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Qiushi: The Root Cause of the Chaos in Ukraine

On March 25, Qiushi published a commentary on the root cause of the chaos in Ukraine. The first reason is that “[Western] liberalism wantonly invaded [Ukraine], splitting Ukraine in the name of ‘freedom,’ and causing ordinary citizens to be unable to tell friends from foes.” The commentary also cited regional cultural differences, rampant corruption, and an unsuccessful “grafting” of the Western political system. 

However, “the ultimate cause of the unrest in Ukraine is that the European Union, the United States, and Russia compete for dominance over Ukraine.” Europe, once it controlled Ukraine, it would have leverage against China and Russia. The reason the United States competes for Ukraine is to squeeze Russia’s strategic space, block the Eurasian connection, and interrupt the Eurasian Silk Road that China has proposed. With respect to Russia, if it were to lose Ukraine to the West, it would lose the largest of the countries within the Commonwealth of Independent States; it would lose its last political strategic protective buffer. 

Source: Qiushi, March 25, 2014 
http://www.qstheory.cn/zywz/201403/t20140325_333580.htm

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People’s Daily: Russian Banks May Switch to UnionPay

People’s Daily recently reported that Anatoly Aksakov, Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Financial Markets Committee, suggested Russian banks under U.S. and European sanction may switch to China’s UnionPay credit card system, replacing the Western payment networks such as Visa and MasterCard. UnionPay is the only domestic bank card organization in China. Established in 2002, UnionPay has grown into the second largest payment network after Visa. UnionPay is now accepted in 141 countries in the world, including United States. Visa and MasterCard stopped the payment services for two Russian banks after the sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Crimea. Aksakov said that even Iran has survived the financial sanctions. Russia’s participation in UnionPay will only hurt Visa and MasterCard.
Source: People’s Daily, March 21, 2014
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2014/0321/c1002-24705197.html
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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
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Huanqiu: Is Russia’s Rise Good or Bad for China?

Huanqiu published a commentary article on whether Russia’s rise is good or bad for China. Below is an excerpt translated from the commentary: 

Moscow ignored the West’s warnings and announced the Crimea’s quick "return" to the Russian family. Putin’s geopolitical guts shocked the world’s political strategists. The shock to the United States and Europe has far-reaching implications. 
Chinese public opinion is roughly divided into two factions. One highly valued Putin’s strong striking back at the West, believing that Putin’s tough strategy will help reduce the pressure on China from the West. The other is worried that Russia’s Crimea victory will encourage Moscow’s arrogance or even "tyranny." Beijing may have difficulty in dealing with Moscow in the future. Some people worry that Russia’s rise again will see the recurrence of the past Tsarist Russia or the Soviet Union and lead to a new geopolitical nightmare for China. 
China’s position in Asia and the world is no longer the same as in the old times. The contrast between China and Russia’s overall national strength has also undergone historical changes. In the current situation between the two countries and with the potential for future development, China does not need to be more cautious of Russia than Russia of China. 
For quite a long time to come, China’s biggest strategic pressure will come from the U.S.-led Western powers. This pressure is both geopolitical and also, to a large extent, at the level of ideology and values. It is everywhere and it is also China’s core issue in the 21st century. It is much larger than the variables that may cause worries between China and Russia. 
Russia’s rise, in terms of strength and scale, is not without limit. China advocates a multi-polar world. If there is a relatively strong Russia to jointly promote the formation of a multi-polar world, it is much better than a world dominated by a uni-polar U.S. that has the final say. 

Source: Huanqiu, March 20, 2014 
http://mil.huanqiu.com/observation/2014-03/4917361.html

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China’s Official Media on Russia Taking over Crimea

On March 19, People’s Daily published an editorial titled, “One Should Not Take a One-Sided View to Solve Complex Issues.” The author used the pen name Zhong Sheng, which stands for China’s Voice. It said that one should have a global, balanced view to look at the Ukraine issue. “The most important thing is, in the legal and maintaining-order framework, to consider fully the fundamental interests of Ukraine’s ethnic groups and local people.”

It also said that the West started to reflect on the issue and its previous approach. “Some people realized that violence and instability in Ukraine does not satisfy Russia’s interest, nor does it satisfy the world’s interest.” “Kissinger expressed fear and doubts about ‘confrontation’: ‘Taking Ukraine as part of the Russia-West confrontation will destroy the hope of getting Russia and the West (especially Russia and Europe) into the global cooperation system in the next few decades.’ An expert from the European Council on Foreign Relations [the article gave the name of 马伊斯特; Chinascope didn’t find his English name] said more straightforwardly, ‘On the issue of Ukraine, the EU made a mistake at the very beginning. … The EU planned for a confrontation for which it didn’t even prepare itself. Now it has no proper approach to react to the crisis.’”

On March 19, Xinhua republished a Huanqiu article, “In His Speech, Russian President Putin Thanked China for Understanding Russia’s Stand on Crimea.” The article stated that on Tuesday, when Russian President Putin delivered a speech on the Crimean issue at a meeting of the Russian Parliament in the Kremlin, he thanked China for its support of Russia’s position. “We are grateful to all those who understood our actions in Crimea,” Putin said. “We are grateful to the people of China.”

On March 18, Huanqiu published another article, “Putin Makes a Lightning Announcement on the Crimea’s Coming Back Home; Patriotic Upsurge Sweeps Russia.” It said that Russia’s action “put Russia and the West into an unprecedented crisis after the post-cold war. On the other hand, a patriotic upsurge is now sweeping through Russia.” Putin said that “on the Ukraine issue, the Western partners eventually crossed the red line. Russia will no longer keep silent but will resolutely defend its national interest.” Putin “also expressed his gratitude to China and India for their support.”

Source:
[1] People’s Daily, March 19, 2014
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2014-03/19/nw.D110000renmrb_20140319_6-03.htm
[2] Xinhua, March 19, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2014-03/19/c_126285319.htm
Original article on Huanqiu, March 18, 2014
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2014-03/4913500.html
[3] Huanqiu, March 19, 2014
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2014-03/4913712.html

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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
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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
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Huanqiu Editorial: Russia Really Turns the West into a Paper Tiger This Time

The People’s Daily’s subsidiary Huanqiu published an editorial regarding the “battle” between the West and Russia in the Crimean crisis. Below is an excerpt from the article: 

Although on March 11, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution condemning Russia and called on the White House to expel Russia from the Group of Eight (G8) and implement visa and economic sanctions, the overall attitude of the U.S. and its European allies on the Crimean crisis is widely considered to be "weak." 
This time, in front of Russia and Putin, the West really is a bit like a "paper tiger." 
First, the West is afraid of Russia’s military forces. Western countries must exclude the option of war due to how super powerful Russia’s military force is while in conflict. As for other cards to play, the West also has to calculate carefully the possibility of whether it can overpower Moscow.　　 
Economic sanctions are not easy either. Russia’s has everything; its export goods are energy and raw materials that are in short supply. 
If the West could disrupt Russia politically, making Moscow start a "revolution," then that would be the most effective way, but Moscow’s "nationalism" (Russia believes that is patriotism) is very active. At the moment, "Democracy" is not going to win the battle. 
Finally, Moscow has accumulated more odds to win in the Crimean showdown. Whether by military or with "Democratic rule," the West will be worried about losing the tug of war in Crimea. 
Ukraine has become the frontline of conflict between the West and Russia, but it is too far away from the heart of the West and is too close to Russia’s core interests. Although Russia is much weaker than the West, when Russia really is prepared to "fight" at any price, the West exhibits fear. The West’s retreat this time is worth a global strategist’s serious study. 
In the promotion of Western political values, the U.S. and European powers are willing to pick apart their weak opponents. Once they hit a hard one, the West is not going to sacrifice itself to help non-Western countries’ "democrats." The West is selfish and constantly calculating its own interests. 
Source: Huanqiu, March 13, 2014 
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2014-03/4900117.html

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