US-China Relations - 143. page

According to an article published in Guangzhou Daily on November 6, 2011, the United States is the factor that has the most influence on China’s international environment. “Only by strategically handling our relationship with the United States can China gain a better space in which to survive and grow.” The article categorized the many U.S. opinions into four groups: the cold war mentality, the rise-equals-threat theory, geopolitics, and transforming China through engagement. It suggested that U.S. foreign policy toward China has been the result of a balancing act between White House decision makers who want engagement and those who seek containment.

Source: Guangzhou Daily, November 6, 2011
http://gzdaily.dayoo.com/html/2011-11/06/content_1521550.htm

Voice of America (VOA) recently reported that China is using funding for the Confucius Institutes to exert pressure on western universities. Since 2004, China has established around 350 Confucius Institutes around the globe. These Institutes are generally viewed as a channel for China to exercise its “soft power.” However, when China offered to spend US$3 million to create a Confucius Institute at Stanford University in 2009, a condition was that “sensitive topics” such as the Tibet issue would have to be blocked. Stanford refused the condition. The University of North Carolina had a similar experience when the Dalai Lama was invited to the university to give a speech. In the end the university gave in.

The report pointed out that the function of the Confucius Institute is supposed to be to teach the Chinese language and Chinese culture, but some Chinese government officials have suggested that the Confucius Institute is an important channel to make use of China’s "soft" power.

Source: Voice of America, November 13, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20111103-China-Says-No-Talking-Tibet-in-Confucius-Institutes-133188683.html

The International Herald Leader published an article reporting that U.S. investors are withdrawing from China’s real estate market. The weather is getting colder, bringing winter to the Chinese real estate market. Housing prices in Shanghai, Beijing, and other cities have fallen up to 30%. At the end of September, the U.S. investment firm Blackstone sold its 95% ownership of the commercial real property, the Shanghai Shopping Channel 1, for 1.45 billion RMB to a Hong Kong investor, Cheng Yu-tung. Recently, over a dozen U.S. individual investors jointly sold over 70 suites in a Shanghai hotel for 126 million RMB. “The collective action of the U.S. individual investors to sell their property and the Blackstone’s divestment of its real property in Shanghai confirm the rumor that foreign capital is accelerating its withdrawal from China’s real estate market.” At an interview with the newspaper, Ye Chuhua, a financial expert stated that those who are withdrawing today have already missed the prime time and that those who still own real property are trapped and will have to sell at a loss.

Source: Xinhua, October 31, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2011-10/31/c_131215728.htm

Huanqiu (Global Times) published a commentary following the announcement that the U.S. and the Philippines would conduct joint military exercises. The article suggested China should take a hard stance toward the U.S. even if it would mean "to die with the U.S. all together." The following is an abstract of the article:

“China champions a harmonious world. However, the U.S. and other countries viciously utilize that intention. They use it as a tool to blackmail and extort China to affect its diplomatic policy. China should change to a different way of thinking. When others repeatedly apply pressure, China does not need to so ‘determinedly’ insist on a peaceful position. Let others come to beg China for peace. As long as China is firm in its reasoning and powerful in its strength, those nations whose own security and interests are their priority will be more likely to give up the idea of disrespecting and tricking China.”

When the spokesperson for China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry was asked if the article represented the government’s position, she responded that the media had the right to express its own opinion, and believed that what the media said was based on the truth and the facts while maintaining a responsible attitude.

Source: Huanqiu, October 26, 2011
http://mil.huanqiu.com/Observation/2011-10/2121200.html
http://mil.huanqiu.com/Observation/2011-10/2117710.html

Huanqiu published an opinion article written by Han Xudong, a professor at China’s National Defense University, on the military competition between the U.S. and China.

According to Han, the U.S. has been fighting with China over its military influence in the Asia Pacific region on issues including the Korean Peninsula, the sale of arms to Taiwan, and the South China Sea. Han claimed that the U.S. and China are demonstrating their military muscle in different ways. The U.S. plan to build a super military base in Guam and expand its sale of arms to Asian Pacific countries is an indication of its effort to increase its presence in the region. As for China, it will increase its military cooperation, including military exercises, with countries in the region. In the mean time, China’s major effort will be to "increase the admission of more foreign students from the Asia Pacific region and spread the Chinese military security ideology to these students."

Source: Huanqiu, October 16,2011
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-10/2085125.html

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