Monthly Archives: December 2009
Court Tells Mian And Google To Sort Out Copyright Suit
Mian Mian’s suit against Google is an awkwardness for the authorities, the sort of awkwardness they just hope would go away. In October, the 39-year old author filed a copyright infringement suit against the U.S. search and advertising company for … Continue reading
Filed under Media, Politics & Society
Signs Of Disharmony
One of the purposes of the Hu-Wen “harmonious society’ policy is to narrow the income gap between city and country. The gap is seen as a source of social instability and thus a potential challenge to the Party’s authority to … Continue reading
Filed under Politics & Society, Uncategorized
Hyundai Enters Heavy Truck Market Via Baotou JV
South Korea’s Hyundai is getting into the heavy truck market through a $400 million JV with Baotou Bei Ben Heavy-Duty Truck, China’s sixth largest heavy truck maker. Hyundai aims to be selling 100,000 heavy-duty trucks in China by 2014 and … Continue reading
Filed under China-Koreas, industry
UN, U.S. Criticise Cambodia Return Of Uighur Refugees
Cambodia has deported 20 Uighurs who fled July’s deadly Urumqi riots back to to China. Both the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the U.S. government has criticised the action, with the UN agency saying it breached … Continue reading
Filed under China-U.S., Politics & Society
China and U.S. Take Their Climate Accord And Go Home
The Copenhagen Accord struck by China, the U.S., Brazil, India and South Africa on climate change smacks of declaring victory and going home. It is not legally binding. It does no more than recognize the need to limit global temperatures … Continue reading
Filed under China-U.S., Environment
Yunnan And Melting Himalaya Glaciers
Given the heavy snow in north and parts of central China, it seems perverse that more than half a billion Chinese living along the rivers that flow from the Himalayas are at risk from water shortages as a result of … Continue reading
Filed under Environment
Sichuan Tengzhong’s Wait To Buy Hummer Looks Never Ending
Beijing has long been dragging its feet over approving Sichuan Tengzhong’s proposed purchase of GM’s Hummer business. The Commerce Ministry is only one set of bureaucrats still to pass judgment. It is an open secret that some officials aren’t keen … Continue reading
Hu Adds Heft To China-Central Asia Pipeline Opening
We’ve noted before China’s expanding reach into energy-rich Central Asia. A sign of how strategically important that is to Beijing is President Hu Jintao’s presence (again) in the Kazakhstan capital Astanta on Saturday to open the Kazakh leg of the … Continue reading
Filed under China-Central Asia, energy
China’s $100M Rain
China spends an estimated $100 million a year on cloud-seeding efforts that include using anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers to blast the sky with silver iodide. No indication of the source for that number, but it was reported in an … Continue reading
Filed under Environment
Details Start To Emerge Of China’s Economic Policy Tweaks
Some detail is emerging on plans to boost domestic consumption and dampen down prospective bubbles being inflated by stimulus spending. The State Council says that tax breaks on the re-sale of homes are being cut back, though subsidies for household … Continue reading
