Chinascope – Page 898

China Establishes its First Armed Urban Management Department

On August 1, 2012, Wuhan City in Hubei Province announced that, for the first time in China, it had established an Armed City Urban Management Department. The department had an initial staffing of 40 militia personnel. Most of the personnel were ex-servicemen. The militia will receive readiness training and national defense education. During times of peace, the Armed Urban Management Department will be responsible for combat readiness, maintaining social stability, and flood rescue. In times of war, it will be responsible for organizing and leading the militia reservists to join the armed forces. According to People’s Daily, the announcement invoked heated discussions online. Chinese netizens have expressed concerns and questioned the move.

Source: People’s Daily, August 2, 2012
http://society.people.com.cn/n/2012/0802/c1008-18659281.html

Briefings | | August 3, 2012 | Defense/Military

Huanqiu: A Victory for China

Huanqiu published a commentary on the recent protests in Hong Kong against the plans (for the mainland) to introduce a “National and Moral Education” course into the Hong Kong public school curriculum. The commentary stated that Hong Kong residents were claiming that it amounts to “brainwashing” young people with pro-mainland propaganda. It observed, “These protesters act more like they have been brainwashed by the British colonial and Western ideology, since they are so paranoid and resistant about the course. Their views of mainland China are totally Western views. … The core of the ‘National and Moral Education’ course is to provide national and civic education to students, with answers to such questions as ‘Who am I?’ ‘What is Hong Kong?’ and ‘What is China?’ It is not to instill allegiance to the central government into the people of Hong Kong. The patriotism in this course is beyond the political realities. … But we believe that the Hong Kong SAR Government will not concede to its opponents on whether to provide national education, which is a matter of principle.”

The commentary concluded, “The final outcome of the controversy on national education in Hong Kong will be nothing but a ‘victory for China.’ Perhaps it is not realistic for the protesters to pursue their own victory.”

(Editor: According to an opinion piece in the New York Times about the course, "It decries multiparty democracy as unfavorable to the lives of ordinary people …" and contains only praise, with no mention of faults.)

Sources: Huanqiu, August 1, 2012
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/1152/2012-08/2974531.html
New York Times, August 1, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/opinion/chinese-indoctrination-in-hong-kong.html?_r=2

Briefings | | August 3, 2012 | Geo-Strategic Trend

Scholar Details U.S.’s Short-term Strategy against China

In an op-ed published on People’s Daily, a Chinese scholar laid out the strategies the U.S. will use against China over the next five to ten years.

“… the United States will make greater use of non-military means to delay or interfere with the process of China’s rise in order to reap strategic benefits, revive its national strength, and ensure its hegemonic position. Its main tactics will include: comprehensively breaking into China’s tertiary industries to reap huge financial benefits while controlling the lifeline of the Chinese economy; using the yuan exchange rate as a breakthrough point and opening up China’s financial and insurance market as an interim goal; under the banner of ‘Internet Freedom,’ abandoning the traditional ‘top-down’ mode of promoting democracy in China, and, instead, aiming to infiltrate the grassroots of Chinese society with a ‘bottom-up’ approach, allying with human rights lawyers, underground religions, political dissidents, Internet opinion leaders, and marginalized social groups, to create conditions for ‘change’ in China; enhancing its partnerships and strengthening its relations with allies; sowing discord between China and North Korea, Pakistan, and Burma; re-launching U.S.-Russia relations, so as to put China in a diplomatically disadvantageous position; weakening the external environment for China’s rise and squeezing the strategic space for China’s rise; using issues in the ‘global domain’ such as ‘sea, air, sky, and web’ as the starting point to promote related dialogue mechanisms and develop guidelines so as to essentially weaken the strategic challenges from China in the above areas.”

The article did not give the name of the author, but identified him as Director of the Institute of American Studies under the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

Source: People’s Daily, July 31, 2012
http://ccnews.people.com.cn/n/2012/0731/c141677-18636091.html

Briefings | | August 2, 2012 | US-China Relations

People’s Daily: PLA to Ensure Communist Party Remains in Power

People’s Daily published an editorial to celebrate the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA’s) 85th anniversary to take place on August 1, 2012. The editorial stated that the PLA must provide armed forces to ensure that the Communist Party remains in power. “The international situation is unpredictable; the security situation is complex; external risks are unprecedented; and reform and development are tough. In the face of such an internal and external environment, the PLA must serve as an important force for the Party to consolidate its ruling position, provide strong security for national development, and act as the strategic support for safeguarding the national interest …”

Source: Xinhua, July 31, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2012-07/31/c_112585037.htm

Briefings | | August 2, 2012 | Government/Politics

South Korean Rights Activist Kim Young-Hwan Said He Was Tortured in China

Huanqiu, whose English name is Global Times, is a publication under Xinhua News. A Huanqiu reporter, Li Daming, reported from South Korea that Kim Young-Hwan, a South Korean “human rights activist for North Korea,” claimed that he was “severely tortured” while he was detained in China and that he was studying ways to sue the Chinese government through the International Criminal Court. The report stated that China arrested Kim because he was conducting subversive activities against North Korea in China and that Kim claimed this nonsense recently after he was released and returned to South Korea.

Source: Huanqiu, July 30, 2012
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2012-07/2964333.html

Briefings | | August 2, 2012 | Geo-Strategic Trend

People’s Daily Opened Its Official Microblog to Promote the Government’s Opinions

In the early morning on July 22, 2012, after the heaviest storm in Beijing in 61 years, People’s Daily kicked off the official microblog it started for the public. The government-run microblog, which is run by 8 government employees, responds to major incidents and problems more quickly than the People’s Daily print edition and is responsible for interacting with blog users in vivid and touching language. Facing the challenge of the wide spread of the new media, People’s Daily wants to have a say in public opinion. “We cannot hand over microblogs to others. We must take the initiative to speak out and post high quality writings.”

Source: Xinhua, July 31, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/lianzheng/2012-07/31/c_123499223.htm

Briefings | | August 1, 2012 | Information/Technology

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