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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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Hu Jintao Urges Naval Preparedness

On December 6, 2011, Hu Jintao met with senior naval officials in Beijing. At the meeting, Hu stressed the “need to accelerate the transformation of naval buildup, to expand and deepen the preparedness for military struggles, to push forward with modernization of the Navy, and to make new and greater contributions to national security and world peace.”

On December 5, 2011, a separate meeting was held in in Beijing dealing with Chinese military equipment, with the main task being “to fully develop military equipment during the Twelfth Five-Year-Plan Period, to unify thinking, clarify requirements, and advance the scientific development of weaponry and equipment to a new starting point.

Source: Xinhua, December 6, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2011-12/06/c_111221604.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

IHL: China Should Build its Own Pacific Fleet

A special commentary in the International Herald Leader stated that to become a strong power in the Pacific, China should build its own Pacific Fleet. The article acknowledged that, compared to U.S. activities in the Pacific, China’s naval military exercises are too few and far between. “The objective of the U.S. and Japan is obvious; it is to contain and oppress China and to ensure the dominance of the U.S. and Japan in the Western Pacific region.”

The commentary stated, “The Pacific is not someone’s ‘private swimming pool.’” “Mutual respect, cooperation, and mutual benefit” can only occur when we have a strong Chinese navy. “On condition of anonymity a military expert pointed out that China should build its own Pacific Fleet, and that only then can China become a true power in the ocean and its navy be a true ‘blue water force.’”

Source: International Herald Leader reprinted by Xinhua, December 5, 2011;
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2011-12/05/c_131284309.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

IHL: U.S. Aid to China Will Decrease in Public but Increase behind the Scenes”

The International Herald Leader, which is under Xinhua News Agency, published an analytical article regarding the U.S. decision to decrease aid to China. The article asserted that the U.S. government’s aid to China will gradually decrease in public, but funding to support “the promotion of human rights and democracy” will increase behind the scenes. The article said, “‘Aid to China’ is not so simple and filled with good will. … A considerable number of the programs for China aid that the the U.S. Congress has approved are so-called ‘democracy aid’ and ‘human rights aid.’ Some human rights religious NGOs conduct clandestine activities and even support some of the dividing forces or anti-China forces. … In the new international situation, such aid is an important means for the U.S. government to realize its interests utilizing its soft power.”

Source: International Herald Leader, December 2, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2011-12/02/c_131282523.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

China Criticizes the U.S. and the Western Countries’ Interference in Libya’s Internal Affairs

On December 5, 2011, Xinhua News Agency’s Outlook Weekly published an article titled “The Facts and the Truth about the Humanitarian Interventions." The article criticized the United States and the Western countries interference in the internal affairs of other countries, such as Libya, Iraq, Kosovo, and Somalia. “These ‘humanitarian interventions’ that the Western powers implement, are, in essence, to seek their political and economic interests in the name of ‘humanitarianism’ and ‘the responsibility to protect.’”

“If the United States, Britain, France, and others had truly intended to avoid an even greater humanitarian disaster, they should have strictly implemented the UN Security Council resolution 1973 (2011) on Libya. By establishing a no-fly zone, on the one hand, they could keep Gaddafi’s government from using their Air Force to attack the rebels and kill civilians. On the other hand, they did not have to support the rebels beyond the resolution. In the meantime, the United Nations could have sent in peacekeeping forces to isolate the two sides and keep them apart from each other, which would probably have stopped the expansion of the civil war and brought the two sides together at the negotiating table to work on a solution. Then, today’s serious humanitarian disaster would not have happened. However, the purpose of the United States, Britain, France, and other Western countries was not to urge the cessation of hostilities, but to achieve a regime change by supporting one party against the other in order to take control of the strategically important land and oil resources in North Africa.”  

Source: Xinhua News Agency’s Outlook Weekly, December 5, 2011
http://www.lwgcw.com/NewsShow.aspx?newsId=24873z

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

How to Promote the Spread of Modern China’s Culture System

On December 5, 2011, Study Times, a journal of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article about how Marxism has become an integral part of modern China’s culture system. Marxism has changed China’s traditional language, changed the Chinese people’s philosophical way of thinking, and led the formation of China’s modern philosophy and social sciences as well as the formation of China’s popular culture.

The article further gives suggestions on how to promote Marxism in China and how to speed up the spread of China’s modern culture around the whole world, which includes “the socialist core value system” and “the socialist market economic theory.”  “This kind of revival is not to revive China’s ancient culture, but for China’s culture to achieve a high degree of modernization.”

Source: Study Times, December 5, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/12/05/03/03_30.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Xinhua News Agency Outlook Weekly: The Constraints on the U.S. Involvement in the East

On December 5, 2011, Xinhua News Agency’s Outlook Weekly published an article commenting the U.S. strategic movement to the East, including President Obama’s 9-day visit to the Asia-Pacific areas, his attendance at the East Asia Summit, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s “historic visit” to Myanmar, and the trilateral dialogue between the United States, Japan, and India which is coming up in December. “Economically, the United States uses the Trans-Pacific Partnership to reshape the Asia-Pacific economic order and force itself into the Asia-Pacific market.” In security, the United States tries to be the ‘referee’ on South China Sea issues and accelerates the adjustment of the Asia-Pacific military deployments.”

The writer of the article, however, gives a long list of constraints inside and outside of the United States which will result in the U.S. having to reduce its attention and involvement in the Asia-Pacific areas in 2012. The listed constraints are the cold relationship between the U.S. and Russia, the mess in the Middle East and North Africa, the deterioration of the U.S. – Pakistan relationship, the huge U.S. budget deficit, the “Occupy Wall Street movement,” and the 2012 election.

Source: Xinhua News Agency Outlook Weekly, December 5, 2011
http://www.lwgcw.com/NewsShow.aspx?newsId=24874

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Business Daily: Global Decline in Manufacturing Impacts Chinese Currency Policies

Business Daily recently published a report on China’s currency policy changes after figures on the global manufacturing sector demonstrated it was clearly declining. The report first referred to the latest major decline of China’s PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) to 49. This was the first time since February 2009 that it fell below 50. When the PMI is below 50 it is generally considered to be an indication of recession. Meanwhile, the Euro Area PMI dropped to 46.4 and the British PMI reached 47.6. Global PMI was 49.6 in November. The United States was the only exception with the PMI being 52.7, which the report called “puzzling.” The Chinese central bank responded with an immediate decrease in the Bank Deposit Reserve Ratio. Two to three more decreases in this ratio are highly likely in the first half of 2012. The market is expecting more currency related policy shifts towards loosening up the restrictions on loans. However the concern over inflation is still keeping the government from taking more dramatic actions. The report expressed the belief that the interest rate will not go down.

Source: Business Daily, December 4, 2011
http://www.nbd.com.cn/articles/2011-12-04/620989.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

County in Poverty Builds a Luxury Government Building

China Economy recently republished a report by Xi’an Evening News on a new construction project – a luxury county government building. Wangjiang County of Anhui Province is a “county in poverty.” However the county government is building a new county office building which is eight times the size of the White House. The latest investigation showed that the project never completed the required Feasibility Study Report or the Initial Design Blueprint. The construction also did not follow the national standards established by the government building regulations on the use of luxury materials. Around one-sixth of the project’s funding was sourced from the construction budget of the County Archives project. The building is coupled with the construction of a county square of the same size.

Source: China Economy, November 28, 2011
http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/shgj/gdxw/201111/28/t20111128_22870962.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics