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Top Ten Challenges the Communist Party Faces

The State’s Xinhua Wenzhai published an article that discussed the internal and external challenges that the Communist Party faces as the ruling party in China. The top 10 challenges are in the following areas: wavering on the basic Party line; diluting the party’s ideology; an incomplete democratic system within the Party; an excessive concentration of power; slackness and a lack of will; complacency and incompetence; deviating from the Party’s mission and rampant bureaucracy; ignoring social justice and shaking the foundation of the Party’s governance; corruption and abuse; the formation of vested interest groups within the Party; and Westernization and ignoring the Western hostile forces efforts.

Source: Xinhua Wenzhai, reprinted at People’s Daily, August 30, 2012
http://theory.people.com.cn/n/2012/0830/c40531-18872226.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Dispute between China and Japan over Diaoyu Islands Continues

Following the Japanese government’s sealing a deal to purchase the Diaoyu (called Senkaku in Japan) Islands from their private Japanese owners, the Chinese government took a series of counteractions to fight for sovereignty over the islands. 

On September 11, 2012, China sent two ocean surveillance ships (No.46 and No.49) to the waters around the Diaoyu Islands and claimed to have implemented an action plan in case they need to protect the island’s sovereignty. [1]
Also on September 11, 2012, the Central Meteorological Observatory started to include the Diaoyu Islands and the surrounding waters in its weather forecast for domestic cities. [2] At the same time, China Central Television (CCTV) started to air the weather forecast for the Diaoyu Islands following CCTV’s daily news program. [3]
Sources: People’s Daily, September 11-12, 2012 
[1] http://pic.people.com.cn/n/2012/0911/c1016-18976887.html 
[2] http://world.people.com.cn/n/2012/0912/c1002-18983562.html 
[3] http://pic.people.com.cn/n/2012/0912/c1016-18987178.html
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Senior Party Official Re-appeared after 10 Days of Absence

People’s Daily reported that, on September 12, 2012, He Guoxiang, a Member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, visited four media companies. While there, he made remarks, emphasizing the need to study and implement Hu Jintao’s speech made earlier at a forum attended by provincial level Party officials. He also called for further strengthening and improvement of the anti-corruption campaign and training with the goal of creating a favorable environment for the opening of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party.

[Editor’s note: This was the first time in 10 days that He Guoxiang made a public appearance. Since Xi Jinping had not been seen in public since September 1, one of many rumors was that the two had been injured in an automobile accident.]

Source: People’s Daily, September 13, 2012
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2012-09/13/nw.D110000renmrb_20120913_9-01.htm?div=-1

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Circulating on the Internet: Five Secret Rules to Get Promoted in China’s Officialdom

An article titled “Five Secret Rules to Get Promoted in China’s Officialdom” has recently circulated widely on the Internet. Here are the key points of the five secret rules:

1) Brag and lie;
2) Develop a network of relationships;
3) Commit fraud;
4) Give many gifts;
5) Flatter the right people.

Source: China Gate, September 6, 2012
http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2012/09/06/gossip-76411.html

Briefings | | |   Grapevine

International Herald Leader: Within 10 Years, the U.S. Dollar Will Completely Collapse

On September 6, 2012, the International Herald Leader, a newspaper under Xinhua News Agency, published an article titled “Within 10 Years, the U.S. Dollar Will Completely Collapse.” According to the article, “The so-called economic recovery in the United States, which is based on an increase in the national debt, is a false recovery.” The article predicts that “China’s economy will overtake the U.S. economy and become the world’s largest economy. The internationalization of the Chinese yuan will further improve Chinese people’s living standards.”

Source: International Herald Leader, September 6, 2012
http://ihl.cankaoxiaoxi.com/2012/0906/89118.shtml

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

China to Launch 8 Satellites to Strengthen Maritime Surveillance

According to an article in Xinhua on September 7, 2012, by 2020, China will be able to monitor its maritime territories completely through remote satellite sensing. The article reported that China plans to launch eight new satellites in the next 8 years so as to strengthen its maritime surveillance of the South and East China seas including the Diaoyu islands (also called the Senkaku Islands) in the East China Sea and Huangyan Island (Scarborough Shoal) in the South China Sea.

Source: Xinhua, September 7, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2012-09/07/c_123687799.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

People’s Daily: HSBC August Chinese Manufacturing PMI Suffered a Big Drop

People’s Daily recently reported that the August PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) number for China’s manufacturing industry dropped to 47.6, down from 49.3 in July. The number of new orders for exports dropped to its lowest level in nine months. Average invested cost was at its lowest point for the last 41 months. The level of inventory was the highest its been since HSBC started collecting PMI data. Over the the last 10 consecutive months, China’s manufacturing sector has declined in overall performance. For the past four months, the demand for raw materials has weakened and average supplier preparation time has shown improvement. According to the HSBC report, the main cause of the slowdown in the manufacturing industry is the low volume of new orders. PMI is an indicator of financial activity reflecting purchasing managers’ acquisition of goods and services. A PMI number below 50 typically reflects a decline.
Source: People’s Daily, September 3, 2012
http://finance.people.com.cn/money/n/2012/0903/c42877-18903596.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Study Times: Strengthening Control over Cyberspace

Study Times, a magazine by the Chinese Communist Party Central Party School, recently published an article on the importance of control over cyberspace. The article started by emphasizing the damage that the WikiLeak incident caused, which demonstrated the significant impact that cyberspace can have on real human society. Then the author quoted the Obama administration’s strategy of saying that cyberspace is a nation’s important asset and key infrastructure. Based on statistics release by CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center), China had 513 million netizens by the end of 2011. This represented a 38.3% Internet coverage of the Chinese population. According to CNCERT (National Computer network Emergency Response technical Team), in the year 2011, there were 47,000 foreign Trojan/Botnet control servers that participated in controlling 8.9 million Chinese hosts. The author suggested that China needs to start building a strong information infrastructure and that the government should lead this effort by establishing an administrative structure with clear responsibilities. The author pointed out that the United States and its partners in the West control all of the core software and hardware technologies. China should focus the use of its resources on changing this critical situation. Domestic talent-building as well as improving information management laws are also important tasks.
Source: Study Times, September 3, 2012
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2012/09/03/07/07_37.htm
Briefings | | |   Information/Technology