Tougher measures to cool property market [China Daily]

Most economists anticipate China’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth to reach 9.5 percent this year but drop to 8.5 or 8 percent next year.

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Tougher measures to cool property market
By Hu Yuanyuan (China Daily)
Source – China Daily, published September 30, 2010

Increase in down payments and new tax aim to curb rising prices

BEIJING – New measures to curb rising real estate prices, including raising down payments for home purchases and expanding property tax trials nationwide, were launched on Wednesday highlighting the government’s resolve to cool the property market.

Homebuyers purchasing their first apartment now need to pay at least 30 percent down payment, instead of the previous 20 percent, according to an article on the government’s official website, http://www.gov.cn.

The requirement for second property purchasers was also raised to at least 50 percent from 40 percent.

Filed under: China Daily, Chinese Model, Domestic Growth, Economics, Government & Policy, Politics, Population

China’s one-child policy turns 30 [The Age]

”We will continue the one-child policy until at least 2015,’‘ said the National Family Planning Commission earlier this year.

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China’s one-child policy turns 30
Malcolm Moore, Shanghai
Source – The Age, published September 27, 2010

WHEN China introduced its drastic population controls, officials promised that it would lift them after 30 years – an anniversary that arrived at the weekend.

”In 30 years, when our current extreme population growth eases, we can then adopt a different population policy,” read the 1980 announcement from the Communist Party Central Committee.

But today, the one-child policy remains firmly in place and officials cannot shake the idea that it has helped China’s economic miracle.

Filed under: Chinese Model, Culture, Domestic Growth, Economics, Environment, Population, The Age, The Chinese Identity, The construction of Chinese and Non-Chinese identities

How China can clarify its claims (South China Sea Dispute) [Straits Times]

How China can clarify its claims
SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE
By Robert Beckman
Source – The Straits Times, published Sep 25, 2010

CONFUSION in the international community over the nature of China’s claims in the South China Sea has created apprehension and misunderstanding.

One of the main causes of this confusion was the note verbale sent by China to the United Nations Secretary-General on May 7 last year, objecting to the joint submission of Malaysia and Vietnam to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS).

In its note verbale, China made the following statement about its claims in the South China Sea: ‘China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and the adjacent waters, and enjoys sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the relevant waters as well as the seabed and subsoil thereof (see attached map).’

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Chinese Model, Communications, Culture, Diaoyu Fishing Boat Incident 2010, Greater China, Influence, International Relations, japan, Mapping Feelings, Media, military, Nationalism, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Soft Power, Strategy

China’s not-so-little talent blueprint [Straits Times]

“Over the next decade, Beijing aims to import top brains and groom local talent to produce a new generation of political leaders, scientists, engineers, technology professionals, entrepreneurs, educators, agricultural experts and social workers… The desired 180 million-strong talent force – roughly equivalent to the population of Pakistan – would be critical in the transformation of China from the world’s factory to the world’s leader in innovation, officials have said.”

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China’s not-so-little talent blueprint
But US don cautions against being bowled over by the ambitious target
by Tracy Quek , US Correspondent
Source- Straits Times, published September 26, 2010

Washington: China’s official statistics do not always tell the whole story, but they can certainly cause a stir from time to time.

Back in 2005, news articles in the United States reporting that China had 600,000 fresh graduate engineers in 2004, against the 70,000 in the US, triggered nervous hand-wringing in the country over America’s slipping scientific edge.

But experts who analysed the Chinese figure later found that in terms of training, many of the Chinese engineers were nowhere near the calibre of those in the US.

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Chinese Model, Communications, Culture, Economics, Education, Influence, International Relations, Media, National Medium- and Long- term Talent Development Plan, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Social, Soft Power, Strategy

Japan rejects apology demand over arrest [The Age]

Japan rejects apology demand over arrest
Beijing
Source – The Age, published September 26, 2010

Skipper Zhan Qixiong. Photo: AP

CHINA yesterday demanded an apology and compensation from Tokyo over the ”unlawful” detention of a Chinese trawlerman that sparked a major row, despite Japan’s decision to release him.

In a far from conciliatory statement, China’s Foreign Ministry said the disputed islands at the centre of the diplomatic stand-off were Beijing’s ”inherent territory”.

Tokyo’s actions were illegal and invalid, it said, and China demanded an apology.

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Chinese Model, Culture, Diaoyu Fishing Boat Incident 2010, History, Influence, International Relations, japan, military, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Soft Power, Strategy

Chinese skipper home from Japan as Beijing demands apology [AsiaOne/AFP]

“[Japan’s] conservative opposition was quick to lash out at what it saw as a loss of face for Japan, which has this year been overtaken by traditional rival China as the world’s number two economy.”

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Chinese skipper home from Japan as Beijing demands apology
AFP
Source – AsiaOne, published September 25, 2010

BEIJING – The Chinese trawlerman whose arrest sparked a major row arrived home on Saturday after being released by Japanese prosecutors as Beijing called for compensation and an apology for the “unlawful” detention.

In a far from conciliatory statement, China’s foreign ministry insisted the disputed islands at the centre of the diplomatic standoff were Beijing’s “inherent territory”, according to a report by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

“(The arrest) seriously infringed upon China’s territorial sovereignty and violated the human rights of Chinese citizens,” the statement said.

Filed under: AFP, AsiaOne, Beijing Consensus, Chinese Model, Culture, Diaoyu Fishing Boat Incident 2010, History, Influence, International Relations, japan, military, Nationalism, Public Diplomacy, Soft Power

Chindia – you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet [The Age]

This to me is quite a soon-to-be seminal piece on the growing Western consciousness on China’s Rise. It strips away polite objectivity and goes straight to the point. Most of us rely on media representations for the bulk of our referents for discourse on China. Those who spend time there commonly proclaim the vastness that China is. I too think, that we haven’t seen nothing yet. I do not think there has been a rigorous attempt at a true overarching assessment of just where China stands globally now.

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Chindia – you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet
by Michael Pascoe
Source – The Age, published September 23, 2010

Even if you think you know the “Chindia” story, odds are you don’t really know the Chindia story. And if you’re still caught up in China “housing bubble” and US-consumer-dependency yarns, you’re blinded by Western conceit and actually don’t have a clue.

To put it simply in Bachman Turner Overdrive’s 1974 words, baby, you just ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

That’s been rammed home by four serendipitous speeches and papers in the past week, each reinforcing the other. They started with an article on Indian economic change in the RBA Bulletin, expanded by RBA assistant governor Philip Lowe’s NatStats paper on the development of Asia and was rounded off last night at an Investec clients briefing with speeches by visiting Investec Asset Management strategist Michael Power and BHP’s former China senior executive, Clinton Dines.

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Charm Offensive, Chinese Model, Culture, Economics, India, Influence, International Relations, Mapping Feelings, Media, Nationalism, Politics, Population, Public Diplomacy, Soft Power, Strategy, The Age, The Chinese Identity, The construction of Chinese and Non-Chinese identities

Useless Sanctions on China: Robert Reich Says ‘Forget It,’ Better to Rebuild American Industry [The Nation]

Washington Consensus meets the updated Beijing Consensus with nationalism seeping out both sides. The writer hits the nail on the head, at least according to the framework of global production – the trade imbalance between the US and China has been disguised as political rhetoric to deflect attention away from a lack of a domestic industrial policy. How true is that? I am not sure. –

“The administration will also have to be careful not to unleash something it can’t control. Protectionist impulses run frighteningly deep in Congress.”

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Useless Sanctions on China: Robert Reich Says ‘Forget It,’ Better to Rebuild American Industry
by Robert Dreyfuss
Source – The Nation, published September 19, 2010

Earlier this month, in The Nation, I wrote a 5000-word piece describing the debate among progressives over the challenge from China.

More and more, as the economic crisis continues and unemployment stays high, many politicians, labor officials and economists want to blame China and worse, take it out on China by punishing Beijing with sanctions, tariffs and other measures, even at the risk of trade war. That’s why Robert Reich’s piece in the Christian Science Monitor comes as a breath of fresh air.

Reich says that “it’s naive to assume all we have to do to get the Chinese to do what we want is to threaten them with tariffs.” He points out that China might well retaliate, undermining the US economy, too, and that China isn’t likely to change what they believe is a key political and economic strategy just because the United States makes it more expensive for them to keep it. And, he says, “even if China did allow its currency to rise against the dollar, there’s no reason to think this would automatically generate lots more American jobs.”

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, Chinese Model, Communications, Domestic Growth, Economics, Finance, Influence, International Relations, Nationalism, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Soft Power, Strategy, The Nation, Trade, U.S.

Premier Wen will not meet Japan PM [China Daily/Xinhua]

It looks like the damage between the second and third largest economies in the world over the long-running Diaoyu islands saga is extensive, and it is not just political with cancellations of ministerial meetings and Premier Wen not wishing to meet the Japan PM. I wonder what the wider strategy behind this is – is it simply a clash between newly minted ministry staffing? It will be interesting to see how this pans out – first, both need to look at each other as equals, without the historical baggage. But that, as history tells us, will prove exceedingly difficult.

On the cultural side of things… “an invitation to about 1,000 Japanese youths to the World Expo in Shanghai has been canceled and ticket sales have been suspended for concerts at the Expo site next month by Japanese pop band, SMAP.”

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‘Atmosphere not suitable’ as relations sour over captain’s illegal detention
By Bao Daozu (Xinhua)
Source – China Daily, published 22 September 2010

BEIJING – Premier Wen Jiabao will not meet his Japanese counterpart during an upcoming UN summit in New York because the atmosphere is “obviously not suitable”, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on Tuesday.

“Given the current atmosphere, arranging a meeting clearly would be inappropriate,” she said.

She made the remark as the rift between China and Japan, over collisions in waters off the Diaoyu Islands and the illegal detention of a Chinese trawler captain continues to deepen.

Filed under: Beijing Consensus, China Daily, Chinese Model, Culture, Diaoyu Fishing Boat Incident 2010, History, Influence, International Relations, japan, Media, military, Nationalism, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Soft Power, Strategy, xinhua

Tensions rise in China-Japan islands row [The Age]

And here’s a perspective from Australia… Strong countermeasures from China seem to be on the way in this most recent installment of the Sino-Japanese conflict.

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Tensions rise in China-Japan islands row
John Garnaut, Beijing
Source – The Age, published September 21, 2010

THE standoff between China and Japan over an incident in the East China Sea has flared into a nationalistic campaign as commentators call for China to conduct military drills in the area and drive up the Japanese currency to inflict economic pain.

The Chinese government’s call for “strong countermeasures” against Japan was splashed yesterday across newspaper front pages and featured on Chinese internet forums.

Chinese government media, museums and schools deliberately stoked Chinese nationalism. This included highlighting Japan’s brutality in the Second World War.

But Beijing can also find itself accused of being weak.

Filed under: Australia, Beijing Consensus, Chinese Model, Culture, Diaoyu Fishing Boat Incident 2010, Economics, Influence, International Relations, japan, military, Nationalism, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Soft Power, The Age