Slashdot Mirror

Currently China is the fastest growing economy in the world. All helped in part by foreign investement and by becoming the world's manufacturing centre.

Although is hard to verify but at least the chinese like to think that.

Just curious, but what are you doing reading the People's Daily from China? I mean aside from the fact that it injects commentary with news with quotes like "Israel's coalition governments are chronically unstable and plagued by internal fighting." The People's Daily has editorial pieces like this with section headers in the editorial like "Guiding People with Correct Opinion." The source for this article seems just a little absurd. And I'm not even going to comment on this.

Just curious, but what are you doing reading the People's Daily from China? I mean aside from the fact that it injects commentary with news with quotes like "Israel's coalition governments are chronically unstable and plagued by internal fighting." The People's Daily has editorial pieces like this with section headers in the editorial like "Guiding People with Correct Opinion." The source for this article seems just a little absurd. And I'm not even going to comment on this.

Just curious, but what are you doing reading the People's Daily from China? I mean aside from the fact that it injects commentary with news with quotes like "Israel's coalition governments are chronically unstable and plagued by internal fighting." The People's Daily has editorial pieces like this with section headers in the editorial like "Guiding People with Correct Opinion." The source for this article seems just a little absurd. And I'm not even going to comment on this.

Factoid: Did a little searching and found that APCN2 is the longest cable in the world sitting at 17000km long.

You honestly havn't heard that during the Iran-Iraq war the US supplied military advice to Saddam, advise that included helping with battle plans that involved the use of poinson gas?

This isn't a conspiracy theory. Its a fact. It was reported widly internationaly, I am suprised if it wan't reported in the US.

Don't trust me? To you trust CBS CNN (google cache) FOX news NY Times (thier story being carried by Chinas peoples daily.

Oh maybe there is a vast conspiracy involving all these news sources? I don't think so.

If you want to keep on with this, you have my email.

China actually just enters the big fab building exercise in the last year or so. A few 1
2 8-inch/0.18um production lines will be completed in the near future. It may be part of the reason why they want to fast track their first MCU design.

AFAIK, Russia still lacks behind in consumer electronics. Hong Kong... All my friends in HK motorola, which is the only major HK semiconductor, got sacked. They (the semi dept) just do chip testing in recent years while most of the chips are from a Motorola fab in mainland China.

China actually just enters the big fab building exercise in the last year or so. A few 1
2 8-inch/0.18um production lines will be completed in the near future. It may be part of the reason why they want to fast track their first MCU design.

AFAIK, Russia still lacks behind in consumer electronics. Hong Kong... All my friends in HK motorola, which is the only major HK semiconductor, got sacked. They (the semi dept) just do chip testing in recent years while most of the chips are from a Motorola fab in mainland China.

..constructing an island in the Atlantic Ocean. I am sure these guys can help out. Then lay fiber to USA and europe, become the next global crossing, earn another billion while paying no tax. Repeat in the Pacific. Finally, dominate the world information system.

Actually, Bush has said the exact opposite.

Maybe CNN is too hot. Maybe the BBC is better?

Given that Taiwan's Vice-defense Minister, Kang Ningxiang, has recently (7 Sept) been to the Pentagon, it seems to suggest that this is more than just talk. [People's Daily] [Saudi Press Agency]

Mind if I speculate that there are far fewer Chinese speaking people online and far fewer sites that cater to them, especially proportionately? Perhaps that non-English speaking people might tend to ignore the internet at large and there are plenty of opportunities to simply duplicate the function of English sites without much native-language competition.

Are you sure? Check the fact before you post please.

According to the figures China is the third largest Internet user in the world, after the United States and Japan.

And it doesn't even count the Chinese not living in mainland China, e.g. Hong Kong Taiwan, U.S., U.K., South East Asia, etc.

Welcome to reality!

According to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between SDPC and Microsoft, the US company will invest 6.2 billion yuan (US$750 million) in three years in education and training, academic research and co-operation, hardware manufacturing outsourcing, support in software outsourcing and strategic investments in local software companies.

A concern I have is that Microsoft may expose Chinese students to their "shared source initiative", which could poison their ability to contribute to Free Software.

But I found this paragraph especially intriguing:

Fang Xingdong, author of the famous book "Who Will Challenge the Hegemony of Microsoft," said Microsoft still needs to solve the problems of high prices and security to achieve long-term development.

The online edition of China's publicly-owned newspaper, the People's Daily, has this artical: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200206/28/eng200 20628_98699.shtml

Hear it from the dragon's mouth.

This article implies that 452 kph is the top speed the train reaches in these test runs.

If you look at the Kyoto Protocol, it is clear there would have been no positive impact to the environment. None. Since many developing countries--including China and India, which make up 1 of 3 people on this planet--were exempt.

That is conveniently ignoring the fact that China has actually reduced their carbon emissions while developing their economy, as well as the fact that the U.S. was and still is the biggest polluter in the world. That excuse is getting old. It's not China and India that are polluting the planet, it's the U.S. But you're right, Kyoto won't change things, because the U.S. has pulled out of it using the fallacious "China" argument (how convenient) and therefore will keep on poisoning our atmosphere.

We are NOT witnessing an increase in surface temperature. Please explain to me why the satellite and radiosonde records both show global cooling and only the relatively unreliable surface record shows any warming whatsoever?

I'd like you to give me your sources on this, I'd be curious to read it. Meanwhile, it seems not everyone at NASA agrees with you (see also this for an alternate scenario). In fact, the only thing the discrepancy in surface measurments vs. satellite/radiosonde results indicates is that the real atmosphere is more complicated that the computer models we have of it so far (duh!). Still, as this NASA page indicates, "it does not by itself substantially alter the expectation that some amount of global warming will occur in the future." The thing is, satellites and radiosonde measure changes in the atmosphere, not the surface. The fact that there is a discrepancy doesn't mean that the surface temperature isn't in fact increasing - the only thing that has been questioned following the discovery of these differences is the computer model used to predict atmospheric changes, not the surface measurements!

At the risk of repeating myself: yes, we do not have complete, conclusive proof. So I'll be generous to your point of view (which seems to be entirely based on that surface/atmosphere discrepancy, which according to NASA does not invalidate the fact that surface temperature are increasing) and say that it's a 50-50 chance. Now, how much would you be prepared to risk on 50-50 chance? I know I'm not prepared to risk it, and fortunately policymakers are less and less inclined to do so. Sure, there will be some people on the fringe that believe that global warming isn't real, despite the mounting evidence to the contrary (even if the computer models are not quite accurate). Even if it is not as bad as we may have thought, that doesn't mean it's not there - it just means we've bought some time to do the right thing.

"Incentive" is just another way of saying "force." Sure, it's not made law, but taxes or tax breaks are made that essentially push people to do something they would not otherwise do. I'm not a believer in the benevolance nor the superior intelligence of government. I believe in the people.

Well, as faulty as it is, the government is the only representation the people as a whole have. Even if it's imperfect, it's better than nothing! Incentives are not at all a way to "force" people. You don't have to follow them. No one is forcing you. Similarly, when a state puts tax incentives to draw a company to build a new factory, they are not forcing that company in any way. It may choose to go somewhere else instead. Another example: China forces people to have only one child (by punishing those who have more than one). India gives incentives so that people will have only one child. The fact is, a lot of people in India have more than one child, despite the incentives. They are not being forced, and it does not have the same impact. You're just playing on words to try to get out of a losing argument. Give it up.

When someone says "free market" it should be translated to "free people."

What a load of bull! You confuse companies with actual citizens. Case in point: capital is now much more free in its international movement than people are. Markets are freer than populations. You can have a dictatorship that has a free market and prosperous economy. There is absolutely no relationship between the two concepts! Either you're a businessman, or you're being very naive.

My government's job is NOT to herd me like a cow in the direction that someone else has decided my life should take.

No, but it is its job to balance the needs of individuals with the common good. In other words, to limit your freedom so that it does not go against those of others. Political Science 101. But anyway that's not what I was talking about, and you know it. I'm talking about incentives, like any government always use for a variety of purposes. I'm sure you already have taken up on government-sponsored incentives, wether it's tax breaks for retirement funds, or whatever. So that argument doesn't seem to be getting you anywhere.

>Venezuela has the world's third largest oil reserves!

So what? He hadn't stopped shipping oil to the U.S.

No, but he's not particularly friendly towards the United States and that could affect oil prices. It's a variable the Bush administration could do without, for sure. This is a clear case of national interests.

Probably not. That's not the point. Freedom of the press doesn't mean freedom from the owner of the press. It's the right to report whatever needs to be reported.

Well, it seems to me that the job of the media should be to report the truth, not try to manipulate public opinion against an elected leader because a single person (the owner) has decided so. Freedom of the press means freedom of the journalists to write what they think is true - if the journalists are pressured, either by the government or by the owners, into writing something they don't think is true, then the press cannot be said to be free. That's called editorial interference and it is frowned upon in any democratic society. Of course there are always the Op-Ed pages where one can say whatever he wants, as long as it is not slanderous. But we're talking about factual reporting here.

I know the press in Venezuela is controlled by a Chavez opponent. That's a GOOD thing. I'd much rather have a press that reports and criticizes the bad things about the government than just goes along and paints a pretty picture and covers up the truth.

That doesn't seem to be the case, here. Quite the opposite: the press covers up the truth and paints a darker picture than there really is, because its owner has a clear (and avowed) political agenda, showing soaps instead of images that would disprove its fabricated editorial line. Is that what you are defending? Because that is the analysis of about every independent media, despite the official Bush administration line.

But if the people of Venezuela were to decide that they've had enough and that they were going to overthrow their own government, that's their internal problem, as long as no-one external instigated it.

But in this case (and we are talking about a precise case, not some hypothetical future) the people didn't want him out - they demonstrated after the coup, causing it to misfire and fail. And if the people get tired of him they have a way to take him out of office: it's called voting, and in a democracy - even an grossly imperfect one - it is the only legitimate way to do it. The people who organized the coup are part of a well-organized and well-funded minority. They do not represent the will of the majority...and in a democracy, the majority has the final say. Even though it can be wrong, even though it can elect a tyrant (or a Yale drop-out). That's the basic principle of democracy, and you can't say it doesn't apply when the situation doesn't suit your own interest. That is simply undemocratic, and nothing you have said challenges this argument.

FM Spokeswoman: Ozawa's Remarks Irresponsible

China has condemned remarks by Japanese Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa on Japan's nuclear weapons potential as irresponsible.

Chinese Foreign spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue Monday said that the remarks ran opposite to the wishes of both Chinese and Japanese peoples.

She made the statement in response to a question on Ozawa's remark last Saturday that Japan could easily develop nuclear weapons and would not lose militarily as China was increasing military spending.

Zhang said that Ozawa's words were provocative, representing an outdated cold war mentality just as the two countries were celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations,

His remarks contradicted hopes for peace and long-term friendship between the two countries and peoples, she added.

Japanese Politician Claimed Japan Could Make Massive Nuclear Weapons to Curb China

Japanese Liberal Party President Ichiro Ozawa claimed that Japan could make a large number of nuclear weapons "overnight" to curb China's "excessive expansion".

Japanese media said that Ichiro Ozawa's remarks would evoke a strong response from China and other Asian countries against any moves of Japanese militarism.

According to reports, Ichiro Ozawa Saturday said: "it is easy to make nuclear warheads for Japan, our nuclear power plants have enough plutonium which is enough to make 3000 to 4000 nuclear warheads, Japan can produce thousands of nuclear warheads overnight".

Nuclear weapons are the most sensitive issue in Japan, Japanese people are strongly against it. Since the nuclear accident in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1999, the most serious nuclear leakage accident, Japanese citizens have lost confidence about nuclear industry, they asked governments to reduce or stop nuclear power plant construction.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said lately with visiting Chinese top legislator Li Peng that Chinese development is not only conducive to Japan, but also other countries. He does not agree with the view that "China's rapid development would pose threat to Japan".

Japanese Politician Claimed Japan Could Make Massive Nuclear Weapons to Curb China

Japanese Liberal Party President Ichiro Ozawa claimed that Japan could make a large number of nuclear weapons "overnight" to curb China's "excessive expansion".

Japanese media said that Ichiro Ozawa's remarks would evoke a strong response from China and other Asian countries against any moves of Japanese militarism.

According to reports, Ichiro Ozawa Saturday said: "it is easy to make nuclear warheads for Japan, our nuclear power plants have enough plutonium which is enough to make 3000 to 4000 nuclear warheads, Japan can produce thousands of nuclear warheads overnight".

Nuclear weapons are the most sensitive issue in Japan, Japanese people are strongly against it. Since the nuclear accident in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1999, the most serious nuclear leakage accident, Japanese citizens have lost confidence about nuclear industry, they asked governments to reduce or stop nuclear power plant construction.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said lately with visiting Chinese top legislator Li Peng that Chinese development is not only conducive to Japan, but also other countries. He does not agree with the view that "China's rapid development would pose threat to Japan".

I tried to look for more information about Gavin Menzies, to find out what his background is and previous work he may have done. I suppose amateur historians are just as credible, but I wanted to know if he was well established and would be well receieved. I came up with relatively nothing about him or his previous work. I did however find a ton of information on Gavin Menzies, guitar tech for the stars. : )

I also came across another couple places carrying this same story with slightly different angles.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200203/07/eng200 20307_91604.shtml
and
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2F news%2F2002%2F03%2F04%2Fnexp04.xml

I'm just a little bitter though because I submitted a similar story a week or so ago and was rejected. :o

Back in the days of the Cold War there was a joke that went like this:

Q: Mr. President, the Russians have just deported the Moscow reporters for the Associated Press and the New York Times. How do you intend to respond?
A: We're aware of the situation, and in accordance with standard protocols we will be deporting the Washington reporters for the AP and New York Times as well....

In a very real sense, the Internet will come to be viewed as the ultimate secret weapon. Information is very hard to control, and free access to information is a serious threat to the despot. The Chinese and the Saudis both fear free access to information--they're sufficiently connected to the rest of the world to know that they can't simply disconnect their people from the Internet, but they're trying very hard to prevent access to "bad information." The Chinese, in particular, are cracking down on Internet cafes (here's an article from the official People's Daily, a slightly different perspective from the Digital Freedom Network).

An effective way to attack injustice is publicity--and an effective retort is to say, "oh, but [name other country] is doing it too--we agree completely." In this case, the Chinese and the Saudis can loudly and publicly proclaim their agreement with "the Americans" and continue tightening the screws on their citizens access to information.

One of the great strengths of America is that any clown can run for elective office. One of the great weaknesses of America is that so many clowns manage to get elected.

Article 40. The freedom and privacy of correspondence of citizens of the People's Republic of China are protected by law. No organization or individual may, on any ground, infringe upon the freedom and privacy of citizens' correspondence except in cases where, to meet the needs of state security or of investigation into criminal offences, public security or procuratorial organs are permitted to censor correspondence in accordance with procedures prescribed by law.

Do any readers here actually believe that snail mail to and from China is any less scrutinized than email will be? My sister lived and taught in China for a couple of years (we are Americans). Letters and packages I sent to her were routinely opened and inspected before they were delivered to her. I can safely assume that if she and I had access to email at the time, those correspondences would have been equally intercepted and reviewed as well.

Not really. It depends on how used the society is to crackpot views, rumors and plains lies. Long time users of the internet are used to this. A society that is just emerging from authoritarian rule, used to seeing only one side of things, are not used to this and are easily taken advantage of.

This is appearantly true for all the countries they have listed. The People's Daily entry on Japan is copied from the CIA's version.

The REAL clincher, though, is the entry for Taiwan. The People's Republic consider Taiwan to actually be a province of their country, but if you compare the entry in the People's Daily here, and compare the "Location" and "Climate" entries to the same entries in the World Factbook's version, you'll notice that they were practically cut-and-pasted. At least they didn't use the CIA's map...

It's nice to know that American tax dollars are being spent on China's intelligence-gathering efforts. :)

This is appearantly true for all the countries they have listed. The People's Daily entry on Japan is copied from the CIA's version.

The REAL clincher, though, is the entry for Taiwan. The People's Republic consider Taiwan to actually be a province of their country, but if you compare the entry in the People's Daily here, and compare the "Location" and "Climate" entries to the same entries in the World Factbook's version, you'll notice that they were practically cut-and-pasted. At least they didn't use the CIA's map...

It's nice to know that American tax dollars are being spent on China's intelligence-gathering efforts. :)

This is appearantly true for all the countries they have listed. The People's Daily entry on Japan is copied from the CIA's version.

The REAL clincher, though, is the entry for Taiwan. The People's Republic consider Taiwan to actually be a province of their country, but if you compare the entry in the People's Daily here, and compare the "Location" and "Climate" entries to the same entries in the World Factbook's version, you'll notice that they were practically cut-and-pasted. At least they didn't use the CIA's map...

It's nice to know that American tax dollars are being spent on China's intelligence-gathering efforts. :)

This is appearantly true for all the countries they have listed. The People's Daily entry on Japan is copied from the CIA's version.

The REAL clincher, though, is the entry for Taiwan. The People's Republic consider Taiwan to actually be a province of their country, but if you compare the entry in the People's Daily here, and compare the "Location" and "Climate" entries to the same entries in the World Factbook's version, you'll notice that they were practically cut-and-pasted. At least they didn't use the CIA's map...

It's nice to know that American tax dollars are being spent on China's intelligence-gathering efforts. :)

In case anyone is interested, here's the link to The People's Daily (in English) which according to Yahoo is the Communist Party's official newspaper.

For an alternate point of view, a rather liberal Chinese news site, People's Daily Online. This site is supposed to be quite radical, and not strongly moderated by the Chinese government. Here is an interesting article in english representing how the chinese think about these matters.

For an alternate point of view, a rather liberal Chinese news site, People's Daily Online. This site is supposed to be quite radical, and not strongly moderated by the Chinese government. Here is an interesting article in english representing how the chinese think about these matters.

• China Internet Information Center
  http://www.china.org.cn/english/index.htm
• The People's Daily
  http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/home.html

As has been pointed out somewhere else around here, China has a fair ammount of control over the internet through ISPs, as much as /. ers might think that is impossible. They are looking for ways to do even more, which is really scary or really dumb, or probably both This is the PLA's take on it