Due to several attacks on the Chinese nationals working in Pakistan, failing economy and Power crisis China might bring its military forces in Pakistan to secure its investments or leave Pakistan.
Read the complete report and what Chinese Citizens are saying about this relation and why many Chinese are Panic Posting on Chinese social media here
The Chinese mighty influence on the World Cinema According to @StatistaCharts, China is world’s Largest Film Market, overtaking North America with 47 billion yuan (7.4 billion USD) of box office revenue in 2021. Let’s discuss Chinese influence on the world cinema through its gigantic market and its economic influence! 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 Hollywood Studios are pressurized by China to indulge in censorship to suit the Chinese narrative. They thus indulge in self censorship, post release censorship and cutting out movies scenes before its China release. 𝗕𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘀 Dr Strange 2 was banned recently. The reason was a newspaper box of Dajiyuan the Chinese language EpochTimes (critical of Chinese authoritarianism) appearing in one shot of the movie. Following are some of the movies which suffered a similar fate. Recently, The Film Censorship Board of Malaysia (LPF) has banned a Hong Kong film from screening in Malaysia for allegedly glorifying violent protests and for its potential to affect Malaysia-China bilateral relations. The film, ‘May You Stay Forever Young’, depicts a 17-year-old girl’s attempt to kill herself during the massive anti-extradition protests in Hong Kong and her friends’ efforts to rescue her. 𝗕𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 Actor John Cena had to apologize to Chinese audience after calling Taiwan a country to avoid getting banned. Many other prominent artists, however, got banned in China in past decades. Show Tibet/Taiwan/Hongkong and get banned Any movie in the world cant showcase these nations as independent nations or nations under captivity. Even attending concerts for countries like Tibet will ensure a ban on the artist and all his/her movies. 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀 The 2015 sci-fi movie Pixel made it into China after removing a scene of aliens blasting a hole into the GreatWall of China. The makers put a scene where the aliens are smashing the Taj Mahal in India instead. 𝗕𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄𝘀 China also bans the broadcast of the Award Shows where an uncensored film is getting nominated/honored. Music Censorship 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 influenced world cinema Many countries have objected to the release of the movies influenced by China. US Market vs the Chinese Market The growth of China in the movie world is significant. The stats show why Hollywood cant resist the Chinese temptation. The following data is from the year 2021. China finances Hollywood China finances many Hollywood movies and the number of movies it finance is on the rise. Chinese movies are also getting shelved!! Recently, a film “Hidden in the Dust”, which reflects the living conditions of the people at the bottom of northwest China, was taken off the shelves after breaking through the box office of over 100 million yuan. The reason for this has sparked heated debate. On July 8 this year, a Chinese reality film “Hidden in the Dust”, which has been withdrawn many times, was finally approved by the cultural department for screening. This small-budget film cost only about 2 million yuan, but within 60 days of its launch, it created an astonishing record of breaking the box office of 100 million yuan. However, before the film’s network key had expired, the film was removed from the theaters ahead of schedule due to reasons such as “catering to the West”, and Chinese streaming media platforms followed closely. Wang Ruiqin, former member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference of Qinghai Province, who lives in the United States, said in an interview that “Hidden in the Dust” just reflects the current situation of Northwest society. Which movie will surely get banned There is a 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝘀. Just like Chinese influence on the world media and Chinese influence on the cultural narratives, the Chinese influence on the world cinema is also massive. Following are some of the common themes that gets banned by China. “Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.” Henry Louis Gates Jr Sources: Dr.Jenny Kin Jacobs compiled and curated this report jenny_kjacobs
Media manipulation is a series of related techniques in which partisans create an image or argument that favors their particular interests. Foreign actors take advantage of Western Media freedom to spread disinformation.
A recent report from Fudan University in Shanghai revealed that Beijing secured a new construction deal in Iraq for around $10.5 billion in 2021 — a sum constituting almost one-sixth of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investments that year.
Chinese influence on culture is twofold: influence on the production and export of Chinese cultural products to seduce foreign publics; and pressure exerted on foreign cultural productions to make them conform to the CCP’s interests
Upward trend in Myanmar online wildlife trade New research by WWF shows that online illegal wildlife trade in Myanmar increased by 74% from 2020 to 2021. The report, ‘Going viral: Myanmar’s wildlife trade escalates online,’ details 173 different species being advertised for sale online in 2021, up from 143 species the year before. Sales of mammal species – either as live animals or their body parts – rose by 241%. Posts that advertised mammals for sale referenced commercially bred civets, meat of the critically endangered Sunda pangolin for consumption, elephant skin pieces for jewellery and juvenile bears as pets. All these animals are used as an ingredient of Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs). “WWF research reveals that online trade in wildlife within Myanmar is escalating,” said Shaun Martin, WWF-Asia Pacific’s Regional Illegal Wildlife Trade Cybercrime Project Lead. “Despite the global importance of Myanmar’s biodiversity and everything we now know about the origins of COVID-19, online trade monitoring has revealed different species being kept in close proximity – sometimes in the same cage, wild meat selling out in minutes with demands for more, sales of soon-to-be extinct animals openly discussed in online groups, and trade occurring across country borders. With Asia’s track record as a breeding ground for many recent zoonotic diseases, this sharp uptick in online trade of wildlife in Myanmar is extremely concerning.” Similar wildlife deterioration was observed in many African countries in the past decade. Key findings from new WWF report on online trade in wildlife include More than 11,046 products from 173 species were recorded for sale online in 2021. 96% of posts were for live animals, with 87% advertising that animals had been taken from the wild. Mammal sale posts rose 241% from 2020 to 2021. The largest online trading group had more than 19,000 members and over 30 posts a day. The number of traded species on the IUCN Red List rose 80% from 2020 to 2021. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), swine flu (H1N1), avian flu (H5N1), and COVID–19, all originated in animals and have proliferated in Asia in the last two decades. With scientists estimating that 3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals, it is likely that animal to human disease spillover – or zoonoses – would be the trigger for future pandemics. The trade in live wildlife and wildlife parts brings many species and their pathogens together, increasing the potential for spillover to humans. Among the 11,046 wildlife items promoted for sale through social media posts were six species listed as “Critically Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, indicating an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. A further seven species were marked “Endangered” and 33 marked “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List. Of particular note were posts that advertised the Sunda and Chinese pangolins, both “Critically Endangered” species, with pangolins also identified as carrying SARS-related betacoronaviruses., These posts advertised pangolins as live animals and wild meat, as well as referring to commercial breeding. Similar posts for civets were also seen, with civets identified as the intermediate host of the virus that caused the SARS outbreak in Asia in 2002. “The risk of new pathogen transmission from wild animals to humans – the most common source of new epidemics, and pandemics – is increased by the close contact conditions created by this trade,” said Emiko Matsuda, Group Lead on Biodiversity and Public Sector Partnership, WWF-Japan. “These online sales of live animals and wildlife products need to be disrupted before they escalate any further, endangering Myanmar’s precious wildlife and global public health.”
Women in China’s Leadership Staggering data about the status of women in leadership roles in China has been released as the Women in China’s Leadership report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Women make up almost half of China’s 1.4 billion population. Of the approximately 92 million CCP members, there are about 28 million women or roughly 30% of the CCP’s total. Women have limited representation and voice across the top echelons of China’s political system. Historically, female representatives have rarely constituted more than 10% of the roughly 300-member CCP Central Committee. Only six women have ever served in the 25-member Politburo, and three of those were wives of other top leaders. No woman has ever served on the Politburo Standing Committee or held any of the top three positions in China’s political system: CCP General Secretary, Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and State President. Female representation in key government roles such as ministries and provincial governorships is also extremely low. The percentage of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) service members who are female is not publicly available, but China Military Online, an official publication of the PLA, estimated in 2015 that approximately 5% or less are women. Currently, no women hold senior command or political commissar positions. The highest rank a woman in the PLA has ever achieved is Lieutenant General, with one woman promoted to Lieutenant General in 1993 and a second in 2010. Other Key Findings of the report are: According to United Nations data from 2021, China’s population comprises approximately 703.8 million females and 740.4 million males. Although they represent roughly 48.7% of the population, women occupy less than 8% of senior leadership positions. The absence of diversity is noteworthy given the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership’s stated commitment to equal opportunity. The absence of women in Party leadership parallels low female representation within the group of Chinese nationals holding leadership positions in international organizations. Of the 31 Chinese nationals serving in top leadership positions in key international organizations, only 4 are women Table 1: Female Representation in Chinese Communist Party Leadership Table: Female Representation in Government Leadership Table 3. Female Representation in Military Leadership Credits : https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-03/Women_in_Chinas_Leadership.pdf
The Solomon Islands prime minister has told lawmakers that a controversial security agreement with China is “ready for signing” without revealing the details, saying only that his government had not been pressured to let China build a naval base in the country. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare made the remarks to Parliament late Tuesday, according to multiple news reports. Neighboring powers have expressed concern over the pact that China has defended as normal cooperation with Pacific island nation. “We are not pressured in any way by our new friends and there is no intention whatsoever to ask China to build a military base in the Solomon Islands,” Sogavare was quoted as saying. A draft agreement leaked online last week would allow Beijing to set up bases and deploy troops in the Solomon Islands, which lies about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from the northeastern coast of Australia. The document provoked fears in the region’s traditional powers, Australia and New Zealand, with the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying that her country sees the pact as “gravely concerning.” It is unclear whether the leaked draft differs from the final agreement. Sogavare told Parliament that in order to achieve the nation’s security needs, “it is clear that we need to diversify the country’s relationship with other countries” but existing security arrangements with Australia would remain. His policy of “diversification” was evident last November when Sogavare asked Australia, and after that China, to send police forces to help him quell violent riots that rocked the capital, Honiara. Alexander Vuving, a professor with the Hawaii-based Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, said Sogavare’s strategy is not unusual for leaders of small Pacific island states who are “willing to play the major powers off against each other, thus bloating their states’ values to the major powers.” A Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said on Tuesday that “normal law enforcement and security cooperation between China and Solomon Islands … is consistent with international law and customary international practice.” “We hope relevant countries will earnestly respect Solomon Islands’ sovereignty and its independent decisions instead of deciding what others should and should not do in a condescending manner,” spokesman Wang Wenbin said. A file photo showing sailors stand on deck of the guided-missile destroyer Taiyuan of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy as during commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the navy near Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong province, April 23, 2019. Credit: AP China’s growing presence in the Pacific Beijing doesn’t hide its ambition to set up military bases in the region. Some Chinese analysts, such as Qi Huaigao, an associate professor at Fudan University, suggested that in order to compete with the United States in the Western Pacific, China needs to have bases in Solomon Islands, Samoa and Vanuatu for commercial and military supply purposes. In 2018, media reports about China’s plan to build a base in Vanuatu prompted a stern warning from the then Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. David Capie, director of the Centre for Strategic Studies at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, told RFA earlier this week that China “wants to be able to operate its rapidly growing navy out in the wider Pacific, complicating U.S. plans in the event of a future conflict.” “A base in the Pacific would let People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels operate far away from their home ports for longer and in the future might also be used for intelligence gathering and surveillance,” he said. It would greatly boost China’s capabilities in intelligence-collecting which is alleged to have often been done by marine research vessels. Data provided by the ship-tracking website MarineTraffic show that China’s spacecraft-tracking ship Yuanwang-5 is currently operating in the Western Pacific, not far from the Solomon Islands. Yuanwang-class ships are “multi-purpose signals and technical intelligence gathering platforms,” said Paul Buchanan, director of the Auckland, New Zealand-based 36th Parallel Assessments risk consultancy. The Yuanwang-5’s presence is normal but “it would not be surprising if it makes a port visit to Honiara as part of the deployment in order to register the seriousness of China’s intent in the region,” Buchanan said.
Two U.K. Supreme Court judges resigned from Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal (CFA) on Wednesday, citing a recent crackdown on dissent under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by Beijing. Non-permanent CFA judges Lord Reed and Lord Hodge had sat on the court “for many years” under an agreement governing the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule, Reed said in a statement. “I have been closely monitoring and assessing developments in Hong Kong, in discussion with the government,” Reed wrote. “However, since the introduction of the Hong Kong national security law in 2020, this position has become increasingly finely balanced.” “The judges of the Supreme Court cannot continue to sit in Hong Kong without appearing to endorse an administration which has departed from values of political freedom, and freedom of expression, to which the Justices of the Supreme Court are deeply committed,” the statement said. U.K. foreign secretary Liz Truss said the government supported the decision. “The Foreign Secretary supports the withdrawal of serving UK judges from the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, following discussions with the Deputy Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor and the President of the Supreme Court,” said in a brief statement, which was signed by Truss and deputy prime minister Dominic Raab. Ruling Conservative Party rights activist Benedict Rogers, who heads the U.K.-based rights group Hong Kong Watch, said the move was the correct one. “Today’s news reflects the sad reality that the national security law has torn apart the human rights and constitutional safeguards which made Hong Kong meaningfully autonomous,” Rogers said. “The British judges’ ongoing presence was providing a veneer of legitimacy for a fundamentally compromised system, and the British government is right to have taken steps to recall them,” he said. The Law Society of Hong Kong, which represents solicitors in the city, called on the judges to reverse their decision. “Unfair and unfounded accusations … against the judicial system of Hong Kong have no place in the discussion about rule of law,” president C.M. Chan said in a letter to news editors. “I sincerely appeal to the U.K. judges to reverse course.” Hong Kong Chief Justice Andrew Cheung noted the resignations “with regret.” Men in white T-shirts with poles are seen in Yuen Long after attacking anti-extradition bill demonstrators at a train station in Hong Kong, July 22, 2019. Credit: Reuters Documentary on attacks The resignations came as internet service providers in Hong Kong appeared to have blocked a 30-minute documentary by Vice News on YouTube detailing the involvement of triad criminal gangs in bloody attacks on passengers at the Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, 2019, amid a mass protest movement sparked by plans to allow the extradition of alleged criminal suspects to face trial in mainland China. The documentary explored in depth the attacks by men wielding sticks and wearing white clothing. “For many, the violence was shocking and symbolized the death of Hong Kong’s democracy,” the platform said in its introduction to the video on YouTube. “It is tragic how a Hong Kong citizen like me had to use a VPN in order to watch this,” YouTube user Dayton Ling commented under the video. “It saddens me that Hong Kong has gone from a first class financial centre to a third world police state.” Several other users commented that the journalist interviewed for the film is currently behind bars, awaiting trial under the national security law. Hong Kong’s national security police recently wrote to Benedict Rogers ordering him to take down the group’s website, which was highly critical of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s rights record in Hong Kong. The U.K., along with Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the United States have suspended their extradition agreements with Hong Kong. However, extradition agreements remain active between Hong Kong and the Czech Republic, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea and Sri Lanka, putting anyone traveling to those countries at potential risk of arrest if they are targeted by the law. The national security law ushered in a citywide crackdown on public dissent and criticism of the authorities that has seen several senior journalists, pro-democracy media magnate Jimmy Lai and 47 former lawmakers and democracy activists charged with offenses from “collusion with a foreign power” to “subversion.” Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
The Philippines lodged a new diplomatic protest against China after a Chinese coast guard ship maneuvered dangerously close to a Filipino vessel in the disputed Scarborough Shoal in early March, a senior official said Tuesday. China’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, insisted that it was within its rights when its ship allegedly engaged in what the Philippine Coast Guard described as a “close distance maneuvering” in South China Sea waters. “It’s done, we’ve filed a diplomatic protest regarding that,” National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. told reporters on Samar Island in the central Philippines, where he was attending a government event. Similar incidents could occur over contending claims in Scarborough Shoal, he warned. Esperon heads the national taskforce for the West Philippine Sea, the Philippine name for territory claimed by Manila in the South China Sea. On Sunday, the Philippine Coast Guard reported that a China Coast Guard ship had sailed within 21 meters (69 feet) of the BRP Malabrigo during a routine patrol on March 2. That was the fourth time since May 2021 that Chinese Coast Guard ships had made that type of maneuver against Philippine vessels, Philippine officials said. “It can always happen that vessels of the different countries, especially from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and other claimant countries and China, will get into close encounters simply because we have conflicting claims,” Esperon said. “There may be counter-claims but we, as a nation, will stand by our established sovereign rights and sovereignty over the area.” He said Manila had been increasing its presence in the region through the Philippine Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. Esperon also said there were fresh reports about other claimants to the potentially mineral rich sea region improving facilities on islands they occupy. “That’s the situation there, just be aware of it. And Vietnam has 21 positions, we have nine stations, [while] China has seven strong positions,” he said. Manila, which claims nine islands in the South China Sea, the biggest of which is the 92-acre Pag-asa Island (known internationally as Thitu Island), has been improving its facilities in the region in recent years “in the same manner that Vietnam is doing a lot of improvement” to theirs, Esperon said. The national security adviser said the government would continue to assert its claims through “diplomatic channels and through the international community.” “Can we afford to go to war? Not now or not in this instance. … [I]n general we want peaceful settlements of the conflicts in the area,” he said. ‘Earnestly respect China’s sovereignty’ Manila issued the protest a day after Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin insisted that China had sovereign rights over the shoal. “China has sovereignty over Huangyan Dao and its adjacent waters as well as sovereign rights and jurisdiction over relevant waters,” Wang said, using the Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal. “We hope that Philippine ships will earnestly respect China’s sovereignty and rights and interests, abide by China’s domestic law and international law, and avoid interfering with the patrol and law enforcement of the China Coast Guard in the above-mentioned waters,” he said during a media briefing on Monday. Also known as Bajo de Masinloc, Scarborough Shoal lies 120 nautical miles west of Luzon Island – well within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). For years, the shoal has been a traditional fishing ground for Filipinos but since 2012 it has been under virtual control by China, which has maintained a constant coast guard presence. After a tense standoff, Manila said the United States brokered a deal for both sides to pull out of the shoal but China reneged on it. In 2016, an international court ruled in favor of the Philippines in a South China Sea territorial dispute. Instead of moving to enforce the internationally accepted deal, President Rodrigo Duterte moved to appease Chinese leader Xi Jinping in exchange for cordial ties and billions in Chinese investments. Apart from China and the Philippines, other claimants to South China Sea territories are Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan. Indonesia is locked in a separate dispute with China which claims parts of the sea that is within Jakarta’s EEZ. ‘Shared responsibility’ Also on Tuesday, Malaysia Defense Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said that the South China Sea “is ultimately a region of shared responsibility, a region which we in ASEAN are collectively responsible for,” referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. “Issues around the South China Sea have always made headlines. As much as strongly worded statements are likely to grab attention, we must strive to ensure that cooler heads prevail,” Hussein said during the Putrajaya Forum, a security conference organized by the Malaysian Institute of Defense and Security and the Malaysian Defense Ministry. “Though we are in the business of defense and security, de-escalating a high-stakes situation is a task in itself. A task that we must all put above all else lest we risk compromising the peace and stability in the region,” he said. Hussein told those at the conference that tensions between nations must be diffused “through all available means. “Due to the complexity and sensitivity of the issue, through established international laws and conventions, all parties must work together to increase efforts to build, maintain and enhance mutual trust and confidence so that we can maintain peace, security and stability in the South China Sea.” Nisha David in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
