Beijing Review - March 3, 2016

8/16/2019 Beijing Review - March 3, 2016

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L.59 NO.9 MARCH 3, 2016

EVERY BIT

COUNTSChina’s strategy to endpoverty by 2020


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B R E A K I N G N E W S » S C A N M E » U s i n g a Q R c o d er e d e

CONTENTSOL.59 NO.9 MARCH 3 2016

F o l l o w u s o n

EDITO R’S DESK02 Th e R oad to P overty A lleviation

THIS W EEK

COVER STO RY18 S oftP ow er S trong S upport Culturalactivities in im poverished

areas getan upgrade20 ncreasing P rosperity in Xinjian g

Providing new job opportunities tolocalresidents

WORLD26 P rogress in Transition

Ukraine aim s to regain stability

N ATIO N28 C itizen P rotection

Volunteers w ork to keep Beijingsafe

© 2 0 1 6 B ej i n g R ei e a l l r i g h t s r e ev e .

W O R L D

P . 2 4 | The Econom y M atters M ore

U .S.-ASEAN sum m it focuses on

econom ic cooperation

BU SIN ESS34 A im ing H igher H aier takes hold ofthe Am ericanm arket

36 M arketW atch

CULTURE44 U ndated E legance

Traditionalcalendars m ake acom eback

FORUM46 D o D igitalR ed En velopes Tarnish

Tradition?

ESSAY48 F rom Eb ola to Z ika

Confronting the latestglobalhealthchallenge

B U S IN E S SP . 3 2 | Is ‘M ade in C hina’B ust?

M anufacturing industry prepsfor change

C O V ER S TO R Y14R ooting O u tP overty

An innovative approach to endingim poverishm ent

C overD esign:Pam ela Tobey


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E D I T O R ’ S D E S K

C H IN A . .. .. .R M B 6 . 0 0 U . S . A .. .. .. .U SD 1 . 70 A U ST R A L IA . .. .. .A U D 3 . 0 0 U K .. .. .. G B P 1 . 2 0 C A N A D A . .. .. .C A D 2 . 60 SW IT Z E R L A N D . .. .. .C H F 2 . 60

JA P A N . .. .. .JP Y 1 8 8 E U R O P E . .. .. .E U R O 1 . 90 T U R K E Y . .. .. .Y T L 5 . 0 0 H K .. .. .. H K D 9. 30 N E P A L . .. .. .R S 0

W RITE TO US

Please provide y our nam e and add ress along w ith you r subm issions.Subm issions m ay be edited.

Sendane mail:[email protected]

T h e R o a d t o P o v e r t y

l l e v i a t i o n

C hina’s plan to liftallofits poorpeople outofpoverty by 2 0 2 0 concerns w hetherthe

erately prosperous society in allrespects

G overnm ent has prioritized its poverty alleviation plan across the nation, an d hasalready set in m otion the process to improve the living standards ofan estim ated70 m illion people living underthe country’spoverty line.

T he C hinese G overnm enthas com eup w ith a targeted approach to fightingpo verty, w hich ap plies custom ized p olicies and m easures to differentpeople andlocation s. T he governm entplans to lift3 0m illion people outofprivation by developing the econ om y. A no ther 1 0 m illion w illbe helped by relocation to locations w ithbetter living conditions. T hrough go vernm en t subsidized training and job huntingassistance, 1 0 m illion m ore are expectedto rise out of hardship. A s for the rem aining 2 0 m illion, w hich include sen iors,persons w ith disabilities and juveniles inruralareas w ho are unable to w ork andw ithout incom e or guardians, the governm en t plans to g uarantee an adequ atestandard ofliving forthem .

C hina’s poverty relief efforts w illultim ately contribute to the reduction ofglobal

poverty. T he U N ’s Post 2 0 1 5 Developm entA genda proposed to elim inate extrem e pov

erty throughout the w orld by 2 0 3 0 . C hina istherefore 1 0 years ahead ofthe U N in that

regard. C hina’s w ork throughout the next

othercountries’efforts.A fteryears ofhard w ork, C hina’s im pov

erished population has declined from over2 0 0 m illion in the 1 9 80 s to the current 70m illion . N on etheless, the groups thatben

m ostly live in regions enjoying stable conditions for econom ic developm ent. C hina w iltherefore face greater challenges in liftingthe rem aining 70 m illion out of poverty in

It is also w orth noting that the aforem en tioned 70 m illion peo ple are livingin absolute poverty, w hich m ean s thatshould the plan succeed, C hina w illnotbe

years. T here w illstillbe som e people living in relative poverty by 2 0 2 0 . C hina w ilrem ain a large develop ing coun try, an dsom e level of po verty w illu nd ou btedlypersistin the long term .

In orderto achieve its goals oftotalpoverty alleviation and balanced developm entthe C hinese Governm ent m ustcontinue tobe com m itted to enabling allruralresidentsespecially im po verished ones, to ben efitm ore from the country’s socialand eco

nom ic developm ent driven by reform andopening up.

A News Weekly MagazinePublished Since 1958

2E I J I N G R E V I E W MARCH 3 2016

President: Li Yafang

Vice President: Qi WengongAssociate Editors in Chief: Li Jianguo, Huang Wei,Wang Yanjuan, Ding ZhitaoAssistant President: Li Zhenzhou

Executive Editor: Yan WeiAssistant Executive Editors: Zan Jifang, Liu Yunyun, Yu ShujunProduction Director: Yao BinEditorial Administrators: Zeng Wenhui, Shi Bosen, Hou BeibeiCommentators: Zhang Zhiping, Lan XinzhenOpinion/Culture Editor: Yan WeiWorld Editor: Liu YunyunNation Editor: Zan JifangBusiness Editor: Yu ShujunWeb Editor: Chen RanEditorial Consultants: Mara Lee Durrell, Bryan Michael GalvanStaff Reporters: Tang Yuankai, Wang Jun, Yin Pumin, Pan Xiaoqiao,Yuan Yuan, Wang Hairong, Yu Lintao, Zhou Xiaoyan, Bai Shi,Li Fangfang, Deng Yaqing, Ji Jing, Li NanVisual Director: Pamela TobeyPhoto Editor: Wang XiangPhotographer: Wei YaoArt: Li ShigongArt Director: Wang YajuanChief Designer: Cui XiaodongDesigner: Zhao BoyuProofreading: Ma Xin

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4E I J I N G R E V I E W MARCH 3 2016 http://www.bjreview.com

T H I S W E E K SOCIETY

N ew S taple FoodChina willfurtherboostitspotato

production to m ake the tuberone

ofthe nation’sstaple foods,the

M inistry ofA griculture M O A)said

on February 2 3 .

By 2 02 0,China willhave m ore

than 6.67m illion hectaresofpotato-

planting areas,30 percentofwhich

can be processed into staple food,

according to a docum entreleased

by the M O A.To achieve the goal,China will

betterplan the planting ofpotatoes

by taking localresourcesinto

account,while diversifying staple

foodsbased on m arketdem and,

im proving supportforstaple food

production,and m odernizing food

processing.

In term sofwaterand land

usage,the potato industry willnot

interfere with growth ofC hina’stop

three staple crops— rice,wheatand

corn.

China isthe world’slargest

potato producer,with a planting area

ofaround 5.6 m illion hectares.

ReservoirExpansionThe largestdesertreservoirin Asia,

the H ongyashan,in northwest

China’sGansu Province,willexpand

itsstorage capacity by 49 percent

localauthoritiessaid on February 19.

The reservoir,located in the

m iddle reachesofthe Shiyang River,

willhave itscapacity increased to

148 m illion cubicm eters,according

to the provincialwaterresources

departm ent.

The reservoirwilltransm it2 7.2

m illion cubicm etersofwaterevery

in an attem ptto digestthe property

February 19.

The M inistry ofFinance said that

housesabove 90 square m eterswill

be levied a deed tax at1.5 percentofin allChinese cities,down from the

current2 percent.

In term softhe second hom e

purchase,tax rateswillbe 1percent

forthose under90 square m eters

and 2 percentforlargerhom esin

citiesexcluding Beijing,Shanghai,

Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Previously,the rate was3 percent,

In addition,salesofhouses

held form ore than two yearswill

be exem ptfrom businesstaxevery-

where exceptthe above-m entioned

m etropolises,said the statem ent.

The tax adjustm entwillassist

hom e salesand inventory reduction

and m ore supportforthe m arketcan

be expected,according to a research

note from M insheng Securities.

In early February,the central

bank loosened ruleson down

paym entsforhom e purchases

in cities with no restrictionsand

allow ed lendersand localauthori-

tiesto decide on theirown deposit

requirem ents.

The country hasm ade de-

stocking the property inventory one

ofthisyear’sm ajoreconom ictasks,

asan ailing housing m arketcould

derailthe econom y,which isgrow-

ing atthe slowestrate in a quarterof

a century.

The new policy took effecton

February 2 2 .

H ousing F aceliftBeijing willtransform itsrun-down

fam iliesin 2 016,authoritiessaid on

February 2 3 .

The task willbe carried out

m ainly in the capital’sdistrictsof

D ongcheng,Xicheng,Chaoyang,

H aidian,Fengtaiand Shijingshan,

where fam ilieswillbe relocated or

see theirhom esrenovated. O ther

work willbe conducted in the sub-

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Butterand B uddhasPeople visitbuttersculpturesatthe TaerM onastery in Huangzhong C ounty ofnorthwestChina’sQ inghaiProvince

on February 2 2 .

The m onastery isthe birth place ofTsongkhapa,founderofthe G eluk SchoolofTibetan Buddhism .

yearto the Q ingtu Lake to m eetthe

localdem and.

The heightofthe dam swillbe

increased starting in February,and

117hectaresoftreeswillbe planted

by the reservoirto m itigate the wind

and sand erosion,according to the

departm ent.

The expansion isim perative

because the reservoir,builtin 1958 ,

hasaccum ulated 3 3 .18 m illion cubic

m etersofsedim ent,a third ofits

storage capacity.The region isone ofthe m ajor

sourcesofsand storm sin northwest

China. The reservoirisvitalto

locality.

H om e urchase T axChina cutdeed and businesstaxes

forhom e purchasesin m ostcities


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http://www.bjreview.com MARCH 3 2016E I J I N G R E V I E W

T H I S W E E K

urbs, according to the B eijing M ajor

ProjectsC onstruction H eadquarters

In January alone, B eijing has

spentabout1 billion yuan ( 15 3

m illion)on renovations, with 2 ,89 3households having theirhom es

renovated orm oving into new

ones.

O verthe pastfouryears, m ore

than 2 0 m illion unitsofaffordable

housing have been builtacrossthe

country, and 12 m illion m ore are

underconstruction, with supportive

funds forbuilding thesehouses

reaching 710 billion yuan ( 10 9 bil-

lion).

R&D RewardC hina hascreated policiesto

encourage the country’sscientists

to translate theirresearch into com -

m ercialproducts.

T he policieswere laid outat

the regularS tate C ouncilexecutive

m eeting on February 17, which was

presided overby Prem ierL iKeqiang.

A ccording to the policies

approved atthe m eeting, state-

sponsored research institutionsand

universitieswillgenerally have au-

outcom esto enterprisesorsocial

applications.

A llrevenue generated from

the work m ay be reserved by the

research institutionsoruniversities,

which shallbe used m ainly for

rewarding scientists, advancing

research and industrialapplications.

lunarprobes, and the data isglob-

ally accessible, S A S T IN D said.

S A S T IN D also said thatprepara-

tion forthe country’snextlunar

probe m ission, theC hang’e 5 , is

underway, and itisexpected to be

launched around 2 0 17.

T heC hang’e 5 probe willbe

tasked with landing on the m oon,collecting sam plesand returning to

E arth.

Power Grid UpgradesC hina willstarta new round ofelec-

tricity powergrid upgradesin rural

areasto ensurenationwide coverage

ofstable supply by 2 0 2 0 , according

to a S tate C ouncilnoticereleased on

February 2 2 .

T he upgradesareaim ed atm eet

ing both dem and from agriculture

and household consum ption. The

projectwilladdressproblem slike

T he urban-ruralgap rem ains

big in C hina, with m any villagesstilllacking reliable waterand power

supplies. B y the end of2 0 17, allvil-

lage wellsshould be powered from

the grid.

A n earlierS tate C ouncilm eeting

pledged to spend m ore than 70 0

billion yuan ( 10 7billion)on rural

powergrid upgrades.

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Them ed Post

C hangchun, Jilin Province, on February 19 .

R eward m oney should

constitute no lessthan 5 0 percent

ofthe netincom e earned from

enterprisesorothersocialorga-

nizations, aswellasstock sharesgained. M ajorcontributing re-

searchersshould take no lessthan

5 0 percentofthe totalrewards.

T he new policiesalso allow sci-

entistsand researchersto take part-

tim e jobsin enterprisesto convert

theirdiscoveries into products, and

they m ay tem porarily leave their

poststo starttheirown businesses.

Lander W oke Up

C hang’e 3 , awakened autom aticallyon February 18 after“sleeping”

during the lunarnight, entering

its2 8th lunarday, C hina’sS tate

A dm inistration ofS cience,

T echnology and Industry for

N ationalD efense (S A S T IN D )an-

nounced on F ebruary 19 .

O ne lunarday lastsapproxi-

m ately 14 E arth days.

T he spacecrafthas stood the

testofextrem e low tem peratures

during 2 7lunarnightssince itssuc-

cessfulsoftlanding on the m oon

in D ecem ber2 0 13 , according to astatem entby S A S T IN D .

A lthough the m oon landerhas

already exceeded itsdesign life by

14 m onths, the astronom icaltele-

scope and othersurveying devicesit

iscarrying stillw ork well.

data ithastransm itted willpave the

Bright andColorful

m any visitorsata celebration for

the traditionalL antern Festival

in F uzhou, F ujian Province, on

February 19 .

T he L antern F estivalfell

on F ebruary 2 2 thisyear.

T raditionally, people eatsticky

rice dum plingson thisim portant

fam ily reunion day.


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T H I S W E E K ECONOMY

C ity lanningO n February 2 1,China issued a setof

guidelineson urban developm ent.

The docum entsetsthe basic

principles,key tasksand targetsfor

future urban developm entand m an-

agem ent,aim ing to ensure thatcities

are “orderly constructed,properly

Atthe end of2 015,56.1percent

ofthe C hinese population lived in

cities.

Urbanization in the pastfew de-

socialand econom icchangesin

China,spawning problem sincluding

-m ised publicsafety.

The guidelinessaid thatChinawilllim itcitiesfrom growing beyond

the m eansoftheirnaturalresources

and environm ent.

Italso called on plannersto

differentiate citiesthrough unique

landscape m odeling based on local

characteristics.

Aside from the exteriorofbuild-

ings,factorsincluding resource and

energy conservation aswellasenvi-

ronm entalprotection should also betaken into accountin the processof

designing and constructing,accord-

ing to the guidelines.

Aspartofeffortsto provide

low-incom e urban residentswith

affordable housing,China aim sto

com plete the renovation ofrundown

urban areasand dilapidated housing

by 2020.

C apitalExportsChina overtook Germ any in net

capitalexportsin 2 015,according toa reporton February 2 2 by the Ifo

Institute forEconom icResearch,a

Germ an think tank.

According to Ifo,China looksset

to becom e the new num berone with

In addition,considering the low

price ofoiland the weak euro,Ifo

predicted thatGerm any’scurrent

accountsurpluswillcontinue to rise

in 2 016 and thatitisonce again very

likely to be higherthan 8 percentofitsannualeconom icoutput.

L and BanChina hasbanned localgovernm ents

land purchasesand preparationsfor

statem entsaid on February 2 3.

Localgovernm entsm ustreduce

the num berofinstitutionsresponsi-

ble forland reserves,whittling down

the m any departm entsto justone,

according to the statem ent,whichwasjointly issued by the M inistry

ofFinance,M inistry ofLand and

Resources,People’sBank ofChina

and China Banking Regulatory

Com m ission.

Land reserve institutionsshould

-tion orland developm entarm s,and

these departm entsshould be closed

orturned into enterprises,itsaid.

the end ofthisyear,according to the

statem ent.

-calgovernm entswith large swathes

ofland should slow down oreven

stop adding new reservesto im prove

land use and cutdebtpressure.

Red Tape C utThe State Council,China’scabinet,

hasdecided to abolish another13

adm inistrative approvalprocedures

to reduce intervention in the

econom y.

The proceduresreleased on

The m ove willhelp revitalize

the econom y and boostgrowth,the

State Councilsaid in a statem ent.

Departm entsofthe State

Councilhave canceled ordelegated

599 adm inistrative approvalproce-

duressince M arch 2 013,m eeting the

targetto cutthe num berofred tape

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A vendorin the China Com m odity City in Yiwu,Zhejiang Province,talkswith a Yem enibusinessm an on February 2 3,

Roughly 77percentofcom m ercialtenantsin the m arketstarted operation on the day,while over2 17,600

consum erscam e to buy com m odities.

Bustling and Rustling

netcapitalexportsof 2 93 billion

from an internationalperspective.

Germ any follow ed suitwith exports

ofaround 2 8 0 billion,m eaning

thatGerm an capitalexportslook set

to fallbelow those ofChina forthe

The reportnoted thatG erm any’s

netcapitalexportshad actually hit

a new record in 2 015,which rose to

8 .3 percentofitsannualeconom ic

outputforthe year,following 7.3

percentin 2 014.

According to the EU,a levelof

6 percentissustainable in the long

term ,which m eansthatGerm any

rem ainsby farthe greatestlender

ofnew fundson both sidesofthe

-

tries.“Thisdevelopm entwasdriven

by goodsexports,which accounted

fora surplusof2 62 billion euros,

also m arking a new record,”the

M unich-based think tank added.


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T H I S W E E K

m easuresby one third within the

ahead ofschedule.

CPI and PPIA m id growing concernsoverthe

“new m ediocrity”ofthe globalecon-

om y, C hina’slatesteconom icdata

providesevidence thatthe world’ssecond largesteconom y isresilient

and fullofvigorand vitality.

C hina’sconsum erpriceindex

grew 1.8 percentyearon yearin

January, up from a rise of1.6 percent

m onth high, the N ationalBureau of

S tatistics(N B S )said in a statem ent

on February 18.

M eanw hile, the producerprice

index(PPI), which m easureswhole-

consecutivem onth to 5 .3 percentinJanuary, butthe reading eased from

the 5 .9 -percentcontraction seen

from A ugustto D ecem ber20 15 ,

according to the N B S .

M any overseaseconom ists

have noted thatdespite existing

challenges, there isstillam ple room

form acroeconom icregulatory m a-

neuversforC hinesepolicym akers.

C hina hasalwaysbeen againstany

abuse oftrade rem edy m easures,

and hopesthe U nited S tatescan

cautiously dealwith the caseto

m aintain healthy trade cooperation

in related sectorsbetween the twocountries.

EV FactoryC hinese autom akerC hery began

work on a new plantcapable of

m aking 6 0 ,0 0 0 purely electricve-

hiclesperyearin eastC hina’sA nhui

Province on F ebruary 2 3.

T he 1.5 6 -billion-yuan

produceelectricvehicleswith alum i-

num alloy fram es.

issetto be com pleted in S eptem ber

and willproduce10 ,0 0 0 electriccars

T he second phaseofconstruc-

tion isscheduled forcom pletion by

the end ofnextyear.

C hery began selling electric

carsin 2 0 0 8. Thecom pany aim sto

boostitsannualsalesofnew-energy

vehiclesto 2 0 0 ,0 0 0 unitsby 2 0 2 0 .

New PartnershipG uangxiYuchaiM achinery C o. Ltd., a

dieselengine m anufacturerbased in

Yulin, G uangxiZhuang A utonom ous

R egion in south C hina, hasdecided

to establish a 5 0 -5 0 jointventure

with M T U Friedrichshafen G m bH , a

subsidiary ofthe R olls-R oycePower

S ystem s, forthe production ofM T U

dieselenginesin C hina.

T he C hinesedieselengine

m akerand itsG erm an partnerwill

invest75 m illion yuan ( 11.5 m illion)

each in the project. Production is

expected to startin 2 0 17with an

annualoutputof1,5 0 0 M T U S eries

40 0 dieselengines.

T he enginesare com pliantwith

C hina T ier3 em ission standards withpow eroutputsranging from 1,40 0

atthe C hineseoff-highway m arket,

said U lrich D ohle, PresidentofM T U .

T hey w illbe particularly suited

to applications in powergeneration

aswellasthe oiland gas industry,

he said.

T he jointventurewillprovide

new growth opportunitiesforthe two

com paniesin C hina and elsewhere

in A sia.

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S handong Province, on February 2 3.

Spring Farm ing

S tream sofpeople visitan exhibition booth ofZT E , a C hinese

B arcelona, S pain, on F ebruary 2 2 .

Mobile W orld Congress

T hey also pointed outthat

weakeroutputofcertain industries

in C hina isa resultof“necessary

adjustm ent.”

Trade FrictionC hina willprotectthe legitim ate

rightsofitstire m akers, the M inistry

ofC om m erce (M O FC O M )said onFebruary 2 0 in response to a recent

trade probe by the U nited S tates.

O n F ebruary 19 , theU .S .

D epartm entofC om m erce launched

an anti-dum ping and countervailing

duty investigation into tiresfortrucks

and busesim ported from C hina.

T he decision was“groundless”

and C hina hasexpressed serious

concerns, according to a M O FC O M

statem ent. M oreover, the charges

from som e key tire m akersin the

U nited S tates, and itsdom estictirecom paniesare earning a healthy

S ince2 0 0 7, the U nited S tates

haslaunched a num beroftrade

rem edy investigationsagainst

C hinesetire m anufacturers, which

have severely hindered exportsand

the industry, said M O FC O M .

T he m inistry also stressed that


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8E I J I N G R E V I E W

MARCH 3 2016 http://www.bjreview.co

T H I S W E E K W ORLD

SYRI

Militaryofficersinvestigatea blast

siteaftera series ofexplosionshitthe

northern partofDam ascus,killing at

least8 3 peopleand injured 178

IR N

An elderlylady looks atelectoralpostersin dow ntow n

Tehran on February2 2 ;tw o im portantelections—

Majlis parliam ent)and Assem blyofExperts— were

held on February2 6

IN I

Policeofficersguard streetsin Faridabad on

February2 1to quellthe riotby the Jatcom m unity

in thecityofthenorthern state Haryana. Atleast

10 people havebeen killed and 150 injured in the

recentunrest

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T H I S W E E K

NORTH KORE

Top leaderKim Jong Un accom panied by m ilitaryofficers ata drillofthe

Korean P eople’sArm yon February2 1

RUSSI

PresidentVladim irP utin and Prim e

MinisterDm itryMedvedevduring a

DefenderoftheFatherland Dayin

Moscow on February2 3

SOUTH FRIC

TheSouth African NationalDefense

operation m arking theArm ed Forces

Day in Nelson Mandela Bay

Municipalityon February2 1

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MARCH 3,2016 http://www.bjreview.co

T H I S W E E K PEOPLE POINTS

“Dem ilitarization needs efforts

ofallparties, notonly C hina, butalso the United S tates and AS EANcountries.”

Foreign M inisterW ang Yi com m enting onm ilitarization in the South China Sea ata joint

press conference w ith U .S. Secretary ofState

John Kerry aftertheirm eeting on February 2 3

in W ashington D.C.

Returning to

Fam ily Life

South Review sFebruary10 23

A t r e n d o f p e o p l e r e t r e a t i n g i n t o t h e i

s h e l l s h a s c r e p t i n t h r o u g h o u t C h i n a i n

r e c e n t y e a r s t h a n k s t o t h e n e w n o r m a

o f e c o n o m i c d e v e l o p m e n t a c c o r d i n g

t o Z h u S h a n j i e a r e s e a r c h f e l l o w f r o m

S h a n g h a i U n i v e r s i t y .

I n t h e n e w n o r m a l c o n t e x t a n d w i t h

s l o w e d g r o w t h m a n y C h i n e s e f e e l m o r e

p r e s s u r e i n t h e i r c a r e e r s . A l s o p r i c e s o

h o u s i n g a n d o t h e r g o o d s a n d s e r v i c e s

k e e p i n c r e a s i n g . S o c i a l a n d e c o n o m i c

c h a n g e s a f f e c t n o t o n l y m a n y p e o p l e ’ s

c a r e e r s b u t a l s o t h e i r l i f e s t y l e s . M a n y t r y

t o r e i n s t a t e t r a d i t i o n a l f a m i l y l i f e . T o p i c s

l i k e h e a l t h c a r e a n d d i e t i n s t e a d o f p o l i t i c s

a n d t h e e c o n o m y a r e p o p u l a r o n s o c i a

m e d i a p l a t f o r m s . M o r e a n d m o r e C h i n e s e

i n d u l g e t h e m s e l v e s i n s p e n d i n g h o l i d a y s

a t h o m e o r t r a v e l i n g a l o n e . R a t h e r t h a n

t a k e p a r t i n b i g p u b l i c e v e n t s t h e y p r e f e

t o s p e n d t i m e w i t h f a m i l y m e m b e r s a n d

p o s t a b o u t t h e i r l i v e s . O n l i n e s h o p p i n g i s

a n o t h e r h o t w a y t o k i l l t i m e .

“S ince 2 0 1 , Beijing has increased

cooperation with hospitals in H ebeiProvince’sYanjiao, Zhangjiakou and C aofeidian bysending experts to perform surgeries inthese hospitals and helping them train

doctors and nurses.”G ao X iaojun spokesm an forthe Beijing M unicipalCom m issionofH ealth and Fam ily P lanning on the capital’s m easures to ease

overcrow ding in public hospitals on February 2 3

V e t e r a n b a n k e r iuShiyuw a s r e c e n t l y a p p o i n t e d c h a i r m a n o f t h e C h i n a S e c u r i t i e s R e g u l a t o r y

C o m m i s s i o n t h e c o u n t r y ’ s s e c u r i t i e s w a t c h d o g .

L i u w a s d e p u t y g o v e r n o r o f t h e c e n t r a l b a n k f r o m 2 0 0 6 t o 2 0 1 4 . H e h a d b e e n h e a d o f t h e

A g r i c u l t u r a l B a n k o f C h i n a t h e c o u n t r y ’ s t h i r d l a r g e s t c o m m e r c i a l l e n d e r b y a s s e t s p r i o r t o h i s

l a t e s t a p p o i n t m e n t .

D u r i n g h i s t e r m a s d e p u t y g o v e r n o r o f t h e c e n t r a l b a n k h e c o m -

m e n t e d m a n y t i m e s o n t h e C h i n e s e s t o c k m a r k e t . L i u o n c e s a i d t h a t a

m u l t i l a y e r e d c a p i t a l m a r k e t w a s k e y t o s o l v i n g v a r i o u s m a r k e t p r o b l e m s

r e s t r u c t u r i n g o f d e b t w i t h n e w d e b t e q u i t y o r a c o m b i n a t i o n o f b o t h .

L i u n o w f a c e s t h e d a u n t i n g t a s k o f s t e p p i n g u p t h e r e f o r m o f C h i n a ’ s

s t o c k m a r k e t . B o r n i n 1 9 6 1 i n G u a n y u n C o u n t y i n e a s t C h i n a ’ s J i a n g s u

P r o v i n c e h e h o l d s a m a s t e r ’ s d e g r e e f r o m T s i n g h u a U n i v e r s i t y ’ s S c h o o l

o f E c o n o m i c s a n d M a n a g e m e n t .

NEW SEC U RIT IES WATC H OG C HIEF

W ashington’sRole as

Destabilizer

X i n h u a N e w s g e n c y

February24

T h e r e c e n t U . S . h y p e a b o u t a l l e g e d C h i n e s e

m i l i t a r y m a n e u v e r s i n t h e S o u t h C h i n a S e a

h o w e v e r s e n s a t i o n a l w i l l n o t h i d e t h e f a c t t h a t

W a s h i n g t o n i s n o w t h e t o p c o n t r i b u t o r o f t e n -

s i o n i n t h e r e g i o n .

I n t h e l e a d - u p t o C h i n e s e F o r e i g n M i n i s t e r

W a n g Y i ’ s v i s i t t o t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s s o m e U . S .

m e d i a o r g a n i z a t i o n s p l a y e d u p C h i n a ’ s d e p l o y -

m e n t o f a s u r f a c e - t o - a i r m i s s i l e s y s t e m o n

Y o n g x i n g I s l a n d . R i g h t a f t e r W a n g ’ s j o i n t p r e s s

c o n f e r e n c e w i t h h i s U . S . c o u n t e r p a r t J o h n K e r r y

o n F e b r u a r y 2 3 F o x N e w s r e p o r t e d t h a t t h e U . S .

t h e s a m e i s l a n d .

U . S . m e d i a h a v e f a i l e d t o g i v e d u e a t t e n -

t i o n t o t h e f a c t t h a t d e p l o y m e n t o f d e f e n s e

m e a s u r e s h a s b e e n g o i n g o n f o r d e c a d e s

o n t h e i s l a n d h o m e t o t h e m u n i c i p a l g o v -

e r n m e n t o f C h i n a ’ s s o u t h e r n m o s t c i t y o f

S a n s h a . C h i n a h a s r e p e a t e d l y m a d e c l e a r

t h a t i t h a s n o i n t e n t i o n t o m i l i t a r i z e t h e r e -

g i o n . W i t h t r i l l i o n s o f d o l l a r s w o r t h o f g o o d s

t r a v e r s i n g t h e p a t c h o f w a t e r e v e r y y e a r t h e

S o u t h C h i n a S e a i s v i t a l b o t h t o g l o b a l t r a d e

a n d t o C h i n a ’ s d e v e l o p m e n t . B e i j i n g h a s n o

r e a s o n t o d i s r u p t o n e o f i t s o w n c r u c i a l a r t e r -

i e s o f t r a d e .

T h e U n i t e d S t a t e s h a s c o n d u c t e d a s l e w

o f n a v a l a n d a i r p a t r o l t r i p s i n t h e v i c i n i t y o f t h e

C h i n a - o w n e d i s l a n d s . I t h a s a l s o r e o p e n e d m i l i -

t a r y b a s e s i n t h e P h i l i p p i n e s i n a m o v e w i d e l y

i n t e r p r e t e d a s s t i r r i n g u p t e n s i o n i n t h e r e g i o n .

I f t h e r e w e r e a r a n k i n g f o r d e s t a b i l i z e r s i n t h e

S o u t h C h i n a S e a t h e r e ’ s n o d o u b t W a s h i n g t o n

w o u l d t o p t h e l i s t .


13/52


T H I S W E E K

professionalskills are required fortoday’s m edia to exercise theirduty.”

Lu Shaoyang,head ofPeking U niversity’s SchoolofJournalism and Com m unication,responding to calls

m ade by PresidentXi Jinping on new s m edia in China toprovide guidance for the public and serve the country’soverallinterests ata sym posium follow ing his visits to

three leading new s organizations on February 19

“Over9 percentofnew businesses

were setup by individuals in 2 15 asm ore people becom e entrepreneurial

due to easieraccess and m ore

governm entsupport.”

Zhang M ao,head ofthe State Adm inistration forIndustry and Com m erce,ata press conference

on February 22

Thetrendisbelievedtobecomemore

evidentin2016.Withthereturntofamilylife

andpersonalworlds,moreproductsrelated

todailylifewillbeneeded,bringinginnew

businessopportunities.Thenewnormalis

leadingtochangesinmanyChinesepeo-

ple’swayoflife,whichmayinturnaffectthe

country’ssocialstructure.

Railway Runner Free to Set Ticket Prices e i j i n g T i m e s

F e b r u a r y

ChinaRailwayCorp. CRC),theonlyoperatorofthecountry’srailways,isempoweredto

decidehowmuchhigh-speedtrainticketscostasofthebeginningof2016.Thean

nouncementwasmadebytheNationalDevelopmentandReform Commission NDRC)

whichpreviouslysettheprice.

TransferringthepricingrighttoCRCisanecessarystepfortherailwayrunnertorealize

ticketpricesarenotallowedtodancewiththemarket,andthebenchmarkticketpricefor

high-speedtrainssetbytheNDRChaveremainedunchangedforyears.Consequently,misal

locationofresourceshashappenedfrequentlyandCRCisnowshoulderingheavydebt.As

anenterpriseinamarketeconomy,CRCshouldbefreedfromtheshacklesofadministrative

Yetsomeworrythatthereformmayleadtounreasonablyhighpricesforhigh-speedtraintick

ets,becauseCRCenjoysamonopolyasthecountry’sonlyrunnerofhigh-speedtrains.Also,curren

heavydebtmayimpelCRCtohiketicketprices.What’smore,high-speedtrainsaresaferandmore

competitivethanothermeansoftransportationincludingplanes,shipsandcars.

feredandnecessarysupervisionfromthegovernmentisimperative.

TheconvictionofP e t e r ia n g

citiesacrosstheUnitedStatesonFebruary20.

ThebulletricochetedoffawallandstruckAkaiGurley,anAfricanAmerican

man,inthechest.Thevictimlaterdiedatahospital.Liangwasfoundguilty

byagrandjuryandcouldfaceupto15yearsinprisonforthemanslaugh-

tercount.

TheprotesterswereprimarilyChineseAmericanslikeLiangwhocar-

riedsignsthatread“noscapegoating,”“onetragedy,twovictims”and

“condolencestoAkaiGurley,justiceforPeterLiang.”Theybelievethat

Liangisbeingusedasascapegoatforpastinstancesoffatalpoliceactions

aroundtheUnitedStates.Prosecutors,however,heldthatLiang’sactions

werereckless.

FORM ER NYC COP ’S CONTROVERSI L CONVICTION


14/52


15/52


16/52



C O V E R S T O R Y

R O O T IN G O U T O V E R T YC hina is determ ined to eradicate poverty across the n ation by 2 0 2 0B y Y in um in

Th e fam ily ofXu Chaoting a farm erw ith disabilities in a

poverty-stricken village in Chongqing M unicipality take a

picture in front oftheirn ew hou se builtw ith the aid o fthe

governm enton February 7


17/52


Governm entis faced w ith,asthe nation is striv

ing to achieve the goalofbuilding a m oderately

prosperoussociety.

In D ecem ber 2 015,the CP C C entra

Com m ittee and the State C ounciljointly

released instructions for poverty alleviation

calling for creative ideas and m ethods to ad-

dresspoverty.

The docum ent suggested that m ore

targeted and precise m easures are needed

to help those living in poverty in ruralareas

obtain basic living standards by 2 02 0.

Th ese m easures include d eveloping

industries,im proving education and m edica

services,b uilding adequate infrastructure

and facilities,helping m igrant w orkers find

jobs,and relocating people thatlive in hostile

conditions and fragile environm ents to m ore

prosperous areas.

The docum ent cam e out after a state

councilm eeting on poverty alleviation inN ovem ber last year,at w hich the go alo

elim inating nationw ide poverty by 2 02 0 w as

reiterated. Specifically targeted m easures

designed to help poor people in ruralareas

shake o ff po verty w ere pu shed forw ard

policy.

“Th e m etho d of exten sive p overty

relief used in the past no lon ge r w orks

w hen it com es to the m ost im poverished

fam ilies. Targeted relief and custom ized

po licies are n eeded to help each hou se

ho ld,” said W ang Sangu i,a professor w ith

the Scho ol of AgriculturalEcon om ics and

RuralDevelopm ent of Beijing-based Renm in

U niversity ofChina,in an article by Xinhua

N ews Agency.

W ang believe d that effective poverty

reliefrelies on precisely identifying particu

larly needy groups. “Iden tifying the needs

of the po or is the first step in the po verty

reliefbattle and only by fully understanding

the problem can po licym akers deliver the

targeted m easures proposed by the centra

authorities forthe 13 th Five-YearP lan (2 016

2 0),”claim ed W ang.

G uided by that policy,a database w as

created in 2 014 to reco rd the basic in

Since the ruralpopulation ofChina ac-

coun ts for about 50 percent of the

country’s total,poverty alleviation m ea-

sures in ruralareas has long been one ofthe

m ajorconcernsofthe Chinese Governm ent.

“P overty alleviation en deavors m ust

be carried ou t in a p recise m anner,w ithdifferent m easures rolled out targeting dif-

ferenttypes ofpeople and households,” said

Chinese P resident XiJinping during his tour

in JiangxiProvince on February 1-3 .

“N ota single fam ily living in poverty is to

be leftbehind in ourpath,”he stressed.

Earlier,at a group study ofthe P olitical

Bureau m em bers ofthe Com m unistP arty of

China (CP C)CentralC om m ittee in January,

the presidentpledged to m ake an all-outef-

fort to ensure that allim poverished farm ers

w illbe lifted outofpoverty by 2 02 0.

In the past three d ecades,C hina h as

lifted m ore than 600 m illion people out of

penury,accounting for an estim ated 70 per-

centreduction ofw orldw ide poverty.

China w as the firstdeveloping country to

m eetthe U N M illennium Developm ent Goals

(M DGs)ahead ofits targetw hich outlined the

halving ofa country’snum berofpoorpeople by

2 015.

“Despite the achievem ents,China rem ains

the w orld’s largestdeveloping coun try,and

narrow ing the urban-ruralgap rem ains a big

challenge forus,” Xisaid in O ctober lastyear

w hile addressing the GlobalP overty Reduction

and Developm entForum in Beijing.

Atthe end of 2 014,China stillhad m ore

than 70 m illion people living below the coun-

try’spoverty line of2 ,3 00 yuan ( 3 75)in annual

incom e by 2 010 price standards.

W hen the nation’s law m akers and policy

advisers gather in Beijing in early M arch for

the annualsessions of the N ationalP eople’s

Con gress and the N ation alC om m ittee of

the Chinese P eo ple’s P oliticalConsultative

Conference,poverty alleviation w illbe high on

theiragenda.

M ore targeted m easuresH ow to liftthe rem aining 70 plusm illion people

outofpovertyisa big challenge thatthe Central

X

I

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19/52


C op yedited by B ryan M ichaelG alvan

C om m ents to yinpu m in bjreview .com

his fam ily m ainly depended on the country’s

low subsistence allow ance in the past.

In his village, w hich lies in the valley ofthe

L uliang M ountain, there are 9 5 fam ilies, totaling

2 9 0 individuals, living in conditions like Zhang’s.

Despite efforts from centraland localgovern-

m ents in recent years, the options available to

earn a living w ere stillscarce.

T hat situation had notchan ged untilthe

idea of crow dfun ding w as introduced to the

village in 2 0 1 4.

A fter conducting carefulstudies into the

m atter, the S hanxiS ecurities R egulatory B ureau

helped the villagers form tw o equity-based

cooperative u nions to support the village’s

chicken-breeding and goat-breeding industries.

T his helped the villagers collect m ore than 1 .7

m illion yuan ( 2 6 0 ,2 45 )in funds from over2 0

organizations.

-

ly, the bureau lent70 0 ,00 0 yuan ( 1 0 7,1 5 9 )to

those 9 5 poverty-stricken fam ilies w ithoutinter-

est. T he fam ilies could then investthe m oney

into the tw o cooperative unions as sharehold-

ers. T he resto fthe 1 .7 m illion yuan w ent to

the cooperative unions as running funds w ith

norm alinterestrates. W ith the m oney, the co-

operative unions builttw o large-scale breeding

farm sfortheirchickensand goats.

“In the past, w e could only raise a m axim um

of6 ,0 0 0 chickens. B ut today, w ith the crow d-

funded m oney, w e can easily raise 2 0 ,0 0 0

chickens,”Y ou C unlin, head ofthe tw o coopera-

tive unions, told Xinhua.

Y ou A izhong, the village chief, also told

Xinhua thatcrow dfunding haseffectivelyhelped

reduce the living pressures on those poverty-

stricken fam ilies. “T hey can gettheirdividends

every yearw ithoutdebtand risk,”he said.

A ccording to Y ou , the scale of chicken

breeding is expected to reach 5 0 ,0 0 0 in three

lion yuan ( 1 6 3 ,1 3 2 ). “T aking out80 0 ,00 0 yuan( 1 2 9 ,0 3 2 )for dividends, each poverty-strickenvillager can earn 2 ,75 8 yuan ( 445 )by then,”Y ou said.

ing can effectively solve the problem offundingshortages thatthose poorfam ilies face, and italso helps them starttheirow n business,” saidS un C airen, Director of the S hanxiS ecuritiesR egulatory B ureau , in the sam e article byXinhua.

C row dfunding has since been introducedto m ore regions in the country, including theprovinces ofG ansu, H ubeiand G uizhou.

I N

H

U

A

T he plantation has provided m ore than 5 0 jobs to people in neighboring areas

A com pan y specializing in electron ic productsin Xuan en C ou nty, H ubeiProvince,provides free training to localw om en from ruralareas in ecem ber2 0 1 5


20/52



C O V E R S T O R Y

Have you w atched 3 D m ovies in

tow n?” becam e a com m on greet-

ing am ong residents in You dunjie

Tow n in Boyang County,eastChina’s Jiangxi

P rovince,during the m ost recent Chinese

Lunar N ew Ye ar (Spring Festival) ho liday.

That is in part because the P urple Golden

Cinem a,w hich opened on January 18 ,has

beco m e a p opular recreation alven ue in

the tow n. D uring the w eeklong holiday that

started on February 7,it w as packed w ith

eagerm oviegoers.

“IneverthoughtIcould w atch updated 3 D

m ovies in m y hom etow n,” a young resident

surnam ed W ang told Bychina.com ,a localnew s

w ebsite in Boyang. “The visualeffectisno differ-

entw ith thatin big cinem as in Shenzhen and

the price ism uch low er.”

W ang has w orked in Sh enzhen ,south

China’s Guangdo ng P rovince,for tw o years

and cam e back to Boyang for a fam ily re-

union during the festival. W hile Boyang is on

the nation allistof coun ties in need ofpov-

erty relief,culturalactivities,like m oviegoing,

are com ing to life.

In Shenzhen,a 3 D m ovie costs about8 0

yuan ( 12 .3 ),w hile in Youdunjie itonly costs

3 0 yuan ( 4.6). W ang recounted that in the

past,residents in the tow n could only w atch

m ovies in o pen areas in the sum m er. The

m ovies w ere m ostly out-of-date and som e

w ere even in b lack and w hite. “Altho ug h

those days w ere m em orable,w e w ant a

m uch m ore advanced cinem a in w hich w e

don’t have to sw ataw ay m osquitoes or be

cautious ofpossible rain,”W ang said.

M ovies and booksThis is not a unique scene in im poverished

places acrossChina.

In Fun an C ou nty,southw est C hina’s

Sichuan P rovince,Tim es InternationalCinem a

has becom e the m ostpopulardestination for

locals during holidays since itw as putinto op

eration in late 2 014.

“Allm y frien ds are very happy for the

new cinem a as w e had to m arch to nearby

Fuyang C ity for a new m ovie in the past,”

a localresiden t surnam ed H uang posted

on line. H uan g w atched the n ew m ovie

M erm aid on February 9 w ith his girlfriend. “w as super crow ded in the cinem a,” H uang

w rote. “W e arrived atthe cinem a at2 p.m . to

catch the session at2 :2 0 p.m .,butw ere told

the tickets w ere sold out. W e had to w aitfor

anothertw o hours to w atch the m ovie.”

Figures from Forw ard Industry Research

Institute,a m arketsurvey and research com

pany in China,show thatalthough large cities

stilloccupy the m ain po rtion of the ticket

box in C hina,there has been a rem arkable

increase in the portion in sm alland m edium

sized cities and counties,from 2 8 .2 percent

S O F T O W E R , S T R O N G S U O R TT he signific nce of cultur l ctivities in po verty redu ction

efforts in C hin B y Y u n Y u n

X

I

U

residentin Jinp an Village southw estChina’s Chon gqing

M un icipality takes a picture ofhis farm land for his on line

business on N ovem ber7 2 015


21/52


C op yedited b y M ara L ee D urrell

C om m ents to yuanyuan bjreview .com

in 2 0 1 2 to 3 6 .7 percentin 2 0 1 5 .

“In the past, w e spent m ost of the

S pring F estivalholiday athom e, eitherplay-

ing m ahjong o r w atching T V ,” H uang said.

“It w as really dull. N ow w ith the cinem a, w e

have m ore choices. W atching a m ovie w ith

the w ho le fam ily has been a new fashion in

the tow n.”

A rep o rt relea sed b y th e S tate

A dm inistration ofPress, Publication, R adio,

F ilm and T elevision in 2 0 1 5 stated that a

recipient ofstate relieffor poverty-stricken

counties can get a subsidy of80 0 ,0 0 0 yuan

( 1 2 2 ,480 )from the C entralG overnm entfor

con structing a cinem a. A fter being put into

by attracting localadvertisem ents.

“Itis a significant m ove that is designed

to enrich the culturallife in poverty-stricken

regions,” said Xiao Q iang, a m ovie industry re-

searcherin B eijing.

T he library is another place peo ple in

im poverished ruralareas can go ifthey feel

bored at hom e. T hatis w hy D u Q uanchengL ibrary in W ushan T ow n, Xiangyang in central

C hina’s H ubeiProvince, didn’t close during

the L unarN ew Y earholiday. “W e opened for

1 0 hours every day during the holiday, from

8 a.m . to 6 p.m .,”said D u Q uancheng, found-

er of the library. “E very day w e w elcom ed

about 5 0 readers. I spent the w hole holiday

in the library w ith them and I think itw as very

m eaningful.”

F irst op ened in 2 0 0 1 , the library has

been a culturallandm ark in the tow n. N ie

M eicaiis a frequentreaderhere. In 2 0 1 1 , N ie

cam e acrosssom e books on pig breeding in

the library. W ith the techniques he learnt by

him self, N ie is running a pig farm in the tow n,

w hich generates m ore than 1 m illion yuan

( 1 5 3 ,1 0 0 )every year.

“E very tim e I had som e q uestion s, I

library has also becom e a gathering place for

locals. A lthough the In ternet is m ore con-

venientforsearching inform ation, itis m ore

practicalto com m unicate w ith locals face to

face.”

T he m obile library in JinzhaiC ounty, east

C hina’s A nhuiProvince, goes one step further

in providing convenience to readers. T he library

is actually a refitted bus, w hich carries books

selected from the JinzhaiC ounty L ibrary’s col-

lections. T he bus arrives atdifferent schools in

stops on cam pus forthe teachersand students

to read.

Technology upgradeIf bo oks and m ovies are fam iliar terrain,

cloud com puting technology m ight sound

like the bee’s kn ee s for those living w ith

little if an y tech nology at their fingertips,

and plans are underw ay to extend the tech-

nology currently available to those w ithout

access.

F or exam ple, in southw est C hina’s

G uizhou Province’s new five-year plan for

socialand econom ic developm ent(2 0 1 6 -2 0 ),

big data and poverty alleviation are highlight-

ed as tw o m ajor strategies. “T his m eans w e

w illm ake fulluse ofbig data technology to

reduce poverty,”L iu Y uankun, the province’s

vice governor w ho is in charge of poverty al-

leviation, told Xinhua N ew s A gency.

A ccording to the province’s schedu le

m ore than 3 m illion of the rem aining 6 .2 3

m illion people living below the nationa

poverty line of 2 ,3 0 0 yuan ( 3 75 )in annua

incom e w illbe lifted out of po verty by the

end of2 0 1 7 and allw illshake offpoverty by

2 0 2 0 . In fact, a cloud-com puting database

has been built in the province w ith the help

ofbig data technology, pooling allupdated

inform ation about reside nts living be low

the poverty line such as their location, the

causes oftheirpoverty, how m uch subsidies

they get and by w hatkind ofpoverty allevia

tion projectthey are covered.

W eining, a m ajor habitat of Y i, H uiand

M iao e thn ic grou ps, is one o f G uizho u’s

m ost im po verished cou nties becau se al

though ithas favorable naturalconditions to

grow apple trees it is very difficult for loca

residents to selltheir harvests due to poor

m arketing skills.N ow , w ith the he lp of W eC hat, the

m ost-used instant m essaging and socianetw orking sm artphone app in C hina, loca

residents are able to sell1 0 ton s of apples

perw eek.

T he I nternet has helped C hinese people

overcom e poverty, C hrisN ebe, C E O ofM onarex

H ollyw ood, w ho is currently shooting a docu

m entary about G uizhou, told Xinhua. “T he

Internet has becom e a toolfor poor C hinese

people to m ake a betterlife,”he added.

T eachers and studentsinN anxi rim ary S choolin JinzhaiC ounty, A nhui rovince, readbooks sentto them via a m obilelibrary on N ovem ber5 , 2 0 1 5

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AygulIsm ayilis a typicalhousew ife liv-

ing in the rem ote village ofQ igirtm ak,

in northw est China’s Xinjiang U ygu r

Autonom ous Region. She had been depend-

ing on her husband’s w ork on a sm allfarm ,w hich only generates 10,000 yuan ( 1,53 4)

a year,to feed a fam ily ofsix.

Q igirtm ak is located in the tow n ofW upu,

in eastXinjiang. D ue to the scarce am ou nt

of arable land in the village,m any villagers

stayed hom e w ithout otherem ploym entop-

tions,w orsening the poverty situation in the

region even further.

In Xinjiang,there are currently 2 .61 m illion

people living under the nationalpoverty line—

defined as an annualincom e of 2 ,3 00 yuan

( 3 75 )for ruralresiden ts— accounting for

m ore than 2 0 percentofthe ruralpopulation in

the w hole region.

“N ow Ican earn m ore than 2 ,000 yuan

( 3 07) per m onth,w hich is m ore than m y

husband’s earnings. It’s his turn to take care of

the children and do the housew ork now ,” said

Ism ayil.

The change to h er fam ily w as brought

about by the establishm ent of the W upu

Branch of the N ew Ce ntury Fashion

Factory in February 2 01 5, w hich w as set

up w ith the h elp of a group of com m unity

officials w ho w ere tasked w ith alleviating

poverty in the village. Allof the factory’s

w orkers are w om en w ho had p reviou sly

been unem ployed.

Since 2 014,Xinjiang has m obilized 2 00,000

to eradicate poverty and im prove livelihoodsby

understanding the realpoverty situation and

needs oflocalpeople.Even so,the aid grou p enco un tered a

-set. The villagers,forexam ple,w ere notactively

seeking em ploym entfrom the factory,since

they had trouble changing theirprevious life-

styles.

“The factory w as planning to h ire 5 0

w orkers initially,butless than 10 registered,”

claim ed the leader of the aid grou p Yusup

Resur.

The officials had to talk to the villagers

-ing in the factory. M eanw hile,they prom ised

to offer training on skills and labor law s and

regulations before they started w orking. In

addition,the villagers w ere encouraged to

undergo training w ith 1,00 0 yuan ( 15 3 )in

subsidies and 3 8 0 yuan ( 58 )for theirm eals

and transportation during the interim period.

C urren tly,5 0 peop le have allbegu n

w orking at the factory. Th ey also exercise

every m orning, take U ygur and M andarin

language courses atnoon,and participate in

som e entertainm ent activities organized by

the factory and the aid group.

Follow ing the successfulintroduction of

the fashion business,the Xazat Food Co. also

opened shop in Q igirtm ak. Am ong the 160 vil-

lagers w ho com peted,the com pany eventually

hired 3 5 w orkers.

The aid group also established m ore busi

ness organizations based on localconditions

including a housekeeping service center and

eightprofessionalcooperatives. Currently,18 4

localvillagershave new jobs,m aking up 92 per

centofsurpluslaborforces.

“O ur w ay oflife has changed,the living

standard is im proving and ourm inds are also

changing. W e talk m ore aboutdevelopm ent

and h ave started to dress up and entertainourselves by singing and dancing,”said Ahyit

G ayiz,a villager and training teacher w ith

the W upu Branch of N ew Century Fashion

Factory.

N w opportuniti s

Abdu Sem et,2 7, lives in Y erken C ou nty

Kashgar P refecture in southw est Xinjiang. In

2 011,he w ent to look for w ork in A ksu C ity

w hich is som e 450 km aw ay from Yerken

H e becam e a skilled construction w orker

bu t unfortun ately suffered an accident at

w ork w hich rendered him im m obile. H e had

I N C R E A S I N G

R O S E R I T Y

IN XIN J IA N G C oo rdin ted efforts re being m de to provide

econom ic op po rtunities B y L iF ngf ng

C O V E R S T O R Y


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C op yedited by B ryan M ichaelG alvan

C om m ents to lifang fang bjreview .com

to return to Y erken to be taken care ofby his

grandm a, his only relative. S ince then, they

had no other source ofincom e except from

the subsisten ce allow ance o ffered b y the

governm ent.

In 2 0 1 4, in order to assist the 870 ,0 0 0

peo ple in poverty w ithoutw orking capability

in Xinjiang , the region algo vernm en t in-

creased the m onthly subsistence allow ances

percapita forurban and ruralresidents from

1 5 8 yuan ( 2 4)and 6 5 yuan ( 1 0 )in 2 0 0 9

to 2 9 7 yuan ( 46 )and 1 44 yuan ( 2 2 )re-spectively.

S om e of the governm ent officials w ho

w ere designated to reduce poverty in S em et’s

village, T atarcag, specifically helped him apply

for a 40 -square-m eter house for low -incom e

fam ilies. T hey also applied forw heelchairs and

w alking sticks from the localfederation for

the disabled and gave them to physically chal-

lenged villagers.

B esides eco nom ic aid, the officials en-

couraged S em etto challenge him selfand to

use the I nternet. T hrough interaction w ith

other villagers as w ellas from partaking in

entertainm entactivities, S em et has now be-

com e m ore optim istic about his future.

hances for cooperation

T hirty-year-old M ahm ut T ursun , n icknam ed

A m u w ho is also from Kashgar Prefecture, is

m ore fortunate than A bdu S em et. A m u w as

born into a farm er’s fam ily in S hufu C ounty, 2 0

km from KashgarC ity. H e had m ethis parents’

expectation s to becom e a civilservant, an d

-ating from college. H e nonetheless quitthree

m onths later, afterm eeting L iu Jingw en.

L iu com es from south C hina’s G uangdong

Province, w hich is one ofthe 1 9 provinces and

m un icipalities w hich answ ered the C en tral

G overnm ent’s callto supportXinjiang’s overall

developm ent starting from 2 0 1 0 . T he local

governm ents prom ised to con tribute 0 .3 to

Xinjiang reach its goalofrealizing a w ell-off

society.

L iu cam e to K ashgar as a volunteer in a

projectw hich offered occupationaltraining for

disabled U ygursin 2 0 1 1 .

A m u also volun teered to be a M andarin-U yghur interpreter and gu ide for L iu andother volun teers during w eeken ds. L iu thendiscovered thatm osthigh-quality dried fruitslike red dates and w alnu ts couldn ’t sellw eldue to the lack ofdistribution channels.

“F arm ers are at the bottom ofthe industrychain. T he distributors usually offerlow erpricessince they figure that agriculturalproductscan’t be stored lon g,” L iu said. T herefore, L iuand othervolunteers decided to help sellthoseproducts on T aobao.com , C hina’s largestonlineretailm arketplace.

B ut atthat tim e, localfarm ers didn’tknoww hatthe Internetw as, and knew little aboutselling theirproducts on it. A m u understood L iu’splan and then persuaded farm ers to try L iu’sideas.

T heir first attem pt w as a success thanksto the help of som e Internet celebrities’rec-om m endations. T hey called their e-business“V izdan,” literally m eaning “conscien ce” inU ygur, considering thatfood safety isw hatcustom erscare about.

“M y team is m ade of people of differentethnic groups. O ur products are w orthy ofoucustom ers’trust,”A m u said.

distribution channels and publishing farm ersinform ation online aftervisiting them on-sitethu s m aking farm ers from far aw ay m oreaccessible. “In this w ay, w e can help peopleknow m ore about Xinjiang and u s U ygurpeople,”A m u said.

A m u claim ed that after co-founding theV izdan T rading C o. L td. in 2 0 1 2 , he has felta

O n M ay 1 , 2 0 1 3 , V izdan launched a cooperative, prom ising to buy localfarm ers’qualityproduce ata price 1 0 percent higherthan them arket price, share the profits w ith cooperative m em bers and provide training on farm ing

techniques. In 2 0 1 4, V izdan sold 1 5 0 tons oproducts and had over2 ,0 0 0 households listedas itssellers.

“I’m so gratefulfor these frien ds fromG uangdong. There w ouldn’tbe so m any U ygufarm ers benefiting from e-business and farmers’cooperativesw ithoutthem ,”A m u said.

“If farm ers can benefitfrom ourbusinessyoungergenerations w illchoose to com e backfrom cities to the farm land ,” L iu said. “T heyneed m ore opportunities to enter the m ain-

C O U R T E S Y

O F L I U J I N G W E N

M ahm utT ursun right)visits farm erG enijan’s ho use to exam ine dried

apricots in Kashgarin July 2 0 1 2 ,du ring the initialph ase ofV izdan


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W O R L D

U.S. P resident Barack O bam a announced

a new U .S.-ASEAN Connectinitiative at

the tw o-day U.S.-ASEA N leaders’m eet-

ing held atthe Sunnylands Centerin Rancho

M irage,California,on February16. The initiative

w illcreate a netw ork ofhubs to bettercoordi-

nate U .S. econom ic engagem ent in the region

and better connect entrepreneurs,investors,

and businessesand generated positive respons-

esfrom ASEAN m em bers.The m eeting w as sym bolically significant

in tw o w ays. Th e firstw as that the location,

Sunnylands,was also the sam e locale w here

O bam a first ho sted C hine se P resident Xi

Jinping in 2 013 . The second and m ostobvious

is that the tim ing of the m eeting,w hich by

Yetifthe O bam a adm inistration had hoped

thatASEAN nations w ould m ention China and

theirterritorialcontests in the South China Sea

in itsjointstatem entatthe end ofthe m eeting,

itsw ish w asnotgranted.In actuality,m ostASEAN nations tradi-

tionally take a neu tralstance in the pow er

struggles betw een m ajor countries,hoping

to establish constructive relations w ith both

China and the U nited States w ithout taking

sides.

T he U nited S t tes’c rrot

From an eco no m ic perspective,closer co-

operation betw een ASEAN and the U nited

both sides. Though m any ASEAN countries

have w itnessed rapid developm entin recent

years,som e countries are stilltroubled by

States can increase its investm entin A SEAN

cou ntries and boost bilateraleco nom ic ac-

tivities,itw illbe ofgreat help in accelerating

the econ om ic developm ent of ind ividual

countries and the SoutheastA sian region as

a w hole.

D espite the po ckets of po verty,it is

estim ated that by 2 03 0,ASEAN could havebecom e the fourth largest econom y in the

w orld. And SoutheastAsia,as a region w ith

62 0 m illion people and an average annual

GDP grow th rate reaching 4.6 percent,offers

trem endous m arket potential,including for

the U nited States. Th erefore stren gthen-

ing bilateraleco nom ic coo peration w ould

also bring enorm ous econ om ic benefits to

Am erican businesses.

N onetheless,som e observers claim ed that

the O bam a adm inistration’s efforts to strength-

en ties w ith A SEAN nations is not sim ply to

the Am erican president’spoliticallegacy ashe is

In an article by Yu Xiang,a scholar on

U .S. studies w ith the C hina Institutes of

Contem porary InternationalRelations CICIR),

pu blished on the w ebsite of the O utlookW eekly m agazine,the authorsaid the U nitedStates’Asia-P acific rebalan cing strategy

is one of the m ajor priorities of O bam a’s

foreign policy,and relations w ith A SEAN is

one ofits pillars. By hosting this specialU .S.-

ASEA N m eeting,P resident O bam a tried to

consolidate his legacy as itis unknow n ifthe

subsequent adm inistration w illcontinue his

policies.

Since the O bam a adm inistration an

n ou n ced th e “pivot to A sia” strateg y

W ashington has attached an increased

levelof im portance to relations w ith ASEAN

countries. P resident O bam a has paid seven

in 2 009 and has held six grou p m eetings

w ith A SEAN leaders. LastN ovem ber,his ad

m inistration also upgraded the U .S.-ASEAN

relationship from partnership to strategic

partnership.

Th aischolar Th itinan P on gsud hirak

D irector of the Institute of Se cu rity and

InternationalStudies ofthe Chulalongkorn

U niversity,takes a sim ilar view . In a recen t

opinion story published on the w ebsite o

the Bangkok Post,P on gsudhirak claim edthat the narrative and thrustofthe U nited

States’rebalancing strategy sug gests that

the recent Sunnylands m eeting w as there

fore partly inten de d to bo ost O bam a’s

foreign policy credentials even at this “lam e

duck”stage.

Jia Xiudong,a seniorresearcher w ith the

T he E conom y

M tters M ore

the S outh C hin S e B y Y u L int o

M alaysian P rim e M inisterN ajib Razak fron tleft)hands

overa declaration d ocu m entto Secretary GeneralofASEA N Le Luong M inh frontright)on N ovem ber2 2 ,

2 01 5,w hen the association ann ou nced to establish

the A SEAN Com m unity by the end ofthe year


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W O R L D

C hina Institute ofInternationalS tudies, toldeijing Review thatthe hosting ofthe special

m eeting underlines the strategic im portancethat O bam a had p laced o n h is strategy of

he m ay be trying to leave an im pression of

“steadfastly continuing dow n the road h estarted.”

Prior to the m eeting, som e W estern observ

ers and new s outlets tried to hype up that the

S outh C hina S ea issue w ould be on top oftheagenda. H ow ever, the finaljoint statem entissued by the parties refrained from any kind of

nam e calling.President O bam a also did n ot specifi

cally reference C hina, though he reiteratedthe U nited S tates’position in regards to the

dispute. S peaking at the con clusion of the

m eeting, O bam a said thatthe A m erican andA S E A N representatives “discussed the n eed

for tangible steps in the S outh C hina S ea tolow er ten sions, including a h alt to further

C op yedited b y M ara L ee D urrell

C om m ents to yulintao bjreview .com

reclam ation, new construction and m ilitari

zation ofdisputed areas.

Zh ou Y on gsheng , a professor w ith

C hina’s F oreign A ffairs U niversity told eijing

Re view that it w as reasonable that m ost

A S E A N countries exercised restraint on the

S ou th C hina S ea issue during the m eeting.

Zho u explained that, thou gh A S E A N coun

tries ho pe to w ork w ith the U nited S tates,

they are n otw illing to endorse W ashington’s

“provocative” policy to go againstC hina.

In Jia’s analysis, C hina do es not need

to w orry abou t the w arm er relation s be

tw een A S E A N and the U nited S tates, as

C hina seeks non exclusive cooperation in

S outheast A sia. “A S E A N C hina coop eration

and A S E A N U .S . cooperation do not repel

each other. T he three parties can surely

the region ,” he said.

In som e w ays, it seem s that C hina has

enjoyed closer relation s w ith A S E A N in re

cent years than that of the U nited S tates.

A S E A N relationship is curren tly m ovingfrom the “golden decade” to the “diam onddecade.” T here is sign ifican t interest indeepening cooperation b etw een C hina andA S E A N . In fact, C hina has been the largesttrading partner of A S E A N since 2 0 0 9 , andthe current C hina A S E A N trade volum edoubles thatbetw een A S E A N and the U nitedS tates.

In hisarticle, Y u ofthe C IC IR also noted thateach ofthe 1 0 A S E A N m em berstates havejoined the C hina initiated A sian InfrastructureInvestm entB ank, and m ostA S E A N countries

have show n greatinterestin C hina’s initiative obuilding the S ilk R oad E con om ic B eltand the2 1 st C entury M aritim e S ilk R oad, hoping thattheirow n nationaldevelopm entcan share inthe dividends.

S o it is not surprising that m ost A S E A Nm em bers do no t w ant their relation s w ithC hina to hinge only on S outh C hina S ea island claim s.

In Jan uary, w hen m ee ting w ith visiting U .S . S ecretary of S tate Joh n Ke rryC am bod ian Prim e M inister H un S en said“for the S ou th C hina S ea issue, w e shouldnot take gasoline to d ouse on fire, b ut try

to encourage the co untries concerned inthe dispu te to co ntinue n eg otiations w itheach o ther because A S E A N has no rights tom easure land for any sides.” H e added thathe believes V iet N am and C hina, as w ellasC hina an d the Philippines, should negotiatew ith each other.

T hat sentim ent m irrors C hina’s positionthatA S E A N asan econom ic bloc is not a partyto territorialdisputes, so disagreem ents shouldbe resolved bilaterally.

In an article published on F ebruary 1 5by Xinhua N ew s A gency, N geow C how B inga scho lar from the U niversity of M alaya’sInstitute o f C hina S tudies, said that the

U nited S tates should think m ore tow ardeconom ic cooperation w ith allA sia Pacificcountries, including C hina, in its A sia pivotrhetoric rather than focusing too m uch onterritorialissues. N geow added that w hile alA S E A N coun tries w ou ld prefer the U nitedS tates to con tinu e to have at least som epresence, that presence shou ld not be seenas m aking A S E A N countries feelcom pelledto pick a side betw een the U nited S tates andC hina.

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W O R L D

Tw o years have elapsed since the out-

break of the U krainian crisis during

w hich unrem itting conflicts brought

the European country close to disaster. But

looking back on 2 015,U kraine w as not as

out ofcontrolas som e people had asserted.

D espite nu m erous difficulties,it achieved

relative politicalstability,avoided econom ic

m eltdow n,as w ellas m aintained a truce in

the eastern partofthe country.

oliticalreform

After Viktor Yanukovych w as ousted from

the presiden cy in February 2 014,the politi-

calsituation in U kraine appeared to be in a

state ofdisorder,but it began to change in

2 015. P resident P etro P oroshenko and the

U krainian G overnm en t controlled events

and m anaged to com bat the intervention in

politics by pow erfuloligarchs,a long-term

m alady since U kraine gained its indepen-

dence after the disintegration ofthe Soviet

U nion in 1991.

In 2 01 5, pressed b y the International

M on etary Fun d (IM F) and the EU , the

U krainian G overnm en t too k action s to

break o ligarchs’control of the econo m y,

bu t the efforts m et strong op po sition . In

M arch 2 015,the private m ilitia of oligarch

Iho r Kolom oisky occu pied offices o f tw o

state-ow ned energy com panies in Kiev after

the parliam ent m oved to retake controlof

the co m panies from him . But in response

to pressure from the p ub lic an d W esterncountries,K olom oisky resign ed from the

go vernorship of D nipropetrovsk O blastfol-

low ing a w eeklong confrontation. Soon after

the incident w as resolved,the governm ent

scrapped m any preferentialtax po licies for

businesses controlled by oligarchs.

W ith the centralgovernm ent view ed as

w eak in the politicalcrisis after February 2 014,

ultra-nationalistorganizations began to grow

in U kraine. Som e ultra-nationalistparties w on

seats in the nationallegislature in the O ctober

2 014 parliam entary election,exerting greater

influence in politics and ham pering P resident

P oroshenko and the governm ent’s attem pts at

politicalreconciliation.

-ties started to decline. In localelections in

O ctober 2 015,m oderate center-right par-

ties gained large support as m ore and m ore

voters began to realize that a rationaland

peacefulresolution of the conflict in east

U kraine is the best choice,and increased

autonom y forthe region can serve as a basis

In the m eantim e,U kraine has appointed

foreign citizens to som e high -ranking gov-

ernm ent posts and prom oted m any young

officials with a W estern educationalback-

ground as a m eans to m agnify the effectof

itspoliticalreform .

E conom ic recovery

D ue to the gloom y globaleconom ic situa-

tion,particularly the sharp fallin internationa

com m odity prices,U kraine’s GDP shrank by

10 percent in 2 015. Buttim ely internationa

loans and EU aid,w hich cam e as a result of

the U krainian Governm ent’s rigid im plem en

tation of the financialand energy policies

setby the IM F and W orld Bank,helped the

country escape from econom ic collapse and

achieve a sm allbalance o f paym ents sur

plus,despite severe dom estic inflation and

a decline in internationaltrade. U kraine also

reached agreem ents w ith its m ain creditors

to restructure the country’s hu ge foreign

debtlastyear,thus avoiding a sovereign debt

bankruptcy.

U kraine’s econom y relies heavily on the

export ofm etallurgy,chem icalan d agricul

turalproducts. Looking to the future, its

exports are unlikely to continue nose-div

ing. After the validation of the EU -U kraine

D eep and Com prehensive Free Trade Areaon January 1,the EU w illrem ove tariffs and

otherbarriers on im ports from the cou ntry

w hich w illfacilitate Ukraine’s econom ic re

covery. Another piece ofgood new s forthe

U krainian eco no m y is that the EU ’s stee

con sum ption is expected to rise in 2 01 6.

Russia is a traditional trading partner

of U kraine. The tension s betw een the tw o

cantreduction in bilateraltrade. Statistics fo

2 015 show ed the share oftrade w ith Russia

in term s ofU kraine’s aggregate im ports and

exports,fellfrom 3 0 percent in the past to

15 percent. U kraine has also reduced its en-

ergy dependence on Russia.

The focu s of U kraine’s econom ic and

trade cooperation is shifting from Russia to

trade w ith Asian countries grew rapidly in

2 015,accounting for about 2 6.7 percento

its foreign trade. For exam ple,against the

backdrop ofa 3 0-percentdecline in totalex

ports,Ukraine’s exports to China grew by 0.5

percentin 2 015,reaching 2 .13 billion.

In future,the negative factors thataffect

U kraine’s eco nom y w illg radu ally w eaken

and positive factors,such as EU integration

an d globalization,w illplay a bigger role

rogress in

T ransitionU kraine tries to restore o rder after crisis

B y hang H ong

The authorisan associate

researcherw ith the

Institute ofRussian,Eastern

European and CentralAsian

Studiesunderthe Chinese

Academ yofSocialSciences


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W O R L D

C op yedited b y C alvin Palm er

C om m ents to liuyunyun bjreview .com

T he U krainian econom y is likely to rebound

gradually in line w ith the slow recovery ofthe

globaleconom y.

ecurity situation

S ince the sign ing of the ne w M insk

U kraine in F ebruary 2 0 1 5 , a truce has been

sm allscale stilloccurs from tim e to tim e, the

security situation has vastly im proved.

A fter tw o years of figh ting, b oth the

governm ent arm y and pro indepen dence

insurgents in east U kraine are un w illing to

sustain higher casualties. A nd both sides are

aw are that neither of them can w in a deci

sive battlefield victory. T he lasting co nflict

has notonly caused trem endous suffering to

the U krainian people but also hindered the

country’s econom ic recovery.

In the m eantim e, the escalation of the

S yrian crisis an d the rapid rise of the so

called “Islam ic S tate” extrem istgroup in the

M idd le E ast have provided o pp ortunities

foreasing relations betw een R ussia and the

W est, w hich are behind the w arring parties in

U kraine. T heir frosty relations have thaw ed

sligh tly in the w ake ofthe m igrant crisis in

E urope and the terroristattacks in Paris last

year. T he tw o sides have not on ly tried to

seek com m on ground in com bating terror

ism butalso engaged in increasing dialogue

on the U krainian crisis. T he callforim provingrelations w ith R ussia is on the rise w ithin the

E U . F rance has m ade clearthat it w illtry to

push the E U to liftits sanctions on R ussia by

sum m erthis year.

T he U nited S tates and the E U have also

increased politicalpressure on the U krainian

G overnm ent, calling o n it to ad vance the

stalled C on stitution am endm ent process

W hen U .S . S ecretary ofS tate John Kerry

visited M oscow last D ecem ber, he said that

once the new M insk A greem ent w as fully

im plem ented, the W estw ould lift sanctions

on R ussia and restore relations w ith M oscowS hortly after Kerry’s M oscow trip, R ussian

President V ladim ir Putin app ointed B oris

G ryzlov, a perm anent m em ber of R ussia’s

S ecurity C ouncil, as R ussia’s representative

on the so called C ontactG roup thatw as set

up in June 2 0 1 4 to im plem ent a peace plan

annou nced by President Poroshenko. T he

peace plan failed but the C ontactG roup has

continued to function as a venue for m eet

ings betw een the U krainian G overnm entand

pro independence insurgents in the eastern

part of the co untry. In an interview w ith

R ussia’s Kom m ersant new spaper on January

1 7, G ryzlov said that he w as optim istic aboutthe prospect of the im plem entation of the

new M insk A greem ent.

In short, the U krainian issue is sending

outsom e positive signals, bringing new hope

for a politicalsettlem ent. IfU kraine can ef

fectively cu rb n ationalistic ten dencies at

hom e and take advantage of the im proved

internation alen viron m ent to prom ote na

tionalreco nciliation, it is possible the crisis

m ay soon be broughtto an end.

U krainian President Petro Poroshenko right), G erm anC hancellorA ngela M erkel center)and F renchPresident F rançois H olland e attend a joint pressconference in B erlin, G erm any, on A ugust2 4, 2 0 1 5 ,aftera trilateralsum m iton the fullim plem entation in eastU kraine

I N

H

U

A

I N

H

U

A

In ternationalRed C ross w orkersdistribute reliefm aterials to residen ts

in a village in D on etsk, eastU kraine,on F ebruary 1 6


30/52

28B E I J I N G R E V I E W


N T I O N

C itizen

rotection u blic secu rity volu nteers h elp keep B eijing’s police

inform ed an d the city safe B y T a ng Y u a nk ai

Forquite som e tim e the identities of the

inform ants behind celebrity drug stories

have m ystified Beijing’s residents. N ew s

stories in localpapers about such cases oftenbegin w ith the phrase:“According to reports by

Chaoyang people.” O ftentim es readers cannot

help w ondering w ho those inform antsare.

Chaoyang the largestdistrict in Beijing is

hom e to the city’s CentralBusiness Districtand

the m ain venues ofthe 1990 Asian Gam esand

the 2 008 O lym pic Gam es. Itis also fam ed for

the glam orous high-end residentialareas and

golfcourses and the Sanlitun Sub-District’s nu-

m erous bars and nightclubs. M any m ovie stars

have chosen to reside in thisdistrict w hich also

housesm ostofthe foreign em bassiesin China.

Celebrities caughttaking drugs in the dis-

trict include the fam ous film director Zhang

Yuan and Jaycee Chan the son ofthe kungfu

star Jackie Chan.

W ho are these inform ers thathave been in

contactw ith celebrities?Curiousnetizenseven-

tually found outthatthose keeping the police

inform ed are actually public security volunteers

active in a variety ofBeijing’scom m unities.

Insiders disclosed that in 2 015 public

security volunteers in the district nicknam ed

“Chao yang p eop le ” provided m ore than

2 10 000 pieces of inform ation to the police

including 8 51 tips about drug-taking an d

drug-trafficking. M osttips are about crim es

com m itted by ordinary people w hile those in-

volving celebrities w entto the new sand caught

the public’sattention.

Som e netizens m ake jokes about these

intelligence force after the U nited States’CIAform er Soviet U nion’s KG B Israel’s M O SSA D

and the U K’sM ilitaryIntelligence 6.

In Chaoyang public security volunteers

are om nipresent. They com e in various form s:

neighbors w earing red arm bands square danc-

ers elderly m en and w om en doing grocery

shopping or security guards w orking atthe

parking lots ofdepartm entstores orsuperm ar-

kets. They can also be entertainm entindustry

em ployeesorstudents.

As ofN ovem ber2 015 Chaoyang had

13 0 000 registered public security volunteers.

These volunteers stillgrow ing in num ber are

the unsun g heroes protecting residen ts in

Chaoyang and otherparts of Beij

Documents

Beijing Review - March 3, 2016