The Foreign Street China Brief

Issue 1: Secretary Rice in China

Rice sends unmistakable signals to Asian nations

Visit to church in China emphasizes religious freedom

David J. Lynch

820 words

21 March 2005

USA Today

A.13

BEIJING -- Fresh from meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did something on Sunday the Chinese might consider a little undiplomatic: She went to church.

For the chief American diplomat, who routinely describes herself as "deeply religious," attending Palm Sunday observances was a spiritual matter. She didn't bring along television cameras and she chose a government-sanctioned church, not one of the underground parishes that the authorities rigorously repress.

USA Today Information Network

Keep China arms ban, urges Rice

By Richard Spencer in Beijing

415 words

21 March 2005

The Daily Telegraph

014

CONDOLEEZZA Rice, the American secretary of state, warned yesterday of the danger of supplying European technology that could accelerate China's military expansion. Repeating American requests for the European Union not to lift its arms embargo on China, she highlighted the threat posed by the Chinese dictatorship as she arrived in Beijing on the latest leg of a tour of Asia. Lifting the embargo ``was not appropriate'', she said. The EU ``should do nothing to contribute to a circumstance in which Chinese military modernisation draws on European technology''. ``There are concerns about the rise of Chinese military spending, and potentially Chinese military power and its increasing sophistication,'' she said. Her intervention came as Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, admitted that lifting the embargo had been made more difficult by a new Chinese law setting out the terms for an invasion of Taiwan.

Telegraph Group Ltd

Rice tells EU: don't lift China arms ban

Jonathan Watts in Beijing and Nicholas Watt in Brussels

685 words

21 March 2005

The Guardian

The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, stepped up the transatlantic row over the arms embargo on China yesterday with a sharply worded warning that the EU should not upset the balance of power in a region in which it has no defensive responsibilities.

Ms Rice said Japan and South Korea - Washington's two main allies in east Asia - were also opposed to the EU's plans to lift its weapons ban, a move that they fear could allow China to buy sophisticated European technology for use against their own troops.

Guardian Newspapers Limited

Rice Warns Europe Not to Sell Advanced Weaponry to China

Military Balance At Risk, Allies Told

Glenn Kessler

823 words

21 March 2005

The Washington Post

A12

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sternly warned European allies on Sunday that they "should do nothing" that alters the military balance of power in Asia through sales of sophisticated weapons to China, suggesting that those arms ultimately could be directed at Americans.

"It is the United States -- not Europe -- that has defended the Pacific," Rice said at a news conference in Seoul before she flew to Beijing for talks with Chinese officials. Later, like two of her predecessors, she attended a service at a government-sanctioned church, making a symbolic political statement about the lack of religious freedom in China.

Washington Post

In Beijing, Rice keeps focus on N. Korea

'We need to resolve this issue,' she says, urging China on talks

Chris Buckley

939 words

21 March 2005

International Herald Tribune

BEIJING:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived here on Sunday after signaling that the focus of her two-day visit would be to persuade China to increase pressure on North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.

International Herald Tribune

In China, Rice is keeping focus on North Korea

Chris Buckley

596 words

21 March 2005

International Herald Tribune

BEIJING:

International Herald Tribune

RICE CAUTIONS ON CHINA ARMS SALES

TELLS EUROPE NOT TO ALTER BALANCE IN ASIA

GLENN KESSLER, THE WASHINGTON POST

528 words

21 March 2005

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A-4

BEIJING

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sternly warned European allies yesterday that they "should do nothing" that alters the military balance of power in Asia through sales of sophisticated weapons to China, suggesting that those arms ultimately could be directed at Americans.

PG Publishing Co., Inc

RICE WARNS EUROPE ON WEAPONS SALES TO CHINA

Glenn Kessler, Washington Post

258 words

21 March 2005

The Boston Globe

BEIJING Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sternly warned European allies yesterday that they "should do nothing" that alters the military balance of power in Asia through sales of sophisticated weapons to China, suggesting that such arms ultimately could be directed at Americans.

"It is the United States, not Europe, that has defended the Pacific," Rice said at a news conference in Seoul before she flew to Beijing for talks with Chinese officials. Later, she attended church service at a government-sanctioned church.

Boston Globe Newspaper

Rice Sounds a Theme in Visit To Beijing Protestant Church

By JOEL BRINKLEY

775 words

21 March 2005

The New York Times

BEIJING, March 20 -- The congregation at Gangwashi Protestant Church broke into applause for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday evening as she rose to leave after the Palm Sunday service.

Gangwashi is one of a handful of China's state-approved churches, allowed to operate in this officially atheistic country only if all elements -- including hymns and Scripture -- are cleared by the government.

New York Times Digital (Full Text)

China plans to outlaw Taiwan independence, leaders tell Rice

Clifford Coonan in Beijing

450 words

21 March 2005

The Times

CHINA'S leaders told the US Secretary of State yesterday that America should refrain from interfering in its delicate relationship with Taiwan.

Condoleezza Rice arrived in Beijing, the penultimate stop in her first north Asian tour since her appointment, just a week after China had passed an anti- secession law that made illegal any attempt at independence by Taiwan.

News International Associated Services Ltd

Rice Wraps Up Visit to Korea, China, and Japan

by Jong-Koo Yoon jkmas@donga.com

682 words

21 March 2005

Dong-A Ilbo Daily

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice returned to the United States on March 21, completing her tour to South Korea, China and Japan. Secretary Rice focused on coordinating with the three countries on ways to coax North Korea to come back to the six-party talks for resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue. Now, the only thing remaining is the North�s decision. Some say that the three countries seem to have different things on mind after Secretary Rice left.

The Message from Rice-

Dong-A Ilbo Daily

Rice tells EU of risk to Pacific in easing embargo on China.

By GEOFF DYER, DAVID IBISON and JUNG-A SONG

431 words

21 March 2005

Financial Times

Page 8

Condoleezza Rice raised the temperature yesterday in the dispute over the European Union's plans to relax its arms embargo on China when she said weapons sales to China could upset the balance of power in the Pacific.

After several weeks during which the Bush administration and European governments had been trying to minimise their difference on the arms embargo, the US secretary of state used her diplomatic trip around Asia to issue a strong warning to the Europeans.

The Financial Times Limited

Rice to press China on democracy

Peter Alford, Catherine Armitage

580 words

21 March 2005

The Australian

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has indicated the Bush administration will pressure China on democracy and religious freedom, as well as the more immediate questions of Taiwan and North Korea.

In a provocative talk on the eve of her first visit to China in her new post, Dr Rice said she would raise the question of religious freedom with the Beijing leadership because that "is very often a basis for compassion and decency in a society".

Nationwide News Pty Ltd.

Rice's Democracy Tour

840 words

21 March 2005

The Asian Wall Street Journal

`The President made a major point in his inaugural address that democracy, the discussion of democracy, would have to be an issue with every country in the world. And so that is also true here in Pakistan," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said last week, explaining her call for democratic reforms during a visit to Islamabad.

In the three and a half years since President Gen. Pervez Musharraf made his brave choice in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 to commit his country wholeheartedly to the pursuit of al Qaeda and overthrow of the Taliban, Pakistan has made great strides toward becoming a freer society. Its media is increasingly outspoken and vibrant. Educational reforms are undermining the influence exerted by extremist elements in some madrassas, or religious schools, without which there can be no hope for a free society.

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

Condoleezza in Asia

396 words

21 March 2005

The Daily Telegraph

021

Having visited Europe last month, Condoleezza Rice, the new American Secretary of State, today completes an eight-day swing through Asia. Across the Atlantic, her focus was on reconciliation after the deep divisions caused by the invasion of Iraq. Across the Pacific, it has been on the flash-points of North Korea and Taiwan. In both cases, China, the final stage of her tour, plays the key role. It hosts the six-party talks which have been trying in vain to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions. And the relationship with Taiwan lies at the heart of its foreign policy, though Beijing, which considers the island a renegade province, would like the world to see it as an exclusively domestic issue. In the main speech of her tour, in Tokyo on Saturday, Miss Rice spoke of America's friendship with Japan, South Korea, Australia, Philippines and Thailand, and of growing co-operation with Singapore.

Telegraph Group Ltd

Airing her grievances

480 words

21 March 2005

South China Morning Post

Ah, the sounds of dining out in Beijing: the "clink" of cup after cup of baijiu the raised voices the spitting out of bones, saliva and more the shouting matches and near fights over who pays the bill. Above it all, however, are the shouts of xiao jie! ("waitress!") that echo throughout the room.

SCMP.com Limited

Issue 2: Developing perspectives on Tsang in HK

New Hong Kong boss a survivor

Humble politician a witty knight who 'makes people laugh' But he won't 'go beyond Beijing's lines,' political analyst says

Martin Regg Cohn

1486 words

21 March 2005

The Toronto Star

A04

HONG KONG -- Eight years after Britain handed its colony back to Chinese sovereignty, history has been turned on its head:

A Knight of the British Empire, a devout Catholic who prays in church every morning, Donald Tsang is Hong Kong's new political leader.

Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd.

Beijing may settle chief's term row

We'll do everything we can to ensure election is held by July 10, says minister

Jimmy Cheung

567 words

21 March 2005

South China Morning Post

The government has left open the door for Beijing to settle the row over the chief executive's term with an interpretation of the Basic Law, despite repeated assertions that there was no plan to do so.

In an apparent change of heart, Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam Sui-lung said yesterday the government would "act according to the situation".

SCMP.com Limited

Playing it safe for now

OBSERVER - Chris Yeung

611 words

21 March 2005

South China Morning Post

Acting Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen may not yet have declared his candidacy for the next chief executive election, but by taking the hot seat vacated by Tung Chee-hwa, he appears to have his sights firmly set on the top position.

On Friday, Mr Tsang outlined his philosophy of governance in a speech after receiving an honorary law doctorate from the University of Hong Kong.

SCMP.com Limited

Tsang's policy blueprint a promising start

705 words

21 March 2005

South China Morning Post

Donald Tsang Yam-kuen is still getting to grips with his new role as leader of Hong Kong. It is too early to expect any significant shift in policy. But much is expected of the acting chief executive - hot favourite to win the election in July. Hong Kong people are eager to see some changes and are watching to see how he shapes up.

Mr Tsang's first public speech since taking the helm was delivered at the University of Hong Kong last Friday. It provided him an early opportunity to begin asserting his style of leadership. He did not pass up the chance. The principles set out by Mr Tsang were broadly in keeping with those so often espoused by Tung Chee-hwa - not surprising during this transitional period. But there were some subtle - and perhaps significant - differences.

SCMP.com Limited

International Relations

Chinese Ambassador Criticizes Japan

711 words

21 March 2005

Korea Times

China's top envoy to South Korea said yesterday that Japan cannot be trusted by its regional neighbors and cannot be a ``normal'' state unless it acknowledges and apologizes for its wartime atrocities.

``As an offender, Japan should openly recognize its past actions and sincerely apologize,'' Ambassador Li Bin said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. ``If it does not acknowledge its past, how can it be considered rational?''

Hankook i.com

UN official praises China for impressive progress, calling for attention to major challenges

555 words

21 March 2005

Xinhua News Agency

by Jiang Guocheng

BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- A top United Nations official Monday listed HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, environmental pollution, and gender equality as major challenges China faces despite remarkable economic and social progress China has made since 1978.

Xinhua News Agency

As China rises, US taps Japan as key Asia ally

In Tokyo, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice articulated the need to prod and persuade China along 'positive course.'

Robert Marquand Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

897 words

21 March 2005

Christian Science Monitor

TOKYO

With quiet determination the Bush administration is attempting to revitalize strategic and military ties with Japan. The US is hoping to make the island nation and the world's third largest economy an unambiguous "anchor" in an Asia that shows signs of fraying relations and uncertain alliances.

Christian Science Monitor

Keep China Informed

803 words

21 March 2005

The Asian Wall Street Journal

In December, a French court forced a reluctant cable and satellite provider, Eutelsat, to take Hezbollah's Al Manar television channel off the air. Eutelsat was back in a Paris courtroom last week, this time defending the imminent disappearance of the Chinese-language New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) network from its Asian satellite.

How curious: One standard for Hezbollah and another for Chinese democrats. Only three months ago, the Paris-based operator stood by its commitment to "non-discrimination" and "equitable" access for Al Manar, as stipulated in black and white in its convention, until the station lost its French license for inciting hatred of Jews.

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

China's growth threatens Mekong

But nations on river put trade needs first

Jane Perlez

1466 words

21 March 2005

International Herald Tribune

CHIANG KHONG, Thailand:

For countless generations, fishermen along the Mekong River have passed their lore and way of life from father to son: the rhythms of the water, the habits of the many kinds of fish, the best nets and traps to use to survive and prosper.

International Herald Tribune

Eyebrows raised over special envoy to China

340 words

21 March 2005

Manila Standard

Who is Jose Antonio and why was he designated special envoy to the People's Republic of China?

Antonio was among the diplomatic officials who took their oath of office before President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo over the weekend after being confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.

Manila Standard

China's 'Peaceful' rise brings promise to region and its people

Joseph S. Nye , Project Syndicate

1022 words

21 March 2005

The Jakarta Post

In recent weeks, China announced a 12.6 percent increase in its defense spending America's CIA director, Porter Goss, testified about a worsening military balance in the Taiwan Strait and President George W. Bush pleaded with Europeans not to lift their embargo on arms sales to China. Yet Chinese leaders have spoken of China's "peaceful rise" or, more recently, its "peaceful development."

Analysts such as John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago have flatly proclaimed that China cannot rise peacefully, and predict that "the United States and China are likely to engage in an intense security competition with considerable potential for war." Optimists point out that China has engaged in good neighbor policies since the 1990s, settled border disputes, played a greater role in international institutions, and recognized the benefits of using soft power. But skeptics reply that China is merely waiting for its economy to lay the basis for future hegemony.

PT Bina Media Sejahtera

The Hypocrisy of Ending EU Arms Embargo on China

By Erika Mann

1089 words

21 March 2005

The Asian Wall Street Journal

Those European governments that are apparently bent on lifting the European Union's arms embargo against China would be well-advised to take notice of the gathering tide of opposition among legislators in Europe and the U.S. In Europe there is precious little popular support for this move, which would flout all the values the EU stands for while also striking a blow against those working for more democratic change in China.

In the last three years, the European Parliament has made its concerns about China abundantly clear. Just last November it argued for sticking to the embargo until Beijing has taken concrete steps toward improving the human-rights situation. Specifically, the parliament called for China to ratify the 1966 U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

U.S. Pushes for Talks With North Korea

--- Rice Conveys Impatience Over Stalled Negotiations, Asks Partners to Lift Efforts

By Sebastian Moffett in Tokyo and Gordon Fairclough in Seoul

720 words

21 March 2005

The Asian Wall Street Journal

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on North Korea over the weekend to resume stalled talks on abandoning its nuclear-weapons programs and expressed impatience with the pace of the negotiations.

After North Korea's announcement last month that it had nuclear weapons, and was withdrawing "indefinitely" from the talks, Ms. Rice used a policy speech in Tokyo on Saturday to reiterate the U.S. desire for a diplomatic solution to the weapons program. "Let me put it plainly. North Korea should return to the six-party talks immediately if it is serious about exploring the path forward that we and other parties have proposed," she said. "This is where the North Korean government can find the respect it desires and acquire the assistance it needs if it is willing to make a strategic choice."

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

Premier 'bows to India's wishes'

S.N.M. Abdi in Calcutta

340 words

21 March 2005

South China Morning Post

Premier Wen Jiabao's decision to skip Nepal during his trip to South Asia next month is being interpreted by New Delhi as a concession to Indian sensitivity.

The country's democratically elected government was sacked by King Gyanendra last month,

SCMP.com Limited

China dismisses US worries over anti-secession law

Goh Sui Noi , China Correspondent

379 words

21 March 2005

Straits Times

BEIJING - TOP Chinese leaders yesterday brushed off United States concerns over the anti-secession law on Taiwan, and instead urged Washington to understand and support their country's legislative action.

At separate meetings here with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao said the new law was aimed at maintaining stability in the Taiwan Strait by reining in Taiwan independence forces.

SPH AsiaOne Ltd.

Government, Law & Politics

China Urges Businesses to Stem AIDS

By Matt Pottinger

592 words

21 March 2005

The Asian Wall Street Journal

BEIJING -- The Chinese government is urging companies and nongovernmental organizations to play a larger role in halting the spread of AIDS, underscoring a heightened sense of urgency about a national epidemic that Beijing had until recently sought to play down.

Combating AIDS isn't just a government obligation, "but also the common responsibility of society as a whole, including business," Vice Premier Wu Yi said Friday in a speech to government and corporate representatives gathered for a summit on AIDS in Beijing.

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

Chinese capital "expected" to annul migrant worker statute

570 words

21 March 2005

BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China news agency)

Beijing, 21 March: The congress of the Beijing Municipality is expected to hold a meeting this week to scrap a decade-old statute on the management of migrant workers, reported a local newspaper on Monday [21 March].

British Broadcasting Corporation

China plans to clamp down on unregulated demolitions in Beijing

261 words

21 March 2005

Agence France Presse

BEIJING, March 21 (AFP) -

Beijing authorities plan to amend regulations that have allowed large swathes of the Chinese capital to be demolished, state media said Monday.

Agence France Presse

Chinese capital to annul statute against migrant workers

542 words

21 March 2005

Xinhua News Agency

BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The congress of the Beijing Municipality is expected to hold a meeting this week to scrap a decade-old statute on the management of migrant workers, reported a local newspaper on Monday.

Beijing Morning Post said the municipal congress will convene the meeting from March 24 to 25, as it announced late in February, and will also mull over two other statutes.

Xinhua News Agency

Disregard of Hong Kong's legal system could harm mainland businesses

Keith Bradsher

722 words

21 March 2005

International Herald Tribune

HONG KONG:

From purchases of hand-held toys to charters of supertankers, contracts in China are frequently written so that disputes must be resolved under Hong Kong law and in Hong Kong courts even when the parties involved are mainland companies.

International Herald Tribune

Greater China & Provincial News

Antisecession law may have opposite effect

768 words

21 March 2005

The Japan Times

By Frank Ching HONG KONG _ The impact of the adoption by China of the antisecession law, widely criticized in Taiwan and in the West even before it was unveiled last Monday, may well be the opposite of what the drafters of the controversial legislation intended. While Beijing pointed out that the law emphasizes its desire for peace, Taiwan has, quite understandably, focused on the section that provides that, under certain circumstances, the Chinese government ``shall employ nonpeaceful means and other necessary measures.'' The Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council in Taiwan issued a ``solemn declaration'' that expressed its ``severest condemnation'' of the legislation. Actually, the law contains virtually nothing that is new. It is a reiteration of Chinese policy that is well-known to Taiwan and the United States.

The Japan Times

Jilin desperate for control of coastal Dandong

Larry Teo

553 words

21 March 2005

Straits Times

Landlocked province sees access to sea as critical to reviving moribund economy

IF LANDLOCKED Jilin has its way, it will become China's ninth coastal province. That is, if it can persuade the central government to let it take over a strip of land called Dandong in neighbouring Liaoning province, giving it access to the Yellow Sea.

SPH AsiaOne Ltd.

Rally seeks to revive anti-Chen protests.

By KATHRIN HILLE

446 words

21 March 2005

Financial Times

Page 4

Taiwan's opposition tried to revive protests at the weekend against President Chen Shui-bian with a rally on the anniversary of last year's election eve shooting.

While the demonstration served as a reminder of the doubts surrounding the still unresolved attack, it also highlighted how the island has moved on to narrow the rift running through its society.

The Financial Times Limited

Private sector eyed for delta bridge

- Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong could set up a corporation to solicit tenders for building the link to Zhuhai

Elaine Wu and Gary Cheung

504 words

21 March 2005

South China Morning Post

Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong are likely to form a corporation to solicit tenders from the private sector to build the proposed bridge linking Zhuhai and the two special administrative regions.

A Hong Kong government source said a public-private partnership model would probably be adopted for the construction and operation of the proposed bridge. "One possibility is for the three governments to form a corporation which then solicits for a bid from the private sector to build the project," the source said.

SCMP.com Limited

Business & the Economy

Ex-CCB chief 'took Dollars 1m bribe'.

By RICHARD MCGREGOR

435 words

21 March 2005

Financial Times

Page 24

Zhang Enzhao, who quit as head of the China Construction Bank last week, received a USDollars 1m kickback from a US company during the selection of a new IT system for the bank in 2002, according to a lawsuit filed in a California court.

The allegations in the court documents were reported yesterday in Caijing, China's leading financial monthly, which has a reputation for exposing business scandals.

The Financial Times Limited

Casino Crisis

Jonathan Ansfield, Jen Linliu and Alexandra A. Seno

297 words

21 March 2005

Newsweek

This winter the region around Yanji, on the Chinese border with North Korea, had a predictable ebb and flow: desperate North Korean refugees escaped into China cash-flush Chinese crossed into North Korea to gamble. A regular was Cai Haowen, a Chinese official who lost $423,000 in embezzled state funds at the Hong Kong-run Emperor Casino. When his habit came to light, he became a fugitive, and by the time he was nabbed, Beijing had launched a full-blown crackdown. The Emperor is now shuttered, and the government has sworn to fire any official caught gambling.

Newsweek, Inc.

Chinese Official Could Give Bank Some Credibility

--- Regulator's Abrupt Transfer To China Construction Spurs Currency-Policy Questions

By James T. Areddy

799 words

21 March 2005

The Asian Wall Street Journal

SHANGHAI -- Last week's abrupt transfer of China's foreign-exchange regulator to the helm of China Construction Bank could add credibility to the scandal-hit bank, but it also raises questions about the impact on one of the country's key portfolios: currency policy.

Guo Shuqing, former head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, was named party chief of the bank on Thursday. The appointment followed the unexpected resignation of the bank's chairman, Zhang Enzhou. Industry executives say the resignation was submitted after Mr. Zhang became part of an official investigation.

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

Merger cements Deloitte presence on mainland

306 words

21 March 2005

South China Morning Post

merger cements Deloitte presence on mainland

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has agreed to buy Beijing Pan-China CPA in its first merger deal on the mainland, putting Beijing Pan-China's clients and more than 300 staff under the umbrella of Deloitte. Peter Bowie, chief executive of Deloitte's China operations, said that the deal could boost the firm's image as a local player. "It is a key step forward in our goal to be recognised as a localised professional services firm by our clients, our people and the market."

SCMP.com Limited

Australia and China Are Negotiating Uranium Deal

--- Canberra Wants Assurance Exports Go to Peaceful Use Pact Possible Within a Year

By Dow Jones Newswires reporters Stephen Bell in Perth and Veronica Brooks in Canberra

1138 words

21 March 2005

The Asian Wall Street Journal

M14

In a move that could provide energy-hungry China with access to the world's biggest uranium reserves, Australian and Chinese diplomats are trying to hammer out a bilateral nuclear-trade deal.

Officials in Canberra believe an agreement could be reached within the next 12 months, allowing Australian uranium exports to Asia's biggest consumer of energy to start much sooner than previously expected.

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

Suit Alleges U.S. Firm Paid Bribes for China Contracts

--- Fidelity National Says It Got Software Deal Fairly A Meeting on a Golf Course

By Andrew Browne and Kate Linebaugh

950 words

21 March 2005

The Asian Wall Street Journal

HONG KONG -- A lawsuit filed in California by a Chinese company alleges that an American firm paid a $1 million bribe in 2002 to the recently deposed head of one of China's largest banks in an effort to land software contracts valued at millions of dollars.

The allegation, which is denied by the U.S. company, Fidelity National Financial Inc., comes amid media reports of a corruption probe at China Construction Bank, which is supposed to list publicly in Shanghai and Hong Kong later this year. Those reports also raise new questions about just how much Beijing has accomplished as it scrambles to modernize its banks and bring them to market with promises of transparent and accountable management.

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

Volkswagen Finance Unit Plans To Expand Its Growth in China

--- Limited Credit Data, Curbs On Fund Raising Remain Obstacles for Auto Lender

By Jeff Meyer Dow Jones Newswires

593 words

21 March 2005

The Asian Wall Street Journal

SHANGHAI -- The China auto-finance unit of Volkswagen AG plans to broaden its reach beyond Beijing to build on the almost 500 loans it has recorded on its books since launching operations in the country in September, its general manager said.

But Volkswagen Finance (China) Co. faces obstacles such as a shortage of funding channels in China and the country's underdeveloped credit-bureau system as the unit strives to become profitable within four to five years, Klaus-Uwe Schaffrath, the company's general manager, said in a recent interview.

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

Power firms to raise tariffs by June

Beijing will soon let producers pass on some cost increases

energyEric Ng

516 words

21 March 2005

South China Morning Post

The central government is likely to allow mainland power companies to raise tariffs in May or June in compensation for coal cost increases last year and this year, according to China Power International Development chief executive Li Xiaolin.

Analysts expect the long-awaited "coal cost pass-through" tariff adjustment mechanism to be implemented next month.

SCMP.com Limited

Emerging dragon not quite ready to topple greenback

The yuan has grown in importance as Asian banks cut back on US dollar exposure, but China is taking a cautious stance

884 words

21 March 2005

South China Morning Post

In the 1980s, I used to walk the streets of Beijing, my pockets full of dirty renminbi bills, trying to find somewhere to spend them.

A cashmere sweater that would make a nice gift for a visiting relative? "No, you are a big-nose, you have to pay in dollars or foreign exchange certificates," said the plump saleswoman brusquely. "We do not accept renminbi."

SCMP.com Limited

Surviving an overdose of bureaucracy

US giant Wyeth has found a way around China's tightly regulated drugs market by focusing on the sale of baby food

pharmaceuticalsNeil Gough

547 words

21 March 2005

South China Morning Post

Most foreign pharmaceutical companies have found China's highly regulated drugs market a shock to the system, characterised by an overdose of bureaucracy, a headache-inducing hospital sales regime and anaemic enforcement of intellectual property rights.

But United States-based Wyeth - the world's 10th-largest drugs company, with revenues of US$17.4 billion last year - has at least had a measure of success with an alternative approach to the mainland market.

SCMP.com Limited

UK exporters worried by China

Nick Fletcher

385 words

21 March 2005

The Guardian

Britain's exporters are beginning to fear the growing competitive threat from China, according to a report out today.

Almost half of the 1,000 exporters questioned for the latest DHL quarterly indicator were concerned China's rapid growth would affect their business over the next year.

Guardian Newspapers Limited

Chinese Diaspora

Turning chink into ka-chink

Magdalen Ng

337 words

21 March 2005

Straits Times

Chinese-American crooner Wang Lee Hom gives a cool twist to an uncool word in his new album Shangri-La

CHINK may be a derogatory word for the Chinese, but that hasn't stopped the Taiwanese-American singer Wang Lee Hom from using it in Shangri-La, his latest album.

SPH AsiaOne Ltd.

Society & Culture

One step forward, four steps backward

Tschang Chi-chu , China Correspondent

899 words

21 March 2005

Straits Times

BEIJING - AN ESTIMATED 250 million Chinese have climbed out of poverty and into the ranks of a burgeoning middle class since economic reforms started in 1978.

But for every Chinese who makes it into the middle class, there are four others - be they peasant farmers in the countryside or laid-off workers in the cities - who are being left behind in the country's economic boom.

SPH AsiaOne Ltd.

The ties that bind

The last Chinese women with bound feet are now over 80. Fraser Newham talks to them about their extraordinary lives

1793 words

21 March 2005

The Guardian

'I am one of the last left, you know," Madame Han tells onlookers. Madame Han is 84 years old, and has tiny bound feet. We are in a shoemaker's in Shanghai and Madame Han waits patiently as the shoe-maker's assistant takes her measurements. "Strange to think it was an erotic thing," the boss Li Wanhong says to me as we watch. "To us, the smell of rotting flesh would be unbearable. But back then men wrote poems about the rich smell."

Li Wanhong is the 45-year-old owner of the last workshop in China producing tiny cloth shoes for elderly women whose feet were bound before the practice finally died out in the 1920s. The youngest of her customers is 80 years old, the oldest 101.

Guardian Newspapers Limited

Miscellaneous

A fascinating, if unexpected, business trip

Author finds investing in China a trying adventure

Lyn Millner

843 words

21 March 2005

USA Today

B.7

In the early 1990s, investing in China seemed like a no-brainer. Low-cost labor, more than 1 billion consumers, open to capitalism -- what more did a foreign investor need to know? Don't answer that.

China needed only two things -- money and management -- and Wall Street had those in spades. The profits would be enormous. Everybody wanted in.

USA Today Information Network