CHINA IN CONTEXT

http://mailchi.mp/epochtimes/without-lips-the-teeth-are-cold?e=772a3f03d9

Dear readers, North Korea, famous for its nuclear brinksmanship, has recentlycriticized its Chinese ally with unprecedented candor. Recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests have angered the Xi Jinping administration in Beijing, causing something of a fall-out between the two communist powers. The state-run Korean Central News Agency published a report on May 3, warning China that there would be “grave consequences” for “chopping down the pillar of the DPRK–China relations.” (DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.) Rumors abound that China is preparing armies along the Yalu River to secure its border with North Korea. This signifies a sharp reversal in relations from when the two countries formed a communist bloc that stopped United Nations forces in the Korean War and granted the Kim regime over six decades in power. But if North Korea collapses, what's in store for Beijing? As the ancient Chinese political saying goes, “without lips, the teeth are cold.” The end of Kim Jong Un's multigenerational communist regime would weigh heavily on China, which is under another communist regime that formerly, under Mao Zedong, resembled today's North Korea writ large. Since the launch of China's economic reforms, Pyongyang's eccentricity has allowed China to project an image of normalcy and progress even as grievous human rights abuses—including those unprecedented in the history of totalitarian abuse, such as forced live organ harvesting—took place en masse under the direction of the Chinese regime’s communist leaders. North Korea's nuclear threat also provided a convenient point of crisis that leaders in Beijing could use to leverage against its neighbors and the United States. Under Xi, however, Beijing has arrived at a crossroads. The nuclear threat is too grave to tolerate for much longer. And as U.S. President Donald Trump's many recent negotiations with his Chinese counterpart suggest, the Xi administration is open to cooperating to neutralize the Kim regime. At the same time, viewed from the lens of Communist Party doctrine, Xi and his cohorts cannot afford to simply give up on North Korea, which still holds a solid place in the revolutionary mythos. Adding another dimension to the problem is the upcoming 19th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, where Xi Jinping has a chance to clear the Politburo Standing Committee of his factional rivals—or spend another five years locked in some degree of political impasse. How Xi's government handles North Korea, should the crisis flare up again, could make—or break—his designs for the reconstitution of China's leadership. —Leo Timm Across China, regional communist leaders affiliated with former regime leader Jiang Zemin continue to trouble the Xi Jinping leadership, writes Larry Ong. Xi and his administration have removed and replaced dozens of provincial leaders shown to be close to Jiang, reducing their numbers by two thirds. China may be preparing for instability or even national collapse in North Korea, writes Joshua Philipp. According to reports, the Chinese authorities are urgently looking to recruit workers in areas like border security, public security, trade, customs, and quarantine, as well as Chinese-Korean interpreters. The anti-corruption agency of the Chinese Communist Party has putVancouver-based real estate developer Cheng Muyang on its wanted list, writes Larry Ong. Cheng, accused of embezzlement and “concealment of illegal gains,” fled China in 2000 and became a political donor. The Canadian Liberal Party and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continued to accept Cheng’s donations and support, despite a tip off about his background, according to an exposé by South China Morning Post. China's new impetus to rein in its financial sector has been underway for more than three months. Its effects are already being felt in the financial markets, impacting short-term borrowing rates and the global commodities market, writes Fan Yu. The China Banking Regulatory Commission, under the direction of new chairman Guo Shuqing, has issued a flurry of new policy directives with the goal of regulating the shadow banking sector and reducing liquidity in the banking system. American universities risk promoting Chinese regime interestsvia the heavily subsidized and ideologically narrow Confucius Institutes, writes Gary Feuerberg. A Canadian documentary released last year and an April 26 report commissioned by the National Association of Scholars offer new insights on the the discriminatory and repressive practices of the institutes. Canadian human rights lawyer David Matas gave a presentation on the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China at a conference held at Presidency University in Kolkata, India, writes Jonathan Zhou. In particular, Matas said that hundreds of thousands of people are thought to have been murdered for their organs under the direction of the Chinese communist regime.