News » Politics » Beijing’s headache: Too many cars, fewer homes

---

• Beijing’s headache: Too many cars, fewer homes
• Taiwanese school lunch praised by young Scottish blogger
• China's income gap reform expected to finally happen after 8 years
• U.S. Declines to Accuse China of Manipulating Currency
• Hon Hai: No comment on joint venture prospects with Sharp in Chengdu
• A fly on the toilet: Beijing says no more than 2 per restroom
• Sexist language found in Taiwan's official dictionary
• Dogged determination: Stray follows cyclists 2,000km to Tibet
• Chen Guangcheng expresses fears over nephew's fate
• US Assault Ship Docks in Hong Kong
• US Decision on Confucius Institutes Prompts Backlash in China
• Is China a Nation Ruled by Law?
• Chinese Media Reveals Part of China’s Forbidden History
• How Will China's Leaders Rule on Bo Xilai Case?
• Who Does China Fear More Than Chen Guangcheng?
• As China Marches Ahead, Is It On Solid Ground?
• Raghida Dergham: Arab Concern Over the West's Infatuation With Iran
• Who Does China Fear More Than Chen Guangcheng?
• US Assault Ship Docks in Hong Kong
• Chinese Nationalism as Leadership Change Looms

Beijing’s headache: Too many cars, fewer homes Posted: 25 May 2012 05:48 PM PDT Beijing has 5 million cars, with 2000 more being added every day till recently. And in central Beijing, most of these are limousines with Mercs, BMWs, and Skodas dominating .

Taiwanese school lunch praised by young Scottish blogger Posted: 26 May 2012 03:48 AM PDT The school lunches at a Taiwanese elementary school have won praise from Scottish schoolgirl Martha Payne, the curator of a blog featuring photos of her miserable-looking 2 lbs (US$3.10) daily lunches...

China's income gap reform expected to finally happen after 8 years Posted: 26 May 2012 03:48 AM PDT Reforms on China's "income distribution system" will reportedly begin in the second half of the year. The expected reforms has caused buzz every year since 1994, but have never actually materialized. ...

U.S. Declines to Accuse China of Manipulating Currency Posted: 24 May 2012 09:00 PM PDT The Treasury Department's decision should help avert a trade dispute, but the department said that the renminbi is still undervalued.

Hon Hai: No comment on joint venture prospects with Sharp in Chengdu Posted: 26 May 2012 02:56 AM PDT Taiwan's contract electronics manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision has no comment on a report published by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, a financial newspaper in Tokyo, that it is setting up a joint venture ...

A fly on the toilet: Beijing says no more than 2 per restroom Posted: 26 May 2012 02:56 AM PDT The Beijing municipal government has released guidelines on how to evaluate bathroom sanitation in the city. The regulation says the number of flies in the bathroom should not exceed two. The standard...

Sexist language found in Taiwan's official dictionary Posted: 26 May 2012 02:56 AM PDT The definition for the term "new good woman" in an online Mandarin dictionary produced by Taiwan's Ministry of Education has triggered debate throughout the country about sex discrimination. The minis...

Dogged determination: Stray follows cyclists 2,000km to Tibet Posted: 26 May 2012 02:56 AM PDT Xiaosa, a stray dog who began following a group of cyclists and traveled with them nearly 2,000 kilometers from Sichuan to Tibet has become a huge internet hit, reports the Xiandai Kuaibao (Modern Exp...

Chen Guangcheng expresses fears over nephew's fate Posted: 26 May 2012 02:56 AM PDT The blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, now in New York, has expressed concerns for members of his family who remain in China, saying they are facing greater reprisals from officials following his...

US Assault Ship Docks in Hong Kong Posted: 25 May 2012 10:40 AM PDT The US Navy assault ship, the USS Makin Island, arrives to dock in Hong Kong on Friday, May 25th. The ship joins the amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans, which arrived two days earlier.

US Decision on Confucius Institutes Prompts Backlash in China Posted: 25 May 2012 05:21 PM PDT A statue of Confucius in Changchun, China. (China Photos/Getty Images) A directive by the U.S. Department of State on Confucius Institutes has caused a fierce media response in China, with official and semi-official websites giving negative coverage to the news, and a long editorial in People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), expressing "shock" and "confusion." The State Department advised on May 17 that Confucius Institutes (CIs) have been improperly using people designated as academic staff for ordinary K-12 teaching duties, and that these people would need to go back to China and get a new visa at the end of the school term in June. The current staffing practices are "not in compliance with the Exchange Visitor Program regulations," the State Department said. Sina News, a major web portal in China, saw the policy as a direct assault on Confucius Institutes (CI), which are backed by the regime and are part of the CCP's overseas propaganda apparatus, according to experts. The article said that the regulations may have been "motivated by political forces." "In American society … there exist some political forces that have been pointing fingers at the Confucius Institute, discrediting their teaching activities," the opinion article said. An article on Sohu, another major web portal, intoned that "obstacles directed at Confucius Institutes will not be good for Sino-U.S. relations." Ms. Ruan, a former teacher who spoke to the pro-Beijing Phoenix TV, based in Hong Kong, said "This expulsion was a surprise. What was the reason? Does it have something to do with the [U.S.] election?" The term "Confucius Institute" became the second most popular topic on Sina Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter, on May 24, with close to 50,000 mentions. Opinion on the matter was divided. "Haha! The world's police are also being stingy," commented one user. Others questioned the point of CIs in the first place: "The teachers are coming back because of visa regulations. Isn't that quite normal? … The Confucius Institutes have been getting funds from the government. It's better that we take the resources to build decent classrooms and cook enough lunch for children in poor rural areas," wrote one netizen. In response to the press, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said only that "the Chinese authorities are communicating with the U.S." over the issue, according to 163.com, a Chinese news website. The State Department's guidance to CIs said that holders of J-1 visas, the category that teachers at CIs belong to, are only permitted to engage in research and academic assistance at accredited institutions. Although CIs are sponsored by and based at U.S. colleges, most of their language classes serve K-12 graders. Now, J-1 visa holders will no longer be allowed to be used as teaching staff. Presently established in 96 countries, the Confucius Institute is "a public institution affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education … committed to providing Chinese language and cultural teaching resources and services worldwide," according to the website of the Communist Party-affiliated body, Hanban, that oversees it. The Hanban is led by Liu Yandong, a member of the Communist Party's politburo whose previous brief was to head the United Front Work Department. CIs are criticized as tools for Communist Party propaganda and soft-power abroad, and they export discriminatory practices against persecuted groups in China. Volunteer teachers at the institutes are not allowed to have any record of practicing Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual practice that is suppressed by the Party, according to guidelines online. Related Articles Confucius Institute Unwelcome at University, Says Professor Confucius: The New Cultural Ambassador for the Communist Party? Sonia Zhou, who applied to be a teacher at one of the organization's branches in Canada, said that during training, teachers were instructed to lay down the Party line when asked sensitive political questions by students. This included, for example, that "Taiwan is part of China, and Tibet has been 'liberated'" by the Chinese communist regime. Read the original Chinese article. chinareports@epochtimes.com The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Is China a Nation Ruled by Law? Posted: 25 May 2012 12:56 PM PDT Shelly Zhang sits down with NTD China Analyst Matt Gnaizda and Karen Chang

Chinese Media Reveals Part of China’s Forbidden History Posted: 25 May 2012 04:51 PM PDT Party Secretary of the Guangdong Province Wang Yang attends the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), on March 13, 2012, in Beijing, China. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images) A progressive Chinese media outlet has published a report on the Great Famine under former Communist leader Mao Zedong, a part of China's history that has been tightly covered up for the past 50 years. Based on Chinese Communist Party archives, an estimated 45 million Chinese starved to death nationwide between 1958 and 1962 as a result of Mao's "Great Leap Forward" policies that required peasants to abandon their fields and work in steel production. The report, published by Guangzhou based Southern People Weekly on May 18, was titled "Remembering the Great Famine with Honesty and Conscience: Memories of the Great Famine of 1959-1961." It said: "A disaster like the Great Famine, so rarely seen in human history, yet it was neither properly recorded nor properly understood … that fact, like the disaster itself, is a mistake mankind should never have committed." Southern People Weekly is owned by Southern Media Group in Guangdong Province and is considered by many to be China's most liberal and outspoken paper. An investigative report of the Great Famine, a topic long considered taboo by Chinese media, not only reflects the Chinese public's desire to understand their tumultuous history of the past 60 years under communist rule, but could also be an indication of political reform. Wang Yang, the reform-minded and recently re-elected party chief of Guangdong province, paid a visit to Southern Media Group's press center when its reporters were covering the annual two meetings of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference earlier this year. Wang's visit is an indication of the close relationship between the liberal media company and the prominent pro-reform member of Hu Jintao's faction. Wang is likely to be appointed to the nine-member Politburo Standing Committee this fall and will become one of the top cadres in the country. The Southern People Weekly report was reposted days later by the popular web portals NetEase and Sohu as well as on China's microblogging service Sina Weibo. Several other Chinese media have also recently reported on the Great Famine. In April, the Economic Observer ran a report titled "The Great Leap Elegy," which was widely reposted by Chinese netizens and the major Chinese web portal, Tencent. Related Articles Surviving Mao's Great Famine China's 'Great Famine': Fifty Years of Silence VOA noted that the three-year famine has become a hotly debated topic in the Internet war between leftists and liberals, as well as pro-Mao and anti-Mao netizens. Read the original Chinese article.

How Will China's Leaders Rule on Bo Xilai Case? Posted: 25 May 2012 12:58 PM PDT Hu Jintao has decided to prosecute Bo Xilai on charges related to his wife's alleged murder of British national Neil Heywood

Who Does China Fear More Than Chen Guangcheng? Posted: 25 May 2012 11:12 AM PDT NTD's Shelley Zhang sits down with NTD China Analyst, Matt Gnaizda and Karen Chang to discuss Chen Guangcheng's arrival in New York last week and that Chinese dissidents face an even more severe situation.

As China Marches Ahead, Is It On Solid Ground? Posted: 24 May 2012 09:00 PM PDT Reports of a weakening economy, combined with concern over moral decline, pose a question for China: Do Communist states, perhaps, have a natural lifespan?

Raghida Dergham: Arab Concern Over the West's Infatuation With Iran Posted: 25 May 2012 11:28 AM PDT Talk of the "Grand Bargain" is once again finding its way to theories on the relationship between the United States and Iran, in light of their mutual... Read more: Russia, Raghida, Middle East, Obama, Iran, Un, Gcc, Syria, China, Dergham, World News This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Who Does China Fear More Than Chen Guangcheng? Posted: 25 May 2012 11:12 AM PDT NTD's Shelley Zhang sits down with NTD China Analyst, Matt Gnaizda and Karen Chang to discuss Chen Guangcheng's arrival in New York last week and that Chinese dissidents face an even more severe situation.

US Assault Ship Docks in Hong Kong Posted: 25 May 2012 10:40 AM PDT The US Navy assault ship, the USS Makin Island, arrives to dock in Hong Kong on Friday, May 25th. The ship joins the amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans, which arrived two days earlier.

Chinese Nationalism as Leadership Change Looms Posted: 24 May 2012 09:00 PM PDT As China prepares for a change in leadership, a rush of hostility toward foreigners is appearing, paradoxically, alongside admiration for the West.