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The Blue Book on Oversea’s Chinese Language Education

Huaqiao University and Social Sciences Academic Press recently published the first “Blue Book on Overseas Chinese.” According to People’s Daily Oversea’s Edition, the Blue Book highlighted the development in recent decades of Chinese language and cultural education outside of China, along with the challenges it faces. According to the statistics in the Blue Book, there are currently over 5,000 Chinese language schools and 20,000 Chinese language teachers overseas, including 3,000 Chinese schools in Asian countries alone, and 500 Chinese schools and 68,000 students in the U.S.

The Blue Book highlighted the challenges oversea’s Chinese educational development faces. "There is an imbalance in the allocation of resources; the quality of teaching is inconsistent in different regions; effective coordination can be improved; and communication between foreign Chinese language promotional agencies and education entities is lacking. … The challenges have affected the branding of ‘China’s image’ … and diminished China’s ‘Cultural soft power’" The Blue Book suggested there is a need to increase the efforts and resources devoted to the development of Chinese language education and to the development of a global Chinese language education system.

Zhao Yang, the Deputy Director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council disclosed that China will increase its investment in training oversea’s Chinese language teachers and will support the development of a Chinese language education system. According to the article, currently there is a training class held in Kunming University for Chinese language teachers from Burma. Another will be held in Wuhu City of Anhui Province in December to train teachers from Indonesia.

Source: Xinhua, August 19, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2011-08/19/c_121882177.htm

Guangming Daily: The Damage Caused by the U.S. Debt Crisis

Guangming Daily published an article analyzing four areas in which the US debt crisis caused damage to the world’s politics and its economy. 1) The downgrade of the U.S. credit rating significantly harmed its reputation and the trust in U.S. treasury bonds around the world. Moreover, the economic crisis also reflects its political crisis: both parties as well as the administration and Congress have shown they are incapable of solving the problems themselves. 2) As the U.S. is the most influential country, the debt crisis had a deep impact on the rest of the world. The downgrade of the U.S. credit rating caused the world market to fluctuate drastically. The recovery of the world economy has stalled, thus greatly affecting U.S. global influence and resulting in other countries having less trust in and reliance on the U.S. 3) As the world’s top superpower, the U.S. carries the responsibility for the rest of the world. However the way the U.S. handled the debt crisis shows it has been extremely irresponsible. The U.S. solution was to use the superior status of the U.S. dollar, transfer the risk to other countries, and let other countries carry the burden. 4) Coordination is needed in facing the crisis. No doubt the U.S. should take the main responsibility. However, in order to pull through the crisis, the rest of the countries such as the G20 Finance Ministers and the Governors of Central Banks should also work together.

Source: Xinhua, August 10, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2011-08/19/c_121881258.htm

Jiefang Daily: India Moves Closer to Vietnam

Xinhua carried an article originally from Jiefang Daily that analyzed the increased military cooperation between India and Vietnam, stating their joint efforts in the China Sea would create challenges for China, diminish China’s economic influence on Vietnam, and would not help solve the South China Sea conflict. Moreover, the formation of the “Mekong-Ganga Cooperative,” which includes India and Vietnam, is an indication that they are trying to compete with China.

The article commented on how India and Vietnam have recently stepped up their military ties. On July 19, Vietnam invited the Indian Naval warship “Ins Airavat” to visit the Nha Trang port in southern Vietnam. Nha Trang, close to the South China Sea, was an important U.S. military base during the Vietnam War, and is fully equipped militarily. The article added, “It is a clear indication that Vietnam is attempting to include a third country in the South Sea dispute.”

India’s response to Vietnam included a promise to build a large naval warship, to export missiles, and to provide technical assistant to help the Vietnamese military forces. "India’s move shows that it hopes to have a presence in the Asia pacific region." The article ended by stating, “The impact of the strategic cooperation between India and Vietnam will be very limited due to their geographic location and their limited (military) power; … however we cannot take it for granted.”

Source: Xinhua, August 18, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2011-08/18/c_121876287_2.htm

Red Flag Manuscript: Taking Advantage of Two Strategic Opportunities

[Editor’s Notes: An article in Red Flag Manuscript argued that two strategic opportunities in the world have been favorable to China’s rise in power. One is that the U.S. and other Western countries are still suffering from the global financial crisis. The other is the challenge of the Middle East, which is delaying the U.S. from directing its attention ever-eastward, where it will focus on deterring China. The article suggests that China should take full advantage of these two opportunities to grow its power. In particular, Communist theory is undergoing a revival and Capitalism is being questioned due to the ongoing crisis. Thus, China should actively cooperate with and provide help to left wing and socialist ideologies.] [1]

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Study Times: Develop World Class Movies & TV Series to Increase China’s Soft Power

A Study Times article asks, “Why are American movies popular all over the world? Why can Japanese cartoons and South Korean TV series conquer Asia and even the world and be a national symbol? By comparison, what movie and TV culture should China develop to have its own world class products compatible with China’s status? This question has long been hotly discussed in the movie, TV, cultural and academic areas. It has even become an important topic in the political arena.”

The article says, “Art belongs to ideology and has educational implications. It can influence people ‘unconsciously’ on the psychological level. … When the audience accepts the leading characters, they also accept the values that the characters exhibit or the values the movie or TV series champion.” “Hu Jintao pointed out at the 90th Anniversary of the CCP, ‘(We) must set our eyes on promoting China’s culture to the world, establish a cultural soft power that is compatible with China’s international status, and increase China’s cultural influence on the world.’”

In conclusion, the article proposed, “In the current international political environment, culture and soft power are inseparable from the scope of political language. To create world class Chinese movies and TV series will result in being recognized by audiences around the world.”

Source: Study Times, August 15, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/08/15/09/09_25.htm

Ministry of Defense Official: There Is No Such Thing as Absolute Transparency

Colonel Major Qian Lihua, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Defense Ministry, published an article after Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited China on July 10-13, 2011. In commenting on the transparency of China’s military, Qian said, “It must be pointed out that the openness of China’s military is an orderly openness, one that is equal, reciprocal, and in accordance with China’s security and interests. We will gradually increase the extent of openness based on the level of China’s military development and the need for military diplomacy; we will oppose blind openness that does not consider the realities. We advocate equal treatment and oppose forced and involuntary openness. We advocate mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, and oppose unilateral openness seeking self interest. We insist on gradual openness on the premise of ensuring national military security, appropriately handling the relationship between openness and confidentiality. There is no such thing as ‘absolute transparency.”

Source: People’s Daily, July 16, 2011
http://military.people.com.cn/GB/1076/115150/15179956.html

Xinhua: European and U.S. Debt Crises Represent a Failure of the Western System

Xinhua republished a commentary by Jinua Times, a daily newspaper in Beijing, arguing that the current international financial and debt crisis represent a failure of the Western system. The article states, “The financial crisis and the current ongoing European and U.S. debt crises represent … the failure of the current European and U.S. systems. These crises have shaken people’s faith in these nations’ sovereign credit and have also shaken people’s faith in the current system being able to ensure that the financial (system) can fully perform its function.”

The article laments, “World economic recovery is slow; old financial crises are not over, yet new debt problems have arisen. It makes one worry about the current system’s effectiveness.” The author listed three worries: (1) Europe and the U.S. may be trapped into paying old debts with new debts, creating a “Ponzi scheme”; (2) the U.S. may try to solve its debt problem by printing money, depreciating the dollar, and inducing inflation; (3) the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating will make the countries holding U.S. debt suffer losses in their foreign currency reserves.

The article concludes, “The current European and U.S. system won’t eliminate these worries. The crisis is with the current system and is not just a credit crisis. Since the current system cannot solve the problem, it is logical and inevitable to establish a new world order and a new national system.”

Source: Xinhua, August, 15, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2011-08/15/c_121859517.htm

China’s Ministry of Agriculture: The Best Practices in the Party’s Ideological Work on Farmers

Red Flag Manuscript published a research paper from China’s Ministry of Agriculture that discussed the best practices in the Party’s ideological and political work in the countryside. The article stated that the victories that the Party achieved in the past were the result of taking resolving agricultural and farmers’ issues as the number one priority, adopting and implementing agricultural policies, and targeting the hearts of farmers in the Party’s ideological and political work, all of which won the support of the vast majority of farmers. The practices that have proved best include 1) always consider the farmers’ issues as the most important; 2) always tie the core task of the Party with the ideological work on farmers; 3) always treat the resolution of land problems as the foundation of the Party’s work on farmers’ issues; 4) implement the Party’s agricultural policies along with its ideological and political work.

Source: Red Flag Manuscript reprinted by Qiushi, August 10, 2011
http://www.qstheory.cn/hqwg/2011/201115/201108/t20110810_101111.htm