Wandering China

Greetings. I have moved!

2009-10-01T14:16:00.002+10:00

Greetings. I have moved to -

http://wanderingchina.wordpress.com/

I will be maintaining the blog over at wordpress from now on. This site is now officially closed. My humble thanks.

60th Anniversary: What history teaches about toppled regimes — Ching Cheong

2009-10-01T13:19:00.000+10:00

Quotable Quotes - "as long as the prairie (of discontent) is there, no one knows which spark can start the fire..."

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What history teaches about toppled regimes
Ching Cheong
Straits Times
Source - The Malaysian Insider

SEPT 29 — China’s leaders are pulling out all the stops to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic on Thursday.

No expense has been spared for a grand parade to showcase China to the world, just as no effort has been spared to keep the Chinese capital safe and secure from “all unstable elements”.

A “security moat” will bar undesirable or dubious characters from entering Beijing from neighbouring provinces and regions — Hebei, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Tianjin.

The authorities’ concern is understandable, especially following the outbreaks of social and ethnic unrest in recent months. Indeed, in the run-up to Thursday, there had in fact been open discussion of the possibility that these events may portend the collapse of communist rule.

In July, the Guangdong-based Southern Metropolitan Daily ran an article on some common features in the collapse of dynasties.

One such feature, it said, involved emperors believing that they could survive any crisis so long as they controlled the army and therefore commanded force.

“Whenever this mentality emerged, the emperor’s days were numbered,” the article observed.

Another feature was that the fall of a dynasty was often triggered by an accidental incident or a seemingly inconsequential event. This was especially so whenever there was widespread public discontent.

Said the article: “In fact, numerous failures might have preceded some seemingly accidental incident succeeding in toppling a regime.

“In the people’s hearts, every effort counted. If it did not succeed here and now, it could succeed there and then.”

The Southern Metropolitan Daily article concluded by saying “as long as the prairie (of discontent) is there, no one knows which spark can start the fire”.

A month later, the Outlook magazine published by the official Xinhua news agency, ran an article by Zuo Fengrong, a research fellow at the Central Party School, entitled “Drawing Lessons From The 1977 Soviet Union”.

While Zuo did not explain why he picked 1977, it was the year that the then-Soviet Union celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Russian Revolution in October 1917. China will be marking its own 60th National Day on Thursday, in effect the culmination of the Chinese revolutions of the 20th century.

In his article, the researcher noted that the Soviet Union had attained a level of prosperity in 1977 that it had never seen before. Yet under the pretext of preserving stability, its leaders refused to undertake any reforms.

“Leonid Brezhnev thought everything was alright. He... never tolerated divergent views. Dissenters were locked up in psychiatric hospitals. High-handed ideological control and news censorship stifled innovation and the Soviets’ cultural and spiritual lives ground to a halt,” Zuo wrote.

He went on to point out that by 1977, the Soviet Communist Party had become the vehicle of a special privileged class. Instead of serving the people, Soviet officials ruled them instead. Corruption, nepotism and cronyism were the order of the day.

Needless to say, a similar culture of corruption, nepotism and cronyism also exists in today’s China.

Zuo concluded: “The 1970-80s were a rare stable and prosperous period in Soviet history. Yet it was only superficial. Stability turned into stagnation and the country lost its ability to re-invent itself. This finally led to the unexpected collapse of the Soviet empire.”

A week after Zuo’s article appeared, the Central Party School magazine Study Times published an article analysing the fate of the descendants of senior officials of the Tang Dynasty, which once gave China its golden age.

Essentially, the account showed that none of the descendants came to a good end. The writer concluded: “Even in feudal times, senior officials could not ensure that their descendants enjoyed ever-lasting prosperity, although they themselves had made great contributions to the country.”

“That is why (first-generation Chinese leader) Mao Zedong’s reminder to senior cadres that they should keep a close watch on their own children is so timely and important,” the author said.

There was no mention of modern-day China in this or any of the other articles. But the allusions were unmistakable. — The Straits Times

60th Anniversary: The dragon marks its peaceful rise — Ron Matthews & Wang Di

2009-10-01T12:05:00.001+10:00

Having a look at China's good side is getting increasingly difficult. Much like how celebrities are pretty susceptible to picky and meticulous over-thinking interpretations by the general public, China has had its fair share of detractors. This article provides a good summary of the good that China has been doing in ensuring it is keeping to its promise of a harmonious ascendancy.

Quotable Quotes - "For instance, China’s “official” 2009 defence budget, at US$70.3 billion (RM246 billion), is only 10 per cent of what the US spends. Moreover, China’s offensive capability is far inferior to that of the US. China’s navy probably cannot sustain naval operations beyond 160km from its shores, its combat aircraft are less than half the number of America’s, and much of its artillery is antique by Western standards."

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The dragon marks its peaceful rise
Ron Matthews & Wang Di
The Straits Times
Source - The Malaysian Insider 1 October 2009

SEPT 30 — Two events will once again focus the world’s attention on the Middle Kingdom.

The first is that China’s growth rate for this year is slated to hit 8 per cent, suggesting the country will be among the first of the mega-powers to recover from the global financial crisis.

The second will be tomorrow’s sight of China’s biggest and most impressive military parade in a decade, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.

Both events will inevitably fuel concerns about China’s power. However, China views its rise as a peaceful one. Beijing’s challenge is to project a soft rather than hard image of its power.

China’s economic power is the result of its unparalleled growth, averaging 9.5 per cent per annum over the past three decades. As a result of this growth, the country has been able to increase its defence expenditure by 17 per cent in each of the last four years.

Reflecting this substantial expansion in defence expenditure, China’s military power has undergone an impressive transformation, carrying with it the potential to destabilise the world order. China now has the world’s biggest standing army, with more than 2.25 million soldiers and a broad array of advanced military platforms, including nuclear-powered submarines. The country is also in the process of acquiring aircraft carriers.

Unsurprisingly, China’s rising hard power is seen as a threat. The United States, in particular, is nervous of China’s burgeoning military capability and strategic reach.

But is this fear justified? There is room for doubt.

For instance, China’s “official” 2009 defence budget, at US$70.3 billion (RM246 billion), is only 10 per cent of what the US spends. Moreover, China’s offensive capability is far inferior to that of the US. China’s navy probably cannot sustain naval operations beyond 160km from its shores, its combat aircraft are less than half the number of America’s, and much of its artillery is antique by Western standards.

China is aware of the international anxieties engendered by its growing military strength, and needs to communicate the purpose and nature of its military “modernisation” programme.

Progress has been made on this front. In June, defence consultative talks between Beijing and Washington were resumed, and last month the two countries held maritime safety talks to reduce incidents such as the recent naval confrontation in the South China Sea.

China’s Defence Ministry has also launched a Chinese and English website to give an unprecedented amount of information on the country’s military capability. The country is also seeking to counterbalance its hard power with a focus on soft power projection, the ultimate goal being to create the image of a benign China.

For instance, in the area of maritime territorial disputes, it proposed to shelve disputes and engage in joint developments in 1978, providing the basis for the path-breaking preliminary agreement with Japan last year to jointly explore gas fields in the East China Sea. China has also cooperated with neighbouring countries in non-traditional security areas such as drug trafficking, piracy, terrorism, money laundering and cyber crimes.

The country has also sought to become a good international citizen. It has taken part in peacekeeping operations in international hot spots. In December last year, it sent three ships to the Gulf of Aden to combat piracy in the waters off Somalia. China acted in response to a United Nations Security Council request for assistance. Significantly, it was the Chinese navy’s first mission beyond the Pacific.

China provides a large amount of overseas aid, both economic and technical. By the end of 2005, it had completed 769 projects in Africa, most of which were associated with sustainable development.

The country has begun two other major programmes to expand its soft power. One is the establishment of the Confucius Institutes. The other is the launch of what has been described as a “media aircraft carrier” aimed at the hearts and minds of a global audience. The Chinese government has pumped 45 billion yuan (RM23 billion) into supporting four key state-run news organisations — China National Radio, China Central Television (CCTV), People’s Daily and the Xinhua News Agency — to expand the country’s influence. There are also plans to launch an international news channel with round-the-clock global news coverage, rather like a Chinese version of the Arab network Al-Jazeera.

China’s desire to cultivate the image of a benign and responsible state is likely to curtail any use of its hard power. Therefore, the country’s rise should be viewed positively. — The Straits Times

Chinese becoming targets of terror, crime

2009-09-30T13:38:00.000+10:00

China is always astounding, and all one has to do is take a look at the numbers involved. Read the quote below.

Quotable Quotes - "The annual number of overseas visits by Chinese reached more than 45 million in 2008. Between 1949 and 1979 was only 280,000..."

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Chinese becoming targets of terror, crime

China Daily/Asia News Network
Source - AsiaOne 30 September 2009

Chinese citizens have become targets of foreign criminals and terrorists as the country's profile on the world stage has been increasing, said vice foreign minister Song Tao.

"We are facing a more and more complicated overseas security situation," he was quoted as saying by People's Daily Tuesday.

"Deteriorating regional conflicts and turbulence in some countries have directly affected the safety of our citizens and companies abroad."

As many countries are suffering from the global financial crisis, Chinese people and Chinese companies are also experiencing a hard time, he added.

"In many non-traditional security accidents, such as terrorist activities, kidnapping and pirate attacks, Chinese citizens are now not only innocent victims but direct targets. "More and more crimes and accidents are causing casualties and property losses for overseas Chinese."

Last year, more than 3,400 Chinese tourists were trapped in Thailand due to domestic turbulence in November and Chinese cargo vessels were attacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

The Chinese government rented 12 passenger flights to rescue the trapped citizens in Thailand and sent a convoy of warships to Somalia.

The two actions are widely seen as the best examples of China strengthening overseas protection in recent years.

But Chinese citizens are still not the main target of the terrorist attacks in the world, Li Wei, director of the center for counter-terrorism studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told China Daily Tuesday.

"Inadequate preparations for the complicated overseas security situation is one of the main reasons for the increasing number of accidents," he said.

"Chinese visitors should know the sources of danger and find proper solutions before leaving."

The annual number of overseas visits by Chinese reached more than 45 million in 2008. Between 1949 and 1979 was only 280,000, the vice minister said.

To protect the safety and rights of Chinese citizens and organizations abroad, the Foreign Ministry set up a consular protection department in 2006.

In recent years, the ministry has handled more than 30,000 consular protection cases a year.

But the lack of local knowledge and customs and inadequate security measures also cause losses and taints the image of Chinese people, he said.

In order to equip Chinese citizens with more legal knowledge of foreign cultures, 1 million copies of overseas safety and etiquette guidebooks have been issued at all entrance and exit ports and overseas embassies.

Free materials can be downloaded from the ministry's website.

China Daily/Asia News Network

S'pore population to hit 5 million soon

2009-09-30T09:58:00.002+10:00

5 million honestly seems too much. The new forecasted solid state population for Singapore is now targeted at 8.5 million. Now that may not sound like a lot of people, but when we look at population density, it's rather insane. Singapore now has a density of close to 6,814 people per square kilometre. That's 6,814 people standing on an area the size of a football field. How insane is that. This statistic places Singapore as third, after Macau and Monaco, as the world's most densely populated nation.

With 8.5 million, I shudder to think how much more crowded it will be on our humbly sized island all of 700 square km (and that's after years of reclaiming land adding close to / more than 100 square km of space to our spot in the Malay Peninsula.

Now the big question for me is - can I find out how many of these new migrants are mainland Chinese? The quest begins.

Quotable Quotes - "The growth has been fuelled mainly by the increase in immigrants, as the number of babies delivered by Singapore residents rose only marginally."

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S'pore population to hit 5 million soon
By Lee Hui Chieh
Source - AsiaOne 29 September 2009

SINGAPORE'S population hit almost 4.99 million in June this year, up 3.1 per cent from last year.

The growth has been fuelled mainly by the increase in immigrants, as the number of babies delivered by Singapore residents rose only marginally.

The figures released yesterday by the Department of Statistics show that the number of citizens grew from 3.16 million last year to 3.2 million this year, while that of permanent residents inched up from 0.48 million last year to 0.53 million this year.

The number of non-residents rose by 4.8 per cent to reach 1.25 million this year - a lower rise from the over-10 per cent rate in the last two years.

Just slightly more babies were born last year than in the previous year: 39,826, up 0.9 per cent. However, the total fertility rate dropped from 1.29 to 1.28 last year.

Associate Professor Paulin Straughan, a sociologist from the National University of Singapore, said that it is positive that Singapore has been able to sustain population growth, despite the recession and competition from other developed countries.

Like Singapore, they seek immigrants to make up for falling fertility rates.

Prof Straughan, who is also a Nominated Member of Parliament, said: "It shows that Singapore is a draw for migrants, that there are still jobs and quality of life here."

Administrative planner Yvonne Tay, 35, became a citizen in April this year, 16 years after coming here from Perak, as she wanted her children "to enjoy better education opportunities and subsidies as a citizen".

She said: "We're used to the lifestyle here, it's safe and peaceful. Half of my family is also here, and my sister's family also took up citizenship three years ago."

60th Anniversary: China goes Hollywood

2009-09-28T14:58:00.002+10:00

Quotable Quotes - "While revolutionary leader Mao Zedong is the star of the film - and of most of the other TV shows and stage productions - the theme of 'Jianguo Daye", as China battles current day economic crisis and social unrest, is national unity."
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China goes Hollywood
China's 60th anniversary
AFP
Source - The Straits Times 28 September 2009

BEIJING - CHINA is going Hollywood for the communist state's 60th birthday. Dozens of films, TV mini-series and shows are hitting screen and stage, with a sweeping all-star epic taking the country by storm.

'Jianguo Daye' (The Founding of a Republic) is hard to miss. The film, which cost 30 million yuan (S$6.23 million) to make, is on a record 1,700 screens nationwide and Tinseltown-style ads are everywhere.
More than 170 of China's most beloved actors and directors - Zhang Ziyi, Chen Kaige, Jet Li and Jackie Chan, to name a few - lent their skills to the project, which was the brainchild of the king of Chinese cinema, Han Sanping.

While revolutionary leader Mao Zedong is the star of the film - and of most of the other TV shows and stage productions - the theme of 'Jianguo Daye", as China battles current day economic crisis and social unrest, is national unity.

The two-hour blockbuster tells the story of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference - a coalition of 'democratic' parties, artists, scientists and intellectuals who voted to create the People's Republic.

Mr Han - the boss of China Film, the country's biggest movie producer and distributor - says he has created a new style of propaganda film, in which Mao and Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek are more realistic, human characters.

In one scene, we see Mao, the 'Great Helmsman' himself, completely drunk after a major battlefield victory.

While the film may draw older moviegoers wanting to relive the events of 1949, the stars have been recruited to lure younger viewers like 21-year-old student Fu Qiang, who raved about the film after a recent screening in Beijing.

'Every person in China should see this film,' he said.

'The most important thing is not the star power, really - even if that helps bring in the money. This film will boost a feeling of patriotism in China. Plus, it's a great way to celebrate National Day.' Wang Yu, a retiree in her 60s, said the film was 'truly authentic'.

'It shows how the revolution in China came to pass - it started out weak and gained strength - and explains the time when the Communist Party rallied the people to liberate the country,' she said. -- AFP

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ANOTHER PIECE OF PROPAGANDA
Controversial artist Ai Weiwei, whose work is often censured by the communist government, sees the film differently - as yet another piece of blatant propaganda by a regime that has hardly changed in six decades.

He suggested the stars - who were not paid for their work - had been pressured or felt obliged to take part, as otherwise 'they knew they would miss out on future opportunities'.

'The director (Han) is a very powerful man in the film industry. This nation has become more and more like a crime family - the Mafiosi control everything and so they can either make you or break you,' he told AFP in an interview.

No matter what the politics behind getting the film made, it is sure to be a massive hit.

Luisa Prudentino, an expert on Chinese cinema, says the 'Jianguo Daye' formula will be the model for future propaganda films.

'This allows the authorities to counter Hollywood's growing influence here by making blockbuster films that make money while also getting their message across to the masses in a more glamorous way,' she said.

The other major production on offer is 'Road to Revival", a two-and-a-half-hour Broadway-style musical that takes the audience on a journey from the Opium Wars to the present day, glorifying the re-emergence of China as a world power.

State television's main channel has also 'gone red' with 'Jiefang' (Liberation), a 50-part mini-series that tells the story of Mao's victory over the Nationalists, complete with bloody battle scenes. -- AFP

Confucius' 2m descendants?

2009-09-25T14:27:00.001+10:00

Confucious has been the butt of many a joke despite its revered status as a mainstay of Chinese thought. Some examples - we'll hear some say...Confucius says...

"Man who walk through airport door sideways is going to Bangkok." or "Man who drop watch in toilet, bound to have shitty time."

Good humour I'm sure. It's not so much of a joke when you consider this ancient Chinese great's lineage now counts more than two million descendants. That's a mighty long line of people. And this, occurring over about 2500 years.

Quotable Quotes - "ABOUT two million people are now recognised as descendants of Confucius, more than tripling the size of the celebrated Chinese philosopher's family tree..."

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Confucius' 2m descendants?
AFP
Source - Straits Times 25 September 2009

BEIJING - ABOUT two million people are now recognised as descendants of Confucius, more than tripling the size of the celebrated Chinese philosopher's family tree, state media reported on Friday.

The new list, which includes ethnic minorities, women and overseas relatives for the first time, was unveiled on Thursday in the thinker's hometown Qufu to coincide with the 2,560th anniversary of his birth, the Global Times said.

The family tree - believed to be the biggest in the world - was last updated in 1937, and had only 560,000 members, according to the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee, the report said.

'It is not only important for academic research, but also valuable in helping Confucius descendants around the world discover their ancestors and strengthen family bonds,' said Kong Deyong, a 77th generation descendant of the philosopher who is known as Kong Fuzi in China.

Mr Kong, who heads the International Confucius Association, said he was glad that gender, religion and nationality were no longer factors in determining which descendants were counted.

'Even if many descendants are no longer Han or without Chinese nationality, we should count them in because we are one big family,' the Global Times quoted him as saying.

Kong Dejun, a teacher at Cambridge University, said her inclusion in the family tree - which has 43,000 pages and is bound in 80 books - was the 'most exciting moment' of her life.

'In terms of genes, Confucius' blood is flowing in our body,' Xinhua news agency quoted her as saying.

Extensive research was carried out in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and across Southeast Asia to find the descendants, Kong Deyong told the paper.

Previous reports said each person had paid a five-yuan (S$1.03) fee to register for inclusion in the family tree.

The ancient teachings of Confucius (551-479 BC), centring on peace and social harmony, have enjoyed a renaissance here in recent years, after being suppressed in Maoist China. -- AFP

China at age 60: from pariah to world power

2009-09-24T14:23:00.002+10:00

SO. the PRC is turning 60 in modern terms. In reality, I reckon it celebrates 5000 years of continuous civilization.

Quotable Quote - "The so-called 'workshop of the world' is a global leader in research and development - China, Japan and the United States accounted for nearly 60 percent of all patent requests filed in 2007."

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China at age 60: from pariah to world power

By Joelle Garrus | Reuters
Source - AsiaOne 24 September 2009

BEIJING, CHINA - Sixty years ago, as Mao Zedong declared the founding of a new communist nation, China was backward and isolated.

Today, it is a world power with sweeping influence - it is financing America's debt, snapping up access to natural resources in Africa and Latin America, and making its voice heard on major diplomatic issues.

his remarkable transformation - to be celebrated on October 1, communist China's 60th birthday - occurred thanks to a radical change in tactics at the midway point in the PRC's history, after three turbulent decades of Maoism.

'A big part of the first 30-year period can be regarded as lost decades for China,' explained Ren Xianfang, an analyst at IHS Global Insight in Beijing.

But then as the rest of the world was in 'great transition', moving towards market-based economies and privatisation, Beijing embraced a 'policy shift to economic and political pragmatism', Ren said - and everything changed.

A country that was once seen as a pariah, stuck between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and which barely gained United Nations membership in 1971, slowly emerged from its isolation.

In 1978, Beijing agreed to establish diplomatic relations with Washington. Then, under paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, it launched a programme of economic reforms that opened up the country to foreign investment.

Francoise Lemoine, a China expert at the Research Centre for International Economics (CEPII) in Paris, says the country's authorities quickly understood how to reap the benefits of the new world order.

'China is opening up at a time when other countries are ready to move their intensive manual labour activities offshore,' the French economist told AFP.

'China knows how to take advantage of this new globalisation, of the worldwide movement of capital and goods, and is claiming its rightful place in this new global division of labour.'

When Mao and his communists took power in October 1949, China was emerging from the ravages of civil war with the Nationalists, who fled to Taiwan, and Japanese occupation.

The country's gross domestic product had sunk to levels not seen since 1890 - its 500 million people were largely poor, illiterate and working the land to survive.

Lemoine said the first 30 years in the history of communist China - typified by the devastating fallout of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution - were nevertheless not a total waste.

The country made 'progress in terms of hygiene, health and education - most young people now have access to a basic education,' she said.

Today, China is the world's third-largest economy, the biggest exporter on the planet and has the world's largest foreign exchange reserves, at a whopping 2.13 trillion dollars, 800 billion of which is held in US Treasury bonds.

Beijing is one of five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council, participates in key international negotiations on Iran's disputed nuclear programme, and hosts the six-party talks on North Korea's atomic drive.

The country is seen as key to resolving the deadly conflict in the western Darfur region of Sudan, where China has major oil interests, and its stance on climate change is considered an essential piece of the global warming puzzle.

Its military is catching up with the West in leaps and bounds, and China is only one of three countries, along with the United States and the former Soviet Union, to have ever put a man in space.

The so-called 'workshop of the world' is a global leader in research and development - China, Japan and the United States accounted for nearly 60 percent of all patent requests filed in 2007.

It is the world's most populous nation, at 1.3 billion people, but barely eight percent remain illiterate. While the rich-poor divide is still of great concern, far fewer people are considered destitute.

Some experts say China has, 60 years on, finally acquired power and influence commensurate with its size, but others caution that it has not yet achieved 'superpower' status, in part due to the Communists' iron grip.

'The country is just an emerging power that is still facing lots of uncertainties in its ascent,' Ren noted.

'One major obstacle... is that China has yet to be accepted by the world as a leadership charting world values and ideology, which will require drastic political reforms in the country - and that is unlikely to come to pass soon.'

Hu Xingdou, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, agreed, saying such reforms were needed to eliminate any fears about a 'China threat'.

'The doubts about China will only fade with the development of a democratic, constitutional political system, and once it adopts the values of mainstream civilisation,' Hu said.

Foreigners seek jobs in China amid crisis

2009-09-21T21:35:00.000+10:00

So it seems from this report that China has now becoming the new land of opportunity. Well, not quite, with only 217,000 foreigners holding work permits, it is not that significant a number relative to China's workforce size. I do believe this number will grow pretty quickly though, just as any trend that develops in China, the potential for pretty substantial exponential growth is there.

But what's really pertinent about this report is the fact that these foreign work seekers are going to be competing with millions of well-qualified Chinese jobseekers willing to work for just a few hundred US dollars a month. Not much, but a stepping stone into a potentially huge market. So, those who venture there I would reckon, would possess considerable foresight.

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Quotable Quote - "China's job market has been propped up by Beijing's 4 trillion yuan (S$828 billion) stimulus, which helped to boost growth to 7.9 per cent from a year earlier in the quarter ended June 30, and from 6.1 per cent the previous quarter."

Foreigners seek jobs in China amid crisis
Robust growth creates 'land of opportunity' for millions of job seekers
Associated Press
Source - Straits Times 20 September 2009

A growing number of young foreigners are going to China to look for work in its unfamiliar but less bleak economy, driven by the worst job markets in decades in the United States, Europe and some Asian countries.

Many do basic work such as teaching English, a service in demand from Chinese businessmen and students. A growing number, however, are arriving with skills and experience in computers, finance and other fields.

'China is really the land of opportunity now compared to their home countries,' said Mr Chris Watkins, manager for China and Hong Kong of MRI China Group, a headhunting firm. 'This includes college graduates as well as maybe more established businessmen, entrepreneurs and executives from companies around the world.'

He said the number of resumes his company receives from abroad has tripled over the past 18 months.

China's job market has been propped up by Beijing's 4 trillion yuan (S$828 billion) stimulus, which helped to boost growth to 7.9 per cent from a year earlier in the quarter ended June 30, and from 6.1 per cent the previous quarter.

The government says millions of jobs will be created this year, though as many as 12 million job seekers will still be unable to find work.

Mr Andrew Carr, a 23-year-old Cornell University graduate, saw China as a safer alternative after offers of Wall Street jobs to classmates were withdrawn because of the economic turmoil.

Passing up opportunities at home, he started work last month at bangyibang.

com, a classified listings website in the southern city of Shenzhen.

'I noticed the turn the US economy was taking and decided it would be best to go directly to China,' said Mr Carr, who studied Mandarin for eight years.

China can be more accessible to job-hunters than economies where getting work permits is harder, such as Russia and some European Union countries.

Employers need government permission to hire foreigners, but the authorities promise an answer within 15 working days, compared with a wait of months or longer that may be required in some other countries.

An employer has to explain why it needs to hire a foreigner instead of a Chinese, but the government says it gives special consideration to people with technical or management skills.

Some 217,000 foreigners held work permits at the end of last year, up from 210,000 a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Thousands more use temporary business visas and go abroad regularly to renew them.

Job hunters from other Asian countries are also looking to China.

Mr An Kwang Jin, a 30-year-old South Korean photographer, has been working as a freelancer for a year in the eastern city of Qingdao. He said China offers more opportunities, as South Korea is struggling with a sluggish economy.

Still, foreigners will face more competition from a rising number of educated, English-speaking young Chinese, some of whom are returning from the West with work experience, said Mr Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai.

'You have a lot of Chinese from top universities who are making US$500 to US$600 a month,' Mr Rein said. 'Making a case that you are much better than they are is very hard.'

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hans Rosling on the Rise of China

2009-09-21T08:47:00.000+10:00

Swedish statistics master talks about the numbers of China in a short six minuter.

Ancient Chinese Wisdom

2009-09-20T15:12:00.000+10:00

This comes from Zhuge Liang, one of the most important and renown strategists of Chinese history.

"夫君子之行：静以修身，俭以养德；非淡泊无以明志，非宁静无以致远。" - 诸葛亮

One should seek serenity to cultivate the body, thriftiness to cultivate the morals. Seeking fame and wealth will not lead to noble ideal. Only by seeking serenity will one reach far. - Zhuge Liang

Source - China History Forum

Beijing cancels final rehearsal for Oct 1 National Day Parade

2009-09-19T18:13:00.001+10:00

Beijing cancels final rehearsal
Reuters
Source - Straits Times 19 September 2009

BEIJING - BEIJING has cancelled a final rehearsal for a massive National Day parade after disruptions caused by preparations this week in the Chinese capital shut roads and large parts of the subway system.

The official Xinhua news agency said the final rehearsal for the Oct 1 parade had been set for next Saturday.

Downtown Beijing ground to a halt on Friday afternoon to make way for tanks, missile carriers, soldiers, floats and dancers getting ready for the celebrations to mark 60 years of Communist rule.

Office workers in buildings lining Changan Avenue, the main thoroughfare for the parade, cleared out early to avoid being stuck by a transport clampdown and armed paramilitary police swarmed street corners to keep onlookers at bay.

The event, which ended in the early hours of Saturday, would be the last before Oct 1, Xinhua said.

'A planned rehearsal on Sept 26 has been called off to avoid further affecting the public,' it cited an unnamed spokesman for the organisers as saying.

'The four rounds of rehearsals had helped the organisers to spot and solve problems in preparation of the gala event,' the spokesman added. 'We are again deeply thankful for people's understanding and support.' The run up to Oct 1 has been accompanied by heightened security in Beijing, with the stability obsessed government taking no chances, especially after recent unrest in the far western region of Xinjiang.

As well as military personnel and equipment, the rehearsals featured 100,000 ordinary people, 60 floats celebrating everything from last year's Beijing Olympics to renewable energy projects, and 80,000 school children, Xinhua said.

State television showed images of the area around Tiananmen Square turned into a riot of colour and lights, thronging with performers in sparkling costumes. -- REUTERS

Eyeing China, Singapore sees Mandarin as its future

2009-09-17T10:55:00.001+10:00

What has always been apparent is now getting very obvious. Chinese-majority Singapore is located in a part of the world where they are quite isolated from natural allies such as their own ethnicity, and alignment with China was always going to be important.

Quotable Quotes - "English has long united the ethnically diverse island-state but Singapore's leaders now foresee a time when Mandarin will be the country's dominant language and they are aggressively encouraging their people to become fluent in Chinese."

Also - "In two generations, Mandarin will become our mother tongue." Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kwan Yew.

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Eyeing China, Singapore sees Mandarin as its future
Wed, Sep 16, 2009
Reuters
Source - AsiaOne, 16 September 2009

SINGAPORE - A cacophony of Mandarin and English echo through the streets of Singapore's Chinatown as crowds of shoppers buy joss sticks and fruit as offerings to the spirits during the Seventh Month Ghost Festival.

English has long united the ethnically diverse island-state but Singapore's leaders now foresee a time when Mandarin will be the country's dominant language and they are aggressively encouraging their people to become fluent in Chinese.

'Both English and Mandarin are important because in different situations you use either language. But Mandarin has become more important,' said Chinatown shopkeeper Eng Yee Lay.

Hit hard by the global slowdown, strengthening ties with China has taken on a strategic imperative in Singapore which seeks to leverage the bilingual skills of its ethnic Chinese majority to get a larger slice of China's fast expanding economic pie.

'With the growing importance of China on the world stage, Chinese Singaporeans who are competent in the language and familiar with the culture would have a distinct advantage when working and interacting with Chinese nationals,' Lim Sau Hoong, chairwoman of the Promote Mandarin Council, told Reuters.

The government-sponsored campaign to promote Mandarin began in 1979 to unite under one language Singapore's disparate Chinese communities that spoke a multitude of dialects passed on by their ancestors who came from China in the 19th and early 20th century.

Unifying the Chinese majority in a country with sizeable Malay and Indian minorities was a priority and in the early days the Speak Mandarin Campaign discouraged ethnic Chinese from speaking the dialects that prevailed such as Hokkien.

Now, with a majority of Singaporeans speaking Mandarin in their homes, according to government figures, the focus is on improving fluency in spoken and written Mandarin.

'In two generations, Mandarin will become our mother tongue,' said Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew at the launch of the 2009 Speak Mandarin Campaign earlier this year.

His vision is for Singapore to become China's Southeast Asia hub as it expands its commercial interests in the region, while Singapore firms would entrench their positions in China, giving them a first-mover advantage over foreign firms.

Already, despite its small demographic size, Singapore was China's third largest foreign investor with total foreign direct investment of S$6.5 billion in 2008, a 40 per cent rise from 2007, according to the Chinese government.

Trade between the countries has risen 17-fold since 1991 to S$91.4 billion ($63.34 billion) in 2008.

TRADE AND CULTURAL TIES

Singapore has come a long way since the 1970s when its Campidge-educated Lee was suspicious of Maoist China's designs on the region and focused on keeping the country predominantly English speaking and aligned with anti-Communist powers, the United States and UK.

As Singapore prepares to mark two decades of ties with China next year, 20,000 Singaporeans are working in China and scores of joint ventures are underway.

Among them is the construction of an 'eco-city' in Tianjin, near Beijing, which is being designed to use renewable energy, recycled water and has an extensive public transport system.

Singapore's senior cabinet minister and head of its Monetary Authority, Goh Chok Tong, discussed the project with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during a visit to China last week.

Among Singapore investors in China are offshore oil rig builder Keppel Corp, bank DBS, water treatment firm Hyflux, energy services provider Rotary Engineering and Raffles Education.

Singapore developer CapitaLand, which aims to build 58 malls across 40 Chinese cities, said this month it planned to nearly double the value of its assets in China to $8 billion, or 45 per cent of its overall assets.

Singapore is proving to be a fertile recruiting ground for Mandarin-speaking middle and senior managers to run multinationals' operations in China where a lack of qualified managers has held back expansion plans by many foreign firms.

MITIGATING RISK

The financial crisis took a toll on Singapore's export dependent economy, reducing annual economic growth to just 1.1 per cent in 2008, compared to around 8.2 per cent between 2004-2007, and creating the highest unemployment rate in five years. Strengthening ties with China is seen as mitigating Singapore's risk.

China is expected to become Singapore's largest single market for non-oil exports this year, overtaking the United States, says economist Irvin Seah at Singapore's top bank DBS Group.

'We use the term 'China-ready,' meaning we will just have to grow with them,' IE Singapore CEO Chong Lit Cheong, whose state agency promotes Singapore firms' investment apoad, told Reuters.

'As far as China grows 7 to 8 per cent a year in a foreseeable future, we will continue to have a bigger presence there.'

Singaporeans were among the first foreign investors in China after Deng Xiaoping adopted a market economy in 1978. Singapore's then prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, still in the cabinet, has visited China almost every year.

After Deng's 1992 remarks to officials to 'learn from the world and, especially Singapore, and do better than Singapore", thousands of Chinese officials started flooding the city-state for trips and university degree programmes in administration.

Around three-quarters of Singapore's population are ethnic Chinese, giving many of its businessmen a cultural advantage versus the West, but the government is also trying to strengthen understanding of the Chinese culture and mindset.

'Although we speak the same language, when we look at issues we are different,' said IE Singapore's Chong. 'The next step is how we see China in a Chinese perspective.'

Business China, an agency under Lee's patronage, is tasked to 'groom 20,000 to 30,000 bilingual and bi-cultural Singaporeans with the ability to communicate effectively in the China market'.

Eugene Aw, a 22-year-old Singaporean, sees his professional future in China after studying for his degree in the UK and turning down a job with an American multinational firm.

'I realised that Asia wouldn't wait for me. For now I intend to stay local (in Singapore) to gain exposure, contacts, and especially capital. And then if I can, I will spring into China.'

New PM cements Japan power shift

2009-09-16T23:16:00.001+10:00

Now this should signal a brand new dynamic in the Asia-Pacific region. New Japanese Leadership that affirms needs for strong ties with the US. An undercover (to an extent) public announcement of a renewed deterrent force to China's rise I suspect.

Quotable Quotes - "On foreign policy, he said ties with the US were a priority.

But he said he wanted a relationship in which Japan "can act more proactively and tell them our opinions frankly", adding that his party's position on reviewing deals relating to the US troop presence had not changed." Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama

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New PM cements Japan power shift
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama promised economic revival and strong US ties, hours after taking office.
Source - BBC 16 September 2009

In a news conference, he vowed to deliver a "people-oriented society", quick economic improvements and frank but trusting ties with Washington.

Mr Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan won a huge poll victory last month, ending 50 years of almost unbroken Liberal Democratic Party rule.

His untested government now faces tough economic and social challenges.

The new cabinet will be sworn in by Emperor Akihito later in the day.

Former DPJ leader Katsuya Okada becomes foreign minister and Hirohisa Fujii, a veteran bureaucrat, takes over as finance minister.

Another former DPJ leader, Naoto Kan, will head a new National Strategy Bureau set up to oversee the bureaucracy. He also becomes deputy prime minister.

The defeated LDP, meanwhile, will hold an election later this month to choose its new leader, after former Prime Minister Taro Aso stepped down.

The DPJ has entered into a coalition deal with two smaller parties, the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party, and controls both houses of parliament.

Its priorities now include tackling a rapidly ageing society and an economy still struggling after a brutal recession.

"We would like to carry out policies that will stimulate households so the Japanese people can have hopes for the future," Mr Hatoyama said.

He has promised to increase social welfare spending, cut government waste and rein in the powerful bureaucracy.

''Now is the time to practise politics that are not controlled by bureaucrats,'' he said.

On foreign policy, he said ties with the US were a priority.

But he said he wanted a relationship in which Japan "can act more proactively and tell them our opinions frankly", adding that his party's position on reviewing deals relating to the US troop presence had not changed.

The DPJ was elected as a wave of discontent with LDP rule swept across Japan.

Opinion polls have shown many people did not vote for the DPJ because of their policies - but because they wanted change.

Analysts say the electorate will be watching the DPJ closely in the next few weeks and months to see if it can deliver.

The BBC's Roland Buerk, in Tokyo, says that in defeating the LDP, Yukio Hatoyama has already achieved what many people thought for years was impossible.

But now the difficult part - governing Japan - begins, our correspondent says.

Anaylsis
Roland Buerk, BBC News, Tokyo

Yukio Hatoyama looks like many who have gone before him, the scion of a wealthy dynasty, the grandson of a former prime minister. But his DPJ has promised profound reform.

For decades the LDP, bureaucrats and big business held sway, steering the country from wartime defeat to economic might. But in recent years this brought stagnation, rising unemployment and increasing inequality.

Mr Hatoyama wants to build a more 'fraternal' society, with a social safety net including a generous child allowance to try to encourage people to have children and arrest Japan's declining population. He wants to turn away from export-led growth and encourage domestic demand.

But there are deep concerns over whether the untested new government can deliver the new era they promise.

Geylang: The new Chinatown

2009-09-16T11:50:00.002+10:00

This is a long feature, but worth a read. Welcome to Singapore's true Chinatown - Geylang! Singapore's 'official' red-light district is transforming into a social enclave for Chinese foreign, and migrant workers.

As you read on, you might notice that the Chinatown in Chinese is 'Tang Ren Jie' literally, Street of the People of the Tang. Now why not Han Ren Jie (i.e. Street of the Han People)? The Chinese are often known as the Han (ethnicity), even the spoken language is known as Han, so why 'Tang Ren Jie', where 'Tang' refers to the 'Tang Dynasty'?

Now this is an ancedote so I'm not entirely sure. Apparently the Teochew diaspora was responsible for much of the establishment of Chinatowns around the world. Out of the 40-over million Chinese overseas, more than half are Teochew. Now this is way more Teochews than there are on the mainland. And I'm Teochew too. Known to be rather resilient entrepreneurs (think Thaksin and Lee Ka Shing), they've become some of the richest overseas-born Chinese there are today. Now, the Teochews, geographically and socially never quite associated themselves with the Han (people and dynasty), but more with the culture and ways of the sophisticated Tang Dynasty - and there you have it. Tang Ren Jie.

Quotable Quote - “Geylang is a food haven and a district populated with places of worship, clan associations and other traditional enterprises. New arrivals could have been drawn to Geylang because of these characteristics.” Dr Leong Chan Hoong, research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies

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Geylang: The new Chinatown
China nationals are flocking to Geylang, drawn by low rents and cheap food.
By Jamie Ee Wen Wei
Straits Times | Tue, Sep 15 2009
Source - AsiaOne Relax

Ask Hebei native Albert Li where the real tang ren jie, or Chinatown, is in Singapore, and he will tell you confidently that it is in Geylang.

“Among the Chinese nationals here, we have privately discussed this many times,” he said in Mandarin.

“Geylang is more like a tang ren jie than Chinatown. There must be more Chinese nationals living and working here than in Chinatown,” said the 25-year-old.

Mr Li, who has been in Singapore for almost two years, mans a provision shop on Geylang Road which sells goods from China.

Indeed, his sentiments are shared by most of the China nationals whom The Sunday Times met in the neighbourhood known for its red-light allures and food.

No official numbers are available but anecdotal evidence suggests that a growing number of China nationals – namely the working class, students and entrepreneurs – are flocking to the precinct.

Singaporeans certainly have noticed their presence. In a letter to The Straits Times Forum two months ago, a reader observed how Geylang has evolved from a racially mixed, multilingual area into an enclave for new residents from China, with a growing prevalence of Chinese-only shop signs.

When The Sunday Times visited the neighbourhood last week, many such signs were seen, advertising Chinese products and services like hairdressing and Internet usage. Mom-and-pop eateries serving authentic Chinese cuisine dotted the shophouses.

Their waitresses, almost all China nationals, greeted passers-by in various Chinese accents. Drive by in the evenings, and you spot groups of Chinese workers sitting along the busy streets to unwind.

Why is Geylang such a magnet?

Dr Leong Chan Hoong, a research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, said that historically, immigrants from developing countries tend to congregate in the less fanciful or desirable town centres because of lower rent and cheaper food.

This was true of Chinatown in Singapore, and elsewhere, like the Newtown suburb in Wellington, New Zealand, and the Fortitude Valley in Brisbane, Australia, he said.

“Geylang is a food haven and a district populated with places of worship, clan associations and other traditional enterprises. New arrivals could have been drawn to Geylang because of these characteristics,” he said.

Indeed, China nationals who live and work there said they chose Geylang for its lower rents, array of Chinese food and accessibility.

Mr Liu Yang, 28, who lived in a dormitory for foreign workers for eight months, said the rent for a bed space in Geylang is between $150 and $180 a month, way below that elsewhere.

“I’ve a friend who works in Chinatown. He tried to find a place to stay in Outram and was quoted $280 for a bed space,” said Mr Liu who works at a beancurd shop in Geylang. He lives in Whampoa now.

Ms He Wen Wen, 24, chose Geylang as it is near her school in Aljunied, where she studies accounting and finance. The Henan native lived in an HDB flat in Sengkang before moving to a condo in Geylang with seven friends – all students from China – five years ago.

“I like the food here, such as the beef hor fun at Lorong 9. I can also find Shanghainese food like xiang la xie (spicy crab), which I enjoy.”

Dr Leong said the nooks and corners in the neighbourhood also favour small-time businessmen who can nurture their trades at a lower cost. Indeed, businesses like Internet cafes and eateries targeting the Chinese have mushroomed.

Earlier reports estimated that there are about 200 food outlets opened by China nationals.

On weekends especially, scores of their countrymen living elsewhere flock to the area for a touch of home.

Singaporean Kelvin Ho, 35, who runs two supermarkets in the neighbourhood, has benefited from their presence. Some 70 per cent of his customers are China nationals.

“I’ve been doing business here for about 10 years and it’s obvious to me the number of China nationals is growing,” said the businessman who stocks items like vegetables and beauty products.

Dr Leong said a social enclave like the one developing in Geylang is harmless and is a natural coping mechanism for new immigrants.

“It is only human instinct to want to meet and socialise with people who share a similar cultural background and nationality.”

Sociologist Tan Ern Ser from the National University of Singapore agrees, noting that social enclaves serve the needs of new immigrants and help them settle in faster.

But if it becomes a segregated community with different habits and values, it could lead to prejudice, discrimination and tensions, he said.

Already, some Singaporeans whom The Sunday Times spoke to are complaining that the China nationals tend to talk loudly and some have undesirable social habits. Ms Linda Ong, 40, who runs an electrical goods store on Geylang Road, said they sometimes discard empty bottles or food outside her shop.

However, Geylang Serai citizens’ consultative committee chairman Eric Wong said he has not received any feedback specifically about China nationals, although residents do complain about the crowds and noise in the area.

He does not think Geylang is evolving into a Chinatown. “There is a good mix of foreigners and locals here,” he said.

Whether the area will continue to draw the China nationals remains to be seen. Dr Lai Ah Eng, a senior research fellow at the Asia Research Institute, noted those who have moved up socially and economically tend to relocate.

Dr Leong agreed, saying: “There is no reason why a successful immigrant, who is financially well-off, can speak English and has a bigger circle of Singaporean friends, would choose to patronise shops only in Geylang or Chinatown.”

Ms He, for one, hopes to move out of Geylang once she finds a job after completing her studies.

She does not find the area ideal – she has been mistaken as a streetwalker and has been propositioned. She said: “The culture here... it’s too complicated.”

Good place to work but not to live.

For four years, Geylang has been both home and workplace for Shandong native Wu Min.

He lives in a condo in Lorong 31 with his wife, also a Shandong native. She is a nurse at the Singapore General Hospital.

They met in Singapore four years ago through a friend when Mr Wu was studying for a degree at the Singapore Institute of Materials Management.

They registered their marriage here last year and have a four-month-old daughter, who lives with his parents in China.

He opened a provision shop here after he found the work at a logistics company, which he had joined after his studies, too stressful and the pay low.

The 29-year-old said he chose to do business in Geylang because of its large Chinese population, wide variety of food and convenience of travel.

He used to visit restaurants in the area on weekends.

Sited between Lorong 11 and 13, his provision shop sells local products and China imports. The minimart, called Ba Fang Guo Huo, has another outlet between Lorong 40 and Lorong 42.

The two outlets were set up with $100,000 borrowed from his parents. Every month, he pays about $6,000 in rent for each of his shops, and income is just enough to cover costs now.

About 60 per cent of his customers are China nationals.

“It’s more like ‘Chinatown’ than the real Chinatown. You see Chinese here every day, not like in Chinatown, where perhaps the Chinese may visit on weekends,” said Mr Wu.

Given a choice, however, he said he would not want to live in Geylang. He is considering moving to Tampines, where he lived for about two years as a student.

“Geylang is a good place to run a business but it’s not so ideal for a home,” he said, referring to the red-light district.

Location won them over.

For married couple Dai Xue Yong and Zhang Zhi Ying, Geylang was the perfect location to set up their food business, Orient Garden Restaurant.

The one-year-old homestyle eatery, which serves Shanghainese cuisine, sits alongside several other Chinese restaurants.

“We know that Geylang is a food haven. We thought we could offer another variety of Chinese cuisine,” said Ms Zhang, 40.

Indeed, on week nights and weekends, their eatery is packed with China nationals who go there for a taste of home.

Singaporeans and tourists are among the patrons as well.

Ms Zhang said she and her 43-year-old husband had considered setting up shop in Chinatown, but a scouting trip to Geylang last year led them to do so in Lorong 39 instead.

They have been in Singapore for a year now and used to run a trading company in Shanghai.

“We felt that Chinatown attracts more of the tourist crowd whereas in Geylang, you get the people who live and work here,” she said. “We just see so much potential in Geylang.”

The couple hired two chefs and two waitresses from China. They will consider opening a branch when business picks up.

They are now making small profits after paying the monthly rent of about $8,250, Ms Zhang said.

The couple live in the upstairs unit of the shophouse that is home to their restaurant. They like the location because they can get both local and China products easily.

“If I feel like eating prata, there’s a stall just down the street. If I want to eat Chinese food like dianxin, it’s also easily available here,” she said.

Cambodia PM lauds China's aid

2009-09-15T14:32:00.002+10:00

More exemplars of China making friends, without any complicated conditions apparently. It's getting more and more apparent South-East Asia's place as an extension of China's strategic southern 'shield'.

Quotable Quotes - "China respects the political decisions of Cambodia...We have a mutual understanding and respect each other." Cambodia Premier Hun Sen.

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Cambodia PM lauds China's aid
Reuters
Source - Straits Times 15 September 2009

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA'S premier lauded China on Monday for providing billions of dollars of aid without imposing conditions, a subtle jibe at Western donors who seek curbs on human rights abuses and corruption.

'They are quiet, but at the same time they build bridges and roads, and there are no complicated conditions,' Prime Minister Hun Sen at a ceremony for the construction of a new bridge built with US$128 million (S$182.6 million) of Chinese aid.

Mr Hun Sen recently rejected World Bank aid intended for settling land disputes after the Washington-based institution and rights groups accused Cambodian authorities of forcibly evicting tens of thousands of people from their homes.

Speaking to about 1,000 villagers and China's ambassador in Prek Kdam, about 50 km (30 miles) north of the capital Phnom Phen, Mr Hun Sen said Beijing's aid had helped Cambodia become more independent while fostering social and economic development.

'China respects the political decisions of Cambodia,' he said. 'We have a mutual understanding and respect each other.' Cambodia's government has come under fire recently, accused of corruption and undermining the judiciary, although analysts say the investment environment is stable after decades of poverty, brutalilty and instability.

China is Cambodia's biggest aid donor, providing US$600 million in 2007 and about US$260 million in 2008. It also leads the country's foreign direct investment, with about US$1 billion spent in the war-scarred South-east Asian nation this year.

Mr Hun Sen added he also supported China's multimillion dollar investments in hydroelectric power. Western environmentalists have accused Cambodia of failing to provide adequate environmental safeguards for such projects. -- REUTERS

China builds 4th space centre

2009-09-14T20:02:00.001+10:00

This begs to ask the politics of space. Whilst China was last in most of the 20th century bastions for potential dominion, when it comes to Space, China's one of the few in the game. Let's see how the lines are drawn on this one.

Quotable quotes - "China's space programme is run by the nation's military."

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China builds 4th space centre
AFP
Source - Straits Times 14 September 2009

BEIJING - CHINA began the construction of its fourth space launch centre on Monday as the nation gears up for future manned space flights aboard a new generation of carrier rockets, state media reported.

Work started on the Wenchang Space Satellite Launch Centre on southern Hainan island, which will become China's first coastal launching pad when completed in 2013, the Hainan Daily reported.

Chang Wanquan, member of the powerful Central Military Commission, and Chen Qiufa, head of the State Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, attended Monday's groundbreaking ceremony, the report said.

China's space programme is run by the nation's military.

The Hainan site is being built to accommodate the Long March CZ-5 carrier rocket, which will be able to carry larger payloads and is slated to become the workhorse of China's manned space and space station programme, it said.

The Long March 5 is expected to take its maiden flight by 2014, previous news reports have said.

China put its first astronaut into space in 2003, becoming the third nation to do so following the former Soviet Union and the United States.

In September last year, three Chinese astronauts, or 'taikonauts,' carried out the country's first space walk during a 68-hour voyage on board the Shenzhou VII spacecraft.

The Shenzhou programme is expected to form the basis for China's planned space station. -- AFP

China showers gifts on Timor

2009-09-14T19:58:00.002+10:00

Spanking new government buildings built for countries friendly to China are becoming more frequent. Some might argue it is a form of 'white-elephant' support, I seriously doubt the receivers of such goodwill have much to complain about. Or, is there anything they can do to stop that generosity, probably with an agenda?

Quotable Quote - 'The growing Chinese presence is part of their natural expansion into Southeast Asia and I think Timor is not really their priority,' said Loro Horta, at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. 'But they are definitely keeping an eye on it. The Chinese are very patient people and they think very long term.'

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China showers gifts on Timor
Reuters
Source - Straits Times, 14 September 2009

DILI - DILI'S gleaming new Presidential Palace and Foreign Ministry, gifts from China, stand in stark contrast to nearby burnt-out buildings and are symbols of how the energy-hungry superpower is growing closer to tiny, oil-rich East Timor.

In the 10 years since the independence vote that led to a split from Indonesia, China has spent more than $53 million (S$75.5 million) in aid to East Timor, also known as Timor Leste.
While that is just a fraction of the US$760 million in Australian government aid, China has raised its profile in dusty Dili in several other ways.

It is building big and showing generosity such as its donation of 8,000 tonnes of rice during a recent food crisis. Noticeable projects such as a new Ministry of Defence building, houses for soldiers and schools are underway as are scholarships and training programmes for civil servants.

In all, China is sending a very public message that it is serious about strengthening bilateral ties with East Timor,which many analysts put down to its desire to diversify strategic energy interests.

Loro Horta, who is a China expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University and is the son of East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta, said that the aid is linked to China's desire for energy and infrastructure contracts. East Timor is one of Asia's poorest and least developed countries, but it has enormous oil and gas reserves.

The Bayu Undan gas field is expected to reap US$12-15 billion by 2023, the country's Natural Resources Minister, Alfredo Pires said. Bayu Undan is already the subject of a deal between Australia and East Timor but other, untapped reserves still need development partners.

Another oil field, Kitan, has an estimated 40 million barrels of recoverable light oil, Mr Pires said, and the Greater Sunrise field contains around 300 million barrels of condensate and 9.5 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to the United Nations.

Lucrative opportunities also exist in the minerals sector, including copper, gold, silver and marble, and for big-ticketinfrastructure projects as East Timor tries to reverse years of under-investment.

Mr Pires said Spain, China and Australia are all keen on a piece of the Timor resources pie, while East Timor expert Damien Kingsbury from Deakin University said the United States and the United Kingdom are also interested. -- REUTERS

Trade Routes
China and East Timor's links date back centuries. Hakka Chinese traders sailed there more than 500 years ago looking for sandalwood, rosewood and mahogany. Many stayed on, forming an overseas Chinese community as in many other parts of Asia.

Today, Dili's main street is lined with buildings, some of which display Chinese script, families can be seen praying at a Confucian temple in downtown Dili, while Chinese traders run appliance stores on busy streets.

Chinese labourers are already at work on one of two heavy oil power plants which are under construction after Dili in 2008 awarded the Chinese Nuclear Industry 22nd Construction Company a $360 million contract to build the power plants and a national power grid. East Timor also paid US$28 million for two petroleum vessels from China.

Loro Horta said China is also angling for big ticket infrastructure contracts such as a pipeline that East Timor wants built from its Greater Sunrise oil field to a proposed processing plant on land. He said Chinese oil giant PetroChina has already done studies and is keen to drill.

Yang Donghui, a spokesman for the Chinese ambassador in Dili, said that the first phase of the seismic investigation was completed as an aid project, but that a proposed second phase investigation became the subject of commercial talks between the East Timor government and PetroChina.

China's ambassador to East Timor, Fu Yuancong rejected speculation that China's interest in the fledgling nation isdriven by a desire to gain an advantage when East Timor is handing out contracts to develop its billion-dollar oil and gas fields.

He also said that his government was in energy talks with Dili. And as stability has slowly returned to Dili, Mr Fu said hisgovernment has encouraged a new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs to move to East Timor.

'The growing Chinese presence is part of their natural expansion into Southeast Asia and I think Timor is not really their priority,' said Loro Horta, at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

'But they are definitely keeping an eye on it. The Chinese are very patient people and they think very long term.'

Domestic markets can't sustain China's growth

2009-09-11T14:46:00.001+10:00

Now this is new to me. Had always figured, thanks to popular opinion, that China would be able to ride any wave of global economic calamity thanks to its hugely undeveloped domestic markets.

Assistant Professor Yu Maojie at the China Center for Economic Research at the highly esteemed Peking University has different ideas...

Quotable quote - "The export-oriented growth model is an unavoidable choice for China based on two key features of the economy: its low age dependency ratio and low level of urbanization."

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Domestic markets can't sustain China's growth
By Yu Miaojie
Source - Global Times, 25 August 2009

With the global financial crisis and the precipitous drop in external demand, there are many voices urging China to upgrade its industrial structure and put domestic consumption as the new engine of China's economy.

However, China's current economy means that it cannot give up the export-oriented growth model.

One of my recent studies along with Yang Yao, Professor of Economics at Peking University, found that the export-oriented growth model is an unavoidable choice for China based on two key features of the economy: its low age dependency ratio and low level of urbanization.

China's age dependency ratio, the ratio of population below age 16 and above 64 relative to those with ages in between, was only 40 percent in 2007, which is one of the lowest levels in the world. In addition, only 45.68 percent of China's population is urbanized, which also lags behind its income level when compared with other countries.

Both low age dependency ratio and low urbanization rate jointly determine a large supply of labor and a slow growth of labor income, which in turn leads to fast accumulation of capital and the manufacturing sector.

The two factors also determine a relatively small domestic market, and the only way to clear the market is to export. Our estimation suggests that China's export-oriented model will continue till 2025.

However, today exports are much more difficult for China given growing global protectionism. To some extent, export-oriented growth model seems like an audacious hope. The key point is: How to guarantee huge exports for China?

In my opinion, Chinese manufacturing firms should try to upgrade the quality of exporting goods, which is more important than the quantity. The idea is intuitive. Goods with higher quality have higher market prices and generate higher revenue with fixed or even slightly declined quantity of goods sold. From a macro perspective, a country with high-quality exports would become a favorable exporter. Goods labelled “Made in China” should not be treated as cheap-labor and low-quality.

In addition to the quality, credit constraints are another important factor that affect company's export. To export, firms need to set up their distribution network abroad. However, with severe liquidity constraints, firms are unable to cover their export entry fixed cost.

According to the 2007 Investment Climate Assessment, China is among the group of countries that have the worst financing obstacles. Research found that, all else equal, firms find it easier to export if they have easier access to external finance from financial intermediates.

How then to produce high-quality goods and alleviate the credit constraints for firms? The answer is simple. Firms should improve their productivity. Paul Krugman, a Nobel Laureate in Economics, once said that productivity is not everything, but in the long run it is almost everything. Many other economists also find evidence that good firms lead to more exports. Recently Marc Melitz, a Princeton professor in Economics, has theoretically shown that firms with high productivity have the intrinsic capability to export and even invest abroad.

Indeed, the most efficient firms export and earn extra profits abroad. The less efficient firms can only serve the domestic market since the entry to the foreign market would generate profits loss due to fixed entry cost. In contrast, the least efficient firms die and exit from the market.

The last question remained is how to improve firms' productivity.

The first way is to reduce firms' various variable costs.

Another strategy is to have the Chinese government impose more favorable production policies or trade policies to support exporting firms within WTO rules.

But the crucial thing is better enforcement of the laws and stronger protection of property rights, which help create, both domestically and internationally, a fair and competitive market for firms.

There are many useful ways to foster China's exports if Chinese firms and the Chinese government can take appropriate actions or adopt the right policies.

The author is an assistant professor in the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University

Is Hokkien My ‘Mother Tongue’?

2009-09-09T10:14:00.000+10:00

Poignant, brilliant and perceptive writing by Singapore playwright Alfian Sa'at as he points out the simple truths about the melting pot of Singapore's intercultural growth, leading to an inextricable confluence of language. This broth consequently led to the emergence of Chinese more aptly described as 'Nanyang Chinese' (like the old Straits Chinese) who really, at least right now, feel more at home with his Malay and Indian neighbours than their bloodline of ancestors and brothers/sisters from mainland China.

Quotable Quote - "There are even some Cantonese words that are now part of Malay parlance, such as pokai (broke or penniless), as well as samseng (gangster). Interestingly, it has been postulated that the word sam seng (three star) was derived from the fact that recruits from the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) used to wear caps emblazoned with three stars, each one representing one of the main races in Malaya: the Malays, Chinese and Indians." Alfian Sa'at

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Is Hokkien My ‘Mother Tongue’?
Alfian Sa’at
8 September 2009
Soruce - The Online Citizen

A long time ago, a Chinese man saw some Malays eating a fruit. It had a spiky shell, but its insides were filled with large seeds covered by yellow, buttery flesh. He had never seen (nor smelt!) a fruit like it before, in his native village in Fujian. He asked them what the fruit was called.

‘Durian’, they replied. This was from the Malay word for duri, which means ‘thorn’. And so the Chinese man went back and told his friends about this new fruit. As the word spread, it became incorporated into the Hokkien vocabulary as loo lian.

Then one day, a new fruit made its appearance, native to South America, possibly brought in by colonial travelers. It was also green, with a spiky exterior. In English, it was known as ‘soursop’.

The Malays had a tendency to append the word belanda (meaning ‘Dutch’) to anything foreign that they had never seen before. Examples include the Dutch goat (kambing belanda, or sheep), the Dutch chicken (ayam belanda, or turkey) and the Dutch cat (kucing belanda, or rabbit). So they called the fruit durian belanda.

The Hokkiens, on the other hand, called it ang mo loo lian. Ang mo (roughly meaning ‘Western’) was also used for other edibles, like ang mo kio (tomato) and ang mo chai thou (carrot). Thus the word ang mo loo lian now carries traces of Hokkien contact with both Malays and Westerners.

The study of loan words has always fascinated me, because they give clues to the kinds of social interactions that occurred in the past. At the beginning of this article, I sketched a scenario of how a single word from one language entered another. But the process is definitely much more complex, and would involve long-term, sustained contact. The chain of transmission might even involve an intermediary, such as the Straits Chinese (or Peranakans), whose Baba patois contains both Malay and Hokkien words.

I have often felt a sense of loss at the fact that the lingua franca among Singaporean Chinese is no longer the Southern Chinese languages (such as Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese), but Mandarin. A little bit of research revealed to me the words that were borrowed from Hokkien into Malay. These include: (note that ‘c’ in Malay has the ‘ch’ sound): beca (trishaw), bihun (vermicelli), cat (paint), cincai (anyhow), gua (I/me), guli (marbles), kentang (potato), kamceng (close), kuih(cake), kongsi (share), kuaci (melon seeds), teko (teapot), taugeh (bean sprout), tahu (beancurd) and tauke (boss).

This process of linguistic exchange was two-way, as demonstrated by these Malay words that have penetrated Hokkien: agak (guess or moderate), botak (bald), champur (mix), gadoh (fight), gaji (wages), jamban (toilet), kachiau (disturb), longkau (drain), loti (bread), otang (owe/debt), pumchet (puncture), pantang (superstitious/taboo), pakat (conspire), pasar (market), pitchia (break), salah (wrong), sapbun (soap), sinang (easy), senget (crooked), sukak (like), timun (cucumber),tiam (quiet) and torlong (help).

There are even some Cantonese words that are now part of Malay parlance, such as pokai (broke or penniless), as well as samseng (gangster). Interestingly, it has been postulated that the word sam seng (three star) was derived from the fact that recruits from the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) used to wear caps emblazoned with three stars, each one representing one of the main races in Malaya: the Malays, Chinese and Indians.

In the army, one of the things that we were told by a sergeant was that ‘over here, Hokkien is your mother tongue’. But this was based on stereotypes: that Hokkien was a gendered, macho language (with the most pungent swear words) and the primal expression of working-class angst (as exemplified by the tattooed Hokkien-peng squatting and glowering in the yellow smoking box).

But considering how Hokkien words have entered the Malay language, I have realized that there is a larger truth to that statement. It’s like tracing a family tree and then discovering that I had a Hokkien great-great-great-great grandmother. As a matter of fact, since almost two-thirds of the Malay lexicon consists of borrowings, I definitely had Arabic and Indian (linguistic) ancestors too.

Malays have a saying, bahasa jiwa bangsa, which means, ‘language is the soul of a race’. But I’ve always noted a tension in the phrase. We tend to think of ‘race’ as something that is often bounded and rigid, defining it in terms of bloodline descents. But ‘language’ does not have such impermeable borders. Words of various origins pass through open checkpoints, undergo shifts in meaning, and become naturalized over time.

Thus, as much as we’d like to be essentialist about our ‘race’, we cannot escape from the hybridities already extant in our language. There is humility in the idea that no language is perfect on its own, and will borrow words to make up for its lack. If I’m feeling schmaltzy I’d even imagine this as a scene from the movie Jerry Maguire, where Tom Cruise utters to Renée Zellwegger the words, ‘You complete me.’ I also imagine her replying, ‘Shut up…just shut up. You had me at hoh boh.’

In Royston Tan’s getai musical, ‘881’, the main song started with ‘jit lang jit pua, kamcheng buay sua’ (one half for each [friend], relationships will not dissipate). The following line was ‘jit lang jit su ku, kamcheng jia eh ku’ (a quarter for each, relationships will endure). I had always wondered why Hokkien often resonated with me much more than Mandarin. And my guess is that this has to do with my recognition of some words, like kamcheng and su ku (which means ‘quarter’ in Malay).

Similarly, the well-loved comedians Wang Sa and Ye Fong not only switched among the different languages with ease, they expected audiences to do so as well. Malay idioms and phrases were common. Their trademark remark, whenever a situation was deemed to have gone out of hand, was: ‘Ah di ah, aga aga jiu hor ar’: ‘Hey [brother], you would do well to act in moderation (aga aga)’.

My Hokkien friends who travel overseas would often relate to me the sense of dislocation they feel when speaking to other Hokkien-speakers. A friend who went to Taiwan, for example, was surprised to note that they did not understand what loti meant. Another friend shared a story about the nuances of the word pokai in Hong Kong. At the end of the month, he moaned out loud at the office kam chi pokai le (‘I’m broke this time’) and all eyes turned on him. Pokai meant ‘broke’ in Singapore, but the reason why his colleagues reacted was because pokai (literally, ‘cast out on the streets’) in Hong Kong meant something worse, like being destitute on the streets, or being beaten up.

Because we are inundated by messages that often emphasise cultural purism, it is easy to interpret these instances as cases where the Chinese from this part of the world have been ‘contaminated’ by other cultures. I happen to take the opposite view: the Nanyang Chinese has evolved an identity of their own, incorporating elements of the other cultures that surround them. That this has been possible is a testament to their openness, curiosity and lack of insularity—a far cry from the global stereotype of cliquish and ethnocentric Chinese immigrants.

Much ink (and tears) has been spilled on how the Speak Mandarin Campaign has resulted in what some have called the ‘cultural lobotomy’ of the Chinese community. In many ways, I find great sympathy with the late Kuo Pao Kun’s observation that Chinese Singaporeans are ‘cultural orphans’. After all, they were forcibly snatched from their biological Southern Chinese bosoms and placed in the laps of Mandarin-speaking foster mothers.

A familiar lament is that the declining use of the Southern Chinese languages has resulted in the estrangement between generations of Chinese Singaporeans. But I’d also argue that it has also led to some kind of estrangement among the various races. I don’t know if I should worry about the fact that these days, the traffic of loan words has almost ceased between Malay and Mandarin. It is perhaps premature to theorise that this is a symptom of lesser interaction between these races, as compared to the past—after all, there is English to mediate our communication with one another.

But the fact remains that I don’t know of a single Malay word that has Mandarin origins. Which is why I feel it’s all the more urgent to preserve the variety of Southern Chinese languages spoken here (I refuse to call them ‘dialects’). They are reminders of the mingling and blending that has occurred here in Singapore; the very metabolism of what we understand not simply as ‘multiracialism’ but a deeper, more engaged ‘interculturalism’.

Somehow, our forefathers, of various races, knew how to pakat against common enemies, were able to kongsi their resources, and in the process of all that champur became kamcheng with one another. The product of their alliances, friendships and inter-marriages is reflected in the language they have passed on to us. To lose this legacy is to sever a vital connection not only to the historical origins of the Nanyang Chinese, but also to Singapore’s dynamic multicultural past.

(My profuse thanks to Lai Chee Kien for input into this article)

Singapore can learn much from China

2009-09-07T22:53:00.001+10:00

A very timely piece that'll be useful for me. It's crunch time as it has become time to submit the research proposal. Wish me luck people.

Quotable Quote - "...while there are still some lessons China could learn from Singapore, it is no longer a one-way flow." Singapore's Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong

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Singapore can learn much from China
Source - AsiaOne 4 September 2009

THERE is much for Singapore to learn from China.

This was Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong's response when asked about the achievements and transformations of China over the past 30 years.

In an interview conducted in August by the Director of the Thailand branch of China News Service, Mr Gu Shihong, SM Goh replied in writing stating that while there are still some lessons China could learn from Singapore, it is no longer a one-way flow.

He brought up Deng Xiaoping's visit to Singapore in 1978, in which he saw a first-hand account of how Southern Chinese had settled and progressed in Singapore, and felt that China could achieve the same results with its much bigger population.

Now, SM Goh said that each time he visited China, he was left impressed by its new urban landscape, skyscrapers, wide motorways and obvious signs of a higher standard of living, as opposed to how the country was pre-1978.

The greater change, he replied, is the mindset of the Chinese towards modernisation based on market principles.

Besides praising China for its reformation over the past decades, the Senior Minister also wrote about the many aspects in which both countries have cooperated.

He mentioned that the key pillar in bilateral cooperation with China is human resource development, in which there are tailored programmes for Chinese officials in Singapore to fit the needs and national conditions of China.

On the education level, there are extensive collaborations between the two and when it came to doing business, China continues to be an exciting investment destination for Singapore companies, while Singapore continues to be an attractive base for China companies to expand their international reach.

This year, relationship with China had also reached a new milestone with the signing of the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (CSFTA).

One of the many struggles both countries face is the ever-expanding income divide. SM Goh stressed that China and Singapore no exceptions as it is a challenge all market economies face.
He also said that Singapore is ready to share its sustainable development for a cleaner and greener environment.

Environment protection is a contradictory problem that China is facing due to its economic expansion.

Chinese diplomacy can't rest on its laurels

2009-09-07T13:42:00.000+10:00

A highly useful perspective that cuts through the fog about Chinese diplomacy.

Quoteable Quote - "Sometimes China is shouldering responsibilities that surpasses its strength. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. In a way, it gives you soft power. Of course you have to pay for that. Soft power often needs a solid economic base." Gao Zhikai

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Chinese diplomacy can't rest on its laurels
Source - Global Times, 4 September 2009

Editor's Note:

China's diplomacy has chartered a twisting road in the past 60 years. As the country is poised to be a major power in the world, what lessons it has learned from the past six decades, and what's the future direction of its diplomacy? The following is an interview conducted by the Global Times (GT) with Hao Yufan (Hao), Professor of Political Science at the University of Macau, and Gao Zhikai (Gao), current affairs commentator.

GT: How do you see the gains and losses of Chinese diplomacy over the past 60 years in retrospect, especially the long-time issues that haven't been solved?

Hao: As for the shortcomings, in the first 30 years, that is from 1949 to 1979, China was relatively independent from the international system.

We emphasized being independent, partly due to the political environment back then, and sometimes we stood against two superpowers simultaneously. But that was dangerous in a way and we were isolated.

The 30 years of reform and opening-up has been a learning process for China. And we learned well during our interaction with the rest of the world. The downside is that we are still passive in our involvement in international affairs and international discourse. We are still learning.

For China and the rest of the world, China has transformed from a revolutionary, "outlaw" type of country into a responsible one, willing to maintain the status quo. That's the biggest achievement of the past 60 years.

But even today we don't have an overall strategy for our diplomacy. In the past we were on the defensive, busy handling situations, and didn't have a long term, systematic strategy that ensures the consistency of our foreign policies.

A country's diplomatic strategy should serve its ultimate goals. On certain level, we should consider: What are China's ultimate goals in the next 20 years?

Gao: China today is a major force for peace and stability in the world, and its diplomatic independence has positioned the country well to play a crucially important role in many regional and international issues in the world.

Furthermore, as its economy is already the third largest in the world, and its growth rate is much higher than the rest of the world, China is destined to have more important roles to play in the years to come.

On the other hand, China is also confronted with many daunting challenges in its diplomacy.

For example,how to make the rest of the world, especially the Western countries, understand China's growth better? How to prevent major divides between China and the West? How to make sure that China's relations with its neighboring countries are peaceful and mutually beneficial? How to make sure that many territorial disputes and controversies are well dealt with without flaring up into any armed conflicts? How to identify and play an increasingly more important role in the world that is commensurate to China's growing economic might? How to maintain China's domestic stability and development on the one hand and promote international harmony and peace on the other hand?

All these are major tasks that China needs to grapple with in its diplomatic theory and practice.

GT: How do you see the current diplomatic challenges China faces now?

Gao: There are many people and forces in the West who, for one reason or another, want to put China as an enemy or potential enemy of the world.

This is not only a major diplomatic challenge China needs to address, but is also intricately related to many important issues at home, including Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang.

China needs to be more effective and eloquent in communicating with the Western countries that we stand for peace, stability, harmony and development.

China needs to constantly improve its diplomatic theory and practice in line with the rapid development of its economy and the growing weight it carries in global trade and international finance.

If one is lagging behind the other, then China's diplomacy may either become less effective, or its potentials for world peace and stability and development may not be fully utilized.

We need wisdom and a sense of urgency in dealing with many tough issues we are confronted with.

Another weakness in China's diplomacy is that we stay on the defensive too much and for too long.

Any expectation that we may be able to sit through an issue, and many problems may solve by their own momentum may be false.

On major issues like Tibet, China needs to come up with greater initiative and greater wisdom in achieving a lasting solution for issues.

Throughout Chinese history, as soon as a dynasty prospered it started to lose the sense of urgency, and many people simply began to indulge in the good life.

Therefore, we need to make sure that the great economic miracles and the peace and prosperity we enjoy now at home do not blind us to the harsh realities at home and abroad, and do not deplete our dynamism, innovation and momentum for even greater achievements.

Hao: Europe, the US and Japan are taken aback by China's rapid development. Though they are adjusting their attitude toward China, in fact they don't want to see China grow too fast, but couldn't find a reason to persuade China to slow down.

What can they do? As far as they know, the only thing they can do is finding faults with China's political system.

Take the July 5 riots in Xinjiang for example. Some overseas scholars told me that such things happen in some so-called democratic countries in Asia quite often. But the Western elites will not point fingers at them because they find it inevitable that economic inequality causes racial or ethnic conflicts in many developing countries. But when it comes to China, they criticize China's political system or communism.

Meanwhile there's a certain degree of jealousy and prejudice, as they overemphasize the difference in political systems. I don't think they actually see China as an opponent, but are adjusting to China's rising status. Therefore it is not a fundamental conflict, and we need to think of a solution.

Gao: One thing we need to think about carefully is whether the US would ever allow China to peacefully rise to such an extent that its economy eventually surpasses the US economy? Is this something inevitable or irreversible? Or will some forces be deployed to make sure that it will not happen, at least not in a peaceful way?

How to make sure that the US and China will never have a major conflict with each other? How can we make sure that the US will not feel (or think it feels) threatened by the rapid peaceful rise of China? Can both China and the US come up with enough wisdom and vision so that we will not fall into the historical curse of conflict and come up instead with a new model of long-term cooperation rather than eventual conflict?

GT: For a long time we have abided by the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Today China is asked to take more international responsibilities. Is it a contradiction?

Hao: China's rapid development has led to higher demands from the international community, and in turn, China needs to respond to the expectations and requirements of being one of the world's greatest countries.

China is the world's biggest developing country. That statement stayed unchallenged until recent years. The West doesn't want to give China a free ride.

What we have here is a gap between conception and reality. Perhaps China is not as powerful as the great powers in the world, but when the people, leaders and media worldwide see you as a superpower, they will hold you to that standard.

Sometimes China is shouldering responsibilities that surpasses its strength. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. In a way, it gives you soft power. Of course you have to pay for that. Soft power often needs a solid economic base.

Gao: I think we need to look at it from two sides. There's nothing wrong with peaceful coexistence or harmony. But it takes two to tango.

What if you want to seek harmony and peaceful coexistence, but your opponent wants to seek your destruction and derailment?

We also need to decide on which matters we need to be tough and principled, but on which other matters can we soften up as much as we can, and demonstrate all the flexibility that we can?

We also need to move from a moralistic foundation of diplomacy to a legalistic foundation of diplomacy. What does that mean?

For example, rather than jumping out of our seat in condemnation each time a senior Japanese government official visits the Yasukuni Shrine, which memorializes some war criminals, we could promulgate a law or regulation denying such officials visas to visit China.

In a sense, harmony should be based on the rule of law, both at home and in the international arena.

Chinese are world champions at sleeping

2009-09-07T12:50:00.001+10:00

In a sense, so are Singaporean males who've made it through compulsory military service. Much of our time in military training was spent in transit, either sleeping in moving trucks, in trenches dug into the ground, or just standing still during a parade. I guess for the Chinese it applies to both males and females, and for drastically different motivations.

Quotable Quote - "If sleeping were to become an Olympic sport, China would win gold, silver, and bronze. In fact all other nations probably wouldn't bother turning up, defeated from the start by the unequivocal Champions of Sleep."

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Chinese are world champions at sleeping
By Marcus McAdam
Foreign View
Source - Global Times, 3 September 2009

I am fortunate to have a job that has led me all over the world, witnessing the diversity of countless cultures, and being fascinated by their contrasts.

The most obvious differences are the way we eat or spend leisure time, but we are taught to do these, so such differences are hardly surprising. But some more instinctual or natural activities vary little throughout the world.

For example, a person laughing in Russia looks the same as a person laughing in Argentina, Greece, or Uganda. Sleep is another natural activity that we all do on a daily basis, yet somehow no one can do this more effortlessly than the Chinese.

The infinite number of environments in which a Chinese person can sleep is nothing short of incredible. They can do it lying, sitting, or sometimes standing. They can do it in a quiet, noisy, or even hectic place. They can do it at any time of day, and seemingly without any hint of self-consciousness.

I was once on the furniture floor of a large department store in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, where all the beds, chairs, and sofas had people sleeping in them. Confused as to what was going on, I asked a local friend to find out what all these people were doing.

A quick look at my watch confirmed it was 3:15 pm, and while my friend went off to enquire, I counted 43 people asleep on the furniture. I thought maybe they were customers trying out the items before they committed to a purchase, but this seemed rather extreme. I then thought that maybe they were real life mannequins – cheaper to employ actual people than buy plastic ones?

I particularly admired the woman who had chosen a massage chair to fall asleep in. With her mouth wide open, and head rolling franticly from side to side, she seemed totally oblivious to the violent shaking she was receiving from the electric chair.

My friend returned with the news that all these people were actually the store's cleaning staff who worked overnight. Most of them lived too far away from downtown Nanjing to go home during the day, so instead they just got into the beds on the furniture floor.

I thought this was genius, but saw a flaw in the plan. I asked what would happen if I wanted to buy an item of furniture in which someone was sleeping. Would it be delivered discreetly to my home, so as not to wake the occupant? And what would I tell them when they eventually woke up in my bedroom?

Another environment where Chinese people can sleep without any effort is on a train. I remember being on an overnight service from Shanghai to Changsha, Hunan Province, and found myself sharing a soft-bed cabin with three other Chinese men.

Within seconds of turning off the light, all of them were snoring so loudly that I thought they must be joking with me. However, 20 minutes later, I started to realize the depressing truth that this was in fact real. One guy sounded like a hippopotamus with a breathing disorder. He was sleeping directly below me, and every time he exhaled, the vibration reverberated through my bed.

Along with the other two accomplices, the volume of this snoring trio was such that it actually drowned out the noise from a goods train passing by on the adjacent track at 200 kilometers per hour.

Needless to say, I got no sleep before arriving in Changsha, yet these three awoke with the freshness of spring rabbits, and had obviously slept like babies.

I have also experienced the Chinese office sleep, which to any foreigner is nothing but a mystery. All of a sudden, every person in the office will simultaneously stop working, lay down on a hard floor or on their desk, before being completely unconscious in less than 20 seconds. No amount of phones ringing or doors banging seems to be able to disrupt the office workers from their deep sleep, yet after sufficient rest time has passed, everyone suddenly wakes up and continues the day as though it never paused.

The same thing happens on buses, in city parks, and in Internet cafes. Seldom can you visit any of these places without finding someone asleep, unaware of the world around them. I once saw a man asleep while having his hair cut.

It seems there is no limit to the possibilities of places and environments in which Chinese can sleep.

If sleeping were to become an Olympic sport, China would win gold, silver, and bronze. In fact all other nations probably wouldn't bother turning up, defeated from the start by the unequivocal Champions of Sleep.

The author is a UK-based freelance writer and photographer

Illustration by Liu Rui - Global Times
http://opinion.globaltimes.cn/foreign-view/2009-09/463162.html
Date of Access - 7 September 2009

Growing interest in Confucius Institute in Singapore

2009-09-06T11:03:00.004+10:00

With 40 million people learning Mandarin today (according to the Office of Chinese Language Council International), the Confucius Institutes are a key stratagem in Chinese public diplomacy efforts, exerting cultural capital to facilitate people seeing things their way. It even clearly echoes some pretty obvious political alignment. Check out the blurp from their website, and how it sings of the harmonious world -

"Confucius Institute, as a non-profit education organization, devoted to satisfying the demands of people from different countries and regions in the world who learn Chinese language, to enhancing their understanding of the Chinese language and culture, to strengthening educational and cultural exchange and cooperation between China and other countries, to deepening friendly relationships with other nations, to promoting the development of multi-culturalism, and to the building of a harmonious world.

The Confucius Institute Headquarters is a non-profit organization that has the independent status of a corporate body. It owns the proprietorship of the name, logo and brand of the Confucius Institutes. The Headquarters is the regulatory body that provides guidelines to the Confucius Institute worldwide. The Headquarters is located in Beijing in the People’s Republic of China.

The Confucius Institutes shall provide the following services:

a. Develop Chinese language courses for various social sectors;

b. Train Chinese language instructors for local institutions and providing them with Chinese language teaching resources;

c. Establish local facilities for the holding of the HSK Examination (Chinese Proficiency Test) and for the administration of procedures for the Certification of the Chinese Language Teachers;

d. Provide information and consultative services concerning Chinese education, culture, economy and society;

e. Promote research about Contemporary China."

Source - Confucius Institute Online
http://www.confuciusinstitute.net/ky_en/about.html
Date of Access 05 September 2009

And now for the article...

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Growing interest in Institute
By Cai Haoxiang
Source - Straits Times 5 September 2009

THERE is growing interest in Chinese-language promotion centre Confucius Institute, which has attracted more than double the number of students in the last two years.

Every week, more than 500 students attend over 20 courses now - up from 200 students who turned up for eight courses two years ago.

The increase is due to keener interest in Chinese language and culture by working professionals, who form three quarters of the students.

Centre director Koh Hock Kiat said people initially mistook the Institute as a place to promote Confucian philosophy.

But that perception has changed in the four years since the Institute was set up in 2005. It moved to Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) one-north campus in Buona Vista two years later.

'We started using a lot of contemporary icons to change people's impressions, like comics and popular living writers,' said Associate Professor Koh.

'Now, they know us as a place for kids, literature and basic Chinese, similar to what the British Council or the Japanese Association offers.'

Still, he said what motivates most people to sign up for its courses is their desire to learn more about the Chinese language for business purposes.

Among the students are Mr Steve Wong, 52, director of management consultancy Synthesis Consulting Group. He is doing a three-month business Chinese programme at the Institute.

'Most Chinese business people in Asia, like Thailand and Indonesia, don't speak much English,' he said. 'To communicate effectively, you really have to know the (Chinese) language.'

Former Australia PM claims Chinese diplomacy 'clumsy' Part Two

2009-09-06T10:36:00.003+10:00

And so, China responds to John Howards' criticisms that Chinese diplomacy was clumsy. Go here for the original article that started this.

And the quotable quote from the article reads - "It's a common fault of some Australian officials that they don't think of the mutual beneficial perspective" of bilateral ties, Zhao said. "For instance, on the visit by Kadeer, Howard's remark reveals a unilateral attitude, which obstructs the development of bilateral ties." Zhao Guojun, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

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China rejects former Aussie PM's criticism

People's Daily
Source - Global Times 4 September 2009

China said on Thursday that former Australian prime minister John Howard's criticism of Chinese diplomatic policies is "unacceptable."

Howard criticized Chinese diplomatic efforts to gag exiled dissidents as "clumsy," and linked strained relations between Beijing and Canberra to a failed mining deal.

"They've got this silly habit, if they don't want you to see someone, they say so – which means that you must see them," Howard said.

He told a business function in Sydney on Wednesday that China's attempts to prevent Rebiya Kadeer from visiting Australia last month were "ridiculous."

"They've done that with the Dalai Lama (and) the way they carried on about that lady with the visa (Kadeer), " he said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu yesterday hit back by saying, "It is dishonorable to indulge and even support separatists."

"Such action will only damage his own image," Jiang said, urging foreign diplomats to see through Kadeer's separatist nature, and to protect overall interests by not doing separatists any favor.

Regarding Kadeer's intention to talk with the Chinese government, Jiang said Kadeer is a criminal under Chinese law. "Her accusations against China are not worth refuting," Jiang added.

China canceled a senior minister's visit over Canberra's receiving of Kadeer, whom Beijing accuses of being a separatist and inciting deadly unrest in Urumqi in July.

"As former Australian prime minister, Howard still wields a lot of influence in his country," Zhao Guojun of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences told the Global Times.

He added that Howard's criticism indicates the diversified and sometimes controversial attitudes inside Australian political parties.

"It's a common fault of some Australian officials that they don't think of the mutual beneficial perspective" of bilateral ties, Zhao said. "For instance, on the visit by Kadeer, Howard's remark reveals a unilateral attitude, which obstructs the development of bilateral ties."

The conservative leader of Australia for 11 years, Howard also said recent tension between China and Australia could be traced back to mining giant Rio Tinto's rejection of a $19.5 billion cash injection from China's state-owned aluminum giant, Chinalco.

China says the detention of Australian Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu is linked to allegations of industrial espionage and bribery during fraught iron ore negotiations.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australia-China ties would experience difficulties, but the "long-term beneficial nature" of the relationship would overcome controversies such as those surrounding Hu and Kadeer.

"We have a very good economic relationship with China, and that will continue," AFP quoted Smith as saying. "We need to take a long-term view of our relationship, and we need to be patient."

Agencies contributed to this story

Source:Global Times

Australia is a partner we can't live without

2009-09-06T10:14:00.001+10:00

A good, middle-pathed commentary found in the Global Times by a People's Daily senior reporter.

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Australia is a partner we can't live without

by Ding Gang
Source - Global Times 3 September 2009

On Tuesday, the Global Times ran a story "China is a partner Australia can't live without." I think this is only one side of the story.We should also recognize that Australia is a partner China can't live without. Both are equally important, especially in terms of economy and trade.

Recently there's been a comeback of the so-called China threat in Australia. For issues concerning China's fundamental interest, we shouldn't flinch, but handle them in accordance with the law and refute opposing arguments with reason. Yet it should be noted that the frictions are the results of closer economic and trade ties between China and Australia.

Some Chinese netizens think lightly of Australia. They believe that Australia relies so heavily on China for its economy and trade that China could easily "crush" Australia.

This isn't completely groundless. Australia's official statistics last year show that China was its second largest trade partner. Exports to China accounted for 14.6 percent of Australia's total, and imports from China, at 15.6 percent, were the largest of any nation. Moreover, a large number of Chinese students went to study in Australia, pouring money into the economy. On the other hand, Australia doesn't rank that high on China's foreign trade list.

For historic reasons, we like the economic approach when judging a country's influence. Therefore, some people emphasize the economic and trade ties with Australia, as if others will change their opinion about us when we become heavily relied upon. This perception shows an
excessive worship of power.

In fact, economic and trade relations are about mixed interests. Australia provides China with some indispensible goods. Recently CNPC signed a contract with Australia to buy $41 billion natural gas. China goes global, and increases economic connections with other countries. Meanwhile, China builds codependent relationships and her interests are interwoven with the rest of the world. China's position has changed, so has its relations with the world.

The relationship of interest is about mutual development and benefit, not about fearing and being feared.

Take Chinese overseas students, for example. They benefit Australia's economy and receive better education. Some of them will come back and contribute to China's development.

Our relations have changed from no connections to codependency. It's no longer a one way street. And as China gets stronger, it's unlikely that we'd build unbalanced foreign relations. Nor should we make the assumption that they can't live without us.

Even if someday China becomes so powerful that it could lead the world single-handedly, other countries will not necessarily be crushed without China. Besides, the confrontations of ideologies and system, or people's prejudices, cannot be resolved through economic and trade measures or raw power.

Usually there're boundaries in the game of interest between two codependent countries. Within the boundaries, the two parties can negotiate; going past them, both could get hurt. That's why when we say "China is a partner Australia can't live without," we should
ask ourselves, "Can China live without Australia?"

After all, our economic and trade relations are mutually beneficial. It's a win-win situation. China has gained a lot from its relations with Australia, and Australia hasn't gone so far as to treat China as an enemy.

If we can view China's relations with Australia and other Western countries from this perspective, we'll understand our own power much more clearly.

And when the people can look at our own country more objectively, we will have more flexibility in foreign affairs.

The author is a senior reporter with People's Daily

U.S., Australia want joint exercises with China

2009-09-05T22:21:00.002+10:00

Hard power to the fore with this bit of reality. It seems some countries seem really keen to check out China's military hardware with some up close and personal 'daylight' spying and intel gathering. Let's wait and see what China has to say in response.

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U.S., Australia want joint exercises with China
The Associated Press
Source - The Army Times
Posted : Thursday Sep 3, 2009 5:45:52 EDT

SYDNEY — Australia and the United States will invite China to take part in joint military exercises to help ease fears about China’s growing military power and improve ties, the top U.S. military officer in the Pacific was quoted as saying in a report Thursday.

Adm. Timothy Keating, head of U.S. Pacific Command, and Australian Defense Force Commander Angus Houston met in Sydney this week and agreed to approach China’s Ministry of National Defense about holding joint naval and land exercises “at the earliest opportunity,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Keating as saying.

Concerns about China’s military expansion and strained relations between Beijing and Canberra highlight the need for improved military and diplomatic ties, Keating said.

“We are anxious to engage with them,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “We want to understand much better than we do now China’s intentions.”

On Wednesday, Keating told The Associated Press in New Zealand that the U.S. had resumed talks with China’s military for the first time in 10 months, amid concerns in Washington over some of the weapons systems Beijing is developing.

Keating said the talks, which started over the weekend, were a “positive signal that China is willing to engage” and would be instrumental in understanding “where they intend to go with their weapons systems and how we can avoid them becoming a threat.”

He said some of the weapons and military capabilities “don’t appear to us to support their notion of peaceful rise and harmonious integration, so we will watch carefully with many others to see how that development unfolds.”

Keating told The Sydney Morning Herald the joint exercises could include small-scale naval and land activities and personnel exchanges.

The Chinese Embassy in Canberra said it was not authorized to comment on the proposed exercises.

Tensions have grown recently between Australia and China over Australia’s decision to grant a visa to an exiled ethnic Uighur activist, and China’s arrest of an Australian mining executive on charges of infringing trade secrets and bribery.

Former Australia PM claims Chinese diplomacy 'clumsy'

2009-09-03T23:42:00.001+10:00

This is an interesting read. Even more interesting would be the Chinese response to this. This will be well-worth a series!

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Chinese diplomacy 'clumsy'
AFP
Source - Straits Times 3 September 2009

SYDNEY - FORMER Australian prime minister John Howard has criticised 'clumsy' Chinese diplomatic efforts to gag exiled dissidents and linked recent strains between Canberra and Beijing to a failed mining deal.

Mr Howard said China's attempts to prevent exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer visiting Australia last month were 'ridiculous' and left Canberra with no choice but to grant her a visa.

Conservative leader of Australia for 11 years, Mr Howard said Beijing had adopted similar tactics when Tibet's spiritual leader visited the country, failing to appreciate that efforts to dictate diplomatic policy were destined to backfire.

'They can be very clumsy diplomatically,' Mr Howard told a business function in Sydney on Wednesday. 'They've got this silly habit, if they don't want you to see someone, they say so - which means that you must see them.'

'It's just ridiculous, they've done that with the Dalai Lama (and) the way they carried on about that lady with the visa (Kadeer). '

'Of course we had to give that lady a visa. Heavens above, you don't allow the Chinese, or any government - whether it's China or Britain or America - to tell us who we should give visas to.'

Australia revealed last month that China had cancelled a senior minister's visit over Canberra's decision to grant a visa to Kadeer, whom Beijing accuses of being a separatist and inciting deadly unrest in northwest China's Xinjiang region in July.

Mr Howard said recent tensions between China and Australia could be traced back to mining giant Rio Tinto's rejection of a US$19.5 US billion (S$28 billion) cash injection from China's state-owned aluminium giant Chinalco.

'I think they got their noses out of joint over the Chinalco thing and some of the things they have done in response have been conditioned by that reaction,' he said.

China arrested Australian Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu in the weeks after the Chinalco deal collapsed, but says his detention is linked to allegations of industrial espionage and bribery during fraught iron ore negotiations. -- AFP

China to unveil new missiles

2009-09-02T21:28:00.002+10:00

This blog has talked much about China's soft power and its growing deft touch at public diplomacy. In this instance, it's hard power all the way, with a parade to showcase (read assert) its military power.

"The parades, held every 10 years, typically showcase new-generation weapons systems and are closely scrutinised by both domestic and foreign military watchers for clues about Chinese development trends." Straits Times 02 September 2009

Interesting choice of name for the missile - Dong Feng: meaning East Wind. It's hard to ignore the subtext for such a choice of name, suggestive of a force from the East, perhaps. It also harks back to the Han Dynasty where Liu Bei's strategist Zhuge Liang (181-234AD) turned the tides of war with the symbolic 'borrowing of the east wind'. Click here for a read of that great story.

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China to unveil new missiles
AFP
Source - Straits Times, 2 September 2009

BEIJING - CHINA will unveil a range of previously unknown missiles during its October 1 National Day parade, including intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles, state media said on Wednesday.

The new hardware on display also will include conventional cruise missiles and both short- and medium-range missiles, the Global Times newspaper reported, citing an unnamed People's Liberation Army source.

'These missiles are domestically designed and manufactured and have never been officially reported before,' the source, who is with the PLA's strategic missile defence unit, was quoted as saying.

The weapons have already been distributed to the military and are ready for operation, the source said.

China's missile development programme has caused concern overseas, particularly in the United States, amid projections that it could soon tip the security balance in the Taiwan Strait.

An August report by the Rand Corporation, a US think-tank, said China was increasing both the quantity and quality of its short-range ballistic missiles, which could challenge the US's ability to protect Taiwan from possible attack.

China issued a military policy white paper earlier this year, saying its missile programme was aimed mainly at 'deterrence'.

However, it added it was also capable of 'conducting nuclear counter-attacks and precision strikes with conventional missiles.' China will stage a huge military parade and pageant in Beijing on October 1 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of communist China.

The parades, held every 10 years, typically showcase new-generation weapons systems and are closely scrutinised by both domestic and foreign military watchers for clues about Chinese development trends.

The expert quoted by the Global Times did not reveal the model names or numbers of the missiles. However, missiles believed to have been developed by China include the Dongfeng 41, a solid-fuel ICBM with an estimated range of up to 12,000 kilometres (7,500 miles).

The missile would be China's longest-range ICBM, according to US-based GlobalSecurity.org, a leading independent source of military information. -- AFP

China scraps events over Dalai Lama visit to Taiwan

2009-09-01T23:59:00.003+10:00

The aftermath has arrived, China was bound to be heavy-handed, albeit its earlier composed mannner (see previous post) - and went ahead to cancel and postpone important markers of 'improving' cooperation. Cross-strait relations have been getting better for a while now, and has been the centerpiece/hallmark of the current Taiwanese leadership. What happens when this emblem of their work fails?

The NY Times in fact, argue that the visit by the Dalai Lama was always only going to compound the Taiwanese leadership problems, and discusses the Taiwanese leadership's headaches; it was not a clear-cut call to make. Go here for article.

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China scraps events
Tension over Dalai Lama
Source - Straits Times, 01 September 2009

TAIPEI - CHINA has canceled or postponed several events meant to underscore improving relations with Taiwan, apparently to show anger over the Dalai Lama's visit to the island, Taiwan's governing party said on Tuesday.

The visit of the Tibetan spiritual leader - aimed at offering comfort to the victims of Typhoon Morakot - has created the most serious challenge for relations between the democratic island and the communist mainland since Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou took office 15 months ago on a platform of ending 60 years of hostility.

China has canceled or postponed the planned Taiwan visits of at least two important delegations, and nixed ceremonies meant to mark the expansion of direct air service between the sides, said Nationalist Party spokesman Chen Shu-rong said on Tuesday.

Beijing already had announced that its delegation will not take part in Saturday's opening of the Deaf Olympics in Taipei.

The Chinese moves follow Sunday's statement from the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office that the Dalai Lama's visit 'is bound to have a negative influence on the relations between the mainland and Taiwan.'

Speaking to The Associated Press, Ms Chen said the cancellations appeared linked to the Taiwan visit of the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing reviles as a 'splittist' because he allegedly seeks independence for his native Tibet.

Ms Chen declined on Tuesday to comment on news reports that the party sent an emissary to China last week to seek its understanding on the visit, but acknowledged that it is using its normal channels of communications with the Communists to try to mitigate Beijing's anger.

'We have continued to keep up our contact,' she said.

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949. Beijing regards the island as part of its territory and routinely condemns any interference in its affairs from outside parties. -- AP

Deaths, lung damage linked to nanoparticles in China

2009-09-01T02:13:00.002+10:00

Truly scary stuff, and perhaps it is time to be a bit more aware of the things developing around us beyond our control, sight, or reason to fathom. Nanoparticles! Science fiction not too long ago, then high technology, now pervasive everywhere.

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Deaths, lung damage linked to nanoparticles in China
By Tan Ee Lyn
Source - Reuters 17 August 2009

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Seven young Chinese women suffered permanent lung damage and two of them died after working for months without proper protection in a paint factory using nanoparticles, Chinese researchers reported on Wednesday.

They said the study is the first to document health effects of nanotechnology in humans, although animal studies in the past have shown nanoparticles could damage the lungs of rats.

"These cases arouse concern that long term exposure to nanoparticles without protective measures may be related to serious damage to human lungs," Yuguo Song from the occupational disease and clinical toxicology department at Chaoyang Hospital in Beijing wrote in the European Respiratory Journal.

But a U.S. government expert said the study was more a demonstration of industrial hazards than any evidence that nanoparticles pose more of a risk than other chemicals.

Nanotechnology is an important industry. One nanometer is one-billionth of a meter (yard) and nanoparticles measure between 1 to 100 nanometers.

It is used in products like sporting goods, tires, electronics, cosmetics and surface coatings and has a projected annual market of around $1 trillion by 2015.

"Their tiny diameter means that they can penetrate the body's natural barriers, particularly through contact with damaged skin or by inhalation or ingestion," Song and colleagues wrote.

They said the seven women had worked for between five to 13 months in a factory spraying paint on polystyrene boards before they developed breathing difficulties and rashes on their faces and arms.

The women breathed in fumes and smoke that contained nanoparticles while working in the factory, Song said.

PARTICLES AND FLUID

According to the paper, doctors found the women had excess fluids in the cavities surrounding their lungs and hearts, conditions that impair breathing and heart function.

Their lung tissues and fluids contained nanoparticles about 30 nanometers in diameter -- matching particles that health protection officials later found in materials used in the factory where the women worked.

Two of the women died within two years of working in the factory. The condition of the other five women has not improved even though they are no longer handling such materials.

It is impossible to remove nanoparticles once they penetrate lung cells, wrote Song.

Allen Chan, a chemical pathologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong not connected to the study, said the findings were significant.

"These findings are important because they provide concrete evidence that these materials are harmful and protection must be given to workers," he said.

But Clayton Teague, who heads the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, noted that the women who were sickened on the job were spraying a paste containing nanoparticles in a very small, unventilated room, and wore gauze masks only occasionally.

He said in the United States the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has developed extensive safety training for nanotechnology workers and a proactive risk management system to help companies maximize worker safety.

"From what we know, this tragedy could have been avoided by proper industrial hygiene techniques," Teague said.

China slams Dalai Lama visit

2009-08-31T13:36:00.004+10:00

Two versions of the same story - the first via the Straits Times (from Reuters), and the second from Al Jazeera; and it's got to do with Tibet, and the Dalai Lama again (visiting Taiwan for the third time) who asserts his trip is 'not for political reasons'

A statement by the state run Xinhua Agency made it quite resolutely clear - they still see the Dalai Lama as a 'splittist' who has no place in the Greater China sphere.

And this is is always tricky as we have one 'spliitist' in the Dalai Lama, and the 'split-ed' (albeit now seemingly and gradually 'unifying' Taiwan together in the same media spotlight. Result - kneejerk Chinese reaction although this time the Chinese improved their tact. From the Reuters report in the Straits Times..."As with a denunciation it issued when the visit was announced last week, China focused its criticism on the opposition Democratic Progressive Party.By not blaming Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou or the ruling Nationalist Party (KMT), Beijing may have indicated that it does not wish to escalate the issue."

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China slams Dalai Lama visit
Reuters
The Straits Times 31 August 2009

BEIJING - CHINA denounced the Dalai Lama's trip to Taiwan, saying the visit by a man Beijing brands a separatist could 'have a negative influence' on relations between the mainland and Taiwan, state media reported on Monday.

The Tibetan spiritual leader arrived on Sunday in Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by Beijing, for a hasty visit to comfort victims of a typhoon.

As with a denunciation it issued when the visit was announced last week, China focused its criticism on the opposition Democratic Progressive Party.

By not blaming Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou or the ruling Nationalist Party (KMT), Beijing may have indicated that it does not wish to escalate the issue.

'The Democratic Progressive Party has ulterior motives to instigate the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan, who has long been engaged in separatist activities,' a spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

'We resolutely oppose this and our position is firm and clear,' the spokesman said. 'The Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan is bound to have a negative influence on the relations between the mainland and Taiwan.' China is considered unlikely to retaliate by choking off growing economic ties between the long-time political rivals.

China opposes the Dalai Lama's trips abroad and condemned Taiwan opposition leaders for inviting him last week to visit until Friday. He will pray for victims of Typhoon Morakot, Taiwan's worst storm in 50 years which killed up to 745 people.

China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled to the island. Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary.

The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, flew from India to Taiwan's main international airport for a mass prayer and other religious activities in storm-hit southern Taiwan. -- REUTERS

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China slams Dalai Lama Taiwan visit
NEWS ASIA-PACIFIC
Source - Al Jazeera English 27 August 2009

China has denounced a proposed visit to Taiwan by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, saying it threatens to "sabotage" improving relations between the two states.

Taiwan, the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing, approved the visit by the Nobel Peace laureate to comfort victims of deadly Typhoon Morakot that struck earlier this month and devastated parts of southern Kaohsiung county.

China said it was "resolutely opposed" to Thursday's visit, in a statement carried by the state-run Xinhua news agency on Thursday.

The Chinese government considers the Dalai Lama a "splittist" for promoting autonomy in Tibet.

Comforting victims

Beijing has often reacted angrily to governments which allow the Tibetan leader to visit.

"No matter under what form or identity Dalai uses to enter Taiwan, we resolutely oppose this," China's Taiwan Affairs Bureau said in its statement.

"Some of the people in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) use the disaster rescue excuse to invite Dalai to Taiwan to sabotage the hard-earned positive situation of cross-straits relations," the statement continued.

An aide to the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, home to the Tibetan government-in-exile, said the spiritual leader had been keen to visit Taiwan.

Tenzin Taklha said: "We want to make it very clear that the Dalai Lama is visiting Taiwan to express condolences to victims and lead prayers."

More than 400 people were killed after Typhoon Morakot struck Taiwan on August 8 and unleashed floods and mudslides.

Strong moves

China is considered unlikely to retaliate by holding off growing economic ties between the long-time political rivals.

By blaming the opposition DPP, and not Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou or the ruling Nationalist Party (KMT), Beijing may have indicated it does not wish to escalate the issue.

"Beijing will be a little uncomfortable, but if they understand how severe the disaster is they will show some respect to Taiwan's people," said Wu Den-yih, the KMT secretary-general.

Last year, the Dalai Lama said that he wanted to visit Taiwan, but at the time, Ma said the timing was not right for such a visit. Taiwanese Buddhist groups criticised the decision.

But Beijing is also aware any strong moves against the Dalai Lama could play into the hands of Taiwanese opponents of President Ma, who has sought to ease tensions with Beijing.

Taiwan's relations with China have improved under Ma, who has taken a more conciliatory approach than his predecessor. Then-Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian rejected China's assertion that there is only "One China" and Taiwan is an inalienable part of it.

Political significance

China claims self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory, although the two split amid civil war in 1949.

Victor Gao, the director of China's National Association of International Studies, a think-tank affiliated with the Chinese government, told Al Jazeera that the Dalai Lama "continues to play both spiritual and political roles".
He said that while the proposed visit to Taiwan was for spiritual purposes, the Dalai Lama has "been consistently undermining China's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

"We also need to make it known that he himself is a Chinese national, and would be welcomed back if he chose to give up his activities," Gao said.

Over the past 12 years, the Dalai Lama has made three visits to the island which is home to a large exiled Tibetan community and millions of Buddhists.

The Dalai Lama made his first trip to Taiwan in 1997 and visited the island again in 2001, triggering strong condemnation from China.

The Tibetan spiritual leader is due to arrive on August 31 and to stay for four days.

Central Beijing Shut Off

2009-08-29T13:45:00.001+10:00

Good weekend all! Plenty of anniversaries this year, and one more to take the cake - 60 years since Mao's proclamation of Communist China. And coincidentally, the 101st entry in this blog. :)

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Central Beijing shut off
AFP
Source - Straits Times 29 August 2009

BEIJING - AUTHORITIES shut down much of central Beijing on Saturday as China staged huge rehearsals for a parade and other festivities marking the 60th anniversary of the nation's Oct 1 founding.

Tiananmen Square and adjacent roads at the heart of the capital were closed to the public from Friday night to early Sunday morning for the rehearsals which state press said involved 200,000 people and 60 parade floats.

China is planning a parade, song and dance performances, and fireworks on October 1 to mark the day when revolutionary leader Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of Communist China in 1949 at Tiananmen Square.

Authorities were keen to maintain the secrecy and security of the rehearsals and security checkpoints manned by officers with police dogs were seen at several points, with police diverting traffic and checking vehicles.

The subway system's main lines through the city centre were to be intermittently closed to the public as they transported performers, the China Daily said.

In recent weeks, China has deployed thousands of extra police in the capital to monitor people and vehicles entering and leaving the capital.

They would guard key infrastructure points such as bridges, railways, and the subway system to prevent any disruption on the sensitive anniversary, state press has said.

State media reports have said the security measures have been toughened in part due to last month's riots in China's far western Xinjiang region by Muslim Uighurs, which the government said left nearly 200 people dead.

China typically cracks down on politically sensitive anniversaries to prevent any action by groups critical of the Communist Party's iron-fisted rule such as dissident groups and restive minorities including Uighurs and Tibetans unhappy with Chinese control of their homelands.

Beijing police have also recruited hundreds of thousands of volunteers to keep an eye on suspicious activity in the city in the lead-up to National Day, state media have said. -- AFP

Beijing marks Olympic Games first anniversary

2009-08-29T13:43:00.001+10:00

And this comes late.

"We have established August 8 as National Fitness Day to fully embody... the government's loving concern for the life and prosperity of the people," sports minister Liu Peng said in an address outside the iconic Bird's Nest national stadium.

The first anniversary of the Beijing Olympics!

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Beijing marks Olympic Games first anniversary
AFP
Source - The Times of India, August 8 2009

BEIJING: China marked the first anniversary of the Beijing Olympics on Saturday with its first national sports day that saw up to 34,000 people gather for the world's largest martial arts exercise.

"We have established August 8 as National Fitness Day to fully embody... the government's loving concern for the life and prosperity of the people," sports minister Liu Peng said in an address outside the iconic Bird's Nest national stadium.

"This is a vivid reflection of the legacy that the Beijing Olympics has left for the people, the society and our system."

Liu's remarks came as nearly 34,000 people dressed in white silk performed "taiqiquan," or martial arts shadow boxing, in the drizzling rain outside the stadium early Saturday morning.

Ranging in age from seven to 65, the shadow boxers hope to set a Guinness world record for the largest martial arts exercise, organisers said.

A year after the Beijing Olympics, reminders of the Games' physical impact are visible throughout the capital, but so are signs of the many ways in which the event could not change China.

China has a collection of state-of-the-art venues and can also point to the new Olympic subway lines that now transport millions of Beijingers to work.

But there is also the choking smog that has returned to the city, and the dissidents jailed in the past year for speaking out against a government that had promised "tremendous" human rights improvements in bidding for the Games.

"The successful hosting of the Olympic Games is the result of China's social and economic development," Cui Dalin, vice minister of the general administration of sports said.

"Without a strong nation we would not have had a successful Beijing Olympics."

Saturday night over 60,000 fans are expected to watch International Milan face rival Lazio in the first sporting event to be held in the Bird's Nest since the paralympics ended in September.

The stadium, made of a lattice of cement and steel, has largely served as a tourist attraction since the Games ended, prompting criticism that many costly Olympic venues are sitting idle and not being used for sporting events.

China starts organ donation system to beat trafficking

2009-08-27T12:45:00.002+10:00

Beating the pirates! Seems like China's main mode of organ donations has been coming from executed criminals. Now that's food for thought. That's really making the best out of everything isn't it? This is a pretty positive step forward for the recipients of such organ implants - a 'proper' national organ donation system.

"Nearly 1.5 million people in China need organ transplants, but every year, only 10,000 people can get one, according to the Health Ministry's website."

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China starts organ donation system to beat trafficking
It also aims to cut dependence on organs from executed criminals
Source - Straits Times 27 August 2009

BEIJING: China has launched its first national organ donation system in a bid to crack down on organ trafficking. It also aims to create another source of organs for transplants, other than executed prisoners who currently make up the majority of donors.

Executed criminals account for 65 per cent of organ donors, the state-run newspaper China Daily said yesterday, in an unusual admission of the prevalence of the practice.

'(Executed prisoners) are definitely not a proper source for organ transplants,' Vice-Health Minister Huang Jiefu told the paper.

Nearly 1.5 million people in China need organ transplants, but every year, only 10,000 people can get one, according to the Health Ministry's website.

The shortage means that desperate patients bid up the price, and contribute to corruption and unfairness in organ allocation.

'Transplants should not be a privilege for the rich,' Mr Huang said.

The new donation system has been piloted in 10 provinces and cities - namely Liaoning, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangdong and Jiangxi, as well as the cities of Tianjin, Shanghai, Xiamen, Nanjing and Wuhan.

The system - launched on Tuesday - will encourage post-death donations, and start a fund to provide financial aid to the needy and to donors' families.

The Red Cross Society of China will link possible donors with recipients, and make public a waiting list of patients to increase transparency in allocating organs.

'The system is in the public interest and will benefit patients, regardless of social status and wealth, in terms of fairness in organ allocation and better procurement,' Mr Huang said.
The new system is China's latest step to better regulate organ transplants.

China's 2007 organ transplant law bans organ trading and trafficking as well as 'transplant tourism' for foreigners.

However, illegal transplants from living donors, and cases of foreigners paying huge sums for transplants in China, are frequently reported by the media. Recipients sometimes pay up to 200,000 yuan (S$42,200) for a kidney, not including other medical services.
Chinese law allows organs to be donated by living people only in the case of blood relatives and spouses or people who are considered 'emotionally connected'.

But organ middlemen often forge documents by making donors, who are desperately in need of money, appear on paper as 'emotionally connected' to the recipients.

Living transplants accounted for up to 60 per cent of total transplants last year, a jump from 15 per cent in 2006, said Dr Chen Zhonghua, an organ transplant specialist at Tongji Hospital in Shanghai.

REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS, XINHUA

'Civilised city' campaign

2009-08-25T15:24:00.003+10:00

Things are getting better all the time. Reminiscent of the great Beijing Olympics cleanup in 2008, cities in China are competing to get civilised. Although in this case, it seems really cosmetic.

But... "Women wearing red armbands patrol the streets and pick up cigarette butts. Volunteer crossing guards with yellow flags and whistles make sure people wait for green lights. Beggars, even those with legs withered by polio, are banished from their usual haunts on pedestrian bridges."

Too much? Going too far?

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'Civilised city' campaign
AP
Source - Straits Times 25 August 2009

Each year, the central government awards the prized designation to one or more cities, and it is a big deal for Guangzhou (left), once known as Canton, as it tries to shed a reputation for being dirty and crime-ridden. -- PHOTO: AP

GUANGZHOU - GOVERNMENT-BACKED neighbourhood groups are going door-to-door in south China's gritty business capital with a set of simple requests: Please stop spitting in public, cutting in bus lines and talking loudly in the streets.

It's all part of a campaign in Guangzhou, China's third-wealthiest metropolis, to win the coveted 'Civilised City' award - an annual ritual that sparks months of frantic scrubbing and buffing in cities across China.

Women wearing red armbands patrol the streets and pick up cigarette butts. Volunteer crossing guards with yellow flags and whistles make sure people wait for green lights. Beggars, even those with legs withered by polio, are banished from their usual haunts on pedestrian bridges.

While some citizens remain skeptical of the cleanup drive, it jibes with Chinese leaders' goal of shifting away from the blind pursuit of blistering economic growth at any cost. They want to focus more on creating a spiffier, healthier, more cultured and harmonious society.

Each year, the central government awards the prized designation to one or more cities, and it is a big deal for Guangzhou, once known as Canton, as it tries to shed a reputation for being dirty and crime-ridden. Next year, this historic port city of 10 million people hosts the Asian Games - the region's equivalent of the Olympics - that will draw 25,000 athletes, coaches and journalists from 45 countries.

The civility campaign also highlights how the Communist Party still likes to indulge in often heavy-handed Big Brother social engineering, reaching deep into people's lives - or at least their living rooms - to try to mould the masses.

Beijing launched a similar campaign before the 2008 Olympics, trying to curb spitting, jumping ahead in line, littering and reckless driving.

In Guangzhou, members of neighbourhood committees, government-backed councils that monitor households, are knocking on doors in the evening and handing out a survey and brochures about improving civil behaviour. -- AP

Chinese snap up Australian properties

2009-08-24T19:16:00.001+10:00

70,000 migrants from the mainland to Australia just last year. Australia is synergistically aligned with China for its economic wellbeing (think natural resources, coal, steel, uranium, the list goes on), but the reverse flow is resulting in the Chinese buying up property and land in Australia. Tricky situation.

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Chinese snap up Australian properties

By Jack Levine
Sun, Aug 23, 2009
China Daily/Asia News Network
Source - AsiaOne

SYDNEY: Chinese buyers are snapping up some of the best luxury properties in Sydney including big homes on the harbor, and new condominium developments.

Real estate brokers and developers said Chinese buyers are most interested in hot properties in the inner-city and by the beach. They are attracted by new foreign ownership rules, a favorable exchange rate, and the relative stability of the Australian property market.

After the UK and New Zealand, China is third in the lineup of countries that sends immigrants to Australia. Last financial year, more than 70,000 Chinese arrived in Australia to live permanently, including a steady stream of business migrants and a growing number of students.

"In many cases, Chinese immigrants to Australia are buying into key lifestyle markets, which are characterized as being close to the ocean or within the inner-city," said Tim Lawless, national research director at RP Data, a property and analytics information company.

In March, Chinese businessman Jiang Mei bought one of the most expensive houses ever sold in Sydney, an inner-city, Point Piper house for A$32.4 million (S$40 mil).

This set off a buying trend. Chinese buyers paid $14.5 million for a home at Rose Bay, and then a Shanghai couple bought in the same waterfront suburb for $15 million. Another Chinese couple bought a $5.8 million house, and a Chinese investor bought a smaller, second property for $1 million, with plans to rent out the home.

Raine and Horne, an Australian real estate agency that negotiated the Point Piper house deal, said interest from the Chinese mainland picked up by about 15 percent at the beginning of 2009.

In March, Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) introduced dramatic changes to rules governing foreign buyers, including that all apartments in new projects can be sold to foreigners. Previously, only half the apartments in a development could be sold to overseas buyers. Student visa holders who live in Australia are no longer limited to spending only $300,000 on a property.

Richard Lawrence, a partner with Holland & Knight's Beijing office, who often advises clients on China-related real estate projects, said Chinese buyers are becoming more active in foreign real estate, particularly those looking to diversify their portfolio.

In China, some people have concerns that a serious asset bubble is developing in real estate, so overseas markets are starting to look cheap by comparison.

"I think we will see Chinese corporate and institutional investors start to turn to real estate investment opportunities elsewhere," he said, noting that Australia and the US are key markets.

One real estate agent who deals with top-tier properties said more Chinese than ever are looking to buy in Sydney. Many Chinese want to migrate to Australia, either because their children attend school there, they are considering retiring, or they want to buy investment property.

Wendy Searle, a spokeswoman for Di Jones real estate, said most Chinese are discreet buyers.

"You only get to know they have purchased by looking at completion records, available after a sale," she said. "It is said in some circles that a majority of houses with the best Sydney harbor views will be owned by Chinese people in a few years."

She cited a list of the top 100 house sales in Australia for 2008. "A lot of the names of the buyers were Chinese," she said.

Australia's real estate market has proved to be very resilient in comparison with other Western markets. Housing prices fell by just 3.8 percent during the 2008 downturn and have since recovered during the first half of 2009.

'China threat' theory rejected

2009-08-24T17:17:00.006+10:00

This comes a little late - but we'll be hard pressed to find such stories that damn China the past few months. Note - article came up in April 2009. Not exactly Chinese style to go full-frontal in terms of strategy as it disobeys the mantra of Tao Guang Yang Hui (韬光养晦), but how interesting the 'accusation' -

The Wall Street Journal, quoting American national security officials, Wednesday reported that spies from countries like China and Russia had infiltrated the US electrical grid, planting software programs that could disrupt the network in a time of war.

CBS has a report here, whilst the original Wall Street Journal article is here and a recommended read. If it's true, there's certainly more a little more than meets the eye to China's rise and development.

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'China threat' theory rejected
Source - Global Times 9 April 2009

Chinese scholars Wednesday rebutted US's allegations that China was engaged in spying and forging secret nuclear deals with foreign countries, saying these were induced by the perceived "China threat" worrying Washington.

US politicians have been debating the country's foreign and military strategy shifts in the wake of the financial crisis, and some took the opportunity to play up the "threat" posed by China for their own gains, experts in Beijing said.

The Wall Street Journal, quoting American national security officials, Wednesday reported that spies from countries like China and Russia had infiltrated the US electrical grid, planting software programs that could disrupt the network in a time of war.

China was accused earlier of using malicious software to infiltrate and take control of almost 1,300 computers belonging to the Dalai Lama in 103 countries.

In another development Wednesday, US prosecutors accused a Chinese metals company, along with six Iranian firms, of collaborating on a scheme to transfer missile and nuclear technology from China to Iran.

The Dalian-based LIMMIT Economic and Trade Co Ltd was among seven companies from China, Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea that were sanctioned by US President Barack Obama on Feb 2 for spreading missiles and other weapons technology.

But the company's manager, Li Fangwei, told the Financial Times Wednesday that the company was "unaware of the charges", denying that the products were intended for "military use".

Teng Jianqun, deputy general-secretary of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, said these sanctions on China took place only in recent years, and it was a common strategy of the US to interfere in China's civilian trade.

"More accusations are being made nowadays, probably because the military contractors are fighting against a fundamental defense budget now proposed by the US defense chief," said Beijing-based military expert Song Xiaojun.

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and an exerpt from the Wall Street Journal here -

Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies
By SIOBHAN GORMAN
APRIL 8, 2009
Source + Full Article - WSJ Online

WASHINGTON -- Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials.

The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven't sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war.

"The Chinese have attempted to map our infrastructure, such as the electrical grid," said a senior intelligence official. "So have the Russians."

The espionage appeared pervasive across the U.S. and doesn't target a particular company or region, said a former Department of Homeland Security official. "There are intrusions, and they are growing," the former official said, referring to electrical systems. "There were a lot last year."...

Full article here.

Pictures expose peculiar prejudices of the propagandist

2009-08-24T12:43:00.008+10:00

The media has and always been an instrument for manufacturing consent within the masses. Some (I hope some day soon, all of us will be, it's all a huge fog of war) are perceptive enough to see the forest for the trees, and Zhang Dali, China's 'first' graffiti artist has a good story to tell - how the pictures and reality tunnel he grew up with under the CCP's massive propaganda machine painted a very different reality of what should have been.

This is the story of how one man parted the fog and exposed how history had been re-written by agendas.

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Pictures expose peculiar prejudices of the propagandist

Source and Photos: Global Times 23 August 2009
By Peng Yining

Zhu De, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai salute the first PLA national sports meet in 1952. The bottom photo was published in Selected Photographs of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The altered version appeared in People's Pictorial of 1977.

Zhang Dali realized he had been living in a distorted world for many years. The world he had believed in collapsed, history all a great big lie.

He began collecting the old news photos in 2004, going to archives to find the original negatives and then comparing them with the published versions: shabby old houses transformed into multi-story buildings where residents were leading the good life, bonus pigs pasted beside a farm to add prosperity, revolutionary heroes moved in front of pine trees and red flags plus of course famous politicians airbrushed out of history.

“I felt so depressed when I found that things I had seen with my own eyes might not be true,” he said.

“Like being manipulated by something or somebody for years and one day, you suddenly feel it in your soul: ‘I live a fake life.'

Zhang first heard about doctored photos in the 1970s. His father showed him a calendar. There used to be four leaders in the photo, his father said: Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong.

Liu had gone.

Global Habit

In 1993, Zhang read Milan Kundera's The Book of Laughter and Forgetting and so he knew a bit about propaganda image manipulation, but the Czech writer's book had not prepared him for the discovery of so many wrong Chinese mainland photos.

He picked 130 out of more than 300 he had collected and named his work A Second History.

A portrait of Mao Zedong and the slogans “Follow the Communist Party” and “Listen to Chairman Mao” replace a shabby wall and door in the new photo of Chengzhuang Agriculture Labor School published by People's Pictorial in February 1969.

“There are different versions of history,” Zhang said. “The first is objective, but usually we only get to read the second: history that was revised.

“I want to find the hidden truth that was revised or deleted.”

Some photo alterations are easily understood, like cutting a tall person out of a group photo from alongside propaganda folk hero Lei Feng.

“The publisher wanted to make Lei Feng look taller, more heroic,” Zhang said. “That's just standard practice in China. It could have been revised by the publisher or art editors. Anyone could revise it.”

But other changes confuse us today.

“It's like ‘Spot the Difference',” said Zhang. “A man's hat has been removed for no obvious reason.

“Maybe he was the only one in the photo who wore a hat and that nonconformity made people uncomfortable back then. But it seems only natural today.”

To obtain the original negatives, Zhang went to almost every archive in China, even managing to get hold of some classified film through some sympathetic connections.

Most of these archives are not open to the public, he said, so collecting the original film was actually the hard part.

“I knew some photos of leaders were sensitive, but I really enjoy finding the truth I never knew,” he said. “The leaders and political issues are just a part of history, an element of the truth.”

A Second History exhibits in the New Art Gallery of Walsall in the United Kingdom in May 2009. Photos: courtesy of Zhang Dali

Mao disappears

The very last photo of A Second History concerns Mao Zedong. The original photo was of Mao and many villagers, but all the villagers were deleted to make the photo focus on the leader. So far as expected.

But what makes the exhibit so surprising is the 2007 version of this photo: Mao has been deleted. The editors just wanted to compare the view with today's view: the place had changed so much they had found it impossible to locate a picture with the old view. Until they saw Mao.

This little story showed in his opinion that everything changes, and the photo just represents a change in people's own sense of worth. Important things might be ignored in another context, Zhang said.

As the process of collecting continued, Zhang became more and more optimistic. He stopped to think about what is real and what is fake and stopped obsessing over all the lies and deceit. He realized the whole process of revisionism reflected the whole country's mindset, not just propaganda and cultural policies but also the lives and habits of every ordinary Chinese person.

“And we can still trace answers for today's China in those photos,” he said. “Why we are so cocky but blush at our own mistakes and poverty?

“Why we are so sensitive and inferior that we refuse to admit there are problems?

“Don't be afraid to face history. This is what we have done and this is our nation. Every rational intellectual has the capacity to uncover our real history. An artist is part intellectual.”

A Second History just finished exhibiting in the New Art Gallery of Walsall in the United Kingdom in May this year.

“They said the artistic expression of A Second History surpassed any individual painting or statue,” said Zhang, who was delighted by the rave reviews.

“It's the best way to display China's cultural policy for a long time.”

Some of his photos admittedly contain some relatively sensitive political issues, Zhang said, but he urged authorities to think carefully about the message his exhibition sent.

“I didn't set out to criticize anything,” Zhang said. “Fake photos exist all over the world. If someone uses my works to attack China, I can't help that. I'm just an artist. I just show what I see.”

Zhang will try to get A Second History exhibited in Beijing this year, but he conceded there was little chance he could succeed and so he is already thinking about other Chinese cities. The display boards are all now leaning against the wall of his study.

“Such a pity,” he said. “My work is for Chinese.”

Did Zhang Dali sell out?

There's a lazy stereotype of artists that they loll about the street all day, growing long hair and then suddenly get hit with a flash of inspiration, Zhang Dali told the Global Times.

“People should ask themselves where this so-called flash of inspiration comes from,” he joked.

Well, perhaps it came from Zhang. Zhang himself had long hair 22 years ago when he graduated from the Central Academy of Arts and Design in Beijing and started painting.

“I am not that into Beijing now. People here wandering all the time and calling themselves ‘artists',” said the lesser-known artist in the 1988 documentary film Drifters in Beijing. Zhang was huddled in a cramped rented room, his straight black hair hanging to his shoulders, unclean beard obscuring a small chin.

The Zhang of today sports a crew cut and a clean-shaven face. Only the Harbin drawl remains the same, perhaps a bit softer.

Returning from Italy in 1995, Zhang made his name as the “first graffiti artist of China” for his trademark profile of a bald man on Beijing streets.

But annoying many of his fans, he stopped graffiti in 2007.

“Zhang cleaned up,” Liu Yuansheng, a photographer who spent years documenting Chinese graffiti, wrote in his blog. “He became rich and his life was changed, so he abandoned graffiti.”

Some new graffiti artists agree with Liu.

“He disparaged graffiti after becoming famous from it, but I can understand why Zhang quit,” Seven, a member of a graffiti crew in Beijing told the Global Times. “He's a rich man now.”

“They think like that about me?” Zhang lifted himself out of the sofa and paused for a moment in thought.

“Well, I suppose to some extent, they're right. It's true that today I just don't get that sudden yen to sneak out at midnight and ride a bicycle to spray a blank wall.”

“But their conclusion about me is simplistic,” he shook his head, and fell back into the sofa.

“I am beyond street graffiti now. I seek fulfillment through something more complicated, more magnificent, like A Second History.”

Fast facts: Zhang Dali

1963 Born in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province
1987 Graduates from Central Academy of Arts and Design in 1987 and works as a freelance painter in Beijing
1989 Moves to Bologna, Italy
1992 Paints his trademark profile of a bald man on the street of Bologna, and names it Dialogue.
1995 Back to Beijing as China’s first graffiti artist.
1998 A photo of his graffiti appears on the cover of Newsweek in the United States.
2003-2005 Portrays 100 immigrant workers in life-size resin sculptures of various postures, with a designated number, the artist’s signature and the work’s title Chinese Offspring tattooed onto each of their bodies.
2008 Work about migrant workers Wind Horses Flag exhibits in Beijing.
2009 A Second History exhibits in Walsall, UK.

Singapore's ties with Tibet to grow with improved connectivity

2009-08-23T16:27:00.001+10:00

And fresh off the oven, Singapore-Tibet ties.

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Singapore's ties with Tibet to grow with improved connectivity
Channel News Asia 23 August 2009

SINGAPORE: Singapore's relations with Tibet are expected to grow with improved connectivity.

Noting that Singapore's ties with China are excellent, Foreign Minister George Yeo who is in Lhasa, said on Saturday that he hoped there would be direct flights between Singapore and the Tibetan city one day.

Mr Yeo met Executive Vice Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region Government, Mr Hao Peng, who has asked for Singapore's help and involvement in urban management and in developing Tibet's tourism industry.

Briefing Mr Yeo on the political, economic and cultural situation in Tibet, Mr Hao noted that Tibet has made enormous progress in the last fifty years and the main priorities are now on economic development, as well as environmental and cultural protection.

On economic development, he added that Tibet's infrastructure is improving dramatically and two more airports would be opened in addition to the existing three.

The Singapore delegation was also briefed on ethnic relations in Tibet, specifically the March 14 riots last year.

Mr Yeo added that he understood the challenges of ethnic diversity in Tibet. What is important, however, is for the problems to be managed well, taking into account ethnic sensitivities.

China VP to co-chair talks in Singapore

2009-08-23T16:16:00.002+10:00

Further solidifying of Singapore's vision from a long-time ago that synergy and alignment with China was vital, if not essential for the coming years.

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China VP to co-chair talks
By Lee Siew Hua
Source - Straits Times Aug 23, 2009

Chinese Vice- Premier Wang Qishan (above) begins a four-day visit here on Sunday at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng.

The two will co-chair talks to review and chart new directions for a pair of Singapore-Sino megaprojects - the Suzhou Industrial Park and Tianjin Eco-city.

The flagship Suzhou project - in its 15th year - serves as a model for Chinese industrial parks.

With Singaporean and Chinese officials developing the park, it is a venue for both sides to learn from each other.

Singapore shares its development experience, which is adapted to Chinese conditions.

The newer Tianjin venture has been progressing since November 2007, when a pact was signed to build an eco-city in the Chinese port city. Involved are Singapore's Ministry of National Development and several agencies, including the Housing Board and Land Transport Authority.

Mr Wang, 51, will also co-chair the sixth Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation with DPM Wong, said a statement from three Singapore ministries on Saturday.

The council is a platform to boost political ties and economic links. Mooted by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong in 2002 when he was prime minister, it was launched in 2003.

One new aspect will be a working lunch hosted by SM Goh in his role as the Monetary Authority of Singapore chairman.

He and Mr Wang will discuss the global economic crisis, with ministers on both sides joining them.

Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew rebuts NMP's notion of race equality

2009-08-21T11:22:00.002+10:00

Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew spoke up in parliament for the first time in a while , since 2007 in fact on pressing issues in governance. Not easy to handle this one, the Chinese are in fact 'accidental' invaders of a land native to our Malay friends, and it's getting worse with the influx of mainland Chinese threatening to seriously damage the status quo, at least in these early parts of assimilation.

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MM rebuts NMP's notion of race equality
Constitution requires Government to give Malays special position, he says in House debate
By Clarissa Oon
Source - Straits Times 20 August 2009

IN A rare intervention in Parliament, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew rose yesterday to 'bring the House back to earth' on the issue of racial equality in Singapore.

Spelling out the Government's approach to the treatment of different races, he pointed out that the Constitution of Singapore itself enjoins the Government to give Malays a 'special position', rather than to 'treat everybody as equal'.
He rebutted as 'false and flawed' the arguments by Nominated Member of Parliament Viswa Sadasivan calling for equal treatment for all races.

On Tuesday, Mr Viswa had tabled a motion for the House to reaffirm its commitment to principles in the National Pledge when debating national policies.

A total of 14 MPs spoke on the motion over the past two days. The wide-ranging and vigorous debate ended with Parliament accepting an amended version of Mr Viswa's motion proposed by People's Action Party MP Zainudin Nordin, and modified slightly by MM Lee.

Mr Zainudin's amendment was to acknowledge the progress Singapore has made in nation building, while Mr Lee's was to highlight the principles in the Pledge as aspirations.

While present at almost every Parliament sitting, the last time Mr Lee rose to speak was in April 2007 during a furore over ministerial pay increases.

He told the House yesterday that he had not planned to weigh in on the debate over the Pledge, but was moved to do so by Mr Viswa's remarks on the hot-button issue of race.

In a lengthy speech on Tuesday, the NMP had expressed pride in Singapore's inter-racial harmony and principle of equal opportunity for all races.

However, he questioned if the Government was sending out mixed signals by emphasising racial categories, for example, through ethnic self-help groups.

MM Lee declared that the assumption of equal treatment for all races is 'false and flawed', and 'completely untrue'.

To 'remind everybody what our starting point is', he pointed to the racially tense period of the 1960s, the circumstances in which the Pledge had been written.

Singapore had just been thrown out of Malaysia. The Malays in Singapore were feeling particularly vulnerable, unsure if the Chinese majority here would treat them the way the Malay majority in Malaysia had treated the Chinese minority there.

Because of such a backdrop, the Pledge crafted by then Culture Minister S. Rajaratnam took pains to emphasise principles that would be 'regardless of race, language and religion'.

Mr Lee also drew the House's attention to Article 152 of the Constitution, which makes it the Government's responsibility to 'constantly care for the interests of the racial and religious minorities in Singapore'.

In particular, it states that the Government must recognise the special position of the Malays, 'the indigenous people of Singapore', and safeguard their political, economic and educational interests.

Mr Lee contrasted Singapore's approach with that of the United States, where despite a 1776 declaration that 'all men are created equal', blacks did not get the right to vote until a century later, and racial segregation continued well into the 20th century.

For Singapore to reach a point where all races could be treated equally 'is going to take decades, if not centuries', he said bluntly.

For this reason, he sees the Pledge not as an 'ideology', as Mr Viswa put it, but as an 'aspiration'.

Mr Viswa had also wondered if Singapore had got the balance right between prosperity and the happiness of its citizens, and if it had done enough to strengthen its democratic fundamentals.

Education Minister Ng Eng Hen, who spoke after MM Lee, provided a detailed response, spelling out how the Government's record over the past 50 years had been entirely in the spirit of the Pledge.

'Far from compromising these ideals in the pursuit of economic gro-wth, we have been defenders of these ideals in building a nation,' he said.

Policies are debated openly in Parliament, and the Government is accountable to the people at every election, he said.

He noted that Mr Viswa's model of a multi-party democracy, more opinionated media and politically active universities was drawn from other democratic models in the West.

In Asia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand have elements of these models too.

But he questioned if those places had done better than Singapore, and said it was not self-evident that their models would work here.

More important than high-flown rhetoric in pledges and anthems was the reality on the ground, in the lives that citizens led, he maintained.

He agreed with the NMP that Singapore must move with the times.

However, Dr Ng said: 'We must not do so unthinkingly, but consider carefully each step forward, carving our own path towards a better society and a more vigorous economy.'

China, S'pore to deepen cooperation

2009-08-20T23:53:00.003+10:00

20 years after 'first contact'. Symbolic on many fronts. Singapore always knew China was the way and braced for impact from the time Mandarin became formalised and dialects almostly eliminate, taught Confucianism in its primary school syllabus, and always knew, that China's rise was profitable, but ultimately, inevitable. So much so alignment on so many fronts have been made, from a long time ago. Such was the vision of Lee Kwan Yew.

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China, S'pore to deepen cooperation
Next year will mark 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties
By Sim Chi Yin, China Correspondent
Source - Straits Times 20 August 2009

BEIJING: China and Singapore will explore new areas of cooperation next year as they mark the 20th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping told Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo yesterday.

Noting that bilateral relations are in good shape, Mr Xi said: 'We will use that as an opportunity to further push the comprehensive development of our relationship and foster new areas of practical cooperation.'

Mr Yeo, who is on an eight-day official visit to China, called on the Chinese leader at the grand Great Hall of the People in the heart of Beijing.

Congratulating Singapore on its recent National Day celebrations, Mr Xi said the country's achievements over the past 44 years have been remarkable.

'Singaporeans have worked very hard to promote political stability, economic prosperity and social harmony,' he noted.

Mr Xi, China's sixth ranked leader, is seen as likely to succeed President Hu Jintao at the ruling Chinese Communist Party's 18th national congress in 2012.

Mr Yeo, who arrived on Tuesday, agreed with Mr Xi that bilateral ties were very good.

He said his meetings in China this week would firm up preparations for two upcoming visits by Chinese leaders to Singapore.

Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan is due in the Republic next week for a series of bilateral economic meetings, including the 6th session of the China-Singapore Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation.

Mr Hu is expected in town, along with other world leaders, when Singapore hosts the Apec Leaders' Meeting in November.

In his talks with Mr Xi yesterday, Mr Yeo reiterated Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's invitation for the Chinese leader to visit Singapore, said a Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement (MFA) issued yesterday.

Mr Lee had made that invitation in November 2007 when he met Mr Xi, who told him he had been to Singapore four times previously and picked up useful tips.

Mr Xi and Mr Yeo also agreed that both countries should work together to strengthen Asean-China relations, said the statement.

Earlier yesterday, in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi, Mr Yeo said Mr Wang's visit to Singapore would go beyond bilateral ties to include a session for discussing the global financial crisis, to be hosted by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

Both foreign ministers also discussed Mr Hu's participation at the Apec Summit, said the MFA statement.

On Tuesday, Mr Yeo had called on former Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing, who now heads the Chinese legislature's foreign affairs committee.

Mr Yeo flew to the western province of Qinghai last night. He will take the high-altitude train from Qinghai's capital Xining to Lhasa in Tibet today. He is scheduled to meet local leaders in both provinces.

The Qinghai-Tibet railway, which cuts through deeply frozen earth on the Tibetan plateau, is an engineering feat that was completed in mid-2006.

Mr Xi termed Mr Yeo's planned visit to Qinghai and Tibet a 'very in-depth programme'. He added with a smile that while he had been longing to go on that train ride, Mr Yeo was getting there first.

China not main enemy: Ma

2009-08-19T00:59:00.002+10:00

My my. This is about to unfold a great beholding.

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China not main enemy: Ma
AFP
18 August 2009
Source - Straits Times

TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S President Ma Ying-jeou said on Tuesday that forces of nature rather than China might be the island's main enemy in the future after Typhoon Morakot killed more than 120 people.

'In the future, the armed forces of this country will have disaster prevention and rescue as their main job,' he told reporters.

'From now on, disaster prevention and rescue will be taken into consideration when the military drafts its military strategy, manpower structure, budget, and equipment.'

'Now our enemy is not necessarily people across the Taiwan Strait but nature,' Mr Ma said.

Mr Ma made the remarks amid public anger over the government's slow response to the devastation caused by Typhoon Morakot after it struck on August 8.

Taiwan and China are still technically at war despite a dramatic improvement in cross-strait ties after Mr Ma came to power last year.

Mr Ma announced that his government would purchase 15 rescue helicopters at a cost of US$300 million (S$435 million) to boost the rescue capabilities of Taiwan's airborne police unit.

He said the money would come from the budget originally set aside for the army, which calls for buying 60 UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters to replace its aging UH-1H fleet.

The president said he had decided to create a national disaster prevention agency to take over crisis management, replacing the National Fire Agency.

He also said the military would undertake intensive disaster response training. -- AFP

Money talks in China deal

2009-08-19T00:49:00.003+10:00

Another reason why as long as China grows, Australia grows, and how it may not even be much of a help though they've got a Prime Minister who speaks and understands the Chinese; well. these economics of international relations... economically synergistic but with madly plastic faces blinded by the dollar bills, and bragging rights.

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Money talks in China deal
Mathew Murphy and Michelle Grattan
August 19, 2009
Source - The Age

AUSTRALIA will supply $50 billion worth of liquefied natural gas to China over the next 20 years in the nation's biggest ever trade deal.

In a clear sign that diplomatic tensions have not undermined economic dealings between the nations, state-owned PetroChina has agreed to buy 2.25 million tonnes of LNG a year from the huge Gorgon project off the West Australian coast.

The deal came as Foreign Minister Stephen Smith yesterday confirmed that China had cancelled a vist from a senior official in retaliation for Australia granting a visa to exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.

The two countries have also been in dispute over iron ore prices and the detention of Australian Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu over bribery allegations.

But Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, who attended the signing of the LNG deal in Beijing, spoke glowingly of the bilateral economic relationship.

''This agreement is testimony to the strength of Australia's continuing trade and investment relationship with China,'' he said. ''As China continues to develop as a modern global industrial and commercial powerhouse, Australia is committed to walking with it on its remarkable journey.''

He said the deal would provide a significant boost to Australia's gross domestic product.

Under the deal, ExxonMobil will supply China with 2.25 million tonnes of LNG a year from Gorgon, Australia's biggest natural resources venture.

It comes on top of a deal struck by Shell - a partner in the Gorgon joint venture, along with Chevron - to sell 2 million tonnes of LNG a year to China.

And in a sign of China's insatiable demand for LNG, PetroChina is in talks with Woodside to receive up to 3 million tonnes a year over 20 years from its proposed project in the Browse Basin off the north-west coast of Australia.

Mr Ferguson's presence at the signing gives the clearest indication yet that the Federal Government will give final environmental approval for the project. Environment Minister Peter Garrett is expected to sign off on it next month.

In Parliament, Mr Smith acknowledged that his decision to grant Rebiya Kadeer a visa led to China cancelling a visit to the Pacific Islands Forum by Vice-President for Foreign Affairs, He Yafei. He was replaced by a lesser official.

Chinese authorities had made it ''very clear to Australian officials that they were most unhappy with her visit,'' he said.

The Chinese describe Ms Kadeer as a terrorist, but Mr Smith said he had concluded there was no basis for denying her entry and that she had visited in a private capacity.

China was furious that a film about Ms Kadeer was screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival, despite its intense lobbying to have it pulled and the festival boycotted by other Chinese films.

Mr Smith said Australia regretted China's response but could not rule out further action.

''These difficulties need to be managed carefully,'' he said, referring to the cases of Ms Kadeer and the detained Mr Hu. ''If, of course, China takes any further action in response to our decision, that will be for us a matter of regret but we will deal with that sensibly.'' Recalling that Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull had said previously that the Government should stand up to China, Mr Smith said: ''We did on the Rebiya Kadeer issue.''

Shadow foreign minister Julie Bishop said it was ''abundantly clear the Government has hopelessly mismanaged the relationship with China''.

Defence analyst Hugh White said: ''Clearly the Chinese are disappointed in Kevin Rudd and irritated over the Government's handling of a range of issues. But this doesn't threaten the fundamental dynamics of the relationship. There is too much at stake for both sides.''

Death sentence upheld for China fraudster: state media

2009-08-18T10:21:00.003+10:00

Never thought of the figures when it comes to China's iron fist when it comes to the death penalty, and here's one source. "China executes more people than the rest of the world combined, with the nation last year putting to death more than 1,700 people out of a global total of almost 2,400, according to Amnesty International." That's rather staggering - that's 71% of the world total. But man, what a scam. Read on.

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Death sentence upheld for China fraudster: state media
Mon, Aug 17, 2009
AFP
Source - AsiaOne

BEIJING - A court in eastern China has upheld the death sentence handed to an entrepreneur convicted of embezzling 970 million yuan (S$205 million) in a deer-breeding scam, state media said Monday.

The high court in Anhui province upheld the punishment for Tang Yanan, who convinced tens of thousands of people to send him money for a breeding centre for deer, which are prized in China for their horns, the Beijing News said.

Tang was first convicted by a local court in December 2008 of fraud and falsifying documents when he bilked up to 49,000 investors in seven Chinese provinces and regions, the report said.

Investigators have been unable to recover over 300 million yuan of the funds, leading at least one investor to commit suicide and prompting widespread calls for an investigation.

Deer horns are ground into powder and used in a variety of Chinese herbal medicines, including aphrodisiacs.

According to earlier press reports, Tang's company, the Wanwuchun Rural Technology Company, promised people high returns on their investment. A breeding centre was set up, but many investors never got their money back.

Twenty other people were convicted for their involvement in the scam.

China executes more people than the rest of the world combined, with the nation last year putting to death more than 1,700 people out of a global total of almost 2,400, according to Amnesty International.

As China does not publish full data on the death penalty, rights groups say the number of people executed could be far higher.

English still 1st language in Singapore.

2009-08-17T23:01:00.005+10:00

With Singapore's push to massively populate strategically for the future, more and more friends from the mainland have arrived on the sunny island set in the sea. With China's growing biceps of cultural and ecomonic capital, Singapore's had to adapt and align a future shone by the Chinese sun. So, all things Chinese have become rather important in the island state.

But. Here's a timely reminder by Singapore's founding father that new residents ought to learn English. It's quite far from the truth on the ground though. Spent a few weeks home in Singapore and witnessed for myself what was previously hearsay and anecdote - Chinese shop assistants insisting on talking to my Malay and Indian friends in Mandarin. Despite my friends repeatedly speaking in English.

I've had a personal experience ordering ice cream at Swensons, and the server from the mainland had no idea what the words 'ice cream' meant. It'll take some time, but I do reckon Singapore's social harmony could do a boost with foreign talent/workers who make the effort to harmonize and integrate, and speak the common tongue of the peoples of Singapore. Harmony is the key, not imposition.

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English still 1st language
It will be decisive for career advancement for all, says MM Lee
By Clarissa Oon & Goh Chin Lian
Source - Straits Times Online 17 August 2009

ENGLISH will remain Singapore's master language even as the country nurtures more bilingual talents who can do business with China, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said on Thursday. 'The command of English is a decisive factor for the career path and promotion prospects of all Singaporeans.

'For Chinese Singaporeans and those who want to study Chinese, Mandarin will be an added economic advantage with a thriving economy in China for many years to come,' he said.

Even new residents from China know they will not go far without an adequate grasp of English, he added. 'And they are pushing their children to master English, otherwise they will be disadvantaged in getting places in our good schools and universities, and in getting scholarships and eventually jobs.'

However, he drew the line at making it a requirement for permanent residents and new citizens to be fluent in English. 'We cannot make (the requirements for residency) so onerous that they will not come, for example, by requiring permanent residents or new citizens to be fluent in English, which even some existing citizens are not.'

His remarks at a constituency dinner follow a recent debate in The Straits Times Forum pages on whether Mandarin is slowly replacing English as the language on the streets, and its consequences for Singapore's multiracial society.

One ST reader, Ms Amy Loh, wrote how Geylang has evolved from a racially mixed, multilingual area into an enclave for new residents from China, with a growing prevalence of Chinese-only shop signs.

Another letter writer, Mr Samuel Owen, said it is becoming increasingly difficult to order in English in some Chinese restaurants and shops because many workers from China cannot speak English. While agreeing that Mandarin proficiency was important to Singapore society, Mr Owen urged the Government to strike a balance between that and English as a lingua franca.

MM Lee called on Singaporeans to give the new arrivals from China some time to adapt to life here. 'It is not easy to adjust to a different society, multiracial, multilingual, multi-religious, with different customs and ways of life,' he said.

People also need to be circumspect about the Government encouraging Singaporeans to speak more Mandarin and take scholarships to study in China's top universities

Said MM Lee: 'Do not be misled by the emphasis on Chinese language and culture... It does not mean we are displacing English as our working and common language, our first language.'

Obama takes guessing out of US-China ties

2009-08-13T02:15:00.002+10:00

Here's a powerful analysis by the Straits Times US bureau chief Chua Chin Hon. It comes a bit late as it took a while to retrieve this article, and is related to the US-China talks that happened last month. Not too long ago I talked about how China was always the whipping boy in the global context. Today it's proving time and time again that few dare to overtly agree to disagree, when it comes to China. Even the big guns of the US have to plan what they say carefully to the Chinese.

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Obama takes guessing out of US-China ties
Stress on cooperation, solidarity and mutual respect good for stability
By Chua Chin Hon, US Bureau Chief
Source - Straits Times July 29 2009

A UNITED States president's transition from candidate to commander-in-chief can be an unpredictable process. But one consistent trend in the post-Cold War era is the way they all 'mellow' on their China policy, ditching their fiery campaign rhetoric in favour of pragmatic policies.

Candidate George W. Bush, for instance, called China a 'strategic competitor' in 2000. President George W. Bush sang a different tune, especially in the aftermath of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

Mr Bush's predecessor Bill Clinton famously criticised George H.W. Bush for 'coddling' dictators from Baghdad to Beijing during the 1992 presidential campaign, only to become in later years a vocal advocate of engaging China via trade. Mr Clinton was instrumental in helping the mainland gain admission to the World Trade Organisation.

President Barack Obama is not only following in his predecessors' footsteps, but seems to be making the transition from candidate to chief diplomat faster, and with minimal fuss.

In his first major speech on China on Monday, the presidential candidate who had once castigated the Bush administration for not being tougher on Beijing's trade and currency policies was nowhere to be seen. In his place was a pragmatist statesman who stressed cooperation, solidarity and mutual respect. What this speedier transition means, observers said, is that both governments can spend less time second-guessing each other, a development that will hopefully create a more stable relationship in the near future.

Mr Obama directly addressed a nagging question that must be on the mind of some Chinese leaders.

'Let us be honest: We know that some are wary of the future. Some in China think that America will try to contain China's ambitions; some in America think that there is something to fear in a rising China,' Mr Obama told a gathering of over 200 top officials at the opening session of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington this week.

'I take a different view. I believe in a future where China is a strong, prosperous and successful member of the community of nations; a future when our nations are partners out of necessity, but also out of opportunity.'

Mr Dennis Wilder, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, told The Straits Times that Mr Obama's speech would likely be well-received in Beijing.

'US presidents haven't always talked about a 'strong' China in the past,' said Mr Wilder, who served as senior director for East Asian affairs on the US National Security Council in the last three years of the Bush administration. '(Mr Obama) also makes a clear statement that he doesn't view China as something to fear. (Beijing) will concentrate on that particular part of the speech.'

In the US, experts say there is growing acceptance of the kind of pragmatic China policy as espoused by Mr Obama. But it remains to be seen if cooler heads will indeed prevail in a future spat with China, be it over a new food scare or trade issue.

Many will no doubt point to the weakened US economy and China's growing clout as the real reasons for Mr Obama's conciliatory remarks. After all, China already holds US$800 billion (S$1.15 trillion) worth of US treasury bills, and is expected to buy more as Washington issues more debt to finance its economic stimulus programme.

That may be so, but the tone of Mr Obama's speech also suggests a shift in the way Washington approaches its old divisions and quarrels with Beijing. Instead of complaining about the ballooning trade deficit and the value of the Chinese currency, for instance, Mr Obama encouraged the Chinese to spend more and further open up its market to American goods.

Significantly, the US President also distinctly framed all the key issues on his agenda with China - economic development, climate change, clean energy, transnational threats - in terms of 'mutual interests' and 'global challenges', rather than mere American pre-occupations. This approach will clearly go down well with Beijing.

State councillor Dai Bingguo, the No. 2-ranking official in the visiting Chinese delegation, said the two countries are in 'the same big boat' despite the huge cultural and social differences that separate them.

But rhetoric will need to be matched with resolve. Chinese diplomats are fond of reminding journalists that one should pay as much attention to deeds as words. So Mr Obama's next move on China will be closely watched and measured against Monday's speech.

Almost as important as actions will be the sort of personal relationship Mr Obama strikes up - or does not - with Chinese leaders. Beijing will have no trouble understanding where Mr Obama is coming from on an intellectual basis, but the issue of 'personal trust' still matters to the Chinese leadership.

In that regard, former President Bush has set a high bar. His unwavering determination to attend the Beijing Olympics despite fierce criticisms from rights groups at home and abroad is well remembered in Beijing. A meeting between Mr Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao on the sidelines of April's G-20 Summit was described as 'business- like'.

Said Mr Wilder of Brookings: 'Every American president finds his own way in foreign policy. Mr Obama needs to get a certain level of comfort with China. That's certainly one of the challenges he faces.'

China opens up with new media strategy

2009-08-11T15:45:00.000+10:00

China's media is now powering up, in both size and dexterity. Along with its growing sensibility in international relation finesse, its handling of the media has developed too. What used to be a losing battle explaining itself to the sharpened, awfully one-sided analysis by foreign media is changing. China's media is increasingly becoming a nimble machine, a far cry from the deadset giant target it used to be. As powerful as the world's transnational media corporations are (mostly owned by the West), we must not forget 1 out of 4 people in the world are Chinese, and whose media do you think these Chinese will listen to, and be influenced by? Couple with this new strategem to intercept rogue thoughts about China, we are definitely on the brink, the cusp, of the brand new way China is seen.

related - read about China's 'media aircraft carrier here'. Also, check out an earlier story about China's growing open-ness when it dealt with the Xinjiang unrest here.

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China opens up with new media strategy
Used during major crises, system aims to get its side of the story out fast
By Grace Ng, China Correspondent
Source - The Straits Times, Tuesday 11 August 2009

BEIJING: Set up press centres. Check. Inundate journalists with information. Check. Monitor all news and Internet opinions. Check.

Faced with mounting media pressures to be more open, Beijing has instituted a six-step routine to get its side of the story out quickly and beat the rumour mill.

Dealing with a more inquiring home audience and a legion of foreign journalists asking tough questions, it has used this system to handle crises like the recent riots in the north-western province of Xinjiang, a media strategy adviser to the State Council, or China's Cabinet, said yesterday.

Dr Steven Dong Guanpeng said the government will set up press centres speedily, churn out enough press briefings to 'keep journalists busy with good information so that they would not get busy with rumours', and continually post news updates online, among other measures.

Other steps include registering journalists upon arrival, setting up a database with media contacts, and collating all news and Internet opinions on the event.

The director of Tsinghua University's Global Journalism Institute, who trains officials on media management, was explaining China's new media strategy to the Foreign Correspondents Club of China yesterday.

The country earned some praise for allowing foreign media unprecedented access to the city of Urumqi to cover the clashes between Han Chinese and the Uighur minority group last month - after Beijing was slammed by the international community for locking reporters out of Tibet after riots erupted there last year.

Seen by some as an apologist for Beijing, Dr Dong - a former CCTV presenter - commended Xinjiang officials for 'doing a good job' in engaging the media by holding 21 press conferences in a single week.

Beijing's ultimate aim by being more open at home and pushing its state media to set up branches overseas, say observers, is to steer the global news agenda to be more in its favour.

Dr Dong did not spell that out but hinted that foreign media reports on China were, to the Chinese, 'still not satisfactory'. He said: 'We know some negative coverage is natural...that's what we should work on.'

Beijing has used its new media-handling standard operating procedure during major events and crisis situations, such as last year's Beijing Olympics and the Sichuan earthquake.

The next time a crisis strikes, 'we will stick to the same way and do the same thing', Dr Dong predicted. He dated the roots of this new wave of openness to Beijing's botched handling of the Sars outbreak, which was a turning point.

Like other observers, he noted that while China had invited foreign journalists into Tibet 'only quite a while after the riots' last year, the media was allowed into Xinjiang on the same day.

That, he said, helped make international coverage of the Xinjiang riots much more objective compared to that on Tibet.

But he added - without going into detail - that 'lots of things remain terrible' and he was upset by some of the coverage.

He criticised the domestic press for being slower than the major foreign news groups in covering the Xinjiang story.

That handicapped China's effort to tell its own story to the international audience, he said. Beijing, he argued, needs to pump in far more resources to give Chinese state media a stronger voice worldwide.

Beijing has been discussing this move to have its state media 'go international' since 2001, said Dr Dong. Of late, it has reportedly put in some 45 billion yuan (S$9.5 billion) to relaunch China's four key official media arms. Dr Dong, who refused to confirm those reports, suggested that it was 'a media-created figure'.

But there is no doubt that Beijing is serious about boosting state media's global reach and credibility, especially as Chinese netizens are increasing acting as watchdogs on the official version of news stories.

Last year alone, 84 officials - or about one-third of those hunted down by China's army of netizens through 'human flesh search engines' - were sacked after their wrongdoings were exposed online.

All that means Beijing will have to become more nimble in its media management, said Dr Dong. But already, he claimed, the space for journalism in China now is bigger than at any point in China's history.

China's Strategic Intentions and Goals

2009-08-05T17:48:00.001+10:00

This is potentially very useful for my study as the Americans dissect and perceive the China threat. Discussed in a congress hearing in 2000 (yes it's from a while again, but pertinent, no less), the Americans have the benefit of Dr. Michael Pillsbury's wisdom in understanding two critical phrases in the Chinese political lexicon - 稻光养晦 (Tao Guang Yang Hui) which I have covered repeatedly in my rants, and (Bu Chu Tou), literally not sticking your head out. Have a read of this masterful art of discernment which I quite wholeheartedly agree with. Also, note the para in italics that basically sums it all up - stirring your enemy, in the face, is an extremely silly strategy that the Chinese are highly unlikely to pursue.

For further reading, also check out 'The Chinese Way' in the Indian Defence Review.

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CHINA'S STRATEGIC INTENTIONS AND GOALS
HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Source - http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/security/has173000.000/has173000_0.htm
Date of Access - 05 August 2009

ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS | SECOND SESSION

HEARING HELD
JUNE 21, 2000

STATEMENT OF DR. MICHAEL PILLSBURY, VISITING SENIOR FELLOW, INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL STRATEGIC STUDIES, NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITY

Dr. PILLSBURY. Thank you, Chairman Spence and members of the Committee, for this invitation to testify on the subject of China's strategic intentions and goals.

My testimony today is going to be drawn from these two long, thick, heavy books published by the National Defense University, which collects 600 quotations from more than 200 Chinese military authors. I am even going to try to teach you some Chinese expressions the Chinese government itself uses to address the topic of the hearing today: What China's Strategy and Intentions Are.

I think many of you have been to Beijing. You know that there are many toasts to friendship between the United States and China. They will talk about moving toward partnership. One of the Chinese expressions is just three words. It is worth learning sometime. You might want to say it. It is ''bu chu tou.'' It means ''don't stick your head up,'' and Deng Xiaoping said this after the Soviet Union collapsed and a lot of other Communist Chinese leaders said to him, we are now number one of the Communist parties in the world. We need to assume world leadership of the Communist movement now that the Soviets are collapsed and are gone. This is China's destiny. And he said, ''bu chu tou.'' the meaning is, let's not get out in front, let's not draw the attention of the chief hegemon of the world who brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union. That is, the United States.

A second expression that Deng Xiaoping drew from almost 3,000 years ago, ''tao guang yang hui.'' There is no way to translate it into English. It means to put your brightness in your quiver behind your back and then to nourish your capabilities secretly. The official Chinese translation is ''bide our time and build up our capabilities.''

Here, too, the notion is don't attract attention from the Americans.

A young Chinese scholar put this in a rather fascinating article a few years ago when he said about China's long-term strategic intentions, he said, our big dangerous period is not the present time. China will face its true dangerous decade from 2020 to 2030. I know Americans think next quarter, next year, what is going to happen; thinking ahead 20 years sounds pretty presumptious. The author said by 2020 the Americans are going to catch on with the idea that China is surpassing America's economy. We will be bigger than the Americans in our world economic power and other measures of power as well, but by then we here in China will not be ready yet for what the Americans will try to do to us. And what is that to do? To dismember China and break up China and try to contain China. It is an interesting concept. We need to keep the Americans, you might say, happy and not perceiving a challenge and especially not a threat from China.

If I had to nominate for you the most important priority that the Chinese have for their long-term strategic intentions, it is not to provoke a reaction to China's economic growth or the growth in Chinese power, and they have many ways of doing this. And actually it is in some ways a benign intention. We might say the same thing about ourselves.

龍的傳人 (Descendants of the Dragon)

2009-08-04T23:30:00.000+10:00

Dad had me take a good listen to this song. I had heard it casually before, and was well aware of its place in the Chinese imagination, but I had never taken time off to dissect its lyrics and meaning. Enjoy! Today many permutations of this song have found its way into pop culture, including Wang Lee Hom's 'overseas-Chinese' rap, which can be found here.

The Tao of Peace

2009-08-03T12:21:00.000+10:00

Came across a book titled 'The Tao of Peace' by Wang Chen that may lay some clues for the dissertation. I was born into a family with Taoist ancestry (not of the teachings, but of religion), and have now found much joy in the study of Zen, and Tao, the way it was supposed to be, just sharing of teachings and not organised, popular, religion. Combining these two ancient Chinese philosophies have been most helpful in my personal development as a budding academic, and the middle path is what I have come to strive for, though I have most definitely, not arrived. Not that the final destination matters of course, but I digress.

The middle path and its virtues/teachings (highly evident in high Chinese culture, at least it was a desirable dream for most) have thus shaped my 'early' belief that the true China 'threat' may be unsubstantiated, or will arrive in a form most unexpected by antiquated expectations that China's rise would be one through muscle, bullying or direct imposition. Of course, time for such 'lofty' aspirations would only come after the dust settles from the initial rumblings of China's rise, but I believe if the seeds are planted early enough, then all good things will come. Yes, I have come to realise the official mandate from the powers that be speak of a harmonious and peaceful rise. At the same time, I suspect that the highly evolved Chinese administration may be deft enough to manipulate these facets of their cultural background to conceal their true nature, that these philosophies are one, supplicant, and two, enablers to justify means to 'expand'.

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"Those who excel
as warriors are not martial.

Those who excel
in combat do not get angry.

Those who excel
in conquering the enemy
do not do battle.

Those who excel
in employing men act
deferentially to them.

This is what is termed
the Virtue of nonconflict.

This is what is termed
employing the strength of men.

This is what is termed
matching Heaven,

The pinnacle of antiquity.

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Here's the blurp about the book - have to line it up for the next acquisition! It is available thru Amazon here.
Wang Chen, a ninth-century military commander, was sickened by the carnage that had plagued the glorious Tang dynasty for decades. "All within the seas were poisoned," he wrote, "and pain and disaster was rife throughout the land." He wondered: How are we humans ever to rectify our self-destructive tendencies? How can we find a true pacifism, one that will end conflicts before they begin? For the answer he turned to a remarkable source: not to the prevailing theories of human nature and governance of Confucianism, but to the classic text known as the Tao Te Ching.

The Tao Te Ching has been a philosophical linchpin of Taoism for more than a thousand years. Though it is often viewed as having a mystical, quietist, even nihilist dimension, Wang Chen found in the Tao Te Ching quite a different aspect: one that offered a cosmological anchor for the patterns of human society and an explanation for the dynamics of conflict. Penetrating the Tao and embracing its patterns, he believed, would lead to true empowerment in the everyday world of political realities – not in some transcendent, ethereal realm. Here is his own rendering of and commentary on the ancient text, elucidating the ancient classic's "Tao of peace." Wang Chen's commentary is amplified and expanded by translator Ralph Sawyer, a leading scholar of Chinese military history.

U.S.-China talks won't accomplish much

2009-08-01T11:11:00.000+10:00

It's all lip-service, those U.S.-China talks, and in his words, a forum that made the U.S. supplicant to the Chinese, well, at least according to this one economist. He has good points, which reminds me of the fundamental tenent of Chinese strategy - Tao Guang Yang Hui (韬光养晦), literally translated as "Hide brightness, nourish obscurity" or in simpler terms, 'Conceal your strengths and reveal your 'weaknesses'. Am not sure how much longer they can persist with a strategem first devised by Deng Xiaoping as China is no longer quite just the rising power. They are clearly outsmarting a lot of the rest of the world, and people are taking notice they no longer have any semblance of 20th century pop culture's country bumpkins.

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U.S.-China talks won't accomplish much
By Peter Morici
Published 28 July 2009
Source - UPI Asia

Washington, DC, United States, —
U.S. leaders are sitting down to another round of talks with China on security, the economy and the environment. With banks stabilized, nothing is more important to accomplishing a sustainable U.S. economic recovery than recalibrating trade with China.

The idea behind admitting China into the World Trade Organization was that it would expand trade based on comparative advantage – both China and the United States would grow exports of what they do most efficiently. That simply has not happened.

China systematically undervalues its currency to boost exports of low-wage products and products it should be importing. Hence, its exports exceed imports with the United States more than four to one, and it enjoys a US$268 billion annual trade surplus with the United States.

The huge trade deficit with China pulls down demand for U.S. goods and services – in particular manufactured products – much more than the lift provided by the stimulus package, because it is permanent and encourages U.S. manufacturers to relocate to China or shut down completely. Yet U.S. President Barack Obama has boxed in U.S. negotiators with idealistic and ideological stances on trade and the environment.

China maintains its huge currency advantage by systematically buying dollars with yuan – increasing its hoard of U.S. Treasuries in the process – instead of letting market forces determine its value, which would be much higher than its current pegged rate.

The United States could offset these purchases by taxing dollar-yuan conversions, but has failed to act. Instead, like former U.S. President George W. Bush, Obama talks a good game and practices appeasement.

The president promises no protectionism to cure the recession, but his hands-off policy on currency is akin to unilateral disarmament. A tax on currency conversion would do no more than offset China’s currency subsidy.

The president promises no protectionism to cure the recession. But what are Western nations to do in the face of Chinese mercantilism if not take offsetting measures?

The president only pleads with China, making the United States a supplicant nation.

On cap and trade, limiting U.S. CO2 emissions would do little to solve the global warming problem if CO2 emittions are not similarly limited in China. Yet, China refuses to match the legislation Obama is pushing through Congress.

Cap and trade, should it pass the Senate, will finish the job China’s currency intervention began – decimating U.S. manufacturing and a good deal of the American middle class.

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(Peter Morici is a professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, and a former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission. ©Copyright Peter Morici.)

Why are the Chinese unhappy?

2009-07-30T15:04:00.000+10:00

I've had some time to ponder about this for a while before I came across the following article (thanks Michelle) on why the Chinese are unhappy.

Perhaps before we even decide for ourselves the state of how things are now, and can be, we should all take time off to be grateful for how we got here. We're all sums of parts of long lines of survivors who made it through all manner of adversity, and what more the Chinese who are alive and thriving today? We just have to ponder the few thousand years of top-down imperial rule with the figurehead of the son of heaven determining outcomes of so many lives, all the famines and floods, the cultural revolution, the civil war, the century of Western penetration, World War II, the list is quite intense. We made it this far, and have plenty to be grateful for, for we are new in the line of amazing survivors.

With that view of things, perhaps we will refind what we truly need to be happy. Courage, and strength. Like our ancestors did.

"If I don't see that I am strong, then I won't be." is an inspired line from One Giant Leap. I think if we are all brave and very courageous, we'll spend less time being unhappy, and more time doing, and thus, be happy. I may be broadly myopic and dismissive of all the pragmatic details, but again, allow me a disclaimer that this is not a critique, it's a suggestion.

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Why are the Chinese unhappy?
By Wang Shichuan
Published: July 27, 2009
Source - UPI Asia

Beijing, China — Beijing has come out on top among Chinese cities in a national poll measuring the “happiness index” of their residents. With 56 percent of its residents saying they are happy, the capital city beat runner-up Shanghai by 0.5 percent, according to Chinese media.

One may ask, what was the purpose of such a time- and energy-consuming survey aimed at measuring people’s happiness? Was it to provide policymakers with supporting data to laud their vanity projects, or just another boring game of producing figures? It’s puzzling.

Personally, the results of this investigation made me feel more worried than happy, as it exposed the numbers of people who are unhappy. Even in the country’s “happiest” city, Beijing, the survey shows that nearly half of the citizens describe themselves as not happy. Those who are happy only slightly exceed those who are unhappy; this is nothing to be thrilled about.

Actually, rather than focusing on those who feel happy, it would be better to research what makes people unhappy. If Beijing is the happiest city in China, then which city is the unhappiest? And why do the people living in the unhappy cities feel that way? All of this requires further examination.

Not long ago a Chinese book came out with the title, “China is unhappy.” It drew a lot of attention. Some claimed that in truth it was not China, but the Chinese people who are unhappy, which I consider correct.

I have read that among Chinese who travel abroad, the smiles and relaxed attitude of people in other countries often make the biggest impression on them. Chinese who travel often find that various people with different skin colors, languages and occupations have one thing in common – they smile and appear relaxed. Especially when making eye contact with foreigners, they tend to smile as a form of politeness and to show their sincerity, one article said.

In China, however, people rarely smile. When we walk on the street we tend to encounter gloomy, listless and apathetic faces. Also, in an international study of 20,000 people from 22 countries, only 9 percent of the Chinese surveyed said they were happy. The figure was 36 percent for the British, 37 percent for Indians and 46 percent for Americans.

Why aren’t Chinese people happy? This is surely a big issue that cannot be explained in a few words. It varies with each individual, also.

Roughly speaking, the main points are the high pressure of daily life; the huge gap between rich and poor; inadequate social security; difficulties in obtaining education, housing and medical care; poor quality food and environment; lack of respect for civil rights; serious corruption; and no outlet for injustice and resentment. These are the reality for most of the population. Facing these problems, it’s not easy for Chinese people to be happy.

Although China’s economy is booming in recent years and material life is improving, the people’s happiness is not guaranteed. Is this because of their insatiable desires, or because of their growing awareness of their rights?

In fact, if economic development cannot bring about social security, and if the problems of corruption and the gap between rich and poor cannot be solved, then becoming happy will remain only a wild wish.

Those people who do feel happy under such circumstances will be only the few who have vested interests in the state’s reforms. For example, the public servants who enjoy abundant social security and the senior executives who receive yearly salaries of several million yuan from the state’s monopoly enterprises – they are certainly happy.

One study has shown that among all professions in China, those who work for the government and state-owned enterprises as well as the leading cadres of the state monopolies have the highest happiness rating, at 66 percent.

If there are many external factors that contribute to the people’s feelings of unhappiness, this is abnormal and should be pondered. Perhaps now making efforts to let the Chinese people afford a comfortable life is the most fundamental condition to enhance the happiness index.
--
(Wang Shichuan is a media critic based in Beijing. This article is translated and edited from the Chinese by UPI Asia.com; the original can be found at http://blog.qq.com/qzone/181517306/1248140633.htm ©Copyright Wang Shichuan.)

Ties to shape 21st century

2009-07-28T12:00:00.000+10:00

Seeking a middle path is crucial for the world's future. It is timely and heartening that the shakened status quo (the US) and the rising (arisen, some would aruge, save for its growing domestic issues) power have come to this realisation, thought one may argue it's all just political rhetoric. They meet July 27th and 28th for the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) - a result of an agreement reached between the United States and China by President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao. Of course, it's always easy to focus on the major powers and forget the other elements that make up the rest of the differences on our planet. We're all on the same boat, really. The more we rock it, the more we're going to end up sinking. What we really need is to, if I may be allowed a simple analogy, build a great dragon boat team to steer us away from this spate of problems. Two sides to the boat, but all heading in the same way with the same heart.

The U.S. were quick to pick up on this famous Chinese analogy. I found this press release in the US Department of the Treasury website by Hillary Clinton and Timothy Geithner -

"...But having these strategic-level discussions with our Chinese counterparts will help build the trust and relationships to tackle the most vexing global challenges of today-and of the coming generation. The Chinese have a wise aphorism: "When you are in a common boat, you need to cross the river peacefully together." Today, we will join our Chinese counterparts in grabbing an oar and starting to row."

So. Here's the headline story from today's Straits Times. There is also coverage from Yahoo here, that had this very apt para - "Obama said that bridging the divides between the two powers - the world's first and third-largest economies - was now often a 'prerequisite' for finding global agreements." I recall a quote I enjoyed much when I was little. When given stones, build bridges, not walls. Well, there is some work to be done on China's end too, especially having emerged from millennia of wall-building (both physically and literally). We are, after all, the sum of all our parts.

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Ties to shape 21st century
July 27 2009
Source - the Straits Times

WASHINGTON - US PRESIDENT Barack Obama on Monday called for broad cooperation with China to set the course of the 21st century, saying the relationship between the Pacific powers was 'as important as any' in the world.

Kicking off two days of in-depth talks in Washington, Mr Obama appealed for cooperation on a broad range of issues from reviving the global economy to fighting climate change, while also nudging Beijing on human rights.

'The relationship between the United States and China will shape the 21st century, which makes it as important as any bilateral relationship in the world,' Mr Obama said.

'That reality must underpin our partnership. That is the responsibility we bear,' he said.

In what appeared to be a coordinated new slogan, both Mr Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao, who sent a message to the meeting, said they sought a 'positive, constructive, and comprehensive relationship'.

'Our two countries should endeavor to expand common ground, reduce differences, enhance mutual trust and strengthen cooperation,' Mr Hu said.

Mr Obama, who is expected to travel to China later this year, has sought to broaden the relationship with Beijing which is now the largest creditor to the heavily indebted United States.

The dialogue revamps an earlier set of talks launched under former US president George W. Bush in 2006 that focused solely on economic issues.

But China, whose delegation is led by State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Vice-Premier Wang Qishan, said it would press the United States on concerns including over the safety of its more than US$750 billion (S$1.08 trillion) invested in US Treasury bonds. -- AFP

also -

TREASURY Secretary Timothy Geithner and Mr Wang both spoke of hopeful signs that the global economy was beginning to emerge from its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Mr Geithner said that the so far successful efforts of the two economic superpowers to move quickly to deal with the downturns with massive stimulus programs marked a historic turning point in the relationship of the two nations.

Mr Wang said that 'at present the world economy is at a critical moment of moving out of crisis and toward recovery.' State Councilor Dai Bingguo said the countries cannot solve the world's problems alone.

'We are actually all in the same big boat that has been hit by fierce wind and huge waves,' he said of the global economic and other crises. China and the United States, he said, must 'try to cross the stormy water together as passengers of this boat.'

Mr Dai, speaking through an interpreter, noted that the countries are trying to build better relations despite their very different social systems, cultures and histories.

'Can we manage to do that? My answer is, we must work hard to make it happen, and, yes, we can - that is borrowed from President Obama.' He added in English: 'Yes, we can!' -- AP

9,000 officials guilty of graft

2009-07-17T14:25:00.000+10:00

Apologies for the delay in updates. Have been on a spurt of gallivanting around Australia's great wide open. In any case, here's an instance of China moving forward and removing the scars of some really bad habits. Corruption has been synonymous with the party for the longest time, let's see how this illuminates a clearer path towards good progress. Widening income gaps and corruption have been the seed for unrest for a while now as China rushes headlong into a stage of heightened competitiveness within its populace. Come on China, a great opportunity to set another good example beckons.

It is pertinent to note though, that "government rhetoric does not ease the antipathy." Great line from an AP article found off Yahoo news. Read about it here. Also, a short piece by the BBC on how a Chinese website set up so people can inform on corrupt officials crashed after it was inundated with too many visitors is worth a browse. Apparently it was developed to handle 'just' 1000 complaints at a time.

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9,000 officials guilty of graft: SPP
By Xie Chuanjiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-17 07:45
Source - China Daily

CHANGCHUN: The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) revealed yesterday that more than 9,000 officials were found guilty of corruption in the first six months of the year and said it had investigated 6,277 industrial bribery cases.

Qiu Xueqiang, SPP deputy procurator general, told a conference of procuratorate chiefs that the industrial bribery cases involved 6,842 people.

In the second half of the year, he said, prosecutors plan to crack down on commercial bribery, dereliction of duty in large, national and local investment projects, and target misconduct that damages energy resources and the environment.
Qiu said the 9,158 corrupt officials were found guilty of offences including embezzlement, bribery, dereliction of duty and rights violations in the first half of the year.

They were among more than 24,000 officials investigated by the SPP in connection with 20,000 cases.

Some 1,679 cases of dereliction of duty leading to harm to energy resources and the ecological environment were filed and investigated in the first half of the year. They involved 1,949 people.

In future, prosecutors also plan to target officials who bend the law for the benefit of relatives or friends and will attempt to uncover negligence, the abuse of judicial power and the shielding of mafia-like gangs, as well as the covering up of serious crimes and infringements upon human rights.
Overall, the quantity of job-related crimes fell by 14 percent in April, May and June compared to the same period last year. Qiu said that was due, in part, to the global financial crisis.

Cao Jianming, SPP procurator general, vowed that all prosecutors nationwide would receive training aimed at improving their political, professional and moral capacity.

"To intensify prosecution education and training is an urgent demand for comprehensively improving prosecutors' capacity," Cao told the conference.

All procuratorate chiefs at county- and district-level, as well as middle-level officials of higher-level procuratorates, will received at least 110 class-hours of training every year, Cao said. Other procuratorial staff will get at least 100 class-hours. The work conference on prosecution education and training yesterday also heard that procuratorates at the provincial level must ensure at least one-quarter of their staff receive training each year.

Because western Chinese provinces are short of prosecutorial professionals, SPP also plans to offer more training support to professionals in Tibet and Xinjiang, in part by fostering the development of bilingual Uygur-Chinese and Mongolian-Chinese procuratorial staff, said Cao.

He added that some prosecutors need to improve their knowledge of law enforcement, legal concepts, occupation morality and disciplinary style.

Awareness of law and policy among some staff members remains low, he said, and professional knowledge is at times outdated.

"Procuratoral staff are facing more risks of all kinds of temptation and erosion, and the public is also looking for higher standards of prosecutors' morality level," Cao added.

Mu Xincheng, deputy attorney general and secretary of the anti-corruption bureau of Fanzhi county, Shanxi Province, was detained in May for alleged financial impropriety, China Youth Daily reported last week.

His assets exceeded 100 million yuan ($14.6 million), the report said. Five of his cars were said to be worth 1 million yuan each. The case is still under investigation.

China's ethnic tinderbox

2009-07-10T15:53:00.000+10:00

As said before, one can say 1000 right things about China, and 1000 wrong things about China all at once. The Middle Kingdom (that's what China means in Chinese) really is a result of the confluence of many cultures, peoples, and beliefs systematically over almost 3 millennia brought together by the construct of the 'Son of Heaven', aka emperors who believe that by uniting the lands, peace will abound. Their measures of course, ranged from 'just wars' to downright conquest.

One particular ethnicity (the Hans, very broadly, assimilated its way to dominance, much like the Borg of Star Trek) found its way to the top, and this Middle Kingdom has for sure, lost its way from the middle path. I've highlighted this potential problem before, and it really looks like now it's coming to light with the masses, triggered by the recent unrest in Xinjiang.

Those of us fans of the Romance of Three Kingdoms - yup that's where it started, the Hans got their name from the Han dynasty, although studies claim the ancestors of the Han emerged earlier in 2698BC. Fast forward to when they officially became the Han about two hundred years BC - Two thousand odd years of resilience and evolution have made the Hans a tough breed. The Hans now make up 91% of China and 20% of the entire human race. Polarities have often questionable intentions, and dominance through polarity, worse. The result is this, though it could have been questionably made worse by the CCP in pushing the ethnicity to the forefront of its ideology. But politics and ideology aside, the Han people have to learn to live with the other 55 ethnicities, and them, with the Hans too. Even the Hans themselves (ourselves) have to learn and realise, most of us weren't even Han to begin with (at least for the sake of discourse. Culture really is in a constant state of flux, confluence and cross-pollination isn't it). I'm teochew and technically (at least linguistically and culturally), I belong to the people of the Tang (in reference to the Tang dynasty), not Han. I digress. Let's move away from 'us and them'. Let's hope things do not get worse.

Click here to read about how Chinese authorities has decided to ban Friday mosque prayers in the troubled region of Xinjiang. A tad hard-handed? Definitely, maybe. Handled with finesse this time? I'm not sure.
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China's ethnic tinderbox
Dru Gladney 9 July 2009
Source - the BBC News - Asia Pacific

The recent Urumqi and Lhasa riots have shattered the myth of a monolithic China, writes China and Uighur expert Professor Dru Gladney.

Foreigners and the Chinese themselves typically picture China's population as a vast homogeneous Han majority with a sprinkling of exotic minorities living along the country's borders.

This understates China's tremendous cultural, geographic, and linguistic diversity - in particular the important cultural differences within the Han population. More importantly, recent events suggest that China may well be increasingly insecure regarding not only these nationalities, but also its own national integration.

The unprecedented early departure of President Hu Jintao from the G8 meetings in Italy to attend to the ethnic problems in Xinjiang is an indication of the seriousness with which China regards this issue.

Across the country, China is seeing a resurgence of local ethnicity and culture, most notably among southerners such as the Cantonese and Hakka, who are now classified as Han.

For centuries, China has held together a vast multi-cultural and multi-ethnic nation despite alternating periods of political centralization and fragmentation. But cultural and linguistic cleavages could worsen in a China weakened by internal strife, an economic downturn, uneven growth, or a struggle over future political succession.

The initial brawl between workers in a Guangdong toy factory, that left at least two Uighur dead on 25 June, prompted the mass unrest in Xinjiang on 5 July, that ended with 156 dead, thousands injured, and 1500 arrested, with on-going violence spreading throughout the region.

The National Day celebrations scheduled for October 2009, seeks to highlight 60 years of the "harmonious" leadership of the Communist Party in China, and like the 2008 Olympics, its enormous success. The rioting threatens to de-rail these these celebrations.

Officially, China is made up of 56 nationalities: one majority nationality, the Han, and 55 minority groups. The 2000 census revealed a total official minority population of nearly 104m, or approximately 9% of the total population.

The peoples identified as Han comprise 91% of the population from Beijing in the north to Canton in the south, and include the Hakka, Fujianese, Cantonese, and other groups. These Han are thought to be united by a common history, culture, and written language; differences in language, dress, diet, and customs are regarded as minor and superficial. An active state-sponsored programme assists these official minority cultures and promotes their economic development (with mixed results).

The recognition of minorities, however, also helped the Communists' long-term goal of forging a united Chinese nation by solidifying the recognition of the Han as a unified "majority". Emphasizing the difference between Han and minorities helped to de-emphasize the differences within the Han community.

The Communists incorporated the idea of Han unity into a Marxist ideology of progress, with the Han in the forefront of development and civilization. The more "backward" or "primitive" the minorities were, the more "advanced" and "civilized" the so-called Han seemed, and the greater the need for a unified national identity.celebrations.

Minorities who do not support development policies are thought to be "backward" and anti-modern, holding themselves and the country back.

The supposedly homogenous Han speak eight mutually unintelligible languages. Even these sub-groups show marked linguistic and cultural diversity.

China's policy toward minorities involves official recognition, limited autonomy, and unofficial efforts at control. Although totalling only 9% of the population, they are concentrated in resource-rich areas spanning nearly 60% of the country's landmass and exceed 90% of the population in counties and villages along many border areas of Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Yunnan.

Xinjiang occupies one-sixth of China's landmass, with Tibet the second-largest province.

Indeed, one might even say it has become popular to be "ethnic" in today's China. Mongolian hot pot, Muslim noodle, and Korean barbecue restaurants proliferate in every city, while minority clothing, artistic motifs, and cultural styles adorn Chinese bodies and private homes.

This rise of "ethnic chic" is in dramatic contrast to the anti-ethnic homogenizing policies of the late 1950s anti-Rightist period, the Cultural Revolution, the late-1980s "spiritual pollution" campaigns, and now the ethnic riots in the west.
While ethnic separatism on its own will never be a serious threat to a strong China, a China weakened by internal strife, inflation, uneven economic growth, or the struggle for political succession could become further divided along cultural and linguistic lines.

China's separatists, such as they are, could never mount such a co-ordinated attack as was seen on 11 September, 2001 in the United States, and China's more closed society lacks the openness that has allowed terrorists to move so freely in the West.
China's threats will most likely come from civil unrest, and perhaps internal ethnic unrest from within the so-called Han majority. We should recall that it was a southerner, born and educated abroad, who led the revolution that ended China's last dynasty.

Moreover, the Taiping Rebellion that nearly brought down the Qing dynasty also had its origins in the southern border region of Guangxi among so-called marginal Yao and Hakka peoples.

These events are being remembered as the generally well-hidden and overlooked "Others" within Chinese society begin to reassert their own identities, in addition to the official nationalities.

Dru Gladney is a China expert and president of the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College in California.

China tries new openness

2009-07-09T20:38:00.000+10:00

Related story to an earlier post on the riots in Xinjiang. And...China learns fast. That's really the true 'threat' of rising China isn't it? Problem is many of us still hold an aged, if not 'medieval' impression that China's a lumbering authority. But that much is false. What we have is a very sophisticated, determined and perceptive leadership that maneuvers the countries in a fashion that few can predict.

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China tries new openness
The Straits Times July 9 2009
AP

BEIJING - WHEN riots broke out in the restive west this week, China took a different tack with foreign journalists: Instead of being barred, reporters were invited on an official tour of Xinjiang's capital.

The approach, a stark reversal from last year's handling of Tibetan unrest, suggests Chinese authorities have learned that providing access to information means they can get their own message out, experts said.

'They are getting more sophisticated in how they're handling foreign and domestic media coverage of a crisis. It used to be in a time of major crisis, you get a blackout... Now the approach is to get the government's viewpoint out there,' said Ms Rebecca MacKinnon, a journalism professor at the University of Hong Kong.

The State Council Information Office, the government's main public relations arm, extended their highly unusual invitation to the foreign media on Monday, just one day after the worst ethnic violence in decades left 156 dead and 1,100 injured in the regional capital of Urumqi.

Their goal? 'To help foreign media to do mor objective, fair and friendly reports,' the agency said in a statement.

Journalists from 60 different foreign media organisations travelled to Urumqi on Monday. They were taken to the largest hotel in town where the government had set up a media center. Special reporting passes were issued and press conferences were arranged.

The hotel was the only place in town where Internet service was not cut, which helped ensure that reporters stayed close.

Still, not everything stayed within the government's control. On Tuesday, as reporters were escorted around town to see the damage from Sunday's rioting, a group of some 200 Uighur women, wailing and shouting, appeared to protest the arrests of their husbands and sons in the ensuing crackdown.

For the government guides, who tried to herd reporters on buses as TV cameras rolled, it was a totally unscripted moment. -- AP

1st Chinese woman in space

2009-07-09T20:21:00.000+10:00

Amidst the madness in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, some good news. Public relations vehicle or not, surely, this can only be good for the human race as women and men continue to learn to seek that middle path with each other.

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1st Chinese woman in space
Source - The Straits Times 9 July 2009
AFP

BEIJING - CHINA could launch its first woman into space as early as 2012, state media reported on Thursday.
Yang Liwei, who in 2003 became China's first astronaut and is now in charge of new recruits for the space programme, said the search for the first woman in space was under way, the China Daily said.

'I believe Chinese women will soon be seen in space,' said Mr Yang during a webchat, the paper reported.

Sui Guosheng, an officer in charge of recruitment with the Chinese Air Force, said the female 'taikonaut,' China's word for astronauts, was expected to blast off in 2012.

The potential female astronauts would be recruited from among 16 female fighter pilots who graduated in April, Sui told the Nanfang Weekly, according to the China Daily report.

The pilots, who were chosen from 150,000 high school graduates, were the first batch of Chinese women qualified to fly fighter jets, the report said.

China became the third nation to put a man in space when Mr Yang piloted the one-man Shenzhou-5 space mission in 2003, part of the country's rising space ambitions.

The Chang'e-1 probe was launched in 2007 and is the first stage of China's lunar programme, which includes landing an unmanned rover on the surface by 2012 and a manned mission by around 2020.

The world's first female astronaut was the Soviet Union's Valentina Tereshkova, who stayed in space for three days in 1963. -- AFP

China riots: 156 dead in ethnic unrest

2009-07-07T14:20:00.000+10:00

It might be too simplistic to say that China (as a political body, and/or nation) is at fault for this. I've shared this before, and it probably holds water that the problem really lies in the overdominance of the Han majority that like a tidal river, consumes and assimilates all around it. In a time of global convergence (though how much of it is by choice?), cultures with strong identities grow stronger in an effort to resist losing their cultural 'center'. This I guess, is a time when someone basically said, ok hang on, this erosion of who we are has to stop. Now.

My condolences to all the lives so wastefully lost. Surely a middle path must be found.

This just in, sad news indeed if the Hans do decide to gang up against the minority.

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China riots: 156 dead in ethnic unrest
AFP 7 July 2009
Source - The Age

July 7, 2009 - 5:53AM
China said on Tuesday at least 156 people were killed when Muslim Uighurs rioted in the restive region of Xinjiang in some of the deadliest ethnic unrest to hit the country in decades.

The violence in the regional capital Urumqi on Sunday involved thousands of people and triggered an enormous security crackdown across Xinjiang, where Uighurs have long complained of repressive Chinese rule.

In a sign tensions were still running high, state media reported that police had dispersed more than 200 rioters on Monday evening as they gathered at the main mosque in Kashgar, a city in western Xinjiang on the ancient Silk Road.

Police believed people were "trying to organise more unrest" in other cities in the vast mountainous and desert region that borders Central Asia, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Xinhua said more than 700 people had been arrested for involvement in Sunday's riots, which authorities blamed on Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking people who have closer cultural links to regional neighbours than the Han Chinese.

Exiled Uighur groups accused Chinese security forces of over-reacting to peaceful protests and firing indiscriminately on crowds.

The deadly unrest drew attention around the world, with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon leading international calls for restraint, a sentiment echoed by Britain and the United States.

"We deeply regret the loss of life" in Urumqi, US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said. "We call on all sides for calm and restraint."

Citing police, Xinhua said early Tuesday the death toll had risen to 156, up from the previous figure of at least 140 dead and 828 injured.

"This seriously violent and criminal incident led to the injury and death to nearly 1,000 innocent people," China News Service quoted Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang region, as saying earlier.

The government and state-run media have not given a full breakdown of the dead and injured.

Dramatic footage broadcast of the unrest by the state-run CCTV network showed men turning over a police car and smashing its windows, a woman being kicked as she lay on the ground and buses and other vehicles aflame.

Han Chinese businesspeople told AFP there were around 3000 Uighur protesters, a figure repeated by exiled Uighur groups.

The Xinjiang regional government blamed Rebiya Kadeer, the Uighurs' leader living in exile in the United States, for orchestrating the unrest.

But Kadeer and other Uighur exiles blamed the Chinese authorities.

"They randomly fired on men and women," Asgar Can, vice-president of the World Uighur Congress - the main international organisation representing the minority -- told AFP in Berlin.

"In addition, the police pooled their vehicles together in certain parts of the city and then began to run demonstrators over," Can said.

China backs down from requirement for Web filter

2009-07-02T10:33:00.000+10:00

It looks like the people have won. About 3 weeks ago I highlighted the reality of China's Great Firewall coming into absolute effect. China has backed down from its stance of compulsory internet filters on all personal computers (for now?). The imagination of China certainly isn't easy to comprehend, I suppose even the greatest political systems can not withstand the might of 1.3 billion people in solidarity (well, not all of them of course, this is a far stretch, but written to stir imagination). But here's one for the Chinese people power (with a little help from supposed trade embargoes from the US) who show in some way, critical mass can be really really critical, even in an authoritarian body.

More significant than the internet filter itself, is the reflection of the growing presence of a new dynamic (and hence, a new collaborative culture) between the Chinese populace and their government. As much as the politicians and leaders have emerged from the shell of the Great Wall of China, so have its people. This new dynamism can only be good in the long run for civil society, but one might argue, would slow down China's progress (in economic and political terms) in the coming years.

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China backs down from requirement for Web filter
By JOE McDONALD
Source - Associated Press via Google
1 July 2009

BEIJING (AP) — In a rare reversal, China's government gave in to domestic and international pressure and backed down Tuesday from a rule that would have required personal computers sold in the country to have Internet-filtering software.

Just hours before the rule was to have taken effect, the government said it would postpone the requirement for the "Green Dam" software. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said it made the decision partly because some PC manufacturers were having difficulty meeting the deadline. It did not say whether the plan might be revived.

The change of course averted a possible scuffle with Washington. Top U.S. officials had protested the plan after it was imposed abruptly in May, calling it a barrier to trade. Angry Web users circulated online petitions protesting Green Dam, while industry groups warned the software might create computer security problems.

The controversy reflected the conflict between the communist government's desire to control information and China's high-tech ambitions. The country has an increasingly informed, vocal public and tighter links to companies that create urgently needed jobs and tax revenue.

The decision was a "victory for China's civil society," said Li Fangping, a Beijing lawyer who had demanded a public hearing on the plan.

"Many citizens worked together and voiced their opposition to the forced installation of this filtering software and forced the government to at least think more deeply about it," Li said. "We hope now that they will go ahead and completely drop this order."

News of the announcement spread in China quickly via Twitter and the Chinese mini-blogging site Fanfou. Some bloggers said they expect the government to look for a way to carry out Green Dam that attracts less attention.

"They are using the word `delay,' instead of saying they stopped the plan," said Wen Yunchao, a Chinese blogger who has been among the most vocal critics of Green Dam. "I think that it's possible that at some point in the future the government could still enforce their policy and install software on personal computers that filters the information people are able to look at. So, I am calling this an intermediary victory."

China's communist government encourages Internet use for education and business, and the country has the biggest population of Web users, with more than 298 million. But authorities try to block access to material deemed obscene or subversive, and Beijing operates the world's most sweeping system of Internet filtering. U.S. companies such as Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. have cooperated in way or another with government requests to tamp down criticism.

The Green Dam software would raise China's controls to a new level by putting a filter inside each PC. Chinese authorities said it would be needed to shield children from violent and obscene material online.

Analysts who have reviewed the program say it also contains code to filter material the government considers politically objectionable. Separately, a California company claimed Green Dam contained stolen programming code.

Chinese Web surfers ridiculed Green Dam by saying it would block access to photos of animals and other innocuous subjects. State media reported extensively on the complaints, a rare move. Chinese media usually uncritically support government policy.

Green Dam already is in use in Internet cafes in China and has been installed since the start of this year in PCs sold under a government program that subsidizes appliance sales in the countryside.

China accounted for 14 percent of the 63.5 million PCs shipped worldwide in the first quarter, according to the research group IDC. Beijing-based Lenovo makes the most computers for China, capturing nearly 27 percent of the market in the first three months of the year. It is followed by Hewlett-Packard Co., whose laptops and desktops make up about 14 percent of shipments.

Other large PC makers such as Toshiba Corp. and Taiwan's Acer Inc. said they were ready to provide Green Dam on disks beginning Wednesday. Worldwide industry leaders HP and Dell Inc. had declined to discuss their plans, possibly waiting for a diplomatic settlement.

Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn said the PC maker was happy with the Green Dam delay. He would not say what Dell had done to prepare for China's deadline.

"We respect the Chinese government's stated goal of protecting children by filtering access to pornography through the Internet," Blackburn said in a statement.

Representatives from U.S.-based technology groups, including the Information Technology Industry Council and the Software & Information Industry Association, were in Beijing trying to stop Green Dam.

"We welcome the delay in implementation of the Green Dam mandate, and we look forward to working closely with the U.S. government to find market-based solutions that enable consumer choice and protect children on the Internet," said John Neuffer, vice president for global policy at the Information Technology Industry Council, which represents companies including Dell, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Apple Inc.

The Green Dam initiative coincided with a tightening of government controls on Internet use. Last week, China's Health Ministry ordered health-related Web sites that carry research on sexually oriented topics to allow access only to medical professionals.

Also last week, the government issued new rules on "virtual currency" used by some game Web sites, saying it cannot be used to purchase real goods.

On Green Dam, the industry ministry sounded a conciliatory note. It promised to "solicit opinions from all parties" in an effort to improve its work.

"I think the cost of the move from trade friction and generally a public relations black eye was becoming pretty clear to the government," said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China Ltd., a Beijing research firm. Postponing the filtering rule "gets them out of the scrutiny of the international media and business."

Associated Press Writer Alexa Olesen and Associated Press researcher Bonnie Cao in Beijing and AP Technology Writer Jessica Mintz in Seattle contributed to this report.

China wields 'soft power' with English TV broadcasts in Europe

2009-07-01T00:57:00.000+10:00

The empire strikes back would be a suitable succinct way to describe this measure to tilt the balance of global favoritism determined by the flows and owners of global media (very broadly, all the transnational media corporations (like Time Warner, Viacom, Disney, et al. are all Western owned, who in turn run most of the world's media, save but one, i.e. Sony from Japan which one might figure, not desire to tilt in China's favour much), once a domain so well played out by the U.S. Like China's aspirations to build an aircraft carrier to find a stable middle path between east and west, China's quite had enough of one-sided press reports for some time now, and is more than eager to be heard by the English-speaking world. The global power shift has not just begun. We're right in the thick of it.

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China wields 'soft power' with English TV broadcasts in Europe
Source - the Straits Times 30 June 2009

BEIJING: China's official news agency will begin providing English-language television broadcasts on screens in European supermarkets this week, in Beijing's latest move to expose Western audiences to its view of world events.

The Xinhua news agency, in partnership with about a dozen European broadcast partners, will show 90 minutes of news daily on TV screens in supermarkets and outside Chinese embassies across Europe starting tomorrow, Mr Chen Yue, a spokesman for Xinhua's English news department, said yesterday.

'China has recognised the importance of soft power, and through the medium of television and the Internet, the Chinese government aims to strengthen its influence internationally,' he added.

He did not give details on which supermarkets would carry the broadcasts, or in which countries. The Financial Times cited an editorial staff member of Xinhua, however, as saying that the broadcasts would be aired in Brussels and other cities.

It is not known what benefit the stores would gain from showing broadcasts from an agency that is seen as the propaganda arm of the Chinese government.

The announcement comes after the ruling Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper, the People's Daily, announced plans to expand its coverage. It also comes after state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said it would revamp its news broadcasts for the first time in a decade to combat a sharp decline in viewership.

The People's Daily launched an English-language edition of its popular Global Times earlier this year.

The moves are believed to be part of a government plan to fund a major international expansion of CCTV, the People's Daily and Xinhua.

Academics with an advisory role in the plan have said the government would hand out 30 billion yuan to 45 billion yuan (S$6.4 billion to S$9.6 billion) to the media groups, the Financial Times said, though it added that the Chinese government has denied the numbers.

The Xinhua broadcasts in Europe will consist mostly of 10- to 15-minute news briefs plus a 30-minute feature and lifestyles segment, Mr Chen said. All shows are recorded in Xinhua's Beijing studio.

The Chinese media drive reflects steps already taken by Russia and Qatar to influence international news coverage through their state-funded Russia Today and Al-Jazeera channels. Those attempts to challenge the BBC and CNN have scored some success.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

'S'pore fever' rages on in China

2009-06-24T18:46:00.000+10:00

My dad's been keenly aware of this fact for a while, that Singapore has been an effective model for the Chinese to learn (some say, copy) from. This is on many fronts. One, despite our boasts of multiculturalism (and mighty successful at that), Singapore is really a society based on highly (politically-driven) Chinese ideals (Confucianism and Legalism, for example is embedded and translated as meritocracy, hierarchy, loosely presented as high morality ), and well, the one-party rule governing such a broad spectrum of ethnicities is a fine starting exemplar for dealing with China's 56 ethnic groups.

What's really pertinent in this article is the fact that now the Chinese are not just keen to learn from Singapore, but to surpass Singapore.

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'S'pore fever' rages on in China
By Peh Shing Huei, China Bureau Chief
Source - The Straits Times 24 June 2009

SHENZHEN: A fresh wave of books on Singapore is hitting China, as scholars here add to the growing Chinese literature on the experiences and stories of the island nation.

At least five titles will be published in the later half of this year, with most focused on learning from the experiences of Singapore's ruling People's Action Party (PAP).

Journal articles discussing the party's five decades in power are also lined up, timed to coincide with the PAP's 50th anniversary in governance this year.
The current interest, said analysts, is driven by Chinese officials who have been flocking to Singapore for training.

'There is an elite push behind this,' said Henan Normal University's Professor Sun Jingfeng, whose book studying the PAP's longevity in power is being printed now.

'More and more officials have been to Singapore for training. When they return to China, they want to share what they have learnt. That creates interest in books on Singapore among the party cadres,' he added.

Since 1996, Singapore has trained more than 16,000 Chinese officials, with the Nanyang Technological University's two Masters programmes - dubbed shi zhang ban, or 'mayors' programme' - among the most well-known and popular.

Besides Prof Sun's publication, other new books on Singapore include Sichuan province cadre Li Shaojian's Enhance International Cooperations With Singapore. Mr Li also wrote a book two years ago on Singapore's harmonious society.

Professor Li Luqu of Shanghai's East China University of Political Science and Law will publish a book on East Asian comparative politics, drawing heavily on Singapore's experiences in maintaining a stable and clean political system.

And Shenzhen University's Professor Lu Yuanli is planning a revised edition to his two-volume Why Can Singapore Do It?, which has sold nearly 30,000 copies.

The book, which was launched in mid-2007 and carries a foreword by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has gone through eight print runs.

It has also topped numerous best-selling lists in various Chinese cities, with the most recent being Guangdong province's Zhuhai two months back.

There is another unmistakable sign of the interest in the Singapore experience: piracy. Some titles have been scanned and uploaded online, Prof Lu told The Straits Times in an interview at Shenzhen University's Centre for Singapore Studies.

'The interest is largely driven by party cadres. They are more practical. They want to see what works. The Singapore experience speaks their language,' he said, adding that he was invited by the Chinese Communist Party's school in Pudong, Shanghai, to give a talk about Singapore in April.

This new level of interest can be seen as a continuation of the third stage of the 'Singapore fever' in China.

The first came after 1979, when the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping visited Singapore for the first time.

The second was after 1992, when Deng praised Singapore as an orderly and well-managed country during his famous Southern Tour of China's prosperous provinces, and said China must not only learn from Singapore but also surpass it.

The current wave is believed to have started in 2007 when southern leaders like Guangdong province party secretary Wang Yang and Kunming city chief Qiu He publicly pushed cadres to learn about and surpass Singapore.

'After reading my book, Qiu He told all the Kunming officials that they have to read it and he would test their understanding of it,' said Prof Lu.

'The Singapore model of development before democracy is something which suits China.'

China’s diplomacy in a multi-polar world

2009-06-21T13:35:00.000+10:00

Exerting influence through multi-lateral organizations. Something it seems the US pioneered but has forgotten how to execute with any finesse. That's the gist of my takeaway from this article that I found on my new favourite read, the Global Times. I like the term multi-polar too, certainly a very succinct descriptor of the current global situation; as opposed to the recent US habit of unilateral and unpopular enforcement/deployment of their own foreign policies (read: Bush, for example). Whilst the US is busy fighting in the middle east, China has been keenly lapping up the attention of the rest of the world (posited in the media to look like a focus on especially third-world countries with abundance of natural resources, for starters), extending olive branches in terms of financial stimulus and resources, and well, treating them like kings - another clear indication China's, well at least the CCP has grown in tact in public diplomacy. This article tells of how China has yet another chance to influence the world in a 'good way', but we shall see.

Would be interesting to know the ownership of the Global Times though - the quest begins now. Attempts to navigate to the About Us section failed. I will have to see if it's simple browser capability issues, or more than meets the eye!

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China’s diplomacy in a multi-polar world
Opinion - Editor's Choice
Source: Global Times 17 June 2009

In a briefing held a day before the BRIC summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, the Chinese delegation stated that cooperation among the four countries would be open and transparent, no third party would be targeted, and no confrontation would be sought.

It’s a necessary message to the skeptical West, which for the first time found itself left out of a major summit. It is also a pragmatic line that China has to walk in a multi-polar era taking shape faster than we had foreseen.

Scholars are divided in their views on the direction the world is heading as it becomes increasingly multi-polar. Niall Ferguson, a noted historian, predicts that the alternative to a single superpower is the anarchic nightmare of a new Dark Age. Some view the post- US dominated world in a more promising way. US scholar Richard Haass holds that the US can manage the transition and make the world a safer place in the age of non-polarity.

The multi-polar world in the last century was marred by two wars and numerous smaller conflicts, but as economic co-binding among countries has deepened, negotiation has replaced a military approach in many cases to solve conflicts. Ethics have also started to play a stronger role in shaping the world order.

In this context, its pragmatic, low profile diplomatic approach in the past decades has earned China a favorable position on the international stage, and it has accumulated significant political capital over time.

China should spend that political capital wisely, promoting the world’s shift from a single to a multi-polar structure in an orderly manner, maximizing its interest and coordinating with other players to solve regional hot-button issues.

But China has often found itself sandwiched between the powerful West and emerging countries. It is asked by both to play a role outweighing its real power, while in the meantime facing skepticism, distrust and even opposition from both.

Walking the fine line in between and winning acknowledgement from both sides requires a sophisticated diplomacy of balance and great political wisdom.

Given its current strength, exerting influence through multilateral organizations is the best option China has.

The Chinese people should support the government’s moves to exercise pragmatic, effective diplomacy; sometimes that means not pushing the government to be too aggressive in its foreign policy.

Hazy future for pollution tax

2009-06-20T14:20:00.000+10:00

Being the world's factory also means being a major major source of pollution. This I have been worried about since my trip to Shenzhen in 2002 where skyscrapers were being built to fill the entire horizon. If China were to poise itself to be a world leader, I reckon truly leading the way by keeping our skies clean and blue would win her more genuine supporters (albeit green ones, I'm sure that wouldn't hurt) - also see earlier post on how Beijing dealt with polluting cars, by scrapping about 350,000 of them in Beijing alone. Maybe it was just for the Olympics. Hmm.

No need for further public diplomacy or any charm offensive needed. Just show and pave the way for true nobility as of the great Chinese thinkers of old. The advantage China has is the ability to introduce sweeping reforms with little in the way, let's hope money-making doesn't cloud that ideal, as it already has in so many aspects.

Also, do note the last paragraph. the source asserts China's hit a low of 6.1% growth in the first quarter of 2009. Looks like the Chinese machine is still churning out the goods whilst the rest of the world backslides. The phoenix has indeed re-risen. Let's hope it learns to set a good example, a la Confucius!

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Cyclists passed through thick pollution from a factory in Yutian, 100 kilometers east of Beijing in North China’s Hebei Province. Photo: ImagineChina

Hazy future for pollution tax
By Sun Zhe
Source - the Global Times June 18 2009

A man was caught spitting on the sidewalk and fined 50 yuan ($14.64). The guy took a 100-yuan note out of his pocket, handed it to the cop and said, “Keep the change. I want to do it again.”

The joke mirrors the doubt that the environment taxation issue has triggered. Would it really ease pollution, or it is just a government money maker?

A two-year history

Vice Finance Minister Wang Jun said on June 11 that the Ministry of Finance was considering the environmental taxation issue.

In saying that Wang was echoing his counterpart in the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Zhang Lijun, who said on June 5 that eco-taxation has been put on the schedule of “significant issues,” and was being pondered by Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) and the MEP.

It’s not the first time that heads of the state environment bureau has brought up the issue.

It was noted in an emissions reduction schedule released as early as June 2007, when the National Development and Reform Commission stated that China was going to tax polluters. The MEP – then the State Environmental Protection Administration, which was upgraded to ministry level in March 2008 to highlight the government’s eco-consciousness – had declared at the time that an environment tax was being discussed.

However, in June Zhang and Wang, like their predecessors, did not give a timetable for any eco-tax.

Environment destruction has accompanied China’s GDP rush for years. Heavy air pollution chokes in one third of the country’s cities, more than one fourth of its rivers and lakes are contaminated by industrial waste, and 90 percent of its rivers crossing urban areas are heavily polluted, according to a February working session of the MEP in Shanghai.

“The government would always weigh whether the employment and the GDP that one industry created was really worth the harm, or pollution, it causes,” said Fan Yong, dean of the taxation department with the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, “That is one reason pollution tax is being brought forward now.”

But pollution has not been “free” for years since China adopted the pay-as-you-pollute policy in 1982 when the State Council approved the emission fee proposal.

“It is typical in China that before the government launches a new tax, it first makes it a fee,” Wang Surong, a taxation expert with Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times.

“It’s like a test run,” said Wang, “just to get people warmed up for the payment.”

It’s customary within China’s taxation system to transform fees into taxes, according to Fan.

“A tax is more transparent and compulsory than a fee,” said Fan, “because it has the taxation law to back it up.”

The government has adopted tax policies, such as subsidies or kickbacks on value-added taxes and income taxes, to award environmentally friendly manufacturers, said Fan.

Actually there is already an environment-related tax in China, only it’s called the natural resource tax, launched in 1993. According to the latest figure released by the SAT, the natural resource tax amounted to only 0.5 percent of the country’s annual taxation revenue of 4944.93 billion yuan ($723 billion), while the GDP of 2007 was 24952.99 billion yuan ($3,652 billion).

In 2006 and 2005, the natural resource tax revenue was respectively 0.45 percent and 0.55 percent of the country’s total annual tax revenue.

“It’s not likely that the new tax would be called an ‘environment tax,’” Fan said, “But more likely an emission tax. It’s a transformation of the emission fees (or pollution fees). It applies to solid, liquid and gas wastes like the emission fee does.”

And emissions are likely to be taxed according to their elements, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide, as is done in western European countries.

A higher production cost would be added to the product price and the consumers would pay for price hike, according to Wang.

The new tax would not be a silver bullet to slay pollution because those who can’t afford increased costs will likely turn to cheaper, higher polluting alternatives, while the affluent buyers probably won’t care too much about the price.

“It’s like when the golf tax came into effect,” said Wang, “Nobody chose to hang up their clubs, because golfers are rich enough not to worry too much about the price.”

However, Fan said that if consumers abandoned one product because of a costly pollution tax, it would spur the manufacturer to develop a cheaper, environmentally friendly substitute.

Difficulties ahead

Sun Gang, a researcher with the Research Institute for Fiscal Science under Ministry of Finance, told the Shanghai Securities Daily in January 2008 that departmental conflicts would make it difficult to apply the tax.

“It will involve cooperation between the taxation department and the environmental department of the government,” said Sun. “The interest of different departments would make the issue complicated.”

The environmental bureau has always collected the emission fees, and the same bureau would be responsible for compiling standards and measures for any emission tax, said Sun.

Other difficulties lie in the distribution of the tax revenue, said Fan.

“For example, when a factory pollutes a river running through several cities,” said Fan, “the city where the factory is would pocket the tax, but the other cities also suffer from the pollution, so there should be a way to distribute the tax income to all of them.”

The emission should be taxed according to the production output of the manufacturers’, as it is too hard to measure the emission amount through the outlet, which have made emission fee collection hard, suggested Wang.

Now not the time

The timing of the tax also remains a significant question. But all agree that rolling it out during the current financial crisis wouldn’t be wise.

“It would be good to launch the tax when the global financial downturn is over,” said Wang. “When the economy starts to recover, the consumers would not be as sensitive to price hikes as they would be now.”

China’s record-low quarterly growth of 6.1 percent during the first quarter of 2009 also made the birth of pollution tax extremely unlikely, because worry over any new tax could undermine the country’s stimulus recovery schedule.

NSW to buy Aussie-made products to save jobs

2009-06-16T21:43:00.000+10:00

I can see where the New South Wales government's coming from, and I eagerly anticipate Beijing's reaction on this one. It's not quite protectionism I reckon, but it's really in the eye of the beholder isn't it? It certainly will save jobs, but I also would hazard a guess that it's gonna blow their budget. Labour costs here are almost exorbitantly high, and factories and industrial capability to generate products would have waned as the world leaned towards China's world factory.

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NSW to buy Aussie-made products to save jobs
By Simon Benson
June 15, 2009 12:00am
Source - News.com.au

from the Daily Telegraph

ALMOST $4 billion worth of government goods and services will have to be sourced from Australian companies first in a ban on "made in China" products which is to be imposed in tomorrow's State Budget.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that all NSW Government departments and agencies will be forced to protect Australian jobs by giving preference to locally made products.

This would include stationery, uniforms, cars and even trains and building contracts. And to make local bids more competitive, a 20 per cent discount will be applied to Australian products when comparing the cost with overseas bidders.

The decision is bound to have international ramifications and put NSW Labor at odds with the Rudd Government, which has made no secret of its plan to strengthen ties with China.

With NSW now recording the highest unemployment rate in the country at 6.4 per cent, the protectionist measure will apply to all goods and services not included under existing Free Trade agreements and will be worth almost $4 billion in goods and services supplied to the NSW Government.

But in what may prove an even more controversial move, the Government will also lift the exemptions on goods bound by Free Trade Agreements, by extending current exemptions to companies with 200 or fewer employees to those with 500 employees.

Treasury analysis: Stimulus package is saving jobs

The policy will be the centrepiece of a jobs package being pinned on a $62 billion capital works program over four years which the Government claimed will support 160,000 jobs.

Following The Daily Telegraph's revelations this year that police and ambulance uniforms were being imported from or made in China, Treasurer Eric Roozendaal will announce a new Government purchasing policy which will give priority to more than 500,000 NSW small and medium-sized businesses.

It will also apply to all future tenders or purchases for Government contracts which will give preference to Australian companies.

"All NSW Government and state-owned corporations (SOCs) are to give preferential treatment to Australian-made goods under the new Local Jobs First plan," Mr Roozendaal said.

"The NSW Government is putting NSW jobs first. Every year, NSW Government agencies spend billions of dollars buying the things they need to deliver services to the people of NSW.

"This plan tips the balance in favour of local businesses, providing them with greater opportunities to expand and sell to government."

The Local Jobs First program has been endorsed by Unions NSW.

It will apply to all Government agencies and SOCs which will now be required to give preferential treatment to local manufacturers under a price preference mechanism.

The Local Jobs First plan will also require tenders of $4 million or more to include an industry participation plan for local jobs and training programs for apprentices. All department heads will have to comply with the policy in performance contracts.

As China Rises Will Her People Stay Crouching?

2009-06-14T14:27:00.000+10:00

It is too easy for an observer from overseas (perhaps much more pertinent to say, outside the great walls) to focus on the big picture and miss the forest for the trees. The article below (warning - it is rather long) is courtesy from my dad. Had always wondered - what cost is this, China's rise, surely it can't be a bed of roses, there are just too many people to take care of. So big question is - what cost, this updated capitalism model that China is using as a tool for progress? Equivalent exchange, something's gotta give. Rising income gaps are never quite a good thing, in my books (and CCP seems to be aware of this). We have one planet to share, and these gaps only make worse the us and them syndrome (in 2005 city dwellers made 3.2 times more than those in rural areas) , leading to notions of 'self' being the centre of the universe in many perverse ways. The rich look at the poor with disdain, the poor look at the rich with implosive envy, and vice versa, in multi-faceted ways; it can't be good. It will be of great interest to see how China remembers to maintain the socialist aspect of their political mantra.

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Photo from CommonWealth Magazine

As China Rises Will Her People Stay Crouching?
Challenge
Yi-Shan Chen and Benjamin Chiang
May 27, 2009
Source - CommonWealth Magazine

The existence of the state and the purpose of economic development are to safeguard the people"s welfare. The greatest challenge for China as it rises on the international stage is how to make its people feel contented. "Over the past several years executive power has continued to expand. China has stood up, but China"s people are still crouching," writes Chinese columnist Edmund Xu.

Among the 20 indices surveyed in the International Institute for Management Development"s 2008 World Competitiveness Yearbook, it is clear that the bipolar phenomena of "a rising economy but lagging happiness among the people" are extant in China. China"s economic indices are in the vanguard, but the country ranks 40th or lower in such areas as education, health and environment.

The Unhappy Chinese
Song Qiang, one of the authors of New Epoch, Grand Vision & Challenges for China, a book (ed.: the Chinese title is closer to China is Fed Up) that has sold nearly a million copies this year, says in addition to being unhappy with the rest of the world, Chinese people are also unhappy domestically when they look inside China and still see so many poor people.

Song, sporting a military-style buzz cut and appearing a bit bashful on meeting with female reporters, reminisces fondly on the Cultural Revolution, saying that although he was quite young he vividly remembers Deng Xiaoping"s announcement of reform and opening, because it meant to him that from then on he would have meat to eat.

Best of all were the improvements in everyday life and availability of opportunity. Although one had to be in the 99th percentile to gain admission through the university entrance examinations, at least the system was equitable, and this son of an unremarkable family rode on his wits into East China Normal University in Shanghai.

"That was Chinese society"s finest hour," Song says.

Now the wealth gap is growing and the opportunities are no longer there for everyone. The old institutions have collapsed, the medical, retirement and housing systems they supported falling apart with them. An unwillingness to spend resulting from uncertainty about the future poses the greatest challenge to the domestic consumer stimulus policies of PRC President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.

There is a common saying out in China"s countryside: "There are two doors you can"t get into in China, the hospital and the university."

The one-child policy instituted in the 1980s led to a surge in personal savings among city and town dwellers alike. With only one child to count on in their later years, people began to busy themselves preparing for a rainy day. Those wishing to attend university must be prepared to foot the bill, as the average tuition is NT$150,000 a year, higher than in Taiwan, despite a median annual income in China of less than NT$100,000.

China"s Ministry of State this year outlined a plan to spend RMB$850 billion to underwrite basic medical services for workers and residents in cities and towns, with the objective of raising the ratio of coverage to 90 percent.
"The government is now taking the correct path," opines Jeff Shen, executive director of the Fuping Development Institute, which offers small loans to countryside dwellers.

Building systems can be a slow, drawn-out process, and in the short term one of China"s deepest worries in facing the financial meltdown is excessive and potentially misdirected investment.

Better to Have Running Water than a Washing Machine
Take the Consumer Electronics Subsidy Program for Rural Areas, for example. Seeking to determine the penetration of home electronics into the countryside, we decided to take a trip out to the city of Ulan Qab in Inner Mongolia. We set out from Beijing"s boisterous Deshengmen and headed north on highway number 110. Less than five hours later we were cruising into Ulan Qab on a six-lane thoroughfare nearly devoid of automobile traffic, the bells of donkey carts commanding most of the pedestrian attention.

In Du Family Village on the city"s outskirts, more than 30 aging villagers are crammed into five dilapidated mud houses. They earn less than RMB$2,500 per year in income and their most valuable possession is a 14-inch black and white TV.
For more than 100 years, this village has not even had so much as running water. The entire village has a single ancient well from which it draws its water, after which the sediment must be allowed to settle for three days before it is potable.
When it aggressively began promoting sales of home electronics in the countryside as part of its domestic stimulus program, China"s government was hoping to harness to consumer power of its 800 million-strong rural population. But people in Du Family Village are still worrying about their next meal, potatoes being the only crop the parched soil here can sustain.

"Every day, three meals a day, always potatoes, potatoes, potatoes," our driver, Wang, gripes candidly.
"What is this home electronics program about? Instead of cheap washing machines, the government should give us rural folk running water," a toothless old gent puffing on a cigarette rejoined.

Entering Hohhot, the capital of China"s Mongol Autonomous Region, the gleaming, modern offices of the regional people"s government dominate the city center and seem out of place in a nation with a per capita GDP of less than RMB$20,000.
"Don"t be surprised. Thousands of municipal governments across China have built such splendid palaces," cracked one Taiwanese businessman who travels extensively in China.

Pushing the absurdity level, after sundown the Hohhot municipal government"s urban brightening project keeps the city lit up like daytime, with streetlamps along major avenues festooned with strings of hundreds of bulbs like so many glowing grape vines. Proper illumination is a fine thing; the only things missing are cars and pedestrians.

The unforeseen costs of China"s investments may prove to be irreparably harmful in the long-term.

Build an Olympic Park, Destroy a River
Panning back to Beijing, about a forty-minute drive along the road from central Beijing toward Shunyi District along the banks of the Chaobai River lies the Shunyi Olympic Canoeing-Rowing Park, constructed for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Chaobai River in fact once earned Shunyi the evocative title of "Beijing"s Venice."

With the conclusion of the Olympic Games, the Shunyi Olympic Canoeing-Rowing Park was closed down, leaving a strange sight in Henan Village adjacent to the park. The Chaobai River was drying up. It turns out that government engineers had rerouted the river through rubber culverts to feed the park its water supply, draining this entire stretch of the river and lowering the water level along its entire length.

"In China you don"t need to worry about getting things done, what you have to worry about is overdoing it, doing it without accounting for unforeseen consequences," a leading Taiwanese businessman reminds us.

Aside from the social and investment elements of China"s new economic development model, there are fears that perhaps the greatest challenge lies in the underlying philosophy behind China"s state-sponsored capitalism.

Aside from a disinclination among the people to spend, one economist said a key reason behind China"s underdeveloped domestic demand market is on the supply side – even if you have money, there are no proper services on which to spend it. In the health care field, for example, some time back the Formosa Plastics Group proposed building a hospital in Beijing"s Zhongguancun, but was met with a deafening silence. This can be attributed to government control over licenses for operating in the domestic market.

State Controls 84% of Listed Companies
In his most recent book The Writing on the Wall: China and the West in the 21stt Century, British writer and London School of Economics governor Will Hutton succinctly notes that the party-state apparatus remains at the center of the spider"s web of China"s industry, controlling everything.

The state directly controls entire economic sectors of high strategic significance such as telecommunications, energy, transport, steel, automobiles, financials and media. Those companies appearing to be privately operated entities on the surface actually turn out to be state controlled when the layers of share ownership are peeled away.

Hutton cites a 2001 World Bank report 1,105 listed Chinese companies. At first glance, the government appears to have relinquished control of 90 percent of listed companies, but in reality the state retains actual control of 84 percent of listed companies through an intricate web of holdings. That figure remained as high as 81 percent as of 2005.
With state enterprises the major players in China"s domestic market at this time, "we will definitely encounter some issues with the reform of state enterprises during the structural transition period," admits Zhou Qiren, dean of Peking University"s National School of Development.

From the perspective of job creation and economic transition, private enterprises must ultimately be permitted to participate in the domestic market.

"Development can be seen as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy," the Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen wrote in his self-evidently titled book Development as Freedom. According to Sen, the growth of GNP, the rise in personal incomes, and industrialization are all "narrower views of development" that ultimately serve the grand purpose of achieving human freedoms.

For a China now standing tall, the biggest challenge will be allowing her people to stand up, too.

Translated from the Chinese by Brian Kennedy

China internet filter challenged

2009-06-11T23:08:00.000+10:00

We read recently how the media output and input in China was rather strong-handedly approached by the blocking of youtube, myspace, twitter, amongst others. And this is an even more clear show of strength. And wow on two fronts - perhaps immortalizing the perennial Chinese habit of building walls, looks like the great Chinese firewall (officially known as the Golden Shield Project) is about to sink grindingly into history books as the 'fifth' major wall to be built in the last two thousand years. Second - wow that the Chinese people are speaking up and out. How far can they take this before the CCP uses an iron fist? Something worth monitoring.

Certainly an interesting contraction (but not unexpected) after many years of steady opening up. Would like to read what the West will (or rather not, and keep quiet due to the new status quo), or will not say this time.

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China internet filter challenged
The Straits Times
June 11 2009
Reuters

BEIJING - A CHINESE lawyer has demanded a public hearing to reconsider a government demand that all new personal computers carry Internet filtering software, adding to uproar over a plan critics say is ineffective and intrusive.

Li Fangping, a Beijing human rights advocate who often embraces controversial causes, has asked the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to allow hearings on the 'lawfulness and reasonableness' of the demand, which takes effect from July 1 and was publicised only this week.

'This administrative action lacks a legal basis,' Mr Li wrote in a submission to the ministry that was sent to reporters by email on Thursday. 'Designating that the same software must be installed in all computers affects citizens' rights to choose.'
Mr Li's demand, and denunciations of the plan from Chinese rights groups, have expanded a public battle over the 'Green Dam' filtering software, despite a state media effort to promote the software as a welcome way to prevent children being exposed to pornography.

Many citizens worry such software and other measures are being imposed to deter discussion of sensitive political topics, especially in this year of controversial anniversaries, Mr Li told Reuters.

'Above all, we're concerned about freedom of speech and the right to know,' he said. 'We know that citizens have been prosecuted because of their private emails, and we're worried about more such cases.'

Chinese human rights and gay advocacy groups have demanded the software plan be immediately quashed. A statement from five groups sent by email said the software threatened to cripple access to many of the gay community websites that have flourished in recent years.

The software works by judging whether website pages may show large amounts of exposed flesh.

Wan Yanhai, a leader of the Beijing-based Aizhixing organisation, which works on AIDS and gay rights, said he was preparing a mass petition to mobilise opposition to the software.

'We need to demand not just the lifting of this software decree, but also an end to restrictions on gay publications,' Mr Wan told Reuters. 'This is about opposing censorship.'

CHINA DEFENDS NET FILTERING SOFTWARE
BEIJING - CHINESE state media on Thursday issued an unprecedented defense of newly required Internet filtering software that must be packaged with every computer sold in China starting next month, after a public outcry at home and abroad.

Although the government says the software is aimed at blocking violence and pornography, users who have tried it say it prevents access to a wide range of topics, from discussions of homosexuality to images of comic book characters such as Garfield the cat.

-- REUTERS

Forget Tiananmen, thus spake Confucius

2009-06-08T09:17:00.000+10:00

Selected bits of Confucianism have been embedded in the Singapore educational system for a good part of three decades now, as part of Singapore's quest in its youth to nation build and define some manner of national identity and mantra. Yes my friends that's where filial piety and notions of meritocracy and hierarchy come from, at least in the Chinese context.

During this time, China has been having a love/hate affair of the system of thought that has shaped many facets of its identity and thought, much thanks to the cultural revolution where it was 'accused' of being feudal in nature and thus backward for the newly minted communist mode back in the mid 20th century. It looks like it's developing a fashionable comeback, and its been timed really nicely to fill the headspace of the people.

Much talk have surfaced since Tiananmen of how Western-styled democracy was the pipe dream, but ultimately not suitable for the Chinese. Why copy the West when all the Chinese need to do is revisit age-old philosophies that served them well for millennia? All it needed was a contemporary update. A 2.0 of sorts. And here's a great article from the Asia Times on the celebration of how China seems to have found its own culturally sensitive method to less seemingly hard-handed governance, and give people a purpose that was so Chinese, and so divine, like the old dynastic days.

Essentially, we are looking at an updated Communism that is less 'authoritarian' and more 'traditionally rooted', and hence 'easier to accept' by the masses. It's also interesting to note that Confucius Institutes have been 'seeded' around the world (there are 4 in Australia alone, and 328 in 82 countries as of April 2009) to promote understanding of Chinese culture, a move some see, as the Chinese government extending its influence via academia with the soft power imposition of cultural capital. Now, when the Institutes grow to the projected 1000 mark by 2020, that'll be a lot of cultural muscle to flex.

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Forget Tiananmen, thus spake Confucius
By Antoaneta Bezlova
3 June 2009
Source - Asia Times

BEIJING - Tiananmen Square is history. Or at least that is the belief shared by many on the campus of China's top university.

Students at the distinguished Beijing University, or Beida - once a hotbed of political activism and now at the forefront of China's attempts to project soft power around the world - no longer commemorate June 4, 1989, when the Communist Party ordered a military assault on thousands of unarmed students protesting for democracy at Tiananmen Square.

In the early 1990s, clandestine candlelight vigils were held on that date on the banks of Beida's No Name Lake. Small groups of students holding candles would form circles and talk about the Beijing Spring of 1989 and its quest for democracy. Hidden in the dark, these gatherings would last for an hour or so before they were dispersed by university security.

On summer nights in the lead-up to the anniversary, some students would play a dangerous game of hide-and-seek with the guards, throwing bottles out of their dormitory windows - a symbolic gesture of protest against the late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping's decision to call out tanks against unarmed civilians in Tiananmen Square. (Xiaoping is a homonym for "bottle" in Chinese.)

After all, Beida is where the trouble for the communist leadership started in 1989 - with a few political posters and student meetings swelling to protest marches to Tiananmen Square, continuing all through the spring with peaceful sit-ins in the square and hunger strikes to bolster demands for political reform.

On a recent day in late May, this writer - a student herself at Beijing University in those years - retraced the sites of stealthy student gatherings and audacious small acts of defiance, but found neither. Beida's youth still crowded the benches and grass around the serenely beautiful No Name Lake, but the conversations were not about commemorating what happened 20 years ago.

Buoyed by China's sustained economic boom, which offers opportunities unthinkable to their parents and grandparents, Beida's current students tend to believe that China is destined to blaze a path different than the one chartered by the 1989 student leaders.

"In 1989 they [students] all believed in Western democracy. That is why they even had the Statue of Liberty on Tiananmen Square," a philosophy student surnamed Zheng told Inter Press Service (IPS). "But I think China should follow its own path of development in politics as well as economy, and not be a copycat of the West. We have done that long enough."

Such confidence is partly fueled by the success of China's authoritarian government in delivering material goods to its people. But there are other layers too: disillusionment with the Western model of liberal capitalism during this time of global financial crisis, and newfound pride in the country's traditional culture that is feeding a revival of the Confucian political and moral ethos.

While few of the Beida students who talked to IPS openly vindicate the bloodshed that occurred in the early hours of June 4, 1989, nearly all of them said the crackdown was necessary to prevent China from veering dangerously off its chosen path.

"There would have been chaos, and our economic development would have suffered," said another student, Lan Pingli. "But we need many years of peace, stability and economic prosperity to be able to find our own Chinese way of political governance."

If Lan sounds uncannily like a communist propaganda apparatchik, it is because she and many others among her peers believe Beijing's form of authoritarian governance combined with a market economy is the right formula for the world's most populous country. They subscribe to the idea that political change will come to China not by following the Western model of parliamentarian democracy, but China's own practices.

The Communist Party, which has long regarded Confucius as a feudal thinker, has made a flip-flop, tacitly approving a state comeback for Confucianism, and even promoting it as a key aspect of an alternative political model for China.

"Confucianism has quietly come back," said Joseph Cheng, a political scientist at the City University of Hong Kong, "and the communist leadership has been exploiting it to help fill the ideological vacuum and improve morality. It is a low-key revival, but it suits their needs to find a new cohesive force at a time when Marxism is dead but democracy is absent."

China watchers say President Hu Jintao believes this country's rampant consumerism has left an ethical vacuum that could be filled with a return to the Confucian values of honor and decency. In a recent lecture titled "The Socialist Concept of Honor and Disgrace", he extolled Confucius's "eight virtues", such as plain living and public service, and warned of his "eight disgraces", like pursuit of profit.

Some experts say the revival of Confucianism has broadened China's political spectrum and could in the long-run serve as a basis for a new model of governance.

"What is interesting is that now there are more options on the table than compared with the 1980s, when political evolution was viewed only as a change from an authoritarian to a democratic form of government," said political theorist Daniel Bell, author of a book on China's new Confucianism. "In China at the moment, the spirit of experimentation is prevailing."

Yet many believe that China's political options have actually narrowed since the late 1980s, when the Communist Party crushed the pro-democracy protests.

"I don't see any serious initiative on the part of the communist leadership to change the current political model," said Cheng. "In fact, since the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, party leaders have shown less and less readiness to compromise on their monopoly on power."

Others say dressing its power in Confucian robes cannot help the Communist Party avoid accountability for the killings of untold numbers of unarmed civilians.

"Confucianism is against killing," said writer and social critic Yu Jie. "You cannot justify a crackdown like Tiananmen on the grounds that you were trying to keep the country on its own track."

The Communist Party has dismissed international condemnation of the violent crackdown and rebuffed all efforts to seek a re-examination of the events of June 1989. Beijing continues to defend the use of lethal force against its own citizens as a measure necessary for the stability and development of the country.

Estimates of the death toll still vary widely, from a few hundred to a few thousand.

(Inter Press Service)

Tiananmen aims lost in prosperity

2009-06-04T17:42:00.000+10:00

A very apt article that in my opinion, is a rather accurate portrayal of the Chinese youths I've come across, at least here in Melbourne. Have come to realise that in modern China, you can practically say and do whatever you want, bar one thing - talk about the powers that be, i.e. leave the Communist Party alone. In today's age of Communism 2.0, what some call Authoritarian Capitalism, this much is clear: there is equivalent exchange in all things we do. I suspect, equally so, in any democracy. Whilst democracies manufacture consent, perhaps at least Communism 2.0 is less sinister, at least its intentions and boundaries are clear. Perhaps.

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Tiananmen aims lost in prosperity
Source - The Age 04 June 2009
by Mary-Anne Toy

For most Chinese, affluence is more important than democratic freedoms, which is how the Government likes it.

DO CHINESE people yearn for democracy? Do they dream about being able to vote for a government or a leader? And do they approve of the job President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao are doing? After three years as China correspondent for this paper, I'd say the answers are probably No, No and Yes. But no one really knows because such questions remain off limits in China today. No public pollster would dare broach them.

On the 20th anniversary of the brutal crackdown on democracy demonstrations in Beijing, Westerners might also ask whether ordinary Chinese people care about what happened in Tiananmen Square 20 years ago.

But you cannot care about something you know little about.

On June 4, 1989, China's leaders ordered the People's Liberation Army to open fire on unarmed protesters to end months of demonstrations around the country calling for democratic reforms and an end to corruption. Party secretary Zhao Ziyang, a reformist who argued that political reforms were necessary for stability and economic growth, was purged for refusing to endorse the military crackdown ordered by Deng Xiaoping and premier Li Peng. Zhao had gone to the Square and tried to talk the students into leaving because he feared a bloodbath. As a result, he spent 16 years under house arrest until he died, unrepentant, in 2005.

Most Chinese under the age of 30 - including millions of schoolchildren - are ignorant about this part of their country's history. The 1989 massacre and Zhao Ziyang have been airbrushed from schoolbooks and censored in the media and, when possible, on the internet.

The June 4 "incident", as is it is referred to on the rare occasions it is acknowledged officially, temporarily made China an international pariah, but it did force change - although not necessarily the kind the student protesters hoped for. Two decades of economic growth and increasing engagement with the rest of the world have made the Chinese people more affluent than at any time in the past 5000 years of Chinese civilisation.

Millions own their own home, are free to travel around the country and overseas, can start their own businesses and live how they please, if they can afford it. They can - if they have passports and travel outside the mainland or know how to evade internet censorship - acquaint themselves with those parts of recent history that the Communist Party prefers to remain hidden.

Current leaders Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao acknowledge the people's anger over corruption, environmental destruction and the growing gap between rich and poor and talk of reforms, greater democracy and rule of law.

The liberal intellectual journal Yanhuang Chunqiu daringly started mentioning Zhao Ziyang's name last year and has so far survived attempts by party hardliners to shut it down or sack its feisty editor, Du Daozheng.

But, while 20 years of economic growth has delivered much to the Chinese people, it has not delivered the freedom to speak out loud what they may think privately if those private thoughts question Communist Party rule.

Three Chinese dissidents I met during my time in their country were later jailed. One is still in jail, another is under house arrest and the third is a broken man who has been released after recanting his former heresies (including acting for the banned Falun Gong movement and calling for the abolition of the CCP).

Another man, He Weifang, a brilliant young lawyer who has campaigned for an independent judiciary, has recently been banished to a small university in remote Xinjiang province. He believes this is punishment for signing last year's Charter 08 petition calling for democratic reforms.

Twenty years after Tiananmen Square, living in China under a one-party state that controls the judiciary, the media and the armed forces, life for most of the people, most of the time, is much like it is in a democracy such as Australia or the US.

People worry about getting or keeping a job or their business surviving. They worry about their family, friends, lovers and their children. They lament the state of Chinese soccer, complain about the price of pork and health care or fret about where to send their children to school. They wonder what the purpose of life is, what the future holds.

They most probably are not lying awake at night wondering about democracy.

Perhaps, the CCP had good reason to order the army to indiscriminately fire on students and others in the streets around Tiananmen during that long night of June 4 and into the morning of June 5.

Perhaps if they had not ended the protests, China would have become ungovernable. Perhaps, if they were aware of the situation, the Chinese people would have accepted that force was necessary and that the Communist Party was the only institution strong enough to steer China into its current prosperity.

But the citizens of the People's Republic of China don't know and can't have that discussion because the inescapable conclusion 20 years after Tiananmen is that China's leaders do not trust the Chinese people.

The Chinese leadership will not risk open debate about 1989 because they fear it could be the thread that unravels the legitimacy of their rule.

Mary-Anne Toy is an Age senior writer. She was China correspondent from 2005 to 2008.

Tiananmen Anniversary overshadowed

2009-06-04T11:03:00.000+10:00

As shared in an earlier post, it will be intriguing to see how the world responds to China's growing influence. It looks like I was not far off. This just in today. Looks like China is indeed going to get away with it. I think the 'China threat to the status quo' is now officially in attendance, if the US maintains such a relatively sedentary stance. Of course, there will be other interesting political dynamics in play, but at least to the lay person, it would seem a new boss is in the house.

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Anniversary overshadowed
Straits Times Online 04 June 2009

WASHINGTON - ACTIVISTS looking to highlight the 20th anniversary of China's bloody crackdown at Tiananmen Square are finding their efforts overshadowed by the emergence of a China crucial to US economic and diplomatic efforts around the world.

Washington has had daily activities this week related to June 4, 1989, when China sent tanks and troops to crush demonstrations and shoot demonstrators seeking to remake authoritarian Chinese system. There have been congressional hearings, appearances by the 'Three Heroes of Tiananmen' and other activists, photo exhibits and candlelight vigils.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement on Wednesday that China, as an emerging global power, 'should examine openly the darker events of its past and provide a public accounting of those killed, detained or missing, both to learn and to heal.'

But none of the commemorations of Tiananmen has demanded the attention that US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's trip to China this week to secure economic cooperation from the single-biggest holder of US debt.

Beijing's importance to America was further underscored by a Chinese company's purchase of the unit of bankrupt General Motors Corp. that makes Hummer sport utility vehicles and by worsening tensions with North Korea, where Chinese leverage is seen as key to getting the North to return to nuclear disarmament talks.

Also Wednesday, the Obama administration's chief climate negotiator said China is critical to making any international agreement to reduce emissions blamed for global warming work. As the United States works to secure cooperation from a powerful, economically dynamic China, it has become difficult for activists to draw attention to the Tiananmen events and to claims that China abuses its citizens' rights.

Harry Wu, who spent 19 years in China's 'laogai' labour camp system, said the Obama administration's position on China is understandable but frustrating. The reason that events on Tiananmen are overshadowed, he said, is clear: 'Because China is holding so much bonds. Because China became a major producer of the United States.' China holds an estimated US$1 trillion (S$1.5 trillion) in US government debt.

Mrs Clinton has called the US-China relationship the world's most important. In February, she angered activists and delighted China by saying during a trip to Beijing that the United States would not let its human rights concerns interfere with cooperation with Beijing on global crises.

On Wednesday, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, facing questions about Mrs Clinton's February comments, said human rights are 'paramount on our list.' But Mrs Clinton is 'communicating that we're not going to take a cookie-cutter approach to human rights,' Mr Crowley said.

'She is interested in making sure that we address this in a way that is going to be most effective. In some cases, that will be public. In some cases, that will be private. In some cases, that will be both.' Beijing has never allowed an independent investigation into the military's crushing of the 1989 protests, in which possibly thousands of students, activists and ordinary citizens were killed. -- AP

Now China wants students protected too

2009-06-04T10:51:00.000+10:00

Living in Melbourne, I have witnessed an interesting dynamic - increasing numbers of both the Chinese mainlanders and Indians flooding the cosmopolitan state of Victoria. A reflection of the new state of people movement as two emerging superpowers find affluence to travel and experience the world, perhaps. The recent spate of trouble concerning racial attacks on Indian students have been troubling, and it looks like China wants a piece of the media attention too, by echoing fellow global superpower-to-be in demanding Australia provide better protection for their students.

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China wants students protected

Source - Straits Times Online 4th June 2009

CANBERRA - CHINA'S government joined India on Thursday in demanding Australia provide better protection for foreign students after a series of violents assaults on Indian students which victims have called racist.

'There are over 130,000 Chinese students in Australia. They have on the whole had good study and living environment in Australia, but attacks on Chinese students also occurred in recent years,' a spokesman for China's embassy in Canberra told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.

'It is hoped that the Australian government will provide better protection to international students from China and other countries,' the spokesman said.

Australia's government said on Wednesday racism was not behind violent attacks on Indian students, including the latest slashing of a man in Melbourne by a group of five youths.

The latest attack has redoubled fears that violent bashings and robberies of Indian students could seriously damage Australia's third-biggest export earner, the A$15 billion (S$17 billion) market for overseas students. -- REUTERS

China blocks Twitter, Flickr and Hotmail ahead of Tiananmen anniversary

2009-06-03T12:04:00.001+10:00

To compound matters, China has decided to reinstate its great Firewall (reminiscent of Chinese culture for the past two millennia... when in doubt, build walls to keep the foreign invaders out.) just before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen incident.

It'll be interesting to observe what governments will say about this. The citizen journalist and everyday person would of course be up in arms - but let's see how the world powers deal with this. Will they be sensitized in the wake of China's newfound global authority?

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China blocks Twitter, Flickr and Hotmail ahead of Tiananmen anniversary
Internet crackdown blocks "young generation" as leading dissident is detained in Beijing
by Tania Branigan in Beijing 2 June 2009
Source - The Guardian UK

Chinese censors blocked access to Twitter and other popular online services today , two days before the 20th anniversary of the crackdown on democracy protests in Tiananmen Square.

The move came amid increasing pressure on dissidents, in a reflection of the authorities' anxiety ahead of the sensitive date. Hundreds died as the army forced its way through Beijing to clear away demonstrators from the capital's political heart in June 1989, but the issue is taboo on the mainland.

The photo-sharing site Flickr, email service Hotmail and other services were also unavailable this evening.

"Twitter is a tool which can put all the sensitive things and sensitive guys together, very quickly. That's the very thing that the Chinese government doesn't want to see in China," said one blogger, Michael Anti, who had predicted Twitter would not be allowed for long.

"They needed time to figure out what it is and whether it needed to be controlled."

He added: "I don't know whether they will reopen Twitter after 4 June. I hope they will, for Twitter is a crucial icon for the new internet era on which many innovations emerge. China can't block their young generation from the future."

While most Chinese internet users rely on domestic services, which are heavily monitored and controlled, Twitter had become hugely popular among an urban elite. They used the site to share information on sensitive issues in recent months, such as the fire at the Chinese state television complex.

But while people could not access the site this evening, some users were still able to tweet, sending their complaints about the ban.

"We netizens were beaten by a 'combination blow'. So many famous websites are not accessible now ... This time, it is huge," wrote user williamlong.

Reuters reported that the email service Hotmail was also blocked across the mainland, while some internet users said they were unable to access Microsoft's Windows Live.

Blogger.com was blocked last month and YouTube has been inaccessible from the mainland since March.

Internet monitors have also shut down message boards on more than 6,000 websites affiliated with colleges and universities, according to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.

In a statement distributed by the same organisation, the exiled former student leader Chai Ling appealed for the release of political prisoners, an independent investigation into the events and permission for former student leaders to return home.

"The current generation of leaders who bear no responsibility should have the courage to overturn the verdicts [on the protests]," said Chai, who now lives in the US and has not commented on the issue for several years.

"The party and the government long ago reached a conclusion about the political incident that took place at the end of the 1980s and related issues," spokesman Qin Gang said when asked about the issue at the Foreign Ministry's regular news conference. The Chinese authorities deemed the protests counterrevolutionary riots.

In Taizhou, Zhejiang, officials have detained a former prisoner who last week co-signed an open letter to the government complaining about economic discrimination against dissidents, according to US-based group Human Rights in China.

Wu Gaoxing and four other men who were jailed for supporting the 1989 pro-democracy protests said former prisoners were struggling to survive because they could not find steady jobs and are deprived of medical benefits and pensions.

Calls to Taizhou's state security bureau rang unanswered.

Another signatory, Mao Guoliang, told the Associated Press: "I expect he's being held under some form of house arrest, but I don't know where."

Jitters on display as China tightens Tiananmen security

2009-06-02T00:17:00.001+10:00

Happy June everyone. Trust the year has been treating us all well. Here's something from the AFP. It is interesting to observe how China today is quite happy to do what it she wishes to do. Something my dad pointed out; what used to be a China is affected by the rest of the world, is now a China that affects the rest of the world.

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Jitters on display as China tightens Tiananmen security
Beijing
June 2, 2009
Source - The Age

China ramped up security at Tiananmen Square days ahead of the 20th anniversary of the crackdown on demonstrations there, questioning visitors and blocking journalists trying to report yesterday.

The dramatically tightened controls appeared to reflect official fears of any attempts to commemorate the bloody crackdown that ended seven weeks of pro-democracy protests, leaving hundreds, perhaps thousands, dead.

The square is already one of the most closely watched public spaces in the world but controls were noticeably more stringent yesterday.

Dozens of police and other security personnel patrolled on foot and in vehicles amid scattered Chinese tourists taking snapshots of the iconic portrait of revolutionary founder Mao Zedong that overlooks the square.

Security personnel also stopped groups of pedestrians on side streets approaching the square, questioning them and inspecting their belongings.

"There has been a change. You can feel it," said a guard at a traffic crossing next to the square.

China's leadership sent People's Liberation Army soldiers to forcibly clear the square on the night of June 3-4, 1989. Those events remain a taboo subject in China.

Some of the most prominent Tiananmen dissidents have already reported increased restrictions on their activities as Thursday's anniversary neared, with some even being taken out of the capital.

Police were seen yesterday stopping a film crew from Spanish television network TVE and asking them to leave the square.

"They said we could not interview anybody or do any filming and that we had to leave," Rosa Mollo, the network's China bureau chief, said.

An AFP journalist had been allowed to film on the square just last week.

Police asked for the identification of an AFP journalist and said interviewing square visitors was not allowed. A police van then followed him around the square.

At one point, about two dozen armed soldiers were seen marching into the square from a side entrance.

The heavy security extended into adjacent neighbourhoods where much of the worst violence on the night of June 3-4 was reported.

An AFP reporter saw dozens of police vehicles lining side streets while uniformed and plainclothes security forces loitered around in groups, sharing bottles of water and seeking shade under a hot midday sun.

One in seven overseas students now hail from China

2009-05-25T13:23:00.001+10:00

Overseas universities woo Chinese students
By Tan Yingzi
Source - AsiaOne Education
Friday 22nd May 2009

The University of Melbourne is hoping to foster more exchanges and closer cooperation with Chinese students and academics, said Professor Glyn Davis, vice-chancellor of the institution, during a visit to China.

"China is the central part of our international engagement as we have over 3,000 Chinese students now on campus and tens of thousands of graduates in China," Davis said.

With one in seven overseas students throughout the world now coming from China and Chinese students making up the largest single national group of overseas students worldwide, Davis said there is plenty of interest in attracting Chinese students.

Australians, too, are looking to learn. The University of Melbourne has been providing Chinese language lessons for "more than half a century". He said Australians are becoming more interested because of the closer economic ties, cultural attractiveness and because there are an increasing number of young Australian expats in China.

In addition to student exchange programs with top Chinese universities, the University of Melbourne is exploring the possibility of joint research projects in water management, environment protection, medicine and bioscience, added Professor John Dewar, who is in charge of global relations at the university.

Both countries face similar challenges in water management. The university and Chinese Academy of Sciences set up a China-Australia Water Resources Center in Melbourne in 2006.

Nearly 80 percent of Chinese university students have considered studying abroad, according to the latest survey by China Youth Daily. Most going overseas opt to study in the US, the UK, Australia and Canada.

During the global financial crisis, more Chinese students are expected to head overseas because of the pressure to find work and the appreciation of the Chinese currency.

Overseas universities are seizing the opportunity and looking to attract more Chinese students through greater cooperation with Chinese counterparts and organizations.

Chinese tell of Tibet failures

2009-05-22T23:18:00.000+10:00

Chinese tell of Tibet failures
John Garnaut, China Correspondent, Beijing
May 22, 2009
Source - The Age

LAST year's Tibetan uprising was caused by two decades of failed development policies that marginalised Tibetans and created a "new aristocracy" of corrupt and abusive government officials, Beijing scholars say.

Their report describes how Beijing's efforts to pour rivers of money into Tibet since 1989 to ensure "stability" have been spectacularly counter-productive.

It says private-sector jobs went to Han Chinese from other provinces, and public money flowed into the pockets of a new elite that systematically portrayed community discontent as "separatism".

"They use every opportunity to play the separatism card," says Phun Tshogs Dbang Rjyal, a founder of the Communist Party in Tibet quoted in the report.

"And they will try hard to apportion responsibility on 'overseas hostile forces' because this is the way to consolidate their interests and status and eventually bring them more power and resources."

The fieldwork was conducted by four Peking University journalism students who went to Lhasa and a Tibetan region of Gansu province last July.

The report was compiled and recently published on the internet by Open Constitution Initiative, a non-government organisation run by prominent lawyers and intellectuals in Beijing.

The uprising that embroiled much of the Tibetan plateau from March 14 last year is considered one of the most serious challenges to Communist Party rule since 1949.

The report's existence defies a mammoth Government propaganda and security blitz, which Tibetan exile groups say has led to hundreds of Tibetans being killed and thousands being incarcerated.

Propaganda authorities have blamed the violence on Tibetan "criminals", "hostile foreign forces" and "the Dalai Lama clique".

Xu Zhiyong, a prominent human rights lawyer who helped prepare the report, said he hoped it would be picked up by the domestic media, but doubted it would influence government officials.

Tibetans are nevertheless heartened that a balanced account of the causes of last year's uprising can now exist in China.

"As a Tibetan I feel this report is very important," said Tsering Woeser, a prominent Tibetan poet in Beijing. "This is a rare and treasured report under the current circumstances of one-sided official propaganda."

The report details how Beijing's heavy security and propaganda response further alienated Tibetans after the uprisings.

Monks, who Tibetans saw as "the divine clergy", were subjected to "socialist patriotic education". Even card-carrying Communist Party members were treated as security threats because of their ethnicity when visiting Beijing during last year's Olympic Games.

"Just because I was a Tibetan there was no hotels allowed me in. This made me so angry," said a Tibetan woman, Baima Jizhong, when quoted in the report.

Reluctant earthquake star takes centre stage

2009-05-12T15:13:00.002+10:00

Reluctant earthquake star takes centre stage - looks like the Chinese propaganda machine has some kinks it needs to work on.
Source - The Age 120509
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Source - The Age

THIS is Xiao Yawen on the plane to Beijing, where she is to star tonight on China Central Television's extravaganza to mark the anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake.

A year ago Xiao was photographed in the arms of a particularly handsome soldier, Sheng Yufeng, on the morning after the quake that destroyed her home in the mountains above Beichuan town.

The legend is that Mr Sheng reunited Xiao with her mother after they had lost each other in the exodus of earthquake refugees.

Reports said he carried the girl through Beichuan for an hour because the girl's grandmother was exhausted after holding her all night.

Xiao remained happily oblivious to the fuss she was causing in the media until a journalist from the Western China Metropolis Daily finally tracked her down last month.

Last Wednesday, CCTV flew her to Beijing and The Age happened to be seated next to her on the plane. Xiao, as feisty as she is cute, was not at all happy about having to sit for two hours on a plane in sweaty Qiang minority costume to perform for the cameras.

"It's a hassle," Xiao's mother, Yang Shengchun, said. "I refused to go many times, but they kept on asking."

Ms Yang said her daughter had no special story, nor did the soldier with the nicest smile. "We weren't injured," she said. "On May 13 soldiers were taking the healthy survivors through old Beichuan town. One of the soldiers picked her up — the photograph looked like a rescue, but it wasn't — I don't really have much to thank them for."

The People's Liberation Army has a history of legendary soldiers who fought floods, plugged oil wells with their own bodies and performed other selfless acts to protect the nation and capture the hearts of the masses. Typically these heroes, like Lei Feng in the 1960s, were created by the Communist Party's Propaganda Department.

Sheng Yufeng is different to his soldier-hero predecessors because his popularity among users of the internet appears to be genuine and spontaneous.

Nevertheless, the party and PLA propaganda machines have been working overtime in the year since the earthquake to ensure the masses know to whom they should be thankful.

On the ground in Beichuan the reality was not so glorious. Soldiers were conspicuously absent from rescue work in the early days that mattered.

On Saturday, The Age quoted a soldier who said he left a trapped survivor for dead and said his orders did not permit him to rescue her. She was subsequently rescued by local volunteers and firefighters.

That story was censored yesterday in China and The Age's computers in Beijing repeatedly crashed when trying to open it.

Beichuan town remains unoccupied, a graveyard town. Ms Yang and Xiao have been relocated to Anxian town just outside the mountains.

China & Australia Ties

2009-05-01T08:18:00.001+10:00

Defence plan ruffles the Chinese
John Garnaut and Brendan Nicholson
May 1, 2009
Source - The Age

THE Chinese Government is bristling at reports that tomorrow's Australian Defence white paper will call for a big build-up of naval and air force power to counter the potential military threat of China.

Senior Chinese diplomats and scholars say they are confused at Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apparent hawkish stance and predict Beijing will formally raise concerns.

"For us this is confusing," a Chinese diplomatic source told The Age. "Kevin Rudd was supposed to be the Chinese-speaking Prime Minister who would provide a bridge between China and America. "But now it looks like he wants to be act on behalf of America against China. This is going to be hard to explain to the Chinese people."

He emphasised, however, that the relationship was probably strong enough to withstand tension over defence policy. "The momentum in the relationship is unstoppable."

Chinese concerns may have been heightened by a briefing given in Beijing by the white paper's authors on deadly new capabilities for Australian forces that will include an estimated 12 new long-range submarines equipped with cruise missiles.

"China definitely will not accept Australia adopting the so-called China threat thesis," said Shi Yinhong, professor of international relations at the People's University. He said Beijing would raise "serious questions" with Australia...

Click here to read full article.