Chindia Alert | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

09/05/2013

* China investigates reports of Zhang Yimou’s seven children

Until this article, I knew of fines for more than one child, but had no clue as to the level of such fines.

SCMP: “Chinese authorities have begun investigating reports that Zhang Yimou, one of China’s best-known movie directors, has seven children in violation of strict family planning rules, which could result in a fine of 160 million yuan (HK$202 million), state media said on Thursday.

Online reports have surfaced that Zhang, who dazzled the world in 2008 with his Beijing Olympic ceremonies, “has at least seven children and will face a 160 million yuan fine”, said the website of the People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece.

An unnamed official at the Wuxi Municipal Population and Family Planning Commission said “based on the current policies and regulations, an investigation is currently being carried out”, according to the report.

It is unclear where Zhang’s children were born, the report said, citing a worker at the Jiangsu Province Population and Family Planning Commission.

Both the Wuxi and Jiangsu Population and Family Planning Commission could not be reached for comment.

Zhang, 61, once the bad-boy of Chinese cinema whose movies were sometimes banned at home while popular overseas, has since become a darling of the Communist Party, despite long being a subject of tabloid gossip for alleged trysts with his actresses.

Zhang’s newest project, a film to depict wartime Nanjing under Japanese occupation starred Hollywood actor Christian Bale in a leading role.

There are signs that China may loosen the one-child policy, introduced in the late 1970s to prevent population growth spiraling out of control. The policy has long been opposed by human rights and religious groups but is also now regarded by many experts as outdated and harmful to the economy.

Last December, authorities in southern Guangdong said they were investigating a family for having given birth to octuplets through in-vitro fertilisation, a case that sparked intense public debate about China’s one-child policy and how wealthy families were able to circumvent the rules.

The one-child policy was meant to last only 30 years and there are now numerous exceptions to it. But it still applies to about 63 per cent of the population.”

via China investigates reports of Zhang Yimou’s seven children | South China Morning Post.

Posted in China alert, One-child policy, Social & cultural | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, chinese communist party, olympic ceremonies, one-child policy, Zhang Yimou

09/05/2013

* China’s Airport Building Boom

BusinessWeek: “The first rule of airline travel in China is: Don’t cut connections close. Assume your first flight will be late, and leave plenty of time than to scramble to your next gate. Fortunately, if you’re flying between major Chinese cities, you can bide your time in a gleaming new airport with plenty of shops selling tea, lattes, snacks, souvenirs, and even prestige apparel. (Only in Chinese airports have I seen stores selling “BMW Lifestyle” clothing).

In China, travel is booming, giving rise to new airports and hotels to accommodate the inbound masses. The International Air Transport Association forecasts that by 2016, China will have 415 million fliers annually, second only to the U.S. in volume of domestic passengers. Volume at the Beijing Capital Airport has tripled in the last 10 years; the city’s second major airport will open by 2018. In all, the current Five Year Plan calls for 55 new civil airports by 2015, bringing China’s total to 230.

The build-out is good news for the obvious suspects, including travelers, hotels, and retailers that profit from travel. In a recent report, the Virginia-based Global Business Travel Association estimated that spending related to business travel in China will increase 14.7 percent in 2013, to $224 billion. (GBTA estimates comparable spending in the U.S. in 2013 will be $268.5 billion.)

For many of the Chinese cities caught up in the airport-construction boom, it’s been a mixed blessing. In 2011, China’s Civil Aviation Administration recorded that 75 percent of its civil airports were operating at a loss, according to the China Daily. High levels of debt assumed by local governments to finance airports and other large infrastructure projects are a growing worry for China. Last month Fitch downgraded China’s credit rating, expressing concerns especially about local debt. In its assessment, the credit rating agency noted: “Fitch believes total credit in the economy including various forms of ‘shadow banking‘ activity may have reached 198 percent of GDP at end-2012, up from 125 percent at end-2008.”

One component of the mismatch is that Chinese airline carriers have focused on connecting major hubs, with far fewer flights to secondary destinations. As a result, while small regional airports are often eerily quiet, industry analysts believe Beijing’s Capital Airport is on track to overtake Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport as the world’s busiest.”

via China’s Airport Building Boom – Businessweek.

* New Beijing airport targets 2018 opening (chindia-alert.org)
Hartsfield-Jackson world’s most crowded airport (bizjournals.com)
Singapore’s Changi Named World’s Best Airport…Again (thediplomat.com)
Why China doesn’t need more airports (guardian.co.uk)

Posted in Affluence, China alert, Construction, Economics, fashion, luxury brand, Transport | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Atlanta, aviation, Beijing Capital International Airport, business travel association, China, civil aviation administration, global business travel, Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, International Air Transport Association, transportation

09/05/2013

* China Dips a Toe Into Mideast Diplomacy

For the first time, China is taking its role as a world leader in international politics, rather than staying in the background.

NY Times: “China took a modest step into Middle East diplomacy this week, hosting back-to-back visits from Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

But this was not exactly Camp David by the Forbidden City.

The fact that the visits were timed so the two leaders would not meet — Mr. Abbas left Beijing on Tuesday, and Mr. Netanyahu arrived Wednesday after a swing through Shanghai — signaled that neither they nor Xi Jinping, China’s leader, were ready for actual talks. But Mr. Xi did present a four-point peace proposal to Mr. Abbas, which, though it did not contain any breakthrough ideas, hinted that China had given some thought to playing a more energetic, if very limited, role as mediator in one of the world’s most protracted conflicts.

“As China’s economy, national strength and international status grow, Arab countries are looking more to China,” said Guo Xiangang, a vice president of the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing who follows China’s relations with Middle Eastern nations. “The expectations they place on China are growing.”

In their meeting on Wednesday afternoon, Prime Minister Li Keqiang of China told Mr. Netanyahu that “the Palestinian issue is a core issue affecting the peace and stability of the Middle East, and a peaceful solution reached through dialogue and negotiations is the only effective answer,” according to Xinhua, the state news agency.

“As a friend of both Israel and the Palestinians, China has always maintained an objective and fair stance, and is willing to strive together with all sides to actively advance the Middle East peace process,” Mr. Li said.

China has been careful to take a clear and consistent but not strong stand on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. China has growing trade ties with Israel — the value of their trade relationship has been estimated in official Chinese news reports to be nearly $10 billion a year — but it supports Palestinian statehood and relies on crude oil imports from Iran and Arab nations to meet its energy needs. About half of China’s oil imports come from the Middle East, and that dependency is expected to deepen.

The core of the four-point plan that Mr. Xi presented to Mr. Abbas was the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, based on the 1967 boundaries and with East Jerusalem as its capital. The plan was a formal version of China’s traditional stand on the conflict.

At the United Nations, where China sits on the Security Council, Mr. Abbas has pushed for greater status for the Palestinians, which has drawn economic reprisals from Israel and has led to a reduction in donations from foreign supporters. On Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said at a news conference that Israel had to halt the building of settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, stop violence against innocent civilians and end the blockade against the Gaza Strip to clear the way for peace talks.

But China’s measured stand on the conflict was evident in some of Mr. Xi’s comments during his meeting with Mr. Abbas. “Israel’s right to exist and its reasonable security concerns should be fully respected,” Mr. Xi said, according to a report by Xinhua.”

via China Dips a Toe Into Mideast Diplomacy – NYTimes.com.

Posted in China alert, Diplomacy, Economics, GeoPolitics, History, Neighbour conflict, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Abbas, Beijing, Benjamin Netanyahu, China, Israel, Mahmoud Abbas, middle-east, minister benjamin netanyahu, mr netanyahu, netanyahu of israel, politics, Xi JinPing

09/05/2013

* China’s Vision for a ‘New’ Urbanization

WSJ: “China watchers are all abuzz about urbanization, which is supposed to be a focus of reform. But what does the term mean? After all, China has been urbanizing for 30 years, which has meant building roads, subways, ports — and relying more and more on infrastructure spending, which seems to have less and less payoff these days.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s state planning agency, is due to produce a report later this year laying out a path for a new kind of urbanization.

Li Tie, director general of the NDRC’s China Center for Urban Development, said the report involves a “new model of city development,” which would include three main parts:

First, there would be a focus on “low carbon” development — meaning trying to assure Chinese cities ease their horrendous pollution.

Second, would be reform of the household registration, or hukou, system. For smaller cities the system would be “totally liberalized,” Mr. Li said. He didn’t lay out his thoughts fully, but seemed to suggest that all residents would enjoy the same rights and benefits regardless of where they were born. For larger cities, migrants would get “resident cards” which assured them “improved treatment” and access to social services.

Third, China would look to increase “clustering” in big cities. Mr. Li didn’t explain what he meant by that, but in urban planning speak, clustering usually means trying to develop industries or specialties in a city or group of cities. That’s a way to build on the intellectual frisson of urban life, where new ideas can spawn new industries.

Those proposals address some of the most vexing problems with life in China’s cities: pollution, widening social inequality and lack of innovation. They also suggest that China’s leaders are committed to making urbanization into something more than another building spree. But changes would be costly and could require China’s central government to take a much more active role in overseeing—and paying for—urban growth than it has in the past. Whether China’s new leaders are ready to take such steps will become clear over the next year or two.”

via China’s Vision for a ‘New’ Urbanization – China Real Time Report – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Migrant workers, Politics, urban development | 2 Comments »

Tags: Beijing, China, China National Petroleum Corporation, environment, Kunming, Li Tie, National Development and Reform Commission, Public Security Bureau, Urbanization

09/05/2013

* Nokia Unveils $99 Asha Smartphone

WSJ: “Nokia Corp., NOK1V.HE +0.30% struggling to regain ground in the competitive smartphone market, unveiled a $99 touch-screen smartphone for India and other emerging markets to help drive sales.

At a product launch event in New Delhi Thursday, Nokia said its Asha 501 will run on the new Asha platform.

The Finnish handset maker said the smartphone will initially run on a second-generation network, but it plans to expand the device for faster 3G services.

Nokia President and CEO Stephen Elop at a news conference at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February.

Chief Executive Stephen Elop said the smartphone was built on the design inspired by the company’s higher-end Lumia smartphone and is targeted at “young, socially inspired” people.

The smartphone has a 3.2 megapixel camera, weighs 98 grams and has a memory capacity of 4 gigabytes that can be expanded to 32 gigabytes. It comes in different colors including red, green, yellow and white, the company said in a statement.

Nokia, once the world’s largest phone maker, has struggled to compete in the high-end smartphone market dominated by Apple Inc. AAPL +1.12% and Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE +1.81% Adding to its woes is stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers as well as other low-cost Indian phone makers such as Micromax Informatics Ltd.

Up until last year, the Finnish mobile company’s last stronghold was India, but it is seeing increasing threat from Samsung in the country.

Nokia held a 26% share of the 170 million handsets shipped to India in 2012, with Samsung following closely behind with 22% of the market, data from Singapore-based mobile research firm Canalys shows.

In the fourth quarter, Nokia ranked second globally with 18% of the market, down from 23.4% a year earlier. Samsung ranked first with 22.7% and Apple Inc.’s market share rose to 9.2%.

Despite losing share to Samsung, Nokia’s handset sales improved due to strong demand for its Asha series and Lumia Windows phones, market research firm Gartner said.”

via Nokia Unveils $99 Asha Smartphone – WSJ.com.

Posted in Digital communications, Economics, India alert, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Apple, Asha, gadgets, India, informatics ltd, mobile, Mobile World Congress, Nokia, Samsung, samsung electronics co, stephen elop, technology, Windows Phone

09/05/2013

* China mouthpiece claims rights over Okinawa

This is most confusing. On the one hand China is proclaiming loud and clear that it will work with its neighbours and ASEAN nations to defuse conflicting territorial claims and to foster peace. Yet, on the other hand, pronouncements such as this works in the opposite direction. There must be something in Sun Tzu’s writings that will help to clarify this. Do any of my READERs know?

Bangkok Post: “The lengthy article in the People’s Daily, China’s most-circulated newspaper and the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist party, argued that China may have rights to the Ryukyu island chain, which includes Okinawa.

“Unresolved problems relating to the Ryukyu Islands have reached the time for reconsideration,” wrote Zhang Haipeng and Li Guoqiang, citing post World War II declarations which require Japan to return Chinese territory.

The authors are scholars at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, considered China’s top state-run think tank.

The article also repeated Chinese government arguments for China’s historical claims over a set of tiny uninhabited islets in the East China Sea known as Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese.

The two nations have stepped up a war of words over the dispute in recent months, with Beijing’s vessels regularly entering the waters around the Tokyo-controlled islands, stoking fears of armed conflict.

Okinawa is the biggest of the Ryukyu islands, which stretch for about 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from Japan’s mainland, and was the centre of the Ryukyuan kingdom which paid tribute to Chinese emperors until it was absorbed by Japan in 1879.

The island is home to major US air force and marine bases as well as 1.3 million people, who are considered more closely related to Japan in ethnic and linguistic terms than to China.

But some Chinese see historical ties as a basis for sovereignty and dismiss Japan’s possession of the islands as a legacy of its aggressive expansionism that ended in defeat at the end of the Second World War.

China’s government does not make such claims, but state media have from time to time carried articles and commentaries questioning Japan’s authority.”

via China mouthpiece claims rights over Okinawa | Bangkok Post: breakingnews.

Posted in China alert, GeoPolitics, Politics, Territorial dispute | 1 Comment »

Tags: China, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, East China Sea, Japan, politics, Ryukyu Islands, Senkaku Islands, Zhang Haipeng

09/05/2013

* China and Taiwan cross-strait representative offices: One offensive, the other defensive

Another illustration of the Chinese pragmatism. Why let ‘politics and dogma’ stand in the way of good mutual trade relationship?

Taiwan tests defenses against mock Chinese invasion (stripes.com)
Taiwan holds 1st large, live-fire drill in 5 years (stripes.com)
DPP politicians using microblogs to see China’s transformation (chinapost.com.tw)

Posted in China alert, Diplomacy, Economics, GeoPolitics, Politics, Taiwan | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, Beijing, China, Chinese language, Ma Ying-jeou, Penghu, Taiwan

08/05/2013

* Detention of petitioners denounced

China Daily: “Anti-graft officials vow protection of whistle-blowers from retaliation

Officials with China’s top anti-graft authority expressed firm opposition on Tuesday to the detention of petitioners.

Authorities are not allowed to detain petitioners at any level of petition offices and at public venues, said Zhang Shaolong, deputy director of the office of letters and calls of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.

It is a legal channel for petitioners to submit whistle-blowing materials face to face to the anti-graft authorities, and the petitioners should receive a warm welcome from anti-corruption agencies, he said.

Zhang made the remarks on Tuesday during an online interview with two other anti-graft officials from the commission.

Under the administrative mechanism in most places, the leading officials will not get promoted if too many petitioners appeal to higher authorities.

Many corrupt officials were exposed by online posts, Zhang said, adding that some inaccurate online information has also made the investigations of corrupt officials difficult.

Among all the cases investigated by the commission last year, about 41.8 percent of the clues were collected from the public whistle-blowers through online reports, letters and calls, Zhang said.

Guo Hongliang, Zhang’s colleague who also attended the online interview, said that the commission has received 301,000 online whistle-blowing reports from 2008 to 2012.

The commission established 12388.gov.cn, its online whistle-blowing website, in October 2009, and the Internet has become one of the most important channels for the commission to collect information, he said.

Deng Jixun, another colleague of Zhang who attended the interview, said that real-name whistle-blowing activities should be encouraged to promote the efficiency of anti-corruption work.

The anti-graft authorities should protect real-name whistle-blowers from being victims of retaliation, he said.

Zhang acknowledged that some officials try to prevent people from petitioning to higher levels of government, and these officials’ behavior should be firmly opposed.

A report in People’s Daily revealed that many petitioners had been detained by the government of Hai’an county in Jiangsu province since March when they tried to visit the anti-graft officials from an inspection team sent by the provincial government.”

via Detention of petitioners denounced |Politics |chinadaily.com.cn.

Shanghai Petitioners Stage Protest Over Illegal Detentions (theepochtimes.com)
Petitioners Unite Against Illegal Detention Centers (theepochtimes.com)
Wronged Chinese Policemen Join Petitioners in Beijing (theepochtimes.com)

Posted in Censorship, China alert, Freedom, Good news, Human rights, Illegal practices, Internal politics, Justice, Petition, Politics, public protest, Reform, Rule of law | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, China, communist party of china, Jiangsu, Petitioner, politics, whistle blowers, whistle blowing, Whistleblower

08/05/2013

* Indian government to deploy 10,000 more personnel in four states to fight Maoists

Times of India: “With the government moving towards a fight to finish war against Maoists in Red Zone, the Union home ministry has decided to deploy additional 10 bBattalions (10,000 personnel) of paramilitary forces in four highly naxal-affected states — Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar.

CRPF, Central Reserve Police Force (www.crpf.nic.in), Group Centre Pune, at Talegaon, on Old Mumbai Pune Highway (NH4) (Photo credit: Ravi Karandeekar)

Five (5,000 personnel) out of the 10 battalions will be drawn from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) while the remaining five will be spared by SSB, BSF and ITBP for anti-naxal operations.

Disclosing the decision in response to a Parliament question, the ministry said that the additional 10 battalions had been sanctioned on the basis of requests made by the respective state for stepping up operations against the Red Ultras.

At present, a total number of 532 companies (53,200 personnel) of paramilitary forces have been deployed in the seven Maoist-affected states — Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha.

Officials in the ministry said that Jharkhand — which is currently under the President’s rule — would see the maximum deployment where the security forces had already been engaged in intensive operations against the Red Ultras under the leadership of ex-CRPF chief K Vijay Kumar who is posted there as one of the advisors of the state governor.

“Idea is to continue the intensive operations against Maoists before the onset of Monsoon in these states”, said an official.”

via Government to deploy 10,000 more personnel in four states to fight Maoists – The Times of India.

* 10 Maoists killed in encounter on Andhra, Chhattigarh border: Police (chindia-alert.org)
Chhattisgarh gun battle blow to Andhra Maoists (News Analysis) (vancouverdesi.com)
Indian state and media cast a worried eye on Maoist-led people’s movement (revolutionaryfrontlines.wordpress.com)
Prospect Of Elimination Of Maoists In India’s Jharkhand Now Real – Analysis (eurasiareview.com)

Posted in Dissident, India alert, Inequalities, Instability, Insurgency, Internal politics, Politics, unrest | 1 Comment »

Tags: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Central Reserve Police Force, Chhattisgarh, India, Jharkhand, Odisha, red ultras, talegaon, union home ministry, vijay kumar, West Bengal

07/05/2013

* Bank of China closes account of key North Korean bank

China responds to US-initiated action action North Korea.

SCMP: “Bank of China has shut the account of North Korea’s main foreign exchange bank, which was hit with US sanctions in March after Washington accused it of helping finance Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.

Chinese Bank of China (Photo credit: epSos.de)

The state-run Foreign Trade Bank had been told its transactions had been halted and its account closed, Bank of China, the country’s biggest foreign exchange bank, said in a brief statement on Tuesday. It gave no reason for the closure and the bank declined to comment further.

The closure is the first significant, publicly announced step taken by a Chinese entity to curb its dealings with North Korea in the wake of international pressure to punish Pyongyang over its banned nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

“I think it is indeed a very noteworthy action,” said Zhang Liangui, a North Korea expert at China’s Central Party School, adding Bank of China was probably concerned about its reputation and thus closed the account.

“In taking this action I think there are political considerations as well as considerations about its own interests.”

The US sanctions prohibit any transactions between US entities or individuals and the Foreign Trade Bank.

Japan has followed suit while Australia is expected to do the same soon. Washington has also urged the European Union to impose sanctions on the Foreign Trade Bank and has raised the issue with China, although Beijing has not commented publicly on the bank.

Experts have said Washington’s move was designed to make foreign banks that do business in the United States think twice about dealing with the Foreign Trade Bank, in much the same way that banks have become wary about having ties with financial institutions in sanctions-hit Iran.

China is North Korea’s traditional ally and its biggest trading partner. It is unclear how much of the US$6 billion in annual bilateral trade goes through the Foreign Trade Bank.

Among China’s other large banks, a spokesman at China Construction Bank said the bank did not do any business with the Foreign Trade Bank. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China were not immediately available for comment.

China has become increasingly frustrated with North Korea in recent months. It agreed to new UN sanctions after Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February.

Those sanctions, announced on March 7, target the North’s attempts to ship and receive cargo related to its nuclear and missile programmes and tighten financial curbs, including the illicit transfer of bulk cash.

The UN measures did not address the Foreign Trade Bank. Washington imposed its own sanctions several days later.”

via Bank of China closes account of key North Korean bank | South China Morning Post.

Posted in China alert, GeoPolitics, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Agricultural Bank of China, China, China Construction Bank, North Korea, politics, Pyongyang, United States

CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

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* China’s Airport Building Boom

* China Dips a Toe Into Mideast Diplomacy

* China’s Vision for a ‘New’ Urbanization

* Nokia Unveils $99 Asha Smartphone

* China and Taiwan cross-strait representative offices: One offensive, the other defensive

* Detention of petitioners denounced

* Indian government to deploy 10,000 more personnel in four states to fight Maoists

* Bank of China closes account of key North Korean bank

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