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25/11/2013

No. 2 Most-Wanted Tiananmen Dissident Wu’er Kaixi Tries to Turn Self in, Gets Sent Home – China Real Time Report – WSJ

In his fourth attempt to surrender himself to Chinese authorities, exiled Tiananmen Square dissident Wu’er Kaixi on Monday flew to Hong Kong to seek extradition to mainland China. But Hong Kong officials denied his request, and quickly put him a plane back to Taiwan.

Mr Wuer, a former student leader of the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square who now resides in Taiwan, boarded a Cathay Pacific Airways flight from Taipei on Monday morning to Bangkok, with a stopover in Hong Kong. He made use of the stopover to turn himself into Hong Kong authorities. He believes he remains on a wanted fugitive in China for his role in the 1989 student protests.

In the immediate aftermath of the June 4 crackdown on the protests, he was No. 2 on China’s list of most-wanted dissidents.

In an online statement posted on his blog, Mr. Wu’er urged the city’s government to arrest and extradite him to the Chinese authorities during. However, Hong Kong officials chose to deport him back to Taiwan Monday afternoon, according to Kenneth Lam, a Hong Kong-based solicitor who assisted Mr. Wu’er at the Hong Kong airport.

A spokesman at Hong Kong’s Immigration Department said it won’t comment on individual cases but said immigration officers may examine any visitor on arrival to the city to determine whether the person meets standard immigration requirements.

Mr. Wu’er has tried several times to attempt a re-entry to China. In 2009, he flew to Macau but was detained at the airport and deported. In 2010, he tried to enter the Chinese embassy in Tokyo and in 2012, he entered the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C., but both attempts to turn himself in were unsuccessful.

Mr. Wu’er said Monday the latest move was a “last resort” as Chinese authorities have refused to issue passports for his family members to visit him since he fled into exile shortly after the Tiananmen crackdown.

“I miss my parents and my family, and I hope to be able to be reunited with them while they are still alive ,” Mr. Wu’er said in the statement, noting that his parents are old and in ill health.

via No. 2 Most-Wanted Tiananmen Dissident Wu’er Kaixi Tries to Turn Self in, Gets Sent Home – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, Dissident, Internal politics, Politics | Leave a Comment »

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25/11/2013

China to launch two new carbon trading exchanges | Reuters

China will launch two new pilot carbon trading schemes this week in Beijing and Shanghai as it strives to cut soaring rates of greenhouse gas, reduce choking smog and determine the best system for a nationwide roll-out.

China, the world\’s biggest source of climate-changing carbon emissions, is under domestic pressure from its population to counter air pollution and has pledged to cut the 2005 rate of CO2 emissions per unit of GDP growth by 40-45 percent by 2020.

As U.N.-led climate talks stumbled in Warsaw last week, the country\’s chief negotiator Xie Zhenhua was keen to push the country\’s CO2 cutting credentials, challenging developed nations to match the efforts being made by China to tackle global warming.

The new platforms, which will force industrial firms to buy credits to cover any CO2 they emit above allocated quotas, also underscore Beijing\’s commitment to \”market mechanisms\” to slow emissions growth, in line with an ambitious raft of reforms outlined earlier this month.

\”It is definitely a move in the right direction, but there are concerns about activity — these are pilot schemes and are used as a learning experience, and local governments might not be particularly concerned by volumes,\” said Shawn He, a climate lawyer with the Hualian legal practice in Beijing.

Trading is likely to start slowly as the government treads cautiously and tries to learn lessons from Europe, where an excess of credits has left carbon prices in the doldrums.

Hualian\’s He said there were concerns how effective the pilot schemes would be, as no binding carbon caps would be imposed on enterprises and there were no legal means of forcing them to participate.

via China to launch two new carbon trading exchanges | Reuters.

Posted in carbon emission, carbon trading, China alert, Climate change, Ecology, Economics, Green, greenhouse gas, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

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25/11/2013

Shinzo Abe: China new air defence zone move ‘dangerous’ – BBC News

Japan\’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has described China\’s move to create a new \”air defence identification zone\” over disputed waters as \”dangerous\”.

Islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese

China\’s action had \”no validity whatsoever on Japan\”, Mr Abe added.

China has voiced anger at Japanese and US objections to the new air zone, and lodged complaints with their embassies.

The zone covers disputed islands that are claimed and controlled by Japan. China says aircraft entering the zone must obey its rules.

Mr Abe told parliament on Monday that the zone \”can invite an unexpected occurrence and it is a very dangerous thing as well\”.

\”We demand China revoke any measures that could infringe upon the freedom of flight in international airspace,\’\’ he added.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has called the move a \”destabilising attempt to alter the status quo in the region\”.

\”This unilateral action increases the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculations,\” Mr Hagel said in a statement.

\”This announcement by the People\’s Republic of China will not in any way change how the United States conducts military operations in the region,\” he added.

via BBC News – Shinzo Abe: China new air defence zone move ‘dangerous’.

Posted in China alert, Defence, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

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24/11/2013

Between a desert and a dry place: Beijing’s green projects drain scarce water resources | South China Morning Post

Smog-plagued Beijing is anxiously awaiting its first batch of synthetic natural gas – a material converted from coal and piped 300 kilometres from Heshigten Banner in northeastern Inner Mongolia.

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The gas will power some of Beijing\’s central heating systems in the harsh winter months, replacing coal to cut harmful emissions of particulate pollutants.

When the pipes are fully pumping next year, Beijing will receive 4 billion cubic metres of synthetic gas a year – nearly half of last year\’s natural gas consumption – a step towards switching all the city\’s heating systems and industrial boilers from coal to gas.

But there is an ominous tinge to the seemingly green investment: environmental experts say the water-intensive conversion process could drain already scarce water resources in the country\’s drylands in the northwest, eroding land and causing more sandstorms.

\”If water depletion continues … not only will the local people suffer, the environmental impact could be profound,\” Chinese Academy of Sciences ecology researcher Xie Yan says.

Nationwide, replacing dirty coal with cleaner natural gas is a key measure in reducing the choking smog that spreads over more than a quarter of the country and is inhaled by nearly 600 million people. Because of the country\’s limited conventional natural gas and abundant coal reserves, converting coal to natural gas seems a convenient choice.

Beijing\’s demand for natural gas is expected to rise rapidly, reaching 18 billion tonnes in 2015 and 28 billion tonnes in 2020, as all its heating systems and industrial boilers make the switch from coal to gas. Beijing Gas Group, which is fully owned by the municipal government, has invested in the coal-to-gas project in Inner Mongolia to meet the demand.

The coal-to-gas industry, which had been sputtering for several years, received a boost in September when the State Council released a national action plan to fight air pollution, giving the sector explicit support.

But ecological experts have voiced concern for the unintended environmental consequence of coal-to-gas plants. The conversion requires vast quantities of water not just for production, but also for cooling and the removal of contaminants. On average, one cubic metre of synthetic natural gas needs six to 10 tonnes of freshwater.

\”Freshwater is a key raw material for turning coal to gas, so it\’s impossible to reduce water demand in such projects,\” Wen Hua, an associate at the US-based World Resources Institute (WRI), says.

To make things worse, the coal-abundant northwest, where the gas projects are based, already experiences chronic water shortages. Five provinces – Shanxi , Shaanxi , Ningxia , Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang – which possess 76 per cent of the country\’s coal reserves, have just 6.14 per cent of its total water resources.

via Between a desert and a dry place: Beijing’s green projects drain scarce water resources | South China Morning Post.

Posted in China alert, Ecology, Economics, Environment, Green, greenhouse gas, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

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24/11/2013

Nearly 1 mln sit Chinese national civil servant exam – Xinhua | English.news.cn

As many as 990,000 candidates took the National Public Servant Exam on Sunday, a decrease of 130,000 from last year, according to the State Administration of Civil Service.

China\’s central authority, their affiliated public institutions and local branches will recruit over 19,000 civil servants in 2014, a slight drop from 2013, according to a statement from the administration.

One out of 51 exam takers will succeed in gaining a post this year, according to the statement.

The annual exam includes an aptitude test and a written policy essay, and those who pass the written exam will make it to the interview round.

The popularity of the exam has been attributed to mounting pressures in finding employment, fairness of the test, and the attractiveness of civil servant jobs, which are stable and respected.

Statistics from the administration showed that there were 7.089 million civil servants in China by the end of 2012.

via Nearly 1 mln sit national civil servant exam – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

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24/11/2013

Indian Congress did nothing for tribals: Modi – The Hindu

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the Congress of not even acknowledging the existence of the tribal population in the country in the past 60 years.

BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi during an election rally. File photo: Shanker Chakravarty

The Gujarat Chief Minister was addressing a gathering of people from a tribal belt in Rajasthan’s Banswara district, some 500 km from state capital Jaipur.

Rajasthan will go to the polls December 1 to elect new members to with its 200-seat assembly.

“The tribal population exists in this country since the time of Ramchandraji. It existed during the Independence struggle. Everyone but the Congress is aware of the existence of the tribes for centuries,” Mr. Modi said.

Mr. Modi said that it was former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who brought a tribal ministry into being, and also allocated a separate budget for tribals.

“Congress doesn’t consider tribal people as humans. For them, it is just a vote bank,” Mr. Modi said.

“They keep screaming about irrelevant things, but they don’t talk about inflation. Congress had promised to contain inflation in 100 days, but nothing happened,” he said.

“Did Sonia, Manmohan or Rahul speak or mention anything about rising prices in their speeches?” he asked.

Mr. Modi also referred to union Law Minister Kapil Sibal’s statement, claiming that the prices of vegetables have risen because the poor are able to purchase them, and demand for these has gone up.

“A senior minister of the Congress party said a couple of days ago that the poor used to eat chapatis without vegetables but they are now affording to eat two dishes of vegetables. He termed it the reason for rising inflation,” said Mr. Modi.

Mr. Modi referred again to Mr. Rahul Gandhi as Shahzada, and said that the All India Congress Committee vice president usually spoke of the poor, but there are slum areas near his own house in Delhi.

“These slum areas fall in the constituency of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit. The conditions are so pathetic at these places that there are only two toilets for 200 people,” Mr. Modi said.

Mr. Modi will address three more election rallies in Rajasthan on Sunday.

via Congress did nothing for tribals: Modi – The Hindu.

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24/11/2013

Boris’s new best friend is living the Chinese dream | The Sunday Times

A black Range Rover with tinted windows pulls up at the entrance to Royal Albert Dock — a ragged stretch of land opposite City airport in east London. Xu Weiping descends from the car, flanked by three advisers, and proffers a hand.

Xu Weiping wants his development at London’s Royal Albert Dock to rival Canary Wharf

The Chinese property developer apologises in broken English for his lateness, but he does not look particularly flustered: there is a mild smile beneath the Ed Hardy sunglasses, which are emblazoned with gold dragons, and he keeps his white iPod earphones in.

Xu has spent the day hunkered down with architects from Terry Farrell and Partners, making changes to his vision for the 35-acre site.

“They are quite hard-working and they pay attention to detail,” he remarks through a translator as we drive to the nearby photoshoot. “But the difference between UK architects and their counterparts in China is that sometimes they are not bold enough.”

Xu is here to shake them up. Until this year nobody had heard of the diminutive 53-year-old, referred to reverentially by his assistants as Mr Xu — pronounced “shoo”. He was relatively unknown even in his home country, where he has built a sprawling office estate on the outskirts of Beijing.

Then, in May, Xu struck a deal with the London mayor, Boris Johnson, to spend £1bn turning the strip of east London into an Asian business zone to rival Canary Wharf. The spotlight instantly fell on him — and he seems to be enjoying it.

Apparently impervious to the icy wind whipping across Gallions Point marina, connected to the Thames, Xu poses for photographs in a light-weight Versace blazer and jeans. The colourful tie is from the Japanese fashion house Kenzo. Seeing my interest, Xu confers with one of his assistants, who nods and turns.

“There is a Kenzo shop in London where it’s always 60% off,” the young man says. “Mr Xu can actually let you know where it is — probably you do not know?”

via Boris’s new best friend is living the Chinese dream | The Sunday Times.

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24/11/2013

Union Jack in fashion as China banks on consumer spending | The Sunday Times

PAUL PRIESTMAN may employ only 40 staff at his London design consultancy, but in China he is one of the big boys. In August, he was appointed a director of CSR Sifang, part of China South Locomotive, the state-owned enterprise that is developing the world’s fastest train.

Many Chinese businesses are now seeking global design identities, a field in which Britain excels

Priestman, co-founder of Priestman Goode, is best known for his work on Virgin’s distinctive Pendolino tilting trains a decade ago. He is now helping CSR develop a global brand as it looks beyond the domestic Chinese market.

His appointment as creative director was a bold step. Few foreign nationals make it to the senior ranks of Chinese state-owned firms.

“It was a great accolade for British design,” said Priestman, 52. “We are helping to develop China’s design identity, which will be crucial in helping them to grow in international markets.”

Priestman Goode is in the vanguard of a “second wave” of investment in China. The first wave of European exports was led by Germany and its expertise in manufacturing; the second could be led by Britain’s strength in services.

As China rebalances its economy away from investment towards the consumer, these services are likely to be in high demand.

The reform plan unveiled this month by China’s ruling Communist party, the most radical blueprint for more than 20 years, should reduce inequality and boost incomes, unleashing spending by 1.4bn consumers.

As incomes rise, the Chinese will demand better financial services, healthcare, education and consumer goods — all sectors in which Britain excels.

Lord Sassoon, chairman of the China-Britain Business Council, who accompanied George Osborne on his trip to China last month, believes Britain has a unique opportunity.

“As the Chinese economy rebalances towards the consumer, they are very hungry for British creative ideas, whether in fashion and design or IT and technology,” he said. “On my visit with the chancellor, the excitement around British design was palpable.”

The creative industries will also be a key focus for David Cameron’s trade delegation to China next month. Priestman will be one of more than 20 business people accompanying the prime minister on the trip.

via Union Jack in fashion as China banks on consumer spending | The Sunday Times.

Posted in Affluence, China alert, Consumer, Economics | Leave a Comment »

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23/11/2013

Reform in China: Let quite a few flowers bloom | The Economist

THE jury is in. After months of speculation and an initial summary last week, the final 22,000-character overview of China’s “third plenum” was published on November 15th. In the economic sphere the document turned out to be bolder than the initial summary suggested. The new party boss, Xi Jinping, wants to push through changes that have stalled over the past decade. As the document itself says: “We should let labour, knowledge, technology, management and capital unleash their dynamism, let all sources of wealth spread and let all people enjoy more fruits of development fairly.” Quite.

It is by no means certain that Mr Xi will be able to do all he wants to (see article), but it is clear he has won the battle so far. Economically, he is proving himself an heir to Deng Xiaoping, China’s great reformer, and not the closet Maoist that some had feared. Conservative forces seeking to stifle reformist voices have been quieted, at least for the time being.

The document’s interest lies not just in the economic reforms, which were anticipated. More striking were some of the social changes the document announced, such as the relaxation of the one-child policy. A couple in which one parent is an only child will be allowed to have two children, and the policy is likely to be loosened even further. In another widely welcomed move, labour camps—in which around 190,000 people, including political and religious activists, are detained—are to be abolished.

But possibly the most important announcements were buried deep in the document and grabbed fewer headlines. Two moves in particular showed that the party is sensitive to the ferment in Chinese society and the demands for greater liberty and accountability that accompany it.

In the past 30 years China has gone from a totalitarian society to one in which people can usually work where they want, marry whom they want, travel where they want (albeit with varying degrees of hassle for those from the countryside and ethnic-minority regions). In ten years internet penetration has gone from minimal to almost universal. Old welfare structures have broken down, with little to take their place. Ordinary people are being empowered by new wealth and participation, through microblogs, and by becoming consumers and property owners. Change is bubbling up from the bottom and the system cannot contain it.

An uNGOvernable state

Society is becoming too complex for the old structures to handle. Hence the government’s decision to allow the development of what it calls “social organisations”. In essence these are NGOs. The party dislikes the idea of anything non-governmental and has long regarded NGOs as a Trojan horse for Western political ideas and subversion, but it is coming to realise that they could solve some of its problems—caring for the sick, elderly and poor, for instance. The growth of civil society is not just important in itself. It is also the bridge to the future, linking today’s economic reforms to whatever putative future political reform might come.

Equally important is the issue of judicial reform. China’s hopelessly corrupt judges are unpopular. The party resolution floats the idea of “judicial jurisdiction systems that are suitably separated from administrative areas”; that is, local judiciaries that are not controlled and paid for by local officials. Though some observers doubt this will happen, if it does it could be the start of a system of basic checks and balances, which would make officials more accountable.

That these two gestures towards reform were mentioned at all is encouraging; that they were barely visible to the untrained eye shows the party’s ambivalence towards liberalisation. But it must push ahead. Its planned economic reforms will surely generate not just wealth, but more pressure for political change. Unless the party responds, there could be an explosion. If Mr Xi is inclined to wobble, he should remember the advice in the plenary document: “Dare to gnaw through even tough bones, dare to ford dangerous rapids, break through the fetters of ideological concepts with even greater resolution.”

via Reform in China: Let quite a few flowers bloom | The Economist.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Good news, Internal politics, national dream, One-child policy, Politics, Rule of law | Leave a Comment »

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23/11/2013

Property in China: Haunted housing | The Economist

IN CHINA, property prices can keep going up forever. At least, that is what optimists seem to think. They point out that the country is undergoing the largest urbanisation in history. The throngs of migrants from the countryside all need homes, the argument runs. China’s swelling middle classes, many of whom live in shoddy 1980s housing, are also eagerly moving to fancier flats or McMansions. The result has been a spectacular property boom over the past decade.

At first glance, it seems the good times are still rolling (see chart). During the first three quarters of this year residential sales shot up by 35% versus the same period a year ago. Prices for new homes rose year-on-year in September in 69 of the 70 biggest cities. In Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing prices jumped by more than 20%; in slightly smaller cities, such as Nanjing and Xiamen, they rose by around 15%.

Despite these signs of rude health, even some of China’s biggest property moguls appear to be growing uneasy. Wang Shi, the chairman of China Vanke, the country’s largest residential-property firm by volume, has called the market a bubble. Wang Jianlin, the country’s richest man and the chairman of Dalian Wanda, a property giant turned entertainment firm, acknowledges that parts of the country may be experiencing a property bubble, though he thinks it “controllable”. Li Ka-Shing, a Hong Kong tycoon who has long been bullish on China, has started to sell his mainland holdings.

The problem is not the wealthiest cities with the most vertiginous valuations. Indeed, in those markets prices may yet go higher. People from all over China buy trophy apartments in Shanghai and Beijing, making their markets as resilient as those of Manhattan and central London. In fact, policies aimed at squelching speculation may be artificially suppressing demand in those places.

Shanghai and Shenzhen recently followed Beijing’s lead by requiring that buyers of second homes put up 70% of the purchase price as a deposit. In Beijing, the sale of a second home incurs a 20% capital-gains tax. (This is supposedly a nationwide policy, but is not always enforced in other cities.) Couples with two homes are reportedly divorcing to avoid the tax, since once officially single they can each own a primary residence, and thus sell either one without penalty.

Demand does not look so robust, however, in places like Yingkou Coastal Industrial Base, in north-eastern China. This development was promoted by the local government as a future hub of economic activity, but the future has not yet arrived. There are rows of empty buildings and few people on the streets. Property salesmen claim that big companies ranging from Coca-Cola to PetroChina are building factories nearby. But even Xinhua, an official media outlet, is sceptical: except for street lamps and the occasional passing vehicle, it reported recently, “at night the base was completely dark.”

Many property developments outside the big cities appear to be ghost towns of this sort. Moody’s, a credit-rating agency, laments that a large and rising share of new supply has gone to smaller cities. People’s Daily, another official organ, recently fulminated against the “huge waste of resources” such construction represents. Nonetheless, by the government’s count, 144 cities in 12 provinces are planning 200 new towns.

via Property in China: Haunted housing | The Economist.

Posted in China alert, Construction, debt, Economics, Housing, housing, local government debt, Politics, real estate | Leave a Comment »

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