Chinascope – Page 558

Global Times: Multiple Countries Found North Korean Diplomats Violated Local Laws

Global Times recently reported, based on South Korean media reports, that quite a few North Korean diplomats have violated the local laws in several countries and have attempted to avoid the local authorities’ punishment. For example, when the governments of Laos and Egypt were implementing United Nations resolutions on sanctioning North Korea, those countries expelled some people registered as North Korean diplomats due to their illegal activities. Also, the North Korean embassies in Romania, Germany, and Poland have often used the embassies’ real estate for commercial activities, which is not allowed under the local laws. The Bulgarian government officially announced that Bulgaria will fully comply with the UN resolutions and has asked the North Korean embassy to bring down its personnel size. Bulgaria also required North Korea not to use its real estate properties for any purposes other than diplomatic activities.

Source: Global Times, March 23, 2017
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2017-03/10366872.html

Briefings | | March 27, 2017 | Geo-Strategic Trend

South China Morning Post: Son Committed Murder to Save His Mom

The South China Morning Post carried an article about an incident involving a young man who killed the people who were harassing and assaulting him and his mother because she could not repay her debt which included interest at the rate of 10 percent per month. The article resulted in widespread attention on the Internet.

Su Yingxia, a businesswoman in Shandong Province was unable to pay back 135 million yuan (US$19.63 million) an amount which included interest that accumulated at the rate of 10 percent per month on money she borrowed from a private company. On April 14, 2016, 11 debt collectors surrounded her and her 22 year old son Yu Huan and harassed them for over an hour. The debt collectors hurled verbal abuse at them, slapped their faces, and beat them. The mother was sexually insulted in front of her son. According to the eye witness, after the police arrived at the scene, they told the debt collectors that it is fine to try to collect the debt but they can’t beat people up. Then the police just left. Realizing that the police were not going to do anything, Yu Huan grabbed a knife and stabbed four people. One of them died on the way to the hospital and three others were injured. On February 17, 2017, Yu Huan was sentenced to life imprisonment and is currently appealing his case.

The article also disclosed that both the owner of the private firm and the collector who was killed had connections with a gang organization. The private firm was registered in the name of a real estate company but in its operations it sold high interest rate loans and had a debt collection business in which it hired local unemployed people. After the incident, 22 companies in the region came up with over 100,000 yuan (US$ 14,540) in donations to help Su Yingxia with her son’s legal fees because they had had similar experiences and were sympathetic about her situation.

There were over 250 comments posted about the article. People were sad and disappointed. Some expressed anger towards the police for failing to stop the tragedy. Some people praised the South China Morning Post for having the courage to be the first media to cover the story.

Source: South China Morning Post, March 24, 2017
http://www.infzm.com/content/123659

Briefings | | March 27, 2017 | Social Stability

Global Times: China Warns U.S. Bomber upon Its Entering ADIZ in East China Seas

Global Times, a subsidiary of the Chinese Communist Party official newspaper People’s Daily, reported on its website on March 23 that China issued warnings to a U.S. bomber that had entered the Chinese Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea.

Global Times cited CNN reports that Chinese officials told the pilots that they were illegally operating in Chinese airspace and ordered the U.S. air force plane to leave. According to CNN, the US plane was flying 70 nautical miles southwest of South Korea’s Jeju Island.

Global Times quoted a U.S. Pacific Air Forces spokesperson as saying to CNN, “Pacific Air Forces did not recognize the Chinese Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) when it was announced in November of 2013, and does not recognize it today.” The spokesperson also told CNN, “The ADIZ has not changed our operations.”

Global Times did not mention the U.S. pilots’ response, in which they told Chinese air traffic controllers that they were conducting routine operations in international airspace and they did not deviate from their flight path. Nor did Global Times quote CNN’s mentioning that Japan does not recognize China’s ADIZ either.

Source: Global Times, March 23, 2017
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2017-03/10363742.html

Briefings | | March 27, 2017 | Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

VOA: Newly Elected Hong Kong Executive Will Face Challenges in Carrying out Her Policies

VOA carried an article about the election on Sunday, March 26, for Hong Kong’s Chief Executive. The article noted that, based on its analysis, Carrie Lam, the newly elected Chief Executive will face challenges in carrying out her policies because Beijing wanted her to be in that position even though she was far behind in the polls compared to her opponent John Tsang. The article stated that the Hong Kong election is also called a “limited election” because a committee made the decision; it consists of 70 members of Hong Kong’s legislative chamber and a mix of professionals, and business and trade elites. The article said that Sunday’s end result was “just as expected” and “with no surprises.” Carrie Lam, former Chief Secretary for the Administration of the Hong Kong SAR Government, won the election after gaining 777 votes (out of a total of 1,163 votes cast). The other two candidates were John Tsang, the former Finance secretary, who also led in the public opinion polls and and Woo Kwok-hing, a retired judge. Tsang had 365 votes and Woo Kwok-hing had 21 votes. According to the article, at the last minute, Beijing worked hard to put pressure on the business committee members to convince them to switch their position. This made Carrie Lam’s votes a lot higher than expected. Leung Kwok-hung, a member of the Legislative Council, told VOA that Beijing controlled the election. He explained that, according to a number of major Hong Kong media, even though Carrie Lam was 20 to 30 percent behind John Tsang in the polls one week before the election, Carrie Lam still won. Leung told VOA, “She had Beijing’s support, which might work against her in Hong Kong if she plans to execute her plans.” Another independent legislator told VOA that Lam winning the election will force Hong Kong to split even further and she will have a hard time managing Hong Kong. The article said that Carrie Lam is also called “Leung Chun-ying 2.0” because she claimed that one of her reasons to enter the election was that she wishes to continue the policies of Leung Chun-ying the incumbent Chief Executive. The author also interviewed Joshua Wong Chi-fung, the student activist who serves as secretary general of Demosistō, who told VOA that Beijing has been manipulating the election and that therefore, in the future, it will have to face more resistance from Hong Kong’s youth.

Source: Voice of America, March 26, 2017
http://www.voachinese.com/a/hong-kong-election-/3782234.html

Briefings | | March 27, 2017 | Government/Politics

Duowei: Why Beijing Reversed Its Plan to Set Up an Environmental Monitoring Station at Scarborough Shoal

On March 11, Xiao Jie, the Party Secretary of Sansha City in Hainan Province revealed that, in 2017, Sansha City will start an early operation to set up an Environmental Monitoring Station at Scarborough Shoal. However, at her regular press conference on March 22, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying denied the news, saying that the report regarding the monitoring station at the Scarborough Shoal was false and there is no such a plan.

What caused China’s sudden change of plans for Scarborough Shoal?

First of all, a breakthrough is expected soon on the negotiations on the South China Sea code of conduct. China’s aggressive actions at Scarborough Shoal at this time would surely raise concerns among ASEAN countries.

Second is the Philippines factor. After Duterte took office, Sino-Philippine diplomatic relations began to warm up. If China were to take action at Scarborough Shoal at this time, it would inevitably affect the development of bilateral relations.

Third is the U.S. factor. Scholars of Sino-U.S. strategic relations have a saying, “The day when China works on Scarborough Shoal is the day that China and the United States have a showdown in the South China Sea.” The current tension in the South China Sea dispute has led both China and the United States to strengthen military deployment in the South China Sea. So far, China’s island expansion and the United States’ military patrols to maintain freedom of navigation are controlled below the limit of any direct conflict. Scarborough Shoal seems to have become a red line in the South China Sea.

In addition, Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the United States next month. Any move at Scarborough Shoal at this time would destroy the friendly atmosphere of the Sino-U.S. meeting.

Source: Duowei News, March 24, 2017
http://global.dwnews.com/news/2017-03-24/59807107.html

Briefings | | March 24, 2017 | Geo-Strategic Trend

CNA: Taiwan Voices Concern over U.S.-China Signing 4th Communiqué on “One China” Principal

Taiwan’s government urged the U.S. not to sign a new joint communiqué with China that would require Washington to acknowledge Beijing’s “one China” principle. Central News Agency (CNA), Taiwan’s state-owned news agency, reported on this issue on March 22. Rumors have been circulating that the U.S. and China could sign a fourth communiqué at the upcoming meeting between the two countries’ leaders next month.

“Signing of a fourth communiqué at the upcoming meeting would be unwise,” said Taiwan’s Foreign Minister David Lee during a Legislative Yuan inquiry on Wednesday, “We hope the U.S. does not regress on its ‘one China’ policy.” According to Lee, the U.S. government replied to Taiwan’s concerns but the contents of the official response were unsuitable for publication.

Singapore’s leading Chinese newspaper Zaobao reported that Chao Chun-shan, president of the Taiwan-based Foundation of Asia-Pacific Peace Studies, downplayed the chances of a fourth communiqué being signed at the U.S.-China summit in April. Chao noted that the two countries’ top priorities will be U.S.-China trade issues and tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Sources: Central News Agency, March 22, 2017
http://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/201703220144-1.aspx
Zaobao, March 22, 2017
http://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20170322-738882

Briefings | | March 24, 2017 | US-China Relations

Minister of Supervision: It Is Very Dangerous for Entrepreneurs to Seek Political Power

Yang Xiaodu, Deputy Party Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and Minister of Supervision gave a keynote speech at China’s Top Leaders Development Forum. Yang seemed to indicate that the CCDI wants to target some business tycoons and their connections with those having political power.

Yang pointed out that some entrepreneurs are extremely willing to deal with government officials. There are two abnormal situations. “One is when capitalists want to receive special treatment. However, that violates the market economy’s fair competition principle.” “Another one is when capitalists seek political power after grabbing economic power. This is very dangerous.”

“China’s enterprises have huge wealth, but the purpose is to benefit the public and society … It cannot become a tool and a means to corrupt government officials for the sake of their own enterprise’s interests.”

Source: The Paper, March 18, 2017
http://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1642345

Briefings | | March 23, 2017 | Government/Politics

CCDI Started “Skynet 2017”

The Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) started its “Skynet 2017” operations on March 7. “Skynet” is a campaign to bring corrupt officials who hide overseas back to China. CCDI carries out this operation every year.

The CCDI website explained that this year’s operation focuses on three things: money, ID, and people.

“The majority of criminal suspects tried to transfer money overseas before they left China. The campaign targets off-shore companies and underground banks to block the channels used for getting stolen money out of China.

“’Skynet 2017’ closely watches people’s IDs. As part of its routine work, it includes oversight of illegally obtained passports and IDs and the government officials’ private passports.

“It closely monitors people. It will strengthen the monitoring of key corruption suspects and people who can provide valuable tips so that a slight leak of information will prevent the suspect from escaping.”

Sources:
1. CCDI Website, March 8, 2017
http://www.ccdi.gov.cn/yw/201703/t20170308_95390.html
2. CCDI Website, March 8, 2017
http://www.ccdi.gov.cn/yw/201703/t20170309_95465.html

Briefings | | March 23, 2017 | Government/Politics

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.