| China welcomes Rumsfeld's visit: FM spokesman
2005-06-17 People's Daily
China welcomes US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to visit
China, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao at a regular
press conference Thursday. He made this comment in reply to
a question on whether Rumsfeld will visit China this Autumn.
Liu said China attaches great importance to conducting exchanges
in military field with the United States and deepening mutual
understanding and mutual trust. "China welcomes officials
from the US Department of Defense, including Rumsfeld himself,
to visit China, and expects exchanges between the two sides
can facilitate bilateral cooperation in military field, together
with all other fields," Liu said.
China condemns arms embargo interference
2005-06-16 Xinhua News
China yesterday criticized US and Japanese opposition to the
lifting of the European Union (EU)'s arms embargo as "unreasonable
and unnecessary," saying it hoped the ban would soon be
removed. "We believe that on the question of lifting the
arms embargo, the Chinese side, and especially the EU side,
have indeed been (recipients) of unreasonable and unnecessary
disturbances," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao
said. On the question of the dispute between the US and Israel
over the Middle East state's sale of arms to China, Liu stressed
that China attaches importance to ties with Israel.( ) "The
arrangement between the EU and China to lift the embargo is
not directed against any third country, or aimed at undermining
the interests of any third party. France and Germany have been
leading calls to end the ban, but the EU has scrapped its end-of-June
target date for ending the embargo, and did not set any new
deadline at a meeting of the 25-nation bloc's foreign ministers
in Luxembourg on Monday. Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn
admitted on Wednesday that the EU is under pressure from the
US and Japan not to lift the embargo( ) Two months ago, Washington
imposed a series of sanctions on Israel's defence industry following
a weapons deal in which Israel was reported to have agreed to
upgrade a consignment of drones it had sold to China. Nearly
18 months ago, China-Israel relations deteriorated after Israel
had backtracked on a deal to sell the Phalcon advanced airborne
radar system to China. A deal for a sophisticated surveillance
system was aborted in 2001 because of pressure from the US,
which was concerned the aircraft could be used against Taiwan.
Immature plans on UN reform opposed
2005-06-15 China Daily
China has made it clear that while fully supporting reform of
the United Nations with enhanced representation for developing
countries, it firmly opposes the forcing through of immature
proposals. ( ) State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan said if too much
energy is spent discussing reform of the Security Council, just
one part of the UN reforms, September's summit meeting may not
devote enough attention to the issue of development. "This
would be a big loss for the majority of member countries and
we will not allow such situation to occur," he said. (
) Tang told his Arabic guests that China advocates expansion
of the Security Council in favour of developing countries, including
Arabic nations. "To increase the representation of developing
countries in the UN Security Council is the foundation as well
as the direction of the reform, a principle that we should all
abide by," he said. Last week, Beijing criticized efforts
by Brazil, Germany, India and Japan, known as G4 nations, to
expand the permanent membership of the council as "immature"
and a threat to UN reform.
China opposes Dalai Lama's visit to Sweden
2005-06-14 Xinhua News
China always opposes Dalai Lama's political activities under
any name and in any country, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said
Tuesday. Spokesman Liu Jianchao's comment was made at a regular
conference in reply to a reporter's question on Dalai Lama's
recent visit to Sweden. "We hope the relevant country can
adhere to the promises of upholding one-China policy and opposing
Tibet independence to prevent the bilateral relations from being
endangered," said Liu. "The Dalai Lama is a politician
in exile disguised as a religious figure, and engages in separatist
activities against China, and Chinese government has expressed
the concerns over the issue to the Swedish government,"
Liu said. However, Liu noted that the dialogue between China
and Dalai Lama is always open so long as the Dalai Lama "truly
gives up advocating Tibet independence" and declares in
public that he recognizes Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts
of China. "Then we shall contact him for negotiations,"
Liu said.
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China to draft counterterrorism law
2005-06-16 Xinhua News
A senior counterterrorism official said Thursday China will
draft a counterterrorism law to strengthen its fight against
terrorist activities. "The law will define what kind of
activities are terrorist activities and measures to be taken
in fighting terrorist activities," said Zhao Yongchen,
deputy director of the counterterrorism bureau of the Ministry
of Public Security. "Preparations for formulation of the
law are underway." Zhao said at the China-ASEAN workshop
for senior police officers, hosted by the ministry, that although
China is a stable country, it still faces threats from terrorism.
He called the "East Turkistan" terrorist forces the
number one terrorist threat to China, saying they have carried
out more than 200 terrorist activities in China's Xinjiang in
the 1990s. He said China also faces a threat from international
terrorist forces, mainly to China's interests abroad. Last year
projects undertaken by Chinese technicians were sabotaged by
terrorists in Pakistan and Afghanistan. To crack down on terrorism,
he said, it is important to cut the financial links that fund
them, a tactic that requires close international cooperation.
China has actively participated in international counterterrorism
activities and has so far joined 11 of the 13 existing international
counterterrorism treaties.
Vandals smash up local court
2005-06-16 China Daily
A group of people, who were possibly incited by others, invaded
a district court in suburban Beijing on Monday. "They rushed
into the reception hall on Monday afternoon, breaking equipment
and beating up court staff," an official at Huairou District
People's Court said yesterday. The Beijing News reported that
14 court staff members, including several police officers, were
slightly injured by the invaders. Fortunately, their injuries
were not serious so they did not have to be sent to hospital,
the newspaper reported. It is reported that local police arrested
12 people after the incident as part of their investigations.
"They did not say why they came into the court to smash
things up," the court official added. But he confirmed
that the invaders were not litigants in any of the court's cases,
as had been reported. "They were possibly sent by others,"
he said.
State Council sets nine steps to fight AIDS
2005-06-16 People's Daily
Chinese State Council underscored the importance of fighting
HIV/AIDS by setting forth nine steps for prevention and control
at its executive meeting presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao
on June 15. The meeting noted that China's AIDS prevention and
treatment is in a crucial period. Governments at all levels
must fully realize the importance and urgency of the AIDS crisis
and further define working guidelines. The whole society should
actively participate in the AIDS prevention and control, it
said. The meeting called on the governments at all levels and
social organizations to formulate action plans, define working
objectives, tasks and policies and list the AIDS prevention
and treatment work as a key task of public health in the 11th
Five-Year Plan (2006-2010). Funding must be allocated in government's
budget. HIV/AIDS education must be strengthened to improve public
awareness. Monitoring network should be improved for overall
control of the epidemic, it said. Meanwhile, intervention on
high-risk groups and crackdown on drug trafficking, drug use
and prostitution must be continued. Blood collection and the
operation of blood centers must be legalized. The local governments
must continue to provide free treatment to HIV carriers, including
free anti-virus medicine, free anonymous testing and free medicine
for HIV pregnant women. Free services must also include education
for orphans of AIDS victims and care and aid for HIV/AIDS families.
The meeting also urged localities to protect legal rights of
HIV carriers, fight against social discrimination and strengthen
moral and legal education of HIV carriers. HIV/AID prevention
and control of the rural and migrant population must be strengthened.
Governments at all levels must give more support to rural areas
and formulate preventive measures specially for rural and migrant
population. Scientific research on HIV/AIDS, which includes
vaccine and treatment drugs must speed up. Research institutes
must explore effective means for treating HIV/AIDS with combination
of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine. Professional
medical teams' training must also be strengthened. Finally,
the meeting called for the improvement of legal construction
of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment and required all work to
be regularized according to law. Besides, the meeting discussed
regulations on non-military cadres serving in the People's Liberation
Army and a draft law on quality safety of agricultural products.
Mobile subscribers to hit 535 million in China
2005-06-16 China Daily
The number of mobile phone subscribers in China is expected
to reach 535 million by 2009, predicted the American telecom
research company International Data Corporation (IDC). The number
is to hit over 901 million in 2009 in the Asia-Pacific Region
(with Japan excluded), said IDC in a report released recently.
The sales revenue of mobile communications in the region (with
Japan excluded) will reach 109.3 billion US dollars in 2009
with the compound annual growth rate being 9.4 percent, said
IDC. ( )
Officials sacked for land dispute
2005-06-15 Xinhua News
The party chief and the mayor of Dingzhou in Hebei Province
were removed from their posts, after 10 people in a village
were reported killed in clashes over a land dispute, local television
media reported Monday night. With the permission of local police
villagers took the bodies of four residents back to Shenyou
Village from a hospital where they died, but villagers refused
to hand over the hostage identified as Zhu Xiaorui, who was
captured by the villagers during the clashes. Zhu admitted he
was hired in Beijing and paid 100 yuan (US$12) to beat villagers
up. Zhu was under custody in the village committee, but was
not maltreated by residents, The Beijing News reported. ( )
Nearly 100 were also injured when several hundred allegedly
hired thugs descended on the village, which is under jurisdiction
of Dingzhou City, and clashed with local residents Saturday.
Five busloads of men arrived at Shengyou Village with hunting
rifles, clubs, sharpened pipes and other weapons in the small
hours of Saturday morning, and attacked villagers, the report
said. The attackers, wearing construction helmets, were mostly
young men in their 20s allegedly hired by a local electricity
company, the report said. Among the dead was a 60-year-old villager
who was killed by gunfire several hundred meters from where
the clashes took place. The village has refused to accept land
compensation from the Hebei Guohua Power Co. since 2003, which
hopes to build a power plant on 26 hectares of village land,
the paper said. Parts of the battle, which lasted for about
an hour, were videotaped by some villagers, it said. ( )
Genetically modified rice spreads
2005-06-13 China Daily
Greenpeace China claimed yesterday that the illegal sale of
genetically modified (GM) rice seed has spread to southern China.
The group now fears the rice, only supposed to be planted in
closely controlled scientific trials, could have spread across
the country. Ministry of Agriculture officials declined to comment
on the situation yesterday. Greenpeace's food and agriculture
campaign manager Sze Pang Cheung said samples taken at a wholesale
market in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, in April,
included GM rice seed originating from Hubei Province, Central
China. German testing company Genescan analysed the samples.
Tests revealed samples sold by a wholesaler in the Haizhu market
for food and edible oil were genetically modified. ( )
Xinjiang plans to be China's top oil producer
2005-06-13 China Daily
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region plans to overtake Northeast
China's Daqing to become the country's largest oil production
area in the next few years, said a top local government official
yesterday. The region, currently China's third largest oil producing
area, plans to more than double its oil production to 50 million
tons in the near future from 22 million tons last year, according
to Ismail Tiliwaldi, chairman of the region. In the long run,
the region is expected to be pumping 100 million tons of crude
oil a year, or nearly 60 per cent of China's total last year,
he said in an interview with Beijing-based media, including
China Daily. ( ) Xinjiang sits on 30 per cent of the nation's
total oil reserves and 34 per cent of its natural gas resources,
said the chairman. He vowed to further expedite oil exploration
in potential areas, including Karamay, Turpan Basin and Tarim
Basin. The oil and gas industry accounted for 60 per cent of
the incremental industrial value of Xinjiang last year. ( )
The region's economic prosperity has underpinned its social
stability. No terrorist attacks have been reported in Xinjiang
in the past two years, he said. The tourism industry has not
missed this recent stability. More than 300,000 foreign tourists
visited Xinjiang last year, a jump of 87 per cent from 2003.
And more than 12 million domestic travellers made their way
to the region in 2004, bringing in revenue of 10.9 billion yuan
(US$1.3 billion). The chairman said the overall situation in
Xinjiang was very good and all ethnic groups in the region were
benefiting from the recent prosperity.
Capital expects 5 million vehicles
2005-06-14 China Daily
Most families in Beijing will have their own car by 2020. That
is more than 5 million vehicles on the capital's streets. And
you think your commute now is difficult. But all is not gloom
and doom because, according to a compendium issued by the Beijing
municipal government, a new transport model will be operating
by then. Among the features: Six north-south highways to link
the ring roads. Thirteen huge parking lots along the Fifth Ring
Road with connecting bus or metro service to downtown. More
subways and bus lines will reach the city's suburbs. A goal
for 2010 in which the closest bus stop downtown will be no more
than an eight-minute walk and no bus-to-bus transfer will be
longer than 300 metres. The Beijing Transport Development Compendium,
a 57-page report issued by the municipal government, gave a
specific blueprint for transport development in the coming 15
years. According to the compendium, the municipal government
spent 140 billion yuan (US$16.8 billion) on transport infrastructure
development from 1993 to 2003. That was up to 5.3 per cent of
Beijing's gross domestic product. But 80 per cent of that money
went for transport infrastructure inside the Second Ring Road,
where congestion is the worst, both in terms of commercial construction
and population. ( )
Local officials placed under investigation for negligence
in flooding disaster
2005-06-12 People's Daily
The local Party and police chiefs of Shalan Township, Ning'an
City of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, have been placed
under legal investigation for negligence in offering timely
rescue in a fatal mountain torrent Friday afternoon killing
92 people, local sources said. Huang Mingjun, secretary of Shalan
Township committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and Li Zuoyu,
police chief of Shalan Township, were accused of responsibility
for failing to organize timely rescue, according to sources
with the local government. Some local villagers complained that
when the flash flood occurred, they reported to Shalan Township
Government and the local police station, hoping to seek help
with them, but failed to have response. The Shalan Township
was hit by the mountain torrent Friday afternoon. By 6 p.m.
on Sunday, 92 people, including 88 pupils, were confirmed dead.
Another 17 pupils remained missing, and rescue operation is
continuing tensely, said an official with the rescue headquarters.
Chinese government commends model tutors
2005-06-12 People's Daily
The Chinese government commended on June 12 287 units and 1,287
people that have done well in tutoring youngsters. The Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCCPC) and the State
Council launched a nationwide campaign to enhance moral education
of minors in February 2004. Liu
Yunshan, head of the Publicity Department of CCCPC, acclaimed
8.5 million elderly citizens who are active on the campus, in
communities and the countryside across the country at the commending
ceremony. "They have won the respects and love of the minors
and entire society by promoting the revolutionary and moral
traditions, cultivating the Chinese national spirit and disseminating
knowledge," he said.
China to ban uncensored health food ads
2005-06-12 People's Daily
China's food and drug administration departments at provincial
level will be responsible for approving health food ads as of
July 1, according to the State Food and Drug Administration
(SFDA). Interim Rules for Health Food Advertisement Reviewing,
issued by SFDA, will go into effect on July 1 this year. The
rules said that health food ads must be approved by provincial
food and drug administrations before they are published, they
are not allowed to be disguised as news reports, and advise
that "this product cannot substitute any medicine"
must be marked clearly in printed ads and should be kept always
on screen in TV commercials. ( ) SFDA will publicize the list
of health food ads that pass the examination on its official
webpage after July 1 this year. Food and drug administration
departments at the provincial level will monthly publicize the
notification of illegal health food commercials and ads, as
the SFDA requires. The problem of health food production enterprises
using illegal ads to publicize themselves has become highly
prominent in China, misleading consumers and harming their legal
interests.
Police chiefs ordered to meet petitioners in person
2005-06-10 Xinhua News
A senior Chinese public security official Friday asked the heads
of China's public security organs to meet petitioners in person
and concretely address their complaints. ( ) In this campaign,
police offices were ordered to receive petitioners and ensure
all complaints are handled properly. The work will not be completed
until the petitioners are satisfied with the results. By June
9, public security organs across the country had received 71,000
petitioners, of whom 15,000 said they would stop making petitions.
The petitions range from solving long-delayed cases, requesting
the redress of previous wrongs, to demanding that the rude behavior
of a policemen be rectified. In recent years, the number of
people making petitions has increased noticeably. ( ) As the
reform reaches deeper problems, interests of some people are
affected," Ou said in a recent interview with netizens
of Xinhuanet.com. "The other reason is that more people
have become more conscious of their legal rights and taken action
to safeguard their rights. "So the phenomenon is not entirely
a bad thing. It shows our efforts in promoting democracy and
building a sound legal environment have yielded fruit,"
he said. In addition to the above-mentioned reasons, the malpractice
of some policemen also contributed to the situation. ( )
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