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All posts by TGS - 29. page

PLA Daily: China Must Clean up the Soil that Breeds Traitors

On July 13, 2015, People’s Liberation Army Daily published a full page article on how the Chinese puppet army collaborated with Japan during China’s resistance to the Japanese invasion. The article stated that, during World War II, China was the only country where the number of puppet army soldiers exceeded the number of invaders. 

Comparing it with the present, the article stated that some people in China have become the new generation of "economic traitors," "political traitors," and "Internet traitors" who betray the national interest. As Western countries’ "color revolutions" and "politically transgenic" projects intensify, people with weak political will and those full of greed have been or are becoming new recruits for the hostile forces. The article concluded that today’s China still has fertile soil that breeds traitors and that such soil should be cleaned up. 
Source: People’s Liberation Army Daily reprinted by People’s Daily, July 13, 2015 http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/0713/c1011-27295892.html
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

CRN: U.S. Is Sowing Discord Rather Than Resolving Disputes in the South China Sea

On July 16, 2015, China Review News (CRN) published a commentary on the U.S. involvement in the South China Sea. It stated that, as the U.S. gets more and more involved in South China Sea issues, it actively pushes its own geostrategic agenda. 

According to the commentary, the U.S.’ strategic goal is to maintain its hegemony in the Western Pacific region by maintaining military control over the South China Sea and the political legitimacy of such control. The U.S. actively uses the disputes China has with Vietnam and the Philippines over sovereignty in the South China Sea islands and reefs to implement a strategic entry point for the U.S. to contain China. The U.S. provides political, economic, and military assistance to Vietnam and the Philippines to contend with China. “In fact, the United States does not come to solve the South China Sea issues, but to use the South China Sea issues to sow discord between China and the ASEAN countries.” 
Source: China Review News, July 16, 2015 

http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1038/1/9/8/103819825.html?coluid=1&kindid=0&docid=103819825&mdate=0716001306

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

China’s SEC Cracks Down on Improper Disclosure of Information

On July 15, 2015, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced that it was investigating 10 cases that involved improper disclosure of information. The effort was the fifth if the CSRC’s 2015 campaign to crack down on illegal activities in stock trading. 

The 10 cases focus on five types of behavior: obtaining approval for IPOs through the use of fictitious assets and profits; covering up major stock holders’ illegal acquisition of the listed companies through the fabrication of major stock transactions; forging bank documents to inflate assets and profits and whitewashing listed companies’ financial statements; making up the  achievements of listed or targeted companies during the merger and acquisition period; and failing to disclose information in a timely manner or selectively disclosing important information, leading to abnormal fluctuations in the stocks of listed companies. 
Source: Xinhua, July 15, 2015 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2015-07/15/c_1115936989.htm
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China’s June PPI Down 4.8 Percent Year on Year

According to the latest release from the National Bureau of Statistics on July 9, China’s producer prices continued to fall in June, indicating a prolonged weakness in demand. 

In June, China’s Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the average change in the price of goods and services sold by manufacturers and producers in the wholesale market, fell 4.8 percent year on year, compared to the 4.6 percent drop in May. Month on month, the producer price index in June went down 0.4 percent. The drop in June marks the 40th consecutive month of the decline of the index and represents the sharpest drop since 2009. 
For the 4.8 percent PPI drop, prices of production materials fell 6.2 percent in June, contributing 4.7 percentage points to the PPI drop during the month. Prices of consumer goods were down 0.2 percent. 

Source: National Bureau of Statistics, July 9, 2015 http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/201507/t20150709_1211569.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China IPOs Blocked in the Near-Term

Late on July 4, the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges announced that 28 planned IPOs of “A Shares” will be delayed, 10 at Shanghai Stock Exchange and 18 at Shenzhen Stock Exchange. On July 3, China Securities Regulatory Commission expressed that, in light of the recent market situation, there would be no new IPOs in the near-term and the number and volume of deals down the line would be greatly reduced. 

This is the ninth "A Share" IPO delay in history.  The previous delays were as follows:
1. July 21 to December 7, 1994 
2. January 19 to June 9, 1995 
3. July 5, 1995, to January 3, 1996 
4. July 31 to November 2, 2001 
5. August 26, 2004, to January 23, 2005 
6. May 25, 2005, to June 2, 2006 
7. September 16, 2008, to July 10, 2009 
8. November 16, 2012, to December 30, 2013 
China’s A shares are generally only available for purchase by mainland citizens; investment from outside mainland China is restricted to select foreign institutions or under mutual market access arrangements between the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, subject to aggregate and daily quotas.

Source: The Beijing News, July 5, 2015 
http://epaper.bjnews.com.cn/html/2015-07/05/content_585764.htm
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Economic Downturn Will Impact 2015 Fiscal Revenue

China’s Finance Minister Lou Jiwei predicted that, in the next few months, the State will face considerable pressure to meet its 2015 revenue target. He made these remarks when speaking to the People’s Congress on June 28, 2015. "In the next several months, due to factors such as the pressure of the economic downturn, we expect to face considerable pressure to meet the central government’s fiscal revenue target."

Lou set out five priorities for the future. In regards to in-depth reforms of the taxation system, Lou stated that efforts will be made to study a reform proposal on the personal income tax and to support real estate tax legislation. 
Source: Ministry of Finance of China, June 29, 2015 http://www.mof.gov.cn/zhengwuxinxi/caizhengxinwen/201506/t20150629_1262257.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Over 14 Million Drug Users in China Cause $80 Billion in Losses

On June 24, 2015, at a press conference, the State Council’s Information Office released the first-ever report on the effects of drug abuse in China in 2014. Liu Yuejin, Assistant Minister of Public Security and Deputy Director of China National Narcotics Control Commission, said that drug abuse in China for that year resulted in annual economic losses of 500 billion yuan (approximately $80.54 billion) and, in addition, as many as 49,000 deaths of registered users. He estimated that China has more than 14 million drug users, including about three million registered users. 

According to Liu, there is evidence that more youths are abusing synthetic narcotics. Half of the registered users are under 35. Drug users are spreading to government employees and the variety of stronger, more addictive drugs is growing. Drug abuse has been linked to suicides, hit-and-run accidents, murders, abductions, rapes, attacking police, and other violent crimes. 
Source: Legal Daily, June 24, 2015 
http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/index/content/2015-06/24/content_6137688.htm?node=20908
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Zhou Yongkang Sentenced to Life in Prison

On June 11, 2015, Xinhua reported that China’s ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang was sentenced to life in prison. He is the most senior Communist official to face corruption charges. Zhou is 72 years old.

Xinhua reported that the Tianjin Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court held the on camera trial on May 22, 2015. The charges included taking bribes, abuse of power, and intentional disclosure of State secrets. For the charge of bribery, he was sentenced to life in prison, with his political rights deprived for life and his personal assets confiscated. For the abuse of power, Zhou also received seven years and for the intentional disclosure of State secrets, he received four years. 
Xinhua reported that the court found that on bribery, there were mitigating factors including his confession and his remorse; his abuse of power charge was particularly serious; intentional disclosure of State secrets was also particularly serious but there were not any particularly serious consequences. 
On July 29, 2014, Zhou had been placed under investigation on suspicion of "serious disciplinary violations." Zhou was expelled from the Communist Party and arrested in December 2014. On April 3, 2015, Zhou was charged with bribery, abuse of power, and intentional disclosure of State secrets. 
Source: Xinhua, June 11, 2015 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2015-06/11/c_1115590304.htm
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics