP’s challenge and reverse the failed strategy of engagement with China.

Mr. Zhang Lin, a well-known democracy activist from Anhui Province who is now living in the U.S., told The Epoch Times that both the Republican and Democratic parties in the U.S. have become more aware of the evil nature of the CCP. Since the U.S. has increased its sanctions against the CCP, the CCP has been facing mounting pressure from the U.S. Every year around October 1, there used to be a meeting of pro-communist leaders to organize the China’s National Day celebration in the U.S. This year, however, it was quiet. In the parade Zhang Lin organized in Flushing on September 27, the pro-CCP groups did not make any trouble at all. They did not even hold up the CCP national flag, which would have been unheard-of in the past.

Source: The Epoch Times, October 3, 2020
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/20/10/3/n12450833.htm

Briefings | | October 5, 2020 | Government/Politics

U.S. Bans CCP Members from Immigrating to the U.S.

On October 2, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a policy manual to “address inadmissibility based on membership in or affiliation with the Communist Party or any other totalitarian party. Membership in or affiliation with the Communist Party or any other totalitarian party is inconsistent and incompatible with the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America, which includes pledging to ‘support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States.’” The policy also states that “unless otherwise exempt, any intending immigrant who is a member or an affiliate of the Communist Party or any other totalitarian party (or subdivision or affiliate), domestic or foreign, is inadmissible to the United States.”

The past immigration laws have regulations on the immigration of Communists and members of totalitarian political parties. The latest guidelines mainly indicate that the requirements of the federal immigration law must be strictly enforced. They clearly stipulate that Communists and related personnel should be prevented from obtaining immigration or permanent resident status in the U.S.

It has been reported that some Chinese immigrants and students studying in the U.S. have gone through the procedures to withdraw from the Communist Party through relevant means. Such means include proving proof that they have withdrawn from the Communist Party through a newspaper.

Since the beginning of this year, the conflicts and disputes between the U.S. and China over issues such as the trade war, COVID 19, Huawei, and Hong Kong have escalated step by step. In addition, in recent years, many Chinese scholars and international students have stolen U.S. technology secrets, forcing the U.S. to launch a series of espionage cases. Sanctions contain the gradual tightening of visas for certain individuals and international students. In early July, citing violations of human rights, the U.S. Department of the Treasury added four Chinese officials, including Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, to the sanctions list, banning them from entry into the U.S. and freezing their assets.

Washington’s recent sanctions target not only high-ranking officials in the Chinese government, but also personnel from key companies and organizations. U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo stated on July 15 that the U.S. will “impose visa restrictions on certain employees of Chinese technology companies like Huawei that provide material support to regimes engaging in human rights violations and abuses globally.” Prior to this, the U.S. began to impose visa restrictions on China’s official media reporters. At the beginning of June, the U.S. also announced that it would no longer issue graduate visas to international students related to the Chinese military, and that visas already issued will also become invalid.

Source: Voice of America, October 3, 2020
https://www.voachinese.com/a/USCIS-new-policy-guidance-indamissiblity-based-on-party-membership-20201003/5607582.html

Briefings | | October 4, 2020 | US-China Relations

SMIC Stockpiling Supplies Far More Than One Year’s Needs

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is the Chinese partially state-owned publicly-listed semiconductor foundry company. The U.S. Department of Commerce has placed an export restriction on its suppliers. It is scaling up its procurement from upstream suppliers in the United States, Europe, and Japan, with a size exceeding a full-year’s demand for 2020. The procurement items include etching, lithography and wafer cleaning equipment. The purchase of consumables used to maintain the operation of the equipment is also more than one year’s need. SMIC is even cooperating with other Chinese chip manufacturers to establish a shared reserve of such parts, and has established a central warehouse to store these products.

A source from a U.S. chip equipment manufacturer said that SMIC is eager to stock up on equipment. The company ordered more equipment than needed for its current expansion plan. At the end of last year, ASML (ASML.US), Europe’s largest chip manufacturing equipment manufacturer, shipped an advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) chip production tool to SMIC. However, the transaction has been put off.

SMIC relies heavily on foreign semiconductor equipment suppliers, including U.S. based Applied Materials, Lam Research, KLA, Taradyne, ASML in the Netherlands and Tokyo in Japan.

Source: Sina.com, October 4, 2020
https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/2020-10-04/doc-iivhvpwz0355862.shtml

Briefings | | October 4, 2020 | Information/Technology US-China Relations

China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized