Congressional China Caucus

U.S. LAWMAKERS MUST FIX PENTAGON’S CHINA REPORT.  According to DefenseNews, the Pentagon’s annual report to Congress on China’s military power lacks the required detailed, authoritative information that is needed to make long-term judgments about the future capabilities and intentions of the People’s Liberation Army.  From the piece: “While this year’s edition, released in May, technically met its congressional reporting requirements, at half the length of its predecessor, it was a watered-down departure from the in-depth reporting of past editions. The report also contained a number of omissions, making it more difficult to place PLA military modernization into perspective… The rise of China and the modernization of its armed forces are too important for U.S. national security not to ensure a well-informed public. By taking the steps outlined above, Congress can help the Pentagon better inform policymakers and the electorate as they navigate a prudent course for engaging China.”  http://www.defensenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012307080006

FOR CHINA, IT’S ALL ABOUT AMERICA.  Michael Auslin of AEI has written a new piece that discusses China’s single foreign policy focus on the United States, and the implications of that focus for Washington.  From the piece: “Unlike the United States, which has had a complex, yet robust set of alliances and more informal partnerships in Asia since the 1950s, China has not formed deep ties with any Asian state.  There is no analogue in Chinese foreign policy to America’s relationship with Japan or its initiatives with Singapore… China’s foreign policy, at least today, is far different.  Once it may have seen itself as a co-leader of the global Communist bloc, or as the center of a Sinic grouping of nations up to the 19th century.  Now, its foreign gaze is centered squarely on its relationship with the United States.  Everything else is refracted through that lens.  Other relationships are considered for their utility to China’s goals of furthering its influence and countering America’s position, both in East Asia and other regions.”  http://www.aei.org/article/for-china-its-all-about-america/

CHINA, INDIA GRAPPLE WITH GROWTH CHALLENGES.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304058404577496443063859250.html

E.U. FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF HEADS TO CHINA FOR TALKS.  DefenseNews and the AFP report that the European Union’s foreign policy chief is headed to Beijing for talks on foreign affairs and security issues on the first leg of a five-day Asian tour.  From the piece: “The meeting will be the third round of the high-level EU-China Strategic Dialogue, which will help prepare the ground for the next EU-China summit in Brussels in the autumn… At the last EU-China summit, which was delayed from October 2011 to February this year because of the European sovereign debt crisis, China renewed its support for the euro.”  http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120708/DEFREG03/307080005/EU-Foreign-Policy-Chief-Heads-China-Talks?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

CHINA POLLUTION PROTEST ENDS, BUT SUSPICION OF GOVERNMENT HIGH.  According to Reuters, after thousands of people protested the Chinese government’s plans to build a $1.6 billion refinery, the plan was scrapped while distrust remains very high.  From the piece: “Lao Zhou splutters with rage when asked if he believes government promises to scrap plans for a copper refinery near his home in southwest China, a project which has sparked violent protests.  ‘They're liars!’ the ruddy-faced farmer exclaims, spitting out his words in thickly accented Mandarin.  ‘Nobody believes they won't build it eventually’… While China faces tens of thousands of ‘mass incidents’ every year over pollution, as well as issues like corruption, the Shifang uprising captured national attention and was widely discussed on popular microblogs with little apparent censorship.  ‘This issue has really struck a chord with people,’ said one China-based Western diplomat, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity.”  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/08/us-china-pollution-idUSBRE8670HP20120708

JAPAN PLAN TO BUY ISLANDS DRAWS CHINA’S CONDEMNATION.  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-08/japan-plan-to-buy-disputed-islands-draws-china-s-condemnation.html

CHINA BOOSTS STATE FIRMS AS ENTREPRENEURS STRUGGLE.  According to CBS Money Watch, the Chinese government continues to pump money into state industry, leaving China’s entrepreneurs to fend for themselves.  From the piece: “Spending like that of Baosteel Group, owner of the Zhanjiang mill, is expected to help push up economic growth later this year. But the emphasis on state industry that creates few jobs will come at a longer-term cost, setting back efforts to reduce reliance on investment and generate self-sustaining growth powered by consumer spending.  The strategy will further entrench subsidy-guzzling government companies that dominate industries from oil to telecoms. That might hamper reforms the World Bank and others say are needed to keep the economy growing by curbing state industry and nurturing free-market competition and more dynamic private companies.”  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57468243/china-boosts-state-firms-as-entrepreneurs-struggle/

SECRET TAIWAN NAVAL MAPS GO MISSING.  http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120707/DEFREG03/307070003/Secret-Taiwan-Naval-Maps-Go-Missing-Report?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

CHINA’S ECONOMY: APOCALYPSE SOON?  A piece from the International Herald Tribune discusses recent reports of China’s economic slowdown and the nation’s economic challenges.  From the piece: “Analysts and government planners are now resigned to the fact that the growth rate in 2012 will slip under the once-magic (and numerologically auspicious) figure of 8 percent. Instead, keeping growth above 7 percent has become the immediate task at hand, especially with the important 18th Party Congress coming this autumn… Some of the (few) more bullish analysts speak admiringly of the robustness of the state banking system and Beijing’s ability to manipulate the levers of its highly controlled economy. But when they start listing areas of deep concern, they can barely come up for air.”  http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/09/watching-the-china-stress-index-its-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.