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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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Bank of China Double Leadership Named to Ease Conflict and Minimize Financial Risk

The Epoch Times published an article reporting that the Bank of China will have two leaders: Guo Shuqing who will be the party secretary and Vice Governor and Yi Gang who will be the Governor and deputy party secretary. Guo Shuqing is also the chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). Guo will be in charge of human resources, party affairs and reform while Yi will be in charge of operations. Both Guo and Yi report to Liu He, Vice Premier and economic counsel to Xi Jinping. The Epoch Times reported that, since the China Securities Regulatory Commission was separated from the Bank of China in 2003, the relationship between the two has not gone well. The recent new appointment which involves having two leaders managing the Bank of China is unprecedented and is meant to minimize the conflicts that have existed between two agencies. It will also ensure that there is no overall financial risk as it is currently placed as one of the main obstacles that Xi Jinping has to face in the next three years.

Source: The Epoch Times, March 26 & 27
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/18/3/26/n10250775.htm
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/18/3/27/n10252798.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China’s State Grid Unable to Buy Stake in 50Hertz, a German Electricity Network

According to an article The Epoch Times published on March 23, Belgium’s Elia System Operator issued an official announcement that it has decided to buy a 20 percent stake in 50Hertz, a German Electricity Network from IFM, an Australia investment group. Elia System Operator currently has 60 percent of the ownership and will thus end up owning 80 percent of the stock while IFM will keep the other 20 percent. The article stated that the decision has officially ended China’s bid to be a potential shareholder of 50Hertz, which is one of the four transmission system operators in Germany. It plays a key role in the renewable energy field. The article reported that China’s intent to buy a 20 percent stake in 50Hertz raised serious concerns among politicians in Germany as they feared that China would gain control of Germany’s sensitive infrastructure technology. An article that Radio France Internationale published quoted a source from the German Handelsblatt Newspaper that the German Ministry of Economics even approached Elia to buy a stake in 50Hertz. This is not the first time that China State Grid failed in a foreign investment. Two years ago, the Belgium intelligence agency blocked China State Grid when it intended to buy into another Belgium Energy company, Eandis. It cited China State Grid’s close ties with the Chinese government and the Communist Party as well as concerns over maintaining customer information confidentiality. Currently China State Grid has stock ownership in electric grid companies in Portugal, Italy, and Greece.

Source: The Epoch Times & Radio France Internationale, March 24, 2018
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/18/3/24/n10246580.htm
http://cn.rfi.fr/20180324-%E4%B8%AD%E8%B5%84%E5%85%A5%E8%82%A1%E5%BE%B7%E5%9B%BD%E7%94%B5%E7%BD%91%E5%8F%97%E6%8C%AB

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

In the Trade War, China Should be Careful about a United West

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently published an online commentary analyzing the roles played internationally in the upcoming “trade war” that U.S. President Trump started. It seems Mr. Trump’s card of steel and aluminum duty exemptions was designed to force the traditional allies to align with the U.S. position against China. Although the EU governments have not made any announcements, yet some EU media are already setting the stage for a “United West.” For example, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ, the German national daily newspaper) came out in favor of standing “shoulder to shoulder with Washington.” At the same time, Finanz und Wirtschaft (the Swiss financial newspaper published in Zurich) also published an article, pointing out that the EU faced the same “admission to market” barriers in China that the United States faced. Handelsblatt (Germany’s largest financial newspaper) published its commentary describing Trump’s trade war as “not intended to fire at Europe,” saying that the EU should find a “common ground” with the U.S. to battle China’s unfair trade tactics. Looks like the EU countries are forming their strategy based on choosing an ally. At this historic moment, shouldn’t China take some action?

Source: Sina, March 26, 2018
http://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/usstock/c/2018-03-26/doc-ifysqfnh0766292.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend US-China Relations

FT Chinese: China Asked Chinese Hackers not to Participate in Competitions

Financial Times Chinese recently reported that the Chinese government has asked Chinese hackers not to participate in global hackers’ competitions. Instead, the Chinese hackers are required to report the bugs they have discovered to China’s national security government branches or to the original technology vendors. China has been tightening up its control of technology and information. Experts expressed their belief that China wants to expand its technical intelligence “reserve.” Some said China could see the bugs as opportunities to explore back doors to systems. This recent move is in line with other new requirements, such as requiring foreign vendors to store domestically collected data locally in China. Another effect of asking the Chinese hackers not to join the global events is to ensure that some important (Chinese) technicians be absent from many international gatherings that are typically considered an important venue to root out dangerous technical vulnerabilities. Chinese hackers have discovered many known system vulnerabilities. Although the Chinese government has not publicly announced anything yet, no Chinese hacker showed up at the Black Hat global conference held in Singapore a few weeks back. This largest global hackers’ conference used to be packed with Chinese hackers.

Source: FT Chinese, March 28, 2018
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001076933

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

China May Start Paying for Oil Imports with Chinese Yuan

Well-known Chinese news site Sohu recently reported that, based on what sources told Reuters, China may have taken the initial steps to use its own currency to pay for imported oil. Some actions may be taken as early as the second half of this year. This is a critical step on the path to RMB internationalization. The Chinese authorities have informally notified multiple financial organizations to get ready for oil transactions to be priced in Chinese yuan. China is now the world’s second largest oil consumer. In 2017, China surpassed the United States to become world’s largest oil importer. China’s demand for oil is now an important factor that determines the global price of oil. Based on the current plan, Russia and Angola could be the first two “trial sources” for China to pay in RMB. The two countries are both key suppliers for China, and both of them want to avoid settling in U.S. dollar as well. If this plan succeeds, the same rules can apply to the transactions for other natural resource imports.

Source: Sohu, March 29, 2018
http://www.sohu.com/a/226717864_115479

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

The Fall of AnBang Group is only the Beginning in Fighting the Financial Risk War

New Tang Dynasty Television reported that, on March 30, China aired the video trial of Wu Xiaohui, formerly of the Board of Directors of the AnBang Group, for allegedly being involved in a series of financial fraud schemes. The video showed that, in the beginning. Wu refused to plead guilty. In the end, however, he was seen sobbing and asked for forgiveness and a lighter judgment from the court. As the grandson-in-law of Deng Xiaoping, Wu started the AnBang Group in 2004 as a private insurance company in Ningbo City. It attracted a number of investors, including Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation. AnBang was reported to have close ties with Jiang Mianheng (the son of Jiang Zemin) and Zeng Qinhong. Within ten years, the AnBang Group grew from a small insurance company to a financial empire with capital of 800 billion yuan (US$123 billion). Duowei News published a blog article which stated that, for the AnBang Group, for such fast growth, it must have had deep political ties backing it. It is an indication of the urgency for proper supervision in China’s financial industry and the reason why Xi Jinping listed financial risk prevention as one of the three battles to fight in the next three years. The article stated that Wu’s trial only marks the beginning of the war and that the shakeup of the financial industry will get deeper and tougher. China watchers in the U.S. said it is part of a new policy to prevent money from flowing out of the country via foreign real estate investments.

AnBang is best known in the U.S. for buying the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.

Sources:
1. New Tang Dynasty, March 30, 2018
http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/gb/2018/03/30/a1369588.html
2. Duowei News, March 20, 2018
http://blog.dwnews.com/post-1013187.html                                                                                                                                                                  3. Forbes, February 28, 2018                                                                                                            https://www.forbes.com/sites/lcarrel/2018/02/28/china-starts-chinese-new-year-by-seizing-anbang/

 

 

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Airbnb to Cooperate with China to Turn over Its Customer Information

Radio France Internationale reported that following Apple, Airbnb (an American company which operates an online marketplace and hospitality service for people to lease or rent short-term lodging) announced that it will share its customer information with the Chinese authorities in order to comply with China’s Internet security law which went into effect last June. The Internet security law requires that foreign technology companies must store their business data and personal information on a domestic server and provide technology support to the national security agency. Airbnb said that there will be no separate notice to the customers when their data is shared with the Chinese authorities. The data will include personal information such as the property owners’ name, phone number, email address, passport information, property address, and customer information. Airbnb customers can decide to withdraw their listing from Airbnb. The new measure will only apply to Airbnb customers in mainland China. Currently Airbnb has business in 191 countries and 65,000 cities. It has over 3 million property listings.

Source: Radio France Internationale, March 31, 2018

http://cn.rfi.fr/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20180331-%E7%BB%A7%E8%8B%B9%E6%9E%9C%E5%90%8Eairbnb%E6%B0%91%E5%AE%BF%E7%9F%AD%E7%A7%9F%E5%B9%B3%E5%8F%B0%E5%B0%86%E5%90%91%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E4%BA%A4%E5%87%BA%E7%94%A8%E6%88%B7%E8%B5%84%E8%AE%AF

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Duowei News: CCDI Took Down the First “Tiger” in 2018

Duowei News reported that the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) issued a notice that Feng Xinzhu, Deputy Governor of Shaanxi Province, was “expelled from party membership and stripped of his public office title” for violation of political discipline and rules. Feng is the first “tiger” who went under investigation this year, on January 3, 2018. The article reported that there have been 21 Deputy Governors from 15 provinces taken down since the 18th Congress.

Source: Duowei News, March 31, 2018
http://news.dwnews.com/china/news/2018-03-31/60049233.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics