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Xinhua Commentary Series: Spotlight on the U.S. Presidential Election

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Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

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Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

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Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

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Domestic Demand Sluggish

Nanfang Weekend published an article on sluggish domestic demand in the Chinese economy. According to the article, if one produces the value of 100 yuan, 45.4 yuan would go to one’s own pocket, while 23.1 would be State’s fiscal revenue and 31.5 would go to capital and inventory of companies. In the past 30 years, per capita income has been increasing. But the GDP growth rate exceeds that of the per capita income, leading to weak domestic demand, concluded the article. 

Source: Nanfang Weekend, December 18, 2008
http://www.infzm.com/content/21337

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Overseas Democracy Activists Received Training in Boston

The first commencement of China Democracy Movement School was held at Harvard University in Boston on December 16, 2008. About 300 graduates attended the ceremony. Initatives for China, the China Democracy Party, the Freedom and Democracy Party of China established the school to teach the principles of democracy and train democracy activists.

Source: Participation, December 18, 2008
http://canyu.org/n4635c6.aspx

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

377,00 Chickens Culled; H5N1 Avian Flu Found

Agricultural authorities have killed 377,000 chickens after an outbreak of bird flu in two areas of Jiangsu province, said the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry said it received information about H5N1 infection among hens in Dongtai and Haian on Monday December 15, 2008.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, December 16, 2008
http://www.agri.gov.cn/xxlb/t20081216_1191038.htm 

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China’s Brain Drain Continues

About 70% of students that study abroad do not return to China, reported Study Times, the journal of the Party School of the Chinese Communist Party. As of 2007, the cumulative number of students studying abroad reached 1.21 million. Only 320,000 of them have returned to China while the rest have chosen to stay in the West. Among those who returned, 50% are those who did not obtain an academic degree in the West and 15% are retirees or close to retirement. Most of those who returned prefer to work in China for subsidiaries of Western companies.

Source: Study Times, December 15, 2008
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=0&id=2336&bid=7

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Two Uyghurs Sentenced to Death for Sabotaging the Beijing Olympic

China’s Supreme People’s Court said Wednesday that two people have been sentenced to death by the Intermediate People’s Court of Kashgar, Xinjiang for their role in the August 4 attack of police in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The court stated that the two conducted the attack to sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games that began August 8, 2008. The two people, both locals of Kashgar, were charged and convicted of intentional homicide and illegally producing guns, ammunition and explosives.

Source: Xinhua, December 17, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-12/17/content_10519381_1.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Deputy Chief of Overseas Affairs Office on Promoting Chinese Language Teaching

Zhao Yang, the deputy chief of the Office of Overseas Affairs (OOA) under the State Council, talked to Xinhua after attending the 7th Annual Conference of The Chinese School Association in the United States (CSAUS) in Chicago on December 13 and 14.

Zhao mentioned four measures to be taken by OOA for promoting overseas Chinese language teaching. First, strengthen the communication and cooperation between Chinese communities and local governments; second, advance the role of Joint Conference of State Overseas Chinese Language Education Work, adding governmental support to language education; third, OOA is to launch degree programs to train overseas teachers of Chinese language; fourth, OOA will selectively build a batch of “Chinese Education Model Schools” and offer key support in textbooks and teacher’s training.

Source: Xinhua, December 16, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2008-12/16/content_10513693.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

People’s Daily Website Launches Operation in Japan

On December 16, 2008, www.people.com.cn, the website of Chinese government’s official newspaper the People’s Daily, started a kabushiki kaisha (public corporation) in Tokyo Japan, marking the first step in the agency’s overseas expansion.

The Japanese subsidiary operates a Japanese language version of the newspaper’s website (http://j.people.com.cn/) and the Japan channel of the paper (http://japan.people.com.cn). The former focuses on reporting China-related news to the general public in Japan, as its production and technology center is moving from Beijing to Tokyo. The latter, concentrating on reporting Japan-related news to people in China, is the only domestic news portal that specializes in Japan and the Sino-Japanese relationship.

Source: Xinhua, December 16, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/society/2008-12/16/content_10515261.htm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Russia and China Try to Breakthrough Stalemate of Arms Cooperation

Russia and China are determined to breakthrough the stalled situation of arms cooperation in air force during the 13th Conference of Russia and China’s United Commission of Military Technology Cooperation on December 11, 2008. Russia and China’s military technology cooperation in the area of air force equipment  has stalled for the past couple of years. The conference will discuss the issue of Russia manufacturing Russian airplanes in China and how to expand the cooperation in this area, including gaining permission to manufacture Su-27 and Su-30 in China and receiving service after the sale.

Source: Xinhua, December 11, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2008-12/11/content_10487989.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend