4 COMMENT MONDAY APRIL 9, 2007 DAILY THE NATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER Learning Chinese Beijing Washington, DC A MEMBER OF 15 Huixin Dongjie, Rm 1818, Hing Wai Centre PMB 223 4401-A Chaoyang District 7 Tin Wan Praya Road Connecticut Ave. NW, not so hard Beijing 100029 P.R. China Aberdeen, Hong Kong Washington, DC 20008-2322 Tel: (86-10) 6499-5000 Tel: (852) 2518-5111 Tel: 1-202-558-6517

Building ROK relations YOU NUO

remier Wen Jiabao will to-people visits have totaled more ooking at the horizon of Chi- set off tomorrow on his than 5 million. nese-language teaching in the offi cial visit to the Re- These achievements have re- LEnglish-speaking world, anyone public of Korea against sulted from the efforts of both with knowledge of both languages a background of friend- countries to improve ties in all cannot but feel disappointed. Pship and cooperation. spheres. Both share the belief I obtained most of my basic English There is every reason for China that cooperation and exchanges during the “cultural revolution” in the and the ROK to work together for will lead to peace and prosperity 1970s, when any overseas contact, di- peace and development not only for all. rect or indirect, was diffi cult. But still, in Northeast Asia but throughout Frequent visits and exchanges more and more people realized that the world. between top leaders have en- English was going to be useful and Cross-cultural communica- hanced mutual understanding started to prepare themselves. tion and economic exchanges and trust. They have enabled It is amazing, in fact, to see language Liu Yanfeng learning finally moving both ways between the two nations go China and the ROK to enter into more than 40 years later. A growing back thousands of years. The comprehensive partnerships and number of students are studying Chi- two peoples share much in set concrete goals to further bi- nese in US schools. But despite all the common, especially in their lateral cooperation in investment, progress in technology, especially the traditional values, ethics and trade, culture, education, science Internet, students are still experienc- customs. No wonder so many and technology. ing many unnecessary diffi culties. Chinese television viewers cry The two countries have also Local banks, don’t be Their biggest challenge is even or laugh as they watch family increased consultation and col- harder to tackle than that faced by dramas unfold in South Korea. laboration in international af- China’s English learners in the 1970s. China-ROK relations began to fairs, especially the Six-Party Scaremongers are spreading fear of advance 15 years ago as the two Talks to denuclearize the Korean learning Chinese — some from China, countries established diplomatic Peninsula. Together China and blind to competition some from the overseas Chinese com- ties. Since then bilateral trade the ROK are seeking ways to munities. More scaremongering is By Yuan Dejun CHINA has increased 26 fold, amount- meet the challenges of economic necessary for banks to set different coming from native English speakers ing to $130 billion last year. The globalization. FORUM loan rates for customers with differ- who don’t speak much Chinese. ROK has granted China market With a full agenda to continue ent risks. They repeatedly harp on what a economy status. the momentum of the compre- fter their locally incorporated A closer look should be taken into Without significant progress in diffi cult language Chinese is when entities were approved, HSBC, the market share occupied by foreign mastering financial know-how, it is actually not. Years ago, we traveled to each hensive bilateral relationship, Citibank, Standard Chartered banks in specifi c business fi elds. domestic banks will hardly keep Recently, when discussing the other’s capital via Tokyo or Hong Premier Wen’s visit will establish A Bank and Bank of East Asia celebrated To keep a competitive edge, foreign the upper hand in competing with lack of teachers in Kong despite the fact that fl ight a new benchmark in China-ROK the opening of more than 100 retail banks try to focus on several catego- foreign banks. schools, one US newspaper began its time between Beijing and Seoul relations. outlets on April 2. ries of fi nancial services in which Chinese commercial banks lack in- report: “It takes brute memorization, is only about two hours. Today, Most appropriately, the visit Qualifi ed overseas banks have for- they have better expertise or from novative capability. They do not have meticulous pronunciation, and, com- there are 65 scheduled flights launches the opening of the Sino- mally gained permission, as required which they can make bigger profi ts. strong incentives to devise unique pared with Spanish, a good deal more between the two countries’ major South Korean Year of Friendly by China’s World Trade Organization Such categories include intermediate products and services, nor do they time spent in bug-eyed incomprehen- cities. In the past 15 years, people- Exchanges. (WTO) membership, to provide fi nan- businesses in foreign currency and have enough qualifi ed personnel for sion. Nevertheless, American students cial services on an equal ground with money management. In some coastal this challenge. Of course, Chinese are clamoring to learn Chinese. The domestic banks. regions, foreign banks have already banks are also subject to relatively problem: There aren’t enough teach- Many analysts think foreign banks overwhelmed domestic banks in deal- rigid regulation, which, to some de- ers to meet the demand.” will not pose a substantial threat to ing with certain businesses. gree, has limited innovation. The opening sentence is unwar- Save our soil domestic commercial banks, nor will Looking beyond current market ranted if one knows how Chinese is they create a big stir in the Chinese share, foreign banks have many y contrast, foreign banks are spoken in a daily context. In terms he State Environmental tion has found that the sources fi nancial market. advantages over their Chinese com- strong in offering diversifi ed of memorization, there are no more Protection Administra- of soil pollution are much more Such blind optimism could hurt petitors, which comes from their core Bproducts and services for a than 300 particles that form most tion (SEPA) announced diverse. domestic banks if widely accepted competence. variety of customers and adapting characters, with 100 or so used most that it will convene a Although investigation is still by China’s fi nancial authorities and Usually, foreign banks have stricter themselves to specific customer frequently. The number is by no means national meeting on pre- under way, we can assume that a managers. managerial policies, a more fl exible needs. harder to deal with than the road signs Tventing soil pollution this year. high degree of soil pollution exists. The optimists argue that foreign business mode, better designed fi - Admittedly, Chinese banks have (written and in symbol form — like the This follows the SEPA initiated The fact that more than 70 percent banks have occupied no more than nancial products and services, and their own advantages. shape of a building at the corner where national investigation into soil of the country’s waterways and 90 10 percent of the Chinese fi nancial staff with better professional skills They have an extensive network of you must make a right turn) that all pollution started last July. percent of its underground water market since being allowed into the than most Chinese banks. outlets around the country serving a drivers have to remember. Soil is the most fundamen- are polluted in varying degrees country years ago. As they see it, Chinese banks also surpass local vast network of customers. But this Moreover, when people are using tal element of the ecosystem, a indicates that most of the pollut- overseas banks are less competent banks in designing fi nancial products precious asset could turn poisonous if the computer to input Chinese writing basic resource for human exist- ants discharged from solid waste than expected. and services. not well managed since retail outlets (usually by using , the alphabetic ence and a final resting place and waste water have already been In fact, the whole picture should be One of the skills is the pricing are expensive to operate. Banks will be system to spell out the words) instead reviewed to ascertain foreign banks’ mechanism for bank loans. As the heavily burdened if the retail outlets do of writing characters stroke by stroke, for pollutants. Heavy metals, absorbed into soil. possible infl uence in China’s fi nancial most important source of bank profi ts, not attract enough business revenue. their written ability depends more than floating airborne particles, We dig wells more than 100 market. loans should have appropriate interest Chinese banks also have a better ever on their oral profi ciency. pollutants from solid waste meters into the earth for clean First of all, foreign banks in China rates based on a variety of factors. Few understanding of customers and the and sewage — most finally find drinking water, but we cannot have shown steady growth in market Chinese banks are knowledgeable in Chinese business culture. But this their way into the soil. plant our crops 100 meters share, business revenues and num- setting interest rates. advantage over foreign banks may not These pollutants enter our bod- down or in the air. Even if we bers of retail outlets. persist long. Foreign banks can grasp ies through the water we drink, could, the air is polluted. The In a vast market like China, it is not he ignorance in this regard is an a better understanding of local custom- the air we inhale and the food only way to keep polluted food likely that foreign banks will snatch outcome of the authorities’ long- ers by localizing. And the localization we eat. Our bodies’ outer layer of from entering our bodies is to a big portion of business within a Ttime strict control over interest of foreign banks began years ago. protection, our skin, may absorb clean our soil. few years. The total market share of rates. Even after the central bank As China lifts more restrictions pollutants from the air. We cannot afford the mindset foreign banks jumped from 1 percent widened the band for interest rates, on foreign banks, the Chinese banks Soil pollution is not as easily that the nation will deal with the in 2001 to about 2 percent in 2006. commercial banks still do not com- should be objective in evaluating detected as polluted rivers or air pollution accompanying develop- The growth is only a matter of one pete with each other on loan rates. themselves as well as their overseas but can have far more serious ment once we are a developed percentage point, but foreign banks Most domestic commercial banks competitors. While it is foolish to be consequences. The accumulation country. have doubled their market. offer similar services and products overconfident, there is no need to of pollutants of various kinds in It takes a long time for pollut- China imposed various limits on for- at similar prices and earn revenues panic. A fair conclusion will only be soil may eventually cause serious ants to accumulate in soil to the eign fi nancial institutes when it was at similar levels. drawn by cool minds. harm to human health. point of causing real harm. And accepted into WTO in 2001. Foreign The situation is set to change as the Even the pronunciation system has banks inched forward before the limits interest rate and the exchange rate The author is a senior economist with been simplifi ed in modern Chinese. This makes it even more danger- it will take even more time and expired at the end of China’s fi ve-year are both on their way toward being Galaxy Securities Co Ltd, China’s Separate characters are used less ous to ignore such pollution. be more costly to rid the soil of transition period in late 2006. opened to market forces. It will be largest securities fi rm and less. Instead, most expressions Overuse of fertilizer was previ- harmful elements. and phrases contain two or more ously considered a major source So let us spare no effort to save characters. So, for instance, when of soil pollution. But investiga- our soil. you say yinyue, it must mean music FROMTHE of poverty and disease. This couple — no matter what your tones are. Modern Games CHINESEPRESS left behind a 78-year-old mother and That being the case, Chinese learn- 12-year-old son, who, like his parents, ers don’t have to be meticulous in their uniform needed has hepatitis B. tones when they walk around China. Not just McDonald’s modern public would accept this This tragedy reveals the current Sometimes you just have to repeat your A new uniform that combines history ancient attire. Aesthetics is built on situation of the rural cooperative key word a few times. Many Chinese he scandal involving The 600 enterprises surveyed and modernity should be designed practicability. Han costumes do not medical system, which offers much speak in their local accents, and all the US fast-food giants Mc- included foreign, Macao- and for the Olympic Games, says a signed fi t the modern Olympic Games, let for thought. According to the report, accents carry some tonal variations. Donald’s and KFC for Hong Kong-fi nanced and domes- article in Qilu Evening News. An alone the aesthetics. the cooperative medical system exists People often forget to mention alleged underpaying tic enterprises. excerpt follows: We should combine history and in the hometown of the deceased cou- the easier aspects of the Chinese part-time employees In Beijing, a survey of house- culture and the merits of ethnic ple but farmers do not participate in language. It contains very few gen- should serve as a reminder of the keepers last year by non-gov- Over 20 well-known websites co-is- costumes in designing a new it because it doesn’t save them money. der differences or variations of verb T sued an online petition calling for uniform. The Olympic uniform and For example, it costs 10 yuan more for forms and cases. need to strengthen enforcement of ernmental organizations found China’s labor regulations. about half of those surveyed were making traditional Han-dynasty equipment design contest initiated a common injection for a cold in the The real problem in overseas Chi- The labor bureau in South paid less than the local minimum costumes the offi cial uniform of in 2006 may offer good designs. designated hospital than in a private nese language teaching appeared China’s Guangdong Province has wage. the Chinese delegation during the At the APEC Shanghai meeting in clinic. right beside the American newspaper Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. 2001, world leaders were dressed in The price of a drug in the clinic is report posted on its website. reportedly begun its probe into In Shanghai, local regulators The advocators hold that wearing tangzhuang. Tangzhuang is the name about half of that for the same drug in The posting showed fi ve characters the case, in which McDonald’s and uncovered 907 cases involving traditional outfi ts will demonstrate for various kinds of Chinese-style the designated hospital. The Beijing (written in the archaic style no longer Yum Brands Inc, which operates 28,000 underpaid workers in the China’s unique millenia-old culture. clothes designed in modern times. News report pointed out that the sad used on the Chinese mainland except KFC and Pizza Hut, are accused January-August period of 2006. But is it appropriate to have the The tangzhuang worn by leaders story has raised serious doubts about by calligraphers) marked by stand- of paying part-timers less than the These cases occurred in big ancient-style costume as the Olym- actually originated from magua, a the rural cooperative medical system. alone pinyin phonetics without identi- Guangzhou minimum wage of 7.5 cities, where implementation of pic uniform? Instead of looking back mandarin jacket from the Qing Dy- There are many similar examples. fying the characters’ relations to words. yuan ($0.97) per hour. labor laws is much stricter than to the ancients, it would be better to nasty (1644-1911). It is an innovation The institutional design of the coop- The fi ve characters mean “hair colors”. The cases make clear the neces- elsewhere. It would be no surprise bring forth new ideas. that combines history and reality, erative medical system seems attrac- In pinyin, they should be written as sity of increasing protection under if labor laws were even more com- The Han costume or shenyi, which shows the trends of Chinese- tive since anyone can join the system toufa de yanse rather than tou fa de yan our existing labor laws. monly disregarded outside major originated in the Shang Dynasty style clothes in the future. for 10 yuan a year. If they do not apply se as written by the teacher. For a long time, labor contro- cities. (16th-11th century BC), served as for reimbursement during the year, Written that way, the teacher failed versies concerning underpaid McDonald’s and KFC were sin- the formal attire for Chinese until eight yuan will automatically go to bridge students’ oral skill with workers have cropped up in both gled out, admittedly, not only be- the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368- Shame on rural toward the next year’s fee. The rate learning the words and expressions. foreign and domestic enterprises. cause they allegedly violated labor 1644). The over-sized garment, of reimbursement is high, too. But in Presumably, the emphasis of the class They include world-renowned laws but because they are major accompanied by bowing and scrap- medical co-ops fact, the designated township hospi- would remain on strict pronunciation. firms as well as obscure local fast-food brands. They are high- ing, provided a strand of traditional tals are the biggest winners. The result would be even more frus- companies. The number of victims profi le targets for those interested etiquette refl ecting grandness. A hernia operation at the designated trated students. But clothing should be practical, Farmers are not gaining much benefi t hospital costs nearly 3,000 yuan ($370) Good teachers should not scare is believed to be large. in protecting labor rights. not just aesthetic. Practicability from the rural cooperative medical and the patient has to pay half the cost. students. But where are they? According to a survey by the The equally important question was the main factor that led to the system, says a signed article in China The same operation is priced at 600 Guangdong labor bureau and a is, how many other companies are major transformation of clothing in Youth Daily. An excerpt follows: yuan at the village private clinic. E-mail: [email protected] local university last year, the is- violating labor laws? Chinese history. The designated township hospi- sue of underpaid farmers-turned- This is the larger issue raised Han costumes are not that practi- Beijing News had a special report last tals tend to give unnecssary medical To comment, e-mail city-workers has become a serious as labor offi cials investigate the cal as Olympic uniforms. And it Thursday about a couple in their thir- checkups and treatments to profit [email protected] problem. McDonald’s and KFC scandals. remains questionable whether the ties who committed suicide because from the cooperative system.