Keywords: Anti-corruption campaign, activists deportation, ecological civilization, South China Sea, APEC Submit, climate change, terrorism, district council election in Hong Kong, Xi-Ma Submit.

CHINA – ECONOMY

1. Increasing government expenditure to boost up economy

• //Growth in government spending hit a three-year high in October despite a moderation of growth in fiscal income, as Beijing attempted to boost infrastructure investment to offset slowing expansion in the property and manufacturing sectors. […] The massive fall in credit creation suggests monetary easing has had limited effect in lifting demand, and changes in policy now seem likely as Vice-Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao has hinted at raising the deficit. […] “Enterprises are unwilling to increase investment while monetary policy alone is not enough to help the economy,” said Zhang Yiping, an economist with China Merchants Securities. “The situation forces the central government to increase leverage to stimulate the economy. “Slowing growth in property and manufacturing, as well as limited progress in attracting private capital in public-private partnerships, meant Beijing’s investment in infrastructure and public facilities was now a “one-man show” in addressing downward risks, said State Information Centre researcher Li Ruoyu. // Source: SCMP, 13 November 2015.

2. Pledging to reform the stock market

• //The Chinese leader presided over a meeting on Monday of the Communist Party’s leading group on financial issues. State news media said that he had been joined by three of the six other members of the standing committee of the Politburo, the most powerful body in China’s system. Summarizing Mr. Xi’s speech, the state news media said that the president had called for stock markets to be better regulated so that investors are treated fairly. China’s stock markets have long had a reputation for chronic insider trading and other abuses.// Source: New York Times, 10 November 2015.

3. Anti-corruption campaign goes on in the financial sector and in major cities

• Following the financial turbulences in August, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) caught a number of top officials in the China Securities Regulatory Committee (CSRC). On 13 November 2015, even the vice-chairman of CSRC Yao Gang (姚刚) was arrested and has been the highest rank of officials being caught so far. In September, the assistant chairman of CSRC Zhang Yujun (张育军) was already arrested (see this for detail report) . Analysts pointed out that the CCP’s anti-graft agency has planned to clean up the corruption problem in the sector for years.
• //The latest salvo came on Friday, when the Communist Party’s top anti-corruption watchdog announced that Yao Gang, vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, had come under investigation. Yao, 53, second only to chairman Xiao Gang , was in charge of approving initial public offerings before he moved to oversee bonds and futures earlier this year. He was put under probe for suspected “serious violation of party discipline” – a euphemism for corruption, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. […] “It is safe to say that this round of investigations will turn out to be a ruthless attack on the finance industry with deep-rooted corruption problems,” said Zhuang Deshui , who studies anti-graft policy at Peking University. “The leadership has been planning for the clean-up effort for a long time.” It was widely expected that a clutch of influential figures in policymaking bodies and major institutions would be swept up by the investigations, Zhuang said. CCDI teams have fanned out to the central bank, the securities watchdog, as well as the big four state-owned commercial banks in the aftermath of the summer’s stock market rout. “It’s the time to take action,” Zhuang said in a People’s Daily commentary in September. “Research and preparation for a deep and thorough anti-graft campaign has been in the works for years.”// Source: SCMP, 15 November 2015.
• After the investigation of the former provincial governor of Fujian Su shulin (苏树林), two other city-level party officials in Shanghai and Beijing were under investigation by CCDI, citing ‘serious violation of discipline’. Ai Baojun (艾宝俊) was the vice-mayor of Shanghai, also the chief of the city’s free-trade zone (FTZ), where Lu Xiwen (吕锡文) was the deputy secretary of the municipal party committee in the capital city of China as well as the principal of the Party’s school.
• //President Xi Jinping’s sweeping crackdown on corruption has claimed senior officials in China’s two largest cities, the latest indication that Mr. Xi’s effort to consolidate power and sideline political enemies shows no signs of abating. The officials included Ai Baojun, 55, a vice mayor of Shanghai who oversaw a prominent economic zone, and Lu Xiwen, 60, a senior Communist Party official in Beijing. Mr. Ai, a former steel executive, led an experimental free-trade zone in Shanghai that Chinese leaders, including Prime Minister Li Keqiang, had praised for its efforts to promote investment. Mr. Ai also helped oversee several high-profile projects, including the construction of a Disney resort expected to open next year. Ms. Lu, a deputy party secretary, was head of the Communist Party school in Beijing for training and indoctrinating government officials. As Mr. Xi approaches the end of his first five-year term as president, he is moving quickly to consolidate power and promote allies, experts said. In 2017, Communist Party officials will meet to determine a slate of crucial personnel appointments. “The tragedy of the authoritarian regime is that you have leaders in place, but you don’t have your own team in place,” said Fu Hualing, a professor of law at the University of Hong Kong. “You need to spend your entire term to make room for your supporters so you can carry out your policies.”// Source: New York Times, 11 November 2015.

CHINA – POLITICS

1. Freedom of speech for party members tightened after the new CCP’s regulation

• Two cases were reported in relation to the new CCP’s regulation against party cadres who were expelled from the party after making comments intolerable by the CCP’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). The first case involved the former editor-in-chief of Xinjiang’s mouthpiece newspaper Zhao Xinwei (赵新尉). The second case was related to an English language professor Liang Xinsheng (梁新生) at Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province.
• //The former editor-in-chief of Xinjiang’s top Communist Party mouthpiece has been expelled from the party for a series of alleged violations, including openly opposing authorities’ key policies in the restive western region. Zhao Xinwei, who had headed the official Xinjiang Daily, is also accused of corruption and could be prosecuted, Xinjiang’s official news portal Yaxin.com reported on Monday. In mid-October, the Party’s anti-graft watchdog amended its disciplinary rules, which added more offences that could lead to the expulsion of cadres, such as vilifying party leaders and “distorting party history”, as well as openly making “inappropriate” comments or challenges to the party’s key policies and directions. […] According to the report, Zhao “improperly discussed” party policies in Xinjiang and “publicly made comments in opposition” to how the party conducted itself in the region, the newspaper said in a terse front page report. “(His) words and deeds were not in line with the centre or regional party committee,” it added, citing infringements over issues of principle such as opposition to separatism, “violent terrorism” and religious extremism, but did not elaborate.// Source: SCMP, 02 November 2015.
• //The punishment of an English language professor under new Communist Party guidelines that restrict cadres from criticising government policies has heightened fears the mainland is tightening the net on freedom of speech. Liang Xinsheng was removed from his post as deputy head of the English department at Lingnan Normal University in Zhanjiang for publishing “radical opinions” on his Weibo account that had been a “bad social influence”, Guangdong’s provincial anti-graft watchdog said on Wednesday. […] Citing a new discipline guideline, the commission warned party members against making remarks that contradicted the central leadership’s decisions or spreading opinions that contradicted the party’s policies.// Source: SCMP, 13 November 2015.

2. Deportation of two activists from Thailand back to China

• Two activists, Jiang Yefei and Dong Guanping, who fled China to Thailand and secured refugee status were deported back to China by the Thai authorities. Human-rights group and UN refugee agency denounced the deportation. They are concerned about how China is building up its international influence to crack down activists who go aboard.
• //Two Chinese dissidents who had sought sanctuary in Thailand have been sent back to China, despite winning official recognition as refugees, rights groups said Wednesday. The groups denounced the act by the Thai authorities as a betrayal of the men’s right to flee feared political persecution and torture. The decision to deport the men last week showed the Chinese government’s growing power to persuade other countries to deny its citizens refuge, said William Nee, a researcher on China for Amnesty International based in Hong Kong. “This deportation fits a worrying new pattern of China putting pressure on third-party countries to repatriate dissidents and others who have left China for economic and social reasons,” Nee said. “China now seems more willing than ever to exert its influence internationally to ensure that its crackdown on human rights domestically can go on unimpeded.” The men, Jiang Yefei and Dong Guanping, had been previously detained in China for their activism. […] The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said, without confirming the nationality or background of the two men, that it was “deeply concerned” by the development. The men had been accepted by the United Nations agency as refugees and were due to be resettled soon in a third country, said the statement, which was forwarded by Vivian Tan, a press officer in the high commissioner’s Bangkok office. “The deportations appear to have occurred only days before the two were to depart” Thailand, the statement said. “This action by Thailand is clearly a serious disappointment, and underscores the longstanding gap in Thai domestic law concerning ensuring appropriate treatment of persons with international protection needs.” […] China’s campaign first focused on members of the Uighur minority, a largely Muslim people in western China. Growing numbers of Uighurs have fled their volatile homeland, and in July, Thailand sent about 100 back to China, prompting denunciations from rights advocates and the United Nations refugee agency. Last month, forces in a border town in Myanmar detained and handed back to the Chinese authorities the teenage son of a detained Chinese human rights lawyer, as well as two men who were trying to help the boy flee to Thailand, then to the United States. Some human rights groups have also said that Gui Minghai, a publisher in Hong Kong who disappeared from his vacation home in Thailand, may have been spirited to China.// Source: New York Times, 18 November 2015.

CHINA – ENVIRONMENT

1. Carbon emission in China

• //China’s ambitious national emissions trading scheme is a “game changer” in the long term but current power prices and high equipment costs will make it hard for the renewable energy sector to benefit from it in the foreseeable future, analysts said. […] Michael Tong, head of utilities, renewable and environmental research at Deutsche Bank, said although the renewable energy sector would benefit little in the short term, this would be the price the national economy needed to pay first as the country’s industries were still heavily reliant on coal for power. “The very harsh requirements on the carbon side will put a huge burden on the economy,” he said. The funds derived from carbon trading would unlikely be used to support renewable energy, Tong added. Despite these obstacles, renewable energy has good prospects in the long term as China becomes the largest country in renewable energy development, Tong said. Last year, China built 23 gigawatts of wind power capacity, accounting for roughly 40 per cent of all new wind power capacity worldwide. // Source: SCMP, 03 November 2015.
• Dr. Xue Li, the Director of the Department of International Strategy at the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that China’s heavy reliance on coal for energy generation must be changed so as to alleviate the environmental problems. It was hard to change course due to the low cost of coal, and there are alternatives such as natural gas and nuclear power: //Although China’s economy has seen a long-term period of rapid growth, the process of industrialization is still incomplete, while urbanization has even further to go. Thus China’s overall energy consumption as well as its per capita energy use are both rising. Yet China has already pledged that its carbon dioxide emissions will peak by 2030, with a concerted effort toward reaching peak emissions even sooner. Also by 2030, China plans to have non-fossil fuels account for 20 percent of its total energy use (in 2013, non-fossil fuels made up 9.6 percent of China’s energy use). This makes it clear that the Chinese government has already realized that, although adjusting the makeup of its energy consumption is difficult, it must be done. […] First, China must be firm and resolute in its determination to lower the proportion of coal in China’s total energy consumption. China must lower the proportion of coal from 67.5 percent of China’s total energy use in 2013 to less than 40 percent, and the sooner the better – by 2030 at the latest. […] The main reason is it so difficult to reduce the proportion of coal is that coal is so cheap. But this doesn’t take into account the costs of environmental pollution, and the harm caused to human health. […] Many people oppose nuclear energy use, but the undeniable fact is that after a comprehensive look at the technological level required, environmental protection concerns, safety, and economic factors, nuclear power is second only to natural gas as an energy choice.// Source: The Diplomat, 10 November 2015.

2. First successful case of environmental protection brought by NGO in China’s court

• //The first public interest case taken under China’s new environmental law has ultimately proved successful, providing a model for similar action elsewhere, but getting cases heard in central and western China remains difficult. Late last month a court in China’s south-eastern Fujian province ruled in favor of environmental groups that filed a lawsuit against a quarry company for pollution near the city of Nanping. […] The new law aims to give the authorities more power to enforce anti-pollution measures and fine wrongdoers, and also make it easier for some environmental groups to take cases against polluters. The defendants in the case illegally quarried stone and dumped waste material between 2008 and 2011. Despite orders from the Ministry of Land and Resources to halt operations, the quarry’s owners continued to build roads and damage local forests. In 2014, a Fujian court found three defendants guilty of the illegal appropriation of agricultural land and sentenced them to jail. Subsequently, Friends of Nature and Fujian Green Home Environmental Friendly Center filed a lawsuit asking the courts to order the plaintiffs to remove quarrying equipment and waste material, and to restore the forest to its original state. The court ordered the quarry company to pay fines totaling 1.46 million yuan ($230,000) in compensation for “loss of environmental benefits” and legal costs. The defendants were also given five months to restore the environment at the site, or a further 1.1 million yuan ($172,000) will be levied in fines. Wang Canfa says the court ruling could set precedents for future cases. First, the presiding judge demanded environmental restoration from polluters, whereas penalties under previous laws punished the act of pollution itself. Second, it is also noteworthy that the Nanping court deemed the NGOs as suitable to bring the case before the Supreme Court interpretation of the new environmental has been issued. The law requires NGOs bringing a case to have been registered for five years, but organizations often re-register due to changes in name or management. Waiving this technicality will allow many more groups to bring cases, legal experts say. Ge Feng, director of the legal and policy department at Friends of Nature, expressed satisfaction with the result, particularly the size of the fines: “In the past, fines and awards (to plaintiffs) weren’t that high. This is important for cash-strapped NGOs.” […] However, the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation is finding the process much more difficult, with only a handful of 21 cases the organization submitted this year being heard. The main problems, said Ma Yong, the secretary of the foundation, are the capability of local courts to hear such cases, and judicial independence. “The courts are mostly taking a cautious approach. They are worried that cases will cause trouble for the local government, and as they haven’t heard public interest cases before, they are unsure how to handle them or how to reach a verdict,” Ma said. Environmental courts in economically developed areas are better prospects, but getting cases heard in central and western China is difficult, Ma added.// Source: The Diplomat, 14 November 2015.

3. Background of the new Environmental Protection Law in effect since January 2015

• Some important details of the new environmental protection law are discussed by Jost Wübbeke, a member of the Research Group on Innovation and the Environment at the Mercator Institute for China Studies: //China’s revised Environmental Protection Law, already written off by many during its long-winded drafting process, came through strong in the end. It marks groundbreaking progress and has the potential to become a cornerstone for China’s “war on pollution”, recently declared by Premier Li Keqiang. Several years in the making, the revised law was adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on April 24. It will enter into force in 2015. […] Three provisions can serve to illustrate the particular robustness of the law. The most forceful instrument it entails is a day-based punishment system. […] As there is no maximum limit for the fine, environmental authorities can now pose an existential threat to non-compliant enterprises. If this provision holds up in implementation, it can become a game changer for the power dynamic between environmental agencies and polluters. Another noteworthy feature is the introduction of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for plans and policies into the law. Until now, the EPL made only stipulations about project level impact assessments. Finally, the law formalises the possibility of public-interest environmental litigation. Experiments in the past with settling disputes through environmental courts faced difficulties due to the lack of a legal basis. The revised law will now provide such a basis. […] The protest from civil society, however, proved effective also on this point: the third draft version allowed all societal organisations registered with the Ministry of Civil Affairs to file lawsuits. […] In the end, the approved law now allows all societal organisations registered with a Civil Affairs Bureau above city level to file lawsuits. In its final iteration, the provision has the potential to have an enormous impact, strengthening the influence of civil society on environmental protection in China. In combination with a host of other improvements included in the law, these three changes will give environmental protection authorities real teeth. […] Despite the positive turn the reform process took, the revised law still missed some opportunities and faces many challenges. Most importantly, the ubiquitous question of implementation looms large also for the new EPL. The existing institutional setup will not make it any easier: local governments still tightly control Environmental Protection Bureaus in terms of personnel and finance, potentially creating difficult conditions for implementation. […] The biggest disappointment from the view of civil society, however, is that possibilities for environmental litigation remain limited. Since only organisations registered above the city-level will be able to launch lawsuits, many others will not be eligible for litigation.// Source: ChinaDialogue, 25 April 2014.

3. Background of CCP’s blueprint for the development of ecological civilization

• To build ecological civilization, the Chinese government also issued Integrated Reform Plan for Promoting Ecological Civilization, a grandly-named plan for sweeping reforms on how China uses natural resources and can prevent pollution. Dimitri de Boer, the Team Leader of the EU – China Environmental Governance Programme praised the new law and regarded it as ambitious and comprehensive, including the clear delimiting of ownership of natural resources, re-structuring of governmental body to regulate the use of natural resources and environmental protection, mandatory integration of plans into a single spatial plan by municipal and county-level governments, etc.
• //The document introduces some very important institutional changes, which clearly separate property rights, regulations on how natural resources are used, and responsibility for environmental protection in the following areas: Property rights: A new government body will be responsible for the ownership of all natural resources. This department may be based on the current Ministry of Land Resources (MLR), but much more comprehensive. Regulating the use of natural resources: Another single government department will be responsible for “all use-related regulatory duties and responsibilities for all territorial spaces”. […] Environmental protection: “Duties and responsibilities for environmental protection, which are currently spread across departments, will be assigned to one single department”. […] These reforms are very important because in the past, a lot of environmental problems were allowed to continue because it was not clear who should take responsibility for natural resources. These resources were officially the property of ‘the people’. The latest reform plan was supplemented by a measure which holds government and party officials accountable for environmental damages. Integrated plans: Municipal and county-level governments must combine different kinds of plans into a single spatial plan – or blueprint – which should cover urban, industrial, rural and protected areas. This is important because in the past, every time a new leader took up office, many old plans would be completely redone, leading to great inefficiency and waste and a short-term mentality. Importantly, public participation in the process of urban planning is strongly emphasised. In making the spatial plan, the overall environmental impact of all activities must first be assessed to ensure that the population, industrial structure, and economic growth do not surpass the environmental capacity. Also, comments must be sought from relevant sectors and local residents, and finally approved by the local people’s congress. This level of detail is unusual for such a ‘reform plan’, signifying that this emphasis on public participation is to be taken seriously. […] Supervisory role for civil society and the public: The principles mention that “social organizations and the general public should participate and play a supervising role in ecological conservation”. Unfortunately, the detailed paragraphs are less explicit about this role, but it is assumed that the more progressive departments and local governments will apply this principle more than some others. International cooperation and local-level pilot initiatives: The plan recognises that China should “deepen exchange and practical cooperation with other countries, borrow from their advanced technology and their valuable experience”. It also mentions that local governments are encouraged to start pilot initiatives to proactively explore and move forward with the reform to promote ecological civilization. System for controlling total carbon emissions: The plan mentions that “a system for controlling total national carbon emissions … will be gradually established”.// Source: ChinaDialogue, 12 October 2015.

CHINA – DIPLOMACY

1. South China Sea Dispute and APEC Submit

• Kun-Chin Lin, an Associate Fellow of the Chatham House Asia Programme, and Andrés Villar Gertner who is affiliated with the Centre for Rising Powers, University of Cambridge, argued that the US sending the USS Lassen to the South China Sea would not lead to armed conflict.
• //Since 2009, China has effectively been one step ahead of other claimants and the U.S. in getting what it wants through a deliberately confounding mix of rhetoric and actions. While reiterating its commitments to peaceful resolution and joint development, Beijing has demurred at signing on to a Declaration of Conduct and Code of Conduct with ASEAN nations, provoked skirmishes with Philippines and Vietnamese vessels, set up oil rigs in disputed waters, reclaimed land on shallow reefs on an astounding scale, and continually projected an expansive historical claim while abstaining from defining it to meet the legal requirements of international maritime law. […] The FNO of the USS Lassen was a change in momentum, but not primarily in the sense of American brinkmanship thwarting Chinese advances. There is no indication that coercion will be applied to roll back de facto Chinese control over features and maritime areas, or to compel Beijing to make concessions on historical claims, or to bring in a U.S. military show of force of the scale seen during the Taiwan Strait Crises of 1955, 1958, and 1996. […] The U.S. underscores freedom of navigation as the actionable principle guiding U.S. military responses to Chinese maritime expansionism in SCS. The freedom of navigation is not an ideal state, but a status quo that is readily reinforced by the presence of U.S. warships with acceptable risks, and repeated as necessary. […] Policymakers in Washington may have learned a lesson from the Russia annexation of Crimea, which exposed Europeans in badly miscalculating Putin’s willingness to defend Russia’s sphere of influence. The U.S. is not willing to give away its leadership in the Asia-Pacific and Xi hasn’t much space to maneuver, in either international law or regional security alliances. […] The USS Lassen is not an agent of change in the direction of armed conflict. Both sides would do well to proceed to address the practical consequences of this political message. It is a new reality, but it need not be a harbinger of the worst-case scenario.// Source: The Diplomat, 18 November 2015.
• Yang Razali Kassim, a senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, analyzed the meeting of APEC and argued the frequent visits to Southeast Asian countries by President Xi recently before the meeting served two purposes: counter the US’s containment strategy and re-balance the US-dominated world order by the ‘One Belt, One Road’ Initiative: //On the broader canvas, what Southeast Asia is witnessing is a new China, one that is more assertive and employing a three-pronged strategy of diplomacy, growing economic might and military muscle. All the major global platforms are being exploited, from the United Nations to regional forums – even initiating new ones, such as the Xiangshan Forum to rival the Singapore-based Shangri-La Dialogue. The priority, for now, is clearly Beijing’s Asia-Pacific neighbourhood, which will be the epicentre of the 21st-century world. It is against this backdrop that we should view China’s latest diplomatic foray into Southeast Asia, beginning with his recent visit to Vietnam and then to Singapore, ahead of this week’s crucial regional summits – the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Manila and the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur – where China will be the player to watch. China’s latest strategic push appears to have two related objectives. The first is to counter what Beijing sees as a developing containment strategy by the United States, which most in the region see as provoked by Beijing’s controversial territorial claims in the South China Sea. Most alarming is Beijing’s building of artificial islands on reefs in disputed waters. The second, broader objective is to expand China’s political, diplomatic and economic space through its “One Belt, One Road” initiative, which forms part of the country’s attempt to rebalance a US-dominated world order. […] In Xi’s major diplomatic engagement at the Apec summit this week, the battle will be to reorder the global international trading and economic system. A key issue is the tussle between the US-led Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and its rival, the China-dominated Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. The thing to watch is whether Xi will reposition RCEP as a complement, rather than a competitor, to the TPP, so that Apec’s ultimate goal of an Asia-Pacific free trade area can be realised. It is a sign of the times that Apec’s long-standing objective of creating the Asia-Pacific’s largest free trade area has been co-opted by China – once a free-trade laggard – as its own vision when Beijing hosted the Apec summit last year.// Source: SCMP, 17 November 2015.
• The US President Obama outlined the agenda for the APEC meeting, which includes the dispute over South China Sea, Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and the issue of climate change: //Mr. Obama directly addressed the disputed Chinese claims to islands in the critical waterway. He urged the Chinese to stop military activities there and endorsed a process of arbitration to settle differences between Beijing and its Southeast Asian neighbors. “We agree on the need for bold steps to lower tensions, including pledging to halt further reclamation, new construction and militarization of disputed areas in the South China Sea,” Mr. Obama said. The United States takes no position on the territorial claims of various Asian governments in the region, but Mr. Obama has aggressively sought to defend the right of free navigation in the South China Sea, a vital route for commerce and trade. On Tuesday, he announced $250 million in military contributions to several Asian nations to support their efforts to stand up to China. […] Mr. Obama participated in a series of working sessions. The centerpiece of the discussions on Wednesday was the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was agreed to recently by a dozen countries, including the United States. Mr. Obama hailed the deal at a meeting with other leaders. “This is the highest-standard and most progressive trade deal ever concluded,” he said, standing beside Michael B. Froman, the United States trade representative, who helped negotiate the pact. “It includes strong protections for workers, prohibitions against child labor and forced labor. It has provisions to protect the environment, to help stop wildlife trafficking, to protect our oceans.” […] Mr. Obama also used the summit meeting to push for his climate change agenda, telling a group of chief executives that the world must face the “urgent and growing threat of climate change” before time runs out.// Source: New York Times, 18 November 2015.
• In a speech at the APEC, President Xi emphasizes the need for cooperation among Asia-Pacific countries to boost world’s economy, enhancing the role of Asia in global economic system, etc. China will focus on innovation, fairness, green development, and open economy as mentioned in the 13^th Five-Year Plan. He was also reported that he would not let anything intervene the Asia-Pacific development: //2015年亞太經合組織工商領導人峰會18日在菲律賓馬尼拉舉行。國家主席習近平應邀出席並發表題為《發揮亞太引領作用應對世界經濟挑戰》的主旨演講，強調亞太各經濟體要勇於擔當、同舟共濟，堅持推進改革創新，堅持構建開放型經濟，堅持落實發展議程，堅持推進互聯互通，努力推動全球經濟增長。中國發展將更加注重效益質量、注重創新驅動、注重公平公正、注重綠色低碳、注重對外開放。// Source: Sina Beijing, 18 November 2015.
• //习近平在讲话中强调，在世界经济充满挑战的大背景下，亚太经济也面临着诸多现实和潜在的困难和风险。亚太经济如何保持正确发展方向，如何找到新经济增长点、巩固增长引擎地位，值得认真对待和深入思考。他呼吁，以亚太经合组织为平台，着力形成合力。要坚持以发展为中心，全力营造有利于发展的和平环境，决不让任何事情干扰亚太发展进程。日本NHK电视台称，习近平在APEC上有关“决不让任何事情干扰亚太发展进程”的讲话，虽然没有指名道姓，但这被认为是对美国企图在南海问题上牵制中国的意图的回应。//Source: Global Times, 19 November 2015.

2. Terrorist Attack in Paris and China’s response

• After the terrorist attacks in Paris, China’s authorities announced suddenly an incident of terrorist attack which took place in Xinjiang and referred to the unrest in Xinjiang as terrorism similar to that happened in Paris.
• //Mainland authorities have for the first time confirmed a “terrorist” attack in Xinjiang that occurred two months ago and reportedly killed up to 50 people. A statement yesterday morning on an official social media account run by the Ministry of Public Security – and posted just hours after the deadly attacks in France – said police in the far-western region had successfully hunted down those responsible. Previously, there had been no official reference to large-scale incident taking place in the Uygur homeland in September. “On November 13, the black Friday, Paris was hit by the most serious terrorist attack in its history, with hundreds of casualties,” the ministry said in the post. “On the other side of the planet, China’s police force in Xinjiang, after hunting for 56 days, finally achieved a tremendous outcome.”//Source: SCMP, 15 November 2015.
• //The struggle against Islamist militants in China’s violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang should become an “important part” of the world’s war on terror, China’s foreign minister said following the attacks in Paris. Hundreds of people have died in unrest in Xinjiang, home to the mostly Muslim Uygur people, and other parts of China over the past three years. Beijing has blamed the violence on Islamist militants, led by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a group it said had ties to al-Qaeda. More recently China has reported that some Uygurs have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight with Islamic State and other groups.//Source: SCMP, 16 November 2015.
• In light of the terrorist attack in Paris, China stepped up its counter-terrorism effort in its territory: //China’s police chief on Sunday ordered the country’s counterterrorism agencies to beef up intelligence gathering and analysis, as well as reinforce patrols at key venues, after Friday’s terror attacks in Paris. Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun, who also heads the national leading group on counterterrorism, told a video conference held jointly by the group and the ministry that all departments should boost their preparedness and early-warning systems against terrorism to safeguard public security and social stability, Xinhua reported, citing a ministry statement. […] Beijing has blamed separatists in Xinjiang, home to the Uygur ethnic minority, as well as militants of the overseas group the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, for terror attacks and violence across the mainland in recent years that has killed hundreds of people. Exiles and many rights groups have said that the real cause of the unrest in the region is the government’s heavy-handed approach, including curbs on the Uygur culture, and a dearth of economic opportunities.// Source: SCMP, 16 November 2015.
• //President Xi Jinping condemned the carnage as an “act of barbarism.” Bouquets — especially white chrysanthemums, the traditional flower of mourning — piled up at the French Embassy in Beijing. China joined the rest of the world over the weekend in outrage and sympathy over armed attacks on Friday night that killed at least 129 people in Paris. […] Echoing complaints from the Chinese government, some accused the West of a double standard in its response to terrorism, while others accused Chinese leaders of the same by offering more public sympathy to France than to victims of China’s own disasters. “This is a traumatic time for the French people, and on behalf of the Chinese government and people, and in my own personal capacity, I condemn this barbarous action in the strongest possible terms,” Mr. Xi said on Saturday, shortly after the assaults. […] Later, during meetings with other Group of 20 leaders gathering in Antalya, Turkey, Xi obliquely pressed the argument that other countries should back the Chinese government’s policies on terrorism. These include the contentious position that increasingly deadly conflict in Xinjiang, an ethnically divided region of western China, is the work of separatist forces under the spell of religious extremism. “Step up cooperation in counterterrorism. Both symptoms and root causes must be addressed,” Mr. Xi said on Sunday. “There must not be double standards.” His foreign minister, Wang Yi, was more explicit. Foreign governments should make China’s campaign against Uighur separatists a part of the international struggle against terrorism, Mr. Wang said on Sunday. Chinese officials often assert that Uighur violence in Xinjiang is the work of a shadowy separatist movement, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. But many foreign experts say that group is defunct, barely exists or has no effective fighting force. […] While Chinese officials say a terrorist conspiracy is behind the violence there, many human rights groups and regional experts say the assaults, with cleavers and crude bombs, are almost always primitive and homegrown acts by young Uighurs who have embraced extremism out of despair. “I think that the Chinese government is mostly speaking to its domestic audience, to deliver the message that there might be violence in Xinjiang, but this is part of a larger problem,” Nicholas Bequelin, the regional director for East Asia at Amnesty International who has long studied developments in Xinjiang, said in a telephone interview. “I think they’re also trying to gain a bit of legitimacy in the eyes of the international community by saying, ‘We’re doing the same thing.’ ”// Source: New York Times, 16 November 2015
• From the ChinaFile Conversation a year ago, there was a discussion on why the terrorist attack on the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdoin in Paris attracted much western attention and sympathy, while the incident of the knife attacks that killed 27 people in the Kunming railway station on March 1, 2014 were largely ignored by the the public in the West. Here is the conversation.

HONG KONG – POLITICS

1. Run-up of the District Council Election

• Background: District Council election will take place on 22 November 2015. The Election was the first election after the Umbrella Movement last year. As in other elections in Hong Kong, it is usually regarded as a competition between the pro-establishment/pro-Beijing camp and the pro-democracy one, where the former is equipped with huge amount of resources and the latter is not. What is special about this election is the new candidates who vow to challenge the pro-establishment predominance in district councils across Hong Kong in the spirit of the Umbrella Movement. They are generally nicknamed as “paratroopers” or “umbrella soldiers”.
• SCMP Editorial made a further description of the District Council Election this November: //The district council elections next month have been billed as a litmus test on the latest state of public opinion. It is true that they are the first major elections since the Occupy protests and the government’s failed electoral reform package. But the pan-democratic camp has not gained as much political capital from the Occupy movement as it had hoped. As things stand, there are a record number of 951 nominations for just 431 seats. Only 66 constituencies are uncontested. That will just work against the pan-democrats. This is because the more seats there are up for grabs, the better it benefits the well-funded establishment parties. The pan-dems have always been outgunned when it comes to funding. But this year, infighting within their camp means the more uncompromising groups such as Civic Passion and several others that emerged from the Occupy protests are fighting for seats contested by the Democratic Party. // Source: SCMP, 20 October 2015.
• Citing the analysis of the Hong Kong’s political commentator Ivan Choy, Gary Cheung pointed out that the effect of Umbrella Movement to the advantages of the pan-democracy camp in the Election is hard to tell: //Choy said one point to watch will be whether voters punish pan-democrats for the Occupy protests, as the pro-establishment camp has predicted. A Chinese University survey conducted in the first half of October last year found that nearly 38 per cent of 802 respondents aged 15 and above supported the Occupy movement. More than 35 per cent said they did not support the Occupy protests. Support for the civil disobedience movement was particularly significant among young people. The findings marked the height of mass support for the activists and public sympathy has been on the wane in the wake of a growing backlash against the protests.” Although the Occupy protests have spurred political activism and enthusiasm among young people, I’m afraid the pan-democratic candidates will not benefit significantly from the movement,” Choy said. Pan-democrats should have every reason to worry about the relatively lukewarm response to the government’s voter-registration drive, which closed on July 2. The number of registered voters in the 18-20 age group rose by only 5 per cent – from 106,320 last year to 112,006. For the 21-25 group, the latest figure is 267,548, up 4 per cent. Citywide, 63.3 per cent of the 114,950 new registrations were from people aged 56 or above. Elderly voters are generally considered more likely to be conservative and pro-government – and more inclined to actually vote.// Source: SCMP, 22 October 2015.

2. Legco’s motion of anti-bribery law to cover the Chief Executive not passed

• //The Legislative Council yesterday voted down a motion calling to amend the anti-bribery law to make it a criminal offence for the chief executive to solicit or accept any advantage without the permission of a statutory independent committee. […] The motion was tabled by Democrat Helena Wong Pik-wan, who said the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance should be amended as soon as possible as three years had passed since a committee led by former chief justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang recommended that it be a criminal offence if the chief executive solicited or accepted any advantage without a statutory independent committee’s permission. At present, at least two sections of the ordinance did not cover the chief executive. […] The Liberal Party was the only pro-establishment group that voted for Wong’s motion. Alluding to top mainland officials, Liberal Party lawmaker James Tien Pei-chun said: “No matter how transcendent or unique the chief executive is, he must not be above the likes of Zhou Yongkang and Ling Jihua.” In June, former security tsar Zhou was sentenced to life in jail for bribery and abuse of power. A month later, it was announced that former presidential aide Ling would be criminally prosecuted on corruption charges.// Source: SCMP, 12 November 2015.

HONG KONG – ENVIRONMENT

Release of carbon-reduction plan for the Climate Submit in Paris

• //Undersecretary for the environment Christine Loh Kung-wai said the scheduled retirement of old coal-fired generating units – beginning in 2017 – would help Hong Kong curb emissions, which have been rising continuously over the last 15 years. “[Hong Kong] is moving closer to capping emissions … as we continue to reduce our coal-fired plants from electricity generation,” Loh said. “Our carbon emissions will continue to go down.” She was speaking after the launch of a new report outlining existing measures undertaken by the government and the private sector in response to climate change, ahead of the launch of the landmark global climate conference in Paris later this month. China has pledged to cut carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60 to 65 per cent from 2005 levels and peak emissions by around 2030. Hong Kong has set a similar carbon intensity target for 2020, but has not committed to any date for imposing a ceiling on emissions. […] Environment Secretary Wong Kam-sing said as an international city and highly advanced economy, the city wished to “contribute actively to national and global efforts” against climate change. But senior Greenpeace campaigner Frances Yeung Hoi-shan criticised the government for not developing an emissions reduction plan for 2030. “Even the current measures to address climate change by 2020 can only reach the lower limits of our emission reduction targets [of 19 to 33 per cent], ” she said.// Source: SCMP, 07 November 2015.

TAIWAN – POLITICS

Xi-Ma Submit

• Political commentator from Taiwan Guo Zheng-liang (郭正亮) summarized that the Taiwanese people were surprised by the sudden announcement of the Xi-Ma Submit. Some of them criticized the government of its lack of transparency. Meanwhile, the leader of Democratic Progressive Party Tsai Ing-wen recognized the significance of the Submit, and did not rule out the possibility of meeting Xi jingpin if elected as president. Nonetheless, quoting J. Stapleton Roy, the former US representative in China, Guo argued that Tsai position towards the mainland poses a challenge to her as she pledges for maintaining the status quo of the Cross-Strait relation while not recognizing the 1992 Consensus. For a review of the Cross-Strait relation, see here by SCMP.
• //如此攸關台灣前途的兩岸大事，卻以如此違反民主監督的方式草率進行，也難怪會引發許多台灣民眾的強烈反彈。民進黨主席蔡英文在第一時間痛批「馬習會匆促讓國人知道，傷害台灣民主政治」，還對馬英九把馬習會比喻成「搭橋」表示「如果沒有民主程序、資訊公開透明、國會監督的完整建構，這座橋就不會很穩固」。親民黨主席宋楚瑜也認為馬習會引發多人反對，是因為「過程不夠透明，不同黨派也不能參與」。[…] 蔡英文在痛批「馬習會匆促讓國人知道，傷害台灣民主政治」之後，也在11月6日補充表示，如果符合公開透明、對等尊嚴、不涉政治前提等三原則，並不排除在當選總統之後推動「蔡習會」。[…] 前美國駐華大使芮效儉（Stapleton Roy）也認為「即使習近平知道馬習會對國民黨選情可能不利，但他仍想通過馬習會展示，馬以『九二共識』為基礎處理兩岸關係，使馬習會成為可能」。他進而指出「蔡英文宣稱要維持兩岸現狀，但並不贊同『九二共識』，如今兩岸最高領導人會晤成為『現狀』一部分，蔡既說要維持現狀，如何解決這個問題？」芮效儉認為「這個問題將會反覆出現，尤其是明年1月總統選後和5月政府換屆之間的四個月」。// Source: The Initium Media, 08 November 2015.
• Political commentator from Taiwan Gu Er-de (顧爾德) pointed out that the Submit has been a surprising move to the United States and Japan. He believed that it was led by the Mainland China and the Submit was not announced to close allies of Ma Ying-jeoh in KMT until the last minute. The secrecy of the Submit reduced trust between the Ma’s administration and the US government. He further analyzed that the move could possible be attributed to Xi jinping’s intention to save himself from both domestic and foreign troubles (such as the domestic anti-graft campaign and South China Sea Dispute) in mid-September after Xi’s meeting with US President Obama.
• //美方對馬習會的官式反應是「歡迎兩岸對話」；實際上，美國不滿台灣未提早告知馬習會訊息。據台灣外交部透露，台灣在11月3日通知美方相關訊息；朱立倫雖然比美方早知道馬習會即將舉行，但也沒有早太多。合理的判斷是：總統府對朱立倫訪華府時程規畫有所需求，但當時並未告知朱立倫將舉行馬習會。馬習會對讓美國對馬政府信任感大減。因為這次會面是由習近平主導，而目的除了想扶馬英九與國黨一把，也是針對美國近來對中國強勢作為的反擊。這等重大事件，美方卻一直被台北蒙蔽。[…] 九月以來，南海衝突愈見升高，習近平訪美時未與奧巴馬在南海問題達成共識，讓奧巴馬決定派軍艦出巡南海。接着，美國主導的TPP第一回合過關，而中國經濟下滑，五中全會《十三五規畫建議》看不出解決的仙丹妙藥。習近平禁止黨員「妄議」、不穩的社會情勢逼着他更加強控制力道。這些內外挑戰都說明了習近平權力並非穩固。馬習會應是習近平臨時起意，用來解救自己困境，而非早已布局好。而從習近平在馬習會中只關切「一個中國原則下九二共識」，對其他議題並沒有準備，也說明了北京規畫的倉促。[…] 在南海問題上，美日韓站在同一陣線，而兩岸領導人在此敏感時機共同現身南海，這讓美國與日本都非常在意。尤其是日本，不僅是在馬習會消息曝光後才被馬政府告知；馬習會後，馬政府又不斷放出兩人在新加坡談到中日戰爭、慰安婦以及釣魚台問題。台北的日本外交官對這些訊息感到不安，覺得馬政府有意放出兩岸領導都在批評日本的不友善訊息。// Source: The Initium Media, 17 November 2015.