China's State-run Telecom and Banking News...

Great iPhone Wall of China crumbling, could tumble this year says Chris Foresman at Ars Technica. "According to statements from China Mobile executives today, talks are again on with Apple to bring the iPhone to China.

Reuters confirms: China Mobile says iPhone talks scale biggest hurdle

In China We Trust
Posted by Rick Carew –With Victoria Ruan

Foreign banks are scouring China for opportunities to break into the trust industry. The latest: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). RBS received approval Friday from China’s banking regulator to buy 20% in eastern China’s Suzhou Trust, a person familiar with the situation tells Dow Jones Newswires.

The bank already holds a stake in one of China’s four biggest banks, Bank of China, so why mess with a little trust company in Suzhou? (Besides the famed beauty of Suzhou’s gardens). Buying into a Chinese trust company offers two potential paths to profits: wealth management and private equity.

Trust companies in China are allowed to buy stakes in companies that are mostly off-limits to commercial banks or securities firms. The trust firm then repackages those assets into products that it can sell to wealthy individuals. That’s the wealth management bit.

People in the industry are expecting that government regulators will also eventually allow trust companies to keep those investments on their books, allowing them to act similarly to private equity firms. It’s still too early to tell which of the two types of business will come to dominate the industry as a government push to consolidate and weed out smaller players is under way.

Channel Asia Bloggers...

www.channelnewsasia.com, in English, and www.cnachinese.com and www.xin.sg, in Chinese, are premier sources of real time news, videos, information and entertainment features for Asian professionals and executives working, living and investing in Asia. Updated throughout the day, the websites provide a truly interactive experience.

Eight news staff bloggers highlight the service with that certain personal, off-the-cuff touch like that of Yee Fong: "Having spent five years in China has taught me the importance of xian li hou bing or to be polite first before you engage in a battle."

The 12th annual World Wealth Report...

China led the way in attracting net private capital inflows, taking in about 55 billion dollars in 2007. Assets held overall by the world's millionaires soared to 40.7 trillion dollars last year from 2006, with the average exceeding 4.0 million dollars for the first time.

"This year's report found that the number of high net worth individuals (with net assets, excluding primary residences, of at least 1.0 million dollars), and the amount of wealth they control, continued to increase in 2007, with the greatest wealth being created in the emerging markets of India, China and Brazil," says Robert McCann, president of Global Wealth Management at Merrill Lynch.

The number of millionaires jumped 22.7 percent in India last year, 20.3 percent in China and 19.1 percent in Brazil.

During last year, the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index of the largest US stocks rose 3.7%, the UK’s FTSE 100 Index gained 2.4% and the Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Markets Index climbed 37%.

Growth in the number of millionaires slowed to about 4% in the US and 2.1% in the UK. That was outpaced by an 8.7% rise in the Asia-Pacific region and 16% jump in West Asia. The International Monetary Fund predicts advanced economies this year will suffer their fastest price gains since 1995 and their weakest expansion in seven years.

415,000... the number of millionaires in China.

Smashing Propaganda

Who at ABC news is responsible for taking this quote: "We will certainly be able to totally smash the splittist schemes of the Dalai Lama clique" ...and making this headline: "China vows to 'smash' Dalai Lama" ???

As a journalist, I understand that there is a division between those who report the news and those who write the headlines and captions for that same news as published. ABC China correspondent Stephen McDonell may never know why his visa gets canceled one day. Maybe this post will eventually come up as a reminder when you Google China bashing.

Li Ao, a Chinese historian living in Taiwan, has been doing a lot of research on the Tibet issue and presents his findings in a video. On October 24, 2006, Li sprayed tear gas and wielded a stun gun during a Legislative Yuan National Defense Committee meeting, forcing several members of Taiwan's parliament to flee. He was attempting to stop debate on purchasing attack submarines and patriot anti-aircraft missiles for $16 billion dollars from the US. He was also wearing the mask from V for Vendetta. Here's part one of his video essay:



You should never trust this kind of obvious Chinese propaganda... Shadow Circus, The CIA in Tibet presents the truth in a documentary with rare archival footage and interviews including former US Army, Tibetan resistance fighters and CIA agents including: Don Cesare, Frank Holober, Sam Halpern, John Greaney and others. Shadow Circus Part 1:

8-8-2008 Superstitions East vs West

Looking at each other like two fish, swimming in separate bowls, each thinking that the other one looks a bit odd... "I read the news today oh boy." The first story describes the "superstitious" Chinese who are blogging and texting about the curse of the Fuwa mascots.

The 5 "good luck dolls" patterned after 4 of China's favorite animals (Jingjing, a panda, native to Sichuan; Yingying, a Tibetan antelope; Nini, a swallow that looks like a kite; Beibei, the fish-shaped Fuwa) and a fifth, Huanhuan, who represents the Olympic flame, have each been paired up with one of the recent string of deadly tragedies that befell the country.

Britain's Telegraph reporter, David Eimer in Beijing explains ...

For all its shiny new buildings and rampant modernisation, China remains a deeply superstitious country. Fortune tellers continue to thrive. And last year hundreds of thousands of couples rushed to have children in the year of the Golden Pig, thought to be an especially lucky year to be born in.

Here in the west we look upon such superstitious thinking as a sure sign of ignorance. A recent poll says that 55% of Americans, including Senator John McCain, take great pride in the fact that we are a nation founded on christian principles. The motto "In God we trust" has been continuously stamped on the penny since 1909 and on the dime since 1916. That's not superstitious. Neither is wearing a cross... Right?



The second news story is about an Ohio public schoolteacher who burned a cross on the arm of one of his students. John Freshwater, a fervent, christian, anti-gay, science teacher who feels compelled to teach creationism, keeps a bible on his classroom desk and occasionally puts the fiery brand of his god on someone else's skin. And he's still teaching while his school board decides what to do.

Perhaps Freshwater will find refuge in Florida where brother Jeb, "has engineered onto the November ballot two initiatives that would eliminate the state constitution’s strict church-state separation provisions, mandate funding of religion and water down language requiring a quality public school system."

Perhaps one day, as China becomes more prosperous, we will be saved by plane loads of Buddhists "on a mission from God" knocking on America's doors and handing out sutras in shopping centers. Until then I can't wait to get back to Beijing.

Booming, China Faults U.S. Policy on the Economy

From the New York Times

June 17, 2008
By EDWARD WONG

BEIJING — Not long ago, Chinese officials sat across conference tables from American officials and got an earful.

The Americans scolded the Chinese on mismanaging their economy, from state subsidies to foreign investment regulations to the valuation of their currency. Your economic system, the Americans strongly implied, should look a lot more like ours.

But in recent weeks, the fingers have been wagging in the other direction. Senior Chinese officials are publicly and loudly rebuking the Americans on their handling of the economy and defending their own more assertive style of regulation.

Chinese officials seem to be galled by the apparent hypocrisy of Americans telling them what to do while the American economy is at best stagnant. China, on the other hand, has maintained its feverish growth.

Some officials are promoting a Chinese style of economic management that they suggest serves developing countries better than the American model, in much the same way they argue that they are in no hurry to copy American-style multiparty democracy.

In the last six weeks alone, a senior banking regulator blamed Washington’s “warped conception” of market regulation for the subprime mortgage crisis that is rattling the world economy; the Chinese envoy to the World Trade Organization called on the United States to halt the dollar’s unchecked depreciation before the slide further worsens soaring oil and food prices; and Chinese agencies denounced a federal committee charged with vetting foreign investments in the United States, saying the Americans were showing “hostility” and a “discriminatory attitude,” not least toward the Chinese.

All this reflects a brash new sense of self-confidence on the part of the Chinese. China seems to feel unusually bold before the Summer Olympics, seen here as a curtain raiser for the nation’s ascent to pre-eminence in the world. The devastating earthquake last month helped by turning world sympathy toward China and dampening criticism of its handling of Tibet.

The Chinese attitude is no doubt bolstered by the lame-duck status of the Bush administration and by the fact that the United States is widely seen as having squandered its political and military leadership during the war in Iraq, which China opposed. Likewise, Chinese officials and state news media have suggested that the relatively quick mobilization of the Chinese Army during the recent earthquake in Sichuan Province contrasts favorably with the Bush administration’s reaction to Hurricane Katrina.

The aggressive stand comes at an inopportune moment for the White House. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and other cabinet members are to meet with Chinese officials in Annapolis, Md., on Tuesday in the latest round of semiannual economic talks. The Americans have a laundry list of complaints, among them that the Chinese use regulations to favor domestic companies over foreign rivals and that Beijing does too little to police the theft of copyrights and patents held by Western companies.

The United States is also pressing China to address concerns about the safety of food and drugs it exports.

But China has its own list of grievances, topped by management of the dollar and restrictions on foreign investment in the United States. And the Americans could find themselves with little negotiating leverage.

“U.S. credibility and the credibility of U.S. financial markets is zero everywhere in the world,” said Joseph E. Stiglitz, a professor of economics at Columbia University who has sharply criticized the Bush administration and praised China’s economic management in the past. “Anybody looking at this from the outside says, ‘There’s been a lot of hot air coming out of the U.S., so why should we listen to these guys when they didn’t know how to manage risk?’ ”

Here in China, economic observers are noting that the Chinese posture toward the Americans has decidedly shifted.

“This time, the Chinese side is trying to change its attitude to be more active, to be more aggressive, to balance the two sides,” said Song Hongbing, author of “The Currency War,” a best-selling if conspiratorial book on the American economy. “They just started to change their attitude for the future.”

Chinese officials are expressing their disdain in forums around the world. Last month, Liu Mingkang, the chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, delivered a lecture at the British Museum in London in which he blamed the American government for the subprime mortgage crisis that came close to freezing Western debt markets and required extensive intervention by the Federal Reserve. The turmoil, he said, was “counteracting the course of global civilization.”

“Does moneymaking or doing business justify the regulators in ignoring their duty for prudential supervision and their job of preventing misbehavior?” he said.

One of Mr. Liu’s colleagues, Liao Min, told the newspaper The Financial Times in late May that the “Western consensus on the relation between the market and the government should be reviewed.”

“In practice, they tend to overestimate the power of the market and overlook the regulatory role of the government, and this warped conception is at the root of the subprime crisis,” said Mr. Liao, director general of the commission.

China is grappling with its share of economic problems, including high inflation. But it has reasons to feel optimistic.

Some economists say it has improved its state-owned banking system by writing off bad debt and overhauling management even as it rejected American pressure to privatize banks and allow unfettered competition in the financial sector. Its financial system is more tightly regulated and less dynamic than the American one, but also more stable, Chinese economists argue.

On currency management, China has been under heavy pressure to raise the value of the renminbi, which foreign critics say is maintained at an artificially low level to make Chinese exports less expensive. So far, China has managed to walk a tightrope. It has allowed the renminbi to increase in value against the dollar in tiny increments, for a total of 20 percent since 2005, a less dramatic change than the Bush administration and Congress demanded.

The gradual approach has allowed the export sector to adjust while preventing a currency shock that might derail growth.

Meanwhile, the Americans allowed the dollar to plunge in value. That angered the Chinese, which keeps most of its $1.76 trillion in foreign reserves in dollars. Chinese officials have accused the Americans of mismanaging the dollar at a time when Washington is still pressing China to appreciate the renminbi to narrow the trade deficit.

This month, the Chinese envoy to the World Trade Organization said in Geneva that the United States had failed to safeguard the value of its currency, worsening the pain for people around the world who pay high oil and food prices in dollars.

The envoy, Sun Zhenyu, also said the United States was engaging in protectionism by imposing unfair duties on Chinese goods and subsidizing American products.

Also this month, several Chinese institutions submitted sharp critiques to the Treasury Department of proposed new regulations relating to foreign investment in the United States. Some of the remarks were scathing.

“The regulations still include some sections and procedures which reflect the enshrouded protectionism, an obvious contradiction to the spirit of free competition the U.S. has championed since long time ago,” wrote the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The commission said the proposed regulations reflected a “self-evident hostility” and “discriminatory attitude” to certain types of foreign investments and “will ultimately hurt enthusiasm of foreign investment in the U.S.”

China was particularly stung in 2005 by opposition in Congress to a bid by its third largest national oil company to buy the Unocal Corporation, an American oil company, for $18.5 billion.

Mr. Paulson, the Treasury secretary, said Monday that he agreed that there had been a “general trend” of China’s becoming increasingly vocal in its criticism of American policies, but that this was not a cause for concern.

“We’ve had a relationship where both sides have been pretty frank privately and pretty frank publicly,” Mr. Paulson said in a telephone interview in Washington. He said China’s criticism of American policies grew out of its rise as an economic power, with greater voice in global discussions on trade, currency and the flow of capital.

Nicholas R. Lardy, a China expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, said in an interview that “the Chinese are reacting adversely, and I think with some justification.”

He added, though, that he interpreted China’s recent aggression more as a reaction to specific events or policies involving the American economy than as a result of a new surge in national confidence.

If that is the case, China might be able to avoid the pitfall of hubris. Japan attacked the American government’s economic management in the 1980s, only to find itself tumbling into recession and stagnation ever since. Some economic experts here warn that China’s economy could soon feel the full brunt of the downturn in the world economy, and that the American economy, in the long run, could stay on top.

“The U.S. has always considered its economy powerful and is reluctant to listen to other countries,” said Lin Jiang, the head of the economics department at the China Youth College for Political Sciences in Beijing. “Of course China now is more confident than before and Chinese people are more proud of China’s economy, but we can’t be blind. It’s still hard to challenge the U.S.”

Huang Yuanxi contributed research from Beijing. Keith Bradsher contributed reporting from Hong Kong, and Steven R. Weisman from Washington.

On a spiritual note...

James C. Ogden spent 20 years in Batang, in eastern Tibet as a Christian missionary and photographer. You can see a collection of his salvaged photos taken from 1905 - 1925 at Blue Spark Fine Art. The narrative incorrectly describes photos of the destruction of Lamaseries "due to pre-1905 Chinese invasions." The destruction was actually at the hands of the British in 1904.

But the battle for who gets to write the history goes on:

The Thaindian News reports little hope for exiles to come to agreement with China...

Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister (Kalon Tripa) of the Tibetan government-in-exile based in the Indian town of Dharamsala, told IANS here in an exclusive interview, “We have serious differences with China over two core issues - history (of Tibet) and the population. We are ready to acknowledge that Tibet is now part of China. But we will not say that it was historically part of China. That is what China wants the Dalai Lama to say. We will not do it, as it will legitimise their occupation of Tibet.”

The exiled Tibetan leadership also disputes China’s division of Tibetan territory into 11 parts. “We want all these parts to be united and that region to be given full autonomy,” he added.

The next round of talks between the envoys of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and Chinese leaders are to be held in the last week of June after a gap of one year.

China has agreed to commit 70 million dollars to an international fund for the preservation of culture in Tibet. The Louise Blouin Foundation, a global non-profit group which is part of the agreement says, the money will be used to refurbish and preserve cultural relics and monasteries in the Tibet autonomous region.

Beijing has also agreed to allow Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile to participate and "provide oversight" in the cultural preservation projects.

The agreement to set up the fund was reached recently between the foundation, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a top political advisory group, and China's ministry of Culture.

The Malaysian Star e-paper reports (below) on a meeting of the spiritual minds in China led by the Most Venerable Master Chin Kung.

Walking with the monks

ART OF HEALING
By DR AMIR FARID ISAHAK

This week, we take a break from health matters to look at a study tour of China.

RECENTLY, I was invited to join a group of monks on a study tour of the different cultures and religions in China. We were led by the Most Venerable Master Chin Kung, the Honorary Adviser to the Cheng Ho Multi Culture Education Trust (CHMCET), which sponsored the trip. The aim was to promote religious harmony and world peace.

Apart from the six Buddhist monks, their assistants, and the organising committee members, advisers and staff, the entourage included leaders of the other major faiths in Malaysia (Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism).

I was invited as an interfaith leader. There were 35 of us, from Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and China.

The Grand Bazaar marks the commercial centre of the very busy city of Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The programme was very tight and we went straight from the airport to the first event even before we could check-in the hotel or rest. We visited the Diaoyutai State Guest House, which is an ornate building used as a resort palace by ancient emperors. Thereafter, we were treated to a grand reception.

In Beijing, we visited and had dialogues with the Buddhist Association of China, the China Taoist Association and the Islamic Association of China.

We also visited the China State Bureau of Religious Affairs. There we were given a thorough briefing on the relationship between the government and the various religions.

The Malaysian religious leaders were given ample opportunity to ask questions and I was impressed by the openness of the bureau’s director in responding to our queries. They also hosted a dinner in our honour.

China is anxious to convince the world that she is now very tolerant of all religions, provided that there is no political activism, especially any hint of independence or secession, among the adherents.

This is particularly so in the light of the recent events in Tibet, and the sporadic reports of separatist movements in some of the Muslim-majority regions.

Adventure on the Silk Road

From Beijing, we flew to Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Urumqi was one of the main trading cities on the ancient Silk Road, and remains a very busy trading centre today. Goods and people from the former Soviet republics, Eastern Europe, Mongolia and the rest of China converge here. It is also turning into an industrial city.

Here we visited the old Shanxi Mosque, famous for its unique Chinese architecture.

Another highlight was the International Grand Bazaar, which marks the commercial centre of this very busy city. We were guests of a local Muslim businessman who proudly showed us his collection of old handwritten copies of the Qur’an. We also visited the Xinjiang College for Qur’an Study.

The beauty and enigma of Urumqi and Xinjiang are familiar to those who have read the classic story Journey to the West.

Xinjiang is larger than Malaysia, but has fewer people. There are 47 “minority” ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Uygurs. The people were once Buddhists, as evidenced by the ruins of Baizikeli Cheonbuldong (Thousand Buddhas Grottos) and the ancient Buddhist city of Gaochang.

Now the majority are Muslims, something not surprising seeing its close proximity to Khorasan (central Asian Muslim countries, which include the former Soviet republics) and the transmigration of Muslims since the 7th century CE.

Both the Buddhist historical sites were near Turpan, another trading city on the Silk Road, about three hours by bus from Urumqi. The highway to Turpan traversed the arid, barren and windy Gobi Desert. It forms part of the vast Turpan Basin, which is surrounded by the snow-topped Tian Shan mountains. Here is a display of nature’s bizarre contrasts.

The flaming mountain

The Gobi Desert is searing hot. The worst is the region near the Flaming Mountain. The flaming red mountain and the red soil surrounding it give it its apt name.

The surface ground temperature can reach 80°C and the ambient temperature can reach 50°C. At the Gaochang ruins, we walked with the monks under the scorching sun with only our cowboy hats as protection. Some did apply sun-block, but most of us were unprepared for the heat. Thus many of us did not complete the tour of the ruins.

If not for the strong winds that help cool the body, one can get cooked to death if stranded in the desert at noontime, which was what scared me when our bus broke down.

Fortunately, the driver was able to fix it within half an hour, while we were busy taking snapshots of ourselves in the blazing sun. In any case, we could easily summon help because our mobile phone signals were full even in the middle of the desert!

Being so far from the sea, the Turpan Basin is the lowest, driest and hottest place in China. At night, the cold winds can freeze you. The changing seasons also bring exquisite beauty to the different terrains and regions of Xinjiang. Even the Flaming Mountain becomes calm and charming in winter.

Despite the predominance of arid land, Xinjiang is able to supply power and an abundance of fruits and agricultural products to the whole of China. Its Grape Valley produces many varieties of grapes, and its raisins are exported to far away lands.

The strong winds of the desert are being harnessed for electricity. The highway is flanked by thousands of giant modern windmills. Turpan now has the world’s largest wind-powered power generation station.

There is also a salt lake that we passed by that is big enough to supply the needs of the two billion Chinese for the next 50 years.

But what is most remarkable is how this desert-land has been turned into an oasis that supplies the world with among the best and most nutritious grapes and raisins.

The valley of grapes

The answer lies in an ingenious well and canal system established by its inhabitants more than 2,600 years ago, which makes it the third Wonder of Ancient China after the Great Wall and the Grand Canal.

The system involves digging over a thousand wells on the mountains slopes right down to the valley to tap the underground canals and rivers that are fed by the melting snow on the mountain tops.

The canals altogether are over 5,000km long!

In the olden days, the wells were dug using buckets and pulleys. Later, modern methods were used, and the same underground canal system sustains the people, the orchards and the grapevines until now.

It is this clean mountain water and the abundant sunlight that make the grapes thrive in Xinjiang. The pears and peaches are also plentiful and exceedingly sweet. Many varieties of nuts are also marketed in the bazaars and roadside, with almonds being the favourite.

We visited an Uygur family who had been well-diggers for many generations and had switched to growing grapes when modern methods made their skills obsolete.

Our host was an expert on grapes and raisins and gave us a lesson on the goodness of the different varieties of raisins. Some raisins are good for the heart, for the urinary system, for diabetics and so on. We were also shown how some unscrupulous traders actually put dangerous dyes and additives to make their raisins look good or appear like the expensive varieties.

The way of health

Back in Beijing on our way home, the farewell lunch was at a Buddhist-themed vegetarian restaurant. On its menu is this caption: “The True Way of Health is to boost the body’s energy in all its forms”.

I couldn’t agree more. I have been trying to educate the public about the various forms of energy that we thrive on, and hence influence our health, and qi or life force is just one of them.

Although this entire trip was about understanding the different cultures and religions, and forging peace and harmony among us, there is at least this wise quotation for me to share about health.

The way of peace

Since this was an interfaith study tour, during the long bus journeys, we took turns explaining about our respective religions to the others. When we got tired of religious talks, we switched to singing and jokes.

This trip was under the supervision and guidance of the Most Venerable Master Chin Kung, possibly the most successful interfaith peacemaker in this region. He is respected for his work in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and many other countries. He has established the Pure Land College in Australia, and the Centre of Chinese Cultural Education in Lujiang, China.

Through his work, he has transformed many lives, and even entire communities. At 82 years of age, he is still working hard for religious harmony and world peace.

He is humble, soft-spoken and ever smiling. During this trip he carried his personal fold-out fan everywhere. On it is written the fundamental teachings of Islam. Yet he is among the most famous Buddhist monks in the world today. I truly respect his wisdom and open-mindedness.

Throughout the trip we were given five-star accommodation and first class meals and treatment. I must thank Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, the President of CHMCET, for his generosity in making the trip possible, and Datuk Tan Chai Ho, Chief Adviser of our study tour, and his team, for making it a memorable and enriching experience.

Dr Amir Farid Isahak is a medical specialist who practises holistic, aesthetic and anti-ageing medicine. He is a qigong master and founder of SuperQigong. For further information, e-mail starhealth@thestar.com.my.

The views expressed are those of the writer and readers are advised to always consult expert advice before undertaking any changes to their lifestyles. The Star does not give any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to the content appearing in this column. The Star disclaims all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.

From The Shanghai Diaries...

About 40 more episodes at: http://current.com/topics/88806683_shanghai_diaries

Jonathan Spence on Confucius - a great thinker

This week on the BBC's Interview podcast you can learn about Chinese history from an expert, the man slated to give the 2008 BBC Reith Lectures which will also be broadcast on the BBC's World Service. "Professor Jonathan Spence is an acclaimed American scholar who specialises in Chinese history and his lecture series is designed to present a different perspective of a country which is very much in the international focus this year. He talks to Owen Bennett-Jones about his choice for his first lecture - Confucius - a great thinker whose ideas still resonate today and who is being rehabilitated by the Chinese government. And he tells us his favourite Confucian joke." - BBC.