September 30:
Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has commended the military for maintaining stability in Xinjiang, and called on troops to play a bigger role in fighting separatism, terrorism and extremism. Yu made the remarks in Urumqi during a meeting with senior military officers from the Xinjiang Military Area Command, the Xinjiang Division of the Chinese People's Armed Police, and the “semi-military” Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the official PLA Daily reports. He urged the troops to “defend national security and maintain social stability,” and to remember their campaign is a protracted war.
October 1:
Yu Zhengsheng led a “grand rally” in Urumqi marking the 60th anniversary of the Xinjiang autonomous region and joined over 2,000 onlookers for a performance of Xinjiang folk songs and dance that “extolled the changes over the last 60 years.” Yu called for a focus on “preventing evil forces from infiltrating people's ideology,”theofficial China Daily reports. “More will be done to raise morale and unite the people of Xinjiang so that they stand firmly shoulder-to-shoulder with the Party to build an ‘iron wall’ that safeguards stability and security. (We should) actively guide religions to adapt to a socialist society, boost lawful religion management, [and] cultivate a team of patriotic religious personnel.” He said: "We must be fully aware of the severe situation we are facing to maintain long-term stability in Xinjiang. We must clench our fists tight and take the initiative to crack down.”
The yuan has suffered its biggest quarterly decline in two decades falling to 6.356 perdollar, while the Hong Kong dollar (HKD) has surged to the top of its dollar peg at HK$7.75 per dollar. The yuan weakened 2.49 percent between July and September, compared with a 0.05 percent decline the previous quarter. Beijing’s two percent devaluation of the yuan on August 11 spurred a sell-off and capital flight based on growing concerns about the Chinese economy. The yuan’s fall has prompted Hong Kong depositors to exchange yuan for HKD – pushing yuan deposits down 1.5 percent to 979 billion yuan at the end of August. The remittance of yuan from Hong Kong to China was 727.9 billion yuan in August, and 583.6 billion yuan in July. Last month, Hong Kong’s monetary authorities intervened in currency markets 11 times, selling HK$67.27 billion to weaken the HKD, South China Morning Post reports.
October 2:
Large numbers of overseas UnionPay Visa and MasterCard holders have been frequently withdrawing large amounts of cash, according to China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE). SAFE has warned them to stop and tightened management of cross-border cash withdrawals. From today to the end of 2015, each card may withdraw no more than 50,000 yuan. Then, starting January 1, on top of the current daily restriction of 10,000 yuan ($1,570), each UnionPay card will have an annual withdrawal limit of 100,000 yuan or its equivalent in other currencies, the official Global Times reports. Anyone who violates the restrictions will be added to a “watch list” and banned from withdrawing cash overseas. Since 2003 SAFE has promoted cross-border use of UnionPay cards, which are now accepted in more than 150 countries.
[Editor’s Note: Since 2012 China has been the world's largest outbound tourist market. In 2014, the number of Chinese traveling abroad increased 19.5 percent to 109 million, nearly 13 times 1998 levels. During the May Day holiday from May1-3 the number of UnionPay overseas transactions jumped 73 percent. The seven-day Spring Festival holiday from February 18-24 also saw a nearly 50 percent increase in overseas UnionPay transactions. Foreign travel is expected to surge during the National Day holiday from October 1-7.]
October 5:
On September 19, Japan's parliament enacted two security laws that permit its Self-Defense Forces to fight abroad for the first time since the end of World War II. The bills amend ten security-related laws and provide guidelines to expand U.S.-Japan security cooperation. The new laws “create new opportunities for cooperation between Taiwan and the US-Japan alliance,” Lai I-chung told the Taipei Times. They give Japan more options in response to changes to the "status quo" in the Taiwan Strait, thus adding uncertainties to Beijing's strategic planning.