Week of August 2, 2002The U.S. and China This Week
CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS: PLA 75th Anniversary Marked my Fresh Threats to TaiwanTaiwan's President, Chen Shuibian, earlier in the week was reported as saying that Taiwan would not alter it status quo relationship with China. But he did warn that China's refusal to give up the use of force to retake the island and its continued efforts to internationally squeeze Taiwan was pushing the two sides further apart. "Since I assumed the posting as the president in 2000, I have repeatedly delivered olive branches to Beijing on behalf of the government and people," Chen said "but, it's a pity that Beijing authorities have failed to understand the feelings of the Taiwan people." DOMESTIC: China Becomes Second in Web, PC MarketWith ongoing economic growth and an explosion in electronics, China surpassed Japan to become the world's second most active global Internet audience, while its personal computer market is expected to overtake Japan later this year. According to WebSideStory, Inc. China accounted for 6.63 percent of all Web traffic in July, followed by Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany. It is suggested, however, that China has less localized Internet content, forcing users to search globally, while Japan is more self contained online. Separately as Japan continues to stagnate, China is expected to overtake its
neighbor in terms of the number of personal computer units shipped to customers
in either market. According to the China Internet Network Information Center
there was an increase of 12 million new users in China in the first part of
this year, for a total of 45.8 million users. However, while analysts agree
that China's numerical dominance is inevitable, overall spending on technology
in China remains far below the levels in Japan, the U.S. and other European
countries.
Last updated: 17 January 2001 |
