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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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Liu Yunshan Calls for Grassroots Ideology Work

In a recent visit to Henan Province, Liu Yunshan, who is the Chinese Communist Party’s senior official and head of the Propaganda Department, asked the Party members to “seriously study the new situations and new issues that their propaganda, ideological, and cultural work is facing." He suggested that the Party "reach out to the grassroots level, care about people’s demands, … allocate more resources at the grassroots level, extend the service network to the grassroots level, and promote the ideological and cultural advocacy work being done at the grassroots to a new level.” Liu also emphasized “enhancing the appeal of the work, building mobile platforms in which people are willing to and can easily participate in, and guiding the masses in serving and educating the people.”
Source: Xinhua, September 22, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/22/c_12596837.htm
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China to Launch Space Station in 2011

China expects its first space station “Tiangong 1” to be orbiting the Earth in early 2011.
The 8.5-ton Tiangong-1 (Tiangong means “heavenly palace” in Chinese) is scheduled to lift off on a Long March 2F carrier rocket and serve as a docking station for three Shenzhou spacecraft – the Shenzhou-8, Shenzhou-9, and Shenzhou-10. The Shenzhou-8, currently under construction, will dock at the Tiangong-1 as it orbits the Earth, sometime in the second half of 2011. The Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spaceships are scheduled to be launched in 2012.
Eventually, after the Shenzhou dockings, Tiangong-1 will serve as a manned space lab and will expand as the Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-3 merge with the primary space module. According to Chinese authorities, the Tiangong-2 is scheduled to be completed by 2013 and the Tiangong-3 will be finished sometime later, possibly between 2014 and 2016.
Source: China News Service, September 23, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/2010/09-23/2550767.shtml
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Sharp Increases in Housing Prices Attributed to Dominance of State-Owned Enterprises

The state’s intervention in the market, China’s “invisible hand,” is putting pressure on private sector real estate developers, while encouraging a state monopoly in the real estate market. This leaves little hope for housing prices to fall, says China Youth Daily. 

Tightening bank credit lines, coupled with the rejection of second offerings in the stock market, are dramatically narrowing the financing sources available to local real estate developers. 

On the other hand, State-owned enterprises are expanding rapidly and their monopoly has become obvious.
 

China Youth Daily further suggests, “Obviously, when a monopoly exists, it will be much easier for the central government to reap benefits from this market. Therefore, falling housing prices, which is what people foresee, will never materialize.” 

Source: China Youth Daily, September 21, 2010
http://zqb.cyol.com/content/2010-09/21/content_3416171.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Study Times: Internet Becoming a Tool for Party Building

Study Times,a weekly newspaper published by the Party School of the CCP, urges local Party branches to take on the challenge of using the Internet for Party building. The paper suggested that the Internet can be a tool for Party propaganda.  For example, the Party branch in Tongxin County, Guizhou Province, invites Party members, wherever they are throughout the country, to have access to a training platform on a Party Building Website and to select the Party courses that would benefit them the most.  The call is out for the Internet to become a “platform leading and influencing factor for mainstream ideology.”  In Dongwan County, Guangdong Province, 12 online Party branches were established to track and connect Party members. Everyone is asked to participate in the online Party study program.

Source: Study Times, September 20, 2010
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2010/09/20/01/01_26.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

People’s Daily on China’s Strategy for Intellectuals

At the beginning of September 2010, People’s Daily published a series of articles on “China’s Strategy for Intellectuals.” On September 18, 2010, People’s Daily and the Research Center of “Three Represents,” which is attached to Remin University of China, co-sponsored a forum called “Revival of Great Power – Strategy for Intellectuals” to discuss the concept, values, features and standards of a “strategy for intellectuals.” Over 60 individuals attended the forum, including representatives of the History Research Center of the Party, the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, the China National School of Administration, the State Council Research Office and other State’s departments, as well as representatives of State media.

Source: People’s Daily, September 20, 2010
http://theory.people.com.cn/GB1279163.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Responsibility” Pronouncement Unsound

[Editor’s note: In this Xinhua commentary, influential Chinese scholars (Xinhua writers Cao Xiaofan and Gu Ye) complained about the Western media’s latest pronouncement about China: “It’s China’s responsibility.” This comment has become the focus of intense interest ever since China surpassed Japan to become the world’s number two economy. Some Chinese scholars believe that holding China “responsible” is a “trap” for China. They believe that this recent pronouncement is more subtle and potentially more damaging than earlier, more inflammatory descriptors propagated by the West, such as “The China threat” and “China’s imminent collapse.” The following is a translation of the Xinhua article] [1]

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Reports | | |   Report

Continuing Escalation of the Sino-Japan Conflict

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on September 21, that it would be “inappropriate” for Wen Jiabao to meet Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in New York when Wen visits the United Nations. This is a continuation of the escalation of the Sino-Japan conflict following Japan’s September 7 arrest and subsequent detention of the captain of a Chinese trawler near the Diaoyu Islands (called the Senkaku islands in Japan). Early on September 19, China suspended all contact with Japan at the level of Minister and above.

In China, patriotic fervor has been stirred up in an anti-Japan campaign. The Japanese Consulate in Guangzhou said that, on September 9, some Chinese threw beer bottles into the consulate. On September 18, there was a protest in front of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing. That day marked the anniversary of Japan’s invasion of China in 1931. The number of police present at the site was several times that of the protestors, but they didn’t take any action to stop the protest. The protestors shouted, “Down with the Japanese! Kick the U.S. out of Asia! Kick the U.S. back to the U.S. …”

Source:
1. Reuters, September 21, 2010
http://cn.reuters.com/article/cnMktNews/idCNnCN132143920100921
2. Xinhua, September 19, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/19/c_12587473.htm
3. Mingpao, September 16, 2010
http://inews.mingpao.com/htm/INews/20100916/ca41525i.htm
4. Boxun, September 18, 2010
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/09/201009181144.shtml

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

International Herald Leader: Including the Diaoyu Islands in Diplomatic Discussions

The International Herald Leader published an article by Lin Xiaoguang, a professor at the CCP Central Party School, stating that in the past China has been soft in claiming sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands (called the Senkaku Islands in Japan), but that it is now time to include its claim in its formal diplomatic agenda with Japan. Lin argued that China’s former strategy of “putting aside disputes and jointly developing” didn’t work. Taking the issue to international court won’t work either. So the best way is to include it in the Sino-Japan East Sea Diplomatic Discussion. This will restrict Japan from taking actual control of the island on its own, and will also avoid the shocking effect on the Sino-Japan relationship from any emergent incident.

Source: International Herald Leader, September 20, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2010-09/20/c_13521094.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend