CSG news update -- 2007-07-27

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

China Study Group news update

China Is Making Friends and Influencing People
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070729/6china.htm
US News and World Report | 2007-07-29
Joshua Kurlantzick
The outskirts of Mandalay, the largest city in northern Myanmar, still look like they might have to British colonials in the 19th century. Buddhist monks in long robes wander through villages of small huts, begging for rice in the early morning before returning to crumbling monasteries. But the city...

Close watch as water levels on the rise
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-07/27/content_5444399.htm
China Daily | 2007-07-27
Thousands of people are battling floods in Central China as the water levels of rivers continue to rise.  Wuhan, capital city of Hubei Province, has ordered authorities to step up surveillance along the banks and sluice gates of the Yangtze River as its water level kept going up.  Authorities ha...

Hong Kong shares sharply lower as Wall St sell-off triggers global slide
http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2007/07/26/afx3959030.html
Forbes | 2007-07-27
 HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices were sharply lower in morning trade as a big sell-off overnight on Wall Street triggered steep losses globally, with investors uncertain about where markets are headed after their recent record-breaking run.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average last night suffered...

McDonald's sued in China for not using Chinese
http://africa.reuters.com/commodities/news/usnPEK134537.html
Reuters | 2007-07-27
 BEIJING, July 27 (Reuters) - A Chinese lawyer has sued McDonald's in China for using mostly English, not Chinese, on its receipts, violating his right to information, media reported on Friday.  The lawyer, identified only as Shan, decided to take legal action against the world's largest r...

FBI calls Chinese espionage 'substantial'
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070727/NATION/107270081/1002
Washington Times | 2007-07-27
Bill Gertz
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said yesterday that Chinese intelligence operations against the United States are a major problem and that the FBI is stepping up counterespionage efforts against them.  Mr. Mueller was asked during a House Judiciary Committee hearing about growing Chinese espion...

China to invest 21.3 bln yuan in energy-saving, pollution reduction this yr
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2007/07/26/afx3959061.html
Forbes | 2007-07-27
 BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - The Chinese government plans to earmark a total of 21.3 bln yuan for energy-saving and pollution reduction programs this year, the National Development and Reform Commission said.  Of the total allocation, 9 bln yuan will be spent on 10 major energy-saving projects, the agenc...

Rainmaking covers one third of Chinese territory
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-07/27/content_6435843.htm
Xinhua | 2007-07-27
BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- China can now cover one third of its territory with artificial rain, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said on Thursday.      Wang Bangzhong, a senior CMA official, said China can produce rain over an area of three million square kilometers. Work to prevent...

China-Iran Trade Surge Vexes U.S.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118547206362379113.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us
WSJ | 2007-07-27
Neil King Jr.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government says a handful of Chinese companies have ramped up shipments of sensitive military technologies to Iran, part of a surge in China-Iran trade that is complicating efforts to apply pressure on Tehran to rein in its nuclear program.  The State Department and its emba...

 Avoiding Chinese food products nearly impossible
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/wayoflife/07/26/china.products/index.html?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail
CNN | 2007-07-26
Jennifer Pifer
 (CNN) -- Few people read labels as closely as Sara Bongiorni. For a year, Bongiorni and her young family tried to go without buying anything produced in China. No shoes, no toys, not even mousetraps. art.author.jpg  Sara Bongiorni says finding food products that don't contain an ingredient f...

Chinese stocks hit new record
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/05998244-3b27-11dc-8f9e-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=9c33700c-4c86-11da-89df-0000779e2340.html
FT | 2007-07-26
Jamil Anderlini
Chinese stocks hit a new high on Thursday and the market's rebound propelled Industrial and Commercial Bank of China past Citigroup to take the title as the world's largest bank by market capitalization, based on its Shanghai share price.  The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended the d...

Enter the Dragon: China's Investments
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1647240,00.html
Time | 2007-07-26
BILL POWELL
The issue is straightforward enough, even if few countries have ever had to deal with it on this scale before: thanks primarily to its thriving export industries, China has $1.4 trillion (and counting) in its pocket, and has to put it somewhere. For years, the investment of choice has been the drab ...

China takes the bank
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9556414
Economist | 2007-07-26
THE mission of China Development Bank (CDB) is to support "the state's policies to implement disciplined development and build a harmonious society.” Barclays bank, which was founded in the early days of the Qing dynasty, exists to serve its customers and shareholders. The fortunes of this unl...

Senate Panel Backs Measure to Push China on Currency
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aqHeLvaDm66A&refer=home
Bloomberg | 2007-07-26
Mark Drajem
 July 26 (Bloomberg) -- The Senate Finance Committee approved legislation aimed at pressuring China and other countries over their currency practices in the first move to toughen laws in almost two decades.  The measure, approved 20 to 1, would force the U.S. Treasury Department to overhaul how it...

More rain to hit China after floods kill over 500
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSPEK26190520070727
Reuters | 2007-07-26
BEIJING (Reuters) - Heavy rain is to hit flood-battered southwest China over the next few days with officials warning of landslides as a heatwave shows no let-up across the south and east, state media said on Friday.  More than 500 people have died nationwide in floods this summer and meteorologis...

Former Shanghai party chief expelled from Party, government
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-07/26/content_6434933.htm
Xinhua | 2007-07-26
  BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Former Shanghai party chief Chen Liangyu was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from all government posts on Thursday, said a press release issued by the CPC Central Committee.      His case has been handed over to the prosecutors, said th...

 China takes aim at US over claims Chinese missiles are in Iraq
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070726/wl_asia_afp/iraqunrestchinairanusweapons_070726075310;_ylt=A0WTcVV2k6hGP3UBiB5X6GMA
Yahoo! | 2007-07-26
AFP
BEIJING (AFP) - China on Thursday accused the United States of deliberately misleading the public after the US military said it had found Chinese-made missiles in Iraq that were probably smuggled in from Iran.  "For some time now, certain countries have connected China's normal military trade ...

The Long-Term U.S.–China Economic Relationship: Getting It Right
http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/bclee12.cfm
The Heritage Foundation | 2007-07-26
The Honorable Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
  Delivered June 5, 2007  I am delighted to be here and to have the opportunity to talk about the U.S.-China eco­nomic relationship.  Prior to the first Strategic Economic Dialogue meeting in Beijing last December, Heritage published a WebMemo offering insights and advice about the SED. One o...

Inner Mongolia's green efforts aid Beijing
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-07/26/content_5443507.htm
China Daily | 2007-07-26
Zhao Huanxin 
Conservation efforts in Inner Mongolia have spurred the northern region's development and benefited the national capital, top regional officials said yesterday in Beijing.  The autonomous region, which is known as a major source of the seasonal sandstorms that blanket Beijing, has "done what i...

Chinese province to crack down harder on violaters of family planning laws
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/25/asia/AS-GEN-China-Family-Planning.php
IHT | 2007-07-25
BEIJING: A central China province that exposed nearly 2,000 officials for breaking strict one-child policies is planning tough fines for wealthy couples who have unauthorized children, state media reported Wednesday.  China's family planning policy, implemented in the late 1970s, limits most u...