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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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China Holds Central Economic Work Conference

China will hold a Central Economic Work Conference on December 15 and 16, 2012, to determine the direction for its economic policies in the upcoming year.

Many policy experts believe that the target for economic growth will remain at 7.5 percent with a focus on maintaining stability while improving quality and productivity. It is expected that the urbanization of rural areas will drive economic growth in the mid to long term. There will also be personnel shifts at the upper management level in the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, and the National Development and Reform Commission, as well as in some entities dealing with financial regulation.

Source: Huanqiu, December 13, 2012
http://china.huanqiu.com/politics/2012-12/3374586.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Xinhua Commentary: China Has Made Significant Improvements in Human Rights

On December 12, 2012, the Chinese Society for Human Rights Studies and the China Foundation for Human Rights Development co-hosted the fifth Beijing Forum on Human Rights. On December 13, Xinhua published a commentary and stated that the forum “has had a significant impact in urging exchange and collaboration of the international community in promoting human rights; it also demonstrated the progress China has made in this area.”

As to the criticism that China has received from foreign media and from some Chinese people about its human rights record, the commentary stated that some are constructive while more are “one-sided and lack fairness.” The commentary also noted that China’s human rights are not perfect, just like the U.S., the human rights preacher, whose record is often criticized. The commentary further asserted that China should be recognized for the significant improvements it has made on human rights issues.

Source: Xinhua, December 13, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/comments/2012-12/13/c_114017998.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Xinhua: The U.S. Senate Complicates the Diaoyu Islands Issue to Deter China

[Editor’s Note: In a recent article, Xinhua reported that the U.S. Senate added an amendment to its National Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2013, stating that, while the United States took no position on the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands (called the Diaoyu Islands in China), it acknowledged that Japan had administrative authority over them. Xinhua collected and reviewed many of its recent reports on the Diaoyu Islands. In the article it criticized the U.S. Senate for making a wrong decision and claimed that “the U.S. is the controlling hand behind the scenes on the Diaoyu Islands issue.” It further alleged that the U.S. wants to “use the Diaoyu Islands to distract and interfere with China’s strategic focus in order to deter China’s rise.” The following is a translation of excerpts from the article.] [1]

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Reports | | |   Report

Military Expert: PLA Submarine’s Performance Nearing that of Western Countries’

Naval expert Li Jie was invited to be a guest expert at the People’s Daily Military Forum. At the Forum, Li discussed the Chinese PLA’s development of submarines. Li Jie said, “The functionality and performance of China’s self-designed submarines are close to those made by the United States, Russia, Germany, and Japan. Only the propelling plant, noise, and some other factors still have some minor gaps as compared with the advanced countries.” 

Source: People’s Daily, December 12, 2012 
http://military.people.com.cn/n/2012/1212/c1011-19877518.html
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

China Ranks No. 1 in Asia in Arms Exports

Huanqiu reported that, according to the website of a Russian think tank, China is now a leading world exporter of certain munitions. Based on the 2004 to 2011 statistics of the Russian think tank, China ranks 10th in the world and 1st in Asia in arms exports. With a total value of $8.73 billion, China’s arms exports surpass that of all other Asian Pacific countries combined. It exports 51.65% of the total value of all arms in the Asian Pacific region.

Source: Huanqiu, December 11, 2012
http://mil.huanqiu.com/observation/2012-12/3366012.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Huanqiu: Dispute Over Senkaku Islands Enters New Stage

According to Huanqiu, on the morning of December 13, 2012, a Chinese maritime surveillance airplane entered into the territorial air space of the Diaoyu Islands (Senkaku Islands in Japan). “This was another significant step forward this year to reinforce the safeguarding of our sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands. … The Japanese air force responded with eight F-15 fighters and an Early Warning and Control aircraft (AWACS) to intercept the Chinese aircraft." The Huanqiu article stated that Japan no longer has actual control of the Senkaku Islands and that the dispute has now entered a new stage.

Source: Huanqiu, December 14, 2012
http://mil.huanqiu.com/paper/2012-12/3379857.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Xinhua Maintains Twitter Account Irking Chinese Netizens

Chinese medai have reported that Xinhua now maintains a Twitter account in English at “@XHNews.” On Twitter, Xinhua has over 5, 000 followers. The first posting dated back to March 1, 2012. The report has received wide attention from bloggers in China. “Many Chinese netizens learned for the first time that the Communist Party’s official media maintains an official blog on the overseas social media, in addition to its official blog on China’s domestic social media. The netizens blogged that they would love to visit the official blog.” The news angered Chinese micro-bloggers as they question why they are not allowed to access Twitter but Xinhua can. 

[Editor’s Note: Twitter and Facebook are not accessible from inside China, as the Chinese authorities block them. Only by using anti-censorship software in violation of the law can people in China “climb over” the Great Wall of Internet censorship to access Twitter and Facebook.]

Source: Nanfang Daily reprinted by sina.com, December 11, 2012
http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2012-12-11/05547874393.shtml

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Government Policy Results in Blind Development of Wind and Photovoltaic Power Industry Sectors

On December 9, 2012, China Review News published an article analyzing why the development of the wind power and photovoltaic industry sectors in China are slowing down.

According to the article, the government’s “one size fits all” policy is one of the most direct causes of the excessive and blind development of these two sectors. Any enterprise that invests in these two sectors can obtain very generous government funding support and policy support. Attracted by such direct benefits, investors have completely ignored the risks and any possible vicious competition.

Source: China Review News, December 9, 2012
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1023/3/5/6/102335616.html?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=102335616&mdate=1209081902

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources