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All posts by WDH - 2. page

Hu Calls on Chinese Youth to Steadfastly Follow the Party

This Xinhua commentary article, titled “Soundly Blow the Strong Note of Patriotism”, quoting a speech by Party General Secretary Hu Jintao given during a recent visit to Beijing University, urges Chinese youth to carry on the glorious tradition of patriotism and steadfastly follow the Party down the socialist path with Chinese characteristics. The article calls on Chinese youth to strongly persist with patriotism and the socialist [path] and unite with solidarity around the core leadership of Hu Jintao to realize the great goal of the country’s revival.

Source: Xinhua, May 5, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-05/05/content_8109927.htm

Beijing: New Policy Starts Random Security Searches around Tiananmen Square

A new security regulation, announced yesterday by Beijing’s municipal government, goes into effect today that all persons and vehicles entering the Tiananmen Square are subject to a random security search. The new regulation also adds a list of illegal items forbidden to be brought into the area, including guns, ammunition, knives, explosive and radioactive items, drug and adult materials, and other hazardous articles that can disrupt social order and endanger public security. Security searches around Tiananmen Square will become a routine that will stay in effect all year long, according to one official from the municipal government. Under the old regulations, security searches around the square were performed only during times of special events and major holidays.

Source: Xinhua, May 6, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2008-05/05/content_8106559.htm

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Opposes US Religious Freedom Report

China "firmly” opposes the “arrogant criticism” by a U.S. report on the religious situation in China. The annual report, released by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, constitutes a “malicious attack” on China’s policies on religious and ethnic minorities and is “gross interference” in China’s internal affairs, according to Qin Gang, the Foreign Ministry spokesman. It is a “fact and reality” that Chinese citizens of all ethnic groups enjoy full freedom of religion protected by Chinese law, the spokesman said, adding that the US report undermines China-US relations.

Source: Xinhua, May 6, 2008
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/news/2008/05-06/1241094.shtml

Serious Inflation Threat is a Reality

Fast rising food prices and continued expansion of capital investment and consumer spending are a real threat for serious inflation across-the-board in China’s economy, according to this article published in Outlook Weekly, a subsidiary of Xinhua News. In the first two months of 2008, the prices of meat related products have risen 43.3%, with 70.3% on pork meat alone, on top of the already high 31.6% and 53.9% increases in year 2007. Other products such as vegetable oils and oil-bearing crops have also seen 40-50% price increases over the same two month period. The grain price, in the mean time, has only risen 5.9% during the same period but is expected to catch up soon as pressure is mounting from the double digits monthly rise in the prices of agricultural materials since December 2007. Capital investment that has been growing at a fast pace of a 25% annual increase for the past five years, coupled with the recent rapid increase in consumer retail spending, 18% and 20.6% for two recent quarters respectively, means that all-out inflation has become a serious reality.

Source: Outlook Weekly, April 29, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2008-04/29/content_8068646.htm

China UniCom to Promote Firewall Service for Cellular Messaging

China UniCom announced today that it would introduce a “Firewall” service for its Cellular Messaging users throughout China to combat the problem of “junk” messages. Through technological innovation, this automatic service allows incoming messages to be filtered based on pre-selected key words, according to one senior engineer of the state-owned company. The company also announced a platform for users to report “unhealthy” messages that can be analyzed and reported to the authorities automatically. According to China’s Internet Association for Anti-Junk Mails Working Committee, cellular phone users in China have received a total of 353.9 billions junk messages in 2007, a 92.7% increase from 2006.

Source: Xinhua, April 29, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-04/29/content_8075377.htm

Reports of Missing Grain from Local Reserves Under Investigation

The State Administration for Grain has sent a team to Anhui Province to investigate a recent story that the grain stock from local storage facilities has gone missing missing, prompting speculations of possible corruption charges. Grain reserves are stored and subsidized by the government at local storage facilities but the actual stock may have been inflated by the local officials in order to receive extra subsidized compensation. Meanwhile, recent soaring grain prices have led to illegal selling of reserve stocks for "double profits". Amid fears of the worst grain shortage in two decades, the report caused grave concerns among government officials that this practice may be widespread. The annual nationwide auditing of the grain storage by the State Administration for Grain has been underway six months earlier than the normal August/September season.

Source: Xinhua, April 15, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2008-04/15/content_7978862.htm

Xinhua: Who Are These International Friends of Dalai Lama?

There have always been “a few” international politicians “cheering tirelessly”, either openly or from behind-the-scenes, for the Dalai Lama with an ulterior-motive to use the issue of Tibet to “contain China,” according to a Xinhua article from April 15, 2008.  Among them, singled out by the article, were two US congress representatives, Nancy Pelosi and Thomas Lantos, and two EU Parliament members, Edward McMillan-Scott (Vice-President) and Thomas Mann (President of the Tibet Intergroup). Pelosi, a “longtime hard-line China basher”, and Lantos, the key figure of the Human Rights Caucus Group, have been “the best and the most reliable friends” of the Dalai Lama in the US Congress. Together with other senior members and a special lobby group, “International Campaign for Tibet", they have been the main force “stirring up trouble” to interfere in China’s internal affairs on Tibet. The Dalai Lama Clique also has many “high ranking friends” in the EU Parliament that have been “openly” supporting the “Tibetan Separatists” and are calling for EU leaders to boycott the Beijing Olympic which “has angered” the Chinese people. The “right wing” political forces were also mentioned by the article as supporters of the Dalai clique.

Source: Xinhua, April 15, 2008

http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2008-04/15/content_7978106.htm

Tibet: Police Claimed to Have Discovered Weapons in Monasteries

According to the statement released by the Public Security Bureau, police have “discovered” large quantity of weapons in some Tibet monasteries. Among the discovered were 178 rifles, 13,013 ammunition rounds, 259 knives, 3,504 kg dynamite, 19,360 detonators, and 2 grenades. These are “sufficient proofs” that the “riot of 3/14” in Lasha was organized by Dalai Clique, according to the statement. In addition, a few “key suspects” with close ties to the oversea Dalai Clique have also been arrested.

Source: Xinhua April 2, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-04/02/content_7900936.htm