Chinascope – Page 487

Huanqiu: France and Britain to Sail Warships to South China Sea to Satisfy their Sense of Presence in the Region

On June 4, the South China Morning Post reported that France and Britain would sail warships into the contested South China Sea to challenge Beijing. The announcement was made at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore “echoing the latest U.S. plan to ramp up its freedom of navigation operations to counter Beijing’s militarization in the region and its stance that territorial disputes should be a matter between China and its Asian neighbors.” An article, which Huanqiu published on June 5, quoted comments that a Chinese scholar made. He stated that the move that France and Britain took was just trying to “satisfy their sense of presence” in the region. “This is an obvious proactive move. What do Britain and France have to do with anything in the South China Sea? … China has never interfered with properly exercising Freedom of Navigation in the South China Sea. … The Asia Pacific region is a hot topic. Perhaps Britain and France want to gain advantages on certain political issues. … They don’t want to be left alone and lose their ‘influence.”

Sources:
1. Huanqiu, June 5, 2018
http://mil.huanqiu.com/world/2018-06/12173267.html
2. South China Morning Post, June 4, 2018
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2149062/france-britain-sail-warships-contested-south-china-sea

Briefings | | June 6, 2018 | Geo-Strategic Trend

RFI: Air China to Resume Direct Flights between Beijing and Pyongyang

Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported on Air China’s announcement that it will resume direct flights three times a week between Beijing and Pyongyang out of a “business consideration.” RFI quoted an article that the Korean Associated Press published which stated that the reason that Beijing wants to resume direct flight was, “China felt that it was often neglected during the preparation for the upcoming U.S. and DPRK summit. China hopes to send a friendly signal so its diminishing influence on Korean Peninsula affairs will be restored.”

Source: Radio France Internationale, June 5, 2018
http://cn.rfi.fr/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20180605-%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%9B%BD%E9%99%85%E8%88%AA%E7%A9%BA%E5%85%AC%E5%8F%B8%E9%87%8D%E5%90%AF%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC%E5%92%8C%E5%B9%B3%E5%A3%A4%E9%97%B4%E8%88%AA%E7%BA%BF

Briefings | | June 6, 2018 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Pou Chen Corporation Exited Mainland China

Taiwanese news site Mirror Media recently reported that leading footwear manufacturer Pou Chen has completed its exit from Mainland China. Pou Chen is the largest branded athletic and casual footwear manufacturer in the world. It does OEM manufacturing for major global labels such as Nike, Adidas, Asics, Clarks, Reebok, Puma, New Balance, Crocs, Merrell, Timberland, Converse, and Salomon. Pou Chen makes one out of every five athletic and casual shoes. It started changing its Mainland China operating strategy a few years ago, switching from running production lines to primarily providing distribution channels. By now all footwear production lines have stopped and all Pou Chen owned hotel businesses in the Mainland have been sold as well. Pou Chen Corporation has completely exited the Mainland market. Some industrial land ownership still remain in the hands of Pou Chen; it plans to sell to or jointly develop them with real estate construction companies. Pou Chen currently has a large amount of cash in hand. The next investment plan is to build museums in Taiwan.

Source: Mirror Media, May 29, 2018
https://www.mirrormedia.mg/story/201180529fin004/

Briefings | | June 5, 2018 | Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

Haiwainet.cn Commentary Calls U.S. Navy Warships Recent Presence in South China Sea “Escalation of Unprecedented Provocative Action” against China

On May 27, Reuters first reported that two U.S. Navy warships, the Higgins guided-missile destroyer and the Antietam, a guided-missile cruiser, came within 12 nautical miles in the region where China has territorial disputes with its neighbors. The article called it “an operation that is the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing’s efforts to limit freedom of navigation in those strategic waters.” On May 28, Haiwainet.cn, People’s Daily Overseas edition, published a commentary article that Hu Bo wrote. Hu is a research director at the Institute of Ocean Research at Peking University. The article stated that the latest move of the U.S. Navy is an obvious escalation in its action to challenge China’s sovereignty in the South China Sea islands. It called the move “provocative,” and “unprecedented.” It stated that “the U.S. is uneasy with China’s growing military power in the South China Sea.” The author predicted that the U.S. will increase its presence in the region and will take more “direct and rough” provocative actions against China. As to how China should react to the threat, the article said that China has no other way except to continue to exercise its ability in the area of self-defense. According to the article, “Since the U.S. is concerned about the narrowing of the power gap between China and the U.S. in the South China Sea, the conflict and standoff could be a long term and perhaps a direct fight between China and the U.S. This could be a healthy move for the relationship between the two countries.”

Sources:
1. Reuters, May 28, 2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-military-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-warships-sail-near-south-china-sea-islands-claimed-by-beijing-idUSKCN1IS07W
2. Huawainet.cn, May 29, 2018
http://opinion.haiwainet.cn/n/2018/0529/c456317-31324545.html

Briefings | | June 4, 2018 | US-China Relations

Huanqiu: 14 African Countries to Include the RMB as a Reserve Currency

Huanqiu reported that, according to a statement that MEFMI (Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa) issued, on May 29 and 30, during a forum held in Harare, capital of Zimbabwe, 17 officials from the central bank and government of 14 Africa countries were going to discuss the feasibility of using the RMB (Chinese Yuan) as a reserve currency. The spokesperson of MEFMI said that China has become the largest trading partner for more than 130 countries and regions. Most of the MEFMI members received loans or donations from China; therefore using the RMB for repayment was economically significant. The Huanqiu article also quoted reports from Reuters that China’s strategic goal is to make the RMB the world’s major foreign reserve currency and to help increase foreign investors’ purchases of Chinese bonds and stocks. Earlier this year several central banks in European countries made the RMB part of their foreign reserve. According to the Huanqiu article, over 60 countries and regions have included the RMB as their reserve currency.

Source: Huanqiu, May 30, 2018
https://3w.huanqiu.com/a/a-XDHTCG28521A4D935603B3?agt=11

Briefings | | June 4, 2018 | Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics

VOA: Tibetan Monk’s Testimony Describes Torture and Sexual Abuse Inside a “Re-education Camp”

In the same week that the U.S. State Department issued the “International Religious Freedom Report for 2017,” VOA published an article reporting that the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy published the testimony of a Tibetan monk who, for four months, had been forced to take the “patriotism” and “legal education” training in a “political re-education center” in Tibet. The monk’s testimony recounted that what went on behind the hidden walls included torture and sexual abuse. According to the monk, those who had to attend the center had to buy their uniforms with their own money. Just like the rest of the participants, the monk had to acknowledge that he believed in the Communist Party. They all had to sing red songs and deliver a “self-criticism” speech in front of each other. The political re-education training included courses to learn mandarin and the law, but the majority of the contents was material that defamed the Dalai Lama. Those who attended had to take military training during the day and participate in meetings organized in the “Cultural Revolution” style at night. If the elderly nuns or monks were late or missed an activity, they were beaten. Sexual abuse of the nuns was common. Other inhuman treatment included forcing them to eat stale food, collective punishment, deprivation of food and sleep, and beating them with electric batons.

Source: Voice of America, June 1, 2018
https://www.voachinese.com/a/tibetan-monks-torture-sexual-abuse-china-reeducation-center-20180601/4420431.html

Briefings | | June 4, 2018 | Government/Politics

Apple Daily: China’s Vice Premier Liu He and His Negotiation Position

Major Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily recently published an analysis which senior Chinese journalist Lu Yue authored on China’s Vice Premier Liu He and his position on trade. Liu is currently the Special Envoy of President Xi Jinping and China’s Chief Negotiator for trade negotiations with the United States. Liu was a two-time student (1994 and 2002) at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he obtained his Master’s degree in Public Administration. Liu was also Xi’s economic adviser for ten years when Xi was the government official in Fujian Province. This background gives Liu the unquestionable justification to take the lead position in the on-going US-China trade negotiation. In the Chinese leadership domain, he is regarded as “half a Standing Committee Member” of the Communist Party’s Politburo.

In the current “trade war” with the United States, China’s top leadership did not step out and make any direct comment on any tactics. The ones making noise are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, Customs, and the Chinese media. A careful examination reveals that not all of these entities are in the domain that reports to Liu. Liu is essentially against taking on a full-blown trade war with the U.S. because it might result in a loss that could trigger a total collapse of the Chinese economy. Liu built his judgment on three factors: First is the fact that China did not fulfill the promises it made to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Second, China can sustain the trade war only to US$150 billion, which is the total amount that China imports from the U.S. The third factor is that the United States can find a substitute elsewhere for all goods that the U.S. imports from China, while most of the goods that China imports from the U.S. are critical at the life-line level. This is especially so in the high-tech product category. China, as an information society, may cease to function if the U.S. expands its export ban on ZTE to all Chinese buyers. It would be a better situation for China to accept Trump’s conditions and then use those as a driver to push much needed internal reforms.

Liu’s current negotiation strategy is “overall compromise coupled with partial discussions.” He is extremely good at working out convincing details in the numbers, which was the reason his 15-minute meeting with Trump got extended to 45 minutes. As an example, Liu offered US$60 billion worth of agricultural purchases when the U.S “ask price” was US$30 billion. China’s refusal to commit to $200 billion in trade deficit reduction was largely a PR show.

Source: Apple Daily, May 31, 2018
https://hk.news.appledaily.com/local/daily/article/20180531/20406367

Briefings | | June 2, 2018 | Economy/Resources US-China Relations

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.