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Nankang Protest Stopped New Tax Law

On June 15, more than 10,000 people gathered in front of City Hall of Nankang, Jiangxi Province to protest the new law increasing the tax burden on furniture sales, which is the city’s main industry. Right after the protest, under the Party Secretary of Jiangxi Proinvce’s direction, the Nankang city government issued orders to terminate all measures related to the tax law immediately. He announced the decision through radio, television, text message, and the Internet.

Epoch Times pointed out that it is very rare to see the government give in to public opinion so quickly, indicating that the government fears that hte local group event will trigger nationwide turmoil. Nevertheless, on June 22, Jiangxi-China, under the Propaganda Department, Jiangxi Province Party Committee, published an article stating that “it is the people’s voice” to “go after the organizers and planners of the event.”

Source:
[1] Epoch Times, June 17, 2009
http://epochtimes.com/gb/9/6/17/n2560477.htm
[2] Xinhua, June 16, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/society/2009-06/16/content_11552118.htm
[3] Jiangxi-China, June 22, 2009
http://jxnews.jxcn.cn/525/2009-6-22/30108@532266.htm

China’s Super Think Tank To Seek Financial Independence

In an interview with the People’s Daily, Zhen Xingli, Vice Chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE) revealed that CCIEE has formed a grant foundation team with the target of raising 500 million yuan by seeking financial support from corporations and enterprises. CCIEE received 5 million yuan from the Ministry of Finance as its initial funding.

Since its formation three months ago, CCIEE has provided dozens of research papers to the central administration, including topics on green recovery and expansion in exporting channels. On July 3 and 4, CCIEE will host its first "Global Think Tank Summit" in Beijing.

Source: Xinhua, June 18, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-06/18/content_11560072.htm

China Developed a New Pilotless Plane

China News Agency reported that China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, a major defense manufacturer in China, showcased a newly developed pilotless plane. The new plane, Blade, was shown at the 2009 Exhibition of Equipment for Emergency Response and Rescue and Security System Technology on June 16, 2009.

The report did not provide military applicaiton of Blade. It mentioned that it is a multifunction pilotless plane and can be used for aerial photography, aerial survey, coastal patrol, climate and environment monitoring, forest fire prevention and petroleum or electricity pipe line investigation. It is equipped with a 12 Kilowatt engine and propeller. Its speed during patrol is 120 Km/h, with maximum 4,000 meter flying altitude and 3 hours of cruise duration.

Source: China News Agency, June 17, 2009
http://www.cns.com.cn/gn/news/2009/06-17/1736901.shtml

Xinhua: Pushing Internet Ethics for a Harmonious Society

Xinhua News recently republished an article from Guangming Daily, a Beijing city based national newspaper, on "occupying the internet battlefield with Chinese socialist culture." The article suggests the enhancement of government involvement in managing the internet with the following measures: (1) establishing a dedicated government branch for internet control; (2) making enforcement laws; (3) setting up mechanisms to approve registration and to control network entry; (4) deploying tiered governance.

The article urges the government to build up the "core ethics value" of Chinese socialism and to increase the financial and labor investment to educate the population and to "occupy the battlefield" – through the mainstream sites.

Source: Xinhua News, April 20, 2009.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/theory/2009-04/20/content_11218500.htm

Global Times: Anti-Spy Manual Focused on US, Japan and Taiwan

Global Times, under the Chinese state daily news publication Renmin, recently republished a report by the World Journal, a U.S. based Chinese language newspaper partially funded by the Chinese government. The report mentioned a manual that has been widely spread online, “western spies around Chinese people everyday,” 

The manual ranks the U.S. “anti-China” spies at the top level and Western European spies as second. Taiwanese spies under cover as “students” need attention too. It also classifies the spies into government funded and non-government funded.

Due to the fact that the West has recently increased the number of Chinese spies, the article reported that Global Times called for striking back with more exposure of foreign spies.

Source: Global Times, June 12, 2009.
http://china.huanqiu.com/eyes_on_china/military/2009-06/487124.html

HK Wen Wei Po: China Facing New Military Encirclement

The Hong Kong based newspaper Wen Wei Po, with a strong Chinese government background, published an article on June 12 discussing the complete military encirclement around China.

The article mentioned the US’ intent to rent the Cam Ranh Bay Base from Vietnam, which would significantly improve control over the South China Sea together with the Guam Base and the Singapore Changi Base. Also mentioned in the report are the two military exercises NATO had in Georgia in May which mainly featured Eastern European counties that reached China’s doorstep. The “East Asia Shadow NATO” of the US, Japan and South Korea now should include Australia and India – closing more gaps in the encirclement.

Source: Wen Wei Po, June 12, 2009.
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/hb/news/2009/06-12/1731654.shtml

 

70,000 Protesters Fought against Riot Police

Epoch Times reported that as many as 70,000 residents from Shishou City, Hubei Province protested in the streets and clashed with the police several times on June 19 and June 20. About ten thousand riot police were called in and conducted forced clean-up at 3 a.m. on June 21. The confrontations between the riot police and residents were recorded on mobile phone videos and still images appeared on websites.

The uprising was triggered by the mysterious death of Mr. Tu Yuangao, a 23-year-old cook at the Yonglong Hotel. It was reported that Mr. Tu was killed after finding out that the hotel owner, the head of the local public security bureau, and the wife of the head of the court were smuggling and selling drugs. Local residents went to the hotel to support Mr. Tu’s family’s request for a fair investigation. They stopped the police several times from forcibly taking Mr. Tu’s body.

China censored all reports about this incident on the Internet. On July 20, the article China News Agency published instead was titled “Several Departments in Shishou City, Hubei Province Held a Joint Commuter Bus Fire Drill.” 

Source:
[1] Epoch Times, June 20, 2009
http://epochtimes.com/gb/9/6/20/n2564437.htm
[2] Epoch Times, June 21, 2009
http://epochtimes.com/gb/9/6/21/n2564903.htm
[3] China News Agency, June 20, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/sh/news/2009/06-20/1742317.shtml

China to Capitalize on the Growth of the Culture Industry

For the first few months of 2009, China’s culture industry experienced double digit growth of 17 percent, while its book sales grew 20 percent and movie ticket sales were up 40 percent compared to the same period last year. In order to capitalize on this growth, China has instituted a series of plans to include the culture industry in its national “Eleventh Five Year Plan” and make it a new area to stimulate domestic demand.

Ministry of Cultural is speeding up formation of guidelines, organizing national conventions, and encouraging non-public enterprises to enter the culture industry. Below are a few examples:

  • On April 24, the Ministry of Culture signed a cooperative agreement with the Bank of China to establish a long term strategic partnership to secure financial funding for new culture enterprises and projects.
  • On May 18, during the 5th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzheng, 3.5 million visitors were at the expo, 830,000 more than the previous time.
  • On June 15, the Shanghai Cultural Equity Exchange, a platform for the trading of property rights, creditor’s rights and equity rights of culture products was formed. There were 500 active projects being traded including 50 from foreign countries.

Source: Xinhua, June 18, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/society/2009-06/18/content_11563116.htm