US-China Relations - 167. page

On March 25, 2010, Global Times, one of China’s official websites, published the article “China advises the U.S. regarding ‘Trade War’: the U.S. will be a loser if it challenges (China).”

The article cited Western news reports to present its point, such as the Washington Post’s article on March 22, 2010, (“China’s commerce minister: U.S. has the most to lose in a trade war”); the Reuters’ article on March 21, 2010, (“China vows to hit back if targeted by U.S. on yuan”); an article from the Boston Globe; and another article from Singapore’s "Lianhe Zaobao".

Yuan Peng, director of the Institute of American Studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations told Global Times that it would be a lose-lose situation if the U.S. launched a trade war with China.

Source: Global Times, March 25, 2010
http://world.huanqiu.com/roll/2010-03/755601.html

Xinhua published an editorial on international affairs addressing yuan appreciation. It stated that trade deficits that some countries have with China are caused by their domestic structural and policy factors, not the exchange rate with China. The editorial questioned the magnitude of the reported trade deficits, suggesting the increase in Chinese exports may be attributed to the foreign companies in China exporting back to their own home countries.

“From whatever angle, to pressure a substantial appreciation of the yuan within a short time is unwarranted, unfounded and even, it is more useless. Some Western politicians have tirelessly speculated a ‘yuan appreciation’ theory. Its underlying motive is questionable. The financial crisis has brought people to see that the current world economic imbalance is mainly attributed to excess consumption in some developed countries, and to the economic contraction. To pressure for yuan appreciation does not help resolve these issues. In fact, it is developed countries that should make positive policy adjustments to reform their economic structure in order to fulfill their international responsibilities.”

Source: Xinhua, March 18, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2010-03/18/content_13197957.htm

China and the U.S. are more foes than friends, says Yan Xuetong, a Chinese international relations scholar. In an interview with the State’s International Herald Leader, Yan stated that while the two do share some economic interests, they have much greater conflicting strategic interests in term of security. While the U.S. continues to support the Dalai Lama, Taiwan independence and East Turkistan independence, China will not allow these groups to succeed. Thus, on the political front, conflicts dominate the Sino-US relationship with few common interests. He expressed that cooperation does not mean China and the U.S. are friends and that the two will continue to pretend to be friends during the Obama administration.

Yan received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992.

Source: Xinhua, March 22, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2010-03/22/content_13221096.htm

The Global Times published an article by a professor from the National Defense University titled, “Currency Exchange Rate Fight Is an Informational War.” The author argued that the U.S. pressure on China to appreciate the Renminbi is an information war with China in a broader sense. U.S. war tactics include information control and system integration. Its goal is to devalue the US dollar so as to pay less to China. The U.S. has set and controlled the tone of the information. It also tries to enlist allies to jointly fight China. China needs to improve its informational war capability by disclosing more true information on the Renminbi exchange rate and increasing China’s “speaking power” with international society.

The author also pointed out that every 1% appreciation of the Renminbi eats 1% of the profit for Chinese companies. Since Chinese export factories live on the average on a 3-5% profit margin, the currency exchange rate battle is critical to China’s economy.

Source: Global Times, March 23, 2010
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/roll/2010-03/753215.html

According to Mingpao, a Chinese language newspaper in Hong Kong, Canada, and the U.S., Mohammad Hasan, the deputy political commissar of the Xinjiang Military District in China said on March 11, 2010, that the U.S.-led Western forces do not want a powerful China, and “try all means to get you into trouble,” choosing Xinjiang as a breakthrough point. This article is reprinted on http://news.wenxuecity.com and several other overseas Chinese websites.

At present, Xinjiang Uyghur and Han ethnic tension is high because of the July 2009 Urumqi riots. The CCP Central Committee will hold a Xinjiang Work Conference in May of 2010 focusing on how to fix the problems between the ethnic groups and regain the people’s good faith. Hasan emphasized the importance of children’s education: “propagandize positive things more and make fewer irresponsible remarks.” 　

Source: Mingpao, March 11, 2010
http://news.wenxuecity.com/messages/201003/news-gb2312-1035769.html

Red Flag Manuscript, a semi-monthly publication by Qiushi Magazine, published an article concerning China’s procurement of oil, which was written by a researcher from the Party Construction Research Institute, Communist Organization Department. The National Energy Commission, created on January 27, 2010, with Wen Jiabao as Director and Li Keqiang as the Deputy, is a clear indication that energy resources have become a top priority for China’s leaders.

The article claimed that U.S.’ control of the world’s oil supply and shipping routes are a potential threat to China’s procurement of energy resources. Not only is the U.S. well placed in the Middle East, but also is well established in the Caspian Sea through military cooperation with Azerbaijan and Armenia. Among the sixteen channels the US claims to control, three are directly linked to China’s survival. The U.S. patrols the Malacca strait with the excuse of anti-terrorism activities. this is a smoke screen and in reality it is to control China’s oil life-supply from the sea.

Source: Qiushi Magazine, February 26, 2010
http://www.qstheory.cn/hqwg/2010/201004/201002/t20100226_21515.htm

The Chinese state owned newspaper People’s Daily recently published an article discussing the way China purchases U.S. bonds. The article suggested that although Yi Gang, Deputy Managing Director of People’s Bank of China and Chairman of State Administration of Foreign Exchange, claimed the bond purchase was purely a market investment behavior, yet it is impossible to completely de-link economic and political considerations. That President Obama’s recent protectionism is serving some political interest is proof. Some U.S. bankers now see China’s holding a large amount of U.S. bonds as a threat to the United States. It’s time for China to use it as a political chip. This is an “international common practice.”

Source: People’s Daily, March 11, 2010
http://opinion.people.com.cn/GB/182743/182750/11117686.html

On March 12, the State Council Information Office published the 2009 U.S. Human Rights Record, an annual government paper to counter the United States annual human rights report, which was published one day earlier.