Chinascope – Page 1065

BRICS Development Banks to Open Local-currency Credit Lines to Each Other

On April 14, 2011, the state development banks of the five BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – signed a framework credit-line agreement to open credit lines to each other in their national currencies. This represents the latest concrete step developing nations have taken to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar.

China Development Bank (CDB) plans to issue around CNY10 billion of yuan-denominated loans this year to other BRICS nations. Most of these loans will fund oil and gas projects. CDB is in talks with Brazilian state-owned Petrobras regarding further loans to the oil company. China and Brazil reached a $10 billion oil-for-loan deal in 2009, under which Petrobras agreed to supply crude oil to China Petrochemical Corp. for 10 years in exchange for funding from CDB. BRICS countries are moving towards mutually trading each others’ currencies, following Russia’s launch of yuan trading in Moscow at the end of 2010.

Source: Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2011

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110414-704029.html

Briefings | | April 15, 2011 | Geo-Strategic Trend

People’s Daily Online: The U.S. Has a Double Standard on the Internet Freedom

A People’s Daily Online commentary criticizes the U.S. for having a double standard on Internet freedom. “On one side, U.S. demands that other countries provide unrestricted ‘Internet freedom,’ using this to exert diplomatic pressure and seek hegemony; on the other, it applies strict Internet control domestically.

“In an emergency situation, the (U.S.) federal government has the absolute right to close down the Internet; in the name of anti-terrorism, the U.S. security authorities can eavesdrop on private phone calls, monitor personal online communication, and set up an ‘online water army’ to dilute unfavorable comments with fake information.”

The article concludes that “It’s a violation of human rights and an act of interfering in other country’s Internet sovereignty. … The intention is clear: (everyone else) should listen to the direction of and observe U.S. orders, but (the U.S.) can occupy and attack wherever it wants, relying on the Internet to seek its own interests.”

[Ed: “online water army” is a Chinese term referring to people, usually temporarily hired, who manipulate social media by using fake online personas to influence Internet conversations.]

Source: People’s Daily online, April 11, 2011
http://opinion.people.com.cn/GB/14360841.html

Briefings | | April 15, 2011 | US-China Relations

People’s Daily: Use Modern Media to Enhance Our National Image

[Editor’s Note: This is one of many articles that have appeared on official media in recent years talking about how to use the new media and modern communication as a means to boost China’s image and compete with the West in attracting an audience. The article warns, “It should be noted however, that currently a number of Western developed countries are hastening their efforts to Westernize and divide our country; they are using every possible resource to compete for dominance in international discourse.” The entire article is translated below.] [1]

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Reports | | April 14, 2011 | Report

‘China Rich List’ 2011 Released

On April 12, 2011, Hurun, known for its annual ‘China Rich List,’ released a Hurun Wealth Report 2011 in association with GroupM Knowledge, a media communication group. The report details the number of millionaires broken down by region across China.

China has 960,000 ‘millionaires’ with personal wealth of 10 million yuan or more (US$ 1.5 million), up 85,000 individuals or 9.7% from 2009. Among them, 55% derived their wealth from their private business. 20% are property speculators, who have ridden the fast upsurge in home prices. 15% are stock market gurus, who are also the youngest with an average age of 38. The remaining 10% are high earning, salaried executives. China has 60,000 ‘super rich’ worth 100 million yuan or more (US$ 15 million), up 9.0% from last year. Beijing leads the way with 10,000 individuals followed by Guangdong with 9,000 and Shanghai with 7,800.

Source: Hurun Report, April 12, 2011
http://www.hurun.net

Briefings | | April 14, 2011 | Economy/Resources

Study Times on U.S. Policy in the Middle East

An article in Study Times, a Central Party School’s voice, points to the quagmire in the U.S.-Middle East relationship. “The U.S. strategy in the Middle East has a big loophole: a double standard toward the Arab countries and Israel, which will ultimately have serious consequences. U.S. Middle East strategy is critically reliant on its allies, who are exactly the regimes involved in the recent waves of protest. After the regime changes, a number of those in the U.S.’s Middle Eastern alliance have expressed dissatisfaction about the U.S. abandoning Mubarak.” “But now more and more voices in the U.S. believe that the U.S. is paying a ‘security cost’ for this alliance, because it created a strong anti-American sentiment, and thus created its own enemies.” “Arab leaders have come to understand that in times of crisis, they cannot save themselves by having good relations with the U.S. and peace agreements with Israel. The change has become more favorable to Iran’s strategic position in the region.” “There are indications that whoever has a close relationship with the U.S. will have a volatile political situation. After Mubarak stepped down, Egypt allowed Iranian naval vessels into the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, as a signal that it was distancing itself from the U.S. and Israel.”

Source: Study Times, April 11, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/04/11/02/02_33.htm

Briefings | | April 14, 2011 | Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Annual U.S. Human Rights Record

On April 10, 2011, two days after the U.S. State Department published its 2010 human rights report, China’s State Council Information Office issued a report on the 2010 U.S. Human Rights Record. “On April 8, 2011, the U.S. State Department released its ‘2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,’ with distortions and accusations on the human rights situations in more than 190 countries and regions including China. However, the U.S. turns a blind eye to its own terrible human rights situation and rarely mentions it. To urge the U.S. to face its own problems, we hereby release the 2010 U.S. Human Rights Record.’”

The report claims “The U.S. has the world’s worst violent crimes.” “Every year, about one fifth of Americans are victims of various crimes, the highest proportion in the world.” “The U.S. has the world’s largest number of privately owned firearms; among the 300 million people in the U.S., about 90 million hold 200 million guns.” “The U.S. has been claiming itself to be a ‘land of freedom,’ but it has the world’s largest number of prisoners deprived of their freedom.”

Source: Xinhua, April 10, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-04/10/c_121287373.htm

Briefings | | April 14, 2011 | US-China Relations

China Sends College Graduates to Work in Villages

Starting in 2008, the Chinese Communist Party’s Department of Organization and the Ministry of Education have been sending twenty thousand college graduates per year to be “village officials” for a period of five years. The purpose is to build an army of grassroots communist cadres and to ease unemployment for college graduates as well. Ironically, being enrolled in a college or university is the only means for a rural Chinese to be able to obtain resident status in the cities.

The “college graduate village officials” are usually “officials’ assistants” rather than real administrative officials. However, they receive annual subsidies ranging from 5,000 (US$ 766) to 15,000 yuan (US$ 2,296). After three years, they can choose to leave the village and may receive extra benefits if they get permanent government jobs or apply for a post-graduate program.

Source: VOA, April 9, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20110409-College-Students-Work-at-Grassroots-119530704.html

Briefings | | April 13, 2011 | Government/Politics

Banks’ Hidden Practice of High Quarter-end Rates to Lure Deposits

In March, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) launched spot checks on banks’ illegal practice of attracting deposits as the quarter-end review of banks’ financial status approached.

Many banks are known for the hidden practice of offering significantly high returns on financial products with an issuance period that spans end-of-quarter dates such as March 31. Increasing deposits in this way can reduce the loan-to-deposit ratio below the 75% industrial red line. For example, on March 31, some banks have offered 80,000 yuan in daily interest for a 10 million yuan deposit (the equivalent of a 300% annual interest rate). In March last year, some banks even put up an announcement that, depending on the amount of the deposit, the depositors might receive returns in kind, such as eggs and cooking oil. In September last year, CBRC criticized a list of banks for such illegalities, including the Agricultural Bank of China.

Source: Beijing Morning Post, April 11, 2011
http://www.morningpost.com.cn/xwzx/jjxw/2011-04-11/179314.shtml

Briefings | | April 13, 2011 | Economy/Resources

Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

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.”