China Reform Monitor: No. 1187

October 1:

Next month the People's Liberation Army will hold "Joint Action 2015A,” a four-month, large-scale military exercise in southwest China that simulates “an ambush on the Indian army,” the Oriental Daily reports. Army, Air Force, the Second Artillery Corps and other troops from the PLA Lanzhou Military Area Command will participate in the training to build “the ability to maneuver in depth against India and wipe out the enemy.” Meanwhile, India is deploying thirty fighter aircraft and U.S.-made armed helicopters, building a new border command post and upgrading forty outposts along the border.

October 3:

Two Japanese citizens arrested in China for spying may have been collecting information about Chinese military activities and North Korea for Japan's Public Security Intelligence Agency, a Japanese government source has confirmed. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said authorities had arrested two Japanese "on suspicion of carrying out espionage activities." After being detained in May, the two men reportedly told Chinese authorities that they were collecting information at Tokyo’s behest. One, a 55-year-old North Korean defector, was arrested in Dandong, Liaoning near the North Korea border, reports Japan Times. The other, a 51-year-old Japanese, was detained near a military facility in Zhejiang. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has denied Japan sent spies to China.

[Editor’s Note: Beijing has expanded its surveillance of foreign organizations,companies and tourists in accordance with a new counterespionage law. Last week, China acknowledged that an American, Sandy Phan-Gillis, was detained for more than six months under suspicion of "spying and stealing state secrets," Nikkei reports.]

October 4:

Cyber attacks by China’s state-backed hackers on Hong Kong universities have risen sharply, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports. Campuses are facing an unprecedented number of "actively targeted" intrusions since the student-led Occupy protests last September. The universities reported a 38 percent rise in hacking incidents this year, with 1,175 incident reports, an increase of 213 percent, in “phishing” incidents seeking names and data. After examining the intrusions, cybersecurity experts discovered that a growing number were sophisticated attacks by the Chinese government. Two months ago Hong Kong's top universities were among more than 100 academic and government institutions that faced a major hack.

October 5:

Indonesia has chosen China over Japan to build its first high-speed rail, linking Jakarta with Bandung. Indonesian officials say they selected China because it offered a $5 billion loan without a guarantee, promised more technology transfer than Japan, pledged to complete the project within three years, and agreed that the project will not come out of Indonesia's national budget. To invest and build the project, a joint venture will be formed comprising China Railway Corp and four Indonesian state-owned companies, Hong Kong's Oriental Daily reports.

October 6:

Roughly 2000 students and faculty marched silently through the University of Hong Kong at lunchtime wearing either black clothes or academic gowns to protest infringements on academic freedom. They were also defending the university's autonomy in response to the HKU governing council's rejection of liberal scholar Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun for pro-vice-chancellor, which many believe was politically motivated. Fearful that political activeness might hurt their promotional prospects, many assistant professors stayed away, SCMP reports. History professor Peter Cunich said: "As we've seen in the case of Johannes Chan, promotion is now dependent on political beliefs. So many of them are staying away." Professor Douglas Kerr said he knew junior colleagues were worried about their promotion and tenure prospects. "I don't think the university is yet in a terror culture. But it begins with people being uncertain about what level of academic and intellectual independence they can exercise."