Drills around Taiwan - Wang Yi's Messaging - Targeting 'Taiwan Independence Die-hards' - China's Computational Power - Improving Red vs. Blue Drills - Zhong Sheng on Nuclear Governance
Here are the stories and pieces that I found noteworthy in the Friday, August 5, 2022, edition of the People’s Daily.
Page 1: There’s nothing about the tensions with regard to Taiwan on the front page. All of that is again placed on Page 3. Instead on the top of Page 1, there is a commentary drawing from Xi’s speech to provincial and ministerial-level officials. This one focuses on his remarks about the Party’s ties with the people. It makes the point that “the fundamental purpose of (the Party) uniting and leading the people in revolution, development and reform is to ensure that the people live a good life.” 党团结带领人民进行革命、建设、改革，根本目的就是为了让人民过上好日子...
It adds:
It is necessary to deeply understand that by winning the trust and support of the people, the Party can overcome any difficulties—it can forge ahead and be invincible. On the new journey, we must adhere to consistently respecting the laws of social development and the people’s dominant historical position, while striving for lofty ideals and working for the interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, accomplishing all the work of the Party and realising the interests of the people, and never be divorced from the masses, share weal and woe with them…We must have a deep understanding of the nature and purpose of the Party, adhere to the people-centred development philosophy, always put the people at the top of our minds, and take the people’s longing for a better life as our goal, in order to ensure that the achievements of reform and development benefit all the people in a more equitable manner, make more obvious substantive progress in common prosperity, and unite more than 1.4 billion Chinese people into a majestic force to promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. 必须深刻认识到，赢得人民信任，得到人民支持，党就能够克服任何困难，就能够一往无前、无往不胜。新征程上，我们要坚持尊重社会发展规律和尊重人民历史主体地位的一致性、为崇高理想奋斗和为最广大人民谋利益的一致性、完成党的各项工作和实现人民利益的一致性，永不脱离群众，与群众有福同享、有难同当，有盐同咸、无盐同淡。要深刻认识党的性质宗旨，坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，始终把人民放在心中最高位置、把人民对美好生活的向往作为奋斗目标，推动改革发展成果更多更公平惠及全体人民，推动共同富裕取得更为明显的实质性进展，把14亿多中国人民凝聚成推动中华民族伟大复兴的磅礴力量.
Next, there’s a report (related English report) on China’s computing power. This is based on data from MIIT released at the recent 2022 China Computational Power Conference held in Jinan. According to the report, China’s computing power ranks second globally, with the US being first. China’s computing power is estimated at 15,000 floating-point operations per second. Data centre racks in use in China exceed 5.9 million standard racks, and the scale of servers is around 20 million.
China's core computational industry scale has surpassed 1.5 trillion yuan.
By the end of June, the number of 5G base stations in China reached 1.854 million, and there are more than 450 million 5G mobile phone users.
There are more than 20,000 5G industrial application cases.
The scale of the computing power industry has grown rapidly, with an average growth rate of more than 30% in the past five years.
All prefecture-level cities have implemented optical network broadband, and have more than 61 million household or company users
According to estimates by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, in 2021, the cloud computing market size was 300 billion yuan, and the AI core industry was at 400 billion yuan.
Third, there’s a positive report about the development of industry in Bijie city in Guizhou province. I am not sure why this deserves front page attention, apart from perhaps showcasing what seems to be an innovation-driven development model for others. But then, that’s just me randomly speculating.
Finally, there’s a report about China’s terrestrial ecosystem carbon monitoring satellite on Thursday. Xinhua reports:
“The carbon monitoring satellite is mainly used for terrestrial ecosystem carbon monitoring, the surveying and monitoring of terrestrial ecology and resource, and major national ecological projects monitoring and evaluation. It will also provide operational support and research services in fields such as environmental protection, surveying and mapping, meteorology, agriculture, and disaster reduction. The satellite can detect and measure vegetation biomass, atmospheric aerosol and chlorophyll fluorescence by comprehensive remote sensing means such as laser, multi-angle, multi-spectral, hyperspectral, and polarization. It can also obtain the multi-factor remote sensing information of global forest carbon sinks, improve the efficiency and accuracy of carbon sink measurement, and provide support for China's carbon peaking and neutralization efforts.”
Page 2: There’s a report discussing an initiative by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Education and other 10 departments to generate around 1 million employment apprenticeships for young college graduates. This was announced in March. The report says that as of mid-July, a total of 759,000 positions have been created.
Page 3: The entire page is focussed on comments with regard to tensions around Taiwan.
First, there’s a report on the statement issued by non-CPC political parties in China. Xinhua reports them saying:
“There is only one China, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China…Taiwan affairs fall under the scope of China's internal affairs and allow no external interference, and Pelosi's Taiwan visit was a major political provocation aimed at upgrading official U.S. exchanges with Taiwan…We strongly oppose any attempt or act to split China, any external meddling in China's peaceful reunification, and any interference in the Taiwan question by any country in any form…We resolutely support all necessary measures the Chinese government has to take to safeguard sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Second, there’s a report on Wang Yi’s comments on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' meeting. Xinhua reports:
“the U.S. side trampled on the international law, breached bilateral commitments, sabotaged peace across the Taiwan Strait, supported separatism, advocated confrontation between blocs, which is a blatant provocation against the Chinese people and the peace-loving people in all countries in the region, and a political gamble with an odious impact. He said the performance of Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, has caused the U.S. politics, foreign diplomacy and credibility to go bankrupt again, proving the United States is the biggest destroyer of peace across the Taiwan Strait and the biggest troublemaker of regional stability. Her performance also proved the extremely confrontational and harmful nature of the U.S. ‘Indo-Pacific strategy’, as well as the U.S. hypocrisy and double standards when dealing with international rules, Wang noted. If the Chinese side doesn't firmly reject the manic, irresponsible and extremely irrational behavior of the United States, the principle of international relations on respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity will become a mere scrap of paper, various kinds of separatists and extremist forces will intensify their activities, and the hard-won peace and stability in the region will be severely damaged, he stressed. Wang stressed that this incident was orchestrated and incited single-handedly by the United States, as the causes and consequences are clear, and so are the rights and wrongs.”
“He said China would not sit back watching the United States play the ‘Taiwan card’ to serve its domestic politics and the selfish desires of its politicians, nor would China ever tolerate deeds to create tension, stoke confrontation and instigate secession in the region. Wang said the comprehensive measures China is currently taking and will take in the future are necessary and timely defensive counterattacks, which have been carefully considered and evaluated with an aim to safeguard national sovereignty and security. These measures are in line with international and domestic laws, serve as a warning to provocateurs, and will maintain regional stability and peace across the Taiwan Strait, he added. Wang called on all parties to see through the cause and essence of the current crisis, jointly oppose the U.S. side's risky adventures and provocations, continue to support China's legitimate position and measures, and jointly maintain regional peace and peace across the Taiwan Strait.” —
Quick thought: Really interesting comments by Wang Yi. Beijing seems to be using the opportunity to raise the stakes for other countries to deter them from deepening ties with Taiwan. For instance, PD has two reports quoting foreign politicians criticising Pelosi’s visit and foreign political parties doing so too, with some backing the one-China policy and/or principle. It is also trying to use the moment to make its broader unease with the Indo-Pacific strategy apparent. Again, the aim is to not only discredit the US but also deter others from working with the US as part of an Indo-Pacific framework. Finally, the line about countermeasures serving as a warning to provocateurs tells us that its intent is to demonstrate force for domestic consumption and to shape others’ behaviours, but also that it does not desire escalation.
Additional note: I think it’s worthwhile to highlight here that there is a difference between the one-China policy (一个中国政策) and one-China principle (一个中国原则). Cross-strait ties are not my research focus, so folks who know better, please do offer corrections if you would like to. My understanding of the one-China principle is that this is something that the PRC emphasises. It argues that there is only one China and the PRC government is the legitimate government of that China, with Taiwan being an inalienable part of that China. In contrast, the one-China policy has been a useful diplomatic innovation, which leaves room for some ambiguity. It recognises that there is only one China, but it also acknowledges that both sides across the Taiwan strait have certain claims. This was a work-around, which allowed the US and others to maintain informal relations with Taiwan.
Why this is important to note is for instance, the way Chinese media has reported UNSG Antonio Guterres’ comments on the recent crisis. Xinhua English has quoted him as saying that: “Our position is very clear. We abide by General Assembly resolutions, by the one-China policy, and that is the orientation that we have in everything we do.” In contrast, PD says Guterres reaffirmed the UN’s commitment to the one-China principle 一个中国政策.
Third, Wang Yi’s response to the G7 statement on Taiwan. The G7 statement had said:
“We are concerned by recent and announced threatening actions by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), particularly live-fire exercises and economic coercion, which risk unnecessary escalation. There is no justification to use a visit as pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait. It is normal and routine for legislators from our countries to travel internationally. The PRC’s escalatory response risks increasing tensions and destabilizing the region. We call on the PRC not to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the region, and to resolve cross-Strait differences by peaceful means. There is no change in the respective one China policies, where applicable, and basic positions on Taiwan of the G7 members. We reiterate our shared and steadfast commitment to maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encourage all parties to remain calm, exercise restraint, act with transparency, and maintain open lines of communication to prevent misunderstanding.”
“The flagrant provocation by the United States has set an egregious precedent. If it's not corrected and countered, will the principle of non-interference in internal affairs still exist? Will the international law still be upheld? How can the regional peace be safeguarded?” — (Quick thought: One has to marvel at how Beijing views a visit by a lawmaker as a violation of the principle of non-interference but the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a matter of legitimate interests.)
Wang added:
“G7 foreign ministers’ (statement) distorts facts and confounds right and wrong. ‘Where did they get the right to groundlessly criticize China's reasonable and lawful measures for safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity? Who granted them the authority? Isn't it absurd that the infringer is shielded whereas the defender is accused?’ he asked. Noting that the G7’s wrongdoing has aroused great indignation among the Chinese people, Wang said the sovereignty and independence of China and other countries were earned through bloody battles fought by the people and should never be infringed upon again. Today’s China is no longer the China of the 19th century, and history should not and will not repeat itself, he stressed. The international community should unequivocally oppose any act that challenges the one-China principle and resist all infringements on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, Wang said. Regional countries should be more united against any hegemony bullying the region, he said, adding only in this way can regional countries truly safeguard their own security as well as regional peace and stability.”
Meanwhile, Wang Yi did not meet Secretary Blinken and cancelled his meeting with the Japanese foreign minister in Phnom Penh. He also walked out ahead of the ASEAN dinner.
Next, there’s a report (English report) with Hua Chunying’s comments, with four questions for the US side:
“What is the status quo on the Taiwan question? Hua said it is crystal clear that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China, and Taiwan is part of China's territory. Although the two sides have been politically against each other for a long time, China's sovereignty and territorial integrity have never been split. This is the real status quo of the Taiwan question.”
“Who is creating the crisis across the Taiwan Strait. Hua said the United States has colluded with "Taiwan independence" separatist forces to make provocations, and that is the fundamental reason for tensions across the Taiwan Strait.”
“Who is responsible for tensions across the Taiwan Strait? Hua asked. She said China has repeatedly pointed out the severity of Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and made it clear that the U.S. must assume full responsibility for any ensuing consequences. Hua said the U.S. side made provocations first, whereas China has been compelled to act in self-defense.”
“who is changing the status quo on the Taiwan question. Hua said the wrongful actions made by the U.S. side 25 years ago do not constitute a precedent to defend Pelosi's visit, and still less, should it become an excuse for the U.S. to repeat its mistake on the Taiwan question. China will not allow the United States to continue nibbling at, obscuring and hollowing out the one-China principle in a gradual way, and will never allow the U.S. side to gradually change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait for any reason or excuse. The current tensions across the Taiwan Strait, as a result of Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, are entirely of the U.S.' own making.”
She wants the US to abide by the one-China principle.
Next, a report (English report) with comments from the Ministry of National Defense.
“The visit is a serious political provocation against China, a heavy damage to the relations between the two countries and their militaries, and a huge impact and threat to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. China is strongly indignant about and firmly opposed to it. The Chinese military always matches its words with deeds. The multi-subject targeted drills including sea target assaults, strikes on ground targets and airspace control operations and the precision-guided munitions live-fire practice conducted by troops of multiple arms and services under the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Island are actually solemn deterrence against the collusion between the US and Taiwan. We sternly warn the US side and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities that the scheme to use Taiwan to contain China is doomed to fail, and seeking foreign support to gain ‘Taiwan independence’ is a dead end. The collusion and provocations made by the US and the DPP authorities will only push Taiwan into the abyss of disaster, and bring great suffering to Taiwan compatriots.”
Finally, a report about the Eastern Theatre Command’s drills. Xinhua reports:
“new models of rockets were fired by the theater command’s army, hitting targets with precision in the eastern part of the Taiwan Strait. Desired results have been achieved. On Thursday afternoon, strikes involving various types of conventional missiles were launched by the theater command's rocket force, targeting designated maritime areas to the east of the Taiwan Island. All the missiles hit targets with great precision. The force's ability to launch precision strikes and perform area-denial tasks was tested. The theater command's air force and naval aviation corps flew more than 100 warplanes including fighters and bombers to conduct combat training exercises such as joint reconnaissance, aerial refueling, airspace control, and strikes on ground targets. Over 10 destroyers and frigates from the navy of the theater command conducted joint blockade operations in waters off the Taiwan Island.”
Other key reports on the developments of the past 24 hours:
Page 4: A report with data from the SPP. It says that from June 2019 to June 2022, procuratorial organs prosecuted more than 18,000 key crimes, such as counterfeiting registered trademarks, colluding in bidding, infringing on trade secrets and false advertising. These crimes involved more than 41,000 people. There were 7,400 cases of counterfeiting registered trademarks involving 15,000 people; 2,300 cases of colluding in bidding involving more than 7,000 people; and more than 130 cases of infringement of trade secrets involving more than 250 people. 记者从最高人民检察院获悉：2019年6月至2022年6月，检察机关起诉假冒注册商标罪、串通投标罪、侵犯商业秘密罪、虚假广告罪等重点罪名1.8万余件4.1万余人，其中假冒注册商标罪7400余件1.5万余人，串通投标罪2300余件7000余人，侵犯商业秘密罪130余件250余人.
Page 6: An interesting report about a red-blue training drill. It talks about the need for war-gaming to be more realistic. This story is told through the experience of Zhang Zebin, a staff officer at the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission. As a staff officer, Zhang’s job is to “make suggestions for improving war preparedness, plan and organise major exercises and training activities, and constantly introduce advanced training methods into exercises and training activities. 作为一名奋战在备战打仗前沿的参谋，职责就是为提升备战打仗能力研提建议，筹划组织重大演习训练活动，把先进训练方法不断引入演训活动，进而推动战斗力节节提升.
The story basically admits that red vs blue training exercises tend to be rigged in favour of the red team. Such drills, it argues, leaves the blue team frustrated and the red side without any real experience or confidence. It adds that recognising this, Zhang basically proposed shifting the focus of such exercises from emphasising victory for the red team to ensuring a demanding and strict design. The aim for this shift was for both sides to be able to push the boundaries of combat effectiveness. “组织演习就是为了暴露问题、看清差距。把问题解决在战斗之前，我们就离打赢越来越近。依我看，应该从难从严设计，让双方打出战斗力边界！”中央军委联合参谋部某局参谋张泽斌提出的建议得到现场指挥员们的一致认可.
In order to do so, he identified that there needs to be a shift to incorporating real-world data into exercise design as opposed to theoretical information. Therefore, he “coordinated forces in order to collect actual combat data in wargaming and built a credible ‘data pool’ for intelligent practical training.”
Page 8: There’s a piece by Yin Baohu from the Cross-Strait Relations Law Research Association, writing that there is a clear legal basis for Beijing to punish Taiwan independence die-hards. This is a useful read to understand what sort of lawfare Beijing will be using to target Taiwanese political elite. I presume this will be used as arguments to pressurise other countries and companies that are linked to the individuals Beijing identifies as die-hards.
The explanation that Yin offers is that:
PRC laws “clearly stipulate that all Chinese people, including Taiwan compatriots, have the duty and obligation to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” He cites the constitution, the anti-secession law and the national security law for this purpose.
He then says that “the fact that the reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait has not yet been completed cannot be a reason for ‘Taiwan independence’ diehards to escape legal responsibility.” He talks about Article 6 of the Criminal Law of the PRC. The article says: “This Law shall be applicable to anyone who commits a crime within the territory and territorial waters and space of the People's republic of China, except as otherwise specifically provided by law.” He argues that given Taiwan’s status as an “inalienable part of China,” even if the acts are not committed while individuals were in the mainland, they can be prosecuted for those actions. 两岸尚未完成统一不能成为“台独”顽固分子逃避法律责任的理由。依据刑法第六条关于属地管辖的规定，凡在中华人民共和国领域内犯罪的，除法律有特别规定的以外，都适用本法；第六条同时规定，犯罪的行为或者结果有一项发生在中华人民共和国领域内的，就认为是在中华人民共和国领域内犯罪。台湾是中国领土不可分割的一部分，台湾人就是中国人。显然，无论“台独”顽固分子在大陆、台湾地区还是境外任何地方从事危害国家安全的犯罪行为，我国司法机关均可依法追究其刑事责任.
He then cites Articles 103 and 106 of the law. You can read the text of the law here.
He then cites the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law of the PRC, arguing that ‘Taiwan Independence die-hards’ can be tried in absentia and are not subject to the statute of limitations in criminal law. For this, he cites the trial in absentia procedure stipulated in Article 291 of the Criminal Procedure Law.
Page 17: There’s a Zhong Sheng commentary offering Beijing’s view on global nuclear governance. This comes as the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons recently began. It says that the meeting will see countries “negotiate on nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Nuclear-related issues are of extreme importance in international security governance, and the international community is highly concerned about and full of expectations for this conference.”
The commentary says that the meeting should be seen as an opportunity to “strengthen the universality, authority and effectiveness of the NPT, promote the three pillars of nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful use of nuclear energy in a balanced way, send a clear signal and put forward practical and feasible measures to safeguard the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, global strategic stability and international peace and security.” 国际社会应以此次大会为契机，全面梳理人类在核领域面临的机遇和挑战，深入探讨如何加强条约普遍性、权威性和有效性，平衡推进核裁军、核不扩散与和平利用核能三大支柱，就维护国际核裁军与核不扩散机制、维护全球战略稳定、维护国际和平与安全发出明确信号，提出务实可行的举措.
On disarmament, the article calls for pushing the US and Russia to “earnestly fulfil their special and priority responsibilities for nuclear disarmament, further drastically reduce their nuclear arsenals, and create conditions for the ultimate realisation of comprehensive and complete nuclear disarmament.”在核裁军问题上，各方应坚决维护现有核裁军机制和核裁军共识，推动美俄切实履行核裁军特殊、优先责任，进一步大幅削减核武库，为最终实现全面彻底核裁军创造条件。
On nuclear non-proliferation, the piece talks about hotspot issues like North Korea, Iran, and the Middle East peace process, but also says this:
“All parties should attach great importance to the nuclear proliferation concerns caused by the cooperation between the United States, Britain and Australia on nuclear submarines, and support the IAEA in properly handling this issue through the intergovernmental processes. Concerned nuclear weapons States should abolish their ‘nuclear sharing’ policy and practice, withdraw the nuclear weapons deployed outside their own countries, and cease from engaging in the new ‘nuclear sharing’ arrangements.” 各方要高度重视美英澳核潜艇合作引发的核扩散关切，支持国际原子能机构通过政府间进程妥善处理这一问题。有关核武器国家应废除“核共享”政策和做法，将部署在国外的核武器撤回本国，并停止新的“核共享”安排。
On nuclear energy, the piece says that all parties should “oppose any form of politicisation or discrimination and create favorable conditions for the peaceful use of nuclear energy. All parties should support the central role of IAEA in promoting the application of nuclear energy and technology, and increase technical and financial assistance to developing countries.” 在和平利用核能方面，各方应积极推动《不扩散核武器条约》发挥好服务和平与发展的重要作用，反对任何形式的政治化或歧视性做法，为和平利用核能创造有利条件。各方应支持国际原子能机构在促进核能和核技术应用方面的中心作用，加大对发展中国家的技术、资金援助.
After this, the article attacks the US for its Cold War mentality and stoking of major power competition, pursuit of overwhelming strategic advantages and double standards, and expanding the scope of the concept of national security to build artificial technological barriers, thereby undermining global nuclear governance. 近年来，美国固守冷战思维，渲染大国竞争，大肆扩充军备，不断寻求压倒性战略优势，在核不扩散领域奉行双重标准，在和平利用核能领域泛化国家安全概念，人为构筑技术壁垒，严重损害推进核领域全球治理的努力.
It then says that “China adheres to the path of peaceful development, unswervingly pursues a defensive national defence policy; it explicitly commits not to be the first to use nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances; it commits unconditionally not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon countries and in nuclear-weapon-free zones; and will always keeps its nuclear power at the lowest level required by national security.” 中国坚持走和平发展道路，始终不渝奉行防御性国防政策，明确承诺在任何时候和任何情况下都不首先使用核武器，无条件不对无核武器国家和无核武器地区使用或威胁使用核武器，始终把自身核力量维持在国家安全需要的最低水平.
Worth noting that the last paragraph references the Global Security Initiative too as part of Chinese diplomacy on the issue.