Challenges to Telecom Operators

Caijing Magazine
July 15

As one of the greatest inventions in this age, Internet technology has transformed many industries including that of mobile phones, publishing, and retailing. In this issue, Caijing Magazine focuses on the Chinese telecom industry, which used to enjoy a monopoly and protection from the government, but is now facing competition pressure not from foreign counterparts such as AT&T and Verizon, but from domestic Internet companies like Tencent and Alibaba.

Tencent's WeChat mobile community has over 300 million registered users, while Alibaba's Alipay has 800 million. The two companies are providing better telecom services than traditional counterparts and are called light operators. They don't have basic telecom networks, but achieve much higher profits than traditional operators. What's more, as the government is determined not to support monopolies, light operators will spring up in large numbers. The future telecom market will be divided up by traditional and light telecom operators.

If telecom giants China Unicom, China Mobile and China Telecom don't want to be reduced to mere data transmission passages in the future, they have to reform. However, the resources they hold impedes their progress. What they lack is not technology, but new thinking, which requires a new system and institutions.

Is Luxury Hotel Needed?

People's Daily
July 23

It was reported that the local government of Xinye County in central China's Henan Province plans to remove a public park that costs over 10 million yuan ($1.63 million) and build a five-star luxury hotel as well as apartment buildings in the county. Local officials said the luxury hotel will become the first in the area.

Is building a luxury hotel for a small county appropriate? In the view of local officials, they would like to spend as much as it took to construct the hotel.

How important is having a five-star hotel? In fact, the construction of a luxury hotel would neither promote the development of a city nor improve the living standards of local people. To some extent, a public park is more needed by people.

However, the luxury hotel is necessary to local officials. In their eyes, it is the symbol of a prosperous city, and also reflects the achievement of their careers.

Consequently, it makes sense that the local government spare no effort to construct the luxury hotel and residence buildings to bring in more revenues. Probably, this is the real reason some local governments remove public infrastructure and farm land to develop real estate.

In February, the State Council issued a degree, demanding that governments at all levels shall build more leisure facilities, including parks and scenic areas, and provide convenient conditions for the public to enjoy leisure time. Obviously, the construction project of a luxury hotel in the county is a violation of the Central Government's mandate.

Behind Urban Inland Inundation

Xinhua Daily Telegraph
July 23

Sudden heavy rain recently turned Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province, into a bath. More than 2,000 travelers were delayed at the airport, while over 10,000 citizens suffered from a power outage.

The city's poor performance against heavy rain exposed its weak administration. Just last year, it invested in upgrading 40 roads. However, Kunming is not the only example. Currently, extreme weather occurs frequently. Against this backdrop, urban inland inundation has become a significant problem faced by many Chinese cities. Chengdu, Wuhan, Guangzhou, amongst others, have all suffered accordingly.

On the one hand, heavy rain and weak urban drainage systems are to blame. On the other, shoddy engineering has caused a lot of trouble.

Faced with frequent urban inland inundation, the focus normally falls on the conflict between rapid urban development and backward infrastructure, while corruption and moral integrity are neglected.

Xinjiang Policy

Oriental Outlook
July 25

Governing the country by law is a basic strategy in China, which includes the management of urban communities in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China. To maintain stability in Xinjiang's minority areas, laws should be introduced.

First, the following principles should be abided by. Different ethnic groups' awareness of their identity should be weakened and their awareness of their identity as a Chinese citizen should be strengthened; information concerning people's welfare and social security should be made public and transparent; the well-being of people comes first.

Second, the quality of law enforcement should be improved, the sense of service should be increased and the ability to solve disputes upscaled.

Third, citizens' sense of law should be improved and their self-governing awareness enhanced.

In a word, governing by law is the basic method of maintaining stability in urban communities in Xinjiang's minority areas. Sound and improved laws and regulations can provide a legal basis and direction to maintain stability in the region and regulate law enforcement behavior. In the meantime, citizens can supervise community stability according to law. A legal atmosphere provides support to Xinjiang's economic development as well as its peace and stability.