Chinese teen allegedly beaten to death at boot camp

AFP, Sep. 30, 2010 -

BEIJING — A Chinese teenager was allegedly beaten to death at a boot camp for troubled youths that his mother had lured him to attend by promising he was going to study IT, state media said Thursday.

Chen Shi, 16, died two days after enrolling in Beiteng School in Changsha, capital of central China’s Hunan province, having been beaten up when he refused to run during training, the Beijing Times reported.

According to witnesses, an instructor — helped by two others — beat him with a plastic pipe, handcuffs and a wooden baton when he refused to run.

The incident comes amid controversy over China’s hundreds of boot camps that aim to discipline unruly youths or wean them off web addictions.

Tibetans Villagers Block Work on Dam Near Sacred Mountain

Radio Free Asia, 2010-09-30 -

Local Tibetans have challenged Chinese work crews trying to build a dam near a mountain considered sacred by area residents, according to Tibetan sources.

The mountain, called Lhachen Naglha Dzambha, rises in Driru [in Chinese, Biru] county in the Nagchu Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), a native of the region now living in exile said.

“The Gyalmo Ngulchu [Salween] river runs through the foothills of this sacred mountain,” the source said.

“Sometime in August this year, a large number of Chinese workers arrived in the area. Local Tibetans were told they were building a dam.”

Representatives from each village in the county then gathered at the site to protest the construction, another Tibetan living in exile said, citing sources in the region.

Billionaires’ Dinner Sparks Debate About Social Responsibilities of China’s New Super-rich

Tania Branigan in Beijing, guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 29 September 2010 -

It should have been the social event of the year. The setting was said to be a full-scale replica of the Château Lafite, complete with Greek statuary, a moat and its own wild duckpond. The hosts were world famous. The guestlist featured 50 of China’s richest business people.

Yet several billionaires snubbed Bill Gates and Warren Buffett – apparently fearful of demands to open their wallets at the charity-promoting banquet – and in doing so have provoked a debate about their apparent stinginess.

Critics argue that China’s new rich have ignored their social responsibilities in the rush for wealth. Among the most scathing is one of last night’s guests, Chen Guangbiao, who says Gates has inspired him to leave his fortune to charity when he dies.

UFO Frequently Visits China Recently

Recently, reports of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) have been occurring frequently in China.

On July 7 this year, more than 20 flights were postponed at Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, because of a sighting.

Whenever such reported sightings occur, Wang Sichao, a research fellow at the Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, is much busier than usual. In addition to studying the sightings, Wang, who started work on UFOs nearly 40 years ago, has to check and reply to mail about UFOs from all across China.

Lately, Wang predicted “great events” concerning UFOs were going to come out in China in the next two years. In an interview with Beijing Review, he shared his views and stories with reporter Tang Yuankai. ……(more details from Beijing Review)

An Overhead View of China’s Pollution (photo)

Alex Frangos, via http://blogs.wsj.com/, Sep. 27, 2010 -

NASA data shows fine particulate matter density world-wide.

To get a sense of how China’s air quality compares with the rest of the world, there’s a new map of global air-particulate pollution from Canadian scientists using National Aeronautics and Space Administration satellite data. The verdict: It doesn’t look good.

Donor nations ask why China gets billions in aid each year

Detroit Free Press – Gillian Wong – ‎Sep 26, 2010‎ -

BEIJING — China  spent tens of billions of dollars on a dazzling 2008 Olympics. It has sent astronauts into space. It recently became the world’s second-largest economy.

Yet it gets more than $2.5 billion a year in foreign government aid — and, increasingly, taxpayers and lawmakers in donor countries are asking why.

With the global economic slowdown crimping government budgets, many countries are finding such generosity politically and economically untenable. China says it’s still a developing country in need of aid, while some critics argue that the money should go to poorer countries.

IPhone Demand Outstrips Supply in China

By OWEN FLETCHER, wsj.com, Sep. 25, 2010 -

BEIJING— China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. said its supply of Apple Inc.’s iPhone 4 handsets is insufficient to meet user demand but that it will increase its supply as quickly as possible. Sales of the model started at a much faster pace than when older versions of the iPhone went on sale in China last year.

Unicom had received more than 200,000 iPhone 4 preorders by early Saturday, the day sales started, and more than 40,000 buyers received the phone and a bundled mobile-service plan that day, Unicom said. By comparison, Unicom last year sold 100,000 iPhone handsets in roughly six weeks after officially introducing the devices in China in late October.

The latest version of Apple’s popular smartphone was widely awaited in China and could help Unicom attract more users to its third-generation mobile services, which are more expensive but offer faster data speeds than typical services. Unicom, the only network operator in China to offer the iPhone, is competing with rivals China Mobile Ltd. and China Telecom Corp. to build its 3G subscriber base.

An Apple spokeswoman said more iPhones will be available soon and that customers should check online or with local stores regarding availability…...(more details from Wall Street Journal)

Deaths in Guangdong Dam Collapse much higher than offcial number

Radio Free Asia, Sep. 24, 2010 -

HONG KONG—Residents near a waste management dam in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong said several dozen households were swamped when the dam collapsed during a typhoon earlier this week, with more deaths than officials would admit to.

“This is really bad,” said a resident of the area near the Yinyan Tin Mine in Guangdong’s Xinyi city. “The houses have totally collapsed. Between one and two hundred people may have died.”

Official media reports said five people died in the collapse of the dam, which was operated by the Hong Kong-listed Zijin Mining Group, in the wake of torrential rain and mud and rock slides caused by typhoon Fanapi last week.

A further six people were listed as missing and seven were injured, reports said.

But local people said the number of casualties was likely much higher.

Obama Should Tell Wen to Stop the ‘Gendercide’, Advocates Say

By Matthew Robertson, Epoch Times Staff, Sep. 24 -

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Before Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao leaves the U.S., human rights activists say President Obama should bring up a topic that is as important as it is underreported: the systematic destruction of tens of millions of unborn babies, overwhelmingly female.

It began on Sept. 25, 1980, almost 30 years ago to the day. After two years of policy formulation, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party promulgated its plan to launch a one-size-fits-all approach to reproduction, the coercive family planning scheme known as the one-child policy.

The architects of the policy were actually elite scientists in the military establishment—at that time in China almost all science was military science—who applied theories of cybernetics to disputed sociological theories from the West, redefining China’s population problem along the lines of the hard science of complex machine systems. The result was a radical solution to the perceived “overpopulation” problem, led by one of China’s leading strategic weaponeers, according to the extensive research of Dr. Susan Greenhalgh from the Univeristy of California, Irvine…….(more details from The Epochtimes)

China threatening to kill me, Canada reporter says

By ANDREA WOO, Vancouver Sun, Canada,  September 22, 2010 -

A Surrey-based reporter says China’s Ministry of State Security is threatening his family, life and livelihood for his critical coverage of the Chinese government.

Surrey resident Tao Wang moved to B.C. from China in 2007 and began working as a local general assignment reporter for the Canadian branch of Falun Gong-affiliated New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) in July 2009.

Most of his assignments for the international broadcaster have been innocuous, on topics such as the opening of the Canada Line, the Olympics and the harmonized sales tax.

However, some of his reports have been critical of the Chinese government and its practices. NTDTV is one of the few networks with dissenting views that broadcasts in the Communist nation.

German fund manager worried about risk of China’s economic crash

AFP, Sep. 22, 2010 -

FRANKFURT — The head of DWS, the biggest German investment fund, feels a Chinese crisis is the biggest threat to the global economy at present, he said in an interview to be published on Friday.

“The biggest risk to global financial markets is an economic slump in China,” Klaus Kaldemorgen told the magazine Capital.

“A crisis in China would be much more dangerous for the global economy now than a crisis in the United States,” he added.

Many observers are carefully watching US economic indicators for signs of a possible slide back into recession in the world’s biggest economy.

But Kaldemorgen said the Chinese real-estate market, which has boomed in recent years, was what worried him most.

Hong Kong Businesspeople’s Recent Published Magazine Confiscated by Authorities in South China

Radio Free Asia, Sep. 21, 2010-

HONG KONG— Authorities in the southern Chinese boom town of Shenzhen have confiscated the entire first issue of a recently launched magazine which details the dangers of investing in the mainland, according to the publication’s disgruntled co-founder.

Xue Baoren, who has campaigned for the rights of investors in mainland China since a legal dispute with Shenzhen officials over a factory he leased, said the printing operations of Investments and Pitfalls magazine has been moved to his hometown of Hong Kong, where it will be distributed free of charge.

“I had the magazine printed [in May] at a factory in Shenzhen, and then I had planned to have it shipped to Hong Kong,” Xue said. “It was supposed to arrive on Aug. 27 but it was confiscated by the authorities in Shenzhen.”

After Suffering Years of Torture, “Upstanding” Man on the Verge of Death in China Prison Camp

The Falun Dafa Information Center, Sep 20, 2010 -

NEW YORK — A 55-year-old man is near death after suffering years of torture at the hands of Chinese police, according to multiple reports from China.

A resident of Wuhan, Mr. Liu Yunchao (刘运潮) is being held at the Fanjiatai Prison in Shayang, Hubei Province. In July 2009, Liu was “sentenced” in a sham trial to three years in prison for practicing Falun Gong. After over a year of torture, twice in August 2010 — on August 8 and August 30 — Liu’s family was notified that he was near death. Each time, they rushed to the prison to secure his access to a hospital and medical treatment. On both occasions, Liu was not allowed to go to the hospital.

According to family members, Liu was emaciated and unconscious.

China’s migrant workers: from beggars to choosers

Theage.com.au, Alexandra Harney, September 21, 2010 -

Shortages and a less compliant workforce will drive a rethink in labour relations.

EVEN with Chinese factory wages up more than 20 per cent this year, the factories are facing a labour shortage.

This underscores the reality behind the Foxconn International Holdings suicides and the strikes at Honda Motor. Chinese factory managers have no idea what their employees really want, migrant workers from the countryside are quitting jobs faster than before, and high turnover is hindering productivity growth.

To stay competitive, China’s manufacturers will have to do more than just increase salaries: they will have to change the way they manage their workforce.

Don’t believe me? Ask Fang. Less than a year into her job at a shoe factory in Wenzhou, she’s thinking about quitting. Fang wants higher wages, shorter hours and better working conditions. But ultimately what she wants are skills and responsibility. She dreams of opening a store, of being her own boss. Managing her own business, Fang shouts into her mobile phone over the din of machines on the assembly line, ”would be better than this. It would give me an opportunity to improve myself”.

China’s Anti-Japan Protests Stage-Managed by State

By Michelle Yu, Epoch Times Staff, Sep. 20, 2010 -

Recent anti-Japan demonstrations organized by the Chinese regime have struck astute citizens as somewhat ironic, given that the Chinese seldom have the right to march for such causes on their own.

“Finally, in a country where we are not even allowed to type the word ‘demonstration’ in our blogs, we have a demonstration to march in,” wrote Han Han, one of China’s most popular writers, in a Sept. 18 blog post. The anti-Japan demonstrations were held on Sept. 18, the 79th anniversary of Japan’s invasion of China.

Author Released After 29 Days Detention for His Book About Dam Migration

Reporters Without Borders, Sep. 20, 2010 -

Reporters Without Borders hails investigative journalist Xie Chaoping’s release on bail in Weinan (in Shaanxi province) on 17 September for lack of evidence. After being held for 29 days for writing a book about the Sanmenxia Dam entitled “The Great Migration,” he has been able to return to Beijing.

“Xie’s release is excellent news but now he must he now be quickly cleared of the charges of illegal commercial activity that the Weinan authorities brought against him,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We call for the release of the printer who was also accused of illegal commercial activity for printing his book. It is still not known what has happened to him.”

China Mass Measles Vaccination Plan Sparks Outcry After High-school Student’s Sudden Death

Christina Maria, secretchina.com, 18/09/2010  -

The death of a seventh-grader, Luo Yunfeng, two days after he received measles vaccination escalated the anxiety and distrust of parents of Chinese government’s latest proposal – to vaccinate 100 million children. That plan has led to public outcry that highlights widening public distrust of the authoritarian government after repeated health scandals. Internet comments allude to a conspiracy theory – the people are worried about the safety of such widespread vaccinations. Is the medicine safe? Is it counterfeit? Is it dangerous?

Jiang Yalin, representative of “Kidney Stone Babies” said in an interview, “The Ministry of Health first said that all the vaccine is made in China. People can rest assured. Then people started to ask, ‘Since when did China produce such a large amount of vaccine? Where was it produced?’ Then the Ministry said that the U.S. had joined the efforts. The vaccine has gone through two processes. Their statements contradict to each other and really suspicious. ”

The state media has even covered public skepticism, which noted the lack of trust was about more than vaccines.

“Behind the public’s panic over the rumors is an expression of the citizens’ demands for security and a crisis in confidence,” a columnist wrote in the Chongqing Daily newspaper.

China High-school Student Died Two Days After Measles Vaccine Injection

Radio Free Aisia, Sep 17, 2010 -

HONG KONG— Officials in the southern Chinese region of Guangxi are investigating the death of a high-school student who recently received a measles injection as part of a nationwide vaccination program.

Luo Yunfeng, a third-year student at the Longcheng No. 1 High School near Beiliu city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, died suddenly on Friday, just two days after receiving the measles vaccine.

An official who answered the phone at the Longcheng township government offices near Guangxi’s Beiliu city, confirmed the recent death of a student  at the Longcheng No. 1 High School.

Leave Your Name When Buying a Knife Before Asia Games in China Guangzhou

By Lin Hsin-Yi, Epoch Times Staff, Sep. 18, 2010 -

Two months out from the 2010 Asia Games in Guangzhou, the capital of the Guangdong Province in south China, the city’s Public Security Bureau has laid down a new law which citizens say is as irksome as it will be ineffectual: that is, everyone who buys knives or similar instruments from now until the end of the Games will have to provide at least six pieces of personal information.

Like during other mass events organized by the authorities, before November 12 when the Games begin there will be frequent inspection points around the city with often onerous demands on passers-through, the prohibition of balloons, kites, sky lanterns and carrier pigeons, and a regime of stiff fines for incompliants.

The Guangzhou police announced the measures on August 21, titled “Notice to Enforce Safe Knife Management in Guangzhou.” It goes for cleavers, large fruit knives, craft knives, files, and ceramic knives; only approved vendors can sell them, and buyers need to yield their name, address, ID number, types of knives, number purchased, and intended use. The policy has currently been put into effect in a few districts.

Chinese Printer of Book “The Great Migration” Arrested After the Author

Reporters Without Borders, Sep. 17, 2010 -

Zhao Shun, a printer from the northeastern province of Hebei, was arrested earlier this week by the authorities of Weinan, in the central province of Shaanxi. The reason for his arrest has not been announced, but it was Zhao who printed “The Great Migration,” a book by journalist Xie Chaoping that seems to have been the reason for Xie’s arrest in Weinan on 19 August.

“Two men are now being held for writing and printing this book about the human impact of the Sanmenxia Dam, which was built across the Yellow River during Mao’s Great Leap Forward in the 1950s,” Reporters Without Borders said. “When will the Chinese authorities accept that journalists and academics can write about contemporary Chinese history without posing a threat?”

The press freedom organisation added: “We appeal to Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to intercede on behalf of Xie and Zhao and obtain their release without delay.”

Both Zhao’s family and Xie’s wife confirmed the arrest of Zhao, who printed Xie’s book in the form of a supplement in the newspaper Huohua (The Spark). More information about Xie’s detention: http://en.rsf.org/china-journalist-…

Xie’s lawyer said the police forced Xie to name the printer. Colleagues of Zhao have also been interrogated by the police.

A Chinese researcher specialising in journalists’ rights said the probable outcome of the arrests would be that those involved in publishing the book would be prosecuted on charges of “illegal commercial practices.”

- Reporters Without Borders

Chinese Netizens Play Forced Eviction Video Game

Radio Free Asia, Sep 16, 2010 -

Screenshot from the game "Nailhouses vs. the Eviction Gang." (RFA)

HONG KONG— Chinese netizens have been playing a computer game this week based on one of the country’s most pressing social problems: forced evictions by local governments to make way for lucrative property developments.

“Nailhouses vs. the Eviction Gang” pits local residents against authorities bent on demolishing their home and has recently been passed around on popular microblogging sites.

The brightly colored two-dimensional game offers a number of Super Mario-style characters who stand on the upper story of a house marked with the now all-too familiar character for “demolition.”

The inhabitants rain household objects down on strings of blue-clad officials who approach the house with spades. Successful players repel the attempts at undermining the building from below.

“The building has three stories. Each 100 yuan you earn means you can activate one family member, and you can repel a large number of personnel from different agencies from four different levels [including the roof],” said a netizen identified as “Lemon,” who had recently played the game.

“The aim is to prevent them getting anywhere near your ‘nailhouse’ and demolishing your building,” he said.

China Censors closed down an online discussion forum for media information exchange

Radio Free asia, Sep 15, 2010 -

HONG KONG— Chinese officials have closed down an online discussion forum used by regional newspapers to exchange information and discuss articles for publication, media sources said Wednesday.

The group was set up by editors and journalists from 13 regional newspapers on the popular QQ chat service, which is widely used in China.

“According to my information, it’s to do with an editorial that was carried by the 13 Metropolis group newspapers in March this year, around the time of the annual parliamentary sessions,” a Guangdong-based source familiar with the situation said of the move.

“I heard that this editorial made someone angry in the top levels of leadership, and they ordered an investigation by the propaganda department, and a number of other departments as well, into how the editorial was syndicated,” the source added.

Chinese Attorney’s letter: Gmail account hacked, Family Harassed

Jiang Tianyong is a member of the newly-founded Chinese Petitioner Rights Defense Association, a group of legal defenders committed to protecting the rights of petitioners and promoting rule of law throughout China (see press release on the CPRDA).  His letter to the PSB director describes the oppression and harassment he and his family have suffered at the hands of local officials for his human rights legal work.

To the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau and Director Fu Zhenghua,

At about 6 p.m. on September 7th, I was approached by people from Haidian Branch of the Domestic Security Protection Squad who conducted a “chat” with me.  Their main “concern” in the chat was that a foreign media company might interview the target group in the Uyghur project in Beijing Aizhihang Institute on matters concerning its outreach.  The people in the Domestic Security Protection Squad said this is a very dangerous project and they just wanted to remind me of that fact.

At about 12 midnight that night, I found my Gmail account had been broken into and all the emails from September 3rd through September 7th were gone!  In this email box of mine, I usually receive on average 30-50 emails a day.  Among the lost emails were those from the friend of mine in a foreign media company that the Domestic Security Protection Squad was showing interest in.  Besides that, in the past two months, my Gmail account was set twice to automatically forward the emails to a mailbox that was something like “yaokai@yahoo.com.cn.”