| China’s Patent Game for Clean-Energy Cars Posted: 25 Jan 2013 12:06 AM PST With over 2000 patents for alternative-energy cars filed last year, China is biting into the market for clean transportation. From Jeff Spross at Think Progress: China has actually been in the patent game for sometime. In 2011, the country's patent office received more applications — for all forms of invention, not just green technology — than any other nation. At the same time, very few Chinese investors seek to patent their ideas abroad — less than 5 percent between 2005 and 2009. Generally speaking, if an inventor has an idea of genuine merit, they'll seek to patent it as many places as possible. Concentrating merely on China's office could be an indication that other incentives are driving the patent, such as the chance to snatch up a government subsidy. The race between various countries to accrue patents in alternative-energy also raises the possibility of "patent wars," such as those that have riled the world of software. Companies and interests attempt to round up and hoard patents in order to corner sources of revenue. That is, of course, very profitable for them, but it also tends to dampen innovation in the relevant industry. The spread of patents forces companies and inventors to spendever more time and money making sure every conceptual aspect of the technology they're working on is in the legal clear, or is properly licensed. That drives up costs for the companies, for consumers, and slows down the creation of new products and technologies that can raise everyone's well-being — like cars and other forms of transport powered by sustainable energy. It arguably even drives upinequality. The problem is especially acute in the software world, where it's especially difficult to organize who has the rights to what into a public and easily-searchable database. But in principle the inefficiencies and transaction costs that come with over-zealous competition for patents can afflict any industry, including green tech and green transportation.
See more on green technology via CDT.
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Post tags: clean energy, clean technology, green technology, patent
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| Photo: 30, by 生活童話 Posted: 25 Jan 2013 12:05 AM PST |
| Survey: Manufacturing Growth Highest in Two Years Posted: 25 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST China's factory sector growth reached a two-year high in January, according to a preliminary survey released on Thursday, as the economy continues to demonstrate signs of a rebound. From Reuters: The HSBC flash purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 51.9 in January, the highest since January 2011 and above the 50-point level that shows accelerating growth in the sector from the previous month. The PMI, the earliest preview of China's economic health in 2013, is the latest indication that the world's second-largest economy is steadily recovering from a near two-year cool-down. "Despite the still tepid external demand, the domestic-driven restocking process is likely to add steam to China's ongoing recovery in the coming months," Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at HSBC, said on Thursday.
The Wall Street Journal points out that HSBC's PMI reading, which focuses more on small and medium-sized private business as opposed to the SOE-focused official PMI, has been above 50 for three straight months: "The positive momentum is likely to be sustained in the first half of the year," said Li Wei, China economist at Standard Chartered. "The general feeling at the moment is that growth is picking up—we should see good growth at least in the first two quarters."
Meanwhile, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the head of China's National Economic Research Institute claimed that China is in the midst of a recovery: Fan Gang told a session on China's growth prospects at the World Economic Forum in this Swiss Alpine resort that the world's second-largest economy should grow faster in 2013 than it did last year. China posted growth of 7.8 percent last year, its weakest performance since the 1990s, but its economy started reviving at the end of the year when growth rose to 7.9 percent, up from the two previous quarters. "Now I can say the 'soft landing' has landed last year, and now it's under way to recovery," said Fan, whose institute is part of the Chinese government.
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Post tags: Davos, economic growth, HSBC, manufacturing, PMI, soft landing, World Economic Forum
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| Reform Rumors Surround China’s Intelligence Service Posted: 24 Jan 2013 07:29 PM PST Amid rumors of a restructuring of China's bureaucracy under the leadership of Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, the Jamestown Foundation's Peter Mattis assesses the implications of a potential shakeup of the Ministry of State Security. From The Diplomat: The MSS supposedly would become the State Security Administration (guojia anquan zongju), reporting directly to the State Council and presumably not to the Political-Legal Committee, now officially headed by Meng Jianzhu. If true, these rumors present a significant change to China's domestic intelligence and preserving stability apparatus. Not only would this reform dilute the power of the Central Political-Legal Committee by cutting out the MSS, but it also would give the senior-most leaders an alternate source of domestic intelligence. … Although the rumors fit with the narrative of reform of the preserving stability apparatus (weihu wending, abbreviated as weiwen) and demotion of the Central Political-Legal Committee's chairmanship from the Standing Committee to the Politburo, they are still only rumors on a subject that perennially disappoints. As Carl Minzner recently pointed out, reform of the political-apparatus is a real possibility but observers probably will have to wait for personnel changes at the National People's Congress in March and the bureaucratic profile of other players outside of the public security apparatus to see if reform is in the offing. Specifically for a "State Security Administration," analysts should look for a change in the lines of authority associated with the MSS. Although political-legal affairs at the center are difficult to observe, one national-level change would be the shift of the state councilor overseeing state security, currently Meng Jianzhu. At lower levels, local newspapers and government websites would provide changes to whether local state security officials continued participating in normal political-legal committee processes as well as the joint work of the 610 Office (anti-Falungong work) and the Preserving Stability Office.
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Post tags: bureaucracy, intelligence, Li Keqiang, Ministry of State Security, reform, Xi Jinping
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| Child Trafficking: A Cruel Trade Posted: 24 Jan 2013 05:27 PM PST Human trafficking is a serious problem in China, and as many as 70,000 children are kidnapped and sold each year. Last month, Xinhua released a report on the bust of a Child trafficking ring, also containing a summary of crack-down efforts since 2009. A recent article from The Economist on the illicit trade says that prices are rising in China – possibly due to a waning supply of kidnapped children, credits social media for raising awareness of the problem, and also introduces activists and officials working to eradicate the trade: The authorities have launched several crackdowns over the past two decades, but the crime has persisted. Since a renewed effort began in 2009, more than 54,000 children have been rescued and 11,000 trafficking gangs "smashed", Xinhua, the state news-agency, reported in December. Officials claim the problem has become less rampant. Given the patchiness of official data, this is hard to prove. Individual cases of abduction are rarely reported by the state-controlled media. But Deng Fei, a Beijing-based journalist and prominent campaigner on behalf of victims and their families, believes the number of children being abducted is falling. Mr Xiao estimates that the price of abducted boys has risen in recent years from around 40,000 yuan to about 90,000, perhaps because the supply of abducted children has been affected by the police crackdown. Social media may also have played a role. In recent years, parents and activists have been using websites and microblogs to share information about cases and draw public attention to child abduction. Their efforts have put pressure on the police, who have responded (unusually, given their suspicion of internet activism) by using the internet themselves to contact the families of victims.[...]
Earlier this month, The Telegraph's Malcolm Moore reported on family planning officials suspected of trafficking children: Wang Yiping is the head of the village family planning committee in Anxi county, Fujian, and a mother of four, according to the China Youth Daily newspaper. The police said she is suspected of assisting in the illegal sale of four babies, including the recent sale of a baby boy from Yunnan province for 52,000 yuan (£5,200). [...]In December, 12 family planning officials in Hunan were suspected of selling orphans abroad, and were found to have "seriously violated regulations", but were later cleared of any wrongdoing. For more on child trafficking in China, see prior CDT coverage. Also visit the website for "Living With Dead Hearts", a forthcoming film by Charlie Custer and Leia Li, for much more information on the topic, including links to charity organizations dealing with this cause.
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Post tags: child trafficking, corrupt officials, human trafficking, kidnapping
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| On The Web, A Tale of Two Chinas Posted: 24 Jan 2013 05:14 PM PST  Internet Penetration by Province. Source: CNNIC (via Tea Leaf Nation)  GDP Per Capita by Province in 2011. Source: China Bureau of Statistics (via Tea Leaf Nation) After last week's announcement by the National Bureau of Statistics that income equality had reached potentially destabilizing levels, Tea Leaf Nation's Eli Binder highlights the above maps and explores whether Internet penetration corresponds with economic development in China: Last Monday, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) published its annual report on the nation's internet usage and infrastructure. According to the report, the Chinese internet continues to boom, with usage swelling 10% to 564 million users in 2012. But the report also shows that the country's internet use – much like its economy – is highly uneven. While web penetration in Beijing surpassed 72% in 2012, fewer than 30% of residents in the interior province of Jiangxi are internet users. To put those figures in perspective, Beijing's internet usage is comparable to that of Hong Kong or Israel. Jiangxi, on the other hand, lags behind Uzbekistan, Bolivia, and Tuvalu. In terms of the production of online content, the gap is even wider. Beijing-based websites host over 38 billion web pages, or an average of 1,890 pages per city resident. Tibetan-based sites host fewer than 3.5 million pages, or just over one page per person.
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Post tags: gini coefficient, income inequality, Internet proliferation, urban rural divide
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| Workers Go Gangnam Style to Demand Unpaid Wages Posted: 24 Jan 2013 03:31 PM PST The withholding of wages owed to migrant workers often sparks protest in China. In the lead-up to Spring Festival – the only time of the year that many migrant laborers have the chance to see their families – these protests tend to become more common as unpaid wages keep migrants from buying their tickets home. Many innovative methods of protest have been used in the past to demand long overdue compensation, and recently workers in Wuhan employed pop-culture to draw attention to their cause. The Guardian reports: They have occupied factories and taken to the streets. But Chinese workers chose a more unusual form of protest when they highlighted their unpaid wages by dancing Gangnam Style outside the nightclub they had built. The construction workers from Wuhan said they had concluded it was the only way to draw attention to their problems. [...]The leader of the dancers, who gave his name only as Mr Lu, told the Wuhan Evening News that in total 40 workers were owed 233,000 yuan (£23,300). "There have been many creative protests over the last few years. Younger workers in particular are very media-savvy and clued-in," said Geoff Crothall of the Hong-Kong-based China Labour Bulletin.
For a picture of the PSY-inspired protest, see Chinese-language coverage. As workers in Wuhan dance Gangnam Style, LinkAsia relays video footage from a CCTV broadcast showing more drastic methods of protest over unpaid wages, which in more than one case included suicide: ChinaSMACK has translated Chinese news coverage and subsequent netizen commentary on the migrant worker in Guangzhou who detonated a suicide bomb while demanding his wages: At 3:53pm this afternoon [January 18], an explosion happened in an apartment building in Guangzhou's Tianhebei Road Dushi Huating Community. Upon report, Guangzhou Police quickly dispatched police officers and firefighters to the scene to handle the situation, evacuate the surrounding people, and immediately take the injured to the hospital for emergency treatment. According to the preliminary investigation by the police, in the afternoon, a man arrived at a company in Tianhebei Road Dushi Huating Community to ask for his salary, then detonated the explosive strapped to his body. The man died of his severe injuries. At present, this incident has already caused 1 death and 7 wounded. Police are currently investigating this incident.[...]
Meanwhile, China Daily reports on a ruling by the Supreme People's Court that may work to help migrants receive their due compensation: A judicial interpretation that went into effect on Wednesday aims to defend migrant workers by preventing their employers from defaulting on their wages. A judicial interpretation issued by the Supreme People's Court (SPC), China's top court, clearly defines specific applicable situations in which employers who default on wages can be sentenced to prison for up to seven years. A 2011 amendment to the Criminal Law classifies failure to pay laborers properly as a crime, specifying a prison sentence of three to seven years for employers whose failure to pay their employees results in "serious consequences." However, the "serious consequences" are not specified in the law. [...]The payments mentioned in the interpretation refer not only to employee wages, but also to bonuses and overtime pay. However, employers can have their penalties relieved or be exempted from punishment entirely if they render payments to their employees before being prosecuted, the interpretation said. The interpretation is hoped to discourage wage defaults, especially those that impact migrant workers.
For more on migrant workers, unpaid wages or Chinese interpretations of the Gangnam Style meme, see prior CDT coverage.
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Post tags: Gangnam style, judicial action, migrant workers, protest, protests, Supreme People's Court, unpaid wages
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| Ministry of Truth: Lives of North Korean Leaders Posted: 24 Jan 2013 10:23 AM PST The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by central government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these instructions as "Directives from the Ministry of Truth." Central Propaganda Department: Strictly observe propaganda and reporting regulations concerning foreign affairs. Do not report, comment on, or redistribute stories about the personal lives of North Korean leaders (such as face-lifts). (January 24, 2013) 中宣部：严格遵守有关涉外宣传报道规定，对朝鲜领导人个人生活（如整容）不报道、不评论、不转载。
CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation. Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.
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Post tags: censorship, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, media censorship, Ministry of Truth, North Korea, propaganda
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| Netizen Voices: Financial Disclosure Never? Posted: 24 Jan 2013 09:07 AM PST  Hu Xijin as a loyal dog. "Don't go! My master is about to undress! Just give him ten more years!" (Rebel Pepper) Official corruption is front and center on Weibo. As netizens expose greedy politicians online, Xi Jinping is vowing to crack down. Among the issues citizens want addressed is the lack of public disclosure of officials' financial assets. On December 19, Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin addressed the issue of financial disclosure on Weibo, bringing on a barrage of angry comments. His post was gone the next morning: @HuXijin: I think it is unrealistic to immediately have all officials publicly disclose their assets. If we push the process, we will inevitably create more problems than the ones we already need to solve. But financial disclosure is the way of the future. The clear road map and timetable for supporting financial disclosure nationally involves, first, implementation among reserve and newly appointed officials. Those who do not disclose will not be hired. From there, we can transition all officials to the system of disclosure. If we can complete this process in ten years' time, China will be quite fortunate. 
Gone, too, was a lively exchange between Caijing Magazine and Hu: @Caijing: [Middle of the Night] Why is it unrealistic to immediately have all officials publicly disclose their assets? Could you specify which new problems it will create? If it's that the prison system won't be able to handle the influx, why not just build more prisons? You'd stimulate demand and create jobs in one fell swoop. @HuXijin: Heh heh, how old are you? Could you post this under your name instead of Caijing's? 
Netizens took Hu to task: @ProudBreeze: If the reform fails, then the revolution will undoubtedly come. If we have to wait ten years for minor progress like disclosing government officials' financial assets, then how long must we wait for other reforms? One more question: do you think the party-state could afford to wait ten years? If there is no substantial action, people will lose faith in you within five years. @傲气尘风：改革不成，则革命必来！一个小小的公示都要等上十年，其它的改革又要多久？再问一句，你觉得党国等得起十年吗?若无实质的动作，不出五年，民众就会失去对你们的信心。
@hu_jia: Global Times Chief Editor Hu Xijin says before going to work this morning, he will delete the Weibo post which says we need ten years to disclose officials' assets. This post has 3,000 fantastic comments. One of the newest: "Ten years from now the officials will be hung on the street lamps, and their assets will be disclosed naturally." For Communist Party officials, the outcome of financial disclosure will be terrible, but will it be better if they don't disclose? Financial disclosure has to happen immediately. There are no technical or legal barriers. Refusing to disclose financial assets is proof of the corruption of the Chinese Communist Party. @hu_jia：环球时报主编胡锡进说今早上班之前会删掉他关于官员财产公开要十年的微博。此条微博三千条评论很精彩，最新一条是："十年后官员们都被挂路灯上了，财产自然就会公开了。"对共产党的官员而言，公开财产结局很坏，不公开财产的结局就会好吗。财产公开必须马上实施，不存在技术和法律障碍。拒绝公开财产，就是中共贪腐的证据。
@MaGuanqingHibernate: It's not realistic for you to disclose financial assets, yet it is realistic for you to spend with extravagance while citizens drift hopelessly? @马观晴已冬眠：官员财产公开制度不现实，你们奢侈挥霍，国家公民颠沛流离就现实？！
 Hu aids in the Wolf Vegetarian Plan. "Just wait a moment, Brother, and we'll be all done!" (Rebel Pepper) @Elselooker: For the disclosure of officials' personal assets, Hu Xijin wildly suggests that we "first implement [it] among reserve and newly appointed officials. Those who do not disclose will not be hired. From there, we can transition all officials to the system of disclosure. If we can complete this process in ten years' time…" An excuse like this shows that the well-fed cannot know how the starving suffer. It's obvious he's dodging the issue. If the people's resistance doesn't continue to grow in scale and brutality, to the point that the official system can't control them, we won't achieve financial disclosure in 10,000 years! @监政铲腐：公布个财产，胡锡进 竟然规划，"先从新后备和新提拔的官员开始财产公开，不公开的不予提拔。然后逐步向全体官员过渡。如果这个进程能10年内完成"，这真是饱汉不知饿汉饥的说辞，推脱之意非常明显，如果没有人民群众越来越大面积的高效强力的抗争，直到让公器也无法控制，恐怕一万年也难！
@Poetjustice: Hu Xijin thinks "it is unrealistic to immediately have all officials publicly disclose their assets. If we push the process, we will inevitably create more problems than the ones we already need to solve."–I would like to ask Chief Hu: Why is it unrealistic? Which new problems will it create? How could Sweden implement financial disclosure more than 200 years ago? How could most countries in the world implement it? How could Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan implement it? Is it true that the superiority of socialism lies in the infeasibility of officials' financial disclosure? @徐昕：胡锡进认为：立即实行所有官员财产公开制度不现实。如果强推它，新制造的问题必将多于它要解决的问题——请教胡总：为什么不现实？会制造哪些新问题？为什么瑞典200多年前就可实行？为什么世界大多数国家可实行？为什么港澳台可实行？难道社会主义优越性就在于不能实行官员财产公开制度吗？
@GuoGuangdong: "Heh heh, how old are you?"–This'll go viral. @郭光东："呵呵，你几岁？"——胡总编这句估计要火。
@Cinderana: Why is it unrealistic to disclose financial assets right now? 90% of the countries in the world have disclosed officials' assets. Can't we display the superiority of socialism here? If we wait for another ten years, the corrupt officials will all be retired. Mr. Hu even goes on to ask how old the other person is. Doesn't he just say the darndest things? Mr. Hu, when you comment on historical figures, would you please ask yourself how old you are first? @迷仰：为什么马上公开财产不现实？世界90%的国家都公开了，社会主义的优越性不能在这儿体现一下吗？再等个10年，贪官们也退休了吧。还问别人几岁，真是态度可掬。胡编您下次评价历史人物的时候也先问问自己几岁好吗！
@Weiwenjinhechu: Ten years is still too fast. We should design a hundred-year plan, no, a thousand-year plan! @为问今何处：十年还是太快了，应该设计个百年大计，不，千年大计。
@Northwind: Hu Xijin says the disclosure of officials' assets "will inevitably create more problems than the ones we already need to solve." He has essentially made it clear that the bulk of officials are corrupt. He directly proves that China's anti-corruption effort is a complete failure. (Of course, everybody knows this, but it's rare for Frisbee Hu to say so. Don't pretend that you are confident in the ideology, the system, and the path.) @北风：胡锡进说，（财产公开）"新制造的问题必将大于它要解决的问题"，这句话其实已经挑明了中国官员的腐败占了大多数，也直接说明中国的反腐败是彻底失败的。（当然这是人尽皆知的事，但飞盘胡能说出来，也难得。就别装什么理论自信制度自信道路自信了。）
@Xushaolin: This weibo from Hu Xijin last night was deleted. Don't know if it was deleted by him because he felt it was inappropriate, or deleted by Sina. I think this Hu guy sometimes fights fire with fire. Intentionally or not, he often reveals the real thoughts of government officials. Judging from netizens' comments, his idea is a gross violation of the popular will. The disclosure of officials' personal assets is the right way to go, and we must proceed. We can be careful and thoughtful in the process, but this cannot be used as an excuse to stall. @老徐时评：胡锡进昨晚的这条微博被删了，不知是他自己感觉不妥删的还是新浪给删的。感觉胡这个人有时真是个高级黑，经常有意无意地将官员们内心真实想法泄露出 来。从当时网友的评论看，他的想法是多么的有违民意。官员财产公示是大势所趋必须往前走。程序上可以谨慎周到，但绝不能成为无所作为拖延时间的借口。
Via CDT Chinese. Translation by Mengyu Dong.
© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Global Times, Hu xijin, Netizen Voices, netizens, official corruption, sina weibo, weibo
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