29th of September

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

Confucius' birth anniversary marked across China

Students perform Bayi Wu (Eight Row Dance) during a traditional ritual to celebrate Confucius' birthday at the Confucius Temple in Taipei, Sept 28, 2010. Ceremonies were held across China Tuesday to commemorate the 2561st birthday of China's great philosopher and educator, Confucius (551-479 BC).

 

China demands Japan act to repair ties

BEIJING - China on Tuesday demanded Japan take practical measures to bring ties back on track after they were strained by the collision of a Chinese trawler and two Japanese patrol boats earlier this month.

Wen to meet with European financial leaders

BEIJING - Premier Wen Jiabao will meet with top European Union financial leaders in Brussels during the upcoming Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) to talk about world economic issues including financial reform.

Soft power part of the curriculum

150,000 overseas students targeted for degree courses in coming decade

Beijing - China is planning to attract more overseas students for degree courses over the next 10 years as a major effort to promote its cultural soft power, Vice-Minister of Education Hao Ping said on Tuesday.

China to keep death penalty for corruption crimes: lawmaker

BEIJING - China's top legislature has never considered scrapping the death penalty for those convicted of corruption  in the draft amendment to the Criminal Law, said a legislator.

Criminals convicted of corruption should be subject to harsh penalties and the draft amendment to the Criminal Law was not intended to eliminate capital punishment for such crimes, Chen said.

Kaxin OpEd - Quite right .... you steal from the State, then you steal from the people.

China's Chinalco to invest 10b yuan in rare earth sector

NANCHANG - The Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco), the country's top mining company, said Monday it has signed an agreement to assume a major stake in the Jiangxi Rare Earth and Rare Metals Tungsten Group (JXTC) for 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion).

 China Daily website is running a special coverage on people’s dreams in Beijing under its This is Beijing program, and this is the first part of five people's dreams. Our previous issue was about morning exercises

Path of the Rest - 2010 Summer Davos Special (1)

Integration of the Rest - 2010 Summer Davos Special (2)

Post-Crisis Reconstruction - 2010 Summer Davos Special (3)

Global Times

Editorial - Guess who is coming to dinner?

Soon the general public will know which of China's wealthiest people will attend a dinner tonight in Beijing with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. People will be interested in learning what they talk about, and more importantly, whether these Chinese billionaires are willing to loosen their purse strings after the dinner.

Gates and Buffett have successfully led the donation pledge campaign among some of the world's wealthiest people. Now they hope to recreate the same success in China, home to the world's second largest number of billionaires.

Chinese tycoons are uncomfortably under a microscope of moral judgment as they are put before the donation box side by side with two of the most successful entrepreneurs in history.

All of a sudden philanthropy is a goal that China's rich seemingly must meet.

The super rich have an obligation to give back to society, but philanthropy should not be thrust upon anyone. The willingness to give should not be simplified to a competition of numbers.

Development goals improve China's image

Editor's Note:

From September 21 to 23, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was in New York for the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the general debate of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly. What are the MDGs? How will China reconcile such goals with its status as a developing country and its emergence as a distinctive power? What is China's foreign strategy at a time involving so many changes? On September 23, People's Daily Online (PO) talked to Wu Jianmin (Wu), a member of the Foreign Policy Advisory Group and a former ambassador to France, on these issues.

Dialogue - A 30 Minute Current Affairs Programme on CCTV - 9 (In English) where current issues are discussed by experts from China and Internationally:

Cross-cultural education

 

CCTV - 9

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International News Sources

The Wall Street Journal   China RealTime Report

Report: Best Returns? Invest in China

Asian companies, especially those from the Greater China region, have emerged as big winners in shareholder returns despite, or perhaps because of, the global financial crisis and recent stock market depression, a new report says.

The report, from Boston Consulting Group, sampled a total of 712 companies between 2005 and 2009 and compared them on the basis of so-called “total shareholder return” (TSR)

Mystery Surrounds China Loan Quotas

Trying to figure out whether Beijing is cooling or stimulating the economy has never been easy, but it’s about to get a lot trickier.

Unlike in Western countries, where the rise and fall of benchmark interest rates is enough to nudge the economy in one direction or the other, the People’s Bank of China has typically relied on bank lending quotas–often communicated directly to the banks without any public announcement–as the key lever to regulate the economy. And that lever isn’t as responsive as it used to be.

China a Step Ahead in Space Race

China appears to be pulling away from the pack in Asia’s space race after announcing plans to launch its second lunar probe, Chang’e-2, on October 1–China’s National Day.

China's Rich Split on Philanthropy

BEIJING—The visit of Bill Gates  and Warren Buffett to China this week has triggered an unprecedented public discussion about philanthropy among the country's new class of ultrarich.

China Row Fuels Japan's Right Wing

TOKYO—A bitter confrontation with China following a ship collision in the East China Sea is fueling nationalism among Japan's conservative politicians and right-wing activists, energizing them in their attacks on Prime Minister Naoto Kan's center-left government.

Kaixin Oped - Japan's Right Wing = Nanking

China Offers Tax Incentives For Public Rental Housing

SHANGHAI—China has introduced a series of tax exemptions for companies responsible for building and managing public rental-housing projects, in the latest sign of the country's increasing reliance on state-subsidized housing to cool its overheated property market.

In a statement dated Monday but posted on its website Tuesday, the State Administration of Taxation said it stopped levying the tax on urban land use for land developed for public rental .

Currency Wars: A Fight to Be Weaker

Tensions are growing in the global currency markets as political rhetoric heats up and countries battle to protect their exporters, raising concerns about potentially damaging trade wars.

At least half a dozen countries are actively trying to push down the value of their currencies, the most high-profile of which is Japan, which is attempting to halt the rise of the yen after a 14% rise since May. In the U.S., Congress is considering a law that targets China for keeping its currency artificially low, and in Brazil, the head of the central bank said the country may impose a tax ...

Kaixin Oped – That is like the school bully challenging a much weaker boy to a fight. Obviously the school bully will win a physical fight. The weaker boy has elected to challenge the bully on an academic field and is winning.

The bully throws a tantrum and says he will tell his Mum and if the weaker boy wants to buy anything at the tuck shop the bully’s Mum (who runs the tuck shop using the bully’s specially made bottle tops) will charge extra …… so there!

Of course, all the weaker boys have got their Mum’s to open a second tuck shop and they all go there now (or they will, if the bully keeps on keeping on).

The New York Times

Mineral Trade Halt Called a Threat to Japan’s Economy

TOKYO — A halt of Chinese shipments of crucial industrial minerals to Japan poses a threat to the Japanese economy, a top Tokyo government official said Tuesday, amid a dispute over territorial sovereignty that has damaged relations between the regional rivals.

Kaixin Oped - Aww didumms ...... something about what you reap so shall you sow is apt here.

Caixin Online

Checkups Begin as Stimulus Plan Winds Down

Project reviews loom nationwide as the government concludes a 4 trillion yuan economic stimulus program

Becoming Modern-China's Agricultural Development

Three simultaneous socio-economic shifts are defining the evolution of traditional Chinese agriculture, allowing it to emerge from the corner to which it was industrially confined. The country’s ultimate goal is to synchronize its economic structure with Chinese contemporary society.

The primary objective is a rational and environmentally sustainable use of Chinese agricultural land, as it is still fragmented.

The second move aims at a more business oriented agriculture

Finally, traditional Chinese agriculture should lead towards a more transparent market

Kaixin OpEd - A must read

Economist Says China's Yuan Policy Based on its Own Needs

Chinese economist Wu Jinglian supports the liberalization of the yuan exchange rate mechanism

(Beijing) -- An economist at the Development Research Center of the State Council said that the appreciation of the yuan is related to industrial upgrading and the change of China's economic growth model, rather than a threat from the United States.

How to Manage Yuan Exchange Rate Pressure

Proactive policy moves and acknowledging foreign critics are better than forcing rate adjustments at the last minute

The yuan began a sharp appreciation against the U.S. dollar September 9, gaining 1 percent by September 15. Why? The obvious explanation is forced intervention.

From a long-term perspective, a move such as this does not help China manage international economic relations. We need a better way.

Asia Times Online

Who's the currency manipulator?
By Hossein Askari and Noureddine Krichene

Imposing sanctions on China for its currency policy will not impinge the country's export competitiveness or resolve the problems facing the United States economy. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve continues to do its own currency manipulations through low interest rates and lax credit.

    
China tests the cool of Zen Japan
By Christopher Johnson

Even as China stepped up the rhetoric against Japan over the shipping incident in the East China Sea, Japanese politicians and citizens reacted with a Zen-like detachment. The problem for progressives on both sides who are trying to enhance trade and tourism exchanges is that many Japanese and Chinese fundamentally don't trust each other's motives.

China builds up role in Gulf
By Chris Zambelis

The recent US$60 billion arms deal between Saudi Arabia and the United States underlined the reliance Gulf states place on Washington for their defense. Yet given China's energy demands and booming economy, Beijing's Gulf presence is increasing economically and diplomatically.

    
China dives deep for African roots
By Antoaneta Becker

Chinese archaeologists are searching for a 15th century shipwreck off the coast of Kenya that is believed to have been part of the armada of Admiral Zheng He, a Muslim eunuch the Chinese claim reached East Africa 80 years before the Portuguese. It's all part of Beijing's efforts to present its modern-day involvement of Africa as a continuation of He's "journey of peace and friendship".

Leaks in India's submarine strategy
By Peter J Brown

Internal divisions in India's navy have led to critical delays in submarine deployments that threaten the country's ability to meet undersea warfare challenges. Aside from the Chinese increasing their presence in the Indian Ocean, the overall lack of an immediate competitor has created a "leisurely" approach to implementing plans for a nuclear triad of air, sea and ground launch capabilities.