China Reform Monitor: No. 1005

November 28:

Women in Wuhan, Hubei seeking a civil service job must subject themselves to gynecological exams, the South China Morning Post reports. One of the required tests was a “vaginal inspection,” a procedure in which doctors collect cell samples from a women’s vagina and cervix. Female applicants for a national civil servant job were also required to reveal information including the age they began menstruation, their cycle and its volume. “These tests are hidden discrimination against women applicants,” said Professor Han Guijun at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Wuhan. Outraged, seven female medical students protested outside the Human Resources and Social Security Department in Wuhan holding signs that read: “Say yes to government jobs, no to gynecology tests” and “My period is irrelevant to my qualifications.”

December 4:

While visiting the controversial Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing on November 26 Aung Min, Minister of the President’s Office of Myanmar, said his country should be grateful to China and not halt the project despite public opposition. He told protesters that Myanmar should not antagonize China because it aided the former military regime during the 1988 nationwide pro-democracy uprising. Critics responded angrily to the former general’s remarks. “It is not right to say China helped Burma during 1988,” said Ba Shein, an Upper House MP for the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party in comments carried by The Irrawaddy. “China protected our military regime and because of this our country took 50 years to have political change.”

December 5:

Chinese companies control two big resource projects in Afghanistan: the Aynak copper mine in Logar and oil drilling in Amu Darya. Aynak, Afghanistan’s largest copper mine, is China’s biggest investment in the country and is estimated to contain 240 million metric tons of ore worth about $43 billion. In 2008, Kabul contracted with a Chinese state-backed consortium that is 75 percent owned by Metallurgical Corp of China and 25 percent owned by Jiangxi Copper to excavate the mine. The Chinese consortium is providing $2.9 billion, including payments totaling $808 million and investment for a railway, a power plant and irrigation works. Beginning in 2016 the mine is expected to generate $900 million per year until 2031, of which $541 million will go to Kabul. But local residents have not seen the contract, which was kept secret until recently. The South China Morning Post reports that the deal allows the Chinese side to renegotiate its royalty payment to Kabul and deploy private security forces at the mine.

December 6:

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is heading a commission investigating last week’s crackdown on Buddhist monks protesting the China-backed Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing, the Irrawaddy reports. According to the commission, 73 Buddhist monks and six activists were hospitalized after a government raid – two dozen for serious injuries and burns. The commission will investigate the monks’ role in the protests and whether riot police used incendiary bombs against protesters. Additionally, it will advise the government on whether it should allow the mine projet to continue. Suu Kyi said: “The mining project is based on a contract between the government and a Chinese company that was not subject to public scrutiny. If we want democracy, we have to ensure that [such projects] consider the long-term benefit of the country and the people, or we will not be able to avoid this kind of problem in the future.” Her remarks come amid nationwide protests against the deal – a joint venture between Wanbao Mining Ltd., a subsidiary of China’s state-owned weapons manufacturer NORINCO and the military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. Hundreds protested in Yangon, Taunggyi and Mandalay, calling for the release of those detained, the arrest of those responsible for the raid, and an end to the mine project.

On November 29, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), appeared to have coined his own ideological concept when he said: “Realizing the great renewal of the Chinese nation is the greatest dream for the Chinese nation in modern history.” According to Zheng Bijian, former executive vice president of the CPC Central Party School, “the Chinese dream is about solving China’s problems. The Chinese can neither afford to dream of consuming 25 barrels of oil per person each year like Americans, nor pursue their dream of development by colonization. The Chinese dream is about a peaceful, civilized way to realize national development and the modernization of a socialist country.” The official China Daily said the “Chinese dream” is distinguished from the “American dream” because it “suggests collective aspirations to work for a stronger country and realize the rejuvenation of a nation.”

[Editor’s Note: Each Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping has coined his own theoretical concept for governing the country: Deng Xiaoping advocated Reform and Opening Up, Jiang Zemin prompted the Three Represents, and Hu Jintao spoke of a Harmonious Society.]