Reuters cited three unidentified sources as saying that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has started a national security review of Chinese-owned TikTok’s $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly. TikTok didn’t seek clearance from CFIUS when it acquired Musical.ly, which gives the U.S. security panel scope to investigate it now.

French President Emmanuel Macron travels to Beijing on November 4, as a guest of honour of the China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

The sale of Chinese goods has witnessed a major drop in the run-up to Diwali as about 60% less Chinese products were sold this year. However, Indians still purchased Chinese goods worth about Rs 3,200 crore while items worth Rs 8,000 crore were sold in the country during the Diwali last year, industry body CAIT said in a statement.

The Central News Agency (October 30, 2019) quoting the mainland Chinese paper 'The 21st Century Business Herald' said China's real estate industry has been the first to bear the brunt of the Chinese government’s actions to tighten corporate finance and citing court data said that at least 408 real estate firms have declared bankruptcy.

Aboluowang reported (November 4) that, on October 1, China’s National Day, Buddhist temples were required to put on patriotic performances while monks and nuns had to participate in the ceremony to pledge allegiance to the communist party.

The official website of China’s Ministry of Education on October 21, 2019, published a “Notice on Launching a Special Campaign to Examine and Cleanse Books in Nationwide Elementary and Middle School Libraries.”

The official Xinhua news agency reported (October 27) that the CCP CC's Institute of Party History and Literature published CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping’s new book 'Ensuring the Party’s Leadership over All Work' .

Chinese President travelled to Shanghai for the Second China International Import Expo (CIIE) where French President Macron is the guest of honour. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Michael Holness and Serbian Prime Minister Anna Brna Beach (Ana Brnabić) are also attending the opening ceremony of the second Expo.

Global Times on October 31, said 'China slammed India's unilateral move to change administrative status of Kashmir and Ladakh, saying the move challenges China's sovereignty and is illegal and invalid'.

In a letter dated November 1, written by Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the UK's decision on going in for Huawei's 5G was put on hold till installation of the next government due to "the market uncertainty caused by US action to place Huawei on its Entity List for restricted trading on national security grounds".

An official Chinese media report said that Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is understood to be "using the 295 FN-16 portable air-defense missiles to strengthen its low-altitude air defense in Kashmir, where India has begun deploying advanced apache helicopters".

China’s coal imports are likely to exceed last year’s tally, negating predictions that the government would cap purchases at 2018’s levels. This year, a slowing economy and the attraction of cheaper overseas coal are likely to steer policymakers away from a repeat of 2018’s curbs.

The Caixin China General Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) said China’s manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in nearly three years in October as output and new orders grew at a pace not seen in several years.

China’s Ministry of Education has called for a three-year revamp of the higher education system, aiming to devote vast resources to undergraduate studies, including the expertise of those who are part of its controversial Thousand Talents Program.

The Science and Technology Daily, a newspaper affiliated with the Ministry of Science and Technology, reported (November 1) that Bao Weimin, Chief of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.’s Science and Technology Commission, said at a forum in Beijing on October 30, that China plans to set up the economic zone in "cislunar space" — the area lying inside the moon’s orbit — within the next few decades.

25-year-old Murager Alimuly and 30-year-old Qaster Musakhanuly, both ethnic Kazakhs from China, entered Kazakhstan on October 1 and on October 9 appeared in video testimonies posted to Facebook recounting their experiences in Xinjiang.

Singapore's Chinese-language Lianhe Zaobao newspaper reported (October 21) Huang Kunming, head of the CCP CC Propaganda Department and Politburo member, as saying in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 6th World Internet Conference, that “Some countries have used national security as an excuse and have restricted and attacked other countries and enterprises.

Speaking to Taiwan's Central News Agency on the siddelines of the annual Xiangshan Forum meeting in Beijing on October 21, Jin Canrong, a scholar at Renmin University of China, stated that China and the United States should show transparency to each other and that both countries ought to avoid a hot war.

Song Xinning, former Director of the Confucius Institute at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), in Brussels has been barred from entering the Schengen Area for eight years after being accused of espionage.

Reiterating its support to Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) platform, the Daily Pakistan said on October 29 that China has 'categorically announced that it did not want the forum to be politicised as some countries are pursuing their political agenda in a bid to blacklist Pakistan'.

The General Offices of the CCP CC and State Council jointly released opinions on “comprehensively, deeply, and enduringly implementing the work on pursuing ethnic unity and progress to consolidate a sense of community for the Chinese Nation” and issued a notice requesting each region and department conscientiously implement the opinions.

CPPCC Chairman and PBSC member Wang Yang spoke on October 21 at the conference organised by the United Front Work Department (UFWD) to commemorate continuation of the “Guangcai Program”, which was “launched in 1994 by China's private enterprises in a bid to aid the country's poverty-relief efforts.”

Xi Jinping presided over the 18th Politburo collective study session on October 25, on the topic of blockchain technology development.

Xinhua reported (October 24) that the Politburo met on October 24 and set the dates for the Central Committee’s long-awaited Fourth Plenum for 28 to 31 October in Beijing.

A South China Morning Post report (October 21) said the USS Ronald Reagan is carrying out drills above the South China Sea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said (October 23) that a Chinese delegation had wanted to take part in the ongoing International Astronautical Congress being held in Washington.

The New York Times (October 23) reported that the Trump Administration is divided over which technologies can be shared with China.

A Charoen Pokphand Group-led consortium signed a contract with the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) on Thursday to build the high-speed train route linking three major airports, which is expected to boost economic development and create more than 100,000 jobs.

Nasdaq-listed Pinduoduo's share price rose more than 12% on October 24, reaching a record high of $39.96.

A report containing the second annual review of the condition of state assets submitted by China's State Council to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress stated that the total assets on the books of the Chinese government at the end of last year came to 474.7 trillion yuan ($67 trillion), equivalent to almost 80% of global GDP for 2018.

The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) announced on October 25 that a Chinese team has been kicked out of its own Military World Games after other countries alerted judges to "extensive cheating" by the hosts.

The CDB on October 24, announced the appointment of Ouyang Weimin, a Vice Governor of China's Guangdong province. Ouyang worked 20 years at the PBOC before he was transferred to local government positions in Guangdong in 2011.

Xinhua reported (October 28) that the CCP 19th Central Committee’s Fourth Plenum began on October 28 morning in Beijing.

New Chinese Ambassador Cong Peiwu speaking at a reception in Ottawa to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China cited the case of 104-year old Isabel Crook, a Canadian anthropologist and teacher who has been a supporter of the communist cause for many decades, and continues to live in China.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), announced on October 24 afternoon that Wang Dongjin, a Vice Chairman at one of the petroleum SoEs is to replace Yang Hua, who resigned as CNOOC’s chairman in early September.

The CCP CC Politburo decided at its meeting on October 24 that the Fourth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will be held from Oct. 28 to 31 in Beijing.

On October 19, the CISM World Military Games commenced in central China’s Wuhan. Chinese President Xi Jinping, attended the games where, according to Xinhua (October 19) he said:“Let the ‘sunshine of sports’ dispel the shadow of war, foster communications between different cultures, and bring together people's hearts for peace.”

Chinese large transport aircraft Y-20 and stealth fighter J-20s gave demonstration flights on the opening of a five-day air show held to celebrate the 70th founding anniversary of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force.

Quoting from recruitment notices recently issued in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said (October 16) that Tibetan college graduates looking for work in Tibet’s public sector are being forced by Chinese authorities to denounce exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama before they are given jobs.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China’s auto sales in September were 2.271 million.

Reports said (October 20) a 19-year old boy was stabbed in the neck and stomach at Tai Po 'Lennon wall' by an assailant who shouted "Hongkong is part of China'?

The German government appears poised to put in place newly drafted security requirements that do not set clear limits on the Chinese telecommunications firms Huawei and ZTE supplying technology for German fifth-generation cellular networks.

An article published in China's official Global Times (October 14) said that the "significant relaxations" announced in visa policy by the Indian embassy is sure to boost Chinese tourism to India.

The 3rd China-Pacific Island Countries Development and Cooperation Forum opened in the Samoan capital of Apia on October 21, with Vice Premier Hu HUAWEI TO representing the PRC.

Hong Kong Economic Times (HKET), the leading financial daily in Hong Kong, on October 10 reported that Apple once again unlisted the popular app HKmap.live from its AppStore.

Voice of America (VoA) reported (October 16) that a new railway built by China at a cost of US$ 1.5 billion was put into operation in Kenya on October 16. It connects the capital city Nairobi with Naivasha, a small town in the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta hosted the opening ceremony of the railway.

U.S. cybersecurity research and consulting firm Crowdstrike on October 15 released a report that claimed officials from China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), underground hacking groups and personnel, cyber security researchers, and employees (moles) of multiple companies in many countries were involved in cyber theft operations to assist development of the C919 commercial aircraft by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd. (Comac).

The ashes of late CCP CC General Secretary Zhao Ziyang and his wife were buried in a cemetery north of Beijing on October 18.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's daughter, Xi Mingze (習明澤) who previously completed her undergraduate studies at Harvard in 2014 has re-enrolled in Harvard University in 2019.

The People's Daily reported (October 15) that efforts to get a CCP branch in every enterprise, including private enterprises, are succeeding. It observed that technology companies particularly have taken the lead in establishing Party branches in their companies.

Addressing the "2019 National Manufacturing Powerhouse Construction Expert Forum (Ningbo)" in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province on October 15, Zhou Ji, President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), said that the CAE had recently assessed the value chains of 26 manufacturing sub-sectors.

China Merchants Industry Holdings Co. Ltd. (CMIH), a wholly owned subsidiary of China Merchants Group, initiated a mixed-ownership reform, a campaign promoted by Beijing to diversify shareholding structures of major state-owned enterprises.

The Chinese financial news service Caixin on October 18 reported that China’s economy grew by 6% YOY in the third quarter, hitting the bottom of the government’s 2019 target range and the weakest pace in almost three decades, reflecting sluggish domestic and global demand exacerbated by the ongoing trade war with the U.S. It said for the first nine months, GDP rose 6.2% YOY, within this year’s target range of 6% to 6.5% announced by Premier Li Keqiang in March.

An article critical of India published in the official Global Times (October 16) commented "How many shades of grey fits India's fantasy? It seems that India makes too much fuss about whether Pakistan will be moved to the "dark grey" list from the "grey" list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) while China is presiding over the Paris-based terrorist financing watchdog".

The Wall Street Journal (October 16) reports that Beijing has begun to selectively target pro-democracy activist. 35-year old Stanley Ho Wai-hong of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions was severely beaten on September 29 resulting in injuries including three broken fingers and a thumb.

The South China Morning Post (October 17) reported that according to a notice issued by Guangdong courier company PHXBUY on July 11, mainland Chinese customs required courier companies to halt delivery of a list of products.

China's Sam Enterprise Group, a State-owned Enterprise, set up in 1985 has singed a renewable 75-year lease agreement with the provincial government of Tulagi whose terms have not been publicly released.

In a hard hitting expose the New York Times on October 15 front-paged details of bribes and gifts given by the Deutsche Bank over the past 15 years to over a 100 past and present top ranking Chinese communist cadres.

The Chinese government on October 14, released a white paper on food security, which stressed it produces enough grain to feed its 1.4 billion people, but projected a rise in medium- to long-term grain demand.

Data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics on October 15, stated that surging pork prices had pushed China’s consumer inflation to a near six-year high in September, complicating Beijing’s effort to stimulate growth but also giving it an incentive to buy more agricultural goods from the U.S.

People’s Daily (October 5) published its first Commentator's article on the Hong Kong protests in 5 weeks, expressing the central government’s support for the Hong Kong government’s 4 October decision to invoke the Emergency Regulations Ordinance to enact anti-mask regulation.

Radio HongKong quoted the HongKong Police as saying on October 14, that a remote-controlled improvised explosive device, similar to those used in terrorist attacks in foreign countries, was detonated at Nathan Road on October 13.

The second 'informal' summit meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping was held on October 11-12 at the ancient coastal town of Mammalapuram (Mahabalipuram).

Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a 20-hour visit to Kathmandu, becoming the first Chinese President to visit Nepal in 23 years.

China emerged with wins in this week’s trade talks, with the U.S. shelving new tariffs against Beijing while leaving many demands to be worked out later in return for an assurance of increased agriculture purchases.

Ta Quang Dong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, was quoted as saying by Vietnam's Thanh Nien newspaper as saying “We will revoke (the film’s license).”

Publishing an article on China's 70th National Day on October 1, the People's Daily quoted Xi Jinping in describing China’s journey of the past 70 years as “a deeply moving saga of struggle both in the history of the Chinese nation and the history of the world.”

The People's Daily (September 20) reported that the Central Leading Group for the “Remain True to Original Aspiration, Keep Mission Firmly in Mind” Education Campaign issued a notice on September 29 stressing the importance of strengthening patriotic education and promoting patriotic spirit through the education campaign.

On September 28, the United Front News published an exclusive interview with the Eleventh Panchen Lama.

A Bloomberg report of October 9 stated that China's broader economic slowdown and trade war with the US has ended the boom that saw the emergence of big IT/ CHINA BACKS giants like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Group Holdings Ltd.

Taiwan on 8 October deported a Chinese tourist, Li Shaodong, for engaging in “criminal activities” for damaging a “Lennon Wall” that was put up in support of Hong Kong’s democracy movement.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in Beijing on October 9.

The US Commerce Department on October 7, added 28 Chinese companies and government agencies to its Entity List over human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

The Wall Street Journal reported (October 6) that the China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) has pulled out of a $5 billion natural-gas project in Iran as escalating tensions threaten to sever Beijing’s trade with Tehran.

Police in Anshan City, Liaoning Province, announced on its official Weibo account on October 2 that a 37-year-old man surnamed Gao would be detained for 15 days, after commenting adversely about the October 1 parade on WeChat.

The CDIC announced (October 4) that the former head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission Liu Shiyu, has been removed from his post of Deputy Party Chief at the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives.

BBC Chinese published (September 25) an analysis on the growth of China’s Navy after the Cold War.

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs recently stated that wholesale pork price in the third week of September was up 81 percent from a year earlier.

Photographs of PAP/PLA personnel in trucks at various locations in Hong Kong and marching alongside hedges through lanes are being circulated by hong Kong residents on Twitter and social media since October 4 evening. Reports also claim that between 10,000 to 15,000 PAP personnel are already in Hong Kong.

Radio France Internationale reported (September 29) that the number of U.S. officials who attended the 70th National Anniversary cocktail reception that the Chinese Embassy held in Washington, DC significantly decreased this year. Fewer attendees appeared from the U.S. side.

Statements issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Nepal from September 8-10, and meetings with the Prime Minister, Ministers and senior leaders of both the ruling and opposition parties, clarified that the U.S. strategy was discussed.

Financial times (October 2) reported that the China Yangtze Power International has agreed to buy Peru’s largest electric company Luz del Sur from US-based Sempra Energy for $3.6bn.

Amidst heavy security which allowed entry to Beijing's Tiananmen Square only to invitees, China's leaders held a massive parade -- China's largest ever till now -- on October 1, to showcase China's military might.

Thousands of monks and laypeople across Tibet were made to participate in a series of major staged performances to mark the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on October 1.

China Daily announced on September 30, 2019 that National honorary titles had been given to individuals who have made great contributions and have achieved recognition in various fields, including national defense, diplomacy and education.

At a meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on September 29, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said the Chinese people will not forget foreign experts' support and assistance to China's development over the 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

The MTR Corporation of Hongkong has announced the closure of 3 MTR stations, namely Wan Chai, Admiralty and Prince Edward on October 1. The airport express will not stop between Hong Kong station and the airport.

Some unidentified persons have announced a "HK Provisional Parliament" with its own website where a "Draft Civil Charter of HK" in either Cantonese or English versions is available.

The South China Morning post (October 1) reported that a protester had been shot in the chest by a live round fired by police on Hoi Pa Street, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong.

A Reuters special report (October 1) citing unidentified Chinese military officers claimed that between 10,000 to 12,000 well trained PLA/PAPF personnel have been quietly inducted into Hong Kong.

China openeD its first visa application service center in Lahore, Punjab to facilitate applicants wishing to visit China. Yao Jing, the Chinese Ambassador to Islamabad, inaugurated the centre on September 23. China’s Consul General in Lahore Long Dingbin, Deputy Consul General Peng Zhengwu and officials from the Punjab government also attended the ceremony.

On September 20, CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping spoke at the CPPCC Central Work Conference in Beijing on promoting a greater exchange of ideas, broader consultation in decision-making, and the need of finding consensus.

The official Global Times (September 27) publicised the issue by the State Council Information Office on September 27 of a new White Paper entitled "China and the world in the New Era" which, it said, comprehensively reviews China's development in the past 70 years, its contribution to the world and the country's role in an evolving world.

CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a meeting of the Politburo on September 24 to consider "a new era of patriotic education Implementation Outline" and the "Chinese Communist Party School (Administration Institute) Regulations."

The student union at Canada's McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, has revoked the club status of the school’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) after an appeal by students seeking to decertify the group over concerns about alleged links to the Chinese government.

US academic Dan Garrett was barred from entering Hong Kong on September 26, a week after he testified at the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) in Washington DC about the ongoing protests in the city.

Despite heavy rain on September 29, hundreds of thousands of protesters marched in Taipei and other cities in Taiwan in support of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Japan released its Defence White Paper on September 24, 2019. It is 415 pages in length and China figures prominently in it.

Commenting on the recent success of TCS, the official Global Times (September 26) observed that "Nevertheless, while China's stock market pales in comparison to India's, China's top tech companies are far ahead of their Indian counterparts.

The Senate Special Committee on the Project of China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC) discussed in detail SMEs and SEZs, uninterrupted power supply along CPEC routes, delaying of tariff determination by NEPRA for Coal based energy project in Gwadar and the Second Phase of Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Xinhua (Beijing - August 26) reported that the 12th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) decided on August 26 to approve the "Extradition Treaty between the People's Republic of China and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka".

Xinhua (September 18) reported that during his tour of Henan province from September 16 to 18, Chinese President and CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping, accompanied by Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee Wang Guosheng and Governor Chen Runer, visited Xinyang, Zhengzhou and other places to "deepen the revolutionary old areas, rural areas, enterprises, etc., on economic and social development" and “not forgetting the original heart.

The Chinese Communist Party’s leading theoretical fortnightly Qiushi published (September 16) a speech that Chinese President Xi Jinping gave five years ago emphasising that copying the political system of another country will not work and will ruin China’s future.

Ye Xuanping, elder son of Ye Jianying, one of the ten founding Marshals of communist China, died on September 17 at the age of 95. Ye Jianying and his family were very close to that of Xi Zhongxun.

China's State Council and the CCP Central Committee released a new outline on September 19, stating that by 2035 China wants a transportation system that allows citizens to Commute within any metropolitan area in under one hour.

As China tries to fill a pension shortfall, the government ordered SOEs to stop dragging their feet on the mandated transfer of equity to the national social security fund.

In a notice issued on September 17, the China Merchandise Reserve Management Center (CMRMC) announced it will release 10,000 metric tons of frozen pork from its national pork reserve through auction.

Nikkei Chinese Edition reported (September 5) from Hong Kong that, according to statistics provided by a U.S. market research leader, Chinese overseas acquisitions saw a significant decline in the first half of this year.

A FedEx Corp. pilot, who is an American citizen, was temporarily detained in Guangzhou after authorities found hundreds of air-gun pellets in his luggage prior to boarding a commercial flight to Hong Kong, marking the delivery firm’s latest setback in the country.

The Petroleum Economist disclosed (September 3) that Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif visited his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the end of August 2019 to present a road map for the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership, which was signed in 2016.

Global Times (September 11) recently reported that, according to the Defense Ministry of Serbia, Serbia will purchase armed unmanned aircraft from China. This was announced after a Chinese military delegation visited Serbia.

Xinhua (September 10) reported that Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) member and CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang conducted an inspection and research tour on religious work in Jiangxi Province.

PBSC member and CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang delivered a speech at a united front symposium celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Approximately 160 united front representatives and heads of relevant departments at party and state organizations attended.

China’s Caixin Daily (September 17) said that China's major economic indicators posted a worse-than-expected performance for August as growth of fixed-asset investment and value-added industrial output further slowed to multi-month, even multi-year, lows.

Caixin Daily reported (September 17) that China is contemplating increasing purchases of pork from overseas, including the U.S. and the EU, as the government grows increasingly concerned about soaring prices.

A Hong Kong news report (September 9) said that China Unicom Global Limited (CUG), the subsidiary of China Unicom, announced that it has invested a cumulative RMB 2 billion along the Belt and Road countries in 200 projects.

Xinhua reported (September 17) the arrival of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in St. Petersburg on September 16, for a three-day official visit to Russia. During the visit, Li Keqiang and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will co-chair the 24th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian heads of government.

Associated Press (September 17) reported that the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a compromise resolution extending the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan, dropping a Chinese demand to include a reference to China’s $1 trillion “belt and road” initiative.

According to a September 13, article by Estonian news site Delfi, Paul Rikk, Estonia’s national cybersecurity policy director, said the country’s 5G network shouldn’t be equipped with Huawei equipment.

Iran.com reported (September 17) that Chairwoman of the Money and Capital Market Commission of Tehran’s Chamber of Commerce Farial Mostofi said on September 17 a US$ 400 billion credit line has been launched for trade between Iran and China. She added that the credit line has allowed Chinese investors to undertake projects in Iran without bidding.

Qiu Shi (Seeking Truth) in its issue 17/2019 published an article by Politburo member and Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office dated September 1, on “thoroughly studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, especially Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy."

Asian-Pacific Security and Maritime Affairs published in June 2019 an article titled 'Trade and Science and Technology Wars and the “Paradigm Shift” in Sino-U. S. Relations' by Prof Zhu Feng, Dean at the Institute of International Relations at Nanjing University and Executive Director of the China South China Sea Research Center of Nanjing University.

According to the South China Morning Post (August 29) China has named Huawei Technologies and Hikvision Digital Technology as new national champions in artificial intelligence (AI).

Space News reported (September 11) Xing He, Executive Vice President of the China Great Wall Industry Corp., a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. as saying at the World Satellite Business Week conference (September 10) that China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. is likely to resume flights of its heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket this year.

The stand-off between the Beijing and its HKSAR government has recently got accentuated with the official China-owned 'China Daily' posting a notice on Facebook on September 10 morning warning that protestors in Hong Kong have decided on secret plans to escalate protests from September 11 with "massive" terrorist attacks including blowing up gas pipelines in Hong Kong and attacks on non-Cantonese speaking people.

The database released by the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) shows that Chinese entities have provided more than US$ 17 billion for Digital Silk Road projects completed since 2013.

The South China Morning Post reported (August 28) that China and Russia are forging stronger ties in space technology.

On August 22, as China marked the 115th birthday of Deng Xiaoping, the paramount leader who led China into the reform era, a post sent to “People’s Reading” (人民阅读) and “People’s Daily Press” (人民日报出版社), both official WeChat public accounts operated by the People’s Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, dealt with the now very sensitive issue of term limits for national leaders and reproduced a front-page article of the People's Daily captioned “Deng Xiaoping Abolishes the Lifelong Tenure System for Leaders” (邓小平废除领导职务终身制).

Xinhua reported that in his speech to a training session for young leaders at the Central Party School on September 3, Chinese President and CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping spoke of the immense challenges facing the country and the Chinese Communist Party.

The head of the Shanxi Public Security Bureau issued (September 5) a "wartime" order banning alcohol consumption by all provincial PSB employees from September 15 to October 4, to ensure nothing goes wrong during the 70th anniversary celebration period around October 1.

The ICT reported on August 6, 2019 that 36-year old Lobsang Dorje, a Tibetan monk from the influential Kirti monastery was sentenced to three years in prison on September 3 this week after being arrested in his room in mid-July 2018.

Qian Han, a Professor at the Wang Yanan Institute for Studies in Economics, Xiamen University, in an article published by East Asia Forum claimed that China's official Science and Technology Innovation Board (STAR) launched on June 13, 2019, as part of its capital market reform, has been quite active since its debut on 22 July 2019.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has formalized a new law that reduces the resource tax on heavy rare earths from 27 percent to 20 percent, which Chinese analysts say is a move that shows China's resolve to support the industry's development amid a heated trade war.

Chinese and US negotiators agreed on September 5 to hold the 13th round of China-U.S. high-level economic and trade consultations in early October in Washington and maintain close communication before that.

Zhang Dinghuai, a Professor of Hong Kong and Macao Studies at Shenzhen University and a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Strait Times (September 6) that common elements of colour revolutions include strong specific political demands, interference by external forces, attempts to motivate the public, social standoff and turmoil, huge pressure upon the authorities, and pursuit of power transfer through purportedly "nonviolent" approaches.

BuzzFeed News reported (September 7) that Nonlethal Technologies has been supplying hundreds of canisters of tear gas to Hongkong police.

Speaking (September 5) to the Editorial Board of the Toronto Star, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Beijing of using “Using arbitrary detention as a tool to achieve political goals, international or domestic, is something that is of concern not just to Canada but to all our allies.”

Japan Times (September 6) reported that Japan’s National Police Agency has in the 2020 budget requested a new unit dedicated to protecting the Senkaku Islands.

The Africa China Research Initiative shows that Africa’s trade deficit with China was USD 27.91 billion in 2018, as trade between the two sides rose to USD 170 billion.

CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a speech (September 3) at the CCP CC's Central Party School in Beijing.

Mingpao (September 1) disclosed that the Chinese government is assessing the dependency level that Chinese domestic high-tech vendors have on U.S. technologies.

The Chinese Ministry of Education and Ministry of Public Security held an urgent teleconference and ordered all schools nationwide to enhance safety measures on September 4, two days after eight pupils died in an attack at a school in Enshi, Hubei Province.

The South China Morning Post (August 22) reported that pictures taken by Chinese military enthusiasts earlier this week appear to show that construction of China’s first Type 075 amphibious helicopter assault ship is moving quickly.

A Nikkei analysis (August 19) of satellite orbit data from leading U.S. receiver maker Trimble highlighted BeiDou's rapid growth. China launched 18 satellites for the system in 2018 alone.

The South China Morning Post reported (August 23) that Chinese scientists have successfully tested a satellite positioning technology called pulsar navigation, catching up to the United States, which was the first to do so last year.

The day Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of HKSAR, withdrew (September 4) the Extradition Bill in an attempt calm the situation in Hongkong, the home of pro-democracy media tycoon and publisher of Apple Daily, Jimmy Lai was firebombed in the early hours of September 5.

China’s vision of profiting from the driverless economy is being clouded by intellectual property debates, as two Chinese suppliers of a key self-driving technology are accused of stealing IP from a Silicon Valley company.

Reuters reported (September 5) that the Solomon Islands intends to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan and align itself with Beijing. The switch still needs to be formalized.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Shuang said (September 5) that “Relations between China and Canada have encountered serious difficulties, and the responsibility lies entirely with the Canadian side.”

Wang Xiaohui, Executive Deputy Director of the CCP CC Propaganda Department announced (August 29) that it will hold a conference to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, when CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping will deliver an "important" speech.

Reports from Hongkong state that China rotated troops in its People’s Liberation Army garrison in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on August 28, days before protesters planned to hold a march calling for full democracy for the HKSAR.

The South China Morning Post (August 28) reported that the US Navy Burke-class guided missile destroyer, Wayne E. Meye, with the DDG-108 sailed into the South China Sea, Yongshu Reef and Meiji breaking the 12-mile range of China's South Island Reef on August 28.

An article in China's official Global Times (August 28) said the Viettel Group, Vietnam's largest mobile telecom operator, has reportedly excluded China's Huawei from its 5G rollout.

The China-owned US-based news outlet Duowei News reported with the caption 'The situation in India and Pakistan is escalating.

Inspecting a PLAAF Base in Gansu on August 22, Chinese President Xi Jinping used a tele-conferencing facility at the combat command center, to inspect the troops including personnel at a radar station on a plateau over 3,600 meters above sea level and a transport and rescue regiment, and called on the air force to enhance its capability to win and greet the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) with great achievements.

On August 23, China’s first domestic aircraft carrier returned to Dalian shipyard after completing the seventh sea trial.

According to The Epoch Times, after the anti-extradition movement had continued for more than two months in Hong Kong, the CCP’s media repeatedly released the film, “A Large Number of Armed Police Convoys in Shenzhen” to intimidate protesters.

Huanqiu (August 17) published an article that condemned a list of leaders of those in Hong Kong who have been involved in the protest against the proposed extradition bill and warned them not to use democracy as an excuse and not to portray students as victims.

The HSBC Bank, Standard Chartered and Bank of East Asia on August 23 placed full page advertisements in the Wen Wei Po, Ta Kung Pao and Sing Tao Daily condemning the violence in HongKong and calling for a peaceful resolution.

China’s State Council announced (August 23) that it will impose tariffs of 5% and 10% Chinese tariffs on $75 billion in U.S. goods.

On August 23, U.S. Representative James McGovern (D-MA) and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), the Chair and Cochair respectively of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), released a letter dated August 13 written by them to World Bank President David Malpass expressing concern and raising questions about a World Bank loan that funds technical and vocational training projects in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

Commander Reann Mommsen, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet, told Reuters (August 23) that the United States sent the 'Green Bay', an amphibious transport dock ship of the US Navy through the 122-mile wide Taiwan Strait on August 23.

UK Embassy staffer Simon Cheng was released by the Chinese authorities on August 24 after 15 days of detention. China's official Global Times reported on August 22 that a staffer at the British Consulate General in Hong Kong, who has been detained by police in the Luohu district of Shenzhen City, is being held for solicitation of prostitution.

UK Embassy staffer Simon Cheng was released by the Chinese authorities on August 24 after 15 days of detention. China's official Global Times reported on August 22 that a staffer at the British Consulate General in Hong Kong, who has been detained by police in the Luohu district of Shenzhen City, is being held for solicitation of prostitution.

China Daily (August 23) published a Xinhua report of August 23 reporting the remarks made by China's Ambassador to the EU on August 22. He said 'A major power outside the region is trying to turn the South China Sea into an arena for major-power wrestling, which is the source of tensions in the region'.

Apparently underscoring his exhortation to the people to prepare for another 'Long March', while touring Gansu province on August 19, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a visit to the martyrs' cemetery of the West Route Army of Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in Zhangye.

China’s Ministry of National Defense issued a 27,000 word, 6 chapter White Paper on July 24, 2019 released a white paper titled "China’s National Defense in the New Era," disclosing that, before 2017, its military spending accounted for 1.28 percent of its GDP and that from 2012 to 2017, China’s defense expenditure increased from US$98 billion to $152 billion.

In an article posted on Sina.com and published in the Global Times on August 8, retired PLA Lt. Gen. Wang Hongguang, who was formerly Deputy Commander of the Nanjing Military Region, commented on the United States announcement (August 2) that it has officially withdrawn from the "Guidelines on the Treaty" signed in 1987 with the Soviet Union.

The official China Pictorial disclosed on July 22, that pilots of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) have tested the sea warfare capabilities of their advanced Su-35 fighter jets over the South China Sea.

On August 20, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei put the company on a war footing in the face of mounting US pressure. On August 19, the US gave Huawei a 90-day reprieve to continue to do business with US clients, but also put 46 of the company’s affiliates on the Entity List.

The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of Hong Kong Edward Yau said (August 23) the number of people visiting the Hongkong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has dipped in the last two months, taking a toll on its tourism and retail sectors.

During the first seven months of this year, pledges of foreign direct investment(FDI) in Vietnam from China jumped 134% to $2.48 billion, moving China up to the third-biggest FDI source from fifth in 2018, data from the Foreign Investment Agency of Vietnam showed. The FDI total reflects only investment commitments.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Beijing on August 22 to discuss a potential trade agreement between their countries.

At a time when China is becoming increasingly assertive, South Korea said (August 23) it will scrap an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, drawing a swift protest from Tokyo.

The state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said on July 18, that it has started construction of China's first demonstration SMR at the Changjiang nuclear facility in Hainan as part of efforts to diversify the nuclear sector.

The China Democracy Party and Falungong jointly staged a protest on August 18 in New York's Times Square in support of the protesters in Hongkong.

Caixin (August 16) quoted state-owned China Central Television as reporting that Xing Yun, former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Inner Mongolia, was charged with corruption.

The Diplomat (August 16) published an analysis that a recent officially released photo of China's 5th generation fighter J-20 with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) bore a serial number indicating it belonged to a frontline combat unit.

Reporting an exercise in March by 12 H-6 strategic bombers, the official Global Times (August 6) disclosed that the main mission objective of China's H-6K bomber is to strike key strategic points deep within enemy territories.

On August 14, the U.S. added four Chinese nuclear entities to a trade blacklist, accusing them of helping to acquire advanced U.S. technology for military use in China.

The State Department told Congress on August 15 night, right after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had signed a memo approving the $8 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan.

The nationalist official daily 'Global Times', on August 15, criticised Amazon for challenging China’s sovereignty by allowing the sale of T-shirts with slogans like “Free Hong Kong Democracy Now”, written in English, or “Go Hong Kong”, written in traditional Chinese characters.

The Hongkong Free Press on August 16, reported that several Hongkong protesters had received death threats from anonymous persons.

Voice of America (VOA) Chinese edition recently published an article stating that, according to a report that a large Chinese investment bank CICC (China International Capital Corporation) just released, China’s manufacturing industry has lost around five million jobs.

China’s central bank set the midpoint of the yuan’s daily trading range at 7.0039 to the U.S. dollar on August 8, the first time it has set the rate above the psychologically important 7-to-the-dollar mark since 2008.

Separately, The Paper (August 5) published a commentary analyzing the meaning. It said “It reflects a big change in China’s currency policy. It will no longer attempt to keep the exchange rate below 7. From the short-term perspective, under the pressure of Trump’s new tariff on over $300 billion of Chinese goods and the downward pressure on China’s economy this year, devaluing the Renminbi will help the economy.”

Citing military observers the South China Morning Post (August 6) reported that the 65,000-tonne Type 001A, China’s first home-grown aircraft carrier, is undergoing another sea trial, straight after four days of testing, suggesting that the PLA Navy may have identified technical problems requiring immediate attention.

China Daily (August 6) reported that the 9,240-meter Bukamu Tunnel, located in Manling county of the region's eastern Nyingchi city, has been completed.

The South China Morning Post (August 9) reported that the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) told the Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific that from August 10, staff who had taken part in “illegal protests”, “violent actions” and “overly radical activities” in the city would not be allowed on services to or from the mainland.

Reuters (August 6) reported that two sources privy to internal discussions in New Delhi said India's Ambassador in Beijing, Vikram Misri, was called to the Chinese foreign ministry on July 10 to hear China's concerns about the U.S. campaign to keep Huawei out of 5G mobile infrastructure worldwide.

Replying to a question at the routine Foreign Ministry briefing in Beijing on August 6, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said: China is always opposed to India's inclusion of the Chinese territory in the western sector of the China-India boundary into its administrative jurisdiction.

In an unexpected move on August 6, Qatar refused to bow down to requests from China by rejecting the deportation of Ablikim Yusuf, a Uighur man who had fled China. Ablikim Yusuf only days ago was stranded in Doha’s Hamad International Airport expecting the Qatari authorities to deport him back to China.

The Bundestag has appealed China's travel ban on a Green party politician, apparently over her criticism of its human rights record.

China on August 9, accused Washington of applying “gangster logic” after US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus described Beijing as a “thuggish regime”.

Confirmation that the annual Beidaihe 'informal' retreat of senior veteran CCP leaders is underway was visible in the issue of a traffic control ordinance on June 29 announcing special vehicle inspection from July 13 to August 18, by the Qinhuangdao City that administers the Beidaihe resort.

Xi Jinping presided over a Politburo meeting on analysing the current economic situation and making a plan for economic work in the second half of the year.

China's official Xinhua news agency (July 31) reported on the 16th collective study on the reform of the military policy system held by the Politburo on July 30. In his remarks, Xi Jinping stressed that the military policy system "is an important guarantee for our party to govern the country".

BBC's monitoring service on July 25, reported that former Chairman of the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region and subsequently Director of the National Energy Administration, Nur Bekri was put on trial in Shenyang.

A Reuters report ( August 6) said that approvals issued by the Chinese government for new coal mine construction in China have surged in 2019.

Defying stern warnings from both the local government and Beijing, people in seven districts in Hong Kong—most notably teachers, airport workers, and civil servants—participated in a general strike on August 5, shutting down portions of the territory.

A notification issued by the US Treasury Department on August 6, stated that "under Section 3004 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, US Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin, under the auspices of President Trump, has today determined that China is a Currency Manipulator."

The Director of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Arms Control Department, Fu Cong, said on August 6, that China “will not stand idly by” and will take countermeasures if the U.S. deploys intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.

China's official news agency Xinhua on August 6, reported the abolition of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution "which guarantees a "special status" to Indian-controlled Kashmir" and claimed "as soon as the proposal was made, there was a pandemonium in the house."

Xinhua on August 3 indicated that the secretive annual conclave of China's senior veteran leaders had commenced at the seaside resort.

The Cyberspace Administration of China released (July 22 ) a draft regulation released for public comment that proposes restricting the internet access of users and providers of online information services that “fabricate, publish, or spread information that violates public morality, business ethics, or good faith,” or deliberately provide technological assistance to those who do so.

China for the first time revealed the historical composition of its massive forex reserves and the return on investments it made with the money, as part of what regulators called efforts to improve transparency and confidence in the country’s economic and financial position.

Vice Admiral David Kriete, Deputy Commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, at a press briefing reported in The Beacon (August 1, 2019), expressed concern at China's rapidly growing nuclear arsenal when combined with other alarming activities in the South China Sea and elsewhere.

Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hongkong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on August 5 announced she would not be stepping down and warned that the city of Hong Kong, which is now "full of bullying and maltreatment," is on the verge of a "very dangerous situation."

TASS news agency reported (July 31) that “About 100 military servicemen from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army who will maintain the second S-400 regiment set, completed a training course to use the S-400 systems in July and returned to their home country.”

The French newspaper Le Monde reported (August 3) that Beijing has announced it would stop all cooperation between its police services and French counterparts.

People’s Daily on July 22, published a commentator article that strongly condemned “extremist protestors” for “surrounding the Hong Kong Liaison Office of the Central People's Government, damaging its facilities, defacing the National Emblem, and spray-painting expressions insulting the country and people” on 21 July.

The Party's official mouthpiece 'People’s Daily' published (July 15-18, 2019) a series of articles under the byline “Ren Ping” (任平), which is likely a homophonous pen name standing for “People’s Daily Commentary” (人民日报评论), each of which warned party officials to not become a certain negative archetype of official, as identified by Xi Jinping.

Liu Junchuan (刘军川) was appointed Deputy Director of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office.

Asia-Nikkei news reported (July 27) that top Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies is offering salaries of up to 2 million yuan ($291,000) per year to new graduates with advanced degrees, to bolster in-house research and development in the face of U.S. sanctions.

China's Economic Daily (July 16) published a commentary under the byline “Ping Yan” (平言), which is likely a pen name used by the Economic Daily Theoretical Commentary Department (经济日报理论评论部), arguing that China’s 6.3% GDP growth rate for the first half of this year fell within a "reasonable interval and actually showed China’s success in maintaining stability in the face of unstable and uncertain external conditions".

Two large-scale military drills close to the Taiwan Strait commenced on July 28 in waters off the coast of eastern China’s Zhejiang province and another set of military exercises are being held from July 29 till August 2., 2019.

Xinhua July 18, reported that PBSC Member and Chairman of the CPPCC Wang Yang while on an inspection visit to Qinghai, praised recent achievements in Qinghai’s ethnic, religious and anti-poverty work, and stressed that doing a good job in ethnic and religious is important to maintaining social and long-term stability in Tibetan areas.

Radio Free Asia (RFA - 27 July) quoting unnamed Tibetan sources reported that authorities in western China’s Sichuan province have begun a campaign of large-scale demolition at the Yachen Gar Tibetan Buddhist center, with Chinese work crews tearing down over a hundred dwellings of nuns evicted from the complex in recent weeks.

Radio Hongkong (RTHK) on July 31 reported that former Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa on July 31, blamed “foreign forces” in Taiwan and the US for the ongoing social unrest in Hong Kong.

The Financial Times (July 28) reported that tens of thousands of Hong Kong protesters besieged traditional villages in the territory’s northern district of Yuen Long in defiance of police on 27 July afternoon as the city’s worst political crisis in decades took a dangerous turn.

BBC Chinese reported (July 19) that, over the past month or so, Hong Kong has had several major protests against the “Extradition Bill.” More protests are expected in the coming days.

The China Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association on July 31, 2019 posted a notification on the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Government portal suspending travel to Taiwan by Mainland residents of 47 cities with effect from August 1, 2019 for an undetermined period. 　 　　

Deutsche Welle Chinese reported on July 19, that the friendly relationship between the City of Prague and the City of Beijing is changing.

The CCP leadership is due to travel to Beidaihe shortly for the usual summer conclave.

The ninth meeting of the Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reform (CCCDR), which was established in March 2018 as part of the massive restructuring of the CCP and chaired by Chinese President and CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping on July 24, stressed that grassroots officials need to be given more leeway to craft solutions to fit their own circumstances.

The state-owned CCTV reported (July 16) that PBSC Member and Chairman of the CPPCC Wang Zhen had attended a three-day conference in the Hetian district of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous where PB Member and Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Quanguo was among those present.

Conservative Party MP Tim Loughton said as he submitted the Reciprocal Access Bill on July 23, 2019 in the House of Commons.

On July 23, for the first time Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and the Russian Air Force jointly conducted a long-range aerial patrol in the Indo-Pacific region to “strengthen global strategic stability.”

The Asia-Nikkei news service reported July 23, quoted the Wall Street Journal report that China and Cambodia have signed a secret agreement that allows Beijing to use Ream for 30 years.

The Nikkei-Asia index reported (July 26) that US Senator Marco Rubio last month introduced legislation that would increase oversight of Chinese companies listed on American stock exchanges, delisting those that fail to comply with the new requirements. =

Reuters reported (July . ) that US US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin will be in Shanghai on July 30, to reopen trade negotiations with their Chinese counterparts Vice Premier Liu He and Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan.

A compilation of Chinese language articles in PRC state and Party media that directly or indirectly attack the "Stay the Course" letter

The Nepal Rastra Bank granted a license on July 24 for the payment system operator to Chinese company--UnionPay International to provide its services in Nepal recently.

On July 22, Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates met Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Former Chinese Premier Li Peng died on 22 July 2019 in Beijing at the age of 90.

On July 18, the National People’s Congress held a symposium in Beijing to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of standing committees at local people’s congresses.

More than 100 rural doctors have resigned in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province over unpaid public health subsidies and alleged unfair treatment, following a first wave of departures in the central Henan province over similar issues.

The chief spokesman of China's Ministry of National Defense (MND) Senior Col. Wu Qian, warned on July 24 that “The behavior of some radical protesters challenges the central government’s authority, touching on the bottom line principle of ‘one country, two systems.’” He asserted “That absolutely cannot be tolerated.”

Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun disclosed (July 20) that China fired six DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles on July 1 from different points in southern China which landed almost simultaneously in the sea north of the Spratly Islands.

China's National Bureau of Statistics said July 15, that China's agricultural planting area for the high-protein food crop increased in the first half of the year.

Epoch Times (July 14) reported that a group of Chinese soldiers had "recently crossed the border into India and tried to prevent local Tibetan residents from hosting an annual birthday celebration for the Dalai Lama".

China’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries dipped in May to the lowest in two years amid an escalation of the trade war, falling by $2.8 billion to $1.11 trillion, according to Treasury Department data released in Washington on July 16.

The Redwood City, California-based startup Cape Productions Inc., an American supplier of drone technology to dozens of state and local law enforcement and public safety agencies said it will stop working with Chinese drone manufacturers, citing security concerns.

Responding to Radio Free Asia reports on July 18, that about 10 Hong Kong protesters had arrived in Taiwan and of Apple Daily that about 30 had arrived on the island and 30 more were planning to follow.

On July 18, Chinese President Xi Jinping met Chinese ambassadors from all over the world at the 2019 Annual Overseas Diplomats Work Conference.

Xinhua reported the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Inner Mongolia on July 15 and 16, his third to the region since the 19th Party Congress, when he highlighted the need to carry out the theme education of “not forgetting the original heart and keeping in mind the mission”, which is a party internal rectification campaign.

On July 16, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang discussed the economy with top officials and invited economists and business leaders to give their thoughts on the current economic trajectory.

China's top political advisory body, the CPPCC, held a symposium on the economy on July 15. Nine CPPCC members shared their views, including former top Party and state economic advisors Yang Weimin and Liu Shijin.

Nikkei Research reported on July 18, that a year into the trade war with Washington, more than 50 global companies, including Apple and Nintendo, have announced or are considering plans to move production out of China.

A report on July 17 disclosed that according to Hong Kong's "Ming Pao", the Deputy Director of the Equipment Development Department of the CCP Central Military Commission Qian Weiping, was arrested and investigated by the Chinese military for being involved in espionage in early July.

The Party journal 'China Comment' (13/2019) recently stated that village-level elections are flawed with a large bottle of cooking oil being the going rate for securing a single vote in one specific village.

President Trump met with a number of relatives of political prisoners in the White House including Ilham Tohti and Tenzin Delek's daughters.

A Financial Times report of July 18 detailing the links between the Want Want China Times Group, a major Taiwanese media group, and various PRC entities was publicised recently.

A 2018 study by Oxford Economics and the CIMB ASEAN Research Institute was quoted in mid-July to say that BRI projects in ASEAN countries amount to more than US$739 billion.

Chinese President and General Secretary of the CCP convened a high-level meeting (July 9) to discuss Party-building in central Party and state institutions.

Xi Jinping convened a meeting of leading Party, Government and PLA cadres, excluding representatives of the other democratic parties and All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, who attended the opening ceremony of the January seminar on July 5, 2019. e.

The International Campaign for Tibet reported (Global Times - June 18, 2019) that a nationwide political campaign in China against “black” and “evil forces” has intensified in Chinese-occupied Tibet with a strong emphasis on cracking down on “separatism in the name of religion” and loyalty to the Dalai Lama.

The American Enterprise Institute in a report in July 2019 stated that China’s investment and construction around the world plunged in the first half of 2019 and is unlikely to return to 2016–17 levels in the foreseeable future.

Caixin Daily (July 12) reported that China’s best and brightest are struggling to land prestigious jobs as the lowest level of economic growth in a decade and a prolonged trade war with the U.S. drive down job openings.

In an article in the Atlantic (July 2019) Didi Kirsten Tatlow mentioned that there are at least 230 groups in Germany linked to China’s United Front in addition to 20 Confucius Institutes.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen arrived in the US on July 11 while on a visit to four Caribbean allies. Tsai will go to New York on her way there, and then is expected to stop in Denver on the way back.

Kurt Tong, the outgoing US Consul General in Hong Kong was barred by the U.S. State Department from giving a tough valedictory speech because of fears criticism of government actions could offend Beijing and derail a trade war truce agreed by Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at last month’s G20 meeting in Japan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang announced on June 22 that Chinese President Xi Jinping would attend the 14th Group of 20 (G20) summit in Osaka, Japan from June 27 to 29, at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Qu Weiguo, Head of the English Department of the prestigious Tsinghua University in a speech to the Class of 2019 on June 19, praised the importance of fighting for individual liberty, talking with the world outside and thinking independently.

Top Chinese leaders appear to be increasingly worried about the deteriorating economic picture.

On June 6, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued 5G commercial licenses to four state-owned telecommunication companies. China Mobile is keen to get rolling with its 5G build out.

The People's Daily reported on June 21, that China's unmanned helicopter, the AV500, has successfully conducted its first night operation under challenging conditions, demonstrating its any-time, all-terrain capabilities.

The Nikkei Asian Review reported on June 19, that Apple has asked its major suppliers to weigh the costs of moving 15% to 30% of their production capacity from China to Southeast Asia as it preps for a fundamental restructuring of its supply chain.

Prior to the all-important Xi-Trump meeting next week, a group of five US CEOs including the heads of the chemical giant Dow Inc., United Parcel Service Inc., drugmaker Pfizer Inc. and Honeywell International Inc., are set to meet with Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.

The official Global Times published (June 16) an article by Long Xingchun, Director of the Center for Indian Studies at China West Normal University, which argued that while the US is trying to sell more weaponry to India it has not been a reliable partner in the past and Russia is still India's main supplier.

June 17, marked the 60th consecutive day that China Coast Guard vessels operated within 24 nautical miles (nm) of the Senkaku Islands. This is the longest stretch of continuous Chinese activity in those waters since Japan started tracking it.

Hu Zhaoming, spokesman for the Chinese Communist Party’s International Department, Xi Jinping would visit North Korea on June 20-21, 2019 , at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced at a press conference on June 15, that she has suspended indefinitely efforts to pass a controversial new extradition law, after a week of unprecedented mass protests and street violence.

The CCP CC's ideological theoretical journal Qiushi on June 17, asserted that China would not give way on major principles in its negotiations with the US on ending the dispute.

Bloomberg business news reported (June 14) that the World Bank on June 12 announced a 15-month debarment of China-based Dongfang Electronics Co. Ltd. (Dongfang) in connection with fraudulent practices while bidding on a power project in Liberia.

Former central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan, speaking on a panel at the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai on June 14, expressed concern over the impact of a protracted trade war.

China Daily reported (June 17) that Peng Yuxing, a former Vice Governor of Sichuan Province and head of the Military Civil Integration Working Group, is under investigation by the CDIC.

China News reported on June 10, that in mid-May, a Chinese Buddhist delegation headed by the Panchen Lama, Vice President of the Chinese Buddhist Association went to Thailand to attend the celebration of the closing ceremony of the United Nations Welcome Day and made a friendly visit to the Thai Buddhist community. This is the first time the Panchen has gone abroad.

The People’s Daily published a series of Commentator articles from June 2 to June 6 to stress the importance of “building the Party based on ideology” and implementing the goals set by the education campaign with “high standards” and for Party Committees (Party Leadership Groups) to take on the responsibilities to lead and supervise the implementation of the campaign.

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) held a forum on 4 June, for experts of the rare earth industry to promote the “high-quality development of the industry.”

The Global times reported (May 13) that China has launched two new Type 052D guided-missile destroyers at the Dalian shipyard. The report said “China now has 20 Type 052Ds either in active service or being fitted out for service soon.”

Proposed by Chinese President in November 2018, China's new high-tech board called the SSE Star Market, opened in Shanghai on June 13.

Tencent Holdings' restructuring takes place as the company posted its first quarterly profit drop in 13 years in Q2 2018. The move will eventually affect the company’s 50,000 employees and at least 30 VP-level executives.

The People's Daily on June 6, publicised Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Russia this week and meting on June 5 with Russian President Vladimir Putin to commemorate 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement on June 12, that a collision between a Chinese and a Philippine vessel, the FB Gimver 1, was reported by Filipino fishermen near the Recto Bank in the South China Sea on the evening of June 9, with the collision sinking the vessel.

The United States Senate on June 13, confirmed former Air Force Brig. General David Stilwell as the U.S. Ambassador to China.

A front page People's Daily article on June 1, noted that the Chinese government had from that day begun to raise tariffs on US goods worth about 60 billion U.S. dollars "as a counterattack against the U.S.’s move to raise the tariff of 200 billion U.S. dollars to China’s exports to the United States".

The People’s Daily launched a new series of Zhong Sheng articles on the US-China trade war focusing on “clearly seeing the true colours of US politicians.”

Amidst concerns about a weakening Chinese economy, the PBoC Governor Yi Gang said in an interview on June 7, that no hard limit existed for the dollar exchange rate, indicating that the tightly controlled onshore renminbi could drop further against the US Dollar.

Well-known Chinese news site Sina reported on May 31, that China’s National Bureau of Statics just released its May Manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) number.

The South China Morning Post (May 14) reported that Regulators in Hong Kong are increasingly nervous about the accelerating pace of capital outflows from China after the collapse of trade talks, fearing a wave of financial turbulence that could jeopardize the hub's longstanding dollar peg.

Official Chinese date quoted on June 5, by the business news journal Caixin revealed that average wholesale prices of several fruits climbed as much as 42% as of June 3 compared with the start of the year most likely because of cold snaps in several fruit-producing regions.

China inflation hit a 15-month high in May as swine fever pushed Pork prices nearly 20% over last year.

The Russian News Agency TASS, on June 5, said that the experimental team of the Chinese People's Liberation Army will test the second batch of Russian-made S-400 missiles delivered to China in the first 10 days of June. This test will continue to test the anti-missile capability of this type of missile.

Since late last year, amid rising U.S-China tensions and unwelcome climate, venture firms with China ties have held back their U.S. investments. U.S. startups in the Silicon Valley also prefer to look for funding to U.S. Government entities and push their Chinese investors out to avoid scrutiny.

Taiwan confirmed on June 6 that it has asked to purchase more than 100 tanks from the United States, along with a letter of request for 108 cutting-edge M1A2 Abrams tanks, 1,240 TOW anti-armor missiles, 409 Javelin anti-tank missiles, and 250 Stinger man-portable air defense systems.

The China-sponsored Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has ramped up the pace of its lending since late last year, approving eight new projects in countries ranging from Indonesia to Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka over the last six months, according to its website.

Xi Jinping wrote a signed article titled "Working Together for a Brighter Future of China-Tajikistan Friendship" published on June 12, by the Tajik media on the eve of his state visit .

The official Global Times (June 4) publicised that the new Type-055 Destroyer, the 'Nanchang' (Hull No: 101) took part in the recent International Fleet Review at Qingdao. It said the warship will join the PLAN's North Sea Fleet.

China's Global Times published (June 6) an article by Ding Gang, Senior Editor with the Party paper 'People's Daily' and currently also a Senior Fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, asserting that Nepal's "strategic position" is the cause for increased US interest on Nepal in its Indo-Pacific Strategy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping paid his eighth visit (and fourth state visit) to Russia from June 5 to 7, when he will attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. which is due to kick off Thursday.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported (June 4) that Australian Intelligence officials believe China may have been behind a massive data breach which compromised the personal details of thousands of Australian National University students and staff.

CNN citing three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said (June 5) that the US government has obtained intelligence that Saudi Arabia has significantly escalated its ballistic missile program with the help of China.

According to statistics from China's Education Ministry released on June 3, among the more than 10,000 Chinese whose studies in the US were sponsored by the Chinese government in 2018, 331 people were unable to do so because of a visa issue.

Xinhua reported (may 27) that CPPCC Chairman and PBSC member Wang Yang (汪洋) conducted an inspection tour of Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province from May 25 to 27, 2019.

China's State Council on May 29 announced the appointment of the former Chinese Ambassador to India, 62-year old Luo Zhaohui (罗照辉) as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The official CCP newspaper People’s Daily launched a new Zhong Sheng series on the US-China trade war. Each article focused on a particular reason why US actions will result in “inevitable failure”.

On May 31, the CCP launched a new campaign with the theme "staying true to our founding mission" among all Party members, especially officials at or above the county and director level.

Duowei, an official Chinese news outlet in North America, reported that, “China, in the face of the unreasonable demands that the United States has made on China in trade negotiations, emphasized its ‘core interests’ and showed that it has the will never to yield to the United States.

Speaking at the annual Shangri'la Dialogue in Singapore on June 1, Chinese Defence Minister Lt. General Wei Fenghe dressed in full military uniform asserted that “Building facilities on one’s own territories is not militarisation.”

China declared on June 2, that the U.S. must withdraw its latest round of tariffs before a deal can be reached.

Nikkei reported (June1) that China's exports to U.S. dropped by US$ 15.2 billion, or 12%, in the first quarter of Jan-March 2019.

The U.S. Commerce Department on May 13, banned six Chinese technology entities, one Pakistani firm and five based in the United Arab Emirates from exporting sensitive U.S. technologies and other goods.

The CCP CC General Office in a circular issued on May 27, instructed that the Party collective should have absolute control over promotions, taking away decision-making power from individuals.

The official Global Times on May 28 said that there had been wide spread and heated discussion following an interview with Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei.

Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe arrived in Singapore earlier this week combining attendance at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue with meetings with Singapore Government officials.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping pays a state visit to Russia from June 5 to 7, China and Russia are expected to sign joint communiqués that will propel bilateral ties to a higher level.

China’s imports from Iran of Iranian crude oil surged to a five-year high in April as it gorged itself ahead of the return of U.S. sanctions.

The official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, the People's Daily, warned on May 30 that China might ban export of rare earths — which are crucial in much high-performance modern technology including Circuit boards, batteries, sensors and thrusters.

Gao Feng, spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, stated during a briefing in Beijing on May 30, that “The U.S. keeps escalating the trade tensions, and makes various tricks, which has severely hurt the trade talks.” He also said “Whether the China-U.S. trade talks can make any progress largely hinges on the U.S. attitude and sincerity.”

The leading Chinese business magazine Caixin quoting China's official news agency Xinhua reported that “Pfizer Upjohn, Pfizer's generic drug unit, opened its global headquarters in Shanghai on May 30, marking the first time any multinational drug company has placed its main office in China.

Excerpts from a recent interview by Asahi Shimbun with Retired PLA Colonel and Professor at China's National Defense University, Liu Mingfu, who wrote the 'China Dream' are reproduced below.

South China Morning Post disclosed (May 28) that the CCP CC's United Front Work Department issued a news release on May 27, stating that China has begun five-day Confucian culture immersion courses for religious leaders in the sage’s hometown as part of a campaign to extend government control over faith communities through a process of Sinicisation.

The New York Times reported (May 28) that on the eve of the anniversary of the "Tiananmen incident" on June 3-4, 1998, 66-year old former PLA Lieutenant Ms. Jiang Lin called for a public reckoning because generations of Chinese Communist Party leaders, including President Xi Jinping, have expressed no remorse for the violence.

China's leading business news service reported that on May 22 a new high-level “small leading group” was set up to work on employment. This followed the surveyed urban unemployment rates for the first four months of this year showing that these were all higher than last year's rates.

The South China Morning Post (May 27) reported that food prices in China jumped 6.1 per cent in April due to higher pork and fruit prices, with pork price increases accelerating to 14.4 per cent from 5.1 per cent in March.

Asia Nikkei reported on May 29, that China's largest chip foundry, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., will delist from the New York Stock Exchange.

In seven trading days through May 13, foreign investors sold a net 3.7 billion yuan ($530 million) of shares in Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. Ltd. through the stock connect program between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, according to data compiled by financial data provider iFind from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd.

Taiwan’s official Central News Agency disclosed on May 25, that Taiwan National Security Chief David Lee met White House National Security Adviser John Bolton during David Lee’s visit to the U.S. from May 13 to 21.

Associated Press reported (May 28) that Australian Navy helicopter pilots were hit by lasers while exercising in the South China Sea, forcing them to land as a precaution. It quoted Euan Graham, who was onboard the Royal Australian Navy flagship HMAS Canberra on a voyage from Vietnam to Singapore.

On May 20, CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping visited a 'revolutionary base' in Jiangxi province to commemorate the 12,500 kms 'Long March' that lasted from October 1934 to October 1936.

Inspecting the Infantry Academy of the PLA Ground Force in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province on May 21, Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered military schools to 'move forward in the correct political direction' and asserted that their training must be focussed on what the military needs to win wars and that they must provide capable human resources to support the effort of building a strong military.

A Washington Post report on May 25, disclosed that 21-year Qiu Zhanxuan, leader of the Marxist student association at the elite Peking University, had released a scathing video in February of the inhuman treatment meted out to him by China's security authorities during his four days of detention.

China's Banking regulators issued a statement (May 24) stating that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) have taken over the management of Baoshang Bank for two years.

The South China Morning Post on May 26 reported, quoting an unnamed Chinese military source, that “The escalating tension between China and the United States has reminded Beijing’s leaders that they need to be careful how much they spend on new warships.”

Threatened by African Swine Fever that is cutting across Asia, the Chinese government has banned the use of non heated swill and doesn't allow swill feeding at all in provinces with ongoing outbreaks.

Emory University fired two neuroscientists after they were accused of failing to disclose foreign research funding and connections with China.

Reuters reported (May 23) that a planned US$10 billion port project in Tanzania has hit an impasse, with China and Tanzania disagreeing on terms of the infrastructure investment. Deusdedit Kakoko.

An article by CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping entitled "Deepening Understanding of the New Vision of Development," was published on May 16 in the 10th issue of the Party theoretical journal Qiushi.

On May 17, the official Chinese Communist Party (CCP) newspaper 'People's Daily' published a commentary captioned 'No power can stop the Chinese people from realising their dreams'.

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on May 17, that while the nationwide spread of the deadly African swine fever has sent live pig and pork prices soaring, it will not have a major impact on consumers due to the stable supply of other protein sources including poultry, aquaculture products and eggs.

On May 16, the General Offices of the State Council and Central Committee released new guidelines to promote "digital villages."

A report publicised by ZDNET. on May 14 and released by cybersecurity professionals from the BlackBerry Cylance Threat Intelligence team on recent Chinese hacking activity based on research was made public in December by Area 1 Security.

According to a recently leaked letter from He Tingbo, President of Huawei's chip unit HiSilicon, the Chinese smartphone giant anticipated years ago that the U.S. government might “suppress” the company and cut channels for it to acquire chip-related technology from the U.S., and has developed “alternative chips” for just such a scenario — though it did not expect the situation to actually happen.

The Trump administration on May 15, imposed an extreme penalty on Huawei that bars U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by Chinese company Huawei and its 70 subsidiaries.

Since 2016, Pakistan has allocated 1.3 billion rupees (US$9.1 million) for CPEC security, on top of the efforts of the Balochistan provincial government and created the 15,000-man SSD.

The official Party newspaper People's Daily on May 6, publicised that NPC Chairman and PBSC member Li Zhanshu (栗战书) presided over a study seminar focusing on Xi Jinping’s diplomatic thought and Xi’s important speech at the second Belt and Road Forum (BRF).

Xi Jinping chaired a Politburo meeting on May 13, where the Party decided to launch a “Stay true to the Party’s founding mission” education campaign from June 2019.

Lou Jiwei, a former Chinese Minister of Finance and till recently Chairman of China’s Social Security Fund, told South China Morning Post in early March that the Made in China 2025 plan had “wasted taxpayers’ money.”

Prominent intellectuals including children of veteran leaders have called for review and change in Beijing's policies towards the US, while stopping short of directly criticising existing policies.

In a statement on its website on May 13, the Chinese Ministry of Finance announced an escalation of the trade war on May 14 and said it would raise tariffs on US$60 billion of US goods from June 1, by “25, 20 and 10 per cent” respectively.

Two Chinese Vice Premiers, Sun Chunlan and Hu Chunhua, chaired a National Conference on Employment in Beijing on May 13, to which Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sent instructions.

The 90-second rhetoric tirade against the US by anchor Kang Hui on the 13th May evening edition of the Party's flagship news program, Xinwen Lianbo on the state-owned CCTV was strong and has become an internet sensation in China.

Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’’s crown prince, on May 10, defended China’s use of concentration camps for Muslims, saying it was Beijing’s “right”.

By May 2019, China had launched two more new Type-052 Destroyers bringing the total in service to nine. The report said the 20th Type-052 Destroyer will be ready in three years.

The US Economic and Security Review Commission (USESRC) has assessed that China's military spending will increase between 2015 - 2021 by 55 % from US$ 167.9 billion to US$ 260.87 bn. The PLAN's spending, it said, will increase by 82% from US$ 31.4 billion to US$ 57.1 billion.

Huawei CFO and daughter of Huawei founder Ren , Ms. Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, who is presently in detention in Canada awaiting completion of extradition proceedings, wrote a letter on May 13, to all 188,000 personnel of Huawei which was published on the Xinsheng Community (Huawei's internal online forum).

As Chinese Vice Premier and Xi Jinping's trade envoy Liu He arrived in Washington on May 10 to continue negotiations, US President Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods from 10 to 25 percent claiming that will garner around US$ 300 billion for the US.

POPULAR REACTIONS IN CHINA TO SINO-US TRADE WAR

Amnesty International, which had recently moved its headquarters to a building in New York, was asked on May 10 to vacate the building as it had been purchased by a Chinese SoE and they didn't want Amnesty International as a tenant.

Between May 2 and May 8, 2019, warships from the United States Navy, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, the Philippines Navy, and the Indian Navy sailed together for the first time in a four-way event demonstrating presence and cooperation.

Asia Times (May 5) citing the Pentagon’s recently released 2019 China Military Power Report said the PLA Marine Corps is scheduled to expand from its current 20,000 to upwards of 30,000 Marines – and quite possibly a lot more.

Agence France-Presse reported that a panel of experts reported to the UN Security Council that it examined photographs of the debris and identified a Chinese-made Blue Arrow air-to-surface missile.

South China Morning Post (April 15) reported that former Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming, speaking at a seminar organised by the Beijing-based Centre for China and Globalisation, cautioned that China would remain in the "primary stage of socialism for long" and said its economic size did not give it leeway to dictate global rules.

The South China Morning Post on April 22 said that the 'Made in China-2025' plan was authored by the Chinese Academy of Engineering in August 2013 and was to counter the reforms announced at the Third plenum in 2013.

The South China Morning Post (May 4) quoted Adam Ni, China researcher from Macquarie University in Sydney, as saying that China has set up two major research organisations focused on AI unmanned systems and present trends suggest that the gap with the US will narrow as China is moving quickly to develop its military AI capability.

Zhang Jiadong, a Professor at the Center for American Studies, Fudan University, in an article published in Global Times on April 29, claimed that the U.S. announcement that it would not extend sanctions waivers for Iran oil importers "will highly likely affect US-India ties".

Two USN destroyers the USS Stethem and USS William P. Lawrence conducted a "routine Taiwan Strait transit" on April 28-29, 2019.

On April 15, Japanese Self Defence Force fighters scrambled to intercept Chinese H-6K bombers and a Y-8G ECM near Okinawa entering the East China Sea.

Pharmaceutical billionaire Zhao Tao, owner of Shandong Buchang Pharmaceuticals Co., paid US$ 6.5 million to college counselor William “Rick” Singer for his daughter, Yusi's admission to Stanford University.

Possibly because of the sensitive May 4 anniversary, the subway stations at Tiananmen in Beijing were closed from May 1 to 4.

The Epoch Times reported (April 18) that Beijing made April 15 the “State Security Education Day for All People.”

The China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) said on April 21, that the Long March 5B carrier rocket is expected to make its maiden flight in the first half of 2020.

Voice of America reported (April 12) that in the past few decades, the fiscal income of the top groups has grown at an alarming rate and their proportion of the national income has almost doubled.

China’s largest trading partners, the U.S. and India, were absent from the summit. None of the leaders from the U.S. G7 industrial countries including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Britain, and Germany were present at the summit.

The official Global Times (April 29) quoted Chinese military experts as saying on April 28 that 'India's military culture cannot keep up with its ambitious weapon and equipment development, which might be the reason behind its aircraft carrier's fatal fire' on April 26.

China Military Online, citing the Pakistan media, reported (April 29) that Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) of Pakistan, visited Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai and the Wuhan Shuangliu Base of Wuchang Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd., and met with heads of the relevant Chinese shipbuilding corporations.

Well-known Chinese news site Sina on April 26, reported that the Netherlands’ largest telecommunications company, Royal KPN NV, announced recently that it will select a European supplier for its core 5G mobile network.

The Washington Examiner (April 30) said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s team is developing a strategy for China based on the idea of “a fight with a really different civilization” for the first time in American history.

The Globe and Mail on April 28 reported that theTrudeau government through its Ambassador in Washington has delivered a message to the White House: Don’t sign a trade deal with China while Canadians are being held hostage in that country.

One hundred years after thousands of Chinese students marched on Tiananmen Square on May 4, 1919, to protest against Western colonialism, President Xi Jinping on April 22, reiterated the Chinese Communist Party’s determination to control the legacy of the movement.

Xinhua said that addressing heads of foreign delegations invited to participate in the events marking the 70th founding anniversary of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on April 22, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for 'concerted efforts to safeguard maritime peace and build a maritime community with a shared future'.

Zhang Yuzhen, widow of Mao Zedong’s personal secretary has filed a lawsuit IN Beijing’s Xicheng district court to prevent the publication of his diaries, which are held by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and could shed invaluable light on the inner workings of the Communist Party.

A Communist Party document revealed recently (April 11) that China's Communist Youth League (CYL) has promised to despatch more than 10 million students to 'rural zones' by 2022 in order to 'increase their skills, spread civilisation and promote science and technology'.

Xi Jinping delivered the keynote address at the second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) on April 25, 2019. Compared with the inaugural 2017 event, Xi’ Jinping's speech was shorter and contained fewer concrete proposals.

The reputed Chinese financial newspaper Caixin (April 23) said that a recent report from a research group said that many Belt and Road Initiative port projects have suffered from a “premature mentality,” in which investors jump in without adequate research, and could “stimulate regional political conflicts”.

China's official Global Times (April 9, 2019) disclosed that Zhang Xuetong, leader of the research team from the Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, had said they will continue to research stealth and camouflage materials that can hide from a broad spectrum of electromagnetic waves, after they successfully fabricated a material that can hide a hot object from heat-sensing infrared cameras.

Zhang Quande, Secretary General of China’s Association of Global Navigation System Applications and Location-based Services, said at a conference in Shenzhen on April 14, that China's home developed Beidou navigation system will generate a services market of over US$ 298 billion by 2020.

The reputed Chinese financial newspaper reported (April 25 ) that China Unicom will be the first Chinese carrier to offer 5G wireless telecom services to the public in selected cities this year, putting China among the global frontrunners in rolling out next-gen mobile internet networks.

CNN reported (April 30) that China's Jiangmen Intermediate People's Court in Guangdong province on April 30, sentenced a Canadian, whose name is translated as Fan Wei and a US national Mark Swidan, to death in China for producing and trafficking a large amount of methamphetamine.

Reuters cited two U.S. military officials as saying that the French frigate ' BEIDOU ' (F734) navigated through the Taiwan Strait on April 6.

Reuters reported (April 29) that China has recently targeted other Canadian exporters. It has already blocked Canadian canola from Richardson International and Viterra, two of Canada’s biggest farm exporters, saying that shipments had pests.

On April 22, Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the the CCP’s most important economic policymaking body, the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs (CCFEA). The agenda was to discuss ensuring that China achieves the goal of becoming a “moderately prosperous society” by 2021.

Xinhua (April 19) reported that the CCP CC Politburo met on April 19 to discuss the Party’s propaganda work and deliberate new Party regulations that govern work of the propaganda system.

China's State Council Information Office, last week took Singapore's "Lianhe Zaobao" and eight other Chinese and foreign media to visit two 'Education and Training Centers' in Xinjiang province for on-site interviews to counter western criticism.

The Hongkong District Court on April 23, sentenced four 'pro-democracy' leaders for terms varying from eight to 16 months over the 2014 Occupy protests, while sparing another four custodial sentences.

The South China Morning Post on April 22, reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping replied to a letter written by group of 40 US high school students from the Niles North High school in Illinois saying he is impressed by USA's "beautiful landscape, hospitable people and diverse culture" and has made many friends.

The South China Morning Post (April 23) revealed that China has launched at least 10 experimental "scavenger" satellites into space in the last decade.

The Emirates News Agency on April 22, reported that the UAE had been elected Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Organisation..

The official Global Times (April 22) said data shows there is an increasing number of overseas Chinese students coming back to China to work.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing after a day's discussions with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou on April 22, 2019.

An article in the official Global Times on April 21, by Lu Yang, a research fellow with Institute of the Belt and Road Initiative, Tsinghua University, said "There is little doubt that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will emerge as the largest party in parliament.

China's official news agency Xinhua on April 19 reported that India's indigenous stealth destroyer INS Kolkata and fleet tanker INS Shakti will participate in the international fleet review in Qingdao, China, as part of the celebrations of the 70th founding anniversary of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy.

International Monetary Fund data shows that collectively, Japan owned $1.667 trillion in foreign assets in the third quarter of 2018, while China owned $1.542 trillion in the second quarter, the most recent available data for each country.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s official theoretical fortnightly journal 'Qiushi' on April 1 2019, republished a speech that Xi Jinping delivered in 2013, in which he discussed 'socialism with Chinese characteristics'. Xi’s speech identified several problems or confusions in people’s understanding of the Chinese system.

Hongkong's South China Morning Post (April 18) reported that China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) had confirmed that the sale of 20.47 million plane tickets and 5.71 million train tickets were stopped by the social credit management system.

Bloomberg reported that ever since Xi Jinping came to power, the criteria for bureaucrats to continue in office and for promotion has become tougher with social conduct being emphasised over competence.

China's Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi announced at a media briefing on April 19, that China will host the second Belt and Road Forum from April 25 to April 27 in Beijing. He said it will be the “most important” diplomatic event in China this year.

A report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on states that China’s pension funds will fall to zero in 2035 after peaking in 2027 at 6.99 trillion yuan ($1.04 trillion).

Caixin reported (April 18) that the state-owned China Railway Corp. (CRC) has slashed the price of transporting coal and ore along certain routes in northern China, as growth in its cargo business shows signs of slowing.

A document circulated on China’s social media showed that the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top industry policy-setting body, proposed relaxing controls on the issuance of car licenses in major cities, a move designed to expand auto consumption.

The Jamestown Foundation (Vol 19, Issue 7) reported that in early 2019, PLA Senior Colonel Li Minghai (李明海), Director of the National Security Studies Institute at NDU, and Deputy Secretary of NDU’s Communist Party Committee, published a pair of articles that offered a new set of terms and theoretical ideas related to the incorporation and operationalization of emerging technology by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

China displayed new lightweight, remote sensing platforms at the 2019 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition recently with China's Ministry of National Defence hinting that they may be deployed for military application in the South China Sea to aid protecting island construction and contested areas.

Xinhua reported on April 1, that China had launched a new data relay satellite, the Tianlian II-01, into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on March 31. It was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket.

The state-owned CGTN announced on April 3, that more than 200 Chinese and Arab officials, experts and business people attended the second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum two-day forum in Tunis to discuss the wider application of China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) in the Middle East.

Asia nikkei news on April 18, 2019, reported that "Japan hand" Kong Xuanyou, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister is soon to arrive in Tokyo to serve as Ambassador.

The South China Morning Post, quoting the Toronto Star, on April 18, disclosed that the Chinese Consulate-General in Toronto had in August 2018 hired the services of a private lobbying firm, Solstice Public Affairs.

The MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, has ousted three senior researchers after the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, informed it that the scientists had committed potentially “serious” violations of agency rules involving confidentiality of peer review and the disclosure of foreign ties.

South China Morning Post on April 4, reported that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is ending its funding ties with Chinese telecoms equipment makers Huawei and ZTE, citing the risks that such arrangements might cause in the light of US federal investigations of the two companies.

Xinhua reported (April 8) that Chinese President Xi Jinping accompanied by the entire CCP CC Politburo Standing Committee went to Tongzhou, Beijing to participate in a tree-planting activity at a site formerly occupied by chemical plants, signaling their resolve to tackle China’s environmental problems.

Radio Free Asia reported (April 10) that Zhang Pancheng, a former security guard at Peking University, was arrested because he posted a video on the Internet last November criticizing China’s human rights situation and Xi Jinping for giving out generous foreign aid to 3rd world countries.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang co-chaired the 21st China-EU Summit in Brussels with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Caixin Daily reported (April 16) that the China Import and Export Fair, or Canton Fair, seen as a barometer of the vitality of China’s international trade, apparently has struggled to attract buyers to its spring session.

A report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on April 15, predicted that the pension funds collected in 2019 will not cover expenses of the same year. The shortfall is appearing much earlier than expected.

Well-known Chinese news site Sina reported (April 11) that Viettel, Vietnam’s largest telecommunications company has developed a plan to provide its 5G high-speed wireless services in 2021.

The Washington Post reported (April 13) that U.S. Senators have proposed legislation that stipulates it would approve 10 more years of critical federal funding for Metro, but only if the transit agency agreed to not buy its next generation of rail cars from China.

China on April 16 with held issue of visas to Michael Pillsbury, a former US Defence Department official and currently advisor on China to US President Trump and Ms Wendy Cutler, former USTR.

Canada was reported on April 16, to have rejected the visa and appeal of a People's Daily reporter who was an MSS officer, according to the court documents.

China and Japan held the China-Japan High-level Dialogue in Beijing on April 14. The meeting was chaired by State Councilor Wang Yi on the Chinese side and Foreign Minister Taro Kono on the Japanese side.

Japan’s National Institute of Defence Studies said on April 17, that Japan scrambled fighter jets 999 times as Chinese sorties increased last financial year. The number of interceptions is the second highest figure on record.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) conducted a long-range military drill involving Xian H-6K bombers, a Shaanxi KJ-500 airborne early warning and control (AWAC) aircraft, a Shaanxi Y-9JB (GX-8) electronic warfare and surveillance plane, as well as Su-30 and J-11 fighter jets near Taiwan and Japan on April 15.

Over the past three months, an armada of Chinese paramilitary vessels has swarmed around the Philippine-occupied Thitu Island, marking a dramatic escalation in the two countries' maritime disputes.

April 15 is the popular CCP CC General Secretary Hu Yaobang's death anniversary.

A report on April 10, stated that the Central Committee (CC) of the Communist Youth League (CYL), membership of which is for young people between the ages of fourteen and twenty-eight, recently announced that over the next three years it will send ten million college students to the countryside, in order to implement president Xi Jinping’s “important thoughts on youth work” and his Strategic Plan for the Vitalization of Rural Areas.

Asia Times reported (April 12) that more than 510,000 overseas educated Chinese students chose to return to their home country in 2018, representing a record high over three decades.

China's official Global Times (April 2) published a commentary after Chinese PLA warplanes flew over the “Taiwan Strait Line” recently, threatening that the mainland will not exclude the possibility of wiping out the targeted Taiwan military base.

People’s Daily reported on April 10, that since 2018, Yunnan province has been vigorously promoting the construction of big data centers for the police force.

The Offshore Oil 981 drilling platform, a sixth-generation ultra-deepwater rig that was developed by state-owned shipbuilder China State Shipbuilding Corp for CNOOC, has started deepwater operations in the South China Sea, which officials said would supply liquefied natural gas to the “Greater Bay Area”.

According to Baker McKenzie, Chinese government statements indicae that 50 state-owned firms have invested or participated in almost 1,700 projects in countries along Belt and Road’s path over the past three years.

Malaysia a signed a fresh deal to proceed with the stalled China-backed East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) on April 12, 2019.

Ex-General Prabowo Subianto who is challenging Indonesian leader Joko Widodo for the Presidency has demanded a review of all BRI projects.

Peng Chun (彭纯), former chairman of "Big Five" state-owned lender Bank of Communications Co. Ltd., is the new chair of China Investment Corp. (CIC), the world’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund.

China is holding an international fleet review on April 23 at Qingdao to mark the 70th anniversary of founding the PLA Navy.

Caixin reported (April 8) that China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) had instructed local governments to lift household registration restrictions for people who live and work in some second- and third-tier cities in an effort to advance reform of the residency system for migrants.

The South China Morning Post reported (April 9) that Sina, owner of the Twitter-style microblog Weibo and one of China’s leading social media platforms, announced on April 8, that it had suspended or shut down more than 50 accounts which published “politically harmful information”, including of Yu Jianrong, a popular outspoken liberal intellectual with more than seven million followers.

A World Bank Report has said that China is at the second spot with remittances from abroad totalling US$ 67 billion.

Caixin Global reported (April 10) that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its 2019 China growth forecast to 6.3% from 6.2% on April 9, but warned of “more subdued” momentum next year.

US Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) on April 9, strongly rejected the Chinese government’s claim that it will decide the reincarnation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet.

On April 3, Xinhua announced that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will visit Europe to "intensify cooperation between China and European countries and provide new impetus to the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership".

Asia Nikkei reported on April 7, how a mounting string of allegations from the US paint a damning portrait of how China's advanced technology sector has rapidly grown due to corporate espionage at a near-systemic level.

China's state-owned Global Times reported (April 1) that on March 31, two People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) J-11 fighter jets crossed the middle line on the Taiwan Straits forcing Taiwan to scramble its own fighters.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force (PLANAF) dispatched two Xian H-6G maritime strike bombers and one Shaanxi Y-9JB (GX-8) electronic warfare and surveillance aircraft through international airspace between the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako in the East China Sea on April 1.

Bloomberg News reported (April 10) that the U.S. sent the USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship outfitted last year with F-35B jets, to join the annual Exercise Balikatan with the Philippines this month.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) on March 27 claimed that netizens after viewing foreign media films of Xi Jinping, during his European tour commencing March 22, reported that Xi Jinping was swinging on both sides while walking, his feet were not balanced, and his movements were a bit stiff.

Xu Zhangrun, a law professor at Beijing’s Tsinghua University who has penned a series of essays critical of policies of the Chinese Communist Party and of its current leader, Xi Jinping, was banned from teaching, relieved of his academic duties, and put under investigation.

A statement issued by the Chinese foreign ministry said that meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on March 28, his Kazakhstan counterpart Beibut Atamkulov said his country “understands and supports the measures taken by China’s Xinjiang region” to rein in terrorism, separatism and extremism.

Wu Shicun, head of the government-affiliated National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan on March 29, that the US would step up what it called freedom of navigation operations in the area with more frequent and wider-ranging manoeuvres this year.

The International Campaign for Tibet reported (April 3) that a Member of Parliament from Nepal’s Communist Party, Khaga Raj Adhikari, asserted at a public event that the use of the khata in Nepal “hurt the feelings of the Chinese people,” connecting it to Tibet issue and giving political color to a fundamentally spiritual and cultural tradition.

AFP on April 4, reported that Beijing has dismissed reports that it sent 120 soldiers to Venezuela along with a shipment of humanitarian aid as reported in some sections of the media earlier.

Chinese President Xi Jinping left Beijing on March 21, for state visits to Italy, Monaco and France.

31-year old Wei Zili, editor and co-owner of the Shenzhen-based online labour news portal Xinshengdai, was reported to have been taken from his parents’ home in Baiyun district in Guangzhou by police at about 1pm on March 20.

On March 19, the 83-year old Dalai Lama told Reuters news agency that “In future, in case you see two Dalai Lamas come, one from here, in free country, one chosen by Chinese, then nobody will trust, nobody will respect [the one chosen by China].

The Apple (Ulanqab) Data Center Project held a groundbreaking ceremony on March 15 in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Writing in the Asia Nikkei Review on March 20, Adnan Amir stated that the Pakistani government has diverted around 24 billion Pakistani rupees ($171.6 million) in funds meant for joint infrastructure development projects with China into other construction plans, as Islamabad distances itself from Beijing.

Foreign Policy reported on March 24, that this month, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) will present the cabinet with its recommendations on foreign investments in Israel.

The Inter-American Development Bank is calling off its general assembly next week in China amid a dispute over the participation of a Venezuelan representative opposed by Beijing. The IDB did not say in its press release the reason for canceling the meeting, planned for March 28-31 in Chengdu.

Associated Press reported on March 27, that China says Canada should make moves to "correct the mistakes it made earlier".

Over the weekend, the party released revised rules for selecting top officials. This is the second revision under Xi Jinping.

The General Office of the CCP CC released a “Notice on Resolving the Outstanding Problems of Formalism to Reduce the Grassroots Burden” and identified 2019 as the “Year of Reducing the Grassroots Burden.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired a Politburo study session on propaganda in the age of the internet in January.

Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired a symposium in Beijing on March 18, of teachers of politics and ideology from around the country where he delivered an "important" speech. Speaking at the symposium, the official news agency quoted Xi Jinping as saying education is all about training good Communists.

China's approx 10,000-word White Paper released on March 18 noted that "some of the most notorious terrorist attacks" that have taken place in the world in the course of which it referred to "the Mumbai attacks on November 26, 2008 that killed 195 and injured close to 300 people in India".

At the conclusion of its annual session on March 15, the National People’s Congress (NPC) passed the Foreign Investment Law (FIL).

The reputed Chinese financial magazine Caixin (March 15) reported that Beijing has announced big tax cuts for businesses. It calculated that half of the proposed RMB 2 trillion in tax cuts will be borne by local governments.

China Central Television reported (March 17) that PLAAF J-10 fighter jets of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF)'s Bayi Aerobatic Team had arrived in Pakistan to a warm welcome as local children greeted them with bouquets.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to finalise a BRI Memorandum of Understanding during his official visit to Italy on March 22-23. Beijing sees Italy as a priority for its Maritime Silk Road, considered vital to China’s ever-growing wealth maritime strategy, including greater access to Northern European markets.

The official Party paper People’s Daily on March 16, 2019, reported that the CCP theoretical fortnightly journal Qiushi had published an article that Xi Jinping wrote, titled, “Accelerate the Development of Media Integration and Build a Communication Pattern for Omnimedia.”

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CDIC) said in a statement on March 17, that the former former Director of the National Energy Administration and former Governor of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Nur Bekri, who was placed under investigation last September and removed from his post a month later, has been expelled from the CCP because he engaged in “family-style corruption”, illegally accepting property directly or through his relatives.

In the run up to the anniversary of Tibet's 10th March uprising, China’s state-run media, The Tibet Daily, on March 8, began a series of articles on “Recognizing the Reactionary Essence of the 14th Dalai Lama,” directly attacking the Dalai Lama as the “head of the feudal serfdom system of the old Tibet’s joined politics and religion.”

Yin Zhongqing, Deputy Director of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), was quoted by Beijing News as saying that the total amount of all local GDP added together is greater than the national GDP due to data fraud.

The Hong Kong based newspaper Ming Pao published an article by Bruce Lui, a senior lecturer in the Department of Journalism at the Hong Kong Baptist University, claiming that the Chinese government’s “stability maintenance” expenditure last year was 1.37 trillion yuan (US$200 billion).

China's official news agency Xinhua reported on March 16, that China's PLA Air Force Ba Yi Aerobatics Team was invited to participate in the Pakistan National Day aerobatics demonstration to be held on March 23 and flew to Pakistan on March 16, 2019.

Associated Press reported on March 16, that the U.S. Deputy Ambassador Jonathan Cohen told the UN Security Council after the vote that "China held the resolution hostage and insisted on making it about Chinese national political priorities rather than the people of Afghanistan."

The Nikkei Asian Review (March 16) said the European Union will revise its official approach to China in summit meetings here next week, after its executive body named Beijing a "systemic rival" and outlined 10 suggested points of action on China, including ensuring security for the fifth generation of mobile networks and thoroughly screening foreign direct investment in the EU in a memo on March 12.

Quoting Reuters, the Asahi Shimbun on March 16, disclosed that a "technical" delegation from China will visit Argentina this month to discuss construction of a nuclear power plant, reportedly worth up to $8 billion.

The crash of a PLA Navy Aviation JH-7A fighter-bomber aircraft during training in Ledong, Hainan, was announced on March 12, by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense.

The Global Times reported (February 27) that the PLA Navy deployed a new vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fixed-wing drone on a guided missile destroyer during a three-day exercise in the South China Sea in late February.

The State-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) is preparing to launch the Kuaizhou-11 (KZ-11) a new solid propellant launch vehicle in the first half of the year as part of a multiplatform commercial space strategy.

China's official Science and Technology Daily says the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation hopes to be operating a commercially viable solar space station by 2050. It is working to develop a solar energy plant in space that could one day beam enough power back to Earth to light up an entire city.

The South China Morning Post reported (March 8) that at a press conference on the sidelines of the NPC on March 8, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi claimed Beijing had played a “constructive role” in defusing tensions between India and Pakistan over the terrorist attack on Indian security forces in Pulwama.

Xinhua reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at a press conference on March 8 on the sidelines of the NPC, said China and India should be each other's partner in pursuing their respective dreams and each other's important opportunity for growing respective economies.

According to a report in the Guardian of March 7, 2019, urban planners in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, have drawn up proposals to pipe water into the chronically parched region from Russia’s Lake Baikal, the deepest freshwater lake on earth.

In a statement issued on March 12, the spokesman for the PRC State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office An Fengshan accused Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen of harming relations between the sides and using the welfare of the Taiwanese people as a "poker chip" for the sake of electoral gains.

Global Times (March 13) said that An Ran, a professor at South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, who is also a deputy to the National People's Congress, had proposed that the country allow residents in the border area with India to trade to improve China-India relations, reduce military confrontations and benefit the local inhabitants.

A report published by the China Institute of International Studies in April 2017, stated that since Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Oli’s Beijing visit in March 2016, China and Nepal have accelerated cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and have strengthened interconnection through trade, transportation, and telecommunications.

China's authoritative Xinhua News Agency said (March 8) that during the ongoing sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Chinese President Xi Jinping told the conference delegates that social science and the works of art and culture relate to the theoretical foundation and propaganda vehicles of the Chinese Communist Party’s ideology.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced on March 8 on the sidelines of the NPC, that Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in late April in Beijing and deliver a keynote speech.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, in his report to the NPC on March 5, 2019, stated that "In pursuing development this year, we will face a graver and more complicated environment as well as risks and challenges... that are greater in number and size."

NPC Chairman Li Zhanshu delivered the NPC’s annual work report, which laid out the body’s priorities for the coming year.

Biophysicist Rao Zihe, a CPPCC delegate, said on March 10, that research and development spending would hit 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product in 2019, citing Beijing’s medium and long-term plan for science and technology development for 2006 to 2020.

Hu Haifeng, the 46-year old only son of former President Hu Jintao is tipped to be elevated to Vice Ministerial rank and become the new Communist Party chief of Xian, China’s ancient capital and current capital of Shaanxi Province.

People's Bank of China (PBoC) Governor Yi Gang said China has cut the ratio of cash that banks must hold as reserves five times in the past year, in the face of the weakest economic growth in 28 years amid slowing consumption and the trade conflict with Washington.

Around 1am local time on March 9, Kazakh National Security Services (KNB) in Almaty raided the offices of human rights defender Serikjan Bilash, the founder of the Atajurt Kazakh Human Rights organization.

Data compiled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) reveals that more than half of the US$ 9.4bn invested in all 16 countries in 2016 and 2017 went to the five non-EU members namely, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

Asia Nikkei reported on March 6, that Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies has asked Japanese companies including Murata Manufacturing and Toshiba Memory to increase supplies of smartphone components.

Britain's "Financial Times" published an exclusive interview on March 6, confirming that the Italian government is actively negotiating with Beijing to sign the "One Belt and One Road Project" agreement during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit on March 22, 2019.

A Chinese customs document dated March 1 revoked the registration of Winnipeg-based agricultural handler Richardson International to ship canola seeds to China.

TASS news agency on February 5, quoted a Russian government source as revealing that “About 100 military servicemen from the People’s Liberation Army of China will undergo instruction at a Russian training center in the operation and combat uses of the second regimental set of the S-400 system, to be provided to China in the second half of the year.”

Officers and men of the Daba border defense company "stationed in the hinterland of the Himalayas" at an average height of over 4,500 meters above sea level conducted tactical and physical training on February 18, 2019.

A recent Miami Herald report has sparked a controversy about latest Trump political donor Li Yang, also known as Cindy Yang , a 45-year-old Florida entrepreneur from China who founded a chain of spas and massage parlors that included the one where New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft was busted for soliciting prostitution.

At a news conference on March 8, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi endorsed Huawei and its chief financial officer for filing lawsuits challenging a U.S. ban on purchases of its equipment and the Huawei CFO's arrest by Canada.

China's expenditure on R&D is the world's second highest at 1.7 trillion Yuan.

Wang Jiangping, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, while speaking o CPPCC delegates at the 'Two sessions' on March 7, disclosed that China has a secret program to support the microchip and software industries.

The Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Group on March 8, 2019, said that Lu Tingge (卢廷阁) is a lawyer based in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province.

Commenting on debts incurred by nations participating in the BRI, China's Vice Minister of commerce, Qian Keming, said at a press conference in Beijing on the sidelines of the NPC on March 9, said the trade and infrastructure strategy was not a “one-way street”.

Speaking at the NPC meetings on March 6, in Beijing, Go Khok, the Mayor and Deputy Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) stated that the TAR government had restricted religious activities in Tibet.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's nearly 100-minute speech to the NPC on March 5, very surprisingly omitted any reference to “Made in China 2025,” a government-led industrial program at the center of the contentious U.S.-China trade dispute.

Fox Business News reported (March 8) that China has removed a planned trip to President Trump's Mar-a-Lago, Florida, property planned for late March from Xi Jinping's calendar.

Xinhua reported that on March 1, 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed 800 mid-level officials who will undergo training at the Central Party School in Beijing for the next four months.

CPPCC Chairman and Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) member Wang Yang delivered the CPPCC’s annual work report to the 2158 assembled delegates.

Beijing and other cities have initiated stability-maintenance mechanisms for China’s national “Two Conferences” (the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference) that commenced in Beijing on March 5 and 3 respectively.

Speaking on March 3, at the first nationwide industry symposium since the Central Propaganda Department took jurisdiction over the National Film Bureau, Wang Xiaohui, Executive Deputy Director of the Central Propaganda Department and director of the National Film Bureau, exhorted filmmakers to turn the country into a “strong film power” like the U.S. by 2035 and called for the production of 100 movies a year that each earn more than RMB100 million ($15 million) as part of a push to increase China’s soft power.

The Central News Agency reported (February 27) that, in the past two months, the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission has closed more than 490,000 illegal accounts and thousands of websites.

Chinese experts announced that they are beginning to develop new types of weapons and plasma guns. Russian experts commented that they are not "revolutionary breakthroughs".

The Boxun site on November 7, 2018, posted a list of corrupt Chinese officials who have disappeared, fled overseas, or committed suicide.

The Chinese Embassy in Turkey announced on February 26 that the Chinese Consulate-General in Izmir, Turkey will be temporarily closed from the next day.

Shwe Kokko, an enclave on the Myanmar side of the Moei river that forms the border with Thailand some 500 kilometers northwest of Bangkok and 420 kilometers east of Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital, is fast becoming a Chinese town.

A picture of a Chinese fighter jet was recently publicized on social media featuring key technology systems developed for the American F-35.

An article in the Diplomat newspaper (February 15) said that recent pictures of Jiangnan shipyard have effectively confirmed that construction of China’s third aircraft carrier – 003, a conventionally powered carrier displacing about 80,000 tons full and equipped with electromagnetic catapults – is now underway.

According to a statement issued by the PLA Navy (PLAN) South Sea Fleet several of China’s newest warships including the guided missile destroyer the Hefei, guided missile frigate the Yuncheng, amphibious landing dock Changbaishan and the replenishment oiler Honghu took part in the 34-day long exercises that commenced on January 16, and included 20 drills by joint forces.

Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang, deputy head and spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense announced on Mach 1, 2019 that China will host a multinational naval activity on April 23 in Qingdao, Shandong province, to honor the 70th birthday of the People's Liberation Army Navy.

China announced two development plans on China’s education on February 23, outlining blueprints for the sector’s modernization and development by 2035.

China's official news agency Xinhua on February 23 reported that Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CCP CC underscored that China should deepen supply-side structural reform in the financial sector and strengthen the sector's ability to serve the real economy.

Xinhua (February 22) reported that the CCP CC Politburo met on February 22, to discuss a draft report on the work of the government and deliberate several other documents.

The official Global Times published an article on March 3, a day prior to commencement of the annual plenum of the National People's Congress (NPC), pitching for an increase in the national defence budget.

The annual plenary meeting of the CPPCC, China's top advisory body, opened in Beijing on March 3 afternoon. The NPC session will commence on March 5. The CPPCC has approx 2200 delegates.

The communique issued after the 16th Russia, India and China (RIC) Foreign Ministerial Meeting held in Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang Province on February 27, 2019, was the first following its surgical airstrike inside Pakistan on the previous day. The official Global Times reported that the RIC Foreign Ministers had "strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations" and that "they also stressed that terrorist groups cannot be supported and used in political and geopolitical goals." The Global Times observed that the RIC meeting "gave New Delhi an apt platform to explain and engage China which is not only the closest friend of Pakistan but also seen as the world's second most important power." Another Global Times report of February 27, made no reference to the situation between India and Pakistan.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in its report issued on February 27, 2019, said that China has spent nearly $200 million on the Confucius Institutes. These programs have been instated in U.S. schools across the country with the mission of indoctrinating students and painting a sympathetic portrait of the Chinese Communist government. It said there are more than 100 Confucius Institutes currently operating in America—the most of any country—and China has plans to open many more. The report said "As China opened over 100 additional Confucius Institutes in the United States over the last 15 years, the Department of Education remained silent." It aded that the Chinese government also has plans to expand into the kindergarten through 12th grade curriculum. The report disclosed "The Chinese government also funds and provides language instructors for Confucius Classrooms, which offer classes for kindergarten through 12th grade students. Confucius Classrooms are currently in 519 elementary, middle, and high schools in the United States. Continued expansion of the program is a priority for China."

China'National Public Credit Information Centre reported that in 2018 China blocked 23 million “discredited” travellers from buying plane or train tickets last year as part of the country’s controversial “social credit” system aimed at improving the behaviour of citizens. It said 17.5 million people were banned from buying flights and 5.5 million barred from purchasing high-speed train tickets because of social credit offences.

Speaking at a seminar at the University of Hong Kong on February 23, Jin Canrong, Associate Dean of the School of International Studies at Renmin University, said China had made great strides in expanding its military capability, but there was a lot more to come. He also said there would be "something new" at this years October parade, but did not clarify what it might be. Saying that China is gearing up for a possible conflict over Taiwan, he said over the next five or 10 years, Taiwan could provide the “biggest uncertainty” for Beijing, he said, especially if the US decided to “ignite” the situation.

The February 27 issue of the official Party newspaper People's Daily front-paged an article titled Participating in the transformation of the global economic governance system (参与全球经济治理体系变革).

A report released by the China Internet Network Information Center on February 28, revealed the following data of internet usage in China: (i) 829 million users at the end of December; (ii) 648 million short video users, 78.2% of China’s total Internet users; (iii) National Internet availability rate at 59.6%, with 26.7% of internet users or 222 million living in rural areas; (iv) Cumulative mobile internet traffic increased 189.1% to 71.1 billion GB (v) Average time people spent online of 27.6 hours per week; (vi) 610 million online shoppers, 592 million of whom used mobile phones to shop; and (vii) 600 million online payment users.

In a communique issued on February 28, China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) provided data on the demographic challenges for the country. Caixin reported that China's employment population has shrunk for the first time ever.

Xinjiang Daily reported on February 26, 2019, the appointment of Wang Junzheng, former Party Secretary of Changchun, as Party Secretary in charge of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of Xinjiang. Official media reports state that Wang Junzheng would ensure the Party’s ‘absolute leadership’ in the autonomous region. He will be in charge of law and order and take responsibility for the security crackdown in which a reported 1 million Muslims have been interned.

Hongkong's South China Morning Post reported (Jan 30) that Washington plans to ask Tokyo to host its Homeland Defence Radar unit, which is designed to give the US military an early warning of ICBM launches by China, Russia and North Korea.

Negotiations in Washington were extended on February 23, for another 48 hours as the US and China try to reach a deal to end the tariff war. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said they have made ‘positive progress’ in areas including the trade imbalance, agriculture, forced technology transfers and financial services.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reportedNorth Korean President Kim Jong Un left Beijing by train on February 23, for the Vietnamese capital Hanoi for the second DPRK-U.S. summit.

An article in the US publication Politico on February 8, cited data from the Munich Security Conference stating that China is dominating research into technology that could allow missiles to travel five times the speed of sound and outmaneuver air defense systems.

Xinhua reported (February 1) that China has achieved real-time transmission of deep-sea data at 6,000-meter depth through its self-developed BeiDou satellites for the first time. It described this as essential to more secure, independent, and reliable deep-sea data transmission.

A report in the Diplomat (January 30) claimed that the China Coast Guard (CCG) has shown a lot of initiative in the new year, partly due to its incorporation into the People’s Armed Police Force (PAP) last year and partly associated with its new commander, Wang Zhongcai.

Xinhua reported (February 22, 2019) that among the 300 PLA officers charged with corruption following investigations into Fang Fenghui, former Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the CMC, at least six "military tigers" are under investigation and warned that "the “tiger” in the army has not been cleaned up". Fang Fenghui was sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived of his political rights for life, all his personal property was confiscated and stolen goods recovered. The six senior military officials being investigated are: Xu Linping, He Qingcheng, Ding Guoxin, Wang Xixin, Zhao Yiliang and Pan Changjie. Of them Xu Linping, He Qingcheng, Diao Guoxin and Wang Xixin have been investigated and reduced in rank from a deputy theater level to a military position.

The New York Times reported (February 24) that 53-year old Chen Tianyong, a former judge and lawyer and now a Chinese real estate developer in Shanghai, boarded a flight to Malta last month with no plans to return anytime soon.

An article in the Nikkei Asia Review on February 28, claimed that 'Leftists' in China are angry that China is making concessions to the US in the ongoing tariff negotiations. It said that since they cannot directly attack Xi Jinping, they are focussing criticism against Chinese Vice Premier Liu

Nikkei news quoted Nepal's Transport Minister as saying (February 22) that Nepal will use Chinese gauge standards for a planned nationwide rail network.

An article in China's official Global Times (February 21) cautioned that "India and Pakistan need to avoid engaging in a trade war that will deal a blow to their own economies as well as that of China".

In an attempt to bring an end to the ongoing trade war between the US and China, CNBC reported on February 22, that Beijing has agreed to buy up to $1.2 trillion in goods from the United States. US President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could also meet in late March in Florida. Meanwhile, Trump was scheduled to talk with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on February 22 afternoon, in the hopes of coming closer to a trade deal before March 1, when U.S. tariffs on a variety of goods are set to rise to 25 percent from 10 percent.

Reuters reported (February 22) that China is stepping up its diplomatic outreach over controversial camps in its heavily Muslim region of Xinjiang by inviting foreign diplomats. It said since December, China has taken at least three groups of foreign diplomats to visit the re-education and training facilities. A fourth group is scheduled to visit this month. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said ( February 16) that Geneva-based diplomats from Pakistan, Venezuela, Cuba, Egypt, Cambodia, Russia, Senegal and Belarus were visiting Xinjiang on a trip that ended on February 19.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on February 7, that ethnic Uyghurs held in political “re-education camps” in northwest China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region (XUAR) have been sent to prisons in Heilongjiang, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and that officials in the XUAR and Heilongjiang had confirmed the reports came in the same month that XUAR chairman Shohrat Zakir confirmed to China’s official Xinhua news agency the existence of the camps, calling them an effective tool to protect the country from terrorism and provide vocational training for Uyghurs.

A Chinese scholar, Shen Yanxin, on April 25, 2017, disclosed that discussions were underway on 'how to ensure that both the strategic military-civilian integration and the “One Belt and One Road” work hand in hand to achieve coordinated progress and mutual reinforcement'.

Hongkong's South China Morning Post reported on February 7, that Japan has lodged another protest with China through diplomatic channels over its continued deployment of a drilling ship at a gas field in a contested area of the East China Sea. Tokyo said that the drilling ship had moved in January to a location a few kilometres northeast of where it was in mid-November.

The Financial Times reported (February 7) that China has started inviting mainland-based Taiwanese businesspeople and students into “brainstorming” sessions on the future of the de facto independent nation.

During his visit to Kathmandu, Nepal in April 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to sign the Trade and Transit Protocol allowing Nepal the use of the four Chinese seaports of Tianjin, Shenzhen, Lianyungang and Zhanjiang as well as the dry ports of Lhanzin, Lhasa, Xigatsê for third-party trade.

BBC Chinese reported (January 31, 2019) that, entering the year 2019, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is steering into high political risk zones.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on February 8, that residents of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) had told RFA that officials had invited them to celebratory dinners marking the Lunar New Year at which pork was served, then threatening to send them to a "re-education" camp if they refused to take part.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV released a report on the morning of February 6 summarising the viewership and audience response to the 2019 Spring Festival Gala.

The Department of the United Front Work of the CPC Nangchen County Committee and the County Ethnic and Religious Bureau issued a two-page notice on 25th December of prohibiting any initiation of Tibetan language classes or tuition during the winter vacation in and around the monastery.

Quoting data from China’s General Administration of Customs the Chinese news site Sina reported (January 25), that Russia was China’s largest oil supplier in 2018, reaching 1.49 million barrels.

Hongkong's South China Morning Post quoted Chinese sources as saying that Xi Jinping and Trump will meet in Danang, Vietnam on February 27 and 28.

The Epoch Times (October 17, 2018) reported that Wu Sikang, Director of the Policy Research Office of the Shenzhen Municipal government wrote an 'internal' document after a study visit to the U.S. in August 2018, and that Wang Weizhong, head of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee, and Ai Xuefeng, Deputy Mayor, reviewed the document and gave some instructions.

20-year old Zhao Qianli, who says he’s a musicology student from North University of China (Taiyuan, Shaanxi) and was visiting Key West as a tourist after completing a summer exchange program, got caught by Key West police for trespassing onto the high-security Naval Air Station. He later told federal authorities that he lost his way on the tourist trail and did not realise it was a military base.

Data released by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and National Supervision Commission’s (NSC) on their website on the results of the 2018 'Operation Skynet' shows that 1,335 fugitives were arrested and 3.54 billion RMB was retrieved in 2018. Of the arrested fugitives, 307 were Party members and state functionaries, and 5 were on China’s Interpol Red Notice List.

Ren Zhifei, the founder of Huawei, according to a Chinese media report (January 21) issued two letters to Huawei employees in which he warned them not to be too optimistic about the prospects for Huawei and that they should prepare for bitter days. Ren Zhifei stated that, if they assess that certain business units are not providing much value, they should be cut or the work reduced so as to focus on more valuable segments.

The PLA Daily reported on January 30, that the Central Military Commission recently issued the "Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening Force Management", which aimed to "thoroughly implement Xi Jinping's strong military thinking" and strengthen and improve the management of troops in the new era.

China's top economic decision-making body, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) accelerated its review process and approved 27 infrastructure projects with a total expected investment of 1.48 trillion yuan (US$219.43 billion) since the start of 2018. Of these, 16 worth around 1.1 trillion yuan were approved since the start of November. Despite concerns over a return to the debt-fuelled infrastructure investment policy halted in 2017, the new infrastructure projects were necessitated by the need to stabilise the economy and took precedent. Each of the top 10 infrastructure projects costs over 50 billion yuan (US$7.41 billion).

While former Chinese President Hu Jintao has kept low-key, his son Hu Haifeng has appeared in public several times recently. On January 15, the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee’s “Zhejiang Daily” published Hu Haifeng’s “Working hard to build a clean and beautiful water of Haiyan River Qing”. The article said that it is necessary to continue the anti-corruption campaign and officials should live simply. On January 30, Hu Haifeng, who is Secretary of the Lishui Municipal Party Committee of Zhejiang Province, expressed his condolences to the provincial military region.

China's official news agency Xinhua on February 4, publicised that "Overseas Chinese were attentive to the speech of Chinese President Xi Jinping at the festival reception" held in Beijing on February 3, where he spokehighly of China's achievements in the past year and expecting a brighter future. Xi Jinping said "In the past year ... we have made efforts and achieved a lot." It noted that Xi Jinping had extended greetings to Chinese nationals of all ethnic groups, compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council.

Executive Vice-Chairman of TAR Party Committee, Party Secretary of TAR CPPCC and President of the TAR Party school, Ding Yexian (Ethnicity: Han) went on an inspection tour to Drepung and Gaden Monasteries in Lhasa.

According to an announcement by the TAR Public Security Bureau, the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa will be opened only on 1st day of Tibetan New Year(Losar), Earth-Pig year (February 05-07) at 7am for a brief period of time for religious rituals and ‘tourists’. On other days of Losar, i.e on 6th -7th, the Jokhang will be closed.

FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress on January 30, that FBI is investigating Chinese economic espionage in nearly all of its 56 field offices around the country.

A White House map that excluded Taiwan from Chinese territory has caught the attention of internet users on the self-ruled island.

National Post (February 1) quoted Yuval Shavitt, an electrical-engineering expert at Tel Aviv University, as saying that China Telecom, a state-owned internet service provider that has two legally operating “points of presence” on Canadian soil had in 2016 secretly diverted Canadian internet traffic to China, particularly from Rogers subscribers in the Ottawa area says an Israeli cybersecurity specialist.

The China Great Wall Industry Corp. signed an agreement with Satellogic, a company based in Argentina and backed by Chinese financing, to launch 90 commercial Earth observation nano-satellites or micro-satellites by the end of 2020, via 5 or 6 dedicated Long March rocket flights. Satellogic has launched 8 satellites till now.

The CCP CC and State Council jointly approved the 2018-2035 master plan for Xiongan New Area, stressing that its creation is significant to high-quality development and the building of the modern economic system.

According to one official PRC estimate, Chinese citizens have US$ 21 trillion stashed overseas.

Human Rights Watch reported on February 1, that Qinghai’s Nangchen county in December 2018, published a ban notice entitled “Urgent notice concerning stopping illegal study classes in monasteries”, which describes informal classes run by monks as “ideological infiltration among the young,” “dangerous,” and “harmful” and calls on local officials and Chinese Communist Party cadres responsible for managing monasteries to “understand the harmful nature of monasteries running open schools,” and to stop them from doing so.

A constitutional law textbook written by Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University known for his advocacy of constitutionalism and judicial reform and one of China's best-known reform-minded legal scholars, has been pulled from book shops.

The People’s Daily and the PLA Daily separately published commentaries praising Xi Jinping’s speech on January 25, on media integration and the Party’s news and public opinion work since the 18th Party Congress.

Han Zheng, PBSC member and Leader of the Leading Group for Promoting the Construction of the "Belt and Road", hosted a meeting of the "One Belt, One Road" Initiative in Beijing on January 31, when he claimed 'the principle of sharing has been highly recognised by countries along the route' and it is necessary to 'effectively respond to the challenges brought about by changes in the external environment'.

Xi Jinping, CCP CC General Secretary, presided over the meeting of the Political Bureau on January 25 to review the Reports of the Standing Committees of the CCP CC Political Bureau and of the National People's Congress.

Xinhua reported (February 1) that China has punished 3,021 people in a crackdown on organised crime and the local “protective umbrellas” that allow it to operate. It said China ordered 10 regions to take action against organised crime following a three-month inspection campaign last year.

The Hongkong based 'Mirror' reported on January 31, that Chinese scientists have launched a rocket from an unmanned submarine for the first time in history.

Wang Yang, PBSC member and Chairman of the CPPCC, chaired the 19th Bi-weekly Consultation Symposium of the 13th National Committee on January 28. Xinhua said the topic was IPR protection.

The South China Morning Post reported (January 29) that Li Chunsheng, head of the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department, disclosed that President Xi Jinping will visit Macau later this year for the 20th anniversary of the city’s reunification with China.

Keeping up the annual tradition, on January 28, Chinese President Xi Jinping met and extended Spring Festival greetings to leaders from non-Communist parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and personages without party affiliation.

South China Morning Post reported on January 22, that remarks by Giriraj Singh, India's Minister of State for Small Enterprises, at an investor summit in Gujarat that those countries did not have places where people were able to “gather to protest against the policies of the government” elicited a strong reaction in China after the media picked up on the story a few days later.

The South China Morning Post reported (January 25) that between the start of April and the end of December, 758 foreign aircraft that flew close to Japanese airspace were intercepted, an increase from 736 incidents in the same period a year before and the second-highest total on record.

Australian author Yang Hengjun, an Australian citizen and author, was reportedly seized on January 19 during a visit to China, as he attempted to board a flight from Guangzhuo to Shanghai.

The US financial news news service, Bloomberg reported (January 25) that a Chinese delegation including Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen and Vice Finance Minister Liao Min will arrive in Washington on January 28 to prepare for high-level trade talks led by Vice Premier Liu He.

On January 26, the South China Morning Post publicised that Professor Zhang Yongming from the State Key Laboratory of Controlled Shock Waves at Xian Jiaotong University in Shaanxi province, had released details of a new “energy rod” that China is planning to use to access its massive shale gas reserves in Sichuan province.

Alarmed at the policies of the US and West restricting Chinese companies from purchasing microchips, switches and semi-conductors, the Nikkei Asian Review reported (January 25) that “To address this risk, President Xi Jinping aims to increase China's semiconductor self-sufficiency to 40% in 2020 and 70% in 2025 as part of his ‘Made in China 2025’ initiative to modernize domestic industry.”

Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) Bing search engine has officially been blocked in China on January 23, making it the latest foreign technology service to be shut down behind the country’s Great Firewall.

A document to guide reforms in Xiong’an New Area was issued by central authorities on January 24. The proposed new city of Xiong’an is in Hebei, 100 km south of Beijing.

PBSC member and Chairman of the CPPCC, Wang Yang, addressing the conference on Taiwan affairs on January 23, said the basic policy on Taiwan remains unchanged and called for efforts to promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties and the process toward peaceful reunification of the motherland.

An editorial in the Central Party School magazine 'Study Times' on January 23, by top Party theoretician Xin Ming elaborating on Xi Jinping's thinking said that the Party faces numerous risks to its rule on multiple fronts.

Xi Jinping wrote an article titled 'Strive to create a team of high-quality cadres who are loyal and clean', which was published in the January 15, 2019 issue of Qiu Shi (Seeking Truth).

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ended a four-day study session, attended by hundreds of top officials from across the country, on January 25.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was on a three day visit to Beijing, said Chinese President pledged 4 billion Yuan (US$ 588 million) as aid to be spread over 2019-2021.

Reuters reported that on January 17, Kyrgyz police detained more than a dozen people as they dispersed a hundreds-strong anti-Chinese rally in the capital, Bishkek, the biggest public protest to date in Central Asia against Beijing’s growing influence in the region.

Reacting to Canada's confirmation on January 22, that the US plans to proceed with a formal request to extradite Huawei chief financial officer Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China will take action in response to measures taken by the US.

The Party Secretary and President of the Supreme People's Court Zhou Qiang on January 17, attended a meeting of the Presidents of the National High Court and delivered a speech where he stressed that it is necessary to adhere to the spirit of Xi Jinping's socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

China’s official news agency Xinhua in a feature article reported on January 20, that the Chinese military has significantly boosted its navy, air force and new strategic units and downsized its land-based army as part of a strategic shift designed to transform the People’s Liberation Army into a comprehensive modern force.

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned China's central and provincial leaders who had assembled in Beijing for a meeting on January 20, to be on high alert for “black swan” incidents amid a “complicated and sensitive external environment”.

A new assessment of China’s military power published by the department’s Defense Intelligence Agency suggests that Beijing is building up its military capabilities so that it will have a range of options to attack Taiwan if it decides to—and potentially the United States if it intervenes militarily.

With the completion of the US$ 1.9 billion Colombo Port City Development project, Sri Lanka handed over two-thirds of the new 269-hectare reclamation project, which is envisaged as the site of a new financial district, to China on a 99-year lease.

Mukesh Sharma, described as an editor with the People's Daily-owned Global Times on January 16, published an article recommending close India-China ties at a time when Sino-US ties are strained and "The US has almost declared China an enemy in its national defense strategy by calling it a strategic competitor."

Citing data released by China's Ministry of Commerce on January 14, the 21st Century Business Herald reported that China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2018 hit a record high of US$134.97 billion, an increase of 3% from a year earlier.

Local media and Chinese military analysts were quoted by Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (January 2) as saying that in December 2018, at least 38 Senior Colonels were promoted to the rank of Major General.

A specialised US Defence publication on January 8 described the next-generation cell-network technology, popularly called 5G, promises high speed, low latency, and high throughput and is a new frontier of rivalry in U.S.-China relations.

The Jamestown Foundation brief (January 18, 2019) reported on a recent 'key' change in the PLA Academy of Military Science (AMS) as part of Xi Jinping urging (Xinhua, July 19 2017) AMS, and other PLA Institutes, to adapt to the “new requirements of military scientific work” and to build a “world-class military scientific research institution”.

The Chinese military is expected to ramp up training in 2019, a year of rising geopolitical challenges and several key anniversaries.

76-year old Hu Deping, son of the late popular CCP CC General Secretary Hu Yaobang and former member of the CPPCC till 2013, spoke at a seminar in Beijing on January 16, hosted by the Hongfan Institute of Legal and Economic Studies mark the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up to and attended by former economic and policy advisers and academics.

The Asahi Shimbun on January 18, reported that the official website of China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) reported on January 15, that Public Security Minister Zhao Kezhi had on January 15, cautioned China's police to "stress the prevention and resistance of 'color revolutions' and firmly fight to protect China's political security."

In a one-sentence statement on January 14, the Central Discipline Inspection Commission (CDIC) announced the dismissal and arrest of Zhao Zhengyong, former Party Secretary of Shaanxi province, saying he is the biggest “tiger” to be caught this year.

Reporting Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Tianjin, Xinhua (January 18) reported that he visited a service and administration station for veterans in the community and stressed that setting up institutions for veteran affairs is to enhance the management of veterans and better protect their welfare in order to make military service a publicly respected occupation.

Separately, on January 27, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. government announced it is blocking some of Huawei's exports from its U.S. R&D operations.

The National Cyber and Information Security Agency (Národní úřad pro kybernetickou a informační bezpečnost, NÚKIB) of the Czech Republic on December 17, called the use of software and hardware products of Huawei, ZTE, and their subsidiaries a “threat against information security.”

Polish public broadcaster reported (January 11) that Poland's counter-intelligence service has arrested Weijing Wang, @ Stanislaw Wang, a Chinese Sales Director of tech giant Huawei and a Polish former senior intelligence agent in Warsaw on suspicion of spying.

The U.S. and China deputy-level trade talks that concluded in Beijing on January 27, lasted one day longer than planned with both sides issuing vague but mildly positive official statements about the discussions.

Admiral John Richardson, US Chief of Naval Operations, was on a 3-day (January 13-15, 2019) visit to China.

Reuters, quoting 'policy sources', said China plans to set a lower economic growth target of 6-6.5 percent in 2019 compared with last year’s target of “around” 6.5 percent.”

The official Global Times reported (January 11) that Qizhala, Chairman of the TAR Regional Government said in his government work report to the second session of the 11th People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region on January 10, that TAR's GDP in 2018 was estimated to have exceeded 140 billion yuan (US$ 21 billion).

The CDIC announced on January 12, that Chen Gang, a former Vice Mayor of Beijing in 2006, has been arrested for corruption. He had headed the municipal urban planning committee, which approves and supervises construction projects, since 2002.

Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and Chinese President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, while addressing the third plenary session (January 11-12, 2019) of the 19th Central Discipline Inspection Commission Inspection (CDIC) called for consolidating and developing a "sweeping victory" in the fight against corruption.

The Kazakhstan Foreign Ministry press office, in an email response to the Wall Street Journal on January 9, confirmed Kazakh media reports in December that China has agreed to let 2,000-plus ethnic Kazakhs leave. It did not say who could leave or why. It said they will be allowed to apply for Kazakh citizenship or permanent residency after their arrival in Kazakhstan. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

The CCP's official newspaper People's Daily reported that former Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was named the Chairwoman of the Shantou International Container Terminal in Guangdong province. The brief article said she was also appointed the firm’s legal representative.

CHINA-TAIWAN: RETIRED PLA GENERAL HE LEI WARNS TAIWAN 'INDEPENDENCE SEPARATISTS' WOULD BE CLASSIFIED AS 'WAR CRIMINALS' IF THEY DON'T PULL BACK
Former Vice President PLA Academy of Military Science and retired General He Lei said at a press conference of the State Council Information Office that "The very few "Taiwan-independence" separatists would be classified as war criminals that must be punished if the Chinese mainland is forced to deal with the Taiwan question by force.

70-year old Liu Yongtan, a Professor with the Department of Electric and Information Engineering at Harbin Institute of Technology, received China’s top science award from President Xi Jinping at a national ceremony on January 8.

Commodore Zhang Junshe, a member of the Naval Research Institute, was quoted by Japan's Jiji press on January 9 as saying that China needs “at least three aircraft carriers” to protect its extensive coastline and its interests abroad.

China's official Global Times quoted the state--broadcaster CCTV on January 9, as publicising that the 4500-kms range anti-ship ballistic missile the DF-26 has been deployed to Northwest China's plateau and desert areas.

Global Times reported on January 7, 2019 that a notice issued by the public security bureau in Shaoguan, Guangdong province, on December 28, stated that a man, surnamed Zhu, was fined 1,000 yuan ($150) for using a virtual private network — a tool for encrypting online data traffic.

CHINA-INTERNAL: PEKING UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR CALLS FOR CCP TO FADE OUT OF POWER WHILE ANOTHER QUESTIONS XI JINPING'S SPEECH ON TAIWAN
Radio France International reported on January 8, 2019, that Peking University Professor Zheng Yefu, had in a recent article pointed out that the interests of the Communist Party of China are inconsistent with the fundamental interests of the Chinese people in most cases. He said he firmly believes that "the only hope that the leaders of the Communist Party of China can make in the future is to lead the party to decently fade out of the historical arena." Zheng Yefu said to his colleagues: "If we don't make a sound and don't exert pressure, we shouldn't, we don't deserve to see the end of the autocratic regime.

The ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, affiliated with the Singapore government, recently polled 1,008 respondents from all ten nations of the ASEAN grouping across different sections of society to gauge attitudes towards the BRI.

The China-India Yoga College was jointly created by China’s Yunnan Minzu University and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

Vice Ministerial level talks between China and the US began today and are being led on the US side by Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish.

The official Global Times reported (January 7) that China lodged a protest against the US guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell conducting FONOPS near the Xisha Islands on January 7, 2019.

China's authoritative official news agency Xinhua and official newspaper Global Times on January 8, reported that Kim Jong-un is visiting Beijing from January 7 until January 10, 2019 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China Military News on January 4, reported Pakistani spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor announcing on January 2 & 3, that the Pakistan Army had shot down a UAV used by the Indian military for the second time in two days on the Pakistani side of the Satwal area.

The WeChat account of the Chengdu Aircraft Research and Design Institute, a design facility of the Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Co, announced on January 7, 2019 that China's home-grown turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine system has completed its design and development stage and entered the aircraft-engine integration test phase.

The Central Military Commission (CMC) General Office released “Opinions on the Implementation of Further Encouraging Military Cadres to Take on New Responsibilities and take New Actions in a New Era” (关于进一步激励全军广大干部新时代新担当新作为的实施意见).

A People’s Daily editorial on December 30, 2018 on the Central Rural Work Conference said it had concluded that it is necessary to adhere to the development of agriculture and rural areas, deeply implement the rural revitalization strategy, resolutely win the battle against poverty, and earnestly do “three rural issues” (agriculture, rural areas, and farmers) work well.

Following the annual Central Economic Work Conference last month, the government said it will “channel more energy into weak areas, including infrastructure.”

People’s Daily published an editorial on the first day of 2019 that reflected the achievements of 2018 and outlines the challenges of coming year.

In an article in the January 1, 2019 issue of the Party theoretical journal Qiushi (Seeking Truth), Central Propaganda Department Head Huang Kunming (黄坤明) discussed strengthening propaganda and ideological work in the new year, specifically by strengthening the “four forces” (四力) of propaganda work: the foot, the eye, the brain, and the pen.

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1979 “Open Letter to Taiwan Compatriots.”

Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) convened on January 7, 2019, to hear work reports from the Party’s Central Secretariat, as well as Party groups from the: State Council; National People’s Congress ; Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC); Supreme People's Court ; and Supreme People's Procuratorate.

International Department Vice Minister Qian Hongshan on December 8, met a delegation of political parties of western Pakistan led by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) Secretary General and Senate Committee on Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony Chairman Abdul Ghafoor Haideri.

The People’s Daily used its Zhong Sheng column, which authoritatively transmits the opinions of the People’s Daily on matters of international affairs, on December 9, to denounce Canada’s detention of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou at the behest of the United States.

Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) Party Committee Executive Deputy Secretary Ding Yexian (丁业现) led a CCP delegation to Austria on December 8, 2018, to meet with Austria-China Friendly Association President and former President of Austria Heinz Fischer.

The official Global Times on January 3, published an article by three Mainland Chinese scholars on the best way to realise reunification with Taiwan.

Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) elected Mr Cho Jung-tai, a consensus candidate backed by major party figures, as its new Chairman on Jan 6, thereby choosing a moderate to fill up the post vacated by President Tsai Ing-wen after the party’s disappointing performance in recent polls.

A People’s Daily commentator article on December 10, addressed protests by Chinese veterans this year against the lack of job prospects for retired soldiers and inadequate services.

General Xu Qiliang, CMC Vice Chairman and Executive Deputy Head of the CMC Leading Group for Deepening Reform on National Defense and the Armed Forces, presided over the fourth meeting of the leading group on December 18.

The official Global Times reported on January 6, that China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and 11 other government agencies, have said China will step up its supervision on the rare-earth sector and vows to impose severe penalties on those illegally mine, produce or export rare-earth materials and fully realize the "strategic support" from rare-earth materials.

The annual Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from December 19-21, 2018. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered important speeches at the conference.

CCP CC General Secretary and Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated the opening of the Academy of Chinese History Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in a letter on January 3, 2019. Huang Kunming, PB member for Propaganda attended.

Global Affairs Canada spokesman Guillaume Bérubé said (January 4) in a statement to The Globe and Mail that the government is aware that 13 Canadians have been detained in China, excluding Hong Kong, since December 1, 2018.

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeff Gerrish, who will be 50 years old this year, will next week lead a delegation that includes U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David Malpass and other officials to China for the first round of face-to-face talks since President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on December 1, to a ceasefire in a trade war that has led to tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of U.S. and Chinese goods.

The People's Daily and Xinhua on January 2, 2019 publicised a statement issued by China's Ministry of Natural Resources announcing that China had set up ecological protection facilities on three reefs of the Nansha Islands, namely the Yongshu, Zhubi and Meiji reefs.

An article jointly authored by Dr Zha Daojiong, Professor of International Political Economy at the School of International Studies, Peking University and Dr Dong Ting, Post-Doctoral Fellow at the School of International Studies, Peking University, was published on January 3, 2019 by the South China Morning Post to mark the 15th anniversary of the Asean-China strategic partnership.

Radio Free Asia reported on December 31, 2018 that China has imprisoned 879 'prisoners of conscience' in its jails in 2018.

The South China Morning Post reported on December 31, that the closure of three mosques in the villages of Huihuideng, Sanjia and Mamichang in Weishan County was coordinated by the Weishan County Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee to “protect harmony and stability in the religious domain”.

The South China Morning Post reported (January 2) that the number of children born in China in 2018 is expected to have dropped to the lowest level since 2000 after a year that “will be remembered as a historical turning point for Chinese population”, signalling a “demographic crisis” that threatens already struggling economic growth prospects.

Beyondsoft' is a Beijing-based tech services company that, among other businesses, takes on the censorship burden for other companies.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) on January 4, announced a 1-percentage-point reduction in the required reserves for commercial banks to stall flagging growth.

Reuters reported that on December 29, 2018, the social network circulated that "China's 100 public intellectuals published "Reform and Open" for 40 years".

The Global Times (January 4) reported that Chinese President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) Xi Jinping had on January 4, 2019, signed a mobilization order for the training of the armed forces, the CMC's first order in 2019, which demands all PLA units to welcome the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China with "excellent performance."

China's official 'The Paper' on December 28, reported that Xi Jinping chaired a Political Bureau meeting on December 27, and reviewed the “Regulations on the Political and Legal Work of the Party.”

The PRC State Council announced (December 28, 2018) the appointment of 61-year old former Vice Commerce Minister Fu Ziying as Director of the central government’s Liaison Office in Macau.

An article in the Washington Post on December 27, highlighted the efforts of Chris Smith, a Republican, representing New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives, to dissuade the Vatican from seeking a form of accommodation with Beijing despite its ongoing anti-religion campaign.

In an article published in the latest issue of World Affairs, a journal controlled by the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang Jisi, President of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies at Peking University, observed that a clash of civilisations was at the heart of the bitter geostrategic competition between the world’s top two economies.

The official Global Times on January 1, 2019, reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump 'exchanged congratulations on the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China-US diplomatic relations' on January 1.

The BBC reported (December 31) that China is set to overtake Japan as the United Nations' second biggest funding country for the next three years and the development is fuelling nationalistic opinions in the media of both countries.

Chinese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Changfu said at a work conference said on December 30, that China will produce at least 600 million tonnes of grain in 2019.

The South China Morning Post reported (December 31) that Chinese President Xi Jinping had on December 18, summoned a grand gathering to mark the 40th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s landmark reform and opening up, which was attended by the most important Communist Party cadres, entrepreneurs and Olympic champions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's New Year message telecast (January 1, 2019) on the state-owned CGTN was devoted to listing China's achievements including the number of counties and people lifted out of poverty.

Asahi Shimbun reported on December 27, that Wang Jianfeng, President of Huawei Technologies Japan KK, in an exclusive interview with The Asahi Shimbun on December 27, disclosed that Huawei Technologies Co. is holding talks with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and is cooperating with the Japanese government and bolstering purchases of parts in Japan to ease concerns that its products could be used in espionage or cyber-attacks by Beijing.

Chinese Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, at a press briefing on December 25, criticised France for siding with its “allies”, as the list of countries calling for the release of two Canadians detained in China continues to grow.

Global Affairs reported on December 29, that Sarah McIver of Alberta who was detained over a work permit issue related to her teaching job has been released and she has returned to Canada.

Korea's JoongAng Daily said on December 29, that Seoul lodged a protest after a Chinese PLA Air Force (PLAAF) Shaanxi Y-9JB electronic warfare and surveillance aircraft flew through South Korea’s air defense identification zone (Kadiz) without notice three times over the course of five hours on December 27.

The official newspaper 'The Paper' reported (December 27) that China has made major breakthroughs in important indicators for measuring overall national strength, namely the scale of social net wealth and GDP.

On November 25, China's official CCTV Channel 9 released a 42-minute documentary captioned "Human, Our Story", publicly acknowledging "Jesus, the process that affects the entire history".

BBC reported on December 25, that the Chinese authorities have issued a notice prohibiting traders from using Christmas decorations and students in many Chinese universities and primary and secondary schools from discussing Christmas-related content on social media.

Qiu Zhanxuan, head of the Peking University Marxist Society, was grabbed and forced into a black car outside the east gate of Peking University by a group of heavy-set men who identified themselves as police, according to students quoted by Reuters on December 28.

Xinhua on December 27, disclosed that China's 25 Politburo members "were asked to conduct criticism and self-criticism in light of work experience" during two sessions of the Politburo on December 25 and 26 both of which were chaired by Xi Jinping.

The state-owned Global Times on December 27, quoted runsky.com, a website run by the Dalian Radio and Television Station which reported that Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a Canadian citizen, will be put on trial by Liaoning Provincial High People’s Court on drug smuggling charges.

Gallup’s 2018 Most Admired Man list showed that Americans love the Dalai Lama and he ranks eighth on the list of the most admired men in the world.

Taiwan's Central News Agency reported (December 23) that Retired PLA Navy Rear Admiral Luo Yuan, who is presently Deputy Secretary General of the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, while speaking at a meeting in Shenzhen on December 20 on the current Sino–U.S. relationship, claimed the US-China trade war “is definitely not a simple economic and trade friction” but an “important strategic issue.”

The official Global Times published (December 26, 2018) a year-end roundup of China's foreign policy. It claimed "China went through a warm year in 2018 as there was no crisis-level conflict between China and its neighbouring countries. Those who once had tense relations with China are now moving closer to Beijing."  

The South China Morning Post (December 28) reported that 59-year old Chen Hongtian, a self-made Chinese billionaire, Chairman of the Cheung Kei Group and member of the CPPCC, warned a group of about 150 tycoons mostly based in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, that a winter “colder and longer than expected” is arriving for China’s private business entrepreneurs and Beijing’s supportive rhetoric has yet to translate into concrete policies that will help the private economy.

On December 16, Prof. Xiang Songzuo (向松祚) of Renmin University School of Finance and former Chief Economist of China Agriculture Bank, gave a 25-minute speech during a CEO class at Renmin Business School , which was immediately censored over the Chinese internet.

Xinhua reported on December 23, that a draft law on foreign investment was submitted to a bimonthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee on December 23.

China officially announced (December 27) that after four years in detention, Ma Jian, former Vice Minister of China’s Ministry of State Security and head of China’s counter-espionage operations, was tried on December 27, at Dalian Intermediate Court where he was fined 50.5 million yuan.

China issued a second travel advisory in three months warning tourists against visiting Sweden because of “the security situation in Sweden”.

South China Morning Post reported (December 22) that RoK Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk had the previous week confirmed that Seoul plans to overhaul its diplomatic focus on China by establishing a separate bureau in its foreign ministry entirely dedicated to China affairs.

Quoting sources the Yomiuri Shimbun on December 23, disclosed that China's Minister of State Security Chen Wenqing visited Japan in late October through early November to meet secretly with senior Japanese officials from the Public Security Intelligence Agency and intelligence authorities, as well as the Foreign Ministry.

Xinhua reported on December 21, that Chinese President Xi Jinping had sent a congratulatory message on the holding of the first meeting of China-India high-level people-to-people exchanges mechanism in India's capital New Delhi.

China’s Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) concluded on December 21, in Beijing.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s speeches, the state-run People’s Publishing House decided to republish the collection of speeches that Mao Zedong gave in 1938.

President Xi Jinping’s speech at the grand gathering in Beijing on December 18, to mark China’s 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, belied expectations that he would announce substantive measures to defuse the trade war with the United States and outline plans to overhaul the economy.

The Japanese Nikkei newspaper (December 21) reported that Sharpe, a subsidiary of the Hon Hai Precision Industry and the Zhuhai Municipal Government of China's Guangdong Province are constructing a semi-conductor factory a a 1 trillion yen state-of-the-art semiconductor plant.

The Maritime Executive on December 20, disclosed that in a recent report Kenya's Auditor General had warned that Kenya runs the risk of losing control of the Port of Mombasa if it should default on loans from state financial institution China Exim Bank.