Chinascope – Page 660

Severely Tightened Security in Beijing for September 3 Military Parade

On September 1, 2015, Hong Kong Economic Times published an article on the extreme tightening of the security in Beijing for the Military Parade on September 3, 2015. Roads have been closed; shops, supermarkets, and restaurants have been closed; about 9 hospitals near Tiananmen Square have also been closed. Chinese Internet users commented ironically, “Why don’t they just [openly] call it martial law?”

The use of many subway lines in Beijing has been suspended.

To secure a “Parade Blue Sky,” open-air barbecues have been banned resolutely. The highest level of emergency measures has been applied to six nearby cities in order to reduce emissions. In Henan, the use of over 60 percent of business vehicles has been suspended. The main roads are required to be cleaned at least 4 times a day.

Source: Hong Kong Economic Times, September 1, 2015
http://china.hket.com/article/678830/%E5%B0%81%E8%B7%AF%E5%B0%81%E8%88%96%E9%86%

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Briefings | | September 2, 2015 | Government/Politics

Xinhua: What Does Japan Intend to Do with Its Continual Revival of Invasion Battleships?

Xinhua published a series of articles in its magazine Global Sphere commenting on Japan’s intention to resurrect its military. Below are some quotes from the articles.

“Recently, Japan officially launched the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s newest quasi-carrier ‘Kaga.’ It has the same name as the main ship known as the ‘devil ship’ aircraft carrier ‘Kaga’ that invaded China. In 2013, Japan’s quasi-carrier ‘Izumo’ followed the name of the old warships that invaded China. The Abe government’s excuse is very simple, ‘This is only the name of the ancient nation.’ There are so many names of ancient nations. Why pick the name of the battleship that was used for aggression in World War II and more than once. Japan used this name [of the battleship] again, totally ignoring the feelings of World War II victims. It adds insult to injury for the World War II victims. It is to summon the spirit of militarism and create more obstacles to Sino-Japanese relations.”

“Japan expert Yuan Yang from the Chinese Military Academy said that, many times, Japan has been like a bad child, constantly challenging the adults’ bottom line with petty actions. Adults do not care about him but feel somehow bothered. If we took him seriously, he would feel aggrieved. This approach seems to have become a strategy in Japan. Jin Canrong, Vice President of international relations at Renmin University of China, believes that the fact that Japan chose the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima to launch the "quasi-carrier" into the water has a special meaning. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hopes to use the nation’s emotions towards the tragedy to support his militaristic ambitions of rearmament. Jin said that now the U.S. military is financially weak; it is reducing its military budget. The U.S. military deployment in the Asia-Pacific region must rely on Japan. This gives Abe the opportunity for the massive development of military power.”

Source: Xinhua: Global Sphere issue 608, August 2015

http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/jrch/608.htm

Briefings | | September 2, 2015 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Qiushi: The Party Does Not Allow Any Special Party Members

On September 1, 2015，Qiushi Journal, a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article in its 17th journal of 2015 titled, “The Party Does Not Allow Any Special Party Members.” On the same day, the article was reprinted on the Pengpai website and the Sohu website.

According to the article, “Some leading cadres” just do whatever they want to do. They view themselves as “Special Party Members” and do not follow the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee’s rules and policies. In particular, some leading cadres completely ignore the Party’s rules and political rules because of their authoritative power and their high positions.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, warned the whole Party, “The Party will not allow any special Party members who are above the Party’s constitution and the Party’s organization.” “The fact that the CCP Central Committee has severely punished Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai, Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou, Ling Jihua, and Su Rong [Editor’s note: All were members of the Jiang faction] demonstrates that tightening the Party’s discipline completely is not empty talk. The Party’s constitution is not a piece of blank paper. Within the Party, there must be no hiding place for corrupt officials and special Party members.”

Source: Qiushi Journal (the original is not available online), September 1, 2015
http://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1370485
http://star.news.sohu.com/20150901/n420205302.shtml

Briefings | | September 2, 2015 | Government/Politics

Global Times: Which Country Is the World’s Largest Democracy?

Global Times recently published a commentary written by Han Zheng, Party Secretary of Beijing Foreign Studies University, asserting that China is the world’s largest democracy instead of India, to whom the “media of the West" often attribute that same title. Han explained that it is a strategy of the West to classify China as a non-democratic country. He determined that the so-called democracy is a “historic social state” of the West to effectively maintain the capitalist system. Even the West has different types and forms of the so-called democracy. The West does not have the authority to judge which country is a democracy and which is not. Han said the Chinese political system is a true election-based system and big capital groups or special interest groups actually manipulate many so-called democratic countries in order to ensure that only a few political families inherit power. The commentary concluded that the Chinese system is the best fit for China’s domestic social structure and China is actually the largest democracy in the world.

Source: Global Times, August 27, 2015

http://opinion.huanqiu.com/opinion_world/2015-08/7361939.html

Briefings | | September 1, 2015 | Government/Politics

Chiefs of Official Website of People’s Daily Arrested

On August 28, South China Morning Post reported that the CEO and the Deputy CEO of the People.CN website had been arrested for corruption investigations. People.CN is the official website of People’s Daily, which is the primary newspaper that speaks on behalf of the Communist Party. Several Mainland news channels also reported the event before the Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued the official announcement. For a period of time, this news was blocked from all Chinese news websites. People.CN is a publicly traded company. On the afternoon of August 25, the Shanghai Stock Exchange suspended its stock. According to the Supreme Procuratorate, the Henan Provincial People’s Procuratorate conducted the arrests and the investigations. The investigations are still underway. People’s Daily, as the controlling stockholder, has already nominated a new Board member for People.CN.

Source: South China Morning Post, August 28, 2015

http://www.nanzao.com/tc/national/14f722469bac12b/nei-mei-ren-min-wang-zong-cai-liao-hong-fu-zong-cai-chen-zhi-xia-bei-jian-fang-dai-zou-diao-cha

Briefings | | September 1, 2015 | Government/Politics

Local Government Debt Capped at 16 Trillion Yuan; Debt Ratio Lifted for Commercial Banks

People’s Daily reported that, on August 29, the National People’s Congress passed a resolution setting the cap for the government debt in 2015 at 16 trillion yuan (US$2.51 trillion). The number consists of 15.3 trillion yuan (US$2.4 trillion) for the debt existing at the end of 2014 plus 60 billion yuan (US$9.4 billion) of new debit from 2015. The report said that it is the first time that China has set a limit on what the local governments can borrow. The People’s Congress also revised the commercial bank regulation. Effective October 1, 2015, it eliminated the ratio of 75 percent of savings to borrowing. The article said that the ratio has been in existence for 20 years, but due to the slowdown in the economy, banks need to increase their support for the real economy. Moreover, since commercial banks have been commercialized and can assume all of the risks themselves, the limit is no longer needed.

Source: People’s Daily, August 30, 2015
http://finance.people.com.cn/n/2015/0830/c1004-27531602.html

Briefings | | August 31, 2015 | Economy/Resources

RFA: China Denied that Investing Trillions in Pension Funds Was to Save the Stock Market

RFA reported that China stated it had planned the investment of two trillion yuan in pension funds in the stock market in order to grow their value. It denied that the move was to save the stock market. The investment of pension fund money in China, until recently, was limited to bank savings and Treasury bonds. The new regulation allowed the pension funds to be invested in stock and in mutual funds but the ratio for investing in stock is capped at 30 percent of the total. RFA reported on interviews it had conducted on this issue. Some of those interviewed expressed concern about the corruption in the stock market. Some thought that it was a risky move because China’s stock market is just not well regulated. Another concern was that Chinese people don’t have control over how the pension funds are managed even though they are the beneficiaries. According to the 2014 Chinese Pension Development report that the China Academy of Social Science published, due to mismanagement, pension funds, social security funds, and savings have lost close to 17.5 billion yuan. Some reports indicated that the government used the pension funds for funding the government.

Source: Radio Free Asia, August 28, 2015
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jingmao/yl-08282015155834.html

Briefings | | August 31, 2015 | Economy/Resources

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.”