Nikkei Chinese Edition recently reported from Hong Kong that, according to statistics provided by U.S. market research leader Dealogic, Chinese overseas acquisitions saw a significant decline in the first half of this year. The total acquisition value between January and June was US$24.5 billion, which represents a 42 percent decline. And it’s only worth twenty percent of the peak time value in 2016. In the first half of this year, China had a total of 251 overseas acquisitions, which is a five-year low. The highlights of these deals were the five percent shares of Daimler Germany (US$2.7 billion) and the merger with French chip maker Linxens (US$2.6 billion). Analysts said the sharp decline was mainly due to tightened regulatory and administrative restrictions in the EU and the U.S., as well as China’s increased restrictions on capital outflow. More Chinese capital is heading to Southeast Asia, Africa and Russia. Nikkei is the world’s largest financial newspaper.

Source: Nikkei Chinese, September 5, 2019
https://cn.nikkei.com/china/ccompany/37208-2019-09-05-09-15-35.html?start=1

The German government disclosed that the Chinese authorities are monitoring and intimidating dissidents and demonstrators in Germany, including those who support the Hong Kong democracy movement. The German government pointed out that Chinese intelligence agents in Germany are playing a particularly significant role.

The above announcement was made in response to a question from the Alliance 90/The Greens. The Green Party asked in an inquiry: “Do the German government or the federal agencies know that Chinese institutions in Germany are trying to influence the freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and the personal rights of demonstrators?” The reply indicated that the German government is “informed” about Chinese authorities’ attempts to exert influence.

The German government further pointed out that a major focus of the Chinese intelligence bodies in Germany is to “monitor and oppose the movements that the Chinese authorities believe will challenge their ruling power and threaten national unity.” The German government also mentioned that it is the responsibility of the German states, not the federal government, to deal with such behaviors from China.

The Green party’s spokeswoman for human rights Margarete Bause called for the German government to take countermeasures. “Security agencies should protect people who are committed to fighting against the authoritarian regime and are in our country.” Bause believes that political and espionage activities against Chinese dissidents in exile or living in Germany should face consequences, “including the expulsion of those who have infiltrated our country and threatened the residents here.”

Katrin Göring-Eckardt, leader of the Green Party group, also pointed out to that the German government has admitted that many demonstrators in Germany are often obstructed. “Beijing’s long arm has reached into our country of the rule of law through its intelligence agencies, reached out to these demonstrators and posed a threat to them.”

Source: Deutsche Welle Chinese, September 13, 2019
https://p.dw.com/p/3PXRx

Gladys Liu was born in Hong Kong in 1964. In May 2019, she became the first Chinese Australian woman to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives. . She went to Melbourne in 1985 and became an Australian citizen in 1992. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation disclosed on September 10th that the Chinese government website showed that from 2003 to 2015, she served as a council member of the Guangdong provincial chapter of the China Overseas Exchange Association. In 2010, Liu also served as a council member of the Shandong branch of the association. The association accepts business guidance from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council. In 2018, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council was merged into the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party, an agency dedicated to expanding the political penetration and influence of the Party.

In the face of questioning from Sky News, Liu said, “I don’t remember . . .” However, shortly afterwards, she issued a statement acknowledging that she had held an honorary position in the Guangdong chapter of the China Overseas Exchange Association in 2011, but said that there had been no contact with the organization since then. According to Australian media, Liu supports the Hong Kong democracy movement, but she refuses to call Xi Jinping a “dictator” and refuses to condemn the Chinese government’s actions in the South China Sea as being illegal.

Professor Clive Hamilton, a China researcher at Charles Sturt University, told ABC, “I think Parliament itself must now ask whether she is in breach of section 44 of the constitution, which disqualifies any member who owes allegiance to a foreign power.”

In 2017, Labor senator Sam Dastyari resigned from the Senate after being accused of receiving funding from Chinese political donors to support China’s foreign policy interests.

Source: Radio Free Asia, September 11, 2019
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junshiwaijiao/cc-09112019122938.html