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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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Xinhua: Why Does Japan Want to Keep Holding onto Large Amounts of Nuclear Materials?

Xinhua collected a series of articles questioning Japan’s nuclear ambitions. In the introductory paragraph, the article commented, “Japan is a signatory state of ‘the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.’ It claims to adhere to the ‘Three Non-Nuclear Principles.’ These are, ‘not possessing, not manufacturing, and not importing nuclear weapons.’ However, for a long time, it has stored large amounts of sensitive nuclear materials, a serious nuclear safety and nuclear proliferation risk. Right now, Japan has more than 1200 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and about 47.8 tons of separated plutonium, which is enough to produce over a thousand nuclear warheads. Experts have pointed out that Japan’s current storage of sensitive nuclear materials is far beyond what it actually needs. What on earth is Japan planning to do by holding onto so much sensitive nuclear material?” Below are the titles of the articles in the series: 

U.S. Experts Criticize Japan for Holding an Excessive Amount of Plutonium, Causing Worries about the Proliferation of Nuclear Materials
 
Chinese Foreign Ministry: Hope Japan Will resolve International Concerns about Excess Storage of Nuclear Material 
Japan Stores Large Quantities of Sensitive Nuclear Materials; it May Bring Three Risks [of nuclear safety, nuclear proliferation, and nuclear terrorism] 
What Does Japan Want to Do by Holding onto American nuclear materials? 
How long does Japan want to “Deceive (use the logic of an ostrich)” on Nuclear Issues? 
Abe Deliberately Avoids Mentioning the "Three Non-nuclear Principles," Reminding the World [of Japan’s real nuclear risk] 
Japan Never Gave up its Nuclear Ambitions, a Potential Nuclear Power outside the “Nuclear Threshold” 

Source: Xinhua, March 9, 2016 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2016-03/09/c_128783163.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

RFA: Cell Phone Real Name Registration is Meant to Exercise Censorship Online

Radio Free Asia recently published an article on registering cell phones. According to the article, six months ago, Guangdong Province instituted requirements for all cell phone users to register their cell phones using thier real names. Since then, people still have not completed the real name registration process. Recently three telecommunication companies in Guangdong Province issued a last notice warning its customers, giving them a deadline of March 30. Those who haven’t registered their cell phones using their real names before that date will have their cell phone numbers disabled.

RFA quoted interviews with citizens inside China. Some stated that the cell number registration is really meant to limit freedom of speech online. One person told RFA that he received many random sales calls on his cell phone because the telecommunication companies sell their database for money. Another person told RFA that the authorities use public security as the excuse but their real intent is to control and monitor different opinions. According to the article, cell phone real name registration was launched in Xinjiang and Tibet several years ago. “This is an indication that China’s Human Rights has taken a step backwards. One rights activist in Inner Mongolia told RFA, "We are calling on the international community to pay attention to this matter.” 

Source: Radio Free Asia, March 12, 2016
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/meiti/ql2-03122016092151.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

VOA: Xinhua Journalist Published Open Letter to Condemn China’s Internet Surveillance Department

VOA published an article that reported about a Xinhua journalist who recently published an open letter on his microblog account on Sina criticizing Chinese Internet management agencies because they violated citizens’ basic rights of freedom of speech when they deleted online posts or shut down microblog accounts. The open letter stated, "They have violated the basic rights of freedom of speech and press that the Constitution protects. According to VOA, even though the open letter has been deleted from the Internet sites in China, the news media overseas have already picked it up. The article said that this is the second instance in which the people inside the Chinese media system stood up to express dissatisfaction with the Chinese authorities’ suppression of freedom of speech and of the press. The last open letter was published in Caixin after the Internet surveillance department deleted one of its articles. The open letter also demanded a full investigation of media attacks against Ren Zhiqiang, a Chinese businessman for his concerns about why the media should be loyal to the Party.

According to VOA, the handling of Ren Zhiqiang’s case and the open letter suggest that major differences and a power struggle exist inside the top leadership, especially between the Publicity Department and the Central Discipline Inspection Commission.

Source: VOA, March 11, 2016
http://www.voachinese.com/content/xinhua-journalist-internet-regulators-20160311/3232956.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China’s Tibetan Scholar Criticized China’s Tibet Policy

[Editor’s Note: Jambey Gyatso (降边嘉措), a veteran Tibetan scholar in China published two articles to criticize two Chinese officials, Ye Xiaowen (叶小文), the former Director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), and Zhu Weiqun (朱维群), Director of the Ethnic and Religious Commission of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee.

Jambey Gyatso observed that, over the past decade, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) religious management group, of which both Ye and Zhu are key members, adopted the wrong policies to govern Tibet. Instead of separating religion from governance, Ye tried to replace Tibetan Buddhism with a new orthodox religion: the will of the Party’s religious office. Ye’s new policy of “certifying” Living Buddhas led to corruption in the Buddhist temples. Zhu tried to escalate this simple event to the level of the political, linking it to “Tibetan separation.”

It is rare to see a scholar, who has worked for several decades under the CCP’s system, be so open in criticizing the CCP’s religious policy and leaders.

The Paper, a media with close ties to Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan, reported on February 22, 2016, that Ye Xiaowen was removed from his latest official positions as the Party Secretary and Deputy Director of the Central Institute of Socialism. [1]

The following are excerpts from several articles about this development.]

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Reports | | |   Report

Xi Jinping on the Private Ownership Economy

On March 9, 2016, People’s Daily published the full text of a speech that Xi Jinping delivered to a group of businessmen. On March 4, 2016, during the fourth session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Xi gave a speech titled, “Unswervingly Adhere to Our Basic Economic System and Promote the Healthy Development of different Forms of Ownership.” 

Xi stressed that the status and the role of the non-State [private] ownership economy in economic and social development has not changed. Likewise, the policies to encourage, support, and guide the non-State [private] ownership economy have not changed. Xi said that there are five priorities: to resolve fund-raising issues that mid-sized and small private businesses face, to open the market to them, to accelerate the construction of public infrastructure to serve these businesses, to guide them in mergers and acquisitions using their intellectual property as leverage to form conglomerates, and to expedite government approval of investments into these private businesses. 
Source: People’s Daily, reprinted by the official website of the Communist Party of China, March 9, 2016
http://cpc.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0309/c64094-28183110.html
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Times: Eye Banks across the Strait Suffer Severe Cornea Shortage

Chinese have a tradition to keep the body whole after death. As a result, cornea donations across the Strait have never been abundant. For many years, there have been more than 20 "eye banks" in mainland China. They are in a very awkward situation, like a library that has no books. In other words, there have been "no corneas in the banks," for a long time. Only less than two percent of the patients on the waiting list can get a cornea. In Taiwan, there are more than 10 times the number of patients on the waiting list for cornea donors. 

There are about 20 eye banks in Mainland China. They are often in a "zero-inventory" status. The first eye bank in Dongguan (of Guangdong Province) was established at the Dongguan Guangming Ophthalmology Hospital in 2003. It was not until September 2007 that it had its first donor. Ironically, at that time, the donor’s family also strongly opposed the donation. Until last year, Dongguan had accumulated only two cases in which donations were made, and both of them involved donations to family members. 
In Guangdong’s largest eye bank, the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Zhongshan Medical University, corneas are also in short supply. The hospital has an annual average of 4-5,000 people waiting for a cornea, but in 2014 it only accepted a little more than 800 cornea donations. 2013 was even worse; there were a little more than 100 cases. To get a cornea, patients have to queue up and wait at least two years. 
In the two eye banks in Wuhan (the Capital of Hubei Province), the situation is more severe. Each year more than 4,000 people wait for corneas, but Tongji Hospital and the Air Eye Hospital had 10 years and 5 years of zero inventory, respectively. 

Source: China Times, February 27, 2016 
http://www.chinatimes.com/cn/newspapers/20160227000976-260301

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Xinhua: Not Many People Want to Have a Second Child

Xinhua recently reported on the willingness of Chinese people to have a second child. Although China abandoned its one child policy and, as of  January 1 of this year, began allowing a second child, many people do not want to have a econd child.

"According to a survey that was conducted, 70 to 80 percent of people said that they were willing to have a second child, but in reality only 30 percent actually did."

The obstacles for people to have a second child include companies’ unwillingness to hire women who have two children, the high financial cost, and the limited public resources for raising a child.

Source: Xinhua, March 7, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016lh/2016-03/07/c_128777923.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

CPPCC National Committee Member Requested that the Detaining and Educating System Be Stopped

When attending the current CPPCC National Congress, Zhu Zhengfu, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee and Vice Chairman of the All China Lawyers Association, was about to submit a proposal to request the aboliton of the Detaining and Educating System.

Zhu had submitted the same proposal in March 2014, after December 2013, when the National People’s Congress abolished the forced labor camp system. He remembered, however, "The Ministry of Public Security sent officials to talk with me and provided a written response that they objected to the abolition."

In 1993, the State Council issued the "Measures on Detaining and Educating Prostitutes." It granted the police the power to take administrative action to put prostitutes into six months to two years of forced-education and forced-labor work without a court investigation or a trial.

Zhu pointed out that this detaining and educating system is, in essence, a forced-labor camp system for prostitutes. Thus, it should be eliminated completely.

Source: Caixin, March 3, 2016
http://topics.caixin.com/2016-03-03/100915310.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics