{Editor’s Notes: “The Qianhai Entrepreneurs Summit 2023” was held in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province on April 20 and 21. Continue reading
China Will Build a New Nuclear Power Plant for Pakistan
China and Pakistan signed a $4.8 billion contract on June 20 specifying that China will build its seventh nuclear power plant in Pakistan. This 1,200-megawatt project, named “Chashma 5,” is between the China National Nuclear Corporation and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). It will be located in the central Pakistani city of Chashma, where Beijing has already built four nuclear units, generating a total of 1,230 megawatts of power.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended the signing of a memorandum of understanding. He praised China for offering a $100 million discount on the project.
Source: Voice of America, June 21, 2023
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-to-build-nuclear-power-plant-in-pakistan-20230620/7145623.html
China’s Efforts to Silence Unfavorable Financial News
Le Monde, a French newspaper reported that China has been trying to hide any bad news about its financial data from the world. China’s central bank, People’s Bank of China, established a Chinese credit rating company, Dagong Global Credit Rating Co, Ltd in 1994, to “serve” both the domestic market and the world. In 2013, Dagong merged with Russia’s credit rating company RusRating and a small U.S. rating company Egan-Jones Ratings, to form Universal Credit Rating Group (UCRG) (世界信用評級集團). To build its reputation, UCRG hired former French Prime Minister de Villepin to chair its advisory board and former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to serve on its advisory board.
In 2010, UCRG was banned from practicing in the U.S. because it refused to comply with the transparency rules of the U.S. Security Exchange Commission (SEC). The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), however, gave Dagong a green light in 2013. Part of the reason was that in the wake of the Greek debt crisis, the E.U. was happy to see a Chinese competitor enter the credit rating market which the British and American agencies dominated.
People soon saw that Dagong served as a strategic pawn for China to enter the European market. In 2018, Dagong was fined in China for corruption and collusion with the evaluated companies. In April 2019, the state power (the communist regime) directly took over the management of Dagong. The ESMA waited another seven months to exclude Dagong from the European market.
Beijing then adopted a new strategy. That is, to publish laws to control what information it feeds to the world. It introduced a data security and protection law in 2021, restricting the freedom of multinational companies to transfer information with their Chinese subsidiaries. It introduced and implemented cross-border data transfer regulations in 2022 to make it impossible for users to access Chinese corporate information databases, such as Tianyancha (天眼查), from abroad. Its new counter-espionage law, which will take effect on July 1, makes it possible to criminalize any exchange of information with foreigners and foreign organizations and companies.
Source: Radio France International, June 20, 2023
https://rfi.my/9dhS
Xinhua: Russia Opened Its First Institute to Study Xi Jinping Thought
Xinhua News Agency reported that Russia has established a research office in Moscow, specializing in the study of “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era.” The office’s name in Russian is “Research Office on Chinese Contemporary Ideology and Xi Jinping Thought.” It was set up by the Institute of China and Modern Asia Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The office has 10 specialists now, from the Institute of China and Modern Asia Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of World Economy and International Relations Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Russian Higher Economic University.
The office’s research covers various fields, including politics, the economy, diplomacy, military, ecology, and culture. The first batch of its research results will be published in monograph form in 2025.
Source: Xinhua, June 21, 2023
https://app.xinhuanet.com/news/article.html?articleId=811fa66141e1672547fc744859d245ef
Protest Signs against Authoritarianism Emerge at Peking University
During the Dragon Boat Festival at Peking University in China, a protester displayed slogans opposing the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) authoritarian regime. The individual, dressed in a tan robe, held up a sign near the cafeteria on campus calling for the abolition of the one-party dictatorship and the adoption of a multi-party system. The protester voluntarily included his social media account information on the sign, which pointed to YouTube and Twitter accounts registered in May 2023. The accounts identified the protester as Zhang Sheng, a self-described Chinese writer.
Pictures and posts on Twitter documented the incident, showing the protester being escorted away by the university’s security personnel. When questioned about the event, Peking University’s security department neither confirmed nor denied the incident.
This protest marked a resurgence of criticism against China’s political system and demands for multi-party rule at Peking University, where similar demonstrations had taken place during the 1989 Students Movement. Notably, this demonstration occurred in the same location where students had protested against the “zero COVID” policy in November of the previous year. It is important to highlight that the “zero COVID” policy was subsequently abolished ten days after university students, including those from Peking University and Tsinghua University, expressed their opposition to it by holding up white papers.
The recent protest at Peking University aimed to challenge the one-party rule and promote political reform through the establishment of a multi-party system. Despite attempts to ascertain the whereabouts of the detained student by contacting the university’s security department, that department neither confirmed nor denied the event. This incident serves as a reminder of the ongoing tensions between dissenting voices and the Chinese government’s control over political expression on university campuses.
Source: Radio Free Asia, June 22, 2023
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/gt-06222023233902.html
Adapting to the Challenging Job Market: Chinese University Students Opt for Graduation Postponement
Chinese college students have manifested a growing trend of opting to delay their graduation in response to the country’s economic downturn and rising youth unemployment rates. These students are facing difficulties in finding jobs and are choosing to extend their education in order to enhance their employment prospects. While delaying graduation was previously stigmatized, the current job market conditions have made this decision more acceptable.
The reasons behind the decision to delay graduation include the challenging job search process, prompting students to engage in additional internships and bolster their resumes to become more competitive. Some students opt for a delay because they did not gain admission to graduate school and decided to pursue stable jobs before attempting to enter the system as fresh graduates. Others seek an extra year to accommodate time constraints or personal circumstances, utilizing this period to apply for doctoral programs.
The Taiwan based Central News Agency report highlights the case of a journalism graduate student named Xiao Le, who believes that delaying graduation was the right choice due to the demanding curriculum and the university’s internship requirements. Xiao Le encountered health issues and anxiety related to a previous internship, leading her to seek advice from mentors, senior students, and friends. They advised her to take an additional year to prioritize her well-being.
According to Xiao Le, many students in her class have also decided to delay graduation. Some aim to reapply as fresh graduates after being rejected by their desired companies, while others pursue internships in Internet companies to increase their chances of securing employment in the challenging job market.
Given the intense competition in the current Chinese job market, many students are engaging in extensive internships alongside their heavy academic workload. Students are realizing that pursuing higher education does not guarantee a smooth transition into the job market, resulting in increased exhaustion and stress.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), June 21, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202306210359.aspx
Italy Contemplates Exiting “Belt and Road Initiative” as CCP Dispatches Delegation amidst Coercive Communications
Italy, the only G7 country participating in China’s “Belt and Road Initiative,” is contemplating its withdrawal from the program. To persuade the Italian government to renew the agreement, a delegation led by Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, is reportedly being sent to Rome. The main objective of Liu’s visit is to engage in a dialogue with Italy’s center-right governing coalition, particularly with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in order to secure the renewal of the “Belt and Road Initiative” agreement by the end of the year.
Italy joined the initiative in 2019 under former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, but its economic benefits were considered to be below expectations. The current memorandum of understanding for cooperation is set to expire at the end of this year, and, if it is not renewed, it will become invalid. On multiple occasions, the Meloni government has expressed its inclination to withdraw from the initiative .
The Chinese Ambassador to Italy, Jia Guide, warned that if the “Belt and Road Initiative” is not renewed by the end of the year, it will pose a significant obstacle to bilateral exchanges. China is planning to send an important delegation, including ministers responsible for propaganda and customs, to visit Italy in the near future. However, if Italy withdraws from the initiative, China has threatened to suspend such exchanges and visits.
China has also hinted at possible economic and trade consequences for Italy if it chooses to withdraw from the “Belt and Road Initiative.” The official Chinese media outlet, the Global Times, has conveyed coercive messages in this regard.
Source: Radio Free Asia, June 23, 2023
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/4-06232023105817.html
Lianhe Zaobao: U.S. Nuclear Aircraft Carrier to Make Rare Stop in Vietnam
Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that the US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan will dock in the central Vietnamese port city of Da Nang on June 25, for six days. The USS Ronald Reagan is the ninth ship of the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. While the situation in the South China Sea remains tense, it is very rare for a US warship to call at the port of this Southeast Asian country. The Ronald Reagan was the third US aircraft carrier to visit Vietnam after the Vietnam War. In 2020, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, the fourth ship of the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, docked in Vietnam. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, which includes the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam and other countries in the region. The South China Sea is an important waterway for international routes. American aircraft carriers often pass through this resource-rich sea area and Chinese warships often track and monitor them. The Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong fleet sailed southwest of the Taiwan Strait only a few days ago.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao, June 23, 2023
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/world/story20230623-1407046