Chinascope – Page 614

Expert: Chinese Navy Will Need Semi-Submersible Vessels of Greater Tonnage in the Future

In the just-concluded U.S.-South Korea "Double Dragon" exercise on the 18th of this month, the U.S. Mobile Landing Platform Ship "Montford Point" played the role of being a mobile offshore port, in which all supply transfers happened at sea. Cao Weidong, a military expert at the China Naval Research Institute, said in an interview with CCTV "Asia Today" that China has built similar equipment known as semi-submersible vessels. The tonnage of the ship, however, is much smaller than the United States’ "Montfort Point."

Cao Weidong thought that the semi-submersible vessel that China built has many similarities to the U.S. "Montford Point" in shape. They have to perform similar tasks for logistics. China’s semi-submersible vessels serve as a logistical support base, transporting logistical supplies and providing maintenance for combat ships and submarines. In the future, as China’s other naval equipment constantly gets updated, China will require semi-submersible vessels of greater tonnage.

Source: People’s Daily, March 25, 2016

http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0325/c1011-28227085.html

Briefings | | April 22, 2016 | Defense/Military

Xi Jinping: Party Officials Should Get Online and Listen to the Public

On April 19, 2016, Xi Jinping held an Internet security and information working meeting. At the meeting, he stated that government officials should get online often to listen to the opinions and suggestions that the public expresses online.

Xi called for Party officials to exercise “more tolerance and patience” towards netizens to “promptly accept constructive criticism, promptly offer help to people in trouble, promptly give explanations that diffuse misunderstandings, promptly clarify confusion, promptly resolve complaints and grievances, and promptly guide and correct misconceptions.”

Xi said, “We should not only welcome but also seriously study and absorb online criticism and Internet oversight that people make out of their feelings of goodwill, whether it is to criticize Party and government work or leaders individually, and also whether it be gentle and mild or harsh to the ear.”

Source: Xinhua, April 19, 2016

http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-04/19/c_1118671560.htm

Briefings | | April 22, 2016 | Government/Politics

Death Penalty for Extremely Serious Corruption Cases

On April 18, 2016, China’s Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate jointly issued implementation guidelines on the penalty for corruption cases under the China’s Criminal Law Amendment (9). The penalty became effective in November 2015.

The guidelines explained that a maximum penalty of immediate capital punishment will be allowed in an “extremely serious” case in which bribes and embezzlement involve 3 million yuan or more. If the death penalty is considered too harsh for a specific convict, then a life sentence without parole may be issued. The statement provided that the death sentence may be suspended for two years if there are mitigating factors.

The guideline stressed that the “crimes of corruption and bribery must be severely punished according to the law.”

Source: Xinhua, April 18, 2016

http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2016-04/18/c_1118650975.htm

Briefings | | April 20, 2016 | Government/Politics

Phoenix: China’s Central Bank Is the Root Cause of Financial Ponzi Schemes

Frequent reports about Ponzi schemes have been appearing on China’s online P2P (person to person) financial management web sites. Those online platforms offer financial products with high returns to attract investments but in the end they have turned out just to be Ponzi schemes.

Phoenix published an article commenting on how widespread such schemes are. The article pointed out that the root cause is that China’s Central Bank keeps printing Renminbi, causing a drastic devaluation of the money. The public, in order to protect the wealth they accumulated in Renminbi and to counter the devaluation factor, has had no choice but to look for investment options that promised high returns.

"According to Xinhua, in December 2015, the m2 money supply increased by 13.3 percent over what it had been a year ago." "It means that today, the actual buying power of what was previously 100 yuan, with 2 percent interest, and with subtracting the 13.3 percent, ended up being less than 90 yuan."

Source: Phoenix, April 12, 2016
http://finance.ifeng.com/a/20160412/14317011_0.shtml

Briefings | | April 20, 2016 | Economy/Resources

Further Criticism of the War Mentality

After Wu Jianmin, China’s former Ambassador to France, criticized the idea of having a war against some countries, Yuan Nansheng, the Party Secretary and Vice President of the Foreign Affairs College [a Beijing university for diplomats] and former Consul General of China’s Consulate in Los Angles, published an article to further support the criticism of China’s "angry youth" (referring to people who are ignorant but impulsive) who can jeopardize China’s diplomacy.

Yuan’s article was published in the magazine Sharing the Same Boat. Phoenix republished the article. In his article, Yuan listed several examples throughout China’s history that showed how certain people, who were ignorant of their country’s real situation, out of narrow or extreme nationalism, promoted war with other nations. In the end, they ruined the possibility of reaching a diplomatic solution and brought disaster to their country.

"On the one hand, [we] should realize that this ‘angry youth’ phenomenon represents a certain public opinion that can be used as a diplomatic card; on the other hand, [we] should prevent it from restricting the space of our diplomatic options and blocking us from reaching a reasonable and necessary [diplomatic] compromise."

Source: Phoenix, April 13, 2016
http://news.ifeng.com/a/20160413/48447703_0.shtml

Briefings | | April 20, 2016 | Geo-Strategic Trend

The State Council Led the Effort to Regulate Internet Finance

Well-known Chinese news site Sohu recently reported that the Chinese State Council organized a conference, which ncluded 14 cabinet-level ministries and commissions, to kick off a one-year long “clean-up” operation to deal with the chaotic Internet based finance market. The Chinese online Peer-to-Peer (P2P) finance market has recently been booming. Small but high volume personal loans and transactions have been spreading widely across the Chinese Internet like wild fire. However, in the past five years, 1,523 out of 3,984 online financial service platforms went bankrupt or simply disappeared. This resulted in significant risks in the financial market as well as increased tension in society. In recent months, several multi-billion-dollar level online P2P platforms have been investigated and ceased operation. Those investigated covered the markets of online investment management, loans, payments, consumer financing, mutual fund sales, trust management, and online advertising.

Source: Sohu, April 17, 2016

http://news.sohu.com/20160417/n444534662.shtml

Briefings | | April 19, 2016 | Information/Technology

Xinhua: Chinese State Council Released 2015 U.S. Human Rights Records

Xinhua reported that the Chinese State Council Information Office recently released the report called, "The 2015 U.S. Human Rights Records" and another report titled, "The 2015 U.S. Human Rights Violations." These reports are in response to the U.S. State Department’s 2015 World Human Rights Report released one day earlier. The Chinese reports accused the U.S. report of distorting the reality about human rights in other countries. The Chinese reports also suggested that the U.S. government has lost control of gun regulation, which significantly threatens the lives of U.S. citizens. The U.S. police system widely abuses its power and causes loss of innocent lives. The reports also claim that the U.S. prisons suffer from widespread corruption that severely violates the human rights of the prisoners. Also in the reports, the U.S. citizens’ political rights have not been protected effectively due to the popularity of “money-driven politics and family-driven politics.” The reports listed a great deal of evidence that the U.S. government violates the basic rights of women and children. At the same time, the U.S. continues to violate the sovereignty of many other countries and the human rights of the people in those countries.

Source: Xinhua, April 14, 2016

http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2016-04/14/c_1118622687.htm

Briefings | | April 19, 2016 | US-China Relations

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

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.”