An angry mob held a Jetstar pilot and cabin crew hostage for three hours when their flight made an unexpected stopover in Shanghai. Heavy fog forced flight JQ7 to be diverted from Beijing to Pudong Airport last Friday. Trouble started… Read More ›
Month: October 2012
China: Violent incidents involving foreigners in Beijing
The following article is reproduced from City Weekend: “The rise in violent crime in Beijing is a hot topic in expat circles. “To help cut through the rumours and hearsay, we’ll print a list of attacks and arguments that have… Read More ›
Cheng Hong: Scholar and wife of China’s next premier
SCMP report on premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang’s wife Cheng Hong: Cheng is a leading expert on American nature writing, but she no longer teaches students. SCMP says, “Like many who lived through the Cultural Revolution, Cheng Hong felt she’d had enough… Read More ›
Suzhou Studio (Chris H Lynn)
Suzhou Studio is a video featuring the traditional Chinese art of weaving, filmed by Chris H. Lynn. Set in Suzhou.
Bank of America is bullish on China
Merrill Lynch‘s China economist Ting Lu just published a big bullish 11-page report in which he cranked up his GDP estimates citing “across-the-board green shoots. “Here’s a summary of his revisions: 4Q12 year-over-year GDP growth to 7.8% from 7.5% 2012… Read More ›
China snubs SE Asia push for South China Sea deal
China is stonewalling attempts to start talks on a multilateral “code of conduct” governing the strategically located South China Sea and an agreement could still be years away, Southeast Asian officials said on Monday. Beijing‘s assertion of sovereignty over the… Read More ›
China will finance Laos rail link
Laotian officials announced Thursday that China and Laos have agreed on a railway project that would cross the Laotian highlands to the Chinese border. The Wall Street Journal reports: “Laos’s Energy and Mining Minister Soulivong Dalavong said in an interview… Read More ›
China: Kindergarten abuses prompt calls for new legislation
Global Times reports: “Lawyers and members of the public have demanded new child abuse provisions be added to China‘s criminal code as police in Wenling, Zhejiang Province applied Monday to arrest a child-abusing kindergarten teacher using the charge ‘provoking a… Read More ›
Survey reports China most stressful country in the world
The following was translated and edited from an article that appeared on the Chinese news site Huanqiu.com. It discusses the results of a recent survey on workplace stress by international business service provider Regus, which names China, and in particular… Read More ›
China: Wen Jiabao’s opportunity for openness
In a column article, Wang Xiangwei, SCMP’s editor-in-chief says: “Allegations that the Wen family has accumulated US$2.7b may support those who argue for public disclosure of officials‘ private assets” “For decades, overseas media have run countless articles containing serious allegations… Read More ›
Hong Kong’s identity needs broader look at colonial era
The Hong Kong Autonomous Movement claims that the displays of the Hong Kong British flag are not a call for a return to colonialism. Instead, they claim it is, “the defence of the lion and dragon and the blending of… Read More ›
China: Wen family hits back at ‘lies’ on hidden fortune
In my post entitled Chinese censors block New York Times on October 27, I said, NYT’s report “must be well founded. Otherwise, the people who think that their worth is exaggerated will come out to reveal the true value of… Read More ›
Hawkish military officers a challenge to China leaders over Senkaku Islands
China’s government has demanded talks with Japan in their latest dust-up over a set of tiny islands, but a high-ranking Chinese military officer has suggested drastically more belligerent responses. Dispatch hundreds of fishing boats to fight a maritime guerrilla war,… Read More ›
China: Wen Jiabao “hidden riches” don’t exist, say lawyers
Lawyers for Wen Jiabao, China‘s Premier, have taken the unprecedented step of issuing a written statement late last night rebuking the claims of the New York Times that Wen’s family have amassed a hidden fortune worth US$2.7 billion. In a… Read More ›
China: NPC passes first mental health law
SCMP reports: “After more than a quarter century of discussion, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee has passed the first national mental health law, including a ban on forced confinement. “Psychiatrists called the law, which also requires all full-service hospitals… Read More ›
Dirty money cost China $3.8 trillion 2000-2011 says report
Reuters reports from Washington: “China has lost $3.79 trillion over the past decade in money smuggled out of the country, a massive amount that could weaken its economy and create instability, according to a new report. “And the outflow –… Read More ›
China and Malaysia: Sugar and frozen durian
Knowledge is empowering. Reading is knowledge. Recently, the Malaysian government offended Robert Kuok As a result, the Malaysian economy suffered a great blow! After the official Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao‘s visit to Malaysia, the Najib government now really understands Robert… Read More ›
China: Billions in hidden riches for Wen Jiabao’s family
New York Times reports from Beijing: “The mother of China’s prime minister was a schoolteacher in northern China. His father was ordered to tend pigs in one of Mao’s political campaigns. And during childhood, ‘my family was extremely poor,’ the… Read More ›
Chinese censors block New York Times
According to New York Times, Wen Jiabao’s family controlled assets worth US$2.7 billion dollars. It must be well founded. Otherwise, the people who think that their worth is exaggerated will come out to reveal the true value of their assets…. Read More ›
China’s economy mending; Germany’s descending
Any hopes of a Euro Zone rebound appear to have been dashed for now The eurozone’s biggest member, Germany,is being sucked into the bloc’s worsening economic quagmire, business surveys suggested on Wednesday, as similar data signalled the slowdown in China… Read More ›
China: Wang Yang, the party chief who transformed Guangdong
This is the first of SCMP’s two-part series on Guangdong party chief Wang Yang, a reformist who has turned the province into a base for high-end manufacturing. SCMP reports: “‘Empty the cage and let the right birds in’ was Wang… Read More ›
China: Do women-only trains stop sexual harassment?
Once simply a Japanese-pioneered invention, the women-only train has become common in many countries around the world. Now Hong Kong and China have weighed in on the debate. Women-only cars on some trains exist in Japan, Egypt, India, Iran, Taiwan,… Read More ›
Chinese government ships spotted near Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands
Just days after Chinese and Japanese envoys met to try to ease tensions over the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku islands, Chinese government maritime surveillance ships entered the disputed 12-nautical mile zone around one of the islands this morning at 6.30am, the South… Read More ›
Mao Thought conspicuously missing from Xinhua report in China; is it dumped?
Mao Zedong Thought Conspicuously Missing SCMP reports: “The omission of Mao Zedong’s name from a recent Xinhua statement has triggered speculation as to whether the Communist Party’s 18th congress, which begins on November 8, will make a historic decision about… Read More ›
Further signs of a strengthening Chinese economy
Manufacturing and, more importantly, order volumes from international customers have both risen this month, according to the South China Morning Post. The China HSBC Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) recorded a three-month high in output. Despite GDP just missing… Read More ›
Visiting China mainland students unfairly punished by Taiwan politics
Asked for their first impressions of Taiwan after stepping on a university campus here, many mainland students happily reply “friendly and free”. Wait a few months, however, and some of those same students might have a much less flattering description:… Read More ›
Most Chinese cities are not coming clean on smog says survey
Despite some recent progress in Beijing and other big cities, most mainland cities have still not made a sincere effort to improve transparency about their air pollution problems, according to a study. The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs’ survey… Read More ›
China: Glimpses of Xi Jinping’s personal life
SCMP’s Minnie Chan says in her report from Fuzhou titled Xi Jinping put work first and missed birth of daughter: “Years in Xiamen helped Xi recover from his lowest ebb – and led him to meet his new wife “In… Read More ›
As China tensions simmer, Japan pulls back from “world’s factory”
Almost a quarter of Japanese manufacturers are rethinking their investment plans in China and some may shift future production elsewhere after the spike in tensions between Asia’s two largest economies. The sentiments were expressed in a Reuters Corporate Survey released… Read More ›
China: Communist Party journal suggests it could learn from Singapore’s PAP
SCMP reports from Beijing: “Weeks ahead of the Communist Party’s once-in-a-decade reshuffle, the party’s leading policy journal has called on leaders to look to Singapore for an example of how to run the country.” Mao Zedong had this Mao Zedong… Read More ›
57th Tibetan sets himself on fire to fight for a free Tibet, that is less and less likely
Another Tibetan Monk set himself on fire on the morning of October 22. It is the second self-immolation of Tibetan monks in 48 hours, third in ten days and the 57th since 2009, said Free Tibet. The 50-year-old monk named Dhondup… Read More ›
China must learn that size only gets you so far
For more than three decades, China has been courting its neighbours to the south. Enticing the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations into closer cooperation has been a top goal of Chinese foreign policy since the days of… Read More ›
Lhasa, Tibet named happiest city in China?
Lhasa, the capital city of the Tibet Autonomous Region, has topped a survey of the top 10 happiest cities in China.Surprised? With the high profile self-immolations that regularly hit the international press (56 have been confirmed in Tibet since 2009),… Read More ›
‘Ambitious’ China firms on hunt for overseas mergers and acquisitions
SCMP reports: China “retains its appetite for takeovers to tap new markets and to access technology, especially in Europe, says a sector-leading banker “Outbound mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will remain active next year as ‘ambitious’ mainland firms continue to seek… Read More ›
An American’s mixed feelings about China
I’ve lived in Asia four years and my feelings about China are unconventional and mixed. China’s international policy seems the same with defence and intellectual property: They claim rights to everything. But, Beijing Communists are not Nazi’s, as the West… Read More ›
US and Japan scrap naval drill in bid to ease islands tension with China
SCMP reports: “Japan and the United States have called off a joint naval exercise planned for next month in a bid to avoid irritating China and escalating their ongoing territorial dispute in the East China Sea, Japanese media reported. “Citing… Read More ›
Chinese/American relations: The shape of things to come
The last week has seen both the US and China flexing their respective economic muscles, as both countries show signs of growing awareness that their relationship will be the most significant defining factor for the geopolitical order for the foreseeable… Read More ›
China’s Huawei row shines light on East-West culture clash
US security fears over two China telecom firms have spotlighted Western suspicions that Chinese companies are state-influenced, a culture clash analysts say could loom larger as the country’s businesses look overseas. Telecommunications equipment firms Huawei Technologies and ZTE were put… Read More ›
US sends carrier group into South China Sea
A US aircraft carrier group cruised through the disputed South China Sea on Saturday in a show of power in waters that have become a focal point of Washington’s strategic rivalry with Beijing. Vietnamese security and government officials were flown… Read More ›
Eight ways China is changing your world
China’s ruling Communist Party meets from 8 November to rubber-stamp sweeping changes that will put in place the country’s leaders for the next 10 years. Here are eight reasons – eight being an auspicious number in China – why the… Read More ›
China: Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands protester Fang Xiaosong detained in Shenzhen
SCMP reports: “The only mainlander to set foot on the disputed Diaoyu Islands during the protest sail from Hong Kong in August was taken from his Shenzhen home by police and detained for 15 hours, a leading Hong Kong activist… Read More ›
China shows off strength in East China Sea as response to joint US-Japan drill
Comprehensive report by Singtao Daily: Eleven vessels and eight helicopters of the Chinese Navy, fisheries administration and marine surveillance agency conducted a large-scale joint island right-protection drill in the East China Sea. Japanese media pointed out that the drill was… Read More ›
Japan plans to import rare earths from India as hedge against China
Japan is expected to announce that it will begin the import of rare earth elements from India when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits the country next month. The move is intended as a safeguard against a possible embargo by China,… Read More ›
China and Japan: The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands under international law
On October 14, 2012, Japan, amidst the tense territorial dispute with China, marked the 60th birthday of its navy with a major naval exercise to show its maritime strength. The dispute is over a small chain of uninhabited islands in the East China… Read More ›
The ethereal China dream
On my recent trip to China I kept thinking about Thomas Freidman’s article “China Needs Its Own Dream”. In it he discusses the fact our planet cannot sustain China following the American path of consumption simply for consumptions sake. I was drawn… Read More ›
Hong Kong: 65 percent of parents believe foreign English teachers offer better education
A survey of 300 households in Hong Kong showed that 65 percent of parents believe a foreign teacher of English can offer better education than a local teacher. In response, early childhood education experts have issued statements reminding parents and… Read More ›
Fear and loneliness in China
What kind of society will China’s new leaders inherit? China has developed at unimaginable pace, lifting millions out of poverty. But as part of a series of viewpoints on challenges for China’s new leadership, Gerard Lemos, who conducted research in… Read More ›
Beijing cancels visa of former US ambassador Jon Huntsman
Beijing cancelled the visa for former US ambassador Jon Huntsman, who was set to speak in Shanghai last month, according to an interview by Foreign Policy published on Wednesday. Huntsman, a former governor in the US and Republican presidential candidate, was… Read More ›
Surprisingly, China’s newspapers criticise detention for dissent
Chinese government-controlled newspapers have openly criticised the detention of a village official who called for the end of Communist Party rule, an extraordinary move that some media experts see as a sign that Beijing is granting more leeway on free… Read More ›
Unlike in Monaco, China mainland and Hong Kong systems do not mix
There is a very unusual street in Monaco. No fence runs down it, no barbed wire has been erected along it and no one patrols it. Yet home prices on one side are multiples of what they are on the… Read More ›
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