CSG news update -- 2007-07-17

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

China Study Group news update

Cadres bemoan lack of political reform
http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/dailybriefing/info/Cadres_bemoan_lack_of_political_reform.html
China Economic Review | 2007-07-16
Cadres bemoan lack of political reform Politics 16 July 2007  The pace and direction of China's political development has come in for criticism from liberal-minded Communist Party members, the South China Morning Post reported. This month's edition of the progressive journal Yanhuang Chu...

CPC recruits almost 12 million members in five years
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/6216619.html
People's Daily | 2007-07-16
The Communist Party of China (CPC) recruited 11.85 million members from 2002 to 2006, an average of 2.37 million per year, according to the organization department of the CPC Central Committee Monday.  "Departments all over the country made significant achievements in recruiting Party members from...

33 officials sacked in wake of China's forced labor scandal
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/6216665.html
People's Daily | 2007-07-16
 Thirty-three officials have been sacked of their Party or government posts while 62 others given disciplinary warnings for failing to prevent the forced labor scandal in the brick kilns of north China's Shanxi Province last month.  The provincial disciplinary commission of the Communist Party...

China to prosecute 6 in slave-labor scandal
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/16/asia/china.php
International Herald Tribune | 2007-07-16
Howard W. French
SHANGHAI: Chinese officials announced Monday that an embarrassing labor scandal involving slave-like conditions affecting hundreds of workers at brick kilns in Shanxi Province would result in just a handful of prosecutions, provoking anger among people who worked at the factories and widespread crit...

China Escalates Food Fight With U.S.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/bonds/2007/07/16/china-us-food-markets-equity-cx_jc_0717markets2.html
Forbes | 2007-07-16
Shu-Ching Jean Chen
HONG KONG -  A simmering spat over food quality is fast replacing the cheap Chinese yuan as the focus of trade disputes between the U.S. and China.  Late Friday evening, a food safety watchdog launched what may be China's largest assault yet, suspending certain meat imports from seven U.S. c...

China says it won't rush to open capital account
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070716/wl_nm/china_economy_controls_dc_1
Reuters | 2007-07-16
BEIJING (Reuters) - The key lesson China has learned from the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis is that capital account liberalization must be a gradual, step-by-step process, the country's currency regulator said on Monday.   Attacks by international speculators and loopholes in the financial s...

China's vital wetlands shrinking due to climate change
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070716/ts_afp/chinaclimatewarmingwetlands_070716042621
AFP | 2007-07-16
Mon Jul 16, 5:42 AM ET  BEIJING (AFP) - Climate change is shrinking wetlands on China's huge Qinghai-Tibet plateau that are vital to regulating the flow of the country's giant rivers, state media reported Monday.   The contraction of the wetlands has already led to reduced flows of the ...

China's Safety Issues Could Be Deadly for Its Economy
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/2007/7/16/chinas-safety-issues-could-be-deadly-for-its-economy.html
US News and World Reports | 2007-07-16
James Pethokoukis
China's Safety Issues Could Be Deadly for Its Economy July 16, 2007 01:09 PM ET   "Is China trying to kill us?" seems to be a popular headline question on Internet message boards these days, rivaled only perhaps by the slightly more alarmist "Is China trying to kill us all?"  Sure, it's...

China Economy Probably Grew Near Fastest Pace in Three Quarters
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=acJR7HuD3cLg
Bloomberg | 2007-07-16
Nipa Piboontanasawat
China Economy Probably Grew Near Fastest Pace in Three Quarters  By Nipa Piboontanasawat  July 17 (Bloomberg) -- China's economy probably expanded at near the fastest pace in three quarters, fueled by booming exports that exacerbated tensions with the U.S. and Europe.  Gross domestic produ...