Roundup - 31/12/2009

• A Chinese researcher has suggested that China acquire an overseas naval base to resupply its squadron in the Gulf of Aden. China has an avowed policy of not maintaining foreign military bases or forming military alliances however, the comments were made by Admiral Yin Zhuo, senior researcher at the navy's Equipment Research Centre. Yin Zhuo said that other countries were unlikely to object as the US, the EU and Japan all already have naval bases in the area. China's naval squadron in the area currently use a French base to resupply but concerns over how China's naval presence in the area would be viewed led to the squadron spending four continuous months at sea before resupplying for the first time.
  
  Concerns have been raised that the Chinese navy may be seeking to expand its presence abroad. The PLA has previously declared that China's energy security is a matter of national security and, as most of China's oil comes through the Gulf of Aden from Africa and the Middle East, many have wondered how long it will be before China seeks to maintain a naval presence in the area.
  
  Previous reports about China's desire to set up naval bases in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand have lacked evidence. However, India has voiced concerns about China's funding of a deep water port in Gwadar, Pakistan. So far, no suggestion has been made as to where any naval base should be located.
  
  
  
• Four foreigner may face the death penalty over a drugs haul in Shenzhen according to a Hong Kong newspaper. Beijing backed Ta Kung Pao reported that four foreigners were among nine arrested over possession of 144.5kg of heroin in August. According to Chinese law possession of large quantities of illegal drugs can be punished by the death penalty. A Reuters report suggests that Chinese authorities may have approved the release of this information now to bolster China's position in relation to the execution of Akmal Shaikh which has caused a diplomatic row with the United Kingdom.
  
  
  
• Xinhua has announced ambitious plans to launch two new international channels. From January 1^st China Xinhua News Network Corp. will launch CNC and CNC Finance and Business. The channels will be available throughout Asia and in some European countries although it has not yet been announced which ones. CNC World News hopes to begin broadcasting in English by July. Earlier this year China Central Television launched an Arabic language channel which now broadcasts to a population of 300 million.
  
  
  
• The US International Trade Commission has voted unanimously to place tariffs on imports of Chinese steel tubing. The tubing, meant for use in the oil industry, will now face a tariff of 10.36-15.78%. Lawyers say this will be the largest countervailing duty imposed on Chinese imports by volume of trade. The US imported $2.74 billion of steel pipes from China last year. China's Ministry of Commerce has said it is strongly opposed to the new duty but has stopped short of taking any retaliatory action.
  
  
  
• The fouder and ex-editor of Caijing(财经) magazine has taken the position of executive editor at New Century News. Hu Shuli won acclaim at Caijing for pushing the boundaries of what could be reported. Caijing led the way in exposing government corruption, exposing the cover-up of the SARS epidemic and the role of poor construction in the Sichuan earthquake disaster. Hu Shuli left Caijing in a row with its owner, who wanted to limit the budget and soften the editorial line on sensitive stories. Many who worked under her at Caijing have also switched to the new publication and it is expected that New Century News will reprise the role that Caijing played in the Chinese media. Next months issue of Century Weekly will be the first with Hu Shuli in charge.
  
  
  
• People's Daily is reporting that world media is praising China's role in the Copenhagen talks on climate change. The report says that state media from different counties 'including India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Central African Republic and Malawi' have all praised China for its handling of the negotiations. Media from the UK, US and Europe has generally been critical of China's role.
  

Akmal Shaikh - A Victim of China's Unfinished Legal Reform

The execution of Akmal Shaikh today saw the conclusion of a case which provides a clear example of the transitional state of China's legal system. Chinese political reforms have progressed rapidly over the last two decades, from a system where cases were decided purely on political grounds with little written guidance on sentencing, China now has a written and ratified codex of laws which provide, in theory, for both the prosecution of crimes and the rights of the defendant. Why then has China's legal system failed to protect the rights of a vulnerable and confused man?

China insists that the case of Akmal Shaikh was conducted according to Chinese law and indeed it seems that it was. The law is very clear that anyone convicted of smuggling large quantities of drugs can be sentenced to death. Chinese law provided for a lesser sentence being given in cases involving mental illness. Article 18 of China's Criminal Law (中华人民共和国刑法第十八条) states that a mentally ill person who commits a crime when he has 'not yet completely lost his ability to recognize or control his own conduct shall bear criminal responsibility but he may be given a lesser or a mitigated punishment.' However, there is no compulsion to reduce the sentence.

Normally this would provide the defense with an opportunity to request medical evidence to be considered when passing sentence. However, in the case of Akmal Shaikh reports suggest that he denied that he was suffering from mental illness during his trial. It seems that this was enough for the judge to ignore any medical evidence submitted. 
 

It is this moment of the trial that shows the key problem with China's legal system. It is the judge's responsibility to ensure that the trial is fair and that both the prosecution and the defense have their chance to put forward whatever evidence is relevant to the case. At the crucial moment Akmal Shaikh, stressed, facing the death penalty, suffering from bipolar disorder and with dubious translation services at his disposal, and in a trial which lasted only 30 minutes denies his mental illness, almost certainly without understanding the consequences of his action. A rational judge whose responsibility was to the fairness of the trial must surely consider that a statement of that nature was not a sound basis on which to sentence a man to death. But where does the responsibility of Chinese judges lie? They are not independent, they are part of the state, they are also part of the Communist Party. Their roles are political as well as judicial. 
 

The message that can be taken from this case is that it does not matter how good China's laws are, there will always be cases of injustice as long as China's judiciary is not independent. It is the the creation of a judiciary whose sole responsibility is the administration of justice that will mark the real change in China's legal system.

Roundup - 29/12/2009

• China has executed a British man, Akmal Shaikh. Mr. Shaikh was executed by lethal injection at 10.30am local time according to Xinhua. Gordon Brown, the EU and a number of civil society groups have condemned the execution saying that his legal rights had not been granted. Mr. Shaikh was convicted of smuggling heroin into China in October 2008 after a trial that lasted just 30 minutes. Evidence of his mental illness was not considered.
  
  According to China's Criminal Law, if a mentally ill person is convicted of a crime, their condition should be taken into account when considering the sentence. However, according to the Chinese authorities there was not sufficient evidence presented to prove he suffered from Bipolar disorder. Some reports suggest that during his trial Mr. Shaikh claimed there was nothing wrong with him, it is unclear what legal representation or assistance with translation was provided to him.
  
  Last minutes attempts to save M. Shaikh's life were lead by the British Ambassador to Beijing and Mr. Shaikh's cousins. However, while international condemnations grows, China remains defiant saying that foreigners must obey its laws ad no country has the right to interfere in its legal process.
  
  
  
• An audit of China's government agencies and state-owned enterprises has uncovered 234.7 billion RMB(US$34.4 billion) disappeared from public funds in the first 11 months of the year. The report says that 16.3 billion RMB has been recovered so far. 231 people, including 67 officials, have had their cases passed on to disciplinary and judicial authorities.
  
  
  
• A Chinese ship and its 25 crew members are sailing home after being kidnapped by Somali pirates. The De XinHai was captured in October while transporting 76,000 tonnes of coal from South Africa to India. There is some confusion as to the nature of the operation. While Chinese media reports describe it as a rescue, a source claiming to be one of the pirates told Reuters that a $4 million ransom had been dropped on the deck of the ship by helicopter.
  
  The De Xin Hai was the first Chinese ship to be captured in the area since the arrival of three Chinese warships to bolster the international anti-piracy flotilla in the area.
  
  
  
• The Chinese author Mian Mian is to sue Google for scanning and publishing extracts from her work without permission. She is asking for 61,000RMB ($8,950) in compensations and a public apology from Google. According to the China Written Works Copyright Society more than 80,000 works by Chinese authors have been scanned into Google's digital library. Last year Google agreed to pay $125 million to settle similar disputes with US authors.
  
  
  
• Two separate gas explosions at Chinese coal mines have claimed at least 17 lives. According to Xinhua, 12 miners were killed in an explosion in Shanxi province. Another five were killed and six more trapped at in an explosion in Yunnan.
  

Roundup - 27/12/2009

• Two cousins of Akmal Shaikh, the british man awaiting execution in China, have arrived in Beijing to deliver a plea for mercy to President Hu Jintao. Akmal Shaikh was arrested in Urumqi, Xinjiang, in possession of 4kg of Heroin, his final attempt to appeal failed earlier this year. He was convinced by a Polish gang to carry a suitcase into China in return for achieving a hit single. His lawyers say that he is suffering from bipolar disorder but that evidence of this was not admitted prior to sentencing. According to Chinese criminal law, anybody suffering from a psychiatric condition should have this taken into account during sentencing. The Chinese authorities say that Akmal Shaikh insisted on his own sanity at his trial and therefore it was not necessary to admit the evidence. He is due to be executed on Tuesday.
  
  
  
• The National People's Congress has closed its final session of 2009, passing environmental and tort laws. The tort laws will take effect in July and are designed to cover liabilities for accidents and injuries involving such things as medical malpractice, pollution and work-related injuries. It will also provide legal recourse for those whose privacy has been infringed or reputation defamed.
  
  A new amendment to the renewable energy law is designed to increase China's use of renewable energy. Until now much of China's renewable energy production has been badly linked to the national grid and often priced out of the market by coal power stations. The amendment states that all energy from renewable sources must be bought before other sources can be used.
  
  
  
• Taiwan's President Ma Yingjiu has called on the People's Republic to 'tolerate those people who voice their opinions in a peaceful manner.' The call comes after China sentenced the dissident Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in jail for his part in Charter 08, a document which called on China to institute wide ranging reforms of its political system. President Ma has been accused of turning a blind eye to China's human rights record by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. The DPP gained ground in recent local elections by rallying opposition to closer ties with the mainland.
  
  
  

Roundup - 25/12/2009

• Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in jail today. He was convicted of inciting subversion of state power earlier this week. He has been detained since winter 2008 after the release of Charter 08, of which he was a founding signatory. Mr. Liu was the only signatory to be detained although several others have been intimidated. Other signatories have rallied to Mr Liu's cause, stating that they were equally guilty and willing to suffer punishment. International diplomats, as well as Mr Liu's wife, were denied access to the trial. Mr Liu is believed to have claimed he was not guilty as free speech is protected by China's constitution.

• Five more people have been sentenced to death for their role in riots in Xinjiang earlier this year. Another five were sentenced to death with a two year reprieve. This sentence is usually commuted to life imprisonment. Reports suggest that the five sentenced to death were all ethnic Uighurs. Riots broke out in July between Uighurs and Han Chinese after reports of the murder a Uighur man in the south of China. Ethnic tensions have long troubled the area.

• Chinese car maker, Geely, has agreed a $2 billion deal to buy Volvo from Ford. Ford is selling off a number of high end car brands in an effort to consolidate after the financial crisis. Ford bought Volvo for almost $6 billion in 1999. Geely hopes that it can benefit from Volvos high safety standards and expertise in high tech-low carbon cars. 

Roundup - 23/12/2009

• Liu Xiaobo has been tried in Beijing. According to information provided by his brother-in-law, Liu Hui, the trial lasted only two hours. Foreign diploma,ats and Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo’s wife, were barred from entering the courtroom. Liu Xiaobo admitted exercising his right to free speech but denies attempting to subvert state power. Liu was arrested after the release of the Charter 08 document. Charter 08 called for wide ranging political reform including urging the authorities to ‘end the practise of viewing words as crime.’ Liu Xiaobo is the only signatory of the document to be arrested although others have been harassed. Liu Xiaobo previously spent 21 months in jail for his role in the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in 1989. He will likely be sentenced on Christmas day to a term which could be as long as 15 years.

• Beijing has refused to postpone the execution of a British citizen scheduled for Tuesday 29th December. Akmal Shaikh was convicted of carrying four kilograms of heroin into China. According to his defence he was conned by a gang in Poland who convinced him that they could get him a hit single in China. Chinese authorities say they have tried that case legally and that foreign countries have no right to interfere in China’s legal affairs. However, there are still questions over Mr Shaikh’s right to have his psychiatric state taken into account. He is believed to have bipolar disorder, Chinese law states that in cases where someone with psychiatric issues commits a crime, their psychiatric state should be taken into account in sentencing. However, reports say that Mr. Shaikh himself asserted that there was nothing wrong with his mental state. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been stepping up efforts to intervene on Mr Shaikh’s behalf but so far with little effect.

• China’s National people’s Congress is considering proposals to set up a state social security fund. The fund will be there to contribute to social insurance payouts. The new law will aim to provide all Chinese citizens with the right to contribute to state health insurance and pension schemes. Until now these facilities have been available almost exclusively to urban residents. Currently 219 million people have pension schemes and 317 million have basic health insurance. China’s reform of its social services, and in particular its extension to rural citizens is hoped to help social stability by spreading the benefits of China’s economic growth more evenly, and to boost the economy by increasing consumer spending.

• The South Korean Yonhap news agency has reported that 6-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme will begin early next year. An unnamed government source said that the talks ‘must begin before February.’ US Special Nuclear Envoy Stephen Bosworth returned form Pyongyang earlier this month declaring that the US and the DPRK have reached common ground on which to re-launch the talks.

Breaking News - China will Execute British Man Before the End of the Year

Associated Press has announced that China is planning to execute a British citizen on Dec 29th. Akmal Shaikh, 53, was arrested with a suitcase containing nearly nine pounds of heroin in Urumqi two years ago.

According to his lawyers and family, Mr. Shaikh is a sufferer of bipolar disorder. It is claimed that he went to China dreaming of being a pop star and was given the suitcase in Kyrgyzstan by a man who he believed would make him famous.

According to Article 18 of China’s Criminal Law, somebody who is suffering from a mental disorder but who has not lost the ability to recognise his own actions still bears criminal responsibility but medical evidence should be considered during sentencing. Mr. Shaikh’s lawyers say that they have been denied the right to give medical evidence in his favour.

Roundup - 21/12/2009

• As the dust settles on the Copenhagen summit China has lauded the Copenhagen Accord as an important first step. No nation was satisfied with the deal and all leading nations have been criticised. But none more so than China who many see as having been the main culprit in stalling the talks. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said that Copenhagen was ‘not a destination but a new beginning.’
The next climate summit will be held in Mexico city in 2010. China has already indicated that it will not weaken its stance at the next summit. Foreign Ministry Official Yi Xianliang said that China saw the 2010 summit as a struggle over the ‘right to develop.’

• The President of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, Chen Yunlin, has arrived in Taiwan for trade talks. Taiwanese President Ma Yingjiu hopes that Taiwan and the mainland can sign a free trade treaty early next year. However, opposition to closer ties with the mainland led to defeat in recent local elections. Tens of thousand of protesters are already gathering to oppose the negotiations.

• President Hu Jintao has concluded his tour of Macao amid celebrations of ten years of ‘One Country, Two Systems.’ Macao switch from Portuguese to Chinese rule in 1999 on condition that the mainland would allow a large degree of autonomy to the territory.
The last ten years has seen Macao prosper, largely due to gambling. In October Macao’s casinos took in 12.7 Macao Patacas or US$1.57 billion, almost twice as much as the state of Nevada.

• Liu Xiaobo will be tried on charges of inciting the subversion of state power on Wednesday according to his wife, Liu Xia. Liu Xiaobo, who also participated in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, was detained a year ago after his involvement in the Charter 08 document which called for political reform. Liu Xia has said that she will not be allowed to attend the trial and she has little hope for the outcome. Liu Xiaobo is facing a sentence of up to 15 years.

• A government funded gay bar in Yunnan opened its doors for the first time on Saturday. The bar was supposed to open on World Aids Day on the 1st of December was remained closed amid fears that the publicity would discourage homosexuals who feared discrimination. The bar will provide information and advice on sexual health issues in addition to cheap drinks. Officials hope that it will help to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. It is the first government funded project of its kind in China.

• An article in the China Daily, ‘Top 10 Darndest Things Officials Said in 2009,’ shows the continuing dismay at the attitude of officials towards housing demolition. 4 of the ten quotes are related to construction. These include a comment that ‘any action against the government is illegal,’ a comment made to Pan Rong who won wide spread praise on the internet after defending her home against demolition with Molotov cocktails. Number four on the list was a to a 66-year old who threatened to commit suicide if he did not receive compensation for his home being demolished. When he asked a local official, Shi Guozhong, for help Shi replied that he should go ‘straight to the fifth floor’ (to jump off).
Regulations over the demolition of housing have been a hot topic in China after the cases of Tang Fuzhen, who died after setting herself alight in protest at the demolition of her home, and Yue Xiyou who died trying to defend his fiancé’s apartment.

Roundup - 19/12/2009

• The summit at Copenhagen has ended with no satisfactory deal reached. A last minute agreement was achieved in last minute negotiations between the USA and BASIC(Brazil, South Africa, India and China), but he deal did not include specific national emissions targets or any means of independent verification for the cuts. However, the deal did include an acknowledgment that a limit should be placed at 2 degrees centigrade of climate change and provisions were made for a climate fund that could provide $100 billion a year from 2020 onward.
  
  China has said that it has not placed any conditions on its own announced cuts in carbon intensity and would therefore press on in any case. Many at the conference were disappointed that the USA did not take the lead by announcing bigger cuts but others believe that negotiations stalled because China was unwilling to accept international verification of its emissions cuts.
  
  
  
• Chinese billionaire Wang Wenxiang has been sentenced to death for arranging the murder of a business rival. The victim, Zhong Yishi, had brought lawsuits against Wang over defaulted payments relating to a construction project. Wang then contracted his personal secretary, Bai Peng, to kill Zhong. Bai was also sentenced to death. A migrant worker, Yu Yi, hired to help with the murder was sentenced to death with two years reprieve.
  
  
  
• Cambodia has agreed to expel 20 ethnic Uighurs wanted by China. The group fled China after ethnic tensions erupted into riot in Urumqi in July. Cambodia has said that it does not know where the Uighurs will go but that it expects them eventually to return to China. Cambodia is theoretically obliged by international law not to return refugees to a country where it is likely they will be tortured or executed.
  

Roundup - 18/12/2009

• The battle-lines between China and the USA have been redrawn by Hilary Clinton's announcement of a $100 million fund at the Copenhagen summit. The announcement yesterday was aimed at breaking a deadlock between developing and developed nations over who would pay for the fight against climate change. Clinton tied the $100 million to China agreeing to international monitoring of its cuts in carbon intensity.
  
  Premier Wen Jiabao said last night that China would not accept any deal which violated its sovereignty although he did make some concessions over information sharing.
  
  On the last day of the summit hopes are fading for any meaningful climate deal, though some hope remains for a deal next year. Some commentators suggest this is in part due to the impressive negotiating skills of the Chinese delegation. China has managed to use its relationship with the G77 and Basic(Brazil, South Africa, India and China) to defend its position throughout the summit, making few concessions to the developed world.
  
  
  
• China is seeking the return of 22 Uighurs from Cambodia. The Uighurs fled China after the riots in Xinjiang in July. They are believed to have been helped by Christian charities which normally help North Koreans to get to countries where they can seek asylum. China has stated that it does not believe that the refugee system should be a hiding place for criminals. However, considering the possibility of torture an possibly execution on their return, Cambodia can find firm legal ground for not sending the Uighurs back to China.
  
  
  
• An anti-corruption website has received over 13,800 allegations since its opening at the end of October. The website www.12388.gov.cn is designed to allow netizens to report allegations of corruption to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. State media claims that high ranking officials in Beijing, Heilongjiang, Guangdong and Henan have been punished as a result of being reported on the site although only one case is detailed. An official in Heilongjiang had accepted brides of up to 20 million RMB.
  

Breaking News - US willing to support funding for poorer nations

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has announced that the US would be willing to work on creating a fund which would provide $100 billion a year by 2020 to help combat climate change in the developing world. The move is being seen as an attempt by the US to break the deadlock at the conference and take the leading role in the fight against climate change.
The $100 billion figure was formally laid on the table last night by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. While the figure is lower than many developing nations say they need, it is hoped that achieving agreement on a figure today may revive hopes of some form of interim binding deal by the end of the week.

Roundup - 17/12/2009

• Chinese negotiators and officials are signaling that they no longer believe that a binding deal is possible at the Copenhagen summit. Reports suggest that China now favours a simple political statement at the end of the summit. It is not known whether this is only a bargaining position or if it is genuinely felt. Some leaders had hoped to agree to an interim arrangement which would have some immediate effect but it seems that China is not cooperating on this. They want a final treaty or none at all.
  
  Negotiations have stalled over who will bear the burden of combating climate change. While most developing countries favour a continuation of the Kyoto treaty, which would place the responsibility for funding on the developed world, richer countries want a new deal which would spread the burden far more widely.
  
  China has vowed that it will make its previously announced cuts of 40-45% in carbon intensity whether or not a deal was signed at the summit. Chinese media has said that 3 trillion RMB will be invested in the environment over 5 years from 2011.
  
  
  
• There are growing signs that rules on demolition may be changed. Call for reform of he rules has grown after details of a number of deaths of people defending their homes from demolition. Yue Xiyou, who died trying to defend his fiance's apartment from being wrecked and Tang Fuzhen, who died of her injuries after setting fire to herself have rallied public opinion and intellectuals to put pressure on the National Peoples Congress and the State Council to reform the rules. Xi Xinzhu is currently in hospital after setting himself on fire in Beijing on Monday in a similar incident.
  
  However, while China's legislature appears to be backing reform of the law, other elements are opposed to it. The NPC recently declared that the regulations should have already been withdrawn due to the 2007 Property Law, however, the State Council Legislative Affairs Office said that the regulations were still valid. Although in theory laws made by the NPC carry more weight than the regulations set by the SCLAO, in the absence of a developed legal system where the issue can be settled in court, the ambiguity is enough for the regulations to remain in place.
  
  
  
• China's crackdown on internet porn is continuing to expand. Thanks to a new hotline for reporting sites 775 sites were closed down in just five days. A total of 15,775 sites had been shut down as of 8pm on December 15^th.
  
  The government has also begun to insist on a business license for any one wishing to register an internet domain name. The move is aimed at reducing the amount of user generated content on the net. The government says this is aimed at tackling pornography and breach of copyright, however, it is also a way of limiting political ad social comment.
  
  
  
• Five miners have been trapped since Wednesday after a mudslide at Manaoshan Mine in Chenzhou, Hunan which produces iron ore. Rescuers have said that they have heard cries for help and believe that the miners are still alive. More than 100 people are working to free the miners.
  

Roundup - 16/12/2009

• China has repeated its stance against carbon tariffs amid ongoing negotiations in Copenhagen. The tariffs would be placed on carbon intensive products such as steel if they were deemed to come from a country which had fail to make sufficient efforts to control its greenhouse gas emissions. China views this as a threat to the competitiveness of its steel industry. A bill recently passed by the US House of Representatives laid down the legal groundwork for carbon tariffs to be imposed from 2020.
  
  Leading countries at the negotiations have been holding firmly to their positions at the conference. The delays and conflicts so far have destroyed hopes of any major agreement coming before the final days of negotiations. Premier Wen Jiabao is heading a team of high ranking official to Copenhagen this afternoon.
  
  Meanwhile, the number of registered vehicles in Beijing passed the 4 million mark at the weekend. It took Beijing until 1997 to reach its first million cars but only six and a half years to double that and six years to double it again.
  
  
  
• China is speeding up its construction of third-generation nuclear power stations. China's first third-generation nuclear power plant, the Sanmen project, Will have a capacity of 7,500 mW by 2020 from six reactors, two of which are already under construction. Three stations, Sanmen, and Haiyang will use technology from Westinghouse, an American company while the Taishan plant will use French technology from Areva.
  
  China plans to increase its nuclear output to 70 gigawatts by 2020 and 400 gigawatts by 2050. This would mean that almost 10% of China's electricity will come from nuclear power.
  
  While the huge increase in nuclear power will significantly help reduce China's carbon intensity, the pace of growth has raise some fears over safety. While China has a good record on nuclear safety to date there are worries that the growth in power stations is not being met by an increase in inspectors. China has already asked for international help in training inspectors. Premier Wen Jiabao has ordered a quintupling of nuclear safety inspectors by the end of next year but there is some doubt as to how this will be achieved.
  
  In addition to this worry are the fears raised by building nuclear reactors in an environment in which high returns, personal contacts and outright corruption often come before safety concerns. These fears have been increased by the detention of the president of the China National Nuclear Corporation in a $260 million corruption case involving bid-rigging on nuclear construction projects.
  
  China's nuclear community are well aware of the dangers of a rush to nuclear power as they must study the American case. The US' own rushed nuclear projects led to the Three Mile Island incident in 1979.
  
  
  
• Shanghai has announced a three step plan to become mainland China's first free port by 2020. The port is aimed at increasing shipping through Shanghai as well as promoting domestic consumerism by providing cheap goods. An area with preferential tax rates will be in place by the end of next year. The move is a challenge to Hong Kong which is currently the only Chinese free port.
  
  
  
• China's H1N1 death toll has leapt to 442. 116 new deaths were reported last week. China has pledged to step up its vaccination progamme which has so far seen 34 million people vaccinated. The crucial time will come in February when hundreds of millions will flood China's trains and roads for the Spring Festival.
  
  
  
• The United States Census Bureau projects that China will no longer be the most populated country in the world by 2025. China's population is expected to peak at 1.4 billion, lower than previously expected. India's fertility rate of 2.7 births per woman is far higher than China's 1.6 births per woman.
  
  The report also predicts that China's workforce will peak at 831 million in 2016.
  

Roundup - 15/12/2009

• The split between China and the US at the Copenhagen summit is continuing to deepen. After reports yesterday that China may be willing to renounce its claim to financial support to implement carbon cuts, Foreign Ministry officials have anonymously commented that this was a misinterpretation of comments made by Vice-Foreign Minister He Yafei. However, Chinese academics and western analysts have suggested that China may agree to a transfer of funding from China to poorer countries as part of a deal.
  
  The US meanwhile is concentrating on finding a way to monitor China's progress on carbon intensity cuts. China is insisting that it can monitor itself, saying that Chinese law provides a guarantee that its promises will be kept. The US and other western powers want independent monitoring.
  
  The conference was further hampered by a five-hour walkout led by several African delegations. They refused to come back to the negotiating table until it was agreed that the continuation of the Kyoto treaty would be discussed. The G77+China favours Kyoto because it contains the principle of differentiated responsibility, thereby placing most of the burden of combating climate change on the developed world.
  
  There is now only two days of negotiations before world leaders arrive in Copenhagen for an intense final round of negotiations.
  
  
  
• Vice-President Xi Jinping has begun a tour of four Asian countries by visiting Japan. In a meeting with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama Xi said that he supported Hatoyama's concept of an East Asian Community and welcomed Hatoyama's comments that Japan should face up to its past.
  
  The visit was marred slightly by irregularities surrounding a meeting between Xi Jinping and Emperor Akihito. Meetings are traditionally scheduled at least a month in advance but the Chinese request for a meeting arrived only on Nov. 26^th. Much of the Japanese media has condemned this irregularity saying that the Prime Minister is using the Emperor for political purposes. However, many analysts point out that Xi Jinping's visit is important given Japan's strengthening economic ties with China and Xi Jinping's possible future succession to the role of President.
  
  
  
• Calls to release the dissident Liu Xiaobo have sent to China from the US and the EU. Liu was a founding signatory of Charter '08, a document which called for political reform. He has been detained for a year and last week was charged with inciting the subversion of state power, he now faces up to 15 years in prison. As well as international support liu has been supported by his fellow signatories. In an article on news.boxun.com, many signatories wrote that they were as guilty as he was and that they would be willing to accept punishment by his side.
  
  Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has emphasised 'principled pragmatism' in a speech to students in Georgetown University. She pointed out that coercion and isolation are not the only tools for promoting democratic reform.
  
  
  
• Railway police in Shanghai have arrested 47 child traffickers and rescued 21 children in a month-long crackdown. Most of the babies were kidnapped from poor families in Yunnan to be sold to wealthy but childless families in Jiangsu and Shandong. It is unknown whether any of the babies were to sold in Shanghai. The Ministry of Public Security has said that it is setting up a DNA database in an attempt to reunite kidnapped children with their families.
  
  
  
• The trial of a Chongqing mafia boss has been delayed after he implicated his own defence lawyer. Gong Gangmo, billionaire and suspected gang leader, is believed to have handed over his defense lawyer, Li Zhuang, in an attempt to earn lenient treatment. Gong says his lawyer advised him to lie to the courts about allegedly being tortured while in police custody. Several suspected gangsters have made similar claims. An arrest warrant has been issued for Li Zhuang.
  
  Meanwhile Yue Cun, a Chongqing local police chief, is on trial for leading another gang. 15 guns, 16 cars, 13 properties and 52 million RMB have been seized. Yue Cun began gathering decommissioned soldiers to work as security guards for his cinema in the late 1990s. The gang then moved into loan-sharking and blackmail, even using high-tech equipment to spy on government officials. The gang is thought to be responsible for at least three murders.
  
  
  
• Construction has begun on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge. The bridge will be 50 km long, 36km of which will be over water. The six-lane motorway is designed to increase the flow of traffic between mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao.
  
  
  
• A survey of China's historical sites has revealed enormous losses in China's cultural heritage. A nationwide survey of China's cultural sites has never been completed but the latest attempt has already revealed that a 1982 attempt contained over 30,000 sites which no longer exist. This is partly due to new methods of counting but mostly due to China's rampant development over the last twenty years. The sites lost include entire town centres such as Dinghai in Zhejiang and parts of the Great Wall in Mongolia.
  

Roundup - 14/12/2009

• Negotiations are continuing at the climate change summit in Copenhagen. Delegates are trying to finalize a draft document to show visiting leaders during the intensive two-day negotiations at the end of the week.
  
  However, some countries fear that developed countries are delaying the draft document so that they can introduce new elements once the intensive negotiations, which tend to favour powerful countries, begin. Chinese negotiator, Su Wei, said that he hopes the only thing left to discuss by the time Premier Wen Jiabao arrives will be 'how to pronounce Copenhagen.' A number of African countries have suggested that their heads of state would refuse to take part in negotiations unless significant progress was made by Wednesday evening.
  
  In the mean time Wen has been busy phoning other heads of state in an attempt to coordinate a position when leaders arrive on Wednesday and Thursday. China is still pushing for further concessions from western states, including a major increase in European emission cuts.
  
  In an interview with the Financial Times, Chinese negotiators suggested that China would no longer be asking for funding from the developed world and that funding should be directed towards poorer nations. This comes after a major row last week between the Chines negotiator Su Wei and US negotiator Todd Stern over whether money would be provided by the US and particularly if any would go to China. There is some speculation that China is worried that it will be blamed if negotiations do not lead to a deal.
  
  
  
• President Hu Jintao has opened a section of a new gas pipeline in Turkmenistan. The pipeline is to carry gas from Uzbekistan through Kazakhstan into China. It is an important sign of China's growing influence in the area, previously Turkmenistan was entirely reliant on Russia to sell its gas. A failure to renegotiate a deal with Russia since April is costing Turkmenistan around $1 billion a month.
  
  Meanwhile, Kazakhstan's President Nazarbayev has said that Khazakstan has benefited from China's handling of security issues in Xinjiang. He also said he wanted to see further cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
  
  
  
• As the first Sino-American Dialogue on Rule of Law and Human Rights ended on Sunday a number of related stories were in the press.
  
  Zhang Xi, previously the chief editor of the influential liberal paper Southern Weekend has been demoted. It is believed that the demotion came after pressure from the propaganda authorities because of the papers interview with Barack Obama. The interview was authorised by the Foreign Ministry but it is known that propaganda officials were not pleased and tried to control its publishing.
  
  Liu Xiaobo is awaiting trial after being indited for inciting subversion of state power at the end of last week. He was detained a year ago after taking part in the writing and publishing of Charter '08, a document which called for wide-ranging political reform which atttracted thousands of signatures before it was censored. He faces a possible jail term of 15 years.
  
  Meanwhile, China Daily, reports on a suspicious death in custody in Kunming, Yunnan. According to the report, Xing Kun, 29, was arrested for theft. Police say they then found him hanging in an interrogation room. However, the death occurred in a cctv black-spot and no noose was produced in evidence.
  
  The article also lists three other cases of suspicious deaths in detention which occurred earlier in the year.
  
  
  
• A woman in Guizhou has been executed for her role in a child-prostitution ring. Zhao Qingmei was convicted of forcing 22 schoolchildren and one older girl into prostitution and of aiding her husband in the rape of a child. Her husband received a death sentence with 2 years reprieve. This sentence is normally commuted to life imprisonment.
  
  
  
• A report by law firm Eversheds has suggested that London could lose out to Shanghai as the world second largest financial centre within a decade. New York will remain the most important centre but the impact of the credit crunch and China's economic development mean that Europe is facing accelerated competition from Chinese markets. The report points out that 90% of bosses in Shanghai are confident in their economic outlook compared to only 22% in London.
  
  
  
• Cai Zhiqiang, who resigned from the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress earlier this month, is being investigated for corruption. It is alleged that he took bribes when working as the head of human resources department under the Personnel Bureau of Shanghai.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Roundup - 12/12/2009

• 22,884 cases of officials holding public money for personal use have been uncovered since June. He Guoqiang, secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, said that the sums of money involved totaled 10.16 billion RMB, or about $1.49 billion. He said that 270 officials had received administrative punishments and 81 had been prosecuted.
  
  Nationwide sweeps between 1998 and 2006 found 140.6 billion RMB however, this is thought to be a very small percentage of the total amount of public money lost to corruption.
  
  
  
• The Chinese stance at the Copenhagen summit is continuing its previous course. Liu Zhenmin, deputy permanent representative to the UN, emphasised the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol, differentiated responsibility, and financial support and technology transfer from developed countries.
  
  Meanwhile, in Beijing, an influential think-tank, Chinese Economists 50 Forum, has published suggestions for an Inter-Country Joint Mitigation Plan to facilitate technology transfer from the developed to the developing world.
  
  
  
• Xinhua has announced that more than 3,470 people have been arrested this year in a crackdown on internet pornography. According to the Ministry for Public Security 1.25 million items of 'lewd content' and nearly 7,000 websites were shut down.
  
  Earlier this month authorities launched a crackdown on WAP sites with pornographic content. China maintains very strict control over the internet arguing that it must 'purify social environment and protect minors' mental health.'
  
  
  
• President Hu Jintao is currently in Kazakhstan. President Hu and President Nazarbayev will hold talks on strengthening their bilateral ties. Kazakhstan is also a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and a key ally and source of natural resources in the region. The 'Friendship Pipeline' is the longest oil pipeline in the world and is expected to begin operating fully next year.
  
  
  
• Chinese police arrested three people on Tuesday for selling milk contaminated with melamine. The three men worked for Shaanxi based Jinqiao Dairy Company. Only a few weeks ago two men were executed for their role in selling melamine-contaminated milk in a scandal which caused the deaths of six children and illness to some 300,000.
  
  
  
• Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade is looking into allegations that Taiwanese companies sold specialised equipment which could be used to make weapons grade uranium to Iran. A report in the Daily Telegraph suggested that Iranian defense officials acquired pressure transducers from Taiwanese companies after being denied by American and European companies.
  

Climate Change and China: Why Does China Really Want the West to Foot the Bill?

China's stance on climate change has been a cause for debate for some time, but never more so than in the run up to the Copenhagen summit. Views have ranged wildly through a hundred different combinations of hope, disappointment, pride, and despair, from seeing China as leading the way on climate change, to dragging the world down in a quest for wealth. China has been used as a spur to action and as an excuse for inaction.

Those who hope China will make significant steps to combat climate change point to the affect climate change will have on China as a nation. China certainly has a lot to lose. UN reports suggest upwards of 67 million people may have to be relocated by 2050 due to rising sea levels, melting Himalayan glaciers could lead to increased flooding downriver, or worse, to the drying up of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, on which hundreds of millions of people depend. Warnings about all these threats are easily available and understood by the Chinese leadership.

They also point to China's record of acting on large scale environmental threats. The desertification of northern China, beginning to threaten Beijing, prompted the Green Wall of China. The holes in the ozone layer led to the Montreal Protocol, which was ratified and thoroughly implemented by China.

However, those who suspect China may scupper attempts at a binding treaty point to China's economic interests. China's rapid development has been based on cheap raw materials, cheap power and cheap a massive workforce. Moving to a greener but more high-tech economy based on green industries and clean power would slow the growth in the economy.

China itself has says that its stance is only just. After all, it was the West who started pumping out harmful chemicals and has been for over 200 years of industrial history. Now it's China's turn to develop, why should the West have the right to pollute without punishment while China has to invest all of its money into cleaning up its act instead of catching up with the West? Isn't it really just a question of the West not wanting developing countries to be able to challenge them? This is, of course, mostly rhetoric and a strong bargaining position. China understands perfectly well that developed countries are not likely to pay the $200 million in reparations some suggest that they owe the developing world. But the rhetoric masks the real reasons why China does not want to foot the bill. The fact is that economic growth is as vital to the Chinese leadership as its land or its people.

It has always been this desire to maintain the Communist Party at the apex of power that has motivated reform in China. At the end of the 1970s, when China's rural population was on the verge of turning against the party, Deng Xiaoping introduced reforms to increase rural wealth. By the end of the 1980s, when urban China began to ask why the cities were not growing as fast as the Township and Village Enterprises, and began to suffer the effects of inflation, they too began to turn against the party. In the post Tiananmen world China's reforms again began to focus on urban development. In both rural and urban cases therefore, economic growth was the key to maintaining social stability.

The Communist party understands the importance of climate change and accepts that greenhouse gas emissions must be cut, but it's own position depends on maintaining the magic figure of 8% growth which will create enough jobs to ensure social stability. This is why it concentrates so much on getting the West to shoulder the burden of any deal on climate change.

Roundup - 11/12/2009

• New economic data suggests China is recovering well from the economic crisis. Figures for November show that year-on-year growth in industrial output is at 19.2% while retail sales grew 15.8% compared with last year. The growth comes after the governments massive stimulus package help to increase investment in factories and construction by 32.1% in the first eleven months of the year.
  
  The vast amount of credit, combined with rising food prices as China settles in for a harsh winter, also led to the first growth in the Consumer Price Index this year. CPI rose 0.6% in November year-on-year. Some experts suggest that inflation could reach 3% in 2010, mostly driven by rising food prices. The government is attempting to increase food prices to stimulate production. The Producer Price Index continued to show decrease, prices for manufactured products are not expected to increase until demand for exports pick up as the global economic recovery catches up with China.
  
  
  
• China has continued to place responsibility on developed nations to combat climate change. Using the phrase 'promises must be kept; actions must be resolute' (言必信,行必果) three times Yu Xintai called on rich countries to honour their commitment, pointing out that few countries met their commitments made in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. He also said that rich countries owed reparations to the developing world because of their past greenhouse gas emissions.
  
  The comment came after US Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern said that, though the US would pay into a climate fund, it was wrong to talk about blame.
  
  China's case was also supported by a letter from a 'Chinese citizen' published in the People's Daily. This said that, while it was terrible that so many foreign friends would suffer from climate change, some even losing their homelands, the citizen could not in good conscience ask families in his home village to remain poor for the sake of others. The letter compares the contrast between the developed and the developing world to hereditary rule.
  
  
  
• Execution by gunshot will no longer take place in Liaoning province. All cities in the province have now agreed to use lethal injections as the sole form of execution. The use of lethal injections has grown throughout China since they were first used in 1997. Beijing and Chongqing are expected to announce an end to execution by gunshot some time next year. The Higher People's Court of Liaoning released a statement saying that the exclusive use of lethal injections was a 'symbol of the progress of civilisation' while Wang Dawei, a professor from the Chinese People's Public Security University, said that it was 'a symbol of democracy and civilisation as it is the last form of respect for human life.' The numbers of people China executes is a state secret, according to an Amnesty International report this year at least 1,718 executions took place in 2008.
  
  
  
• A regulation allowing local governments to evict people from their homes and demolish them if the land is needed for other uses has been said to 'contradict the law' by the Law Committee of the 11^th National People's Congress. The National People's Congress is the country's top legislature. The committee announced that the regulation, which flamed public anger after the suicide by fire of Tang Fuzhen in Chengdu as authorities tried to demolish her home, should have been dropped following the 2007 Property Law.
  
  However, the State Council Legislative Affairs Office, in charge of administrative regulations, insisted that the rule was still in effect. Which group has greater authority is an unresolved issue in China's governmental structure but as long as there is a rift it is likely that the regulation will still be cited.
  
  
  
• Taiwan's parliament has passed a bill banning explicit images from print, TV and online media. The new bill comes after fines totaling T$1 million were imposed on the owners of the Apple Daily, a paper which has made a name for itself by animating crimes on its website. Taiwan's media is barely regulated and is one of the freest and most competitive media markets in Asia.
  

Roundup - 10/12/2009

• China has been playing down an apparent split in the G77+1's stance at the climate summit in Copenhagen yesterday. The split came when the Association of Small Island States seized the moral high ground by demanding a severe and binding agreement on greenhouse gas emissions. The group of states, supported by many of Africa's poorest coastal states, criticised the other delegations for attempting to place the burden of emissions cuts on other countries while their lands literally sank under the sea.
  
  Tuvalu, speaking for ASIS, managed to call a halt to negotiations until its own proposals were discussed. These proposals were opposed by developed nations and by the more industrialised developing nations such as China, India an South Africa. Until this point the G77+1 had been united in its stance, largely formulated by the Chinese, the the Kyoto protocol should be extended.
  
  The split seemed to receive little attention in the Chinese media, the headlines about the summit on news websites seem to mostly be a day out of date. Where there are articles on the rift it says that the moves were opposed by 'more industrialized developing states' but never mentions China by name.
  
  
  
• The US Ambassador has noted the role that China can play in bringing 'peaceful economic development' to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Speaking to the 'Group of 100,' a group of prominent Chinese-Americans, Jon Huntsman called on China to play a greater role in the two countries. China already has a strong relationship with Pakistan. Economic investment and military cooperation and intelligence sharing have been going on for years. In response to the speech Pakistani officials stressed the 'strong and independent trajectory' of Sino-Pakistani relations.
  
  Afghanistan's ambassador to China, Sultan Baheen, said he welcomed greater cooperation between China and the US in Afghanistan. China currently help train police and mine clearing teams in the country. Their greatest impact however has been their investment in the mining industry. China's $4 billion investment in the Aynak copper mines was the largest in Afghan history. Chinese investment is an important source of independent income for the Afghan government which helps to grant it greater freedom from American influence.
  
  
  
• China's top judge has called on the judiciary to support China's economic growth. Wang Shengjun, President of the Supreme People's Court, said that 'efforts should be made to ensure the court's work accords with the overall economic development situation.'
  
  While he asked courts to safeguard people's interests, the statement could also be taken to mean that courts should rule on the side of economic growth rather than social interests. He also called for a crackdown on crimes disturbing the market order.
  
  
  
• The Central Economic Work Conference has agreed that the government should attach greater importance to the employment and settlement of rural migrants in China's cities. They pledged to relax restrictions on residence permits in small and medium-sized towns.
  
  Rural migrants in China's cities are distinguished by where they are registered at birth, they are often barred from acquiring residence permits for China's cities. However, they are essential to the urban economy and to urban development. Reports on reform to China's registration and residence permit systems have been around since the 1980s but little has yet been achieved to this end.
  
  
  
• The most googled word in mainland China is Baidu. Google has released a report saying that the word most searched for by mainland Chinese is the name of its greatest rival. While Google has achieved widespread dominance across much of the world, China has been harder to crack. Chinese search engines are specifically design to use Chinese characters and to search Chinese websites.
  
  
  
• Garlic has become a source of wealth for many investors as its price has increased 40-fold this year. The rise is partly due to garlic's traditional use against the flu. Chinese investors have been buying garlic by the truck-load in an attempt to make a quick profit.
  
  
  
  

Roundup - 09/12/2009

• China's chief negotiator at the Copenhagen summit has condemned the US, EU and Japanese commitments to cuts in emissions. Su Wei said that the US target was 'not notable,' the EU target 'not enough,' and that the Japanese had 'actually made no commitment because they have set an impossible precondition.'
  
  The comments, made at a news conference on the sidelines of the summit, come as hopes for a climate deal are being dampened by a north-south rift. While developed countries are trying to get developing countries to shoulder more of the burden of combating climate change, developing countries favour an extension of the Kyoto Protocol which would protect their economic growth and place more responsibility on the West to cut emissions.
  
  The conflict was further exacerbated by the leak yesterday of a draft Danish proposal for an agreement which would abandon Kyoto, sideline the US and force major emissions cuts on the developing world. The Sudanese head of the G77, Lumumba Stanislas Dia Ping, noted that the global south would only compensated with $10 billion. Divided among the worlds population he pointed out that this was not enough to cover the price of a coffee in the West or the price of a coffin in the developing world.
  
  
  
• Liu Xiabo's lawyer has said that police have formally recommended that he be charged with inciting subversion. Mr Liu spent time in prison after the Tiananmen Square protests and has been detained since 2008 for his participation in Charter '08. His wife says that if the charges a re brought they will try to give him a sentence of '10 years or more.'