Skip to content

Chinese Scholars on the Sino-U.S. Relationship

Chinese Review News hosted a forum at its headquarters in Beijing on, "The Development and Deepening the Sino-U.S. Relationship." Below are some scholars’ comments.

Shi Yinhong of Renmin University of China: Since he took the top leadership position, Xi Jinping has changed the direction of China’s foreign policy. He has expanded military power and promoted China’s ocean sovereignty. This has gained him the people’s support and the consolidation of his power within China. However, it came at quite some cost [with the U.S.].

Lv Dehong of the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies: The U.S.’s biggest problem in its Sino-U.S. policy is that it does not see its own problem. It has long insisted on its own viewpoint, its own logic, and its own policy. It pursues its own interests. It has done many things that hurt others, because its policy does not recognize the interests of other countries.

Yuan Zheng of the China Academy of Social Science: [I would like to make] a few points on the direction of China’s foreign diplomacy. First, China’s nationalism will continue to rise and its foreign policy will take a more hardline approach. Second, as China’s power continues to rise, China will have a greater influence in international affairs. Third, the U.S. thinks that, though China is more active in diplomatic activities, China’s current and future focus is still China. Fourth, the U.S. is worried about China’s recent actions.

Liu Feitao of the China Institute of International Studies: The public in the U.S. is more concerned than the government about the military side of the Sino-U.S. relationship. No matter which party in the U.S. wins the next election, it will take a harderline approach towards China. The U.S. has more strategic worries about China than China has about the U.S.

Source: China Review News, May 21, 2015
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1037/6/1/0/103761001.html?coluid=1&kindid=0&docid=103761001&mdate=0521001004

People’s Daily: The U.S. Military Hurried to Replace IBM Servers

People’s Daily recently reported that the United States Military is actively planning to replace all IBM blade server computers, which are used in the U.S. Navy’s Aegis destroyers. This happened after last October when the Chinese IT vendor Lenovo had just completed the acquisition of IBM’s low-end x86 server division. Lenovo is now the third largest sever computer manufacturer in the world. The U.S. Navy is very worried about the potential information leakage to Chinese hackers via this Chinese equipment; it assumes that, sooner or later, they will need maintenance. This is part of the typical U.S. national security measures and may trigger concerns about the impact on Lenovo server sales in the U.S. market. However, now the question becomes: when the Chinese government inspects U.S. made equipment for national security reasons, why does the United States whine about unfair treatment?
Source: People’s Daily, May 23, 2015
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2015/0523/c157278-27044603.html

Britain Seized Fake Cosmetic Products Made in China

Guizhou Information Network, a large online news network in Guizhou Province, recently reported that the British police rooted out a large underground network that consisted of Chinese and some Eastern European factories that were producing poisonous cosmetic products. These products could already have been distributed all across Britain. The criminals produced these fake brand-name goods and sold them via large online shopping sites such as eBay and Amazon. Over the past 18 months, more than 5,500 websites carrying these products have been closed down. Impacted brands include Christian Dior, Estee Lauder, Dove, MAC, Benefit, and Urban Decay. The products all contained excessive quantities of heavy metals and were sold at a fraction of the prices of the authentic original brand-name products. They were manufactured in China and Eastern Europe and then were all packaged in Northeast China before shipping. 
Source: Guizhou Information Network, May 18, 2015
http://www.qiansen.org/shrd/2015-05-18/201.html

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Urged the U.S. Not to Complicate the Situation

Yahoo Hong Kong recently reported that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the United States not to further complicate the situation in the South China Sea. On May 20, the United States sent a reconnaissance aircraft, the US P-8A Poseidon to monitor the Chinese land reclamation activities around three islands. The Chinese military warned the U.S. airplane eight times to leave immediately to avoid a conflict. The U.S. military responded that the aircraft was flying in international territory. The spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs asserted that China has inarguable sovereignty over the land and sea in that area. He urged the United States not to worsen the situation, which could lead to unexpected conflicts. The CNN reporter who flew with the U.S. aircraft taped the trip and released the video to the general public. The video showed that an air traffic control tower, an early warning radar system, and military camps had been constructed. 
Source: Yahoo Hong Kong, May 21, 2015
http://tinyurl.com/m55g28k

Xinhua: What Is Japan Trying to Do in Asia by Plunging into a US$100 Billion Investment?

Xinhua published a group of articles on its International Channel under the title, “What Is Japan Trying to Do in Asia by Plunging into a US$100 Billion Investment?” In the editorial summary, it said, “Japan plans to invest about US$100 billion over the next five years to support infrastructure development in the Asian region. The amount of the investment is comparable to the amount that China proposed to establish the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Analysts have said that Japan’s move was intended to improve its image for its continued existence. However, [if Japan is] trying to use the 100 billion dollars to ‘rival’ the AIIB, it will do no good for itself while it will be hurting others. The AIIB has 57 founding members and can drive trillions of dollars of investment. If Japan is maliciously bidding, it will only keep exhausting its resources and its mental health. China will not respond or launch a bidding war with Japan. Therefore, if Japan wants to ‘to suppress China’s influence’ with the US$100 billion investment, it will be nearly impossible for it to succeed even if it tries so hard that it will be vomiting blood.” 

Source: Xinhua (International Channel), Vol 537, May 21, 2015 
http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/jrch/537.htm

Xi Jinping: Build a Pro-Socialist Contingent Outside of China

Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a three-day meeting in Beijing of the united front work, which closed on May 21, 2015. At the meeting, Xi called for authorities to befriend and recruit more overseas Chinese to build a pro-China and pro-socialist contingent outside of China. 

Three groups of overseas Chinese are priorities. The first group, Chinese students studying overseas, are “a new focal point of the united front work.” Second, authorities must strengthen and improve the work on well-known “representative figures of the new media,” establish regular communications, “let them demonstrate positive energy in cleaning up the Internet, and in promoting the [Party’s] main theme.” Authorities must guide the third group, business owners and their younger generations on being patriotic to China. 
“It is our Party’s consistent policy to train and use non-Party individuals. [We] must deepen our work to train, select and use non-Party individuals, and strive to cultivate a contingent that proactively accepts the leadership of the Communist Party of China, unswervingly takes the socialist road with Chinese characteristics, and has strong representation and the ability to participate in politics.” 
Source: People’s Daily, May 21, 2015 
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2015/0521/c1024-27032155.html

PLA Daily: Chinese Navy Commanders Should Not Act Rashly

On May 19, 2015, right after U.S. Secretary of State Kerry’s visit to China, the People’s Liberation Army Daily issued a commentary stating that Navy commanders should not cause trouble, show signs of weakness, or act rashly. 

"Right now and for a long time, actions to maintain sovereignty and maritime rights and interests are highly political and strategic. So are the actions to protect the safety of strategic maritime passage and the safety of overseas Chinese and their interests. How to act in line with the overall situation of national political diplomacy has become a high political and strategic requirement for Navy commanders at all levels. … At all times and under any circumstances, the front-line commander must especially bear in mind and carry out firmly and actively that he must maintain orderly movement including advance and retreat, and must not speak and act carelessly or act rashly, in order to ensure that China’s national strategic intent is reached and achieved.” 

Source: People’s Liberation Army Daily reprinted by military.china.com, May 19, 2015 http://military.china.com/important/11132797/20150519/19708389_3.html 

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Co-locates with Key Departments

Guangming Daily recently reported on the progress that the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) team leaders made after they had been sent, in late March, to co-locate with seven key central Party and government departments. The seven central departments are the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Central United Front Work Department, the National People’s Congress organs, the General Office of the State Council, and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. 


The relationship between the CCDI team and the department with which it co-located is one between the supervisor and supervisee. The CCDI team engages in no business other than fulfilling its oversight responsibilities. These teams are to be fully staffed by end of June. The focus of the CCDI work is department leaders, middle level cadres, and division chiefs. Activities so far have included distributing copies of the Party’s Charter, establishing the Party’s local CCDI branch, and requesting that grievance complaints involving officials be sent to the CCDI team within three days of receipt. A CCDI team will be held accountable if there are new violations involving division chiefs or above and if the CCDI team failed to discover the violation or to investigate. 

Source: Guangming Daily, May 18, 2015 
http://politics.gmw.cn/2015-05/18/content_15694509.htm