On January 12, construction begam om Minhang, Shanghai, for a Chinese Large Aircraft Development Facility. Project completion is earmarked for 2013. The building will have 300,000 square meters, and the cost will amount to RMB 3.23 billion.
Source: Xinhua, January 12, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2010-01/12/content_12796745.htm
The German Federal Bureau of Statistics predicted in December 2009 that German exports in 2009 would reach US$1,170 billion, while China would exceed US$1,200 billion. As the number one export country in the world, China may face more protectionism from other countries.
The greatest pressure may come from the U.S., which took a number of steps in 2009, claiming anti-dumping and anti-subsidy activities. Chinese economists believe that U.S. protectionism is “absurd” because the US-China trade deficit is the result of the U.S. refusal to sell China high-tech products. Another major pressure source is the EU, which also initiated a great number of anti-dumping investigations against China in 2009. In addition, a number of actions were taken by Argentina, India, Brazil and Mexico against China. It is believed that protectionism initiatives against China will continue to increase.
Source: Xinhua, January 12, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2010-01/12/content_12797144.htm
China News Service cited a report by the Central News Agency (CNA, Taiwan) claiming there were protests because U.S. citizens received preferential treatment when using the U.S. controlled Haiti airport. Apparently, the airport became U.S.-only and aircrafts from other nations had a difficult time to get landing rights. It was reported that a few French citizens had to spend the night at the airport because they were not allowed to board their flight, while a great number of U.S. passengers were allowed to leave. The U.S. Embassy in Haiti denied any priority given to U.S. citizens. There are around 40,000 to 45,000 U.S. citizens in Haiti.
Source: China News Service, January 17, 2010
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gj/news/2010/01-17/2076164.shtml
On January 4, 2010, about ten thousand PLA soldiers and one hundred military officials from the Tibetan military region armed with one thousand armored vehicles had a combat drill on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in minus 20 degrees centigrade weather. The purpose was to strengthen the PLA’s capability to respond to emergencies in severe cold conditions, reported the PLA Daily on January 10, 2010.
Source: PLA Daily, January 10, 2010
http://www.chinamil.com.cn/jfjbmap/content/2010-01/10/content_17734.htm
China’s official website, www.huanqiu.com, reported on January 11, 2010, that Raytheon, one of America’s major arms dealers, has a notorious record of selling arms to Taiwan. The Chinese government has taken sanctions against Raytheon, which has not received any orders from China since 2004 and had to withdraw completely from China’s Mainland market.
Lockheed Martin Corporation, another U.S. military industrial enterprise involved in arms sales to Taiwan, has suffered the same fate in China. Like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin faced severe sanctions from China and lost its market in China.
Source: Huanqiu, January 11, 2010
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/roll/2010-01/684617.html
According to Xinhua, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu stated, at a regular press briefing on January 12, 2010, that China opposes the United States having any form of official exchange or contact with Taiwan.
Jiang made the remarks when asked to comment on Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou’s Honduras tour with a scheduled stopover in the United States. Jiang said, "We demand that the United States abide by the principles laid out in the three Sino-U.S. joint communiqués and properly deal with the related issue with caution."
Source: Xinhua, January 12, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2010-01/12/content_12797259.htm
"Capable radio and television stations must vigorously develop Internet radio and Internet TV, breaking away from the traditional mode of production, so as to gather the resources and wisdom of Internet users," said the Zhu Hong, of the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT), on January 14.
On January 14, two days after Google’s announced threat to pull out of China, the People’s Daily published an interview of Wang Cheng, the Vice Chief of the Chinese Communist Party’s Department of Publicity and Director of the State Council Information Office.