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Briefings - 1047. page

Xinhua: Mr Gates’ comments confirmed Washington’s acceptance of China as a military superpower

Xinhua published a short news report on January 22, 2009, based on a longer article from Global Times, titled as “The US Defense Secretary Said the US Wants to Hold Arms Reduction Negotiations with China”.

Robert Gates, the US Defense Secretary, said in New Delhi on January 20 that the US wants to hold ‘Cold-War Style’ arms reduction negotiations with China to prevent possible military confrontations in the future. Xinhua further cited Mr. Gates’ words from the Telegraph.co.uk’s report on January 20: "I was involved in the strategic arms talks (with the USSR). …… That kind of dialogue with China would be most productive and in the interest of global security." Xinhua’ report concluded with Telegraph’s commentary: “Mr Gates’ comments confirmed Washington’s acceptance of China as a military superpower.”

Source: Xinhua, January 22, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2010-01/22/content_12854463.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Xinhua: Obama Admitted Mistakes and Bowed His Head

Xinhua reported on January 22, 2010, that after being in office for a year, Obama has lost 20% of his public support. The Democratic Party lost the key “60th Vote” in the Senate. Obama acknowledged that the “angry voters” helped Republican Scott Brown win the Senate seat. “The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office,” he said.

Obama admitted his mistakes in the past year on his first anniversary in power when he was interviewed by ABC on January 20th. He said that after he became the president “we immediately were confronted with just stacks of tough decisions that had to be made. During the course of this year, we’ve had to make some decisions that were unpopular. We’ve made some mistakes. I’ve personally made some mistakes.”

Source: Xinhua, January 22, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2010-01/22/content_12853747.htm

Briefings | | |   Grapevine

Chinese Media: Chinese Americans Protest Obama’s Meeting with Dalai Lama

According to various Chinese official media, Chinese American organizations and individuals have recently lodged strong protests against President Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama in the White House. They include the following:

The National Association for China’s Peaceful Unification, Washington DC (美国华盛顿中国和平统一促进会)
The Association for China’s Peaceful Unification, George Washington University(乔治华盛顿大学中国和平统一促进会)
The Association for American Chinese Voters (美国华人选民协会) 
The U.S.-Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce(美国上海总商会) 
The New York Chinese Associations Alliance (纽约华人社团联席会) 
Huang, Che-Tsao, professor, York College, City University of New York 
Source: various Chinese official media.

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Qiushi: Corruption is the Enemy of the Ruling Party in Times of Peace

As the official periodical of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, Qiushi is the Chinese Communist Party’s core publication. In a recent issue of Qiushi, the article “On Alert for Dangers in Peaceful Times: The Key is Anti-corruption” underscores fighting against corruption: 

"Throughout human history, although every regime change has had complex external causes … such as foreign invasions and natural disasters, internally they are related to the corruption of those in power. … When the corruption was serious and directly hurt the vital interests of the majority of the people, there were riots, revolutions, and regime changes. " 
"… analyzing the lessons learned from the loss of power of Communist parties in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe countries, one can learn this: any ruling political party and political group is facing the danger of losing power. In peaceful periods, the danger is mainly from within the party.” 
Source: Qiushi, February 16, 2010 
http://www.qstheory.cn/zxdk/2010/201004/201002/t20100209_20826.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China’s Security Czar on Societal Control

The Qiushi journal, the official periodical of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, featured an article by Zhou Yongkang, a Politburo member and the nation’s security czar. The article, signaling serious social instability and problems within the public security authority, was from his speech at a conference of public security officials last year. The speech was carried by major official media. 

“In accordance with the requirements of early discovery, early reporting, and early disposal, the police officers should go deep into the grass-roots and the masses to understand demands and resolve problems. Establish an effective early-warning and emergency response mechanism to ensure resolving the conflicts and problems on time and on the site.” 
“Beginning in 2010, provincial and municipal judicial authorities shall conduct rotational trainings for all grass-roots leadership officials in police stations, the police corps, and the courts. Form a system and do it over the long term.”
Source: Qiushi, February 16, 2010 
http://www.qstheory.cn/zywz/201002/t20100209_20841.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

General Zhu on U.S. Arms Sales to Taiwan

The State’s Outlook Weekly magazine published interviews of Chinese military figures on U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. Major General Zhu Chenghu of China’s National Defense University believes that it is not surprising to see the increase in China-US friction. “One needs to see that the long-term existence of the Taiwan issue is inevitable under the broad framework of the U.S. strategy toward China. So the long-term and complex nature of the Taiwan issue needs to be understood. In the long run, the U.S. global strategy will not change much." He [Zhu] summed up the U.S. strategy: rely on two treaties (NATO and the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty), base on two continents (Asia and the Americas), control the seas, curb China and Russia, and dominate the world.”

Source: Xinhua, February 9, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2010-02/09/content_12958029.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Hu Jintao: Accelerating Transformation of the Mode of Economic Development

From February 3 to 7, 2010, senior provincial Party leaders attended a workshop at the Party School of The Chinese Communist Party in Beijing. Hu Jintao and other members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo spoke at the workshop about how to speed up transforming the mode of economic development. He stated that the key to the transformation is to "speed up" and bring results. Wen Jiabao emphasized that only by speeding up the transformation can China better cope with predictable and unpredictable international risks, and constantly improve the international competitiveness of China’s economy. Xi Jianping highlighted the urgency of strengthening the efforts to grow the Party to ensure success in the transformation.

Source: Xinhua, February 12, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2010-02/12/content_12977549.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Party Directive: Party to Focus on Establishing Study Groups

The General office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party has issued a new directive on Party growth. “Study-oriented Party organizations are the foundation of a Marxist-study Party,” it says. The Party organizations are called upon “to conduct in-depth studies of Marxist theory, of the Party’s line, of principles and policies and State laws, of the Party’s history, and of the knowledge needed for modernization, and to achieve new results in arming the mind, guiding the practice, and promoting the work.”

Source: People’s Daily, February 9, 2010
http://theory.people.com.cn/GB/10956975.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics