A Xinhua article commented on Japan’s Prime Minister Abe’s intentions regarding China policy. The article stated that “important political officials and former heads of government in Japan have visited China recently, one after the other. In just two weeks, Japan has sent many people to China for a visit.” The article asked the question, “What do these Japanese visits mean?”
Beijing in Smog: Affected Regions Increasing
China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection released information that, according to the weather satellite remote sensing indicator, as of January 30, the smog area had increased to 1.43 million square kilometers, a growth of 130,000 square kilometer from the previous day. Since January 30, the smog has been getting worse. Shanghai, Jiangsu Province, and neighboring regions have become “highly polluted” from previously being “slightly polluted." Beijing, Tianjin, and neighboring regions remain “highly polluted.” On January 28, China’s National Meteorological Center (NMC) implemented a three-tier color-coded weather warning system to alert the public to the severity of the smog. The system uses yellow to indicate moderately smoggy weather, orange for severe conditions, and red for extremely severe levels of smog. The authorities continue to issue a yellow warning for smog.
Source: Xinhua, January 31, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/yuqing/2013-01/31/c_124304751_2.htm
Xi Jinping: Armed Police Must Follow the Party’s Commands
On January 29, Xi Jinping gave a speech during an inspection tour of the armed police in Beijing. During his speech, he underscored the stability of the armed police and the importance of its absolute loyalty to the Communist Party of China. Xi stated, “The armed police forces should be united, secure and stable.” The armed police should follow the command of the leadership of the Communist Party. “Absolute loyalty to the Party is always the first and foremost political requirement for them. … [We] must ensure the absolute loyalty, absolute purity, and absolute reliability of the armed police forces.”
Source: Xinhua, January 29, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-01/29/c_114545239.htm
Car Drivers in China Exceeded 200 Million in 2012
China’s Ministry of Public Security recently announced that, as of the end of 2012, the nation’s registered motor vehicles reached 240 million and the number of drivers rose to 260 million. The number of car drivers increased by 26.5 million. For the first time that number exceeded 200 million.
The number of major highway accidents has also increased. Among the 25 major serious road traffic incidents that occurred in 2012, eight occurred on the highway, accounting for 32 percent.
Source: Xinhua, January 30, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-01/30/c_114558196.htm
Radio Free Asia: China’s Working-age Population Drops for the First Time in Decades
China’s National Bureau of Statistics recently released figures showing that, in 2012, the number of Chinese who are of working age, that is, between 15 and 59, has declined significantly since 1978. The decrease in 2011 was 3.45 million.
Yao Shujie, a professor at the University of Nottingham, in the UK, believes that 30 years of family planning in China first showed up in 2006 as a decrease in the number of primary school students. That the working age population has now contracted for the first time foretells the looming end of an era of abundant cheap labor.
Another report by the China Development Research Foundation predicted that, between 2010 and 2020, China’s working-age population will decrease by 29 million.
Source: Radio Free Asia, January 30, 2013
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jingmao/gr-01302013160016.html
Qiushi: Internet Sovereignty Is Also National Sovereignty
Qiushi, a CCP periodical that explains the theoretical basis for the Party’s policies, published an article that discussed the significance of the Internet at the national strategic level. The article claimed, “Whoever controls the power of the Internet will control the dominant position in cyberspace; whoever loses power over the Internet will also lose the national sovereignty of cyberspace.”
China Issued a Smog Alert for the First Time
On January 27, 2013, smog was widespread over 1 million square kilometers in the mid eastern area of China. For the first time, China’s Central Meteorological Station issued a smog alert (blue level), which is separate from a fog alert. Visibility on some sections of road in Beijing was under 500 meters. The air quality across Beijing was in a state of “serious pollution.”
Source: Reprint from Beijing News by China Gate, January 28, 2013
http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2013/01/28/2203120.html
Forced by the U.S., the PLA Carried Out a Missile Interception Test to Show Its Strength
On Sunday, January 27, 2013, China successfully carried out a land-based mid-course missile interception test within its territory. It is the second such test that China has successfully launched within its territory since January 2010. According to an official from the Information Bureau of China’s Ministry of National Defense, "The test reached the preset goal," but it "was defensive in nature and targeted no other country." Coincidentally, on Saturday, the United States successfully conducted a test flight of a missile interceptor rocket.
“The public in the West noticed that China and the U.S. conducted similar tests on the same day (if the time zone disparity is considered) and viewed China’s test as displaying its strength to the United States.” According to the article, the Japanese media said that, by conducting an anti-missile interceptor test at this time, China wants to restrain the U.S. in the Diaoyu Islands dispute. “A Chinese military expert said in an interview that such a test, “was the result of pressure from the United States.”
Source: Reprint from Apple Daily by China Gate, January 28, 2013
http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2013/01/28/2203279.html