29th december 2011
The Lion Awakes
Daily News, Culture & Current Affairs about China
See how China sees the world, see how the world sees China
Graeme has been using ChinesePod since 2007
"I highly recommend ChinesePod, I haven't found any Online teaching programmes that come close."
Maybe that war with China isn't so far off
The United States has the doctrine, the means and the motivation to make mischief for China in 2012. In an unusually toxic election year, expect the US to feed the "return to Asia" narrative with the specter of China as an arrogant and destabilizing regional threat. That will make China leery and ready to repel any sign that Washington may apply its "preventative diplomacy" doctrine to cross red lines in Taiwan, Tibet and the South China Sea. Miscalculation on either side could spark trouble. - Peter Lee
Graeme's (Ed) Novel just published on Kindle
(If you do not have a Kindle, you can download a free version from AMAZON)
Set in Zanzibar in 1910, it is the story of two people from different worlds falling in love. Susan immerses herself in Zanzibar. Asim falls in love with this woman from the nation that killed his wife. Susan is a spy. Asim is the chief advisor to the Sultan of Zanzibar. Germany and France are holding secret negotiations to form a Pan European alliance, which would isolate Britain and destroy her power. Susan and Asim are caught up in all this and their love is finally dashed on the cold, hard reality of international high politics.
People's Daily
China, ROK plan for talks next week
BEIJING - Beijing and Seoul are coordinating strategies on the Korean Peninsula following the death of the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as high-level talks are planned for next week.
Sharp decline in economic growth unlikely
Recently, JP Morgan, Nomura Securities (Asia) and other agencies have shown concerns about major downside risks China's economy may face in 2012 in their recent forecasts.
Growth is not a problem; downturn will not be severe
"External factors are not controllable, but the policy factors are controllable," said Zhang Xiaojing, director of macroeconomic research office of CASS Institute.
China's chief justice urges boosting public confidence in justice system
BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's Chief Justice Wang Shengjun has urged the country's courts and judicial staff members at all levels to work to promote the credibility of, and the public's confidence in, the justice system.
Chinese vice premier calls for deepening reform in rural areas
BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Vice Premier Hui Liangyu on Wednesday called for deepening reforms in China's rural areas, including changes in the management of collective forest rights.
Japan's purchase of Chinese bonds will benefit both Asian giants
BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Japan acknowledged Tuesday that it could buy up to 10 billion U.S. dollars worth of Chinese government bonds, a move that can be mutually beneficial for both Asian economic powerhouses.
Chinese VP vows to boost Vietnam ties
HANOI - Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping held talks with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang here on Wednesday on strengthening relations between China and Vietnam.
Li calls for green drive to improve economy
BEIJING - A balance between development and the environment is essential, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday.
"Providing basic environmental quality for its people is an essential public service for any government. It is necessary to improve the quality of life and provide a favorable environment with clear water, blue skies and uncontaminated soil," Li told a national conference on environmental protection in Beijing which was attended by provincial governors and ministers.
Foreigners flock to China for job opportunities
SHANGHAI - Shanghai has China's second-largest population of foreigners and overseas Chinese, and 27.3 percent of them have come to the city purely for jobs, according to a report released on Monday by the municipal statistics bureau.
US 'should play constructive role in region'
BEIJING - China does not intend, nor is it able, to squeeze the US out of the Asia-Pacific region, which is big enough for both to coexist and cooperate, a senior diplomat said during a review of the diplomatic year.
China-ASEAN trade increased 36 times in past two decades
BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Trade volume between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2010 was 36 times what it was in 1991, the year in which formal relations between the two sides were established, according to new statistics.
Chinese vice premier urges expanding domestic demand, keeping property curbs
BEIJING, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday called for expanding domestic demand to be given a higher priority amid a grim economic outlook and unwavering restrictions on the property market.
China should boost domestic demand to advance economic restructuring and put restructuring "in a more prominent position" while maintaining economic growth and price stability, Li said during a national symposium on development and reforms.
China aims to establish FTA with Japan and South Korea
China is actively pushing for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan and South Korea and hopes the negotiations will start next year, officials said on Thursday.
"China, Japan and South Korea are all important countries in East Asia but with different international divisions of labor. A free trade zone among the three countries, if established as soon as possible, would benefit the economic development of all through developing trade and investment potential in East Asia," said Shen Danyang, the spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, at a regular briefing in Beijing on Thursday.
Shen added that a free trade zone would also help economic integration among the three countries.
Jiashao Cross-Sea Bridge under construction in E China
the Jiashao Cross-Sea Bridge under construction in Haining, east China's Zhejiang Province. The Jiashao Cross-Sea Bridge, the second cross-sea bridge in the Hangzhou Bay, is expected to be completed and open to traffic at the end of 2012.
China's oldest couple at 106 and 109
Jin Jifen, 106, and her husband Yang Shengzhong, 109, have a meal at home, Dec 6, 2011. The couple has been recognized as the oldest living couple in the country by the Gerontological Society of China. Living in a village in Southwest China's Guizhou province for more than 100 years, Yang used to be a carpenter and Jin a housewife. They have been married for almost 90 years and the family has five generations. "She has been nice to me my whole life and still cooks for me," said Yang.
3,000 candles for Nanjing victims
Nanjing residents, visitors from Japan and South Korea, and Chinese and Japanese monks, lit 3,000 red candles during an assembly praying for peace last night at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre in the capital City of Jiangsu Province.
Chinese investments benefit European companies
Chinese enterprises have 70,000 employees in Europe
The first China-E.U. Business Cooperation Forum, also known as the Antwerp Forum, was held in Antwerp, Belgium from Nov. 22 to Nov. 23.
The trade value between China and Europe reached 480 billion U.S. dollars in 2010 and is expected to hit 570 billion U.S. dollars in 2011, said Sun Yongfu, director of the European Affairs Department of the Ministry of Commerce of China, said during the forum. The European Union has beeen China's largest trade partner for seven consecutive years.
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China Daily
The truth about Tibet and Dalai Lama
I read an article by Elisabeth Nauclrs in the Aug 22 edition of Hufvudstadsbladet (Hbl) in which she expresses anger with the Finnish government and president for not according the Dalai Lama an official reception. I have read other writings on the Dalai Lama's visit in Hbl, too, and decided to tell the truth about Tibet and the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama is neither the spiritual leader of Tibet nor does he represent the region. He is the leader of just the Yellow Hat (Gelug) sect of Tibetan Buddhism, which is dominant in Lhasa. Tibet has been an autonomous region ruled by local kings serving Chinese emperors since the 8th century.
The duties of the Dalai Lama, as well as the Panchen Lama, were prescribed relatively late by the Chinese rulers for helping them with the administration of the faraway and difficult-to-access region. The Chinese rulers made it clear that the Lama had to pass on these duties to the next incarnation, to be found following strict historical and religious rules. But even after the new incarnation was found, the Chinese emperor had the right to veto the choice.
The incarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama, who is now based in Dharamsala, India, was approved by the then national government of China. In short, a living Dalai Lama cannot choose his follower all by himself.
When the British invaded Lhasa in 1903 to snatch Tibet away from China, the 13th Dalai Lama disastrously declared that Tibetans were invulnerable, causing much bloodshed. To escape the attack, the 13th Dalai Lama fled Tibet and took shelter in Inner Mongolia. The destitute Dalai Lama was soon found by the emperor and put under house arrest in a Tibetan prefecture of Qinghai province, where Baron Gustaf Mannerheim, then marshal of Finland, visited him in 1907. The Russian czar, too, was interested in Tibet in order to expand his empire. But that stopped after the October Revolution.
The first decade of the 20th century was marked by political upheavals in China, and in chaos that followed the Boxer Rebellion, the Dalai Lama returned to Lhasa, which the British had left because they found it impossible to control the region for lack of transport facilities.
Tibet's peaceful liberation was achieved in 1951. When the People's Liberation Army entered Tibet in 1951, Chairman Mao Zedong was hailed as the liberator by the Tibetans and the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama got back part of his former powers and was made the vice-chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee in 1954.
But these facts have been brushed under the carpet. What took place in 1951 was an internal change in China, and not the invasion of an "independent" country.
In 1957, the Chinese leaders decided to end slavery in Tibet. Then, only about 5 percent of the Tibetans were monks or nuns, or belonged to the small noble class or free nomadic hunting tribes. The rest were slaves who had to toil to feed the non-productive elite of the population. That's why the monasteries, the house of the elites, saw the abolition of slavery as a catastrophe.
Since he wanted slavery to continue to maintain his status as a god, the Dalai Lama began spreading rumors that he could be jailed and even executed, which led to an uprising in 1959. But security forces soon brought it under control. It was then that the Dalai Lama fled the country and was "installed" in Dharamsala by the British and Americans, who used him as a weapon against Mao. And the CIA created the myth of the "father of the nation" fighting for the "freedom" of Tibet. The Dalai Lama may have ceased to be politically important, but the myth created around him survives.
Up to 1959, Tibet could be reached only through some horse-trails. The local economy was in tatters and education was the privilege of the elite. Normal schools were forbidden. Only schools in monasteries that taught religious scriptures were allowed. Worse, the slaves were called "talking cattle" and treated no better than cattle.
Now Tibet has a modern railway and airports. Today, there are schools and colleges for everybody in Tibet, and Lhasa even has a modern university. Besides, schools are free for ethnic Tibetans, who comprise 90.48 percent of Tibet's 3 million population, whereas Han Chinese have to pay for education.
Tibet is China's autonomous region like the Aland Islands are Finland's. The region has an autonomous government, local laws and regulations, and a governor that is necessarily an ethnic Tibetan. But the local government is subordinate to the central government, not the Dalai Lama.
In 2008, the Dalai Lama tried again to fuel an uprising in Tibet with the intention of prompting an international boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games. I was living in China then and wrote three articles for Finnish newspapers, laying bare the truth about the riots in Lhasa but they were not published because of censorship. Only Hbl had the courage to publish one of my articles, but that was reduced to a small piece in "the reader's voice". Finland's censorship is what forced me to try and get the English version of my rejected article published.
As a private person, I have visited Tibet and was free to move wherever and do whatever I liked. So I don't have to base my article on the canards against China that find the prime of places and time slots in the international print and electronic media.
The author is a Finnish scholar.
Kaixin OpEd: When reading articles about Tibet which challenge the narrative of the 'west', I suggest you heed the Dalai Lamas own words, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that,"
See Kaixin's - China & Tibet
Wen calls for confidence in economy
SUZHOU, Jiangsu -Premier Wen Jiabao has appealed for confidence in the country's economic development while warning against a "complicated and severe situation" facing the Chinese economy.
"Chinese economic growth has maintained good momentum in general but still faces some new circumstances and new problems," Wen was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency during his visit to East China's Jiangsu province.
US court concludes tariffs on Chinese goods illegal
Commerce Department does not have power to levy duties: Judges
WASHINGTON - US companies from steel to paper makers may lose a tool they've used to fight perceived undervalued Chinese imports after a US appeals court rejected the imposition of duties to offset alleged foreign government subsidies.
Capital market for returning yuan
Pilot program to allow HK investors to buy mainland stocks using RMB
BEIJING / SHANGHAI - The mainland on Friday launched a pilot program that will allow overseas investors to use offshore yuan deposits to invest in the mainland's capital markets.
Calling it a landmark move, experts said the deregulation will increase the popularity of the currency and expedite its internationalization.
The initial quota of the program, known as the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor, is 20 billion yuan ($3.1 billion), according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Beijing reaches annual 'blue sky days' target
BEIJING - As of Sunday, Beijing has enjoyed 274 days of "blue sky" in 2011, fulfilling its annual target ahead of schedule, an official with Beijing's Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said Sunday.
China sets goal for urban unemployment
BEIJING - China aims to keep the unemployment rate among registered city dwellers under 5 percent from 2011 to 2015, according to a statement released on Friday after an executive meeting of the State Council.
During those years, the government aims to create jobs for 45 million people in cities and 40 million unemployed laborers in the countryside.
"Employment pressures will continue to increase in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period," said the statement, citing decisions made at the meeting, which was presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao.
US envoy vows to extend common ground with Beijing
BEIJING - US special representative on Korean policy Glyn Davies said he is looking forward to upcoming meetings with senior Chinese diplomats and will extend common ground between the two sides.
US special representative on Korean policy Glyn Davies speaks to the media in Beijing on Tuesday. During his three-day stay in Beijing, Davies is scheduled to meet with Chinese diplomats, including Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, to discuss issues related to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Putting high-speed travel back on track
Experts call for reforms as ministry looks to restore confidence in rail network. Xin Dingding reports in Beijing.
China's bullet-train ambitions hit a number of snags in 2011 and ultimately slowed down. It was not what the Ministry of Railways had pictured.
Last December, when China became the first Asian nation to host a global high-speed rail summit, Liu Zhijun, the country's railways minister at the time, said China had 7,531 kilometers of railways running at 200 km/h and faster, including 4,322 km of newly laid track.
More than 10,000 km of high-speed railways were also being rolled out across the country, he said, with the majority set to open to public in 2013. By 2020, China's high-speed network would increase by 16,000 km, he said.
Planting roots in Shanghai
Three Gorges Dam project migrants were advised to 'relocate first, live steadily and then get rich'. And this is what they are doing. Qu Yingpu and Xu Xiaomin report.
Xu Jibo was full of apprehension in 2000 when he was moved from his ancestral home in Chongqing municipality to make way for the huge Three Gorges Dam project. He was 40 at the time.
Behind the brands
A survey confirms China's luxury goods buyers are young and keen on pampering themselves.
Lu Jing is 22 and works at a Shanghai-based advertising agency. She earns less than 6,000 yuan ($943) a month but is the proud owner of a 20,000 yuan Louis Vuitton (LV) bag. She says she lived on instant noodles and took buses instead of the subway to save 5-yuan a day in order to buy her dream bag. Lu's American colleague, Niki Anderson, who has been interning in Shanghai for the last four months, notes that almost every young woman in her office owns a brand name bag - but thinks brands like LV are old-fashioned. Anderson's observation reflects a point highlighted in the 2011 China Luxury Forecast, a survey mainly examining China's "post-1980 generation" luxury consumers, predicting future trends for China's prestige market.
See Kaixin's - 10 Status Symbols in contemporary China
Rural banks lend hand to farmers
Less-developed areas offer huge opportunities for small lenders, Wang Xiaotian reports from Hubei, Chongqing and Shandong.
When Hu Jizheng wanted to upgrade the facilities on his pig farm, he decided to do something unique.
Get a loan from a bank.
"In the past we used to borrow from relatives and friends," said the 48-year-old, who is raising more than 4,000 pigs on his farm in Hubei province.
A rural bank nearby, however, was offering money at an interest rate of 8.6 percent - less than he would pay elsewhere. So in April he borrowed 2 million yuan ($314,000) and expects the revamping of his equipment and purchase of a methane tank will bring his annual revenue to more than 15 million yuan.
"I never imagined a bank could lend me so much money at such a cheap rate."
He had earlier visited all traditional major lenders in the area. They all rejected him.
"To my surprise, unlike common banks, the working style of this rural bank is surprisingly good," Hu said. "Surely it's time for me to change my outlook and turn to rural banks for capital instead of private lenders."
Here comes the money: This farmer got the first loan from a village bank in Guangan, Sichuan province, after it opened last Dec 18. Rural banks have helped support small-business owners and farmers in underserved areas.
Kaixin OpEd - I still don't think the 'west' realises the economic potential that is unlocked in rural china.
Beijing blackout as air quality is unmasked
They say a picture speaks a thousand words. This is a photo of China's capital taken from the exact same spot over the last four days. The combination image, taken from Dec 2 to 5, captures staggering changes in the air quality in Beijing. The photos show the visibility in the area ranging from Central Business District in Chaoyang District to Communication University of China. A photographer consecutively took photos at this same place for two weeks from Nov 22 to Dec 5 to record the "fog" in this area. The recent frequent "fog" blanketing Beijing has spurred the public to call for a revamp of the air pollution regulations in China, in particular the decision to monitor levels of ultra-fine particles known as particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) which is deemed by some experts as the major cause of the choking smog.
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XinHua News
Chinese, Japanese FMs exchange views on Korean Peninsula
BEIJING, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Japanese counterpart Koichiro Gemba on Tuesday exchanged views concerning the passing of Kim Jong Il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Chinese farmers' income growth overtakes urban workers': report
BEIJING, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- A government-backed blue book unveiled Monday said China's millions of migrant workers had acquired increasing income growth, but more than 60 percent of them lived separately from their family members.
With a rapid rate of urbanization since China adopted an opening-up and reform policy at the end of the 1970s, millions of farmers left their rural homes to find seasonal jobs in the construction and service industries.
Estimates put the country's number of migrant workers at over 240 million people, a number roughly equal to the entire U.S. population.
Trade, exchange rate frictions to challenge China's economic diplomacy next year: experts
BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's economic diplomacy will face growing challenges in the form of trade and exchange rate disputes, as well as the task of protecting overseas investment interests, over the next few years, experts said on Sunday.
Top political advisor urges deeper mainland-Taiwan exchanges
BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has called for more economic and cultural exchanges between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan and denounced "Taiwan independence" as a huge risk for the peace of the Taiwan Strait.
China vows to make South China Sea safe
HAIKOU, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- China expects friendly cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to make the South China Sea safe, a Foreign Ministry official said Thursday.
Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin made the remarks during an international seminar on implementing the Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and maintaining the navigational freedom and security of the sea.
China Int'l Environmental Protection Expo opens in Jiangsu
NANJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The 2011 China International Environmental Protection Expo opened in east China's Jiangsu Province Friday, attracting more than 240 enterprises from home and abroad.
The most advanced environmental protection technology and products from around the world will be showcased at the expo held in the provincial capital of Nanjing.
China will invest a total of 3 trillion yuan (470 billion U.S.dollars) in its environmental protection industry during the country's 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015).
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Graeme has been using ChinesePod since 2007
"I highly recommend ChinesePod, I haven't found any Online teaching programmes that come close."
Global Times
Investigation in Wukan
Life in the village of Wukan, Guangdong Province returned to normal as provincial authorities began investigating allegnds are not met.
"Daily work in the village has resumed. The investigation team began consultations with us. They wrote down our appeals and offered contacts, agreeing to answer our calls and listen to our opinions at any time," Yang Semao, one of the village representatives, told the Global Times yesterday.
"We demand the return of our farmland and the publication of the village committee's financial records. We want a re-election of the committee. We also hope authorities can redefine the character of the incident. If the requirements are not met, we will continue petitioning," Yang said, adding that he had no idea how long the investigation will take.
On Monday, local authorities said they reclaimed 269,000 square meters of farmland from property developers and promised to come up with new plans for the land under the approval of the villagers.
Yang said the land in question was just a small part of the dispute.
"A lot more farmland than that was occupied or transferred without giving us any compensation," he said.
Put public first when solving land disputes
A favorable turn has ended the ongoing standoff in the village of Wukan in Guangdong Province as the provincial government held conciliatory talks with village representatives.
The protests started with a land dispute, then intensified into a petition, and finally escalated into group protests. Such protests are very common in China nowadays. The government's commitment to solving this issue has been praised.
The number of land disputes in China is rising. The process of land requisition is often unfair.
China's N.Korea initiative on right track
The geopolitical landscape surrounding post-Kim Jong-il North Korea has been taking shape.
South Korea, the United States and the United Nations have expressed their condolences over Kim's death and welcomed a smooth transition of power in the country.
China responded quickly by supporting the new leader and helping ensure a smooth transition. China's stance has played an important role in contributing to the current situation.
China's attitude this time is a successful example of international diplomacy.
China must ensure smooth NK transition
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death is a crucial issue for Northeast Asia. No matter how the transition of power will be realized within North Korea, some countries will take it as an opportunity to change the strategic pattern of the region. Both the stability of North Korea and the region will be tested.
Shortly after the news broke, China expressed its official condolences over Kim's death.
At this time, China's attitude is particularly important. It should be resolute in maintaining the independence of North Korea, protect the country's transition of power from external interference, and ensure its freedom to choose its own path.
China’s foreign policy not a matter of tough vs. soft
At a foreign policy seminar in Beijing yesterday, Assistant Foreign Minister Le Yucheng pointed out that the international community, especially certain Western countries, has been complaining about China being "increasingly assertive." At the same time within the country, public opinion has been labeling Chinese foreign policy as "too soft."
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Graeme has been using ChinesePod since 2007
"I highly recommend ChinesePod, I haven't found any Online teaching programmes that come close."
CHINA
CCTV 9
News and Current Affairs
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Rich Chinese look to emigrate
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Improving welfare of low income groups be priority of 2012
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Airbus delivers 2nd A380 to China
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Green energy convoy arrives in Lhasa
A convoy filled with liquefied natural gas has successfully arrived in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet a...
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Lhasa attracts more foreigners to settle down
And, more on Tibet. With its unique culture, unbeatable scenery and the improving services, more and...
LEARN CHINESE
Graeme has been using ChinesePod since 2007
"I highly recommend ChinesePod, I haven't found any Online teaching programmes that come close."
The Wall Street Journal
Trade Binds North Korea to China
Swift Reopening of Border Illustrates How Recent Commercial Ties Have Unleashed Economic Forces in Frontier Areas
YANJI, China—When North Korea closed its frontier with China to visitors and trade after the death of Kim Jong Il, people here braced for a long wait: Tourists were stranded, business trips canceled, food and oil deliveries frozen.
China Grants Licenses for New Yuan Program
The China Securities Regulatory Commission granted the first batch of licenses under a newly launched trial program that allows yuan funds raised offshore to be invested in China's capital markets, according to some of the funds and people familiar with the situation.
Party Mouthpiece Praises Wukan Resolution
An editorial in the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, lauded the compromise as a way to end volatile disturbances. The headline read: “To grasp the key to solving problems is to grasp the interest and demands of the masses.”
China’s 99% Still Occupied With Inflation
Who knows what Chinese people want?
In the absence of democratic elections, it’s difficult to tell what the policy preferences of China’s 1.3 billion population is. But as a distant second best, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences conducts an annual survey of urban residents to find out what’s yanking their chain. The results of this year’s survey have now been published.
China Survey Finds Moderating Inflation Expectations
BEIJING—Inflation expectations among urban depositors in China have fallen, the People's Bank of China's quarterly survey found, in the latest sign that Beijing is making progress in its battle against inflation.
China Considers Letting Pensions Invest in Domestic Stocks
BEIJING—Some Chinese officials are pushing for a system that would allow local governments to take some of the nearly two trillion yuan ($317 billion) socked away in pension funds and invest in domestic stocks, according to people familiar with the matter.
A Chinese Love Song for Europe
With more Chinese investors like this, Europe’s outlook might not be so bleak after all.
Smoke On the South China Sea
Media photos of flames floating this week on the surface of the South China Sea appear to challenge a contention from China National Offshore Oil Corp. that an undersea gas leak it reported caused no environmental pollution.
Pudong: Views Then and Now
A little more than 20 years ago, a few words from China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping set in motion the establishment of a major city extension on Shanghai’s east side, the Pudong New Area.
Shanghai's Pudong, Once Soulless, Rises Up
District's Ascendancy and Ongoing Success as a Financial Center Is Reminder of Still-Strong Property Demand in China
SHANGHAI—Pundits once mocked Shanghai's Pudong district, a purpose-built version of Manhattan, as overdesigned and underoccupied, evidence in steel and glass of a property bubble of historic proportions.
Why Predicting China’s Economic Growth is So Hard
Signs of slowing real estate investment, shrinking manufacturing output and a shift to pro-growth monetary policy have China economists revising their forecasts for 2012. But predicting the outlook for growth in any country is fraught with difficulty. When it comes to China, the problems are compounded.
Bright Side in China’s Gloomy Property Market - VIDEO
Property prices in China are likely to fall further following a series of government tightening measures. Richard Price, Asia-Pacific CEO of CBRE Investments, tells Asia Today why there is still value if you are an investor.
Beijing Considers Easing Cash Rules
BEIJING—China is weighing measures to enable its citizens to invest more overseas as part of its efforts to diversify the country's $3.2 trillion foreign-exchange reserves, according to people familiar with the matter.
Foreign Head of Chinese Bank Sees Need for Efficiency
Richard Jackson, one of the few non-Chinese nationals to have served in top management in China's state-run banking industry, has an insider's view of the effects of China's policy on business.
China Property Prices Decline
BEIJING—Average property prices in Chinese cities saw a second consecutive monthly drop in November, according to government data released Sunday, in a further sign that Beijing's two-year tightening campaign to cool the red-hot property market is having an impact.
China Policy Banks Partying Like It’s 2009
In this year of tight monetary policy, China’s commercial banks have been kept on a tight leash, right? Not exactly. For some Chinese banks, it’s been like 2009 all over again.
China Launches New Trial Program for Yuan Investments
SHANGHAI—China has launched a trial program to allow yuan funds raised offshore to be invested in its domestic capital markets, in a widely anticipated and significant move to help internationalize the Chinese currency and further open the nation's tightly controlled capital account.
China's Xi Starts Diplomacy Test
Vice President, Expected to Assume Top Post Next Year, Visits Neighbors in Effort to Improve Tie
BEIJING—China Vice President Xi Jinping, the man expected to take over as China's top leader next year, will face one of the first serious tests of his diplomatic acumen next week when he visits Vietnam, which is now forging closer ties with the U.S. due to an increasingly tense territorial dispute with Beijing.
300-Meter Banyan Tree Made of Steel and Light in … Taichung?
Even in an era of stadiums shaped like birds nests and skyscrapers that look like sails, Sou Fujimoto’s design for a 300-meter triangular steel structure inspired by the banyan tree manages to surprise.
Dubbed “The Taiwan Tower,” Mr. Sou’s building is slated to go up, not in Beijing or Dubai, but in Taichung, Taiwan’s third most populous city.
Bill Gates Discussing New Nuclear Reactor With China
BEIJING — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates confirmed Wednesday he is in discussions with China to jointly develop a new and safer kind of nuclear reactor.
"The idea is to be very low cost, very safe and generate very little waste," said the billionaire during a talk at China's Ministry of Science and Technology.
Zhang Yimou’s ‘Flowers of War’ Sumptuous But Lacks Subtlety
Leading Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou is hoping to hit it big in China and globally with his new film, “The Flowers of the War” (金陵十三钗). The question is, can he do it?
Featuring Hollywood star Christian Bale, “The Flowers of the War” is China’s Academy Award entry for best foreign language film and tackles subject matter familiar within China: Japan’s brutal occupation of China’s southern city of Nanjing in 1937.
Amy Tan Q&A: China Then and Now, and How to Bridge the Gap
Novelist Amy Tan has spent most of her life examining the divide between China and America through novels that examine the emotional minefields of families and the clashes that come from cultural misunderstandings.
Photos: Liu Bolin, Vanishing Artist
See Kaixin's FEATURE on Liu Bolin with plenty of Photos
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Graeme has been using ChinesePod since 2007
"I highly recommend ChinesePod, I haven't found any Online teaching programmes that come close."
The New York Times
Carbon Emission Fees for Flights Upheld
A decision by the European Union’s highest court on Wednesday could spark a trade war with countries that oppose being forced into Europe’s carbon-trading system.
China Exerts Influence Nurtured Over Decades
China appears to be moving quickly to try to ensure stability in North Korea, a crippled and isolated nation now facing a leadership transition fraught with dangers.
Real Estate Firms Learn to Do Business in China
Drawn by an expanding middle class, commercial real estate companies in the United States and Canada are building malls and residential developments in China.
Will China Break?
There’s a new danger spot in a world economy that really, really doesn’t need another one right now.
Will North Korea Become China’s Newest Province?
The future of North Korea depends in large part on the responses of, and dialogue between, the United States and China.
Trade Deficit Would Test Beijing
The first quarter is shaping up to be especially tough because of weak demand from Europe and the United States, coupled with the normal spike in imports with the celebration of Chinese New Year.
English, Once a Barrier, Opens a Door
Hui Lin, 17, says that despite years of struggling, the experience of learning English has ultimately given her a chance to succeed.
The Battle Over Aviation Emissions
China and the United States were among two dozen countries calling on Europe to modify or scrap its plans to regulate airline emissions with just weeks to go before the system goes into force.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Meets With Chinese Ambassador
China is the biggest foreign supporter of the Burmese government, and the ambassador said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had requested the meeting.
A River's Gifts
By SHENG KEYI
When I was younger I was ashamed to admit I came from a remote village, yet I lacked the courage to claim I was from a city, so I usually said simply that I came from an outlying township. Now I must tell the truth, that I was born in an isolated village.
Will China Stumble? Don't Bet on It
6 days ago ... I remain staunchly optimistic that China will continue to be the world's greatest machine for economic expansion.
China’s W.T.O. Anniversary Shows a World of Difference
As China celebrates its 10th anniversary since joining the World Trade Organization, the country has been reflecting on its success as a top trade partner.
Inflation Cooling Off in China
Consumer prices in November rose 4.2 percent from a year earlier, the Chinese statistics bureau reported Friday, continuing a steady easing of inflationary pressures.
U.S. and China Meet in Annual Military Review
Top American and Chinese military officials began an annual review of major issues in Beijing on Wednesday pledging to seek greater cooperation and trust.
An Entrepreneur’s Rival in China: The State
Private companies have been the prime engine of China’s economic miracle, and economists warn that the Chinese government’s eagerness to control more of that wealth could stifle innovation.
LEARN CHINESE
Graeme has been using ChinesePod since 2007
"I highly recommend ChinesePod, I haven't found any Online teaching programmes that come close."
Asia Times Online
Maybe that war with China isn't so far off
By Peter Lee
The United States has the doctrine, the means and the motivation to make mischief for China in 2012. In an unusually toxic election year, expect the US to feed the "return to Asia" narrative with the specter of China as an arrogant and destabilizing regional threat. That will make China leery and ready to repel any sign that Washington may apply its "preventative diplomacy" doctrine to cross red lines in Taiwan, Tibet and the South China Sea.
Miscalculation on either side could spark trouble.
BOOK REVIEW
A future with China
China and the Credit Crisis: the Emergence
of a New World Order
by Giles Chance
The book explores the inter-connection between United States policy and China's participation in globalization. The presentation on what the current economic crisis means for the future of the US dollar and the necessary adjustment by the world's financial and regulatory systems to incorporate China's needs are balanced and satisfying. Yet the most important reason to read this work may be what it has to offer about how these troubled times will reshape US-China relations.
- Benjamin A Shobert
INTERVIEW
Getting the dragon onboard
The Chinese may have an attitude whereby they want to exploit the rest of the world for their own benefit. They do not see themselves yet as a responsible leader of the world economy. The issue is how can China be brought to stand alongside Europe and America? So asks Giles Chance, author of China and the Credit Crisis in a conversation with Benjamin A Shobert.
Wukan denies land protest aims at revolt
By Olivia Chung
Government officials and police have fled the Chinese village of Wukan as residents demand back land they say was stolen from them. But with the area famed as the birthplace of the country's first communist revolution, organizers are at pains to proclaim their peaceful intent and love of the Communist Party.
TAIWAN GETS READY TO VOTE
Polls put DPP ahead in three-horse race
The most reliable survey of Taiwanese voters puts anti-unification candidate Tsai Ing-wen ahead of incumbent Ma Ying-jeou in the island's January 14 presidential and legislative elections. Beijing dreads a win for Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and has indicated it will hobble her presidency. If votes for James Soong Chu-yu's People's First Party mean the DPP fails to control parliament, the result will likely be a lame government anyway. - Jens Kastner
SINOGRAPH
And the winner is ...
Hu Jintao by a shadow
It is almost sacrilegious to say it, but there is already a real winner of Taiwan's presidential election - China's President Hu Jintao. No matter who is elected the island's leader, it is impossible to escape the mainland's shadow. A crowd of economic figures and links in travel and communications solidify this reality. Political reunification is already underway.
- Francesco Sisci
US Congress fights China on all fronts
By Benjamin A Shobert
On Tuesday last week, the Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC) held a hearing on Liu Xiaobo. While it was focused specifically on the one-year anniversary of Xiaobo's Nobel Peace Prize, it also sought to answer the larger question of what his treatment suggests about the potential for further reform of China's political process.
SINOGRAPH
China and the shadow
of German history
At this point in history for China there is room to argue that the nation is faring better than Europe or the United States. Mounting internal criticism of the "Peaceful Evolution" doctrine and resistance to political and economic reform ignore the fact that China's model is creating a growing misalignment of interests between China and the rest of the world. The shadow of the history of Germany 100 years ago holds a warning for China today. - Francesco Sisci
Kent Ewing
As a potentially deadly smog cloud with a toxicity that was off the charts hit Beijing last week, a haze of misinformation seen in low official readings had many city-dwellers turning to microblogs for accurate air-quality information. A cold front has cleared the fearsome fog, but the apathy of the leaders and the environmental consequences of rapid growth will likely see another soon descend. - Kent Ewing
China 'easing' outlook boosts Asian stocks
By Olivia Chung
HONG KONG - The prospect of China loosening its monetary policy helped to drive up Asia's markets on Monday as the country's leaders gathered for their annual Central Economic Work Conference, which will set the tone for next year's economic policy.
China tunnel and nuclear warhead follies
By Peter Lee
The recent hubbub over the size of China's nuclear warhead stockpile and its underground maze of missile hidey-holes, the notorious "Underground Great Wall of China" is, on one level, a battle between sensationalizing amateurs and incensed arms control professionals.
On another level, it highlights a continuing nuclear security stand-off between the United States and China.
INTERVIEW
Eagle and dragon lock claws in mid-flight
Benjamin A Shobert talks to Aaron L Friedberg, the author of A Contest for Supremacy: China, America, and the Struggle for Mastery in Asia
America's focus on the emerging challenge posed by China was first distracted by the "war on terror" and then the 2008 financial crisis, says author Aaron L Friedberg. In the meantime, Beijing advanced economically, developed asymmetric capabilities and grew assertive. China may not want to conquer Asia. However, it could extend a preponderant political influence over the region with dire consequences for the US.
THE ROVING EYE
An extreme traveler, Pepe's nose for news has taken him to all parts of the Pepe Escobar globe. He was in Afghanistan and interviewed the military leader of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, Ahmad Shah Masoud, a couple of weeks before his assassination
LEARN CHINESE
Graeme has been using ChinesePod since 2007
"I highly recommend ChinesePod, I haven't found any Online teaching programmes that come close."
Caixin Online
Conference Sets Predictable Economic Course
In the face of slowing growth, government policymakers are shifting from inflation-fighting to promoting consumption
An unscheduled delay of a few days for the government's annual Central Economic Work Conference set market speculators buzzing with rumors about high-level clashes over the economy, a possible easing of real estate market controls, and China's next response to the European debt crisis.
- Germany's Wind Market Only a Puff for Chinese
- Offshore wind power is a booming business in Germany, but not for Chinese turbine makers and related companies
- Bringing Down the Housing Price in Beijing
- While the housing market has lurched slightly downward in recent months, homebuyers say bad policies continue to keep prices hiked up
- China Seeks Stability After Kim Jong-il's Death
- For the past year, Beijing has sought to ensure a stable leadership succession in Pyongyang
- 12.19.2011
- Closer Look: Companies Backtrack on Real Estate
- Mainland-listed companies are moving to minimize their exposure to the real estate market in a marked reversal from previous years
- Yuan Expansion Hits Hurdles
- Market analysts indicated the appreciation of the yuan will slow down amid the European debt crisis and decrease in exports, among other factors
- China's Solar Sector Sees Sunrise with Sunset
- Risks abound for Chinese solar manufacturers as world demand softens, but the big companies are still expanding
- China Gets Fresh Chance to Float the Yuan
- Today's crisis-environment opportunity to liberalize the economy through foreign exchange reform must not be missed
- Hu Pledges to Address Trade Imbalances
- Citing projections that retail sales are expected to grow by 15 percent annually, Hu indicated China's trade surplus would gradually level out on policies to increase domestic consumption
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- Well-paid corporate managers, lawyers and doctors are contributing to the demise of an entire economy
-
When Public Prurience Meets Media Mea Culpa
- Driven to the edge by a rapist and reporters, a Shenzhen couple's story points to what's wrong, and right, with the media
-
Australia's China Challenge
- Derived from the growth of the Chinese economy, the speed of Chinese investment into Australia is predicated on productivity drivers that now face major difficulties
New Mantra for Monetary Policy: Easy Does It
Yet the jury is out over whether the central bank's decision to cut bank-reserve ratios set the stage for more loosening in 2012.
Some called it a symbolic adjustment when China's central bank dug into its toolbox and gave the go-ahead for more lending and spending November 30 by lowering the nation's bank deposit reserve requirement a half-percentage point.
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