Chinascope – Page 735

Phoenix New Media: The U.S. Supports Hong Kong ‘Occupy Central’ with Funds and Efforts

Phoenix New Media, a Hong Kong based media group directly controlled by Beijing, published an article accusing the U.S. of supporting Hong Kong’s “Occupy Central” (the umbrella movement) with funds and efforts.

“‘Occupy Central’ seems to be a democratic action striving for ‘universal suffrage,’ but it has secretly received financial, political, and media help and other assistance from the U.S. State Department, the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), and other institutes in Western countries. The U.S. government’s purpose is to turn Hong Kong into a cradle land outside China for organizing groups that can directly influence China. … Since Western forces reluctantly returned sovereignty over Hong Kong (to China), they have actively worked on how to separate the Hong Kong SAR from mainland China. They have even planned to turn Hong Kong into their pawn to undermine China’s stability.”

Source: Phoenix New Media, October 3, 2014
http://news.ifeng.com/a/20141003/42136316_0.shtml

Briefings | | October 8, 2014 | US-China Relations

Global Times: Germany Has Become the Largest Trade Surplus Country

Global Times recently reported, based on newly released IMF numbers, that Germany replaced China to become the country with the largest trade surplus. This shows that Germany has built its success on an extremely high export level rather than on imports. It seems that Germany has not encouraged its domestic consumer spending, which could otherwise help the EU’s weak growth. Instead, Germany is becoming a drag on the EU’s overall economy. China has held the top surplus title for many years. However the Chinese currency, the RMB, has appreciated by 30 percent since 2006. In the upcoming IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, Germany is expected to face pressure from the international community when it is asked to take action to stimulate its domestic economy to help the EU recover.

Source: Global Times, October 3, 2014

http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2014-10/5157608.html

Briefings | | October 7, 2014 | Economy/Resources

BBC Chinese: The U.S. Partially Lifted Its Embargo on the Sale of Arms to Vietnam

BBC Chinese recently reported that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on October 2. The United States decided to lift its embargo on the sale of weapons for naval defense purposes. The embargo on the sale of arms started in 1975 and has lasted nearly four decades. The U.S. government explained that this move was based on improvements in the human rights situation in Vietnam. Further expansion of the scope of lifting the embargo will depend on more improvements in the human rights area. U.S. officials denied any relationship between this announcement and the conflicts China is currently having with its neighboring countries in the South China Sea. The United States and Vietnam restored normal relations 20 years ago. The current annual trade volume between the United States and Vietnam is around US$20 billion.

Source: BBC Chinese, October 2, 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/world/2014/10/141002_us_vietnam_arms_sales

Briefings | | October 7, 2014 | Geo-Strategic Trend

People’s Daily: China Comments on Discontinuation of Confucius Institute at University of Chicago

People’s Daily recently reported that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded in a press conference to the question of whether the closure of the Confucius Institute at the University of Chicago will become an obstacle in China’s effort to enhance its “soft power.” The Ministry’s spokesperson stated that all U.S. Confucius Institutes were established based on voluntary applications from U.S. universities. The voluntary applications requested “support and help” with teaching materials and teachers. The Institutes have never imposed anything on the universities and could not be a threat to academic freedom or to the reputation of the universities.

[Editor’s note: On October 1, Pennsylvania State University discontinued its contract with the Confucius Institute. The Toronto District School Board, the largest district school board in Canada, also voted against the renewal of its contract with the Confucius Institute.]

Source: People’s Daily, September 29, 2014

http://world.people.com.cn/n/2014/0929/c1002-25762461.html

Briefings | | October 7, 2014 | US-China Relations

Xinhua: Hefty Import Tariffs Drive Chinese People to Shop Overseas

Xinhua published an article stating that the hefty import tariffs imposed on mid to high end products and the fact that tax free product development lags behind have caused the growth in the number of Chinese people shopping overseas. The article said that the trend does not help to improve China’s domestic consumption; nor does it ease domestic economic pressure. The article stated that, among 20 luxury consumable goods, the prices on the Mainland are 45 percent higher than Hong Kong, 51 percent higher than the US and 72 percent higher than France. The result is that, during the current week long national holidays, the number of Chinese people shopping overseas has increased dramatically. The statistics showed that Chinese people spend an average of 20,000 yuan (US$3,255) overseas on each trip with 58 percent of their spending going toward shopping.

Source: Xinhua, October 5, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-10/05/c_127065170.htm

Briefings | | October 6, 2014 | Economy/Resources

Xinhua: Western Media and Western Forces Are Behind the Occupy Central Movement

On October 4, Xinhua published an article that accused a few western media of carrying articles that had a biased view in that they promoted the democratic concept and called the “occupy central movement” in Hong Kong “The Umbrella Revolution.” The article named the U.S. government for being the “Western force” that upholds the “occupy central” movement in Hong Kong by guiding the media and providing financial assistance. The article further stated that the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong backs the Hong Kong American Center, which is under Hong Kong Chinese University. In March of this year, the center organized a workshop training for college students to become leaders in the occupy central movement. Toward the end, the article stated that the color revolutions in Egypt, Thailand, Libya, and Ukraine received assistance from the outside world but still ended up having domestic chaos and social turmoil. It questioned what the western media are trying to accomplish when some of them even call occupy central the “Hong Kong Spring.”

Source: Xinhua, October 4, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/gangao/2014-10/04/c_1112713984.htm

Briefings | | October 6, 2014 | Government/Politics

Guangming Daily: The Party’s “Mass line” Campaign Should Focus on the Countryside

Guangming Daily carried an article on the on-going Party’s "mass line" campaign, stating that the countryside should be the main focus of the activity. The article said that the Party cadres in the countryside should work on three key components. They should close the gap between themselves and the people, build interpersonal relations with the people, and improve their self-discipline. The article also required that the Party cadres in the countryside should practice how to work with the mass public in the countryside and handle conflicts and pressure to ensure social stability.

According to English CCTV, China’s leaders launched the "mass line" initiative in June 2013 in order to boost ties between CCP officials, Party members, and the people. At the same time they were to clean up four undesirable work styles – formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism, and extravagance.

Source: Guangming Daily, September 30, 2014
http://dangjian.gmw.cn/2014-09/30/content_13405897.htm
English CCTV
http://english.cntv.cn/special/cpcmassline/homepage/index.shtml

Briefings | | October 6, 2014 | Government/Politics

Zhang Zhaozhong: To Suppress China, America Nominates Japanese Descendant as Pacific Commander

CCTV recently interviewed Chinese military expert, Zhang Zhaozhong. During the interview, Zhang commented on the U.S. nomination of "Japanese" Admiral Harris as the next commander of the Pacific Command. Zhang expressed the belief that the U.S. had suppressing China in mind when nominating Harris.

Zhang Zhaozhong stated that China is the only country that is able to challenge the United States, but the two countries are more than 10,000 kilometers apart. If the United States wants to intervene in East Asia, it must rely on the first island chain and rely on its "little partner" on the front line. The United States hopes to "kill [others] with a borrowed knife" and achieve its goal to suppressing [China] through Japan and other countries using the Diaoyu Islands and other issues.

Zhang added, "Harris will not necessarily favor the Japanese because of their Japanese identity, but [we should] understand the intention of the United States’ move. Harris has a Japanese background. He is also an expert in East Asian issues. The United States certainly had the thought of using him to suppress China."

[Editor’s note: Admiral Harris was born in Japan and raised in Tennessee and Florida.]

Source: People’s Daily, September 29, 2014

http://military.people.com.cn/n/2014/0928/c1011-25753922.html

Briefings | | October 3, 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.