Geo-Strategic Trend - 228. page

Xinhua reported that, on December 7, 2010, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jiang Yu told reporters that more than one hundred countries and international organizations around the globe sided with China against the Nobel Committee’s decision on the Peace Prize this year. Jiang suggested that the number provided ample proof that the majority of the international community refused to accept the “wrong decision.” He called the Peace Prize winner a “criminal” and suggested that the Chinese people are strongly against the decision as well.

Source: Xinhua, December 7, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-12/07/c_12856884.htm

According to the website of the United Front Work Department of the CCP Central Committee, a ceremony to present the “China Western-Return Scholar Entrepreneur ‘Tengfei’ Award (the Soar Swiftly Award)” was held in Beijing on December 8, 2010. Jia Qinglin, the Chairman of the CCP People’s Political Consultative Conference, sent a congratulatory letter to the awards ceremony.

The Western Returned Scholars Association (http://www.coesa.cn/), which is led by the CCP Central Committee Secretariat, together with the China Overseas-educated Talent Development Foundation, which is approved by the CCP United Front Work Department, co-sponsored the “Tengfei” Award.

The “Tengfei” Award is a response to the CCP Central Committee’s “1000 Talents Plan” (http://www.1000plan.org/), a plan to support top overseas Chinese talent in returning to China in the next 5 to 10 years starting in 2008. From 1978 to the end of 2009, the total number of Chinese students studying abroad reached 1.6207 million. Nearly 497,400 students (less than 31%) returned to China after studying abroad.

Source: The United Front Work Department of the CCP Central Committee, December 9, 2010
http://www.zytzb.cn/09/newscenter/benwang/201012/t20101209_686671.html

People’s Daily Online reported on November 28, 2010, that, for the first time, the European Branch of China’s National Office of Chinese Language Education had provided training in the Chinese language to native German teachers. The training took place from November 26 to November 28. Certificates were issued to 184 German Chinese language teachers. In the closing ceremony, senior editors from several well-known Chinese publications discussed the usefulness of the six series of educational materials with the teachers.

Source: People’s Daily Online, November 29, 2010
http://world.people.com.cn/GB/1029/42356/13348681.html

On November 29, 2010, China’s distinguished military expert Admiral Yin Zhuo was a guest on the Power Nation Forum of the People’s Daily website. In answering the question, “What message does the U.S. want to convey thorough the military exercises with South Korea,” Yin explained that there are both strategic and tactical implications to the U.S. choosing the Yellow Sea for the exercises. Strategically, it is to send a very important signal: “The U.S. is the leader in the Asian Pacific region.” Now, Obama wants to be the “Pacific President.” Secretary of State Clinton proposed “returning to Asia.” Currently, the U.S. is unable to return to Asia economically. Its returning to Asia is mainly through its military. This action is to strengthen the allied relationship with Japan and South Korea. Furthermore, the U.S. is also sending a message to North Korea: (The U.S.) is a determined supporter and ally of South Korea, and will fulfill its promise as an ally. North Korea should not take any further risks; otherwise it will face a U.S. military strike.

Source: People’s Daily, November 30, 2010
http://bbs1.people.com.cn/postDetail.do?boardId=6&view=1&id=105470504

Chinese and Russian leaders announced on November 23, 2010,  that both China and Russia will use their national currencies to settle bilateral trade.

On November 27, 2010, China Review News predicted that "the U.S. dollar’s hegemony will collapse” when the U.S. fails to find a new “myth” to maintain its economic model that profits from increasing debts. “It is the U.S. dollar’s hegemony that has forced China and Russian to use their national currencies to settle their bilateral trade. Of course, the move that China and Russia took is a challenge to the U.S. dollar’s hegemony, though it cannot immediately end the U.S. dollar’s hegemony.”

On November 23, 2010, China Daily, on the other hand, said that the move did not directly challenge the U.S. dollar.

Sources:
China Review News, November 27, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1015/1/9/1/101519126.html?coluid=148&kindid=0&docid=101519126&mdate=1127000659
China Daily, November 23, 2010
http://www.china-daily.org/China-News/Bilateral-trade-between-China-and-Russia-will-be-settled-in-national-currency/

China Business Network (CBN) recently reported that the East Asia 10+3 Group (the Association of South East Asian Nations plus China, Japan, and Korea) will establish an organization to run the East Asian Foreign Exchange Reserve. The 10+3 Leaders Conference, held at the end of October, made it clear that this process needs to speed up. The new organization will be called the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO). The primary mission of AMRO includes: (1) studying regional economics, and (2) clarifying the mechanism behind the usage of the Foreign Exchange Reserve.

It has not yet been decided who will lead this new organization. There have been several rounds of negotiations on the ratio of shares that each of the parties should hold. The primary competition is between China and Japan. Singapore was selected to be site of AMRO’s physical location.

Source: China Business Network, November 17, 2010
http://www.yicai.com/news/2010/11/602258.html

The major agenda of the 2010 APEC CEO Summit held in Japan on November 13 and 14 was to promote the formation of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). The final memorandum of the summit included the Pan-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP). TPP was not a hotly followed topic until the U.S. developed its “meticulous involvement.”

The U.S. has strategic intentions for being involved in TPP. On the one hand, the U.S. can use TPP to fulfill its plan for the “Asian Pacific free trade region” and ensure its leading position in free investment in Asian Pacific trade. On the other hand, the U.S. can further expand its goal of having a bilateral trade agreement in East Asia, thus dividing cooperative efforts in East Asia.

Qian Liwei, a scholar at the American Institute of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the World News Journal reporter, “With the U.S. returning to Asia, China’s leading regional cooperation in Asia is undoubtedly its biggest threat. Therefore, the U.S. will interfere with the progress of trade in East Asia. It’s like China is a developer while the U.S. is a destroyer. The U.S. wants Japan and some Southeast Asian countries to be on its side, forming a new regional network.”

Source: World News Journal, November 16, 2010
http://gb.cri.cn/27824/2010/11/16/5311s3056805.htm

In an article originally published in Outlook, Liu Jianfei, a professor from the Party School of the Chinese Communist Party, commented that other countries, not even the United States, can replace China’s contribution to the economies of its neighbors. There have been some negative elements among China’s neighboring countries, such as a stronger stance against China in territorial disputes, military drills targeting China, and changes in Japan’s policies towards China. However, Liu stated that China’s neighbors have not fundamentally changed. For example, the negative elements are mostly in the east, while the north, west, and south remain stable. Further, the Sino-Russian relationship has improved. Although there may be some negative changes, they are mostly partial, and not comprehensive. “There are more opportunities than challenges,” concluded Liu.

Source: China News Service, reprint from Outlook, November 15, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/2010/11-15/2656080.shtml