China
China’s Efforts to Chart Officials’ Assets Suffer Backlash – WSJ.com Amid China’s once-a-decade leadership change that concluded this spring, a handful of officials said they would make public disclosures of their assets. The pledges, spurred by extensive coverage in state-run media, fostered belief among some academics and others that Mr. Xi would increase government transparency and accountability. White-collar workers hope asset disclosures will ensure officials pay their fair share of taxes. But a Wall Street Journal examination of the modest asset-declaration programs announced in four provinces indicates details that may once have been available are again hidden.
State media hint Bo Xilai to dodge death penalty｜Politics｜News｜WantChinaTimes.com The timing of a recent article published in China’s state media highlighting the dangers of imposing the death penalty for controversial political figures could be the Communist Party’s way of sending a subtle message about the upcoming criminal trial of disgraced former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai, reports Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.
Cash-Strapped Nations Race to Attract Chinese Immigrants – WSJ.com While investor immigration programs are technically open to all, immigration lawyers say that governments are targeting anxious Chinese who are looking for potential escape plans for their families and protection for their assets in case of turmoil at home. “There is an all-out immigration war emerging for the Chinese,” said Jean-Francois Harvey, an immigration lawyer at Harvey Law Group in Hong Kong.
Coin of Realm in China Graft – Phony Receipts – NYTimes.com So widespread is receipt fraud that clerks at many hotel gift shops agree to falsify receipts so they show up as room charges. And at least one mutual fund company in Shanghai asks its employees to turn in fake receipts every month to claim half their salary — an accounting fraud that reduces tax liability for the company and the employee. In the Glaxo case, Chinese investigators say the drugmaker’s top Chinese executives worked closely in recent years with a Shanghai travel agency to falsify documents. For instance, airline ticket receipts were filed for trips that never took place and when executives listed 100 guests at a conference, perhaps only 80 showed up, making it possible to file false inflated receipts and thus embezzle from Glaxo’s London headquarters.
China Services Growth Picks Up in Sign Economy Stabilizing – Bloomberg China’s service industries showed the first pick-up in growth since March, adding to signs the world’s second-largest economy may be stabilizing after a two-quarter slowdown. The non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (CPMINMAN) rose to 54.1 in July from 53.9 in June, the Beijing-based National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said yesterday. An official gauge of manufacturing released Aug. 1 showed an unexpected expansion.
Austerity with Chinese Characteristics | Foreign Affairs With austerity the reigning buzzword in Beijing, it’s tempting to assume that China is finally joining the West’s ongoing debate about macroeconomics. In reality, China’s leaders are drawing on a vastly different intellectual history.–JOHN DELURY is an Assistant Professor at Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Studies, in South Korea.
Can China’s deflation be positive? – MarketWatch Standard Chartered argues that the biggest reason for the fall in the PPI is due to declining producer goods, which tend to be raw materials or tools used to make other goods. This means not everyone is feeling the pain equally: Upstream firms — typically those involved in extracting raw materials — will suffer, but downstream firms could benefit from the same trend.
Chinese Yuan Touches Record High Against U.S. Dollar – MoneyBeat – WSJ The yuan closed at 6.1192 versus the dollar, the strongest closing level in the modern era, after trading as high as 6.1189. Previously, the high was 6.1210 hit on both June 3 and May 27. Despite China’s slowing economy, the yuan has strengthened in recent weeks, rising by around 0.7% since May and 1.8% so far this year.
EU, China End Solar Panels Spat—Li’s First Diplomatic Victory -Caijing This is a rare case of Chinese leaders using diplomatic relations to address bilateral industrial disputes, signaling a new economic diplomacy as well as greater importance the new government has placed in new energy
Former economic official expelled from CPC, public office – Xinhua Former economic official Liu Tienan has been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and removed from public office, according to a statement released by the CPC’s discipline watchdog Thursday. The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said it has found Liu, former deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, “took advantage of his position to seek profits for others, and both Liu and his family accepted huge amount of bribes.” Liu has also been found to “seek benefits for his relatives’ businesses by breaking relevant regulations, accept cash and gifts”. Liu was also “morally degenerate”, reads the CCDI statement.
Four senior Shanghai judges suspended for hiring prostitutes | South China Morning Post Four officials with the Shanghai Higher People’s Court, including Chen Xueming and Zhao Minghua, chief and deputy chief judge of the No 1 civil court, were among five people filmed with prostitutes at a luxury resort in the city’s Pudong New Area in June. There was no official information about the fifth person’s identity
Judges Hire Prostitutes, China Isn’t Shocked – Bloomberg On Saturday night, the hardline Communist Party-owned Global Times newspaper sent an unusually frank message from its Sina Weibo account: “The judges of the Shanghai High Court were revealed picking up prostitutes. The key point isn’t that they went whoring, but that they did so in a group. Law is the bottom line in society and judges are the safeguards of that line. They crossed the line collectively. What’s ironic is that this is nothing new to the public. Endless official corruption has transformed anger into numbness. That’s what’s most pathetic.”
China plans cross-strait highways | South China Morning Post The mainland government has recently approved a national road project that includes two cross-strait highways linking both sides of the Taiwan Strait. If completed, the project would be a literal and figurative bridge between the mainland and Taiwan and would mark a major milestone in cross-strait relations. However, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, the island’s top cross-strait policy planning body, told the South China Morning Post the project had been “unilaterally worked out by mainland authorities”.
: Abolishing Hukou System Should Be One Goal of Reform Hu Shuli – Caixin The situation should be tackled in two ways. First, small to medium-sized cities should be made more attractive, while big cities should grant household status to residents with stable jobs based on a methodical timetable. The government should also speed up reforms such as land reform to raise agricultural productivity. All of this requires early moves by the central government. Reforms should be carried out in stages with the ultimate goal of abolishing the household registration system. When this day comes, the people will have their complete and equal rights to reside and migrate freely – once a basic civil right provided under China’s constitution.
Sinica Podcast–Shop Talk with Phonemica China has no shortage of other dialects, which is why we’re delighted to host the creators of Phonemica, a crowd-sourced project to build a digital map of Chinese languages. In our studio to talk about their project and how it’s being received in China are the two founders: Kellen Parker, a linguistics graduate student at National Tsinghua University in Taiwan, and Steve Hansen, a university professor and long-time resident in Beijing.
Region
Is This China’s SECOND Aircraft Carrier? — War is Boring — Medium With this apparent evidence of a new carrier, China’s future naval plan is becoming clearer. The new flattop could carry the latest warplanes, possibly including a sea-based version of the Chinese J-31 stealth fighter prototype, unveiled last fall. The J-31 features the heavy-duty twin nose wheels that are typical of flattop-based planes.
Jerome Cohen–How Dangerous Are Sino-Japanese Tensions? | ChinaFile There is a pragmatic as well as nationalist side to contemporary China’s leaders. On that same 1972 first visit to China, when I asked my highly intelligent escort, Li Mingde, about the then already hotly-contested Diaoyu-Senkaku issue, he first launched into an emotional tirade about how China would fight to the death to prevent Japanese occupation of sacred Chinese soil. But, when I pointed out that Japan had just regained possession of the territory from the U.S., he relaxed, smiled and said that there was no rush and that the matter could be settled any time in the next 500 years! This is a different world today but one in which the PRC will have to be more practical and take more seriously the expectations of other countries that rely on international law and the possibilities that international law offers as an aid to settling important disputes.
View of Japan favorable in Southeast Asia, unlike in S. Korea, China – AJW by The Asahi Shimbun Unlike South Koreans and Chinese, Southeast Asians and Australians report a favorable opinion of Japan, a survey by a U.S. think tank showed. According to a recent survey of Asia-Pacific nations by the Pew Research Center, roughly 80 percent of Malaysians, Indonesians, Filipinos and Australians said their perception of Japan is favorable. But closer to home, the survey showed anti-Japan sentiment among South Koreans at 77 percent and in China at 90 percent.
China warns against rush to set code of conduct in South China Sea – Xinhua | English.news.cn The envisaged Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) cannot be set in a rush as it concerns the interests of many countries and lots of work is required, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday. China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to work on COC within the framework of the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), Wang told reporters.
China’s Blue Water Space Port – All Things Nuclear Next year China will open a new space port on a tropical island in the South China Sea. In addition to supporting a new generation of wider-bodied space launch vehicles that will expand China’s capability to carry larger and heavier spacecraft into Earth orbit and beyond, the opening of the new launch facility on Hainan Island marks a noteworthy shift in the culture of the Chinese space community.
Eyeing China, Philippines gains U.S. ship in military upgrade | Reuters The Philippines took possession of a former U.S. Coast Guard ship on Tuesday, part of its biggest military upgrade in decades, as a stronger economy allows it to raise spending to counter China’s growing assertiveness in disputed waters.
The Great Southeast Asian Land Grab – The Diplomat
Conflict over land tenure in Southeast Asia’s rural areas has emerged as a key issue for the region. To achieve goals such as economic development and poverty reduction in rural areas, governments in the region have pursued policies to attract investment from large corporate entities both domestically and internationally, to undertake projects on “vacant” and “unused” land that promise to bolster the economy and create jobs.
Cambodia
Cambodia opposition party makes big gains in election – The Guardian Cambodia‘s opposition has made what appear to be significant gains in a general election that could prove to be the ruling party’s worst show in more than a decade, according to preliminary results. The incumbent Cambodian People’s party, presided over by prime minister Hun Sen, won 68 of the 123 National assembly seats in Sunday’s polls, according to provisional figures from the national election commission. The opposition’s Cambodia National Rescue party won 55, up from 29 in the outgoing parliament.
Indonesia
Indonesia volcano erupts, killing six people – The Guardian Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency said a volcano has erupted in eastern Indonesia, killing six people and shooting smoke and ash up to 2km (1.2 miles) into the air. The agency said that Mount Rokatenda in East Nusa Tenggara province erupted early on Saturday morning and that the five were killed by lava flow. Nearly 3,000 people have been evacuated from the area on Palue island. The volcano has been rumbling since October 2012
Myanmar/Burma
Hundreds Commemorate ’88 Uprising on Streets of Rangoon – The Irrawaddy Standing in front of the building where thousands were forced to run for their lives amid a hail of bullets 25 years ago, pro-democracy activists gathered again on Thursday to remember their fallen comrades. Under overcast skies on Thursday morning, nearly 100 people bearing wreaths descended upon an open space opposite Rangoon’s City Hall to mark the silver jubilee of a nationwide pro-democracy movement that would ultimately cost more than 3,000 demonstrators their lives.“We are here today to honor our comrades who sacrificed their lives on this day, August 8, in 1988,” said San Tint Kyaw, an organizer of the memorial event.
US Extends Ban on Gems Imports From Burma – The IrrawaddyThe Obama administration on Wednesday extended a ban on imports of rubies and jade from Burma, reflecting worries about the powerful military’s continuing involvement in the murky industry based in conflict-wracked border regions. Washington remains concerned about human rights abuses against ethnic minorities and the role of the army in Burma despite democratic reforms that have seen a shift from decades of authoritarian rule.
Despite Denials, UWSA Owns Helicopters: Military, Business Sources – The Irrawaddy Jane’s Intelligence Review earlier disclosed that Burma’s largest ethnic rebel group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), received five helicopters from China. Both Beijing and the Wa rebels have dismissed this claim in recent months. However, according to several informed sources and leaked documents, it seems that the UWSA owns at least two helicopters. An ethnic Kachin military leader in the north Thai city of Chiang Mai told The Irrawaddy that he had seen two helicopters—but not helicopter gunships—at a UWSA base near UWSA headquarters in the Shan State town of Panghsang.
The number of the beast – SEA Globe Just as Myanmar seems to be casting off its shackles, a spectre is haunting the nation – the spectre of Buddhist extremism. An intolerant branch of nationalism linked to Theravada Buddhism has violently forced its way into full view during the last year, in a period when the government is opening up both politically and economically. The 969 movement, whose stated goal is defending the Buddhist character of the nation against a purported threat of Islamisation, is the vanguard of this trend. The longstanding sectarian divisions in the country have been deepened, and 969 is providing at least a breeding ground to the violent anti-Muslim attacks that have taken place in some cities during the past year.
Philippines
Philippines bombing kills eight – The Guardian
A powerful bomb apparently rigged to a vehicle exploded on a busy main road in a volatile southern Philippine city, killing at least eight people and wounding more than 30 others, officials said.
Troops and police closed off the area along Sinsuat Avenue in Cotabato city as firefighters and ambulances arrived during the Monday afternoon rush. Witnesses saw at least four people bloodied on the pavement as cars and buildings burned after the explosion.
Thousands flee as Philippine troops fight rebels – The Bangkok Post About 2,000 farmers have fled their homes in the southern Philippines after renewed fighting between government forces and renegade Muslim rebels, officials said Saturday. “As of now we feel we are safe here, but if this worsens we may have to leave for the town centre as well,” he added, referring to Pikit, the town nearest to Nalapaan and to the villages where the evacuees had come from.
Singapore
Singapore’s Maids: No Respite? – The Diplomat Since January 1, 2013, those joining Singapore’s army of more than 200,000 foreign domestic workers, employed in about one in five households, saw a new clause in their contracts, giving them the right to one day off a week. Seven months on, however, progress seems uneven and spotty. According to Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a Singaporean non-government organization specializing in migrant worker issues that has interviewed domestic workers at popular recreational hangouts and Sunday courses, there has been no significant increase in the numbers of foreign domestic workers taking days off.
Vietnam
Vietnam pair coaxed out of jungle – BBC A Vietnamese father and his son who fled to the jungle during the war four decades ago have been persuaded to leave, officials say.Ho Van Lang and his 82-year-old father reportedly shunned contact with the outside world after three family members were killed by a landmine.For most of their time in the jungle their whereabouts was unknown.They were discovered living in dense foliage in central Quang Ngai province and were barely able to communicate.
Regional Roundup for Week of 5.3.2013
