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Monday, December 31, 2007


Well, the CIC decided to end the year with an announcement of a 20 billion USD injection into the China Development Bank via Huijin. This has been in the works for months, although it is 10 billion shy of what the CDB had asked for. Well, the world is not perfect, but this will significantly bolster CDB's capital adequacy and allow it to continue to make loans. The CDB does not have a NPL problem, but it has been expanding lending like crazy, thus needs to boost its capital adequacy via an injection. BTW, loyal readers, PLEASE BUY MY BOOK! It's now totally out and available. You will learn quite a bit about Chinese banking and elite politics, I promise.


中央汇金公司向国家开发银行注资200亿美元
http://www.sina.com.cn 2007年12月31日 14:00 中国新闻网


  中新网北京12月31日电(记者 魏晞) 国家开发银行在二00七年岁末最后一天获中央汇金公司注资。十二月三十一日,经国务院批准,中央汇金公司和国家开发银行在北京签署协议,确认即日起中央汇金公司向国家开发银行注资两百亿美元。

  此前中国工行、建行、中行乃至光大银行都曾获得中央汇金公司注资,以帮助它们摆脱沉重包袱实现股改。

  本月二十五日,中国投资公司董事长楼继伟在公开场合已有暗示,称中投全资控股的汇金对即将进行的国家开发银行改革重组充满信心。中投公司自成立之初,已承诺将其两千亿美元资本金的三分之一,即六百亿美元注资国家开发银行和农业银行。

  国家开发银行是中国三大政策性银行之一,另两家是中国进出口银行和农业发展银行。国开行的公开财务数据显示,虽目前仍属政策性银行,但其业绩远远好于其他商业银行。有业内人士认为,国开行资产质量很好,不良贷款率很低,向其注资一方面是为分散外汇储备风险,另一方面也是国开行自身规模不断扩张的需要。

  此次注资消息由中国人民银行发布。中国人民银行参与了中央汇金注资国家开发银行的方案设计及反复论证过程。中国人民银行表示,此次注资,将显著提高开发银行的资本充足率,增强抗风险能力,有助于全面推行商业化运作,是开发银行改革中的基础性举措,标志着开发银行改革迈出了重要一步。完

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Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Well, rumors of a one-off revaluation keep coming, despite having been shown wrong repeatedly. Look, the pace of revaluation will be faster next year, but can you imagine the Chinese government raising prices on Chinese exporters by 10% over-night? It is simply not going to happen. There is only one caveat. If inflation rises above 10% and nothing else seems to work to stem inflation, the central government may do this out of desperation. For now, however, there is yet little limit to increasing reserve requirements and in issuing sterilization bonds. It's a hassle for the PBOC, and that's why we keep hearing "rumors" from them.


South China Morning Post
Regulators seek 'one-off' yuan appreciation
Al Guo in Beijing
Updated on Dec 25, 2007
Mainland monetary regulators have reportedly asked the State Council for a "one-off" appreciation of the yuan, a move that could signal a tough new policy to reduce rising global trade tensions and fight excessive liquidity.

The plan, reported in a state-owned newspaper yesterday, would mean an abrupt policy change by officials who have long argued for a gradual gain of the yuan against the US dollar and other currencies.

But with China facing growing demands from its key trading partners for a strong yuan, Beijing is under increasing pressure to widen the currency's trading band and for one-off steps to accelerate revaluation.

Although the yuan has risen by more than 10 per cent since Beijing's decision in July 2005 to scrap its peg to the US dollar, there has been no visible impact on the mainland's surging trade surplus.

The Shenzhen-based Securities Times quoted an unidentified person with "the authorities" as saying that the People's Bank of China had submitted a proposal to allow a faster appreciation of the yuan next year.

The proposal had been worked out by high-ranking officials from the central bank, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and the Ministry of Commerce.

The yuan was trading at 7.3556 yuan to the dollar yesterday, a gain of 10.26 per cent since July 2005. It has surged more than 6 per cent this year.

Officials from the PBOC and SAFE contacted yesterday said they had not heard of the proposal and declined to make further comment.

"Faster appreciation is likely given growing inflation and liquidity problems domestically and increasing external pressures from the US and Europe," said Yiping Huang, the managing director and head of Asia-Pacific economics at Citigroup.

He expects a 7.5 per cent appreciation of the yuan against the dollar next year, with growing consensus among policymakers to more effectively use the exchange rate to fight overheating risks.

Gao Zhanjun, an executive manager at Citic Securities, said a big change in the yuan would be out of character for Beijing as it had repeatedly emphasised a gradual pace of appreciation. "The problem is how fast is fast enough," he said. "A slow pace at least offers administrators the room to make adjustments according to market changes."

"A one-off appreciation is unlikely," said Alan Luk Ting-lung, a treasurer at American Express Bank.

The central bank, battered by excessive liquidity, believes a stronger yuan could help ease money supply and curb inflation. The Ministry of Commerce fears a stronger yuan would dent the country's exports.

Tsinghua University professor Zhang Taowei said the administration did not have the courage to abandon its policy of gradual appreciation. "It's all about governing styles," he said. "If former premier Zhu Rongji was still in charge, I think a change was possible. But this administration has been living with compromises."

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Thursday, December 20, 2007

Again, another great story, but I do urge people to get the real story behind the scene. This is the type of story usually scooped up by Caijing, but since it involves a Western investment bank, I am hoping that a Western outlet will get the story, would be an interesting one.

Great Wall Street of China

Morgan Deal Underlines
The New Capital Flow;
Who's Playing Whom?

By RICK CAREW in Beijing, LAURA SANTINI in Hong Kong and JAMES T. AREDDY in Shanghai
December 20, 2007

Beijing's plan to invest $5 billion in Morgan Stanley caps a milestone year for China's deal makers: For the first time, Chinese companies and the government bought more overseas than foreign buyers have invested in China.

Chinese buyers have spent $29.2 billion acquiring foreign companies so far this year, while investors from the rest of the world have bought $21.5 billion of Chinese companies, according to Thomson Financial.

The investment in Morgan Stanley will give state-run China Investment Corp. -- a sovereign-wealth fund, essentially the government's money pile -- as much as 9.9% of the Wall Street giant.

It is the latest in a string of bailouts of financial giants by foreign investors as the firms struggle with souring mortgage-related investments. Indeed, yesterday Morgan Stanley reported a $9.4 billion write-down for its fiscal fourth quarter on its U.S. subprime and other mortgage investments.

Citigroup Inc. and UBS AG received sizable help from Middle Eastern and Singaporean investors in recent weeks. Wall Street firm Bear Stearns Cos. agreed in October to swap $1 billion investments with China's Citic Securities Co.

The question now is, are these investors the smart or the dumb money? Historically, foreigners are the suckers who allow the locals to sell out at the market's peak.

Already, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which invested $7.5 billion in Citigroup, told executives at the bank that it wasn't pleased by Citigroup's move to bring $49 billion in assets onto its balance sheet, people familiar with the matter said. The investor also expressed concern that Citigroup might have to raise more capital, potentially diluting its investment.

[chart]A person aware of the matter said Citigroup's relationship with Abu Dhabi remains good and that Abu Dhabi officials didn't disagree with the bank's actions.

And there has been a political backlash in China against the government fund's $3 billion investment in Blackstone Group LP's initial public offering, a high-water mark for the private-equity boom. Since then, Blackstone shares have lost more than a fifth of their value, erasing $633 million in the paper value of China's investment.

Consequently, CIC's senior managers emphasized they were looking to take a slower, more passive approach. Only last week, CIC started the selection process for money managers to funnel some of the $67 billion they have allocated from the $200 billion fund for overseas investment into global equity markets.

But then, the fund seized opportunity to make the Morgan Stanley investment, an aggressive move at a time when Wall Street banks look more like distressed assets.

"This deal is a big surprise," said Stephen Green, a senior economist at Standard Chartered in Shanghai. "The U.S. subprime crisis created an opportunity, and they jumped at it." For CIC, the deal with Morgan Stanley, its second-largest overseas investment, could provide access to expertise the giant fund is keen to acquire.

Following widespread domestic criticism over the Blackstone loss, CIC characterizes itself as a "passive investor" and will have no representation on Morgan's board. That is likely meant to address concerns over political sensitivities surrounding China's investment in a blue-chip Wall Street firm.

Two years ago, strong political opposition in Congress derailed a bid by Chinese oil company Cnooc Ltd. for Unocal Corp., of California. Since then, Chinese firms have shied away from efforts to buy majority stakes in big U.S. companies.

Still, the sheer size of China's investment in Morgan Stanley will likely give it clout.

Days before Charles Prince decided to step down as Citigroup CEO amid massive credit-market losses, he had lost the support of a longtime backer, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, described similarly as a passive investor in Citigroup.

China made its biggest overseas foray to date in October when its biggest bank, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., announced the purchase of a $5.6 billion stake in Africa's largest lender, South Africa's Standard Bank Group Ltd.

China has the money to spend because of its ballooning trade surplus with the rest of the world, as well as a local stock-market boom that has raised tens of billions of dollars for giant state-owned firms. China's foreign reserves rank as the world's largest at more than $1.4 trillion.

The terms of the Morgan Stanley deal guarantee CIC a 9% annual return, well above the fund's 5% cost of funding until it converts its investment to shares in 2010.

For Morgan Stanley, the deal could offer it some measure of goodwill in a country that has remained elusive to Wall Street.

In the 1990s, Morgan Stanley formed the first onshore investment-banking joint venture, China International Capital Corp., with a Chinese state bank. That venture later suffered from disagreements between the two partners, and Morgan Stanley became a passive investor, still holding a 34% stake.

[chart]Reaching out to Chinese money is a natural move for Morgan Chairman and Chief Executive John Mack, perhaps the top U.S. financial executive left with deep ties to China.

Since returning to Morgan Stanley from Credit Suisse in the summer of 2005, Mr. Mack has pushed his China team to build a broader platform in China. He recently signed a deal to re-enter the Chinese domestic markets, while Morgan Stanley has also bought a small Chinese bank and a stake in a fund-management venture.

All of those deals beef up the bank's China presence at a time when Morgan Stanley, like most of its rivals, still does most of its China business out of Hong Kong by linking Chinese companies to global capital markets.

Still, striking deals in China has become increasingly difficult, as Beijing fears some Chinese assets have gone to foreign investors too cheaply in the past. Skyrocketing stock prices have contributed to this feeling and prompted regulators to scuttle deals by Western firms.

Though China continues to attract the world's highest levels of foreign direct investment -- $61.68 billion in the first 11 months of this year, an increase of 14% on the year -- the size of the biggest outbound investment deals have this year far exceeded inbound investments.

The top five outbound investments from China were for an average of $3.1 billion, according to Thomson Financial, while the top inbound deals were for an average of $202 million.

Write to Rick Carew at rick.carew@wsj.com, Laura Santini at laura.santini@wsj.com and James T. Areddy at james.areddy@wsj.com

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Went skiing for a couple of days and -bam- returned to some pretty major development. First, as expected, Xi Jinping, an increasingly likely successor to Hu Jintao, takes over as the president of the Central Party School, replacing Zeng Qinghong. The piece below is correct in stating that Xi needs also to secure the state vice presidency and more importantly the vice chairmanship of the Central Military Commission to complete his preparation to succeed. We will see if Li receives any of those slots instead. It would be interesting if Li Keqiang becomes the vice president of China. We will then see an official competition being played out.

The second news is frankly very surprising to me. China Investment Corps, which invests 200 billion of China's foreign exchange reserve, decided to plop down 5 billion to bail out Morgan Stanley. Here, I offer a few possible explanations, although I personally would like to know the full story.

1. Granted MS has a long history with China as it was the first foreign investment bank to start an investment bank joint-venture with China. This is also important because the head of CICC (the joint venture child) is now Zhu Yunlai (Levin), the son of former premier Zhu Rongji. Of course, Zhu the elder is known for his caution when it comes to the forex reserve. If through the Zhu Yunlai connection, MS is able to persuade elder Zhu to not oppose the deal, it would have made the deal sail through more easily.

2. I don't think in this case the main lobbying force came from Lou Jiwei, who is already in enough trouble from the Blackstone deal, which has thus far resulted in hundreds of millions of book loss for CIC. He would have wanted some safety guarantee from someone higher up. My guess--and this is a pure guess-- is that Wu Yi also stepped up to lobby for MS, and Premier Wen, who tends to be pretty cautious, decided to give her "face" by approving the deal. We can see this as a retirement present for Wu Yi. I don't think this deal involved any of the new vice premier candidates like Wang Qishan or Zhang Dejiang. Although Wang also has connection with MS as the former head of CICC, he wouldn't have wanted to take such a big risk early in his stint as vice premier (well, even before he becomes one actually).

Anyway, the above is pure speculations. I urge my esteemed colleagues in the reporting business to find out the real story. I think whatever it is, it is bound to be very interesting.


The Straits Times December 19, 2007 Wednesday, by Chua Chin Hon

Xi Jinping consolidates his position at the top;
Sixth-ranked Chinese leader takes over elite party school

BEIJING - CHINA'S sixth-ranked leader Xi Jinping has taken over leadership of the elite Central Party School (CPS), consolidating his position as the front runner for the country's top leadership in 2012, sources say. Equally significant, his appointment quashes speculation that President Hu President Hu -Search using:


Jintao's top protege Li Keqiang would get the job at the CPS - a development that would have injected unpredictability into the leadership race.

Both Mr Xi, 54, and Mr Li, 52, were catapulted into the ruling Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) top decision-making body in late October following a major leadership reshuffle.

Mr Li became China's seventh-ranked leader.

While Mr Xi is seen as the front runner for the top job, political observers say his position as the heir apparent cannot be considered secure until he successfully acquires three coveted appointments. The presidency of the CPS is one such appointment. The school trains future leaders and is seen as an influential place to build connections with promising provincial officials and younger military commanders. The two other coveted appointments are those of the state vice-presidency and the vice-chairmanship of the powerful Central Military Commission - the Chinese military's top decision-making body.

Mr Xi's position as the front runner would come under doubt if he loses any of the three appointments to Mr Li, who has a close personal relationship with Mr Hu going back to the 1980s. Thus far, Beijing has not officially announced Mr Xi's appointment at the CPS though the news has been indirectly confirmed by state media reports this week. The official Xinhua news agency said that the rising star presided over a major symposium at the school on Monday, during which Mr Hu delivered a keynote address.

Conspicuously missing from the event was outgoing Vice-President Zeng Qinghong, who has been the CPS president since late 2002. The influential Mr Zeng, 68, will officially retire in March next year and all eyes are on whether Mr Xi would replace him as the next vice-president. Traditionally, the vice- presidency has little real clout in China. But this portfolio has become important in recent years as it allows those aspiring to top leadership to gain foreign policy-related experience.

In this regard, Mr Xi appears to have a slight edge over Mr Li yet again. Since their concurrent elevation to the CCP's elite inner-circle, Mr Xi has been the first to receive visiting foreign dignitaries. He has met foreign guests, including Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, senior leaders from Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party as well as former United States president Jimmy Carter.

In contrast, Mr Li has so far, according to state media reports, met only one foreign guest in Beijing - European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, who was in town for the recent China-EU Summit.

Morgan Stanley secures $5bn from China

By Philip Aldrick, Banking Editor
Last Updated: 3:50pm GMT 19/12/2007

Morgan Stanley has become the latest global investment bank to resort to a foreign state bail-out after the Wall Street giant revealed its sub-prime related losses had ballooned to $9.4bn.

In a further sign of the shift in power to the Far East and Middle East, China's sovereign wealth fund - China Investment Corp (CIC) - is injecting $5bn to shore up the Wall Street giant's capital position in return for equity units that will convert into as much as 9.9pc of Morgan Stanley stock.
Morgan Stanley joins a growing list of banks that have sought help from cash-rich developing economies to stem their escalating sub-prime problems.

Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund invested $7.5bn in Citigroup last month while last week GIC, an investment arm of the Singapore government, and an undisclosed Middle Eastern investor injected Sfr13bn (£5.6bn) into Swiss bank UBS.

Earlier this year China Development Bank and Temasek, another Singapore state investment fund, became major investors in Barclays as part of a deal that would have seen them put up large amounts of cash had the British bank succeeded with its takeover for Dutch rival ABN Amro.

CIC, which has roughly $200bn in assets, also took a 3pc stake in Blackstone as part of the US private equity group's initial public offering in July.

Morgan Stanley's worsening sub-prime position caused it to post a $3.59bn net fourth quarter loss. Its mortgage related writedowns have shot up from the $3.7bn announced last month and include $7.8bn in sub-prime related writedowns.

John Mack, chairman and chief executive, said accountability rests with him and that he will forego his 2007 bonus. He added: "The writedown Morgan Stanley took this quarter is deeply disappointing -to me, to our colleagues, to our board and to our shareholders.

"Across the firm, we have moved aggressively to make the necessary changes, and these isolated losses by a small trading team in one part of the firm should not overshadow the momentum we see in virtually all of our other businesses."

The increase in the level of sub-prime writedowns comes after UBS more than tripled its provision to $14.4bn earlier this month. Analysts expect Merrill Lynch and Citigroup to follow suit and reveal deeper losses than those already revealed.

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Thursday, December 13, 2007

Ouch, fresh off the press, new party secretary of Wang Yang is showing that he will resolutely crackdown on loose implementation of real estate regulations. Some 14 officials from Kaiping and Heshan in Guangdong have been reprimanded for acting against regulations. Granted, the investigation was carried out by the State Council teams that are going around the country inspecting land approval. However, the old secretary Zhang Dejiang would have found numerous ways to slow the investigation, and he definitely would not have made so many cases public in one go. Well, Wang Yang is gunning for the premiership or some such, so he is showing Wen what he is capable of...

Southern Daily

開平市委書記原市長處理已報省紀委審批
2007-12-14 09:15:18

  
  開平鶴山土地違法案14責任人被嚴肅處理  

  開平市委書記原市長處理已報省紀委審批  
  
  本報訊 10日,監察部、國土資源部聯合通報了包括我省開平市、鶴山市在內的10宗土地違法案件。連日來,江門市各級迅速行動,采取措施堅決整改。江門市紀委、監察局按照省紀委、監察廳提出的處理意見,對14名相關責任人進行了嚴肅處理。其中,由於開平市市委書記趙瑞彰、江門市發展和改革局局長施昭平 (原開平市市委副書記、市長)是江門市市委委員,已按有關規定上報省紀委審批;其他人員的處理已全部到位。

  12月11日下午,江門市委召開常委擴大會議,認真分析了開平市非法批地案和鶴山市擅自調整規劃、違法補辦用地手續案的原因和應吸取的深刻教訓。會議強調,一是全市各級要統一思想,堅決擁護監察部、國土資源部對開平、鶴山違法違規用地的查處意見及對有關責任人的處理意見。二是全市要吸取教訓,舉一反三,防止類似事件發生。三要切實抓好整改。開平、鶴山市委、市政府一定要認真吸取教訓,按照上級提出的有關處理意見,切實做好整改。

  據介紹,2006年5月,省監察廳、國土資源廳專案組開始調查開平、鶴山兩市違法使用土地問題,提出了處理意見。江門市和開平市、鶴山市積極配合調查工作,並按要求進行整改。

  在省監察廳、國土資源廳專案組進入查處後,開平市政府開始了整改工作。2006年6月和12月,開平市政府發文撤銷了非法審批29785.05畝用地的批文,對其中土地原貌沒有改變的22585.13畝用地,已全部退回給原集體經濟組織按原土地用途使用。對已填土而沒有建設項目的4899.57畝用地,全部退回給原集體經濟組織,由有關鎮政府負責組織,因地制宜進行了覆耕覆綠,其中山地以種植速生桉為主,有耕作條件的種植經濟作物,目前已基本完成覆耕覆綠工作。已填土建成或在建的2300.35畝,符合土地利用總體規劃,按照國土資源部全國土地執法百日行動查處糾正工作的處理意見精神,將在對違法行為作出處罰後按程式依法報批。

  2006年12月11日,鶴山市政府發出文件,撤銷此前以53個文件非法批准共3626.8畝的用地批文。 2006年6月,鶴山市政府對沒有供地、可以覆耕覆綠的3555畝用地,責令共和鎮政府進行覆耕覆綠。屬園地、林地的已種植桉樹,屬耕地的分別種植了番薯、玉米、蔬菜等農作物。

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007


Okay, I am sorry, but pictures of Jiang keep showing up. I just can't help it, so here is the latest installment of Dage Jiang (from chinadigitaltimes.net), probably on the Bund in Shanghai. Bloggers have noticed his brownish, redish dye job, which was also apparent in the previous photos. Again, we are joyous that he has such vitality even after retirement.

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Sunday, December 09, 2007


Unlucky Meng...

Well, luck plays a part in Chinese politics, just as it does in other aspects of life. Recall that Hu loyalist Meng Xuenong was the unlucky mayor of Beijing who had to take the blame for not responding faster to the SARS crisis, even though his slow response was a direct consequence of high level infighting between Jiang and Hu and also constraints placed on him by Liu Qi, the party secretary of Beijing. Well, four years later, he finally got his break and was appointed governor (acting) of Shanxi Province. This was going to be his political come-back. But well, Shanxi has many mines, and one of them decided to explode last week, killing 105 people. Immediately, the central government dispatched production safety chief Li Yizhong to Shanxi, and Meng made a self-criticism. Thus far, he is holding on to his job, and I think this time he has the political savvy to turn a disaster into an opportunity. He has already announced a series of policies to compensate the victims ("no one else is to die!") and to prevent other accidents from happening. He also made the mayor of Linfen, where the accident occurred, stand up in front of Li Yizhong to make a self-criticism...I think he is learning--past the buck if there is a problem!


山西代省长孟学农代表省政府检讨(图)
http://www.sina.com.cn 2007年12月10日01:41 新京报
山西代省长孟学农代表省政府检讨(图)
  昨日,在山西洪洞县政府会议室,山西洪洞新窑煤矿瓦斯爆炸事故国务院调查组组长、国家安监总局局长李毅中发表讲话。山西省代省长孟学农代表该省政府向国务院做检讨并请求处分。本报特派记者 王申 摄

点击观看本新闻视频

  本报讯 9日上午,山西洪洞新窑煤矿爆炸事故国务院调查组成立,以此为标志,“12·5”事故进入调查处理阶段。调查组成立会上,山西省代省长孟学农代表山西省政府向国务院做检讨;临汾市市长李天太则起身表示:愿意接受组织给予的任何处分。

  孟学农代表山西省政府检讨

  山西省代省长孟学农表示,“我代表山西省政府向国务院做深刻检讨并请求处分,向遇难矿工表示哀悼。”

  “如果没有安全生产,谈何改善民生?谈何社会和谐?谈何科学发展?谈何人民政府?”孟学农要求山西省市县各级干部、各有关部门一定要协助调查组彻底查清事故真相,查清事故责任,查清事故原因。不允许有任何弄虚作假、隐瞒不报的问题出现,一经查出,一定要依法依规严肃处理。

  建议临汾设立安全警戒日

  孟学农建议,将12月5日定为临汾市安全警戒日,在
矿难现场设置矿难纪念碑,警示后人,每年这一天要在全市开展安全生产教育,将来可能在全省推广。

  同时,孟学农要求市县有关工作人员要待遇难者家属如亲人,做好善后工作。对于受伤矿工,要用最好的医护条件救护,“决不能再死一个人”。临汾市委市政府、洪洞县委县政府要严格按照山西省确定的标准,赔偿到位。对于该矿9月以来拖欠工资问题,当地政府要立即解决。

  “地方各级人民政府向社会公布举报电话、电子信箱和网址。举报属实的,该关闭的关闭、该整顿的整顿,并给予举报人1万元到5万元的奖励;对重大举报贡献突出的,可给予5万元到10万元的奖励。”最后,孟学农表示,奖励举报所需费用由同级财政支出。

  临汾市长起身致歉

  “我愧对105名死难的矿工,愧对105个破碎的家庭。”孟学农发言前,临汾市市长李天太在成立大会上站起身说,“我代表市政府向忍受巨大悲痛的死难者家属致以深深的歉意。我愿意接受组织给予的任何处分。”

  他说,连日来,彻夜不眠,内疚不安。虽然造成事故有诸多原因,但作为临汾市安全生产的第一责任人,没有履行好安全管理的职责,没有维护好矿工的生命安全,愧对人民群众的嘱托。

  最高检介入调查工作

  据介绍,调查组组长由国家安监总局局长李毅中担任,成员包括山西省代省长孟学农、国家煤炭安监局局长赵铁锤、监察部副部长屈万祥、
国土资源部党组成员王瑞生、全国总工会书记处书记张鸣起等。

  最高检渎职检察厅杨书文、喻中升两位检察员将参与调查。李毅中称,事故发生的背后可能存在失职渎职、违法违纪的职务犯罪行为,邀请最高检介入,便于维护法律尊严。

  事故调查组分设3个专业组:技术组、管理组、综合组。另外,聘请了中国矿业大学孙继平、周心权、朱红青等国内知名煤矿安全专家,组成专家组,参与调查。

  李毅中指明了调查组的职责。这些职责包括,一是尽快查明事故发生的经过、原因、人员伤亡情况和直接经济损失。二是认定事故性质和责任。三是对事故责任人提出处理建议。四是提出防范和整改措施。五是在规定期限内向国务院提交事故调查报告。

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Friday, December 07, 2007

More useful rumors from our readers "Rumours that up to the last minute Bo was still hoping to stay on in Beijing as a VP, but he was unsuccessful in lobbying for this."

I totally believe this. If he wants to be Premier, he needed to get a VP slot this time, but he didn't get it.

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Wednesday, December 05, 2007






Dear MSS agent monitoring my blog, the above pictures are purely for fun. Former President Jiang remains a steadfast and healthy comrade in his advanced age, and we wish him many more years of vitality :)

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Monday, December 03, 2007

dylan, our anonymous contributor, writes "Du takes over from Liu at UFWD. I assume Liu will take over from Chen Zhili (and try to end "industrialised education"). Bo was hated at MofCom BTW..."

This is what I call a useful contribution....keep'em coming! Oh, on Bo, I think a "small minority of people" think that of him wherever he worked; it's a pattern.

Comments:
Rumours that up to the last minute Bo was still hoping to stay on in Beijing as a VP, but he was unsuccessful in lobbying for this
 
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Saturday, December 01, 2007

Well, the Guo Jinlong appointment was apparently just a preamble to a large-scale reshuffling. The Wang Yang, Bo Xilai, and Yu Zhengsheng appointments were predicted by a Joe Kahn article in the NYT on 10/13/2007 (see blog archive).

Zhang Dejiang-- no longer the party secretary(PS) of Guangdong...NPC?
Wang Yang-- new party secretary of Guangdong, no longer PS of Chongqing
Bo Xilai-- PS of Chongqing, no longer minister of commerce (too bad, he was quite dashing in that job)
Chen Deming-- Minister of Commerce, no longer vice chair of NDRC
Wang Jinshan--PS of Anhui, currently both governor and PS of Anhui
Liu Qibao--PS of Sichuan, no longer Guangxi PS
Du Qinglin--no longer PS of Sichuan, awaits new position
Su Rong--PS of Jiangxi, no longer vice president of the central party school


新华网北京12月1日电 日前,中共中央决定:

  张德江同志不再兼任广东省委书记、常委、委员职务;汪洋同志兼任广东省委委员、常委、书记,不再兼任重庆市委书记、常委、委员职务;薄熙来同志兼任重庆市委委员、常委、书记。

  王金山任安徽省委书记 郭金龙不再担任

  新华网北京12月1日电 日前,中共中央决定:

  王金山同志任安徽省委书记;郭金龙同志不再担任安徽省委书记、常委、委员职务。

  刘奇葆任四川省委书记 杜青林不再担任

  人民网12月1日成都电 (记者郑德刚)在今天下午刚刚召开的四川省领导干部会议上,中共中央组织部有关负责人受中央委托,宣布刘奇葆同志调任四川省委委员、常委、书记,杜青林同志不再担任四川省委委员、常委、书记,另有重要任用。

  张德江简历

  张德江,男,汉族,1946年11月生,辽宁台安人,1971年1月入党,1968年11月参加工作,朝鲜金日成综合大学经济系毕业,大学学历。

  现任中央政治局委员,广东省委书记。

  1968-1970年 吉林省汪清县罗子沟公社太平大队知青

  1970-1972年 吉林省汪清县革委会宣传组干事、机关团支部书记

  1972-1975年 延边大学朝鲜语系朝鲜语专业学习

  1975-1978年 延边大学朝鲜语系党总支副书记,校党委常委、革委会副主任

  1978-1980年 朝鲜金日成综合大学经济系学习,
留学生党支部书记

  1980-1983年 延边大学党委常委、副校长

  1983-1985年 吉林省延吉市委副书记,延边州委常委兼延吉市委副书记

  1985-1986年 吉林省延边州委副书记

  1986-1990年 民政部副部长、党组副书记

  1990-1995年 吉林省委副书记兼延边州委书记

  1995-1998年 吉林省委书记、省人大常委会主任

  1998-2002年 浙江省委书记

  2002- 中央政治局委员,广东省委书记

  第十四届中央候补委员,十五届、十六届、十七届中央委员,十六届、十七届中央政治局委员。(来源:新华网)

  汪洋简历

  汪洋,男,汉族,1955年3月生,安徽宿州人,1975年8月入党,1972年6月参加工作,中央党校大学学历,工学硕士。

  现任中央政治局委员,重庆市委书记、市人大常委会主任。

  1972-1976年 安徽省宿县地区食品厂工人、车间负责人

  1976-1979年 安徽省宿县地区“五七”干校教员,教研室副主任,校党委委员

  1979-1980年 中央党校理论宣传干部班政治经济学专业学习

  1980-1981年 安徽省宿县地委党校教员

  1981-1982年 共青团安徽省宿县地委副书记

  1982-1983年 共青团安徽省委宣传部部长

  1983-1984年 共青团安徽省委副书记

  1984-1987年 安徽省体委副主任、党组副书记

  1987-1988年 安徽省体委主任、党组书记

  1988-1992年 安徽省铜陵市委副书记、代市长、市长(其间:1989-1992年中央党校函授学院本科班党政管理专业在职学习)

  1992-1993年 安徽省计委主任、党组书记,省长助理

  1993-1993年 安徽省副省长

  1993-1998年 安徽省委常委、副省长(其间:1993-1995年中国科技大学管理科学系管理科学专业研究生课程班在职学习,获工学硕士学位;1997年3月-5月中央党校省部级干部进修班学习)

  1998-1999年 安徽省委副书记、副省长

  1999-2003年 国家发展计划委员会副主任、党组成员(其间:2001年9月-11月中央党校省部级干部进修班学习)

  2003-2005年 国务院副秘书长(负责国务院办公厅常务工作,正部长级)、机关党组副书记

  2005-2006年 重庆市委书记

  2006-2007年 重庆市委书记、市人大常委会主任

  2007-  中央政治局委员,重庆市委书记、市人大常委会主任

  第十六届中央候补委员,十七届中央委员、中央政治局委员。

  (人民网资料 2007年10月)

  薄熙来简历

  中共中央政治局委员,商务部部长、党组书记。

  男,汉族,1949年7月生,山西定襄人,1980年10月入党,1968年1月参加工作,中国社会科学院研究生院国际新闻专业毕业,研究生学历,文学硕士。

  1968-1972年 “文革”中进“学习班”,参加劳动

  1972-1978年 北京市二轻局五金机修厂工人

  1978-1979年 北京大学历史系世界史专业本科学习

  1979-1982年 中国社会科学院研究生院国际新闻专业硕士研究生

  1982-1984年 中央书记处研究室、中央办公厅干部

  1984-1988年 辽宁省金县县委副书记、书记,大连市金州区委书记(其间:1985-1988年兼任大连经济技术开发区党委书记、副书记)

  1988-1989年 辽宁省大连市委常委、宣传部部长

  1989-1992年 辽宁省大连市委常委、副市长

  1992-1993年 辽宁省大连市委副书记、代市长

  1993-1999年 辽宁省大连市委副书记、市长

  1999-2000年 辽宁省委常委、大连市委书记、市长,省委常委、大连市委书记

  2000-2001年 辽宁省委副书记、代省长

  2001-2004年 辽宁省委副书记、省长

  2004-2007年 商务部部长、党组副书记、书记

  2007- 中央政治局委员,商务部部长、党组书记

  第十六届、十七届中央委员,十七届中央政治局委员。(来源 新华网)

  王金山简历

  中共安徽省委副书记,安徽省省长。

  1945年2月生,吉林公主岭人。1971年加入中国共产党。1968年四平师范专科学校毕业。

  历任公主岭市农业局副局长,中共梨树县委副书记,吉林省副省长,中共白城地委副书记、书记,白城地区行署专员,中共吉林省委组织部副部长、部长,中共吉林省委常委。1992年任第五届中共吉林省委副书记。1993年4月任第六届中共吉林省委副书记。1996年8月任中共浙江省委副书记。后任全国供销合作总社党组书记。2002年10月任安徽省人民政府副省长、代省长。2003年1月在安徽省第十届人民代表大会第一次会议上当选安徽省省长。 2006年10月,在中共安徽省第八届委员会第一次全体会议上当选中共安徽省委副书记。

  是中共十五届中央候补委员,十六届、十七届中央委员。 (来源 新华网)

  刘奇葆同志简历

  男,汉族,1953年1月生,安徽宿松人,1971年12月加入中国共产党,1974年9月参加工作,1992年2月吉林大学国民经济计划与管理专业毕业,在职研究生学历,经济学硕士。

  现任十六届中央候补委员、广西壮族自治区党委书记兼自治区党委党校校长。

  1972.04-1974.09 安徽师范大学历史系学习

  1974.09-1977.07 安徽省委宣传部理论研究室工作人员

  1977.07-1980.06 安徽省委办公厅秘书处秘书

  1980.06-1982.09 共青团安徽省委宣传部副部长

  1982.09-1983.09 共青团安徽省委副书记、党组成员、兼宣传部部长

  1983.09-1985.11 共青团安徽省委书记、党组书记,中共安徽省委第四届委员(其间:1984.02-1985.10任宿州市委副书记、市长)

  1985.11-1993.08 共青团中央书记处书记兼机关党委书记(1992.02获吉林大学经济学硕士学位)

  1993.08-1994.07 人民日报社副总编辑

  1994.07-2000.09 国务院副秘书长、机关党组成员

  2000.09-2000.12 广西壮族自治区党委副书记

  2000.12-2006.06 广西壮族自治区党委副书记兼自治区党委党校校长

  2006年6月,中共中央决定,刘奇葆任广西壮族自治区党委书记。

  2006年11月19日,在中共广西壮族自治区第九届委员会第一次全体会议上当选为自治区党委书记。

  2007年1月,广西壮族自治区第十届人民代表大会第五次会议补选刘奇葆为自治区人大常委会主任。

  是十六届中央候补委员、十七届中央委员。2006年10月广西壮族自治区人大常委会补选为第十届全国人民代表大会代表。

  (人民网资料)

杜青林简历

  杜青林,男,1946年11月生,汉族,吉林磐石人,在职研究生学历,硕士学位,1964年7月参加工作,1966年3月入党。

  1964年7月-1966年12月 吉林省吉林市委青干班学员,柳河县、永吉县、舒兰县社教工作队队员、副组长

  1966年12月-1968年1月 吉林省吉林市委组织部干部

  1968年1月-1974年10月 第一汽车厂分厂团委书记,车间主任、党支部书记

  1974年10月-1978年8月 第一汽车厂分厂革委会副主任,副厂长、党委副书记

  1978年8月-1979年8月 吉林省吉林市团市委书记

  1979年8月-1984年8月 吉林省团委副书记、书记,团中央委员,六届全国政协委员(其间:1981年8月-1984年7月在东北师大政治教育专业函授学习)

  1984年8月-1985年5月 吉林省长春市委副书记

  1985年5月-1988年4月 吉林省委常委、省委组织部部长,中共十三大代表

  1988年4月-1992年2月 吉林省委副书记、省委政法委书记(其间1989年9月-1992年7月在吉林大学法律系函授学习)

  1992年2月-1993年2月 海南省委副书记,中共第十四届中央候补委员

  1993年2月以后 海南省委副书记、省人大常委会主任(其间:1994年9月-1996年6月在吉林大学经管学院在职攻读硕士研究生)

  1998年2月-2001年8月 海南省委书记。

  1998年4月当选为海南省人大常委会主任。

  2001年8月被任命为农业部部长。

  2003年3月在十届全国人大一次会议上被任命为农业部部长。

  2006年12月- 四川省委委员、常委、书记。

  2007年1月31日,四川省第十届人民代表大会第五次会议上当选为四川省第十届人民代表大会常务委员会主任。同年5月16日,中共四川省第九届委员会第一次全体会议上当选为省委书记。

  是中共第十四届中央候补委员、第十五届、十六届、十七届中央委员。

Comments:
Du takes over from Liu at UFWD. I assume Liu will take over from Chen Zhili (and try to end "industrialised education").

Bo was hated at MofCom BTW...
 
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Another side item, but my wife found a recording of our all-time favorite Chinese band Wood Pushing Melon (木推瓜) on youtube. Technology is amazing. What's more I also found an account of its show. We used to catch them at this divy place at Wudaokou. It truly is the greatest Chinese band ever. It's too bad that the band dissolved after the arrest and after the lead-singer decided to go to Tibet in 2002. The last time I saw them, the police showed up and arrested them after they cursed the CCP and President Jiang. For listeners, the song "Do Suo Do" begins in a funky way, but keep listening; it makes an amazing transition. Anyway, the link to the song is above, and the article in both Chinese and google translate English below.

雷子:“木推瓜”们的一点回忆
http://ent.sina.com.cn 2004年06月26日23:07 网友来稿


  《什么样的回答才能让你满意》是我看到的第一首尹丽川的诗。应该说当我读到这首诗的那一瞬间,就被这首诗的本质给迷住了。

  关于尹丽川,我最初只听说她也是一位“美女作家”,而这是个很容易先入为主的概念,就像同样是尹丽川所参与的“下半身写作”一样。

  再后来听说她想拍电影,而且还想在北京开个酒吧,酒吧的名字是“69”。

  而后我听我的朋友说尹丽川是北京地下摇滚乐队“木推瓜”主唱宋雨喆的女友,当然我也不能确定朋友的话是否属实。只是“木推瓜”是我更熟悉的,他们是我最喜欢的几支北京地下乐队中的一支。

  我看过几次他们的演出,印象深刻的是2001年某一夜在北京语言文化大学附近的“开心乐园”看的那次。那时“开心乐园”每个周末夜晚还有一些地下乐队的演出。

  2002年的夏天我再去那里,发现已经没有了那样的演出。而“木推瓜”据说也在去年解散了,宋雨喆则孤身远赴西藏。

  那次并不是“木推瓜”的专场,某种意义上,他们也不是那晚最出彩的乐队。那晚的另一支乐队“美好药店”搞了一个有些“惊世骇俗”的行为艺术表演:乐队主唱何国峰仅穿着三角内裤登上了舞台,他先是将一个像章的别针刺进了自己手臂上的皮肉之中。

  而将像章别好之后,何国峰脱掉短裤当众小便。他小便了挺长时间,估计是为这次演出憋了很久。这时一个家伙拿着一个640ML装的燕京啤酒瓶子,蹲在那里接着乐队主唱的小便,然后开始喝,边喝边大声叫着:“好酒!好酒!”。

  这之后全裸的何国峰更是跳下了舞台,将一块准备好的白布铺在地上,然后蹲在那块白布上开始当众大便。必须承认那时弥漫的味道有些让人不适,而一些淑女也做出花容失色状,不知道那时尹丽川是不是也站在那群淑女之间。

  何国峰在大便完后,开始在那块白布上搅拌自己的排泄物,他显示了对自己的排泄物的支配力,他似乎是在作画。然后他抬头对着观众说这幅作品现在拍卖,有人喊:“我出五毛!”,“我出两毛!”,“我出一毛!”,“我出五分!”,“我出一分!” ……

  我对那晚“开心乐园”的保安充满了同情,因为最后这幅艺术作品是被他们处理掉的。

  其实那晚“木推瓜”乐队的主唱宋雨喆也搞了一段行为艺术的表演,只是与刚刚说的那个相比,在嗅觉和视觉上可能没有那么大的冲击力。

  那晚宋雨喆演唱了他们的那几首“铁托”们耳熟能详的代表作。他又一次狰狞着脸唱了那首《哆嗦哆》,又一次在其中用他扭曲刺耳的声音将儿歌“娃哈哈”唱得撕心裂肺,花园在他的声音中又一次变成了屠宰场,而花园中的花朵则又一次狞笑着迎风绽放……

  那晚他们也演出了那首《悲剧的诞生》,这个歌名无疑与尼采的那本同名著作有关。就当这首歌演出到一半,一个估计有200多斤的长发壮汉登上了舞台,开始用一条皮带抽打正赤膊演唱的宋雨喆,应该说抽打得特狠,而且抽了有二三十鞭那样。当宋雨喆转身,可以看到他后背上纵横交错的鞭痕,他的整个后背已经皮开肉绽鲜血淋漓,而宋雨喆此时的演唱也变成了凄厉的哀号。

  不知那段时间尹丽川是不是宋雨喆的女友。如果是,估计她该在那晚演出结束后,在宋雨喆的后背涂满红药水……当然据说现在他们早已劳燕分飞。(雷子)

Google Translate:

雷子: "wood pushed melon" to the point memories
Http://ent.sina.com.cn at 23:07 on June 26, 2004 Netizen contributions

....Then I heard my friend said Yin Li-chuan is the Beijing underground rock group "wood pushed melon" frontman SONG Yu Zhe's girlfriend, of course, I can not determine what is true friends. Only "wood pushed melon" I was more familiar with, they are my favorite band several Beijing in a underground.

I have read several times their performance impressive is 2001 a night in Beijing Language and Culture University near the "Kiddie's" looking at that. At that time, "Kiddie's" every weekend night some underground band performances.

In 2002 the summer I go there, there was not that the performances. "Wood pushed melon," said the dissolution of the last year, SONG Yu Zhe, unaccompanied went to Tibet.

That is not the "wood pushed melon" special, a sense that they are not the most is the color of night band. Another night of the band "beautiful, pharmacy," some of which is a "horrified" acts performing arts: lead singer HE-wearing only underwear appeared on the triangular stage, he first will be a像章the pin刺进his arm on the flesh way.

While像章other good, HE Guo-feng took off his shorts and public urination. His urine has quite long time, estimates for the performance hold for a long time. Then a guy holding a 640 ML-equipment Yanjing beer bottles, then lead singer squatted where the urine, and then began to drink,边喝边loudly chanting: "good bottle of wine! Good bottle of wine!."

After nude This is the HE-jumped an arena will be ready for a piece of white cloth shop on the ground, then squatted That began publicly white stool. At that time, we must recognize some of the flavor of diffuse people sick, and some ladies were also made花容fade, do not know that time is also Yin Lichuan ladies from the group between.

HE peak in the stool after the end of the beginning That cloth, stirring in their droppings, he demonstrated their excretion power, it seems that he is in the paint. He then rise into the audience said the auction site works now, some people shouted: "I am a 50 fen!", "Me from the two hair!", "I developed a hair!", "Me from the fifth!", "I a one! "...

My night "Kiddie's" full of sympathy for the security, because the final of this artistic work is being disposed of them.

Actually night, "Wood pushed melon," the band's frontman SONG Yu Zhe also engaging in some act of performing arts, but with just said that compared to the smell and visual may not have such a big impact.

SONG Yu Zhe night that the songs that made them the first few "Tito" were familiar masterpiece. He again ferocious着脸singing the first "哆嗦pyridoxine", in which once again with his piercing voice will be distorted children's songs "Wahaha" sing撕心裂肺, Garden in his voice again in a the slaughterhouse, and the flower gardens are blooming again fleer the wind ...

They also perform a night that the first "The Birth of Tragedy", the name and Nietzsche's no doubt that the works of the same name. When this song on the half performances, an estimated 200多斤long hair Agency spokesman appeared on the stage, beginning with a belt strap is Taking personal charge sang the SONG Yu Zhe, it should be said that beating a special relentless, and the two pumping 30, as whip. When SONG Yu Zhe turned around, we can see that after he traces back crisscross whip, his back had been bruised and lacerated blood throughout the hill, and SONG Yu Zhe this concert has become a mournful and shrill cries.

I do not know that time is not SONG Yu Yin Lichuan Zhe's girlfriend. If so, the estimated she performed in the night, after the expiry SONG Yu Zhe the back painted red syrup now ... of course they said already劳燕分飞. (雷子)

Comments:
You have excellent taste in obscure Chinese rock. It's a pity we haven't talked about this before. Your band has some interesting descendants and contemporaries who are still doing good work.

- Zi Yue
- Recovering the Rights of Statues
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