The Yangtze River is Drying Up

In northern China, water supplies are running low after a period of drought and the land is desertifying. Much of the problem is due to high water consumption by Beijing’s large and growing population. Not only that, but the industrialization of China over the last few years has produced unprecedented levels of pollution that has rendered the Yellow River unsafe to drink from. In order to slow the falling water supply and provide the area with drinkable water, the Chinese government has begun its most expensive water project since the Three Gorges Dam to divert billions of gallons of water from the Yangtze River to the south to feed the north. Much before the ecological effects were felt, civil unrest was caused by the forced relocation of about 350,000 villagers. These people have been displaced from their ancestral homes and forced to live off poor farmland that has no facilities or utilities. Aside from that, the diversion of the Yangtze River puts that body of water at risk as well. Rather than divert a second river for the north to use up, environmental activists and scientists suggest that the government reduce the immegration to Beijing, control the city’s population, and encourage water conservation practices. Not only will the project have negative ecological effects on the affected areas and upset the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of peasants, but it gives the northern, city-dwelling population the misconception that they can use and use without concequences. If the Yangtze River dries up eventually, they can simply rely on the government, which is increasingly favoring the city populations over rural inhabitants, to provide a solution.

Proponents of the project argue that the situation in the north is critical, and that the government is out of options. Some scientists are looking into desalination methods, but such solutions are expensive and inefficient. Others sa y that the government should spend money promoting water conservation, river cleaning, and environmental regulations on polluting companies.

Really, the conflict is between the rural, farmer population and the growing city population. With the government taking more and more from the countryside and giving it to the cities, the standard of living for peasant farmers is decreasing while that of the city residents is increasing. As a result, immigration rates to major cities in China is growing rapidly, magnifying the problem. More people will immigrate to the cities for better work and living conditions, and will consume more resources. If the government’s solution is to take resources from the poor to stem the usage of resources, this problem will feed itself and become a vicious cycle.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/world/asia/02water.html?pagewanted=all

Chinese "American Idol" Not as Popular with the Government as the Public

The Chinese talent show "Super Girl", somewhat like American Idol, was recently cancelled by the Chinese government on the grounds that each 3 hour long episode exceeded the official one and a half hour limit. But the government has been letting the time issue slide for a while now, so many news critics are wondering what actually tipped their decision to pull the plug. Was it the display of "unethical antics", its gradual drift towards becoming the Chinese American Idol, or the fact that the government had no grip on such an influential show? The result of the show's success was that whichever girl rose to the top had vast influence and attention. The Chinese government might have gotten upset over not having a hand in picking who got such a renowned title. Also, there's the fact that the show represents and empowerment to women, which the government vowed to remedy by replacing the shows content with "practical information about housework".

However, once the Chinese government had plugged up one hole in their censorship regime, another one appeared. Fans of the show immediately turned to the internet to express the discontent. While the PRC can block thousands of sites from being accessed, it's hard for them to control what people say on the websites that aren't banned. In the past few years, the internet has become the primary place for the Chinese masses to gather anonymously and frustrate the government's censorship agencies.

Sneaky Tactics Take Two Bites out of Apple

A while before the iPad had even been conceived by the guys at Apple, the name had been trademarked by Chinese electronics company Weiguan in anticipation that Apple would want to use it. The technology giant, with its numerous resources, purchased the international trademark for the iPad name from Weiguan for a measly 35,000 pounds. However, in 2010, the Shenzhen filed an accusation of trademark violation, arguing that their branch had not verified the sale of the iPad name, and that the international trademark did not extend to China. The result of this was that Apple sued Shenzhen Weiguan, only to be ruled against by the court. According to the judge, the agreement that Apple had reached with Weiguan was only with the latter's Tiwan branch, not the Shenzhen branch. Because of this, Apple must appeal to the Chinese Supreme Court if they want to sell the iPad in China.

This isn't the first roadblock Apple has come across in China; counterfeiters and fake Apple stores have hurt the company's sales there. Frankly speaking, it wouldn't be surprising if Weiguan had hoped for Apple to overlook this technicality so they could take a nice, big double-dip in the international gadgetry giant. But who would've thought that the international trademark did not extend to China? If Weiguan had a couple more international branches, would they have expected Apple to reach a deal with each and every one of them?

The "Anything" Stock Exchange

Most people are familiar with the New York Stock Exchange, where people can buy and sell stocks in major companies. The concept of stocks is well known and has been around for a long time. If a company is doing good, their stock price will go up and everyone who owns stocks in that company will make money.

More recently, a new type of exchange place has arisen in China where people also buy and sell stocks, but not company stocks. In any one of the nine stock exchanges of this kind, you can buy and sell stocks in virtually anything, from valuable works of art to land to carbon emission permits. The underlying concept is the same as company stocks; if land becomes more scarce, the price of land will go up and land stocks gain value.

As one would expect, all the key aspects of regular company stocks were mirrored in these new stock exchanges. People have already begun to speculate and short "anything" stocks. However, the main thing that separates the "anything" stock market and the company stock market is that the former has no regulations as of today.

Is this a good idea? Well, China certainly has taken advantage of this new concept to produce a large amount of wealth, but any cultural authority would be opposed to the manipulation of artwork for financial gain. Certainly, a priceless work of art belongs in the gallery of an esteemed collector, rather than in a secure vault and "owned" by hundreds of different people.

Inner Mongolia has too much Power!

In Inner Mongolia (the northern part of China that borders Mongolia), whenever strong winds blow by, wind energy farms have to shut down. It's not that they can't handle the winds, but especially strong winds generate so much electricity that the power grid, which distributes the energy generated by the mills to local towns and farms, overloads. As a result, regulators have to temporarily turn off the turbines and watch their profits get blown away.

The wind farms in Inner Mongolia are the most productive in China. In March, 2011, they generated an estimated 11.4 million kilowatts, accounting for 30% of wind power in China. However, such an abundance of electricity is way more than the locals need. The logical solution would be to distribute this surplus electricity to the rest of China, where demand is heavy. However, the power network in China is shoddy and weak because they are managed by state-owned enterprises. As a result, the wind farms are simply shut off half the time, resulting in a huge waste of money.

The large number of wind farms in Inner Mongolia resulted from a surge of investment that sought to take advantage of the region's openness and high winds. Only after the wind farms were built did people realize they had forgotten to invest in better power grids and distribution lines.

As with the Wenzhou train accident, this is a striking example of a country in over its head. China's economy is growing alarmingly fast in the manufacturing and technology sectors, but its social and political systems were not so fast to evolve. Many experts think that China needs to slow down or run the risk of tripping head over heels. The Chinese government recognizes this, but in their point of view, such rapid growth is a necessity. They have predicted that anything less and an 8% annual GDP growth would result in a serious economic slowdown for China. However, as a great man once said, sometimes, in order to move forwards, you need to take a step back.

Learn to Marry Rich

One of my classmates asked my economics professor once, "Is there a clear-cut way to get rich quick and easy in the stock market?" My professor replied, "In the stock market? No. In life? Marry rich."

In the modern world, people like to think that if you work hard, you'll be rewarded accordingly. So the new question is, how to get rich without working hard? In China especially, there are many stories of rich young men who step down from their high pedestal to search for the perfect girl among the poor (for its romantic appeal). Obviously, there are only so many rich guys to go around, so young women queue up in hopes of meeting such a Prince Charming.

It wasn't long before someone got the bright idea to turn this universal dream into a business. That someone was Shao Tong, founder of the Beijing Moral Education Center. For a price, the Moral Education Center will teach young women how to attract rich men, the proper etiquette of the rich, and how to spot "fake" rich people (ironic, right?). The Center will even offer referral services to rich young men. According to their statistics, the Moral Education Center has created 30 pairs of successful marriages.

Despite being a little ridiculous, the Beijing Moral Education Center offers some valuable insight into the lives of the average Chinese. The unparalleled desire to marry rich in China reflects the poor class mobility there, and also represents some traditional Chinese values. As per many countries, in the past, Chinese girls were not expected to make anything of themselves, but to simply marry into the best family possible. In some ways, this dependency still exists today in China, and may call for some social reform in the future.

Foreign Officials' Modesty Awes Chinese

Chinese government officials do not have a good rep, especially among the Chinese citizens. From the most recent Red Cross Society of China corruption speculation, to the infamous "My Father is Li Gang" incident back in 2010. The Chinese public has gotten used to seeing even lowly town chiefs using taxpayer money to be driven around in black Audis, secluded from and out of touch with the general public. So much so that when a photo of U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke buying his own coffee emerged, the Chinese were struck speechless. Mr. Locke was even carrying his own luggage.

This is not the first time China has been impressed by U.S. modesty. In November 2009, President Obama's first arrival in China was marked by a rainy day. He surprised onlookers when he stepped out of his airplane carrying an umbrella. You can read more about Locke buying coffee and President Obama's first visit here.

Lesser known about is the photos of President Ma Yingjiu giving a speech at a rally on a raining day wearing a poncho and a paddy hat. The mainland Chinese were literally salivating for a public official as humble as Ma looked in those photos.

Even more interestingly, on President Ma's Facebook page, almost all comments are from mainland Chinese, begging him to "come liberate China from the Communist Party" (not seriously, of course). Even though such comments are merely wishful thinking, they show how unhappy the Chinese people are with their standard of living, and how tired they are of their government's antics.