Roundup - 23/01/2010

• China has responded to US criticisms of its internet censorship by saying that the issue could hurt diplomatic ties and calling the internet a 'shot in the arm for US hegemony.' Hillary Clinton was unusually critical of China in a speech she gave on Thursday where she suggested that internet freedom could become a major plank of US foreign policy. However, she did stop short of issuing a formal diplomatic request for an investigation into Google's hacking claims.
  
  An article in China's state media calling the internet a tool for US hegemony has pointed to US control of the domain name server system and a plot by the CIA, uncovered by the British press in 2002, which planned to steal information from government organisations, banks and businesses, as a sign that the US is using the internet to boost its global position.
  
  
  
• China and Taiwan are engaged in a competition to give the most aid to Haiti. The PRC first sent a plane with US$2 million of medical supplies very quickly after the tragedy occurred, Taiwan then responded with US$5 million of aid. China has now added an additional US4.4 million. Taiwan and China have used aid and development loans to vie for recognition for decades. However, an informal truce was called after Ma Yingjiu came to power in Taiwan. However, fears that Haiti, one of the few remaining countries who still recognise Taiwan, may switch sides appears to have provoked a strong response from Taiwan.
  
  The conflict between China and Taiwan has also been used by many developing states, particularly those such as the Central African Republic which have very little source of income. By switching sides from time to time they can ensure that aid is always forthcoming from one side or the other.
  
  
  
• The dissident Gao Zhisheng is 'where he should be' a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official has said. At a press conference a spokesman, Ma Zhaoxu, said that he did not know exactly where he was but that 'relevant judicial authorities have decided his case.' Gao's brother said last week that a policeman had suggested that Gao had gone missing, raising fears tat he may have died in custody. Gao was previously arrested in 2007, during which time he has said he was tortured. He has consistently campaigned for political reform since he played a central role in demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
  
  
  
• An online poll to choose a date for a new 'national tourism day' has been plagues by widespread fraud. A total of 4.2 billion votes were cast, significantly more than the 1.3 billion strictly possible. Allegations have been made that many provincial governments sent in fake votes so that the day would fall on the particular days, for example, Hunan wanted it to fall on Mao Zedong's birthday. The poll has been rejected and the date will now be chosen by the state council.
  

Roundup - 19/01/2010

• Reuters and the Wall Street Journal have cited unnamed sources saying that the cyber-attack on Google which has recently made headlines may have had inside help. Analysts have suggested that the reason the attack was so sophisticated was not because of the software used but because they knew exactly who to attack. Google has declined to comment on the reports.
  
  Meanwhile, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China has warned its members that the gmail accounts of at lest two reporters have recently been hacked into and their emails forwarded to an unknown address. Although the two accounts are not named the Associated Press has said that one was an account belonging to one of its journalists.
  
  
  
• The Irish company Statcounter has suggested that Google's market share in China was much greater than previously reported. Reports that suggest Google had barely more than 30% of he market are based on figures from last July. Statcounters new figures show that over the last few months Google has increased its share to 43% while Baidu has fallen to 56%. The figures suggest that Google's low market share in China compared with elsewhere is not a primary motivator for its recent actions.
  
  
  
• Huang Songyou, former vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, has been handed a life sentence for accepting bribes totaling 3.9 million RMB (US$571,000) and embezzling 1.2 million RMB (US$176,000). The sentence comes as part of major crackdown on corruption after Hu Jintao declared it to be a major threat to the legitimacy of the Communist party.
  
  Meanwhile, Chen Shaoyong, former secretary-general of Fijian's provincial party committee, was also given a life sentence for taking properties worth 8.19 million RMB (US$1.2 million) as bribes.
  
  
  
• Two criminal gang leaders, Yang Tianqing and Liu Chenghu, were executed today in Chongqing. Chongqing's campaign against organised crime has resulted in a number of high profile cases involving police and judges as well as gang leaders. The campaign has been a major boost to the career of Bo Xilai who is tipped to be a major player in the next generation of Chinese leaders.
  
  
  
• The China Film Group has decided to stop showing the 2D version of James Cameron's Avatar according to Hong Kong's Apple Daily. This is said to be a reaction to fears that it may encourage unrest. The film depicts a people whose local life is threatened when people arrive to exploit their planets natural resources, a situation which many in China could sympathise with. Due to the rarity of 3D cinemas in China, and their prohibitive ticket prices, the decision will mean that only China's urban middle class will be able to see the film in cinemas.
  

Roundup - 15/01/2010

• China's Ministry of Public Security has announced that its director of equipment and finance and deputy director of the international cooperation department are among eight Chinese missing inside the collapsed UN headquarters on Haiti. A total of four of the missing were officials from the ministry visiting the UN mission according to Xinhua. The other three men and one woman were police officers serving with the UN mission.
  
  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that a total of 22 peace keepers had been confirm dead but that figure is likely to rise as around 150 are still missing including around 100 in the collapsed headquarters.
  
  A Chinese rescue team is said to be working 24 hrs a day in an attempt to save as many lives as possible within the crucial first 72 hours.
  
  
  
• The US has responded to the response to the attack on Google has been hindered by a lack of concrete evidence according to a report in the International Herald Tribune. The reports shows that while most hold the opinion that the attacks came from the Chinese state, concrete evidence of this is not available. The White House did not ask for the Chinese government to investigate the attacks and President Obama has declined to personally take on the issue in public. However, the report quotes a senior official as saying that there would be greater diplomatic action in the coming days.
  
  The attacks have now been shown to have affected at least 33 different institutions including a research institute closely link to Washington and the US defence contractor Northrop Grumman.
  
  Meanwhile, Microsoft has admitted that it was a weakness in its Internet Explorer that allowed the attack to happen.
  
  
  
• The China Internet Network Information Centre reports that China's online population has grown to 384 million. The figure increased almost 29% since the end of 2008 when China already had the worlds largest online population.
  
  
  
• China has chosen a new governor for Tibet after the resignation of Qiangba Puncog. Padma Choling is an ethnic Tibetan who has served 17 years in the People's Liberation Army before becoming a government official. Although the Tibetan governor is often an ethnic Tibetan. The most powerful official, Secretary of the CPC Tibet Committee Zhang Qingli, is Han Chinese.
  
  No reason has been given for the sudden resignation of Qiangba Puncog. He was 62, three years shy of the mandatory retirement age of 65.
  
  
  
• A court in Beijing has begun the trial of the most senior judicial official ever arrested. Huang Songyu was vice-president of the Supreme People's Court when he was dismissed after accusations of accepting bribes and embezzlement. Mr. Huang is now on trial for accepting more than 8 million RMB in bribes and embezzling 1 million RMB from a court in Guangdong. A Xinhua report also suggested that he was known for being 'sexually corrupt' with an interest in 'underage girls.'
  
  
  
• Kang Rixin, formerly head of the China National Nuclear Corporation, has been removed from the Central Committee and stripped of his Communist Party membership. Mr Kang was dismissed from his post at CNNC after suspicions of corruption. Although no charges have yet been brought he has been linked to bribes paid in return for construction contracts on China's nuclear infrastructure and also to an alleged multi-million dollar bribe from a leading French nuclear company.
  
  
  
• In economic news, China's FDI rose 103% year on year in December to reach US$12.1 billion. This brings FDI for 2009 to US$90.03 billion. A slight decrease of 2.6% compared with 2008.
  
  Meanwhile China's foreign exchange reserves grew 23.28% to nearly US$2.4 trillion.
  

Roundup - 11/01/2010

• China has overtaken Germany as the worlds largest export economy. A 13 month decrease in Chinese exports was ended in December when a sudden jump of 17.7% year on year sent Chinese exports over US$1.2 trillion.
  
  China's imports also soared in December, showing a 50% year on year increase. This was largely due to an increase in minerals such as iron ore for steel production and crude oil to meet China's energy needs. In December China imported an average of over 5 million barrels of oil a day for the first time.
  
  In spite of China's rapid recovery from the global economic crisis the government plans to keep its stimulus package in place throughout 2010. Finance Minister Xie Xuren said that ending the stimulus too early could damage the economy and could undo many of the gains China has made over the last year.
  
  However, Mr. Xie did say that the stimulus package would now 'give greater emphasis to expanding domestic demand.' Many analysts predict that China will overtake Japan as the worlds second largest economy by the end of 2010.
  
  
  
• Hong Kong police have announced that a man arrested on a rooftop after an acid attack that injured about 30 people had nothing to do with the crime. The attack, the latest in a series of attacks over the last year, occurred on Saturday night at the popular Temple Street night market. Large bottles of acid were hurled from a rooftop onto the crowd below.
  
  The 39-year-old man was initially reported to have been arrested in connection with the attack. However, police now say that he was simply arrested for missing a court date. Some have suggested that he was simply on the roof to hide from the police.
  
  Over the last 15 months there have been at least six attacks leaving more than 100 injured. So far nobody has been charged in connection with the attacks.
  
  
  
• A Chinese investigation into Australian Rio Tinto Ltd has been sent to prosecutors in Shanghai according to a statement by Australia's Department of Foreign affairs and Trade. Three Rio Tinto employees, including Stern Hu, an Australian citizen, have been detained since July on suspicion of illegally obtaining commercial secrets. It is now up to the Shanghai People's Procuratorate to decide whether or not to bring the case to trial.
  
  The case has caused tensions amid negotiations between China and a number of iron ore producers in Australia. China produced more than half of the world's steel last year and demand for Australian iron ore pushed bilateral trade to US%56 billion last year. A boom in Australian mining has helped Australia to recover from the economic crisis much faster than most Western countries.
  
  
  
• According to state media as many as 4,000 officials have fled China with more than US$50 billion in government funds over the last 30 years. In 2009 103 cases were investigated including that of Yang Xianghong, an official from Wenzhou, who fled to France and attempted to launder US$2.9 million. Officials are believed to use local criminal gangs in their destination country, usually Australia or the US, to arrange travel and to launder public funds.
  
  
  
• Local press in Taiwan reports that Taiwan is planning on buying 8 second-hand frigates from the US. The Perry-class frigates were designed in the 1970s but plans to equip them with the Aegis Combat System would turn them into a powerful force against China's air and missile forces. The report comes only a week after the US confirmed that it would go ahead with a controversial deal to sell Patriot missile equipment to Taiwan.
  
  
  
• A report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has suggested that as many as 24 million men of marrying age will be unable to find a spouse by 2020. The report blames gender specific abortions, the traditional Chinese preference for boys and young people's unwillingness to have children for the problem. Across China 119 boys are born for every 100 girls, in some provinces the figures rise to as much as 130 boys for every 100 girls. The gender imbalance has been blamed for many social ills including forced prostitution and human trafficking which researcher say has become 'rampant' in some parts of the country.
  
  
  
• The contestants of the first Mr. Gay China Pageant have been unveiled. One of the eight contestants will go on to compete in the Worldwide Mr Gay Pageant in Oslo, Norway late this year. Mainstream Chinese language media have not bee invited to the event, due to take place this Friday, amid fears of police interference.
  
  Harassment of China's gay community is still widespread. Homosexuality was illegal until 1997 and considered a mental illness until 2001. However, there are some signs of change. A government funded gay bar opened in Yunnan in December for example.
  

Roundup - 08/01/2010

• China Mobile's Vice-Chairman, Zhang Chunjiang, has been removed from his post. China Mobile said that the decision was made due to 'alleged serious financial irregularities.' According to Caijing magazine Zhang is suspected of hiding losses when he worked at another state-owned telecommunications company, China Netcom. This led to a merger with China Unicom which left Unicom to deal with the unexpected losses at Zhang's company.
  
  
  
• The family of Yuan Kuansheng have alleged that he was murdered by corrupt colleagues. Yuan Kuansheng, formerly deputy mayor of Wugang, Hunan, was officially said to have committed suicide. However, in Yuan's final phone call to his wife, Liu Yuehong, he warned that their apartment had been bugged and that they may be in danger. Liu, a doctor, found several inconsistencies in her husbands autopsy. She claims that it is simply not feasable that her husband suddenly decided to slash his wrists, electrocute himself and then jump of a balcony. The Guardian(UK) reports that Zhuo Xueqing from the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine cited unusual facial injuries, typical of trying to cover somebodies mouth, an unusual distribution of blood stains and a strange pattern of bone fractures. He said that 'we cannot rule out the possibility of murder.'
  
  
  
• Beijing's GDP has now exceeded US$10,000 per capita according to state media. Director of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Committee, Zhang Gong, said that incomes for residents of urban areas of the municipality has risen 12% while those of the outskirts has risen by 9%.
  
  While this news is an achievement for Beijing it also highlights the growing divide between rich and poor. National GDP was expected to rise to only US$3,600 last year.
  
  
  
• China has said that it will offer free vaccinations for the (A)H1N1 virus to children aged between six months and three years. The announcement comes as China ramps up its vaccination programme before the Chinese new year. China has so far vaccinated almost 51.4 million people, 659 deaths from the disease had been reported by the end of 2009.
  
  
  
• Three factory officials have been arrested for covering up the true cost of an accident at a steel plant on Monday. The officials, from the Puyang Iron and Steel co., initially reported only seven deaths from a suspected gas leek at the plant. The death toll has now risen to 21.
  
  
  
• Analysts say the a key interest rate rise is a sign of things to come. Interest from the People's Bank of China's weekly sale of three-month central bank bills has risen by less than 0.05% to 1.3684%. However, analysts predict that this is only the first of many interest rate hikes designed to halt speculative investments and restrain the excess of credit for China's businesses. RBS's Ben Simpfendorfer called it a 'turning point.'
  

Roundup - 06/01/2010

• A Californian software company is suing the Chinese government for US$2.2 billion. Cybersitter claims that the Green Dam Youth Escort programme, designed to block pornographic and other websites deemed harmful by the government, contains more than 3000 lines of stolen code. More than 56 million copies of the software have been distributed in China.
  
  The government originally planned to instal the software on every computer sold in China but was forced to back-pedal after a massive public outcry.
  
  
  
• Hong Kong media is leading speculation about the removal of He Yafei from his position. Mr. He has been moved to a position at the UN from his post as Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs. Commentators suggest that this is due to his handling of the Copenhagen negotiations which resulted in a PR disaster for China.
  
  While He Yafei cannot be personally blamed for the failure of the negotiations, his inability to take major decisions and the contrasting aims of China and the Western powers were the main causes, he was deemed to have handled the situation in a particularly undiplomatic manner. In particular his public insulting of US negotiator Todd Stern and his consistent vetoing of any climate deal, even one that did not include China, in the hectic final phase of negotiations, meant that China would inevitably come out of the summit looking the villain.
  
  Wen Jiabao managed to avoid being made the fall guy for the failure only by not turning up to many of the negotiations.
  
  
  
• 25 coal miners have been killed in a fire at a mine in Xiangtan, Hunan. More than 70 miners were in the shaft when underground cables caught fire on Tuesday afternoon. 43 managed to escape leaving at least 28 trapped. Nine bodies were retrieved on Tuesday and a further 16 on Wednesday morning. Hopes for the other trapped miners are failing as rescuers encounter the toxic fumes left by the fire.
  
  
  
• Public anger is rising as it emerges that a case involving the sale of melamine-tainted milk was withheld from public view for almost a year. Three people from the Shanghai Panda Dairy Co. were arrested in December, however, it seems that evidence that milk was contaminated emerged on Dec30 2008 and the investigation into the company began in February 2009.
  
  Some media reports claim that the tainted milk was actually made with the recalled products from the major 2008 scandal in which 6 children died and 300,000 were made ill but according to Xinhua all products involved in that scandal were destroyed.
  
  The reason given for not informing the public was that, when local authorities began investigating, they discovered evidence that a criminal case could be brought and so had to hand the investigation over to the Ministry of Public Security.
  
  
  
• A report in Faren magazine, affiliated with the Legal Daily, has highlighted corruption among the executives of China's state-owned enterprises. 35 executives face charges in 2009 of which 31 were convicted in cases involving an average of 110 million RMB (US$16.18 million).
  
  Among these, Li Peiying, former head of the Capital Airports Holding Company, was executed in August for taking 26.61 million RMB in bribes. Yang Yanming, once a senior trader with a securities company, was executed in December for embezzling 94.52 million RMB of public funds. Chen Tonghai was given a death sentence with two years reprieve for having taken almost 200 million RMB in bribes.
  
  Kang Rixin, former head of the China National Nuclear Corporation, is currently under investigation for taking backhanders in exchange for awarding construction contracts.
  
  Meanwhile a survey by the Horizon Research Consultancy Group says that 59.1% of people consider that corruption amongst China's officials is most damaging to China's image abroad. This was followed by counterfeit and shoddy products, pollution, uncivil conduct and industrial accidents.
  

Roundup - 05/01/2010

• Three counties in Shaanxi have warned their 850,000 residents to avoid drinking tainted water after a major oil spill. Up to 150,000 litres of oil leaked from an oil pipeline between Gansu and Henan. According to CNPC the accident was caused during construction work by a 'third party.' The oil spilled into two tributaries of the Yellow River, into which it is now believed to be seeping. However, authorities claim to have controlled much of the spill and hope to prevent it from reaching the major cities further downstream.
  
  
  
• The dissident, Liu Xiaobo, is appealing his conviction on charges of incitement to subversion of state power. Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Dec.25^th after a year in detention for his role in drafting the Charter 08 petition. Charter 08 called for far reaching democratic reforms and received more than 10,000 signatures before it was removed from the internet. Shang Baojun, a lawyer handling Mr Liu's case said that the appeal was submitted on Dec 29^th to the Beijing Supreme People's Court. The court must now consider the appeal within 45 days.
  
  
  
• China has reiterated its preference for negotiation over sanctions in deal with Iran's nuclear issue. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Jiang Yu, said that 'dialogue and negotiations are the right ways of properly solving the Iran nuclear issue, and here is still room for diplomatic efforts.'
  
  The statement comes as the US considers organising sanctions on Iran. The US imposed an end of year deadline for Iran to agree to a US scheme for exchanging nuclear fuel which demanded simultaneous exchange within Iran. Iran has now set and end of month deadline for an agreement on its own terms. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that after a month Iran would continue to enrich uranium itself if the deal was not agreed and declared this to be 'an ultimatum.'
  
  
  
• Eight steelworkers have died in an accident in Dalian, Liaoning. According to Xinhua, the eight men fainted suddenly while repairing an electrical device in an underground pumping station. Traces of carbon monoxide were found in their blood but doctors have suggested that they could have died for oxygen deficiency as the pumping station had been sealed for some time.
  
  
  
• Police in Shenzhen have launched an investigation into a wedding which has caused public outrage because of its size. Liu Shenqiang, deputy director of the Shenzhen airport police, said that he was forced to throw such a lavish banquet for his daughter's wedding because they had so many friends. However, media reports and public opinion have questioned whether it was really necessary to spend US$88,000 on over 1000 guests. Wedding guests are traditionally expected to give gifts of cash to cover the costs of weddings. However, as nobody knows the amounts given, this is often a convenient way to give cash to officials.
  
  
  
• Harsh weather conditions have continued to cause problems in Northern China. A train heading from Harbin to Baotou was trapped on Sunday evening after running into snow more than 2m deep. Other long distance trains and internal flights were also disrupted.
  
  Beijing however has managed to clear the roads and keep traffic running after the worst snowfall in 60 years. More than 20,000 workers were dispatched with snow-dissolving agents between Saturday night and Monday morning to ensure that people could get to work at the start of the week.
  

Roundup - 29/12/2009

• China has executed a British man, Akmal Shaikh. Mr. Shaikh was executed by lethal injection at 10.30am local time according to Xinhua. Gordon Brown, the EU and a number of civil society groups have condemned the execution saying that his legal rights had not been granted. Mr. Shaikh was convicted of smuggling heroin into China in October 2008 after a trial that lasted just 30 minutes. Evidence of his mental illness was not considered.
  
  According to China's Criminal Law, if a mentally ill person is convicted of a crime, their condition should be taken into account when considering the sentence. However, according to the Chinese authorities there was not sufficient evidence presented to prove he suffered from Bipolar disorder. Some reports suggest that during his trial Mr. Shaikh claimed there was nothing wrong with him, it is unclear what legal representation or assistance with translation was provided to him.
  
  Last minutes attempts to save M. Shaikh's life were lead by the British Ambassador to Beijing and Mr. Shaikh's cousins. However, while international condemnations grows, China remains defiant saying that foreigners must obey its laws ad no country has the right to interfere in its legal process.
  
  
  
• An audit of China's government agencies and state-owned enterprises has uncovered 234.7 billion RMB(US$34.4 billion) disappeared from public funds in the first 11 months of the year. The report says that 16.3 billion RMB has been recovered so far. 231 people, including 67 officials, have had their cases passed on to disciplinary and judicial authorities.
  
  
  
• A Chinese ship and its 25 crew members are sailing home after being kidnapped by Somali pirates. The De XinHai was captured in October while transporting 76,000 tonnes of coal from South Africa to India. There is some confusion as to the nature of the operation. While Chinese media reports describe it as a rescue, a source claiming to be one of the pirates told Reuters that a $4 million ransom had been dropped on the deck of the ship by helicopter.
  
  The De Xin Hai was the first Chinese ship to be captured in the area since the arrival of three Chinese warships to bolster the international anti-piracy flotilla in the area.
  
  
  
• The Chinese author Mian Mian is to sue Google for scanning and publishing extracts from her work without permission. She is asking for 61,000RMB ($8,950) in compensations and a public apology from Google. According to the China Written Works Copyright Society more than 80,000 works by Chinese authors have been scanned into Google's digital library. Last year Google agreed to pay $125 million to settle similar disputes with US authors.
  
  
  
• Two separate gas explosions at Chinese coal mines have claimed at least 17 lives. According to Xinhua, 12 miners were killed in an explosion in Shanxi province. Another five were killed and six more trapped at in an explosion in Yunnan.
  

Roundup - 21/12/2009

• As the dust settles on the Copenhagen summit China has lauded the Copenhagen Accord as an important first step. No nation was satisfied with the deal and all leading nations have been criticised. But none more so than China who many see as having been the main culprit in stalling the talks. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said that Copenhagen was ‘not a destination but a new beginning.’
The next climate summit will be held in Mexico city in 2010. China has already indicated that it will not weaken its stance at the next summit. Foreign Ministry Official Yi Xianliang said that China saw the 2010 summit as a struggle over the ‘right to develop.’

• The President of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, Chen Yunlin, has arrived in Taiwan for trade talks. Taiwanese President Ma Yingjiu hopes that Taiwan and the mainland can sign a free trade treaty early next year. However, opposition to closer ties with the mainland led to defeat in recent local elections. Tens of thousand of protesters are already gathering to oppose the negotiations.

• President Hu Jintao has concluded his tour of Macao amid celebrations of ten years of ‘One Country, Two Systems.’ Macao switch from Portuguese to Chinese rule in 1999 on condition that the mainland would allow a large degree of autonomy to the territory.
The last ten years has seen Macao prosper, largely due to gambling. In October Macao’s casinos took in 12.7 Macao Patacas or US$1.57 billion, almost twice as much as the state of Nevada.

• Liu Xiaobo will be tried on charges of inciting the subversion of state power on Wednesday according to his wife, Liu Xia. Liu Xiaobo, who also participated in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, was detained a year ago after his involvement in the Charter 08 document which called for political reform. Liu Xia has said that she will not be allowed to attend the trial and she has little hope for the outcome. Liu Xiaobo is facing a sentence of up to 15 years.

• A government funded gay bar in Yunnan opened its doors for the first time on Saturday. The bar was supposed to open on World Aids Day on the 1st of December was remained closed amid fears that the publicity would discourage homosexuals who feared discrimination. The bar will provide information and advice on sexual health issues in addition to cheap drinks. Officials hope that it will help to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. It is the first government funded project of its kind in China.

• An article in the China Daily, ‘Top 10 Darndest Things Officials Said in 2009,’ shows the continuing dismay at the attitude of officials towards housing demolition. 4 of the ten quotes are related to construction. These include a comment that ‘any action against the government is illegal,’ a comment made to Pan Rong who won wide spread praise on the internet after defending her home against demolition with Molotov cocktails. Number four on the list was a to a 66-year old who threatened to commit suicide if he did not receive compensation for his home being demolished. When he asked a local official, Shi Guozhong, for help Shi replied that he should go ‘straight to the fifth floor’ (to jump off).
Regulations over the demolition of housing have been a hot topic in China after the cases of Tang Fuzhen, who died after setting herself alight in protest at the demolition of her home, and Yue Xiyou who died trying to defend his fiancé’s apartment.

Roundup - 18/12/2009

• The battle-lines between China and the USA have been redrawn by Hilary Clinton's announcement of a $100 million fund at the Copenhagen summit. The announcement yesterday was aimed at breaking a deadlock between developing and developed nations over who would pay for the fight against climate change. Clinton tied the $100 million to China agreeing to international monitoring of its cuts in carbon intensity.
  
  Premier Wen Jiabao said last night that China would not accept any deal which violated its sovereignty although he did make some concessions over information sharing.
  
  On the last day of the summit hopes are fading for any meaningful climate deal, though some hope remains for a deal next year. Some commentators suggest this is in part due to the impressive negotiating skills of the Chinese delegation. China has managed to use its relationship with the G77 and Basic(Brazil, South Africa, India and China) to defend its position throughout the summit, making few concessions to the developed world.
  
  
  
• China is seeking the return of 22 Uighurs from Cambodia. The Uighurs fled China after the riots in Xinjiang in July. They are believed to have been helped by Christian charities which normally help North Koreans to get to countries where they can seek asylum. China has stated that it does not believe that the refugee system should be a hiding place for criminals. However, considering the possibility of torture an possibly execution on their return, Cambodia can find firm legal ground for not sending the Uighurs back to China.
  
  
  
• An anti-corruption website has received over 13,800 allegations since its opening at the end of October. The website www.12388.gov.cn is designed to allow netizens to report allegations of corruption to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. State media claims that high ranking officials in Beijing, Heilongjiang, Guangdong and Henan have been punished as a result of being reported on the site although only one case is detailed. An official in Heilongjiang had accepted brides of up to 20 million RMB.
  

Roundup - 15/12/2009

• The split between China and the US at the Copenhagen summit is continuing to deepen. After reports yesterday that China may be willing to renounce its claim to financial support to implement carbon cuts, Foreign Ministry officials have anonymously commented that this was a misinterpretation of comments made by Vice-Foreign Minister He Yafei. However, Chinese academics and western analysts have suggested that China may agree to a transfer of funding from China to poorer countries as part of a deal.
  
  The US meanwhile is concentrating on finding a way to monitor China's progress on carbon intensity cuts. China is insisting that it can monitor itself, saying that Chinese law provides a guarantee that its promises will be kept. The US and other western powers want independent monitoring.
  
  The conference was further hampered by a five-hour walkout led by several African delegations. They refused to come back to the negotiating table until it was agreed that the continuation of the Kyoto treaty would be discussed. The G77+China favours Kyoto because it contains the principle of differentiated responsibility, thereby placing most of the burden of combating climate change on the developed world.
  
  There is now only two days of negotiations before world leaders arrive in Copenhagen for an intense final round of negotiations.
  
  
  
• Vice-President Xi Jinping has begun a tour of four Asian countries by visiting Japan. In a meeting with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama Xi said that he supported Hatoyama's concept of an East Asian Community and welcomed Hatoyama's comments that Japan should face up to its past.
  
  The visit was marred slightly by irregularities surrounding a meeting between Xi Jinping and Emperor Akihito. Meetings are traditionally scheduled at least a month in advance but the Chinese request for a meeting arrived only on Nov. 26^th. Much of the Japanese media has condemned this irregularity saying that the Prime Minister is using the Emperor for political purposes. However, many analysts point out that Xi Jinping's visit is important given Japan's strengthening economic ties with China and Xi Jinping's possible future succession to the role of President.
  
  
  
• Calls to release the dissident Liu Xiaobo have sent to China from the US and the EU. Liu was a founding signatory of Charter '08, a document which called for political reform. He has been detained for a year and last week was charged with inciting the subversion of state power, he now faces up to 15 years in prison. As well as international support liu has been supported by his fellow signatories. In an article on news.boxun.com, many signatories wrote that they were as guilty as he was and that they would be willing to accept punishment by his side.
  
  Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has emphasised 'principled pragmatism' in a speech to students in Georgetown University. She pointed out that coercion and isolation are not the only tools for promoting democratic reform.
  
  
  
• Railway police in Shanghai have arrested 47 child traffickers and rescued 21 children in a month-long crackdown. Most of the babies were kidnapped from poor families in Yunnan to be sold to wealthy but childless families in Jiangsu and Shandong. It is unknown whether any of the babies were to sold in Shanghai. The Ministry of Public Security has said that it is setting up a DNA database in an attempt to reunite kidnapped children with their families.
  
  
  
• The trial of a Chongqing mafia boss has been delayed after he implicated his own defence lawyer. Gong Gangmo, billionaire and suspected gang leader, is believed to have handed over his defense lawyer, Li Zhuang, in an attempt to earn lenient treatment. Gong says his lawyer advised him to lie to the courts about allegedly being tortured while in police custody. Several suspected gangsters have made similar claims. An arrest warrant has been issued for Li Zhuang.
  
  Meanwhile Yue Cun, a Chongqing local police chief, is on trial for leading another gang. 15 guns, 16 cars, 13 properties and 52 million RMB have been seized. Yue Cun began gathering decommissioned soldiers to work as security guards for his cinema in the late 1990s. The gang then moved into loan-sharking and blackmail, even using high-tech equipment to spy on government officials. The gang is thought to be responsible for at least three murders.
  
  
  
• Construction has begun on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge. The bridge will be 50 km long, 36km of which will be over water. The six-lane motorway is designed to increase the flow of traffic between mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao.
  
  
  
• A survey of China's historical sites has revealed enormous losses in China's cultural heritage. A nationwide survey of China's cultural sites has never been completed but the latest attempt has already revealed that a 1982 attempt contained over 30,000 sites which no longer exist. This is partly due to new methods of counting but mostly due to China's rampant development over the last twenty years. The sites lost include entire town centres such as Dinghai in Zhejiang and parts of the Great Wall in Mongolia.
  

Roundup - 14/12/2009

• Negotiations are continuing at the climate change summit in Copenhagen. Delegates are trying to finalize a draft document to show visiting leaders during the intensive two-day negotiations at the end of the week.
  
  However, some countries fear that developed countries are delaying the draft document so that they can introduce new elements once the intensive negotiations, which tend to favour powerful countries, begin. Chinese negotiator, Su Wei, said that he hopes the only thing left to discuss by the time Premier Wen Jiabao arrives will be 'how to pronounce Copenhagen.' A number of African countries have suggested that their heads of state would refuse to take part in negotiations unless significant progress was made by Wednesday evening.
  
  In the mean time Wen has been busy phoning other heads of state in an attempt to coordinate a position when leaders arrive on Wednesday and Thursday. China is still pushing for further concessions from western states, including a major increase in European emission cuts.
  
  In an interview with the Financial Times, Chinese negotiators suggested that China would no longer be asking for funding from the developed world and that funding should be directed towards poorer nations. This comes after a major row last week between the Chines negotiator Su Wei and US negotiator Todd Stern over whether money would be provided by the US and particularly if any would go to China. There is some speculation that China is worried that it will be blamed if negotiations do not lead to a deal.
  
  
  
• President Hu Jintao has opened a section of a new gas pipeline in Turkmenistan. The pipeline is to carry gas from Uzbekistan through Kazakhstan into China. It is an important sign of China's growing influence in the area, previously Turkmenistan was entirely reliant on Russia to sell its gas. A failure to renegotiate a deal with Russia since April is costing Turkmenistan around $1 billion a month.
  
  Meanwhile, Kazakhstan's President Nazarbayev has said that Khazakstan has benefited from China's handling of security issues in Xinjiang. He also said he wanted to see further cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
  
  
  
• As the first Sino-American Dialogue on Rule of Law and Human Rights ended on Sunday a number of related stories were in the press.
  
  Zhang Xi, previously the chief editor of the influential liberal paper Southern Weekend has been demoted. It is believed that the demotion came after pressure from the propaganda authorities because of the papers interview with Barack Obama. The interview was authorised by the Foreign Ministry but it is known that propaganda officials were not pleased and tried to control its publishing.
  
  Liu Xiaobo is awaiting trial after being indited for inciting subversion of state power at the end of last week. He was detained a year ago after taking part in the writing and publishing of Charter '08, a document which called for wide-ranging political reform which atttracted thousands of signatures before it was censored. He faces a possible jail term of 15 years.
  
  Meanwhile, China Daily, reports on a suspicious death in custody in Kunming, Yunnan. According to the report, Xing Kun, 29, was arrested for theft. Police say they then found him hanging in an interrogation room. However, the death occurred in a cctv black-spot and no noose was produced in evidence.
  
  The article also lists three other cases of suspicious deaths in detention which occurred earlier in the year.
  
  
  
• A woman in Guizhou has been executed for her role in a child-prostitution ring. Zhao Qingmei was convicted of forcing 22 schoolchildren and one older girl into prostitution and of aiding her husband in the rape of a child. Her husband received a death sentence with 2 years reprieve. This sentence is normally commuted to life imprisonment.
  
  
  
• A report by law firm Eversheds has suggested that London could lose out to Shanghai as the world second largest financial centre within a decade. New York will remain the most important centre but the impact of the credit crunch and China's economic development mean that Europe is facing accelerated competition from Chinese markets. The report points out that 90% of bosses in Shanghai are confident in their economic outlook compared to only 22% in London.
  
  
  
• Cai Zhiqiang, who resigned from the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress earlier this month, is being investigated for corruption. It is alleged that he took bribes when working as the head of human resources department under the Personnel Bureau of Shanghai.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Roundup - 12/12/2009

• 22,884 cases of officials holding public money for personal use have been uncovered since June. He Guoqiang, secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, said that the sums of money involved totaled 10.16 billion RMB, or about $1.49 billion. He said that 270 officials had received administrative punishments and 81 had been prosecuted.
  
  Nationwide sweeps between 1998 and 2006 found 140.6 billion RMB however, this is thought to be a very small percentage of the total amount of public money lost to corruption.
  
  
  
• The Chinese stance at the Copenhagen summit is continuing its previous course. Liu Zhenmin, deputy permanent representative to the UN, emphasised the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol, differentiated responsibility, and financial support and technology transfer from developed countries.
  
  Meanwhile, in Beijing, an influential think-tank, Chinese Economists 50 Forum, has published suggestions for an Inter-Country Joint Mitigation Plan to facilitate technology transfer from the developed to the developing world.
  
  
  
• Xinhua has announced that more than 3,470 people have been arrested this year in a crackdown on internet pornography. According to the Ministry for Public Security 1.25 million items of 'lewd content' and nearly 7,000 websites were shut down.
  
  Earlier this month authorities launched a crackdown on WAP sites with pornographic content. China maintains very strict control over the internet arguing that it must 'purify social environment and protect minors' mental health.'
  
  
  
• President Hu Jintao is currently in Kazakhstan. President Hu and President Nazarbayev will hold talks on strengthening their bilateral ties. Kazakhstan is also a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and a key ally and source of natural resources in the region. The 'Friendship Pipeline' is the longest oil pipeline in the world and is expected to begin operating fully next year.
  
  
  
• Chinese police arrested three people on Tuesday for selling milk contaminated with melamine. The three men worked for Shaanxi based Jinqiao Dairy Company. Only a few weeks ago two men were executed for their role in selling melamine-contaminated milk in a scandal which caused the deaths of six children and illness to some 300,000.
  
  
  
• Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade is looking into allegations that Taiwanese companies sold specialised equipment which could be used to make weapons grade uranium to Iran. A report in the Daily Telegraph suggested that Iranian defense officials acquired pressure transducers from Taiwanese companies after being denied by American and European companies.
  

Roundup - 02/12/2009

• China's official death toll from the A(H1N1) virus has tripled after the government ordered more accurate counting amid suspicions of a cover up. The figure jumped from 53 to 178 at the weekend.
  
  No official reason was given for the rise. Last month Zhong Nanshan, who helped to reveal the true extent of the SARS outbreak, wrote that he believed that some officials were under-reporting figures in order to convince their superiors that they had the situation under control. On November 19^th the Ministry of Health ordered more transparent reporting.
  
  Meanwhile, four have died after being vaccinated for A(H1N1). Of 26.18 million people vaccinated 2,867 had adverse reactions.
  
  
  
• An officially sponsored gay bar in Dali has had to delay its opening due to lack of customers. The bar was supposed to help break the taboo on homosexuality and to provide a location for education on AIDS and safe sex. However, it appears that Dali's homosexuals are shunning the limelight and sticking to the hang-outs where they feel safe. Health Minister Chen Zhu recently claimed that homosexual transmission of AIDS was now a major factor in the spread of the disease.
  
  Gao Yaojie, a respected campaigner on AIDS, has hinted that she may not return to China at the end of her current visit to the USA.
  
  
  
• Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is beginning a five day visit to China. The visit comes amid a thawing of relations. Canada's stance on China's human rights record, high tariffs on Chinese steel imports and Stephen Harpers audience with the Dalai Lama had led to tensions. However, the recession has force Canada to find new countries to invest in to end a reliance on the American markets. Stephen Harper called this his 'most important foreign visit.'
  
  
  
• Cross-strait talks between the People's Republic and the Republic on Taiwan will be held in mid or late December. The Association for Relations across the Taiwan Straits and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Assiciation will meet in Taizhong, Taiwan.
  
  
  
• An official in Guangdong has admitted to taking 650,000 RMB in bribes. Shen Zhiqiang, a former head of the salt administration, claimed that he was blackmailed into taking the bribes by his mistress. Shen's lawyer claims that the mistress was also the mistress of the briber.
  
  Six other officials are also to be tried for their involvement.
  

Roundup - 30/11/2009

• The 12^th EU-China Summit has been held in Nanjing, Jiangsu today. Premier Wen Jiabao set the tone of the meeting by condemning countries which wanted the Renminbi to fluctuate more freely. He argues that they merely wanted to curb China's growth and that a stable Yuan was important, not only for China's growth, but also for global recovery from the current economic crisis.
  
  China aslo succeeded in securing a number of deals including further sharing of technology and 57 million Euros of investment for a near-zero emissions coal power plant.
  
  China aims to achieve its recently announced carbon intensity cuts largely through investing in new technologies. Green technologies are a growth area in China, particularly in Jiangsu where, according to Xinhua, the production value of green industries grew 60% last year.
  
  
  
• China hosted officials from India, Brazil, South Africa and Sudan, current chair of the G77 over the weekend. The officials created a draft document on climate change to help present a united front during the climate summit in Copenhagen. The statement declares that the Kyoto Protocol should remain in place. This would ensure that the burden of tackling climate change remains firmly on the West. Zhou Shijian, from Qinghua University, has characterised the summit as being 'for the West to compete for dominance, while for developing countries it is to fight for the right to development.'
  
  
  
• 48 officials and 10 journalists are facing charges of corruption after a State Council probe alleged they took bribes to cover up a coal mine disaster in Hebei. 34 miners and a rescuer died after an explosion at the Lijiawa mine in Yuxian County on July 14^th last year.
  
  According to the allegations mine bosses hid bodies, destroyed evidence and paid out 2.6 million RMB to keep to scandal hidden from public view for 85 days.
  
  
  
• A former judge has committed suicide in jail while awaiting trial. He was implicated during a crackdown on organised crime in the city of Chongqing. Wu Xiaoqing had been charged with accepting 3.5 million RMB in bribes and was unable to explain a further 5.2 million RMB in his possession. He was also charged with extorting money during land auctions, his mistress and 10 of his lawyers are also under investigation.
  
  The crackdown in Chongqing has led to the implication of nearly 200 officials including the former head of the judiciary and deputy chief justice of the high court. 1,500 alleged mafia members have also been detained including Xie Caiping, the 'Godmother of the Underworld,' who was sentenced to 18 years a month ago.
  
  
  
• The Chinese Ministry of Health is working with various government departments to drop the ban on foreigners entering the country with HIV/AIDS. Xinhua reports that Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jiefu hopes that the ban will be removed before the beginning of the Shanghai Expo 2010. December 1^st is World AIDS Day.
  

Will the Boat Sink the Water - Review

Much is talked about China's peasants in the time of reform but so little is based on actual research. This is particularly true when looking at peasant resistance to taxes and maltreatment by the state. Only a few books such as Ian Johnson's 'Wild Grass' and Kevin O'Brian and Li Lianjiang's 'Rightful Resistance' can truly claim to be based on first hand research. Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao's book 'A Survey of the Chinese Peasants (中国农民调查Zhongguo Nongmin Diaocha), translated into English and published under the title, 'Will the Boat Sink the Water? The Life of China's Peasants,' is a welcome insight into the subject.

The book is based on several years of research in Anhui province and tells the stories of various villages burdened by exploitative, and mostly illegal, taxes. The picture is grim, village after village is bankrupted by officials looking to make money or to increase their profile in the party hierarchy. Dissenters are arrested, tortured, murdered. The stories are simply but evocatively told and it is impossible not to sympathise with the peasants who were told that the revolution was in their name.

By the middle stages of the book little analysis has been provided and the repetition of endless narratives of suffering peasants begins to numb the soul. However at this point the authors begin to question the background of the stories. Why has China's bureaucracy grown so virulently? Is it just individual bad eggs who exploit peasants or is it more systemic? The book eventually heads towards a conclusion when one the heroes of the early stories turns villain and extorts his own exploitative taxes. The fact is that the funding given to townships is not even sufficient to cover the basic (and very modest) salaries of the top officials. In this climate there is no way for the bureacracy to fund itself without the exploitation of peasants. The only honest officials are supported by their families as most of their wages are spent on the administrative costs of running their offices. With the basic question of financing China's local rural government unanswered, the systematic exploitation of peasants cannot be halted.

The book provides a clear analysis of the current situation of China's peasants in a society which claims to have lifted millions from beneath the poverty barrier. It is a timely and important work which anyone interested in the truth about life in China behind the propaganda, both Chinese and Western, must read.