“The world’s biggest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , says it plans at least 10 new stores in China next year, joining other foreign retail giants in taking advantage of new rules letting them move into smaller cities. China’s $240-billion (U.S.) retail market, dominated by local firms such as Beijing Wangfujing Group and Wumart Stores, is […]
Read MoreFrom CNN: “China is closing fast on Japan and is likely to overtake it this year as the world’s No. 3 trading nation behind the United States and Germany, new figures show. China already imports more goods than Japan and almost certainly will surpass it in merchandise exports in 2004. ” The full story is […]
Read MoreFrom World Socialist Website: “A wave of militant urban protests has erupted in China over the past month against official corruption, social inequality and the destruction of jobs. ……The growing class tensions underscore the reasons for the transfer of control of the Chinese military from former president Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao at last month’s […]
Read MoreFrom Asia Times: “It’s been a little more than a month since reformist Chinese President Hu Jintao grasped all the reins of power – state, Communist Party and military – and already signs are emerging of a new Hu era. While maintaining political control, the Hu regime appears to be kinder and gentler, more relaxed, […]
Read MoreBusiness Week has published a long report about the epidemic of suicide in China: “By now, readers of BusinessWeek are no doubt accustomed to seeing articles touting China as the new economic superpower that’s leading the world in this or that. Biggest cell-phone population. Fastest-growing Internet population. Manufacturing mecca. Favorite location for foreign direct investment. […]
Read MoreFrom The Age: “The clashes between groups of the Muslim minority known as the Hui and villagers of the Han majority have come as China’s usually massive security force – comprising 1.7 million police and 2.8 million soldiers – suddenly seems limited in the face of ethnic, farmer and industrial worker protests across the country. […]
Read MoreAP (via: Las Vegas Sun) reported today: “The State Department will ask the Chinese government about a former senior Chinese official who was quoted as accusing President Bush of trying to “rule over the whole world.” The quotes in the China Daily, an English language state newspaper, were attributed to Qian Qichen, a former vice […]
Read MoreFrom AP (via: New York Times) “Police by the thousands patrolled this central Chinese town Monday and residents hunkered down in their homes after deadly street fights between members of the country’s main ethnic group and a Muslim minority. On Monday, minivans with loudspeakers strapped to their roofs drove through the dirt roads of Langchenggang […]
Read MoreThe Hui-Han clashes which killed at least twenty people in Henan Province have been reported around the globe, despite government efforts to prevent media coverage. According to the AFP, four foreign journalists were detained while reporting from the scene, and local journalists have been banned from reporting the news. “They are afraid to trigger conflict […]
Read MoreThe Washington Post reports on the tensions between the media and official censorship guidelines which prohibit independent reporting on corruption, using a recent scandal in Harbin, in which five officials were dismissed, as an example: “Many people in Harbin and the surrounding Heilongjiang province, based on experience in a region with a long history of […]
Read More“Up to 100,000 farmers clashed with police in south-west China, protesting against compensation payments for farmland requisitioned to make way for a hydroelectric plant, local residents and reports said. Unrest at the Pubugou hydroelectric project on the Dadu river in Sichuan province began last Thursday and peaked on Friday when locals marched on the Hanyuan […]
Read MoreFrom People’s Daily: “China’s second manned space flight will be conducted by two astronauts over five days in 2005. ‘Shenzhou-VI will be blasted into space sometime next year,’ said Zuo Saichun, a spokesperson of the China Aerospace Science and Technology (CAST). ”
Read MoreFrom AP, (via Globe and Mail): “On the eve of the U.S. presidential election, China accused U.S. President George W. Bush of trying to “rule over the whole world,” saying the invasion of Iraq destroyed the global anti-terrorism coalition and worsened religious and ethnic conflicts. The strikingly pointed criticism from a government that Washington calls […]
Read MoreFrom AP, (via Las Vegas Sun): “Martial law has been imposed on a town in central China after rioting killed at least four people and injured an unknown number, local residents said Monday. The violence erupted Friday in Langchenggang, a town in Henan province, according to residents contacted by phone. They said large groups of […]
Read MoreFrom China Economic Net today:“China’s oil giant Sinopec Group has signed a US$70 billion oil and natural gas agreement with Iran, which is China’s biggest energy deal with the No. 2 OPEC producer. ” UPDATE: BBC’s story is here.
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