Roundup - 03/12/2009

• 85 people have been arrested in Yibin, Sichuan on suspicion of producing methamphetamine. 44 tonnes of chemicals, enough to make 10 tonnes of crystal meth worth around $318 million, were seized by police. The bust included 415 kilograms of ephedrine, a drug used to combat the flu. The State Food and Drug Administration is placing a cap on the usage of compounds containing ephedrine amid concerns that it s being used to produce large quantities of illegal narcotics.
  
  
  
• China Daily reports on a forced demolition in Chengdu which led to suicide. Due to vigorous attacks by China's netizens the local government has been forced to respond. In 2007 the local government decided to demolish a garment processing plant owned by Hu Changming in order to make way for a road. The government claims that the dispute began after Hu asked for an excessive amount of compensation. The dispute came to a head on Nov. 13^th when men with cudgels attempted to clear the way for demolition. Hu's wife, Tang Fuzhen, and several other relative resisted and Tang threatened to immolate herself. The men refused to withdraw and instead set about Tang's relatives. At one point one of then snatched a one-year old baby from her nephew's wife and began kicking her. Eventually Tang carried out her threat, poured petrol over herself and set herself alight. She died of her burns in hospital on Nov. 27^th.
  
  The report quotes a Beijing lawyer who points out that the demolition of the building should have been the responsibility of the local court, not the government officials.
  
  
  
• Five more people have been sentenced to death for crimes committed during unrest in Xinjiang in July. The court in Urumqi also sentenced two others to life imprisonment. Last month China executed nine people for their roles in the violence that officially left almost 200 dead and 1,600 injured. No comment was made as to the ethnicity of the new cases but to date those arrested and executed have been disproportionately ethnic Uighurs.
  
  
  
• The UN's Clean Development Mechanism has suspended approvals for many of China's wind farms. This comes amid suspicions that the government is manipulating state subsidies so that more schemes qualify for UN help. China has been the largest receiver of carbon credits in the program. It has received 153 million credits worth more than $1 billion.
  
  
  
• China's top meteorologist, Zheng Guoguang, has warned that climate change is a major threat to China but that the focus should be on adapting to it rather than slowing it down. In an article in 'Speaking Truth' he states that for a developing country it is less practical to combat climate change than to work with it. China's official line is that both prevention and adaptation are equally important.
  
  
  
• Four Chinese have been detained in Romania amid a dispute over market stores. Romanian tax officials closed 221 stores in Bucharest for lacking documentation on their products. When officials returned to reopen some of the stores some Chinese suspected they were there to close down more stores and attacked the officials.
  
  The incident comes amid a dispute between the store owners and the owners of the market which has been brewing since early November. Store owners bought their shops outright when Niro Market was established. Now Niro Group wants them to move to a neighouring market and buy stores there. However, they are refusing to compensate store owners for the stores they already own.
  
  On Nov 17^th store owners staged a protest and Niro group retaliated by cutting off water and power to the market. Niro Group is a well established company in Romania which focuses on real estate.
  
  
  
• Construction will begin in December on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. The project, a series of bridges, tunnels and new roads, is designed to facilitate traffic between Hong Kong, Macao and the Mainland. It is scheduled to be finished in 2015.