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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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Nanfang Weekend: How Many Ministries and Ministers Are There in China?

Nanfang Weekend published an article which had an overview of ministerial level agencies and ministers of the Communist Party. Most of ministerial level agencies are under the State Council. The rest are within the Party system. Examples include the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Organization Department, the Publicity Department, People’s Daily, the Party School of The Chinese Communist Party, the Party Literature Research Centre, and the Party History Research Centre.

While there are at least 74 ministerial level agencies, there are more than 74 minister level cadres. Deputies may be  minister level cadres and non-ministerial level agencies may be headed by minister level cadres. Examples of the latter include heads of liaison offices in Hong Kong and Macau. The two Vice Presidents of China’s Supreme Court are also minister level cadres. Ten important social organizations are headed by minister level cadres including the Communist Youth League, the All China Women’s Federation, the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Chinese Writers Association, the Chinese Disabled Persons’ Federation, the China Society and Technology Association, and the All China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese.

Some of the leaders of state sponsored democratic parties are also minister-level cadres.

Source: Nanfang Weekend, February 16, 2012
http://www.infzm.com/content/70110

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Stories about Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun

[Editor’s Note： Recently in China, there was a political shake-up involving Bo Xilai and his right hand man, Wang Lijun. It was so serious that the shockwaves reverberated in the U.S. Chinascope collected some stories about Bo and Wang from Chinese media (both inside and outside of China) that may not have been widely reported in the Western media. The following are excerpts from those articles.]

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Reports | | |   Report

State Media: Chinese Internet Users Call for Boycotting Tours of Nagoya

The Chinese state-run media People’s Daily and Xinhua both published a report describing Chinese Internet users’ reactions to the statement that the Japanese Mayor of Nagoya made denying [that the Japanese committed] the “Nanjing Massacre.”

The Chief Editor of Huanqiu (a newspaper under People’s Daily) summarized the statements from Internet users in saying that the Mayor of Nagoya must apologize. If he doesn’t, China should declare he is an unwelcome person, bar him from entering China, and impose personal sanctions against him. At the same time, all Chinese tour groups should bypass Nagoya, allowing the crisis to escalate. 

Source: Xinhua, February 23, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-02/23/c_122741053.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Half of High Ranking Government Officials May Have Their Children Live Overseas

China’s Academy of Social Sciences published a report on a survey that indicated that more government officials (38.9%) than those of the general public (34.2%) agree that their children can be citizens or residents of foreign countries. The report concluded that those government officials of higher rank are even more likely to agree regarding their children. The ratio of those officials at the provincial/ministerial level is 53.3%; for those at the level of department chiefs or city mayors, it is 53.4%; county chiefs, 51.7%, and at the level of township chiefs 49.6%. The survey on which the above conclusions were based was conducted among government officials in 23 provinces and cities.

[Editor’s note: In China, the government bureaucratic hierarchy is, ranked in a descending order, premier, followed by provincial governors or ministerial heads, and then city mayors, county, and township chiefs.]

Source: Southern Metropolis Daily, February 21, 2012
http://nf.nfdaily.cn/nfdsb/content/2012-02/21/content_38395262.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Qiushi: European Media are More Critical of China than U.S. Media

Qiushi published an article about China’s image in international communities. The article stated that Western mainstream reports tend to “demonize, marginalize, and mystify” China. “In the political arena, the BBC, CNN and other Western mainstream media are highly concerned about how the Chinese government handles emergencies [social unrest]. Positive comments on the Chinese government primarily focus on the speed and attitude of the Chinese government’s reactions. … Compared to the American media led by CNN, the Western European media, represented by the BBC, tend to do reports that are more critical of China. For example, the BCC favors subjects related to Chinese minorities and ecology. In particular, its ‘Hard Talk’ program centers on Tibet and frequently interviews advocates of Tibetan Independence.” The article cited the example of BBC reports on poor weather during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, which touched off one criticism after another of China’s environmental problems, “while in the U.S., ABC edited the footage of the Olympic opening ceremony and its effect was much more beautiful than that edited by China’s domestic media.”

Source: Qiushi, February 20, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/gj/zgwj/201202/t20120220_139574.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

CNOOC in Joint Venture on Uganda Refinery

According to a Xinhua article published on February 21, 2012, state owned China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), along with Anglo-Irish Tullow Oil, and France’s Total, will invest in an oil refinery in the Lake Albert rift basin in western Uganda. The projected cost is $1.5 billion. The report said that the three companies investing in the refinery will have a one-third interest in each of the basin’s three blocks. Tullow said Tuesday that it had finalized a long-delayed $2.9 billion sale of two-thirds of its Uganda oil licenses to Total and CNOOC. The group will now focus on a $10 billion plan to start pumping oil from huge reserves discovered on the shores of Lake Albert. Early production is scheduled to start in 2013 before ramping up to a major production phase in 2016.

Source: Xinhua, February 21, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-02/21/c_122734986.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Qiushi: Negative Online Behavior Must be Punished

Qiushi published an analysis on the subject of state control and the behavior of Chinese Internet users. “At present, a number of Chinese Internet users play a destructive role. Sometimes, negative, extreme, shallow or one-sided information, along with bad sentiments, spread very rapidly on the Internet, exerting a strong destructive power.” As a result, when a social issue escalates on the Internet, serious conflict quickly develops and people become very emotional, forming an online “tyranny of the masses.” The analysis found that laws and regulations were insufficient, that implementation was ineffective, and that there was a lack of law enforcement on the Internet. The article recommended promulgation and implementation of additional laws and regulations to penalize those users who do not abide by the law. “If the online behavior of some users adversely impacts the lives of others or if they break the law, the user must bear the corresponding social and legal consequences of their behavior.”

Source: Qiushi, February 14, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/zz/shzyzzzd/201202/t20120214_138512.htm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Seeing through the United States’ Movement to the East

Qiushi published an article that discussed China’s strategic vision to cope with the U.S. "Movement to the East." The article stated the following: The "Movement to the East" is a major strategic change in U.S. foreign diplomacy. To a large extent, it targets China. [China] should study it carefully and cope with it appropriately. First, we need to understand the dichotomy in Sino-U.S. relations. On the one hand, there is an un-resolvable conflict between China and the U.S., namely China’s "Peaceful Development" and U.S. hegemony. This is the fundamental reason for the U.S. "containment" policy. On the other hand, China and the U.S. are highly inter-dependent. This inter-dependence is not just limited to the economic area, but also includes other areas such as the political and diplomatic areas. This is the reason for the U.S. "engagement" policy.

Based on the above understanding, we should further perfect our foreign strategy. That strategy should not only target the U.S., but should also focus on the whole world. [We should] look at the big picture from the long-term perspective; [we should] not be limited to the [U.S.] "Movement to the East," but should look at the whole world; not just the current situation, but also the long-term objective, focusing on strengthening ourselves (including our economic, military and political influence); … [we should] develop relations with neighboring countries, big countries and developing countries, and [we should] actively initiate multilateral diplomacy. At present, [we] should especially focus on consolidating our cooperation with neighboring countries and on strengthening cooperation with the gold brick countries, work on the G20 mechanism, the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization), 10+1, 10+3, and the China-Japan-South Korea free trade zone.

Source: Qiushi, February 21, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/gj/gjgc/201202/t20120221_139934.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations