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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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Article with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s Byline Published in Japan

Before his visit to Japan, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang published an article with his byline in a Japanese mainstream media. The article was titled, “Let the Sino-Japanese Peace, Friendship and Cooperation Restart.” The article started with mentioning the short distance between China and Japan. Li said he regretted that it took a long time to push the development of a better relationship. As the second and the third largest economies in the world, it will truly benefit Asia and even the world if the two nations have a healthy relationship. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty. Given the global challenges and the regional situation changes, cooperation among China, Japan and Korea will benefit the regional integration process of establishing the East Asian Economic Community. China is committed to peace and openness, which are required to ensure sustained economic growth. The economic complementarity between China and Japan is very strong. Li expected that his visit would witness the signing of a series of mutual economic cooperation agreements, as well as a local currency swap agreement. China will announce the grant of Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) status to Japanese investors. Li also called for exchanges in culture, tourism and youth activities.

Source: Official Website of Chinese Central Government, May 8, 2018
http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2018-05/08/content_5289035.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

NBD: Lenovo Showed World’s Worst Stock Performance

National Business Daily (NBD), a Chinese national daily newspaper which reports business news, recently reported that the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index announced on May 4 that it would remove Lenovo from its index of constituent stocks. Since Lenovo was included in Hang Seng’s index of constituent stocks in 2013, Lenovo has lost 56 percent of its value. According to Bloomberg, of 171 global technology stocks, Lenovo had the worst stock performance. In the past five years, it appears the Lenovo Group could not manage to sustain a healthy growth in its core business of PC manufacturing as well as the growth of its business of mobile devices. A large number of competitors in China grew at a much faster pace. In 2017, on a global level, the U.S. company HP took back its number one PC manufacturer title from Lenovo. As the Motorola brand owner, Lenovo was China’s number one smartphone vendor in 2014. However, by the end of 2017 Lenovo had only one percent of China’s smartphone market share. Lenovo responded to press inquiries saying the company is entering a new growth era, and Hang Seng’s poor rating will not have a concrete long term negative impact.

Source: National Business Daily, May 5, 2018
http://m.nbd.com.cn/articles/2018-05-05/1214319.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

CEFC China Energy Company Failed To Make Its ROSNEFT Stock Purchase

According Russian news agency Sputnik, Glencore, an Anglo–Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company, announced that it would stop selling the ROSNEFT shares that Glencore and the Qatar sovereign fund QIA owned jointly to CEFC China Energy Company. ROSNEFT is Russia’s national oil company. The cancelled US$9.1 billion deal would have allowed CEFC China Energy to acquire 14.16 percent of ROSNEFT. The Chinese financial news organization Caixin confirmed the news and also reported that CEFC China Energy currently faces the deep trouble of a debt crisis. Its phase-one payment on the ROSNEFT deal was not in place. CEFC China Energy’s US$400 million deposit will not be refunded.

Sources:
1. Sputnik Chinese, May 5, 2018
http://sputniknews.cn/politics/201805051025315260/

2. Caixin, May 5, 2018
http://companies.caixin.com/2018-05-05/101244298.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend

Xi Jinping Inspects “Chips” Industry: “In the Past, by Tightening Our Belts, We Built Two Bombs and One Satellite!”

On April 26, while visiting the Wuhan Fiber Home Technologies Group, Xi Jinping said, “The optical communications industry is very important. To build a nation that is an Internet power, we need to accelerate the pace and quickly occupy some commanding heights.”

“In the past, by tightening our belts and gritting our teeth, we built ‘two bombs and one satellite!’” Xi said, (referring to a Mao-era weapons development program), “This was because we made the best use of the socialist system — we concentrated our efforts to get great things done. The next step is to do the same with science and technology. We must abandon fantasy and rely on ourselves.”

On the morning of the April 26, Xi Jinping went to the Wuhan Xinxin Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Co., Ltd. to look at the integrated circuit production line. Xi said, “in order to realize the ‘bicentennial goal (by 2050),’ we must overcome difficulties on our own so as to have some major core technologies. We have unprecedented opportunities and are facing unprecedented challenges.”

Source: Xinhua, April 26, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/2018-04/26/c_1122749077.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Chinese Academician of Engineering Ni Guangnan Discusses the Lesson China Has Learned from the China-U.S. Trade Dispute

Will the United States launch a cold war of science and technology against China? Recently, in China, due to trade disputes between China and the United States, in many circles, independent innovation in the area of science and technology has become a topic of intense discussion. Why must China have the core technology of the information industry? Where is the road for China’s semiconductor chips? On April 30, a reporter from the Global Times conducted an exclusive interview of Ni Guangnan, an academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Ni stated that China should learn this lesson: Do not expect the U.S. to sell its core technologies. The interview follows:

Global Times: The topic of Chinese chips has sparked an upsurge. The speed of the financing and launching of the project has accelerated significantly. How do you see this phenomenon? Any suggestions?

Ni: This is definitely a very good phenomenon. It shows that, from the government to the enterprises, they have all determined to break through.

In the international chip industry, the monopoly of oligarchs has long been formed and it is very difficult for small businesses to survive. In the end, ones developed chips might become useless. When it is necessary to break the monopoly, China cannot rely entirely on market laws; otherwise we cannot enter. Our country has always had the advantage of concentrating its efforts on doing big things. This advantage should be used well. After all, our investment is still too small compared to the international oligarchs in the chip industry.

Global Times: Why do we have to make our own chips and operating system? Many countries in the world do not have these core technologies.

Ni: It depends on what the goal of our country is. If it feels that it is enough to be a big country on the Internet, then we do not need to pursue any core technology. However, our goal is to become an Internet powerhouse. If we do not develop our own core technology, other countries will not let us catch up.

In short, about some things, if we feel they are inevitable, then early determination is better than late determination. Using the Beidou system as an example, we decided to develop it more than a decade ago. Now the Beidou system is very useful. If we had determined to engage in chip manufacturing more than a decade ago, we might already have our own chips and we wouldn’t be stuck with their sanctions.

Source: Globalview.cn, May 2, 2018
http://www.globalview.cn/html/societies/info_24322.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Chinese Government Orders Expansion of Soybean Cultivation as a Political Task

In recent days, many provinces and cities in the northeastern region have issued emergency notices requesting the expansion of soybean planting areas. “(We should) treat the expansion of soybean planting area as the primary political task for current agricultural production.” At present, relevant documents in Heilongjiang Province and Changchun City of Jilin Province have been deleted from the official website.

According to the documents obtained by the Economic Observer Online reporter, on April 29, the Agricultural Committee of Heilongjiang issued an “Emergency Notice to Expand the Soybean Planting Area of the Province.” It stated that “the central government issued a directive asking our province to increase the soybean planting area by 5 million acres this year.” The task was assigned to a total of 15 cities, regions and agricultural forestry departments in the province.

Another document on April 28 from the Agricultural Committee of Changchun City, Jilin Province was the “Notice on Releasing the Soybean Planting Area of the Province in 2018.” The document requires the task of planting soybeans in the province be assigned to the city. It is to be fully completed and the project is to be effectively implemented.

The notice in Changchun City stated that “the relevant counties (cities) must take the initiative, actively shoulder the responsibility, and take the expansion of the soybean planting area as the primary political task for current agricultural production.”

Source: Economic Observer Online, May 3, 2018
http://www.eeo.com.cn/2018/0503/327737.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Zhu Chenghu: China and the United States Will Compete in Three Areas

Major General Zhu Chenghu, former deputy director of the Institute of Strategic Studies, National Defense University of China, wrote an article commenting on the competition between China and the U.S. In the article, he stated:

“The pattern of Sino-U.S. relations is based on a comparison of power between China and the U.S. The overall trend regarding Sino-U.S. power is the contrast between China’s rise and the United States’ relative decline. At present, this trend remains the same. Moreover, for a long time into the future, it will not change.

“We can see that Trump’s series of international claims, including the forthcoming North Korea-U.S. talks and the launch of a tough policy involving Taiwan, are all preparing for a second term. Therefore, during this period of time, Sino-U.S. relations are not very pessimistic. That is because Trump is a businessman who cares about interests the most. There are too many interests to be exchanged between China and the United States. However, seven years ago, the author expressed a not so optimistic view about Sino-U.S. relations. Now, from a long-term perspective, it is even less optimistic. The showdown between China and the United States is the general trend. Judging from this, the future competition between China and the United States may be concentrated in the following three main areas.

“First, the Taiwan issue will become very prominent. “For the settlement of the Taiwan issue, China has far more means than it had in the past and the current leaders’ determination is much stronger than it was in the past.

“Second, there are both apparent and insidious issues in the security field.“ In addition to considerations about Taiwan, the more important security issue is the Korean peninsula. In this regard, everyone can calm down and maintain one’s cool. This is an issue in which no one can get a result from talks. With regard to the highly regarded DPRK-U.S. summit meeting, the difficulties that the two sides actually have to overcome are unimaginable. The main goal of Trump’s gesture is still to prepare for the general election.

“The last issue is the South China Sea. At present, there is only so much that the United States military can show. We have yet to see further provocations. However, there is a hidden problem in the field of security that cannot be ignored: the arms race between China and the United States.

“The Chinese are often not willing to use the term but this is an objective reality. Since the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis began, an arms race has been going on between China and the United States. In this regard, China must choose its direction and focus on its key points. That is, China has enough means available so the United States will not dare to intervene in the conflict in the Taiwan Strait. There is no reason for China to compete with the United States to seek superiority. This is also impossible.

“Third, actions behind the scenes in the financial sector are the most worrisome problem.

“The most important thing for Sino-U.S. competition in the financial sector is the internationalization of the renminbi. What Americans worry about the most right now is not the trade issue.

“The internationalization of the renminbi is a fundamental challenge to the United States. Therefore, on this issue, China must make enough ideological preparations. Also, in the process of expanding China’s overseas interests, it needs to be adequately prepared. This is a challenge involving geo-strategic patterns and will exist for a long time.”

Source: kaixian.tv, April 12, 2018
http://www.kaixian.tv/gd/2018/0412/583210.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations