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Leadership: An Internet Posting That Defended Xi Jinping

In the past couple of months, there have been criticisms of Xi Jinping, including Ren Zhiqiang calling him “a clown who stripped naked and insisted on continuing to be an emperor.” (See Chinascope posting: Leadership: Ren Zhiqiang’s Article: “A Clown Who Stripped Naked and Insisted on Continuing to Be an Emperor”) and an Internet posting calling for an “Emergency Enlarged Meeting of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) Politburo” to “discuss whether Xi Jinping is suitable to continue to be the President of the country, the CCP’s General Secretary, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission” (See Chinascope posting: Leadership: The Widespread of a WeChat Posting Calling for Politburo Meeting to Remove Xi Jinping).

Recently, a posting that was claimed to be written by Xi Jinping’s brother, Xi Yuanping, spread on the Internet. The article defended Xi Jinping. It is doubtful that Xi Yuanping wrote the article, but it offers interesting reading on how someone could justify Xi’s actions. The following are excerpts from the posting:

I don’t want to defend my brother but I want you to understand how difficult it is to manage such a big country. He works around the clock, without any selfish thoughts. Even his most criticized action of removing the President’s two-term limitation was not for himself but rather for the stability of the country… My brother said privately, to be the top leader of the CCP, one must first be extremely “left” (holding the communist position), and then can he be extremely “right” (being open and liberal). Because being extremely “left” will allow him to establish a solid foothold in the party; after he has gained that foothold, he can start a thorough political reform… Some events that received public criticism were not based on his orders but from some other people’s digging holes for him. The handling (taking down) of a few people in the area of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee (referring to Sun Lijun, Fu Zhenghua, and maybe a few other high-ranking officials), is to clean up that garbage…  This pandemic has damaged the economy, but also offers an opportunity to start political reform. In the future, the opening of the media, public elections of city and county officials, and making the judicial system semi-independent (from the CCP), will gradually happen.

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Public Opinion: “Four Things Not Anticipated”

A Chinese article titled, “Four Things Not Anticipated and Ten Points” was spread on the Internet recently. The article, commenting on how Beijing has misjudged the U.S., was said to be written by Dai Xu, a strategist with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

However, Dai Xu, a China’s military hawk, issued a statement on his Weibo account that he didn’t write this article. (#1, Weibo)

Later, Chinascope found that a copy of the article, said to be written by Ling A’feng, was posted on the Internet on July 15, 2018. (#2, CReaders)

The points in the article are worth reading though, as they show a moderate or liberal view from the Chinese side on U.S. and China relations. The following are highlights of the points from the article (#3, U.S.-China Perception Monitor):

As to the Sino-U.S. relations, there are a few things that the Chinese people did not anticipate that would happen:

  • The U.S. has such a big antagonism against China. The Chinese people never thought that the U.S. government would run its public relations machine at full strength, denouncing China to the maximum extent, describing China as the “trade hooligans” who should never be forgiven, and pushing the “China threat” theory to a new level.
  • The U.S. government has acted so ruthlessly, in such a short time frame, and given (China) no time to negotiate.
  • Not a single country has stood up to show sympathy and support for China.
  • The Republic Party and the Democratic Party in the U.S. have formed a united front (against China).

China must revise its understanding of the U.S.:

  1. Don’t assume that the U.S. is a “paper tiger” (a Chinese idiom for something that looks powerful from outside but is actually weak). On the contrary, the U.S. is a real tiger and can eat people.
  2. Don’t hope that the U.S. will forever make mistakes. It has a correction mechanism for its mistakes and will not forever carry the ‘political correctness’ policy.
  3. The U.S. does not pay serious attention to ideology and value systems; it only cares about economic and trade interests.
  4. Do not go to the U.S. to say it openly, “I want to surpass you and replace you; I want to be the world’s number one.”
  5. The U.S. is not afraid of offending someone. It has many allies, but it, for sure, will not sacrifice its own interests to please an ally.
  6. China should acknowledge that the U.S. is the “world’s number one.” Though it might be hard (for some Chinese) to accept it emotionally, but emotion cannot replace reality.
  7. Do not mention “sharing information” in front of the U.S. The U.S. is big on intellectual property. If you keep showing off your achievements obtained from “information sharing,” then you are a “technology thief” in the eyes of the U.S.
  8. The U.S. is a master at playing strategy games. Don’t let the Americans aim their strategies at you.
  9. Don’t hope that the Presidential election in the U.S. will change its national strategy.
  10. Don’t naively assume that you are fighting just the U.S. The U.S. has a lot of strategic allies. It represents universal values. If it acts, other countries will follow; even if some countries may not want to follow, eventually they will still line up with the U.S. Keep this in mind: if the U.S. increases 30 billion dollars in tariffs on you, (you will get) 60 billion, 90 billion, or even more tariffs (as other countries may follow suit).

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Treating People: CCP Abandons Chinese Citizens in Russia

When fighting the coronavirus, many countries make efforts to bring their citizens home from infected countries. However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) refused to bring Chinese citizens in Russia home. The China’s Ambassador to Russia said about those Chinese who want to go back to China that they “have no moral bottom line.”

#1. According to China’s media, there are about 150,000 Chinese in Russia, with 27,000 students and others who are merchants and workers. However, the Chinese government has made it hard for them to return to China. First, the government cut its flights. Since March 26, each airline in China is only allowed to make one flight to a foreign country each week; foreign airlines are only allowed to make one flight to China each week. Second, China closed all checkpoints between China and Russia, including Suifenhe, the largest port city near Russia.

On the other hand, Russian authorities have treated Chinese toughly. Sputnik reported that on April 10, Sergey Sobyanin, the Mayor of Moscow, announced that Moscow had deported several dozen Chinese for violating quarantine regulations. The Chinese media, 8 Am Health Insight reported on April 14, that a Chinese businesswoman who managed to return to China said that Russian authorities locked down the Friendship Hotel in Moscow where many Chinese were staying, took away their passports and quarantined them for 14 days.

China’s official media did not report on Russia’s actions, nor did Chinese officials defend its citizens. Nigeria acted differently. When the Chinese officials took away Nigerian citizens’ passports and tried to quarantine them, the Nigerian Consul-General in Guangzhou City fought to get back the passports and told the Chinese official that China had no right to seize them. (See Chinascope post: Diplomacy: Nigeria and African Union Protested China for Targeting Nigerian Citizens)

On April 17, Zhang Hanhui, China’s ambassador to Russia had an online discussion with several representatives of the Chinese in Russia. Zhang issued a criticism that some Chinese people tried to cross the border to go to China so as “to bring the virus into China.” Zhang said, “In order to escape responsibility, they claimed that ‘Russia will not let us stay.’ Their action is disgusting! (They are) eating the meal of Sino-Russian cooperation but smashing the pot of Sino-Russian relations. They have no moral bottom line.”

On April 13, the Heilongjiang government issued a notice to encourage people to report anyone who crossed the Sino-Russian border and offered a 3,000 yuan (US $430) reward for tips and 5,000 yuan for the arrest of anyone crossing the border. (See Chinascope post: Infection Count: Heilongjiang Awards 3,000 Yuan for Reporting People Crossing Border) (Epoch Times)

#2: Many Chinese in Russia indeed got infected. On April 20, China found 30 infected patients and 8 asymptomatic carriers on a flight from Moscow to Beijing. The flight landed in Xi’an first since China requires all international flights to Beijing to stop at another Chinese city first to be checked. (Beijing News)

#3: Heilongjiang Province decided to provide free room and board and a free coronavirus test to a Russian smuggler, who was arrested in Sunfenhe. However, the CCP requires all Chinese citizens returning to China from Russia to pay for their own expenses during the mandatory quarantine and does not offer them a free virus test. (Epoch Times)

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Infection Count: China Faces the Threat of Several Plagues

As China faces the threat of a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, it also faces several other plagues.

  1. The Decapod Iridescent Virus 1: This virus was detected in 2014. It is a highly contagious virus among shrimp and can also kill lobsters and crabs. It will not infect humans but there are concerns that the virus might mutate. On April 12, a Chinese magazine, the Fishing Frontline Magazine, reported that this virus was found in 11 provinces in China, mainly in the South, including Guangdong and Fujian. It can wipe out 60 percent of the shrimp in a pond. There is no effective treatment for this virus.
  2. African Horse Sickness Virus: On April 23, China’s Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Disease Control Center, and China Horse Industry Association jointly issued a notice to inform the local government to be vigilant about this virus. It said the death rate from this virus is 95 percent. China issued a warning about this horse virus back in May 2019. The virus hit Thailand in March of this year.
  3. The Black Death: According to an Inner Mongolia document, the black death plague was spreading in its area. (See Chinascope posting: Hiding Information: Inner Mongolia May Have Black Death Outbreak)
  4. The African Swine Fever Virus: This virus spread widely in China last year and caused the death of millions of pigs. Since March of this year, the Ministry of Agriculture has reported 13 epidemic cases in Hubei, Sichuan, and other provinces. On April 16, Jinmen (an island that belongs to Taiwan, only 2 km away from mainland China) found dead pigs, which had the swine fever virus, floating in the sea. This would mean that mainland farmers killed the infected pigs and threw them into the sea.
  5. Hepatitis A: In early March, over 100 people in Liaoning Province were infected with the Hepatitis A virus. The Paper reported that police had admonished several people who spread the infection news on the Internet, similar to what the Wuhan government did to people informing others about the coronavirus.
  6. Avian Influenza: On April 14, videos posted on the Internet showed that the Avian influenza was spreading in Juye County, Shandong Province. Tens of thousands of chickens died in 2.5 hours.

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Global Times: U.S. Military Repeatedly Visited the South China Sea Region

Global Times recently reported that, not long ago, the U.S. Navy ship, the USS Barry DDG-52 destroyer “freely navigated” through the Paracel (Xisha) Islands without the permission of the Chinese government, which was considered illegal. Then the U.S. Navy USS Bunker Hill CG-52 missile cruiser again “freely navigated” the Spratly (Nansha) Islands. On April 30, once again the U.S. Air Force two B-1B strategic bombers flew from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota over the South China Sea region for a 32-hour long distance training mission. The U.S. military has, very recently, been entering Chinese territories repeatedly and even performed a joint exercise with the Australian Navy in the South China Sea. These moves are not making a positive contribution to regional stability and are proof that the United States is the one militarizing the South China Sea. The Chinese Military has been monitoring and issuing warnings to the U.S. operators.

Source: Global Times, May 2, 2020
https://mil.huanqiu.com/article/3y3je7LuuHw

Chinese Central Bank: In March, Foreign Investors Unloaded Chinese Assets

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported, based on data released by the Chinese central bank, that, in the month of March, international investors unloaded around RMB 208.4 billion (US$29.5 billion) in stocks and around RMB 20 billion (US$2.83 billion) in bonds. Starting this February, international investors began unloading Chinese assets and the March numbers showed an acceleration. Analysts pointed out that, with the expansion of the coronavirus pandemic, the lack of U.S. dollars in the international market caused a panic selling of Chinese assets. This wave of sell-out resulted in a quite obvious decline in the Chinese foreign currency reserve. The spokesperson for the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) commented at a press conference that the global market headed downwards in the first quarter, which triggered a trend of risk aversion; it is understandable. SAFE expressed the belief that the Chinese market remains attractive, regardless of which channel (direct investment, bonds, or stocks) international investors prefer.

Source: Sina, April 30, 2020
https://finance.sina.com.cn/money/forex/forexinfo/2020-04-30/doc-iircuyvi0762804.shtml

CBN: Moody’s Downgraded Some Chinese Companies

China Business Network (CBN) recently reported that, in the past couple of months, Moody’s downgraded 24 Chinese non-financial companies. These companies are mainly in the fields of transportation, real estate and automobile manufacturing. Seven of the transportation companies now have a negative outlook and the ratings of all five automobile manufacturers were lowered. Among the 24 companies, 17 also have China’s domestic ratings and 16 of them remained unchanged. These companies are typically large enterprises and the new development will hurt their capacity to issue bonds, especially overseas bonds. However, under the global pandemic environment, companies can hardly maintain a good posture, so we are in a time of competition for the title of not-too-bad. Chinese ratings agencies have a long reputation for overrating companies, so established international ratings agencies like Moody’s are more trustworthy.

Source: CBN, April 28, 2020
https://www.yicai.com/news/100611750.html

Death Count: Beijing Pushes for Partnership between Funeral Homes and Hospitals

Epoch Times obtained some official documents from Beijing City that required funeral homes in Beijing to established a one-to-one partnership with each and every major hospital in Beijing, to provide 365 x 24 service (around the clock throughout the year).

On April 17, Beijing Hospital Management Center issued “The Notice on Rolling Out The Mortuary Management Pilot Program in Tiantan Hospital to All Municipal Hospitals.” It asked hospitals to choose a nearby funeral home and set up a workstation inside the hospital for that partner funeral home, so that the funeral home could provide 365 x 24 service to people in the hospital.

The Beijing Hospital Management Center arranged a teleconference meeting on April 21 with hospitals under the municipal government’s direct supervision to discuss the notice on the mortuary management.

Back on February 8, the Beijing Health Commission, the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau, and the Beijing Public Security Bureau jointly issued a “Guidance on Handling the Corpses of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Patients.” It stated all corpses must be cremated in a nearby funeral home, that they are not allowed to be buried, kept, or transferred; and that the bodies may not be used for any funeral ceremony.

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