links for 2007-06-18

• Chinese Nationalism and You – Making the trend your friend
  An ounce of prevention is worth ten tons of cure as far as Chinese nationalism is concerned. Here are a few areas where international managers and investors need to be careful.
• China: Wang Shuo’s Informer Letter Against Corruption of Censorship Department
  Wang Xiao-feng posted Wang Shuo’s Informer Letter to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate against the corrupted practice of T.V program censorship teams. The letter is in the style of parody but capture the reality of censorship practice in China.
• Electromagnet to be used in salvage after bridge collapse in Guangdong
  A seven-ton, 9,000-watt electromagnet withan attraction force of 30 tons is to be used to salvage the missing people and vehicles after a bridge collapsed in south China’s Guangdong Province. The magnet arrived at the scene early Sunday evening.
• DEATH PENALTY: China Considers Cash for Clemency
  Under pressure to reduce its huge number of annual executions before the 2008 Olympic games, China has been experimenting with commuting death penalties to life sentences in exchange for compensation. But the practice is proving contentious.
• Lonely path to abortion for women
  Nearly half of young women who called the city’s first pregnancy hotline go to hospital for an abortion by themselves without parental support, said officials in charge of the hotline yesterday.
• Inflation is China’s new dragon
  China may be getting rich, but soaring prices for pork, chicken, beef, fish, eggs and cooking oils are making many ordinary Chinese feel poorer.
• China commemorates 40th anniversary of first test of hydrogen bomb
  The successful test startled the world as it took only two years and eight months for China to develop the hydrogen bomb after it tested its first atomic bomb in October, 1964.
• Successful Negotiation in China: Fool me once, shame on me
  If a counter-party lies to you once, they will lie to you again. This is true ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, but for some reason, western investors and managers looking to do their first deal in China needs to be reminded of this.
• China’s changing nuclear posture
  China seems to be revising its nuclear posture and preparing for the possibility of using nuclear weapons in a pre-emptive attack if necessary.
• Great and powerful — but is China our friend?
  Australia has enjoyed tremendous success in cultivating relations with China. Naturally endowed with the very resources China demands to build its industrial economy, Australia has, in crude terms, become China’s quarry.
• Vladimir Putin Sick of US Dollar Hegemony
  Vladimir Putin says he wants “a new architecture” for the world.
• Record-setting Sutong Bridge connects today
  The bridge totals 32.4 kilometers across the Yangtze River. The main span of 1,088 meters sets a new world record for a strayed-cable bridge. Construction began in June 2003, and is expected to be completed by 2008.
• Low-key vibe to Shanghai festival
  Despite Sharon Stone’s presence, the opening frames of the Shanghai Film Festival were unashamedly local and curiously low key given the event’s 10th anni.