When it comes to China's cultural icons you don't get much bigger than the Great Wall. It has stood for over a thousand years, enduring attacks by nomadic tribes, the ravages of time and the elements, not to mention decades of neglect by under communism, and sporadic bouts of looting by locals looking for building material. However, it would seem that despite its age and its importance to the Chinese people, a section dating back to the Qin Dynasty was recently unable to endure the arrival of the industrial gold prospectors.

Damaged?

According to reports, Mainland authorities are investigating an incident in which workers for the Hohhot Kekao Mining Company heavily damaged a stretch of the Wall in Inner Mongolia while searching for gold deposits.

Reports indicate officials with the cultural relics bureau first discovered that cultural Hohhot Kekao's operations were damaging the Wall in September. A cease order was issued, but Hohhot Kekao continued working in the area. As were four subsequent notices.

Local security forces were forced to intervene to enforce the orders. However, by the time that they did a section of the Wall some 100 meters long had been badly damaged, including the formation of two sizable holes.

Ongoing Problem?

Despite the Wall's cultural and historic significance authorities face a continuing battle to preserve and protect it. Both from accidental damage and from deliberate destruction.

In some cases companies have accidentally damaged sections of the wall while working close by. In other cases they have deliberately destroyed sections of the wall because it was 'inconvenient', or for commercial reasons.

In one notorious case in February 2005  February construction workers in Ningxia, North China, bulldozed a 100 meter long section of Ming Dynasty wall near Zhongwei City, and used for stone for as foundation rubble for a road way. It was the second such theft of stone from that region in the space of a year. During a previous set of raids 400 meters of stone was taken from the wall. At the time the penalty for damaging the Wall was a fine that was lower than the cost of purchasing stone rubble on the open market. Penalties have since been increased. If found culpable Hohhot Kekao officials could face up to 10 years in jail.

It has not just been companies that have damaged the wall. In some cases city or municipal authorities have granted permits for sections of the wall to be demolished in order to build roadways or to allow businesses to expand. Particularly in areas where the commercial values of breaching the wall exceeded its tourism values. In Shaanxi province alone over 40 roads have been run through the wall.

In some cases local authorities or individual official have colluded with companies to breach the wall, or to permit sections to be cleared. Bribes may be paid in exchange for permission to demolish a section of the wall or to run a road through it, or leaders may grant permission for a section of the wall to be demolished in order to make way for a building scheme on which they are directly or indirectly involved.

The problem of damage to the Wall with by permit holding groups became so serious that in 2004 responsibility for maintaining the wall was taken away form local authorities and put under the jurisdiction of regional caretakers. This served to lessen the damamge butit has not been able to halt it entierly due to problems with enforcement outside of metropolitan areas.

Significant damage has also been done to some sections of the Wall as a result of uncontrolled tourism. With local authorities keen to get the maximum number of tourists to their secitons of the wall, bt failing to prevent damage caused by thousands of people passing over and around the stonework.

China's embassy in Angola has, this month, issued a broad security bulletin to Chinese nationals living and/or working in the country, warning to be increasingly vigilant suspicious activity, and not to travel alone after dark.

The bulletin comes in response to an increasing number of attacks on Chinese citizens and businesses that have injured many Chinese, and which have left several dead.


Organized Crime?

According to local business leaders the attacks are the work of criminal gangs who are specifically targeting Chinese workers and businesses in highly organized manner. First using scouts and/or local knowledge to pick out a target, and then sending in armed foot soldiers to take cash and equipment.

One of the most serious cases cited by business leaders is the murder of businessperson Xu Tonggou. Xu was confronted by an armed gang on September 4. When Xu refused to hand over money to the gang they shot Xu 3 times. Xu later died in hospital.

Another serious case cited by leaders was a raid on the Jiangsu International Company that was carried out on the same day as Xu's murder. 6 gang members forced their way onto a JIC construction site office. They beat staff with clubs and threatened them with assault rifles before stealing money and computer equipment.

There have also been similar attacks Chinese dormitories and other locations where Chinese live and/or congregate. As well as on individual Chinese.

Increasing Problem?

According to Xu Ning, the head of the Chinese Business Council in Luanda, the rate of crime against Chinese is increasing at an alarming rate and are becoming increasingly violent. So much so that some Chinese have begun to leave the region.


Official Scepticism?

Despite representations from Chinese business and community leaders local authorities remain sceptical. Although they freely admit that Chinese citizens have been attacked, and that a number of Chinese businesses have been robed, they deny that there is a serious problem, that it is gang related, or that it is specific to the Chinese community.

According to local authorities Chinese citizens are most likely falling victim to 'genetic crime'. Crime that effects them because they are present in a high crime country such as Angola, rather than specifically because they are Chinese.


View From Outside?

At present there is little reliable information available to analysts to determine the scale and scope of the problem faced by Chinese in Angola, particularly as it is likely that many crimes against Chinese are going unreported if the victims are working in Angola illegally, or if they are afraid of reporting the crime for reasons of face, or fear of reprisal.

The available evidence does suggest that the number of crimes committed against Chinese is growing, and that this growth appears to be in organized attacks – such as the gang raid on JIC's site office – as well as random street attacks by opportunists.

However, said evidence is insufficient to determine where the growing number of attacks on Chinese citizens and businesses is due to the fact that they Chinese – for example, local people forming into gangs and targeting Chinese because they are angry at the influx of Chinese workers -  or because Chinese are more profitable to attack - for example, because Chinese they are more likely to carry cell phones and quantities of cash than local people, or because Chinese businesses more likely to have new equipment on site than local businesses.

China watchers note that Angola has pandemic levels of violence and violent crime. Greater so than even Western countries. And that despite the increase in crime involving Chinese citizens it is the local who people remain the main victim of crime.

Angola has also long been considered a dangerous country for non indigenous people. With visitors being targeted due to their propensity to carry money and valuable items such as watches and cell phones, and because of their easy of targeting. The situation is so bad that visitors to the country are commonly advised to travel in packs, particularly after dark, and not to trust the local taxies. Visitors are also frequently warned that certain areas of the capital Luanda – where the bulk of the Chinese population is located -  such as Roque Santeiro, Roche Pinto and Serpentine,  have been placed on embassy warning lists as being off limits due to crime levels.

There are an estimated 100,000 Chinese in Angola at present. Most of whom work in the construction industry. In general Chinese are not used to violent crime. Although it exists in China public perception often greatly exceeds the actual threat. Which is many times less than is found in countries such as America and Britain, where murder, rape and assault levels have reached pandemic proportions. This leaves most Chinese unprepared for crime rates in countries like Angola.

Chinese are also sometimes lulled into a false sense of security when overseas. Believing that because China is a developing country with no history of colonialism or state interference in regions such as Africa that the local people will see them as comrades and will leave them alone in favor of targeting whites who have more money and whose countries have a long running history of imperialism and colonialism. Thus making them easy and unsuspecting targets for violent criminals.

It's an age old story, and one that's all to familiar to Western companies dealing with China. You create a product - expending time and money on research, development and design - then you find a business partner to manufacture and/or distribute it as part of of China's now infamous Joint-Venture system. Things seem to go well at first, but then you find that your partner company has appropriated your intellectual property and is selling unauthorized copies of it without paying you a cent in return.

Your product becomes their product, and because of all of the legal vagaries and hurdles there's not much that you can do about it.

This a trap that many companies have fallen into, or have found themselves in. But one case of particular note is the recent case of Zhongyi Electronic LTD V Microsoft, which has just passed through the Number 1 People's court in Beijing.

Why is this case notable, you may ask? Because in this particular case a Chinese company has proved to be the victim or IPR theft.

The Case?

In April 2007 Beijing based technology firm Zhongyi Electronic LTD lodged a complaint with the courts accusing Microsoft of violating its contractual obligations regarding the IPR rights of one of it's products.

According to Zhongyi, Microsoft signed an agreement to use to 郑码输入法 (The Zhengma Input system, Known as the Zhengma IME) - a software based system designed to allow Chinese characters to be entered onto any computer using a Western keyboard - in the windows 95 Operating system.

However, Microsoft then went on to include the Zhengma in further operating systems. Including Windows 98, 2000 and windows XP, without renewing their contract. And without paying Zhongyi for the use of their code.



The Verdict?

In a verdict, rendered on Monday 16 November 2009, the Mainland court issued a ruling in partial support of Zhongyi, but also partially in partial support of Microsoft.

The court found that Microsoft had not violated its contract in regards to the source code for Zhengma, however it found in favor of zhongyi with regards to a ancillary IPR that Microsoft shipped alongside it. Specifically, the court found that Microsoft had illegally copied and distributed Chinese language fonts produced and owned by Zhonyi with 8 versions of the Windows Operating System, due to the files falling outside of the agreed contract.

In line with the court's verdict a cease order has been issued forbidding Microsoft from shipping further copies of all operating systems that include the disputed IPR. Zhongyi now has the option to claim compensation from Microsoft, though it remains unclear what kind of figure this may entail due to the number and spread of products involved. As well as the time period between the initial violation and the verdict.

Ironically, the task of calculating compensation is further complicated by the widespread violation of Microsoft's own IPR. Leading to difficulties determining how many copies of violating products were distributed by Microsoft - and thus are liable for compensation - and how many were illegally distributed by and thus would fall outside of a compensation claim.

Microsoft's latest operating system: Windows 7, is  thought to be uneffected by the verdict as it does not include the disputed IPR. Though Windows XP, the most popular operating system in China, will be effected.

Impact?

At present the impact of the verdict is not clear. Though analysts do not predict that it will have a significant impact on Microsoft's bottom line in China due to widespread piracy and market share issues with the effected products.


Trends?

Although the Microsoft case is unlikely to have any real impact in itself, analysts have expressed a concern that the case may mark part of a longer term trend towards Chinese companies pursuing IRP cases against foreign partners and competitors A trend which could see China ceasing to become a net sink of IRP suits, and instead issuing a significant number of its own.


A similar trend has previously been observed with Chinese-Taiwan. Originally the island territory was a net sink of IPR suits due to an abundance of media piracy. However, in recent years, as the its technology sector has boomed, the has begun aggressively pursuing overseas companies for copyright infringement, breach of contract, and other IPR related issues.


The possibility of Such a trend following on from the Mainland is worrying for foreign companies. Particularly if the claims are filed in Chinese courts.

Up until recently many Chinese companies have had little choice but to pursue IPR claims in foreign courts. A process which can be expensive and which subjects them to foreign laws which can be bias against them, or which can fail to recognize Chinese IPR on the grounds that it was not registered in the country where the case is being pursued. Something that can leave Chinese companies with no jurisdictional rights to their own products if the abuse occurs overseas.

However, with an increased interest in domestic IPR, and increased willingness to pursue by Chinese courts, Chinese companies are now, more than ever, able to pursue cases against foreign companies on home territory. The reduced costs and increased the chances of winning make litigation more likely to be brought. Which in turn could prove expensive for foreign companies, not to mention embarrassing, if they are found to have violated Chinese IPR.

The scale of any future trend, if it does emerge, remains unclear. Mostly because the scale of the problem is unknown.

Up until recently the closed nature of China has meant that some companies have been unaware that IPR violations have been taking places because they have been taking place overseas, and even when they have become aware of them they have lacked the means to pursue litigation due to cost and jurisdictional issues. Equally, even when they have become aware of a violation some companies have been been forced to sign away litigation rights, and to accept low value compensation, out of the fear that if they litigate they will loose future business opportunities. Thus there may be a large flood of litigation waiting in the wings from Chiense compaines who would not previously have gone so far, or there may be comparitively little.

At present, the balance of litigation remains overwhelmingly against China, while the balance of IPR violations remains overwhelmingly the fault of Chinese companies. It is estimated that over 80% of commercial software in China is an illegal.

Chinese health authorities have now officially ruled out a link between the death of a Mainlander and the Chinese swine flu vaccination program.

According to reports published by the Chiense Ministry of Heath, the death of the Mainlander - Which occurred some eight hours after the individual received the Swine flu vaccination - was the result of a heart attack. And is not being linked to the vaccine.

It is thought that appproximately 13 million Mainlanders have received the vaccination, but fewer than 1250 reports have been received of adverse reactions, only 15 of which have been serious reactions.