Skip to content

Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

Read More ...

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Read More ...

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Read More ...

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

Read More ...

PetroChina Buys Petrobras’s Peru Unit

On November 13, PetroChina Company Limited (PetroChina), China’s biggest oil producer and the listed arm of the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), announced a deal to acquire Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras’s Peruvian oil and gas assets. PetroChina will buy all of the 145 million stock shares of Petrobras Energia Peru S.A., which has three oil and gas fields in Peru, at a premium price of $2.6 billion, considering Energia Peru S.A.’s total asset of $1.42 billion, with a 2012 operating income of $0.6 billion and net income of $102 million.

Petrobras Energia Peru S.A.’s three oil and gas fields currently produce about 800,000 metric tons of oil equivalent per year, according to PetroChina. Experts shared the view that, when compared to Africa and the Middle East, there is less political risk buying assets in South America.

PetroChina’s 2012 domestic and overseas production totaled 278 million metric tons of oil equivalent, or 761,600 metric tons per day. In mid-March this year, PetroChina took over the Mozambique oil and gas lots under the Italian multinational oil and gas company Eni at $4.2 billion, as the company’s largest overseas acquisition. CNPC is also expected to buy U.S. oil and gas company ConocoPhillips’ Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan at an expected price of $5 billion.

Source: Xinhua, November 14, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2013-11/14/c_125699990.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Chinese Generals: Peaceful Rise Does Not Mean Refusal to Fight

On November 12 a forum was held at the Prime Hotel Beijing Wangfujing after a press release announced the introduction a new book, "China Is Not Afraid — New Threats to Our National Security and Our Counter Strategy." More than 50 people including five PLA generals, major media reporters, publishers, and others attended the forum and discussed the current hot issues of national defense and security. 

The author of the book is the former deputy director of the Strategy Department at the PLA Military Academy. He believes that the current U.S. policy of containing China has not changed and will not change. Mao Zedong made the statement that imperialists are "paper tigers" in order to solve the problem of fear. In the press release, the author said, "Our Party [the CCP] and our army were founded on the premise of having no fear. The Chinese army should ‘be able to fight, fight to win.’ It must have the will of fearlessness in the face of strong enemies." 

Major General Peng Guangqian commented that China’s "peaceful rise" is not to say China "refuses to fight." We have to be well prepared as, at any given time, a situation can get out of control. Major General Xiao Yusheng asserted that some Chinese people should overcome the "America-phobia” and "Japan-phobia" syndromes. 

Source: Xinhua, November 13, 2013 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2013-11/13/c_125693846.htm
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

PLA Editorial: Resolutely Resist the “Nationalization of the Military”

On November 10, 2013, during the third session of the 18th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Daily published an editorial titled, “Always Adhere to the Party’s Absolute Leadership over the Military.” 

According to the PLA Daily editorial, Xi Jinping’s met last week with PLA delegates. The editorial summarized the core of his remarks, “Always adhere to the Party’s absolute leadership over the military; always adhere to the fundamentals of the ability to fight and win the war; always adhere to the Party’s policy that the Party must tightly control the Party; and always adhere to the spirit of reform and innovation to strengthen the Party’s development.” The editorial continued, “To study diligently and to implement President Xi’s important instructions, we must first grasp the fundamental task of ensuring the Party’s absolute leadership over the military.” “Our military is the people’s army founded and led by the Party. It is the armed forces that implement the Party’s political tasks. The fundamental system of the Party’s absolute leadership is a scientific system that has been proven repeatedly in practice.” 
The editorial emphasized that, in the light of the activities of the hostile forces overseas, one must remain alert as some people lack the understanding of the Party’s absolute leadership of the military. “Under these circumstances, it is particularly important that we take "always adhering to the Party’s absolute leadership over the military" as the highest political principle to follow, as the highest political requirement to implement, and as the highest political discipline to observe.”
“[We] must unswervingly adhere to the fundamental principle and system of the Party’s absolute leadership of the military, proactively win the ideological struggle, and resolutely resist such wrong political views as "non-political and non-Party military” and “nationalization of the military.” 
Source: People’s Liberation Army Daily reprinted by People’s Daily, November 10, 2013 http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/1110/c1011-23489856.html
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

As the Top Leader of the National Security Committee, Xi Jinping Strengthens His Personal Power

At The Third Plenary Session (“Third Plenum”) of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party held in Beijing from November 9th to November 12th, 2013, the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee decided to create two state institutes, a Leading Team Supervising “Comprehensively Deepening” Economic Reform and a new National Security Committee. According to China Review News on November 13, 2013, Xi Jinping, the head of the Party and the state, may take charge of the newly created National Security Committee. Xi Jinping may also serve as the head of the Economic Reform Leading Team. If that’s the case, Xi’s personal power will be strengthened.

The Presidency of the People’s Republic of China is usually a symbolic position. If Xi Jinping chairs the National Security Committee in the name of the President, the President will assume the real power over public security, military troops, and the diplomacy.

Source: China Review News, November 13, 2013
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1028/6/1/5/102861571.html?coluid=151&kindid=0&docid=102861571&mdate=1113100553

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

“A National Security Committee Will Further Consolidate the People’s Confidence in China”

On November 13, 2013, Huanqiu, the Chinese edition of Global Times, published an editorial titled, “Now Is the Right Time to Create a National Security Committee.” The Third Plenary Session (“Third Plenum”) of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party held in Beijing from November 9th to November 12th has made the decision to establish a new state security body to handle the increase in domestic conflicts and international disputes. The new agency will include representatives from different agencies including diplomacy, military, intelligence, commerce and all major players that interact with foreign identity.

The editorial proposed calling on all of the Chinese people across the nation to show their patriotism by making contributions to safeguarding national security. It stated, “Doing nothing to harm national security should be in every citizen’s consciousness.” The editorial concluded, “We hope that the establishment of the National Security Committee will (help the Chinese government) to respond effectively to the new situation and make Chinese society, this super large machine, function more stably and safely so as to further consolidate the people’s confidence in Chinese society.”

Source: Huanqiu, November 13, 2013
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2013-11/4557729.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

BBC Chinese: Chinese Netizens Doubt the Shanghai Government

BBC Chinese recently reported that the City government of Shanghai just announced that it will become a “government by law” within five years. The new announcement promised to change the role of the government dramatically, to improve the laws, to deliver better transparency, to encourage public participation in the political process, and to make Shanghai the regional government with the highest approval rating in the nation. The government claimed to have a detailed plan with a timeline. However no details have been released. The announcement triggered a widespread discussion online among Chinese netizens. Most of the comments online expressed doubt. Some suggested that, finally, the government admitted it is not based on the law. Some called for a deeper investigation into the recent scandal involving a group of Shanghai High Court judges caught on tape with prostitutes who a large state-owned company had paid. 
Source: BBC Chinese, November 7, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/11/131107_shanghai_government.shtml
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

OPEC: The Chinese Automobile Market will Support an Increase in the Demand for Oil

Global Times recently reported that OPEC just adjusted its earlier long-term oil market forecast on market demand to show an increase. This is the first time in six years that OPEC has projected an optimistic forecast. The organization also re-estimated China’s automobile market size. OPEC expressed the belief that the world demand for oil will be 108.5 million barrels per day by the year 2035. The organization also estimated that China’s “vehicle parc” will increase by 380 million over the next 22 years. That will be the equivalent of every 1000 people owning 320 vehicles. This rate of increase is based on the same pace that Japan had in the 1990s. The OPEC report also expected that the Indian automobile market would show rapid growth. However the U.S. shale oil and the Canadian oil sands have been rapidly changing the landscape of the oil market, making today’s reality very much different from OPEC’s forecast made two years ago. 
Source: Global Times, November 8, 2013
http://finance.huanqiu.com/world/2013-11/4545717.html
Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

CRN: Chinese Army’s Regimental Combat Troops Armed with Beidou Positioning System

China Review News (CRN) recently reported that nearly all Chinese regimental combat troops have been equipped with the Beidou global positioning system. The Beidou system is the Chinese home-grown positioning system that the Chinese military operates. The system claims to be the world’s third largest global positioning system (the U.S. GPS being number one). The Chinese military started developing the system in 1985, after Chinese missiles failed to receive the U.S. GPS signals. The Chinese system uses only two satellites, which work jointly with a “height distance” database to offer precise positioning. It is considered to have the world’s most secure architecture with the widest coverage for a two-satellite system. The Chinese military aims to accomplish global coverage by the year 2020.
Source: China Review News, November 9, 2013
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1028/5/5/2/102855294.html?coluid=4&kindid=16&docid=102855294&mdate=1109211306
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military