US-China Relations - 168. page

An article in Outlook comments, “Obama’s biggest hope is that Afghanistan will not become America’s second Vietnam and his political grave.” The article states that Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan may be effective short-term. “However, from the long-term perspective, it remains uncertain whether the new strategy can lead the U.S. out of the quagmire of Afghanistan.”

Source: Outlook, Issue 50, reprinted Soho December 14, 2009
http://news.sohu.com/20091214/n268925053.shtml
http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/lw.xinhuanet.com/htm/content_5307.htm

U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman met with five Chinese human rights lawyers and activists on December 9, 2009, according to the Voice of America. The two-hour meeting took place in the U.S. Embassy. with Jiang Tianyong, Li Fangping, Zhang Kai, Dai Jinbo, and Wang Guangze present at the meeting.

These advocates implied that this meeting was not just a formality. Ambassador Huntsman listened carefully to their portrayal of religion and human rights issues in China. He said that such meetings are not a single occurrence and that he would discuss with the Chinese government religious freedom issues and lawful rights for family churches.

Jiang Tianyong suggested that the meeting with Ambassador Huntsman would have a deep and significant impact on China.

President Obama also wanted to meet with China’s rights activists during his visit to China in November, but other issues took priority.

Source: VOA, December 13, 2009
http://www1.voanews.com/chinese/news/china/20091213-Jon-Huntsman-Human-Rights-79161512.html

Xiang Xi, the former editor-in-chief of Nanfang Weekend was demoted to executive editor for his handling of Nanfang Weekend’s interview with U.S. President Obama.

President Obama granted Xiang Xi, representing Nanfang Weekend, a relatively liberal state-owned newspaper, an exclusive interview during his visit to China.

Nanfang Weekend later published a censored interview report and blanked part of the front and second pages to protest the censorship by the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department.

Source:
1. Radio Free Asia, December 13, 2009
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/nan-12132009164722.html
2. Chinascope
http://chinascope.org/main/content/view/2115/103/

On November 11, 2009, Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kong and Shenzhen based Chinese newspaper that supports the CCP, published an article about the Chinese espionage hazards to U.S. security. According to the article, the United States uses it cold war mentality to belittle China’s international achievements and damage China’s national image by using China’s “Spy Gate” incidents.

The article further points out that the “spy gate” incidents won’t damage China’s national image. The biggest obstacle to China’s rise is that the international community has not accepted China’s voice. China must increase its international power to make its voice heard since its rise needs both hard power and soft power. 

Source: Ta Kung Pao, November 11, 2009
http://www.takungpao.com/news/09/11/30/LTB-1179571.htm

The Chinese government recently delivered a “Made in China” commercial via CNN. The 30-second commercial took one and half years to prepare. It was paid for by multiple government-controlled chambers of commerce and reviewed and approved by the Ministry of Commerce. CNN was selected to run the commercial because it has the “biggest influence.” The total cost of the commercial was estimated to be tens of millions in RMB. The idea is to cleanse the image of “Made in China,” especially after western media’s widespread reports on the poor quality of Chinese products.

Source: Xinhua, December 3, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-12/03/content_12580786.htm

Xinhua Net recently republished an article by Globe Magazine, which is a branch of Xinhua News Agency, on recent changes in Hollywood. The article stated the belief that the recent popular movie 2012 signals Hollywood’s changing attitude towards China. The change started from Kungfu Panda in 2008. In both of the movies, China had a positive image. The article concluded that there are three reasons for Hollywood’s change: (1) China is a rising world power; (2) The U.S. is facing challenges around the globe; (3) Hollywood cannot ignore the Chinese market.

Source: Xinhua, December 1, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/globe/2009-12/01/content_12570710.htm

Study Times, a newspaper of the CCP Central Party School, recently published an article on the U.S. tendency toward protectionism in today’s trade policies. The article listed supporting cases like “Buy American” (Article 1640), the Chinese tire tariffs, and China steel pipe anti-dumping duties. The article also stated the belief that, as part of its strategy, the U.S. is stepping up the volume on issues like intellectual property protection and the Chinese currency exchange rate. The article expressed concern about “discrimination” against “Made in China,” but it also said trade friction has not yet “lost control”. 

Source: Study Times, November 9, 2009
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=1&id=3037&nid=11069&bid=2&page=1

Qin Gang, Foreign Ministry spokesman of P.R. China, said on November 23, 2009, that China would like to advise the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) not to interfere in China’s internal affairs and damage Sino-US relations again. Qin made the speech when answering a reporter’s question on the Commission’s 2009 annual report, [1] according to Xinhua on November 23, 2009.

Qin Gang said, “This report ignores the facts, contains a lot of prejudice, and displays ulterior motives. We advise this so-called Commission not always to view China with tinted glasses, and not to interfere in China’s internal affairs and undermine China-US relations.”

Source: Xinhua, November 23, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-11/23/content_12525881.htm

[1] The 2009 Annual Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission http://www.uscc.gov/annual_report/2009/09_annual_report.php