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

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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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Three Major Public Opinion Shifts on the Internet

China Review News (CRN) recently republished an article that Professor Hu Yong from the Peking University School of Journalism and Communication wrote discussing the change in topics among Chinese netizens. Hu identified three major changes that represent important shifts in public opinion: (1) The focus has shifted from nationalism to issues faced in daily living, such as food safety and air pollution. (2) An Internet-based social structure is getting more and more mature. Large groups of people are using the Internet to ask for and defend their social rights. Public freedom of speech on the Internet is influencing the political landscape. (3) The Internet-based society lacks Internet-ready administration. The current administration is not aligned with the Internet-oriented values that encourage innovation, freedom of speech, mutual trust, and reduced government interference. Hu suggested that the approach the government takes at present is heading in the opposite direction. The article concluded by calling for recognition of netizens’ basic rights.

Source: China Review News, January 8, 2012
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1019/7/0/1/101970166.html?coluid=45&kindid=0&docid=101970166&mdate=0108092059

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Xinhua: The 2012 Spring Festival Transportation Period Started

Xinhua announced that the period of “Spring Festival Transportation” started on January 8, 2011. The annual massive usage of transportation related to the Spring Festival will take place for 40 days this year, from January 8 to February 16. Estimates are that the traffic volume will be 3.158 billion person-trips (a unit to measure the number of one way trips per person). This represents an annual increase of 9.1% over 2011. The railway system alone is expected to carry 235 million people. Meanwhile, the demand for cargo transportation is also on the rise. The joint government coordination committee expressed the belief that the situation is “not optimistic.” The primary concern for the 40-day window is safety. Another variable in the equation is bad weather. The steady supply of critical resources such as coal, gas, food, and fertilizer is also in question. 

Source: Xinhua, January 8, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/society/2012-01/08/c_111392564.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

CRN: China Needs Confidence in Handling the South China Sea Situation

China Review News (CRN) recently published an official commentary on the “chaos” in the South China Sea. The commentary started with an analysis of the different strategies Vietnam and the Philippines have been using. In the territorial disputes that occurred in 2011, the two countries attacked China’s position, thus bringing more heat to the issue. The commentary suggested that the “behind-the-scenes shadow” of the United States was there each time the situation worsened. China’s neighbors are actively improving their military capabilities. In addition to that, threatening China with their “public opinions” has become a quick new way to create more trouble for China. The commentary called on China to have “very strong” Chinese confidence as well as to take decisive steps in response to the challenges that the regional political forces impose.

Source: China Review News, January 4, 2012
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1019/6/2/1/101962112.html?coluid=1&kindid=0&docid=101962112&mdate=0104000351

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Head of Xinjiang: Xinjiang Military Must Safeguard National Security and Stability

Zhang Chunxian, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) Party Secretary of Xinjiang and the First Secretary of the Xinjiang Military Region requested that the Xinjiang military “defend the highest national interest” and “safeguard national security, the border, ethnic group unity, and social stability.” “Facing the complicated anti-separatist struggle, the military stationed in Xinjiang must continue to develop its quick response capability, to be able to ‘ensure success when fighting against terrorists, to ensure peace when maintaining stability, to ensure effective results when handling conflicts, and to ensure safety when patrolling.’”

Source:  China Review News, January 8, 2012
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1019/7/0/3/101970384.html?coluid=151&kindid=0&docid=101970384&mdate=0108120046

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Interpreting Wen Jiabao’s Speech at the National Conference on Financial Work

China Review News (CRN) commented on Wen Jiabao’s recent speech on financial reform given at the National Conference on Financial Worik held in Beijng. Wen “suggested breaking the (state-owned banks’) monopoly and encouraging private money to enter the financial service field.” The speech also highlighted that the government’s work would be to “improve confidence in the stock market” in 2012.

A few points that Wen’s made in his speech:

1. “China has steadily advanced the international status of the Renminbi (RMB). China has signed a total of 1.3 trillion yuan (U.S. $200 billion) in bilateral currency swap agreements. The amount of cross-border trade in RMB has reached 2.6 trillion yuan (U.S. $400 billion).”

2. “We must acknowledge that the global financial crisis is not over yet. We must improve our sense of crisis and sense of responsibility, and prepare for adversity during times of prosperity."

3. Wen stressed that financial services should move to the real economy and stop “using money for speculation.” For the real economy, Wen wants to “effectively solve the hard-to-obtain-financing problem and the too-expensive-to-obtain-financing problem…”

4. Wen listed “guard against and mitigate the local government’s debt risk” as one of eight measures for China’s financial reform.

Sources
1. Xinhua, January 7, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/video/2012-01/07/c_122551507.htm
2. China Review News, January 8, 2012 http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1019/7/0/2/101970247.html?coluid=10&kindid=253&docid=101970247&mdate=0108105700

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Wen Jiabao’s Speech at the National Conference on Financial Work

Wen Jiabao attended the National Conference on Financial Work China held in Beijing on January 6 and 7, 2012, and gave a speech, which listed eight measures for China’s financial reform:

1. Provide more good-quality financial services for society’s economic development.
2. Deepen the reform of financial organizations.
3. Strengthen and improve financial oversight and prevent systematic financial risks.
4. Guard against and mitigate the local government’s debt risks.
5. Improve the development of the capital market and the insurance market.
6. Improve the financial macro-control system.
7. Expand the opening of the financial industry (to the world) and improve the capabilities to allocate financial resources and safeguard the level of protection for financial security.
8. Strengthen the development of the financial infrastructure and improve the environment for financial development.

Source: Xinhua, January 7, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/video/2012-01/07/c_122551507.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

White Papers the Chinese Government Published in 2011

In 1991, 20 years ago, the Chinese government published its first white paper, Human Rights in China. Since then, the government has published a total of 78 white papers. In 2011, it published nine white papers. They are:

1. China’s National Defense in 2010
2. China’s Foreign Aid
3. Sixty Years Since the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet
4. China’s Peaceful Development
5. The Socialist System of Laws with Chinese Characteristics
6. New Progress in the Development-oriented Poverty Reduction Program for Rural China
7. China’s Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change
8. China’s Foreign Trade
9. China’s Space Activities in 2011

Source: People’s Daily, January 5, 2012
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1026/16800546.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Publicity Official: A More Effective Voice for China in 2012

Wang Chen, the head of the International Communication Office of the Communist Party and the Information Office of the State Council, emphasized that the focus of China’s international communication work is “to more proactively and effectively broadcast the voice of China.” The remarks were made at the International Communication Work Conference held January 4 and 5, 2012. According to Xinhua, the conference held that, for 2012, international communication should follow the Party and should “portray a civilized, democratic, open, and progressive China to the world, and create an international public opinion environment more favorable [to China].”

Source: Xinhua, January 5, 2012.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-01/05/c_111379201.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics