Heads of State from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as delegates from Kyrgyzstan met in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent on 11 June to agree the legal rules for admission to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Touted as Asia’s alternative to the European Union, observer nations such as Pakistan and Iran have expressed intentions to join the SCO, which means that the bloc embracing China, Russia and Central Asian nations will possibly expand to South Asia and the Middle East. Many other countries in the region, including Afghanistan have also asked to join the group. The expansion of the SCO which covers 60% of the total territories of Euro-Asia includes one quarter of the world’s population. (more…)
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Military, mining and media exchanges between China and Africa are taking on new proportions. Chen Bingde, Chief of General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) visited Namibia, Angola and Tanzania in early June. It was the first visit by the PLA’s Chief of General Staff to Africa since the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and reflected the increasing military exchanges between China and Africa. On May 24, China’s third largest steelmaker Wuhan Iron and Steel Group received approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) for two overseas acquisitions which are expected to contribute 2 billion tons of Iron ore deposits from Liberia and Madagascar. On 17 June, China and African media moguls met to find ways to gain a louder voice on the international stage. “World news is still largely controlled by Western media and it is difficult for developing countries to be heard”, Wang Chan, Minister of the State Information Office, said at the Seventh Seminar for African Press Officials in Beijing. (more…)
China overtook France to occupy fourth place last year in the ranking of the world’s top spenders on international tourism, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation said on Wednesday. Since 2000 China has posted growth of around 22 percent per year in overseas trips, making it the fastest growing market for expenditure on international tourism. Chinese tourists spent $43.7 billion abroad on hotels, restaurants, shopping etc. in 2009, despite the economic downturn. As well as expanding their hotels in mainland Chinese tier two cities. Malaysian Chinese owned Shangri-la hotels will also be opening in Paris and London before 2012. I recently spoke to a member of their Shanghai staff who said we are ‘recruiting bilingual staff in large numbers in anticipation of extensive expansion.’
The color of your skin counts in China. I don’t mean differences in African, Asian or Arian skin tones. I mean different shades of Han (91.59% of population) skin. I was at a function recently and one Chinese friend made a joke to another who had been out in the sun saying that he had a ‘peasant tan’. The fact in China is that if you are from the countryside e.g. poor or work in a manual job (e.g. migrant laborer), your skin is probably darker from being outside. If you are rich and have an air conditioned office you will look paler. Women are so obsessed with being white that it is hard to buy face cream without a face-whitening agent. The discrimination based on color is reinforced by the hukou system. This is a ‘permanent residence permit’ or local ‘passport’ based on place of birth. A hukou can change but only if you get the right kind of job or pay certain people the right amount of money. Still most hukous are registered in people’s hometown. The hukou determines your right to receive services such as basic health care. For example rural migrants to Beijing without Beijing hukou did not receive a jab against H1N1 until weeks after other residents (China Daily, May 4 Joseph Christian). The wrong hukou also precludes you from sending your children to the state schools in Beijing. Therefore many charities are trying to run schools to cater for migrant workers’ children who are in jeopardy of becoming tomorrow’s illiterate class. I cannot say the system is wrong, as I am sure the Government has its reasons but I think that NGO’s that are aiming to educate these children should be tolerated if not supported by Government funding.
Five BMW seven series hugged the curb of the Grand Hyatt in Beijing on Saturday night with scantily clad supermodels hugging the cars. Motor mania is gripping China. The Beijing Motor show, now one of the most important in the world, kicked off with aplomb on Friday 23 April. Every day this week, newspapers were monopolized by BMW, Mercedes or Audi advertisements. Mercedes has gone for full out glitz, horsepower and revs under the red bonnet. Audi, whose biggest customer is the Chinese Government, has gone for something more subtle and sustainable. BMW looks like an NGO profiling its car owners undertaking volunteer work in remote provinces, well off but also well intentioned. Each are German car makers, but each with a different approach to crossing the Chinese wall. And who can blame them? Last year General Motors (GM) sold more cars in China than America. (more…)
Where was President Hu Jintao when the earthquake took place? In Brazil of course. The BRIC pack (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) are getting closer and closer; representing 65% of overall global economic growth and 40% of the world’s population they are a force to be reckoned with. Last year BRIC nations produced 15% of the global gross domestic product. Those numbers are set to rise and the group believes its increased status warrants higher IMF representation and a bigger say in global affairs. The BRIC group cite 9/11 and 9/14 (Lehman’s collapse) as the dates when it became reasonable to question the US’s superpower status.
Since the BRIC summit in June 16, 2009 when the group issued a 16 point joint statement the gang of four have attracted increasing attention. The BRIC countries are moving towards institutionalization. BRIC summits are expected to be held in the next two years in India and China. Financial Ministers and bank governors of the four countries have also met frequently before the G20 summit and the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to coordinate their position and common claims. (more…)
Beijing has admitted to New Delhi that the mainland is building a dam on the Yarlung Zangbo River near its disputed border with India (South China Morning Post, April 24). The river originates in Tibet and flows into India. Mainland experts in the project confirmed the hydropower plan for the river yesterday and said that four dams would be built between Sangri and Jiacha counties. The total power capacity for the dams would be bigger than that of the Three Gorges Dam. Power from the dams will be used to meet growing demand in Hong Kong and Guangdong. The first dam lies Southeast of Lhasa at an altitude of 3,260 meters. The damming of the Yarlung Zangbo, the highest major river in the world, will also give Beijing direct control of the water supply to more than 90,000 square km of land over which China claims sovereignty but which is under control of India. Chinese officials told India that Beijing had no obligation to reveal its plan to New Delhi but did so to build trust and ease tensions. Beijing said the hydropower plants would not affect waters into India. (more…)
Shanghai is shaping up for EXPO overload. Everyone is scanned as they enter the hotel. If you forget your key to your room, they check your birth-date to re-enter. Shangri-la have shipped in their best staff from around the Asian region to cope with multilingual guests. (more…)
Monday: Had dinner with lawyer friend who has worked in China for twenty years. I saw the long distance codes flash up on his iPhone. Everyone calls China now. It no longer waits to woo the outside world. EXPO will ram home this reality. Whilst my friend was taking his call I surveyed the Shangri-la, Pudong Shanghai, buffet. Having lived out of a case for seven years in Asia I have seen some of the best buffets in the world, but this hotel has to win hands down. (more…)
Even in modern times, communities existed before governments were here to take care of public needs. There were many groups of people with a common sense of purpose and a feeling of duty to one another, before there were political institutions forcing them to perform their duties.
– Daniel Boorstin, The Decline of Radicalism (1969) (more…)
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