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Hong Kong pushes ahead with patriotism classes
by Staff Writers
Hong Kong (AFP) July 30, 2012

US lawmakers meet China dissident Chen on Wednesday
Washington (AFP) July 30, 2012 - Senior lawmakers in the US Congress will meet Wednesday with prominent Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, House Speaker John Boehner's office said.

The top Republican in the House "will host a bipartisan meeting with Chen Guangcheng," including Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, in the US Capitol followed by a photo opportunity and brief remarks to reporters, Boehner's office said in a statement late Monday.

Chen, the blind activist whose flight to the US embassy in Beijing in April sparked a major diplomatic incident, had been scheduled to testify last week at a US House hearing on human rights conditions in China but declined to appear, apparently out of fear of reprisal against relatives back in China.

Chen was sentenced to more than four years in prison in 2006 after exposing abuses in China's one-child policy, and then placed under house arrest upon his release in September 2010.

The 40-year-old activist's escape from house arrest and his dramatic arrival at the US embassy in Beijing highlighted China's long-criticized human rights record. After high-level emergency negotiations between US and Chinese officials, Chen was allowed to move to the United States.

Boehner, a pro-life conservative, has called China's one-child policy "reprehensible," and in a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Washington in January 2011 he raised the issue and said China's leaders had "a responsibility to do better" with regard to human rights.



Hong Kong on Monday vowed to push ahead with patriotism classes despite mass protests over what parents and teachers call Chinese brainwashing.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying offered a new round of consultations with parents after up to 90,000 people protested against the plans at the weekend.

But he ruled out any delays to the implementation of the policy, which will see all primary and secondary school pupils taking mandatory "national education" classes by 2016.

"There will be a three-year starting period. This means that schools, depending on their own situation, can decide to start teaching the subject this year, next year, or the year after the next," he told reporters.

The government has said the subject is important to foster a sense of national pride and belonging, but many teachers, parents and students complain it forces children to learn Chinese communist propaganda.

"The government definitely does not have the intention to brainwash," said Leung, who was chosen to govern the semi-autonomous southern city by a pro-Beijing committee earlier this year.

"Schools, teachers and educational bodies will have a lot of space using professional attitudes and using open methods to teach this subject."

The government announced the formation of a special committee to monitor the implementation of the subject following Sunday's mass protest.

The committee will ensure the subject is taught in a way "to educate our students to have independent thinking, to be able to analyse situations and come to an objective judgement", Chief Secretary Carrie Lam told reporters.

A leading parent group has publicly rejected the offer of further consultations with the government, saying their participation would only legitimise the process.

Under the proposed curriculum, which could be introduced voluntarily as early as September, students would take 50 hours of lessons a year focusing on "building national harmony, identity and unity among individuals".

Critics say the curriculum glosses over events like the bloody Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1989, and the mass starvation and extrajudicial killings of Mao's Cultural Revolution.

A 34-page government-sponsored booklet intended to be used in the classes praises the Chinese Communist Party as "progressive, selfless and united".

China's one-party rule is compared favourably to multi-party democracy as practised in the United States, which is described as inefficient and disruptive.

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China paper says leaders must listen after riots
Beijing (AFP) July 30, 2012 - China's most influential newspaper on Monday urged authorities to listen to people's worries about pollution, after fears over a new waste water pipeline sparked weekend riots.

"The public's awareness of environmental issues and their rights is increasing at a rapid pace," said an editorial in the People's Daily -- the mouthpiece of China's ruling Communist party.

China should strive to "establish an open and transparent decision-making mechanism, and build a tolerant environment for public opinion", it said.

Authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Qidong agreed Saturday to cancel plans to build a new water pipeline after thousands of local people took to the streets, overturning cars and ransacking government offices.

They were concerned that the pipeline, from a Japanese-owned paper factory, would pollute a nearby fishing port.

China's dependence on manufacturing for economic growth has left the country struggling with a legacy of industrial pollution, and the riots were only the latest in a series of environmental protests.

Last year, a large-scale demonstration in the coastal city of Dalian forced the local government to relocate a chemical factory.

The People's Daily said the growing frustration surrounding pollution from industrial projects provides the country with an opportunity to shift away from low-end manufacturing towards less-polluting industries.

Many of the projects that have been the object of citizen protests had been approved by the local government without sufficient consultation with local residents, it said.

Such high profile protests highlighted the need "to promote interaction between citizens and government" when assessing the environmental impact of proposed industrial projects, the paper added.



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