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Qiao Liang: The U.S. is “Containing China by Agents”

Xinhua recently published a series of discussions by China scholars, the armed forces, and think tanks on international issues. Qiao Liang, an Admiral, a professor at the Air Force Command College, and Vice Secretary General of the government think tank National Security Policy Reseach Commission, reportedly talked about the U.S. containment of China.

“As the U.S. is declining and its power is weakening, power vacuums have emgerged in the international arena. The U.S. wants us to fill some of the vacuums, but not all. In places where the Americans do not want us to fill the power vacuum, they will create some powers to fill it. I call it ‘containment by agent’. … In issues like the South China Sea and the Sino-Indian border, the Americans roped in India and the Southeast Asian countries to produce a possibility of ‘containment by agent.’ As Americans have engaged in proxy wars in the past, I expect that the U.S. will use agents to contain China.

Source: Xinhua, February 2, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2010-02/02/content_12920311.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Global Times: 96% of Netizens Back Sanction Policy against the U.S.

A survey shows that 96% of Chinese Internet users (among 12,661 survey participants) support punitive sanctions against the U.S. in response to the Obama administration’s Taiwan arms sale decision, according to the official newspaper Global Times.

One netizen commented that an effective use of sanctions is necessary as “protests and condemnation” are not enough to deter the U.S. Another said, “If (the Chinese government) doesn’t take real sanctions, the U.S. will not have its economic interests hurt and its inveterate disease cured.” Quite a few suggested to punish U.S. companies that have a large China market, such as Boeing and Otis.

Lu Minghua, a Nanjing University scholar, said in an interview that China should learn from the U.S., which quite often “waves the stick of sanctions” in Sino-U.S. trade.

Source: Global Times, February 5, 2010
http://mil.huanqiu.com/Taiwan/2010-02/710235.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

People’s Daily on Information Freedom in the U.S.

An opinion article published in the official People’s Daily on January 22 attacked the U.S. version of “Information Freedom.” 

Titled “Take a look at Information Freedom in the U.S.,” the article asked, “What is the so-called free flow of information? Is it something without restriction, the best and the most free? Has the U.S. achieved that?” 
“What’s behind the so-called information freedom of the U.S. is its blatant political motive. Where did the continuous domestic turmoil in Iran after the elections come from? It was because the U.S. launched an Internet war: Youtube videos and Twitter rumors drove a wedge between conservatives and reformists, changing patterns to incite the Iranian people, and resulting in large-scale bloodshed. If the U.S. really wants to pursue a free flow of information, why did Microsoft issue a high-profile announcement last year to stop MSN services in five so-called ‘hostile’ countries including Cuba?” 
Source: People’s Daily, January 22, 2010 
http://opinion.people.com.cn/GB/10828080.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Don’t Let U.S. Health Care Reform Plague China

“When you borrow 1,000 yuan from a bank, the bank is your boss; when you borrow 100 billion yuan from a bank, you are the boss of the bank. This is the ‘horrific’ financial balance between the U.S. and China,” commented a People’s Daily opinion on January 6, 2010. 

“China, the largest foreign debt holder of the U.S., has been accumulating U.S. Treasury bonds in recent years.” “At the critical moment of health care reform, the U.S. will certainly ask China to continue purchasing U.S. debts.” “As a matter of fact, the domestic struggle of U.S. health care reform has impacted China’s interests. Last summer, Obama won support from labor unions at the cost of Chinese businesses by imposing a tariff on tire imports. We have enough reason to believe that, in the future, Washington will sacrifice China on issues of trade, climate change, human rights, and arms sales to Taiwan.”
Source: People’s Daily, January 6, 2010
http://world.people.com.cn/GB/10714233.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Xinhua Commentary Faults U.S. for Internet Freedom Double Standard

Among an array of negative Chinese official media responses to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech on Internet freedom, one Xinhua article blames the U.S. for applying a “double standard.” 

The January 22 commentary titled “Don’t Practice a Double Standard on ‘Internet Freedom’” accused the U.S. government of censoring the free flow of information. It gave examples including the “Patriot Act,” U.S. national security agencies monitoring and cracking down on Internet terrorist information, and U.S.-based software to filter child pornography information. 
In June 2009, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ordered the creation of a new military cyber command that will coordinate the Pentagon’s efforts to defend its networks and conduct cyberwarfare. The initiative is used by the article to declare the U.S. as the “base camp” for Internet hackers. 
Source: Xinhua, January 23, 2010 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2010-01/23/content_12861105.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

90% of Chinese Netizens: Strengthened U.S.-Japan Alliance Threat to China, Official Survey

On January 19 2010, the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, both governments issued a joint statement “strengthening security and ensuring the alliance remains the anchor of regional stability.”

A survey conducted by the official paper Huanqiu shows that over 90% of Chinese netizens believe that the strengthened U.S.-Japan alliance constitutes a threat to China. A Chinese professor at the Japanese Research Center of Shanghai Jiaotong University said in an interview that the U.S.-Japan alliance is a military relationship, which has undergone several changes since 50 years ago. Today’s alliance is still a strategic prevention targeting China.

Source: Xinhua, January 20, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2010-01/20/content_12841641.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Chinese Communist Party’s Spokesperson System

At the end of the year 2009, the State Council’s press conference announced an “important task initiating a press release system in 2010: the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Committee’s spokesperson system.” 

Over the past months, efforts of the pilot project were already put into place in local level party committees. On December 29, 2009, the CCP’s Nanjing Committee held its first press conference, with 117 spokespersons at various branches of the city’s CCP agencies showing up. In October and November, press conferences of the same nature were launched in Meishan City and Changsha City. 
Ever since 2006, five agencies in the CCP’s Central Committee have set up a spokesperson system: the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the United Front Work Department, the International Liaison Department, the Party Literature Research Centre, and the Taiwan Affairs Office. It’s believed that the growing spokesperson system in the CCP system is another measure to dominate public opinion and maintain social stability. 
Source: Xinhua, January 14, 2010 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2010-01/14/content_12806960.htm
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China’s Information Official on Internet Security

On January 14, two days after Google’s announced threat to pull out of China, the People’s Daily published an interview of Wang Cheng, the Vice Chief of the Chinese Communist Party’s Department of Publicity and Director of the State Council Information Office. 

In the interview, Wang said the Internet “has become an important national infrastructure, and the online information is the nation’s important strategic resource.” “Safeguarding the secure operation of the Internet and secure flow of online information is the fundamental requirement of safeguarding the fundamental interests of national security and the people, and promoting social stability.” 
Wang also asked the Internet media “effectively to enhance the capability of guiding online public opinion,” “regulate the order of information dissemination,” and “promote the Internet media’s self-discipline.” 
Source: People’s Daily, January 14, 2010 
http://media.people.com.cn/GB/40606/10763399.html
Briefings | | |   Information/Technology