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receive little attention in the Chinese media, the headlines about the summit on news websites seem to mostly be a day out of date.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.