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Briefings - 1208. page

Beijing’s New Measures on Security

Legal Daily reported that new measures on security for large social activities in Beijing will take effect on March 1, 2008. An official from the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau stated that professional firms will be set up to monitor and grant permission for large scale social activities in Beijing.

More than 10,000 policemen, security guards and volunteers will take part in security checking on more than 200 hotels and other public places during the 2008 Olympics.

Source: Legal Daily, January 31, 2008
http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/0705/2008-01/31/content792072.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Member of Anhui Politic-Consultative Committee Wang Zhaojun Publishes Second Open Letter

On October 22, 2007, Wang Zhaojun, a delegate member of the Political-Consultative Committee of Anhui Province wrote an open letter and published it on overseas Chinese websites. In it he asked China’s top leaders, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, to stop the political persecution of the Chinese people and start political reform. Today, he wrote a second open letter to Hu-Wen calling again for political reform after his press conference about opening an environment protection website was blocked.

Source: Boxun, January 31, 2008
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/pubvp/2008/01/200801310202.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Pesticide-Contaminated Frozen Dumplings from China Cause 11 in Japan to Suffer from Food Poisoning

The BBC reported on January 30 that 11 people from three families in Japan suffered from food poisoning after eating frozen dumplings made in China. The dumplings were found to be contaminated with the pesticide Methamidophos. A five-year-old girl had the most serious symptoms, losing consciousness at one point. The problem food was from the China Tianyang Food Factory.

Source: BBC, January 30, 2008 http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/simp/hi/newsid_7210000/newsid_7217400/7217439.stm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

PLA Ceases Arms Purchases from Russia

China state-media Global Times quotes a January 29 article from the Russian newspaper The Independent that says that China, the biggest customer of Russian defense industrial products, is gone forever. Exports of national defense technology and products to China have recently been close to zero. The article says that Moscow is very concerned about the situation. It is also one of the major issues for the Russian Defense Minister’s visit to China.

Source: China News Agency, January 31, 2008
http://mil.news.sina.com.cn/p/2008-01-31/0733483714.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Transport System Crisis in Southern China Strands Migrant Workers

The Beijing-Guanzhou railroad, the backbone of China’s railroad system, died during the worst snow fall in half a century. Millions of migrate workers were stranded in train stations at Guangzhou and other cities were left in chaos. The government warned that the system would not be in order for the next few days and asked travelers to spend the Chinese New Year where they were. According to the Railroad Ministry, the number of stranded passengers exceeded .5 million in Guangdong Province alone. The statistics reported by the Hong Kong media indicated the number approached one million in Guangzhou and Shenzhen alone. The authorities in Guangdong announced that all of the stations in this province would stop selling tickets – the business windows would only handle ticket refunds, as they expect the crisis won’t end until Chinese New Years Eve (Feb 6). This triggered a lot of dissatisfaction among the travelers.

Source: Voice of America, January, 29, 2008
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/w2008-01-29-voa26.cfm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Shenzhen Per Capita GDP Surpasses US$10,000

Guangzhou Daily reported on January 29 that Shenzhen became the first city in mainland China to have surpassed US$10,000 in per capita GDP. The data was released by the Shenzhen Municipal Statistics Bureau yesterday, with the average GDP per person in 2007 being US$10628.

Source: Guangzhou Daily, January 29, 2008
http://gzdaily.dayoo.com/html/2008-01/29/content_118617.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

PLA Daily Claims China Will Soon Have Fighter Plane Air-Refueling Technology

PLA Daily published an article on January 28 about its military technology advance. The article introduced a military scientist, Ge Xiaofei, and his recent achievements in advancing China’s fighter airplane technology. The article says that Ge has succeeded in developing an automatic electronic interference apparatus for the next generation’s fighter airplane. He also finished a theoretical plan, operation procedure, and feasibility report to develop a “fighter plane air-refueling technology.” The Article is posted on Xinhuanet’s military section.

Source: PLA Daily, January 28, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2008-01/28/content_7510808.htm

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

New Internet Domain Technology û Potential Savings of Billions of Dollars

On January 24, after ten years of research and development, the China Ministry of Information announced the launch of a decimal internet technology. It combines domain name, ip, and MAC addresses, and will replace the existing hexadecimal system developed by the U.S. Xie Jianping, Chief Engineer in charge of the project said that China has become the second country in the world next to the U.S. that has mastered the technology in domain names and address distribution.

China pays 500 billion yuan (US$6.9 billion) to the U.S. each year for worldwide Internet usage, including domain registration, analysis, channel resources, equipment, and software. The total amount exceeds China’s annual defense budget.

Source: China First Finance Daily, January 24, 2008
http://finance.people.com.cn/GB/6818246.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology