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China’s Rise:
China’s Economic and Social Developments
2007
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2004 ; 2005 ; 2006
[News] [Papers]
Morgan Stanley Sets Price
for China Deal
(AP, Dec. 25, 2007) Morgan Stanley and the Chinese government said that the U.S. investment bank has determined the range
of prices to be used when China's
international investment fund converts $5 billion worth of securities into
Morgan Stanley stock.
Hong Kong Leader Presses
China for Vote
(NYT,
Dec 13, 2007) Facing widespread demands from the public for full democracy to
be introduced within five years, the Hong Kong
government urged the Chinese government on Wednesday to set a firm timetable
for direct elections for the region’s leader and legislature.
China Defends Space Program
as Peaceful
(Reuters, Dec. 4, 2007) China's
space program will maintain steady long-term growth to serve strategic
national interests, but it is peaceful in nature and costs just a fraction of
NASA's spending, a senior official said.
China's Top Leaders Plot
Economic Strategy
(AFP, Dec. 4, 2007) China's top leaders gathered in Beijing to determine
economic policies for next year amid efforts to prevent the economy from
overheating and to curb inflation, state media reported.
China Acclaims Moon Images,
Mission Deemed a Success
(Reuters, Nov. 26, 2007) China's
leaders celebrated the first images sent from the country's first lunar
satellite, saying they showed their nation had thrust itself into the front
ranks of global technological powers.
China Committed to Open-Door
Policy: Wen
(Straits Times, Nov. 20, 2007) China's commitment to its opening
up policy is a long-term one that will remain unchanged, Premier Wen Jiabao
said. 'To deviate from this policy will only impede China's development and we will
lose popular support,' he said.
China to Launch Space
Station by 2020
(Straits Times, Nov. 8, 2007) China has set 2020 as the deadline for
launching its own space station, state media reported yesterday, in a sign of
the country's growing confidence in its space capabilities. China's space station will be 'a
small-scale, 20-tonne space workshop.'
China Launches First Lunar
Probe
(AP, Oct. 25, 2007) Embarking
on an ambitious 10-year moon exploration program, China launched its first lunar probe— a leap forward in
the Asian space race that gave a boost to national pride, and the promise of
scientific and military payoffs.
Front-Runners for China
Leadership Take Centre Stage
(AFP, Oct. 16, 2007) The two men widely tipped as
potential front-runners to succeed Chinese President Hu Jintao stepped onto
the national stage on Tuesday, but stayed silent on the political intrigue
surrounding them.
Chinese Exports Continue to
Rise Despite Setbacks
(New York Times, Oct. 12, 2007) Despite a spate of product recalls and
growing scrutiny over the quality and safety of its goods, the Chinese export
boom continues to accelerate. China
said that it had exported $878 billion in goods through the first nine
months, up 27 percent from its record shipments a year ago.
China Plans to Map Moon's Surface
by 2012
(AFP,,
Aug. 3, 2007)
China plans to survey all of
the moon's surface before eventually bringing bits of it back to Earth. 'We would like to survey every
inch of the moon's surface,' chief scientist of China's moon exploration project said.
China's Trade Surplus Up 40
Pct. in July
(AP, Aug. 10, 2007) China's
trade surplus soared to its second-highest monthly level on record in July,
according to data reported, amid mounting pressure by U.S. lawmakers to
sanction Beijing over trade and currency disputes.
China's Rising Food Prices
Fuel Fears of Social Unrest
(Straits
Times, Aug. 6, 2007) With
a major Chinese Communist Party meeting coming up, Beijing is particularly sensitive to such
complaints among the lower income groups and is concerned that the price
hikes could help spark social unrest if left unchecked.
China Posts 11.9 Percent
Growth
(International Herald Tribune, July 19, 2007) China said that its economy
grew 11.9 percent in the second quarter of this year, the fastest pace of
growth in more than a decade, and that inflation rose sharply, reigniting
fears that the economy was overheating.
China Faces Uphill Task in Cutting Energy Use
(Straits Times, July 13, 2007) China
reported it had scored a slightly bigger drop in energy usage last year than
earlier thought, but admitted it is still struggling to meet ambitious
energy-reduction goals.
China's Trade Surplus Sets
Record
(Washington Post, July 11, 2007) China's trade surplus with the rest of the
world jumped to a record $26.9 billion in June, despite recent threats from
Congress that it would impose punitive measures to control the trade
imbalance between China and the United States.
China Signs New Oil Deal,
Deepening Ties to Sudan
(Wall Street Journal, July 4, 2007) China's biggest state oil company has
deepened its involvement in Sudan by signing a deal to help develop offshore
oil, despite international efforts to isolate the African nation because of
the humanitarian crisis in its Darfur region.
Thousands March for
Democracy in HK
(AFP, July 2, 2007) Tens of
thousands took part in a protest march in Hong Kong Sunday to call for
universal suffrage as the territory marked the first 10 years of Chinese
rule. Hong Kong's
former deputy leader Anson Chan and Cardinal Joseph Zen, the head of the
Catholic church in the territory, were among the high-profile figures joining
the demonstration.
Describing Vision for China,
Hu Defends Reforms, Rejects Calls for Democracy (Washington Post, June 27, 2007) President Hu
Jintao, in a solemn speech laying out his views, said that China's swift economic reforms
must continue but that the Communist Party should retain its monopoly on
political power for the foreseeable future.
Violence Flares again in
China over 'One-Child' Policy
(AFP, May 31, 2007) Thousands of villagers in southern China have attacked government
offices and fought police in renewed violence over a harsh population control
crackdown.
Riots against
Gov't in China
(AP, May 22, 2007) Thousands of farmers in southwest China rioted at a government
office after authorities imposed heavy fines on families that had more
children than allowed under the country's family planning policy.
China FM: Don't Politicize
Olympics
(AP, May 18, 2007) China's foreign minister warned that attempts to
politicize Beijing's Olympic Games next year by linking them to the Darfur
crisis in Sudan or other issues are doomed to fail.
China Builds And Launches A
Satellite For Nigeria
(WP, May 14, 2007) China announced that it had launched a
Chinese-manufactured communications satellite into orbit on behalf of
Nigeria, marking the first time China has built a commercial satellite and
put it into orbit on contract for another country.
China’s April Trade Surplus
Nearly Doubles to $17 Billion
(AP, May 11, 2007) China's
monthly trade surplus more than doubled in April to nearly US$17 billion,
adding to pressure on Beijing ahead of closely
watched talks with Washington
on its swollen trade gap.
China's Ability to Combat
Global Warming Questioned
(Agence France Presse, May 6, 2007) Huge questions remain over China's
commitment and ability to combat global warming after the surging Asian power
bruised and cajoled but also charmed delegates at a UN conference, observers
said.
Amnesty Raps China on Human
Rights Vows
(Associated Press, Apr. 29, 2007) China
has failed to live up to promises to improve human rights for the 2008
Olympics in Beijing
despite reforms to the death penalty system and more freedoms for foreign
reporters, Amnesty International said in a report.
Calls to Use Beijing Games
to Pressure China on Sudan
(AP,
Mar. 29, 2007) China
blasted separate calls by a French politician and a Hollywood actress to use
the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games to pressure Beijing
into doing more to stop the crisis in Sudan's
Darfur region.
China Creating Its Own
Democracy, Premier Says
(LA Times,
Mar. 17, 2007) China is on the road to democracy, but not necessarily to
Western-style democracy, China's premier said, citing the country's unique
concerns and the challenge of operating within a socialist framework.
Despite Buildup, China
Insists Its Goals Are Domestic
(New York Times, Mar. 17, 2007) Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China said that his country is still trying to
overcome major obstacles to its internal development and suggested that it
will not seek to disrupt the world order dominated by the United States.
Focus on Economic Reform,
Not Political, as China's Parliament Ends (AFP, Mar. 16, 2007)
China's parliament wrapped up its annual session with a pledge to press on
with the historic opening up of the nation's economy but without major
reforms to the communist political system.
NASA Chief Says China May
Make It To the Moon
(Washington Post, Mar. 16, 2007) The next humans to walk on the moon may well
be Chinese, NASA's administrator told Congress. He said that the combination
of budget cuts and restraints in the NASA lunar program and a determined and
well-funded effort by the Chinese made that once-unthinkable possibility a
real one.
China Plans Astronomy
Satellite
(AP, Mar. 12, 2007) China's
burgeoning space program has announced plans to launch its first astronomy
satellite and participate in joint projects with Russia
and France,
state media reported.
China's Premier Calls
Democracy A Distant Goal
(Washington Post, Feb. 28, 2007) The Communist Party cautioned China's
increasingly impatient reformers and intellectuals that political
liberalization and democracy are still a long way off despite the rapid pace
of economic change over the past two decades.
China's GDP Grows 10.7 pc in
2006
(Reuters, Jan. 24, 2007) China's
economy grew by 10.4 percent from a year earlier in the fourth quarter and by
10.7 percent in all of 2006, marking the fastest growth rate since 1995. The
world's fourth-largest economy has now enjoyed four consecutive years of at
least 10 percent growth, generated a record trade surplus last year of
$177.47 billion.
China's Trade Surplus
Reaches US$177b in 2006
(Xinhua News, Jan. 11, 2007) China's
trade surplus reached 177.47 billion US dollars in 2006. Exports rose 27.2
percent from the previous year to 969.08 billion dollars, while imports were
up 20 percent to 791.61 billion dollars.
China Aims to Grow Its
Middle Class
(Associated Press, Dec. 26, 2007) China hopes to grow its middle class
to more than half of its population by the end of the next decade, a
Communist Party planner said. The goal is part of quadrupling China's
per capita gross domestic product by 2020. A bigger middle class will also
challenge the government to provide greater social security and services and
better education systems.
A Revisionist Tale: Why a
Poor China Seems Richer By Keith Bradsher
(New York
Times, Dec. 21, 2007) Fashionable streets even in interior cities like Chongqing now have
stores selling Burberry raincoats and other luxury items to an emerging
industrial elite. But the new World Bank calculations underline the extent to
which China
remains a poor nation over all. The average Chinese has economic output —
gross domestic product per capita — worth $1,721 at China’s low market prices. That
works out to the buying power of someone consuming $4,091 worth of goods and
services valued at the prices in an industrial economy — a level of
consumption that would represent poverty to an American.
Trucks Power China’s
Economy, at a Suffocating Cost By Keith
Bradsher (New
York Times, Dec. 8, 2007) The 10 million trucks on Chinese roads, more than a
quarter of all vehicles in this country, are a major reason that China
accounts for half the world’s annual increase in oil consumption. Sating
their thirst helped push the price of oil to nearly $100 a barrel this year, before a recent decline, and
has propelled China past
the United States
as the world’s largest emitter of global-warming gases.
China Uses `Tai Chi'
Diplomacy to Build Soft Power
(Bloomberg, Nov. 29, 2007) When Xu Jianguo, the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria,
visited Nnamdi Azikiwe University
in Akwa, he didn't come empty-handed. Wu brought a $10,000 contribution,
which was used to buy equipment ranging from camcorders to overhead
projectors to facilitate teaching Chinese at the school's new Confucius
Institute.
Hong Kong Press Practicing
Self–Censorship
(Associated Press, Nov. 15, 2007) Journalists and newspapers in Hong Kong are
increasingly practicing self-censorship to prevent upsetting mainland China,
Anson Chan, formerly a top government official under both British and Chinese
rule, said press freedom was being eroded in Hong Kong.
Rural China's Office
Politics
(BBC, Nov. 12, 2007) On the outskirts of the main town in one of China's
poorest counties, a series of opulent buildings is slowly rising up from the
earth. But the local government is being criticised because it is spending a
large chunk of the county's annual budget on the building projects.
Young, Educated and
Communist - New Faces of CCP
(Straits Times, Nov. 5,
2007) While
political parties in other countries are struggling to replenish their ranks
with new blood, the 86-year-old CCP claims to have no shortage of eager young
applicants. Since 2002, it has added 6.4 million new members, three-quarters
of whom are aged below 35. As at the end of June, the party has 73.4 million member.
What If Beijing Is Right? By Howard W. French
(Interntional Herlad
Tribune, Nov. 2, 2007) What if the doubters have been wrong all along? Big government and an
all-powerful state are good, not bad. What if popular consent in the form of
real democratic participation by the citizenry had no bearing on a state's
ability to conducts its affairs with success? Such questions are posed by China's
rise.
China Says There's No Space Race in Asia By Christopher
Bodeen
(Associated Press, Nov. 1, 2007) Over a few short months, Japan, China,
and India will all have
lunar probes orbiting the moon, sparking talk of a new space race in Asia. China,
for one,
takes exception at that characterization. "It's all peaceful," said
Pei Zhaoyu, assistant director of the Lunar Exploration
Program Center,
when asked whether a space race was on. "The countries involved in lunar
exploration are developing an understanding. They're evolving a mechanism for
cooperation."
China
Diesel Shortage May Hurt Economy
(Reuters, Oct. 31, 2007) China's worst diesel rationing in
four years may last several more weeks as record oil prices choke output from
independent refineries and the top suppliers show no rush to top up imports. Service
stations in the financial hub of Shanghai
were limiting diesel supply to trucks to about 40 litres per visit, a local
newspaper reported.
Slowing Marginally, China’s
Economy Sets 11.5% Growth Pace
(New York Times, Oct. 26, 2007) China
said that its economy expanded at a powerful 11.5 percent annual pace in the
third quarter, a slight slowing from the second quarter that might help Beijing officials
control inflation. But the overall pace of China’s economic development is
still strong enough to keep pushing up prices around the world for a wide
range of things like oil, iron ore and freight shipping.
Asia's Space Race Heats Up
as China Heads for Moon
(Agence France Presse,
Oct. 23, 2007) Asia's space race heated up on Wednesday as China launched its first lunar orbiter, an event hailed
by the world's most populous nation as a milestone event in its global rise. The launch of Chang'e I, which will
explore and map the moon's surface, came after Japan
last month launched its first lunar probe and ahead of a similar mission
planned by India for next year.
China Economy Grows 11.5
Percent
(Associated Press, Oct.
24, 2007) China's supercharged economy grew by a stunning 11.5 percent in the third
quarter, surging ahead despite official efforts to cool the boom and putting
it on track to overtake Germany as the world's third-largest within weeks,
according to data reported.
Can China Emerge Peacefully? By George Yeo
(Straits Times, Oct. 22, 2007) The wise management of China's external relations will help create
favorable conditions for China's
economic development and for global peace. As China gains in strategic weight,
it is important for the Chinese people to remain mindful of Deng Xiao-ping's
advice. Excessive nationalism will add to the fear of China and conscribe China's policy options.
China’s Leader Closes Door
to Reform By Joseph Kahn
(New York Times, Oct. 16, 2007) President Hu Jintao promised to address
social fissures, a degraded environment and rampant corruption during his
second term as China’s top leader, but he all but ruled out more than
cosmetic political reform in his opening address at the 17th National
Congress of the governing Communist Party.
Report Says Corruption a
Threat to China
(Associated Press,
October 11, 2007) Corruption costs China
more every year than it spends on education and is one of the most serious
threats to the country's political stability, according to a new report from
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Fast-Growing China
Struggling To Rein In Energy Use, Pollution
(Investor's Business Daily, Oct. 11, 2007) Red China says it wants to go
green. But it still seems bent on growth. No political bombshells are
expected when China's
Communist leaders gather at the 17th Party Congress in mid-October. Still,
some China watchers expect
Beijing to use the Congress to show it is
serious about environmentally friendly economic growth.
As China Opens, U.S. Lobbyists Get Ready to Move In
(Washington Post, Oct. 2, 2007) Armies of lobbyists are descending on the
Chinese capital in anticipation of the 17th Communist Party Congress
beginning in mid-October. But the dark-suited Western lobbyists are an odd
spectacle given that in China,
policy and legislative decisions are still made behind closed doors. Lobbying
exists in a gray area; because there are no laws specifically pertaining to
it, it isn't even supposed to exist.
A Country on the Edge Reviewed by John Pomfret
(Washington Post, September 30, 2007) Susan L. Shirk starts out her
revelatory book on China
with a nightmare scenario. A Chinese SU-27 fighter and a Taiwanese F-16
collide over the Taiwan Strait. The incident
spirals out of control when the Chinese do what they always do in a crisis:
blame the other guy. Demonstrations erupt in Beijing. Protesters demand that the
Communist Party confront Taiwan
and the United States.
Rising China Faces Myanmar
Challenge By Steve
Tsang
(Straits Times, Sep. 29,
2007) China
is facing an unwanted test of its claim to be a responsible stakeholder in
the international community. With 3,000 villages destroyed and 1.5million
people already displaced in eastern Myanmar, a humanitarian disaster
has been unfolding for some time now.
China in Three Colors By Thomas L.
Friedman
(International Herald Tribune, Sep. 23, 2007) After a week of meetings with
Chinese energy, environmental and clean-car experts, I'm left with one big,
gnawing question: Can China go green without going orange? That is, can China really undertake the
energy/environmental revolution it needs without the empowerment of its
people to a whole new degree - á la the Orange Revolution in Ukraine
in 2004?
For China's Censors,
Electronic Offenders Are the New Frontier By Edward Cody (Washington Post, Sep. 10, 2007)
Traditionally, the censors' main concern has been keeping political
expression in check. But because transmitting information of all kinds
through the Internet and cellphone messages is relatively easy, the party's
censorship bureaucrats also have been fighting new battles. As Li Hua's case
showed, the enemy is not always political.
China's Influence Spreads
Around World By William
Foreman
(Associated Press, Sep.
2, 2007) For years, China's
booming economy touched daily life in the West most visibly through the "made-in-China" label on
everything from clothes to computers. But now, economic growth is giving rise
to something more that can't be measured just by widgets and gadgets — a
shift in China's balance of power with the rest of the world.
China Far
from Achieving Innovation Aim: OECD
(Straits Times, Aug. 28, 2007) China still has a long way to go
to become an innovation-oriented economy despite pumping billions of dollars
into research and development. Key weaknesses include a lack of market-based
financing for innovative ventures and ineffective intellectual property
rights (IPR) protection, said the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD).
A Chinese Century? Maybe
It’s the Next One By Lester Thurow
(New York Times, Aug. 20, 2007) China
claims that its economy is growing at 10 to 11 percent a year, and China’s official analysts say that their
nation will catch up with the United
States long before the 22nd century
arrives. Don’t believe it. What is clear is that China
is unlikely to surpass the United
States in G.D.P. in absolute or relative
terms anytime soon. There may be a Chinese century, but it will be the 22nd
century — not the 21st.
Symbolic Torch Relay Aims to
Shine Light on China, Darfur and Death
(Washington Post,
Aug. 15, 2007) Lighting a torch at historic sites of genocide, a group of
activists, actors and athletes is hoping to press China, as host of the 2008
Olympic Games, to use its influence with the government in Khartoum to stop
the killing and displacement of civilians in the Darfur region of western
Sudan.
In China, a High-Tech Plan
to Track People By Keith
Bradsher
(New York Times,
Aug. 12, 2007) At least 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along streets
here in southern China
and will soon be guided by sophisticated computer software from an
American-financed company to recognize automatically the faces of police
suspects and detect unusual activity.
A Hard Look at China's Soft
Power By Asad Latif
(Straits Times, Aug. 11, 2007) How China combines its soft power with the
hard power created by its military strength, which is growing on the back of
its economic development, and how this combination will compare with
America's mix are the larger questions for the future of the world, and
certainly Asia.
China Gets a Rebuke from
Rights Activists By Jim Yardley
(International Herald Tribune, Aug. 7, 2008) Human rights groups accused
China of failing to improve its record on civil liberties and of continuing
to harass lawyers, dissidents and journalists despite official promises to
make human rights a centerpiece of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
China's Economic Revival Is
Minted in Counterfeit By Howard W. French
(International Herald Tribune, Aug. 4, 2007) One must
begin with the obvious. China
has a weak regulatory system, where scammers and flimflam artists and
hard-working entrepreneurs, both ethical and not so ethical, contend in one
gigantic scrum.
China's Chance to Lead By Maximilian Auffhammer and Richard Carson
(Washington Post, Aug. 2, 2007) China is about to emerge as the world's
leading emitter of greenhouse gases, a position the United States has held since
1890. Now is the time for China
to take the lead in finding a way to reduce global emissions, which the United States
has thus far failed to do.
China, India Becoming Leaders in World Economic
Growth: IMF
(AFP, July 31, 2007) China and India
are the new engines of world economic growth, replacing the United States and other developed
countries, International
Monetary Fund managing director Rodrigo Rato said. He said China overtook the United States this year to become
the biggest contributor to world economic growth.
China Should Speed Up the
Yuan’s Rise By Jonathan Anderson
(Far Eastern Economic Review, July/August, 2007) At the end of the day China
would clearly be better off with a stronger currency—for its own sake, and
not just as a means of preventing global pressure—and would do well to move
faster than the present pace.
Carving Plight of Coal
Miners, He Churns China By Howard French
(New York Times, July 14
,2007) It
is not easy to forget an encounter with Zhang Jianhua’s sculptures of Chinese
coal miners; that is, if one is lucky enough to see them. Officially, 4,794
coal miners died in work-related accidents in China last year — more than 13
every day, on average, though many believe that the official figures
understate the real toll.
China's 'Soft Power' Winning
Allies in Asia
(International Herald Tribune, July 11, 2007) China's friendly stance is part
of a broad diplomatic and economic policy throughout the region that has
acquired the epithets "soft power" and "charm offensive."
Most analysts say East Timor seems to be of interest less as a prize in its
own right than as a natural extension of China's
energetic courtship of its neighbors in Southeast Asia.
China Learning to Play by
International Rules
(Straits Times, July 9,
2007) China learnt the hard way that it is better to work within the
international system than out of it. It made a bad mistake in 1996 in firing missiles over Taiwan,
which gave it a bad image internationally, said Professor Wang Gungwu. 'But
they learnt, and now they don't do it any more,' he said.
China May Need a Fresh
Approach to Regulating Its Often Unruly Economy By Joseph Kahn (International Herald Tribune, July
8, 2007) Chinese exporters sold nearly $1 trillion worth of goods overseas
last year. Fakes and shoddy goods, by most measures, made up no more than a
tiny fraction of that total. Yet the string of product safety scandals
reflects a persistent roguish undercurrent in the Chinese economy that
extensive media coverage, new laws and tougher enforcement have not
eliminated.
Olympics Highlight Human
Rights in China
(Associated Press, July 6, 2007)For
China, the run-up to next summer's Olympics in Beijing is looking like a marathon through
a human-rights minefield. The games raise a difficult question for a
government famously dismissive of outside pressure: What accommodations might
be made without losing face?
Troubles with 'China Inc.' By Tom Plate
(Japan Times, July 5, 2007) There's something of an international food fight
— and more — occurring over China
right now. The alarming issue concerns the quality control — or lack thereof
— of the many products the mainland exports to the world.
Image of U.S., China
Declines in World, Poll Finds
(Bloomberg, June 28, 2007) Global
attitudes about China have
also declined, with residents of many countries expressing concerns about China's
growing economic and military power, the survey concluded.
Hong Kong Optimism Ebbing
Under China Rule: Poll
(Reuters, June 28, 2007) Ten years after Hong Kong's return
from British to Chinese rule, public optimism over its future under Chinese
rule has dipped amid demands for direct elections, according to a survey.
China’s Leader Vows to
Uphold One-Party Rule By Joseph Kahn
(New York Times, June 27, 2007) President Hu Jintao said attempts to modernize
China’s political system must not jeopardize one-party rule, setting a
conservative tone before an important Communist Party conclave in the fall. “The
reform of our nation’s political system must maintain a correct political
direction.”
Marx a Hard Sell for Young Chinese
(LA Times, June 26, 2007) It
isn't easy teaching Marxism in China these days. Today's China is, in some respects, less socialistic
than much of Western Europe, with a
moth-eaten social safety net and a wild free-market economy. It seems an
understatement to say that there's a disconnect between reality and what the
students are learning about Marx and Mao.
China's
Soft-Power Success By Lee Kuan Yew
(Forbes, June 18, 2007) China
has been courting its neighbors, and although the Chinese did not coin the
phrase 'soft power', they have exercised it with consummate skill. Only the United States and Japan
have expressed concern and asked China what its intentions are
regarding its increased military spending and its firing of a missile into
space to shoot down one of its own satellites.
New Breed of Leaders
Emerging in Beijing
(Straits Times, June 15, 2007) Smooth,
affable, and articulate, Dr Wan Gang charmed a roomful of local and foreign
journalists on his first media outing as China's new Science and
Technology Minister. Asked about his appointment, Dr Wan said: 'I think it's
a very important step in the building of our country's political system and
democracy.'
China, Superpower of the
Developing World, and the G8 By Edward
Lanfranco (United Press International, June 11, 2007) China's
clout in the world's geopolitical economy was one of the most important
features to emerge during the June 6-8 Group of Eight summit held in
Heiligendamm, a German resort town on the Baltic Sea.
Anger in China's
Villages
(Straits Times, June 4, 2007) Officials in south-western China's Bobai county in Guangxi destroyed more
than just doors and windows when they ransacked old Mr Li's farmhouse to
punish his family for violating China's population control laws.
Mr Li, 63, tells The Straits Times he has lost faith in his local government
after its harsh reprisals over the last few months against families with more
than one child.
China Embraces Nuclear
Future
(Washington Post, May 29, 2007) Not far from the old Silk
Road, Chinese government scientists have begun boring holes deep
into granite in the first steps toward building what could become the world's
largest tomb for nuclear waste.
China's Reform Debate
Surfaces in 2 Essays
(Washington Post, May 26, 2007) China dropped another hint of
internal debate over political reform, publishing commentaries saying the
country should shun European-style democratic socialism.
Snubbed by U.S., China Finds
New Space Partners
(New York Times, May 24, 2007) For years, China
has chafed at efforts by the United
States to exclude it from full membership
in the world’s elite space club. So lately China seems to have hit on a
solution: create a new club. Beijing is trying to position itself as a space
benefactor to the developing world.
China Appraises Next
Generation Leaders for Loyalty By Benjamin Kang Lim
(Reuters, May 11, 2007) Candidates to rule China after
Communist Party chief Hu Jintao's generation retires are being appraised for
their loyalty to ensure they will not dig the party's grave after assuming
power one day.
China Warns of Population
Rebound
(Associated Press, May 7, 2007) China's top family planning body has warned
that the world's most populous country could face a "population
rebound" because the newly rich are ignoring population control laws and
because of early marriages in rural areas.
China's Evolving Economic
System By Assar Lindbeck
(Straits Times, May 2, 2007) Some observers describe China's current
economic system as 'state capitalism'; others (including China's officials)
call it 'market socialism'. Both labels mislead. In fact, China is a type of mixed economy,
with a number of specific features.
Tackling the Black Mark in
China's Growth By Michael Richardson (Straits Times, Apr. 24, 2007) China
is rapidly emerging as a key player in climate change politics, both as a
major cause of the greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet and
as a partner in international efforts to curb emissions.
Confucius Resurfaces in New
China
(Agence France Presse, Apr. 22, 2007) Once suppressed by Maoist China, the
Confucian revival is being welcomed by the communist government as a calming
influence amid growing public dissatisfaction over a host of issues.
In China, Talk of Democracy
Is Simply That By Joseph Kahn
(New York Times, Apr. 20, 2007) Like the spring showers that give the parched
landscape a veneer of green, China’s authoritarian leaders, approaching the
end of their five-year terms in office, have suggested that they would like
to see their country become more democratic.
Is China's Economy
Overheating? By Bill Powell
(TIME, Apr. 19, 2007) How, exactly, do you fine tune a freight train? That's
the question policymakers in Beijing face in
the wake of Thursday's report that China's economy had grown at
11.1% during the first quarter of 2007.
China's Issue
of Succession By Li Mingjiang
(Straits Times, Apr. 17, 2007) Although this year's 17th congress will not
herald wholesale leadership transition, it is still likely to have
significant implications for China's
future political development.
China Searching for a New
Economic Model By Joseph Stiglitz
(Taipei Times, Apr 16, 2007) China's success since it began its transition to
a market economy has been based on adaptable strategies and policies: As each
set of problems are solved, new problems arise, for which new policies and
strategies must be devised. This process includes social innovation.
China's Economy Reaching
Environmental Limits
(Agence France Presse, Apr. 15, 2007) China's booming economy is being
increasingly constrained by shortages of energy and natural resources as well
as environmental concerns -- forcing the nation to seek a more efficient
growth model.
Where China's Rivers Run Dry By Orville Schell
(Newsweek, Apr. 16, 2007) One can see a clear manifestation of this understandable
urge to restore Chinese greatness. The question is whether China's limited natural-resource
base can sustain the magnitude of such an ambition.
China: Think Again! By Harry Harding
(PacNet #17, Pacific Forum, CSIS, Apr. 5, 2007) China is simultaneously rising on
several dimensions – military, economic, diplomatic, ideological, and
cultural. In that regard, it more closely resembles the United States of the 1950s than,
say, 1930s Japan or Stalinist Russia.
In Fear Of Chinese Democracy By Harold Meyerson
(Washington Post, Apr. 4, 2007) It's a growing civil society -- a sphere
where people can deliberate and decide on more than their coffee -- that more
characteristically sounds the death knell of dictatorships.
China's Schizophrenic Outlook By William Pesek
(Bloomberg, Apr. 1, 2007) The schizophrenic nature of China's
outlook should give pause to those thinking the Chinese economy can grow 10
percent indefinitely.
Corruption Case Breaks
'Shanghai Taboo' By Edward Cody
(WP, Apr. 1, 2007) It reflects a political decision by President Hu Jintao to
flex his leadership muscles against entrenched party officials known as the
Shanghai faction, loosely grouped around former president Jiang Zemin and his
proteges from this coastal boomtown.
China's Long
Journey toward Property Rights By Steven He
(Bangkok Post, Mar. 31, 2007) Chinese president Hu Jintao on March 19 signed
a decree to declare the enaction of the country's landmark Property Law. China's
top legislature had adopted it after a 14-year debate and numerous revisions.
Olympic Trials for Polluted
Beijing By Ariana Eunjung Cha
(WP, Mar. 30, 2007) Beijing
still has not conquered its pollution. Nearly 50 years after Mao Zedong's
"war on nature," the Chinese government is finding that undoing the
environmental damage and turning Beijing
into a green showcase in time for the Olympics is no small task.
China Shows
Resolve on Reform Agenda
(Straits Times, Mar. 17, 2007) Chinese leaders seized this year's NPC session
to send an unequivocal message: Beijing
is determined to push ahead with the reformist agenda. Legislators
overwhelmingly approved two crucial pieces of economic legislation - one
protecting property rights and the other standardizing tax rates for foreign
and domestic companies.
China’s Sort of Congress
(Editorial, New York Times, Mar. 15, 2007) The annual session of China’s
National People’s Congress, now concluding, is not quite the ritual of
absolute fealty it used to be. Reporters get to chase delegates in the
hallways, and insiders say there have been some lively debates in the closed
sessions.
Is China Poised to Close the
Technology Gap?
(Christian Science Monitor, Mar. 14, 2007) China
is racking up billions of dollars in trade surpluses with America in computers and other
items grouped by the US Commerce Department as "advanced technology
products."
China Exports Trouble, Too By Stephen Roach
(Newsweek International, Mar. 19, 2007) China, the so-called factory of the
world, has just produced its newest product—a global stock-market correction.
The overall effects of a China
slowdown could easily knock more than half a percentage point off global
economic growth in 2007.
Lessons for a Fast-Growing China By Lawrence Summers
(Straits Times, Feb. 27, 2007) A rising Asian power has emerged as an export
powerhouse and enjoys rapid, export-led growth fuelled by extraordinarily
high savings and investment rates. Its technological capacity is upgraded at
prodigious rates and its businesses threaten a great swathe of industry in
Europe and the United
States.
In China, a Move Against
Privatization
(Associated Press, Feb. 21, 2007) A group of Chinese scholars and retired
officials has petitioned China's legislature to halt the privatization of
state companies, arguing it has widened the country's income gap and fueled
social unrest.
Beijing's New
Internationalism By Orville Schell
(Newsweek International, Feb. 19, 2007) As an
increasingly powerful China involves itself more and more with the complex
global marketplace and political scene, the ground is shifting under
its feet, and China's dedication to absolute sovereignty may be starting to evolve.
Cashing In on Communism By Maureen Fan
(Washington Post, Feb. 18, 2007) In the land of Mao,
getting rich is finally glorious. It's also complicated. The booming Chinese
economy has been one of the biggest stories in the world. Wealth and
conspicuous consumption are climbing in a country where the average
per-capita income has only just jumped to $145 a month.
Beijing's Democracy Drive
at a Standstill, Analysts Say
(Straits Times, Feb. 10, 2007) China's democratic development
has come to a standstill and is even taking a step backwards, analysts said.
However, in the long term, pressure from the ground will lead to progress, at
a pace that is likely to be 'two steps forward and a step back.'
China’s Influence in Africa
Arouses Some Resistance
(New York Times, Feb. 10, 2007) China is often depicted as a
juggernaut of sorts, its untroubled and unfettered rise into the ranks of
global powers a fact that lesser nations can only watch with awe and trepidation.
On Friday, President Hu Jintao of China
completed a 12-day tour of Africa that
suggested the reality was more nuanced.
Chinese Official Warns
Against Independence of Courts
(New York Times, Feb. 3, 2007) “Enemy forces” are seeking to use China’s legal system to Westernize and divide
the country, and the Communist Party must fend them off by maintaining its
dominance over lawyers, judges and prosecutors, China’s top law and order
official said.
Religion in China: When
Opium Can Be Benign
(Economist, Feb. 1, 2007) China's
Communist Party, reconsidering Marx's words, is starting to wonder whether
there might not be a use for religion after all.
Energy Policy: China
and Germany - The Realist
Against the Idealist (Straits Times, Jan. 29, 2007) Within 24
hours of each other during the past week, the governments of China and Germany made public commitments
to new directions in energy policy. China outlined a plan to place a
cap on its domestic coal production in 2010 - a move that will eventually
force utilities to consider new sources of power.
China's Growth Fastest in a
Decade
(Associated Press, Jan. 25, 2007) China reported that its sizzling
economy grew at its fastest rate in a decade last year as the government
struggled to contain the strains of an export-driven boom.
China's Rights Record
Criticized
(Washington Post, Jan. 12, 2007) Human rights conditions in China
deteriorated significantly in 2006, with about 100 activists, lawyers,
writers and academics subjected to police custody, house arrest,
incommunicado confinement, pressure in their jobs and surveillance by
plainclothes security forces, a new report by Human Rights Watch said.
Author Will Hutton on
China's Future
(US News and World Report,
Jan. 5, 2007) U.S. News recently exchanged E-mails with Will Hutton about his
new book, The Writing on the Wall: Why We Must Embrace China as a Partner or Face It as
an Enemy.
The World in 2020: China Likely to Join US as a Megapower
(Straits Times, Jan. 1, 2007) The outgoing director of London's Royal
Institute of International Affairs, Professor Victor Bulmer-Thomas, gazes
into the future in this recent speech at a closed-door session at the
institute. China is not yet
a megapower; but this is likely to change in the next 15 years.
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