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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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People Cheer as China Closes U.S. Consulate in Chengdu

On Friday July 24, after China announced the closure of the U.S. consulate general in Chengdu, China’s official media, including CCTV  began broadcasting live images outside the consulate on social media platforms. At the peak, more than 20 million people were watching. The state media showed images of trucks leaving the U.S. consulate, while the signs and nameplates on the outer wall of the consulate were being removed. Many people went to the consulate for a visit. Some of them held Chinese flags and tried to take a picture in front of the consulate. Dozens of police officers were stationed outside the consulate. They asked onlookers not to stay and tried to stop any provocative behavior. Fire trucks were also at the scene to prevent possible accidents. One man was taken into police custody because he was shouting, “China Add Oil (Go China)! I am a Chinese.” The police fined another man because he tried to light a fire cracker outside the consulate. When a bus with brown tinted glass left the consulate, the onlookers started booing. One 63-year-old man told Reuters that closing the consulate was a reciprocal action that China took against the US. Another video circulating online showed a man between 50 and 60 years old choked up. He said, “The U.S. should be a friend.” Many others were afraid to speak to the media and refused to be interviewed.

In this diplomatic war between the U.S. and China, Zhuang Zuyi, the wife of Jim Mullinax, the American consulate general in Chengdu, and a Taiwanese food writer was also accidentally involved. Zhuang often writes on Weibo about food and life in Chengdu and never hides her love for Sichuan province. She has performed on the street of Chengdu and has close to 600,000 followers on Weibo. Since the news of the closure of the Chengdu consulate, Zhuang’s social media account has been flooded with thousands of angry comments calling her “spy” and “Taiwan Independent.”

The US Embassy in China posted a video and wrote on its official Twitter account on Monday, July 27, “Today, we bid farewell to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu. We will always miss you.” People commented that they appreciated the help from the US. They are hoping for a free China and are looking forward to the return of the consulate back in Chengdu in the near future.

Source:
1. BBC Chinese, July 27, 2020
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-53549963

2. Epoch Times, July 27, 2020
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/20/7/27/n12286212.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Former PLA Officer: CCP Will Collapse If China and the US Go to War in the South China Sea

Radio Free Asia reported that, in an interview with Yao Chen, the former CCP navy Command Lieutenant Colonel, Yao said that if China and the U.S. start a war in the South China Sea, the CCP will soon collapse.

According to Yao, the CCP’s military strength is far less than that of the US military. If the two sides confront each other in the South China Sea using their navies and air force, he estimated that it will take less than a day for the U.S. military’s F-35 stealth fighters to destroy the CCP’s navy and air force. He said that the U.S. policy toward China does not show it intends to occupy China’s territory, but the CCP’s current expansion in the South China Sea has touched the bottom line for the Western world, especially the U.S. Yao said that once the U.S. and China go to war in the South China Sea, there may also be a military confrontation on a border, such as the China-Indian border and a resistance from Uyghurs in Tibet and Xinjiang. Yao Chen also believes that, if the U.S. and China have a military confrontation, Japan and ASEAN countries would all support the U.S. As soon as the CCP launches its military force, it is expected that the whole world will stand up to resist China. Therefore, as long as the CCP starts a war, it will soon to collapse.

Source: Radio Free Asia, July 31, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/war-07312020060431.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

China Raises Alarm over Expected Food Shortages

After severe flooding, about one-sixth of China’s land is soaked in water. Much of these lands serve as the main grain growing regions. Both China’s President Xi Jinping and Vice Premier Hu Chunhua recently talked about food security [Editor’s note: meaning food shortages] The pandemic, flooding, the deterioration of Sino-US relations, and the complex international situation are all directly or indirectly affecting food security.

On July 27th, Vice Premier Hu Chunhua spoke at a national food security video conference. Hu asked that food production be strengthened and that China ensure that there would be no mistake about food security. China has a governor’s responsibility system for food security, an institutional arrangement that provincial governments are held accountable for the protection of arable lands and food production in the region.

When Xi Jinping visited Jilin province a week earlier, he also emphasized that safeguarding food security must be placed in a prominent position, and that one “cannot relax” to increase food production.

Among the flooded areas in the southern provinces, substantial parts are major grain producing regions. According to the official statistics, grain production in the summer increased by 0.9 percent. However, the autumn production is a huge challenge. Due to the floods in southern China, some areas may see a “destructive reduction in production or even a total crop failure.” An alarm over food security was raised as autumn grain production accounts for three quarters of the annual total.

Lujiang County, located in central Anhui province, bordering Lake Chao on the north and the Yangtze River on the south, is one of China’s first commercial grain production bases. However, the recent flooding has devastated the vegetable production in Lujiang. The latest statistics show that, as of July 23, the disaster had affected 83,400 mu (13,745 acres) of vegetables, and 55,400 mu (9,131 acres) saw no harvest, causing a reduction of 80,423 tons of production.

Source: World Journal, July 29, 2020
https://www.worldjournal.com/7069933

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

To Flex His Military Muscles Xi Jinping Promoted a Political Commissar to the Rank of General

Taiwan Liberty Times News reported that, according to an article Xinhua published, on July 29, Xi Jinping participated in a promotion ceremony that the Central Military Commission held. Xi promoted Xu Zhongbo, the political commissar of the PLA Rocket Force to the rank of general. Video footage from CCTV showed that Xu was the only officer at the ceremony accepting a promotion. The ceremony only lasted a little over one minute while six Central Military Commission members sat in the background with straight faces. In the photo that Xi took with Xu, Xi appeared to be preoccupied and did not seem happy. The report quoted a commentator from the Epoch Times who stated that, as domestic infighting and external pressure have been intensifying, Xi is using his appearances to show off his military power. In the past two weeks, Xi visited the following: On July 22-24 he went to the Siping War Memorial and the Changchun Aviation University in Jilin province. [Editor’s note: During his visit, Xi said, “We must defend the great socialist cause created by the party and pass it on from generation to generation.] A few days later, Xi used his military power to warn his opponent. [Editor’s note: On July 30, members of Central Politburo attended a group study session where Xi Jinping emphasized that “a strong country must have a strong army, and a strong army can ensure national security.”] The promotion of Xu Zhongbo appears have broken protocol because Xu was appointed to the political commissar position not too long ago. It seems obvious that, during this uncertain period, Xi has to make unconventional moves to show that his senior ranking officers are still loyalty to him.

1. Liberty Time News, July 31, 2020
https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/3245263
2. Xinhua, July 29, 2020
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/leaders/2020-07/29/c_1126300876.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Is China Getting Ready for War?

As the U.S.-China relationship has deteriorated, China has begun spreading an atmosphere of getting ready for war. On July 25, 2020, in Beijing, posters on how to handle air raids, which had not been posted for nearly 50 years, appeared in Beijing’s Haidian District. A video circulating on the Internet shows that air-raid billboards were on display, which reminded residents “how to enter an air-raid shelter quickly after hearing the alarm …”

In some places along China’s southeast coast, public announcements are posted, notifying people that retired naval and air force personnel, including their families, must go and register with the community neighborhood committee, which indicates that these people may be called to return to the military at any time.

According to a  notice issued by the Shuiyun Street Community Neighborhood Committee in Chongqing City, Sichuan Province, on July 24, 2020, families of active-duty border/island officers and soldiers living in its jurisdiction, especially those stationed in Xinjiang, Tibet, Yunnan, Guangxi, Hainan, and at other borders and islands, are required to register with the community neighborhood committee.

On the evening of July 27, Beijing time, the Chinese Communist Party media CCTV Headline News broadcasted a piece of old news that in January 2020, Xi Jinping wrote to the Top Gun Sixth Company of the People’s Liberation Army, emphasizing that the military must follow the CCP command to prepare for war.

Sources:
1. Radio Free Asia, July 27, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junshiwaijiao/ql-07272020054946.html
2. Voice of America, July 28, 2020
https://www.voachinese.com/a/US-citizens-relatives-china-react-drastic-escalation-US-prc-tension/5519350.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

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

Miles Yu became immediately famous after the Washington Times reported that Yu is a chief China policy adviser at the U.S. State Department. Recently the high school that Yu once attended in China chiseled his name off the honor stone tablet.

Miles Yu, 57, graduated from Yongchuan High School in Chongqing city in 1979. In the same year, he was admitted to the prestigious Nankai University for having the highest scorer in liberal arts field in Sichuan Province on the national college entrance examination. Over the years, Yongchuan High School has engraved the names of top-score graduates on a campus stone tablet in commemoration.

Radio France International (RFI) shows a video in which a stonemason hired by the school was using an iron chisel to scrape away the characters of Yu’s Chinese name from the stone, followed by comments from overseas Chinese community, such as

A: Sooner or later, this name will be engraved again.
B: It turns out that Mr. Yu was the number one student on the college entrance examination and I admire him even more.
C: This is a magic country where history can be tampered with.

There were also some from mainland China, such as

D: The imperialistic U.S. government uses a person who has been away from China for so long to make its China policy. It will only get worse and worse. Let the name be kept as a laughing stock.
E: Maybe it (the name) will be engraved again someday.
F: By doing this, won’t it make people be more curious about the name that was erased, and attract more attention?

Source: Central News Agency, July 29, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/202007290293.aspx

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Minister of Public Security Emphasizes Social Control

On July 27, Zhao Kezhi, China’s Minister of Public Security, delivered a speech at the video conference of the National Public Security agency.

Zhao emphasized that “in the face of a profoundly changing external environment and severe and complex situations, public security organs at all levels must resolutely implement the decisions and deployment of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core. We must … carry forward the fighting spirit, make preparations, be on guard against different risks and challenges, and strive to achieve the ‘two safeguards’ in the actions of maintaining the nation’s political security and social stability.” Here the “two safeguards” is a new slogan coined during Xi Jinping’s regime, meaning to safeguard the position of Xi Jinping as the core of the CCP Central Committee and the core of the whole party, and to safeguard the authoritative and centralized leadership of the CCP Central Committee.

Zhao asked “strictly to guard against and crack down on the disruptive sabotage activities of hostile forces at home and abroad, carry out anti-infiltration, anti-subversion, anti-separatism and anti-evil religion struggles, and resolutely safeguard national political security.” “It is necessary … further to step up social control, strengthen warnings and early assessment, strengthen overall prevention and control … eliminate hidden risks, and severely crack down on different types of illegal and criminal activities in accordance with the law.”

Source: Public Security Department of Hunan Province, July 27, 2020
http://gat.hunan.gov.cn/articles/221/2020-7/65371.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics