Monday, March 31, 2008
Chinese influence in Brazil worries US
April 3, 2006, By Humphrey Hawksley BBC Newsnight, Sao Paulo Taken from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4872522.stm
While the United States has been fighting its war on terror, a new political idea has begun to punch through with such weight that alarm bells have begun ringing loudly in Washington.
Under the slogan of "peaceful rising", China is selling itself to the developing world as an alternative model for ending poverty.
The pitch is now winning an audience in Latin America, and Washington is despatching the assistant secretary of state responsible for the region, Thomas Shannon, to Beijing to find out what is going on.
His aim is to negotiate the precise line which China must not cross in creating its new strategic alliance with Latin America, which has seen billions of dollars of Chinese money earmarked for infrastructure, transport, energy and defence projects there.
"We want to make sure we don't get our wires crossed," said one official arranging the talks.
The spectre of an encroaching China is made worse by a string of elections which has produced populist and US-sceptic, left-wing leaders. During the Cold War they would probably never have survived in office.
The latest may be retired army commander Ollanta Humala, who is leading the opinion polls in the Peruvian presidential election due on 9 April.
"We're concerned about the leftist countries that are dealing with China," says Congressman Dan Burton, the Republican chairman of the sub-committee on the Western Hemisphere.
"It's extremely important that we don't let a potential enemy of the US become a dominant force in this part of the world."
'Alliance of giants'
While China pleads innocence, more and more voices in Washington are chastising President George W Bush for failing to act as decisively against China.
"As a nation we need to understand that this Communist dictatorship is a government without a conscience," says Senator Lindsey Graham who has recently been to China.
"The status quo cannot be accepted and tolerated by this country any more than the Soviet Union's practices were tolerated by Ronald Reagan."
In Brazil itself, the view is very different. It is about two developing countries, the giants of their regions, forming a natural alliance.
"It's wonderful. It's amazing," says Alexandre Solis, an aircraft engineer who spent more than two years in the Chinese city of Harbin, setting up a joint venture for the ultra hi-tech Brazilian Embraer commuter jet company.
"They wanted all the information we could give them because they are determined to be best in the world."
'Nowhere else'
The flurry of China-Brazil business began less than two years ago after an exchange of visits between Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Since then China's influence can be seen everywhere in Latin America: oil, gas, railways, ports, steel and - worryingly for the US - defence.
In Sao Paulo, Chinese language classes are packed. Not only are students taught how to speak Mandarin, but they are also guided in cultural habits such as attending banquets and singing Chinese folk songs.
"Everything I do is with China now," says one student Priscila Marques, who runs a freight forwarding company. "It's Brazil-China; nowhere else."
The nub of Mr Shannon's Beijing visit, however, is to determine how much can be put down to simply business and how much China plans to export its own political system and power.
"The Chinese government has achieved the greatest victory in the history of human rights," says Charles Tang, who heads the Brazil-China Chamber of Commerce and who has been behind many of the joint-venture initiatives.
"It has removed 400 million Chinese people from poverty and enabled them to live with dignity and take part in economic life. That is the true measure of human rights.
"Brazil should analyse why China grows so much and Brazil so little."
Monroe doctrine
Washington's political protectionism of Latin America dates as far back as 1823 when President James Monroe decreed that no foreign power would have more influence there than the US itself.
The Monroe Doctrine was last used in earnest during the Cold War, when just about every Latin American country which veered to the left - from Chile to Nicaragua - experienced some form of US intervention.
This time, as China gathers confidence, ideological debate will be over which political system - Western democracy or Chinese authoritarianism - delivers more people from poverty, and whether freedom should be measured in terms of wealth or elections.
In Beijing and Washington it might be viewed as a contest of ideas, but on the ground in Latin America it could turn into something darkly familiar.
"We should always look at Latin America in relation to the Monroe Doctrine," says Congressman Burton.
"There already are [Chinese] military exchanges and hardware being sold - or given to Latin American countries. You can rest assured the US is going to do everything it can to make sure this hemisphere is safe."
Labels: articles, posted by Thomas, Sino-US Relations
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China: Darfur, a reason to say NoFebruary 16, 2008, Global Voices Online
Taken from:
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/02/16/china-darfura-reason-to-say-no/Mr. Spielberg might have piqued a large group of people, including not only the authority, but many common Chinese as well.
Following his statement that he would
drop out as an artistic advisor of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, because he felt China has not done enough to pressure the Sudan government to relieve the
humanitarian crisis on Darfur, Beijing soon expressed its regret over the director’s decision. Though the saying that “the consciousness will not allow me to continue with business as usual” is quite touching, Beijing
snapped back no less reasonably.
“The Darfur issue is neither an internal issue of China nor is it caused by China”, said firstly the Chinese Embassy in Washington, pulling away ourselves from the issue. But in the next statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the response of the spokesman Liu Jianchao showed another way to deal with the criticisms.
Firstly, he urged the human right advocates not to link Olympics to political issues.
“如果这是对中国政策不了解尚可以理解，但若是出于政治目的，我们不会接受。”It is understandable if they are made out of ignorance of China’s policy, but if they are made due to political motives, we won’t accept that. (In New York Times version, “political” was replaced by “ulterior”. Or the authority changed it on the script publicized.)
He emphasized it was not wise to politicize the Olympics. Furthermore, Beijing’s stance on Darfur issue was reaffirmed.
中方十分重视达尔富尔问题，并一直为妥善解决这一问题发挥着积极的、建设性作用China paid a lot of attention to the Daufur issue, and has been playing a constructive and positive role on resolving the problem.
And some measures to help improve the situation were numerated.
目前，中方已向达区提供了８０００万元人民币的物资援助，向非盟提供了１８０万美元的捐助。中方将派遣３１５人的多功能工兵连，其中１４０人已经抵达达区.Presently, China has provided Darfur region with an 80-million material aid, and another $1.8-million aid to African Union. 315 engineers will be sent there, and now 140 have arrived.
Also, he said Chinese companies have helped the natives build 18 power stations and more than $50-million will be put to the construction of the water supply system. He concluded:
“在这一问题上，光靠打标语、喊口号解决不了达区的人道主义问题，最重要的是要以切实的建设性实际行动推动达区和平进程，缓解这一地区的人道主义危机。我们也希望有关人士客观公正看待中国在达尔富尔问题上的立场，脚踏实地地为达区人民做一些实实在在的事情。”On this issue, simply relying on slogans and banners won’t help solve the humanitarian crisis. What should be the most important is to aid the peace by constructive and practical actions… we hope people can do something down-to-earth to really help the natives.
An article in 2007,
Why China Won’t Save Darfur in Foreign Policy has stated that “activists are merely helping Western governments evade responsibility for a humanitarian crisis that they could do far more to stop.” And China itself, demonstrated by its
open information about Darfur issue, defined the havoc in Sudan as a struggle for resources rather than a planned genocide. The subtext is that China might not be able to stop the crisis as easily as the western world predicted.
What about the common people?
斯皮尔的行为是不成熟的，也是不明智的，他非要把自己和强权政治联系起来，做一些有悖于奥运精神的事，是可笑的。也请私屁儿勃格先生不要头脑发热，充当某 利益集团的工具。Spielberg’s behavior is immature, and unwise. He linked himself to a power (U.S), and did something against Olympic spirits. Ridiculous it is. Please, Mr. Spielberg, don’t be so hotheaded to act as a tool of some interest group.
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放弃就放弃，没什么了不起！！！Fine, just drop out, nothing big.
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斯皮尔伯格算个毛,他还真以为他美国打伊拉克就是为了解放伊拉克人民啊?还不是盯着石油,只准自己做,不准别人做,典型的霸权主义.How much dose Spielberg value? Does he really think America attacked Iraq to liberate Iraqis? For oil only! Only allowing itself to play the game but keeping all others out is typically a Hegemonism.
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苏丹的石油对中国很重要，美国一直虎视眈眈，这次这个导演给北京施压，要中国放弃在苏丹的利益。对于这些破坏中国建设的人来说，我们要提高警惕！Oil in Sudan is so important to China, and U.S has been slavering over it. This time the director tried to pressure Beijing to give up China’s benefit there. We have to be alarmed with those trying to damage our construction.
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美国在伊拉克和阿富汗侵略杀人，中国至少没有去伊拉克和达尔富尔杀人放火，美国先管好自己，从伊拉克和阿富汗撤兵，然后赔偿损失，再来管达尔富尔问题吧！！！U.S committed killings in Iraq and Afghanistan, while at least China didn’t go to Iraq and Darfur to plunder about. Americans had better take care of themselves first—withdraw from the two countries, then make compensation to the victims, and finally come to talk about Darfur issue.
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那另个国家最爱管这事,结果是不是越管越乱, 是个人都看到眼里. 非洲动乱的多了, 为什么只盯着这个苏丹, 难道就因为苏丹的石油大部分是运往中国,而不是美国跟欧盟？The country(U.S) enjoyed taking care of this kind of things, but it has always made matter worse. Why does it just put the attention over Darfur? Is it because most of oil in Sudan was shipped to China instead of U.S & EU?
On the internet, most of opinions were pointed to America, criticizing that the power itself as a major nation exporting weapons exceeds China greatly in advocating violence. A netizen left only one word: dual-standard. And someone questioned why didn’t Spielberg resign as an American.
A netizen concluded:
西方国家抢劫了这个世界多少世纪以后,说:这是不对的.你们不要来抢了After robbing the world for centuries, western countries spoke: “this is wrong, and you shouldn’t do it anymore.”
But the Darfur issue is far more complicated. Searching across information on both English world and Chinese sphere, one can easily find that the descriptions about, realizations of, measures to be taken over and even the basic logics of the issue are quite different.
It’s believed by many western countries that China is making an immoral deal with the Sudan government, which is chiefly responsible for the staggering massacre in Darfur. China sold weapons for the rich reservation of oil there, an action blamed for as indirectly aiding the killing. Thus many people, including Spielberg, appealed Beijing to cut off the “evil” tie.
But this argumentation holds no water in the eyes of both the authority and many netizens. Presently, China inclined to believe that there is no strictly genocide in Darfur, but pieces of war crimes and killings, according to
the UN report. It is in nature a struggle for resources.
Moreover, opposite to the idea held by some western countries, China thinks the most efficient way to eradicate the conflict shouldn’t be an economic sanction against the Sudan government. Actually, what is needed is exactly a stable government to maintain the peace.
The opinion of 黄金体验安魂曲 in
Tianya.com showed the point:
经济制裁对解决问题根本没有帮助，我再重复一次伊拉克已经证明经济制裁只能惩罚平民而不是统治者。200万难民缩在帐篷里你还大力搞经济制裁？你的良心让狗吃了？本来就是贫困问题造成的冲突你让苏丹更加贫困，这有助于解决部落间的矛盾？Economic sanction will do no help to the solution of the problem. I would say again that Iraq has proved that this measure would only punish the common people instead of the rulers. There are 2 million refugees suffering in tents, and you are going to play sanction? Where is your consciousness? Poverty brought conflict, and now you are going to make the country poorer. It could help solve the controversy between tribes?
And it’s also believed that as the truce has been admitted, the measures to guarantee its implementation should come the first. China’s action to push the Sudan government to accept the hybrid peacekeeping force won applause among Chinese netizens. But why do the two world’s opinions still divert so much?
A netizen Heavy200t concluded:
西方人的思路: 存在种族屠杀->是苏丹政府刻意制造的->需要制裁苏丹政府->中国没有制裁->所以是中国的问题 中国人的思路: 存在种族屠杀->由于无政府状态导致的混乱->需要稳定的政府才能解决危机->制裁只能加速局势恶化The logic of western people: There exists racial massacre->caused purposedly by Sudan government->sanction is needed->but China didn’t do it->it’s the problem of China
While the logic of Chinese goes: There exists racial massacre->it’s caused by anarchy->a stable government is needed->sanction just makes everything worse
It might be an innate controversy. And no matter what point was put forth by the other side, more evidence could be found to indicate just the opposite. And the methods to solve the problem of course differ by countries, a very normal phenomenon, as we even differ on how to build out countries— socialism or capitalism. Criticisms against one country can always find their counterparts in another world, which are pointed back. The following ideas showed exactly the story.
几乎所有的西方大公司，基于人道主义缘由，都撤出了苏丹并拒绝与苏丹政府打交道。迫于舆论压力,基本上所有的西方石油公司都离开了苏丹。但是我国公司对此充耳不闻，不但在苏丹增加投资，还卖给苏丹坦克、地雷、反坦克炮、AK-47，甚至还在苏丹遭了两个兵工厂，专门给苏丹生产武器。中石油更是把苏丹的油田看成命脉。2000年，中石油在海外开采的三分之二的石油都来自苏丹。自从1999年9月，中石油已经在苏丹赚了6亿美元（没人和它竞争么）。Almost all western companies withdrew from Sudan and refused to keep relationship with the government because of humanitarianism causes. But Chinese companies were deaf to this, and they not only added to the investment there, but also sold Sudan tanks, mines, piats, AK-47, and even built two arm-shops to produce weapons. PetroChina saw the oil field in Sudan as its life line. In 2000, 2/3 of oil exploited abroad by PetroChina came from Sudan, because no one competed with it. More than $0.6 billion was earned from there.
But another interpretation of the facts followed:
近些年南部达尔富尔发现石油，西方就兴趣打开，苏丹政府为了摆脱贫穷也想控制当地石油资源，对外超标，中国占了优势，西方某些势力在竞争失利后利用当地矛盾挑唆分离运动，苏丹政府采取镇压行动，西方就大喊当地人权受到侵犯，炒得沸沸扬扬。These years as oil was found on Darfur, the western came to be interested. The Sudan government also wish to control the oil resources in order to rid of poverty, and China took an advantage on the competition. And some western powers, after the failure on competition, used the conflict to incite the splittism. Sudan authority cracked down that, so the western yelled the human rights were violated.
In a student net forum
cuus,
I Am Majia’s suggestion goes the contrary:
我不希望看到中国走美国的路。不希望中国对国际事物采取和美国一样的双重标准，说一套做一套。这个世界已经混乱不堪，真理的声音变得越发微弱……同一个世界是一定的，但是是否憧憬着同一个梦想却值得怀疑。如果奥运会带给中国的仅仅是更多的金牌，外资以及傲慢自大和对批评的不屑一顾那这样的奥运对于中国毫无意义。I don’t wish China to follow the way of America. I don’t want China to adopt the dual standard as America did. The world has been full of chaos, the voice of truth is going weaker… we are sure to have one world, but it’s doubtful that we have one dream. If Olympics brings China merely more medals, foreign investment, arrogance and sneer to criticisms, I think the Game is meaningless to China.
While Fu Hua in Tianya said:
中国政府与苏丹政府进行商业贸易，包括武器贸易，或许不是最“伟大”“无私”“善良”的做法，但也并不算“无耻”，中国近 期也在苏丹问题上尽了许多努力，西方国家的很多指责，明明白白是没有抢到石油资源之后耍的招数而已，而大多数西方人民，在西方媒体的指引下，自然也以为中 国这个“异教徒”真的是妖魔，其实，这些西方人中，有几个知道北京在中国的哪里？有几个人能像中国普通人民热心理解学习西方一样去理解中国？The business between China and Sudan, including the trade of weapons, might not be “great”,” selfless” or “kind”, but it also has nothing to do with “shameless”. China has recently done much on the Sudan issue, and many condemnations of the western countries are simply intrigues they played after losing the oil. And many western people, under the guidance of media, involuntarily believe China, a heretic, is a demon. But actually, how many misguided western people really know where Beijing is in China? How many people would learn about China as passionately as Chinese learned about them?
Where is the truth? What is the reality? Which version are you going to believe in? Most Chinese do as this comment reads:
我们中国人，应该有我们中国人的立场，我们的是非观，我们的判断标准，唯西方是从的年代，我相信会渐渐远离中国。
We are Chinese. We should have our own position, our own sense of “yes” and “no”, our standard to judge. The age of following the western world, as I believe, will go further away from China.
But the subtext, as another comment said, is that “there is no absolute right or wrong. What really hide behind the subtle and intricate international relations are just the interests of different countries.”
Remember that written in Chinese students’ Politics textbooks? —-The National Interest Plays the Decisive Role.
A truth, and very naked.
Labels: articles, Beijing Olympics, posted by Thomas
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Chinese SchoolDate of article unknown, BBC World
Taken from:
http://www.bbcworld.com/pages/ProgrammeFeature.aspxid=154&FeatureID=560This four-part series explores the unique issues and priorities facing a Chinese School. Life in a Chinese School shares all the delights and challenges of schooling throughout the world, with its unique issues and priorities. How has the One Child Policy affected parental expectations, classmate relationships and social values?
Chinese School – Episode 1
There are 350 million children enrolled in further education across China, but ‘Chinese School’ takes as its subject one small town in rural Anhui, and focuses on the lives of a group of families, teachers and children during the course of a single academic year. It’s a school like many thousands of others across this vast nation, but through the individual stories of hardship, joy and success, an extraordinary portrait emerges of a Nation, a town and a group of children in the midst of enormous change.We follow headmistress Mrs Zhang from Ping Min Primary School, as she heads deep into the Anhui mountains in order to recruit new children to start on their long march through the Chinese education system. As a charitable foundation, her school is able to offer a chance to some of the Province’s most disadvantaged children and give them the chance of a better life. For these very poor children, a good education is theirs and their family’s best way out of poverty, so the stakes are incredibly high.At Haiyang Middle School, 16 year old Liu Xiang is fighting to get the grades he needs to get him into the town’s best school, and equally desperate to learn how to drive his dad’s taxi. As an only child, the pressure on him to pass his exams is immense, but if he can get the grades, dad has promised he can also get behind the wheel.And at the town’s best school – Xiuning Key School – 17 year old Wu Yifei is also under enormous pressure of her own. She’s thought to be the smartest student in the school’s 100 year history, has the hopes of the town riding on her shoulders, and is the entire focus of her parent’s attention. Mum has given up her career in order to cook and look after her daughter, and her teachers all expect her to excel. But success won’t come easily, and studying until midnight and beyond is the norm.
Chinese School – Episode 2
This episode explores themes of exam pressure, the one child policy, new entrepreneurialism, relationships & gender, pollution & the legacy of Chairman Mao.In a country where it's rare to have a sibling, the pressure on school-age children is immense & never more so than at exam time. It's May and the heat of summer is setting in. In this episode the senior students face the all-important Gao Kao exams. Their results can mean the difference between poverty & prosperity for their entire extended family. For star pupil Wu Yi Fei the stakes are extremely high. Her School – Xiuning Key School - expects her to come in the top ten in the entire province – over half a million students.Meanwhile at Ping Min primary school 8 year old Chen Chao is looking forward to becoming a Young Communist Pioneer. China’s one child policy sets Cheng Chao apart from his classmates – he’s one of only 5 pupils at the school who have an elder brother, something his parents risked everything for.We meet Wu Lin whose concern about the future of her country sees her researching the polluted river near her school & striving to win an English speech contest in the process. Son of migrant worker parents Wang Jian Wen is over the moon when a broken arm brings a surprise from the city. Wang Ling Qi is too cool for school & is more interested in hanging out with his girlfriend, but he knows if he doesn’t knuckle down he’ll end up working in his Dad’s motorcycle component factory & not fulfilling his dream to be a designer in the city.
Chinese School - Episode 3
It’s the start of a new school year and for sixteen year old Liu Xiang all his hard work at Haiyang Middle School has paid off as he’s been accepted into Xiuning’s Number One School. We follow Liu Xiang through the first month at his new school – undertaking compulsory military training with his new classmates and his introduction to life at Xiuning School under the watchful eye of class teacher Mr He. For Mr He’s previous star pupil Wu Yifei it’s also a new beginning at China’s prestigious Qinghua University in Beijing. We follow Wu Yifei and her parents and her grandparents make the journey to Beijing to settle her into university and follow Wu Yifei starting her life as a student among China’s elite scholars. Finally it’s also a new start for 6 year old Cheng Liu Hui Mei at Ping Min Primary School. We follow Cheng Liu Hui Mei and her fellow classmates as they learn to live away from their parents for the first time and start their educational journey guided by Headteacher Mrs Zhang.
Chinese School - Episode 4
The series Chinese School continues, with the excitement of the Olympics taking a hold.China's first ever Olympic games are on the near horizon. Xiuning county may be 1000 miles from Beijing, but that hasn't stopped Olympic fever reaching its schools.It's Autumn and with the heat of summer and exams behind them, it's time for the students to hit the sports field.With 3400 students, Haiyang Middle school is the largest school in the county. For the deputy head teacher, sports day is a mammoth undertaking, while School Radio DJ Zha Yujie sees it as the highlight of the year. She takes to the stage to support her friends as they tackle the events of the track & field.At Ping Min primary school they're holding their first ever sports day. Young champion Dai Deli is the fastest runner in school and determined to take gold, but, as always, there are lessons to be learned all round.
INSIGHTS
This article shows strong Confucian values inculcated in the Chinese Society- as long as you study hard and you are a learned person, you can move up the social class. Many Chinese thus view education as the route to success so many parents have been pushing their only child to get into a good school and do well. This article has focused on some students who had been able to be admitted into top schools. So how about those who do not? Are they able to achieve what their successful peers are able to do? I believe so as long as they work hard. Another factor to consider is the psychological effect on the students due to the intense competition among the 350,000 students in China. With immense stress facing them, especially when they are the only child(in most cases), the suffering from a mental breakdown is imminent. Therefore, i was wondering whether is it better to have a more educated workforce or a healthier workforce? Well, personally i feel that it is best to have both. The scrapping of the one child policy might be able to reduce the stress level but the govt plans to prolong this policy for another 10 years. Hence, another solution would be to remove rote learning but it might be easier said than done.
Labels: articles, One-Child Policy, posted by Thomas
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Sino-US relations in the eyes of Chinese: SurveyMarch 04, 2005, People's Daily Online
Taken from:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200503/04/eng20050304_175552.htmlHow Chinese view the
United States? How they regard Americans and the Sino-US relations? What views Americans hold of China, the Chinese and the Sino-US relations? These are questions of great concern to the diplomatic and academic circles in China and the US. Much press coverage has been devoted to the views of Chinese, but they often stop short of making studies based on surveys. Around the Chinese traditional Lantern Festival the Global Times, with the help of the Institute of American Studies of the CASS and professional polling firms, conducted a public poll in the strict sense in five Chinese major cities.
How Chinese view the United States?
On Feb.27 all the survey data have been collected, which lead to the following results:
Among the citizens in these cities those who felt satisfied but not particularly, satisfied and very satisfied accounted for 51.9 percent, 18 percent and 1 percent respectively. Altogether they accounted for 70.9 percent.
Those who liked Americans but not particularly and those who liked Americans made up the majority with the rates at 52.9 percent and 13.2 percent respectively totaling 66.1 percent.
49.2 percent of the surveyed believed the US was the rival of China. In the meantime, those who regarded the US as a friendly country, a model of imitation and a cooperation partner accounted for 10.4 percent, 11.7 percent and 25.6 percent respectively totaling 47.7 percent.
As many as 56.7 percent of the surveyed believed the US was actually containing China.
60.5 percent believed the main issue that was going to shape the Sino-US relations was the
Taiwan question.
Of the options for dissatisfaction with the US government greater people selected "selling weapons to Taiwan" than any other options, about 37.6 percent. 31.7 percent selected "waging the war in
Iraq" and 7.9 percent selected "strengthening military ties with
Japan".
Those who believed China and the US would or would probably have clash in the future on account of the Taiwan question represented 11.9 percent and 41.2 percent respectively. They together made up more than half. However, about 40 percent believed the possibility to be small or nonexistent.
The surveyed generally held negative attitude toward the US' repeatedly raising issues on China's human rights. 49.3 percent of the surveyed believed the US action to be effort at disturbing China's stability. 10.4 percent thought that it was smearing China's image. 19.1 percent believed the US didn't understand the situation in China. The three groups, together, amounted to 78.8 percent. Only 15.7 percent of the surveyed said the US was promoting democratic construction in China.
50.7 percent of the surveyed believed there had been no major changes in the Sino-US relations in recent years and those who believed the Sino-US relations to be growing good in recent years accounted for 27.3 percent.
Of the surveyed those who believed the development of the Sino-US relations sped up China's economic development and promoted China's opening up and reform accounted for 61.92 percent and 49.31 percent respectively.
Respectively 45.0 percent and 29.4 percent of the surveyed expected the Sino-US relations in President Bush's second term to remain the same or improve more or less. But there were also 11.7 percent who believed the relations would deteriorate.
More than half of the surveyed believed the influence of the American culture on China was half good and half bad. The proportion was 55.7 percent while 22 percent believed the influence to be positive.
Of the surveyed greater proportion admired the scientific and technological development in the US - 43.7 percent, than that who did its sound legal system and affluence, which were 20.9 percent and 17.9 percent respectively.
Among Chinese urban residents many held positive opinion on the economic exchange between the two countries. Those believing that the exchange promoted political exchange between the two countries and enhanced friendship between the two peoples accounted for 46.18 percent and 46.09 percent respectively.
49.8 percent of the surveyed had no discrimination toward American products on the Chinese market believing that it doesn't matter which country a brand belongs to as long as the product is of good quality and has excellent service. 25.5 percent welcomed American products on the Chinese market believing them to benefit both countries.
31.9 percent of the surveyed could accept cultural products from the US, but believed them to be far away from their ordinary life. Moreover, 27.5 percent expressed their admiration of American cultural products believing many of them to be fine works. Together the two groups who could accept American cultural products made up 59.4 percent.
Apart from this there was also a group of important statistics. 62.7 percent of Chinese urban residents understood the US through mass media. Another 20.7 percent got their impression of the US mainly through American movies. Only 3.7 percent learned of the US through direct contact with the Americans.
Public-opinion poll is a good start
The survey on public opinion of the Sino-US relations was conducted by the Global Times in five major cities -
Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and
Chongqing. Ding Gang, deputy director of the International Department of People's Daily, who had been stationed in the US as a journalist and Dr. Li Xianggang with the Institute of American Studies of the CASS, as well as staff of the Global Times put great effort and time into the design of the survey. Director of the American Studies Institute Wang Jixi also made input to the final design of the survey. There were altogether 22 questions on the survey and the Huicong Research Center was responsible for the execution of the survey.
The method of the survey was random sample followed by house-to-house interviews by professional personnel. The survey together collected valid samples of 1,175 persons. The surveying company sent nearly a hundred professionals to the five cities. The interview in each household took about half an hour. Experts believe the survey to be scientific and objective after they learned the whole process of the survey.
Having carefully read the survey results Ding Gang believes the survey conducted so seriously and so scientifically on public opinion of the Sino-US relations to be the first of its kind. Judging from the results the survey reflects, with considerable objectivity, the contemporary Chinese public's general opinion of the US. In the US there are a lot polls on the Americans' opinions of China, said Ding Gang. Authoritative polling firms, think tanks and the media, they all conduct their own polls. What impressed him is that since 1989 renowned professional polling firms such as Gallup Poll and Zogby have been systematically conducting surveys on Americans' opinions of China every year, from which can be observed and analyzed the relation and interaction between the US' policy toward China, China's policy toward the US and the public opinion. This is very important. He hopes that as a good start the survey conducted by the Global Times can hold. After years' constant surveys it can reflect scientifically the change of Chinese opinion of the US and the relation between the change of public-opinion and that of policy.
Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute of International Studies at
Tsinghua University, and Tao Wenzhao, research fellow at the Institute of American Studies of the CASS, have similar opinions. Tao Wenzhao believes the surveyed people are rather rational and have rather profound understanding of questions such as the Sino-US relations. The survey results are relatively accurate reflection of the public opinion on the US and the Sino-US relations. Surveys such as this one are helpful in knowing the general public's understanding and degree of approval of state diplomatic policy. It is very significant.
A mixture of "love and hatred" between China and the US
After deciphering the survey results Ding Gang said he has a deep impression that like the Americans the Chinese have the conflicting feelings of both love and hatred or, put it another way, both love and fear toward the other.
Similar attitudes can be read from many of the survey results. For example, the majority of Chinese realize that the US is containing China, but there are still many Chinese who like Americans. Yan Xuetong also said the results show that with regard to the Americans and the American society those admiring them are still the majority. When speaking of the US' foreign policies including the policy on China the proportions who disapprove of them are rather large.
Ding Gang took a poll conducted by Zogby last year as an example to illustrate that the Americans also have similar attitude. The poll showed that Americans who held positive opinion of China were increasing. 57 percent Americans believed the Sino-US relations were better than they had been ten years ago. In the meantime, however, another poll showed that 53 percent Americans thought China was posing a great threat to the US in terms of economy. The percentage was high up in the first place. There were still another 22 percent Americans who believed China posed a potential military threat. Ding Gang said such kind of public opinions Americans have for Chinese are, like an American expert on Sino-US relations said, a mixture of love and hatred throughout history.
Mr. Tao Wenzhao has similar feelings. In September 2003, he said, a poll by the CNN and USA Today showed that 9 percent of the interviewed regarded China as an ally. 44 percent believed China to be a friendly country. However, there were still more than 40 percent who regarded China as a threat or potential threat in the meantime. Tao Wenzhao believe the great difference in Americans' understandings of China led to the complexity of its China policy - there are contacts as well as containment and precautions. The same psychology is reflected in China's policy toward the US. On the one hand China actively promotes the development of the Sino-US relations, on the other it has to continually combat the US' policy and acts to contain China.
No too high expectations of the Sino-US relations
Experts on Sino-US relations noticed a fact reflected in the survey. While 56.7 percent realized the US is containing China the satisfaction rate for the Sino-US relations exceeded 70 percent. Yan Xuetong believes the great contrast is closely related to the guidance of the media. Ding Gang, on the other hand, believes apart from the statistics another fact must be taken into consideration, that is, more than half of the surveyed believed there had been no changes to the Sino-US relations in recent years. It can seen that the majority of Chinese do not have as high expectations of the Sino-US relations as one might think. In other words, they have become very realistic. The US' policy toward China, which is both contact and containment, has not seen major changes for a long time. Therefore they do not expect the Sino-US relations to become very sweet. The Americans should take notice of this information. After all, the US also has reasons and motivations to develop the Sino-US relations. The fact that the Chinese have no high expectations of the relations will have negative impact on the development of the Sino-US relations.
This view is also reflected in the fact that nearly half the people believed the US and China had a relationship of rivals. Ding Gang said it requires the US and China to have a correct understanding of their respective policies and to have an overall balancing in the wrestling for their respective national interests. The two countries should consider certain coordination and compromises and try to make reasonable moves so that the competition is carried on in a benign fashion, rather than letting it develop into a vicious competition or even to the degree of confrontation. This is a challenge to the wisdom of the politicians in both China and the US. Tao Wenzhao also told the reporter that the Harvard professor Joseph Nye pointed out that to blend China into the international system and to make China a responsible member is the greatest challenge to the US diplomacy in the 21st century. The former US Secretary of State Kissinger also believes that the future of the Sino-US relations cannot be built on a final strategic face-off. We can see that whether it is in the US or in China the opinion that the Sino-US relations cannot be built on a final strategic face-off is growing stronger. There are differences of opinion between the US and China as well as common interests. From the long-term point of view it is entirely possible to avoid a final strategic face-off.
Speaking of the foundation and drive for developing the Sino-US relations the experts read much from this survey. The survey statistics showed that those who attached importance to the development of the Sino-US trade and economic relations, admired the social and sci-tech development as well as the sound legal system in the US, could accept and identify with the American culture, liked Americans to some extent and were willing to study or live in the US if they had the opportunity and condition made up considerable percentage. It is safe to say that in terms of economics, culture, society, science and education etc. the Chinese public opinion of the US is conducive to the development of the Sino-US relations.
As to the negative factors in developing the Sino-US relations the public opinion and that of the government are consistent in China. Yan Xuetong said the survey show that the Chinese public sees clearly the distinction among the American people, the American society and the American government. All the Chinese public's dissatisfaction with the US is almost concentrated solely on the US's foreign policies, particularly the policy on China. Among other issues the Taiwan question is the core. Above 60 percent believe it to be the main question affecting the Sino-US relations in the future while about 32 percent Americans think the greatest issue in the Sino-US relations is that of human rights. Different Americans have different reasons for raising the question, Tao Wenzhao believes. Some of them have never come to China, some of them deliberately use the human rights question to derail the development of China while others think that the American value should be accepted by all. Therefore the question becomes complicated.
What has affected the impression of the US
To the proportion of 62.7 percent all the experts paid special attention. Part of Chinese urban residents as high as 62.7 percent admitted that their impression of the US had been shaped mainly by the media. Tao Wenzhao also admitted that as a matter of fact all scholars and decision makers in both China and the US are influenced by the media to a more or less degree. The media has an influence on people's opinion of the Sino-US relations, which cannot be underestimated. It is not so hard to see that as far as international affairs are concerned the Chinese public generally accepts what the media says.
It was also for this reason that Yan Xuetong pointed out the fact that among the reasons Chinese felt dissatisfied with the US the option of "selling weapons to Taiwan" and that of "waging the war in Iraq" were chosen by roughly the same number of people while people who chose the option of "strengthening military ties with Japan" were few - a phenomenon which greatly surprised Yan. "One of the things happened far away from us, another is a big thing which happened just outside our door and the other happened right inside our home. How could it be this result?" Yan Xuetong warned: "Think about the coverage our media devoted to Iraq, which was who knows how many times more than that of the US' arms sales to Taiwan!" Regarding "the US and Japan strengthening military ties" Ding Gang believes judging from the statistics many people were not aware of that at all or did not know much.
On this question Ding Gang's opinion is that the media which has great influence on the public should reinforce their sense of responsibility and act discreetly in terms of the proportion, weight, angle and attitude of their reportage. The media should play a positive role in international questions affecting national interests such as that of the Sino-US relations. They should not deviate from their proper stand, throw away their independent thinking and follow the voice of the west.
INSIGHTS
Personally, what i felt was interesting was that many urban residents got their perception of the US through mass media. Given that mass media is tightly controlled by the state, it shows that the internet had played a big part in this. I feel that this shows that besides economic growth, urban residents are also increasingly concerned about politics and China’s foreign relations with other countries. In the article, it has stated that majority of the Chinese do not have high expectations of the Sino-US relations which might have a negative on its development. In my opinion, the government is the main deciding factor on the development Sino-US relations and not the Chinese people. Both governments should practise mutual understanding and tolerance in order to bridge the gap between them, which has been widen by the recent Tibetan revolt, China’s tainted products, Sino-US trade deficit and the human rights record in China. This will ultimately change the perception the Chinese and the Americans have on each other. Today, there is a lot of international criticisms on China about the problems mentioned above which received worldwide attention. Less prominent is the criticisms that the local Chinese have on their own country, as implied by the statistics. For example, majority of the Chinese are concerned about the quality of products that are on the market. I feel that with China’s tainted products, this will cause the ire of the Chinese residents but might not be known to us due to tight media control by the state.
Labels: articles, posted by Thomas, Sino-US Relations
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The sleeping giant of biotech?January 8, 2008, CHINAdaily
Taken from:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-01/08/content_6377929.htmPARIS - China's biotech sector accounts for just a sliver of its pharmaceutical industry and operates under the cloud of a massive review of licenses issued under a regulator executed last year for accepting bribes.
Even so, experts say, Chinese purveyors of genetically engineered drugs and vaccines -- targeting everything from cancer to Alzheimer's -- are growing at a frenzied pace and are likely to become major actors on the world stage.
"There is no question that the sector is established," said Peter Singer of the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health in Toronto who was lead researcher of a study published Monday in Nature Biotechnology.
"What we found really surprising is that in an industry that's only 10 years old, China has innovative products on the market," he said.
For their study, Singer and his colleagues selected 22 small- and medium-sized biotech firms from literally thousands operating in the health sector for close scrutiny. They looked for companies that were innovative, both scientifically and in business.
The portrait that emerged is of a dynamic sector that has been growing 30 percent annually over the past decade, reaching a turnover of three billion dollars in the domestic market in 2005.
Yet its activity is dominated by a few big stars and remains dogged by doubts as to its integrity.
It is also a sector led in large measure by "sea turtles" ("hai gui") -- Chinese-born scientists with a decade or two of US or European lab experience under their belts who have come home to found Chinese companies, often with generous backing from the government.
In a market of one billion potential patients, 15 biotech products for health are already on the market, with another 60 in the pipeline, Singer said.
Exhibit A: Gendicine, the first gene therapy product approved after clinical trials anywhere in the world.
A recombinant human adenovirus, Gendicine carries the p53 gene and is administered by injection directly into cancerous tumours in the head and neck, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
More than 5,000 patients have received the treatment in combination with radiotherapy, including 400 foreign patients from outside China.
The company became profitable shortly after the launch of the product, approved in 2005 by China's State Drug and Food Administration (SDFA).
That, as it turns out, was not an unimpeachable recommendation.
The SDFA's former director, Zheng Xiaoyu, was executed in July 2007 for accepting bribes in return for issuing drug approvals without proper review.
As a result, a staggering 170,000 licenses granted by the SDFA, especially between 1999 and 2002, are currently under review.
Another company, Shenzhen Beike Technologies, provides a treatment based on umbilical cord and bone marrow stem cells for Alzheimer's, autism, brain trauma, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury, as well as a dozen other diseases and conditions. The medication is injected directly into the spinal cord of patients.
"There is no need to do clinical trials for this kind of procedure in China," said the study's lead author, Sarah Frew, also a researcher at McLaughlin-Rotman.
"The approach this company is taking is trying the thing on patients rather than doing scientific research," added Singer.
The product has nonetheless been a commercial success, first with Chinese patients and more recently with international patients. When Frew visited the clinic a year ago, there were a dozen foreigners present.
The company's website is filled with glowing testimonials on the effectiveness of the treatment, which costs tens of thousands of dollars.
In most cases the therapies and vaccines developed in China are far less controversial. Indeed, more than 90 percent of products produced in the health biotech sector are biogenerics, with novel products accounting for 3-to-5 percent of the total.
A more recent development are international joint ventures and investment. Shenzhen Chipscreen Biosciences, for example, has developed an anti-cancer drug in cooperation with Huya Bioscience, based in San Diego, California. Once the medication is on the market, the Chinese partner will hold the rights for China, while Huya can lay claim to the rest of the world.
WuXi PharmaTech, which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the summer of 2007, is the first biotech service company in China with major foreign clients, including US pharmaceutical giant Merck and Britain's AstraZeneca.
The fact that WuXi has attracted such companies "punctures a little bit the legend that there is no intellectual property in China," said Singer.
Another myth that may soon fall by the wayside is that China can only reproduce what other have done already.
"There is no longer a hegemony on the part of industrialised countries in global biotech innovation," Singer said.
INSIGHTS
Biotechnology industry is a very lucrative industry that is being pursued by countries like Singapore and had produced remarkable results in the past few years. This is also due to Singapore’s credibility in producing high-end quality products. However, could China do the same? Its credibility has been tarnished by the massive reporting of its production of shoddy products. But should we be sceptical about the potential of the biotech industry in China? I feel that the western media has been rather bias towards China and such reports are often being exaggerated. Mass media is also an industry and it has to be profitable in order to survive thus creating sensational stories to grab people’s attention. Although some are true but many are often fabricated. Examples would be China’s pork buns that are made from cardboard and the brutality of the Chinese police in the recent Tibetan protests. I believe that China’s biotech industry had the potential to thrive and be successful in the future but it needs the help of the government. With the joining of the WTO, China’s legal structure has improved but more has to be done such as stricter enforcement of laws and the crackdown on corruption. Some companies, as seen in the article have made it big in the international market but i feel that their reputation might be affected if other China biotech companies make the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Labels: articles, Biotech industry, posted by Thomas
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