Chinascope – Page 438

Chen Zhu: WRSA to Strengthen People-to-People Diplomacy

The Western Returned Scholars Association (WRSA), also known as the Overseas-educated Scholars Association of China (OSAC), is a Chinese government-affiliated entity consisting of over 40,000 Chinese scholars and researchers who have studied outside of China. The Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCCCP) heads the WRSA and the CCCCP‘s United Front Work Department now manages it.

On the evening of January 25th, Chen Zhu, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and the president of WRSA, attended WRSA’s 2019 New Year’s Gala and delivered a speech.

Chen said that, in 2018, WRSA did many explorations into carrying out people-to-people diplomacy and promoting China’s opening up policy to the world. At the “Third Sino-French Cultural Forum” in Xi’an, more than 600 representatives from various circles of China and France attended and reached a consensus on the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. The 16th “21st Century China Forum” was held in Switzerland, where the Chinese and Swiss guests had in-depth exchanges about the “Innovation, Cooperation, and Community of a Shared Future for Mankind.” The first Sino-German Science and Technology Forum in Germany proactively promoted the further pragmatic cooperation between China and Germany in science and technology.

Chen added, “At present, the world is facing a change that hasn’t happened over the past 100 years. The countries around the world are increasingly interdependent and form a Community of a Shared Future for Mankind in which we all have a stake in each other’s future. In 2019, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, WRSA will vigorously carry out brand name people-to-people diplomatic activities. They include the 4th Sino-French Cultural Forum in France; the 17th “21st Century China Forum” in the UK; the 2nd International Think Tank Forum in Beijing; and the China-US Economic and Trade Forum in Guangzhou. At the same time, we will further strengthen foreign exchanges and increase connections, communication, and cooperation with foreign embassies, consulates, NGOs, and chambers of commerce.”

In 2013, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, attended the 100th anniversary of the establishment of WRSA and required that the WRSA become the “fresh blood of people-to-people diplomacy.” Subsequently, in 2016, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCCCP) issued the “Opinions on Strengthening the Development of the Western Returned Scholars Association (Overseas-educated Scholars Association of China,” a very first and milestone document that the CCCCP issued regarding the work of overseas students.

Source: The Paper, January 26, 2019
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2909426

Briefings | | January 29, 2019 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Chinese Economy Is Increasingly Dependent on Real Estate Market

Security Times reported that, in the first 11 months of 2018, the sales of housing reached 12.95 trillion yuan ($1.94 trillion), breaking the 10 trillion mark for the third consecutive year. In the article, it stated that, as the real estate industry has been growing, domestic economic land dependence has become more and more serious. Looking at the ratio of housing sales revenue to GDP over the years, in 2017, the ratio reached 16.16 percent. This data means that real estate generated approximately 16 yuan per 100 yuan of GDP.

In 2009, the domestic housing sales ratio and the ratio of real estate development investment to GDP, both exceeded 10 percent for the first time in history. It is known that 2009 was the first year that the 4 trillion economic stimulus plan was launched. Between 2008 and 2017, sales of housing only declined. In 2014 and in 2017 it increased by more than 433 percent compared to 2008, while total real estate investment surged to nearly 11 trillion yuan in 2017, an increase of 252 percent.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, sales of housing in the first 11 months of 2018 reached 12.95 trillion yuan, an increase of 12.1 percent. If we use 10 percent of the growth in housing sales for the full year of 2018 and a GDP growth rate of 6.5 percent, the ratio of housing sales to GDP would have reached a record 16.7 percent last year. Meanwhile according to the statistical data, in recent years, the ratio of state-owned land use rights as a percentage of national finance revenue, has continued to exceed 20 percent, or even 34 percent. Taking 2017 as an example, the state-owned land use rights transfer accounted for 28.97 percent of the national fiscal revenue. This data means that the government has generated 29 yuan per 100 yuan in revenue from sale of the land.

Source: Security Times, January 18, 2019
http://news.stcn.com/2019/0118/14807368.shtml

Briefings | | January 29, 2019 | Economy/Resources

China’s ‘Deadbeat Map’ App Exposes Social Credit of People Nearby

Chinese authorities are testing a new application that allows mobile phone users to check the social credit of people nearby. This is China’s latest effort to use technology to implement a social credit system for its 1.4 billion citizens. The beta version of the app, known as the “Deadbeat Map” released on China’s most popular mobile platform WeChat, was tested in Hebei Province last week. The user can use the program to detect, within 500 meters of range, those who do not pay their debts.

With a click on a person’s icon on the map, the app will display that person’s personal information, including name, part of the address, and the offense.

Beijing Youth Daily, an official newspaper in Beijing, has praised this practice. The author said that the innovative measures of using technology to expose the deadbeats accurately are worthy of praise. The article said that, although the court arbitration dealt with those found untrustworthy, they had many evasive methods to escape from the court. The social platform can subject them to ethical pressure from acquaintances.

Critics are concerned that citizens’ privacy is violated. Delia Lin, a lecturer at the University of Melbourne in Australia, told the Daily Telegraph that those unable to pay their debts due to poverty will find themselves “subjected to this kind of surveillance and this kind of public shaming.”

WeChat users can also report the untrustworthy people through this small program. If they find leads about the “deadbeat’s” property, they can report it to the app’s editor, and the information will be submitted to the back-end administrator and then to the court enforcement authorities.

China began to develop a social credit system in 2011, giving credit scores to individuals and companies. The scores are used to determine whether someone can use specific services such as a loan application or transportation services.

The New York based Human Rights Watch, however, sees this as part of a massive surveillance plan of the Chinese government. The practice of using technology to collect public information, such as the widespread use of facial recognition technology and the installation of tracking chips in student uniforms has also drawn public criticism.

Source: BBC Chinese, January 25, 2019
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-47004328

Briefings | | January 28, 2019 | Information/Technology

RFA: State Council Ordered to Ban For-Profit Kindergartens

Radio Free Asia reported that the State Council issued a notice on January 22, stating that the state will put more effort into building a public education system for kindergartens and no for-profit kindergarten will be permitted. The notice requires that a comprehensive investigation of all kindergartens be completed before the end of April of 2019.

According to RFA, at present, there are two types of kindergartens in China. The first one includes government sponsored public kindergartens and public college and enterprise affiliated kindergartens. The other type is a private kindergarten. Public kindergartens mainly receive funding from the government or from enterprises. The teachers at the private kindergartens are highly skilled but the admission cost is also higher. They are more popular among middle-class families.

The RFA article quoted comments from people in China regarding a policy change which will allow government subsidized kindergartens gradually to take over the private kindergartens. One person told RFA that the public kindergartner uses the teaching materials that the municipal Department of Education designs. The private kindergartens are special. They make a profit and focus on quality education. They produce their own teaching materials, which have fewer contents involving public brainwashing. If the government transforms kindergartens from private to public, that will make it easier for it to brainwash the kids.

On January 21, the National Bureau of Statistics of China announced that the number of births in 2018 was 15.23 million, a decrease of 2 million from 2017. Some mainland media reported that from 1997 to 2017, the proportion of Chinese public kindergartens dropped from 95 percent to 44 percent.

Source: Radio Free Asia, January 24, 2019
http://https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/kejiaowen/ql1-01242019083419.html

Briefings | | January 28, 2019 | Government/Politics

Xi Jinping Speaks about Omnimedia

Omnimedia is a relatively new concept of media still in development. In China, the discussion of omnimedia started around 2008 or 2009. Although it may refer to different people who may have different ideas, generally speaking, Omnimedia refers to a communication of information based on the integration of different channels of transmission – print, television, radio, Internet, mobile phone – and different means of presentation – text, images, animation, audio, and visual – so that the audience will absorb the information via multi-dimensions.

Xinhua News Agency reported that the Chinese communist party’s politburo held a group study session on January 25 in Beijing. Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the party, stressed that promoting media integration and building the omnimedia has become an urgent issue. “It is necessary to use the fruits of the information revolution to promote in-depth development of media integration and make the mainstream public opinion stronger.” The “mainstream public opinion” usually refers to the public discourse that is in line with the party’s ideology.

Xi said that the party’s newspapers and periodicals should strengthen the innovation of the means of communication and develop various new media such as websites, Weibo and WeChat channels, electronic newspapers, mobile newspapers, and Internet TV. This also should include exploration of interactive, service-oriented, and experience-oriented communication. The party’s voice should directly cover all types of user terminals.

At the same time, Xi demanded that new media adhere to the correct political direction. The mainstream media should provide more true and objective information with clear-cut views and in a timely manner, so as to take control of public opinion. Xi also emphasized safeguarding national political security, cultural security, and ideological security in terms of the contents of omnimedia communication, and guarding against the risks that new technologies, such as big data, may pose.

Source: Xinhua News Agency, January 25, 2019
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2019-01/25/c_1124044208.htm

Briefings | | January 28, 2019 | Government/Politics

With Economy Slowdown, China’s Local Governments Cut Revenue Targets

Due to the downward pressure on China’s economy in 2019, as well as the central government’s tax cut effort, China’s provinces and cities have lowered their fiscal revenue growth targets. Many places have planned to tighten their belts.

Provinces such as Jiangsu, Beijing, Sichuan, Henan, Hebei, and Fujian have lowered their 2019 revenue growth targets, vis-a-vis the 2018 growth rate.

Sichuan’s budget report states that the economy faces a large downward pressure in 2019, and this makes fiscal revenue growth more difficult. At the same time, with the implementation of a large scale tax cut and fee reduction policy, the public budget of 898.4 billion yuan (US$132 billion) for the whole year still cannot make ends meet. The growth of Sichuan’s public budget revenue in 2018 was 9.3 percent; in 2019 it was down to 7.5 percent.

The growth of Beijing’s 2019 fiscal revenue target was also reduced to 4 percent from 6.5 percent growth last year. 2019 will see a reduction of Beijing’s fiscal income of about 30 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion). With even more aggressive tax cuts and fee reduction measures, pressures will continue on the growth of fiscal revenue.

Jiangsu lowered its revenue growth target from 5.6 percent in 2018 to 4.5 percent in 2019.

In Hubei, the level of three major types of public expenses – buying and using government cars, overseas trips, and official receptions – face a projected reduction of 5.6 percent.

Source: Central News Agency, January 24, 2019
http://https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201901240168.aspx

Briefings | | January 27, 2019 | Economy/Resources

China’s Internet Czar Deletes 7 Million “Harmful” Posts

According to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the central Internet regulator and censorship agency of China, between January 3 and January 23, the Special Action of Internet Ecological Control cleaned a total of more than 7.09 million pieces of harmful information, closed 308,000 illegal accounts, suspended 733 websites, and removed 9,382 mobile applications.

Since 2016, the Chinese authorities have stepped up control of the Internet. In November 2018, in response to a series of “chaotic problems” in self-media accounts, CAC closed more than 9,800 accounts that were “transmitting politically harmful information, maliciously tampering with the history of the party and history of the country, impairing the nation’s image, circulating rumors, and spreading false information”.

Source: Voice of America, January 23, 2019
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-internet-control-20190123/4755206.html

Briefings | | January 27, 2019 | Information/Technology

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

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

The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.