8th of December 2010
The Lion Awakes
Daily News, Culture & Current Affairs about China
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China Daily
Beijing calls for emergency Six-Party Talks
BEIJING - China on Tuesday continued to insist that dialogue and negotiations are the only correct ways to address current tensions and realize a long-lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Jiang Yu said growing tensions have further proven the urgency of a resumption of the Six-Party Talks, which group China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia, Japan and the United States.
"We've been calling for peace and dialogue, and we believe that as long as all the parties sit down to talk, we will eventually find the solution," he said.
Kaixin OpEd - Even Kaixin is getting a little weary of these endless talks that go nowhere and pander to North Korea's ego.
Why can't America and China work out a mutually acceptable agreement on the Korean peninsular and enforce it ........... Economically that is.
Although perhaps China could go into North Korea and bang a few heads if it had to.
All the rest is posturing.
China presents green efforts at Cancun China Day
CANCUN, Mexico -- China on Sunday presented to the world its low-carbon strategies and practices at the China Day event on the sidelines of the ongoing UN climate change conference.
During the event, with the theme of "Low-carbon Development: China in Action," China showcased its low-carbon development at different levels through practice sharing, documentaries and panel discussions which gathered officials, regional and international representatives and green entrepreneurs from China and around the world.
China's CPI expected to hit 3.2 pct in 2010
BEIJING - China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, is expected to rise 3.2 pct in 2010, a leading government think tank reported on Tuesday.
China may raise interest rates this weekend
China's central bank may raise interest rates this weekend to enshrine its shift to a "prudent" monetary policy in the face of rising inflation, Reuters reported on Dec 7, citing the China Securities Journal.
The paper said that this weekend offered a "sensitive window" for a rate rise, which would be the country's second in its current tightening cycle.
The newspaper said the timing was right for such a move with official monthly economic indicators, notably the consumer price index (CPI), likely to show an increase in inflationary pressure when released on Monday, Dec 13.
"With reference to the central bank's record of raising interest rates just ahead of the release of CPI, this weekend will provide a window for a possible policy change," the newspaper said, without citing any source.
Official could face death penalty over driving fatalities
Drunken postal chief arrested after killing five
BEIJING - An official from Central China's Henan province has been arrested after killing five teenagers while driving drunk on Sunday night, in the latest in a spate of serious drunken-driving cases across the nation.
See The Wall Street Journal article below & Kaixin's INSIGHTS INTO CHINA
World's fastest computer brings incalculable benefits
Tianhe-1A makes fast work of ensuring safety of national projects. Zhou Wa in Beijing reports.
A scientist conducts a system test of supercomputer Tianhe-1, the predecessor of Tianhe-1A, in Tianjin. The computer was capable of making a quadrillion (a thousand billion) floating point operations per second.
Heath's hearth
A Chinese benefactor is being sought to save from closure the home of one of the key figures in China's opening up to the West, Andrew Moody reports
The house of former British prime minister Sir Edward Heath, which has been open to the public for the past two years, could be put up for sale despite being a popular visitor attraction. The property, called Arundells, which is in the center of the English cathedral city of Salisbury and which dates back to the 13th century, contains a number of valuable Chinese artifacts, including a pair of Qianlong vases gifted to Sir Edward by former chairman Mao Zedong on the British ex-premier's first famous visit to Beijing in 1974.
The trustees are seeking permission to sell the house, which could fetch up to 6 million pounds ($9.45 million) since they argue it is losing money.
Yet a campaign group wanting to prevent the house's closure is hoping a Chinese philanthropist, or even an investor, comes forward to save it at the last minute.
Former British prime minister Sir Edward Heath meets former chairman Mao Zedong on his visit to Beijing in 1974.
Race against time
As the authorities step up efforts to save the grasslands from over-grazing, herders struggle to protect an abiding icon of their ethnic identity - the horse.
Mongolian herder Altandelger hopes to pass on the traditional craft of saddle-making.
See Kaixin's - CONTEMPORARY CHINA IN PHOTOGRAPHS
VIDEO - China's top climate negotiator speaks about two keywords
A balanced outcome in Cancun and the Kyoto Protocol - China's top climate negotiator Su Wei explains two keywords to China Daily during an exclusive interview at the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico
Special Coverage: Beijing, I have a dream
A special coverage on people’s dreams in Beijing under its This is Beijing program, and this is the third part of five people's dreams.
The 16th United Nations Climate Change Conference
Global Times
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.
Dialogue
A 30 Minute Current Affairs Programme on CCTV - 9 (In English) where current issues are discussed by experts from China and Internationally:
Flashpoint in Yellow sea
The four-day military exercises in our neighboring Yellow Sea did serve the purpose of warning the DPRK, but China is also alerted to the growing tensions under its nose. China is seen as the closest ally of a volatile country and plays a major role in stabilizing the regional situation.
But, with the expansion of China's economy and military, and the simmering debates about the territorial disputes, Beijing is coming under pressure to restrict its confidence and even foreign policy. China faces a duel daunting task from within and without about its peaceful rise.
This is a tough job that none of the rising powers could have done in our human history. Today, we take an insightful look into the regional tranformation of the geo-political map in East Asia, particularly the security assurance that is badly needed by all sides.
Vietnam starts a charm campaign by flirting with the idea of trading its Cam Ran Bay for security assurance, and for collecting very juicy annual rent. The US has built the military base and wants to extend its military umbrella upon invitation but Russia has been quietly negotiating about its return to the Asia-Pacific stronghold through a call of the cold-war nostalgia.
Related stories
* Japan, U.S. launch largest-ever joint defense drills 2010-12-03
* Analysis: Impact of more drills on inter-Korean tensions 2010-12-02
* S. Korea-US joint military drill concludes 2010-12-01
* S. Korea vows continuing military drills 2010-12-01
* S. Korean, U.S. forces conduct maritime interdiction drills in Yellow Sea
International News Sources
The Wall Street Journal - China RealTime Report
The Wall Street Journal
Pictures of China
Slideshows
Failures in Enforcing China’s Green Legislation
Stanley Lubman, a long-time specialist on Chinese law, teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and is the author of “Bird in a Cage: Legal Reform in China After Mao,” (Stanford University Press, 1999
China, the world’s largest polluter, has been adopting laws to control and reduce pollution since 1979, and there are frequent reports in the press emphasizing efforts to control pollution. But regardless of how many new environmental laws are adopted, enforcement remains a critical problem.
Google: A ‘Symbol’ for Internet in China?
Google on Tuesday received praise from a Chinese government-backed Internet association, a rare occurrence for the U.S. company since it relocated its mainland China search service to Hong Kong earlier this year amid frustrations over hacking and government censorship.
Taiwan Wants to Touch Your Heart
For years Taiwan’s citizens and tourists alike have been bemused by the tourism bureau’s motto — “Taiwan, Touch Your Heart.” But with the island’s government pushing to attract a new class of tourists, the phrase may soon start to seem more apt.
Video: Deadly Grass Fire in China
A grassland fire in a Tibetan region of Southern China leaves at least 22 people dead. Video courtesy of Reuters.
Veil Lifted on China's Next Top Duo
BEIJING—Leaked U.S. diplomatic cables are shedding rare light on the personalities and opinions of Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang—the men tipped as China's next president and premier, respectively—while also revealing a surprising level of openness in their past dealings with the U.S. Embassy.
Vice President Xi Linping, left, and Vice Premier Li Keqiang
Latest Drunk-Driving Incident Sparks Outrage
The combination of alcohol and civil servants has long been a headache for guardians of the Chinese government’s public image, but lately it has turned fatal.
Just as a storm of bad press over a deadly drunk-driving accident involving the son of a police official in Hebei Province has begun to blow over, Xinhua reports that a postal official has allegedly hit and killed five teenagers while driving drunk in Henan Province.
See Kaixin's - INSIGHTES INTO CHINA
The New York Times
U.S. and China Narrow Differences at Climate Talks in Cancún
With narrowing differences over a key issue, verification, there is growing hope of modest success at the conference.
Chinese Tycoon’s Green Advocacy Helps Earnings
Zhang Yue advocates limits on greenhouse gases that would also benefit his company, a maker of air-conditioners.
Business Etiquette for Hong Kong and the Mainland
The key to doing business in China is "guanxi," or relationships. But there is no simple definition of the word or even agreement on whether it is becoming less important as China modernizes.
See Kaixin's:
Corruption v 'li shang wang lai' 礼尚往来
Five things that decide your life: Birth, Luck, Feng Shui, Merit, Study
Caixin Online
Cities Search for Low-Income Home Financing
Moving millions of families into subsidized rental apartments is testing local government financial planning
(Beijing) -- Major cities across China are swinging construction cranes into place for a campaign to build subsidized apartments for more than 15 million low-income families within two years.
Governments in the cities of Beijing and Chongqing are in the forefront of the construction campaign encouraged by the central government under the recently completed 12th Five-Year Plan.
See Kaixin's - China Real Estate
Bottoms Up for China's Lafite Wine Bubble
Andy Xie
Speculators are pumping a wild price bubble for a fine wine whose market ride says a lot about macroeconomic trends
During the dotcom bubble, a lot of worthless companies with market capitalizations in the billions of dollars were trading on the NASDAQ exchange. Meanwhile, some really good companies were priced several times higher than their intrinsic worth. Selling these stocks before the bubble collapsed was the right thing to do.
What's bubbling in China today?
New Lending for 2011 Reportedly Set at 7 Tln Yuan
The higher-than-expected lending ceiling would make leeway for local government financing platforms to borrow from the government
(Beijing) -- The ceiling for new bank loans in 2011 has been set at around 7 trillion yuan, according to sources close the central bank.
The Age
China offers summit bold pledge on carbon
CHINA has given global climate change talks an unexpected shot in the arm, offering for the first time to make its carbon emissions target binding, a move to encourage firmer action from developed nations.
China insisted its target - one of the most ambitious of the 190 countries at the talks in the resort town of Cancun - would remain voluntary. But chief negotiator Xie Zhenhua said: ''We will have binding targets … You can be assured that our voluntary emission reduction efforts will be honoured.''
The Sydney Morning Herald
Look to China's past to understand its tactics
John Garnaut
The brutal realists of Canberra and Washington could look more carefully at the Chinese Communist Party's internal wiring. Deng Xiaoping's classic foreign policy maxim is ''Hide your strength, bide your time.''
It derives from a war-time formulation that is rarely heard in full: ''The policy in the enemy-occupied areas [is] a policy of concealing our crack forces, lying long under cover, accumulating our strength and biding our time.'' That wording is repeated several times in a secret directive from Communist Party headquarters about strengthening ''united front'' work during the anti-Japanese war.
Kaixin OpEd - Indeed. Kaixin often finds that the 'west' fails to read the full quote or study Chinese history.
See Kaixin's - ''Poverty is not socialism. To be rich is glorious.'', Deng Xiaoping 邓小平
Asia Times Online
SUN WUKONG
China revelations no threat to Beijing
By Wu Zhong, China Editor
Although Chinese authorities were quick to block access to the WikiLeaks website on the mainland, such censorship was hardly necessary. What the most recent leaks reveal about China is remarkably mundane, and will do little to damage Beijing or its foreign relations.
Pyongyang stretches deterrence limits
By Andray Abrahamian
Pundits in the West have called for South Korea to meet fire with fire over the North's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, while the South's military feels it has missed a chance to demonstrate its capabilities. However, as the equilibrium of deterrence on the peninsula is so finely balanced, too aggressive a posture could lead to miscalculation and a war in which millions of Koreans would die.
Central Asian militants spoiling for combat
By Abubakar Siddique
Militant groups ousted from Central Asian states in the 1990s, led by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, have gathered enough strength in Pakistan to break out of their tribal hideouts and launch deadly attacks across the region and into Europe. While the groups are a major irritant for Islamabad’s ties with Central Asia, there is little Pakistan can do about them.
Kaixin OpEd - What happens in Central Asia is of direct relevance to China.
China's marines: Less is more
By Dennis J Blasko
Fresh from recent exercises in the South China Sea, the People's Liberation Army's marines provide a model of what a smaller, modernized, highly trained and motivated 21st century Chinese force may look like, even as the amphibious and marine units comprise a small fraction of the nation's overall ground forces.
Mongolia keeps rail link short
By Munkh-Ochir Dorjjugder
Mongolia is to build a 1,100 kilometer railroad linking two areas with vast natural resources. China, with its huge demand for such commodities, lies only a short distance away - yet will be deliberately unconnected.
Southern Mongolia is home to massive deposits of copper, gold and coking coal, conveniently located only 80 kilometers from its border with China, which is the largest consumer of these commodities.
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