Skip to content

Chinese Police Collect Blood Samples from Elementary and Middle School Boys

The Chinese Communist Party has forcibly collected DNA data using reasons such as “combating crime.” Beginning in 2016, the authorities in Xinjiang had massive collections of DNA samples from ethnic Muslims to establish databases for the purpose of surveillance and suppression. Now this practice has extended to the whole country. The regime is collecting DNA and other biological information on a large scale. All males, even elementary and middle school boys, are included and have not been spared.

In November, people from multiple cities in Guangxi Province told the Bitter Winter magazine, an Italian based publication focusing China’s religious freedom and human rights, that local police were collecting blood samples from elementary and middle school boys without notifying their parents. When asked for the reason, some teachers explained that it was to prevent children from being trafficked or lost, but they failed to explain why they were collecting only from boys but not from girls.

Bitter Winter obtained a document that the Public Security Bureau of Chongren County in Jiangxi Province issued in November. The document required the local Education and Sports Bureau to cooperate with the police to collect information on all male students in elementary and middle schools. The document stated that this work was carried out nationwide to collect information for the nation’s seventh population census, to issue third-generation digital ID cards, to improve the dissemination of population data, and to facilitate rapid identity verification.

Chinese media also reported that police have collected blood from male adult citizens for a number of reasons such as “free medical examinations” and “checking for drug abuse.”

A “Y-STR DNA Database Construction Work Plan Notice” that a county government in Hubei Province issued in September 2018 called for “the establishment of a male-dominated pedigree information database that comprehensively covered the rural areas,” and “through investigation of the family tree to maintain the social order and strengthen the ability to control the population.”

The Chinese government often uses the collected DNA data to suppress dissidents and religious believers. In July 2019, the police harassed the parents of a believer in the Church of Almighty God and forcibly collected blood samples.

Source: Bitter Winter, January 3, 2020

將建家系信息庫 警方強制採集中小學男生血樣未通知家長

China’s Ministry of Education Officially Prohibits Schools from Using Foreign Textbooks

In recent years, the Chinese authorities have been proactively investigating teaching materials. On Tuesday, January 7, the Ministry of Education issued a notice, making it clear that schools of compulsory education should not use foreign teaching materials and that universities and vocational schools should follow relevant national policies when selecting foreign teaching materials.

The Ministry of Education released the “Administrative Measures for Teaching Materials for Primary and Secondary Schools,” which requires that schools, when selecting teaching materials, should not replace national curriculum materials with local curriculum materials or school-based materials. At the same time, “compulsory education schools must not use overseas teaching materials.”

The Ministry of Education demands that the teaching materials that the schools use at all levels must “represent the will of the Party and the country,” “adhere to the guiding position of Marxism, reflect the requirements of Marxism in China, reflect the style of China and the Chinese nation, reflect the Party and the country’s basic requirements for education, and reflect the basic values of the country and the nation.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, January 7, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/kejiaowen/gf2-01072020083441.html

Chinese Embassy in Pakistan Collects Personal Data on Muslim Students from China; Many Disappear after Called Back to China

The Chinese Embassy in Pakistan is now comprehensively collecting personal information on local Chinese Muslim students. At present, more than 400 students have surrendered their information, but it was against their will. A few years ago, Chinese embassies in Egypt and other countries had already registered Muslim students. There were incidents in which Muslim students were repatriated and called back to China after which they disappeared. People familiar with the situation revealed that their personal information had been shared with security authorities.

Students from International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) broke the story on January 2nd. The collected information included [the Muslim student’s] passport number, WeChat account, phone number, address in both China and Pakistan, and their major area of study. The “Chinese Students Association in Pakistan, IIUI Chapter,” implemented the procedure. According to a notice circulated on the a Wechat group of IIUI students, IIUI’s Chinese Student Association required that, by New Year’s eve, Chinese students submit registration forms, which were to be submitted to the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan for archival registration. If anyone refused to submit the registration form, the Chinese Embassy would not process their graduation certification. The registration form also printed a warning: “if there is any concealment of the information, the registrant will bear the consequences.”

Huang Hao, vice chairman of the Chinese Students Association at IIUI told Radio Free Asia that the round of registration involved 700 to 800 Chinese students at IIUI. He also acknowledged that the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan had appointed him to do this. However, Huang refused to answer questions about the purpose of the collection.

At present, there are seven or eight hundred Chinese students studying at IIUI. Most of them are Muslim students from Ningxia, Xinjiang, Qinhai, Henan, and Yunnan provinces. Some study Islamic philosophy and Islamic history, others study Arabic, economics, and education.

Ma Ju, a Muslim current affairs commentator now living in the United States, told Radio Free Asia that, as early as the summer of 2016, in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the Chinese embassy registered local Muslim students who held a Chinese passport. In July 2017, the Deputy Minister of Public Security traveled to Cairo and worked with the Egyptian military government to arrest approximately 75 Chinese Muslim students after which they repatriate 52 students. After the incident, all local Chinese students were registered and their data were transmitted back to China. Many students disappeared after local police called them back. In addition, the embassy took control of information about Chinese Muslim students at several universities in Jordan.

Source: Radio Free Asia, January 5, 2019
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/pakistan-student-01052020084821.html

2019 Bond Defaults Topped 143.258 billion Yuan

China Finance Online Co., Ltd, which provides web-based financial services in Mainland China and Hong Kong, reported that, In 2019, bond defaults among Chinese companies continued to surge.

JT², an asset management technology platform under JD Digital Technology, conducted intelligent analysis and research of public data and found that, as of December 23, 2019, a total of 177 bonds had defaulted in the bond market in 2019, involving 143.258 billion yuan.

Forty issuers defaulted for the first time on the bond market in 2019. Most of these issuers were private enterprises in a number of different industries and regions.

During the six years from 2014 to the present, be it the first-time defaulting companies, the number of newly added defaulting bonds, or the size of funds as a whole, all have shown an upward trend. Specifically, the number of bond defaults in 2019 increased by more than 6 times compared to 2014; the actual sum of what was in default amounted to more than 10 times the amount from five years ago.

Source: China Finance Online, December 31, 2019
https://finance.jrj.com.cn/2019/12/31160028610736.shtml

Lianhe Zaobao: Chinese International Acquisitions Fell to Ten Year Low

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that China saw its lowest level of overseas acquisitions in 2019, with a total value of US$41 billion. This is half the size of the 2018 volume and less than 20 percent of the volume for the peak year of 2016. The acquisitions in the U.S. declined by 80 percent in 2019, year-over-year. Analysts in the global banking industry expressed the belief that the sharp overseas acquisition decline was the direct result of the U.S.-China trade war and the significantly tightened government regulatory measures imposed in many countries against Chinese buyers. In the meantime, with the economic slow-down in China, the Chinese government is also strictly controlling the volume of capital flowing out of China, making Chinese investors work much harder than before to shrink the debt level. It is especially difficult for Chinese investors to pay back the debts acquired overseas. It is expected that more domestic investments will be seen in China than overseas.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, December 31, 2019
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20191231-1017412

Xinhua: Chinese Students Should Stay Alert to Stigmatized U.S. Visa Policies

Xinhua recently published a commentary on the visa issues Chinese students face in the U.S. The commentary started with the statistics showing that the U.S. issued a total of 78,100 student visas in fiscal year 2018. This represented a decline of over 20 percent in three years. Of those visas issued, the number of Chinese students declined by 54 percent. In addition, the time it took for a Chinese student to obtain a U.S. student visa increased substantially.

American university officials typically blamed the current U.S. administration’s policies and attitude for the situation. Also, the increasingly high costs have remained another important challenge. The commentary strongly recommended that, for those planning to go to the U.S. for their education, it is very important to conduct careful research to avoid the majors in which it is harder to obtain a visa. It is also critical to select a domestic destination in case the visa application fails. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented that the unpopular U.S. policies have truly harmed the international image of the U.S., its reputation, and its national interests.

Source: Xinhua, January 2, 2020
http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2020-01/02/c_1125412971.htm

 

Apple Daily: China Replaced Mainland HK Liaison Office Director

Major Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily recently reported that Luo Huining, former Secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee and current Deputy Chairman of the Finance and Economic Committee of the National People’s Congress has replaced Wang Zhimin, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is no coincidence that Wang’s replacement happened at a time when the social stability of Hong Kong was at high risk. Many anonymous sources thought that the central government was extremely unhappy with the handling of the recent Hong Kong movement for democracy and freedom. The Liaison Office is the central government’s direct representative in Hong Kong. Wang is the Liaison Office Director with the shortest term since Hong Kong returned to China in 1997. According to past records, the new Director Luo Huining has no previous experience on Hong Kong related matters. At the age of 65, he is very close to retirement. Many analysts expressed the belief that Luo is on a temporary assignment. The Hong Kong government issued a statement welcoming the new Liaison Office Director.

Source: Apple Daily, January 4, 2020
https://tw.appledaily.com/new/realtime/20200104/1686446/

Yazhou Zhoukan Magazine Selected the Hong Kong Police as the “People of the Year”

Yazhou Zhoukan (亚洲周刊) is a widely circulated Chinese-language weekly magazine in Asia, headquartered in Hong Kong. Michael O’Neill and Thomas Hon Wing Polin, who also established the magazine Asiaweek, created it in December 1987. The Ming Pao group owns this magazine after purchasing it from Times Warner in 1994. Yau Lop Poon is the editor-in-chief.

Recently, Yazhou Zhoukan selected the Hong Kong Police as its “People of the Year” for 2019. The top story of its most recent issue published 7,000 Chinese letters that praised the Hong Kong police as their “guardian angel” and the “anchor that stabilizes the sea,” which, at the critical moment, “impacted the path of history and safeguarded Hong Kong’s rule of law.” It called the Hong Kong police “the most twisted and most insulted” group but also the “most dependent and most respected group.” It claimed that it was all because of the police that the “Hong Kong people maintained their freedom without fear.”

Many people criticized Yazhou Zhoukan for lining up with the Chinese Communist Party and ignoring the simple facts in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s renowned Chinese-language fiction writer Dung Kai Cheung posted on his Facebook site that he refused to have his novel “Mingzi” named in Yazhou Zhoukan’s 2019 Top Ten Novel List.

Wang Dan, a student leader at the June 4th Student Movement and dissident from China, called for people to boycott the magazine. “There are plenty of media even without this one,” Wang wrote on his Facebook page. “We must take the bad media off the shelf!”

Source: Radio France International, January 4, 2020
http://www.rfi.fr/cn/港澳台/20200104-香港亚洲周刊评选香港警察为年度风云人物备受争议