July 26:
The China Daily reports that as part of economic reforms in the Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, the government has decided to increase workers’ minimum wage. The monthly minimum pay has been increased an average of 24.6 percent, according to Tian Wen, secretary of the Xinjiang party committee’s human resources and social security department. The mandatory minimum pay varies from region to region in Xinjiang, with the highest minimum pay at 960 yuan ($141) per month after this adjustment.
July 28:
Guangdong has begun a province-wide effort to register its over 6 million migrant workers ahead of the Asian Games scheduled for November. Authorities have undertaken the measure to enhance the security, but migrant workers have complained that the initiative is thinly disguised rent-seeking by government officials. Only about 10 percent of the province’s migrant workers currently have resident permits, Hong Kong’s independent Ming Pao reports.
The People’s Liberation Army Air Force has conducted a large-scale training exercise over Shandong Province with scores of fighter jets at the same time U.S. F-22 Raptor fighters were flying off the Korean Peninsula during the U.S.-South Korea naval drills. Qingdao residents witnessed the 40 minute drill, which included about 100 of China’s newest fighter aircraft, the Korea Times reports.
[Editor’s Note: Qingdao is the main port of the North Sea Fleet Command of the People's Liberation Army, which protects Beijing and supervises the airspace above the Bohai Bay, 460 km west of Pyeongtaek, South Korea, where U.S. Armed Forces in Korea are headquartered.]
July 29:
About 2,000 villagers from Tongxiang, Zhejiang encircled a city government building to protest against the pollution of their farmland. Zhejiang Xianfeng Mining Company’s subsidiary, the Huitai Science and Technology Company, produces nonferrous metals such as copper, cobalt, and nickel in Tongxiang . Beginning in May the company’s production facilities leaked a large amount of toxic gases giving dozens of residents respiratory disease and polluting thousands of acres of crops. Rice seedlings simply withered away. In response, more than 2,000 villagers demonstrated at the government office. Protesters first hired buses to take them to the city government but authorities blockaded the road, so over 500 left on foot hiking more than 6 miles and arrived at the city hall where they were beaten by security for trying to enter the building. Five persons were severely injured and received emergency treatment. At present, more than 10,000 residents with homes near the company have petitioned authorities to provide free medical exams for them and compensate for the loss of the crops. The firm has since stopped operation, the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Hong Kong reports.
July 30:
Senior Colonel Geng Yansheng has announced that in order to stabilize the Taiwan Strait and reduce military concerns the two sides should conduct military exchanges on a range of issues and work toward “building military and security mutual trust mechanisms.” The process of mil-mil ties between Beijing and Taipei should follow a trajectory of "easy ones first, difficult ones later, gradual step-by-step progress," he said in comments carried by the official Zhongguo Xinwen She.
Geng also justified China’s military buildup. He said: “China's strategic intention has been clear and the development of China's armed forces will not pose a threat to any country and will not seek hegemony.” He then laid out five points: First, “China’s military is defensive in nature and never engages itself in any arms race;” second “the PLA defends China’s national sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity and safeguards the people;” third, China is “coordinating its military and economic development;” fourth, “China's armed forces are a positive force for safeguarding world peace by participating in UN peacekeeping missions, marine convoys, and international humanitarian rescue operations;” and fifth, “China's armed forces have conducted exchanges and cooperation with many foreign counterparts.”
