ChinaFun

Source: Global Times    [02:46 October 16 2009]

Premier Wen Jiabao wants to meet with his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in Thailand next week in what looks to be a sign of diplomacy amid renewed border disputes between the neighboring countries, Indian media reported.

The meeting would come on the heels of a recent controversial visit by the Indian prime minister to a disputed region and India’s call for China to stop offering assistance on a dam project in Kashmir.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thursdaydid not rule out the possibility that the meeting could take place at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

“The ministry is still consulting with relevant departments about Premier Wen’s schedule,” a spokesperson told the Global Times.

Wen conveyed his wish to meet Singh during a meeting with Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, who was in Beijing earlier this week to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, the Hindustan Times reported Wednesday, quoting unnamed sources.

The border dispute was highlighted again Thursday when Indian Congress leader Rahul Gandhi insisted that “Arunachal Pradesh” was part of India, Press Trust of India reported.

Singh visited “Arunachal Pradesh,” on October 3 to campaign ahead of state elections there. AFP reported that Singh refrained from saying anything about China or the border dispute.

China on Tuesday expressed its “strong dissatisfaction” over the visit, accusing the unnamed “Indian leader” of “disregarding China’s serious concerns.” according to foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu.

Singh’s vist also brought up outcries among the Chinese public. A Global Times Chinese website poll participated by more than 10,000 users Tuesday showed that more than 96% people are “angry” over the visit, and many believed it was a provocative move.

In response to New Delhi’s call Wednesday to halt Beijing’s assistance on hydro-electric projects in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, the foreign ministry spokesman said “the Kashmir issue is a question left over by history that should be resolved properly through consultation and dialogue by India and Pakistan.”

The remarks came after a warning by India about Beijing’s involvement in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

“We hope that the Chinese side will take a long-term view of India-China relations and cease such activities in areas illegally occupied by Pakistan,” Indian foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said in response to a Chinese statement that it would remain engaged in Pakistan.

China offered help to Pakistan to build a multibillion-dollar dam in Kashmir, leading New Delhi to complain to Islamabad.

An agreement was signed in August to begin construction of the project, one of the eight 7,000 megawatt hydro-projects to be constructed, the Xinhua News Agency has reported. The dam is being constructed at Bunji in the Astore district of the Gilgit-Baltistan area, Xinhua said.

The Indian media have also sensationalized Nepal’s invitation on China to extend its Qinghai-Tibet plateau railway to Kathmandu, and how the Indian Railways has come up with a plan to build links with Nepal and Bhutan.

Hindustan Times called it part of India’s stepped up diplomatic initiatives to “neutralise China’s advantage in the region” over the past few months.

Fu Xiaoqiang, an expert on South Asian issues at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said there has been long-standing mistrust between the two neighbors, but he said China had no intension of containing India’s development.

“China and India inevitably have overlapping and even conflicting interests,” Fu said.

He conceded that the possibility of military conflicts, provoked by uncontrollable sentiment, could not be ruled out if the border issue is left unresolved and the Indian military keeps strengthening its armament out of security concerns with China.

“Neither side could benefit from conflict,” Fu said.

Wang Dehua, at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said the reaction by the Indian government was its response to China’s protest over the Indian leader’s visit to the controversial region.

“China and India should avoid malicious contest and cooperate to win for the same goal,” Wang said. “Western countries would be happy to see conflict erupt between China and India, because they can sell their weapons to both countries for commercial benefits.”

The Indian media also expressed similar sentiments on avoiding conflict.

“Negative vibes between India and China are growing. It would be calamitous if this leads to greater military spending,” an opinion piece carried in the Business Standard said.

“India must lie low in the short and medium term, build its strength and hope that conditions in both countries will be ripe for striking the deal that Deng Xiaoping offered in 1988 but which India had declined – accepting the status quo – the line of actual control – as the international border between the two countries,” it said.

Kang Juan and An Baijie contributed to this story

Source: Global Times  [00:29 October 15 2009]

By Cong Mu

The country’s gross external debts at the end of June rose slightly from the end of March, but their rate of decline compared with the same period last year has picked up.

Outstanding foreign debts amounted to $360.6 billion at the end of the second quarter, down 15.6 percent compared with the same period last year when outstanding foreign debts stood at $427.4 billion, according to the data published by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) Tuesday.

In comparison, gross external debts were $336.7 billion at the end of the first quarter, shrinking 14.2 percent from the same period last year, according to SAFE.

This is mainly due to the repatriation of money by multinational companies which were hit hard by the global financial crisis, economists said.

The repatriation and the contraction of trade finance were the main factors contributing to the debt decline, while the term structure of some of the debts might also have played a part in it, said the economists led by Qu Hongbing, HSBC’s chief economist in China.

They ruled out the influence of the exchange rate because the yuan has been steady against the US dollar since the end of 2008.

The People’s Bank of China set the central parity rate of the yuan at 6.8269 against the dollar Wednesday.

Calyon predicted the yuan will appreciate to 6.5 against the dollar by the end of 2010, said Sebastien Barbé, head of Emerging Market Research and Strategy at the French investment bank.

China reduced its foreign debts to improve the management of national assets, said Ding Jianping, director of the Research Center for Modern Finance at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

China holds a large amount of the US T-bills which offer minimal return. While the country is not able to enitrely pull out of these low-yield assets, it is wise to decrease its liabilities, Ding said.

“Our debts incur a higher interest rate than our credits, so it’s better for us to pay back our debt as soon as possible,” he said.

In the first six months of 2009, China borrowed $9.3 billion in long-term debts from foreign countries, down 52.2 percent from the same period last year. At the same time it paid back $19.5 billion long-term debt principals, up 122 percent from the same period last year, the SAFE data showed.

In the long run, the continuous reduction of foreign debts, especially short-term ones, is not conducive to economic development, as short-term financing is critical for corporate operations and consumption, the economists said.

The falling rate of the outstanding short-term foreign debts slowed in June, with the amount reaching $194.4 billion, down 7.8 percent from the same period last year. The rate was 17.7 percent three months earlier.

The HSBC economists expect short-term foreign debts to increase if the appreciation expectaion of the yuan rises.

China reduced its holdings of US government debt by the largest margin in nearly nine years in June, according to data from the US Treasury.

China holds more US government debt than any other country and cut its holdings of US securities by more that 3% in June, said the BBC’s Chris Hogg.

Japan and the UK – second and third largest holders of US debt – increased their holdings over the same period.

China’s holding of US debt is about 7% higher than at the turn of the year.

Inflation fear

In recent months the US government’s budget deficit has widened thanks in part to the Obama administration’s costly stimulus plan.

Our correspondent in Shanghai says that China is worried about this, and fears the stimulus efforts will fuel inflation in the US, reducing the value of the dollar.

This would then erode the value of the debt China holds in the US currency.

In June, China cut its holdings of US securities by about $25bn, a fall of 3.1%.

‘Dollar alternative’

The sales were made as the US treasury secretary was visiting Beijing to try to reassure the Chinese that their investment in his country’s government debt is safe.

In 2008, the Chinese increased their holdings in US debt by 52% over 12 months.

“China has said it would like to establish an alternative to the US dollar as the world’s favoured currency for foreign exchange reserves,” said our correspondent.

“So far there is no evidence that there is a suitable alternative. But these figures suggest they are exploring ways to diversify their investments where they can.”

The Chinese government asked the World Trade Organization on the 12th to set up expert groups to investigate and decide if  EU’S anti-dumping measures toward China’s fasteners violate international trade rules.

Chinese Permanent Delegation of the World Trade Organization said in a statement the same day, the Chinese government has sent a letter to President of the WTO Dispute Settlement,requesting for the establishment of the Expert Group on the EU anti-dumping measures towards China’s fastener.

The statement said that，China and the EU negotiated on this problem on September 14 after the consultation request of July 31,but with no result.The statement quoted the Ministry of Commerce and Law Division’s words, the Chinese Government is firmly opposed to any abuse of trade remedy measures to encourage the practice of trade protectionism.At the crucial moment of global economy difficulty,China believes that the EU governments and the industry should pass a message of fair trade to other countries.Chinese government has the confidence and determination to safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese industries, and create a fair trading environment.

Fastener trade disputes between China and the EU began in November 9, 2007, when the European Commission decided to initiate anti-dumping investigations to imports of steel fasteners from China.Although some Chinese enterprises to actively responding to its case, but the EU decided to impose the maximum 87% of the fastener of formal anti-dumping duties for five years,in disregard of China.

Recently, the British Akmal Shaik was sentenced to death due to drug trafficking by Chinese courts.This caused a big uproar in the UK. British media insisted that the person suffering from mental illness, hope that the Chinese Government not to sentence him to death, and called for China’s diplomatic pressure.

British “Daily Telegraph”reported on 12th that the 53-year-old Akmal Shaik was found carrying heroin worth 25 million pounds in Urumqi, Xinjiang Airport,thus sentenced him to death in 2007 in the first trial.Subsequently sentence requested, but was rejected.Last week, the Shaik appeal the second time, China announced that the court ultimately upheld the conviction.

Source: Global Times   [03:20 October 13 2009]

By Qiu Wei

Six death penalties and a life-imprisonment sentence were handed down Monday in the first verdicts over the unrest in the western Xinjiang region three months ago that left almost 200 dead.

The sentencing appeased some victims’ families, who nonetheless maintained their call for more timely punishments for those charged.

The heavily police-guarded Intermediate People’s Court in Urumqi sentenced the seven Uygur men convicted of crimes such as murder, arson and robbery in the July 5 riot. Mobs on that day claimed 197 lives and injured more than 1,600.

The seven tried were among the 21 people who have been charged. Trials for the remaining 14 are scheduled in the coming days, Hou Hanmin, a spokeswoman for the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, told the Global Times Monday.

It was unknown whether the Uygurs would appeal the rulings.

Abdukerim Abduwayit, Gheni Yusup, Abdulla Mettohti, Adil Rozi, Nureli Wuxiu’er and Alim Metyusup were sentenced to death. Tayirejan Abulimit was given the lesser punishment of life imprisonment, as he confessed to crimes of murder and robbery and helped the police capture Metyusup.

Abduwayit killed five people with a dagger and pipe wrench during the riot. He also set fire to a downtown building, resulting in 13 people being injured from jumping off the building and causing economic losses of more than 260,000 yuan ($38,000), according to the sentencing report.

In the second case, Yusup led Mettohti, Rozi and Wuxiu’er in beating four people to death and injuring another. Mettohti and others also set a grain-and-oil shop ablaze, killing five people who were hiding inside and causing an economic loss of 1.37 million yuan.

Metyusup and Abulimit together killed three people and seriously injured one person. Metyusup, together with other mobs, also killed another two people and set fire to houses, resulting in an economic loss of more than 50,000 yuan.

Habibulla Abdusalam, director of ethnic literature studies at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, said the sentencing would likely appease victims’ families and help residents feel like life has returned to normal.

“Lawbreakers, regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, should be held accountable and punished. All ethnicities suffered from the brutal killings,” Abdusalam said. “As a Uygur, I believe the love of humanity should be broad and go beyond ethnicities. Rioters do not deserve tolerance by their co-ethnic people.”

Police have detained hundreds of people suspected of crimes related to the unrest, earlier reports said.

Dai Xiaoli, 42, a Han woman whose sister was killed on her way home from work during the riot, said the families felt somewhat relieved after the sentencing. But Dai urged authorities to bring more rioters to justice as soon as possible.

“It has been more than three months since the bloody incident. Why there are only so few people sentenced?” Dai asked.

Dai said that she had asked the police department about the investigation of her sister’s death but was told only that it was hard to track down her sister’s assailant.

“We have received 420,000 yuan in compensation from the government. But it’s not a matter of money. My family has suffered too much for my sister’s death,” Dai said.

Urumqi has been under heavy security since the unrest. The situation got tenser amid a wave of syringe attacks beginning in late August.

Four people were given hefty sentences ranging from eight to 15 years in prison September 17 for stabbing a pedestrian with a syringe in Urumqi, which triggered a public scare and caused violent protests.

The sense of security has been restored now. Nearly 14,000 community volunteers have joined police forces since September to maintain social order as they formed more than 700 unarmed security teams patrolling the city around the clock, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Dai runs a store in southern Urumqi, where most residents are Uygurs. She said that she does not worry about the safety now, as there are a lot of armed police patrolling the street, but it is very hard to keep the business going.

“Ninety percent of my customers are Uygurs. But the volume every day is only dozens of yuan, and I close the store at 9:30 pm at the latest. I really don’t know if it can still sustain,” Dai said with anxiety.

The number of domestic tourists to Xinjiang slumped 26.6 percent, year-on-year, to 1.3 million during the National Day holiday, Xinhua reported.

The World Uygur Congress condemned the sentences, saying that the defendants were not given access to lawyers of their own choosing, AFP reported.

But according to the official press release, the public prosecutors presented testimonies of witnesses, autopsy reports and other evidences at the court, and played monitoring video of the scenes of crimes.

The defendants provided explanation against their charges and their lawyers defended at the court. More than 400 people, including legislators, family members of the defendants and victims, and journalists, observed the hearings.

The court proceedings were done in the Uygur language along with simultaneous interpretation.

Hao Zhou, Kang Juan and An Baijie contributed to this story

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s special plane arrived in Beijing in the evening of 12th, thus opened the  three-day visit to China.Putin’s visit to China draws very high degree of global concern.This is not just because it was the first visit to China after he became prime minister,but also he will signe with China on an unprecedented number of major cooperation agreement in the dozens of hours.On the one hand,Russia want to introduce high-speed rail technology from China;on the other hand, Russia’s military strength and energy reserves and China’s strategic interests are closely related.Surveys shows that nearly half of Chinese Internet users believe that as China’s largest neighbor, Russia, military cooperation and energy security are two aspects of China’s most significant.

It was reported that Putin on the same day 20:40 arrival in Beijing Capital International Airport, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi went to meet him.In fact, before Putin’s special plane landed, reports of China and Russia will cooperate had prominent positions in major Chinese and foreign medias.It is reported that,during Putin’s visit of China,China and Russia will sign 34 agreements, worth more than 5.5 billions.Remarkably, these agreements will cover the national economy and national defense, and many other strategic areas.For example, after the commencement of the agreement was signed, Russia will be notified each other of ballistic missile launches, which is rare in the world, so experts believe that this will be the Sino-Russian relations, “a major breakthrough”.In addition, Russia also hopes to introduce China’s high-speed railway technology.Under the reality of Japan and France dominating the market,Russia has turned to China’s high-speed railway technology.Experts believe that this shows that China’s technology gained recognition of outsiders,which will make “Made in China” enter “a new level”.In addition, the two countries will cooperain areas of transport, infrastructure, mining and natural gas and so on .

The president of Google Greater China, Li Kaifu resigned on Sept. 4 from google to start his own business.Google confirmed in an emmailed statement later in the same day.Lee didn’t talk too much about why he leave so suddenly.He said he will hold a press briefing on his resignation on Sept 4 in Beijing.

It is reported that lee has reached a agreement with a American company last year and they will set up a venture capital company under lee’s name.

Lee joined Google in 2005 from Microsoft where he was a corporate vice president in charge of advanced natural language and user interface technologies. He founded Microsoft Research Asia, which has since become a prominent research center. He previously worked at a subsidiary of Silicon Graphics, Inc. and Apple Computer.