Links - 4th May 2020 (3) (China's 'Peaceful' Rise)

Tuvalu: Pacific nation turns down Chinese islands and backs Taiwan - "Mr Kofe said Chinese companies had approached local communities offering to help with a $400m (£310m) government plan to build artificial islands. He believes the companies were backed by the Chinese government."We are hearing a lot of information about debt," he said. "China buying our islands and looking at setting up military bases in our part of the world. Those are things that are concerning to us."

China tried to plant its candidate in Federal Parliament, authorities believe - "Sources with knowledge of the alleged plot believe the suspected Chinese intelligence group offered a million dollars to pay for the political campaign of Liberal Party member and Melbourne luxury car dealer Bo “Nick” Zhao, 32, to run for an eastern suburbs seat. The plot appears to be part of an operation to place a Chinese agent in Parliament... The revelations also raise fresh questions about the decades-long failure of authorities under old and new security laws to prosecute a single Chinese spy in Australia... Mr Zhao told two associates that he’d revealed to ASIO how Mr Chen, whose company is also based in Melbourne, had offered to set him up in a new business with a million-dollar capital injection. In return, Mr Zhao said Mr Chen wanted him to run for a seat in Australia’s Parliament in the electorate of Chisholm. Mr Zhao was found dead by a cleaner in a motel room in suburban Mount Waverley in March. Local police who prepared a brief for the coroner have been unable to conclude how he died"

China's spy Wang Liqiang defects to Australia, offers ASIO trove of information on CCP espionage tactics - "Wang “William” Liqiang is the first Chinese operative to ever blow his cover. He has revealed the identities of China’s senior military intelligence officers in Hong Kong, as well as providing details of how they fund and conduct political interference operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia... he has revealed in granular detail how Beijing covertly controls listed companies to fund intelligence operations, including the surveillance and profiling of dissidents and the co-opting of media organisations. He has given previously unheard details about the kidnapping of five booksellers from Hong Kong and their rendition to the Chinese mainland. His testimony shows how Beijing’s spies are infiltrating Hong Kong’s democracy movement, manipulating Taiwan’s elections and operating with impunity in Australia.  ASIO has repeatedly warned that the current threat of foreign interference is “unprecedented” and that the number of foreign intelligence officers currently operating in Australia is higher than it was during the Cold War... former ASIO boss Duncan Lewis said the Chinese government was seeking to "take over" Australia's political system through its "insidious" foreign interference operations... Mr Wang said the Chinese Communist Party under Xi Jinping “infiltrates all countries in areas such as military, business and culture, in order to achieve its goal.”... A key area of operations, he said, were Hong Kong universities. Mr Wang claimed his organisation had “infiltrated into all universities, including student associations and other student groups and bodies.”... His organisation directed cyber and physical attacks on independence movement leaders... Mr Wang said he was responsible for coordinating a “cyber army” to shift political opinion, similar to Russia’s cyber interference operations in the US elections... Mr Wang said his operation successfully meddled in the “nine-in-one” elections in Taiwan in 2018, leading to victories for pro-Beijing candidates"

China could 'turn off power' in the Philippines, senate hears - "China could switch off the Philippines' national grid, congress has heard in Manila.The head of the National Transmission Corporation confirmed the possibility during a senate session.China has part-owned the Philippines' national grid since 2009 - leading one senator to question whether China's "hegemonic ambitions" posed a security threat to the Philippines.The countries have a territory dispute in the South China Sea."

Video of Handcuffed HK Protesters Boarding Train Sparks Fears of Being Sent to China - "The destination of the detained people in the video remains unknown, but some users have claimed that the last two stations of the line are Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau; both stops are border checkpoints to China. Another user said there were no Hong Kong police stations located in any of the stops along the train’s route."
No wonder they withdrew the extradition law - they didn't need it anyway under one country, one system

The Grim Logic of Trump’s Trade War With China - "the trade war appears to be hurting China’s economy. It’s hard to isolate the affect of the dispute from other factors, like Chinese government attempts to crack down on the shadow-banking system. But the International Monetary Fund forecasts that the immediate blow from the trade war is hitting China much harder... If Trump wants to slow China’s ascent as a superpower, a trade war might be an effective way to do it. If the harm to the U.S. is modest and the costs for China are severe and lasting, Trump might conclude that the former are acceptable losses. Geopolitical primacy, not maximum prosperity for Americans, might be the president’s true objective."

Holders of Old Chinese Debt Hope Trade War Means Huge Payday - "President Donald Trump’s next move in an increasingly fraught trade war with China could be one for the history books, literally. The Trump administration has been studying the unlikely prospect of reviving century-old claims on Chinese bonds sold before the founding of the communist People’s Republic... most agree that as a legal principle, political regimes inherit their predecessors’ debt; most governments choose to honor old bonds, in part because they don’t want to alienate investors who might buy new ones."

U.S.-China Trade War: Smart Geopolitics - "Donohue is right that tariffs are a tax on American businesses, consumers, and investment. But we should be happy to pay taxes toward a worthwhile end. Indeed, if the end is important enough, and a tax helps us achieve it, paying could be a patriotic duty. The Chinese call this “eating bitterness.”Few ends are more important than economic growth, but the free traders err in assuming that a China trade policy that fails to immediately deliver more of it is bad, because one more-important end is geopolitical survival. The true value of the trade war lies in preventing American businesses from aiding the rise of an adversary... Perhaps Trump’s most serious misstep has been the failure of his administration to explain the trade war in geopolitical terms, instead preferring to talk about closing trade deficits and thereby ceding the terms of the fight to the free traders... Americans have been taught to see free trade as core to our identity, and the Republican policy firmament remains filled with thinkers who can’t acknowledge that a neutral policy of “let the market decide” means, in this case, “let the Chinese Communist Party decide.” As Marco Rubio put it in a recent report on China’s rise: “In a world of state competition for valuable industries, a domestic policy of neutrality is itself a selection of priority.” If we refuse to allow even short-term harm to come to consumers while China resolves to “eat bitterness,” we will lose the long-term geopolitical competition for productivity, innovation, and power. And if we continue to believe that the world is better off with a liberal democracy at the helm rather than an authoritarian surveillance state, that cannot be allowed to happen"

Trump has the right strategy on Beijing. As a Chinese dissident, I’d know. - The Washington Post - "Tariffs and economic threats may be blunt tools, but they are the kind of aggressive tactics necessary to get the attention of the CCP regime, which respects only power and money. It’s not just about “winning,” as the president sometimes puts it, and it’s not simply about trade: It’s about justice, and doing what’s right for ordinary Chinese and American people.Presidents before Trump naively believed that China would abide by international standards of behavior if it were granted access to institutions like the World Trade Organization and generally treated as a “normal” country. But that path proved mistaken, and Beijing ignored Western pressure on matters from human rights to the widespread theft of intellectual property. Trump, whatever his flaws, grasps this reality.Unlike many of his predecessors in the White House, Trump appears to understand innately the hooliganism and brutality at the heart of the CCP. He comprehends that — whether in the realm of trade, diplomacy or international order — dictatorships do not commonly play by the rules of democratic nations. While past administrations have curried favor with the CCP (“appeasement” is not too strong a word), Trump has made excising the party’s growing corrosion of U.S. society — from business and the media to education and politics — a focus. For decades, U.S. presidents have allowed themselves to be taken in by China... As China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization moved toward reality, in 2000, Clinton described it as “the most significant opportunity that we have had to create positive change in China since the 1970s.” He said there would be no downsides to freer trade: It was “the equivalent of a one-way street.”Following the attacks of 9/11, George W. Bush turned a blind eye when Beijing used the U.S. war on terror as cover for persecuting ethnic minorities; Barack Obama repeatedly shied away from mentioning human rights to CCP officials, notably during a visit in 2009... where China is concerned, dissidents, both within China and in the diaspora, note and appreciate what he is doing. Most activists agree that civilized talks behind closed doors have never elicited concessions from the CCP. The only way to make progress is by landing pointed blows, particularly against the party elites and their bank accounts (which are reliant on party-owned, nepotistic, monopolist companies)."

China scrambles to stem manufacturing exodus as 50 companies leave - Nikkei Asian Review - "China is racing to keep foreign enterprises in-country, dangling special benefits so that the advantages of staying outweigh the heavy tariffs imposed by the U.S.A year into the trade war with Washington, more than 50 global companies, including Apple and Nintendo, have announced or are considering plans to move production out of China, Nikkei research has found.And not just foreign companies. Chinese manufacturers, as well as those from the U.S., Japan and Taiwan, are part of the drain, including makers of personal computers, smartphones and other electronics."

Kenya: Port of Kenya Takeover Sparks Neo-Colonialism Outcry - "REPORTED plans by China to take over Kenya's main port are giving some credence to concerns of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) being a form of neo-colonialism by the Asian nation that is a global economic powerhouse.Such plans also send a harsh warning to other countries as to the hardline stance by China on countries that default on loan repayments.It has emerged Kenya risks losing the lucrative Mombasa port to China should the East African country fail to repay significant loans advanced by Chinese lenders... Kenya is set to join the likes of Sri Lanka and Zambia in the unenviable list of borrowers to lose key assets to China after defaulting.In 2017, Sri Lanka lost its Hambantota port after a lack of commitment to repay.Last year (2018), Zambia lost the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport to China over debt repayment."

Book burning by Chinese county library sparks fury - "According to Chinese media, an article on the county’s website detailed a “removal and destruction” cleanup at the end of October, focusing on illegal, religious, and biased books... officials have also called for an overhaul of “patriotic education” in schools. The ministry of education directive orders the removal of books and other reading material that endanger national security, harm social stability or national honour. Books that promote superstition, illegal religious activities, or “incorrect global outlook and values” should also be culled... The news of the book burning, now deleted from Zhenyuan county’s website, has prompted a wave of criticism from commentators and internet users who were reminded of the Qin dynasty, when books were burned and scholars burned alive as a way to control the populace and prevent criticism of the regime.The prominent magazine Beijing News wrote in an editorial that was later censored: “How a society deals with books is a test of its attitude toward knowledge and civilisation and should never be arbitrary and barbaric. How did this happen? The relevant parties must investigate and respond to society’s concerns.”... “Horrifying. First you demonise public intellectuals, then you burn books. Is this a new Cultural Revolution?” one said, referring to China’s chaotic years of the 1960s and 70s, when intellectuals and others were attacked for holding on to old ways.Some compared the news to Nazi Germany’s book burnings of the 1930s. “This is what Germany did last century,” one said. Another wrote sarcastically: “Ignorance is power.”"

China wants a three-minute live-streaming delay to ensure 'healthy content' - Regulators recommend the delay as one way of managing online content, saying special attention should be paid to electronic music and rap shows - "No performance should include any content that is against the constitution, laws or regulations. Performances that concern history, ethnicity and religion need to be of “correct guidance and healthy content.”... Footage of problematic live-streamed shows must be retained for at least 60 days for checks."