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Genaro Flores.
AnonymousInteresting point about the Dalai Lama. I dont see the problem of Obama meeting with him. But I suppose since the Chinese government is trying to keep Tibet and not "let it go." I can see how they would be very angry about the acknowledgement Obama is giving him by meeting with him officially. The Chinese always have to save face infront of the world...
AnonymousI found it interesting China's official remark yesterday about not continuing to sustain the US dollar. China reported that they will stop purchasing US dollars because our economy is too unstable, and we are causing unstable World markets. I find it interesting that they buy US bonds to artificially sustain their yen, and their economy, keeping the yen low so that they can beat US manufacturing, etc. They criticize us, yet they depend on us so much. Maybe Im too idealistic, but I guess I dont understand how all the markets work. I know yesterday they sold some of their US Treasury Bonds and are moving their money into other markets. But they wont be able to get away from the US economy. Even if they invest, lets say into the European market, based on the euro. Inevitably they are all linked to the US economy. What am I not understanding here? [Edit by="dtorres on Feb 19, 10:54:18 AM"][/Edit]
AnonymousToday's China Daily has a great editorial titled "India Today Is China In 1990". Parts of it are humorous and sound satirical, although the term "tongue-in-cheek" may be better. I had no idea the relationship between India and China was so contentious. Also, there was a link to an article about Brazil "courting and wooing" fellow Latin American countries away from doing business with China. Sounds like China is hedging its bets in Asia, Africa, and South America. One is sure to take hold. At least one.
AnonymousThat's what globally economy is about. China is dependent on the U. S. Europe, etc. and vise versa. The Wall Street follows China's economic policy move closely for a good reason.
AnonymousTo save face is one thing, but on this issue, it is about China's sovereignty from China's perspective.
Among the four Ts mentioned by Professor Dube, Taiwan and Tibet are regarded as China's "core interests." Historically, a government who can't safeguard its own land is not worth trusting. That's why the late Qin Dynasty rulers were regarded as loosers who brought shame to China's thousands of years' history. For Emperor Qing Shihuang, however, no matter how cruel he was, he was regarded as one of the greatest emperors in China's history because he united China.
The Chinese government can't afford to let its people doubt about its ability on the sovereignty issue of the two Ts.
That's a perspective. Personally, I see no harm that Obama met Dalai Lama.
AnonymousInteresting article about outside influence (U.S., and others) trying to influence china's economic policy.
Wen Jiabao, China's Premier:
"He also repeated the concerns he voiced a year ago, at China’s last legislative session, that the United States is failing to rebuild its own economy and maintain the value of the dollar. Protecting the dollar, which dropped sharply since the global crisis began in late 2008, is a matter of “national credibility” for the United States, he said.
“Any fluctuation in the value of the U.S. currency is a big concern for us,” he said. “I hope the United States will take concrete steps to reassure investors. It is not only in the interests of the investors, but also the United States itself.”
Chinese leaders fear that the United States’ vast budget deficits will lead to inflation that effectively devalues the dollar, and thus the value of China’s vast foreign-currency reserves. Those reserves exceeded $2.4 trillion at the end of 2009, with nearly $900 billion of that in dollar-denominated Treasury bills.
Mr. Wen’s most pointed remarks, however, were aimed at critics of China’s economic policies, led by the United States. Those critics accuse China of keeping the value of its currency artificially low, so that its exports will remain cheap compared to other nations’ competing products. That boosts China’s economy, but at the expense of other trading partners, they say."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/world/asia/15china.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&src=ig
AnonymousMr. Wen was a 'number cruncher' for two decades, so this appears to be his area of expertise.
"Like his superior, Hu Jintao, Mr. Wen scaled the one-party political hierarchy leaving few footprints and making no known enemies. People who have worked with him say he is conspicuous mainly for being fastidious. He lets policy documents sit on his desk for at least three days before signing off, they say, so he can slow-cook the contents in his mind and triple-check the grammar."
clay dubeHi Folks,
About 7-8 years ago, we offered an NCTA seminar in Hacienda-La Puente. The district has continued to seek ways to increase coverage of China in its offerings. Some of you may have seen the LA Times article about the debate over a Chinese government-funded "Confucius classroom" program there.
(One of the children seems to have already been converted to the Trojan cause.)
Finally, a television crew has blown the cover off this effort to corrupt the young.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-7-2010/socialism-studies
AnonymousJust got this news alert, and it is likley unexpected for those of us on the message board, but I did want to log the time it was sent to the world, at least according to the New York Times.
----------------------------
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Sun, August 15, 2010 -- 8:49 PM ET
-----
China's Economy Passes Japan's in Quarter, Becoming the World's Second Largest
After three decades of spectacular growth, China has passed
Japan to become the world's second-largest economy behind the
United States, according to government figures released early
Monday.
The milestone, though anticipated for some time, is the most
striking evidence yet that China's ascendance is for real and
that the rest of the world will have to reckon with a new
economic superpower.
The milestone was reached early Monday, when Tokyo said that
in the second quarter, the Japanese economy was valued at
about $1.28 trillion, slightly below China's figure of $1.33
trillion. The gross domestic product of the United States was
roughly $14 trillion in 2009. Japan's economy grew 0.4
percent in the second quarter, Tokyo said, substantially less
than forecast.
AnonymousRegarding Dennis's entry about "Made in China is a great story in today's NY Times magazine about the counterfeiting industry operating in Putian, China called "Inside the Knockoff-Tennis-Shoe Factory."
There are great pictures of the fakes and the real deals, and an interesting history of the whole fakes history, stretching back to the famous Stuart George Washington portrait and the fakes spawned in China.
Here's one passage that jumped out at me, and added to me knowledge of the China we know today:
"Beijing’s top intellectual-property officials, meanwhile, seem to disagree over what even constitutes counterfeiting. Last year, a debate occurred between the heads of the State Intellectual Property Office and the National Copyright Administration. The dispute revolved around shanzhai, a term that translates literally into “mountain fortress”; in contemporary usage, it connotes counterfeiting that you should take pride in. There are shanzhai iPhones and shanzhai Porsches.
In February 2009, a reporter asked Tian Lipu, the commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office, whether shanzhai was something to be esteemed. “I am an intellectual-property-rights worker,” Tian curtly replied. “Using other people’s intellectual property without authorization is against the law.” Chinese culture, he added, was not about imitating and plagiarizing others. But one month later, Liu Binjie, from the National Copyright Administration, drew a distinction between shanzhai and counterfeiting. “Shanzhai shows the cultural creativity of the common people,” Liu said. “It fits a market need, and people like it. We have to guide shanzhai culture and regulate it.” Soon after that, the mayor of Shenzhen, an industrial city near Hong Kong, reportedly urged local businessmen to ignore lofty debates about what is and isn’t defined as counterfeiting and to “not worry about the problem of fighting against plagiarism” and “just focus on doing business.” "
This is the link for the complete story:
clay dubeGreat post Kyle -- intellectual property rights are one of the many zones of contention between Chinese and American authorities and the various commercial interests which seek to influence them.
Here are some links:
US Trade Representative - intellectual property
Page 19 of this "Special 301 Report" issued in April 2010 summarizes why the US is concerned about China. Intellectual property protection is one issue.
http://www.mpaa.org/resources/6a507b67-e219-43a3-a4ce-9788d6f1fb5e.pdf
Here are 2 cases made by US representatives, students may find the way the arguments are presented interesting:
China's legal regime is weak
China restricts access to "copyright-intensive" industries
China's government has a series of reports about its intellectual property protection:
State Intellectual Property Office
Genaro Flores
The presence of china in Guatemala is huge in many ways. Let’s start with a router for the internet. These routers are sold by thousands. At the bottom of the picture you can see, Made in China. Also the channels decoders are made in China. And the tiny black object is a portable router. One can connect online everywhere if there is coverage and it is easy to carry everywhere and very powerful. It is made in China too. The other picture is about assortments for telephones. I asked them if these were from China. They did not want to tell me where the items come from because there is not a real treaty with China. Guatemala and Taiwan are friends. And the US does not want China to step in Central America, but it is there already in big-time. The quality of the technology is very good. It works. I am using them and they are not expensive, and these are sold all over the nation. So, all kind of Chinese products are in Latin America.
Genaro FloresThe Wolf Brigade
The Wolf Brigade
This is a futuristic film about the unification of North and South Korea. Time setting for this film is between 2020 and 2025. The Korean nations agreed to unify their country, but the interest of Japan, China and Russia see that as a threat, and to make thing worse, they imposed sanctions to Korea. The plot starts when those who opposed the union, The Sect, showed their power demonstrating on the street their disagreement. Supposedly, the sect was a terrorist group, so an special group run by the government tried to extinguish the sect. The government showed its power by killing a group of innocent students by mistake. And the struggle for power among the government, gave place to eliminate one another. Also it showed how one group spy the other group and trying to protect themselves from the public scrutiny. Overall, it is a good movie, good stunts, good dialogue, good acting and projects possible imaginary problems for the unification of the two nations. I couldn’t see where the movie was film and the name of the actors. It is an action and realistic movie.