China Reform Monitor: No. 1105

May 14:

Every year at least 500 Chinese primary and middle school students kill themselves, according to official statistics. Most killed themselves because “they could not bear the heavy pressure of the test-oriented education system,” said the findings, cited in the South China Morning Post. A study of 79 such suicides last year found that 93 percent happened following arguments between the pupils and their teachers, or after the students experienced heavy school-related pressure. In China the school day can be as long as 12 hours and students expect 2-4 hours of daily homework. Many Chinese parents also strictly enforce their children’s studies. The study found that almost two-thirds of the suicides came in the second half of the academic year, when exams are taken.

[Editor’s Note: Two years ago, China displaced the Philippines from the disputed Scarborough Shoal without a fight, by refusing to abide by an American-brokered agreement. The Philippines retreated, fulfilling its side, but the Chinese did not, and have controlled the reef, and its rich fishery ever since.]

May 19:

Beginning in 2017, China will completely remove the English-language section from the gaokao, the national college entrance exam and instead “tilt to traditional culture testing,” the official People’s Daily reports. The Ministry of Education released its initial reform proposal for the gaokao in 2013, including the plan to exclude English as a mandatory subject. According to the draft plan, “students will be encouraged to take English-language assessments held by social agencies several times during their high school studies. Colleges will still require English levels, converted from scores, based on the admission requirements for different majors.” Liu Limin, vice-minister of education, said the new policy would diversify the evaluation of English skills by major. In the lead up to the policy’s implementation education authorities are beginning “pilot measures” to gradually reduce the points awarded for English on the exam. In Beijing, for example, the value of the English section will be reduced from 150 to 100 points by 2016.

May 20:

Taiwanese firms invested in Vietnam are caught in the middle of increasingly tense relations between Beijing and Hanoi over territorial claims in the South China Sea. Over 100 Taiwanese companies invested in Vietnam, including textile mills, rubber producers, bicycle and motorcycle makers, have suffered tens of millions in losses from anti-Chinese riots in response to recent territorial conflicts at sea between China and Vietnam. At the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) Steel Mill, the largest steel plant in Southeast Asia generating $660 million in annual revenue, conflicts broke out between more than 2,000 Vietnamese and 2,000 Chinese nationals working in the plant. Four Chinese were stabbed to death and 126 were injured in the riots, the Associated Press reports. Vietnamese troops were called in to maintain order and 800 Taiwanese managers and technicians working at the plant retreated to a dormitory. About 300 people raided the FPG’s offices near Ho Chi Minh City, damaging property and stealing computers, monitors and TV sets. Gangs have targeted any facility with signage in Chinese, the Taiwan News reports.

May 21:

Israel has signed a variety of bilateral industrial and R&D cooperation agreements with China, including several in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces. In Jerusalem, the Israel-China Interflow Association and the Knesset High-Tech Caucus hosted 20 prominent Chinese businessmen and investors for the Israel-China Economic Summit. During the summit, plans were announced for developing a massive hi-tech industrial park in Xianghe, a county 45 kilometers outside Beijing, which would include a dedicated section for Israeli hi-tech companies. The ministerial committee on China affairs chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a plan to double Israeli exports to China within five years, the Jerusalem Post reports. Meanwhile, China sent 350 delegates to MIXiii, the Israel Innovation Conference. In her address to the conference Vice Premier Liu Yandong vowed that China would allow the “market to play a decisive role in resource allocation” and protect Israeli firms’ intellectual property. In the past year both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres have both visited China.

May 22:

The U.S. Justice Department has unsealed indictments against Wang Dong, Jack Sun and three others accused of working in the People’s Liberation Army Unit 61398, aka Comment Crew. The Shanghai-based Comment Crew is seen as perpetrating a massive online cyber-hacking campaign. FireEye, a California-based cyber security company is tracking at least 25 “active Chinese-based threat groups,” of which 22 receive state support and at least five are tied to the military. Among the most active is the Beijing Group, which uses a dedicated block of IP addresses that can be traced back to the China Unicom. Both Comment Crew and Beijing Group target foreign corporations, government agencies, and ethnic Tibetan and Uighur exile activist groups. The two units are responsible for creating most of the world’s 300 known families of malware, the New York Times reports. A smaller unit, the Kunming Group, whose attacks have been traced to IP addresses in Kunming, Yunnan, focuses on targets in Vietnam.