Crackdown on illegal hukou

A CRIMINAL RING SELLING THE QUOTAS OF Beijing hukou, or household registrations, was cracked in recent days with 16 offenders arrested or detained. It is not the first time that such an illegal business has been uncovered. The fact that managers of human resources in some State-owned enterprises are involved points to the abuse of such quotas.

Tangible interests fuel abuses

Hukou in metropolises are linked with core interests such as better education, medical care and social security, all of which are appealing to ordinary people; however, there are too high requirements for obtaining these hukou, especially as the populations in the metropolises are too big and need to be controlled. The demand is the root cause of illegal hukou trade and won't diminish unless reform unlinks hukou with these interests.

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Don't panic at more bad realty news

Investors have been treated to a litany of bad news about the property market recently. China's National Bureau of Statistics reports that on average property prices in the country's 70 largest cities have fallen for three consecutive months and that in July price declines were recorded in 64 of the cities. In terms of gross floor area, residential property sales are down 9.4 percent year-on-year while housing starts are down 16.4 percent, the weakest data in at least five years.

How can US go on leading the world?

Eighteenth-century German military strategist Carl von Clausewitz defined war as the continuation of politics by different means, and, like ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu, believed that securing peace meant preparing for violent conflict. As the world becomes increasingly tumultuous - apparent in the revival of the military struggle in Ukraine, continued chaos in the Middle East and rising tensions in East Asia - such thinking could not be more relevant.

Letters

Rhetoric versus political reality

From the Chinese press

Bright future ahead for Net dramas

SAR Basic Law is the base

Love the country and love Hong Kong is the basic requirement for candidates for Chief Executive of the special administrative region

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West casts shadow over Africa's development

After the unbearable heat of Ethiopia, I ended my trip to Africa in Egypt, where it was raining and comfortably cool almost every day.

Reconnaissance damages trust

AGAIN IT WAS A NEAR THING ACCORDING TO the narrative of the US military: a Chinese jet fighter made "dangerous" passes at a US navy plane. The US Deputy Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said what the Chinese jet did was "obviously deeply concerning provocation". But the real question is what were US navy planes were doing near China's territorial space?

US surveillance the real issue

After a Chinese fighter jet made a regular identification and verification of a US anti-submarine plane in the "international airspace" of the South China Sea, Washington accused Chinese jet of an "illegal" interception and a "dangerous operation" as it came within fifteen meters of its US counterpart. However, what needs to be made clear is that frequent close-in surveillance of another independent country has no legality at all. Confronted with US hegemony under the cloak of "free navigation", the Chinese fighter was entitled to make a safe interception and protect the country's military intelligence from being spied upon.