9th of July 2011

Thursday

Jul142011

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."

People's Daily

China sticks to people-oriented diplomacy

As the unrest in the strategically important regions of West Asia and North Africa continues, the foreign policies of major world powers in the region are drawing worldwide attention.

People-oriented diplomacy is an important component of China's diplomacy and is aimed at protecting the interests of the people. In the 20th century, when a wave of democratic revolutions swept the world, China followed the trend of the times, firmly supported the people's struggle for national liberation and independence and made great contributions to the regional and world peace.

China approves Zhoushan Archipelago New Area

China's State Council, or the Cabinet, has approved a plan to establish the Zhoushan Archipelago New Area in southeastern Zhejiang Province, local authorities said Thursday.

It will be the country's fourth state-level new district after Pudong New Area in Shanghai Municipality, Binhai New Area in Tianjin Municipality and Liangjiang New Area in Chongqing Municipality, Zhejiang provincial governor Lu Zushan said at a press conference.

The New Area, covering all of Zhoushan City with 1,440 square kilometers of land area and 20,800 square kilometers of inland sea, is planned to be built into a pioneer area in leading oceanic economic development as well as an important new growth engine for the Yangtze River Delta economic zones, Lu said.

UK official: China's nuclear know-how can be exported

The Chinese nuclear industry is developing rapidly and the experience it is gaining provides Chinese companies opportunities to invest in the United Kingdom, a UK official said.

The major area of opportunity is for companies that manufacture components for the AP-1000 - the third generation technology of Westinghouse - or Areva reactors, said Tim Stone, expert chair of the nuclear development office under the UK's Department of Energy & Climate Change.

China reiterates freedom of navigation in South China Sea

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had reaffirmed the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea during a recent meeting with his Japanese counterpart Takeaki Matsumoto, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Thursday.

July key for talks on S. China Sea

With disputes in the South China Sea flaring up in recent weeks, July may be a critical month for discussions on the issue.

Following Vietnamese Vice-Foreign Minister Ho Xuan Son, who left Beijing in late June with an agreement emphasizing the importance of diplomatic negotiation in solving the China-Vietnam maritime dispute, Philippine President Benigno Aquino is scheduled to visit China in the near future, with the South China Sea issue high on his agenda, reported Philippine media.

As a prelude to the visit, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario will visit China on Thursday, which the Philippine media said "could help cool down the raging territorial dispute".

World's longest cross-sea bridge opens in east China

The world's longest cross-sea bridge spanning Jiaozhou Bay of Qingdao City, Shandong Province, opened on Thursday.

The opening ceremony of the 36.48-km eight-lane Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Bridge was held Thursday morning.

The bridge, connecting the urban district of the city to its Huangdao district, cost 14.8 billion yuan (2.3 billion U.S. dollars). Construction of the bridge began in May 2007.

See Kaixin's FEATURE - The Qingdao-Haiwan Bridge

CCTV VIDEO

Motives behind US talk of 'freedom of navigation'

The words "freedom of navigation" have frequently appeared in the media of the United States amid the recent territorial disputes in the South China Sea. According to a report by Reuters on June 23, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said when meeting with the Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, "We are concerned that recent incidents in the South China Sea could undermine peace and stability in the region," and "U.S. national interests in freedom of navigation and respect for international law are at stake." Some senior U.S. officials and mainstream agencies have repeatedly made similar remarks over recent months as if international navigation in the South China Sea were in peril.

Clashes over South China Sea pose a test to new E Asian Structure

By Li Hongmei

South China Sea waters will be churned up if some regional countries insisted on risky ventures to address the so-called border issue. What is happening now is already inviting the global concerns--- Vietnam is using live ammunition in its war exercises in the waters of the South China Sea. Meanwhile, Philippine President Benigno Aquino's office stated it was renaming the South China Sea as the "West Philippine Sea" amid the mounting tensions with Beijing.

First shooting Lowest-hanging target

By Li Hongmei

An overall analysis of the currently burning South China Sea can see a general divide of, to put it briefly, big and minor issues:

Kaixin - A detailed anlysis of the issue from China's perspective

A vision for ruling CPC

By Li Hong

Three events will serve as footnotes for the 90th anniversary of the ruing Communist Party of China: the world's single longest high-speed railroad connecting Beijing and Shanghai goes to operation; top lawmakers approve an amendment to the tax code, giving tax exemptions to low- and middle-income earners but adding tax on the rich; and probably, by coincidence, Premier Wen Jiabao visits Hungary, Britain and Germany, forging a deeper and closer partnership with Europe

China Daily

Maritime disputes 'will not affect ties'

BEIJING - China and the Philippines on Friday agreed not to let maritime disputes affect relations.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario exchanged views on the recent maritime disputes and agreed not to let disagreements affect "the broader picture of friendship and cooperation between the two countries", read a joint news release issued after the ministers' talks in Beijing.

Govt targets makers of fake goods

BEIJING - Tight supervision and severe penalties have been used to rein in exports of counterfeits and inferior goods, China's top quality watchdog said on Friday.

Inspection teams targeted six major categories of goods, including toys, clothes, furniture, bags and suitcases, said Yan Fengmin, director of law enforcement for the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Regulator provides directions for Google and Microsoft

BEIJING - China's industry regulator will not shut down online mapping services provided by Google Inc and Microsoft Corp, the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping said on Friday.

XinHua News

Tibet in best period of development, 60 years after liberation

BEIJING, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Tibet is now in its best period of development, Chinese leaders said, while visiting an exhibition marking the 60th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet on Friday.

The peaceful liberation of Tibet was an epoch-making tipping point in Tibet's history, marking its transition from autocracy to democracy, from poverty to affluence, and from seclusion to openness, said the leaders, according to an official statement Xinhua received.

See Kaixin's - China & Tibet

China sees positive role for Poland in promoting China-EU relations

GDANSK, Poland, July 8 (Xinhua) -- China hopes Poland, which currently holds the rotating European Union (EU) presidency, can play a positive role in promoting China-EU relations, a visiting senior Chinese official said Friday.

China to drive consolidation of 8 industries over next 5 years

BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- China will drive its industrial consolidation over the next five years in order to increase industrial concentration and eliminate overcapacity, a senior official said on Thursday.

Priority will be given to the automobile, steel, cement, electrolytic aluminum, rare earth mining, IT, equipment manufacturing and medical industries, according to Su Bo, vice minister of the industry and information technology.

He also pledged support for cross-border mergers and transregional acquisitions.

China approves plan for energy "golden zone"

BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhuanet) – The central government has approved plans for an energy industry "golden zone" linking Shaanxi province and the autonomous regions of Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongolia in northwestern China, said an autonomous region official on Wednesday.

The blueprint for the zone, connecting the energy-rich regions of Yulin city in north Shaanxi province, Ordos in southwestern Inner Mongolia and the Ningdong energy and chemical base in Ningxia Hui autonomous region, was first proposed by Vice-Premier Li Keqiang during an inspection of Ningxia in February 2010.

Global Times

Friends indeed

Foreigners who have contributed to China’s development are sometimes bestowed a seemingly simple honorific that says a lot about the esteem with which they are held.

To be called a Chinese people’s “lao pengyou” (old friend) is something that is not easily earned, nor is it offered willy-nilly.

To become a “friend” a foreigner must give their heart to the country and understand China’s soul.

Included among China’s officially recognized friends are powerful past and present world leaders and historical figures who dedicated, and sometime gave their lives, in shared common purpose with China. They also include teachers who helped educate the disadvantaged, medical workers who saved countless lives and foreign experts who helped make progress possible.

In diplomatic circles the title “Chinese People’s old friend” is not something that is casually bandied about. “It’s a top honor by China to recognize foreigners who helped with the revolution, or later with the country’s development,” Jia Qingguo, deputy director of the School of International Studies at Peking University, told the Global Times.

Chinese people usually learn who has been designated a “Chinese people’s old friend” from

Kissinger recalls four decades of Sino-US balance

It’s 40 years this week since Pakistan International Airlines secretly flew Henry Kissinger to Beijing to meet Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, paving the way for reopening diplomatic ties between US and China.

“It was my 70th visit to China, of which 50 were official visits and 20 were private visits,” the 88-year-old Kissinger told visitors in Chongqing last week.

China Television News & Dialogue (30 Minute Current Affairs Program)

What's feasible option to solve maritime disputes?

For more on the Diao-yu Island dispute, let's speak to Professor Zhang Yunling. He is director of the Institute of the Asia-Pacific Studies, in Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Q1: Professor, one of the fishing boats heading for the disputed Diao-yu Islands belongs to a Japanese political group. What's believed to be the intent behind this move and how serious could the political consequences be?

Q2: South Korea is also looking to extend its continental shelf in the East Sea. With many sides eager to make their own claims, what is a feasible option to solve maritime disputes?

Yellow river reservoirs discharge mud

Reservoirs along North China's Yellow River are releasing mud as a precaution against flooding.The Yellow River earned its name the large amounts of yellow sand along its river bed.

These sand deposits can build up over time and even accumulate in reservoirs along the river. If left unattended, the sand can block the water flow.

Dialogue (30 Min Current Affairs program) - Singapore assesses China's model

Dialogue (30 Min Current Affairs program) - IMF welcome new head

Dialogue (30 Min Current Affairs Program) - Exclusive interview with Admiral Joseph Wilson Prueher, Former US Ambassador to China

The Wall Street Journal

Why Pork Prices Are Such a Big Deal in China

It’s déjà vu all over again for China’s economic policy makers. In February 2008, a disease sweeping through the pig population was the catalyst for the consumer price index to rise to 8.7% year-on-year.

Peak of Chinese Inflation Remains Elusive

BEIJING—Economists are predicting that China's surging inflation is about to hit its peak and start subsiding, which could augur a halt to the government's efforts to tap the brakes on the world's No. 2 economy. But many of those same economists were predicting exactly the same thing a year ago.

Economists React: July Rate Hike, Last of the Year?

hina’s central bank announced its fifth interest-rate increase in eight months, raising the benchmark loan and deposit rates by .25 percentage point each amid concerns over accelerating inflation. Analysts weigh in.

Economists Think Central Bank Is Done Raising Rates — Poll

Economists generally expect that China’s central bank is done raising interest rates this year, although a significant minority predicts one further rate hike, a Dow Jones Newswires poll showed Thursday.

China's Corn Hunger Turns Market on Ear

Demand From Beijing Augurs Higher Food, Futures Prices

A Chinese buying spree for U.S. corn is putting on display the ability of Beijing to reshape grain markets as well as the cost of food globally.

Judging Mao as a Man

Only when Chinese strip away the mythology surrounding Mao Zedong will we understand his terrible legacy.

Editor's note: This article is adapted from a longer essay that has now been removed from the website of Caixin magazine. After it was published, pro-Maoist groups have called for the author to be prosecuted for sedition and treason. The translation is by Jude Blanchette.

Mao Zedong was once a god. With the uncovering of more and more documents and information, he is gradually returning to human form.

See Kaixin's - “Restore Mao Zedong as a Man” by Mao Yushi

Dr. Henry Kissinger on China, Diplomacy and the Global Economy

In his latest book, “On China,” Dr. Henry Kissinger reflects on the issues that have defined the Sino-American relationship over the past half-decade.

As part of a recent Ideas Market Speaker Series event, Robert Thomson, Managing Editor for The Wall Street Journal and Dr. Kissinger had a wide-ranging conversation about economic policy, international diplomacy and more.

Here are some excerpts.

The New York Times

China Raises Interest Rates

It is the latest in a series of moves aimed at cooling the pace of economic growth and the steep price rises that have accompanied expansion.

Endangered Dragon

A Lurking Liability
By DAVID BARBOZA

This is the first in a series of articles examining China’s system of government-managed capitalism, and the potential weaknesses that could threaten the nation’s remarkable economic growth.

A City's Binge in China - PHOTOGRAPHS

China is in the midst of a spectacular investment boom, with its biggest cities spending hundreds of billions of dollars on new infrastructure: roads, bridges, tunnels, power plants, water treatment facilities and new financial districts. Wuhan, a city of 9 million people in central China's Hubei province, is part of the leading edge of this development effort — a spree whose tenuous financial underpinnings may signal economic trouble ahead.

Architecture Review
Chinese Gem That Elevates Its Setting

GUANGZHOU, China — Designed by Zaha Hadid, the new Guangzhou Opera House is a magnificent example of how a building can redeem a moribund urban environment.

Guangzhou Opera House Designed by Zaha Hadid, the complex integrates a main hall and smaller stage with a park by a business district. More Photos »

Caixin Online

SOHO Fails to Win Beijing CBD Site Despite Highest Offer

Eight of the nine sites in the last batch of premium land sites available in Beijing's central business district were sold

(Beijing) – SOHO China, the largest private property developer in Beijing's central business district, failed to win any of its three bids for the last batch of CBD sites, in spite of offering the highest bid in each auction.

Eight of the nine sites were sold ...

Freedom of Information to Fight Corruption

How the public's online interest in a Shenyang official’s reaction to media reports over his wife’s business effectively served as a check on corruption

In his book, "Research on Chinese Bureaucratic Politics," the late Chinese economist and Professor Wang Yanan summed up the bureaucracy in China as a system in which government officials have a complete monopoly on power and have the authority to arbitrarily infringe on the freedom of citizens.

Ugly Highway Crash for Chinese Firm in Poland

A construction project billed as a breakthrough for a China engineering concern ended in friction and failure

A Polish highway project that was supposed to crack open the lucrative European construction market for a Chinese engineering conglomerate has slammed doors instead.

Government Platforms Taint 'Safe' Bond Market

By shifting assets and borrowing from banks, local government financing platforms are scaring a lot of bond holders

Default fears are unnerving investors with stakes in bonds issued by local government financing platforms across China.

Diagnoses and Cures for Local Government Debt

Trillions of yuan owed by local governments point to potential trouble ahead but opportunities for fiscal budget reform

A clearer view of local government debt came into focus June 27 when the National Audit Office published its first survey of fiscal borrowing programs common across the mainland. That same week, Caixin reported that Yunnan's provincial government was struggling to pay back loans tied to a highway project, and sparking fears of a domino effect of defaults.

For China's Monetary Policy, Tight Is Right
By Andy Xie

China must maintain current policy despite a lot of empty talk about controlled inflation and small company crises

Policymakers in almost every country talk about helping SMEs, which typically face higher capital costs because, in the end, size does matter. Ceteris paribus, a small company is riskier and must accept these higher costs.

Economist: China's Market-Oriented Reforms in Retreat

Wu Jinglian, researcher at the Development and Research Center at the State Council, said reforms to the state economy have undergone a reversal of momentum since the start of the 2000s

(Beijing) - China's "market forces have regressed" as government agencies have started to play a more obstructive role in resource allocation, Wu Jinglian, one of China's foremost economists, said on July 4.

Steelmakers Strained by Profit Margins

The China Iron and Steel Association says profit figures for this year so far highlight the industry’s low industry concentration, overcapacity and inefficient production chain

(Beijing) – Net profit margins of the Chinese steel sector have remained below one-year bank deposit rates for four straight years, according to the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).

Pork Prices Expected to Rise on Supply Shortage

Analysts say pork prices, up roughly 40 percent year-on-year, are expected to spur production

(Beijing) – This year's record-breaking pork prices, a major contributor to increasing food inflation, will continue to rise on low production, according to many analysts.

The Most Favored Go-Between
By Eu Li

Henry Kissinger's On China offers a rich examination of Sino-U.S. relations from 1971 onward

Ancient Chinese history and the Chinese concept of "face" in diplomacy are explored in Henry Kissinger's most recent book, "On China." While American readers may be interested in the former national security advisor's musings on Chinese diplomacy, Chinese readers will be keen to know the details of Kissinger's interactions with Chinese leaders, which cover a span of forty years. Starting with U.S. President Richard Nixon's first visit to China in 1971, his recollections include an intimate conversation between Nixon and Deng Xiaoping, where Deng turns the microphone off. The book also offers a rare glimpse into the friendship that was formed with former Premier Zhou Enlai.

Asia Times Online

SUN WUKONG
The significance of reports of Jiang's demise
By Wu Zhong, China Editor

The rumor mill and attempts to block it worked overtime this week amid unconfirmed reports that former Chinese president Jiang Zemin had died. While deletions from websites prove the health of China's retired leaders is still a state secret, concerns that a death of a former leader could tip the balance of power are unfounded.

Taiwan's DIY arms hopes face friendly fire over credibility
By Jens Kastner

As the United States drags its feet on supplying Taiwan with the latest military hardware, one solution for the island is to build its own, and keep more of its US$9.2 billion defense budget within its economy. Time, however, is not on its side.

China, Vietnam in a war of words
By M Goonan

When state-owned news services in Vietnam glorify patriotic antagonism with China over South China Sea squabbles, they break the state's own tight rules on Internet publishing, suggesting the government line on anti-China sentiment has softened. However, Hanoi remains wary of protests overheating, and is unlikely to sanction the level of vitriol seen in the Chinese press against other South China Sea claimants.

China puts a hand on North Korean wheel
By Sunny Lee

In contrast to past collaborations, the Chinese leadership's interest in building economic zones with North Korea is unmistakable: China is looking to develop its northeast region near the border and wants to apply leverage to manage North Korean behavior. But grandiose plans don't guarantee success and amid the new chemistry, North Korea has calculations of its own.

SINOGRAPH
Hu colossus strides across the strait
By Francesco Sisci

With just over a year before his presidency ends in China, it's time to reflect on the hallmarks of the Hu Jintao era. The economy has soared under him, but that is the legacy of Deng Xiaoping's reforms. What will ultimately define Hu's time at the top is his colossal strides toward unification with Taiwan; steps that are almost impossible to undo.

China's elite enjoys untainted fruits
By Yvonne Su

The Chinese public, faced with incessant food safety scandals, has bristled at reports of government departments running their own organic farms and of a "special supply line" securing safe produce for high-ranking officials. While food scandals are relatively new to China's citizens, its rulers have enjoyed the secret supply chain whether dynastic or communist.

THE PERFECT STORM
ASEAN adrift in South China Sea
By David Brown

The dispute over sovereignty of the South China Sea that has flared up in recent weeks is more than a neighborhood spat. Yet it tests the waters for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to present a united front and put tangled claims on course for resolution under international law. ASEAN chair Indonesia must act fast, before China's client states in the region take their turn at the wheel.

Taiwan, kingmaker from the shore
By Jens Kastner

Taiwan may have been watching from the sidelines as waters roil, and suggestions that the Kuomintang government may back China militarily have been shrugged off as fanciful. A Taiwanese presence in the largest island in the Spratlys, though, fits well into Beijing's strategic planning to shove Vietnamese and Philippine territorial claims aside once and for all.

BOOK REVIEW
Pomp and porn during the Qing Dynasty
Decadence Mandchoue by Sir Edmund Trelawny Backhouse
Reviewed by Kent Ewing

In an erotic romp through the twilight years of the Qing Dynasty, these memoirs recount among other trysts the Victorian Orientalist author's subservient servicing of the Empress Dowager Cixi, then 69, and adventures with the eunuchs and catamites of Peking's bathhouses. Intermingled with fantastical imperial palace intrigue, the work has faced charges of fraudulence and obscenity; this belies its charm and historical significance.

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