Chinascope – Page 861

Xinhua: Close to 60 Percent of Underground Water in 198 Regions Rated Poor

On April 20, 2013, the Ministry of Land and Resources issued the 2012 China Land and Resource Communique. It disclosed that close to 60 percent of China’s underground water was rated poor. Of the sites tested, 16.8 percent were found to have extremely poor water quality. The study was conducted by checking the underground water quality at 4,929 testing sites in 198 regions.

Source: Xinhua, April 20, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2013-04/20/c_115468685.htm

Briefings | | April 22, 2013 | Economy/Resources

Xi Jinping: Learn from Historical Experiences and Lessons

Xinhua reported that, on April 19, 2013, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held its fifth group study session on the topic of “combat corruption and build a clean government.” Xi Jinping hosted the meeting. According to Xinhua, Xi stressed that the party needs to “pay attention to historical experiences and learn from historical lessons,” while improving the leadership skills of Party members so that the Party can maintain a strong core leadership in the current socialist development with Chinese characteristics.

Source: Xinhua, April 21, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2013-04/20/c_115468016.htm

Briefings | | April 22, 2013 | Government/Politics

The Information Office of the State Council Published the 2012 US Human Rights Record

Xinhua reported that the Information Office of the State Council released the "2012 US Human Rights Record." It was created in response to the “distorted claims” made in the 2012 Human Rights Report that the U.S. State Department published. "According to the ‘2012 Human Rights Record,’ the U.S., the so called ‘Human Rights Defender,’ pointed fingers at over 190 countries about their human rights issues while it kept silent about its own record. … The ‘2012 US Human Rights Record’ was meant to disclose human rights violations that took place in the U.S. in areas including life and personal safety, civil and political rights, economic and social rights, racial discrimination, woman and children’s rights, and the U.S. rights invasions of other countries." According to Xinhua, this is the 14th time that the State Council has published the "US Human Rights Record."

Source: Xinhua, April 21, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-04/21/c_115472314.htm

Briefings | | April 22, 2013 | US-China Relations

Huanqiu Editorial: Welcome Kerry; Hope He Is Different from Hillary

On April 13, 2013, Huanqiu (Global Times) published an editorial on new U.S. Secretary of the State John Kerry’s visit to China. Below are some highlights:

“This secretary is familiar with diplomatic affairs and is moderate in style, which is different from the former secretary Hillary Clinton.” “To Chinese people, the cold face of Hillary Clinton is hard to forget. [However,] ‘Moderate Kerry’ is only one of the many symbols of the United States. Even though his ‘moderation’ is true, he will not be able to lead the U.S. to reduce its suspicion toward China.”

"What Sino-U.S. diplomacy is has become a blurred and serious problem. In the past, we considered it to be diplomatic visits by the leaders of the two countries, Sino-U.S. trade, and military talks. Today even ordinary Chinese people can realize that matters such as the friction over the South China Sea, the Diaoyu Islands conflict and the Korean Peninsula chaos all contain ‘Sino-U.S. diplomacy.’ This makes a lot of Chinese people feel uncomfortable whenever the U.S. comes to mind." “Today, a considerable number of Chinese people believe the overall goal of the U.S. toward China is to overthrow the current political system and to ‘crush China’ in a way similar to what U.S. did to the Soviet Union. Therefore, China needs to be extremely vigilant while developing relations with the U.S.”

“Mutual trust between China and the U.S. cannot reach the same level as the trust among the U.S. and its allies. If the two countries allow each other’s strategic suspicion to go unchecked, the maintenance of "normal relations" between China and the U.S. can only rely on ‘common commercial interests.’ Such a relationship is not as strong as some people believe. It is very clear by just looking at the relationship between China and Japan.”

“It should be emphasized that the nature of suspicion in China and the United States is different. The U.S. worries that the rise of China is a challenge to its dominant position. Its preventive measures against China are offensive, such as the implementation of the ‘Asia-Pacific re-balancing strategy,’ deploying troops around China, and encouraging China’s neighboring countries to be aggressive in the island dispute with China. On the contrary, China’s precautions against the U.S. are an instinctive protection of the country’s current political and security interests. China’s approach is defensive.”

Source: Huanqiu, Aril 13, 2013

http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2013-04/3828126.html

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

2013 Hurun Report: The Growth of the Super-Rich Slowing Down

According to the 2013 Hurun Report released on April 15, 2013, the number of super-rich Chinese, defined as individuals with a net worth of 100 million yuan, grew two percent to 64,500 individuals, the slowest growth in the past four years. Beijing is home to more millionaires than any other city in China, accounting for 475,000 millionaires (in US dollars), followed by Shanghai with 390,000.

Eighty percent of these people are business owners, 15 percent are real estate investors, and five percent are day traders in the stock market.

These estimates of the 2013 Hurun Report are based on the macro-statistics from the National Bureau of statistics of China and on micro-statistics, including ownership of luxury homes and automobiles, income tax returns, sales of other luxuy items and registered capital of businesses.

Source: Xinhua, April 18, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2013-04/18/c_124595059.htm

Briefings | | April 19, 2013 | Economy/Resources

ShineWing: Local Government Debt is Out of Control

Zhang Ke, Vice President of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accounts and chairman of the Beijing based ShineWing (HK) CPA Limited said during an interview with Financial Times that due to concerns about risks, his firm has ceased its audit businesses relating to local governments’ issuance of bonds. “The situation is out of control.”

“We have audited the bonds that some local governments have issued. We found they were very high risk, so we withdrew.” Zhang continued, “Most local governments do not have the ability to pay back the principal or service the debt. Things could become very serious.”

Zhang also said, “The situation is out of control. There may be a crisis. However, because the due dates on these debts keep getting extended, they have become long-term debts. Therefore, the timing of the burst is uncertain.” He indicated that, from public squares to road improvements, many local governments have put money into investments and received mediocre returns. Now they can do nothing but borrow new money to pay old debts. Zhang said, “This approach will not survive much longer. … When that time comes, it will not be the government but CPA firms and banks that will bear the ultimate responsibility.”

The Beijing based ShineWing (HK) CPA Limited claims that it is the largest domestic CPA firm in China.

Source: Caijing.com, April 17, 2013
http://economy.caijing.com.cn/2013-04-17/112682959.html

Briefings | | April 19, 2013 | Economy/Resources

PLA Daily: The U.S. Cyber Strategy: Cooperation Is a Pretense; Confrontation Is What’s True

China’s military newspaper PLA Daily published an article claiming that the U.S. proposal to cooperate with China on the issue of cyber security is no more than a pretense. Confrontation is the real truth. The article referred to two news reports on April 9, 2013, regarding the U.S. cyber strategy. The first one said that, at the sixth China-U.S. Forum on the Internet, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Hormats stated, “Both sides need cooperation rather than confrontation." The second one said that John Hayden, deputy commander of the U.S. Air Force Space Command, announced at the U.S. National Space Symposium, "The U.S. Air Force has officially designated six kinds of Internet tools as weapons." The article said, “Taking the two news items together, one cannot help but wonder how sincere the United States’ proposal for cooperation really is.”

The article concluded, “Whether the United States is talking about cyberspace cooperation or promoting the development of Internet tools, it cannot cover the fact that its purpose is to maintain hegemony in the name of cooperation and the intention to threaten other countries by displaying new cyber weapons. One thing is for sure; the U.S. military bringing cyberspace into the arms race will make the fighting on cyberspace strategy increasingly fierce.”

The article was republished on almost all of China’s state-run media’s major websites.

Source: PLA Daily, April 15, 2013

http://chn.chinamil.com.cn/jwjj/2013-04/15/content_5299495.htm

http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2013-04/15/c_124579968.htm http://military.people.com.cn/BIG5/n/2013/0415/c1011-21135822.html

Briefings | | April 18, 2013 | US-China Relations

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.