2nd of December 2010
The Lion Awakes
Daily News, Culture & Current Affairs about China
Graeme has been using ChinesePod since 2007
"I highly recommend ChinesePod, I haven't found any Online teaching programmes that come close."
China Daily
China urges not to 'pour oil on flames'
China urges all sides not to 'pour oil on flames' as more drills planned
BEIJING - China has called on all sides to exercise calm and restraint and not "pour oil on the flames" as tensions continue on the Korean Peninsula.
eijing does not seek to "protect any side" in the current crisis and calls on all parties to avoid acts that risk further inflaming heightened tensions, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on Wednesday.
Attending a forum held in the Foreign Ministry compound, Yang told his audience of diplomats and academics that Beijing is highly concerned about the current situation in the region.
Calm and restraint are required and talks are now needed to cool the situation, Yang said.
Nothing should be done to inflame matters, and China will handle the issue as a responsible major power, he added.
China has been engaged in a flurry of diplomacy after the two Koreas exchanged fire last week in waters off the divided peninsula near a disputed maritime border.
FM urges easing Korean tensions
China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi gives a keynote speech on the first seminar of the Lanting Forum entitled "The Situation in the Asia-Pacific and China's Policy" at the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing, Dec 1, 2010. Yang said on Wednesday that the most pressing task at present was to prevent an escalation of tensions on Korean peninsula
China-Japan-ROK free trade talks 'set for 2012'
WEIHAI, Shandong - Free trade agreement (FTA) talks among China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) could start in 2012 as the countries try to reduce reliance on the United States and the European Union, Yi Xiaozhun, vice-minister of commerce, told China Daily.
US economic woes and the European debt crisis are boosting integration efforts and adding momentum to negotiations for an FTA among the three countries.
"I expect the negotiations to start in 2012, when a joint study by the three nations will be concluded," Yi said on the sidelines of a meeting of the FTA Joint Study Committee in Weihai, a coastal city in Shandong province.
China and the ROK are expected to start FTA talks next year, according to earlier media reports.
"The FTAs ... among the three nations will contribute to the integration of East Asian economies," Yi said.
The three countries make up about 22 percent of the global population, and their combined economies account for 19 percent of the world total and their foreign reserves 47 percent.
"The FTA will be the third largest after the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement," said Zhang Xiaoji, a senior researcher with the State Council's Development Research Center and a member of the Joint Study Committee.
China has so far signed eight FTAs and is in discussions on five more, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
China-US ties should be cooperative, not zero-sum game: FM
BEIJING - China Wednesday said its relations with the United States in the Asia-Pacific region should be cooperative and win-win but not a zero-sum game.
"China is willing to witness the United States and other countries play a positive role in maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told a forum in Beijing Wednesday.
Applauding the Chinese and US presidents' consensus to build a positive, cooperative and comprehensive bilateral relationship for the 21st century, Yang said China and the United States can solve their problems through dialogue.
"Generally, the Chinese-US relationship has grown at a steady pace. We are willing to enhance contact and cooperation on international and regional issues with the US through dialogue and exchange at various levels," he said.
Rural poor to get $52m subsidies to offset rising prices
BEIJING -- China will give 350 million yuan (US$52.4 million) in subsidies to poor people in central and western China affected by rising prices, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Wednesday.
Each of over 4.6 million childless and infirm rural seniors guaranteed food, clothing, housing, medical care and burial expenses will receive a monthly subsidy of no less than 20 yuan, the MOF said in a circular on its website.
The move aims to reduce economic pressures on needy people.
The subsidy will last until March 2011.
The government has adopted various measures since mid-November to boost agricultural production to combat the effects of inflation.
China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 4.4 percent in the 12 months through October, a 25-month high.
Kaixin OpEd - Which will just about all flow back into the domestic economy.
Foreign firms' path to the A-share market eased
BEIJING - Chinese authorities are accelerating the process to allow overseas companies to float shares in the domestic A-share market as a way to ease the country's mounting pressure of "hot money" inflows.
"The international board will be launched some time next year, hopefully," Fang Haixing, director general of Shanghai's financial services office, said on Wednesday at a financial forum in Shanghai.
Fang said that the approval procedures for overseas companies seeking listing on the board will be made simpler and faster than for domestic companies.
"We will not let companies feel that they have to endure unacceptable procedures," he said.
Fang's comments come after the central bank in Beijing called for a speedier launch of the international board, which could be used as a pool for hot-money hedging.
Manufacturing sector growth puts spring in investors' step
SHANGHAI - Mainland stocks rose for the first time in four days as faster-than-estimated manufacturing growth signaled tightening policies haven't curbed economic growth.
"The manufacturing number shows the economy is still healthy," said Deng Changrong, a strategist at Huaxi Securities Co in Shenzhen.
Monetary measures pay off
SHANGHAI - China's monetary policy measures have showed effective results so far, Du Jinfu, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said on Wednesday.
But he also stressed the need to develop mechanisms for counter-cyclical control of credit to avoid systematic risks.
"CPI is likely to peak soon, which dampens the need for drastic monetary policy action," said C.H. Kwan, a senior fellow at Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research.
China ranks 4th in scientific R&D spending
NBSBEIJING- China's scientific research and development (R&D) spending was 580.21 billion yuan (87.25 billion US dollars) in 2009, fourth in the world after the United States, Japan and Germany, officials at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of China told Xinhua.
The statistics came from the latest national R&D resources survey, the second ever conducted in the country.
About 3.18 million people were involved in China's R&D activities in 2009, the largest number in the world, said Cha Zhimin, deputy-director of the society and science department under the NBS.
Of the total spending, the government invested 135.83 billion yuan on R&D in 2009, about 4.5 times that in 2000 or an annual increase of 18.3 percent, indicating the government was more willing to boost innovation, Cha said.
However, the ratio of R&D investment against GDP stood at 1.7 percent in China, far behind 3 percent in leading countries across the world, Cha said, adding that China still remained far below many developed countries in original innovations.
Kaixin Oped - So China has the capacity to increase spending on R&D by around 50%+. That has enormous potential for China's economic growth over the 21st century.
China's development blueprint a chance for world:FM
BEIJING - Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Wednesday China's economic and social development blueprint for the next five years will bring opportunities for the world.
"The 12th five-year program, which lasts from 2011 to 2015, will not only be an opportunity for China, but also bring opportunities for the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large," Yang said at an international forum on the Asia-Pacific and China's policy.
Yang said the opportunities include market growth and two-way investment.
"China will import more commodities over the coming five years and foreign countries will enjoy increased business opportunities from that," Yang said at the Lanting Forum in Beijing, which was hosted by the China Institute of International Studies.
He pledged the Chinese government will create a fair environment for competition between Chinese and foreign companies while encouraging Chinese enterprises to invest abroad to boost employment for local communities.
"We hope to contribute to multilateral connections in Asia, Africa and other parts of the world," Yang said, referring to the regional transportation networks of road, rail and ports.
He said Asia's overall economic strength has grown remarkably, with some economic organizations predicting that it may account for 50 percent of the world economy by 2050.
Asia's soft power such as human resources, culture, science and technology will also support the continent's sustainable development, he said.
In the new energy sector, Yang said China will cooperate with all countries to bolster recycling and the green economy.
The Communist Party of China Central Committee in October outlined China's national development plan for the next five years. It is expected to be adopted by the National People's Congress, the nation's legislative body, in March next year.
Its key objectives are restructuring the economy and improving people's living standards across the nation.
Overseas money floods Chinese property market
BEIJING - An increasing number of foreign institutional investors are flooding into China's property market via taking part in the development stage, lured by the sector's high investment returns and the country's solid economic fundamentals.
See Kaixin's - China Real Estate
House prices increase 0.8% in November
Second monthly rise in a row comes despite interest rate hike
SHANGHAI - China's home prices rose 0.8 percent in November, gaining for a second month even as the central bank raised interest rate for the first time since 2007, said SouFun Holdings Ltd, the nation's biggest real estate website owner.
Residential prices in 86 cities rose from October, based on 100 locations tracked by SouFun, with average home values nationwide climbing to 8,487 yuan ($1,273) a square meter. The gain followed a 0.7 percent increase in October's home prices from September, SouFun said.
China this year suspended mortgages for third-home purchases and pledged to speed up trials of property taxes to restrain foreign capital and cool real estate prices. The central bank raised interest rates in October and increased the reserve-ratio requirements for banks twice last month.
"It showed that home prices are stabilizing amid the government's tightening," said Huang Yu, a Beijing-based researcher at SouFun.
"The home-price gains were mild compared with the high inflation rate as other products are rising rapidly."
Soy oil imports reinstated
Talks with Argentinian officials broke the agricultural deadlock
BEIJING - China has reopened its $2-billion market to Argentinian soy oil, after the world's second-largest economy resumed imports from the South American country in October, Julian Dominguez, Argentina's minister of agriculture, livestock and fisheries, said on Wednesday.
"Shipments of soy oil are expected to arrive in China in December and January, and exports are expected to bounce back to the pre-suspension level," Dominguez said.
Cesar Mayoral, the Argentinian Ambassador to China, said the problems (concerning soy oil exports to China) have been resolved through talks between the two countries.
"There have been anti-dumping investigations against China to protect local industries and products in Argentina, and China's actions in resuming imports have spelled out its goodwill in improving the bilateral trade relationship," he said.
Fertilizer export levy imposed
BEIJING - China, which started a 110 percent tariff on some fertilizer exports on Wednesday, will extend the high-season portion of its export duties next year to control food prices and secure domestic fertilizer supplies, said an official from the China Chemical Mining Association (CCMA).
The tariff hike aims to curb fertilizer exports, ensure domestic fertilizer supplies for the coming spring, and combat rising food prices, said the financial ministry.
China's farm produce prices fall week-on-week
BEIJING - China's prices for farm produce and producer goods fell week-on-week, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Wednesday.
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Global Times
The ball is now in South Korea's court
Did the joint military drill between the US and South Korea, which concluded Wednesday, make South Korea any more secure? Few South Koreans would probably think so given that the factors leading to the tension on the Korean Peninsula remains the same, and the situation probably has been enlarged by the military exercises.
The US, South Korea and Japan, are hoping that a louder and clearer warning will press the North Korea to behave, and thus a security framework dominated by the US-South Korean alliance would be established.
But the "deterrent in exchange for peace" solution has never brought stability to the region. Now it has come to a dangerous breaking point. South Korea recently warned that Seoul would respond vehemently to further provocation from the North and the North would pay a hefty price for it.
But is that what Seoul wants? If not, South Korea should work with China to solve the root of the problem.
Seoul is not satisfied with China's conciliation. The impartial attitude of China was deemed by South Korea as siding with the North. South Korea obviously feels China should condemn the North.
But this stance is not fair. Besides the two Koreas, China is most likely subject to the damage of the peninsula crisis. China has the same interest in regional stability as South Korea. Its national interest forces China to seek a solution that facilitates rapport between the two Koreas.
Intimidation and military exercises will do no good on the peninsula. South Korea should listen to China and be patient.
The Cold War ended 20 years ago. Northeast Asian countries have formed close economic ties except for North Korea. But the US, South Korea and Japan are still dealing with Pyongyang with an old Cold War mentality. The fact is clear that it does not help in safeguarding peace on the Korean Peninsula, nor it can guarantee security for the South.
Not directly neighboring the Korean Peninsula, the US and Japan have little imperative to change the Cold War framework in the region, but South Korea does.
China has proposed to realize regional peace through non-intimidation.
Seeking a new solution through a joint effort is better than repeating the same old failures.
A test of tolerance over the Korean Peninsula
After the recent artillery exchange on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea seems to be the only country that gained, but Pyongyang is drinking poison to curb its thirst. It is running head long down a road that leads to nowhere.
Is the Korean Peninsula heading toward a dangerous dead end?
Stability is a shared goal of all the countries involved. North Korea wishes to maintain a stable government; the South would like to see a stable border area.
It is in the interest of China to keep an uneventful situation on the Peninsula, and the US hopes to see its influence in Northeast Asia unchallenged. Japan and Russia hold attitudes similar to China's or the US'.
However, this shared goal is often interrupted by other interests, primarily, the pursuit of nuclear weapons by the North and its continuous provocation. In addition, the inconsistent policies of the US and South Korea toward Pyongyang also cause the North agitation, which in turn tends to overreact.
Strategic trust is almost zero among the players involved. The efforts China makes in promoting regional stability are often offset by US strategic intentions in the western Pacific. China's efforts also often get the cold shoulder by North Korea. The on again, off again, Six-Party talks best exemplify the difficulty.
The hard line approach of the US is unlikely to succeed on the Korean Peninsula. If it did succeed it would mean the failure of China's diplomacy and bring unbearable strategic risk to China. But it is equally impossible that China's moderate stance takes the lead, which suggests a much needed fundamental policy adjustment from the US, South Korea and Japan.
The stalemate will continue and test the tolerance of all the parties involved. But the way things stand now, South Korea will go on living under the shadow of the non-stop provocations of the North; while Pyongyang will continue suffering isolation and poverty, which is getting worse after each incident.
Among all the countries with a stake in the region, it looks like South Korea can and should take the initiative to adjust its policy toward the North. But, the question is, is it willing to do so?
Kaixin Oped - The reason China supports North Korea is blindingly obvious.
It is the United States of America.
The U.S is uneasy about China because China is so far removed from the American mindset.America has sought to contain China since 1949. It supported the Kuomintang (KMT or Chinese Nationalist Party) in China and then in Taiwan. America only opened the door to China in the 1970’s when they were more afraid of the potential of Russia, than of China.
America obviously underestimated the potential of a China, bought to its knees by the Cultural Revolution.
The rise and rise of China has startled America.
It sees China as a threat. Perhaps not in the immediate time scale, but in the future, when China is strong enough to threaten America. So the logic behind America’s policy of containment is understandable.
North Korea is chock-a-block with nuclear arms. China obviously does not want America sitting next door playing with those toys.
If China did not support North Korea, then South Korea would have taken over long ago. That would have meant Uncle Sam smiling and waving at China from right next door, only ducking down to the basement every so often to polish his nuclear bombs.
A US Carrier in the region is sending a strong message to North Korea, South Korea, China and the region.
In Kaixin’s opinion, North Korea might have some big toys to play with but it is unlikely China will allow the children to get out of control. Diplomacy dictates China’s response. But Kaixin suspects China is like a parent who smiles when their child is naughty while friends visit, then gives it a good clip under the ear when they leave. Certainly hope so, given the alternative.
Copycats called 'innovative' 
In a rare defense of notorious copycat practices by certain Chinese manufacturers, a senior official has stated that "innovative elements" of fake products should be protected and encouraged, instead of being squashed without consideration of their intellectual property value.
Yang Xueshan, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), did not define what "innovative elements" exist among China's shanzhai (knockoff) products but stated that knockoffs belong in the debate over intellectual property rights.
Both the interests of intellectual property holders and of the end-consumers of these products should be considered when it comes to intellectual property, as both protection and use of property contribute to the progress of society, he said at a press conference Tuesday.
Greenpeace exposes toxic textile hazards
Greenpeace released a report Wednesday revealing the environmental cost of China's lucrative textile industry, which has long been under criticism from home and abroad for its heavy industrial pollution.
The report, based on studies conducted by Greenpeace from April through October in two textile-intensive towns of Xintang and Gurao in southern Guangdong Province, said laboratory testing had found heavy metals such as copper, cadmium and lead in 17 out of 21 samples of water and sediment from the two places.
Dialogue - A 30 Minute Current Affairs Programme on CCTV - 9 (In English) where current issues are discussed by experts from China and Internationally:
Inclusive growth of next five years
Beijing vows to keep a lower but steady GDP growth rate in the next five-year plan. The blueprint is compared to a more sustainable strategy of inclusive development.
The consensus is generated at a landmark conference of the Chinese communist party that comes to a very fruitful conclusion on Monday. The strong visible hand of the central government has helped bail out a big continental economy in times of financial meltdown.
But is the Chinese mode of development healthy enough to sustain a sizable economy that will be based more on its domestic consumption and environmentally friendly manufacturing? How shall we examine the sense of global responsibility for China as its economy continues to pull the world economy out of recession?
12th Five-Year Plan & Sustainability
These days obersvors around the world have been discussing if China would sustain its double-eadged growth in the next five years, Beijing vows to transfer multi economy from labor intensive and exports growth to domestic consumption. It means to be more innovative and more invironmentally friendly and to prioritize improvement of people's lifelyhood and their social security programs.
But very quietly, more people are discussing if more sustanable and incrusive goals in this country would lead to broader political participation. With these questions, BRANDON BLACKBURN-DWYER and FARZAM KAMALABADI are taking part in this discussion.
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I.H.T. Op-Ed Contributor
Scolding China Won't Help
China has become far freer, and bashing it over human rights will only slow the process of political reform.
There is an established historical pattern for real change in China. Over the past 30 years, change has come slowly but steadily.
Political reform is coming to China and Western politicians should avoid prolonging the process through strident remarks and posturing that only give ammunition to Chinese hard-liners. Instead, we should encourage Beijing as it becomes more comfortable with its place as a modern, and increasingly open, power.
James Zimmerman, a lawyer and former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, is the author of a guidebook for lawyers and businessmen working in China.
Singapore’s Lee Rates China’s Leaders
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding father and minister mentor, and the grand old man of Asian politics, is famously blunt with his views. All the more, it would seem, in supposedly private diplomatic conversations than in public.
Kaixin OpEd - Insightful comments, well worth reading.
China Mellowing out over Yellow Sea?
While they certainly didn’t go over well in North Korea, the just-completed joint naval drills launched by the U.S. and South Korea in the Yellow Sea in response to North Korea’s shelling of a South Korean island were noteworthy for barely getting a rise of Pyongyang’s most important ally.
Yuan Deposits on a Roll
For even more indication that there’s no stopping the demand for yuan in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Monetary Authority data show that yuan deposits here grew 45.4% in October from the month before to 217.1 billionyuan ($32.59 billion).
See Kaixin's - Yuan Revaluation & Internationalisation
Low Expectations: Foreigners in China’s Insurance Sector
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times: Such seems to be the lament of foreign insurance companies operating in China.
California Pollution: Made in China?
Scientists have long known that pollution and dust from China travels over the Pacific to the western United States. What they haven’t been able to figure out is how much. Until now.
Kaixin OpEd - You gotta wonder ...
Frustration Grows in South Korea
SEOUL—Government officials are struggling to help the people displaced by the North Korean attack on a South Korean island last week, with several hundred residents living in a public bathhouse while cleanup on their homes hasn't even started.
China Leads Asia Manufacturing Rebound
SINGAPORE—Manufacturing in Asia gathered steam in November, led by a strong acceleration in China, an encouraging sign for a global economy rattled by Europe's debt crisis and sluggish growth in the U.S.
China's Credit Raters Struggle to Make an Impact
BEIJING—Chinese ratings company Dagong Credit Rating Co. has gained global attention with its bearish views on the U.S. government's creditworthiness. Back home, the government is looking to change the way Dagong and its fellow Chinese raters do business.
The changes, one step in the country's efforts to build a more efficient financial system, could help ratings firms shed their poor image.
One reason the industry has struggled to gain influence, say industry professionals, is that domestic raters are seen as plagued by conflicts of interest and unwilling to give poor ratings. To address the problem, China's central bank in September ...
Glaxo Nears Deal to Buy Chinese Drug Firm
GlaxoSmithKline PLC is nearing a deal to buy Nanjing MeiRui Pharma Co., a Chinese drug company that would boost its exposure to the fast-growing market, according to people familiar with the matter.
Exact terms of the potential deal couldn't be learned, but it is likely valued in the low hundreds of millions of dollars. An agreement could be announced this month, one of the people said.
Although small, the deal highlights a large imperative for Glaxo and the other big, ...
The New York Times
Bringing a Softer Side to Policing in China
CHENGDU, China — A district in China has supplemented its urban street police with 13 women, to give the rough-hewn police a softer, feminine side.
From WikiChina
What if WikiLeaks got hold of a cable from China’s embassy in Washington? Here’s some of the “good news” that may have been sent home to Beijing.
Shop, China, Shop
In the country’s coastal cities, the nouveaux riches are proving the cross-cultural power of the Brand.
Special Report: Contemporary Art
The Frenetic World of Yi Zhou
SHANGHAI — Imagine that van Gogh, after slicing off his ear, finds himself sucked down a passage into his own brain, which turns out to be the concentric onion of Dante’s “Divine Comedy.” Then capture that journey with three-dimensional digital imaging software and turn it, frame by computerized frame, into a five-minute animated movie.
See Kaixin's Chinese Art - Yi Zhou, Contemporary Chinese Artest (very interesting)
Caixin Online
People's Daily Says Investment Bank Responsible for Plunge
In an apparent effort to influence the stock market, the People's Daily opposed big fluctuations in stock markets
(Beijing) - China's official mouthpiece, the People's Daily, said December 1 that an international investment bank manipulated stock markets for its own gain and a group email that it sent to investors triggered off a plunge in share prices on November 12.
Countries can't be expected to abide by bad rules – why the entire global monetary game needs to be rewritten
If Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, had himself written the prologue to his G20 presidency, he could not have done better. The run-up to the G20 Seoul summit in November was marred with a series of currency controversies which brought international monetary reform to the fore. French intentions to reform the international monetary system (IMS) had initially been received skeptically. Suddenly it now seems to be the right priority at the right time.
The task, however, is anything but simple. The subject is abstruse. No one outside academia has taken any interest in it for the last twenty years.
8 Billion Yuan Bond to Be Issued in Hong Kong
The finance ministry will issue another batch of yuan-denominated bonds
(Beijing) - China's Ministry of Finance will issue 8 billion yuan of yuan-denominated bond in Hong Kong, the second yuan bond issuance outside of the mainland by the ministry.
Developer Sued for Bribery in Hong Kong
Authorities say that a total of HK$ 5.8 million in bribes were sent in exchange for bank loans at ICBC worth HK$ 2 billion
(Beijing) - The trial of mainland property developer Zeng Wei's bribery case opened in Hong Kong on November 30. Zeng stands accused of sending HK$ 5.8 million in bribes to two executives at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
The Age
Mystery hangs over Chinese charges
John Garnaut
ONE of Australia's most successful entrepreneurs in China, Matthew Ng, could face up to 20 years in jail after Chinese authorities charged him with embezzlement.
The charges reduce the likelihood that higher officials will intervene to override local Guangzhou authorities.
Kaixin OpEd - The assumption, of course, is that Matthew Ng is innocent and the Chinese businessman and legal system are corrupt. Kaixin suggests that we await further developments.
Mathew Ng obviously knows how to do business in China. If he has been wrong-footed then he may simply have miss-judged the situation. It is a part of doing business in China.
If you don't like it, or feel uncomfortable, then do not do business in China.
See Kaixin's - Corruption v 'li shang wang lai' 礼尚往来
Asia Times Online
China to dump North Korea, really?
By Sunny Lee
To the untrained eye, the latest bout of WikiLeaks suggests Beijing is likely to abandon its ideological brethren in Pyongyang. To analysts, a wiser view is not to take the fruits of the diplomatic grapevine at face value. Though frustrated, China is not about to dump a "spoiled child" - at least not anytime soon.
SINOGRAPH
China's real Asian invasion
By Francesco Sisci
China's expression of territorial claims in Asia is one thing, but its footprint is not military. China is simply "invading" neighbors with its capital and goods. American pressure to revalue the yuan will help to further Chinese penetration and support the US being expelled from the region.
China faces a technolgy rap
By Benjamin A Shobert
While the latest US Congress report on China sounded the usual alarms over a converging military and economic ascendancy, Beijing's indigenous innovation policies were singled out for concern. The rules, which pressure foreign firms to transfer technology, are potentially more divisive than ruptures over the yuan or a lack of Internet freedoms.
China’s urbanites rediscover Buddhism
By Mitch Moxley
The pressures of a rapidly developing society are leading thousands of Chinese to seek the spiritual fulfillment offered by Buddhism, whose 2,000-year history in China came to an abrupt halt under Chairman Mao Zedong. The renewed interest is also tied to a newfound fascination with Tibet.
Currency clash has two sides
By Kieran Osborne
Complaints out of the United States that China is manipulating its currency tend too often to be little more than political posturing. Yet the issue, just as with every coin, has two sides - and the lack of balance has implications for investors.
See Kaixin's - Yuan Revaluation & Internationalisation
WSJ - Beijing’s Xu to Design Mouton Rothschild Label
Salvador Dali, Joan Miró, Georges Braque — add the name of China’s Xu Lei to the list of artists who have designed a label for top-flight Bordeaux wine producer Château Mouton Rothschild.
The winemaker has selected artists to design its label every year since 1945.
See Kaixin's - Insights into China
NYT - For China’s Women, More Opportunities, More Pitfalls
BEIJING — The question that dashed Angel Feng’s job prospects always came last. 
Fluent in Chinese, English, French and Japanese, the 26-year-old graduate of a business school in France interviewed between January and April with half a dozen companies in Beijing, hoping for her first job in the private sector, where salaries are highest.
“The boss would ask several questions about my qualifications, then he’d say: ‘I see you just got married. When will you have a baby?’ It was always the last question. I’d say not for five years, at least, but they didn’t believe me,” Ms. Feng said.
“The main issue we face is confusion, about who we are and what we should be,” said Qin Liwen, a magazine columnist. “Should I be a ‘strong woman’ and make money and have a career, maybe grow rich, but risk not finding a husband or having a child? Or should I marry and be a stay-at-home housewife, support my husband and educate my child? Or, should I be a ‘fox’ — the kind of woman who marries a rich man, drives around in a BMW but has to put up with his concubines?”
Guo Jianmei, director of the Beijing Zhongze Women’s Legal Counseling and Service Center, insists that, over all, women today are in a better position than they were three decades ago.
“They know so much more about their rights,” she said. “They are better educated. For those with a competitive spirit, there’s a world of opportunity here now, whether they are businesswomen, scientists, farmers or even political leaders. There really have been huge changes.”
Women in China
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