Keywords: The US Presidential Election, Donald Trump, People’s Congress Election in China, cyberspace sovereignty, pro-independent lawmakers in Hong Kong, draft law for same-sex marriage in Taiwan.

CHINA – DIPLOMACY

Potential implications of Donald Trump as the new US President on Sino-US Relation

Thomas Wright from Brookings Institution in a report pointed out the key elements in the foreign policy proposed by Donald Trump during the election campaign:

• //To understand Donald Trump’s foreign policy, we must distinguish between his three core beliefs that he has held for many decades and rarely if ever waivered from, the central themes of his campaign, and other issues. His core beliefs are opposition to America’s alliance arrangements, opposition to free trade, and support for authoritarianism, particularly in Russia. If he is elected president and governs in a manner consistent with these beliefs, the United States will be transformed from the leader of a liberal international order into a rogue superpower that withdraws from its international commitments, undermines the open global economy, and partners with Putin’s Russia.// Source: Lowy Institute for International Policy, 10 October 2016.

On issue of RMB currency:

• //Trump accuses China of victimizing the U.S., a pitch that got him a big following with voters in traditionally blue-collar states who blame globalization for trade-related job losses. He has promised to label China a currency manipulator, bring trade complaints against the nation, and impose tariffs if it doesn’t halt what he sees as unfair trading practices. “I expect him to come out of the chute criticizing China a bunch and demanding improvement in China trade policy,” said Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. « But he’s going to get briefed by his staff in the White House and come face to face with new data that don’t accord with his current view.” On the accusation of China manipulating its currency, for example, Trump’s new Treasury secretary will have to explain why he’s shifting the U.S. stance after Barack Obama’s administration repeatedly found that the country doesn’t deserve that label.// Source: Bloomberg, 11 November 2016.

On trade issues:

• //As president, Trump will have a range of levers to ratchet up trade pressure on China. Under the 1974 Trade Act, for example, he can impose unlimited tariffs and quotas on countries that the U.S. deems having unreasonable or discriminatory trade practices. He can also have his top trade official launch a complaint against China at the World Trade Organization, though past cases show it can take years to wind through that process. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers on Thursday urged Trump to apply remedies within the existing trade laws to address “abuses” by foreign nations. “In the current environment, naming China a currency manipulator on day one is a ludicrous proposal,” Summers, who served in the Obama and Bill Clinton administrations, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. With so much at stake, his administration will have to walk a fine line to ensure the world’s two most powerful economies don’t descend into a trade war. “It’s basically impossible to imagine China not feeling a political need to retaliate — maybe not symmetrically, but in some way,” said Rory MacFarquhar, a visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics who worked on China affairs in Obama’s White House.// Source: Bloomberg, 11 November 2016.

• //China is more vulnerable given the sheer amount of stuff it sells to America. For more than a decade, China has consistently exported about $4 worth of goods to the United States for each $1 of goods that it imports. Exports to the United States represent about 4 percent of the Chinese economy; American exports to China are only about two-thirds of 1 percent of the United States economy. “We don’t have many things in the toolbox for retaliation, because we export more than we import,” said Mr. He, the former Chinese commerce ministry official. Still, China could inflict pain on sensitive areas that provide American jobs, like Boeing’s jetliners. […] China’s biggest potential weapon is to disrupt the supply chains of multinationals by halting exports of crucial materials or components. But that could damage China’s reputation as a reliable supplier. “I don’t think we will go that far at the moment, because there is a lot of room to negotiate,” Mr. He said. “If we are forced too much, nothing can be excluded.”// Source: New York Times, 10 November 2016.

• // »TPP has been clinically dead, and US’ strategy of returning to the Asia Pacific will be weakened, » said Jin Canrong, associate dean of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which has been promoted by the Obama administration and seen as a trade club of countries aimed at sidelining China. […] « Trump is unpredictable, but there will be ample room for China to improve bilateral ties with him in the White House, » said Wang Yiwei, a senior fellow of international relations at the Renmin University of China.// Source: Global Times, 10 November 2016.

• //Some economic advisers to the Chinese government were skeptical that Mr. Trump would follow through with drastic action that could prompt a trade war. After all, they said, American presidential candidates have been promising to get tough on Chinese trade policies for more than two decades and have invariably backed off after taking office. “Nobody takes the electioneering that seriously,” said Andrew Sheng, a former chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission who advises the Chinese government on financial policy. “People accept that the American consumers benefit so much from trade that it won’t change that much.”// Source: New York Times, 09 November 2016.

Global Times summarized the commentaries from Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom and proposed that China would take a leadership role in re-shaping the order for international trade through establishing new international free-trade framework (such as Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) when the US stumbles in establishing the TPP:

• //“TPP的落空，或成为中国再次在亚洲地区恢复凝聚力的契机。”日本共同社近日报道称，若TPP生效手续没有进展，在亚太地区打造经济圈的“重心将会转向东亚区域全面经济伙伴关系协定(RCEP)”。日本《读卖新闻》则认为，在TPP谈判难产的情况下，中国正通过东亚的RCEP等框架来确立其在国际贸易中的主导权。按照英国《金融时报》网站刊登《TPP夭折将使中国重推亚太自贸区》一文的观点，反对TPP是特朗普竞选的核心议题。而目前TPP夭折这一“空白”为中国提供了重要的机遇，即“使其顺理成章地主张加快建立更广泛的亚太自由贸易区”。 《日本经济新闻》的一篇题为《中国对特朗普的真实想法》的报道总结得更加精练：美 国主导建立TPP实际上是想制定一套将中国排除在外的国际规则，奥巴马曾强调其意义在于“不能让中国等国家来书写全球经济规则”；另一方面，习近平通过设立亚洲基础设施投资银行(亚投行，AIIB)和“一带一路”构想等来推进中国主导的全球经济框架。如果因为美国的退出而导致TPP无法生效，中国必将精神 百倍地加紧制定对中国有利的规则。 “亚太地区的贸易秩序天平正在向中国倾斜”，《韩国经济》的报道称，有专家认为，随着TPP可能因为美国新总统上台而胎死腹中，亚太国家正将注意力重新转向RCEP，甚至有可能使日本改变态度加入RCEP。// Source: Global Times, 17 November 2016.

New York Times also reported that China would benefit from American retreat from the TPP talk:

• //Australia said on Wednesday that it wanted to push ahead with a Chinese-led trade pact that would cover Asian nations from Japan to India but exclude the United States. Peru has opened talks with Beijing to join the agreement as well. Even American business leaders are positioning themselves for the potential opportunities in Asia. […] “The long-term question is whether America pulls back from Asia and makes it easier for China to force countries in the region to make a choice between China and the United States,” said Richard Bush, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. […] Just three days before Mr. Obama’s arrival here, Peru’s foreign minister, Eduardo Ferreyros, said the country still hoped the Pacific pact would someday become a reality. But given the changing dynamics, his government also opened talks this autumn with Beijing to join the rival, Chinese-led trade pact, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. “Since Mr. Trump is not so interested in requiring economic integration and trade liberalization, why not have other countries follow this free-trade proposal?” asked Song Guoyou, a longtime trade specialist who is the deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. […] Australia and Japan have been bargaining for years with China on the deal. But they wanted it as a complement to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, to balance their economic relationship with the United States instead of replacing it with ties to China.// Source: New York Times, 19 November 2016.

At the recent APEC forum, Xi Jinping re-emphasized his opposition to any form of protectionism:

• //习近平强调，我们要坚定不移引领经济全球化进程，引领经济全球化向更加包容普惠的方向发展，反对一切形式的保护主义。我们要坚定不移提升亚太开放型经济水平，支持多边贸易体制，早日建成亚太自由贸易区。[…] 习近平强调，中国加入亚太经合组织25年来，坚持把亚太作为开放的优先方向。随着2020年茂物目标期限临近，我们应该加紧规划更加长远的合作愿景。中国愿同各方一道，以发展为主题，扩大开放，促进区域经济一体化、互联互通，共同绘制亚太合作的宏伟画卷。各经济体领导人表示，亚太是全球经济增长的重要引擎。当前形势下，要构建亚太开放型经济，反对贸易保护主义，深入推进亚太自由贸易区进程，持续推进全方位互联互通，为亚太和全球经济增长注入新动力。// Source: Ta Kung Pao, 22 November 2016.

On security in Asia-Pacific region:

An observer from China, Liang Yabin (梁亚滨) from the Central Party School, the United States might temporarily withdraw from Asia-Pacific and create a certain degree of policy confusion as it deviates from the long-term foreign policy of the United States:

• //特朗普参与总统选举以来首次系统阐述外交政策是在今年的4月27日，在一场于华盛顿发表的演讲中，他详细阐述了他外交政策的三大重点，包括打击极端组织“伊斯兰国”、重塑美国军力以及建立符合美国利益的外交政策等。有媒体注意到，他当时罕见地使用了提词器，被媒体解读为“非常重视此次演讲”。特朗普在这场演讲中对外传递的核心信息呼应了其竞选口号“让美国重新强大”，提出以“美国第一”为主旨基调的外交政策构想。“我的外交政策将总是把美国人民和美国安全的利益放在第一位。‘美国第一’将是我领导的政府主要和压倒一切的基调。”他当时说道。对于特朗普的此次“外交政策宣言”，美国国内政策界打了低分，认为“很多主张脱离了数十年来美国的主流外交思想，具有浓厚的孤立主义和民族主义倾向”。中央党校国际战略研究院副教授梁亚滨进而认为，特朗普政府在地缘政治和军事安全问题上很可能会出现一定程度上的政策混乱。“如果特朗普上台，可能会短时间的选择暂时撤出亚太。”布鲁金斯的李成分析认为，“但美国的利益集团会迫使他继续回到亚洲，再次归来的美国则会带来许多不稳定的因素。” // Source: The Paper, 09 November 2016.

Observers from overseas also shared the view that the U.S. under Trump would be less committed to security issues in Asia-Pacific, and China would benefit from this situation:

• //“Maybe he will decrease the commitment to Pacific security issues,” said Shin Kawashima, a professor of international relations at the University of Tokyo. “But if he carries out such a policy, China will be much more authoritative and aggressive in the Pacific. And then most of the alliance countries and security experts in Washington will be against Trump’s policies. It is a little difficult for Trump to just change all the old policies.” […] Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said that many in the foreign policy establishment had been wary of Hillary Clinton and believed Mr. Trump would be less likely to oppose President Xi’s increasingly assertive territorial claims in the South China Sea and elsewhere. “A weakened and disorganized West like this will surely bring many more additional strategic opportunities for China, which would be even less prudent in its foreign policy, as it has been since 2013,” Mr. Shi said.// Source: New York Times, 09 November 2016.

James Woolsey, the senior advisor to D. Trump on national security, defense, and intelligence matters, wrote an article on SCMP after Trump’s victory in the presidential election:

• //Our ideological differences should also be better managed. America’s commitment to the spread of freedom is unwavering. Yet, as we improve our understanding of the complexities of the Chinese social and political system, it becomes increasingly apparent that challenging the current system is a risky endeavour. We may not like it but we don’t necessarily have to do something about it. I can therefore see the emergence of a grand bargain in which the US accepts China’s political and social structure and commits not to disrupt it in any way in exchange for China’s commitment not to challenge the status quo in Asia. It may not be a spoken agreement but a tacit understanding that guides the relations in the years to come.// Source: SCMP, 10 November 2016.

On international cooperation on climate change:

• // Trump has repeatedly denied the science of human-caused climate change, incorrectly calling it “fictional” and saying it was a hoax created by the Chinese. He has said that he will do everything in his power to undo Mr. Obama’s ambitious domestic and international climate change policies. While some legal and procedural roadblocks would impede a complete gutting of Mr. Obama’s existing climate change regulations, Mr. Trump could significantly weaken or slow them. And in sending a message to the rest of the world that the United States does not intend to enact a climate change agenda, the Trump presidency could cause reluctant governments such as those in India and Poland to slow or weaken their efforts to cut planet-warming emissions. Mr. Trump has vowed to “cancel” the Paris Agreement, the 2015 deal in which nearly every country put forth plans to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. In fact, it is not possible for a world leader to unilaterally block or undo the accord, nor would it be possible for the United States to legally withdraw from it for at least the first term of a Trump administration. That is because with Mr. Obama and the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, urging other countries to ratify the accord rapidly, it entered into legal force last week. Any country wishing to withdraw must wait four years to do so. But even though the United States, the world’s second-largest source of greenhouse-gas emissions, remains legally bound to the Paris plan for four years, there will be no legal consequences or economic sanctions if Mr. Trump does not follow through with the Obama administration’s commitment. Under the accord, Mr. Obama promised that the United States would cut emissions up to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025, largely through a set of Environmental Protection Agency regulations on coal-fired power plants.// Source: New York Times, 09 November 2016.

• //Zou Ji, a deputy director of China’s National Climate Change Strategy Research and International Cooperation, told Caixin magazine that “the international community should not connive at any player’s inaction and pin hopes on China”. Zhang Haibin, a professor at Peking University who has advised the Chinese government on its climate change policy, said nobody could fill the vacuum if Trump insisted on leaving the game, in either emission cuts, climate funding or support for poor nations to tackle climate change. “The history of climate negotiations tells us a global climate scheme without the US will simply not be able to effectively operate,” he said. However, he also ruled out any possibility of either the EU or China putting pressure on Trump, which would only be “counterproductive” and push the US further away.// Source: SCMP, 17 November 2016.

• //Questioned over the link between human activity and global warming, Trump said: “I think there is some connectivity. Some, something. It depends on how much.” He added that he was thinking about how the issue “will cost our companies”. Trump’s partial acceptance of the overwhelming scientific view that burning fossil fuels is changing the climate, along with his equivocation over American involvement in the Paris deal, are subtle departures from the position he took during the presidential campaign. […] The election of an apparent climate change denier to the US presidency has caused consternation among scientists and overseas climate negotiators, but some have voiced hope that Trump will follow a more pragmatic path that will avoid political fallout over the issue. In Trump’s recent announcements on his first 100 days in power he has pledged to cancel money for climate change programs and lift restrictions upon fossil fuel exploration on public land, but made no mention of quitting the Paris deal.// Source: The Guardian, 22 November 2016.

Overall Sino-US relation:

Some observers remained optimistic about Sino-US relation despite Trump’s strong words against China during electoral campaign, citing Trump is likely to place pragmatism over ideological difference between the US and China:

• //“Trump doesn’t have a China policy,” Schell (Orville Schell, director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York) said. “Anything is likely with him, because he is not so much an ideologue as an opportunist. And this actually is something that the Chinese leaders understand.” Trump’s geopolitical statements in the campaign have often been perplexing, including his call in a presidential debate for China to “go into North Korea.” But while he routinely said U.S. allies should pay more during the campaign, he appeared to reassure Japan, South Korea and Australia in phone calls to their leaders after the election. Even if Trump’s protectionist rhetoric ends up hurting China, the overall relationship will be guided by common interests, said Ma Zhengang, a former Chinese ambassador to the U.K. and political attache in Washington. At the very least, any “irrational” ideas from Trump would get blocked by checks and balances within the U.S administration. “We don’t really buy all that he said during the campaign,” said Ma, who sits on the public diplomacy advisory council of China’s foreign ministry. “Lots of lip service and hot air. Who knows what he believes? Perhaps he himself doesn’t know either.”// Source: Bloomberg, 11 November 2016.

• //Some analysts see Trump’s election playing into China’s hands. Trump has already said he opposes a trade agreement with Asia-Pacific nations that Obama supported but wasn’t able to get ratified. The deal excludes China. If America’s influence in Asia falters, Beijing will have the opportunity to “share regional political and economic integration on its own terms,” Capital Economics economists Julian Evans-Pritchard and Mark Williams said in a research note. As a businessman, rather than an “elite intellectual,” Trump’s pragmatism may be welcomed by the Chinese, said Xiao Geng, a professor of finance and public policy at the University of Hong Kong. “He means business, the business of making America and every American great, instead of teaching the rest of the world how to become like America,” Xiao said.// Source: Bloomberg, 11 November 2016.

• //While Mr. Putin and his Kremlin aides were restrained in their initial public response to the result, “undoubtedly, they are drinking Champagne,” said Gleb O. Pavlovsky, a political consultant who once worked for the Kremlin. […] This, Mr. Pavlovsky said, is “for two reasons: one political, the other psychological.” For Russia, the triumph of Mr. Trump, just five months after Britain’s shock vote to leave the European Union, accelerates an unraveling of the Western order, a trend that the Kremlin has worked tirelessly to promote through disinformation and the funding of anti-establishment parties like the National Front in France. China, far more dependent on economic ties to the West than Russia is, has avoided trying to stoke turbulent populist sentiments in Western countries but, with a shared hostility toward liberal democracy, has moved increasingly close to Russia to form a united authoritarian front. Russian politicians and analysts cheered Mr. Trump’s victory as an opportunity for Russia to extend its global influence and, possibly, shed economic sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe over Crimea and Ukraine. […] Like Russia, China has long bridled at American complaints about its illiberal ways, rejecting the idea that human rights and free speech are universal values and insisting that China has found its own political model rooted in uniquely Chinese values that put stability above all else. In the days before the election, the Chinese government, eager to point out to its citizens the advantages of one-party rule by the Communist Party, used the nastiness of the Trump vs. Clinton contest to warn about the evils of American democracy.// Source: New York Times, 10 November 2016.

Chinese state’s responses to the US election:

The Chinese Government took steps to bar “over-coverage” on the US election, while denouncing the election as “dirty, messy, and bad” in one of the commentaries on the People’s Daily before the Election Day:

• //11月8日，全球都在关注美国总统大选。面对这场全球瞩目的选举，中国宣传部门向各个媒体机构下达指示，要严控大选的传播。据了解，中国宣传部门要求所有的网站、新闻机构以及电视网络，不要对大选进行直播，并且避免 “过份”的报道。据来自一位北京媒体人士的消息，北京广电局致电网媒传达了上级关于美国大选报道的指示，包括腾讯、搜狐及网易的直播，已经通过网信办叫停，同时提出严肃批评，并将视乎情况给予处罚。中国宣传部门要求务必执行关于禁止直播、碎片化同步等指令；又指如果发现其他网站在做直播，要及时举报。北京分析人士表示，当局这一举动是担心中国民众受到西方自由选举的影响。香港媒体称，中国方面对于媒体的限制审查是北京方面限制公众接触西方思想和民主思潮所通常使用的策略。与此同时，中国宣传部门要求媒体，“及时报道美国大选中任何令人尴尬的丑闻，并且深度批评滥用政治权力的现象。”// Source: Voice of America, 10 November 2016.

• //2016年美国总统大选投票即将举行，可以肯定的是，不论特朗普或希拉里克林顿谁最终胜出，史册上所记录的都不是民主的胜利，而是美国200多年选举史上“脏乱差”的一页。所谓“脏”，不仅体现在两位候选人在公开辩论中互泼脏水，其用语之不堪和手法之粗鄙，令许多美国人“不忍直视”，而且体现在所谓美式民主背后“肮脏的一 面”，民主党方面，为确保克林顿党内胜出，桑德斯居然被“内定”掉了。共和党方面，为阻止特朗普势头，党内大佬集体发声，甚至不惜倒向克林顿，几乎所有主 流媒体“一边倒”地站在克林顿一边，令“特朗普们”直呼“美国民主已死”。所谓“乱”，伴随这场大选始终。初选阶段，民主党的桑德斯几 乎将笃定的克林顿掀下马；共和党内，杰布·布什、卢比奥、克鲁兹等一个个政治明星相继折戟，被视为“不靠谱”的特朗普则一路过关斩将，其跌宕起伏堪比现实 版的纸牌屋。大选阶段克林顿与特朗普的角逐，更是“邮件门”“健康门”“性骚扰门”轮番上演，惊奇不断、乱象丛生。所谓“差”，不仅是选举格调差，更主要的是整个选情几乎被情绪化的极端言论和无所顾忌的人身攻击所主导，候选人几乎无法集中精力阐释系统的施政措施和严肃的政策主张，以致选举失去其本意，而沦为一场闹剧。// Source: The People’s Daily, 08 November 2016.

On 14 November, after the phone conversation between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, Global Times Editorial praised the US President-elect for his free mind from the traditional Washington’s political elites and his pragmatism in re-shaping the Sino-US relations.

• //中国国家主席习近平与美国当选总统特朗普14日通电话，双方透露的通话内容都是积极的，习近平指出，“事实证明，合作是中美两国唯一的正确选择”，这句话被很多世界媒体突出放在报道的标题上。他还强调，中美合作拥有重要机遇和巨大潜力。特朗普办公室对外表示，特朗普和习近平在通话中建立了“明确的相互尊重感”，特朗普表示相信他与习近平“将建立最强的关系之一推动两国关系发展”[…] 过去8年，奥巴马总体上被认为是位温和的总统，但是他深受美国精英传统政治思维的影响，对世界的理解仍主要建立在冷战时期经验的基础上。希拉里的外交思想似乎左右了他，不管他是否很情愿，美国的实际做法是继续从西部挤压俄罗斯的战略空间，同时推出零和意味浓厚的“亚太再平衡”战略，导致了他执政后期对外政策上的诸多矛盾。特朗普是位“政治素人”，他执政的兴趣方向与之前的总统看来有所区别。他对世界的认识也还没被华盛顿政治精英群体绑架，加上他对美国实际利益的看法也会有政治圈以外商人及市民阶层的角度，他或许是最有可能在以实事求是态度重塑大国关系方面迈出步子的美国领导人。// Source: Global Times, 14 November 2016.

CHINA – POLITICS

Election of Representatives for People’s Congress at village and township levels

The elections took place every 5 years across China. That in Beijing and Shanghai received particular media attention. It is reported that the advantages of the “Chinese-style democracy” have been widely praised by the state-owned media and made constant comparison to the ills of the US Presidential election. With regards to the election, Xi Jinping emphasized that the election must insist on the leadership of the Party and “zero tolerance” of law violation with election fault. Independent candidates, despite their constitutional rights, are discouraged from taking part in the election by the police and governmental officials and face various level of suppression.

• //11月15日是北京市区、乡镇两级人大代表换届选举投票日。中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席习近平在西城区中南海选区怀仁堂投票站参加区人大代表 的选举投票时强调，这次县乡两级人大换届选举是全国人民政治生活中的一件大事。选举工作要坚持党的领导、坚持发扬民主、严格依法办事，保障人民选举权和被选举权。要加强对选举工作的监督，对违规违纪违法问题“零容忍”，确保选举工作风清气正。// Source: New Beijing News, 16 November 2016.

• //根據憲法和法律關於地方各級人民代表大會每屆任期5年的規定，自2016年起，全國縣鄉兩級人大換屆選舉陸續展開，將有9億多選民參加選舉，直接選舉產生250多萬名縣鄉兩級人大代表，涉及全國2850多個縣(市、區)、32000多個鄉鎮。// Source: Hong Kong 01, 16 November 2016.

Under the section Xinhua Insight, an article has praised the “Chinese-style democracy” that best fits China and transparency should be enhanced to make sure corruption does not exist in election:

• //Compared with the U.S. presidential election that recently stunned the world, retiree Han Yueai cares more about the election on her own doorstep. Han and 2,300 of her neighbors in Bajiaobeili neighborhood of Beijing’s Shijingshan District on Tuesday voted for three district-level deputies to the people’s congress. « People vote for their own representatives to solve difficulties for people, » she said. […] The people’s congress system has been in place for 62 years and is China’s fundamental political system. There are people’s congresses from the national level right down to the smallest townships. At township and county level, deputies are directly elected by citizens every five years. Deputies of higher levels are voted by deputies from lower levels. More than 900 million Chinese have or will elect over 2.5 million deputies at county and township levels in elections running into next year, making it the world’s largest election in terms of voter numbers. Huang Shisong, deputy secretary general of the executive committee of Beijing Municipal People’s Congress, said to ensure the transparency of the elections, disciplinary bodies of the municipality will send official inspectors to 16 districts, and encourage residents to tip them off regarding any violations in behavior. […] Zhu Lijia, of the Chinese Academy of Governance, said the people’s congress system enables people’s representatives to participate in decision making, legislation and supervision. « It is a democracy that fits China, although the system can be improved, » he said, adding that balancing urban-rural representation at the people’s congress was an example of improvement. In 2010, China amended its Electoral Law to ensure both rural and urban areas adopt the same ratio of deputies, ending a practice where rural deputies represented a population four times greater that urban deputies. […] Lured by political power, some officials have sought votes by offering bribes or other under-the-table means. According to a statement from the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), as of mid-October this year, 245 officials have been punished for malpractices in local elections, including attending banquets while inspecting cadres, leaking confidential information, canvassing, seeking promotion through improper methods, and spreading fabricated information in local elections. Penalties issued included warnings, demotions, and expulsions from CPC and administrative posts. Dai Yanjun, deputy director of the Party-building department at the Party school of the CPC Central Committee, said that local elections at various levels had learned lessons from the Liaoning case, and the electoral system had been improved. « We should lock up power by building a transparent system. If every step during an election is open and transparent, under-the-table and power-for-money deals will find nowhere to hide, » he said.// Source: Xinhua News, 15 November 2016.

While the Chinese Constitution allows independent candidates to run for the election, those who attempt to do so are discouraged or even harassed by the police. The BBC News reported the situation of independent candidates in Beijing and also noted that the election this year has gone beyond bald facts and figures. It is also observed that the US Presidential Election was put in a negative light when compared to the “Chinese-style democracy”.

• //We drive to the outskirts of Beijing to meet Liu Huizhen, a 45-year-old woman who wants nothing more than the right to take part in this election. She has managed to secure the ten nominations from fellow citizens that, according to Chinese law, are needed to allow her name to go forward for inclusion on the ballot as an independent candidate but she is not out campaigning. Instead, she is living under constant surveillance and, as we approach her front door, it is quickly surrounded by a group of unidentified men who stand in silence and block our way. By reaching over their heads I manage to knock and a few moments later, Ms Liu appears in her doorway. But as she begins to tell me why she wants to exercise her democratic right, the door is pushed shut and the thugs lean against it. She makes an attempt to open a window but it too is forced shut and she is, once again, prevented from speaking to us. […] We arrange to meet another election hopeful, 59-year-old Ye Jingchun, at her apartment complex in Beijing. The residents’ committee has called a meeting to introduce the approved list of candidates, which Ms Ye is not on, and we are hoping to speak to her after the meeting is finished. This time it is a police officer who is there at the entrance waiting for us. We are not allowed in and Ms Ye is not allowed out but a few hours later we manage to catch up with her. « They were polite, » she tells me, standing on the pavement outside a shopping mall. « But I couldn’t leave the room. There were more than a dozen of them. » […] It is a noble calling, one that would be recognised by those who choose to represent their local communities the world over. But here, it is little more than a futile aspiration. « First of all, we need to get the nomination forms, » Ms Ye tells me, « which are extremely difficult to get. In fact, the community officer warned residents not to nominate me. » There has been scant coverage of the local elections in China’s state-run media, beyond the usual bald facts and figures. Nonetheless, an altogether different kind of election, a long way from China, has been occupying the attention of the Community Party’s propagandists. China’s journalists have had full, unfettered access to America’s open system of democracy and have used that access to full effect. They have covered the US election as a case study in all that is wrong with Western democracy – the dissatisfaction with elites, the bitter, divisive nature of the campaign and the concerns over media bias and corporate influence. And Chinese readers of this Communist Party-led reporting have been constantly reminded that they should think of themselves as lucky. The US campaign has been described as « circus-like, » a « chaotic political farce » and a « train wreck ».// Source: BBC News, 17 November 2016.

The report on the situation of independent candidate in Beijing by AFP via Hong Kong Free Press suggested that only candidates approved by the Chinese Communist Party can be put on the list by the election committee and those who may express thoughts different from the Party’s official line will be barred from running campaign by the police or government officials:

• //When Chinese voters go to the polls, it is only to pick local representatives to advise on mundane issues like rubbish collection and parking. But when Ye Jinghuan sought election in Beijing, she was treated like an enemy of the state. Plainclothes officers tailed the 64-year old retiree as she left her home on polling day Tuesday, and she faced constant harassment from police and government officials after announcing her run, she said. […] Authorities were eager to show off what they describe as democracy “with Chinese characteristics”, with officials ushering dozens of reporters into a polling station in Xingfu, in central Beijing. Voters filled out their pink ballot papers in front of officials, ignoring a screened-off area labelled “Secret Balloting Place”. Chinese law states that anyone over 18, who has not been stripped of their political rights, can stand for election and vote. “Ethnicity, gender, party, residence, economic situation, there are no limits,” crowed Liu Xiancai, who heads the Xingfu election office. But Ye’s experience was different. Candidates must be backed by 10 people or nominated by their workplace to stand. But official election committees ultimately decide who gets on the ballot. […] Ye’s platform was simple: better controls on traffic, more elder care facilities, and making it easier for constituents to contact their delegates. But her seemingly innocuous ideas provoked a strong reaction from local police, who closely monitored her behaviour and prevented her meeting foreign media. The authorities’ response to Ye indicates how China is tightening controls on even anodyne political expression, said Yaxue Cao of Chinachange.org, a US-based website advocating for increased democracy. […] A key meeting of top Communist leadership in October called for increased ideological discipline and warned ruling party members against criticising the official line. Almost all the 21,765 candidates on ballot papers across Beijing came from the ruling party, with a token few from China‘s eight other official parties, none of which oppose communist rule. Authorities had thwarted around 20 other independent campaigns in the capital, Ye told AFP by phone, adding it was “not safe” for anyone to put their name to her nomination. Red banners around Beijing proclaim that the local elections are the “foundation” of China’s system of governance, but the weeks leading up to the polls saw no rallies, no eager candidates glad-handing voters or campaign posters.// Source: Hong Kong Free Press, 16 November 2016.

Radio Free Asia also reported criticisms from the independent candidates in Wubei Province:

• //湖北独立候选人伍立娟接受本台采访时称，逾百公民因独立参选遭打压，北京独立参选人李美青甚至在光天化日之下遭遇暴徒袭击，造成头部和身体多处受伤。她直指习近平“作秀”：“习近平他投票那是他的看法，但在群众眼里不是那么完全公正公平的，像北京的独立候选人遭到殴打，她的父母还遭到恐吓；也没有公开让群众真正的参与进去。全国各地都有这种情况，都是他们指定的那种候选人。我们这边姚立法老师也是独立候选人，多早就被抓住出去旅游了，现在他在哪里我们都不知道，从11月1号开始就失联了。群众的独立选票都递不上去，也没办法参加，也不知道他们初步的候选人是怎么产生的，也不知道他们真正是怎么选出来的，哪些投的票都不知情。”有分析指，在中国基层人大选举中独立候选人遭到打压和严密监督的现实情况，与中共领导人投票的高调示人形成了鲜明对比。就在当天，曾发布《关于2016年中国基层人大代表选举的呼吁信》，呼吁当局承认、鼓励、保障公民独立参选的民生观察工作室又发布了一份报告，指随着换届选举的展开，全国各地却不断传出独立参选人及其团队受到打压的消息。截至目前为止，至少有109位独立参选人和参与助选的公民受到程度不等的迫害。在所有的打压之中，独立参选人的社交网络帐号被封算是最轻的，然而在约谈、跟踪、骚扰、非法限制人身自由甚至是刑拘逮捕当中，性质最为恶劣的，无疑是对独立参选人进行直接的暴力伤害，而公安机关的不作为更加令人齿冷。对此，湖南异议人士周杰表示强烈抗议全国各地方政府针对独立参选群体的阻挠和迫害行动。// Source: RFA, 16 November 2016.

In one of the election districts in Shanghai, a number of eligible electors cast invalid votes without choosing the two names on the ticket. Some of them chose the US President-elect Donald Trump (10%), while 21% chose to cast absentee ballots. The number of invalid votes is too high that that election needed to be re-arranged:

• //中國各地近日舉行基層人大代表選舉，在昨日舉行的上海松江區人大投票中，上海工程技術大學選區有不少選民將票投給了前國家主席江澤民、剛當選美國總統的特朗普和日本AV女星蒼井空。據悉發現「江澤民」獲得5% 的選票，「蒼井空」獲得6%，「特朗普」獲得10%，另外有21%棄權，18%屬於雜票。由於廢票過多，真正的候選人王陳和魯嘉華未達到所需當選票數，需要重選。// Source: Ming Pao Daily, 17 November 2016.

CHINA – INTERNET

The Third World Internet Conference in Wuzhen

The Third World Internet Conference in Wuzhen with a theme “with a theme of « Innovation-driven Internet Development for the Benefit of All – Building a Community of Common Future in Cyberspace “ was held in late November. The President Xi Jinping in the Conference insisted on the principles of “common welfare of humanity” and “Internet sovereignty” for the cyberspace governance. He also urged to develop cyberspace with the emphasis on “respect and equality”, “innovation”, “openness and sharing”, and “security and order”. While the emphasis on “respect and equality” corresponds to sovereignty over cyberspace, the emphasis on “innovation” corresponds to the “New Normal” economic development advocated by the Xi Administration that sees economic potentials in cyberspace development. For details of the Conference, please refer to the report released after the Conference here in English. For more details about how the Xi Administration proposed to manage the Internet, please refer to the article on the work forum on cyberspace security and Informationization in late April this year.

• //第三届世界互联网大会今日在浙江乌镇拉开帷幕，本次会议以“创新驱动造福人类——携手共建网络空间命运共同体”为主题。国家主席习近平通过视频发表 讲话。“推动网络空间实现平等尊重、创新发展、开放共享、安全有序的目标”，“坚持以人类共同福祉为根本，坚持网络主权理念”。习近平主席在视频讲话中提 出网络空间发展的“四个目标”和“两个坚持”，再次向世界发出国际互联网治理的“中国声音”。中国信息安全杂志社副社长秦安等多位学者在接受中国共产党新闻网记者采访时指出，习近平主席的视频讲话内容具体务实，提出的网络空间发展的四个目标清晰明确，把创新发展作为共建网络空间的重要目标，既是内在要求，也合乎逻辑。[…] 秦安谈到，习主席在讲话中提出的网络空间发展的四个“目标”，展现了未来互联网发展的前景：平等尊重体现了中国坚持网络主权，共同安全的原则；创新发展体现了网络空间技术催生的本质，说明了中国共建网络空间命运共同体的科学态度；开放共享说明了网络空间互联互通的特征，也说明了中国改革开放的胸怀；安全有序提醒我们应注意网络空间存在的安全风险，只有携手共建，以安全有序为前提，才能让网络空间成为福祉。[…] 创新是世界经济长远发展的动力源。“我们要用好互联网带来的重大机遇，深入实施创新驱动发展战略。”去年，习主席在乌镇视察“互联网之光”博览会时曾告诉大家，互联网给人们的生产生活带来巨大变化，对很多领域的创新发展起到很强带动作用。新常态要有新动力，互联网在这方面可以大有作为。今年10月9日，在中央政治局就实施网络强国战略进行的第三十六次集体学习中，习主席特别指出，世界经济正加速向以网络信息技术产业为重要内容的经济活动转变。他希望，我们“要把握这一历史契机，以信息化培育新动能，用新动能推动新发展”。// Source: The People’s Daily, 16 November 2016.

In a commentary on the People’s Daily, the editor of the website noted that cyberspace development with “Chinese characteristics” can allow China to have more rights of speech at the international stage as well as more room for interest attainment. The Xi Administration has attached the goal of building a strong country of cyberspace to a strategic value. The article argues that this is beneficial to the enhancement of China’s soft power at the international level, and increases the self-confidence of the Chinese citizens.

• //中国正处于由网络大国向网络强国发展的关键时期，承担网络空间国际合作体系中的大国责任，塑造并彰显负责任网络大国的形象，符合中国网络强国建设目标的根本利益要求。为此，坚持在网络空间国际合作体系中的“中国特色”，发挥世界第一“网络大国” 的优势，在网络空间国际合作体系中准确定位，抢占先机，赢得主动，把握网络大国的权利义务平衡，以适度的大国责任消除其他国家的疑虑，既可以获得该领域的发言权，也能够带来更多的利益空间。既是网络强国建设的重要基点，也是明确“构建网络空间命运共同体”路径的关键一步。十八届五中全会站在未来发展的战略高度，将网络强国战略纳入“十三五”规划的战略体系之中。这一重大举措不仅有利于增强国家软实力，提高中国人民的自信心和凝聚力，赢得国内民众对国家网络空间工作的理解和支持，而且有利于增强国际认同的合法性，为开展网络空间国际合作创造有利的外部环境，为找准中国坐标指明了方向。中国是典型的后发国家，是网络大国，找准中国在网络空间国际合作体系中的责任定位，对于当前网络强国建设意义重大。// Source: People’s Daily, 16 November 2016.

• //“我们提出互联网治理的中国主张，只是要求公平、合理的话语权，而不是要把自己的价值观念强加给别国，更不是为了谋求网络霸权。中国的声音很重要， 作为世界上最大的发展中国家，中国在很大程度上代表了广大发展中国家尤其是新兴国家的利益。”清华大学公共管理学院院长薛澜强调说。在中国社会科学院中国特色社会主义理论体系研究中心研究员支振锋看来，坚持网络主权，反对网络霸权，推进全球互联网治理体系变革，构建网络空间命运共同体，是中 国为解决当前国际互联网领域弊端丛生提出的正确方案。“只有如此，才能推动各国在网络空间优势互补，创造更多利益契合点、合作增长点、共赢新亮点，让更多 国家和人民共享互联网发展成果，推动互联网更好造福人类。”// Source: Guangming Daily, 19 November 2016.

CHINA – SOCIETY

Chinese couriers handle 251 million packages on Singles’ Day (11 November)

• //Chinese postal and courier companies handled a total of 251 million packages on Singles’ Day, the world’s largest online shopping day. The figure was 52 percent more than the previous year, the State Post Bureau said in a statement. The bureau forecast couriers will handle more than 1.05 billion packages from the Singles’ Day on Friday to Nov. 16, up 35 percent from a year earlier. The surge in packages will weigh on the country’s logistic system, especially in the first three days after the shopping spree started, the statement said. This year’s shopping festival smashed lots of previous records. China’s 16 major e-commerce sites recorded 177 billion yuan (about $26 billion) in sales during the 24 hours, according to data provider Syntun (星图数据).// Source: ImagineChina, 12 November 2016.

HONG KONG – POLITICS

Pro-independence lawmakers disqualified by court after the NPCSC interpretation of Basic Law

• //The ruling came a week after Beijing intervened by interpreting the city’s mini-constitution to insist oath taking be conducted sincerely and accurately, but the judge claimed he was unaffected by that in arriving at his conclusion. […] The pair said they would seek an injunction to stop the government kicking them out of Legco, as well as lodge an appeal today. “The election has become meaningless – the results can be easily overturned,” Baggio Leung said. They faced a dilemma in ­deciding whether to give up the legal battle and run for by- ­elections, or to fight their “enemies”, the Hong Kong government and Beijing, all the way to the Court of Final Appeal, he said. They chose to fight. […] While many in the legal sector were concerned that Hong Kong’s judicial independence had been harmed, Mr Justice Thomas Au Hing-cheung said “with or without the interpretation, the court would reach the same” conclusion as the government. The judge, adopting a common law approach to the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance, said the localist pair “did not truthfully and faithfully intend to commit themselves” to the oath, as they “objectively clearly” did not recognise the principle of “one country, two systems”. Au rejected the localists’ argument the court could not ­intervene in this case due to the doctrine of separation of powers – ruling that because oath-taking was a constitutional requirement over which the court was the “final arbiter”.// Source: SCMP, 15 November 2016.

SCMP summarized the key points made by Mr. Justice Thomas Au Hing-cheung. For the full text of the judgment, please find it here (in English). A press summary of the judgment can also be found here (in English).

• //Mr Justice Thomas Au Hing-cheung said an oath must be taken solemnly and sincerely under the doctrine of common law, as it represented one’s promise to bear true allegiance to a particular government and support its constitution. “It is not a mere formality or empty form of words,” he wrote. He said the speech and actions of Yau Wai-ching and Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang fell short of solemnity and even suggested contempt. In the 56-page judgment, Au wrote that when Yau dropped the “f” word to replace “republic” in the nation’s name during the ceremony on October 12, “the inevitable inference is the contempt she showed for the People’s Republic of China as the ‘one country’ in the ‘one country, two systems’ concept which is fundamental to the Basic Law”. Au added that Yau had repudiated any allegiance to the city as an inalienable part of China. On the pair’s mispronouncing of China as “Chee-na”, Au noted the word was a derogatory term used by the Japanese to refer to China in the war, suggesting they refused to pledge allegiance. Since the term was often used by anti-Chinese organisations, such as those who promote Taiwanese independence, “Mr Leung and Ms Yau thus conveyed the message that they advocated independence of Hong Kong”. […] They “manifested a clear intention not to be bound in conscience to perform faithfully and truthfully the oath as required by Basic Law Article 104 and the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance”. The pair’s lawyers suggested the court should not meddle with the legislature in light of the common law’s non-intervention principle. In Britain, for example, parliament enjoys supremacy. But Au said that in Hong Kong the Basic Law was regarded as supreme. So the court had jurisdiction to step in if the legislature had flown in the face of the Basic Law.// Source: SCMP, 15 November 2016.

Practitioners and scholars from the legal field expressed their views about the ruling. Legal scholar Prof. Chen hung-yee from the University of Hong Kong argued the Beijing interpretation is intended to set a reference for future cases. Barrister Wilson Leung doubted the possibility of not referring to the Beijing’s interpretation as claimed by the judge and also expressed concerns that the same logic that disqualifies Leung and Yau might be also applicable to local judges in the future. Eric Cheung Tat-ming from the University of Hong Kong contended that the Beijing’s interpretation, which was made when the court’s decision is pending, has seriously undermined the rule of law in Hong Kong as the public might perceive the court has been politically affected:

• //Lawyer Kevin Yam told HKFP that Mr Justice Au’s reasoning appears to be self-contradictory. He said: “If the interpretation has already been factored in his view of Article 104, what does he mean by he didn’t need the interpretation to come to the decision?” […] Barrister Wilson Leung of the Progressive Lawyers Group told HKFP that it is understandable that the judge mentioned the interpretation. “It would be unrealistic for him to completely ignore the interpretation and pretend it didn’t exist,” Leung said. However, he said the timing of the interpretation, handed down before the court made a ruling, “makes it difficult to avoid the perception of the government taking a ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ approach.” […] Article 104 of the Basic Law, a provision on oath-taking, covers members of the judiciary. Since Beijing’s interpretation of the provision did not exclude judges and Tuesday’s ruling did not touch upon the issue, it is possible that judges can be disqualified by way of judicial review even though the Basic Law sets out rules on the removal of judges. In addition, Mr Justice Au held that the chief executive is entitled to challenge the validity of oaths in spite of the Legislative Council Ordinance, under which only the justice secretary and electors are allowed to do so. Therefore, Leung said, the logic is that any oath-taker could be challenged by the chief executive. “Politically this is a worrying aspect because it is certainly a threat… and a risk that one would bear in mind when they take the oath, especially when we have a chief executive who is not accountable to the wider population,” he said. […] HKU law professor Albert Chen Hung-yee said that Beijing’s interpretation was not meant to target an individual case, but rather to set a set of guidelines for future reference. But Chen’s colleague, senior lecturer Eric Cheung Tat-ming said that the interpretation, handed down when the lawsuit was pending, “had seriously damaged the rule of law.” Although Mr Justice Au stated that he only used common law principles in assessing the case, Cheung said the issue is whether the public accepts the judge’s assertion that he was not affected by Beijing’s ruling at all. He said an important indicator of the rule of law is whether the public perceives the court to “make decisions fearlessly, independently and purely based on the law rather than politics.” “Though the judge said he was not influenced by the interpretation, did it help him legitimise his decision?” Cheung said. “Would it be possible that the interpretation affected his decision? This is a matter of public perception.”// Source: Hong Kong Free Press, 167 November 2016.

Before the judgment, pro-Beijing political figures held a seminar in Shenzhen criticizing lawmakers in Hong Kong for not upholding national security and hinting at the possibility that many more lawmakers who have already sworn in of might also mess up the oaths and thus face challenges at court.

• //At a seminar in Shenzhen, Chen Zuoer, former deputy director of Beijing’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, lambasted the city’s prosecution and judiciary, accusing them of “not living up to people’s expectations” in defending breaches of national security and making it “almost cost-free to oppose and commit crime against Beijing.” Asked to elaborate later, he said: “There were a lot of cases in the last two or three years. From the storming of the PLA barracks, to the Occupy protests, the Mong Kok riots, there were a series of such cases.” […] Speaking at the same seminar, Wang Zhenmin, legal department head of Beijing’s liaison office and a former law dean of Tsinghua University, said 15 lawmakers had “messed up” their oaths. He did not name them. […] Among the 14 identified by the Post, all said they had taken their oaths solemnly and sincerely, and questioned Chen’s authority to cite categories of misconduct. Chen, now president of the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank, also said there were “a lot of people” who did not meet the legal requirements.// Source: SCMP, 10 November 2016.

On 13 November, the pro-establishment groups gathered in support of the NPCSC’s interpretation of the Basic law and opposed Hong Kong independence.

• //「反港獨、撐釋法」大聯盟昨於金鐘立法會外舉行大型集會，支持人大常委會就宣誓風波釋法，大會稱有逾4萬人出席，警方指最高峰時約有28,500人。集會者擠滿會場，但有參加者向本報透露，透過一社團參加活動，出席可獲200元。對於有指有人收錢參加集會，大聯盟發言人、工聯會理事長吳秋北形容指控是「揑造事實」，又指希望看到相關情况的人報警，大聯盟會嚴肅處理。// Source: Ming Pao Daily, 14 November 2016.

After the ruling, Global Times welcomed the judgment in its editorial and argued the pro-independence pair violated the bottom line of the law:

• //香港高等法院15日做出判决，裁定候任议员梁颂恒、游蕙祯的宣誓违反基本法和香港法律，没有法律效力，两人议员资格被取消。香港高等法院依法做出的这一判决值得欢迎。这个结果早就应当是毫无悬念的。没有一个国家和地区会允许公职人员亵渎法律规制的宣誓就职仪式，也不会允许公职人员在正式场合与宪法公然唱反调。如果说之前梁、游二人那样恣意妄为并没有想到会导致今天的结局，以及部分他们的支持者对此也没想到的话，那应被看成是导致产生这一错误预期的氛围和规制出了问题。必须让常识和常理回来。要让香港身为公职人员的反对派人士都很清楚，一旦他们与“港独”站在一起必将意味着什么。香港政治多元化必须有一条底线，所有社会都有各自的底线，香港的政治自由不能突破法律框定的边界。// Source: Global Times, 16 November 2016.

After the court ruling, Yau and Leung made appeal to the UK Government to their case, and media also reported that Yau made attempt to seek the stand from the DPP-led Taiwanese Government regarding the constitutional status of the New Territories in Hong Kong, which is “stolen” by the CCP as argued by Yau:

• //Yau said on Tuesday she had written to London to complain about Beijing’s “meddling” in the former British colony’s affairs. In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokes­man Geng Shuang said it was “a serious breach of the nation’s constitution” for “separatists” to seek aid from foreign countries.// Source: SCMP, 17 November 2016.

• //Disqualified pro-independence lawmaker Yau Wai-ching apologised for causing a misunderstanding after a Taiwanese newspaper published her proposed letter to Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen to call her attention to the recent political turmoil in Hong Kong. […] Yau wrote on her Facebook page on Tuesday that she had planned to write to Tsai over the recent interpretation of the Basic Law initiated by Beijing, but the letter published by Chinese-language daily Liberty Times was just a draft that had already been rejected. It is understood that it had been turned down by Yau’s party, Youngspiration. […] Yau argued in the draft letter that the sovereignty of the New Territories did not belong to the mainland according to the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which should deal only with the sovereignty of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. That was because the New Territories became part of the British colony of Hong Kong only after London and the Qing empire signed a lease in 1898, which was supposed to expire in 1997. Since the Qing empire was overthrown in 1911, and the lease – together with two treaties concerning the cession of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon – are now kept by Taiwan authorities, Taipei should explain its stance on the “constitutional status” of the New Territories, Yau urged. She said the New Territories had been “stolen by China for 19 years” after it resumed sovereignty over the city in 1997. Yau also argued that Tsai, who is the leader of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, should show concern over the sovereignty of the New Territories and declare her position on the issue because there were questions over the validity of the Sino-British Joint Declaration after China’s top legislative body issued its interpretation of the Basic Law on November 7.// Source: SCMP, 23 November 2016.

TAIWAN – SOCIETY

Taiwan’s legislature discussed the draft law to legalize same-sex marriage in November

The draft law is now in its 2^nd reading and it becomes a subject of social controversy. The major support for the legalization of same-sex marriage comes from the President Tsai Ing-wen, the ruling party DPP which is now in majority of the Legislative Yuan, and the consistent push from the LGBT people. If succeeded, Taiwan would become the first country to have legalized same-sex marriage in Asia.

• //Legislators in Taiwan began deliberations Thursday on Asia’s first same-sex marriage law, which if approved would cap two decades of growing visibility for LGBT causes on the island, as thousands of demonstrators on both sides gathered outside. Legislators have drafted three bills this year to legalize same-sex marriage and potentially offer those couples rights such as welfare benefits, joint property rights and shared custody of children. After Thursday’s initial discussion, lawmakers may merge the three into one before taking a vote, said Liu Yin-chun, an aide to bill sponsor Yu Mei-nu. A vote could be taken by year’s end. Taiwan’s first woman president, Tsai Ing-wen, has expressed support for same-sex marriage legislation and her LGBT-supportive Democratic Progressive Party controls parliament, indicating little long-term resistance from lawmakers or government. Impetus for the legislation came largely from the demands of same-sex couples who are raising children born overseas via surrogacy, which remains illegal in Taiwan. Without marriage, only one partner can legally get custody, leaving the other with no say when it comes to medical, legal or educational decisions about the child. […] Adding to the push for legislation was the fatal fall by a retired French-born professor from a Taipei apartment building in October. The fall fanned suspicion of a suicide because he had lacked rights to make medical decisions for a partner who eventually died of cancer, local media reported. […] In Asia, including the Middle East, 20 countries ban sex between people of the same gender. In places such as Japan and China, conservative government leaders and Confucian moral codes have held up any same-sex marriage moves. Several thousand people, many affiliated with Christian churches in Taiwan, demonstrated outside parliament Thursday morning to oppose the same-sex marriage bills. Some shouted for Yu to step down and broke into the parliament compound. Christians comprise a relatively small segment of Taiwan’s population — an estimated 4.5%. […] About 80% of Taiwanese in their 20s support same-sex marriage, according to the group Taiwan LGBT Family Rights Advocacy. Taiwan’s United Daily News found in a survey four years ago that 55% of the public supported same-sex marriage and 37% opposed it. Gay pride marches have become routine annual events in Taipei and one in October drew tens of thousands, many calling for legalization of same-sex marriage.// Source: Los Angeles Times, 17 November 2016.

Christian groups, Confucian conservatives, and some members of KMT joined the opposition against the draft law. Opposition rallied a protest against the draft law on 17 November. Spokesperson of the opposition group, The Happiness of the Next Generation Alliance, argued that marriage should be restricted to the pairing of man and woman and he also called for a referendum on the issue. Previous surveys suggested that people who supported the legalization of same-sex marriage are in the majority in Taiwan.

• //About 80 per cent of Taiwanese between ages 20 and 29 support same-sex marriage, said Tseng Yen-jung, spokeswoman for the group Taiwan LGBT Family Rights Advocacy, citing local university studies. Taiwan’s United Daily News found in a survey taken four years ago that 55 per cent of the public supported same-sex marriage, with 37 per cent opposed. That is seen as a reflection of Taiwan’s ready acceptance of multi-party democracy and other inclusive attitudes, as well as the fact that Taiwan’s 23 million people largely follow Buddhism and traditional Chinese religions that take no strong positions on sexual orientation or gay marriage. Gay and lesbian relationships began to find wide acceptance in the 1990s, aided by the already well-established feminist movement, said Jens Damm, associate professor in the Graduate Institute of Taiwan Studies at Chang Jung University in Taiwan. “The elite became in favour of a kind of gender equality,” Damm said. Still, as legalisation grows closer, opposition to same-sex marriage is hardening among a small minority of fundamentalist churches and conservative politicians. That includes some members of the main opposition Nationalist Party’s Central Standing Committee, party spokesman Hu Wen-chi said. During their time in power, the Nationalists stopped earlier efforts to pass same-sex marriage bills, including one introduced in 2013 that met opposition from Christian groups that gathered signatures from about 400,000 naysayers.// Source: SCMP, 11 November 2016.

• //Thousands protested in Taipei on Thursday against draft bills that would make Taiwan the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, arguing traditional family values would be undermined. Protesters dressed in white and holding placards with the slogans including “Stand forward for the next generation’s happiness” packed a street outside the parliament where a committee was debating the issue. They shook their hands in the air and gave the thumbs-down as they watched a live stream of the committee meeting on a big screen. […] [o]pposing voices have been building since proposed amendments to legalise same-sex marriage passed initial vetting in parliament earlier this month. While Taiwan is considered progressive on many issues, its roots in Confucianism translate into a strong sense of adherence to traditional values such as family loyalty and social hierarchy. David Tseng, spokesman of the rally’s organiser, The Happiness of the Next Generation Alliance, said that while the group supported equal rights for same-sex partners in certain areas, marriage should only be between a man and a woman. “Now they want to amend the law to do away with the ‘father’ and ‘mother’ altogether,” he said. “We are different from the West. In Eastern culture, we place great importance on filial piety to one’s father and mother. This is a virtue we must keep,” he said. Tseng also called for a referendum on the issue, criticising the absence of public participation in drafting the bills.// Source: SCMP, 17 November 2016.

• //立法院昨天審查民法有關同性婚姻與同性收養等修正草案，總統府發言人黃重諺表示，蔡總統支持婚姻平權，她也認為「在愛之前，所有的人都應該平等，可以自由地去追求屬於自己的幸福」。黃重諺說，相關法案已經在國會進行討論，府方也樂見社會有更多的對話與包容，讓制度可以更加完善。反同志婚姻的民眾，昨天一度衝進立法院，要求「先公聽、再審查」。黃重諺說，尊重他們表達意見的方法。// Source: United Daily News, 18 November 2016.