Congressional China Caucus

CHILDREN OF MAO’S WRATH VIE FOR POWER IN CHINA.  A piece from Reuters discusses how the rising members of the Chinese Communist Party were shaped in large part by Mao’s Cultural Revolution.  From the piece: “Critics, including Premier Wen Jiabao, have suggested that Bo, 62, flirted with reviving the extremes of the Cultural Revolution, a decade of zealotry and violence etched in the memories of tens of millions of Chinese.  Yet the era was a formative one for many Chinese leaders now poised to rise to power in a Communist Party leadership transition later this year. President Hu Jintao is due to retire as party leader and hand power to a generation including many leaders who were Red Guards - student-militants fighting for Mao's vision of a communism purged of compromise.  At many schools, gangs of the loosely organized Red Guards marched into a vacuum of authority in the summer of 1966, when officials were toppled and police retreated. Across Beijing in August and September that year, nearly 1,800 people died in attacks instigated by Cultural Revolution radicals, according to official estimates published in 1980.”  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/22/us-china-politics-bo-idUSBRE85L04E20120622

CHINA TELECOM FIRMS MAY BE SUBSIDIZED: U.S. LAWMAKER.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/22/us-china-usa-huawei-idUSBRE85L03G20120622

VIETNAM LAW ON CONTESTED ISLANDS DRAWS CHINA’S IRE.  The NYT reports that China has sharply criticized Vietnam for passing a law that claims sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly islands, saying that they are ‘indisputable’ territories of China.  From the piece: “The Foreign Ministry in Beijing summoned the Vietnamese ambassador, Nguyen Van Tho, to strongly protest the new law, said a spokesman, Hong Lei.  ‘Vietnam’s Maritime Law, declaring sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, is a serious violation of China’s territorial sovereignty,’ a ministry statement said. ‘China expresses its resolute and vehement opposition.’  The dispute between China and Vietnam over the law, which had been in the works for years, is the latest example of Beijing’s determination to tell its Asian neighbors that the South China Sea is China’s preserve.”  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/world/asia/china-criticizes-vietnam-in-dispute-over-islands.html

CHINA DATA SHOWS DROPS IN EXPORTS AND PRICES.  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/business/global/china-data-show-drops-in-exports-and-prices.html

BRAZIL AND CHINA AGREE ON CURRENCY SWAP.  According to the Financial Times, Brazil has provided a vote of confidence in China’s efforts to promote the renminbi as a reserve currency by becoming the biggest economy yet to agree to a swap deal with Beijing.  From the piece: “Brazil and China announced the R$60bn (US$29bn) local currency swap after a bilateral meeting between Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, and Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s president, on the sidelines of the Rio+20 environmental summit in Rio de Janeiro.  ‘It is a measure that reinforces the economies of both countries,’ Guido Mantega, Brazil’s finance minister, said late on Thursday night.  China has launched an aggressive campaign of ‘currency swap diplomacy,’ signing about 20 such agreements over the past four years with countries ranging from Argentina to Australia and the United Arab Emirates.”  http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/015f526a-bc07-11e1-9aff-00144feabdc0.html

PLA HAWKS DECRY SELLOUT BY LEADERS.  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/20/inside-china-pla-hawks-decry-sellout-by-leaders/

U.S., JAPAN BEGIN NAVAL DRILLS NEAR CHINA.  The Financial Times reports that the U.S., Japan and South Korea began joint naval exercises in waters near China and the Korean Peninsula on Thursday, underscoring efforts to tighten military cooperation between the three nations.  From the piece: “The drills, which are certain to irk Beijing, are the latest example of strengthening ties among Beijing’s neighbors and between them and the US, which the Chinese government and military see as attempts to contain their country’s rise.  Japan and South Korea are both close allies of the US, but direct defense co-operation between the Asian neighbors has been limited by political sensitivities and lingering Korean resentment over past Japanese occupation and colonization.  The two-day trilateral drills, which involve a US aircraft carrier battle group, three Japanese destroyers and South Korean warships, came after repeated calls from Washington for closer three-way co-operation.”  http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/64acf730-bb9b-11e1-90e4-00144feabdc0.html

CHINESE BUYERS PICK UP U.S. LUXURY PROPERTIES.  According to the WSJ, a new wave of buyers from China are snapping up luxury properties across the U.S., injecting billions into the American real-estate-market.  From the piece: “The industry is scrambling to court the new buyers. Some developers of new projects are installing wok kitchens, following feng shui principles and putting lucky numbers on choice units; others are packaging property sales with government programs designed to encourage foreign investment. Real-estate agencies are flying representatives to China, and hiring Mandarin-speaking agents… Buyers from China and Hong Kong accounted for $9 billion of U.S. home sales in the 12 months ending in March, up 89% from 2010, making them the second-largest group of foreign buyers of homes in the U.S. behind Canadians, according to data released earlier this month by the National Association of Realtors.”  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304765304577478573004173212.html

WHAT HAPPENS IF CHINA ANNEXES THE MOON?  http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/06/18/red_moon_rising

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.