China
The ‘new’ Taiwan beyond cross-strait relations
Authors: Alan Hao Yang and Jeremy Huai-Che Chiang, TAEF
Beijing has been increasing pressure on Taiwan recently. From a move to ban individual travel permits for Chinese visitors to Taiwan to two large-scale military drills close to the Taiwan Strait, China appears to be ramping up efforts to influence Taiwan’s upcoming 2020 presidential elections.
This is nothing new. Since Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s inauguration in 2016, China has not given Taiwan a day of rest in its battle to preserve autonomy. China’s diplomatic offensives have already cost Taiwan five allies, while Beijing’s ‘31 measures’ and other pro-unification incentives have polarised attitudes across the island towards its gigantic neighbour. Cyber operatives and grassroots United Front activities have also damaged Taiwan’s democracy.
Despite this pressure, a ‘new’ Taiwan has emerged that is increasingly willing to think beyond cross-strait mechanisms and to embrace a new regional role. This new Taiwan embodies progressive liberal values while seeking to display a stabilising role in the emerging Indo-Pacific theatre. This is not a sudden transformation but an incremental process that has been in the making for years.
Starting with its New Southbound Policy in 2016, Taiwan has been working relentlessly to expand ties with its southern neighbours. While Taiwan had similar policies before 2016, previous initiatives focused on traditional economic cooperation. The New Southbound Policy includes comprehensive engagement efforts in diverse areas. Taiwan has already set up agricultural demonstration farms and provided related technological training to local organisations in Indonesia, with the Philippines and Vietnam to follow.
Taiwan’s vibrant civil society has also contributed immensely in garnering domestic support for the policy, while also extending Taiwan’s outreach regionally. The New Southbound Policy is more ‘strategic and comprehensive’ than any of Taiwan’s previous policies directed towards Asia.
While Taiwan’s economic dependence on China continues, investment in China has been gradually slowing as a result of the US–China trade war. Taiwan’s total trade with New Southbound countries climbed from US$96 billion in 2016 to US$117.1 billion in 2018. The number of students in Taiwan also rose from 32,318 to 51,970 during the same period.
The New Southbound Policy has also made significant progress in tourism. Chinese tourists peaked at around 4.1 million in 2015 but have steadily declined after Tsai’s inauguration. In 2018, only 2.5 million Chinese tourists visited. Taiwan still had a record 11.07 million foreign visitors in 2018. A total of 2.42 million visits from Southeast Asia accounted for 21.89 per cent of 2018’s foreign visits. This increase of Southeast Asian visitors represented a remarkable growth of 13.8 per cent from 2017.
Taiwan and the United States are also enjoying their warmest ties in decades. The Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy shares similar goals with Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy and both sides are eager to cooperate. Various new pieces of US legislation, such as the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2019, have also confirmed Washington’s commitment to the island’s security and democracy. US President Donald Trump has approved a US$2.2 billion arms sale to Taiwan, while the administration is also moving forward with a US$8 billion sale of 66 F-16V fighter jets.
With bipartisan support for toughened competition with China emerging in the United States, Taiwan’s strategic importance has steadily increased. Tsai’s administration has taken full advantage of this trend, adopting multiple measures to strengthen the island’s role as not only one of the leading liberal democracies in Asia but also a critical security partner in the Indo-Pacific. Taiwan’s relations with like-minded countries such as Japan and India are also showing similar positive trends.
Besides these prominent international efforts, there are also several interesting dynamics unfolding on the island itself. As the trade war continues to create ruptures throughout existing global supply chains, low-end production by Taiwanese firms is moving into Southeast Asia, while high-end manufacturing firms are considering relocating back to Taiwan. The Ministry of Economic Affairs has approved investment this year valued around US$16.03 billion for Taiwanese firms seeking to return. If these investments materialise, they might provide key stimulus for the industrial sector and middle-level technical…
China
Is journalist Vicky Xu preparing to return to China?
Chinese social media influencers have recently claimed that prominent Chinese-born Australian journalist Vicky Xu had posted a message saying she planned to return to China.
There is no evidence for this. The source did not provide evidence to support the claim, and Xu herself later confirmed to AFCL that she has no such plans.
Currently working as an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, or ASPI, Xu has previously written for both the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, or ABC, and The New York Times.
A Chinese language netizen on X initially claimed on March 31 that the changing geopolitical relations between Sydney and Beijing had caused Xu to become an expendable asset and that she had posted a message expressing a strong desire to return to China. An illegible, blurred photo of the supposed message accompanied the post.
This claim was retweeted by a widely followed influencer on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo one day later, who additionally commented that Xu was a “traitor” who had been abandoned by Australian media.
Following the publication of an ASPI article in 2021 which exposed forced labor conditions in Xinjiang co-authored by Xu, the journalist was labeled “morally bankrupt” and “anti-China” by the Chinese state owned media outlet Global Times and subjected to an influx of threatening messages and digital abuse, eventually forcing her to temporarily close several of her social media accounts.
AFCL found that neither Xu’s active X nor LinkedIn account has any mention of her supposed return to China, and received the following response from Xu herself about the rumor:
“I can confirm that I don’t have plans to go back to China. I think if I do go back I’ll most definitely be detained or imprisoned – so the only career I’ll be having is probably going to be prison labor or something like that, which wouldn’t be ideal.”
Neither a keyword search nor reverse image search on the photo attached to the original X post turned up any text from Xu supporting the netizens’ claims.
Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Shen Ke and Malcolm Foster.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.
Read the rest of this article here >>> Is journalist Vicky Xu preparing to return to China?
China
Guide for Foreign Residents: Obtaining a Certificate of No Criminal Record in China
Foreign residents in China can request a criminal record check from their local security bureau. This certificate may be required for visa applications or job opportunities. Requirements and procedures vary by city. In Shanghai, foreigners must have lived there for 180 days with a valid visa to obtain the certificate.
Foreign residents living in China can request a criminal record check from the local security bureau in the city in which they have lived for at least 180 days. Certificates of no criminal record may be required for people leaving China, or those who are starting a new position in China and applying for a new visa or residence permit. Taking Shanghai as an example, we outline the requirements for obtaining a China criminal record check.
Securing a Certificate of No Criminal Record, often referred to as a criminal record or criminal background check, is a crucial step for various employment opportunities, as well as visa applications and residency permits in China. Nevertheless, navigating the process can be a daunting task due to bureaucratic procedures and language barriers.
In this article, we use Shanghai as an example to explore the essential information and steps required to successfully obtain a no-criminal record check. Requirements and procedures may differ in other cities and counties in China.
Note that foreigners who are not currently living in China and need a criminal record check to apply for a Chinese visa must obtain the certificate from their country of residence or nationality, and have it notarized by a Chinese embassy or consulate in that country.
Foreigners who have a valid residence permit and have lived in Shanghai for at least 180 days can request a criminal record check in the city. This means that the applicant will also need to currently have a work, study, or other form of visa or stay permit that allows them to live in China long-term.
If a foreigner has lived in another part of China and is planning to or has recently moved to Shanghai, they will need to request a criminal record check in the place where they previously spent at least 180 days.
There are two steps to obtaining a criminal record certificate in Shanghai: requesting the criminal record check from the Public Security Bureau (PSB) and getting the resulting Certificate of No Criminal Record notarized by an authorized notary agency.
This article is republished from China Briefing. Read the rest of the original article.
China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The practice assists foreign investors into China and has done since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at china@dezshira.com.
China
China Unveils Plan to Upgrade Industrial Equipment
China unveiled a comprehensive action plan for upgrading industrial equipment, with a focus on driving technological innovation and economic growth. The plan, released on April 9, 2024, aims to enhance competitiveness and sustainability within the manufacturing sector through extensive investment and regulatory support.
China announced an ambitious action plan for industrial equipment upgrading, which aims to drive technological innovation and economic growth through extensive investment and regulatory support.
On April 9, 2024, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and six other departments jointly released a notice introducing the Implementation Plan for Promoting Equipment Renewal in the Industrial Sector (hereafter referred to as the “action plan”).
Finalized earlier on March 23, 2024, this comprehensive action plan addresses critical issues related to technological innovation and economic development. It reflects China’s proactive stance in enhancing competitiveness and sustainability within its manufacturing sector. The initiative underscores the recognition of industrial equipment upgrading as a top policy priority.
The scope of China’s action plan to upgrade industrial equipment in manufacturing, is extensive, covering various aspects such as:
In line with China’s ambitious goals for industrial modernization and sustainable development, the action plan outlines several key objectives aimed at driving substantial advancements in the industrial sector by 2027.
These objectives encompass a wide range of areas, from increasing investment to enhancing digitalization and promoting innovation, including:
The objectives and key actions proposed in the action plan are summarized below.
This article is republished from China Briefing. Read the rest of the original article.
China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The practice assists foreign investors into China and has done since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at china@dezshira.com.
- Is journalist Vicky Xu preparing to return to China?
- Guide for Foreign Residents: Obtaining a Certificate of No Criminal Record in China
- China Unveils Plan to Upgrade Industrial Equipment
- China deepens engagement with new Indonesian president as top diplomat visits Jakarta
- New Publication: A Guide for Foreign Investors on Navigating China’s New Company Law
- Lingang New Area in Shanghai Opens First Cross-Border Data Service Center to Streamline Data Export Process
