Chinascope – Page 684

Xinhua: People Should Get Used to Seeing China’s Warships in The Sea

Xinhua reported that China and Russia held joint naval exercises, the "Joint Sea 2015" in the Mediterranean Sea. China sent its primary battle ships, two Type 054A Frigates (NATO code: Jiangkai II Class Frigates), and a supply ship to the exercises. The joint exercises will run from May 11 to May 21.

"This is the first time that [China] has conducted naval exercises in the Mediterranean Sea. It is a new challenge for the Chinese Navy. It also showed that [China] is expanding its national interests and security interests to waters further away from China. People should get used to seeing China’s warships out in the sea."

Source: Xinhua, May 12, 2015
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-05/12/c_127791919.htm

Briefings | | May 13, 2015 | Geo-Strategic Trend

People’s Daily: The Intentions of Philippine Military Officials’ Illegal Tour of the Spratly Islands

Wang Xiaopeng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), wrote an article, which People’s Daily recently published, commenting on the Philippine’s armed forces chief of staff Kata Pang’s tour of the Spratly islands. Below is an excerpt from the article:

“On May 11, the Philippine’s armed forces chief of staff, Kata Pang, entered the Philippines’ illegally occupied Thitu Island of China’s Spratly islands in the maritime area of China, along with many foreign media reporters who were stationed in the Philippines. During their island activities, Kata Pang also discussed the development of tourism and a marine resources program with the so-called ‘Kalayaan town mayor.’ [Kalayaan town is a municipality in the Philippine’ province of Palawan in the Spratly islands]. Staging a landing force at this point shows that the Philippine military official harbors three ulterior motives.”

“The first is to solidify the illegal presence of the Philippines in the Spratly Islands by means of internationalization. This will achieve the Philippine military strategy of transformation of a counterinsurgency in the south to control the sea in the west.”

“The second is, with the backing of the United States, to play a self-fulfilling game by having more follow-up actions after the end of the U.S.-Philippine military exercises. To further achieve military allocation of its ‘Asia-Pacific rebalancing’ strategy, the United States actually is building an ‘East – South China Sea dispute chain.’ The Philippines is an important chess piece in the chain. On the premise of ‘fighting without breaking,’ the United States needs the Philippines to use as a continual provocation in the South China Sea dispute. That way, the South China Sea remains in a ‘controversial state,’ in order to distract China’s strategic attention at all times.”

“The third is to cheer Japan, encouraging Japan to move from its current, tentative involvement [in the dispute] into a more permanent intervention.”

Source: People’s Daily, May 12, 2015

http://world.people.com.cn/n/2015/0512/c1002-26988535.html

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

BBC Chinese: China Unhappy about Abe’s Address to the U.S. Congress

BBC Chinese recently reported that Yu Zhengsheng, Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, expressed his unhappiness about Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s address to the U.S. Congress in April. Yu delivered the message when he met Japanese Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Fukushiro Nukaga in Beijing. Yu commented that China could not accept any speech that had no mention of “apology” and “invasion.” This was the first time a high ranking Chinese leader expressed unhappiness about Abe’s speech. However Fukushiro Nukaga pointed out that Abe’s speech received high praise from countries in Asia and around the globe.

Source: BBC Chinese, May 9, 2015

http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2015/05/150509_yu_zhengsheng_china_japan

Briefings | | May 12, 2015 | Geo-Strategic Trend

People’s Daily: China Responded to Pentagon’s Annual Report on China’s Military

On May 9, People’s Daily reported that the Chinese Ministry of Defense responded to the newly released Secretary of Defense report to the U.S. Congress on "Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2015." Geng Yansheng, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, told the media that the 2015 U.S. report completely ignored the facts and simply repeated the long outdated theory of the “Chinese military threat.” The United States made “groundless accusations” against the Chinese military’s strategic planning, the development of its military branches, space development, Internet warfare, military transparency, and the Taiwan issue. The United States Report especially ignored the positive contributions China has made to maintain regional stability and to improve the relationship between the U.S. military and the Chinese military. China is firmly against this report. Geng also suggested that the United States has been publishing the Report for several years, which has significantly damaged the mutual trust. He asked the U.S. Department of Defense to take immediate steps to stop its negative activities. He also said that China reserves the right to have further reactions.

Source: People’s Daily, May 10, 2015

http://military.people.com.cn/n/2015/0510/c1011-26975141.html

Briefings | | May 12, 2015 | US-China Relations

The 117th Canton Fair Saw a Decline in the Volume of Exports

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported on the 117th China Import and Export Fair (also known as the Canton Fair) which concluded on May 5. As China’s largest import/export fair, the Canton Fair is considered “symbolic.” It is China’s foreign trade barometer and wind vane. According to the official statistics of the Fair, the total contract value this year was US$28.1 billion, which represents a year-over-year decline of 9.64 percent. The number of business visitors also declined. This level of decline matches the actual first quarter import/export data that the General Administration of Customs (GAC) recently reported. It seems that meeting the goal of a six percent annual increase in trade that the central government set earlier, will be a difficult task. At this year’s Fair, the export of electromechanical products saw an overall increase, but exports to Japan, Russia, and the United States declined by 31.4 percent, 30 percent and 25.9 percent, respectively. Home appliances and consumer electronics products, which hold 47.5 percent of the total trade volume, suffered a significant decline. For example, the consumer electronics category saw a decline of 34.1 percent, year-over-year.

Source: Sina, May 6, 2015

http://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/20150506/065222114888.shtml

Briefings | | May 12, 2015 | Economy/Resources

Xinhua: 2014 Shanghai Financial Supervisory White Book Published

Xinhua reported on the 2014 Shanghai Financial Supervisory White Book which was recently published. According to the report, in 2014, 2,063 financial crime cases went through legal proceedings; a total of 2,378 people were involved. These numbers were up 46.2 percent and 47.8 percent respectively compared to 2013. Credit card fraud still ranked number one. The rest of the crimes included taking illegal public deposits, illegal financing and loans, insurance fraud, and insider trading. Reports indicated that another trend highlighted in the White Book was that the number of crimes that financial professionals committed reached a record high in 2014.

Source: Xinhua, May 10, 2015
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2015-05/10/c_127783921.htm

Briefings | | May 11, 2015 | Economy/Resources

Huanqiu: China’s Special Treatment in Moscow’s Red Square Military Parade Shows Close Relationship

Huanqiu carried an article about China’s participation in the Red Square military parade in Moscow on May 9. The article commented that lack of attention from the Western world did not undermine the grand scale of the Red Square military parade. The Russians viewed Xi Jinping’s appearance in the parade as “spiritual support” to the Russians in the midst of the boycott from the West. According to the article, Xi not only received unprecedented treatment at the welcoming ceremony; China’s guard of honor placement at the end of the international section and right before the Russians was also an indication of the close relationship between Russia and China.

Source: Huanqiu, May 10, 2015
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2015-05/6396641.html

Briefings | | May 11, 2015 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Guangming Daily: China be on Guard against Japanese Politicians Making Inciting Statements

Guangming Daily carried a commentary on the relationship between China and Japan. The article stated that 2.41 million Chinese tourists visited Japan in 2014, which was up 84 percent from 2013. However, in 2014, China Daily and the Japanese non-profit think tank Genron NPO, conducted a survey about China and Japan’s relationship. The survey indicated that 93 percent of the Japanese people do not like Chinese people and most of them will refuse to visit China in the next two years. The commentary claimed that the imbalance was due to two factors. First, certain Chinese “Tuhao” or nouveau riche tend to show off their wealth in Japan and, second, Japanese Prime Minister Abe has anti-Chinese sentiment. The commentary concluded that anti-China propaganda influences the Japanese public. Therefore China should be on guard against the inciting statements that Japanese politicians make.

Source: Guangming Daily, May 11, 2015
http://world.gmw.cn/2015-05/11/content_15623091.htm

Briefings | | May 11, 2015 | Geo-Strategic Trend

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.