Sunday, March 13, 2011

Is this an answer for China's droughts?

Norman Bethune Canadian Hero in China

Norman Bethune (1830-1939) was born in Gravenhurst, Ontario and he had one sister and one brother. In September 1909 he enrolled at the University of Toronto. He interrupted his studies for one year in 1911 to be a volunteer labourer-teacher with Frontier College at remote lumber and mining camps throughout northern Ontario, teaching immigrant mine labourers how to read and write English. In 1914 when war was declared in Europe, he once again suspended his medical studies. He joined the No. 2 Field Ambulance to serve as a stretcher-bearer in France. He was wounded by shrapnel and spent three months recovering in an English hospital. When he had recuperated from his injury he returned to Toronto to complete his medical degree. He received his M.D. in 1916. In 1917, with the war still in progress, Bethune joined the Royal Navy as a surgeon-lieutenant at the Chatham Hospital in England. In 1919, he began an internship specializing in children's diseases at The Hospital for Sick Children at Great Ormand St. in London. Later he went to Edinburgh, where he earned his surgical qualifications. In 1923 he married Frances and they took a year to do the Grand Tour of Europe. They then moved to Detroit where Bethune took up private practice and also took a part-time job as an instructor at the Detroit Surgical College.

Bethune spent a good deal of time treating the poor and he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He left Detroit for Calydor Sanitorium in Gravenhurst, Ontario. Bethune thought he was dying and demanded a divorce and sent Frances back to Scotland but they continued to write (and when Bethune engineered his own cure from medical reading he had conducted, they remarried only to divorce again three years later). His cure gave him a great interest in artificial pnemothorax procedures and he studied thoracic surgery in Montreal with Dr. Archibald. From 1928 to 1936, Bethune worked as a thoracic surgeon in Montreal. He became famous there for his treatment of tuberculosis patients. His is also known for developing several surgical tools some of which are in use today.

Although he cured hundreds of cases successfully, many of his poorer patients became ill again when they returned to crowded, unsanitary homes. Bethune became increasingly disillusioned with surgical treatment and concerned with the socioeconomic aspects of disease. In 1935 Bethune had travelled to Russia and had taken an interest in Communism. As a concerned doctor in Montreal during the economic depression years of the thirties, Bethune frequently sought out the poor and gave them free medical care. He challenged his professional colleagues and agitated, without success, for the government to make radical reforms of medical care and health services in Canada.Bethune realized they could not be cured without proper living conditions and medical care. Bethune became unpopular among other doctors who thought his ideas were too radical.

Bethune left his practice in Canada to head the Canadian Medical Unit in Madrid where the Spanish Civil War was raging from 1936 -1939. He jointed the Mackenzie-Papineau Military Unit which was made up of Canadians. While there he developed the world’s first mobile transfusion unit (first MASH unit). The mobile unit could conduct up to 100 operations on the battlefront. Bethune returned to Canada on June 6, 1937 where he went on a speaking tour to raise money and volunteers for the anti-fascist battle. In 1938 Bethune travelled to China to help with their war against the Japanese. He became the Red Army’s Medical Chief and trained thousands of medics and doctors. He died in 1939 after getting blood poisoning while doing a surgery. Norman Bethune was immortalized in China by an essay by Mao Zedong who extolled him and admonished the Chinese people to follow his example: "We must all learn the spirit of absolute selflessness from him. With this spirit everyone can be very helpful to each other. A person's ability may be great or small, but if he/she has this spirit, he/she is already noble-minded and pure, a person of moral integrity and above vulgar interests, a person who is of value to the people." Norman Bethune was far more well known in China than in his native Canada. There are many statues to him in China but his greatest legacy was in opening the door of understanding between Canada and China.

Chinese Inflation rate is stable for February

Chinese inflation stabilised in February, helped by government and central bank measures to rein in price growth.
Consumer prices rose 4.9% from a year earlier, the same rate as in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
Analysts had forecast a figure nearer 4.7%, but said it was more significant that the rate of growth had steadied.
They said it may show that China was managing to rein in inflation without hurting economic growth.
However, they added that it was too early to say for certain that the inflationary trend had broken, and that they expected the government and central back to keep taking measures to contain price growth.
The Chinese government has set a target of 4% inflation for this year.
Weir Yao from Societe Generale said that while consumer price growth was stabilising, the "risk is still significantly on the upside".
"It means the central bank will probably stay on the course of tightening," the analyst said.
Tightening measures
Rising food prices are of major concern in China, where poor families spend up to half their incomes on food.
The central bank has raised interest rates three times in recent months to battle high inflation.
It has also increased bank reserve requirements in an effort to stop them lending as freely.
Analysts had worried that these tightening measures would slow down the booming Chinese economy.

Chinese vendor sorts through a pile of pumpkins at a food market in Hefei, in east China.

China's government has been trying to boost the supply of food to slow the rate of inflation

However, these concerns eased after separate economic figures out today showed that industrial production accelerated in the first two months of the year.
In January and February, industrial output climbed by 14.1% from the same period in 2010. Output was up 13.3% in December.
"The economy is performing quite well," said Wang Hu from Guotai Junan Securities in Beijing.
However, the analyst said that economic growth will probably slow in coming months, and that may well help bring down the rate of inflation.
"China's economy may start to slow down in the second quarter, and the consumer price index will also start to trend trend down in June," Mr Wang said.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

China rules out democracy

Chinese leader rules out democracy

By Michael Bristow BBC News, Beijing

A senior Chinese leader says his country will not become a multi-party democracy or adopt other Western-style political reforms.

Wu Bangguo - officially number two in the leadership structure - warned that China could face civil disorder if it abandoned its current system.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao suggested last year that China could introduce democratic reforms.

These comments from Mr Wu explicitly say otherwise.

Dire consequences

Wu Bangguo made the comments in a speech delivered to China's National People's Congress, the country's annual parliamentary session that is currently taking place in Beijing.

"We have made a solemn declaration that we will not employ a system of multiple parties holding office in rotation," said Mr Wu, chairman of the standing committee of the NPC.

There would be no separation of powers between the different branches of government and no federal system, he said.

"It is possible that the state could sink into the abyss of internal disorder” Wu Bangguo

Mr Wu made similar comments at the parliamentary session two years ago.

Speaking at this year's meeting, he said the country would continue to be led - as it has since 1949 - by the Chinese Communist Party, with the government simply carrying out its orders.

Mr Wu warned of dire consequences if the system changed.

He said if that happened the gains made by the country over the last 30 years, since it launched economic reforms, would be lost - and perhaps worse.

"It is possible that the state could sink into the abyss of internal disorder," he said in a speech on the work of the standing committee over the past year.

Such unequivocal comments, made on such a public occasion, suggest Mr Wu's words reflect the collective opinion of China's top leaders.

It is not clear all of them share Mr Wu's position, though.

China

's premier, Wen Jiabao, has often spoken about possible democratic reforms, although he never fully explains what that means.

Last year in an interview with a US television network he once again touched upon this sensitive subject.

He said China needed political as well as economic reforms to ensure that state power truly belonged to the people.

But regardless of what Mr Wen believes, China continues to be a state governed by one party, which tolerates very little dissent.

Organisations and individuals outside the Communist Party that call for political reforms are quickly silenced.

Wu Bangguo's comments at the NPC make it clear that, under this current crop of leaders, there are no plans to change the country's current political system.

Friday, March 11, 2011

China cyber-warfare capability a 'formidable concern'

By Damian Grammaticas BBC News, Beijing

Chinese government computer at press conference of NPC, Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 4 March, 2011

China denies allegations of hacking or cyber-warfare, saying it is the victim of attacks

China's growing capabilities in cyber-warfare and intelligence gathering have been described as a "formidable concern" to the United States.

James Clapper, the US Director of National Intelligence, made the comments in testimony to the US Senate.
From Canada and Britain, France and South Korea, there have been growing reports of online attacks on computer networks around the world.
The finger of suspicion is often pointed at China.
In evidence to the US Senate's Armed Services Committee, Mr Clapper said last year saw a "dramatic increase" in malicious cyber-activity targeting US computers and networks.
He did not mention who might be behind the surge in attempts to steal information from government ministries, major companies and others.
But he added that China had made "a substantial investment" in cyber-warfare and intelligence gathering, saying it had a "very large organisation devoted to it and they're pretty aggressive".
"This is just another way in which they glean information about us and collect on us for technology purposes, so it's a very formidable concern," he said.
Accusations denied
He cited the incident of 8 April 2010, when state-owned China Telecom advertised erroneous network routes that instructed "massive volumes" of internet traffic to go through Chinese servers for 17 minutes.
"This incident affected traffic to and from US government and military sites, including sites for the Senate, the Army, the Navy, the Marine corps, the air force, and the office of the Secretary of Defense, as well as a number of Fortune 500 firms," he said.
China Telecom denied that it had hijacked US internet traffic.
China routinely denies such charges, and has in the past accused the US of using "online warfare" to foment unrest in nations like Iran.
Beijing often adds it is a victim rather a perpetrator of cyber-attacks.
It criticised as "irresponsible" an allegation from a South Korean politician earlier this week blaming Chinese hackers for intrusion into Seoul's military files.
"I want to emphasise that Chinese law prohibits any cyber-attacks including hacking of any form and fights against these types of crimes in accordance with the law," a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.

China has one month deficit

China posts a surprise trade deficit as exports slow

The value of China's currency has been a hot political issue for years

China has reported a surprise trade deficit for the first time since March last year, after exports slowed.Shipments grew at a weaker-than-expected 2.4% in February from the same month a year ago, latest figures show. Imports on the other hand increased by 19.4%, resulting in a trade deficit of $7.3bn (£4.5bn), the largest in seven years.The news comes at a time when China has been facing criticism over its export-led growth policy.

Easing pressure The US has led criticism of China, claiming it keeps the value of its currency, the yuan, artificially low so that it can boost foreign sales.

A weaker currency makes Chinese goods more affordable, giving the country's exporters an advantage over many competitors.

In recent years there have been repeated calls for China to let its currency appreciate against the US dollar.

"The Chinese government will be happy to see a modest trade deficit for a while”

Wang Jianhui Southwest Securities

Analysts say February's surprise deficit numbers may ease that pressure.

"A trade deficit offers relief to the international trade imbalance, and it may help to reduce pressure on the yuan to appreciate," said Wang Jianhui of Southwest Securities.

Mr Wang also said that as China works towards rebalancing its trade and increasing domestic demand, the slowdown in exports could continue in coming months.

"The Chinese government will be happy to see a modest trade deficit for a while," Mr Wang said.

Misfiring?

China

's growth over the past years has been powered by its surging exports. "Imports have dropped significantly, and it points to a serious weakening in domestic economic activity” Xu Biao China Merchants Bank

But as demand in its key markets such as the US and Europe has slowed, China has said it will focus on increasing domestic consumption in order to maintain economic growth.

However, analysts say that the latest numbers may point to deeper problems, not least the fact that domestic demand is not picking up as much as first hoped.

Imports are considered a good measure of domestic demand. In February, while they were expected to grow by more than 30%, they rose by 19.4%.

"It is definitely not a good sign," said Xu Biao of China Merchants Bank.

Mr Xu said that the latest figures may show that demand in mainland China is faltering.

"Imports have dropped significantly, and it points to a serious weakening in domestic economic activity," he said.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

China plans income tax threshold cut

China

may allow taxpayers to keep more of their income as it tries to boost domestic demand.

The State Council has proposed to raise the minimum threshold on income tax from the current level of 2000 yuan ($304; £186) a month.

However, the State Council did not give any details of the level to which it would be increased.

The move comes at a time when Beijing is trying to boost domestic demand to match growth in its export sector.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's legislature, will have to approve the changes before they are implemented.

However, analysts are concerned that while more disposable income will boost demand, it is also likely to put further upward pressure on prices.

The country has been fighting rising prices, with inflation hitting 4.9% in January.