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

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Communist Party Branch Invades Hong Kong Institutions of Higher Education

Apple Daily reported that an article circulating on the Internet commented that, in October, groups of Chinese judges who are studying for the master’s and a doctoral degree at the City University of Hong Kong not only set up a temporary party branch but also held a branch meeting. However, the official website of the China National Judges College, which first disclosed this significant information, was suspected of having deleted the posting after the incident caused a dispute. According to a number of Hong Kong media reports, the party branch office held a meeting on the afternoon of October 20. Thirty-nine party members and 11 non-party members participated in the meeting.

According to the CCP constitution, units with more than three Communist Party members must establish party branches. In recent years, the CCP has been advocating “setting up party branches while away from China.” Voice of America reported earlier that, on November 4, 2017, seven visiting scholars established a branch of the Communist Party of China at the University of California in Davis, but the organization was dissolved only two weeks later because it was in violation of U.S. law.

Source: Apple Daily, November 13, 2018
https://tw.appledaily.com/new/realtime/20181113/1465860/

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Lecture of British Dissident Writer in Hong Kong Was Cancelled

The independent Chinese PEN member and Chinese dissident writer Ma Jian was scheduled to give lectures that were to be held in Hong Kong on Saturday November 10. The lectures were cancelled due to unknown reasons. Radio Free Asia reported that this is similar to the experience of the Chinese political cartoonist Ba Ducao, whose solo exhibition in Hong Kong got cancelled earlier.

Ma Jian was scheduled to attend two lectures on Saturday at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival held at Hong Kong’s Grand Pavilion, but he said on a social networking site on Wednesday that “due to unknown reasons” the two literary exchanges were cancelled. He also said that if the event address was changed, he would inform the participants, provided that he was not missing.

According to a Deutsche Welle report, the Hong Kong Grand Assembly explained that they do not want to see the big hall become a platform for any individual to promote their political interests, but will help the organizers to find a more suitable venue. Some in the general public expressed the belief that this was another public event cancelled for politically sensitive reasons.

Ma Jian was originally prepared, during the lectures, to publicize his new book, “The Chinese Dream.” This book is in response to the “Chinese Dream” that Xi Jinping proposed. The work describes “a country facing materialism and violent history.” The British Penguin Press evaluated the book as “creating a biting satire on totalitarianism.”

Many of Ma Jian’s works have been banned in the mainland, including the novel “Beijing Coma” which explores the background of the June 4th Tiananmen Square incident. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages and have been published worldwide. In 2011, the Chinese government also banned Ma Jian from entering the country.

Earlier this month, the Chinese political cartoonist Badiucao (巴丢草)’s first international solo exhibition “Gongle” was also cancelled because the organizers claimed that the Beijing authorities threatened them.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 8, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/kejiaowen/hc-11082018094703.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

PLA Daily: Army to Transition into the Type Oriented toward a “Proactive Strategy”

On November 12, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Daily, the official voice of the Chinese military, published an opinion article titled, “Promoting the Transition of an Army into the Type Oriented toward a ‘Proactive Strategy.’”

“For a long time, the army has grown with the background of ‘active defense’ warfare, carrying out a ‘shield’ style of build-up and readiness. That is, the army has only passively responded when the enemy entered the country. This type of army is looking at the borders of the territory; its combat guideline is ‘defending the country and fighting against aggression.’ As history enters into the 21st century, the form of warfare is undergoing accelerated and profound changes. The development of the army must be based on the country’s strategic needs. It should have the courage to become the ‘backbone’ of information warfare and take the initiative to transition into the type that has a ‘proactive strategy.’”

“This strategy means planning and designing. It means to take the initiative, instead of relying on external forces, to make strategic plans and calculations. The army that has a ‘proactive strategy’ is in line with the trend of the evolution of the world’s military. It focuses on national strategic needs, works for the goal of ‘protecting its territory and its interests,’ proactively designs land warfare, and actively plans the development of a powerful modern new-type army.”

“Such an army has distinct characteristics: a strong sense of crisis, … a vast and broad strategic vision, … and a forward-looking land warfare design.”

Source: People’s Liberation Army Daily, November 12, 2018
http://www.81.cn/theory/2018-11/12/content_9341890.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

RFA: Silicon Valley Said No to Wuzhen

Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported that the Fifth World Internet Conference was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province, starting on November 7. Other than the CEO of Qualcomm, a U.S. chip maker, who attended the Conference and delivered a speech, no high-ranking officers from Silicon Valley showed up. Apparently, this was due to the trade war between China and the U.S. In fact, many of these companies were very upset about China’s continuous dishonest behavior, such as stealing intellectual property from them. This is one of the main triggering causes of the trade war. Some experts expressed the belief that it’s ironic for China, a country that blocks billions of netizens from freely accessing international websites, to host the international Internet conference year after year. Bill Xia, the President of a U.S. internet freedom product (Freegate) company, commented in an RFA interview that China has been hiding behind the ridiculous excuse of “internet sovereignty” to hammer freedom of speech and to apply tight controls over its own citizens.

Source: RFA Chinese, November 8, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/meiti/nu-11082018094230.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Information/Technology US-China Relations

The Canton Fair Showed a 30 Percent Decline in Exports to the U.S.

Sofreight, a Chinese national logistics and shipping information site, recently reported that, when the 124th Canton Fair (also known as the China Import and Export Fair) closed, it showed a decline of over 30 percent, to US$279 million, in the level of exports to the United States. Also, in addition to the decline of U.S. buyer attendance, the attendance of buyers from other major economies also saw a significant decline. Compared to last year, European Union buyers declined by 3.93 percent, the U.S. buyers declined by 4.07 percent, and Hong Kong declined by 6.34 percent. The Canton Fair has historically been the primary barometer to measure China’s international trade health. The export level reflected in the Fair was in line with what was demonstrated in the recent Chinese export PMI numbers. In October, the Chinese export orders index under its PMI score reached the lowest point since 2016. According to a Fair internal survey conducted by the Zhejiang Province delegation among their own 4,690 companies that participated in the Canton Fair, over 60 percent of the companies have 10 percent or more revenue dependency on exports to the U.S. Around 15 percent of companies have over 80 percent dependency on U.S. exports. Around 66 percent of the companies surveyed expected an export decline of 10 percent or more.

Source: Sofreight, November 9, 2018
http://www.sofreight.com/news_28534.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources US-China Relations

BBC Chinese: Asian Stock Markets Declined after China’s New Promises

BBC Chinese recently reported that the China International Import Expo (CIIE) started on November 5. In a keynote address, Chinese leadership made promises to open up the country’s domestic market and to lower tariffs. China intends to broaden its imports and strengthen the protection of intellectual property. In the next 15 years, China expects to import over US$30 trillion worth of goods and US$10 trillion worth of services. However, many experts pointed out that China’s promises lacked tangible action items and a clear timetable. The nearby Asian stock markets reflected the concerns of the analysts. Immediately after the CIIE opening keynote address, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 2.65 percent, while both the Shanghai Composite Index and the Shenzhen Component Index fell more than 1 percent. The Tokyo stock market fell 1.3 percent, and Singapore fell 1.8 percent. Right before the CIIE, these stock markets all increased due to the fact that U.S. President Trump commented positively on an on-going dialogue with China. However, the Chinese message appeared to be disappointing.

Source: BBC Chinese, November 5, 2018
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-46094238

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

Beijing’s Mouthpiece Charges “Crimes” of Social Media

China Central Television (CCTV), China’s official TV network, recently aired a program that listed “six major crimes” of social media. The official newspaper People’s Daily also published an article criticizing social media. They are indications that the authorities are ready to “clean up” social media. CCTV also mentioned that the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission (CCAC), the Chinese Communist Party’s policy and implementation arm of Internet regulations, will strengthen the supervision of social media.

The “six crimes” that CCTV listed include: being vulgar and pornographic, using sensational article titles, creating and spreading rumors, adopting black PR (influential netizens hired to use postings to support or attack some companies), paying for readership, and plagiarism.

The People’s Daily article also pointed out three problems of social media, including extortion, plagiarism, and a large volume of deception.

A CCAC official was quoted as saying, “In the next step, the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission will coordinate relevant authorities and work harder.  …  It will carry out special rectification activities of the social media, strictly punish the illegal accounts according to the law, resolutely curb the chaos in the media, maintain the normal order of the Internet communications, and create a clean, positive, healthy, and orderly cyberspace.”

Source: Radio France International, November 11, 2018
http://rfi.my/3JsG.T

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Territorial Ownership a State Secret?

Recently, an article titled “Chinese People Have No Right to Know Their Territorial Map” sparked heated discussions on social media. The article told the story of an independent history researcher, Yin Minhong, who requested disclosure from the Chinese Foreign Ministry regarding the territorial ownership of the Tannu Uriankhai region on the Sino-Russian border. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the request on the grounds that it “involved secrecy.”

Yin Minhong made the request in August of 2017.  He told the BBC Chinese that he was hoping that the Chinese authorities would give a legal explanation of whether Tannu Uriankhai is still a territory that China has not given up, and whether there is hope to reclaim it.

Tannu Uriankhai (Chinese: 唐努乌梁海) was a historic region in the Mongolian Empire and, later, the Qing dynasty. It is located north of Xinjiang and northwest of Mongolia, an area near the Tuva Republic under today’s Russia. During World War II, the area became an independent state. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country remained in the Russian Federation as an autonomous republic. Neither the People’s Republic of China nor Taiwan has made a clear statement on the sovereignty of the land.

The letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “According to Articles 14 and 21 of the Regulations on the Openness of Government Information of the People’s Republic of China, the information you applied for is confidential and does not belong to the scope of government information disclosure.”

In March 2018, Yin made appeals to the Beijing No.3 Intermediate People’s Court and later to the Beijing Municipal High People’s Court, but the courts decided not to accept his case.

Yin told BBC Chinese, “The signing of a territorial treaty is diplomatic state behavior, but the treaty that was signed belongs to government information.”

Si Weijiang, a lawyer in Shanghai, told BBC Chinese that, according to China’s secrecy system, whether a document is confidential or not can be determined by the authority that issued the document or by the Bureau of State Secrecy. “However,” Si said, “Every citizen should have the right to know information such as national territory and borders.”

Source: BBC Chinese, November 7, 2018
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-46120157

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics