BOHAI CIRCLE

Reform 2.0

2007-09-26T18:21:00.000-04:00

The success of China's economic reform is evident and tremendous. But economic reform has reached its limit without political reform. Prosperity and corruption now exist side by side. Although the national government has tried different ways to combat misuse of power and economic corruption, nothing has worked. It is my belief that only the introduction of the rule of law will be able to limit and eliminate the influence of corruption on Chinese politics and economy.

Abe Resigned

2007-09-13T17:39:00.000-04:00

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned from office yesterday. His resignation was seen as inevitable when his party, the Liberal Democratic Party, lost in the Japanese Parliament's Upper House's election at the end of July. That lost gave the opposition Democratic Party of Japan in control of the Upper House for the first time in history.

What happened? Many commentators will look for answers. Basically, Abe didn't have any new idea. His slogan of building a "Beautiful Japan" was abstract and seemed to seek return to an old Japan. The average Japanese cared bread and butter economic issues. Shinzo Abe didn't have answers in the increasing integration of East Asia.

Ang Lee Received Top Award at Venice

2007-09-09T16:15:00.000-04:00

Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" won the Golden Lion, top prize for best film, at this year's Venice Film Festival yesterday in Italy. The film is a Chinese-language erotic thriller set in the 1940s Shanghai, starring Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, Chinese-American actress Joan Chen, and Chinese actress Tang Wei. It depicts a group of young students trying to kill a Japanese collaborator during World War II.

Related post:
Ang Lee's 'Lust, Caution'

Export Goods, Import Pollution

2007-09-09T08:07:00.000-04:00

China's export-driven economy is choking the Chinese. In big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, residents are all feeling the effect of bad air. Being the world's factory is in fact a bad deal for the Chinese because this means China imports energy and raw materials to produce goods, but exports them for others to consume. The pollution is left behind in China.

From the above chart, we see China exports annually 200 billion US dollars more goods than it imports. Furthermore, what China imports are mostly oil, natural gas, coal, and other raw materials for the purpose of manufacturing consumer goods to be exported to other countries. On the other hand, the US imports 800 billion US dollars more goods than it exports. No wonder it has better air and less pollution than China.

Related post:
Hard Recall Lessons

The Egg - Inside View

2007-09-08T08:59:00.000-04:00

The first floor of the National Grand Theater in Beijing. (Image: The National Grand Theater)

The Egg - Outside View

2007-09-08T08:49:00.000-04:00

The National Grand Theater in Beijing, designed by Paul Andreu. It costs 2.7 billon yuan to build. (Image: The National Grand Theater)

A Necessary Partnership

2007-09-07T19:12:00.000-04:00

Chinese president, Hu Jintao, met his American counterpart, George W. Bush, at the APEC summit in Sydney yesterday. President Bush said that Hu is "an easy man to talk to" after the 90-minute meeting. President Hu called the talks "candid and friendly". Mr. Hu had invited the US president to the Beijing 2008 Olympics and Mr. Bush said he was "anxious to accept".

On Korean Wave

2007-09-07T07:09:00.000-04:00

The Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, has a very insightful editorial on Korean Wave or Hallyu on June 1, 2007. In case the link may disappear, I copied the whole editorial here:

Sobering Words from a Global Entertainment Player

Park Jin-young, the singer and dancer-turned entertainment entrepreneur responsible for creating the international phenomenon that is Rain, on Thursday said the Korean Wave will have to be abandoned for true global success. In a lecture at Yonsei University, Park said, “You must be prepared to give up the Korean Wave to achieve greater success on the global stage. In the U.S. market, the home to mainstream music, drama and movies, who will listen to a Korean singer if all he or she does is shout about how great Korea is? It’s not a smart move to flog products emblazoned with a country’s flag.” After opening his own entertainment company at the age of 27, Park went to the U.S. in 2003 and spent every day going round 20 different music companies. His efforts paid off when he succeeded in getting one of his songs featured on the album of a popular rap artist. After Rain, he brought the Korean singer Min to the U.S. and picked out singing sensation Nichkhun Horvejkul, who is seen as Thailand’s answer of Rain. The reason Harvard University and other educational institutions rush to invite Park to lecture is because they value the way he took on the challenge of succeeding on the global stage as well as his accomplishments.

Park has always felt uneasy about having his activities linked to the Korean Wave. He said he is neither a “patriot” nor a “messenger of the Korean Wave.” He warned, “There are too many people making a living off nationalism in Korea. The ‘Korean Wave’ ended up becoming ‘Korea is Great’, and that’s why we’re seeing an anti-Korean Wave trend overseas.” He sighed in despair when he cited an instance where Korean fans became furious after they learned about Park’s plan to dress Rain in Chinese costume and incorporate kung fu moves into his dance routine at a concert in China. He is frustrated by the closed-mindedness of Korean society, which tries to view even pop culture through the narrow lens of nationalism.

Park said, “You can become a global success if you do something well, whether it is Korean or not. We still lack diversity, yet are strong in uniformity.” His comments are bold and provocative. That’s why they have stirred up heated controversy. But Korean society has matured enough to be able to listen to the candid advice of such unconventional figures and pioneers. Park’s advice is to throw away the narrow view of things through Korea’s eyes and to open our eyes wider. Those words apply not only to pop culture, but also to education, the economy, politics and other areas of our society. Korea’s so-called leaders, who are so far from global standards and spend their days fighting amongst themselves, can learn a thing or two from this young and ambitious entrepreneur who’s striving to become the world’s best and Asia’s no. 1.

Jiang Wen at Venice

2007-09-06T17:43:00.000-04:00

Leading Chinese actor/director Jiang Wen, along with his girlfriend Zhou Yun, walks on the red carpet at this year's Venice International Film Festival. "The Sun Also Rises", the third film he directed and in which he also acted, is selected for screening in the festival. (Image: SINA.com)

China Must Lead

2007-09-05T17:47:00.000-04:00

China has benefited from keeping a low profile and single-mindedly devoting its energy and resources to economic development. Now it's time for China to lead. Instead of continuing to maintain that it's still a developing and poor country, blah blah blah, China has the smarts and resources to take a leadership role in many global issues such as climate change, energy security, and regional stability. China should promote the creation of new international and regional institutions for securing peace and prosperity for itself and its neighbours. For example, it is desirable to have a regional organization for Northeast Asian security on the basis of the membership of the Six-Party Talks: China, the US, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, and Russia. China should work with the US to lead the world.

Transcend the East-West Divide

2007-09-05T16:35:00.000-04:00

The rise of China, India, and East Asia has caused great anxiety in many American conservative circles and think-tanks. Calls for protectionism, anti-globalization and isolationism in the US Congress and trade unions have increasing followings. The challenge for the current sole superpower, the US, is to fashion a world order that accommodates the interests of the rising powers as well as securing its own interests. The pursue of unilateral dominance would only lead to the opposite effect. A world of disorder would follow.

Hard Recall Lessons

2007-09-03T19:09:00.000-04:00

The recent recalls of Chinese food products and toys in the US and other countries must provide hard lessons for Chinese manufacturers and government alike. Lesson number one, being a low-cost producer is risky because low-cost leads to cutting corners on quality. Lesson number two, being a volume producer is risky because one or two problems cause a wide-spread consequence. Lesson number three, being an export-driven economy is risky because the proper functioning of the economy depends on unloyal and even hostile customers in other countries. From the above chart, we can see the Chinese economy depends heavily on trade. That's not a good thing. China's trade must reduce to a level of 20 to 30% of the GDP, a similar proportion of the US and Japanese trades to their economies.

National Post: From Davos to Dalian

2007-09-01T08:35:00.000-04:00

Canadian newspaper National Post has a very good report on Dalian, titled From Davos to Dalian, by Duncan Mavin on Friday, August 31 in its Financial Post secton. It also has an accompanying interview with Dalian's Mayor Xia Deren.

(Image: Dalian Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau/National Post)

Feng Xiaogang's Film 'Assembly' to Screen in Busan

2007-08-31T09:41:00.000-04:00

Chinese director Feng Xiaogang's new film "Assembly" is selected to open this year's Busan International Film Festival. Feng is one of China's most successful directors, whose last film was "Banquet", starred by Zhang Ziyi.

Shang Yang, A Great Statesman

2007-08-30T07:46:00.000-04:00

Recently I got interested in Qin history because of Zhang Yimou's film "Hero". I found that Shang Yang played a foundational role in the rise of the state of Qin and the subsequent emergence of an united China. His Legalist thought and achievements deserve a second look, especially in light of China's continuing and difficult reform in rule of law. (Photo: Fanghong)

Give Taiwan Residents National Treatment

2007-08-29T08:38:00.000-04:00

According to Chinese law, Taiwanese are Chinese citizens. Therefore, they are entitled to national treatment. For example, they should be able to travel to the Mainland, study in Mainland schools and universities, work in Mainland-based companies, and live on the Mainland.

In fact, various estimates indicate that millions of Taiwan residents already travel to the Mainland every year for sightseeing, study, work, or investment. The Mainland should make this process more convenient for them. The Mainland can more readily issue permanent resident permits to Taiwaneses who want to study, work or reside there.

Dalian: Wen Jiabao to Attend 'Summer Davos'

2007-08-29T07:44:00.000-04:00

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will attend the inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions, known as "Summer Davos", Xinhua reported Tuesday. The meeting, sponsored by the World Economic Forum, will take place on September 6 to 8 in the port city Dalian.

Jet Li in New Action Film 'War'

2007-08-28T10:10:00.000-04:00

Action superstar Jet Li stars in a new action thriller "War", also starring Jason Statham. The film is directed by Phillip Atwell, with Corey Yuen as martial arts choreographer. Needless to say, the plot isn't important, but there is plenty of spectacular action scenes.

Kim Jong Il's Eldest Son Returns Home

2007-08-28T07:35:00.000-04:00

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il's eldest son returned home, Associated Press said Monday. Kim Jong Nam, 36, left China for Pyongyang in later June. Kim had lived in China for several years after he was detained in Tokyo for entering into Japan with a fake passport and deported to China by Japanese authorities in 2001.

Bohai Circle Cities

2007-08-27T07:33:00.000-04:00

The Bohai-rim economic circle is one of China's most dynamic economic regions, along with the Yangzi River delta region, and the Pearl River delta region. In the Bohai-rim region locate the national capital Beijing, industrial city Tianjin, tourism and well-known cities such as Dalian, Qinhuangdao and Yantai, and other cities such as Yingkou, Panjin, Huludao, Tangshan, Cangzhou, Dongying, Weifang, and Weihai. (Map: Yahoo! Maps)

Mainlanders Allowed to Trade Stocks in Hong Kong

2007-08-26T08:30:00.000-04:00

In a capital account liberation experiment, China allows its citizens to buy and sell Hong Kong stocks via the Bank of China branch in the port city of Tianjin. Starting Monday mainland individual investors can trade stocks in Hong Kong by setting up an investment account with the branch. Investment analysts expect the program over time to expand to more cities and individual investors to be allowed invest in international stock exchanges.

China and South Korea in 15 Years

2007-08-25T08:02:00.000-04:00

China and South Korea established diplomatic tie in 1992. After only a short 15 years, the two countries have developed a strong economic and cultural relation. According to Korea Times, in 2006, the two-way trade has risen to $134 billion US dollars, from only $5 billion in 1992. China is South Korea's number one trade partner and South Korea is China's number four trading relation. Everyday, 100 million Chinese watch Korean TV programs. On the other hand, one million Koreans live and work in China. Among them, 57,000 South Korean students study in various Chinese universities, colleges and schools.

Zhang Ziyi in 'House of Flying Daggers'

2007-08-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

The beautiful and talented actor Zhang Ziyi kicks butts in Zhang Yimou's second wuxia film. His first was "Hero".

Beijing Reimagined: Layout of Imperial City

2007-08-22T19:00:00.000-04:00

Many people have complainted that Beijing has erased too many traditional architectures in the name of modernization. They have good reason. As Chinese become richer and richer, the choice between traditional culture vs. modernity are changing. The modern, functional, boxy building no longer has as much appeal as before.

Fortunately, all is not lost in Beijing. The inner core of the city, that is, the Imperial City, as shown in the map, is more or less intact: the Forbidden City, Zhongnanhai, Beihai Park, and Jingshan Park. You know what I'm imagining for the future when the governement offices move out Zhongnanhai to a new location.

It's time for architects and city planning officials to envision and prepare for the future core of the city. (Map: Kallgan)

SK Telecom Becomes China Unicom's Second-Largest Shareholder

2007-08-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

South Korea's largest mobile carrier, SK Telecom, will become the second-largest shareholder in China Unicom, Thomson Financial reported. The board of directors of SK Telecom approved a proposal to convert its bond holdings of US$1 billion into a 6.6% stake in the Chinese company. SK Telecom purchased the convertible bonds last year as part of its global business strategy.