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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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Finance Ministry: Moody’s Has a Biased View of China’s Economy

Xinhua carried an article on the reaction from Lou Jiwei, China’s Finance Minister, to Moody’s recent downgrade of its outlook for China. The article wrote that Lou spoke at a press conference in Washington DC on April 15 and claimed that Moody gave the rating because it has a biased view and does not reflect the reality of China’s economic status. Lou quoted figures that the Ministry of Statistics recently released for the first three months of this year. They showed that the growth of China’s GDP was at 6.7 percent. Lou called that a pretty good number. Lou also stated that the central administration has launched measures to control the growth of local debt and has additional plans to control the growth of debt using a plan to turn the debt into equity.  The article then quoted statements from a number of officials who denounced Moody’s downgrade. According to the article, this is not the first time that Lou expressed his opinion about the downgrade. On March 20, Lou publically stated that he “does not care” about the downgrade.

Source: Xinhua, April 18, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2016-04/18/c_128904588.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

People’s Daily: Experts Call for the Movie and TV Industry to Focus on Quality Original Screenplays

People’s Daily reported that, on April 16, the China Screen Writers Forum was held during the China (Ningbo) Cultural Industries Fair. A group of elite Chinese screen writers gathered together and discussed the issues relating to current movie screenplays. The article said that many of the attendees were concerned that China’s movie and television industry does not lack world class directors and movie stars. Rather, it lacks good quality original screenplays. According to the article, China’s movie industry demonstrates an unhealthy trend which overly emphasizes box office revenue and entertainment effect. It tends to seek a quick turnaround but lacks the kind of work that has depth in real life. According to the article, the existing works tend to follow the trend. They copy each other and are growing on a distorted path.

Source: People’s Daily, April 18, 2016
http://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0418/c22219-28283732.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Youth Daily: Over Hundred Zombie Companies Rely on Government Funding to Survive

China Youth Daily published an article that reported on the publicly traded State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) that had released their annual reports. By April 16, among 1,725 SOEs, after their nonrecurring profits and losses, 144 of them showed a negative net profit for three consecutive years. The cumulative loss totaled 140 billion yuan. Most of these companies were in the steel, chemical, coal, cement, and glass industries. Half of them incurred losses exceeding hundreds of millions of yuan each year. The report indicated that, out of these 144 “zombie companies,” 122 of them relied on supplemental funding from the government to survive. That total amounted to 30.7 billion yuan (US$4.74 billion) over the past three years. The article reported that, since April 30 is the deadline for filing their annual reports, there will be more zombie companies that have not yet filed. Therefore, the total number of zombie companies could be as high as 270 this year.

Source: China Youth Daily, April 18, 2016
http://finance.youth.cn/finance_gdxw/201604/t20160418_7874215.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

New Regulation to Protect and Reward Informants

Recently, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued a regulation concerning the protection and rewards for informants in the further efforts to curb corruption. 

The regulation requires that the identity of the informants and the information they provide must be kept strictly confidential. 
The regulation includes three measures to protect and reward informants. First, special actions (including restraining orders) may be taken to protect the safety and property of the informants and their families. Second, recommendations for remedial action should be made to redress any retaliation launched against the informants and their families. Third, efforts can be coordinated to provide subsidies to informants and their families for any serious personal injury or significant property damage they suffer as result of retaliation. 
As for rewards, the regulation provides that the normal reward to informants should not exceed 200,000 yuan per case. If the contribution from an informant is significant, approval may be given for up to 500,000 yuan. The amount of the reward will not be subject to the above limits in cases that involve a particularly significant contribution from the informant and upon proper approval. 
Source: Xinhua, April 8, 2016 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-04/08/c_1118567300.htm
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Global Times’ Rebuttal to Wu Jianmin

After Wu Jianmin, China’s former Ambassador to France, commented that Global Times didn’t understand the main world trend, Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin published a rebuttal.

Hu said, "Wu represents the mentality of the old Chinese diplomats; only they know foreign policy. The media’s [different] opinions are intended to create trouble and thus are the evil source to stir up nationalism." "Wu seems like a typical ‘dove’ [to foreign countries] in diplomat circles, but he is very ‘hawkish’ toward ‘nationalism’ when it is discussed in China’s media."

After the rebuttal was published, an article commenting on that rebuttal was published on the Internet. The article argued, "When Global Times talked about freedom of speech, it openly argued that ‘there is a boundary for freedom of speech in the world.’ Then should there be a boundary for articles related to foreign policy? To appeal to the readers and not hurt the ruling authority, the media look for other [safer] topics [to write about]. They set ‘foreign countries’ as their target and create tension in foreign relations. Will this benefit China’s long-term interest and the world’s peaceful development? Or will it limit the room [for China] to define its foreign policies?"

Source
[1] Phoenix, April 7, 2016
http://news.ifeng.com/a/20160407/48382356_0.shtml
[2] 21ccom.net, April 8, 2016
http://www.21ccom.net/html/2016/zlwj_0408/3102.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Wu Jianmin: Understanding China’s Foreign Policy

On March 30, 2016, Wu Jianmin, China’s former Ambassador to France and former President of the Foreign Affairs College [a Beijing university for diplomats] gave a speech at the Foreign Affairs College. Wu outlined three elements for understanding China’s foreign policies:

First, only through opening up can China fully grasp how the world is changing.

Second, the world’s new trend is "peace and development," which differs from the previous "war and revolution." "However, there are still people who want to have a war. [They think that] if China can’t beat the U.S., at least China can take on the Philippines for a fight. However, these people have absolutely misunderstood the trend."

Third, China’s foreign affairs strategy is: No expansion, no hegemony, and no alliances.

Wu criticized General Luo Yuan for being a military hawk and promoting war. Wu also criticized Global Times for not understanding the main trend in the world and, instead, frequently publishing extreme articles to portray the world as a big mess.

Source: QQ.com, April 2, 2016
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NDMzNTk2MA==&mid=412066191&idx=4&sn=3cf0a163591e5ed25e4bd99b025acc0c&scene=1&srcid

=0402Xw5TZ3walLEgAmY5VkH0&from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Study: Over 80 Percent of Underground Water Unfit to Drink

According to statistics that the China’s Ministry of Water Resources released, over 80 percent of the water from underground wells is unfit to drink. In 2015, the study tested 2,103 wells in the populous plains of China where the underground water resources are well developed, yet heavily polluted. Tests were conducted in shallow underground waters which are susceptible to soil or surface water contamination. The study of the Ministry of Water Resources concluded, “The evaluation showed the overall poor quality of these water resources.”  

It showed that 32.9 percent of the wells tested had Grade 4 quality water (fit for industrial use but not fit for human consumption), while another 47 percent was Grade 5 quality water (worse than Grade 4), for a total of over 80 percent that was unfit for human consumption. The pollution came from manganese, iron, fluoride and triazoles. Some areas suffered from pollution caused by heavy metals and toxic organic materials. The study attributed the pollution to industry and to agricultural development. 

Source: Ministry of Water Resources, April 5, 2016 
http://www.mwr.gov.cn/zwzc/hygb/dxsdtyb/ http://www.mwr.gov.cn/zwzc/hygb/dxsdtyb/201604/P020160405539942030096.pdf 

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China Times: North Korean Media Criticized Mainland China

The major Taiwanese newspaper, China Times, recently reported that North Korean official media published articles criticizing the Mainland government without directly pointing it out by name. After the United Nations passed the resolution sanctioning North Korea, the primary government-run news agency Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) suggested that a “certain big country surrendered to the United States,” who obviously represents the “evil imperialist forces.” The KCNA further pointed out that the “certain big country” supported the “evil” by “abandoning the shared fruits of victory cemented with blood without hesitation.” The report promised to continue raising the “peaceful nuclear sword” against the United States and its “unfair world order.” Mainland China did implement the sanctions that the recently passed UN resolution required.
Source: China Times, April 6, 2016
http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20160406000705-260309
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend