Global China Focus by Peggie Hsu

GCC NOTE Cheif Editor Maggie Bi

Cover Story Dear Friends, Thank you for your interest in Global China Focus, Cornell's premier China-focused publication. We are stepping towards a "flat world" where comminutes are increasingly connected and interdependent. Therefore, Global China Focus strives to inform the Cornell community of issues that surround China, an emerging global power, and its implications for Sino-American relations.

Maggie Bi Peggie Hsu Siyu Yang Meijiang Xiong Morgan Macklin

Society Meijiang Xiong Siyu Yang

Economics Peggie Hsu

Our publication covers a broad scope of topics"from social concerns to the economic outlook" so we hope the content is of relevance and value to you. If you are interested in further opportunities to engage China in an educational, professional or social setting, we urge you to get involved with Cornell's chapter of Global China Connection. We welcome you to reach out to us at cornellgccinfo@gmail. com. Best, Jeremy Wai Alexis Fang Co-President Co-President

Education Maggie Bi

Politics Meijiang Xiong

Review Morgan Macklin Maggie Bi Siyu Yang

Photography Maggie Bi

Graphic Designer Maggie Bi Peggie Hsu 2

COVER STORY April 2013 ISSUE I

AMERICANS IN CHINA 04 From Cincinati To Beijing: Celest M. 08

From Frostburg To Taiwai: Holly Harrington

From Tulsa To Beihai, Guangxi, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong: Evan McElwain

From Shenyang To New York: Danye Wang

CONTENTS INSIDE

SOCIETY Wei Wei 18 Ai By Siyu Yang

ECONOMICS

EDUCATION

REVIEW

Ai Wei Wei Documentary Review

"Kanjian" Review I

"Kanjian" Review I I

It Was A Bold Idea

By Maggie Bi

Interview: Lynda Yang By Maggie Bi

POLITICS 22

Cold War II: Global Cyber War By Chenchen Zhang

Technology Enters the New Era By Peggie Hsu

By Morgan Macklin

By Shuyang Li

By Ariel Wu

PHOTOGRAPHY 44

Hong Kong: Street View By Kimi Luo 3

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COVER STORY

FROM CINCINNATI TO BEIJING Celeste M.

Interviewed by Morgan Macklin

Celeste M., of Cincinnati, OH graduated from Northern Kentucky University with a Bachelors of Science, specializing in Chemistry. She began her studies for a PhD at Indiana University in fall 2008. Currently she is collaborating with a professor at Peking University in Beijing studying ion transfers at the oil and water interphase, while simultaneously researching ion conductance microscopy (ICM). With a teaching position on hold at NKU, Celeste plans to spend her last six months exploring everything China has to offer. “I was actually shocked because I never thought I would travel in grad school,” Celeste began. After spending a year in Guatemala volunteering and a summer backpacking around Spain, she was no stranger to international travel. Nonetheless, leaving the country for her last and most important months of research came as a surprise. Celeste speaks no Chinese and has never taken a class on China’s culture or history. “It isn’t as though I was clueless about the culture…since grad school I’ve interacted on a daily basis with at least five Chinese people, but they all spoke English,” she remarked. “I really tried not to expect anything, good or bad. I try really hard when I travel not to have any expectations.” But between the media and stereotyping, Celeste admitted that she was already slightly biased. When asked about the chief differences between Chinese and Ohioans, she instantly replied, “Table man-

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ners.” Celeste laughed, “I dream about cloth napkins and forks. Honestly though, if I were to pick the most—they treat privacy differently here.” She explained, “A student got a new cell in the lab and everyone was grabbing it and touching it: it’s little things like that. In the states you don’t touch someone’s belongings unless you are given permission.” Celeste believes that this mentality has developed primarily as a result of overpopulation. She reasons that with so many people crowded living and working together for generations now, views on privacy would naturally begin to shift. “Topics we in the States think are personal or delicate are not seen that way at all. They [the Chinese] really are more open about certain subjects; my weight, my love life, even my salary are all up for discussion, in their eyes,” she added. Celeste gestured to her computer, “There’s a joke

“I can’t stress enough the value of collaboration and having international partners.”

that China has three walls: the Great Wall, the Great Firewall, and the great…” she paused, “I’ve forgotten. But the censorship is really surprising. It’s very different from home.” Celeste affirms that in spite of this, China is already proving to be an infinitely valuable experience. “Working with the students in the lab has been fantastic. They are all such awesome people—really welcoming.” She holds that if a foreigner came to her lab in the States and couldn’t speak English, the Americans would not be nearly as considerate as the students she has met at PKU. “Just being interested in what I had to say and wanting to see pictures of what I did that weekend, you know? I really think I’ll make long-lasting friendships here. I didn’t expect to come and feel like I had real friends,” Celeste smiled. Moreover, Celeste has found the culture in China to be both rich and intriguing. “I didn’t realize how having such a long history influences things like food and art,” she said. “We have time periods of American art, which draw from European art but it is so new comparatively: think thousands versus hundreds!” To illustrate she brought

COVER STORY out a take out menu, “When we think of Chinese food in the United States—well it’s so much more than just General Chow’s Chicken. Thousands of years of history and custom, play a huge role; and each person you meet, depending on where they are from, has different tastes and preferences.” In conversation food is the “weather” of Chinese, so instead of commenting on the blue sky you are better off asking about someone’s breakfast. While discussing food, Celeste brightened. “I really like the dumplings here, hot pot and lamb too…the weird fruit on a stick coated in candy with rice paper, Tanghulu is delicious,” she grinned, “I wonder if you can order it in the States?” Celeste mentioned that these last six months in China were likely her last. “I already have a position back in Kentucky, so it’s not really possible,” she said. Calculating that she needed a sold five to six years to obtain tenure, at least, Celeste can only see returning on a sabbatical. However, she was beyond enthusiastic at the idea of inviting coworkers to do a post doc in the United States. “It’s for the best,” she said, “I still the like the Midwest over the city air.” Working in the lab, unfortunately has proven to be the most difficult aspect of living in China. “I guess I

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never thought the chemicals would be written in anything but English,” she sighed. “It’s only the beginning, but using their materials makes it hard to start work. I didn’t speak or study any Chinese before I came. Thought I could get by and didn’t realize…I wish I had learned at least a little.” Celeste reaffirmed this sentiment; “It is hard without knowing the language. When you speak Chinese, you get more respect from the people.” She grimaced, “Without Pinyin on the signs, I don’t if it’s a restaurant or a strip club.” Notwithstanding, Celeste has really enjoyed here time in China. “I’m having a great time. I knew it would be a good experience, and it’s proven to be more than I ever expected.” In closing, she emphasized the value of understanding China. “Right now America is tight on money. Some of the first places they stop funding are scientific research labs,” she said sadly. “But China,” she brightened, “China is doing the exact opposite. While America’s scientific world is shrinking, China’s is growing. Therefore I can’t stress enough the value of collaboration and having international partners. You may think that only arts students need them, but everyone does. Hey, you never know, maybe one day in the near future everyone will go to China for their post docs!”

FROM Frostburg TO Taipei

By Peggie Hsu

y l l Ho n o t g n i r r Ha

In 1626, the Portuguese discovered Taiwan and, stunned by its extreme beauty and exotic fruits, named the island “Formosa”. Many of them stayed and lived in the island for their entire lives. Almost four hundred years later, “Formosa” once again attracted hundreds and thousands of foreigners to come to settle because of its extraordinary landscape, unique culture, and varied cuisines. Holly Harrington is one of them. Eight years ago, she was offered a chance for a one-year teaching program in China, Taiwan, Japan, or Korea. She chose Taiwan simply because, in her words, it was the “least of the evils.” She studied politics back in the US and thus was afraid of the political issues in Korea that she dismissed the idea of going there. She also didn’t agree with the personal freedom restrictions in China. Furthermore, Japan wasn’t picked because of its high living expenses. Therefore, she boarded on a plane and arrived on the island of “Formosa” and ended up staying a lot longer than she had planned. In fact, Harrington has recently received her permanent residential card. She is very excited. She currently works in Princeton Review Taiwan, specializing in teaching SAT and other test preps courses. The

COVER STORY

"Taiwanese people are passionate, easy-going, and down to earth truthful."

job was prefect for her because she gets to spend time with teachers from different parts of US who shares similar experiences with her. Through my interview with her, Harrington has shown variety of emotions—happy, touched, sad, confused, and annoyed—towards different events that happened in her life in Taiwan. It is in no doubt that her life here is truly colorful. When asked to describe her strangest experience in Taiwan, Harrington immediately thought of the “fake” western food. “Don’t get me wrong,” she said, “foods in Taiwan are delicious. It’s just weird and interesting to see what Taiwanese people put in western food. They incorporate ingredients that doesn’t normally go together in the same dish… For example, bread with chopped dry pork, pizza with shrimps and peas or Kim chi, and steak with pepper sauce, eggs, noodles and mashed potatoes…etc.” It took her a while to get used to seeing these “weird” food

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combinations. She also said that, “you can’t get your food the way you wanted. It usually has to be exactly how they had it on their menu.” She first found it unbelievable that she couldn’t pick her own toppings for her pizza or change her side dishes in many restaurants—the dishes all had to be exactly the way they are presented on the menu. In fact, this observation also applies to other characteristics in the Taiwanese culture. In doing business, Taiwanese people care intensively about efficiency. We have little patience for tasks that take a long time. Therefore, restaurants prefer to have dishes exactly the way they are because then it would be easier for them to produce more of the same things. She also points out that she finds it a little surprised a somewhat offended when Taiwanese people just assume that she wants to drink Starbucks coffee or having burgers for all of her meals. She finds this “narrow-minded perspective” interesting yet disturbing. “Cultural differences usually create memorable experiences,

"I have been around the entire island 3 times; just a backpack and a scooter."

She was then asked to talk about some of her happiest times in Taiwan. She decided to share her travel experience around the island. “Oh! Too many amazing things happened during those trips” she exclaimed. Discovering new places, meeting new people, and experiencing the unique Taiwanese culture, Harrington enjoyed every little bit of her trip around the island. She has been around the island three times already and is planning on her forth one next spring. Harrington absolutely loves the friendly locals who welcomed her with open arms. “Taiwanese people are surprisingly comfortable with meeting strangers,” she said “especially foreigners, I would say. In some countryside, foreigners are considered “rare species.” Hah—I was treated like a star.” She remembered even getting invited to perform in a music festival in a village in TaiTsung—she was filmed on stage singing “TianHeiHei.” The next thing she knows, she was offered to star in a commercial shot because the producer saw the video on

Youtube. Harrington went on to talk about her passion in performing arts. She actually joined in theater troupe here in Taipei and performed an act titled “Ah! Taiwanese People.” The script was based on true stories that happened to actors living in Taiwan. In the show, she had different people who came to ask her questions about where she was from or what she does in Taipei. “When people notice that you are different,” she explained, “they talk to you a lot and ask you questions. Most of the times I am OK with it, but sometimes it can be annoying.” Harrington also mentioned a crisis she had in Taiwan with the bank. The online banking system in Taiwan is not as convenient as it is in America. Taiwanese people are very careful and more traditional about their money. Thus, a lot of banking activities have to be done manually. Harrington said she missed the days when transferring money is just one click away on the web page, whereas in Taiwan, she has to physically visit banks to manage her

bank account. However, other than this, Taiwan has really given her everything she wanted. “Do you think you would ever leave Taiwan in the future?” was my final question. Harrington thought of it and shook her head, “there is really nothing back in the States that attracts me anymore, and I am very comfortable living in Taipei, especially with all the 7-11s. 7-11 sells everything, EVERYTHING! And it’s everywhere. Like Starbucks in America.” She laughed and continued, “In fact, my dream is to open a 7-11 here on my own. So no, I don’t think I will ever leave Taiwan.” Harrington’s experience in Taiwan proves that foreigners’ experience in Asia country can be challenge yet rewarding. Moreover, “everyday will be new and surprising, for you learn something novel everyday.”

COVER STORY

"You never know when you will be stunned by just a random scene by the street"

Ewan McElwain Interviewed by Meijia Xiong

My name is Evan McElwain, or 符骏涯, and I am currently a junior at Cornell majoring in Economics and Asian Studies. I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and have been studying Mandarin for most of the last 7 years. I have been to China twice, once in November 2009 in Beihai, Guangxi, and then I spent the entire summer of 2012 in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. I absolutely love China and really hope to work there after I graduate! I recently co-founded a small startup company, Ivy Student Mentors, to help Chinese high school students learn more about all aspects of Ivy League universities and college life in the United States. My goal in life and with my startup is to further facilitate cultural exchange, strengthen economic ties, foster a deeper mutual understanding, and create stronger social bonds between Chinese and American people.

\\ What’s the weirdest thing you have encountered in China? A baby shark on a stick. I went to the night street food market at Wangfujing and they had all kinds of food on sticks - scorpions, snakes, spiders, seahorses. They were all completely intact, just like they would appear in the wild. But by far the most shocking thing I saw was a baby shark, cooked (supposedly), with a stick going through it. The owner saw my interest in it and started dropping the price in an attempt to get me to buy it. She offered it as low as 30 RMB so then I thought it probably wasn’t too fresh and so I better not try it. 12

\\ What about China attracts you? Besides eating 烤串儿 every night, I would have to say the culture, the people, and the history. My interactions with Chinese people have all been extremely positive and I really appreciate the warmness and curiosity of locals when I am over there. It is also vastly different than the US, but I enjoy and embrace those differences and end up having a great time because it. Every time I go to China I find more and more things I like about it that make me want to go back!

\\ What’s one remarkable moment of your life in China? Definitely the time I got stuck in the middle of Beijing during the flood last summer. We were trying to get to Wu Dao Kou by rickshaw, but the water was so high that it drowned out the engine. I got out and started pushing the rickshaw, then my flip flop broke so there I was, barefoot pushing a rickshaw in the streets of Beijing flooded with two feet of water. We ended up running half a mile in the pouring rain to the nearest subway station.

COVER STORY

FROM TO Tulsa Beihai Guangxi Beijing Shanghai Hong Kong \\ Have you had any crisis? Absolutely. The most exciting/ scary one was definitely in Shanghai when the typhoon hit in early August 2012. My flight back to the US was scheduled to leave the day the typhoon hit, but my flight was only delayed (thanks to Delta), not cancelled, so I still had to go to the airport anyways. When they finally cancelled it, I took a shuttle to the hotel and we were basically driving through the typhoon. It was insane, wind blowing ferociously, the car hydroplaned a few times, and there were trees that had fallen down all over the place. When we finally got to the hotel, the front door

(which had been made of glass) was completely gone – it had been shattered and ripped out by the storm. It was definitely a dangerous adventure, but quite a memory. \\ Why did you come and what made you stay or not stay? I originally came as part of a month-long foreign exchange program during my senior year of high school. I was in Beihai for most of that month and had an unbelievable time. I stayed because I was infatuated with the people and culture, and loved experiencing an entirely different environment and way of living. The second time

I came was to help organize the Ivy League Leadership Conference. I stayed because I had an absolute blast and loved exploring Beijing! \\ What’s your favorite Chinese food? Street food, without a doubt. \\ Do you have any regrets on your decision of coming to China? Absolutely not! My only regret is that more people don’t travel to China to experience it for themselves!

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FROM Shenyang TO DANYE WANG New York Interviewed by Maggie Bi

Danye Wang, is a member of Official Institutions Client Business Group at BlackRock. While based in New York, she is responsible for global strategic planning, project management, institutional sales, client servicing and client communication in the Official Institutions space with a focus on regions and countries within Asia-Pacific and Japan. Danye earned a BA degree in Economics from Yale University in 2008. Danye currently serves on the Committee of Asian Association of Alternative Investment Professionals (AAAIP) as the Outreach Chair, and the WIN (Women Initiative Network) at BlackRock as the Recruiting Chair . Danye is also actively involved in the Association of Asian American Yale Alumni, and has spoken at Cornell China Conference, China Young Development Program, as well as China Business Conference at Columbia University.

What is the weirdest or the most unusual thing in terms of cultural difference that you have encountered since you came?

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It was quite an adjustment for me in terms of the party scene in the US universities when I first came I have to say, especially given I came from a middle/ high school that was very academically focused with a semi-military management style. There were freshman screw, frat parties, house parties, and all kinds of dances and balls. It was not common sense to me that an ordinary American teenager would have an entire suitcase of makeups with literally every color of eye shadow and lipstick that can occupy a bookshelf. However, what I learned is that you do have a choice to be one of them, or not to be one of them. And you also have a choice, on when you become one of them. You should not push yourself to become someone else if you are not comfortable making that decision, yet, or ever. I guess that’s the bigger takeaway for me from the “cultural shock”.

What about the U.S. attracts you in the first place?

The respect and flexibility for individuals to pursue our own interests, paths, and make our own decisions, and of course, being responsible for the choices we make along the way. And the diversified environment that enables people from different backgrounds to learn from each other, and become more appreciative of each other’s cultures and perspectives.

What was the biggest difficulty for you to adjust in the beginning? How did you overcome it? Like many students coming from China particularly, I was not used to an academic environment where I was constantly required to speak up in classes and seminars and share my thoughts on the spot. It was quite a significant adjustment in the beginning as I was still in the process of shifting from thinking in Chinese to thinking in English, and I had a tendency to rehearse (in my head) before I actually speak, and I missed many opportunities to be part of the discussion in the beginning. Later on I found out that the best way to contribute to a discussion is to observe and listen to what other students are saying first. And then, it’s much easier to add on to their comments or provide different perspectives.

Have you had any crisis? Yes, and to be honest, it’s one of the best things that happened to me. The crisis itself had to do with something personal but it was a confusing period of my life and it resulted in my decision to take a gap year and go back to Beijing after my sophomore year. It felt like a crazy decision at the time given most Chinese are not used to the idea of gap years. I learned, however, that when such things happen, it’s not about the crisis itself but how you react to it. I tried many different things during that year in Beijing, including leading a corporate social responsibility case studies project sponsored by PKU, interning as a CFO Assistant at a growing internet firm, and teaching high school students TOEFL at New Oriental. It was the first time I felt genuinely connected to the Chinese society outside of school (as I went to a boarding school all through middle/high school), and this experience gave me valuable perspectives on what’s on the mind of business people nowadays in China. I came back to Yale with an entirely different mindset, and I will have to say that I wouldn’t have been able to work at where I work and do what I do today without having experienced that “downtime” in my life.

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Do you have any regrets on your decision of coming to the U.S.?

I do not. And I am particularly happy that I chose to come here for undergraduate education. If I went to Japan or stayed in China for college, chances are I would explore an opportunity to come to the US for graduate studies, but that would have been quite a different experience. The liberal arts education here really shaped my characters in a unique way. I can’t say that it made me a fundamentally better person, but it certainly gave me the strength to find out for myself.

What's your favorite American food? Unfortunately I am still getting used to salad, and I’m not a big pizza or burger person. However, the melting pot does offer you a lot more than American food. I fell in love with Mexican food and Thai food the most and I struggled with the fact that there are no good Mexican restaurants in Hong Kong when I was there on short term assignment, and I still think Thai Taste back in New Haven is the best Thai food in the world. Cornell does offer the best on-campus dining experience out of all Ivy League schools I have to say. Two of my cousins went to Cornell and I definitely enjoyed the variety of flavors at your dining halls.

How would you imagine your life in China to be like? Unless there is a compelling opportunity and I chose to become an entrepreneur, I would like to see myself reaching a relatively senior position in the organization before I go back to China. I will continue to work very hard, and will probably be traveling back and forth between China and the US. My understanding is that the professional relationships in China are nurtured in a different set of ways from how it’s done in the US. Unfortunately given I’ve been out of the country for almost 9 years now there will be a reverse adjustment for sure, but I will cross that bridge when I get there.

What do you think is the most valuable thing about life in general that you have learned in the past years in the U.S.?

I’ve learned many things since I came to the US, both on a personal and professional level. I actually used to write about it and you may find one of my articles here: http://anadviceaday.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/thingsi-wish-i-knew-when-i-was-at-college/. Yet by far the most valuable thing I’ve learned is that “the more you reach out to other people, the more the other people will reach out to you”. There are people out there who are willing to help you, to share their stories with you, and to make you a better person. But they probably don’t even know your existence if you do not take initiatives. Networking can be time-consuming some times, but you’re probably spending the same time, if not more, on browsing Facebook, watching sports, or texting your boyfriend/girlfriend. I do believe the connections you are building today will become one of the dominant factors on how well you do and how far you can go in your career tomorrow. Do not wait until you need someone to reach out to them. Start a conversation and build that rapport now, and you will be amazed at how often people (sometimes total strangers) will respond to your enthusiasm.

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The smashing of the Han Dynasty pottery monitors the destruction of tradition taking place across China. Homes destroyed, people uprooted to improve Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s image.

Society

Ai Wei Wei By Siyu Yang Ai Weiwei is better known as a rebel than an artist. Not only is he greatly outspoken about his opinion regarding Chinese government, his rebellion manifests in extent much…. He has gained his identity via rebelling from the traditional Chinese identity, which emerge both from history and the communism regime. Thus new identity requires expression and exhibition, which is suppressed in the current society. Such contradiction became the center of his most shocking works. A well-known fashion magazine chief editor and art critique Hong Huang refers Aiweiwei as “the artist who know what to express and how to express it most powerfully” in the documentary Never Sorry. Hong’s words are a precise description why Ai’s works are so powerful: he knows how to present the most complex and subtle emotion in one image. One best example is Sunflower Seeds. The work consists of one hundred million porcelain "seeds," each individually hand-painted in the town of Jingdezhen by 1,600 Chinese artisans, and scattered over a large area of the exhibition hall. Ai grew up in rural China, and the image of thousands of sunflower seeds scattered across the floor is a strikingly familiar scene of harvest season.If we interpret each of the individual seed as individual Chinese the meaning of the work is very explicit. Chinese individuals, although crafted from a long and rich

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history (here expressed implicitly as intricate porcelain hand-crafts from the top porcelain city of Jingdezhen), are absolutely uniform. They possess such uniformity and humbleness that people feel no pressure stomping and trampling on them. The documentary depicted Aiweiwei holding up a handful of sunflower seeds, posing for photos. His gesture is solemn, possessing an almost religious worship for the seeds, as well as a deep sympathy. What does Ai try to express about his people in this work? Here we have to depart from analyzing what would be a traditional understanding of Chinese nationality and nationalism, and how Ai views it. There is a significant amount of literature regarding what is the nature of Chinese nationality; Aiweiwei, in his work, points out an one significant factor: the subversiveness of normal Chinese people. It is not only an essential core of the national personality, but also the character Ai and his peer intellectuals are trying to rebel from. Under the Confucius tradition and the whole literature that is based on it, normal Chinese people (especially farmers and small merchandize) are considered to be by nature vulgar and less cultured. Being a normal people means you have nothing in your mind to express, thus it is nothing bad to suppress your thoughts and superimpose them by the elite’s will. The Culture Revolution changed a great amount of the

“feudal thoughts”, but suppression over people’s ideas and their will of expression hasn’t changed in nature. Expression from the normal people (“Ren min qun zhong de zhi hui”) was not neglected, but only a selected few were allowed to be voiced. Ai and his generation of artists grew up from such a background, and there is no surprise that they consider freedom of expression the primary form of freedom and individuality. Being one of the “enlightened few”, he has the greatest sympathy to his people who are still unaware of the possibility of freedom, and take suppression as granted. This also motivated him to go through the whole legal process when he was injured in a conflict with the police force. He attempted to deliver the message that, knowing the whole effort would go down in vain, people still should not take such unjust violation of law as granted. Every voice has the right to be expressed, even when it is against the interest of the government. However, Ai is an artist, not a political scientist. He has a limited understanding regarding Chinese nationalism, and that sometimes resulted in contradictions in his work. In one of his works, he painted a

coca-cola sign on an antique Chinese vase, in protest of market economy’s invasion of Chinese historical treasure. This demonstrated a part of Chinese nationalism that he hasn’t rebelled from: the deep pride in his historic root. Thus he has a subjective disagreement on the market, which jeopardize his history and culture despite the wealth and well-being it brought to his people. Such anti-market sentiment is also mentioned in some of the interpretations of Sunflower Seeds, in which he protest against the mass manufacturing of “made in China” identity. This divides him from other radicals of his generation, who more or less recognized the benefits of market, or have a more objective critique on their effects. Despite some contradictions in his works, Ai Weiwei is still a powerful and influential figure of modern China. As I mentioned in the beginning of the article, his expressions are brave, powerful and effective. He inspires many young people to take actions and becomes a figure of freedom expression in one generation.

Society

Ai Weiwei and Serge Spitzer at Museum f端r Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main Photo by Daniel Gray

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CHINA V.S. US COLD WAR II GLOBAL CYBER WAR By Chenchen Zhang

Robert S. Mueller III, the director of the F.B.I., said cyber attacks would soon replace terrorism as the agency’s No.1 concern, as foreign hackers, particularly from China, take over and penetrate the U.S.’s critical infrastructures and leading businesses. On February 19th, U.S. cyber security company Mandiant published a report that identified Unit 61398 within the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as the player behind many cyber espionage activities since 2006. Mandiant’s seventy-six-page long report came to the conclu sion that: "Combining our direct observations with carefully re -searched and correlated findings; we believe the facts dictate only two possibilities: Either a secret, resourced organization full of mainland Chinese speakers with direct access to Shang hai-based telecommunications infrastructure is engaged in a multi-year, enterprise scale computer espionage campaign right outside of Unit 61398’s gates, performing tasks simi lar to Unit 61398’s known mission or APT1 is Unit 61398." (APT1, p. 60) Senator Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, called on the United States to confront China on its cyber espionage activities against U.S. government and businesses: “China’s economic espionage has reached an intolerable level and I believe that the United States and our allies in Europe and Asia have an obligation to confront Beijing and demand that they put a stop on this piracy,” Rog ers said at the opening of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s hearing on cyber threats. “Beijing is waging a massive trade war on us all, and we should band together to pressure them to stop. Combined, the United States and our allies in Europe and Asia have significant diplomatic

POLITICS and economic leverage over China, and we should use this to our advantage to put an end to this scourge.” Both the Mandiant report, and Mueller’s and Rogers’ speeches had put Chinese government under the international spotlight. Scholars have arrived at different conclusions regarding the Chinese government’s motives and have made varying predictions about the degree of influence of the cyber war between the world’s two super powers. BACKGROUND According to the Mandiant report, under conservative estimate, “APT1’s current attack infrastructure includes over 1,000 servers.” Chinese cyberspies have attacked “almost all of [the powerful Washington institutions],” claimed Washington Post, “The list of those hacked in recent years includes law firms, think tanks, news organizations, human rights groups, contractors, congressional offices, embassies and federal agencies.” The Mandiant report analyzed APT1’s years of espionage, and concluded that: “Our evidence indicates that APT1 has been stealing hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations across a diverse set of industries beginning as early as 2006. Remarkably, we have witnessed APT1 target dozens of organizations simultaneously. Once the group establishes access to a victim’s network, they continue to access it periodically over several months or years to steal large volumes of valuable intellectual property, including technology blueprints, proprietary manufacturing processes, test results, business plans, pricing documents, partnership agreements, em ails and contact lists from victim organizations’ leadership. We believe that the extensive activity we have directly observed represents only a small fraction of the cyber espionage that APT1 has committed.”

DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS The release of the report to the public has heated up discussions amongst U.S. and Chinese scholars alike. Many people interpret it as China’s attempt to outgrow the U.S. economically and politically, and become the hegemon of the world; whereas others view it as internal power struggle within China. REALISM (ECONOMY) Most people regard China’s cyber espionage activities as the government’s means to surpass the world’s leading economic power through cutting production costs and stealing business ideas. In an article published in the Wall Street Journal, the authors noted that “China has a massive, inexpen-

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CHINESE CYBERSPIES HAS ATTACKED “ALMOST ALL OF [THE POWERFUL WASHINGTON INSTITUTIONS],” CLAIMED WASHINGTON POST 24

POLITICS sive workforce, ravenous for economic growth. It is much more efficient for the Chinese to steal innovations and intellectual property—the ‘source code’ of advanced economies—than it is for them to incur the cost and time of creating their own. Instead, they can and do turn those stolen ideas directly into production, creating products faster and cheaper, and outselling the United States and others worldwide.” REALISM (POLITICS) While many people think China is doing this for economic reasons, others argue that the Chinese government is investing heavily in cyber espionage activities because it wants to understand top political decisions made in Washington D.C. An article in the Washington Post claims that “Chinese intelligence services [are] eager to understand how Washington works.” Hackers often are searching for unseen forces that explain how the administration approaches an issue, experts say, with many Chinese officials presuming that reports by think tanks or news organizations are secretly the work of government officials—much as they would be in Beijing.” DOMESTIC POLITICS Different from the realist perspective, Andrew Mertha, a professor in the Government Department, argues that China didn’t commit the espionage act,

and that it was instead an internal power struggle between bureaucracies in China. “China is made up of all sorts of bureaucracies, political organizational, institutional, regional interests constantly competing with one another,” said Mertha in an interview. And this is an example of different bureaucracies competing against one another at this stage of leadership transition as Xi is going to replace Hu as president. Mertha argues that similar to many incidents in history when different bureaucracies would break ranks and embarrass Beijing—i.e., the J20 Steakth Fighter instance in 2011-- this is another incident of military “[seizing] an opportunity to embarrass and blackmail Beijing by going beyond their parameters and boundaries.” CONCLUSION While senators like Rogers are calling on the White House to take immediate actions to mitigating cyber espionage through levering, we still can’t anticipate what the two governments’ are going to do. Mertha, at the end of her interview, said that the incident might become another bullet point like human rights issues in future negotiations in Sino-U.S. corporations and it would light a fire under the U.S. and make it improve its cyber infrastructures.

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IT WAS A BOLD IDEA A CASE STUDY

By Maggie Bi

WRITER'S NOTE There has been a notably rising trend of having international department or curriculum in Chinese public high schools. Shenzhen Middle School, arguably the best public high school in Shenzhen, Guangdong, was one of the first few high schools in China that tried out such idea. The school itself is different for its uncommon administrative structure and liberal academic environment. Its own International Curriculum was founded in 2009 and has matured greatly in the past three years. The latest class of International Curriculum (IC) now has around two hundred students. It started with forty-six in 2009.

EDUCATION It was a bold idea back then --- building an international department inside a public high school in China. Before 2009, there were three curriculums coexisting inside Shenzhen Middle School (SMS): one for preparing students strictly for Gao Kao (National Higher Education Entrance Examination), one for providing students with more flexibility with their life and study and one for students with exceptional talents in science subjects. The student body was highly qualified since everyone was from the top 6% test takers of Zhong Kao, the standardized high school entrance examination. Every admitted student needed to choose a curriculum to attend and some of them had admission processes. In 2009, there was a new curriculum called Special Curriculum (SC), which aimed specifically at sending SMS students to American colleges. The application process included long English responses to three prompts and one group interview. The only precondition of applying to SC was that once the student gets in, he or she must agree to give up the right to take Gao Kao. In this way, the school could ensure that SC would not negatively affect the Gao Kao results, which is always the priority for Chinese public high schools. A total of eighty students applied and forty-six were accepted. A Canada-born Chinese Yale alumnus led the program at first. His goal was not only to help students to get into American colleges but also to prepare them for a richer and more successful life at those colleges. To achieve this, the program had nine foreign teachers from prestigious colleges like Columbia, its own library filled with English books, its own dining hall with special-designed meals, its own dorm with lower resi-

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dential density and PE instructors. All were exclusive to students inside the program. More importantly, none of these privileges cost an extra dollar. This meant that all these forty-six kids paid the same amount of tuition as anyone else but had a lot more access to school resources. Naturally, the rest of the school had problems with SC. Additionally, the program leader himself was not particularly socially smooth, which led to more conflicts with the school. Therefore, weeks after the semester started, the program was seriously jeopardized by the leaderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personal political incorrectness. He left the program for about two months after this incident and came back, but only for another semester. Things were dramatic within SC for a while, but it was a critical time period as well. Since the administrators learned lessons like how to deal with the rest of the school, how to make class schedules

more reasonable and how to handle the national graduation requirements for high school students. After one semester of trying and exploring new possibilities, SC finally settled on a practical plan. English was the focus of the academic aspect. Students were divided into four reading classes according to their level of proficiency in English writing and four oral classes based on their verbal fluency. Foreign teachers taught all English classes. For the one-hour reading class, the teacher assigned different types of English readings like newspaper articles, research papers and literary works and taught students how to write argumentative essays. Whereas for the one-hour oral class, it was more casual. Students performed skits, debated on social issues and learned slangs. The daily schedule starts at 9 AM everyday, and after these two

English classes, students were required to take a one-hour PE class, which was either Kungfu or Yoga, to build stronger bodies. That was normally the end of morning schedule. In the afternoon, it was all national courses, which students had to finish within three years of high school to fulfill the nationally standardized graduation requirements. Generally, the national courses were designed to be easier than the ones regular SMS students took since SC students were not going to take Gao Kao so that they had more time improving English. As for the exclusive dinning hall and library, they were open to the entire school then. There were also three major extracurricular activity choices available for students inside the program: a daily newspaper, a student-run coffee house and a translation monthly magazine. SMS provided funding for all three.

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The program leader left again before the second year started for personal issues, so the school administration took control of SC in the academic year of 2010-2011. The first thing they did was to change the name of the program from Special Curriculum to International Curriculum (IC), which is now the official name of the department. SMS made two major changes to the program. First, they expanded the program and included everyone else from class of 2012 and class of 2013 who was not in the program but wanted to study at an American college. Second, the school cancelled the previous English courses and PE class and instead added standardized AP courses like AP Physics, AP English and AP Microeconomics. All were certified by College Board and IC students could take them for credits. In 2011 spring, the school tried to add SAT courses, but most students found them to be

unhelpful. In the end, the majority of IC students self-studied SATI and SATII, which did turn out to work better. Up till that point, IC had become a compatible part of SMS. Almost all resources were opened up to all SMS students, and everything was on track. The department made sure that as long as IC students took enough credits from national courses per semester, they could graduate in time with full credentials met. The curriculum was on a firm stand by the end of academic year of 2010-2011. The third year of IC was more about setting up the standard process for college applications. SMS hired a college counselor and mimicked the American high schoolsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; approach. Transcripts had to come out of the school office directly with sealed envelops; recommendation letters had to come from teachers who knew the student

personally and must not be seen by the student; application essays must be written by students themselves but foreign teachers could provide assistance. Even though it was only the first year, IC still did a good job of ensuring the confidentiality of documents and preventing dishonesty. Aside from the applications, there were more AP courses like AP Computer Science, AP Literature and AP Chemistry. Class of 2012 was the first class that graduated from IC. The admission result was surprisingly good. Students were accepted by prestigious American colleges like Yale, Columbia, Stanford, UPenn, Brown, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Rice, Berkeley and so on. This symbolized ICâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first step to success in fulfilling its goal ---helping students to enter their dreamed school for higher education.

Lynda Yang Lynda Yang

Interviewed by Maggie Bi

Lynda Yang graduated from Shenzhen Middle School in 2012 and is now studying at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. As a member of the first graduating class of International Curriculum, she participated fully in International Curriculum's development from 2009 to 2012.

\\ Do you still remember your first impression of the international program when you first heard of it? I was thrilled and excited when I found out Shenzhen Middle School offered an international curriculum, which is the first one of its kind among public schools in Shenzhen. At that time, I was in my last year of junior high. I always knew that I wanted to study in US. But I also understood that my parents wouldn’t let me go at such a young age. So the international program seemed to be a perfect choice for my parents and me. \\ What were your parents’ opinions? My parents became supportive to my decision after a series of late night talk and roundtable discussion in our lovely living room. We all knew that it’s not only a decision about enrolling in an international pro-

gram. We debated if I should go to a US college, give up Gaokao, pay the incredibly high tuition, work in US or elsewhere etc. But once they made up their minds to support me, they never swayed. Honestly, those talks are my initial attempt of directing my own life. I still feel so fortunate and empowered that my family supported me to make this important life decision and everything that entailed. \\ Can you describe what the Reading Class and Oral Class were like? Both were seminars with about 12 students. For reading class, we discussed writing techniques and argumentation. We didn’t have a fixed textbook. The teacher printed out essays by Malcolm Gladwell, William Faulkner and MLK. Some of the essays we read on class were even written by curriculum director himself. Trained as a critical reader, I learned one thing that’s really im-

portant: always read with skepticism. Oral classes were sweet. We played games, debated and acted. I remember me acting as a robot and my partner trying to sell me at a good price to fellow classmates. Another time I was a defendant in the court because I was accused of engaging my monkey to smoke. That’s a tough situation. \\ Did you enjoy the English classes? How so? Yes, they are very personal and engaging. Sometimes I received feedbacks from my instructor that are longer than my essay. We were also required to go to office hour weekly. I love listening to my teacher’s college stories during office hours. \\ What do you think is the biggest benefit of these special-designed classes? Any related examples? It made me realize that teachers

EDUCATION are not unreachable talking heads in the front of the classroom; they are passionate human beings who are waiting to be engaged and surprised by students. \\ Did the Physical Education class later engage you in healthier exercise habits? Yes! I am wholeheartedly grateful to the PE class. It introduced me to Yoga and dance, two activities that are very likely to be my lifelong hobbies. Most importantly, it instilled the importance of healthy lifestyle deeply in my mind. I believe that a healthy body-shape reflects oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life attitude. Now, I still take regular yoga and Latin dance class on campus. I swim five days a week. Workout has occupied a large portion of my free time, but I find it totally worthy. I am also preparing my body for extreme sports. \\ How did you like the dramatic change that happened at the start of the second year? The teachers at IC were gone. New teachers came with a more traditional philosophy. Classes in the first year were more engaging, innovative and personalized.Classes in the second year were traditional lectures with clear agenda and test focus. For me, the ending of the initial international program seems to symbolize an unrealized dream thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s too ideal for the environment. \\ Which mode did you prefer personally? And which one do you now think is of the best interest of students and parents? I prefer the first one, but I think traditional lectures and test preparations are also necessary and helpful. I think we need a combination of both. For example, at Penn, I take both lectures and seminars every semester. Operating seminars require a lot more resources that a public high

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school in China cannot afford. So it will be really nice if students can have the opportunity to take one seminar every semester, just to exercise their “intellectual muscles” by pushing them to formulating ideas and express them in effective ways.

tions? Did you find it effective? The international curriculum believes that as long as we improve our overall English capability, we can naturally perform well on tests. Combined with an extra push before test, it should be the correct path to true learning.

\\ Did you do any extracurricular activities? I am the co-founder of Nova Monthly, a magazine that presents diverse perspectives from journalists in different countries. I am also the founder and CEO of Keywood Company, a for-profit organization with 12 employees. I worked as a cook at the school coffee shop – just to learn to get my hands dirty. Looking back, I wish I could do more community service to get to know my city better.

\\ Your insight on the development of IC in the past three years. How it has helped you and probably suggestions if there is any. IC definitely shaped my life. At IC, I learned to cooperate, not compete. I learned to study out of curiosity, not scores. I learned to lead, not follow. I started to value my health. I found friendships that last. I developed a sense of responsibility to the common good of my community, big or small. I know these concepts sound like general empty ideas, but in IC, they were actually reflected and fostered both on class and outside class everyday.

\\ How did the curriculum approach standardized test prepara-

It's a short bittersweet dream.

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REVIEW

Chai Jing BOOK REVIEWS

柴静

看见Witnessing

Public evaluates Chai as a journalist stands in the closest place from the news with her sharpness, persistence to become an excellent journalist. As what Chai said, "Journalism is my profession and also way of life." She shows people what should a reporter is with her working experiences. Chai is famous for her direct, cut-to-the point interview technique. Chai left a deep impression on people during the events of Severe acute respiratory syndrome disaster, Wenchuan earthquake and various coal mining accidents. (From Wikipedia)

Chai Jing's Autograph

By Shuyang Li

China is complicated. Yes, in the sense that the essence of Chinese culture is different from its American counterpart. It’s often referred to as “water”: torrential at times, but ultimately it’s placid, running into a steady river, and flowing ceaselessly into the future. Every individual is but a tiny drop in this huge flow, and will blend into the mass. It’s collective. Associate one phrase with American culture: individual success; associate one with Chinese culture: collective development. This image of water has shaped the Chinese perception of culture for so long, that it has almost become second nature to many. People seem to have forgotten that all cultures are ultimately about human. The land is gradually losing its humanistic spirit, which has sustained it for thousands of years. As artist and philosopher Gao Ertai once condemned, “humanistic thoughts diminish, and we are like wolves returning to wilderness.”

But luckily, there are always counter-streams. Kan Jian (literally “Witnessing”) is a trail back to the origin, human. The book written by Chai Jing, arguably the most famous reporter in China, cover a wide spectrum of issues, from the once-horrifying epidemic SARS in Beijing, to suicide of fifth graders in Gansu, to life of “country teacher” in Guangxi. From one glance of this book, the stories seem totally unrelated. However, all stories carry some deeper meaning heavier than their plot—they have a shared focus: human, persons, concrete individuals in every event. Surgeon Zhu Jihong sighed in his hospital in Beijing, where hundreds of patients and doctors and nurses died of SARS due to a lack of protection; fifth-grader Xiao Cai wept at her vow “share happiness and suffering” with her five best friends, when one of them committed suicide and three attempted; German volunteer, Eckart Löwe, floundered when he left his students in Banlie, drifted? to Hangzhou and

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"Do you regret what you've done?" "No.” “Do you still believe in law?” “Yes. I have faith in it.” “Why?” “Because I hate giving in.” Vietnam and “lost his heart”… they stand up from paper, grow into body and flesh, sit beside you, and begin narrating their stories. Slow, strong, and steady. You can touch them and feel them; you can see the scars on their bodies and hearts. It’s also a book about commonsense. Chinese culture regards “Guanxi”, connections, as a panacea: (examples). We are gradually losing the concepts of law, of rights, of logic, of truth, because “Guanxi” overrides all of them. It’s sad that the times when justice and logic prevails become “exceptions.” But what’s touching about Kan Jian is that it focuses on such exceptions, on how one person can shake the gigantic network of governmental “Guanxi”. Law student Hao Jinsong challenged the Ministry of Railways on court because of tax evasion, which people are used to; farmer Chen Faqing sued Ministry of Environmental Protection because a polluted river flows through his village… Not all of them are successful, but failure is beautiful: it

reminds us constantly how far our dream lies ahead. After one interview with an imprisoned resister, Chai Jing wrote, “Do you regret what you’ve done?” “No.” “Do you still believe in law?” “Yes. I have faith in it.” “Why?” “Because I hate giving in.” Even if the stories are about failure, Chai Jing tells them in a peaceful way, like stream flowing. Slow, strong, and steady. Because of her, because of everyone who realizes our problem, and who tries to solve them. There are people who still have faith in truth, in logic, in the strength of people. Our culture is not doomed. We are not returning to wilderness. The humanistic spirit still exists in our land. We all are witnessing it.

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“She is objective, calm, and, at the same time, positive.”

By Ariel Wu During the past few years, Jing has gathered recognition that seems to be beyond what a journalist deserves. Some may say it is because she is a beautiful woman—at the age of 36, Jing still looks young and indeed pretty. However, with mere good looks, she will never become an embodiment of intellect in the chinese community. People admire her for an extremely simple reason: she possesses all the redeeming qualities of a journalist. She is objective, calm, and at the same time, positive. Jing does her job with passion, not fanaticism; she writes to inspire, not to agitate; she restores the truth behind each event, not a made-up truth that is misinterpreted and misleading. What she does is just what a journalist should do, but sadly there aren’t many good journalists as there should be in China. So people remember Jing, together with her articles and interviews. When her latest book came out, people just rushed to the bookstore. They read eagerly through the sentences Jing wrote about the events she encountered, trying to find new perspectives left neglected by the socalled mainstream media.

But in fact, Jing works for the most mainstream media in China: she hosts a documentary program, “Kanjian” (Observe), for China Central Television, and most interviews she did were for this one program. As a program broadcasted only on Sundays at around mid-night, “Observe” is a program broadly approved by general audiences. Audiences find this program more convincing then CCTV programs lead by strong government opinions. They claim, “In this program, Jing gave us facts, not opinions.” What exactly did she do? In the year 2006, a video caused a stir online. In this video, a woman in heels killed a cat by stepping on its head. After this video was posted, angry audiences who were deeply offended condemned such behavior and began a search for the women. They got her name, address and posted it online. She was called “an extremely evil murderer” and was alienated from her previous workplace. Jing went out to interview this woman, trying to find a reason for what she did. The woman told Jing about how her marriage had tortured her, and how depressed she was with reality. It had come to the point where she wanted re-

REVIEW

venge from the world. So when some one asked her to film the scene of killing a cat, she said yes. She pictured the cat as the one she hated, and crushed it. After the incident she lost her job and her daughter could no longer attend her school. She was left alone to face the consequences of her actions. Jing and her team was the only group of journalist who wanted to hear the explanation from this woman. “ People won’t understand I am actually a kind and caring person”, this woman said. Jing did not defend the woman or lay charges on her, but the she completed the story. Audience can draw their own conclusion from this story. The interview gave the audience a new perspective, and the story now looks more real. Reality is the most powerful element of Jing’s work—whether it be an article or TV program. It is not surprising that the book documenting her interviews has been so popular.

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Captions, Critiques, Comments

Ai Weiwei Never Sorry 2012 By Morgan Macklin

In Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, first time director Alison Klayman tells the story of one of the world’s most infamous prevailing artists, a man whose life blurs the lines between activism and art. Ai Weiwei, a true rebel of the Information Age, uses social media to reach thousands of minds everyday. His reactionary art, which stems from observation rather than the Central Academy, has achieved significant notoriety. Especially amongst western circles, Ai Weiwei’s work is seen as one

of loudest outcries against existing political and social injustices. Moreover, the 2012 documentary presents more than just a record of Ai Weiwei’s lifelong artistic journey. Klayman’s insider take documents a progressing phenomenon: a rising value placed on human rights and government transparency in the minds of the Chinese people. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry does not call citizens to arms but instead challenges them to open their minds to change and the onrushing

wave of new ideas that result from globalization. Critiques of the film believe that Ai Weiwei is too aggressive, too direct, too alarming. Although his blatant rejection of authority has won him few friends among the Chinese bureaucracy, it has nonetheless gained him a loyal following domestically and abroad. Ai Weiwei shows no fear in protesting police brutality, legal and political structures, and human rights infringements. He intends to shock his

REVIEW

Photo by Sharon Lovell

“我不是个画家，我更是个下棋的人，对手走了一步，我走了一步。我等到对手走了另一步。” “I’m not an artist, I’m more of a chess player; my opponent makes a move, I make a move and I wait for my opponent to make another move.” - Ai Wei Wei

audiences anyway he can because he believes only shock can wake people from their current complacency. As he said, “It’s about communicating. It’s about how we use the language which can be a part of our history, part of other histories, and how we transform it into today’s language.” Ai Weiwei hopes that in the wake of shock, there will be room for independent thought and progress. Unsurprisingly, Ai Weiwei’s less than subtle approach to change set him at

odds with the Chinese government. In March 2011, Ai Weiwei disappeared for 81 days. In spite of this warning, thousands were spurred to action. In the face of mounting protest and left with no choice but to release him, authorities returned Ai Weiwei to his studio in Beijing, where he remains under constant supervision. Even so Ai Weiwei’s supporters and others like them may soon force the Party to admit that change is as imminent as it is necessary.

This film is not only relevant to those with vested interest in China and its domestic policies, but to any citizen in any country. Whether or not viewers agree with Ai Weiwei’s radical opinions, the story playing out in China is as important as any human rights struggle in the history of mankind; because in the end, freedoms of speech, press, and expression are among the most basic and necessary of human rights.

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technology enters new robot eraB By Peggie Hsu

With an increasing capital cost for human resources, many companies in China have a strong intension to replace human forces using robots. As Foxconn Technology Group evaluated, the cost of their labor power is approximately 3500 Yuan per month, with a likely increase to 4000 Yuan in the next two years. On the other hand, a simple robot machine costs about 20,0000 Yuan, and it can replace 2 to 3 highly skilled workers. With the trend of technology advancing and machinesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; life span prolonging, it is predicted that many factories are gradually switching their workforce to robots. Foxconn Technology owns a total of 30,0000 robots last recorded in 2012, while their labor forces has decreased from 12.76 million people to 9.89 million

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ECONOMICS

“It is predicted that the robots industry is going to take over 30-50% of the market in the next five years,” says Ying Fang Tian, researcher at Dan Jiang University. His confidence comes from a valid point—because cheap labor becomes Chinese companies’ greatest competitive advantage. However, due to shifts in the world’s economy, China’s labor costs will inevitably increase. Moreover, if technology develops to a point when the cost of a robot evens the labor force, robots will be highly supplied and demanded. According to China’s Machinery Labor Union reported, the year 2010 China has imported 2.34 million robots, with a value of 5.28 billion dollars. And the next year China has imported 3.8 billion robots, with a value of 8.66 billion dollars. With China’s technological environment and government’s emphasis shifting to focus on branding as well as making of the products, it is predicted that the robot market will reach the value of 500 billion Yuan in 2025. Such numbers bring concerns for employment, for China, having such great population, may face a big jobs loss and inflation when robots start replacing humans in a more regular fashion. Such new trend suggests a new educational breakthrough. For now, only those who possess skills that the robots can not perform— management, highly technical, or communications…etc—will be able to survive

in the robot era. This, on one hand, may benefit the companies because of the low cost of labor and highly selected human resources. Moreover, it may strength school systems for emphasizing on learning those skills. However, on the other, it has the possible problematic tension in enlarging the gap between the rich and the poor. In fact, there has already been an increasing income disparity since 2005 in China, with a Gini coefficient of 0.4. Government regulation will have to come into play to prevent such tension. With this new trend in robots’ market, however, China’s economy itself may miss a big opportunity to grow if it is still stuck at the current phase. Chinese companies have always been the biggest and best OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), but not the companies with the product design capabilities. In other words, everything is “made in China,” but nothing “comes from China.” Take robots and machinery companies as examples, ABB from Switzerland, FANUC and YASKAWA from Japan, and KUKA from Germany are four main advanced robots companies. As suggested, they are four foreign companies who obtain technique and materials that are more developed than China has. Thus, these companies all see China as a big market. China is forced to buy everything aboard and then make the products internally. That is, China now still has to import those robots at a higher price if

ECONOMICS

they want to use high-tech machinery. It is a pity that China has not yet developed robotic technology that can beat these competitors and is simply giving their market share away to other countries. This economic hole, however, can be seen as a business opportunity. In fact, if resources and technology are put into use to start a robot manfucaturing line in China, such a line would definitely be profitable for companies desperately trying to decrease their capital costs. Moreover, this line has the opportunity to bring China to the next level—get rid of the OEM and become the real “boss” who produces its own advanced products. Many investors have been looking into the robots market development in China. Nevertheless, before getting more into details about a possible robot business plan for China, China’s current environments have to be analyzed. Starting with the economic environment, it is predicted favorable for most technological businesses because the Chinese government is trying to obtain “the prefect balance” (-Deng,XiaoPing) between government intervention and liberation. The PBOC is committed to strengthening the economy. By 2004, $60 billion was injected into state-owned banks to stabilize their balance sheets. Four asset-management companies were formed to clean up 1.4 trillion RMB worth of NPLs, which increased profits by 15%. China maintained a strict RMB peg since

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1994, which decreased inflation by nearly 17% points in 2 years. The Chinese government, along with companies in different industries, is moving towards the route of independence—that is, stops depending on the imports for products. They would love to invest in companies who can bring back the line of production. Second, the political and legal environment ties strongly with the economic environment. China realizes that although they fear that rapid economic liberalization may lead to unemployment, inequity, corruption, and pollution, past experiences have proved that such an act as necessary. Thus, there has been a slow trend towards market economics as they cater to foreign investment and privatization. . Furthermore, private consumption is increasing with industry and services accounting for the majority of the growing GDP. Gradually, the technological environment trending from rural agriculture to urban industry obtains more freedom. Therefore, to conclude, although there are potential risks of letting loose China’s economic gap, judging from the business environments’ trends as well as the companies’ long run plans, it is highly favorable to invest in a robot-related businesses in China. The Era of robots is beginning to take over Asia. -(Source: New Industries Magazine , Oct.2012 Issue)

Mong Kok, Hong Kong

STREET VIEW

PEARL OF THE ORIENT

HONG KONG GOLDEN EGG Photos by Kimi Luo

STUDENT FROM South China University of Technology

香港

PHOTOGRAPHY Mong Kok, Hong Kong

Mong Kok, Hong Kong

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Tsim Sha Tsuis Clock Tower, Hong Kong

Mong Kok, Hong Kong

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Victoria Bay, Hong Kong

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