Notes On China

Chengguan defends his bribe taking, tells court he didn’t want to offend

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:08:35 +0100

Chengguan defends his bribe taking, tells court he didn’t want to offend:

The most shocking for me is the fact that an urban management boss managed to acquire 9.5million RMB from legal sources!

Patrick Chovanec on China’s mounting bad debts

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 02:58:13 +0200

Patrick Chovanec on China’s mounting bad debts

Why China Lacks Gangnam Style

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 02:51:23 +0200

Why China Lacks Gangnam Style:

newyorker:

Evan Osnos on the “Kung Fu Panda” problem, and why we shouldn’t expect a Chinese Gangnam anytime soon: http://nyr.kr/SpPCQS

Chinese officials themselves increasingly recognizing that Hu Jintao has been a failure

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:31:00 +0200

Chinese officials themselves increasingly recognizing that Hu Jintao has been a failure:

“…policies enacted during his decade-long tenure were responsible for the excessive growth of the security forces and also stalled an overhaul of the Chinese economy that is needed to maintain its dynamism (…) Some say he’s the worst leader China has had since 1949. Conflicts in society have intensified; monopolistic and antimarket tendencies in the economy seem to have intensified; and there’s been no real progress on reform.”

I had a dream about Japan starting a war. China fell into enemy hands, occupied by the Japanese Army. Surprisingly, the Imperial Japanese Army did not block the internet, so we went online to curse, after two years we finally cursed them to death. When I woke up I was disconsolate.

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 17:01:57 +0200

I had a dream about Japan starting a war. China fell into enemy hands, occupied by the Japanese Army. Surprisingly, the Imperial Japanese Army did not block the internet, so we went online to curse, after two years we finally cursed them to death. When I woke up I was disconsolate. :

aiwwenglish:

梦中日开战，中国沦陷，在日本军占领下，皇军竟然并不封锁网络，后来我们在网上骂呀骂呀，两年后他们终于被我们给骂死了。醒来心里惆怅。

theeconomist: KAL’s cartoon: this week, underlying problems.

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:43:53 +0200

theeconomist:

KAL’s cartoon: this week, underlying problems.

China Submits New Baselines to UN - Includes Senkaku Islands

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:30:32 +0200

China Submits New Baselines to UN - Includes Senkaku Islands:

lettersfromtaiwan:

In 1996, China submitted it’s baselines to the UN. They did not include the Spratley Islands, Taiwan or the Senkakus.

Four days ago (September 13th 2012) China resubmitted its baselines to the UN. They now include the Senkaku Islands.

This is an attempt by China to legally underscore it’s claim on the Senkaku Islands to counterbalance the Japanese claim currently being supported by a US-Japan mutual defence treaty. Not that the PRC ultimately really care about gaining legitimacy for their territorial claims from the UN - it is a tool with which to demonstrate legitimacy of claim.

This leaves Taiwan in a very strange position. If the Senkaku Islands are within the baseline, how soon before Taiwan is quietly added to the list? If President Ma of Taiwan is happy to see PRC vessels annex the Senkaku Islands from Japan despite his claim that their sovereignty belongs to the ROC version of China, would he also be happy to have the Spratley Islands and even Taiwanese waters patrolled by PRC fleets? If he maintains the illusion that Taiwan = a part of China and ROC = true China from ancient times, how can he justifiably argue against such a move? E.g:

Ma: Diaoyutais are part of China since ancient times. We are China so they belong to us.

Hu: Diaoyutais are part of China since ancient times. We are China so they belong to us. Taiwan claims Diaoyutais as part of China and Taiwan calls itself ‘an area of China’ so Taiwan belongs to us.

Ma:

Hu:

Ma: … but …

Hu: … But what? you said yourself that you are part of China. You said Taiwan is an area of China and your emissary agreed to ‘One Country, Two Areas’. If it is one country then we have the right to use the seas around Taiwan as our own.

Ma:

Hu: You had no objections to us protecting the sovereignty of the territory of China from the Japanese. In what way can you object now?

Ma:

Hu: Exactly.

USA and Japan: *facepalm*

globalvoices: Human rights activists in this image joined one...

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:28:27 +0200

globalvoices:

Human rights activists in this image joined one of China’s anti-Japan protests this weekend to campaign instead with a banner saying ‘Freedom, Democracy, Human Rights and Constitutional Rule’.

They were arrested by undercover security police and have been uncontactable since.

Find out more

Cartoon on the Diaoyu islands

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 14:34:00 +0200

via Beijing Cream:

Mother of all anti-Japanese protests to happen tomorrow?: Shanghaiist

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 14:06:27 +0200

Mother of all anti-Japanese protests to happen tomorrow?: Shanghaiist:

Nominees for the 2012 "Whackys" are out!

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 13:35:38 +0200

For those who don’t know, Confucius Peace Prize, is a “harmonious” alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize. A brainchild of Peking University professor, Kong Qindong, this prize was “a clumsy attempt to divert attention from the fact that the world’s most famous peace prize had just gone to a jailed Chinese dissident.” The last year’s winner was none other than Russian paramount machoman, Vladimir Putin!

Maybe, being tired of so much ridicule, this year’s nominees are far less fun and include:

former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his successor Ban Ki-moon

Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra

Founder of Microsoft Bill Gates

Peking University professor Tang Yijie

Social activist Wang Dingguo

Agricultural scientist Yuan Longping

Beijing instated 11th Panchen Lama.

This time, I think the award will go to someone that will actually show up to receive it! So my bet would be on one of the chinese candidate!

V. Shih: “The reasonable bulls and bears among us agree on...

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 06:02:00 +0100

V. Shih: “The reasonable bulls and bears among us agree on most of the facts, but at the end of the day, we disagree on the Chinese government’s ability to make tough changes.”

"(via Shanghaiist): You know, quite a lot of mainland tourists now, more than 2.6 million, have come..."

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:37:00 +0100

“(via Shanghaiist): You know, quite a lot of mainland tourists now, more than 2.6 million, have come to Taiwan. They have done a lot of consumption in Taiwan, and spurred a tourism boom. At the same time, moreover, they have also got a sense of Taiwan’s democracy and freedom. A lot of them didn’t go out during the evening. Instead, they lock themselves up in their hotel rooms, watching the political talk shows to see our people criticizing their president. [laughter] Well, that’s democracy. That’s, you know, freedom of expression. But after a while, they began to ask why they couldn’t do the same when they go home? So, this is a very powerful question, and gradually they will make some changes, not only in our cross-strait relations, but also in their own internal system.”

-

Ma Ying-jeou on the secret nightlives of mainland tourists in Taiwan

Bank Report Warns of Bad Loans in 2012

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:04:00 +0100

From Caixin:

China International Capital Corp says banks should expect defaults on loans as small and medium enterprises enter an end-of-year credit crunch

China International Capital Corp warned in a recent report that banks are likely to see an increasing number of loans go bad during the first half of 2012, due in part to the scarcity of credit available to small and medium enterprises.

Based on a survey conducted by CICC in the cities of Hangzhou and Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province, home to many SMEs, the report said that even though banks have loosened credit controls on SMEs, many SMEs may still suffer a credit crunch in the first quarter of next year.

Local government and financial authorities have encouraged banks to provide credit to SMEs, including subsidizing loans and requiring SMEs to constitute at least half of a commercial bank’s clients, according to CICC. Such financial supports have helped SMEs avoid a liquidity crisis so far. But SMEs could face challenges getting loans in the first quarter of 2012, as many payments to suppliers and workers are due before the Chinese New Year, which comes in January next year.

A recent survey conducted by China’s leading e-commerce service provider Alibaba Group and Peking University found that so far this year, the average profit margin of Chinese SMEs in the Pearl River Delta has declined by up to 40 percent compared to the same period last year due to the increased costs of raw materials and labor. Exporters have seen order numbers continue to drop, and only 13 percent of SMEs currently have access to bank loans.

Meanwhile, banks have lately seen more and more loans go bad, as SMEs face operational difficulties, local government debt matures, and property developers perform sluggishly.

"First I didn’t pay enough attention,but as much as I have to say, I can certainly recognize the need..."

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 04:39:12 +0100

“First I didn’t pay enough attention,but as much as I have to say, I can certainly recognize the need to express the feeling of the people who have suffered from this Walstreet power, that kind of distrust and misconduct from the Walstreet in many respect. But as a movement it’s still in a very primitive form, and you can see the kind of hopeless struggle because it seems to have no structure to get the message across, or even let people know what ind of message it is. Or it has become lacking of content or successfully expres its own purposes during the development. It’s lack of means to really create change.”

- Ai Weiwei on Occupy Wall Street. Read more. (via theatlantic)

Is the property bubble finally bursting?

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 04:08:00 +0100

Now even the party mouthpiece Global Times, confirms it. The property prices in Beijing are spiraling down:

A local property company has been promoting its houses in Beijingxiangsu community, located near the East Fifth Ring Road, for 11,600 yuan ($1,825) per square meter and some units are selling for as low as 480,000 yuan, according to the Beijing Morning Post.

Figures from the Beijing Real Estate Trade and Management website show the average price of an apartment in this community has dropped from 22,500 yuan per square meter to 11,600 yuan, said the report.

Another builder, Vanke, has also reduced the price of several projects by 10 to 20 percent, indicating the housing market in Beijing is in a rapid decline, according to the report.

And at the end of the year, real estate developers have to settle their bills! So either, they are going to be bailed out by government or Chinese real estate companies will have to shut down in the coming months. Both of them will have dire consequences for already ailing Chinese economy.

Lessons for happy marriage with Chinese characteristics

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:23:00 +0100

From China Daily:

According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, 4.5 million couples divorced in 2010, an 11-percent increase from 2009. The situation has prompted some people to suggest it is now harder than ever for couples to stick together.

At the Moral Education Center in Chaoyang district, which opened in July, staff promise to better equip singles and wives for marriage by nurturing their internal qualities. Among its services, the center offers a 30-hour course for 20,000 yuan on how to snare a millionaire, which features modules on makeup, conversational skills, personality development and traditional tea-pouring techniques.

Read the full article here

Caixin on Sinovel and its unsustainable expansion

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:36:00 +0100

“No one in the industry is doing too well,” said an investor with stakes in Sinovel suppliers. “In the first half of the year, several big domestic turbine factories were in a semi-shutdown state. Sinovel’s situation is the worst (…) It increased capacity too quickly. If customers knock down orders, there will be high inventory pressure and problems with cash flow”.

Much like many other things in China, the wind power industry is also facing tougher times ahead. The negative consequences of unsustainable, explosive expansions, symptomatic to many Chinese ventures and Chinese economy in general, are finally coming up to the surface. Expansion happens too quickly and most of it is expanded on shaky grounds. Let one thing go wrong and the house of cards will most definitely fall down.

Read the article here

From Ministry of Toufu: “Renminbi circulation and...

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:49:00 +0100

From Ministry of Toufu:

“Renminbi circulation and anti-fraud report hot line and email address”

Reporting fraud in China isn’t easy!

Yan Xuetong: How China Can Defeat America

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:27:00 +0100

A rather unusual piece from China’s John Mearsheimer, Yan Xuetong. In the recent NY Times op-ed, the Chinese scholar and well-known media pundit, known for his hawkish nationalistic views and his advocacy for more “aggressive” China, accentuates the need of “winning people’s hearts” through “humane authority”. Here is his road map to how China can defeat America:

China must shift its priorities away from economic development to establishing a harmonious society free of today’s huge gaps between rich and poor. It needs to replace money worship with traditional morality and weed out political corruption in favor of social justice and fairness.

In other countries, China must display humane authority in order to compete with the United States.

Shape a friendly international environment for its rise, Beijing needs to develop more high-quality diplomatic and military relationships than Washington. (…) In order to achieve that goal, China has to provide higher-quality moral leadership than the United States.

China must also recognize that it is a rising power and assume the responsibilities that come with that status. For example, when it comes to providing protection for weaker powers…

As it seems, Yan Xuetong is arguing for a much more involved China. Even though, he is a prime advocator for “Chinese way” of doing things, I think he acknowledges China’s need for more soft power and wants the country to follow in soft power superstar, US’, footsteps to get it.

To read the full article click here