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Radio Free Asia: The Abolition of Forced Labor Camps in China Heads Nowhere

Meng Jianzhu, Secretary of the Central Political and Law Commission, announced recently, at a meeting on national political and legal work, that China will abolish the “education through labor” system this year. Xinhua Net published the relevant news on the same day. However, the news report was removed that night. One week later, several labor camp bureaus claimed that they had not received any notification about labor camp reforms. Lawyer Zhou Ze believes that no agreement was reached on the issue due to the fact that different departments have different interests.  

 

Source: Radio Free Asia, January 14, 2013

http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/yf-01142013161055.html 

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

International Iron Ore Price Surge Hurts China’s Steel Industry

On January 19, 2012, China Review News published an article titled “Another Heavy Blow Hits China’s Steel Enterprises.” The international iron ore producers have been raising iron ore prices rapidly since 2009. According to the article, as the New Year started, iron ore producers set off a new wave of price increases, which cannot be explained by the principle of supply and demand or by macroeconomic conditions.

 

The article concluded, “China has been the number one steel producer in the world. We should not have lost our authority in the market. The problem is that our steel enterprises should not only concentrate on making money from downstream companies, the other Chinese companies, through increasing steel prices. We must think more about how to reduce the profits that the upstream enterprises, the foreign iron ore producers, are making.”

 

Source: China Review News, January 19, 2012

http://www.zhgpl.com/crn-webapp/doc/docDetailCreate.jsp?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=102408133&mdate=0119075256


Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Educating the PLA to Follow the Party’s Commands

On January 13, 2013, the PLA General Political Department and the PLA Commission for Discipline and Inspection issued study materials to the army and asked the Party Committees at all levels to conduct educational activities.

“Through these educational activities, the Party Committees should more consciously follow the Party’s commands, strictly implement the policies of the Party and the army, effectively curb unhealthy tendencies, firmly establish the standards for being able to succeed in combat and win a battle, and provide a strong guarantee for accelerating the modernization of national defense and the armed forces at the new historical starting point.”

Source: Xinhua, January 13, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2013-01/13/c_114349231.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Xinhua: Ocean Shipping Industry Suffered 80 Percent Loss

Xinhua recently reported that, according to the China Ship-owners’ Association, the Chinese ocean shipping industry suffered an 80% loss in year 2012. In year 2011, about 70 percent of the ship-owners suffered a loss. It is expected that the situation will continue in 2013. China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) reported an RMB 6.4 billion loss as of the 3rd Quarter of 2012. The company blamed the poor performance on the decline of the entire global economy. China’s tax rules for domestic shipping companies are a major factor in the financial loss as well. According to the report, the current ocean shipping market is at a 10-year low. The Chinese government has made a promise to the industry that it will announce positive policies in the first half of this year at the earliest. 
Source: Xinhua, January 21, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2013-01/21/c_124255460.htm
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

People’s Daily: China Leads the US with New Airborne Warning Plane

People’s Daily recently reported on the newly revealed award winning Chinese AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft KJ-2000. The report claimed that the KJ-2000 is one generation ahead of the most advanced U.S. AWACS aircraft E-3C. The Chinese KJ-2000 captured nine technological Number One titles in the world’s history of the development of AWACS aircraft. One example is that the Chinese system is equipped with three radar devices while the U.S. Air Force E-3C has only one, which has to spin continuously to cover the 360 degree range. However all experts agreed that the Chinese system lacks serious combat testing while the U.S. models have been tested in real battlefields for decades. Reliability is another key concern.
Source: People’s Daily, January 20, 2013
http://military.people.com.cn/GB/n/2013/0120/c1011-20262851.html
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

CRN: Experts Criticize China’s Official Gini Coefficient

China Review News (CRN) recently reported on the Gini Coefficient that the National Bureau of Statistics released. It has been over a decade since the Bureau last released China’s Gini Coefficient. In this current new release, the Bureau published official numbers for the past ten years. All numbers were between 0.473 and 0.491. Immediately after the official announcement, many economists posted their comments online. Some called the official numbers “unbelievable” compared to unofficial numbers that are typically around 0.6. Some even described the official results as “braver than fairy tales.” The most conservative comments suggested that these numbers “still reflected a big income gap between the rich and the poor.” The Gini Coefficient is commonly used as a measure of the inequality in income or wealth. The global average Gini Coefficient is 0.44, and the Index number of 0.4 is a widely accepted international red line. All experts asked for the details on the methodology used for the official calculation.

[Editor’s Note: The Washington Post reported on December 11, 2012, for example, that a new study from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics found "that China’s Gini coefficient was, as of 2010, an alarmingly high 0.61."]

Source: China Review News, January 19, 2013
http://www.zhgpl.com/crn-webapp/doc/docDetailCreate.jsp?coluid=45&kindid=0&docid=102408573&mdate=0119153611
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Huanqiu: China’s Has Urgent Need to Introduce the Grand Strategy of a Powerful Maritime Nation

Liang Fang, Professor of military strategy at the National Defense University of the PLA in China, published an article in Huanqiu (Global Times) urging China to implement a grand strategy to become a powerful maritime nation as soon as possible. He reasoned that “China’s maritime security faces unprecedented grim threats and challenges. The United States has carried out a full range of strategic encirclement and containment tactics in the Pacific by implementing its ‘Asia-Pacific re-balancing strategy.’ In the East and South China Sea, disputes with the neighboring countries over their maritime interests are becoming increasingly fierce. … The potential threat of conflict is increasing. At the same time, as the second largest economy in the world, economic globalization has transformed China into an export-oriented economy dependent on strategic maritime channels. Facing such a complex maritime security situation, China needs to develop and introduce a maritime strategy as soon as possible and speed up its development as a powerful maritime nation.” 

Professor Liang listed four characteristics for China to have as a maritime power: 1) a developed marine economy; 2) powerful naval power; 3) a strong Marine Stewardship; 4) well established marine regulations. 
Source: Huanqiu, January 13, 2013 
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/opinion_world/2012-11/3269823.html
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

People’s Daily: Senior Executives at State-Owned Enterprises Have “Golden Rice Bowls”

The State Newspaper, People’s Daily (overseas edition), published a commentary criticizing the current appointment system for officials at central government-owned enterprises. The commentary was titled “Senior Executive Positions in Central Government-owned Enterprises Are a Means of Compensation; If One Cannot Become Deputy Provincial Governor, He Will Be Appointed Chairman of the Board.” The commentary stated, “Due to pressure from vested interests, the current personnel management at Central Government-owned Enterprises lacks a mechanism of constraints and incentives. Senior executives have become a privileged class, which has a significant negative impact on the national economy. It is imperative that this administrative appointment and dismissal system of personnel management be reformed.” The commentary called those highly paid executive positions “golden rice bowls.”

Source: People’s Daily, January 16, 2013
http://energy.people.com.cn/n/2013/0116/c71661-20219834.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics