Government/Politics - 122. page

Voice of America (VOA) reported that two scholars from the Beijing Unirule Institute of Economics were prevented from leaving China to attend a research discussion on “China’s 40 years of reform and opening up” which the Unirule Institute of Economics and the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies held jointly. The head of the Unirule Institute of Economics told VOA that he attends academic exchange activities every year and traveled overseas just a few months ago. However, on November 1, he was told, while waiting at the Beijing Airport, that he could not to leave the country because it would “endanger national security.” Another scholar was also stopped at the airport but was not given a reason. Close to 20 scholars were invited to the forum. Some have left but a few people “changed their minds” and decided not to attend. This academic event was held on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Source: Voice of America, November 8, 2018
https://www.voachinese.com/a/4646440.html

The Paper reported that, in order to promote anti-espionage security awareness among the general public, the Zhejiang Provincial Committee National Security Council Office launched an “Anti-Spy Publicity Week” from November 1 to 7 in 11 cities. In Hangzhou City, there are billboard posters in Railway stations and mini-cartoons in city buses and subways stations. Wenzhou City organized an online anti-spy knowledge contest with cash awards. Zhoushan City hosted anti-spy education seminars for college freshman and exchange students from Taiwan. Five people received cash awards between 5,000 to 100,000 yuan (US$726 to US$14,512) from the provincial Department of National Security for submitting tips. The article claims that there has been a higher occurrence of spying activities in Zhejiang Province in recent years. In addition to key departments such as the party, the government, and the military, the general public with certain secrets and confidentiality conditions have also become the targets of foreign intelligence spy agencies. According to the article, the purpose of the Anti-Spy Publicity Week was to use various forms of publicity and education to promote anti-espionage security awareness, especially among the leading cadres at all levels and among key personnel in key positions in different departments and localities.

Source: The Paper, November 2, 2018
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2592546

Radio Free Asia reported that, according to the pastor of the Chinese Underground Christian Church, on October 25, the Chinese Ministry of National Security personnel intercepted more than 100 underground church believers who were about to board a plane so they could attend the Christian training meeting that the Texas Baptist Church organized on Jeju Island in South Korea. They were stopped from boarding on the grounds that they might harm National Security. A twitter photo showed that a member of the National Security Department held a note telling the Christians sitting at the airport that they got an order from the Ministry of National Security to stop these people from going abroad. The Christians were also told that they would be questioned once they got back home. One pastor in China told Radio Free Asia that the Chinese authorities have further escalated the suppression of the underground churches and what little freedom they enjoyed in the past has quickly disappeared. Article 6 of the Chinese Constitution stipulates that Chinese citizens have freedom of belief. He hopes that the international community can pay attention to this issue. Another pastor in the U.S. told Radio Free Asia that this incident shows that the Chinese government has further intensified its persecution of Christianity. The “Regulations on Religious Affairs” that China promulgated last year includes a guideline to intensify the control of believers who attend meetings or any training abroad. Previously, even though Chinese underground church believers were not allowed to attend training in China, they could still go abroad to participate in exchanges or gatherings with believers from other countries. However, since Beijing began to promote “a Chinese-Style religion,” {that is, to Sinicize all religion} they have intensified further control and suppression of religious figures including underground Christian church believers.

According to Radio Free Asia , the revised Regulations on Religious Affairs, which was promulgated in September 2017 and implemented in February 2018, provides strict control over the financial, publishing, and online promotion of religious affairs and the training of believers abroad.

Source: Radio Free Asia, October 29, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shehui/nu-10292018105136.html;

On Monday October 22, Taiwan’s Investigation Bureau chief said in a Legislative Yuan hearing that the bureau had gathered intelligence that indicated the Chinese government had intervened in Taiwan’s election in the form of financial transfers.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesperson Ma Xiaoguang responded that such a claim was “a pure fabrication.”

In response to TAO, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) stated that, according to the provisions of the Political Contribution Law and the Criminal Law, foreign forces may not provide political contributions to Taiwan’s election candidates or to groups, and may not  intervene illegally in Taiwan’s elections. The Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice also stated that the judicial prosecuting authorities have investigated the relevant cases and that this Council does not express opinions.

MAC said that the government attaches great importance to and will fully safeguard the fairness and impartiality of the year-end elections. To this end, the election authorities and the police force have strengthened countermeasures to prevent external forces from improper intervention intended to undermine the operation of Taiwan’s democratic system.

MAC pointed out that the Chinese authorities used to use the cross-strait exchange platform to conduct United Front work to divide Taiwan and take advantage of any pre-election opportunities in order to make trouble. In the past, Beijing has used military exercises and harsh criticism in an attempt to interfere or influence elections. The Taiwanese people are very offended.

MAC appealed to mainland China asking it to face the cross-strait reality, respect and learn from Taiwan’s democratic electoral system, and not intervene in Taiwan’s elections and interfere in Taiwan’s internal affairs. The mainland should respect Taiwan’s democratic electoral mechanism and the people’s right to free elections.

Source: Central News Agency, October 22, 2018
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201810220349.aspx

Duowei, the Pro-Beijing Overseas media, reported that Xi Jinping recently hosted the second National-level Military-Civilian Integration Development Committee meeting and delivered a speech. China has been pushing for Military-Civilian integration which promotes cutting-edge technology and talent exchanges between the military and private companies in order to enhance military strength and the competitiveness of private companies. The military-civilian integration development strategy was included in the report of the 19th National Congress and written into the Constitution.

The Duowei article stated that promoting the integration of military and civilian development means that the future development of China’s national defense industry will introduce the power of private capital, which will provide new opportunities for the future development of the military industry. According to the article, there are currently about 130,000 private high-tech enterprises in China, but only about 3,000 have entered the military field. The conversion rate of China’s military scientific research results is only 15 percent, far lower than the 40 percent rate in developed countries. Among the major enterprises that have obtained research and production licenses for weapons and equipment, private enterprises account for more than two-thirds. Meanwhile technical cooperation and the flow of talent between the Chinese military, military research institutes, and private high-tech enterprises are also surging. Private companies could have the opportunity to participate in the areas of National defense information, equipment manufacturing, and the development of new materials. The article concluded that the advancement of military-civilian integration could provide a different way of thinking in the current media speculation that Beijing is allowing “the state to advance and the private sector to retreat” or Guo jin min tui (国进民退).

Source: Duowei News, October 18, 2018
http://culture.dwnews.com/renwen/news/2018-10-18/60091829_all.html

Radio Free Asia (RFA) published an article about Tianze, a private think tank that is facing shutdown in China. Beijing Tianze Research Institute is considered the last private think tank. It consists of liberal Chinese economists. For many years, the institute was registered under the name of the “Tianze Consulting Company.” On October 9, the Beijing Municipal Administration of Industry and Commerce notified Tianze that its license had been revoked because it conducted business that was “outside the scope of its business.”

During a hearing held on October 17, the lawyers representing Tianze questioned how the Beijing Industrial and Commercial Department misused the law. The charge regarding its business scope referred to the claim that the company launched business in education without prior approval. Tianze countered that they ran seminars but not schools. On the other hand, if the Department found that the business scope of the enterprise had changed and there was no industrial and commercial registration, in accordance with the regulations, it should first have issued a warning to require the enterprise to register. Only in the case of “serious circumstances” can they revoke the license. Also, during the annual inspection, the Beijing Industrial and Commercial Department never raised the issue.

The famous economists Mao Yuzhen, Zhang Shuguang, Sheng Hong, Wu Bin and others, and the Beijing Elephant Culture Company founded Tianze in 1993. It operates under the name of the Tianze Research Institute Co., Ltd. In 2005, it got in trouble due to the comments its members made in support of the reform of the property rights of  state-owned enterprises and in promoting marketization. In 2012 its business license was revoked.

Subsequently, the Tianze Research Institute continued to operate under the name of the Tianze Consulting Company. In January 2017, the authorities closed the company’s website claiming it failed to obtain a permit. At the beginning of 2018, the landlord of the house that Tianze rented forcibly took it back and the police welded the entrance door shut.

Currently, the Tianze Institute is still waiting for the final verdict. RFA called the Beijing Haidian Industrial and Commercial Bureau, but the no one ever answered the phone.

Source: Radio Free Asia, October 19, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/xql2-10192018105407.html

VOA reported that, in recent years, private enterprises have been suffering a slowdown. On October 21, Xinhua published a letter Xi Jinping wrote, which stated that the Party’s consistent policy of supporting the development of private enterprises will not waver and any statements that negate and weaken the practice of the private economy are all wrong.

On October 21, Xinhua published a letter Xi Jinping wrote in response to some private entrepreneurs who were awarded for their contributions in a poverty relief campaign. In the letter, Xi acknowledged the historical economic contributions private businesses have made and stated that the “role of the private economy is unquestionable. Any statement or practice that denies or weakens the private economy is wrong.” Xi insisted that “supporting the development of private enterprises is the consistent policy of the Party Central Committee. This will not waver.”

According to VOA, a research report that China’s Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business released showed that the index of business conditions of Chinese private enterprises in August fell significantly from the previous month, from 55.6 in July to 49.8 in August, the worst performance in four years. The VOA article concluded that the current mechanism to “allow the state to advance and the private sector to retreat ” has caused private enterprises to be unable to have the same advantages as state-owned enterprises and has resulted in a large gap between the operations of these two types enterprise.

Sources:

1. Xinhua, October 21, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-10/21/c_137548892.htm

2. VOA, October 21, 2018
https://www.voachinese.com/a/xi-calls-to-protect-private-business-20181021/4622566.html

After the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, the authorities have been strongly promoting “Xi Jinping Thought” inside China, and are now exporting it to the U.S. On October 18, the website of Foreign Policy magazine published an article that Australian scholar Kevin Carrico wrote. “I was so excited to learn this August of a new course offered on the edX website, a U.S.-based learning platform: Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era—the official full name of Xi Jinping Thought. The instructor was none other than the Tsinghua University professor Hu Angang, known for his close links to senior government leaders and his claims that China has already overtaken the United States as the primary global superpower.”

edX is an online course provider that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University created.

Carrico said that, after paying a $49 fee, and providing a verified certificate with instructor professor Hu’s signature, he “was able to receive a final score of 100 across all the multiple choice quizzes.”

“The course’s promotional materials promised that learners would obtain ‘[s]ystematic and full knowledge of the {Chinese Communist Party’s} people-centered core concept,’ as well as a ‘deeper understanding of the socialist road with Chinese characteristics.’” Carrico explained about the contents of the course, “It is fair to say that China is a society different from Western society. Mainly, it has established a people’s society.” “Hu reminded us that the Chinese republic is the people’s republic, the national bank is the people’s bank, the police are the people’s police, and the army is the people’s army. But wait, there’s more. Hu proudly reported that Xi used the term ‘people’ 203 times in his report to the 19th Party Congress in 2017—more than any other term.”

Hu once said in his published research that China’s comprehensive national strength has completely surpassed the United States and it is ranked first in the world. It caused academic controversy after the Sino-US trade war.

A group of Tsinghua alumni signed a letter to the president of Tsinghua University in August. It criticized Hu Angang’s theory {about China’s surpassing the U.S.} as “misleading the national policy, as well as the general public, setting off alarm bells among other countries. It asked the university to fire him.

Source: Central News Agency, October 20, 2018
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201810200204.aspx