2008年12月31日 星期三

take to ask hopes and new year's resolutions

One young man hopes this will be the year he finds the "woman of his dreams"

Hopes and new year's resolutions are often the topic of conversation in early January. So we took to the streets to find out what young people in Bonn are hoping for in 2009.




<– Back to results

take to sth (DO) phrasal verb
to start doing something habitually:
She was so depressed she took to drink.
[+ ing form of verb] He's taken to staying out very late.

Asia's Rice Paddies Threatened

Living Planet | 01.01.2009 | 04:30

Asia's Rice Paddies Threatened by Industrial Development

From Bali to Vietnam, traditional rice paddies are being replaced by golf courses, hotels and industrial parks.

As Asian economies surge, younger people in particular are choosing less labour-intensive work than rice farming. These factors have been cutting into the rice production. Global stocks of rice are their lowest in two decades and as result rice prices have almost tripled.

Alarmed by its inability to feed a fast growing population, the Philippine government ordered a halt to the conversion of farmland for other uses. Indonesia used to be a rice exporter now it's importing rice.

(Report: Rebecca Henschke)

2008年12月29日 星期一

扁二度被押

〔社會新聞中心/台北報導〕台北地院審理陳水扁羈押更裁案,昨天下午二時開庭,扁及律師與特偵組對「押或不押」激烈攻防到今凌晨零時四十五分,法官才休庭評議,並在二時三十分裁定收押不禁見,扁辦對此表示遺憾。

扁稱除羈押外 願受任何監控

扁檢雙方昨激辯時也各自提出條件,扁表示,除羈押外,願接受法院採取各種方式監控,比如增加隨扈監控,讓法院能掌握行蹤,檢方則認為,扁涉重罪,海外至少十億資產,有逃亡串證之虞,一定要押,但可以不禁見。

對於檢察官輪番上陣要求押扁,審判長蔡守訓詢問,已審理中的被告,要將被告禁見到什麼時候?檢察官越方如表示,盼能到所有證人交互詰問完畢,屆時法官心證形成,可再視具體情形決定延押或具保;扁律師石宜琳則說,扁無羈押必要,且家產都被凍結,無法籌交保金。

強調沒有貪污 扁堅持不認罪

蔡守訓也認為,押人作法,對被告訴訟權利及防禦權受到嚴重影響,檢對此表示,扁利用各種手段影響法院發現真實,羈押有必要,況羈押中也可接見律師。

扁 昨當庭表示「不認罪」,強調沒貪污,也不會逃亡,至於扁說陳致中夫婦有意說明海外五億七千萬流向,檢方則說,陳致中夫婦是想認罪協商,不是要說明錢流向, 這是扁的訴訟策略,但也證明扁家涉不法,的確還有海外資金。檢方並說,陳致中只說明一小部分,若要認罪,也應是在法院審理後啟動。

昨天庭訊開始前,扁即請律師鄭文龍以合議庭有偏頗之虞,聲請蔡守訓、徐千惠、吳定亞法官迴避,蔡諭知會另外分案處理,庭訊不受影響。

檢指扁家收賄 5.7億流向不明

檢 察官昨在庭上指出,追查迄今,扁家還有五億七千萬資金流向不明,蔡守訓則質疑,財產來源不明不代表就是貪污,並反問,湮滅另案貪污證據,與本案似乎沒有關 聯性。檢察官林?慧說,因有連續犯關係,無法另案起訴,必須併案起訴。對外界質疑的扁家資金,扁說,都是選舉錢,雖沒申報財產,但也不能說是貪污。

扁表示,蘇建和因殺人案遭判死刑,也沒被押,且立委李慶安雙重國籍詐領薪資,也是重罪,馬英九特別費遭起訴,也是貪污重罪,都沒被收押,他僅遭起訴,為何就要押他。

扁控檢留一手 想把他押到死

扁也質疑檢方若留一手,豈不是把他押到死,且還有檢察官說要槍斃他,若要如此剝奪他的訴訟防禦權,不如請馬英九比照蔣介石硃筆一批「陳水扁槍斃可也」,以節省司法資源及社會成本。

蔡 守訓問扁:八年總統任期,國務機要費是否使用在南線專案?扁答,九十五年十一月五日就向人民報告,為了國家法益,他不得不犧牲個人法益;為掩飾機密外交J 案,才有所謂南線專案,但南線專案也非原名稱,他也不知南線專案怎麼來的,國務機要費確實使用在J案上,並沒有所謂的南線專案。

質疑法官偏頗 扁提迴避聲請

有關龍潭弊案,律師鄭勝助表示,扁不只幫廣達找地,包括鴻海郭台銘及奇美,扁也有幫忙,郭台銘當初要的是土城的軍營用地,難度很高,但為經濟,扁還是協助,但沒向郭收錢。

庭訊結束,檢察官走至二樓電梯口時,前桃園縣議員吳寶玉趨前說:「檢察官很行哦,小孩子小心一點」,檢察官越方如認為,吳已涉及恐嚇檢察官,會有後續處理。


扁二度被押 綠批司法人員法匠心態
【09:48】

〔本報訊〕台北地院昨天下午2時開庭審理前總統陳水扁羈押更裁案,歷時長達11小時激烈攻防後,今天凌晨2時30分裁定收押不禁見。對此,民進黨立委高志 鵬今天上午抨擊,司法人員法匠心態、永無止境的追殺行為,將使得台灣陷入永無寧日的對抗。他反諷,不管是特偵組的檢察官,或是法官等相關司法人員,未來在 歷史上都會被記上一筆。

高志鵬也說,基層民眾對審判結果不滿的情緒正在醞釀,因為此次審理中,政治操作過於明顯,讓人無法相信司法,相信有民眾會因此走上街頭,或採取更激烈的方式,表達最深沉的抗議。


蔡英文:併案程序不公  【11:01】

〔本報訊〕台北地院審理前總統陳水扁羈押更裁案,今日凌晨2時30分裁定扁收押不禁見。對此,民進黨主席蔡英文今天除了再次質疑檢方審前羈押和收押時上銬 的必要性之外,還認為這次扁併案過程中程序處理不公,呼籲法務部應盡速改革。

蔡英文指出,併案過程中,一直無法釋懷案件程序的處理,也就是說,併案結果還導致承審法官更替;她質疑,法院以實體審理和訴訟經濟的理由併案,但「為何要急於此時併案?」

蔡英文認為,扁案都還未進入實體審理階段,更裁庭僅在裁定是否羈押陳水扁,很難理解法院為何可以為了程序的問題,提出實體理由來併案,還導致承審法官改變,希望司法單位能夠提出說明。

另一方面,民進黨黨員和支持者也質疑,司法機構在承審扁案時,是否能擺脫社會輿論和政治力的介入,做到司法機關獨立?

2008年12月27日 星期六

asia society

http://www.asiasociety.org/

2008年12月23日 星期二

中國經濟增長的南柯一夢

2008 年 12 月 23 日 12:45
中國經濟增長的南柯一夢


黃亞生

記得風靡一時的“脫鉤論”嗎?就在不久前﹐西方分析師﹐尤其是投資銀行的經濟學家們還在販賣一個說法﹐即中國本身已成為一個強有力的經濟中心﹐不但能夠獨立於美國之外自行增長﹐還能為全球經濟的增長提供動力。

但 凡這些華爾街經濟學家目前仍沒有失業, 他們中很少會有人再提出如此論調了。中國不斷傳出的經濟數據正在使人清醒過來。最新數據顯示﹐依然在中國經濟中起骨幹作用的出口出現了7年來的首次負增 長。這是受海外需求增速放緩拖累所致。更糟糕的是進口也急速下降﹐這明確顯示出中國的內需正在下滑。兩件事結合在一起讓人不難看出﹐中國經濟即將面臨嚴峻 挑戰。顯然中國經濟無法逆全球趨勢而動。

為什麼那些脫鉤論者會錯得如此離譜?搞清楚這一點很有必要。脫鉤論源自於錯誤的經濟分析﹐而脫鉤論的失勢尚未使這些分析失去市場。揭穿這些分析的假面對中國政府今後的政策制定將有重要意義。

經 濟學家們的根本問題或致命偏好就是對一些簡單的經濟指標太過重視﹐尤其是對國內生產總值(GDP)數據。如果你問一位專業經濟學家中國有多少省﹐他可能兩 眼發呆。但如果你問他中國的GDP增長率是多少﹐他會馬上告訴你說﹐中國經濟過去30年的平均增長率達到兩位數﹐按照這個增長速度中國經濟會在2035年 (或其他某一天)超過美國。GDP中心論是經濟學家們常犯的毛病﹐它往往使人不去做更深的研究。這一點從經濟學家和分析師們大肆追捧高盛(Goldman Sachs)那赫赫有名的“金磚四國”說上便可見一斑。高盛在研究報告中預測巴西、俄羅斯、印度和中國經濟將急劇增長﹐而這份報告的依據比小學五年級算術 高明不了多少。

那些痴迷於中國GDP高增長率的人經常忽略了探討導致這一高增長的原因 ﹐以及這種增長是否可自我持續。而這正是脫鉤論痴迷者的硬傷﹐也是政策制定者容易犯大錯誤的地方。比方說﹐讓我們考察一下有關中國家庭收入的數據。中國家 庭收入增長非常緩慢﹐這種情況在農村家庭中尤為明顯。過去20年左右﹐中國農村家庭收入增幅只及中國GDP增長率的一半。中國GDP增長和家庭收入增長的 一快一慢意味著﹐中國以犧牲自身消費基礎為代價創造了巨大的生產能力。僅這一個事實就應足以推翻脫鉤論了。那些新生成的“富餘”生產能力必須轉向什麼地方 ﹐這就是美國。更進一步說﹐中國的農村家庭收入和GDP增長率之間的鴻溝持續存在這一事實表明﹐隨著時間的推移﹐中國經濟增長已經愈來愈成為美國消費欲望 的衍生品。

這就引發了一個重要的政策問題:中國經濟增長為何以及怎樣系統性地損害了中國自身的消費潛力。要回答這個問題﹐人們首先要搞清 楚中國GDP的高增長是如何實現的。雖然中國經濟增長應部分歸功於經濟自由化﹐但經濟增長中由市場驅動的部分並不大﹐且還在逐漸減弱。而與此同時﹐嚴重受 控於政府的固定資產投資增速卻從上世紀80年代的30-35%提高到了當前近45%的水平。90年代中期以來﹐中國的GDP增長主要得益於由政府組織的基 礎設施、城市建設以及城市化方面的大規模投資。這種高度依賴政府投入的經濟增長對中國消費潛力造成了最嚴重的破壞﹐進一步提高了中國對發達國家市場的依賴 度。

讓我來舉例說明這一點。與中國急於吸引外資的地方官員打過交道的許多外國投資者﹐對下面這些話應該不會陌生:“你想在一片人口居住密 集的10英畝土地上新建工廠嗎?沒問題。我們會在三週時間內為你清理出這片土地。”許多外國投資者都對中國地方政府這種“親商”態度稱奇﹐與似乎無法將這 些事情做好的印度政府比起來﹐更是形成了鮮明反差。

但這種“親商”做法正是問題的核心所在。當自己的住宅用地被轉為工商業用地時﹐許多中 國家庭幾乎得不到到任何經濟好處。中國政府對國內全部土地都擁有正式所有權﹐它能夠以在市場經濟國家不可想像的規模將一塊土地上居住的家庭異地安置﹐而這 些家庭所獲補償往往遠低於他們所讓出土地的市場價值。正因為如此﹐工廠主們在中國的辦廠成本會大大低於其他國家﹐而成千上萬幢摩天大廈也會彷彿一夜間便從 中國許多城市冒了出來。

但中國也無法擺脫一個基本經濟規律的支配:一個人的成本就會是另一個人的收入。工廠主和房地產開發商在中國的低成 本﹐也就意味著中國經濟生活中其他一些參與者的低收入。而中國這些只拿到低收入的人碰巧又是國民中的大多數﹐其中尤以農村居民為多﹐他們幾乎沒有什麼政治 力量來保護自己的權益。因此一條創造私人財富的可靠途徑──小土地所有者在城市化進程中以市場價格向開發商出售土地﹐在中國幾乎完全缺失﹐儘管中國的城市 化正在以驚人的速度進行著。

所有這些都大大超出了脫鉤論的爭論範圍。要真正扭轉中國經濟的失衡局面﹐中國政府必須致力於推動中國人民的收 入增長﹐而不能只盯著GDP增長。要做到這點有一個直截了當的做法﹐那就是在土地開發時採用市場定價原則﹐允許和鼓勵開發商以競價方式從農民手中獲取土地 ﹐並將這作為政府當前經濟刺激方案的一項內容。過去兩年中﹐中國領導層在降低農民負擔方面做得很不錯﹐比如說取消了農業稅﹐降低了教育和醫療收費等。現在 是增加農民收入的時候了。

環顧當今世界﹐沒有幾個國家像中國那樣擁有廣裊的土地、勤勞而聰慧的人民以及確保中國真正成為全球經濟大國的企 業家隊伍。但這些潛力卻被誤入歧途的發展戰略浪費掉了﹐這一戰略以犧牲消費為代價來發展生產﹐用政治權力來壓低成本﹐而不是憑借市場機制來增加收入。值此 全球經濟衰退之際﹐中國及其13億人民正在為這一錯誤付出高昂代價。


(編者按:本文作者黃亞生是麻省理工學院薩隆管理學院的的國際管理教授﹐他撰寫了《有中國特色的資本主義》(Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics)一書。)

中國法院拒絕受理震區學生家長訴狀 沒人為校舍倒塌事件道歉。

2008 年 12 月 24 日 09:55
中國法院拒絕受理震區學生家長訴狀


年5月四川大地震中一所小學遇難學生的父母們稱﹐法院拒絕受理他們將學生死亡歸咎於校舍建築質量低劣的訴訟。

這些父母說﹐四川德陽市中級人民法院的法官上週向參與這起訴訟的數十位學生家長代表說﹐法院不會受理他們的訴訟。

其中一位家長桑軍說﹐法官告訴他們﹐政府的“內部文件”明確表示任何法院不得受理此類案件。德陽市法院對此不予置評。

Associated Press
在地震中失去孩子的學生家長

徐培國律師幫助這些家長準備了起訴這所小學、鎮政府、當地教育局和學校建築承包商的材料。他說﹐這些家長們的訴訟是12月1日遞交給德陽市法院的﹐他們要求被告公開道歉﹐並賠償人民幣768萬元。

家長們說﹐這是他們首次集體將校舍倒塌的問題提交給法院。

近幾個月來﹐四川當地政府部門一直在極力平息遇難學生家長的抱怨和抗議﹐這些家長對政府調查校舍質量問題進展緩慢感到不滿。

這場地震導致近9萬人遇難或失蹤﹐其中包括數千名正在上課的學生。政府部門稱﹐約有7,000間校舍倒塌。

在一些地方﹐學校垮塌了﹐而週圍的其它建築卻屹立未倒。許多父母指出﹐建築質量差和當地官員的失職是校舍倒塌的主要原因。

桑軍和德陽市五福鎮的其他家長在起訴書中稱﹐建築質量不達標和救援不力導致了不必要的死亡。這些家長的子女當時就在五福鎮的富新第二小學就讀。官方數據顯示﹐該小學共有120多名學生在地震中遇難。

徐培國律師說﹐家長們上週被告知法院對此案不予受理。他說﹐他要求法院下達正式通知﹐但並未收到。

相鄰地區一所倒塌中學的學生家長們稱﹐他們拜訪了省會成都的幾家律師事務所﹐但沒有找到任何願意為他們提供代理的律師。一位家長說﹐所有律師都告訴我們﹐政府不准他們承接這類案件。

參加富新二小訴訟的一些父母說﹐他們面臨著當地政府要求他們不再追究此事的壓力。一位家長說﹐這種壓力非常大﹐以至於他曾三天吃不下飯。

桑軍在手機中稱﹐由於擔心遭到拘押﹐他現在行蹤不定﹐以避開警察。他說﹐另一位家長週末時曾被警方短暫扣留﹐被警告說不要再同外國記者講話。

桑軍11歲的兒子就是富新二小的學生。地震發生後﹐桑軍迅速趕到了現場。他和妻子同其他人一道在廢墟中挖掘。他說﹐他們救出了幾個被困的孩子﹐挖出了10具屍體。他們發現自己孩子的遺體蜷縮在倒塌建築物的一個角落裡。

富新二小的學生家長們要求調查校舍倒塌原因的呼聲尤為強烈。雖然他們謹慎地表示﹐自己沒有指責中央政府或共產黨應對校舍垮塌負責﹐但卻表示﹐他們相信當地官員在確保工程質量方面做得不夠。

今年6月﹐綿竹市政府在信中警告這些家長說﹐不要做損害國家尊嚴的事情。信中說﹐國內外別有用心的人試圖利用這些學生家長的不幸損害中國形象。

綿竹市還給這些父母提供了一次性的補償﹐增加了每個月的退休金﹐前提是他們簽署協議﹐承諾不再參與任何影響重建工作的活動。學生家長們將協議的措辭解讀為這是迫使他們不再發表意見。

桑軍說﹐他和其他人不會放棄﹐有80個遇難學生家庭準備向位於北京的最高人民法院提出申訴﹐要求推翻德陽市法院不予受理的決定。他說﹐失去孩子的家庭平均都從政府部門獲得了約6萬元的現金。

但桑軍說﹐沒有一個人為校舍倒塌事件道歉。

Gordon Fairclough

2008年12月22日 星期一

China Quake Victims’ Parents Sue ; unblocked NYT website

China Quake Victims’ Parents Sue


Published: December 22, 2008

DEYANG, China — A group of parents whose children were among the 127 killed in the collapse of an elementary school during the May earthquake that devastated western China have confirmed that they filed a lawsuit against government officials and a construction contractor. The lawsuit is the first filed by grieving and angry parents who say shoddy construction cost the children their lives.

Radio Free Asia reported the lawsuit in early December, but China’s official news media have not mentioned it. This weekend, the parents confirmed the filing in telephone interviews. They said the court has yet to tell them whether it will hear the case.

The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 1 in a court here in the city of Deyang, in Sichuan Province, the region hit hardest by the May 12 earthquake, which left 88,000 people dead or missing. Up to 10,000 schoolchildren were killed as some 7,000 classrooms and dormitory rooms collapsed across the quake zone, according to government estimates.

In the following weeks, parents took to the streets in towns across Sichuan to demand that local officials investigate the construction of the schools.

In some cases, crying parents were taken away by riot police officers. Later in the summer, local governments promised compensation payments to parents if they signed agreements stating they would no longer demand investigations or complain about school construction.

The parents who filed the lawsuit on Dec. 1 are the fathers and mothers of children who died in the collapse of No. 2 Primary School in the town of Fuxin, where at least 127 students were crushed to death. Many of them signed the compensation agreements, but some decided in the fall to go ahead with the lawsuit. The lawsuit names as defendants the town government of Fuxin; the education department of the nearby city of Mianzhu; the school principal; and the company that built the school.

Chen Xuefang, one of the plaintiffs, said that the parents were demanding compensation equivalent to $19,000 per child. Over the summer, the local government had offered parents the equivalent of $8,800 in cash and several thousand more dollars in postretirement pension payments if they agreed to drop the issue of the collapsed schools.

Zheng Rongqiong, whose 10-year-old daughter was among those killed at Fuxin No. 2, said that parents of 57 children were taking part in the lawsuit.

Officials from the city of Deyang, which oversees the administration of Mianzhu, have been pressing the parents to drop the lawsuit, she said, but the parents have refused.

Some parents have declined to join the lawsuit because they believe there is little or no chance of winning, and money spent on lawyers will be wasted, said Ms. Zheng, 35. The plaintiffs have contributed nearly $150 each to help pay for the travel expenses of a lawyer from Shanghai who has agreed to represent them.

Over the summer, many and possibly all of the parents now involved in the lawsuit signed the local government’s agreement demanding silence in exchange for compensation payments, Ms. Zheng said. At the time, some parents expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome and said they might file a formal petition with the central government in Beijing despite having signed the agreement.

“We hope that once we win this lawsuit, it will point out all the people responsible for the deaths of our children,” Ms. Zheng said.

An official at the Mianzhu Education Department said Monday that he was aware of the lawsuit, but declined to discuss it over the telephone. A woman at the offices of the town government of Fuxin said by telephone that she had no immediate response to the lawsuit.

In legal cases that involve politically sensitive issues, judges and lawyers in China often come under great pressure from government officials to keep the cases from going forward.

One parent said a court official met with several parents on Dec. 8 to say that the court would not accept the case. But the court has yet to give the parents a formal answer.

In similar legal action, parents in three provinces filed lawsuits this fall against dairy companies after tens of thousands of children across China fell ill and at least four died from drinking milk and baby formula tainted with a toxic chemical called melamine.

Although local officials had been involved in covering up the poisonings, judges have so far declined to hear any lawsuits. After the earthquake, the central government assigned a committee of experts to look into the school collapses, but the committee has yet to issue a final report. In September, an official from the committee, Ma Zongjin, said at a news conference in Beijing that a rush to build schools during the Chinese economic boom might have led to shoddy construction that resulted in the student deaths. He said more than 1,000 schools had one of two major flaws — they were built on the earthquake fault line or they were poorly constructed.

Government officials at all levels have tried to suppress discussion of the school collapses. A documentary that asks tough questions about a school collapse in the rural town of Muyu, in northern Sichuan, has attracted intense scrutiny from the central government.

The director, Pan Jianlin, showed the film, “Who Killed Our Children?” at the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea in late October. Afterward, he told Reuters, people contacted his relatives and friends to tell them to press him to stop his work.

Edward Wong reported from Sichuan Province in mid-December, with additional reporting from Beijing. Huang Yuanxi contributed research.


China Unblocks The Times’s Web Site


Published: December 22, 2008

BEIJING — The Chinese government unblocked the Web site of The New York Times on Monday, allowing Internet users in mainland China to view the site after access had been stopped for more than three days.

Chinese authorities began blocking the site on Thursday night without giving any explanation. The Chinese government usually blocks access to Web sites that it deems to have sensitive information, including sites with information about Tibet, Taiwan and Falun Gong, the banned spiritual movement.

During the Summer Olympics in August, the government lifted bans on some sites, such as the Chinese-language site of BBC News; it then reimposed the bans in recent weeks, affecting the BBC site and other sites such as the Chinese language versions of Voice of America and Asiaweek, before lifting them again last week.

Government employees reached by telephone on Monday said they did not know why the site of The New York Times was blocked in recent days.

2008年12月21日 星期日

中國罷工事件增加 罷工權

中國經濟減速導致罷工事件增加
2008年12月22日11:21



著中國經濟發展放緩﹐各地相繼爆發一系列工人罷工等群體事件﹐社會動盪在升溫。

面對安撫不滿情緒這一微妙的任務﹐有關部門採取了不同尋常的應對措施﹐允許抗議活動﹐並同罷工領導人進行了高級別的對話﹐商議做出讓步。

11月初重慶市近8,000名出租車司機罷工﹐成為引發近期一連串事件的導火索。3天後﹐中央政治局委員、重慶市委書記薄熙來同罷工出租司機代表舉行了3個小時的會議﹐並進行了電視直播。薄熙來敦促司機建立一個組織在雇主與政府之間發揮調解作用。

Reuters
11月24日的廣州出租車司機抗議事件
不久後﹐全國各地的出租車司機和速凍食品、教育等行業的職工都爆發了罷工﹐也得到了類似的結果。

中國上一次大規模的工潮是在10年前的亞洲金融危機期間爆發的﹐當時政府取消了終身制的福利待遇﹐降低了東北地區面臨困境的國有企業的工人工資。當時的示威迅速被鎮壓下去﹐領導人遭到了逮捕﹐媒體也被禁止報導此事。

這次﹐不滿情緒主要集中在民營企業﹐它們受目前經濟危機的打擊尤為嚴重。破產和下崗數量的飆升導致了廣州勞動仲裁案件的上升。據政府背景的《中國日報》(China Daily)報導﹐今年以來共有6萬起勞動仲裁案件﹐是去年的兩倍。

這是導致抗議活動的原因之一﹐也讓工人開始認識到需要某種獨立的代表組織。

在某種程度上說﹐罷工在中國並非新生事物。政府的研究人員估計﹐每年都要發生數萬起抗議活動﹐涉及工人欠薪到非法土地征用等方方面面的問題。大部分事件都以政府滿足了部分要求而得以和平解決。

但這些事件很少能像近期的出租司機罷工那樣得到公開報導﹐或是默認獨立的工人代表。中國有一個官方的工會組織──中華全國總工會(All-China Federation of Trade Unions)﹐但它屬於政府運營的組織﹐缺少獨立性。設立真正工會組織的努力總是會遭到鎮壓。

近期的示威顯示出向這一方向的發展在某種程度上得到了容忍。

在南方的潮州市﹐出租司機上月在報紙上看到了有關重慶事件的報導後﹐也決定進行罷運。潮州的出口依存度較高﹐因此受全球經濟風暴的打擊尤為嚴重。

11月17日﹐潮州市合法運營的出租司機聚集在市政府樓前﹐要求取締黑車和昂貴的管理費。這些司機大多是來自貧窮內陸省份的外來人員﹐他們提出了一份要求解決的問題清單﹐並指定了代表。

由於對政府的反應感到不滿﹐出租司機10天後再次罷運。這次有更多的人參與﹐一些示威演化成了暴力事件﹐罷工者砸壞了汽車﹐並同警察發生了沖突。

但政府並未進行鎮壓﹐而是同出租車代表進行了面對面的會談﹐這其中也包括來自安徽的24歲司機陳國越。潮州市長承諾滿足他們的部分要求﹐如打擊黑車和停止擴大潮州市的出租車數量。

不過﹐出租司機的要求並未全部得到滿足。陳國越提出的組織獨立出租司機組織和網站的申請被拒絕了。政府稱將設立司機協會﹐但沒有透露詳情。

香港人權組織《中國勞工通訊》(China Labour Bulletin)研究主任羅賓•瑪諾(Robin Munro)說﹐將罷工視為不可接受的看法越來越站不住腳了﹐現在的數量太多﹐也到處都有。無論合法與否﹐罷工都在爆發。

中國官員在官方文章中也表達了他們的新思想。據深圳當地一家報紙今年夏初發表的講話稿﹐深圳總工會副主席王同信說﹐罷工就好比夫妻打架﹐不應看得太敏感。

中國新一輪示威潮的另一個原因是某些城市放寬罷工限制的新規定。毗鄰香港的經濟特區深圳11月份率先出台了新規定﹐加強了工人的權益﹐賦予了集體討價還價的合法地位。

汕頭市工會的一位官員在一個廣為轉載的專欄中稱﹐在深圳時出台新規定之後﹐離罷工權就只有一步之遙了。

政府看來願意容忍某種程度的工潮﹐但前提是這些行動不具有政治性示威的含義。在潮州﹐第二次罷工後政府在作出讓步的一份公開信中稱﹐我們再次呼籲所有出租車司機以理性平和、合法合理的方式表達你們的訴求。

Shai Oster

2008年12月20日 星期六

中國

本周,香港媒体关注的焦点主要有:胡锦涛在北京纪念改革开放三十周年大会发表讲话,透露出一些新的提法和思路;但香港媒体同时也注意到北京最近的政治氛围发生了一些微妙的变化。德国之声香港特约记者摘编如下。

十二月十八日是中国改革开放三十周年的纪念日。香港《文汇报》发表评论,对中国国家主席胡锦涛讲话中的一些新提法及其背后的新思路进行了解 读。文章写道:"三十年中国改革开放,既然取得了举世瞩目的成就,同时也留下了一些问题乃至瓶颈,其中主要是贫富不均、权力分配和利益集团。面对这些问 题,近年出现了两种不同的解读和药方,一种是极左派的观点,认为改革过了头,应该倒退到一九七八年前去;而另一种则认为改革应该向着西方式的所谓权力监督 的方向发展。因此,胡锦涛上述表示,就是针对来自左右两种思潮的质疑。"

《文汇报》的文章接着写道:"胡锦涛在讲话中为中共如何检验自己的政策确立了一个明确的标准。值得注意的是,无论是所谓的"人民拥护不拥护、赞成不 赞成、高兴不高兴、答应不答应"还是'问政于民、问需于民、问计于民',都是近年来的最新提法,是在'权为民所用、利为民所谋、情为民所系'和'执政为民 '、'立党为公'等理念之后新的和更为详尽的阐述。"

与此同时,《苹果日报》发表题为《北京内外政策全面收紧强硬》的评论文章。文章写道:"从十一月底开始,北京当局突然全面收紧对外及对内的政策,令 国内政治气氛骤然升温。这是非比寻常的变化……十一月二十六日,欧盟宣布接到北京方面通知,要求取消原订十二月一日在法国举行的中欧领导人峰会。其后北京 解释,此举是要抗议欧盟轮任主席、法国总统萨尔科齐准备在波兰会见达赖喇嘛。之后,中方又宣布暂缓洽购法国空中客车的计划,并传召法国驻华大使表达不满, 中国各种官方宣传机器,也全面对准萨尔科齐开火,指控他是'忘恩负义'的小人。过去数年,达赖喇嘛几乎走遍西方各国,获得大部份西方领袖的接见,部份会面 甚至是在总统或总理办公室举行。虽然中方在事后都表达不满,但今次对法国的抗议行动,可谓是'达赖会面'引起的最激烈的一次。除了欧盟及法国,中国在中日 有争议的钓鱼岛问题上的态度,也突趋强硬。"

文章接着写道:"事实上,自从日本前首相小泉纯一郎下台后,前后三任日本首相安倍晋三、福田康夫和麻生太郎都没参拜靖国神社,而北京也费了很大劲去 解冻中日关系。就在中日关系渐返正轨、中日韩三国领袖准备举行会之际,北京为什么突然派出海监船到钓鱼岛海域巡航,并声言往后中国海监船会定期在钓鱼岛海 域出没呢?显然,这是北京在钓鱼岛主权问题上的重要转变。"

文章最后写道:"对内政策方面更是山雨欲来之势,最明显就是对《08宪章》运动的镇压。……更有传闻指,中宣部准备举起屠刀,杀向《南方都市报》、 《新京报》等言论越轨的国内媒体,并可能有十五位大陆记者编辑会遭殃。……无论是因为经济下滑、失业激增,还是其他什么不知名的原因,从内外政策转趋强硬 的变化可以见到,中共内部很可能评估,中国社会将进入极不稳定的状态,因而先下手为强,以强硬手段回击任何压力。而且,这些事件也显示,北京内部的鹰派势 力已重新抬头,中国大陆的政治形势从此又要进入寒冬了!"

由中国知识分子、维权人士和普通民众发起签署的《零八宪章》目前签名者已经超过了五千人。然而宪章发起人之一、自由知识分子刘晓波自12月9日被捕以来已经过去10天,仍然杳无音讯,他被逮捕的罪名也不得而知。下面是记者从北京给德国之声发来的报导。
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南德意志报注意到,“今年夏天,在国际奥委会和国际媒体压力下,中国被迫开放互联网网页,但十二月初以来,中国又开始悄悄地封闭大量网页。”该报在列举了美国之音、香港的亚洲周刊和明报以及“记者无疆界”组织等网页被封后写道:
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中國媒體報導﹐12月4日﹐山西省太原市的4名警察遠赴北京﹐在中央電視台一名記者的家中將其拘捕﹐原因是這名記者涉嫌在調查涉及山西當地一個檢察院的案子後收受了賄賂。

上 個月﹐央視法制頻道的一名李姓女記者與北京其他媒體的兩名記者一同去太原﹐調查在廣東一商人和當地一商人之間的經濟糾紛案中﹐杏花嶺區人民檢察院所扮演的 角色。兩名商人發生糾紛後﹐廣東商人發現自己因各種指控頻頻在太原被拘捕和關押。當他第四次被拘時﹐他的弟弟聯繫了李記者。目前﹐杏花嶺區檢察院聲稱﹐廣 東商人的弟弟用貴重禮物賄賂李記者﹐說服她對案件進行報導。該報導尚未播出。

由於央視是政府唯一的官方性全國電視台﹐它的調查性報導往往 會在播出時產生重大影響。根據標準的新聞編輯程序﹐李記者調查山西案子的計劃事先應該接受了編輯的審查﹐最終的報導也可能在播出前被砍掉。曾任中央電視台 記者的杜女士說﹐記者和編輯常常接到地方官員的電話﹐要求不要播出負面報導﹐有些時候這些人成功了。

李記者的被拘引起了中國直言不諱的網民的憤怒疾呼﹐他們再次開動“人肉搜索引擎”﹐挖掘有關“史上最牛檢察長”的各種細節。山西地方檢察院辦公室的電話被公佈在網上﹐部分網民呼籲人們把這個電話打爆。

據新華社報導﹐山西地方檢察院拒絕置評﹐表示案件正在進一步偵查中。與此同時﹐央視已經派人去山西省處理此事。據《北京青年報》報導﹐央視發言人表示﹐山西地方檢察院無權發出對李記者的逮捕令。

北京的一位律師劉曉原在博客中表示﹐山西地方檢察院越權了﹐因為李記者剛剛發了一份對它的調查報導。他在最新的博客文章中說﹐李記者的受賄案涉及杏花嶺區檢察院﹔如果他們對李記者的案子有管轄權﹐他們能理智、客觀、不偏不倚地處理嗎?劉曉原和該案沒有直接關係。

在最初的商業糾紛中﹐山西地方檢察院已經警告記者不要採訪任何與這起涉嫌濫用職權案有關的人。據《北京青年報》報導﹐和李記者一同前往太原的兩位記者說﹐他們被強迫離開太原﹐並受到吊銷他們記者證的威脅。

今年早些時候﹐中國遼寧省某縣的縣委書記派警察到北京拘捕一名雜志記者﹐該記者曾報導當地政府和一名女商人之間的糾紛。這件事引起了全國轟動﹐最後這名縣委書記發表了一份公開道歉﹐並且辭去縣委書記職務。

Juliet Ye

2008年12月12日 星期五

Taiwan’s Former President Is Indicted台湾・陳前総統、 保釈、

台湾・陳前総統、1カ月ぶりに保釈 収賄罪などで起訴

2008年12月13日10時55

【台北=野嶋剛】12日に不正送金によるマネーロンダリング(資金洗浄)や収賄の罪で起訴された台湾の陳水扁前総統が13日未明に保釈され、逮捕からおよそ1カ月ぶりに台北市の自宅に戻った。

 台北地裁は陳前総統に逃亡の恐れがないとの理由で、検察側の勾留(こうりゅう)の継続請求を却下した。台湾中央通信によると、陳前総統は「皆さんの支援のおかげで最もつらく最も孤独な32日間を終えられたことに感謝したい」と述べた。




紐約時報的簡報或許比較可參考

Taiwan’s Former President Is Indicted


Published: December 12, 2008

BEIJING — Chen Shui-bian, who served eight years as president of Taiwan, was indicted Friday on corruption charges, making him the first former president of the island to face criminal prosecution.

Mr. Chen, who served from 2000 to last May, faces charges that he and his family pocketed millions of dollars in campaign funds. “Ex-President Chen Shui-bian’s crimes are major,” Chen Yun-nan, a spokesman for the Supreme Court’s special prosecutor’s office, said. “We will ask the courts to give ex-President Chen Shui-bian the strictest punishment.”

Mr. Chen has been in police custody since Nov. 12, when the authorities announced a variety of allegations involving money laundering, embezzlement and other crimes. A vocal advocate for Taiwanese independence, Mr. Chen, 57, has denied the charges, saying his prosecution is a politically motivated attack by his successor, President Ma Ying-jeou.

Mr. Ma and other leaders of the Kuomintang, the Chinese Nationalist Party, have rejected the suggestion that they are influencing prosecutors.

The charges against Mr. Chen, of the rival Democratic Progressive Party, stem from an investigation that began during his second term and involve accusations that senior aides and relatives embezzled millions of dollars in campaign funds. Mr. Chen’s son, daughter-in-law and wife have also been charged in the scandal, as have 11 other family members and aides.

A populist with a flair for the dramatic, Mr. Chen has been a frequent critic of China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province. Unlike Mr. Chen, who is an ardent supporter of Taiwanese independence, Mr. Ma has been conciliatory toward Beijing.

Last month, shortly after his arrest, Mr. Chen went on a hunger strike, and after five days of not eating, he was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat.

His arrest and indictment are the latest chapter in a long series of political and legal battles in Taiwan.

Mr. Ma was indicted last year over the use of money while he was mayor of Taipei. The Supreme Court cleared him of the charges, paving the way for his presidential candidacy.

中印社經困境 中國苦待民主

Dec 11th 2008
From The Economist print edition

Asia’s two big beasts are shivering. India’s economy is weaker, but China’s leaders have more to fear


THE speed with which clouds of economic gloom and even despair have gathered over the global economy has been startling everywhere. But the change has been especially sudden in the world’s two most populous countries: China and India. Until quite recently, the world’s fastest-growing big economies both felt themselves largely immune from the contagion afflicting the rich world. Optimists even hoped that these huge emerging markets might provide the engines that could pull the world out of recession. Now some fear the reverse: that the global downturn is going to drag China and India down with it, bringing massive unemployment to two countries that are, for all their success, still poor—India is home to some two-fifths of the world’s malnourished children.

The pessimism may be overdone. These are still the most dynamic parts of the world economy. But both countries face daunting economic and political difficulties. In India’s case, its newly positive self-image has suffered a double blow: from the economic buffeting, and from the bullets of the terrorists who attacked Mumbai last month. As our special report makes clear, India’s recent self-confidence had two roots. One was a sustained spurt in economic growth to a five-year annual average of 8.8%. The other was the concomitant rise in India’s global stature and influence. No longer, its politicians gloated, was India “hyphenated” with Pakistan as one half of a potential nuclear maelstrom. Rather it had become part of “Chindia”—a fast-growing success story.


The Mumbai attacks, blamed on terrorist groups based in Pakistan and bringing calls for punitive military action, have revived fears of regional conflict. A hyphen has reappeared over India’s western border, just as the scale of the economic setback hitting India is becoming apparent. Exports in October fell by 12% compared with the same month last year; hundreds of small textile firms have gone out of business; even some of the stars of Indian manufacturing of recent years, in the automotive industry, have suspended production. The central bank has revised its estimate of economic growth this year downwards, to 7.5-8%, which is still optimistic. Next year the rate may well fall to 5.5% or less, the lowest since 2002.

Still faster after all these years

If China’s growth rate were to fall to that level, it would be regarded as a disaster at home and abroad. The country is this month celebrating the 30th anniversary of the event seen as marking the launch of its policies of “reform and opening”, since when its economy has grown at an annual average of 9.8%. The event was a meeting of the Communist Party’s Central Committee at which Deng Xiaoping gained control. Tentatively at first but with greater radicalism in the 1990s, the party dismantled most of the monolithic Maoist edifice—parcelling out collective farmland, sucking in vast amounts of foreign investment and allowing private enterprise to thrive. The anniversary may be a bogus milestone, but it is easy to understand why the party should want to trumpet the achievements of the past 30 years (see article). They have witnessed the most astonishing economic transformation in human history. In a country that is home to one-fifth of humanity some 200m people have been lifted out of poverty.

Yet in China, too, the present downturn is jangling nerves. The country is a statistical haze, but the trade figures for last month—with exports 2% lower than in November 2007 and imports 18% down—were shocking. Power generation, generally a reliable number, fell by 7%. Even though the World Bank and other forecasters still expect China’s GDP to grow by 7.5% in 2009, that is below the 8% level regarded, almost superstitiously, as essential if huge social dislocation is to be avoided. Just this month a senior party researcher gave warning of what he called, in party-speak, “a reactive situation of mass-scale social turmoil”. Indeed, demonstrations and protests, always common in China, are proliferating, as laid-off factory-workers join dispossessed farmers, environmental campaigners and victims of police harassment in taking to the streets.

The gap between mouth and trouser

One worry is that China’s rulers will try to push the yuan down to help exporters. That would be a terrible idea, not least because the government has the resources to ease the pain in less dangerous ways: it is running a budget surplus and has little debt. Last month it announced a huge 4 trillion yuan (nearly $600 billion) fiscal-stimulus package. Some who have crunched the numbers argue that this was all mouth and no trousers—much of it made up by old budget commitments, double-counting and empty promises. It was thus mainly propaganda, to convince China’s own people and the outside world that the government was serious about stimulating demand at home. That may yet prove to be unfair: what matters is when infrastructure money is spent, not when it is announced. Yet there is little sign that the regime is ready to take radical steps in the two areas that would do most to persuade the rural majority to spend its money rather than hoard it: giving farmers better rights over their land; and providing a decent social safety-net, especially in health care.

Still, China does at least have trousers, with deep pockets. India, in contrast, is not seen as a big potential part of the answer to the world’s economic problems. Not only is its economy far smaller; its government’s finances are also a mess. Its budget deficit—some 8% of GDP—inhibits it from offering a bigger stimulus that might mitigate the downturn (see article). This is alarming. If China reckons it needs 8% annual growth to provide jobs for the 7m or so new members of its workforce each year, how is India to cope? A younger country, its workforce is increasing by about 14m a year—ie, about one-quarter of the world’s new workers. And, perversely, its great successes of recent years have been in industries that rely not on vast supplies of cheap labour but on smaller numbers of highly educated engineers—such as its computer-services businesses and capital-intensive manufacturing.

In two respects, however, India has a big advantage over China in coping with an economic slowdown. It has all-too extensive experience in it; and it has a political system that can cope with disgruntlement without suffering existential doubts. India pays an economic price for its democracy. Decision-making is cumbersome. And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. But the political system has a resilience and flexibility that China’s own leaders, it seems, believe they lack. They are worrying about how to cope with protests. India’s have their eyes on a looming election.

It used to be a platitude of Western—and Marxist—analysis of China that wrenching economic change would demand political reform. Yet China’s economy boomed with little sign of any serious political liberalisation to match the economic free-for-all. The cliché fell into disuse. Indeed, many, even in democratic bastions such as India, began to fall for the Chinese Communist Party’s argument that dictatorship was good for growth, whereas Indian democracy was a luxury paid for by the poor, in the indefinite extension of their poverty.

But as China enters a trying year of anniversaries—the 50th of the suppression of an uprising in Tibet; the 20th of the quashing of the Tiananmen Square protests; the 60th of the founding of the People’s Republic itself—it may be worth remembering that the winter of 1978-79 saw not only a party Central Committee plenum but also the “Democracy Wall” movement in Beijing. It was a brief flowering of the freedom of expression, quite remarkable after the xenophobic isolation of the Cultural Revolution. Deng, like Mao Zedong before him, tolerated the dissident movement as long as it served his ends, and then stamped it out. In so doing he thwarted what Wei Jingsheng, the most famous of the wall-writers, had dubbed “the fifth modernisation”: democracy. China still needs it.

2008年12月10日 星期三

野草莓遭驅離再返自由廣場 干預公視預算

遭驅離再返自由廣場 野草莓抗議執法不當 【10:15】
〔中央社〕自由廣場野草莓靜坐學生50多人今天清晨遭警方驅離後,30多名學生上午9時再返回自由廣場表達訴求,學生發言人羅士翔表示,警方無法提相關文件,就強制驅離學生,執法不當。

野草莓運動學生因不滿中國大陸海協會會長陳雲林來台維安過當,11月6日於行政院前發起靜坐抗議,要求相關首長道歉、下台,並修改集會遊行法,11月7日 遭驅離轉至自由廣場靜坐,12月7日舉辦大規模遊行,並表示即將撤場,但仍有零星學生靜坐。8日起,西藏運動人士逐漸進駐自由廣場右側靜坐,抗議中國大陸 暴力。

野草莓自由廣場靜坐今天進入第35天,清晨4時,自由廣場野草莓靜坐區學生約有50人、西藏運動人士靜坐區約上百餘人,警方出動數百警力,先將西藏運動人士強制搬離,以警備車載往內湖、關渡一帶山區。

隨後,警方於清晨5時20分強制撤離學生架設的小木屋等,並動用警力逐一將靜坐學生架離,以警備車載至台灣大學,自由廣場野草莓學生靜坐區完成清場。

野草莓學生30多人上午9時再返回自由廣場表達抗議,集結靜坐,並高舉「集遊法違憲,人權變不見」等訴求海報。

學生發言人羅士翔表示,在警方驅離前,學生即向警方表達將自行離去,但警方不願溝通,也無法提出相關文件,就強力驅離學生,執法不當。

他說,總統馬英九才在昨天世界人權日指出,台灣是集會遊行自由的國家,警方今天就強制驅離野草莓學生及舉世關注的西藏運動人士,實在讓人難以理解。





藍委干預公視預算 綠委批馬上伸黑手

〔記 者邱燕玲、林毅璋、黃維助、林嘉琪、黃以敬、陳尹宗/綜合報導〕立法院教育、內政等委員會通過國民黨立委林益世提案,要求公共電視等公廣集團所有製播經費 必須送交立法院同意後才能動支,昨天受到民進黨團痛批「國民黨用政治黑手干預媒體自由」,新聞局也扮白臉不反抗,嚴重違反黨政軍退出媒體的規定。

藍委稱落實監督

林益世強調,決議只是要求各部會要落實預算執行的監督責任,並非干預新聞自由;另公視接受客委會及僑委會所屬的客家電視台和宏觀電視台委託製播節目,但這兩家電視台都抗議公視未協助宣導政務,他才提案增加公視董事席次。

新聞局長史亞平也強調,先前才陪公視赴立院協商公視預算遭凍結案,新聞局該協助時一定會提供協助,不會袖手旁觀;但她也說,公視以登廣告的方式對抗立法院,值得商榷。

民 進黨立委陳亭妃指出,黨政軍退出媒體與媒體獨立在五二○後消失殆盡,公視遭到國民黨立委壓制,包括製播經費如何用,都必須送立法院同意才能動支,還要求所 有公視購買的節目都要送到立法院核備,「這是一言堂嗎?太上皇是誰?就是馬英九!」馬英九怕民調太差,所以才要把手伸進媒體做美化修飾。

立委林淑芬說,公視是屬於人民與國家的電視台,並不屬於執政的當權者,公共電視董事增加席次,就是要讓不聽話的聲音變小,審查製播經費乖乖聽話就給預算,不乖就不給。

公視愁沒錢付戲約 得背法律責任

對於公視今年下半年預算四點五億尚未解凍,明年預算又遭立委限制,公視總經理馮賢賢昨激動地說:「明年內部預算怎麼編列?節目該不該簽約?有些戲簽了約但錢付不出來,這可是要負法律責任的!」

公視工會則強調,立院凍結預算及干預明年度預算,勢將違反公共媒體獨立自主之精神,對公視未來發展有不利影響,但同時也提出重修「公廣法」,免得公視永遠定位不清,問題一樣會存在。

台灣記者協會、媒體改造學社、媒體觀察教育基金會等團體昨日紛紛聲明譴責,要求立委撤案,否則將違背馬英九總統就職演說時強調「絕不干預媒體」的承諾,馬政府不應坐視台灣的新聞自主權被政治人物傷害!

poverty, Tibetan people's human rights, democracy

UN marks Human Rights Day

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has warned that the world's poorest could face more abuses amid the current global financial crisis. She said poverty was both a cause and a result of human rights violations. Her comments come as the world body marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In China, a group of people has used Human Rights Day to demonstrate outside the foreign ministry in Beijing, protesting at alleged government abuses. Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has also called on China to respect the Tibetan people's human rights. In a message to an international rights forum held in Taiwan, he said he was disappointed that China had failed to make as much progress in democracy as it had economically.

2008年12月9日 星期二

Thailand's 'Yellow power' wins, but what of democracy?

Wikipedia article "Golden Shower Tree".

阿勃勒(學名:Cassia fistula),又名金急雨黃金雨波斯皂莢婆羅門皂莢長果子樹臘腸樹等、香港多稱豬腸豆,是一種蘇木亞科的植物。原產於南亞南部,從巴基斯坦南部往東直到印度緬甸,往南直到斯里蘭卡


'Yellow power' wins, but what of democracy?

2008/12/4


Have you ever heard of a flowering tree with the elegant name of ratchaphruek? Native to tropical Asia, it has hanging clusters of fragrant yellow flowers. Hence the English name "golden shower tree."

It is Thailand's national flower. According to a Thai government website, the shining yellow symbolizes Buddhism and is also the color of Monday, the day on which King Bhumibol Adulyadej was born.

Crowds wearing that special yellow have tossed the nation into turmoil. On Tuesday, a week after a Bangkok-based anti-government organization began a sit-in at international airports, the Thai Constitutional Court, which tends to take an anti-government stance, ordered the ruling People Power Party to disband and also ousted Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat. The administration was toppled at last.

More than 200,000 foreign visitors remain stranded in Thailand, including students who have run out of money, tourists who have used up their medicines for chronic illness and Japanese who are impatient to return to Japan so that their children can take entrance examinations.

For these people, yellow must seem like the "color of annoyance."

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a target of criticism by the anti-government protesters, was toppled from power in the 2006 military coup.

However, in last year's general elections, a party affiliated with Thaksin scored a landslide victory through the strong support of farmers. Fearing Thaksin's reinstatement, the anti-government group, which is supported by the former ruling class, resorted to force. The situation soon led to bloodshed with pro-government supporters.

Singing victory songs, the anti-government protesters are trumpeting their success as a citizens' revolution. But the damage to Thailand's international reputation and domestic economy is serious. Angry cries of "What are they doing?" must have been heard in many languages. Many Thais were also embarrassed by what must seem a national disgrace. But the police were slow to act, apparently intimidated by the "yellow power."

Thankfully, the yellow-clad protesters are now withdrawing from the airports, untainted by the color of blood.

I've heard that King Bhumibol, who has been on the throne for 62 years, and the armed forces are usually expected to quell political crises. Regardless, elections must triumph over unlawful blockades. Otherwise, it means the defeat of democracy.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 3(IHT/Asahi: December 4,2008)

國際人權日前 中國拘留人權活躍者

國際人權日前 中國拘留人權活躍者
中國人權示威者(資料)
中國的人權發展還存在許多問題和困難。

中國的人權組織說,中國五名人權活躍人士在周三的人權日之前被扣留問話,當中包括經常批評政府的作家劉曉波。

在香港的中國人權民運信息中心說,劉曉波在周一晚上被北京公安帶走,另一名被帶走的是政治評論家張祖樺。

信息中心說,這兩人原定在星期三國際人權日及簽署《世界人權宣言》60周年這一天舉行論壇,並發表中國《零八憲章》。

這個"憲章"獲得了303名著名學者及作家等的簽署。

關注中國人權事務的"中國維權網"說,張祖樺經過公安12小時問訊之後,已經在周二獲得釋放。他家裡的電腦、現金和信用卡都被沒收。

BBC中文網記者給在北京的劉曉波手機和家里打去電話,但是都沒有人回應。他目前很可能仍然被拘留。公安搜查並監視他的房子。

該網站又說,三名在貴州的人權活躍人士自上星期至今一直被扣留。

《零八憲章》

303名著名學者及作家等簽署的零八憲章說,今年是中國立憲百年,《世界人權宣言》公布60周年,"民主牆"誕生30周 年,中國政府簽署《公民權利和政治權利國際公約》10周年。在經歷了長期的人權災難和艱難曲折的抗爭歷程之後,覺醒的中國公民日漸清楚地認識到,自由、平 等、人權是人類共同的普世價值﹔民主、共和、憲政是現代政治的基本制度架構。

憲章說,這些政治進步迄今為止大多停留在紙面上﹔有法律而無法治,有憲法而無憲政,仍然是有目共睹的政治現實。執政集團繼 續堅持維繫威權統治,排拒政治變革,由此導致官場腐敗,法治難立,人權不彰,道德淪喪,社會兩極分化,經濟畸形發展,自然環境和人文環境遭到雙重破壞,公 民的自由、財產和追求幸福的權利得不到制度化的保障,各種社會矛盾不斷積累,不滿情緒持續高漲,特別是官民對立激化和群體事件激增,正在顯示著災難性的失 控趨勢,現行體制的落伍已經到了非改不可的地步。

憲章重申了自由、人權、平等、共和、民主、憲政等理念。

他們又提出了修改憲法、分權制衡、立法民主、司法獨立、公器公用、人權保障、公職選舉、城鄉平等、結社自由:保障公民的結 社自由權,將現行的社團登記審批制改為備案制。開放黨禁、集會自由、言論自由、宗教自由、公民教育、財產保護、財稅改革、社會保障、環境保護、聯邦共和、 轉型正義等十九項主張。

《零八憲章》的303名簽署人包括北京法學家於浩成、上海劇作家沙葉新、趙紫陽前秘書鮑彤、六四母親丁子霖,作家劉曉波、記者高瑜、作家戴晴等人。




中国 | 2008.12.09

《零八宪章》发起人遭警方拘捕

明天(12月10日)是世界人权宣言公布60周年纪念日,中国三百余名公民签署了一份名为《零八宪章》的文件,呼吁政府认同普世价值,推进人权法治。12 月8日,参与签署《零八宪章》的两位学者张祖桦和刘晓波突然遭到警方拘捕。记者通过电话采访了已经回到家中的北京宪政学者张祖桦。

德国之声:张祖桦先生,今天据各大通讯社的报道,您和刘晓波先生在北京时间12月8日的晚间暂时与外界失去了联系。您现在能否跟我们透露一下,当时究竟发生了什么事情?

张祖桦:好的。北京时间12月8号晚上11点,大约有20多名警员身着警服闯到我家中,出示了传唤通知书和搜查证,然后把我带到万寿路派出所进行讯 问,长达12小时。同时留下11位民警在我家进行了一个大搜查。把我家里的几台电脑,包括我妻子的电脑,还有我的很多书籍和私人物品--我和我太太的现 金、存折、银行卡全部抄走,留下了很厚一沓的扣押物品文件清单。

那么,警方这样大动作的目的是什么呢?他们有没有向您说明呢?

他们出示的罪名好像涉嫌颠覆国家政权罪。讯问的主要内容是针对国内303位各界人士发出的《零八宪章》,主要就是针对我了,认为我在其中起了某些作用吧,让我配合他们调查相关的事实。

对于我们绝大多数听众和读者来说,《零八宪章》还很陌生。您能不能给大家介绍一下,这是怎样的一份文件或者宪章呢?

主要是一些知识分子,也包括律师、专业人士和普通民众,认为今年是改革开放三十年,《世界人权宣言》六十周年,在这种情况下,官方自然有他们的一套 说辞,民间也应该提出自己的独立看法。特别是对现在存在的各种问题,也应该有自己的独立见解。对未来的中国的走向和发展也应该提出建设性的意见。所以《零 八宪章》前面一部分是我们的基本理念,主要论述了知识分子和中国人民对自由、民主、人权、法制、宪政的渴望和追求的历程;后面,我们提出了19项具体的建 议,完全是出于善意和理性的,确确实实是希望政府能够在认同普世价值和尊重、保障人权的基础之上尽快健全法制、推行民主,加快政治改革的步伐,使中国走上 一个良性发展的轨道,发挥公民社会积极的作用。

张先生,您刚才提到,警方在对您家进行搜查,包括将您暂时拘捕的过程中,是以涉嫌颠覆国家政权罪为罪名,这也是经常被官方用来打压异议人士的一个罪名。接下来还会有什么后续发展呢?

他们说这件事儿没完,还要看整个事情的发展,搜查完之后还要举证,最后如何定罪尚不得而知。

我们还想了解一下儿,刘晓波先生几乎同时和您一起失踪,这两件事是不是有什么关系呢?

当然,他们也提到刘晓波,也是因为《零八宪章》。我和他太太打过电话,他太太说,好像他们出示的不是传唤通知书,而是刑事拘留。这个罪名就比较重了。我咨询了一下儿,这个大概要30天期限。现在他没有任何音讯。

2008年12月8日 星期一

Wild Strawberries: Taiwanese Student Movement Stirs Anew

Marc Cooper

Posted December 8, 2008 | 08:07 AM (EST)

Wild Strawberries: Taiwanese Student Movement Stirs Anew

Taipei, Taiwan - A defiant, peaceful march by 5,000 protesters to the grounds of the Presidential Palace yesterday marked the first month's anniversary of a renewed and re-invigorated national pro-democracy student movement.

The protesters, some wearing mocking costumes of former emperors and current mainland Chinese Communist officials, demanded that the current Taiwanese government of President Ma Ying-jeou abolish a law that requires protesters to see and obtain prior permission for all public protests. They made their point by merely notifying local officials of the march but not waiting for approval.

Along the route they were briefly warned and stopped by Taiwanese security officials but without incident. The march was punctuated with a mock funeral for human rights, just two days before celebration of International Human Rights Day.

The new Taiwanese student movement, known as Wild Strawberries, which has been making headlines, quickly mushroomed after a November 6 visit to Taiwan by a high-ranking envoy of the mainland People's Republic of China. When protesters came out to greet the Communist official, they were met with fierce police repression. Since then the capital of Taipei has been the scene of several low-level but mounting student actions, often supported by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party.

The student protesters worry that President Ma's administration is moving too close to the Beijing government and compromising what is Taiwan's de facto independence. The conflict was further stirred this week when President Ma told an interviewer that this was not the right time for the Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, to visit Taiwan. The Beijing regime has been openly pressuring foreign governments, including France, to shun the Tibetan leader.

President Ma is facing increasing criticism of his human rights record. Only four months into office his popularity had plummeted from 58 percent to a record low of 25 percent. Ma represents the National Party (KMT) which ruled Taiwan through martial law from the arrival of Chiang-Kai-Sheik on the island in the mid 1940's and for another three decades. After a slow, gradual democratization process, the KMT ceded power to the opposition DPP in free elections. But corruptions charges deflated opposition rule, and the KMT was democratically re-elected to power earlier this year.

President Ma's administration has moved to amend the controversial and restrictive anti-protest law. But student leaders have denounced the move as cosmetic and vow more protests.

2008年12月7日 星期日

新聞

印度政府宣佈,準備用額外的40億美元刺激經濟,以保護該國不受目前全球金融危機的影響。


泰國被解散的人民力量黨的一部分成員在轉入為泰黨後選出一名新領導人。
全副武裝的激進分子周日(7日)攻擊了駐阿富汗北約部隊在巴基斯坦白沙瓦市附近的兩個運輸站。


日本一項民調顯示,大多數日本人對中國沒有好感,認為中日關係不好,此比例創歷史最高。

日本內閣府在周六(6日)發表了外交輿論調查結果。

"對中國有好感"的日本人只有31.8%,較去年下降2.2%,創下1978年開始調查以來的最低點。

回答"沒有好感"者則比去年增長3.1%,以66.6%達到歷史最高。

有71.9%的調查對象認為現在日中關係"不好",較上次調查增加3.9%,同樣成為歷史最高值。

認為關係"良好"者則減少2.7%至23.7%。

對中國的好感度在1980年達到最高峰78.6%,之後一直下降。

不斷下跌

共同社指出,儘管日中兩國正以"戰略互惠"改善關係,但日本一般市民的對華好感度卻沒有上升。

有觀點認為,其背景是在日本發生的中國產餃子致人中毒事件等中國食品安全問題。

此外,對日美關係認為"不好"的人也增加7.7%,達到28.1%,是自1998年調查以來的新高,認為關係"良好"者減少7.4%為68.9%,也創下新低。

有觀點認為,10月11日美國宣佈將朝鮮從"援恐國家"名單中刪除,這被看作是造成對日美關係評價下滑的原因。

此外源自美國的金融危機造成世界經濟景氣惡化,也使輿論感到對日美關係產生了不良影響。

本次調查於今年10月以日本各地3000名成人男女為對象實施,回答率為60.9%。
ㄖㄖㄖ

中國媒體報道,在山東新泰,有多名上訪者被當地政府強制收入精神病院。

《新京報》說,今年10月,新泰農民孫法武去北京上訪,被鎮政府抓回送進精神病院20余日。

報道說,后來孫法武簽下不再上訪的保証書之后才被放出來。

該報記者調查發現,在新泰,因上訪而被送進精神病院者不是個別。

同一篇報道當中還說,一名84歲的退休干部時亨生因多次到北京上訪于2006年6月被關進新泰精神病院。

此后兩年多的時間里,他秘密記錄了18個因上訪被關進精神病院的人。

部分上訪者及家屬不曾被通知精神鑒定。家屬反映,政府不經家屬同意甚至未通知家人,便送上放者入院,而當事者堅稱自己沒有病,因此質疑政府限制人身自由。

報道還透露,除了新泰市精神病院外,肥城市精神病院也曾經收治新泰上訪人員。

萨科齐会见达赖喇嘛; KMT chief heads to Japan

德中/欧中 | 2008.12.07

萨科齐会见达赖喇嘛,勇走政治平衡木

不顾北京方面的强烈抗议,法国总统萨科齐与达赖喇嘛举行了会晤。身兼欧盟轮值主席的萨科齐周六在但泽与西藏精神领袖在紧闭的会议室里单独进行了半个小时的 对话。中国对此表示极度不满,并临时取消了原定在法国举行的欧中峰会。此外,北京还警告说,这将给双边关系造成持续性的负面影响。

就法国电视台的转播画面来看,达赖喇嘛按照西藏人的传统,亲手为萨科齐献上白色的哈达。双方进行了友好诚挚的交谈。之后,萨科齐乘飞机返回 巴黎。临行前,他在机场上表示,与达赖喇嘛的会晤进行得非常顺利。他还告诉达赖喇嘛,进一步推动西藏与北京之间的对话在他看来意义重大。

萨科齐还说,"达赖喇嘛证实了一个我已经知道的事实,即他并不寻求独立。"达赖喇嘛对西藏局势表示忧虑,这同时也是"欧洲的担忧"。据悉,萨科齐与达赖喇嘛是在共同出席前波兰总统瓦文萨荣获诺贝尔和平奖25周年庆祝仪式的间隙举行周边会谈的。

中国官方通讯社新华社周六晚发表评论说,法国总统会见达赖喇嘛严重伤害了中国人民的感情,也给中法关系造成了损害。新华社批评萨科齐在涉藏问题上投机取巧,"显得轻率而短见"。

强调一个中国

萨科齐最终决定"从价值和信念的角度出发",会见他认会应该会见的人。与此同时,他也试图息事宁人,因为"没有理由去激化矛盾。"此前,萨科齐曾强 调说,只有一个中国,西藏是中国领土不可缺少的一个组成部分。达赖喇嘛也不支持独立。此外,中国和欧洲应该携手并肩,加强合作。

北京方面则指责达赖喇嘛在搞分裂中国的阴谋活动。此前,双方关于加强西藏文化自治的谈判陷入僵局。自1959年逃亡印度以来,旅居达兰萨拉的达赖喇嘛一直没有机会重回故土。

今年八月的北京奥运期间,达赖喇嘛曾在法国逗留12天,当时并未受到萨科齐接见。而法国第一夫人--布鲁尼-萨科齐曾与达赖喇嘛一道出席宗教仪式。自今年上半年奥运圣火传递在巴黎受阻以来,中法关系一直处于紧张状态。



Taiwan party chief heads to Japan to ease tensions

Sat Dec 6, 2008 9:26pm EST

By Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou sent the ruling party chief to Japan on Sunday for meetings aimed at easing territorial and political issues between the two one-time staunch allies, the party said.

Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung will meet leaders of four Japanese political parties with messages that Ma wants to settle a dispute concerning sovereignty over an offshore archipelago, and that Taiwan's warming ties with China are in Tokyo's interests, a party media liaison said.

"Relations have been deep throughout history," Ma's office said in a statement to be passed on in Japan. "We hope Taiwan-Japan ties can be strengthened."

Before Ma took office in May, Taiwan and Japan maintained tight informal relations as both weathered disputes with China.

China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's KMT fled to Taiwan. Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary.

Beijing frequently criticizes Japan for what it sees as the lack of an apology for World War Two, causing continued diplomatic friction.

China-friendly Ma's government has met formally with China over the past half year to sign trade and transit deals, building confidence to reduce any risk of war but worrying conservatives in Japan.

The KMT chief will tell counterparts in Japan to welcome detente between Taiwan and China, the party media liaison said.

Taiwan and Japan also recently faced off over competing claims to eight uninhabited but strategically important East China Sea islands, rich in fisheries and possible undersea natural gas reserves. China claims the islets, as well.

After Japan arrested a Taiwan fishing boat captain following a collision near the islands in June, Ma departed from Taiwan's usual practice by strongly criticizing Tokyo.

The KMT chief will tell Japanese party leaders Taiwan wants a "peaceful" settlement on use of the now Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, which Taiwan calls the Tiaoyutai, the party liaison said.

Wu will travel with other KMT officials, two legislators and a Taipei city council member. They plan to visit Tokyo and three other cities in Japan before returning on December 13.



2008年12月4日 星期四

Dalai Lama speaks to European Parliament ; On Ma's Blacklist

Dalai Lama speaks to European Parliament

The president of the European Parliament, Hans-Georg Pöttering, has defended a decision to invite Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to speak at the Strasbourg-based assembly. Pöttering said European lawmakers wanted to express their solidarity for Tibet's religious and cultural identity. In a speech to the EU parliament, the Dalai Lama said that Tibet was seeking genuine autonomy within China and that he was not heading a separatist movement. He also said he was looking forward to meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Poland this weekend. Bejing cancelled an EU-China summit scheduled for the beginning of this month, after Sarkozy said would meet the Dalai Lama.


达赖喇嘛将在欧洲议会发表讲话



马英九婉拒达赖喇嘛访台

名列最受欢迎国际领袖之一的西藏精神领袖达赖喇嘛,日前表达访问台湾的意愿,不过,台湾总统马英九与外籍媒体座谈时却表示,台湾欢迎全世界宗教领袖来访, 但达赖喇嘛此时访台「时机不适宜」。总统大选期间曾经声援西藏流亡政府,抗议北京镇压西藏的马英九,立场转变,不仅在野党强烈批评,国民党内也有不同声 音。

曾经以宗教领袖的身分造访台湾两次的达赖喇嘛,见过李登辉前总统、陈水扁前总统,并与马英九两度会面,他在日前表达希望明年能再度访问台湾。不过,马英九总统与外籍媒体座谈时表示,台湾欢迎世界宗教领袖访台,但现在的时机、地点并不适宜,等于间接婉拒达赖来访。

由于马英九今年七月接受德国南德日报专访时曾表达欢迎达赖来访,如今立场转变,不欢迎达赖前来,是否是忌惮对岸压力?总统府发言人王郁琦4日上午表 示,府方没有在这方面接到大陆方面任何特别意见,马总统的谈话是基于整体国家利益的考量。王郁琦说:“总统认为此时此刻时机不宜,但是如果未来有适当的时 机,我们也再会有适当的安排。”

王郁琦表示,整体国家利益是个非常复杂的问题,但民进党批评,所谓国家利益,根本就是对中国示好,立委 黄伟哲表示,马英九寧可欢迎陈云林来,却不让世界知名宗教领袖又是诺贝尔和平奖得主的达赖来台,是何道理?黄伟哲说:“他宁可让1300枚飞弹对着台湾的 中国大陆的特使陈云林来,而且还眉开眼笑地接待他,却不让诺贝尔和平奖得主达赖喇嘛来台,这是什么道理?。”

民进党立委说,马英九不代表台湾人民,他们已经打算提案,希望用国会力量通过,邀请达赖访台,甚至将发动全民连署。

民进党的提议,在立法院并非没有过关的可能,部分国民党立委表示,达赖来访可以是台湾处理两岸关係的筹码,不应断然回绝,连立法院长王金平都认为达 赖是重要的宗教界领袖,台湾应该重新思考让他来台。他说:“从宗教的角度来重新考虑这个问题,我觉得从国家利益的角度来讲并没有不利的地方。”

根据美国媒体透过网路访问法国、德国、英国、义大利、西班牙和美国等6国各1千名成年人,调查19位卸任和现任国家领导人以及宗教领袖受欢迎的程度。结果,达赖喇嘛排名第一,受欢迎的程度超过德国总理梅克尔以及英国前首相布莱尔,可说是最有人缘的国际领袖。

李正纯(台北)




Japan suspends soft loans for Vietnam

Japan suspends soft loans for Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Japan has frozen low-interest loans to Vietnam until it takes "meaningful" steps to eliminate corruption in public works programs, Tokyo's ambassador said Thursday.

The announcement was an embarrassing blow to Vietnam, which receives more development aid from Japan than any other single country.

Japanese ambassador Mitsuo Sakaba said his country would make no new loan pledges to Vietnam next year and would also suspend $690 million in low-interest loans to support pending transportation and sewage projects in Vietnam.

In all, Japan pledged $1.1 billion in low-interest development loans to Vietnam last year.

Japan took the step after four Japanese executives pleaded guilty last month to paying $820,000 in bribes to a Vietnamese official who was overseeing a highway project in Ho Chi Minh City, the nation's southern business hub.

The two countries are now conducting a joint investigation into the case, involving Pacific Consultants International and Huynh Ngoc Sy, the Ho Chi Minh City official overseeing the highway project.

"Until effective and meaningful measures against corruption can be worked out through this joint committee, it would be difficult to regain the support from the Japanese public for further assistance to Vietnam and we are unable to pledge new yen loans," Sakaba said.

Sakaba spoke at an annual conference between Vietnamese officials and aid donors to the fast-developing communist country.

Speaking at the conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung vowed that Vietnam would use donors' development money responsibly.

"The Vietnamese government will make the utmost effort to further improve efficiency," he said.

中國製造? China Losing Luster

China Losing Luster with U.S. Manufacturers

A new survey finds rising worries about product quality and intellectual-property theft. More U.S. companies are looking to Mexico and their own backyard

Two years of disastrous quality-control breakdowns, from foul fish and lead-tainted toys to poisoned drugs and dairy products, are taking their toll on China's allure as a manufacturing platform. A new study by supply-chain consulting firm AMR Research found that quality concerns are among the chief reasons U.S. manufacturers are scaling back plans to source more goods from China.

Instead, U.S. companies are looking harder at Mexico and other locales closer to home when exploring where to put new capacity. The findings are based on a survey of 130 U.S. manufacturers, ranging from producers of drugs (BusinessWeek, 9/4/08) and computers to auto parts. The survey, completed in mid-October, found a sharp swing in attitudes toward China since May, when AMR conducted a similar study.

The reasons for the shift suggest serious problems for China's export machine that go far beyond the concerns over rising costs for wages, shipping, and materials that got a lot of attention earlier this year.

AMR asked U.S. manufacturers to rate different regions around the world (China and the U.S. were each counted as region unto themselves) on 15 different risks tied to sourcing products for sale in America. Just a few months ago the biggest concerns over China were rising factory wages and the hike in trans-Pacific shipping costs owing to soaring fuel prices. Since then, the 60% plunge in oil prices and a sharp falloff in U.S. imports from China have caused spot freight prices on ocean shipping to crash.

China Is Tops in Manufacturing Risk

Now, the biggest concerns over China are quality and theft of intellectual property (BusinessWeek.com, 4/27/06). Half of respondents to the survey cited China as the biggest source of "risk" for product quality failure. Fifty-seven percent rated China as the biggest risk of intellectual-property infringement. Both categories represented sharp increases from May. No other region was named as the biggest source of risk in those two areas by more than 7% of respondents.

"China is in a league of its own in terms of risks associated with intellectual property and quality," says Kevin O'Marah, AMR's chief strategist.

In fact, China ranked highest in 9 of the 15 risk factors. Rising labor costs are still an important factor for businesses, with 35% citing China as the leading source of concern. Other risk categories where China ranked highest included regulatory compliance, commodity price volatility, supply-chain security breaches, and information technology problems. The shortage of Chinese managerial talent—long one of the top risk factors during the go-go era that ended last year—has tailed off as a major worry.

The findings don't suggest a mass pullout from China, O'Marah says. Two out of three companies said they still plan to expand there, mainly because they already have operations and component suppliers in the mainland. But that's a big falloff since May, when four out of five companies said they had China expansion plans. The number of companies saying they plan to actually decrease sourcing from China rose from 9% to 17%. Asia in general is falling from favor as an import source, the AMR study found.

Less-Visible Costs of Outsourcing to China

Where are the hottest new places for manufacturing investment? For U.S. companies, Latin America seems poised to be the big winner. The number of companies planning Latin expansions rose from four out of five in May to five out of six in October. Mexico is by far seen as the leading destination, cited by 73% as the primary source for new outsourcing. AMR also found that more production work is expected to shift to the U.S., with the percentage of companies planning to invest at home rising from 22% to 33%. Of course, this snapshot of corporate plans may have changed since the survey was taken. The deepening U.S. recession may prompt U.S. companies to curtail expansion anywhere.

The souring attitude should be disturbing to China's leadership. If the issue were just eroding price advantages, that would be less cause for alarm. Costs could swing back in China's favor, for example, with fluctuations in currency rates, commodity prices, or changes in China's job market. What's more, Chinese manufacturers have a long history of sacrificing profit margins with lowball pricing to win market share.

The AMR study suggests, however, that U.S. companies are starting to better appreciate the less-visible costs of producing in China. Quality problems, rampant piracy (BusinessWeek, 10/2/08), allegations of sweatshop abuses, worker protests, and other factors not only drive up costs but also harm the value of brands and corporate reputations. "Companies are realizing that the fully loaded costs of importing from China are a lot higher than they imagined," says O'Marah.

Trouble is, China will not be able to improve its quality problem overnight. It will require a long-term transformation of China's regulatory bureaucracy, legal system, and management practices. And Beijing has been promising to control intellectual-property theft for decades, with unimpressive results. If China doesn't start making progress fast, the current slump in export manufacturing (BusinessWeek, 3/27/08) could be the beginning of a longer-term pullback.

Engardio is an international senior writer for BusinessWeek .

Pete Engardio (BusinessWeek誌、国際シニアライター)
米国時間2008年11月26日更新 「China Losing Luster with U.S. Manufacturers


輝きを失う、“世界の工場”中国

品質欠陥と知的財産の盗用への不安高まる

  • 2008年12月4日 木曜日


 養殖ウナギから玩具、薬品から乳製品に至るまで、この2年間で中国産製品のずさんな品質管理の実態が明らかとなり、“世界の工場”としての中国の魅力は大きく損なわれる結果となった。サプライチェーン分野の調査コンサルティング業務を専門とする米AMRリサーチの最新調査によると、品質に対する不安から、米国の製造業者は中国への生産委託計画を縮小しつつある。

 代わって注目を集めているのが、メキシコなどの米国の近隣諸国だ。製薬会社(BusinessWeek.comの記事を参照:2008年9月4日「Chinese Scientists Build Big Pharma Back Home」)からコンピューターや自動車部品のメーカーまで米製造業130社を対象に、10月中旬に実施された今回の調査では、AMRが同様の調査を行った5月以降、中国に対する意識が大きく変化していることが明らかとなった。

 中国製造業にまつわる問題として、今年に入って人件費、輸送費、原材料費の高騰が大いに注目を集めたが、今回の調査で判明した米製造業者の中国に対する意識変化は、輸出大国・中国にとってはるかに深刻な問題だ。

 調査では、米国内で販売される製品の調達に 関わる15のリスク要因について、世界中の様々な地域の評価を尋ねている(ただし中国と米国は、それぞれ国でなく1つの地域として区分)。ほんの数カ月 前、中国に対する最大の不安は、工場労働者の賃金上昇と、燃料価格高騰による海上運賃の上昇だった。ところが、その後原油価格が60%下落し、中国の対米 輸出が急減したことで、スポット運賃は暴落している。

中国のリスクの高さが様々な調査項目で突出

 現在、中国に関する最大の不安要素となっているのは、品質問題と知的財産の盗用だ(BusinessWeek.comの記事を参照:2006年4月27日「China’s Intellectual Property Thicket」)。回答者の半数が製品の品質欠陥について、また57%が知的財産の侵害について、「リスク」が最も高い地域として中国を挙げている。5月の調査時と比べて大幅に増加しており、この2項目で中国以外の地域をトップに挙げた回答はわずか7%に過ぎない。



2008年12月3日 星期三

The summit of discourtesy

The EU and China

The summit of discourtesy

Nov 27th 2008 | BRUSSELS
From The Economist print edition

Crisis or no crisis, China’s diplomatic priorities prevail


SUMMITS are a dime a dozen these days. So it is tempting to shrug off the announcement on November 26th that China pulled out of an EU-China summit, at less than a week’s notice. But China’s high-profile snub—aimed at President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, who was to be the host on the European Union side—cannot be dismissed so easily.

Cancelling a meeting at such a high level is a rare breach of diplomatic manners. Mr Sarkozy has irked China by proposing to meet the Dalai Lama at a party in Poland for former winners of the Nobel peace prize on December 6th. Before then, he was due to play host to the Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, in the French city of Lyon, in his capacity as holder of the rotating presidency of the EU. Some of the EU’s regular summits with China are very dull. This one had important things to discuss, such as joint action on tackling the global financial crisis. An official EU statement regretted the summit’s postponement, “particularly” at a time when the world situation calls for “very close co-operation”.

Mr Sarkozy seems singled out for special punishment. Both Angela Merkel of Germany and Gordon Brown of Britain have met the Dalai Lama in the recent past, without triggering such diplomatic fireworks. Mr Sarkozy, a mercurial chap, may not have prepared the ground with Beijing for his meeting with the Dalai Lama quite as diligently as did Ms Merkel and Mr Brown, diplomats suggest. Also, France and China have had some bruising spats this year: Mr Sarkozy criticised China’s handling of unrest in Tibet; the Olympic-torch relay was disrupted by protests in Paris (as in London); Mr Sarkozy hinted he might stay away from the opening of the Beijing Olympics unless China started talks with the Dalai Lama. Reprisals followed, notably an apparently temporary tourism boycott of France by China.

But other things are in motion. Recently the French, who will surrender the EU presidency at the end of December, unexpectedly put out feelers to see if other EU countries wanted to move ahead with a long-delayed EU code of conduct on arms sales to China. That code of conduct has long been presented by the French as the key to a much bigger prize for China: the scrapping of an EU embargo on arms sales to China, dating back to the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. The French, it is said, found little enthusiasm for movement on the arms-for-China dossier. America dislikes any idea of EU arms helping China modernise its army, since American troops might one day be on the wrong end of such lethal toys, in a fight over Taiwan. European leaders are not about to annoy the new President Obama, just to please China.

2008年12月1日 星期一

Thai Court Disbands Ruling Party

Thai Court Disbands Ruling Party

Vincent Thian/Associated Press

Anti-government protesters at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok celebrated on Tuesday after Thailand’s Constitutional Court dissolved the ruling party and banned the prime minister from politics for five years.


Published: December 1, 2008

BANGKOK — The Constitutional Court on Tuesday ordered Thailand’s governing party to be disbanded and barred the prime minister and many of his senior ministers from politics for five years.

The court ruling, which came amid protests that have paralyzed the government and blockaded Bangkok’s two airports, dissolves the People Power Party of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.

Thousands of protesters at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, the country’s main tourist gateway, roared when one of their leaders announced the news of the court’s decision from a makeshift stage outside the airport’s departure hall.

The cheers were followed by a minute of silence for the several protesters who were killed in various clashes and grenade attacks during the long protest campaign.

“I’m glad, I feel relieved, it’s like something that we have been carrying is now gone,” said Tonkla Maksuk, 49, a volunteer nurse at the protest. ““I feel that this is still a country of laws.”

The protesters, who have been occupying Mr. Somchai’s offices at Government House in central Bangkok since August, have made his resignation their principal demand. They charge that he is a pawn of the fugitive former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.

In the two years since a military coup ousted Mr. Thaksin as prime minister, a series of court rulings have also banned him and his allies from participating in politics. And as happened Tuesday, his political party was disbanded.

But members of Parliament simply reregistered under the People Power Party, which Mr. Somchai has been leading. Mr. Somchai has remained outside of Bangkok since last Wednesday, possibly fearing a military coup.

Members of Mr. Somchai’s party who were not banned by the court are expected to form a new party, which they will name Puea Thai, and call for an election as early as next week for a new prime minister.

“I’m extremely happy that we have won over tyranny, over the Thaksin regime, which is corrupt and dictatorial,” said another protester, Chokchuang Chutinaton, moments after the court decision was announced at the airport. “Truth will always win over evil, as according to Mahatma Gandhi.”

The court heard arguments in the case on Tuesday morning. The ruling was handed down around 1:30 p.m.

The case involved allegations of voter fraud by the People Power Party and two of its coalition partners in an election in December 2007. The court also banned the top leaders of the Chart Thai and Matchima Thipataya parties from politics for five years.

The ruling preceded another much-anticipated event this week, the annual speech on Thursday of the ailing but highly revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has not spoken publicly about the country’s national crisis.

Earlier Tuesday, a protest encampment at Don Muang Airport in Bangkok was rocked by a bomb blast. The explosion killed one protester, news agencies reported, and more than 20 were injured.

The antigovernment protests that intensified last week with the takeover of the capital’s two airports have plunged Thailand into its worst political crisis in at least a decade, and threaten to severely damage the economy.

The airport blockades have hurt some of the country’s crucial industries, especially tourism, at a time when the Thai economy was already showing signs of a slowdown because of the global financial crisis.

“Tell the world we did not want to blockade the airports,” Dr. Chutinaton said at the protest at Suvarnabhumi Airport. ““It was a desperate measure to achieve our goal.”

There has been concern about violence between demonstrators and the police. There are more than 2,000 security troops on standby around the international airport, but the police have said their priority is negotiation. A police helicopter flew over the main airport on Monday and dropped leaflets asking the thousands of protesters to “rally in peace and without weapons.”

Since Bangkok is also a regional hub for passengers and cargo, the repercussions are also spreading through Asia. Logistics companies and airlines are diverting business to competing hubs in Singapore; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Hong Kong.

Foreign governments, including that of the United States, have called on the protesters to allow the airports to reopen.

On Monday, after a concession by the protesters, airlines were flying dozens of empty planes out of the besieged international airport. Some of the planes were making stops elsewhere in the country, said Serirat Prasutanont, director of the Airports Authority of Thailand, to help funnel out some of the quarter-million or more foreign visitors still stranded.

The government has been using another airport, U-Tapao, at a Vietnam War-era military base two hours from Bangkok, to fly stranded passengers out. But that airport’s facilities are overloaded, and in any case, extremely limited.

Thailand has two other international airports. One, in Chiang Mai, is an eight-hour drive north of Bangkok, and the other, on the resort island of Phuket, is nine hours to the south.

“At the moment there are hardly any incoming passengers, very few,” said Pornthip Hiranyakij, secretary general of the Tourism Council of Thailand.

On Monday, the rating agency Standard & Poor’s lowered its economic outlook for Thailand because of the blockades. “It has caused serious disruptions to economic activities in the kingdom and raises the possibility of widespread violence markedly,” said Kim Eng Tan, a credit analyst. “These developments will add to the negative pressures of a global slowdown on Thailand’s economy.”

Mark McDonald contributed reporting from Hong Kong.

China blocks Japan-flavored Taiwan film "Cape No. 7"

對於電影海角七號傳出登陸中國受阻,民進黨昨痛批中國是以政治角度粗暴看待台灣電影,顯示共產黨不了解台灣、不尊重台灣文化,陳雲林更是企圖欺騙台灣人民的感情,來台灣前後對海角七號的看法不一,是說一套做一套!
AP

Report: China blocks Japan-flavored Taiwan film

China has reversed its decision to import a hit Taiwanese film that highlights Japan's 50-year colonial rule over the island because it may be offensive to nationalist sentiment on the Chinese mainland, news reports said.

"Cape No. 7" is Taiwan's most successful movie in years, earning more than 231 million New Taiwan dollars ($6.9 million) since its release on Aug. 22 and becoming the island's second top-grossing movie after the Hollywood romance "Titanic."

"Cape No. 7" is about a failed Taiwanese rock musician who returns to his small coastal hometown and is forced to play in a hastily assembled amateur band that will open for a Japanese pop star. He falls in love with the Japanese publicist overseeing the show.

The movie is also interspersed with a voice-over that reads from love letters written by a Japanese man to his Taiwanese love interest just after the island's colonial era ended. Japan ruled Taiwan from 1895 to 1945.

Cecille Huang, a marketing official at Taiwan's ARS Film Production, the company that made "Cape No. 7," said it had sold distribution rights to the import and export arm of the state-run China Film Group.

But "Cape No. 7" has sparked worries among Chinese officials that it might cause a nationalistic backlash in the mainland, newspapers reported. Japan also occupied parts of mainland China before and during World War II.

Chen Yunlin, a senior Chinese official in charge of relations with Taiwan, said the movie was tainted by its portrayal of Taiwanese who had been subject to "colonial brainwashing," Taiwan's United Daily News reported on its Web site Monday.

Reached by phone Monday, Yuan Wenqiang, general manager of China Film Group's import-export arm, said company officials were discussing the movie with government film censors.

"The process is ongoing," he said.

Huang said she was still confirming the newspaper reports and had no further comment.

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, with the mainland ruled by the Chinese Communist Party and the small island ruled by the Nationalists. Beijing continues to claim now-democratic Taiwan as its territory and has threatened to retake it by force, while many Taiwanese say they have a separate cultural identity and prefer to keep the status quo.

China also decided not to release the 2005 Hollywood movie "Memoirs of a Geisha," apparently fearful that the sight of Chinese actresses Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li portraying Japanese entertainers would offend mainland viewers.