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Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

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Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

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Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

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

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Samsung Closed Its Last Handset Factory in China

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that Samsung announced on October 2 that it stopped its manufacturing work in the factory located in Huizhou, Guangdong Province. It is the last handset factory Samsung has in China. Samsung started to lay off its workers in the Huizhou factory in June and all manufacturing lines were closed by the end of September. The company used to have three factories in China. Samsung closed its Shenzhen (Guangdong Province) factory in April, 2014. The Tianjin factory was closed in December, 2018. This newly closed Huizhou factory was established in 1992 with an initial investment of US$190.7 million. Its monthly smartphone manufacturing capacity was 400,000. Samsung has been shifting its investments from China to Vietnam. In the past ten years, Samsung’s total investment in Vietnam grew from US$630 million to US$17.3 billion, with eight factories. Also, Samsung has its largest handset factory in India, producing 120 million handsets per year. Analysts pointed out that, given the growing cost of labor in China, Samsung has little reason to manufacture there.

Source: Sina, October 2, 2019
https://news.sina.cn/2019-10-02/detail-iicezueu9726872.d.html?vt=4

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Information/Technology

Xinhua Calls Hong Kong’s Last British Governor “Unreasonable, Hypocritical, Paranoid, Cold-blooded, and Shameless”

On October 8, China’s official Xinhua News Agency published a commentary titled, “Chris Patten, a Synonym for Being Unreasonable, Hypocritical, Paranoid, Cold-blooded, and Shameless.” Chris Patten was the last Governor of Hong Kong from July 19, 1992, until the end of British administration over the territory on June 30, 1997. The Xinhua article is supposedly a response to Patten’s recent comments on the Hong Kong’s mask ban. The following are some excerpts from the Xinhua commentary.

“However, some Western politicians deliberately turned a blind eye and deliberately reversed black and white. For their own ulterior political conspiracy, they ignored the legal principles, social justice, and humanity, and defended the violence and the violent mobs. The “last-generation governor,” who has been unwilling to be neglected, is one of the “best examples.” He recently claimed that the Hong Kong SAR Government’s face mask ban is a “crazy” move and has turned himself into the synonym for being unreasonable, hypocritical, paranoia, cold-blooded, and shameless.”

“Patten has completely ignored the atrocities committed in Hong Kong and completely ignored the serious threats to the safety of the public in Hong Kong. He described the mob as a “people” and called the SAR government’s righteous action of formulating the anti-mask ban to end the violence and protect the people as being “absolutely crazy.” Of course, anyone who has the least bit of rationality can clearly see that what this person said from beginning to the end is baseless and confuses right and wrong. Like those thugs, this person is a cold-blooded madman who is the enemy of the peace of Hong Kong, the well-being of the Hong Kong people, and justice and humanity.”

“Chris Patten publicly beautified the violence, exonerated the violent members, and reserved black and white in order to attack the SAR government and the Chinese government. These unreasonable, shameless, and fallacious comments about Hong Kong only once again show its ugly political character, and once again fully expose the rudeness, barbarism, and vicious motivation of the Western anti-China forces.”

Source: Xinhua, October 8, 2019
http://www.xinhuanet.com/gangao/2019-10/08/c_1125076481.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

RFI: First Person Detained after Beijing’s Communist Parade

Radio France Internationale (RFI) recently reported that a resident in Sichuan Province was detained on October 2, one day after the massive parade in Beijing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Communist Party taking power in China. The 24 year-old Qi Moulong made a comment in an online chat saying that the parade widely broadcasted on TV “didn’t have much to watch.” In the chat, he also questioned how much food the government had to provide to the people who participated in the parade. The police detained him the very next day and decided to keep him in a detention center for a total of seven days. Qi admitted he did make those comments. The Chinese government has been pushing a major patriotic tide across the country and the media are full of reports praising the parade and the military power that China demonstrated in the parade.

Source: RFI, October 2, 2019
https://bit.ly/31OSRaq

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Aboluowang: China’s Internet Users Say Invention to Break VPN Technology is “Inhuman”

Many internet users in China use VPN (Virtual private network) to break the fire wall in order to access the websites overseas. Three teachers and students from the Beijing Institute of Technology invented the latest method of making it more difficult for people to use VPN in China. According to an article from Aboluowang, three teacher and students from the Beijing Institute of Technology recently invented a technology which uses online memory to detect and follow VPN identity. In March of 2019, the team filed a patent application. However, Internet users in China widely criticized their actions calling it an “inhuman and immoral invention.” Some online experts who saw the patent application also noticed that it didn’t detail the core technology. They speculated that there was a possibility that the application was submitted to deceive people in order to swindle them out of some research funds. Some Internet users are also optimistic and believe that even if the patent turns out to be useful, there will be a corresponding technology to break it.

Source: Aboluowang, October 6, 2019
http://www.aboluowang.com/2019/1006/1352211.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

YouTube Recording on Beijing’s Ruling Crisis

On September 8, an audio recording discussing Beijing’s handling of the U.S.-China trade war was posted on YouTube.

It is not clear who made the speech. The tone indicated it was from an official with some insider information. The time may have been in May of this year, after President Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on US$200 billion worth of goods imported from China and before he announced a tariff on the remaining US$325 billion in goods. Despite the time, the points in the speech are still relevant.

Tariffs

“When the U.S. imposes tariffs, we have many ways to balance it out, such as printing more money or reimbursing the tariff to the exporting companies. However, the biggest problem is that the foreign companies will no longer stay in China. They will move to Vietnam, Thailand, or other countries to maximize their profits.

“The foreign companies’ departure will leave 45 million Chinese who work there jobless. The state-owned enterprises cannot absorb such a big population. Chinese export companies will also be finished. A total of 80 million people will have no jobs. They all have mortgages. What kind of problem will that bring to China?

“The employment problem is tied to the financial crisis and the real estate crisis. These two crises are the ruling party’s ruling crisis. An economic hard landing will bring a dramatic impact to China.”

Economic Structure

“Liu Shiyu, former head of the Securities Regulatory Commission, is the head of the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives. He is setting up Supply and Marketing Cooperatives (SMCs) in each province. SMCs (were popular during the planned economy and) disappeared after the reform and opening up, but they are coming back. The goal of setting up SMCs is to let the government conduct unified purchases and unified sales.

“The higher levels have already arranged to use the planned economy to manage China’s weakening and hard-landing economy. The economic structure will go back to being a planned economy. There will be no way to start a private business.”

New Currency

“Another way is to print new money and recycle the old currency. This will force people who hide money under their mattresses to bring their money out for exchange.

“There are two concepts: One is that the renminbi is just a piece of paper, not real wealth. The other one is that people’s wealth (in banks) is the government’s liability. If the government wants to reduce its debt, it can evaporate the stock market or evaporate the real estate market.”

High-Level Fighting

“Whatever we do will not change the fundamental situation in China because the high-levels are conducting fierce in-fighting. There are three forces fighting each other. Among them, one group opposes the planned economy, but whether it can win out is not clear.”

Trade Negotiations

“Many of the (new) opening measures are just to fool the Americans in China’s trade negotiations. Actually, even if the negotiations reach agreement, (China) may not honor these measures. When have the Chinese honored their words? You think that the government issues an order then it becomes effective? No way…”

Source: YouTube, September 8, 2019

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Government/Politics US-China Relations

RFI: Introduction of Face Mask Law in Hong Kong Is Just like Opening Pandora’s Box

Radio France Internationale published an article on the Hong Kong government’s latest ban on face masks. According to the article, on the first day that Hong Kong government announced the ban on face masks, it met with protests from a large number of people who wear face masks at various locations. Many in Hong Kong accused the Hong Kong authorities’ latest decision in banning face masks to be “adding fuel to the fire.” People are concerned about how the authorities will respond and how the incidents will develop. There are also critics who say that Beijing is intensifying conflicts. On Friday and Saturday, there were protesters in Hong Kong everywhere. On Saturday protesters were wearing masks and participating in spontaneous unauthorized demonstrations. Despite the closure of the subway and the bus, the demonstrators managed to break the mask ban and once again showed the world the power of the how people can mobilize themselves. Some analysts believe that the Hong Kong government’s introduction of the law to ban face masks is just like opening Pandora’s Box. They expect the end result to be that it will only cause that social divide in Hong Kong to get worse.

Source: Radio France Internationale, October 5, 2019
http://www.rfi.fr/cn/20191005-%E6%B8%AF%E4%BA%BA%E8%92%99%E9%9D%A2%E6%8A%B5%E6%8A%97-%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E6%94%B6%E5%9C%BA

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Upset after Houston Rockets General Manager Tweets about “Hong Kong Independence”

China is upset because Daryl Morey, General Manager of the Houston Rockets sent out a tweet on October 5. The tweet launched a complaint in favor of boycotting the Rockets and a rampage against the team. On October 5, Daryl Morey, General Manager of Houston Rockets tweeted a photo “Fight for freedom, Stand with Hong Kong.” On October 6, the Paper, People’s Daily, and other official media carried an article titled, “The statement that the Houston Rockets General Manager Made on Hong Kong Upset Fans in China. Don’t you want the Chinese Market anymore?” In the article, it claimed that Morey’s “Hong Kong Independence tweet” has upset Rockets fans in China. It quoted a statement that a Chinese NBA commentator made that the Rockets cannot benefit from China while condemning China at the same time. … Even after Yao Ming retired from the Houston Rockets, the Rockets continued to receive financial support from numerous commercial sponsors in China. … ESPN has received tens of millions in support from China over the past four years.” Meanwhile news media including CCTV and Ten cent, Sports programs, Rocket sponsors in China, and the Chinese Basketball Association announced that they will temporarily suspend future collaboration with the Rockets. China’s Consulate General in Houston issued a complaint which requested that the Rockets “take corrective actions and eliminate this bad influence.” The article also mentioned a prior case when Dolce & Gabbana portrayed an “insulting” image about China; it has since been boycotted from entering the Chinese market.

[Editor’s Note: On October 6, Daryl Morey deleted the original tweet on Hong Kong and tweeted that … my tweets are my own and in no way represent the Rockets or the NBA. On October 7, the NBA issued a statement that, Daryl’s “tweet does not represent the Rockets or the NBA, the values of the league support individuals’ educating themselves and sharing their views. . . .” However, numerous parties lambasted the league’s decision to apologize at all.]

Sources:
1. The Paper, October 6, 2019
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_4609604
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_4612025
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_46111862
2. Radii, Chinese Fans Urge Boycott After Houston Rockets
https://radiichina.com/houston-rockets-china-hong-kong

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Student Government of Canadian University Banned Chinese Student Organization

McMaster University, a reputable university in Canada, recently disqualified the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) from having an official club status. The reasons were that it interfered with the freedom of speech of the students on campus and that it has a close connection with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Rukiye Turdush, a Uyghuer activist, was invited to attend an event on February 11 at McMaster University that was related to Xinjiang’s “Re-education Camps.” Some unhappy Chinese students yelled loudly at the event and were suspected of swearing.

As Deutsche Welle reported, the WeChat screenshots that anonymous students provided showed that the Chinese students had been in contact with the Chinese Embassy regarding Turdush’s participation in the campus event. The Chinese Embassy asked the students to report on the situation and on the attendees, and hoped that the students would bring the case to the university. The CSSA subsequently issued an open letter opposing the university’s invitation given to Turdush to give a speech, criticizing it as a “ridiculous anti-China speech.” The letter charged Turdush with “publicly promoting East Turkistan separatist activities, promoting national hatred, and attacking the Chinese government.” After the Student Representative Assembly (SRA) at McMaster University, conducted an investigation, it decided that the behavior of the CSSA was in violation of the rules. On the 28th, the SRA voted to disqualify the CSSA as an official club.

Before the vote, Simranjeet Singh, one of the members of SRA, said that many students stood up to express their concerns about the CSSA. He said, “Although we do not have the ability to change what is happening in China, we have the ability to protect students at McMaster University.” After it loses its status, the CSSA will lose the funds that the Student Union allocated to it, the privileges of booking school classrooms, and the channels for publicity and promotion.

Source: Central News Agency, September 30, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/201909300144.aspx

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend