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14 September 2021

How China hijacked the war on terror — with U.S. help

PHELIM KINE

Today’s China Watcher provides a preview of a longer article that will be published later today on how China joined the "Global War on Terrorism" with a steely focus on domestic social control at all costs.

China's ruling Chinese Communist Party exploited the international revulsion toward terrorism sparked by the 9/11 attacks to reframe state repression of Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. And it did so with America's blessing.

“Framing [Xinjiang] as a terrorist threat suddenly gave a lot of latitude to China in terms of what it could do in the eyes of the international community because, of course, the U.S. in many ways set a precedent for suspending human rights for anybody considered a ‘terrorist,’” said Sean R. Roberts, associate professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and author of “The War on the Uyghurs: China’s Campaign Against Xinjiang’s Muslims."

The seeds of the Xinjiang security state sown after the 9/11 attacks laid the foundation for what under Chinese President Xi Jinping has become a region known for pervasive state surveillance and an unholy trinity of forced labor, forced sterilization and mass detention of the Uyghur population that the U.S. government has characterized as genocide.

Days before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which spawned the terror war, China’s state news agency, Xinhua, published an interview with Joseph S. Nye Jr., former dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Nye underscored the costs to America of two decades of “endless wars” that followed 9/11.

The Xinhua story made no mention of how the Chinese government interpreted the 9/11 calamity as an opportunity to rebrand its struggle with independence-minded Uyghurs in Xinjiang as a U.S.-sanctioned extension of the terror war.

The U.S.-China relationship had been beset by tensions in the early months of the George W. Bush administration. The collision of a Chinese fighter jet and a U.S. Navy surveillance plane in April of 2001 had resulted in a fraught, 10-day hostage-style standoff that soured bilateral relations. But 9/11 provided the two governments an opportunity to recalibrate their ties hinged to a new anti-terrorism focus.

Within hours of the attacks, then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin sent a telegram to Bush conveying the Chinese government’s “deep sympathy and condolences.” After Bush’s first face-to-face meeting with Jiang a month later, Bush praised the two countries’ new joint anti-terrorism focus and said he had “no doubt that [China] would stand with the United States and our people during this terrible time."

And while the U.S. poured its attention and troops into Central Asia and the Middle East as part of its anti-terrorism campaign, China pursued the objective of stamping central government authority — with a distinctive identity of the majority Han population — across a restive region dominated by ethnic and religious minorities.

— Taiwan Envoy: Taipei seeking trade deal with Washington


Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s official representative to the United States, became the first Taiwan envoy to attend a U.S. presidential inauguration since the U.S. switched diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China in 1979. China Watcher talked with Hsiao about her first year in Washington. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

The U.S. government in August 2020 approved the sale of $81 billion in military equipment, including missiles and artillery. What specific forms of assistance or cooperation from the U.S. does Taiwan require to counter cyber threats that traditional weapons sales don’t currently cover?

As a frontline defender of democracy and technology, the government of Taiwan has been preparing to launch its “Cybersecurity is National Security 2.0” strategy. This would see the establishment of a Ministry of Digital Development and a Department for Cybersecurity. The aim is to protect critical infrastructure and core databases, and to implement new regulations, cultivate talent and support the industry.

The U.S. is one country with which we are closely cooperating. In 2019, we worked with the U.S. to hold cybersecurity exercises, simulating threats posed by malicious actors. Furthermore, under the Global Cooperation and Training Framework initiative, Taiwan and the U.S. have jointly held regional workshops on strengthening network security, media literacy and deterring disinformation.

Last July, Taiwan and the US also held a comprehensive cybersecurity forum in Taipei to discuss issues ranging from emerging threats and technological trends to opportunities for cross-border collaboration. Both sides agreed that all sectors should work together to “form an unbreakable knot.”

What specific goals have you set for yourself as Taiwan’s envoy to the U.S. in furthering progress in the U.S.-Taiwan trade relationship?

A top priority of my work is to lay the groundwork for negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the U.S. I am pleased that an immediate goal of resuming Trade and Investment Framework Agreement talks was achieved in June. We are committed to following up with working group meetings on agriculture, intellectual property, technical barriers to trade, labor rights and investment.

Another important project is the continuation of the Economic and Prosperity Partnership Dialogue which was initiated last fall. We have been working with the U.S. to ensure continuity of this dialogue, which addresses important issues, including supply chains, 5G network security and science and technology cooperation.

Semiconductor manufacturing, electrical vehicle parts and components, traditional and renewable energy are some major areas of interest, and I will work to help facilitate opportunities.

How can Taiwan and the U.S. best collaborate on future pandemic preparation?

At the outset of the pandemic, Taiwan and the U.S. issued a joint statement to form a partnership to fight against the coronavirus. Both sides agreed to share best practices and cooperate on a range of activities, including research and development of rapid tests, research and production of vaccines, and exchanges of medical supplies and equipment.

Taiwan for many years has been seeking more opportunities to contribute to global health through the World Health Organization. Unfortunately, so far Taiwan remains marginalized and excluded from this U.N. institution, which is a great loss to the world. Before Taiwan can actively participate in the WHO, bilateral healthcare cooperation with the U.S. would be extremely important.

Last year, Taiwan donated PPE to our friends in the U.S. and around the world, at a time when there were limited global supplies. We appreciate the fact that the U.S. has donated 2 ½ million urgently needed American-made vaccines to Taiwan.

We hope to achieve more through expanding the global production of Covid vaccines, including cooperation with American pharmaceutical companies, but also some support for Taiwan's domestic vaccine development. And this is not only for Covid, but we will need to build a capacity in the long run for controlling all kinds of potential communicable diseases that have global consequences.

— A tech update from Protocol | China. Protocol | China, backed by Robert Allbritton, publisher of Protocol and POLITICO, tracks the intersection of technology and policy in the world's largest country. Sign up for the newsletter and learn more about Protocol’s research here. This week’s coverage includes a close look at China’s unusual market for clean energy credits, an analysis of Draconian new rules for young video gamers and news of a new stock exchange in Beijing.

TRANSLATING WASHINGTON

— BIDEN TO CONVENE QUAD MEETING: Biden reaffirmed on Friday that he would convene within three months an in-person meeting of leaders of “The Quad,” an informal geopolitical grouping that includes the U.S., India, Australia and Japan. Although The Quad describes itself as “a group of democratic nations dedicated to delivering results through practical cooperation,” it’s designed to counter China’s growing diplomatic and military heft in the Indo-Pacific.

— CLIMATE TALKS HIT POLITICAL HEADWINDS: Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, emerged from climate talks with Chinese officials last week wracked by “pointed” Chinese government criticism about wider tensions in the U.S.-China relationship. A bilateral agreement on concrete steps to address the climate crisis is considered essential to the success of the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow next month.

— SENATOR SKEWERS KODAK’S PHOTO FLIPFLOP: Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) blasted Eastman Kodak Company last week for deleting photos from its Instagram feed in July that the photographer described as a pictorial representation of Xinjiang’s “abrupt descent into an Orwellian dystopia." The company subsequently apologized for the photos as “not authored by Kodak.” In a letter to Kodak CEO James V. Continenza, Scott said those moves empowered the Chinese government “to continue these abuses against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.”

— SHERMAN DECRIES 'ARBITRARY DETENTION': Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman tweeted her dismay on Sunday of Chinese authorities’ “arbitrary detention” of Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig and demanded their “immediate and unconditional release.” That tweet came on the 1000th day of the two men’s detention, a serious irritant in Chinese-Canadian relations.

HOT FROM THE CHINA WATCHERSPHERE

— 'RED ROULETTE' WRACKED BY INTRIGUED: Former China-based property development magnate Desmond Shum’s new tell-all book, “Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China,” was already shaping up as a must-read account of corruption at the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party. But the sudden reemergence last week of Whitney Duan, Shum’s former wife, four years after disappearing into apparent arbitrary detention in Beijing, has made the book a news story. Shum told NPR that Duan begged him to scuttle the book’s publication in two separate phone calls and voiced implicit threats of violence against Shum and their 12 year-old son if he refused to do so.

— CHINA SURPASSES 1 BILLION COVID JABS: The Chinese government had successfully provided more than 1 billion of its 1.4 billion population with at least one dose of its domestic Covid-19 vaccines, the country’s National Health Commission announced on Tuesday.

— REGULATOR BARS 'EFFEMINATE' TV CONTENT: China’s LGBTQ rights took a huge backward step on Friday when the country’s broadcast regulator banned “effeminate” styles from the nation’s television programming. The regulator called for “more masculine” male performers and singled out men who wear cosmetics on screen as unsuitable for Chinese state television.

— TALIBAN DECLARES CHINA “MOST IMPORTANT PARTNER”: The Taliban declared China “our most important partner” on Friday and expressed hope that the Chinese government would “invest and rebuild” Afghanistan following the August 31 withdrawal of U.S. military forces from the country.

— BLACKROCK REBUTS INVESTMENT CRITICISM: International financier and philanthropist George Soros and U.S. asset investment firm Blackrock are going head-to-head this week on the wisdom of the firm’s new China investment strategy. Soros fired the first shot with a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Tuesday that derided Blackrock’s launch of consumer-focused mutual funds and other investment products for Chinese consumers as a “tragic mistake” that would “damage the national security interests of the U.S. and other democracies.” Blackrock blasted back on Thursday with a statement released to China Watcher that declared the firm’s new investment initiative would instead “contribute to the economic interconnectedness of the world’s two largest economies.”

— NBC’s BEIJING OLYMPICS BROADCAST DRAWS FIRE: A coalition of more than 200 activist organizations on Tuesday sent a letter to NBC Universal senior executives urging the company to immediately cancel its contract to broadcast the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The organizations, including Uyghur Muslim, Taiwanese and Hong Kong groups, said that NBC’s broadcast of the Games would “legitimize” widespread human rights abuses in China.

— ALIBABA PONIES UP FOR 'COMMON PROSPERITY': Chinese tech giant Alibaba committed $15.5 billion on Friday to fund multiyear initiatives aligned with President Xi’s new “common prosperity” policy. That policy, a controversial top-down effort to bridge China’s yawning wealth gap, prompted Alibaba rival Tencent to commit $7.7 billion last month to similar projects. That bumper crop of corporate generosity coincides with an ongoing government crackdown on the country’s tech sector.

— EU PURSUES CLOSER TAIWAN TIES: The European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Thursday adopted a report that calls for a major upgrade in the European Union’s relations with Taiwan. The report’s recommendations include the forging of a bilateral investment deal and changing the name of the body’s Taipei trade office to “European Union Office in Taiwan.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin responded to the committee’s move by demanding that the European Parliament “immediately cease all provocations and confrontational moves.”

TRANSLATING CHINA

— 'MALICIOUS' STOCK TIP ACCOUNT CLOSED: Sina Weibo on Thursday announced that it had shut down dozens of accounts of popular stock market tipsters. That appears to be Weibo’s response to a two-month campaign announced in August by the official Cyberspace Administration of China to eradicate online content that “maliciously” attacks the country’s financial sector.

— WEIBO AXES 'IRRATIONAL' K-POP FAN ACCOUNTS: Chinese fans of some of K-Pop’s biggest stars are mourning one- to two-month suspensions of relevant social media accounts imposed over the past week due to what Sina Weibo calls “irrational star-chasing behavior.” Weibo suspended 22 accounts dedicated to K-Pop stars — including BTS, GOT7 and Blackpink — for up to 60 days as part of an ongoing campaign by the official Cyberspace Administration of China to correct perceived “chaos” in online fan culture.

— SUBWAY ASSAULT SNIDERY SPARKS SUSPENSIONS: China’s online censors didn’t take kindly to furious Weibo users’ criticism of video footage of security guards forcibly removing a woman passenger from the subway in the northern city of Xian. Weibo suspended 6,952 user accounts in the name of a “harmonious, healthy and green cyber space.”

Thanks to: Ben Pauker, Luiza Ch. Savage, Matt Kaminski and editor John Yearwood.

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