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Xi Jinping Mentioned “Anti-terrorism” Six Times within Two Months

On the afternoon of the April 25, the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo held its fourteenth study session, with a focus on national security and social stability. Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of safeguarding national security and social stability in the face of the new situation and new challenges. China News Service estimated that this was the sixth time within two months that Xi Jinping mentioned anti-terrorism.

Xi pointed out, "We must soberly pay attention to the increasing threats and challenges to national security and social stability under the new situation, especially the resonance between a number of different threats and challenges." "The fight against terrorism matters for national security, for the vital interests of the masses, and for the overall situation of reform, development and stability. It is a battle to defend our national unity, social stability, and people’s happiness. We must take decisive measures, keep up the high pressure and firmly crack down on the terrorists’ blatancy."

These are the other five situations in which Xi mentioned "anti-terrorism."

On March 2, after the incident at Kunming’s railway station, Xi Jinping gave an instruction to understand deeply the seriousness and complexity of the anti-terrorism situation and to take effective measures to crack down resolutely on violent and terrorist criminal activities.

On March 4, at a meeting with minority ethnic groups, Xi Jinping said, "We must resolutely oppose all behavior that harms the great unity of all ethnic groups. We must resolutely punish and battle violent terrorist activities according to the law, and we must build an impregnable fortress of ethnic solidarity, social stability, and national unity."

On March 4, in his phone conversation with Russian president Putin, Xi Jinping expressed a willingness to maintain and strengthen anti-terrorist cooperation with Russia.

On March 10, in his phone communications with Obama, Xi Jinping emphasized his willingness to strengthen cooperation with the international community, including the U.S., in battling terrorism.

On April 9, Xi Jinping presented the flag to the "Falcon Commando" special forces of the People’s Armed Police. He asked the PAP, as an important national counter-terrorism force, to be conscientious in implementing the decisions and deployment of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, to be resolute in cracking down on violent terrorist crimes, and to safeguard national security and social stability.

Source: China News Service, April 27, 2014
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2014/04-27/6110089.shtml

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

“Ukraine Crisis May Bring China a Decade of Strategic Opportunities”

At a recent forum discussion, Major-general Wang Haiyun, a senior advisor at the China International Institute for Strategic Society, spoke on the Ukraine crisis. The following are excerpts from his comments.
"After the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, Europe transitioned from a region related to the U.S.-Soviet confrontation to one of peaceful coexistence. In recent years, with the implementation of the United States’ ‘re-balance to the Asia-Pacific’ strategy, the confrontation seems to have shifted to Asia. However, the Ukraine crisis once again made Europe the frontier of the confrontation between Russia and the West."
"Since the Cold War, the Ukraine crisis has become a turning point for East-West relations. Russia and the U.S. are switching from strategic tolerance to strategic confrontation. The U.S. will have to strengthen its military and political presence in Europe."
"Given this circumstance, NATO’s ambitious global intervention may have to shrink to Europe. Its capacity to be involved in Central Asia and East Asian affairs will have to decline. In other words, the U.S.’s ability of strategic encirclement of China may be weakened; the hegemonic pressure that China is facing may be reduced."
"Because of the defamation, isolation, coercion, and suppression emanating from the Western powers, with its deterioration of the international environment, and especially its West border security environment, Russia has to rely on China, a booming power with similar strategic interests and strategic ideals to counterbalance the Western pressure."
"Not being a party of the dispute, China is relatively detached. As a result, many parties are looking at the reactions from China and hope that China is on their side. This places a high requirement on China’s diplomacy. If China handles it well, China can improve its international status and enhance its voice in the international community."
Source: People’s Daily Online, April 23, 2014
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2014/0423/c1011-24932194.html
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Wal-Mart China Complained about the Food Safety Issue

Well-known Chinese news site Sohu recently reported that the top management at Wal-Mart China met recently with officials from the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA). The management called for the scope of government monitoring of food labeling to be extended. Currently the CFDA only regulates retailers on food labeling but not manufacturers. In the past few years, a number of retailers have run into trouble because they were held responsible for the unsafe food that suppliers had provided. The best effort retailers can make for now is to ensure that the government correctly licenses these suppliers. The food quality is largely dependent on the supplier’s honesty. Retailers have been inspecting a certain number of samples of the food that the manufacturers supply, but this by no means covers the full range of the products they offer in stores. It is widely believed that end-to-end food safety control is required, especially on the source side, which includes suppliers. The cost for retailers to do a full-scale food inspection would be too high and unreasonable.

Source: Sohu.com, April 17, 2014
http://business.sohu.com/20140417/n398411268.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

BBC Chinese: One Fifth of China’s Arable Land Is Polluted

BBC Chinese reported that the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection recently released a research report which indicated that 16.1 percent of China’s land and 19.4 percent of China’s arable land are polluted. The scope of the research on which the report was based was sizeable, covering two thirds of all land in Mainland China. The research showed that the three heavy metals of cadmium, nickel, and arsenic are the primary pollutants in China’s soil. The Ministry said in an announcement that it is very hard to remain optimistic about the quality of China’s soil. Both the government and the Chinese people are worried about the irreparable damage brought about by China’s rapid industrialization process. The government is in the process of coming up with more comprehensive environmental protection laws. The research report also concluded that there are three primary heavy industry regions that have suffered the most severe damage from pollution. They are the Yangtze River Delta Area on the east coast, the Zhujiang Delta Area in the south, and the traditional heavy industry base in Northeastern China.

Source: BBC Chinese, April 18, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/science/2014/04/140418_china_soil_contaminated.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

RFI: The Yuyuan Shoe Factory Strike Continues

Radio France International reported on April 18 that more workers from the Yuyuan Shoe Factory have joined the strike that started a few days ago. The factory is located in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, which is very close to Hong Kong. The factory is owned by a Taiwanese company that is an important supplier of Nike and Adidas. The Yuyuan Shoe Factory is the largest shoe manufacturer in the world. The strike started a few days back when around 30,000 workers called for the company to make larger social security payments [some media reported that worker’s wanted the company’s social security contributions to be made in accordance with Chinese law]. The number of workers on strike quickly doubled within four days, to over 60,000 in total. This strike is becoming the largest labor strike in the history of China under communist rule. The communist labor union and the local police are siding with the company management by forcing the workers to go back to work. As of the time Chinascope published this briefing, the situation was still developing.

Source: RFI, April 18, 2014
http://www.chinese.rfi.fr/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

High Ranking Military Officials Collectively Vow Loyalty to Xi Jinping

On April 18, in a rare move, the PLA Daily dedicated a special page to the publication of a list of articles authored by a group of high ranking military officials. The main theme of the articles was "Conduct of an In-depth Study and Implementation of Chairman Xi’s Important Exposition on National Defense and the Buildup of the Military; Advance the  Great Practice of Building a Stronger Army from a New Starting Point."
The officials included:
Cheng Tongyi, Deputy Political Commissar and Chairman of the Political Department of the Beijing Military Region 
Wang Xixin, Deputy Commander of the Shenyang Military Region
Wang Jun, Deputy Commander of the Jinan Military Region
Miao Hua, Deputy Political Commissar of the Lanzhou Military Region
Zheng Qin, Deputy Commander of the Guangzhou Military Region
Xiong Andong, Commander of the Fujian Provincial Military Region
Ceng Xu, Assistant to the Chairman of the General Political Department
Chen Yong, Assistant to the General Chief of Staff
Lu Fuen, Deputy Commander of the Second Artillery Corps
Zhang Jianping, Deputy Commander of the PLA Air Force
Su Zhiqian, Commander of the East China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy
Chen Pinghua, Deputy Political Commissar of the Chengdu Military Region
Wu Jieming, Deputy Political Commissar of National Defense University
Lang Youliang, Deputy Political Commissar of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences
Wang Jingzhong, Political Commissar of a base of the General Armament Department
Liu Shengjie, Deputy Political Commissar of the General Logistic Department
Dai Sujun, Deputy Commander of the People’s Armed Police
Source: PLA Daily, April 18, 2014
http://www.chinamil.com.cn/jfjbmap/content/2014-04/18/node_7.htm
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Record High Chinese Investment in the U.S. in 2013

According to Jennifer Zimdahl Galt, the U.S. Consul General in Guangzhou, China has become the world’s fastest growing investor in the U.S. In 2013, Chinese investments in the U.S. hit a record of more than US$14 billion; double that of the 2012 level.
Starting in 2014, the U.S. stepped up its efforts to entice Chinese to invest. Between April 15 and April 18, "Select America," a U.S. Commerce Department program, for the first time reached out to four cities in China’s Pearl River Delta region: Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shunde, and Guangzhou.
Source: China News Service, April 18, 2014
http://finance.chinanews.com/cj/2014/04-18/6082319.shtml
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

In Spite of Concerns for “Ghost” Towns, Many Chinese Cities Plan for Massive Expansion

Prefecture-level cities are one level below the capital cities in China’s administrative hierarchy. In a government survey of 156 prefecture-level cities in 12 provinces, over 90 percent were planning for the development of new metropolitan districts. Additionally, the 12 provincial capital cities were planning for a total of 55 new districts. One city was found to be planning 13 new districts. At the same time, the planned areas of the new districts continue to increase in size. 
Experts have expressed concern for such a pace of "urbanization." One problem is the blind pursuit of large urban districts. In the same city, many features are being duplicated and the construction is redundant. There are also concerns about over-investment, potential bad debts, and more "ghost" towns.
Source: People’s Daily Online, April 20, 2014
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/0420/c1001-24918782.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources