Bai Yansong (here's his biography), the famed CCTV anchor, was on a trip to film his travels and observations in the US, when he gave this following speech at Yale University recently. (Here is the original.) It has a "commencement speech" style to it and is of general interest. Here is a translation for your consumption. … [Read more...] about My Story and the Chinese Dream Behind It
"Surprisingly", Compulsory Education is Free!
Education is important to China's future, and education reform has been a long drawn-out complex process, which people of all stripes agree has basically been inadequate. From the early days of Project Hope corruption to the current education spending that still hasn't reached the 4%-of-GDP target set by the central government, people have much to complain about. Among all the … [Read more...] about "Surprisingly", Compulsory Education is Free!
Oh ~ Black Blind Island, Welcome Home
On October 14, half of Heixiazi Island (lit. black blind island) was transferred from Russia to China, completing the last piece of the border settlement pact signed by the two countries in the mid-1990's. Back in the day, Jiang Zemin took a lot of heat for signing this, because it was felt by some that China had lost a claim on the much larger Sixty-Four Villages area of … [Read more...] about Oh ~ Black Blind Island, Welcome Home
Lessons for China from the world financial crisis
With Iceland close to bankruptcy and the world's financial system going to hell, China stands somewhat apart in its relative isolation. Asia Times has an intriguing article on this: "In the past, China has been blamed for the low-degree of internationalization of its financial industries. Now it seems we are profiting from this 'fault'," the commentary said. Many Chinese … [Read more...] about Lessons for China from the world financial crisis
(to be translatated) Historical rural land reform in China
http://www.cnstock.com/jryw/2008-09/08/content_3649461.htm 中国目前已经迈入统一地权的历史性门槛。 9月中旬，记者从可靠渠道获悉，《土地管理法》的修改已经正式列入将于10月份举行的中央重要会议的立法规划，农村建设用地管理将会出现转折性变革。据悉，在此次会议上确定的关于修改土地制度的核心就在改革征地制度上。 “从决策层面上来讲，大家已经对这次土地改革充满信心，而此次改革也将对中国的房地产、城镇化等方面带来巨大的影响。”一位知情人士对记者说。 “统一地权”起步 “土地改革之路依然很漫长，但是它已经走出了第一步。”上述知情人士说。 据他透露，在今年10月的这次重要会议上，立法热点将是以农村集体建设用地依法流转为重点的《土地管理法》的修改，而此次修改将主要依据2004年国 … [Read more...] about (to be translatated) Historical rural land reform in China