Chinascope – Page 1010

Xinhua: Shanghai Establishes Oversea’s Cultural Promotion Centers in Australia and Canada

The “Xin Jing Shan Chinese School” in Melbourne Australia and the “Jia Hua School” in Montreal Canada are the two Chinese schools in foreign countries that have been named as “Shanghai Oversea’s Cultural Promotion Centers,” the first in China. According to Cui Minghua, director of the Oversea’s Chinese Affairs Office in Shanghai, the Oversea’s Cultural Promotion Center will increase China’s cultural influence in the world and provide assistance to schools and agencies with programs such as exchange students, teachers, cooperation between schools, and sharing teaching resources. The Center will work with the existing 39 Chinese education sites in Shanghai to promote education and cultural exchanges between Shanghai and overseas Chinese education centers.

The “Xin Jing Shan Chinese School” in Melbourne was formed in 1992 and has 9 school districts with 4,000 students and 200 teachers. It is the largest Chinese schools in Australia. “Jia Hua School,” the top Chinese school in Montreal, was formed in 1994. It has 2,000 students and the most comprehensive Chinese teaching curriculum in the Eastern Canadian region.

Source: Xinhua, October 27, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-10/27/c_111129078.htm

Briefings | | October 31, 2011 | Geo-Strategic Trend

The Shortest Lived Road In Yunnan Province Collapsed Again

"Xin Shan Road" is in Xinping Yi and the Dai Autonomous County in Yunnan Province. Cyber fans jokingly call it the “shortest lived road.” In June of 2011, the second day after its completion, Xin Shan road collapsed killing 2 people and injuring 2. On October 25, Xin shan Road collapsed again. The size of the site is 4,500 square meters. The left side of the road was buried under 7 meters of collapsed debris. The local transportation department blamed the collapses on the unstable road structure and the rainy season. It has been reported that traffic will resume on Xin Shan Road on October 26, after intensive repair work.

Source: Xinhua, October 26, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/society/2011-10/26/c_111125944.htm

Briefings | | October 31, 2011 | Information/Technology

Qiushi Journal on Western Freedom of the Press

[Editor’s Note: Qiushi Journal published an article that criticized the Western world’s “freedom of the press,” saying it is just a lie. The article argued that capital controls the media in Western countries, so the media only represents the opinion of a particular interest group. The government also uses many tactics to control or direct the press to serve its purpose. Furthermore, the Western countries apply a double standard on freedom of the press. While they control the media in their own countries, they use “freedom of the press” as a tool to stir up turmoil in other countries or even to subvert other governments. The following are excerpts from the article.] [1]

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Reports | | October 30, 2011 | Report

Three High Speed Railway Lines in Guangdong Forced to Stop Construction Due to Lack of Funding

Yang Cheng Evening News reported that three high-speed railways in Guangdong Province stopped or postponed construction work and entered the “winter sleep” phase in advance due to an interruption in the chain of financing. It has been reported that China’s Ministry of Railways owed 130 billion yuan (over US$20 billion) to the construction company. Some peasant workers have not received their wages for more than half a year. 　

Source: Yang Cheng Evening News, October, 27, 2011
http://www.ycwb.com/epaper/ycwb/html/2011-10/27/content_1241444.htm

Briefings | | October 28, 2011 | Economy/Resources

Study Times: The Hard Requirement behind Soft Power

Study Times, a publication of the Party School of the CCP’s Central Committee, published an article to clarify some of the important issues related to the cultural development that the 6th Plenary Session of 17th Congress of the CCP mapped out. The article said that one views culture as “soft power” when comparing it to the economy and military “hard power.” However, that does not mean that it lacks a solid foundation. Actually, there is a “hard requirement” behind “soft power.” The article pointed out that culture, as a phenomenon and a product of spirit, has multiple properties. Above all, ideology is one of its most fundamental properties. Culture reflects the political and economic interests of a certain class. Culture has a very clear ideological property, as well as powerful ideological function.

What Western society currently promotes as “universal values” is a manifestation of culture reflecting an ideological property and playing an ideological role. [Therefore], when others are holding up the banner of ideology, we cannot give up on ourselves.

The article concluded that the reason the CCP took the action it did at the 6th Pleanary Session, to develop the socialist core value sytem as the fundamental task of cultural development, was because the socialist core value system is the fundamental manifestation of socialist ideology, the spirit of prospering the nation, and the essence of socialist advanced culture. It determines the direction of Chinese style socialism.

Source: Study Times, October 24, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/10/24/03/03_35.htm

Briefings | | October 28, 2011 | Government/Politics

“Only with Determination and Being Unafraid to Perish Together Can We End the South Sea Game”

Huanqiu (Global Times) published a commentary following the announcement that the U.S. and the Philippines would conduct joint military exercises. The article suggested China should take a hard stance toward the U.S. even if it would mean "to die with the U.S. all together." The following is an abstract of the article:

“China champions a harmonious world. However, the U.S. and other countries viciously utilize that intention. They use it as a tool to blackmail and extort China to affect its diplomatic policy. China should change to a different way of thinking. When others repeatedly apply pressure, China does not need to so ‘determinedly’ insist on a peaceful position. Let others come to beg China for peace. As long as China is firm in its reasoning and powerful in its strength, those nations whose own security and interests are their priority will be more likely to give up the idea of disrespecting and tricking China.”

When the spokesperson for China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry was asked if the article represented the government’s position, she responded that the media had the right to express its own opinion, and believed that what the media said was based on the truth and the facts while maintaining a responsible attitude.

Source: Huanqiu, October 26, 2011
http://mil.huanqiu.com/Observation/2011-10/2121200.html
http://mil.huanqiu.com/Observation/2011-10/2117710.html

Briefings | | October 28, 2011 | US-China Relations

Xinhua: Housing Prices Are Dropping in China

Xinhua reported that recently some real estate developers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou have reduced their housing prices in order to promote sales. For example, the “Beijing Business International City” apartment complex is selling at 15,000 yuan per sq. meter (U.S. $256 per sq. ft), down from its peak of 25,000 yuan. “Long Hu Li Cheng” in Shanghai gave the buyers a 280,000 yuan (U.S. $43,000) discount, or 20 to 30% off the list price. This has attracted a lot of buyers, but has also greatly agitated the earlier buyers who purchased properties at a higher price. The earlier buyers are demanding refunds of the “lost value” or even that they be able to return the properties to the developers.

The article listed three groups of developers who are considering the decision of whether to reduce the price of property. The first group conducts quick sales in a short period to recover their capital investment. It tends to include limited developers with only spotty action and does not impact the overall market price. The second group is the small to mid-sized developers who might be forced to lower prices because of pressure to repay loans. There was a burst in real estate trusts after 2009 with an interest rate of 15% or more. The trusts must be paid back between September of this year and the end of next year. The third group is the big companies that have sufficient capital. They face a pricing dilemma. If they don’t lower their prices, the properties won’t sell; but if they do lower their prices, there might be complicated disputes with owners who paid higher prices earlier.

According to statistics, of 70 large or mid-size cities, the housing prices in 17 of those cities were lower in September than a year ago; 29 kept the price the same; and for the cities with an increased price, the increases were all below 0.3%.

Wen Jiabao recently expressed that it is critical to control the real estate market and maintain a healthy growth of the market (Ed: not to have a dramatic drop in prices). Officials from Shanghai and Beijing all expressed their determination to “unswervingly control the real estate market and ensure that housing prices remain ‘flat or with only a slight decrease.’”

Source: Xinhua, Oct 26, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2011-10/26/c_111125641.htm

Briefings | | October 27, 2011 | Economy/Resources

SARFT to Step up Regulation of Entertainment Programs on Satellite Channels

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, or SARFT, recently issued an order for nationwide satellite channels to “improve the quantity of news programs and to regulate some broadcasters so as to prevent the trend of vulgar or ‘overly entertaining’ programs, and to satisfy the public’s demand for varied, multilevel, and high quality viewing.”

The order emphasized that "satellite channels are mainly for the broadcast of news propaganda and should expand the proportion of news, economic, cultural, science, educational, children’s, and documentary programming." Each satellite channel has been directed to run at least two hours of news broadcasts daily between 6:00 a.m. and 24:00 a.m., produce at least two episodes of news programming daily between 6:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. each of which shall be at least 30 minutes long, and launch an ideological and moral education program to promote “Chinese traditional virtue and the socialist core value system.” It also imposed the restriction that all nationwide satellite channels as a whole have no more than nine entertainment programs daily between 7:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., with up to two programs for each channel not to exceed 90 minutes in total.

The order required that the provincial radio and television administrative authorities are to establish professionally staffed and dedicated review agencies to track the issue of programs being overly entertaining and vulgar. Where there are problems in political and value orientation, style, and tone, actions may include measures such as criticism, instructed corrections, warnings, an adjustment of air time, or being taken off the air, depending upon the nature and severity of the problem.

Source: Xinhua, October 25, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-10/25/c_111122939.htm

Briefings | | October 27, 2011 | Information/Technology

Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”