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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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Red Flag Manuscript: The Decline of Western Market Fundamentalism

[Editor’s Note: Qiushi Online republished an article from Red Flag Manuscript on Western Market Fundamentalism. The article claimed that the recent global financial crisis has proven that Capitalism is approaching its end; that the Wall Street oligarchs and the U.S. government launched an unprecedented disaster affecting everyone on the planet; and that the world is turning to Marxism for a solution. The author, Yu Zurao, is a guest researcher at the World Socialism Research Center, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The following is a translation of the article.] [1]

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Reports | | |   Report

Huanqiu: China’s Has Urgent Need to Introduce the Grand Strategy of a Powerful Maritime Nation

Liang Fang, Professor of military strategy at the National Defense University of the PLA in China, published an article in Huanqiu (Global Times) urging China to implement a grand strategy to become a powerful maritime nation as soon as possible. He reasoned that “China’s maritime security faces unprecedented grim threats and challenges. The United States has carried out a full range of strategic encirclement and containment tactics in the Pacific by implementing its ‘Asia-Pacific re-balancing strategy.’ In the East and South China Sea, disputes with the neighboring countries over their maritime interests are becoming increasingly fierce. … The potential threat of conflict is increasing. At the same time, as the second largest economy in the world, economic globalization has transformed China into an export-oriented economy dependent on strategic maritime channels. Facing such a complex maritime security situation, China needs to develop and introduce a maritime strategy as soon as possible and speed up its development as a powerful maritime nation.” 

Professor Liang listed four characteristics for China to have as a maritime power: 1) a developed marine economy; 2) powerful naval power; 3) a strong Marine Stewardship; 4) well established marine regulations. 
Source: Huanqiu, January 13, 2013 
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/opinion_world/2012-11/3269823.html
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

National Audit Office Discovered Repeat Offenders in Central Government

On January 16, 2013, China’s National Audit Office released its 2011 audit report on the implementation of the budget and on other revenues and expenditures of the central government. The audit report showed that, as of the end of last October, the 50 central government departments and their affiliates spent 10.281 billion yuan in violation of financial management regulations. “As for repeat offenders, the person-in-charge at the National Audit Office observed that every year the audit report covered the same audit targets with the same audit scope. Thus, to a certain extent, the audit led to the discovery of problems that were similar to those of previous years. This gave the public the appearance that it revealed the same old face and the same old problems."

Source: Huanqiu, January 17, 2013
http://finance.huanqiu.com/china/2013-01/3514269.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

People’s Daily: Senior Executives at State-Owned Enterprises Have “Golden Rice Bowls”

The State Newspaper, People’s Daily (overseas edition), published a commentary criticizing the current appointment system for officials at central government-owned enterprises. The commentary was titled “Senior Executive Positions in Central Government-owned Enterprises Are a Means of Compensation; If One Cannot Become Deputy Provincial Governor, He Will Be Appointed Chairman of the Board.” The commentary stated, “Due to pressure from vested interests, the current personnel management at Central Government-owned Enterprises lacks a mechanism of constraints and incentives. Senior executives have become a privileged class, which has a significant negative impact on the national economy. It is imperative that this administrative appointment and dismissal system of personnel management be reformed.” The commentary called those highly paid executive positions “golden rice bowls.”

Source: People’s Daily, January 16, 2013
http://energy.people.com.cn/n/2013/0116/c71661-20219834.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Chinese People Continue to Petition for Press Freedom

On January 13, 2013, a group of people in Beijing held petitions in front of the office building of the Beijing News newspaper, expressing support for the editors and reporters of the newspaper who the authorities had disciplined. On January 12, dozens of people in Guangzhou gathered in front of the Southern Newspaper Group to express solidarity with the Southern Weekend and support the value of freedom of the press. On the same day, some of the residents of Suzhou City (in Jiangsu Province) arrived at the tomb of Lin Zhao, who died in the tragic persecution during the Anti-Rightist Campaign and the Cultural Revolution, showing banners in support of the Southern Weekend. These activities clearly relate to the incident of Southern Weekend’s New Year’s editorial being censored.

Li Xiaobing, a Professor and Director of the Western Pacific Institute at the University of Central Oklahoma, said that since the new Communist Party’s leadership of Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, China has not seen real freedom of the press, but people want to have an independent media.

Source: Radio Free Asia, January 13, 2013
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/sd-01132013142859.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

People’s Daily: The China Model Is Smashing the Hegemony of (Western) Universal Values

People’s Daily (overseas edition) published a commentary touting how the China Model will transform the world’s universal values and establish the direction for the future of human civilization.

The article started by attacking the nature of Western values. It stated, “Once upon a time universal values became synonymous with the hegemony of Western values. … When the torch of Western civilization spread to the United States, it pushed the hegemony of Western values over the limit. The Western world, represented by the United States, in the name of the international community, monopolized the right to interpret the development model; so much so that American liberal capitalism has become the ‘ultimate goal.’" 
The article then claimed that China’s rise seriously challenges the validity of (Western) universal values. It said, "The rise of China, as the representative of the emerging economies, is severely impacting Western universal values. This has led to the spread of different versions of the ‘China threat theory.’ … For China, the only way to quash the ‘China threat theory’ is to realize ‘re-globalization.’ The current ‘globalization,’ in essence, is merely the ‘globalization’ of Western contents, system, and culture.” 
“In the new era, the world needs the Chinese dream, because the China model is enriching the fundamentals of universal values.” 
The article closed by stating, “Through China’s revitalization, [China] will Lead the ‘post Western era’ in order to achieve the sustainable development of human civilization; China will fundamentally be established as the legitimate world leader.” 

Source: People’s Daily, January 12, 2013 
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0112/c1011-20179476.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

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 | | |   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 | | |   Grapevine