Chinascope – Page 64

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry Confirms China’s MSS Hacked Presidential Office

South Korea’s newspaper of record Dong-a Ilbo reported that China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) hacked the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs last January and leaked 4.5GB of emails. The hacking took place during former President Moon Jae-in’s presidency. South Korean authorities admitted that the attack came from China and said that the MSS also infiltrated the computer network at Korea’s Blue House presidential office.

The Dong-A Ilbo report quoted a South Korean government source saying that an investigation by Korea’s National Intelligence Service concluded that MSS was behind the attack. To pull off the hack, the MSS exploited vulnerabilities in spam-blocking equipment. This gives South Korea strong evidence that China was trying to steal confidential information regarding Korea’s government and presidential office.

Korea’s foreign ministry confirmed that emails were leaked but said they “did not contain any secrets” and were mostly personal spam. However, the Korean investigation found evidence that the MSS attempted to go further with its hacking, “trying to invade the [Korean] Wa Dae computer network to gain access to confidential documents from the South Korean Ministry of National Defense.” According to the article, the South Korean government has been aware of the hacking since January 2022. An ally notified South Korea through intelligence channels that there were signs of Chinese hackers breaching the foreign ministry, and the incoming Yoon administration immediately investigated.

Analysts suggest the vulnerability to cyber-attacks may have been a motivating factor behind President Yoon’s decision to move the Korean presidential residence from the historic Blue House to the Ministry of Defense Building.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 10, 2023
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/kr-hacker-11102023020930.html

Briefings | | November 15, 2023 | Defense/Military

RFA: China’s October Exports Continued Trend of Decline

Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported that the latest data released by China’s General Administration of Customs shows China’s exports fell in October by 6.4 percent year-over year in US dollar-terms. Imports increased by 3.0 percent during the same period.

Exports from China to major trading partners such as the European Union, the United States, and Japan all declined during the first ten months of 2023. In October, China’s trade surplus was US$56.53 billion, a 30.8 percent reduction year-over-year. China’s exports have now fallen for six consecutive months.

During the first ten months of 2023, China’s exports to the ASEAN group (China’s top trading partner) increased by 0.6 percent. Meanwhile, exports to the EU, the United States and Japan (China’s 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-ranked trading partners), fell by 5 percent, 9.9 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.

China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) deficit in the third quarter of 2023 was US$11.8 billion. This is the first time that China’s foreign exchange regulatory authorities have recorded an FDI deficit since they began compiling data in 1998. As the United States has ramped up its technology blockade against China, companies have accelerated the relocation of their supply chains away from China, replacing China’s position in the supply chain with countries in Southeast Asia or Mexico. Due to Mexico’s proximity to the North American market, even Mainland China companies have been moving production to Mexico.

Currently, more than US$1 trillion from Wall Street private equity funds is locked up in China, and Chinese companies like Evergrande have refused to repay their bonds. Such debt defaults have greatly shaken foreign businesses’ confidence and willingness to invest in China. Many U.S. investment banks worry that their investments may need to be written off as donations.

Source: RFA, November 7, 2023
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jingmao/hcm-11072023082542.html

Briefings | | November 14, 2023 | Economy/Resources

Lianhe Zaobao: People in Over 20 Countries Favor the United States Over China

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey comparing people’s views on China and the United States in 24 countries, most people support the United States far more than China.

Most respondents had a more favorable impression of U.S. President Joe Biden than of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Around 56 percent were more confident in how Biden has handled foreign affairs, while 19 percent were more confident in Xi Jinping than Biden. Across 24 countries, including Japan, Canada and Mexico, more people believe that the United States is more likely than China to consider their own country’s interests.

In countries such as South Korea, the United Kingdom, and India, the greater portion of respondents believe that the United States has contributed more to global peace and stability than China. The survey found that China has a poor image in North America, Europe and Asia, but a better image in Africa and Latin America. High-income countries tend to favor the United States more. In Japan and South Korea there are gaps of 57 percent and 62 percent, respectively, between the portions of respondents who support the United States versus those who support China. Even in the majority of middle-income countries, respondents are more confident in Biden than in Xi Jinping, with the exception of Indonesia and Hungary, where the U.S. and Chinese leaders were nearly tied in terms of respondent perceptions.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, November 7, 2023
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/world/story20231107-1448477

Briefings | | November 14, 2023 | Geo-Strategic Trend

CNA: Estonia to Allow Taiwan to Establish Representative Office

Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that the Estonian government has agreed to allow Taiwan to open an economic and cultural representative office in the Estonian capital Tallinn under the name Taipei. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna issued a statement after a regular review of Estonian policy regarding China. The statement indicated that, like many other European Union countries, Estonia is ready to accept the establishment of a non-diplomatic Taipei economic and cultural representative office to promote bilateral relations. However, Tsahkna also emphasized that Estonia does not recognize Taiwan as a country based on the one-China policy framework. He said that Estonia wants its China policy to be consistent with the EU and supports Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) to fight against global disasters like the pandemic. He pointed out that “Obviously, it is also important for us that we defend fundamental values, including democracy and human rights. We stress this every time we meet with Chinese representatives.”

Source: CNA, November 4, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202311040003.aspx

Briefings | | November 14, 2023 | Geo-Strategic Trend

China Introduces New Housing Reform

The CCP recently introduced a significant “housing reform” program, outlining a dual-track system primarily focusing on affordable housing to resolve housing market issues. The policy, titled “Guiding Opinions on Planning and Constructing Affordable Housing,” emphasizes two goals:

increasing the construction and supply of affordable housing in major cities, and
limiting investment-oriented commercial housing.

The policy stipulates that 60% of the housing market be allocated to affordable, public rental, and low-cost housing (保障性住房, affordable housing), and 40% be designated as “improved housing” housing (改善性住房, commercial housing). The policy targets three main groups as recipients of affordable housing: low-to-medium-income earners, new graduates, and “talented persons” recommended by the government for housing. Affordable housing is restricted to one unit per applicant, and it is forbidden from being turned into commercial housing. The reform aims to repurpose unused land and commercial housing inventory.

Beijing will carry out the housing reform in cities with over 3 million residents. There are 35 such cities in China, including Beijing, and Shanghai.

Some have raised concern over potential consequences of this policy:

it may put additional pressure on China’s commercial real estate market, pushing more real estate developers to bankruptcy;
it may result in financial loss for Chinese investors, who are heavily invested in real estate; and
China’s local governments may not have sufficient money to fund the development of affordable housing.

Source: Epoch Times, November 10, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/11/10/n14114014.htm

Briefings | | November 12, 2023 | Economy/Resources Government/Politics

China Recalibrates “Belt and Road” Lending

AidData, a research lab at William & Mary’s Global Research Institute, released a new report titled “Belt and Road Reboot: Beijing’s Bid to De-Risk Its Global Infrastructure Initiative.” The report details how Beijing has recalibrated its financing of overseas development.

China remains the world’s largest source of international financing for infrastructure development, surpassing both the U.S. and the World Bank. The report outlines China’s strategies for mitigating risks in its lending portfolio. To address distressed debts, short-term measures include emergency lending to debtors and sweeping repayments from borrowers’ cash collateral. Meanwhile, China has been de-risking its overseas investment portfolio by outsourcing risk assessment to Western banks that have “stronger due diligence standards and safeguard policies.”

In the face of soft power challenges, Beijing has adapted its allocation of international aid and credit, emphasizing investment in countries where neither China nor the U.S. holds a dominant soft power advantage. Additionally, Beijing has doubled investment in regions where China has gained reputational favor at the expense of the U.S.

Source: AidData, November 6, 2023
https://www.aiddata.org/blog/belt-and-road-bounces-back

Briefings | | November 12, 2023 | Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

Discipline Inspector: Diplomats Face High Risk of Being Turned by Foreign Forces

The latest issue of “China Discipline Inspection and Supervision” magazine recently published a signed article by Zhang Jiwen (张际文), the head of the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Team stationed at the Office of Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Central Foreign Affairs Working Committee. The CCP Central Foreign Affairs Working Committee is the highest CCP organ that oversees China’s foreign affair work, including the work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The article says that Chinese diplomatic and foreign affairs officials are the main workforce of foreign affairs work and are at the forefront of such work. They face a relatively high risk of being turned (i.e. recruited) or bribed by foreign forces.

Some commentators view this as a hint regarding what happened to Qin Gang (秦刚), China’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Source: The Paper, November 4, 2023
https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_25180379

Briefings | | November 10, 2023 | Government/Politics 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.