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

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

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

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

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Increasing Wages Triggers Heated Debates

Guangzhou based Yangchen Evening News published an article on the recent heated debates about increasing wages. Over the past year, the authorities in the central government have expressed an urgent need to increase the minimum wage. For example, in April 2010, at the executive meeting of the state council, Premier Wen Jiabao named the reform of income distribution and the social security system as the top agenda items. In May 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission released its study on income distribution in several provinces. The State Council circulated NDRC’s “Opinion on Key Tasks to Strengthen Economic Reform in 2011,” and vowed to make reforming income distribution its top priority. 

A study shows that the minimum wage in many countries is between 40-60 percent of the national average income, while the figure is only 17 percent in Beijing and 23 percent in Guangzhou. Over the year, cities or provinces including Shanghai, Shanxi, Chongqing, and Zhejiang have developed plans to increase the minimum wage. Some even proposed to double wages within the next five years. 
However these calls have been met with serious doubts. Some scholars question the government’s capacity to redistribute income to individuals. Some online commentators believe that it’s not difficult to double government employees’ salaries, but that for private enterprises, whose labor costs fluctuate with the market situation, the government directive will not work. Some Chinese netizens have expressed doubts as to whether wage increases will ever catch up with inflation.

Source: Yangchen Evening News reprinted in Chinese Economy online, April 27, 2011 

http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/gnsz/gdxw/201104/27/t20110427_22389034.shtml
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China, Russia and North Korea Launch a Visa-free Travel Program

A China-Russia-North Korea visa free tourist program was formally put in place on April 26. A pilot tour group of 21 people started a trip from Changchun, the capital of China’s Jilin Province, traveled through Huichun City in Jilin, Russia’s Slavyanka, Vladivostok and Khasan, and North Korea’s Hancha and Nasŏn, and finally returned to Huichun. With the visa application waived, one can tour these three bordering North East Asian countries within four days.

Source: Xinhua, April 26, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2011-04/26/c_121350825.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Red Flag Manuscript: Internet Freedom Has Become Clinton’s New Doctrine for U.S. Foreign Policy

Red Flag Manuscript, a publication of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, published a commentary by Zhou Hong, the director of the European division of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Based on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s February 15, 2011, speech on Internet Freedom given at George Washington University, Zhou concludes that the U.S. is shifting its foreign affairs strategy by launching “a war without borders in cyberspace.” As a result, China faces new challenges in its foreign affairs. 

The article states “Hillary was using war declaring language when she announced the State Department’s decision. She calls for having the countries that suppress Internet freedom pay economically and face the same threats of political unrest that Egypt and Tunisia faced.” “Hillary openly named China, Cuba, Iran, Burma, Syria, and Vietnam as countries that ‘censor content, do not allow their citizens to access the global Internet, and arrest bloggers who criticize the government.” “Hillary believes this is a major change in U.S. foreign policy. She said this is a critical choice made by the U.S. government in a critical moment.” 
“Hillary’s above statement, along with her Internet freedom speech in 2009, indeed tells of a new U.S. foreign policy strategy: As the status of U.S. hard power is significantly declining, it is increasingly using soft power in a skillful way to serve its foreign affairs.” 
The article points out that China also faces new social challenges in foreign relations as a result of the Internet war the U.S. has launched. “There is no doubt that our foreign affairs will also face a transition from traditional foreign dealings to social foreign affairs, which include a variety of channels, with the Internet as the key component.” “How we can use the Internet and other social channels to tell a convincing ‘Chinese Story’ to our people and to the international community has become a pressing task."

Source: Red Flag Manuscript, April 27, 2011
http://www.qstheory.cn/hqwg/2011/201108/201104/t20110427_78514.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

The Credibility of China’s Government Is Dangerously Low

[Editor’s Note: Several articles in the Chinese media have criticized the government of China, saying it has lost its credibility with its citizens, who now have no trust or confidence in the authorities. For the majority of the people, casting doubt on whatever the government says has become a habit, as the followings excerpts from some articles show.]

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Reports | | |   Report

China’s Cities Must Still Deal with Sludge Disposal

A plan put forth by the Ministry of Environmental Protection suggests that the next 10 years will be the “golden period” for the development of sewage disposal in China. Thousands of sewage disposal factories will be developed. However, thousands of tons of sludge from each of these facilities will need to be disposed of, a big problem that must be handled urgently. Currently, a majority of the cities in China are equipped with sewage disposal facilities, but sludge disposal has still not been addressed. “Secondary pollution” is quite serious. On November 26, 2010, the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a notice demanding the prompt development of methods for sludge disposal. The notice requires that sewage and sludge disposal units be planned, constructed, and put into use simultaneously in future development; existing sewage disposal factories must complete the sludge disposal requirement within two years.

Source: Economic Information, April 25, 2011
http://www.jjckb.cn/2011-04/25/content_303901.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Xinhua Summarizes Five Topics the Overseas Media Addressed about China’s National Defense

On April 28, Xinhua summarized five topics that the overseas media has discussed about China’s national defense. The topics are: 1) China’s first aircraft carrier will come into being. Speculators have two views. One says it will enhance China’s ability to apply pressure to neighboring countries. The other argues that it is too early [for the aircraft carrier] to have effective combat capability. 2) About China’s military power, one faction believes that China is militarily powerful and should be considered in connection with war. An opposite opinion suggests that China cannot surpass the United States, particularly in the ability to deal with remote distances 3) Regarding China’s Stealth Jet Fighter J-20, the article asks the [media] not use the word “threatening.” 4) About future cyber warfare, the article describes that [the Western media’s reports] are a reflection of a relapse into “paranoia.” 5) As to China’s missile technology, the article asks [the media] not to make any connection between “threat” and “War.”

Source: Xinhua, April 28, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2011-04/28/c_121353528.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Global Times: China-U.S. Human Rights Dialogue Should Not Be Like a Negotiation

The website Global Times, published an opinion article commenting on the ongoing human rights dialogue between China and the U.S. The article says that it has been 21 years since the dialogue started in 1990, but the two sides have never found it to be a truly satisfactory conversation. On the contrary, it is a testing exercise to confirm the two countries’ differing values and political disagreements. The article says, “The U.S. is always very imposing. This time it gave us a long list of prisoners and demanded that China release them ahead of the dialogue. The U.S has made similar requests before and has criticized China for not complying with the requests.” The article comments, “China hopes it’s a real ‘dialogue,’ and understands the other side’s meaning of human rights through communication. … China and the U.S. human rights dialogue should not become a negotiation. It is a prerequisite that no one has the right to lecture the opposite side. … The U.S. government often pressures China using human rights as a diplomatic tool or an answer to the domestic media’s radical voice, and hopes to get China’s ‘cooperation.’ China has no obligation to perform in accordance with Washington’s expectations.”

Source: Global Times, April 28, 2011
http://world.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-04/1659020.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations