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

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

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

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

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BBC Chinese: EU Planning Punitive Tariffs against Chinese Photovoltaic Products

BBC Chinese recently reported that the European Union is preparing to impose punitive tariffs on photovoltaic products imported from China that are worth billions of dollars. It is widely expected that these trade protections will anger China. The EU is trying to protect key European vendors such as the German company SolarWorld. The Chinese government has already said that China will not remain quiet and have no reaction. The output of Chinese photovoltaic products quadrupled between 2009 and 2011. Products made in China currently occupy 80 percent of the EU market. The EU market is half the size of the global market, which is worth $77 billion. The EU Trade Commission is getting ready to implement the anti-dumping measures; it claims there is sufficient evidence to support this action. 
Source: BBC Chinese, May 3, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/world_outlook/2013/05/130503_eu_china_solar.shtml
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

RFA: Canada Attacked at UN Human Rights Forum

Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported that, at the United Nations Human Rights Forum, China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia attacked Canada’s human rights situation. North Korea expressed its “deep concern” about Canada’s continued violation of freedom of speech, torture, and racism. Iran accused the Canadian government of trafficking in children, of depriving children of their right to food, and of discriminating against Muslim, Arabic and African communities. The Chinese delegation was offended by Canada’s “widespread racism.” The Russian representative said that he was surprised by the violence that the Canadian police demonstrated. The Cuban government insisted that Canada suffers from serious xenophobia and racism. The Geneva-headquartered independent organization, UN Watch, described the UN Human Rights Forum as becoming a “wonder scene” of “hypocrisy and farce.” The Canadian government has already allowed the entry of three UN inspectors to check on Canada’s human rights record. 
Source: Radio Free Asia, May 2, 2013
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/to-05022013140905.html
Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Qiushi:Sources of Risk for Internet-Based Public Opinion Emergency Events

Qiushi Journal, a bi-weekly magazine published by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, recently published an article discussing how to control online public opinion. Since 2012, China has had over 300 million users, making it the largest online microblogging country in the world. At the same time, the number of public opinion “emergency events” has increased significantly. The article suggested that control should be applied to the sources of the risk. The author summarized eight primary sources: (1) Events related to government official’s misconduct; (2) Events triggered by wealth gaps in society; (3) Events inflamed by abuse of police power; (4) Corruption; (5) Sex scandals; (6) Events involving violence; (7) Widespread counterfeiting; (8) Unfairness against vulnerable social groups. The article called for closer government monitoring of these sources in addition to technical methods such as keyword filtering.
Source: Qiushi Journal, May 2, 2013
http://www.qstheory.cn/sh/shjs/201305/t20130502_227206.htm
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

RFA: Chinese Officials Collect Information on Religious Beliefs of Minorities in Xinjiang

The officials from Xinjiang Province sent a group of “stability work teams” to the villages in Xinjiang Province to collect information on the religious beliefs of minority families. According to an online Uighur website, the data collected in the town of Ke Shi Shu Fu suggested that people who hold religious beliefs were divided into various categories. Information was even collected about those who do not have religious beliefs but are knowledgeable about religion. The teams collected comprehensive documentation on the resident’s families and social circles.

The official statistics suggested that, by the end of 2009, there were 9.87 million people of the Uighur minority living in Xinjiang Province; a majority of them are of the Islam religion. There are many people from other minority groups, including Kazakstan, Hui People, Uzbek, Kirghiz, Tajikistan, and Tatar, who also follow the Islam religion.

Source: Radio Free Asia, May 2, 2013
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shaoshuminzu/ql1-05022013100025.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

BBC Chinese: Party Is Split Internally over Media Report on Labor Camp Torture Cases

BBC Chinese carried an analysis of the recent media reports about the disclosure of the incidents of torture at Masajia Labor Camp. The article suggested that there was an internal split among the party leadership about the labor camp system and about Falun Gong issues and that the differences among the leadership will cause this forbidden topic to become known to the outside world.

According to the analysis, after Len’s Magazine‘s breakthrough in reporting on this sensitive subject, a few media and reporters openly challenged the notice banning the topic. The analysis stated, “All of those facts suggest that the views among the party’s senior leadership are split about both the labor camp system and about Falun Gong issues.” “Even though the article did not mention Falun Gong, a sensitive topic in China, many media, including Associated Press and the South China Morning Post, have noticed that the details about the torture revealed in the article were identical to the claims that Falun Gong adherents made 10 years ago.” The article concluded that torture cases have existed in China for at least a dozen years, but China’s media system has covered them up.

Len’s Magazine published the article “Stepping Out of Masanjia” on April 6. On April 9, the Central Propaganda Department issued a notice to quash the article. However China Woman Daily and Legal Daily continued to cover the topic including interviews of the main characters. On April 19, Liaoning Province made an official statement claiming that “distorted facts were found in ‘Stepping Out of Masanjia.’" Xinhua and Legal Daily followed up with the same type of articles. Yuan Ling, the author of “Stepping Out of Masanjia” issued a statement on his micro blog in Sina stating the article was written on a factual basis and requested an apology. Guangming Daily published a commentary calling for the application of legal measures to dig out the truth. It also noted that the article by Xinhua did not have an author. In Hong Kong on April 27, Du Bing, an independent filmmaker released a documentary movie called, Above the Ghosts’ Heads: The Women of Masanjia Labor Camp. Du told Apple Daily that the truth of the torture should be made known to people around the world.

Source: BBC Chinese, May 2, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/05/130502_ana_liaoning_masanjia.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Qiushi Theory Analysis of US Diplomacy on Human Rights

On May 19, the US State Department issued the “Global Human Rights Report for 2012.” Then on May 19, Qiushi published an analytical article on the subject. The article stated that, while the US adopted “Human Rights” as a key agenda item in its foreign policy, its real intention is to act as the global police to promote its own value system around the world. According to the article, “This shows that the U.S.’s obvious intention is to maintain its world dominance and utilize power politics in order to benefit its own interests.”  The article observed that the U.S. uses a double standard. While it often interferes with the domestic matters of other countries, the U.S. itself violates human rights in many ways. The article also mentioned that the US has always tried all kinds of means to create trouble for China on human rights issues even though both countries have completely different political systems and ideology.

Source: Qiushi Theory, May 2, 2013
http://www.qstheory.cn/zs/201304/t20130426_226409.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

North Sea Fleet Organizes Recruits to Take Oath at the Site of the 1894 Sino-Japanese Naval Battle

The military training base of the North Sea Fleet stationed at Liugong island organized the recruits to take an oath at the site of the 1894 Sino-Japanese War memorial. The activity was part of the military political education to follow the instructions of the 18th Party Congress and President Xi Jinping’s requirement of “showing allegiance to the Party and being able to win the war.” They used the national disgrace of the loss of the 1894 naval battle as a way to educate, alert and motivate the soldiers. “Never forget the shame of 1894 and work hard to win [wars]." That way, we “can deliver more and better sailors for our naval vessels.”

Source: Xinhua, May 2, 2013 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2013-05/02/c_124654931.htm
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

China Reported Steady Increase in H7N9 Cases

On May1, 2013, the China National Health and Family Planning Commission released information indicating that between 1600 hours on April 24 and 1600 hours on May 1, 2013, another 19 new H7N9 cases were reported for a total of 127 cases. Twenty-six have died and 26 have recovered. Of the 19 newly reported cases, three are in Jiangsu Province, four in Zhejiang Province, three in Fujian Province, five in Jiangxi Province, one in Shandong Province, one in Henan Province, and two in Hunan Province. The official release maintained that there is no epidemic connection between the cases and no evidence indicating human to human transmission.

The cases of those infected have spread over ten provinces and provincial level municipalities.

Source: Xinhua, May 1, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2013-05/01/c_115604120.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability