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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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CCP Created a Drinking Training Base in Xinjiang to Destroy Muslims’ Customs

A drinking training base was established in Korla City, Xinjiang, to change the customs of local Uyghur Muslims. It was used to have the Uyghurs drink in order to determine whether have given up their faith. Drinking alcohol is not allowed in Islamic law, but in Xinjiang, not drinking alcohol is regarded as a symbol of extremism.

The government also built the Wusu Brewery in Wusu City, in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang in order to lure Muslims to drink. The Brewery holds a beer drinking contest every year, bringing together all Xinjiang Kazakhs and Uighurs in every city to hold a beer drinking contest, focusing on women.

It was previously reported that during the Lunar Chinese New Year, the Xinjiang government would distribute pork to Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslims in the name of “helping impoverished ethnic minorities.” Muslims are also prohibited from eating pork. They were then asked to drink alcohol and perform Han dances. The authorities threatened Muslims that if they refused to celebrate the Chinese New year in accordance with the Han tradition, they would be sent to “re-education camps.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, September 24, 2020
http://https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/drink-09242020063227.html?encoding=simplified

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Chinese People Required to Report their Taiwan-related Family Relations

Recently, as the situation across the Taiwan Strait has intensified, Chinese authorities have strengthened control over people related to Taiwan. Those with immediate family members who have worked or resided in Taiwan for a long time are required to register.

A community notice that spread in the coastal city of Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, showed that the Chinese government recently launched an investigation and requires the registration of those with immediate family members who have long-term working or residence status in Taiwan. The notice requires that, between September 22 and October 20, people with Taiwan-related relatives must go to the community Chinese Communist Party (CCP) committee office to register. The notice did not mention the purpose of the registration.

An official from the Taiwan Affairs Office in Zhejiang province confirmed with Radio Free Asia (RFA) that it was the government that required such registration. The Taiwan Affairs Office did not issue the order. He denied that the matter is a routine practice instead of a response to the recent tension across the Taiwan Strait. “If you are immediate family members of people in Taiwan, you must first tell the community.”

Mr. Wu, a legal professional, told RFA that the control of overseas relations actually became the normal state after the CCP took over China. The difference is that when the bilateral relationship is relaxed, this kind of control is loose; when the relationship is tense, the government exerts stricter control. The CCP attempts to make use of these family relations to blackmail people overseas.

Often, since 1949, the Chinese people who have immediate family members overseas have  been subjected to brutal suppression in the name of “illicit (traitorous) relations with a foreign country.” After 1979, overseas family relations were, at times, the focus and target of the CCP’s united front work. Since Xi Jinping took office, overseas relations have again become sensitive.

Source: Radio Free Asia, September 24, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/htm/china-taiwan-09242020073820.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China’s C919 Aircraft Repeatedly Delayed amid Doubts about U.S. Sanctions

The Comac C919, which aerospace manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) developed is China’s first domestically-made large passenger aircraft. It now has 815 orders from 28 customers. As the delivery date of the aircraft has been repeatedly delayed, doubts have emerged as to whether China’s aircraft industry will come under U.S. sanctions, following in the footsteps of Huawei.

Aiming to compete against the Airbus A320neo and the Boeing 737MAX, the C919 was originally scheduled to roll out its first aircraft by the end of 2015. However, it did not make its maiden flight until May 2017.

Voice of America quoted an internal document from COMAC that the company’s goal was to produce 150 C919’s annually after 2019, but did not provide a detailed schedule. Its first customer, China Eastern Airlines, is scheduled to receive the first C919 in 2021.

Shukor Yusof, founder of the aviation consulting firm Endau Analytics, has reservations about whether COMAC can deliver on time. He believes that although the aircraft is almost completed, it may not deliver until 2022 because China depends greatly on third-party suppliers from Europe and the United States. The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic is another factor.

Although China’s state media claimed that the C919 has achieved a localization rate of nearly 60 percent, the aircraft relies, to a large extent, on Western technology. Its propeller systems, flight control system, fuel system, power supply system and landing gear either use foreign products directly or come from joint ventures with foreign companies. China is mainly responsible for the design of the fuselage, wings, tail and interior.

Scott Kennedy, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), considers that China’s dependency on the West for China’s aircraft parts and assembly is far greater than Huawei’s dependence. Due to China’s strategic path in recent years and the tension between the U.S. and China, it is very likely that the U.S. will sanction China’s aviation industry in the future.

Source: Central News Agency, September 22, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202009220343.aspx

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

CSIS Warns of CCP Use of “Thousand Talents Program” in Top Canadian Universities

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) investigation shows that at least 15 Canadian scholars participated in Beijing’s “Thousand Talents Program.” They included experts in quantum computing, electronic engineering, vaccines, chemistry and artificial intelligence.

Professor Margaret McCuaig-Johnston of the University of Ottawa believes that this number is substantially underestimated. She said that all major Canadian universities have many research projects in which they are collaborating with China, including artificial intelligence, robotics, and quantum optics. These are areas of great interest to the Chinese military. China will pass the Canadian academic research results to the military whether in the open or privately through these collaborating scholars.

Gu Ming (a pseudonym), who once served for years as a senior executive in the Canada-China Society of Science and Technology (CCSST), told Radio Free Asia that more than two decades ago, the Chinese government established overseas bases and deployed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations to learn or steal Western technology. There are CCP branches in well-known Canadian universities such as the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia. CCSST is one of the liaison organizations. “These people (in CCSST) are here to do research and study for a Ph.D. They were paid by the state, and there are CCP branches there. China uses these associations to contact foreign research institutions and senior research scholars. Then they either invite the scientific and technologically talented to do research in China or they buy the scholar’s knowledge. If they can’t buy the knowledge they need, they try to steal it. To put it bluntly, China started employing this strategy more than 20 years ago.”

The Canadian authorities are well aware of the situation. For example, the Conference Board of Canada published a report in 2016, claiming that the “Thousand Talents Program” provides salary, research funding and other incentives to participants, who the carry out research and other activities in Chinese and overseas universities. In recent years, after discovering evidence of technology transfers, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service has discussed (this issue) with universities and other research institutions, expressing its concerns about the “Thousand Talents Program” and other foreign recruitment plans.

Source: Radio Free Asia, September 21, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junshiwaijiao/lf-09212020161552.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

CCP Continues Attacking Miles Yu

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) keeps attacking Miles Yu, a chief China policy adviser to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Miles Yu also addressed a panel, saying the Hong Kong experiment of one-country, two systems is a “bankrupt idea.” After having the high school that Yu attended in China chisel his name off the honor stone tablet, the CCP recently arranged a group of people of his genealogy to take his name out of their genealogical chart.

An online video posted last month showed a group of seniors in the Yu genealogy in Anhui Province. China held a meeting to denounce Miles Yu, though he does not have a direct relative living there. The meeting room hung up a banner that said, “Angrily condemn traitor Miles Yu, remove him from the genealogical chart, and drive him out of the genealogical chart.” The group announced six “crimes” that Yu had committed but the video didn’t show them.

The traditional Chinese culture emphasized a person’s heritage and genealogy. Taking a person out of the genealogical chart used to be a great humiliation for that person. However, after the CCP took control of China, it destroyed the traditional culture, so the genealogical charts do not mean much to the Chinese people nowadays. It is somehow bizarre for the CCP to use the genealogical chart to humiliate Miles Yu.

On September 19, Miles responded to this incident on Twitter:

“Taking my name off a genealogical chart （族谱？）that I have never heard of, and never cared about, seems bizarre. The farce crumbles under the weight of its absurdity.”

Sources:
1. Chinascope, July 31, 2020

Pompeo’s Advisor’s Name Removed from Honor Stone in China


2. Radio France International, September 14, 2020
https://www.rfi.fr/tw/中國/20200914-蓬佩奧智囊余茂春被逐出族譜
3. Radio France International, September 19, 2020
https://www.rfi.fr/cn/政治/20200919-被斥-漢奸-逐出族譜-余茂春-鬧劇在其荒謬的重壓下瓦解
4. Twitter, Miles Yu’s account, September 19, 2020

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Xi Jinping Held a Flag Presentation Ceremony for the Police Force

On August 26, to symbolize his control over the police force, Xi Jinping held a flag presentation ceremony for the police force at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. This is the first time that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) designed a flag for the police force.

At the ceremony, Xi made four requests to the police force: Be loyal to the CCP, serve the people, enforce the law fairly, and strictly respect discipline.

The police officials at the ceremony took a group vow: “Be loyal to the CCP, serve the people, enforce the law fairly, and strictly respect discipline. Stay firm and pure, let the party rest assured, be willing to make sacrifices, and be able to fight and win.”

Source: Xinhua, August 26, 2020
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/leaders/2020-08/26/c_1126416270.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Xinhua: More on “United Front Work” in the Private Sector

Because of the recently placed emphasis on United Front Work, Xinhua reported on the fact that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) just had a National United Front Work Conference to discuss the Domestic Private Sector. Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee and the Group Leader of the Central United Front Work Leadership Group, attended the Conference. CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a written speech requiring the Party to strengthen the relationship with the domestic private sector companies and to “direct” them to stay “politically aware.” The targeted group includes business owners in Hong Kong and Macau. Taiwanese investors and other foreign investors were not mentioned. This is the first Communist Party official document describing the “United Front Work” strategy for the private sector in over 40 years. The strategy also mentioned the task of encouraging “politically sound” private business owners to join the Communist party.

Sources:
(1) Xinhua, September 16, 2020
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2020-09/16/c_1126502287.htm

(2) RFI Chinese, September 16, 2020
https://bit.ly/3iSYZag

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

On Twitter: UK Ambassador Holds a Book Promoting Xi Jinping

Caroline Wilson, the newly appointed British ambassador to China, will take office this month. Before leaving for Beijing, the senior diplomat posted a photo on her Twitter account. In the photo, she and the Chinese ambassador to the UK held a book that glorifies the head of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping. The tweet raised questions about whether she could promote and safeguard British values and interests.

Wilson said on her twitter account: “Valuable meeting with @AmbLiuXiaoMing before heading to Beijing. We can and must work for ambitious UK-China collaboration, on climate, health, trade, and also engaging on trickier topics too. I look forward to supporting a mature, positive UK-China relationship, in line with UK values.” The book The Governance of China, which Xi Jinping authored, presents the official party line for the Chinese government.

Wilson’s tweet and photo soon attracted hundreds of comments. Only a few comments praised her as “the best candidate for this absolutely critical position.” The vast majority of netizens believed that this tweet was extremely untimely.

“UK values in this particular book? Good luck …”

“Ah, the little book of Chairman Xi. Just the perfect analogy to the little red book of Chairman Mao.”

“Some individuals still don’t understand the CCP; good luck trusting the CCP.”

“British values and Xi Jing Ping Thought. Round peg in a square hole.”

“Hardly imagine this can happen to the new ambassador when the whole world is condemning #CCP for its move in suppressing human rights in #HongKong and #Xinjiang. #TakeDownTheCCP”

“Why not change with George Orwell’s “1984” with it? it’s a completely forbidden No entry sign in mainland china now.”

Nathan Law, one of the student leaders during the 79-day Umbrella Movement in 2014 in Hong Kong, now living in London following the National Security Law that Beijing enacted, commented, “This looks terrible. Accepting ‘Xi’s speech’ from this awful ambassador — I see it as an insult to the democratic values that we all share. Stop helping the CCP to spread its propaganda and infiltrate the democracies. This is an extremely bad move from the new British Ambassador.”

Roger Garside, a former British diplomat and author of Coming Alive: China After Mao“ said, “As a former British diplomat myself, who served twice in Beijing, I am appalled by this behavior of our Ambassador-designate to the PRC… It goes beyond anything I have witnessed from a British diplomat.”

Garside summed up the reaction to Wilson’s tweet as a “stream of well-deserved outrage.”

Source: Voice of America, September 18, 2020
https://www.voachinese.com/a/uk-ambassador-china-stirs-uproar-photo-promoting-xi-jinping-20200918/5589689.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend