CHINA TO CARRY OUT MANNED SPACE FLIGHT.  According to the BBC, China has announced that it will carry out a manned space flight sometime this month.  From the piece: “A rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft has been moved to a launch pad in the north-west of the country.  According to state news agency Xinhua, it will carry three astronauts - possibly including a woman - to the Tiangong 1 space station module.  This will be China's fourth manned space flight and its first since 2008.  It became only the third country to independently send a man into space in 2003… The mission is part of China's program to develop a full orbiting space station.  Beijing is planning to complete the 60-tonne manned space station by 2020.”  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18377735

CHINA URGES MORE ‘DECISIVE ACTION’ ON EURO CRISIS.  Reuters reports that China has announced that moves to shore up Spain’s teetering banks is a welcome short-term fix, but that more decisive action will be required.  From the piece: “Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao told reporters on Monday that China welcomed what he called the European Union's decisiveness, but added that more would need to be done.  ‘We hope these measures will be helpful in containing the crisis,’ Zhu told a news conference. ‘This can be of great use in controlling short-term risk. But, in the interests of mid- or long-term stability, we hope the euro zone will improve consensus and take more decisive action.’”  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/11/us-china-europe-crisis-idUSBRE85A09I20120611

CHINA’S STOCKS RISE MOST IN 2 WEEKS ON TRADE, EASING INFLATION.  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-11/china-s-stock-index-futures-rise-on-trade-data-easing-inflation.html

WHAT CHINA’S POWER STRUGGLE MEANS FOR ITS ECONOMY.  A piece from CNN examines how internal political strife may impact China’s economic future.  From the piece: “How that struggle will play out is unclear, but the stakes couldn't be higher. As the recent economic data out of China suggest, the era of unbridled growth may be over. Industrial production and exports are down sharply. China's challenge is to reinvigorate the small- and midsize-business sectors, ‘for whom contracts and a more stable legal regime are critical,’ says Yasheng Huang, an MIT political scientist. Beijing also wants a higher-tech economy, one in which intellectual-property protection is all the more important. Beijing, in other words, needs to get on with it -- the sooner the better.”  http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/08/news/economy/china-leadership-economy.fortune/

CHINESE FIRMS BREAKING U.N. EMBARGO ON NORTH KOREA.  According to The Telegraph, Chinese firms are breaking a United Nations embargo by supplying North Korea with key components for ballistic missiles, including launch vehicles.  From the piece: “Classified documents seen by The Daily Telegraph show that Beijing has failed to act when confronted with evidence that Chinese companies are breaking UN Resolution 1874 and helping North Korea to build long range missiles… a study compiled by the intelligence agency of a country in the region shows how North Korean companies are continuing to buy banned materials in China. These entities ‘have been smuggling in or out controlled items by either setting up and operating a front company in China, or colluding with Chinese firms to forge documents and resorting to other masking techniques,’ says the report.”  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9320339/Chinese-firms-breaking-UN-embargo-on-North-Korea.html

FIREPOWER BRISTLES IN SOUTH CHINA SEA AS RIVALRIES HARDEN.  Reuters reports that China’s growth of military power have begun to attract international attention, with that focus aimed in a large part at the South China Sea.  From the piece: “In the early years of China's rise to economic and military prowess, the guiding principle for its government was Deng Xiaoping's maxim: ‘Hide Your Strength, Bide Your Time.’  Now, more than three decades after paramount leader Deng launched his reforms, that policy has seemingly lapsed or simply become unworkable as China's military muscle becomes too expansive to conceal and its ambitions too pressing to postpone.  The current row with Southeast Asian nations over territorial claims in the energy-rich South China Sea is a prime manifestation of this change, especially the standoff with the Philippines over Scarborough Shoal.”  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/11/china-southchinasea-idUSL3E8H902520120611

CHINA SAYS G-20 SUMMIT WRONG PLACE FOR SYRIA TALK.  According to the Associated Press, China has taken the position that the violence in Syria should not be on the agenda of the upcoming G-20 summit in Mexico.  From the piece: “Syrian activists estimate more than 13,000 people have died since an uprising erupted 15 months ago. For months, the U.S. and its European allies have tried unsuccessfully to take UN action against Syria, but Russia and China, Syria's main allies, have vetoed two Security Council resolutions that threatened possible sanctions… China's Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai told reporters at a briefing Monday that although there is intense global concern about the crisis in Syria, the G-20 Summit isn't the appropriate place to discuss it.  ‘The situation in Syria is of concern to everyone globally, however the G-20 is a platform for global economic governance and so far we haven't seen political and security issues on the agenda of the G-20,’ said Cui. ‘I think that is the proper arrangement.’”  http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2012/06/11/china_says_g_20_summit_wrong_place_for_syria_talk/

The Caucus Brief is a daily publication for Members of Congress and Hill Staffers on China news and information compiled by the office of Congressman Randy Forbes, Founder of the Congressional China Caucus.  Email Reed.Eckhold@mail.house.gov with tips, comments, or to subscribe/unsubscribe.