US-China Relations - 174. page

Xinhua’s Special Military Commentator said that dispatching USS Chung-Hoon to South China Sea is a friendly gesture by the US DOD. It demonstrates US “hedging” strategy of both “engaging” and “deterring” China.

Xinhua said that selecting Chung-Hoon itself is a “well thought-out decision” by the US Pacific Command. First, instead of choosing a ship from the nearby Japanese Sea it chose Chung-Hoon, which was far from the incident water and needed 4 to 5 days to get there. Those 4 to 5 days gave US and China enough time for diplomatic maneuvers. Second, the ship itself has an “historical relationship” with China as it accompanied the Chinese Navy’s visit to Pearl Harbor in 2006.

Source: Xinhua, March 23, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-03/23/content_11056685.htm

Obama must take action to ensure Chinese assests are secure in the United States, says a March 19 editorial in the International Herald Leader, a subsidiary of Xinhua. On March 13, Premier Wen re-iterated China’s request that the U.S. administration honor its promise to ensure Chinese assets are secure in the United States. In response, Obama announced that investors from the world including China should have absolute confidence in their investment in the United States.

The editorial comments that unless Obama takes concrete action to reassure China, his promise is nothing but lip service. Specifically, China should leverage its position as the largest debtor and negotiate a much higher return with the U.S. Treasury for U.S. government bonds. China should tie the appreciation of the RMB with the purchase of U.S. government bonds to resist further pressure from the U.S. on RMB appreciation.

Source: Xinhua, March 19, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-03/19/content_11034722.htm

Qian Lihua, Director of the Foreign Affairs office of the Chinese Defense Ministry, stated that the March release of the 2009 China Military Power Report by the U.S. Department of Defense will cause new damage to bilateral military relations. His remarks were made after a meeting between himself and David Sedney, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. The Xinhua report says that the past 30 years of exchanges have lacked a fundamental principle both countries agree to. This is the result of “a strong U.S. and a weak China.” China has invited the U.S. to observe several field exercises in the past few years, while the U.S. rarely does the same.

Source: Xinhua, March 2, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-03/02/content_10926360.htm

A State delegation of Tibetan members of the National People’s Congress met with U.S. Congressmen, reported the Chinese Central Government’s website on March 18, 2009. The delegation met with Congressmen Rick Larsen, Chairman of the U.S.-China Working Group, and John Conyers, Chairman of Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives. The delegation also visited the Brookings Institution in Washington DC.

Source: Central Government of China, March 18, 2009
http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2009-03/18/content_1262072.htm

China’s Anti-monopoly Bureau of Ministry of Commerce denied the U.S. company’s bid to purchase Huiyuan Juice, according to a release by the Ministry’s press office on March 18, 2009, on grounds that the proposed acquisition may restrict competition and harm local producers. On September 18, 2008 Coca-Cola’s submitted application to China’s Anti-monopoly Bureau for clearance to purchase Huiyuan Juice, China’s largest juice producer. Review of the application started November 19, 2008.

Source: Ministry of Commerce of China, March 18, 2009 http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/ae/ai/200903/20090306108388.html

Xinhua published an article originally from China Youth Daily claiming that North Korea’s hard line stance is related to the actions by the United States, Japan, and South Korea. First, South Korea President Lee Myung Bak started the policy of “Korea unification under democracy” to replace his predecessor’s compromise policy between South and North. This has made North Korea feel pressured of its future. Second, Japan and U.S. always pressure North Korea. Although Japan, U.S., and other Western countries promise to give financial compensation and aids after North Korea abandoning nuclear arms, they add many additional political requirements, or attack North Korea’s “human rights,” or criticize Korea’s leaders, and delay the implement of the promise. These have made North Korea government very disappointed. Finally, Japan and U.S. never give up their preparation of war in Korea peninsula. They first installed missile defense system, then accused North Korea’s launch of satellite. All these actions made Pyongyang feel the need to defend its safety. In addition, tens of thousands of American and South Korea’s joint military forces conduct exercise at the Korean border. It would be strange if North Korea takes no actions.

Source: Xinhua, March 15, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2009-03/15/content_11013179.htm

Chinese Navy top officials stated that U.S. stories about Impeccable were untrue. Deputy Political Commissar of Chinese Navy, Wu Huayang, stated that Pentagon’s statements about Chinese vessels harassing USNS Impeccable were totally U.S. speculations. “There were no confrontations or conflicts between China and U.S. ships,” Wu was quoted by Global International Leader under Xinhua. Chinese Navy Deputy Chief of Staff, Zhang Deshun, stated that USNS Impeccable was in the economic zone of the Chinese continental shelf and was engaging in ocean surveillance with military purposes. The U.S. Pentagon said on March 9 that Chinese ships dangerously trailed and followed the U.S. surveillance ship and harrassed the U.S. crew on board USNS Impeccable on March 8 in the South China Sea .

Source: China News, March 10, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/news/2009/03-10/1596401.shtml

Xinhua comments on the recent criminal charges in the U.S. against a Chinese woman in Maryland. She was charged with exporting miniature controls for small, unmanned aircraft to China. Xinhua article stated that the alleged dual use aircraft has not yet been put to use by military thus it is far fetched to charge her for assisting Chinese military. Further, Xinhua stated that the case might be viewed as racial discrimination since Mr. Hansen, who played a more active role in the export and works at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, has not yet been charged in the case. “In fact, spy cases related to China are common in the U.S., most of which have acquitted defendants,” said Xinhua.

Source: Xinhua, February 19, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2009-02/19/content_10848849.htm