From the International Herald Tribune (link): Call it displacement, call it rise and fall, or trading places, or what have you, there is something hugely important taking place in East Asia – a palpable shift in the relative positions of Japan and China. Sure, you can see this shift in the statistics, which show Chinese […]
Read MoreFrom The San Francisco Chronicle (link): There is no doubt that the Chinese government retains certain trade barriers, takes steps that protect its firms and industries against American ones and does an inadequate job of protecting intellectual property. Nevertheless, China has made significant progress in opening its markets and leveling the playing field. This is […]
Read MoreFrom the New York Times, via the International Herald Tribune (link): Faced with rising inequality and unrest in the countryside, the Chinese government has formally announced major initiatives to expand health, education and welfare benefits for farmers but left unresolved the fundamental issue of whether farmers should be allowed to buy or sell their land. […]
Read MoreFrom the Financial Times (link): Japan’s relations with China are at a lower point than at any time since the two countries normalised relations in 1972 and they are getting worse. Leaders in Japan who argue otherwise are trying to fool the public, or they are fooling themselves. The spiralling downward of political relations comes […]
Read MoreFrom the Washington Post, the next installment in Philip Pan’s Great Firewall of China Series (link): A state-run newspaper reported Tuesday that Google Inc. is under investigation for operating without a proper license in China and quoted an unnamed government official as saying the Internet giant needs to cooperate further with the authorities in blocking […]
Read MoreFrom Reuters, via the Washington Post (link): The trial of a Chinese researcher charged with exposing state secrets while working for the New York Times is expected before the end of March, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Zhao Yan worked for the paper before his arrest in September 2004. He faces 10 years in jail […]
Read MoreFrom the Los Angeles Times: Amid booming economic growth and an erosion of traditional values, this land of the socialist “iron rice bowl” ” where people once served their state-owned employers until death ” has become a revolving-door society. China’s overall turnover rate jumped to a record 14% last year from 8% in 2000, according […]
Read MoreChina signs an agreement with the EU to reduce emissions from coal burning power plants with a goal to have zero emissions by the year 2020. This is similar to the U.S. EPA’s long term plans for reducing emissions by 2018. Environmentalists concerned about mercury emissions from coal burning must wonder, will these promised changes […]
Read MoreFrom the Guardian (link): Against a background of rising rural unrest, China yesterday unveiled ambitious plans to help the 800 million people living in the countryside catch up economically with people in the cities. More rural...
Read MoreFrom Xinhua (link): Internet giant Google rejected newspaper reports yesterday that its new China platform does not have the correct license. The Beijing News reported yesterday that Google.cn, which was recently launched, “has not obtained the ICP (Internet content provider) license needed to operate Internet content services in China.” The Ministry of Information Industry, which […]
Read MoreA begger in front of a car, Xiangfan city, Hubei province; via duoweinews.com
Read MoreFrom Xinhua: An independently developed biometric face recognition system has received official approval and is expected to be applied for public identification soon. The invention, developed by Su Guangda, an Electronic Engineering Department professor with Beijing-based Tsinghua University, has been approved by a panel of experts from the Ministry of Public Security. The system excels […]
Read MoreEnvironmental consequences of China’s development don’t only affect the poor, according to a Xinhua report: Disputes over office air quality are on the rise in recent years. In some cases, employees have sued their bosses for provided an unhealthful work environment; in other cases, building management and furniture makers have been sued for using unhealthful […]
Read MoreA report in the Beijing News (link) has quoted an official with Google China, who says it is “very likely” that all searches from the unfiltered Chinese version of Google.com will be redirected to the censored Google.cn. As Letters from China points out, in recent Congressional testimony, Google said: We have recently launched Google.cn, a […]
Read MoreFrom Forbes.com (link): China’s State Council said it will allow private and foreign firms to buy stakes in rural financial institutions, as Beijing turns its attention to its most debt-ladened and politically sensitive lenders. The country’s cabinet said in a statement that rural financial institutions at county level will be able to diversify their ownership […]
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