Government Executive - Authors - Jake Maxwell Watts

A Chinese City Is Asking Its Companies To Pay Public Sector Salaries Because It Can’t Afford Them

Jake Maxwell Watts, Quartz — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 13:00:00 -0400

Local government debt is now so unwieldy in China that some desperate district governments have turned to the private sector for help to pay their employees.

The Chinese language magazine of state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Friday that the city of Ordos, in northern China’s Inner Mongolia, had accumulated almost six and a half times its annual revenue in debt—or 240 billion yuan ($39 billion). Some of the city’s districts had borrowed from businesses to meet salary obligations.

The city has already developed an infamous reputation as the biggest ghost town in China. When large deposits of coal were discovered about 20 years ago, developers moved in and built a shining new city capable of housing hundreds of thousands of people, complete with skyscrapers and a vast square called Genghis Khan Plaza. But the people didn’t follow and Ordos began to accumulate debt. Two decades on, the mines are struggling, as demand for coal has slumped amid China’s economic struggles.

US Ambassador to China Visits Tibet Amid Wave of Self-Immolations

Adam Pasick and Jake Maxwell Watts, Quartz — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 11:57:00 -0400

The US Ambassador to China, Gary Locke, is in Tibet this week—the first visit by an American ambassador to the restive region since 2010. A spokesman said that Locke is on a three-day trip with members of his family and several embassy staff to meet with residents and government officials and raise concerns about the “deteriorating human rights situation,” specifically the self-immolations by Tibetans in protest against Chinese rule.

At least 120 people, some under the age of 18, have committed suicide by immolation since 2009. Most recently, a 31-year-old Tibetan nun in China’s southwestern Sichuan province set herself on fire on June 11 and died in the hospital a few days later. The Dalai Lama, who is often blamed by Beijing for masterminding the immolations, said after the incident that he doubts their effectiveness.

The US Got Edward Snowden’s Middle Name Wrong on Extradition Documents

Jake Maxwell Watts, Quartz — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 10:58:23 -0400

Edward Snowden, NSA-leaker extraordinaire, is such a familiar face in world news that he’s almost a household name. But for all the extensive NSA spying capabilities he revealed, US authorities were still not able to get his name right on extradition documents issued to Hong Kong, according to Rimsky Yuen, the city’s justice secretary.

Seeking a provisional arrest warrant for Snowden, the US government submitted documents referring to Edward James Snowden, the Wall Street Journal reported. In another document it just used his middle initial. According to his passport, however, Snowden’s middle name is actually Joseph.

Next Move China—Will Hong Kong (or Beijing) Refuse to Extradite the NSA Leaker?

Jake Maxwell Watts, Quartz — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:18:32 -0400

Since the Guardian reported that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had sought refuge from US authorities in Hong Kong, the reaction of netizens worldwide has been one of confusion. Why would a man responsible for revealing the extent of US digital surveillance on the grounds of privacy and freedom of expression go to a special administrative region of China, where such values are consistently suppressed?

Hong Kong signed an extradition treaty with the US in 1996, a year before the former British colony was handed back to the Chinese government. As part of the handover, Hong Kong was granted self-governing rights under a “one nation two systems” policy, which includes almost every aspect of rule except military and foreign affairs.

Snowden’s reasons for choosing Hong Kong may have included its determination to stand up for freedom of expression—for example, the city tolerates annual vigils in memory of a 1989 crackdown at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, which often include anti-China rhetoric. But extradition experts like Robert Anello, a New York lawyer, believe that Hong Kong is unlikely to protect the whistleblower. “They’re not going to put at risk their relationship with the US over Mr Snowden,” he told Reuters.