Chinascope – Page 853

Huanqiu Suggests Chinese Media Publicize the Secrets Snowden Has in His Hand

On June 18, 2013, Huanqiu (the Chinese edition of Global Times) published an editorial responding to U.S. former vice president Dick Cheney’s hint that Edward Snowden, the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations, is a possible Chinese spy. According to the article, the Chinese government should not hand Snowden over to the United States because it fears trouble. The U.S. does not have any evidence to prove that Snowden is a Chinaese spy. If the Hong Kong government does not extradite Snowden, it will not lose any points on the moral level. Except for the extradition treaty with Hong Kong, the opinions that the U.S. releases cannot hurt China. The editorial suggested that Chinese reporters contact Snowden more and publicize the information in his hands around the world so as to put Snowden himself at the center of public opinion and lead public attention away from the American politicians’ accusations. The U.S. government will thus be discouraged in demanding Snowden’s extradition in the face of surging discussions of the secrets he released.

It is very practical for the U.S. government to drag the Chinese government into Snowden’s case so as to turn the public’s anger toward the U.S. government into dissatisfaction with the Chinese government. China will feel pressured but does not need to be too nervous. So far, the United States has not openly pressured the Chinese government publicly on the case, which, according to the editorial, is good enough for the Chinese government.

Source: Huanqiu, June 18, 2013
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2013-06/4035403.html

Briefings | | June 19, 2013 | US-China Relations

Global Times: China Accused of Having a Political Motivation for Helping Nicaragua Build Canal

Global Times recently reported that the Congress of Nicaragua passed a proposal to allow the government to award an exclusive commercial contract to the Hong Kong headquartered HKND Group to construct the Nicaragua Canal. The Nicaragua Canal Project is to build the world’s largest and deepest inter-oceanic canal. It will compete head to head against the Panama Canal. Western media, such as Time Magazine, questioned whether China’s motivation behind the bid had geo-political considerations. The US$40 billion agreement with the Chinese company included fifty years of special operational rights which can be extended for another fifty years. Spanish media also suggested that the lack of transparency in the congressional vote as well as the impact of environmental damage are all issues that may require further discussion. The chairman of the 10-month-old HKND Group claimed the company had "rich experience" in developing and managing large infrastructure-building projects. Reuters suggested that China has a "strong enough economy" to invest into modernized ocean based transportation opportunities and that it’s about time. Time Magazine also commented that China has been expanding its influence in the U.S. backyard for some time now. However, Nicaragua is still one of the very few countries that maintains an official relationship with Taiwan.

Source: Global Times, June 15, 2013

http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2013-06/4028674.html

Briefings | | June 18, 2013 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Xinhua: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Established Office of Internet Affairs

Xinhua reported that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially announced at a recent press conference that the Ministry had created a new organizational unit called the Office of Internet Affairs. The new unit will be responsible for Internet-related foreign relations developments. At the press conference, the spokeswoman was asked about the latest evidence that demonstrated that the U.S. has been attacking the Chinese networks for many years. She suggested that China was one of the most attacked countries in the world and the Internet space does not need war and hegemony. The Ministry set up the new office to work with various parties to cooperate under the UN international framework and rules for Internet related matters. The spokeswoman also suggested that there is a working group under the China-U.S. Strategic Security Dialog Framework. China will continue to use that channel to work with the United States.

Source: Xinhua, June 15, 2013

http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-06/15/c_116153301.htm

Briefings | | June 18, 2013 | Government/Politics

Blue Book of China Audio-Visual New Media: The New Media Are Taking Control

The research center of the State Administration of Radio Film and Television recently published the 2013 Annual Report on the Development of China’s Audio Visual New Media. According to the report, the new media have had a significant impact. Personal computers, flat panel computers, and smart phones have brought the number of households living in Beijing who watch TV down to 30 percent from 70 percent three years ago. The report said that the audience for traditional media has shifted towards the senior population. A majority of the audience that watches television is age 40 years and older. In the meantime, the number of online television and video users has gone up. The Internet has become a major venue for watching popular TV movie series.

The report also suggested that, as the traditional media are losing their young audiences, their advertising market is shrinking as well. From 2007 to 2012, online advertising grew 120 percent for three straight years, significantly surpassing the increase in the television market.

It was reported that the annual income of the online video industry was 3.14 billion yuan (US$0.51 billion) in 2010, 6.27 billion (US$1.02 billion) in 2011 and 9.25 billion (US$1.51 billion) in 2012. The public opinion monitoring room of People’s Daily disclosed that the official media had 80 percent of the discourse rights in the 1980’s while non-official media gained 75 percent of the discourse rights on the top 20 popular social events in 2012.

Source: Xinhua, June 16, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/info/2013-06/16/c_132458593_8.htm

Briefings | | June 17, 2013 | Information/Technology

Li Keqiang Introduced Ten Air Pollution Prevention Measures and Promoted Photovoltaic Industry

On June 14, China’s new Premier, Li Keqiang, hosted the State Council meeting where he introduced plans for ten air pollution prevention measures and promoted the development of the photovoltaic industry.

The ten measures for preventing air pollution included, but were not limited to: limiting air pollution emissions; limiting production and growth of industries that consume high energy and create pollution; actively promoting “clean” manufacturing while reducing pollution emissions for key industries by 30 percent or more; increasing the usage of natural gas and coal methanol in order to speed up adjustments in the energy structure; strictly enforcing clean energy guidelines; and promoting incentives on projects to save energy. … The Council also stated that the photovoltaic industry is an important field for new energy development, although it is suffering from weak demand in both the domestic and international markets. The council called for efforts to strengthen the photovoltaic industry and promote product innovation and development to regain the photovoltaic market.

Source: Xinhua, June 14, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-06/14/c_116152393.htm

Briefings | | June 17, 2013 | Government/Politics

Developing Party Membership in Private Companies in Kunshan City

Xinhua published an article about developing Party membership in Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, where 98 percent of the economic production comes from private enterprises.

According to the article, in the mid 1980’s, as more and more foreign investments poured in from Europe, the U.S., Japan, and Korea, the municipal government of Kunshan formulated a clear direction: to treat the importance of appealing to foreign investments the same as when developing the Party structure in private enterprises. For every foreign investment plan that was to be developed, all levels of municipal departments were required to come up with a plan to develop the Party structure in order to ensure that the “Party’s development moved in parallel with the economic development for each investment opportunity.”

According to the article, the City of Kunshan sent 352 full time Party cadres to the private enterprises. Those cadres, together with 3,668 Party leaders selected from the employees of the private sectors, formed a Party development team in Kunshan. They received financial incentives, as well as retirement and pension plans from the city.

The article disclosed that, because of the consistent Party development efforts in Kunshan, Kunshan currently has achieved "total coverage of Party membership" in private enterprises. Over 2,700 Party organizations have formed in private enterprises. They include 20,000 Party members, which accounts for 35 percent of the total Party members in Kunshan City. Of those, 75 percent hold key positions in their company.

Source: Xinhua, June 16, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-06/16/c_124861568_3.htm

Briefings | | June 17, 2013 | Government/Politics

Xinhua: The Troika Out of Steam and Economic Recovery Difficult

According to the macro-economic statistics recently released for the month of May, investments, exports, and consumption all fell below market expectations. The total social financing was 1.19 trillion yuan, a drop of over 30 percent from the figure for April. Since September of 2012, the Producer Price Index (PPI) and the industrial value added have hit new lows.

A review of the “Troika” (fixed asset investments, retail sales, and exports) that is deemed to be the driving force for economic growth shows fixed-asset investments grew slower than April by 0.2 percent compared to the growth from last year which was 20.4 percent; retail sales, with a growth of 12.9 percent from a year ago, was also below market expectations; exports in May grew one percent from a year earlier, a reduction of 13.7 percentage points compared to April’s growth. This was way below the 5.6 percent market expectation; it has hit its lowest point since last July.

Source: Xinhua, June 13, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2013-06/13/c_124847267.htm

Briefings | | June 14, 2013 | Economy/Resources

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