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All posts by RWZ - 275. page

Global Times: The Nonalignment Concept has Past

Global Times, under Chinese state daily news Renmin, published an article calling for the establishment of a Security Alliance with surrounding countries. The author is a Japanese who is currently the deputy director of JCC New Japan Research Institute. The article claimed that the Nonalignment Movement was the result of the Cold War era, when smaller countries did not want to align with either the Soviet Union or the United States. Today, the author believes, the situation has changed significantly and the concept should change too. It was suggested in the article that China should introduce various types of “alignments” depending on the degree China wants to cooperate with different countries. It should be considered as an innovation in foreign policy.

Source: Global Times, June 8, 2010
http://mil.huanqiu.com/Exclusive/2010-06/850508.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Global Times: Chinese Netizens Launched 6-9 Jihad against South Korea

Global Times reported that, by June 10, more than 100,000 Chinese netizens had jointly attacked South Korean web sites and dozens of them were hacked. Meanwhile many QQ (China’s most popular instant messaging platform) groups and Baidu forums about South Korean pop stars were overloaded. The movement is called the “6-9 Jihad,” which was caused by the recent chaos that happened in Shanghai regarding a show by South Korean pop star group named Super Junior. Chinese hackers demonstrated their capabilities in this event. However, many netizens remained neutral and called for a rational attitude towards social events.

Source: Global Times, June 10, 2010
http://world.huanqiu.com/roll/2010-06/850947.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

CRN: U.S. Has Started an Agricultural Products War against China

China Review News (CRN) recently published an article discussing U.S. agro-based products invading Chinese markets en masse. In fact, China is the largest market for U.S. produce, amounting $10.6 billion for the first half of 2010. China now buys more than half of the total U.S. soybean export volume. U.S. soybean companies control 40% of the Chinese soybean processing capabilities and 90% of the imports. Chinese external dependency on vegetable oil has risen to 60%. After the soybean monopoly, U.S. corn is attacking China too – the Chinese import of U.S. corn has been growing rapidly since last year. The article called for 100% or 101% food self-sufficiency as a “strategic weapon.” The author quoted Henry Kissinger in its conclusion, “If you control oil, then you control all nations; if you control food, then you control everyone.”

Source: China Review News, June 3, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1013/4/1/8/101341854.html?coluid=148&kindid=0&docid=101341854&mdate=0603000947

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China Business Times: Local Debts Rise to 7 Trillion from 4 Trillion

Xinhua republished a report by China Business Times on worries about the rapid increase in local debts. The report referred to government sources on the fact that local debts have risen from RMB 4 trillion to 7 trillion in only a few months. The State Council met on May 26 to arrange regulations on local financing platforms and debts. Experts believe that the actual amount of local debts is very hard to find out. Local governments utilize various platforms to borrow money that are not included in the official budget. The transparency of these loans is typically poor. One of the causes of this situation is the irrational distribution of funds between the central government and local governments. Current Chinese law prohibits local governments from issuing bonds.

Source: Xinhua, June 3, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-06/03/c_12174046_2.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Xinhua: Construction Started for China-Myanmar Oil and Gas Pipeline

Global Times, under Chinese state daily news Renmin, republished a report by Xinhua that China National Petroleum Corporation recently signed an agreement with Myanmar Oil and Gas Company to be the controlling shareholder in a joint venture to construct an Oil and Gas Pipeline. The Gas Pipeline is 793 kilometers long in Myanmar while the Oil Pipeline is 771 kilometers in Myanmar. Both start from Kyaukpyu City of Myanmar and enter China via Ruili City of Yunnan Province. The design capacity of the Oil Pipeline and Gas Pipeline are 22 million tons per year and 12 billion cubic meters per year, respectively. On other fronts, the China-Russia Oil Pipeline will start production by the end of this year, and the China-Kazakhstan Oil and Gas Pipeline has been operational since last year.

Source: Global Times, June 4, 2010
http://china.huanqiu.com/roll/2010-06/843160.html

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Tough for Private Capital to Enter the Energy Industry

Shanghai Securities News recently reported on the guidelines by the State Council on private investments in the petro energy field. The report focused on three primary obstacles: (1) Zones and blocks available for prospecting have all been registered, leaving nothing for private investment; (2) state-owned companies have little interest in cooperation with private partners because they do not lack either technology or funds; (3) Even in the business of oil storage and transportation, private companies do not have any pricing power. They have no control over the products that they have to purchase from the state-owned monopolies, while the governement determines the end consumer price.

Source: Shanghai Securities News, May 14, 2010
http://www.cnstock.com/paper_new/html/2010-05/14/content_20726.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

CRN: Increasing Wage Rate is Now a Must

China Review News reported that the official National Labor Union, led by the Communist Party, recently called for an immediate wage increase and described it as a must-do. The ratio of wages to GDP declined from 56.5% in 1983 to 36.7% in 2005. Meanwhile, the rate of return on capital rose by 20% in GDP. Typical working class citizens suffer a lower rate of wage increase. They are not only behind the rate of economic development, but they are behind the consumer price increase and the increase the rate of taxes as well. The report quoted Henry Ford’s 100-year-old comment on wages: “There is nothing more important than the labor wage, because most people rely on it for a living. Increasing people’s quality of life determines the prosperity of our nation.” The report called for sharing the fruit of The Reform with the people.

Source: China Review News, May 15, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1013/2/3/0/101323092.html?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=101323092&mdate=0515083737

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Globe Magazine: Residents of Seven Cities Unsatisfied with Quality of Life

Globe Magazine, a branch of Xinhua News, published a recent poll of seven cities on the quality of life. The results show that 70% of the people are unsatisfied and only 10% are satisfied. The number one cause of the problem is high consumer prices, especially housing prices. Other reasons include: the growing wealth gap, the worsening environment, poor social security, disorderly city planning, low transportation efficiency, high unemployment pressure, a low safety index, and overly rapid urbanization. Among the top expectations are “more time to enjoy life” and a “harmonious society.” According to the poll, only 10% voted for Beijing and Shanghai as having a high quality of life. Principles of the New Jersey State Planning are widely acknowledged as a positive model.

Source: Xinhua, May 12, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/globe/2010-05/12/content_13478247.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability