Chinascope – Page 664

Global Times: Turkey May Still Purchase Chinese Red Flag 9 Missiles

Global Times recently reported, based on media content in Turkey, that Turkey may still buy Chinese missiles even if Turkey is willing to use American or European weapons. Since the U.S. and the EU suppliers did not meet Turkey’s standards, Turkey is prepared to accept the Chinese offer in a year, unless the U.S. or EU bidders make changes to abide by the standard that Turkey set. Turkey selected the Chinese supplier for its defense system but never signed the contract, since the United States and NATO expressed concerns about safety and satellite compatibility issues regarding the Chinese products. The Chinese supplier agreed to develop and manufacture the weapons jointly with Turkey.

Source: Global Times, July 18, 2015

http://mil.huanqiu.com/observation/2015-07/7038640.html

Briefings | | July 21, 2015 | Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Automobile Market Declined in June

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that, following a disappointing May, the Chinese automobile market suffered another tough month in June. According to the data that the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) just released, the national automobile manufacturing volume declined by 5.8 percent, month-over-month, or by 0.2 percent, year-over-year. In the meantime, the national automobile sales volume declined by 5.3 percent, month-over-month, or by 2.3 percent, year-over-year. This record is only better than the February numbers, when the month-over-month manufacturing and sales volume declined by 28.7 percent and 31.3 percent, respectively. Most of the automobile manufacturers started cutting prices after February, led by Shanghai Volkswagen and followed by the joint-venture companies of Ford, Hyundai, Peugeot and GM. Only Japanese automobile vendors saw growth and did not join the price war. However the overall market did not rebound. The last time the Chinese automobile market saw a major decline was in 2008, when the global financial crisis started.

Source: Sina, July 15, 2015

http://finance.sina.com.cn/chanjing/cyxw/20150715/153922694743.shtml

Briefings | | July 21, 2015 | Economy/Resources

Global Times: U.S. Support for China’s Rights Lawyers Has No Real Effect

In its July 14 editorial, Global Times shrugged off a statement that the U.S. State Department issued condemning China for having "systematically detained individuals who share the common attribute of peacefully defending the rights of others." It claimed that this latest U.S. statement would have no real effect except to make the Chinese people feel slightly uncomfortable.

Global Times insisted in its editorial that the detentions are China’s internal affair. Specifically, taking lawyers away from the Beijing Fengrui Law Firm should serve to increase understanding among Chinese lawyers and promote China’s rule of law as much as possible. This carries more significance than mulling over a response to the U.S. rebuke.

Apparently some lawyers have doubts about the recent detentions. This may stem in part from the sympathy they have for their peers and, at the same time, from long-standing disputes about the boundaries of democracy and the rule of law. Western values have infiltrated intensely in this respect and have damaged some important basic consensuses.

Besides the U.S. State Department, opposing voices also came from radical groups in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The Chinese mainland public has found those voices rather repellent. Actually, many in the mainland hold the view that if people receive support from external forces, it means they are not really decent. How the government proceeds with the case must strictly follow legal procedures and must not be subject to external disruption. Global Times concluded that the crackdown on this criminal gang involving several rights lawyers is a step toward realizing China’s social stability, through which Chinese should acquire more confidence in the ideological contention between China and the West.

Source: Global Times, July 14, 2015

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/931941.shtml

Briefings | | July 20, 2015 | US-China Relations

Qiushi Theory on the Negative Internet Culture

Qiushi Theory published an article on the “negative Internet culture.” The article described this as “negative cultural contents and phenomenon that bring damage to or have a negative impact on China’s mainstream ideology.” It stated that China must be on guard against it and take action to promote positive culture online.

According to the article, the impact of negative culture includes the “weakened feeling that Internet users have towards the Party as well as in their support of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics.” The article stated that it was caused by the negative social trend and value system which is gaining the discourse right on the Internet. Meanwhile “the U.S. has been leading the Western countries to use their dominance in Internet technology to cause China’s ideology system to be permeated with Neoliberalism.” The article also listed a number of negative moral crises which include Internet contents that are full of violence, pornography, gambling, drugs, and cheating; as well as psychological and mental illnesses affecting those who are addicted to the Internet.

The article made a number of recommendations to minimize the impact of the negative Internet culture. In addition to establishing legal guidelines, the article suggested that the completion of the real-name registration system for all Internet users would help. It also suggested that an award system could be used for people who gave tips about the information. Lastly it suggested that, in order to stop relying on the Internet technology that the Western countries provide, with the U.S. as leader, there is a need to develop technology teams with the skills that are able to eliminate and prevent the spread of negative online culture contents.

Source: Qiushi Theory, July 18, 2015
http://www.qstheory.cn/zhuanqu/zywz/2015-07/18/c_1115966275.htm

Briefings | | July 19, 2015 | Government/Politics

People’s Daily Criticized Guanxi in Relationships between Leaders and Their Subordinates

China Review News republished an article that People’s Daily had originally published. It criticized the current tendency of “Guanxi” or interpersonal relationships between leaders and their subordinates, calling them "twisted relationships.” The article said that such relationships are heavily “contaminated” with various kinds of “implicit rules” and “personal favoritism.” It listed examples of different types of these relationships and stated that all Party members should work on themselves to improve their interpersonal relationships and make them more normal, pure, and less complicated.

Source: China Review News, July 15, 2015
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1038/4/5/0/103845075.html?coluid=241&kindid=13576&docid=103845075&mdate=0715095617

Briefings | | July 19, 2015 | Government/Politics

PLA Daily: China Must Clean up the Soil that Breeds Traitors

On July 13, 2015, People’s Liberation Army Daily published a full page article on how the Chinese puppet army collaborated with Japan during China’s resistance to the Japanese invasion. The article stated that, during World War II, China was the only country where the number of puppet army soldiers exceeded the number of invaders.

Comparing it with the present, the article stated that some people in China have become the new generation of "economic traitors," "political traitors," and "Internet traitors" who betray the national interest. As Western countries’ "color revolutions" and "politically transgenic" projects intensify, people with weak political will and those full of greed have been or are becoming new recruits for the hostile forces. The article concluded that today’s China still has fertile soil that breeds traitors and that such soil should be cleaned up.

Source: People’s Liberation Army Daily reprinted by People’s Daily, July 13, 2015 http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/0713/c1011-27295892.html

Briefings | | July 17, 2015 | Government/Politics

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.”

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