Chinascope – Page 1089

CNS: New Confucius Statue Erected in Tiananmen Square

China News Service (CNS) reported on January 12, 2011, that a new 17-ton bronze statue of Confucius was erected in front of the north gate of The National Museum of China. The statue is 9.5 meters tall. Throughout Chinese history, up until the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese people considered Confucius to be a “sage.” Lu Zhangshen, Director of the National Museum, said that he considers Confucius to be “the business card of Chinese Culture.” Lu also believes that the statue “matches the museum’s cultural orientation.” Several tourists told the reporter that they hope to see more instances of traditional Chinese culture brought to modern life.

(Ed: According to Wikipedia, "during the Cultural Revolution, Confucianism was frequently attacked by leading figures in the Communist Party of China…")

Sources: China News Service (CNS), January 12, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/cul/2011/01-12/2783547.shtml Wikipedia: http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius

Briefings | | January 19, 2011 | Government/Politics

Xinhua News Agency Establishes New Media Base

On January 11, 2011, Xinhua News Agency and the city of Beijing jointly held an unveiling ceremony for the Xinhua Net Industrial Park. The park is Xinhua’s first media high-tech development base designed to improve distribution capabilities and competitiveness in new media channels. In its publication business, Xinhua News Agency pays close attention to new media. The park plans to attract more partners and to join international competitions. Some of the goals in establishing the park were to enhance China’s “soft power” and to enhance “the capacity to guide public opinion.” As part of the plan, the park is to integrate various national level government websites as well as a “national search engine,” multimedia technologies, mobile interconnectivity, network video, digital publication, and e-commerce.

Source: Xinhua, January 11, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-01/11/c_12969805.htm

Briefings | | January 19, 2011 | Information/Technology

CNS: Chinese Investment in Brazil Has Dramatically Increased

China News Service (CNS) recently reported that, in 2010, China became Brazil’s largest investor – up from the 20th in 2009. In 2010, the estimated total investment from China was US$12 billion. The amount invested between 2001 and 2009 was only US$213 million. Chinese investments in Brazil have focused on the energy, mining, steel, and oil industries. Brazil is planning to invest US$1 trillion over the next few years to prepare for the Olympics and the World Cup. China considers this to be an opportunity. Brazil’s Stock Exchange is working with Chinese stock exchanges to allow Chinese companies to do IPOs in Hong Kong and Brazil simultaneously. The Brazilian economy has demonstrated very strong growth in the past decade.

Source: China News Service (CNS), January 12, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/cj/2011/01-12/2783792.shtml

Briefings | | January 19, 2011 | Economy/Resources

Chinese Scholar Proposes a New East Asia Strategy: Be Powerful but Humble

[Editor’s Note: Government think tanks have recently had extensive debates about the direction of China’s foreign policy. The main focus is whether to continue the “low profile” strategy that Deng Xiaoping instituted in 1989 or switch to an aggressive approach to demonstrate China’s growing power. This article and the one following reflect these opposing views. Nanfang Daily online published an article by Wang Yizhou, a Beijing University professor, proposing a powerful but humble approach. In the following article, published in the International Herald Leader, the title expresses the author’s view: "China’s Foreign Diplomacy Should Reflect Its ‘World Number Two’ Status."

Wang Yizhou argued that “China still has a long way to go before becoming a truly developed country.” “For its foreign diplomacy and strategy, soothing relations with its neighbors and deepening regional cooperation is critical in order for China to maintain a good environment for development and to step into its role as a world power.”] [1]

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Reports | | January 18, 2011 | Report

In Honor of Its 90th Birthday, the CCP Directs the Nation to Eulogize Its History

On January 1, 2011, Qiushi, a magazine of the CCP Central Committee, published an editorial about recognizing the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the CCP, which will be on July 1, 2011. The editorial says that the Party’s leadership is the fundamental guarantee for achieving the goals laid out in the economic and social development plan for the next five years.

The Committee directed the nation to: “Use the 90th anniversary of the CCP’s birthday as an opportunity to enthusiastically eulogize the Chinese Communist Party’s glorious history and great achievements, and to vigorously propagandize the important significance and newest accomplishments of modernized and popularized Marxism in China.”

Source: Qiushi, January 1, 2011
http://www.qsjournal.com.cn/zxdk/2011/201101/201012/t20101229_60854.htm

Briefings | | January 18, 2011 | Government/Politics

China’s Minister of Public Security Urges the Armed Police to Follow the CCP’s Commands

According to People’s Daily on January 7, 2011, the chief of China’s police, Meng Jianzhu, urged the country’s armed police to “unswervingly uphold the Party’s absolute leadership and ensure that most police officials and policemen will, at critical moments, resolutely follow the commands of the CCP Central Committee, the State Council, the CCP Central Military Commission, and Chairman Hu Jintao.”

Meng Jianzhu, China’s Minister of Public Security and the highest level political commissar in China’s Armed Police Force, made the remark on January 7, 2011, at a plenary meeting of the CCP Committee of the Armed Police Forces. He called on the armed police to “greet the 90th anniversary of the CCP’s birthday with excellent performances in dealing with emergent security incidents. …”

Source: People’s Daily, January 7, 2011
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1027/13680011.html

Briefings | | January 18, 2011 | Government/Politics

Over the Next Five Years, China Will Replace Stand-Alone Internet CafÚs with Chains of CafÚs

A conference about standardizing the administration of Internet cafés was held in Hefei (in Anhui Province) on January 11, 2011. The Vice Minister of Culture, Ou Yangjian, said that Internet cafes have become an important part of the culture industry. Over the next five years, (China) will strongly promote connecting the Internet cafes into chains and gradually phase out the use of stand-alone Internet cafés. Ou said that, as of the end of 2009, there were 138,000 registered Internet cafes, which had 13,160,000 computer terminals and 135 million Internet users (35 percent of all Internet users).

Source: China News Agency, January 11, 2011
http://www.chinanews.com/it/2011/01-12/2781544.shtml

Briefings | | January 14, 2011 | Information/Technology

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.”

The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.