##Green Cards for Resident Foreigners
Through the Oriental Mailing list I heard that China is experimenting with granting green cards to foreigners.
Under the scheme, 46 expatriates in the Chinese capital yesterday became the first foreigners in the capital to get a new long-term residence permit for up to five years from the Beijing Public Security Bureau.
--[snip]
--China will promote the "green card" system nation-wide by the end of this year, with the move in Beijing as a prelude, Zhang said.
Apparently, there was a better article about green cards in the People's Daily, with the exciting piece of news that Beijing will soon open all its kindergartens and primary and middle schools to children of foreigners.
In many ways, I'm glad that my parents sent me to public school in Spain; it helped me to make friends in the neighborhood and taught me the language very well. Wouldn't that be exciting to learn Chinese naturally as a child? I'm still waiting for the school reform that doesn't pound down the nail that sticks out, though.
##Honesty in Politics
"Everything up until now has been campaign mode, and people shouldn't judge him on that basis," said a senior advisor to Mr. Roh. "It is true that he has been making lots of contradictory comments. Like President Bush, he has a bit of a heart and mind problem, with each of them in a different place sometimes, and he must resolve that conflict."
If only American politicians would be so honest. Clearly, no candidate has an exact idea of what his actions will be until he is elected to office, and any extreme language used during election campaigns should be taken with a grain of salt. [ Link ]