CSG news update -- 2006-10-14

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

China Study Group news update

Walmart sets up last trade union in China
http://english.people.com.cn/200610/13/eng20061013_311593.html
People's Daily | 2006-10-13
A trade union for Walmart's Nanguo Store, in Shantou city Shenzhen, was set up on September 29th. This is the last trade union to be set up in China by of the world's largest supermarket chain. There are 62 unions spread across 30 Chinese cities.  The establishment of these 62 trade unions...

In China, Children of Inmates Face Hard Time Themselves
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201855.html
Washington Post | 2006-10-13
Maureen Fan
DALIAN, China -- The children answer to nicknames such as "Seagull," "Brightness," "Summer" and "Ocean," but they come with scars that social workers initially mistake for dirt. When they first arrive at the two-story house here, they hoard toothpaste, or they hide new socks and steamed buns in thei...

Slower exports narrow China's trade surplus
http://en.ce.cn/Business/Macro-economic/200610/13/t20061013_8947052.shtml
Shanghai Daily | 2006-10-13
China's trade surplus narrowed in September, led by a slowdown in exports growth which indicated the government curbs have gradually taken hold.  But the trade imbalance is still significant and analysts believe further policies are necessary to transform the economy from export-oriented to on...

China labor group targets Kodak
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061013/BUSINESS/610130379/1001
AP | 2006-10-13
Joe McDonald
BEIJING — China's state-sanctioned labor body is targeting Eastman Kodak Co. and Dell Inc. in a campaign to organize unions at foreign-owned companies after its success at unionizing Wal-Mart's 62 Chinese outlets.  "We are going to exert very high pressure on these companies until un...

CPC seeks advice on building harmonious society
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-10/13/content_707558_2.htm
Xinhua | 2006-10-13
BEIJING -- The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) had recently held a symposium to solicit advice from non-CPC members and non-party affiliated personages for its decision on the building of a harmonious socialist society.  Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Commi...

Asians' trust in US waning: poll
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2006-10/13/content_707263.htm
AFP | 2006-10-13
WASHINGTON - Asians see the United States losing its undisputed superpower status in 50 years to possibly China amid waning trust in Washington to act responsibly in the world, a poll shows.  In the immediate term, US power in the eyes of Asians remains secure, according to the study by the Chicag...

IBM moves key US unit to China
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-10/13/content_707268.htm
AFP | 2006-10-13
SHANGHAI - Computing giant IBM Corp said it was transferring its chief purchasing operations to China, a move that highlights Asia's growing importance in the global supply chain.  The decision to transfer its chief procurement office from New York to Shenzhen marks the first time the headquar...

China shot Tibetans in 'defence'
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/china-shot-tibetans-in-defence/2006/10/13/1160246328375.html
The Age | 2006-10-13
CHINA has admitted killing at least one Tibetan — believed to be a teenage nun — and wounding another after its border guards opened fire on refugees trying to flee across a perilous Himalayan pass into Nepal.  But China yesterday claimed the border guards were "forced" to fire in self...

China saddled with rich and poor diseases
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-10-13T132337Z_01_T226874_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHINA.xml&WTmodLoc=HealthNewsHome_C2_healthNews-3
Reuters | 2006-10-13
Tan Ee Lyn
BEIJING - Rapid modernization has given rise to complex health problems in China and it is saddled not only with diseases that afflict developing states but those in advanced countries too, senior Chinese health officials said.  China was facing a double burden, Wang Ruotao, a senior research fell...

China's New Left calls for a social alternative
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/13/news/left-web.php
New York Times | 2006-10-13
Pankaj Mishra
BEIJING - One day earlier this year I met Wang Hui at the Thinker's Cafe near Tsinghua University in Beijing, where he teaches. A small, compact man with streaks of gray in his short hair and a pleasant face that always seems ready to break into a smile, he arrived, as he would to all our subseq...

 Global companies fight Chinese effort on aiding unions
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/12/business/sweat.php
New York Times | 2006-10-12
David Barboza
SHANGHAI - China is planning to adopt a new law that seeks to crack down on sweatshops and protect workers' rights by giving labor unions real power for the first time since Beijing introduced market forces in the 1980s.   The move, which underscores the government's growing concern about ...

Hu cautious over political reform
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/10/11/china.reforms.reut/
Reuters | 2006-10-11
Alarmed by stubborn corruption and public unrest, China's President Hu Jintao is steering the ruling Communist Party to reforms that will make officials more answerable.  But he has resisted calls for deeper democratic change, and critics inside the party question whether his wary changes are ...

China sees itself becoming as influential as US
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ba15c01c-5963-11db-9eb1-0000779e2340,dwp_uuid=9c33700c-4c86-11da-89df-0000779e2340.html
Financial Times | 2006-10-11
Guy Dinmore
The Chinese see their country matching the US in terms of global influence within the next 10 years, while a majority of Americans, Chinese and Indians see the US losing its status as the world's unrivalled superpower within the next half century, according to an international poll released on W...

CPC Central Committee concludes plenum, elevating social harmony to "more prominent position"
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-10/11/content_5190592.htm
Xinhua | 2006-10-11
The 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded its 6th plenary session here Wednesday and issued a communique highlighting the issue of social harmony.      It also set the date and venue for the Party's 17th national congress in the second half of 2007 in Beijing....

 China counts cost of growth
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/11/news/china.php
New York Times | 2006-10-11
Joseph Kahn 
BEIJING - China's Communist Party, devoted in recent years to expanding the economy at any cost, on Wednesday endorsed a new doctrine of harmony that puts more emphasis on tackling the severe side effects of unrestrained growth.   The annual meeting of the ruling party's Central Committee ...