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RFA: 100 Times More Chinese Middle School Students Head for the US

Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported that, compared to the year 2006, 100 times more Chinese students attended U.S. middle schools in 2011. Many of these students studied at costly elite schools. The numbers are based on data released by the U.S. Department of Education. From 2005 to 2006, around sixty Chinese middle school students studied in the U.S. In 2011, the headcount reached seven thousand. The number of Chinese students that came to the United States in 2011 totaled 160,000, which made China number one in the number of international students coming to the U.S. Most of the Chinese middle school students attended private schools with costs higher than the average college. Many Chinese parents interviewed by RFA suggested that the primary reasons for sending their kids to the States were: first, nothing useful can be learned in Chinese schools; and second, the U.S. is safer than China.
 
Source: Radio Free Asia, January 11, 2013
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/xql-01112013161340.html
Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

CRN: China’s Central Bank Printed More Currency than the U.S.

China Review News (CRN) recently reported that, based on information officially released by China’s central bank, China’s currency supply (M2, a broad indicator to quantify the amount of money in circulation) reached RMB 97.42 trillion yuan (around US$15.53 trillion) by the end of 2012. This number represents an annual increase of 13.8 percent and is two times the Chinese GDP. Based on the current exchange rate, China’s GDP is one third of the U.S. scale, but the Chinese currency’s circulation level has already surpassed the U.S. Experts warned that the extra printed money may introduce potential systemic risks. Last year’s data for China shows that the government was loosening up the currency policies in order to “stabilize growth.” It is expected that China will maintain the current policies for the first half of 2013 and may tighten up in the second half, which typically faces higher inflation pressure.
Source: China Review News, January 11, 2013
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1023/9/7/7/102397732.html?coluid=10&kindid=253&docid=102397732&mdate=0111093828
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Youth.cn Defends the Party’s Role in Media Control

As the recent incident of the Chinese regime’s censorship of the Guangzhou based Southern Weekend‘s New Year’s editorial continued to develop, Youth.cn, the official website of Central Committee of the Chinese Youth League, also joined the public debate.
In its editorial on Tuesday January 8, 2013, the website said, “Southern Weekend is part of the newspaper business of the CCP’s Guangdong Provincial Party Committee; it is part of the Party Committee’s propaganda work. During the specific implementation of the Party’s propaganda work, internal disagreements and even conflicts and disputes are normal. This has nothing to do with constitutional government or freedom of the press.”
“In socialist China, the newspaper is a propaganda tool of the Party. The Party controls the media. This is an iron principle. One can confidently tell the world about that. A newspaper’s role is to convey the Party’s principles and policies and unify the mass’s understanding. … A newspaper is the Party’s eyes, ears, and mouth. Southern Weekend is too, whether in the past, now, or in the future. Over the years, a large number of outstanding editors and reporters have emerged in Southern Weekend. They are carefully selected and hired by the Southern Newspaper Group, under the guidance of the Party. They are also the Party’s journalists.”
Source: Radio Free Asia, January 8, 2013
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jz-01082013150812.html
Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Air Quality Deteriorates in Large Areas in China; Public Advised to Stay Inside

Recently misty weather has covered large areas of China with a serious deterioration in air quality. The air quality in multiple metropolitan areas has been coded as “serious pollution.”
The Beijing Environmental Monitoring Center released data showing that, since Thursday night (January 10), the pm2.5 concentration has been sustained at above 300 micrograms and reached level six, which is “serious pollution.” In the most polluted area the pm2.5 index reached 456.
In nine out of 11 cities in Hebei Province, the measure of air quality has been labeled "serious pollution.” In Shijiazhuang, Handan, Xingtai, and Hengshui, the quality index even exceeded 500. Air in Wuhan City in central China was also "heavily polluted" for several days.
On Saturday January 12, China’s Central Meteorological Station issued a blue fog warning. Nine provinces, including Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Hubei and Sichuan Basin, had heavy fog with visibility of less than 1000 meters. Environmental experts warned that heavy fog prevents the dispersion of air pollutants. Local governments have issued air quality warnings to the public and advised people to stay indoors. Schools have suspended outdoor physical activities.
Source: BBC Chinese, January 12, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/chinese_news/2013/01/130112_china_air.shtml
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Radio Free Asia: Half of World’s Black Dollars Are from China; Capital Flight Is Accelerating

Radio Free Asia quoted a report from the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which said that, in the past 10 years, through different means and various channels, the illegal funds fleeing from China reached a staggering US$3 trillion. Out of every two "black dollars" in the world, one is from China. It was estimated that, after the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, when the authorities considered implementing the exposure of the personal assets of government officials, the capital flight accelerated to US$41.2 billion in November alone. Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that the second largest group responsible for the flight of capital was government officials.
Li Xinde, who runs a website that monitors Chinese public opinion, believed that the cause of the problem was the current policies and laws that involve anti-corruption, exposure of personal assets, and supervision of power.
A Beijing economist Zhong Dajun attributed the rampant capital flight to the current social political system, where a person can become rich quickly but develop a strong sense of insecurity after becoming rich. A 2011 report from China’s central bank revealed eight major means that corrupt officials use to transfer their property: cash smuggling, remittance fraud, current account fraud, overseas investment, credit card spending, creating an offshore financial center, foreign direct receipt, and transfer through offshore special relationships.
Although China has strict foreign exchange regulations, more and more rich people continue to transfer their money overseas. Hexun, a Chinese financial news portal, reported that China’s capital flight using even the most simple and primitive method–hiding bundles of cash in ones luggage–has accelerated.
Source: Radio Free Asia, January 10, 2013
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/xl2-01102013123334.html
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

U.S. Uses Its Hegemonic Position to Gain US$7 Trillion in Dividends in 2011, Nearly Half from China

On January 8, 2013, the National Health Study Group of the Chinese Academy of Sciences issued a "National Health Report." The report declared that the U.S. gained a total of US$7.39609 trillion in dividends in 2011 as a result of its hegemonic position in the world. That amount is 96.8 percent of such dividends for the entire world. China is the biggest loser; it lost a total of US$3.6634 trillion, which is 47.9 percent of the total. The report also calculated that the dividend resulting from the U.S. hegemonic position is as high as 52.38 percent of its GDP, i.e. 52.38 percent of the U.S. GDP was obtained as a result of its hegemony. In the report, hegemonic dividend is defined as the dividend the hegemonic nation gains through directly or indirectly accruing profits through its position as a monopoly and through its established hegemonic system throughout the the world.

The report also asserted that 60 percent of Chinese laborers’ working hours were spent working for free for monopoly capital, thus creating "extra value" for them.

Source: People’s Daily, January 9, 2013 
http://finance.people.com.cn/n/2013/0109/c1004-20136081.html

 

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Huanqiu: Japan and U.S. Jointly Deal with China’s Surveillance of the Diaoyu Islands

China’s state media Huanqiu reported that Japan and the U.S. have reached an agreement that they would jointly cope with Chinese ships and airplanes entering the sea around the Diaoyu Islands. Japan released the news unilaterally. The report stated that the agreement was reached when Japan’s Defense Minister called on the U.S. Secretary of Defense. Japan promised that it would completely cooperate with the U.S.’s new Asia Pacific security strategy. It said that Japan views the enhancement of the Japan-U.S. alliance as an important weapon to deal with conflicts with its neighboring countries.

Source: Huanqiu, January 9, 2013                                                                                        http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2013-01/3463069.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Beijing Police Handled Over One Million Illegal Internet Postings in 2012

According to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, its Internet security authorities organized rounds of crackdowns on Internet related crimes in 2012 to ensure order in cyberspace.

In 2012, its Internet security department found and dealt with a total of 108 million illegal web postings, punished 1.7 million websites, and shut down 1.9 web sections that had serious problems. In addition, it cracked a total of 3,800 Internet related cases and arrested more than 4,200 suspects.

Meanwhile, the Beijing police also provided guidance for Internet users on how to resist all kinds of rumors and bad information. For example, the Beijing police sent warning messages through microblogs to 915 Internet users who committed minor offenses.

Source: Xinhua, January 6, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2013-01/06/c_114271184.htm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology