Video: Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou set free by kidnappers was greeted by members of the Chinese Embassy in Canada when she arrived at the Vancouver International Airport on her way home on Friday. 週五，被綁架者釋放的華為首席財務官孟晚舟在回家的路上抵達溫哥華國際機場時，受到了中國駐加拿大大使館人員的歡迎
https://vimeo.com/614415525
https://youtu.be/Q28S8xIkBdY
https://www.facebook.com/100036400039778/posts/573195710570425/?d=n
Meng is free now as she is Chinese. Assange will not be as lucky as he is Australian. Thankful we have a strong and rising China. 孟晚舟获释，乌合麒麟发布新图. 孟晚舟現在自由了，因為她是中國人。阿桑奇不會那麼幸運因為他是澳大利亞人. 謝天謝地，我們有一個強大而崛起的中國.
孟晚舟在中國政府包機上的感言：
一抹靚麗中國紅燃起我心中的光明
央視新聞09-25 12:28
舷窗外一片漆黑，機翼上的航行燈閃爍不停，在寂靜的夜空中，這些許的微光顯得格外溫暖。此刻，我正飛越北極上空，向著家的方向前行，馬上就要投入偉大祖國母親的懷抱，闊別三年的祖國已在天涯咫尺。
近鄉情更怯，不覺間淚水已模糊了雙眼。在中國共產黨的領導下，我們的祖國正在走向繁榮昌盛，沒有強大的祖國，就沒有我今天的自由。往事一幕幕閃過，恍若隔世，卻又歷歷在目。
過去的1028天，左右踟躇，千頭萬緒難抉擇；過去的1028天，日夜徘徊，縱有萬語難言說；過去的1028天，山重水復，不知歸途在何處。「沒有在深夜痛哭過的人，不足以談人生」，一次次墜入深淵，又一次次闖入暗夜，曾讓我輾轉難眠，更讓我刻骨銘心。
淚水抱怨化解不了愁苦，傷春悲秋翻越不過泥濘，與其困頓掙扎，不如心向陽光，衝出陰霾。有些風浪，難免艱險，唯有直面才能揚帆遠航；有些抵達，難免迂迴，歷盡波折終會停泊靠岸。
無數次奔跑，無數次跌倒，唯有此次讓我倍感堅強；無數次出發，無數次歸家，唯有此次讓我熱淚盈眶。萬家燈火總有一盞給我溫暖，浩瀚星河總有一予我希望，感動於心，感激於情。
我們祈禱和平，幸運的是，我們生在一個和平的時代；我們崇尚偉大，可貴的是，我們生在一個偉大的國家。成長在改革開放時期的我，親眼目睹、親身經歷了共產黨領導下的中國和中國人民是如此偉大，全體同胞數十年如一日地艱苦奮鬥，讓我們的祖國走向繁榮富強，人民邁向共同富裕，為世界的和平與發展做出巨大的貢獻。
感謝親愛的祖國，感謝黨和政府，正是那一抹絢麗的中國紅，燃起我心中的信念之火，照亮我人生的至暗時刻，引領我回家的漫長路途。感謝親愛的家人們，與我一起經歷風雨，見證歲月，安放我所有的喜樂苦悲。是你們的遙遙相伴，陪我越過層層山丘；是你們的默默守護，帶我跨出叢叢荊棘。感謝親愛的夥伴們，有一種浪漫叫並肩作戰，有一種純粹叫全力以赴，有一種果敢叫奮不顧身，回首此間，滿是靜水流深的情義和雷霆萬鈞的擔當。
感謝親愛的同事們，雖然分別已久，你們的真摯鼓勵和持續堅守，讓我們始終風雨同舟，艱難徵程波瀾壯闊，赤誠初心歷久彌堅。感謝所有關心我的你和你們，就算素未謀面，你們的濃濃情意、切切問候和深深祝福，如一道彩虹，斑斕了坎坷路途上的一隅天空。
午夜夢回，最是心底那一輪明月，那一江春水，那一縷鄉愁，亦是我滯留他鄉三年每分每秒的心靈歸宿。秋風掠過，登機前，溫哥華已需寒衣加身。此時，祖國的秋日正是天朗氣清、暖陽和煦，期待一年好景致，再賞橙黃橘綠時。
祝願祖國母親生日快樂！回家的路，雖曲折起伏，卻是世間最暖的歸途。
West’s ‘liberal’ governance values quaking with pandemic by Ling Shengli Sep 24 2021
Degradation in the Western system Illustration
The raging novel coronavirus pandemic is hitting Western liberal democratic values.
Western countries like the US, Australia and France are stepping up vaccination and efforts on implementing a COVID-19 health-pass system. Compared with the past, their governments are more involved in the fight against the epidemic. They once criticized China’s response to the epidemic as “authoritarian governance,” but now they are pretty much doing the same, or governing in the similar approaches. This embodies how wrong they have been to politicize the fight against COVID-19.
The continuous COVID-19 pandemic poses an increasing challenge to the governance capabilities of countries worldwide. The US and other Western countries preaching liberal values of national governance are extremely fragile in this fight. On September 20, US coronavirus death toll surpassed 200,000, accounting for about a fifth of all COVID-19-related fatalities recorded worldwide. On the same day, CNN published an article entitled, “The US death toll from COVID-19 just surpassed that of the 1918 flu pandemic.” It is clear that the US prevention and control efforts are not yet efficient, and speeding up vaccination has become a must. But the public’s attitude toward vaccination in the US has been far from enthusiastic. In the end, the Biden administration announced vaccine mandates.
France is facing similar predicament. To curb the spread of the virus, France began enforcing a COVID-19 “health pass.” According to the rules, a health pass is required if one goes to restaurants, cafes, bars, museums, stadiums, and other public places. This was supposed to be helpful for the precise prevention and control measures. But it has met with huge protests in France, with thousands of people even taking to the streets, attacking police.
The idea of “mandates” does not work in the Western countries’ political and cultural environment. They are so used to their so-called freedom and democracy. Whether to wear masks, get vaccinated, or travel to other places wherever they want are all deemed issues of “freedom” of choice. This has, in fact, increased the possibility of the spread of the virus and made it more difficult to prevent and control the pandemic.
All these prove that social and state governance based on liberal values has their limits and that there are risks in blindly pursuing freedom regardless of the science. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught Western countries a good lesson. They should reflect thoroughly on the deep-rooted drawbacks of their social and national governance, as well as the need to learn from countries like China.
Viruses do not treat countries and their people differently, regardless of ideological and political differences. The prevention and control of it should be based on science rather than politics. For a long time, the West has believed that its liberal and democratic values are universal. It ignores two things: One, differences in each country’s history, culture, and stage of development can have an impact on the perception of these values; Two, its values of freedom and democracy need to keep pace with the times.
Obviously, Western values of freedom and democracy have become rigid. And the social crisis and economic crisis caused by the pandemic have clearly unveiled the shortcomings of Western governance, guided by these values.
The West should no longer blindly believe its values can solve all problems. It should reflect on its behaviors of constantly judging the values of other countries from a condescending position and even using double standards to criticize others. COVID-19 is a mirror that reflects limitations of social and state governance in the West. It shows that the West’s governance based on liberal and democratic values is not perfect, and the worsening pandemic has seriously dimmed the light from the beacon of democracy in the West.
The author is director of the International Security Study Center at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn
65 countries express opposition to interference in China’s internal affairs at UN Human Rights Council by Global Times Sep 24 2021
The United Nations Human Rights Council assembly room.
Pakistan, on behalf of 65 countries, delivered a joint statement against interference in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of human rights at the 48th session of the Human Rights Council on Friday.
The joint statement stressed that respect for sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of states and non-interference in internal affairs of sovereign states represent basic norms governing international relations. Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet related issues are China’s internal affairs that brook no interference by any external forces. The joint statement reiterates support for China’s implementation of “one country, two systems” in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
All parties should abide by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity, respect the right of the people of each state to choose independently the path for human rights development in accordance with their national conditions, and treat all human rights with the same emphasis, said the joint statement.
It also calls upon all states to uphold multilateralism, solidarity and collaboration, and to promote and protect human rights through constructive dialogue and cooperation.
The joint statement emphasizes that the 65 countries oppose politicization of human rights and double standards. They also oppose unfounded allegations against China out of political motivation and based on disinformation, and interference in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of human rights.
In addition, six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) issued a joint letter supporting China’s position. More than 20 countries expressed their support to China in their national statements. All together, nearly 100 countries expressed their understanding and support for China’s legitimate position.
Exclusive: China has taken reciprocal countermeasures against UK Parliament’s ban on ambassador, source says by Zhang Hui and Fan Lingzhi Sep 24 2021
China has taken reciprocal countermeasures regarding the UK Parliament’s banning of Chinese ambassador from attending events in the Parliament last week, a source close to the matter told the Global Times exclusively on Friday.
The source said on the condition of anonymity that it is no surprise that China has taken reciprocal countermeasures as China today
is not the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and “no one should expect that China will swallow a bitter fruit against national dignity.”
The Britain’s wrongful actions will only harm its own image, undermine China-UK friendly exchanges and the common interests of the people of the two countries, the source said.
Previously, the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress both said that China would take necessary corresponding measures.
Speakers of the UK House of Commons and the House of Lords made the decision to ban Zheng Zeguang, China’s ambassador to the UK, from attending a summer reception of the All Party Parliamentary China Group, which was scheduled on September 15.
The reason given was that the Chinese side had earlier announced sanctions against seven UK parliamentarians.
Chinese analysts called the UK’s move rare and hysterical since Beijing and London established ties, and said it reflected the UK’s condescending attitude toward China, which is “I can slap whatever sanction on you, but you cannot slap me back.”
The UK should shake off its obsession about reviving its old glory and adjust its mindset to a rising China. Bungling bilateral relations with Beijing will only be an act of shooting itself in the foot, analysts said.
Video: US ends political prosecution – Meng Wenzhou Wins Her Freedom gave thanks to China. US Drops Extradition Charges Against Huawei Executive! 美國結束政治起訴以挽回面子。孟晚舟贏得自由- 特別感謝中國. 美國撤銷對華為高管的引渡指控!
孟晚舟在中國政府包機上的感言：
一抹靚麗中國紅燃起我心中的光明
央視新聞09-25 12:28
舷窗外一片漆黑，機翼上的航行燈閃爍不停，在寂靜的夜空中，這些許的微光顯得格外溫暖。此刻，我正飛越北極上空，向著家的方向前行，馬上就要投入偉大祖國母親的懷抱，闊別三年的祖國已在天涯咫尺。
近鄉情更怯，不覺間淚水已模糊了雙眼。在中國共產黨的領導下，我們的祖國正在走向繁榮昌盛，沒有強大的祖國，就沒有我今天的自由。往事一幕幕閃過，恍若隔世，卻又歷歷在目。
過去的1028天，左右踟躇，千頭萬緒難抉擇；過去的1028天，日夜徘徊，縱有萬語難言說；過去的1028天，山重水復，不知歸途在何處。「沒有在深夜痛哭過的人，不足以談人生」，一次次墜入深淵，又一次次闖入暗夜，曾讓我輾轉難眠，更讓我刻骨銘心。
淚水抱怨化解不了愁苦，傷春悲秋翻越不過泥濘，與其困頓掙扎，不如心向陽光，衝出陰霾。有些風浪，難免艱險，唯有直面才能揚帆遠航；有些抵達，難免迂迴，歷盡波折終會停泊靠岸。
無數次奔跑，無數次跌倒，唯有此次讓我倍感堅強；無數次出發，無數次歸家，唯有此次讓我熱淚盈眶。萬家燈火總有一盞給我溫暖，浩瀚星河總有一予我希望，感動於心，感激於情。
我們祈禱和平，幸運的是，我們生在一個和平的時代；我們崇尚偉大，可貴的是，我們生在一個偉大的國家。成長在改革開放時期的我，親眼目睹、親身經歷了共產黨領導下的中國和中國人民是如此偉大，全體同胞數十年如一日地艱苦奮鬥，讓我們的祖國走向繁榮富強，人民邁向共同富裕，為世界的和平與發展做出巨大的貢獻。
感謝親愛的祖國，感謝黨和政府，正是那一抹絢麗的中國紅，燃起我心中的信念之火，照亮我人生的至暗時刻，引領我回家的漫長路途。感謝親愛的家人們，與我一起經歷風雨，見證歲月，安放我所有的喜樂苦悲。是你們的遙遙相伴，陪我越過層層山丘；是你們的默默守護，帶我跨出叢叢荊棘。感謝親愛的夥伴們，有一種浪漫叫並肩作戰，有一種純粹叫全力以赴，有一種果敢叫奮不顧身，回首此間，滿是靜水流深的情義和雷霆萬鈞的擔當。
感謝親愛的同事們，雖然分別已久，你們的真摯鼓勵和持續堅守，讓我們始終風雨同舟，艱難徵程波瀾壯闊，赤誠初心歷久彌堅。感謝所有關心我的你和你們，就算素未謀面，你們的濃濃情意、切切問候和深深祝福，如一道彩虹，斑斕了坎坷路途上的一隅天空。
午夜夢回，最是心底那一輪明月，那一江春水，那一縷鄉愁，亦是我滯留他鄉三年每分每秒的心靈歸宿。秋風掠過，登機前，溫哥華已需寒衣加身。此時，祖國的秋日正是天朗氣清、暖陽和煦，期待一年好景致，再賞橙黃橘綠時。
祝願祖國母親生日快樂！回家的路，雖曲折起伏，卻是世間最暖的歸途。
Court document: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1436211/download
https://youtu.be/JE8CfSHGYIo
https://vimeo.com/614142764
https://www.facebook.com/100036400039778/posts/572950123928317/?d=n
Video: US ends political prosecution to save face. Meng Wenzhou Wins Her Freedom! US Drops Extradition Charges Against Huawei Executive! 美國結束政治起訴以挽回面子。孟晚舟贏得自由！美國撤銷對華為高管的引渡指控!
孟晚舟在中國政府包機上的感言：
一抹靚麗中國紅燃起我心中的光明
央視新聞09-25 12:28
舷窗外一片漆黑，機翼上的航行燈閃爍不停，在寂靜的夜空中，這些許的微光顯得格外溫暖。此刻，我正飛越北極上空，向著家的方向前行，馬上就要投入偉大祖國母親的懷抱，闊別三年的祖國已在天涯咫尺。
近鄉情更怯，不覺間淚水已模糊了雙眼。在中國共產黨的領導下，我們的祖國正在走向繁榮昌盛，沒有強大的祖國，就沒有我今天的自由。往事一幕幕閃過，恍若隔世，卻又歷歷在目。
過去的1028天，左右踟躇，千頭萬緒難抉擇；過去的1028天，日夜徘徊，縱有萬語難言說；過去的1028天，山重水復，不知歸途在何處。「沒有在深夜痛哭過的人，不足以談人生」，一次次墜入深淵，又一次次闖入暗夜，曾讓我輾轉難眠，更讓我刻骨銘心。
淚水抱怨化解不了愁苦，傷春悲秋翻越不過泥濘，與其困頓掙扎，不如心向陽光，衝出陰霾。有些風浪，難免艱險，唯有直面才能揚帆遠航；有些抵達，難免迂迴，歷盡波折終會停泊靠岸。
無數次奔跑，無數次跌倒，唯有此次讓我倍感堅強；無數次出發，無數次歸家，唯有此次讓我熱淚盈眶。萬家燈火總有一盞給我溫暖，浩瀚星河總有一予我希望，感動於心，感激於情。
我們祈禱和平，幸運的是，我們生在一個和平的時代；我們崇尚偉大，可貴的是，我們生在一個偉大的國家。成長在改革開放時期的我，親眼目睹、親身經歷了共產黨領導下的中國和中國人民是如此偉大，全體同胞數十年如一日地艱苦奮鬥，讓我們的祖國走向繁榮富強，人民邁向共同富裕，為世界的和平與發展做出巨大的貢獻。
感謝親愛的祖國，感謝黨和政府，正是那一抹絢麗的中國紅，燃起我心中的信念之火，照亮我人生的至暗時刻，引領我回家的漫長路途。感謝親愛的家人們，與我一起經歷風雨，見證歲月，安放我所有的喜樂苦悲。是你們的遙遙相伴，陪我越過層層山丘；是你們的默默守護，帶我跨出叢叢荊棘。感謝親愛的夥伴們，有一種浪漫叫並肩作戰，有一種純粹叫全力以赴，有一種果敢叫奮不顧身，回首此間，滿是靜水流深的情義和雷霆萬鈞的擔當。
感謝親愛的同事們，雖然分別已久，你們的真摯鼓勵和持續堅守，讓我們始終風雨同舟，艱難徵程波瀾壯闊，赤誠初心歷久彌堅。感謝所有關心我的你和你們，就算素未謀面，你們的濃濃情意、切切問候和深深祝福，如一道彩虹，斑斕了坎坷路途上的一隅天空。
午夜夢回，最是心底那一輪明月，那一江春水，那一縷鄉愁，亦是我滯留他鄉三年每分每秒的心靈歸宿。秋風掠過，登機前，溫哥華已需寒衣加身。此時，祖國的秋日正是天朗氣清、暖陽和煦，期待一年好景致，再賞橙黃橘綠時。
祝願祖國母親生日快樂！回家的路，雖曲折起伏，卻是世間最暖的歸途。
Court document: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1436211/download
https://vimeo.com/614120576
https://youtu.be/_RuSX3G–p0
https://www.facebook.com/100036400039778/posts/572928017263861/?d=n
Video: CAAC 美國加州舊金山華商總會 Chinese National Day Celebration dinner on Thursday Sept 23rd 6:00pm at H. L. Peninsula Restaurant 半岛豪苑酒家
https://vimeo.com/613876750
https://youtu.be/_jbpyZxCOjg
https://www.facebook.com/100036400039778/posts/572779663945363/?d=n
Is US-Canada kidnapping and Extortion of Subrina WenZhou Meng coming to an end? Is that the Western Empire’s claimed so call rules of laws? Reuters: Huawei CFO’s U.S. extradition hearings in Canada end, date for ruling coming 美加綁架勒索孟晚舟案要結束了嗎？這就是西方帝國聲稱的所謂的法律規則嗎？路透社：華為首席財務官在加拿大的美國引渡聽證會結束，裁決日期即將到來？Oct. 21 By Moira Warburton
Attorney Edward Liu in San Francisco: After more than 1,000 days of U.S. extra-territorial over-reaching in clear violation of international law, and abuse of power, the news coming out from NYC federal court is that the Biden Justice Department federal prosecutors and Huawei’s Canadian legal team in Vancouver, Canada have reached a deal.
The deal, arranged by virtual appearance by Sabrina Meng WenZhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, is a “deferred prosecution agreement.”
What this means is that the U.S. federal prosecutor, i.e. the U.S. Attorney from the Justice Department based in NYC, will “defer” filing charges against Ms. Meng, on the trumped-up charges that she violated the U.S. trade sanctions against Iran, by arranging for the sale of Huawei telecommunications hardware equipment to Iran.
This long-arm stretch of American prosecutorial power is an abuse of Extradition Laws, under International Law….. and clearly, by Canadian authorities under Justin ” Bollywood” Trudeau holding in detention Ms. Meng, it is a travesty and abuse of power.
I am not privy to the deal reached between the U.S. and Ms. Meng’s attorneys in Brooklyn, NYC…… I hope that there is no admission of “guilt,” or even a “nolo contendre” (no contest) which in legal parlance, is an implicit admission of guilt, which is a de facto “guilty plea.”
For far too long, many Chinese overseas, including many Chinese mainlanders and Chinese-Americans (e.g. Wen Ho Lee’s case is a good example) snared and caught under the trap of U.S. legal prosecutorial over-reaching and abuses….. they have been “pussies,” and kept compromising and giving up fighting to the finish.
Why? Is this cultural thing?
Even Chinese president XJP is notoriously known for “being soft” when it comes to America and Americans….. by over-deferential meekness and “ke-qi,” not used to hardball and acting tough when bullied.
This happened during Trump’s tenure as POTUS…. four years of being “piled on;” doing very little after being insulted, subjected to trade sanctions, humiliating racist putdowns about “the Kung Flu,” “Wuhan Virus,” “China Contagion,” all the racist stereotyped of “Fu Manchu-ism.”
A major shift occurred during the summit in Anchorage, Alaska…. followed by the Tianjin meet-and-confer between China’s top diplomats and Biden’s diplomats.
Finally, the word, “DE-COUPLING,” accompanied by “Zilighengseng” (Self-Reliance,” “SHARED PROSPERITY,” “DEMOCRACY, Chinese-defined” have come out of the closet to assert China’s way, instead of playing passive… implicitly and docilely accepting America’s primacy as the “Supremo.”
The Huawei case of prosecutorial over-reaching is a lesson for all global Chinese as to who China’s friends and enemies are.
Even more important is the realization that white supremacy, racism, western imperialism and residual colonialism, put-downs of Chinese as “inferior or “second-class,” or “subhuman” today remain deeply-rooted in the “WELTANSCHAUUNG” (World View) of many in the West, specially in today’s elite America.
Today’s development will give Justin “Bollywood” Trudeau a sigh of relief. Justin Trudeau’ snap election has been disappointingly unconvincing about Trudeau’s leadership as the governing Premier of Canada.
The son is not the father (unlike father Pierre Trudeau, who boldly engaged China and established diplomatic relations with the PRC ahead of former POTUS Jimmy Carter).
Justin “Bollywood” Trudeau has mismanaged Canadian-China relations and destroyed decades of goodwill and trust, including much win-win bi-lateral trade and inbound Chinese investments into China. All that today are frozen.
Finally, the big question remains…..
ARE the TWO CANADIAN “MICHAELS” part of the three-way deal between the U.S.-Biden White House and XJP’s Beijing government and Canada-Trudeau and XJP’s Beijing government?
If so, what are the details?
What about the “Clawback” of corrupt Chinese officials’ “Loot” plundered from China, now “parked” in Canadian assets.
Some of you may not know this….. but both formerChinese Premier Zhu Rongji and former Chinese vice-premier Wang Qishan tried but failed to retrieve and recover many of the plundered loot today parked in “Canadian assets.”
Vice-Premier Wang Qishan failed in executing his much-publicized “SKYNET” campaign to claw back these corrupt Chinese officials which used Canada as safe haven.
So is the U.S. today a safe haven for corrupt Chinese money, including those stolen by Miles Kwok, aka Guo Wengui, aka Guo Haoyun, benefactor of Trump Svengali Steve Bannon, a crook, and notorious China basher who engineered Trump’s anti-China policy under the ambit of “the China Threat.”
TIME FOR WOLF-WARRIOR DIPLOMACY. No more SOFTBALL.
My advice to XJP: Decline any face-to-face, one-on-one meeting that Joe Biden desperately needs at the Glascow, Scotland G-20 Summit in November, 2021, in a little less than 2 months’ time.
Watch your back, XJP….. AUKUS Trilateral Alliance is up to no good.
Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison are both snakes. And Biden is a hypocrite and double-crosser. Don’t trust any of these leaders. And that bitch from the EU -Ursula von Der Leyen, president of the European Commission. This German bitch is an ideologue on Xinjiang separatism and a spokeswoman for ETIM.
VANCOUVER, Aug 18 (Reuters) – Canadian prosecutors said the defense of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou failed on facts and law, as hearings in their bid to extradite her to the United States finished on Wednesday.
The Chinese tech-giant executive will now await the judge’s ruling in her case, the date for which will be set on Oct. 21.
Meng Wanzhou, 49, was arrested at Vancouver International Airport in December 2018 on a warrant from the United States, charging her with fraud for allegedly misleading HSBC (HSBA.L) about Huawei’s business dealings in Iran.
She has claimed innocence and is fighting the extradition, confined to Vancouver and monitored 24/7 by private security that she pays for as part of her bail agreement.
The defense fails “on the facts and they fail on the law. You should have no difficulty finding dishonesty sufficient to make … a case for fraud,” Canadian government prosecutor Robert Frater told the court.
“No one has received a fairer extradition hearing in this country than Ms. Meng,” he added.
Her lawyers have argued that her extradition should be stayed because the United States misled Canada when it summarized the evidence against Meng, that former President Donald Trump’s comments on her case poisoned any trial she might face, and that no real fraud took place, among other reasons. read more
Canadian prosecutors have maintained that the United States has a valid case against Meng and emphasized that the bar for extradition is low. read more
Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes in British Columbia’s Supreme Court must decide based on whether the evidence would allow Meng’s trial to proceed in Canada.
If Holmes rules in favor of extradition, the final decision will then be made by Canada’s justice minister. Both decisions can be appealed by Meng’s legal team, which observers of the case have said means it could drag on for years.
Reporting by Moira Warburton in Vancouver; Editing by Steve Orlofsky
The Harvard Gazette: NATIONAL & WORLD AFFAIRS Taking China’s pulse – Ash Center research team unveils findings from long-term public opinion survey by Dan Harsha Ash Center Communications July 9, 2020
Understanding what Chinese citizens think about their own government has proven elusive to scholars, policymakers, and businesspeople alike outside of the country. Opinion polling in China is heavily scrutinized by the government, with foreign polling firms prohibited from directly conducting surveys.
Given China’s global rise in the economic, military, and diplomatic spheres, understanding public opinion there has arguably never been more important.
A new study from the Ash Center fills in this gap for the first time, providing a long-term view of how Chinese citizens view their government at the national, as well as the regional and local levels. What started as an exercise in building a set of teaching tools for an executive education class eventually transformed into the longest academic survey of Chinese public opinion conducted by a research institution outside of China.
“Gathering reliable, long-term opinion survey data from across the country is a real obstacle,” said Ash Center China Programs Director Edward Cunningham. “Rigorous and objective opinion polling is something that we take for granted in the U.S.”
While important work in this area has been accomplished by previous scholars — and their work shaped the analysis of the survey data collected — those other surveys were often short-term or infrequent.
Edward Cunningham teaching.
For Tony Saich, Daewoo Professor of International Affairs and director of the Ash Center, the quest to build a firmer understanding of Chinese public opinion has taken the better part of 15 years. It began with an attempt to develop a suite of curricular materials to inform a course on local government in China.
“We thought it would be helpful to know how satisfied citizens were with different levels of government, and in particular how satisfied they were with different kinds of government services,” said Saich.
The work began in 2003, and together with a leading private research and polling company in China, the team developed a series of questionnaires for in-person interviews. The surveys were conducted in eight waves from 2003 through 2016, and captured opinion data from 32,000 individual respondents.
“There’s nothing comparable done on this scale, over such a long period of time, and over a large geographic area,” said Jesse Turiel, a China public policy postdoctoral fellow and co-author who worked closely with Saich and Cunningham on the project’s analysis and subsequent publications.
The survey team set out to assess overall satisfaction levels with government among respondents from across the socioeconomic and geographic strata of China. “It is always a challenge to obtain a representative sample of the Chinese population, particularly from interior provinces,” said Turiel. “Our survey does not include migrant laborers, for example. But given the fact that the survey conducted in-person interviews with over 3,000 respondents per year in a purposive stratified sample, we are happy that the results include not just the coastal elites or large urban areas, but also poorer and less developed inland provinces.”
Levels of government and public opinion
The survey team found that compared to public opinion patterns in the U.S., in China there was very high satisfaction with the central government. In 2016, the last year the survey was conducted, 95.5 percent of respondents were either “relatively satisfied” or “highly satisfied” with Beijing. In contrast to these findings, Gallup reported in January of this year that their latest polling on U.S. citizen satisfaction with the American federal government revealed only 38 percent of respondents were satisfied with the federal government.
For the survey team, there are a number of possible explanations for why Chinese respondents view the central government in Beijing so favorably. According to Saich, a few factors include the proximity of central government from rural citizens, as well as highly positive news proliferated throughout the country.
This result supports the findings of more recent shorter-term surveys in China, and reinforces long-held patterns of citizens reporting local grievances to Beijing in hopes of central government action. “I think citizens often hear that the central government has introduced a raft of new policies, then get frustrated when they don’t always see the results of such policy proclamations, but they think it must be because of malfeasance or foot-dragging by the local government,” said Saich.
Tony Saich, Daewoo Professor of International Affairs and director of the Ash Center.
Compared to the relatively high satisfaction rates with Beijing, respondents held considerably less favorable views toward local government. At the township level, the lowest level of government surveyed, only 11.3 percent of respondents reported that they were “very satisfied.”
Again, the U.S. reveals quite a different story. “American trust surveys over time show a clear distinction between low levels of trust towards the federal government, but a strong belief and faith in the power of local government — at the most local level, those positions may be filled by part-time volunteers who are a part of your everyday life,” said Cunningham. This dichotomy is highlighted by a 2017 Gallup poll, where 70 percent of U.S. respondents had a “great” or “fair” amount of trust in local government.
Saich contends that the lack of trust in local governments in China is due to the fact that they provide the vast majority of services to the Chinese people. This trust deficit was compounded by the 1994 tax reforms, which garnered a substantially larger share of total national tax revenues for the central government. Local governments, despite being faced with declining revenues, were still on the hook for providing the bulk of public services throughout China.
“Local governments were caught between dropping tax revenue and rising expenditures,” Cunningham said. “Many local governments then had to turn to ad-hoc extra budgetary fees to close the budget gap. I think that has consistently undermined trust at the local level.”
Regional disparities
The research team was also keen to examine disparities in the responses of wealthy, predominantly urban and coastal areas of China and those of less developed interior provinces. “It didn’t surprise us that the wealthy coastal citizens who were the winners of globalization in many ways, and the winners of China’s domestic reform program, had a very high favorability rate of government overall, regardless of level of government examined,” said Cunningham.
The responses from survey participants in rural areas, however, surprised the researchers, particularly over time. “We did not anticipate how quickly both low-income citizens and people from less-developed regions in China closed the satisfaction gap with high-income citizens and people from the coastal areas,” Cunningham added.
The surveys found that rural residents, generally poorer than those in cities, had more optimistic attitudes about inequality than their wealthier urban counterparts. The team’s analysis ties the closing of this satisfaction gap between rich and poor, as well as coastal and hinterland populations, to several policies including local budget spent on healthcare, welfare and education, and paved roads per capita.
“We tend to forget that for many in China, and in their lived experience of the past four decades, each day was better than the next.”
— Tony Saich, Daewoo Professor of International Affairs and director of the Ash Center – Saich added that the findings “run counter to the general idea that these people are marginalized and disfavored by policies,” and therefore undermine the persistent notion that rising inequality, and dissatisfaction with corruption and local government, have created the potential for widespread unrest in China.
Observers have long predicted that China’s slowing economic growth coupled with a complacent, ineffective government bureaucracy could ultimately lead to the crumbling of Beijing’s political authority. While frustration with corruption and the quality of public services at the local level clearly exists, the Ash research team’s work has shown that the current political system in China appears remarkably resilient.
Inequality remains a key concern for policymakers and citizens alike in China, but the survey project found little to support the argument that those concerns among ordinary Chinese are translating into broader dissatisfaction with government. The final round of the survey in 2016 revealed that about one-third of respondents were much more likely to lodge complaints with the government or protest if they felt that air pollution had negatively impacted their own health or the health of their immediate family members.
In a new book, Belfer Center Director Graham Allison looks at how the lead-up to the Peloponnesian War offers important insights into the looming complexities as China threatens to displace the United States as the world superpower.
The troubling U.S.-China face-off
A key to the future is to avoid the trap of confrontation, Graham Allison says in new book
Harvard scholar discusses what broad new security law will mean – Although state censorship and propaganda are widespread in China, these findings highlight that citizen perceptions of governmental performance respond most to real, measurable changes in individuals’ material well-being. Satisfaction and support must be consistently reinforced. As a result, the data point to specific areas in which citizen satisfaction could decline in today’s era of slowing economic growth and continued environmental degradation.
For Cunningham, it’s important not to forget that many in China are only a generation removed from an era of chronic food shortages and significant social and economic instability. “Relative perspective is always important, as China is still a developing country,” he said.
“We tend to forget that for many in China, and in their lived experience of the past four decades, each day was better than the next,” Saich added. “Our surveys show that many in China therefore seem to be much more satisfied with government performance over time, despite rising inequality, corruption, and a range of other pressures that are the result of the reform era.”
Johnson Choi Biz