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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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CCP Central Committee’s Political Bureau Meeting on Economic Work for 2013

In Beijing on December 4, 2012, the CCP Central Committee’s Political Bureau held a meeting on the economic work to be done in 2013. The result of the meeting was that China will continue to strengthen its control over real estate pricing.

The meeting set the direction for the year 2013 as follows: maintain the continuity and stability of macro-economic policies and apply appropriate precautionary adjustments and micro adjustments to the economy; try to expand domestic demand and continue strict control over over-production; maintain the stability of the general price level and regulate market prices and fee structures; improve people’s living standards and strengthen control over real estate pricing.

Source:
Huanqiu, December 4, 2012.
http://china.huanqiu.com/politics/2012-12/3344280.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Senior Party Official Investigated for Corruption

On December 6, Xinhua announced that the Communist Party Central Commission for Discipline Inspection confirmed that Li Chuncheng, the Deputy Communist Secretary of Sichuan Province, is being investigated for “suspicion of serious discipline violations." The one sentence announcement did not offer details. Later Xinhua published a follow-up commentary which stated that the anti-corruption campaign is unfolding from the central government to local governments. Huanqiu, which is under People’s Daily also published a commentary. It stated that official media tend to categorize reports on corruption as being “sensitive” and that in every case in which official media delay or maintain a low profile when handling the publication of such reports, it creates the appearance of a cover-up. Li is the first senior party official to be investigated for corruption since the new Party General Secretary, Xi Jinping, took over from Hu Jintao in November.

Sources:
Xinhua, December 6, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-12/06/c_113923447.htm
Xinhua reprinted by Guangming Daily, December 6, 2012
http://legal.gmw.cn/2012-12/06/content_5920335.htm Huanqiu, December 6, 2012
Huanqiu, December 6, 2012
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2012-12/3349303.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Xi Jinping Calls for a Powerful Strategic Missile Force

On December 5, 2012, the new Communist Party General Secretary and Central Military Commission Chairman, Xi Jinping, met with representatives of the Second Artillery Force of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). During the meeting, Xi ordered the Chinese military to build a powerful and technological missile force. He told those present, “The Second Artillery Force of the PLA is the core of the strategic deterrence forces, the strategic support of China as a major power, and an important cornerstone for safeguarding China’s national security.” Xi stressed the need to uphold the Communist Party’s absolute control of the military and to ensure the absolute loyalty of the military to the Party.

According to China’s Ministry of Defense, the Second Artillery Force is a strategic force under the direct command and control of the Central Military Commission. It is mainly responsible for deterring other countries from using nuclear weapons against China, and for conducting nuclear counterattacks and precision strikes with conventional missiles.

Sources:
Xinhua, December 5, 2012.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-12/05/c_113922221.htm
China’s Ministry of Defense
http://eng.mod.gov.cn/ArmedForces/second.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

The Diaoyu Islands Dispute Has Become a Three-Way Battle between China, the U.S. and Japan

Ma Guoshu, Dean of the Guangdong Win-Win Economic Institute, published an opinion article commenting on the defense bill the U.S. Senate passed, which stipulates that Article V of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty applies to the Diaoyu Islands. The amendment notes that, while the United States "takes no position" on the ultimate sovereignty of the territory, it "acknowledges the administration of Japan over the Senkaku Islands." The prevailing view in the media about the bill is that the United States backs Japan and is suppressing China. The author believes that the U.S. move (harbors another insidious motive). While it is helping Japan on the surface, in reality it is to balance both sides and masterfully lay out a plan in order to achieve U.S. control of the Asia-Pacific region.

The author commented that the real intentions of  the U.S.  in the Diaoyu Islands issue are different. First,  the U.S. intends to vigilantly protect the Japanese economy, which is close to the national bankruptcy cliff. Otherwise, the whole "strategic plan of returning to the Asia-Pacific” would vanish like a puff of smoke. Second, the U.S. intends to force Japan into submission – to be transformed into an "Asia-Pacific Israel.” Only in this way can the U.S. effectively prevent China, Japan, and South Korea from forming a "surplus countries alliance" as a hostile force (to the U.S.) and remove the potential problem that can truly threaten the dollar’s global monopoly position. Third, an important option, as a U.S. global strategy, may be to cause the outbreak of a regional war so as to effectively shift the deep domestic crisis of the United States.

Finally, the author concluded, "As the chess game of the Diaoyu Islands progresses, a new pattern in the Asia-Pacific has gradually formed. It is destined to rewrite the established pattern of interests in the China-U.S. game."

Source: People’s Daily, December 5, 2012
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2012/1205/c1002-19792301.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Shortage of Donated Organs Continues in China

Nanfang Daily reported that an organ donation and transplant cooperation project under China’s Ministry of Health recently held its 10th forum in Kunming. According to the report, in 2010, the Ministry of Health established a pilot project for organ donations. In 2011, it expanded to 19 locations. Since then, 480 operations were conducted on the donors, with 1,294 organs donated, thus saving the lives of over 1,200 people. Experts attending the meeting agreed that the shortage of organs for transplant continues to remain a major issue at present.

[Editor’s Note: On December 2, 2012, three American doctors created a petition at whitehouse.gov to petition the Obama Administration to “investigate and publicly condemn organ harvesting" as people in China are "killed on demand to fuel China’s lucrative organ transplant industry." http://wh.gov/5Jmn.]

Sources:
Nanfang Daily, December 4, 2012
http://epaper.nfdaily.cn/html/2012-12/04/content_7148347.htm
http://wh.gov/5Jmn

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

RFA: Some Foreign Companies in China Alleged to Be “Sweatshops”

On December 3, 2012, Radio Free Asia published an article titled “Some Foreign Companies in China Are Alleged as ‘Sweatshops.’” According to a report released by “China Labor Watch,” a non-governmental organization with headquarters in New York City, Mattel company and other foreign enterprises in China have become “sweatshops.”  The article said that Mattel, the world’s largest toy manufacturer, has four factories in China. Its workers often have to work overtime, sometimes up to 113 overtime hours per month. This is considerably more than the overtime hours allowed by law.

Source: Radio Free Asia, December 3, 2012
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/nu-12032012155429.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Boosting Consumption Is the Fundamental Way for China to Get Out of Its Economic Predicament

On November 20, 2012, Qiushi Theory, a periodical on political theory published by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the CCP Central Committee school, reprinted an article from Ziguangge (cpc.people.com.cn), a periodical under People’s Daily, having the title, “Boosting Consumption Is the Fundamental Way for China to Get Out of Its Economic Predicament”.

According to the article, China’s economic growth rate has fallen over the past several quarters. The period of the export-led economy may be over. Therefore, China’s economy must shift from excessive dependence on external markets to production for the domestic market. China’s Ministry of Commerce has established a goal in its 12th Five-Year Plan of having around a 15% average annual increase in total retail sales of consumer goods so as to reach the goal of 32 trillion yuan by 2015.

Source: Qiushi Theory, November 20, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/jj/jjggyfz/201211/t20121122_195708.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Private Lending Is Active in China

On December 4th, 2012, Xinhua published an article on how widespread private lending has become in China. Many small and medium sized enterprises borrow money using private financing. Recently, the Public Security Bureau in Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province issued a warning to alert the people about “illegal funding activities.” One recent incident of “illegal funding" involved up to 80 million yuan.

Source: Xinhua, December 4, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-12/04/c_113895746.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources