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Briefings - 1169. page

PLA Daily: Chinese Army Must Establish Strategic Level Big Early Warning System As Soon As Possible

China’s state-run news agency Xinhua republished an article from the PLA Daily talking about the immediate need for the Chinese army to develop a strategic level early warning system. The article says that over the last decade, the Chinese army has shortened the distance from developed countries in early warning systems. However, the “short board” problem in the fighting efficiency of the early warning system still exists. At present, the army has mastered most of the modern early warning monitoring technology, is striving to solve the “short board” problem, and is working to develop the strategic level “big early warning” system.

Source: Xinhua, December 18, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2008-12/18/content_10523193.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Nuclear Industry Veterans Protest In Guangdong Province

120 veterans went to protest in front of the Guangdong provincial office and requested a settlement for medical benefits. The veterans have been working in a factory that produces nuclear material and claimed to have been exposed to various levels of nuclear radiation over the years. According to Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch, many of them have been diagnosed with various chronicle diseases but are unable to afford medical care. One veteran told the reporter that he suffers from extreme fatigue. Some of his colleagues have died at an average age of less than 40 years old.

Source: Radio Free Asia, December 19, 2009
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/junren-12192008092201.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Unemployment Rate Higher than Official Number, Could Reach 10 Percent

At the beginning of this year, the official target for the number of unemployed was set at 10 million or 4.5 percent. However the reality is far worse than that now. According to experts, the unemployment rate in China is estimated to be at 8 percent and could possibly reach even the 10 percent mark. They explain that even though there is a labor investigation system setup by the National Bureau of Statistic, the publicized number does not include those who are excess labor in the countryside, peasant workers who lost their jobs in cities such as regions of the Pearl or Yangtze River Deltas or the 12 percent of college graduates who are still looking for jobs.

Source: Radio Free Asia, December 20, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/zhong-12192008223343.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Domestic Demand Sluggish

Nanfang Weekend published an article on sluggish domestic demand in the Chinese economy. According to the article, if one produces the value of 100 yuan, 45.4 yuan would go to one’s own pocket, while 23.1 would be State’s fiscal revenue and 31.5 would go to capital and inventory of companies. In the past 30 years, per capita income has been increasing. But the GDP growth rate exceeds that of the per capita income, leading to weak domestic demand, concluded the article. 

Source: Nanfang Weekend, December 18, 2008
http://www.infzm.com/content/21337

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Overseas Democracy Activists Received Training in Boston

The first commencement of China Democracy Movement School was held at Harvard University in Boston on December 16, 2008. About 300 graduates attended the ceremony. Initatives for China, the China Democracy Party, the Freedom and Democracy Party of China established the school to teach the principles of democracy and train democracy activists.

Source: Participation, December 18, 2008
http://canyu.org/n4635c6.aspx

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

377,00 Chickens Culled; H5N1 Avian Flu Found

Agricultural authorities have killed 377,000 chickens after an outbreak of bird flu in two areas of Jiangsu province, said the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry said it received information about H5N1 infection among hens in Dongtai and Haian on Monday December 15, 2008.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, December 16, 2008
http://www.agri.gov.cn/xxlb/t20081216_1191038.htm 

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China’s Brain Drain Continues

About 70% of students that study abroad do not return to China, reported Study Times, the journal of the Party School of the Chinese Communist Party. As of 2007, the cumulative number of students studying abroad reached 1.21 million. Only 320,000 of them have returned to China while the rest have chosen to stay in the West. Among those who returned, 50% are those who did not obtain an academic degree in the West and 15% are retirees or close to retirement. Most of those who returned prefer to work in China for subsidiaries of Western companies.

Source: Study Times, December 15, 2008
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=0&id=2336&bid=7

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Two Uyghurs Sentenced to Death for Sabotaging the Beijing Olympic

China’s Supreme People’s Court said Wednesday that two people have been sentenced to death by the Intermediate People’s Court of Kashgar, Xinjiang for their role in the August 4 attack of police in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The court stated that the two conducted the attack to sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games that began August 8, 2008. The two people, both locals of Kashgar, were charged and convicted of intentional homicide and illegally producing guns, ammunition and explosives.

Source: Xinhua, December 17, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-12/17/content_10519381_1.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability