Chinascope – Page 722

State Councilor: China May Fall into a Severe Depression

Xia Bin, a State Councilor with China’s State Council, recently made a speech in Shanghai in which he predicted that China’s growth will slow down over the next three years and China’s economy will fall into a severe depression.

Xia indicated that the authorities will try to ensure a 7.5 percent rate of growth in China’s GDP this year, but, based on statistical analysis, the growth will slow down this year, next year, and the year after that. The financial reform has not been put in place. However a large amount of funds for infrastructure has been raised, resulting in local government debts that have become a very serious social issue. Creditors hold sit-ins in front of local governments demanding payment.

Xia said he believes that the real estate boom has ended and that falling house prices have become an inevitable consequence. He predicted that, in the next two years, the growth rate may slide below 6 percent and China will be in a severe depression.

Xia said that companies and local governments have engaged in Ponzi schemes. They borrow money only to service bank interest rather than to make new investments. The high financing cost of money is not just the problem of banks; it is a problem for the entire system.

Source: East Money, November 26, 2014
http://finance.eastmoney.com/news/1371,20141126450232052_0.html

Briefings | | November 28, 2014 | Economy/Resources

Russian Media: China is Taking Advantage of Russia’s Reliance on China

Huanqiu reported that, according to a Russian media (New World website), Russia is enabling China to arm to the teeth. During the recent Russian defense minister’s visit to China several arms sales transactions took place. The visit completed the process of making China a Russian strategic military partner and provided China access to Russian level one important military technology. China now has received small quantities of advanced Russian military products for further research and development. These products are subject to export control in Russia. Many of the advanced munitions that China is interested in purchasing have been developed in recent years and can fundamentally change the balance of power around China, including in part of Russia. Even during the Sino-Russia honeymoon time under Stalin, the trust between the two countries was not as close as the level today.

Huanqiu further reported that according to the Russian media, Russia felt obliged to offer the technology because it has become trapped due to its long-term reliance on China. “In fact, the Eastern friend of Russia is taking advantage of a geopolitical pattern that is unfavorable to Russia and has been engaged in soft diplomatic blackmail.”

Source: Huanqiu, November 25, 2014

http://mil.huanqiu.com/observation/2014-11/5213970.html

Briefings | | November 28, 2014 | Defense/Military

China-U.S. Starting the Third World War May No Longer Be Just an Illusion

[Editor’s Note: Huanqiu (Global Times) published a commentary about a survey it had conducted in 2013 asking people in seven Chinese cities how they viewed the relationship between China and the U.S. More than half responded that the relationship was one of allies or friends. The commentary went on to explain that, to the contrary, the relationship was one of fake friendship because countless facts show that China and the U.S. are actually competitors and that, if effective measures are not taken, the relationship will worsen. It will become so adversarial that China must, therefore, prepare to fight a bitter and hard war. In fact, this adversarial relationship may mean that World War III is no longer an illusion.] [1]

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Reports | | November 26, 2014 | Report

Liu Yunshan on Internet Security

China plans to hold a “National Network Security Promotion Week” during the last week of November each year. Xinhua recently reported on the first one, which started on November 24 this year.

Liu Yunshan, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, head of the Communist Party propaganda work, and deputy head of the Central Internet Security and Informatization Leading Group, made a statement at the opening ceremony. According to Xinhua, Liu said, “While enjoying the convenience of the Internet, [we] should be vigilant about network attacks, network scams, and network rights violations. Internet pornography, gambling, drugs, violence, and terror, as well as rumors on the Internet, have kept coming back despite our ban. It has severely threatened [our] national security and people’s interests.”

Liu pointed out, “[We] should let people know the policy and rules of [our] Internet management, let people know the code and conduct for Internet usage, and improve people’s legal awareness so that they follow the laws to set up Internet service and follow the laws when they use it. … [We should] improve people’s ability to resist harmful information on the Internet. [We] should promote a healthy Internet culture, promote socialist core values, and improve netizen’s moral self-discipline. This will let the Internet spread a good voice and positive energy and will make the Internet space clean.”

Source: Xinhua, November 24, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-11/24/c_1113383468.htm

Briefings | | November 26, 2014 | Information/Technology

Reuters: Several Student Leaders Arrested As Police Clear Occupy Central Site in Hong Kong

On November 26, 2014 when the Hong Kong Occupy Central Campaign entered its 60th day, riot police clashed with protesters as policemen were clearing the protest site. Several student leaders were arrested, including Joshua Wong Chi-fung, the founder of the Hong Kong student activist group called Scholarism and Lester Shum, the deputy secretary-general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students. From Tuesday November 25 to Wednesday November 26, during the clean-up operation, police arrested 116 protesters.

Source: Reuters, November 26, 2016
http://cn.reuters.com/article/cnBizNews/idCNL3S0TG1P820141126

Briefings | | November 26, 2014 | Government/Politics

Huanqiu: British All-Party Parliamentary China Group Cancelled Visit to China after a Visa Ban

According to Huanqiu, at the last minute, the British All-Party Parliamentary China Group cancelled a visit to China originally scheduled for November 25 because the Chinese Embassy in the UK refused to grant a visa to one of the MPs who was scheduled to go. Richard Graham, head of the All-Party Parliamentary China Group and a former diplomat in Beijing and Macau in the 1980s had defended Hong Kong’s autonomy. After the Chinese Embassy requested that Graham make a statement clarifying his thinking on Hong Kong’s Occupy Central, Graham did not do so and was therefore denied a visa.

Zhou Hong, Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said to a reporter from Huanqiu, “The fact that a British MP delivered a speech to support (Hong Kong’s) “Occupy Central” campaign has violated China’s core interests. The Chinese government does not allow any actions to split China. It is beyond doubt that we have refused to issue a visa to him.”

[Editor’s note: In a parliamentary debate, Graham is reported to have said that Britain has a duty to uphold the principles of the 1984 joint declaration by Britain and China, which paved the way for the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997. He also spoke of the freedom enshrined in that declaration.]

Source: Huanqiu, November 26, 2014
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2014-11/5215627.html

Briefings | | November 26, 2014 | Government/Politics

People’s Daily: China Revealed Details of Its Strategic Oil Reserve Capability

People’s Daily recently reported that, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, Phase One of the National Strategic Oil Reserve project has been completed. There are 12.43 million tons of crude oil stored in four National Reserve Bases. That’s the equivalent of around 91 million barrels. This is the first time the Chinese authorities have revealed detailed numbers on their National Strategic Oil Reserves. These numbers are lower than the estimates that Western analysts have provided. The Bureau has furnished no information on Phase Two and Three of the Reserve construction plan. The Phase One reserve volume is only enough to supply nine days’ worth of consumption, which is far below the 90-day Import Volume standard that the International Energy Agency recommended. The current low global oil price offers China a very good opportunity to stock up on its Reserves.

Source: People’s Daily, November 22, 2014

http://energy.people.com.cn/n/2014/1122/c71661-26073735.html

Briefings | | November 25, 2014 | Economy/Resources

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.