Chinascope – Page 758

White Paper Expresses Beijing’s Determination for Unquestioned Authority over Hong Kong

According to the South China Morning Post, on June 10, 2014, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China issued an unprecedented white paper on the “one country, two systems” issue in Hong Kong. "The white paper on Hong Kong shows Beijing’s determination to maintain control amid the debate over political reform.” “By issuing the paper, Beijing has sought to establish its unquestioned authority over Hong Kong as residents debate the meaning and the flexibility of the ‘one country, two systems’ concept.” It stated, "The high degree of autonomy that Hong Kong has enjoyed is subject to the central government’s authorization. There is no such thing called ‘residual power’ for the special administrative region." It also "warned against ‘outside forces’ using the city to interfere in China’s domestic affairs.”

The paper came 10 days before the “Occupy Central” activities, the activists of which are calling for greater democracy, i.e., calling for an unofficial referendum for the 2017 election of the chief executive.

Sources: South China Morning Post, June 10, 2014
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1529300/beijing-reasserts-its-total-control-over-hong-kong-white-paper
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1529528/beijing-issues-white-paper-prove-its-control-amid-reform-debate-hong

Briefings | | June 11, 2014 | Government/Politics

Study Times: Hide Our Capabilities and Bide Our Time. No Need to Challenge U.S. Leadership.

On June 9, 2014, Study Times, a journal of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article commenting on President Barack Obama’s recent speech at the U.S. West Point Military Academy in which he discussed the U.S. global leadership role. The article proposed some “soft” strategies in dealing with the U.S. as the world’s leader. Though “China’s national power is increasing rapidly,” “China must remain clear-headed” when facing “flattery.” In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Deng Xiaoping, the former top head of the Chinese Communist Party, said that China should “hide its capabilities and bide its time” and “never take the lead” because it would be too expensive to take the responsibility for the whole world. Today, it is still unnecessary for China to challenge the U.S.’s global leadership position. The United States already has difficulties paying for the huge cost of its international moral responsibilities.

“In this new period of time, China must keep ‘hiding its capabilities and biding its time.’” “When dealing with the United States, China may step back on issues not dealing with principle and use gentleness (or softness) to overcome its power while resolutely defending China’s core interests.” “For China’s fundamental national interests, China must oppose America’s containment, democratic evolution, and the isolation of China.” China and the U.S. can gain “mutual benefits” economically. In terms of security issues, China can fight against the U.S. without breaking the Sino-US relationship.

Source: Study Times, June 9, 2014

http://www.studytimes.cn/shtml/xxsb/20140609/5194.shtml

Briefings | | June 11, 2014 | US-China Relations

People’s Daily: Ministry of Commerce Ruled against EU and U.S. Exporters

People’s Daily recently reported that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced the results of an anti-dumping investigation it had conducted. The Ministry of Commerce announced that the sale of tetrachloroethene exported to China and originally produced in the European Union and the United States is considered illegal dumping. The ruling was considered final. China’s domestic vendors suffered substantial damage as a result of the dumping. The EU and the U.S. companies named in the Ministry’s ruling will be charged anti-dumping duties based on the scale of their dumping activities. According to the announcement, the case was established on May 31, 2013. And it took a year to reach its conclusion. Tetrachloroethene is a colorless chlorocarbon liquid widely used for dry cleaning of fabrics.

Source: People’s Daily, June 30, 2014

http://finance.people.com.cn/n/2014/0603/c1004-25097799.html

Briefings | | June 10, 2014 | Economy/Resources

Use of Chinese Currency in the U.S. Significantly Increased

The well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the number of financial settlement activities using the Chinese currency RMB has tripled in the United States. This was based on official numbers released by SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) for the first four months of this year. The total number of RMB transactions in the U.S. is now the third largest outside China – after Singapore and Great Britain. Starting in 2009, China lifted the restrictions on using the RMB overseas. The Chinese government has been encouraging the import/export companies to settle in RMB instead of the US dollar. According to SWIFT, between January and April, 2.6 percent of global RMB transactions were settled in the United States, making the U.S. a bigger RMB settlement center than Taiwan. SWIFT also reported that the Chinese RMB ranks seventh among all currencies in the world.

Source: Sina Finance, June 3, 2014

http://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/usstock/c/20140603/153919300724.shtml

Briefings | | June 10, 2014 | US-China Relations

More High School Students Choose to Study Aboard

The “Gaokao,” China’s annual national college entrance exam, started on June 7 this year. Xinhua reported that over 9.39 million high school seniors participated in the three-day exam. The total number of Gaokao participants has been declining since 2008, but 2014 was the first year that saw an increase. The number increased by 270,000 from 2013. According to China Youth Daily, the Ministry of Education has worked with China’s National Development and Reform Commission to release the 2014 college admissions number. The number the 12th National People’s Congress approved for 2014 was 6.98 million. Of those 3.63 million are four year college students and 3.35 million are vocational school students. The local colleges are currently working on their 2014 admission plan based on directions from the Ministry of Education.

According to an article in Sina more and more high school students have chosen not to take the Gaokao and have instead applied to study aboard. The article said that the college admission process in China is highly competitive. The students get only one chance and their score from Gaokao determines their future. Moreover, colleges in China are often criticized for being bureaucratic, driven by economics, and having many cases of corruption both in the academic field and in the college admission process. The National Institute of Education Science released statistics on one million high school students who gave up the Gaokao in 2010. Of those, 201,100 or 21 percent did so because they chose to study abroad. That number is increasing by 100,000 each year. In Beijing and Shanghai, 20 to 25 percent of high school students choose to study overseas each year. The education community in China has a major concern that China is losing its elite students to overseas colleges. The article reported that many are calling for a reform of the college admission process in China.

Sources:
China Youth Daily, June 7, 2014
http://zqb.cyol.com/html/2014-06/07/nw.D110000zgqnb_20140607_7-01.htm
Sina, June 9, 2014
http://news.sina.com.cn/o/2014-06-09/053030319964.shtml
Xinhua, June 7, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/edu/2014-06-07/c_126589298.htm

Briefings | | June 9, 2014 | Social Stability

Hurun and the Chinese HNWI Issued 2014 Emigration White Paper

The Hurun Report and the immigration agency’s Visas Consulting Group recently released the Chinese High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) White Paper. According to the 2014 white paper, in 2013, 9.3 million Chinese emigrated, making China the fourth ranking country in the world next to India, Mexico, and Russia. The U.S. and Canada were their top choices for emigration. According to the white paper, the top three reasons for emigrating overseas were to provide a better education for their children, environmental pollution, and food safety. Other reasons included social warfare, medical care, and the safety of personal assets. Among the families interviewed by Hurun, the average preferred amount to spend on investment immigration is 5 million (US$830,000).

Source: China Economy, June 7, 2014 http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/gnsz/gdxw/201406/07/t20140607_2937886.shtml

Briefings | | June 9, 2014 | Economy/Resources

China Military Experts Rebut U.S. Annual Report on China’s defense

On June 5, the U.S. Department of Defense issued its 2014 annual report on China’s Defense. On June 8, Xinhua published an article titled, “Clichés That Are Full of Anxiety and Have Ulterior Motives – China’s Military Experts’ Analysis of the U.S. Report on China’s Defense.” The following is a summary of several military experts’ reactions to the annual report.

One expert said that the annual report followed the usual “China Threat” theory and “cold war” mentality. It showed that the U.S. is using the strategy of connecting with China while being precautionary at the same time. The U.S. anxiety about the growth of China’s national defense does not contribute anything good to mutual trust between the two countries and should stop. Another expert’s reaction was that the U.S. tries to create trouble for China in the South and East China Sea and intends to use this report to “damage China’s international image or even demonize China.” Another one said that the U.S. demonstrates its “psychological weakness and mental illness” in reacting to China’s effort to build its national defense.

Source: Xinhua, June 8, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2014-06/08/c_1111033758.htm

Briefings | | June 9, 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.