China: Daily Scan, October 29, 2021

Zhou Naixiang elected governor of China’s Shandong: Xinhuanet
October 28, 2021

Zhou Naixiang was elected governor of east China’s Shandong Province by the provincial legislature on Wednesday. The 13th Shandong Provincial People’s Congress elected the governor at its sixth session. Click here to read…

U.S. criticized for clandestine bio-military activities: Xinhuanet
October 28, 2021

A Chinese military spokesperson on Thursday urged the United States to handle the inquiry into its bio-military activities in an open, transparent and responsible manner as they are related to international peace and security. Tan Kefei, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a regular press conference in Beijing. Click here to read…

Chinese FM calls for stronger cooperation among neighboring countries of Afghanistan for lasting peace, stability: Xinhuanet
October 28, 2021

China stands ready to work with all neighboring countries of Afghanistan to strengthen coordination and cooperation on Afghanistan-related issues, so as to help achieve lasting peace and stability in the country, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said. In a video message to the Second Meeting of Foreign Ministers of The Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan on Wednesday, Wang noted that the first Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in September was a creative move, as the participants officially launched the mechanism of coordination and cooperation among Afghanistan’s neighboring countries, and issued a joint statement covering a broad range of issues. Click here to read…

Former senior political advisor of Hainan given life sentence for bribery: Xinhuanet
October 28, 2021

A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced Wang Yong, a former senior political advisor of south China’s Hainan Province, to life in prison for bribery. Wang, former vice chairman of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was convicted of taking bribes worth over 90.47 million yuan (14.14 million U.S. dollars) by the Guilin Intermediate People’s Court of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Click here to read…

China releases plan to shield intellectual property rights: Xinhuanet
October 28, 2021

China’s State Council has released a plan on the protection and application of intellectual property rights (IPRs) during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). According to the plan, the country expects to see significant improvements in its IPR management capability by 2025. By then, IPRs will become a powerful booster for the country’s high-quality economic and social development, it added. Click here to read…

AUKUS, a hot topic at Beijing Xiangshan Forum Webinar 2021: China Military
October 28, 2021

The 5th session of Beijing Xiangshan Forum Webinar 2021 was held on the evening of October 26 around the topic of “Strategic Stability: Impasse and Way Out”, in which the establishment of the so-called trilateral security partnership, AUKUS, by the US, Britain and Australia and their nuclear submarine cooperation were heatedly discussed. Click here to read…

Beijing mandates COVID-19 booster shots in services sectors and for construction workers: Global Times
October 28, 2021

Beijing, the capital city, has vowed to promote booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines among construction workers and people in the services sector, such as chefs, purchasers, attendants, cleaners and security guards, and booster shots will be made mandatory for personnel in high-risk key positions. The capital city reported five new cases and two asymptomatic infections on Thursday, bringing the total number of local infections to 27. All these patients were under quarantine before they were confirmed as infected with COVID-19. Click here to read…

Wang Yi calls for coordinated action to expand economic exchanges with Afghanistan: Global Times
October 28, 2021

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called on countries neighboring Afghanistan to take coordinated action to expand economic and trade exchanges with the country, stressing that more multilateral coordination and efforts are needed to help stabilize Afghanistan. Wang’s remarks were consistent with what he said in Tianjin and Doha. It is more comprehensive, which shows that China’s policies toward Afghanistan are clearer but experts said it doesn’t imply recognition of the Afghan Taliban government. Click here to read…

FBI director asks US businesses to work more closely with the agency to defeat Chinese espionage efforts: South China Morning Post
October 29, 2021

The head of the FBI urged US companies on Thursday to develop closer ties with it to counter a “multi-avenue” effort by Beijing to amass enough intellectual property to “become the world’s only superpower”. In a virtual address to the Economic Club of New York, Christopher Wray, the director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, encouraged its members to establish partnerships with the agency’s local offices – before breaches occur like the Microsoft Exchange email server hack discovered earlier this year. Click here to read…

China to build outpost for Tajikistan special forces near Afghan border: Reuters
October 28, 2021

China will finance the construction of an outpost for a special forces unit of Tajikistan’s police near the Tajik-Afghan border, the Central Asian nation’s parliament said on Thursday. The post will be located in Tajikistan’s eastern Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in the Pamir mountains, which border China’s Xinjiang province as well as the northeastern Afghan province of Badakhshan. Click here to read…

Huawei paid Democratic powerbroker Podesta $1 million to lobby –sources: Reuters
October 28, 2021

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei paid Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta $1 million to lobby the Biden administration on its behalf, double what the lobbyist has revealed publicly, according to two people familiar with the matter. This month, the prominent Washington lobbyist disclosed a $500,000 payment from Huawei in a third-quarter lobbying report. But Podesta actually received $1 million total in separate installments in June and September, the people said, declining to be named since the information was not public. Click here to read…