Briefings – Page 818

Jinghua Times: Some Countries Don’t Welcome the New Chinese Passport

Jinghua Times recently reported that the new version of the Chinese smart passport (which has an implanted chip) has triggered complaints from neighboring countries. The new passport includes pages with pictures and a map of China that includes disputed regions in Tibet and the South China Sea. So far, Vietnam, The Philippines, and India have complained. These countries are instead issuing the visa on a separate piece of paper instead of the visa page of the passport. Normal entry into these countries is still granted, even if the new passport is used. The United States suggested that it still considers the new passport to be a valid document and U.S. officials will still use the new passport for visa and stamps. However that does not mean the United States agrees with the borders drawn on the map. A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented that neighboring countries should not overreact to the map part of the passport.

Source: Jinghua Times, November 30, 2012
http://epaper.jinghua.cn/html/2012-11/30/content_1908282.htm

Briefings | | December 4, 2012 | Geo-Strategic Trend

CRN: Reform of Wealth Redistribution System Requires Breakthrough

China Review News (CRN) recently published a commentary about the issue of reforming the system for the redistribution of wealth, which has been identified as a focal point of public opinion. The commentary suggested that a breakthrough will be required in five areas to solve the problem of the unfairness in the distribution of wealth: (1) First-time distribution needs to avoid the sharp differences that exist between the company’s growth versus wage growth and between management income versus the income of the average worker. (2) The process needs to include the growth of government income versus the growth of citizen’s income. (3) The reform must solve the root cause of “gray income” and corruption. (4) Enhanced tax system reform is required to improve the balancing function of taxation. (5) The average citizen’s income level should be raised when the job market expands. The commentary also called for protecting China’s middle-class population. The author concluded that reform is not a simple matter. Instead, it requires adjustments in the political, economic, legal system, and cultural areas.

Source:China Review News, November 29, 2012
http://www.zhgpl.com/crn-webapp/doc/docDetailCreate.jsp?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=102320766&mdate=1129080126

Briefings | | December 4, 2012 | Economy/Resources

2012 EU-China Year of Intercultural Dialogue Concluded

The EU-China Year of Intercultural Dialogue concluded in Beijing on October 30, 2012. The opening ceremony of the 2012 Dialogue was held in Brussels in February 2012. Since then, close to 300 collaborative projects were completed in areas such as literature, art, philosophy, and language. A total of 22 municipal and provincial regions in China and 27 EU countries participated. A joint statement issued by both parties said that the two regions wished to continue further collaboration in the future.

Source: Xinhua, November 30, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-11/30/c_124031139.htm

Briefings | | December 3, 2012 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Xinhua Commentary Calls for Harsh Measures to Crack Down on Corruption

On November 30, 2012, the Disciplinary Committee of Shandong Province launched an investigation of Shan Zhende, Deputy Director of the Shandong Province Department of Agriculture, based on a statement he wrote to his mistress promising that he would divorce his wife and marry her. This incident took place one week after Lei Zhengfu, the District Party Secretary in Chongqing, stepped down from his post due to a sex tape scandal [Editor: according media reports, Lei was fired after tapes showing him with an 18-year-old woman, allegedly hired to bribe him, went viral].

Xinhua published a commentary quoting statistics from the Central Disciplinary Committee that showed that 95 percent of problem officials have mistresses. The commentary stated, "We can’t simply rely on the (issue of) mistresses to crack down on corruption." It called for harsher anti-corruption action and a disciplinary system that prevents Party officials from being misguided.

Source: Xinhua, December 2, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-12/02/c_113875628.htm

Briefings | | December 3, 2012 | Government/Politics

Economic Expert: China to Seek New Economic Reforms

According to Zhang Monan, a researcher from the Economic Forecast Department of the State Information Center, China faces difficulty maintaining the economic growth it has experienced over the past 30 years. Since the beginning of this year, China has seen an overall decline in investments, exports, and spending as well as in company’s profit margins, revenue, and production volume.

Zhang believes that China no longer has the advantage of being a low cost and narrow margin market. She suggested that reforms should start with breaking up the monopolies in energy resources and in the power structure; adjustments need to be made in the existing interest groups in China; government intervention should be minimized; and collaboration among all channels must be encouraged in order to work together to find a model that is suitable.

Source: China News Review, December 1, 2012
http://www.zhgpl.com/crn-webapp/doc/docDetailCreate.jsp?coluid=45&kindid=0&docid=102323382&mdate=1201090425

Briefings | | December 3, 2012 | Economy/Resources

Former Chinese Diplomat Comments on U.S. Middle East Strategy

Liu Baolai, former Vice President of The Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and former ambassador to the Middle East, published a commentary in Xinhua on the U.S. strategy in the Middle East titled, “The U.S Is Eating the Bitter Fruit of Its Middle East Strategy.” Liu said that in 2012, the U.S. Middle East strategy suffered one loss after another. He summarized them in five areas:

1) The U.S. declined in soft power and lost the regional support of the people. (Liu’s article cited a poll that showed that 78 percent of Arabs hate Americans). 2) As the Islamic forces rise, they only use "American democracy" to attain power but they actually oppose "American democracy." They are against the U.S.-led international policies; they want to be independent. 3) Iran is growing in power. Over the past year, in the face of the U.S. threat, Iran has built up its military power, developed military enterprises, greatly strengthened its national defense, and also held a number of military exercises. 4) The four transformed Arabian countries distanced themselves from the United States. The new regimes of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen learned lessons and have adjusted their foreign policies. They changed their previous pro-American policy to one that is relatively independent and balanced. 5) The Iraq "example" effect has disappeared. Since the U.S. troops left Iraq at the end of 2011, the American model has become an empty shell.

In the end, Liu remarked that "the Universal values" of the United States are not working. The U.S. can only eat the bitter fruits of its own acts.

Source: Xinhua, November 28, 2012

http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2012-11/28/c_124012685.htm

Briefings | | November 30, 2012 | Geo-Strategic Trend

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