Chinascope – Page 974

China Will Launch Six Beidou Satellites This Year

According to Beijing Morning News, China will launch six satellites this year to establish the BeiDou (COMPASS) Navigation Satellite System network. Before 2020, China will finish the construction of the BeiDou’s global satellite navigation System. The system will consist of more than 30 satellites.

During the “twelfth five-year-plan,” China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation intends to launch “100 rockets and 100 satellites into space and 100 satellites will travel stably in orbit around the earth." This implies that in the next four to five years, there will be a large number of aerospace launches.

Source: Huanqiu, February 12, 2012
http://china.huanqiu.com/roll/2012-02/2427500.html

Briefings | | February 16, 2012 | Information/Technology

Study Times: Control the Differences between China and the U.S.

Study Times published an article that advocated an approach to controlling the differences in the relationship between the U.S. and China. To implement the control approach, the article suggested that there must be a dialogue mechanism, a regular and systematic structure between functional departments of the two countries to assess and evaluate the differences, and a control mechanism. As the two countries distrust of each other is increasing, the ability to deal with conflicts is decreasing. Without effective control of the differences, the bilateral relationship may become more turbulent.

“At the official level, senior government officials should focus on the overall situation of bilateral relations and should not only refrain from making remarks that may result in a strategic misjudgment, but also prevent any expression of words and deeds that might result in damage to the strategic mutual trust between the two countries. At an unofficial level, [both countries] should actively guide or control the public opinion within the two countries, not allow the voice of those who advocate hostility to prevail, and avoid the expansion of misconceptions and the emergence of new misunderstandings.

Source: Study Times, February 13, 2012
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/2012/02/13/02/02_35.htm

Briefings | | February 16, 2012 | US-China Relations

Selecting a Country for Refuge; Why High Ranking CCP Officials Especially Love the U.S.”

On February 13, 2012, Boxun reprinted an article from Apple Daily, a Hong Kong newspaper, titled “Selecting a Country for Refuge; Why High Ranking CCP Officials Especially Love the U.S.” With an overtone of sarcasm, the article listed examples of those CCP officials who, on the one hand, openly criticize the United States and on the other, send their children to the U.S. for education and green cards. The examples included Bo Xilai, a member of the CCP Politburo and the Communist Party secretary of the Chongqing municipality and Xi Jinping, the 6th ranking member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee and China’s Vice Chairman.

Starting with Deng Xiaoping, the article continued, it has become an unofficial rule that the United States must accept all of the CCP’s top leaders. Deng Xiaoping did not gain a solid footing in the CCP leadership until he visited the U.S. in 1979. In 2002, Hu Jintao made a high-profile visit to the U.S. before he ascended to the throne, so as to show the Chinese people that the U.S. acknowledged him. If the U.S. praises Xi Jinping, the article concluded, he will successfully gain the top CCP position.

Source: Boxun, February 13, 2012
http://www.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2012/02/201202130751.shtml

Briefings | | February 15, 2012 | Grapevine

China Review News: China’s Foreign Exchange Reserves Start to “Lose Weight”

According to recent data released by China’s Central Bank, by the end of the fourth quarter of 2011, China’s foreign exchange reserves had fallen to $ 3.181 trillion, a decrease of $20.55 billion or a decline of 0.6%, compared to the end of the third quarter of 2011. The decline in the foreign exchange reserves occurred because of China’s policy adjustments, the slower speed of China’s economic growth, and capital outflows.

Source: China Review News, February 14, 2012
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1020/0/9/5/102009536.html?coluid=10&kindid=253&docid=102009536&mdate=0214084959

Briefings | | February 15, 2012 | Economy/Resources

International Herald Leader: The Western Capitalist System’s Crisis and the Resurgence of Marxism

On February 13, 2012, the International Herald Leader, a newspaper under Xinhua News Agency, published an analytical article on its front page in which it observed, “The capitalist system has encountered the biggest crisis since its birth.” Holding Western capitalism accountable for the financial crisis and the economic recession since 2008, the article described “signs of a resurgence of Marxism” in the Western world.

“After the 21st century, though crises have occurred in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, contradictions still exist in the capitalist society. That is why more and more scholars value Marxism. Especially since the financial crisis, more and more people have been accepting the Marxist doctrine.”

Source: International Herald Leader, February 13, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2012-02/13/c_131402521.htm

Briefings | | February 15, 2012 | Government/Politics

The Chinese Banking System Profits from Being a Monopoly

A-Finance recently published an article analyzing the fact that the profit that the Chinese banking system makes is greater than that of the tobacco industry or the oil industry. According to CBRC (the China Banking Regulatory Commission), in the first three quarters of the year 2011, the increase in the banking system’s annual profit was 35.4%. Those who work in the banking industry have an average income that is dramatically higher than any other industry in China. An analysis showed that the primary sources of profit are the high interest differential, frequently collected fees, and a massive amount of “wealth management” products. The net interest differential contributes from 75.7% to over 90% of the banking system’s annual income. The differential is the highest in the world and is determined by the government. Meanwhile, 79% of the services that banks provide are fee-based. Today, these fees are ten times higher than they were ten years ago. Chinese banks are considered monopolies both as institutions that take deposits and as lenders.

Source: A-Finance, February 6, 2012
http://www.afinance.cn/bank/yhxw/201202/420475.html

Briefings | | February 13, 2012 | Economy/Resources

Legal Evening News: Excessive Births Abroad Will Be Fined upon Return

Legal Evening News recently reported that, according to the National Population and Family Planning Commission, if both parents are residents of Mainland China, then giving birth to a second child abroad will result in a fine upon return. The standard for the fine will vary depending on the couple’s residence location. Recently many pregnant women have traveled to Hong Kong to deliver their babies. The Chief of the Family Planning Committee of Guangdong Province issued a warning in this regard and declared that giving birth to a child beyond the first one in Hong Kong was illegal for Mainland parents. If a parent is a Communist Party member and a government official, he or she will lose that Party membership and the government work.

Source: Legal Evening News, February 10, 2012
http://www.fawan.com/Article/gn/sh/2012/02/10/170142145396.html

Briefings | | February 13, 2012 | Government/Politics

Real Name will be Required to Use Microblogs

PCOnline recently reported that, starting on March 16, 2012, the four primary microblog providers will require users to register with their real names. Anonymous users can only browse the microblogs but cannot submit their own. In the new user registration process, the user’s name and National ID number will be checked against the national police verification system. An initial trial of the “Real Name System” took place in Beijing and it is now being deployed nationwide. Users expressed concern over the new system, mainly on the privacy front as well as the freedom of speech side. The government suggested that the new requirement will help stop rumors and illegal activities. Microblogging has become a very popular means of communication in China. Internationally well-known microblog service providers, such as Twitter, are banned in China.

Source: PCOnline, February 8, 2012
http://pcedu.pconline.com.cn/softnews/yejie/1202/2666630.html

Briefings | | February 13, 2012 | Information/Technology

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

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.