Xinhua published a commentary to rebut the U.S. State Department spokesman’s statement on the recent incident in Bachu County in Xinjiang, which the Chinese government characterized as violence and terrorism. The article said, “The U.S. not only did not condemn the incident; on the contrary, it criticized China’s ethnic and religious policies for no reason. This type of behavior of engaging in a ‘double standard’ in the fight against terrorism will, in the end, end up being a dog in the manger.”
Eighty Percent of the Imported Milk Powder Products in China Involves Fraudulent Packaging
According to a CCTV report, most of the milk powder that is sold in China and labeled as “imported” is fake. Reporters found that, in the infant milk powder area of several large supermarkets in Beijing, the vast majority of the shelves were filled with imported milk powder; very few were domestic products. However, they had never heard of many of the brands and those brands could not be found in the country from which they allegedly came. They were only sold in China. The reporter found that the labels on many of these milk powders were falsified. They were packaged as foreign OEM-milk. [Editor’s note: Due to numerous scandals involving Chinese domestic milk products, people don’t trust local brands.]
Xinhua: North Korea Asks Mongolia for Food
RFA: Seven Christian Church Members Sentenced in China
People’s Daily: Top Ten Companies That Suffered Large Losses are State Owned
Outlook: China’s Financial System Faces Danger
Iron and Steel Industry: Supply Exceeds Demand with High Cost and Low Profit
According to the China Iron and Steel Association, the sales for China’s Iron and Steel industry were up 0.94 percent to 875.8 billion yuan (USD$142 billion) in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the same period last year, while its first quarter profit reached $2.486 billion yuan (USD$400 million). Monthly profits in Q1 declined, with 1.3 billion (US$210 million) in January, 998 million (US$162 million) in February, and 267 million (US$42 million) in March. These figures suggest that, while the production volume remains high, it exceeds the weaker market demand. Predictions are that the overall iron and steel market will improve over last year. However it will continue to operate at a high cost and with low profit.
Source: People’s Daily, April 28, 2013
http://finance.people.com.cn/n/2013/0428/c1004-21312705.html
First Group of 50 Officials to Attend Media Training Class
On April 11, the Communication University of China and the China Public Relations Association established the first “Media Training Center for Leaders and Managers.” The training center will teach officials how to interact with the media and the public. The first group of 50 officials will attend in mid-May. They will take a five day training course which includes the study of cases and theory; it will also include live demos and exercises.
According to Dong Guanpeng, the Principal of the Communication University of China, many leaders currently lack the skills needed to work with the media. They simply rely on the spokesperson in their work unit to deal with the media. However. that person is not the decision maker and does not have access to the overall information. There are many other media training classes in the public relations market but many of them teach skills related to how to delete social media postings rather than the skills of working with the media and public. Therefore, the first training center was meant to correct the chaotic situation in the market and attract officials from around the country. They have invited Wang Guoqing, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office to be the board director of the training center.
Source: Xinhua, April 28, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-04/28/c_124643018.htm