Geo-Strategic Trend - 214. page

People’s Daily recently reported on a Gallup poll, which showed that 54% of those responding were dissatisfied with Obama. The poll also showed that Obama’s job approval rating was at 39%, which is a record low for a U.S. President. The report suggested that the poll result was related to S&P recently dropping the U.S. rating to AA+ for the first time in history. The report also referred to a recent Reuters’ poll which indicated that over 70% of U.S. people believe the country is heading the wrong direction. The report mentioned a few other numbers to prove its point: In July, the U.S. unemployment rate remained above 9% and the second quarter economic growth rate was merely 1.3%. Although Obama just started his bus tour in the Midwest to sell his new plan, the report hinted that might just be “a show for his reelection.”

Source: People’s Daily, August 20, 2011
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2011-08/20/content_902415.htm

Xinhua carried an article originally from Jiefang Daily that analyzed the increased military cooperation between India and Vietnam, stating their joint efforts in the China Sea would create challenges for China, diminish China’s economic influence on Vietnam, and would not help solve the South China Sea conflict. Moreover, the formation of the “Mekong-Ganga Cooperative,” which includes India and Vietnam, is an indication that they are trying to compete with China.

The article commented on how India and Vietnam have recently stepped up their military ties. On July 19, Vietnam invited the Indian Naval warship “Ins Airavat” to visit the Nha Trang port in southern Vietnam. Nha Trang, close to the South China Sea, was an important U.S. military base during the Vietnam War, and is fully equipped militarily. The article added, “It is a clear indication that Vietnam is attempting to include a third country in the South Sea dispute.”

India’s response to Vietnam included a promise to build a large naval warship, to export missiles, and to provide technical assistant to help the Vietnamese military forces. "India’s move shows that it hopes to have a presence in the Asia pacific region." The article ended by stating, “The impact of the strategic cooperation between India and Vietnam will be very limited due to their geographic location and their limited (military) power; … however we cannot take it for granted.”

Source: Xinhua, August 18, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2011-08/18/c_121876287_2.htm

Guangming Daily published an article analyzing four areas in which the US debt crisis caused damage to the world’s politics and its economy. 1) The downgrade of the U.S. credit rating significantly harmed its reputation and the trust in U.S. treasury bonds around the world. Moreover, the economic crisis also reflects its political crisis: both parties as well as the administration and Congress have shown they are incapable of solving the problems themselves. 2) As the U.S. is the most influential country, the debt crisis had a deep impact on the rest of the world. The downgrade of the U.S. credit rating caused the world market to fluctuate drastically. The recovery of the world economy has stalled, thus greatly affecting U.S. global influence and resulting in other countries having less trust in and reliance on the U.S. 3) As the world’s top superpower, the U.S. carries the responsibility for the rest of the world. However the way the U.S. handled the debt crisis shows it has been extremely irresponsible. The U.S. solution was to use the superior status of the U.S. dollar, transfer the risk to other countries, and let other countries carry the burden. 4) Coordination is needed in facing the crisis. No doubt the U.S. should take the main responsibility. However, in order to pull through the crisis, the rest of the countries such as the G20 Finance Ministers and the Governors of Central Banks should also work together.

Source: Xinhua, August 10, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2011-08/19/c_121881258.htm

Huaqiao University and Social Sciences Academic Press recently published the first “Blue Book on Overseas Chinese.” According to People’s Daily Oversea’s Edition, the Blue Book highlighted the development in recent decades of Chinese language and cultural education outside of China, along with the challenges it faces. According to the statistics in the Blue Book, there are currently over 5,000 Chinese language schools and 20,000 Chinese language teachers overseas, including 3,000 Chinese schools in Asian countries alone, and 500 Chinese schools and 68,000 students in the U.S.

The Blue Book highlighted the challenges oversea’s Chinese educational development faces. "There is an imbalance in the allocation of resources; the quality of teaching is inconsistent in different regions; effective coordination can be improved; and communication between foreign Chinese language promotional agencies and education entities is lacking. … The challenges have affected the branding of ‘China’s image’ … and diminished China’s ‘Cultural soft power’" The Blue Book suggested there is a need to increase the efforts and resources devoted to the development of Chinese language education and to the development of a global Chinese language education system.

Zhao Yang, the Deputy Director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council disclosed that China will increase its investment in training oversea’s Chinese language teachers and will support the development of a Chinese language education system. According to the article, currently there is a training class held in Kunming University for Chinese language teachers from Burma. Another will be held in Wuhu City of Anhui Province in December to train teachers from Indonesia.

Source: Xinhua, August 19, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2011-08/19/c_121882177.htm

Beijing Daily published a commentary on the downgrade of the US credit rating and suggested the measures that China should take. The commentary stated, “The downgrade of the U.S. credit rating from AAA is a historic and symbolic event. It should be viewed as a major turning point in the decline of the country’s national development. The decline of the U.S., already a global consensus, necessarily means great changes and strenuous adjustments in the world order. The East Wind prevails over the West Wind. The center of gravity of world power is shifting to emerging countries. The world’s political and economic structure will end the era in which the West makes the call. This is determined by the reality and trend of the global development of productivity. Facing this major adjustment and change, China needs to have a clear understanding and a conscious response.” 

Xinhua recently reported on the assassination of the Libyan rebel’s military commander. The report emphasized that the victim died as a result of infighting. It quoted Gaddafi’s spokesman as saying “For the U.K. this is a resounding slap in the face.” The timing of the event was very unfortunate for the U.K. since it happened only 24 hours after the U.K. diplomatically acknowledged the rebels. The BBC reported the assassination as “totally exposing” the internal disagreements among the rebels. Despite the infighting among the rebels, on July 30, NATO bombed the Libyan National Television Station. The article referred to several newspapers in Egypt, Hong Kong, and Russia whose comments questioned whether the rebels can actually control and manage post-Gaddafi Libya.

Source: Xinhua, August 1, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2011-08/01/c_121754127.htm

People’s Daily recently published its own commentary (in addition to other media) on ASEAN’s (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) attempt to get China to sign the “Guidelines of Peaceful Conduct in the South China Sea.” The commentary suggested that this is a new attempt by Vietnam and the Philippines to force China to acknowledge their actual occupation of some islands. The author expressed the belief that these two countries are, wit U.S. help, testing China’s bottom line. This new attempt seeks an agreement on binding guidelines which were designed to eliminate China’s military option. The U.S. support called for all parties to follow the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; however, the U.S. Congress itself has not approved it. The commentary suggested that, at the end of the day, there will be no win-win situation and the military option must remain on the table. The author also suggested that attacking pirates and conducting rescue missions could be used as excuses to maintain a military presence in the South China Sea.

Source: People’s Daily, August 4, 2011
http://military.people.com.cn/GB/15326005.html

During his visit in Poland, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told the media that China pays close attention to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. China supports the measures that the European Union and the International Monetary Fund have taken to stabilize the situation. “China continues to have confidence in the Euro zone and the Euro. In recent years, China has increased its holdings of Euro bonds.” Yang said that China will continue to support Europe and the Euro.

Yang also hoped that “the United States adopt a responsible monetary policy,” and that “the U.S. implement practical measures to insure the safety of other countries’ assets in the U.S.”

Source: China News Service, August 5, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2011/08-05/3236891.shtml