The Hanyuan Incident: A Signal of China's Social Crisis

Translated by Paul Frank

    Since October, several popular riots in China have caught the world's attention. These incidents indicate that China has entered a period of serious social conflict.

    The Hanyuan Incident: The people are deprived of their right to make a living while the government "drains the pond to catch the fish"

    The protest staged by people living in the Hanyuan Reservoir area in Sichuan Province deserves the widest attention. Here is the background. First, the Hanyuan protest was staged to protect the livelihoods of 150,000 people and was one of a large number of similar popular protests that have recently been organized all over China in response to the Chinese government's plunder of the nation's natural resources. As the popular saying goes, the government is "draining the pond to catch the fish."   In accordance with China's new energy strategy, at least 50 million people will be forced to relocate in the future. Second, the Chinese government has to strike a balance between an energy crisis that is becoming more severe with each passing day and riots at the bottom rung of society. The choice is between developing energy resources to sustain economic development and protecting the basic livelihood of tens of millions of people at the bottom rung of society. Put in plain language, by sacrificing a minority's right to make a living, the Communist regime can buy itself a few more years or even decades in power. But if the speed of economic development is reduced, the government will inevitably have to cope with all sorts of socio-economic problems.

Who is Responsible for China’s Environment?

Translated by Nancy Li

   At a recent celebrity-studded Fortune Forum, where all the participants were either European business leaders or high-profile politicians, the vice-minister of China’s State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), Pan Yue, gave a talk on the Chinese environment that cast a shadow over the glittering assemblage, pointing out that China’s "global factory" might be fast becoming a "global garbage dump."[1]

    While the fact itself was hardly a revelation, more surprising was Pan’s use of this special occasion to point it out. China's environment is not a professional issue but a political issue — politics is the very root of the problem, which stems from an entire society's unilateral pursuit of rapid economic development. The government is finally admitting its mistake ten long years after academics pointed out the perverse nature of its development principles.

Beijings Inept Diplomacy Toward Japan and Taiwan

The Chinese government has virtually eliminated its citizens' right to publicly assemble, protest or express any kind of political aspirations. Yet last weekend saw mass demonstrations in several major Chinese cities. These protests marked the climax to an anti-Japanese movement among Chinese inside China and abroad in response to the possibility that Japan might be granted a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

Rampant Crime Belies China’s Claim of a ‘Harmonious Society’

He Qinglian, Chinese author and economist, Via The Epochtimes -

On April 28, Zheng Mingsheng was sentenced to death for randomly stabbing a group of primary school students waiting to enter their school in southern China’s city of Nanping in Fujian Province. Nine children lost their lives in the incident.

Within three days of Zheng Mingsheng’s execution, three more attacks targeting school children took place in China.

Venting anger against society

The prosecutor investigating the Fujian case concluded the assailant was venting his “anger against society.” The topic of the criminal’s “anti-social tendency” received extensive coverage in Chinese media.

What Are the Benefits of China's Entry into WTO?

On March 7, 2000, when a Swedish TV journalist interviewed me, the first question they asked was: why was China so eager to enter WTO?

My answer at the time sounded rather diplomatic: “It's not a one-sided request by China, but a desire by all parties, because we all have our own respective needs in--the so-called 'win-win' formula is not just empty talk.” Personally I believe that the Chinese authorities wanted to join WTO more out of political, rather than economic, considerations. The world economic order and the developed countries' share of their main products on the world market are not going to be directly impacted by whether or not China is accepted into WTO. Let us think about the world economy in the form of a pyramid--at the very top is the IT industry where the United States is in an unchallenged number one position. The second tier is the finance industry where the United Kingdom is the main player (the finance industry alone contributes 10,000 pounds to UK’s GDP per capita). The third tier is the manufacturing product industry (machinery for making machines), of which Germany is the main power, followed by countries such as Sweden with their considerable share of the market. The fourth tier is the market of high-quality, high technical intensity, end-user consumer products, which are predominantly Japanese. This four-tier market has been well carved out between developed countries and is relatively stable. The fifth tier of the world economy is that of labor-intensive, end-user consumer products, and it is for this high-risk market all developing countries are fiercely competing.

Why Does Beijing Strongly Support the Myanmar Government?

Why Does Beijing Strongly Support the Myanmar Government?
By He Qinglian
Reproduced from Epoch Times

Beijing's silent support for the Myanmar government and its brutal suppression against its people angers the international society. Even Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Price laureate and a South African cleric, a religious leader who is seldom involved in international politics, came out and urged China to intervene in the confrontations in Myanmar or he (the Archbishop) would "join a campaign to boycott the Beijing Olympics". Some Internet users in China continue to show their misplaced loyalties based on their ignorance and applaud Beijing's action.

Disease Engulfs China

Feb 24, 2007

While China's economy has been rapidly expanding, the country's social welfare is declining fast. Two important factors contributing to this downfall are the noticeable spread of disease among Chinese people, combined with a neglect of public health concerns.

The latest issue of the British medical journal The Lancet features a report focusing on the spread of syphilis throughout China. A joint effort between Professor Myron Cohen, director of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Center for Infectious Diseases, and the China National AIDS/STD Prevention and Control Center, the report explored the epidemic situation of sexually transmitted diseases among Chinese people from 1989 to 2005. Results revealed that in 1993 the reported total rate of cases of syphilis in China was 0.2 cases per 100,000 people, but by 2005 this number jumped to 5.7 cases. Chinese virology experts suggest that these figures may even be considerably underestimated.

CCP’s Illusory and Absurd Official Performance Measure: Making People Happy

Mar 17, 2011

China’s two parliamentary sessions [the National People's Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, held annually in Beijing] opened under heavy military presence because of echoes of the Jasmine Revolution reverberating in China since Feb. 20. Still, Party and state leaders felt no restraint in leading the choir of state representatives to bellow People’s Daily’s slogan: “Happiness is Taking Off this Spring .”

A Chinese Story for Our Time, Li Wei

Mar 1, 2011
Editor’s Note: “Public Nepotism,” Caijing magazine’s Feb. 14 issue cover story, chronicled the rise to fame of Li Wei, a French-Vietnamese woman who entered China’s Yunan Province as a refugee in the late 1970’s. She later amassed a billion-dollar fortune by exploiting her sexual relationships with senior Communist Party officials and influential business people. Unlike typical mistresses who only receive money from their patrons, Li developed her own multi-billion dollar business empire. At its peak, it consisted of almost 20 companies in the most lucrative industries: tobacco, real estate, advertising, oil and securities. Li’s long list of influential lovers (surmised to be at least 15) included the former Shangdong Province Party head, a former provincial governor, and the former president of Sinopec. Many of these men have been sentenced on corruption charges. While Li was investigated, she managed to walk away with minimal loss to her fortune.

Why Is Nuclear Safety in China a Public Concern?


Mar 27, 2011 

Ever since Japan’s Fukushima nuclear crisis over two weeks ago, it has become evident that Chinese officials are divided on nuclear safety. Zhang Lijun, Vice Minister of Environmental Protection, stated on March 12 that China’s resolve to develop nuclear power would not change. Yet on March 16, in an executive meeting of the State Council, a comprehensive security check on nuclear facilities was ordered posthaste throughout the country, and approval of nuclear power projects was suspended.

Relying on the Law is Not Enough
Government departments at various levels with differing attitudes and responsibilities reflect that the country has been taken hostage by interest groups. The country’s Environmental Impact Assessment group (EIA) is the first hurdle for the establishment of a nuclear power plant, which is exactly where corruption has hit the hardest.

Google's China Problem is Far From Over

February 17, 2010

As this article was being finished, the question of whether Google will leave China for good is still unresolved. But Google’s voice of opposition has already softened, and it could either stay in China, or go. Suspicions have been circulating that agents inside Google may have been connected to the recent attacks, and shortly after the announcement Chinese and American officials held meeting after meeting to air their views on the question of Internet freedom. Leaving aside the ostensible reason for this incident—cyber attacks—this article explores the particular challenges that Google and other Internet companies face in China.