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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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Outlook Weekly on Short Lived Urban Buildings

Sohu carried an article that Outlook Weekly had originally published about the phenomenon of short lived urban buildings. Li Shaorong, a Professor of Economics at Beijing University told Outlook Weekly that those short lived buildings are not just a serious waste of social expenditures. They also cause damage to the urban culture and historic relics, as well as increasing environmental pollution.

According to the article, China has the largest amount of new construction in the world. Each year it builds 2 billion square meters (21.5 billion square feet) of new construction and consumes 40 percent of the world’s steel and cement. However, the life span of these buildings is short. They last only 25 to 30 years, as compared to the average life in developed countries, which is 80 to 132 years.

The end result of waste pollution is also alarming. Each year, architectural waste in China accounts for 30 to 40 percent of all urban waste. Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology show that 1.5 billion tons of architectural waste was produced in 2012, while the waste recycling rate was less than 5 percent compared to 95 percent in developed countries.

The article stated that some of those buildings were taken down because of their poor quality or their inadequate condition. However more were taken down because of poor urban planning or because certain city officials sought short term benefits. China Youth Daily conducted a survey in which it interviewed 4,916 people. Over 85 percent of those surveyed said that there were short lived buildings in their city. Over 50 percent of those surveyed said they were dissatisfied with the urban planning in their city.

Source: Sohu.com, November 18, 2013
http://news.sohu.com/20131118/n390312173.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Yan Xuetong: China Will Be a Superpower within 10 Years

In an article recently published on the People’s Daily website, China Economic Weekly interviewed Yan Xuetong, the Dean of the Tsinghua University Institute of Contemporary International Relations. Yan predicted that China will become a superpower by the year 2023 and the world will celebrate the Sino-U.S. bipolar structure. 

Yan said, “In the next decade, the main theme of Sino-U.S. relations will be competition, but the core content of this competition is different from the past competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. This is why Chairman Xi Jinping proposed to establish new Sino-U.S. relations among major powers. This new type of relationship among major powers, although different from U.S.-Soviet relations, is not exactly a friendly relationship. I will call it a ‘fake friendship.’”
Yan also said that China’s foreign policy change from the original one of hiding its intention to the new one of playing an active role is actually a change in direction. “In the past, our attitude was almost not getting involved in any international issues. We only engaged in economic cooperation with other countries and set diplomatic issues aside. Now we talk about both economic and security issues. Security issues have become even more important.” 
“Our country’s foreign policy in the past was to take the United States as the top priority. The relationship with the neighboring countries had to give way to the Sino-U.S. relations. From now on, relations with neighboring countries will be the top priority in our country’s foreign relations. Sino-U.S. relations should be subordinate to the periphery relations. … It is a fundamental change in our foreign policy.” 
“To prevent being isolated from the international community, China needs to adjust to the non-alliance policy. Strategic alliances can help China increase the number of its true strategic partners. By 2023, China will likely have established about 20 allies or strategic partnerships worldwide. While this is far less than the number of U.S. military allies, it is already beginning to take shape as a stable strategic alliance system.” 
Source: People’s Daily, November 19, 2013 
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/1112/c1011-23509340.html
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Economist: Another 20 Years Needed to Absorb China’s Real Estate Surplus

According to Jiangnan Times, a publication under People’s Daily, Professor Li Daokui from Qinghua University, one of the most influential economists in China, predicted that it will take another 20 years to absorb China’s existing real estate surplus. 

“Currently, only 140 million urban residents are without housing. However, with existing land reserves [for housing], we have the capacity to provide housing for 200 million people. That means it will take at least another 20 years to assimilate these land reserves. China has a very serious housing surplus problem. China’s real estate bubble has grown to be so appalling! [It is unbelievable that] local governments actually are daydreaming about the sale of their land so they can pay up to 20 trillion yuan of the local governments’ debt!” 
Source: Jiangnan Times reprinted by People’s Daily, November 21, 2013 
http://house.people.com.cn/BIG5/n/2013/1121/c164220-23617892.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Local Government Debts: Backdoor Loans

Xinhua reprinted a China Business News article reporting on backdoors loans made to local governments. The article stated that such loans are rampant and lack proper accounting. 

According to China Business News, when, due to their investment and financing platforms and the local governments existing debts, they find it difficult to obtain additional loans, some of them ask large companies that have international backgrounds to take out bank loans on their behalf. These large companies then use local governments’ land as collateral for the bank loans.

Because the loans are obtained to satisfy the needs of local governments, the funds are then remitted to the local governments, thus becoming debts of the local governments. However, as a result of special accounting treatment, the local governments do not record the loans on the books as actual loans, but as current accounts with these large companies. 

First, not all the fund transfers are recorded in the books. Second, since the local governments’ land is used as collateral for the loans, some local governments may call the loans “Assets” on their books. Third, because the large companies have already recorded the loans as liabilities, the local governments use that as a reason not to report the loans as their own liabilities. Fourth, some large companies have gone so far as to create a separate bank account for these loans. The money is set aside for the local governments to use so they can withdraw funds and deposit the payments for the loans. 

Source: China Business News reprinted by Xinhua, November 19, 2013

http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2013-11/19/c_125723133.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Confucius Institute Launches Its U.S. Center in Washington, D.C.

On November 20, the Headquarters of the Confucius Institute launched a U.S. Center in Washington, DC. Liu Yandong, China’s Vice Premier, who is visiting the United States, attended the opening ceremony. Yuan Guiren, the Chinese Minister of Education, gave a speech.

Yuan said in his speech that a network of more than 430 Confucius Institutes and over 640 Confucius Classrooms has been set up around the globe. The United States is the country with the largest number of Confucius Institutes and over 350 Confucius Classrooms.

According to the information provided by the Center, its main task is to provide an open, reliable source of information for the U.S. government so it can understand the activities of the Confucius Institute; conduct communication and cooperation with American media and society, and enhance the public’s understanding of the Confucius Institute.

Source: Xinhua, November 21, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2013-11/21/c_118238001.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China to Increase the Proportion of Navy and Air Force in the Military

In an interview with Beijing Morning News, Li Daguang, a military expert at National Defense University, announced that China will reduce the proportion of its ground forces and increase its navy and air force. China’s military will break the tradition of having a ground force-led military command mechanism and will establish separate command headquarters for the respective military entities. In combat operations, they will be under a joint command based on the direction of combat. 

The white paper, "The Diversified employment of China’s Armed Forces," published on April 16, 2013, disclosed the number of the Army mobile operational units, navy, and air force for the first time. The PLA Army mobile operational units include 18 combined corps, plus additional independent combined operational divisions (brigades), and have a total strength of 850,000. The size of the Navy is 235,000 and the Air Force 398,000. 

Source: Beijing Morning News and Xinhua, November 19, 2013 

http://www.morningpost.com.cn/szb/html/2013-11/19/content_257299.htm 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2013-11/19/c_118199380.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Qiushi: Market to Play Vital Role in Resource Allocation

On November 20, Qiushi published an article explaining the goals of economic reform as proposed during the Third Session of the 18th Congress of the Communist Party. 

According to Qiushi, China preliminarily established a socialist market economy in which a lot of problems remain unresolved. In particular, the relationship between the government and the market has not been ironed out. Due to many constraints, the market has, therefore, not played an effective role in allocating resources . 
“To move in the direction of reform of the socialist market economy, the key is to balance well the relationship between the government and the market. The [Third] Session has established the task of deepening economic reform by enabling the market to play a vital role in resource allocation. This is a major advance for our Party, both in theory and in practice. From a ‘fundamental role’ to a ‘vital role’, this change reflects the general rule that the market determines the allocation of resources. It certainly will play an extremely important role in China’s reform and opening up, and its economic and social development.” 
Source: Qiushi, November 20, 2013 
http://www.qstheory.cn/zywz/201311/t20131120_293236.htm
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

The New National Security Committee Will Have More Power than Any Other Leadership Group

On November 19, 2013, China Review News published an article giving more specifics about the new National Security Committee, a “Small Security Cabinet” that will handle external and internal security threats comprehensively. Under the leadership of state president Xi Jinping, the National Security Committee will have more power than any other leadership group. It will include leaders from National Defense, Foreign Affairs, Public Security, the International Communication Office of the CCP Central Committee, and other ministries.

All kinds of crises, such as water, air, food, energy safety and more, are around the corner in China. Therefore, the National Security Committee will place a heavy focus on dealing with domestic social security issues and on any normal crises that may lead to abnormal crises.

Source: China Review News, November 19, 2013
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1028/7/4/9/102874945.html?coluid=151&kindid=0&docid=102874945&mdate=1119144524

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics