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WASHINGTON — The meeting between President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao began with a gaffe Thursday when an announcer referred to China by the formal name of Taiwan, which China considers a rebellious province.

As Bush and Hu stood at attention outside the White House, an announcer said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the national anthem of the Republic of China, followed by the national anthem of the United States of America."

"Republic of China" is the formal name of the island 100 miles off the Chinese mainland. China is known formally as the People’s Republic of China.

Taiwan is a most delicate issue for China. Beijing claims sovereignty over the self-governing island, which split from the mainland in 1949 as civil war ended on the mainland.

The losing nationalists fled the communists and established their rump state on the island and for many years claimed to be the rightful government of all China. Recent Taiwan governments have spoken of trying for formal independence, which China has said repeatedly might be met by military force.

Source: seattlepi.com
More: CNN.com, bbc.co.uk

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  成年人面对社会的剧烈竞争和残酷倾轧，越来越多的人喜欢“装嫩”，行事带有孩子气，渴望回归到孩子的世界。但这种心态如果发展到极端，就会沉溺于自己的幻想，拒绝长大。这种心理的极端形式被称为“彼得·潘综合征”，被定性为一种心理疾病。

        在几年的努力归于失败后，27岁的马塞拉决定同她30岁的丈夫爱德华多离婚。爱德华多是一家私立大学的教师，夫妻间的矛盾在婚后不久便产生了。马塞拉觉得丈夫胸无大志、唯唯诺诺，她忿忿地说：“他整天嬉皮笑脸，在学术上和工作上一点没有进取心。”

        婚后丈夫的许多行为让马塞拉颇为不解。爱德华多喜欢收藏电动小火车、遥控汽车之类的玩具，理由是等孩子们长大后能让给他们玩，而实际上爱德华多要比孩子们更喜欢玩这些玩具。爱德华多的爱好还不止这些，他把大部分的闲暇时光都花在了玩电子游戏上，而且每次出门上班前都会把游戏机藏在孩子找不到的地方，理由是 “孩子们会把它摔坏”。

       爱德华多是个“彼得·潘”

       马塞拉责令丈夫去看医生。医生经过检查后只发现爱德华多有些偏胖，那是因为他经常坐在电视机前吃油炸食品、冷饮和各种零食的缘故，而此外也找不出他这些怪癖的根源所在。

         马塞拉对丈夫的孩子脾气感到绝望了，求助于心理医生。心理医生告诉她，爱德华多的症状是不折不扣的“彼得·潘综合征”。患“彼得·潘综合征”的人虽然在生理年龄上已进入成年，但在心理上还不能与之相适应。他们的言谈举止都像孩子，总是在逃避责任、逃避生活、逃避爱情，一般年龄不小了还同父母住在一块，不去考虑长远的事请。

       说起“彼得·潘综合征”就不得不提到长不大的彼得·潘。1904年，彼得·潘诞生于苏格兰作家詹姆斯 ·巴里笔下，后来成为家喻户晓的童话人物，他的故事多次被搬上银幕。彼得·潘生活在梦幻般的“永无乡”里，永远也不想长大，但这毕竟只能出现在童话中，不能为现实所接受。“彼得·潘综合征”患者就是现实中的彼得·潘。

       1966年，精神病学家埃里克·伯恩第一次提出心理成熟有困难群体的概念。1983年美国心理学家丹·基利也撰文描述了这一群体：“这类人渴望永远扮演孩子的角色而不愿成为父母。”这些彼得·潘们很爱玩也很好相处，但免不了也有不少孩子的弱点，如优柔寡断、缺乏自我保护意识、渴望被人接受又害怕被人拒绝等。因此他们的行为同年龄很不相称，大多数情况下这无伤大雅，但总有一天，等他们突然明白生活原来并不如想象中那么称心如意时，已经太晚了。

       “永无乡里”的生活

        青年人患“彼得·潘综合征”的几率比较大，当然也有40岁以上的患者。一般来说，患者的配偶和周围朋友能在第一时间察觉到症状，但他们往往不愿承认。

        马塞拉的丈夫爱德华多就是一个典型的“彼得·潘综合征”病人。作为家中独子，爱德华多同母亲的关系异常亲密，两人每天都要在一起吃饭。爱德华多和母亲过于亲密的关系也是马塞拉提出离婚的另外一个重要原因。为照顾孩子，马塞拉先前辞掉了工作专心呆在家里，又当爹又当妈。而更令她烦恼的是，她还必须同婆婆争夺爱德华多的注意力，这使她心理不堪重负。

       现在，马塞拉同两个孩子生活在一起，而爱德华多则又搬回去同母亲一起住。就算是家庭破裂也没能让爱德华多变得成熟一点。

        墨西哥的萨林·帕斯夸尔医生说：“在墨西哥，几代人同堂是传统习俗，儿子结婚后就把新娘接回家来同父母一起住，有的父母对年轻人事事纵容，这对年轻一代产生了危害。有的老父母不去积极帮助儿子成为自立的男子汉，而是纵容他成天在家里看电视或找朋友玩。”这位专家指出，在这种环境下长大的孩子非常依赖别人，习惯于让别人来为自己的行为负责，希望别人能去做自己做不到的事情，同时又以自我为中心，任性而又自恋——他们很有可能成为现实中的彼得·潘。

       萨林-帕斯夸尔医生表示，“彼得·潘综合征”是由家庭教育环境造成的。他说：“家长们总认为，儿童时期是一生当中最好的时光，应尽量满足孩子的需求而少让他们肩负起责任。家长的这种想法会给孩子造成错觉，以为生活永远只是由玩具、零食和游乐场组成的。”

       最佳疗法：直面现实

        患有“彼得·潘综合征”的人往往一生碌碌无为，他们的症状不但会像本文开头描写的主人公一样导致家庭破裂，也容易使自己为在失落中获得暂时的满足而沉溺于酒精和药物。

        墨西哥心理治疗协会主任罗伯托·图鲁比亚德斯则告诫说，“彼得·潘综合征”会对患者的人际关系产生重大影响。他说：“因为处理感情问题尚不成熟加上不能持之以恒，所以他们不太会有固定的人生伴侣。就算确定了正式的恋爱关系，对方也会拿他们当孩子看待。”他认为这种病症难以用药物治愈，唯一的办法是接受心理理疗。但俗话说“江山易改本性难移”，患者多年养成的生活习惯和人生观不是单靠家人说教就能改变的，只有交由精神病专家来引导。

       专家们一致表示，帮助患者摆脱“彼得·潘综合征”的最好办法是迫使他面对现实，为自己的行为承担后果，告诉他：“没人有义务承担你所应担负的责任；你要是不去银行交费，没人会帮你交；你睡着了，没人会把你叫醒……”刚开始必然是痛苦的，但情况会越来越好。

来源：Forwarded E-mail

Source: ft.com

By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai

Published: April 20 2006 03:00

Louis Vuitton is suing Carrefour in a Chinese court over allegations that a Shanghai branch of the French supermarket chain sold fake copies of the luxury group’s handbags for about $6 each.

It is one of the first cases involving a foreign company taking legal action against another in China over intellectual property. Louis Vuitton is demanding compensation of Rmb600,000 ($75,000) for the alleged violation of its trademark. A genuine Louis Vuitton handbag can sell for more than $1,000 in China.

Luxury goods companies have been at the forefront of mounting complaints about the counterfeit trade in China. US President George W. Bush is expected to raise the issue with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, when they meet today in Washington.

US companies claim they lose billions of dollars each year to Chinese counterfeits. Recent figures also underline the extent to which Chinese companies are using the country’s legal system to defend their own intellectual property.

According to the Supreme People’s Court of China, there were 13,424 cases filed in China last year concerning intellectual property protection, including patents, trade secrets and counterfeit goods - a 21 per cent increase.

The number of patent lawsuits filed last year rose 16 per cent, to 2,947. In comparison, there were 3,075 patent lawsuits filed in the US in 2004, according to the Administrative Office of the US Courts.

Foreign companies accounted for only 449 of the intellectual property cases in China - about 3 per cent - according to the Supreme Court figures.

China-based lawyers said the figures were difficult to verify and cautioned that the government liked to use such statistics to deflect attention over the extent of counterfeit sales in the country. Still, they said the figures could be realistic because of a surge in recent years in litigation by Chinese companies.

"We are seeing Chinese companies sue each other all the time," said Anthony Chen, a lawyer at Jones Day in Shanghai.

The Louis Vuitton case began on Tuesday. The company’s lawyers claimed that three versions of its handbags had been on sale for Rmb50 at a Carrefour store in December. Louis Vuitton and Carrefour refused to comment on the case.

The supermarket in question is run by Carrefour Lianhua, a joint venture with a leading Chinese retailer.

Five luxury brands including Louis Vuitton saw a recent trademark victory in a landmark case upheld on appeal by a Beijing court. The companies had demanded compensation from the landlord of Silk Street Market in Beijing, which is known for selling fake branded goods.

source: ft.com

By Alison Maitland in London

Published: April 19 2006 03:00 | Last updated: April 19 2006 03:00

Skype, the fast-growing internet communications company that belongs to Ebay, has admitted that its partner in China has censored text messages.

It defends this complianceas the only way to do business in China. Niklas Zennström, Skype’s chief executive, responded in a Financial Times interview, to accusations that the company had censored text messages containing words like "Falun Gong", a banned movement, and "Dalai Lama". He said Tom Online, its joint venture partner in China, was complying with local law. "Tom had implemented a text filter, which is what everyone else in that market is doing," said Mr Zennström. "Those are the regulations."

He said compliance with Chinese censorship was no different from obeying rules in western countries. China, along with the US and Germany, is one of Skype’s three biggest markets in terms of active users of its free telephony service.

Entering a controversy that has seen Yahoo, Google and Microsoft criticised for working with China’s censorship rules, Mr Zennström said: "I may like or not like the laws and regulations to operate businesses in the UK or Germany or the US, but if I do business there I choose to comply with those laws and regulations."

He said Tom-Skype had not put users at risk. Yahoo has been lambasted for providing information that helped the Chinese jail two dissidents. "Those things are in no way jeopardising the privacy or the security of any of the users," said Mr Zennström

"Google", 我们爱你, 但我们不爱 "谷歌"

By Geoff Dyer

Published: April 17 2006 03:00

Source: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/493f6a0a-cdae-11da-afcd-0000779e2340.html

For the past decade, foreign carmakers have been scrambling to increase capacity in China simply to feed the expanding local market.

But with signs of over-capacity appearing in the country, multinationals are beginning to turn their attention to the idea of exporting from China.

One company is already there.

Last year, Honda opened a plant in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou to make the Jazz model for sale in Europe, creating the first test case of a multinational using China as a manufacturing platform for cars.

There is little doubt that China is on the way to becoming a major car exporter as local companies, such as Geely, Chery and Shanghai Auto, are keen to sell large volumes of low-cost cars in Europe and the US.

Honda says that it has had no significant problems with its China-made cars in Europe, where it also sellses that are made in Japan.

However, the company’s experience at its China plant does warn of the problems that would-be exporters may face.

Honda is an ideal candidate to experiment with exporting cars from China. Over the past five years, it has built up a tight network of reliable suppliers in the Guangzhou area which can guarantee sufficient quality for its components - a vital prerequisite for selling in developed-world markets.

"If we do not achieve the right quality, then we will not be a success," says Hironori Kanayama, president of the export plant.

To do so, it has leant on many of the Japanese auto parts companies it uses at home.

Of the 120 suppliers it uses in China, only 17 are Chinese companies, says Yoshitaka Takahashi, deputy general manager of Guangzhou Honda, the joint-venture company that makes cars for the domestic market. The rest are either joint ventures or subsidiaries.

But reaching that quality threshold has not been easy. In order to meet requirements, Honda’s export factory has to import more parts than the company’s other plant down the road in Guangzhou, which services the domestic market. The domestic plant has a localisation rate of 90 per cent for the components it uses in the Fit saloon car - one of the highest in the industry in China. However, only 60 per cent of the parts used at the export plant are locally made.

China is flooded with steel, such is the massive expansion by local steelmakers in recent years, but Honda still has to import the steel used for the outer skin panels of the cars because the surface finish of locally-made steel does not meetthe standard needed for export.

The need to import parts and the relatively small scale of the Guangzhou plant mean that making Jazz cars in China has not become a cheaper option for Honda. Labour costs in China are one-tenth of those at Honda’s plant in Japan, says Mr Kanayama, but the overall production costs of the Jazz are similar.

Other difficulties have appeared.

The workers in Guangzhou have to hand-paint under the hood to make sure the finish is correct, because the plant lacks machines as sophisticated as those used in Japan. The company also had to provide training for stevedores at the nearby port as they were initially unaccustomed tohandling cars.

Although DaimlerChrysler has talked about exporting from China, few multinationals are seriously considering the idea at the moment. "Most global manufacturers have excess capacity in other markets so exporting from China does not make a lot of sense," says Keith Davey, vice-president for planning at Ford in China. "It could run foul of union agreements and understandings with various governments."

Honda says the Jazz operation is still an experiment and has no plan to export other models from China. At the moment, it is focused on making sure the China-made Jazzes reach the samequality as those made in Japan.

"Our competitors are not Chinese or other foreign companies, it is our plantin Japan," says Mr Kanayama.

事业就像一个拴在跑步机上的狗，跑步机不停，它就要不停地跑，而且它也会很兴奋。经过长时间的训练之后，它会遗忘很多别的东西，以为生活或许就是跑步机上的生活。如果停下来，一开始它可能不习惯，也许经过一个小时或者一天的哆嗦之后，它会反思道：原来自己在跑步机上跑了那么久，而且漫无目的……不知道是得还是失。
当然不能否认的是，在事业发展的不同阶段，常常能体验到的那种“更上一层楼”的欣喜。

也许在本性里面就有很多向往虚荣的东西，原本就向往在跑步机上不停地跑的生活。一只狗在跑步机上跑的时候，会有很多人在围观，这会把那只狗搞得更加兴奋。

也许每一个人的本性中都有这样的一面，只是过去你给自己化定的范围隐藏了这一面。当你不知不觉中进入了一个游戏，然后这个游戏在不停地挖掘出你隐藏的东西，你被这种挖掘所激动，最后还觉得挺高兴的。人性里面可能就向往这种社会价值的肯定。

知足常乐，平凡是福。

犀照，在中国历史上，古人通过燃烧犀牛角，利用犀角发出的光芒，可以照得见神怪之类。 犀角的故事从此流传了下来，“犀照”也成了一个专门性的形容词，用来形容人的眼光独到，明察事物的真相…

有缘千里能相逢，心有灵犀一点通。 典型的商业港片，片子取景于江南水乡，还有客家围龙屋，冲着这2点中国特色，可以一看。