Must-read China news by Danwei

John Reed in The Financial Times:

Differences have arisen between Volvo and its new Chinese owners, Geely, over a planned expansion of the Swedish carmaker’s business in China.

While Geely wants to build up to three Chinese plants to profit from that country’s rocketing car sales, Volvo’s Gothenburg-based management want to build a solid business case before expanding, according to several people close to the discussions...

...One of the people briefed on the deliberations described the tone of the discussions inside Volvo over China strategy as “heated, not acrimonious”.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 3:28 PM | Permalink

On African Boots:

A rather unusual but rather small protest took place yesterday in front of the Chinese Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa to demand the release of Tian Xi, an activist who was infected with the HIV virus in 1996 after a blood transfusion at a state hospital and has been lobbying for compensation from the government.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 6:36 PM | Permalink

Andrew Chubb interviews Xu Wenli, editor of April Fourth Forum and co-founder of China Democracy Party.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 4:51 PM | Permalink

Veggie Discourse finds one explanation for why online shoppers are finding their shipments delayed:

Because they couldn't obtain any diesel fuel, delivery trucks stopped running. Many packages that should have been on the road now sit in giant piles on the sorting facility floor. We ask that Taobao members to please be understanding, as Taobao is also actively managing the resources to ensure your goods are safely delivered. Thank you again for your support!

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 3:07 PM | Permalink

La Times blog opens up debate on how much the WikiLeaks cable on North Korea and China meant:

David E. Sanger, the Times’ chief Washington correspondent and a veteran of six years in Asia, noted how many previous predictions about the demise of the oppressive Korean regime have been wrong. He wrote that “talk of the North’s collapse may be rooted more in hope than in any real strategy.”

The Guardian’s report by Simon Tisdall, a foreign affairs columnist, relies greatly on the lone WikiLeaks memo.

When I asked Sanger about the divergence of the two newspapers' reports, he e-mailed back: “China is a big place, with a variety of opinions. In my reading of the diplomats' reports back to Washington, we don't yet have any evidence that China's top leaders believe the liabilities of dealing with its longtime ally now outweigh the strategic benefits of maintaining the status quo.''

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 11:10 AM | Permalink

From the China Daily:

China is levying two taxes on foreign companies, marking the beginning of a standard national tax treatment for foreign and Chinese enterprises.

China will charge foreign firms with operations here two additional taxes (a construction tax and education surcharge) in a measure taking effect Wednesday, according to a State Council announcement in late November.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 11:26 AM | Permalink

The first episode of a four part series examining the human and environmental costs of the coal economy in China by Mary Kat Magistad.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 10:47 AM | Permalink

Gillian Wong in The Washington Post:

In his dying days, a retired Chinese health official is calling on the government to come clean about a 1990s blood-selling scandal that infected tens of thousands of people with the virus that causes AIDS...

..."Not even one word of apology has been given to the victims, much less those who died, this is not how politicians should act," 78-year-old Chen Bingzhong wrote in an open letter to President Hu Jintao. "How can dealing with such a major disaster this way ever be explained to our countrymen, especially the many victims?!"

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 9:59 AM | Permalink

Richard Spencer, former Beijing correspondent for The Daily Telegraph:

China has not abandoned North Korea and won’t any time soon. Nor is the country about to collapse.

That’s not what you’d think from reading coverage of Wikileaks today. But what we claim Wikileaks is saying is – probably – wrong on this point, and a lot else. And we shouldn’t be surprised at that.

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn at 9:26 AM | Permalink

Didi Kirsten Tatlow reports for the New York Times.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 11:38 AM | Permalink

China Daily reports on tightening regulations on plastic surgery after two people died from it:

The Ministry of Health on Saturday called on health authorities nationwide to step up supervision of the country's medical cosmetology industry following the death of two people during cosmetic procedures.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 11:28 AM | Permalink

China Daily reports:

China's top law enforcement and judicial authorities are working together on drafting a judicial interpretation to enable a tougher crackdown on Internet hacking, a senior police officer said.

Gu Jian, deputy head of the network security bureau under the Ministry of Public Security, said the ministry is working with the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate to draft the legal document clarifying the conviction and penalty for hacking.

"China has become the main victim of Internet hacking amid a growing number of transnational cyber crimes", he told China Daily in an interview.

Posted by Alice Xin Liu at 11:12 AM | Permalink

At Behind the Wall, Adrienne Mong looks at the documentary The Chinese Are Coming to Town by Ronja Yu:

Yu’s easy access is clearly evident in the documentary, which captures some priceless moments illustrating the pitfalls when cultures clash in the relentless march towards globalization.

They include the arrival of that first group of thirty-odd Chinese laborers and four huge rice cookers (all the better and cheaper to feed them); the local authority’s attempts to enforce Sweden’s strict labor safety standards at the building site (one Chinese worker, in response to demands that they wear work boots lest they step on rusty nails, chortles, “Nails? We have all have eyes!”); and the bored expression on the faces of a Swedish delegation watching Chinese go-go girls at an Yiwu exposition.

The challenges of trying to build a project this size at Chinese speed prove to be too great. As a Chinese colleague of Luo observes at the beginning of the film, Sweden’s rule are rather strict, and it’s impossible him to work around them.

Posted by Joel Martinsen at 2:55 PM | Permalink