Chinascope – Page 781

China Youth Daily: Local Government’s Opium? They Have an Addiction to Debt

On March 12, 2013, China Youth Daily published an article on the serious local government debt problems in China. Currently, China’s local governments owe 18 trillion yuan in debt. In order to pursue a higher GDP, local governments blindly borrow money without considering at all how to pay it back. Some officials said that borrowing money has become local governments’ economic opium. They wish they could stop but they cannot help borrowing more and more. According to the article, in order to help local authorities get rid of this “addiction,” it may be necessary to integrate local government’s credit rating system into cadre’s evaluation system.

Source: China Youth Daily, March 12, 2014
http://zqb.cyol.com/html/2014-03/12/nw.D110000zgqnb_20140312_1-T01.htm?fina

Briefings | | March 13, 2014 | Economy/Resources

Huanqiu on Close Military Cooperation between China and Ukraine Since 1990s

On March12, 2014, Huanqiu republished an article originally from http://www.nnnews.net on the close military cooperation between China and Ukraine since the 1990s. However, the original article can no longer be found. For over the past 10 years, China has been at the top of the list for Ukrainian arms exports. In the 1990s, Ukraine sold China three large-scale ships. Among them was the former Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag. The Varyag has been rebuilt into today’s Liaoning aircraft carrier, China’s first aircraft carrier. Since 2006, Ukraine has also been training Chinese engineers, pilots, and navy technical experts in Ukraine. In 2009, Ukraine media admitted that Ukraine sold China four “European Bison” hovercraft.

A large number of first-class engineers in Ukraine lived in poverty after the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Through personal friendship and shared ideology and thanks to the old Sino-Soviet friendship in the Bolshevik, Mao Zedong, and Stalin era, China invited many top experts in key military technology fields from Ukraine to come to China. In 10 years, China has recruited thousands of experts from Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States to engage in over 2000 technological projects. In 2006 alone, groups of Ukraine scientists visited China about 150 times to participate in scientific research and give lectures and there were over 2000 individual visits. Those experts were very eager to help and answer whatever questions the Chinese scholars asked because they cherished the old Sino-Soviet friendship. The current changing situation in Ukraine may affect China-Ukraine trade, especially military, cooperation. However, according to Ukraine local officials, those signed agreements have not been affected.

Source: Huanqiu, March 12, 2014
http://mil.huanqiu.com/observation/2014-03/4897708.html

Briefings | | March 13, 2014 | Defense/Military

BBC Chinese: China’s Defense Budget Increased Significantly

BBC Chinese recently reported that China’s defense budget submitted to the National People’s Congress increased by 12.2 percent to US$131.6 billion. In his speech to the Congress, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang explained that the defense budget increase was for research into new technology, high-tech weaponry enhancements, day-to-day military operations, as well as coastal and aero defense. Li emphasized the defense of China’s “marine interests” and China’s becoming a “marine power.” He also advised that China should defend “the fruits of the Second World War.” The Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary commented on the new Chinese defense budget, saying the world is concerned about China’s [lack of] transparency on defense spending. The Chinese media argued that China’s defense budget is still far below the level of the U.S. defense budget (US$ 633 billion).

Source: BBC Chinese, March 5, 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/03/140305_china_npc_military.shtml

Briefings | | March 11, 2014 | Defense/Military

SOEs Can Recover and Be Sustained through Consolidation and Diversified Ownership

According to People’s Daily, the recent talks that both Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang gave indicate that the central administration still places the reform of SOEs (State Owned Enterprises) as its top priority in the overall progress of reform. As can be seen in the Report on the Work of the Government given by Li Keqiang, the words “reform of SOEs” were mentioned 77 times. In his speech, Xi Jinping stressed that the SOEs shall continue to improve and reform can occur more quickly. The article said that the central administration will introduce a measure called the “diversified ownership concept." The non-SOEs can invest in SOE projects in areas such as finance, oil, electrics, railroads, telecommunications, energy development and public services. In the meantime, non-SOEs will be issued a permit to operate in certain SOE fields. The article said that, currently, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, local governments, and SOEs are working closely to develop a plan.

Source: People’s Daily, March 9, 2014
http://finance.people.com.cn/n/2014/0309/c1004-24579745.html

Briefings | | March 10, 2014 | Economy/Resources

People’s Daily: Physical Condition of China’s Youth Has Declined Steadily over the Past 25 Years

People’s Daily recently published an article stating that the average height of Chinese males between 7 and 17 years of age is 2.54 cm (1 inch) shorter than males in Japan and Korea. It also reported that the physical condition of Chinese youths has worsened steadily over the past 25 years. Wu Zhenxian, deputy to the People’s Congress and a teacher from Beijing who holds the distinguished teacher’s title raised the concern. According to Wu, based on the results of a physical examination of students from Beijing High School in 2012, the physical condition of the youths in strength, speed, and endurance has declined while near-sightedness and obesity rates have increased. Results showed that only 10 percent of the students passed the test. In the meantime, schools are concerned about the potential liability caused by injury due to physical activities. Wu is calling for safety regulations to be established to protect both students and schools from liabilities due to such injuries. Wu also mentioned that Beijing is facing a severe shortage of teaching resources where elementary schools face a 47 percent shortage and the shortage in middle schools is at 68 percent. She is asking colleges to train more teachers and the Ministry of Education to loosen up restrictions on the quota for teachers from outside of Beijing to join the teaching workforce in Beijing.

Source: People’s Daily, March 7, 2014
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2014/0307/c1002-24555332.html

Briefings | | March 10, 2014 | Economy/Resources

Committee Delegates: College Graduates Do Not Meet Existing Job Requirements

Xinhua carried an article that was originally published by Beijing News. The article covered the group discussion among the conference delegates during the 2nd session of the 12th CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee) on the gap between job requirements and the skill level of China’s college graduates. A scholar from the Chinese Academy of Science even stated that there is not much difference between the current college graduates with master’s degrees versus those technical school graduates from a number of years ago. Some delegates observed that the quality of the graduate students continues to decline. They are weak in overall skills, inter-personal relationships, hands-on experience, and the ability to deal with stress, as well as in job related fundamental theory. The statistics from a recent job fair in Jiangying City suggested that society has a tendency in general to pursue higher education. Therefore, there is a serious shortage of workers with technical skills, while the college graduates face a tough job market. Many college graduates have had to take low paying positions. Meanwhile they tend to have high expectations for a job and are unable to handle the workload they are assigned. Some delegates blamed the companies for not holding job training classes while some said that universities don’t offer courses that prepare students for the job market and are not well connected with the companies that need employees.

Source: Xinhua, March 9, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-03/09/c_126239703_2.htm

Briefings | | March 10, 2014 | Government/Politics

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.”

The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.