Geo-Strategic Trend - 214. page

People’s Daily carried an article that the Japanese newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, had originally published, saying that the tension between China and Japan was affecting airline travel. The two major Japanese airlines, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines Corporation, reported that, by the close of the day on September 25, 2012, 55,500 ticket reservations for the period of September to November for flights between China and Japan had been cancelled. The head of All Nippon Airways told the reporter that the airline was using smaller airplanes to deal with the cancellations and had not reduced the total number of flights. He admitted that the cancellations would have a huge impact on the airline’s business but hoped that the volume would pick up once the Japanese companies reopened their businesses in China.

Source: People’s Daily, September 27, 2012
http://japan.people.com.cn/35463/7962771.html

On September 25, 2012, while the tension between China and Japan over the sovereignty dispute on the Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands continues to escalate, Beijing’s State Council Information Office issued three White Books. They include: 

To date, China has launched 31 Confucius Institutes and five Confucius Classrooms in 26 African countries. Some have incorporated the Chinese language into a system in which students receive an academic degree or college credits.

In the past two years, China has provided 5,710 government scholarships to African countries. It plans to implement the “African Talent Project.” Over the next three years, China will train 30,000 professionals in different fields and provide 18,000 government scholarships, as well as offer job training and support.

In recent years, China has been advancing into Africa by means of the economy and culture and continues to increase its influence in the continent. Through 2011, China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for the third consecutive year. The trade volume between the two countries has reached a record $166.3 billion. As many as 2000 Chinese companies have made direct investments in Africa, totaling $14.7 billion.

Source: BBC Chinese, September 26, 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/chinese_news/2012/09/120926_china_africa.shtml

The website of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party carried an article that Guangming Daily had originally published. According to the article, on September 23, 2012, the “Cross Strait Forum on Current Affairs” (大华府两岸时事论坛) held a forum in Washington DC on “Defending the Diaoyu Islands.” Those at the forum protested strongly against the Japanese government for taking over China’s Diaoyu Islands illegally. A number of political columnists, professors, and artists spoke at the forum, calling for solidarity among the overseas Chinese to safeguard China’s sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands.

Source: The United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party, September 25, 2012 http://www.zytzb.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/tzb2010/S2012/201209/731837.html

The website of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party carried an article which was originally published by Guangming Daily. According to the article, China has set up 380 Confucius Institutes in 108 countries around the world. Among those, there are 31 Institutes and five Confucius classes in Africa, while 11 Institutes were established in the Middle East.

Xu Ling, chief executive of the Confucius Institute, disclosed the above data during her meeting with the Principal of Tel Aviv University in Israel, which was about collaborating with the University to establish a Confucius Institute there. The agreement suggested that Tel Aviv University will provide the building, facility, personnel, and related expenses, while China will come up with US$150,000 in funding each year. They also discussed a plan to set up a Confucius Institute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Source: The United Front Work Department of Chinese Communist Party, September 19, 2012
http://www.zytzb.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/tzb2010/S2012/201209/731637.html