US-China Relations - 122. page

One of China’s state media, the International Herald Leader, published a commentary stating that morality in the United States has been declining, particularly since September 11, 2001, although there are still “righteous people” stepping forward.
 
“The United States asks others to abide by international law, while the U.S. itself has repeatedly violated international law. Recently, however, a series of events occurred, indicating that there are righteous people in the United States who come forward.”

The commentary cited Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden. “The fact that Manning disclosed how the U.S. has violated a large number of U.S. laws and the laws of other countries undoubtedly demonstrates that the U.S. system is in a serious moral decline. Likewise, in his daily work, former CIA [sic] employee Snowden also became extremely unhappy with the U.S. government’s abuse of power, excessive monitoring of its own citizens, and vigorous violations of the cyber security of other countries. He has been exposing such acts of the U.S. government so that other countries not only understand how fragile their own cyber network is, but also understand how the U.S. government plays the thief who cries ‘stop thief,’ and to what extent its morality has degenerated.”

Source: International Herald Leader, June 24, 2013
http://ihl.cankaoxiaoxi.com/2013/0624/228922.shtml

At a briefing given by China’s Foreign Ministry on June 25, 2013, government spokesperson Hua Chunying said that the accusation that the United States made about China allowing Edward Snowden to depart from Hong Kong is groundless and not acceptable to China.
 
“The Hong Kong Special Administration Region (SAR) Government has handled this case entirely in accordance with applicable law, which is beyond reproach, and should be respected by all parties. For the United States to question whether the Hong Kong SAR Government is acting in accordance with the law does not make sense. The U.S. accusation about China’s central government is groundless and is unacceptable to China."

Hua stated, “Even today, the U.S. still makes these remarks, which really puzzles people. I’d like to advise these people to look at themselves in a mirror, reflect, and take care of their own situation first.” When asked about reports that the U.S. is investigating whether Snowden is a spy for China, Hua said, "[T]his is nonsense and extremely irresponsible."

Source: Xinhua, June 25, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-06/25/c_116286549.htm

People’s Daily, overseas edition, which is distributed to Chinese all over the world, published a commentary that used the Snowden incident to attack the U.S. values of human rights and freedom of expression. 

Shan Renping, a commentator for China’s state-owned Huanqiu, published a commentary on Chen Guangcheng, the blind activist who fled China with the help of the United States. The commentary was clearly intended to dissuade other Chinese from taking similar actions. “There are some dissidents in China who believe that once they arrive in the United States, they will be treated as a treasure. This is their misunderstanding.”

“China and the United States are not enemies. Cooperation between the two countries will confuse those who live off the rice bowl of ‘Sino-US confrontation.’ They will feel that the United States is ‘not resolute’ in its attitude toward China, and that the United States chickens out during its fight against China. They even complain about ‘being ‘betrayed’ because they answered the call of the United States and took China as the enemy, only to be ‘abandoned halfway.’”

“China’s rapid development has attracted people around the world to come to look for development opportunities. At this time betraying this country’s mainstream development process and attempting to develop a personal life through renouncing this country is bound to be difficult in the long run. Such people will have no future.”

Source: Huanqiu, June 20, 2013
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/opinion_world/2013-06/4044144.html

On June 18, 2013, Huanqiu (the Chinese edition of Global Times) published an editorial responding to U.S. former vice president Dick Cheney’s hint that Edward Snowden, the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations, is a possible Chinese spy. According to the article, the Chinese government should not hand Snowden over to the United States because it fears trouble. The U.S. does not have any evidence to prove that Snowden is a Chinaese spy. If the Hong Kong government does not extradite Snowden, it will not lose any points on the moral level. Except for the extradition treaty with Hong Kong, the opinions that the U.S. releases cannot hurt China. The editorial suggested that Chinese reporters contact Snowden more and publicize the information in his hands around the world so as to put Snowden himself at the center of public opinion and lead public attention away from the American politicians’ accusations. The U.S. government will thus be discouraged in demanding Snowden’s extradition in the face of surging discussions of the secrets he released.

It is very practical for the U.S. government to drag the Chinese government into Snowden’s case so as to turn the public’s anger toward the U.S. government into dissatisfaction with the Chinese government. China will feel pressured but does not need to be too nervous. So far, the United States has not openly pressured the Chinese government publicly on the case, which, according to the editorial, is good enough for the Chinese government.

Source: Huanqiu, June 18, 2013
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2013-06/4035403.html

On June 10, 2013, China Gate and several other overseas Chinese websites in the U.S., Canada, and Australia published Shujie Yao’s article titled, “Xi Jinping’s Diplomatic Strategy to Deal with the U.S.: Using 12 Chinese Language Characters (3 four-character phrases) to ‘Nail down’ the United States.”
 
Shujie Yao, a Professor of Economics at the University of Nottingham in the UK, gave high praise to Xi Jingping for being smart in the way he obtained the 2-hour “intimate” meeting with U.S. President Obama on June 7, 2013.  The 12 Words for the Diplomatic Strategy are: 1) Use the diplomacy of showing off his wife’s beauty; establish China’s first lady’s image.  2) Allow someone to be free so as to be successful in apprehending him later: ignore the U.S. in Xi’s first overseas trips for the purpose of winning U.S. attention. 3) Rescue the kingdom of Zhao by besieging the capital of the kingdom of Wei: To solve the problems in Asian Pacific areas, China must gain wide support from Africa, South Asia, Latin America, Russia, and other countries first. Then, China will have enough energy to negotiate effectively with the U.S. and with Eastern Asian countries.

[Editor’s note: The reference to Zhao is about a well-known Chinese stratagem to let the enemy fully commit himself against his prey, and then, instead of rushing to the rescue, attack the enemy’s dearest possessions.]

Source: China Gate, June 10, 2013
http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2013/06/10/2446069.html
http://www.neixun.cn/sanshiliuji/sanshiliuji_yingwen_02.htm

In an article published on June 4, 2013, Huanqiu expressed its unhappiness with the United States’ accusations about China’s cyber attacks against the U.S.  Hunqiu warned of the potential danger to security that eight specific American companies may have brought to China. The companies are Cisco, IBM, Google, Qualcomm, Intel, Apple, Oracle, and Microsoft. The article compared these eight companies to the Eight-Power Allied Forces, the aggressive troops that Britain, the United States, Germany, France, tsarist Russia, Japan, Italy, and Austria sent to China in 1900 and said that the eight companies are even more dangerous in a time of crisis.

The writer made three suggestions about how to restrict the power and freedom of these eight companies in China.

Source: Huanqiu, June 5, 2013
http://mil.huanqiu.com/paper/2013-06/3998303.html

In the report, "Strategic Assessment 2012," published on May 28, 2013, in Beijing, China’s military think tank, the Research Center for Military Defense Policy at the Academy of Military Science (AMS), pointed out that, in accelerating its Asia-Pacific "rebalancing" strategy, the United States has a clear intention of targeting China. This has added a lot of variables to China-U.S. relations, but the possibility of a complete confrontation between the two countries remains modest.