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

26/05/2013

* Sonia Gandhi ‘devastated’ by India Chhattisgarh ambush

BBC: “The president of India’s Congress Party, Sonia Gandhi, has said she is “devastated” by Saturday’s attack on party officials in Chhattisgarh state.

Sonia Gandhi (R) and PM Manmohan Singh in a hospital in Raipur (May 26 2013)

At least 24 people were killed, including Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nandkumar Patel, his son, and local leader Mahendra Karma, when suspected Maoist rebels ambushed their convoy.

Mrs Gandhi visited some of the wounded with PM Manmohan Singh on Sunday.

The prime minister said India would “never bow down” before the rebels.

He denounced the “barbaric attack” which he said should be an inspiration in the fight against extremism and violence.

Unconfirmed reports said they were unable to visit the scene of the attack because of security concerns.”

via BBC News – Sonia Gandhi ‘devastated’ by India Chhattisgarh ambush.

Posted in Dissident, Human rights, India alert, Inequalities, Instability, Insurgency, Internal politics, Justice, Politics, unrest | Leave a Comment »

Tags: India, Indian National Congress, manmohan singh, mrs gandhi, politics, Sonia Gandhi

19/05/2013

* Factory women: Girl power

The Economist: “SITTING around a restaurant table, six workers discuss the progress of their labour action. Five of them are women, as are most of their several hundred colleagues who have been occupying the toy factory since mid-April. They have been sleeping on floors, braving rats and mosquitoes, to stop the owner shutting down the factory without giving them fair compensation. Those at the table are all migrants from the countryside. A couple are tearful. All are angry and determined not to give way.

In Guangdong province, where nearly 30% of China’s exports are made, women usually far outnumber men on labour-intensive production lines such as those at the toy factory in the city of Shenzhen, next to Hong Kong. Rural women are hired for their supposed docility, nimble fingers and attention to mind-numbing detail.

But in recent years Guangdong’s workforce has changed. The supply of cheap unskilled labour, once seemingly limitless, has started to dry up. Factory bosses are now all but begging their female workers to remain. At the same time the women who have migrated to the factory towns have become better-educated and more aware of their rights. In labour-intensive factories, stereotypes of female passivity are beginning to break down.

Over the past three decades the migration of tens of millions of women from the countryside to factories in Guangdong and other coastal provinces has helped to transform the worldview of an especially downtrodden sector of Chinese society (the suicide rate among rural women is far higher than for rural men). Conditions in the factories have often been harsh—poor safety, illegally long working hours, cramped accommodation, few breaks and little leave—but for many it has also been liberating and empowering, both personally and financially. Leslie Chang, an American journalist, spent three years reporting on women workers in Dongguan, a city near Shenzhen. In her 2008 book “Factory Girls” Ms Chang wrote that, compared with men, the women she encountered were “more motivated to improve themselves and more likely to value migration for its life-changing possibilities.”

They are still not as well-educated as men (about a year less in school on average, with most having only primary- or junior secondary-school education). But the gap has been narrowing.

Crucially, China’s changing demography has been shifting in their favour. Labour shortages that began to hit low-skilled manufacturing in the second half of the past decade have driven up wages and forced factories to improve working conditions. Once all but unthinkable (for both sexes), strikes have become increasingly common. Anecdotally at least, women appear as likely to take part as men.

Strikes in 2010 affecting factories in Guangdong owned by Honda, a Japanese car firm, helped to galvanise labour activism. One of them occurred in the city of Zhongshan, where the workers were mostly female. The unrest there resulted in pay concessions and set a precedent for collective bargaining led by representatives chosen by the workers themselves, rather than government-controlled trade unions. At the Shenzhen toy factory, the workers have chosen five representatives to negotiate with management. Three of them are women. A male worker says the women are more aware of their rights.

China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based NGO, reported on March 19th that about a fifth of strikes in Guangdong since the beginning of the year had been in factories and other workplaces with largely female staff. It said that women were also “some of the most active workers posting information online about strikes and protests, and in seeking out legal assistance for problems at work.” The protesting toy-workers offer evidence of this. They have posted photographs on microblogs of protesting female workers clad in red jackets opposite lines of police. One of their slogans reads: “Bad boss—give us back our youth”.”

via Factory women: Girl power | The Economist.

Posted in China alert, Economics, employment, labour shortage, Migrant workers | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, China Labour Bulletin, Guangdong, politics, Shenzhen

19/05/2013

* China Premier Li Keqiang in India for first foreign trip

BBC: “China‘s Premier Li Keqiang is travelling to India in the first stop of his maiden foreign trip since taking office.

Chinese and Indian flags flie in New Delhi on 18 May 2013

Upon his arrival in Delhi, Premier Li will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, followed by dinner at the Indian leader’s residence.

Border tensions and trade ties are expected to be among the issues discussed by the two men.

The neighbours are the world’s two most populous countries.

Beijing hopes the visit will help build trust and a new strategic partnership to the benefit of both countries, China’s official news agency Xinhua said.

Delhi thought “very highly” of Mr Li’s decision to make India his first foreign stop and the aim of the talks was to “enhance trust”, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.

A decades-long border dispute flared up last month after India accused Chinese troops of crossing the countries’ de facto border in the Himalayas.

The dispute over the territory in the Ladakh region has dogged the two countries since the 1950s.

Boosting trade ties is also expected to dominate the talks. China is already one of India’s top trading partners and both countries have already agreed a new $100bn (£65bn) bilateral trade target for 2015.

Premier Li will spend three days in India before travelling on to Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany.”

via BBC News – China Premier Li Keqiang in India for first foreign trip.

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Diplomacy, Economics, Foreign invasion, GeoPolitics, History, India alert, Neighbour conflict, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Beijing, China, Delhi, India, Ladakh, Li Keqiang, manmohan singh, politics

16/05/2013

* Pupil commissars quit jobs as Tiger Mothers put exams first

From The Times, 16 May, 2013: “China’s Tiger Mothers are driving a revolutionary shift in attitudes towards primary school cadres — the system that applies rigid communist-style structure to the jobs of child blackboard-wiper, hand cleanliness checker and window-opener.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For many years parents fought to secure the coveted positions for their children — feverishly lobbying and bribing teachers to grant responsibilities that would look good on a university application form.

The most hotly desired cadre positions for 11-year-old Chinese children have traditionally included Sport Commissary (organising games), Cultural Commissary (organising class performances) and Labour Commissary (organising classroom tidy-up operations).

But, according to teachers in the southern province of Guangdong, priorities have changed. As increasing numbers of Chinese parents thrust their children into the country’s ferocious educational arms race, the new emphasis is on exam performance, not Communist Party play-acting.

The effect of this, one teacher in the city of Guangzhou told Chinese media, has been a scramble by parents to unravel their previous machinations and release their children from onerous duties. Once liberated from their tasks, runs the Tiger Mother theory, children will claw back precious minutes that can be spent instead on exam revision.

After bullying teachers to give cadre positions to their children, parents are cravenly avoiding any part in the resignations.

“When their children were in second grade [seven years old], the parents made every possible attempt to get me to arrange cadre titles for them. Now those same kids are in fifth grade [11 years old], they put the same effort into resigning those titles,” said a teacher called Deng.

“Dear Miss Deng. Thank you for giving me so many opportunities, which have tempered me very well and greatly helped my personal development . . . I would like to step aside to give the same opportunities to other students and therefore tender my resignation,” read one of the letters.

She says she has received so many resignation letters from child cadres that she now faces a shortfall of “soldiers” prepared to sacrifice their exam performance for the dizzy heights of classroom officialdom.

One parent of a child in Guangzhou told reporters: “When my daughter first went to primary school, we would always push her to run for every cadre position, even if it was just the job of closing the doors. But she will have middle school entrance exams in a year. Being student cadre doesn’t help the exam, so now we mobilise her to study.””

Posted in China alert, Economics, education | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, chinese parents, Communist Party, Education, exam performance, exam revision, politics, revolutionary shift, Tiger Mother

14/05/2013

* China issues white paper on human rights

China Daily: “The Chinese government on Tuesday released a white paper detailing the progress made in human rights in 2012, stressing its achievements in improving living standards and increasing room for citizens to express their opinions.

Human Rights in China (organization) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“The cause of human rights in China has entered a stage of planned, sustainable, steady and comprehensive development,” says the white paper, published by the State Council Information Office under the title “Progress in China’s Human Rights in 2012.”

Development is the key to solving all existing problems and facilitating the progress of human rights in China, the paper says.

China has combined its human rights endeavors with economic, political, cultural, social and ecological construction, it said.

The country has prioritized people’s rights to subsistence and development and made efforts to promote the comprehensive and balanced development of their economic, social and cultural rights, as well as their civil and political rights, it notes.

“After years of unremitting efforts, China has reached a higher level in terms of people’s living standards, democracy, rule of law, cultural development, social security and environmental protection,” says the white paper.

In 2012, the annual per capita net income for both urban and rural residents increased, hefty investment was directed to poverty reduction programs, housing conditions were improved for both urban and rural residents and the state made proactive efforts to boost employment, according to the white paper.

Practical measures have been taken to ensure citizens’ right to know and right to be heard, according to the white paper.

Deepened reform and the rapid development of information technology have given the public greater power to acquire information and express their opinions, it notes.

The creation of the Regulations on Government Information Disclosure has helped establish a system for disclosing information, the white paper says.

In 2012, more than 90 central government departments made their budgets and expenses for official receptions, vehicles and overseas trips known to the public. The Communist Party of China (CPC) continued to press ahead with making Party affairs public and established a spokesperson system for Party committees, the paper says.

The Internet has become an important channel for citizens to exercise their rights to know, participate, be heard and supervise, as well as become an important means for the government to hear public opinions, according to the white paper.

Democracy building at the grassroots level further expanded citizens’ right to participate, the paper says.

By the end of 2012, direct elections had been held for over 98 percent of village committees across the country, with participation reaching 95 percent.”

via China issues white paper on human rights |Politics |chinadaily.com.cn.

Posted in China alert, Elections, Freedom, Human rights, Illegal practices, Internal politics, Justice, Politics, Rule of law | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, communist party of china, Government of the People's Republic of China, Human rights, human rights in china, politics, State Council Information Office, White paper

11/05/2013

* India Congress ministers quit amid scandals

BBC: “Two Indian ministers have resigned in one day over links with corruption claims, plunging the Congress party into crisis.

Former Indian Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar resigned in separate incidents.Mr Bansal quit after police arrested his nephew for bribery, and Mr Kumar stepped down amid claims he influenced a report into the coal industry.Reports suggest Congress leaders are holding crisis meetings.The coalition government has been beset by corruption scandals recently.Mr Bansal called for a police investigation into the bribery allegations.”I have always observed the highest standard of probity in public life,” he told local media.”

via BBC News – India Congress ministers quit amid scandals.

Posted in corruption, India alert, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Ashwani Kumar, Bansal, bribery allegations, Congress, India, Indian National Congress, manmohan singh, Pawan Kumar Bansal, politics, Railway Minister

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 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

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

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

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

Categories

Blogs I Follow

Posts tagged ‘politics’