Xinhua: Peruvian Government Called Temporary Halt to CHINALCO Copper Project
HSBC’s March Chinese Manufacturing PMI Reached Eight-Month Low
Xinhua: Experts Say China’s New Buildings Last Only 25 to 30 Years
On April 4, a 20-year old residential building in a city in Zhejiang Province suddenly collapsed. The incident draws attention to the many buildings that were built en masse
in the 1980’s in China. Now that these buildings are reaching the age of 20 to 30 years, there have been quite a few accidents:
On August 4, 2009, a two-story building in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, that had been built in the 1980s, collapsed in a rainstorm. On September 5, a five-story residential building in Ningbo, Zhejiang suddenly collapsed. Several other incidents took place in 2012 and 2013, resulting in deaths or injuries.
In 2010, a Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development expert said at a conference, "Our country is the country with the largest number of new buildings constructed each year, but the buildings last only 25 to 30 years." In contrast, the average life expectancy of U.K. construction is 132 years and in the U.S. it is 74 years.
Source: Xinhua, reprinted on People’s Daily Online, April 7, 2014
http://society.people.com.cn/n/2014/0407/c1008-24838390.html
Foreign Ministry Tells U.S. to “Watch Your Step and Mind Your Words” on Hong Kong
Recently the spokesperson for the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) answered a question from a journalist regarding U.S. Vice President Biden’s meeting with two heavyweight pan-democrats from Hong Kong and the New York Times’ Editorial "Protecting Hong Kong’s Autonomy."
"Since Hong Kong SAR’s reunification 17 years ago, the system of ‘one country two systems’ has been successfully implemented. The economic, social, and democratic developments in Hong Kong have exceeded expectations. The Hong Kong people enjoy unprecedented democratic rights and freedoms, which has won widespread international acclaim."
The spokesperson continued that Hong Kong affairs are China’s internal affairs. They firmly oppose any country intervening in any way and interfering with its internal affairs. The current political reform in Hong Kong is at a sensitive time. It is hoped that the United States will "watch your steps and mind your words" and not let the issue of Hong Kong interfere with Sino-US relations.
Source: China News, April 6, 2014
http://www.chinanews.com/ga/2014/04-06/6035011.shtml
Qiushi: The U.S. Is the Prime Culprit Endangering Internet Security
On April 4, Qiushi, the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship publication, accused the United States of being the "prime culprit" behind Internet insecurity. The following is an excerpt from Qiushi‘s article.
"Recently, another scandal broke out regarding the U.S. government’s surveillance programs. On March 22, 2014, the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel and the New York Times disclosed, with documents provided by Edward Snowden, that the National Security Agency (NSA) conducted large-scale surveillance and espionage activities against China’s Huawei. The targets of U.S. intelligence agencies also have included China’s former national leaders, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, banks, and telecommunications companies."
"Frankly speaking, the news was not particularly shocking or unexpected. How could a country be lenient on a ‘highly concerned target’ if it would even tap into its own allies national leaders? Many analysts point out that the United States has been playing the game of a thief crying ‘stop thief.’ For a long time, the U.S. government has been accusing China of ‘organized’ hacking, stealing its government and business intelligence, and posing threats to its national security and economic interests. However, since the PRISM-gate scandal, a series of large-scale NSA domestic and foreign surveillance programs have been made public. Friends and foes have all suddenly become enlightened: the prime culprit behind the Internet insecurity is here."
"Alongside the surveillance scandal is the U.S.’s post-Cold War logic on national security. In short, the U.S. is seeking to achieve ‘absolute security’ both in the real world and in cyberspace. Starting from building the Theater Missile Defense system to today’s PRISM program, the U.S. has been pursuing security against any threat or challenge in an almost paranoid state of mind. Ever since the 9.11 incident, the U.S. has made gathering intelligence one of its top priorities. As the birthplace of Internet technology, the U.S. has a unique advantage in accessing information. Therefore, the U.S. intelligence agencies are heavily dependent on a variety of network tools to get the information that they want. As long as their so-called security is relevant, then privacy, legal restrictions, and moral principles are all left behind. … Its ideal version of network security is one in which the U.S. can monitor any object without any restriction, while any other country cannot do anything similar to the U.S. One strong piece of evidence is that, when the PRISM program was exposed, President Obama repeatedly defended the need for the program in terms of security, but never admitted that surveillance and monitoring are wrong."
Source: Qiushi, April 4, 2014
http://www.qstheory.cn/zz/wwtj/201404/t20140404_337203.htm
What Differences Exist between China’s International Partnerships?
The concept of "partnership" started after the Cold War. China has adopted the name "partnership" to define the bilateral relations. Since 1997 to 1998, China has established partnerships with Russia, the United States, France, and the E.U. Of the 172 countries with which China has diplomatic relations, China has established a formal partnership with 54 of them. Since China implemented a policy of non-alliance, there is no higher position in China’s diplomatic system than the "partnership" bilateral relationship.
Qiushi: China’s Socialism and Its Global significance
Qiushi published an article on the rise of China and its significance for the world. The article stated that China has promised that it will never seek hegemony or compete with the West for the “center.” In the 20th century, the West failed to dominate the world with the Western model. The West cannot do it in the 21st century either. China has proven this point with its own development. "The success of China’s way is the success of socialism. … The rise of China shows that world socialism has a strong vitality and there is hope for its revival. … Therefore, we are engaged in socialism rather than anything else. This should be very clear. We should be righteous and cannot avoid this point. … As long as a socialist China exists, there is hope that world socialism will revive.”