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Will China Change Its Position on Qigong?

On July 10, 2017, Xinhua published an article on Qigong (气功) exercises. Qigong is a system of gentle exercises composed of body postures and movements, breathing, and meditation. It is rooted in Chinese medicine, philosophy, martial arts, and even Buddhist or Taoist cultivation theories. People practice, or cultivate it for health, spirituality, or martial arts training.

Qigong was quite popular in China in the 1980s and 1990s. However, in 1999, the Communist Party banned Falun Gong, a mind body Qigong exercise with deep roots in the Buddhist school. Jiang Zemin, then Communist Party head, wanted the Communist ideology to win over “superstition,” which he felt was a threat to the Communist Party. Since then the Qigong environment has chilled in China.

This Xinhua article may be a hint of the government’s shift in its position on Qigong. The article reported that Qigong has been included as a sports event in the National Games that were hosted in Tianjin in July of this year. It also commented, “Qigong is a traditional sports game in China. It is not a religious superstition nor a form of mysterious arts, but rather a means for people to pursue harmony of mind and body.”

Source: Xinhua, July 10, 2017
http://sports.xinhuanet.com/c/2017-07/10/c_1121290514.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

PLA Daily: Army’s Active Duty Member Count Was Reduced to 50 Percent in Military Reform

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Daily published an article on WeChat (a popular Chinese social media) under its WeChat account Jun Zhen Ping Studio, regarding the on-going military reform.

The article stated that, “After this reform, for the first time, the Army’s active duty member count dropped below one million. The Navy, Rocket Army, and Strategic Support Force all had increases while the Air Force stayed at the same level. The Army numbers about 50 percent of the overall military forces.”

Source: Chuansong.net, July 11, 2017
http://chuansong.me/n/1968026052724

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Pan Asia Nonferrous Metals Exchange Is a State Ponzi Scheme

The Pan Asia Nonferrous Metals Exchange was once an attractive investment platform that the government promoted in 2011. Over 220,000 people invested a total of 43 billion yuan (US$6 billion) in it. However, in 2015, it turned out that it was a Ponzi scheme and most people lost their money.

Investors have repeatedly appealed to both the Yunnan Provincial government and the central government to request help in order to recover their losses, but, so far, the government has provided no response.

Recently, a video was posted on YouTube with edited video clips promoting Pan Asia from the China Central Television (CCTV). These showed that the government was responsible for crediting and promoting Pan Asia in its earlier years. The video clips showed CCTV’s vigorous introduction of the nonferrous metal exchange platform, broadcasting Pan Asia’s collaboration with CCTV, and promoting Pan Asia’s business.

Source: Radio France International, September 24, 2016
http://cn.rfi.fr/中国/20160924-泛亚诈骗：国家导演的庞氏骗局

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Social Stability

People’s Daily: “The Borderline Is the Bottom Line!”

For the past few weeks, China and India have had a standoff in a disputed area between China and Bhutan.

The Chinese call the disputed highland region “Donglang” and the Indians call it “Doklam.” It is on the border between China and Bhutan. Bhutan is China’s only neighboring country that has not established a formal diplomatic relationship with China, mainly due to the border dispute.

Recently, China started building a road in the disputed area. India then sent its soldiers to block China from building the road.

An Indian brigadier-general said, “We didn’t fire. We only formed a human body wall to prevent Chinese from continuing its invasion.”

China’s Ambassador Luo Zhaohui said during an interview, “This is the first time that the Indian military crossed the predefined borderline to invade China’s territory, causing the military standoff.” “There is no disagreement between China and Bhutan that Donglang belongs to China. India has no right to intervene in Sino-Bhutan negotiations, nor does it have the right to advocate for territory for Bhutan.”

On July 7, People’s Daily’s official weibo account published a picture with the title, “The Borderline Is the Bottom Line.” The picture is the border map showing the area of China, India, and Bhutan. It shows Donglang is in China. It also shows an arrow pointing from India to China. The note read, “The Indian military illegally crossed the border to enter China’s side.”

{Editor’s note: According to an article published in War on the Rocks on July 13, 2017, when China initiated its road building, “(India) in ‘close coordination’ with a Royal Bhutan Army patrol approached the Chinese construction party and urged them to desist… (This) appears to be an attempt to wean Bhutan away from India.”}

Sources:
1. Weibo
http://weibo.com/p/100808b2f565c3e128dcf37ac2e69d40235183?k=界线即是底线&from=526&_from_=huati_topic
2. BBC, July 5, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/world-40503298

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

Zhejiang Police Use Fake Communication Tower to Gather Mobile User Information

Radio Free Asia reported that the police from Zhejiang Province were found to have set up a fake mobile communication tower to gather mobile user’s information. The fake tower used a high power wireless signal transmission to force mobile devices such as mobile phones to register with it. This allowed the police to obtain mobile user’s information.

A former railroad policeman from Changsha, Hunan Province, commented that the police have long been using communication equipment to gather people’s information. The difference this time is that the police are doing it themselves, instead of going through telecom companies.

Another commentator indicated that it is a nationwide practice for the regime to use similar equipment to gather, monitor, analyze, and extract “useful” information from the general public.

Source: Radio Free Asia, July 2, 2017
http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/control-07022017100526.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics Information/Technology Social Stability

Zhu Rongji’s Son: China Has Overbuilt Houses for 300 Million People

Zhu Yunlai (Levin Zhu), son of former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, is an outspoken banker in China. He recently commented on China’s housing market.

“Actually according to the Statistics Bureau, if you add each year’s numbers together, China’s current total housing capacity can supply 1 billion people, at an average rate of 30 square meters per person. Counting even people living in small towns, China has only 700 million urban dwellers. That means there is a 300 million over-capacity.”

“The nationwide average housing price is 7,000 yuan (US $1,000) per square meter. The average income for urban residents is 30,000 yuan per year.  Taking out expenses and taxes, 10,000 yuan can be used for house payments. The housing price has way exceeded the general public’s purchasing capability.”

“Then why are houses so expensive? It is because of the financial factor. China has issued 160 trillion yuan. The number is still rising. So the housing price for sure is rising – that’s called asset inflation.”

“People eventually will realize that even if you have the money to buy a property, you won’t be able to sell it later because the general public, that is those who are really in need of a house, cannot afford one. So the housing assets will not increase in value and people may be forced to sell at a loss.”

Source: Sina, June 25, 2017
http://cj.sina.com.cn/article/detail/2192180454/296831?column=realty&ch=9

 

 

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China’s Aerospace Industry Faces Serious Problems

On July 2, 2017, China’s second Long March 5 rocket, carrying an experimental communications satellite, failed after it took off. This was the last test of the Long March 5 rocket before being used to launch the Chang’e 5 Lunar Probe later this year.

China had another satellite launch failure on June 19.

Sina republished an article analyzing the quality problem that China’s aerospace industry is facing:

“The young people especially (in the aerospace industry) … fight each other.  … They don’t feel any responsibility for their work and lack a rigorous attitude toward research. Their reports are full of mistakes. They don’t want to take on real work. They only prefer to direct others.”

“The quality of work has dropped dramatically. When similar experiments were done back in the 1980’s, they were reported clearly with thorough analyses. Now the reports have vaguely drawn conclusions and even the author is not sure if his test results are correct.”

“The whole society is like this.” “Good people are not rewarded and those who do nothing are not reprimanded, either.”

Sources:
1. Sina, July 2, 2017
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/nd/2017-07-02/doc-ifyhrxsk1562298.shtml
2. Sina, July 7, 2017
http://cj.sina.com.cn/article/detail/1444893750/310439

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Duowei: Vice Chairman of CMC Cut Short His Visit to Vietnam

Duowei reported that it was not with a purpose that Fan Changlong, the First Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), cut short his visit to Vietnam in June.

Fan left Beijing on June 12 to visit Spain, the Netherlands, and Vietnam. China’s Ministry of Defense reported that Fan would attend the Forth Summit of the Sino-Vietnam Militaries. However, the Ministry of Defense later reported that “due to a work arrangement, China cancelled the Forth Summit of the Sino-Vietnam Militaries.”

Analysts think this is related to the sovereignty debate between China and Vietnam, related to the South China Sea, where both sides claim ownership. One version of the story was that Vietnam started exploration work on a gas field in the South China Sea during Fan’s visit. China was so irritated that it sent over forty military ships and sea patrol ships and several military transport aircraft, to stop Vietnam’s drilling operation.

Source: Duowei, June 28, 2017
http://china.dwnews.com/news/2017-06-28/59822486.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend