Chinascope – Page 856

PLA: Get Ready for War

The General Staff Department (GSD) of the People’s Liberation Army has issued the 2013 military training instruction manual for the entire military. It stresses “getting ready for war” and “training to meet the needs of a war.” People’s Daily reported the issuance using the title: Military Training Guide Issued; War-Fighting Has Become the Key Word.” According to the People’s Daily, the instructions “ask that all of the military forces and armed police strengthen their mental preparation for war; increase the sense of urgency, a sense of crisis, and a sense of mission; get ready for war, conduct difficult and strict training of troops based on the actual needs of war; improve the capability to fight war, …. adhere to the standards for war, and measure training effectiveness in accordance with the demands of an actual war.”

Source: People’s Daily, January 14, 2013
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0115/c1011-20198682.html

Briefings | | January 17, 2013 | Defense/Military

Severe Air Pollution in Beijing Won’t Disappear Soon

According to a statement the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau made on January 14, 2013, “Severe air pollution in Beijing won’t disappear soon.” From January 10 to 14, 2013, the air quality in Beijing remained at the level of "severe to serious" pollution.

Source: http://news.china.com.cn/, January 14, 2013
http://news.china.com.cn/live/2013-01/14/content_18176487.htm

Briefings | | January 16, 2013 | Grapevine

China to Continue Its One-Child Policy

On January 14, 2013, Wang Xia, Director of China’s National Population and Family Planning Committee, said at an NPFP Work Conference that China will continue its one-child policy. He stated, “We will adhere unwaveringly to the Planned Parenthood Policy, China’s fundamental national policy, and maintain a low birth-rate.”

Source: China News, January 15, 2013
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2013/01-15/4487037.shtml

Briefings | | January 16, 2013 | Economy/Resources

Huanqiu Editorial: How Shall We View Staring a War after Nearly 30 years Peace?

On January 15, 2013, , Huanqiu (the Chinese edition of Global Times) published an editorial titled, “How Shall We View ‘Staring a War’ after Nearly 30 years Peace?" According to the article, discussions about “starting a war” have appeared on Chinese media due to the tense situation in the Diaoyu Islands and the South China Sea. The article stated that the United States is everywhere behind the hot spots around China.

It concluded, “China should continue to build up the power of its national defense so as to form a strategic deterrent against the United States, which is behind all of the above thinking. The stronger China’s economic strength is, the greater China’s influence will be in the world order. China must have sufficient military power to suppress the ambitions behind any attempt to use non-economic means to change the rules of competition .”

Source: Huanqiu, January 15, 2013
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2013-01/3494346.html

Briefings | | January 16, 2013 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Xinhua: Stay Alert for U.S. Offline Network Attacks

Xinhua recently published an article analyzing strategic changes in U.S. network-based warfare. According to the article, the key focus should be offline attack technologies that can implant data, via wireless signals, into enemy systems that are not connected to the Internet. It was reported that the U.S. Army obtained this strategic technology five years ago. There are three other strategic changes mentioned in the article: (1) New network warfare rules; (2) Distribution of offensive network attack weapons instead of defensive ones; (3) An upgrade of the network warfare command center to the top level in the Army’s ranking system.

Source: Xinhua, January 7, 2013

http://news.xinhuanet.com/globe/2013-01/07/c_132074516.htm

Briefings | | January 15, 2013 | Defense/Military

RFA: 100 Times More Chinese Middle School Students Head for the US

Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported that, compared to the year 2006, 100 times more Chinese students attended U.S. middle schools in 2011. Many of these students studied at costly elite schools. The numbers are based on data released by the U.S. Department of Education. From 2005 to 2006, around sixty Chinese middle school students studied in the U.S. In 2011, the headcount reached seven thousand. The number of Chinese students that came to the United States in 2011 totaled 160,000, which made China number one in the number of international students coming to the U.S. Most of the Chinese middle school students attended private schools with costs higher than the average college. Many Chinese parents interviewed by RFA suggested that the primary reasons for sending their kids to the States were: first, nothing useful can be learned in Chinese schools; and second, the U.S. is safer than China.

Source: Radio Free Asia, January 11, 2013

http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/xql-01112013161340.html

Briefings | | January 15, 2013 | US-China Relations

CRN: China’s Central Bank Printed More Currency than the U.S.

China Review News (CRN) recently reported that, based on information officially released by China’s central bank, China’s currency supply (M2, a broad indicator to quantify the amount of money in circulation) reached RMB 97.42 trillion yuan (around US$15.53 trillion) by the end of 2012. This number represents an annual increase of 13.8 percent and is two times the Chinese GDP. Based on the current exchange rate, China’s GDP is one third of the U.S. scale, but the Chinese currency’s circulation level has already surpassed the U.S. Experts warned that the extra printed money may introduce potential systemic risks. Last year’s data for China shows that the government was loosening up the currency policies in order to “stabilize growth.” It is expected that China will maintain the current policies for the first half of 2013 and may tighten up in the second half, which typically faces higher inflation pressure.

Source: China Review News, January 11, 2013

http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1023/9/7/7/102397732.html?coluid=10&kindid=253&docid=102397732&mdate=0111093828

Briefings | | January 15, 2013 | Economy/Resources

A Clash of Values, Part I

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Introduction

There can be no greater difference between forms of government than between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Their foundations and goals and the means they use to achieve them lie in stark contrast. The United States came about as the result of a revolution that resulted in the promulgation of its Founding Principles to ensure the freedom and guarantee the rights of the governed. The PRC is a Communist government that came about as a result of violent revolution. Its leaders then “transformed its revolutionary idealism into a conservative reactionary autocracy.” They believed “that they themselves were the embodiment of ‘the people’ or ‘the general will’ and thus had full legitimacy to use all means possible, including dictatorship and terrorist killings to achieve this goal.” [1]

This series of articles explores the contrast between the two from the perspective of the United States’ founding principles as an example of the greatness that a government can achieve as compared to a regime based on a usurpation of power and its continuance at the barrel of a gun. Part I describes America’s Founding and the principles on which it is based.

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Analyses | | January 14, 2013 | Opinion

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.

CCP, Master of Hostage Diplomacy