CSG news update -- 2006-05-16

[China Study Group <chinastudygroup@gmail.com>]

China Study Group news update

China Cultural Revolution anniversary passes quietly
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-05-16T130640Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-249501-1.xml
Reuters | 2006-05-16
John Ruwitch
SHANTOU, China - Chaos reined during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and millions were killed or persecuted, but for a reminder of that dark decade you have to make your way to a museum in an out-of-the-way corner of southern China.  In one of more than 1,000 images etched into black pan...

Iran Must Halt Enrichment Effort, China Official Says
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iranchina16may16,1,6847116.story
LA Times | 2006-05-16
Mark Magnier
BEIJING — Iran should halt its uranium enrichment activities and all related research and development, a senior Chinese official said Monday, even as he advised the United States to drop its push for sanctions in order to ease the nuclear dispute.  Tang Jiaxuan, a member of the Communist Par...

Mao casts long shadow over China
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,1775808,00.html
The Guardian | 2006-05-16
Jonathan Watts
It is an anniversary that China wants to forget. Today marks 40 years since the start of the cultural revolution, one of the most insane episodes of the 20th century when children turned on parents, pupils tyrannised teachers and hundreds of thousands died in the name of class war.  The government...

China Lets Currency Strengthen Past Threshold
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/business/worldbusiness/16yuan.html
New York Times | 2006-05-16
Keith Bradsher
HONG KONG, May 15 — China allowed its currency to strengthen past the symbolic level of eight to the dollar Monday, rattling Asian markets already shaken by the dollar's extended slide and Friday's drop in share prices in the United States.  The actual rise in the Chinese currency wa...

Research fraud rampant in China
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0516/p01s03-woap.html
Christian Science Monitor | 2006-05-16
Robert Marquand
BEIJING – The stunning revelation of fraud and fakery in the heart of China's R&D industry has vindicated a feisty set of scholars who are gaining traction in exposing a culture of fraud and corruption in China's colleges.  Just days ago authorities revealed that the Hanxin digital signa...

Researchers cut corners to satisfy hunger for success
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/b2e9a8f8-e46a-11da-8ced-0000779e2340.html
Financial Times | 2006-05-16
When a chip design company set up by one of Shanghai's top universities unveiled an advanced new "digital signal processing" computer chip in 2003, government officials and state media made no effort to contain their enthusiasm.  "The Hanxin No 1 has made the world hear the powerful pulse of S...

E&Y probe after withdrawal of China NPL report
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/12aff058-e443-11da-8ced-0000779e2340.html
Financial Times | 2006-05-16
Richard McGregor and Barney Jopson
Paul Ostling, global chief operating officer of Ernst & Young, has ordered an internal inquiry into the accountancy firm's publication of a controversial report on China's non-performing loans that it was forced to withdraw.  E&Y retracted the report, saying its estimate of bad debts for t...

Down On the Farm
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12667617/site/newsweek/
Newsweek | 2006-05-15
Melinda Liu and Jonathan Ansfield
The minutes of the March 4 meeting—ostensibly convened by Communist Party policy advisers to discuss economic reforms and rural poverty—were supposed to be secret. But last month they leaked out on the Web, and ideological sparks have been flying ever since. What started out as a discuss...

Best Buy to take control of electronics retailer
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/HE16Cb01.html
Asia Pulse | 2006-05-15
NANJING - US electronic retailer Best Buy Co Inc has agreed to buy the majority stake of Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Co Ltd, China's fourth-largest appliance and electronics retailer, for US$180 million.  The deal has received government approval and is expected to establish a presence for Bes...

Commentary: Cracks show in U.S. pillar of support for China
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/15/bloomberg/sxpesek.php
Bloomberg News | 2006-05-15
William Pesek Jr
A funny thing is happening to China on its way to ruling the global economy: it's realizing the power of a man named Ben Bernanke. Chairman of the Federal Reserve since Alan Greenspan stepped down in January, Bernanke has continued the central bank's efforts to cool U.S. growth. As the Fed&#...

Small firms see salvation from loan sharks
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/HE11Cb05.html
Asia Times | 2006-05-12
Sue Anne Tay
In spite of the continuing controversy within the Chinese government over the sale of state-owned bank shares to foreign financial institutions, penetration by foreign banks has been broadly recognized as beneficial to China's banking reforms. To prepare for the end of 2006, when foreign banks w...

The need to fix rural health care in China
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/HE12Ad01.html
Asia Times | 2006-05-12
Richard Daniel Ewing
HONG KONG, May 15 — China allowed its currency to strengthen past the symbolic level of eight to the dollar Monday, rattling Asian markets already shaken by the dollar's extended slide and Friday's drop in share prices in the United States.  The actual rise in the Chinese currency wa...