China in the News

[Anonymous]

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A delegation of Chinese business leaders on Wednesday committed to buying $4.3 billion in U.S. technology, hoping to soften a political backlash to the massive trade imbalance dividing two of the world's economic powers.

The agreements were trumpeted at a ceremony staged two weeks before the scheduled start of government talks in Washington, where leaders will try to tackle the United States' $232 billion trade deficit with China and other prickly issues.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/05/09/us.china.trade.ap/index.html

[Anonymous]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-sudan9may09,1,3436998.story
Amnesty International criticizes arms sales to Sudan
Rights group says weapons from Russia and China are used against Darfur, violating a U.N. embargo.

UNITED NATIONS — China and Russia have supplied weapons and aircraft to Sudan that have been used in deadly attacks against civilians in Darfur in violation of a U.N. arms embargo, Amnesty International charged in a report Tuesday.

The report cites witnesses who said they saw Russian-made aircraft and helicopter gunships used in bombing raids and traced spent cartridges in raided villages to new Kalashnikov assault rifles.

[Anonymous]

China 'too lenient' on safety issues
Spate of deadly coal mine accidents highlights a disturbing pattern, the work safety minister acknowledg
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-safety11may11,1,2263002.story

BEIJING — Chinese authorities acknowledged Thursday that not enough has been done to improve their country's dismal work safety record, especially in the deadly coal mining industry.

Despite repeated government crackdowns, including a recent campaign that singled out 133 officials for punishment, accidents continue to soar due to illegal production and lax law enforcement.

"We have been too lenient, we have not been tough enough," Li Yizhong, minister of the Work Safety administration, said Thursday at a news briefing. "That's why some businesses believe they will not be held accountable."

[Anonymous]

Chinese athletes are run into the ground
The many who don't make it big often end up jobless, even crippled.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-athlete6may06,1,6448155.story

BEIJING — Guo Ping was just 9 when she started training as a marathon runner. By the time she was 16, she had gone pro, getting up at 4 in the morning and sometimes running 40 miles a day on feet so swollen she could barely squeeze them into her shoes.

Although she harbored Olympic-sized dreams, the coal miner's daughter thought she also had a good backup plan. If she couldn't become the best of the best, she could always retire from sports and get a government job as a police officer.

That promise by her coach, she says, helped her endure a brutal training regime in which she and other runners had no contact with the outside world and no one to protect them from the coach, who beat them with a whip or baton, or knocked them off their feet with the bumper of his car if he thought they were slacking off.

But four years after she retired at 26 with nothing but an elementary school education and a body crippled by sports injuries, the former marathon champion says she has been duped.

[Anonymous]

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-perfect11may11,1,2978064.story
Love's foibles translate
A Shanghai production of 'I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change' shows the universality of relationship woes.
NEW YORK — Psst. Here's a little tidbit. It turns out that Chinese men and women are as familiar and confounded with the idiosyncrasies of love and marriage as are their American counterparts.

That's apparent from the Shanghai production of "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change," the long-running off-Broadway musical about male-female relationships, which is playing a monthlong stint at the Westside Theatre.

One has to watch only a scene or two of the revue to realize that Chinese men also worry about such anxiety producers as baggage from previous relationships, crying at chick flicks and that elusive initial kiss. The women, many quite familiar with "Sex and the City," share their American sisters' concerns with first dates, besting their beaus in sports, clothes, and the likelihood that their time-consuming efforts to look just right will go unappreciated.

Written by Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts, "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" has been running in New York since August 1996.

[Anonymous]

Just saw two news stories on this - The Chinese government is still demanding an official apology from Japan for its atrocities committed against the Chinese during WWII. If you remember the last school we went to in Lijiang they had a display of photos related to Japanese atrocities during WWII.

[Anonymous]

A report found on a Chinese news website: China's Children Too Busy for Playtime(Xinhua)
states that because children attend school 5 days a wk, 9 hrs a day they have no time to play. When their day ends from school they spend several hrs doing homework then rest. One family states they allow their daughter to play with her toys only for one hour on Saturday and Sundays. Most parents put their child under this stress because of the pressure they have due to the competitive market for university places and jobs. These children are experiencing joyless childhoods and one survey found that only 4 in 10 kids have friends; so even if they had the time to play they have no one to play with. Although efforts have been made to the Ministry of Education to reduce hmwk no changes have been made. This is a reality of China.

[Anonymous]

It is pretty exciting to read that the Chinese will have a float in the next Rose Parade. This is the first time in the 119-year history of the Rose Parade that a float will represent China.

[Anonymous]

That is exciting. This a tradition my family and I have done since I was about 4 yrs old. It will be neat to see what China brings to the parade.

[Anonymous]

Two years ago SuperGirl was introduced in China as a spin off of American Idol. It has changed the music industry tremendously and this year they introduced SuperBoy allowing guys to have a chance at stardom. They choose the contestant from 6 different provinces and allow the audience to choose the winner which is what one producer says sells the music.

[Anonymous]

Check out Thursday's article about the peasants battling police during a recent "family planning drive". Villagers say that officials rounded up men and women for forced sterilizations. Some are saying that expectant mothers had mandatory abortions because they did not have permits to give birth. Many families are being fined up to $2000 (in USD). About 3,000 people in several counties of Guangxi province clashed with police last weekend. The Chinese state media confirmed that some government buildings were burned and cars were overturned. The rioting makes it clear to some that local officials are still under pressure to meet birth control quotas. Some also say that many officials are trying to protect their political futures and earn a little money while they are at it!!! More than sad!!!

[Anonymous]

In the LA Times today (6/21) the third page story suggests that the predicted date for China to overtake the US in greenhouse gases is not 2010, but possibly this year. This article was accompanied by a depressiing picture of Beijing covered by grey air. Sadly neither the US or China has ratified the Kyoto Protocol. While Greenpeace has called for "immediate actions" by the Chinese government to curb its emissions, the organization has also blamed the West for making China the factory of the world. Interestingly China's per capita emissions are still only about one-eighth the average for the West. Still the growth projected for China in the next decade is huge, and many feel the West needs to help theminvest in cleaner energy than coal.

[Anonymous]

After viewing the LA Times depressing picture of polluted Beijing this morning, I was encouraged by the interesting article in this month's (June) issue of Seed magazine "The China Experiment: Inside the Revolutiion to Green the Biggest Nation on Earth." This comprehensive article details the awakening of the Chinese people to environmental concerns. The thesis of the article is that in striving for a green Olympics the government has brought a new social awareness to the citizens. The article gives hope that this momentum may bring about broader environmental change.

[Anonymous]

The rapid industrialization and social transformation in China have been causing great environmental cost to Chinese people. Energy consumption rose 53% in China from 1990 to 2004. China will pass U.S. in total green house emission before 2010 based on its growth rate of economy in 10% a year. Although the growth of economy benefits millions of its people, the process of industrilatition has deteriorated environmental quality. In the world, sixteen most polluted cities are in China. Water has becoming unsafe to drink because manufacturing waste has increasingly polluted water resources. Air quality is getting worse as the result of increasing number of cars on the roads and coal-burning industries. The sands from Gobi desert have reached within two hundreds miles in Beijing due to deforestation. Those pollutions have severely threatened the ecosystems in China.

Reference:
Jeffery Kluger, TIME, April 9, 2007, page 50-61
[Edit by="sfamekao on Jun 23, 11:38:33 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

On the June 19 Chinadaily.com.cn news, one report says that Chinese auto manufacturers will use more resources to develop commercial vehicles that use alternative fuels such as natural gas, mixed fuel and fuel cells. This is part of the new energy vehicles project, from the High-Tech Research and Development Program of China, or the 863 Plan.

This is a great news for everyone. At present, China has 220,000 natural gas vehicles and over 700 gas stations, which help save 1.5 million tons of petrol per year. Hopefully, the hybrid cars will also become more popular in China. It is everybody's responsibility to save the natural energy resource on earth because we only have one earth after all.

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