Chinascope – Page 568

Indian Navy Refused Domestic Carrier Fighter Jets

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the Indian Navy decisively refused a request from its domestic supplier to deploy the Tejas fighter jet <India’s indigenous fighter jet> on its aircraft carriers. The Navy officially issued a global RFI (Request for Information) looking for a new carrier fighter model. The RFI revealed a need for 57 carrier-based fighter jets for two Indian carriers. The November Navy procurement meeting vetoed the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas due to the lack of critical capabilities that the Navy requires. The RFI requires the candidates to have all-day, all-weather, and air-to-ground combat capabilities. There are other requirements on refueling, electronic warfare, and reconnaissance capabilities. The RFI also stated that the delivery should start in three years and should be completed within three years thereafter. To comply with the government’s “Made in India” policy, the RFI asked the bidder whether establishing a manufacturing center in India was an option. The Indian Navy currently uses the Mig-29K for its carriers.

Source: Sina, February 1, 2017
http://dailynews.sina.com/bg/news/int/chinesedaily/20170201/08157714206.html

Briefings | | February 6, 2017 | Defense/Military Geo-Strategic Trend

United States Became Top Destination of China’s 2016 Overseas Investments

Well-known Chinese news site Tencent recently reported that, according to newly released statistics, China’s 2016 overseas commercial real estate investment reached a record high of US$38.3 billion, which constituted over 45 percent of China’s overall overseas investments. The United States was the largest destination of China’s investment money, totaling US$18.3 billion, which represented a 400 percent growth over 2015. Chinese investment in Britain increased 32 percent. Hong Kong, Korea, Canada and Germany all saw growth. However, since China’s foreign exchange reserve decreased US$69.1 billion in November, that month, the central government tightened up control of overseas investments. That control included a ban on investments over US$10 billion and restrictions on deals over US$1 billion. Experts expressed the belief that overseas investments will remain strong in 2017 due to the fact that investors typically expect a low return on domestic investments.

Source: Tencent, January 26, 2017
http://haiwai.house.qq.com/news/206146.html

Briefings | | February 6, 2017 | Economy/Resources US-China Relations

Duowei: Australian Chinese to Boycott Chinese Ballet “Red Detachment of Women”

A watch dog group at Australia is concerned with China’s exporting its Communist culture overseas.
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Briefings | | February 6, 2017 | Government/Politics

China’s Premier Promises Foreign Investors Wider Access to New Sectors

China’s Premier Li Keqiang’s wrote an article on China’s economy, “Economic Openness Serves Everyone Better,” which was published on January 25 in Bloomberg Business Weekly. Li pointed out that, “We are opening new sectors of the economy to investment and widening access to many others.” The article was also published in full on the State Council’s official web site.
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Briefings | | February 1, 2017 | Economy/Resources Government/Politics

BBC Chinese: China Cracks Down on “Illegal” VPN Services

BBC Chinese recently reported that China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology just revealed a one year plan to crack down on “illegal” Internet provider services. The Ministry issued a nationwide memo to identify and remove unlicensed or multi-level leased VPN services, regardless of whether the method was self-established or via leased lines. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, which is a technology that establishes a virtual “direct connection” between two computers based on encryption. This structure is widely used in countries with Internet censorship to bypass government monitoring. Many Chinese netizens use VPN to visit websites that the Chinese Great Firewall bans, such as Facebook and Twitter. The Chinese government’s latest move was conducted in the name of cracking down on “inappropriate content.”

Source: BBC Chinese, January 23, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-38714639

Briefings | | January 31, 2017 | Information/Technology

RFI: CCP Politburo Might Have Conducted Declaration of Personal Assets Internally

Radio France International (RFI) recently published a report, sourced from the Hong Kong monthly news company Super Media, that Chinese leader Xi Jinping asked the members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo to declare their personal and family assets as well as their marital situation. If true, this would be the first time in the CCP’s history that asset declaration in the top tier of the Party’s leadership was required. The requirements were very detailed and included real estate, bonds, stocks, and even cash. The exercise also included the members’ spouses. The declaration occurred in a full member meeting and Xi commented on each declaration as soon as the member finished the report. Xi also required the Politburo members to replicate the same exercise to the population that reports to them. However, the results of this round of asset declaration were not released to the public. In China, there has been extremely strong resistance on the issue of declaration of assets from those within the political system. China developed the plan to establish the Bill of Asset Declaration 20 years ago; yet today it is still pending The People’s Congress discussion.

Source: Radio France International, January 25, 2017
http://rfi.my/2kFjb0X

Briefings | | January 31, 2017 | Government/Politics

SWIFT: 2016 RMB Global Settlement Volume Declined Significantly

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) released its official 2016 report which showed global settlements in the Chinese currency RMB declined by 29.5 percent. In 2015, the RMB held a 2.31 percent share in the global settlement volume. In 2016, the Chinese currency saw only a 1.67 percentage share in global settlements. SWIFT especially mentioned that the RMB suffered a sharp decline of 15.08 percent from November 2016 to December 2016, while all other currencies saw a growth of 0.67 percent at the same time. SWIFT Asia Pacific Regional Director Michael Moon suggested that the main cause of the sharp year-end decline was the decline in the Chinese economy, RMB exchange rate fluctuations, and China’s restrictions on capital outflow. In 2016, China just became one of the official currencies that form the IMF (International Monetary Fund) SDR (Special Drawing Rights), which was expected to improve the internationalization of the Chinese currency.

Source: Sina, January 26, 2017
http://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/usstock/c/2017-01-26/doc-ifxzyxmu8075501.shtml

Briefings | | January 31, 2017 | Economy/Resources

BBC Chinese: China Said It Will Lead the World if Required

BBC Chinese recently reported that Zhang Jun, a high ranking official in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, commented on the potential world leadership vacuum after the U.S. election. Zhang made these comments after Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke at the Davos Forum in Switzerland where he emphasized the importance of globalization and after U.S. President Trump reconfirmed his “America First” policy. Zhang suggested that, if China is asked to lead the world, then China will take the responsibility. He added that China’s willingness to play a leadership role only resulted from the fact that the current world leader is giving up. Zhang explained that China is currently the second largest economy in the world and that many other countries are developing a major dependency on it for growth. He expressed his happiness on hearing about U.S. President Trump’s planned a four percent U.S. growth projection. However, Zhang pointed out that this growth goal cannot be realized if the United States keeps waging trade wars. Many western analysts are worried about Trump’s nationalist and populist rhetoric.

Source: BBC Chinese, January 23, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-38718982

Briefings | | January 29, 2017 | Geo-Strategic Trend Government/Politics

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.