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China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

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

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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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China’s Government Think Tanks Debate Foreign Policy

On December 21, 2010, the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Science, published its “2010: Evaluation of China’s Security Situation.” The report stated, “In 2010, China faced intensified security pressure from its neighboring countries and deteriorating relationships with its neighbors.”

Recently China’s government think tanks have been debating the direction of China’s foreign policy. The International Herald Leader reported on a forum held to discuss the security report. Participants expressed two opposing views:

1.  “China should learn how to reduce it neighbors’ fears and worries concerning China’s rise. In other words, make more friends and create zero or few enemies.”

2. “China should learn from Russia. It initially took a soft foreign policy approach, but the Western world’s continued interaction with its neighbors became a threat. After Russia showed its determination to safeguard its interests, [Ed: sending troops to Georgia], the situation stabilized.”

Source: International Herald Leader, December 24, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2010-12/24/c_13663115.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Guangming: Developing China’s Propaganda Machine to Better Influence Other Countries

Guangming Daily published an article by Leng Song, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Science, on how to improve China’s influence over other countries. Leng listed the following strategies:

1. Build up the CCP Central media’s brand name and reputation overseas. All major Central media have already begun to expand in the Western world.
2. Have better control and utilization of the Internet, avoiding simple approaches such as blocking or removing articles on the Internet.
3. Expand the media’s focus to both developed and developing countries. China’s current foreign propaganda focus is Europe, the U.S., Japan, and Russia. China should also cover Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

Leng also argued for the use of crises to promote China’s image. “Timeliness is the key to controlling the tone of the media when reporting a social crisis.” “Reporting on social crises requires full awareness of (the CCP’s) policy direction and political position.”

Source: Guangming Daily, December 22, 2010
http://epaper.gmw.cn/gmrb/html/2010-12/22/nw.D110000gmrb_20101222_1-11.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Guangming Daily: Some Thoughts on Financial Safety

Guangming Daily recently published an article discussing issues related to China’s national financial safety, which is considered to be the core of economic safety. The article expressed concern that financial globalization has resulted in an increase in negative economic fluctuations. The author believes that there are four elements that endanger the Chinese economy: (1) hot money, or unemployed capital; (2) financial innovations that lead to instability; (3) strong pressure that results from China’s foreign exchange reserves; (4) an incomplete financial system in China’s rural areas. The article called for long-term positioning of the Chinese currency (RMB), improvements in financial market administration, and increased investment in social security systems.

Source: Guangming Daily, December 20, 2010
http://epaper.gmw.cn/gmrb/html/2010-12/20/nw.D110000gmrb_20101220_4-10.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Xinhua: China to Control the Rapid Growth of Land Prices

On December 19, 2010, Xinhua reported that the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources had just released new regulations requiring local government branches to enforce real estate administrative policies and to “decisively” stop the recent rapid increase in land prices. The Ministry pointed out that the health of the current real estate market is “facing a complex situation.” The entire society can see how land prices have been increasing in a number of cities. The Ministry called for “strong strikes” against land hoarding and speculation. The new regulations also prohibit changing the use of land into government-subsidized land for low-income housing projects.

Source: Xinhua, December 20, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-12/20/c_12896352.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China and Gulf Arab Countries Held a Seminar on Economics in Guangxi

The International Department of the CCP Central Committee recently announced that China and the Gulf Arab Countries held a seminar on economics on December 16, 2010, in Guangxi, China. The theme of the seminar was “Economic Transformation and Joint Development.” More than 70 people attended. They included envoys from Gulf Arab countries, Chinese and foreign government officials, experts, and business representatives. Li Jinjun, Deputy Director of the CCP International Department, suggested in his speech that the Gulf Arab countries and China are emerging markets and face similar economic challenges. He believes it would be worthwhile to find new approaches to improving joint development.

Source: International Department of the Central Committee of CCP, December 16, 2010
http://www.idcpc.org.cn/dongtai/101216-2.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Almost Half of China’s Antibiotics Is Used on Animals

On December 8, 2010, the International Herald Leader, a newspaper under Xinhua News Agency, published a report titled “The Alarming Misuse of Antibiotics in China’s Animal Agriculture.” The report included results from a survey conducted by Professor Xiao Yonghong and others from the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Peking University. The survey found that “China produces about 210,000 tons of antibiotics annually, 97,000 tons of which are used in animal agriculture. Other experts estimate that over half of the antibiotics produced annually in China may be used on animals.”

A Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ investigation revealed that “not only are expired antibiotics, which have serious side effects, over-used, but some new antibiotics, which are still in the trial stage for use on humans, are also used in fish breeding and on livestock. Many animals have died from overdoses of drugs instead of from diseases. ”

Source: International Herald Leader, December 8, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2010-12/08/c_13639958.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China Review News: Top 10 Contradictions as China Rises

China Review News published an article on December 24, 2010, summarizing the “Top 10 Contradictions” that need to be resolved as China rises:

  1. The rise of China and how the U.S. and the West curb China 
  2. How the U.S. deals with the “China challenge”
  3. Friction with different countries
  4. The actual level of China’s development and the higher expectations that the international community has of China
  5. The attitude of “suspicion of China” that China’s surrounding countries have and their “reliance on the U.S. to contain China” 
  6. Friction between China and large emerging countries
  7. China’s socialism vs. American and Western ideology
  8. The severe turbulent situation in the international strategic setup due to China’s rise
  9. Avoiding direct confrontation with the current hegemony and the world political system
  10. The international factors in China’s internal problems and the Chinese factors in the international problems

Source: China Review News, December 24, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1015/4/7/8/101547824.html?coluid=148&kindid=0&docid=101547824&mdate=1224000949

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Chinese Scholars Believe that the U.S. Is Surrounding China in order to Contain China

China Review News published an article on December 26, 2010, saying that Chinese scholars believe that the United States is surrounding China by drawing China’s neighboring countries to its side for the purpose of containing China. “In order to weaken China’s competitiveness, the United States is creating tension in the Korean peninsula by supporting its strategic allies, Japan and (South) Korea.”

The article states that the “United States is an invasive country” and “is likely to take risks to wage regional wars around China in order to disrupt the pace of China’s economic development” and “consolidate its own economic hegemony.” “The Chinese government should give severe warnings to the surrounding countries that rely on the might of the United States.” On the other hand, “The Chinese government should tell the truth to the international community through the UN Security Council and ask the international community to condemn the troublemaking behavior of the U.S."

Source: China Review News, December 26, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1015/4/5/0/101545088.html?coluid=136&kindid=4711&docid=101545088&mdate=1226002844

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations