A lengthy article by Dong Zhenhua, Deputy Director of the Department of Research and Philosophy Professor of the National School of Administration Department of the Central Party School in Guangming Daily (January 8) captioned: 'Persevere and cast your soul with great ideas' asserted that "A country and a nation cannot be without a soul.

China's State Council Information Office issued a White Paper on January 10, titled "China's International Development Cooperation in the New Era". The 8-chapter 45-page White Paper outlined areas where China would provide aid including the BRI.

China's Ministry of Commerce issued Order No. 1 of 2021 on January 9, 2021, for the purpose of counteracting the impact on China caused by unjustified extra-territorial application of foreign legislation and other measures, safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations of China.

Xinhua (January 4) and Newsweek (January 4) separately reported that the recent military orders that Beijing issued appear to suggest that China might be preparing to launch a war in the South China Sea or Taiwan or against U.S. military targets.

The PLA Navy aircraft carrier 'Shandong' returned to the Sanya Naval Base on January 7, 2021.

The Taipei Times said (January 6) that Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research said in its latest 200-page report titled '2020 Annual Assessment of the People’s Republic of China’s Political and Military Developments' on Chinese political and military developments that Chinese academics have added: “brain dominance” to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s traditional “three warfares” strategy: public opinion warfare, psychological warfare and legal warfare.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced (January 10) the lifting of all restrictions on contacts with Taiwan by any arm of the US Government. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Taiwan foreign Minister both promptly welcomed the announcement.

Taiwan government data showed that Taiwan’s population shrank for the first time ever in 2020, and it faces a burgeoning demographic crisis similar to those affecting South Korea and Japan.

A report in Tibet Times disclosed (January 7) that Tsona Dzong (County) arrested 18 Tibetans on the charges of separatism on January 2 from Shingyon village, Tsonga Dzong, Lhoka (in Chinese: Shannan). 11 of those arrested are females and 7 are males.

Liu Baolai, former Ambassador to the UAE and Jordan, former Vice President of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and presently a senior researcher at the China Foundation for International Studies (CFIS), wrote an article titled “The Middle East: inscrutable in 2021", in Guojiwang on January 6, 2021.

An article in the Wall Street Journal (January 9) revealed that Politburo member and former Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi is scheduled to visit Washington this week.

Xinhua reported (January 7) that the Politburo Standing Committee held a day-long meeting on January 7 to listen to the work reports of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the State Council, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the work of the Central Secretariat report.

On January 4, Xi Jinping, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, signed the Central Military Commission’s Order No. 1 of 2021, issuing a training mobilization order to the entire army.

The Global Times (Chinese version - January 7) reported that the state-owned CCTV (January 6) had covered the meeting of the National Propaganda Ministers held in Beijing on January 6.

Xinhua disclosed (January 5) that the CCP had issued a new rule book for CCP members on January 4, which said that cadres can make complaints about their superiors but are prohibited from airing them in public. China Daily (January 5) said the rules list 13 rights of CCP members.

Xinhua (January 5) reported that the CCP CC had issued a circular confirming the revisions comprising 14 Chapters and 61 Articles approved at a meeting of the CCP CC Political Bureau in November 2020.

On January 4, the Central Discipline Inspection Commission/National Supervisory Commission official website announced that Deng Huilin, Deputy Mayor of Chongqing, had been expelled from the party, sacked, and remanded to the Procuratorate for a criminal investigation.

The All-China Women’s Federation, recently said that women comprise 37.5 per cent of the 4 million members of the Party’s neighbourhood and village committees, which enforce Party mandates and maintain social order. But, the higher women move up the rungs of government hierarchy, the fewer their female peers.

On December 22, the Chinese Academy of History, a subsidiary of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), published a highly controversial 4,000-character article entitled "Being Down to Earth, Youth Without Regrets! Educated youth going to the countryside is a great feat to promote social progress!".

Global Times (January 4) said the state-owned CCTV had revealed (January 3) that China's military post at the highest altitude in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) was the Gamba Post north of Sikkim at an altitude of 5,592 meters.

According to the Chinese Media Observer network, a new box-type rocket launcher has been inducted in the PLA.

On the fifth anniversary of the PLA Rocket Force (PLARF) on December 31, 2020, Bayi TV, a subsidiary of the Chinese military media "China Military Network," launched five short films, which showed conventional warheads, short-range, medium-range, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and long-range cruise missiles.

Asia Times reported (January 6) that China had denied visas to a 10-member WHO team leaving for China to enquire into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. W.H.O. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was quoted saying he was "shocked" by the visa ban.

Several thousand Tibetans in exile voted on January 3, 2021, in the first round of the two-round elections for the President (Sikyong) and the parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration. This primary round was to elect candidates for the two offices, with the main elections to be held on Sunday, April 11, 2021.

Hongkong Police arrested dozens of Hong Kong’s opposition lawmakers and activists on January 6, morning under a major National Security Law operation, with local media reporting as many as 50 were being detained.

The South China Morning Post (January 6) reported that in a rare move, the US State Department made public the schedule of the closed-door talks, to be held online at 6.30 pm on January 6, in Washington (7.30 am Thursday in Taipei) with Clarke Cooper, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, among those taking part.

Well-known Chinese news site NetEase reported on December 28, that, according to multiple Indian media sources, the Indian government has informally asked all airlines not to fly in any Chinese customers. It said this includes domestic airlines as well as foreign airlines.

Zhao Gancheng, a senior researcher at the Shanghai Institute of International Studies posted an article on China's social media on January 3, where he said: "The downward trend in Sino-Indian relations does not seem to be over yet".

China's state-owned CCTV on January 5 telecast a programme on the rioting in Washington DC with the caption: "Pressure recording reveals that Trump still wants to "turnover" Will Washington become a "battlefield"?

Bloomberg reported (January 5) that, in a surprise move, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said it will no longer delist China’s three biggest state-owned telecommunications companies, backtracking on its earlier decision.

In an Op-Ed published by London’s Daily Telegraph, George Brandis, Australia’s High Commissioner in London and former senior Australian government minister, offered sharp observations on the significance of the dispute between Canberra and Beijing that intensified over the course of 2020 and saw China restrict a raft of Australian exports.

The 10 Chinese nationals caught on December 10, for operating a terror cell in the capital city of Kabul have been allowed by the Afghan authorities to leave the country on January 3.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry press release reported Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's speech on December 11, 2020, at the opening ceremony of the Symposium on the International Situation and China's Foreign Relations in 2020 in Beijing entitled "China's Diplomacy in the Midst of Once-in-a-Century Changes and Pandemic: Being Responsible to the Country and Doing its Part for the World".

People's Daily (January 2) highlighted CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping's remarks at the Central Rural Work Conference where he said: "Food security is an important foundation for national security, and ensuring food security is always the top priority of the country's governance".

Xinhua (January 2) reported that after Xi Jinping, Chairman of the Central Military Commission's approval the CMC had issued the "Interim Regulations on the Management of Active Duty Officers".

38 PLA veteran soldiers staged a protest on New Year's Day in Shandong province.

CCTV Channel 13 broadcast a military news item on December 27, 2020, about an information-based integrated combat drill held by a light and high-mobility Integrated brigade of the Tibet Military Command at an altitude of more than 4,500 meters.

In a lengthy interview to the People's Daily (January 2), China's Minister for Science and Technology Wang Zhizhang emphasised, inter alia, the leading role envisaged for S & T. He said that "The influence and support of strategic scientific and technological forces are directly related to the improvement of China's comprehensive national strength and international competitiveness.

The Tibetan diaspora is getting ready to vote in its elections to be held later this year. Seven candidates, including one woman, from 26 countries are enrolled for the 2021 elections.

China’s largest producer of electric vehicle batteries, The Fujian province-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), is boosting its capacity with investments totalling 39 billion yuan ($6 billion) in three centres around the country.

Two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers USS John S. McCain and USS Curtis Wilbur sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on December 31 provoking a protest from Beijing. This is the 13th sailing through the strait by the U.S. Navy this year.

Writing in the Guangming Daily (January 3), Su Xiaohui, Department of China Institute of International Studies, Deputy Director of the Institute of American Studies, stressed that China's foreign policy is based on the tradition of five thousand years of outstanding civilization and it has been recognized as a country of etiquette since ancient times.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported (January 3) that 4 Chinese government ships were confirmed by the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Naha as sailing in the contiguous zone off the Senkaku Islands, which are part of Okinawa Prefecture, on January 1, night.

Nikkei reported (January 1) that Japan has begun to develop unmanned, remote-controlled fighter aircraft capable of breakneck manoeuvres that will be deployed as early as 2035, to counter advancements in China's military technologies and the rise of drone warfare.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's 1,106-word New Year Address delivered on the China Central Radio and Television Station and the Internet was reported by China's entire official media on December 31.

The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) held a New Year's tea party in the CPPCC Auditorium on December 31.

Global Times (December 28) publicised, to mark the 127th birth anniversary of Mao Zedong, that a discussion group comprising younger generations of post-1990s or 2000s has been formed mainly for reading the Selected Works of Mao Zedong together on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. Some Sina Weibo posts displayed photos of young people reading the book.

The NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) has sought comments from the public till January 29 on the following draft Laws among 4 others: draft amendment to the NPC Organic Law [全国人民代表大会组织法]; draft Anti–Food Waste Law [反食品浪费法]; draft Anti–Organized Crime Law [反有组织犯罪法]; draft revision to the Military Facilities Protection Law [军事设施保护法]; and draft Law on the Protection of the Status, Rights, and Interests of Military Personnel [军人地位和权益保障法].

The Global Times (December 28) publicised that the PLA is making progress in modernizing and expanding its arsenal and this will continue over the upcoming year.

Epoch Times (December 2) disclosed that an internal document it had obtained revealed that a delegation from Hebei province used official visits to foreign countries to help private companies gain access to advanced technologies overseas.

Nikkei Asia reported on December 24, 2020, that Moutai (aka Maotai) Liquor, one of China’s most famous baijiu, a 100 proof distilled spirit made of wheat and sorghum, often appears on the gift list of wealthy individuals, and sometimes of corrupt officials.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at the regular press conference on December 28, that Indian media reports that China seems to be gradually abandoning its initial funding commitments to Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor [CPEC] are groundless.

Ten Hong Kong fugitives, arrested at sea in August by mainland Chinese authorities while trying to flee to Taiwan, were sentenced to between seven months and three years’ jail by a Shenzhen court on December 29, 2020. The two younger persons were handed over to the local police.

The PLA Navy announced (December 28) that China's indigenous aircraft carrier Shandong has passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct training in the South China Sea.

The EU concluded the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment in Brussels on December 30, 2020. Justifying the controversial deal, a Press Release that day said the cumulative EU foreign direct investment (FDI) flows from the EU to China over the last 20 years have reached more than €140 billion.

Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of the Global Times, in an article in the newspaper on December 29, criticised individuals in the West and the Western media for encouraging the Chinese citizen-journalist Zhang Zhan to break Chinese laws and post reports on the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in February and the Hongkong protests on the social media.

In the last week of December, US President Trump issued an Executive Order "to protect American investors and pension holders from funding Communist Chinese military companies (CCMCs)".

Bloomberg reported (January 1) that the British Ambassador to the U.S., Ms Karen Pierce had said in an interview that China and Russia must not emerge as the winners from the coronavirus pandemic.

The South China Morning Post highlighted (December 30) the remarks of Russia's Ambassador to China, Andrey Denisov at the Russian Embassy in Beijing on December 29 that China and Russia do not need to establish a military alliance because their relationship is strong enough already.

Dawn (December 30) quoted the Home Minister of Balochistan as saying (December 29) that the provincial government has stopped the fencing work in Gwadar and “The local people will not be kept away from decision-making about Gwadar and a decision about fencing would now be taken after taking the local people into confidence over the issue.”

Speaking on condition of strict anonymity, a Pakistani government official told Nikkei (December 29) that the ITI railroad will connect to China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region through Pakistan's ML-1 railway line.

The People's Daily and authoritative Xinhua news agency front-paged reports (December 26) that the Politburo held a 'Democratic Life' meeting (December 24-25) on the occasion of Mao Zedong's birth anniversary on December 26.

A spokesperson of the CCP CC's United Front Work Department (UFWD) unusually issued an 873-character statement on December 25, responding to an announcement by US Secretary of State Pompeo imposing visa restrictions on United Front Work Department (UFWD) officials.

66-year-old Chen Xiaojiang, a Han majority cadre, was appointed head of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, the body responsible for ethnic minority affairs on December 14, breaking a tradition followed since 1954 of having a member of the minority groups heading the body.

On December 26, the Party Secretaries of Jilin, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Fujian and Hainan on reaching the retirement age were appointed to new positions.

The CCP CC decided on December 1, to appoint 58-year old Tang Renjian, Vice Minister of Agriculture, as Secretary of the Communist Party Committee in the Ministry.

Officials in Ankara said (December 24) that Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate has shown an efficacy rate of 91.25% in Turkey, as per the latest results of clinical trials of the Chinese-developed shot outside China.

Caixin (December 26)) reported that China’s NPC is expected to revise the Charity Law in an effort to loosen overly stringent regulations governing online donations that threaten to throttle the fast-growing practice.

Alibaba Group Holding’s U.S.-listed shares tumbled the most ever, according to Caixin (December 26) due to concern over China’s inquiry into alleged monopolistic practices at the e-commerce company. The stock fell 13% in its biggest one-day drop on record. The decline took Alibaba to its lowest level since July, and the stock is now down 30% from an October peak.

The South China Morning Post reported (December 27) that Hongkong Police is searching for nearly 30 people on suspicion of violating the national security law.

An 11-member team of senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials led by Guo Yechau, Vice Minister of the CCP CC International Department, reached Kathmandu on December 7.

Japan's Kyodo news agency (December 25) asked at the regular Chinese Foreign Ministry press briefing (December 25) in Beijing for China's response to the Indian Foreign Ministry said the previous day that two Indian freighters arrived near ports in Hebei in June and September respectively, but China hasn't allowed them to harbour in the port and go through clearance citing pandemic regulations.

Asia Times (December 25) said that citing security concerns in Balochistan, Pakistan authorities have planned to fence off the entire 24-square-kilometre area surrounding the Gwadar seaport to secure what they call the “crown jewel” of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

On December 22, a Chinese citizen and his interpreter survived a gun assault on a car showroom in the outskirts of Karachi.

The 24th meeting of the 13th National People's Congress Standing Committee held its second plenary meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the morning of December 23.

An 826-character sharply worded commentary by "Xin Zhiping" -- a pseudonym for a Xinhua media platform dedicated to promoting Xi Jinping thought -- published on December 16, 2020, appeared to be directed at people who have been critical of China's more assertive stance towards America.

Liu Shijin, Deputy Director of Economic Affairs at the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), suggested that targets for carbon emissions reduction should be included in the 14th Five Year plan with progress posted as the country seeks to achieve carbon neutrality.

Caixin (December 23) reported that a rally in Chinese corn prices has spurred the government to take the unusual step of bolstering supply at a time when sales from farmers are poised to expand. The Chinese government disclosed a plan last week to resume state corn sales, the first time in years it is doing so during a seasonal peak period for farmers’ sales.

Caixin (December 21) quoted Bloomberg as reporting that China had introduced a new regulation that will allow government agencies to preview, deny and punish foreign investment activities in areas that are deemed as important to national security.

The annual Central Economic Work Conference (December 16-18) put forward the “five fundamentals “五个根本”. They make up one of the key themes in the propaganda consequent to the Central Economic Work Conference.

Caixin reported (December 21) that China’s biggest fintech companies removed savings products linked to regional banks from their online platforms amid heightened scrutiny from regulators concerned that the funds are being raised by unstable smaller lenders and could fuel financial risks.

Radio Free Asia reported (December 18) that in a recent interview with Tencent Finance, a well-known Chinese economist Yao Yang, head of Peking University’s National School of Development, said that the epidemic has had a profound impact on the domestic economy.

The China National Space Administration announced that China's new medium-lift carrier rocket Long March-8 made its maiden flight on December 22, sending five satellites into the planned orbit.

During the Gaden Ngamchoe annual festival in Lhasa on December 10, there was heavy police presence in front of Tsuglakhang and on Barkhor street to keep a close watch over a large group of Tibetans circumambulating the holy sites.

Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) recently arrested 10 Chinese citizens on charges of espionage and running a terror cell. They are believed to be linked to China’s Ministry of State Security. The crackdown by the NDS started on 10 December.

In an article published by the Global Times on December 23, Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of the Global Times, commented on the second joint aerial strategic patrol in the Asia-Pacific region by the air forces of China and Russia on December 22 over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.

The State-owned CCTV-4's International News Channel on December 22, telecast a news report that noted the United States had put 45 Russian companies on the sanctions list and will also close the last two consulates in Russia. It said US-Russian relations have 'once again fallen to a freezing point' and that 'Putin asked the Russian army to make military preparations for NATO threats and promptly respond if necessary'.

Germany’s U.N. envoy Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, during his last scheduled U.N. Security Council meeting on December 23, appealed to China to free two detained Canadians for Christmas. Germany finishes a two-year term on the 15-member council at the end of this month and Ambassador Christoph Heusgen plans to retire after more than 40 years as a diplomat.

The English-language China Daily (December 24) in an editorial said China-U.S. relations have undergone the most difficult period since the establishment of diplomatic relations and whether bilateral relations can get back on track is the focus of the world.

Huanqiu, the Chinese-language version of the Global Times, on December 20, published an editorial captioned "Do your own thing well and not be constrained by the U.S. and the West."

the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 (TPSA) was passed by the United States Senate on December 22, with bipartisan support. The TPSA makes it official United States policy that decisions regarding the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama are exclusively within the authority of the current Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhist leaders and the Tibetan people.

The U.S. Commerce Department on December 21, added more than 58 Chinese and 45 Russia companies to a new list of companies it said to have links to their nations’ militaries.

Kwongwah, the world’s oldest privately owned Chinese daily newspaper in Malaysia, reported (December 14) that the U.S. State Department sponsored the Mekong Dam Monitor Plan, which it just introduced.

The Chinese Embassy in the USA publicised (December 23) that according to a report released by the Institute of International Education and the U.S. Department of State, China was the largest source of international students in the United States in 2018/19 with 369548 students, contributing $14.9 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018.

Senior Colonel Tian Junli, the spokesman for the PLA Southern Theatre Command, claimed on December 22 that its military had "expelled" a US destroyer after it "trespassed" into Chinese territorial waters close to the Spratly Islands.

The Central Economic Work Conference was held under Chinese President Xi Jinping's chairmanship from December 16-18, 2020. Chinese officials proposed tougher antitrust restrictions at the key economic planning meeting, as the Chinese government targets the growing power of the country's technology groups.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Education, as of November 2020, the total number of full-time and part-time registered teachers of ideological and political theory courses in higher education institutions in the country exceeded 100,000, an increase of nearly 60 per cent since 2015.

At a promotion ceremony at the PLA Hqrs in Beijing on December 18, Lt General Zhang Xudong was promoted to full General and appointed Commander of the Western Theatre Command replacing General Zhao Zongqi, who has retired on reaching 65 years of age.

Z-20 helicopters entered service this week with PLA’s Tibet Military District (TMD). First displayed in China’s 2019 military day parade, the TMD is only second army aviation unit to operate the Z-20 advanced helicopters.

Earlier in December, China set up three new villages near the Bum La pass near the India-China-Tibet Tri-junction.

A report titled, “Chinese nuclear forces, 2020” published by the Federation of American Scientists on December 10 examines China’s nuclear arsenal, which is estimated to have surpassed France’s as the world’s third largest.

Wu Yanhua, a Vice Administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), told reporters at a press conference on December 17, that the Chinese government is willing to work with international institutions and scientists and share the lunar samples and relevant detection data collected by the Chang’e 5 moon probe, which returned to earth this week.

China's State Council Information Office will release a white paper on the country's Energy development on December 18 afternoon.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during a press conference on December 18, that bilateral investment treaty talks between China and the EU had entered the “final phase.”

The South China Morning Post (December 17) quoted a CCTV report which disclosed that the previous week the PLA had deployed Type 96A main battle tanks and Type 04 infantry fighting vehicles in a mock street combat exercise in a possible war against Taiwan.

The Washington Post (December 18) reported that Mandarin-speaking protesters shouting profanities and carrying signs with a variety of false accusations have been arriving every day since December 1, outside the suburban home in New Jersey of widely respected Chinese dissident and scholar at Hunter College in New York, Teng Biao.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) declined to participate in the virtual Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) Work Group and Flag Officer Plenary session with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command scheduled for December 14-16, 2020.

Xinhua reported (December 11) that CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee to listen to reports on the work of the CDIC's State Supervision Commission in 2020 and the preparations for the fifth plenary meeting of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CDIC).

Xinhua (December 11) reported that Chinese President and CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Politburo in Beijing on December 11 to analyze and study the economic work in 2021.

CCTV News (December 11) reported that on December 8, the CCP CC held a non-party symposium in Zhongnanhai to listen to the opinions of the central committees of the democratic parties, the heads of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and representatives of non-party personalities on the economic situation this year and the economic work next year.

The state-owned CCTV news (December 13) telecast Chinese President Xi Jinping's "important" speech entitled "Continuing the past and opening a new journey of the global response to climate change" at the Climate Ambition Summit on December 12.

2020 is likely to regarded as the "big year" of the local political reshuffle of the CCP.

Xinhua (December 12) reported that after its 26th 'collective study session' on December 11, the Politburo meeting chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping decided on a series of ten measures to tighten security.

Radio Free Asia reported (November 27) that China's Ministry of Public Security announced that China has launched a new pilot program on “Internet ID Cards” in Fujian and Guangdong provinces. Instead of using the personal ID to register for internet service, the new technology uses the applicants’ biometrics.

The CCP CC's Organisation Department and the Ministry of Finance have named Jilin as a pilot province for the 3-year “red village” project, which aims to promote the core values of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

In an Opinion piece in Radio Free Asia (October 22), US-based 'Tiananmen democracy protestor' Wang Dan outlined how the CCP CC was flouting its own decision of October 20, 1980, which explicitly stated: “Portraits of the current Communist Party leader are forbidden to be displayed in public, no personality cult will be tolerated.”

Having replaced its one-child policy with the two-child policy, China expects to abolish population control soon. Yi Fuxian, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, however, says the impact of the one-child policy on China’s economy, society, politics and national mentality will last for a long time.

Xinhua (December 14) published an article addressing key public concerns about an upcoming rise in the retirement age. It recalled that raising the retirement age was explicitly mentioned in the Party's recommendations for the 14th Five-Year Plan.

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), after summoning people from the country’s 10 top electricity utilities including Huaneng Group, Datang Group, Huadian Group, and State Power Investment Corporation to a meeting on December 12, stipulated that coal purchase prices for power companies should not exceed 640 yuan ($97.7) per ton.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers projected on December 11, that sales of new-energy vehicles in China, which include electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles, will jump 40% in 2021 to 1.8 million units as Tesla’s expansion of local production and price cuts help to lift that market.

The People's Daily and CCTV (December 17) announced that Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping signed an order to issue the newly revised "Army Measurement Regulations"] The Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping signed an order a few days ago to issue the newly revised "Army Measurement Regulations", which will come into effect on January 1, 2021.

The state-owned CCTV on December 17, announced the safe return of China's spacecraft Chang'e-5 carrying lunar samples. It said the landing was in accordance with the three-step plan of the Chinese lunar exploration project "circle, fall, and return".

China's investment in Space has this year for the first time surpassed that of Russia. A recent tabulation by the US-China Institute shows that while the US invests 58% of the world total or US$ 41 billion in Space exploration, this year China invested US$ 5.8 billion exceeding Russia's US$ 4.2 billion. The rest of the world together accounts for US$ 19.8 billion.

At the end of November, the team of Professor Jiang Zonglin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Mechanics published a research paper in the Chinese Journal of Aeronautics, a peer-reviewed academic publication.

On December 11, China announced plans to launch a new imaging satellite to monitor Arctic shipping routes. The satellite will employ Synthetic Aperture Radar technology able to observe the Earth’s surface even during night time and through cloud layers or smoke. The spacecraft will be placed into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 720 kilometres and produce high-quality imagery.

A recent survey by 'The Hongkongers' found that over 600,000 Hongkong residents eligible for the earlier BN(O)C status now expect to migrate to the UK within two years. They are mainly educated and earn higher wages than the average in the UK, but have no friends or family in the UK.

Baolige Wurina, an Inner Mongolian activist who escaped to Sweden from Inner Mongolia ten years ago due to persecution by the authorities for his activism on rights issues for ethnic Mongols, is now at risk of being deported following the Swedish Migration Court’s decision in late November, to turn down his appeal for a review of the Migration Board’s decision from January 2019 not to grant him a new residence permit.

Xinhua reported (December 9) that Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron had reached important consensus on China-France cooperation in the next stage during their phone conversation on December 9 evening.

The US Departments of State and Treasury announced (December 14) sanctions on 14 Chinese officials for their actions in Xinjiang province, Tibet, Taiwan and the South China Sea and the crackdown on pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported (December 11) that on December 10, World Human Rights Day, the U.S. State Department had announced sanctions on 17 foreign government officials and their immediate family members for "serious human rights violations".

CCTV telecast the 'Marxist Theoretical Research and Construction Engineering Work Conference' held in Beijing on December 10. Politburo Standing Committee member and Secretary of the CCP CC Secretariat Wang Huning attended the meeting and delivered a speech.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang chaired a meeting of the National Science and Technology Leading Small Group (NS&TLG) on December 7.

An article by Renmin University Professor Han Xing was published by the Beijing Daily on December 7, with the caption 'What is the starting point of Confucianism for learning? This article makes it clear'.

Tang Jitian, a Human Rights lawyer in China was taken away by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security officers on December 8.

Bloomberg reported (December 11) that Chinese authorities on December 7, detained Haze Fan, who works for the Bloomberg News bureau in Beijing, on suspicion of endangering national security.

China's State Council announced (December 7) that Liu Guiping had been appointed Vice Governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) replacing Zhu Hexin, who left the PBoC to become Party secretary of CITIC Group back in March.

Major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN) reported on November 30, that, according to the latest numbers from IDC, Huawei sold 2.5 million smartphones in the Western Europe market, representing a year-over-year free fall of 58.7 per cent.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) issued a report on December 7, 2020, on the state of the global arms industry in 2019.

On December 8, Hong Kong Island Regional Criminal Unit officers arrested Leung Kwok-hung, Figo Chan and Tang Sai-lai of the League of Social Democrats, and Eastern District Councillors Tsang Kin-sing, Andy Chui and Lancelot Chan bringing to eight the number of pro-democracy figures arrested so far on suspicion of the unauthorised assembly during a July 1 protest.

China and Pakistan started the Shaheen -- or Falcon -- IX joint air force exercises at the newly operational Bholari airbase in Sindh, less than 200 kilometres from the Indian border, on December 9.

Professor Mao Zhenhua, founder-Chairman of the China Chengxin Group, Chief Economist of China Chengxin International, and Co-Director of the Institute of Economics, Renmin University of China, delivered an interesting speech on how China can reduce US pressure at the 20th Yabuli Forum -2020 on November 18-20, 2020.

Ji Tao, Editor-in-Chief and President China Daily USA, on December 7, tweeted that "It's time to stop targeting Chinese students in the US. The damage has been done. In the first nine months this year, student visa visits from China to the US fell by almost 70%, as compared with that of 2019."

Speaking via video-link to the US-China Business Council on December 7, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed the hope that US-China relations would stabilise with the Biden Administration. He said, “We expect and believe that the US’ China policy will return to objectivity and rationality sooner or later.”

Di Dongsheng, Professor of International Relations at Renmin University, asked during a speech attended by hundreds of people at an event on November 28, in Shanghai hosted by Guancha.cn, while discussing the trade war started by Trump: “So why can’t we fix the Trump administration? Why between 1992 and 2016 were China and the US able to settle all kinds of issues?”

Former Democratic presidential candidate and former Mayor of South Bend, Idaho, Pete Buttigieg may be headed for China as the incoming Biden Administration’s ambassador to Beijing. He is also tipped as in the running for a number of other leadership positions in the Biden Administration.

The Japan-China Economic Research (JCER) institute in a recent study forecast that in 2020, only China, Vietnam and Taiwan are on track to maintain positive year-on-year growth rates.

Global Times (December 5) reported that, in the name of national security, the German government prohibited the Chinese acquisition of a German satellite technology company IMST. IMST developed the critical components of Germany’s TerraSAR-X observation satellite.

The Hong Kong online news media HK01 Network on November 30, reported that the Japanese government had decided to replace all unmanned aircraft that provincial governments operated with more secure Japanese products.

Reuters and The Associated Press quoted Indonesian President Joko Widodo on December 6, said he was "very grateful" to China for supplying the first batch of 1.2 million doses of the new crown vaccine.

CCTV reported (December 4) that Chinese President Xi Jinping met representatives of the plenary session of the Military Ideological and Political Education Work Conference held in Beijing from December 3 to 4. Xi Jinping met and had a group photograph with them on December 4, at the Jingxi Hotel.

The People's Daily on December 3, reported that CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang chaired a meeting of its Ethnic and Religious Committee on December 2 in Beijing. The meeting discussed "building a common spiritual home for all ethnic groups and forging a sense of community for the Chinese nation".

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng delivered the keynote speech at the International Influence Forum of Think Tanks and the 6th Symposium on the Construction of New Think Tanks hosted by the Chongyang Institute of Finance of Renmin University of China and the Literature and Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on December 5.

Foreign Affairs (December 4) published a lengthy article captioned 'The Party that Failed' by the presently US-based Professor Cai Xia, a former senior faculty member of the Central Party School who became a critic of Xi Jinping who had her pension and other financial benefits seized. Her article gives a vivid account of the policies of China's leaders and particularly her disappointment with Xi Jinping.

The People's Daily (December 4) highlighted that various parts of the country had carried out "in-depth study and publicity of Xi Jinping's thoughts on the rule of law, and vigorously promote the spirit of the constitution" theme activities, creating a good atmosphere of respect for law, study and law-abiding in the whole society during the third national "Constitution Propaganda Week" from November 30 to December 6.

China's military media disclosed (November 29) that according to reports, the Chinese Navy’s latest plan shows that by 2025, the Chinese Navy will have 16 Type 055 destroyers, 50 Type 054A frigates, and 40 Type 052C/D. In addition, construction of the improved version of the Type-054A and Type-054B frigates will start next year.

The Hurun Rich List data compiled in October 2020 shows that the number of Chinese billionaires is growing at the fastest pace in the country's history. There are now 878 billionaires under 40 in China -- including 257 newly minted billionaires this year -- worth a total of $4 trillion, breaking their own previous records.

Nedal Nassar, chief of the Materials Flow Analysis Section at the National Minerals Information Center at the U.S. Geological Survey, told POLITICO (December 2) that a USGS review of 50 commodities identified cobalt as one of the materials at highest risk of supply disruptions.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at the regular press briefing on December 4, that latest Eurostat data showed that China had edged past the US in the third quarter to become the EU's largest trade partner.

Radio France International (November 9) reported that In an article published in the state media People’s Political Consultative Conference Newspaper, the former Deputy Director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under China’s State Council, Wang Zaixi said, “It may be difficult to achieve the purpose of reunification across the strait if we do not use military force and rely solely on political negotiations, non-governmental exchanges, and unconditionally making compromises.”

Taiwan’s Central News Agency announced (December 3) that the ROC government had expelled a reporter from China’s Southeast Television who was stationed in Taiwan. He was expelled for violating relevant regulations that prohibit renting a studio in Taiwan in order to host a political program.

According to UK media reports former Democratic Party Legislative Council (Legco) member, Xu Zhifeng suddenly withdrew from the Democratic Party and went into exile .

The Wall Street Journal reported (December 4) that the US Justice Department is talking to representatives of Meng Wanzhou, Chief Financial Officer of Huawei Technologies Co. and daughter of its founder, that could see her freed to return home from Canada after her detention in December 2018, in exchange for signing a deferred prosecution agreement.

Reuters (December 4) reported that the US State Department announced on December 4 that it has ended five cultural exchange programs with China because they are "soft power propaganda tools."

Writing in the Global Times (December 4) Zhang Tengjun, Assistant Research Fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, described the imposition of restrictions on members of the CCP and their family members "as yet another hysterical anti-China policy" and "part of the all-out China containment strategy advocated by the Trump administration since the beginning of this year".

Speaking at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum on December 2, Yan Xuetong, Dean of the Institute of International Relations at Beijing’s Tsinghua University cautioned against “wishful thinking” about the incoming Biden administration and anticipated that “Unpredictability, uncertainty will still be the basic characteristic of the coming years” and “The world will definitely become more chaotic.”

An editorial in China's official English-language China Daily (December 3) observed that "Although everyone seems to be ready for China-US relations to worsen each passing day for the remainder of the current administration's term, such developments are worrisome signs that bilateral ties are being effectively shifted onto a dangerous path".

The Liberty Times reported on November 29, that while speaking at the China Macroeconomic Forum held at Renmin University in Beijing, Professor Li Daokui of Beijing’s Tsinghua University and a former advisor to the People’s Bank of China, said the recent memoirs published by former US President Obama showed that the Democrats are worried about the rise of China’s technological power.

According to a Kyodo News report on November 29, seven defense-related Chinese universities that conduct military technological research have academic and student exchange agreements with a total of 45 public and private universities in Japan, among which nine Japanese universities have joint research programs.

The CCP CC Politburo met on November 30 to review the "Regulations on Political Work in the Army," "Regulations on the Work of the United Front of the Communist Party of China," and "Regulations on the Protection of the Rights of Party Members of the Communist Party of China."

A lengthy 4225-character article captioned 'Actively create a good external environment (study and implement the spirit of the 5th Plenum of the 19th Central Committee)', by Politburo Member and former Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was published in the People's Daily on November 30.

ANI (November 28) reported that several Billboards have appeared in the streets of London on November 28 demanding the arrest of Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Quanguo.

Foreign Policy Magazine's China Brief (December 2) reported that Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of the CCP-owned Global Times faces potential political trouble after an accusation by his Deputy Editor-in-Chief Duan Jingtao, that he has fathered two children with employees.

The official website of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission (CDIC) recently reported that following an investigation by the CCP CC and the State Supervision Commission of the CDIC, Ren Hua, the former Party member and Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Government, had been expelled from the Party.

31-year old Dong Yaoqiong, the girl who posted a video of her throwing ink on a poster and defacing the image of Xi Jinping in Shanghai in December 2018 in protest against his “authoritarian dictatorship”, once again on December 1, 2020, posted a two-minute video, which has been widely circulated on social media platforms including Twitter.

Tuber, China's app for Android mobiles that bypasses China's Great Firewall and allows access to banned sites like Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Netflix was developed by the Shanghai Fengxuan Information Technology Co., Ltd., in which Qihoo 360, the Beijing-based cybersecurity firm founded by entrepreneur Zhou Hongyi, holds a 70 per cent stake.

The state-owned 'Voice of China' reported that China's largest pig producer, the pig-farming giant Muyuan Group announced plans to build 84 industrialized pig farms in 13 counties surrounding its headquarters in Nanyang, a city in the hinterland of Henan Province to alleviate China's meat shortage.

CCTV reported (December 3) that the Politburo Standing Committee met on December 3 to listen to a summary and evaluation report on poverty alleviation.

Xinhua (December 1) reported that workers are overcoming difficulties to build the first electric railway in Tibet, China. It said the 435-km railway linking Lhasa and Nyingchi is expected to open next year.

Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, the founder of the Apple Daily and media group Next Digital, was charged with fraud on December 2 night in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and was to appear in West Kowloon Court on December 3.

On November 30, the CCP-owned Global Times disclosed that China is going ahead with construction of a major hydropower project on the Brahmaputra river.

Remarking on Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe's one-day visit to Kathmandu, Qian Feng, Director of the Research Department of the National Institute of Strategic Studies, Tsinghua University was quoted by Global Times (November 29) as saying that the visit fully demonstrated the importance of China Nepal relations and will greatly improve the trust between the two countries and twp militaries.

Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe paid a 2-day (December 1-3) visit to Pakistan where he met the Pakistan Prime Minister, President and the Chief of Army Staff.

Sparked by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian's remarks and release on November 30, of a photograph found objectionable by the Australian Government, angry rhetoric between the two escalated with calls in Australia for a boycott of Chinese goods.

Before chairing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Central Standing Committee meeting in Taipei on December 2, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen said that Taiwan would take action to back Australians at a time when they are “under tremendous pressure.”

The US Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliff, in an article in the Wall Street Journal on December 3 identifying China as the No: 1 threat and a once-in-a-generation challenge, said he had shifted resources inside the $85 billion annual intelligence budget to increase the focus on China.

The US has added the China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation, a midsize State-owned Enterprise specializing in civil and defense engineering with close ties with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), to the US entity list, freezing its assets in the United States and banning US firms from doing business with it.

The New York Times (November 29) cited US Congressmen as saying that Nike and Coca-Cola are among the major companies and business groups lobbying Congress to weaken a bill that would ban imported goods made with forced labour in China’s Xinjiang region as well as lobbying records that show vast spending on the legislation.

In an interview (December 2) to New York Times' Tom Friedman, the US President-elect Joe Biden said on China that he would not act immediately to remove the 25 per cent tariffs that Trump imposed on about half of China’s exports to the United States — or the Phase 1 agreement Trump inked with China that requires Beijing to purchase some $200 billion in additional U.S. goods and services during the period 2020 and 2021 — which China has fallen significantly behind on.

The Hongkong Economic Times (HKET) reported on November 26, that the British government just introduced the Communications Security Bill, which is designed to monitor the nation’s 5G mobile network and its fiber network.

CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the National Commendation Conference for Model Workers and Advanced Workers held in Beijing on November 24, where he was quoted by CCTV in its Focus Programme on November 28, as saying "Socialism is done, and the new era is a struggle. Model workers are national elites and people.

Qiu Shi (November 27) published an article which said that at the opening ceremony of the training class for young and middle-aged cadres at the Central Party School (National School of Administration) in the Fall semester of 2020, CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that political ability is the first among the various abilities required for cadres to do their jobs well.

The PLA Daily (November 27) published a report on Xi Jinping's "important" speech at the Military Training Conference of the Central Military Commission held in Beijing on November 25, 2020.

CCTV (November 27) telecast a report publicising that the development of women's cause was for the very first time included in the "13th Five-Year Plan" outline as a special chapter for the first time, said this was to promote the all-round development of women.

Stating that the CCP CC's Fifth Plenary Session drew a magnificent blueprint for China's future development, Xinhua (November 27) said it has overall and historical significance in the development of the party and the country.

The communique issued after the Fifth Plenum (October 26-29, 2020) of the CCP CC says that China is still in a period of important strategic opportunity as the world is “undergoing changes unseen in a century”. The last few paragraphs of the Communique focus on the PLA modernisation and China’s national security.

Writing in the Asia Times (November 28), Frank Chen claimed that China's National Statistics Bureau was cited by China's State Council at a press conference marking China's 71st anniversary in October, that China now has no less than 400 million middle-class consumers.

The state-owned CCTV on November 28 reported that China's all-sea deep manned submersible the "Struggle", successfully completed the 10,000-meter sea trial and returned successfully on November 28.

Caixin (November 28) reported that Xiaomi Inc. is looking to seize a greater share of its home smartphone market as the market adjusts to the vacuum left by sanctions-struck Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. Xiaomi China's President Lu Weibing said (November 26) that every county-level city in China will have a Mi Home store — which sells the company’s smart home products as well as its handsets — in one year.

Bloomberg reported (November 28), based on China Customs Administration data, showed that China’s imports of U.S. goods under the phase one trade deal slowed last month after hitting a high in September, leaving the full-year target well out of reach.

The South China Morning Post reported (November 28) that the PLA Daily had on November 23 said that all Chinese outposts at altitudes of more than 3,000 metres altitudes had been equipped with oxygen generators and troops stationed higher than 4,000 metres would receive mandatory oxygen therapy for an hour each day.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Seoul on November 25, after a two-day visit to Japan.

Taiwan's state-run shipbuilder China Shipbuilding Corporation (CSBC) and the arms developer Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, who were awarded the contract for building eight indigenous submarines in 2016, have started building the first of the submarines at the Kaohsiung shipyard.

Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe made a one-day visit to Kathmandu on November 29, when he met Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister K.P.S. Oli and Army Chief General Purna Chandra Thapa.

Shen Shiwei, a news producer of the State-owned CGTN, last week tweeted and later deleted four images establishing that China had formed Pangda village, a new residential area.

Following the release of the Brereton report, which found Australian special forces committed at least 39 unlawful killings during the war in Afghanistan, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) spokesman and Deputy Director of MoFA's Information Department, Zhao Lijian at last week's regular weekly press briefing said China "strongly condemned" the soldiers' actions, and said the report "fully exposed the hypocrisy of the human rights and freedom these Western countries are always chanting".

Attending a meeting on Military Training in Beijing on November 25, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and Chinese President, Xi Jinping ordered the armed forces to strengthen training under real combat conditions and raise their capability of winning wars.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 24, addressed a gathering to honour model workers and exemplary individuals where he said China must closely rely on the working class to promote high-quality development and urged the country's working class and working people to strive for new and historic achievements in fully building a modern socialist country.

The People's Daily published (November 23) an article by Politburo member and Head of China's Publicity (Propaganda) Department, Huang Kunming captioned 'Promote the building of a socialist cultural power (study and implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Party)'.

The Chinese version of the flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 'People’s Daily', published (November 25) an article by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is calling for China to move faster toward becoming technologically self-reliant, a goal that he said will play a decisive role in the country’s economic development agenda for the next 15 years.

On November 23, the CDIC issued a statement on its official website emphasising that the 19th CCP CC's Fifth Plenary Session had "clearly forecast the long-term goal of basically achieving socialist modernization by 2035, and clearly put forward the guidelines, main goals, and key tasks for my country's economic and social development during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period".

Radio Free Asia reported on November 6, that China's National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) had announced (October 30) that a total of 205,000 Chinese journalists had passed the “Xi Thought” exam and obtained a passport-sized Chinese journalist ID card with gold letters against a red background.

The CCP CC's Comprehensive Rule of Law Work Conference was held on November 16 - 17, 2020 in Beijing where CCP CC General Secretary and Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an "important" speech emphasising that China will unswervingly follow the path of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capabilities on the track of the rule of law, so as to provide a powerful force for building a modern socialist country and realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The People's Daily on November 14 reported that China's Central Military Commission (CMC) had on November 13, issued the “Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Joint Operations Guideline (Trial Version).” The “Guideline” aims to build the PLA into a world-class army force, with a focus on the establishment of a system of laws and regulations for joint operations.

A document obtained by the Epoch Times and dated May 28, 2020, from the Yunnan Police Academy titled, “Activities on Promoting the Joint Development of the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative” reveals that since 2015, the Academy has trained 56 foreign students from Afghanistan, Argentina, Angola, Pakistan, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, and Myanmar and has granted them Master’s degrees.

The Chinese Edition of Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported (November 11) that, after several incidents of graduate school students committing suicide this year, China's Ministry of Education issued 'The Code of Conduct for Graduate School Teachers'.

Professor Zheng Gongcheng, a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), wrote in the Guangming Ribao (November 23) that it is expected that by 2035, China will be considered a “super-aged society.”

The official China Central Television (CCTV) on November 22, claimed major strides in poverty alleviation in Tibet.

HK CE Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor delivered a 24,000-word speech with a number of Chinese Communist Party words over 2 hours 20 minutes to the Hongkong Legislative Council (Legco) on November 25 which was interrupted by pro-democracy legislators who forced her to complete her speech virtually. Her fourth policy speech was described by political observers and Legco members as "underwhelming".

Radio France International reported on November 9, that Wang Zaixi, former Deputy Director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under China’s State Council, had recently published an article in the official People’s Political Consultative Conference Newspaper.

Xinhua reported (November 25) that Chinese President Xi Jinping had sent a message on November 25, to congratulate U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on his election.

Fu Ying, a former Chinese Ambassador and Vice Foreign Minister and presently the Director of the Center for International Security and Strategy and an adjunct professor at Tsinghua University and also a Vice Chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress, published an Op-Ed in the New York Times (November 24).

The National Interest (November 25) reported that the USS Barry (DDG-52), an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, conducted its fourth routine transit through the Taiwan Strait and entered the South China Sea on November 20.

The Office of Policy Planning Staff of the United States Department of State (DOS) issued a 70-page research report on November 17, which summarized the behaviour of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), analysed the ideological roots behind the behaviour and the vulnerabilities that the Chinese Communist regime faces, and suggested how the United States should respond to China’s challenges.

Well-known Chinese news site Sina reported on October 30, that based on British media reports, UK intelligence agencies MI5, MI6 and GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) are establishing a new program that is currently hiring “mandarin linguists.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping virtually sat down with other heads of state for the G20 Riyadh Summit on November 22 where he opened with some general comments.

Addressing the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit hosted virtually from Kuala Lumpur on November 20, Xinhua reported that Chinese President “highlighted promoting openness and inclusiveness, accelerating innovation-driven growth, enhancing regional connectivity, and pushing for mutually beneficial cooperation.”

On November 21, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang convened a meeting with five provincial governors to get their suggestions on economic policy in preparation for the Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) to be held in December.

The People’s Daily on November 19, published an article by Executive Vice Premier Han Zheng, laying out his thoughts on the Party’s 2035 vision.

National People’s Congress Chairman and PBSC member Li Zhanshu concluded a three day inspection tour to Shanxi Province on November 18. Li Zhanshu stressed that policymakers everywhere need to get to work implementing Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law.

Chen Quanguo, Party Secretary of the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region and Politburo member did not attend the Chinese Communist Party's 2-day meeting to implement "Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law" held earlier in the week beginning November 16. Normally, the 25 members of the Politburo, including all seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee, would attend.

The People’s Daily published (November 20) an editorial by Ding Xuexiang explaining the Party’s recommendations for the 14th Five-Year Plan. Ding Xuexiang reminded officials that they are meant to be implementing six big economic programs over the next 15 years.

On November 17, Sinopharm Chairman Liu Jingzhen revealed that nearly one million people had been given its COVID-19 vaccines, which are still under Phase III clinical trials.

Caixin reported (November 21) that China's State Council approved the establishment of a new committee led by the State Administration for Market Regulation and comprising 17 central government ministries and departments to combat unfair competition as regulators tighten scrutiny of market dominance built up by tech giants such as Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings.

Creditors of Peking University Founder Group Corp. (PUFG) approved a plan (November 19) to restructure the state-owned industrial and investment conglomerate as part of its efforts to resolve its nearly 150 billion yuan ($22 billion) debt pile.

The South China Morning Post (November 24) reported that about 600 Chinese citizens have been evacuated from the conflict-ridden Tigray region of Ethiopia.

A Zoom conference with a scheduled six speakers is being held in Canada on November 24 evening to 'Free Meng Wanzhou', CFO of Huawei on the second anniversary of her house arrest.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Tokyo (Japan) and Seoul (RoK) from November 24 - 27. This will be Wang Yi's first visit to Japan since Yoshihide Suga became Japan's new prime minister. He is expected to meet with Suga during his two-day trip and also meet his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi on November 24.

According to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (November 13), after the US presidential election, China and the United States restarted their stalled behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

Zheng Yongnian, Dean of the Shenzhen-based think tank 'Advanced Institute of Global and Contemporary China Studies', was quoted by South China Morning Post (November 22) as saying on the sidelines of the 'Understanding China Conference' in Guangzhou, that there was now a bipartisan consensus in the US on containing China.

The newly appointed US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, Robert Destro, hosted Lobsang Sangay, Prime Minister (also called Sikyong) for an unprecedented meeting at the White House on November 20, 2020. This was the first time in six decades that the leader of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile was invited to the White House.

Addressing the 2020 Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief hosted by the Government of Poland on November 17, US Senator and Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback opposed China’s intervention in picking the next Dalai Lama saying, “The United States supports – that religious community has the right to pick their own leadership.

The Epoch Times (November 23) revealed that the China Daily has spent millions for the past six months on U.S. publications, according to its statement filed last week with the US Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Caixin reported (November 21) that Malaysia’s state government of Melaka has terminated a $10.5 billion worth agreement with a local developer who partnered with three Chinese companies over a sea reclamation project involving the building of mixed harbour development, including three man-made islands, in the strategic Malacca Strait.

Quoting a Chinese a military source, the South China Morning Post said the PLA has instructed its 'propagandists' to steer clear of US election coverage to ensure their reports are not “misread as taking sides” in the presidential race.

The South China Morning Post (October 10) cited a Chinese military source as saying that, counter to the usual practice of giving the latest equipment first to army units of the Eastern and Northern Theatre Commands, frontline troops in western Tibet are now “the top priority” for the PLA logistics department.

In the declaration drafted by Germany and presented at the UN General Assembly in New York on October 6, 39 predominantly Western countries denounced China for gross human rights violations in Xinjiang and the Tibet Autonomous Region and for limiting political and personal freedoms in Hong Kong.

Local authorities said that tourism to Xinjiang during the Golden week went up 10.78 per cent from the same period last year on a comparable basis. Xinjiang's Culture and Tourism Department said that the tourism revenue during the holiday from October 1 to 8 reached 8.41 billion yuan (about US$ 1.24 billion).

Data from China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed that there were 637m trips in China over the eight-day holiday this year, which ended on October 8, generating revenue of Rmb466.6bn ($69.5bn).

The Chinese box office raked in CNY3.9 billion (US$ 581 million) over the eight-day public holiday that ended on October 8, the second highest amount ever for the golden week after last year's takings of CNY4.5 billion. Patriotic blockbuster 'My People, My Homeland', the sequel to last year's 'My People, My Country', hit the screens on October 1. It came top with takings of CNY1.9 billion (US$ 283 million).

China’s megacity of Shenzhen will use the People's Bank of China's new digital yuan to provide 10 million yuan (US$ 1.5 million) of coupons to residents as part of ongoing pilot programs to test the virtual currency in a sign that it is approaching widespread rollout.

Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao on October 8, quoted Wu Shicun, President of the National Institute for the South China Sea Studies, as saying that bilateral crisis management and control mechanisms between China and the US were nearly suspended amid all-out confrontation between the two sides, which could lead to misfires if soldiers on both sides clash at sea.

Taiwan President Tsai ing-wen's National Day speech (October 10) in its penultimate section on International Relations included the comment For some time we have all been paying close attention to changes in regional security.

The CCP-owned Global Times on October 11 -- the day after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's National Day speech -- introduced the first of is 3-part expose on Taiwan's espionage activities in China with an editorial comment.

Politico reported on September 8 that the China Media Group (CMG), the state media super-conglomerate created in March 2018 through the merger of three major media groups, including China Central Television, China National Radio and China Radio International, is planning to open a European office in Brussels.

The People's Daily on September 26, reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping had for the first time in history issued "important instructions" that opinions and suggestions be solicited "from all of society" in the process of drawing up the five-year plan.

Wu Jianghao who was Director of the Department of Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2017-2020 has been promoted as Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Liu Haitao, identified only as an officer of a Brigade of the PLA's 79th Group Army wrote in China Militarynet on October 5, highlighting that "the method of military training is the most important thing and plays a key role in determining whether the army can fight and win battles".

The Global Times (October 6) reported that the PLA ground forces had for the first time used 10 UAVs — or drones — to provide logistic support to soldiers stationed at the remote Motuo region in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

The People's Daily published four commentaries 'expanding' Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at the recent Third Central Xinjiang Work Symposium between September 28 and October 1.

TAR Party Secretary Wu Yingjie visited Bayi, capital of Nyingchi Prefecture, on October 1, where he met the Secretaries of all the Party Committees and briefed them on the 'spirit' of the Seventh Tibet Work Forum.

Official Chinese figures estimated that over 1.4 million domestic visitors visited Lhasa, capital of the TAR, over the National Day weekend.

China has raised its purchases of Japanese government bonds (JGBs) to the highest level in three and a half years, in an apparent effort to reap greater yields on Beijing’s massive reserves of foreign currencies.

The Nikkei Asian Review on October 7, reported that the wealth of China's ultrarich had jumped 41% from April 2019 to the end of July 2020, helping the country's richest citizens to collectively break the $1.5 trillion mark and boost global billionaire wealth to a record high.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), China’s largest computer chipmaker, has been caught in the escalating China-U.S. tech war as it was hit by U.S. trade restrictions limiting access to American suppliers.

Well-known Chinese news site Sohu reported (September 27) that the Sichuan provincial people’s congress proposed a new law to regulate all aspects of the food supply, including agricultural production, storage, distribution, quality assurance, emergency safeguards, and legal responsibilities for key players.

Earlier, the Agricultural Trade Promotion Center of China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced on September 9, 2020, that China's agricultural imports for January-July 2020 totalled $96.2 billion, up 13 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

At a "China Rural Development Report 2020" conference and the "14th Five-Year Plan" China Rural Development High-level Forum in Beijing on August 17, jointly held by the Rural Development Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the China Social Sciences Press the "Report on China's Rural Development 2020" was issued in preparation for writing the 14th five-year plan for 2021-25.

An important statement was made by Zhang Ning, a Research Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), in an article in the 'China Industry Circle' magazine on October 3.

The South China Morning Post on October 7 reported that Yan Xuetong, Dean of Tsinghua University’s Institute of Modern International Relations in Beijing, published an article in the latest issue of its Quarterly Journal of International Politics which said China should stop fighting ideological battles with the United States and trying to prove the superiority of its political system.

The Voice of America reported (October 7) that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a first-of-its-kind Homeland Threat Assessment on October 7.

The Epoch Times (October 3) reported that the U.S. released three major measures against the CCP around October 1, which is China’s National Day. On October 2, the U.S. Immigration Service issued a policy announcement prohibiting Communist Party members and those who have joined the Communist Party from applying for U.S. immigration status.

A People's Daily 'Zhong Sheng' commentary on August 31 said "There’s no doubt that communication is the only thing that stops lies, and dialogues the only way to avoid misjudges. Slandering others doesn't proves one's innocence, and blame games won’t help solve problems.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCESRC) released an updated list of Chinese companies listed on the three largest U.S. stock exchanges i.e. NASDAQ, New York Stock Exchange, and NYSE American on October 2.

The business news service Axios disclosed on October 6, that it had learnt that a high-ranking German official suppressed a sensitive intelligence report in 2018 on China’s growing influence in Germany out of fear it would damage business ties with China.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun (October 5), the Japanese government will from 2021, be more strict in reviewing the visa applications of international university students and foreign researchers in order to prevent advanced technology and information from flowing to China.

South Korea’s ramped-up efforts to get companies to relocate home from China are failing to gain momentum even as the pandemic and U.S.-China trade tensions highlight the risks of over-reliance on China as a manufacturing base.

Nikkei Asia Review reported (October 4) that the Party theoretical fortnightly in its September 1 edition publicised that Chinese President Xi Jinping's philosophy will henceforth be taught at elite universities.

The South China Morning Post reported on October 2, that the National Supervisory Commission (NSC) had announced on October 2, that Dong Hong, a senior Chinese government inspector and long-time colleague of Vice-President Wang Qishan including when the latter was President Xi Jinping’s anti-graft tsar, has been placed under a corruption probe.

A Beijing-based Chinese observer said in the third week of September that many people residing in China and Taiwan are anticipating an ’October Surprise’ as the U.S. election nears this year.

Writing in the Apple Daily's Special Column on September 2, Chinese TAM dissident Wang Dan said that a rumour circulating on the internet claimed that after the August 2020 Chinese leadership conference at the Beidaihe seaside resort, some unidentified "hardliners" in the CCP had posted “Eight Policies to Resist the United States" They claimed these had been proposed at Beidaihe.

The China-appointed Panchen Lama Gyaltsen Norbu, who has been in Tibet for probably the longest uninterrupted stay yet, reached Shigatse on September 15, and gave an audience to the monks of the Tashi Lhunpo monastery the same day.

The Central News Agency reported (September 26) that former Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj recently wrote to Chinese President Xi Jinping to protest against the authorities’ push for the use of Chinese teaching materials in Inner Mongolia.

Wu Jieming, Political Commissar of the National Defense University and Director of the Research Center of Xi Jinping thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics and an Alternate Member of the 19th CCPCC wrote an important lengthy 3079-word article in the Guangming Daily (October 4) emphasising the that "Mastering ideological education is the central link in uniting the whole party in a great political struggle."

Sina reported on October 4, that Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China's partially state-owned publicly-listed semiconductor foundry company, is scaling up its procurement from upstream suppliers in the United States, Europe, and Japan, with a size exceeding a full-year’s demand for 2020.

The US State Department issued a notice on October 2, 2020, which states that "The inadmissibility ground for membership in or affiliation with the Communist or any other totalitarian party1 is part of a broader set of laws passed by Congress to address threats to the safety and security of the United States.

Lt General He Lei, a former Deputy Commander of the Lanzhou Military Region and Vice President of the PLA Academy of Military Science, published an article in the Global Times on October 1, highlighting China's role in the Korean War against the U.S. Saying that the People's Volunteer Army (PVA) "won a great victory in the war", which demonstrated the national prestige of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the military power of the people's army.

Exchanging congratulatory messages on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Bangladesh on October 4, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that he stands ready to work with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Md. Abdul Hamid, to better align the two countries' strategies and jointly promote the construction of the Belt and Road, so as to take the China-Bangladesh strategic partnership of cooperation to new heights.

European politicians and intellectuals, mostly on the progressive Left, published a powerful October 1 Op-Ed in Le Monde denouncing the crime against humanity in Xinjiang.

The People's Daily front-paged a report on October 1, of the flag-raising ceremony to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China on October 1, 2020. Other national newspapers like China Economic Daily etc. also carried similar reports on their front pages.

The Politburo meeting held on September 28, said that the “enactment of the regulations on the work of the CPC Central Committee 《中国共产党中央委员会工作条例》 is essential to upholding the authority of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, and its centralized and unified leadership, according to the meeting.”

At a meeting on September 28, the CCP CC Politburo announced that the Fifth Plenary session of the CCP's 19th Central Committee will be held in Beijing from October 26 - 29, 2020.

The 13th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee will convene for its 22nd session from October 13 to 17.

Xinhua reported on September 29, that the Standing Committee of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will convene its 14th meeting in early November in Beijing.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee (CC), State Council and Central Military Commission (CMC) announced (September 24) that commemorative medals will be issued on the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army's participation in the Korean War (1950-53) against the US and will be awarded to living Volunteer Army veterans who had fought in the war.

RFA quoted (September 28) sources as reporting that ethnic Tibetan members of the CCP, government workers, and students are now routinely denied access to monasteries and temples in many parts of Tibet. Penpa Dhondup, Director of the Archives of the Tibet Autonomous Region, was recently fired from his post for affirming his faith in Tibetan Buddhism.

The South China Morning Post reported on September 28 that the latest moves of Chinese authorities are now to target the small and little-known community of Utsuls, who are Muslims, in Hainan.

Caixin said (September 28) that China’s economic rebound showed signs of plateauing in September, weighed down by lacklustre home and car sales, a weaker stock market and worsening business confidence.

Zhong Shanshan, President of Hangzhou-based Nongfu Spring, has overtaken Alibaba's Jack Ma to become the nation's richest person after a surge in his company's share price boosted his fortune to almost $60bn according to Bloomberg estimates.

The South China Morning Post (September 30) reported the remarks of Yuan Nansheng, China's former Consul General in San Francisco and Vice President of the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), a think-tank of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), in an article posted on September 20, 2020, on the official Wechat account of Peking University's Institute of International and Strategic Studies outlining what he assessed would be the key changes that would reset bilateral relations once the pandemic is over.

Xiakedao, the WeChat account of People’s Daily overseas edition, wrote that it is necessary for the Chinese public to re-study the Korean War and China’s decision to fight the Americans.

The South China Morning Post reported (September 27) that Beijing has put in place retaliatory measures that American diplomats must obtain approval from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs before they can meet with Hong Kong government officials or personnel from the city’s educational institutions and societies.

Professor Zhu Songchun, an award-winning expert in computer vision at the University of California at Los Angeles, has joined Peking University to lead its Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the university said in a statement issued on September 25.

The U.S. imposed export restrictions on Taiwan's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) adding to tensions between with China over the critical industry. U.S. firms must now apply for a license to export certain products to China’s largest chipmaker, the Commerce Department said in a letter dated September 25, reviewed by Bloomberg News.

A US Federal district judge blocked a key part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s TikTok ban from going into effect on September 27 night, even as its Chinese parent ByteDance has yet to form a plan for the popular video app that would satisfy either Washington or Beijing.

The People’s Daily on September 20, published the eighth Zhong Sheng commentary in its series on “Correctly Viewing and Properly Handling China-US Relations.”

In an article published in The Interpreter of the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, on September 23, Suzanne Levi-Sanchez said that a Chinese diplomat recently stated that the Pamir mountains of Tajikistan belonged to China and always have.

Speaking at the Third Central Work Conference on Xinjiang, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed 'that China will work hard to build a Xinjiang that follows the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era and is united, prosperous, culturally advanced, harmonious & beautiful'.

UCA News (September 25) said that Catholics in mainland China are upset about the distortion of a Bible story in a school textbook, which claims Jesus Christ stoned to death a sinner woman in order to respect the law of the time.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's assertion in his speech to the UNGA on September 22, that "We aim to have [carbon dioxide] emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060” was questioned in an article in Foreign Policy on September 25 by Adam Tooze who said "Thanks to the gigantic surge in economic growth since 2000 and its reliance on coal-fired electricity generation, China is now by far the largest emitter of carbon dioxide.

Former Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei spoke at the closed-door symposium of the influential 'China Economists 50 Forum' on September 15, when he shared some thoughts on China’s new economic framework – the dual circulation strategy (DCS).

On September 24, China's leadership attended the 7th Congress of the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives (ACFSMC). Chinese President Xi Jinping praised the ACFSMC on the state-owned CCTV saying it has a “Long history, glorious tradition, and role as an important force in developing agriculture and rural areas.”

Bloomberg reported on September 25, that the world’s largest agricultural commodity traders are making the most money in years exporting everything from soybeans to corn and wheat from American ports to China.

China Daily reported that Sixth China (Beijing) Military Intelligent Technology and Equipment Expo opened in Beijing on September 22. This Expo is organised by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and hosted by the China Command and Control Society, and the Beijing Insight Future Exhibition Co., Ltd. The 8th China Command and Control Conference will be held at the same time.

Caixin (September 26) reported that there are plenty of companies in China wanting to compete with Tesla. These, it said, include Alibaba-backed Xpeng to Nvidia partner Li Auto. Caixin assessed that the real Tesla challenger may be Huawei Technologies Co.

Writing a tough article in the Global Times (September 26), Liu Zongyi, Secretary-General of the Research Center for China-South Asia Cooperation at Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, a Visiting Fellow of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China, and Distinguished Fellow of China (Kunming) South Asia & Southeast Asia Institute, commented on a remark in the Hindu of a "senior [Indian] government official" that suggested, "If PLA (People's Liberation Army) comes close, Indian troops can fire."

Hongkong's South China Morning Post (September 26) reported that Retired Lt General Wang Hongguang, former Commander of the PLA Eastern Theatre Command and Deputy Commander of the Nanjing Military Region, warned on his social media account on September 23, that China should stay on the alert for surprise attacks by India along its disputed Himalayan border with India.

In an interview with Global Times (September 27), Nepal's new Ambassador to China, Mahendra Bahadur Pandey (Pandey) said "Nepal and China are good neighbours and good friends. Diplomatically, we established the relations in 1955.

Duowei News reported (September 19) that as China-US relations have got strained and Chinese technology companies such as Huawei have been hit by the US one after another, top CCP leaders held a symposium of scientists on September 11.

The Second Intermediary Court of Beijing announced on its website September 22, that 69-year old Ren Zhiqiang, 'princeling', real estate tycoon and outspoken critic of Chinese President Xi Jinping was sentenced to 18 years prison and fined about $619,000 for corruption and bribery in his previous position as chairman of Huayuan Real Estate Group.

The People's Daily publicised (September 15) that the CCP CC General Office issued guidelines for deepening the achievements of the “Remain True to the Original Aspiration, Keep the Mission Firmly in Mind” education campaign that began in June 2019.

China's State Council announced a plan on September 21, to further expand the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) programme to attract foreign investment and boost trade.

An article by Vikram Khanna, Associate Editor of the Straits Times on September 23 said "Economist Teng Tai, President of the Chinese think-tank Winbro New Economic Thinking Institute, was quoted as saying in a report in the state-owned Securities Times.

The Central News Agency (September 22) reported that the Comac C919, which aerospace manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) developed, is China’s first domestically-made large passenger aircraft.

Quoting the Asahi Shimbun, Reuters reported (September 21) that China will lose access to the strategic space tracking Yatharagga Satellite Station, located about 350 km north of the Australian city of Perth when its contract expires. The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) had a contract allowing Beijing access to the satellite antenna at the ground station since at least 2011.

Joshua Wong, Hongkong Democracy activist and politician was arrested by Hongkong Police on September 24 evening and released on bail a few hours later.

The Washington Post reported (September 25) that the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) used satellite images and official construction tender documents to map more than 380 suspected detention facilities in the remote Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, highlighting reeducation camps, detention centers and prisons that have been newly built or expanded since 2017.

After the border commander talks at the Chinese Moldo post opposite Chushul, on September 21 the two sides issued a joint press statement.

The overseas Chinese news outlet on September 21 commented on the altered composition of the Indian team to the border talks on September 21.

In a Twitter post on September 21, the Editor-in-Chief of the CCP-owned Global Times Hu Xijin said "The PLA released the latest video of joint land-sea-air drill in Tibet region.

The Editor-in-Chief of Global Times Hu Xijin said on his Weibo account on September 21 that the 'whole mainland society has lost patience with the Taipei authorities' and they generally believe that “Taiwan independence” forces 'need to be taught a fundamental lesson'. He said 'if the other side dared to shoot the PLA fighters first, the PLA can attack Taiwan'.

Radio Free Asia reported (September 15) that Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) political party originally planned that Wang Jin-pyng, a former legislator, would lead a delegation to Xiamen of Fujian province to participate in the Straits Forum on September 16.

Taiwan's Representative to Washington DC, Ms. Bi-khim Hsiao designated herself on her personal Twitter account as Taiwan's "Ambassador to Washington". She subsequently clarified that she is not an official ambassador, but "like one". (Comment: Bi-Khim Hsiao is a close confidante of Taiwan President Tsai-Ing wen.)

The PLAAF released a two minute and 15-second video titled “The god of war H-6K goes on the attack!” on September 19, of two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers carrying out a simulated attack on what appears to be Andersen Air Force Base on the U.S. Pacific island of Guam. as regional tensions continue to rise.

A 33-year old New York City Police officer and United States Army reservist of Tibetan origin, Baimadajie Angwang, was charged on September 21, in federal court in the Eastern District of New York for espionage on behalf of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as well as committing wire fraud, making false statements and obstructing an official proceeding.

The Chinese-language transmission of Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on September 14, that the Japanese government’s aid program to assist Japanese companies to leave China is gaining in popularity. The first batch of approved applicants consisted of nearly 90 companies. However, by the end of July, the program received almost 1,700 applications in the second batch.

During his visit (September 17-18) to Hunan Province, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a stop in Changsha, where he visited: an advanced manufacturing company producing intelligent equipment; a cultural industry park; and a university.

A State Council executive meeting chaired by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on September 18, told provinces to reform procedures and make it easy for people and businesses that operate across province lines.

The State Council Executive meeting of September 18 also had SoE reform on its agenda.

The State Council published a White Paper on 'Employment and labor rights in Xinjiang' on September 16, 2020.

Secretary of the CCP CC and Head of the CCP CC's United Front Work Department (UFWD) You Quan visited (September 14-15) Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, and had discussions with the provincial party and government leaders.

An article by Jia Chunyang, Research Associate of the Chinese Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in the Guangming Daily (September 20) insisted that "Employment is the foundation of people's livelihood.

Writing in the China Education Daily (September 17) Jia Hongxia, Associate Professor at Beijing Open University, stressed that preschool education is the foundation stage of basic education and lifelong education.

China's 21st Century Business Herald on September 12, cited statistics from the Urban and Rural Statistics Yearbook issued by China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, which disclosed that between 2014 and 2018, 451 cities had “urban expansion and population growth,” 87 cities had “urban expansion and population shrinkage,” 18 cities had “urban contraction and population growth,” and 13 cities had “urban contraction and population shrinkage.”

China Economy (September 8) reported that China-owned Swedish automobile manufacturer Volvo issued multiple recalls for a total of 380,000 cars in the Chinese domestic market in the last month alone. Volvo ranked number one on the recall list in August in China.

Li Jie, a Beijing-based senior researcher at the PLA's Naval Military Studies Research Institute, confirmed at a national defense education event in Beijing, that the PLA Navy “will continue to develop and build the third, and even the fourth aircraft carriers".

Following the release recently by 'Yangguang Military' of photographs of comprehensive exercises in the PLA Western Theater, Chinese military analysts on September 17 complained there were too few Type-15 tanks in the PLA Western Theatre Command in contrast to the large reserves of Type-59 tanks.

A discussion among Chinese military analysts on September 18 claimed that the PLA Western Theatre Command had a high degree of digitisation with Artillery linked to J-10 fighter aircraft. They claimed the digital combat system is not only equipped with some walkie-talkies and the like in the squad, battalion and company units, but a complete architecture built on the concept of "network cloud".

Writing in Global Times (September 20) retired PLA Navy Senior Captain Li Jie said that despite 20,000 military personnel being infected with COVID, the Indian Army "may still insist on sending troops to the India-China border".

An article captioned 'Bhutan is making trouble in Donglang? India frequently provokes neighbouring countries, Pakistan and Nepal' and criticising the India-Bhutan relationship was posted on the Chinese government-maintained Bajiahao portal on September 5.

The PLA commenced joint maritime and aerial exercises and combat-readiness patrols in the Taiwan Straits on September 18.

The New York Times (September 17) reported that the Trump administration is pushing the sale of seven large packages of weapons to Taiwan, including long-range missiles that would allow Taiwanese jets to hit distant Chinese targets in the event of a conflict.

The U.S. Commerce Department said (September 18) that the US will block new downloads and updates of Chinese-owned social apps WeChat and TikTok with effect from September 200. Cash transfers through WeChat in the U.S. will also be banned.

A Weibo post in Chinese and English on September 12, by a prominent blogger “Big V” went to the most extreme of extremes, advocating global nuclear annihilation in the event that the United States curtails China’s ambitions.

Caroline Wilson, Britain's new Ambassador to China after she posted a photograph on social media holding a copy of the book 'Governance of China' authored by Xi Jinping presented by Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming when she met him. Viewers interpreted that as an endorsement of the hard-line policies of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

CPPCC Chairman and PBSC member Wang Yang just completed a two-day tour of Qinghai. He went there to spread the message of the 7th central Tibet Work Conference held in Beijing from August 28-29.

Han Zheng, PBSC Member and Vice Premier went on tour to Wuhan, Hubei Province, where he pointed out that Hubei Province and Wuhan City have resolutely implemented the spirit of General Secretary Jinping’s important instructions, and coordinated the promotion of normalized epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development.

A new book presenting a collection of Xi Jinping's speeches titled 'Excerpts from Xi Jinping's statements on Preventing Risks and Challenges and Responding to Emergencies' edited by the CCP CC's Institute of Party History and Documentation and published by the Central Literature Publishing House was released on September 10 for nationwide distribution.

The All-Private Economy United Front Work Conference was held via video conference in Beijing on September 16 and prominently covered by the state-owned CCTV.

An article in the South China Morning Post (December 13, 2019) gave the personal background of Xinjiang Party Secretary and Politburo member Chen Quanguo. It said Chen Quanguo was born into a working-class family in Henan province, a region dependent on agriculture and coal mining. In 1977, he got a firm foot on the rung of the ladder out of obscurity when he passed the college entrance exam.

An article in the Diplomat (September 15) said that Geng Xiaonan, a well-known Beijing publisher and outspoken supporter of the famously harassed former Tsinghua University law professor Xu Zhangrun presently under detention, is reportedly destined for “very heavy” punishment, not the 15 day maximum in an unpleasant detention cell usually imposed for minor offences not deemed sufficiently grave to constitute a “crime.”

Citing a reliable Chinese government source, the Dui Hua Foundation reported (September 14) that nine Tibetans have been convicted of inciting splittism by the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Intermediate People’s Court in Sichuan Province since the end of June 2020. Three of the Tibetans were also convicted of arson in a case first heard by the court in 2019.

Chinese authorities have issued a list of 'wanted' protesters and arrested more than 130, according to Foreign Policy (September 16).

At a press conference in Beijing on September 16, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Bai Chunli, Secretary-General of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Wang Keqiang and Director of the Development and Planning Bureau of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Xie Pengyun spoke about the progress made in the first phase of China's "First Action" plan.

Taiwanese news site NewTalk reported (September 10) that U.S. Pentagon officials advised that the Trump administration is considering blacklisting Chinese domestic chip maker SMIC due to its ties to the Chinese military.

China’s once-highflying Anbang Insurance Group Co. Ltd. will apply to the country’s top insurance regulator for dissolution and liquidation, Anbang said on September 14.

China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) published the August unemployment data on September 15 which, according to Caixin, showed that nationally, unemployment fell to 5.6%, not too far above last year's 5.2% and disclosed that only 4.8% of workers between 25-59 years are unemployed.

The Lhasa City government announced on September 14 that there would be an air raid test around noon on September 19 “ to improve the general public's conception of national defense and civil air defense awareness and in order to implement the air defense alarm test day system and test our air defense alarm facility.”

In an article in Global Times, its Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin sought to hype Chinese morale by saying that PLA soldiers deployed on the frontlines receive hot meals, are fit and can stay through the winter. They have modern arms and equipment. He said "Most of them were born in the 1990s, or even 2000s.

Chinese and European leaders agreed on September 14 in a virtual summit to speed up and conclude negotiations on a bilateral investment agreement within the year in a sign that the two sides are willing to cooperate in the pandemic recovery despite disputes over technology and geopolitical tensions.

The United States Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on the Chinese state-owned Tianjin-based Union Development Group (UDG) for human rights abuses and the seizure of land in Cambodia used in a $3.8 billion property development.

Foreign Policy reported (September 16) that after weeks of speculation about Microsoft acquiring TikTok, the Chinese-owned app will instead be acquired by the corporate technology company Oracle. The firm will remain majority-owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance, with a “partnership” with Oracle.

The US State Department announced that U.S. Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach will visit Taiwan for a memorial service for former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui on September 19.

On September 11, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted a symposium for scientists in Beijing. In his speech, he emphasised that China's economic and social development and the improvement of people's livelihood more than ever require scientific and technological solutions, as well as the first driving force of innovation.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang presided over the State Council’s weekly executive meeting on September 9, when boosting consumption and stimulating domestic demand was discussed. Li Keqiang acknowledged that “COVID-19 has made a big impact on consumption” and that “for China to achieve positive growth this year, boosting consumption is vitally important.” He said, “Efforts should be made in line with our own national conditions to expand channels of consumption and stimulate domestic demand.”

Presiding over the State Council meeting on September 9, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang described the shortage of qualified medical personnel as a big problem.

Writing in the People's Daily (September 11) Zhao Yibing of the School of International Law, East China University of Political Science and Law, said it is time for China to build maritime power.

The Chinese media reported that Suzhou, a city west of Shanghai, introduced a “Civilization Code” on September 3. It consists of a “civil transport index” and a “volunteer index,” with more indices and functions to be added in the future to create a “personal portrait” for each resident to promote civility and social responsibility which would later cover civilised dining, social courtesy, online behaviour, law-abiding behaviour and food saving.

Sina.com reported (August 25) that a number of 'scandalous' projects in China’s semi-conductor chip industry recently came to a halt mostly due to a lack of funding. Local governments often desperately scramble for chip projects to show their political achievements.

The state-owned China CCTV News reported on September 11 that a 'composite' (integrated) brigade of the Tibet Military Region recently organized a full-staff, multi-subject, live-fire drill in an unfamiliar area at an altitude of 4,600 meters.

On the morning of September 12, Beijing time, Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of the CCP-owned "Global Times" posted on Chinese social media Weibo that sources had revealed that the Indians released by China in Arunachal Pradesh were Indian intelligence agents dressed as hunters.

On September 11 -- the day the joint press statement was issued after the meeting between India's EAM Jaishankar and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi -- the Editor-in-Chief of the CCP-owned Global Times Hu Xijin authored an article captioned 'China must be militarily and morally ready for a potential war'.

U.S. Ambassador to China,Terry Branstad, recently sent an Op-Ed titled “Resetting the Relationship Based on Reciprocity,” but the People’s Daily rejected his request. On September 10, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and People’s Daily said the U.S. Ambassador’s article was “full of loopholes” and accused the U.S. of being ” illogical, overbearing and unreasonable” in this matter.

Controversy has risen in Switzerland after revelations by the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper (September 12) of a little known bilateral agreement concluded in December 2015 between the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) and it is equivalent in the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.

On September 9, Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs (CCFEA), the Party’s top body for deliberating economic strategies which typically meets three times a year. On top of its agenda was creating a more efficient logistics system.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top leaders gathered in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on September 8, to honour citizens who have contributed to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. Xinhua reported that renowned respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan received the Medal of the Republic, the highest state honour.

Qiushi (17/2020 dated August 31) reprinted a speech Chinese President Xi Jinping gave on March 18, 2019, at a symposium for teachers of ideological and political theory classes in schools.

58-year old Zheng Shanjie was appointed Governor of Zhejiang Province on September 4. He took over from Yuan Jiajun, who was promoted as Party Secretary of Zhejiang earlier last week.

The People's Daily (September 3) reported that Politburo member and Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission Guo Shengkun held a forum on September 2, on political and legal propaganda and public opinion, emphasizing the importance of implementing Xi Jinping’s guidance on political and legal work and public opinion.

The Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court announced on September 8 that the Ninth Court of the Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court will hold the trial of Ren Zhiqiang at 9:30 on September 11, 2020.

On September 9, 2020, which was also the forty-fourth death anniversary of Mao Zedong, Geng Xiaonan and her husband Qin Zhen (秦真) were detained by the Beijing police, prompting Prof. Xu Zhangrun to publish an 'open' letter appealing for her release.

The appointment of Deng Li (邓励) as Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs was announced on September 8.

A South China Morning Post article (September 9) by Shi Jiangtao observed that as China faces mounting criticism, including over its aggressive diplomacy and initial handling of the outbreak, as its rift with the US worsens, Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of Global Times in an article over the weekend asked: “How come the whole world is China’s enemy?

Prior to leaving on his visits to Greece, Spain, and Myanmar, Politburo member Yang Jiechi gave a written interview to Xinhua on September 6.

A Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Research Paper published in February 2020 has found that since 2012, when the Chinese government began allowing more foreign films into the country, Hollywood movies have cast more light-skinned actors in starring roles.

A Global Times (September 9) article reported that the PLA has been reportedly mobilizing forces, including bombers, air defense troops, artillery, armoured vehicles, paratroopers, special forces and infantry units, from different parts of the country to the bordering plateau region, a move that, it said, shows the PLA's capability and determination to safeguard the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Almost simultaneous with the issue of the Joint Statement after the meeting between India's Foreign Minister Dr. S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing issued the following statement.

H.E. Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India met H.E. Wang Yi, State Councillor and Foreign Minister of China on 10th September in Moscow on the side-lines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting. Both Ministers had a frank and constructive discussion on the developments in the India-China border areas as well as on India-China relations.

Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of Global Times wrote (September 8) an interesting and less strident, but yet tough, article in the Global Times.

Following the incident on September 7, when Indian troops forced Chinese troops advancing on the Indian position at Mukhpari Peak north of Rezang La to retreat, the spokesman of the PLA Western Theatre Command Colonel Zhang Shuili made a statement on September 7 "on the provocation of the Indian army’s illegal crossing of the line again".

Nikkei Asian Review (September 1) reported that Vietnam will host the meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum from September 9 to discuss Asia-Pacific security.

Xinhua (September 8) reported that China's Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi and Pakistani Interior Minister Ijaz Ahmed Shah spoke to each other on September 7.

Nikkei Asian Review reported (September 1) that fishermen in Pakistan will protest the arrival of 20 Chinese deep-sea trawlers that will fish in the exclusive economic zone off Sindh and Baluchistan provinces. The pressure group Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) has announced a campaign against the trawlers' arrival near Karachi as they fear the trawlers will further deplete Pakistan's marine resources.

The ABC has uncovered the identities of senior Chinese journalists and academics who have been drawn into the joint investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).

In a nearly 4,000-character article in the Communist Party mouthpiece, People’s Daily, on September 7, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng called upon the US for a security dialogue to prevent strategic misjudgments between the countries, as well as exchanges between their think tanks and media.

Writing in the South China Morning Post (September 9), Shi Jiangtao disclosed that Yang Jiechi had travelled to Singapore on August 20, when his hosts arranged a special excursion for him, which he suggested could have been a message about how Beijing’s assertiveness is perceived in the city-state, to a commemorative marker for China’s late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping along the Singapore River.

The state-owned CCTV telecast (September 5) Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at the 2020 China International Service Trade Fair Global Service Trade Summit.

Wang Xiaohong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Executive Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) wrote an article in the China Police Daily on August 28, two days after CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping presented the flag to the People’s Police force and delivered a 649-character (in Chinese) speech stressing the "revolutionization, regularization, professionalization of the People's Police force".

Xinhua (September 6) publicised that the book "Excerpts from Xi Jinping's Statements on Preventing Risks and Challenges and Responding to Emergencies" edited by CCP CC's Institute of Party History and Documentation was recently published and distributed nationwide by the Central Literature Publishing House.

The People's Daily published a commentator's article on September 6, captioned: 'We must insist on the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party to move forward unimpededly'.

The South China Morning Post on September 5, reported that one of China’s top political scientists, Zheng Yongnian, is being investigated by the National University of Singapore (NUS) over allegations of sexual harassment by a female employee at its East Asian Institute (EAI) think-tank.

Quoting Xinhua, the China Daily (September 7) reported that China's reusable experimental spacecraft had successfully returned after 2 days in orbit and landed at a preset site on September 6 morning. No details of the mission were released, but it was described as a complete success.

The State-owned CCTV reported (September 7) that China will launch a new-generation positioning chip for the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) by the end of 2020.

"The Beijing News" reported on September 6, that the US$ 1 million Future Science Award was given to Lu Ke, Deputy Governor of Liaoning Province responsible for science and technology, health, sports etc. and Academician and Researcher of the Institute of Metal Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The state-owned CCTV had as the caption for its programme 'Focus' on September 5, "US military aircraft "transformed" into the South China Sea, intends to escalate, provoking and causing trouble?"

According to the calculations of the Income Distribution Research Institute of Beijing Normal University, 964 million Chinese people earn a monthly income below 2,000 yuan (US$ 292.50); 364 million earn a monthly income between 2,000 (US$ 292.50) and 5,000 yuan (US$ 731.10); and only 72 million people, or 5.13 per cent of the total population, have a monthly income of more than 5,000 yuan (US$ 731.10).

An article in Caixin on September 5, said the idea of 'dual circulation' first came up at a Politburo meeting May 14 presided over by Xi Jinping. At the meeting, the nation was urged to “fully bring out the advantage of China’s super-large market scale and the potential of domestic demand to establish a new development pattern featuring domestic and international dual circulations that complement each other.”

Surnaa, a 33-year-old ethnic Mongolian woman who worked for a panel of the Chinese Communist Party in Inner Mongolia's Alxa administrative unit, died by suicide on September 4, in what her family members said was an act of protest over the ruling Chinese Communist Party's plans to phase out Mongolian-medium education and language teaching in schools.

Thousands of people took to the streets in Hongkong on Sunday September 6 to protest against the imposition of the National Security Law (NSL). The police resorted to tear gas firing. Clashes occurred between protestors and the police.

The Chinese Embassy in the US on September 4, said on its official Twitter account that China has become the 2nd largest contributor to the UN's regular and peacekeeping budgets, and the largest contributor of peacekeepers among the 5 permanent members of the Security Council, taking part in the handling of almost all major international and regional hotspot issues.

Hu Xijing, Editor-in-Chief of Global Times on September 6 wrote an article contesting the charge that China is diplomatically isolated. Calling it a serious misperception, he said the biggest change is the change in the attitude of the US and its 'Five Eyes' allies towards China and the intensification of border disputes between China and India which has led to a hardening of India's attitude towards China.

China's Economic Daily published (August 31) an article by He Yiting, Executive Deputy Dean of the CCP CC's Central Party School and the Director of Xi Jinping's Research Center for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, on the recent symposium of experts in the economic and social fields.

The People's Daily on August 28 published a front page article under the caption: 'The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core is concerned about the work in Tibet', which summarized Tibet work conducted by Xi Jinping and the CCP Central Committee since the 18th Party Congress.

In its 8 pm Focus programme on August 31, the state-owned CCTV declared that according to General Secretary Xi Jinping’s evaluation at the Seventh Central Tibet Work Forum there had been "All-round progress, historic achievement" in Tibet since the Sixth Central Tibet Work Forum.

Among those attending the seventh Tibet Work Conference (August 29 - 30) were TAR Party and government officials, the 'principal comrades' in charge of the Party and government of various cities and provinces, officials in charge of the Party and government of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, and Qinghai provinces and principal officials of the Party and government of the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

Li Xiaoxin (李小新) was appointed deputy head of the CCP CC Organization Department. Ke Yousheng (柯友生) was appointed Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

The Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) released a revised export control catalogue on August 28.

Sina reported (August 27) and the Shanghai-based 'The Paper (August 30) that at a recent symposium of the Global Wealth Management Forum (GAMF) on “Global Economic and Financial Situation and the Future Development of the Financial Industry in Crisis”, former Chinese Finance Minister and current Director of the CPPCC Foreign Affairs Committee, Lou Jiwei, said in a speech recently that the real general public deficit is 6.1 per cent.

Caixin (August 31) reported that the Postal Savings Bank of China Co. Ltd. and China Citic Bank Corp. Ltd., two of China's largest state-owned banks, have joined the pilot program to create services for the digital currency developed by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and conduct initial tests.

CCTV on August 30, telecast the latest training images of the Liaoning aircraft carrier where the J-15 carrier aircraft with mounted missiles took off and landed on the Liaoning and formed a formation of seven aircraft to fly in the air as part of the PLA's 'four sea areas live-fire exercise.'

Kangba TV (Shannan) telecast a report on August 31 that a Frontier Defense Regiment of the Tibet Shannan (Lhoka) Army Division recently organized a practical and comprehensive exercise at an altitude of 4,500 meters to test the combat capabilities of the multi-arms coordinated cooperation and joint strikes systems with multiple new weapons and equipment.

Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi told (September 1) an international audience in Paris that there will always be problems with India of the kind witnessed in eastern Ladakh because the boundary wasn't demarcated yet even as he claimed China wouldn’t be the first to escalate the situation and was committed to managing all issues through dialogue.

Reports essay that approx. 400-500 PLA soldiers came to the southern bank of the LAC and were challenged by Indian soldiers who saw them coming and had laid an ambush for them.

In a lengthy article captioned 'From Donglang to Galwan River Valley: Beware of Three Changes in the Sino-Indian Border Issue' in the official Shanghai 'The Paper' on August 29, Dr. Tongyu Tao of the School of International Studies at Peking University said that there would be frequent clashes on the border between India and China because the balance of power between the two in the border area has changed.

15 Chinese researchers have apparently been told on September 1, that they must leave the country as soon as possible after the University of North Texas (UNT) abruptly cut ties with the organization that funds them — the Chinese Scholarship Council, which is under the Chinese Ministry of Education. UNT hasn't said why.

China's Guangming Daily on August 31 published an article under the caption "Why "Worst Secretary of State in American History" Gets Its Name", which referred to a recent Washington Post article which, the Guangming Daily said "listed a series of Pompeo's "actions" after the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia in the United States-including ignoring the severity of the epidemic, evading one's own political responsibility, refusing international cooperation, and trying to "throw away" China, etc., thinking that "since the end of World War II" Since then, perhaps no one has performed worse than Pompeo (Secretary of State)."

The Australian media reported (August 31) that Chinese authorities had notified the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs that Chinese-Australian TV anchor Cheng Lei was arrested in China on August 14.

Nikkei Asia reported (August 31) that Japanese brokerage house Daiwa Securities Group had received clearance on August 31 to launch a majority-owned joint venture in Beijing. Daiwa is to set up a joint venture, Daiwa Securities (China), with 1 billion yuan ($146 million) in capital.

Speaking at the 2-day Seventh Central Work Conference on Tibet in Beijing on August 29-30, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for efforts to build a new modern socialist Tibet.

An important article in the People's Daily on August 27, by the Party Building Institute of the CCP CC Organisation Department, emphasised the 'two upholds' or 'two safeguards'.

Global Times (August 30) reported the launch of China's reportedly eighth Type 055 and 25th Type 052D destroyers on August 30, just two days after the PLAN decommissioned two Type 051 destroyers.

China's Customs data showed (August 27) that China’s rare earth exports plunged 69.1% year-on-year to 1,620 tons in July, marking the lowest monthly volume since January 2015, as the coronavirus pandemic heavily hit demand for the minerals.

According to a report from the blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis released on August 20, stated that due to the impact of the US-China trade war and the devaluation of the renminbi, over $50 billion worth of cryptocurrency has left China in the past 12 months.

Deutsche Welle (August 25) and Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit obtained copies of documents that were leaked and which reveal that Cyprus, an EU country, approved 1,400 “golden passports” between 2017 and 2019, among which more than 500 were issued to Chinese.

The 'Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center' (SMHRIC) reported (August 30) that following the central Chinese government's decision to replace Mongolian with Mandarin as the medium of instruction in schools, hundreds of students in school uniform gathered in front of the Tongliao Mongolian Middle School, one of the largest Mongolian schools in Inner Mongolia, chanting “Our mother tongue is Mongolian.

Global Times reported (August 19) that seven Hong Kong publishers have submitted changes to their General Studies Textbooks. General Studies is a core course in Hong Kong high schools.

The People’s Daily (August 26) reported that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Democratic Revolutionary Party (RPD) of Panama held the opening ceremony of an online seminar for party cadres on August 25.

In an article (August 26) captioned 'Inside Biden’s China Policy' published by US-China Focus, Yang Wenjing of CICIR analysed the 92-page Democratic Party platform and said the Democrats seem to have already inherited this premise of the 'China threat'.

On August 25, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily, in three full pages out of a total of 20, published an extremely lengthy opinion that runs through a barrage of criticisms against U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as a response to his speech on July 23, 2020, at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in California.

A paper by Tian Ye, Professor of the Department of International Politics, School of International Relations, Renmin University of China and Chen Zhaoyuan, an assistant researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) published by CASS on August 29, criticised the US for obstructing international cooperation to fight the coronavirus.

On August 26, Chinese President Xi Jinping conferred the police flag on China's police force at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. He ordered them to be loyal to the Party, serve the people and be impartial in law enforcement and strict in discipline.

A People's Daily (August 20) report on the symposium hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Anhui on August 20 said that in addition to discussing flood control and the role of the PLA, Xi Jinping also talked about the broader goals for the army for the rest of 2020, which included concentrating energy on training troops, strengthening ideological and political construction, as well as “ensuring the army’s high degree of centralized unity and secure stability.” (Para 1 of CCAS China News dated August 24 refers.)

People’s Daily (August 18) published a letter by Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed to the All-China Youth Federation (全国青联委会) National Committee and the All-China Student Federation (全国学联).

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) announced (August 24)) that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, France, and Germany from August 25 to September 1.

The Central Discipline Inspection Commission (CDIC) and National Supervision Commission (NSC) published a commentary (August 20) in their official magazine titled “Strengthening Supervision of the ‘Top-Ranked Leader (一把手) and Leadership Groups.”

Peking University issued a “Notice on Regulating the Declaration and Approval of Participation in Online International Conferences Organized by Foreign Parties” on August 20, 2020.

The China Coast Guard arrested 12 Hongkong pro-democracy activists on August 27 night on the high seas 10 km from Hongkong as they were fleeing to Taiwan.

The TAR Party Committee disclosed on August 21, that TAR Party Secretary Wu Yingjie, TAR Deputy Secretary and TAR Chairman Che Dhala (also known as Che Zala and Qizhala) recently met Zheng Jianbang, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee and Vice Chairman of the Soong Ching Ling Foundation Discussion, in Lhasa.

Following the disclosure of a 'secret plan' to wipe out Mongolian-language education in the Nei Mongol Autonomous Region in the final phase of a decades-long cultural campaign, protests erupted in Southern Mongolian society.

A report datelined (Lhasa, August 25) reported that recently, a special operations brigade and an army aviation brigade under the PLA Xizang (Tibet) Military Command jointly organized the first large-scale parachute drill in an unfamiliar area on the plateau at an elevation of about 4,000 meters above sea level, in a bid to further hone the troops’ joint combat capabilities.

The South China Morning Post reported (August 26) that the PLA fired the 4000-kms range DF-26B, launched from the northwestern province of Qinghai, and a DF-21D, launched from Zhejiang province in the South China Sea in a ‘warning to the United States’ on August 25.

A report by Alex Joske entitled 'Hunting the Phoenix' and published by The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) on August 20, 2020, establishes that the CCP has at least 600 stations around the world that identify and recruit scientists and technologists who would be valuable to China’s quest for technological dominance.

The Wall Street Journal reported (August 24) that J.P. Morgan recently boosted its 2020 China growth forecast to 2.5% from 1.3% in April. Economists at the World Bank and elsewhere have also upgraded their forecasts for China.

Xinhua (August 24) reported the election of China's Ambassador to Hungary, Duan Jielong, as a member of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on August 24.

U.S.-China tensions over the South China Sea escalated on August 26, with Beijing firing four medium-range ballistic missiles into the disputed area between Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands.

The Wall Street Journal published (August 24) an article by US Defence Secretary Mark Esper with the caption 'The Pentagon is prepared for China'.

An investigation of corruption allegations against suspended Los Angeles Councilman Jose Huizar, brought to light a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving several Chinese developers seeking the politician’s backing for lucrative property deals in Los Angeles.

TikTok and its Chinese parent, ByteDance Ltd., on August 24, sued in federal court in Los Angeles to challenge an August 6 order from President Donald Trump prohibiting U.S. residents from doing business with TikTok.

A Chinese media platform reported on August 25 that the first of the four advanced frigates built by China for Pakistan was launched on August 22.

International Department Head Song Tao and Jiangxi Party Secretary Liu Qi attended the second meeting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Political Parties Joint Consultation Mechanism via video call on August 20.

On August 20, Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting to discuss the PLA’s efforts at flood control and disaster relief. A Xinhua report (Hefei, August 20) said that “As of Wednesday, dispatches totalling more than 1.2 million head counts from the PLA and the People's Armed Police Force and more than 300,000 from the militia had been made in flood control missions in 17 provincial-level regions.”

During his visit to Anhui province, on August 19 Chinese President Xi Jinping went to the Xuejiawa ecological park in Ma’anshan, a dam in Feidong county to inspect flood control efforts, a memorial hall in Hefei marking the PLA's campaign to cross the Yangtze River during the Chinese Civil War and the Anhui Innovation Center.

Chinese venture capitalist and staunch supporter of Chinese President Xi Jinping has written an article in Foreign Policy (August 14) extolling Xi Jinping and his leadership, especially in handling the Coronavirus epidemic.

Premier Li Keqiang was in Chongqing on August 20, talking to local people and inspecting the impact of the aforementioned catastrophic seasonal flooding.

Politburo member and Director of the CCP's Foreign Affairs Office, Yang Jiechi, was in Singapore on a two-day (August 19-20) visit at the invitation of the Singapore government.

The Central Discipline Inspection Commission website (August 18) announced that Gong Daoan, Deputy Mayor of Shanghai City and head of its Public Security Bureau is under investigation for corruption.

TAR Troops stationed at the Ngari (Ali) Border Defence frontlines with elevations of more than 4,000 metres conducted long-range precision strikes exercises from August 10-14. A Combat capabilities competition was also held on August 11.

The state-owned CGTN reported (August 17) that a brigade of the PLA Tibet Military Region recently conducted field training at an altitude of 5,600 meters.

The Print, based on the latest available satellite imagery provided by an anonymous analyst using the twitter handle @detresfa_, reports that the Chinese military is constructing a surface-to-air missile site as well as other infrastructure on the banks of the Mansarovar Lake in the India-Nepal-China tri-junction area near the Lipulekh pass.

A senior People’s Bank of China (PBOC) official said (August 21) that China’s central bank does not plan to expand its efforts to extend credit to small businesses in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic as the tools involved have already provided the support they needed and the economy has returned to normal.

Stating that "The situation in the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea is getting increasingly tense" and citing overseas media outlets that US military planes have flown to the South China Sea 67 times in a month; that the PLA started military exercises in the Yellow Sea on August 22, following its just-concluded military drills in the Taiwan Straits and will also conduct military exercises in the South China Sea and the Bohai Sea on August 24, the Global Times (August 23) said, "There have been increasing discussions on the risk of military conflicts".

The South China Morning Post (August 21) reported that Representative Scott Perry (Rep-Pennsylvania), who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has introduced a bill to change the way the federal government refers to the leader of China, prohibiting the use of the term “president”.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, published (August 20) the text of the keynote speech delivered by Cui Tiankai, Beijing’s Ambassador to the United States, at a webinar hosted by the Brookings Institution on August 20.

In an article captioned 'The worse the colour, the better the inside' in the Guangming Daily (August 22), Shen Yamei, Deputy Director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the China Institute of International Studies, criticised US Secretary of State Pompeo for attempting to "resurrect the "ghost" of the Cold War by launching an ideological offensive against China".

On August 18, Chinese President Xi Jinping travelled to Anhui province to inspect the extent of flooding and preventive measures taken.

Mao Weiming, Chairman and Party Secretary of one of China's largest SoEs, State Grid, wrote an article in the People's Daily (August 19) on effective ways for State-owned Enterprises (SoEs) to strengthen Party building at grassroots.

68-year old outspoken retired Professor Cai Xia, a former senior faculty member of the Central Party School in Beijing for 15 years was expelled from the CCP on August 17 and lost her pension as punishment for speeches “that damaged the reputation of the country”.

BBC (August 11) said that according to China’s English language official media CGTN, four major state-owned banks, including the Bank of China, China Construction Bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the Agricultural Bank of China, have started testing digital currencies in Shenzhen.

The state-owned CCTV-7's Defence Programme on August 14, amid worsening tensions between Beijing and Taipei, revealed what a Chinese analyst described as ‘one of the most important advanced weapons for the Chinese military right now’.

China's state-owned CCTV-7 on August 18 questioned the intention behind the United States' 'Pacific Rim-2020' exercise which commenced in Hawaii on August 17. It said that 10 countries, 20 ships and 5300 officers and men were participating.

A report released on August 17, by two IISS researchers Meia Nouwens and Dr Lucie Beraud-Sudreau showed that while in 2018 all eight Chinese Defence SoEs ranked in the top 22 of the Defense News global list with three in the top ten, in 2019 only two Chinese Defence SoEs ranked in the top ten though all 25 figured in the top 25 of the Defense News global list.

Guangming Daily reported (August 16) that the closing ceremony of the annual meeting of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) was held on August 15.

The Beijing Youth Daily on August 4 reported CCP CC Politburo member, Vice Premier and 'Leader of the Leading Group of the National Census for Poverty Alleviation' Hu Chunhua's visit to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

Apparently reacting to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's tweet of June 30 saying effectively that the 'one country, two systems' is no longer valid, China's Guangming Daily (August 19) published an editorial captioned 'History is Unstoppable'.

The CCP-owned Global Times (August 17) warned that "Hong Kong secessionists fleeing to the UK and promoting the "parliament in exile" severely breach and blatantly defy Article 29 of the national security law for Hong Kong" and "that those people, along with UK organizations or individuals who sponsored them, will face legal punishment no matter their whereabouts and face severe sanctions from China".

The US Department of Commerce announced (August 16) that it would expand existing restrictions by preventing Huawei from acquiring chips made outside the US but developed or produced with US software or technology. It also added another 38 Huawei affiliates in 21 countries to its Entity List.

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 67, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, was arrested on August 14, 2020, on a charge that he conspired with a relative of his who also was a former CIA officer to communicate classified information up to the Top Secret level to intelligence officials of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

China's popular online portal 163.com on August 4, said an article captioned “This ‘TikTok Slaughter Battle’ completely tore off Zuckerberg’s mask as the ‘Chinese people’s good son-in-law’” was published widely in China's official media.

The Wall Street Journal (August 19) reported that the GTV Media Group linked to former Trump political adviser Steve Bannon and exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui which raised more than $300 million in a private offering this spring that is now being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Xinhua (August 15) publicised that an article by President Xi Jinping on opening new horizons of the Marxist political economy in contemporary China would be published in the 16th issue of the Qiushi Journal to be issued on August 16.

A Commentator's article in China's Economic Daily (August 15) reported the visit by CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping to Yucun, Anji County, Zhejiang Province.

The Study Times (August 14) reported that addressing the expert and scholar symposium on June 2, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasised the need to deepen the reform of the scientific research personnel development system and mechanism, improve the discovery, training, and incentive mechanism for strategic scientists and innovative scientific and technological personnel, and attract more outstanding talents to the scientific research team.

The South China Morning Post on August 16 reported that Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had visited Tibet where he praised Tibet’s achievements under President Xi Jinping, especially in securing the border with India.

A report in the Global Times (August 11) mentioned that border regions including Shannan Prefecture are stepping up efforts in relocating people to the border to boost both national security and quality of life. Budo, Deputy Party Secretary and Chief of the County told Global Times that Cona plans to relocate 3,222 people of 960 families to the "weakly controlled areas on the borders" on a voluntary basis.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported (August 13) that a public toilet has been erected on the site of the demolished Tokul mosque in Atush (in Chinese, Atushi) city, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

The state-owned CCTV (August 13) reported that China's Ministry of National Defense (MND) website had released the news that the PLA Eastern Theater Command recently 'deployed multiple services and multiple directions in a system to organize actual combat exercises in the Taiwan Strait and the north and south to further test and enhance the joint combat capabilities of multiple services'.

Reuters reported (August 15) that fears are rising in China of a deepening financial war as relations with the US deteriorate. Chinese officials and economists have in recent months been unusually public in discussing worst-case scenarios under which China is blocked from dollar settlements, or Washington freezes or confiscates a portion of China’s huge U.S. debt holdings.

Chinese Customs data, according to Caixin (August 14) showed that ocean shipping rates between China and the U.S. have soared in the last three months as Chinese exporters and their American customers' race to stock up on goods over concerns about potential new tariffs during a season that is already one of the industry’s busiest.

Caixin (August 15) that a US-China Business Council survey released on August 11 showed that nearly 70% of member companies said they are optimistic about the five-year business outlook in China. The survey showed that 83% counted China as either the top priority for their company’s global strategy or among the top five.

China's Ambassador to India Sun Weidong wrote in the July issue of the China-India Review published by the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi that: "In any relationship, there are ups and downs.

Indian authorities arrested Luo Sang, a Chinese national, on charges of money laundering on August 4, night in a raid by the Income Tax Department for money laundering and representing fake Chinese companies in hawala transactions. He was earlier reported to have been arrested by the Delhi Police on spying charges in 2018.

Chinese government Customs data shows that exports to India since January 2020 have fallen by 24.7% year-on-year to $32.28 billion. China's imports from India have also gone up 6.7% since January this year to $11.09 billion. Consequently, total trade with India has registered a slightly lower 18.6% drop since the beginning of 2020 to $43.47 billion.

Reuters (August 15) reported that DPP's Chen Chi-mai, a former vice-premier, won 70% of the votes in the by-election for Mayor of Kaohsiung on August 15, roundly defeating the pro-Beijing KMT candidate Jane Lee. Voter turnout was low.

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office indicted three former legislative aides on August 13 charged for involvement in developing a spy network in Taiwan for Chinese intelligence.

Bloomberg reported (August 15) that Taiwan formally signed an agreement to buy 66 of the latest model F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin Corp. Taiwan’s purchase of the F-16s marks the first sale of advanced fighter jets to the island since President George H.W. Bush announced approval for 150 F-16s in 1992.

The American National Pulse reported (July 31) that Several U.S. corporations and media companies have been supporting Tsinghua University’s Global Business Journalism School.

Xinhua News Agency and People's Daily reported (August 11 & 12 respectively) that the CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping had recently issued an “important instruction” on food waste.

The official CCP mouthpiece People's Daily on August 13 published a lengthy signed article by Huang Kunming, Politburo member and Head of the CCP CC Propaganda Department, on page 6.

Lu Yanqin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Zhejiang Jiaxing University, writing in the China Education Daily (August 13) said CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping had recently sent a letter to congratulate the Eighth National Congress of the Chinese Young Pioneers and pointed out that it is necessary to "inherit the red gene, cultivate new generations, unite, educate, and lead the young pioneers to be the successors of the cause of communism."

An article by Li Qingsi, a researcher at the National Institute of Development and Strategy, Renmin University of China and Deputy Director of the American Studies Center, in the Beijing Daily (August 13) personally and severely criticised US President Trump, including for not handling the Coronavirus epidemic competently, and said the U.S.'s "democratic system is the democracy of capital.

Lai Xiaomin, a former Chairman of China Huarong Asset Management, one of China’s “Big Four” state-owned bad-asset managers, has been accused of taking a record 1.79 billion yuan ($258 million) of bribes over 10 years as he stood trial in Tianjin Municipality on August 10.

Caixin reported (August 11) that China's National Supervisory Commission (NSC), the top government anti-graft agency, had reported to the NPC Standing Committee that China had seized 7,831 fugitives over the past 6½ years and recouped losses of 19.7 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) under a government campaign to pursue "corrupt officials and dodgy business people" who fled abroad.

Reflecting the growing concern among Chinese researchers and officials of an all-out “financial war” between China and the US, with many saying the US side would have a clear advantage thanks to the dominant role of the US dollar in cross-border investments and payments, a senior Chinese economist warned of likely consequences.

According to Caixin (August 12) data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) showed (August 9) that China’s commercial banks reported a 9.4% decline in first-half net profits to 1 trillion yuan ($143 billion), reflecting the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nikkei Asian Review reported (August 12) that Quanxin Integrated Circuit Manufacturing (Jinan), better known as QXIC, and Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or HSMC, two Chinese government-backed chip projects, have together hired more than 100 veteran engineers and managers from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s leading chipmaker, since last year.

A toughly-worded "special article" published by the Global Times (August 13) reported a statement issued by the PLA Eastern Theater Command on August 13 that it would continuously organize actual combat exercises in the Taiwan Strait and "the north and south sides".

Wen Lii, Director of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)’s newly-launched Lienchiang County Chapter based on the Matsu Islands, wrote in The Diplomat (August 12) that because of growing public concern over thousands of illegal Chinese sand dredging ships in the Taiwan Strait, the Taiwan government is considering new regulations that would facilitate "sinking" Chinese dredgers seized by Taiwan’s coast guard, including for use as artificial reefs or as target ships in military exercises.

Reacting to the US announcement of August 6, that it would de-list companies failing to meet auditing requirements, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said (August 9) the right way to improve cross-border cooperation on audit inspections is to have a frank dialogue.

A Global Times (August 11) article captioned 'US rudely unpacks official furniture ordered by Chinese Mission to UN', reported that the 'US brutally unpacked a container with 60 pieces of furniture (official supplies) ordered by the Chinese delegation to the United Nations and dismantled the wrappings of 12 pieces' delivering the consignment a month after the request.

The Global Times on August 12 published an article by Zhu Feng, Executive Director of the China Center for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea at Nanjing University, which suggested that 'the China-US relationship shouldn't be kidnapped by US right-wing forces.

Qiu Shi (Seeking Truth; 2020/15 dated August 1)published the speech Xi Jinping made at the 21st collective study session of the Politburo on 29 June.

Qiu Shi (2020/15; August 1) published a lengthy two-part article by Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi that ostensibly deals with foreign affairs but substantively serves to signal loyalty and obedience to Xi Jinping.

China's Ministry of Emergency Management reported on July 28 that the floods affected Jiangxi, Anhui, Hubei and other 27 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities).

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) reported (August 7) that, as soon as U.S. President Trump officially signed the executive order to ban WeChat, the stock price of WeChat’s owner, Tencent, instantly suffered a free fall of 10 per cent on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE).

The People's Daily (August 1) reported that "a few days ago" a notice issued by the Central Military Commission (CMC) urged officers and soldiers to carefully study the third volume of Xi Jinping.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported (August 10) that China’s Ministry of Education issued a notice in July requiring students at local schools and colleges to watch a promotional video and a mini film that the Recruitment Office of the Defense Ministry produced.

China's first military hospital train was inaugurated on August 6, 2020 marking the opening of China's first railway line and railway station exclusively dedicated to the military hospital train. The train's two dedicated railway tracks are connected to China’s railway network through the adjacent Chongqing-Guizhou Railway.

Prominent pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow was arrested on the charge of 'inciting secession' under the National Security Law on August 10 morning. Jimmy Lai, the owner of the Apple Daily who was also arrested on August 10 morning, was however released on bail of HK$300,000 (US$38,708), along with a HK$200,000 surety, on August 11 following the Apple Daily's declaration on its front page: “Apple Daily will fight on.”

The Wall Street Journal reported (August 11) that all goods made in Hong Kong for export to the United States will need to be labeled as made in China after September 25, according to a U.S. government notice posted on August 11.

Joshua Lam Yeuk-hay, the younger son of HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam, one among 11 Mainland and Hong Kong officials recently sanctioned by the US government, and a graduate student in the US, pursuing a PhD in mathematics at Harvard, seems to have abruptly left Boston in late July to return to Hongkong.

Global Times (August 9) personally attacked Adrian Zenz and criticised him for accusing China of "detaining" Uygurs and other minority groups or imposing "sterilization" on ethnic minorities in its Xinjiang region.

Bloomberg reported (August 10) that Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian stated at the weekly press briefing on August 10 that “In response to the U.S.’s wrong behaviors, China has decided to impose sanctions on those individuals who behaved badly on Hong Kong-related issues.”

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on August 10 that companies from China and other countries that do not comply with U.S. accounting standards will be delisted from U.S. stock exchanges from the end of 2021.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP - August 11) quoting sources said Beijing had ordered pilots and naval officers to exercise restraint in the increasingly frequent stand-offs with US planes and warships and told them “not to fire the first shot” as Beijing looks to de-escalate tensions with the United States in the South China Sea.

Writing in the Washington Times (August 8), Gerry Shih quoted Li Kaisheng, a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, saying in an op-ed in the Global Times newspaper this week that China should focus on its “primary conflict” — with the United States — rather than respond to every slight from other countries. Li Kaisheng said: “A lion does not swat a fly as soon as it lands on it, but a porcupine pricks up as soon as anything brushes against its back.”

i) Caixin reported (August 8) that 53-year old Zhou Xuedong, former Director of the General Executive Office of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), was named Vice President of the China Development Bank (CDB). He has 12 years of experience in financial regulation and managing financial risks at the PBoC. He started at the CDB on August 4 and his duties at the central bank were taken over by his deputy Zhong Ping.

Asia Times (August 10) reported that Chinese telecom giant Huawei said production of its most advanced smartphone chips would stop in September due to US sanctions, causing a “huge loss”.

Voice of America (VOA)'s Chinese Edition reported on August 1, that Samsung had announced (August 1) that it is closing its last personal computer manufacturing factory in China – Samsung Electronics Suzhou Computer. Over 800 employees may see their contracts end. The Suzhou factory was established in 2002.

The Epoch Times (August 7) said a list obtained by it had partially uncovered names of members of Party committees in the headquarters of TikTok's parent company ByteDance.

Maldives 'The Edition' reported (July 27) that China's Exim Bank ordered the Maldivian government to pay US$ 10 million (MVR 154 million), from a loan issued to the parliament representative for Dhaalu Atoll's Meedhoo constituency Ahmed Siyam (Sun Siyam), granted via a sovereign guarantee provided by the previous administration.

Amidst reports that China's PLA Navy (PLAN) is planning a large-scale landing exercise in the South China Sea later this month which will specifically simulate an invasion of Taiwan’s Dongsha Islands (Pratas Islands, 東沙群島), Taiwan has sent additional Marines to the Pratas Islands.

Kyodo News Agency reported (August 2) that Yang Chengjun (杨承军) a retired PLA Rocket Force officer and nuclear missile expert said that China has an early warning system that can detect nuclear missiles before they land and can use nuclear weapons to counterattack. The expert pointed out that at present only the United States and Russia possess this technology.

Ten persons including Jimmy Lai, owner of Hongkong's largest media house 'Next Digital' along with his son and senior executives, were arrested on August 10 morning in Hongkong under the new National Security Law.

The US Office of Foreign Assets Control has placed the following Hongkong officials on its updated Specially Designated Nationals List on August 7.

ANI reported (August 7) that China and Pakistan have begun an unprecedented intelligence sharing agreement to secure Beijing's influence in Afghanistan and that as China needs Pakistan's influence in Afghanistan as well as its connections to the terrorist groups operating there, Beijing has invited a Pakistan Army General to sit in at its highly restricted meetings as an observer.

US Health Secretary Alex Azar arrived at 12.30 on August 9, at Taiwan's Songshan (Matsuyama) airport where he has received by Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kuang (田中光) MOHW Centers for Disease Control Director-General Chou Chih-hao (周志浩) and MOFA Department of North American Affairs Hsu You-tien (徐佑典). He was introduced to them by Chris Christensen.

A US Defence Department statement issued on August 6 reported that Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper held a telephone call with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Minister of National Defense, General Wei Fenghe on August 6, 2020.

On July 30, President Xi Jinping attended a Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) 'study' meeting on the consolidation of defence and military modernization.

None of the seven Members of the Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) has appeared in public since July 31. Also, the weekly State Council executive meeting that normally convenes on Wednesdays didn’t take place on August 5. Observers feel these indicate that the Beidaihe meeting is underway.

Caixin (August 6) reported that on July 27, China’s State Council issued new rules to bolster the country’s integrated circuit and software industries in support of the push to expand and upgrade domestic chip-making capacity.

Caixin reported (August 6) that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) took another step forward in its strategy to build a digital central bank by setting up a financial technology subsidiary, Chengfang Financial Technology Co. Ltd.

i) A second Global Times editorial (August 6) again commented on the proposal with India's education ministry to review the establishment of China's Confucius Institutes in association with seven local colleges and universities after intelligence agencies raised security concerns over cooperation.

US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar will lead a delegation to Taiwan “in the coming days” to discuss the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as supplies of medical equipment and technology, according to a statement on August 5, from the Department of Health and Human Services.

US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on August 6, effectively banning video-sharing app TikTok from operating in the U.S., saying the country must take aggressive action against the Chinese-owned platform “to protect our national security.”

On August 5, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a statement calling for a “Clean Network to safeguard America’s assets” against the threat of Chinese infiltration.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in an interview with Xinhua (August 5) talked about worsening US-China relations saying, according to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), “Ultimately, [some American politicians] want to drag China and the US into renewed conflict and confrontation and plunge the world into chaos and division again.”

Asahi Shimbun (August 4) quoted Japan's Defense Minister Taro Kono saying at a news conference on August 4, that “The SDF will act firmly when necessary while joining hands with the Japan Coast Guard.” Asked to elaborate on what such action might entail, Kono declined, saying, “We do not want to show our cards.

Global Times Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin on August 1, wrote that India's eight core industries indices fell by 15% year-on-year in the second quarter.

An article in Global Times (August 2) cited Chinese experts warning India of Australia's instigation on "the eased border standoff with China" after Australia's High Commissioner to India Barry O'Farrell said in an interview on July 30 that "Australia supports continued moves by India for de-escalation" at the LAC (Line of Actual Control) and "opposes any attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo".

Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over a Politburo meeting on July 30, where he urged Politburo members to take the long view. The meeting decided that in October, the Party will set goals for China to be achieved by 2035.

On July 31, Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired a "study" session of the Politburo. Speaking at the session, he said that the “modernization of national defense and armed forces must be in step with the country’s modernization process, and the military capabilities must fit national strategic needs.”

The People's Daily (July 28) reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over a forum of China’s non-Communist political parties on July 28.

Taiwan's Liberty Times News commented (July 31) on the promotion of Xu Zhongbo, Political Commissar of the PLA Rocket Force (PLARF), to the rank of a full General. It said video footage from CCTV showed that Xu was the only officer at the ceremony accepting a promotion.

The People’s Daily (July 31) published three items on the PLA highlighting the significance of the Party’s control over the PLA. Lt General Liu Nianguang, Political Commissar of the National University of Defense Technology, stressed that “absolute loyalty must be rooted in the mind and more importantly implemented in the action.”

The spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defence, Senior Colonel Ren Guojiang said (August 1) at the routine weekly press briefing that the Naval Aviation of the PLA Southern Theatre Command during a 'recent exercise' had deployed new-type aircraft including H-6G and H-6J bombers to conduct high-intensity training during day and night time in the relevant waters of the South China Sea.

China's Ministry of National Defence, Senior Colonel Ren Guojiang said (August 1) that “the PLA Tibet Military Command has organised day-and-night fire strike drills involving multiple types of artillery and artillery fire assault drills in high altitude areas, aiming to test the troops' long-range precision strikes and fire assault capabilities in plateau environment. The exercises mentioned above are within the annual training plan and are not targeted at any specific country.”

World Journal reported (July 29) that about one-sixth of China’s land is soaked in water after the severe flooding. Much of these lands serve as the main grain-growing regions.

Norbu Gyaltsen, the China-appointed Panchen Lama arrived in Lhasa on July 31. He visited the Jokhang Temple on August 3. The Panchen Lama is in Tibet for religious and cultural festivals to be held in 2020.

Liu Zongyi, Secretary-General of the Research Center for China-South Asia Cooperation at Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, a visiting fellow of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China and a distinguished fellow of China (Kunming) South Asia & Southeast Asia Institute, wrote in the Global Times (August 4) that after the Galwan Valley clash on June 15, "China-India relations are even deteriorating".

The Global Times reported (August 1) that, according to Indian media quoting anonymous sources, India plans to send 35,000 more troops to strengthen its military presence along its border with China. The reasoning behind the decision is that the Indian government found the probability of quickly reducing the tension between the two countries is getting lower.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman on August 4, urged the United States to withdraw the sanctions against the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) and two of its officers as the organisation and its functioning was a purely internal matter.

On August 4, Beijing announced that any attempt to ban Tiktok or WeChat in the US would result in bans on Facebook, Twitter, Google, Youtube, Instagram, Tumbler, NY Times, Washington Post, and Pinterest in the PRC.

A report released by the Hoover Institution identifies more than 250 published research collaborations between scholars based in the United States and counterparts from seven universities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that are integral to that nation’s defense research and industrial base.

A review of public PPP loan data by consultancy firm Horizon Advisory found that $192 million to $419 million in loans were given to more than 125 Chinese-owned or -invested companies operating in the United States. It found that many of the loans were substantial, with at least 32 Chinese-owned firms receiving over $1 million under the program, totalling between $85 million and $180 million.

Radio Free Asia reported (July 31) that, in an interview with retired PLA Navy Lieutenant Colonel Yao Chen, he said that if China and the U.S. start a war in the South China Sea, the CCP will soon collapse.

The latest (August 1) issue of the CCP's leading theoretical fortnightly magazine Qiu Shi (Seeking Truth) published 13 articles by ranking CCP cadres expressing fealty to Xi Jinping, in addition to another article by Xi Jinping urging Party cadres and members to "Implement the party's organizational line in the new era and continue to build the party stronger".

A WeChat post on July 21, 2020, revealed that 90 out of 180 researchers from the Institute of Nuclear Energy Safety Technology of the Hefei Institute of Material Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) all quit their job on June 15, 2020.

According to Reuters (July 29), a report by the investment banking unit of Bank of China said China should prepare for potential U.S. sanctions by the increasing use of its own financial messaging network for cross-border transactions in the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on July 28 talked to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian about the severe problem in US-China relations.

Wall Street Journal reported (July 29) that the US State Department had nominated James DeHart, a career diplomat, as the first U.S. coordinator for the Arctic region to coordinate Arctic policy and engaging other Arctic nations in regional talks efforts to bolster the U.S. position in the Arctic.

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corporation (XPCC), an eco- paramilitary organization that plays a central role in the development of the Xinjiang region, and two associated officials, Peng Jiarui and Sun Jinlong.

Huanqiu (Chinese version of the Global Times) on July 24, quoted Lu Xiang, a researcher at the Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, taking a softer tone and suggesting that from the perspective of confronting China, it is not impossible for the U.S. to close more Chinese consulates (e.g. the San Francisco Consulate).

In a note verbale dated July 26, the Malaysian mission to the U.N. wrote to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that it "rejects China's claims to historic rights, or other sovereign rights or jurisdiction, with respect to the maritime areas of the South China Sea encompassed by the relevant part of the 'nine-dash line.'

The German daily newspaper Die Welt reported (July 31) that the University of Hamburg and the University in Bonn in Germany are reportedly cutting ties with the Confucius Institute (CI) by the end of this year.

Xinhua reported (July 23) that Chinese President Xi Jinping travelled to Jilin on July 22 on an inspection visit.

The New York Times reported (July 24) that the CCP had "expelled" outspoken and prominent 69-year old property tycoon and 'princeling' Ren Zhiqiang who had denounced Chinese President Xi Jinping in an open letter posted on WeChat earlier this year saying “I see not an emperor standing there exhibiting his ‘new clothes,’ but a clown who stripped naked and insisted on continuing to be an emperor.”

Nikkei Asian Review reported (July 23) that China has removed foreign ownership limits in almost all areas of its $45 trillion financial sectors, taking the country a step closer to its long-promised "big bang" reforms.

At a meeting of the State Council on July 22, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also talked about boosting employment. Acknowledging that the job market is presently difficult, LiKeqiang asked struggling job seekers to be flexible and consider starting their own businesses.

The Chinese owner of the popular TikTok video app, Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., spent $500,000 in the three months ended June 30, up from its previous record of $300,000 in the first quarter, in a bid to fend off allegations that it is funnelling Americans’ data to Beijing.

China launched its first independent unmanned probe to Mars on July 23. The probe is expected to reach Mars in February where it will attempt to deploy a rover to explore the planet for 90 days.

Speaking at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California, on July 23 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in provocative remarks said the free world must change China or 'China will change us'.

The US State Department on July 23 ordered the closure within 72 hours of the Chinese Consulate in Houston. In retaliation, China on July 24 ordered the shut down of the US Consulate in Chengdu.

Tang Juan, who came to the U.S. on a J-1 visa and was a researcher at the University of California, Davis, entered the Chinese consulate in San Francisco after being interviewed by the FBI on June 20 about alleged visa fraud and has remained there, according to the FBI assessment.

Chen Quanguo, Party Secretary of the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region and Politburo member, was reported by Mingjing News on July 21 to have recently made a rare appearance and made shocking remarks: "The people who sanctioned me are disgusting, and I am honoured to be sanctioned".

CCP cadres have begun competing for elevation to the Politburo and Politburo Standing Committee at the 20th Party Congress in 2022. A strong, leading contender is Chen Yixin, an Alternate Member of the CCP's 19th CC and current secretary-general of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission (PLAC).

In a nearly 2460-word speech on July 22 at the inauguration ceremony of the 'Xi Jinping Research Center for Diplomatic Thought', Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi mentioned Xi Jinping 22 times and said "General Secretary Xi Jinping used the foresight of a great strategist" and in "Xi Jinping’s Diplomatic Thought, has pointed out the direction and provided fundamental follow for the Chinese diplomacy entering the new era".

Liu Zhao was appointed Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Security on July 10, 2020.

Former Tsinghua University Professor, prominent legal scholar and activist Xu Zhiyong, who has been held incommunicado for five months, was formally arrested on June 19 for “inciting subversion of state power”.

The People's Daily reported (July 14) that on July 13, central departments including the Propaganda Department, Organization Bureau, Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Cyberspace Administration of China, General Office of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, and National Legal Awareness Office published a joint notice launching a program of study and education about the national civil code.

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA - July 15), the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has launched a new campaign requiring its members and school students to study the “Four Histories,” which refers to “the history of the CCP, the history of new China, the history of the reform and opening up, and the history of socialist development.”

Xinhua (July 8) reported that the CCP CC General Office forwarded the “Notice of the Central Propaganda Department and the Central Organization Department on Earnestly Organizing and Studying the Third Volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China”.

The state-owned CCTV telecast a video released by the PLA on its WeChat account on July 17 for the first time showing a Y-9 aircraft deployed by China's Western Theatre Command transferring a critically injured officer from a base in Tibet to a hospital in Xian.

A new round of heavy rain that started on July 17 is wreaking havoc on the middle and lower reaches along the Yangtze River.

The Guangming Daily (July 17) said data for the first half of this year released by China's Ministry of Commerce on July 16, showed that Chinese domestic investors made non-financial direct investments in 159 countries and regions around the world, for a total investment of 362.14 billion yuan (US$51.79 billion), a decrease of 0.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2019.

Reacting to the joint India-US Naval exercises near the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago on July 20, in an interview in Global Times (July 21) Tian Shichen, a retired PLA Navy Captain, Vice President of the Grandview Institution and Director of the Center for International Law of Military Operations, noted Indian media reports interpreting the joint exercise as an effort by New Delhi to step up pressure on Beijing in the sea to "acquire leverage over China" and as a "strong strategic signal to China" and "a show of solidarity" between the US and India amid tensions both countries face with China.

Song Chen, a 38-year old visiting Stanford University researcher on a J-1 visa meant for work- and study-based exchange programs, supposedly as a neurologist interested in studying brain disease, has been charged with visa fraud for allegedly concealing her job as a member of the Chinese military.

China's state-owned CGTN quoted China's Ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai as saying (July 18) during an interview with Farid Zakaria on CNN that “Actually, the Chinese civilization has been there for about 5,000 years, much longer than the United States.

A toughly worded Global Times (July 20) article by Zhou Wenxing, a research fellow at Shang Dao Institute for Social Research who holds a doctorate in Public Administration from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and was Asia Fellow at Harvard University, said Taiwan's 36th annual 'Han Kuang' military exercise, which began on July 13 and is based on the scenario of an "invasion" by the mainland military reveals the US role behind the island's display of its military power.

The International Campaign for Tibet reported (July 20) the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell's statement of July 16 expressing the EU’s position on the Dalai Lama's succession. He said “The selection of religious leaders should happen without any government interference and in respect of religious norms.

The British Foreign Secretary announced (July 20) that the UK had suspended its extradition treaty with Hongkong.

An article in the Wall Street Journal (July 19) said that in its effort to stamp out dissent the CCP has reprimanded and, in some cases, fired teachers who backed anti-government protests in the city or supported the demonstrators on social media.

CCP CC General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping presided over a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) on July 17 to discuss flood management and response as the worst flooding in decades has been ravaging southern China since June and looks set to continue until August.

South China Morning Post (July 18) reported that Tsinghua University's notification dated July 15, terminating the services of 57-year old Prof. Xu Zhangrun, was sent to him by courier on July 18, according to a friend who requested anonymity for fear of retribution.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has once again launched a brainwashing campaign. According to Radio Free Asia (July 15), its members and school students are required to study the “Four Histories,” which refers to “the history of the CCP, the history of new China, the history of the reform and opening up, and the history of socialist development.”

The PLAAF announced (July 16) that its pilot recruitment campaign for 2020 has begun and that more than 3,800 fresh high school graduates who have passed the preliminary and second round of selection are now in the final-stage test.

Caixin reported (July 17) that China’s economy grew 3.2% year-on-year in the second quarter this year, returning to growth after a record 6.8% contraction in the first quarter, official data (link in Chinese) showed on July 16, as the world’s second-largest economy recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Caixin (July 17) reported that shares of China’s leading contract computer chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) more than tripled from their offering price in their Shanghai trading debut on July 16, as investors raced to buy into the mainland’s largest new listing in a decade.

Caixin reported (July 18) that the Chinese government had taken over nine financial companies formerly controlled by the mysteriously fallen tycoon Xiao Jianhua for alleged infractions in an unusually aggressive move to attack risks from his once free-wheeling financial empire.

Caixin (July 17) reported "dramatic changes" in the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in recent years, as Beijing’s ambitious campaign to end absolute poverty by the end of this year has led to greater urbanization and generous subsidies being handed out to those deemed deserving.

In an article on China's social media posted on July 16, Lt. General Wang Hongguang, former Deputy Commander of the Nanjing Military Region, claimed that the 100,000 Indian troops deployed in Ladakh are just a show and they will not be able to sustain themselves in Ladakh in the winters.

US Ambassador to India, Ken Juster, on July 18, said he met Ngodup-la, Representative of Tibetan Spiritual leader Dalai Lama in Delhi and Secretary Gyalpo.

The U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said (July 15) in a press briefing that the US will impose visa restrictions on certain employees of Chinese technology companies, including Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

Citing government sources Asahi Shimbun (July 15) reported that 59-year old Hideo Tarumi, a Foreign Ministry official with close connections in Beijing has been selected as Japan's next Ambassador to China at a time of increasing uncertainty over the bilateral relationship.

China's Foreign Ministry website on July 18 posted a report on Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov on July 17.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's new article in the latest edition (2020/14 dated15 July 2020) flagship CCP Party ideological journal Qiushi is important. In addition to the CCP CC Propaganda Department describing it as such, it is the lead article on all China’s major state media channels on July 16 – CCTV evening news, Xinhua, People’s Daily, etc.

21 people died and 37 were injured when a bus crashed through the guard rails and drove into the Hongshan Lake Reservoir, Anshun City at noon on July 7.

The government of Nanjing, Jiangsu announced (July 13) that it will appoint eight 'Supply Chain Chiefs'.

The British newspaper The Times reported on July 10 that Cambridge University’s Jesus College produced a paper accused of “reputation laundering” for Huawei and that it had received £200,000 (US $255,000) from the Chinese state and £155,000 (US $198,000) from Huawei.

Zhang Junshe, senior research Fellow at the PLA Naval Research Institute wrote in the Global Times (July 15) that British plans to base the HMS Queen Elizabeth, one of the UK's new aircraft carriers as the centrepiece of a carrier strike group in the Far East, is to play a part in countering "an increasingly assertive China".

Reacting to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's announcement on July 13 of the US' formal rejection of China's claims in the South China Sea, an article in the the CCP-owned Global Times (July 14) said "The US now stands on the opposite side of China and is aiming to turn the waters into a hot spot again".

China's ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) announced (July 15) that it would sanction US aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin, the principal contractor in a US$ 620 million arms deal to Taiwan.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported (July 7) that, according to the Italian newspapers 'Il Tempo' and 'La Verite', Pope Francis’ speech on July 5 removed the content related to the Hong Kong situation from the original draft that was released.

On July 9, China's Ministry of Public Security convened a meeting on mobilization for the new “Persist in Political Construction of Police, Comprehensively and Strictly Govern Police” education and rectification campaign, which included a speech by Ministry of Public Security Head Zhao Kezhi.

The Central Discipline Inspection CommissioN (CDIC) and National Supervisory Commission (NSC) published an article on their website about party retirees who were found guilty of corruption after retiring.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported (July 15) that outspoken Chinese Professor Xu Zhangrun has been fired from his post at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University after being released from police detention.

Wu Yongjie (吴永杰) was appointed General Manager of China National Machinery Industry Corporation; Xu Qiang (徐强) was appointed General Manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation; Liu Liehong (刘烈宏) was appointed Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; Liu Zhao (刘钊) was appointed Vice Minister of the Ministry of Public Security; Chang Zhengguo (常正国) was appointed Vice Minister of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs; and Wang Jingtao (王京涛) was appointed deputy head of the National Administration of State Secrets Protection.

People’s Daily published a series of Commentator Articles between July 1 and 5, eulogising and defending the decision to pass national security legislation for Hong Kong against international criticism.

Eric Chan (陈国基) was appointed secretary general of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Britain will stop using equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. in the country’s 5G telecom network and will completely eliminate all existing Huawei gear by the end of 2027, the U.K. government said on July 14.

On July 14, the US President imposed severe restrictions on the Hongkong SAR restricting its relationship with the US.

In commentary in the PLA Daily (July 12) PLA Navy Senior Colonel Zhang Junshe, who is also a senior research fellow at the People’s Liberation Army Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said the US should stop its provocative acts in the South China Sea and Beijing was determined to safeguard its maritime sovereignty.

Dai Yonghong, Director of the Institute of Global Governance and Area Studies at Shenzhen University, wrote in the Global Times (July 14) that by "echoing the US' attempt to decouple from China, India has recently sought confrontation with China in economic fields.

The CCP Politburo held its twenty-first collective study on "In-depth Study, Understanding and Implementing the Organizational Line of the New Era Party" on the afternoon of June 29. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee, emphasized that organization building is an important foundation for party building.

Xi Jinping presided over a CCP Politburo meeting on June 29, which discussed two new regulations. The first, titled “CCP Military Party Building Regulations” (中国共产党军队党的建设条例), is intended to “carry out the Central Military Commission Chairman responsibility system (军委主席负责制) and ensure the Party’s absolute leadership over the military” as well as maintain the goals and missions of the military.

The first meeting of the Ping An China Construction Coordination Group Political Security Task Force was held on July 6, 2020, in Beijing.

Tsinghua University Law Professor Xu Zhangrun, who has been a trenchant critic of Chinese President XI Jinping since at least 2016, was released by the authorities on July 12.

China's People Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) wrapped up five days of drills around the Paracel Islands, (Xisha Islands), a chain also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan on July 5, 2020. China did not give details about the Paracel drills involved, but the Global Times (July 5) called them "intensive".

At the 58th meeting of the Council of the Global Environment Facility, created after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, China’s delegate unexpectedly raised objections to Bhutan’s having placed the entire Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary on its side of the Bhutan-China border, claiming that is a “disputed area.”

Lt Col. Khalid Masood (Retd) of the Pakistan Army wrote in 'The Nation' (July 13), that "The present Sino-Indian crisis can be attributed to multidimensional factors.

The New York Times (July 13) reported that it had in its possession the copy of an 18-page agreement signed between Iran and China envisioning a sweeping economic and security partnership.

The UK is expected to announce on July 14 that it will bar new deployments of Huawei equipment in its fledgeling high-speed 5G network.

China’s Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming told reporters on July 6: “We hope that they will reconsider their position. With regard to what the response China is going to make, we have to wait and see what will be the specific actions of the British side.”

In a tit-for-tat retaliation, China on July 13 announced sanctions on four American officials for “interfering in China’s internal affairs” through their condemnation of Beijing’s human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region.

The US State Department issued a notice (July 13) advising its nationals to: "Exercise increased caution in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws for purposes other than maintaining law and order.

On July 13, the U.S. Department of State unveiled an important set of clarifications concerning U.S. policy in the South China Sea.

A protege of Chinese President Xi Jinping and 60-year-old Zhejiang native, Chen Yixin, Secretary-General of the Party’s Political and Legal Affairs Commission (PLAC), convened a meeting in Beijing on July 8 to launch a new nationwide “education and rectification” campaign.

PBSC Member and CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang visited the Tibet Autonomous Region from July 6-8, 2020.

Major General Lai Wenyi, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army in the PLA Western Theatre Command went to Xide County on July 3 to investigate poverty alleviation.

An Gang of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Wang Yiming of Renmin University and Hu Xin of China's National Defence University (NDU) co-authored a lengthy 5-part article, which was published on July 6, 2020, in a journal.

China Social Science Network (June 22) reproduced an article by Zhou Li, a former Deputy Minister of the CCP’s International Liaison Department (now called the International Department), entitled, “Proactively Responding to Changes in the External Environment” and published the same day (June 22) in the China Social Science News magazine brought out by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

On July 9, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi addressed a forum on China-US relations. In the audience were participants from think tanks of both countries.

Hong Kong scientist Dr. Li-Meng Yan, a respected doctor who specialized in virology and immunology at the Hong Kong School of Public Health, boarded a Cathay Pacific flight to the United States on April 28.

Chinese Premier Li Keqing inspected Tongren and Guiyang during his visit (July 6 & 7) to Guizhou province. He was accompanied by Guizhou Provincial Party Committee Secretary Sun Zhigang and Governor Chen Yiqin. Li Keqiang advocated promoting the government’s “new infrastructure” drive.

Under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which enables the U.S. government to place travel bans and asset freezes on human rights abusers, the US Treasury Department on July 9, 2020, named Chen Quanguo, the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) Party Secretary, and Zhu Hailun, a former XUAR Deputy Party Secretary as on the list of those sanctioned.

Beijing (Caixin, July 7) reported no additional confirmed Covid-19 cases on July 7.

Health officials of Hubei province, that had the highest number of coronavirus deaths in China, on July 6 held a press conference to announce its plans to reform its disease control systems as policymakers mull a public health overhaul in the wake of the pandemic.

Radio Free Asia (July 6) quoted the state-run China's Tibet portal as saying on July 1, that following the drive last year by China to enrol ethnic Tibetans in the ruling Chinese Communist Party, at least 16,000 Tibetans joined the CCP bringing the total Tibetan membership number to 398,000. Almost 8,000 new members are Tibetan nomads and farmers.

Born in 1969, Ms Wang Chunying was appointed Deputy Chief of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), which manages more than US$ 3 trillion in reserves, on July 6.

Xiao Gang, former Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), speaking at a financial forum in Shanghai about the development of China’s capital markets, said he had a message from the leaders in Beijing.

The Global AI Conference opened in Shanghai on July 2. Despite its title, the forum will see almost entirely Chinese attendees because of travel bans and geopolitical tensions.

Wu Shicun, President of China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies and Chairman of Board of Directors of China-Southeast Asia Research Center on the South China Sea, writing in China Military on July 7, 2020, anticipated that 2020 will witness the situation in the South China Sea shift from "stabilizing" to "turbulent".

At the regular weekly press conference in Beijing on July 7, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian, responding to a question about the status of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Zoom and others in the wake of the National Security Law (NSL) said: "I recall what Deng Xiaoping noted in 1982 when he met with Margaret Thatcher, after Hong Kong's return to the motherland, "Horses will still run, stocks will still sizzle, and dancers will still dance" in Hong Kong.

Guillaume Poupard, head of the French cybersecurity agency ANSSI, was quoted by Reuters (July 6) saying there would not be a total ban on using equipment from Huawei in the rollout of the French 5G telecoms network, but that it was pushing French telcos to avoid switching to the Chinese company.

Pakistan's News International on July 8, reported that the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Vice Foreign Ministers' Strategic Dialogue’s third round was convened virtually on July 7.

China's State Council announced the formation of the new apparatus to enforce the newly passed Hong Kong national security law. On July 3, the Hong Kong government established its new Committee for Safeguarding National Security.

Chinese social media’s nickname for Xi Jinping is 加速器/Accelerant.” He’s accelerating the downfall of the Chinese Communist Party. It’s a pun on the nickname for reform and opening “Chief Architect“/總設計師 Deng Xiaoping.

Reliable reports state that Tsinghua University Law Professor Xu Zhangrun has been formally detained in Beijing. He was arrested on July 6.

Radio Free Asia reported (June 26) that Xu Zhangrun, a Professor at Tsinghua University who has published articles critical of Xi Jinping and the CCP many times, on June 25, criticized the Beijing authorities for the demolition of the art district, which was actually for the benefit of the land, and even more to crack down on the art world and monopolize ideas.

The South China Morning Post reported (July 6) that Hong Kong education officials have told schools to review their book collections and immediately remove those titles that might breach Beijing’s National Security Law.

Axios compiled the following list of countries supporting and against China's crackdown on Hongkong.

Major Taiwanese news network China Times reported (July 2) that Cambridge Wolfson College President, Professor Jane Clarke, issued an announcement that the College paid strong attention to the series of events that happened after China passed the Hong Kong National Security Law.

PRC Ambassador to UK Li Shaoming hinted (July 6) that HK people who try to use their BNO passport to leave Hongkong for the UK could be subject to an exit ban.

China's official media reported that China’s stock market recorded its biggest rally in more than a year on July 6, after state media encouraged investors to invest and reap the benefits of a post- coronavirus economic boom.

The Global Times report (July 6) on the statements issued by India and China: "The Chinese Special Representative of the China-India Boundary Question, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke July 5 night, and the two sides reached a consensus on de-escalating border tensions.

Li Hong, an editor with the CCP-owned Global Times, wrote (July 5) a hard-hitting article captioned 'India should not make a bad situation worse', which warned the "Indian leadership to ponder the outcome of continuously antagonizing China" adding that "It should not make a bad situation worse".

China’s Ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming has told the 120,000 Chinese students to “leverage their strength” as the UK overtakes the US as the most popular destination for Chinese students for the first time.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on July 6, 2020, reported that U.S. goods imports from China stood at $36.6 billion in May 2020, down 6.6 per cent year-on-year; the U.S. and that global demand for Chinese exports is likely to remain weak through the summer.

On July 7, the US State Department announced that the Chinese Communist Party and government officials responsible for keeping Americans out of Tibet will be denied entry to the US. In his statement US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the department restricted visas for the officials under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act (RATA), which forbids entry to the US by Chinese authorities “substantially involved” in creating and enforcing policies that keep American citizens out of Tibet.

Taking cognisance of the growing global backlash against the Confucius Institutes promoted by China's Hanban, China issued a notice on July 4, announcing that the name of the Confucius Institutes has been changed to the 'Centre for Language Exchange and Cooperation'.

National Interest (July 3) in an article on China's A.I., said that under General Secretary Xi Jinping, China has invested heavily in AI-related technologies, making it a core focus for the modernization of Chinese industry.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported (July 2) the Chengdu Municipal Agriculture and Rural Bureau had issued a document encouraging farmers to stop producing fruit and cultivating gardens and to start producing rice grains instead.

China's military media on July 4 announced that construction of its third aircraft carrier Type-003 has now been almost completed and it is getting closer to the launch of outfitting!

The 85th birthday of the Tibetan spiritual leader, HH the XIV Dalai Lama was celebrated globally as World Tibet Day on July 6, 2020.

One of Demisisto's founding leaders Nathan Law told (July 2) the US's National Public Radio (NPR) that he has fled Hongkong in order to carry on his pro-democracy movement abroad. He did not disclose where he was. Demosisto and Studentlocalism have also announced their disbandment.

On July 1, Taipei opened the new Taiwan Hong Kong Service Exchange Office to facilitate large-scale migration of Hongkongers to the island. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council minister, Chen Ming-tong, described the move as “not only a statement on Taiwan’s support to Hong Kong’s democracy and freedom but also highlights our determination to care for Hong Kong people.”

China's popular social media platform Baidu on July 3 carried the following post: On June 30, China and India held more than 12 hours of army commander-level talks. The third round of talks reached a consensus that the two parties organized a batch of front-line troops to "disengage" and the talks have made positive progress.

The Times of India (July 2) reported that India's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Rajiv Chander said, "We have heard several statements expressing concern on these developments.

South China Morning Post (July 2) reported that after the Russian embassy posted a video on Weibo of a party held on July 2, to celebrate the 160th anniversary of the founding of the city, whose name means “ruler of the east” in Russian, it prompted an online backlash.

Hongkong's Apple Daily and the Epoch Times separately reported some interesting data about the whereabouts of China's leaders in recent days. They said that since June 11, when Beijing reported its coronavirus cases, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) top leaders have rarely appeared in public settings.

CPPCC Chairman and PBSC member Wang Yang presided over the 12th meeting of the 13th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee Standing Committee in Beijing on June 24.

Politburo member and Vice Premier Ms. Sun Chunlan inspected the epidemic prevention and control work in Beijing on June 23, and emphasised the need to keep an eye on the key parts and key links and said the prevention and control points should be moved forward, prevention and control measures should be more precise, and all-out efforts must be made to prevent the spread of the epidemic. Politburo member and Beijing Party Secretary Cai Qi accompanied her.

PLA Daily published (June 22) a lengthy nine-part 'Xie Xinping' commentary affirming that China’s development would not be obstructed by challenges such as the novel coronavirus epidemic and the tensions with the US that the disease exacerbated.

The Associated Press reported (June 30) that population control measures backed by mass detention, both as a threat and as a punishment for failure to comply, are being imposed across the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region.