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US-China Relations - 117. page

Navy Admiral: U.S. Warships Forcibly Entering Our Carrier Zone Is Similar to Provocation

The report below was originally published in Jinghua Times and then republished in People’s Daily. 

On December 5, a U.S. Navy Ticonderoga-class of guided missile cruiser nearly collided with a Chinese warship while carrying out surveillance of China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier in the South China Sea. According to the Global Times, the U.S. military had entered the inner defense zone of the cruiser aircraft carrier battle groups. 
This is another incident in the escalating confrontation between an emerging big maritime country, China, and the United States, the maritime power that has been dominant in the Asia-Pacific since World War II. 
Rear Adm. Yin Zhuo, director of the Chinese PLA Navy Advisory Committee for Information Technology, said that reconnaissance operations do not violate international law; however, because the Liaoning ship had already designated the area of activity and briefed the world before the pilot training exercises, under normal circumstances, other country’s ships would not freely enter the relevant waters for safety reasons. He noted that the U.S. military "test Gibbons" cruiser was sailing through our carrier battle groups, ignoring the advice of our guard vessels. This is a very unfriendly close reconnaissance operation, similar to provocation. 

Source: People’s Daily, December 17, 2013
 http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/1217/c1011-23858252.html 
http://epaper.jinghua.cn/html/2013-12/17/content_48996.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Huanqiu: Biden’s Beijing Trip Made Japan Recognize Who Is the Real Master

Huanqiu (Global Times), a subsidiary under People’s Daily, published an article stating that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s position in China made the noisy Japanese media "cool down." The article stated, in quoting a report by Hong Kong’s Oriental Daily, that on multiple public occasions in Beijing, Biden talked mainly about "the United States and China actively promoting the advancement of new relations between big powers" rather than the air defense identification zone. This made Japan, who asked the U.S. to do this and that, recognize "who is the real master and who can give orders." 

The article also claimed that, in his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, although Biden provided the reason why the United States is against China’s setting up the identification zone, China’s response was clearly the more important focus. Xi Jinping strongly rebutted him. The article stated that the foreign media that expected the United States to send a strong signal to China commented, "Biden’s visit to China was rebuffed." "Biden made the Japanese worry about the U.S. attitude." 

Source : Huanqiu, December 6, 2013 
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2013-12/4635259.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

People Daily: China’s ADIZ Hit Japan and the U.S. Where It Hurts

The following is an excerpt from a commentary published on the People’s Daily website: 

China’s announcement of an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) caused uproars in Japan, the United States, Australia, Canada and other Western countries. Japan and the U.S. even sent military planes as an act of provocation. Their media also followed the barking and rallied together to attack (China). Some people laughed at China, saying that the ADIZ is a self-inflicting "disgrace," "useless," "a paper tiger." In fact, such an extraordinary response proves that the Chinese move hits Japan and the U.S. exactly where it hurts. 
One of the accusations against China is China’s military modernization is "breaking the balance of power in the region." The United States, therefore, should "return to Asia" to rebuild "the Asia-Pacific balance." Some U.S. allies in Southeast Asia also expect the United States to balance China. It should be noted that the Asia-Pacific has never had military balance: the United States not only has never left Asia; it has had military dominance in East Asia. … In recent years China’s military modernization has been more for the sake of configuring its legitimate defense, as is needed for a big country. It is a process to rectify the "imbalance" and achieve "rebalance." This is where the United States and Japan’s worries are. However, China cannot stop growing the crops because of "fear of locusts.” 
Establishing the ADIZ is not only a matter of the sovereignty of our core national interests and of economic importance; it also has great strategic significance. The United States not only has never accused Japan because of its air identification zone; the U.S. also strongly supported it. Why do the two countries cooperate so seamlessly? Their purpose is, through the establishment of an air defense identification zone, to achieve blockage of China’s sea and air passages at the first island chain. In fact, Japan’s attempt is not "unacceptable." China must break barriers. How to break through? The United States and Japan have now shown us the way to follow. Now that American and Japanese military airplanes can break into China’s ADIZ without notice, then China of course can pass through Japan’s aviation identification zone without notification. Thus, the first island chain of the U.S. and Japan has become a "useless paper tiger." 

Source: People’s Daily, December 3, 2013 
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2013/1203/c1002-23729935.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

BBC Chinese: U.S. Ambassador’s Resignation Triggered Widespread Discussion

BBC Chinese recently reported that the announcement of the resignation of Gary Locke, the U.S. Ambassador to China, immediately triggered a massive discussion on the Chinese Internet. Many netizens joked that Mr. Locke’s decision was largely based on the air quality in Beijing. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing started offering local PM2.5 pollution readings, which pushed the environmental protection topic to the top of China’s agenda list. Many netizens also “strongly complained” that Mr. Locke played a key role in major incidents that involved helping well-known human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng flee China and in allowing the Chongqing Deputy Mayor Wang Lijun to enter the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu. Mr. Locke is also famous for his low profile style of spending taxpayer money, which contrasts significantly with the behavior of Chinese government officials. Some suggested that Mr. Locke might be getting ready to run for U.S. President, since he has accumulated enough experience in foreign relations, state governance, and running the federal-level Commerce Department. 
Source: BBC Chinese, November 20, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/11/131120_locke_resignation_weibo.shtml
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Yan Xuetong: China Will Be a Superpower within 10 Years

In an article recently published on the People’s Daily website, China Economic Weekly interviewed Yan Xuetong, the Dean of the Tsinghua University Institute of Contemporary International Relations. Yan predicted that China will become a superpower by the year 2023 and the world will celebrate the Sino-U.S. bipolar structure. 

Yan said, “In the next decade, the main theme of Sino-U.S. relations will be competition, but the core content of this competition is different from the past competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. This is why Chairman Xi Jinping proposed to establish new Sino-U.S. relations among major powers. This new type of relationship among major powers, although different from U.S.-Soviet relations, is not exactly a friendly relationship. I will call it a ‘fake friendship.’”
Yan also said that China’s foreign policy change from the original one of hiding its intention to the new one of playing an active role is actually a change in direction. “In the past, our attitude was almost not getting involved in any international issues. We only engaged in economic cooperation with other countries and set diplomatic issues aside. Now we talk about both economic and security issues. Security issues have become even more important.” 
“Our country’s foreign policy in the past was to take the United States as the top priority. The relationship with the neighboring countries had to give way to the Sino-U.S. relations. From now on, relations with neighboring countries will be the top priority in our country’s foreign relations. Sino-U.S. relations should be subordinate to the periphery relations. … It is a fundamental change in our foreign policy.” 
“To prevent being isolated from the international community, China needs to adjust to the non-alliance policy. Strategic alliances can help China increase the number of its true strategic partners. By 2023, China will likely have established about 20 allies or strategic partnerships worldwide. While this is far less than the number of U.S. military allies, it is already beginning to take shape as a stable strategic alliance system.” 
Source: People’s Daily, November 19, 2013 
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/1112/c1011-23509340.html
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Anti-America Documentary Silent Contest Portrays How the U.S. Infiltrates and Subverts China

The Chinese military’s National Defense University, the General Political Security and General Staff Departments, the Chinese Academy of Social Science, and the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations jointly created an anti-American propaganda documentary called, “Silent Contest.”  The movie was completed in June 2013, and widely circulated online for a brief period in October. Then starting on October 31, 2013, the Chinese mainstream media blocked it for reasons that are unclear. The movie asserts that the United States has used 5 methods to subvert China: 1) Political Infiltration, 2) Cultural infiltration, 3) Ideological infiltration, 4) Organizational infiltration, and 5) Political interference and social penetration.

According to the movie, the United States has been infiltrating and subverting China completely. The U.S. infiltration conspiracy is the cause of China’s complicated social conflicts, the CCP officials’ corruption, human rights protests, the spread of Christianity, and people’s advocatiing that China institute a constitutional government. The film also portrayed all the mainstream liberal intellectuals in society as political traitors, stating that these intellectuals who openly publish their opinions to oppose the CCP and betray the country are in the service of Western interests groups.

Source: Takungpao and NTDTV, November 5, 2013
http://news.takungpao.com/world/exclusive/2013-11/2013924.html
http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/gb/2013/11/05/atext997620.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

BBC Chinese: U.S. Investors Are Losing Confidence in China

BBC Chinese recently reported that, based on survey results that the Chinese American Chamber of Commerce released, less than 30 percent of the members of the Chamber thought that the environment for investors is improving in China. Over the past few months, the Chinese government and the state-run media have criticized many foreign companies in a number of industries, such as medicine, infant formula, smart phones, and coffee products. The same survey conducted last year showed that 43 percent of the people questioned expressed the belief that the investment environment in China was improving. The Chamber suggested that the loss in confidence was partially related to the new regulations on foreign investments that the government implemented at the end of 2011. At that time, the government introduced many new limitations and a lack of transparency in government licensing processes. The Chinese American Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization that represents over 1,000 U.S. companies and over 3,500 individuals who have invested in China. 
Source: BBC Chinese, October 24, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/10/131024_china_us_investment.shtml
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

State Think Tank on Strategies for China’s Foreign Exchange Reserves

Zhang Ming, an official from China’s Academy of Social Sciences, suggested that China, as the largest creditor of the U.S. debt may be the key to stabilize the U.S. dollar’s exchange rate. 

Zhang said that, in the long term, the U.S. exchange rate rather than the U.S. Treasury yield is the determinant for China’s purchase of the U.S. Treasury debt, thus stabilizing the U.S. dollar’s exchange rate in the foreign exchange market. When the U.S. dollar’s exchange rate is under pressure to appreciate, China will buy additional U.S. Treasury bills to help depreciate the U.S. dollars. 
Zhang recommended that China should diversify its foreign reserves within its U.S. dollar assets, rather than changing into other currencies. Also China should buy credit default swaps or S&P Volatility Index (VIX) calls to hedge against the risk that the U.S. Government may default. China should also take action to reduce the growth of its foreign exchange reserves. 

Source: Financial Times (Chinese Edition), October 23, 2013 
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001053040

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations