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Xinhua’s Taipei Bureau: Review of Mainland China’s Local Government Delegations’ Visits to Taiwan

[Editor’s Note: A recent Xinhua article gave a brief review of how, in recent years, China’s local government delegations have used cultural exchange programs and business operations to make frequent visits to Taiwan. According to the article, which is from Xinhua‘s Taipei bureau, these efforts have resulted in a great improvement in the Taiwanese perception of Beijing. The following is a translation of selected parts of the article.] [1]

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A Hong Kong Conference for Unification across the Strait

The Overseas Chinese World Conference for Promoting the Peaceful Reunification of China was held in Hong Kong on September 21 and 22.
Fifteen hundred delegates from 60 countries gathered for the meeting, with about 600 attendees from Taiwan. Jia Qinglin, one of the members of the Chinese Communist Party’s nine-member Politburo Standing Committee, sent a congratulatory letter, saying that “the compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao and the overseas Chinese … have been an important force in anti-secession and reunification efforts.” Jia serves as the chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification, a CCP-led network connecting global Chinese to oppose Taiwan independence and promote unification.
Du Qinglin, the head of the CCP Central Committee’s United Front Work Department, called on “Chinese both at home and abroad to jointly shoulder the historic responsibility of moving cross-Strait ties forward.” The meeting, first held in Berlin in 2000, has convened in such cities as Tokyo, Sydney, Moscow, Vienna, Bucharest, Macao, and Los Angles. Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang and Taiwan representative Xu Linong also spoke at the meeting.
Source: Xinhua, September 22, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/22/c_12597165.htm

Liu Yunshan Calls for Grassroots Ideology Work

In a recent visit to Henan Province, Liu Yunshan, who is the Chinese Communist Party’s senior official and head of the Propaganda Department, asked the Party members to “seriously study the new situations and new issues that their propaganda, ideological, and cultural work is facing." He suggested that the Party "reach out to the grassroots level, care about people’s demands, … allocate more resources at the grassroots level, extend the service network to the grassroots level, and promote the ideological and cultural advocacy work being done at the grassroots to a new level.” Liu also emphasized “enhancing the appeal of the work, building mobile platforms in which people are willing to and can easily participate in, and guiding the masses in serving and educating the people.”
Source: Xinhua, September 22, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/22/c_12596837.htm

China to Launch Space Station in 2011

China expects its first space station “Tiangong 1” to be orbiting the Earth in early 2011.
The 8.5-ton Tiangong-1 (Tiangong means “heavenly palace” in Chinese) is scheduled to lift off on a Long March 2F carrier rocket and serve as a docking station for three Shenzhou spacecraft – the Shenzhou-8, Shenzhou-9, and Shenzhou-10. The Shenzhou-8, currently under construction, will dock at the Tiangong-1 as it orbits the Earth, sometime in the second half of 2011. The Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spaceships are scheduled to be launched in 2012.
Eventually, after the Shenzhou dockings, Tiangong-1 will serve as a manned space lab and will expand as the Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-3 merge with the primary space module. According to Chinese authorities, the Tiangong-2 is scheduled to be completed by 2013 and the Tiangong-3 will be finished sometime later, possibly between 2014 and 2016.
Source: China News Service, September 23, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/2010/09-23/2550767.shtml

Sharp Increases in Housing Prices Attributed to Dominance of State-Owned Enterprises

The state’s intervention in the market, China’s “invisible hand,” is putting pressure on private sector real estate developers, while encouraging a state monopoly in the real estate market. This leaves little hope for housing prices to fall, says China Youth Daily

Tightening bank credit lines, coupled with the rejection of second offerings in the stock market, are dramatically narrowing the financing sources available to local real estate developers. 

On the other hand, State-owned enterprises are expanding rapidly and their monopoly has become obvious.
 

China Youth Daily further suggests, “Obviously, when a monopoly exists, it will be much easier for the central government to reap benefits from this market. Therefore, falling housing prices, which is what people foresee, will never materialize.” 

Source: China Youth Daily, September 21, 2010
http://zqb.cyol.com/content/2010-09/21/content_3416171.htm

Study Times: Internet Becoming a Tool for Party Building

Study Times,a weekly newspaper published by the Party School of the CCP, urges local Party branches to take on the challenge of using the Internet for Party building. The paper suggested that the Internet can be a tool for Party propaganda.  For example, the Party branch in Tongxin County, Guizhou Province, invites Party members, wherever they are throughout the country, to have access to a training platform on a Party Building Website and to select the Party courses that would benefit them the most.  The call is out for the Internet to become a “platform leading and influencing factor for mainstream ideology.”  In Dongwan County, Guangdong Province, 12 online Party branches were established to track and connect Party members. Everyone is asked to participate in the online Party study program.

Source: Study Times, September 20, 2010
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2010/09/20/01/01_26.htm

People’s Daily on China’s Strategy for Intellectuals

At the beginning of September 2010, People’s Daily published a series of articles on “China’s Strategy for Intellectuals.” On September 18, 2010, People’s Daily and the Research Center of “Three Represents,” which is attached to Remin University of China, co-sponsored a forum called “Revival of Great Power – Strategy for Intellectuals” to discuss the concept, values, features and standards of a “strategy for intellectuals.” Over 60 individuals attended the forum, including representatives of the History Research Center of the Party, the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, the China National School of Administration, the State Council Research Office and other State’s departments, as well as representatives of State media.

Source: People’s Daily, September 20, 2010
http://theory.people.com.cn/GB1279163.html

China Responsibility” Pronouncement Unsound

[Editor’s note: In this Xinhua commentary, influential Chinese scholars (Xinhua writers Cao Xiaofan and Gu Ye) complained about the Western media’s latest pronouncement about China: “It’s China’s responsibility.” This comment has become the focus of intense interest ever since China surpassed Japan to become the world’s number two economy. Some Chinese scholars believe that holding China “responsible” is a “trap” for China. They believe that this recent pronouncement is more subtle and potentially more damaging than earlier, more inflammatory descriptors propagated by the West, such as “The China threat” and “China’s imminent collapse.” The following is a translation of the Xinhua article] [1]

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