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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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BBC Chinese: Acquisition from Hong Kong Questioned in Australia

On July 2, BBC Chinese reported that Hong Kong Cheung Kong (Holdings) recently announced a plan to acquire Australia’s largest natural gas pipeline company, APA. However, this once again triggered considerable debate in Australia, based on the worry about losing control of critical national infrastructure to a foreign power. Hong Kong is currently under Chinese rule with the “One Nation Two Systems” policy. However, the system has no assurance that a Hong Kong company could be prevented from obeying an order from Beijing. The Cheung Kong acquisition attempt is to obtain a 100 percent stake in APA. The deal is valued at around US$9.5 billion. However, there is no signed agreement yet and multiple Australian officials have already stood up to express their concerns on antitrust and national security grounds. Cheung Kong has a large number of investments on a global level, especially in Britain and Canada. It already has control over many infrastructure companies covering most of the Australian states.

Source: BBC Chinese, July 2, 2018
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-44680774

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

People’s Daily: Opening Ceremony for 2018 Visiting of Young Sinologists Training Program Held in Beijing

On July 6, People’s Daily reported on the opening ceremony of the 2018 Visiting of Young Sinologists Training Program, which the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Chinese and Foreign Cultural Exchange Center, and the Beijing Language and Culture University hosted jointly in Beijing. Thirty-eight participants from 34 countries participated in the program. In the first three days, the participants had classes and then were divided into groups to conduct two-weeks of research studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Peking University, the Beijing Language and Culture University, the Beijing Second Foreign Languages Institute and at other academic institutions based on their academic interests. After that, they are scheduled to travel to Guizhou Province to study the situation of the Chinese minority culture, the development of the ecological civilization and the development of contemporary science and technology. After the 21-day training program, these young sinologists will continue to stay in touch with their Chinese mentors and maintain communication on academic research and essay writing. The report stated that the Young Sinologist Training Program was launched in 2014. Twelve sessions have been held since then with 360 participants coming from 95 countries around the world. In 2018, for the first time, the Young Sinologist Training Program will have spring, summer, and fall sessions to be held in Chongqing, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Xi’an. The number of total participants is expected to exceed 200.

Source:
1. People’s Daily, July 6, 2018
http://world.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0706/c1002-30132115.html
2. China Studies, July 5, 2018
http://sinology.chinaculture.org/html/www/news/newsdetails.html?id=183

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Chinese Embassy in the U.S. Warns Chinese Tourists That U.S. Is Not Safe to Visit

Epoch Times reported that, just days prior to the start of the U.S. China trade war, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. issued a notice on its website stating that the U.S. is not safe and that there is a high occurrence of gun violence, robbery, and theft. It warned Chinese tourists that they need to be alert to suspicious people around them and to avoid going out at night. The notice reminded the Chinese tourists that, when they call 911, they must speak Chinese so they can receive Chinese language assistance and also, if they believe that the law enforcement officers have improper conduct or discriminating behavior, they should collect proper evidence so they can appeal the case. The notice also warned about high medical costs in the U.S. and the danger of natural disasters in the summer season.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, three million Chinese tourists visited the U.S. in 2017, the largest number next to Canada, Mexico, the U.K., and Japan.

Source: Epoch Times, July 3, 2018
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/18/7/3/n10533121.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Chinese Lawyers Required to Follow Party’s Leadership and Make Party Development Work Their Top Political Task

People’s Daily reported that, on July 1, during the ninth conference of the All China Lawyers Association, the Association passed a revision to its charter to recognize the party’s leadership over the Association and to strengthen the Association’s work of developing the party. Fu Zhenghua, the Minister of Justice participated in the conference. He expressed the requirements that “lawyers must make the work of developing the party their top political task” and that “lawyers must follow the Party no matter what happens.” On July 8, only days following the national Lawyers conference, the Beijing Lawyer Association took the lead and adopted a similar revision to its charter. The amended language reads as follows: Adhere to Xi Jinping’s new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics as the guide, firmly defend that Comrade Xi Jinping is the core party’s authority and centralized leadership, and strengthen the party’s development work.

Source:
1. People’s Daily, July 2, 2018
http://dangjian.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0702/c117092-30099388.html
2. Legal Daily, July 8, 2018
http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/Lawyer/content/2018-07/09/content_7589090.htm?node=32988

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

People’s Daily: The American Trade Bully Is Harming the World

At midnight on Friday, July 6, the first day of the U.S. tariffs against billions of dollars of Chinese goods took effect. People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece, struck back with an editorial.

The article made the accusation that, “The U.S. violated the WTO’s rules and launched the largest trade war to date.” It continued, “This (the U.S. tariffs) will not shake the foundation of China’s economic development, it will not weaken the confidence of the Chinese people in achieving the goal of ‘two hundred years,’ and it (the U.S.) will surely be hit back. However, the unreasonable arrogance carried by the trade hegemonism of the United States is quite damaging. It not only harms the interests of the enterprises and peoples of both countries, but also threatens the global free trade and multilateral system and hinders the pace of world economic recovery.

“The White House will not forget that more than half a century ago, China, suffering from war trauma and devastation, spoke out loud, ‘Blockade, blockade for eight and ten years, and all problems in China will have been solved.’ Today, as China is stepping toward the center of the World’s stage with strong national strength and moral appeal, will she allow the U.S. trade hegemonism to damage the core interests of the country and ask the people to make unprincipled concessions? Moreover, as a responsible power, China clearly understands that winning this trade war will make the U.S. see clearly that trade bullying has no future. We are thus defending the international economic and trade order. ‘If the war ends the war, the war is worth fighting.’ Without a bitter lesson, it is difficult for those who are blinded by self-interest to wake up and get back to reality.”

“The trade bully will never ever succeed!”

Source: People’s Daily, July 6, 2018
http://opinion.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0706/c1003-30132252.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Communist Party Activities in Sino-foreign Joint Education Programs

In the online alumni group of a Sino-foreign joint university program in Beijing, news has been spreading about the university stepping up its political education. A former student, who became a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member during college, responded with a “thumbs-up” and said that some foreign teachers once forced their political views upon him and if such a thing were happening today, he would report the foreign teacher to the school.

Voice of America (VOA) did not specify the name of the school or the program, but did mention that the institution cooperates with many U.S. and U.K universities, adopts Western textbooks, and that most of the teachers are foreign. The Communist Party has been quite active in this institution.

In addition to recruiting Party members, the school organizes student CCP members and cadres to participate in “red education.” One year, they traveled to Jiangxi, the center of Communist movement during the revolutionary period from 1927 to 1949. They put on the uniform of the Red Army, carried a rifle, and symbolically walked a segment of the Long March of the Red Army.

One former student, Lin Yuzhou (a pseudonym is used per the interviewee’s request), is also a CCP member. Lin told VOA that she did not think that the content of Western coursework is in conflict with the ideology of the Communist Party. Lin believes that joining the Party is a “very glorious matter and offers a strong sense of belonging.” Many of her fellow students also wanted to join the Party and people’s motivation may be different. “Families or teachers may influence them or they may want to have more choices for their future in China. Government agencies or large state-owned enterprises may give priority to CCP members,” she said.

Staff members of a number of Sino-foreign cooperatively-run schools and institutions told the media that the CCP’s Central Organization Department and the Ministry of Education have, in recent years, been emphasizing the establishment of Party organizations in these schools. They also retain seats for Communist officials on the school’s management board. There are currently more than 2,000 Sino-foreign cooperative education projects in China, most of which are affiliated with local Chinese universities.

The University of Nottingham Ningbo China, an overseas campus of the University of Nottingham, situated in the city of Ningbo in the coastal province of Zhejiang, is one of the few such universities which is an independent legal entity. On the first day that the campus was open, the school established its Communist Party Committee, with the Vice President as the deputy secretary of the Committee. On July 2, 2018, Stephen Morgan, who has served as Nottingham Ningbo’s associate provost since 2016, was removed from its management board for criticizing the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and for being a critic of broader party-backed initiatives in the university, but he has remained on the faculty.

A few days ago, in the Sino-foreign cooperative project where Lin Yuzhou has studied, there was a student CCP branch secretaries and overseas contacts training session. The Party secretary of the college asked these contacts to pay close attention to the ideological dynamics of overseas Party members and maintain timely communications with the college.

Source: Voice of America, July 2, 2018
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-joint-universities-20180702/4463991.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Xinhua: Over 270 U.S. Commerce Organizations Called for Restricting Presidential Tariff Power

Xinhua rapidly reported on the same day when over 270 U.S. commerce organizations, national and local, issued a joint letter to the U.S. Congress asking that new laws be established to restrict the presidential power to determine tariffs. According to Article 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the President has the power to start an investigation on imports to prevent damage to national security. President Trump ordered tariff increases based on the authorization of Article 232 and received widespread opposition both domestically and internationally. The commerce organizations were deeply concerned about the limitless potential of this tariff power, which may cause serious damage to the U.S. economy. The joint letter emphasized that the U.S. Constitution gave the Congress the right to administer imports and exports as well as tariffs. The congress should act now to ask the President to propose tariff plans for Congressional approval first, before their execution.

Source: Xinhua, June 26, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2018-06/27/c_129901925.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Ministry of Defense: Renting Taiping Island to the U.S. Is a Dangerous Idea

Global Times recently reported that the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Defense, Wu Qian, commented at a press conference that the idea that the Taiwanese military could rent Taiping Island to the U.S. military was a very dangerous one. The comment was based on some media reports indicating such a possibility. Taiping Island is the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Taiwan currently controls the island. However, China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam all have claimed sovereignty. Earlier reports suggested that some Taiwanese military think-tank provided the idea. The rental to the U.S. military would be under the name of humanitarian rescue missions. Wu Qian said the Chinese government is strongly against this idea and has the determination as well as the capability to defend China’s sovereignty. Taiping Island is the size of 70 soccer fields and is 860 nautical miles from Southern Taiwan. Currently Taiwan has around 200 troops guarding the island. The Taiwanese government later clarified that there was no such official plan.

Source: Global Times, June 28, 2018
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2018-06/12368593.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend US-China Relations