April 21:
To “constrain the conversations and actions of Chinese-born students” China’s Ministry of State Security has built a covert informant network within Australia’s leading universities that includes “over 1,000 Chinese secret agents and informants,” the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The operation monitors more than 90,000 Chinese students exposed to ideas and activities and “infiltrates dissident groups especially [those associated with] Tibet and Falun Gong.” Chinese student associations also gather intelligence, said Chen Yonglin, a Chinese diplomat who defected to Australia in 2005. He said diplomats set up associations at each university, fund them, and appoint their leaders. “I was interrogated four times in China” over comments made at a seminar about democracy, said one lecturer at an Australian university. “They showed me the report. I can even name the lady who sent the report.” According to one Australian official: “They have more resources in Sydney University than we do. No question.”
[Editor’s Note: The day after SMH’s report, China’s Consulate General in Sydney released a statement covered by the official China Daily: “There is no factual basis for the report, which has greatly hurt the feelings of the majority of Chinese students and aroused their strong indignation and anxiety. We expressed strong dissatisfaction with the distorted facts by the media and its ulterior motives.”]
To further cement their bilateral military relationship, China and Pakistan are in the midst of two-weeks of joint military exercises in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The joint military-medical training program, codenamed Peace Angel 2014, is focused on improving Pakistan’s responsiveness to disaster relief and terrorist attacks, report Pakistan’s the Nation.
April 23:
The Senkaku Islands are administered by Japan and therefore fall within the scope of Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security. And we oppose any unilateral attempts to undermine Japan’s administration of these islands,” President Barack Obama said in comments carried by the Washington Post. This marks the first time a U.S. president has clearly stated that the uninhabited islets are within the scope of the treaty, which obliges the U.S. to defend Japan in a possible contingency.
[Editor’s Note: U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan in Beijing earlier this month that the U.S. military is committed to the defense of Japan, including the Senkakus. In 2010, Hillary Clinton became the first secretary of state to lay out the U.S. position on the matter of the security treaty and the Senkakus in talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara.]
China’s petition agency, the State Bureau for Letters and Calls, has issued a regulation that forbids citizens from bypassing local authorities to file complaints. “Central government departments will not take complaints about issues that should be handled by provincial governments or that are being processed by them,” said an agency spokesperson. According to the regulation: “At local level, citizens should go to departments that are authorized by law to handle relevant issues and higher levels will not take their complaints if they jump rank. The governments will also turn down petitions that fall in the authorities of legislative bodies and judicial departments.” The official China Radio International reports that three types of “exceptions” remain for petitioners seeking redress from Beijing, including “complaints about corrupt officials of provincial and central governments, petitions about issues that should be addressed across provinces and sectors, as well as those that are not properly handled by provincial governments.”
April 24:
China is ready to assist Bangladesh with three big projects: the construction of a deep sea port, an exhibition center, and a space satellite, China’s ambassador Li Jun said in comments carried by Bangladesh’s the Independent. China’s state-run companies are prepared to support these projects, he said, adding that it was time for Bangladesh to make a decision. Li said that bilateral trade had reached $10.3 billion in 2013 and that China was offering duty-free treatment in order to help correct “a big deficit for Bangladesh.” China’s total FDI into Bangladesh doubled last year to nearly $1 billion, but Li said a new exclusive economic processing zone for Chinese investors would help lure even more.