Archive for November, 2012

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09/11/2012

* Just one joke in 10 years, but Hu has the last laugh

Which world leader can look back at his/her past decade in power and point to the achievements that president Hu can?

Extract from The Times, London, 9 November, 2012 – http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/asia/article3594528.ece

Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese president, delivers a keynote report during the opening ceremony of the 18th CPC National Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 8, 2012. The 18th CPC National Congress opened in Beijing on Thursday. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

“China’s economy was the world’s sixth biggest when Hu Jintao took power. A decade later, it is second to the US and gaining.
…
Most Chinese could only dream of owning a house or a car when Mr Hu took over. In 2002, just 3.2 million vehicles were sold; the number reached 18.5 million last year. Traffic jams seem endless and 65,000 miles of road have been laid — up from just 20,000. China overtook the US as the world’s biggest auto market in 2009. Only 16 people out 100 owned a mobile phone in 2002; today 74 in 100 have one.

About 59 million Chinese used the internet in 2002. Last year, nearly 520 million surfed cyberspace. The censors are meticulous in weeding out conversations deemed to be subversive. Perhaps more surprising is that such open discussion is allowed at all. Incomes have nearly tripled.
…
He ensured his popularity among 800 million peasants — and possibly his place in history — by abolishing a 2,600-year-old agricultural tax levied by emperors on every farming family.He put a man in space, launched an aircraft carrier (Soviet-made, admittedly) and developed technology to shoot down a satellite.
…
Some 200 protests erupt daily and the gap between rich and poor has widened to threaten Mr Hu’s cherished stability. In one of his jails Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner, serves 11 years. Mr Hu pledged to tackle corruption and arrested two Politburo members. An average of 94 officials are picked up every day for such offences. It’s a drop in the ocean of venality.

He once quipped: “A fall into the pit, a gain to your wit.” His rule was an odd mix of bold decisions and stasis.”

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09/11/2012

# Positive effects of Chinese tea?

This photo is from the current 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Obviously it was taken during one of the breaks. No one would dare talk or yawn if a VIP speaker was on the podium. But note, everyone is drinking Chinese tea; not water, not beer, or Coca Cola. Does that explain why the Chinese leadership are relatively relaxed and calm and so effective?

Delegates sit at the stage before the opening ceremony of 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China

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07/11/2012

* India and Canada finalise conditions of nuclear deal

BBC: “India and Canada have finalised the terms for their nuclear deal, paving the way for Canadian firms to export uranium to India.

Electricity cable in India

Once implemented, the deal is likely to provide a boost to India’s plans to increase its nuclear capacity to meet growing energy demands.

The deal was agreed in 2010, but there had been differences over supervision of the use of uranium in India.

Canada has banned the trade of nuclear materials with India since 1976.

“Canada with its large and high quality reserves of uranium could become an important supplier to the Indian nuclear power programme,” India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper said in a joint statement.

‘Important economic opportunity’

India’s economy has seen rapid expansion in recent years resulting in a surge in demand for energy in the country.

In a bid to meet its growing energy needs, India has been looking to increase its dependence on nuclear energy.

It is planning to set up some 30 reactors over as many years and get a quarter of its electricity from nuclear energy by 2050.

As a result it has been looking to secure supplies of uranium to achieve that target.

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that being able to be a part of India’s nuclear power plans was “a really important economic opportunity for an important Canadian industry… that should pay dividends in terms of jobs and growth for Canadians down the road”.

Earlier this month, India agreed to begin negotiations on a civil nuclear co-operation agreement with Australia, which holds an estimated 40% of the world’s uranium.

Last year, it agreed a deal that will allow South Korea to export its nuclear energy technology to India.”

via BBC News – India and Canada finalise conditions of nuclear deal.

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06/11/2012

* India Is Clamping Down on Spending

WSJ: “India’s government has started to tighten its belt as it strives to meet the revised budget deficit target of 5.3% of gross domestic product for the year through March 2013.

It’s not that spending is decreasing: it’s still increasing –  only a lot less. So in September, government spending rose by a “paltry” 1.4% from a year earlier, according to a new report by brokerage Nomura.  By comparison, in August, spending had increased by a whopping 32% from a year earlier, Nomura economist Sonal Varma told India Real Time.

To look at it another way, public spending rose by 0.47% between August and September compared to a 30.7% increase in the same period last year.

Nomura’s Ms. Varma told India Real Time said that the government has cut spending on sectors such as defense. A recent increase in fuel prices means the government is also saving money on subsidies. In September, the government raised the price of diesel by 14% to about 47 rupees to reduce its expenses on fuel subsidy. The government estimates this will save it around 150 billion rupees in the year ending March 31, 2013.

One of the reasons why public spending has slowed down, says Ms. Verma, is because the government has delayed paying subsidies to oil marketing companies. These are costs that may be partly rolled over to next year.

A senior finance ministry official told India Real Time that the government expects to cut at least 500 billion rupees, or about 4% of the 14.9 trillion rupees that it had planned to spend this year. The official said spending cut will be across the board, but did not want to single out any particular area.

Despite spending cuts, public expenditure remains high, mainly due to subsidies on fuel, food and fertilizers, and on social sector schemes.

To meet its budget deficit target, India needs to slash government expenditure as well as raise funds through stake sales in state-run companies and the sale of radio bandwidth.

These are the governments priorities as laid out by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram last week, when he announced a fiscal roadmap aimed at lowering the budget gap from 5.3% in the year through March 2013 to 3% by 2017.”

via India Is Clamping Down on Spending – India Real Time – WSJ.

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06/11/2012

* Chinese State Media Survey: It’s the Wealth Gap, Stupid

Close on the heels of a survey regarding happiness, comes this more serious survey. The new leadership should heed the results:

  1. Reducing the wealth gap
  2. Reducing corruption
  3. Reforming economics

WSJ: “With China’s once-a-decade leadership transition set to get underway on Thursday, pundits and scholars around the globe are speculating about what Beijing’s new top brass will — or won’t — do to tackle the country’s many problems. But what change are Chinese people themselves expecting to see?

If an online survey conducted by the state-run China Youth Daily newspaper is anything to go by, the answer is one that recalls the ideological roots, if not the recent reality, of China’s ruling party: income redistribution.

Of 11,405 Chinese Internet users polled by the Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily last week, 66.6% said they thought the country was likely to pursue reforms related to income distribution in the future, the newspaper reported on Tuesday (in Chinese). Second on the list were reforms aimed at curbing corruption (57.8%), followed by reforms of the economic system (53.5%) in third.

The results exceeded 100% because respondents were allowed to choose multiple options. Nearly half of respondents were born in the 1980s, with 17.7% born in the 1990s and the rest born in the 1970s, the newspaper said, adding that most of those who took part in the poll earned less than 5000 yuan ($800) per month.”

via State Media Survey: It’s the Wealth Gap, Stupid. – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/11/05/china-authorities-pushing-happiness-amid-rising-discontent/

Posted in China alert, corruption, Economics, income-wealth gap, Inequalities | 2 Comments »

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06/11/2012

* Understanding China’s 18th Communist Party Congress

Reuters: “China’s ruling Communist Party opens its 18th Congress on Thursday, a complicated political coronation that will install the country’s fifth generation of leaders.

Here is how the process works and some pointers to what is at stake in this congress.

AGENDA

– The five-yearly congress elects about 370 full and alternate members of the party’s elite Central Committee in a session lasting about one week, drawing from a pre-selected pool of candidates expected to be only slightly larger than 370.

– The new Central Committee’s first session, held the day after the congress ends, then selects some two dozen members of the decision-making Politburo, again drawing from a list of candidates already selected by the party’s leadership over months of political jockeying.

– The new Politburo Standing Committee, the party’s top echelon of power which currently has nine members, will then be unveiled after the one-day Central Committee plenum ends. It is widely expected to be shrunk to seven, facilitating decision-making needed to push through key reforms.

– A series of other appointments will also be made over the congress period, and in some cases before it. These include provincial party chiefs and governors and heads of some state-owned enterprises.

– Vice President Xi Jinping is set to take over as party general secretary from President Hu Jintao at the end of the congress. Xi then takes over as head of state in March at the annual full meeting of parliament.

One uncertainty is whether Hu will also give up his job as military chief. His predecessor, Jiang Zemin, stayed on in that role for two years after stepping down as party chief.

POLICIES

– Hu will give a keynote report to the opening session of the congress, appraising the meeting of the party’s work over the past five years and mapping out challenges ahead for the next five years. Details of the speech remain a closely guarded secret ahead of time.

– The catchphrase in state media and among academics ahead of the congress has been “reform”. China experts say that unless the new leadership pushes through stalled reforms, the nation risks economic malaise, deepening unrest and ultimately even a crisis that could shake the party’s grip on power.

– Advocates of reform are pressing Xi to cut back the privileges of state-owned firms, make it easier for rural migrants to settle permanently in cities, fix a fiscal system that encourages local governments to live off land expropriations and, above all, tether the powers of a state that they say risks suffocating growth and fanning discontent.

– There may also perhaps be cautious efforts to answer calls for more political reforms, though nobody seriously expects a move towards full democracy.

The party may introduce experimental measures to broaden inner-party democracy – in other words, encouraging greater debate within the party – but stability remains a top concern and one-party rule will be safeguarded.”

via Factbox: Understanding China’s 18th Communist Party Congress | Reuters.

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06/11/2012

* Neil Heywood: Briton killed in China ‘had spy links’

No smoke without a fire?

BBC: “A British businessman killed in China had been providing information to the British secret service, the Wall Street Journal newspaper claims.

File photo: British businessman Neil Heywood

Neil Heywood had been communicating with an MI6 officer about top politician Bo Xilai for at least a year before he died, the paper said.

The UK Foreign Office said it would not comment “on intelligence matters”.

In April, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Mr Heywood was not a government employee “in any capacity”.

The case is at the heart of China’s biggest political scandal in decades.

The November 2011 death of Mr Heywood brought down Mr Bo, the former Communist Party chief of Chongqing and a high-flier who was once tipped for top office.

Mr Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, was jailed in August for the murder of Mr Heywood at a Chongqing hotel. His former police chief, Wang Lijun, has also been jailed in connection with the scandal.

Mr Bo himself was expelled from parliament in September, stripping him of immunity from prosecution. He is accused of abuse of power, bribe-taking and violating party discipline, Chinese state media say, and is expected to go on trial in the future.

via BBC News – Neil Heywood: Briton killed in China ‘had spy links’.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/08/12/bo-xilai-scandal-gu-admits-neil-heywood-murder/

Posted in China alert, Espionage, Politics | 1 Comment »

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06/11/2012

* The Rise of Innovation in China: Failed Western Stereotypes

Rainforest Realities: “In the past few months I’ve had the opportunity at several conferences to speak about innovation and intellectual property in China. I’ve come to realize that outside views about intellectual property in China are similar to common misperceptions about sustainability in this land. I’m glad to share my thoughts because I see huge gaps between Western views of China and the reality that is unfolding here.

Failure to appreciate the reality of innovation in China will lead many in the West to miss huge emerging opportunities. China is moving from a nation of low-cost manufacturing to a nation that relies on innovation and intellectual property. There is much progress still needed, but the changes are dramatic. China has gone from a nation with essentially no intellectual property laws 30 years ago to a nation that now leads the world in patent filings.

It is a nation where a small company in the U.S. can take its patents and trademarks to Chinese courts and win against Chinese companies. This happened recently (April 2012) in Shanghai, when a maker of blow-molded tables from my home state of Utah in the United States was able to enforce both its design patent and its trademark against Chinese infringers.

The growth of China’s intellectual property system from essentially nothing to a bustling, world-class system in so short a time is a dramatic example of what can be achieved in China, and should remind us that old stereotypes about China need to be frequently updated or discarded.

Illustrations from China’s 1313 Book of Farming

Today we are on the verge of a renaissance in Chinese innovation, returning China to a historic leadership role in technology and innovation. This historic role, however, is often not appreciated by the West. For example, many in the West, including eminent scholars, still think that Europe invented printing with movable type, and believe that the first mass-produced book printed with movable type was the Gutenberg Bible. This was a brilliant achievement, absolutely, but it came 142 years after Wang Zhen used movable type to mass produce the mammoth Nong Shu (农书) or Book of Farming in 1313, a beautifully illustrated book of agricultural innovation intended to preserve advanced knowledge from across China to help elevate the nation economically. The book not only describes useful agricultural methods and crops, but also details many mechanical inventions with drawings reminiscent of Leonardo DaVinci’s works.

China’s historic role as a great inventor only recently became available in the West with the publication of Science and Civilization in China by famed British scholar Joseph Needham. His 28-volume work details the Chinese origins of gunpowder, the compass, smallpox inoculation, mechanical clocks, paper money, suspension bridges, and numerous other advances long thought to be Western in origin.

The current rise of innovation now in China is not something new, but a return to ancient splendor. There are those who dismiss innovation in China as something the Chinese just aren’t capable of. That flawed viewpoint is squarely defied by the tide of history. While there were many forces that delayed China’s entry into the industrial revolution and led the modern world to see China as far from innovative, the momentum is shifting dramatically now.

Just as the West has failed to credit China for many past innovations, modern innovation from China doesn’t fare much better. APP’s innovation in sustainability, for example, ought to be evidence to anyone who visits our mills or sets foot on one of our plantations.

The water coming from APP’s mills has levels of purity exceeding accepted standards not just in China but in Europe and North America. Air emissions are remarkably low as well. And many advanced and innovative techniques have been developed in our sustainable plantations to provide high levels of productivity and efficiency —a sustainable model that often goes unrecognized.

There have been remarkable progress and achievements as noted in APP-China’s corporate sustainability report and our innovative Paper Contract with China, where APP is taking a leadership role in China in advancing the sustainability of the industry.

I challenge you to think about what you might have heard regarding sustainability in China and at APP. Just as the West gets a lot of things wrong regarding IP and innovation in China, some of what you’ve heard on sustainability may be incomplete or way off. We hope you’ll take a look and see for yourself.”

via The Rise of Innovation in China: Failed Western Stereotypes | Rainforest Realities.

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06/11/2012

* China leaders consider internal democratic reform

Even if it seems to be somewhat internal, such a move would be the first step towards openness and transparency.  And who knows where that might lead.

Reuters: “China’s outgoing leader and his likely successor are pushing the ruling Communist Party to adopt a more democratic process this month for choosing a new leadership, sources said, in an attempt to boost its flagging legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

A man walks past a logo of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at a media center for the upcoming18th National Congress of the CPC, which starts Thursday, in Beijing November 5, 2012. REUTERS-Jason Lee

The extent of the reform would be unprecedented in communist China where elections for the highest tiers of the party, held every five years, have been mainly exercises in rubber-stamping candidates already agreed upon by party power-brokers.

The Communist Party, which has held unbroken power since 1949, is struggling to maintain its popular legitimacy in the face of rising inequality, corruption and environmental degradation, even as the economy continues to bound ahead.

President Hu Jintao and his heir, Xi Jinping, have proposed that the party’s 18th Congress, which opens on Thursday, should hold elections for the elite Politburo where for the first time there would be more candidates than available seats, said three sources with ties to the party leadership.

The Politburo, currently 24 members, is the second-highest level of power in China from which the highest decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee, is chosen.

They are chosen by the roughly 200 full members of the Central Committee which is in turn chosen by the more than 2,000 delegates at this week’s Congress.

Under their proposal, there would be up to 20 percent more candidates than seats in the new Politburo in an election to be held next week, the sources said. It was unclear if competitive voting would also be extended to the Standing Committee.

“Hu wants expanding intra-party democracy to be one of his legacies,” one source said, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions for discussing secretive elite politics.

“It would also be good for Xi’s image,” the source added.

Xi is considered certain to replace Hu as party chief at the congress, with Li Keqiang, currently a vice premier, tipped to become his deputy in the once-in-a-decade transition to a new administration. Xi would then take over as president, and Li as premier, at the annual full session of parliament in March.

China experts said a more competitive election for the Politburo would mark a historic reform that could lead to surprises in the formation of Xi’s administration, with wider implications for further political reform.

“This is a very, very important development,” said Cheng Li, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

“It would provide a new source of legitimacy. It would not just be dark-box manipulation … The party’s legitimacy is so low that they must do something to uplift the public’s confidence.”

However, Li and other experts remained skeptical that the proposal would be adopted, given that it could still be vetoed by party elders or conservatives.

via Exclusive: China leaders consider internal democratic reform | Reuters.

Posted in 10 year leadership change, China alert, Democracy, Good news, Politics, Reform, Transparency | 1 Comment »

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05/11/2012

* ‘Looted’ Chinese antiques pulled from UK auction

SCMP: “Two Chinese antiques have been withdrawn from auction in Britain, the auctioneer said, after the proposed sale sparked fury in China amid claims they were looted from Beijing in the 19th century.

Bonhams issued an apology as it confirmed the two jade carvings would not be sold after the owner withdrew them from a planned auction on Thursday to “avoid any possible offence”.

Picture: Looting of Old Summer Palace by British & French troops.

The planned sale had sparked a furious reaction from Tan Ping, an official at China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage, who labelled it “against the spirit of international conventions”.

“Bonhams is very sorry to read reports in the Chinese press that offence has been caused in China by the proposed sale of two jade carvings,” Bonhams said in a statement received by AFP on Monday.

“There was never in any way an intention to cause offence, and Bonhams regrets that this interpretation has been published.”

Ping previously told state media: “Cultural relics should be returned to their country of origin. We’ll keep a close eye on the matter.”

In its online description of the Qing dynasty jade disc and jade hanging vase, Bonhams said they were “retrieved from the abandoned Summer Palace in Beijing” in 1860.

The Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, was pillaged by British and French military forces in 1860, when Beijing says 1.5 million relics were looted, though it is likely some antiques were sold off by local dealers.

The event is seen in China as a national humiliation at the hands of Western armies. Sales of antiques looted from the palace are widely resented in China.”

via ‘Looted’ Chinese antiques pulled from UK auction | South China Morning Post.

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