Sunday, September 28, 2003

News

Taking on the Party in Rural China: The trash-filled streets of this township in southwestern China look like those of any other poverty-stricken rural backwater. Farmers bedeck their mud and brick huts with dried red peppers and thresh newly harvested grain in the central square. But last month the town of 10,000 people became a front line in China's battle over political reform. Wei Shengduo, a low-level Communist Party secretary here, made the daring and, as it turned out, risky decision to organize a direct election for the head of the township government, a position that is usually appointed by party bureaucrats.

China cleans up TV ads during mealtime: China's television stations may no longer show commercials for feminine hygiene products, hemorrhoid ointments and other such items during mealtimes.

Plan for Tibet dam sets off protests: A dispute over communist cronyism has erupted in China after the prime minister approved plans to build a dam on a Tibetan holy lake, one of the country's remaining great wildernesses.

Drowning Shows China's Growing Faith in the Courts: While people once dismissed the courts as corrupt and biased, many Chinese now believe that the brand of justice being meted out can be fair and reliable. [New York Times: Requires free registration]

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