Xinhua military commentator Zheng Wenhao published an article in response to the cyber attack issue raised in the United States. Zheng observed that recent U.S. media reports declared that Chinese hackers, who were associated with China’s military, had made a large number of vicious attacks against U.S. companies and government entities. He countered that it is the U.S. military that has the world’s most vicious and powerful hacker organization.
Exponential Growth of Privately Owned Cars: Good or Bad?
According to a report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the number of privately owned cars will exceed the 100 million mark during the first quarter of 2013. State media Guangming Daily expressed concern about road congestion, air pollution, a shortage of energy, and a scarcity of land. In 2000, China entered into a 10 year boom in the automobile market. In 2010, China became the largest automobile market in the world, 5 years ahead of the original projection of 2015. Guangming further stated that there are over 5.6 million automobiles in Beijing where the roads are designed to carry only 4 million. Traffic congestion is intensifying and pollution is rapidly getting worse. In addition, in 2012 China imported 59% of the crude oil it consumed.
Source: Guangming reprinted by Xinhua, February 20, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2013-02/20/c_114730723.htm
Chinese Military Cyber Attack Unit Recruits Computer Science Students
The Chinese military unit 61398 that, according to the 60 page report by Mandiant, is the source of cyber attacks against the United States, recruits graduates who have a major in computer science. An example of such an effort can be found at the website of the College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou City.
A recruitment notice dated May 13, 2004, was titled “Announcement of People’s Liberation Army Unit 61398 to Recruit Directed Graduates.” The notice stated the following: “According to the Graduate School, the People’s Liberation Army Unit 61398 (located in Pudong, Shanghai) will recruit master’s degree candidates from the 2003 class, who have a major in computer science, to be directed graduates. Those students who sign the agreement will be provided with a defense scholarship of 5,000 yuan per year. Upon graduation, the students will be directed and assigned to work in the People’s Liberation Army. Interested students from the 2003 master’s degree class in our college may contact Teacher Peng from the Graduate Office of the college by May 20. …”
Source: iFeng.com, February 20, 2013
http://news.ifeng.com/mainland/detail_2013_02/20/22299410_0.shtml
U.S. and Japan shocked: North Korean Nuclear Explosion Brought China Three Major Benefits
People’s Daily held a Powerful Nation Forum discussing North Korea’s recent nuclear test. One post discussed how China is actually a beneficiary of North Korea’s nuclear test. The test helped China in the following three ways:
China Denies Cyber Attack Allegations
Geng Yansheng, spokesman for China’s Ministry of Defense, held a press briefing on February 20, 2013. At the briefing, he dismissed Mandiant’s report about cyber attacks emanating from China as groundless. He stated, “Chinese law prohibits any activities that undermine cyber security, including hacker attacks. The Chinese government always and resolutely cracks down on related criminal activities. The Chinese armed forces have never supported any hacking activities.”
Geng said that Mandiant’s report was groundless for several reasons. First its conclusion that the source of cyber attacks came from China was based solely on its discovery that the attacks were linked to IP addresses based in China. It is common that hacking attacks are carried out by using other people’s IP addresses. Second, the world has not developed any clear and consistent definition of cyber attacks and thus the report is without legal basis. Third, cyber attacks are transnational, anonymous, and deceptive; their sources are rather difficult to identify. Releasing irresponsible information will not help solve problems.
Geng further said that China actually is a major victim of cyber attacks. By tracing the IP addresses (of attacks in China), it was found that many of the attacks came from the United States.
Source: Xinhua, February 20, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-02/20/c_114738517.htm
China Acknowledged Severe Pollution and “Cancer Villages”
China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection recently issued the 12th Five-Year Environment Plan for Risk Prevention and Control of Chemical Products. The Plan acknowledged that a variety of chemical substances have been detected in some Chinese rivers, lakes and coastal waters, wildlife, and human beings. Toxic and hazardous chemicals have resulted in multiple incidents of acute water and air environmental emergencies and in drinking water crises in many regions. "Cancer villages" have developed in some regions.
Earlier, some Chinese media reported on a widely circulated Google map, which displays more than 100 "cancer villages" in the country. Most of these "cancers villages" are reportedly located in the affluent eastern coastal regions, which were the first to bring in the introduced pollution-prone industries from overseas. However, with the readjustment of the industrial structure and environmental regulations, there are signs that contaminated areas and cancer villages are developing inland as well.
The report also pointed to the frequent occurrences of industrial accidents in the production of dangerous chemicals, transportation accidents, and environmental emergencies caused by illegal sewage. On January 31, 39 tons of aniline leaked from a chemical plant in Changzhi City, Hebei Province, with 8.7 tons flowing into a local river, causing a water outage in a large area in nearby Handan City.
Source: BBC Chinese, February 21, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/02/130221_china_pollution_cancer.shtml
A Clash of Values, Part III
Part II of the series discussed how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) obtained its power through the barrel of a gun. The Party claimed that it represented “the people” and thus had full legitimacy to use all means possible, including dictatorship and terrorist killings, to achieve this goal. To maintain its control, justify its legitimacy, and deflect attention from people’s desire for reform, the Party shifted their focus to economic growth. Though many problems surfaced under what has come to be known as the “China model,” such as a high concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, endemic corruption, environmental problems bordering on disaster, unfairness toward foreign companies, and violent mistreatment of dissidents and minority groups, the Party has never stopped proclaiming that it is “Great, Glorious, and Correct,” and blaming others for China’s problems.
The entire Communist system was, during the formative stages of CCP governance, based on Karl Marx’s Communist theory, the bible for the Communist Parties. The CCP later expanded the base to include Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought. The CCP’s Communist ideology spread throughout China from the 1950s to the 1970s. By the end of the Cultural Revolution (1966 – 1976), however, the Communist bubble had burst. Having seen so much violence, the Chinese people no longer believed in a Communist Utopia.