Skip to content

US-China Relations - 102. page

Chinese Review News: Are Sino-U.S. Relations In Winter?

China Review News published a commentary that stated, "Recently, conflicts have continually emerged between China and the U.S."

"First, the U.S. and the Philippines held a joint naval exercise near the islands over which both China and the Philippines claim sovereignty. Second, the U.S. has pressured China to stop its island-building in the South China Sea and sent planes and ships to go inside the 12 nautical miles of those islands (which is considered China’s water and air-space). Secretary of State Kerry’s visit to China did not cool things down. He didn’t reach an agreement with China on the island-building issue. His statement on deploying the THAAD missile defense system, when visiting South Korea after his China trip, further hurt China’s nerves."

The U.S. media have also stirred things up. They exaggerated the military threat from China and have re-cooked the Chinese spy cases. They called Li Keqiang’s visit to Latin America confronting the U.S. in its own backyard and said that Xi Jinping’s attending Russia’s Victory Day Parade was China and Russia joining forces to counter the U.S.

"Though China and the U.S. have already established a coordination mechanism at multiple levels, that didn’t help stop the disputes from escalating. The U.S.’ pressing attitude and its dogmatic rhetoric made it lose sincerity when communicating with China. Its media further stirred up issues and added more barriers to resolution, leaving both sides unwilling to take the first step to ease the tension." "This could be a lose-lose battle for both sides."

Source: China Review News, May 24, 2015
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1037/6/4/0/103764032.html?coluid=136&kindid=4710&docid=103764032&mdate=0524000307

Obamas’ Exclusive Win Mentality Will Lead the United States to Lose the World

China’s state media Xinhua published a series of articles responding to Obama’s speech at the Nike factory in Oregon. The editor added the following comments: 

“Recently, at the Nike factory in Oregon, Obama boasted, ‘We must let [make sure] the United States writes the global economic rules. … If we don’t, [–guess what–] China will. They’ll write those rules in a way that gives Chinese workers and Chinese businesses the upper hand.’ It is just a few words, but it is the most blatant propaganda that Obama has issued for the TPP’s public relations. It revealed the United States’ narrow ‘win-lose’ [I win exclusively; you lose] mentality and his imperial-style elite thinking. How clear, how wrong, and how dangerous this is! 
“In fact, the American arrogance and the tyranny of a ‘single superpower’ has been a frequent topic among the U.S. elites. With the waning of its strength advantage, it will be difficult to allow the United States’ ambitions to ‘lead’ the world for another century. The U.S.’s greatest pain today is that it cannot accept a multipolar world. Over the years, the U.S. has pursued unilateralism in diplomatic and military affairs; it is engaged with an economic coterie of elite alliances to the exclusion of developing countries; it has imposed its political ideology on other countries. Many experts have pointed out that this "win-lose" elite-style of thinking of the United States will further contribute to the U.S. decline. Even more countries will want de-Americanization. Eventually the U.S. will lose the world.” 

Source: Xinhua, May 28, 2015 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-05/28/c_127847951.htm

Chinese Scholars on the Sino-U.S. Relationship

Chinese Review News hosted a forum at its headquarters in Beijing on, "The Development and Deepening the Sino-U.S. Relationship." Below are some scholars’ comments.

Shi Yinhong of Renmin University of China: Since he took the top leadership position, Xi Jinping has changed the direction of China’s foreign policy. He has expanded military power and promoted China’s ocean sovereignty. This has gained him the people’s support and the consolidation of his power within China. However, it came at quite some cost [with the U.S.].

Lv Dehong of the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies: The U.S.’s biggest problem in its Sino-U.S. policy is that it does not see its own problem. It has long insisted on its own viewpoint, its own logic, and its own policy. It pursues its own interests. It has done many things that hurt others, because its policy does not recognize the interests of other countries.

Yuan Zheng of the China Academy of Social Science: [I would like to make] a few points on the direction of China’s foreign diplomacy. First, China’s nationalism will continue to rise and its foreign policy will take a more hardline approach. Second, as China’s power continues to rise, China will have a greater influence in international affairs. Third, the U.S. thinks that, though China is more active in diplomatic activities, China’s current and future focus is still China. Fourth, the U.S. is worried about China’s recent actions.

Liu Feitao of the China Institute of International Studies: The public in the U.S. is more concerned than the government about the military side of the Sino-U.S. relationship. No matter which party in the U.S. wins the next election, it will take a harderline approach towards China. The U.S. has more strategic worries about China than China has about the U.S.

Source: China Review News, May 21, 2015
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1037/6/1/0/103761001.html?coluid=1&kindid=0&docid=103761001&mdate=0521001004

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Urged the U.S. Not to Complicate the Situation

Yahoo Hong Kong recently reported that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the United States not to further complicate the situation in the South China Sea. On May 20, the United States sent a reconnaissance aircraft, the US P-8A Poseidon to monitor the Chinese land reclamation activities around three islands. The Chinese military warned the U.S. airplane eight times to leave immediately to avoid a conflict. The U.S. military responded that the aircraft was flying in international territory. The spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs asserted that China has inarguable sovereignty over the land and sea in that area. He urged the United States not to worsen the situation, which could lead to unexpected conflicts. The CNN reporter who flew with the U.S. aircraft taped the trip and released the video to the general public. The video showed that an air traffic control tower, an early warning radar system, and military camps had been constructed. 
Source: Yahoo Hong Kong, May 21, 2015
http://tinyurl.com/m55g28k

PLA Daily: U.S. to Build Free Global Coverage of “Extranet.” Will It Be a Blessing or a Curse?

PLA Daily published a commentary article discussing the future of the “Extranet,” with special concerns about U.S. control of the technology. The article was also republished in a number of other state-run media in China. Below is an excerpt from the article: 

“Recently, a U.S. technology company intended to launch a small satellite system built by ‘extranet’ to enable people in every corner of the world access the Internet. What is more, everyone can enjoy the ‘free meal.’ Immediately, users around the world sought after this news, as if a huge ‘pie’ was coming down from heaven. Nowadays, there are indeed an increasing number of large technology companies beginning to implement their own ‘extranet’ program. [The question is:] Is this ‘Network’ a blessing or a curse?” 
“This plan is not just a simple ‘charity.’ One must keep a sober mind and have a clear understanding.” 

“Concerns and worries are justifiable. In 2011, foreign media revealed that the U.S. invested US$70 million to develop something called a ‘portable Internet access device,’ which was to build a new ‘shadow Internet‘ to help the opposition in some countries to use wireless access to avoid network monitoring and blocking. The birth of the ‘extranet’ concept enables this ‘shadow Internet’ to go from dark to daylight, but even more so. With its considerable political overtones, it may eventually become a political tool with ulterior motives.” 
"At the same time, construction of the ‘extranet’ is based on the air and space, covering the whole globe. This unique feature allows it to be transformed easily into an efficient global communications network with strong anti-strike capability, a wide communication range, and a high transmission speed, providing strong technical support for the military. Information and intelligence have been the key factors in winning advantages in war, especially in the information war. If, in the future, this network indeed covers the entire world, then its owner will undoubtedly gain an overwhelming advantage in combat.” 
“According to one expert, if, in the future, the IoT (Internet of Things) is merged into this large ‘extranet’ network, then it will be the equivalent of the brain of the ‘wisdom Earth.’ It will be tightly controlled in the hands of a few people."  
Source: PLA Daily, April 23, 2015 
http://www.81.cn/jmywyl/2015-04/23/content_6455818.htm
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/0423/c1011-26890629.html 

People’s Daily: The Intentions of Philippine Military Officials’ Illegal Tour of the Spratly Islands

Wang Xiaopeng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), wrote an article, which People’s Daily recently published, commenting on the Philippine’s armed forces chief of staff Kata Pang’s tour of the Spratly islands. Below is an excerpt from the article: 

“On May 11, the Philippine’s armed forces chief of staff, Kata Pang, entered the Philippines’ illegally occupied Thitu Island of China’s Spratly islands in the maritime area of China, along with many foreign media reporters who were stationed in the Philippines. During their island activities, Kata Pang also discussed the development of tourism and a marine resources program with the so-called ‘Kalayaan town mayor.’ [Kalayaan town is a municipality in the Philippine’ province of Palawan in the Spratly islands]. Staging a landing force at this point shows that the Philippine military official harbors three ulterior motives.” 
“The first is to solidify the illegal presence of the Philippines in the Spratly Islands by means of internationalization. This will achieve the Philippine military strategy of transformation of a counterinsurgency in the south to control the sea in the west.” 
“The second is, with the backing of the United States, to play a self-fulfilling game by having more follow-up actions after the end of the U.S.-Philippine military exercises. To further achieve military allocation of its ‘Asia-Pacific rebalancing’ strategy, the United States actually is building an ‘East – South China Sea dispute chain.’ The Philippines is an important chess piece in the chain. On the premise of ‘fighting without breaking,’ the United States needs the Philippines to use as a continual provocation in the South China Sea dispute. That way, the South China Sea remains in a ‘controversial state,’ in order to distract China’s strategic attention at all times.” 
“The third is to cheer Japan, encouraging Japan to move from its current, tentative involvement [in the dispute] into a more permanent intervention.” 

Source: People’s Daily, May 12, 2015 
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2015/0512/c1002-26988535.html

People’s Daily: China Responded to Pentagon’s Annual Report on China’s Military

On May 9, People’s Daily reported that the Chinese Ministry of Defense responded to the newly released Secretary of Defense report to the U.S. Congress on "Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2015." Geng Yansheng, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, told the media that the 2015 U.S. report completely ignored the facts and simply repeated the long outdated theory of the “Chinese military threat.” The United States made “groundless accusations” against the Chinese military’s strategic planning, the development of its military branches, space development, Internet warfare, military transparency, and the Taiwan issue. The United States Report especially ignored the positive contributions China has made to maintain regional stability and to improve the relationship between the U.S. military and the Chinese military. China is firmly against this report. Geng also suggested that the United States has been publishing the Report for several years, which has significantly damaged the mutual trust. He asked the U.S. Department of Defense to take immediate steps to stop its negative activities. He also said that China reserves the right to have further reactions. 
Source: People’s Daily, May 10, 2015
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/0510/c1011-26975141.html

People’s Daily Opinion Article: Why the West Keeps Misinterpreting China

People’s Daily carried an opinion article about why the West, headed by the United States, keeps misinterpreting China. The article mentioned that the China Collapse theory has recently surfaced. The theory is not new, as all kinds of theories about China have been expressed. The article then focused on analyzing why the West keeps misinterpreting China. It mentioned three reasons.

The first is the orientation of Western research. The article stated that the U.S., as the base for the worldwide study of China, places the main focus of its research on China studies on China’s negative side, including rights movements; human and ethnic rights; conflicts in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Taiwan; mass protests; and social conflicts. The article claimed that the U.S. does so because (these issues) make it easier for scholars to apply for research funding. Therefore China studies in the U.S. often lack a certain independence. At the same time, the media also portray China in a way that is not accurate.

The second is that the West has a cold war mentality. The article stated that China studies in the U.S. have not gone beyond the cold war mentality. The research topics are chosen in order to identify and create internal conflicts in other countries. This then enables the U.S. to find an excuse to interfere.

The third is an inability to predict future development. The article said that there have been many incorrect predictions about China. The U.S. applies its own standard to judge and lead China, which has resulted in its being both disappointed and frustrated.

Source: People’s Daily, April 29, 2015
http://opinion.people.com.cn/n/2015/0429/c1003-26920774.html