Switzerland

• Drug makers including Roche and Novartis slash medicine prices in China to get on reimbursement list (SCMP)

Foreign Policy

• China open to closer relationship with Vatican, Beijing says after Pope Francis' words of peace (SCMP)
• China firmly opposes U.S. signing Hong Kong-related act into law: FM (Xinhua)
• Official: 'Millimetres' separate US, China from phase one trade deal (SCMP)
• Service firms 'mull Chinese currency payment offer' from sanctions-hit Venezuela (SCMP)
• China, Pakistan to hold joint maritime drill (Xinhua)
• China slams U.S. warships' trespassing in South China Sea (Xinhua)
• More European countries keep doors open to Huawei's 5G tech (China Daily)

Domestic Policy

• China unveils high-quality development guidelines amid trade war (Global Times)
• China Focus: Chinese astronomers discover unexpected huge stellar black hole (Xinhua)
• China needs more aircraft carriers for national security: analysts (Global Times)
• China reports fourth plague case, as herder is diagnosed with bubonic strain of deadly disease (SCMP)
• Beijing mouthpiece releases images in apparent attempt to undercut confessed Chinese spy and defector William Wang Liqiang (SCMP)
• Xi stresses cultivating new type of military personnel (Xinhua)
• Li: New 5-Year Plan to focus on growth (China Daily)
• China issues guideline for enhancing IPR protection (Xinhua)

Beijing 

• Beijing to levy fines on people who fail to properly sort waste (China Daily)

Shanghai 

Guangdong 

Tibet 

• High graduate employment rate in Tibet shows central govt's strong support: expert (Global Times)

Xinjiang

• The Feroza Aziz incident reveals double standards of Western media (Global Times)
• Germany steps up criticism over China's Xinjiang policies with call for it to 'meet its international human rights obligations' (SCMP)

Hongkong

• Hong Kong police seize more than 3,800 petrol bombs from Polytechnic University, saying campus siege will end on Friday (SCMP)
• Hong Kong election success for pro-democracy camp gives Beijing a headache when dealing with 'kingmaker' tycoons (SCMP)

Macau

• Newly elected HK district councilor denied access to Macao (Global Times)

Taiwan

• Beijing accuses Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party of using spy allegations for political gain (SCMP)

Economy

• China's financial market to remain attractive for foreign capital: UBS economist (Xinhua)
• China moves to aid slowing economy by accelerating issue of 1 trillion yuan of local government bonds (SCMP)
• China's yuan is 10 years from ending US dollar hegemony, says Jeffrey Sachs (SCMP)
• Industrial profits fall 2.9% in first 10 months (Global Times)

DPRK

• North Korea fires two 'unidentified projectiles' on Thanksgiving as end-of-year deadline looms (SCMP)

Mongolia

• ADB to partner in having Mongolia removed from FATF's Grey List (Montsame)
• National program to develop amenity services adopted (Montsame)

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Drug makers including Roche and Novartis slash medicine prices in China to get on reimbursement list (SCMP)
2019-11-28
Drug makers including Roche and Novartis have agreed to cut the prices of some of their newest medicines by an average of 61 per cent in China to get on a national reimbursement scheme list, regulators said. Inclusion on the list is likely to boost sales by opening up markets in smaller and less-affluent cities, but some industry insiders said that offering large price cuts only in China could spark criticism of drug companies in other markets. Seventy new drugs, including Roche's breast cancer treatment Pertuzumab, sold under the trade name Perjeta, and Novartis's dermatitis treatment Omalizumab, branded as Xolair, will be added to the list, the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) said on its website on Thursday. Chinese citizens are allowed to use their state medical insurance to cover a significant portion of the cost of drugs named on the list. Almost all the imported drugs added in the latest update had the "lowest prices globally", the NHSA said in its statement. "China is and will be the ultimate high-volume, low-price market and so international companies feel that they'll have to take a big pay cut but make up for the volume," said Brad Loncar, chief executive of Loncar Investments. Tumour and diabetes medicines saw an average price cut of about 65 per cent, the NHSA said. Other medicines added include Adalimumab, an arthritis treatment which AbbVie sells as Humira, one the top-selling drugs in the world. Also included was cancer treatment Tyvyt, or Sintilimab, co-developed by Chinese drug maker Innovent Biologics and Eli Lilly. It is considered to be a PD-1/PD-L1 treatment, a category of novel drugs that work on the immune system to fight cancer cells. China has already approved five PD-1/PD-L1 treatments, including two top-selling global blockbusters made by foreign firms Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck. However neither have been added to the list. Analysts say domestically developed Tyvyt's early inclusion could give it an advantage over its foreign rivals. "Maybe [Chinese PD-1/PD-L1 products] don't come in and compete on day one with international [firms] … but just getting a foot in the door might already be a big step for them," UBS analyst Michael Leuchten said. ^ top ^

China open to closer relationship with Vatican, Beijing says after Pope Francis' words of peace (SCMP)
2019-11-29
China is keen to develop its relationship with the Vatican and appreciates the goodwill shown by Pope Francis, the foreign ministry said on Thursday. On a flight from Tokyo to Rome on Tuesday, the pontiff said that he "loves China" and "would like to go to Beijing". Beijing responded on Thursday, with foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang saying it was keen to have a good relationship with the Vatican. "We appreciate the goodwill and friendship expressed by the Pope," he said. "We have maintained good communications with the Vatican and are pleased about the improvement and progress of Sino-Vatican relations. "China is sincere and active in promoting Sino-Vatican relations, and is open to and welcomes the development of relations." During his flight, Pope Francis also mentioned Hong Kong but avoided taking sides on the long-running protests in the city. "It's not only Hong Kong, there are various problematic situations that I am unable to evaluate at the moment. I respect peace and I ask for peace for all these countries that have problems, Spain too," he said. "It is better to put things in perspective and to call for dialogue, for peace, so that problems can be resolved. And finally, I would like to go to Beijing, I love China." The Pope was flying back to the Vatican after a week-long Asian tour that began in Bangkok on November 19. Thousands of Chinese Catholics flew to the Thai capital to take part in the celebrations for the visit of the spiritual leader. Beijing has a strained relationship with the Vatican as the city state is Taiwan's only diplomatic ally in Europe. Beijing broke off diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1951. As China's global influence has grown, many of Taipei's diplomatic allies have switched allegiance to Beijing, with the most recent being the Pacific island nations of the Solomon Islands and Kiribati. The self-ruled island now has just 15 diplomatic allies and is becoming increasingly isolated on the world stage. Pope Francis has sought to improve ties with Beijing in recent years, but the two sides have clashed over whether the Vatican or the Chinese government should have the right to appoint bishops. A landmark agreement reached in September last year states that the pontiff has the ultimate say, but that candidates will be selected from a pool vetted by Beijing. ^ top ^

China firmly opposes U.S. signing Hong Kong-related act into law: FM (Xinhua)
2019-11-28
The Chinese government and the people firmly oppose the United States signing of the so-called Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 into law, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry Thursday. The move is a severe interference in Hong Kong affairs, which are China's internal affairs. It is also in serious violation of the international law and basic norms governing international relations. The Chinese government and the people firmly oppose such stark hegemonic acts, the statement said. "We urge the United States not to continue going down the wrong path, or China will take countermeasures and the U.S. must bear all the consequences," the statement said. The Chinese government is determined in opposing external forces interfering in Hong Kong affairs, implementing "one country, two systems" principle and safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests. Since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the practice of "one country, two systems" principle has been proven to be a universally recognized success. Hong Kong residents enjoy unprecedented democratic rights in accordance with law. The United States, in disregard of facts and distorting right and wrong, openly supported violent criminals who rampantly smashed facilities, assaulted innocent civilians, trampled on the rule of law and jeopardized social order. The egregious and malicious nature of its intentions is fully revealed. Its very aim is to undermine Hong Kong's stability and prosperity, sabotage the practice of "one country, two systems," and disrupt the Chinese nation's endeavor to realize the great rejuvenation. "We remind the U.S. that Hong Kong is part of China and Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs and no foreign government or force shall interfere," read the statement. This Act will only further expose the malicious and hegemonic nature of the United States' intentions to the Chinese people, including Hong Kong compatriots. And the Chinese people will only stand in greater solidarity. The U.S. attempts are bound to fail, according to the statement. ^ top ^

Official: 'Millimetres' separate US, China from phase one trade deal (SCMP)
2019-11-28
A preliminary trade deal between the United States and China is "millimetres away", a senior administration official said on Wednesday. The comments add to the growing optimism that the US and China can announce a so-called phase one agreement soon after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. US President Donald Trump has been pushing for a deal that would force Beijing to purchase significant amounts of agricultural goods after American farmers in the Midwest have been battered by Chinese retaliation during a nearly two-year trade war. An initial trade deal could also involve a rollback of tariffs that Trump has slapped on roughly US$360 billion worth of Chinese goods. Another round of duties is scheduled to hit US$160 billion worth of Chinese imports, including consumer goods like laptops and smartphones, on December 15. The White House has been signalling "cautious optimism" that it could close a deal soon. Work in recent days has included removing brackets from the agreement text that note areas of disagreement and finalising other areas of the text, said a person briefed by the administration. Final considerations are being given around how Trump might roll back tariffs to not only include the December 15 round but also another set of import duties that were slapped on roughly US$110 billion worth of Chinese goods on September 1. The possibility of phasing out tariffs on the first three rounds, which affected about US$250 billion worth of Chinese imports, is also under consideration, said another person close to the talks. Trump has said the phase one deal will require China to purchase up to US$50 billion worth of US farm goods within two years. The deal is also expected to have China to deliver on long-held commitments to open its financial services sector and implement certain intellectual property protections. However, it's unclear the extent to which a preliminary deal will force China to address structural issues, such as its support of state-owned companies. Such bigger concerns led to the trade fight over forced technology transfers and subsidies. Trump said the two sides would enter a second and even third phase of trade talks to address other issues. ^ top ^

Service firms 'mull Chinese currency payment offer' from sanctions-hit Venezuela (SCMP)
2019-11-28
Venezuela's government and its oil company PDVSA have offered to pay suppliers and contractors into accounts in China using yuan, five people familiar with the matter said. The move made in recent months is the latest example of how Caracas has sought new ways of making international payments since sweeping sanctions by Washington, intended to force out socialist President Nicolas Maduro, cut off the country's access to the US financial system. Officials made the proposal verbally to at least four companies that provided services to the public sector, said the people, including two government officials and three sources from private companies in the financial or oil sectors. The individuals declined to disclose which companies had been approached. The companies were evaluating the proposal, the sources said. Reuters could not determine whether any such payments in yuan had been made. China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, did not respond to a faxed request for comment. PDVSA, Venezuela's central bank, and Venezuela's information ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Venezuelan public entities have traditionally paid private sector partners in the local bolívar currency or US dollars. But hyperinflation and US sanctions, which prohibit American companies from doing business with Venezuela's public sector, are complicating those methods. The offer comes after Venezuela's government and PDVSA have paid some suppliers and contractors with euros in cash, which they have received from some oil and gold sales, in response to the loss of access to the US financial system due to the sanctions. Paying suppliers in yuan would allow Venezuela to take advantage of funds it has available in China, without touching the US financial system. However, two of the sources said the process of opening accounts at Chinese banks was proving complicated. PDVSA and Venezuela's central bank have long maintained accounts in China, in part thanks to a financing deal signed more than a decade ago that saw China lend some US$50 billion to the Opec nation in exchange for crude shipments. Venezuela's central bank has at least US$700 million in yuan in an account at China's central bank, which it received earlier this year as compensation for an oil shipment, according to two people with knowledge of the Venezuelan central bank's operations. Reuters could not independently confirm this. Receiving payments in foreign currency, or overseas banks, was "the kind of set-up that some contractors now have to engage in to get paid", said Raul Gallegos, consultancy Control Risks' director for the Andean region. "This will become standard operating procedure as long as Maduro and US sanctions remain in place." Venezuela's offer to pay in yuan comes even as some Chinese entities have taken steps to try to distance themselves from the sanctioned country. In August, China National Petroleum Corp, one of the largest foreign investors in Venezuela's oil sector, stopped lifting crude from Venezuelan ports due to worries about sanctions. Analysts said they expected China's imports of Venezuelan crude to have fallen to zero last month. But China is importing more and more crude blends from Malaysia, which include some Venezuelan oil. ^ top ^

China, Pakistan to hold joint maritime drill (Xinhua)
2019-11-28
China and Pakistan will stage a joint maritime exercise in Pakistan in January 2020, China's Ministry of National Defense announced Thursday. The drill was scheduled according to the annual exchange plan between the two militaries, said the ministry's spokesman Ren Guoqiang at a press conference. China will send destroyers, frigates, supply ships and submarine rescue ships to the exercise, according to Ren. "The exercise is conducive to deepening security cooperation between the two militaries, consolidating and developing the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, and promoting the building of a maritime community with a shared future," Ren said. The military drill is not related to any regional situations and does not target any third party, Ren said. ^ top ^

China slams U.S. warships' trespassing in South China Sea (Xinhua)
2019-11-28
A spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense on Thursday slammed U.S. warships and military aircraft's willful and repeated trespassing into the adjacent waters and airspace of China's islands and reefs in the South China Sea. The trespassing hurts regional peace and stability, harms China's sovereignty and security, and endangers the lives of frontline officers and soldiers of both sides, spokesman Ren Guoqiang said at a press conference, calling it "a highly dangerous provocation." "We demand that the United States immediately stop such infringement upon China's interests," Ren said, adding that the Chinese military is always on high alert and will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests. ^ top ^

More European countries keep doors open to Huawei's 5G tech (China Daily)
2019-11-28
An increasing number of European countries are taking an unbiased approach toward the use of Huawei Technologies Co's technologies in their 5G network rollout, despite the US government's efforts to persuade them into banning the Chinese company. French Junior Economy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher recently said in an interview with local media that France will not follow the United States and exclude China's Huawei from its next-generation 5G network. On Sunday, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier also defended the decision not to ban Huawei from participation in Germany's 5G network in a debate. Altmaier said: "The US also requires its companies to provide certain information needed to fight terrorism." "We didn't boycott them," he said when commenting on the alleged cybersecurity risks associated with Huawei's telecom equipment. The US ambassador to Germany complained to such a comparison, saying that there is no moral equivalency between China and the United States. In responses to the comment, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said some US politicians and officials always attack and discredit China. Their poor performance fully exposed their unspeakable sinister intentions and political attempts. Germany announced in October that it would not single out any telecom player, including Huawei, in its 5G build-out. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said at a news conference earlier this year that "we are not taking a preemptive decision to ban any actor, or any company". The objective attitude toward Huawei came as the world is at the tipping point for large-scale 5G network rollout. According to the global telecom industry association GSMA, there will be 60 5G commercial networks by the end of this year, up from the 40 commercial 5G networks in more than 20 countries and regions as of October. Next year, more aggressive steps will be seen around the world to accelerate the rollout of new-generation wireless technology, according to Si Han, president of GSMA Greater China. Europe, which is seen by Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei, as the second home of the company, will also see more 5G commercial networks running in 2020. As its largest overseas market, Europe has many telecom operators that purchase Huawei's products. At the same time, Europe is where most of the US government's allies are located and Washington is intensifying push to dissuade them from including Huawei on 5G plans. Such a complex situation puts all eyes on Europe to see how it will act on 5G amid uncertainties. Bai Ming, a senior research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said some foreign countries may doubt or distrust Chinese technologies simply because they are from China. But mixing politics with normal business cooperation will delay the rollout of the superfast wireless technology in the world, Bai said. ^ top ^

China unveils high-quality development guidelines amid trade war (Global Times)
2019-11-28
China vowed on Thursday to further open its markets and lower tariffs while deepening cooperation via the Belt and Road Initiative, in a bid to achieve high-quality trade development by 2022. A document released by the State Council, China's cabinet, stated that the country will continue to widen its market access for foreign capital to invest in emerging high-technology industries and the modern services sector, giving these areas full play to become drivers of China's industrial upgrading and the high-quality development of foreign trade. China will further lower import tariffs and boost imports of agricultural products and services, while enhancing the protection of intellectual property rights by increasing penalties for violations. The government also encourages the infusion of high technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain with trade. China will further encourage meat imports, allowing the total to potentially exceed 6 million tons this year, Gao Feng, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said Thursday. "The prolonged trade war might have affected some foreign companies' operations in China, but that is not the main cause," Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times Thursday. The changing manufacturing environment in China as well as the more alluring foreign capital policy in emerging regions such as Southeast Asia have caused shifts by some foreign players. "Meanwhile, we should notice that China is continuously attracting foreign capital to flow into advanced technology. The participation benefits both sides as it increases the global cake," said Bai. China urges relevant countries to relax export controls on China, while the country will ramp up efforts to build an export control system to manage trade risks, according to the document. "China needs such a system to protect domestic market entities," Bai said, adding that a certain country is cracking down on technology exports to China in the name of national security, which is totally against the principle of free trade. "'National security' has become a US patent, a tool of executing double standards," Bai noted. According to Bai, China should have an "unreliable entity list" well in hand no matter what direction the China-US trade talks take "Even though no specific company's name is placed on the list, the mechanism is necessary," he stressed. At Thursday's press conference, Gao disclosed no further information about the list. ^ top ^

China Focus: Chinese astronomers discover unexpected huge stellar black hole (Xinhua)
2019-11-28
A Chinese-led research team has discovered a surprisingly huge stellar black hole about 14,000 light-years from Earth -- our "backyard" of the universe -- forcing scientists to re-examine how such black holes form. The Milky Way galaxy is estimated to contain 100 million stellar black holes -- cosmic bodies formed by the collapse of massive stars and so dense even light can't escape. Until now, scientists had estimated the mass of an individual stellar black hole in our galaxy at no more than 20 times that of the Sun. But the new discovery has toppled that assumption. The team, headed by Liu Jifeng, of the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), spotted the black hole, which has a mass 70 times greater than the Sun. Researchers named the monster black hole LB-1. The discovery was a big surprise. "Black holes of such mass should not even exist in our galaxy, according to most of the current models of stellar evolution," said Liu. "We thought that very massive stars with the chemical composition typical of our galaxy must shed most of their gas in powerful stellar winds, as they approach the end of their life. Therefore, they should not leave behind such a massive remnant. LB-1 is twice as massive as what we thought possible. Now theorists will have to take up the challenge of explaining its formation." Until a few years ago, stellar black holes could only be discovered when they gobbled up gas from a companion star. This process creates powerful X-ray emissions, detectable from Earth, which reveal the presence of the collapsed object. The vast majority of stellar black holes in our galaxy are not engaged in a cosmic banquet though, and thus don't emit revealing X-rays. As a result, only about 20 galactic stellar black holes have been accurately identified and measured. To counter this limitation, Liu and his team surveyed the sky with China's Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST), looking for stars that orbit an invisible object, pulled by its gravity. This observational technique was first proposed by the visionary English scientist John Michell in 1783, but it has only become feasible with recent technological improvements in telescopes and detectors. Still, such a search is like looking for a needle in a haystack: only one star in a thousand might be circling a black hole. After the initial discovery, the world's largest optical telescopes -- Spain's 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias and the 10-m Keck I telescope in the United States -- were used to determine the system's physical parameters. The results were fantastic: a star eight times heavier than the Sun was seen orbiting a 70-solar-mass black hole every 79 days. The discovery of LB-1 fits nicely with another breakthrough in astrophysics. Recently, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo gravitational wave detectors have begun to catch ripples in space-time caused by collisions of black holes in distant galaxies. Intriguingly, the black holes involved in such collisions are also much bigger than what was previously considered typical. The direct sighting of LB-1 proves that this population of over-massive stellar black holes exists even in our own backyard. "This discovery forces us to re-examine our models of how stellar-mass black holes form," said LIGO director David Reitze from the University of Florida in the United States. "This remarkable result along with the LIGO-Virgo detections of binary black hole collisions during the past four years really points towards a renaissance in our understanding of black hole astrophysics," said Reitze. Scientists from China, the United States, Spain, Australia, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands participated in the research. Liu said the research team aims to utilize the LAMOST to discover nearly 100 black holes within the Milky Way in the coming five years. The discovery is reported in the latest issue of the academic journal Nature. ^ top ^

China needs more aircraft carriers for national security: analysts (Global Times)
2019-11-28
The development of four or more aircraft carriers is only natural in order to satisfy China's burgeoning national security needs, Chinese military analysts said on Thursday as the country's second carrier is close to commissioning and a third under construction. The comments followed a report which said China might build a fourth aircraft carrier. When asked to comment on media reports about the construction of a third aircraft carrier and whether the development of a fourth had started, Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, told the Global Times at a routine press conference on Thursday that China's carrier development was a strategic decision. Future development will depend on economic growth, national security threats and national defense needs, Ren said. The third carrier is under construction at Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, China Central Television reported this month. The Chinese navy is planning a fourth in 2021, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Thursday. Neither the Defense Ministry nor the navy has ever announced the development of a third or fourth carrier. Ren's remarks could be seen as an indication that new carriers are planned, a military expert who asked not to be named told the Global Times on Thursday. China's economy is growing stably with growing overseas investments that require military strength to be protected, the expert said, noting China faces potential naval threats in the south, east and northeast. China's two current carriers are conventionally powered and use old-fashioned ski jump decks, making them less powerful than their US counterparts, Chinese analysts said, predicting newer Chinese carriers will feature a flat deck, electromagnetic catapults and eventually nuclear power. Answering a question about the second aircraft carrier and if it will be based in Sanya, South China's Hainan Province, Ren said everything was going smoothly and a final time for commissioning will be decided depending on comprehensive progress. The deployment location of the carrier will be determined by security threats and national defense needs, Ren said, noting that it was not related to the regional situation nor any specific target, country or region. ^ top ^

China reports fourth plague case, as herder is diagnosed with bubonic strain of deadly disease (SCMP)
2019-11-28
A fourth person in northern China has been diagnosed with the plague this month, officials confirmed, as a flea and rat eradication campaign was carried out by local government. Authorities in Ulanqab in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region said on Wednesday that a herder who had been diagnosed with bubonic plague was being treated in isolation but was in a stable condition. Another person was diagnosed with bubonic plague in the region's Xilin Gol league on November 16, more than 400km (250 miles) away. Just days earlier two people from Inner Mongolia were moved to Beijing for treatment of the highly contagious pneumonic strain of the plague. The pneumonic strain can prove fatal in 24 to 72 hours and is the "most virulent form" of the disease according to the World Health Organisation, while the bubonic form is less dangerous. The Ulanqab government said earlier that it had sprayed almost 200 acres of land last week as part of "rat and flea extermination work". Ulanqab officials did not disclose the specifics of how the latest patient caught the plague, but said the person had been "active" in a plague-affected location before falling ill. The plague germ Yersinia pestis can be transmitted to humans from infected rats via fleas. Though plague is rare in China, several cases have proved deadly in the past few years. According to China's National Health Commission, five people died from the disease between 2014 and September of this year. In 2014, a man in northwest Gansu province died of the plague, prompting 151 people to be quarantined. Police also set up roadblocks to prevent the 30,000 people living in the town where the man died from leaving. In neighbouring Mongolia, a couple died of the bubonic plague in May after they ate raw marmot meat, another carrier of the plague germ. ^ top ^

Beijing mouthpiece releases images in apparent attempt to undercut confessed Chinese spy and defector William Wang Liqiang (SCMP)
2019-11-28
China's state media on Wednesday released images it said were of a man who claims to be a Beijing-sponsored secret agent confessing to fraud, apparently in an attempt to discredit his assertion that he was involved in intelligence operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia. Chinese government mouthpiece Global Times uploaded screenshots from a court video in which William Wang Liqiang is allegedly making the confession in an October 2016 trial proceeding. Global Times is a tabloid under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's People's Daily, focusing on international issues. Wang has defected to Australia and applied for political asylum there. "[Wang] confessed his fraud case involving 120,000 yuan (US$17,000) in a Chinese court in 2016, admitting he had 'a weak legal awareness,'" the tabloid said, adding that Chinese local court had sent the video exclusively to Global Times. The publication did not include any part of the video in its report. "Wang was tried in the People's Court of Guangze county, Nanping, East China's Fujian province, where he confessed to defrauding the sum, according to the video," Global Times said. The report said Wang had defrauded a person surnamed Gao, whom he had met through his girlfriend, and quoted Chinese prosecutors. "Wang defrauded Gao of 25,000 yuan on the grounds that he could help Gao handle the schooling but needed money. In August 2015, Wang again defrauded Gao of 130,000 yuan in the name of helping Gao invest in stocks," the report said, without giving the alleged victim's full name or explaining why those two amounts did not add up to the 120,000 yuan mentioned earlier. Earlier this week, Shanghai police said that in October 2016, Wang had been given an 18-month suspended sentence for fraud by the Guangze county court in Fujian. The police said Wang left for Hong Kong on April 10, carrying a fake Chinese passport and a forged Hong Kong permanent residence ID. Wang denied the claims by the Shanghai police, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The Global Times claim came after Australian news outlets reported that Wang had identified for Australian agencies the senior Chinese military intelligence officers in Hong Kong. Wang was also said to have provided details about how operations were funded and conducted in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia. Last week, Chinese police in Shenzhen also released a video "confession" of a former British consulate employee in Hong Kong, Simon Cheng, who said he was tortured when he was detained in the border city in August. The video, which was released through the Weibo microblogging account of People's Daily, showed Cheng "confessing" to his interrogators that he felt ashamed of his wrongdoings and promising not to repeat the mistakes. In an earlier statement and media interviews, Cheng said he had been "hung, handcuffed and shackled" and also beaten when he failed to comply. ^ top ^

Xi stresses cultivating new type of military personnel (Xinhua)
2019-11-27
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for efforts to cultivate a new type of military personnel who are competent, professional and possess both integrity and ability. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the requirement at the opening of a training session for heads of military academies and schools held in Beijing. On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, Xi extended greetings to the heads of military academies and schools as well as those working in the military education field. In the morning, Xi met with all members of the training session and took photos with them at the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army, where the opening was held. The military education policy in the new era, Xi said, upholds the Party's absolute leadership over the military, serves the goal of building a strong country with a strong military, and aims to train a new type of military personnel who are competent, professional and possess both integrity and ability. To deepen reform and innovation of military academies and schools, Xi emphasized efforts to strengthen the top-level design and long-term plans, develop better academic disciplines, build a high-caliber teaching staff and improve support systems and institutions. Xi required the heads of military academies and schools to have high political integrity, possess a good knowledge of education, warfare research and management while subjecting themselves to strict self-discipline. Xi stressed more efforts to care for and support military academies and schools and prioritize their development. The opening ceremony was presided over by Xu Qiliang and attended by other senior military officers including Zhang Youxia, Wei Fenghe, Li Zuocheng, Miao Hua and Zhang Shengmin. ^ top ^

Li: New 5-Year Plan to focus on growth (China Daily)
2019-11-27
Premier Li Keqiang stressed the need to boost infrastructure development, enhance the level of innovation, improve competitiveness in different sectors and better protect the environment in devising the country's development blueprint for the 2021-25 period. Speaking on Monday in Beijing at a meeting on China's 14th Five-Year Plan, Li said the overall blueprint will focus on promoting economic growth, improving people's livelihoods and preventing and defusing risks. In devising the blueprint, the government must continue to pursue development as the overarching goal and prioritize efforts to maintain major economic indicators within a reasonable range while pursuing high-quality development, he said. Li said a host of measures on reform and opening-up will be rolled out to harness internal drivers of growth and stimulate market vitality. He highlighted the importance of enabling a better relationship between government and market as well as government and society. Greater strides must be made in furthering reform to cut red tape, boost government oversight and services as well as fostering a business environment that is in line with market principles, the rule of law and international standards, Li added. Authorities should come up with a host of major projects and programs that can address weaknesses, bolster growth momentum and benefit people's livelihoods, he said. The role of the private sector must be better utilized, and people's living standards must be further improved during the period, he said. Li warned that the external environment could be even more complicated, uncertain and challenging during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, which he said will be a crucial period for transforming the path of development, refining economic structure and fostering new growth drivers. The blueprint must be based on national context and the country's development stage and also provide accurate judgments on development opportunities and thorough analysis of challenges and difficulties, said the premier. It is important to stay committed to a people-centered approach and solve problems in the process of development through reform and innovation, he said. The blueprint, which includes goals for growth, development strategies and key tasks, must provide good societal expectations and spur the whole country to work enterprisingly, Li said. The premier also urged local authorities to ensure a good implementation of work laid out in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) to lay a solid foundation for the following five years. ^ top ^

China issues guideline for enhancing IPR protection (Xinhua)
2019-11-24
The general offices of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council have jointly issued a directive calling for intensified protection of intellectual property rights (IPR). Titled "The Guideline on Strengthening Intellectual Property Rights Protection," the document aims to implement decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on stepping up IPR protection and improve related systems and mechanisms. "Strengthening IPR protection is the most important content of improving the IPR protection system and also the biggest incentive to boost China's economic competitiveness," reads the document. The document said China will make comprehensive use of the law, technology and social governance policies to step up IPR protection. According to the document, by 2022, China will strive to effectively curb IPR infringement, and largely overcome challenges including high costs, low compensation and difficulties in providing evidence for safeguarding intellectual property rights. By 2025, social satisfaction with IPR protection in China will reach and maintain a high level. Meanwhile, China will strengthen the punishment for infringements and counterfeiting, and improve the protection system for new business forms. The document calls for speeding up the introduction of a punitive compensation system for infringements of patents and copyrights, and strengthening the protection of trade secrets, confidential business information and their source codes. China will also make greater efforts to step up international cooperation in IPR protection, facilitate communication between domestic and foreign rights holders, and provide support in overseas IPR disputes. ^ top ^

Beijing to levy fines on people who fail to properly sort waste (China Daily)
2019-11-28
Beijing residents who fail to meet garbage classification standards will face fines up to 200 yuan ($28.50) if they refuse to rectify, starting May 1 after a newly revised regulation was passed by the capital's legislative body on Wednesday. The capital will use four garbage classification standards: kitchen waste, recyclables, hazardous waste and other waste, according to the newly amended regulation passed by the Standing Committee of Beijing Municipal People's Congress. Citizens and companies in Beijing may face punishment if they fail to sort domestic garbage. The use of ultrathin plastic bags will be banned, while the use of disposable supplies will be restricted in the capital, the regulation said. According to the regulation, any individual or working unit will be held responsible for the proper sorting and disposal of garbage they produce. Those who fail to follow the rules can be fined up to 200 yuan if the offender is an individual, or between 1,000 yuan and 50,000 yuan for an offending work unit. The regulation specifies that each residence community or village in Beijing should set up at least one recyclable garbage container. Special trash sorting containers for recyclables and hazardous waste also need to be set up. The revised regulation follows a previous rule designating a specific garbage classification person responsible for a community's or village's trash sorting. At the same time, an instructor to guide the domestic garbage classification will also be designated to supervise the units and individuals for domestic garbage sorting. The person responsible for garbage classification must report to the local urban management authorities if residents fail to sort trash and refuse to rectify, according to the regulation. The revised regulation also adds rules to reduce the use of disposable supplies that government offices and institutions use. Hotels, restaurants or other service providers can only provide disposable items to customers who ask for them. For public office spaces, the regulation specifies that urban management authorities need to formulate standards for trash containers' colors, graphics, standards and locations. Some large-scale waste products such as used furniture, household appliances or construction waste need to be placed in designated locations. Supermarkets, shopping malls and farmers markets that use ultrathin plastic bags will face fines up to 10,000 yuan if they refuse to rectify their behaviors. Chang Jiwen, deputy director of the Institute for Resources and Environment at the Development Research Center of the State Council, applauded the revised regulation and said public awareness will be enhanced as a result. "The use of disposable supplies has been a headache for the city's environment, and the legislation will urge residents to better protect it," he said. Beijing has carried out trash sorting since early 1998, when the Dachengxiang community in Xicheng district became the first neighborhood to classify garbage. At the end of 2011, the city published China's first domestic waste management regulation, which took effect on March 1, 2012. However, the implementation of trash sorting in Beijing hasn't gone well in the past decade, since mere encouragement is not enough for citizens to change their habits, said Hao Zhilan, director of the urban construction and environmental protection committee at Beijing People Congress. The previous regulations didn't give specific fines for households, companies or institutions that failed to sort their garbage properly. In 2018, Beijing collected 9.3 million metric tons of household waste, according to local authorities. ^ top ^

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High graduate employment rate in Tibet shows central govt's strong support: expert (Global Times)
2019-11-28
New employment statistics for Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region show that the central government's efforts to support the region's development have been successful, and this will greatly boost students' confidence, an analyst said on Thursday. As of November, 22,255 recent college graduates had signed job contracts, and the employment rate of new graduates hit 95.02 percent, nine percentage points higher than the same time last year, the People's Daily reported on Wednesday. "This figure is very surprising to me, and it is impressive. It means the central government's policies and measures supporting the region's development are successful," Tian Yun, vice director of the Beijing Economic Operation Association, told the Global Times. Tibet's regional government has announced policies and measures to ensure a high employment rate. These steps included subsidies for living and housing expenses, tuition and student loans, the report said. "Even though the trade war has not had a huge negative impact on Tibet, the development of the region - which has been relatively left behind - is slowing amid the broader economic environment, so the central government has taken strong measures to support Tibet," Tian said. So far this year, the region has created more than 620,000 jobs specifically for new graduates, the report said, adding that jobs created by public institutions and state-owned enterprises from the east of China exceeded 17,500. "The number of jobs created by public institutions and companies accounts for a big part of the total, and it shows the central government's efforts to support the region," Tian said. ^ top ^

The Feroza Aziz incident reveals double standards of Western media (Global Times)
2019-11-28
Major Western media outlets have extensively covered Feroza Aziz, a 17-year-old girl from the US, who claimed her TikTok account was shut down for talking about so-called "genocide" against Uyghur Muslims in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In the wake of Western media efforts hyping so-called leaked documents on China's Xinjiang, Aziz has given them a chance to accuse China of "censorship" on a Chinese-owned social media app and to attack China's Xinjiang policies. However, experts said Aziz's information about Xinjiang is from biased Western media reports. Cases like Aziz show Western mainstream media lack professionalism when it comes to reporting on China, and they also give platforms to people misinformed by anti-China propaganda. While making a TikTok video teaching people how to get long eyelashes on November 23, Aziz, a high-school junior from New Jersey, told her audience to search what is happening in China and mentioned so-called "concentration camps" and "abuse" of Muslims in Xinjiang. She told MTV News that she used a fake makeup tutorial video for "the first few second to reel viewers in to then speak about the Uyghur." Aziz has 5,800 followers on TikTok. Many of Aziz's TikTok videos uploaded online are her making faces, which usually got less "likes." The ones where she talks about Xinjiang have 577,700 likes. She even started a Twitter to keep up with the spread of her TikTok video. She now has 10,500 followers on Twitter account and 14,000 followers on Instagram. Although admitting she did not seek the spotlight, Aziz was interviewed by many media in recent days. Her remarks on accusing China for "mistreating" Muslims sparked some criticisms among netizens. Many said that she should not spread rumors without even conducting surveys or visiting China's Xinjiang. And some said she wants to draw attention by talking about something she does not clearly understand. There is no public information showing Aziz has been to China. Calling herself "Just a Muslim trying to spread awareness" on her Twitter account, how could Aziz spread true awareness, considering her impression on Xinjiang came from rumors and fake news made by some US media, said some netizens. If she wants to speak about serious topics on human rights violations or accusing China for mistreating Muslims, she should do serious independent surveys and not spread fake news or use rumors to attract audiences, a netizen commented. According to the words on one of the TikTok videos Aziz uploaded to her Twitter account, she alleged that "innocent muslims are getting murdered everyday in the middle east and in China." "It is the US who set bombs which killed thousands of Muslims in the Middle East and the whole world has witnessed the crime. However, together with people of all ethnic groups and religions, China is building a stable and prosperous Xinjiang. How could Aziz make such irresponsible remarks?" a netizen commented. When Western media make blindly criticizing China an attractive trend, people like Aziz will follow suit either to build a reputation as human rights defenders or to attract public attention, analysts said, adding that Aziz has set a very bad example for young people. "Some Western media use freedom of speech as a pretext to export their political positions and spread rumors against China," Zhu Wei, a communication researcher at the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times. Such inflammatory rhetoric may be said to be in violation of the Charter of the United Nations and International Law. Some Western teenagers are not interested in politics actually; they know China from biased media and just believe the content of their reports without any evidence, Zhu said. Aziz told MTV News that she first learned about "concentration camps" in Xinjiang in 2018 and heard about "victims' stories," including Mihrigul Tursun. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying debunked Tursun's story as having no solid evidence in January. CNN reported Tursun claimed her son had died in Urumqi Children's Hospital in Xinjiang in 2015, and that they had been victims of "Beijing's growing crackdown on the Muslim majority Uyghur" in Xinjiang. Hua said that one of Tursun's three children was sent to a hospital in Urumqi due to pneumonia, hydrocephalus and other illnesses. Records show Tursun and her husband took the child out of China in April 2018 shortly before leaving China altogether with her other two children. She was never arrested in Urumqi and never went to jail, nor has she been sent to any vocational training and education centers. Hua said CNN's report of Tursun was a total fabrication. CNN never corrected the mistake. Mihrigul Tursun's case is not the only one that has been hyped by Western media and disproven by the Chinese government. Some so-called Uyghur activists claimed their relatives were mistreated in Xinjiang. However, Global Times reporters visited their relatives and found all of them living freely. "Issues on China have always been hot topics for Western media and smearing or attacking China has been regarded as 'a right thing to do.' Some politicians want to attack China's issues and contain China from rising. They never give up bias when talking about China issues," Zhu said. Foreign social media accounts, including those on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, assist the spread of rumors and fake news on China, said Zhu. He noted that these social media platforms shut down many Chinese accounts in late August for their support of the Hong Kong police. Chinese scholars' Facebook accounts were blocked from posting articles about Hong Kong. "This is classic double standards used by the overseas social media platforms and Western media. They allow anti-China forces to spread rumors against China on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube in the excuse of 'freedom of speech' but grabbed our throats on the contrary." In response to the Aziz incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Wednesday that he knew nothing about Aziz's TikTok account being suspended. "I can only tell you that the Chinese government asks our companies to observe international rules as well as local laws and regulations when doing business overseas. We also hope other countries will provide them a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment as we consistently stated," Geng said. ^ top ^

Germany steps up criticism over China's Xinjiang policies with call for it to 'meet its international human rights obligations' (SCMP)
2019-11-26
Germany has stepped up its criticism of China's actions in Xinjiang by calling for international monitors to be given access to the region to assess reports that large numbers of mainly Uygur Muslims are being held in mass detention camps. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas made a rare intervention on the topic on Tuesday after a consortium of international journalists published scores of documents that they said had come from the Chinese government. "China has to grant access to Xinjiang for independent assessments of the human rights situation on the ground," Maas told a policy forum in Berlin. "China must meet its international obligations on human rights." China has defended its policies there by saying that it is only building "vocational training centres", not prison camps, and has so far refused to grant foreign diplomats free and unrestricted access to the region. Among the requests it turned down was one from a German delegation last year, which the country's human rights commissioner Bärbel Kofler described as part of the preparations for an annual meeting on human rights with Chinese officials. United Nations experts and activists have said that at least a million Uygurs and members of other largely Muslim minority groups have been held in internment camps in Xinjiang. A high-ranking European diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the international backlash caused by China's treatment of minorities had the potential to have a "very big impact" on future relations between China and the European Union. This week the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published a series of reports outlining the contents of what it said were classified documents that contained details of Chinese detention camps in Xinjiang. It said the papers contained "previously undisclosed intelligence briefings that reveal, in the government's own words, how Chinese police are guided by a massive data collection and analysis system that uses artificial intelligence to select entire categories of Xinjiang residents for detention". The ICIJ team comprised, among others, German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and Japan's Kyodo news agency. Japanese media reports said the country's tech companies potentially provided surveillance cameras to Xinjiang camps. On Tuesday, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi also voiced concern over China's treatment of the Uygurs, saying: "We believe it is important that universal values in the international community – such as freedom, respect for basic human rights and rule of law– are upheld in China. "As such, we are watching the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region with concern." Motegi also said he had relayed the same message when he met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi this week. The US has so far led the way in criticising China over its policies in Xinjiang with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accusing Beijing of engaging in "enormous human rights violations" in the region. Beijing maintains that the issue is an internal affair concerning its security, and insists that other countries should not get involved. ^ top ^

Hong Kong police seize more than 3,800 petrol bombs from Polytechnic University, saying campus siege will end on Friday (SCMP)
2019-11-28
Hong Kong's police force has said it will end its siege of Polytechnic University on Friday and revealed it had already seized more than 3,800 petrol bombs from the campus. Assistant Commissioner of Police Chow Yat-ming on Thursday night said: "There is still some work to do and it is better we do it by daylight. However, I'm confident that we can finish it by tomorrow and return a safe campus to the university management." No more police officers would be stationed outside the campus and it would be reopened to the public, Chow added. Police seized 3,801 petrol bombs, 921 gas canisters and 588 chemicals including acid and other corrosive liquids during their search of the university. Another 100 gas canisters were tied to petrol bombs, while police also found 12 bows, 200 arrows and an air rifle. Some 44 vehicles inside the campus car park were damaged, with protesters were believed to have stolen petrol from them. The fire service also inspected the podium, laboratories and dangerous goods store and found a large quantity of dangerous fluids, including 550 litres of flammable liquid petrol, 20 litres of corrosive fluid and 80 litres of toxic substances. Some 27 stores containing dangerous chemicals remained locked, which officers said was "fortunate", but 15 fire extinguishers outside were missing. Police did not find any remaining protesters still on campus on Thursday, but Chow stressed the policy of getting them medical treatment ahead of any arrests remained in force. Their details would be recorded for later use. He refused to estimate the number of holdouts inside and denied police had deployed undercover officers disguised as volunteer medics to search the campus. On Thursday, a team of 400 officers moved onto the trashed campus in Hung Hom that had earlier been turned into a fiery battlefield then a stronghold for radical protesters. It marked the final chapter of a stalemate that had lasted almost two weeks. The search began at 8am on Thursday with just 100 officers including some from the fire service and Social Welfare Department. Seven hours later, Senior Superintendent Li Kwai-wah reported the police's process through a Facebook live session. "Some items we found could be ignited at 36 degrees Celsius," he said. "We had to dispose of them as quickly as possible." Officers were also hindered by slippery surfaces and obstructions placed by those who had occupied the campus, Li added. Originally, it was expected that officers from the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau would be able to sufficiently handle the situation. But given the latest development, Li said, an additional 300 officers were deployed from the Commercial Crime Bureau and regional crime units from various districts. He added that officers from government laboratories were on site to give advice and conduct preliminary examinations given the variety of substances found. During the operation, police cordoned off buildings and a few open areas suspected to contain dangerous items on the advice of firefighters, who conducted the first round of search for immediate explosives. There were none. Earlier on Thursday, the High Court had turned down a judicial challenge against the operation. Former government employee Kwok Cheuk-kin, a serial litigant known for taking the government to court, argued the police tactics of cordoning off the campus amounted to false imprisonment and infringed the freedom of those trapped inside. But Mr Justice Albert Wong Sung-hau said insofar as the PolyU saga was concerned, the police had mostly exercised their power in accordance with the law, and there was no substantial evidence to suggest otherwise. More than 1,000 radical protesters and their supporters occupied the campus a fortnight ago, and engaged in fierce battles with the police on November 17. They blocked the roads leading to the city's Cross Harbour Tunnel, started fires on nearby bridges and set a police armoured vehicle ablaze. The force responded with tear gas, sealed all campus exits and asked all those inside to leave. About 1,100 people came out in the days that followed, although some escaped. Those aged 18 or above were arrested on suspicion of rioting, while about 300 minors had their details recorded, although police reserved the right to pursue criminal cases against them later. But an unknown number refused to leave the campus, some saying in the days that followed that they were afraid of being arrested and mistreated by police, prompting a stalemate. By Thursday, petrol bombs, hazardous chemicals, rotting food and rubbish littered the corridors, rooms and outside spaces. Campus officials called it a hygiene and health risk. Ahead of the operation, Assistant Commissioner of Police Chow Yat-ming said if police encountered any anti-government protesters still inside the university, they would try to convince them to get medical attention and would not arrest them straight away. "Our ultimate goal is to restore the safety of the school and open the campus as soon as possible," Chow said. "We have some officers from the police negotiation centre and the Social Welfare Department, and also clinical psychologists. We will try to convince them to get medical treatment." Owan Li, the student representative on the university council, told a radio programme on Thursday morning it was difficult to assess how many students remained inside the campus. He also claimed it was not dangerous inside and accused police of destroying the school's autonomy. A separate police source told the Post that the force was likely to grant approval for a march on Sunday. ^ top ^

Hong Kong election success for pro-democracy camp gives Beijing a headache when dealing with 'kingmaker' tycoons (SCMP)
2019-11-28
Beijing will need to handle its relationship with Hong Kong's tycoons more carefully after the landslide election victory by the opposition camp made them the accidental "kingmakers" in the choice of the next leader, analysts say. The pro-democracy camp won 392 out of 452 seats in Sunday's vote, taking control of 17 out of 18 district councils. Although councillors' powers are limited, the victory will give the bloc a bigger say in the selection process for the chief executive by handing them control of 117 seats on the 1,200-member committee that chooses the chief executive. This shift in the balance of power will mean that Beijing will be more reliant on the major property developers and their business associates – at a time when Beijing has been trying to wean itself away from its over-reliance on the city's tycoons. "The impact on the chief executive election is very concerning," Song SiO-chong, a professor at the Centre for Basic Laws of Hong Kong and Macau at Shenzhen University, said. "The business sector's take will become very important. Some business heavyweights have the ability to swing up to 100 votes from the financial and business sector, meaning their votes will be key to the election. When the time comes, Beijing will need to do a lot of coordination work," Song said. The city's 3.8 million registered voters will have no direct say on the choice of the next chief executive, with the selection committee having been designed to provide Beijing's preferred candidate with a strong support base. A candidate needs to secure 150 nominations to run for office, and 601 votes to win in the committee, which consists of representatives from four main sectors – government bodies (including the district council bloc); industrial, commercial and financial services; the professions; and labour, social and religious groups. The committee has been stacked with some of Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoons, with the city's two best-known developers – Li Ka-shing, who founded Cheung Kong, and Lee Shau-kee from Henderson Land – having sat on the committee since the first election in 1996, a year before the former British colony was handed back to China. Last time around, 96 seats in the business sector were occupied by representatives of the developers – and 46 of these were taken up by employees or business associates of the six biggest groups – Sun Hung Kai Properties, CK Asset Holding, Henderson Land Development, New World Development, Wharf (Holdings) and Sino Land. The success of the pro-democracy camp on Sunday gives them a majority in all parts of the city and means the 117 seats selected by district councillors, previously seen as "ironclad votes" for the pro-Beijing camp, are all likely to be occupied by pan-democrats next time round. In the 2017 chief executive vote Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor secured victory over former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah by winning 777 votes. Analysts believe that most, if not all, district council votes went to Lam, making them one of the key factors that helped her reach the crucial 601-vote mark. Song pointed out: "If we do the maths from the 777 votes, minus the 117 votes the CE got from the district councillor sector, it would mean that Beijing's next favoured candidate will only have a thin winning margin of 60 votes." In 2017, 325 votes went to the pro-democracy camp and adding a further 117 votes to this total will give the group control of around one-third of the electoral committee. "While it's unlikely that a non-Beijing appointed candidate will win the election despite the increased number of pro-democracy votes, Beijing will find it necessary to pick someone the business sectors can also support," said Ivan Choy Chi-keung, a political scientist at Chinese University. "Beijing still needs to manage the number of votes to legitimise the final winner." But the increased reliance on the votes of the city's business elite in the next chief executive election presents Beijing with a dilemma. Previously it relied on them to help ensure Hong Kong's stability, given their control of wide swathes of the city's economy ranging from telecoms to public utilities and supermarkets, and Beijing was able to use Hong Kong's financial and trade system to spur the mainland's rapid economic development. In return the tycoons relied on Beijing's favour to give them access to the mainland market. But in recent years Hong Kong has seen skyrocketing property prices and a growing shortage of affordable housing, which Beijing has singled out as key factors fuelling the unrest in the city. Official media outlets such as Xinhua and People's Daily have promoted this narrative – blaming the developers who profited from the situation and urging the city's authorities to increase its housing stock by taking over land being hoarded by "vested interests". In September, Global Times, a tabloid affiliate of People's Daily, singled out the lack of affordable housing as a "root cause" of the protests, which started in opposition to the now-withdrawn extradition bill but have since erupted into greater calls for democracy and investigation into police use of force. A few property developers have already tried to relieve the pressure on them by donating land for public housing, but Choy suggested Beijing's need to win the businesses sector's unified support in the chief executive vote could pave the way for a new offer. "They will not hit out at the tycoons as they did [through state media] in recent months, and most importantly, pick a person that they will accept," Choy said. In the past tycoons have not always supported Beijing's choice of chief executive. In 2012 Li Ka-shing did not support Beijing's preferred candidate. He told the media that he had known his preferred candidate, former financial secretary Henry Tang Ying-nien, was not going to win but had still chosen to support him. Tang, who was a popular candidate among the business sector, was supported by other prominent tycoons, including Lui Che-woo of K Wah Group and David Li Kwok-po, who chairs the Bank of East Asia. In the last election in 2017, Tsang, the former financial secretary, was the most popular candidate with the public, according to opinion polls. But Lam was widely seen as Beijing's choice and only one leading real estate representative – Thomas Jefferson Wu, son of the founder of Hopewell Holdings founder, Gordon Wu Ying-shueng – nominated Tsang. But Choy said Beijing would not allow business leaders to ally with the pro-democracy camp to give them "more bargaining chips". Lau Siu Kai, vice-chairman of semi-official think tank The Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said Beijing was likely to tighten control over the chief executive election rather than trying to court the business community's support. He said it was likely to only allow one nominee from the pro-establishment camp and let the pro-democracy side pick its own candidate. "This is the only way Beijing can minimise the possibility of not getting enough votes for its hand-picked candidate," Lau said. "In the past, Beijing would not feel threatened so it could accept some deviation from the pro-establishment camp … but now there cannot be any competition between pro-establishment candidates." "In the worst case scenario, Beijing will veto the choice by not appointing the elected chief," Lau added. In a directive issued at the end of the Communist Party's policy meeting at the end of October, Beijing made it clear that it would "enhance the system and mechanism" used to select the chief executive and principal officers. "Beijing will have made its contingency plans as plain as black and white before the next CE election," Lau said, adding that it would also put forward a system for dismissing the city's leader. But Lau did not believe that the business sector would prove "critical" or become "kingmakers" as Beijing would find a consensus. "At such a critical moment, would anyone in the business community actually risk bargaining with Beijing and threatening to stand on the opposite side? I don't think so," he said. A political adviser to a leading Hong Kong property developer agreed with Lau. "It is true that [Beijing] will have a thinner margin, making the votes of the business community carry more weight," said the adviser, who asked not to be named. "But that only means Beijing will need to make greater efforts to 'persuade' [them] and I think, in most cases, the business community can be and will be 'persuaded'." However, not all business electors were convinced. Pro-establishment lawmaker and tycoon Michael Tien Puk-sun, who was also an elector in the previous chief executive election, said he still hoped the committee would be given some leeway. "This situation could be a good thing for Hong Kong, if the business sector has a greater say, because it means that there will be more discussions and consultation over a suitable candidate," Tien said. Tien said that he expected Beijing to put forward two candidates it found acceptable and let the electors choose. But he said this plan would only work if the pan-democrats were willing to compromise. "It's not easy, but this is the practical way, since [the pan-democrats'] candidate would not win anyway," he said. "If the central government continues with its hardline approach, and the pan-democrats keep taking an obstructive stance … then there will be an impasse. Isn't this exactly what has led Hong Kong to where we are today?" ^ top ^

Newly elected HK district councilor denied access to Macao (Global Times)
2019-11-28
Daniel Wong Kwok-tung, a lawyer and newly elected Kowloon district council member, was denied access to Macao for engaging in activities that endanger public security or public order in Macao. Wong took the water route to Macao on Tuesday evening but was detained for two hours at the port police station. He was then brought onto a ship and deported back to Hong Kong, Hong Kong media reported. Wong claimed that he met another Hong Kong resident who was also denied access to Macao due to a charge on September 29 over illegal assembly. Wong has been working as a free lawyer for arrested rioters in recent months. On August 11, Hong Kong district councilor Chan Wai-tat was refused entry into Macao on suspicion of intent to participate in activities that may jeopardize public security or public order. Macao police detained seven people in August for rallying in support of the Hong Kong riots. Analysts believe the Macao Special Administrative Region is carefully handling relevant affairs to prevent infiltration by Hong Kong rioters. ^ top ^

Beijing accuses Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party of using spy allegations for political gain (SCMP)
2019-11-27
Beijing has accused Taipei of trying to deceive the Taiwanese public for political gain by launching an investigation into allegations made by Wang Liqiang, the self-proclaimed Chinese spy who is seeking asylum in Australia. The comments came after officials from the Investigation Bureau on Monday questioned two executives from a Hong Kong company about charges levelled against them by Wang while they were on a visit to the island. Xiang Xin, the chief executive and chairman of China Innovation Investment, and his wife Kung Ching, who is an alternate director with the company, were also served with a notice preventing them from leaving Taiwan. Wang, who is currently in Sydney on a tourist visa, said that China Innovation Investment was a front for mainland interference in Hong Kong's universities and media organisations, according to Australian reports published on Saturday. He said also that his handlers planned to send him to Taiwan to meddle in the presidential election in January. Police in Shanghai earlier dismissed the allegations, saying 26-year-old Wang was unemployed and wanted on the mainland in connection with an investigation into alleged fraud. Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office, on Wednesday repeated the claim that Wang was a fraud and accused Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of exploiting the situation for political advantage. "The DPP has bound itself to a scammer and carried out this huge political manipulation," she said. "Its goal is to create the so-called mainland is interfering in Taiwan's local elections falsehood so as to reap political gains. They are trying to use lies to deceive the Taiwanese public, but underestimated people's rational and critical thinking abilities. Taiwan's public opinion already has many doubts about this scam from the DPP." Zhu also warned Taipei against "acting recklessly" in the investigation into China Innovation Investment and to respect the "legitimate rights" of mainlanders and residents of Hong Kong and Macau while they were in Taiwan. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council rejected the criticism from Beijing, saying the Investigation Bureau was following procedure. "Chinese national Wang Liqiang admitted to the Australian government to taking part in espionage activities … It is known that the Australian police have started an investigation, [and] our Investigation Bureau is also looking into matters relevant to the case," a spokesman said. The council also warned mainland authorities against interfering in Taiwan's elections or internal affairs, and urged them to respect and learn from Taiwan's democratic election process. Taiwan's Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung on Tuesday dismissed claims that the exit restriction on Xiang and Kung was politically motivated, saying it was in accordance with the island's laws, local media reported. In a statement issued on Monday, China Innovation Investment denied any involvement in espionage activities and accused Wang of fabricating the allegations against the company. It also asked media companies to correct inaccurate reports and said it reserved the right to pursue legal action. ^ top ^

China's financial market to remain attractive for foreign capital: UBS economist (Xinhua)
2019-11-28
China will remain attractive to investors worldwide amid global economic slowdown and uncertainties, a UBS economist said Thursday. The increased index weighting of China's A-shares in the global benchmark MSCI will motivate global investors to slant their portfolios more toward the Chinese stock market, the second-largest in the world, said Hu Yifan, chief China economist of UBS Global Wealth Management. Speaking about the impact of trade tensions on China's stock market, Hu said China still stands out among emerging markets because trade uncertainties have very limited impact on listed companies, which rely heavily on the domestic market. China's bond market will likely become a major magnet for foreign capital in the next three to five years as the Chinese currency is expected to stay strong, said Hu. High-tech sectors like fintech and 5G, as well as consumption-related industries, are all attractive areas for overseas investment, she said. UBS estimated global economic growth would hit 3 percent in 2020, down from 3.1 percent this year, while the growth rate for emerging markets will edge up to 4.6 percent from 4.2 percent. ^ top ^

China moves to aid slowing economy by accelerating issue of 1 trillion yuan of local government bonds (SCMP)
2019-11-28
China has given local governments more leeway to borrow money to fund local infrastructure projects this year, as it seeks to boost investment in construction to support growth. Beijing has brought forward 1 trillion yuan (US$142.3 billion) of the 2020 special purpose bond allowance to this year, giving local governments more room to issue bonds to finance projects. The finance ministry said local governments should start issuing debt "as soon as possible" to make sure there was no lapse in funding for projects set for early next year of that were already underway. "Local authorities should allocate the bond quota to specific projects, ensure its early issuance and have effects shown in early next year," the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The accelerated quota was equivalent to 47 per cent this year's total allowance, underscoring just how much money the government is seeking to spend on new local government projects. China's economic growth slowed to 6 per cent in the third quarter, its lowest rate since quarterly statistics were first released in 1992. The pace of growth is widely expected to slow further in the fourth quarter and into 2020 as the economy battles domestic headwinds and a trade war with the United States. But the increased bond borrowing will add to China's growing debt problem, which was reignited after the government switched priorities last July from reducing debt to supporting growth after the trade war with the US began. The country's overall debt reached 251.1 per cent of gross domestic product at the end of September, up from 245.2 per cent a year earlier, according to data from the National Institution for Finance and Development. The growing need for new borrowing also makes clear how weak local government finances are. Revenues have plummeted since Beijing mandated personal and business tax cuts over the past year. Local finances have also been hit by the national economic slowdown and lower revenue from land sales due to a weaker property sector. "The government intention to stabilise economic growth with proactive fiscal policy is obvious this year, but funding restraint is also a reality," said Xie Yaxuan, chief macro analyst at China Merchants Securities. Local governments exhausted this year's original special bond issuance limit of 2.15 trillion yuan (US$355.6 billion) by the end of September. Official data has underlined the need for China to kick start local infrastructure projects, with investment in infrastructure, which accounts for nearly one third of total fixed asset investment, dropping to a historically low level of 4.2 per cent in the first 10 months of this year. Xie estimated local special bond sales would jump next year, possibly reaching 3.5 trillion yuan (US$498 billion) in 2020. Liu Xuezhi, a senior researcher with the Bank of Communications, said this year's increase in the bond issuance limit had raised market expectations that the government would authorise more than 3 trillion yuan (US$426.7 billion) of local special bond borrowing next year. "However, the support won't lead to a big rebound in investment, because other backdoor funding channels, including by [local government] financing vehicles, remain targets of government scrutiny," Liu warned. Beijing began a deleveraging campaign three years' ago to reduce debt and risky lending, targeting especially the massive increase in "hidden" debt that is held off-budget by local governments, including borrowing by local government financing vehicles (LGFVs). LGFVs, which are used by provincial and lower level governments to evade restrictions on borrowing from banks, are a major source of China's hidden debt, which is estimated to be as high as 30 trillion yuan (US$4.2 trillion), according to rating agency China Chengxin International. The acceleration of local government bonds issuance was part of Beijing's efftorst to stabilise the economy, according to Morgan Stanley. "The key source of support would be higher issuance of local government special bonds, which would be US$100-125 billion more than in the past 12 months, partly offsetting a potential decline in net land sales revenue amid a slowing housing market," the bank's chief China economist Robin Xing wrote in the 2020 outlook last week. China's State Council, headed by Premier Li Keqiang, has ruled out an all-out stimulus to boost the economy, instead talking more about "effective investment" while highlighting large government projects included in the next five-year plan. The cabinet has fine-tuned its funding policy in recent months, lowering the capital requirements of some infrastructure projects and also planning the use of public-private partnership to leverage private investment. ^ top ^

China's yuan is 10 years from ending US dollar hegemony, says Jeffrey Sachs (SCMP)
2019-11-28
China's yuan could be on an equal footing with the US dollar as a mainstream currency in as little as a decade, earlier than most people think, according to Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs. In the near future, institutions will move away from their dependence on the US dollar, Sachs said, with multiple currencies including the yuan and euro to be used for settling international trade, global central bank reserves and fundraising through bond issuance. "I believe that we will move from a largely dollar-based settlements system to a multicurrency settlements system, in which the dollar, euro, and renminbi [yuan] are all used for international settlements," said the noted American macroeconomist. Sachs was a former special adviser to the UN Secretary-General, and his prescriptions have been used to guide a number of economically-troubled countries back to health. Over the past 30 years, he has advised dozens of heads of state and governments on economic strategy across the world and was the main architect of Poland's debt reduction operation around the end of the cold war. Sachs has been predicting the US dollar's demise for some years, but his comments grew stronger following the election of US President Donald Trump in 2016, whose policies he has said will see the currency "displaced". The main reason to expect a de-dollarisation in the monetary order stemmed from America's declining share of the global economy, Sachs said. The US now accounts for 15 per cent of the world economy, down from around 21.6 per cent in 1980, according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund. This has raised the question of whether the US will continue to have the economic sway necessary to support the current pervasiveness of dollar use. By comparison, China's economy now accounts for around 19.2 per cent of the world economy while the European Union is about 16 per cent. In addition, the US has undermined the political standing of the dollar's role by using it to impose sanctions on countries such as Iran, suspending their access to the US dollar-based international financial messaging network, Sachs said. He has previously said that as China and other countries grow more frustrated with the dollar hegemony, which effectively gives the US authority over the international financial markets, they may step up efforts to create an alternative payments system to deal with their international partners. A third reason to expect the yuan's role to increase, Sachs argued, was that the dollar-based international financial system has been characterised by periodic crises. The global debt crisis in 2008 and the Asian financial crisis in the mid-1990s were down to poor financial regulation by the US, he added. Desire to avoid these crises are likely to create a tendency towards currency diversification in settlements over time, he said. Since the late 2000s, Beijing has sought to internationalise its currency, encouraging overseas institutions to hold yuan-denominated bonds and stocks, and foreign countries to trade-in yuan. The international use of the Chinese currency is rising, albeit slowly, with the country opening up its financial markets and its equities and bonds being increasingly included in international investment indices. However, the volume of yuan trade settlements remains lacklustre, just 2 per cent of the world's total. While the US dollar's share of global currency reserves has been shrinking gradually – to around 62 per cent in the second quarter, its lowest level since 2013 – it is still well above the yuan's portion. Sachs' bullish predictions on China are well-known. Indeed, early this year Sachs drew a firestorm of criticism for his article titled "The War on Huawei", in which he said the Trump administration was unfairly targeting Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou for her alleged violations of US sanctions against Iran. Contrary to Sachs' projection, many analysts think it will take several decades before the yuan becomes a key player in the international market, given Beijing's reluctance to float the currency and end restrictions on its exchange. "The renminbi assets are in a way difficult for foreigners [to access] for a number a reasons. The currency's internationalisation is stagnating," said Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Natixis. Any future decline in the US dollar's market share is more likely to be filled by the euro, the South Korean won – or even the Brazilian real – than the yuan, because these currencies are easily convertible, she said. Robin Xing Ziqiang, a Hong Kong-based economist at Morgan Stanley, said the yuan's future as a potential global reserve currency hinged on the speed of Chinese reforms to make the yuan more "readily available" for use outside China, such as lifting capital controls and removing restrictions on its exchange. Xing suggested that should China improve the ease of the yuan's conversion, it would help integrate China's financial markets with the rest of the world. Chinese policymakers also need to further integrate China's financial markets with the rest of the world and ease the conversion of yuan assets. Going forward yuan assets could reach 5 to 10 per cent of global reserves over the next 10 years, surpassing the significance of the yen and sterling, Xing said. ^ top ^

North Korea fires two 'unidentified projectiles' on Thanksgiving as end-of-year deadline looms (SCMP)
2019-11-28
North Korea fired two "unidentified projectiles" on Thursday – the Thanksgiving holiday in the US – Seoul said, as nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington remain deadlocked. The projectiles were fired eastward from South Hamgyong province and came down in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. They added that the launch, the latest in a series by Pyongyang, was carried out at 16.59pm local time – or the early hours on the east coast of the US, during one of the country's biggest annual holidays. It was also one day short of the two-year anniversary of the North's first test of its Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, which analysts say is capable of reaching the entire US mainland. Pyongyang is banned from firing ballistic missiles under UN Security Council resolutions, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday's launch was the latest in a series of violations. "North Korea's repeated launches of ballistic missiles are a serious defiance to not only our country but also the international community," he told reporters in Tokyo. Thursday's launch came after Pyongyang fired what it called a "super-large multiple rocket launcher" system last month, and the JCS said the latest devices were presumed to be of a similar type. They flew 380km and reached a maximum altitude of 97km, the JCS added. Nuclear negotiations between the US and the North have been at a standstill since the Hanoi summit between President Donald Trump and leader Kim Jong-un broke up in February, and Pyongyang has since demanded Washington change its approach by the end of the year. "North Korea is growing anxious as its deadline approaches," said Shin Beom-chul of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. "That's why it's carrying out these provocations, which is the typical North Korean playbook to get more concessions from the US." Last month Pyongyang also claimed to have tested a "new type" of submarine-launched ballistic missile – a potential strategic game-changer. Trump has played down the recent launches, repeatedly pointing to North Korea's moratorium on nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile launches as foreign policy successes for him. Trump and Kim adopted a vaguely worded statement on the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" at their first summit in Singapore in June last year, but little progress has since been made. North Korea is under multiple sets of international sanctions over its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes and lifting some of them was a key demand of the North's in Hanoi. In June Trump and Kim agreed to restart working-level talks during a meeting at the demilitarised zone dividing the peninsula and the two sides met in Sweden in October, only for Pyongyang to walk away. Earlier this month, Seoul and Washington said they would postpone planned joint military exercises to ease diplomacy with the North, an announcement Pyongyang dismissed. The North has long condemned the joint drills, which it condemns as preparations for invasion, and carried out multiple missile launches in the summer in protest as the allies carried out their annual exercises. North Korea has issued a series of increasingly assertive comments in recent weeks as time runs down on its end-of-year deadline. Trump hinted at the prospect of a fourth meeting with Kim in a tweet earlier this month, only to be rebuffed by the North, which said it had no interest in summits "that bring nothing to us". ^ top ^

ADB to partner in having Mongolia removed from FATF's Grey List (Montsame)
2019-11-28
On November 25, Speaker G.Zandanshatar received Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director for Mongolia Mr. Pavit Ramachandran. Congratulating Mr. Pavit Ramachandran for being appointed as Country Director, Speaker G.Zandanshatar expressed his gratitude for the consistent support from ADB during the years of democratic reform in Mongolia. He then highlighted that the economy of Mongolia is recovering as a result of the Extended Fund Facility co-implemented by the International Monetary Fund and Mongolia, and noted the matter of being removed from the Grey List of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) having become a pressing issue despite the improvement in macroeconomics. He said, "We approved the state budget for 2020 on November 13. The economic growth is forecast to be slowed down next year in correlation with the global trends of the near future. Furthermore, as our economy is very dependent on mining, we are working on the objectives to support export, and diversify the economy for the long term. With the protection of the environment, and maintenance of ecological balance having become one of the important goals, there are several crucial tasks such as supporting economic growth, consistent modernization of the bank and financial system, and implementing projects and programmes for energy and infrastructure ahead of us." Noting the successful reforms being made in the banking sector of Mongolia, Mr. Pavot Ramachandran highlighted that ADB will closely cooperate in having the country removed from the "Grey List". Speaker G.Zandanshatar said, "We are currently implementing a project on oil refinery. With the oil refinery put into operation, the country's dependence on the two neighboring countries for oil will lessen. Discussions have also been held on exporting cashmere and textile products of Mongolia to the U.S. market duty-free. I am confident that the favorable conditions for Mongolian agricultural products to enter the markets of neighboring countries will be created in the near future." ^ top ^

National program to develop amenity services adopted (Montsame)
2019-11-28
On November 28, the cabinet approved a national program on development of amenity services industry. The required funding for the program implementation will be reflected in government's annual general direction and state and local budgets, to be financed by assistance and loans from international organizations and foreign countries. The program, covering 2020-2024, will increase the number of public shower facilities and other amenity services and their working capacity. For instance, there were 9019 public shower facilities and amenity service points in 2018, the number will grow 10 thousand by 2024. The number of employees of this industry, which was estimated at 22 thousand, will reach 32 thousand in 2024. As of 2018, around 25.2 percent of the people working in the amenity service industry was engaged in hairdressing and beauty services, 20.2 percent of them in tailoring and dress making, 11.6 percent in carpentry and others in public showers, photo prints, dry cleaning, shoe repair and others. ^ top ^

Jennia Jin
Embassy of Switzerland