Chinascope – Page 334

Food Supply: Will China have a Food Shortage This Year?

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic and the outbreak of the African Locust in Africa and in China’s neighboring countries, India and Pakistan, the Chinese people are concerned whether China will run into a food shortage this year. Hubei Province, Chong Qing, and other places have seen people buying up rice and flour.

Radio Free Asia reported that a secret document from the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture (AP), Gansu Province was posted on the Internet. The document showed that on March 17, the Linxia AP Party Commission held a special meeting on the topic of food security.

“The AP Party Commission and AP government, as well as the governments of its counties and cities should do everything possible to move in and store various kinds of food materials such as grain, beef, lamb, oil, and salt through different channels.” It also asked the government to “lead people to store food on their own and to ensure that each family has at least three to six months supply in reserve.”

China is the world’s largest food importing country. In addition to importing 80 percent of its soy beans, China also imports 100 million tons of grain. However, when dealing with the coronavirus, several countries imposed a ban on food exports. On March 24, Vietnam announced a ban on rice exports; Kyrgyzstan banned the export of 11 commodities, mainly food, for the next six months; Kazakhstan banned the export of agricultural products such as wheat and carrots; Thailand announced that it would stop exporting rice and eggs.

Xinhua, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, published five articles between April 2 and April 10, to soothe the public’s concern, claiming that China has plenty of food and will not run into a shortage. The articles include:

“Food Crisis” Is Coming? Expert: China Has Ample Food Supplies (“粮食危机”来了？专家：中国主粮充足)
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2020-04/02/c_1125802258.htm
Shortage of Food Supplies? You Worry Too Much (粮食供给短缺？多虑了)
http://www.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2020-04/04/c_1125813049.htm
Our Food Supply Can Handle Many Tests (我国粮食供应能应对各种考验)
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2020-04/09/c_1125830368.htm
Pandemic Caused Worry about “Food Safety”? Grain and Oil Companies: No Need to Stock Up (疫情引发“粮食安全”担忧？粮油企业：无需囤粮)
http://www.xinhuanet.com/food/2020-04/09/c_1125833298.htm
There is a Sufficient Food Inventory, However, We Should Pay Attention to Saving Food ( 粮食库存充足仍要念好“节约经” )
http://www.xinhuanet.com/food/2020-04/10/c_1125836035.htm

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Hot Topics | | April 12, 2020 | Social Stability

Internet Censorship at Local Levels

Based on internal documents Epoch Times obtained from Fangzheng County, Heilongjiang Province, it reported that the local Political and Legal Affairs Commissions of the CCP are actively involved in Internet censorship.

These documents show that, in 2019, the CCP Political and Legal Affairs Commission at Fangzheng County formally established a cyber force for Internet censorship which is composed of a “professional team” and a “local team.” The the County Public Security Bureau leads the professional team and is composed of relevant staff from the County Public Security Bureaus Office of Procuratorates, County Courts, and the County Judicial Bureau, all under the CCP Political and Legal Commission of Fangzheng County. The “local team” is composed of relevant staff from the townships.

The cyber force receives regular training based on the online hot topics, to ensure they master the language of Internet users and the CCP’s official language. On major online topics, the cyber force engages in “positive propaganda and guides public opinion” on WeChat, Weibo, news posts, and forums. For controversial topics, the members of the cyber force collaboratively repost CCP official messages onto their respective blogs, forums, and community platforms, in order to further spread the CCP propaganda on the controversy.

According to the internal documents, the County’s CCP Political and Legal Commission will incentivize members of the cyber force with “rewards or encouragement of both a material and political nature.”

Source: Epoch Times, April 9, 2020

https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/20/4/7/n12010892.htm

Briefings | | April 12, 2020 | Government/Politics

Why Can’t We Trust China’s Official Data?

China cooks data. It’s not something new, but many people still quote China’s official data, as if it were credible. Continue reading →

Perspectives | | April 12, 2020 | Opinion

Justice: U.K. Researcher: G7 Countries Can Sue China for 4 Trillion Dollars

The Henry Jackson Society published a report, discussing how the G7 countries can sue China for “patent breaches” of the International Health Regulations over its handling of COVID-19 for at least £3.2 trillion (US $4 trillion).

The report found China:

Failed to disclose data that would have revealed evidence of human-to-human transmission for a period of up to three weeks from being aware of it, in breach of Articles six and seven of the International Health Regulations (IHRs).
Provided the World Health Organization (WHO) with erroneous information about the number of infections between January 2, 2020 and January 11, 2020, in breach of Articles Six and Seven of the IHRs.
Failed to proscribe avoidable vectors of lethal zoonotic (animal-originated) viral infection, instead actively promoting the massive proliferation of dangerous viral host species for human consumption in breach of Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
Allowed 5 million people to leave Wuhan before imposing the lockdown on January 23, 2020 despite knowledge of human-to-human transmission.

The author of the report stated that they are against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) but not the Chinese people. “The CCP has learnt no lessons from its failure in the SARS epidemic of 2002-3. Their repeated blunders, lies, and disinformation, from the start of the COVID-19 epidemic, have already had far more deadly consequences. This report apportions no blame to the people of China for what has happened. They are innocent victims, like the rest of us. This is the fault of the CCP. ”

Justice: National Review: “How to Make China Pay”

On April 6, the National Review published an article titled, “How to Make China Pay” to discuss how to hold China legally and politically accountable for all of its dishonesty and the harm it has done to people around the world because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It recommended that, rather than rely on international institutions over which China may have strong influence (such as the United Nations Security Council) or which are corrupt (such as the World Health Organization (WHO)), the United States and its allies should engage in self-help.

The U.S. should also punish China for its coronavirus failings as an incentive for Beijing to mend its ways. Washington could persuade leading nations to join it in excluding Chinese scholars and students from scientific research centers and universities.

According to China experts, President Xi Jinping depends on a humming economy and appeals to nationalism for his political legitimacy. The U.S. and its allies could strike at the heart of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) claim to a mandate from heaven by further ratcheting up the pressure on Beijing to adopt a more cooperative, transparent stance on public health by imposing economic sanctions and inflicting serious economic harm on China. The Trump administration could enhance its efforts to exclude China from buying and selling advanced technologies, such as microchips, artificial intelligence, or biotechnology.

In addition, the U.S. should use targeted sanctions on specific CCP leaders and their supporters by freezing their assets and prohibiting their travel. The administration needs to impose pain on CCP supporters so that they will want to change policy to alleviate their own economic losses.

In addition to halting any further trade cooperation with Beijing, the administration could also seize the assets of Chinese state-owned companies. Under its Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing reportedly has loaned billions to developing nations in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, and then taken over their strategic ports and facilities once the debts fell due. The U.S. could turn this strategy on its head by supporting the expropriation of these assets by legal process and the cancellation of these debts as compensation for coronavirus losses.

Propaganda and Lies: Background of Phoenix TV Whose Reporter Spoke for the CCP at White House Press Briefing

At the White House briefing on April 6, a Phoenix Television reporter asked President Trump whether he is “personally working directly with China” on securing medical supplies.

“Only last week, there were multiple flights coming from China full of medical supplies,” the reporter said. “Companies like Huawei and Alibaba have been donating to the United States, like 1.5 million N95 masks and also a lot of medical gloves, and many more medical supplies.”

“Sounds like a statement more than a question,” Trump answered, “Who are you working for, China?”

The reporter said no and named Phoenix TV as her outlet, calling it a “privately-owned company.”

Later, Senator Ted Cruz pointed out that Phoenix TV “has been waging information warfare in the U.S. for years. They are nominally private but actually state owned (by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)).” Representative Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, also asked in a tweet, “Why is an outlet with such close ties to Communist China allowed in the White House briefing room?”

Background on Phoenix TV

The National Review reported that a former Phoenix TV news director, Chung Pong, who said that then Chinese president Jiang Zemin fired him in 2002, testified to the U.S. Federal Communication Committee (FCC) in 2018 that the Chinese government had tight enough control of the outlet that it was able to order the removal of specific news items that “positively reported [on] the United States or events in the United States.”

“I know from personal experience that Phoenix TV’s content is subject to the dictates of the leadership of the CCP Central Committee’s Propaganda Department, the CCP Central Committee’s Overseas Propaganda Office, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which has often sent instructions directly to Phoenix Satellite TV.”

Epoch Times reported that several Phoenix key personnel have close ties to the government:

Liu Changle, born in 1951, is the Chairman and CEO of Phoenix TV. He joined the army at the age of 19. He graduated from the Beijing Broadcasting Institute in 1983; was assigned to China National Radio (CNR) as a military reporter; and successively moved up as an editor, news commentator, and Director of the Editorial Department. He always held a military rank while working at the CNR. Liu said that he was at the level of Colonel in the late 1980s.
Wang Jiyan, Executive Director and former Executive Vice President and Director of the Chinese Language Station, was a member of the China Film Administration’s five-member group to study overseas media.
Shao Wenguang, Director of the European Station, was a Ministerial Counselor to the United States.
Cui Qiang, Executive Deputy CEO, Executive Director, Chairman of Phoenix New Media, worked at the CNR for 10 years.
Yu Tonghao, a senior consultant and former Executive Vice President and Co-founder of Phoenix TV, served the Director of the Guangdong Radio Station, the Director of the Pearl River Economic Station, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Guangdong Provincial TV Station, Deputy General Manager of China Radio and Television International Economic and Technical Cooperation Corporation, and Director of China Radio and Television Society, before.

The Hoover Institution’s report, “Chinese Influence & American Interests: Promoting Constructive Vigilance” about the CCP’s infiltration in U.S. media industry, released on November 29, 2018, mentioned that Phoenix TV tried to buy two FM radio stations in Los Angles but was blocked. Then it went through H&H Capital Partners to purchase the radio station XEWW in Tijuana city, Mexico, which is on the U.S.-Mexico border. They then changed the station to broadcast in Chinese instead of Spanish. The document that H&H Capital Partners submitted to the FCC showed Phoenix was the buyer.

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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

Internet Censorship at Local Levels

Why Can’t We Trust China’s Official Data?

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