The opening ceremony for the Confucius Institute at the University of Incheon was held on August 28, Xinhua reported. This institute was established through a joint venture between the University of Incheon and Dalian University of Foreign Languages (Liaoning Province). It is the fifteenth Confucius Institute in South Korea. The first one was opened in 2004.
Source: Xinhua, August 28, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-08/28/content_11960175.htm
On August 27, the spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council commented on the invitation some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members made for the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan: The “Dalai Lama is not a pure religious person. He has been continuously using the religion umbrella to try to separate China. Whatever format or status that he uses to visit Taiwan, we will strongly oppose.”
The spokesperson also mentioned that people on both sides of the straight are opposed to this evil attempt to damage the good relationship established because of China’s support for Taiwan’s reconstruction after the Typhoon disaster.
Source: Xinhua, August 27, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/tw/2009-08/27/content_11954615.htm
The United Front Department of the Party Central Committee recently reported on their website about a “cultural exchange” event in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province. The event involved more than twenty TV stations from the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
It was pointed out in the forum that the current situation in the Taiwan Strait is undergoing significant changes and the direction is: “Big Exchange, Big Cooperation and Big Development.” The event was initiated by Zhangzhou TV and was sponsored by the State General Administration for Radio, Film and Television, the CCTV International Center, and the Taiwan China Radio and Television Society. Some Chinese government officials suggested that it is important to enhance media penetration before enhancing the Mainland-Taiwan relationship.
Source: United Front Department Net, August 19, 2009.
http://www.zytzb.org.cn/zytzbwz/newscenter/hlkd08/200908/t20090819_569609.htm
“The Guards under the Neon Light,” a movie produced in China in the 1960’s about how the soldiers in Shanghai resisted capitalism’s material allure, has been increasingly forgotten by the Chinese, but it regained its life in North Korea, reported the International Herald. Kim Jong-Il watched the stage play of the same story on August 12, and instructed North Korean play workers to re-cast this play.
The International Herald stated that since North Korea’s nuclear test this year, the relationship between China and North Korea cooled down. Kim’s watching the Chinese play is considered as “North Korea is sending a positive message to China.” In June, Kim also watched the Korean performers’ play of “Dream of the Red Chamber,” a classic Chinese novel. That was also considered as sending the same message.
Source: International Herald, August 17, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-08/17/content_11895824.htm
To foster Vietnamese and China’s business cooperation, 130 young business entrepreneurs and youth representatives from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region took a five-day trip, leaving July 26 for Vietnam. The intent was to find business opportunities and develop cooperation between the two countries, according to a report in the China Youth Daily. The young business entrepreneurs represented the following business sectors: real estate, medical equipment, computers, supply chain and so on. The intent is for the two countries to cooperate with each other concerning employment and new ventures.
Source: China Youth Daily, August 13, 2009
http://zqb.cyol.com/content/2009-08/13/content_2802186.htm
Xinhua News reported immediately after the face to face talk between Kim Jung-Il and former US President Bill Clinton that, Kim Jung-Il said there was “no change” in the policy of strengthening and developing the friendship between North Korea and China. It was reported that Kim said so after viewing an old Chinese stage play by North Korea’s National Troupe of Stage Play. He suggested that the friendship with China was established by the previous senior leadership of the two countries, which made it very valuable.
Source: China News Net, August 13, 2009.
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gj/gj-yt/news/2009/08-13/1816087.shtml
The Institute of Eastern European, Russian & Central Asian Studies in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences published a “Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Yellow Book: Shanghai Cooperation Organization Report 2009” on August 11, 2009. The report said that SCO is a growing regional international organization. Security cooperation and economic operations are the major cooperation areas among its member countries. SCO’s influence has been increasing. Many countries and international organizations have expressed interest in working together with or even joining it.
The Yellow book also mentioned the global financial crisis’ impact on SCO’s member countries. All its member countries use infrastructure construction to stimulate domestic consumption and promote economic development. They are paying special attention to economic structure adjustment, which will present a larger area and scale for future economic cooperation among these countries.
Source:
[1] Xinhua, August 11, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-08/11/content_11864895.htm
[2] Xinhua, August 11, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-08/11/content_11864955.htm
A high ranking US State Department official, who wishes to remain anonymous, suggested on Thursday that Kim Jong-Il was willing to change his policies towards a pro-American direction. Kim intends to have direct dialogues with the US. His move on quitting the Six Party Talks was to break away from Beijing instead of Moscow. Kim’s deputy “leaked” some information to former US president Clinton on nuclear weapons: the warheads won’t reach the US, but can reach “the west side” (countries west of Korea, such as China). The ball is now with Washington.
Source: Boxun, August 8, 2009.
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/intl/2009/08/200908081340.shtml