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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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Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

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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 | | |   US-China Relations

China Military Online: Whichever Country Provokes China Will Pay a Heavy Price

People’s Daily republished a commentary from China Military Online (http://www.81.cn/), stating that the U.S. will live in a nightmare for the next 100 years for being hostile to china. 

The commentary stated, “In a speech before the closing session of the 13th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 1, PLA Deputy Chief of General Staff Wang Guanzhong refuted the malicious accusations against [China] that some individual countries uttered. This stems from the U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel who, at the dialogue meeting, publicly accused China of ‘destabilizing the South China Sea.’ It is worth noting that U.S. President Obama, in a May 28 speech at West Point, said the United States has the ability to maintain global leadership for a hundred years. At the same time, he also accused China several times in his speech, stating that [the U.S.] should be ready to respond to China’s ‘aggression’ toward neighboring countries in the South China Sea.” 
The commentary threatened, “While the U.S. foreign policy has not accomplished anything and has been in a mess, such moves will make people feel that America’s global leadership is establishing the basis for suppressing China. If it makes China its enemy, the United States will be destined to live in a nightmare for the next hundred years.” 

“After 30 years of reform and opening up, China has become the world’s second largest economy. [China’s] military strength has steadily increased. For the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and core interests, China will make thorough preparations. No matter which country, big or small, whoever insists on provoking China is bound to pay a heavy price.” 

Source: People’s Daily, June 5, 2014 
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2014/0605/c1011-25109016.html 
http://www.81.cn/sydbt/2014-06/04/content_5938754.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Survey Finds Sixteen Percent of the Land in China is Polluted

On April 17, China’s Ministry of  Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Land and Resources released an "Official Report on National Soil Pollution," based on an eight-year survey of over 6.3 million square kilometers of land across the country. The report found that about 16 percent of the country’s soil and 19 percent of its arable land were polluted to one degree or another. The vast majority of the pollution came from cadmium, nickel, copper, arsenic, mercury, lead, DDT and PAHs. The latest results contrast with the situation in October 2011, when 8.3 percent of the arable land was polluted.

In his government report earlier this year, Chinese premier Li Keqiang announced the initiation of a "Soil Remediation Project." However, Chinese scholars estimated that soil pollution prevention and remediation demands trillions or even tens of trillions in investment, while the central government’s budget for soil remediation during the twelfth five-year plan period, or 2011 to 2015, is only 30 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion).

Source: China Youth Daily reprinted by Xinhua, June 6, 2014 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2014-06/06/c_126585250.htm
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China’s Agricultural Population May Decline to 10 Percent

According to Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, China‘s agricultural population may decline to about 10 percent.  Currently, about 40 percent of China’s population is engaged in agriculture.

Zhao Hui, an official from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, stated in an interview that as urbanization continues, fewer and fewer people will engage in farming. It is likely that the agricultural population will drop to about 10 percent of the total population. The land used for rural development, however, is about 3.5 times the land used for urban development. That is, it is 70 percent of the total land for development is used for rural development. To avoid having 10 percent of the population use 70 percent of the land, Zhao urged that China should have breakthrough in the institutional mechanisms to allow a rational allocation and flow of population and resources.  
Source: Beijing Business Today reprinted by Xinhua, June 6, 2014 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2014-06/06/c_126584660.htm
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China’s 2013 Gold Production Topped the World for the Seventh Year

People’s Daily reported that China has been the world’s largest gold producer for seven years in a row. In 2013, its gold output reached 428.16 tons. According to the president of China’s Gold Association, "China’s 2013 gold production increased by 6.23% over last year, a new historic record."

As of the end of 2012, China’s gold reserves of 8,196.24 tons ranked second in the world. In addition, for the first time, China’s gold consumption, which was 1176.40 tons in 2013, jumped to world’s top spot. According to an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, "For the first time, China’s gold consumption has surpassed India. With an increase of 41.3 percent over last year, China has become the world’s largest gold consumer." In 2013, China’s gold consumption was about 27 percent of the global consumption of physical gold.

Source: People’s Daily Online, June 5, 2014
http://finance.people.com.cn/n/2014/0605/c1004-25105841.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Tsinghua Professor: Maximally Increase Nuclear Deterrence to Deal with the Threat of U.S. and Japan

Chu Shulong, director of the International Strategy and Development Institute at Tsinghua University, wrote an article for Global Times, a division of People’s Daily, calling for China to maximally increase its nuclear deterrence against the U.S. and Japan. 

The article said, “Recently, leaders and senior officials from Japan and the U.S. have continued to distort the facts, stir up trouble, brazenly criticize, accuse, attack, and abusively smear China. The manner and rhetoric lack the very basic politeness. They look like they are a bit hysterical and have the ultimate madness.” 
“Since they have common interests in restraining, balancing, and containing China, Japan and the U.S. mutually cooperate and echo each other [in attacking China]. China has no choice but to resolutely fight back.” 
“Now that Japan and the U.S. choose provocation and confrontation, China can only undo them as they did unto us. The whole country should act like our military, strongly fighting back against the Japan-U.S.’s attacks, slander, confrontation and provocation; we should stop using those channels that have no real contents and results, such as visits, dialogues, ‘consultation,’ and ‘mechanisms.’ On issues such as North Korea, Iran, Syria, climate change, UN affairs, and other regional and international issues, we must make our decisions based on the merits, instead of the wishes and ‘requirements’ of the U.S. In the shortest possible time, we must make up for the insufficiency in our sea and air forces and enhance our readiness to respond to Japan and the U.S., who may provoke a conflict in the western Pacific sea and air. At the same time, [we] should also maximally increase the strategic deterrent capability of our missiles and nuclear weapons, in order to defend against the U.S.’ threats and blackmail on a larger scale.” 

Source: People’s Daily, June 4, 2014 
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2014/0604/c1011-25100384.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Qiushi: Xi Jinping’s Diplomacy Strategy for the Communist Party

On June 3, 2014, Qiushi published a commentary by Wang Jiarui, director of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The commentary explained Xi Jinping’s strategy of diplomacy for the Party. 

Wang wrote that the Party’s relationship with political parties is an important part of the overall diplomacy of the State. At present, the Communist Party has established a relationship with over 600 political parties and organizations in over 180 countries and regions. Communications with the leaders of these political parties, who are considered the sources of government policy and representatives of public opinion in these countries, show characteristics of high-level exchanges, preventive diplomacy, strategic exchanges, and far-reaching impact. 

Wang asserted that, as long as they are friendly to China, the Communist Party should pursue a relationship with them, whether it is the ruling party or an opposition party, a political organization or a think tank, media or a well-known private figure, in a country where China has no diplomatic relations or where there is no political party. Such a pursuit should be carried out with perseverance in order to cultivate friends who truly know China. 
Source: Qiushi, June 3, 2014 
http://www.qstheory.cn/zhuanqu/zywz/2014-06/03/c_1110958638.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China’s Local Governments Are Deep in Debt

China Review News reported that the level of debt that China’s local governments have reached is unsustainably high. According to the China’s National Audit Office, by June 2013, local governments had 10.88 trillion yuan (US$1.78 trillion) in debt obligations, 2.66 trillion yuan (US$429 billion) in debt for which they have provided guarantees, and 4.34 trillion yuan (US$711 billion) in debt for which they bear certain bailout responsibilities. The total is close to 18 trillion yuan (US$3 trillion).

The peak period of the debt payback, which is from 2014 to 2017, is close at hand. However, so far, local governments have put up a total of 320 billion yuan (US$52 billion) as the reserve to pay off the debt.

Facing the mounting pressure of a local debt crisis, in an attempt to resolve this problem, the State Council approved ten local governments to issue local bonds. The ten governments include Shanghai, Zhejiang Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and Qingdao City in Shandong Province.

Source: China Review News, May 26, 2014
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1032/0/4/8/103204872.html?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=103204872&mdate=0526070321

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics