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China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

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Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

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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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The U.S. Again not Satisfied with China’s RMB Exchange Rate

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the United States government once again expressed to China that it was dissatisfied with the Chinese currency exchange rate, saying the RMB to U.S. Dollar exchange rate was lowered artificially. In a recent meeting in Beijing, the U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin asked the Chinese Finance Minister Lo Jiwei and the Chinese Central Bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan to have the market determine the RMB exchange rate. The Chinese government tightly controls the RMB exchange rate. Every morning the Chinese central bank sets the central parity of the RMB against the U.S. dollar. However some analysts suggested that China’s purpose in artificially pushing down the Chinese currency is to raise the bar for speculators, not to use it as a weapon in trade.
Source: Sina, October 22, 2014
http://finance.sina.cn/?sa=t74d13992368v39&pos=108&vt=4
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

BBC Chinese: UN Human Rights Committee Called for Universal Suffrage in HK

BBC Chinese recently reported that the United Nations Human Rights Committee officially called for the protection of universal suffrage in Hong Kong’s political system. The committee has a working group that includes 18 independent experts who monitor the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Hong Kong signed. All 18 members agreed to the Committee’s position. The UN Committee expressed the belief that it is crucial to protect universal suffrage, especially for the right to vote and the right to establish candidacy. Over the past month, tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents took to the streets to protest Beijing allowing only yes-men to become candidates for the head of the Hong Kong government. A member of the working group, French judge Christine Chanet, said that the Committee does not want to see a filtering mechanism for candidacy. China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1998 as well. 
Source: BBC Chinese, October 23, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/10/141023_un_human_rights_hk
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Venezuela Will Breach Its Agreement with China

Well-known Chinese news site Netease recently reported that Venezuela, a long-term Chinese friend, seems to be planning to breach its oil supply contracts with China. Venezuela has been breaching its supply contracts with many oil service providers. China has been providing loans to Venezuela for a long time. Since 2006, the total amount has reached US$50 billion, which is half of China’s loans to Latin America. Currently Venezuela is exporting 330,000 barrels to China every day. However national newspapers in Venezuela have reported that the country doesn’t need to continue those exports any more. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce later confirmed the claim and added that the decision was made based on a request from Venezuela. The loans were apparently extended, but there has been no clear indication of what the new arrangement is. Venezuela is currently going through a major challenge in the lack of foreign exchange reserves. The situation is causing difficulties even in toilet paper supplies. The money saved by not paying back loans will help ease the painful need for cash.
Source: Netease, October 24, 2014
http://money.163.com/api/14/1024/08/A9AD8R8000254TFQ.html?frp091
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Central Network Information Office to Implement Legal Measures on Internet Management

Xinhua reported that, in order to follow up on a proposal at the Party’s fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Party Congress to “advance the rule of law,” the Central Network Information Office held a meeting on October 26. The meeting participants studied the key messages from the fourth Plenary Session and discussed the opportunities to further implement legal measures on Internet management. According to the Central Network Information Office, the information offices at the local levels often face obstacles due to an absence of laws on Internet management.

Source: Xinhua, October 26, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-10/26/c_1112981005.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Wang Qishan Issued Warning to Party Officials on Self Discipline

Wang Qishan, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, spoke at the 4th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection which was held in Beijing on October 25. Wang pointed out that some party officials do not study and understand the law. Wang said, “They neglect the law and are shameless and fearless.” Wang stressed that, the higher the rank the party officials have, the more authoritative power they have. Therefore they should be more fearful and focus on self-discipline. On October 26, Xinhua published a commentary in which it further endorsed Wang’s talk. It then reiterated that “the way the Party is managed and developed matters not just to Party’s legality and survival, but to the fate of the country and its people as well.”

Source: People’s Daily, October 25, 2014
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/1025/c70731-25907325.html
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/1026/c1001-25908590.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Serious Air Pollution Affects 560,000 Square Kilometers in October

According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, from October 1 to 24, there were 94 days of severe pollution and 27 days of serious pollution reported in 74 cities. Among those, the largest pollution spanned over 560,000 square kilometers (216,217 square miles). Regions in Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong Province and the Northeastern region were the most heavily polluted areas. For the same period in 2013, severe pollution days were 96 and serious pollution days were 33. However, in Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong Province and the nearby region, even though the number of severe pollution days went down from 24 to 21 days, the serious pollution days went up from 49 days in 2013 to 70 days in 2014.

Source: Xinhua, October 26, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2014-10/26/c_127141232.htm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Why the Hong Kong Election Rules That China’s Legislature Established Are Fake Universal Suffrage

[Editor’s Note: On August 31, 2014, China’s legislature ruled out open nominations for the election for Hong Kong’s top leader. The standing committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) ruled in Beijing that all candidates for Chief Executive in Hong Kong must receive more than half of the votes from a special nominating committee. Beijing called this plan “universal suffrage” because everyone who does vote has the opportunity to choose the nominating committee’s candidates. However, the 1,200 members on the nominating committee are considered to have close ties with Beijing or were vetted by Beijing. Diane Liu, an independent Chinese writer, explained in an article why China’s election rule is really fake universal suffrage. The following is the translation.] [1]

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Reports | | |   Report

Xinhua: How Many More Dirty Tricks Does the U.S. Have to Manipulate International Public Opinion?

After the former editor of the German "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung," Ulf Cote, was interviewed on Russia Today, China’s state media Xinhua published a commentary to further “disclose” how the U.S. controls public opinion using “dirty tricks.” The article quoted Ulf Cote’s statement in the interview that, in the past, the CIA had actually published many articles under his name, although the CIA and other intelligence agencies in the U.S. had actually written them. Their purpose was to guide international public opinion to support the United States.” 

The article commented, “If Snowden had blown the whistle on the ‘prism gate’ scandal involving information gathering and monitoring of the United States, then Ulf Cote had disclosed the ‘black hand’ of the U.S. behind the manipulation of international public opinion.” 
The article further said, “The United States has powerful economic and technological strength, and has established a media ‘empire’ on the basis of such power, extending its reach to every corner of the world. With all this power, the U.S. government has built up strong discourse rights to control the international voice. What’s more, the United States has also developed a detailed strategy for external communication and a complex propaganda system. The government and NGOs work co-operatively, using both public and secret operations, for the purpose of shaping international public opinion in order to serve U.S. strategic interests.” 
 “From the various practices that the United States uses to ‘guide’ international public opinion, we can see that the United States would like to show the world that its foreign policies and actions are politically ‘correct,’ morally ‘noble,’ legally ‘defensible,’ and of the ‘mainstream’ in public opinion. To this end, the United States not only makes full use of various ‘open tricks,’ but also uses a variety of ‘dirty tricks.’ What Ulf Cote has disclosed about how the United States manipulates international opinion is probably only the ‘tip of the iceberg.’” 
Source: Xinhua, October 21, 2014 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2014-10/21/c_127122056.htm
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations