CSG news update -- 2007-11-02

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

China Study Group news update

Internet becomes important channel for Chinese public's political participation
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90785/6295479.html
People's Daily | 2007-11-02
 Internet has become an important channel for Chinese public to participate in political affairs, said a senior manager of an internet website on Thursday.  Now more and more people express their ideas and proposals through websites thanks to a more open and free press and the increasing confidenc...

China warns possible Olympic protesters
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071101/ap_on_re_as/oly_beijing_protests
AP | 2007-11-01
CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
 BEIJING - China will not tolerate unauthorized parades, demonstrations or other gatherings during next year's Olympic Games, a police spokesman said Thursday in a warning to groups hoping to use the Games' visibility to publicize their causes.  "Any group or individual who stages a gather...

Just Your Average Day Of News Out Of Henan
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2007/11/just_your_average_day_of_news_out_of_henan_jonathan_ans_1.php
CDT | 2007-11-01
Jonathan Ansfield
Anyone who revels in shaming queue-jumpers in China might take this as a cautionary tale:  According to a report in Zhengzhou's Dahe Bao, a motorist waiting to gas up at a filling station died on Tuesday at the hands of a trucker who refused to get in line. An eye-witness set the scene for the...

China Hikes Fuel Prices Amid Shortages
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ihXHMrpUHdtown-KAdgh7Lvu040wD8SKLOB03
AP | 2007-11-01
JOE McDONALD
BEIJING (AP) — China raised gasoline and diesel prices Thursday to curb demand amid shortages that have caused long lines at filling stations and disrupted trucking in key export areas.  Oil companies have blamed the shortages, which began last week, on a lack of refining capacity. Governmen...

Sold down the river
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/20d888b0-87d1-11dc-9464-0000779fd2ac.html
FT | 2007-10-31
Jamil Anderlini
Taming China's longest river has been the dream of emperors and dictators for centuries. The first water diversion works on the Yangtze were built during the Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago and the Three Gorges dam was first proposed by Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary father of modern China...

The PLA in Latin America
http://www.jamestown.org/china_brief/article.php?articleid=2373757
China Brief | 2007-10-31
Cynthia Watson
China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) increasingly operates as an instrument of diplomatic statecraft for the People's Republic of China (PRC). The PLA, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rather than a national army, is enhancing its ties with various militaries around the worl...

Balancing China's Budgetary Priorities: Defense Spending and Domestic Challenges
http://www.jamestown.org/china_brief/article.php?articleid=2373756
China Brief | 2007-10-31
Michael S. Chase
The true level of China's current defense budget is difficult to calculate, but projecting future trends in Beijing's military spending entails struggling with even greater uncertainties and complexities. Forecasts of Chinese military spending over the next 10-20 years vary widely depending ...

Uighur activist asks U.S. to help stop China removals
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103102742.html
Washington Post | 2007-10-31
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China's government is forcibly moving young women of the ethnic Uighur minority from their homes in Xinjiang to factories in eastern China, a Uighur activist told the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.  Rebiya Kadeer, jailed for more than five years for championing the rights o...

Anti-Terrorism with Chinese Characteristics: Peace Mission 2007 in Context
http://www.jamestown.org/china_brief/article.php?articleid=2373758
China Brief | 2007-10-31
Jason Kelly
In mid-August, approximately 6,500 soldiers from six countries wrapped up the largest joint military exercises held by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). With roughly 1,600 troops participating, Chinese forces made up the second-largest contingent, just behind the 2,000-man Russian contrib...

Gap, Mattel, Speedo, Wal-Mart Products Linked to Child and Sweatshop Labor in China and India
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/30/1341203
Democracy Now | 2007-10-30
The clothing company the Gap has announced it's cut ties with a subcontractor found to be holding children in slave-like conditions in India to make clothing sold by Gap Kids. The London Observer revealed Sunday that children as young as ten years old have been subjected to work long hours witho...