Keywords: social unrest, political reform, literature, China-France relationship, human right, Tibet, environment protection

1. POLITICS AND SOCIETY 

• Weng’an Riots

Riots torched the public security bureau, country government and county party committee buildings and burned vehicles in Weng’an County (瓮安), Guizhou province. (080628RT) Number of injury was unclear and the country was said to be under martial law. Photos, stories, government documents and medical reports were realized to justify different versions of truth.

1.11  A 15-year-old female middle school student named Li Shufei (李树菲) was raped and murdered by the son of the Weng’an county deputy mayor and 2 other people. Relatives of the girl went to complain and demand autopsy.  Instead of getting justice, the girl’s uncle was beaten unconscious and eventually died. The uncle was a teacher himself, and his students went to demonstrate down at the police station. They were joined by over ten thousands of citizens. (080629MP) Later, it was verified that the uncle was alive but seriously injured. (080630SCMP) Rumor suggested that the ‘mayor’s son’ was actually the son of provincial public security director.

1.12 The police detained the suspects for 5 hours and released them without charge. It was a matter intervention from the province after receiving a call for help from the suspects’ family. (NESW, http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20080701_1.htm)

1.13 Shi Zhongyuan (石宗源), the Guizhou provincial secretary, insisted that 6.28 incident was committed by a small number of people; with ulterior motives manage to manipulate and leverage; intended to provoke and challenge the party and the government publicly. The girl’s case had been reviewed and no suspicious was found. 50 people were arrested for organized crime. (080701XHN)

• ‘Why did such a small criminal case trigger such a large-scale mass incident?’ A question asked by President Hu, according to Ming Pao.
• Did the assembling and targeting on government buildings suggest any entrenched grievances? The logic of collective action? 30,000 people were there!
• Responsive but not responsible.
• Trust towards government
• Power of Internet. Story of/from Internet. 

1.2 ‘Open Government’

1.21 President Hu, had appeared in the Strong Country Forum (強國論壇), a forum organized by the People’s Daily and answered a few questions from the netizens. Although the questions are not sensitive ones, he expressed his attention on the opinions of the people. (080621SCMP)

1.22  A national disciplinary hotline was established. It tries to regulate and extend the monitory efforts, makes complaint more assessable and complainers safer. (080626SCMP)

1.23 Several Low-ranking officials in Sichuan were sacked for improper usage of relief resources. (080625CDHKE)

1.24 The ‘Tiger Photo’ Incident has finally closed. The picture was confirmed as fake, related officials were sacked and the peasant who made the photo was facing charges.

1.25 A post at Strong Country Forum, by a self-claimed communist, has used communist jargon in offering constructive suggestions:

There is no Communist Party that fears the people…The Party should actively dive into the people, and respectfully listen to the voices of the people, rather than simply waiting for problems to erupt before trying to ‘stabilize’ the people. The Chinese Communist Party used to have an unparalleled ability to motivate the people; has this ability been strengthened or weakened? …

• Gold Mental Race

Since surpassing Russia to win the second most gold medals in the 2004 Olympics, China has held an unofficial but undeniable ambition to cap the hosting of the Games by surpassing US and finishing atop the medal board.

Further, pressured by the national athletic system and tempted by the commercial riches awaiting star performers in the 2008 Games, China’s athletes are pushing themselves to their limits and beyond, causing some to risk their health in pursuit of nationalist glory. A few close-up stories were provided to justify the claims. For instance, diver Hu Jia, who suffered from a detached retina several years ago, was pushed for intense trainings, putting him at risk for permanent injury. (080619 NYT)

• China Resumes Talk with Envoys of Dalai Lama

The talks was conducted closed-door in Beijing on the 2^nd July. Media coverage of the talks in Mainland was very limited. From the reports, as usual, manifestos were given by both sides and no substantial agreement of any kind was released. (0800703SCMP)

1.4  Absolute Loyalty to your government!

 This is an Economic Observer interview of Sima Nan about his essay arguing against the Nanfang Daily group essays on behalf of universal values such as human rights, democracy, freedom and so on. (080613EO)

1.5 Authors 韓寒 and 陳丹青 criticized the linguistic values and literary talents of a number of acclaimed writers in a cultural TV program on 15 June. The list includes 老舍、巴金、茅盾、冰心、余華和蘇童。He later admitted that 老舍 was a verbal mistake ，and he did not speak of 余華和蘇童，but insisted that 巴金、茅盾、冰心 are of very low standard. (080629SMD) The opinion raised substantial discussion thereafter，mostly negative. (080622SMD)

1.5 ‘Chocolate City’: Foreigner Residents in China

There are over ten thousands of Africans, mostly Nigerian, living in Guangdong and they clustered together. The number has been increasing at a rate of 30-40 % annually.  Originally published in Southern Weekly, it was re-posted by a few bogglers and raised hot discussions in blogs and forums. Their presence raised problems of minority rights, workers rights, religious practices, economic competitions and tolerance. Although many Chinese see the increasing number of foreigners as an indicator of the growth of ‘Chinese Dream’, many Africans insisted that they do not belong here and would travel back to their countries after making enough money. (080123SW)

2. FOREIGN POLICY

2.1 Travel Boycott to France

The French Ambassador to China, Hervé Ladsous, expressed his worries about the substantial decrease of Chinese travellers to France during an interview with Southern Weekly. (080626SW) The Chinese authorities, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Tourism Bureau, insisted that no mandatory boycott has been issued people, but the government would not control the free will of its citizens. According to Ladsous, the number of visitors traveling to France has decreased by 1/3 in Beijing and many travel agencies there have refused to organize trip to France.

Other EU members, like Germany, also expressed their concerns on the issue as their tourism might be affected as well. He insisted on using communication to alleviate disagreements and misunderstandings.

2.2 China Blocked Human Rights Meeting

Two United States representatives who were in Beijing to lobby for the release of more than 700 political prisoners had hoped to have dinner on Sunday with a group of Chinese human rights lawyers. But security agents had a different idea: they detained some of the lawyers and warned the others to stay away. The Congressmen protested and urged President Bush to boycott the Olympics if the 754 political prisoners are not released. (080702NYT)

3. POLITICAL ECONOMY

3.1. Reform Reviews after 30 years

3.11 Recording of the reform process and the role of  Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦) by his son, Hu Deping (胡德平), the deputy director of the United Front Work Bureau. (080602CJM 080609CJM 080615CJM)

3.12 It has been 30 years since the 1978 Reform. SEZ has been the pioneer in this economic transition. Its experiences are experimental and illuminative. While people often memorize the successful case like Shenzhen (深圳), there are complicated scenario at She Kou (蛇口) and failure in Bei Hai (北海). In other words, the missions of SEZ should continue, as the reform process is not steady but dynamic.

3.2. Energy Demand & Environmental Protection: An Optimistic View     

China was experiencing serious environmental problems, everyone seems to know that. But the recent development on the joint-efforts between the government and society, a report at Atlantic Monthly suggested that it might be improving and entails important political and economic implications. (0806 AM)

With the 11^th five-year-plan, and substantial regulations and decrees which changes the promotion standard of officials from solely economic development to include environmental sustainability.  They are more aware of and eager to deal with the costs of pollution. The Olympic s also provides the incentives for the government to manage emission standard and regulate pollution problem, particularly on Beijing’s smog and dust. It is added by social awareness and economic opportunity.  For instance, the banning of (thin) plastic bags has taken effect (080602SCMP) ; some entrepreneurs start to use environmental friendly measures and machineries, and a owner of a cement factory develop a new technology to extract the heat of processing to generate electric power. (0806 AM)

3.3 Rising Oil Prices

The Chinese government has announced sharp increases in regulated prices for gasoline, diesel and electricity. The discussion was unexpected and hard to make for the Chinese government. One the one hand, the international oil prices are ascending and no indication that it will stop. The oil producers in China, some of the largest SOEs, are losing money from every gallon of oil they sold, and their stock price fell dramatically. Shareholders are in protest. One the other hand, the inflation rate was still accelerating and increase in oil prices would worsen the situation. It might further provoke discontents from the poor and the countryside, hence countering the notion of harmony, especially before Olympics. (0806021NYT)

Nonetheless, farmers were exempted from the latest increase in fuel prices, as were three provinces damaged in earthquakes last month: Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu Provinces. (0806020NYT)

3.4 The Influx of Hot Money

According to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), as of the end of May, forex reserves stood at 1.797 trillion U.S. dollars. During the first five months of 2008, forex reserves increased by 18.7 percent year-on-year, or 268.7 billion U.S. dollars. These include foreign trade surplus and FDI.

The discrepancy between the US and China’s interest rate and the appreciation of Chinese yuan are the major causes of the speculation and influx of capitals.

The authority was worried that it might accelerate inflation by providing excess liquidity and hurt the current and capital accounts by affecting international payments. (080701XHN-2)

4. TAIWAN

Polls indicated the falling popularity of President Ma. Why the Honeymoon was so short?  (080627MP)

5. HONG KONG

30000-47000 people participated in the march, the focuses are mainly inflation and governance. (080702MP)