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Well-known Taiwanese Newspaper Liberty Times Network (LTN) recently summarized a number of reports from multiple sources on the surprising move that the pro-mainland Hong Kong newspaper Sing Pao Daily News made, suggesting that the sitting Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying is the true “Father of Hong Kong Independence.” Leung Chun-ying is widely considered to be a “puppet” of the Communist mainland, and Sing Pao Daily News is traditionally a typical pro-mainland newspaper. The shocking finger-pointing from Sing Pao happened right before the Hong Kong Legislative Council Election. Sing Pao accused Leung of exaggerating the seriousness of the Hong Kong Independence Movement to prove his own importance. Sing Pao also called for an investigation of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong, which is the office representing the Beijing central government.
Source: Liberty Times Network, September 2, 2016
http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/1813583
Xinhua, in a recent press interview, reported that Gao Hucheng, the Minster of Commerce, revealed China’s plan to establish seven more pilot free trade zones. China currently has Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin, and Fujian as pilot free trade zones. Gao explained the functions of the new ones in his interview. The Liaoning Zone is to breathe new life into the traditional Northeast industrial region; the Zhejiang Zone will focus on building a free-trade port; the Henan Zone will develop a modern transportation and logistics hub; the Hubei Zone will take on new high-tech industries; the Chongqing Zone will establish a strategic bridge deep into Southwest China; the Sichuan Zone will facilitate joint-development across major open cities in Western China; the Shanxi Zone will mainly promote the “One Belt, One Road” strategy for international connections with the nearby inland countries. The new zones will continue the “Negative List Management” approach to encourage open and free trade unless banned under the negative lists in the zones.
Source: Xinhua, August 31, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2016-08/31/c_1119488723.htm
BBC Chinese recently reported on an agreement that the United States and India signed, and also on a deal settled between China and Pakistan. The U.S. and Indian military reached an agreement on August 30 to allow the military bases of both sides to provide logistical support to each other. The agreement was designed to ease the mission of protecting freedom of navigation in international waters. On August 31, it was widely reported across Pakistan that the Pakistan Navy reported to the Pakistan’s National Assembly Defense Committee that it will acquire eight advanced submarines from China before 2028. This arms deal is worth around US$4 billion to US$5 billion. The construction of four of the submarines will take place in Karachi and China will transfer the technological know-how to Pakistan. Pakistan currently has eight submarines, which are all outdated.
Source: BBC Chinese, August 31, 2016
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world/2016/08/160831_pakistan_china_submarines
Source: BBC Chinese, August 30, 2016
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world/2016/08/160830_indai_usa_military_agreement
Boxun published an article titled “Zhongnanhai Insider: To Prevent a Coup Before He Left Beijing for the G20; Xi Jinping Did a Lot of Thinking.” It stated, “According to the article, Xi Jinping, China’s current top leader, visited strategic resources in the army yesterday in high profile and posed for a photo with all representatives and military officers above the division level.” Boxun claimed that an insider from Beijing said Xi had arranged this army visit to prevent “a backyard fire” or “a palace coup.” Xi has repeatedly pressured the high level officials to be loyal, but are they absolutely reliable? Boxun cited an insider’s words: “At the last moment who will really be laughing?” “Everything is changing!”
According to Radio of Free Asia (RFA) on August 16, 2016 and Voice of America on August 18, 2016, an unofficial Chinese website called Huanqiuzhiyin (Global Sound) based in Mainland China, published a long article saying that opposing a coup is the important political work that will need to receive special attention now and into the future. The original Huanqiuzhiyin article is no long available online. The article once again confirmed that the internal fighting within the top-level leadership of the Chinese Communist Party is far more intense than outsiders can imagine.