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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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Authorities Block P2P Victims from Going to Beijing to Petition

In the past two months, a large number of P2P (Peer to Peer Lending) companies have closed in China. One report showed that 60 to 70 P2P companies closed just in one day. Tens and millions of investors are affected, including some seniors who have lost their entire retirement savings. On August 6, the P2P victims around the country planned a group petition in front of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) in Beijing but the officials planned ahead of time to block these petitioners. The Epoch Times article showed photos of the shuttle buses lined up outside of the CBIRC building that were ready to take the petitioners away. The screen shot of a notice from the Public Security Bureau of Wenzhou City showed that the top leader of the local authorities in each region was told to take responsibility for stopping the P2P petitioners from going to Beijing. Otherwise they would face serious consequences. The notice also ordered all levels of the security forces to be ready to carry out the task of monitoring the petitioners. One document from an unidentified province advised that the authorities were aware that there were 8,370 people from 32 cities and provinces who all had plans to go to Beijing; it put them all under close surveillance. One notice from a Public Security Bureau of a railway station ordered that the local security bureau must take action to prevent the petitioners from boarding the train to Beijing. The embedded videos showed police stopping the petitioners from leaving their homes or taking them off of trains or out of hotel rooms. One petitioner told a police officer that they should be clear what kind of government they are serving: “Wake up! One day what we face today will be the same thing you face tomorrow.” Another victim said, “They locked us up without even giving us a reason. The government is so dark.” Members of the police force have become the dogs of the corrupt officials. Where did tens and billions of P2P funding go? Has it become a tool for officials to launder money?

Source: Epoch Times, August 6, 2018
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/18/8/6/n10617970.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

ASEAN-China Single Draft South China Sea Code of Conduct to Weaken U.S. Influence

On August 3, the foreign ministers of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their Chinese counterpart announced agreement on a Single Draft South China Sea Code of Conduct Negotiating Text (SDNT) that will serve as the basis for the adoption of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

Among the proposals that China made, two of them are notable. The first is on cooperation on the marine economy and states that cooperation is to be carried out by the littoral states “and shall not be conducted in cooperation with companies from countries outside the region.” In contrast, Malaysia proposed that nothing in the Code of Conduct (COC) “shall affect… rights or ability of the Parties to conduct activities with foreign countries or private entities of their own choosing.” The marine economy includes aquaculture and oil and gas cooperation, and marine culture.

Another proposal is about joint military exercises. “The Parties shall establish a notification mechanism on military activities and will notify each other of major military activities if deemed necessary. The Parties shall not hold joint military exercises with countries from outside the region unless the parties concerned are notified beforehand and express no objection.”

China’s move is perceived at an attempt to weaken further any U.S. intervention in the South China Sea as the U.S. is considered as being among “countries outside the region.”

Shen Shishun, a scholar from the China Institute of International Studies, made it very clear in his interview with Russian based Sputnik News. “The so-called interference or factors of uncertainty mainly mean that some countries outside the region, out of a cold war mentality, are worried about the rise in influence of other countries in the region, and the decline of their own. They have adopted cold war tactics to provoke dissension among the countries in the region and to disrupt the situation in the South China Sea. It should be said that the interference of external forces is mainly from the United States. The U.S. global strategy is simple. It is to prevent any country from challenging its hegemonic status. The rise of China naturally has become its greatest threat. In fact, what the U.S. is doing does no good for Sino-U.S. relations, nor for regional peace and stability.”

Source: Sputnik News, August 4, 2018
http://sputniknews.cn/opinion/201808041026048188/

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Largest Corn Trader Quietly Filed for Bankruptcy

According to Beijing News, the Intermediate People’s Court of Changchun City of Jilin Province recently issued a civil ruling that Xinghua Grain Depot, a subsidiary of Jilin Grain Group Co., Ltd., is insolvent and unable to pay off its debts. The court ruling showed that Xinghua’s current debt ratio exceeded 100 percent. It has 27 employees under labor contracts. The company has so far defaulted on wages, social security, and medical insurance payments.

As a matter of fact, before the Xinghua Grain Depot’s bankruptcy filing, its parent company Jilin Grain Group Co., Ltd. already quietly went bankrupt. The civil ruling that the Beijing News reporter obtained showed that the applicant, Wang Jing, applied to the Changchun Intermediate People’s Court for bankruptcy liquidation of the Jilin Grain Group on the grounds that it was insolvent and was not able to pay off its debts. On May 15, 2018, Jilin Grain Group submitted a written opinion to the court, expressing its consent to bankruptcy liquidation. The court ruled to accept Wang’s bankruptcy application for Jilin Grain Group.

Since August, a number of Jilin Grain Group’s subsidiaries including the above-mentioned Xinghua Grain Depot have filed for bankruptcy reorganization. For example, the Changchun Intermediate People’s Court issued another civil ruling on August 2, indicating that Jiashi Rice Industry Co., Ltd. has been unable to pay off its debts. It ruled to accept Jiashi Rice’s bankruptcy application.

Founded in 1996, Jilin Grain Group Co., Ltd. grows, processes, and distributes grains. With registered capital of 664 million yuan (US$97 million), it has 20 subsidiaries, a total of 3,000 employees and an annual sales income of more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion). A nationally recognized state-owned enterprise, Jilin Grain Group was China’s largest corn trader.

In recent years, Jilin Grain Group has been involved in corruption investigations. In February 2018, former party secretary and chairman of Jilin Grain Group, Meng Xiangjiuwas, was under investigation for “serious violations of discipline” and dismissed from the party. Xinhua News Agency reported a long list of charges against Meng, including illegal possession of property, misappropriation of public funds for illegal activities, accepting bribery when appointing officials, contracting projects and conducting business operations.

Source: Beijing News, August 3, 2018
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/finance/2018/08/03/498070.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Overseas Study Tours for Preschoolers

In order to prepare for the tough competition in the future, Chinese families continue to invest in their children’s education. Online travel agency Ctrip recently released the “2018 Summer Study Camp Report,” pointing out that more and more Chinese families prefer that their children go abroad for study and camp tourism. In 2018, the scale is expected to reach 1 million people, with expenditures of more than 30 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion).

The report sampled families with children between the ages of 8 and 12 and found that the proportion of families who are willing to participate in study tourism this summer is as high as 80 percent. The per capita expenditure for an overseas trip is more than 23,000 yuan (US$3,400). The average expense of a trip to the United Kingdom, the United States, or Australia is between 32,000 yuan (US$4,700) and 38,000 yuan (US$5,600); the shorter trips to Asian countries cost between 8,000 yuan (US$1,200) and 15,000 yuan (US$2,200). The most popular destinations for overseas study tours are the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand.

The age of those going on overseas study tours is concentrated between 10 and 15 years old, accounting for 66 percent of the total. However, children under 6 years old also account for 5 percent.

The demand for quality in the study tours has gradually increased. Compared with the previous trips which were usually to open the eyes of the children, in recent years, parents have been giving thought to more professional considerations. Their inquiries include the information on the target school, the quality of teachers, the proportion of international students, the teaching philosophy of the school, and even the teaching materials.

Source: The Paper, August 3, 2018
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2317979

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Ministry of Finance to Expand Pilot Reform of SOEs to Implement Their Dominant Market Position

People Daily reported that the State Council recently issued, “Opinions to Implement the Pilot Reform of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).” It plans to expand the SOE reform pilot program and form a replicated model for more SOEs to follow.

The Opinions focus on the following four principles:

First, to ensure that the party maintains the overall leadership of state-owned enterprises, to implement the legal status of the party organization within the corporate governance structure and to ensure that the party’s and the state’s policies on major decisions are implemented.

Second, to insist that the market plays a decisive role in resource allocation while better enabling the government to play its role in further implementing the dominant market position of the State Owned Enterprises.

Third, to focus on supply-side reforms to establish a complete operational guideline that enables SOEs to become stronger and better.

Fourth, to be firm in preventing the loss of state-owned assets and to build a monitoring and evaluation system.

The article also quoted directions that Xi Jinping gave during the 19th Congress on SOEs. Xi called for SOEs to improve an asset management system, optimize the economic model, make structural adjustments and strategic changes, enable SOEs to become stronger and better and grow to be competitive first class world companies.

Source: People’s Daily, August 1, 2018
http://finance.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0801/c1004-30184188.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Jinan Uses Drones to Capture Drivers Using Cell Phones

On July 31, the “Airborne Traffic Police,” the multi-rotor drones, were formally put into use in Jinan City of Shandong Province. Their main purpose was to photograph drivers who were using phones illegally or making phone calls while driving. This is the first time that Jinan has used police drones to capture traffic violators. The traffic police team has invested in four drones to cooperate with law enforcement.  Beijing Youth Daily reported that, half an hour into their debut, five illegal activities were captured on the spot.

“At 7 o’clock in the morning, at one traffic light crossroad, a multi-rotor drone carrying a high-definition camera was hovering around and ‘observing’ the car drivers to see whether there were illegal activities such as using mobile phones and making phone calls. Not long after, a white car appeared in the surveillance video connected to the drone. While waiting at the red light, the driver’s right hand was on the steering wheel and his left hand picked up the phone to play. The drone repeatedly adjusted the angle and focal length, while recording the whole process of the man playing with the mobile phone while driving. Soon, the traffic police at the traffic light intersection found the man and fined him for the violation.

“The Jinan Municipal Public Security Bureau formed the police aviation team, which started trial operations in April of this year. The members of the police team have superb drone flight skills and practical experience in traffic management. The team has carried out trial operations for nearly three months and the team members have accumulated more than 200 hours of safe flight time. The drone and its videotaping device are specially designed for collecting evidence of both dynamic and static traffic violations.”

Source: Beijing Youth Daily, August 1, 2018
http://epaper.ynet.com/html/2018-08/01/content_298239.htm?div=-1

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Epoch Times Opinion Article: The Reality that Xi Jinping Is Facing

Epoch Times published an opinion article titled, “The Reality that Xi Jinping Is Facing.” The following is a summary of the article:

For the Chinese Communist Party as a whole, one of the first and most important tasks for the leader in such a position is to preserve the wealth and interests of the few top level families and the interests of the members of the high-ranking power group.

However, the facts that Trump was elected president of the U.S. in 2016, and especially that the Sino-US trade war began this year, have touched the fundamental interests of those at the party’s top level. Trump’s trade policy toward China will ultimately fundamentally change China’s trade status and will greatly impact the interests of those families. From this point of view, if Xi Jinping cannot protect the interests of that group, then Xi will become their enemy and will be discarded. This is one of the reasons why Zhongnanhai has been in political turmoil lately and Xi Jinping is facing challenges.

Within the party, Xi Jinping’s political enemies are waiting. The Party’s interest group at the top level knows that, after the Sino-US trade war is over, they will lose access to the wealth they used to have. In itself, this will become sufficient reason for Xi Jinping to step down.

The Chinese Communist Party has no solution to the social crisis in China. This is the reality that Xi Jinping is facing today.

Source: Epoch Times, July 27, 2018
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/18/7/27/n10596622.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Launched Ninth and Tenth Beidou Satellites to Provide Service to Belt and Road Countries

Beijing News reported that, since China launched the first satellite of the BeiDou 3 system on November 5, 2017, on July 29, it successfully launched the ninth and tenth satellites from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province. Before the end of this year, China plans to launch eight more satellites so it will have a total of 18 satellites to complete the BeiDou 3 basic system which will provide service to countries along the Belt and Road project. According to the article, the China Academy of Space Technology and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology developed the satellites and the launch system used in the recent launch. By 2020, China will complete the BeiDou system and will have 35 satellites with the ability to provide navigation service worldwide.

Source: Beijing News, July 29, 2018
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2018/07/29/497213.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology