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All posts by RWZ - 200. page

CRN: The U.S. May Encourage Japan’s Aggressiveness

China Review News (CRN) recently published a commentary analyzing Washington’s possible new strategy after the on-going conflict in Crimea. The commentator suggested that the United States is facing an inability to maintain both the new European frontline, which is threatened by the Russian moves, and the existing plan to “Return to the Pacific” at the same time. The U.S. defense budget simply cannot sustain two large overseas spending initiatives. The author expressed the belief that the U.S. core national interests are under attack due to the recent Crimea conflict because it impacts the confidence of all other new European allies from the former Soviet camp. If the “Return to Europe” strategy gains traction, the United States won’t be able to maintain its level of involvement in the Pacific region, which, the article concluded, will result in the U.S. encouraging Japan to play a much more important role.
Source: China Review News, March 20, 2014
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1030/8/3/7/103083763.html?coluid=218&kindid=0&docid=103083763&mdate=0320111519
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The Security Council Voted at the Wrong Time

People’s Daily reported on March 16 that Qin Gang, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, issued a statement at a press conference on the UN Security Council’s vote on Crimea. Qin indicated that China had abstained from the vote. However, China believed the UN Security Council picked the wrong time for the vote, which may further complicate the situation in that region. The vote will only strengthen the opposition among a number of different parties. Meanwhile Qin also stated that China respects all other nations’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. He called for quickly establishing an international coordination mechanism to facilitate a diplomatic resolution. Before a peaceful solution is reached, China would like to ask all parties not to further worsen the conflict. 
Source: People’s Daily, March 16, 2014
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2014/0316/c1002-24647228.html
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

BBC Chinese: Chinese Real Estate Developer Invested in London

BBC Chinese recently reported that Chinese government backed real estate developer the Greenland Group will construct a multi-functional building for both commercial and residential purposes located in the Financial District of London. It will be the tallest building in Europe. The Commercial Estate Group (CEG) was the entity selling the land. The project is expected to be valued at 600 million pounds (around US$1 billion) after its completion. This latest Greenland development investment once again demonstrated the clear trend that more and more Chinese real estate developers are looking for international breathing room in order to fight a falling domestic housing market. The Greenland Group is the second largest real estate company in China. Not long ago, Greenland cut another deal in the United States for a US$5 billion development project in the middle of downtown Brooklyn, NYC.
Source:  BBC Chinese, March 12, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/uk/2014/03/140312_uk_china_skyscrapers.shtml
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Xinhua: Bank of China Established New RMB Index

Xinhua recently reported that the Bank of China made an announcement to the world of a new index to measure the internationalization of the Chinese currency (RMB). The new index is named Offshore RMB Index (ORI). This is the second index that the Bank of China has established. Last year, the Bank announced the Cross-Border RMB Index (CRI). The new ORI is designed to reflect the offshore level of RMB volume, RMB usage, and RMB utilization by financial tools. The ORI number grew nearly two times in the past two years, showing that the RMB volume overseas has been growing rapidly. Hong Kong is the most active RMB offshore market, followed by Southeast Asia and Europe. Africa, the Middle-East, and the Americas are still seeing very limited usage of the RMB. Compared to the offshore indexes of the U.S. Dollar, the Euro, the British Pound, and the Japanese Yen, RMB ORI showed a very small percentage in the overall offshore exchange market. The Bank of China is considered the “primary channel” controlling the RMB global circulation.
Source: Xinhua, March 11, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2014-03/11/c_119720981.htm
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

BBC Chinese: China’s Defense Budget Increased Significantly

BBC Chinese recently reported that China’s defense budget submitted to the National People’s Congress increased by 12.2 percent to US$131.6 billion. In his speech to the Congress, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang explained  that the defense budget increase was for research into new technology, high-tech weaponry enhancements, day-to-day military operations, as well as coastal and aero defense. Li emphasized the defense of China’s “marine interests” and China’s becoming a “marine power.” He also advised that China should defend “the fruits of the Second World War.” The Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary commented on the new Chinese defense budget, saying the world is concerned about China’s [lack of] transparency on defense spending. The Chinese media argued that China’s defense budget is still far below the level of the U.S. defense budget (US$ 633 billion).
Source: BBC Chinese, March 5, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/03/140305_china_npc_military.shtml
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

High Ranking Official: Breaking Internet Firewall Caused More Terrorism

China.com recently reported that Zhang Chunxian, who is the Secretary of the Communist Party in Xinjiang Province, declared that technologies like breaking the Chinese Internet Firewall (also known as the Great Firewall) contribute to an increase in the number of violent terrorist attacks. Zhang, whose rank is higher than the Governor of the Province, is the chief ruler of this troubled Province that has had serious conflicts among its ethnic groups. He was making these comments in response to a question from the press asking for his opinion on the recent violent killing of 29 residents of the City of Kunming, Yunnan Province. Zhang’s comments triggered a large wave of criticism on the Chinese Internet, where millions of netizens use various tools to bypass the “Great Firewall” in order to reach international websites that the Chinese government blocks. His opinion was widely viewed as a typical evil position against freedom of speech. Per government orders, most of the websites that reported Zhang’s comments subsequently removed this news.
Source: China.com, March 6, 2014
http://news.china.com/zh_cn/focus/km31/11152138/20140306/18379374.html
http://politics.caijing.com.cn/2014-03-07/113986657.html
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Sina Finance: Chaori Solar Corporate Bond Defaulted

The well-known Chinese financial news website Sina Finance recently reported that Shanghai Chaori Solar Technology Corporation officially defaulted on a payment on its corporate bonds. The Chaori board of directors announced on March 4 that the company is not able to make the interest payment on its 2011 Phase II corporate bond. This is the first official default on a Chinese corporate bond. The market is very much worried that this may cause a chain reaction because Chaori is a typical case that represents the situation that many other Chinese corporate bonds share. Chaori is a large privately owned company focused on solar-based products mainly exported to the U.S. market and Europe. The company suffered a loss of over RMB 1 billion (around US$163 million) in 2013. It can only come up with RMB 4 million for the above mentioned corporate bond interest totaling nearly RMB 90 million yuan. The company stock will be delisted from the Shanghai Stock Exchange in a few months.
Source: Sina Finance, March 4, 2014
http://finance.sina.com.cn/money/bond/20140304/231518403596.shtml
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

People’s Daily: Huawei Again Attempting to Expand Its U.S. Market Share

People’s Daily recently reported that Eric Xu, one of Huawei’s three chief executives, delivered a speech at the Mobile World Congress, which is the largest international conference in the mobile industry. Xu suggested that Huawei is planning to introduce a series of new Huawei-branded mobile phones to the U.S. market. Huawei expects to sell 80 million to 100 million mobile phones globally in 2014. This figure represents eight percent of the global mobile phone market. Xu expressed interest in shifting the company’s focus to high-end smart phones. The United States still excludes Huawei from the list of permitted suppliers for the U.S. communications infrastructure. Xu admitted that his company suffered a tough time last year in the U.S. market due to the lack of new products. He promised to deliver more new products to U.S. customers. However, Huawei will not “actively seek” infrastructure deals in the U.S. 
[Editor’s note: Huawei is the second largest communications equipment manufacturer in the world. Due to its close historic ties to the Chinese military, Huawei’s products have been banned from communications infrastructure level bids in many industrialized countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia. Huawei is not a publicly traded company.]
Source: People’s Daily, February 28, 2014
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2014/0228/c157278-24488876.html
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations