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China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

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Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

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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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BBC Chinese: Gao Zhisheng Published a New Book Overseas

BBC Chinese recently reported that former Chinese human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng published his new book in Taiwan. His daughter held a press conference in Hong Kong to announce the book [Stand Up China 2017 – China’s Hope: What I learned during Five Years as a Political Prisoner]. Gao described in this book the “kidnapping and torture” the Chinese authorities imposed on him. He, as a Christian, also predicted the end of the Chinese Communist rule in 2017, citing it as a revelation from God.

As an attorney, Gao defended many human rights victims, especially innocent Falun Gong practitioners, in court. He was arrested after his attorney license was revoked in 2006. He is currently under house-arrest after being released from multiple jail terms, some of which had no court ruling. It is still unknown how the content of the new book was handed to people outside of China.

A spokeswoman from the Chinese Ministry of Public Safety told AP that The Ministry was not directly involved in Gao’s treatment – only local authorities could respond to inquiries.

Source: BBC Chinese, June 14, 2016
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/china/2016/06/160614_china_activist_gao
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Global Times: Did ASEAN Slap China in the Face?

Global Times recently reported that the Special China–ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Foreign Ministers Conference was held in Yunnan, China on June 13 and 14. This was an important meeting, while the heated international arbitration decision on the South China Sea issue was about to reported soon. It’s unavoidable that conferences like this might have disagreements. However, the Western media suddenly came up with the news of a so-called “ASEAN joint announcement” that criticized China and that “slapped China in face.” Global Times found out that there was no official announcement distributed to reporters whatsoever. This is yet another example of the West dreaming on the “isolated China.”
In a further development, on June 14, BBC Chinese reported that the Conference seemed to have suffered a rupture. The China-ASEAN Conference did not reach a consensus announcement between China and ASEAN. The ASEAN foreign ministers issued a separate announcement after the conference closure, with harsh statements. Later the Malaysian spokesperson explained to the media that the ASEAN Ministers decided to revoke the single-sided announcement because it needed “emergency amendments.”
Source: Global Times, June 15, 2016 
http://mil.huanqiu.com/observation/2016-06/9041521.html
BBC Chinese, June 14, 2016
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world/2016/06/160614_china_asean_malaysia
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Cuba Lifted Ban on Google and Facebook

Major Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily recently reported that Cuba announced its decision to lift its ban on Google and Facebook. Google also announced a willingness to assist Cuba in providing free Internet access. Chinese mainstream media did not report this news, but on Mainland social media, it quickly triggered a nationwide discussion. The biggest topic was that there are only two countries left in the world that still ban Google and Facebook – North Korea and China. To avoid having the Chinese authorities delete their postings, many Chinese netizens “protested the world’s attempt to isolate China from using Google.” Some expressed their “concerns” about the possibility that “North Korea might undergo a reform at any moment.” The primary Chinese search engine is Baidu, of which the Chinese government is a partial sponsor; the government actively filters it for censored content.
Source: Apple Daily, June 15, 2016
http://www.appledaily.com.tw/realtimenews/article/new/20160615/885948/
Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

China to Limit Airing of Foreign Imported Television Programs

Xinhua published an article reporting on a notice that the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television issued. The notice stated that, currently, original produced television programs are lacking in China and China is overly relying on programs imported from foreign countries. The notice said that more domestic original programs need to be produced, which will carry a heavier weight, versus imported programs that are aired during evening prime time. At the same time, it also initiated a plan to limit the number of foreign programs that China imports. According to the plan, foreign programs must go through a two month of advanced application and approval process. Collaboration work between China and foreign companies is treated a foreign program if China does not own 100 percent of the intellectual property. A limited number of foreign programs may be aired during evening prime time.

Source: Xinhua, June 19, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-06/19/c_1119070920.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

CCDI Calls for Solid Domestic Work in Tracking Corrupt Officials Overseas

On June 19, the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) published an article addressing the importance of building a strong case in China when conducting an overseas pursuit of those corrupt officials who have already fled China. 

The article stated that, to track down corrupt officials who fled China with stolen funds, it is important to do ones homework well inside China. The first task is to get to the bottom of the facts. Only with accurate numbers and solid groundwork can the effort to track down the corrupt officials and stolen funds be effective. 
The article further stated that the Anti-Corruption Coordination Team of the Central Committee of the CCP has enhanced its command and coordination through the establishment of an International Office to Track Down Corrupt Officials and Stolen Funds and through that office’s counterpart at provincial levels. The Devil is in the details. 
“We should not only identify common patterns in all these cases and take targeted measures to prevent corrupt officials from fleeing China; we should also locate the loopholes in our surveillance system that allow them to escape."  

Source: The Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, June 19, 2016 http://www.ccdi.gov.cn/xsjw/series18/201606/t20160619_80624.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Guangming Daily: Real Name Express Delivery System Faces Obstacles

Guangming Daily recently carried an article which stated that, since June 1, the real name express delivery system has been experiencing challenges in its execution. The article said that most of the customers are concerned about the leakage of personal information and are unwilling to follow the new requirements. According to the article, 82.3 percent of the Chinese Internet users have personally experienced inconvenience due to the leakage. In addition, express delivery companies see the system as an extra step which slows down the process and upsets their customers. Therefore, they are not actively enforcing the policy. The article suggested that, in order to eliminate the concerns from both parties, there is a need to have a comprehensive systematic solution that will ensure a clear definition of roles and responsibilities while also ensuring personal information safety and building a trust between the different parties involved.

Source: Guangming Daily, June 16, 2016
http://tech.gmw.cn/2016-06/16/content_20571712.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Consumers Assn: 70 Percent of Consumers Unhappy about the Domestic Health Food Market

People’s Daily carried an article which stated that, according to statistics that the China Consumers Association released, 70 percent of Chinese consumers are not happy about the domestic health food market and over 60 percent of consumers don’t trust the advertising. They feel that the market is full of fake products and false advertising. The article used liquor as an example. It said that some of the manufacturers claimed that their liquor products provided health remedies. However, investigation results revealed that, in 2015, 51 types of “healthy liquor” brands falsely claimed health benefits and used illegal additives in making their products.

Source: People’s Daily, June 20, 2016
http://society.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0620/c1008-28456589.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Lancome Bent Under Beijing’s Pressure

Lancome planned to have a free concert on June 19 featuring Hong Kong singer Denise Ho. However, under mounting pressure from China’s state media and "patriotic" netizens, Lancome backed out of the deal. This event and Lancome have received substantial international criticism.

In 1914, Denise Ho had been arrested for participating in the Occupy Central protest in Hong Kong. In addition, last month she met with Dalai Lama.

On June 4, Global Times published a posting with a question for netizens: "Some netizens reported that the hot selling Listerine and Lancome both invited Denise Ho to promote their products. Denise Ho supported Hong Kong independence and also, in Japan last week, advocated Tibetan independence. … What do you think?"

In no time netizens responded with the answer, "From now on absolutely boycott Lancome products."

Over a hundred Chinese netizens posted messages on Lancome’s official website in China, demanding that Lancome get out of China. Lancome China clarified that Denise Ho was not its product endorser. Over 40,000 Chinese netizens responded with their criticizm that Lancome was "playing a word game."

Lancome Hong Kong issued a statement on June 5 that its invitation to Denise Ho was "purely to share music, without any work endorsement relationship."

Late that night, Lancome issued an announcement saying, "We decided to cancel the event due to possible safety concerns."

Lancome’s kowtowing to Beijing irritated Hongkongese. By June 6, over 44,000 people clicked the "angry" button on Lancome’s two Facebook’s announcements.

Among the Internet messages, some Hong Kong netizens stated that they would not buy Lancome products anymore, some called for boycotting all products by L’Oreal, Lancome’s parent company, and some asked Lancome to fire its employees and public relations contractors who worked on the two announcements. [Editor’s Note: On Wednesday, June 8, Lancome shut its main stores in Hong Kong.]

Source: BBC Chinese, June 6, 2016
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/china/2016/06/160606_hongkong_lancome_denise_ho
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics