XI PURGES TWO TOP PLA NAVY LEADERS
Admiral Miao Hua, a member of the elite six-person Central Military Commission who led the PLA's Political Work department, is under investigation for "serious violations of discipline,” which usually means corruption. Miao's political patron, Defense Minister Dong Jun, has also been placed under investigation making him the third Defense Minister in a row purged for corruption. (Business Insider, November 28, 2024)
[EDITOR'S NOTE: In the 1990s and 2000s, Miao was a military political commissar in Fujian while Xi Jinping was the province's governor. Two years after Xi took power in 2012, Miao was transferred to serve as the PLA Navy's top political commissar.]
CHINA COMPLETES MASSIVE "GREEN WALL" AROUND TAKLAMAKAN DESERT
A 46-year campaign to encircle the Taklamakan Desert with more than 116,000 square miles of trees, known as the Three-North Shelterbelt project (aka, the Great Green Wall) has just been completed. The program, designed to end desertification and curb sandstorms, began in 1978 and required decades of experimentation with various tree and plant species to identify the hardiest. China will continue planting vegetation and trees along the edge of the Taklamakan. On the desert's northern edge, poplar forests will be restored using water diversion, and on the western edge officials are planning new forests to protect farmland and orchards. Despite a nationwide tree planting program, 26.8% of China's land is still officially classified as "desert," down only slightly from 27.2% a decade ago. (Reuters, November 29, 2024)
RECORD $83 BILLION GOLD DEPOSIT FOUND IN HUNAN
China has discovered the world's largest known gold deposit, worth an estimated $83 billion, at the Wangu goldfield in Pingjiang, Hunan. The discovery of 40 gold veins could yield more than 1000 metric tons of gold, the Geological Bureau of Hunan has said. "Many drilled rock cores showed visible gold," notes a geologist at the bureau. China, which produced about a tenth of the world's gold in 2023, has invested 100 million yuan into exploring the Wangu goldfield. (The Independent, November 30, 2024)
CHINA WARNS NEW ZEALAND NOT TO JOIN AUKUS
China's ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong, has said that a decision by the country to join the AUKUS alliance would "inevitably" have negative consequences for its relations with China. "AUKUS entails the transfer of weapons-grade nuclear materials from a nuclear weapon state to a non-nuclear weapon state for the first time in history. If that is allowed to happen, it will raise serious questions about the integrity of the Non-Proliferation Treaty regime," Wang said. In November, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said China's opinion on whether New Zealand would join AUKUS was "not a consideration." New Zealand's foreign policy “shouldn't be determined in Beijing, it shouldn't be determined in Washington, it shouldn't be determined in Canberra. I don't think China should be making any threats," opposition leader Chris Hipkins has concurred. (Australian Broadcasting Network, November 26, 2024)
TAIWAN'S NEW PRESIDENT TRANSITS HAWAII AND GUAM
While on his first international trip since being elected in January, Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te has stopped in Hawaii for a two-day transit visit. The Hawaii stopover and another in Guam have drawn Beijing's ire. No high-ranking U.S. officials met with Lai at his hotel where cheering supporters greeted him. Taipei has exchanges with dozens of countries but has only a dozen formal diplomatic partners. Meanwhile in Taipei, Paraguay's Foreign Minister, Ruben Dario Ramirez Lezcano, said his country is committed to Taipei: "Paraguay is open to establish diplomatic, consular or commercial relations with China without conditions. We don't accept any condition to break our relations with Taiwan." (Associated Press, November 29, 2024; Associated Press, November 30, 2024)
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Taiwan's former President, Tsai Ing-wen, transited the U.S. last year on her way to Latin America and met with the former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. She visited Hawaii in 2019.]