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China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

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Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

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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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People’s Daily: Over Seventy Percent of Entrepreneurs Complained about Heavy Taxes

People’s Daily recently reported on the newly released, "The China 500 Development Report 2012," which was based on research that the Chinese Entrepreneur Survey System had done. The results showed that 74.2 percent of the entrepreneurs expressed concern about the heavy taxes China has today. Around 30 percent of the entrepreneurs surveyed would, if given a second chance, rather not be an entrepreneur. The report also demonstrated that there were significantly more companies this year that suffered a negative profit growth rate.
 
Source: People’s Daily, March 10, 2013
http://lianghui.people.com.cn/2013cppcc/n/2013/0310/c357533-20735792.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Xinhua: New Missiles Deployed Aiming at U.S. Targets

Xinhua recently reported that the Chinese military deployed “a small number" of the latest Dongfeng-21D missiles. The Dongfeng-21D is a land-based long range missile with mobile launch capabilities. The new missile is considered the world’s first anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) that aims at some U.S. Pacific military airports. However, the lack of field tests is a primary problem for the new system. Many analysts expressed doubts about whether the Dongfeng-21D can truly attack moving targets at sea. The report suggested that a land-based defense strategy may be more effective than that of arming a full-size ocean-going navy. The author also expressed the belief that the United States should maintain its superior under-water capabilities as a strategic balance.
Sources: 
Xinhua, March 8, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/cankao/2013-03/08/c_132218525.htm
Yahoo Military News, March 9, 2013
http://mili.cn.yahoo.com/ypen/20130309/1647749.html
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Bureau of Statistics: February CPI Reached Ten-Month High

The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics recently released the official CPI (Consumer Price Index) number for February. The CPI increased by 3.2 percent, which is the highest in ten months. Among the different components of the CPI formula, the food price index increased six percent, which included a 10 percent increase in fresh vegetables. The prices of rice and of fruit increased by 5.1 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively. Some experts expressed the belief that the Chinese New Year was the main cause of the increase in the February CPI. However, the numbers still caused widespread concern among economists about inflation. The Chinese government injected a large amount of currency into the economy in the past twelve months in order to deal with the economic downturn. The CPI calculation does not include housing prices.
Sources: 
National Bureau of Statistics, March 9, 2013
http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjfx/jdfx/t20130309_402878616.htm
Xinhua, March 10, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2013-03/10/c_124437884.htm
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Lack of Trust: Tension Soars between Doctors and Patients

Xinhua carried an article on the increased tension between doctors and patients. The topic had been brought up during the meeting the delegates from the medical field held at the National People’s Congress. It was reported that one study conducted among 30 hospitals in the eastern part of China suggested that only 10 percent of patients trust their doctors. The statistics released by the Department of Health suggested that, from 2006 to 2010, the number of violent incidents that resulted from medical disputes increased by 70 percent. Among those, 70 percent of the incidents were due to a lack of communication and a heart of caring between doctors and patients.

According to the article, a poor and high risk work environment has caused some doctors and medical school students to give up their medical practice. The investigation suggested that close to 80 percent of the doctors “would discourage their children from going to medical school.” Among the existing medical students in the medical schools in Beijing, only 50 percent are willing to practice clinical medicine.

The article said that in order to reduce the work load in the hospitals in urban regions, the central administration has initiated medical reforms and has invested over 60 trillion yuan (US$9.65 trillion) to support the hospitals and clinics in rural towns and counties. The results were not significant. The delegates called for reform in a number of areas to ease the tension.

Source: Xinhua, March 9, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/health/2013-03/09/c_124436141.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

BBC Chinese: Parties from Various Social Groups Call for Internet Control Management

Wu Bangguo, Chairman and Party Secretary of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, recently spoke at the National People’s Congress. Wu said that the parties from various social groups called for Internet control management and for employing harsh measures against online crimes. Wu stated that the People’s Congress has implemented an Internet user identification system and has played a key role in safeguarding the stability of China.

Internet users had mixed reactions to Wu’s speech. Some favored Wu’s speech while others questioned it. One posting on the Ten Cent micro blog asked, “What does it mean that the central administration will employ Internet management? They will not allow us to speak up.” Another posting asked, “Wu’s statement said that parties from ‘various social groups’ are calling for Internet management. What does ‘various social groups’ refer to?” One posting advised, “We should consider studying the advanced Internet management technology from North Korea.”

Source: BBC Chinese, March 8, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/03/130308_wubangguo_internet.shtml

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

BBC Chinese: Chinese Leaders Praised China’s Political System and Vowed not to Adopt Western Model

BBC Chinese published a report that discussed the statements that two Chinese leaders made during the recent National People’s Congress. Wang Yang, Member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, attended the meeting held by the delegates of the National People’s Congress from An Hui Province. Wang praised the development China has made in recent years and attributed China’s success to the system and path that it has adopted. Wang said that China is developing rapidly and peacefully; he said the Western world is concerned about it and has used a number of methods in an attempt to slow down China’s growth. On March 8, Wu Bangguo, the departing Chairman and Party Secretary of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, asserted that China will consistently adopt the system that is represented by its people and will not follow the political model of the Western world. In 2009, Wu also denied the possibility that China would ever allow multiple parties.

Source: BBC Chinese, March 8, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/03/130308_china_politics_wangyang.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Mainland Expert: Military Spending Growth Not Enough

China’s defense budget for 2013, released on March 5, shows an increase of 10.7 percent over last year. Although the increase has been widely reported in foreign media and some members of the U.S. Congress are concerned, some mainland observers pointed out that China’s military spending growth is moderate.

Ma Gang, a director at China’s National Defense University, believes a country’s military spending mainly is a function of the needs to safeguard national sovereignty and carry out international responsibilities, as well as its economic development. In recent years, with the growing sovereignty and security challenges, the responsibility of defending national interests, the obligations for international security as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and steady economic development, it is a normal phenomenon for there to be a double digit increase in military spending. Ma said that there is still a gap between the growth in China’s military spending and China’s actual needs. Future military spending growth will still be a function of national security and economic development.

Since the 1990’s, China’s annual defense spending has generally maintained double-digit increases. In 2010, it dropped to 7.5 percent, but double-digit increases resumed in 2011.

Source: People’s Daily, March 8, 2013
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0308/c1011-20720222.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

People’s Daily: U.S. Pushing Global “Cyberspace Arms Race”

On March 8, People’s Daily published an article written by Yang Jian, a scholar at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, in response to a U.S. security company’s report accusing the People’s Liberation Army unit in Shanghai of engaging in cyberwarfare against American corporations, organizations, and government agencies.

"The U.S. institutions, media, and politicians recently joined hands to stir up the so-called incident of China’s cyberspace attacks on the U.S., provoking distrust  in cyber security among the major powers. The logic and thinking process (behind this accusation) are worrisome. The U.S. is guiding global cyber security to a wrong conclusion."

"The U.S. strategic papers are filled with the wrong idea of seeking superpower status in cyberspace. The U.S. was the first to name allies and potential enemies in their network security strategy documents; the first to set up a network force to develop network operational plans; and the first to introduce the concept of deterrence in cyberspace. The U.S. strategy is to make enemies, cause the deterioration of relationships between the countries, and undermine the basis and atmosphere of international cooperation on cyber security. Advocating cyber warfare destroys the peaceful nature of the Internet. With other countries following the lead of the U.S., a worldwide destructive view of cyber security has developed. In the past two years, South Korea, India, NATO, Germany, Britain, Japan, and Russia have one by one established network forces or developed plans for armed forces of network security. The global arms race on cyber space is about to begin."

"The U.S. has taken a lot of trouble to look for the shadow of the Chinese military. Actually it hopes to implement outdated and harmful cyber security concepts by making an enemy and tracking the evidence. So far, only the U.S. government has initiated cyber attacks against nuclear facilities and network firewalls in countries. In the current round of the so-called China’s cyber attack incident, the U.S. again has provided a wrong presentation, which validates its revengeful actions based on the so-called ‘facts’ recognized by its own domestic organization. The U.S. already played this trick when launching the Iraqi war. The act of making up excuses for its unilateral actions, if spread in cyberspace, will bring catastrophic consequences."

Source: People’s Daily, March 8, 2013
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2013/0308/c1011-20718565.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations