Skip to content

China’s Reaction to Trump’s Election Win

Read More ...

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

Read More ...

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

Read More ...

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

Read More ...

People’s Daily: Corrupt Officials Secretly Obtain Foreign Citizenship

On April 11, 2012, People’s Daily published an article titled “Some of Our Corrupt Officials Have Secretly Obtained Foreign Citizenship or Dual Nationality." According to the article, some corrupt officials have transferred illicit money and goods out of China and even, through a variety of relationships, secretly obtained foreign citizenship or dual nationality.

The article applauds the anti-corruption decision and progress made by the CCP Central Committee led by “Comrade Hu Jintao as the general secretary,” and also suggested that ordinary people use the Internet to expose corrupt officials’ wrongful acts.

Source: People’s Daily, April 11, 2012
http://leaders.people.com.cn/GB/17622867.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

People’s Daily’s Commentary Supports Hu Jintao for Purging Bo Xilai

On April 11, 2012, People’s Daily published a commentary titled “Firmly Support the CCP Central Committee’s Decision.” The article praised the CCP Central Committee headed by “Comrade Hu Jintao as the general secretary” for making the “resolute decision” regarding an investigation of former Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai for serious disciplinary offenses. On Tuesday April 10, Bo Xilai was removed from the CCP Politburo and his wife, Gu Kailai, is being investigated for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood.

The article concluded, “We must consciously keep our thoughts in line with the CCP Central Committee and closely unite around the CCP Central Committee headed by Comrade Hu Jintao as the general secretary.”

Source: People’s Daily, April 11, 2012
http://opinion.people.com.cn/GB/17621326.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China’s Countermeasures for the U.S. Internet Strategy

On April 10, 2012, Red Flag Manuscript, a core publication of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, published an article titled “The U.S. Internet Strategy Poses a Serious Challenge to China: Our Countermeasures.” According to the article, on May 15 and July 14, 2011, the U.S. government issued two documents, the “International Strategy for Cyberspace” and the “Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace.” According to the article, these two documents pose a potential long-term threat to China’s political safety and seriously challenge China’s cultural security.

The article suggested that China use the following countermeasures to deal with the U.S. strategy: protect China’s Internet sovereignty, continue to block and to ban any “harmful information at home and abroad” that “endangers national security and disrupts social stability,” recruit and train more Internet security experts, establish an Internet Security Management System led by the CCP Central Committee, and build multiple global Chinese websites to show the world the new socialist China with Chinese characteristics, which is democratic, civilized, and open.

Source: Red Flag Manuscript, April 10, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/hqwg/2012/201207/201204/t20120410_150350.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Xinhua: First Quarter Job Market Still Tough

Xinhua recently reported on the state of the Chinese job market during the first quarter of 2012. According to the report, general economic growth in China is slowing down. People in society are experiencing widespread worry about the job market. The spokesman for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security predicted that the market will be challenging this coming year; he stated that 25 million new jobs are needed for 2012. The primary problem in the Chinese job market is the mismatch between position requirements and the skill sets available. The first quarter figures showed that a large number of companies cannot find qualified, skilled technicians, while millions of college graduates cannot find jobs. Researchers suggested that the best immediate solution to enable the creation of new jobs would be to cut taxes for small businesses. They also suggested that the government needs to promote free secondary vocational education and to concentrate its resources on training migrant workers.

Source: Xinhua, April 7, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2012-04/07/c_111748444_2.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China News: Central Military Commission Forms Audit Leadership Team

China News recently reported that the Chinese Central Military Commission approved the establishment of the Army Audit Leadership Team, which is set to improve the Army’s administrative system. The Chief of the Army Audit Leadership Team is Liao Xilong, who also heads the Army’s General Logistics Department. Liao gave a speech at the first meeting of the Leadership Team. He emphasized that the decision [to form the team] was made directly by Central Military Commission Chairman Hu Jintao, who is also the president of the nation. The primary mission of the Leadership Team is to improve the order of the “military’s economy” and to attack corruption in the armed forces. In his speech, Liao described his near term action plan to focus on military construction work, real estate management, large scale procurement, and medical cooperation. Chief commanders, construction project managers, and high ranking administrative officers are the key people falling within the scope of the audit. Liao also made clear the requirement that the Party system would play the leading role in this mission.

Source: China News, April 6, 2012
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2012/04-06/3801219.shtml

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

State Council: Four Policies to Improve Imports

China Economy recently reported that the State Council Executive Meeting released new policies to improve China’s imports. The primary goals are to ease the pressure of a “resource bottleneck,” to improve domestic consumption, and to reduce trade friction. Four new policies are: (1) Reducing tariffs (temporarily) on energy resources, raw materials and some daily consumer products; (2) Encouraging commercial banks to increase loans to support imports, especially in the areas of advanced equipment, key manufacturing parts, and energy resources; (3) Improving the efficiency of customs and inspection and quarantine authorities by allowing 24-hour appointments and eliminating unreasonable charges; (4) Reducing import operational costs by introducing better administrative improvements such as making more use of custom’s special supervisory areas and bonded supervisory areas.

Source: China Economy, March 31, 2012
http://intl.ce.cn/sjjj/qy/201203/31/t20120331_23205172.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Over 26 Million Chinese People Suffer from Depression

On April 8, 2012, Guangming Daily reported on a two week random survey conducted in 2011 on 1800 professional workers and students. The survey projected that over 26 million Chinese people suffer from various levels of depression syndrome. Over 50 percent of those surveyed had symptoms of depression syndrome or might have the syndrome. Of those surveyed, 90 percent did not realize that they had depression. The study suggested that depression could become the second largest deadly disease. By 2020, 2.6 to 3.9 million people who suffer from depression in China might choose to end their lives because of it.

Source: Guangming Daily, April 8, 2012
http://legal.gmw.cn/2012-04/08/content_3923808.htm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Propaganda Department Held Study-Type Party Organization Forum

A forum was held in Haikou, Hainan Province, on April 7, 2012, to further develop study-type Party organizations. Liu Yunshan, the director of the Propaganda Department of the Party’s Central Committee, spoke at the forum. According to Liu, the further promotion of study-type Party organizations is a new requirement, because the Party is constantly facing emerging new situations and issues. The understanding of the urgency should be at the level of how to improve the Party’s leadership skills and mission and the development process should follow the Party’s directives and decisions.

Luo Shugang, the Deputy head of the Propaganda Department, hosted the meeting. There were 22 speakers at the forum and 140 attendees, including members of the central development of the study-type Party organization coordination team, representatives from different levels of the Party propaganda and development department, the central news media, and experts and scholars.

Source: Xinhua, April 7, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-04/07/c_111748461.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics