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Zimbabwean First Lady Enjoys Immunity in Hong Kong

Although Hong Kong police have enough evidence to bring Zimbabwe’s first lady Grace Mugabe to court, she will not be prosecuted, according to the Hong Kong Department of Justice. Mugabe attacked and hurt British reporter Richard Jones on January 15. According to the Hong Kong Secretary of Justice, the decision was made by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who decided that Mugabe enjoys diplomatic immunity.

Many Hong Kong human rights organizations and Legislative Council members argued that Mugabe was on a tourist trip, not a diplomatic mission, when she conducted the attack. They also expressed deep concerns regarding the Hong Kong government’s inability to stand for human rights while yielding to Beijing’s pressure in support of dictators.

Source: Epoch Times, April 1, 2009.
http://epochtimes.com/gb/9/4/1/n2480942.htm

Debate: Is Sichuan Earth Quake Related to Zipingpu Dam?

After Science magazine published an article “Seismology: A human trigger for the great quake of Sichuan?” (January 16, 2009 edition), China Daily interviewed a scholar of the China Engineering Academy, Chen Houqun, to rebut the point of the Science article, that Zipingpu Dam contributed to the earthquake.

BBC Chinese then pointed out that there are many obvious loopholes in Chen’s rebuttal and listed those loopholes in detail. It also pointed out that there are several indications that the Chinese government was aware of the earthquake and had taken certain actions to prepare for it, including releasing the water from Zipingpu Dam, which can be concluded from Chen’s statement, as well. But the Chinese government didn’t announce the earthquake to the public and continues to deny its awareness.

Source: BBC Chinese, April 1, 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/simp/hi/newsid_7970000/newsid_7976600/7976693.stm

Xinhua: Panchen Lama’s English Shocked the World

Xinhua reported the following. On the opening of the Second World Buddhist Forum on March 27, 2009, the 11th Panchen Lama Qoigyijabu gave a speech in English. His English skills “shocked” the eminent monks and cultural elites at the conference. He took at least two English lessons each week.

Xinhua also quoted reports from other media sources. According to Xinhua, Ta Kung Pao said that the Panchen Lama’s good English is helpful to promote Tibetan Buddhism overseas and to clear the outsiders’ misunderstanding of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. Xinhua said Reuters stated that the “Chinese government chosen” Panchen Lama is the critical tie for Tibetans to stay loyal to the central government. Xinhua also offered Sing Tao’s comment that “Under the official arrangement, the 19-year old Panchen Lama is moving quickly to the front stage.”

 

Chinascope Editor’s note: Panchem Lama is the second highest religious position in Tibet. After the death of the 10th Panchen Lama, the Dalai Lama proclaimed Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama. However, the Chinese government named their own 11th Panchem Lama, Qoigyijabu, whose parents are both Chinese Communist Party members.

Source: Xinhua, April 2, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-04/02/content_11118684.htm

China Formally Announced Its Intention to Build Aircraft Carrier

The Xinhua online forum reported that during his meeting with the Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, the Chinese Minister of National Defense, Liang Guanglie, expressed his intention to build an aircraft carrier. Xinhua stated that this is the first time China has made an official announcement on this issue.

Source: Xinhua, March 21, 2009
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/detail.jsp?id=64963696

In early March, Xinhua published several news articles to prepare for the open announcement, including interviews with retired high-ranking military officials, statements from navy commanders, and quotes from foreign newspapers regarding China’s intentions of building the aircraft carrier. Those articles include the following:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2009-03/04/content_10938392.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2009-03/06/content_10954617.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/misc/2009-03/06/content_10953807.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-03/08/content_10968282.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2009-03/10/content_10979871.htm

Can China Lead the World Out of Recession?

China has been on a high growth path for more than 30 years. It’s unlikely that a country of this size can continue to grow at this pace
for another 20 years. Many economies in the world have experienced high growth periods. Within the period of high growth, they successfully transitioned from an under developed economy into a truly market economy. Unlike these economies, after 30 years, it is apparent that China’s export oriented strategy actually harms the economic structure.

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China’s Battles Go Global

The Year of the Rat is over, and Chinese cadres smoking in the offices of Zhongnanhai, just West of the Forbidden City, must be relieved they survived. From a Tibetan uprising to the Sichuan earthquake to Olympic debacles and now economic meltdown, the past lunar year left many Chinese feeling ratty.

But before the New Year lanterns have been taken down, the Year of the Ox already has officials seeing red.
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Tibet Highlighted in China and France CommuniquÚ

Chinese President Hu Jintao met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in London on April 1, 2009, hours after China and France issued a press communiqué.  In the communiqué France pledged not to support "Tibet independence" in any form. However, Xinhua reports that Tibetan supporters still “have support among French voters and politicians.” On March 2 Xinhua published an article to quash rumors that China threatened to cancel Airbus aircraft orders worth tens of billions of U.S. dollars as a warning to the French government.

Sources:
Xinhua, April 2, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-04/02/content_11121095.htm
Xinhua, March 2, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2009-03/02/content_10925108.htm

Xinhua: Western Media Misinterpret China’s Statement on U.S. Dollar

The New York correspondent of Xinhua reported on April 2, 2009 that some Western media have wrongfully interpreted the March 23 statement by China’s central bank as a challenge of the U.S. dollar. The People’s Bank of China released this statement by Zhou Xiaochuan, the central bank’s governor, on March 23, 2009. It calls for replacing the dollar as the dominant world currency and creating "an international reserve currency that is disconnected from individual nations and is able to remain stable in the long run." 

Source: Xinhua, April 2, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2009-04/02/content_11120020.htm