Chinascope – Page 1001

Ministry of Railways Requests RMB 800 Billion in Government Rescue Funds

People’s Daily recently republished an article on the latest development in the collapse of the Ministry of Railway’s problematic construction plans. The report stated that over 10,000 kilometers of construction work had to be suspended nationwide. Together with the 13,000 kilometers currently under construction, the gap in funding is around RMB 1 trillion. For the time being the Ministry of Railways has collected RMB 200 billion to fill the gap. The State Council is coordinating a “blood transfusion” campaign to save the troubled Ministry of Railways. Tax adjustments and government bonds are also being considered.

Source: People’s Daily, November 6, 2011
http://auto.people.com.cn/GB/16147703.html

Briefings | | November 8, 2011 | Economy/Resources

VOA: China Uses Confucius Institute to Exercise “Soft” Power

Voice of America (VOA) recently reported that China is using funding for the Confucius Institutes to exert pressure on western universities. Since 2004, China has established around 350 Confucius Institutes around the globe. These Institutes are generally viewed as a channel for China to exercise its “soft power.” However, when China offered to spend US$3 million to create a Confucius Institute at Stanford University in 2009, a condition was that “sensitive topics” such as the Tibet issue would have to be blocked. Stanford refused the condition. The University of North Carolina had a similar experience when the Dalai Lama was invited to the university to give a speech. In the end the university gave in.

The report pointed out that the function of the Confucius Institute is supposed to be to teach the Chinese language and Chinese culture, but some Chinese government officials have suggested that the Confucius Institute is an important channel to make use of China’s "soft" power.

Source: Voice of America, November 13, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20111103-China-Says-No-Talking-Tibet-in-Confucius-Institutes-133188683.html

Briefings | | November 8, 2011 | US-China Relations

Study Times: What is a Culture Superpower?

Study Times, a magazine of the Chinese Communist Party Central Party School, recently published an article on how to define “Culture Superpower.” The article described three aspects of a culture superpower: (1) the nation must have relatively strong cultural charm, which is demonstrated by its self-confidence and attractiveness; (2) a culture superpower must be able to create, produce and distribute cultural elements, which include cultural innovation, an advanced culture industry and modern media; (3) a culture superpower must have a baseline indicator that is reflected by the quality of its people – their quality includes moral standards as well as scientific and artistic standards. All these aspects should have deep roots in the political, economic, and social lives of the people.

Source: Study Times, October 31, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/10/31/03/03_46.htm

Briefings | | November 8, 2011 | Government/Politics

International Herald Leader: To Begin Intervening in Western Interventionism

[Editor’s Note: An article published on Xinhua’s International Herald Leader explains China’s recent veto of the draft of the United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria. “The direct goals that China wanted to achieve, specifically, were to prevent the West from imposing possible military sanctions on Syria, to obstruct the legalization of the West’s deployment and implementation of military operations in the Middle East, and to contain the West’s barbaric practice of using military means to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs.” “China’s veto is a counter-attack against American unilateralism; it is a beautiful debut for China’s pursuit of a new international order.”] [1]

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Reports | | November 7, 2011 | Report

RFA: Tibetan Nun Died in 11th Self-Immolation

On November 3, 211, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that a Tibetan nun died after setting herself on fire in GanZi, Sichuan Province. It was the 11th Tibetan self-immolation this year. According to Voice of Tibet, which is based in Norway, the victim was Palden Choetso, 35 years old. She died on a road in Dawu County of Sichuan Province, the same location as a monk who recently self-immolated. Before setting herself on fire, she yelled out “Free Tibet” and “Allow the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet.”

Kunga Tashi, the spokesperson for the Office of Tibet in New York told RFA that the policy of extreme pressure that China has imposed on Tibet is the direct cause of the recent tragedy. “This is an indication that China’s Tibetan policy is a failure. These young monks have tried appeals, rallies, and parades but none of those have worked. They have no other ways to express themselves and try to be heard than to sacrifice their lives to let international society know of the dark side that is casting its shadow over Tibet.” Kunga believes that international attention may help improve the existing human rights condition in Tibet.

Yang Jianli, a China scholar from Harvard, who has been monitoring the ethnic issues in China said, “The Tibetan policy that the Chinese authorities have used in the past has become an issue of national oppression. … No religions would force people to commit suicide on such a large scale. … Take the Kirti Gompa monastery as an example. Two thousand monks live inside, but 30,000 armed forces and police are outside the temple. There are brainwashing sessions held every day to condemn the Dalai Lama. Chinese authorities do not care about international pressure and continue the control Tibetans’ voices and destroy their religious culture.” Yang believes that the issue of Tibet is not an isolated one; it is representative of the human rights violations that are going on in China. “If China’s overall human rights situation does not improve, (it shows) that we can’t rely on the Chinese government to give up its long term totalitarian control.”

Lobsang Sangay, the prime minister of the Tibetan government in exile is discouraging Tibetans from self-immolating, fearing that retaliation and more arrests of Tibetans will follow the incident. He is calling on the Chinese government to allow the international media to conduct an investigation of the self-immolation case and is encouraging international society to apply more pressure on the Chinese government.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November, 3, 2011
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/zang-11032011155246.html

Briefings | | November 7, 2011 | Social Stability

Forum on Strengthening the Development of Internet Ideology and Culture Held In Beijing

On November 5, 2011, over 50 scholars attended a forum in Beijing and had an in-depth discussion on how the Internet can assist China in its development of culture, how to meet Internet users’ growing demands, as well how to handle the ever increasing challenge of dealing with the new ideology and trends.

During the forum, an opening ceremony was held for the new office complex for “www.cntheory.com,” the website for the Chinese Communist Party school. The school officials hoped that the website would "further improve its contents, be persistent in giving accurate guidance on ideology and cultural trends, serve the study and research needs of various levels of party leaders and researchers, and serve the role of fostering the development of advanced socialist culture."

An analysis suggests that, by the end of first half of this year, the number of China’s Internet users reached 485 million.

Source: Xinhua, November 5, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-11/05/c_111147817.htm

Briefings | | November 7, 2011 | Government/Politics

Xinhua: International Society Sent Greetings on Xinhua’s 80th Anniversary

On its 80th anniversary, Xinhua reported that it received 150 greetings from foreign government officials, organization leaders, and the renowned media from 70 countries and regions. Previously known as the “Red China News Agency” established on November 7, 1931, Xinhua has developed into a media group in multiple languages and media forms and has served as the official mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party.

Source: Xinhua, November 6, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-11/06/c_111148381.htm

Briefings | | November 7, 2011 | Government/Politics

Study Times: National Culture Security and Soft Power from an International Perspective

On October 31, Study Times published an article discussing China’s cultural soft power from an international perspective. The article said that to increase national cultural soft power in the international arena while protecting national culture security, [China] must work in the following three areas. [We should] 1) Actively participate in the international cultural competition and protect the security of our ideology in the process of “going out" (expanding overseas). [We] must uphold our ideology as the core of our national culture security. Given our limited cultural communication abroad, focus more on getting our ideology across [respected] than on our success or failure in the culture industry. 2) Enhance the acceptability of our national image and foster a favorable [improve the] overseas media environment for the protection of China’s cultural sovereignty. 3) Establish the recognition of a multiplicity of cultures and promote our national culture security strategy to a new height. Champion the idea of respecting the rights of each country to choose its own social system and development path.

Source: Study Times, October 31, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/10/31/03/03_44.htm

Briefings | | November 4, 2011 | Government/Politics

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.