China Policy Monitor No. 1596

CHINA LAUNCHES MILITARY DRILLS AROUND TAIWAN
China has held two days of military drills surrounding Taiwan in what it called "strong punishment" to the island's new president, Lai Ching Te. As a "stern warning" to Lai, who asserted the island's sovereignty in defiance of Beijing, China carried out sea and air exercises that encircled Taiwan and the islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin in the Taiwan Strait. During the course of the drills, 15 PLA navy vessels, 16 coast guard vessels and 42 military aircraft were detected around Taiwan's main island and smaller outlying islands. Lai's political party asserts Taiwan's separate status from China and has vowed to keep Taiwan's democracy safe from Beijing's pressure. "All Taiwan independence separatists will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said. (New York Times, May 22, 2024)

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The last time China held a major drill in multiple locations around Taiwan was in April 2023, after Cong. Kevin McCarthy, at that time the speaker of the House of Representatives, met with Taiwan's then-president, Tsai Ing-wen.]

CHINA HUNTS DISSIDENTS IN THE U.S.
As part of its "Operation Fox Hunt" program, China is intimidating and harassing its political opponents in the U.S. Beijing is employing private investigators and organized crime leaders to conduct surveil and harass its targets. "This is a huge priority for us," said U.S. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen. In one case, a former Chinese official in New Jersey found a note on his door that read: "If you are willing to go back to the mainland and spend 10 years in prison your wife and children will be all right." In another, a former student leader in the 1989 pro-democracy movement was targeted at his home for two months with verbal abuse. "They paraded in the neighborhood, distributed all sorts of pictures and flyers, and put them in the neighbors' mailboxes," he said. (The Independent, May 6, 2024)

PERU'S PORT CONFLICT WITH CHINESE FIRM ESCALATES
Cosco Shipping Ports, a PRC state-owned marine transportation services company, is at the center of a dispute over the Chancay Port Terminal deepwater megaport that it is building on Peru's Pacific coast. Cosco is determined to remain the port's sole operator under "terms that were agreed at the beginning of this investment," while some Peruvian officials and lawmakers are pushing to revisit the deal. The firm, which has invested $1.3 billion in the $3.5 billion port, said the controversy harms the project and cautioned against imposing new regulations. Last month, Cosco sent a letter to Peru's Economy Minister, Jose Arista, requesting a six-month negotiation period to resolve the dispute. The company has also taken the first step toward invoking an arbitration process under a China-Peru trade pact. (Reuters, May 7, 2024)

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Cosco began developing Chancay in 2019, and in 2021 Peru's National Port Authority awarded the company the exclusive rights to run the port. In March, however, it blamed the decision on an "administrative error," said it lacked the legal authority to grant the rights to Cosco and urged a judge to void the terms.]

THE VATICAN MAKES AN OVERTURE TO CHINA
The Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has hosted Shanghai bishop Joseph Shen Bin, the head of China's bishops conference, at the Pontifical Urbaniana University for an unprecedented, high-level commemoration of a 1924 meeting in Shanghai that affirmed the need for foreign missionaries to give way to Chinese church leaders. The Vatican's latest overture to Beijing reaffirms that the Church does not threaten Beijing’s sovereignty and admits missionaries made "errors" in their zeal to convert Chinese to the faith. Shen's remarks are the first time Beijing has allowed a Chinese bishop to give a keynote speech at a public event in the Vatican. Last July, the Pope recognized China's unilateral appointment of Shen, a move which violated the Holy See's 2018 accord with Beijing over bishop appointments. (Associated Press, May 21, 2024)

U.S. BARS IMPORTS FROM 26 PRC TEXTILE FIRMS DUE TO UYGHUR FORCED LABOR
The U.S. has blocked imports from 26 Chinese cotton traders and warehouse facilities as part of its effort to eliminate goods made with Uyghur forced labor from the U.S. supply chain. The companies, which source cotton from the region, are the latest additions to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, which now includes 65 entities. Passed in 2021, the law helps "responsible companies conduct due diligence so that, together, we can keep the products of forced labor out of our country," said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Beijing has termed the law an "instrument of a few U.S. politicians to disrupt stability in Xinjiang and contain China's development." (Reuters, May 16, 2024)