US-China Relations - 140. page

Huanqiu published an article titled “If the Chinese RMB Were to Appreciate Significantly, the United States Would Be Reduced to a Second Class Country.” The author, Tang Chunfeng, is a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under China’s Ministry of Commerce. Tang stated that the following would happen if the RMB exchange rate with the U.S. dollar were 1:1. China’s GDP would be close to three times that of the U.S. thus making it the No. 1 power in the world. The Chinese RMB would become the major currency for international trade settlement and for foreign exchange reserves. As the currency of the largest debt holder, the supply of RMB would be greater than domestic demand and China would become the “central bank” of the world. The value of overseas assets that Chinese owned would surpass that of Japan. China would finance its overseas investments with a zero interest rate. Today’s employees working for foreign bosses would be business owners bossing around their foreign employees. As the United States lost its economic power, humiliation and blows would ensue. Its Empire State Building and key industries might have to be sold. Even the Capitol and the White House might possibly be used to obtain mortgages to pay for its debts.

Source: Huanqiu, October 3, 2011
http://finance.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-10/2080072.html

China Review News (CRN) published an article proposing strategies to cope with the recent bill in Congress, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011. The article says that Washington has to face the reality that the U.S. cannot ignore China’s existence and its role in almost every area today; therefore both countries should increase communication and understanding. The article proposed four action items that China should take: 1). Conduct public diplomatic relations with select Congressional leaders of the U.S. Senate and House; 2). Conduct public diplomatic relations with targeted U.S. enterprises and with interest groups representing various industries; 3). Conduct public diplomatic relations with the important U.S. think tanks and with the scholars who can influence the issues related to the bill; 4). Via printed materials, radio and TV programs, movies, TV series, and various other media, introduce a living China to the American public.　

Source: China Review News, October 11, 2011
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1018/6/3/6/101863691.html?coluid=148&kindid=0&docid=101863691&mdate=1011001631

The State media Guangming Daily published an article on its website urging the U.S. to focus on its own interests, rather than on ideology, when dealing with China. It observed that the U.S. would like to see other economies in a strong recovery so as to lead the world economy out of recession. “China is exactly such an economy, and is probably the only economy that can do the job.” It warned that the U.S. is playing with a boomerang with the Chinese currency exchange issue and could end up harming its own economy if it is not careful. “The Sino-US relationship is not based on ideology but respective self-interest. … The normal approach to expanding the bilateral relationship is not to allow ideology to hinder our views, but to play the game based on the different interests of each party.”

Source: Guangming, October 3, 2011
http://view.gmw.cn/2011-10/03/content_2733020.htm

Guo Xiangang, the Deputy Director of China’s Institute of International Studies, commented on the bill on China’s currency that is before the U.S. Senate, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011. He observed that, in addition to political motivation because of the upcoming election year, the move occurred because the U.S. has its own problems. In particular, in recent years, China has surpassed Japan and become the No. 2 economy in the world. “The United States of course is No. 1. From the U.S. perspective, it has a sense of crisis, worrying that China will surpass the U.S. and become No. 1 in a few years. Therefore, it has been trying various approaches. One is to find fault with and attack China. A second is to reduce China’s growth rate, or even to contain China, believing that will slow down China’s growth.

Source: China National Radio, October 3, 2011
http://china.cnr.cn/qqhygbw/201110/t20111003_508576092_1.shtml

Study Times published an article stating that the recent U.S. arms sale to Taiwan was motivated by four factors. The first one is the core strategic interest of the U.S. to contain China by leveraging Taiwan. The U.S. conservatives consistently view China as its major strategic competitor, not a partner. The second factor is the significant U.S. economic interest in the arms sale. This new agreement to sell arms brings the entire amount of arms sales during the Obama administration to US$12.252 billion, topping previous administrations since the severance of the U.S. – Taiwan diplomatic relationship. The third factor is the domestic politics associated with the upcoming election. The economy and jobs are the most important issues in the election. The arms sale will allegedly result in over 80,000 jobs in the U.S. The fourth factor is the interplay of the domestic political forces in Taiwan.

Source: Study Times, October 3, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/10/03/02/02_38.htm

On September 25, 2011, PLA Major General Luo Yuan told an audience of about 400 at the Wenhui newspaper lecture room, “I view the full range of strategic threats from the United States as the most major external threats to us.” Luo summarized the U.S. threats as the threat of the (democratic) system and the military threat. “The U.S. government spends $4.4 billion in strategic funds each year on foreign subversion, infiltration, and intervention. Previously, their targeted country was the former Soviet Union, but now their main target is China.” 

In his speech, Luo gave a detailed explanation of how China is facing U.S. military containment and why China must develop its military, build up its information armed forces, and prepare to win an information war.

Source: China Gate, October 3, 2011
http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2011/10/03/1487698.html

(Ed. Note: The original article, which was published on Wenhui, is no longer available.)

Huanqiu, the official newspaper under People’s Daily, published a commentary on September 29, 2011, titled “Powerful Retaliations against the U.S. – Many Benefits with Little Downside.” The article suggests retaliating against the U.S. by suspending high-level dialogues, stopping all military exchanges, ending human rights dialogues, imposing sanctions against the companies that sold arms to Taiwan, reducing imports from the U.S., temporarily stopping the purchase of U.S. Treasury bonds, and even selling a small amount of the U.S. Treasury bonds, which is China’s “economic atomic bomb.”

The article suggests seizing the “god given” opportunity to “reverse China’s passive role in the arms sale to Taiwan problem.”

“Since China singles out the United States as the target for retaliation, which is morally justified, other Western countries will only watch without uniting together to besiege China.” “We are sure that the United States will not end its relationship with us. Currently, the U.S. needs us more than we need them.”

Source: Huanqiu, September 29, 2011
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-09/2045548.html

Huanqiu published an editorial advocating that China should take substantive actions to retaliate against the U.S. for its arms sale to Taiwan. “This would involve some risk. The worst result would be that the U.S. brings in China’s neighboring countries and reacts. The best result would be China taking action on one issue but having an overall impact throughout.” According to Huanqiu, the U.S. arms sale is the right issue. “China can retaliate in many ways. China can announce that it suspends all military exchanges with the U.S. In addition, China can announce that it launches investigations into the U.S. companies that participate in the arms sale and can sanction those companies. China can also reduce imports from the U.S. so that the number of the jobs lost would offset the number of the jobs gained in the arms sale. … What we need to do is to share the pain with the U.S, instead of China bearing the pain by itself. Let us believe: we can do it.”

Source: Huanqiu, September 24, 2011
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-09/2032110.html