Congressional China Caucus

CHINA SAYS RARE EARTH PRICE GAP BASED ON QUALITY, CUSTOMS.  According to Reuters, China has denied that it interferes with prices on the global rare earths market amid a trade dispute with other major economies.  From the piece: “In March, the European Union, United States and Japan complained to the World Trade Organization that Beijing, which has a monopoly over world supplies of the mineral, illegally choked exports while holding down prices for domestic manufacturers.  Su Bo, a senior official at China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that higher quality demands by foreign firms and customs costs - not a decree from Beijing - partly explained the steeper prices paid by foreign companies… Rare earths are key elements in producing modern technologies from iPhones and disk drives to wind turbines, as well as components for the defense industry.”  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/20/china-rare-earths-idUSL3E8HJ10E20120620

ASSOCIATE OF BO XILAI’S WIFE ARRESTED.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303379204577476544148633150.html

CHINA DISSIDENT AI WEIWEI HARASSED BY POLICE.  According to CNN, China’s high profile dissident artist Ai Weiwei has been harassed by police and warned to stay away from a planned court appearance today.  From the piece: “‘I've never seen so many police cars outside my studio -- at one point last night a few dozen were there, which was unprecedented,’ Ai told CNN by phone.  ‘Yesterday my assistant wanted to take pictures of the police outside our studio, but his camera was immediately grabbed and he got injured in the process,’ he said.  ‘The police started calling me repeatedly yesterday afternoon, warning me to stay away from the court today, which I find pretty confusing’ because he is facing tax charges, he said.  Ai says the allegations that he owes back taxes are a cover for accusations that he is trying to overthrow the state.”  http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/20/world/asia/china-ai-weiwei/index.html

CONSEQUENCES OF THE ONE-CHILD POLICY.  http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2012/06/consequences-one-child-policy

COMMUNIST PARTY WILTING UNDER THE POLITICAL HEAT? HARDLY.  A piece from the WSJ’s China Real Time Report argues that the Chinese Communist Party is showing little sign of stress from the upcoming political transition, social unrest and scandal.  From the piece: “The developing agenda for China’s leaders is not saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to political reform, but what kind of restructuring makes sense for the moment.  The Hu Jintao leadership has gone back-and-forth about this question. But now there’s renewed momentum on restarting efforts aimed at reshaping the way the party operates internally… Analysts who see a summer of discontent on the streets of China are looking in the wrong place. The real story in China is in the party ranks. It’s about the transition of power within the party, and the growing expectations of many cadres that the new leadership will be different—or could be pushed to be so.”  http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/06/20/communist-party-wilting-under-the-political-heat-hardly/

CHINESE SUPERHERO TO COME TO THE U.S.  The Financial Times reports that the Chinese government is financing a Hollywood movie featuring a Chinese superhero that saves the world and shows that the nation is “one of the good guys.”  From the piece: “The Annihilator, the protagonist of the 3D movie scheduled to open in 2014, ‘trains in Qigong in China and then comes to America, where he becomes a superman by coincidence,’ Wang Guowei, president of National Film Capital, the state-backed film fund, told the FT.  ‘Then he returns to rescue the world – including China – from a crisis. By including the idea of China rescuing the world, it competes with the ‘China threat’ theory.’  China’s ruling Communist party has long lamented that its ‘soft’ power falls far short of that of the US. Efforts to improve matters, however, have been hampered by an overeager propaganda agenda.”  http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0636dc34-ba0b-11e1-937b-00144feabdc0.html

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.