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All posts by TGS - 105. page

Ministry of Commerce Criticizes U.S. Trade Barrier on High Tech Products

At a monthly news conference, Yao Jian, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, complained about U.S. trade barriers regarding Chinese products. “This is totally without reason and restricts the balance of bilateral trade.” A Xinhua report said that U.S. export controls limit the export of high technology products to China, which are already far less than what is exported to India. 

Yao indicated that U.S. trade subsidy measures and trade investigations all aim at preventing Chinese products from entering the U.S. market, under the pretext of the balance of trade. According to a report issued by the Ministry of Commerce on April 19, 2011, in 2010 there were 66 trade investigations filed against Chinese exports, including anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, and special protection measures, involving a total amount of US$7.14 billion. In 2010, the U.S. alone launched 19 cases of Section 337 investigations into Chinese imports.

Source: Xinhua, April 19, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-04/19/c_121322864.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Chinese State Radio Signs Cooperation Agreement with Turkey

The State’s China Radio International (CRI) signed an agreement with Turkey’s national broadcaster, Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), in Ankara “to strengthen overall cooperation in broadcasting.” According to the agreement, the two parties will exchange programs and increase communications and visits. CRI expects that a rapid implementation of the agreement will facilitate cooperation in other fields.

Source: Xinhua, April 19, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-04/18/c_121319744.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China Launches a Red Song Campaign

Thirty-six “red” songs have been selected during a national competition to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. Under the lead of the Party’s Propaganda Department, State media, including China Central Television (CCTV) and China National Radio (CNR) are co-sponsoring the competition. The competition will culminate in the top 10 songs in early May. Guangming Daily is publishing one song a day out of the 36 selected. Study Press, the national publisher of the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department, has also released CD’s and DVD’s. Chongqing City’s Propaganda Department has ordered local official media to provide intense coverage of the 36 songs from April 10 to May 20. For example, during this period, Chongqing Satellite TV and the Chongqing Radio Station were ordered to repeat the broadcast of the songs regularly throughout the day. The city government is organizing musicians to teach the songs to the residents so that everyone can sing them.

Source: Chongqing Daily, April 20, 2011
http://cqrbepaper.cqnews.net/cqrb/html/2011-04/20/content_1352325.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China’s Annual U.S. Human Rights Record

On April 10, 2011, two days after the U.S. State Department published its 2010 human rights report, China’s State Council Information Office issued a report on the 2010 U.S. Human Rights Record. “On April 8, 2011, the U.S. State Department released its ‘2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,’ with distortions and accusations on the human rights situations in more than 190 countries and regions including China. However, the U.S. turns a blind eye to its own terrible human rights situation and rarely mentions it. To urge the U.S. to face its own problems, we hereby release the 2010 U.S. Human Rights Record.’”
The report claims “The U.S. has the world’s worst violent crimes.” “Every year, about one fifth of Americans are victims of various crimes, the highest proportion in the world.” “The U.S. has the world’s largest number of privately owned firearms; among the 300 million people in the U.S., about 90 million hold 200 million guns.” “The U.S. has been claiming itself to be a ‘land of freedom,’ but it has the world’s largest number of prisoners deprived of their freedom.”

Source: Xinhua, April 10, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-04/10/c_121287373.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Study Times on U.S. Policy in the Middle East

An article in Study Times, a Central Party School’s voice, points to the quagmire in the U.S.-Middle East relationship. “The U.S. strategy in the Middle East has a big loophole: a double standard toward the Arab countries and Israel, which will ultimately have serious consequences. U.S. Middle East strategy is critically reliant on its allies, who are exactly the regimes involved in the recent waves of protest. After the regime changes, a number of those in the U.S.’s Middle Eastern alliance have expressed dissatisfaction about the U.S. abandoning Mubarak.” “But now more and more voices in the U.S. believe that the U.S. is paying a ‘security cost’ for this alliance, because it created a strong anti-American sentiment, and thus created its own enemies.” “Arab leaders have come to understand that in times of crisis, they cannot save themselves by having good relations with the U.S. and peace agreements with Israel. The change has become more favorable to Iran’s strategic position in the region.” “There are indications that whoever has a close relationship with the U.S. will have a volatile political situation. After Mubarak stepped down, Egypt allowed Iranian naval vessels into the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, as a signal that it was distancing itself from the U.S. and Israel.”

Source: Study Times, April 11, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/04/11/02/02_33.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

‘China Rich List’ 2011 Released

On April 12, 2011, Hurun, known for its annual ‘China Rich List,’ released a Hurun Wealth Report 2011 in association with GroupM Knowledge, a media communication group. The report details the number of millionaires broken down by region across China. 
China has 960,000 ‘millionaires’ with personal wealth of 10 million yuan or more (US$ 1.5 million), up 85,000 individuals or 9.7% from 2009. Among them, 55% derived their wealth from their private business. 20% are property speculators, who have ridden the fast upsurge in home prices. 15% are stock market gurus, who are also the youngest with an average age of 38. The remaining 10% are high earning, salaried executives. China has 60,000 ‘super rich’ worth 100 million yuan or more (US$ 15 million), up 9.0% from last year. Beijing leads the way with 10,000 individuals followed by Guangdong with 9,000 and Shanghai with 7,800.

Source: Hurun Report, April 12, 2011
http://www.hurun.net

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Huanqiu Criticizes the West’s Response to Beijing’s Arrest of Ai Weiwei

The State’s Huanqiu published an editorial critical of the West’s response to the arrest of Ai Weiwei. Ai is a renowned artist who was taken into custody at the airport before he could board a plane to Hong Kong. The editorial stated that some Western governments and human rights organizations quickly elevated this matter as an example of the deterioration of Chinese human rights and demanded Ai Weiwei’s release. “Without seeking the truth, [these Western governments and human rights organizations] exaggerated this single incident and attacked China with fierce language. This is a reckless collision with China’s basic political framework and (shows) ignorance of China’s judicial sovereignty.”

[Ed: Ai Weiwei，a well known Chinese artist, designed the Olympic’s Bird’s Nest stadium and has also focused on government corruption, especially in the construction of schools that collapsed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The police recently arrested him and charged him with "economic crimes."]

Source: Huanqiu, April 6, 2011
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-04/1609672.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Internet Hacking: Why Does the West Always Make China the Scapegoat?

Xinhua reprinted a Wenhui Daily article complaining that the West has singled out China as being responsible for the recent hacking of the Australian government’s computer network. According to the article, there are three reasons why the West always blames China. First, many Western mainstream media hold a deep prejudice and bias against China; second, following the logic of this cold war mentality, it is politically correct to blame China; and third, attacking China is risk free and may increase these media’s sales.

Source: Xinhua, April 6, 2011 reprint from Wenhui Daily
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-04/06/c_121269835.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics