Chinascope – Page 325

Xinhua: Chinese Long March Rocket Failed Again

Xinhua recently reported that, on April 9, China’s Long March III-B carrier rocket failed its satellite mission for the Indonesian satellite PALAPA-N1. The first and second launch stages succeeded but the third stage failed and the satellite was destroyed too. The failure occurred at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Less than a month ago, on March 16, the Long March VII Modified Rocket failed its mission at the Wenchang Space Launch Site.

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA) Chinese Edition, military analysts expressed the belief that the U.S. blockage of providing critical computer chips to China resulted in the slowdown of the Chinese technology development plans. This is also the reason for the failures seen in the recent Dongfeng Nuclear Missile tests. China had to replace certain chips with those developed domestically.

Sources:
(1) Xinhua, April 9, 2020 http://www.xinhuanet.com/2020-04/09/c_1125834989.htm
(2) Xinhua, March 16, 2020 http://www.xinhuanet.com/tech/2020-03/16/c_1125721734.htm
(3) RFA Chinese, April 10, 2020 https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/rocket-04102020081337.html

Briefings | | April 16, 2020 | Information/Technology

Apple Daily: U.S.-Taiwan Submarine Fiber Cable Approved

Apple Daily (headquartered in Hong Kong) Taiwan Branch recently reported that, with the coronavirus crisis deepening, the remote working model introduced a major increase of network bandwidth demand. The FCC just approved Google’s application to open the PLCN (Pacific Light Cable Network) fiber segment between California and Taiwan. This newly approved connection will allow fast communication between Google’s U.S. and Asian data centers. The PLCN segment between California and Hong Kong was not approved due to strong opposition from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). This decision ends the priority status of the Hong Kong fiber station. DOJ explained that the Hong Kong fiber channel may significantly threaten U.S. national security and law enforcement interests, since Hong Kong is getting heavier and heavier intervention from Mainland China. The DOJ position received strong support from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD). Since 2016, Google and Facebook have jointly funded the PLCN network. Taiwan has Google’s largest Asian data center (the other two are in India and Singapore).

Source: Apple Daily Taiwan, April 10, 2020
https://tw.appledaily.com/international/20200410/CX3GHUKXM7BUKYKSDUL3UCVVGI/

Briefings | | April 16, 2020 | Information/Technology US-China Relations

Propaganda and Lies: FCC Commissioner Unmasked China Spokesperson’s Lie

On April 9, China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying posted on Twitter:

“Welcome to China anytime and talk to anyone in the streets to enjoy the freedom. BTW Where is freedom & transparency when Captain Crozier was dismissed for a letter to save thousands of lives and medical workers fired for talking about working conditions?”

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr responded with a list of people that he wished to speak with, whom the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has silenced for speaking out the truth:

“Great! First, I would like to speak with Dr. AI Fen. She worked at Wuhan Central Hospital and tried to sound the alarm on the virus. Could you un-disappear her so we could speak?”

“Next, I’d like to speak with Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin – two video bloggers that tried to bring the world a glimpse of Wuhan unfiltered by your Communist regime. Could you un-disappear them so we could speak?”

“I’d then like to speak with Xie Linka who worked at Wuhan Union Hospital. She joined other Wuhan health officials in trying to sound the alarm on Covid before being berated and forced into silence by communist officials. Can I speak with her?”

Last, he asked Hua Chunying, “@SpokespersonCHN does your offer still stand? Or has it suddenly disappeared as things tend to do over there?”

Infection Count: Heilongjiang Is Preparing for Epidemic Outbreak

China is tense because it is on the alert for a possible coronavirus outbreak in Heilongjiang Province, a big province that borders Russia.

From April 4 to April 8, the official count included a report of 118 infection cases in Heilongjiang. All were Chinese people who had returned from Russia. China announced that, since then, it had closed all border checkpoints that were on the land between China and Russia. Suifenhe City, Heilongjiang Province, a main city on the border with Russia, built a modular hospital with 600 beds and would start to put it in use on April 11.

Li Keqiang stressed at a meeting of the Central Epidemic Prevention and Control Leader Group that China would send people from other provinces to help the bordering cities and regions on their testing and treating of the epidemic.

(Editor’s Note: There was a report that Russia was sending 1.5 million Chinese back to China, but it was not clear whether, after China closed the border, these people had made it into China or were still in Russia.)

Epoch Times reported that it obtained a copy of a “Notice on Treatment Plan for Confirmed Cases and Asymptomatic Cases of People Entering from Suifenhe City,” that the Heilongjiang Health Commission had issued on April 8.

The Notice said that the whole province prepared 4,530 patient beds in three regions. One region, the combination of Mudianjiang City and Suifenhe City, had 1,230 beds. The other two regions are Jixi City and Harbin City. If the patients exceed the capacity of the Mudianjiang-Suifenhe region, the other two regions must ensure they can start accepting patients in three days.

The Notice also asked local governments and hospitals to form medical support teams and virus control support teams: eight cities and hospitals were each to form a 100-member medical team, four cities each were to form a 50-member medical team, and five cities were each to each form a 20-member virus control team. It asked that the names of the people in those teams be reported by April 9.

However, since China reported only over 100 infections in Heilongjiang, Epoch Times asked what the need is for the 4,530 beds? It mentioned one possibility, which is an internal outbreak in the province. Heilongjiang showed a high alert about asymptomatic infection back in February. On February 23, the Heilongjiang Epidemic Prevention and Control Center issued a “Notice on the Management of Asymptomatic Carriers of Novel Coronavirus in Heilongjiang Province.”

On Divine Intervention – Introduction – Seeking Divine Intervention

By A. Freeman

As of March 23, 2020, the number of people around the world who had contracted the coronavirus exceeded 350,000. Continue reading →

Analyses | | April 16, 2020 | US-China Relations

Leadership: Beijing Xicheng District Will Handle Ren Zhiqiang’s Case

Ren Zhiqiang, a princeling and a real estate tycoon, who called Xi Jinping a “clown” in his article, “A Clown Who Stripped Naked and Insisted on Continuing to Be an Emperor” (See Chinascope’s posting: Leadership: Ren Zhiqiang’s Article: “A Clown Who Stripped Naked and Insisted on Continuing to Be an Emperor”) was arrested in March (see Chinascope’s posting: Leadership: Ren Zhiqiang Disappeared).

Since then, there has been much unconfirmed information about him. Radio France International reported that some said that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection locked him up; some said that he was sent to a hospital due to severe illness; and some said he held a hunger strike. There was news that five retired top-ranking officials wrote Xi a letter to request that Ren be released; those five top-ranking officials were Li Ruihuan, Wen Jiabao, Li Lanqing, Qu Qili, and Tian Jiyun. There has also been news that Ren’s business friends wrote a petition for his release.

On April 7, the Xicheng District Party Commission for Discipline Inspection published a notice that Ren Zhiqiang had violated party discipline and law and was under its disciplinary review and investigation. However, it did not mention which discipline and which law he had violated. (Radio Free Asia)

Apple Daily reported that it was Cai Qi, the Beijing Party Secretary, who decided to take on Ren’s case. Letting the Xicheng District handle Ren’s case showed that Cai Qi did not want to make the case into a big deal; he just wanted a resolution that will be acceptable to Zhongnanhai.

Global Times: U.S. DOJ Recommended Shutting Down China Telecom in the U.S.

Global Times recently reported that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recommended ending the authorization granted to China Telecom (Americas). The authorization permits China Telecom to operate in the U.S. for international communications. DOJ’s recommendation to the FCC cited national security and law enforcement risks. The DOJ’s recommendation was based on an investigation that proved China Telecom violated conditions in a 2007 signed agreement, which required transparency on the location where U.S. customer information is stored as well as network security details. The DOJ expressed the concern that, under Chinese laws, China Telecom may spy on U.S. communications traffic and provide sensitive information to the Chinese government. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented in a press conference that China is strongly against this recommendation. China asked the U.S. government to stop politicizing normal market-based commercial operations and to provide Chinese companies a fair environment for doing business.

Source: Global Times, April 10, 2020
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/3xmLcpPXDT8

Briefings | | April 15, 2020 | Information/Technology US-China Relations

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

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.

Xinhua: Chinese Long March Rocket Failed Again

Apple Daily: U.S.-Taiwan Submarine Fiber Cable Approved

On Divine Intervention – Introduction – Seeking Divine Intervention

Global Times: U.S. DOJ Recommended Shutting Down China Telecom in the U.S.

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