China news roundup / Nachrichten 2024-11-14

7 days ago

China to probe marital, neighbor disputes in wake of car attack

"local officials, who have at their disposal an army of paid “grid workers,” local militias and unpaid volunteers, must “make the work of security and stability maintenance their top priority.”
That means identifying people with potential grievances before they reach breaking point, and working to ensure they can’t harm others, either through talking them into compliance with “ideological work,” helping them to resolve disputes with others, or suppressing them through preemptive surveillance."

--- More surveillance, more suppression. So, nothing new, the usual commie modus operandi.

"Officials and departments should “work together to make Guangdong even safer, so that people can live and work in peace and contentment amid an overall situation of safety and stability,”"

--- 'Everything is safe, there is no crime, just trust the CCP. & if you let us interfere in your private life even more, our perfect safety will be even more perfect.'

"The new security drive will target people categorized as the “Four No’s” and the “Five Losses,” according to details posted to WeChat in recent days.
The Four No’s refer to “no spouse, no children, no job or stable income and no assets,” while the Five Losses refer to people who have experienced “failed investments, frustration with life, relationship conflicts, mental health issues or severe mental illness.”."

--- So, the vast majority of people in China.

"U.S.-based rights lawyer Wu Shaoping said the use of citizen volunteers to try to prevent such violence ignored the fact that much of the pressure people are under is the result of current government policies."

--- Yep.

Analysts skeptical about African impact of China’s zero-tariff offer

""Cooperation between China and Africa has benefitted China much more than it has Africa," he said, adding, "Africa has given China unbridled access to its markets, which has crippled local production capacity in several aspects of the manufacturing sector e.g., textiles."
Xi described the zero-tariffs plan as making China the first major economy to take such a step to offer Africa a substantial opportunity to do business in the large Chinese market."

--- Too bad that virtually no African country has anything valuable to export (except some natural resources) to China.

"Every time China’s government enters into a trade or investment agreement with another country, Chinese entrepreneurs usually rush to grab the business opportunities created by the deal. This has been the experience of several countries in Africa and Asia that have received Chinese investments.
Owusu-Sekyere said several African countries have enacted laws reserving the retail sector exclusively for locals but it has been taken over in those countries by Chinese entrepreneurs using local partners as fronts."

--- The usual. Chinese money goes mostly into Chinese pockets.

China Issues Warning About US Missile System on Doorstep

""Such a move is provocative and dangerous, and it is an extremely irresponsible choice to its own people and people of all Southeast Asian countries, to history, and to regional security," Lin Jian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said on Thursday.
[...] The Chinese spokesman urged the Philippines to "correct its wrongdoings" by not proceeding with the Typhon as publicly pledged, and to "stop going further down the wrong path." The South China Sea needs peace and prosperity, but not the missile system, he added."

--- 'How dare you acquire weapons to defend yourself!'
Non-interference with Chinese characteristics. Poor, little, innocent China feels threatened by big bully Philippines.

China unveils tax incentives to revive struggling property sector

"The ministry will expand the eligibility for the 1% deed tax to include apartments up to 140 square metres, up from the previous 90 square metres, according to the statement, effective from Dec. 1.
The minimum pre-collection rate for land value-added tax will be reduced by 0.5 percentage points"

--- More 'measures' as extremely effective as what came before, I guess.

China’s Commodification of Minorities

"New, tightened restrictions became especially apparent on this most recent research trip, during which the government unexpectedly re-routed me from my Tibetan fieldwork sites. Instead of my planned research itinerary, I was led on a three-week tour of Yunnan Province by a CCP tour guide, who encouraged me to take the opportunity to “learn about the full richness of China’s many other minority groups.”
Throughout this spontaneous new itinerary, I was blocked from any meaningful encounter with Tibetans and instead shown a sanitized simulacrum of minority culture in the form of plays, theme parks, and other government attractions aimed at tourists from the Han majority ethnic group."

--- Research with Chinese characteristics.
By the way, this is also pretty much what the CCP does with foreign 'influencers'. They are given free, guided tours, after which they are supposed to paint a colourful picture of a peaceful China full of happy, shiny people.

"Shortly after arriving in China – and the day before my husband and I were supposed to begin driving from Chengdu toward the city of Derge – the company we had worked with to arrange our travel called an emergency meeting. The owner explained that the CCP tourism bureau had barred our travel to the Tibetan regions of western Sichuan due to “floods.”
After a tense conversation in which I suggested a myriad of other routes or itineraries, it became apparent that anywhere ethnic Tibetans lived in Sichuan or Qinghai province had “floods.”"

--- Coincidentally, those floods only get in the way of foreigners trying to find out the actual living conditions of minorities.

"We traveled on a classic Yunnan tour that began in Kunming, and traveled through Lijiang, Dali, and Shangri-la"

--- Funny, the same places I visited back when: Gyalthang - Ganden Sumtseling Monastery / Kloster Ganden Songtsenling

"Sometimes this leads to minority communities being written out of their performance tradition entirely. When the Beijing Dance Academy celebrated its 70th anniversary this fall, clips circulated on social media of the predominantly-Han faculty and staff performing traditional Tibetan folk dances as part of China’s dance heritage. I noted that Dynamic Yunnan’s dance representing the Tibetan people featured no ethnic Tibetan dancers and ultimately portrayed a community obsessed with Buddhist devotion and religious practice to the detriment of all else, including financial livelihood and personal health."

--- Well, it's the perfect minority: superior Han Chinese in colourful costumes.

"I asked our tour guide if a member of an ethnic minority might one day rise to the level of CCP general secretary. At first, the question itself confused her, and I had to keep repeating it in differing formats. Eventually, however, she just shook her head and told us “no.”"

--- Wow, an honest commie.

Trump’s mainstream picks for top foreign policy posts could reassure allies — and worry China

"The sanctions Beijing imposed on Rubio bar him from visiting the country. It’s unclear if China’s foreign minister will meet with him given the ban, or how the ban will otherwise affect his dealings with Chinese officials."

--- That could get interesting. (Not really. They probably find some bureaucratic workaround.)

"President-elect Donald Trump is famously unconventional, but he made conventional picks for his two top foreign policy positions. That could be reassuring to American allies, while China and Iran have reasons to be wary."

--- Maybe. Maybe not:

Trump Is Recruiting a Team of China Hawks. So Why Is Beijing Relieved?

"People who consult with senior Chinese officials say that for now at least, Beijing is relieved that several Republicans considered particular threats by the Communist Party, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, aren’t in the mix."

--- All mostly speculation, of course, anyway. As I said before, we will have to wait & see how the new administration actually acts.

Trump, the EU and China + Breach of export controls+ Latest stimulus package

"China will use the situation to further divide the transatlantic partners, arguing that Europeans cannot rely on the US and need to seek strategic autonomy. In the coming months, China is likely to reach out to European leaders visiting the country, ease the business environment for European companies and even consider investing in Europe. Beijing has already signaled its willingness to work with Europe to implement the Paris climate agreement. China's bet on Europe is not new, but it is about to take concrete shape. The tariffs eyed by Trump would decouple US-China trade. Growing friction between China and the US will reduce people-to-people exchanges and lead to the US expanding its military presence in the Indo-Pacific at the expense of US security commitments to Europe."

--- Yawn. We will see.

cf.: Toward a Transatlantic Deal on China

Chinese city still officially in summer as 30-year heat record broken

--- CNA: "China's coast guard says it conducted inspections around Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea"

--- CNA: "Growing number of European carriers cutting Chinese routes due to high costs"

Volocopter: Flugtaxi-Start-up vor möglichem Verkauf nach China

"Der chinesische Automobilhersteller Geely und die deutsche Volocopter GmbH befinden sich in fortgeschrittenen Gesprächen über eine Übernahme. Ein solcher Deal könnte das angeschlagene Flugtaxi-Start-up mit Sitz in Bruchsal im Kraichgau vor dem drohenden Bankrott bewahren."

--- Déjà vu.