Links - 4th May 2020 (2) (China's 'Peaceful' Rise)

China Is Winning the Silent War to Dominate the South China Sea - "Under President Xi Jinping, China has more forcefully asserted its claims to more than 80% of the South China Sea, building runways and military facilities on territory claimed by other nations. It has also raised a navy of more than over 300 ships, eclipsing the U.S. to become the largest in the Asia Pacific.In addition, China has utilized less conventional means to clear the sea of its maritime adversaries—a so-called maritime militia of well-equipped vessels numbering in the hundreds—disguised as fishing vessels that patrol, surveil, resupply, and sometimes, provoke. At least one Chinese maritime law enforcement vessel was involved in 73% of all reported incidents in the South China Sea since 2010, according to data compiled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies... In Vietnam, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang last month demanded compensation for its fishermen after Chinese vessels chased and stole property from them near the Paracel Islands.China has dismissed such requests for compensation in the past, instead accusing other nations of breaching the law. A draft code of conduct with Southeast Asian nations has made little progress over the past decade despite regular discussions... “The water belongs to Vietnam, the Paracel Islands belong to us,” he said. “We have been fishing in this water since our grandparents’ generation.”"

China’s Hidden Navy – Foreign Policy - "Chinese fishing boats in the islands average more than 500 tons, well over the size legally required for boats undertaking international voyages to use Automatic Identification System (AIS) transceivers, which broadcast identifying information, headings, and other data about oceangoing vessels. But fewer than 5 percent of them actually broadcast AIS signals at any given time. This suggests a fleet intent on hiding its numbers and actions.These large, modern vessels represent a stunning level of sunk capital costs but do not engage in much commercial activity. Frequent satellite imagery shows that the vessels spend nearly all of their time anchored, often in large clusters. This is true whether they are inside the lagoons at Subi and Mischief Reefs or loitering elsewhere in the Spratlys. Operating in such close quarters is highly unusual and certainly not the way commercial fishing vessels usually operate."

Inside China's audacious global propaganda campaign - "Of course, influence campaigns are nothing new; the US and the UK, among others, have aggressively courted journalists, offering enticements such as freebie trips and privileged access to senior officials. But unlike those countries, China’s Communist party does not accept a plurality of views. Instead, for China’s leaders, who regard the press as the “eyes, ears, tongue and throat” of the Communist party, the idea of journalism depends upon a narrative discipline that precludes all but the party-approved version of events. For China, the media has become both the battlefield on which this “global information war” is being waged, and the weapon of attack... Analysing CCTV’s coverage of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in west Africa, Marsh found that 17% of stories on Ebola mentioned China, generally emphasising its role in providing doctors and medical aid. “They were trying to do positive reporting,” says Marsh. “But they lost journalistic credibility to me in the portrayal of China as a benevolent parent.” Far from telling Africa’s story, the overriding aim appeared to be emphasising Chinese power, generosity and centrality to global affairs... Xinhua was set up in 1931, well before the Communists took power in China, and as the party mouthpiece, its jargon-laden articles are used to propagate new directives and explain shifts in party policy. Many column inches are also spent on the ponderous speeches and daily movements of Xi Jinping, whether he is meeting the Togolese president, examining oversized vegetables or casually chatting to workers at a toy-mouse factory.Describing his work at Xinhua, the former employee said: “You’ve got to think it’s like creative writing. You’re combining journalism with a kind of creative writing.”... “There’s no clear goal other than to identify cracks in a system and exploit them.” One example would be highlighting the chaotic and unpredictable nature of Australian politics – which has seen six prime ministers in eight years – as a way of undermining faith in liberal democracy. “Part of my brief was to find ways to exert that influence. It was never written down, I was never given orders”... Edwards, like other former employees of China’s state-media companies, felt that the vast majority of his work was about domestic signalling, or telegraphing messages that demonstrated loyalty to the party line in order to curry favour with senior officials. Any thoughts of how his work was furthering China’s international soft power goals came a distant second. But since Edwards left in 2014, Xinhua has begun looking outwards; one sign of this is the existence of its Twitter account – followed by 11.7 million people – even though Twitter is banned in China... When the Dalai Lama did come to visit Canada in 2012, one journalist in Xinhua’s Ottawa bureau, Mark Bourrie, was placed in a compromising position. On the day of the visit, Bourrie was told to use his parliamentary press credentials to attend the Tibetan spiritual leader’s press conference, and to find out what had happened in a closed-door meeting with the then prime minister, Stephen Harper. When Bourrie asked whether the information would be used in a piece, his boss replied that it would not. “That day I felt that we were spies,” he later wrote. “It was time to draw the line.” He returned to his office and resigned... His experience is not unusual... Even under new ownership, the SCMP treads a delicate line on China, continuing to run granular political analysis and original reporting on sensitive issues such as human rights lawyers and religious crackdowns. Though pages are free from Xinhua copy, cynics joke the paper itself is transmogrifying into a kind of China Daily-lite, with increasing prominence given to stories about Xi Jinping, pro-Beijing editorials and politically on-message opinion pieces. All this is combined with constant, fawning coverage of owner Jack Ma, memorably described by the paper as a “modern-day Confucius”... a journal once seen as a paper of record was effectively running a forced confession on behalf of the Chinese state."

Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman China economic 'miracle' hurt US economy - "Stephen Schwarzman, the billionaire co-founder of investment powerhouse Blackstone, told CNBC on Tuesday that China knows it must change its trade and business practices but it’s reluctant to do so because of the spoils it’s reaped by protecting its economy.“China in the last 40 years had more growth, I think, than any country in history. It’s an astonishing miracle what they did. But they did it behind tariff walls. They did it behind markets that are not accessible. They did it with other approaches to intellectual property than are shared in the developed world,” said Schwarzman. “So their desire to give all that up and their growth rate is obviously low.”"

Coming Soon in China: ‘Social Credit’ for Companies, Too - WSJ - "Privacy has always been a narrower concept in China than the West. Chinese-speaking foreigners can expect taxi drivers to grill them about their income, marital status and other matters that strangers in the West usually avoid. And private electronic communications aren’t really private from the government.The flip side is that information doesn’t actually flow well through society. Censorship and a Party-centric court system make whistleblowing difficult and dangerous, creating plenty of opportunities for corporate and official malfeasance. Losers are often small or foreign companies without good official contacts to bend the rules for them. Corporate social credit is meant, at least in part, to address this problem—without fundamental social changes, like freeing the press, that could endanger Communist Party rule... Compliance costs will rise—and that ripple effect means even minor infractions could cause severe damage. And the evolving requirements will be harder for small businesses to keep track of.Also, some of the rating factors are political or highly discretionary. For example, under draft regulations released for comment in July, companies could be blacklisted for endangering national or public interest or for “infringing the legitimate rights and interests of customers.” U.S. companies are doubtless contemplating such stipulations with deep disquiet."

China to place government officials in 100 companies including Alibaba - "The directive, which media said was part of the Hangzhou government’s “New Manufacturing Plan,” is reportedly an attempt to boost manufacturing and bolster the local economy in the eastern province of Zhejiang... Despite claiming that the move in Hangzhou is no more than an “innovative” economic strategy, inserting government officials inside private firms further raises concerns about state influence at Chinese companies.Under Chinese law, organizations can be forced to hand over data to the state if requested to do so."

Editor of nationalist Global Times questions Beijing’s online censorship – then deletes the post - "The editor of mainland nationalist newspaper Global Times pushed back against Beijing’s tightened internet controls in the lead-up to China’s 70th anniversary celebrations in a now-deleted social media post... China’s state media has had to jump the Great Firewall in recent years after central government gave it the job of telling the country’s story to the outside world."

China to test journalists on loyalty to Xi Jinping to get credentials renewed - "Chinese journalists will now be required to pass a test that evaluates their understanding of Xi Jinping Thought, the socialist text created by the Chinese leader, to keep their press credentials... As it stands, China is already one of the worst countries for journalists to operate. Reporters Without Borders ranked the country 177th out of 180 countries earlier this year. The only countries below China in the rankings were Eritrea and North Korea.   Although the test is not expected to be difficult, journalists who fail will only be able to retake the exam once."

Why China is Hiding the Horrors of Its Past - "For the CCP, the purpose of historical study is not to understand past mistakes to ensure they are not repeated, an extremely important goal for a nation with the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward in the living memory of much of its population. The purpose of history is to serve the political and ideological goals of the government... While the CCP has, for decades, treated historical knowledge both as a potential threat, as well as a tool for generating an extreme breed of nationalism, it has grown more hostile towards a wide range of historical facts under President Xi Jinping. In 2018, the People’s Daily reported that Xi declared, “We must clearly stand against the wrong view of history, establish a correct view of history with rational discernment, and ensure that Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era always follows the correct course.”... Until 2019, national middle-school history textbooks had an entire chapter on the Cultural Revolution, showing the movement in a distinctly negative light... In 2019, the Ministry of Education released a new version of the textbook in which the Cultural Revolution material was significantly shortened and combined with other periods... [it] also downplays the erroneous and tragic nature of the Cultural Revolution by saying “Nothing happens smoothly in the world, and history is always advancing in ups and downs.”... a document was leaked online from the National Radio and Television Administration that required TV and internet series to not only avoid discussing history, but avoid drawing any parallels with real historical events or time periods... The Chinese Communist Party under Xi Jinping has good reason to reduce awareness of the excesses of the Mao period, including the Cultural Revolution: many of President Xi Jinping’s policies and campaigns bear significant resemblance to this period. In 2018, Xi Jinping’s government launched a massive, nationwide campaign called “Eliminate the Dark and Evil Forces.” Both this campaign and the Cultural Revolution were attempts to consolidate personal power over the political system and society. Though billed in China’s English-language media as merely a campaign against organized crime, it is in fact much more far-reaching and ideological in its aims. Similar to the Cultural Revolution, it aims to purge society of “impure” elements. The targets of this campaign vary by jurisdiction. In multiple locations it has targeted and demonized doctors, as did the Cultural Revolution. In Hunan province, it targeted HIV patients, the mentally ill, and parents who have lost their child as “Dark and Evil Forces.” It has also gone after corrupt party officials with connections to local mafia, making the campaign a convenient excuse to take out political enemies within the party, a liberty that Mao made extensive use of in the 1960s. Similar to the Mao-era, the campaign ramps up propaganda dissemination, with local governments encouraged to install public propaganda about the “Dark and Evil Forces.” Frequent visitors to China will notice that, since around 2015, ideological propaganda banners have become omnipresent. Earlier this year, Chinese netizens reacted with fury to pictures of a massive red banner above the entrance to a Kindergarten saying, “Insist on starting early to nip the evil forces in the bud.” Another similarity between Xi and Mao’s rule is that citizens are encouraged to inform on one another to the authorities, creating a culture of fear and self-censorship"

China's Study the Great Nation app 'enables spying via back door' - "The Chinese Communist Party has gained the ability to spy on more than 100 million citizens via a heavily promoted official app, a report suggests.Analysis of the Study the Great Nation app found hidden elements that could help monitor use and copy data, said phone security experts Cure 53.The app gives the government "super-user" access, the security firm said... The app pushes out official news and images and encourages people to earn points by reading articles, commenting on them and playing quizzes about China and its leader, Xi Jinping.Use of the app is mandatory among party officials and civil servants and it is tied to wages in some workplaces.Starting this month, native journalists must pass a test on the life of President Xi, delivered via the app, in order to obtain a press card which enables them to do their jobs."