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Blogs » Politics » Chen Xitong: Tiananmen Crackdown was a Tragedy

Chen Xitong: Tiananmen Crackdown was a Tragedy

Posted: 29 May 2012 11:02 PM PDT

Former Beijing Mayor , who was in office during the and was later jailed for , has called the June 4 military crackdown on the Beijing protests a "tragedy," according to a new book of interviews with him. The book is reportedly a response to diaries of former premier Li Peng which called Chen "'the chief commander' of the Beijing Martial Law Command Center." In the same series of interviews, Chen denied the charges against him. From the Guardian:

According to the scholar Yao Jianfu, who says he interviewed the 81-year-old repeatedly for the new book Conversations with Chen Xitong, the former mayor said that while he wanted a swift end to the instability, "nobody should have died if it was handled properly. Several hundred people died on that day. As the mayor, I felt sorry. I hoped we could have solved the case peacefully."

Chen later became party secretary of the capital, but was ousted and then jailed in a major corruption in the 1990s. He was released on medical parole in 2004.

"He was a hardliner … but he is the first one to come out saying he regretted that people died and that it should have been peaceful. That's significant," said Bao Pu, the book's publisher.

Bao's father was the most senior official jailed for his sympathy for the students. "Even Chen Xitong has a sense that people in general don't accept the government's conclusion."

Read more about the 1989 protests, the June 4 crackdown, and Chen Xitong via CDT.

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As Yale Student Returns to China to Find Her Birth Mother, A Nation Watches

Posted: 29 May 2012 07:21 PM PDT

Margaret Cook and her adopted daughter, Jenna. Margaret fully supports Jenna's efforts to find her birth mother

"Hey son, do you know this person?"

My dad pointed to his computer screen. In the middle of the news article he was showing me, I saw a picture of a girl with a bright, familiar smile. The headline read, "Yale girl returns to China to find birth parents."

Of course I knew her–her name is Jenna Cook, and she's a fellow sophomore in my residential college at Yale. Smart, fun, caring and compassionate, Jenna is a great student, and an even better friend.

Jenna, whose Chinese name is Xia Huasi (夏华斯), was abandoned at a local sub-district office in Wuhan soon after she was born. A local family took care of her for three months before she was adopted by an American lady by the name of Margaret Cook.

With full support from her adopted mother, Jenna never ceased to explore her heritage. She had come to China numerous times in the past to study Chinese and to work as a volunteer for her former orphanage in Wuhan, but this current trip, her fifth, is special. This time, she is determined to find her birth parents, as well as the host family that took care of her as an infant.

I was already familiar with Jenna's story, but to read of it in a Chinese news article was exhilarating. The piece that my father read was originally from Chutian Metropolis News, a local newspaper in Wuhan who had interviewed Jenna in person. The story then became widely circulated both in print and on the Internet, where it was featured by major Chinese "gateway websites" such as Sina and Tencent.

Jenna was also invited to share her story with netizens on Tencent Weibo, one of China's biggest microblogging platforms. The "micro interview" turned out to be hugely popular, generating over 330,000 Weibo posts (you can read the entire conversation here). Her first introductory tweet garnered 28,000 reposts and almost 4,000 comments.

In 1992, American Margaret Cook (right) took baby Xia Huasi into her life

I am happy that Jenna managed to spread the word regarding her project, and I hope that she manages to find the information she needs. Most netizens share my enthusiastic support for her project, and gave her their full-fledged blessing and approval. Although generally supportive, netizens also voiced their concerns. Many wondered why she still wanted to find her birth parents, given that they had abandoned her in the first place.

Jenna responded via her Weibo, "They gave me my life. I feel very grateful… [When I find them] I want to see how they are doing, and to give them my love. I will try my best to help them."

Her kindness and forgiving attitude touched the hearts of many. @左海游子 wrote, "You are a kind girl. You are repaying misdeeds with kindness. You still love your birth parents so deeply, and have not forgotten the family who took care of you. Your story is so touching. I sincerely wish that you'll be able to fulfill your dream of finding your parents!"

Some netizens were more skeptical. @鱼不离水 voiced his opposition: "I advise that you stop trying to find your birth parents. I believe that they don't have nearly the compassion and broadmindedness of your adopted mother, or else why would they have abandoned you in the first place? Even if you find them, it will only bring them regret and humiliation. Why bother?"

@范凯俊 elaborated, "In China, things are often more complicated. We have an old saying: 'the birth mother is not as dear as the adopted mother.' [生母不如养母亲] When you were born, the old concept of favoritism for boys was especially widespread. Your birth parents might have abandoned you for that reason. It's possible that the truth will disappoint you."

While some netizens condemned Jenna's birth parents for their supposed heartlessness, others took a more sympathetic view. @我的春天来了 posed the question, "What if your birth parents were in a awkward position themselves? Suppose that you were born out of wedlock. In that case, your birth parents might have their separate families now, and your sudden appearance would turn their lives upside down. In China, parents usually only abandon their children when they have no other choice. What parents can stand losing their own children?"

Whether her birth parents are to blame is unimportant. Jenna herself emphasized that she did not resent them, and that she wished to give them nothing but her gratitude and love. However, realistic obstacles still remain between Jenna and her goal.

Jenna Cook (夏华斯) has enjoyed strong support from Chinese netizens

@端木赐香 listed the potential problems that Jenna faced: "First, your birth parents might not have been married then, and may still be unmarried now. Second, they might not remember you at all. It's also possible that they live in the lower reaches of society and can't hear your pleas. Finally, it's a private matter and they might not want to come forward for that reason."

Despite the difficulties, Jenna appears unfazed. When netizens asked her whether she would give up her search if her efforts prove unfruitful, her response was firm: "Even if I can't find them this time, I will go on trying. I will search for them for the rest of my life."

Her determination seems to have paid off. Today, Jenna tweeted via her Tencent Weibo account, @JennaCook, that she had located her host mother, who is now living in Chongqing. Although she is still a few steps removed from finding her birth parents, we have every reason to believe that she will succeed.

As @邢军 wrote: "Seeing that she has gone so far as to come to China five times to find her birth parents, why would they still be afraid to step forward? [As her birth parents], you have already made one mistake. Don't make another one. Family love is priceless. After all, blood is thicker than water. So please come forward, and don't let her leave your side once more with disappointment and regret."

Hexie Farm (蟹农场): The Wall

Posted: 29 May 2012 02:43 PM PDT

For his latest entry to his CDT series, cartoonist Crazy Crab of Hexie Farm depicts the invisible walls of and , as well as dictatorship and servility. The dictator is barking commands which the figures underneath obey.

Read more about Hexie Farm's CDT series, including a Q&A with the anonymous cartoonist, and see all cartoons so far in the series.

[CDT owns the copyright for all cartoons in the CDT series. Please do not reproduce without receiving prior permission from CDT.]

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Wine from Gobi Desert Aims At Market

Posted: 29 May 2012 02:49 PM PDT

As China's local wine market grows and foreign labels are running vineyards in China, wine from the Gobi desert is aiming at the booming market. The Gobi desert is located in the Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang region. Although the region seems unlikely for the location of a vineyard, the desert has several different types of climates that are conducive to making. Rueters reports:

Just a few hundred metres from towering sand dunes, workers unearth row upon row of grapevines buried under the sand to protect them from temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit).

Chateau Hansen, which first planted vineyards beside the Gobi in the early 1980s, says the hot, dry summer and plentiful water from the nearby Yellow River make the location among China's best for wine production.

This moderate-sized vineyard near Wuhai city, 670 kilometres (416 miles) west of Beijing, now boasts 250 hectares of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Gernischt grapevines.

To raise its profile, Hansen has built a grand European-style chateau, which includes a hotel, and enlisted the help of a French wine expert who acts as winemaker.

Although Chateau Hansen mainly sells in China, they will also be present at the Asia Pacific 2012. Winemakers attending the expo, held in Hong Kong, hope to break into the Chinese market. AFP adds:

Organisers of the three-day Vinexpo Asia-Pacific expect demand for imported wine to weather the slowdown in Chinese , forecast to fall to 7.5 percent this year from 9.2 percent in 2011.

A deep dip in prices of Bordeaux's most prestigious, investment-grade wines last year suggests the Chinese-driven speculative bubble may have burst, but the market for more modest mid-range wines will open up, they said.

"The promise of the Chinese market and the Asian market continues to be very high. The growth is still there," Vinexpo chief executive Robert Beynat told AFP.

China is the world's biggest drinker of spirits, with 995 million cases guzzled in 2010 — almost double the volume consumed in 2006, according to Vinexpo.

Read more about wine in China, via CDT.

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Today’s Viral Image: School Is Out–Forever?

Posted: 29 May 2012 01:01 PM PDT

The graduation picture to end all graduation pictures

An image of college graduates exulting in their newfound freedom while their alma mater apparently burns has recently been making the rounds on Chinese social media.

As the Dalian evening news has tweeted from its official account (@大连晚报) on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter, a warehouse just behind the Dalian University of Science and Engineering caught fire at about 1:30 yesterday afternoon. Netizens sharing this image maintain the fire burst out just before this photograph was taken.

Many netizens are incredulous, claiming to be students at the university who did not see the fire, or do not recognize the building in the picture. Some have countered that this was a satellite campus of the school, hence the confusion.

While the image may appear too incredible to be true, a local paper's account of fire by the school makes it more likely than not to be real. Which leaves this author with a question: Was the timing of this photograph coincidental, as some have written, or did the students seize the opportunity to create an unforgettable memento?

These images show a real fire, now under control. From Dalian Evening News

Burning Electric Car Engulfed Three Lives On Board

Posted: 29 May 2012 09:30 AM PDT

It is not uncommon to see Communist China government cover up any accidents, regardless of where the fault laid on. However, even veteran reporters were surprised by the swift ban on reporting of a multi-car accident in Shenzhen of Guangdong Province. Within an hour of the accident, traffic cops were deleting reporters photos, and news outlets were issued a gag order.

There was not much debate over the cause of the accident on May 26. A drunk and speeding Nissan GTR hit two cars. The driver and three passengers on the GTR suffered no injuries. Police issued photos of the driver with a single band-aid on his forehead, presumably from the airbag release, but the band-aid was absent a few hours later. Three passengers were not hurt at all. However, the driver of a taxi hit by the GRT was killed when his BYD E6 was engulfed in flames, along with two passengers. The GTR hit another car before it stopped on the road. There is no casualty on the third car.

A question is raised regarding safety of BYD's electric car. The local government deployed 300 E6 model electric cars as taxis as a showcase for Shenzhen's technology capacity.

BYD, a battery maker, was known to the world as the rising star in making electric vehicles from scratch. Although the advocate from central government seems to come to a halt since last year, the manufacture rallied enough support in the local government. The industry has long been curious on BYD's success in overcoming two major obstacles in developing full electric vehicles: cost of battery and fire safety. Some speculation points that BYD did not solve the cost issue of low producing ratio of batteries. Instead, BYD relied on mass labor to comb through batteries to pick out good ones. The incident may be seen as a major blow to BYD's claim of battery safety, especially under abuse, such as in a moderate collision.

Last May, Media reported BYD dismissed over 1000 employees and cut off a retail network for mini-cars. November, the Ministry of Land and Resources of China canceled a BYD project in Shannxi Province. Fourteen officials of local and provincial levels were disciplined.

Warren Buffett famously invested in BYD, a booster for believers in BYD and electric vehicles alike. For readers interested in studying Chinese entrepreneurship, BYD provide a typical trace of a rising course. The company started as a battery maker in 1995. Echoing the government's call for new energy cars, BYD secured government support after it announced it had grasped key technology in electric vehicle manufacturing. However, only several hundred electric cars had been delivered since the inception of an auto division in 2003. Instead, the company become one of the largest traditional car makers, taking advantage government policies tailored for electric car makers. The company then getting into fields of solar energy, also in response to government police steering. Most recently, the company added mobile communication into its profile.

BYD claimed that because the accident was so sever, ordinary gasoline car would also have failed to protect its occupants in similar condition. BYD's stock price bounced back Monday after initial setback.

Shenzhen is one of six 'New Energy Cars Test Cities' designated by the central government, along Beijing, Shanghai, Changchun, Hangzhou and Hefei. Shenzhen government is on schedule to deploy another 500 E6 taxis by the end of June.

Audio Interview: Exciting Period in History for Cross-Strait Relations

Posted: 29 May 2012 11:57 AM PDT

In an audio interview with Radio Taiwan International, TLN contributor Chieh-Ting Yeh explains why social media provides an unprecedented opportunity for mutual understanding between Taiwan and mainland China. You can listen to additional episodes of the program "Eye on China," with host Natalie Tso, here.

A Quarter of Chinese Children Under 7 Already Online

Posted: 29 May 2012 10:28 AM PDT

Netizens are getting younger and younger these days. In China over a quarter of children under 7 are already online, according to a 2011 report on Internet usage by minors. And parents are not happy about it.

A tweet by Business Value magazine (商业价值杂志) summarizes the report highlights:

"The 2011 Report on Internet & Social Media Usage by Minors in China found:

(1) 66.5% of subjects use QQ [a popular messaging service] while usage of Tencent Weibo and Sina Weibo [two popular Twitter-like microblog platforms] claim 18.8% and 11.4%, respectively; [here's a quick TLN guide to the Chinese social media hierarchy]

(2) Use 7 years of age as a threshold for school-aged children, 26.2% of pre-school age children use the Internet;

(3) Most parents believe the drawbacks of using the Internet outweigh the benefits;

(4) When all minors are taken into account, Internet usage is already up to 91.4%, an increase of 14.2% from the previous year." [Chinese tweet]

For @Hevin7, the study results explain everything: "So that why when I play games [online] some players call me uncle….."

@张鹏 tweets: "This is no exaggeration. For kids in the future the Internet has already seeped into their DNA."

@半支烟0206 has his doubts about these stats, writing: "91.4% of all minors are netizens? Is this statistic reliable? This can't be a nation-wide statistic. If it's just the big cities then it's possible!"

So how does, say, the U.S. hold up in comparison? Very well, apparently–or poorly, if you're a concerned parent. According to a 2011 report released by educational non-profit organizations Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Sesame Workshop, 80% of American children under 5 use the Internet. Apparently envious of this toddler gap, @唔识车大炮噶后生仔 tweets: "THIS is the distance Chinese still have to bridge with foreign countries!"微博达人

Footnotes (? returns to text)
  1. 《2011中国未成年人互联网/社交网络运用状况调查报告》显示：1、66.5%调查对象使用QQ，腾讯微博和新浪微博的比例分别为18.8%和11.4%；2、若以7岁为界,学龄前儿童上网比例达26.2%；3）多数家长认为上网弊大于利；4、未成年人互联网普及率已经达到91.4%，比前一年提升14.2%?

The Daily Twit (@chinahearsay Twitter feed) – 2012-05-29

Posted: 28 May 2012 08:59 PM PDT

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The Daily Twit (@chinahearsay Twitter feed) – 2012-05-29

Posted: 28 May 2012 08:59 PM PDT

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Is Li Xingong Arrest Another Victory for China’s Weibots?

Posted: 29 May 2012 08:41 AM PDT

You may have been following the sensational case of Li Xingong, the former number two Party official in Yongcheng city, Henan, who is alleged to have raped a number of underage girls. According to Xinhua, Li's arrest was formally approved earlier today. As lurid as this case is, I wouldn't normally comment on a criminal matter like this, even noting that Li used to be a higher-up government official. This was not a case of corruption, misuse of public funds, etc. If the allegations are true, the man is a sex offender, and his actions (unless we learn something new) were not directly related to his public responsibilities.

That being said, there is another twist to this case that I'm frankly still trying to unravel: the role of public pressure. As you know, I have a great deal of interest in cases where the public seemingly exerts an influence on the judiciary, prosecutors or the police, usually in criminal matters. As I've said many times, the general trend disturbs me; the criminal justice system should generally be immune to public pressure. If not, scary things can happen.

So does the case of Li Xingong fit into this category? That's certainly the message I get from reading the foreign press, which includes the following writeups:

AFP: China ex-official held over rapes after online anger

Reuters: China detains official for rapes after online uproar

ANI: Chinese political leader arrested on charges of raping minors following bloggers outrage

Keep in mind that these articles, particularly AFP and Reuters, were picked up by a very large number of foreign media outlets.

So what's the message we are supposed to pick up from these headlines? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds to me like a government official was held/arrested only after the authorities were pressured into doing so by "bloggers" (most likely a reference to microbloggers on platforms like Sina's weibo — let's call these guys "weibots" to keep it simple).

Because virtually every person in the world outside of China who read about this case in English now thinks that this is yet another notch in the belt of weibots who are keeping the cops "honest" in China, I thought I'd read a bit further and see how this public pressure played out in this case.

Imagine my surprise when I couldn't find any evidence whatsoever that Li's arrest/detention was the result of online pressure. I am seriously confused. I went back to take a look at the English news and saw that the articles themselves talk about the case as "sparking online anger" and "prompting outraged comments" from the weibots, but nowhere is there any explanation of how that anger/outrage was at all instrumental in Li's detention.

As usual with a case like this, the facts are unclear. Several local news accounts claim that Li was caught in the act near a Middle School on May 8. He appears to have been formally arrested last Friday, or about 2.5 weeks after he was initially detained for suspicion of rape. An announcement of the arrest was made on Sunday, and the approval of the arrest was issued today.

If the above timeline is accurate, it means that the formal arrest occurred almost three weeks after he was caught in the act. Were the cops dragging their feet? If there was public pressure involved here, that would be my assumption, but the news reports and online chatter I've read do not focus on any time delay or outrage with police procedure specifically. (If anyone with criminal procedure experience in China is reading, feel free to chime in if something sounds suspicious here.)

Instead, online comments talk about cover-ups and delays without really explaining when or how that happened. One assumption seems to be that it's simply not possible that Li could have engaged in this sort of behavior for so long without authorities knowing about it (and covering it up). Maybe, but again, I don't see where this is all coming from aside from reflexive distrust. Could Li have raped a large number of girls for years without his colleagues knowing about it? Well, why not? I assume he tried to keep his activities secret.

One other thing to note on procedure is that between May 8 and the formal arrest, an investigation was conducted, which included searches of Li's personal possessions, and interviews of witnesses. Moreover, and I haven't been able to determine this from what I've read so far, I assume that Li wasn't just released on his own parole during this time but was in custody.

I'm not seeing where the weibots come into the picture. The anger and outrage are real and significant, but did this have any effect on what the police were doing? Is there any evidence that the cops were sitting on this case or somehow being lenient with Li because of his government status? I just don't see it.

One issue that has been raised by many is the number of alleged victims. The authorities and state-run press seems to have settled on "more than ten" or, as Xinhua stated, eleven. Other sources, including online chatter, puts the number much higher, with one report saying "hundreds." David at Tea Leaf Nation finds fault with the local authorities:

Making matters worse, local authorities either hid, or completely failed to understand, the extent of Li's crime. A press release by Yongcheng authorities just two days ago said that "According to investigation, Li Xingong is suspected of raping over ten girls." But according to the anonymous reporter, "A survey of victims' families lasting over ten days revealed the number of Li's victims far surpassed those recorded on his computer, most likely numbering close to 100." Police have explained that Li himself admitted to over ten.

When in doubt, I'd normally go with David's opinion. But playing devil's advocate for a moment, I can also see why the authorities would be conservative with those numbers. I've seen this back home with cases involving multiple victims. The cops will often tally up the alleged victims based on those cases for which they think they have irrefutable evidence, even if it appears as though there were many other victims.

In other words, the cops might be in effect saying "At this time, we think we can prove 11 counts of rape, although there may very well be additional victims." Certainly a possibility, although as David mentions, the weibots are definitely not predisposed to give the local authorities the benefit of the doubt. And let's face it, no one would ever take that lower number and say "Give the guy a break. He only raped eleven underage girls, not a hundred. He's not that bad." I don't think so.

I don't usually like to churn out 1,000+ words only to end with "I don't know," but that's where I am with this case. The point is that I fail to see how this can be correctly characterized as an instance where the weibots somehow forced to cops to act. If I'm right, the foreign press, or at least the editors over at AFP and Reuters, screwed this up royally and came to an erroneous conclusion.

More disturbing than any media failure is the rush to judgment by the weibots. The automatic assumption that Li's actions had somehow been known and covered up prior to May 8 or that the local authorities would definitely try to cover up his crimes even after he was detained, is troubling. It suggests severe credibility problems of local officials, although that's not exactly news. The level of distrust that is illustrated by these types of cases is startling.

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Chinese Democracy Has its Benefits

Posted: 29 May 2012 07:41 AM PDT

A recent study suggests that China's village elections have led to some concrete improvements for local residents since the early 80s, despite widespread meddling by Party officials. Among the reported benefits are greater and more equitable investment and a significant reduction in . From China Real Time Report:

… [T]he economists found some solid pluses for local . Villages with elected officials spent substantially more on irrigation, primary schools, roads and trees plantings – and agreed to tax themselves to pay for the improvements. The economists figure that about 70% of the funding for these improvements came from the villages.

Villages with elections also showed a substantial reduction in income inequality. "Elections caused the households that were the poorest before the election to gain the most income, 28%, and the households that were the richest before the election to lose the most income, 29%," they calculate. The authors argue that elected leader improved irrigation, which helped those with the worst land, and divied up fields in a way that helped the poorest villagers. Similarly income from village enterprises was redistributed on a more equal basis ….

But the positive gains don't necessarily portend a bright future for democracy for China. Village democracy could have the opposite effect. If elections reduce local grievances, the ruling Communist Party may feel less pressure to change. If that's the case, the economist write, the elections could become "an instrument for local governance that improves citizens' satisfaction of [sic] the autocratic central regime."

made global headlines earlier this year when Wukan held its first votes since a dramatic stand against local officials in December. has been trumpeted as a potential model for the rest of China, but there are others: 's Yantian, for example, where the migrant workers who make up 97% of the population are excluded from elections by the original inhabitants, or the village in Beijing's Daxing district where an independent campaign was allegedly derailed last year by bribery and police intimidation.

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Some Data on Reverse-Merger Class Action Lawsuits

Posted: 29 May 2012 06:15 AM PDT

If you have been following the various issues/scandals involving reverse-merger US-listed Chinese companies, CFO magazine recently ran a brief update about where things are at the moment, particularly with regard to class action suits and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Here's a taste:

Driven in part by abundant reverse-merger filings by firms in China resulting in listings on U.S. exchanges, the number of securities class-action filings involving accounting allegations rose in 2011 over 2010, according to a new report by Cornerstone Research.

Of the 188 securities class-action lawsuits filed in 2011, 70 included accounting allegations. That compares with 46 in 2010, the lowest number of accounting case filings in recent years, according to the report, "Accounting Class Action Filings and Settlements—2011 Review and Analysis."

The rest of the article is here. This story is not going away anytime soon.

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Hu Jintao sought Jiang Zemin’s advice in Bo Xilai affair

Posted: 29 May 2012 03:08 AM PDT

The Chinese president, Hu Jintao, left, and his predecessor Jiang Zemin stand on the Tiananmen balcony in 2009, the PRC's 60th anniversary. (Photo/Xinhua)

Hu Jintao, the Chinese president and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, sought the advice of his predecessor Jiang Zemin over the handling of the Bo Xilai scandal, reports our Chinese-language sister newspaper Want Daily.

A political source in Beijing told Want Daily that Jiang, who was party leader between 1989 and 2002, has been living in the city's Western Hills region in recent months and was visited by Hu to discuss the affair of the disgraced party chief of Chongqing, the biggest political drama to hit China in more than two decades.

Bo has been stripped of all party posts and is being detained for unspecified "serious discipline violations," while his wife Gu Kailai has been arrested on suspicion of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood over a financial dispute, a crime Bo allegedly tried to cover up. Bo's former police chief, Wang Lijun, is facing treason charges for fleeing to the US consulate in Chengdu in February, allegedly conveying to US diplomats evidence of the the couple's misdeeds. Bo's supporters claim he has been set up by his political enemies for implementing leftist neo-Maoist policies in Chongqing, but the central leadership says the case is unrelated to politics.

During their conversation, Jiang told Hu that all political considerations must be cast aside when investigating Bo's case, according to the source. Jiang said Bo's crimes must be dealt with in accordance with the law and must be an "ironclad" case that can withstand the test of time, the source added. Bo's case has "broken the bottom line of human civilization," the former president was also quoted as saying.

Jiang's alleged recommendations were echoed in a party meeting reported by Reuters, in which Hu was said to have been at pains to point out that the Bo affair was an "isolated case" that was not guided by political motivations.

Last month, Jiang reportedly met a number of foreign visitors including Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. Commentators said this was the 85-year-old's way of showing the world that he is still healthy and intends to make his influence felt during the upcoming 18th National Congress, where a new generation led by Vice President Xi Jinping will take over the party leadership.

Source: Want China Times

You might also like：

Life for Bo Xilai, Wang Lijun; death for Gu Kailai: Boxun
Renowned judge Ma Wen appointed to head Bo Xilai investigation
Wen Jiabao criticized for Bo Xilai comments: Reuters
Verdicts in Bo Xilai affair to be delivered next month: Global Times
Bo Guagua graduates from Harvard
无觅

Xinhua: No “Massive Stimulus”

Posted: 29 May 2012 04:29 AM PDT

State-run Xinhua News Agency announced Tuesday that China will not introduce a large stimulus similar to the one it implemented during the 2008 financial crisis, tempering expectations following a call last week by Premier Wen Jiabao to prioritize . From Bloomberg:

"The Chinese government's intention is very clear: it will not roll out another massive plan to seek high economic growth," Xinhua said in the seventh paragraph of a Chinese- language article on economic policy. "The current efforts for stabilizing growth will not repeat the old way of three years ago."

Premier 's call last week to focus more on boosting economic growth has spurred speculation the nation will step up measures to boost expansion that's set to slow for a sixth straight quarter. Economists at Credit Suisse Group AG and Standard Chartered Plc said yesterday that stimulus is likely to be smaller than the 4 trillion yuan ($630 billion at today's exchange rate) package announced in 2008.

Credit Suisse economists said spending on investment will probably range from 1 trillion yuan to 2 trillion yuan. Standard Chartered said China is starting a "mini-me" version of the prior stimulus.

Smaller stimulus doesn't mean no stimulus, however, and the government has already made policy announcements this week aimed at promoting growth. The has agreed to revive a "cash for clunkers" program that gives consumers financial incentive to trade in their cars, and the announced that it will offer subsidies ranging from 100 to 400 yuan on energy-efficient televisions and air conditioners sold beginning June 1.

The Wall Street Journal reported today that Asian stock markets have rallied on hopes of a China stimulus.

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Echoes of Zhu Rongji? China’s New Privatization Push

Posted: 29 May 2012 03:58 AM PDT

China's new push to open state controlled industries may look bold after a decade of stuttering privatisation progress, but Beijing faces stiff resistance from vested interests in its effort to extend its World Trade Organisation dividend.

Beijing's leaders, its top think-tanks, the World Bank and private sector economists all largely agree that for China to build on reform-fired growth after its first decade of WTO membership, state firms must be more competitive and capital better allocated. (Reuters)

If you go back a decade or so and peruse China WTO entry lore, you'll find several explanations for why China joined the trade organization. Of course China was looking forward to an increase in trade and investment, which I think we can all agree has happened, in a spectacular fashion.

In addition to the obvious gains, China's leaders realized that the country was in a precarious position. The economic reforms put into place since the late 1970s, solidified by Zhu Rongji's crucial contribution to the process in the mid-90s, had yielded dramatic progress, most notably seen in the rise in per capita income and GDP growth. However, those reforms were yet to be set in stone, and conservative critics were still lurking about the halls of government, waiting for the opportunity to roll back changes.

The WTO presented itself with an excellent opportunity. If China submitted to a set of external rules in order to achieve additional economic gains, many of those reforms would then be impossible to roll back, at least not without violating WTO law. Reformers like Zhu could then answer his critics with a shrug of the shoulders and a "Hey, it's out of my hands. We already agreed to abide by all of those rules."

Win.

For quite a few years, steady liberalization and privatization proceeded apace. And the gains of WTO membership were quite apparent. In addition to significant increases in trade and investment, domestic enterprises, including huge State-owned enterprises, responded to (or prepared for) foreign competition with a wave of consolidation, streamlining, and innovation. This was all by design of course. China's economy gurus in the 90s guessed that foreign competition would be a positive kick in the ass to SOEs that needed to get to the next level in terms of efficiency and quality.

In the last few years, however, with the implementation of an economic strategy that focused on the build-up of State-owned champions in key market sectors (e.g. auto, energy, heavy industry), many critics have bemoaned the seeming rollback of the spirit of Zhu-era privatization.

So has the pendulum swung once again back to privatization? That's what everyone is wondering, and certainly the government seems to be pushing for more private capital in certain sectors. But does that mean a return to the mindset of the late 90s?

Perhaps. It might be that some reformers have taken a hard look at some areas of the economy and decided that an influx of private capital might be what's needed to increase profitability. On the other hand, there's a lot of backstory with some of these sectors (e.g. health care, railways, and highways) that shouldn't be overlooked. Motivation for opening up some of these areas might have less to do with competition than other, sector-specific, factors. With health care reform, for example, the government faces a herculean task; this industry needs all the help it can get. Contrast that with the rail sector, which has been slammed by high-profile quality and corruption scandals in the last couple of years. If there is a common theme here, it's elusive.

Lastly, a cautionary note for foreign investors who are easily excited by the use of the word "privatization." One must not equate that with an opening up to foreign capital. Yes, some of these reforms might pave the way for increased opportunities for offshore investors. However, in many instances, this influx of private capital will be limited to domestic investors only. These days, China is blessed with a great deal of domestic private capital and a growing pool of talent from private industry that can be utilized to solve problems in the State-owned sector; this is a luxury Zhu Rongji never had.

© Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Urban Wages See Double-Digit Growth in 2011

Posted: 29 May 2012 03:57 AM PDT

The announced Tuesday that average for urban Chinese workers in both the private and non-private sectors rose by double digits in 2011, according to The China Daily:

The data was based on a survey of 1.48 million non-privately owned organizations and 620,000 private companies, the NBS said.

Wages for workers in the nation's more developed eastern regions and major cities were the highest, while the central provinces of Anhui, Henan and Hubei ranked lowest, according to the NBS.

The finance, telecommunication, computer service and software development sectors offered the highest salaries, the NBS said.

Feng Nailin, director of the population and statistics department under the NBS, said last year's stable and rapid helped buoy wages.

© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
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Sina Weibo “User Contracts” Go Live

Posted: 29 May 2012 03:07 AM PDT

The New York Times reports that Chinese microblogging site has rolled out "user contracts" with a points-based system to better facilitate the monitoring and punishment of inappropriate comments by its 300 million :

Points can be deducted for online comments that are judged to be offensive. When a blogger reaches zero, the service stated, a user's account will be canceled. Users who suffer lesser penalties can restore their 80 points by avoiding violations for two months.

Deductions will cover a wide range of sins, including spreading rumors, calling for protests, promoting cults or superstitions and impugning China's honor, the service stated.

Most notably, the contracts also will punish time-honored tactics that bloggers have used to avoid , like disguising comments on censored topics by using homonyms (where two different Chinese characters have nearly identical sounds), puns and other dodges.

Jon Russell, Asia Editor of The Next Web, wrote this morning that he saw "no obvious sign of the points system being introduced as yet," and called out one of a number of clauses in the contract that he believes are "open to fairly broad interpretation." The "user contracts" went live following a trial period that began three weeks ago, and represent the latest attempt by state regulators to control the flow of information and limit the spread of sensitive rumors online after Sina failed to effectively implement the state-mandated "real name registration" policy.

Reflecting on a just-completed visit to Sina Weibo in Beijing, Slate's Jacob Weisberg writes that the old model of control is evolving as figures such as , Koonchung Chan and continue to influence China's "evolving free-speech landscape":

Sina's biggest fear seems to be not that users will complain about the limits placed upon their activity, but that that its failure to police the site itself will provoke the authorities to close it. Party officials have paid admonitory visits, and suspended commenting for three days last month in response to proliferating rumors about the . But shutting down Weibo (which refers to the Chinese version of microblogging, as opposed to Sina, which is the biggest company that provides a platform for it) would now count as an outsized act of repression, difficult for the government to get away with. China's biggest blogging and micro-blogging platform has 324 million registered users, and there are millions more on competing services. Constrained though it is, Weibo has become a boisterous national conversation. Stopping it at this point would both infuriate its users and deny the security services their best tool for gauging public opinion.

The Chinese government's can't-live-with-it, can't-live-without-it relationship to Weibo epitomizes the paradoxical condition of free expression in China apparent during our trip. State censorship is no longer just a question of dissidents testing the boundaries of what is permissible and regularly running afoul of the authorities—the old, familiar model. It has become a matter of authoritarian innovation as well, with the one-party state experimenting in with ways to constrain and control its explosive new media environment.

Finally, China Media Project's David Bandurski reminds China watchers that official bureau's and agencies have seized on microblogs as a valuable tool as well.

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Peking duck restaurant accused of selling ‘gutter oil’

Posted: 29 May 2012 12:23 AM PDT

Long lines are common outside Quanjude, a famous Peking roast duck chain of restaurants. (File Photo/CFP)

Quanjude, one of the most famous Peking roast duck restaurants in China, is the latest to be implicated in the "gutter oil" scare in the country, having been accused of selling its leftover oil and compost to street vendors that sell thin fried crackers.

For seven years, a middle-aged man brought leftover oil from various Quanjude branches and resold them to vendors of thin fried crackers. The reseller has been indicted for selling toxic and harmful foods, and a Beijing court is now dealing with the case.

A manager in charge of two Quanjude branches said on Saturday that the restaurant thought it had signed an agreement with a qualified company. But a police investigation revealed that the middlemen carried false documents, according to Yangtse Evening News, a newspaper based in Nanjing.

Yet many have found Quanjude's excuse unacceptable. It is a large and well-known restaurant that most think should not be easily cheated by small-time vendors.

The buyers were reportedly responsible for the transportation of the used oil — including duck grease that dripped into collecting boxes and pipes under the restaurants' stoves. About 50-60 kilograms was reportedly collected each day.

Not surprisingly, questions have been raised over how Quanjude was unaware of the illegal trade given the quantity of oil involved and duration of the deal. While the hawkers forged official documents, many say restaurant management was lax and opportunistic. Some suspect Quanjude managers of using the trade of used oil to fatten their pockets.

The widespread use of "gutter oil" — made from garbage, leftover oil and even sewage — has caused a scare in China, where authorities are trying to crack down on vendors. Consuming gutter oil poses a host of dangers to human health.

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无觅

The crackdown and foreign garbage – a few ideas that still need to be addressed

Posted: 29 May 2012 02:05 AM PDT

For the last few weeks, the expat community in China has been abuzz with talk about Beijing's crackdown on foreigners who are here illegally, and the growing anti-foreign sentiment that seems to be stoked by state media (Beijing Cream's summary of what sparked it all and the fiery post that almost got China Geeks sued). So far the crackdown has already spread to Yanbian and Chengdu is preparing to announce similar measures, a nationwide campaign in the next few months would not be surprising. If we're completely honest though, I think most of us would agree with the importance of enforcing visa policies, but dislike the tone of the rhetoric and the nationalism it encourages. I think we should also admit that most of us know people who are currently violating the terms of their visa, and that this pushes us to view the directives in a different light. Today I want to bring up a few ideas that I think are worthy of further discussion, without rehashing too much of what has already been said.

Note: China "cracks down" on lots of things, and my Chinese friends found nothing surprising about the language used. It's highly likely that local authorities did not consider how the campaign would sound to foreigners. Hopefully, someone will learn a lesson from the backlash, the poor "journalists" at People's Daily have been trying to put a positive spin on it for days now.

"Strengthen the management of foreigners. Crack down on the three types of illegals." Banner in Beijing from @niubi. The three illegals are: illegal entry, overstayed visa, and illegal employment

First, it is important to note that "foreigners" is a catch-all term for a very disparate group. South East Asians and North Koreans (a second campaign was launched in North Eastern China to combat this) fill the needs of cheap physical labor in industries that are no longer enticing to Chinese workers; African traders have found a base that offers them a reasonably comfortable life, while opening a market for cheaply made Chinese goods; and young, mostly white, English speakers only partially fill the gigantic demand for teachers. They are attracted to China for many reasons, but the fact that work is easy to find is likely the most common one (I was almost made a VP of marketing for a wine distributor while shopping at the supermarket once). Unfortunately, China seems to have been completely unprepared for this, and has what could only charitably be described as a rudimentary system for handling the influx.

This brings me to my second point: except for the occasional, vague threats, there is little reason to follow China's visa regulations for the time being. As far as I have seen, companies hiring foreigners breaching the terms of their visas never face repercussions (same in the US), and so have no reason not to hire these people. At the same time, the chances of getting caught working illegally are probably about the same as being audited by the IRS, and the salary generally is much higher than whatever the fines would be (for English Teachers). While I am in no way encouraging this behavior, it is not hard to understand why so many otherwise law abiding individuals break the terms of their visas.

This is further exacerbated by the often mercurial visa process, and the hassle associated with it (this of course coming from expats like me, who have never had to apply for a US or EU visa). Not only is it confusing for an individual applying for a visa, but it can also be incredibly difficult and expensive for companies/schools to get permission from gov't officials to hire foreigners. In the cases I am familiar with it has been the school or company that encouraged the expat to come on a tourist visa, insisting that it is common (it is) and legal (it isn't).

The majority of the people I know in this category are living in China on student visas, but find themselves working on holidays and weekends for spending money. I doubt that very many of these people will be swept out in this campaign, yet this group seems to be the most vocal about the crack down. Instead I think it will focus on people from other Asian countries and Africa, these are the groups that my co-workers quite openly despise and are seen as a source of crime (I don't know of any statistics backing this up, but neither do any of my co-workers).

In the debate, it's also worth noting that there are a large number (but a small percentage) of foreigners in China that are truly despicable, but are here completely legally. This was the case with the Russian cellist who swore at the woman on the train, and the British tourist who attempted to rape a local woman (which in Chinese is simply two undifferentiated foreign devils). Checking visas and passports does nothing to curb the underlying problems related to Chinese law enforcement.

Twice I have been approached by completely unknown expats who were teachers that openly bragged about sleeping with their students or prostitutes. After the disturbing conversation, they gave me their business cards. Yet, when I contacted their schools and the local authorities about these individuals, I was completely brushed aside. The training school in Guangdong said the man had a heart condition and therefore could not engage in sexual activity. Shanghai Normal University, where the other man was employed, said that they were confident that such a thing had not happened and weren't going to investigate it. The gov't agencies in Shenzhen never replied to my emails. Sadly, I doubt that this is uncommon.

Yet, I worry that even if these schools were to fire these individuals, another institute would offer them a position. The sad reality is that many institutions are so starved for foreign talent, that they never question the character of the individuals; even when presented with damning evidence they are more concerned with saving face than protecting their students (I know of similar cases involving Chinese teachers that were also covered up).

Furthermore, legal cases involving foreigners are still unclear in the eyes of law enforcement officials which leads to "special treatment." This of course is something that expats have little control over, and quite frankly should not demand. As mentioned in today's People's Daily, expats pulled over for speeding are occasionally let off without a fine due to the police officer's inability to communicate with them. While English shouldn't be a requirement for all officers, perhaps a translation service could be set up to help police communicate with expats to avoid such unequal application of the law.

Others are let go because the officers are concerned about how to handle the situation and are wary of the possible mountains of paper work, which has been another aspect specifically mentioned in Chinese editorials on the issue. Perhaps here foreigners are targeted because it is not possible to openly criticize the military personnel and gov't officials who also receive these undeserved privileges.

So I would like to propose the following – that we expats living in China improve our efforts to police ourselves. When we hear our friends talking about looking for work, we push them to get the proper visas. When we see obnoxiously drunk expats staggering out of a bar, we get them into a cab and on their way home. When we hear of teachers sleeping with their own students, we take action to protect their students. You can also focus on your own behavior- like withstanding the pushing on the bus without screaming and maybe even give up your seat when no one else is willing. Reply to as many "Haalllooows" with a friendly smile and wave as long as you can stomach. As unfair as it is, remember that wherever you go, you're not only representing yourself or even your country, but all waiguoren, all ~5.6 billion of us.

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