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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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BBC Chinese: Former Interpol Chairman Meng Hongwei Pled Guilty

BBC Chinese recently reported that, according to the Chinese authorities, former Interpol Chairman Meng Hongwei pled guilty to the charge of accepting bribes. Meng reportedly admitted in a Chinese court that he accepted a total of US$2 million in bribes. This happened between 2005 and 2017 when he was a member of the Chinese Communist Party branch at the Chinese Ministry of Public Safety, and when he was serving the positions of the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Safety and the Director of the Chinese Marine Police Bureau. Meng was the first Chinese who became the Chairman of Interpol. His arrest was part of the large-scale anti-corruption movement that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been pushing. Meng’s wife, Grace Meng, received French political asylum this May and claimed her husband’s arrest was solely based on political grounds. Meng resigned from his post as the Chairman of Interpol.

Source: BBC Chinese, June 20, 2019
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-48703362

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics

Epoch Times: Mainland Banned “Politically Sensitive” Songs that Anti-Extradition Bill Protesters Sang in Hong Kong

The mainland banned a song a Hong Kong artist sang after he made a statement in support of the anti-extradition bill protests in Hong Kong. Well-known singer Lo Ta-yu, who was born in Taiwan and went to Hong Kong in order to advance his career, recently held a concert at the Taipei Arena. During the concert on June 16th, Lo sang the song “Queen’s Road East” which was co-produced with Lin Xi, Hong Kong lyricist, in 1991. Because this song reflects the Hong Kong people’s sense of uneasiness in the face of the transfer of sovereignty, Beijing considers it to be politically sensitive. During the concert, Lo said the following words three times: There are “certain things you can’t rush.” Lo told the media after the concert that he was expressing his view about the anti-extradition bill protests. He said that he felt disheartened when the Hong Kong government used tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and Bean bag rounds to target the protesters. On June 19, Chinese netizens noticed that the song “Queen’s Road East” was removed from among the major music sites in the mainland including QQ, NetEase Cloud Music, Kugou Music, and Xiami Music. In addition, the mainland removed “Pearl of the Orient,” another song that Lo produced and also, “Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies” by Beyond, which thousands of protesters sang during the anti-extradition bill protest.

According to hk01.com, Hong Kong’s online media, “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from Les Misérables was a song widely sung during the protest but it was banned in China. After hearing protesters sing his song, Herbert Kretzmer, who wrote the lyrics of the song wrote to the Daily Mail saying how humbling that his Les Misérables hit has helped (the Hong Kong people) to fight for freedom.

Source:
1. Epoch Times, June 23, 2019
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/19/6/23/n11341454.htm
2. Daily Mail, June 19, 2019
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7160409/How-humbling-Les-Miserables-hit-helped-fight-freedom.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Large Scale Rally in Taiwan to Say No to CCP “Red Media” and to Safeguard Democracy in Taiwan

According to Radio France Internationale, on Sunday June 23, a large number of Taiwanese gathered in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taiwan for a rally in protest against the infiltration of the mainland’s “Red Media” and to safeguard democracy in Taiwan. Chen Chih-han, a Taiwan Internet celebrity and Huang Kuo-chang, a Taiwan politician and member of New Power Party organized the rally. Despite the rainy weather, tens of thousands of people, many of whom were young people, attended the rally. In addition to voicing their opinions against “CCP totalitarianism” and the infiltration of the (CCP’s) “red media,” the organizers also called for the Taiwan government to impose necessary restrictions on issuing media licenses. Speakers at the rally vowed that Taiwan will not allow mainland media to influence Taiwan. Others criticized that, as mainland companies have entered the Taiwan market, they have also affected Taiwan’s Media. People in Taiwan should be on guard against the infiltration of the “red media.” Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said earlier that the gathering expressed concern about the CCP’s infiltration into the media in Taiwan and she believed that it would also effectively raise everyone’s awareness.

Source: Radio France Internationale, June 23, 2019
http://cn.rfi.fr/20190623-%E5%8F%B0%E6%B9%BE%E6%B0%91%E4%BC%97%E5%A4%A7%E6%B8%B8%E8%A1%8C-%E6%8B%92%E7%BB%9D%E7%BA%A2%E8%89%B2%E5%AA%92%E4%BD%93%E6%B8%97%E9%80%8F/

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Epoch Times: CCP Launched Campaign to Eliminate “Worship of Foreign Things”

The Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development recently launched a campaign to stop the “worship of foreign things” and to require the locals to change the name of any location or any building that contained a “foreign name.” It has expanded across the mainland in regions including Guangdong, Ningxia, Shanxi, Zhejiang, Shandong, Sichuan, Fujian, Hainan, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia. In Hainan province, it listed 84 areas that required a name change. One of those was the Vienna Hotel, which was named after the capital of Austria. The Vienna Hotels company raised an objection stating that the name was legally authorized in China. The hotel chain has 15 Hotels in Hainan and 2,500 hotels in the mainland. In Zhejiang province, an apartment complex named “Manhattan” and one called “Europe” were ordered to change their names. Moreover, in Fujian province, the government even tried to change the names of the historic mountains because the names sounded “odd.” A number of overseas Chinese media reported the news, calling it a “waste of money and resources” and stated that the campaign received wide criticism and resistance. Netizens in China also posted comments on the Internet. One posting said, “What about Alibaba? Isn’t this worshiping Arabian culture?” Others wrote “the cultural revolution is back!” … “If a foreign name needs to be changed, how about changing Marxism, Communism and the Communist Party because all of them came from overseas.”

Source: Epoch Times, June 23, 2019
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/19/6/23/n11341557.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Beijing Prevents People from Knowing about Hong Kong Demonstrations

The Sunday when there was a two million people parade in Hong Kong opposing the extradition law has drawn widespread attention from the world’s media, but not from those in China. Although almost all major media such as the Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, and The Wall Street Journal gave significant coverage to the news, in mainland China the story is strictly prohibited. A netizen told Radio Free Asia that someone sent a parade video to his circle of friends in Beijing and another netizen immediately stopped it. In order to avoid the censorship, some netizens sent the Hong Kong parade pictures upside down.

In Yuncheng city of Shaanxi province, the local police summoned one netizen because he forwarded the parade pictures. The interviewee said, “The media in China is not allowed to report this. The person who forwarded the video was summoned (to the police station). I have a friend who was summoned for forwarding the videos. His phone was also confiscated.”

A civil rights activist in Changde city of Hunan province told RFA that the Hong Kong’s Sunday parade exceeded the 1.5 million people in 1989. The scene was touching. However, the mainland people can only see it when they use technology whose purpose is circumvention such as VPN.

Source: Radio Free Asia, June 17, 2019
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/ql2-06172019083657.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Beijing Backs Hong Kong Chief Executive and Insists June 12 Protest Was a “Riot”

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a regular press conference on June 17. The mainland Chinese media has kept silent about the Hong Kong protests, but foreign media, Taiwan’s media, and Hong Kong’s media questioned the spokesperson at least five times. With regard to the fact that more than two million Hong Kong people took to the streets on June 16 asking chief executive Carrier Lam to step down, spokesperson Lu Kang said, “The Central Government gives full recognition to and will continue its firm support for the Chief Executive and the SAR government in carrying out their work according to law.”

Those at the June 16 parade also demanded an investigation into the responsibility of the Hong Kong police who fired guns and tear gas at the June 12 protesters and also that they retract the statement that the June 12 protest was a “riot.” The Central News Agency asked whether China still believes that the June 12 protest was violent or whether its position has changed. Lu said “the Central Government strongly condemns the violent behavior. We firmly support the police in lawfully punishing the perpetrators and safeguarding the rule of law, the social order, and the security in Hong Kong. You asked whether our position has changed. I can assure you that it hasn’t changed, not even a little bit.”

Source: Central News Agency, June 17, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201906170223.aspx

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics