On January 26 the Chinese people celebrated New Year. In a video-editorial of eRenlai published on the web, Fr Benoît Vermander (CHN), Director of Ricci Institute in Taipei, declared that while it is always difficult to make predictions, he would venture three regarding China for the year of the Ox. They are: "Social conflicts in China will noticeably increase, due not only to unemployment but also to land-use and environmental issues; the relationships between China and Taiwan will continue to improve for the first half of the year, but accrued Chinese requests might cause renewed tensions later on; on a more optimistic note, the US and Europe might be able to engage China and encourage the reform of world governance, especially of financial markets. The Chinese leaders will take advantage of China’s clout in international affairs for securing more political space for themselves and, possibly, diffuse part of its social tension."