China Digital Times

SECTION: Society

• Hydropower on the Nu River

  

  China’s Green Beat produced a story and video on building a hydropower station on the Nu River:

  In 2004, there was a plan to put 13 dams along the Nu River, one of the most biodiverse regions of China.  The total output of the dams would surpass that of the Three Gorges Dam, and would be used to supply electricity to Southwest China.  Wen Jiabao put a stop to the projects that year after a public outcry from environmentalists and foreign governments alike.  Later in 2005, some smaller proposals received approval.  It seems that construction has begun on at least one of the dams.  Is there another way for this region to develop and use hydropower for its electricity needs without building dams which harm the natural and social environment?  Maybe the picture seems bleak and the future inevitable, but there are a few signs and examples of a more sustainable route…

  Information about the Nu River in Yunnan is also described in the China River Project:

  The Nu River flows some 3059 kilometers from the slopes of Tangula Mountain in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau to the northeast corner of the Indian Ocean. For approximately 700 kilometers of this length, it carves what has been called the “Grand Canyon of the East.” The river is flanked by the Gao Li Gong Shan range to the west, and the Bi Luo Snow Mountain and Mei Li Snow Mountain Ranges to the east, forming a canyon of 4500 meters in depth.

  The Nu River flows through Yunnan Province in China before it broadens and enters eastern Burma, where it is more commonly known as the Salween River. The Salween River forms a portion of the Burmese-Thai border and empties into the Andaman Sea in Kayin State.

  [...] The Nu River is threatened by a proposed cascade of thirteen hydropower dams, which would generate as much power as China’s Three Gorges Dam and would displace local ethnic communities.

  For other posts regarding China’s construction of dams and hydropower plants in CDT, follow the hydropower and dams tags.

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  • November 20, 2008 5:34 PM

• Embodied Carbon in Chinese Commercial Buildings and Potential for Building Materials Innovation

  

  In view of the recent research publication from the China Energy Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the China Green Building blog discusses the embodied and operational carbon emissions in China’s buildings.

  China’s buildings officially account for 19% of China’s total energy consumption but according to various Chinese academics, buildings probably account for more like 23%. This is expected to rise to 30% by 2010, broadly in line with the US.

  Unfortunately, the paper does not state explicitly what percentage of total CO2 emissions is accounted for by buildings, but since China’s fuel source is so predominantly coal driven, it’s probably fair to say that buildings currently account for about a third of total CO2 emissions. However, according to a presentation at JUCCCE by Marc Porat, CEO of CalStar Cement and Chairman of Serious Materials (see below for more info on CalStar), buildings- both their operation and construction- account for 52% of total CO2 emissions in China.

  This is significant, especially when coupled with the data from the global McKinsey Carbon Abatement Cost Curve, which calculates building efficiency to be one of the cheapest sources of carbon abatement available globally. Buildings are therefore a key leverage point for reducing carbon emissions in a cost-effective manner.

  To understand how China is tackling the challenge of carbon emission, you can follow the CDT green building tag for more posts.

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  • November 20, 2008 5:18 PM

• China Says 1,041 Infants Still Hospitalized with Tainted Milk Problems

  

  Chinese babies are still suffering in the hospital from tainted milk. Xinhua reports:

  The Ministry of Health said on Thursday that 1,041 infants around China were still receiving hospital treatment for kidney damage caused by tainted powdered milk.

  One was in serious condition, the ministry said.

  [...] Another 50,741 infants have recovered and been discharged since mid-September, when a scandal erupted over milk containing a chemical, melamine.

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  • November 20, 2008 1:17 PM

• Internet Drives China to Loosen Grip on Media

  

  As we have seen with recent taxi strikes and the riot in Longnan, Gansu, the Chinese government is employing a new strategy to deal with instances of social unrest: report it first and thereby determine the message. David Bandurski recently wrote about what he terms “Control 2.0″ on China Media Project, here and here. Today, in the International Herald Tribune, government officials freely acknowledge that they have been forced into this new tactic by the power of the Internet:

  “The Chinese government has started to loosen its control on the negative information,” said one of the sources, an academic close to the propaganda authorities who declined to be identified. “They are trying to control the news by publicizing the news.”

  A Communist Party official confirmed that the policy on dissemination of news had gradually changed this year.

  “It’s almost impossible to block anything nowadays, when information can spread very quickly on the Internet,” said the official, who was not identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. “We also noticed that it will benefit us if we report the news first.”

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  • November 20, 2008 10:33 AM

• Netizen Comments and Opinions on the Longnan Riots

  

  Oiwan Lam at GlobalVoices has posted translations of the results of a search of Chinese cyberspace for information on the Longnan riots. The violent clash between protesters and police was reportedly triggered by municipal government plans to demolish and relocate Longnan’s city center.  Many if not all of these translated posts have vanished from the Web.  Excerpts below:

  Land acquisition and city relocation

  [...]“2008年11月17 日上午9时30分开始，甘肃省陇南市武都区东江镇30多名拆迁户再次集体到陇南市委上访，要求对陇南市行政中心搬迁后他们面临的住房、土地和今后的生活等 问题做出答复。11月17日下午，大批群众和居民在陇南市委门前集体上访，陇南市委和相关部门的干部及时进行了接访，但未与上访人员意见达成一致。当晚， 聚集和围观群众陆续增加，围堵至凌晨，未见到主要领导。由于未知原因，人群冲入市委院内，打碎玻璃，砸毁汽车，烧毁部分办公室，引发了这次次的严重冲突。”

  At 9:30am of Nov 17, more than 30 petitioners from Dongjiang town, Wudu district, Lungnan City paid the petition visit to the city committee. Because of the land acquisition, people are homeless and landless, now that the city is to relocated to another district, they demand the city committee to explain the situation and whether the government have any relief plan for them. In the afternoon, more people gathered in front of the city committee. Although the city officials had arranged a meeting with the petitioners, there was no consensus. More and more people gathered outside the city committee in the evening until midnight expecting to see city leader. For some unknown reason, some people rushed into the courtyard of city committee, broke the windows and vehicles and set fire on part of the office. Such action leaded to this serious confrontation.
  

  Police’s trap

  A secondary school youth from Wudu gave more background on this confrontation in the comment section:

  “原因是搬迁之事政府在很早以前就出来辟谣，告诉群众不要相信谣言，况且还为此逮捕了６名所谓的传谣者．更重要的是自从王义 来武都做市委书记以后，拆了很多的民房，尤其是武都东江镇，毫不夸张的说一个很大的镇子被移为平地，数万人没了自己的家，王义给群众的答案是要把东江建成 陇南新城，群众没有说什么他们相信政府，东江镇的居民全部住进了临时安置房，没有人抱怨，因为他们相信党会让他们过的更好！可是王义要一走了之，要那么多 人永远无家可归，大家说人们能不愤怒吗？．５１２武都人民都没有被吓倒，１１月１７日武都人真的愤怒了，他们自发聚集在市委抗议，武都人是很文明的，开始 只喊喊口号＂反对搬迁＂没人那么过激，然而在１７日夜群众愤怒了．在１７日夜有几个维持执安的成县武警把几个群众抓到市委大楼拳打脚踢，致使重伤，群众忍 无可忍冲进大楼只是想救出群众，抓出打人者，可是没等人走近又是一阵警棒石块，这才越闹越大．到目前已有上百人被捕，很多人受了伤，生命垂危，更可气的 是，调来的军车上竟写着＂反恐精英＂在抗震救灾在中人民解放军树立的深厚情谊被王义在一夜之间瓦解了！”

  The government had been preaching to the people not to believe in rumor and they had arrested 6 so-called rumor makers. Since Wang Yi became the secretary of city committee, a lot of residential buildings had been demolished, especially in Wudu Dongjiang town. It is not exaggerating to say that the whole town had been demolished and thousands of people lost their home. Wang Yi explained to the people that Dongjiang would become Lungnan new city center. People believed the government and willingly moved into temporary housing. No one complained because they believed in the party’s good will to improve their life. However, now that Wang Yi decided to move away and left behind so many homeless people. How can they not be angry? During the 5.12 earthquake, people wasn’t panicking. In Nov 17, people were really angry, they protested in front of the city committee spontaneously. People in Wudu are very civilized, at first they just shout slogan: “no relocation”. However, later at night, some police from Cheng County pushed a number of protesters into the city committee building and beat them hard. People couldn’t stand anymore, they rushed in to rescue their fellow and tried to get hold of the attackers. However, the police insiders received them with rods and stones. Then the situation became out of control. More than a hundred people had been arrested now, many were injured, some are fatal. It is more agitating that the military vehicles moving in carry a slogan “counter terrorist force”. The image of earthquake rescuing team has vanished over night.
  

  Information blocked

  Another comment urges people to help spreading the news:

  “到11月18日，至少已经有数十名无辜群众遭暴打致死。消息都封锁了，很多更真实的照片都发不出来。而在这个帖子里，竟然 是政府的御用笔杆在那里乱打官腔，群众的感情他们根本就是在当做垃圾,而百姓的言论遭到大量的封锁，只能发布在少数冷门论坛里，根本无法引起外界重视。我 们死了很多同胞，至少我们不希望他们死的太冤，在死后还要被冠以“暴民”的帽子。市委书记拆完了，招商了，引资了，要调离拍屁股走人了，很难不能让人相信 他背后的动作。甘肃省委不明真相，封锁消息，这种大事连四百公里外的省会兰州都没有多少人知道！天理何在？我们的意见，我们的冤屈难道就这样被强权和官僚 们压制！？无奈之下，只能希望大家口口相传，让更多的人知道真相。希望能够引起关注。就在刚才，大街上防暴警察还在向群众释放催泪瓦斯，官逼民反，民不得 不反。天理何在，希望大家了解真相，让更多的人都了解真相，大家都转帮忙传一下。谢谢。”

  In Nov 18, tens of protesters had been beaten to death. Information had been blocked and photos could not be released. However, this post (translator note: from another forum) has adopted the official stand - they disregarded people’s emotion and much of their opinions had been blocked. Their voices could only appear in a small number of forum with very few visitors. They couldn’t attract public attention. We have lost a number of fellows and we hope that their deaths deserve some respect, not to be called as “rioters”. The secretary of the city committee had done with the demolition, had done with contracting out project and business, had done with attracting capital, now he is ready to go and leave people behind. He have lost his credibility. The Gansu province committee doesn’t know the truth and blocks the information. Such big incident was not even reported in Lanzhou. Where is our justice? Should our opinion and our sufferings be repressed by the bureaucrats like that? We can only depends on people to pass on the information and raise concern. Just now, the riot police are still firing tear gas to the people. The people have to resist. I wish you will understand the truth and let it known to others. Please pass on the information, thank you.

  The Chinese portions of these quotes were originally aggregated in a post by Chinese blogger Beifeng.  Beifeng’s post appears to have been deleted.  The link which Lam provides to Beifeng’s blog, hosted on Bullog.cn, leads to an error page:

  However, Beifeng’s original Chinese post has been reproduced on two other BBS forums.

  See CDT’s previous post on the Longnan riots.

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  • November 20, 2008 12:14 AM

• Details Emerge About Longnan Riot (Updated)

  

  More details are emerging about the riot in Longnan, Gansu earlier this week. The Washington Post writes about it and a taxi strike Wednesday in Chongqing, and puts both incidents in a larger economic context:

  In both provinces, officials attributed the unrest to local disagreements or land disputes rather than to the economic slowdown. But leaders have also expressed concern about factory closings, promising to compensate many of those who have lost their jobs in the downturn.

  Wang Jinli, a 50-year-old Wudu farmer, said she saw police beat residents in front of the Longnan party secretary’s offices Monday and Tuesday, then watched as ambulances took the injured away. “They used their sticks to beat passersby no matter whether they were young or old,” Wang said, adding that more than 100 people had been arrested.

  “Although I don’t have money, the economic recession is related to everyone,” she said. “Right now, people can make a living even by picking up garbage, but if they move the city government, where will we find garbage? We eat rice and flour now, but if the center moves away, we will all be eating corn. It will move the economy back 20 years.”

  AFP also reports on a statement on the riots put out by the local government:

  At least 60 people, including police and officials, were injured during the riots, according to a statement on the government website of Longnan city in Gansu province, where the violence occurred.

  “Protesters used iron rods, chains, axes, hoes… to attack officials and policemen at close proximity,” the statement said.

  They also threw stones, bricks and flowers pots at the officials and police in front of the local government building, and attempted to hijack a fire truck that came to put out a blaze they started, according to the statement.

  Meanwhile, China Daily reports on statements by the nation’s top public security official encouraging local cops to build “harmonious” relations with the people:

  Speaking at a teleconference with local police heads, State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu said police should “be fully aware of the challenge brought by the global financial crisis and try their best to maintain social stability”.

  They must improve methods of law enforcement using “harmonious thinking to ease conflicts”, and by having “a harmonious attitude toward people”, he said.

  In an earlier article, Meng said: “In handling mass incidents, we must be clear that the chief tasks of the public security authorities are to maintain order at the scene, ease conflicts, avoid excessive steps and prevent the situation from getting out of control.”

  Update: In related news, in responding to a reporter’s question about whether labor unrest was the top concern for the Human Resources and Social Security Ministry, the top minister acknowledged that the employment situation is “grim,” according to a Xinhua report:

  Human Resources and Social Security Minister Yin Weimin on Thursday described China’s job picture as “grim” and said the global financial crisis could have further negative effects on employment.

  Yin also said in response to a reporter’s question that labor unrest was the ministry’s “top concern”.

  Worsening global conditions had begun to weigh on the job market last month, with unemployment resulting as some enterprises, especially smaller labor-intensive ones, shut down or suspended production, Yin told a press conference in Beijing.

  Also, 30 people have reportedly been arrested for the Gansu riots.

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  • November 19, 2008 11:50 PM

• Dispatches from the Chinese Bloggers Conference

  

  The following are dispatches from bloggers who attended the recently concluded Chinese Bloggers Conference in Guangzhou. Attendees at the conference included a broad range of bloggers who write on technology, business, culture, and a variety of other topics. CN Reviews blogged the conference and the presentations by many of the participants. Most of the discussions centered around technology, the Internet, culture and business. But inevitably a few bloggers turn their thoughts to more political topics, as these posts show:
  
  In the concluding speech of the conference, Chinese blogger Yang Hengjun reflected on how the Internet has played a significant role in informing the public in China, and how blogging has renewed his life (excerpts translated by CDT’s Linjun Fan):

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  • November 19, 2008 11:30 PM

• Once Denounced by Mao, Now at Rest in China

  

  John Leighton Stuart was an American born in China to missionary parents, and was the last U.S. ambassador to the country before ties were cut off in 1949. Forty-six years after his death, his wish to be buried in China has finally been fulfilled. From the New York Times:

  Mr. Stuart died in Washington in 1962. He had written in his will that he hoped his remains would some day be buried in China, where he had been born the son of Christian missionaries in 1876 and had helped found a prominent university, but where he was no longer welcome.

  For decades, the answer from Beijing seemed to be no.

  But on Monday, 46 years after his death and after years of sensitive negotiations about the political implications of such a burial, Mr. Stuart’s ashes were laid to rest at a cemetery near the eastern city of Hangzhou, about two hours south of Shanghai.

  A small ceremony honoring Mr. Stuart on Monday was attended by Chinese and American officials, including the mayor of Hangzhou and the United States ambassador, Clark Randt Jr., as well as several alumni of Yenching University in Beijing, the institution Mr. Stuart helped found.

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  • November 19, 2008 10:58 AM

• A Big Shift for China’s AIDS Fight: Condoms for Those Who Need Them

  

  From Wall Street Journal:

  AIDS, which has long thrived quietly on the fringes of Chinese society among drug addicts and recipients of tainted blood donations, is on the verge of going mainstream here.

  One major cause is prostitution, a booming industry in China that has helped make sex the most common form of AIDS transmission in China.

  China’s hopes of stopping the disease from turning into the country’s next health crisis may rest with the efforts of people like Guan Baoying, a 56-year-old activist who has defied standard government attitudes about high-risk groups such as prostitutes.

  As a Beijing health bureaucrat until last year, Ms. Guan managed to convince the government to support regulations that require hotels to supply condoms to their guests — with the result that even in five-star hotels, condoms are a standard part of the minibar. Today, she leads the charge as the head of a nongovernment organization that helps fund outreach work with backing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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  • November 19, 2008 3:14 AM

• The Dead Tell a Tale China Doesn’t Care to Listen To

  

  The New York Times reports on the mummies found and exhibited in Urumqi, Xinjiang, and explores what they can tell historians about the history of the region and its people:

  The Loulan Beauty is one of more than 200 remarkably well-preserved mummies discovered in the western deserts here over the last few decades. The ancient bodies have become protagonists in a very contemporary political dispute over who should control the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

  The Chinese authorities here face an intermittent separatist movement of nationalist Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim people who number nine million in Xinjiang.

  At the heart of the matter lie these questions: Who first settled this inhospitable part of western China? And for how long has the oil-rich region been part of the Chinese empire?

  Uighur nationalists have gleaned evidence from the mummies, whose corpses span thousands of years, to support historical claims to the region.

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  • November 18, 2008 11:12 PM

• Chinese Nationalism and Its Impact on Brands

  

  A recent study by Ogilvy Group China & Millward Brown ACSR China looks at Chinese nationalism from the angle of consumer culture. The research based its data on events leading up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the role of the internet in cultivating nationalistic sentiment. Media reports:

  The research, which canvassed a total of 900 Chinese citizens aged 16 to 45, found that the web had been the most significant source of awareness of the recent hostility towards foreign companies such as Carrefour and CNN. The findings showed that the gap between awareness of and participation in an event was narrowed online, with almost two-thirds of respondents stating they had taken part in the nationalistic ‘I heart China’ campaign on MSN at the time of the furore.

  In times of nationalistic fervour, Chinese brands were likely to see an increase in purchase intent among consumers, the survey suggested. A section of the participants, when reminded of the recent nationalistic activities and asked which brands they were likely to purchase in the near future, showed less interest in Carrefour and Louis Vuitton (respectively 7 and 8 per cent less than their counterparts not caught up in the situation). Meanwhile, Chinese skincare brands such as T-Joy and Dabao became more appealing by 7 and 8 per cent, respectively.

  But while Chinese consumers appear to favour Chinese products in principle (84 per cent vowed to increase their consumption of domestic brands), the survey showed quality and price to be the most important factors in a purchase decision, above national origin. Particularly for higher-priced goods, foreign brands were shown to be preferred. Knowledge of the origins of certain brands also appeared to be shaky: 26 per cent believed Olay to be Chinese.

  CDT had an earlier post on how brands have tried to use nationalism in their favor.

  Conversely, that can also backfire. In Adidas’s case of using the national flag on their products, resulted in a recall of products after a protest in March of this year. From Forbes:

  Chinese reporters and consumers rose to the defense of its national flag shortly after a news report last week in Hong Kong’s Mingpao daily newspaper, saying that Adidas might have violated Chinese law, which forbids the commercial use of its national flag. The news prompted a search by reporters in China, from Shanghai to Shenzhen to western Chengdu city to see if they could find the offending merchandise on sale in China as well, only to confirm it was not, yet. But one reporter managed to confirm with Adidas’s outlet in Chengdu that the apparel and accessories had been planned for sale there in April.

  

  Adidas appropriates the Chinese flag and comes under fire (photo courtesy of All Roads Lead to China)

  Read more on the Olympic publicity on CDT.

  The entire research report can be viewed on WPP.

  See also perspectives on Design News and a summary on Golden Brands China.

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  • November 18, 2008 2:15 PM

• Will Global Financial Crisis Spark More Unrest in China? (Updated with Video)

  

  In Gansu, a violent riot broke out after the city of Longnan announced plans to demolish and relocate the city center. From the Los Angeles Times:

  The violence, one of the most marked instances of social unrest to grip China in recent months, was sparked by government plans to relocate the city of Longnan’s administrative center after May’s devastating earthquake, according to the Xinhua news agency.

  State-run press has reported on numerous pickets and demonstrations that have broken out across China in recent weeks, including a two-day strike by disgruntled taxi drivers in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing.

  Earlier this month, a crowd of 400 in the southern boomtown of Zhenzhen threw stones and set fire to a police car after officers tried to stop a motorcyclist at a checkpoint. The cyclist fled and was killed when he hit a lamppost.

  Joshua Rosenzweig of the Duihua Foundation points out that instances of social unrest are likely to increase at the global financial crisis hits China. He tells the LA Times:

  “I don’t think we’re even close to seeing the real impact of the global financial crisis on Chinese society. I’d be surprised if the government wasn’t very concerned about the increasing level of social unrest all over China.”

  Chinese economists say that rising wages throughout China have led many laborers to expect better working conditions and residents to demand more accountable government. “The local government has become the front line of conflict,” said Hu Xingdou, an economics professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology.

  
  Following this line of thought, in a related article in the New Republic, Joshua Kurlantzick explored how the economic downturn may impact China’s political situation:

  This unrest is likely to spiral. As the Chinese economy sours for the first time in years, the government this week announced a $586 billion stimulus package. But in some ways, much more is at stake: While, in the U.S., a financial failure would simply mean another dent in George W. Bush’s reputation, in China it could mean the breakdown of the entire political order.

  See also a report about the Gansu riot from the New York Times.

  Update: John Pomfret also comments on these issues on his Washington Post blog:

  The main reason for China’s current troubles is that Western economies — caught in their own recessions — aren’t buying like they did before. Some 10,000 factories are shuttered in southern China. Factory bosses are jumping over walls and fleeing China and their debts. More than 1 million people have lost their jobs over the last few months in one province of the country alone.

  But there are other reasons, too. Many Chinese are fed up with country’s endemic corruption and the sense that “social contract” that their now dead leader Deng Xiaoping hashed out for them after he engineered the June 4th crackdown in 1989 — you all have a fair shot at getting rich as long as you don’t challenge the party’s authority — is breaking down.

  Protests, some of them violent, are erupting throughout the country. State-run media, which usually ignores these things, has taken to reporting a number of them. To me that signals not that state-run media has suddenly turned professional but that the problem is of such proportions that ignoring it would be more laughable than acknowledging it.

  Reuters has more details of the Gansu riot in a report titled, “China Seeks to Curb Unrest Amid Finance Crisis“:

  Local residents contacted by Reuters said calm had returned to the city on Wednesday and blamed heavy-handed police for inflaming the riots, which they said had involved more than 10,000 people.

  “Actually, there were only a few thousand petitioners, but police fired tear gas which made women and children sick. This made the others angry,” a local hotel worker, who declined to give his name, told Reuters by telephone.

  [...] Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu said police “should be fully aware of the challenge brought by the global financial crisis and try their best to maintain social stability,” the China Daily quoted him as saying.

  Read the China Daily dispatch, “Petitioners unrest ‘under control’ in Gansu.”

  See footage of the riot on YouTube:
  

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  • November 18, 2008 10:30 AM

• Uyghur Woman Released, Without Forced Abortion (Updated)

  

  From Radio Free Asia:

  An ethnic Uyghur woman in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region who was scheduled to undergo a second-term abortion against her will—and whose case drew international attention—has been released to her family and allowed to continue her pregnancy, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.

  “I am all right and I am at home now,” Arzigul Tursun told RFA’s Uyghur service, shortly after she was released from the Women and Children’s Welfare Hospital in Ili prefecture.

  “I brought her home,” the local population-control committee chief, Rashide, said. “She wasn’t in good enough health to have an abortion.”

  Tursun’s case prompted calls to the Chinese authorities from two members of the U.S. Congress and from the U.S. ambassador in Beijing for a planned abortion of her pregnancy to be scrapped.

  Also from Radio Free Asia earlier reporting:

  An ethnic Uyghur woman in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region who fled a local hospital to avoid a forced abortion has been found by police and taken under guard to a larger hospital, according to her husband.

  “The police found my wife,” Nurmemet Tohtasin said in a telephone interview from the Women and Children’s Welfare Hospital in Ili prefecture. “My wife’s father was already at the hospital. They will probably do the abortion today.”

  Police tracked down Arzigul Tursun, six months pregnant with her third child, at a relative’s home Monday afternoon, he said. Late Sunday, Tursun had fled Gulja’s municipal Water Gate Hospital, where she was scheduled to undergo an abortion against her will.

  “Arzigul ran away while the village official who was guarding her went to get her dinner. She left with her slippers, a shirt, and a sleeveless jacket. She didn’t take her bag or her other clothing,” Tohtasin said earlier.

  Read also CDT’s previous post: Uighur Woman, Six Months Pregnant, Faces Forced Abortion.

  And on CECC’s website: Authorities Plan to Subject Uyghur Woman to Forced Abortion.

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  • November 18, 2008 8:55 AM

• Murder At the Drum Tower

  

  Newsweek takes a look at the life of Tang Yongming, who murdered an American tourist on the Drum Tower in Beijing and then jumped to his death during the summer Olympics, and argues that the pressures that drove Tang to commit murder are felt by ordinary Chinese throughout the country:

  Back in August, Tang’s ordinariness was cause for relief: authorities quickly figured out that he wasn’t a terrorist, and the Games went on. But the truth is perhaps more disturbing. The troubles that destroyed Tang—the loss of his job, the collapse of his marriage, heartbreak over his wastrel only child—are all too common across China. The country is the world’s most stressful: three decades of reforms have shredded China’s safety net and transformed society beyond recognition. That’s why, as Chinese leaders prepare to mark the 30th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s capitalist reforms next month, they’re also frantically pumping more than half a trillion dollars into their economy in hopes of staving off a downturn.

  They have reason to worry. Economists say China’s GDP has to grow between 7.5 and 8 percent a year just to keep up with the need for new jobs. Labor unrest has already broken out across the country: half of China’s toymakers have gone bankrupt this year, throwing millions of factory workers into the streets, while cabbies angered by gas prices rioted and burned police vehicles in Chongqing a few weeks ago. Tang shared their sense of frustration. Many who knew him are reluctant to talk about him publicly, fearing trouble with the authorities, and most requested anonymity before agreeing to be interviewed. But his story reveals tensions that seethe just below the surface in China.

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  • November 17, 2008 10:39 PM

• Death Toll in China Subway Cave-In Rises to 7

  

  From AP:

  The death toll from the cave-in of a subway tunnel under construction in eastern China rose to seven Monday, while new cracks near the site raised worries of further collapses, state media and local authorities said.

  Rescuers searched for 14 workers still trapped under the rubble after a 250-foot-wide section of road over the construction site collapsed in the eastern city of Hangzhou on Saturday, Xinhua News Agency said.

  Xinhua said new cracks were seen near the section of tunnel that collapsed, prompting authorities to take measures to prevent further damage.

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  • November 17, 2008 10:12 PM