Heads of state of eight South Asian nations have ended a two-day summit in Colombo by calling for increased co-operation on combating international terrorism. The South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation, or SAARC, also undertook to provide each member country with "the widest measures of mutual assistance in criminal matters to ensure a greater sense of security within the region". The July 7 terrorist attack on the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul which killed 60 was central to Saturday's bilateral talks between the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers. Ceasefire violations across the Line of Control in the disputed territory of Kashmir were also discussed, with both leaders agreeing to continue investigations.
2008年8月3日 星期日
2008年7月31日 星期四
China’s Industrial Ambition Soars to High-Tech
China’s Industrial Ambition Soars to High-Tech
The assembly line at a BYD auto plant in Shenzhen, China. Cars are part of the company's shift toward higher-end products.
SHENZHEN, China — Few people have heard of the BYD Corporation — BYD for Build Your Dream — but this little-known company has grown into the world’s second-largest battery producer in less than a decade of existence. Now it plans to make a great leap forward: “We’d like to make a green energy car, a plug-in,” said Paul Lin, a BYD marketing executive. “We think we can do that.”
Even in go-go China, such lofty aspirations may sound far-fetched. But BYD has built a 1.6-million-square-foot auto assembly plant here and hired a team of Italian-trained car designers; it plans to build a green hybrid by the end of the year.
No longer content to be the home of low-skilled, low-cost, low-margin manufacturing for toys, pens, clothes and other goods, Chinese companies are trying to move up the value chain, hoping eventually to challenge the world’s biggest corporations for business, customers, power and recognition.
The government is backing the drive with a two-pronged approach: using incentives to encourage companies to innovate, but also moving to discourage low-end manufacturers from operating in southern China. That step would reverse one of the crucial engines of this country’s spectacular economic rise.
But by introducing tougher labor and environmental standards and ending tax breaks for thousands of factories here, the government has sent a powerful signal about its global ambitions, and helped encourage an exodus of factories from an area long considered the world’s shop floor.
President Hu Jintao hinted at China’s vaulting ambitions during a meeting of China’s scientific elite last June at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he called on scientists to challenge other countries in high technology. “We are ready for a fight,” he said, “to control the scientific high ground and earn a seat on the world’s high technology board. We will make some serious efforts to strengthen our nation’s competence.”
Government policies now favor high-tech economic zones, research and development centers and companies that promise higher salaries and more skills. A computer chip plant being built by Intel in the northern city of Dalian is welcomed; a textile mill churning out $1 pairs of socks is not.
“When a country is in its early stages of development, as China was 20 years ago, having an export processing center is good for growth,” said Andy Rothman, a longtime China analyst at CLSA, the investment bank. “But there’s a point when that’s no longer appropriate. Now, China’s saying, ‘We don’t want to be the world’s sweatshop for junk any more.’ ”
Chinese firms are expanding into (or buying companies that work in) software and biotechnology, automobiles, medical devices and supercomputers. This year, a government-backed corporation even introduced its first commercial passenger jet, a move Beijing hopes will allow it to some day compete with Boeing and Airbus.
In some ways, the government is only riding the economic currents that come with development and high growth. For instance, many manufacturers in southern China — the country’s biggest export zone — are moving to the interior because land and labor costs are cheaper, or expanding operations to include in lower-cost countries, like India, Vietnam or Bangladesh.
World-class brands that have grown dependent on outsourcing labor-intensive production to China are now searching for alternatives. Even the retail behemoth Wal-Mart, which moved its global procurement center here to Shenzhen in 2002, is going to be forced to find new sourcing channels to fill its 5,000 stores worldwide.
For millions of consumers around the world, experts say the policy shift could also mean higher prices for a broad array of goods, from pens and hammers to Barbie dolls and running shoes.
“Basically the cost of things China produces for Home Depot and Wal-Mart are going up,” said Dong Tao, an economist at Credit Suisse. “But there is another side. In some areas that China’s going to grab, like telecom equipment, they’ll push prices lower.”
Economists say China’s development is following in the footsteps of Japan and South Korea, which successfully evolved from low-skilled manufacturing to high technology, services and the creation of global brands.
There are still plenty of obstacles here, including weak intellectual property rights enforcement and a culture of copying or stealing technology from foreign companies or joint venture partners. But experts point to positives like a rising aggressive entrepreneurial class, legions of newly minted science and engineering graduates and a fiercely competitive domestic marketplace.
Peter J. Williamson, a professor of management at Cambridge University, challenges the notion that China does not have technological know-how.
“They are some of the biggest in launching satellites. They have a lot of technology locked up in the military, and now the government is reducing budgets and pressing agencies to privatize,” he said. “So suddenly, a lot of technology people thought didn’t exist has come out from behind the curtain.”
This is what China is betting on.
At BYD, executives are ramping up research and development spending, and studying global marketing strategies. Founded in 1995 by a scientist who studied metallurgy, the company has made lithium batteries, cellphones, camera equipment, auto parts and other components for Nokia, Motorola and Sony, among others, gaining experience in producing high-quality goods.
“The technology for a car is not that sophisticated,” Mr. Lin said. “It’s big, but a lot of low technology.” Five years ago BYD bought a state-owned carmaker to help make the transition.
Another company hoping to make the leap is Hasee, a fast-growing computer maker also based in Shenzhen.
Founded just six years ago, Hasee is already selling 100,000 laptops a month and is the second biggest Chinese computer maker behind Lenovo, with revenue forecast to reach $800 million this year.
Hasee executives say the company is spending heavily on research and development, and that by focusing on innovative computers and laptops that now sell for just $370, it is on track to become the world’s biggest computer maker within a decade.
“Our strategy in China is to always focus on innovation,” said Zhang Xianyong, a Hasee vice president and sales manager for greater China. “We’re now in the domestic market, but we’ll spare no effort to grab overseas expansion.”
The government is pressing companies to move up the value chain for economic, but also political reasons, analysts say. Promoting innovation and brand-name companies would probably bolster the economy and create better jobs.
In April, Credit Suisse forecast that one-third of all export-oriented manufacturers could close within three years. And a study released in March by the American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai and Booz & Company, the consulting firm, says foreign investors are growing bearish on China and that rising costs are driving American manufacturing out of the country.
For many Chinese economists, that is just fine. “The low-end industries used to make a great contribution to Guangdong,” said Liang Guiquan, an economist at the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank. “But an enterprise is like a creation. They must get used to changes in the environment. If the environment changes, they must die out.”
2008年7月30日 星期三
珠三角刻意“轉型”?
中國經濟 | 2008.07.30
珠三角 香港愁雲慘澹中國似在刻意“轉型”
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: 在阿迪達斯的蘇州工廠裏
珠江三角洲轉眼間上萬企業倒閉，香港業界一片愁雲。連阿迪達斯這樣的世界名牌也在局部撤離中國。中國變貴了，勞動密集型產業紛紛撤出。但中國政府對此似乎並不在乎，似乎在有意地“轉型”。記者從上海給德國之聲發來如下報導。
對著名運動服裝品牌阿迪達斯來說，在中國生產運動鞋的成本已經過於高昂。總裁海納在接受德國經濟週刊採訪時說，目前該公司50%的運動鞋都 在中國生產，今後這一比例將有所降低。今年中國開始實施新的勞動合同法後，工資成本的上升讓不少企業老闆吃不消了。阿迪達斯的供應商開始將生產線轉移到老 撾、越南、柬埔寨和印度等國。而這已成為一種趨勢。
香港的工商界彌漫著一片不安的氣氛。在中國大陸做生意的盈利情況大不如前。曾幾何時，香港企業以其密集的投資使鄰近的廣東省獲得了世界工廠的頭銜 。但如今輝煌不再，僅去年年底前後，珠江三角洲就有萬餘家港資企業被迫關門。據當地媒體報導，今年還將有2萬家企業面臨倒閉。而中國政府任其自生自滅。
香港中小型企業商會會長陳國威介紹了港資企業的困境：“許多港資企業在大陸開廠已經20年，有的甚至是在30年前剛剛實行開放政策之初就來到大陸，現在卻前途未卜。許多老闆不得不關閉工廠，他們在廠裏投入了很多心血。但現在中國的實力增強了，不再依賴這些港商了。”
受到這一波倒閉潮衝擊的主要是在中國南方利用廉價勞動力生產低價位商品的企業。中國政府不願意繼續通過稅收優惠政策吸引這樣的企業。蘇格蘭皇家銀行 香港分行的戰略經濟師辛普芬多弗指出： „中國不希望這樣的企業繼續增加。當然這樣的企業能帶來就業崗位，但這也同時意味著廉價生產，盈利空間小，環境 代價高。例如生產塑膠玩具的廠家把化學廢料直接排放到河流裏。而且這種產業的勞動條件也普遍比較差。"
正是這種廉價的生產方式使廣東成為中國最富裕的省份。但普通工人卻沒有從豐厚的盈利中獲得多少好處。即使工資略有提高，也立即被通貨膨脹抵消了。中 國政府現在要對這種部平衡的現象開刀。希望繼續利用廉價勞動力，享受稅收優惠的企業，現在被引向中西部的內陸地區投資。但那裏的工資水平遲早也會提高，況 且交通運輸能力有限。因此許多出口企業寧願向越南轉移。
辛普芬多弗認為，這並不是一個暫時的現象，“我認為，中國的出口增長已經越過了巔峰期。最高峰在幾年前就已達到了。現在出口工業面臨的挑戰是要應付不斷上升的生產成本，和人民幣的升值。我想，日後我們回顧這段時間的時候會說，那是在中國做生意的黃金時期。”
但中國的出口行業並不會因此消失，相反，它將繼續成長和成熟，會提高檔次。中國生產的出口商品中，手提電腦的數量已經超過了塑膠拖鞋。同時普通的非技術工人的工資仍遠遠低於德國，而且數量充足。正在減少的是為了微薄得可憐的薪水賣命的，真正意義上的廉價勞動力。
德國之聲版權所有
轉載或引用請標明出處
Claudia Witte發自上海
兩張亞洲圖片
Turkey's Ruling Party Avoids Ban
A court ruled against a ban for the party, which faced charges that it threatened the secular regime. Above, news of the decision was broadcast in Istanbul.
Trade Talks Broke Down Over Chinese Shift on Food
Once a strong defender of free trade, China insisted at trade talks in Geneva that developing countries be allowed to impose high tariffs on food imports from affluent countries.
2008年7月28日 星期一
Tourists Join Taiwan-China Thaw
英 | 大 | 中 | 小
2008年07月28日14:08
今
夏的大陸赴台旅游團促使大陸和台灣方面均表現出克制﹐雙方政府均作出努力以減少出現尷尬場面。
在一個台灣小鎮﹐當地官員摘下了一個寫有反北京內容的標牌。台灣官員仔細巡查帶有台灣總統稱呼的東西﹐以避免讓大陸遊客產生台灣認為自己是獨立的想法。
而對來訪的遊客們而言﹐大陸先前已經告訴他們要衣著得體、舉止文明。與此同時﹐它還要求台灣方面不要將與蔣介石有關的區域作為旅遊目的地。
之所以有如此考慮﹐是考慮不損害剛剛解凍的兩岸關係。今年在台灣大選中獲勝的新總統馬英九致力於改善兩岸關係﹐促成了雙方九年來的首次正式會談。
旅行限制的放鬆便是上述會談的一大成果。根據雙方6月份達成的協議﹐每天赴台的大陸遊客人數最多將達到三千人﹐按照這一數字﹐赴台旅遊的大陸遊客數量每年可能達到一百萬左右。不過﹐在實際允許的赴台旅遊人數上還存在一些爭論。以往﹐大陸遊客只能通過在泰國、香港等地中轉後前往台灣。根據台灣官方數據﹐過去六年中來訪的大陸遊客人數只有約29.3萬。而多年來中國大陸已經接待了大批台灣遊客。
大陸方面的舉動從某些方面看是想通過提振島內旅游業來贏得台灣民心。台灣政府估計﹐放鬆旅行限制將為島內旅游業帶來25-32億美元的年收入。而5月份就任總統的馬英九估測﹐這一變化將創造4萬個新工作崗位。
這種新機制給大陸和台灣雙方都提出了一項棘手的任務﹕如何確保赴台旅遊的一帆風順﹖
新機制下的首批旅行團包括廣東省的66名遊客﹐他們7月4日抵達台灣後在當地停留了十天。這批遊客所在團隊多數時間的行程受到了嚴密控制。台灣官員還要求發放給大陸遊客的宣傳冊使用簡體字印刷。此外﹐他們對示威活動採取了限制措施。
一個小鎮的官員們摘除了法輪功樹立的標牌﹐上面是為一本指責中國共產黨侵犯人權的法輪功書刊做宣傳。當地官員說﹐他們之所以摘除這塊標牌是因為它屬於違章建築﹐而不是因其內容違法。法輪功組織的一名發言人稱﹐此舉是一種自我審查行為﹐是民主的倒退。
不過遊客們依然遭遇了尷尬。為了避免“台獨”意味﹐台灣官員在大陸遊客面前言辭謹慎地將馬英九稱為“馬英九先生”而不是“馬英九總統”。可是在大陸遊客抵台後收到的禮物中﹐卻有一組印有馬英九畫像的郵票。當地有記者詢問一位拿到禮物的大陸遊客是否知道馬英九的頭銜﹐這名遊客拒絕回答。
其他可能引起不快的時刻則平靜地過去。此次旅行的其中一站是台灣故宮﹐這裡陳列著國民黨在1949年逃離大陸時帶走的許多工藝品。有些大陸居民希望讓這些國寶回歸﹐而四十歲的蘇州教師鐘玉琴（音）卻認為這個問題並不重要。她說﹐這不是什麼問題﹐這裡也是祖國的一部分。
在首批赴台的大陸遊客中﹐許多人都談到這片島嶼對他們來說有似曾相識的感覺﹐因為多年來他們已經對這裡的習俗、食物、風景甚至是政治耳濡目染。來自北京的退休研究員、71歲的白成瑞（音）說﹐能來台灣他感到很幸運﹐自己看到了許多以前在電視里看到的畫面。
還有一個引人入勝之處﹕台灣的電視節目。裡面有許多批評台灣總統和政府高官的節目。台灣導游介紹說﹐有些大陸遊客建議他們的同伴晚上在賓館里看看電視。
Ting-I Tsai
Tourists Join Taiwan-China Thaw
漢 | 大 | 中 | 小
2008年07月28日14:08
A wave of mainland Chinese tourists here this summer has China and Taiwan on their best behavior, as de facto ambassadors on both sides take pains to minimize awkward moments.
In one Taiwanese town, local officials took down an anti-Beijing billboard. Officials here are stepping carefully around the title of Taiwan's president to avoid reminding the tourists that the island considers itself independent of China.
For its part, China has told tourists to dress nicely and be civil. At the same time, it has asked that locations related to late anticommunist leader Chiang Kai-shek be kept off a list of tour sites.
At stake is a recent thaw in relations between China and the island it has long considered a breakaway province. Taiwan's elections this year swept in a new president keen to improve relations with Beijing, leading to the first formal talks in nine years between the two sides.
Easing tourist restrictions was one major result. The two governments in June agreed to allow as many as 3,000 tourists from China into Taiwan daily, a pace with the potential to lead to roughly one million mainland visitors a year -- though there is some disagreement about how many tourists are actually being allowed. Previously, Chinese tourists could come to the island only indirectly, via stops in places like Thailand or Hong Kong. Only about 293,000 have visited in the past six years, according to Taiwanese government figures. Taiwanese tourists have been visiting China in droves for many years.
China's move is partly an attempt to win points with Taiwanese by boosting the island's tourism industry. The change could create US$2.5 billion to US$3.2 billion in annual tourism revenue, the Taiwanese government estimates. President Ma Ying-jeou, who took office in May, suggests 40,000 new jobs would be created.
The new system presents both China and Taiwan with a tricky task: Ensuring smooth visits.
The first group under the system, composed of 66 tourists from the mainland province of Guangdong, arrived on July 4 for a 10-day stay. The tourists were kept in a group on a tightly controlled itinerary for most of the day. Taiwanese officials made sure the brochures printed for the tourists were in the simplified Chinese script adopted by China in the past few decades but scorned by Taiwan, which continues to use traditional Chinese. Authorities also discouraged demonstrations.
Officials of one town took down a billboard erected by the Falun Gong, a spiritual group critical of and banned by Beijing. The billboard touted a Falun Gong book that criticized China's Communist Party for human-rights violations. Local officials said they removed the billboard because it was constructed illegally, not because of its content. A Falun Gong spokeswoman said, 'The move is about self-censorship, and it is a setback for democracy.'
The tourists still faced awkward moments. Taiwanese officials were careful to refer to the island's leader in front of the tourists as 'Mr. Ma' rather than 'President Ma' to avoid bringing up Taiwan's independence. But among the gifts presented to the tourists upon their arrival was a set of stamps bearing Mr. Ma's likeness. Local reporters asked a mainland tourist who received the set whether she knew his title. She declined to answer.
Other potentially red-faced moments passed smoothly. One stop on the first tour was the National Palace Museum, home to a number of Chinese artifacts the Nationalists brought with them when they fled China in 1949. Some in China have pushed for their return. Zhong Yuchin, a 40-year-old teacher from the mainland city of Suzhou, said the issue isn't an important one. 'This shouldn't be a problem. Here is part of the motherland, too,' she said.
Most Chinese tourists in the first group emphasized the island's familiarity, as they have heard of the customs, food, vistas and even politics of Taiwan for years. 'I feel so lucky to visit the island,' said Bai Chengruei, a 71-year-old retired researcher from Beijing. 'I have seen so many scenes I have learned from TV.'
Another big draw: Taiwanese television. The nation's broadcasters carry a number of shows that criticize Taiwan's president and senior officials. Some guests told others to stay in hotels to watch TV in the evenings, according to their Taiwanese tour guides.
2008年7月24日 星期四
From the Erotic Domain, an Aerobic Trend in China
亞太國家週四宣佈了一項宏大的計劃﹐將在發生颶風、地震和洪水等地區性災害時﹐動用包括軍事支持在內的國際資源進行救災。
中國網民數量超過美國
中國互聯網絡信息中心週四稱﹐截至6月底﹐中國互聯網用戶數量已升至2.53億人﹐取代美國成為全球網民數量最多的國家。
From the Erotic Domain, an Aerobic Trend in China
Students taking a lesson at Lolan Pole Dancing School in Beijing. The school has five studios and plans to open six more this year.
BEIJING — Clad in knee-high leather boots, spandex shorts and a sports bra, Xiao Yan struck a pose two feet off the ground, her head glistening with sweat and her arms straining as she suspended herself from a vertical pole.
“Keeping your grip is the hardest part,” she said. “It’s really easy to slide downward.”
Ms. Xiao, 26, who works as a supermarket manager, is one of a growing number of women experimenting with China’s newest, and most controversial, fitness activity: pole dancing.
“I used to take a normal aerobics class, but it was boring and monotonous,” Ms. Xiao said. “So I tried out pole dancing. It’s a really social activity. I’ve met a lot of girls here who I’m now close friends with. And I like that it makes me feel sexy.”
A nightclub activity mostly considered the domain of strippers in the United States, pole dancing — but with clothes kept on — is nudging its way into the mainstream Chinese exercise market, with increasing numbers of gyms and dance schools offering classes.
The woman who claims to have brought pole dancing to China, Luo Lan, 39, is from Yichun, a small town in Jiangxi Province in southeastern China. Her parents teach physics at the university level.
“I’m not good at science like my parents. I’m the black sheep of my family, in that sense,” she said.
Ms. Luo said she struggled in 20 different occupations — secretary, saleswoman, restaurateur and translator among them — before deciding to take a break. She traveled to Paris in 2006 for vacation. It was there that she first saw pole dancing.
“I wandered into a pub, and there was a woman dancing on the stage,” she said. “I thought it was beautiful.”
Ms. Luo, who quickly discovered that pole dancing for fitness was popular in America, realized that if she could take away the shadier aspects of the erotic dance and repackage it into an activity more acceptable to mainstream Chinese women, she might create a Chinese fitness revolution. Here was an exercise that would allow women to stay fit and express their sexuality with an unprecedented degree of openness and freedom.
But she remained keenly aware of the challenges in a society where traditional values dictate that women be loyal, faithful and modestly dressed.
Upon her return to Beijing, Ms. Luo invested a little under $3,000 of her savings to start the Lolan Pole Dancing School. She placed advertisements in a lifestyle newspaper and called friends to get the word out.
Slowly, young women trickled in to take a look.
“People here have never seen a pole dance, and for that reason they don’t associate it with stripping or women of ill repute,” Ms. Luo said. “I knew if I could give people a positive first impression of this as a clean, fun, social activity, people wouldn’t just accept it, they’d embrace it.”
Before long, Ms. Luo was contacted by several magazines. In March 2008, Hunan Television, a nationally broadcast network, invited her and a group of her students to perform on a talk show.
“Most of the people in the audience had no idea what this was,” said Hu Jing, 24, an instructor at the Lolan School. “They just thought it was fun and clapped afterward.”
Since the broadcast, pole dancing for fitness has spread through China. The school now has five studios with plans to open six more this year. A rival pole dancing school, Hua Ling, opened half a year after the Lolan School.
Pole dancing’s move onto the fitness scene, however, has been a rocky one. Many Chinese, who disapprove of its sexual movements, consider it unruly and licentious.
“Five years ago, this wouldn’t have been permitted,” said Zhang Jian, 30, a manager in an interior design firm. “I think this is just a fad, and I don’t think it’s appropriate for women.”
Ms. Luo said she had received prank calls and plenty of criticism. “I’ve been contacted by many people who don’t like what we’re doing,” she said.
But those who embrace pole dancing for fitness are a snapshot of urban youths whose values are changing from those of their parents.
Although China has no state religion, study of Confucianism and Taoism, two conflicting philosophies that underlie much of modern Chinese thought, is mandatory in China’s education system. While Confucianism emphasizes achievement and propriety, Taoism stresses the unseen strengths in being humble and, in some cases, being perceived as average.
Although Jiang Li, 23, a pole dancing student, studied both philosophies in school, she said she could subscribe to neither.
“A lot of people expect Chinese women to be subdued and faithful, that we should marry and take care of kids at an early age,” she said. “But I don’t think that way — I want to be independent. I’ve been studying traditional Chinese dance for many years, but this is totally different. I feel in control when I do this. If I learn this well, I feel I can be a superstar. I want to be a superstar.”
《邊境漂流──我們在泰緬邊境2000天》書介
台北商專畢業後，發現自己「對於人群的興趣多於理財，喜歡探索勝過念書」，他考上中興大學社會系夜間部，在立法委員陳定南國會辦公室當了三年小助理，之後到英國東英格蘭大學就讀發展研究所。
28歲時，賴樹盛初抵泰緬邊境，從實習志工到專職工作者，近六年的經歷，寫下《邊境漂流──我們在泰緬邊境2000天》，記錄當地歷史背景、政治現狀、國 際服務、難民營沿革、男女老少的樣貌，以及「看到他人的貧困，體會朋友的苦難，想做的愈多，益發深覺自我的軟弱和傲慢，結果，瞭解最深刻的仍是自己。」
賴樹盛的工作基地美索，位於泰國領土極西，離曼谷六百多公里，隔著湄河，與緬甸接壞。美索地區，住有「泰族人、緬甸人、各式少數民族，以及從孟加拉移居緬 甸後又遷居到泰國的穆斯林，還有自中國福建或雲南移居而來的華人社群……許多國際組織皆在鎮上設置難民服務辦公室，來自歐洲與北美的長駐工作者，以及短暫 來去的外籍志工和背包族旅行者。」