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China and Australia Conducted Joint Naval Maneuvers

According to Xinhua, China’s naval training ship “Zhenghe” and the frigate "Mianyang" conducted joint naval maneuvers with the Australian Navy missile frigate “Sydney” on September 24.

The China naval fleet visited Australia earlier. During the visit, China and Australia achieved a consensus on multiple issues in terms of building a “harmonious sea” and maintaining regional stability and peace. The joint naval maneuvers on the sea are a concrete manifestation of that consensus.

Source: Xinhua, September 24, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/24/c_13527900.htm

China Launches an Action Plan to Encourage Overseas Chinese to Serve the Country

According to Xinhua on September 16, 2010, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security launched an “Action Plan to Encourage Overseas Chinese to Serve the Country.”

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security will set up a special fund to provide a variety of financial incentives to the Serving the Country Activities listed in the “Action Plan to Encourage Overseas Chinese to Serve the Country.” At the same time, it will provide a communication platform for information exchange, expert recommendations, and talent networking; it will also facilitate the ability of high level overseas students to enter and exit China.

Source: Xinhua, September 16, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-09/16/c_13515367.htm

On September 24 SCO’s Military Joint Exercises Entered the 3rd Stage – Combat Simulation

China News Service (CNS) reported that, on September 24, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)’s military joint exercises, entitled “Peace Mission – 2010," entered into the 3rd stage, which is combat simulation, at the Matybulak range in the southern part of Kazakhstan.

This is the 7th joint anti-terror military exercise held by SCO. More than 5,000 troops from Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and China participated in the exercises supported by over 1,600 armored vehicles and tanks, 100 artillery pieces and rocket launchers, 50 combat aircraft, and armed helicopters.

Source: China News Service, September 24, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/2010/09-24/2551334.shtml

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