Chinascope – Page 722

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

BBC Chinese: The Control of Access at the World Internet Conference Got Attention

BBC Chinese recently reported on the First World Internet Conference, held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province. The conference covered global Internet governance, online business, network security, Internet anti-terrorism, and new media. China is currently the largest internet market; it has 630 million online users, who represent one-fifth of the entire Internet population. However, China is also considered one of the nations having the tightest governmental control of the Internet. Regular Chinese Internet users have no access to well-known sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Ironically, one of the primary sponsors of this conference is the State Council Informatization Office, which is in charge of China’s Internet censorship. At the conference, the Chinese authorities also announced the expansion of censorship to smartphone apps. For three days, the conference area was the only public place in Mainland China where people had full access to the Internet. At the same time, the government denied the applications of many international media reporters who applied to report on the conference.

Source: BBC Chinese, November 19, 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/11/141118_internetconference

Briefings | | November 25, 2014 | Information/Technology

Xinhua: Party Members Must Maintain the Sense of Crisis

Xinhua published an article listing the reasons that Party members must constantly maintain a sense of crisis. According to the article, the Party has always been dealing with complicated and arduous situations both domestically and internationally. It said that after the Party took power from the Nationalist Party, it had to solve such domestic problems as feeding the people while constantly dealing with threats and embargos that the U.S. directed from the West. Now, even though China has achieved advanced economic improvement, the Party should remain humble because it still faces different types of issues that have arisen due to economic reform. The article also said that the Party has suffered losses due to complacency but has also had success stories from overcoming complacency. It must continue its tradition of guarding against conceit and complacency in this new historical era. The article also quoted a speech that Xi Jinping gave during the "mass line" campaign at the grassroots level, saying that, if the Party can’t succeed, it will face the danger of elimination.

Source: Xinhua, November 23, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-11/23/c_1113365498.htm

Briefings | | November 24, 2014 | Government/Politics

Omissions Result in 2.4 Million Yuan in Bank Fines in Shanghai

Xinhua published an article on the Shanghai Banking Regulatory Commission’s fines issued to seven banks in Shanghai. The article said that the fines indicate that there are omissions in the bank’s credit card approval process. The seven banks in Shanghai included six Chinese banks and one foreign bank, the Citi Bank in China. The total amount of fines was 2.4 million yuan (US$391,849). The article listed the three types of omissions that had the highest rate of occurrence in the banking industry. These were a lack of control in approving credit card applications, a generous credit line, and a lack of strict control in dealing with abnormal transactions.

Source: Xinhua, November 23, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2014-11/23/c_1113362910.htm

Briefings | | November 24, 2014 | Economy/Resources

China’s Forestry Industry Suffers Major Losses Due to Alien Insects

Xinhua reported on the recent forest pest control conference held in Changshai City of Hunan Province. A major issue discussed at the conference was that the infected forestry in China has grown from 120 million mu (19.7 million acres) in 2000 to 180 million mu (29.6 million acres) in 2013. The direct economic loss has grown from 80 trillion yuan (US$13 trillion) to 110 trillion yuan (US$18 trillion). The article said that, currently, there are over 8,000 types of alien insects in China and over 40 million trees die from as of result of insect infestation with two-thirds of the loss due to alien insects. According to the article, in the year 2000 foreign insects were intercepted at the border 500 times. By 2013 the number had grown to 610,000. At that time, 25 types of pests had invaded China; by 2013, the number grew to 38 different types.

Source: Xinhua, November 22, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2014-11/22/c_1113359472.htm

Briefings | | November 24, 2014 | Economy/Resources

National Defense Reference: The True Intention of the U.S. in Handling the Islamic State”

National Defense Reference, a magazine under the PLA Daily, published a commentary talking about the U.S.’s intention in handling the "Islamic State." Below is an excerpt from the article:

“More and more facts prove that, for the ‘Islamic State’s organization to be able to develop to where it is today is inseparable from the United States’ indirect support.”

“Why has ‘Islamic State,’ an extremist organization, been able to grow so rapidly in recent years? In fact, the rise of the "Islamic State" is mainly due to the following four factors. First, the years of war and unrest in Syria and Iraq, that the United States supported and plotted provided the soil for its religious extremist ideology. Second, the ‘Islamic State’s new generation of leaders in the ‘base’ organization have a higher IQ. Most of them received their education in the United States and Europe. The U.S. and its allies trained the key members. Third, the U.S. and its allies have been supporting Syrian opposition groups all along. Many of the personnel and weapons have flown into the ‘Islamic State’ organization. Fourth, many members from foreign countries joined the organization, including European and U.S. citizens.”

“In fact, as early as 2003, when the U.S. launched the Iraq war, it already anticipated the rise of terrorist forces more dangerous than the ‘base’ organization in the region. Because the U.S. was too eager to overthrow Saddam, it did not develop effective countermeasures to prevent and suppress the terrorist forces, which allowed the ‘Islamic State’ organization to flourish and grow.”

“In the current situation, despite the fact that the ‘Islamic State’ poses a huge threat to the United States and other Western countries, the United States will not use all of its forces to deal with the ‘Islamic State’ and slow down its ‘Eastward Strategy.’ Its eyes are still on the Eastern part of the world. There is reason to believe that, regardless of the past, present, or future, the United States will not really want to completely eliminate the ‘Islamic State.’ Its real purpose is to break up the extremist groups through air strikes and let the members of the extremist organizations further flock to Syria and Turkey and to return to Europe, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, which serves its "strategic Eastward" and ‘Asia-Pacific rebalancing.’”

Source: National Defense Reference, November 15, 2011

http://reader.chinamil.com.cn/gfck/2014-11/15/content_6224730.htm

Briefings | | November 21, 2014 | US-China Relations

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.