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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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The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.

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Beijing 120 Emergency Center Can Only Respond to 90 Percent of Calls Due to Shortage of Doctors

Xinhua carried an article that was originally published in Beijing Youth Daily about the shortage of doctors at the Beijing 120 emergency center. The article stated that the emergency center can’t meet the minimum staff capacity requirement and can only respond to 90 percent of the emergency calls it receives. Some of the reasons for the shortage of doctors include the high risk factor, physical beatings from the patients, an excessive workload, and a low pay rate. The Beijing health bureau is currently working on a plan to create an emergency rescue worker position to staff the center. Those workers will need to be certified but a medical doctor’s degree will not be required. The detailed plan is expected to come out in 2014.

Source: Xinhua, January 12, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2014-01/12/c_125990334.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Beijing Public Security Bureau Vows to Follow Party’s Absolute Leadership

On January 10, following Xi Jinping’s recent talk at the annual work conference on political and legal affairs, the Beijing Public Security Bureau held a leadership video conference to further study Xi’s key messages. Fu Zhenghua, the Vice Minister of Public Security attended the conference and directed that the members of the public security bureau in Beijing should firmly follow the party’s leadership and work hard to bring about changes in public security work in the areas of fulfilling work responsibility, ensuring social stability, and promoting scientific development work in the state capital.

Source: Xinhua, January 11, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2014-01/11/c_125988364.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Japan and India Agree to Cooperate in Forming an Anti-China Great Wall

The following is an excerpt from an article in Xinhua, China’s State-run media, entitled, "Eye on China: Japan and India Expand Their Cooperation on Defense." The article reported on Japan and India’s military cooperation:

Recently in New Delhi, Japan’s defense minister Itsunori Onodera reached an agreement with India to cooperate on defense. On the 7th, media from both countries invariably made this same interpretation. Both sides confirmed that they will hold regular joint exercises and strengthen anti-terrorism, humanitarian assistance, and other aspects of cooperation. As an "epic signal" of strengthening the relations between Japan and India, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be present on the 26th of this month as the main guest at the India National Day military parade. Media from the two countries stressed that the common "China threat" is the "catalyst" for both sides to come together. 
The website of the Indian Digest magazine summarized the defense cooperation agreement that the two countries reached on the 6th. The title of the article was, "India and Japan Use Military Relations to Build an Anti-China Great Wall." 
Japan’s Daily News commented on the 7th that cooperation with India is a measure taken against the military rise of China. 

Source: Xinhua, January 8, 2014 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2014-01/08/c_125971534.htm http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2014-01/4732758.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Increasing Number of Cases of H7N9 in China

On January 9, Xinhua reported that two new cases of H7N9 had been reported in Jiangsu Province and Guangdong Province. 

A woman in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province was diagnosed on January 7 and is being treated in a local hospital. Fushan in Guangdong Province also reported a new case. A 51 year old woman named Cui was hospitalized January 3 and is now in critical condition. She bought a live chicken from a local market on December 31, 2013 and killed the chicken at home.  As of January 8, Guangdong had reported 10 cases. Of those 10 cases, one is known to have died and two recovered. 
Sources: Xinhua, January 9, 2014 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/health/2014-01/09/c_118887631.htm
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Xi Jinping Calls for Cleaning up Corrupt Officials – the Black Sheep in the Family

At the recent annual work conference on political and legal affairs in Beijing, President Xi Jinping called on China’s judges and law enforcement officials to clean out corruption from their own ranks. The remarks were made amid a wide-ranging probe into leaders in charge of China’s political and legal affairs. 

Xi stressed that political and legal affairs must follow the leadership of the Party and correctly handle the relationship between the Party’s policies and the law of the country. “[We must] achieve the situation in which the Party promulgates, enforces and abides by the law.” Xi also emphasized that the fundamental task of political and legal affairs is to maintain social stability. 
He pointed out that the core value of political and legal affairs is to promote social fairness and justice. “Political and legal workforces should have the courage to take responsibility and, in the face of unhealthy trends, dare to show their sword. [We] must exercise the most resolute will and take the most decisive actions to eliminate corruption in the political and legal sector, and resolutely clean up the black sheep in the family [the trouble-making sheep in the flock].” 
Source: Xinhua, January 9, 2014 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2014-01/09/c_125977855.htm
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Chinese Academician: China Must Develop Its Cyber Warfare Forces

Wu Jiangxing, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering and former president of the PLA Information Engineering University, recently attended a grand interview program of "academicians talking about strengthening the military." Wu called for the establishment of a Chinese cyber frontier defense army as an imminent task.  

Cyberspace has become the fifth biggest battlefield after land, sea, air, and space. The United States has established a cyber warfare force and regards cyber warfare forces as a major component in safeguarding national security. Wu Jiangxing said that the nature of cyber warfare forces is the same as other armed forces. The purpose of "cyber warfare forces is, first, to defend cyberspace; secondly it should develop counter measures." 
Wu said that, at present, China is just beginning to explore how to protect its national information technology facilities. Compared to the massive and frequent nationwide actions of "Cyber Storm" exercises that the United States held in recent years, China falls far behind both in scale and in technical levels. Wu proposed that China must cultivate the concept of a cyber frontier defense; innovatively develop and change the current rules of the game using revolutionary technology; and allow China to develop more effective means and equipment to defend the country’s cyberspace frontier. 
Source: Xinhua, January 7, 2014 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2014-01/07/c_125948370.htm
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Outlook: Five New Trends in the International Arena

Outlook News Weekly, a publication under Xinhua disseminated an article on international trends in which it reviewed 2013 and foretold developments in 2014. The article stated that there are five new trends in the international strategic situation. 

First, there appear to be new changes in the international power play. The United States as super power saw its advantages reduced as it is beleaguered by domestic and international problems. China, the European Union, and Russia are now the second tier players, with Japan, India, and Brazil being the third tier players. 
Second, bilateral relationships between three pairs of countries are taking shape. The United States wrestles with the Russians, the United States plays games with China, and China and Japan are in a contest with each other. 
Third, multiple countries on the two continents of the Middle East/North Africa, and the Asian Pacific are engaged in complex chess games.
Fourth, old and new challenges in the arena of international security are intertwined and growing in tandem. The traditional security issues of maritime territorial disputes have led to an arms race in Asia. The U.S. and Russia are competing in R&D for strategic advantages in the ocean, in space, and in nuclear energy. The non-traditional challenges include cyber security, terrorism, climate, and ecological changes. 
Fifth, China is proactively engaging in diplomacy with confidence. 
Source: Outlook News Weekly, January 6, 2014 
http://www.lwgcw.com/NewsShow.aspx?newsId=34103
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China Foresees the Negative Impact of Asia-Pacific Regional Trade Negotiations on China’s Exports

On January 8, 2014, China Review News Agency published an article on how to deal with a new round of Asia-Pacific regional trade negotiations. As China is not one of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership [TPP] countries (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam), China is worried about the negative impact of the TPP on China’s exports to those countries. Therefore, China will make a good effort to make up the loss in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade negotiations. RCEP is a Freed Trade Agreement among Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand.

Asia-Pacific countries do not really trust China, which may have a negative effect on China’s economics. According to the article, in order to avoid such a negative impact, China should take the following actions:

  1. Support the WTO reform and make the multilateral trading activity operate within the framework of the WTO;
  2. Actively promote the eventual establishment of the Asia-Pacific free trade zone;
  3. Promote frequent communication among Asia-Pacific countries during the APEC summit next year when China is the host;
  4. Conduct domestic economic reform in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, the Shenzhen Qianhai Experiment area, and other reform testing regions;
  5. Get ready to deal with any negative impact from the changes in the future Asian-Pacific trade rules and further promote the domestic reform of state-owned enterprises.

Source: China Review News Agency, January 8, 2014
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1029/6/7/1/102967142.html?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=102967142&mdate=0108075139


 

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics