Results tagged “uschinarelations”

Now that we've had a good night's rest, we can sit back and reflect on the general meaning and importance, both literal and symbolic, of President Obama's town hall in Shanghai yesterday. We've come to a sort of peace with the entire affair: yes, it was scripted, but could you expect more from such an unprecedented meeting between citizens and the populist president of a staunchly democratic country in a Communist state? No, Obama didn't seem to have a substantive, overarching message for a meeting that his administration fought tooth and nail to arrange: but in his first appearance in China, having yet to even meet with President Hu Jintao, were we really expecting something earth shattering?

Making a pit stop during the Obama Administration’s Blonde Ambition tour of Asia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a visit to the 2010 Expo site earlier today. Secretary Clinton addressed a squadron of journalists in front of the site for the future United States pavilion, among other things asking for increased contributions from American businesses, as the U.S. had raised two-thirds of the expo participation cost as of September.

There has been a flurry of news in preparation for and response to Obama's first trip to the Mainland. Because we're following it across the web so you don't have to, here's a round up of the most salient and interesting links, videos and general reactions to the US President in China.

After more than 70 years a large rare fungus collection has been returned to China from Cornell University. Curator Shu Chun Teng smuggled the collection out of the country at the start of World War II just as the Japanese were invading to keep it safe. He later suffered during the Cultural Revolution for "selling China's history." [New York Times]

Gosh, we really have missed the antics of Sarah Palin ever since she stepped down from her post as Governor earlier this year. But we're holding out against all odds for a 2012 presidential run: can you imagine all the sound bytes? In any case, Sarah was in Hong Kong yesterday for her first commercial speaking engagement, a keynote address at the CLSA Investors' Forum. And to say the least, it was key-noteworthy.

• China party scholar hints at Xi Jinping promotion [Washington Post] "A Chinese Communist official on Tuesday held out the possibility that Vice President Xi Jinping could still be promoted to a military position, in a step toward ultimately taking over the nation's top leadership post. Some media had speculated that Xi, who is expected to succeed President Hu Jintao in 2013, would be anointed vice chairman of the Central Military Commission at a party plenum last week, reinforcing his succession claim. However, the plenum closed last Friday with no word of any personnel changes."
• China opens media center for coverage of 60th National Day celebrations [Xinhua] "A media center was opened Tuesday for journalists covering celebrations commemorating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1. The center, in the Media Center Hotel, will operate until Oct. 2 and will be responsible for providing reception and services for media personnel, such as issuing press passes and organizing interviews. Zhu Shouchen, deputy director of the center, said they had so far received applications from more than 4,500 journalists in and outside the Chinese mainland."
• What China's Hu Would Really Like to Tell Obama [Time] "Summit meetings, in particular those with 20 heads of state in attendance, are usually scripted, staid affairs. That's especially true when these get-togethers involve Chinese President Hu Jintao, whose private persona varies little from his public style. As befits someone who is running the world's most populous country, he is intensely disciplined and extremely cautious. On Tuesday, he will meet one on one with U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City before heading off to Pittsburgh, Pa., for the G-20 summit on Sept. 24-25. This is what a more relaxed Hu might say to Obama, whose first major decision on trade was to slap a 35% tariff on tires produced in China — an action that generated a flurry of stories in the media about the possibility of a U.S.-China trade war..."

• China anniversary puts security jitters on show [Reuters] "The Chinese government is flooding Beijing with armed police and up to one million security "volunteers" to head off any unrest over October's sensitive anniversary of 60 years of Communist Party rule. The relentless security has grounded pigeons, lined streets with grandmothers, prompted warnings to stock up on food and left harried residents wondering who the festivities are really for."
• China jails four over stabbings [BBC] "Four more people have been found guilty of carrying out attacks with syringes in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, state-run television says. The four received sentences ranging between eight and 15 years in jail. Three other people received prison sentences for similar attacks earlier this month."
• SCENARIOS: How US-China trade tensions might play out [Forbes] "U.S. President Barack Obama has slapped a 35-percent "safeguard" tariff on tire imports from China, inflaming trade relations and raising concerns about a possible trade war. Obama's decision, announced on Sept. 11, responded to demands from U.S. union groups, manufacturers and lawmakers who view the Asian export powerhouse as an unfair trader. That perception is shaped by the U.S. trade deficit with China, which hit a record $268 billion in 2008. Here are some ways the dispute could play out:"

• Critics howl at pooch's pampering, price tag [China Daily] "A welcome worthy of a world leader that was given to a 4-million-yuan ($588,000) dog has raised the hackles of critics. The Tibetan mastiff, or Zang'ao in Chinese, arrived in his new masters' hometown of Xi'an, Shaanxi province, by air on Wednesday after he was bought for the colossal sum. After his safe landing, a motorcade comprising 30 Mercedes-Benz vehicles escorted the canine to his new digs."
• China and U.S.: Tire-d of Fighting [Forbes] "There was a time not too long ago when little seemed more important in U.S.-China relations than the politics of trade -- when a dispute over steel tariffs or the value of Chinese currency would bring out fire-breathers on either side of the Pacific. Now we'll find out if that time finally has passed. By Thursday Sept 17th, President Obama will take up the first big China trade issue of his presidency: tires, as in the cheap Chinese tires that millions of Americans have on their cars. Obama must decide whether to impose a tariff of as high as 55 percent that has been recommended to him by the U.S. International Trade Commission."
• High hurdles for China's commercial aviation ambitions [Reuters] "As Boeing and Airbus grapple with problems from global recession to manufacturing glitches, a longer-term worry looms: China's ambition to compete in the aerospace business. Beijing has declared its goal to manufacture large passenger jets with more than 150 seats and freighters capable of handling over 100 tonnes of cargo, with the explicit aim of taking on Boeing and Airbus."

• More Battles Ahead for IPhone in China [PC World] "Apple has emerged from winding negotiations with an iPhone deal in China, but the handset will still face government pitfalls and look-alike competitors in the country. Local carrier China Unicom said Friday it had reached a three-year iPhone distribution deal with Apple, ending months of rumor about an impending agreement. The carrier will offer the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, with the first handsets going on sale in the fourth quarter."
• Taiwan seeks to smooth ruffled Chinese feathers [AP] "China has canceled or postponed several events meant to underscore improving relations with Taiwan, apparently to show anger over the Dalai Lama's visit to the island, Taiwan's governing party said Tuesday. The visit of the Tibetan spiritual leader — aimed at offering comfort to the victims of Typhoon Morakot — has created the most serious challenge for relations between the democratic island and the communist mainland since Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou took office 15 months ago on a platform of ending 60 years of hostility."
• An unlikely victim of China's censorship [UPI Asia] "It is well known that Internet access is not unrestricted in China. But who would expect that New Threads (Xin Yusi, www.xys.org), an overseas Chinese-language website, would be among the inaccessible sites? A search of the term “New Threads” at Google inside China and at Baidu, a Chinese-language search engine, did not even generate links to the website. New Threads is not anti-Chinese government, nor is it pornographic or related to the banned Falungong cult. It is not about Taiwan independence, Tibet or Xinjiang. It simply reveals academic misconduct in China."

• China's founding legend may not be true [USA TODAY] "China's founding dynasty may just be a myth, say archaeologists. In a news report in the current Science, writer Andrew Lawler surveys a decade's worth of discoveries suggesting ancient China sprang from distinct regions, rather than possessing a single national culture some 4,300 years ago. "How China became China is no mere academic topic; it goes to the very heart of how the world’s most populous and economically vibrant nation sees itself and its role in the world," Lawler writes."
• Beijing puts giant media marriage on the rocks [Reuters] "China's leading Internet portal, Sina Corp is likely to call off its planned $1.4 billion purchase of Focus Media's core assets if the government fails to bless the marriage by a September deadline. Since Sina unveiled the deal in December — the largest in China's opaque media sector — China's commerce ministry has repeatedly put off reviewing the deal, asking for additional documents, frustrating both Nasdaq-listed companies."
• China: U.S. and Chinese Generals Clash [NYT] "A meeting on Thursday in Beijing between a Chinese military leader and a visiting American army general turned rancorous as the Chinese leader gave a sharp lecture on the failure of the United States to respect China’s interests, according to a witness at the meeting and a report by Xinhua, the state news agency. The argument took place when Gen. Ge Zhenfeng, deputy chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army, met with Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the chief of staff of the United States Army. "

The gig is up! All Huffington Post readers have now realized that Shanghai and Beijing are the land of opportunity and we'll soon see an influx of smug, knee-jerk left wingers trying to find their place in China's "surging" economy. Yes, we know it's just a link to a New York Times article, but that link has already garnered over 2,000 3,000 comments, most of which are smug, knee-jerk and left wingy. We counted a couple references to Bu$h, some attempts at jokes about Palin in a cheongsam, and one kind of acute observation that this maybe makes Americans China's Mexicans.

USA Today has an intriguing feature on the audaciously slow progress of the Freedom Tower (now called One World Trade Center), the 1776-foot building in New York that is supposed to replace the spot where the two WTCs once stood. But of the 2000-plus-word article, one particular sentence caught our attention. Apparently, one of the few companies that have actually leased space in the laboriously slowly-to-be built skyscraper is a Chinese firm. They've signed on for 190,000 square feet of space. Our interest is piqued! Who are they? What do they do? And why were they one of the first non-American government entities to buy up a floor? Update: It's Beijing real estate company, Vantone! As to why they've bought a floor, we're still not sure - but apparently they've been shopping around for a while. Source: Slate

• China cracks down on foreign journalists [FT.com Video] "Foreign journalists trying to conduct interviews in the Sichuan earthquake zone in western China are being attacked and detained as Beijing ratchets up security in preparation for the first anniversary of the devastating quake on May 12. Jamil Anderlini, FT Beijing correspondent, traveled to Sichuan and was the target of such attacks. He reports on how officials used violence and threats to suppress his coverage."
• From gold farmers to kings: online gaming in china [US China Today] "Apparently the virtual world has not been hit by the financial crisis. In early April, Changyou, the online gaming division of the popular Chinese portal site Sohu.com, had its initial public offering on the Nasdaq exchange. The stock jumped 25% by the day’s end, raising over US$128 million in company proceeds."
• Love, lust and time to party as hotel 'captives' scent freedom [SCMP] "Dozens of people partied in the lobby of the quarantined Metropark Hotel in Wan Chai last night to celebrate their impending release today, as guests told tales of love, lust and laughter from the week-long internment. Sheets that had covered the windows of the locked-down hotel for days were ripped down amid the festivities, revealing smiling guests raising glasses of wine, beer and other liquor and kissing one another."

Another day, another clash at sea between the U.S. Navy and Chinese fishing boats. This time around, the USNS Victorious was harassed by two Chinese vessels who maneuvered “dangerous[ly]” around it in the Yellow Sea.

• China targets an academic culture of cut-and-paste [csmonitor.com] "Plagiarism and sheer invention have flourished in Chinese academic circles, adds Stephen Stearns, a Yale University professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who taught two classes at Peking University in 2007, because 'at least until recently, the rewards were great and the punishment was trivial. It paid off.'"
• China clears Johnson & Johnson products after probe [The Times of India] "China’s State Food and Drug Administration has cleared baby products manufactured by Johnson & Johnson after a high-profile and widely publicized investigation to determine if they contained potential carcinogens. The Administration launched its probe on the basis of allegations leveled by an US based activist group."
• Beijing Redeploys Its Carmakers For Global Race [Forbes] "Dongfeng Automobile Co., Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. have been directed by Beijing to start acquiring smaller rivals in a race to transform themselves into the “Big Two” or “Big Three” in China’s auto industry."