Congressional China Caucus

CHINA VOWS PUNISHMENT OVER FORCED ABORTION AT SEVEN MONTHS.  Reuters reports that Chinese authorities have vowed to punish officials who forced a woman who was seven months pregnant to have an abortion.  From the piece: “Officials forced the woman, Feng Jianmei, who is in her 20s, to have an abortion at a hospital in the northwestern province of Shaanxi in June, state media reported.  The woman's treatment drew the attention of national media and the fury of China's micro bloggers after her husband posted pictures online of her with her aborted baby girl on a hospital bed… Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, who was allowed to travel to the United States in May, rose to prominence seven years ago for campaigning against forced abortions done in the name of the government's so-called one-child policy.”  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/15/us-china-abortion-idUSBRE85E08U20120615

A CHINESE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY PLANS TO BUILD THE WORLD’S TALLEST BUILDING IN 9 MONTHS.  http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/06/15/build-the-worlds-tallest-building-in-nine-months-sure-why-not/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=chinablog

CHINA, IRAN, RUSSIA HELPED VENEZUELA BUILD DRONE: CHAVEZ.  According to DefenseNews and AFP, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has revealed that Venezuela has built its first drone in a partnership with Iran, Russia and China.  From the piece: “‘It is one of the three planes that we have manufactured here, and we are continuing to make them ... not just for military use, [as] much of its equipment is for civilian use,’ Chavez said during a meeting with top military and defense officials.  The drones were developed in cooperation with ‘Russia, China, Iran and other allied countries,’ he said in remarks broadcast on radio and television.”  http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120614/DEFREG02/306140006/China-Iran-Russia-Helped-Venezuela-Build-Drone-Chavez?odyssey=nav|head

CHINA HITS BACK AT U.S. CRITICISMS AT WTO.  Reuters reports that China has rejected U.S. criticism during a review of its trade policies at the World Trade Organization and suggested that U.S. accusations in some areas are hypocritical.  From the piece: “China swatted aside many of the criticisms, which included complaints about its failure to disclose subsidies and a lack of transparency and intellectual property enforcement.  China's Assistant Minister of Commerce Yu Jianhua said he regretted that during the TPR process some WTO members had deemed China was practicing state capitalism.  ‘The term cannot be found in ... WTO documents. It has nothing to do with the TPR or WTO rules. We strongly believe TPR should not be abused for the purpose of domestic politics,’ he said… A U.S. demand for more transparency fell on stony ground, with China saying the commitments to transparency cited by the United States were outside the WTO's remit.”  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/14/us-china-trade-wto-idUSBRE85D1CE20120614

NEW STUDY FINDS REVEALING PATTERNS IN CHINESE INTERNET CENSORSHIP.  According to the WSJ, a study released by Harvard University’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science examined China’s internet censorship behavior.  From the piece: “Conducted by Harvard political scientist Gary King in conjunction with Ph.D. candidates Jennifer Pan and Margaret Roberts, the study focuses on longer form blogs and message boards, leaving aside China’s most popular Twitter-like microblog platforms, known as weibo. The findings nevertheless provide useful new insights both into the ways China censors information online and the relationship of that censorship to the government’s actions in the real world.  ‘This is an enormous program. Hundreds of thousands of people are involved to help the government keep secrets…and the interesting paradox is an enormous program like that, designed to keep people from seeing things, actually exposes itself,’ Mr. King said in an interview. ‘An elephant leaves big footprints.’”  http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/06/14/new-study-finds-revealing-patterns-in-chinese-internet-censorship/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=chinablog

The Caucus Brief is a daily publication for Members of Congress and Hill Staffers on China news and information compiled by the office of Congressman Randy Forbes, Founder of the Congressional China Caucus.  Email Reed.Eckhold@mail.house.gov with tips, comments, or to subscribe/unsubscribe.