Chinascope – Page 852

Xinhua: China and Switzerland Sign MOU on Free Trade Agreement

Xinhua reported that China and Switzerland signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on May 24. This concluded the FTA negotiations that started in 2010. The signing of the MOU is the last step before the final agreement is officially established. This action marked the top agenda item for China’s new Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Switzerland. The China-Swiss FTA, after nine rounds of negotiations, will be the first FTA between China and a European country. It is also the first FTA China has with one of the World’s Top-Twenty Developed Countries. China is currently Switzerland’s largest trade partner in Asia and Switzerland is China’s seventh largest trade partner in Europe as well as its sixth largest source of foreign investments.

Source: Xinhua, May 24, 2013

http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2013-05/25/c_115905331.htm

Briefings | | May 28, 2013 | Economy/Resources

Xinhua: HSBC Chinese PMI Initial Value Broke the Redline

Xinhua recently reported that the HSBC PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) number for the Chinese manufacturing industry had an initial value of 49.6 for the month of May. The new number is the lowest in seven months. The breakdown numbers for new orders, new exports, and the employment index are all below fifty. Experts expressed the belief that these numbers indicated a decline in the manufacturing industry. The outlook for the second quarter is not optimistic. Low export levels seems to have had a direct impact on the overall decline of manufacturing activities. However the domestic demand side is weak as well. The central government investment in April was weakened and manufacturers faced inventory pressure. In addition to PMI numbers, the growth rate of the generated electrical energy in May also suffered a decline. 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: Xinhua, May 24, 2013

http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2013-05/24/c_124756706.htm

Briefings | | May 28, 2013 | Economy/Resources

CRN: China Expands Its Satellite Data Receiving Capabilities

China Review News (CRN) recently reported that the Remote Sensing and Digital Earth Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences officially launched a satellite receiving station in Hainan Province. This extended China’s direct data receiving capabilities to the South China Sea. For a long period of time, China has suffered from not having sufficient data from remote sensing satellites. The new station was equipped with dual large-sized satellite dishes as well as long distance fiber data communication systems. The station is not only tasked with communicating directly with several Chinese environment and disaster monitoring satellites and earth resource satellites. It was also assigned the mission of accepting data from Pakistani satellites. The Chinese government has plans to double the capacity of this station over the next two years. The new station is strategically important because it is part of a three station national land-based satellite data receiving infrastructure. The other two stations are located in Beijing and Xinjiang.

Source: China Review News, May 25, 2013

http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1025/5/2/9/102552906.html?coluid=4&kindid=18&docid=102552906&mdate=0525075222

Briefings | | May 28, 2013 | Information/Technology

China Youth Daily: U.S. Military Jumps Ahead to Develop Cyber War Rules

People’s Daily republished an article reporting on the United States’ recent developments in cyber war preparation. The article said, “Cyberspace has become an entirely new battlefield. In this new battlefield, the U.S. military was the first to wake up and the first to take action. Therefore it has benefited the most.” “It is the same as in physical space, the U.S. military has adopted a series of measures to maintain its leading edge in cyber warfare capabilities. This year, the U.S. Cyber Space Command substantially expanded its capacities, announced that it established 40 global cyber warfare combat forces, secretly implemented cyber warfare rules, and launched the "Tallinn Handbook" via NATO with the intention of using it as the International Code of cyber warfare. The U.S. military markedly speeded up the pace of cyberspace internationalization.”

The article pointed out that “the U.S. has made it clear that China is the ‘biggest rival’ in cyberspace; it has repeatedly accused China of launching ‘cyber attacks’ and it has been disseminating the Chinese ‘cyber threats’ theory. Following the U.S. report on China’s ‘military-related hacking incidents’ earlier this year, its allies have set up or expanded its Cyber Army, in one measure after another, with the goal being to prevent Chinese ‘cyber attacks.’

"Under the auspices of the United States, the ‘China threat theory’ in cyberspace has entered a new stage, going from media attacks to joint counterbalancing. The United States, taking China as its ‘biggest imaginary enemy’ in cyberspace, has achieved its strategic intent of jointly counterbalancing [China] on a global scale."

Source: China Youth Daily and People’s Daily, May 24, 2013

http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0524/c1011-21595608.html

http://zqb.cyol.com/html/2013-05/24/nw.D110000zgqnb_20130524_1-09.htm

Briefings | | May 24, 2013 | US-China Relations

Scholar: Relaxing Control of the Real State Sector Will Collapse the Economy

Yi Xianrong, a Research Fellow at the Institute of Finance and Banking under China’s Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), stated that once the control of real estate is relaxed, the Chinese economy will be dead. Yi made the remarks in response to reports that the central government may relax its control of the real state sector. “China’s housing market has been very high even under the tight controls. If the controls are relaxed, there is no doubt that the economy will be dead. Once the bubble bursts, the Chinese economy will not be salvageable whatsoever.”

Source: Sina.com, May 24, 2013

http://news.sina.com.hk/news/20130524/-9-2976740/1.html

Briefings | | May 24, 2013 | Economy/Resources

“Student Zhang, Please Return to China; Use the U.S. Style and Breathe Freely”

People’s Daily published a commentary supporting the Chinese student who criticized Joe Biden, Vice President of the United State, for the comments he made about China.

On Monday, May 13, 2013, Biden spoke at the commencement ceremony of the University of Pennsylvania. About China, Biden said, “You CANNOT think different in a nation where you cannot breathe free. You CANNOT think different in a nation where you aren’t able to challenge orthodoxy, because change only comes from challenging orthodoxy.” Zhang Tianpu, a Mainland Chinese student and graduating senior at the ceremony, felt insulted and wrote a letter to Biden demanding an apology. As of May 22, the letter had collected over 300 signatures.

State media published reports about Zhang. For example, a People’s Daily commentary stated that Biden’s self-righteousness is typical of American pride and prejudice. “The young Chinese are, in general, full of confidence in China’s situation and development. … China is walking its own path and that represents the confidence of young Chinese. This confidence is particularly valuable for the future of China and should be highly commended.”

Some Chinese newspapers and netizens thought differently. Nanfang Daily commented, “The Chinese student asked for an apology, ‘challenged orthodoxy,’ and ‘breathed freely,’ and moreover, he loved his motherland in an orthodox manner, but it reminds us of the classic joke about the former Soviet Union.” There was a popular joke in the former Soviet Union. A visiting U.S. Secretary of State told Brezhnev that people in the U.S. can criticize the U.S. President in front of the White House. Brezhnev replied, “So what? The people in the Soviet Union can also criticize the U.S. President in front of the Kremlin."

On weibo (Chinese version of twitter), some netizens urged Zhang to bring the U.S. style criticism back to China and “breathe freely.” Others complained about Internet control in which the authorities delete their posted comments on these topics.

Sources:
Huanqiu, May 23, 2013
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2013-05/3961235.html
People’s Daily, May 24, 2013
http://www.people.com.cn/24hour/n/2013/0524/c25408-21594797.html
Nanfang Daily, May 23, 2013
http://tinyurl.com/o4dgr75
Weibo, May 24, 2013
http://weiba.weibo.com/10015/t/zy9s058OQ; http://weiba.weibo.com/10015/t/zy9s058OQ

Briefings | | May 24, 2013 | US-China Relations

Qiushi Article Criticizes Constitutional Governance as Belonging to Capitalism

Red Flag Manuscript, the bi-weekly publication of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee’s Qiushi Journal, published an article that criticized Constitutional Governance, saying its ideals and key institutional elements “only belong to capitalism and the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie."

Yang Xiaoqing, a law professor at Renmin University of China, authored the article. He compared Constitutional Governance to the Chinese regime’s "Socialistic People’s Democracy." For example, the former is based upon private ownership and a market economy, while the latter is based on an economy of public ownership; the armed forces under Constitutional Governance are neutral and belong to the government, while the military in the "Socialistic People’s Democracy" is under the absolute leadership of the Communist Party. The author believes that "Constitutional Governance, as a comprehensive governance system, is not universally applicable" and that "its key institutional elements and ideals do not fit the socialist countries." The article also disapproved of Constitutional Governance as being deceptive. "The freedom and democracy on the surface cover up its essence, which is the freedom and democracy of the bourgeoisie and the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie." "Constitutional Governance boasts of a separation of powers with checks and balances, but, in reality, it is not a true separation of powers."

The article concluded that China’s "People’s Democracy" must not be called "socialist constitutional governance" because the people’s democracy and constitutional governance are two fundamentally different political systems. In the end, constitutional governance does not fit China’s national conditions.

Many Chinese Internet users criticized the article. One user responded, "It seems the people at high levels have never thought about really implementing the rule of law, democracy, constitutional governance, and human rights." Another said, "The root of China’s problems is the absence of constitutional government. Now someone blatantly claims, on one side, that a constitutional government does not fit China, but, on the other, it cannot really solve the increasingly serious social crisis. Either go for constitutional government, or go for the guillotine." Another one said, "The core of constitutional governance is democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. It is in favor of limiting the government to protect the rights of citizens. If one actually puts a capitalistic label onto democracy and human rights, that amounts to covering up the reality with its own ideology."

Source: BBC Chinese, May 21, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/05/130521_china_capitalism.shtml

Briefings | | May 23, 2013 | Government/Politics

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.”

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