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Wu Jianmin: Understanding China’s Foreign Policy

On March 30, 2016, Wu Jianmin, China’s former Ambassador to France and former President of the Foreign Affairs College [a Beijing university for diplomats] gave a speech at the Foreign Affairs College. Wu outlined three elements for understanding China’s foreign policies:

First, only through opening up can China fully grasp how the world is changing.

Second, the world’s new trend is "peace and development," which differs from the previous "war and revolution." "However, there are still people who want to have a war. [They think that] if China can’t beat the U.S., at least China can take on the Philippines for a fight. However, these people have absolutely misunderstood the trend."

Third, China’s foreign affairs strategy is: No expansion, no hegemony, and no alliances.

Wu criticized General Luo Yuan for being a military hawk and promoting war. Wu also criticized Global Times for not understanding the main trend in the world and, instead, frequently publishing extreme articles to portray the world as a big mess.

Source: QQ.com, April 2, 2016
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NDMzNTk2MA==&mid=412066191&idx=4&sn=3cf0a163591e5ed25e4bd99b025acc0c&scene=1&srcid

=0402Xw5TZ3walLEgAmY5VkH0&from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Global Times’ Rebuttal to Wu Jianmin

After Wu Jianmin, China’s former Ambassador to France, commented that Global Times didn’t understand the main world trend, Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin published a rebuttal.

Hu said, "Wu represents the mentality of the old Chinese diplomats; only they know foreign policy. The media’s [different] opinions are intended to create trouble and thus are the evil source to stir up nationalism." "Wu seems like a typical ‘dove’ [to foreign countries] in diplomat circles, but he is very ‘hawkish’ toward ‘nationalism’ when it is discussed in China’s media."

After the rebuttal was published, an article commenting on that rebuttal was published on the Internet. The article argued, "When Global Times talked about freedom of speech, it openly argued that ‘there is a boundary for freedom of speech in the world.’ Then should there be a boundary for articles related to foreign policy? To appeal to the readers and not hurt the ruling authority, the media look for other [safer] topics [to write about]. They set ‘foreign countries’ as their target and create tension in foreign relations. Will this benefit China’s long-term interest and the world’s peaceful development? Or will it limit the room [for China] to define its foreign policies?"

Source
[1] Phoenix, April 7, 2016
http://news.ifeng.com/a/20160407/48382356_0.shtml
[2] 21ccom.net, April 8, 2016
http://www.21ccom.net/html/2016/zlwj_0408/3102.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Global Times: Should We Thank Bin Su?

According to a March 23 press release that the U.S. Department of Justice issued, Bin Su, a Chinese citizen, "admitted to conspiring with two persons in China from October 2008 until March 2014 to gain unauthorized access to protected computer networks in the United States, including computers belonging to the Boeing Company in Orange County, California. The purpose was to obtain sensitive military information and to export that information illegally from the United States to China." Bin’s cyber thefts of U.S. military secrets included the C-17 Globemaster, and the Lockheed F-35 and F-22 stealth fighters. He was arrested in Canada in July 2014.

Global Times published an article that praised Bin Su.

"As a media in China, we can’t tell if Bin Su really stole data on three major U.S. planes and handed the data over to the Chinese authorities. If that is true, we are willing to express our gratitude to him and even salute him. As a real security fight is going on between China and the U.S., China obviously needs those intelligence experts who can deliver the key information from the U.S. Whether China sent him or it was someone who did it for commercial gain, we think they are great.

"If he was wronged and forced to admit guilt under pressure from the U.S. Justice Department, we express our deep sorrow for him. We believe that, as the ‘intelligence war’ between China and the U.S. continues, more people will be wronged, called ‘Chinese spy,’ and put into prison. We hope all Chinese who work in the sensitive fields in the U.S. are careful, so they avoid having the U.S. intelligence agencies target them."

Source: Global Times, March 24, 2016
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2016-03/8766854.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

No Solution for China’s Economic Problems

An article that spread widely on the Internet argued that, without human rights and a system of law, there will be no economic prosperity. Therefore, there is no solution for China’s economic problems.

"A mainstream of belief in finance is that currency is created by credit. "How is credit created? ‘Human rights create a market and the rule of law creates credit.’ The foundation of a market economy is equal exchange. Without human rights how can you and I accomplish an equal exchange?

"Only when the king cannot take over your property at will can he be forced to buy it from you. Then a market economy will exist. If there is a super power, not only will the super power not trade with you equally, but neither will anyone in the market. If the king can just confiscate people’s property at will, why should a person try to work hard to make money? Wouldn’t it be faster if that person just flattered the king so he would confiscate some other people’s money instead? Therefore, without human rights, the order of a market economy will be damaged. People will go after power. They will not use the means of fair competition to make money.

"Human rights creates equal trade; trade creates a market. It is just that equal trade is not enough. If people trade with each other equally, then they can cheat each other equally, too. This will make the cost of trade too high. How can they expand credit? They can’t just rely on conscience; they must also rely on the rule of law. The rule of law can create a modern financial system. China’s financial system is not fully developed. The main reason is it lacks the rule law.

"China’s law system is not just unable to support the modern financial system; it is unable to support even basic credit activities."
 
Source:  Amazon
https://s3.amazonaws.com/letscorp_archive/archives/103240

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Caijing: How Big Is China’s Debt?

According to the McKinsey Global Institute, in 2015, China’s debt, including the financial industry’s debt, increased to US$28.2 trillion, or 282 percent of its GDP level. Its debt was US$7.4 trillion in 2007, as reported in a Caijing article.

"In a few years, real estate development, local government’s heavy borrowing, and the rapid expansion of "shadow banks" (institutes that function as banks but without a government permit) have turned China into a country of heavy debt. Most worrisome is that much of the money that is owed will never be paid back. Local governments have taken on so many projects that not only are they unable to pay the interest, but they are also unlikely to give back the original principle that was invested."

Source: Caijing, April 1, 2016
http://blog.caijing.com.cn/expert_article-151640-89838.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Mingjing: The People behind the Open Letter Attack on Xi Jinping

On March 4, 2016, The media Watching in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region published an open letter, “A Request for Comrade Xi Jinping to Resign from Leadership Positions in the Party and the State.” The article blamed Xi Jinping for many negative events in China in the past few years and called for him to step down. The article was later removed.

It is rare to see a media in China challenge its leader.

Watching claimed that article was posted by a hacker, but there were questions whether that was the case. Alibaba, the hosting service for Watching, is considered the “safest” hosting service in China. The state Cyberspace Administration didn’t find any sign of a hacker intrusion either.

Some media suspected that Watching published the article on its own to attack Xi. Watching’s website was shut down for several days. The authorities took a few employees to investigate the case.

Watching was a joint venture of the SEEC Media Group Limited (the parent company of Caijing magazine), the Xinjiang Government, and the Alibaba Group.

Mingjing You Bao (Mingjing Post) published an article revealing the officials behind the Watching media article:

Jiang Jianguo (蒋建国), the Deputy Director of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) Propaganda Department: Watching‘s CEO Ouyang Hongliang is a confidant of Jiang Jianguo. Jiang approved the establishment of Watching. Jiang and Ling Jihua may be connected since both of them got their part-time Master’s degree from Hunan University.

Zhang Chunxian (张春贤), is the Xinjiang Party Secretary. Zhou Yongkang promoted Zhang to that position: Zhang also had a good relationship with Zhou Benshun as both of them were from Hunan. Zhou Benshun was Zhou Yongkang’s loyalist. He once served as the Secretary-General of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee where Zhou Yongkang was the head.

Wang Boming (王波明), the Chairman of the SEEC Media Group Limited: Wang has a brother, Wang Dongming, who is the former Chairman of CITIC Securities.  Wang Dongming was forced to resign after many high ranking officers at CITIC Securities were taken down for their involvement in the stock disaster in 2015.

Liu Lefei (刘乐飞), Vice Chairman of CITIC Securities: Liu is the son of Liu Yunshan who is a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and in charge of the propaganda work for the CCP.

Sources:
1. Mingjing, March 20, 2016
http://www.mingjingnews.com/MIB/Blog/blog_contents.aspx?ID=0000803700000603
2. Wengewang.org, March 4, 2016
http://www.wengewang.org/read.php?tid=51309
3. Epoch Times, March 10, 2016
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/16/3/10/n4658686.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Ten Problems Hindering China’s Economy

An article listing ten problems that will further hinder China’s economy was widespread on the Internet. It claimed that the next two years will be the most challenging for China, due to the following problems:

One, exports: the main driver for China’s economic growth will no longer be as effective as before. China’s strategy of “low prices to occupy the world” is no longer in effect. Without low prices, exports will not be booming; without booming exports, China’s economy is losing its growth lever.

Two, high taxes: The high corporate tax system has suppressed businesses’ creativity. Whether a corporation makes money or not, the tax is always there.

Three, monopolies: Monopolies have shut down the door on innovation. In any business where a company has a monopoly or in one with enormous government administrative offices, it is very difficult for someone to create a small business.

The other seven problems include the following: It has proven difficult to generate an increase in demand for domestic consumption; the government is more conscious about return on investment and steers away from the old practice of making a large investment without considering the return; the real estate industry is hopeless; China does not have a good system to encourage people to innovate; the government’s functions prohibit further economic growth; high tolls on the roads, the high expense of freight train shipping, and the high cost to obtain the needed certificates from government offices all contribute to blocking the free flow of the economy; and also, people are losing their confidence in China’s economy.

Source: Eastday.com, March 10, 2016
http://mini.eastday.com/a/160310101029314.html?btype=index&subtype=guonei&idx=8&ishot=0

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Former Officials Challenged National Development and Reform Commission

On March 9, at a break-down group meeting of the 4th session of the 12th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), former Deputy Minister of Railways Hu Yadong criticized the National Development and Reform Commission.

"The [commission’s] annual economic development plan should have shown the actual implementation of the Premier’s [economic] plan at the National People’s Congress, but we didn’t see anything [concrete].

"In government investment, how many projects [will be taken on] and where the money will be spent should be expressed clearly. Leave the rest to the market. You (referring to the National Development and Reform Commission) don’t need to give vague words, such as ‘study to make a decision,’ ‘actively pushing forward,’ and ‘greatly promoting.’ These words do not belong in the actual plan.

"For example, the plan said to build a total of 2,000 km of utility pipes (water, Internet, gas, etc.) in all cities in China this year. I say it can’t be that small a number. We are building so many new residential buildings throughout the country; even 20,000 km is not enough [to support this new construction]. We have paid all the required ancillary fees for new buildings. If we hadn’t paid them, we could not have gotten the building permits. Are we going to get the waste water pipes? Is it that we will get them in some places and we won’t in some other places? Where did the money [that was paid] go?"

Source: Sina, March 10, 2016
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/nd/2016-03-10/doc-ifxqhmvc2263122.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics