CSG news update -- 2007-10-25

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

China Study Group news update

Taiwan torch relay for UN entry
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7059344.stm
BBC | 2007-10-24
Mr Chen jogged several hundred metres holding the flaming torch, kicking off its 11-day, 1,200 km (756 mile) journey around the island.  The president wants a national vote on whether the country should apply to join the UN under the name Taiwan.  Past attempts to join as the Republic of China h...

If an economic bubble bursts in China, will anyone notice?
http://ctv2.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071024.wibasia24/business/Business/businessBN/ctv-business
Globe and Mail | 2007-10-24
Marcus Gee
China in late 2007 has all the marks of a bubble economy. Construction cranes clutter the skylines of booming Chinese cities. Housing prices in Shanghai have doubled.  The main index of the Shanghai stock exchange just passed 6,000 - up more than fivefold in two years.  Stock values of leading C...

US panel supports China net laws
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7059417.stm
BBC | 2007-10-24
Laws stopping firms such as Yahoo from revealing personal data to Beijing and other governments were supported by the Foreign Relations Committee.  Under the legislation, companies would also have to reveal terms and phrases they filtered in certain countries.  The bill now needs approval from t...

Florida City Tries to Ban Chinese Products
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/CreativeConsumer/story?id=3765361&page=1
ABC | 2007-10-24
MARY-ROSE ABRAHAM
Palm Bay, Fla., is considering a ban of the purchase of products made in China. If it passes, the central Florida town would be the first in the nation to ban goods from one particular country. (ABCNEWS)  Made in China. These three words appear in virtually every household, office or school.  Bu...

China Launches 1st Lunar Probe
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CHINA_LUNAR_PROBE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-10-24-06-25-34
AP | 2007-10-24
AUDRA ANG 
 BEIJING (AP) -- China launched its first lunar probe Wednesday, an initial step in an ambitious 10-year plan to send a rover to the moon and return it to Earth.  The Chang'e 1 orbiter blasted off with a trail of smoke from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province in southwester...

Insomnia the 2nd most serious health problem
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-10/24/content_6203913.htm
China Daily | 2007-10-24
Du Wenjuan
Chinese people don't seem to be catching much sleep. Experts say insomnia has become the second most serious health problem after headaches in neurological diagnoses over the country, afflicting most people between 30 and 50.  According to a study last year on adult sleep quality in six large ...

China identifies Xi Jinping as the next party leader
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3087261.ece
Independent | 2007-10-23
Clifford Coonan
The men who will next rule China, the world's most heavily-populated country and emerging economic powerhouse, strode stiffly in identical dark blue suits onto a flower-lined stage.  We know nothing of the decision-making process at a week-long Communist Party congress that anointed them as li...

Bear hug puts Chinese brokerage sector on map
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/31c95dce-8183-11dc-9b6f-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=9c33700c-4c86-11da-89df-0000779e2340.html
FT | 2007-10-23
Jamil Anderlini and Sundeep Tucker
The share swap agreement between Citic Securities, China's largest securities firm, and Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns is a phoenix-like result for the Chinese brokerage industry, which was basically insolvent just two years ago.  Under the preliminary agreement, which is subject to ...

Classic Chinese Red Army movie relaunched as animated film
http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en.do?pn=arts&articleID=2782689
AP | 2007-10-23
Min Lee
HONG KONG - Known by their red-star caps and drab uniforms, Communist China's founding revolutionaries are getting a makeover with a hip-looking animated film based on a classic propaganda movie from the 1970s.  "Sparkling Red Star" is about a young boy who helps the Red Army fight an evil lan...

One-third of HK workers will consider leaving city for better life elsewhere
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/eastasia/view/307329/1/.html
Channel NewsAsia | 2007-10-23
Roland Lim
HONG KONG : A new survey in Hong Kong indicates that close to one third of the residents will consider leaving the city to attain a better quality of life elsewhere.  Many respondents said long working hours cause them to feel stressed and fall sick.  Meanwhile, although findings show that Hong ...

China blocks US request for WTO panel on film, music imports
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g1jPwTj2fZNGmud-ZVIB-V8NBvnQ
AFP | 2007-10-22
GENEVA (AFP) — China on Monday blocked a US request for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to rule on a complaint that Beijing restricts the import of cultural goods such as books, music and DVDs.  The US asked that the complaint be investigated by the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body but C...

China's New Draft Arbitration Law
http://laborstrategies.blogs.com/global_labor_strategies/2007/10/chinas-new-draf.html
Global Labor Strategies | 2007-10-22
  With China increasingly setting wages and working conditions for workers the world over, the ripple effects from changes in Chinese labor law are likely to be felt in each of our home countries. So head's up: new Chinese labor legislation is in the works.  The latest draft law concerns lab...

Fire at Chinese Shoe Factory Kills 37
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7015826,00.html
Guardian | 2007-10-22
ANITA CHANG
BEIJING (AP) - A fire at an unlicensed shoe factory killed 37 people and injured more than a dozen, Chinese authorities said Monday, one of the deadliest industrial accidents this year in a country plagued with dangerous workplaces.  The fire started Sunday night in a workshop making shoe uppers, ...