Chinascope – Page 664

Xinhua: The Philippines Is Determined to Reopen the Subic Bay Base

Xinhua recently reported that the Philippines’ Defense Secretary stated that, even if the United States military won’t be able to be stationed at Subic Bay, the government has decided to rebuild and reopen the military base for its own military. The Subic Bay Base used to be the United States’ largest overseas military base. The U.S. closed and left the Base in 1992. In order to support the activities in the South China Sea, last year the Philippines government signed an agreement with the United States for its temporary use of the Base. The Philippines left-wing political party filed a claim in the Supreme Court charging that the agreement was a violation of the nation’s Constitution. The case is still pending a Supreme Court final ruling. Subic Bay is an ideal location for a naval base. Its location is strategic to the South China Sea region. Currently it is a free port, but the local authorities had an agreement with the domestic military to rebuild part of the military base for the Navy and the Air Force. The Defense Secretary of the Philippines called the nearby Chinese activities “a threat,” and that’s “why the U.S. presence is needed.”

Source: Xinhua, August 15, 2015

http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-08/15/c_128132224.htm

Briefings | | August 18, 2015 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Qiushi Theory: How Close Can the U.S. and Vietnam Relationship Be?

Qiushi Theory carried an article on the U.S. and Vietnam relationship. It relied heavily on quotes from an interview with Yuan Zheng, Deputy Director of the Division of American Foreign Policy Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The article said that the relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam is warming up due to the economic and strategic benefits that both countries are seeking from each other. According to the article, the amount of goods traded both ways between the U.S. and Vietnam has increased from US$450 million in 1995 to the current annual amount of US$36 billion. In addition to maintaining the U.S. as the largest export market for clothing and shoes, Vietnam also wishes to benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership that the U.S. is working on. From a strategic perspective, Vietnam is trying to use the U.S. to balance China, while the U.S. effort to improve its relationship with Vietnam is an important part of the U.S. Asia and Pacific strategy. The article said that differences still exist between the U.S. and Vietnam as the U.S. will use human rights as an excuse to control Vietnam. Meanwhile there is no independent union in Vietnam, which will be a disadvantage for Vietnam during the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. The article also predicted that Vietnam still has reservations about the U.S. and that it is unlikely that it will lean totally towards the U.S.

Source: Qiushi Theory, August 11, 2015
http://www.qstheory.cn/international/2015-08/11/c_1116216614.htm

Briefings | | August 17, 2015 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Huanqiu: Hong Kong is Less Appealing to Mainlanders

Huanqiu reported that Hong Kong has become less appealing to mainlanders as the number of immigrants from the mainland has been decreasing. The article said that Hong Kong has a quota of 50,000 for mainlanders to immigrate there each year. In the past, the quota has always been used up. However, this year, over 10,000 of the quota has not been used. This is an indication that Hong Kong is less appealing to mainlanders. Some experts are concerned that, due to the limitation of space in Hong Kong, it will be more difficult for Hong Kong to attract talent from other areas; this may impact its future development.

Source: Huanqiu, August 15, 2015
http://oversea.huanqiu.com/article/2015-08/7278880.html

Briefings | | August 17, 2015 | Government/Politics

50 Websites Punished for Spreading Rumors about the Tianjin Explosion

People’s Daily reported that, according to the Office of National Internet Information, 50 websites were under investigation for “spreading rumors” about the explosion in Tianjin. The article said that those websites published web articles with contents such as that “a minimum of 1,000 people died,” “no lives were found within 1 kilometer of the site of the explosion,” “Tianjin is in chaos; stores were being robbed,” and “the top leadership in Tianjin was being restructured.” The article claimed that some of them allow their users to upload “rumors from microblogs and WeChat” and have become the “harbor of the rumors.” “It has had a negative social impact.” The article said that 18 of those websites were ordered to be shut down permanently while the other 32 sites were to remain closed for one month.

Source: People’s Daily, August 15, 2015
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2015/0815/c1001-27467538.html

Briefings | | August 17, 2015 | Government/Politics

People’s Daily Summarizes Xi Jinping’s Diplomatic Concepts with 10 Key Ideas

On August 1, People’s Daily published a list of Xi Jinping’s core diplomatic concepts, which he presented as 10 key ideas.

1. The China Dream (中国梦)

2. An [Asian] community of shared destinies (命运共同体)

3. A New Type of International Relations (新型国际关系). Ruan Zongze, the Vice President of the China Research Institute of International Affairs expressed that the world is unequal right now. "The Western countries still occupy the high point of the international system. They dominate the international system. They have greater power over public opinion (the discourse right) than we do. Therefore, developing countries should be united to strengthen themselves and obtain a powerful voice through more practical cooperation."

4. The “One-Belt, One Road” [economic initiative] (“一带一路”): The Silk Road Economic Belt; the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road

5. [Strengthening] Connectivity [Partnership] (互联互通)

6. Correct ideas of righteousness and benefit (正确义利观): Achieving a balance between righteousness and interests

7. A New Security Concept (新安全观)

8. Chinese wisdom (中国智慧)

9. A Nation of maritime power (海洋强国)

10. Amity, sincerity, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness (亲诚惠容): the principle for developing relations with neighboring countries

Source: People’s Daily, August 11, 2015

http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2015/0811/c1001-27443651.html

Briefings | | August 14, 2015 | Government/Politics

Chinese Military General: The Era when the U.S. Dictated to China with a Big Stick Is Gone

Chinese military general Rear Admiral Luo Yuan published a commentary in response to the New York Times report that the U.S. is going to retaliate on the incident of "China stealing more than 20 million American’s personal information." Luo claimed that, if the U.S. were to impose sanctions against China, it would be declaring a cyberwar. Luo said that China-U.S. relations are no longer the same as the past U.S.-Soviet relations and that the era when the U.S. dictated to China with a big stick is gone. The order of the strength of power is reversing. Who would win the war is far from conclusive.

Luo also listed five reasons that the U.S. brought up the cyber security issue at this time.

First, the U.S. is anxious about China’s rise.

Second, the involved interest groups have their own agendas. The initiators of the hype were the U.S. Director of National Intelligence and the Cyber Army commander. They wanted to attract attention to secure more funding for their departments.

Third, more sinister military attempts are looking for excuses and preparing public opinion for further cyberattacks against China in critical infrastructure areas such as transportation, financial, industrial control, and the military’s central surveillance system.

Fourth, it serves the need of electoral politics.

Fifth, it undermines the upcoming summit meeting, embarrassing the U.S. think tanks who advocate improving relations with China and making it difficult for them to launch positive recommendations to promote Sino-U.S. relations.

Source: People’s Daily, August 5, 2015

http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/0805/c1011-27412396.html

Briefings | | August 13, 2015 | US-China Relations

Impact of the Yuan’s Depreciation on the Housing Market

Daily Economic News published an article that discussed the impact of the yuan’s depreciation on the housing market. Continued depreciation of the yuan will increase the cost real estate developers have to pay in order to obtain overseas financing. They may be forced to reduce housing prices to ease their financial difficulties.

According to the article, depreciation will increase the cost of corporate finance overseas. Considering the small amount of such overseas financing, the impact may be limited. However, the depreciation will push real estate developers to return to the Chinese domestic market for financing. For money-hungry real estate developers, if the devaluation continues, it will definitely increase the cost of overall financing abroad. When such costs increase by over five percent, the downstream housing market will be affected.

Source: Daily Economic News, August 12, 2015

http://www.nbd.com.cn/articles/2015-08-12/937543.html

Briefings | | August 13, 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.”