The Insider S Guide To Beijing 2005 2006

This book argues that the gap between the official transparency rhetoric and the censorship reality has demonstrated the discrepancy between what the Party is and what it claims to be. Such a discrepancy is manifested by the reality that the reformed news industry, a hybrid of market-oriented commercialization and party-state control, has largely failed to deliver either the voice of the disenfranchised groups or the value of journalism. To observe the discrepancy, this book investigates the role of transparency in the Chinese news media. Media transparency, which goes beyond the issue of censorship and press freedom, has been undermined by the consensus reached between the party-state and the media on political and market control. It is this mutually accommodating and benefiting scheme between power and profits that has been hollowing out the substance of the transparency rhetoric and distorting the Marxist idea of press freedom as freedom for all. This book argues that the cause of such a gap between rhetoric and reality is rooted in the disjuncture of political representation of both the party-state and the profit-seeking media.

Over the past three decades, China’s economic structure, direction and international presence have undergone a dramatic transformation. This rapid rise and China’s enormous success in economic terms has created new challenges, and this book examines how the Chinese economy can continue to flourish, whilst at the same time protecting the environment and giving people more equal access to the benefits of the country’s economic development. Examining the key issues surrounding China's continued sustainable development, in economic, political, social and more traditional environmental terms, this book assesses the costs of China's rapid development to date and in turn asks whether this can be maintained. The contributors show that the idea of sustainable development must take into account more than just the physical environment, and that there are additional problems relating to the sustainability of China’s economic growth that are much more complicated. Divided into two broad sections, the book looks first at the broader issues of sustainability in China, before turning to the more classic idea of sustainability, that of the environment. In doing so, the contributors show that sustainability is a far more complex phenomenon than is often assumed, and that economic and social sustainability are inherently linked to linked to environmental sustainability. Dealing with what are arguably the greatest challenges facing China today, this book will be will be of great interests to students and scholars of Chinese studies, Chinese economics and Chinese politics, as well as those interested in development studies and sustainable development more broadly.

Describes the sights and culture of China along with information on hotels, restaurants and transportation