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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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The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.

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Xinhua Published Full Text of Xi Jinping’s 2014 Speech on the Arts

On Wednesday, October 14, 2015, one day before the one year anniversary of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s speech on the arts, Xinhua was authorized to publish it in full. Xi Jinping delivered the speech to select Chinese artists, authors, actors, script writers and dancers on problems in Chinese art. 

Xi listed such problems as plagiarism, stereotyping, exaggeration, changing history, vilifying people, creating cultural “trash,” and shoddy work. As a result of these problems, art works have become money trees. Xi criticized the low taste in the arts, saying that being vulgar does not mean it is popular. Nor does desire mean hope. Sensory excitement is not spiritual joy. For art to be recognized by the people, one cannot be there for quick money, or be opportunistic, or go after fame, or engage in self-promotion. "Art cannot get lost in the market economy." Xi said that good art works are those that warm one’s heart, and have "bones, morality and warmth," meaning they inspire the mind, touch the soul and advocate integrity, merit, and compassion; they travel fast, last longer, provide "food for thought," and are enjoyed by all. Xi stressed that Chinese traditional culture has a lot of principles and moral values that transcend the times. 

Source: Xinhua, October 14, 2015 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-10/14/c_1116825558.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Caixin: Investigation into Fujian Governor Linked to Audit of Sinopec

Caixin, a provider of financial and business news and information, based in Beijing, reported that an inquiry into Su Shulin, the governor of Fujian Province, was linked to corruption allegations made during an audit of Sinopec, a state-owned oil company. 

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the Communist Party’s anti-graft agency, said on October 7 that it is probing Su Shulin, 53, for serious violations of discipline, a euphemism for corruption.  
Su was the first governor placed under investigation after the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. He was the fifth official removed from office who had served as the General Manager in China’s top two state-owned oil companies, Sinopec and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). 
The government is looking into US$10 billion worth of offshore oil investments that Sinopec made in Angola. Those investments have yielded little oil or revenue. It is not known whether Su’s problems are linked to the losses from those deals. 
One person who was briefed about the inquiry into Su said the CCDI investigators questioned Su after authorities announced, in July 2014, that they were investigating former security tsar Zhou Yongkang over corruption allegations. 
Zhou is serving a life sentence for taking bribes, abuse of power and leaking state secrets. He spent more than three decades in the oil and gas industry, rising to general manager of CNPC. Zhou became a member of the Party’s powerful Politburo Standing Committee in 2007, overseeing the country’s domestic security apparatus. 
Several of Zhou’s former aides or associates, including Jiang Jiemin, former head of the CNPC, have gotten in trouble for graft since President Xi Jinping launched a major anti-corruption drive late in 2012. 
Source: Caixin, October 9, 2015 
http://companies.caixin.com/2015-10-08/100860639.html http://english.caixin.com/2015-10-09/100861184.html
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

People’s Daily: The World Should Stay Alert to Japan’s Nuclear Capabilities

People’s Daily recently reported on the newly released “Research Report on Japan’s Nuclear Materials.” The China Arms Control & Disarmament Association, along with the China Nuclear Science and Technology Information and Economic Research Institute jointly authored the report. The report warned that Japan possesses 47.8 tons of separated plutonium. Around 10.8 tons are stored in Japan. This is good enough to build 1,350 nuclear weapons. Japan also owns 1.2 tons of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU). In the meantime, Japan is building six more factories to produce separated plutonium, which will give the country the capability of making 1,000 nuclear weapons annually starting in 2019. The report noted that the international community has been wondering for years why Japan keeps producing more “military class” nuclear materials – way above the demand level for all of its nuclear power stations combined. 
Source: People’s Daily, October 10, 2015
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/1010/c1011-27681823.html
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

BBC Chinese: World Marxism Conference Held in Beijing

BBC Chinese recently reported that Beijing University hosted the First World Marxism Conference in Beijing. Over 400 people attended the Conference and over 120 of them delivered speeches. The primary theme of the conference was “Marxism and Human Development.” Two out of the eight forums of the Conference were related to China. One of those was “The Chinese Road and Its Marxist Language System.” Another was “Xi Jinping’s Political Thoughts and the Development of Marxism in China.” The Conference lasted two days. Beijing University announced that the Conference will take place every two years. This Conference triggered a wide discussion online among Chinese netizens, most of which were negative. Typical online opinions expressed the thought that Communism can never be realized. Some even questioned why China has been imposing Marxism on the people while exporting Confucius Institutes.
Source: BBC Chinese, October 10, 2015
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/china/2015/10/151010_beijing_marxism_conference
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Global Times: U.S. Congress Accused China of Manipulating Hong Kong

Global Times recently reported that the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) just released its annual report accusing China of manipulating Hong Kong’s autonomy. The report also asked the U.S. Executive Branch to resume reporting annually to the Congress on Hong Kong’s reality. The spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented that reports of this type do not introduce anything new and they just make irresponsible remarks on Chinese internal affairs. The new report is yet another channel for the U.S. government to put pressure on China. The CECC report covers various topics such as human rights and the rule of law. It also covers developments in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macao. The latest report started with describing China’s human rights condition as having “worsened.” In the Hong Kong portion, it continued by suggesting the Chinese leadership’s focus on “sovereignty and control” violated multiple rights of the Hong Kong residents. 
Source: Global Times, October 10, 2015
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2015-10/7718105.html
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Ren Zhiqiang: A New China or a New Regime?

Ren Zhiqiang, a high profile real estate mogul in China, published a weibo (miniblog) at sina.com during the week long October 1 National Day holiday challenging the official stance that National Day celebrates the birth of a New China. 

Ren questioned, “Did this day (October 1, 1949) declare that a new country emerged or that a new regime representing the same country was established?” 
“From the perspective of traditional Chinese culture and international law, China is still the same China. … All that happened was the government of the Republic of China under the Nationalists [Kuomintang] controlled an increasingly smaller area, while the government of the People’s Republic of China, which the Chinese Communist Party led and which allegedly represented the interests of the masses of Chinese people, controlled most of mainland China. The Communist Party announced that it had replaced the Republic of China in governing China, and began to exercise national sovereignty.” 
Ren continued that even to the present day, many people living in mainland China have the misunderstanding that October 1 represented the birth of a new country. They think that the homeland just had its 66th birthday. However, this ancient country of China has a history of thousands of years. All of the changes in this country from one dynasty to another are nothing but changes in rulers or in governments who say they represent China’s sovereignty. They are not changes of the actual nation. Therefore, “this holiday is not that of the birthday of a new country, but the establishment of a new regime.” 
 Ren’s weibo at sina.com was soon removed. 

Source: BBC Chinese, October 2, 2015 http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/china/2015/10/151002_china_renzhiqiang_weibo_reax

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

The Continuous Drop of China’s Foreign Exchange Reserves Demonstrates Intense Capital Outflow

On October 7, 2015, FX678.COM, a Forex & Gold media in China, published an article titled, “Foreign Exchange Reserves Data Demonstrates Intense Capital Outflow; Chinese Yuan (Renminbi) Faces the Risk of Further Depreciation.”

China’s foreign exchange reserves dropped US$43.26 billion in September 2015 after a record drop of US$93.93 billion in August. The continuous decline in the foreign exchange reserves indicates that depositors are worried about China’s economy. As a result, capital outflow from China has accelerated.  

“The more we want to protect the renminbi and cut interest rates, the more we stimulate depositors to transfer their assets abroad by selling renminbi. Devaluation of the renminbi will not only lead to inflation, but also increase the prices of the commodities that China exports."

Source: FX678.COM, October 7, 2015
http://news.fx678.com/C/20151007/201510071456342079.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Heated Online Discussion: The Chinese Communist Party Is Not the Same as China.

On October 7, 2015, Central News Agency, the state news agency of Taiwan, published an article titled “Mainland China Media Continues the Taboo Topic: the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Is Not the Same as China.”

On October 1, 2, and 6, 2015, during China’s national holiday period, three well-known Chinese published articles explaining why they think that, “The Chinese Communist Party is not the same as China.”

On October 1, 2015, the 66th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), He Weifang, a law professor at Peking University, published a blog article saying, “Since my country has a long history and a splendid civilization, it must not be a country that exists for only just over 60 years.”

On October 2, 2015, Ren Zhiqiang, China’s famous real estate developer, published a long blog article titled, “A New China or a New Regime.” Over 100,000 people read the article in just a few hours, but the article was soon removed from Internet.

On October 6, 2015, Bao Tong, who used to be the political secretary for the former CCP General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, published an article on Radio Free Asia. In the article he stated, “I am more than 10 years older than the People’s Republic of China. I am not able to call the PRC my motherland.”

On October 7, 2015, the Paper, a media in Mainland China, published an interview article on the treatment of parasitic diseases in which the words “new regime” were used several times, including in the article title. The CCP’s official phrase in such a context has always been “new China.” It seems that the Paper article purposely continued the discussion on this taboo topic.

Source: Central News Agency, October 7, 2015
http://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201510070434-1.aspx

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics