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 - 02/12/2009

• China's official death toll from the A(H1N1) virus has tripled after the government ordered more accurate counting amid suspicions of a cover up. The figure jumped from 53 to 178 at the weekend.
  
  No official reason was given for the rise. Last month Zhong Nanshan, who helped to reveal the true extent of the SARS outbreak, wrote that he believed that some officials were under-reporting figures in order to convince their superiors that they had the situation under control. On November 19^th the Ministry of Health ordered more transparent reporting.
  
  Meanwhile, four have died after being vaccinated for A(H1N1). Of 26.18 million people vaccinated 2,867 had adverse reactions.
  
  
  
• An officially sponsored gay bar in Dali has had to delay its opening due to lack of customers. The bar was supposed to help break the taboo on homosexuality and to provide a location for education on AIDS and safe sex. However, it appears that Dali's homosexuals are shunning the limelight and sticking to the hang-outs where they feel safe. Health Minister Chen Zhu recently claimed that homosexual transmission of AIDS was now a major factor in the spread of the disease.
  
  Gao Yaojie, a respected campaigner on AIDS, has hinted that she may not return to China at the end of her current visit to the USA.
  
  
  
• Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is beginning a five day visit to China. The visit comes amid a thawing of relations. Canada's stance on China's human rights record, high tariffs on Chinese steel imports and Stephen Harpers audience with the Dalai Lama had led to tensions. However, the recession has force Canada to find new countries to invest in to end a reliance on the American markets. Stephen Harper called this his 'most important foreign visit.'
  
  
  
• Cross-strait talks between the People's Republic and the Republic on Taiwan will be held in mid or late December. The Association for Relations across the Taiwan Straits and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Assiciation will meet in Taizhong, Taiwan.
  
  
  
• An official in Guangdong has admitted to taking 650,000 RMB in bribes. Shen Zhiqiang, a former head of the salt administration, claimed that he was blackmailed into taking the bribes by his mistress. Shen's lawyer claims that the mistress was also the mistress of the briber.
  
  Six other officials are also to be tried for their involvement.