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By JFK Miller
The KMT, the party of Chiang Kai-shek, is back in power in Taiwan after a thumping victory over the DPP in last week’s national legislative elections. The elections were the first round of two major national polls, and the KMT also looks set to win the second round in March when the island votes to elect its president. So what does all this mean for cross-straits relations?
Most pundits agree there’ll be an easing of tensions between Taiwan and Beijing, especially if pro-independence “president” (thank you, China Daily Stylebook), Chen Shui-bian, is booted out in March as anticipated. Chen has provoked Beijing by pushing for greater independence from the Chinese mainland, and has called for a nationwide referendum, to coincide with the presidential election in March, on Taiwan's membership to the UN.
But it’s wrong to think that Taiwanese voters turned against Chen because of his pro-independence leanings, as claimed by Jane Macartney, the London Times’ correspondent in Beijing:
“In droves, voters sent out the message that they wanted to see a cooling of the political rhetoric from their leaders that has enraged China and made their island among the hottest possible flashpoints for war in Asia.”
Not true. Most Taiwan watchers agree the election was fought – and won – on domestic issues, mainly economic ones. Granted, the economy and Taiwan’s relations with the mainland are closely linked – the DPP had discouraged investment on the mainland, and barred mainland investment in Taiwan, which hindered the island’s economy. But for Macartney to claim that the defeat of KMT was due to Chen’s pro-independence rhetoric is an oversimplification.
As Philip Bowring in the IHT points out:
“… voters' motives in rejecting the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party were more complex than simply a verdict on relations with China.”
Bowring thinks a KMT administration will bring closer ties with the mainland, but cautions that:
“… progress on cross-strait relations is unlikely to be swift as Beijing looks for commitment to the One China principle in return for the benefits of freer flows of people and money.”
The FT agrees, adding:
“Beijing will continue to apply relentless pressure – military, diplomatic and economic – to force Taiwan’s eventual absorption into Communist-ruled China and will continue to undermine the US will to intervene on Taiwan’s behalf. The Taiwanese, although eager to reap the financial benefits of cross-strait co-operation, will resist Chinese advances if they feel their freedoms, including the freedom to vote… are under threat.”
On a side note, I found this comment in the FT rather odd:
“The US is obliged by law to defend Taiwan.”
I’m not sure what “law” the FT is referring to, but assume it’s not the same “law” that obliged the U.S. to send Iraq to hell in 2003. Or maybe it is. In which case: Oh dear.
Regarding reunification, The Economist says the main problem isn’t Taiwan but Beijing:
“… the real impediment to reunification is not Taiwanese pro-independence sentiment, but rather the mainland's political backwardness. (Taiwan is also closely watching China's foot-dragging on democratization in Hong Kong.)”
As for the referendum on Taiwan’s UN membership, most people agree this is going nowhere. None of the five permanent members of the Security Council – China (obviously), Russia, France, Britain and the US – is backing it, and most have publicly told Taipei to drop it.
Gary Schmitt in a WSJ commentary entitled “Our One-China Cowardice” says Washington’s statement that the referendum is a “move toward Taiwan independence” is nothing less than “appeasement,” and is only encouraging Beijing to take a harder line:
“No one would tolerate Berlin waking up tomorrow and telling Paris and the world that it wanted to revisit the issue of Alsace. But somehow the West has come to accept this kind of behavior from China. Appeasing China will not lessen its ambitions toward Taiwan. If anything, by suggesting the referendum is a move toward Taiwan independence, Washington and its allies are unintentionally giving Beijing the very grounds it could use to take a more aggressive approach.”
I should add that Schmitt is director of the American Enterprise Institute, a neocon thinktank (less of the think, more of the tank).
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 Well, then: Oops. What last month we said was going to happen, this month was made official. China has scrapped May holiday, one of its three Golden Weeks, and turned three traditional festivals into national holidays. Here's how your official 2008 Chinese holiday schedule now looks:
- New Year's Day: January 1
- Spring Festival: February 6,7 and 8 (Wednesday-Friday)
- Tomb Sweeping Day (Qingming Jie, 清明节): April 4 (Friday)
- Labor Day: May 1 (Thursday)
- Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu Jie, 端午節): June 8 (Sunday)
- Mid-Atumn Festival (Zhongqiu Jie, 中秋节): September 14 (Sunday)
- National Day: October 1, 2 and 3 (Wednesday-Friday)
We would assume that the two holidays that fall on Sundays would result in Monday being the day off, but we didn't read anything that said for sure. These changes were made in part to help lessen the travel crunch that occurs during the Golden Weeks — but it remains to be seen whether the two remaining Golden Weeks will just be worse now that May holiday is gone. Another reason was to restore and maintain some old Chinese traditions, thus the additions of Qingming, Duanwu and Zhongqiu. And for all you traditionalists out there, we bet that lots of people in China will still have to work on weekends to get some weekdays off next year — genius ideas like that just shouldn't be tampered with.
One move that could actually help alleviate Golden Week crowds are the changes made to vacation day regulations, which also go into effect on January 1:
职工累计工作已满1年不满10年的，年休假5天；已满10年不满20年的，年休假10天；已满20年的，年休假15天
If you have worked with a company 1-9 years, you get five vacation days; 10-19 years, 10 vacation days; 20 or more years, 15 days
And supposedly if you don't take the vacation days, you get paid three-times your normal salary for those days. We think the above guidelines are mandatory minimums, and they pertain to all kinds of China based companies, not just state-owned enterprises. It's been a long time since we've had a real job, so we could be getting this all wrong, but we believe previously there were vacation day regulations for SOE employees, but they varied from region to region, and no clear-cut guidelines existed for other kinds of companies. Now at least there are official rules that can now officially be ignored. But maybe some workers will choose to take their precious vacation days — five days for nine years of service kinda sucks — during times other than the official holidays. And maybe some will spend their vacations looking for jobs that offer more vacation days.
Image from People's Daily.
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Migrant workers—let's face it, you either love 'em or hate 'em. There's just no in between. It seems that lately, they've been getting some love from the people, what with Chongqing's official Migrant Worker Day and now with the recent announcement by none other than Premiere Wen Jiabao himself that the popular "Migrant Worker Song" (or "Ode to the Migrant Worker" as we prefer to translate it when we're feeling poetic), a song written by workers and popularized over the internet, will be performed at the annual CCTV Spring Festival show.
We had heard about this song before, but never bothered listening to it until just now, where we found the music video for it on your typical Chinese video-sharing sites. It's a catchy tune about the vicissitudes of life as a migrant worker in China, featuring many a real migrant worker doing what they do best: take care of children, serve you at restaurants, build your skyscrapers, carry heavy loads of stuff, etc. They tend to smile and look awkward, which is just so cute because it reminds you of what plain, simple. and un-Paris Hilton like these people are. China's migrant workers—compromising their dignity so you don't have to!
The whole idea of the song came about after Wen Jiabao visited Chongqing in 2006 and met with some actual migrant workers. He told them that their situation was one of his greatest concerns over the last few years. The migrant workers were moved by this true man of the people and took some pictures with him. Later, after the song became the popular, they hatched the idea of letting the premier hear their song, so they got together over a thousand people and had them sign a letter, and sent this, along with the song, to the premier. A few days letter they got the reply and what seemed like a promise to let the song be performed during the Spring Festival concert. And by now, you're dying of anticipation. Check out the tight little "rap" in the bridge of the song in the video above.
For more on migrant workers and music, here's a link that might be worth checking out. There's news and video clips relating to migrant workers in China.
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 Today is the 70th anniversary of the start of the Nanking Massacre which took place in 1937, and more than 8,000 people were gathered today in the Nanking Massacre Museum this morning in a memorial ceremony as you see in this picture from Shanghai Daily.
The number of deaths that resulted in the six weeks of atrocities after the fall of Nanjing continues to be debated. It ranges, according to Wikipedia, from "some Japanese claims of several hundred, to the Chinese claim of a non-combatant death toll of 300,000. A number of Japanese researchers consider 100,000 – 200,000 to be an approximate value. Other nations usually believe the death toll to be between 150,000 – 300,000". Till today, some Japanese commentators when referring to the event have shunned the use of the term 'Nanking massacre' (南京大虐殺,Nankin daigyakusatsu), preferring the more ambivalent term 'Nanking Incident' (南京事件,Nankin jiken).
Back to the picture, does anyone apart from us find it odd that Chinese authorities would choose to use the symbol of the cross so prominently in the ceremony?
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 What would you do if you paid a shitload of money to study at some college, thinking it would legit and all, only to be told that your diploma would not be recognised after all? We don't know about you, but we would definitely riot. Well, that's what some civilian students at the Hefei PLA Artillery Academy did a few days back. And it turned out to be a very bloody incident. Iron doors were torn down, police cars were overturned and windows were smashed.
More from Radio Free Asia: HONG KONG—Thousands of military academy students in central China’s Anhui province are rioting after news spread that the government wouldn’t recognize diplomas awarded to the fee-paying students, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.
“It was total chaos. Many people were beaten and were bleeding. The school buildings are a mess,” one student, surnamed Peng, told RFA’s Mandarin service.
“There is a 15-story building on campus. It’s been vacated. The iron doors in the corridors were smashed. In the morning armed police and police cars arrived to restore order. Their attempts were futile. Police cars were overturned,” Peng said.
“Even the automatic iron gates on campus were wrecked. The situation is really tense now. I hear that either tomorrow or the day after the Nanjing Military Region will send personnel to restore order.”
The rioting began Nov. 28 and worsened Nov. 29, witnesses said. Classes have been cancelled and windows smashed. It wasn’t immediately clear whether anyone had been injured.
The Hefei PLA Artillery Academy comprises three types of students: Fully registered cadets with military status, fully registered students without military status studying for civil degrees, and self-funding “contract students,” according to the academy's Web site.
“The students rioted because they are angry that their diplomas are fake,” Peng said, estimating that 6,000 to 7,000 self-funded students had joined the rioting. “The school sent military personnel to mediate. The students beat them and drove them away—even the military officers. Everyone is like an angry lion now.”
A female administrator at the Academy confirmed that rioting was going on. Asked if the rioters were students, she replied that all were students from “the sixth department… They are informal students without military status.”
A teacher at the academy, surnamed Ren, denied that rioting had occurred but added, “It could happen to any school. There are always some students who do not want to study. Right?”
“The majority of the students are good students. Those [who do not like to study] will be severely dealt with. What do the students know? Including the seniors. They have not even gotten their diplomas yet.”
“Only a small number of students with their own agenda were fanning the fire. I have told you too much already. If you are a reporter, I advise you not to touch things related to a military academy,” Ren said.
Some students have posted complaints online indicating that that they had started rioting because neither the Education Ministry nor the Military Commission would recognize their diplomas. “On no account enroll at the Artillery Academy. On no account enroll at the Academy’s sixth department,” said one posting.
Attempts by Shanghaiist to find pictures of the riot's aftermath were futile. It looks like the major portals are all quickly censoring their own sites. Here's the cutesie little message we found on a Mop.com that was supposed to give us some information:
很抱歉，您刚打开的帖子因为某种原因已经被管理员删除了，我们为您精心挑选了以下精彩好帖，希望您能喜欢o(^_^)o ，如果您还有疑问，请点击这里咨询管理员。
Very sorry. For some reason, the post you are looking up has been deleted by the administrator. We have selected some more interesting posts and hope you will like them o(^_^)o If you have any questions, please click here and ask the administrator.
And some comments from around the China blogosphere. "Law and Order" says on the Time China Blog: If the reporting from Radio Free Asia were accurate (it's a big IF given the organization's anti-China stance and habitual distortion of facts), the court system is well equipped dealing with this sort of thing in a fair and just way.
Whether a school's diploma is recognized or not is at the discretion of the Department of Education. If there is dispute about the decision, the affected students should resolve the issue either through administrative agency or in the court. If anyone decides to resort to violence, he should be brought to justice. On the point of law and order, it is exactly the same in China as in the United States: anyone who breaks the law shall be brought to justice.
Catherine on the Time China Blog: The Chronicle of Higher Education, when commenting on this incident, said, "China has experienced an increasingly competitive job market in recent years as a result of rapid growth in the number of students going to college. Major universities around the country have set up subsidiary programs at smaller colleges, offering students who fail in the competitive university exam a back-door way of obtaining a big-name degree. But the central government has begun to shut down such programs, leaving many students empty-handed upon graduation."
The Chronicle also reported another incident in June 2004 when angry students and parents demonstrated in front of Shanghai's Fudan University after the university withdrew support for a series of courses in a certificate program offered by one of its departments and expelled 700 to 800 students who had enrolled in them.
Bystander on the Time China Blog: The problems in the Chinese higher education system are stemmed from two things: greed and vanity. Greed on the part of the university faculty and personnels and vanity on the part of students and parents in getting a diploma that they know is worthless. The vanity feeds into the greed perfectly---directly into the faculty's wallets. The Chinese higher education system is expanding exponentially -- well rivals the stock market of the country, and just as well out of sync with its fundamentals. The schools know that they don't have the resources to educate the number of students they are accepting, but those "out-of-plan" students will bring them hard cash, who cares? The parents of those "out-of-plan" students know that their children will not receive proper education, but since they are paying, their feel entitled to a camouflage of the university name on the diploma. I have meet so many China-educated science PhDs who cannot even design a basic experiment properly, even their advisers cannot design an experiment properly; but they all become solid numbers in the country's statistics. The solution is to return the education system back to not-for-profit status, tune down the expectations of both the government and the public, and divert 50% of the resources current allocated to "universities" to a more properly oriented technical training system, something similar to the community colleges in the U.S.. This way, students knows what they are getting into, and employers know who they are hiring, and the country fills the critical voids in the talent pools of basic trades and all sorts of bolt-n-nuts professions.
Hunxuer on The China Game: So basically a PLA military academy has to also join the “pusuit for profit and fiscal survival” amidst cutting of educational funding and opens up a “xue yuan” on campus for kids that got less than stellar exam scores. Parents, thinking this HAS to be legit, leading to a “degree”, eagerly enroll the kids and shell out the bucks. They won’t be cheated…this is the PLA for Chrissakes!
Imagine West Point or Sandhurst doing similar shenanigans. Can’t? It’s because this goes AGAINST all common sense, logic and the primary goal of their MISSION!!!!
Kelly Frazier on The China Game: If you send a kid to college in Europe of the West you know whether the school is accredited beforehand. School loans are tied to accredidation to make sure graduates will have an acceptable education and repay loans. Military academies are no different. This is not rocket science. I don’t want to assume the PLA are that incompetent, but it is difficult to believe that this many students failed to ask.
Any links or insight into accredidation standards in China would be appreciated - I find this story compelling.
Pictures of the Hefei PLA Artillery Academy from cn-sina.cn
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 Earlier this month, when we told you that China's new labour law was going to be a big, big thing, we had no idea it would also be the cause of some serious blood-letting. Local gangs and triads have been attacking the Shenzhen Dagongzhe Migrant Worker Centre which has been instrumental in providing legal advice for rural migrant workers and informing them about their rights under the new labour law. In separate attacks, they shattered the glass door and destroyed all computers and equipment in the centre. Apparently, in one attack, patrolling policemen did nothing to stop the attack.
One labour activist has been seriously injured: On 20 of November, the victim, Huang Qing-nan, was chopped by two criminals on his back, waist and leg when he left the center to visit another injured colleague in the hospital. The cuts were up to 10cm in length. His left leg suffered the most serious injury, bones and tendons, blood vessels and nerves were cut apart. He was sent to the intensive care unit and then transferred to the orthopedic ward. It is very unlikely that Huang can fully recover from the injury as he has once suffered from serious burnt from an industrial fire and such medical record makes the treatment more difficult.
A coalition of civil organisations in Hong Kong have held a joint press conference and demanded for the central government and the Shenzhen city government to:
1. Openly condemns & investigates all violent incidents, and in particular the attack on Huang Qingnan;
2. Helps DGZ Centre to re-start its works and provides Huang Qingnan with appropriate medical treatment and rehabilitation;
3. Implements the national policy to maintain a harmonious labour relations, improves the protection of civil groups and their staff in order to prevent violent acts and maintain public security.
Hospitalisation and treatment for Huang Xing-nan is estimated at HKD200,000 (USD30,000). An appeal for donations is being managed by a group called Worker Empowerment, which is one of the organisations in the above-mentioned coalition:
Bank A/C Name: Worker Empowerment
Bank A/C no.: 227-9-090365
Bank Code: 024
Bank Address: 83 Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong
Swift Code: HASE HKHH
We assure you this will not be the last of the incidents we will hear from the new labour law. More details of the attacks here.
Photo from Interlocals
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 Bokee.com is doing an online poll to determine who were the real movers and shakers of China in 2007. The plug they're using is "谁最敢动中国" (who most dared to move China), and you can vote and then see the results, live. They also have little blurbs about each of the front-runners, explaining why they've been in the news. The frontrunner thus far, with 19% of the vote is China Mobile, who people are accusing of monopolistic practices and generally being greedy (truth be told, there were a bit too many industry terms and acronyms for us to fully get what they were talking about). Second at 9% is gas/petrol, because of the astronomical prices thereof. More interesting, at least to us, is what comes at third place—8% voted for the the real-estate developers and forced-eviction teams that "trample on the right property rights of the people" by using violent, extra-legal means to kick people out of their homes.
At fourth place, with 7% of the vote, are the operators of illegal brick-kilns that bought and then enslaved children to work for them.
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 We read a fair amount of China-related news, and it's hard not to get a bit apathetic about it all, since so much of it seems to revolve around the same few topics. Slate's article, however, touches on something we don't normally hear about: China's tomato products industry.:
China, it turns out, now grows more tomatoes for processing—the kind that get turned into ketchup, pasta sauce, salsa—than any place in the world besides California, and maybe Italy. The precipitous rise of the country's tomato industry, which scarcely existed a decade ago, is wreaking some havoc. Betcha didn't know that, or that right now there's about 700,000-750,000 tons of tomato paste being produced in China yearly, with that number projected to increase up to 1.5 million tons by 2010.
On the Access Asia site we found, in their newsletter, a short posting about foie gras. It turns out that much of the foie gras produced in the world, and which an unsuspecting consumer might think is even French, is actually manufactured in China. Unfortunately mass production means force feeding geese and other unpleasant things.
Photo from ernoldiño
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 Overheard in the comment section of our earlier story on the Chongqing cooking oil stampede was the opinion that the pushing and shoving here in Shanghai is much worse than in Chongqing. Agreed. We see so many potential stampedes happening here everyday and wonder why more people are not getting tromped to death on a daily basis here. But this story by the Financial Times tells us a similar cooking oil stampede that occurred right here in Shanghai two weeks ago, at Tesco's (which we have confirmed from other sources to be the one in Baoshan district). Fortunately, nobody died in that stampede, but 19 people, mostly housewives, did need immediate treatment at the hospital.
To stop more cooking oil stampedes from spreading around the country like wild fire, the Ministry of Commerce has rushed to regulate. From now on, "time-limited sales promotions" are banned. We may not be the greatest marketing expert in the world, but seriously, are there any sales promotions on this side of heaven that is NOT time-bound? Can anyone enlighten us on what exactly is banned under the new regulation?
Photo from fangbiansile.
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If you run your own company, or if you have been hired by someone else to hire theirs, read this. Because something is going to change on 1 Jan 2008 that will not just have a profound impact on labour relations in China, it may rock your world to its foundations, especially those of you hiring "unofficial" employees. January 1 marks the day when China's new labour law goes into effect, and it is important not because we say so but because our friends over at the China Law Blog say so.
The guys behind CLB, Dan Harris and Steve Dickinson run their own law firm and according to them, they've been working with many of their clients to get into compliance quickly as hungry Chinese lawyers out there already have plaintiffs all lined up and ready to sue. So much for your harmonious society, eh?
Just what is this new Labor Contract Law? Dan explains:
The new labor law is going to apply to all employers, no matter how few employees (even one!) they might have. It is going to require all labor contracts be in writing and it will impose significant penalties on employers for failing to comply with this. Employees can claim double salary for months worked without a contract for up to 12 months’ salary. This rule is absolutely going to apply to "informal" employment relationships common to so many foreign businesses doing business in China. Expect a whole slew of lawsuits to be filed on January 1, 2009, by employees seeking double damages for the 12 months they just completed without a contract.
It is also going to require all employers maintain a written employee handbook setting out the basic rules and regulations of employment. Without an employee handbook, employers will be essentially unable to fire anyone; "the failure to maintain an employee handbook means that an employer will effectively be unable to discharge employees for cause, since “cause” must be determined with reference to the employee handbook." Do it.
Imagethief says it's not just the lawyers who are salivating over this new law. The PR people are too: Personnel disasters and related litigation are one of those things that can damage a company's reputation very fast. That's particularly here in China, where the "Chinese employee vs. callous multinational employer or foreign boss" story is well entrenched, and has a near limitless ability to excite the media and Chinese Internet users. For examples you can refer back to McDonald's and KFC minimum wage scandals of last March, or the "World's Toughest Secretary" story from May 2006. Or any of a host of similar situations over the years. Foreign companies are targets. I suspect this is for a few reasons: they are much easier to arouse public sentiment against; they are seen as having deep pockets; and they are probably seen as less likely to be locally connected.
Okay, Shanghaiist knows sh*t about law, but here are a few thoughts, and everyone is welcome to correct us and add to the discussion:
1. We think this law, like many others, was designed to protect people at the lowest rung of the social ladder, like the slaves that were forced to work in the Shanxi brick kilns not too long ago. Sure, these guys may not know anything about their own legal rights, but it does put a tool in their hands with which to seek redress if they are exploited.
2. We think some small- and medium-sized enterprises out there are going too be hit really hard by this new law. Seriously, how many Chinese companies out there can afford to retain the services of a law firm?
3. All of you out there that hire freelancers, part-time help, temporary staff, etc., be nice to them. Be very nice.
Recommended reading
China Law Blog: China's New Labor Law -- It's A Huge Deal. Huge I Tell You.
China Law Blog: English version of the new labour law
China International Business: Power to the People
Imagethief: China's new labor law won't just make work for lawyers
Photo from jurvetson: Just whom is the new Labor Contract Law meant to protect?
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 We've been somewhat faithful readers of Foreign Policy for awhile and noticed that they had a couple of articles that either mention or focus on China in their recent issue. Jeff Chang has written an article called It's a Hip-Hop World where he talks about how globalized hip hop has become, and, in this context, mentions Shanghai. More worrisome than a bunch of seventeen-year-olds in baggy pants is information we found in the article on failed states,—no mind-boggling new information here—it has become fairly widely accepted that there is some kind of correlation between environmental sustainability and the risk of becoming a failed state. Joining China in the same area of the graph are other noted members of the new world disorder, including Iran, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia. (And of course, leading the pack are the Scandinavian countries, Canada, and Switzerland). Then there is editor Moses Naim's article on article about what protesters at the Beijing Olympics, which is really nothing more than a speculation on what might go down in Beijing. Of course, it's almost a given that there will be protesters there, so the question is, when the *** hits the fan, how will the police and government react?
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 We told you previously of China's great vision to be a "harmonious society" by 2020 — yes, that year when paradise will come to earth if nations around the world all accomplish their visions. Now, it looks like there is even a "harmonious ranking" to help us measure how "harmonious" we are, and it has been created by Shanghai's very own East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) [华东理工大学]. Out of a possible 100, Shanghai scored 84.97 points — the second highest among 30 domestic provincial capitals. Beijing topped the rankings, edging Shanghai to second spot with a score of 86.45 (Dang! Three cheers for Beijing!), but even harmonious Beijing is no match for Shenzhen which came in tops in a separate ranking for cities at 86.80 points.
The top 10 provinces are as follows: Beijing 86.45, Shanghai 84.97, Tianjin 75.39, Zhejiang, 68.18, Guangdong 67.90, Jiangsu 66.73, Liaoning 65.51, Fujian 64.59, Hainan 63.28, Shandong 63.21
And the top 20 cities: Shenzhen 86.80, Xiamen, 78.72, Hangzhou 78.31, Weihai 77.79, Nanjing 77.79, Jinan 77.73, Guangzhou 77.72, Shaoxing 77.69, Qingdao 77.50, Yantai 77.40, Chengdu 77.36, Fuzhou 77.35, Suzhou 77.19, Changsha 76.71, Dalian 76.04, Ningbo 75.66, Daqing 75.06, Shijiazhuang 74.89, Yangzhou 74.66, Guang'an 74.49
Shanghaiist applauds ECUST for making the concept of HARMONY as simple and measurable as Bhutan's theory of Gross National Happiness. Now we can get all the Chinese cities engaged in some healthy competition! ECUST's groundbreaking work will undoubtedly help them score some points in Jiaotong University's academic rankings next year!
We are curious to know how Hong Kong, Macau and "Chinese Taipei" stack up against their mainland counterparts, but ECUST's researchers did not explain their absence from the charts. Also, we wonder if we're all supposed to perfect score of 100 by the year 2020. Anything less than a perfect score would mean we've failed, no?
Related links
Shanghaiist: Paradise on earth by 2020?
Shanghai Daily: Shanghai scores high on harmony survey
Photo of your ubiquitous harmonious society poster by H@r@ld
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You will get to see scenes like the one above on Nanjing Lu a lot less often from next year on. All those rumours that we've been hearing have been confirmed. The May Golden Week holiday is going to be cut down to one day, and this may happen as early as 2008. In the meanwhile, three more national holiday have been added: namely the Tomb-sweeping Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. This brings the total number of paid holidays up from 10 to 11. In the early days, festivals such as the Tomb-sweeping Festival were regarded as being too superstitious to have any place in the New China, so the move to put the "Chinese" back into China's national holidays is to be applauded. However, with just one Golden Week left, we can't imagine what mad rush awaits us next October, with Chinese families all postponing their holiday plans to the National Day holiday week.
Photo by Montrasio International
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If you thought all Uighurs/Xinjiangers were fighting for the independence of East Turkestan, this video might be of interest to you. The Opposite End of China brings to our attention an excellent PBS documentary China from the Inside which features some very interesting footage such as a rare interview with Ismayil Tiliwadi, Governor of Xinjiang and new Uighur members of the CCP taking the communist oath. For some of them, the experience is akin to a religious conversion.
And just in from AP and Reuters: death/jail sentences have been given out to a few Xinjiang separatists described as members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. Both reports agreed that "Three were sentenced to death, two received suspended death sentences and the sixth was jailed for life."
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 A stampede in a Chongqing Carrefour hypermart has left 3 dead, 24 injured and another 7 seriously injured. The culprit? Cooking oil. As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, a 5-litre bottle of cooking oil that was originally priced at RMB51.40 was to be sold at only RMB39.90. This news was enough to get Chongqingers to start queueing from as early as 4am in the morning. Sometime around 8.20am when the doors were finally open, a few unfortunate shoppers coming in through the east gate slipped and fell, while the rest of the overzealous crowd continued to rush on, causing the stampede. The Carrefour outlet is now closed for "reorganisation".
Photo from People's Daily via Yahoo News
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