Chinascope – Page 747

China May Limit Imports of U.S. Sorghum

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that China is tightening up inspections of U.S. sorghum cargo ships. Very likely Chinese customs plans to limit imports of U.S. sorghum. Last month the Chinese quarantine agency asked Chinese local authorities to increase the inspection level of imported sorghum for pesticide residues, heavy metals, and other toxic substances. Not long ago, China refused the entry of over one million tons of U.S. sorghum. Since the Chinese government started protecting domestic corn farmers, corn prices in China have been on the rise. Sorghum is quickly becoming a less-costly replacement for fodder. Market experts have already decreased the estimate of the level of annual sorghum imports by half. The spokesperson for the National Bureau of Inspection and Quarantine declined to comment on this matter.

Source: Sina, August 21, 2014

http://finance.sina.com.cn/chanjing/cyxw/20140821/171620082019.shtml

Briefings | | August 26, 2014 | US-China Relations

Guangming Daily: Ninety Million Chinese Patients Suffer from Depression

Guangming Daily reported on research results from a study on the rate of depression among China’s workforce. The report, which was published during the 7th annual mental health conference, said that 90 million people in China suffer from depression. This accounts for 2.2 to 4.8 percent of the workforce. The article stated that 70 percent of the patients suffering from depression have to take sick leave and close to half of those patients said that they can’t concentrate on their work. Most of the people who took the survey felt that depression is less alarming than cerebral vascular or heart disease, but medical experts warn that the public still does not understand the serious effect that depression has on people’s work.

Source: Guangming Daily, August 24, 2014
http://news.gmw.cn/2014-08/24/content_12738725.htm

Briefings | | August 25, 2014 | Information/Technology

Chongqing Morning Newspaper Conducted Survey on Educational Training

Xinhua published an article that was originally carried by the Chongqing Morning Newspaper reporting on the results of a recent online survey of attitudes toward educational training. Over one thousand people participated in the survey. The results showed that close to 28 percent of the survey participants had unpleasant experiences in dealing with training programs. Some of their unpleasant experiences included that their personal information was leaked; they received false information; they had a hard time withdrawing from the class and receiving a refund; and they felt that the results did not meet their expectations. Meanwhile close to 79 percent stated that the most annoying part about the training classes was that they were overcharged. Sixty-one percent felt that the English training market should be the first one to be regulated.

According to the article, in 2012, the size of China’s market for educational training was 960 billion yuan (USD$156 billion). It included programs such as pre-school, PhD, foreign languages, musical instruments, the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and public servant test preparation. English language training accounted for 15 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) of the total market. Over 50,000 agencies in the market provide this service.

Source: Xinhua, August 24, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/edu/2014-08/24/c_126909732.htm

Briefings | | August 25, 2014 | Government/Politics

CCDI Article: Some High Ranking Cadres Lack a Sense of Responsibility to the Party

People’s Daily carried an article which was originally published on the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision Department (CCDI) website. The article said that some high ranking cadres lack a sense of responsibility to the Party. They only care about their administrative title and neglect their duties as Party officials. The article said, “Once they lack a sense of responsibility to the Party, it is guaranteed that the resulting loosely organized Party structure will lack discipline. Therefore the fighting power of the Party is sure to be diminished and it will shake the Party’s foundation.” The article stated that Party officials should have a position within the Party before they assume other responsibilities. It also stated that the Party cadres should abide by the law as well as the Party’s disciplinary rules, but the Party cadres should place the Party’s disciplinary rules above the law. The article posted a reminder that all Party members must bear in mind that the Party official’s title is a "political responsibility" rather than a "political honorary title."

Source: People’s Daily, August 25, 2014 http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/0825/c1001-25528310.html

Briefings | | August 25, 2014 | Government/Politics

Study Times: Re-enforcing the Communist Party’s Control of Companies

Study Times wrote a commentary stating that it is a matter of urgency to ensure the political control of “mixed-ownership enterprises.” These are companies in which different ownership entities have jointly invested. The different forms of ownership may include State-owned, corporate owned, privately owned, and foreign-owned enterprises.

“It has become increasingly difficult in the mixed ownership enterprises to be able to carry out the development of the Party’s work. More effort must be expended to perfect the institutional mechanisms to ensure the implementation of Party development.”

The commentary recommended the following measures:

1. Qualified Party officials, who are personnel at the enterprise, should serve as leaders of the trade union and the Communist Youth League.

2. Through specific legal procedures, Party secretaries should become members of the Supervisory Board of the enterprises.

3. The Party organizations inside these enterprises should exert proactive and extensive efforts to recruit corporate decision-making and management personnel to join the Party. Thus the Party organization and the corporate management and supervision system will be fully integrated.

4. Party member meetings must be carried out regularly in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.

Source: Study Times, August 18, 2014

http://www.studytimes.cn/shtml/xxsb/20140818/6079.shtml

Briefings | | August 22, 2014 | Government/Politics

Qiushi: The Conflicts between China and the U.S. Have Been Exaggerated

An official from China’s Academy of Social Sciences wrote a commentary, which Qiushi then published, stating that the conflicts between the U.S. and China have been exaggerated.

According to the commentary, although the conflicts in East Asia appear to be irreconcilable, on the whole, the situation may be a different story. “China does not have the capability or the intent to challenge the U.S. position on the global platform. The two countries still have additional room for cooperation on global issues. If the two sides share more common interests in dealing with global issues and establish more robust cooperation mechanisms, they may be able to transcend the inevitable, structural geopolitical conflicts in East Asia."

Due to differences in ideologies, any specific conflict could easily be magnified to become a lethal attack against and a part of the strategy to weaken the adversary. “The life and death confrontation between the capitalist countries and socialist countries is more the result of traditional international political realism and geopolitical competition. The confrontation between the U.S. and Soviet Union was, ultimately, one for hegemonic power to protect their national interests. … The actual role of ideology in Sino-U.S. relations may be more minor than imagined.”

Source: Qiushi, August 19, 2014

http://www.qstheory.cn/international/2014-08/19/c_1112140291.htm

Briefings | | August 22, 2014 | US-China Relations

Li Leishi: A 2008 Reminder on Organ Harvesting

According to Sohu in 2008, Li Leishi, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Director of the PLA Kidney Disease Institute stated that organ donation after death does not have the soil for it to exist in China.

Leishi pointed out that there is a big shortage of organ transplant donors in China and that "organ donation after death" only exists in theory. It cannot be put into practice in China because the conditions aren’t there for its existence. Li further explained that China does not have the same system as foreign countries do, so as to ensure that organ donations after death can effectively proceed. In addition, legal protection is also one of the problems. There is no legal protection in China regarding what criteria should exist to make a decision for organ donation [of brain dead patients].

Li gave his own experience to explain the extent of the organ shortage. He said that, because we are an Institute, the amount of transplant surgery we perform is not that high. In the past, I could do kidney transplants for 120 patients a year; now I can only do 70. Just from my own experience, we now have at least 50 organ shortages per year. The lack of donor organs is the main reason for the reduction in the amount of surgery. Each year, I have more than 200 or even close to 300 patients registered and waiting for surgery, not including those patients blocked from the registration due to economic reasons.

Source: Sohu, November 27, 2008
http://health.sohu.com/20081127/n260870584.shtml

Briefings | | August 21, 2014 | Information/Technology

Health Officials on Illegal Organ Harvesting in China

On August 17, 2014, China’s health officials announced that anyone who engages in the illegal trade and transplantation of organs will be severely punished. Wang Yu, Secretary of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, stated that a comprehensive organ transplant monitoring system will be established to severely punish, according to the law, the illegal sale of human organs, their private distribution, and the transplantation of organs from executed prisoners.

Huang Jiefu, head of the Chinese Human Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee and China’s Vice Minister of Health said, "For some hospitals, doctors, and individuals in the judicial system to conduct the private acquisition, distribution, and transplant of organs from executed prisoners will be considered an illegal sale of organs and will be prohibited according to the law."

According to official records, from March 2010 to August 2014, 5,787 organs were donated while over 10,000 organ transplants were performed each year.

[Editor’s note: Observers noted that the announcement may indicate that the implementation of existing regulations on organ transplants has not been effective in prohibiting organ harvesting. Effective September 2013, all organ donations and transplants will be required to go through the government’s centralized distribution system].

Sources: Beijing News reprinted by Xinhua, August 18, 2018

http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2014-08/18/c_126882057.htm
http://china.caixin.com/2014-08-18/100718281.html

Briefings | | August 21, 2014 | Government/Politics

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

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

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

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