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Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

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Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

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Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

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

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Editor Suspended Due to Personal Remarks on the Internet

On May 28, 2015, Lanzhou Daily, a Communist Party media in the capital of Gansu Province, announced its decision to suspend Editor Zhao Wen and to initiate an investigation against him due to his “inappropriate remarks” made on his own weibo (miniblog). Earlier, Zhao had made remarks in his blog criticizing the police.

“According to reports, members of the public filed complaints with the authorities saying that, on May 27, Editor Zhao Wen from the editorial department of Lanzhou Daily published inappropriate remarks on his personal Weibo and his Tencent Weibo. The remarks hurt the feelings of policemen and their families, had an adverse impact on society, and also tarnished the image of journalists in the Lanzhou area. Given the serious consequences that resulted from Zhao’s personal remarks, on May 28, the Party committee decided to suspend Zhao immediately, that he would be subject to a newspaper investigation, and that he would be subject to further disciplinary action.” 
Source: China Gansu, May 28, 2015 
http://gansu.gscn.com.cn/system/2015/05/28/011025341.shtml
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Chinese Review News: Are Sino-U.S. Relations In Winter?

China Review News published a commentary that stated, "Recently, conflicts have continually emerged between China and the U.S."

"First, the U.S. and the Philippines held a joint naval exercise near the islands over which both China and the Philippines claim sovereignty. Second, the U.S. has pressured China to stop its island-building in the South China Sea and sent planes and ships to go inside the 12 nautical miles of those islands (which is considered China’s water and air-space). Secretary of State Kerry’s visit to China did not cool things down. He didn’t reach an agreement with China on the island-building issue. His statement on deploying the THAAD missile defense system, when visiting South Korea after his China trip, further hurt China’s nerves."

The U.S. media have also stirred things up. They exaggerated the military threat from China and have re-cooked the Chinese spy cases. They called Li Keqiang’s visit to Latin America confronting the U.S. in its own backyard and said that Xi Jinping’s attending Russia’s Victory Day Parade was China and Russia joining forces to counter the U.S.

"Though China and the U.S. have already established a coordination mechanism at multiple levels, that didn’t help stop the disputes from escalating. The U.S.’ pressing attitude and its dogmatic rhetoric made it lose sincerity when communicating with China. Its media further stirred up issues and added more barriers to resolution, leaving both sides unwilling to take the first step to ease the tension." "This could be a lose-lose battle for both sides."

Source: China Review News, May 24, 2015
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1037/6/4/0/103764032.html?coluid=136&kindid=4710&docid=103764032&mdate=0524000307

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Obamas’ Exclusive Win Mentality Will Lead the United States to Lose the World

China’s state media Xinhua published a series of articles responding to Obama’s speech at the Nike factory in Oregon. The editor added the following comments: 

“Recently, at the Nike factory in Oregon, Obama boasted, ‘We must let [make sure] the United States writes the global economic rules. … If we don’t, [–guess what–] China will. They’ll write those rules in a way that gives Chinese workers and Chinese businesses the upper hand.’ It is just a few words, but it is the most blatant propaganda that Obama has issued for the TPP’s public relations. It revealed the United States’ narrow ‘win-lose’ [I win exclusively; you lose] mentality and his imperial-style elite thinking. How clear, how wrong, and how dangerous this is! 
“In fact, the American arrogance and the tyranny of a ‘single superpower’ has been a frequent topic among the U.S. elites. With the waning of its strength advantage, it will be difficult to allow the United States’ ambitions to ‘lead’ the world for another century. The U.S.’s greatest pain today is that it cannot accept a multipolar world. Over the years, the U.S. has pursued unilateralism in diplomatic and military affairs; it is engaged with an economic coterie of elite alliances to the exclusion of developing countries; it has imposed its political ideology on other countries. Many experts have pointed out that this "win-lose" elite-style of thinking of the United States will further contribute to the U.S. decline. Even more countries will want de-Americanization. Eventually the U.S. will lose the world.” 

Source: Xinhua, May 28, 2015 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-05/28/c_127847951.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

CCP Issues Its First Regulations on United Front Work

On May 25, Xinhua announced that the Chinese Communist Party issued the “United Front Work Regulations of the Chinese Communist Party (trial version).” The regulations became effective on May 18, 2015. They are the first ever regulations on managing relations with people who are not members of the Communist Party. The regulations cover relations with individuals and organizations who have social, commercial, or academic influence, both inside and outside China, with the goal of ensuring that these groups are supportive of and useful to the Communist Party rule’s (which is called united front work). 

The regulations state that united front work is the political advantage and strategy of the Chinese Communist Party to solidify its ruling status. As the first codified regulations, they provide guidance and principles. In addition they institutionalize and standardize all phases of united front work.  Therefore, the issuance of the regulations is viewed as a major milestone in the Party’s history. 
The non-Communist Party people who are targeted are “new social class members.” They include managers at privately-owned or foreign owned enterprises, free-lancers, and new media professionals. 
For the first time, the regulations set forth comprehensive guidance on the Party organizations’ responsibilities. Key leaders of the Party organizations will be designated as the No. One responsible person in charge of the united front work. All leaders of the Party organizations must take the lead in spreading the Party’s theories, policies, and rules; in participating in important events of united front work; and in becoming friends with non-Communist Party people. 
Source: Xinhua, May 25, 2015 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-05/25/c_1115401235.htm
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Chinese Hackers Broke into the Communist Youth League’s Database and Exposed Fifty Cent Party Info

According to Voice of American, Chinese hackers recently claimed that they had hacked into the databases of the Shanghai and Chongqing Communist Youth League (CYL) organizations on May 25, 2015. They exposed that the Chinese CYL Central Committee requires colleges and universities in different locations to organize Internet propaganda teams. The hackers released statistical information on different activities, the personal information of the Internet propagandists, instructions from their superiors, audio files of meetings, and other documents. A “Report on Public Opinion on the Internet” from Donghua University on April 4th of this year contained instructions on what to post on the Internet on an extensive number of subjects, including military, political, and commercial topics. Shanghai University requires that Internet propagandists (who are also called the “Fifty Cent Party” because they are paid 50 cents per post and receive 600 yuan per month as a base stipend) monitor and follow students’ thought processes and group activities during the period of the anniversary of the June 4th Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Reports indicate that Mainland China has nearly 650 million Internet users. According to Ming Pao on April 6, 2015, the CYL Central Committee has decided to recruit 10.5 million Internet youth propagandists, mainly from colleges and universities. The allocated quota is 100 Internet propagandists from the Shenzhen Campus of Hong Kong University and as high as 9,000 propagandists from Zhongshan University in Guangzhou.

Source: Voice of America, May 25, 2015
http://www.voachinese.com/content/china-internal-documents-hacker-exposure-fifty-cent-instructions/2789365.html
http://www.voachinese.com/content/article-20110808-world-press-coverage-on-china-127268478/785852.html (Introduction on Fifty Cent Party)

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Huanqiu Withdrew Its Editorial Ridiculing Chinese Students’ Open Letter on the June 4th Massacre

On Tuesday, May 26, 2015, China’s official media Huanqiu (the Chinese Edition of Global Times) published an editorial in which it ridiculed a group of overseas Chinese students born in the 1980s and 1990s who jointly signed an open letter in the United States. The letter told students in China the truth about the “Tiananmen Massacre” that happened 26 years ago on June 4, 1989. Although the open letter did not get much attention in the first place, it aroused widespread interest after Huanqiu openly scorned it. Those who signed the open letter stressed that they do not expect the CCP to redress the democratic movement on Tiananmen Square in 1989, since the executioner is not qualified to rehabilitate the victims. However, "the butcher must stand trial. Until justice is done and as the persecution continues, forgetting represents an infidelity to history; forgiveness represents injustice for the dead.”

It is noteworthy that, on the same day, Huanqiu deleted the editorial from its website. The title was, “Foreign Forces Attempt to Incite Those Born in the 1980s and 1990s.” 

Source: Voice of America, May 26, 2015
http://www.voachinese.com/content/group-students-20150526/2790651.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

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

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

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

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology