Why International Rules are Only ‘Soft Constraints’ for the Chinese Communist Party

A worker cuts an oil pipe at a factory in Qingdao in China’s eastern Shandong Province on Feb. 28, 2019. China's manufacturing activity shrunk for a third straight month in February, sinking to its worst performance in three years as the economy slows and the U.S. trade war bites, official data showed on Feb. 28. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
A worker cuts an oil pipe at a factory in Qingdao in China’s eastern Shandong Province on Feb. 28, 2019. China’s manufacturing activity shrunk for a third straight month in February, sinking to its worst performance in three years as the economy slows and the U.S. trade war bites, official data showed on Feb. 28. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

 

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has surprised the international community by playing fast and loose in U.S.-China trade talks over the past two years.

Its flouting and willful violation of international laws and customs not only caused the economic and trade conflict between China and the United States, but also much of the global vigilance against it. In the current world structure, the CCP generally disregards international norms and regulations. Regulations based on the institutional framework of democracy and the rule of law seem difficult to effectively restrain the CCP’s actions.

Conclusions Drawn From Trade Negotiations

The U.S.-China trade talks reached a preliminary first phase agreement on Oct.11, but there has been much international skepticism about its validity. This is because China’s conduct in the negotiations over the past two years has left many in the international community worried about the CCP’s credibility.

Full Story: https://www.theepochtimes.com/cheng-xiaonong

China’s newest weapon against Hong Kong?

Two basketball players pose for a photograph

Even by China’s heavily nationalistic standards, the reaction to a tweet this week has been extreme.

Basketball authorities and sponsors cutting ties.

State TV cancelling broadcasts.

A ‘meet the fans’ night with visiting NBA stars scuttled at short notice, much to the disappointment of fans.

Even a young social media user being forced by his employer to write a public apology letter for a post about a cartoon called the Rocket Squad.

The uproar over a tweet supporting the Hong Kong protestors from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey is the sharpest sign yet that in China’s ‘New Era’ — as President Xi Jinping calls it — foreigners are expected to submit to its censorship rules if they want to do business.

In recent years, grovelling apologies have become the norm.

Full Story: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-10/beijing-uses-outrage-culture-online-against-nba/11587534

Huawei Linked to Suspected Front Companies in Iran, Syria

The Huawei logo is seen during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on Feb. 26, 2018. (Yves Herman/Reuters)

LONDON/HONG KONG—The U.S. case against the chief financial officer of China’s Huawei Technologies, who was arrested in Canada last month, centers on the company’s suspected ties to two obscure companies. One is a telecom equipment seller that operated in Tehran; the other is that firm’s owner, a holding company registered in Mauritius.

U.S. authorities allege Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou deceived international banks into clearing transactions with Iran by claiming the two companies were independent of Huawei, when in fact Huawei controlled them. Huawei has maintained the two are independent: equipment seller Skycom Tech Co Ltd and shell company Canicula Holdings Ltd.

Full Story: https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-documents-link-huawei-

How China Routed the U.S. in a U.N. Agency…

Qu Dongyu, the new director-general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

In mid-January, Kevin Moley, the senior State Department official responsible for overseeing U.S. relations with the United Nations and other international organizations, issued a stern command to a gathering of visiting U.S. diplomats in Washington: China was on the rise, and America’s diplomatic corps needed to do everything in its power to thwart Beijing’s ambitions.

China’s bid to place one of its own top officials at the head of the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which helps direct agricultural and food security policies worldwide, offered an early test, Moley noted. The election was still some five months away. But Moley, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, made clear that defeating China would become a key U.S. foreign-policy goal.

“It was all China, China, China,” recalled a source familiar with the exchange. “‘We have to do anything to beat the Chinese,’” the source recalled Moley as saying.

Full Story: https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/23/china-united-states-fao-kevin-moley/

2 Chinese Embassy Secretly Expelled From The US…

A camera monitor shows China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi answering a question during a National People's Congress press conference in Beijing on March 8, 2019. (WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images)
A camera monitor shows China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi answering a question during a National People’s Congress press conference in Beijing on March 8, 2019. (WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images)

Two Chinese Embassy officials were “secretly expelled” by the U.S. government for driving onto a “sensitive” military base in Virginia in September, according to a Dec. 15 report from The New York Times.

It appeared to be the first time in more than 30 years that Chinese diplomats were expelled over suspected espionage acts. U.S. officials believe that at least one of the officials was an intelligence officer operating “under diplomatic cover,” six unidentified sources familiar with the matter told the newspaper.

Full Story: https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-secretly-expelled-2-chinese-embassy-officials

Fake Chinese police cars spotted in Australia amid pro-Hong Kong rallies…

A car with what appears to be Chinese police markings parked at night.

Authorities are investigating after fake Chinese police cars were spotted in Adelaide and Perth amid pro-Hong Kong demonstrations across Australia, but the owner of one of the cars has told police it was a “joke”.

Key points:

  • Police in SA and WA have confirmed sightings of cars with Chinese police markings
  • It comes as local demonstrations over the situation in Hong Kong escalate
  • WA Police said the owner of one car had been spoken to and removed the insignia

In South Australia photos have surfaced of a car — bearing Chinese characters — parked at various spots around Adelaide’s CBD.

SA Police told the ABC it was aware of the vehicle’s current location and was investigating if it has been involved in any offences.

Police in Western Australia also confirmed they had received reports of a car with Chinese police markings.

“WA Police spoke to the driver of the vehicle who stated he purchased the decals online,” a spokesperson said.

Full story: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-19/fake-chinese-police-cars-spotted-in-adelaide-and-perth/11426850

Pope Signals Closeness to China and Distance from Taiwan and Hong Kong…

A worshipers waves the flag of China as Pope Francis leaves following the weekly general audience on June 12, 2019 at St. Peter's square in the Vatican. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP) (Photo credit should read FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)

ROME — Pope Francis sent subtle but clear signals of closeness to Beijing while distancing himself from Taiwan and Hong Kong during his flight to Japan from Thailand Saturday.

In a series of telegrams to officials of the three territories, the pope disclosed the current diplomatic position of the Vatican regarding key Asian conflicts.

Especially revealing was the wording of the pontiff’s telegrams to China and Taiwan and the different manner in which he described each nation.

“I send cordial greetings to your Excellency as I fly over China on my way to Japan. I assure you of my prayers for the nation and its people, invoking upon all of you abundant blessings of peace and joy,” the pope wrote to Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.

Full Story: https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2019/11/23/pope-signals-closeness-china-distance-taiwan-hong-kong/

Chinese spy case could be the greatest threat to Australian security…

Wang Liqiang looks to the right as he sits mid-speech. He has glasses, wears a checked shirt and dark jacket.

Not since the Petrov affair in 1954, when a KGB officer sought asylum in Australia with details of Soviet spying activities, has a case been as potentially significant for Australian security as that of Wang Liqiang, the man who purports to be a Chinese spy.

We are using the word “potentially” in the Wang case because his accounts of Chinese espionage activities in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia need to be fully assessed before a more complete judgment is made about the veracity of his claims.

Nine Newspapers journalists have conducted due diligence on the Wang case over some months and concluded publication is justified. But gaps remain in the defector’s narrative.

These include the reasonable question of how a young man with a fine arts degree and a skimpy background allegedly in Chinese intelligence has suddenly come forward with a cache of information that sheds light on nefarious activities.

Full Story: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-26/chinese-spy-case-the-greatest-threat-to-australian-security/11739372

Scientists shred Chinese CRISPR babies experiment after leak of unpublished research

‘Deliberate falsehood’: Scientists shred Chinese CRISPR babies experiment after leak of unpublished research

A controversial genetic experiment to make Chinese twins resistant to HIV is causing renewed outrage after the release of the original research, with scientists charging that it failed to meet its goals and ignored basic ethics.

The MIT Technology Review published portions of two previously unseen research papers on Tuesday, principally authored by Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui, who last year attempted to use CRISPR DNA editing technology to immunize twins – Lulu and Nana – against HIV.

While He’s bold claims about what the experiment accomplished have come under scrutiny before, a wave of new criticism has followed the publication, which was passed to MIT by an unnamed source. Chief among the complaints is that He’s experiment didn’t achieve its main goal: producing a mutation in the CCR5 gene that would create resistance to HIV.

“The claim they have reproduced the prevalent CCR5 variant is a blatant misrepresentation of the actual data and can only be described by one term: a deliberate falsehood,” Fyodor Urnov, a geneticist at the Innovative Genomics Institute, told the Technology Review.

Full Story: https://www.rt.com/news/474955-scientists-china-crispr-babies/