Foreign Policy

• Donald Trump admits meeting Xi Jinping before the March 1 trade war deadline is 'unlikely' (SCMP)
• Beijing sends fleet of ships to disputed South China Sea island 'to stop Philippines building facilities' (SCMP)
• Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo stripped of Australian residency, banned from returning over 'political interference' concerns (SCMP)
• Huawei likely faces 5G ban in Canada, security experts say – but the trick will be how and when to announce it (SCMP)
• Chinese internet users jump on Justin Trudeau's Lunar New Year message to chide Canadian PM over Huawei (SCMP)
• World leaders convey Spring Festival greetings, stressing relations with China (Xinhua)
• Pakistan to make economic zones under CPEC more investor friendly: minister (Xinhua)
• Chinese fishing boat captain arrested in waters close to Japan (SCMP)
• State-owned firm to buy more US soybeans following trade talk progress (Global Times)
• Diplomatic novice picked for top Communist Party job at China's foreign ministry amid deteriorating relations with US (SCMP)

Domestic Policy

• Hi-tech dystopian plot or low-key incentive scheme? The complex reality of China's social credit system (SCMP)
• China cracks down on scammers taking advantage of anti-poverty policy (Global Times)
• China Focus: Xi's new year inspections underpin people-oriented approach (Xinhua)
• 2 former vice-chairmen expelled for corruption (China Daily)
• Xi extends Spring Festival greetings to Chinese people (Xinhua)
• Premier Li calls for efforts to improve people's wellbeing (Xinhua)
• 'Underground' bishop appointed to state-backed role in central China (SCMP)
• China punishes 3,000 in organised crime crackdown – state media (SCMP)
• Xi article shows determination to build ecological civilization (Global Times)

Xinjiang

• Frontier Services Group founder Erik Prince denies knowledge of Xinjiang training base deal (SCMP)

Hongkong

• Calmer political days in Hong Kong result in drop in donations for pro-democracy groups at Lunar New Year fair (SCMP)

Macau

• Macao sets election date for members of chief executive election committee (Xinhua)

Taiwan

• Taiwan's Tsai takes swipe at mainland China in new year message with 'blessing' of democracy (SCMP)
• Mainland rejects Taiwan's claims on African swine fever (Xinhua)

DPRK

• North Korea hides weapons at airports and sanctions have been ineffective, UN says (SCMP)
• When Trump opens his arms to Kim again, could they close the door on the Korean war? (SCMP)

Mongolia

• President Kh.Battulga receives Ambassadors and Country Representatives (Montsame)
• Conference on Mongolia's independence and diplomatic service held (Montsame)

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Donald Trump admits meeting Xi Jinping before the March 1 trade war deadline is 'unlikely' (SCMP)
2019-02-08
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that it was "unlikely" he would meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before a crucial March deadline, a significant change in the prospects for ending a trade war that has roiled the global economy. A meeting between the two leaders, which was announced last week after two days of trade talks in Washington, was originally expected to take place at the end of this month, close to Trump's second summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vietnam. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump confirmed that no meetings between him and Xi were planned before the March 1 deadline for a deal. In the absence of an agreement, additional US tariffs on Chinese imports are scheduled to be imposed on March 2. Trump responded "No" and shook his head when asked if he would meet with Xi this month. Then he added, "Unlikely." The news follows White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow's less-than-upbeat comments to Fox Business earlier Thursday that there is a "pretty sizable distance" between the world's two largest economies to reach a deal. The remarks were the first drastic shift in tone since Washington and Beijing stepped up negotiations last week, hoping to agree to a framework for a deal by the deadline. The countries had taken a 90-day hiatus in their trade war, putting a planned increase in tariffs on hold, to hammer out an accord. Without one, the US will increase the tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese goods to 25 per cent from the current 10 per cent. Last week, at the end of the two days of talks, Trump said in a tweet: "No final deal will be made until my friend President Xi, and I, meet in the near future to discuss and agree on some of the long standing and more difficult points." US stock markets staged their first major pull-back since the news broke early January that negotiations would resume in Washington. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 200 points, or 0.87 per cent, on Thursday, while S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each lost about 1 per cent. Trump and Xi may still meet shortly after March 1, but there is still work to do to flesh out a trade deal and prepare the US president for a high-stakes meeting with Kim, scheduled for February 27 and 28. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump said a trade deal needed to include "real structural change to end unfair trade practices, reduce our trade deficit and protect American jobs." After China's lead negotiator, Vice-Premier Liu He, surprised Trump last week with a commitment to buy 5 million metric tonnes of American soybeans, a product at the centre of the tariff dispute, Congress stressed that the US should not back away from its demands for key structural changes in exchange for China buying more American goods. On Thursday, while acknowledging that Trump was still optimistic about a deal, Kudlow said, "We've got a pretty sizable distance to go here." Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday that he and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer were going to China for another round of talks next week. The US stock selloff exacerbated a global market pullback Thursday on worries about a worldwide economic slowdown. The European Commission cut its growth outlook for the euro zone this year citing concerns over global trade tensions and domestic challenges. ^ top ^

Beijing sends fleet of ships to disputed South China Sea island 'to stop Philippines building facilities' (SCMP)
2019-02-08
China has been accused of sending a fleet of almost 100 ships to hamper Philippine construction work on a disputed island in the South China Sea. Beijing started sending vessels to Thitu, part of the Spratly chain, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) run by the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies. The fleet of ships, dispatched from the nearby Subi Reef, includes vessels from the navy and coastguard along with dozens of fishing boats. The report said their presence was part of an effort to coerce the Philippines into stopping the work on the island, which China also claims. Satellite images showed that a Chinese navy Jianghu V-class frigate and Zhaoduan-class coastguard cutter off Thitu on December 20, when the number of Chinese vessels had peaked at 95. The report said the Chinese warship was just over seven nautical miles away from the Philippine navy's frigate the BRP Ramon Alcaraz at the time. The Philippine government announced in April 2017 that it would start building a beaching ramp on Thitu, which is known as Pagasa in the Philippines and Zhongye island in Chinese. Once completed, the beaching ramp will allow Philippine ships to bring construction materials to repair and lengthen the runway on the island to accommodate larger aircraft. The work should have been finished by the end of last year, but Philippine officials said it had been delayed by inclement weather and rough seas. But the AMTI suggested that China's activities had also contributed to the delay. The Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Monday that the ramp was now expected to be finished by the first quarter of this year. "The problem with Pagasa is that you have to bring in everything you need for its repair – steel bars, sand, gravel, heavy equipment," Lorenzana said. "You need a beaching ramp to bring these in … So I believe it should be finished by the first quarter of this year, this beaching ramp." Lorenzana also said his country should protest against Beijing's decision to build a rescue centre on Fiery Cross Reef, a Chinese-occupied outpost in the Spratly chain that is also claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam. Citing satellite images, the AMTI said the number of Chinese ships in the area had risen to at least 24 on December 3, before the latest construction work began, and had risen to 95 on December 25. The number had dropped to 42 by January 26. Lorenzana said in November that China's ambassador to the Philippines had previously urged him to cancel the planned work. But the drop in the number of Chinese vessels suggests "Chinese forces have settled into a pattern of monitoring and intimidation after their initial large deployment failed to convince Manila to halt construction", the AMTI said. "But those plans continue to face delays and their scope is much more modest than those undertaken by China or even Vietnam," the report said. Once completed, the Philippines will have reclaimed eight acres of land in the Spratlys in recent years, compared with about 120 acres by Vietnam and 3,200 by China, it added. ^ top ^

Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo stripped of Australian residency, banned from returning over 'political interference' concerns (SCMP)
2019-02-07
A prominent Chinese billionaire political donor has been stripped of his Australian residency and barred from returning to the country after his Communist Party ties came under scrutiny, local media reported on Wednesday. Officials in Australia denied Sydney resident Huang Xiangmo a passport, rejecting his application to become an Australian citizen and cancelling his permanent residency, leaving him stranded in Beijing, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers reported. Huang, who has been at the centre of a spate of political interference concerns, has donated millions to Australia's two main political parties and been photographed with key figures including former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and opposition leader Bill Shorten. But he has come under scrutiny for alleged links to the United Front Work Department – a Chinese Communist Party-linked body accused of neutralising opposition and buying political influence around the world. Chinese analysts said the case reflected deep suspicions about the Chinese Communist Party both in Australia and globally. "In general, this type of problem will emerge again and again, since it has to do with the ruling party's ideology," Pang Zhongying, a professor of international relations at the Ocean University of China in Qingdao, said. "Many major Chinese businesspeople are party members, and as their status is being emphasised domestically, there will be growing tensions abroad." The trend will make Chinese businessmen uneasy and worried that they will face greater scrutiny in Australia, Pang added. John Lee, a professor at the US studies centre at the University of Sydney, said Australia would "no longer be able to tolerate undue interference and covert influence by foreign entities in our institutions and decision-making processes". He continued: "It is also further evidence that the Australian government is prepared to absorb Beijing's displeasure on this issue. "There is no doubt the Chinese Communist Party has exploited Australian complacency about the former's attempts to exercise undue interference and covert influence in Australian institutions and decision-making processes." Asked about Huang, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would not comment on a "sensitive matter". "The government has always acted consistent with the advice that we receive and that's what has happened on this occasion," he said. Asked later about money that Huang had donated, Morrison referred to the law introduced to ban foreign donations. "The actions we've been taking in relation to this gentleman, that's based on information that exists today." He did not elaborate. Quoting unnamed sources, the Sydney Morning Herald said Huang had his application for an Australian passport blocked on "character grounds" and concerns over the "reliability" of information he had supplied in interviews. Huang, who founded the Chinese property developer Yuhu, was not available for comment. The newspaper said he went to Thailand last month and it was not clear where he was on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Marise Payne played down suggestions that the decision to strip Huang of his residency could poison relations between Canberra and Beijing. The countries' economies are deeply intertwined, but conflicting political systems and China's increasingly strong-arm tactics in the Pacific region have made cooperation more difficult. "I don't expect it to be the subject of a bilateral discussion. These are matters that occur from time to time," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation when asked about the Huang case. Australia's main spy agency has long voiced concerns that China was interfering in Australian institutions and using the opaque political donations system to gain access. It reportedly warned the country's political elite about taking donations from Huang – who owns a multimillion-dollar mansion in Sydney – and a fellow billionaire property developer, Chau Chak Wing. Huang made headlines in 2017 when it was revealed his company had paid former Labor senator Sam Dastyari's personal legal bills, and appeared alongside the politician at a news conference for Chinese media where Dastyari supported Beijing's stance on territorial disputes in the South China Sea, contradicting Labor's policy. The controversy forced Dastyari to quit politics. The Sydney Morning Herald said Dastyari had repeatedly contacted Immigration personally to check on Huang's case. Canberra last year introduced sweeping reforms to its espionage and foreign interference laws, strengthening existing offences and introducing new ones targeting foreign influence on domestic politics, including a ban on foreign donations to political parties. "Foreign adversaries are actively working against Australia's interests through a variety of means, including obtaining classified information or seeking to influence the outcome of Australia's democratic processes," the government said upon passing the laws in June. Beijing has dismissed the claims of meddling as hysteria and paranoia. Mark Harrison, senior lecturer in Chinese studies at the University of Tasmania, said the ruling against Huang was a "clear signal" to individuals and organisations seeking influence. He also said it highlighted the need for Australian politicians and policymakers to safeguard the country's democratic system. "The Australian government's ruling on Mr Huang's citizenship application has been firm but measured and clearly intended to avoid any unnecessary escalation," he said. "Harm to Australia-China relations would come from a calibrated response from Beijing in accordance with its current policy calculus. "Mr Huang, however, has attracted a great deal of unnecessary attention through his actions, and Beijing may well consider that Australia's ruling has addressed a problem that was as much theirs." Wei Zongyou, an international relations professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, added that Australia has been increasingly alert to Chinese influence activity and "sharp power", seen in its wariness about businesspeople and students with Chinese backgrounds. "With this in mind, Australia's refusal to naturalise a Chinese businessman is not difficult to understand, and there will be more cases like this," he said. "Since Huang was also involved in the influence scandal of an Australian senator, the refusal is even more logical." On Wednesday Labor leader Bill Shorten – who polls tip to become Australia's next prime minister – dodged questions about whether his party would return donations from Huang. "Well, we stopped taking money from him a couple of years ago," he said. "In fact, Labor stopped taking donations from that gentleman and another person before the law caught up with our position." ^ top ^

Huawei likely faces 5G ban in Canada, security experts say – but the trick will be how and when to announce it (SCMP)
2019-02-07
Canada will probably ban Huawei Technologies from its 5G network, analysts and security experts say, though Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may delay the decision as long as possible to avoid jeopardising Canadians detained in China. As Trudeau awaits a security review ahead the 5G roll out, former envoys to China, ex-spy chiefs and telecom analysts are increasingly of the view that Canada will follow some of its allies in freezing out Huawei from the next-generation network. "I think a ban is likely," Richard Fadden, a former national security adviser to Trudeau, said in an interview. He thinks Huawei's presence in 5G would pose a risk to national security, adding that some of Canada's allies are shunning Huawei. "I think it's important for Canada to remember it's in, and of, the West." Canada would join countries including the US, Australia and New Zealand that have blocked or limited the use of Huawei equipment. Germany and other European governments have also been weighing whether to place restrictions over concerns that Chinese intelligence could use the networks to spy on other countries, fears the company has dismissed. For Trudeau, it's arguably the most fraught decision he has faced in his almost four years as prime minister. He must balance his ties with the US and China with the fate of three detained Canadians, while also facing pressure from intelligence partners and domestic telecom companies. China's envoy to Ottawa has warned of "repercussions," if Canada bans Huawei. If Trudeau allows Huawei, he'd look like he was bowing to Chinese pressure and would risk alienating close allies. Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said a security review over 5G is ongoing, and he declined to speculate Tuesday on when a decision will be made. "I want to see a decision as rapidly as possible but I also want to see the process done correctly," he told reporters in Ottawa. "We want to examine all of that so that we understand not only the advantages of the technology, but also where the potential vulnerabilities and weaknesses are, where threats or risks may come from." Huawei warned that a ban would be a set back for Canada. "To reverse this would set Canada's wireless competitive advantage back years," Huawei Canada said in a statement. "We are confident the Canadian government is committed to a thorough review and we have received no indication that a policy determination has been made." Canada's three major telecommunications companies are watching closely. Telus Corp and BCE Inc's Bell Canada are the most heavily invested with Huawei and would be impacted by a ban, analysts say. Rogers Communications uses Ericsson AB of Sweden and wouldn't be affected, analysts say. Any ban would only apply to 5G networks, and not the existing 4G or previous systems, according to a National Bank Financial report. The telecom companies have kept a low profile since the arrest in Vancouver of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Sabrina Meng Wanzhou in December, though Telus defended its use of Huawei equipment in a note to employees. Telus and BCE, which is scheduled to report earnings Thursday morning, didn't return calls seeking comment. Banning Huawei would leave Canadian telecoms with essentially two main choices: Nokia Oyj and Ericsson. Rogers said it's partnering with Ericsson, including for its 5G roll-out. "We suspect that the most likely outcome is a 5G ban on Huawei," Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce analysts Robert Bek, Todd Coupland, Kulveer Grewal and Amy Dyck said in a blog published Monday. That would be "most problematic for just Bell and Telus, but with spending requirements that would not likely stick to valuations." Former ambassadors to China also expect a ban. "Eventually, the Canadian government will have no choice but to prevent Huawei from working on 5G in Canada," said Guy Saint-Jacques, the envoy from 2012 to 2016. The risks have grown too big, he said. But Trudeau may wait as China continues to detain Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, he said. A third Canadian also faces a death sentence. Trudeau "has to wait as long as he can," said Saint-Jacques, now a senior fellow at a pair of Canadian university institutes. "We are in for a period of turbulence." David Mulroney, Canada's ambassador to China from 2009 to 2012, said the timing of any announcement is crucial. "While I don't see how it is possible for Huawei to be a serious contender, the government will want to think carefully about how and when to make that announcement," he said in an email. There are many unknowns with telecom technology that make it difficult, if not impossible, to guarantee impenetrability. "There are vulnerabilities in all of them all the time, and they're always being patched," and 5G will be no different, said Christopher Parsons, a research associate at the Citizen Lab, in the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs. A foreign intelligence service could conceivably access Canada's network by either opening up a so-called back door, or by a telecom company simply not reporting or fixing a vulnerability that pops up on its own, he said. Fadden, also a former head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said there's no way to safeguard the system entirely – which, for him, rules out any kind of middle-option that restricts but doesn't ban Huawei. "Given enough time, they'll break through," he said. Ward Elcock, another former CSIS chief, also thinks Canada will ban Huawei from 5G. "I think they probably will," he said in a phone interview Tuesday. "I don't think they're going to rush to make the decision any time soon, and I wouldn't do it either in the context of what's going on." ^ top ^

Chinese internet users jump on Justin Trudeau's Lunar New Year message to chide Canadian PM over Huawei (SCMP)
2019-02-06
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Lunar New Year message on social media met with a mixed reaction from Chinese internet users, some of whom used it as an opportunity to air their feelings about Canada's troubled relations with China and its part in an extradition row involving the US. Trudeau began his message with "Happy New Year" in Mandarin and English in the 50-second video that appeared on his Weibo feed on Tuesday evening, the first day of the new year. "2019 is the Year of the Earth Pig, a symbol of good fortune, honesty and success," the 47-year-old leader said. "As friends and families kick off the new year together and celebrate new beginnings, it's also a chance to honour the many contributions Chinese Canadians have made to our country. "From coast to coast to coast, Chinese Canadians build a strong, more inclusive Canada every day." He concluded with "Gong Hey Fat Choy", uttering the phrase with sounds similar to Cantonese pronunciation. As one of the most active world leaders on Weibo, Trudeau has made more than 2,000 posts and has more than 530,000 followers on China's most popular social media platform. While it was not Trudeau's first festive video on Chinese social media since he took office in late 2016, this year's greeting came at a time of tensions between Beijing and Ottawa after the detention of a Huawei executive at Vancouver Airport on December 1. Beijing demanded the immediate release of chief financial officer Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, who is accused of fraud relating to breaches of US sanctions against Iran. The detention of Meng, and a US extradition request, has triggered a diplomatic crisis. Canada said 13 of its citizens, including former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor, had been detained by Beijing since Meng's arrest. The Canadian government issued a travel warning to its citizens to China last month after a Chinese court sentenced a Canadian, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, to death for drug trafficking. In response, Beijing issued its own advisory to its citizens travelling to Canada. Trudeau's video message – which was reposted by the Canadian embassy in Beijing – drew more than 4,000 comments and 7,000 "likes". By midday on Wednesday, the message had attracted a variety of responses. While one blogger asked if the Canadian prime minister should have subtitles in Chinese in his video rather than in English, others seemed to focus on the Huawei situation. "Please release Ms Meng immediately!" another user wrote. "I'll give you a break for this post for the sake of Lunar New Year, but to your next post my comment would be, 'release'," a third wrote. US President Donald Trump also sent greetings, saying the Lunar New Year "is a sacred time for many people of Asian descent, and it is an opportunity for all Americans to honour the important contributions these communities have made to the story of American greatness". His daughter Ivanka used Twitter to say "Happy New Year" in Chinese and English. But her greetings were low key compared to two years ago, when she attended the Chinese embassy in Washington's spring reception. British Prime Minister Theresa May said in a video that Lunar New Year was one of the highlights of Britain's cultural calendar, celebrating the diversity of a multicultural society. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in his greeting that the relationship between China and Japan had improved, and he looked forward to more exchanges between the two nations. ^ top ^

World leaders convey Spring Festival greetings, stressing relations with China (Xinhua)
2019-02-05
The 2019 Chinese New Year falls on Tuesday. Many world leaders conveyed their best wishes to China and all the Chinese around the world were gearing up for celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival. Besides greeting "Happy New Year" in different languages, many leaders also emphasized the importance they attached to their countries' relations with China. In Tokyo on Monday night, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said "Happy Spring Festival" in Chinese in a video to mark the ceremony of decorating the landmark Tokyo Tower in red light, part of the New Year celebration. Abe said last year was important in the history of Japan-China relations. The bilateral ties have returned to the normal track and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and himself officially visited each other's countries. During the Spring Festival holidays, Japan is ready to welcome more Chinese friends and "I also hope that more Japanese citizens will go to China," building a colorful bridge of mutual exchange, Abe said, wishing that the Japan-China ties make more progress in the coming year. In a video posted on social media on Monday, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said "Happy New Year" in Mandarin and Cantonese after expressing thanks to the local Chinese communities for their contributions to the country. Noting 2019 as the China-New Zealand Year of Tourism, Ardern said that tourism, education and trade will strengthen the bilateral relations and the understanding between the two peoples so that the friendship can be enhanced. On Thursday, British Prime Minister Theresa May hosted a Chinese New Year celebration reception at No. 10 Downing Street, which was specially decorated with cherry blossoms and traditional well-wishing Chinese couplets. Affirming the important role that the Chinese community plays in British life, May said, "I'd like to wish everyone celebrating Chinese New Year a prosperous and auspicious Year of the Pig." Britain attaches importance to its relations with China, May said, recalling the important consensus reached last year by both sides in promoting the "Golden Era" in bilateral relations. The British side expects to work together with China to push forward bilateral cooperation in all sectors for more fruitful outcomes, she added. Pakistani President Arif Alvi extended his "heartfelt felicitation" over the Spring Festival to the Chinese government and the people in a letter to Chinese media, saying "our friendship and bond is higher than the mountains of the Himalayas." In a letter, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani expressed his best wishes on the eve of the Chinese New Year to Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Chinese people, saying that Afghanistan regards China as "a close friend" and wants to further enhance relations with China. On the occasion of the Chinese New Year, El Salvador's President Salvador Sanchez Ceren sent greetings and best wishes to President Xi, the National People's Congress of China, and the Chinese people for family reunion, joy and happiness, and hoped the development, prosperity and progress of China will continue to be enhanced and consolidated. Ugandan Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda on Friday met the representatives of Chinese and business communities in the country, who came to the Prime Minister's office building to celebrate the Spring Festival, lauding the joint celebration of the festival by Ugandans and Chinese, while wishing the Chinese government and people a Happy Spring Festival. Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela attended a Chinese New Year celebration run by the Chinese Embassy in Panama City on Saturday, delivering an ebullient speech and wishing all Chinese in the country a Happy New Year. With the Chinese Lunar New Year is approaching, Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera met Chen Dong, Chinese ambassador to the country, during which the president made a bow and said in Chinese, "President Xi, Happy New Year!" In Argentina, Argentinian President Mauricio Macri wished President Xi, and all Chinese around the world a Happy Spring Festival. President Nicos Anastasiades of Cyprus delivered a video speech on Friday, extending his "warmest wish that the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Pig, will be filled with good health, success, happiness and prosperity for all Chinese people and their families," while repeating his wishes in Chinese "Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy New Year)." Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen also sent his greetings and best wishes as the country is gearing up for the celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year. ^ top ^

Pakistan to make economic zones under CPEC more investor friendly: minister (Xinhua)
2019-02-05
Pakistani Finance Minister Asad Umar has proposed changes in the initial plan of special economic zones (SEZs) under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in order to make them more investor friendly, according to local reports. In a meeting of Economic Cooperation Committee (ECC) here, the finance minister directed the board of investment, an institution under the Prime Minister Office which is responsible for making policies to mobilize and facilitate local and foreign investment, to approve application of companies interested in investing in the SEZs in 45 days from previous 90 days. Chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, the purpose of the meeting was to deliberate upon the country's economic situation, and form a future strategy for the stability and revival of economy. Both China and Pakistan have agreed to make CPEC focus on industrial cooperation after the first five-year early harvest period since 2013. The joint venture in the SEZs is a major area in the bilateral industrial cooperation between China and Pakistan under CPEC aiming at boost local economy and employment. ^ top ^

Chinese fishing boat captain arrested in waters close to Japan (SCMP)
2019-02-03
A Chinese fishing boat captain has been arrested in waters close to Japan, according to state media in the island nation. Chen Wenting, 40, was detained by the Japanese coastguard on Saturday morning on suspicion of violating Japan's fishing rights and trying to avoid inspection, NHK reported. The incident happened on the same day China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told visiting Japanese senior deputy minister for foreign affairs Takeo Mori that 2019 was going to be an "important year" for ties between the two countries. Chen and his crew of 10 were spotted inside Japan's exclusive economic zone, about 300km (186 miles) southeast of Hahajima, a tiny island in the western Pacific about 1,000km south of Tokyo, the report said. But when a coastguard vessel from Yokohama sounded a siren and issued instructions to stop, Chen turned and fled. The Japanese boat went in pursuit and after a 30km chase, the Chinese vessel was forced to stop. Chen was detained pending further investigation, the report said. China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. There have been many cases of Chinese fishermen being arrested by Japanese authorities, with perhaps the most notable coming in 2010 when a Chinese trawler rammed a Japanese coastguard vessel near the disputed Diaoyu Islands – known as Senkaku in Japan – in the East China Sea. When the Chinese crew were arrested it prompted huge outpourings of nationalist sentiment in both countries and tensions between them rose significantly. Relations got back on track last year after Li Keqiang in May became the first Chinese premier since 2011 to visit Japan, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Beijing in October. The trips led to the two sides agreeing to increase cooperation on trade in the face of growing unilateralism from the United States. According to a press release from China's foreign ministry, Wang told Mori on Saturday that the two countries should "be each other's partner, not threat". "We should do our best to avoid new turbulence," he said. "Amid this international uncertainty ensuring a stable bilateral relationship will benefit our coordination in international and regional affairs." ^ top ^

State-owned firm to buy more US soybeans following trade talk progress (Global Times)
2019-02-02
Recent trade talks between China and the US have yielded positive results, laying the foundation for reaching a deal before the March 1 deadline and sending out positive signals to global markets. State-owned grain trading company COFCO said Saturday that it had again purchased millions of tons of US soybeans, a move to implement the consensus reached by the two countries' top leaders, according to a statement published on its website. The latest round of China-US trade talks made "important progress" for the current stage the two sides had "candid, specific and constructive discussions," the Xinhua News Agency reported. Global markets were cheered up on Friday over progress reached in the latest talks between the world's two largest economies, as the escalated trade war had sent turbulence through the markets and darkened economic outlook worldwide. Stock markets posted mixed gains Friday, with US futures set for a modestly higher open, but European shares gave back early gains, according to US financial site thestreet.com. Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) rallied almost 2 percent on Friday to a seven-week high after China's commitment to buy more US agricultural products, like 5 million tons of soybeans which US President Donald Trump described as "a tremendous purchase." This development lowered the expectation for some major soybean exporters such as Brazil, according to an industry representative. "Soy prices in CBOT tend to reflect a more balanced scenario, in which US products will not be undervalued compared to other sources, like Brazil and Argentina," Daniel Furlan Amaral, chief-economist of the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (ABIOVE), told the Global Times. Brazil's association of vegetable oil producers has cut its estimate of soybean exports in 2019 by 5 percent. It has been the most constructive discussion between the two sides since the trade war began, which showed sincerity on both sides, said Wei Jianguo, former Chinese vice minister of commerce. "Delegations from China and the US had looked into trade issues and thoroughly studied them to find a way of reaching a concrete deal before the deadline in March," he said. If China and the US fail to come up with a deal before the 90-day truce ends, tariffs on Chinese goods will increase to 25 percent, which, as many exporters believe, will have a significant impact on bilateral trade. Increasing tariffs will also weigh on American business, which purchases a sigificant amount of Made-in-China products every year. The International Monetary Fund cut its global economic outlook and warned of the risks of trade disputes in January, and said failure to resolve trade tensions could further destabilize a slowing global economy, Reuters reported. "Proper handling of the divergence between China and the US not only impacts the two countries but also global economic recovery," Wei said, noting that the two sides felt the urgency to defuse tensions. During the latest round of trade talks, the two sides touched on the trade balance, technology transfer, protection of intellectual property rights, non-tariff barriers, the services sector, agriculture and an enforcement mechanism. As China-US relations are reciprocal, the US needs to make some good gestures to China to make sure a trade deal will be reached, said Mei Xinyu, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. "While Beijing promises to buy more American goods and to expand market access to US firms, Washington should move forward on some issues, such as tightened export controls to China," Mei added. Besides the purchase of more US soybeans, there is more room to buy additional US goods such as energy products, aircraft and automobiles as part of efforts to reduce the US trade deficit with China. Notwithstanding the good momentum of trade talks, the US seems to be hastening its offensive against China in various sectors. In a Saturday article, CNN said US intelligence warned that China was using "student spies" to steal secrets from the US. Unnamed lawmakers and intelligence officials were quoted as saying that the Chinese are "notorious" for their patriotism and nationalism that could allegedly "coerce them into carrying out acts of espionage." On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US Energy Department said it would ban its scientists and employees from participating in talent-recruitment programs sponsored by China and other countries. The department oversees 17 national laboratories conducting advanced research in such areas as nuclear physics and supercomputing. This is not the first time US officials have accused Chinese students of espionage, while Chinese students, based on official US data, accounted for over 30 percent of the country's international students in 2018. China has repeatedly denied such accusations, urging a more rational and objective perspective on normal people-to-people exchanges. Meanwhile, the recent arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou by Canadian authorities on the request of the US remained an unresolved issue, casting a shadow over the future development of China-US relations. With the Trump administration highlighting competition with China and calling China the top security threat and rival, more containment actions are expected to come from the US this year, said Li Haidong, a professor at the Beijing-based China Foreign Affairs University. Instead of allowing 2019, which marks the 40th anniversary of China-US diplomatic ties, to be defined by conflicts primarily triggered by the US, China is eyeing more constructive efforts for mutually beneficial relations, Li said. The greatest achievement of China-US relations during the past decades is that the two sides maintained stable and cooperation-driven ties, and that there is no reason for it not to be sustained, Li added.  ^ top ^

Diplomatic novice picked for top Communist Party job at China's foreign ministry amid deteriorating relations with US (SCMP)
2019-01-30
Beijing has taken the unprecedented move to elevate a veteran personnel cadre – and diplomatic novice – to be the foreign ministry's Communist Party chief, amid growing international tensions and a sharp deterioration in relations between China and the United States. The announcement on Tuesday night that Qi Yu, 58, former deputy head of the party's all-powerful Organisation Department, would be the ministry's party secretary took many Chinese diplomats and veteran China observers by surprise because of his lack of diplomatic experience. Analysts said the appointment appeared to be part of ongoing restructuring of President Xi Jinping's foreign policy team to further entrench party control of foreign affairs, particularly given Beijing's strains with the US and other major powers. Zhu Lijia, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said Qi's promotion was in line with Xi's focus on tightening party control, and showed the importance the Chinese leaders attached to foreign affairs. "With the rise of China's global standing, foreign relations have become increasingly important for the country, which is at a critical juncture of its reform and opening up," Zhu said. Under the new line-up, Qi will be in charge of the ministry's personnel affairs while Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi, who served as the ministry's party chief between 2007 and 2008, would still be responsible for implementing Xi's foreign policies. Both Wang and Qi will be under the leadership of the party's newly elevated Central Foreign Affairs Commission, led by Xi, while top-ranking diplomat Yang Jiechi, a Politburo member and Wang's predecessor, will be director of the commission's office. Within the foreign policy hierarchy, both Yang and Wang are considered more senior than Qi, since Yang is a Politburo member and Wang a state councillor and member of the party's inner circle, the Central Committee. "Qi's appointment as party secretary means he'll certainly play a more vigorous role in personnel-type of decisions and the allocation of resources within the ministry, while the minister can focus on the public roles shuttling around the world," said University of Chicago professor Dali Yang. "Given the vacancies and the difficulties [the ministry faces] in retaining staff, Qi may play a role in helping to bring about reforms in foreign service recruitment, compensation and benefits so the foreign affairs system can better attract and retain talent. "Such appointments may help bring in additional resources." Zhu said Qi's elevation was an unprecedented move because the ministry's party chiefs were traditionally promoted from within. "It could be good news for the recruitment of younger generation of competent diplomats, because as party secretary, Qi would be in charge of personnel affairs within the ministry," he said. Qi replaces Zhang Yesui, 65, a former ambassador to the US and United Nations who served as the ministry's party chief from 2013 and was appointed the spokesman of the top legislative body, the National People's Congress. Born in Xi's ancestral province of Shaanxi, Qi has risen through the ranks over the years. From the late 1990s, he spent over a decade as a researcher and then an editor of a publication under the Organisation Department that focused on party building. After serving as personnel chief in Qinghai and Jilin provinces for several years, Qi was promoted in 2015 to deputy head of the department under the watch of Chen Xi, Xi's ally and the party's top personnel official. Pang Zhongying, a Beijing-based foreign policy expert, said Qi's appointment appeared to be part of a shake-up of Xi's foreign policy team that started about two years ago and included the promotion of Yang and Wang and the appointment of Wang Qishan as vice-president. "We are at a sensitive and vitally important moment for China's relations with the world. With the enormous challenges ahead, China will need a more competent and professional team of diplomats to oversee the country's expanding global interests," Pang said. With top leaders adopting an increasingly hands-on approach on major foreign policy issues, the foreign ministry's role in China's diplomatic decision-making has gradually diminished in the past two decades. Top diplomats, who were generally not seen as part of Xi's inner circle, appear to have struggled to gain access to the country's highest ranks of power. Zhang Lifan, a Beijing-based political observer, said the ministry was an executive body without much say in making decisions and bringing an outsider into the diplomatic team showed that its standing could decline even further. "Party building is one of the seven major risks confronting China that were cited by Xi in his recent speech [on controlling risks] and it is likely that top leaders have attributed the deteriorating international environment to inadequate efforts [by the foreign ministry] on party building rather than errors in decision-making," he said. But Yang, from the University of Chicago, suggested the latest move might not necessarily mean the ministry was being sidelined. Zhu also said that despite Qi's lack of diplomatic experience, his appointment underscored that the overall qualities of senior officials, especially their ability to make right political decisions, may be considered a bigger factor in deciding high-level promotions. ^ top ^

Hi-tech dystopian plot or low-key incentive scheme? The complex reality of China's social credit system (SCMP)
2019-02-08
Yang Qiuyun's home in eastern China heaves under a mountain of paper files. They are scattered on top of cabinets, piled on the water dispenser and stacked up on her bed. The files are filled with forms completed in her neat handwriting, records of the laborious work she carries out as one of 10 "information gatherers" in a village at the forefront of an experiment in social management: China's social credit system. Every day, Yang, 52, roams Jiakuang Majia village with a pen and paper in hand, writing down every instance of free labour or other donations her fellow villagers make to the community – two points for Ma Shaojun for taking eight hours to install a new basketball hoop in the village playground; 30 points for Ma Hongyun for donating a 3,000-yuan (US$445) TV screen for the village meeting room; and 10 points each for Ma Shuting and Ma Qiuling who have a son serving in the army in Tibet. The points are added to the villagers' personal "credit scores", which are tied to community welfare programmes. High scorers get more rice, cooking oil and cash rewards from the village committee and are lauded on village bulletin boards as role models. At the same time, points are deducted for bad behaviour such as littering or neglecting care of elderly parents. This is what China's much talked about social credit system looks like on the ground in the countryside of Rongcheng, a sleepy city on the eastern tip of the Shandong peninsula and one of a dozen "model" centres lauded for their success in piloting the programme. The system relies a series of rewards and punishments meant to encourage people and businesses to abide by rules and to promote integrity and trustworthiness in society at large. According to the official blueprint released in 2014, a national system will be rolling out by 2020 to "allow the trustworthy to benefit wherever they go while making it difficult for the discredited to take a single step". But as the Chinese authorities embrace new information technology to monitor, manage and control the public like never before, the prospect of a sweeping social credit system has raised alarm around the world, especially with the ever-tightening grip on civil society, rights activism and religion. The system made headlines just last month when billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the social credit scheme was "frightening and abhorrent", and "would subordinate the fate of the individual to the interests of the one-party state in ways unprecedented in history". Soros also called Chinese President Xi Jinping "the most dangerous opponent of open societies". A few months earlier, US Vice-President Mike Pence described it as "an Orwellian system premised on controlling virtually every facet of human life". Some reports have framed the system as a hi-tech dystopia, where an algorithm dictates the lives of 1.4 billion people through a three-digit score, with points added or deducted in real time under the watchful eyes of AI-powered surveillance devices. But in reality, only some pilot cities have scores and even then each does it in their own way. There is also no standardised national social credit score for everyone – instead there is a complex web of systems run by different ministries, levels of governments and regions interconnected by data sharing. Even when there is a scoring system in one area, its effects are felt very differently throughout the community. In Jiakuang Majia village, there is no artificial intelligence, algorithm or other cutting-edge technology involved – it all boils down to pieces of paper and tedious manual labour. "It's a lot of work," Yang, the information gatherer, said. "I've been kept so busy that I don't have time to work on the farm any more." Every month, she tallies up everyone's scores on a single sheet using an old calculator. Little red stars and flags are then assigned to villagers' names on public bulletin boards, with one equalling one star and six stars adding up to a flag. Fifteen minutes' drive away in the urban heart of Rongcheng, few people on the streets have even heard of the social credit system or their credit score – even though the government has spent the last seven years establishing and promoting it. The city ranks residents from AAA to D based on their personal scores. Every adult resident, including migrant workers, starts with 1,000 points, and there are more than 200 ways to gain or lose points. Points are added for volunteer work, donating blood, reporting counterfeit products and attracting investment to the city. Points are lost for breaking traffic rules, breaching family planning policies, flouting contracts and evading tax. "Triple As" are rewarded with small benefits like free medical check-ups, 30 cubic metres of free water a year, a 300-yuan discount on heating bills and concessions on bank loans. "Ds" lose access to government subsidies, are barred from applying for government jobs or bidding for government tenders and face loan restrictions, among other punishments. This all-encompassing score is supposed to permeate and shape all aspects of lives in Rongcheng – only that it hasn't, at least not yet. "It is just part of the government's usual propaganda. It has nothing to do with our lives," said Zhou Wen, a taxi driver in his 40s. Public notice boards explaining the system or displaying model high scorers are common, but few seem to take any notice. At First Morning Light, a gated community touted by the government as a social credit success story, a young man running a convenient store opposite one such noticeboard has little interest. "It's for those old retirees who have nothing much to do every day," he said. At the Rocky Island agricultural products market, Liu Huayang's cooked meat store is one of five shops awarded a five-star integrity rating in 2017 – the highest possible ranking in the market's own social credit project. There was no follow-up from the market's management office and shop owners quickly moved on. "My face is the best credit," Liu said. "The government's rating is merely a gesture on paper." But elsewhere in the city, some people are taking note, particularly those who work for the government, public institutions and state-owned companies. In the lobby of Rongcheng People's Hospital, senior staff member Wang Shuhong said she drove more carefully now because traffic infringements cost not just money but also social credit points. "Many from the general public may not know about it, but we public servants do know. It does have a binding effect on us," she said. According to Wang, applicants must have a ranking of A or above to be hired for permanent positions at public institutions. For contractors, such as security guards, B is a minimum. The system is also evident at Rongcheng's city hall, where two machines print out credit scores, mostly to people applying for home loans. One man said he needed the score to get government funding for an entrepreneurship programme. But most did not think much about the system or their score, treating it as just another bureaucratic hurdle. Jeremy Daum, senior research scholar at Yale Law School and author of the China Law Translate blog, said an all-encompassing score was of little use to a lender. "Banks want to know your ability to repay a loan," he said. "A unified social credit score would simply not be the right data to help them make the decision they need to make." Daum said scores were just propaganda to promote a culture of trustworthiness – whereas blacklists were the real enforcement tool. Regulatory and oversight bodies covering various industries and areas have drawn up a series of blacklists of serious offenders. Those who don't comply with laws and regulations can face punishment from multiple agencies in dozens of areas, from food safety and environmental protection to tourism, taxation, e-commerce, finance and real estate. The best known of these blacklists is the Supreme People's Court's roster of people who have failed to comply with court judgments. The defaulters face broad consequences – they can be barred from taking flights and high-speed trains, staying at luxury hotels and enrolling their children in expensive private schools. By the end of last year, defaulters had been blocked from buying a combined 17 million airline tickets and 5.4 million high-speed rail tickets, according to the National Development and Reform Commission, which leads the work in building the social credit system. The social credit system is designed to solve many real problems in a country still riddled with fraud, counterfeit products, and food safety and public health failures. But the system could also be used to reinforce political control. For example, while the blacklists relate to violations of existing laws and legal obligations, it does not mean those legal requirements are justified, Daum said. "If the underlying offences and laws are unjust, like limitations on speech or religious practice, then their enforcement just doubles down on that," he wrote in a blog post. In addition, some serious charges, such as "endangering national security", are extremely broad and purposefully vague, enabling them to be applied arbitrarily. Samantha Hoffman, a non-resident fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said this was because there was no genuine rule of law in China. "Even regulations [that] are seemingly apolitical can be made political when the Communist Party of China decides to use them for political purposes," Hoffman said. "How do you know a court judgment is fair in the [party's] legal system, which priorities the party's political security? The answer is you don't." For Hoffman, the main function of the social credit system is to make the party's political control inseparable from the country's social and economic development. "If the party were genuinely interested in problem solving, it wouldn't need social credit to do it, it would simply need a functioning civil society and rule of law," she said. Rongcheng's social credit system has already incorporated elements of political control. In July, the government released a detailed regulation on credit management for petitioners. Petitioning is a process by which the disenfranchised make a last-ditch appeal to higher authorities for help after their own governments have repeatedly failed them. Petitioning has a long history in China and is a headache for local governments, which have resorted to brutal measures to prevent petitioners from reaching Beijing. These tensions erupted in Rongcheng in 2012, when a villager who had been stopped from petitioning set off a home-made explosive in a local government building, killing himself and wounding six others. Under the July regulation, petitioners who do not follow "procedures" can be stripped of points or downgraded. Petitioners who plead their case near the site of big meetings at the central or local government level will have 50 points deducted, while petitions mounted in "sensitive areas" in Beijing result in an automatic D ranking. The same applies for petitioners who "make trouble" and "get used by the internet and foreign media". The new rules have already hit its first victim. Last month, a petitioner surnamed Gao lost 950 credit points and his rating plummeted to a D after sending more than 1,000 online letters appealing for help with his mother's two-decade-old medical dispute. According to a rule that deducts 10 points for "using the online petition system to repeatedly complain in spite", he lost 950 points for doing it 95 times in the three weeks after the rules came into effect. Back in Jiakuang Majia village, Yang keeps track of the points for her corner of the village. According to her, nobody has lost any points for bad behaviour since the programme got rolling a year ago. "It's more about promoting positive energy," she said. ^ top ^

China cracks down on scammers taking advantage of anti-poverty policy (Global Times)
2019-02-07
With China stepping up efforts to fight poverty in recent years, a series of scams, using targeted poverty reduction measures as bait, have turned hundreds of thousands of people into victims. China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) is now calling for the public to be vigilant against such scams. "Scammers mainly take advantage of the mentality that you can make a large profit from just a small investment. Some use fake official documents and seals and pretend to be government officials to make the scam look more real," Chen Shiqu, deputy director of the criminal investigation bureau under the MPS, said at a press conference in January. In one case, four scammers from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region used fake cyber identities to pose as government officials from the State Council, Ministry of Finance, and as the director of China's poverty alleviation group to claim that the central government had launched a targeted one-on-one poverty reduction campaign through the internet. Starting last August, the group set up dozens of WeChat groups and deceived 180,000 people in four months, asking them to pay membership fees ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 yuan and claiming that they would make 10 times that sum after the organization held a meeting in Beijing that would unlock the poverty alleviation funds. Many victims, thinking the campaign was real, asked their friends and relatives to sign up to the scheme. The MPS broke the case in January and arrested 17 suspects in Beijing and Guangxi. In another case, the suspect Li Shujin established an illegal organization and faked documents stating that the organization had been established with the support of China's State Council, Ministry of Civil Affairs and Ministry of Public Affairs. Li told people that the public could join the foundation by paying a membership fee of 29 yuan, 99 yuan or 179 yuan. They were promised a return of 300,000 yuan, 1 million yuan and 1.7 million yuan respectively. Many of the victims were middle-aged and senior citizens from rural areas or small towns. One 56-year-old victim called Chen Pin (pseudonym) from Anhui Province told the Global Times that a friend had introduced her to a WeChat group called "Targeted poverty alleviation" in November, and the head of the group said that if she invested a small sum of money, she would see a daily return of 2.5 percent of the sum. Chen invested 2,000 yuan and got returns for two weeks before being suddenly kicked out of the group. "The group leader sent us many documents with seals on it, so we thought it was real," she said. "Most people in the WeChat group are old people who have either retired or don't have a stable job," she said. Scammers in China are known to be good at keeping up with the latest financial concepts and government policies. In recent years, scams using new concepts such as bitcoin, e-commerce and inclusive finance have ensnared hundreds of thousands of victims. Chang Sha, a lawyer at Beijing-based King & Capital Law Firm, told the Beijing News that some scammer groups take advantage of human greed to go after profits and package their scams as government campaigns. Middle-aged and senior citizens and people living in rural areas are especially susceptible to these scams due to a lack of access to information. ^ top ^

China Focus: Xi's new year inspections underpin people-oriented approach (Xinhua)
2019-02-05
After visiting poverty-stricken areas across the country ahead of previous lunar new years, President Xi Jinping's latest pre-Spring Festival tour took him to the hutong neighborhoods of central Beijing. Though slightly different, there has been consistent theme throughout the years: a people-oriented approach. During the Friday visit, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, enquired about the living conditions of local residents after renovation projects in the traditional alleys. Xi's talks with the residents went in to details: heating solutions in winter, electric bills and the preparation for the lunar new year... He also went to check to see if a public toilet was clean. Wang Chunlian, a resident in the neighborhood, said: "Xi is very kind and approachable. It was like having a relative come to visit." "What the CPC pursues is to make the people's life better," Xi told residents, adding that the Party aimed to create a more comfortable and better living environment for the people and solve problems they care about so they can enjoy modern life even in old hutong areas. Xi also greeted deliverymen on duty, stressing that priority should be given to solving employment problems and creating more jobs. Deliverymen were also mentioned in his new year speech on Dec. 31, during which he extended gratitude to millions of hardworking people, such as deliverymen, sanitation workers and taxi drivers. In the same speech, Xi said: "My heart goes out to the people living in hardship," and recollected his visits to impoverished villages in Sichuan, Shandong, Liaoning and Guangdong provinces, mentioning a series of names of ordinary person he met in 2018. Chinese leaders have made it a tradition to visit ordinary people across the country ahead of Spring Festival, the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. Xi visited northwestern Gansu Province in 2013, northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2014, northwestern Shaanxi Province in 2015, eastern Jiangxi Province in 2016, northern Hebei Province in 2017 and southwestern Sichuan Province in 2018. Interactions between the Chinese leader and the public is common during the inspection trips. During the 2015 tour to Shaanxi, Xi bought festival gifts before visiting old acquaintances in the village where he worked as an "educated youth." China is striving to become a "moderately prosperous society in all respects" by 2020, just before the centennial anniversary of the founding of the CPC. That means all rural residents living below the current poverty line should be lifted out of poverty by 2020. It will be the first time in China's history that extreme poverty is eliminated. In 2019, the goal is to lift 10 million rural residents above the poverty line. Besides poverty-reduction, Xi has also discussed issues concerning people's aspirations for a better life, including education, jobs, food safety, healthcare, social security and environmental protection, during previous visits. Following the people-oriented approach, the Party first and foremost ensures the backing, approval and endorsement of the people, in considering and introducing policies. "Our people are the solid foundation of the country, and are our main source of confidence as the ruling party," said Xi in his new year speech. ^ top ^

2 former vice-chairmen expelled for corruption (China Daily)
2019-02-04
Two former vice-ministerial officials have been expelled from the Communist Party of China for serious discipline violations, and their cases have been transferred to prosecuting authorities for graft charges, as the country continues its fight against corruption. The two officials are Jin Suidong, former vice-chairman of the Henan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference－the local political advisory body－and Li Shixiang, former vice-chairman of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPPCC, said the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in two statements on Sunday. Jin, once Party chief of Anyang city, is the fifth high-ranking officials to fall from grace in Henan since 2012. His former colleagues in Anyang－Zhang Xiaodong and Dong Yong'an－have been sentenced to life in prison for graft. Li, who served as executive deputy mayor of Beijing before moving to the CPPCC, is the second high-ranking official from the capital to have fallen, following former deputy Party chief of Beijing Lyu Xiwen in 2015. Both Jin and Li have lost their faith and abused their powers for personal gains, and were found to have accepted bribes, hid key personal information and conducted other illegal acts while in office, according to CCDI statements. Therefore, both officials have been expelled from the Party, and their suspected crimes and illicit gains have been transferred to the procuratorate for review and prosecution. Jin is known as an official willing to be corrupted by external influences, the statement said. Apart from being morally bankrupt by having illicit sexual relations, he also took money from others in the promotion and appointment of cadres, tried obstructing investigations into his violations and crimes, and sold his calligraphy at high prices. Li took advantage of the politics-business relation to earn massive profits, took bribes and abused his power to promote and appoint cadres to benefit others. He even conducted superstitious activities to advance his political career, according to the CCDI. Born in 1954, Jin was appointed vice-chairman of the Henan Provincial Committee of the CPPCC in 2008. He left the post in 2017, and was placed under investigation in September last year. Li, born in 1958, had spent his entire political career in Beijing, reaching the position of vice-chairman of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPPCC in January 2017. He left the post a year later and was placed under investigation in September last year. ^ top ^

Xi extends Spring Festival greetings to Chinese people (Xinhua)
2019-02-03
President Xi Jinping extended greetings to Chinese people of all ethnic groups, compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese Sunday, ahead of Spring Festival. "In the past year... we have made efforts and achieved a lot," he said while addressing a festival reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, extended the greetings on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. ^ top ^

Premier Li calls for efforts to improve people's wellbeing (Xinhua)
2019-02-03
Premier Li Keqiang has called for efforts to deepen reform and opening-up, advance economic and social development, and improve people's wellbeing. During his inspection tour of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from Friday to Saturday, Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, visited poverty-stricken rural households in the city of Ulanqab. Li asked relevant departments to make research on promoting potato planting as part of efforts on eliminating poverty through agricultural development. When visiting a farmers' market, Li learned about the price and sales of beef and mutton. He said more efforts should be made to increase residents' income to make them more willing to spend money. At a train station, Li boarded a slow train and chatted with migrant workers about whether they had received their wages on time. He called for coordinated development of high-speed trains and inexpensive but slower trains to serve passengers with different demands. At a shanty town area, Li underscored the importance of speeding up renovations in order to make local residents live in warm and comfortable houses. ^ top ^

'Underground' bishop appointed to state-backed role in central China (SCMP)
2019-02-02
A bishop from China's "underground" Catholic church is slated to step up as the official state-backed clergyman for a diocese in central China, state media reported, amid a thaw in relations between Beijing and the Holy See. China's estimated 10 million Catholics are legally supposed to attend only churches governed by a state-controlled body with clergy appointed by the Communist Party. But many worship in so-called unregistered "underground churches" led by bishops loyal to the Vatican. An agreement struck in September on the appointment of bishops has paved the way for a rapprochement between Beijing and the Vatican after diplomatic ties were cut off in 1951. It also gives both sides a say in appointing Catholic bishops in China. Jin Lugang was inaugurated as coadjutor bishop for the Nanyang diocese in Henan, central China, Global Times reported on Friday, and will assist 98-year-old diocesan bishop Zhu Baoyu until his retirement. "I think it is a good thing," said Anthony Lam, a Chinese Catholic church expert at Hong Kong's Holy Spirit Study Centre, noting there were about 40 vacancies to be filled in dioceses across China. Though the Holy See has appointed at least 20 clergymen to fill these spots, the Chinese government has not yet approved them, he said. "They are too nervous," he said, referring to the local governments now tasked with vetting the appointees. "To some extent, it's their recommendation to the central government that these people are reliable, you can trust him, he will not do anything harmful to the government." That was why some government officials had taken a cautious approach and were holding some cases for long periods of time, he said. China's Catholic community urgently needs bishops that are "politically reliable", with nearly half of dioceses without bishops, the Global Times report said. Jin's official ordination follows a clampdown on religious worship in China, where churches were destroyed in some regions and several church-run kindergartens closed last year. Authorities have also cracked down on Bible sales. Last month, dozens of members of a prominent unofficial Protestant church went missing in southwest China after authorities raided their homes, church-goers said. Police detained the church pastor, who faces allegations of "inciting state subversion", according to the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Local authorities have also apprehended other church members on suspicion of "picking quarrels", as well as "illegal operations" selling Bibles and religious books, the church said. ^ top ^

China punishes 3,000 in organised crime crackdown – state media (SCMP)
2019-02-01
China has punished 3,021 people in a crackdown on organised crime and the local "protective umbrellas" that allow it to operate, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday, citing a government anti-crime task force. Ten regions were ordered to take action against organised crime following a three-month inspection campaign last year. These included northern heavy industrial provinces such as Shanxi and Liaoning, as well as the major manufacturing powerhouse of Guangdong, near Hong Kong. The 10 regions busted 1,129 mafia-style groups and seized 4.94 billion yuan (US$737 million) in assets during a subsequent "rectification" campaign that ended in December, Xinhua said. The campaign focused on strengthening grass-roots governance and law enforcement to smash what China calls "protective umbrellas", in which governments or police bureaus turn a blind eye or connive in crime. Xinhua said Henan province in central China took action against criminal gangs running illegal taxi and trucking services, while Shandong on the east coast cracked down on "village bosses" running rural mafia groups. Fujian province in the southeast focused on the investment of illegal earnings in property, it said. China launched a three-year nationwide campaign against organised crime early last year focusing on activities such as drug trafficking, prostitution and fraud. ^ top ^

Xi article shows determination to build ecological civilization (Global Times)
2019-02-01
An article by President Xi Jinping on building an ecological civilization was published in the flagship magazine of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Friday. The article, in the third issue of semimonthly Qiushi Journal in 2019, was a speech Xi delivered at a tone-setting meeting on environmental protection on May 18, 2018. The title of the journal is derived from the four-character phrase shi shi qiu shi, which means "seek truth from facts." In the article, Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, demands the coordination of economic and social development and the building of an ecological civilization, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday. With the Chinese economy transitioning from high-speed growth to high-quality development, Xi said there will be conventional and unconventional challenges and difficulties. "We must bite the bullet and overcome them," he said. Su Wei, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee, told the Global Times that "publishing an article based on a speech the Party's top leader delivered several months ago is not unusual for Qiushi Journal, and another reason for the timing is probably that the two sessions of 2019 are nearing." Many projects at the level of national strategy, such as the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Xiongan New Area development, will be discussed at the two sessions in early March, Su noted, so the Party wants to reemphasize the importance and the priority of environmental protection and ecological civilization. China has started to conduct central environmental inspections, implement guidelines to control air, water and soil pollution, has published its own plans to realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and is implementing a national plan to tackle climate change, Xinhua reported. Environmental inspection is a new measure taken by China in recent years to prevent pollution. In 2017, the Ministry of Environmental Protection - which has since been incorporated into the Ministry of Ecology and Environment - sent 5,600 law enforcement officers to 28 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to inspect air pollution control work. In June 2018, about 18,000 law enforcement officers were dispatched to conduct air pollution control inspections, dubbed the "Blue Sky Protection Campaign," in the Yangtze River Delta and the Fenhe and Weihe plains in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. The campaign is scheduled to last until the end of April. By June 15, 2018, six inspection groups had finished provincial-level inspections where they warned 126 local officials on environmental protection issues. The inspections brought the effect of deterrence and publicized a series of problems, according to reports from the people on pollution activities, Xinhua said. The next plan is to inspect Chinese cities. The building of an ecological civilization has entered a critical period that requires more high-quality ecological goods to meet people's ever-growing demand for a beautiful environment, Xi noted. It is also a period when China is capable of addressing prominent ecological and environment issues, according to Xi's speech. Su said China is a huge country still seeking industrialization: How to build an industrial civilization and ecological civilization at the same time is a challenge that no country has experienced before. "The Green Party in Western countries emerged after industrialization and their ideology and theory are serving the post-industrial era. Therefore, the CPC theory of building an ecological civilization is an entirely new innovation," Su said. "If its practice is successful, it would be a great contribution to humanity, especially for those non-industrialized countries struggling between environmental protection and industrialization." Comprehensive efforts must be taken to implement the plan for prevention and control of soil pollution, while key regions and sectors and major pollutants must be targeted, Xi said. The restoration of polluted soil should be intensified so that people can have peace of mind about the food they eat and the place they live in. Xi called for effective prevention of ecological and environmental risks, as ecological and environmental security is an important part of national security, as well as an important guarantee to achieve sustainable and healthy development of the Chinese economy and society. Xi stressed the need to enhance the Party's leadership to win the battle of pollution prevention and control, and asked governments at all levels to thoroughly carry out the decisions and policies made by the CPC Central Committee. The anti-graft campaign is targeting the "tigers" - senior officials taken down on corruption charges - whose corrupt activities related to environmental pollution. The latest example is the January 1 investigation into former Shaanxi Party chief Zhao Zhengyong. News of the investigation came a week after China Central Television broadcast a documentary on January 9 detailing how a group of Shaanxi officials were punished for failing to demolish villas built illegally in the Qinling Mountains despite repeated orders from Xi. The documentary showed that after Xi instructed Shaanxi provincial leaders to pay attention to the illegal villa problems in May 2014, the main leader of CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee failed to convey the instructions at standing committee meetings or conduct special research on the illegal villa issue. Major leaders of local party committees and governments shall be held responsible for environmental protection in their own administrative regions, Xi said in the article. A scientific and reasonable evaluation system will be established to assess the performance of officials and those damaging the environment will be held accountable, it said. ^ top ^

Frontier Services Group founder Erik Prince denies knowledge of Xinjiang training base deal (SCMP)
2019-02-01
Confusion reigned on Friday over whether a unit of Hong Kong-listed security firm Frontier Services Group – founded by Blackwater's Erik Prince – had signed a preliminary memorandum to build a training base in China's far west region of Xinjiang. FSG earlier posted a statement on its website announcing that a memorandum was signed on January 11 between one of its units, FSG Security, and the Management Committee of Caohu Industrial Park in the city of Tumxuk, for the construction of a training centre. The statement also had a photo of a signing ceremony in Beijing. Prince, FSG's executive director and deputy chairman, is a former US Navy Seal officer and the brother of US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. However, a spokesman of Prince later told Reuters that the co-founder had "no knowledge or involvement" in the memorandum. "Any potential investment of this nature would require the knowledge and input of each FSG board member and a formal board resolution," the spokesman said in an email. Prince has been deputy chairman of the board since December 6, according to the company's website. Citic chairman Chang Zhenming was appointed FSG board chairman 11 days later. The statement said the signing ceremony was attended by Citic Group assistant president Luo Ning, and officials from several other Citic subsidiaries. A Hong Kong-based spokesman for FSG told Reuters that the statement was "published in error by a staff member in Beijing" and had been taken off the company's website. When asked on Friday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang declined to comment. China's controls on Xinjiang face increasing international scrutiny, with Western human rights groups reporting that Chinese authorities have sent hundreds of thousands of Muslims of the Uygur minority to re-education camps in the region. The Chinese government has disputed the charges saying the camps are vocational training facilities. Prince founded Blackwater in 1997, and the company won US government contracts to guard American officials and facilities in countries including Iraq and Afghanistan. The company was surrounded by controversy in 2007 when its guards were convicted of manslaughter after firing on civilians in Baghdad, and is now defunct. FSG, which was founded in 2014, counts China's state-owned conglomerate Citic Group as one of its major shareholders and has bought training facilities in Beijing. In an interview with the state-run tabloid Global Times in 2017, Prince rejected suggestions that his company would "help the Chinese government suppressing the Uygurs", saying such claims were "absurd" and "totally fabricated". "Any claim FSG would provide Blackwater kind of armed security service is absolutely wrong," Prince was quoted as saying. FSG employees at the training bases would be unarmed and only help non-military personnel provide non-military security services, including training as personal bodyguards, information analysis and risk assessment, he said. "These bases will simulate different environments... and train people in [them]," he was quoted as saying. The deal between FSG and the Caohu Industrial Park was signed in Beijing, together with another cooperation project between Citic Group and the Third Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a paramilitary settlement group parallel to the regional government, on the development of Tumxuk. Tumxuk is a county-level city run by the division, and is surrounded by Kashgar prefecture in the western-most part of Xinjiang. In the FSG statement, Tumxuk Communist Party boss Li Zhenguo was quoted as that he hoped the FSG training base and the other projects would help attract investment to Xinjiang. ^ top ^

Calmer political days in Hong Kong result in drop in donations for pro-democracy groups at Lunar New Year fair (SCMP)
2019-02-06
Pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong have received fewer donations from Lunar New Year fair shoppers this year, with party leaders pointing to less politically charged times in Hong Kong as a reason. Demosisto said it raised about HK$480,000 (US$61,500) from souvenir sales and donations at the six-day Lunar New Year fair in Victoria Park, the highest among the different groups for the third year in a row. However, the figure was down from HK$780,000 last February, when Demosisto member Agnes Chow Ting had just been banned from running in a Legislative Council by-election. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China came in second this year with HK$350,000 in donations before deducting operating expenses. It was followed by the Justice Defence Fund, which secured about HK$277,000 to support the legal battles of several activists and liberal scholars, including for the trial of nine leaders of the 2014 Occupy protests. The alliance received about HK$375,000 in 2018, while the fund took some HK$310,000. Other major political parties saw donations fall significantly this year. The Civic Party received HK$174,000 compared with HK$270,000 last year, while the Democratic Party took just HK$94,000, almost 40 per cent lower than in 2018. Democrats had mixed feelings about the fundraising, which served as an indicator of citizens' support for party causes. Some said it was natural for funds to drop off from the political upheaval of 2018 when several activists were jailed, while others noticed citizens were more conservative with their spending. Demosisto chairman Ivan Lam Long-yin said donations last year surged because of Chow's disqualification and the recent release from jail of former lawmaker Nathan Law Kwun-chung following his Occupy trial. The group still managed to beat its 2017 debut of HK$360,000 in donations. "Last year there was political controversy [at the time of the fair]," Lam said. "I'm not really worried about people feeling political fatigue." The radical League of Social Democrats received a party-record HK$320,000 in donations last year after vice-chairman Raphael Wong Ho-ming was jailed for a protest against the government's plan to build a new town in the northeast New Territories. He was later acquitted by the top court. The group's donations this year fell to HK$240,000 but that figure was still higher than the HK$180,000 it received at the 2017 Lunar New Year fair. Party chairman Avery Ng Man-yuen said that those who made donations were still angry about recent government policies, including an increase of the age threshold for elderly welfare allowances from 60 to 65 years old. "They were just donating smaller banknotes this year, but there could be a basket of reasons [for donations] including Wong's jailing," Ng said. Civic Party vice-chairman Bill Lay Yan-pau agreed there were no burning political issues this time around but he also said his party had changed its strategy for the fair. "Mostly we're treating the fair as a venue for promotion instead of fundraising," Lay said, adding its stock was sold out. Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong, vice-chairman of the alliance, which is raising funds for a new June 4 museum, observed similar behaviour from its supporters. "The response has generally been quite good, but people have been more conservative in their spending as the economy could face a downturn this year," he said. ^ top ^

Macao sets election date for members of chief executive election committee (Xinhua)
2019-02-04
The election of members of an election committee of the chief executive of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) is scheduled for June 16, the government of the Macao SAR said on Monday. According to the Basic Law of the Macao SAR, the chief executive, with a five-year tenure for each term, shall be elected by a broadly representative election committee in accordance with the law and appointed by the central government. The election committee consists of 400 members from four sectors, including the industrial, commercial and financial sector; the cultural, educational, professional and sports sector; and the labor, social services and religion sector. The committee also includes members of the Legislative Assembly of Macao, Macao deputies to the National People's Congress and members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and members of local departments and organizations. ^ top ^

Taiwan's Tsai takes swipe at mainland China in new year message with 'blessing' of democracy (SCMP)
2019-02-04
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen took a swipe at mainland China's lack of freedom in a message to mark the start of the Lunar New Year on Tuesday, saying she hoped ethnic Chinese all over the world could experience the "blessing" of democracy. Self-governed Taiwan is China's most sensitive issue and is claimed by Beijing as its territory under its one-China policy. Chinese President Xi Jinping has stepped up pressure on the island since Tsai, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, became president in 2016. He kicked off 2019 with a speech reiterating that Beijing reserved the right to use force to bring Taiwan under its control, although it would strive for peaceful "reunification". Taiwan maintained cultural traditions and was committed to upholding the values of freedom and democracy, Tsai said in the message, posted on Sunday across her presidential social media accounts. "Those in places lacking democracy may not understand this commitment. We hope that ethnic Chinese all over the world can experience this blessing," she said, without directly mentioning China. "So, I want to make three new year's wishes for our ethnic Chinese friends both at home and abroad. I hope that you may all enjoy democracy, freedom and continued prosperity." There was no reaction from Beijing. Xi's new year's speech, also on Sunday, did not mention Taiwan, apart from new year wishes to people on the island. Taiwan is gearing up for presidential elections early next year. Tsai's party suffered heavy losses to the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang in mayoral and local elections in November. Tsai has repeatedly called on Beijing to respect Taiwan's democracy, and to embrace democratic reform. Taiwan has shown no interest in being governed by mainland China, where the ruling Communist Party has tightened controls on all aspects of society. ^ top ^

Mainland rejects Taiwan's claims on African swine fever (Xinhua)
2019-02-04
The African swine fever epidemic on the Chinese mainland was effectively dealt with and is under control, said a mainland spokesperson on Sunday. Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks in response to questions on Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority's claims against the mainland on African swine fever. Ma said the DPP administration attempted to use the African swine fever as a political tool, ignored basic facts and professional knowledge and even made up lies to undermine the relations across the Taiwan Strait. Ma noted that among the 25 provinces that reported the African swine fever cases, 92 infected areas in 23 provinces have been unlocked. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has spoken highly of the mainland's work on prevention and control over the epidemic, Ma said. Relevant information could be found on the official website of the mainland's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ma said, noting that the mainland will, as always, take effective measures to prevent pork products from flowing into Taiwan. ^ top ^

When Trump opens his arms to Kim again, could they close the door on the Korean war? (SCMP)
2019-02-05
When military leaders from the United States, North Korea and China signed an armistice in 1953 after three years of bloody conflict, they agreed to reach a "peaceful settlement" to the war within months. The settlement never came, and the Korean war never ended – officially, it continues to this day. But that could change as expectations grow that US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may use a second meeting on denuclearisation later this month to declare a formal end to the conflict. Christine Ahn, founder of peace activist group Women Cross DMZ, said ending the Korean war could be the US president's "Nixon moment" – referring to the normalisation of relations with China in 1979 after a historic visit by then-president Richard Nixon seven years earlier. "We know that basically a state of war defines the US-DPRK relationship," said Ahn, using North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "And so without there being a final, permanent settlement of that war, there is obviously the possibility of a nuclear war, there's the possibility of a conventional war. It just creates so much uncertainty." Stephen Biegun, US special envoy for North Korea, last week said Trump was more deeply committed to ending the hostility on the Korean peninsula than any president before him. "President Trump is ready to end this war," said Biegun during a speech at Stanford University. "It is over. It is done. We're not going to invade North Korea. We are not seeking to topple the regime." On Monday, Biegun met South Korean officials in Seoul to discuss details of the upcoming summit, which is expected to take place in Vietnam, ahead of talks with North Korean negotiators later this week. During the first summit in Singapore last summer, Kim signed a vaguely worded agreement promising to work toward the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", but progress stalled as Pyongyang accused Washington of not taking "corresponding measures". While rich in symbolism, the practical implications of ending the Korean war are open to interpretation. One common expectation of normalising relations is that Washington would open an embassy or liaison office in Pyongyang, and vice versa. An end-of-war declaration could also be accompanied by relief from US sanctions and the easing of a travel ban for US nationals. More controversially, ending the state of war is seen in some circles as synonymous with the removal of US troops from South Korea, a long-standing demand of Pyongyang. China, which is the North's main benefactor and has repeatedly expressed its support for a peace deal, would likely welcome a retreat of US forces. Japan, which views North Korea as its main security threat and has been openly sceptical of Trump's rapprochement efforts, would greet such a development with trepidation. For decades, the North has called on the US to sign a formal peace treaty and end its "hostile policy" against it, viewing the US presence as a security threat and barrier to reunification with the South. Trump, who has suspended joint military exercises with Seoul as a concession to the North, has repeatedly complained of the cost of stationing troops in South Korea, but on Monday told CBS he had "no plans" for their withdrawal. "I think that eventually, when we see the final end of the war, when we see that peace prevails on the Korean peninsula, I think we have to ask that question: What is the need for a US military presence?" said Women Cross DMZ's Ahn. Almost eight in 10 South Koreans support the signing of a peace agreement with the North, according to an opinion poll carried out by Real Meter last year – although Seoul is not a signatory to the 1953 armistice, unlike Washington and Pyongyang. But most South Koreans also support the continuing presence of US forces in their country; 96 per cent said it was "necessary" in a 2017 survey by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. "Most South Koreans want peace," said Kim Jong-ha, who leads the Graduate School of National Defence and Strategy at Hannam University in Daejeon, South Korea. "However, signing a peace treaty before North Korea has taken any concrete steps to denuclearise is the wrong way. "In particular, South Koreans think that North Korea will not give up its nuclear weapons easily, if at all. In this situation, the disadvantages of signing a peace treaty to end the Korean war outweigh any possible benefit." Some analysts argue that a peace declaration or treaty – the latter of which would have to pass the high bar of two-thirds support in the US Senate – would be rewarding the North before it had taken concrete steps toward denuclearisation. Although Pyongyang blew up tunnels at a nuclear facility and dismantled a missile test site earlier this year, proliferation specialists have widely downplayed these moves as largely symbolic or reversible. "A 'peace agreement' would disincentivise the Kim regime from taking steps toward dismantling its nuclear arsenal," said Soo Kim, a former North Korea analyst with the CIA. "Game over, essentially. For Kim, retaining nukes in an atmosphere of peace – namely [easing] sanctions pressure and the gradual withdrawal of US troops from South Korea, the wedge finally splitting the US-ROK alliance – means even more options from the menu of extortions, threats, and realising his ultimate goal of reunifying the two Koreas under the DPRK." Although fighting in the Korean war ended nearly 70 years ago, the US and North Korea have no formal diplomatic relations. As a result of crippling sanctions and a travel ban, exchanges of goods and people between the countries are almost non-existent. Since the early 1990s, the sides have been at near-constant loggerheads over Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, more than once coming close to armed conflict. During the early days of his presidency, Trump reportedly considered launching a limited "bloody nose" strike on the North to thwart its nuclear development. But more recently, Trump, who electrified the Republican base as a candidate with a platform that railed against military intervention abroad, has made no secret of his desire to bring about a historic leap forward in US-North Korea relations. Among others, some veterans of the "Forgotten War", which left about 3 million people dead despite having little presence in the public consciousness, have applauded his efforts. Before his first meeting with Kim, Trump indicated that ending the Korean war could be among the items on the agenda. "Can you believe that we're talking about the ending of the Korean war?" Trump said days before the June summit, during which the two sides made a less definitive commitment to "build a lasting and stable peace regime". "You're talking about 70 years." ^ top ^

President Kh.Battulga receives Ambassadors and Country Representatives (Montsame)
2019-02-07
On the occasion of the traditional celebration of Tsagaan Sar (Lunar New Year), President of Mongolia Kh.Battulga received Ambassadors to Mongolia and Country Representatives at the State Ceremonial Ger on February 6. In his speech, President Kh.Battulga expressed his confidence that the foreign relations of Mongolia will improve with the participation of the delegates, and highlighted his plans to visit the two neighboring countries as well as other European countries in aims of introducing technologies to process mining and agricultural commodities in Mongolia. Dean of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Mongolia K.I.Koblandin extended Tsagaan Sar greetings and wished the Mongolian people good health and prosperity. Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Country Representatives expressed their gratitude in holding the meeting each year during the time of Tsagaan Sar. ^ top ^

Conference on Mongolia's independence and diplomatic service held (Montsame)
2019-02-02
A conference entitled 'Mongolia's independence and diplomatic service' was held on February 1 at State House on occasion of the birth anniversary of General D.Sukhbaatar. In his opening remarks, Foreign Minister D.Tsogtbaatar noted, "There were not any countries except Russia to recognize Mongolia's independence at that time. Today, Mongolia has diplomatic ties with 192 countries. To have diplomatic relations with all UN member states, there are just two countries remained for Mongolia to establish diplomatic ties. Presently, Mongolia has 41 diplomatic missions abroad. Also there are 38 diplomatic missions of foreign countries in Mongolia. As of today, Mongolia has joined 70 international organizations. Establishment of International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries, firstly initiated by me, in Ulaanbaatar have been conducted effectively." At the conference, State Prize Winner Dr.Ulziibaatar presented a lecture titled 'Independence and Patriotism', scientific worker of the Institute of History and Archaeology Dr. Khishigt 'Actions of Mongolia's gaining independence –D.Sukhbaatar', Dr.Tumurkhuleg lectured on Independence and Development while Dr. Batbayar lectured about 'Independence and Third-neighbor policy'. ^ top ^

LEW Mei Yi
Embassy of Switzerland