Canada's ignorance hurts energy exports to China, expert says

Very well written analysis from Business Edge.

Canadian-Chinese energy ties promoted

But federal trade minister says lack of transparency is sensitive issue

Oilsands operators are missing out on lucrative Chinese investment opportunities because the Canadian oil and gas industry is not competitive with international rivals, says an expert on Canadian-Chinese energy relations.

Wenran Jiang, acting director of the University of Alberta's China Institute, also contends the federal government's failure to understand Chinese intentions in Canada will jeopardize future investment.

"We're facing a very uphill battle in winning Chinese investment in Canada," said Jiang, during a recent Asia-Pacific Summit held in Vancouver. "We are already in a position of needing China more than China needs us."

Oilsands producers are looking forward to securing billions of dollars worth of deals with Chinese firms on oilsands facilities, pipeline projects, and oil and gas sales as several projects come onstream in the next decade.

But Jiang said Canada's industry is not taking advantage of the needs of Chinese industry.

Federal Trade Minister David Emerson also gives Canada scathing reviews for its business-building efforts with the Asian economic giant.

In a recent speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade, Emerson said if not for energy, Canada might have suffered a decline in overall Asian trade while several other countries enjoyed large increases.

"(Chinese petroleum firms) are in the Sudan and they're in lots of places where Canadians would fear to tread," said Emerson. "But (it) is not an issue just with energy. Asia trade has suffered, probably, a decade of governmental neglect. It's not just governmental neglect. Canadian companies have been distracted elsewhere - primarily North America."

Emerson noted the issue surrounding Chinese state-owned enterprises is their lack of transparency. "It's an issue of great sensitivity to Canadians," he said.

But Jiang says Ottawa's fears of state-owned Chinese firms taking control of oilsands projects are jeopardizing China's willingness to invest here. He added this "short-sighted approach" shows a lack of understanding of China's internal economic, political and social dynamics.

Some critics, citing risks to Canadian energy security, have called on Ottawa to limit Chinese firms to minority stakes. But Jiang said Chinese firms don't plan to make large investments in the oilsands and also lack the expertise to manage Canadian companies.

"We think somehow that Chinese energy companies directed by the state are coming to take over Canadian natural resources," said Jiang. "The issue is opposite. It's not that we have too much Chinese investment, but too little."

During the past three years, Jiang has organized bilateral China-Canada energy conferences at the U of A and in Beijing. He also helped the former Liberal government secure an energy co-operation agreement with China that is still in effect, and has written extensively on Chinese-Canadian oil and gas matters for academic publications and mainstream media.

Currently, Chinese stakes in the oilsands account for $300 million out of $30 billion - or 10 per cent of total investment in the oilsands, said Jiang.

PetroChina International Co. Ltd. and Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. have signed a memorandum of understanding on the proposed $2.5-billion Gateway pipeline, which plans to ship 400,000 barrels of Alberta crude per day between Edmonton and the deepwater port of Kitimat, B.C.

But Enbridge has not been able to match supply with demand for the line, which would export oil to China, other Asia-Pacific markets and California.

Coal accounts for 67 per cent of China's current energy mix, while oil represents just over 22 per cent. Energy experts say the country has a strong thirst for relatively cleaner energy sources such as natural gas, which makes up only two per cent of its energy supply.

Canada is considered one of China's most important suppliers over the next several decades, because of its abundance of conventional and alternative energy sources, its geographical proximity to Asia and its cultural ties.

But Canada's increased energy trade with China is not a sure thing, warns Jiang.

"The fact is, Canada is not competitive," he said. "We have not done any major deals in the area of energy for several (years.) We have not had a (new) pipeline built from Edmonton to the West Coast, and we have no potential - in the near future - to export (more) oil. " Canada's unilateral reliance on the U.S. market does not reflect healthy diversification, he added.

"We do so much business with the United States, and the U.S. owns so much of oilsands exploration," said Jiang. "Yet, we never seem to bother with the sovereignty issue there, even though these very big companies have very close ties with the U.S. government."

Canadian critics of Chinese investment fail to understand that Chinese oil and gas firms are being "reborn" as private, market-oriented ventures, but the process takes time, Jiang said.

Emerson, who co-hosted Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Vancouver last year while he was still a federal Liberal, noted the Tories have not yet taken a specific position on Chinese investment in the oilsands.

Most activities involving Chinese investment in northern Alberta are industry-driven, he added.

Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn will attend a heavy-oil conference in Beijing staged by the Chinese and Alberta governments this month.

Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Jim Prentice is also expected to attend to discuss the pipeline matter, joined by Alberta Energy Minister Greg Melchin.

Yuen Pau Woo, president and co-chair of the Asia-Pacific Foundation - the Vancouver-based think-tank that hosted the summit - said Chinese investment in Canada is a long-term endeavour that must overcome serious obstacles related to distance, the construction of infrastructure and the public's acceptance of Chinese investment in a strategic resource.

But he believes there are several near-term opportunities in the areas of energy services, consulting and safety.

Ottawa's fears of Chinese investment are lessening and the Alberta government has been very "clear and open" in accepting it, he added.

"It would be nice if the (federal) government would come out very clearly on this issue, so that there is no ambiguity," said Woo. "We have to be prepared with the rebuttals to people who are against Chinese investment in this country - and I think that battle can be won."

Tags: china, canada, trade, energy, oil, oilsands, investment

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Chinese are Canada's top homebuyers

This is an earlier report published by the Vancouver Sun. Just thought it might be of value to keep it here.

People of Chinese origin Canada's top homebuyers
Rate of ownership far exceeds other ethnic groups: study

The rate of homeownership amongst Canadians of Chinese descent is about 10 per cent higher than the national average, and far surpasses all other ethnic groups, although immigrants from mainland China are more likely to rent homes than those from Hong Kong, according to new research by a University of Victoria professor.

Based on the most recent 2001 Statistics Canada census data, 75 per cent of heads of Canadian households who are of Chinese origin own homes, compared with 63 per cent who identified themselves as non-immigrants, 67 per cent of those of European origin, and 65 per cent of those of multiple origin, said Barry Edmonston from the university's sociology department.

While that has changed little since the early 1990s when homeownership amongst Canada's Chinese population was 76 per cent, Edmonston said more recent immigrants have come from mainland China, rather than Hong Kong, which provided a surge of immigrants during the 1980s and 1990s. That has caused some significant shifts in home-buying trends, Edmonston said.

"The differences in those groups is really very strong," he said by telephone Monday.

Edmonston studied immigrant populations in Toronto, and found that the large wave of Hong Kong immigrants during the 1980s and 1990s tended to settle in suburban areas, or in neighbourhoods outside the downtown core, where they could buy a home.

In comparison, more recent immigrants from mainland China are settling primarily in the downtown area, and are almost always renting.

"They seldom buy [homes] in the first five to six years," he said. "They probably will eventually buy, but they're not buying homes as quickly as immigrants from Hong Kong were buying."

Unlike those from Hong Kong, recent immigrants from mainland China may not have had any previous experience owning a home and securing a mortgage, he said.

He added that new immigrants are also usually young, in their 20s, and are more likely to buy a home after 10 or 20 years, when they are older, have more money, and are more integrated into the country.

He noted, however, that the average financial savings for new Chinese immigrants who arrived in Canada in 2000 and 2001 was higher than almost all other ethnic groups.

Citing a University of Alberta study, Edmonston said average savings for Chinese immigrants was $40,000, compared with Europeans with $27,000, and Japanese with $36,000.

Edmonston said his research indicates Chinese immigrants are adapting well to life in Canada, but more research must be done to study variations within that group and other groups that have low homeownership rates.

"There's some factors there that are related to ethnicity we don't know now," he said.

Edmonston's research, which he completed last week, is expected to be released in a report next month.

HOME OWNERSHIP: CHINESE-CANADIANS LEAD IN THE BUYING GAME
Percentage of home ownership for ethnic origin groups (2001)*
Chinese 75%
European 67%
Multiple origin 65%
Canadian/Other single origin 63%
South Asian 63%
Other Asian 62%
West Asian 56%
Vietnamese 56%
Filipino 55%
Arab 51%
Black/Caribbean 51%
Latin American 44%

Tags: china, canada, housing, chinese canadian, real estate

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Man who beats reporter arrested

The man who allegedly assaulted a Ming Pao reporter has been arrested and charged by the Vancouver police.

The battering was caught on camera and many witnesses helped jotted down the man's license plate.

VPD said it was the license plate that led to the arrest.

The suspect is Asian, and is a student in arts. He isn't known to the police. A court appearance has been scheduled in 6 weeks.

The police said the right to photograph in public is protected and any violence against it is not tolerated.

Tags: demonstration, , stephen harper, chinese community, chinese canadian, vancouver, chinatown, head tax, reporter, demonstration, rally

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Analyses on China-US relation under US's two party government

A collection of media reports on China-US relations after the Democrats balanced the power:

ENGLISH REPORTS

BBC:

The protectionist faction of the Democrats could also try to force the Bush administration to put more pressure on China to raise its exchange rate, in order to increase the price of Chinese goods exported to the US.

This might help reduce the huge US trade deficit, which is running at $700bn yearly.

Xinhua:

To maintain a healthy bilateral relationship serves the common interests of both China and the United States and helps to safeguard world peace and prosperity, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said here Thursday.

When asked to comment on the U.S. mid-term elections, spokeswoman Jiang Yu said that it is the U.S. internal affairs but China hopes the new U.S. congress can play a constructive role in pushing forward the China-U.S. relations. It is a consensus for both the Republicans and Democrats to develop sound and stable China-U.S. relations, Jiang said.

China is willing to strengthen bilateral exchanges and cooperation with the U.S. side in various fields, Jiang said.

CHINESE REPORTS

dwnews.com:

Jin Canrong, professor of the Peking University's School of International Studies, is worried that relationship may be affected as the new house leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, seems to have a biased view against China.

Associate researcher at the Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Zhang Guoqing said the Democrats are more concerned about local issues and more protective of the interests of small to medium businesses and the labour. Zhang believes this fundamental philosophy might influence China-US relation.

However, professor Yin Hong of the Renmin University of China said after incidents such as 911 and North Korea's nuclear tests, regardless of which party controls the American politics, the US should have realized the importance of cooperation with China. The White House has come to realize how crucial it is to engage China in help keep world peace. He said the mid-term election is important to the ecology of US politics, but would have minimal effect on China-US policies.

Ming Pao HK:

Many may be worried that the strong "anti-China, anti-communism" record of the new US congress house leader Nancy Pelosi will pose a negative sign in China-US relation.

However, which US president is not "anti-China, anti-communism" since the two countries normalized their relation in the 70s?

It's true that the Chinese leaders have a traditional favour to deal with US's right wingers, and especially dislike the more left leaning force within the Democratic Party. However, Chinese leaders also know that no US parties are easy to deal with.

The rapid rise of China's economic and political power in the last 20 years is obvious. On the other hand, the once popular "China Threat" theory is slowly giving way to increasing business interests in China and in engaging her in world politics. Bush used to say China was an competitor but now he says China is an important stakeholder. (see also "China's Role in the World: Is China a Responsible Stakeholder?" published by US Dept of State.)

In the short term, Pelosi may seek to release her cumulated negative emotions towards China, such as pressuring China on human rights, the environment, exchange rate and trade deficits. However, when all these negative energies are released, her anti-China stand will have limited longer term influence on China-US relation.

Taiwan's Central News Agency:

"Pelosi will become a headache for China," predicts Barry Sautman, associate professor of social science at the HK University of Science and Technology.

Sautman describes Pelosi as unfriendly to China in many ways, including politics, economics and human rights. She also supports Tibet to become independent.

Sautman said Pelosi is very concerned about issues surrounding China, and she has a very strong negative stand. She comes from California and has deep concerns about Chinese immigrants there. Sautman said she could be best described as a representative of all dissident voice against China in the US.

Sautman believes Pelosi may mobilize her colleagues to pass unfriendly policies against China. "And she will urge Bush to do so."

"Chinese who have been following American politics closely won't be happy to see Pelosi become the house leader," Sautman adds.

On the other hand, prof. Sheng Dingli of Fudan University in Shanghai's Institute of US Studies, says Pelosi will only be able to put some pressure on China-US relation in the first two or three months but won't pose a long term threat.

First of all, Sheng said Pelosi is only unhappy about some policies of China but not all. If Pelosi pressures China on some areas and if China admits their wrongs and agrees to improve, that would only fortified the bilateral relationship.

From a macro view, Sheng said GOP and the Democrats have reached certain degree of consensus after going thru several big debates in the last while. The biggest threat to the US now is terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, not China.

And, China is cooperative with the US on these two issues, Sheng adds.

Pelosi might have very strong stance when she was not in power. Now she's part of the ruling system, she would need to speak on behalf of the nation's interest, not hers.

"Just like Clinton used to have very strong stance against Bush Sr.'s China policy. However when he became the president, he had to follow Bush Sr.'s trail," Sheng said.

Tags: china, US, bilateral relation, pelosi, anti-China, human rights, trade, exchange rates, new congress, mid-term election, house leader

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China's first gay student organization approved

Yet another proof that "Chinese are not anti-gay by default" (here).

Gay organization approved
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-11-03 08:32

Guangzhou-based Sun Yat-sen University has approved the establishment of a gay and lesbian organization.

The organization, titled Happy Together, will organize special lectures, gatherings, exhibitions, parties and forums to discuss issues of concern to the local gay community.

It is the first such organization to be established in the mainland. Members include professors, scholars, teachers and students.

From AP:

University approves gay student union
Updated: 2006-10-28 14:21

A southern Chinese university has approved the country's first legally registered student union for gays and lesbians, a newspaper reported Saturday.

The Sun Yat-sen University in Zhuhai, a city in Guangdong province, gave the union its blessing after considering the application for a mont.

The union, called Happy Together, aims to promote AIDS education and awareness of gay issues, the paper quoted chairwoman Liao Mingzhu as saying.

The Sun Yat-sen University has a reputation for openness, the report said. In 2003, it raised a controversy by staging "The Vagina Monologues," a play with graphic sexual descriptions, the report said.

Tags: gay, homosexual, gay student organization, gay students, college, china, guangzhou, Sun Yat-sen University

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Beijing opens nation's first free clinic for gays

Another solid proof of "Chinese are not anti-gay by default" (here) :)

Beijing opens nation's first free clinic for gays
By Xie Chuanjiao (China Daily)

Beijing's first clinic for gay people, also China's first to provide free services, opened Wednesday, providing checkups for all sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea and genital herpes.

Xiao Dong, head of the Chaoyang Chinese AIDS Volunteer Group, said free treatment would be given to STD carriers, and confirmed HIV carriers would be introduced to national free treatment programmes.

People wanting checkups should log on to the group's website (www.hivolunt.net) and fill in an application form before going to the clinic. More than 500 people signed up yesterday.



"As China marches on, so do its medical services. We hope this programme will underline the common medical rights enjoyed by gays," Xiao told China Daily yesterday.

Patients will be treated anonymously, and their privacy will be respected, Xiao said. Moreover, they will be given a mobile phone card worth 50 yuan (US$6.25) as compensation for their transport costs.

The non-governmental organization will need more financial support as more people participate.

"Medical treatment costs will be much higher than the original budget can cope with, as most people signing up are disease carriers already. We were initially expecting the majority to simply want checkups," said Xiao.

The STD and AIDS Prevention Centre, run by the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Chaoyang District Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided the start-up funding.

The clinic, located in the Chaoyang CDC, will expand to three community hospitals, including the nearby Shibalidian Township Hospital, the Asian Games Village Hospital in the north and another new one to be built, to provide convenient and confidential services.

"We have talked to health administrative departments and the hospitals we have selected, and medical fees carried in those hospitals will be lowered after eliminating some unimportant medical procedures," said Xiao.

Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province and Nanjing in East China's Jiangsu Province set up homosexual clinics in February 2004, but neither provides free services as the Beijing one does.

In August, the Chaoyang CDC opened a gay forum on its website, the first of its kind with official support.

"The forum reflects the progressive posture taken by some officials," Xiao said.

Zhao Zheng, a volunteer at the clinic, said: "Things related to homosexuality are quite accepted among younger people in China. As our society becomes more mature, it is becoming more magnanimous."

China's free AIDS treatments cover 25,000 patients across the country.

The country has spent nearly 288 million yuan (US$36 million) on the sector in the past three years, accounting for 14.3 per cent of the total anti-AIDS outlay, the Ministry of Health said.

The only official figure for male homosexuality was released in 2004, putting the total number of gay men at between 5 and 10 million.

But Xiao said the number may actually be between 10 and 50 million, though a number of homosexuals marry women and have children. The figure in Beijing is around 300,000, 2 per cent of whom are HIV carriers, he said.

Tags: gay, homosexuality, homosexual, china, AIDS, free gay clinic, beijing

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China to become US's No.2 trade partner

China to become No.2 trade power in 2007
(Bloomberg.com)
Updated: 2006-11-09 20:55

China will probably overtake Germany to become the world's second-biggest trader next year after the U.S. as the Asian nation's economy expands and its trade surplus balloons, the World Trade Organization said.

U.S. imports exceeded exports by $783 billion last year, equal to 8 percent of world trade, the WTO calculated in a report published today, making the U.S. more reliant on foreign investment to balance capital flows. Meanwhile, China's trade surplus surged to a record $23.8 billion last month as imports hit a 15-month low, meaning the U.S. deficit with China will likely exceed last year's $201.6 billion record by 6 percent.

China is now "a principal market for primary products" and the end of textile quotas at the start of 2005 had the effect of "heightening competition within developing countries," the WTO report said. Despite being a net-fuel importer, China bucked the global trend and saw its exports accelerate, the Geneva-based trade arbiter said.

The volume of goods traded worldwide climbed 6 percent last year, the WTO said. Exports were worth $10.2 trillion while foreign sales of commercial services expanded 10 percent to $2.4 trillion. Growth in exports of telecommunications and computer equipment globally outstripped the rise in manufactured goods exports for the first time in five years in 2005 and higher fuel prices boosted shipments from oil-exporting nations.

The yuan has risen 3.1 percent against dollar since China ended a currency peg in July 2005 and allowed it to trade 0.3 percent either side of the dollar on a daily basis. The yuan has dropped 1 percent against the euro in the same period. China also began trade in forwards contracts and introduced foreign- exchange swaps to allow companies to reduce currency risk.

Europe, the globe's biggest trading region, showed the smallest increase in trade growth of all on the back of the weakest economic expansion. In volume terms, European imports and exports rose 3.5 percent, half the world average.

Germany overtook the U.S. as the world's biggest exporter in 2003. China, which joined the WTO in 2001, took the No. 3 slot in 2004, up from the ninth position in 1999.

Tags: china, us, trade, exchange rate

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Carole James visits Taiwan to promote trade, tourism

BC NDP leader Carole James and three MLAs will visit Taiwan next week as a business/trade mission. They were once scheduled to meet with Taiwan's vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), however Lu is too preoccupied with the turmoil of her party and the meeting with James et al has to be cancelled.

James said yesterday the trip wants to explore enhancing bilateral trades with Taiwan and cooperation on cultural exchange as well as tourism promotion. MLAs Jenny Kwan, Bruce Ralston, and Norm MacDonald will accompany her. The entire tour expenses will be paid for by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vancouver.
According to James, Taiwan is BC's 5th largest export market with bilateral trade over $1.3b. However, the number of Taiwanese visitors to BC has dropped 40% from 147,000 in 2000 to 87,000 in 2005.
James is unclear why fewer Taiwanese tourists are interested in BC. However, she'll bring with her large pile of BC tourism info with her and will do a good promotion for our province.

James et al will also visit a number of technical industrial zones, exploring possibilies of cooperation on high tech and biotech areas.

They will depart on Nov 12 and stay in Taiwan for a week.

Tags: china, canada, bc, NDP, carole james, taiwan, jenny kwan, trade, tourism

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Survey to look into life of Chinese Canadians

Over 50 Mainland Chinese organizations in Toronto are organizing a large-scale survey, aiming to collect data on what Mainland Chinese immigrants feel about life in Canada. Data collected will be submitted to the prime minister's office and let Stephen Harper knows how life is for these new immigrants.

The initial phase of this "Living Conditions of the Mainland Chinese Immigrants" (大陸移民生存狀況調查) survey will concentrate in the Greater Toronto area, but is planned to expand to BC if the organizers could pair up with the right BC organizations.

The survey was spearheaded by the online CTTV and co-organized by 50+ Mainland Chinese organizations including benevolent groups and community helping societies, mainly in Toronto.

Spokesperson Jiang Yan (蔣昕) said although China has been Canada's No.1 largest immigrant source countries for years, their life in Canada is no where to be good. Many Chinese professionals could not use their talents in Canada, and some develop depression or even commit suicide. The survey wishes to raise PM's awareness of the stark situation Chinese immigrants are in.

The survey's title is "How do you feel now?" It contains 23 topics asking respondents on such as health, psychological state, rating their decision to immigrate, sources of pressure, leisure time activities, satisfaction about current jobs and income, difficulty in assimiliating in society and countries of origin of the current employers, etc.

Organizers will send out 70,000 questionaires as from today and are expected to collect them back by early December.



Tags: canada, china, chinese canadian, immigrants, Mainland Chinese immigrants, Toronto, survey, wellness, PMO, prime minister

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Chinese Canadian wins Giller Prize

(photo: CP)
Hmm....I noticed that China's state-owned Xinhua agency has released quite a number of stories relating China and Canada recently. That must mean that China is trying very hard to build link with our Tory gov.

Chinese-Canadian wins Giller Prize

Toronto-based author Vincent Lam, son of Chinese immigrants, has won the Giller Prize, Canada's richest and most prestigious literary award, for his book of linked short stories, "Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures".

The prize, worth 40,000 Canadian dollars (36,000 U.S. dollars), was handed out at a gala in Toronto Tuesday evening.

Lam, 32, who is an emergency room physician as well as a writer, said he was "astonished" by the win.

"Luck is not what it seems and most of it falls into the category of divine blessing or people who have been kind to you," he said in speech at the ceremony.

"Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures" is about medical students and young doctors, a world Lam was immersed in when he started writing the book.

The son of Chinese immigrants from Vietnam, Lam said he wanted to be a writer before he decided on becoming a doctor.

"I think I was about 14 or 15 years old and I sat down to write at that point and suddenly had the horrible realization that I had nothing whatsoever to write about ... so I thought I should probably go out into the world and learn something about it before trying to write about it," he said.

"Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures" is Lam's first book of fiction. His debut novel is due out in 2007.

The Giller prize was created in 1994 by businessman Jack Rabinovitch in honor of his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller. The jury members for this year's Prize were former governor general Adrienne Clarkson, short story writer Alice Munro and novelist Michael Winter.

Source: Xinhua

Tags: china, canada, writer, giller prize

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Canadian toursim bosses busy in Shanghai

Although Canada is falling behind other countries, including the USA, in signing the ADS with China, Canada is investing heavily in a large-scale tourism exhibition held in Shanghai on Nov 16-19.

According to media in China, Canada has one of the largest exhibition platforms in the show, dubbed "China International Travel Mart". Media reports describe the exhibition as the largest and most influential tourism market place in Asia.

BC premier Gordon Campbell, president of the Canadian Tourism Board and members of the RCMP will be there. Four Canadian provinces, and 40+ tourism-related units are attending.

The Canadian Tourism Board is leading a 90+ strong delegation, including Tourism BC, Alberta Tourism Board, Ontario and Quebec tourism reps, plus Tourism Vancouver, Tourism Calgary, Fairmont Hotel group, CN Rail, Air Canada and Harmony Airways.

The Canadian delegation also offers performances by the RCMP and First Nations dances.

Canadian-born Chinese John Yee was a RCMP rep. He told local media that his parents immigrated to Canada in 1953. Yee said he's never been to China, "I've been looking forward to this root-finding trip."

Tags: china, canada, tourism, travel, trade, china international travel mart

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Dual citizens may face new taxes

New taxes may be levied on dual citizens who live abroad, CIC minister Monte Solberg told a parliamentary committee yesterday.

"Canadians want to know that citizenship means something - that we are not just a port in the storm," Solberg told the committee.



"If we're in a situation where somebody's absent, isn't paying taxes but is going to be using our social programs down the road, I think Canadians would feel that is unfair," said the minister.

Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis criticized that Solberg's suggestion was an appeasement to Conservative voices who are anti-immigrants. "This is BS."

According to CP,

Currently there are more than four million Canadians who have citizenship in at least one other country, according to Statistics Canada, but only 500,000 live in Canada.

Statistics Canada has also found that the number of Canadian citizens who hold passports from two other countries tripled between 1991 and 2001.

Lawyers Lawrence Wong and Richard Kurland both said if the gov wants to impose new taxes on overseas citizens, it must include EVERYBODY who is living abroad, no matter how many passports they hold. Otherwise, it would be too unfair to dual citizens.

Kurland thinks it's a "creative solution" and will force dual citizens to seriously consider whether they should pay to keep their Canadian passport or just abandon it.

Solberg added that new taxes were just one of the options, he's still open to suggestions in reviewing the rights and duty of Canadian citizenship.

Tags: monte solberg, CIC, citizenship and immigration canada, canada, dual citizenship, dual citizen, new taxes

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Hong Kong's Chan wins WHO top job

Though I'm happy to see a Hongkongese claims the top job of the WHO, I and all of my friends who still remembered the bird flu crisis and the SARS crisis happened years back in HK, and who still remembered what a terrible job Mrs Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍) had done for us, are shaking our heads....

During those times, Mrs Chan was so obviously incapable of handling crisis. She was indecisive, slow in response to fast happening changes, and always said some foolish stuff that the whole population would laugh.

And now she's proclaimed "expert" in bird flu? HA HA HA HA HA HA

Well, I can only say that sometimes people don't need to be capable, they only need to be bestowed with the right kind of luck, as my mother always says.

The following article by the Financial Times says although she was criticized during the SARS outbreak, she won praise for ordering the culling of HK's entire poultry population in 1997 when HK got the world's first bird flu. Oh my! The person who ordered the cull was Mrs Anson Chan (陳方安生), not this Mrs Margaret Chan!

During SARS, Margaret Chan's performance was seen by a large majority as incompetent, no leadership and should take all the blame for the death of hundreds of innocent patients because of her poor administration and decision.

As a HK health official, she didn't have guts to ask China to give us information about the real SARS outbreak situation in China (which later determined by scientists as the source of SARS); she did not amend administrative guidelines early enough to segregate patients at the earliest time possible; she failed to trace treatd SARS patients and allowed them to spread SARS after releasing them back to the community.

She was lucky though, while other health officials under her had to bear the political responsibility of poor SARS management, Chan got an offer to go to the WHO, escaping paying the political price for her bad deeds.

Hong Kong's Apple Daily reports that victims of SARS - either ex-patients or people whose loved one died during the SARS outbreak - have a word to tell the word: "The world should pray for itself with Mrs Chan being the WHO boss."

Many comments in HK believe that the only reason Chan was made director general was because of the billions of dollars China invested in the campaign, including monetary offerings to African countries. Many SARS victims also do not believe that Chan will remain impartial when dealing with China.

From the Financial Times:

Hong Kong bird flu expert gets top WHO job

Margaret Chan, a bird flu expert and former Hong Kong health director, on Wednesday became the first Chinese national to run a leading United Nations agency, winning the race to head the World Health Organisation.

Dr Chan was previously WHO’s top official for communicable diseases, a job in which she prepared for a possible influenza pandemic. She defeated four other candidates to become the agency’s new director-general.

Her nomination, which will be formally endorsed today by the WHO’s 193 member states, is a diplomatic coup for China, which lobbied hard on her behalf. It ends a period of uncertainty after the sudden death in May of South Korea’s Lee Jong-wook, the previous director-general.

The appointment is also expected to deepen Beijing’s engagement in global health policy, with Gao Qiang, China’s health minister, on Wednesday pledging closer cooperation with WHO.

China was strongly criticised for a lack of transparency during the Sars epidemic three years ago that may have contributed to the spread of the lethal respiratory disease and, more recently, for reticence in sharing human samples needed to track bird flu.

Dr Chan, Hong Kong’s health director during the Sars outbreak, was herself criticised in a report commissioned by the territory for failing to extract speedy information from China, where the disease began.

But she won praise in other quarters for her handling of the Sars crisis as well as the first known human outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in 1997 when she ordered the culling of Hong Kong’s entire poultry population.

In the final round of balloting Dr Chan won 24 votes to 10 votes for Julio Frenk, Mexico’s health minister, after candidates from Kuwait, Spain and Japan were eliminated.

Dr Chan, 59, qualified as a physician in Canada and has spent her career in public health. Her five-and-a-half year term starts in January.

Tags: bird flu, margaret chan, hong kong, WHO, world health organization, director general

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Canadian immigrants' income

Labour market outcomes of immigrants age 25 to 54, Vancouver
	Employment rate (%) 2001	Annual earnings ($) of full-year, full-time workers, 2000 dollar
		2000	1990	1980
Immigrants having resided 1 to 10 yrs	62.4	35,000	33,900	41,100
Immigrants having resided 11 to 20 yrs	77.2	39,900	41,500	48,600
Immigrants having resided 20 or more yrs	82	48,100	48,700	51,800
Canadian-born	83	51,300	46,600	50,100
Labour market outcomes of immigrants aged 25 to 54, Toronto
	Employment rate (%) 2001	Annual earnings ($) of full-year, full-time workers, 2000 dollar
		2000	1990	1980
Immigrants having resided 1 to 10 yrs	71.3	36,700	36,400	36,300
Immigrants having resided 11 to 20 yrs	81.5	47,700	43,000	41,300
Immigrants having resided 20 or more yrs	83.1	52,100	50,100	45,800
Canadian-born	85.6	58,400	51,100	48,300
Labour market outcomes of immigrants aged 25 to 54, Montréal
	Employment rate (%) 2001	Annual earnings ($) of full-year, full-time workers, 2000 dollar
		2000	1990	1980
Immigrants having resided 1 to 10 years in Canada (recent immigrants)	60.3	31,000	30,000	39,400
Immigrants having resided 11 to 20 years in Canada	71.8	34,400	38,100	42,000
Immigrants having resided 20 or more years in Canada	78.2	42,800	42,700	43,900
Canadian-born	82.4	43,900	42,200	44,500

SOURCE: Statistics Canada, 2006, Canada's Global Cities: Socio-economic Conditions in Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver



Tags: canada, immigrant, immigration, income, employment

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Canada eyes China on infrastructure, energy demands

Sergio Marchi... I remember him. He was the CIC minister when I began covering immigration stories.

This story is from the Shanghai Daily.

Canada to lift China trade

CANADA will work harder to build a bigger trade and investment relationship with China in natural resources, finance, transport, architecture, agriculture, the environment and health education, a senior Canadian trade official said in Shanghai yesterday.

"China's big appetite for energy, its booming infrastructure construction and the growing opening of its financial service offer Canadian companies huge business opportunities," said Sergio Marchi, president of the Canada China Business Council and former Canadian trade minister.

"Canada will move more aggressively to reenergize and build a larger economic relationship with China, focusing on key sectors that match those expertise and needs."

In the transport sector for instance, Bombardier Transportation's Chinese joint venture recently won a US$326 million order for 51 Movia metro trains from Shanghai Shensong Line Mass Transit Co. Delivery will start in the second quarter of 2008 and finish in 2009, the company said.

The Canadian company will earn US$104 million from the deal.

In the natural resources sector, China's leading oil companies, China National Petrochemical Corp and China National Offshore Oil Corp, separately invested a total US$250 million in two Canadian energy companies last year to ship Canadian oil to China, Marchi said.

"Some Canadian towns with mining exploration as their single industry are struggling and need Chinese companies to invest there," he said.

Global International Jiangxi Copper Mining Co, an affiliate of Chinese copper giant Jiangxi Copper Corp, is purchasing a copper mine in British Columbia, according to Marchi.

"The Canadian architecture industry is also awaiting opportunities for Shanghai's World Expo site construction in 2010," he said.

Marchi is on a three-day visit to China, his first Chinese trip after he took office in June.

Tags: china, canada, trade, infrastructure, energy, oil, natural resources

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Mason Loh cleared of wrongdoing

Mason Loh has been cleared by the Liberal HQ of wrongdoing in lobbying for Bob Rae in BC. Ignatieiff's campaign has filed an appeal to disqualify Bob Rae's BC delegates.

Mason Loh states, "I welcome this ruling as it publicly confirms our absolute integrity. Today, the truth has been revealed and justice has been served. This decision gives me back my good name and vindicates Bob Rae’s volunteers who have worked tirelessly on his behalf."

I'm glad for him too. He is a man with unquestionable integrity.

It looks like the Liberal appeal panel buys Rae's side of the story:

• We were provided no evidence to support the inferences suggested by Mr. Allison, and we reject them.
• In our view it is equally likely that certain volunteers for Mr. Rae simply did not understand the mandatory nature of the requirement that Form 6 be signed by the candidates in person.

And the panel shows dislike of Ignatieff's complaint:

The Panel was disappointed by the inflammatory tone of the notice of appeal filed in this matter. The notice of appeal contains numerous allegations of fraud, many of which even if proven would have been entirely irrelevant. However, no attempt was made in the course of the hearing to prove even one of those allegations. Regrettably, and contrary to the Rules of the Permanent Appeals Committee, the notice of appeal found its way into the public domain well before our hearing, and the unproven allegations have been the subject of considerable media comment, to the detriment of a number of individuals, campaigns, and the Party.

It is well-established that there must be penalties for failing to substantiate allegations of fraud. There will be no order with respect to costs, but the sum of $1,000 paid by the appellant to initiate these proceedings will be retained by the Party.

Full press release from Mason Loh:

Mason Loh, Q. C.
PRESS STATEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mason Loh Cleared by Liberal Party of Canada
Bob Rae Retains Majority Support in B.C.

Vancouver, November 6, 2006 – The Liberal Party of Canada dismissed the recent attempt made by Michael Ignatieff’s campaign to disqualify 78 of Bob Rae’s delegates from B.C. At a much anticipated press conference, Mason Loh, former Chair of the Bob Rae Campaign in B. C., expressed his satisfaction with the decision. After leading a very successful campaign which made Bob Rae the top leadership candidate in B. C., Mr. Loh is vindicated and his integrity is unequivocally confirmed by the Party.

On October 13, 2006 Michael Ignatieff’s campaign filed an appeal to the Liberal Party of Canada against the decision of the National Returning Officer to allow Bob Rae’s campaign to replace designated elected delegates with others. The Ignatieff campaign urged the Party to negate the majority of his chief rival, Bob Rae's delegate supporters from British Columbia, by alleging procedural wrongdoing. Today, the Liberal Party rejected the Ignatieff appeal.

Mason Loh states, "I welcome this ruling as it publicly confirms our absolute integrity. Today, the truth has been revealed and justice has been served. This decision gives me back my good name and vindicates Bob Rae’s volunteers who have worked tirelessly on his behalf."

Mr. Loh went on to thank the Liberal Party for this fair decision and complimented the hundreds of volunteers and thousands of members who followed him to make Bob Rae the top leadership candidate in B. C.

Bob Rae's statement:

Ottawa - November 6, 2006 - The Bob Rae campaign issued the following
statement today regarding the decision of the Permanent Appeal Committee:

"The Rae campaign is pleased to have the decision of the PAC.

Pursuant to PAC rules the Rae campaign has undertaken not to comment on the
substance of the decision beyond the wording contained in the decision,
attached.

The PAC determined that : "We were provided no evidence to support the
inferences suggested by Mr. Allison, and we reject them."

The decision further states: "The Panel was disappointed by the inflammatory
tone of the notice of appeal filed in this matter. It is well-established
that there must be penalties for failing to substantiate allegations of
fraud. There will be no order with respect to costs, but the sum of $1,000
paid by the appellant to initiate these proceedings will be retained by the
Party."

The Rae campaign will work with the party and members to address the issue
of identifying delegates arising from this decision. Given Bob Rae's strong
showing in BC we are pleased that there will be no change in the number of
Bob Rae delegate spaces elected in British Columbia, which stands at 145.
This decision helps all delegates in BC who have been awaiting the outcome
to obtain some form of certainty.

The Rae campaign recognizes the importance of the decision with respect to
the actions of Mason Loh in particular. Mr. Loh is a pillar of the Vancouver
community and has been active in a range of causes and we believe acted in
good faith and in a forthright way in this matter.

Tags: mason loh, bob rae, liberal leadership, michael ignatieff, appeal, delegates, candidates

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Canada co-hosts China agriculture fair

Looks like the Tories are gradually coming to understand what opportunities China is presenting.

Canada Showcases Science Initiatives with China at Agriculture Fair

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Nov. 6, 2006) - Canada's New Government is proud to be co-hosting the Canada-China Agri-Science and Innovation Pavilion at the China Agricultural High-Tech Fair from November 5 to 9, in Yangling, China. The Fair is the most comprehensive agricultural exhibition in China, expected to attract more than one million visitors and featuring over a thousand Chinese and international exhibitors.

The Agri-Science and Innovation Pavilion showcases Canada's collaboration with China in agricultural research related to land management, plant and animal science, food safety, and environment.

"When I visited China recently, I discussed with Chinese Ministers how sharing our expertise and advancing science and innovation with international partners is a top priority for Canada's New Government," said the Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board. "We're proud to be co-hosting the Pavilion and we look forward to creating new opportunities with China in the months and years to come."

Since 2003, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has been working with China to increase cooperation in agriculture science and innovation, and to strengthen the research and education linkages between the two countries.

During Minister Strahl's recent visit to China, October 6 to 13, 2006, he met with the Vice Premier and with the Vice-Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission and discussed working together on constructively sharing Canada's experience with democratic governance in rural issues.

Two other concurrent events are taking place in China this week:

- The 2006 Canada-China Agri-Science Forum during which government and university senior managers, including Deans from the Canadian Faculties of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, will work on improving coordination of scientific exchange programs between China and Canada; and

- The International Potato Symposium includes the Canada-China Workshop on Potato Research and Development. The Symposium will focus on genomics and applications in potato production in support of sound and sustainable agriculture.

The Canadian delegation is led by AAFC and includes representatives from sector associations and academia.

These events support the AAFC Science and Innovation Strategy by increasing collaboration with other research partners in universities, government and the private sector.

Tags: china, canada, trade, agriculture fair, yangling, exhibtion

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Taiwan's pride

Taiwanese English paper China Post carries an editorial today exploring the meaning of the corruption charges against the First Lady on Taiwan's young democracy.

Prosecutors' move step forward for democracy

Taiwan's young democracy seems to be in a big mess, with the first lady indicted on corruption charges and prosecutors saying they have enough evidence to go after the president.

But analysts say there's an important bright spot: Taiwan's democratic system is showing that it's mature enough to have legal officials prosecute some of the island's most powerful people.

This would be unthinkable in many Asian countries. And it certainly wouldn't have happened 20 years ago in Taiwan, when the president enjoyed almost unlimited powers under martial law.

Taiwan's scandal exploded Friday when prosecutors announced they were holding President Chen Shui-bian accountable for his role in the alleged theft of NT$14.8 million from a special diplomatic fund. They also indicted his wife, Wu Shu-chen, for allegedly taking the money.

They said Chen would be brought to justice upon leaving office, when his presidential immunity from prosecution lapses.

The development shocked many of Taiwan's 23 million people, who had strong doubts about whether their still evolving democracy was mature enough for prosecutors to investigate top leaders without interference from above.

But the recent moves against Chen and Wu have changed perceptions, said Philip Yang of Taipei's National Taiwan University.

The prosecutors' decision proves "that Taiwan has entered the stage of forming and consolidating a system of law and affirming democratic values," Yang said. "This is a critical stage on the way to becoming a mature democracy."

Echoing his comments, the mass-circulation Apple Daily newspaper headlined its Saturday edition with kudos for the prosecutors. "A proud day for Taiwanese justice," it said in huge, bold, yellow Chinese characters.

Yang acknowledged it was understandable that many Taiwanese were surprised that the prosecutors confronted Chen and his wife head-on.

"The feelings of doubt about the Taiwanese judiciary did not come out of nowhere," he said. "Any time there is a change from authoritarian to democratic rule, it is inevitable that past influences will still have an effect on the party and politicians in power."

Emile Sheng of Taipei's Soochow University said that while the prosecutors' action was encouraging, it doesn't mean that political interference is no longer a factor in the judiciary.

"Maybe 800 (prosecutors) are independent and 200 are not," said Sheng, who has long been critical of Chen and helped lead a street campaign to oust him.

Sheng said the prosecutors handling Chen's case had done their job well. But he said the real test for Taiwan was whether it would prompt the president to leave office before the scheduled end of his term in May 2008.

"On the one hand, it's a disgrace to Taiwanese democracy that Chen is so corrupt," he said. "On the other it's a testament to it that he is being called to account for his actions. But if the system really works, he'll have to leave his post."

Andrew Yang of Taipei's Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies said that beyond its implications for Taiwan, the prosecutors' move could also have an impact on neighboring China, which has serious corruption problems of its own.

"The Taiwanese experience could put a lot of pressure on Chinese politicians in terms of their own anti-corruption campaign," said Yang. "Chinese people could pressure their government to do more against corruption and adopt the Taiwanese model."

Widespread corruption on the mainland has become a serious concern for the ruling Communist Party, with many senior leaders saying that unless the problem is reined in quickly, the survival of Communist power is in doubt.

Tags: taiwan, chen shui-bian, corruption, wu shu-jen

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Anti-Chen rally burns paper figures

Anti-Taiwan-corruption demonstrators burnt paper figures of Chen Shui-bian, his wife and his son-in-law in Vancouver yesterday.

About a dozen demonstrators rallied outside the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in downtown Vancouver on Sunday afternoon. They demand the immediate resignation of Chen as Taiwan's president.

Chen was faced with immense pressure to step down (here) after his wife, Wu Shu-jen, was charged with corruption (here). However, in a televised speech (here) on Nov 5, 2006, Chen said he would only resign if his wife was found guilty after the first trial. This has been seen as a trick Chen is playing in a bid to delay his downfall before his term of presidency expires in 2008.

Tony Kuo, spokesperson of the anti-Chen campaign in North America, said Chen had also stated that he would resign if the prosecutor found there was wrong-doing in his wife's SOGO coupon corruption case. Kuo said they did not believe Chen would act out his promise.

Paper figures of Chen Shui-bian, Wu Shu-jen and son-in-law Chao Chien-ming were prepared by the demonstrators for them to step on, and burnt later. The police interrupted briefly when they burnt the figures.

Kuo also said the anti-Chen campaign would be ignited "around the globe".

Tags: taiwan, chen shui-bian, corruption, wu shu-jen

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Chinese getting richer, and fatter

Obesity problem hits China after years of economic success:

Report: 60 million Chinese are obese

Beijing — Rising affluence has made about 60 million Chinese — equal to the population of France — obese, state media reported on Monday.

Xinhua News Agency quoted Pan Beilei, a deputy director with the government-affiliated State Food and Nutrition Consultant Committee, as saying that worsening diets had led to health problems, including obesity.

"An increasing number of Chinese are eating more fat and junk food but less grains and vegetables, leading to a high number of cases of high blood pressure and diabetes," Mr. Pan was quoted as telling a conference on food consumption and health in Beijing.

Mr. Pan said a widening wealth gap meant that the increase in the number of obese people came as 24 million people in China still live in abject poverty and suffer malnutrition. There was no specific definition of obesity offered; under current U.S. government standards, a body mass index, or weight-to-height measurement, of 25 or higher is overweight; 30 and above is obese.

Narrowing the regional income gap will help improve the diet of people in poverty-stricken areas, Mr. Pan said.

Because of the poor eating habits, according to Ministry of Health statistics, last year 160 million Chinese had high blood pressure — out of a total population of about 1.3 billion — up from 90 million in 1991, and 20 million had diabetes.

On the other hand, Canadians see slower rate of becoming overweight.

Hopeful signs for Canadians' waistlines

Canadian adults continue to get fatter, but they appear to be packing on the pounds at a much slower rate, according to new figures from Statistics Canada.

The Statscan report issued Monday breaks down average weight gain for Canadian adults into two-year intervals from 1996 to 2005.

During the period studied, the average self-reported weight gain peaked between 2001 and 2003, when it hit 1.1 kg for men and 1 kg for women.

However, in the latest interval ending in 2005, while waistlines continued to expand, the average amount gained was significantly lower at 0.7 kg for men and 0.6 kg for women.

"Thus, overall adults were still gaining weight, but statistically significantly less than in the earlier periods," the report said.

Men aged 18 to 33 served as the exception, where the average weight gain for the age group actually increased in the latest interval.

In fact, gender, age, and obesity rates were significantly associated with the rate at which Canadians put on weight.

Up until the latest interval, almost half of all adults reported that they had gained weight from the previous period. However, between 2003 and 2005 the proportion of men gaining weight fell to 44 per cent.

Tags: china, chinese, obesity, obese, fat, health, canada

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Happy Birthday, CBA!

The CBA's 100th birthday reached its climax yesterday with the burning of a 50-foot giant firecracker. And of course, the 1000-strong banquet held at night, as DWong described (here), was a good demonstration of politicians' acknowledgement of the importance of Chinese Canadians.

Tags: chinese benevolent association, 100th anniversary, CBA, vancouver, chinatown, chinese canadian

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Hong Kong girls most worried about appearance

Hong Kong girls are most conscious about their appearance among all girls in Asia, a survey finds .

In the survey, beauty products company Dove ineterviewed 6000 women (age 15-64) in 19 countries. The results say that 15-17 year-old Hong Kong girls rank #1 among other Asian countries in worrying about their appearance. The average age of Hong Kong girls to begin their high beauty consciousness is 12.8, still at elementary school.

Most of these HK girls are not satisfied with their appearance: 96% wish they could grow taller, 48% wish they could change their weight and height, 43% believe slim body figures would bring better impression on them from others. Among them, 23% would choose eating less (average age is 14.2) and 3% would choose radical measures such as forced vomitting or even refuse to eat.

The survey also shows that 97% of HK girls would avoid going out because of a dissatisfying appearance, 16% avoid going to beaches or pools, 12% do not want to buy clothes, 10% do not want to participate in social activies and parties.

The Dove survey also finds 76% British women find it hard to feel beautiful when confronted with the "beauty stereotypes", While 54% Canadian, 59% Americans, 62% Brazilians, 52% Chinese and 34% Japanese feel the same.

When asked whether they agree with the statement "the idea of beauty is often too narrowly defined by physical attributes", China has the lowest number of 30%, when compared with Japan's 78%, Britian's 81% and Canada's 74%. The survey says this is because in China, western beauty ideals are a newer phenomenon.

Tags: beauty, Dove, survey, weight, appearance, height, global survey, slim

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Will Toronto get more ethnic councillors?

Toronto Star says though the number of ethnic candidates running in the current municipal election has broken any records, their chance of winning is still slim. Except:

Anyone glancing at the faces and names in the running in this year's municipal elections might conclude that we're on the verge of a minority breakthrough in GTA politics.

It may be the biggest roster of minority candidates ever — especially among the black, Chinese and Filipino communities. But according to the keenest observers of those communities, it's debatable whether city councils after the Nov. 13 ballot will be any less white bread than they are now.

That's because the factors that work against minority candidates aren't going away any time soon: the traditional apathy of new-Canadian voters to municipal politics, the lack of a party system to aid non-establishment contenders, and a tendency to splinter the vote in high-immigrant wards.

There are a record 41 candidates of Chinese origin running for councils and school boards in the GTA, but Tak Lam, editor of Ming Pao Daily, says only a handful have a real chance.

Municipal elections are a tough place for immigrant or minority hopefuls to break in, says Lam, because of the absence of political parties that could provide expertise, a platform and financial backing.

"The feeling is very different from (provincial and federal) elections, because candidates have to campaign on their own. Some of them are newcomers who don't really know how to run a campaign in an election here, and they may not have the resources to print campaign literature and recruit volunteers," Lam explains. "They'd all have a better chance if they got some help in that."

Some candidates simply lack the savvy to promote themselves, says Binoy Thomas, editor of The Weekly Voice, a paper for the South Asian community in Brampton and Mississauga.

"Generally," he says, "there is a lack of credibility among our candidates. They've not worked long enough and hard enough in the community. These guys are not out there with their sleeves rolled up, so who knows them?"

They tend not to buy ads in the English-language press, including his 30,000-circulation paper, Thomas says. "Some of them are not comfortable expressing themselves in English and only approach Punjabi papers."

Add to that the reluctance of mainstream voters to put an X next to an unfamiliar name.

Tags: municipal election, toronto, chinese candidates, ethnic candidates

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The face of Chinatown

I found this interesting article on URBANPHOTO, which talks about the so-called "death of Chinatown" in Toronto. Very bright observations.

This led me to think: what about Vancouver's Chinatown? How long have I not been in Chinatown?

For the second question, I guess "3 years" is a safe answer. I used to go to Chinatown with mom and bro every weekend in the 80s - to have dim sum and to buy grocery. Then we'd walk to Army and Navy and Woodwards. And I went to Chinatown quite often at night for movies.

What about now? Remember a guy was stabbed to death by a few men who chased him for blocks in Chinatown two or three weeks ago? The store owner next door, a Chinese, said to our reporter: "I heard the stabbing happened at 10:30 pm...that wasn't 'our time' so this has nothing to do with the safety of Chinatown."

By that he means at night, Chinatown does not belong to the Chinese. It's a territory of "some other people".

Do I feel bad about this? Yes.

But will I want to go to Chinatown more often? No.

I guess the weekly visits to Chinatown that I used to have decades ago had not cultivated in me a sense of belonging for the place. And I'm not sure why. Perhaps I need more time to think about this.

Anyway, the article in URBANPHOTO mentions that Toronto's Chinatown is now visited more by immigrants from Mainland China. I'm not sure whether the same is in Vancouver. Any one?

In 1983, North America's first all-Chinese mall, the Dragon Centre, opened in Northern Scarborough. This marked the emergence of what geographer Wei Li calls the 'Chinese ethnoburb,' a kind of suburban Chinese concentration that has little in common with traditional Chinatowns. Ethnoburbs are business districts with diverse ethnic economies; they are also residential districts with a high proportion of Chinese residents. Most importantly, ethnoburbs are not just immigrant communities but global outposts. Their inhabitants are highly mobile; their businesses are dynamic and connected to the mainstream global economy; their culture is a constantly evolving blend of Asian and North American trends.

In North America, Chinese ethnoburbs can be found in Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Toronto's ethnoburbs exist in its northeastern suburbs, where the proportion of Chinese residents ranges from 20 percent (in North York and Richmond Hill) to nearly 50 percent (in parts of Scarborough and Markham). These areas have the look of suburbia gone Chinese: giant Asian malls such as Pacific Place sidle up to big-box-style Chinese supermarkets and strip malls filled with karaoke bars, boba cafés and shops that sell the latest CDs, DVDs and VCDs from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. Even mainstream businesses such as Wal-Mart and Loblaws cater to Chinese tastes because, in ethnoburbia, Chinese is mainstream.

Ethnoburbia fuels the Canadian economy. Many Chinese immigrants to Toronto are highly mobile, returning to Asia on a regular basis to visit family and run businesses. The constant flow of Chinese-Canadians between Toronto, Vancouver and Hong Kong represents $6.7 billion in annual trade and investment. An estimated 250,000 Canadian citizens live in Hong Kong, while maintaining personal and business links with Canada, particularly Toronto.

Is it any wonder, then, that Chinatown has become irrelevant to the majority of Toronto's 500,000 Chinese? Today's Torontonians can buy Chinese groceries, listen to Chinese music, buy Chinese movies and bank at a Chinese financial institution without ever setting foot in Chinatown. Yet Chinatown is far from dead. 'I think the whole 'death of Chinatown' thing is nonsense,' says Wylie Poon, a young Scarborough resident who was born in Hong Kong and moved to Toronto in the early 1990s with his family. 'Chinatown is just as bustling now as it has always been. Every time I go there, weekdays or weekends, it feels like market day.' Chinatown's supposed death, he explains, might actually be a shift in character away from the Cantonese-speaking, Hong Kong-oriented community that now dominates the suburbs. 'I don't think the other members of my family have any opinions about Chinatown because they simply don't go there anymore,' he says. 'My younger sister hangs out downtown occasionally with friends, but I doubt she ever ventures into Chinatown. She's big into the HK pop culture, but for any activity associated with that, we Scarberians tend to head up north to the Chinese malls of Markham and Richmond Hill.'

And here's a few comments by an American tourist who've visited Vancouver's Chinatown. Obviously they did not like to see bars installed in front of most store windows.

Having visited China towns in Honolulu and San Francisco, we were looking forward to the Vancouver version. Sorry to say, we found old China town there a bit of a disappointment. Many of the store fronts had bars on the windows and doors. Goods on display on the sidewalks were mostly groceries, often fish products of some kind. China town hasn't been spared the Vancouver building boom. And many residents have moved on to other communities like Richmond. We've seen in the BC news that there are attempts to save old down town Chinatown. That would be great.

Tags: chinatown, vancouver, toronto, chinese canadian, immigrants, immigration Tags: chinatown, vancouver, chinese canadian, vancouver chinatown, immigrants, immigration

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Chinese Benevolent Assn celebrates 100th birthday

The CBA was established 100 years ago with an urgent purpose of offering funeral services to deceased Chinese migrants who didn't have the money. Services included shipping their bodies back home in China.

This story from the Vancouver Sun:

The Government of Chinatown
VANCOUVER I A century ago, the Chinese Benevolent Association wielded far-reaching control. It still exists

The council hall of the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver is a long, high room, ringed with imposing armchairs from the Qing Dynasty. They are so intricately carved and inlaid with marble and mother-of-pearl they might properly be considered thrones.

A century ago, when these seats were first installed in the chamber above East Pender Street, the men who sat in them controlled much of what happened in the teeming streets of Vancouver's Chinatown.

You see their pictures along the eastern wall of the chamber: these dignified, prosperous men, merchants in well-cut suits. They settled disputes, regulated business practices, remonstrated with the federal and provincial governments, raised money, cared for the indigent and the dispossessed, and rooted out racial prejudice.

They were, for all intents and purposes, the government of Chinatown.

Their exclusive and secretive tong ran things for generations; and while it has been decades since the Chinese Benevolent Association gave up any pretense of coercive power and evolved into a gentle, democratic confederation of fraternal organizations and community groups, you can still feel the gravitas in this room, where so few non-Chinese people have ever been.

The air itself seems thick with history; the chamber's walls literally encrusted with testimonials, plaques, artwork, rare carvings and calligraphy presented over the years by grateful and admiring visitors. Here are mementoes of the visits of Sun Yat-Sen, considered the father of modern China, from the beginning of the last century, of delegations and politicians by the score, souvenirs of the association's immense public banquets at which a thousand people sit down to dinner.

These days, the room is an amiable clutter where cartons of festive paper lanterns compete for floor space with the magisterial council furniture. Its guardians are mostly elderly, smiling shyly for an unexpected visitor as they stuff envelopes and discuss the details of this weekend's celebrations.

On the eve of the CBA's 100th anniversary, Sun Yat-Sen's republican motto, emblazoned in large characters at one end of the chamber, rings truer than ever: "Justice for all, under heaven."

"Right now, I'm happy to say we're not having to deal with so many human rights issues as in the past," says Jun Ing, a director who even though he is in his 40s, is genially referred to by other CBA board members as "the young guy."

"Our focus now is really on community."

WHAT IT IS

Currently, the CBA represents more than 80 Chinese community associations, including the immigrant aid society S.U.C.C.E.S.S., the Chinese Cultural Centre, the Chinatown Merchants Association, Chinese Freemasons, and many others. In addition to the community organizations, the CBA has about 2,000 individual members.

Its structure is democratic and highly transparent. The board, elected every two years, has 31 directors. Jun Ing, who serves as an ex officio representative of the Hoy Ping Benevolent Association (a group whose members trace their family origin to a particular county in Guangdong province), is in his fourth term as a CBA board member. He is an electrical engineer who arrived in Canada from Hong Kong in 1965.

"In the old days, the CBA was involved in conflict resolution, that sort of thing, but people don't operate the same way now," he says.

Ing is uncomfortable with the term tong, because of its historical association with criminal activities. But the tongs that sprang up in North America's Chinatowns at the end of the 19th century were intended for mutual protection and support, not for criminality. His own Chinese surname association, the Chee Dack Gen Tong (which translates, roughly, as the Utmost Virtue Tong), still uses the word.

The CBA, active from 1895, although it was not officially incorporated until 1906, was always an organization concerned with legalities. But it was also a tong intent on preserving an elite status quo: Until 1978, directors were appointed, rather than elected, and membership was tightly controlled.

It modelled itself after the benevolent association in Victoria that began operation about a decade earlier, in 1884. In fact Chinese benevolent associations were forming in Chinatowns across North America. San Francisco's started in 1882 and New York's in 1883. They all shared similar goals: to speak on behalf of the local Chinese community, to do charitable works, to settle disputes among Chinese people. In Vancouver, the CBA specifically pledged itself to help the poor, to prevent internal rivalry among Chinese factions, and to "guard against humiliation from outside," according to the CBA's vice-president and resident historian, Po-Chiang Mai, in an essay on the history of the organization.

The Chinese merchants of Vancouver were just as interested in maintaining peace, order and good government as the federal politicians in Ottawa. Founder Yip Sang understood perfectly that an orderly, unified Chinese community meant good business for him and the five other merchants who each pledged the princely sum of $100 to get things rolling in 1906.

In its first half-century, the CBA was a tireless champion of full rights of citizenship for Chinese-Canadians and right through the 1960s, long after the main battle was won, the organization persistently petitioned Ottawa for amendments to immigration laws.

In the late 1960s it was vociferous in protesting the proposed freeway that would have sliced through Chinatown, destroying the unique flavour of the community.

But by then, the association had ossified to become what Vancouver journalist Quan Lim has called "a closed and unresponsive organization." In 1978, efforts were completed to shine a more democratic light on the inner workings of the CBA. Its constitution was amended and open board elections were held for the first time.

In recent years, the CBA's main focus has been on large-scale annual events, including the Lunar New Year parade in Chinatown, the neighbourhood's Canada Day celebrations and elaborate festivities to mark Oct. 1, the national day of the People's Republic of China. It raises millions of dollars for disaster relief and elder-care charities, and helped develop subsidized housing at CBA Manor, a block further west on Pender.

SUN YAT-SEN

The connection to mainland China is strong: so strong that the central space above the dais at one end of the council room is devoted to a giant portrait of Sun Yat-Sen and the large-character poster of his motto about universal justice.

Sun is revered both in Mainland China and Taiwan for his pivotal role in unseating China's ancient imperial system in favour of republican government in 1911.

Clearly he is revered in Vancouver, too. Sun visited the city three times to gather support for his revolutionary movement, in 1897, 1910 and most prominently in 1911, when Chinese residents, including many members of the CBA, flocked by the thousands to meet his train and to crowd his series of public speeches.

According to the CBA's Po-Chiang Mai, that 1911 visit, on the eve of the Chinese Revolution, swayed opinion in Vancouver even among supporters of China's imperial government.

"For four days in a row, Sun Yat-Sen presented his revolutionary ideas to audiences of almost 1,000 people," Mai writes, in the CBA's lavish Chinese-language commemorative book. "Even royalists who attended were impressed by his theories and oratorical talents. The visit was hugely successful."

The CBA has revered him ever since, sending money and material support to China on a regular basis. A document in the council hall commemorates the millions of dollars that were sent to assist in fighting the Second Sino-Japanese War in the 1930s.

When Chinese president Hu Jintao visited Vancouver in August 2005, the CBA played a leading role in organizing events. Over the years, the CBA has hosted many high-ranking Chinese officials, including president Jiang Zemin, president Li Xian Nian, premier Zhu Rongji, and chairman Li Ruihuan. Each of those visits is memorialized by an important piece of art, such as the superb brush painting of cherry blossoms on ancient branches that commemorates Li Ruihan's visit in 2000.



It continues to express its "concern and care from afar," Ing explains. "We pay attention to the well-being of Chinese people in China." The CBA marked the return of Hong Kong and Macao to China in 1997 with celebratory banquets and newspaper advertisements. More recently it held events to applaud the awarding of the Beijing Olympics and the first Chinese space launch.

The CBA has also taken an active interest in the head tax issue, but allows its adjunct organization, the National Congress of Chinese Canadians, to lead negotiations for redress. The NCCC operates its Pacific headquarters from the top floor of the CBA building.

"In the old days, when so many Chinese workers were arriving here for the gold rush, for the railways, they left behind their family structures, their clan systems," Ing explains. "The CBA, in a way, helped provide those things. We took care of funeral arrangements, for instance, and helped ensure that money was sent home to families, that kind of thing."

SOCIAL ILLS TARGETED

The CBA refurbished the 1901 pavilion at Mountain View Cemetery, where Chinese Canadians go to honour their ancestors. It also erected a double memorial to Chinese-Canadian soldiers and Chinese railway workers in the Chinatown Memorial Square at Keefer and Columbia Streets.

More recently, it has begun a campaign to resolve the social ills and crime that plague the margins of Chinatown and Strathcona. Discussions have begun, Ing says, for a second phase of the CBA seniors' home.

Standing in the middle of the art-encrusted council hall, Ing admits that there are anachronistic aspects to the CBA. On the one hand, there is the century-old legacy, represented here by ancient furniture and works of art; but there is also a very modern push to protect and advance the community the CBA has served for so long and continues to serve.

"There is still a lot about us that is quite old-fashioned," Ing observes. "We don't even have a PC here. Members, or at least the younger members, have computers at home, but the organization still relies on fax for everything."

That's a startling fact: Imagine planning a dinner for 1,000 people, with the lieutenant-governor and Chinese government officials in attendance, with only a fax machine to do it.

"We have accomplished so much over the years that it's easy to take things for granted," he continues. "Younger [Chinese-Canadian] people, many of them, don't even realize that before 1947 they wouldn't have had a vote. They couldn't have been full citizens. That surprises them, when they learn this.

"All those citizenship rights that these old guys fought so hard for, it's easy to take that for granted now."

WRITTEN BY THE DOOR

A doorway in the council room is flanked by a double panel of ancient calligraphy. The characters are executed in a cursive style so abstract that even the most elderly CBA directors have trouble interpreting. It takes some concerted effort and an impromptu conference, but eventually the couplet's translation is forthcoming:

Guide the first light toward mankind,

SOW QUALITY SEEDS IN THE FIELD

The poetry is highly compressed, but Ing has had a chance to study it: The first line suggests the quality of the dawn's earliest light, with its possibility of bringing hope to overseas Chinese; the second reminds the reader that a bountiful harvest starts with the quality of seed that is sewn.

The implication is as serene as the scroll paintings that line the walls of the Pender Street council room. While it celebrates its centennial this weekend, the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver will be looking back on 100 years of careful seeding -- and the bountiful harvests that have been the happy result.

Tags: chinese benevolent association, vancouver, chinatown, chinese canadian, history, 100th anniversary

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Recent Chinese immigrant population 1991-2001

RECENT* IMMIGRANT POPULATION CENSUS 1996
	TOTAL POP	RECENT IMM	PRC	% of ttl pop	HK	% of ttl pop	TW	% of ttl pop
ABBOTSFORD	89,380	4,545	105	0	110	0	-	-
BURNABY	147,580	23,045	2,955	2	5,635	4	4,530	3
COQUITLAM	99,360	9,285	1,090	1	2,215	2	1,315	1
DELTA	94,760	4,085	175	0	290	0	540	1
N VAN	97,500	6,530	225	0	650	1	295	0
POCO/POMO	98,735	9,410	1,265	1	3,530	4	680	1
RICHMOND	148,025	30,540	5,080	3	13,525	9	3,900	3
SURREY	319,505	24,455	835	0	830	0	2,310	1
VANCOUVER	514,420	68,545	14,275	3	16,505	3	6,580	1
VICTORIA	94,330	2,585	425	0	85	0	40	0
W VAN	94,470	6,650	335	0	925	1	1,200	1
BC total	3,689,755	216,615	28,435	1	45,560	1	22,735	1
*RECENT IMM = LANDED 1991-1996
RECENT* IMMIGRANT POPULATION CENSUS 2001
	RECENT IMM	PRC	% of ttl pop	HK	% of ttl pop	TW	% of ttl pop
ABBOTSFORD	4,460	45	0	10	0	65	0
BURNABY	22,525	5,505	7	1,690	1	3,580	2
COQUITLAM	10,130	1,365	4	805	1	1,685	2
DELTA	3,940	160	1	50	0	1,055	1
N VAN	7,630	390	1	335	0	395	0
POCO/POMO	10,495	1,155	3	1,650	1	1,645	1
RICHMOND	23,800	6,545	7	5,465	3	4,375	3
SURREY	24,280	1,070	1	160	0	3,165	1
VANCOUVER	54,200	17,370	7	5,080	1	5,030	1
VICTORIA	2,010	160	1	30	0	120	0
W VAN	5,325	300	1	300	0	390	0
BC total	191,425	35,400	4	15,895	0	22,845	1
Canada	963,320	124,900	2	37,665	0	30,345	0
*RECENT IMM = LANDED 1996-2001

See also:
Chinese Canadian pop in Canada
Chinese Canadian pop in Canada, by province
Chinese Canadian pop in BC, Greater Vancouver area
Chinese Canadian pop changes in BC, Greater Vancouver, 96-01
Recent Chinese imm pop in BC, Greater Vancouver
Chinese Canadian pop in BC, by selected cities
Chinese Canadian pop in Ontario, by selected cities
Chinese Canadian pop in Alberta, by selected cities
Chinese Canadian pop in Quebec, by selected cities

Tags: immigration, immigrants, chinese canadian, population, BC, recent immigrants, vancouver

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Chinese immigrant population in Greater Vancouver 1996-2001

Chinese immigrant population in Greater Vancouver 1996-2001
	PRC				HK				TW
	1996	2001	+/- %		1996	2001	+/- %		1996	2001	+/- %
Abbotsford	220	200	-9		215	125	-42		15	95	533
Burnaby	7,145	12,485	75		9,740	9,445	-3		5,510	7,330	33
Coquitlam	2,400	3,575	49		4,100	4,440	8		1,615	2,830	75
Delta	490	920	88		730	830	14		660	1,695	157
N. Van	675	925	37		1,205	1,140	-5		400	730	83
POCO/POMO	1,980	3,085	56		5,415	6,020	11		835	2,260	171
Richmond	9,580	16,330	71		22,025	24,460	11		5,095	8,140	60
Surrey	2,405	3,090	29		2,180	1,940	-11		2,760	5,160	87
Vancouver	46,220	59,030	28		37,925	35,095	-8		10,010	13,160	32
Victoria	1,235	1,145	-7		435	340	-22		65	140	115
W. Van	805	1,085	35		1,655	1,620	-2		1,315	1,225	-7
BC total	78,655	107,450	37		89,200	88,725	-1		30,015	44,940	50
SOURCE: BC STATS

Tags: population, greater vancouver, chinese canadian, immigration, chinese immigrants, census

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Chinese population in Greater Vancouver

TOTAL IMMIGRANT POPULATION CENSUS 1996
	TOTAL POP	TOTAL IMM	PRC	% of ttl pop	HK	% of ttl pop	TW	% of ttl pop
ABBOTSFORD	89,380	20,945	220	0	215	0	15	0
BURNABY	147,580	62,850	7,145	5	9,740	7	5,510	4
COQUITLAM	99,360	31,100	2,400	2	4,100	4	1,615	2
DELTA	94,760	22,960	490	1	730	1	660	1
N VAN	97,500	27,400	675	1	1,205	1	400	0
POCO/POMO	98,735	27,895	1,980	2	5,415	5	835	1
RICHMOND	148,025	71,470	9,580	6	22,025	15	5,095	3
SURREY	319,505	93,690	2,405	1	2,180	1	2,760	1
VANCOUVER	514,420	230,285	46,220	9	37,925	7	10,010	2
VICTORIA	94,330	18,975	1,235	1	435	0	65	0
W VAN	94,470	28,590	805	1	1,655	2	1,315	1
BC total	3,689,755	903,195	78,655	2	89,200	2	30,015	1
TOTAL IMMIGRANT POPULATION CENSUS 2001
	TOTAL POP	TOTAL IMM	PRC	% of ttl pop	HK	% of ttl pop	TW	% of ttl pop
ABBOTSFORD	98,055	24,415	200	0	125	0	95	0
BURNABY	159,990	77,240	12,485	8	9,445	6	7,330	5
COQUITLAM	102,805	36,530	3,575	3	4,440	4	2,830	3
DELTA	96,380	25,850	920	1	830	1	1,695	2
N VAN	101,920	31,150	925	1	1,140	1	730	1
POCO/POMO	116,265	38,355	3,085	3	6,020	5	2,260	2
RICHMOND	163,410	88,315	16,330	10	24,460	15	8,140	5
SURREY	362,660	118,505	3,090	1	1,940	1	5,160	1
VANCOUVER	544,885	250,095	59,030	11	35,095	6	13,160	2
VICTORIA	94,370	18,955	1,145	1	340	0	140	0
W VAN	98,470	29,885	1,085	1	1,620	2	1,225	1
BC total	3,868,875	1,009,820	107,450	3	88,725	2	44,940	1
Canada	29,639,030	5,448,480	332,825	1	235,620	1	67,095	0

SOURCE: BC STATS

See also:
Chinese Canadian pop in Canada
Chinese Canadian pop in Canada, by province
Chinese Canadian pop in BC, Greater Vancouver area
Chinese Canadian pop changes in BC, Greater Vancouver, 96-01
Recent Chinese imm pop in BC, Greater Vancouver
Chinese Canadian pop in BC, by selected cities
Chinese Canadian pop in Ontario, by selected cities
Chinese Canadian pop in Alberta, by selected cities
Chinese Canadian pop in Quebec, by selected cities

Tags: population, census 1996, census 2001, chinese canadian, chinese, immigration, immigrants, BC

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Taiwan's same-sex bill killed

Taiwanese legislator Hsiao Mei-Chin (蕭美琴) is running out of luck in tabling Taiwan's groundbreaking same-sex marriage bill (here). Her endless effort to push for the bill has been killed the second time by Kuomintang legislator Lai Shi-bao (賴士葆) and Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠).

Hsiao, a Democratic Progressive party member, said the reason behind her same-sex marriage bill was that she believed marriage rights of heterosexual or homosexual citizens should both be protected by law.

"I hope that even people do not agree (with homosexuality) they could be open and tolerant," Hsiao said. "To accept that people could choose their own lifestyles and have a chance to be blessed... I think this is basic human rights."

However, Chang Ching-chung said same-sex marriage would not help increase Taiwan's population. Hence, he said, there was no need to table such bill.

Wang Chang-tung, spokesperson of the Awakening Foundation (婦女新知基金會) said the killing of the bill means heterosexual chauvinism refuses to tolerate minorities.

"The people who objected the bill did not give us any concrete reasons," said Wang. "They represent the arrogance and phobia of the mainstream society."

Minister Tsang Shu-min of the Amazing Grace L/G/B/T Fellowship (基督教主恩同志團契) said we all embrace the philosophy that every one is equal before the law, but why should we exclude same-sex couples when we write the marriage laws?

"Laws should cover everyone in the country," Tsang said. "Laws shouldn't protect only certain groups of people."

Tsang said the largest anti-gay force comes from religion. However, the basic problem with these people is that they choose to interpret the Bible partially. Tsang said the wrongful interpretation of the Bible for centuries has demeaned homosexuality.

"On the issue of homosexuality, Christianity and the Roman Catholicism should restore the historical facts, they should right the wrong... because the Bible has never rejected homosexuality."

Tags: same-sex marriage, homosexual, gay, lesbian, homosexuality, taiwan, legislation

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Canada may target China piracy

From Reuters:

Canada to decide soon on China piracy action

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will decide shortly whether to take legal action at the World Trade Organization to force China to clamp down on piracy of CDs, DVDs and fake brand products, Trade Minister David Emerson said on Thursday.

"We are reviewing that issue virtually as we speak," Emerson told reporters.

The United States has delayed plans to take any WTO action against China on the issue of intellectual property rights but if it does go ahead, it expects to be joined by Canada and Japan, a U.S. official said earlier this week.


"Whether we will join in the WTO challenge is a decision we'll make shortly," Emerson said.

But the minister said Ottawa itself is under pressure from the United States to reduce its own piracy problem.

"We do have intellectual property concerns with China, we've made no secret of that. On the other hand, the United States has concerns about ours and so it's an area where we're going to have to be doing some work here in Canada," Emerson said.

Canada, the United States and Japan complain of billion-dollar losses in sales of music, movies and other goods as a result of widespread illegally copying in China, which they say contravenes WTO rules.

Tags: china, canada, trade, david emerson, piracy

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Private university under probe

Vancouver's Lansbridge University is being investigated by the province to see if it's meeting necessary requirements, the Vancouver Sun reports.

Lansbridge University is owned by Michael Lo, whose Kingston College was ordered to close in a year after student complaints about its degree conferring practice (here).

Province orders probe of second university
Lansbridge another of Michael Lo's schools

The B.C. government has ordered an inspection of Lansbridge University -- the second private post-secondary institution owned by Vancouver businessman Michael Lo to come under a cloud.

The inspection will consider whether Lansbridge is meeting the terms and conditions required of universities in B.C. and will review the common ownership and administration of Lansbridge and Kingston College, Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell said Tuesday.

It is the first time such an inspection has been ordered since a law was passed in 2003 setting conditions for private universities to operate in B.C, he said.

"It's designed to give students and the public the confidence they need not only in Lansbridge but in the act [allowing private universities]," Coell added.

Earlier, in a statement, he noted there have been student complaints and concern about whether Lansbridge is meeting conditions imposed in June, 2005, when it was given ministerial approval to operate. As well, there were questions arising from a recent investigation into Kingston College, Coell said.

That investigation, by the Private Career Training Institutions Agency, found that Kingston was offering degrees from out-of-country institutions that were not accredited in B.C. It was ordered to close within 12 months, allowing time for current students to complete their course work.

Kingston had been advertising the degrees despite repeated warnings from the ministry and PCTIA to stop. Lo was on the PCTIA board and headed its quality assurance committee.

Lansbridge, with campuses in Vancouver and Fredericton, N.B., is the crown jewel in a network of traditional and online educational facilities in Canada and abroad owned by Lo and his partner Queenie Tin. They include a private high school in Vancouver, two B.C.-certified high schools in China, a Chinese school with five campuses in the Lower Mainland and an educational software company called Learnsoft.

The inspection will be conducted by Victoria lawyer Deborah Lovett and is expected to be concluded within four weeks. Coell has promised to make the report public.

Robert Clift, executive director of the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of B.C., said he is pleased an inspection has been ordered but would have preferred if Coell had suspended Lansbridge's operations in the meantime.

His organization has been calling for that action since four students from India came forward in late September with documents showing that Kingston was wooing international students by promising degrees from unaccredited universities.

He said at the time that Lo has demonstrated he does not meet "the basic tests of character and credibility we expect of an educator."

On Tuesday, Clift said the problem with private post-secondary education in B.C. is larger than Kingston and Lansbridge and is threatening the reputations of legitimate private institutions. If it is not addressed, he said his organization, which represents faculty in public universities, will pull its support of the government body that is charged with ensuring quality.

That would send a powerful signal that the government's regulation of private post-secondary institutions is "a failed experiment," he noted.

Lo has not responded to repeated requests from The Vancouver Sun for an interview.

Tags: kingston college, lansbridge university, michael lo, vancouver, education, student, complaint, ministry of education, BC

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Canada invisible in S.E. Asia

A new commentary by the Asia Pacific Foundation says Canada does not only lag behind in doing business in China, but also completely invisible in the rising SE Asia.

The resounding message from last week’s Asia Pacific Summit 2006 is troubling: Canada is falling behind when it comes to trade and investment in Asia. Competitors such as the US and Australia have outdone Canada and have established a firmer foothold in Asia’s growing markets. In contrast, Canada is perceived to be “invisible.” From a policy perspective, Canada is behind in the race to secure air, taxation, foreign investment protection and free trade agreements (FTAs) with key Asian partners.

ASEAN countries are thriving:

Although China and India are admittedly markets too large to ignore, Canada must widen its lens to take in a more panoramic view of Asia. The ASEAN region has approximately 500 million people and is Canada’s 10th largest export market, ahead of both India and Brazil and on par with Mexico. However, in terms of ASEAN’s total import market, Canada’s market share is a paltry 0.55% as compared to China, with a 10% share of the market, and the US, with a 12% share. Already, China and the US have signed trade agreements with ASEAN, specifically the China-ASEAN FTA in 2002 and the US-ASEAN trade and investment pact in August 2006. Other players such as Japan, India and the EU have also held FTA talks with ASEAN.

However, Canada's role is very minimal:

Canadian interest in Southeast Asia has generally been subdued, and it is here that the perception of Canada’s “invisibility” is strongest. One reason for this, according to businesses in the region, is the tendency for many Canadian companies to be conservative and risk averse, resulting in great reluctance to approach a market as distant and foreign as Southeast Asia. Only a brave few have made the effort to develop local relationships and have been patient enough to reap the benefits.

Tags: ASEAN, asia, economy, investment, business, canada, china, india, trade, South East Asia

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China, India case processing may be faster than world's average: Solberg

CIC minister Monte Solberg announced yesterday that he will raise the annual target of taking in new immigrations to 265,000.

The majority of the increase will be economic immigrants, jumps 10.4% to 143,000. On the other hand, the number of parents/grandparents will only increase slightly by 1000.

Solberg said most resources increased will be put to China and India, the two source countries of immigrants and where most backlogged cases are.

He said the processing time for Chinese and Indian applications may even exceed the average time of processing by all visa offices.

According to Solberg, 16.13% of new landings in 2005 came from China, 12.6% from India.

Ottawa sets higher target for new immigrants
Lawyer calls move convenient re-election plank since application backlog already huge
CanWest News Service

OTTAWA -- The Tory government has set one of the most aggressive immigration targets in the last 15 years.

In tabling its annual report in Parliament Tuesday, Citizenship and Immigration Canada said it plans to admit between 240,000 and 265,000 permanent residents in 2007. The target this year is 225,000 to 255,000, and the government expects the final figure in the upper end of that range.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Monte Solberg said the new targets will help employers looking for workers as well as refugees and immigrant families hoping to reunite.

But Richard Kurland, a lawyer who tracks immigration figures, says the targets should be easy to meet or even exceed, because the backlog of permanent-residence applications is already running at about 750,000. "There's no way based on the inventory that they will have any difficulty meeting the target," he said. "Somebody's got their eye on re-election."



The target, along with $307 million in settlement funding, will make an attractive platform for the government to argue it is friendly to immigrants,he said.

The funding, earmarked in this year's budget, will be distributed to the provinces for language training and other services.

"For the first time in many, many years, we're going to be matching the settlement funding with the immigration numbers so that newcomers have a much better chance to succeed and live the Canadian dream,'' said Solberg, adding the government considers labour shortages a priority. "We've got on the one hand to always protect public security. But we also on the other hand have to address labour-market needs.''

Olivia Chow, NDP deputy immigration critic, said the government is "continuing the old Liberal tradition'' of failing to set the immigration target at one per cent of the population.

RISING TIDE OF IMMIGRATION

Key numbers in the federal government's plans to attract more immigrants to Canada.

225,000-255,000:

The immigration target for this year.

240,000-265,000:

The immigration target for 2007.

5.2%:

The increase in proposed immigration for next year, compared to this year.

Tags: immigration, immigrants, monte solberg, CIC, citizenship and immigration, china, india

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Working 331 hours a month to own property in Vancouver: report

An analysis report by CMHC says the price of real estate in Vancouver is so high that an average Vancourite with an average income needs to work 331 hours a month to own a piece of housing. That means, working 11 hours a day non-stop for 30 days.

Vancouver ranks #1 among 28 cities in Canada in terms of the number of work hours needed to own a property, and BC ranks #1 among other provinces.

The report, BC Housing Market Outlook, was written by CMHC's outgoing senior market analyst Cameron Muir. The number of work hours needed to own is calculated based on average income in 2005 (Canada average is $36,574 and BC at $36,633), average price of a standard real estate in Vancouver, and the assumption that 30% of a personal income goes to mortgage payment.

The average number of hours Canadians work (8 hours a day for 5 days a week) a month is 173.3. So Vancourites have to work double hard to own a place to live.

The number of work hours to own in Toronto is "only" 260, still over than the average but much lower than Vancouver.

The BC number of work hours needed to own is 250, 50 more hours than the second place Ontario.

Vancouver is also the second most expensive city to rent. The number of work hours needed to rent is 153 hours, rank second only to Toronto.

However, Muir doesn't think we are having a housing bubble because the majority of buyers are owners.

Tags: vancouver housing market, real estate, realty, vancouver, BC, property, affordability

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Plaque to honour immigrants detained at historic building

(caption: Darren Stone, Times Colonist
Carlos Gaete of the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society, Joan Sandilands of the Inter-Cultural Society of Greater Victoria and Victoria Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe stand at the gate of the Breakwater townhouse development on Dallas Road. The townhouses are being built on the site of the Victoria Immigration Building that was demolished in 1977. A plaque will commemorate the many immigrants who passed through the gates.)

Plaque to honour immigrants detained at historic building
Jeff Bell, Times Colonist

Recounting the history of the city's one-time immigration building tugged at the emotions of Victoria Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe.

In a brief ceremony yesterday at the site of the now-demolished structure, Thornton-Joe had to gather herself as she talked about the Chinese immigrants who stayed there during the first part of the 20th century.

When the stark, red-brick building at Dallas Road and Ontario Street opened its doors in 1907, it was largely Chinese people who were detained. Many were called upon to pay the infamous Chinese Head Tax. At times, the building housed up to 200 people who slept in triple-decker bunk beds as they waited for their immigration applications to be processed.

Thornton-Joe, a Chinese-Canadian, was speaking at an event to mark the past function of the property, which after years as an empty lot is being developed into a townhouse complex called the Breakwater. Three Point Properties organized the gathering to announce plans for a memorial plaque and to make $2,500 donations to a pair of community groups that help new Canadians of today -- the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria and the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society.

Three Point Properties also will preserve a large spruce tree planted by the first immigration agent and the original concrete-and-wrought-iron fence around the perimeter, said managing partner Ross Tennant. A monkey puzzle tree also planted by the first agent is still standing nearby.

"While the site was probably a place of uncertainty and sadness for a lot of those who were detained here, it was also a place of new beginnings and new opportunities," Tennant said in explaining the different facets of its past.

For many years, the immigration building was the main point of entry for new Canadians in the western part of the country. Through the decades, it was one of the first sights for the Japanese, the Russians arriving at the time of the 1917 revolution, the Dutch after the Second World War, and Italians, Greeks and Hungarians in the 1950s. It was closed in 1958, and stood empty until it was torn down in 1977.

Thornton-Joe said that after she began to explore her heritage, she soon became aware her ancestors may have come through the building.

"I often went down to this property and wondered whether my grandfathers and my great-grandfathers also stood there many, many years before."

She applauded the developer's preservation efforts and community donations.

"What a great way to honour the past and celebrate the future," she said.

Joan Sandilands, who appeared on behalf of the inter-cultural association, said life in a new country can be daunting, and must have been "terrifying" for those arriving in Canada at the beginning of the last century.

The memorial plaque, to be displayed when the townhouse project is completed next spring, will read in part that the immigration building "was a symbol of hope, often a difficult hope, that one's life in a new land would be better than the old.

"This monument acts as a reminder of the enormous courage it took to set off on a journey to unfamiliar lands."

Tags: chinese canadian, immigration, immigrants, discrimination, head tax, plaque

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Henry Fok's Calgary link

TorStar has a piece talking about the link between Calgary and Henry Fok, Hong Kong's 'patriotic capitalist' who passed away last week.

While Fok may be an unfamiliar name to most Canadians, he was no stranger to the Chinese community in Calgary, where he was a major donor to the Chinese Cultural Centre, the 115-bed Christian Wing Kei Nursing Home and the Calgary Chinese Elderly Citizens' Association.

"The Chinese have an expression: `Like the sea being a gathering place of hundreds of rivers regardless of their sources,' broadmindedness commands immense tolerance to different ideas and thoughts regardless of their origin," Fok said in a speech at the cultural centre's grand opening ceremony in 1992.

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"The primary reason for an outstanding culture to be able to endure thousands of years without losing its vitality is due to its ability to incorporate different ideas and philosophies from other cultures into its own."

Leung, who also heads the Calgary Canadian and Chinese Education Foundation, established by Fok in 1996 to promote cultural and academic exchanges between China and Canada, said: "Mr. Fok wasn't a Canadian (citizen or resident) and he had no reason to help all these community organizations. That just tells you what a giving person he was."

Fok's latest donation in Canada was a $2 million gift last month to help build the University of Calgary's Dr. Fok Ying Tung International House. It was delivered by one of his two sons, Ian, a University of British Columbia graduate.




Gary Durbeniuk, U of C's chief development officer, praised Fok as a "tremendous visionary" who understood the global marketplace and the need to create opportunities for people to meet through cultural exchange.

"Mr. Fok encouraged the international exchange program and (as a result) our largest international alumni body is from China," Durbeniuk explained. "Any time we lose a passionate visionary, it's a loss to our world community. But we hope to continue with his vision here."

Tags: china, hong kong, henry fok, fok ying tung, patriotic capitalist, calgary

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Canadian banks take lead in China

From TorStar:

Royal Bank enters funds industry
BMO looks for its business to grow

Canada's biggest bank is tip-toeing into the Chinese mutual fund market, hand-in-hand with one of China's fastest-growing banks.

The Royal Bank of Canada is teaming up with China Minsheng Banking Corp. Ltd. to create a $25 million (U.S.) fund management company.

The new joint-venture company, to be based in Shanghai, will create, manage and sell mutual funds to Chinese retail and institutional investors, using the local Chinese currency.

The Royal Bank will hold a 30 per cent stake, China Minsheng Bank will hold 60 per cent, and Three Gorges Finance Co. Ltd. will own the remainder.

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George Lewis, chairman and chief executive officer of RBC Asset Management Inc., said the new fund company will give RBC an entry point into the rapidly expanding Chinese asset management market.

Chinese assets available for management could hit as much as $300 billion in as little as five years, says Ed Legzdins, president of BMO Mutual Funds.

Legzdins said he welcomes RBC's entry. "I think it's good when foreign firms go into the Chinese market and help Chinese mutual fund companies become better — or become established, as is the case with RBC — because that's going to benefit all the participants in the Chinese mutual fund industry," he said.




BMO was the first foreign firm to invest in an established fund management firm in China, picking up a 17 per cent stake in Fullgoal Fund Management Co. in 2003, and then boosting its interest to 28 per cent the next year.

Its partners in China are Haitong Securities Co. Ltd. and Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co. Ltd.

The deal between China Minsheng and RBC had been rumoured since early this year.

Lewis yesterday said in an interview it took some time to find a third joint-venture partner, as required by regulators.

"This is a very long-term investment and initiative from our point of view, so taking the extra time to make sure we had a good fit with our partners and understood the business was important," Lewis said.

China Minsheng has 240 branches and outlets in China's major cities, ranking among the country's top 10 banks with widely held ownership.

While the joint venture with China Minsheng is not financially material to Royal Bank, it is important to the bank's overall strategy in China, Lewis added.

Banks around the world are flocking to take part in the massive economic growth China is experiencing as the government relaxes regulations over the financial services industry.

The relationships Canadian banks are establishing in China will come in handy as new opportunities present themselves, Legzdins said.

He explained that China has the highest savings rate in the world — about 40 per cent of income — building a savings pool of about $1.7 trillion.

"These are monies that are sitting in bank accounts not earning very much," he said, noting that much of the growth in Canada's mutual fund industry in the 1990s was fuelled by money coming out of bank accounts and other low-yield instruments.

China's high savings rate is a result of "the turmoil that they've gone through in past decades," Legzdins said, but now people are starting to feel wealthier.

"I think you're going to see a lot more of that money go out of very low-yielding deposits and instruments, into more aggressive investments," he said.

Last year, Chinese regulators granted approval for Chinese commercial banks to set up and manage their own funds. The banks were already the country's biggest distributors of mutual funds.

Competition has heated up a bit, but it's "not having a big impact yet," Legzdins observed, adding that the majority of funds sold by banks are still those created by other firms.

"They sell a little bit of their own. I think in time that will increase," he said.

While the Chinese mutual funds market is growing rapidly and regulations are easing entry, Legzdins suggested it won't all be smooth sailing.

"When we started with Fullgoal, we bought into one of the 10 original (Chinese) fund companies," he said.

"The industry has grown to now over 50 firms and there are another 20 seeking approvals or in negotiations.

"So, you're looking at an industry that is going to have 70 to 80 fund companies a year from now. And yet, you only have six to eight significant distributors, which are the banks. So, for people entering the industry right now, it's pretty tough to fight for shelf space."

BMO does not disclose its profits from Fullgoal, which now has 11 funds and assets of $2.5 billion. Legzdins described the joint venture as being "very profitable," even with Chinese financial regulators capping management fees on its equity funds at 1.5 per cent.

In June 2005, China's stock market hit an eight-year low, but "even when the market was going down, the fund industry expanded substantially," Legzdins said.

Stocks have since rebounded, and "the market has gone from $10 billion to about $65 billion in the last five years," he said.

"That kind of shows you what can be done."

Tags: china, banking, royal bank, canadian banks, canada, investment, bank of montreal

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Head tax descendants may get gold coins

The federal gov is not closing the door to compensating descendants of head tax payers, Ming Pao has learned.

A gov source said the feds would like to hear from the community "creative" solutions, not just monetary compensation. Suggestions have been floating around include head tax commemoration gold coins or scholarships.

The source said only 3000+ gold coins might be published for the remaining 3000+ head tax families. The gov believes the coins would be of significant value over time and the families could sell them to get "monetary compensation".

The gov is also considering setting up scholarship. However, as not all descendant families would need scholarship, this solution could not benefit all families.

In a head tax forum held at Toronto yesterday, NDP MP Olivia Chow said the next 6 to 9 months are critical for finally getting a full redress as another federal election is expected next spring.

Head tax representative Yu Ping Chow (周宇平) said after meeting with Harper's parliamentary secretary Jason Kenney on Oct 19, they realized that the gov wasn't closing the door entirely to compensating head tax descendants. The message they got from Kenney was that the gov needed strong public support to explain this to all Canadians.

Tags: head tax, compensation, chinese canadian, history, discrimination, racism, railway workers, jason kenney

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Hong Kong's legendary 'patriotic capitalist' dies

Henry Fok (霍英東) was a totem of success to many Hong Kong people. Born to a fisherman's family, Fok earned his fortune from zero. Henry Fok's second son, Ian Fok (霍震寰), graduated from UBC in 1971 with a degree of science. He then got a MBA from UBC in 1973.

The Fok family has investment in Calgary and it has made several donations to various organizations in Calgary, including $2m to University of Calgary in Sep 2006. Ian Fok was in town announcing the donation.

Fok also donated to the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre and set up a scholarship encouraging academic exchanges between China and Canada.



According to Forbes, Henry Fok's net worth is estimated at C$4b:

Real estate developer got start smuggling goods into China during the Korean War; helped finance Stanley Ho's bid for a gaming license in Macau during 1960s. Today his stake in Ho-operated Sociedade de Jogos de Macau is worth at least $3 billion. Began developing a technology park on once-desolate island of Nansha in 1993; more than a decade later still trying to create that industrial center between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Donated $100 million to Hong Kong University of Science & Technology in July.

From Hong Kong's The Standards:
Tributes sound for 'renowned patriot'

A who's who of Hong Kong's political power players has stepped forward to pay tribute to Henry Fok Ying-tung, one of the territory's most important ties to the mainland and a local symbol of loyalty to China and rags-to-riches prosperity.

Fok, who for more than a decade served as one of Hong Kong's highest ranking representatives in Beijing, died Saturday night at Peking Union Medical College, where he was being treated for cancer. He was 83.

His body is expected to be returned to Hong Kong as early as tomorrow, and the stature of the committee overseeing Fok's funeral arrangements - rumored to be headed by high-level state leader Wang Zhongyu - suggests Fok's farewell will be on a par with that of Ann Tse-kai. Like Fok, Ann served as a vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

At his funeral in 2000, Ann's coffin was draped in the national flag and was surrounded by wreaths from Beijing's top brass, including then-leader Jiang Zemin.

The mainland's state media organization Sunday called Fok "a renowned patriot" and "a close friend of the Communist Party of China."

News of Fok's death sent ripples through the upper tiers of Hong Kong's political class and left many observers with a sense that an important era in Hong Kong's relations with Beijing had ended.

One of Hong Kong's most powerful men, Fok first made his name as a businessman in the 1950s and 1960s, staking his claim in the local real-estate boom and in Macau's blossoming casino industry before turning his gaze northward to the mainland.

As he broke ground in the 1970s with investments in the mainland, his political influence grew.

He was named a member of the CPPCC in 1980, and was elevated to vice chairman in 1993 - a position he held until his death.

Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, Fok's eldest son, appeared shaken during brief interviews with the press in Beijing Sunday.

"It all happened rather suddenly," said Fok, a legislator who, like his father, is also a member of the CPPCC.

He added that many friends and national leaders had come to visit his father over the past month.

"Those visits brought him comfort," said Fok, wearing sunglasses and visibly restraining his emotions.

Family members, he added, were at his father's side during his last moments.

Both Timothy Fok and second son Ian Fok Chun-wan were in Beijing to be with their father.

Timothy Fok said the original intention had been to conduct a simple ceremony in Beijing - where his father had built many friendships. But plans for that memorial have since been scrapped to return the body to Hong Kong as soon as possible.

Ian Fok said a service would likely be held at the Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point.

Henry Fok's last public appearance came in March when he appeared at a meeting of the National People's Congress. His cancer, which was first diagnosed in 1984 and recurred again in 2003, had dogged him for many years, forcing him to resort to some rather unusual cures - like immersing himself in a tub of ice water before jumping into a tub of hot water.

He was a close friend of former state leader Deng Xiaoping, and nurtured close relationships in Beijing even as his business interests departed from the party's ideologies.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen expressed sadness at Fok's death, praising him for his contributions to mainland economic reforms.

"The passing away of Mr Fok is a sad loss to the country and to Hong Kong," Tsang said. "We all owe him a debt of gratitude for his invaluable contribution to Hong Kong's reunification with the motherland." Tsang is rumored to be a member of the committee overseeing Fok's funeral arrangements, together with former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa and Liao Hui, director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.

Tsang Hin-chi, a businessman and local deputy to the National People's Congress Standing Committee, said he felt "paralyzed" on hearing news of Fok's death.

He added that he felt a certain emptiness descend on him, and did not really know what to say, except that he was "extremely grieved" for a man he called a friend and mentor.

CPPCC member and legislative councilor Tam Yiu-chung of the pro- Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said Fok had won the respect of the central leadership, and made sure Hong Kong's views reached Beijing ears.

"It won't be easy to replace someone of his stature," Tam said.

Professor Joseph Cheng Yu-shek, chair of political science at City University of Hong Kong, called Fok a central pillar of the "pro-China" camp, noting his contributions to infrastructure and sports in the mainland.

Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Ho Chi-ping also expressed sadness at the news of Fok's death, saying the tycoon had contributed to a stable transition in Hong Kong.

Throughout the day, Fok was roundly praised as a bridge of communication between Hong Kong and the mainland - as well as between Beijing loyalists and democratic-leaning activists.

Democratic Party founder and lawmaker Martin Lee Chu-ming said he felt deep regret at Fok's passing. He described Fok as modest, unassuming and self-effacing - the antithesis of the free-spending magnate.

Lee acknowledged holding different political opinions from Fok, but noted that Fok managed to win the respect of even those on the other side of the political spectrum.

"He never criticized anyone in the democratic movement, or in the Democratic Party," Lee said.

From the Washington Post:

Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok dies at 83

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok Ying-tung, whose business and political influence and close ties to Beijing earned him the nickname "the Godfather," has died in the Chinese capital aged 83, China reported on Sunday.

The official Beijing Youth Daily cited sources confirming his death but gave no details. Hong Kong's Sunday Morning Post said he had been suffering from cancer.

Fok, a vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), died at Peking Union Medical College Hospital on Saturday evening, the Post said.

Long seen as one of the Hong Kong figures best connected in Beijing, Fok was a trusted confidant of many mainland leaders.

Born in 1923 at Panyu, in Guangdong province which borders Hong Kong, Fok rose from humble roots to become one of the city's wealthiest and most powerful men.

Stories of his colourful past abound, including gun-running for the Communists during the 1950-53 Korean War and his passion for sport, especially soccer.

In 1993, with Hong Kong still under British colonial rule, Beijing made Fok a vice chairman of the CPPCC, the Chinese parliament's main consultative body, putting him in the same league as the country's most senior leaders.

Only one other Hong Kong citizen, former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, holds an equivalent position.

Fok's power-broking credentials were underlined before Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, when he was reported to have introduced Tung to then Chinese President Jiang Zemin, paving the way for the low-key shipping magnate to become the territory's first leader under Chinese rule.

Almost a decade earlier, Fok had backed a $120 million fund to bail out Tung's struggling business.

Fok's journey into Beijing's political inner sanctum began half a century ago during the Korean War, when he defied a United Nations embargo to smuggle vital medical supplies, including penicillin, into mainland China. It was also widely claimed, though never proven, that he smuggled guns over the border to further the Communist cause.

His patriotism was generously repaid. The Communists granted him various business monopolies, including export of sand for construction, which all but guaranteed his fortune. He became known in Beijing as the "Patriotic Capitalist."

In 2006, Forbes magazine ranked him the 181st most wealthy man in the world, with an estimated net worth of $3.7 billion. His business empire includes property, ports and casinos in the former Portugese enclave of Macau.

Despite the trappings of power and wealth, the younger Fok could often be found playing street football with the territory's top players on downtown concrete pitches.

In 1970 he flew the Brazilian team Santos, including star player Pele, to Hong Kong for an exhibition match -- an event which caused a great sensation in the city.

Fok was active in charitable work through the Fok Ying Tung foundation which he founded in 1984. In 2005, he donated a little over $100 million to a local university.

Tags: henry fok, fok ying tung, hong kong tycoon, ian fok, businessman

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SUCCESS wins big in new funding

International trade minister David Emerson announced funding of $1.52m for promoting trade with Asia. Vancouver's service agency SUCCESS has won a total of $1.29m, the biggest one-time funding payment to a single service organization on Asia trade promotion, SUCCESS's chair Ken Tung said.

SUCCESS pioneered the "Gateway to Asia" program in 1992, which helps businesses to gain access to the networking crucial to doing business in Asia through forums, talks, and exhibitions. Several thousand entrepreneurs have been benefitted from the program, many of them new immigrants.

Emerson gave $938,516 to SUCCESS's "Gateway to Asia" program. Tung said the funding would make expansion of the program possible, which is planned to launch in Alberta, Saskachewan and Manitoba in the next three years.

The "Gateway to Asia" program has helped Canadian businesses to deliever exports of over $25m to China in the last four years. The program has also assisted 400+ new immigrants establish their own businesses and 100+ new corporations to expand their businesses.

The other funding of $356,400 that SUCCESS received is for establishing a loan program for new immigrants seeking to start their businesses. The program has helped over 100 new immigrants every year to open their own companies.

The rest of the funding announced by Emerson - $220,200 - was given to the "Towards an Asia Pacific Gateway Strategy" program under the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

Tags: SUCCESS, david emerson, asia pacific foundation, asia pacific summit, asia pacific trade, international trade, vancouver, immigrants, immigration

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Most influential Chinese Canadians Part II

Well done, David... and I bet, Todd too!

Community's best and brightest saluted
Readers celebrate accomplishments of B.C. Chinese-Canadians

Saturday, October 28, 2006

In last Saturday's Vancouver Sun we celebrated the accomplishments of Chinese-Canadians in the Lower Mainland, with a tribute to 100 of the community's most influential members.

The response from readers, community figures and Chinese-language media was overwhelmingly positive.

With almost 500,000 persons of Chinese descent living in the Lower Mainland it was difficult keeping the list to 100 names. We asked readers to help us expand our list, and nominate other individuals.

All the comments we received about our special section are posted on The Sun's website, but here are some highlights.

A reader pointed out that we didn't include Richmond MP Raymond Chan. Originally from Hong Kong, Chan studied engineering physics and worked for many years as an engineer at UBC's particle accelerator laboratory. His lasting contribution to public life comes in the realm of federal politics. Chan has been the Liberal MP for Richmond through several elections, 1993 -2000, and since 2004.

Vancouver-born architect David Wong was one of several readers who agreed that occasionally, influential "Chinese-Canadians" aren't actually Chinese in terms of ethnicity. He nominates three Caucasian sinophiles: Edgar Wickberg, Colleen McGuinness and Graham Johnson.

Edgar Wickberg was a professor of history at the University of B.C. from 1969 to 1992. On his retirement in 1992, he was named emeritus professor of history. American-born, he studied Chinese and Japanese language and history. His academic speciality has to do with the history and relationships of Chinese people outside China, and overseas Chinese communities in general.

He produced two books: From China to Canada: A History of the Chinese Communities in Canada, in collaboration with four other researchers (1982), and The Chinese in Philippine Life (1965).

In recent years he helped found the Chinese Canadian Historical Society.

McGuinness is a consultant who is closely involved with economic and cultural ties between British Columbia and the Chinese province of Guangdong. She is the executive director of the B.C. Guangdong Business Council.

Johnson is a sociology professor at UBC whose primary area of interest is the economic and social transformation of the Pearl River delta region, in Guangdong province in south China, as well as how Hong Kong is integrating into southern China since the end of British colonial interest.

Hong Kong-born David Chuenyan Lai, was awarded professor emeritus status in 2003, after 25 years of teaching geography at the University of Victoria. Among his accomplishments is the definitive history of Chinatowns, a landmark work of urban geography.

Malaysian-born Lee Su-Feh is a dancer and choreographer whose work is some of the strongest dance-theatre being produced in Canada. Recent projects have examined sports violence, maritime culture, multiculturalism and new forms of storytelling.

Kelly Ip, who was mentioned tangentially in his wife Maggie's citation in our original story, was born in Hong Kong but came to Canada more than 40 years ago as a university student. He devoted his life to multiculturalism with long service for the Secretary of State, and later for Citizenship and Immigration. (He retired in 1997 as CIC's regional manager in B.C.) His volunteerism has benefited many local agencies, including the Sun Yat Sen Garden Society and the United Way.

Reader Roger Wheelock of Victoria nominates Ron Lou-Poy, a senior partner at Crease Harman in Victoria, B.C.'s oldest law firm. In addition to his work as a corporate and commercial lawyer, Lou-Poy has also been University of Victoria chancellor, honorary citizen of Victoria; and as Wheelock says, "patron, sponsor, and friend of innumerable institutions. His quiet influence has helped and mentored so very many in this community."

Jason Li is a biotech wizard whose work at SFU developing new drugs from symbiotic bacteria spun off into a successful commercial venture, Welichem Biotech. Born in China, Li, 42, has been in Canada for 17 years. He has over 50 publications and 10 patents to his credit.

Thirty-four-year-old Norman Wong moved to Canada from Hong Kong with his parents when he was two.

He is a supervisor at Vancouver's Shaw Multicultural Channel where he oversees local and international programming in over 20 languages. He works with independent producers to create a television schedule that reflects the Lower Mainland's ethnic diversity.

Several people reminded us that we missed Lori Fung on our list. Fung, 43, won the first Olympic gold medal for rhythmic gymnastics, at the 1984 Summer Games. Since then she has been a coach for the national teams of Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Fung, now a mother of three, had a part in the film Catwoman as an aerial dancer.

In 2004, she was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

Born in Singapore, lawyer and judge, S. K. Lee, retired to Vancouver where his enthusiasm for music education led him to establish an endowment at the Vancouver Academy of Music in the late 1980s. The resulting S.K. Lee College is the degree program within the Academy, turning out 35 to 40 music grads every year.

Reader Elise Partridge, who has taught Asian immigrant students for the past decade asks to nominate her entire class to salute "their struggles and their triumphs."

"Month after month, I've been extremely moved to glimpse them negotiating multiple cultures and all that means, and to see how hard so many of them work and how much they want to achieve and contribute," she writes.

"I would be delighted to nominate all my students as "influential Chinese-Canadians!"

Tags: most influential chinese, chinese canadian, bc, vancouver, history, vancouver sun

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New Book: Finding Memories, Tracing Routes

According to Todd Wong's GungHaggisFatChoy, the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC has launch a new book "Finding Memories, Tracing Routes: Chinese Canadian Family Stories."

The Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC proudly presents the first collection of eight stories demonstrating the power of finding common history in the lives and deaths of those who came before us. Created during a six-week community writing workshop, this touching and evocative book is a must-read for all Canadians who want to understand the central place of Chinese-Canadians in our shared past.

Authors: Shirley Chan, Belinda Hung, Roy Mah, Dan Seto, Hayne Wai, Candace Yip, Gail Yip and Ken Yip.
Preface: Dr. Jean Barman
Afterword: Dr. Henry Yu
Editor: Brandy Liên Worrall

Proceeds from the sales of this collection will go towards the Edgar Wickberg Scholarship for Chinese Canadian History.

Price: $15 (CDN)

The collection is now available at the following retail stores:
Vancouver, BC
Duthie Books
2239 West 4th Street

Hagar's
2176 W. 41st Avenue (Kerrisdale)

Vancouver Museum Gift Shop
1100 Chestnut St.

UBC Bookstore
6200 University Blvd.

UBC Bookstore @ Robson Square
800 Robson Street (between Hornby & Howe)

Victoria, BC
Crown Publications
521 Fort Street

Munro's Books
1108 Government Street

Royal BC Museum Bookstore
675 Belleville Street

It is also available for purchase through this order form (Canadian Orders) and www.lulu.com/cchsbc (US Orders).

For information about bookstore orders, please download: Policies (Word). If you would like to make bulk and/or educational orders, please email Gail Yip (gail_yip@telus.net).

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Lai Changxing, Falungong are 'relationship issues' between Canada and China: Emerson

Falungong protests and the extended stay of China's most wanted fugitive Lai Changxing in Canada are "the issues" in shaping the China-Canada relationship, said international trade minister David Emerson in the Asia Pacific summit in Vancouver.

This is the first time a Canadian minister admits that Falungong and Lai Changxing may hinder relationship between the two countries.

"I'm not saying these things (Falungong and Lai) are hard facts relating to the Canada-China relation, but definitely are part of the constellation of relationship issues that China needs to understand... that in a Canadian legal and constitutional context, there are things we can do and things we can't do," Emerson said.

However, he denied there was tension between China and Canada. He said, for example, he and foreign minister Peter Mackay will visit China next January. He said the new Tory gov needed time to understand issues at stake between China and Canada and that's why they weren't able to pay a visit to China sooner.

Emerson said, "My goal is to start to push for the trade and commercial files." Talks around ADS (approved destination status) has been stalled for some time.

"People are saying Canada needs to understand China, but we need to look at the other side too."

Emerson also said that prime minister Stephen Harper has requested to meet with Chinese president Hu Jintao one-on-one during the APEC summit in Vietnam next month, though he emphasized he could not speak on behalf of the prime minister.

"But scheduling has been difficult, especially from the Chinese side."

"All of this spinning that is going on that the government is not prepared to deal with China is not true," Emerson stressed.

Among the agreements he hinted was tied up by the "constellation" was one that would have Beijing grant approved destination status to Canada and make it easier for Chinese tourists to visit.

Emerson said issues such human rights would be prominent in the policy still being developed by the Conservatives, but he suggested they were still grappling with the "nitty gritty as to tactics."

"How do you pursue your human rights objectives, your democracy objectives, environmental objectives and so on, in a practical way that doesn't limit and hurt Canada's economic prospects?"

Towards the end of the scrum with reporters, Emerson was asked: "Are you going to run in the next election?"

Emerson's answer was: "Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!"

Then he left.

(With files from Reuters.)
　

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Canada needs new trade plan with Asia, trade minister says

Canada's trade minister says our country needs a new trade plan with Asia

VANCOUVER (CP) - Canada is losing the war on trade and it's time to pour some octane into trading resources, International Trade Minister David Emerson said Friday.

Emerson told the Asia Pacific Summit meeting Canada is in a trade malaise and hasn't kept up with the competition in liberalizing trade.

"You take energy out of the numbers, we'll probably end in negative territory, in terms of export growth," he said of the country's trade figures.

The U.S. and Australia far outperform Canada in trade with Asia.

"The rise of Asia as been a tectonic global shift," Emerson said.

He told the crowd of a few hundred people it's a missed opportunity to diversify the Canadian economy.

"Canada has not walked the talk. We have not taken advantage of the opportunities," Emerson said.

However, he also indicated in his speech that it's not Canada that's stalling on most favoured national trade status with China.

"The Chinese are working hard. But they need to understand Canada. We've had issues. . .with the Falun Gong, the protests here," he later told reporters.

And China is also moving in on Canada's coveted trade position with the U.S.

Emerson said by next year China will overtake Canada as the No. 1 exporter into the United States.

"Our job is to work in partnership with governments and private industry to drive a successful Asia-Pacific gateways and corridors initiative."

He said the country needs to move quickly from talking to walking and then running to catch up on trade.

"But without trade liberalization framework agreements it won't be enough," he cautioned.

"China, Japan, Korea, India, Singapore and Indonesia must become more active focal points for trade policy attention," Emerson said, adding that will take more money.

"We're not putting enough octane, we're not putting enough resources into trade negotiations and we're going to have to fix that."

Emerson said trade and approved destination status will be a few of the main topics when he and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay visit China early next year.

Tags: china, canada, trade, peter mackay, david emerson, asia, exports

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Japan blocks ethnic Chinese from disputed islands

Japan Blocks Ethnic Chinese From Disputed Islands
By REUTERS

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's coast guard prevented ethnic Chinese activists on Friday from landing on Japanese-held islands also claimed by China and Taiwan, a fresh reminder of territorial disputes that dog Tokyo's ties with its neighbors.

The boat carrying the activists turned away from the uninhabited East China Sea islets, known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyutai in China, and left Japanese waters after Japanese patrol ships warned it not to go any closer and sprayed it with water.

Twenty Japanese coast guard vessels blocked its way as three helicopters hovered around, the group that sent the boat said, adding that it was now heading back to Hong Kong.

An aging fishing trawler had set sail from Hong Kong on Sunday carrying some 20 protesters -- from Hong Kong, the U.S. and Canada and elsewhere -- who claim China's sovereignty over the islands.

``We have said that Japanese authorities will deal sternly and take steps to expel them if they enter and land on Japanese territory,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said.

The Japanese coast guard declined to disclose the number of ships involved or other details of the operation, but the activists' group said the boat had collided with a coast guard ship and had suffered damages to its front and side.

``The central (Beijing) government should lodge a serious complaint with Japan because they endangered our crew members, they also failed to respect our sovereignty over the islands,'' said Ku Kwai-yiu, a member of the group that organized the protest mission.

China, Taiwan and Japan all claim the islands, 170 km (100 miles) northeast of Taiwan and 410 km (250 miles) west of Japan's Okinawa island. Some analysts say they sit above underwater deposits of oil and gas and around rich fishing grounds.

``Historically, it's clear that they are Japanese territory,'' Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said earlier on Friday.

The incident served as a reminder to Tokyo and Beijing of the thorny territorial feud just as the countries see a thaw in their ties brought about by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to China this month.

In September 1996, Chinese activist David Chan died after jumping into rough seas from a chartered Hong Kong vessel to protest against Japan's claim to the islands, and in March 2004, Japanese police arrested seven Chinese activists who landed on one of the islands.

The islands are also near gas fields disputed between Japan and China, another of the several issues that have dragged down ties between the Asian neighbors.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has not commented on the latest incident, but its spokesman said on Sunday that Beijing has ``strongly demanded'' Japan react to the protest calmly and not jeopardize the safety of the activists and their vessel.

Abe's meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing was the first between the two countries' leaders since April 2005.

Hu had shunned meetings with Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, due to his annual visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead, seen by Beijing as a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism.

Tags: china, japan, diaoyutai, diaoyu island

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Storyscapes Chinatown launches new audio montages

Storyscapes Chinatown launches new audio montages

Shared stories between the Aboriginal and Chinese communities in Vancouver, presented through audio montages and story boards, will be part of the Heart of the City Festival in Chinatown on:

Saturday, October 28 from 12 noon to 3 pm
Chinese Cultural Centre
50 East Pender Street

The works are a part of Storyscapes Chinatown, a community art initiative that provides opportunities to acknowledge the important places, histories, and contributions of Chinese and Aboriginal residents in Vancouver and the diverse ways these communities have come together. Storyscapes is a partnership between the City of Vancouver and KAYA (Knowledgeable Aboriginal Youth Association), with assistance from the Musqueam Indian Band, Vancouver Chinatown Revitalization Committee, Aboriginal Front Door Society and other community groups.

From January to May 2006, a team of two Aboriginal and two Chinese youth collected audio interviews about the interaction between the Aboriginal and Chinese communities. This unique project brought together generations and communities to build a deeper understanding of Vancouver's cross-cultural histories.

Audio montages of selected stories are featured through a service provided by the company [murmur], which presents local stories through the telephone and websites. Two Storyscapes Chinatown signs marked with green graphics of an ear are located on light poles on Pender Street, just east and west of Carrall Street near the bus stops. These signs provide a telephone number and access code to hear the story related to that location. Stories will be offered in both English and Chinese and available at anytime during or after the festival.

As well, 23 story boards with text and photos will be on display at the Chinese Cultural Centre as part of the Heart of the City Festival, which celebrates the rich and diverse communities of the Downtown Eastside. The SUCCESS Seniors Dance Group, the Chinese Seniors Choir and musical group Zeelia (performing at 3 pm at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Garden at 578 Carrall Street) are among the other highlights on October 28. The festival will run until November 5, and showcase more than 250 artists in all.

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Ambassador: human rights dialogue business as usual

The annual human rights dialogue with China will continue as usual, Canada's ambassador to Beijing Robert Wright told Canadian business yesterday on the Asia Pacific Summit (story in Chinese).

While Wright might be saying it's business as usual, there's news that Ottawa is thinking of shelving the dialogue and looking for tougher human rights mechanism with China (here).

Wright doesn't feel that China is unhappy about Canadian suggestions on human rights. He observes that China is "very friendly" towards Canada and sees Canada as a non-threatening, friendly western country.

Wright said China expresses immense interests in Canada's experience in social, human rights and environment issues. However, he agrees that the progress of the human rights dialogue has been slow and China should put in more effort to speed up.

Wright thus denies Canada-China relation has turned sour under the Conservative gov, at least, he said, he doesn't think so as an ambassador.

Wright is worried that Canadian business is only "doing OK' in cashing in China's economic progress, and may fall behind the world in taking a share in the China market.

Tags: china, canada, human rights, human rights dialogue, diplomacy, ambassador, robert wright, beijing, ottawa

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Ottawa ponders tougher human rights strategy against China

From the Globe and Mail:

Ottawa weighs shelving Chinese rights dialogue
Beijing warns of 'serious' repercussions if annual talks put on ice

GEOFFREY YORK AND BRIAN LAGHI

BEIJING, OTTAWA -- The federal government, under heavy criticism for its ineffective talks with China over human rights, is debating whether to proceed with the "human-rights dialogue" as planned this fall.

The annual event was a centrepiece of the previous Liberal government's policy of engagement with China. But many members of the new Conservative government are sharply critical of China's human-rights record and are seeking a tougher approach. (note: Canada's ambassador to China says the human rights dialogue will continue as planned.)

The dialogue was launched in 1997 as part of an agreement between the two countries when Canada decided not to co-sponsor a resolution about Chinese rights violations at the United Nations human-rights commission in Geneva. It is an annual event, usually lasting one or two days, in which Canadian and Chinese officials discuss an agenda of human-rights issues.

It has been assailed by a coalition of Canadian human-rights groups, which is calling for its temporary suspension and reassessment. And a study by a Canadian professor found that the dialogue is largely a propaganda exercise, intended by China to defuse foreign criticism.

While federal officials did begin preparations for the talks about six weeks ago, there is still no date set, and the normal consultations over the agenda have not yet begun. The delay is seen as a hint that the Tories are reconsidering the event.

A senior government source confirmed yesterday that the government is looking for a stronger mechanism. The source said the dialogue might still be held this year, but could be replaced in future.

A parliamentary subcommittee, headed by Conservative MP Jason Kenney, will also hold a hearing Tuesday to review the annual talks. Mr. Kenney, who acts as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's parliamentary secretary, is a strong advocate of more actively advancing the human-rights cause in China.

The coalition of human-rights groups had sought the review for five years, but were snubbed until the Conservatives took power.

A popular Chinese newspaper warned this month that Canada would face a "serious diplomatic problem" in its relations with China if it cancelled the dialogue. The Beijing-based Global Times newspaper told readers there were "cold winds blowing" from a "behind-the-times" government in Canada.

The Harper government has been badly divided on its China policy, with its caucus and cabinet split between those who want to emphasize human rights and those who want to give priority to trade.

At a closed-door consultation with key groups on Oct. 19, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and International Trade Minister David Emerson heard criticism from Canadian business leaders and academics who warned that Canada's relationship with China is suffering neglect and damage because China is increasingly unhappy with the policy vacuum and the negative signals from Conservative MPs who seem to favour Taiwan over Beijing.

Mr. MacKay, however, gave no indication that the Conservatives would announce a new policy as long as they remain in minority.

In a letter to the government this month, a coalition of a dozen human-rights groups and other China-related organizations said the human-rights dialogue should be "temporarily suspended" because of China's recent crackdown on human-rights defenders and because the Tory government has failed to develop a new China policy.

The coalition, citing a detailed study by Brock University political scientist Charles Burton, said there are "substantial shortcomings and failings" in the dialogue, launched by the previous Liberal government in 1997, and argued that it should be delayed until the government responds to the Burton report.

Mr. Burton, who has been invited to testify to Mr. Kenney's parliamentary subcommittee, concluded that the dialogue is plagued by "pervasive cynicism" and "dialogue fatigue." Most of it is scripted in advance and has "little connection" to realities on the ground, he found.

The event has gradually been downgraded by Beijing and does not even involve the right officials, because the Chinese side is represented by Foreign Ministry officials who have no involvement in human rights, Mr. Burton found.

Carole Samdup of Rights & Democracy, part of the rights coalition, said a suspension would be "good news" if it means a serious rethinking. "The dialogue, in its current form, does not serve human-rights interests," she said.

Tags: china, canada, beijing, ottawa, human rights

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SUCCESS plans office in Beijing

SUCCESS has gained initial support from Ottawa in a plan to open an office in Beijing helping would-be immigrants in recognizing their credentials and skills, said Thomas Yeung, principal of SUCCESS's training institute (story in Chinese).

According to Yeung, SUCCESS is partnering with BCIT in a pilot project to prepare would-be immigrants for English and employment, as well as recognition of their credentials. Ottawa supports the feasibility study, which is expected to finish in 6 months.

Tags: SUCCESS, BCIT, beijing, recognition of credentials, immigrants, immigration

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10,000 Chinese students riot over academic status

From the Vancouver Sun:

10,000 Chinese students battle police
At least 20 reported injured in four days of protests over academic status
Associated Press

BEIJING -- Up to 10,000 college students fought with Chinese police in four days of protests over their academic status, damaging cars and buildings and leaving at least 20 people injured, a foreign monitoring centre said Thursday.

The protests erupted Oct. 21 in Nanchang, a city in Jiangxi province, after students learned that the government might not recognize academic records from two private schools, the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said.

The paramilitary People's Armed Police detained at least five, the report said.

It said the protesters were ethnic minorities, including some 2,000 Uighurs from China's Muslim northwest.

Protesters set fire to a building, wrecking eight offices, and damaged three cars, the report said. It said students were calling for a protest march to be held Sunday.

People who answered the phone at the Nanchang police headquarters and the administration offices of the two schools -- Jiangxi Ganjiang Institute of Technology and the Jiangxi Institute of Fashion College -- wouldn't confirm the report or give their names. A man who answered the phone at the Ganjiang Institute of Technology's registration office and said his brother who studied there confirmed there was a protest, but said it involved only a few hundred students. He said he didn't know of any injuries.

"The students worried that their degree would not be officially recognized, so they protested and rioted in the compound," said the man, who wouldn't give his name.

"Now the government officials are in the university to explain to the students," he said. "They said the students misunderstood and their degrees were officially recognized. Most of the students have gone to classes."

China has seen a spate of such protests of the status of degrees granted to students at private schools set up by universities as profit-making ventures.

The schools serve students who failed intensely competitive entrance exams for government-subsidized universities, but can afford to pay private tuition. Such schools initially granted degrees and academic records in the name of the parent institution. But the government has cracked down on that practice.

Tags: china, riot, students, degree recognition, academic status, police

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China buys Canadian oil assets

China's CITIC Group to buy Kazakhstan oil assets from Canada's Nations Energy
The Associated Press

SHANGHAI, China In China's latest big overseas oil deal, government conglomerate CITIC Group plans to buy Nations Energy Co.'s oil assets in Kazakhstan for US$1.91 billion (€1.5 billion), the companies said Thursday.

The purchase, which requires approval by Calgary, Canada-based Nations Energy shareholders and the governments of Canada and Kazakhstan, would be China's third-largest acquisition of overseas oil assets.

Privately held Nations Energy's controlling shareholder, Ecolo Investments Ltd., has agreed to back CITIC's offer deal unless the company receives a superior one before the purchase is finalized, the companies said in a statement. Ecolo owns 76 percent of Nations Energy.

The deal is due to be completed in December, it said.

"We believe this is a fair price for Nations Energy shareholders and optionholders and the board of directors has unanimously agreed to recommend this transaction," David G. Wilson, a director for Nations Energy, said in the statement.

The purchase is only of Canada-based Nations Energy's biggest asset, the Karazhanbas field in Kazakhstan, which has proven oil reserves exceeding 340 million barrels, and current production of over 50,000 barrels of oil a day.

The company said it plans to divest itself from smaller assets it has in Azerbaijian, Indonesia and California.

CITIC, which has significant infrastructural investments in Central Asia, is planning to build a medium-sized refinery at Karazhanbas, said Zhang Jijing, a CITIC Group director.

"This is an excellent platform for CITIC's further diversified investment and business cooperation in Kazakhstan," Zhang said in the statement.

China has moved aggressively to buy up energy assets overseas to help fuel its booming economy and improve its energy security.

Last year, state-owned China National Petroleum eclipsed Russian rivals to acquire an oil field in Kazakhstan for US$4.2 billion and built a pipeline to carry Kazakh crude to China.

In April, CNOOC, the country's offshore oil producer, acquired a US$2.3 billion stake in a Nigerian offshore oil field.

China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec Group, in late June agreed to buy Anglo-Russian oil producer TNK-BP Holdings oil production unit Udmurtneft for US$3.5 billion. But the deal called for it to sell 51 percent to Russian state oil company OAO Rosneft.

The Karazhanbas field was discovered in the 1970s and was in decline when Nations Energy acquired it in 1997 and drilled new wells, upgraded existing wells and added new production facilities, according to the company's Web site.

According to the Nations Energy's Web site, the company's chairman is Indonesian tycoon Hashim Djojohadikusumo, a son of Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, who was an economic advisor to former dictator Suharto, who stepped down in 1998 amid riots and protests after 32 years in power.

Nations Energy had been seeking a buyer for more than a year and reportedly unsuccessfully tried to sell itself to China National Petroleum Corp. and CNOOC Corp.

CITIC Group is one of China's biggest conglomerates. It was set up in Hong Kong in 1979 by former Vice President Rong Yiren as the government's main overseas investment arm.

CITIC Resources, a unit of CITIC Group with shares traded in Hong Kong, recently bought a 51 percent stake in an Indonesian field for US$97.4 million.

Tags: oil, china, canada, kazakhstan, citic, nations energy

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China vs India: which is giving us more immigrants?

I'm releasing more data on immigration applications. It's clear that Indian applications have always surpassed those of Beijing (at least for the last 2 years) (Table 1). However, eventual landing figures do not reflect this (Table 2).

Table 3 shows the number of inventory piled in different visa offices. Thanks Richard Kurland for the data. It can be seen that the backlog at New Delhi has remained more or less constant while those of Beijing and Hong Kong are declining.

Kurland believed the drop in inventory in Beijing and Hong Kong was a sign that Chinese people were turning away from Canada (here).

Others explained many reasons could lead to the decline in inventory, such as CIC stepping up effort to clear old files (here).

As clearly demonstrated, there are too many possible explanations to explain the relationship among the number of applications vs inventory vs landings.

I hope the stats here could offer a clearer picture of the immigration pattern from our top two source countries of immigrants.

Table 1. Immigraton applications received by posts, by categories

	Skilled workers	Busi- ness	PNP	Total Econ	Econ %	Sp., kids	Par., grandp.	Total family	Family %	TOTAL
2004
Taipei	1758	1493	87	3338	94	149	38	210	6	3551
Beijing	2724	616	395			2294	563	3909		7957
HK	5190	3977	118			4169	464	4657		14348
BJ+HK	7914	4593	513	13020	58	6463	1027	8566	38	22305
New D.	28773	835	654	30262	73	7452	2743	10373	25	41262
2005
Taipei	1641	1533	136	3310	95	155	9	184	5	3495
Beijing	2615	437	549	3601		2260	301	3577		7646
HK	7792	6525	370	14687		5893	304	6269		21644
BJ+HK	10407	6962	919	18288	62	8153	605	9846	34	29290
New D.