Chinascope – Page 849

People’s Daily: U.S. Missile Intercept Test Failed Again

On July 7, People’s Daily reported in its Top News section that a U.S. land based missile intercept test suffered yet another total failure in the pacific region. The report was based on the July 5th announcement made by the U.S. Department of Defense that a missile launched from the California Vandenberg Air Force Base failed to intercept a long-range missile from the Ronald Reagan Air Force Base in the Pacific. The announcement did not mention the reason of the failure. This was the third consecutive failure of the same intercept system. According to People’s Daily, the U.S. Military has conducted a total of sixteen missile intercept tests in the past. It has only eight successes on its record. The last successful intercept test occurred in the year 2008.

Source: People’s Daily, July 7, 2013

http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0707/c1011-22104719.html

Briefings | | July 9, 2013 | Defense/Military

HSBC Chinese June PMI Number Released

China News recently reported that, on July 1, HSBC released the June PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) number for the Chinese manufacturing industry. The June number was 48.2, which is lower than the previous month’s 49.2. This latest PMI number marked a nine month low and indicates that the Chinese manufacturing sector is still on a decline. The new low is directly related to the widespread decrease in customer demand. Both new orders and new exports are shrinking in volume, representing the largest slide since last September. The level of the labor workload in manufacturing companies is declining as well. This is the heaviest decrease since last August. The manufacturing sector inventory level has also dropped for the fifth month. Meanwhile investments and prices are all falling. Qu Hongbin, HSBC Chief Economist for the China Region, commented that the HSBC PMI number demonstrated that the Chinese manufacturing sector is showing signs of shouldering heavy pressure on the demand side while small and medium sized companies are seeing a deterioration of financing conditions. PMI is an indicator of financial activity reflecting purchasing managers’ acquisition of goods and services. A PMI number below 50 typically reflects a decline.

Source: China News, July 2, 2013

http://finance.chinanews.com/cj/2013/07-02/4993914.shtml

Briefings | | July 9, 2013 | Economy/Resources

Decline in Teen Physical Fitness a Major Concern in China

According to an article in China Review News, Chinese teenager’s physical health continues to decline. A research study showed that, from 2005 to 2009, the measure of power, speed and endurance, and instantaneous reactions among teenage students had gotten worse. A lack of physical exercise was cited as the major contributor. According to the article, middle school students spent an average of 11 hours a day at school including travel time, plus an additional two hours on homework or reviews. The study showed that only 9.34 percent of middle school students and 14.89 percent of high school students participate in after school sports activities in China compared to 57.39 percent, which is the average rate for Japan, the U.S., England, Australia, and Singapore.

Source: China Review News, July 6, 2013
http://www.chinanews.com/edu/2013/07-06/5010696.shtml

Briefings | | July 8, 2013 | Information/Technology

Study Shows 33.5 Percent of General Public Utilize Private Lending Channels

The Chinese Family Finance Investigation and Research Center of South Western University recently conducted a research study on lending. The results disclosed that 33.5 percent of Chinese citizens utilize private lending channels. The total amount channeled through the private lending business has reached 8.6 trillion yuan (US$1.4 trillion). Of this amount, 3.8 trillion (US$0.62 trillion) was used in home financing, 3 trillion (US$0.49 trillion) was for agriculture and business financing, and the rest was used for auto equity and education. It was believed that these results indicated that the financial services in China’s banking sector have not been able to meet public demand.

Source: Guangming Daily, July 5, 2013
http://finance.gmw.cn/2013-07/05/content_8180051.htm

Briefings | | July 8, 2013 | Economy/Resources

People’s Daily: Philippines Committed “Seven Crimes” in the South China Sea Issue

The overseas edition of the People’s Daily published an article that enumerated seven “crimes” the Philippines committed in the conflict with China over the South China Sea issue. They are:

“The first is the ‘original sin’ of illegal occupation of China’s eight Nansha islands and reefs. The second is to continually strengthen the so-called ‘actual control’ of the eight islands and reefs. The third is the attempt to turn Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Reef) into an actual possession. The fourth is unilaterally inviting foreign capital to engage in oil and gas development in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. The fifth is deliberately promoting the internationalization of the South China Sea conflict. The sixth is trying all means to pull in extraterritorial countries as its supporters in order to increase the leverage against China. The seventh is the complete lack of good faith in solving the South China Sea problem through dialogue and cooperation.”

The article warned, “If [the Philippines] wants to choose confrontation … and tries to rely on external forces to strengthen their claim, which lacks legitimacy, it is futile and will eventually prove to be a pyrrhic strategic misjudgment.”

Source: People’s Daily (overseas edition), June 29, 2013

http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2013-06/29/content_1261261.htm

Briefings | | July 5, 2013 | Geo-Strategic Trend

National Business Daily: Rail Construction May Slow Down

On July 2, 2013, National Business Daily published a commentary on the impact that banks’ tightening of credit will have on rail expansion.

China is transitioning from a country on tires to one on the rails. High-speed railways, urban subways, and light rails are becoming the primary mode of transportation. The total rail length will reach 6,000 kilometers by 2020, requiring an investment of 3 to 4 trillion yuan.

According to the commentary, real estate appreciation has become the most important element in funding rail transit construction. The rail transit companies that the local authorities control first acquire some land. Then they start to develop real estate, followed by construction of a rail transit system and other infrastructure in the area. This leads to anticipated appreciation of the land they own. The increase in the real estate market allows the rail transit companies to make the money needed to cover the cost of all the construction and to repay the debts they owe for rail transit.

The commentary concluded that, as banks tighten credit by evaluating the financials of prospective rail transit projects, a few planned rail transit projects will not make it.

Source: National Business Daily, July 2, 2013
http://ntt.nbd.com.cn/articles/2013-07-02/754446.html

Briefings | | July 5, 2013 | Economy/Resources

Senior PLA Official: Promoting Military Reform with Chinese Characteristics

Liu Yazhou, the political commissar of the National Defense University of the People’s Liberation Army, published an article in the recent issue of Qiushi about promoting and deepening military reform with Chinese characteristics.

Liu wrote that the PLA faces two “incompatibles.” First, the existing level of modernization is incompatible with the requirement to win local informationization wars. Second, military capabilities are incompatible with fulfilling our historic mission in the new century. “The only way to solve these two "incompatibles" is through a vigorous and deep reform. Otherwise, we will once again be eliminated by the tide of military development.”

Such military reform must be included in the framework of national reform so that “the military reform will synchronize with political and economic reforms and reforms in other fields and will be in harmony with social reforms. On the other hand, it is essential for the military reform and for overall national development that, during the historic stage of overall changes in society, military reform does not exceed what social reform can tolerate.”

Source: Qiushi reprinted at sina.com, July 1, 2013
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2013-07-01/155827545695.shtml

Briefings | | July 5, 2013 | Defense/Military

China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

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