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All posts by JBY

Study Times: Strategy for Fighting Weak Economy

To cope with the international financial crisis we must the expand domestic demand, promote consumption, innovation, and foster new economic growth, thereby improving the overall quality of the economy and international competitiveness.

At present, the market continues to be weak in exports; exports are losing steam in leveraging economic growth.  The expansion of consumption, especially in rural areas, has become an important focus to maintain China’s steady economic growth.  Employment relates to human dignity and social stability, national strategic planning must take into consideration the unemployment problem.  In order to balance the social resources, as well as human resources, effective implementation of national development strategy with employment as one of the top priorities must take place.

Source: StudyTimes.com, May 18, 2009.
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=1&id=2649&nid=9602&bid=4&page=1

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Outlook: Strengthen “China’s Voice” throughout the World

Outlook, a weekly magazine under China’s state media Xinhua News, published an article outlining expert-suggested approaches to promote "China’s Voice" on the international stage.

The article stated that "some Western media reported untruthfully about the serious violence in Lhasa, Tibet that took place in mid-March." To counter Western media’s distorted reporting of China, it is necessary to broaden the platform for China’s voice to be heard in the world.  In short, be able to participate in the settings of the international media agenda.  First of all, take initiatives in guiding world public opinion, instead of being criticized at will.  Second, improve the domestically produced foreign language content with more appropriate expressions and tone so that they are better quoted in Western media.  Third, track world affairs and international focal points; participate in media internationalization that helps to build the basis for an effective guiding force of public opinion in the world arena.  At the same time, build and refine the image of the state that will produce favorable results.

Source: Xinhua News (Outlook reprint), April 10, 2008.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2008-04/10/content_7950835_1.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Beijing Urges U.S. Silence on China’s Press Freedom

On May 1, 2009, President Obama issued a statement for World Press Freedom Day (May 3). In his statement, he criticized China for its imprisonment and harassment of journalists and restrictions on freedom of the press in general. On May 4, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Chaoxu urged the United States to "respect the facts" and stop criticizing the press freedom situation in China.

Ma argued that that the Chinese Government has been "lawfully" protecting citizens’ freedom of speech and "fully encouraging" the supervision from news media and public opinion.

Source: China News, May 4, 2009.
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/news/2009/05-04/1674891.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China’s Policemen To Station In Taiwan

According to a media report, China’s Public Security personnel will begin stationing in Taiwan, starting early next year.  The stated purpose is to fight serious cross-boarder crimes in a more coordinated way. Taiwan’s chief of criminal investigation said that this is just media speculation and details have not been finalized, but they will work toward that goal.

Source: Central News Agency, May 8, 2009
http://www.cna.com.tw/SearchNews/doDetail.aspx?id=200905080083

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

New Law Further Hinders Freedom of Expression

The recent implementation of an Internet regulation in Hangzhou city Zhejiang province raised some serious concerns over the ordinance itself being too fuzzy and with much gray area.

There are specific technical problems in identifying and determining vaguely defined unlawful conducts. At the same time, the deficiencies in protection of civil rights will result in rights abuses and will inevitably lead to distortion in the implementation of the new regulation. In addition, since the existing legal system in general is inadequate in providing enough open channels of public expression; lawful citizens have been repeatedly reported and retaliated as consequences of legitimate expression, introducing such a specific legislation will inevitable harm freedom of speech, suppress the already restricted cyber space that many rely on for anonymous public expression of opinions.

Source: Nanfang News, May 4, 2009
http://big5.southcn.com/gate/big5/opinion.southcn.com/soc/content/2009-05/04/content_5119294.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Hu Jingtao Demands Party Loyalty from National Defense Students

The Ministry of Education and the People’s Liberation Army General Political Department jointly issued a few days ago the requirements for the national defense students.  Students are demanded to cultivate the “core values” which Hu Jingtao put forward as "loyalty to the party, love for the people, service to the country and devotion to the mission and upholding honor."

[Editor’s notes: National Defense students are college students who are selected by the military as reserve officers. They receive national defense scholarship during their study and will serve the military as an officer after graduating from college.]

Source: Xinhua News, May 7, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2009-05/07/content_11331589.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

PLA’s Largest Millitary Exercise Taking Place Later This Year

The People’s Liberation Army will conduct a series of cross-region military exercises in the second half of the year that involves four military regions and will take two months to complete.  This is the largest exercise in the history of PLA.

The four military regions taking part in this exercise will dispatch a total of nearly 50,000 personnel; various types of vehicles and large weaponries and equipment count to more than 60,000 in units; the military operation affects more than 50,000 km, the longest motorized travel distance is over 2,400 km. maneuverability will be facilitated with civil aviation, railway transport, and motorized road units.

Source: China News, May 5, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/news/2009/05-05/1676623.shtml

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Physicians among the Worst When It Comes to Integrity at Work

A recent public survey indicates what people perceive to be the professions most lacking integrity in China. In order, starting from the worst are: physicians (74.2%), police (57.8%), teachers (51.5), lawyers (48.4%), and civil servants (47.8%), followed by journalists (37.6%), accountants (30.7%), scholars (20.3%), and social workers, listed at the bottom at 10.9%.

73% of the people believe the main reason for the slipping moral standards is the strong pursuit of personal gain, self-interest and neglect of the importance of professional conduct.  52.4% of those surveyed think such a phenomenon is caused by lack of legal regulation and an environment in which the public voice has no influence. 52.3% believe that the entire society’s moral decline is what has caused such unprofessional conduct. 41.9% of the people believe it is because the public has little idea what professional integrity means.

Among all of those surveyed, 82.4% think the worst situation of all is when physicians lose their moral code.

Source: China Youth Online, April 28, 2009
http://zqb.cyol.com/content/2009-04/28/content_2642546.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability