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Study Times: The Role of China in Foreign Economies in the Post Financial Crisis Era

A Study Times article calls for immediate strategic adjustments to face the global economic realities in the post financial crisis era. The article suggests: 1) In order to take advantage of the relative changes in the economic strengths in the world, [China should] establish its own world financial center, set up its own international trade platform, and assume the right to set prices in certain areas. 2) Promote the RMB’s internationalization and break free from dependence on the U.S. dollar. 3) Speed up Chinese enterprises’ direct investments. 4) Allocate a considerable amount of foreign currency reserves to national strategic capitals markets, such as essential products, technology, and resources. 5) Promote industrial transformation and promote the development of low carbon, green, and environmental friendly industries.

Source: Study Times, July 11, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/07/11/02/02_37.htm

People’s Daily: Internet Has Become a Tool for the West to Export Its Values

According to People’s Daily Online, on July 12, 2011, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) issued The 2011 China New Media Development Report. The report said that the security of China’s ideology has become the most important issue in the era of new media; the Internet has become “the ultimate tool for the West to export its values to the world.”

The author analyzed how U.S. propaganda toward China has transformed. “Western media moved the battlefield of ideology against China to a new space, developing Internet propaganda against China, emphasizing ‘mobile’ infiltration of ideology, expanding ideological hegemony, and developing technology to break through China’s Internet surveillance." It suggests that new media will be the major platform for the U.S. ideological battle against China.   

“Ideology security has become China’s most important issue. New media technology … has made the conflict and battle of different ideologies more direct, fierce and diverse. … On the other hand, new media also brings opportunity. It has greatly reduced the cost of transmission and shattered the West’s monopoly on ideology. … How to let our socialist ideology become highly recognized and accepted by mainstream social groups has become the most important research project in order to protect the security of our country’s ideology.”

Source: People’s Daily Online, July 12, 2011
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1026/15135416.html

People’s Daily: Social Media Present a Challenge to State Security

According to a report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the users of Chinese social media continue to increase, while the number of social media is going through adjustment. “In 2010, the number of users of Chinese social media websites reached 235 million, an increase of 60 million over 2009. Current usage exceeds 50%; half of Chinese Internet users use social media. The U.S. Facebook has become the No. 1 global social media. While there are advantages for news reporting and social mobilization on social media websites, social media presents serious challenges to national security and citizen’s privacy.”

Source: People’s Daily, July 12, 2011
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1026/15135876.html

Party Buildup in A Publicly Traded Company

Study Times published an article about a success story the expansion of the Chinese Communist Party in Foton, a publicly traded company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange with the majority of stock owned by the State. Of close to 40,000 employees, 5,125 are registered Communist Party members with 155 Party branches. Foton has institutionalized the Party’s participation in corporate management through internal regulations which set forth the procedures for the Party’s participation in decision making. The Party is in charge of 4 critical areas: business, strategy, managers, and personnel.

Source: Study Times, July 11, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/07/11/08/08_35.htm

Huanqiu: China Aviation Company Becomes U.S. Defense Contractor

An article from Huanqiu repeated a report from a French newspaper on the U.S. Air Force purchasing 25 SR20 aircraft from Cirrus Aircraft. Through a merger agreement back in March 2011, Cirrus Aircraft, a U.S. company, is now wholly owned by China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Company under the China Aviation Industry Corporation. The Huanqiu article titled “China Aviation Industry Becomes US Defense Contractor for the First Time” reported that the value of the purchase is over $6 million and the SR20 aircraft will be used for training at the Academy Airfield (AFF) in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Source: Huanqiu, July 11, 2011
http://mil.huanqiu.com/Exclusive/2011-07/1810429.html

Schools Use Students for Profit-making

On July 5, 2011, a Shenzhen local newspaper published a report calling public attention to the fact that some college and graduate students have become tools for making a profit. The article gives a few examples: graduate students call their advisor “boss” and spend a lot of time as cheap labor working on their advisor’s research and projects; in Xi’an, a music college forces poor female students to dance with bankers; the Nanjing Normal University forces female students to dance with government officials. Quite often, the college and university’s administrators use not issuing a diploma to force students into submission. 

A Shenzhen Security Services Company pays a monthly stipend of 1,600 yuan to each student intern, who in the end only receives 600 yuan; the Guangxi Institute of Technology, where the students are from, takes the rest. By listing these non-isolated cases, the article concludes that the relationship between the school and student has degenerated into a commercial relationship.

Source: Jing Bao, July 5, 2011
http://jb.sznews.com/html/2011-07/05/content_1645975.htm

Natural Disasters in China in the First Half of 2011

In the first half of 2011, natural disasters in mainland China, such as drought, flooding, snow, earthquakes, and tropical storms, left 449 people dead and 100 missing and caused the evacuation of 2.964 million people from their homes, damage to 1.15 million houses, and the collapse of 274,000 buildings. The disasters affected a total of 25.52 million hectares of crops, among which 1.93 million hectares of crops were completely ruined. The direct economic loss is estimated to be 142 billion yuan ($US21.8 billion). The disasters included frequent earthquakes, multiple disasters in the same region, and recurrent adverse weather conditions.

Source: China News Service, July 9, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2011/07-09/3169744.shtml

Swedish Student Expelled for Attempting to Organize a Public Rally

On July 9, Chinese authorities deported a Swedish student Sven Englund, who was studying at Fudan University in Shanghai, for attempting to organize a public rally on July 1, 2011, the 90th birthday of the Chinese Communist Party. On his microblogging page, Englund invited Chinese president Hu Jintao to come to the Bund to attend a really that called for freedom. Before the deportation, Fudan University had invited him for a “coffee talk.” Shanghai’s police also followed, monitored, and interrogated him. The authorities charged him with “involvement in jeopardizing social management." The 24-year-old student is now back in Sweden.

Source: Voice of America, July 10, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20110710-SWEDISH-STUDENT-125286958.html