Grapevine - 7. page

On July 4, 2011, China Review News published the first in a series of articles exposing the intense fighting among China’s well-known universities for students who had the top scores on the national college entrance exams. For fame and self interest, they used many underhanded means, such as deliberately belittling their competitors, sending false messages in the name of competitors (such as admission cancellation letters) to high-scoring college candidates, and openly applying constant one on one persuasion. Some high schools and local authorities pressured high-scoring college candidates to apply to Beijing University or Tsinghua University, the top universities in China, to improve the local government’s achievement record, even though the students wanted to apply to another university.

“On the surface, each school tries hard to recruit talented students. Actually, they are fighting for fame and self interest. … It reflects the universities’ utilitarian spirit.”

Source: China Review News, July 4, 2011
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/crn-webapp/spec/ylck/index.jsp?docid=101755337

In the coming three months, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television will release 90 “red” movies and TV dramas to celebrate the Chinese Communist Party’s 90th anniversary. Unlike the old revolutionary dramas usually performed by middle-and-old-aged actors, the new shows feature young performers, born in the 1980s and 1990s. The plots, with the unchanging theme of glorifying the Party, are tailored to the taste of the younger generation. These new “innovative” products have been given a new name – “Red Idol Dramas.”

Source: Xinhua, June 1, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2011-06/01/c_121482881.htm

On May 2, 2011, Zhang Xin, the director of the military channel at China Central Television (CCTV), wrote in his post on Sina.com, China’s most active microblogging service, “Single-handedly confronting the world’s sole superpower, the United States, … Bin Laden is the greatest national hero in the history of the Arab world.”

This comment then spread widely in the Chinese online community and triggered heated responses from netizens. According to Voice of America, a survey conducted by Phoenix TV among Chinese Internet users shows 60% of those interviewed feel “sad” about bin Laden’s death.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu positively responded to bin Laden’s death, saying on Monday, May 2, 2011, "We believe the death of Osama bin Laden is a milestone and a positive development of the international anti-terrorism effort."

Source: China Gate, May 2, 2011
http://news.wenxuecity.com/messages/201105/news-gb2312-1352364.html 

Boxun.com, an overseas Chinese language website, reported that the CCP’s Politburo held a meeting to set strategy on reporting the Middle East’s democracy movement. “Some Politburo members in Beijing had an informal meeting the day after Mubarak stepped down. They set new rules and education goals for the military, the armed police, and the police. The focus was on ‘propaganda:’ to stop the media from freely posting reports, comments, and discussions about Egypt and the region; to strengthen the cleanup and management of blogs and forums; to require local media to use only Xinhua’s articles on the Middle East; to control the media’s tone and direct it to find that the ‘U.S. is behind the scenes;’ and to prepare to shut down certain Internet functions.” The CCP’s Propaganda Department’s directive also added “to reduce the reporting of local ‘sensitive events.’”

[Editor’s Notes: Boxun.com called for a public protest in 13 Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai for February 20, 2011. Boxun’s website has since been under severe attack and unable to function normally. This article can be found on Google cache or other websites that republished it.]

Source: Boxun, February 18, 2011
news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2011/02/201102182219.shtml

Google cache ULR:

A recent official survey shows that many Chinese are not willing to go home for the Chinese New Year. Among 1000 questioned by China Youth Daily, 41.1% considered themselves to be “those who dare not return to their parents’ home” for the Chinese New Year. The reasons include the expenditures for gifts (70%), the heavy traffic (38.2%), the fear of being asked why they have not married (37.2%), exchanging debts of gratitude (36.6%), and endless parties and dinners (26.1%). 69.4% do not want to go home because they were unable to show themselves off as successful and rich men or women in front of their parents, relatives, and friends.

Source: China Review News, January 18, 2011
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1015/7/3/2/101573259.html?coluid=154&kindid=0&docid=101573259&mdate=0118130902

According to Xinhua on April 13, 2010, overseas Chinese embassies and consulates will no longer organize local overseas Chinese to welcome Hu Jintao and other CCP Central Committee leaders. Recently, however, a notice circulated in the internal email system of Mainland Chinese organizations in the greater Washington, D.C. area about organizing overseas Chinese to welcome Hu Jintao to Washington on January 19, 2011.

The organizations required to participate include The Union of Chinese American Professional Organizations (UCAPO), The Greater Washington, D.C. Area Alumni Association of Chinese institutions, The Coordination Council of Chinese-American Associations (CCCAA), The Greater Washington D.C. Area Fujian Chinese-American Association, The Greater Washington D.C. Area Guangdong Chinese-American Association, The Hope Chinese School, The Silver Light Senior Association in Virginia, and The International Yan Xin Qigong Association.

Source:
Xinhua, April, 13, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2010-04/13/c_1229229.htm
Chinascope Internal Source, January of 2011

Xinhua reported from the State Council’s Oversea Chinese Affairs Office that the Fourth Assembly of the Chairmen of Overseas Professional Associations took place in Wuhan on September 14. More than 80 major leaders of overseas professional associations from 12 countries such as the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Australia, and Japan attended the assembly.

The State Council’s Oversea Chinese Affairs Office has organized such conferences since 2005. So far, more than 240 leaders from around 200 professional associations around the world have attended the conferences. They are from various areas of expertise, including biopharmaceuticals, information, environment and energy, medicine, transportation, finance and trade.

Source:
The United Front Work Department of CPC Central Committee, September, 15, 2010
http://www.zytzb.cn/09/newscenter/benwang/201009/t20100915_679681.html

China Gate (http://www.wenxuecity.com/) republished an article from Changjiang Daily on August 24, 2010, claiming that China is the world’s largest doctorate manufacturing country.

China awarded more doctoral degrees than the U.S. in 2008. In the ten years from 1999 to 2009, the number of doctoral students increased from 54,000 to 246,300, a total of 4.56 times more. Statistics show that 46% of doctorate advisors guide more than 7 Ph.D. students and even as many as 47 Ph.D. students (not including master’s program students). Nearly 13% of doctoral students communicate with their advisors less than one time per month. Three percent of doctoral students said that they had never communicated with their advisors.

Source: Changjiang Daily, August 24, 2010
http://news.wenxuecity.com/messages/201008/news-gb2312-1150578.html