Chinascope – Page 1020

Study Times: The Reason Gaddafi Fell

On August 29, 2011, Study Times, a newspaper under the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Party School, published an article about Libya. When talking about the reasons why Gaddafi fell, the article stated, “Gaddafi did not hold high the banner of national sovereignty and nationalism and failed to effectively develop a strong nationalist sentiment among the people. In the end, he became a loner with no way to escape.”

As for the Libyan rebels, the article stated that many of the leaders are former high officials from Gaddafi’s government; it is uncertain whether they really want to push forward on reforming the system without fighting for their personal political interests and whether they can withstand the pressure from receiving political spoils from the West.

Source: Study Times, August 29, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/08/29/02/02_46.htm

Briefings | | August 31, 2011 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Chinese Scholar: It Is More Difficult to Deal with a Friendly and Gentle America

On August 25, 2011, Huanqiu, China’s official website, published an article written by Zhu Bingyuan, the chairman of the Marxist Research Institute at Soochow University, with the title “It Is More Difficult to Deal with a Friendly and Gentle America.” Regarding the U.S. Vice President Joe Biden eating soy bean sauce noodles in a small restaurant in China and U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke’s low-key arrival without assistants or guards, Zhu commented, “In fact, the Western politicians’ every move in public carries some level of political scheming. They don’t do it on a whim; they deliberate after repeated consideration.”

Zhu said that the diplomatic purpose of being "low-key" and "close to ordinary people" as demonstrated by Biden and Locke is to "show" their "democracy" and "common people" style in front of their creditor’s people so as to avoid a lot of public criticism and reshape the American image.

More examples of the U.S. “smart power” strategy include consolidating the South Korea, Japan alliance using the conflict between North and South Korea; stepping aside and letting France and Britain bomb Libya; and remaining neutral in the South China Sea dispute on the surface but supporting the Philippines and Vietnam to gain profit. Zhu calls on China to remain on high alert against the United States’ “smart power.”

Source: Huanqiu, August 25, 2011
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-08/1944782.html

Briefings | | August 31, 2011 | US-China Relations

Be on Guard against the U.S. as Gary Locke Brings a ‘New Colonialism’ to China”

Guangming Daily, one of China’s major official newspapers, published an article on August 16, 2011, titled “Be on Guard against the U.S. as Gary Locke Brings a ‘New Colonialism’ to China.” The article, which was removed from Guangming Daily, is still available on several other major official websites. It criticizes U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke and his family for intentionally carrying their own luggage to Beijing without any assistants, security guards, or a luxurious warm welcome filled with pomp, flowers, and applause so as to win the Chinese people’s heart and strengthen the forces inside China that support the United States and divide China ideologically. “Gary Locke’s arrival demonstrates the climax of the new colonialism in the information age. The ideological conflict between China and the United States has broken out in a full scale.”

The article compares the new colonialism with a wolf wearing sheep’s clothing. “Though its appearance has changed, the predatory nature has never changed.” As for Gary Locke’s Chinese American identity, the article assumes that it must be the Unites States’ vile intention to use a Chinese to deal with China in order to incite political unrest in China.

Source: Guangming Daily, August 16, 2011
http://bbs1.people.com.cn/postDetail.do?boardId=2&view=1&id=111928793
http://www.qstheory.cn/gj/gjsdfx/201108/t20110816_102737.htm
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-08/1913897.html

Briefings | | August 31, 2011 | US-China Relations

Xinhua: U.S. Defense Secretary on Emerging Countries

Xinhua recently published a report referring to the Indian newspaper Economic Times, which reported on a speech U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta delivered. According to the report, Mr. Panetta suggested in his speech that the United States will not allow the emerging countries, namely China, India and Brazil, to “disrupt the world order.” He promised to cooperate with the emerging countries, but he also asserted that the United States will ensure that these countries won’t become a threat to world stability, will ensure U.S. world leadership status, and will ensure the world’s acknowledgement of the U.S. as the guardian of world stability.

Source: Xinhua, August 27, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2011-08/27/c_121919045.htm

Briefings | | August 30, 2011 | Defense/Military

Sharp Drop in Donations to Chinese Charities

Jinghua News recently reported that there has been s sharp drop nationwide in charitable donations. In the past couple of months, Chinese media gave extensive coverage to the “the Guo Meimei Incident,” in which large scale corruption was reported in the state-managed Chinese Red Cross. According to official statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Chinese charities received RMB 6.26 billion from March to May this year. However, after the Incident, for the period of June to August, donations dropped to RMB 0.84 billion. The sharp drop is believed to have resulted from the loss of confidence in the charity system. At the same time, individual-to-individual direct donations have risen from RMB 38.87 million to 127 million. In Shenzhen, the largest city for donations, the amount of recent donations dropped to near zero. Xu Jianzhong, a senior official of Ministry of Civil Affairs, made the observation that extensive media coverage is destroying Chinese charities.

[Ed: A Sina Weibo user, Guo Meimei, claiming she was with the Red Cross, flaunted her wealth on-line. In response, tens of thousands of Weibo users a day posted objections to the corruption involved in personal use of donated funds.]

Source: Jinghua News, August 27, 2011
http://epaper.jinghua.cn/html/2011-08/27/content_694600.htm

Briefings | | August 30, 2011 | Government/Politics

Microblogs Used to Manage Government Affairs

More and more government agencies and officials are building their own microblog sites to communicate about day to day affairs. Xinhua reported that by August 1, 2011, government agencies and officials had built over ten thousand microblog sites on qq.com, a popular mainland based Chinese web portal. The number included 266 high ranking officials above the bureau level.

Xinhua also reported that Party schools or cadre colleges, including the Party schools in Zhejiang Province, the City of Beijing, the Party School of the Central Committee, and the Chinese Academy of Governance, carry microblogging as a required training course.

Source: Xinhua, August 27, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2011-08/27/c_121916001.htm

Briefings | | August 28, 2011 | Information/Technology

CRN: A Precondition to Discussing the South China Sea Conflict: Sovereignty Belongs to China

In responding to divergent views about the South China Sea conflict, Qiushi Theory, the online version of Qiushi Journal, published a commentary stating that the precondition to any discussion is that China has sovereignty over the area. After that is agreed upon, there can be discussions among the countries involved on putting aside conflicts and collectively exploring resources.

Recently, there have been different views in China on how to handle the South China Sea conflict. One side thinks China should exercise self control and continue to find the strategic opportunity, while the other side thinks China should stand firm with the option of resorting to war. The commentary stated, “To those who disagree that sovereignty belongs to China, no matter who they are, China should hold a firm position and maintain its options, including war, to guard China’s rights. … For China to exercise self-control does not help to solve the problem.”

The commentary also stated, “China is firmly against those countries who are not part of the conflict getting involved. China is also against any action that will spread the conflict further in international society.”

Source: China Review News, August 27, 2011
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1018/1/3/1/101813174.html?coluid=169&kindid=0&docid=101813174&mdate=0827002412

Briefings | | August 28, 2011 | Geo-Strategic Trend

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.