Chinascope – Page 818

Scholar: Major Economic Problems in China

The economist Gao Liankui wrote a commentary that was published in Hexun on a book that Yang Guoying wrote on the current economic problems that China faces. The economic problems that Yang identified are internal inflation and deflation, investment issues, revenue from taxation, external financial risks, and Chinese enterprises going overseas.

According to Yang, if deflation continues for a long time, a strong and negative cycle will likely form in which recession leads to serious deflation. This would seriously accelerate the economic recession even further.

As for the excessive investments that local governments make, it is because of these governments’ credibility and their guarantee of highly transferable assets such as land that local governments have been able to increase their debts in spite of the central government’s prohibition.

On the deficit that local governments’ excessive investments have caused, Yang also expressed concern that the negative cycle of the increase in the deficit and of economic growth have entered an extremely dangerous phase.

Yang also noted that the obstacles that Chinese companies face when going overseas have changed from pressure from international competitors to resistance from governments in developed countries. It comes in the form of technical resistance, intellectual property rights resistance, and political resistance.

Yang observed that from the experiences of several Chinese companies, the excessive use of financial instruments originally meant as a hedge against risks may actually bring further risks to China’s manufacturing.

Source: Hexun.com, October 29, 2013

http://opinion.hexun.com/2013-10-29/159161277.html

Briefings | | October 31, 2013 | Economy/Resources

Sina Weibo Microblog: Five Major Chinese-Style Ways to Solve Problems

Recently, a post originally on Sina Weibo, a Chinese microblogging website, has been circulating online in China. The post, the original of which cannot be found, summarized five major Chinese-style methods to solve problems in China.

1) Take a judicial route if you have connections with the authorities and also have a lot of money;
2) Take a media route if you have connections with the authorities but do not have much money;
3) Take a bribery route if you do not have any connections with authorities but do have a lot of money;
4) Take a violence route if you have neither connections nor money;
5) Take a self-destruction route if you have no connections, no money, and do not want to take violent action.

Source: Boxun, October 29, 2013
http://www.boxun.com/news/gb/pubvp/2013/10/201310290746.shtml#.Um7-ml7D_DU

Briefings | | October 30, 2013 | Grapevine

Study Times: “No Political and Security Conditions for North Korea to Give up Their Nuclear Weapons”

Study Times, the newspaper that the Party School of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party runs, published an article about restarting the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear weapons program. The article criticized the “passive attitude” of the United States, Japan, and South Korea toward China’s effort to resume the meetings. According to the article, there are currently no political or security conditions for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. “Even if North Korea abandoned its nuclear weapons program, the United States would not stand down from the pace at which it is returning to East Asia. Instead, it (a North Korea without nuclear weapons) would cause the U.S. to speed up its strategic advance."

The prerequisite for solving the North Korean nuclear weapons problem, the article asserted, is for there to be an official end to the Korean War and to let the DPRK and the U.S. sign a friendly peace treaty. Under the protection of International law, North Korea would have a stronger ability to resist U.S. hegemonism. The article further listed four conditions that the United States and other relevant countries must provide before there can be a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Source: Study Times, October 28, 2013
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2013/10/28/02/02_39.htm

Briefings | | October 30, 2013 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Defense Ministry: Shooting Down a Chinese Unmanned Aircraft Considered Act of War

People’s Daily recently reported that Geng Yansheng, the spokesperson for the Chinese Defense Ministry, made an announcement about the Japanese position that it would shoot down Chinese unmanned aircraft. Geng stated that China will consider that to be an act of war. He also said China will respond with “decisive” counter-attacks, and no one should under-estimate the “firm will” of the Chinese military. Earlier, the Japanese Defense Ministry had announced that Japan “may consider” shooting down Chinese unmanned aircraft if they “invade Japanese airspace.” Geng claimed that China has never invaded any foreign airspace and that Chinese military training activities in the East China Sea are “lawful normal operations.” Geng also mentioned the fact that, very recently, the Chinese Navy helped save a Japanese fishing vessel.

Source: People’s Daily, October 26, 2013

http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/1026/c1011-23336424.html

Briefings | | October 29, 2013 | Geo-Strategic Trend

BBC Chinese: U.S. Investors Are Losing Confidence in China

BBC Chinese recently reported that, based on survey results that the Chinese American Chamber of Commerce released, less than 30 percent of the members of the Chamber thought that the environment for investors is improving in China. Over the past few months, the Chinese government and the state-run media have criticized many foreign companies in a number of industries, such as medicine, infant formula, smart phones, and coffee products. The same survey conducted last year showed that 43 percent of the people questioned expressed the belief that the investment environment in China was improving. The Chamber suggested that the loss in confidence was partially related to the new regulations on foreign investments that the government implemented at the end of 2011. At that time, the government introduced many new limitations and a lack of transparency in government licensing processes. The Chinese American Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization that represents over 1,000 U.S. companies and over 3,500 individuals who have invested in China.

Source: BBC Chinese, October 24, 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/10/131024_china_us_investment.shtml

Briefings | | October 29, 2013 | US-China Relations

Xinhua: The U.S. Owes the World an Apology

Xinhua recently published a commentary calling for the U.S. to apologize for the newly reported U.S. wiretapping on German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The commentary pointed out that no one knows how many more important foreign government officials the U.S. intelligence organizations spied upon. The commentary also mentioned that the issue caused a huge trust problem among the U.S. allies in Europe. The author described the U.S. calling for “human rights” and “allies’ interests” as flat out lies after so many of its secret spying activities were exposed. The United States seems to have no intention of admitting any wrong-doing, even today. The commentator called it “ironic” that the U.S. is expressing its unhappiness over the victims because of their complaints. It concluded that the United States owes China an apology, owes Germany an apology, and, in fact, owes the world an apology.

Source: Xinhua, October 26, 2013

http://news.xinhuanet.com/comments/2013-10/26/c_117881373.htm

Briefings | | October 29, 2013 | Government/Politics

Wine Industry Sales Down 50 Percent; Some Inventories up 30 Percent

China Radio International republished an article, originally from Beijing Business Today, about China’s domestic wine market. The article reported that sales for China’s domestic wines were down 50 percent while the wine makers carried inventories that were as much as 30 percent higher than the previous year. Changyu Wine Company in Yantai, Shandong Province, one of the top wineries in China, had third quarter financial results showing that the company’s net profit had declined by 46.94 percent, the lowest in five years. The government, because of its use of public funding, maintains a hard grip on food and entertainment, which is one of the reasons that the domestic wine industry has suffered from low demand. Other factors include a pricing adjustment that imported wines made in order to stay competitive. In addition, consumers favor imported wines over domestic brands.

Source: China Radio International, October 25, 2013
http://gb.cri.cn/44571/2013/10/25/3005s4297565.htm

Briefings | | October 28, 2013 | Economy/Resources

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

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

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

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