Skip to content

US-China Relations - 99. page

Chinese Military General: The Era when the U.S. Dictated to China with a Big Stick Is Gone

Chinese military general Rear Admiral Luo Yuan published a commentary in response to the New York Times report that the U.S. is going to retaliate on the incident of "China stealing more than 20 million American’s personal information." Luo claimed that, if the U.S. were to impose sanctions against China, it would be declaring a cyberwar. Luo said that China-U.S. relations are no longer the same as the past U.S.-Soviet relations and that the era when the U.S. dictated to China with a big stick is gone. The order of the strength of power is reversing. Who would win the war is far from conclusive. 

Luo also listed five reasons that the U.S. brought up the cyber security issue at this time. 
First, the U.S. is anxious about China’s rise. 
Second, the involved interest groups have their own agendas. The initiators of the hype were the U.S. Director of National Intelligence and the Cyber Army commander. They wanted to attract attention to secure more funding for their departments. 

Third, more sinister military attempts are looking for excuses and preparing public opinion for further cyberattacks against China in critical infrastructure areas such as transportation, financial, industrial control, and the military’s central surveillance system. 

Fourth, it serves the need of electoral politics. 

Fifth, it undermines the upcoming summit meeting, embarrassing the U.S. think tanks who advocate improving relations with China and making it difficult for them to launch positive recommendations to promote Sino-U.S. relations. 
Source: People’s Daily, August 5, 2015 
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/0805/c1011-27412396.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Global Times: U.S. Cyber Retaliation Would Trigger a Tit-for-Tat Conflict

The Global Times published an editorial in response to a New York Times report that the Obama administration is planning to "retaliate against China for the theft of the personal information of more than 20 million Americans from the database of the Office of Personal Management." 

In the editorial, the Global Times highlighted one of the most innovative responses, per the New York Times, which is to find a way to breach China’s Great Firewall. It also quoted an anonymous White House official who said that Washington needs "a full range of tools to tailor a response." 
Global Times argued that hacking attacks are usually elusive and hard to trace. Those which were seemingly launched in China might actually have come from another country. Therefore, the White House must take full responsibility if it takes so-called countermeasures against China based on ill-considered and ill-founded assumptions. 
The Great Firewall is a State-sponsored Internet management system. If U.S. cyber forces launch blatant attacks against it, the consequences will be serious. Unlike sneaky hacking, these attacks will be treated as a U.S. invasion of China. 
The editorial gave further warnings that, without question, if U.S. cyber forces took the first step, their Chinese counterpart would not stand aside and do nothing. There would be a tit-for-tat cyber conflict. 
Citing the New York Times article, Global Times was quick to point out U.S. "hypocrisy": U.S. intelligence officials say that the U.S. has placed "thousands of implants in Chinese computer networks to warn of impending attacks." Thus, it seems that it is the U.S. that keeps posing threats to Chinese cyberspace. 
Sources: Global Times, August 3, 2015 
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/935302.shtml 
NY Times, August 1, 2015 
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/01/world/asia/us-decides-to-retaliate-against-chinas-hacking.html?_r=0
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

People’s Daily: U.S. Commander’s Blatant Comment on South China Sea Is a Reflection of Hegemony

The head of the U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Harry B. Harris, gave a talk on the South China Sea issue at the Aspen Security Forum on July 24. Jia Xiudong, an invited commentator for People’s Daily and a distinguished scholar at the China Institute of International Studies, published an article commenting on the talk Harris gave. Below is an excerpt from the article: 

“Harris’s irresponsible remark exposed the strategic intent of the United States on the South China Sea issue. Harris was holding a script, which showed he was apparently well prepared; it was not a whim or an improvisational talk.” 
“Harris is not the first one to make irresponsible remarks about the South China Sea, nor is he the most senior U.S. military official to criticize on the South China Sea. However, it is rare for someone like him to give such a lengthy talk on the South China Sea issue, to slander China, and to mix right and wrong so blatantly and explicitly.” 
“Harris claimed that the core of the South China Sea issue is maintaining vs. changing the status quo. Recently, many senior U.S. officials have become very fond of the word ‘status quo’ while talking about the South China Sea and have also proposed an initiative to maintain the South China Sea ‘status quo.’ It seems that China is a ‘status quo’ challenger, changer, and destroyer; while the United States is the ‘status quo’ maintainer. With a little analysis, one can see that the United States’ so-called ‘status quo’ is essentially to allow illegal occupation of China’s islands and reefs and the provocation of China’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests by some neighboring countries in the South China Sea. However, the U.S. intentionally avoids or even denies the ‘real’ ‘status quo’ in the South China Sea, which is China having sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters.” 
The purpose for the U.S. “hyping up and strengthening its intervention on the South China Sea issue is not to [promote] regional peace, stability, and security in the South China Sea region. Rather, it is to maintain the U.S.’ maritime and regional hegemony. All the U.S. rhetoric serves only to package its pursuit of hegemony.” 

“After all, the essence of the fight between China and the U.S. in the South China Sea is one of sovereignty vs. supremacy. Around the South China Sea issue, China desires to maintain its sovereignty; whereas the United States pursues hegemony.” 

“In dealing with this fundamental contradiction — that China maintains sovereignty and the United States pursues hegemony — don’t expect the outcome to be that China concedes on the issue of sovereignty. The sovereignty of the South China Sea is China’s core interest. The U.S. challenge to South China Sea sovereignty will eventually end up being in vain.” 
Source: People’s Daily, July 28, 2015 
 http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/0728/c1011-27370373.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

BBC Chinese: Fake Taylor Swift Branded Products Have Flooded China

BBC Chinese recently reported that, when well-known U.S. pop music singer Taylor Swift will launch her touring concert in Shanghai this November, she plans also, at the same time, to announce her own clothing line in China. Swift is working with Chinese online shopping sites to market her authentic line of products in the Chinese market, with a guarantee to the buyers that they won’t get fakes. This is an effort to fight the widespread fake Swift products that have spread through the Chinese online market. For example, a T-shirt printed with Taylor Swift’s famous song named “Shake It Off” sells for RMB 40 yuan (around US$7) online at China’s largest online shopping site (also the world’s largest) TaoBao.com. Swift, however, never gave any authorization for it. TaoBao.com was recently accused of not making enough of an effort to crack down on counterfeits. In the meantime, Swift’s concert may face another totally unrelated issue. Her new music album is named “T.S.1989,” standing for her initials and the year she was born. However, in China, the number 1989 and the initials are considered “sensitive” because the Chinese authorities may connect them with the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. 
Source: BBC Chinese, July 24, 2015
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world/2015/07/150724_swift_china
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

People’s Daily: Other Countries Won’t Get Anything Out of a Conflict in the South China Sea

During his recent visit to the Philippines [on July 18], Admiral Swift, the U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander, participated in person in the surveillance flight over the South China Sea. In an interview with a People’s Daily reporter, Chinese military expert Zhang Junshe explained China’s position on Swift’s tour. 

“Talking about the motives of the United States, Zhang said that the U.S. has patrolled in the South China Sea for decades. Whether it uses P-8A or P-3C patrol aircraft, it is nothing new. It is rare, however, that this time Swift, the newly appointed commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, was aboard a reconnaissance aircraft P-8A patrol for seven hours. This is especially so, since the U.S. also publicly reported the event afterwards. The [purpose of the] U.S. move is to deliver a message of support to the Philippines and to countries who have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea."
“The dispute over the South China Sea islands and reefs is a long-standing one. The Philippines and Vietnam have properly dealt with it in the past. There is no big problem. Since the United States implemented the strategy of ‘returning to the Asia-Pacific’ and ‘Pacific rebalancing,’ the U.S. has deliberately muddied the South China Sea issue and incited neighboring countries to make trouble for China. This move of the United States also expresses support for the Philippines’ provocative actions toward China.” 

“Zhang Junshe pointed out that the South China Sea was calm to begin with but the United States wanted to use the Philippines to contain China’s development. Therefore, the U.S. Admiral made a big fuss in the South China Sea. The South China Sea reefs dispute is not tense like what the United States says. In order to maintain its hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region, the United States encourages the neighboring countries to make trouble in the South China Sea. It contributes no good [toward helping] China and related countries to resolve their disputes.” 

“To the countries who continue to provoke conflicts, we will take the necessary measures and strengthen our defense. If other country’s actions threaten the core interests of China, we will respond firmly. China, as a big country, is the backbone of maintaining regional peace and stability. Some countries continue to discredit and attack China. Once a military conflict with China occurs, these countries will not gain any benefit. We will take firm actions.” 

Source: People’s Daily, July 22, 2014 
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/0720/c1011-27330886.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Global Times: U.S. Support for China’s Rights Lawyers Has No Real Effect

In its July 14 editorial, Global Times shrugged off a statement that the U.S. State Department issued condemning China for having "systematically detained individuals who share the common attribute of peacefully defending the rights of others." It claimed that this latest U.S. statement would have no real effect except to make the Chinese people feel slightly uncomfortable.

Global Times insisted in its editorial that the detentions are China’s internal affair. Specifically, taking lawyers away from the Beijing Fengrui Law Firm should serve to increase understanding among Chinese lawyers and promote China’s rule of law as much as possible. This carries more significance than mulling over a response to the U.S. rebuke. 

Apparently some lawyers have doubts about the recent detentions. This may stem in part from the sympathy they have for their peers and, at the same time, from long-standing disputes about the boundaries of democracy and the rule of law. Western values have infiltrated intensely in this respect and have damaged some important basic consensuses. 

Besides the U.S. State Department, opposing voices also came from radical groups in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The Chinese mainland public has found those voices rather repellent. Actually, many in the mainland hold the view that if people receive support from external forces, it means they are not really decent. How the government proceeds with the case must strictly follow legal procedures and must not be subject to external disruption. Global Times concluded that the crackdown on this criminal gang involving several rights lawyers is a step toward realizing China’s social stability, through which Chinese should acquire more confidence in the ideological contention between China and the West. 

Source: Global Times, July 14, 2015 
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/931941.shtml 
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

CRN: U.S. Is Sowing Discord Rather Than Resolving Disputes in the South China Sea

On July 16, 2015, China Review News (CRN) published a commentary on the U.S. involvement in the South China Sea. It stated that, as the U.S. gets more and more involved in South China Sea issues, it actively pushes its own geostrategic agenda. 

According to the commentary, the U.S.’ strategic goal is to maintain its hegemony in the Western Pacific region by maintaining military control over the South China Sea and the political legitimacy of such control. The U.S. actively uses the disputes China has with Vietnam and the Philippines over sovereignty in the South China Sea islands and reefs to implement a strategic entry point for the U.S. to contain China. The U.S. provides political, economic, and military assistance to Vietnam and the Philippines to contend with China. “In fact, the United States does not come to solve the South China Sea issues, but to use the South China Sea issues to sow discord between China and the ASEAN countries.” 
Source: China Review News, July 16, 2015 

http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1038/1/9/8/103819825.html?coluid=1&kindid=0&docid=103819825&mdate=0716001306

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

National Defense University Professor: If China Can Hold on, U.S. May Become Hopelessly Rotten First

The article below is an excerpt from a lecture that Qiao Liang, a professor at China National Defense University, gave at the 2015 Summer Industry Investment Forum. The article was first published on Huanqiu (Global Times). Later a top Chinese military newspaper website www.81.net and many other top Chinese websites republished it. 

“The famous American geopolitical strategist Brzezinski has brought back the theory of the ‘Thucydides trap.’ Brzezinski believes that China and the U.S. are about to fall into the Thucydides trap. Americans once again remind the Chinese people of this. The purpose is nothing more than to let the Chinese people recognize their own strength and status and so they do not fall into the plight of challenging the United States, which would result in the two sides killing each other. Today, times have changed. Not every instance of a great powers’ rise will experience an occurrence of the Thucydides trap. A zero-sum game is not the only choice for great powers’ competition. At least when the U.S. took over the dominating power from Great Britain, the U.S. itself avoided sinking into the Thucydides trap. 

“What do China and the U.S. truly need to be alert to today? It is not China challenging the U.S. in the Thucydides trap. Rather, it is the United States launching a ‘boor-style fight’ against China because that might lead to China’s fighting back in the same ‘hard-hard’ way. Some Chinese scholars believe that, since China’s current focus is to develop the ‘one belt and one way’ strategy, [China] should not be in direct confrontation with the United States on the South China Sea issue. Otherwise China might lose big for a penny. In my opinion, there are two scenarios in the ‘losing big for a penny’ situation. One is penny wise and pound foolish; the other is losing the cavalry because of the loss of a horseshoe, then losing a battle because of the loss of the cavalry, and then losing the war and finally losing the entire country. In the current South China Sea, I think China is in the situation of the second scenario. If China retreats from the South China Sea under pressure, it is by no means just losing a horseshoe. 
“Now China’s ‘one belt, one way’ strategy is about to roll out. The South China Sea is one of its starting points. More importantly, being eager to manufacture a dispute in the South China Sea, the United States has a profound strategic intent, which is certainly not simply to safeguard the freedom of the sea. In Europe, by using the Ukrainian event, the United States has successfully manufactured dissension between the EU and Russia. Now, with the crisis in Greece, the United States is having a battle with Europe for international capital. At the same time, the U.S. also hopes to drive capital away from China and China’s neighboring areas. The Americans placed a lot of ‘bombs’ around China for this purpose, e.g., the Diaoyu Islands, the Huangyan Island, and the Hong Kong ‘occupy central’ movement. Unfortunately [for Americans], none of these bombs exploded. The United States finally had to start action on its own, coming to the South China Sea to pressure China. Contrary to the Americans’ expectations, the China-sponsored Asian investment bank was established at this time. Not just in Asia, many other countries have also stood behind China one after another. Even America’s hardcore British ally also joined the bank. How could some Americans not get angry as a result? In addition to accusing the British of being traitors, the U.S. is creating a tense atmosphere in the South China Sea. What the U.S. is seeking is not hard to understand. In this case, could China retreat? Once it retreated, domestic public confidence in the government’s authority would plummet and global investors confidence in China might ebb. Therefore, China can never retreat because, at the moment, the South China Sea issue is both about ‘face’ and about ‘everything else.’ 
“It is foreseeable that the grand strategy game between China and the U.S. will revolve around ‘one belt, one way’ to develop. To this, we must have a clear understanding. In today’s global economic crisis, it is not a time [to find out] who is better than whom; it is the period to find out who-is-more-rotten. China’s economic fundamental, compared with other countries, is relatively better. If China can hold on, the United States may become hopelessly rotten [ahead of China]. China’s stock market ‘distress’ this time could be a stress test in advance and the release of the crisis ahead of time. From the perspective of the long term, it is not a bad thing. Especially, if we once again hold steady in our position after rescuing the market, the prognosis can be expected.” 

Source: Huanqiu, republished by 81.net July 13, 2015 http://www.81.net/pinglunjingxuan/2015/0G4592942015.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations