According to Hong Kong Oriental Online (http://hk.on.cc/cn/) on August 7 and 8, 2016, thousands of local residents in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, took to the streets for two consecutive days in protest of a nuclear waste treatment plant that was intended to be built there. The Public Security Bureau in Lianyungang said on its official blog that assembling without the permission of the local government is illegal. The bureau also pointed out that the project is an established national project and that it had provincial and municipal government approval. It asked the general public to “believe the government and the (Chinese Communist) Party.”
Chinese Workers Take away U.S. Jobs? Maybe the Reverse
Well-known Chinese site Sina recently published an article aggregating reports from a number of media sources on China’s job market. The author started with an acknowledgment of Donald Trump’s point of view on China which used to have cheap labor and which therefore attracted a lot of labor work from the United States. However, things have been changing dramatically in today’s Chinese job market. China is moving towards making more and more value-added products and the average labor rate in China is now 29 percent higher than what it was three years ago. The Boston Consulting research firm found, when both productivity and energy costs are counted, the cost of manufacturing in China’s major export regions is almost the same as that in the U.S. The same research pointed out that 24 percent of the U.S. companies in China surveyed are actively moving back to the States or plan to do so in the next two years. Other companies that make products for major U.S. labels like Michel Kors, Rockport, Dockers, and Brooks Brothers are moving to cheaper countries like Vietnam. With the slowdown of the Chinese economy, more and more Chinese workers are losing their jobs. The British consulting company Fathom released a report estimating China’s unemployment rate to be 12.9 percent, not the official four percent. It seems the U.S. competitiveness is taking away China’s jobs.
Source: Sina, July 26, 2016
http://dailynews.sina.com/gb/news/usa/usnews/chinesedaily/20160726/07417439422.html
BBC Chinese: The British Government Delayed Decision on China’s First Nuclear Project in Britain
BBC Chinese recently reported that the new British administration decided to delay the decision on whether or not to approve the Hinkley C Nuclear Power Plant Project which had heavy Chinese investments. Given the importance of the project to Britain’s future energy security, the British government explained that it needed more time to review the entire project. The China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGN) released an announcement to express its understanding and respect for that decision. Hinkley C is Britain’s first new nuclear power plant in 20 years. Once in place, it is expected to supply seven percent of all of Britain’s electricity. China committed six billion British pounds to its investment in the project, which is one third of the total amount.
Source: BBC Chinese, July 29, 2016 http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/business/2016/07/160729_hinkley_nuclear_delay
Ministry of Defense: China is Deploying Anti-Missile System
China.com recently reported that Yang Yujun, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, spoke at a press conference in response to questions about the Korean-US deployment of the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) System. Yang said China remains strongly opposed to the THAAD system since it can cover the vast majority of Chinese territory. However, China has determined to take proper actions to maintain the regional strategic balance. Yang acknowledged that China is “appropriately” deploying a land-based mid-range anti-missile defense system. He then explained that China’s deployment plan is to defend national security and it’s not directed against any country or targets. China’s move does not impact global strategic stability and China has every right to improve its own military capabilities for self-defense. China also held The Fourth Northeast Asia Security Forum with Russia on July 28. The Forum focused on tighter cooperation between China and Russia to deal with the THAAD deployment.
Source: China.com, July 29, 2016
http://news.china.com.cn/2016-07/29/content_38980427.htm
State Council Issues Urbanization Policy to Assist Peasant Workers Relocating to the City
Xinhua reported that the State Council recently issued a notice about its urbanization policy to assist peasant workers who are relocating to the city. The policy covers areas including, but not limited to, education assistance for children of peasant workers, medical benefits to receive medical care away from home, unemployment assistance, public assistance, and social security benefit policies. The notice stressed how important it is for the local municipal government to implement this policy. It also assures that the Ministry of Finance will issue certain awards to the local region to encourage the progress of urbanization.
Source: Xinhua, August 5, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-08/05/c_1119345004.htm
Guangming Daily Commentary: Be Clear on the Evil Nature of a Color Revolution
Guangming Daily published a commentary about dissidents from Tianjin who were recently put on trial for “incitement to overthrow the state.” The commentary claimed that the dissidents stirred up hatred against the government and tried to launch a “color revolution” to end one party totalitarian rule in China. According to the article, these dissidents received financial backing from Western forces that gave them detailed directions and plans on how to build a solid organization. The article pointed out that evidence from around the world demonstrates that color revolutions only bring turmoil and disasters and cause the country to fall apart. It stated, “In order to understand how evil a color revolution is, we must persist in being firm about the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and maintain a solid ground when facing hypocritical values and interests from the West. … What the Western world needs is for China to be in turmoil and to have a weak economy so it can take advantage of us. … Those politicians from the West wish to see China in a chaotic situation so they can capitalize on the gain in order to defeat their opponent during the presidential election.” Finally, the article emphasized that only the Party can unite the Chinese people together and that every citizen should make a wise choice to follow the leadership of the Party.
Source: Guangming Daily, August 6, 2016
http://legal.gmw.cn/2016-08/06/content_21343638.htm
Xinhua: Chinese Middle School Students Get Less Than Seven Hours Sleep Each Night
Xinhua published an article which China Youth Daily had originally carried. The article reported that a micro blog published on China Youth Daily described how middle school students catch up on their sleep after the school bell rings at the end of each class. The post received close to 4,000 comments, with many of them echoing the original post. The article stated that Chinese middle school students get less than seven hours of sleep each night due to the heavy school workload. Students were said to catch up on their sleep during class breaks or even to fall asleep during class. Some students reported that to sleep eight hours at night is a luxury for them. One school teacher wrote a comment questioning why educational reform doesn’t ease the pressure. Students face a great deal of stress and so do the teachers.
Source: Xinhua, August 8, 2016
http://education.news.cn/2016-08/08/c_129211761.htm
People’s Daily: Japan’s Defense White Paper Is to Pave the Way for Revising the Constitution
In response to the Japanese government’s approval of the 2016 “Defense White Paper” at its cabinet meeting on August 2, China’s State-run media People’s Daily published a report saying that [the paper] is repeating the same old nonsense. It is continuing to stir up the “China threat theory” and maritime safety controversies and it exaggerates, saying that Japan’s security environment is deteriorating. The purpose is to find excuses for its new security law issued in March of this year and it strengthening of the military.