Global Times reported that China National Petroleum Corp and BP jointly won the bidding for the al-Rumeila oil field contract in Iraq. “Despite earning only two U.S. dollars a barrel and facing various risks, China’s oil companies need to get a firm foothold in Iraq as soon as possible and increase their market share of oil and gas exploitation. Income and profit margin are secondary factors.”
Source: Global Times, July 2, 2009
http://finance.huanqiu.com/roll/2009-07/503661.html
China has major strategic interests in the Arctic region and should secure the Arctic’s resources, said Outlook Weekly. “The Arctic has an important impact on temperature and precipitation in China.” “Use of the Arctic waterways for Chinese fleets would shorten the voyage by 40% compared to the current routes through the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal that are plagued with security risks, high cost and schedule delays.” “China should invest in the development of or otherwise secure the Arctic’s resources.”
Source: Outlook Weekly, Issue 27, 2009
http://lw.xinhuanet.com/htm/content_4882.htm
2009 sees a bigger role for the United States in the South China Sea, said Xinhua. “Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and other countries now view foreign military procurement as a shortcut to quickly upgrading their sea and air combat capability. In 2009 the neighboring countries in the South China Sea have changed their strategy to procure high-performance conventional submarines, long-range fighters, advanced surface ships and other heavy equipment.” As Southeast Asian countries have spoken about opposing China with the help of the United States, "the United States is stepping from ‘behind the scene’ to the ‘front stage’ in the South China Sea."
Source: Xinhua, July 3, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-07/03/content_11644872.htm
Zhong Pingyao, Deputy Director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued requirements to the CCP party organizations at various levels of commercial businesses administration and private businesses association that they need to promote the CCP party work and expand party membership to private companies. The Party organization should be established in large private enterprises. For small companies, they should be pooled and served by the party organization established at the business owner’s association level or village/town level.
The statistics from the China Individual Laborers’ Association suggested that by the end of last year, there were 92,308 party branches established among private business owners’ associations, a 10.56 percent increase from the year before. Total party members at these party branches reached 1.96 million, out of which 329,500 are enterprise owners, 542,200 are small business owners and 1.088 millions are workers.
Source: Xinhua, July 2, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-07/02/content_11640304.htm
Xinhua published a series of front page articles calling on all levels of regions and government bodies to be on guard against the extreme weather condition. In recent months, China has been hit by stormy and rainy weather in the south and extreme heat in the north. China Daily reported that as of July 5, 75 people had died, 13 were missing, and 39 million people were affected by the flooding in the south.
On Monday July 6, the China Ministry of Finance announced a 170 million yuan emergency fund for the southern regions, including 13 provinces that had suffered from the flood. The article calls on the regions to take the responsibility and cooperate with each other to ensure “winning the battle against the flood.”
Source:
[1] China Daily, July 6, 2009
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/zgzx/2009-07/06/content_8380361.htm
[2] Xinhua, July 8, 2009
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/szch/20090708/
On July 6, the Central Propaganda Department issued an emergency order to all major Internet sites to list "Urumqi City Riot" and its related words as sensitive information which must be filtered when conducting keyword searches online.
Fearing the further development of the Urumqi City Riot, the Central Propaganda Department specifically required all media agencies to follow and be consistent with the reporting done by Xinhua and People’s Daily. "The content should focus on the "crimes committed by East Turkistan so the Chinese people can know its true nature." the order stated.
Source: Radio Free Asia, July 7, 2009
http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/internet_xinjiang-07072009113426.html?encoding=simplified
The International Strategic Research Center of the CCP Central Party School recently published a research paper discussing five major serious social problems the Party now faces. The so-called five “cancers” are: the conflict between efficiency and fairness, the disproportionate development in different geographic areas, the conflict between economic development and environmental protection, the conflict between the economy and available resources, and the lack of social integrity and credibility.
The paper indicated the Reform between 1979 and 1993 was a “win-win” for all groups in society, while the one since 1994 has not been. A portion of society has been turned into “losers.” With the five “cancers,” society may enter an era of turbulence and setbacks.
Source: Secret China, July 2, 2009.
http://www.secretchina.com/news/299484.html
Outlook Weekly, a magazine by Xinhua News, published an article on the expansion of the Chinese Space Technology Group. The Group currently has four bases. In addition to the Beijing Base and Chengdu Base, the Shanghai Base focuses on solar cells, composite materials and mechanical & electrical equipments. The Xi An Base focuses on space equipment manufacturing and special technologies.
Four more bases have been added to the Group. The Tianjin Base focuses on spacecraft, environmental protection, and unmanned aircraft. The Inner Mongolia Base focuses on polycrystalline silicon and space biology. The Hong Kong (Shenzhen) Base focuses on microsatellite, and mechanical & electrical equipment. The Hainan Base focuses on launching sites, conferences & exhibitions, and science education.
Source: Outlook Weekly, June 22, 2009.
http://news.sohu.com/20090622/n264683019.shtml