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All posts by LKY - 187. page

Iraqi Merchants Seek Direct Sales Channels with Inland Provinces

During the 2008 China Chongqing Expo, buyers from Iraq issued over 100 purchase orders for automobiles, electrical appliances, food, housing construction equipment, and consumable products, totaling US$1 billion. Many are trying to establish direct sales channels with local businesses to cut back costs of having a middle man.  Daily consumable products topped all the categories of the orders placed.

Source: People’s Daily, March 25, 2008 http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2008-03/25/content_48322437.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Hundreds of Retirees in Heilongjiang Contiue Protests on Overdue Benefits

On the morning of March 25, the second day of the protest, over 300 retirees from Ha Er Bin Insulation Material Factory in Heilongjiang province continued to gather in front of the Electric Motor Factory to demand the settlement of their overdue winter benefits package. The two-day protest was held in rainy and cold weather conditions. No factory officials came out to speak to the protesters.

Source: Chinese Human Rights Defenders, March 25, 2008 http://crd-net.org/Article/Class71/200803/20080325175518_8185.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Eyewitness: Tibetan Holding Knife was a Police Officer

A Thai Chinese woman who had witnessed the protests in Tibet has identified a Tibetan shown holding a knife in a picture released by the Chinese government as a policeman, according to a spokesperson for the Dalai Lama on March 18, 2008. This Thai Chinese woman was detained with other foreigners at the Bajiao Street police station on March 14, when a group of Tibetans were detained and escorted into the station. She saw one of them, a man with a knife in his hand, take off his Tibetan robe and change into a police uniform. She was later forced to leave Lhasa and went to India via Nepal. Once in India she identified the person she had seen change into a police uniform as the same person in a picture released by the Chinese government as evidence of violence during Tibetan protests. The picture was also broadcasted by the BBC.

Source: Sound of Hope, March 20, 2008
http://soundofhope.org/programs/162/88669-1.asp

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Government Think Tank: the U.S. to Bring Down Other Countries?

Li Shen, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences stated on March 17 that the last 10 years of economic boom experienced in the U.S. after the end of cold war was not the result of information technology development, but because the U.S. had brought down the economies of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. “Will the U.S. heading into recession repeat history and mobilize all its energy to bring down the world’s other major countries or major powers?” questioned Li.

Source: Xinhua, March 19, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2008-03/19/content_7820222.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

More News on Military Hotline With Russia

On March 14, 2008 the first military hotline between China and Russia was put to use, said the International Herald Leader, published under Xinhua.  It is meant to send a signal to the United States that there is much more trust between China and Russia.  A military hotline with the U.S. is expected soon.  However Chinese military experts have said that the two hotlines serve different purposes. The China-Russia military hotline is to improve communications and coordination on major international and regional issues, while the China-U.S. military hotline is to establish a dialogue to resolve potential crises between the two.

Source: Xinhua, March 18, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2008-03/18/content_7811142.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Mainland Chinese Media on Protest in Tibet

According to the  Hong Kong-based Apple Daily, as of March 15, the second day of reported protests in  Tibet, Mainland Chinese news media outlets were mostly silent about it. The official Xinhua news agency only reported on the protests on its English site.  At one point, Xinhua reported shooting by local police on its English site, but soon took the notice down.

Chinese Central Television (CCTV) aired some video footage about Tibet on its evening news on March 15, which only contained scenes of a group of young people burning stores or attacking civilians. It did not mention an earlier peaceful demonstration or the arrest of protesters by the local police. CCTV’s evening news called the protest “a riot that was carefully organized by Dalai Lama with the intention of damaging social stability.”

In the afternoon of March 15, major mainland Chinese websites and newspapers started to carry an article by Xinhua titled “Q&A issued by officials of the Tibet Autonomous Region about a small group of people creating social disorder” but the web link for posting comments was disabled.

Source: Boxun, March 16, 2008
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2008/03/200803161002.shtml

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Shanghai Jiefang Daily: U.S. Has Two Faces on Human Rights Issues

The Jiefang Daily criticized the U.S. of having a double standard when it issued its 2007 human rights report on other countries. The article said that “while the U.S. pays close attention to human rights violations by other countries, it was blind to its own deteriorating human rights record.” The article stated that there has been a 25 percent increase in cases of personal rights infringement by the executive and judicial branches from 2001 to 2007; The U.S.-lead Iraq war has caused 660,000 casualties with 90 percent of them civilians; and the [Abu-Graib] prisoner abuse scandal has become a symbol of the U. S. The article suggested that U.S. should mind its own business before pointing fingers at others.

Source: Xinhua, March 14, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2008-03/14/content_7786747.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

China Speeds Up Tapping of Strategic Oil Reserves

On March 6, PetroChina announced the opening of a commercial oil reserve project in Shanshan county of Xinjiang province. Total oil reserves there are expected to reach 1 million cubic meters. The project marks the beginning of China’s second phase of tapping oil reserves in response to the worldwide oil shortage.

The first phase centers on the coastline and consists of four strategic oil reserve bases: Zhanhai, Zhejiang province; Huangdao, Shandong province; Zhoushan, Zhejiang province and Dalian, Liaoning province. The Dalian base was the last one opened and it was close to being 2/3 completed as of March 6.

Source: China Stock, March 7, 2008 http://cnstock.xinhuanet.com/newcjzh/06cjdt/2008-03/07/content_3075200.htm

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology