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All posts by RWZ - 197. page

BBC Chinese: China’s Official List of Evil Cults Does Not Include Falun Gong

BBC Chinese recently reported that many Chinese netizens were surprised by the fact that Falun Gong is not in the official list of “evil cults” when, since 1999, the media has told everybody in China that Falun Gong was being persecuted because it is an “evil cult.” In the past few weeks, a wide range of key Chinese news agencies reported on the illegal activities related to “evil cults.” However, in the list that the media published, neither the Ministry of Public Safety nor the State Council had Falun Gong on their official list of “evil cults.” This triggered a large discussion online and many people, including lawyers, asked why the biggest so-called “evil cult,” Falun Gong, is not even on the list. For fifteen years, the popular spiritual movement (also known as Falun Dafa) has suffered the most brutal crack-down in China because it was named a so-called “evil cult.” Court rulings in China have frequently referenced Falun Gong as an evil cult. Some netizens suggested that the government “was just unable to wipe out Falun Gong and that Falun Gong had not really hurt society.” [Editor’s note: Falun Gong is a spiritual movement promoting the belief in Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. Hundreds of thousands are believed to practice Falun Gong freely and legally outside of China in over 70 countries.]
Source: BBC Chinese, June 3, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/06/140603_china_cult_list_falungong.shtml
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Fu Ying: Provocative Neighbors Caused the Recent Troubles at Sea

People’s Daily recently reported that Fu Ying, the Chairperson of the National People’s Congress Foreign Affairs Committee, appeared on a TV program where she commented on a number of regional issues. Fu suggested that all issues in the seas around China were caused by the provocative behavior demonstrated by China’s neighboring countries. She especially mentioned that Japan faces the question of whether it will continue on the path of being a peaceful nation or not. Fu suggested that China will not give up on peaceful resolutions. However, “strong responses” are necessary when facing challenges. This position is also needed to maintain the peaceful and stable order in the entire region. She said the position the United States takes on these regional issues will ultimately dictate how the Chinese people view the U.S. and its allies. 
Source: People’s Daily, May 30, 2014
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2014/0531/c1002-25088543.html
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Large Foreign IT Vendors Face Serious Challenges

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the new term “Removing IOE” is becoming a hot topic. “IOE” stands for IBM, Oracle and EMC. All are major IT vendors headquartered in the United States. Ever since the Snowden incident, U.S. high-tech companies have been suffering sharp declines in sales. The meaning of IOE quickly expanded to include more U.S. companies such as Microsoft and Cisco. According to reports released by the research institute Gartner, the IBM computer server market share in the Asia-Pacific region declined from last year’s 37 percent to 28 percent this first quarter. Its first quarter sales in China fell 20 percent compared to the first quarter last year. Cisco’s Chinese sales also suffered double-digit declines. Within the last month, the Chinese government also announced a policy to ban IBM products in Chinese banks and ban Microsoft Windows 8 from government procurement. The Chinese government intends to replace U.S. high-tech products with domestic alternatives. 
Source: Sina, May 30, 2014
http://tech.sina.com.cn/it/2014-05-30/01009408474.shtml
Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

BBC Chinese: The Chinese Authorities Are Cracking Down on Illegal Instant Messaging Activities

BBC Chinese recently reported that, on May 27, the Chinese authorities started a month-long legal campaign against illegal communications distributed across popular public instant messaging tools such as WeChat, which has over 300 million users. The China National Internet Information Office, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Public Security are operating this campaign jointly. According to the officials in charge of this program, the primary goal is to crack down on rumors, violent activities, terrorism and pornography. In addition to those targets, this campaign also attacks “domestic and foreign hostile forces’ infiltration and sabotage activities.” Seven major Chinese instant messaging vendors volunteered to craft a joint agreement on establishing rules requiring users to use their real names, associating user accounts with cellphone numbers, restricting the size of online chat groups, and reviewing contents posted to the chat groups. The agreement also promised timely reports to be sent to the authorities as soon as “hot topics” gather substantial interest. 
Source: BBC Chinese, May 27, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/05/140527_wechat_governance.shtml
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China Daily: China To Allow Ten Provinces and Cities to Issue Bonds

China Daily recently reported that China is planning that, later this year, the first group of ten provinces and cities will be allowed to issue their own bonds. The bonds will be modeled after the “Western municipal bonds.” The plan includes Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Guangdong and two other less-developed provinces. It also includes the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and another coastal city. The report estimated that the announcement would be made near the end of May and that the bond issuance might happen in July. Currently, China’s local governments are not allowed to issue bonds directly, at least not officially. The new plan will also include a rating system for the local bonds. However all these are still pending approval of the National People’s Congress (NPC). The scale of this first wave of local bonds is still unclear.
 
Source: China Daily, May 19, 2014
http://caijing.chinadaily.com.cn/2014-05/19/content_17518160.htm
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Xi Jinping: Pushing China-Iran Friendly Cooperation Forward

The Chinese Central Government Official Site (gov.cn) recently reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Iranian President Rohani in Shanghai on May 22. At the meeting, both Presidents agreed to work closely together to push forward broader cooperation in a number of areas. Xi Jinping emphasized that China is willing to make continued contributions towards a comprehensive and proper resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue. Both sides expected an expansion of cooperation in trade, energy, and transportation infrastructure areas, as well as in anti-terrorism and anti-extremist activities. Xi expressed China’s respect for Iran’s right to the peaceful usage of nuclear energy. He also offered to play a “constructive role” in the peaceful negotiation process. President Rohani expressed his appreciation and welcomed China’s continued positive help.
Source: Chinese Central Government Official Site, May 22, 2014
http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2014-05/22/content_2684906.htm
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China and Russia Speed up Settlements Using RMB and Ruble Directly

Well-known Chinese news site Netease recently reported that China and Russia signed a series of agreements in the financial area during the presidential summit on May 20 and 21. One of the agreements allows the rapid expansion of direct use of the currencies of the two countries for financial settlements. Today, China-Russia trade settlements are largely done in U.S. Dollars. Similar experiments started in 2008 on a very small scale in some areas on both sides of the China-Russia border. The two nations have decided to expand the use of their native currencies significantly instead of using the U.S. Dollar, especially after the Ukraine incident. The recent China-Russia announcement delivered at the Summit set a goal of a total trade volume of US$100 billion in 2015, and US$200 billion before 2020. However, the new agreement still faces challenges. For example the Chinese RMB is still not a freely exchangeable currency, while the Russian Ruble does not have a stable valuation in the global market. More improvements on both sides will be required.
Source: Netease, May 22, 2014
http://money.163.com/14/0522/02/9SQKCS2F00253B0H.html
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Non-Performing Loans Hit New High

Sina Finance, a popular Chinese financial news site under Sina.com recently reported that the amount of non-performing loans reached RMB 646 billion yuan (US$104 billion) in the first quarter of 2014. That figure represents a record high for the past six years. The scale of defaults has continued to rise for ten quarters in a row. The report expressed the worry that, with the slow-down in the Chinese economy, more and more credit defaults are surfacing. The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) also stated that the nationwide overall bank credit risk level has been increasing. Bloomberg analyst Rainy Yuan pointed to the quality of assets as the biggest issue that Chinese banks face and to the government’s unwillingness to provide a monetary stimulus policy as a contributor to the worsening situatiion. CBRC is calling on banks to have tighter risk management while preparing for new pressure tests for the sector.
Source: Sina Finance, May 16, 2014
http://finance.sina.com.cn/money/forex/20140516/121419132270.shtml
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources