China Reform Monitor: No. 1016

January 29:

A Hong Kong district court judge has handed down a 10-year jail term against a Guangdong man who in eight months laundered a record HK$13.1 billion ($1.6 billion) from the mainland into Hong Kong. He made 4,800 deposits and 3,500 transfers through Chiyu Bank – mostly over the Internet – at a rate of HK$50 million ($6.5 million) a day. The case has raised questions about Hong Kong’s banking system at a time when Beijing is cracking down on corruption and using the city as a hub to internationalize China’s currency, the yuan. In 2011 there were 20,287 suspicious transactions reported to the Hong Kong Joint Financial Intelligence Unit and between January and September 2012 there were 17,795 reports, which, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) editorial page concluded, “shows the city is an attractive place for laundering.”


February 5:

Hundreds of people in Ma Yu Township in Wenzhou, Zhejiang protested at the town government building after a car carrying birth control officers ran over a couple’s baby after they refused to pay a fine for violating the one-child policy. Clashes between riot police and protesters left 10 people injured. According to the official People’s Daily, 11 government officials went to the couple’s home to collect the 30,000-40,000 yuan fine, but the father refused to pay and an argument ensued. Shortly after the officials left, the 13-month-old baby boy, the couple’s third child, was found dead, run over by the vehicle. “The police are investigating the accident,” an anonymous town government employee told Kyodo News. “It is unimaginable for the baby to be accidentally run over by the rear wheel of the car. We can not be sure what happened.”

February 6:

China has hosted ceasefire talks between representatives of the Myanmar government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in the border town of Ruili, Yunan. Chinese officials met with representatives from both sides before the talks and attended as observers. After seven hours of talks, the Irrawaddy reports, Myanmar’s government and the KIO reached an agreement to work to end their conflict. “China would like congratulate the two parties on the achievements that have been made on significant issues including cease-fire and peace talks, and hopes they will fulfill their commitments,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in comments carried by the official People’s Daily. “China will continue to play a constructive role in peace talks between the Myanmar government and the KIO.”

February 7:

A war of words has erupted between Beijing and Taiwan’s DPP. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman said DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang displayed “a lack of national pride” with his “flattery” of Japan during a five-day visit to Tokyo. In response a DPP spokesperson called for resolving the dispute through bilateral negotiations between Taiwan and Japan and said the DPP “opposes China’s intentional provocation in waters around the Diaoyutais [which] has created tension and instability in the region.” While in Japan, Su urged dialogue to resolve the fishing rights issue near the islands and “highlighted the friendship between people in the two countries,” Taipei Times reports. “The DPP has its own views and assessment about Taiwan’s national strategic interests. While Taiwan and Japan both claim sovereignty, they also share the common interests of maintaining peace and stability in East Asia,” Su said.