19th July 2010

The Lion Awakes 

News at a Glance

今天的中国新闻

A compilation of Headlines + Brief Summary from Chinese & International Publications relating to China.

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China News Archive

From 2008

China Daily

Premier Wen reassures foreign investors

XI'AN - Premier Wen Jiabao reassured foreign business leaders on Saturday that China's investment climate was stable and said Beijing would not block the export of rare metals needed to manufacture computers and mobile phones.

"There is an allegation that China's investment environment is worsening. I think it is untrue," Wen said in response to a question from Juergen Hambrecht, chief executive of the German chemical company BASF.

The World Bank gave China a low investment environment ranking in a July report.

The premier also promised China would never block the export of rare earth minerals, but said the minerals should be exported for a reasonable price and at a reasonable volume.

China supplies about 90 percent of the world's rare earth minerals.

Global Times

Editorial - Progress must not sacrifice safety

Just a week after a toxic leak at Zijin Mining, China's largest gold producer, poisoned or killed nearly 2 million kilograms of fish in a river in southern Fujian Province, the country's largest oil producer, China National Petrol Corp., was implicated in a huge fire Saturday that produced a 50-square kilometer oil slick off a port in the northern city of Dalian.

With many cash-laden industry giants producing world-class equipment and expertise, the country does not lack the capability to produce state-of-the-art goods for the rest of the world. But frequent accidents have exposed safety holes in the country's drive to achieve greater industrialization and modernization.

China has to be extremely careful about introducing huge projects in key sectors such as energy and chemicals. If accident-prevention schemes cannot keep up with the expansion of the projects, it is better to slow down a little bit, as many of the projects that are closely linked to the environment could trigger a major disaster if the operators do not follow strict safety rules.

Oil spill at sea after pipelines explode

An oil leak triggered by pipeline explosions Friday in the northeastern port city of Dalian had contaminated at least 50 square kilometers of ocean waters as of last night, and local authorities were still rushing to contain the oil.

An oil pipeline measuring nearly a meter in diameter exploded at 6 pm Friday near Dalian's Xingang Harbor, triggering an adjacent smaller pipeline to explode too. At least five subsequent explosions fueled the fire at the smaller pipeline.

International News Sources

Caixin Online

Toxic Tunnels: Guangzhou's Polluted Canals

Local governments in Guangzhou have spent around US$ 7 billion in two years to improve local water conditions for a no sludge, no stench goal, but experts say its effects have been slight

In the shallow blackened waters of the Pearl River Basin, the daily wash of chemicals and sewage float from canal to sea. At the end of 2008, the Guangzhou provincial government allocated 48.6 billion yuan to improve the canal water's quality within 18 months. The mayor at the time, Zhang Guangning, currently the party secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee, promised that district leaders would be able to swim in the rivers after the canal cleaning project. Now after two years and hundreds of millions of yuan, the canals are still slicked over with oily resin and the water, putrid-smelling.

The Wall Street Journal

China Reactors Plan Fuels U.S. Concern

ISLAMABAD—The U.S. State Department is voicing growing concern about China's proposed sale of two nuclear-power reactors to Pakistan, an issue that could complicate Washington's latest efforts to strengthen cooperation with Pakistan.

Perils of Degree-Worship in China

In many cultures, where people go to college and what degrees they hold is a serious matter affecting job prospects and social standing. But in China, academic credentials have long been one of the most important factors in determining the fate of many people.

GM in China unveils sedan

BEIJING—General Motors Co.'s commercial microvan joint venture in China on Sunday unveiled its first passenger sedan as part of an effort to introduce a new low-cost car brand in China to compete with the nation's home-grown auto brands, such as Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and BYD Co.

Strangers at Home

Chinese living abroad have played a huge role in the country's economic miracle. But back in China, they are both welcome and vulnerable.

The people that the Chinese are often most worried about are other Chinese.

Chinese living and working abroad have played an enormous role in the country's economic boom. For years, they have sent money back and offered hope to those at home during periods of calamity and chaos.

Kaixin – This article by Professor Geremie R. Barmé, BA, PhD (Asian Studies), FAHA Professor, School of Culture, History & Language is extremely thought provoking for Xiaosui and myself. The Professor’s observations about the Chinese Diaspora are similar to ours. He clearly understands Chinese culture and society. Yet, his observations about the Chinese government and democracy are not the same as Xiaosuis’ (from which Graeme derives his views).  I, Graeme, pondered on this. Professor  Barmé is not to be dismissed, as Kaixin tends to do with many of the articles written by ‘western’ journalists. So, why are his views different to ours?

My conclusion is that Xiaosui’s views reflect mainstream Chinese society, or more accurately perhaps, mainstream middle-class Chinese society. Where as Professor Barmé’s views reflect the intellectuals both in China and abroad.

Societies are like a slow flowing river. It takes a lot to significantly change their course. Yet significant change does happen from time to time in all societies. Where does that change come from? It starts with a spark, a catalyst, a new idea.

Where does that new idea come from? In most cases, the intellectuals. They challenge the accepted thinking of the mainstream. They push, and pry and prod. Some of the new ideas sink without trace. Some cause minor changes to thinking. Those minor changes accumulate over time and if a snapshot was taken of two different periods, the change can be significant.

However, sometimes the new idea is so compulsive that it galvanizes a society and causes profound change. Mao achieved this when he made the new China. This is very rare.

The call by the intellectuals for democracy in China is generally being ignored by the mainstream. In my opinion, this call for democracy in China will take the middle course and effect change over time. Eventually, China will have democracy with Chinese characteristics.

As I have argued before, this is how democracy should evolve in any society. It must come out of the ‘soil’ of a society; it must grow from the ground up. It cannot be imposed.

However, it needs the intellectuals to push and pry and prod for it to evolve. For, otherwise, the mainstream will happily accept the status quo and effect no change at all.

China Curbs ‘Vulgar’ Reality TV Show

BEIJING — When viewers tuned into China’s most popular dating show this spring, they saw beautiful women, brutal rejections and plenty of money worshiping, as when a female contestant was asked by a possible date whether she would like to go for a bicycle ride.

Kaixin – Xiaosui points out that China is entitled to set its own standards and agrees that such shows are not worth keeping, “shallow tripe” is the gist of her opinion about them. However, the NYT is equally entitled to express its opinion that free speech is being restricted (implicit in the article). It is all part of a healthy debate and helps different societies understand each other.

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