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Reporting of 18 Issues Banned by Chinese Communist Propaganda Department

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Propaganda Department banned the Chinese media from reporting on 18 sensitive issues. Asahi Shimbun reported as front-page news on March 25 that Liu Yunshan, the Head of the Propaganda Department, ordered the ban on March 21, a day before Google announced its decision to stop censoring information on its Chinese site. The 18 issues include the Renminbi appreciation, official corruption, the high cost of medicine, food poisoning, turmoil in Xinjiang and Tibet, the gap between the rich and the poor, household registration reform, the unemployment of college graduates, corruption in handling Sichuan Earthquake donations, corruption of the police and gangsters in Chongqing, sky-rocketing real estate prices, and so on.

Concerning the Renminbi appreciation and Google’s refusal to censor information in China, the media was told that only Xinhua can report on those two issues. However the media can criticize the US.

It’s a sign that the Propaganda Department is trying to strengthen its control over the media after its negotiations with Google failed.

Source: Radio France International, March 25, 2010
http://www.chinese.rfi.fr/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20100325-

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Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Xinhua: Bottleneck for China’s Books to be Published Outside of China

Lack of professional translators has turned into a major bottleneck for China’s books to be published outside of China. China’s publishing industry officials acknowledged the problem at the Sixth Conference of the “Chinese Books Promotion Plan.” Jing Ruibin, a subject matter expert of the Working Group for the Chinese Books Promotion Plan, suggested that it’s urgent to bring translators who are familiar with social science, literature, arts, and language up to par. This effort should be under the auspice of the government. Furthermore, publishing companies that have long-term objectives should develop their own translation team.

Source: Xinhua, March 27, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/ent/2010-03/27/content_13257393.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

International Herald Leader: Kim Jong-il May Visit China Soon

North Korea’s top leader Kim Jong-il will most likely visit China soon, according to the International Herald Leader. The article suggests that the most obvious reason for Kim’s visit is to ask for financial aid from China. North Korea is short of funds, especially since last-year’s embargo initiated by the U.N. that greatly restricted North Korea’s arm sales overseas. Also, Kim Jong-il is likely to officially introduce his chosen successor, his third son Kim Jong-un to Chinese leaders. The article said that Kim Jong-il’s visit to China will fall between March 25 and 31. He will visit Northeast China first before he comes to Beijing.

Source: International Herald Leader, March 25, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2010-03/25/content_13242755.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Global Times: Currency Exchange Rate Fight Is an Informational War

The Global Times published an article by a professor from the National Defense University titled, “Currency Exchange Rate Fight Is an Informational War.” The author argued that the U.S. pressure on China to appreciate the Renminbi is an information war with China in a broader sense. U.S. war tactics include information control and system integration. Its goal is to devalue the US dollar so as to pay less to China. The U.S. has set and controlled the tone of the information. It also tries to enlist allies to jointly fight China. China needs to improve its informational war capability by disclosing more true information on the Renminbi exchange rate and increasing China’s “speaking power” with international society.

The author also pointed out that every 1% appreciation of the Renminbi eats 1% of the profit for Chinese companies. Since Chinese export factories live on the average on a 3-5% profit margin, the currency exchange rate battle is critical to China’s economy.

Source: Global Times, March 23, 2010
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/roll/2010-03/753215.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

China Facing Serious Land Supply Shortage

Beginning on March 5, the Ministry of Land and Resources sent 30 research groups, led by nearly 100 bureau-level senior officials, to 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities to research land usage by local governments. Their reports showed that the local governments have a strong desire to take farm land for urbanization. There is a great land supply shortage. For example, Anhui Province has a need for 83,000 acres of land for construction, but its land usage quota from the central government was only half of that amount. It’s a common problem among other provinces. There are also tough issues in land management, mineral resource integration, and farmland management system reform.

Source: China News Service, March 23, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/estate/estate-tdxw/news/2010/03-23/2185501.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Jia Qinglin: Increasing Political Trust Across the Strait

On March 18, Jia Qinglin, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) stressed the importance of increasing political trust between the two sides of the strait (Taiwan and Mainland China). Jia made his remarks during a meeting with the Taiwan delegation headed by Yao Eng-chi. Jia stated that it had become the mainstream opinion in Taiwan that support for the equal consultation and cooperation and peaceful relationship with Mainland China is important. The economic and financial cooperation between the two sides should proceed to a new height. Also the cultural and educational exchange should be further developed to strengthen cultural and national identity and promote cross-strait cultural, social, and thoughts and ideas integration.

The Taiwan delegation visited on the invitation of the CPPCC’s Committee for Liaison with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese.

Source: Global Times, March 19, 2010
http://taiwan.huanqiu.com/liangan/2010-03/749790.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Red Flag Manuscript: The U.S. Threatens China’s Oil Imports

Red Flag Manuscript, a semi-monthly publication by Qiushi Magazine, published an article concerning China’s procurement of oil, which was written by a researcher from the Party Construction Research Institute, Communist Organization Department. The National Energy Commission, created on January 27, 2010, with Wen Jiabao as Director and Li Keqiang as the Deputy, is a clear indication that energy resources have become a top priority for China’s leaders.

The article claimed that U.S.’ control of the world’s oil supply and shipping routes are a potential threat to China’s procurement of energy resources. Not only is the U.S. well placed in the Middle East, but also is well established in the Caspian Sea through military cooperation with Azerbaijan and Armenia. Among the sixteen channels the US claims to control, three are directly linked to China’s survival. The U.S. patrols the Malacca strait with the excuse of anti-terrorism activities. this is a smoke screen and in reality it is to control China’s oil life-supply from the sea.

Source: Qiushi Magazine, February 26, 2010
http://www.qstheory.cn/hqwg/2010/201004/201002/t20100226_21515.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Promoting Red Culture

During the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, several representatives talked about developing and promoting the “Red Culture” (praising the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or its leaders or worshipping at the CCP’s historical sites from the wartime). Recently, many local governments have greatly promoted “red culture” including “red tourism,” “red movies,” “red songs,” and “red text messages.” Jiangxi Province allocated 30 billion yuan (near $5 billion dollar) to “Red Tourism” in 2009, a 25% increase over 2008.

The representatives suggested to change direction and use more attractive and catchy means instead of administrative orders to get people to buy into the “red culture.” Furthermore, redirection of Internet opinion by promoting “red culture” instead of “blocking” unwanted content is of importance. Most appropriately, developing “red culture” through innovation and new technologies should be a number one priority.

Source: Xinhua, March 11, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2010-03/11/content_13145422.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics