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

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China’s New Anti-Corruption Action: Senior Officials’ Relatives Can’t Travel out of the Country

Hong Kong’s "Trends" magazine reported in its May issue that the mainland’s anti-corruption leader, Wang Qishan, started another round of anti-corruption activity. Family members and relatives of the top-level officials are restricted from going abroad to inspect their properties. On top of the list is former Communist head Jiang Zemin. A number of Chinese news websites have republished this report. 

According to the report, on April 25, Wang Qishan’s Central Discipline Inspection Commission, together with China’s Organization Ministry, and the CPC Central Political and Law Commission, issued a notice titled, "Provisions on Traveling Abroad for the Family Members and Relatives of the Senior Officials from the Party, Government, and Military, as well as National Organizations (including retired cadres at the provincial and ministerial levels and above and their family members and relatives). The provisions are effective immediately. 
The report said that those who are restricted from leaving the country must report in writing within 60 days on their properties, passports, citizenship, and other information. 
Per the report, 1570 people received the notice. Among them, 159 are state-level or deputy state-level officials’ family members and relatives. On the list of retired state-level officials, former Chinese Communist Party head Jiang Zemin sits on the top, while Zeng Qinghong, Li Changchun, Jia Qinglin, He Guoqiang, and Wu Guanzheng are also on the list. A total of 42 direct relatives and 17 associated relatives from this group received the notice. 

Sources: Wenxuecity and Duowei, May 18-19, 2016 
http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2016/05/18/5214908.html 
http://china.dwnews.com/news/2016-05-19/59740204.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Huanqiu: China Rejects the Cultural Revolution

On May 17, 2016, Huanqiu (Global Times) published a commentary stating that the 1981 Party document “The Resolution on a Number of Historical Issues Since the Founding of the Party” made an authoritative determination totally rejecting the "Cultural Revolution."  Since then, generations of Chinese leaders have all consistently supported the conclusion of the resolution; no dissenters have ever been reported in the Party’s documents. The commentary stated that completely rejecting the "Cultural Revolution" is not only an understanding throughout the Communist Party, but also a solid consensus of the entire Chinese society.

 “The ’Cultural Revolution’ will not be repeated in China. Those disastrous 10 years inflicted grave harm to China’s development, leaving a permanent wound in the life of the people.” 
"The commentary stated that there have always been different voices on the issue of the "Cultural Revolution," but as loud as some of them are, they are out of touch with the reality that the Chinese people are concerned about, and they will not be able make waves. 
“We said goodbye to the ‘Cultural Revolution’ a long time ago. We can say it again today. The ‘Cultural Revolution’ cannot and will not come back. China today no longer has a place for the ‘Cultural Revolution.’ As to the question of whether it will repeat itself, the answer is very clear. The collective thinking of the Chinese people is several levels higher and there is absolutely no way that people will ever allow the ‘Cultural Revolution’ to catch up with us and haunt us again.”  
Source: Huanqiu, May 17, 2016 
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/shanrenping/2016-05/8937703.html
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

State Internet Information Office Reprimanded Global Times

Right before Taiwan’s newly elected President Tsai Ing-wen’s was sworn in on May 20, Global Times (also known as Huanqiu) published a survey on its website. The results showed that 85 percent of the Chinese people supported China in uniting with Taiwan by force. Many media around the world picked it up.

According to a notice that the State Internet Information Office (SIIO) circulated, the SIIO talked to the management of the Global Times newspaper and website on May 9. It criticized the Global Times’ website for publishing this article at such a critical time, causing strong antipathy from the people in Taiwan and widespread attention from the media around the world. "Global Times has repeatedly ‘stirred up issues involving sensitive events,’ ‘disturbed the Internet order,’ and severely violated reporting discipline. It is likely to create adverse effects and cause adverse political consequences."

SIIO ordered Global Times to spend a month to fix itself by improving its "political awareness and its overall awareness."

Global Times has long been known for publishing hawkish and anti-America messages, which are out of sync with Xi Jinping’s agenda.

Source: Radio Free Asia, May 12, 2016
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/7-05122016162353.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

HK Frontline: Wang Huning Reveals Direction of Political Reform

The Hong Kong magazine Frontline reported that, from early March to March 13, Wang Huning, Xi Jinping’s top think tanker and advisor hosted a secret forum with over 40 other think tankers in attendance to discuss China’s political structure.

People from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Policy Office, the State Council’s Policy Office, the CCP Central Party School, the Academy of Social Science, and some ministry and provincial policy offices participated in the forum.

The meeting reviewed how the CCP Central Committee and Politburo of each CCP Party Congress, from 1990s to the present, followed the Constitution and how each exercised its decision-making power.

Wang Huning pointed out, "The status and operations of the CCP Central Committee and Politburo exhibit large gaps and obstructions to the implementation of the rule of law. The Party Central Committee’s policies and measures sometimes were ‘severely interfered with, twisted, or given only lip-service.’ Divisions of opinion within the Party have existed for a long time."

Xi Jinping gave three talks at the forum. He asked for participants to provide "opinions and suggestions that suit China’s situation and are in line with the world’s trend and progression." He also emphasized, "[We] can’t wait any longer! Our generation has to live up to the people’s expectations and appeals."

Source: Aboluowang.com, May 17, 2016
http://www.aboluowang.com/2016/0517/739834.html

Briefings | | |   Grapevine

Xinhua: Coal Mine Companies in Shanxi Province Are in Serious Financial Trouble

Xinhua reported that, by the end of 2015, seven major coal mine companies in Shanxi Province were carrying 11 trillion yuan (US$1.69 trillion) in debit, an increase of 10.2 percent compared to 2014. Their debt to asset ratio grew from 81.16 percent in 2014 to 82.3 percent in 2015. Meanwhile the operating cash flow dropped from 16 billion yuan (US$2.45 billion) to a negative 4.81 billion yuan (US$.76 billion). The article said that most of the employees were forced to take a pay cuts or were not paid on time. Statistics showed that, by the end of the first three quarters of 2015, the coal companies owed 3.5 billion yuan (US$.54 billion) in pay compensation and 10.9 billion yuan (US$1.67 billion) in social security funding. The human resource report from one of the coal mine companies said that its workers had to take an involuntary or voluntary work force reduction option or relocate to work on different projects. Among the seven coal mine companies, six of them rely on financial support from the government, which has grown 21.5 percent to 5.6 billion yuan (US$.86 billion). According to the statistics from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, among the 1.8 million coal and steel industry workforce to be relocated, 1.3 million of them are coal mine workers.

Source: Xinhua, May 17, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2016-05/17/c_128988204.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

People’s Daily: Pentagon Report Overstated China’s Submarine Threat

People’s Daily published an article which stated that the Pentagon Report issued on May 14 is a continuation of the old story of the “China Military Threat” and is full of the U.S.’s own imagination. The article claimed that the theory quoted in the report, that China plans to increase the number of its submarines to 69 to 78, was an exaggeration. It said that “the Pentagon Report overstated the number of weapons and their capability. It was meant to trick China’s neighboring countries so that they would raise their guard against China.” 

Source: People’s Daily, May 17, 2016
http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0517/c1011-28355148.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

People’s Daily: The Cultural Revolution Was Completely Wrong in Theory and in Practice

On May 17, 2016, the People’s Daily published a commentary stating that the "Cultural Revolution" was a mistake that should not be repeated. 

The commentary stated that the 1981 Party document, which was titled, “The Resolution on a Number of Historical Issues Since the Founding of the Party” conclusively determined that both the “Cultureal Revolution” and the “theory of continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat” were totally wrong. “The political determination that the Resolution made about the ‘Cultural Revolution’ is unshakably authoritative.” 

“It was a mistake for the leader to launch the ‘Cultural Revolution,’ which was used by counter-revolutionary groups. It brought a severe disaster of domestic strife to the Party, the State, and the people of all nationalities. The harm it caused was comprehensive and grave. History has fully proved that the ‘Cultural Revolution’ was completely wrong in theory and in practice. It was not and could never be a revolution or social progress in any sense.” 

The article emphasized that mistakes like the "Cultural Revolution" will not and cannot be allowed to be repeated. It urged that [the people] must learn the lesson by heart and must resolutely prevent and resist interference from both the "left" and the "right" on the issue of the "Cultural Revolution". 

Source: People’s Daily, May 17, 2016 
http://opinion.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0517/c1003-28355143.html
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Guangming Daily: China’s Cultural Products Lack Brand Awareness and Are Weak in Content

Guangming Daily carried an article stating that China’s cultural products in the international market lack brand awareness, are weak in content, and, in the long run, will not benefit the spread of Chinese culture in the international market. The article said that China ranked number one in the export of cultural products in the world for the past four consecutive years. Even though it has benefited from a high volume and low cost, the products lack original creativity and maturity, and are unable to spread Chinese culture in the international market. The article used video games and soap operas as an example. It indicated that the video games that China exports are mainly hardware parts because China does not own the contents and intellectual property. The prices of the soap operas produced in China are so low in the international market that they cannot be compared to the soap operas produced in Korea. The article suggested that an opportunity for improvement could be found in utilizing the growth of the Internet, improving creativity, and building a solid foundation in the domestic market while expanding in Asia and African countries before tapping into the European and U.S. markets.

Source: Guangming Daily, May 16, 2016
http://culture.gmw.cn/2016-05/16/content_20117394.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics