Chinascope – Page 666

Global Times: U.S. Cyber Retaliation Would Trigger a Tit-for-Tat Conflict

The Global Times published an editorial in response to a New York Times report that the Obama administration is planning to "retaliate against China for the theft of the personal information of more than 20 million Americans from the database of the Office of Personal Management."

In the editorial, the Global Times highlighted one of the most innovative responses, per the New York Times, which is to find a way to breach China’s Great Firewall. It also quoted an anonymous White House official who said that Washington needs "a full range of tools to tailor a response."

Global Times argued that hacking attacks are usually elusive and hard to trace. Those which were seemingly launched in China might actually have come from another country. Therefore, the White House must take full responsibility if it takes so-called countermeasures against China based on ill-considered and ill-founded assumptions.

The Great Firewall is a State-sponsored Internet management system. If U.S. cyber forces launch blatant attacks against it, the consequences will be serious. Unlike sneaky hacking, these attacks will be treated as a U.S. invasion of China.

The editorial gave further warnings that, without question, if U.S. cyber forces took the first step, their Chinese counterpart would not stand aside and do nothing. There would be a tit-for-tat cyber conflict.

Citing the New York Times article, Global Times was quick to point out U.S. "hypocrisy": U.S. intelligence officials say that the U.S. has placed "thousands of implants in Chinese computer networks to warn of impending attacks." Thus, it seems that it is the U.S. that keeps posing threats to Chinese cyberspace.

Sources: Global Times, August 3, 2015

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/935302.shtml

NY Times, August 1, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/01/world/asia/us-decides-to-retaliate-against-chinas-hacking.html?_r=0

Briefings | | August 9, 2015 | US-China Relations

Competition Might Save the Chinese Stock Market

On August 3, 2015, Chen Peixiong, a researcher at the Guangdong Industry Development Institute, published a commentary in Hexun stating that few understood the reason for the failure of the Chinese stock market. He proposed that competition among multiple stock markets might save the Chinese stock market.

In the commentary, Chen held that the Chinese stock market is not a stock market. Therefore, any attempts to analyze, administer, and rescue the Chinese stock market by applying economics and stock market theories would be doomed.

Chen said that one should go beyond the stock trades and should see whether the stock market moves with the economic trends. A stock market serves as an economic barometer of a country and its existence is conditioned upon whether it is consistent with the economic trends. It is totally nonsensical to say the Chinese style stock market is irrelevant to the Chinese economic trends. The problem with the Chinese stock market lies in the design of the rules or mechanisms. As a planned economy, China can regulate and monitor the stock market to the maximum extent, but it will have no effect.

Chen recommended either allowing multiple stock markets to compete or to design a stock market outside the constraints of the current system.

Source: Hexun, August 3, 2015

http://opinion.hexun.com/2015-08-03/178026529.html

Briefings | | August 6, 2015 | Economy/Resources

Xi Jinping Is Determined to Put an End to the Dominance of Jiang Zemin

China Gate and several other overseas Chinese websites translated an article from the Diplomat on Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign in the Chinese military. According to the Diplomat‘s article, Xi Jinping’s decision to expel both Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong from the Party for corruption "reflects his determination to put an end to the dominance of Jiang Zemin," who was the former chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. Jiang Zemin promoted Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong to the positions of vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission and Politburo members. "Guo and Xu continued to pay allegiance to Jiang Zemin even after he retired as CMC chairman."

Source: The Diplomat, July 31, 2015 & China Gate, August 3, 2015
http://thediplomat.com/2015/07/guo-boxiong-jiang-zemin-and-the-corruption-of-the-chinese-military/
http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2015/08/03/4459009.html

Briefings | | August 6, 2015 | Government/Politics

Indications of No Summer Leadership Meeting in Baidaihe

On August 5, 2015, Xinhua News Agency published a news article titled, “Do Not Wait Anymore; No Meetings in Baidaihe.” According to the article, almost every year since Mao Zedong era until 2003, top current and retired Chinese Communist Party leaders met at the Beidaihe summer resort in July or August. The annual Beidaihe retreat meeting is one of the CCP’s most mysterious meetings. Many major decisions or policies have been made there.

Recently, different sources have speculated on the themes of the coming Baidaihe meeting this August and whether or not one will be held. The Xinhua article recalled briefly the history of the Beidaihe meetings and concluded, “Not long ago, the CCP Central Politburo met twice, on July 20 and on July 30, which was unusual. They have already discussed "the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan," the CCP Fifth Plenary Session, economic strategies, the "anti-tiger campaign," and other important issues. The article questioned, "Is it meaningful, necessary, or possible to talk about these issues again in Baidaihe several days or ten days later?”

[Editor’s note: In 2003, the New York Times commented that Hu Jintao’s decision to cancel the Beidaihe meeting was likely an attempt to limit Jiang Zemin’s influence.]

Source: Xinhua News Agency, August 5, 2015
http://www.ennweekly.com/2015/0805/16012.html
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-08/05/c_128096703.htm
New York Times, August 4, 2003

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/04/world/chinese-leader-cancels-communists-seaside-retreat.html

Briefings | | August 6, 2015 | Government/Politics

Chinese Communist Party Officials Required to Lecture University Students

According to the Ministry of Education, three central agencies, including the Central Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), are requiring that leading cadres – top provincial officials – offer ideological and political education for college and university students. Each official should give a lecture at least once every semester, so as to ensure that all the college students in every university and college across the nation will have at least one opportunity to listen to a lecture on government policies given by a leading official.

"Recently, the CCP’s Central Organization Department, the Central Propaganda Department, and the Ministry of Education jointly issued the Opinion on Leading Officials to Carry Out Ideological and Political Education." The "Opinion" requires that the main task include promotion of the in-depth studies on the series of important speeches that General Secretary Xi Jinping has given, on socialism with Chinese characteristics, and on the Chinese dream. The lecture should include giving answers on major theoretical and practical issues that concern university teachers and students and helping young students to make a conscious decision when drawing theoretical boundaries between right and wrong.

Source: China News Service, August 5, 2015

http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2015/08-05/7449845.shtml

Briefings | | August 5, 2015 | Government/Politics

China’s 2014 GDP Consumed a Quarter of World’s Energy

Well-known Chinese news site Netease recently reported that, according to Li Yizhong, the former Minister of Industry and Information Technology, in 2014, China consumed 25 percent of the world’s energy in order to produce 13 percent of the world’s GDP. According to Li, the Chinese economy relied heavily on resource consumption. This has caused the large scale of environmental pollution which is too severe to sustain. Statistically, China’s unit GDP energy cost was twice as much as the rest of the world. Li called for optimization of resource planning and utilization, not only to reduce manufacturing energy costs, but also to bring the green environment back to the nation. Li made the comments at a summer economists’ forum held recently in Beijing.

Source: Netease, July 25, 2015

http://money.163.com/15/0725/10/AVC4VKQ500252G50.html

Briefings | | August 4, 2015 | Economy/Resources

Global Times: Chinese Navy Held Military Exercise in the South China Sea

Global Times recently reported that the Chinese Navy conducted a large scale military exercise in the South China Sea region. It involved over one hundred military vessels, tens of airplanes, “some” information warfare power, and missile troops from the “Second Artillery,” which is the Chinese military branch that manages long-range missiles and nuclear weapons. The exercise was aimed at winning a regional naval war under information-age conditions. The key challenges included overall system architecture, information sharing, joint attacks, comprehensive defense, logistic assurance, command and control, as well as integrated monitoring and early-warning systems. According to officers from the Naval Exercise Department, this exercise was the Navy’s most advanced one of this type and covered the widest areas of sea, land, and air.

Source: Global Times, July 28, 2015

http://china.huanqiu.com/article/2015-07/7125620.html

Briefings | | August 4, 2015 | Defense/Military

Xinhua: Eight High Ranking Officials Arrested in the Past 37 Days

Xinhua recently reported that, over a period of a little more than a month, eight high ranking government officials were arrested as part of the anti-corruption movement. According to information that the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Discipline Inspection Commission (CCDI) released, these people include the former Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, the former Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection, the sitting Provincial Party Secretary (who is the highest ranking official in a province), the Vice President of the Supreme People’s Court, the Deputy Director of the State Sports General Administration, the Deputy Director of the Autonomous Region People’s Congress, the former Political Commissar of the Traffic Administration of the National Armed Police, and the former Vice Chairman of the Autonomous Region People’s Political Consultative Committee. After two years of the anti-corruption movement, China now has only four provinces left where no provincial officials have been arrested. However, the public is still wondering how to weed out the “root cause” of the widespread corruption.

Source: Xinhua, August 1, 2015

http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2015-08/01/c_128081609.htm

Briefings | | August 4, 2015 | Government/Politics

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.”