Chinascope – Page 1058

Northern China Hit by Large-Scale Sandstorms

Starting on April 29, 2011, the northern part of China has been hit with large-scale sandstorms. The sandstorms were the strongest this spring, covering 10 provinces, including Gansu, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, and Beijing, and 286 counties or cities (about 2.3 million square kilometers). The total population impacted by the sandstorms was 90 million. It’s the second time this year that Beijing and the Tianjin area were attacked by sandstorms. Downtown Beijing’s ground visibility was reduced to five kilometers. This round of sandstorms originated in Southern Mongolia and the South Xinjiang Basin. Coupled with low precipitation in the region, cold air was the main force that pushed the sand and dust south.

Source: China News Service, April 30, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2011/04-30/3009731.shtml

Briefings | | May 10, 2011 | Economy/Resources

“U.S. Has the Most Perfect Internet Control System in the World”

An article appearing in the news section of China.com states that the U.S. government employs technical methods to monitor and control Internet contents in the areas of child protection, national security, intellectual property, and computer security. According to the Internet Protection Act for Minors, the U.S. government exerts financial pressure on public schools and public libraries to force them all to filter their contents. The U.S. government also actively uses Internet blocking and wiretapping technologies to intercept and control international and domestic Internet communications in the name of national security. The Bush administration actively introduced laws to press content providers into cooperating. The article concludes that “the U.S. has the most perfect Internet monitoring and control system in the world.”

Source: China.com, May 1, 2011
http://news.china.com.cn/txt/2011-05/01/content_22472133.htm

Briefings | | May 10, 2011 | Information/Technology

China’s Red Song Singing Contest Expands Overseas

On May 3, 2011, the government kicked off a national singing competition – The “Red Song” Singing Contest. The contest focuses on singing “Red Songs” composed for the purpose of glorifying the Communist Party. This year, in addition to last year’s Australian and New Zealand sites, a new site will be added in Great Britain. The contest will mainly be broadcast on TV. However, more channels will be introduced this year, such as text messaging, the Internet, and microblogs. The contest has been going on for five years. The first international site, which was San Francisco, was introduced into the competition in 2009.

Source: China News Service, May 3, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/cul/2011/05-03/3013588.shtml

Briefings | | May 10, 2011 | Government/Politics

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Recruits Communist Party Members from Haigui

"Haigui," or sea turtle, is a Chinese language slang term for Chinese people who have returned to mainland China after having studied abroad for several years.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a top public research facility in Shanghai, has stepped up efforts to recruit haigui. Currently the Ph.D. haigui faculty members account for 12.8 percent of the teaching positions. At the same time, the Chinese Communist Party committee of the university has made recruiting Party members from haigui a “strategic priority.” The committee regularly sends Party members to talk with haigui faculty members so as to “understand their thoughts”; have CCP faculty members “partner with” the haigui so as to exert daily influence; and carry out training session for the haigui to “help them understand the country, the Party, the city, and the university.” In the last two years, 6 haigui professors have joined the Party.

Source: People’s Daily, May 5, 2011
http://dangjian.people.com.cn/GB/14560314.html

Briefings | | May 9, 2011 | Government/Politics

The Party’s Loyalty Campaign for the Young Generation

The Communist Youth League (CYL) is the youth movement that the Chinese Communist Party runs for young people between the ages of 14 and 28. The ongoing nationwide campaign to glorify the Party’s rule also includes education programs for the younger generation so as to reinforce their allegiance.

The headquarters of CYL recently issued a directive to carry out activities between May 4 and July 1 – forums, conferences, visits, ceremonials, cultural performances – at all levels to “study the Party’s history, understand the Party’s situation, and follow in the Party’s footsteps.” The Party established May 4th as Youth Day as it is the date that the anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement grew out of the 1919 student demonstrations in Beijing. July 1, 2011 marks the 90th anniversary of the CCP.

Source: People’s Daily, May 5, 2011
http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64093/64387/14553758.html

Briefings | | May 9, 2011 | Government/Politics

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Companies Should Use Their Own Advantages to Succeed in China

In response to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke’s critique of China’s investment environment in his talk on May 4, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jiang Yu, stated that China has an open market. Companies from around the world should achieve success in the market by using their advantages and strength.

Jiang cited measures that China has taken to improve the investment environment, but also stressed that, “The competition is fierce. We welcome foreign companies, including U.S. companies, to participate in China’s reform and open process.”

Source: Xinhua, May 5, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-05/05/c_121383473.htm

Briefings | | May 9, 2011 | US-China Relations

The Fight for Oil Interests between China and the U.S.A. Will Be a Protracted War

[Editor’s Note: A China Reviews News article expresses the belief that the intent of the U.S., U.K., and France’s air strikes in supporting the rebel forces in overthrowing the Qaddafi regime is to drive the Chinese companies out of Libya. The article further states that Western countries led by the U.S. are doing the same thing to China that they did to Japan in the 1940s, i.e., cutting off Japan’s access to oil, rubber, minerals, and other resources. The author believes that was the cause of the Pacific War in World War II. The entire article is translated below.] [1]

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Reports | | May 6, 2011 | Report

China Demands Apology from the Norwegian Government

Recently, at a Confucius Institute in Norway, Tang Guoqiang, China’s Ambassador to the Nordic country, demanded that the Norwegian government apologize to Beijing for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to political dissident Liu Xiaobo. “Bilateral trade is not impossible, but as (the Norwegian government) has not apologized for the Nobel Peace Prize, it is more difficult than before,” said Tang. After the Nobel Committee honored Liu Xiaobo with the Prize in November 2010, China indefinitely suspended bilateral trade negotiations. Norway is the world’s fifth largest oil exporter.

Source: BBC Chinese, May 4, 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2011/05/110503_china_norway_nobel.shtml

Briefings | | May 6, 2011 | Geo-Strategic Trend

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.”