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The Diaoyu Islands Dispute Has Become a Three-Way Battle between China, the U.S. and Japan

Ma Guoshu, Dean of the Guangdong Win-Win Economic Institute, published an opinion article commenting on the defense bill the U.S. Senate passed, which stipulates that Article V of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty applies to the Diaoyu Islands. The amendment notes that, while the United States "takes no position" on the ultimate sovereignty of the territory, it "acknowledges the administration of Japan over the Senkaku Islands." The prevailing view in the media about the bill is that the United States backs Japan and is suppressing China. The author believes that the U.S. move (harbors another insidious motive). While it is helping Japan on the surface, in reality it is to balance both sides and masterfully lay out a plan in order to achieve U.S. control of the Asia-Pacific region.

The author commented that the real intentions of  the U.S.  in the Diaoyu Islands issue are different. First,  the U.S. intends to vigilantly protect the Japanese economy, which is close to the national bankruptcy cliff. Otherwise, the whole "strategic plan of returning to the Asia-Pacific” would vanish like a puff of smoke. Second, the U.S. intends to force Japan into submission – to be transformed into an "Asia-Pacific Israel.” Only in this way can the U.S. effectively prevent China, Japan, and South Korea from forming a "surplus countries alliance" as a hostile force (to the U.S.) and remove the potential problem that can truly threaten the dollar’s global monopoly position. Third, an important option, as a U.S. global strategy, may be to cause the outbreak of a regional war so as to effectively shift the deep domestic crisis of the United States.

Finally, the author concluded, "As the chess game of the Diaoyu Islands progresses, a new pattern in the Asia-Pacific has gradually formed. It is destined to rewrite the established pattern of interests in the China-U.S. game."

Source: People’s Daily, December 5, 2012
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2012/1205/c1002-19792301.html

Shortage of Donated Organs Continues in China

Nanfang Daily reported that an organ donation and transplant cooperation project under China’s Ministry of Health recently held its 10th forum in Kunming. According to the report, in 2010, the Ministry of Health established a pilot project for organ donations. In 2011, it expanded to 19 locations. Since then, 480 operations were conducted on the donors, with 1,294 organs donated, thus saving the lives of over 1,200 people. Experts attending the meeting agreed that the shortage of organs for transplant continues to remain a major issue at present.

[Editor’s Note: On December 2, 2012, three American doctors created a petition at whitehouse.gov to petition the Obama Administration to “investigate and publicly condemn organ harvesting" as people in China are "killed on demand to fuel China’s lucrative organ transplant industry." http://wh.gov/5Jmn.]

Sources:
Nanfang Daily, December 4, 2012
http://epaper.nfdaily.cn/html/2012-12/04/content_7148347.htm
http://wh.gov/5Jmn

RFA: Some Foreign Companies in China Alleged to Be “Sweatshops”

On December 3, 2012, Radio Free Asia published an article titled “Some Foreign Companies in China Are Alleged as ‘Sweatshops.’” According to a report released by “China Labor Watch,” a non-governmental organization with headquarters in New York City, Mattel company and other foreign enterprises in China have become “sweatshops.”  The article said that Mattel, the world’s largest toy manufacturer, has four factories in China. Its workers often have to work overtime, sometimes up to 113 overtime hours per month. This is considerably more than the overtime hours allowed by law.

Source: Radio Free Asia, December 3, 2012
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/nu-12032012155429.html

Boosting Consumption Is the Fundamental Way for China to Get Out of Its Economic Predicament

On November 20, 2012, Qiushi Theory, a periodical on political theory published by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the CCP Central Committee school, reprinted an article from Ziguangge (cpc.people.com.cn), a periodical under People’s Daily, having the title, “Boosting Consumption Is the Fundamental Way for China to Get Out of Its Economic Predicament”.

According to the article, China’s economic growth rate has fallen over the past several quarters. The period of the export-led economy may be over. Therefore, China’s economy must shift from excessive dependence on external markets to production for the domestic market. China’s Ministry of Commerce has established a goal in its 12th Five-Year Plan of having around a 15% average annual increase in total retail sales of consumer goods so as to reach the goal of 32 trillion yuan by 2015.

Source: Qiushi Theory, November 20, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/jj/jjggyfz/201211/t20121122_195708.htm

Private Lending Is Active in China

On December 4th, 2012, Xinhua published an article on how widespread private lending has become in China. Many small and medium sized enterprises borrow money using private financing. Recently, the Public Security Bureau in Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province issued a warning to alert the people about “illegal funding activities.” One recent incident of “illegal funding" involved up to 80 million yuan.

Source: Xinhua, December 4, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-12/04/c_113895746.htm

Yangtze Evening News: 27% of Wealthy Company Owners Have Completed Emigration

Yangtze Evening News recently reported that 27 percent of Chinese company owners having over RMB 100 million yuan (around US$16 million) worth of private property have completed the processes of emigrating  to foreign countries. The statistics are based on a research report jointly issued by the Merchants Bank and Bain Consulting. Forty-seven percent of the same sample are considering the emigration option. The main reasons given for the decision to emigrate are the children’s education, retirement planning, and risk management for their wealth. The report expressed the concern that this new wave of emigration is coupled with a massive outflow of capital from China to the outside world, which may damage the effort to expand China’s domestic consumer market.

Source: Yangtze Evening News, November 30, 2012
http://epaper.yzwb.net/html_t/2012-11/30/content_41296.htm?div=-1

CRN: Reform of Wealth Redistribution System Requires Breakthrough

China Review News (CRN) recently published a commentary about the issue of reforming the system for the redistribution of wealth, which has been identified as a focal point of public opinion. The commentary suggested that a breakthrough will be required in five areas to solve the problem of the unfairness in the distribution of wealth: (1) First-time distribution needs to avoid the sharp differences that exist between the company’s growth versus wage growth and between management income versus the income of the average worker. (2) The process needs to include the growth of government income versus the growth of citizen’s income. (3) The reform must solve the root cause of “gray income” and corruption. (4) Enhanced tax system reform is required to improve the balancing function of taxation. (5) The average citizen’s income level should be raised when the job market expands. The commentary also called for protecting China’s middle-class population. The author concluded that reform is not a simple matter. Instead, it requires adjustments in the political, economic, legal system, and cultural areas.

Source:China Review News, November 29, 2012
http://www.zhgpl.com/crn-webapp/doc/docDetailCreate.jsp?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=102320766&mdate=1129080126

Jinghua Times: Some Countries Don’t Welcome the New Chinese Passport

Jinghua Times recently reported that the new version of the Chinese smart passport (which has an implanted chip) has triggered complaints from neighboring countries. The new passport includes pages with pictures and a map of China that includes disputed regions in Tibet and the South China Sea. So far, Vietnam, The Philippines, and India have complained. These countries are instead issuing the visa on a separate piece of paper instead of the visa page of the passport. Normal entry into these countries is still granted, even if the new passport is used. The United States suggested that it still considers the new passport to be a valid document and U.S. officials will still use the new passport for visa and stamps. However that does not mean the United States agrees with the borders drawn on the map. A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented that neighboring countries should not overreact to the map part of the passport.

Source: Jinghua Times, November 30, 2012
http://epaper.jinghua.cn/html/2012-11/30/content_1908282.htm