10th March 09

The Australian

US companies in China prepare for falling revenue

MORE than a third of US companies in China have said they expect their revenues to drop this year and will postpone planned investments, according to a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, reflecting the slowdown in the Chinese economy.

US angered by Chinese naval manoeuvres

FIVE Chinese vessels moved close to a US Navy ship in the South China Sea, closing within 8m of the surveillance ship… Although Chinese ships and planes often approach US ships in international waters, the incident followed what the Defence Department said was "increasingly aggressive conduct by Chinese vessels" in the past week -- with Chinese boats steaming near US ships and aircraft flying low overhead.

Kaixin – Can you imagine the howls of outrage if China sent survellance vessels that close to America’s coastline.

The Age

Police state

"There's no ethnic conflict here," Cairang Dao'erqu, a Tibetan official at the foreign affairs bureau who goes by his Chinese name, said over a lunch during this reporter's detention. "Look in the streets - everything is peaceful here. The Chinese, Tibetan and Hui people all get along. Tibetans say they have no idea what might take place today. Last week, the Dalai Lama urged Tibetans not to be provoked by the Chinese, saying any radical moves would give the Chinese Government an excuse to take harsher steps. "It is difficult to achieve a meaningful outcome," he said, "by sacrificing lives

Kaixin – We are back to the warm fuzzies again when the ‘west’ reads the newspaper over a cup of coffee and discusses with oh so serious concern the plight of those poor Tibetans. There is two sides to this debate, but the western media has not moved on from the cold war. It is interesting that while expressing concern over human rights and Tibet (while looking the other way about our own issues), the ‘west’ accepts investment from China.

The Sydney Morning Herald

China comes to Fortescue's rescue, again

FORTESCUE METALS, which will see another production downgrade squeeze its tight working capital position even further, plans to fill its coffers with an extra $86.8 million from China's Hunan Valin Iron & Steel.

Big powers must devise a rescue plan for Pakistan

Peter Hartcher

Ever seen one of those game-parlour gizmos that invite you to whack a mole? The gametop has maybe a dozen holes. When the game starts, a little black mole will suddenly poke its head out of one of the openings. You have to whack it on the head with a mallet before it darts back into its burrow. The faster you hit them, the faster they pop out. They're completely unpredictable and quite maddening. You end up in a frenzy of whacking but you can never keep up with the pests. The moles always win.

Kaixin – Pakistan is the main game in town at the moment. How China responds to what is going on will be interesting in terms of how China sees its role as the new international ‘power’. A role handed to it by the greed and incompetancy of the political and economic managers in the west, in particular ‘Wall Street’.

The International Herald Tribune
Seeking justice, Chinese land in secret jails

According to the state media, 10 million petitions have been filed in the last five years on complaints as diverse as illegal land seizures and unpaid wages. The numbers would be far higher but for the black houses, also called black jails, the newest weapon local officials use to prevent these aggrieved citizens from embarrassing them in front of central government superiors. Officially, these jails do not exist. In China's authoritarian state, senior officials tally petitions to get a rough sense of social order around the country. A successfully filed petition — however illusory the prospect of justice — is considered a black mark on the bureaucratic record of the local officials accused of wrongdoing.