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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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Large Foreign IT Vendors Face Serious Challenges

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the new term “Removing IOE” is becoming a hot topic. “IOE” stands for IBM, Oracle and EMC. All are major IT vendors headquartered in the United States. Ever since the Snowden incident, U.S. high-tech companies have been suffering sharp declines in sales. The meaning of IOE quickly expanded to include more U.S. companies such as Microsoft and Cisco. According to reports released by the research institute Gartner, the IBM computer server market share in the Asia-Pacific region declined from last year’s 37 percent to 28 percent this first quarter. Its first quarter sales in China fell 20 percent compared to the first quarter last year. Cisco’s Chinese sales also suffered double-digit declines. Within the last month, the Chinese government also announced a policy to ban IBM products in Chinese banks and ban Microsoft Windows 8 from government procurement. The Chinese government intends to replace U.S. high-tech products with domestic alternatives. 
Source: Sina, May 30, 2014
http://tech.sina.com.cn/it/2014-05-30/01009408474.shtml
Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

BBC Chinese: The Chinese Authorities Are Cracking Down on Illegal Instant Messaging Activities

BBC Chinese recently reported that, on May 27, the Chinese authorities started a month-long legal campaign against illegal communications distributed across popular public instant messaging tools such as WeChat, which has over 300 million users. The China National Internet Information Office, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Public Security are operating this campaign jointly. According to the officials in charge of this program, the primary goal is to crack down on rumors, violent activities, terrorism and pornography. In addition to those targets, this campaign also attacks “domestic and foreign hostile forces’ infiltration and sabotage activities.” Seven major Chinese instant messaging vendors volunteered to craft a joint agreement on establishing rules requiring users to use their real names, associating user accounts with cellphone numbers, restricting the size of online chat groups, and reviewing contents posted to the chat groups. The agreement also promised timely reports to be sent to the authorities as soon as “hot topics” gather substantial interest. 
Source: BBC Chinese, May 27, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/05/140527_wechat_governance.shtml
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China Vows to Increase Anti-Terrorist Efforts

In the wake of recent incidents in Xinjiang, Meng Jianzhu, secretary of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Politics and Law Commission, spoke at the anti-terrorist working meeting on May 30. Meng instructed all levels of law enforcement authorities to make the anti-terrorist effort their top priority. Meng requested the innovation of the intelligence work mechanism and improvement of early warning and precautionary capabilities. Meng also required intensification of street patrol efforts, combatting the organizers who smuggle groups across the border, and preventing the infiltration of the religious extremist ideology.

Source: China News, May 31, 2014
http://news.china.com.cn/2014-05/31/content_32539304.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Problems in China’s Outbound Investment in the Mining Industry

According to a Xinhua report, over the past five years, over 95 percent of the overseas mergers and acquisitions made by Chinese companies in the mining industry ended in failure.

A major problem is that most individual Chinese companies lack an in-depth understanding of the political, economic, legal, and cultural differences in the host countries. Another issue is the proportion of stock ownership on the Chinese side. A higher Chinese ownership simplifies the decision making process and streamlines the operations. However, it invites opposition from the host countries and may even result in a lower market valuation. Chinese companies have also complained about fraudulent mining data and exaggerated mining exploration statistics.

In 2013, China topped the world in both production and consumption of iron ore, crude steel, steel, and non-ferrous metals. Chinese outbound investment in the mining sector jumped from US$4.2 billion in 2007 to 20.2 billion in 2013.

Source: Xinhua, June 1, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2014-06/01/c_126570335.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

People’s Daily: Over 60,000 Party Organizations at the Grass Roots Level Completely Restructured

According to a People’s Daily report, by the end of April, 57,688 or 9.6 percent of village level Chinese Communist Party organizations and 5,222 or 5.6 percent of community level CCP organizations in urban areas were identified as weak and loosely managed. As of May 31, most of the above lowest level CCP branches had gone through a restructuring process.

The report indicated that 5,679 out of the 7,195 rural villages and 321 out of 556 urban communities where the Party secretary or the local CCP official’s office was vacant had these positions filled with candidates who were defined as having "a strong Party spirit, being capable, and having a strong sense of reform and service." So far, 521,000 Party secretaries in villages and communities nationwide have gone through training sessions.

Another effort was an increase in funding for Party operations. For example, in inner Mongolia, each community has been allocated 100,000 yuan (US$16,000). Hubei Province has a plan to invest 300 million yuan (US$48 million) to build 442 new community Party service centers and expand 556 existing Party service centers. Hunan Province allocated 68 million yuan (US$10.88 million) out of the province’s budget as a bonus for the village level organizations.

Source: People’s Daily, May 31, 2014
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/0531/c1001-25088508.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Qiushi on Managing Intellectuals in Order to Control Their Understanding of Ideology

[Editor’s Note: Qiushi published an article on how to manage China’s intellectuals so that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can maintain firm control over people’s thoughts. The article suggested focusing on those intellectuals who are opinion-leaders and who are able to influence people’s viewpoints. It proposed establishing a good relationship with them, absorbing them into the Party, appealing to them with patriotism, or, if their viewpoints are the opposite of the Party’s, just taking them down. The following is a translation of excerpts from the article.] [1]

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Reports | | |   Report

Xinhua: Uncovering the Painted Skin of the American Surveillance Empire

Xinhua published a commentary calling America the “surveillance empire” and asked the world to unite against the United States. Below are excerpts from the article: 

“On the surface, Americans are singing about how the major powers are establishing new relations with China. Privately, the United States regards China as a rival, leaving no stone unturned in delaying the pace of China’s rise, even though the "most dirty tricks" of surveillance mean having to deal with China.” 
“The U.S. abuses its technological advantages to monitor [China], ignoring basic international morals. It goes far beyond the needs of "anti-terrorism" and exhibits an ugly face that is selfish and completely without justice. Its actions have lost the support of the world’s people. This behavior is a flagrant violation of international law, is a serious violation of human rights, and threatens global network security.” 
“The United States has the world’s leading information technology, but that does not mean that America can do whatever it wants. America’s unbridled surveillance exposed everywhere its hegemonic mentality and its acts in cyber space, ultimately hurting the entire world.” 
“From the public point of view, all the inhabitants of the global village, as long as they can make a call, can get onto the Internet, or can play games, fall within the monitoring of American intelligence agencies. Obviously, this is not the world that the villagers in the global village want in the era of globalization. It goes against the mainstream values of human civilization.” 
“From the perspective of international relations, the democratization of international relations is the trend of the times. The American ‘surveillance empire,’ however, goes against the tide. It is increasingly becoming a ‘gigantic monster’ threatening human development and the global order. It has sounded a warning alarm to the world.” 
“Therefore, the world should unite and not let the Americans act recklessly; do not be the Americans’ accomplice; do not let them play the gangster at will. How to put the American ‘surveillance empire’ into a cage is currently an urgent issue that the international community needs to consider and solve.” 
Source: Xinhua, May 26, 2014 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2014-05/26/c_1110866573.htm http://world.people.com.cn/n/2014/0526/c1002-25067466.html
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Beijing Tightens Control in Anticipation of Social Unrest

On May 30, 2014, China Youth Daily reported that Beijing has increased the level of its security by deploying over 850,000 “security volunteers” throughout the city to assist the police. These “security volunteers” patrol the streets and monitor the activities of their neighbors. 

Beijing has also activated a community intelligence network that includes close to 100,000 security informants; the network covers the entire city. Starting in June, there will be 1,000 safety officers deployed on the buses and 866 security officers and guards at the bus terminals. 4,000 buses will be equipped with monitoring cameras on board. Residents who provide important leads about security risks may be rewarded a minimum of 40,000 yuan (about $6,413). 
Source: China Youth Daily reprinted by Xinhua, May 30, 2014 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2014-05/30/c_126564902.htm
Briefings | | |   Social Stability