Awakening China



American swimming records and drug cheats (Jul 4)
By China Watcher At the current US Olympic trials for Beijing, I was taken by surprise of the impressive times registered by the swimmers in the men and women 100m backstrokes, the women in particular dropping below the 59-second barrier. Six world records have now fallen in the first three days of the eight-day competition.
If the swimmers were Chinese and the world records were broken in an international meet, most of the Western journalists or sports critics would conveniently link or accuse the Chinese of adopting a “systematic” doping program because in their own measurable bias standards, these feats are just beyond the Chinese people to achieve. The Western media would then continue to harp on the use of drugs in the Chinese training program.
When the US swimmers achieved the near impossible feat – lowering of six world records in 3 days – no questions were asked and somehow, everyone seem to accept this as a normal event and that this is a result of good and well ...


A big NO from Chinese people for Sarkozy’s attendance at the Olympics (Jul 3)

By China Watcher
According to an online polling conducted by Sina.com published on Wednesday in China, 88 percent of the respondents were strongly opposed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s presence at the opening ceremony of the Olympics. To date, about 100,000 of the Chinese netizens have taken part in the survey.
Earlier on, the French President had made threats to boycott the Olympics ceremony and that his attendance will depend on the progress of the latest talks between the Chinese government and the private representative of the Dalai Lama. Sarkozy has told the French media that he will make a decision at the G8 Summit in Japan this weekend.
The Chinese people are united in its opinion that Sarkozy’s remarks are “extremely unfriendly” and unbecoming from a politician who is supposed to be a matured, responsible and a thoughtful diplomat, who needs to take into consideration the overall Chinese people feelings against the Tibetans minority while making comment on...


Chinese people power translated to decline in visits to France (Jun 24)

By China Watcher It is confirmed that there has been a two-third decline (about 70%) in Chinese tourists to France this summer. The French Ambassador to China commented that over the past few weeks he has personally witnessed a sharp decline in the number of Chinese people traveling to France based on the number of visas issued. I believe that the government has not imposed a blanket boycott of French cities in the Chinese tourist map but I was led to understand that the people are fed up with the French unfair support of the Dalai Lama during the recent Tibetan protests and the shameful disturbances to the torch relay in Paris not too long ago. Furthermore, the French Mayor is an anti-China supporter and he has also openly declared his pro-Dalai Lama stance. Mr. Ladsous told the press that in the first few weeks of this month, the embassy was issuing an average of just 300-400 tourist visas per week, down from about 2,000 a week over the same period last year Qin ...


Western reports that investments have moved from China to Vietnam are overblown with devious intent (Jun 24)



By China Watcher

Continuing the topic of my earlier article titled “Is it a wise decision to move investments from China to Vietnam?”, I have come across a good write-up by Mr. Alfred Romann on the relocation of factories in China to Indo-China, which is thoughtful and more importantly, there are lots of truth as compared to the many bias articles coming from anti-China media like the New York Times or Los Angeles Times. Extract of the article: “There is no sign of ‘evacuation’ from coastal provinces to date, and no market share losses in traditional labour-intensive sectors. In short, no indication at the macro level that exporters might be in trouble,” a consultant wrote in a recent note. What’s more, Chinese exporters do not appear to be losing their edge. According to official data, which looks at bigger companies in a number of sectors, light industry reported an increase in profitability in 2007 as export manufacturers passed on costs by hiking prices. The share of exports...


Olympic torch relay celebrated joyfully by locals in Kashgar, Xinjiang (Jun 19)




By China Watcher Contrary to what was reported by the Western Media (particularly the anti-China New York Times), the torch relay in Kashgar was a success with the locals being able to display their traditional Uighurs cultures and dances in conjunction with the fun-filled event. Though the Muslim Uighurs are now in the minority, I noted that the unique traditional cultures and customs are still very much alive and are being practiced openly by the Chinese government contradicting, once again, what was being stated by the Western media. Because of the possibility of sabotage by the Uighurs rebels or separatists, the soldiers are present to ensure that the procession of the Olympic torch and the various performances are not disturbed by these troublemakers. Considering that there were two suspicious militant plots that occurred this year, one involving an attempt to bring down an airliner flying to Beijing and the other to kidnap foreigners and carry out suicide attacks at...


China makes embarrassing exit from the World Cup’s qualification 2010 (Jun 16)


By China Watcher With the Summer Olympics just around the corner, I will continue to add my comments on the sporting development in China besides politics. Shameful, that is the only word to describe Chinese football fortunes in the prevailing World Cup Asia qualification campaign. The defeat by Iraq on home ground (in Tianjin) by 2-1 was the final nail into the coffin of the already tattered and uninspiring performance from a team which lacks creativeness and is “goal-shy” in front of the many opposing goal mouths. China drew their first three games in the group but consecutive home defeats spelt an end to their campaign – this time a first round exit. The loss will drive the football crazy fans further away from the many big provincial stadiums which, at times, were only partially filled in the Chinese Super League. China coach Vladimir Petrovic felt that luck was not on his side as the Chinese did possess two goal bound shots which were saved on the line and that the ...


Is it a wise decision to move investments out from China to Vietnam? (Jun 9)

By China Watcher Just a few months ago, everyone was talking about making Vietnam a second destination for investments and establishing a manufacturing base, due to the prediction that China’s investment climate was now too complex and risky and that a major correction was due at any time. Vietnam was the darling of international investors and as an “emerging tiger”, it cannot be a wrong choice.
The Japanese and the Taiwanese were the first to shift or re-locate its factories in China to Vietnam due to China’s increasingly tight labor situation and the incessant hike in wages. Japanese political and historical riff with China before the present administration of Fukuda’s crafted a strategy to “Look Away From China”. The then Taiwan’s leader, Chen Shui-Bian also aggressively promoted its technology based companies to invest in countries other than China, especially in South-East Asia in order not to be overly dependent on its political “nemesis” or in short, not to be “black-...


French tours operators in China are concern about a drop in business (May 30)

By China Watcher Following the pro-Tibet demonstrations in Paris, there were calls to Chinese citizens to boycott visits to France. And the outcome of the small survey which I conducted from this blog, was also of the consensus view that the people of Chinese origin should boycott Paris, the capital of France. French tour operators especially those operating to bring tourists from China are worried of an unofficial order that provides advices discouraging visits to France. It has not been officially confirmed but if it is true, then the plunge in business could be real and “catastrophic”. Since the protest in Paris, many potential tourists have cancelled their trips and travel agents in Beijing are being silently advised to remove France from their destinations from this week onwards France is the most popular European holiday destination for Chinese tourists and some 700,000 flocked to the country last year, with Paris, the Cote d'Azur and the Loire chateau region the most po...


Oh Sharon, Just Shut Up! (May 28)

By China Watcher I was fascinated by a piece of news this morning in which a past and faded Hollywood actress, Sharon Stone, has suggested that the Chinese earthquake could be due to “karma” which resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of lives in China.
She continues to make insinuations in an interview that the disaster may be a “revenge” for the Chinese government policy towards the Tibetans. She expressed that she was unhappy in the way the Chinese had treated the Tibetans and that it could be a way the “unseen forces” work if you do not do good things to each other.
First, in what authority does the faded star has in making such rash comments that the Chinese had ill treated the Tibetans. Her shallow interpretations of the government restoration of order after the riots reflect the many Westerners views that the Chinese government was suppressing the Tibetans since 1959. Was she aware that the Chinese had continuously allowed the Tibetans to practice its cultures...


China and Russia move closer (May 23)


By China Watcher In a sign of the close strategic partnership forged by the two great and powerful nations, the Presidents of China and Russia signed a statement condemning the planned US initiated missile shield in Eastern Europe that the US thinks can protect its allies from missiles fired by rogue nations, particularly from Iran and remotely North Korea. In brief, the joint statement stated that, "Both sides believe that creating a global missile defense system, including deploying such systems in certain regions of the world, or plans for such cooperation, do not help support strategic balance and stability, and harm international efforts to control arms and the non-proliferation process. It harms the strengthening of trust between states and regional stability. In this respect our two countries express concern." In another portion of the joint statement, "Both sides are also concerned about the universal nature of the principle of respecting human rights, but believe that ev...