Chinascope – Page 945

China Is Worried about the U.S. Return to Asia

On June 29, 2012, China Review News published an article titled “China Also Needs to ‘Re-Balance’ with the United States.” The author of the article concedes that China is worried about the Obama administration’s strategy of the U.S. return to Asia. Due to the deterioration of China-ASEAN relations and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the East Asian cooperation that China has worked on in the past 15 years has ceased.

Because the United States participated in the “East Asia Summit” that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) recently led, China was subjected to a series of regional diplomatic and multilateral security mechanisms that ASEAN, under United States control, directed. Several Asia-Pacific countries asked the United States to honor its security commitments. For example, when it had a territorial conflict with China, the Philippines repeatedly cited the “Philippine – US Mutual Defense Treaty.” The United States, South Korea, and Australia have upgraded their multinational security relations. All of these have pushed China into a “security dilemma in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Source: China Review News, June 29, 2012
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1021/5/4/9/102154979.html?coluid=148&kindid=7550&docid=102154979&mdate=0630002703

Briefings | | July 5, 2012 | US-China Relations

China ExIm Bank Finances Press and Publication’s “Going Out” Activities

On July 3, China’s General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) and the Export-Import Bank of China reached an agreement in Beijing on “cooperation to support and foster key enterprises and key projects of the press and publication industry’s going out strategy.” GAPP’s president Liu Binjie and China’s ExIm Bank’s president Li Ruogu signed the agreement. It allows the Export-Import Bank of China to provide no less than 20 billion yuan (US$3.14 billion) or its equivalent in foreign currency financing to support and promote the press and publishing enterprises’ overseas activities in the coming five years.

According to the People’s Daily report, the Export-Import Bank in recent years has “conscientiously implemented the Party’s Central Committee and State Council’s series of instructions on promoting the development of culture industries and making full use of a range of financial instruments to lead the financial industry in supporting the international development of culture industries.” As of the end of 2011, the Export-Import Bank of China had supported the international development of culture industries through different types of loan contracts amounting to nearly 26 billion yuan ($US4.10 billion).

Source: People’s Daily, July 4, 2012
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2012/0704/c70731-18444926.html

Briefings | | July 5, 2012 | Geo-Strategic Trend

China’s Telecom Companies Promises to Effectively Censor the Internet

According to Xinhua on April 24, 2012, officials from China Telecom Corporation, China Mobile Communications Corporation, China United Network Communications Group Co., Ltd. and other telecom companies separately issued a statement regarding taking effective measures to resolutely curb “rumors” spread on the Internet and create a “civilized and healthy Internet space”.

Source: Xinhua, April 24, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-04/24/c_111836250.htm

Briefings | | July 4, 2012 | Information/Technology

China Is Worried about the US return to Asia

China Review News published an article on June 29, 2012 titled “China Also Needs to ‘Re-Balance’ with the United States”. The article admits that China is worried about the US return to Asia under the Obama administration. Due to the deterioration of China-ASEAN relations and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the East Asian cooperation that China has worked on in the past 15 years has stopped.

As the United States participated in “East Asia Summit” led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China was forced to subject to the series of regional diplomacy and multilateral security mechanisms led by ASEAN and controlled by the United States. Several Asia-Pacific countries asked the United States to honor its security commitments. For example, Philippines repeatedly cited the “Philippine – US Mutual Defense Treaty” when it had a territorial conflict with China. The United States, South Korea and Australia have upgraded their multinational security relations. All of these have made China inevitably fall into the “security dilemma in the Asia-Pacific region”.

Source: China Review News, June 29, 2012
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1021/5/4/9/102154979.html?coluid=148&kindid=7550&docid=102154979&mdate=0630002703

Briefings | | July 4, 2012 | US-China Relations

CRN: After Making a Big Contribution, China Should have More Rights in the IMF

China Review News (CRN) recently published a commentary on the fact that China made a US$43 billion contribution to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a way of helping Europe. The announcement was made at the G20 meeting that was recently held in Mexico. The commentary emphasized that the size of the Chinese contribution is the third largest, after Japan and Germany. However, the country controlling the largest voting share in the IMF, the United States, did not offer a single penny. The author expressed the belief that this is one important means China is using to have more say in the IMF, where the United States has veto power and Europe has chaired the organization for over 60 years. The commentator suggested that some cost may be involved on the side of the emerging countries in the process of changing the “unfair” situation and obtaining more control.

Source: China Review News, June 28, 2012

http://www.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1021/4/9/0/102149081.html?coluid=136&kindid=4710&docid=102149081&mdate=0628001505

Briefings | | July 3, 2012 | Economy/Resources

Xinhua: Ceremony to Sign the Military Agreement between Japan and South Korea Cancelled

On June 29, 2012, Xinhua reported that the Japanese government approved an intelligence-sharing agreement with South Korea. This is the first military agreement between these two countries since World War II. However, the South Korean government cancelled the ceremony scheduled for the same afternoon due to high pressure from both the ruling party and the opposition parties. Pressure also came from the United States, who already had a similar agreement with Japan. Earlier, the word “military” in the name of the agreement had been removed to ease the pressure. Apparently the wording change was not enough to alleviate the doubts in the minds of South Korean voters who have a strong opinion about territorial disputes with Japan. Also, a large number of South Korean citizens still remember Japan’s past occupation of Korea.

Source: Xinhua, June 29, 2012

http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-06/30/c_123351185.htm

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

Xinhua: Guangzhou Limits the Number of New Car Registrations

On June 30, 2012, Xinhua reported that the government of the city of Guangzhou (the capital of Guangdong Province) initiated new limits on the number of cars that could be registered. The city government announced at around 9:00 pm that the new policy would become effective in just 3 hours. The policy imposed a monthly quota on new car registrations. The purpose of the new policy is to control the city’s growing problems of traffic jams and air pollution. The quota is expected to have a significant impact on car sales in the local market. That same night, people formed long lines outside of many car dealerships waiting to buy cars before the new policy took effect. The government has not yet decided on the actual numbers for the quotas for the coming months. All car dealers immediately cancelled all promotions and discounts. Many local residents expressed concern about how the city government implemented this new policy. Most people who the media interviewed said hearings should be held before important decisions like this are made. Other large cities in China such as Beijing and Shanghai already have similar government imposed limitations for car registrations.

Source: Xinhua, June 30, 2012

http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-07/02/c_123355140.htm

Briefings | | July 3, 2012 | Government/Politics

China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

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

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized