US-China Relations - 93. page

People’s Daily recently reported that the U.S. ACT exams were unexpectedly cancelled in Hong Kong and South Korea only a few hours before they were supposed to start, impacting 5,500 students in 56 test centers. ACT suspected a wide-spread leak of the exam contents. This is yet another example of an “East Asian Cheating Epidemic” which is polluting the U.S. higher education system. In Korea, SAT leaks have happened for several years. Chinese students were found cheating on the SAT too. The report pointed out that the United States does not have a government run national college entry exam. The public has accepted the ACT and the SAT as recognized exams for college entry. The organizations running the exams are partially responsible for leaks – maybe their libraries of tests are not big enough and the test patterns are too obvious to discourage guessing. The SAT significantly increased the toughness of this year’s exams, which resulted in more students taking the ACT.

Source: People’s Daily, June 12, 2016

http://world.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0612/c1002-28426642.html

According to People’s Daily, Xi recommended that “both countries should firmly continue the historical trend of Sino-US relations, focus on cooperation, do more practical things, properly handle differences, eliminate interference, and promote the healthy and stable development of Sino-US relations.” 

Xi Jinping emphasized that China and the U.S. can do a lot of things. “Both sides should do more things that are conducive to China-US cooperation; they should not do or should do fewer things that are not conducive to bilateral cooperation. As long as the two sides keep things in perspective, move in the same direction, and proactively take action, [we can] ensure that Sino-US relations move forward on the right track and build new relations between big powers.” 

Source: People’s Daily reprinted by Qiushi, June 7, 2016 

http://www.qstheory.cn/yaowen/2016-06/08/c_1119008328.htm

Global Times recently reported that the U.S. Department of Commerce has issued an administrative subpoena to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, asking for full records from the past five years on exports to Iran, Syria, Cuba, and Sudan. This was to assist in an investigation into a potential violation of the U.S. legal restrictions on telecommunications technology exports. The subpoena has been officially delivered to Huawei’s U.S. headquarter in Dallas, Texas. The investigation is to find out whether Huawei resold U.S. communications technologies to banned countries. The Department of Commerce has not charged Huawei with any wrong-doing. Global Times quoted the British Magazine The Economist and said the U.S. is playing the “national security card,” is once again tied to protectionism, and it is expressing the needs of its politicians. Another Chinese communications company ZTE was recently found guilty in a similar investigation.

Source: Global Times, June 3, 2016

http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2016-06/9008429.html

The article particularly singled out Carter’s words that likened the U.S.-China strategic situation to the Cold War confrontation between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. The article said, “U.S. top military officials continuously promote the confrontation between the United States and China and have compared it, using the analogy of the ‘Cold War,’ to that between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. It has become the prominent trend in the current Sino-U.S. relations and in the South China Sea situation. Chinese officials have never made such a statement. It appears that the U.S. military is becoming the destructive force in overall Sino-U.S. relations."  

Well-known Chinese news site Tencent Financial News recently reported, based on a study which led to the conclusion, that China has become the largest foreign investor in the U.S. real estate market, ahead of Canada, which is the second. The Asia Society and the Rosen Consulting Group conducted the research. They found that, in the past five years, Chinese buyers have rushed in with over one hundred billion dollars to acquire U.S. real estate in order to invest their money in safe overseas assets. Although Beijing has recently been trying to block capital outflows, the study estimated that the investment level will double over the next five years to around US$218 billion. The research also discovered that Chinese real estate investments covered a wide range of real estate types including both commercial and residential. The researchers were confident that the actual dollar amount must be higher since the transactions done by proxy companies and trusts may have hidden the source of the funds. Most of the Chinese buyers were found in expensive markets such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. However, Chicago, Miami, and Las Vegas are picking up more and more business. 

Source: Tencent Financial News, May 18, 2016

http://finance.qq.com/a/20160518/018001.htm

Xinhua recently reported that Yang Yujun, the spokesperson for the Chinese Defense Ministry, held a press conference in which he stated that the USS William P. Lawrence guided missile destroyer entered an area near the Spratly Islands in South China Sea. This once again became proof of the necessity for China to continue its defensive construction on the islands. China considered the USS Lawrence’s entry without permission a serious provocation. The Chinese Navy responded by sending two J-11 fighter jets, one Y-8 patrolling aircraft, the Guangzhou missile destroyer, the Mianyang missile frigate, and the Linfen frigate to identify, warn, and expel the U.S. warship. Yang confirmed that China will strengthen its military presence in the region to defend China’s sovereignty.

Source: Xinhua, May 10, 2016

http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2016-05/10/c_1118841916.htm

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the Chinese government refused to allow the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) aircraft carrier to stop in Hong Kong. After the carrier completed its exercises in South Korea, it hosted a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and the Defense Minister of the Philippines. Now the USS John C. Stennis is at the U.S. naval base in Singapore. Both the U.S. State Department and the Department of Defense confirmed China’s refusal. According to the news report, this carrier has been “particularly enthusiastic” recently about the activities in the South China Sea and observers around the world now consider it to be a symbol of “U.S. hegemonism” in the region. Analysts expressed the belief that the Chinese refusal was a response to Mr. Carter’s last-minute cancellation of a visit to China. The spokesperson for the Chinese Defense Ministry commented that the so-called U.S. “freedom of navigation” is a “military provocation against China” and it is “very dangerous” since it may trigger unexpected accidents. 

Source: Sina, April 30, 2016

http://mil.news.sina.com.cn/china/2016-04-30/doc-ifxrtztc3077967.shtml

“The Military’s core function is to focus on how to fight; it is to be able to fight and to win the war. There is no such thing as ‘hawks’ or ‘doves’ [in the military]. One cannot accuse Chinese soldiers of intervening in political affairs and being militant. The U.S. Defense Secretary not only used the language of a bully in the South China Sea but also acted as such, personally, aboard the aircraft carrier in the South China Sea. Why not condemn the U.S. for military intervention and for being a war fanatic? Will the U.S. aircraft carrier leave by itself if we are humble and submissive? There is a bottom line in obtaining peace. We cannot barter away principles or territory for peace."  

“We do not have to make every bush and tree look like an enemy. However, now the wind in the South and the East China Sea is already heaving the waves. The U.S. Navy and Air Force are moving 60 percent of their forces to the Asia-Pacific region. Almost all their advanced weaponries have shown their faces in the South China Sea. Even the aircraft carriers and strategic bombers have come here. We cannot always take the ‘ostrich policy.’” 

"We can have the kind heart to believe that the ‘U.S. returning to Asia is not aimed at China,’ but are the facts convincing? Even the Americans themselves admit it is aimed at China. The Philippines’ 2015 GDP is less than US$0.3 trillion. The United States does not help it to improve poverty. Instead, the U.S. provides it with US$425 million in military aid, advanced weapons, and equipment. Is it pouring fuel on the fire, thus inciting the Philippines against China? If this is not planning a ‘proxy war,’ then what is it? We should not be ‘crying wolf’ every day, but if we are not prepared, we will not have the chance to cry if the wolf really comes.”