Chinascope – Page 481

As a Result of Tightened Control, Chinese Think Tanks Could Not Give Accurate Assessment of the Trade War

Radio France International carried an article that the South China Morning Post had originally published. The analytical article stated that the reason that the Chinese think tanks gave an incorrect assessment of the trade war was that all these think tanks have to mouth the “party’s voice.” Beijing’s tightened control of ideology on all levels, especially at the college campuses, requires that they must closely follow the party line. Any discussion of government policy without permission could be regarded as “acting wantonly and issuing groundless criticism of the party’s decisions and policies.” It could result in punishment. According to the article, since the top priority of Beijing’s policy is to maintain the party’s power, some policy advisers have avoided in-depth discussions with U.S. think tank researchers and have thus missed the opportunity to understand Washington’s latest thinking and ideas. The article also cited other incorrect approaches that China has taken, including the fact that Beijing hoped to use Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson and Former Secretary of State Kissinger as a “back-door” channel to understand U.S. policy. However, Trump doesn’t even talk to these people. Beijing has seriously underestimated the anti-China sentiment among the upper class in the U.S.

Source: Radio France Internationale, July 27, 2018
http://cn.rfi.fr/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20180727-%E5%8D%97%E6%97%A9%E9%94%99%E8%AF%BB%E7%89%B9%E6%9C%97%E6%99%AE%E6%94%BF%E7%AD%96%E4%B9%83%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E6%99%BA%E5%BA%93%E7%BB%9F%E7%BB%9F%E5%A7%93%E5%85%9A%E7%9A%84%E5%90%8E%E6%9E%9C

Briefings | | July 29, 2018 | US-China Relations

China’s Youth Sinologist Training Program

The Paper.cn, a China based news portal, reported on the three-week long 2018 young sinologist training program that ended on the afternoon of July 27, with a closing ceremony held at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. Thirty-two young sinologists from 27 countries participated in the training.

Scholars from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Fudan University, East China Normal University, Tongji University, and Shanghai International Studies University gave lectures at the training session. The trainees also visited historical, business, and political sites in Shanghai and Beijing.

The Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism hosts the Youth Sinologist Training Program. Launched in 2014, the program has finished 12 sessions, graduating 360 young sinologists from 95 countries. The project “aims to build a global platform to support overseas young Sinologists in conducting China research and to create opportunities for young talent in the field to exchange and cooperate with outstanding Chinese academic, cultural, and educational institutions and scholars and to provide them with convenient and substantive assistance in their research.” It also “takes the opportunity of personnel training to promote long-term and stable relations between the academic institutions of different countries, Chinese institutions, and think tanks, in order to achieve mutual exchanges and mutual learning, and the joint promotion of the development of China studies.” In 2018, the program started its Spring, Summer, and Autumn classes in 6 cities including Chongqing, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Xi’an. The number of trainees this year will exceed 200.

Source: The Paper, July 29, 2018
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2302374

Briefings | | July 29, 2018 | Geo-Strategic Trend

China Brings Digital TV to 10,000 African Villages

At the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2015, China’s President Xi Jinping proposed that China implement the “10 Cooperation Plan” with African countries over the next three years. One of the 10, the Humanities Cooperation Plan, included a proposal “to implement satellite TV projects for 10,000 villages in Africa.”

A recent People’s Daily report gave an update, with quotes from villagers in Kenya, Senegal, and Zambia. They expressed gratitude toward the Chinese government and President Xi for being able to watch TV programs for free using set-top boxes that the Chinese company installed.

According to the report, on July 20, 2018, the local digital TV project was launched in a village in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. According to the plan, the project will select 500 villages in the country and provide digital TV equipment for 1,500 public institutions and 10,000 households without charge, so that villagers can watch TV programs for free. The project is expected to be completed in mid-September, covering 60 percent of the entire Republic of Uganda.

StarTimes Ltd. is the Chinese digital TV service provider that Beijing picked to implement the program. The company is currently connecting digital TV signals for 10,112 villages in 25 African countries. For each village, it will provide two sets of solar projection TV systems and one digital TV system free of charge and will install digital TV set-top boxes for 20 families, also free of charge.

StarTimes has been involved in the African digital TV market for over ten years. As early as 2011, it launched a TV program translation center. The company has developed into a sizable program translation base with nine languages, including Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Swahili, Hausa, Yoruba, Luganda, and Tweed and a capacity for 10,000 hours of programming. It also established a comprehensive content system, with more than 480 channels including internationally renowned channels, Chinese mainstream channels, African local channels and 42 self-operated channels.

The report quoted praise from Zambian president, Edgar Lungu, and Uganda’s First Lady and Cabinet Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni. It also mentioned the upcoming Beijing Summit of FOCAC in September, which will “make new plans for the China-Africa comprehensive strategic partnership.”

Source: People’s Daily, July 27
http://world.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0727/c1002-30173141.html

Briefings | | July 27, 2018 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Scholar: It Is Imperative to Stop Birth Control Completely

In the June 2018 issue of China’s Human Resources and Social Security magazine, Zhou Tianyong, a government scholar at The Institute for International Strategic Studies of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Party School, published an article titled, “It is Imperative to remove birth control requirements completely.” The magazine is a publication of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

“As data that the National Bureau of Statistics released demonstrates, China’s population is facing an increasingly serious situation. The trend can be summarized by three declines, one rise, and one contraction.” As it continued, the article stated, “The first decline is the drop in the birth rate. In 2017 the national birth rate was 12.43 (births per year per 1,000 of population). The number was 12.95 in 2016. The second decline is the decline in the population of newly born babies. The number in 2017 was 630,000 less than in 2016. This is the equivalent of 4 percent fewer newborn babies. The third decline is the decline in fertility. In 2016, China’s fertility rate was only 1.24; the fertility rate in 2017 may be around 1.2.”

According to the article, “One rise refers to an increase in the aging population. In 2017, the population of the country’s population aged 60 and above was 240.9 million, accounting for 17.3 percent of the total population. Of those, 158.31 million were 65 and older, or 11.4 of the population. The population of both 60-plus and 65-plus years-of-age increased by 0.6 percentage points over the previous year.”

“One contraction means that the economically active population continues to shrink. China’s working-age population has continued to decline in proportion of the total population. The working-age population of people in 2017 who were aged between 16 and 59 was 901.99 million, accounting for 64.9 percent of the total population. In 2016, the number was 907.47 million, accounting for 65.6 percent of the total population.”

“Because of the combined effects of the above factors, the current population of China has formed a pattern of an accelerated decline of the birthrate, an increase in the population of the aging, and a shrinkage in the economically active population. The prospects are not optimistic.” “The reasons for this include difficulty in getting a job, the high cost of education, medical care, and housing, as well as the low supply of nurseries and kindergartens. They are important reasons for couples of childbearing age not to consider a second child.”

“In the next five years, with the youth population being reduced by about 30 million, China is likely to show a fast trend of an aging population, even faster than countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The aging of the economy will further put pressure on economic growth, and add to the burden that pensions create on the fiscal and financial systems.”

“It is Imperative to stop birth control completely.”

Source: The Paper, July 21, 2018
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2282278

Briefings | | July 26, 2018 | Economy/Resources

Huanqiu Opinion Article: Taiwan Name Change Referendum Cost Taichung the Right to host East Asian Youth Game

On Tuesday, July 24, the East Asian Olympic Committee voted to rescind an agreement for Taichung Taiwan to host the first-ever East Asian Youth Games in 2019, a decision that was made four years ago in 2014. Huanqiu published an opinion article claiming that the voting result aims at Taiwan’s intent to use politics to influence sports and no one can challenge “Chinese Taipei” as the name to be used at the Olympic Games. It referred to Taiwan’s intent to hold a name change referendum which proposed to change its name from “Chinese Taipei” to “Taiwan” during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The article stated that results of the vote of the eight East Asian Olympic Committee members broadcast the message that the decision “perfectly fit the spirit of Olympics” and the end result is a well-deserved lesson for “Taiwan Independence” forces.

Source: Huanqiu, July 24, 2018
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2018-07/12565479.html

Briefings | | July 25, 2018 | Geo-Strategic Trend

China Leads the World in Mobile Payment Market

Huanqiu reported that, as Apple Pay or Samsung Pay become more popular outside of China, China is still the world’s leading country in the mobile payment industry. It was estimated that in 2017 the net income in China’s mobile payment industry was $98 billion and its mobile payment transaction volume exceeded the volume worldwide for Visa and MasterCard transactions combined. Alipay and Wechat pay are the two leading mobile payment companies in China. Each of them has a monthly transaction volume greater than US$451 billion which was what PayPal made in the full year of 2017. As more Chinese tourists travel overseas, these companies are also expanding their business overseas. According to Nielsen Marketing Research firm data, 65 percent of Chinese tourists use mobile pay while traveling overseas. These mobile payment companies are also reshaping the online marketing channel. Some companies have started to use the mobile payment platform to market their products rather than traditional online marketing. Successful examples include Starbucks, restaurant delivery, and online Taxi services.

Source: Huanqiu, July 23, 2018
http://tech.huanqiu.com/internet/2018-07/12555533.html

Briefings | | July 25, 2018 | Information/Technology

Online Videos Show Veterans from Yantai City of Shandong Province Blocked from Taking Train to Beijing to Petition

Epoch Times reported that, on July 24, a group of veterans from Yantai City of Shandong Province decided to go to Beijing to petition for their pay and medical benefits but they were blocked from entering the train station. The posted videos showed that the group first went to the Yantai Municipal government building but no one from the municipal government came out to meet with them. The group then walked to the Yantai Train station to take the train to Beijing. The staff at the ticket booth in front of the train station refused to sell them train tickets while the police force from Yantai formed a human wall in order to block the veterans from entering the train station. One representative told Epoch Times, “We are legal citizens. The Communist Party oversees the train station yet they wouldn’t even sell train tickets to us. What are their grounds? What are they afraid of? . . . All of the officials are afraid that they might be investigated for corruption. All they are concerned about is to maintain stability.” Epoch Times reported that, on the same day, a group of veterans from Zhengzhou City of Henan Province also went to the Zhengzhou Municipal government to appeal for their rights. In June, several thousand veterans from Zhenjiang City in Jiangsu Province went to the local municipal building to appeal but the police force violently beat them up. There are nine videos embedded within the Epoch Times article. They contain live footage of how the veterans were treated. For example, the one that is 22 seconds shows the human wall that the police created.

Source: Epoch Times, July 24, 2018
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/18/7/24/n10587165.htm

Briefings | | July 25, 2018 | Social Stability

Chosun: China Strengthened Economic Support to North Korea

South Korea’s largest newspaper Chosun recently published two reports in its Chinese Edition on significantly increased support from China to the North Korean economy. After Kim Jong-un’s third visit to China in June, China reopened its aid in the form of fertilizer, food, and cooking oil. It was part of China’s promise of “large scale” aid. The fertilizer volume could have set a record high already, surpassing the 200,000 tons peak volume in 2013. The crude oil supply from China to North Korea is now at the pace of 80,000 tons per month, which is the equivalent of an annual volume of 960,000 tons. The UN sanctions set the annual ceiling at 560,000 tons. Many people witnessed that a large number of iron ore trucks entered China in June. The United Nations currently bans North Korea from exporting iron ore. Also, starting July 10, North Korea established a free trade market in Rason City, which borders with China. Chinese citizens are allowed into the market without a visa. Aquatic products are currently the most popular item in that market. This is an important channel for North Korea to obtain foreign currencies.

Sources: Chosun
{1} July 20, 2018.
http://cnnews.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?cate=C01&mcate=M1001&nNewsNumb=20180750154&nidx=50155
{2} July 19, 2018.
http://cnnews.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?cate=C01&mcate=M1002&nNewsNumb=20180750142&nidx=50143

Briefings | | July 24, 2018 | Geo-Strategic Trend

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.