Democracy campaigner denied entry into Japan
2007-06-04 SCMP
Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng was denied entry into Japan, a report said. Mr Wei flew from New York to Narita airport in Tokyo on Saturday, Jiji Press said. The democracy campaigner had arrived for a speaking engagement, Jiji said. Kyodo News said he was denied entry because he did not have a proper visa. Jiji Press, however, quoted an immigration official as saying: "There is nothing wrong with the procedure. It was an order from above." (…)

China rejects US warning on toothpaste
2007-06-05 China Daily
China rejected a warning by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration urging consumers to avoid using Chinese toothpaste because it may contain a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze. Calling the warning "unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory," China's food regulator said in a statement late Saturday that low levels of the chemical have been deemed safe for consumption. (…)

China, Cuba to enhance bilateral ties
2007-06-05 Xinhua
(…) Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), promised in his meeting with Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada, president of the Cuban National Assembly of People's Power (CNAPP), that China will continue to back Cuba in safeguarding national sovereignty and opposing external intervention. He expressed appreciation of Cuba's support for China on the Taiwan, Tibet and human rights issues. (…) Alarcon said he agreed with Wu's views on the relations between the two nations and parties, adding China's achievements, including fast economic growth, improvement of living standards and growing international prestige, are vivid indications of the vitality of socialist system. (…)

US Missile defense 'harms stability'
2007-06-06 China Daily
Beijing yesterday reiterated its position on the US missile defense system in Northeast Asia, urging all the parties to act with discretion. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said China has always said a missile defense system would impact global strategic stability and could give rise to a new proliferation. (…)

China defends its role in Africa ahead of G8
2007-06-05 China Daily
China sought to defend its role in Africa on Monday ahead of this week's G8 summit, saying its long friendship with the continent was a force for good and shrugging off the threat of criticism at the meeting in Germany. China's increasing presence as a lender to Africa has troubled some G8 ministers, who are worried Beijing is too willing to lend money without strings to African countries (…). Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai told a news conference. (…)

US doesn't back Games boycott plan
2007-06-06 China Daily
Washington does not back the suggestion of a boycott of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing to protest China's policy in Darfur, the US State Department said yesterday. The boycott proposal "is a private effort that is under way. Their perception of the ability of the Chinese government to influence the behavior of the Sudanese government is not a US government effort; is not something that we have supported", spokesman Sean McCormack said in response to a query at a news conference. (…)

Bush meets exiled Uygur in Prague
2007-06-07 SCMP
US President George W. Bush met exiled Uygur leader Rebiya Kadeer on Tuesday, Uygurs in the United States said, as he accused Beijing of jailing her sons in retaliation against her human rights campaign. Rights activists described Mr Bush's meeting with Ms Kadeer as significant amid international pressure on Beijing to put a stop to human rights abuses ahead of next year's Beijing Olympics. Mr Bush met Ms Kadeer on the sidelines of a conference in Prague attended by political dissidents from around the world (…). Before the meeting, Mr Bush highlighted Ms Kadeer as the symbol of struggle for the 10 million mostly Muslim Uygurs, the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang. (…)

China, Costa Rica set up diplomatic ties at ambassadorial level
2007-06-07 Xinhua
Chinese China and Costa Rica announced on Thursday that the two countries signed a joint communiqué on establishing diplomatic ties at ambassadorial level as of June 1. The joint communiqué was signed by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Stagno Ugarte in Beijing on June 1. (…) "The Costa Rican government recognizes that there is only one China in the world and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole China. Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory," it says. (…) Costa Rica is the 169th country that has diplomatic relations with China. It established "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan in 1941.

Chinese president calls on developing nations to jointly meet challenges
2007-06-08 People's Daily
Chinese President Hu Jintao said Thursday in Berlin that developing countries should make concerted efforts to meet challenges brought by economic globalization. Hu made the remarks in a speech at the collective meeting of leaders of developing countries, a sideline event of the Group of Eight (G8) summit, which groups China, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa. (…) He put forward a three-point proposal on safeguarding developing countries' common interests, creating favorable development conditions and boosting coordinated development of the world: Enhance coordination and expand space for development; Effectively upgrade cooperation, especially in such areas as trade, investment, personnel training, infrastructure, culture, education and health; Maintain and improve the meeting mechanism.(…)

China opposes U.S.'s interference in internal affairs
2007-06-08 People's Daily
China Thursday expressed strong discontent with and opposition to the act and wording of the United States on Chinese criminal Rebiya Kadeer. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu made the remarks in Beijing on Thursday at a regular press conference. Commenting on the report that the U.S. President George W. Bush has met with Rebiya Kadeer recently, Jiang said Rebiya Kadeer actually is a criminal. "The U.S. relevant act and wording wantonly interfere in China's internal affairs, and China is strongly discontented with and opposed to it," She said.

Wu Yi's trip to foster Russian ties
2007-06-08 SCMP - As Beijing intensifies its courtship of Moscow and Central Asian countries, Vice-Premier Wu Yi is heading to Russia for a three-city visit to promote Chinese business and meet Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. (…)"Her visit is one of the most important events this year for our relations ... especially as Wu Yi has authority on trade and economic matters," said Andrei Kulik, deputy head of Asian relations at the Russian Foreign Ministry. At the 11th St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Ms Wu will attend a plenary session on competition in Eurasia. Russian President Vladimir Putin, leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States and World Economic Forum head Klaus Schwab will also attend, Chinese embassy spokesman Wang Zhen said. […]

Chinese Vice Premier Huang Ju dies
2007-06-04 China Daily Online
Huang Ju, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Vice-Premier of the State Council, died of illness at 02:03 a.m. June 2 in Beijing at the age of 69. An obituary issued by the central authorities called Huang "an excellent member of the CPC, a long-tested and faithful Communist fighter and an outstanding leader of the Party and the state." […] Huang was approved as vice-premier of the State Council, at the 7th plenary meeting of the First Session of the 10th National People's Congress in March, 2003. […]

China releases national plan on climate change
2007-06-04 China Daily Online
China is the first developing country to establish a national action plan on climate change and show its willingness to act as a responsible one in the combat against global warming, Ma Kai, minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, said on Monday. China was willing to tackle the threat of climate change but its "first and overriding priority" must be economic development, according to the plan, which sets out the countries broad policies on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. The plan states that China is willing to strengthen international cooperation on climate change, but any regional cooperation should "complement" the Kyoto Protocol, the UN-sponsored treaty. […] Through more use of hydropower, wind and biomass energy, boosting nuclear power generation and increasing the efficiency of coal-burning stations, China hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 950 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, the plan said.

18 years since Tiananmen Square crackdown
2007-06-04 SCMP
It is 18 years since the June 4 massacre in Beijing's Tiananmen Square – when Chinese soldiers fired live rounds and used tanks and armored vehicles to crush peaceful student demonstrators. The crackdown resulted in the deaths of several hundred students – possibly thousands – and ended six weeks of unprecedented pro-democracy protests in China. […]

More women reported with HIV
2007-06-05 SCMP
The proportion of females among HIV/Aids sufferers on the mainland rose to 27.8 per cent last year from 19.4 per cent in 2000, Xinhua reported. The ratio of new infections in males and females had narrowed from 5:1 in the 1990s to 2:1, the agency said, quoting Wang Longde , the vice-minister of health. (…)

180,000 people displaced after SW China quake
2007-06-05 China Daily
About 180,000 people have been displaced and 90,000 houses have collapsed following the earthquake in Yunnan Province, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. At least three people (…) were killed and 313 injured in the quake which hit the tea-producing Pu'er City and its surrounding area early on Sunday morning. More than 2,000 army troops and armed police have joined the rescue efforts in the quake-hit county. "The power and water supply, telecommunications and government office buildings were seriously damaged in the quake," said Kong Chuizhu, vice governor of Yunnan. (…) A total of 536,000 local residents were affected by the disaster. More than 90,000 houses collapsed and 270,000 others were damaged, incurring a direct economic loss of 2.5 billion yuan (about 327 million U.S. dollars), it said. (…).

Pressure eases on Tiananmen commemoration - Family members of June 4 victims pay respects - under surveillance
2007-06-05 SCMP
Activists and families of victims of the June 4 Tiananmen Square crackdown have marked the movement's 18th anniversary by paying their own tributes to those who died, amid what they said were slightly relaxed government controls this year. While tight security and surveillance ensured Tiananmen Square remained quiet yesterday, the family members and activists vowed in their own ceremonies not to let the bloody event be forgotten. Ding Zilin, a retired professor who heads the "Tiananmen Mothers" group, made her first tribute in 18 years to her son(…).15 to 20 parents kept up an annual tradition of mourning their lost children at the Beijing Wanan Cemetery yesterday morning, watched by four plain-clothes officers. "But this year, there appeared to be less government pressure. (…). Activist Hu Jia said several activists, himself included, were placed under house arrest or told not to go out around June 4. But Mr Hu said the loosening up could be a result of pressure from the international community and next year's Olympic Games.

Police arrest 12 for plotting riots against one-child policy
2007-06-05 SCMP
Mainland police arrested a dozen people in Shabi town, Guangxi, yesterday for allegedly organising riots last month to protest against a crackdown by local authorities on violators of the one-child policy, a source said yesterday. Scores of police officers surrounded the small town in Bobai county at about 6am and raided several houses. (…) "Some of them are jobless, some are farmers. They are being accused of instigating, organising and getting involved in the riots," he said. "Of course, we believe they are innocent." The arrests shocked the community. Many thought the authorities would take a softer approach to avoid further conflict. Guangxi police had earlier arrested 28 people and blamed them for "networking, persuading and being involved in damaging properties". People who had taken part in the riots said they feared for their safety. Some planned to leave the town temporarily. "Some officials want to seek revenge because the riots are really an embarrassment for them. They have exposed their abuse of power," the source said. (…)The number of protests and riots on the mainland increased from 10,000 in 1994 to 23,000 last year, official figures show(...).

Jailed journalist wins press freedom award
2007-06-05 SCMP
The mother of jailed Chinese journalist Shi Tao wept and punched the air yesterday as she accepted a press freedom award on her son's behalf from a gathering of world media leaders(…) Mr Brock told the opening ceremony that Shi was jailed for revealing that the central government had restricted media coverage of the 15th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. He was convicted of leaking state secrets and jailed for 10 years in 2005 (…). The official Chinese newspaper association had demanded the award be withdrawn, arguing Shi had been tried in a court of law and sentenced accordingly. It had also contended that the mainland constitution protects press freedom.(…)

China speeds up closure of small coal mines
2007-06-05 Xinhua
China will close 10,000 small coal mines by the end of 2007, ahead of schedule, the country's safety watchdog said here Tuesday. These small coal mines -- whose annual production is less than 30,000 tons -- account for about 44 percent of the total number of small coal mines in the country. (…)According to the SAWS, small coal mines account for one third of total production but two thirds of the deaths from coal mine accidents. In 2006, accidents in small coal mines took 3,431 lives. (…).

Net writer under 'false arrest'
2007-06-06 SCMP
A mainlander writing for an overseas news website has been arrested for allegedly running a criminal gang, a charge his employer said had been made up to punish him for reporting on sensitive issues. Sun Lin, who reported for Boxun News under the name Jie Mu, was arrested on May 30, along with more than 20 other alleged gang members, the Nanjing Morning News said. The report said Sun and others had extorted money from unlicensed cab drivers. Police recovered three guns and other weapons from them, the newspaper said. However, Boxun called the Nanjing Morning News report a fabrication and said Sun had been severely beaten in custody. (…)

China's rural unemployed find work through on-line job system
2007-06-05 People's Daily
Wang Guoqing, the son of a farming family from Huangshi village, north China's Hebei Province, is preparing to leave for Shanghai. The 20-year-old has been hired as a security guard there after learning of the company's job advertisement through the central government-funded on-line job information system(…). He is one of the many unemployed rural laborers to find a job since the expansion of the government-supported on-line job information system to the countryside. A program called "fully employed community", previously conducted in urban areas, has been introduced in the rural areas of north China's Hebei Province and reaches town-level administrations. (…)

Record number of students sit down to make-or-break exam
2007-06-07 SCMP
A record 10 million students will hit exam halls across the mainland today for the two-day, make-or-break college entrance exam which marks its 30th anniversary this year. They will compete for just 5.7 million places in the National College Entrance Examination, or gaokao, Xinhua reported. (…)The system has received mounting criticism over the past decade for encouraging rote learning and discouraging creativity and originality, and for judging students' abilities solely from test results. It has also been attacked for placing too much pressure on over-burdened students. […]

Migrant workers not so keen to have a city home: Survey
2007-06-07 China Daily
Gaining a permanent city residence is not the goal of most migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), a survey has revealed. Organized by Guangzhou's Sun Yat-sen University, the poll, which involved 3,084 migrant workers in nine cities in the PRD region, including Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Shenzhen, found that less than a quarter of them were seeking a permanent city home (…) Also, migrant workers, even those without a permanent city residence, already enjoy many of the benefits of regular urban dwellers, a Guangdong official said. (…)

Fewer executions after legal reform
2007-06-07 China Daily
The number of people executed has dropped in the first five months of the year after the Supreme People's Court recovered the right to review and approve all death sentences decided by local courts in the country. Data from the Beijing No 1 and No 2 intermediate people's courts suggests the number of death sentences in first trials resulting in immediate execution dropped 10 percent year-on-year. (…)

Underground bishop back in custody, US rights group says
2007-06-08 SCMP
A bishop in the mainland's underground Catholic church has been detained again by police, nine months after his release from custody, a US-based monitoring group said yesterday. Bishop Jia Zhiguo , 73, was taken away by security agents in Zhengding in Hebei province on Tuesday, the Cardinal Kung Foundation said in a statement. Officials at the Zhengding government office and Public Security Bureau said they had never heard of Bishop Jia and hung up without giving their names or any other details. Beijing broke ties with the Vatican in 1951 and demands that Catholics worship only in government-controlled churches, which recognise the Pope as a spiritual leader but appoint their own priests and bishops.

Two newspaper staff suspended for 'June 4' advert
2007-06-08 SCMP
Two senior officials at a Sichuan newspaper have been suspended over a classified advertisement saluting the mothers of Tiananmen crackdown victims, a source said yesterday. Li Shaojun, executive deputy editor-in-chief of the Chengdu Evening News, was suspended because he was on duty on Sunday when a 13-character advertisement was supposed to be vetted before it appeared in the paper on Monday, the 18th anniversary of the bloody crackdown, the source said. (…) The advertisement, which read "Salute to the adamant mothers of the June 4 victims", was published after a young female clerk from the advertising company accepted it from a client on May 30 without knowing what June 4 meant. […] The Tiananmen crackdown, in which hundreds, and possibly thousands, of students were killed remains a taboo topic on the mainland and references to the incident cannot be found in school textbooks, state media coverage or on the internet. But the newspaper blunder has revived Chengdu residents' memory of the crackdown, with another source saying the newspaper had been widely circulated in the city. […]

Soldier with bird flu dies
2007-06-05 SCMP
The People's Liberation Army soldier who contracted H5N1 has died, taking the death toll on the mainland to 16, the World Health Organisation said yesterday. It is the first death on the mainland reported since March.

Nation helps neighbors fight outbreak
2007-06-07 China Daily
China has intensified monitoring and prevention efforts in response to bird flu outbreaks in the Southeast Asian nations of Vietnam and Malaysia, a senior veterinary official said yesterday. (…). China has reported three bird flu cases so far this year, compared to 10 last year, and 31 in 2005. (…)China has also dispatched four groups of specialists to Vietnam in the past two years, and invited Vietnamese officials and technicians to visit veterinary labs and production enterprises. Last week, the government donated goods worth $900,000 to Indonesia to control bird flu. In accordance with a memorandum of understanding between the two countries, China will provide an additional $2.6 million to Indonesia to help with its fight against bird flu.

Chen warns successor Beijing will 'not give up'
2007-06-07 SCMP
Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian has warned his likely successor against having "any illusions" about the mainland, saying it is impossible for Beijing to concede on the issue of the island's sovereignty. His warning comes as alarm bells are ringing over Taiwan's ties with Costa Rica, one of its 25 formal diplomatic allies, with reports that it might be about to recognize Beijing. "Those who plan to run for president next year should refrain from entertaining any illusions on China. Unless Taiwan surrenders, China is unlikely to yield on the sovereignty issue," Mr Chen said in a meeting with a group of US scholars in Taipei yesterday. His comment appeared to target opposition Kuomintang presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou, who has vowed to end hostility with the mainland and hold talks with Beijing to stop its diplomatic squeeze on the island if he is elected president. (…) Meanwhile, the island's foreign ministry admitted that it was preparing for the worst over news reports that Costa Rica might switch recognition to Beijing. "We will do everything in our power to keep the ties," ministry spokesman David Wang Chien-yeh said in response to a front-page report in the Taipei-based China Times newspaper that Costa Rica would establish formal ties with the mainland "within days". (…) KMT lawmakers expressed concern over a "possible domino effect" if Costa Rica switched ties to Beijing. (…)

Zambia welcomes volunteer activities promoting China's peaceful reunification
2007-06-06 Xinhua
One year after the Zambia Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification of China (ZCPPNRC) was established, Zambia has said it will encourage volunteer activities to promote China's peaceful reunification. (…) A powerful China poses no threat to the world, Mulongoti said. And China's growing economy will bring prosperity to the whole world. The ZCPPNRC serves as an important platform for Chinese, both from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan province, to promote China's peaceful reunification and fight against separatist activities aimed at independence for Taiwan. "There is only one China in the world," said ZCPPNRC president Mr Roger Lee, a businessman from Taiwan, who is now living in Zambia. (…)

Taiwan's ex-president to visit Yasukuni today
2007-06-07 SCMP
Former Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui will visit the Yasukuni war shrine this morning, Kyodo reported, quoting sources. Mr Lee has said since arriving in Japan last week that he wanted to visit the shrine, which honours millions of Japanese war dead, including 14 convicted war criminals. Mr Lee's older brother died fighting for the Japanese. Beijing has warned Japan it was putting relations at risk by allowing Mr Lee to visit the country, while Tokyo has said Mr Lee's visit was for tourism only and should have no impact on mainland-Japanese ties.

China again expresses strong displeasure for Japan on Lee Teng-hui's visit
2007-06-08 People's Daily
China on Thursday expressed its strong displeasure again for Japan on Lee Teng-hui's visit after Lee visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. "From what Lee Teng-hui has done in Japan we can see what his purpose is. China again expresses strong dissatisfaction with the Japanese side for allowing Lee Teng-hui to visit Japan," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu at a regular press conference. Lee Teng-hui paid a visit to the Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday, where his elder brother is enshrined together with Japanese war criminals of World War II. China last Thursday had expressed its strong displeasure for Japan on Lee Teng-hui's visit. "The purpose of Lee Teng-hui's tour is to create fanfare for 'Taiwan Independence' and sabotage China-Japan relations," Jiang said.

Two Chinese sites listed on world's 100 most endangered
2007-06-06 Xinhua
Early modern Shanghai architectures and over 1,000-year-old Xumishan Grottoes in northern China were listed by the World Monuments Fund (WMF) on the 100 most endangered architectural and cultural sites in the world on Wednesday. (…) WMF said some of the most prominent early modern structures in Shanghai have been recognized as landmarks and the threats to the buildings from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s persist due to lack of awareness and development pressures. Shanghai, China's primary economic hub, is once again experiencing a period of remarkable growth. The work of the early Chinese architects is significant historically and architecturally but lacks long-term safeguarding, WMF said. As for Xumishan, a Buddhist enclave with more than 130 grottoes, the main threats are exposure to the elements, vandalism and limited resources to protect the cultural site. (…) Although the Xumishan Grottoes have been designated a National Level Cultural Relic Protected Site in China, they face imminent danger due to natural causes, including wind and sand erosion, water damage, and earthquakes. (…)

Press freedom in Hong Kong has improved since 1997
2007-06-04 People's Daily Online
A senior official of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Sunday quoted independent surveys as saying that freedom of speech and press freedom have improved since 1997 when it returned to China's motherland (…). According to the University of Hong Kong's independent surveys, the rating for freedom of speech was 7.46 in January this year, compared with 7.17 for freedom of speech in August 1997, just a month after the handover of sovereignty in 1997 (…). "These freedoms did not leave us when Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region of China in 1997." […]

'Whitewash' of facts dishonours Tiananmen victims: vigil leaders
2007-06-05 SCMP
Fuelled by anger against DAB chairman Ma Lik's "whitewash" of the Tiananmen crackdown, tens of thousands of mourners jammed Victoria Park last night for the annual candle-light vigil. The organisers, the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, claimed a turnout of 55,000, which was 11,000 more than their estimate last year and 10,000 more than in 2005. Police put the number at 27,000. (…) In prayers earlier, Catholic leader Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun said there would be no happiness in China unless there was a redress of June 4.

Runaway inflation not likely from pork prices
2007-06-04 People's Daily Online
How high can pork fly? The latest price hike has caught the attention of officials as well as the public. Premier Wen Jiabao stressed after visiting several pig farms around the country that measures must be taken to protect the interests of consumers as well as pig farmers. […] Several factors are pushing up pork prices. Edible oil and grain saw price rises starting early this year, which naturally led to rising prices in pig feed.[…] Meanwhile, the outbreak of blue ear disease, also known as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), causing numerous pig deaths in several provinces in South China, was also a cause of a supply shortage. […] Research by Goldman Sachs, the leading international investment bank, released on May 28 indicates that the continuous price increase in pork in recent months would probably push the rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) above 4 percent. The report also said that it is necessary for the People's Bank of China, the central bank, to raise the interest rate to check potential inflation. […] Actually, a certain amount of inflation will help stabilize economic prosperity and growth. […]

Mainland stocks take a battering
2007-06-05 SCMP
The mainland's benchmark stock index plunged by a record number of points yesterday - the biggest percentage decline in three months - but regional markets shrugged off the fall. The Shanghai Composite Index fell as much as 13.5 per cent before closing down 8.26 per cent, or 330.34 points, at 3,670.40. It was largest percentage decline since an 8.84 per cent drop on February 27. The index has fallen for three of the past four trading days. […]

China, US customs to swap IPR data
2007-06-05 People's Daily Online
Customs officials in China and the United States will regularly share information about seizures of pirated goods and encourage more exchanges to better combat infringements of intellectual property rights (IPR), a top official has said. To help them better select targets for IPR enforcement and evaluate achievements, Chinese and US customs officials will every six months exchange statistics concerning seizures of counterfeit and pirated goods originating in or destined for the other side, Mu Xinsheng, minister of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), said in an interview yesterday. (…) Mu said all the new measures are included in the Memorandum on Strengthened Cooperation in Border IPR Enforcement between the GAC and the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which was signed on May 22.(…)

China's steel enterprises have no impact on int'l market
2007-06-05 People's Daily
In the recently held "Reuters global mining and steel summit", Secretary-General of the International Iron and Steel Institute, Ian Christmas, warned western steel companies that they need "to be careful about the emerging Chinese steel companies which will have an impact on the global steel industry as a whole. The next wave of steel industry reorganization will sweep through China and even give birth to some major international firms. These firms will pose a serious threat on Western steel manufacturers." Christmas's remark triggered a "Chinese steel threat theory" among international media. Therefore, the executive vice president of the Chinese steel industry, Luo Bingsheng, said that the "Chinese steel threat theory" simply does not exist. "It is nothing but a sensationalist argument of a few people," Luo declared. (…)

Yuan hits new high against U.S. dollar
2007-06-05 People's Daily
China's currency, the yuan, hit a new high on Tuesday against the U.S. dollar, according to the Chinese Foreign Exchange Trading System. The central parity rate of the yuan(…) stood at 7.6427 yuan to one U.S. dollar on Tuesday, gaining 95 basis points from Monday's reference rate of 7.6525 to the dollar(…)It is believed that as a fast growing economy with low inflation, China will inevitably see its currency rise in value.

Britain's Prince visits Mongolia
2007-06-06 Mongol Messenger
Mongolia's President N. Enkhbayar welcomed the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, who visited Mongolia on June 1. (…) He said after Mongolia and Rio Tinto reached a mutually beneficial agreement, there would be more opportunity for businesses for Mongolia and its people. “Prestigious global mining companies have a good reputation for natural conservation activities and corporate social responsibility(…)” he said. (…) Rio Tinto suggested training Mongolian engineers.

UN supports local governance
2007-06-06 Mongol Messenger
The UN Development Program will implement a pilot Regional Governance Support Program in five aimags. (…) The program aims to experiment with planning, financing, and administering regional services and to improve general frames of regional good governance through support and implementing national policy, strategy, and activity regulations on regional governance and services.(…)

Nyamdorj dismissal breaks new ground
2007-06-06 Mongol Messenger
On May 30, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on State Structure discussed conclusion #06 of the Constitutional Court, which said: “Parliamentary Speaker Ts. Nyamdorj frequently attacked the sovereignty of the parliament and violated the relevant clause of the Constitution. It was grounds to dismiss him from the post of Parliamentary Speaker.” Some members of the Standing Committee claimed that while the Constitutional Court made the conclusion on whether the speaker violated the Constitution or not, explained that dismissal of the parliamentary speaker should be discussed as parliament only applied to the CC, not by a request of citizens and did not reflect an issue on dismissal in its conclusion, but it reflected the dismissal issue in its second conclusion, which led to the understanding that the CC made a political conclusion in harmony with the situation. (…)

Joel Baumgartner
Embassy of Switzerland