CHINA - New Leader, President Xi Jinping

"Examining U.S. Concerns on Trade, Security as China Welcomes New President" PBS Newshour 3/14/2013

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour):  China officially installed its new leader today.  Xi Jinping took the final step in affirming his status, adding the post of president to his other positions of power.

The delegates arriving at Beijing's Great Hall of the People had been carefully selected.  And once inside, they did just as expected, formally electing Xi Jinping as president.

He was the only candidate, and won 2,952 votes.  A lone delegate voted no, and three abstained.

QU JIA, National People's Congress:  It meets the popular expectations, and it meets the expectations of the Chinese people and the nation. It is a happy ending.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  The 59-year-old Xi had already been named military and Communist Party chief in November.  Now he will officially lead the most populous country on Earth with more than 1.3 billion people.

China also boasts the world's second largest economy, after the United States.  It is also the second largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, about 7.5 percent of the total.  But the two nations' economic relationship has been marred recently by allegations of widespread cyber-attacks on American targets.

TOM DONILON, U.S. National Security Adviser:  Increasingly, U.S. businesses are speaking out about their serious concerns about sophisticated targeted theft of confidential business information and proprietary technologies through cyber-intrusions emanating from China on a very large scale.

Significant excerpt

GORDON CHANG, Author:  Well, clearly, the People's Liberation Army, the security services, even the Communist Party itself have been involved in hacking.

This is the most extensive effort in history.  They're going not only after secrets in the military establishment of ours, but they're also going after our corporates and trying to get information to use for commercial purposes, but most important, they're attacking the institutions of a free society, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post.

This really goes the core of what America is, and so this is very serious for us.