See also The Peking Duck
I fear Beijing might react violently, in some form, if these protest against her authority continue.
Tiananamen. Remember.
See also The Peking Duck
I fear Beijing might react violently, in some form, if these protest against her authority continue.
Tiananamen. Remember.
China faces to watch
China is gearing up to change its top leaders, a process
that begins at the end of the year. This week, the annual parliamentary session
will give those in the running the chance to show off their credentials. The
BBC's Michael Bristow profiles key figures.
Getty Images
|
His comments followed an interview with Charlie Rose, earlier in the week, where he criticized the country’s human rights record.
On Wednesday, China’s foreign ministry reacted to Locke’s earlier comments saying it objected to interference in its internal affairs.
Frank Lavin, the former U.S. Ambassador to Singapore told CNBC.com that Locke’s comments were a little more forceful than the usual statements made by senior members of the U.S. government.
In an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep, Locke said there is growing frustration among the Chinese people over the “operations of government, corruption, lack of transparency” and he referenced China’s “Jasmine Revolution” last February, which was modeled on the pro-democracy demonstrations seen across the Middle East.
Shaun Rein, Founder & Managing Director, China Market Research Group believes the statement won’t be taken lightly and says this incident just adds to the risk of a trade war between the U.S. and China.
Read more at CNBC
By Tendar Tsering
DHARAMSHALA, October 14: Amidst a fiery episode of self-immolations inside Tibet and growing protests by Tibetans in exile, a group of US Senators, Members of House of Representatives and senior officials appointed by President Obama has called on the Chinese government to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama.
The Congressional Executive Commission on China in its annual report released on Wednesday said "the Dalai Lama’s withdrawal from exiled Tibetan administrative affairs has the potential to alter dialogue dynamics by eliminating the basis for the government and Party to characterise him as a ‘political’ figure."
The US report urged the Chinese government to engage in substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives on protecting Tibetan culture, language, religion and heritage.
Referring to the sequence of self-immolation cases inside Tibet, the 2011 report pointed out that dialogue can result in a durable and mutually beneficial outcome for the Chinese government and Tibetans, and improve the outlook for local and regional security in coming decades.
Read more at Phayul
Retired Sep. 30, 1957. Died Feb. 27, 2006.
Robert Lee Scott was born in Macon, Ga., in 1908. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1932, completed pilot training at Kelly Field, Texas, in October 1933 and was assigned to Mitchel Field, N.Y. Like other air officers, Scott flew the air mail in 1934, commanded a pursuit squadron in Panama and helped instruct other pilots at bases in Texas and California.
After World War II began, he went to Task Force Aquila in February 1942 to the China-Burma-India Theater where he pioneered in air activities. Within a month he was executive and operations officer of the Assam-Burma-China Ferry Command, forerunner of the famous Air Transport Command and Hump efforts from India to China.
At the request of Generalissmo Chiang Kai-Shek he was named commander of the Flying Tigers, formed by General Claire Chennault, and also became fighter commanding officer of the China Air Task Force, later to become the 14th Air Force.
He flew 388 combat missions in 925 hours from July 1942 to October 1943, shooting down 13 enemy aircraft to become one of the earliest aces of the war/
Read more at U.S. AIR fORCE
Beijing - Two Tibetan monks have set themselves on fire as a protest against the Chinese government's tight controls over Buddhist practices. The two monks have suffered slight burns and are in stable condition.
BEIJING, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held a meeting here Monday to study a proposal on the country's cultural reforms, according to an official press release.
Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting, which is a major gathering of Party leadership prior to the Sixth Plenary Session of the CPC's Seventeenth Central Committee scheduled to convene in the nation's capital on Oct. 15 to 18.
At the meeting, participants heard and discussed a report on a drafted resolution of the CPC Central Committee regarding cultural reforms. The resolution will be revised on the basis of the results of this meeting, and is expected to be handed over to the forthcoming plenary session.
Different Party organizations and departments throughout the country and representatives of the 17th Party Congress have contributed their ideas for improving the resolution, so as to make it a directive document on cultural reforms under the new situation, says the press release.
Currently, it says, the world is experiencing major developments, changes and readjustments. Meanwhile, China has entered both a critical period for building up an overall prosperous society as well as the final phase for deepening the ongoing Reform and Opening Up Drive and accelerating the country's economic development shift, it says.
Read more at Sina
1926
This article was written by Comrade Mao Tse-tung to combat two deviations then to be found in the Party. The exponents of the first deviation, represented by Chen Tu-hsiu, were concerned only with co-operation with the Kuomintang and forgot about the peasants; this was Right opportunism. The exponents of the second deviation, represented by Chang Kuo-tao, were concerned only with the labour movement, and likewise forgot about the peasants; this was "Left" opportunism. Both were aware that their own strength was inadequate, but neither of them knew where to seek reinforcements or where to obtain allies on a mass scale. Comrade Mao Tse-tung pointed out that the peasantry was the staunchest and numerically the largest ally of the Chinese proletariat, and thus solved the problem of who was the chief ally in the Chinese revolution. Moreover, he saw that the national bourgeoisie was a vacillating class and predicted that it would disintegrate during the upsurge of the revolution, with its right-wing going over to the side of imperialism. This was borne out by the events of 1927.
Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This is a question of the first importance for the revolution. The basic reason why all previous revolutionary struggles in China achieved so little was their failure to unite with real friends in order to attack real enemies. A revolutionary party is the guide of the masses, and no revolution ever succeeds when the revolutionary party leads them astray. To ensure that we will definitely achieve success in our revolution and will not lead the masses astray, we must pay attention to uniting with our real friends in order to attack our real enemies. To distinguish real friends from real enemies, we must make a general analysis of the economic status of the various classes in Chinese society and of their respective attitudes towards the revolution.
What is the condition of each of the classes in Chinese society?
The landlord class and the comprador class.[1] In economically backward and semi-colonial China the landlord class and the comprador class are wholly appendages of the international bourgeoisie, depending upon imperialism for their survival ant growth. These classes represent the most backward and most reactionary relations of production in China and hinder the development of her productive forces. Their existence is utterly incompatible with the aims of the Chinese revolution. The big landlord and big comprador classes in particular always side with imperialism and constitute an extreme counterrevolutionary group. Their political representatives are the Étatistes [2] and the right-wing of the Kuomintang.
The middle bourgeoisie. This class represents the capitalist relations of production in China in town and country. The middle bourgeoisie, by which is meant chiefly the national bourgeoisie, [3] is inconsistent in its attitude towards the Chinese revolution: they feel the need for revolution and favour the revolutionary movement against imperialism and the warlords when they are smarting under the blows of foreign capital and the oppression of the warlords, but they become suspicious of the revolution when they sense that, with the militant participation of the proletariat at home and the active support of the international proletariat abroad, the revolution is threatening the hope of their class to attain the status of a big bourgeoisie. Politically, they stand for the establishment of a state under the rule of a single class, the national bourgeoisie. A self-styled true disciple of Tai Chi-tao [4] wrote in the Chen Pao, [5] Peking, "Raise your left fist to knock down the imperialists and your right to knock down the Communists." These words depict the dilemma and anxiety of this class. It is against interpreting the Kuomintang's Principle of the People's Livelihood according to the theory of class struggle, and it opposes the Kuomintang's alliance with Russia and the admission of Communists [6] and left-wingers. But its attempt to establish a state under the rule of the national bourgeoisie is quite impracticable, because the present world situation is such that the two major forces, revolution and counter-revolution, are locked in final struggle. Each has hoisted a huge banner: one is the red banner of revolution held aloft by the Third International as the rallying point for all the oppressed classes of the world, the other is the white banner of counterrevolution held aloft by the League of Nations as the rallying point for all the counter-revolutionaries of the world. The intermediate classes are bound to disintegrate quickly, some sections turning left to join the revolution, others turning right to join the counter-revolution; there is no room for them to remain "independent". Therefore the idea cherished by China's middle bourgeoisie of an "independent" revolution in which it would play the primary role is a mere illusion.
Read more at Marxists.org
Under China's 1982 constitution, the most powerful organ of state is meant to be the National People's Congress (NPC), China's parliament. In truth, it is little more than a rubber stamp for party decisions.
The congress is made up of nearly 3,000 delegates elected by China's provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and the armed forces. Delegates hold office for five years, and the full congress is convened for one session each year.
This sporadic and unwieldy nature means that real influence lies within a standing committee of about 150 members elected from congress delegates. It meets every couple of months.
In theory, the congress has the power to change the constitution and make laws. But it is not, and is not meant to be, an independent body in the Western sense of a parliament.
For a start, about 70% of its delegates - and almost all its senior figures - are also party members. Their loyalty is to the party first, the NPC second.
IndependenceWhat actually tends to happen, therefore, is that the party drafts most new legislation and passes it to the NPC for "consideration", better described as speedy approval.
The NPC has shown some signs of growing independence over the past decade. In a notable incident in 1999, it delayed passing a law bringing in an unpopular fuel tax. It has also been given greater leeway drafting laws in areas like human rights.
The congress also "elects" the country's highest leaders, including the state president and vice-president, the chairman of the government's own Military Affairs Commission and the president of the Supreme People's Court.
But again, these elections are very different from the Western ideal.
Read more at the BBC
With local protests driven by official corruption plaguing China, how much longer can Communist Party last?
In recent days, the western media separately reported two discrete stories on China -- one on corruption and a second on a social protest. The two are, however, part of broader, interrelated trends, which together constitute significant threats to autocratic China.
Event one was an online analysis from the money laundering bureau of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, stating that 17,000 Communist Party members and state functionaries had illicitly obtained and then smuggled out of China an astonishing $124 billion from the mid-90s until 2008. These kleptocratic acts are symbolic of China's broader corruption.
Event two was a riot by migrant workers in the southeastern city of Zengcheng, in Guangdong province, forcibly put down by security forces. Migrant workers -- estimated to number at least 150 million nationally (roughly half the U.S. population) -- often protest because they lack residency rights, which are necessary for access to social benefits like education and healthcare in communities where they work. And these migrant worker disturbances are emblematic of a rising tide of social protest by a variety of groups, which occur at the local level, but which the authorities fear could coalesce into a national movement. Even Chinese authorities estimate that the number of demonstrations is approaching 100,000 per year.
The central bank report on monumental theft of state funds by cadres and officials was completed in June, 2008, then marked confidential, but recently (and somewhat mysteriously) appeared on its website. after broad coverage in the Chinese media and a public outcry, the report was swiftly removed from site. According to the Wall Street Journal, the central bank had no comment on the report after its fleeting online appearance. And, although the report itself discusses methods China should take to stop money laundering, it apparently does not explain how party members, officials, and officers in state enterprises obtained their outsized illicit gains.
This central bank accounting of huge party and government theft is but one type of corruption involving the Party and government which affects people and enterprises -- both Chinese and non-Chinese. For example, bribes are paid for procurements; judges are bribed by parties to cases; local officials take land from peasants for minimal amounts and personally profit from resale to development interests; officials misuse public funds for personal reasons (from sex to real estate to trips to investments to expatriation of funds); officials exercise "administrative discretion" in favor of those they can extort; enforcement of laws may be frustrated by pay-offs and kick-backs; and local governments may be entwined with organized crime.
Corruption, of course, is notoriously hard to measure. (Analysts look at hard statistics like investigations, prosecutions and convictions -- but these numbers may bear little relationship to underlying reality.) For many who live and operate in China, however, it is an ever-present feature of daily life. In a 2008 survey, Pew found that eight of 10 Chinese consider party and governmental corruption a significant issue.
Read more at The Atlantic
A Party with ninety years of history
Author: Ambassador Song Zhe 26 June 2011 - Issue : 941 |
People often comment on China’s development as a miracle. In fact, the development of the CPC is also a miracle. Lately, many friends in Europe have been asking me what is our secret for such success. I believe it is attributable to the basic character, program of action, and core concept of the CPC. Because of these, the CPC has always been able to adapt to the changes of the situation and environment in its 90 years of history. The Party has always understood the correct direction for the way forward, stood at the forefront of our times, and has led the Chinese people to constantly achieve glorious successes.
The CPC has a solid social and popular basis. Since the day one, the Party has established its fundamental purpose as to serve the people whole-heartedly. Regardless of whether it was in the revolutionary era or the period of construction, or whether it was in promoting reform or deepening opening up, the CPC always places the people’s interest ahead of everything else. Today, the CPC represents the fundamental interest of 1.3 billion Chinese people. “Putting people first” and “governing for the people” constitute the core governing concept of the CPC. As the pioneers of the Chinese nation, the CPC has been constantly reinforcing its social representativeness, influence and cohesiveness by reaching out extensively to take in excellent and talented members of all industries and sectors of society. When one understands this, it will be easy to understand why after the Wenchuan, Sichuan Earthquake, local Party committees and grass-root level cadres chose to take care of the big family of the people before the one’s own “small” family and personal interest. It will also help one understand why the Chinese government has made that huge investment for earthquake disaster relief and the rebuilding of homes for the people.
The CPC attaches great importance to and earnestly follows the idea of extensive democracy. The CPC views intra-Party democracy as a very important matter, and has worked to ensure increased transparency, democracy, and reasonability in decision making through extensive participation of the CPC members in the Party affairs. Before major policy formulation, the Party always conducts in-depth research and survey, listens carefully to the opinions of different government bodies and local authorities, and implements extensively the system of public hearing and keeping the public informed. In addition, the CPC also uses various platforms to conduct democracy consultations with democratic parties and representatives from all sectors of society and listens attentively to their views on the major policies and guiding principles of the nation. China’s 12th Five-Year Plan for national development which was approved not long ago is a very case in point. The Plan has involved several hundred major research projects during its drafting.
Thousands of experts and tens of thousands of researchers have contributed to relevant research reports which totaled several million words. And it was on basis have we formed basic outline of the Plan. The CPC is committed to promoting people’s democracy and has been working unremittingly to introduce more democracy at the grass-root level. Direct election has already reached more than 600,000 CPC village committees of more than 700 million rural population.
The CPC has always been able to keep pace with the times. The strategic thinking and long-term vision the Party boasts allow it to see clearly the general trend of the world, identify precisely the direction of our times, and therefore correctly guides, upholds, and grows the overall interest of the Chinese people as a whole. The CPC is not a rigidified party. It never forgets to innovate in its theories and thinking in line with China’s actual conditions and the changing situation. Against the backdrop of deepening globalization, stronger interdependence among nations, and speedy science and technology advances, the CPC has put forward timely and reasonable ideas including harmonious society, harmonious world, and scientific outlook on development, promoted comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable economic and social progress in China, and maintained a favorable interaction with the international community.
The CPC is not a self-closing and self-complacent party. The Party is open to the social progress and achievements of the humanity, and is committed to drawing from successful experiences and practices on governance and on the running of state affairs from a wide range of countries and their parties. In this time of globalization and information explosion, the open, innovative and progressive characters of the CPC corresponds all the more appropriately with the trends of the times. In the past 90 years, China has gone through many setbacks and difficulties. Similarly, the CPC has also experienced complications and mistakes. However, the CPC has always made the correct choice during these crucial moments to face the reality squarely, learn the lesson, change for the future. As the result, under the leadership of the CPC, the ship of China has always stayed on the right course to a strong, democratic, civil and harmonious nation.
The CPC attaches high importance to self-improvement and the strengthening of its implementation capability. The Party follows the principle of democratic centralism. We always try to be democratic and highly efficient in decision making, and once the final decision has been made, we can quickly follow through with the plan by mobilizing all available resources.
That is why the Chinese government was able to use all of its resources to evacuate 35,860 Chinese nationals from Libya within 11 days since the crisis there broke out. The implantation capacity of the CPC is also attributable to its active effort in capacity building and strict self-restraint. As a member of the CPC, one is supposed to be a role model and an outstanding member of the community as a life-time learner who is strongly disciplined, upholds advanced standards, and follows strictly laws and regulations. The Party has also taken a series of measures, including stronger supervision and regulation, more comprehensive oversight and accountability system, and more rigorous anti-corruption system to maintain its health and address such issues as corruption and poor governance.
Today, many people in Europe speak highly of China’s achievements and are optimistic about our prospect. Some people are also frank enough to point out the problems we have and the challenges we face. However, there are also people who are pessimistic about China or even doubt China’s wish for peaceful development. As the ruling party of China and having sailed through very tough sea waters over the last 90 years, the CPC today is a party that enjoys maturity, stability, and wisdom. It is blessed with tremendous popular support, rich experiences, and advanced ideas. We have the confidence to well-handle our development problems, keep the Chinese economy healthy, and continue to contribute to the strong, balanced, and sustainable growth of the world economy. In the years ahead, we will remain firmly committed to adapting to the trend of the times, unceasingly pursuing peaceful development, and working with the rest of the world to promote world peace, stability, and prosperity.
Editor's note: Melissa Chiu is the director of the Asia Society Museum in New York.
New York (CNN) -- Art and politics are entangled in China. Two recent events in Beijing show just how much: the reopening of the National Museum and the detention of the outspoken artist Ai Weiwei.
The renovated museum's inaugural displays avoid the less palatable aspects of history under the Communist Party, including the disastrous famines of the Great Leap Forward that cost millions of lives in the 1950s and '60s. There's only a minute reference to the violent and destructive Cultural Revolution of the '60s and '70s, and none at all to the bloody 1989 pro-democracy protests of Tiananmen Square, where the museum stands.
Such omissions are no surprise. Artists in China have long been aware of these and other no-go subjects. They know that if they want to show their work in state-run museums, they must conform to an unspoken "no politics, no sex and no violence" rule.
In the early 1990s, many artists tried to get around this rule by showing their work at their studios and private galleries. Even so, exhibitions were sometimes closed by authorities and artists rounded up. Performance artists in Beijing's East Village were especially vulnerable in 1994. One of the most celebrated, Ma Liuming, was arrested after security forces broke up a performance.
Recently, there has been a relaxation of sorts. During the past five years, gallery districts have flourished in cities across the country, a collector class has grown in line with the boom in the economy and even state-run museums have let down their guard to show more contemporary works.
Read more at CNN
The following is an article from Huanqiu Lianwang by Song Luzheng.
Both Marxism and Western style democracy arrived in China from the West, with the latter arriving first. Not only did democratic theory attract the interest of Chinese political elites, but democracy was attempted on two occasions. One was the constitutional monarchy-orientated 100 Days Reform movement and the reforms of the late Qing dynasty. The other was the American style ‘Constitution of Five Powers’ during Nationalist rule. Marxism only really influenced China after the October Revolution in Russia in 1917. However, it was Marxism that gradually emerged victorious amongst the various political movements, including Western style democracy, leading China to a new period. It was Marxism that culminated in the attainment of the long strived for goal of Chinese people of independence and national unity.
Both ideas came from the West, yet one led China to glory, and the other failed despite having first bite of the cherry. Looking back through history, the underlying reasons for this still have a very strong practical significance.
One explanation has been popular recently. It goes that during the 1930s and 40s, the West suffered from economic crises and war, which was in contrast to the successes experienced by the Soviet Union. Add in the necessity of saving the nation, this led Chinese history to choose Marxism. External reasons are indeed important, but they are not defining. The correct explanation comes from an examination of Marxism and China itself.
Read more at ChinaGeeks
BEIJING — President Hu Jintao of China returned home this weekend after a trip intended to repair relations with the United States. But the next time the White House marches out the honor guard and polishes the crystals for a Chinese leader, it is unlikely to be for Mr. Hu.
Following a secretive succession plan laid out years ago, Mr. Hu has already begun preparing for his departure from power, passing the baton to his presumed successor, a former provincial leader named Xi Jinping, now China’s vice president. While Mr. Xi is expected next year to formally take the reins in China, the world’s second-largest economy and fastest-growing military power, he remains a cipher to most people, even within China.
But an extended look at Mr. Xi’s past shows that his rise has been built on a combination of political acumen, family connections and ideological dexterity. Like the country he will run, he has nimbly helped maintain the primacy of the Communist Party, while making economic growth the party’s main business.
Read more at The New York Times
During Hu Jintao's visit, he penned a joint statement with President Obama in which -- for the first time -- he voiced concern about North Korea's new uranium enrichment. Many in the U.S. and South Korea are hailing this as support for their position, but they should know better. Despite tactical moves to smooth Hu Jintao's visit, little about China's North Korea policy has changed over the last few weeks nor is it likely to anytime soon.
In the past, a less strident Beijing's willingness to calibrate its responses to North Korean provocations was key to the West's strategy to moderate Pyongyang's behavior. But internal debates on North Korea policy have given way to traditionalist and conservative forces increasingly dictating the line, backed by nationalist public opinion. Over the past year and a half, China has strengthened its political, economic and military relationship with the North, refusing to hold Pyongyang to account for deadly attacks on the South which recently brought the peninsula the closest to war since 1953.
China's top concern of instability on its border deepened in 2009 following reports of Kim Jong-Il's failing health, a disastrous currency reform, and uncertainties surrounding leadership transition. But Beijing's calculations are also increasingly shaped by rising concerns about a perceived U.S. strategic "return to Asia" and by opposition to American military and political presence in the region. China is using its close ties with Pyongyang as a bulwark against U.S. military dominance in the region, giving the rogue nation virtually unconditional diplomatic protection. The two presidents' joint statement this week glosses over all of these realities.
Read more at the Huffington Post
Japanese prosecutors say they are to drop charges against a Chinese trawler captain whose arrest last September led to a major diplomatic row with Beijing.
Zhan Qixiong was accused of ramming two Japanese patrol vessels near disputed islands in the East China Sea.
China said his detention was "illegal and invalid", and cut off ministerial-level contacts with Japan.
A Japanese ex-coastguard officer who admitted leaking a video of the collisions will also not face charges.
Masaharu Isshiki, 44, said he posted the coastguard footage on YouTube. His admission led to his resignation and disciplinary proceedings against others, including the head of the agency.
Read more at BBC
Dai Bingguo, China's state councilor, left, speaks with Lee Myung Bak, South Korea's president, during their meeting at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010. (Yonhap News via Bloomberg)
China called Sunday for an emergency international meeting to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula, but the United States and South Korea, engaged in large-scale war games nearby, appeared initially cool to the idea.
The proposal followed a rare burst of shuttle diplomacy by the Chinese, who have been stung by accusations that they have failed to rein in their North Korean ally.
Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, the highest-ranking foreign policy official, flew to Seoul over the weekend to meet with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, while Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi spoke by telephone with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and to the foreign ministers of Russia and Japan. The U.S. ambassador to Beijing, Jon Huntsman, was spotted Sunday afternoon leaving the Foreign Ministry building in Beijing. A North Korean official, Choe Tae Bak, has been called to Beijing on Tuesday for meetings.
Despite the diplomacy, the scene off the west coast of the Korean peninsula on Sunday was about the show of force. Joint U.S.-South Korean naval exercises are to take place over four days, led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington.
North Korea kept nerves on edge with its own artillery practice on Sunday near Yeonpyeong Island, where four South Koreans were killed last week by North Korean shelling.
Read more at The Los Angeles Times
BEIJING —
A 13-year-old American boy campaigning to turn the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea into a peace park tried to get the Chinese president's attention Monday, staging a brief protest near Tiananmen Square before being led away by police.
Jonathan Lee unfurled a sign saying "peace treaty" and "nuclear free DMZ children's peace forest" as he stood outside Tiananmen Gate just north of the square in central Beijing.
The scene of numerous demonstrations over the years, the gate and square remain some of the most tightly controlled public spaces in China and all protests on it are quickly snuffed by security agents, sometimes violently. In 1989, tanks and troops rolled into the square to crush a student-led pro-democracy movement, killing at least hundreds of people.
Less than a minute after Lee began his demonstration, a man presumed to be a plainclothes police officer grabbed the boy's sign and waved away watching journalists, who had been contacted by Lee's family ahead of time. Three or four uniformed police officers then hurriedly escorted Lee and his mother away without commotion.
Police held the pair and a few hours later Lee and his mother, Melissa Lee, returned to their hotel where they were joined by the boy's father and sister. The family arrived unaccompanied at Beijing airport Monday evening to catch a Korean Airlines flight to Seoul, but declined to comment to The Associated Press.
The Lees' treatment by Chinese authorities was relatively mild compared with the often rough handling and swift, forced deportation given to most foreigners who try to stage protests in China. It was not clear if they were forced to leave the country or had already planned to do so.
Read more at The Seattle Times
David Cameron came to China, leading a six months’ old coalition government and a large delegation of British business figures, hoping to do business.
He left realising that achieving big export deals with China is a slow and difficult process, even though he spoke softly on human rights and made no gaffes during his trip.
Other big deals that had been expected – one between BP and CNOOC of China and another with Diageo – did not come off, Downing Street officials said, because the Chinese political establishment was not ready to sign even though the British companies had dipped their pens in the ink.
Officials said they hoped the deals would still go ahead in due course, but it would be a slower process than initially expected.
The strategy on the trip, one senior British official said, was to do business while also raising issues of concern to British people, especially human rights, in a “sensitive and measured” way.
This, Mr Cameron did assiduously during his visit, but he did not raise specific human rights cases in his formal meetings with Wen Jiabao, premier, and Hu Jintao, president.
It is understood that some specific cases of human rights abuse, such as the imprisonment of Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, were raised at a banquet on Tuesday evening, but Downing Street would not confirm that such a discussion took place, nor whose name the prime minister raised if he did raise the issue, nor what the response was.
Read more at Financial Times
The Prime Minister is beginning a two-day trip to China, during which he will come under pressure to raise the issue of the jailed dissident who recently won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Mr Cameron is travelling with dozens of business leaders, including many who publicly backed Conservative tax policies, on his first visit to the emerging superpower.
Before boarding the plane, he claimed that relations between the two countries were "strong enough" to be able to talk frankly about human rights issues.
But last night the visit was at risk of being dogged by the issue of the Coalition's growing employment of part-time officials, many of whom were formerly political aides.
Last week, Mr Cameron was mocked for putting Andrew Parsons, his official photographer, on the civil service payroll. Last night, the Cabinet Office admitted that Nick Clegg had also recruited two of his former party aides as civil servants.
Tim Snowball, formerly Mr Clegg's campaign tour organiser who had a prominent role during the election campaign, has been given a job in his private office. Mr Clegg's former deputy speechwriter, Zena Elmahrouki, has also been given a job in the Cabinet Office as a speech-writer.
Read more at The Telegraph
British PM will have to compete with the memory of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and even Winston Churchill when he visits China
The grasp that ordinary Chinese people have on western politics can be humbling. During the British general election in May, one taxi driver regaled me with his lengthy version of the Gordon Brown-Gillian Duffy incident; last month, another inquired what I thought of Harold Macmillan.
Only a handful of politicians become household names around the world. Margaret Thatcher was one, Tony Blair another; he still features regularly in the Chinese media.
So far, David Cameron has yet to make that kind of impact. In our small and entirely unscientific sample in central Beijing, not one person could name the British prime minister.
Some cited Blair. One thought, after a minute of umming, that it might be Brown.
Read more at the Guardian
Fear of the Asian giant played a cameo role in America's bipartisan wars
In the days leading up to the mid-term elections in the United States, I was glued to the television set here in Washington, especially during primetime, hoping to catch some of the political ads aimed at demonising China and inducing fear among Americans about the rise of China.
Many of these ads ascribed dubious if not outright unpatriotic qualities to candidates said to have helped create jobs in China instead of America. Playing to voters' anxieties about the outsourcing of jobs, some ads argued that by opting for economic stimulus and healthcare reform, the Democrats have plunged America into greater reliance on China credit.
Taking China-bashing to new heights, one commercial titled Chinese Professor - slickly produced presumably on a liberal budget - depicted a Chinese classroom set in 2030 festooned with posters of Mao Zedong. The professor asked a roomful of students why the US had declined alongside the Greek and Roman civilisations. Blaming America's downfall on stimulus spending and the costs of healthcare reform, the professor prompted uproarious laughter when he concluded that excessive American borrowing meant that "Americans now have to work for us" since China owned US debts.
But despite days of keeping a close vigil by the television, I was disappointed. All I saw were countless mudslinging ads between candidates, such as those by Maryland's Martin O'Malley and Robert Ehrlich. I was also inundated with innumerable ads on prescription drugs that purport to soothe ailments ranging from diabetes to asthma and over-active bladders. But I did not manage to catch a single anti-China commercial. Maybe I just did not tune in at the right time; I ended up watching the ads online instead.
I asked my American colleagues and friends about the dearth of such television commercials in the Washington metro area where I live, and one explanation was that the area consists of "mostly educated people". I took that to mean people who would not be easily swayed by sensationalist ads - hence political campaigners would have seen little point in wasting their time, money and effort on this demographic. According to US media reports, 250 ads targeting China were aired in just under half of the 100 competitive districts, such as in Pennsylvania.
Another explanation was that the anti-China ads were mainly televised in areas where unemployment rates were higher, such as Michigan and Ohio with around 13 and 10 per cent unemployment, respectively, higher than the national average of about 9 per cent.
Read more at TODAY Online
Ai Weiwei attends an opera premiere in Germany in October 2009
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was released Sunday evening from two days of house arrest in Beijing intended to block him from attending a party at his studio in Shanghai. The party, which went on without the host, was to mark the structure's impending demolition. Shanghai authorities, who had invited Ai to build a studio on farmland in the city's Jiading district, told the artist that the building had been deemed illegal and needed to be removed.
In recent years Ai has been one of China's most visible artists. He was one of the designers of the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing, the centerpiece of the 2008 Olympics. Last month he completed an installation of 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds at the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern gallery in London.(Read 'The China Paradox' by Ai Weiwei.)
He has also become one of the Chinese government's most vocal critics. Ai believes the demolition order was in retaliation for a pair of documentaries he produced that riled the Shanghai government. One was about a man who killed six Shanghai police officers in 2008, and the other about a Shanghai activist who lived in the Tokyo airport while he wasn't allowed to return home. "They were very embarrassed," Ai says. "They pictured me as trouble for them even though they invited me before the Olympics to build my own studio."
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2030021,00.html#ixzz14i5kEFmHRetiree
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