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The bad and the good of micro texts

There are both advantages and disadvantages that come with the joining of micro text message groups. One of the advantages is reestablishing connections with old acquaintances with whom one may have long lost contact, while one of the disadvantages is the amount of time eaten up reading micro text messages, which are difficult to resist.

China's trade engine

The better-than-expected trade growth in January does not necessarily guarantee a strong sustained start in 2014, because the Lunar New Year, which fell at the end of January this year, makes the trade figures volatile at the start of each year.

Skills to match jobs

A shortage of labor is becoming an increasingly common headache in the coastal provinces. The latest figures show that Guangzhou, Guangdong province, traditionally one of the country's main manufacturing centers, might face a shortage of up to 123,300 workers this year.

Redemption or self-deception

The attempts of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other politicians to change history, combined with his visit to Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A and hundreds of lesser war criminals, on Dec 26, has further soured relations between China and Japan. Especially nauseating has been the denial of "Nanjing Massacre" and trivialization of the "comfort women" issue by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) chief Katsuto Momii.

Think tanks have got "pivot" to Asia wrong

In the minds of former US government officials and policy academics who populate Washington think tanks like the Brookings Institution and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Asia before the arrival of the East India Company's taipans and Commodore Perry's "Black Ships" was devoid of an accepted, or acceptable, international order. China, Korea, Japan and the rest of the region were backward and incapable of sophisticated engagement with each other, or with the outside world.

Letters

Toilet facilities poor

From the Chinese Press

More equitable development needed

Into an abyss of disgrace

Among world leaders, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is unparalleled in making headlines for the wrong reasons.

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Foresight into common dreams with India

Editor's note: The following are remarks by State Councilor Yang Jiechi at the launch ceremony of the Year of China-India Friendly Exchanges held in New Delhi on Feb 11.

Cross-Straits step forward

Some are calling it a major breakthrough, even a milestone.