Roundup - 09/01/2010

• 12 miners have been killed in a fire at a coal mine in Jianxi. The fire broke out at the Miaoshang mine in Xinyu city on Friday afternoon. According to a district government statement has suggested that the fire was caused by the short circuiting of underground cables. The Miaoshang mine was in the process of doubling its production capacity to 60,000 tonnes to meet China's rocketing demand. China's vast energy needs have led to rapid development of coal production at the expense of safety. At least 671 people died in accidents at coal mines in 2009.
  
  
  
• Fears of unrest in Xinjiang have risen after the stabbing of a Uighur man in Shenzhen. The unnamed man was stabbed to death at a Xinjiang restaurant by a Han Chinese man. Seven Han men were later arrested in connection with the murder. A row in a factory between Han and Uighur workers in nearby Shaoguan last June led to rioting in Xinjiang which left at least 197 people dead.
  
  
  
• Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, has said that China had achieved its goals at the Copenhagen summit by ensuring that the aid of rich countries is not tied to external reviews of China's progress. He welcomed to US$100 billion in aid promised by 2020 as a stepping stone for negotiations, adding, 'next time, we can talk about when will they pay the money and how much each country will pay.'
  
  According to Mr. Xie, China is already well on its way to cutting its carbon intensity by 20% over the five years to 2010. He claims that at the end of 2009 carbon intensity had already been cut by 16%. China has pledged to cut carbon intensity by 40-45% on 2005 levels by 2020. The guidelines outlined in the next five year plan, covering 2011-2015, will be key to the achievement of this goal.
  
  
  
• Li Zhuang, previously a lawyer defending an organised crime boss, has been sentenced to two and a half years in jail. Gong Gangmo turned in his lawyer in the hope that he would receive leniency in his own case. He claimed that Li Zhuang told him to lie about being tortured in police custody.
  
  The case is causing a stir among China's legal community. The sentence, which comes amid a massive crackdown on organised crime, is aimed at discouraging lawyers from breaking the law in defence of their clients. However, there are concerns that, in the rush to secure prosecutions, the rights of China's defence lawyers are being eroded. Some are even concerned that defending a client is tantamount to collaboration in the crime.
  
  Li Zhuang is appealing his sentence.
  
  
  
• China has overtaken the US as the worlds largest market for cars. According to the China Passenger Car Association sales soared from 6.4 million units in 2008 to 10.26 units in 2009. This has been partly due to China's stimulus package, a car trading scheme provides between 3,000 and 6,000 RMB when replacing an old car. The government plans to enlarge this scheme in the coming year by providing between 5,000 and 18,000 RMB per vehicle.
  
  The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has said that over 100 new models will be released over the coming year while Sinotrust, an automobile industry consultancy firm, has predicted further rapid growth with total vehicle sales reaching 15.13 million units in 2010.
  
  
  
• Taibei-based Next Magazine has claimed that a Taiwanese company sold sensitive nuclear material to Iran after a request from China. According to the report, a Taiwanese company bought 108 pressure transducers from Switzerland and then exported them to Iran after an online order from China on behalf of an Iranian oil company. The report quotes an unnamed source who says that China has 'secretly shipped critical components' to Iran in spite of its public claims to be unwilling to provide Iran with sensitive technology.
  

Roundup - 06/01/2010

• A Californian software company is suing the Chinese government for US$2.2 billion. Cybersitter claims that the Green Dam Youth Escort programme, designed to block pornographic and other websites deemed harmful by the government, contains more than 3000 lines of stolen code. More than 56 million copies of the software have been distributed in China.
  
  The government originally planned to instal the software on every computer sold in China but was forced to back-pedal after a massive public outcry.
  
  
  
• Hong Kong media is leading speculation about the removal of He Yafei from his position. Mr. He has been moved to a position at the UN from his post as Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs. Commentators suggest that this is due to his handling of the Copenhagen negotiations which resulted in a PR disaster for China.
  
  While He Yafei cannot be personally blamed for the failure of the negotiations, his inability to take major decisions and the contrasting aims of China and the Western powers were the main causes, he was deemed to have handled the situation in a particularly undiplomatic manner. In particular his public insulting of US negotiator Todd Stern and his consistent vetoing of any climate deal, even one that did not include China, in the hectic final phase of negotiations, meant that China would inevitably come out of the summit looking the villain.
  
  Wen Jiabao managed to avoid being made the fall guy for the failure only by not turning up to many of the negotiations.
  
  
  
• 25 coal miners have been killed in a fire at a mine in Xiangtan, Hunan. More than 70 miners were in the shaft when underground cables caught fire on Tuesday afternoon. 43 managed to escape leaving at least 28 trapped. Nine bodies were retrieved on Tuesday and a further 16 on Wednesday morning. Hopes for the other trapped miners are failing as rescuers encounter the toxic fumes left by the fire.
  
  
  
• Public anger is rising as it emerges that a case involving the sale of melamine-tainted milk was withheld from public view for almost a year. Three people from the Shanghai Panda Dairy Co. were arrested in December, however, it seems that evidence that milk was contaminated emerged on Dec30 2008 and the investigation into the company began in February 2009.
  
  Some media reports claim that the tainted milk was actually made with the recalled products from the major 2008 scandal in which 6 children died and 300,000 were made ill but according to Xinhua all products involved in that scandal were destroyed.
  
  The reason given for not informing the public was that, when local authorities began investigating, they discovered evidence that a criminal case could be brought and so had to hand the investigation over to the Ministry of Public Security.
  
  
  
• A report in Faren magazine, affiliated with the Legal Daily, has highlighted corruption among the executives of China's state-owned enterprises. 35 executives face charges in 2009 of which 31 were convicted in cases involving an average of 110 million RMB (US$16.18 million).
  
  Among these, Li Peiying, former head of the Capital Airports Holding Company, was executed in August for taking 26.61 million RMB in bribes. Yang Yanming, once a senior trader with a securities company, was executed in December for embezzling 94.52 million RMB of public funds. Chen Tonghai was given a death sentence with two years reprieve for having taken almost 200 million RMB in bribes.
  
  Kang Rixin, former head of the China National Nuclear Corporation, is currently under investigation for taking backhanders in exchange for awarding construction contracts.
  
  Meanwhile a survey by the Horizon Research Consultancy Group says that 59.1% of people consider that corruption amongst China's officials is most damaging to China's image abroad. This was followed by counterfeit and shoddy products, pollution, uncivil conduct and industrial accidents.
  

Roundup - 30/11/2009

• The 12^th EU-China Summit has been held in Nanjing, Jiangsu today. Premier Wen Jiabao set the tone of the meeting by condemning countries which wanted the Renminbi to fluctuate more freely. He argues that they merely wanted to curb China's growth and that a stable Yuan was important, not only for China's growth, but also for global recovery from the current economic crisis.
  
  China aslo succeeded in securing a number of deals including further sharing of technology and 57 million Euros of investment for a near-zero emissions coal power plant.
  
  China aims to achieve its recently announced carbon intensity cuts largely through investing in new technologies. Green technologies are a growth area in China, particularly in Jiangsu where, according to Xinhua, the production value of green industries grew 60% last year.
  
  
  
• China hosted officials from India, Brazil, South Africa and Sudan, current chair of the G77 over the weekend. The officials created a draft document on climate change to help present a united front during the climate summit in Copenhagen. The statement declares that the Kyoto Protocol should remain in place. This would ensure that the burden of tackling climate change remains firmly on the West. Zhou Shijian, from Qinghua University, has characterised the summit as being 'for the West to compete for dominance, while for developing countries it is to fight for the right to development.'
  
  
  
• 48 officials and 10 journalists are facing charges of corruption after a State Council probe alleged they took bribes to cover up a coal mine disaster in Hebei. 34 miners and a rescuer died after an explosion at the Lijiawa mine in Yuxian County on July 14^th last year.
  
  According to the allegations mine bosses hid bodies, destroyed evidence and paid out 2.6 million RMB to keep to scandal hidden from public view for 85 days.
  
  
  
• A former judge has committed suicide in jail while awaiting trial. He was implicated during a crackdown on organised crime in the city of Chongqing. Wu Xiaoqing had been charged with accepting 3.5 million RMB in bribes and was unable to explain a further 5.2 million RMB in his possession. He was also charged with extorting money during land auctions, his mistress and 10 of his lawyers are also under investigation.
  
  The crackdown in Chongqing has led to the implication of nearly 200 officials including the former head of the judiciary and deputy chief justice of the high court. 1,500 alleged mafia members have also been detained including Xie Caiping, the 'Godmother of the Underworld,' who was sentenced to 18 years a month ago.
  
  
  
• The Chinese Ministry of Health is working with various government departments to drop the ban on foreigners entering the country with HIV/AIDS. Xinhua reports that Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jiefu hopes that the ban will be removed before the beginning of the Shanghai Expo 2010. December 1^st is World AIDS Day.
  

Roundup - 29/11/2009

• The first civil law suit dealing with the melamine milk scandal has come to court in Beijing. Ma Xuexin, from Henan, is suing for $8000 and for his son's medical expenses to be paid for by the state-run milk compensation fund.
  
  Mr Ma's 20-month old son developed kidney stones after being fed hundreds of packets of milk supplied by Sanlu, the now defunct company at the centre of the scandal.
  
  Families were offered a one time payout of between 2000 and 200000RMB if civil cases were not brought. Nevertheless several families have felt that the compensation is not adequate. So far six lawsuits have been accepted by Chinese courts.
  
  
  
• A cargo plane crash at take-off at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport on Saturday, killing three American crewmen. Four other crewmen, including an American, an Indonesian and a Zimbabwean are recovering in the intensive care unit of the People's Hospital in Pudong.
  
  The plane, registered with Avient Aviation in Zimbabwe, was bound for Kyrgyzstan. On attempting to take off at 8.10 am reports claim that the tail hit the runway and a fire started on board.
  
  
  
• Attempts to rescue 16 coal miners, trapped by flooding in north-east China, have been called off due to the danger of another cave-in. The flooding, at Zhonghe Coal Mine in Meihekou, Jilin, began at 1.55pm on Friday. Since then rescuers have been attempting to fill in part of the cave to prevent further water from entering. However, new crevices pointed to the likelihood of a new cave-in and work had to be halted.
  
  
  
• The China State Construction Engineering Corporation has declared that it has no business relations with Dubai World. Dubai World recently was forced to ask for more time to repay 60 billion US dollars of debt. Since then, share prices have dropped in companies believed to be exposed. The Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Bank of Communications all declared on Friday that they did not hold bonds issued by Dubai World.
  

Roundup - 27/11/2009

• China's announcement that it will cut its carbon intensity by 40-45% by 2020 is still making news. Opinion is still divided on the announcement. Some disappointed that they did not go further, others impressed that they went so far. While the Chinese media is predictably positive about the cuts, the rest of the worlds media is divided, the International Herald Tribune and the Independent (UK) for example hold a fairly positive view while the Guardian (UK) and Al Jazeera English are more cynical.
  
  China has attempted to bolster its claims by releasing a declaration of commitment by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee which is led by President Hu Jintao.
  
  Meanwhile Isabel Hilton writes an interesting article in the Guardian(UK) about China's attempts to secure patents for green technology. She suggests that while China's commitment to international climate change deals may lack enthusiasm it does understand that newer, greener technologies are necessary for both combating climate change and developing the Chinese economy.
  
  
• An accident at a coal mine in Guizhou has left nine dead and one missing. While most global media is reporting this as an explosion Xinhua and other Chinese media are reporting it as a gas leak. 162 people escaped of whom three are being treated for minor injuries.
  
  The accident follows the catastrophic blast last Saturday at a coal mine in Heilongjiang which killed 108 miners. China's coal industry is the most dangerous in the world. 1,175 lives were lost in the first six months of this year although this does represent a drop of 18.4% on the previous year.
  
  
• Chinese media is carrying reports on China's lunar mission. The Chang'e 2 lunar probe will be sent into orbit around the moon in October 2010 as part of China's plans to send a probe to the moon by 2013.
  
  Chang'e 1 was heralded as a national success story when it was launched in 2007, even being praised in song during the following new year celebrations.
  
  
• Two Child traffickers were executed yesterday morning. Hu Minghua, 55, and Su Binde, 27, were convicted of abducting and trafficking 15 children between them as well as of other charges including theft and posession of heroin.
  
  Child trafficking is a growing problem in China where a preference for boys over girls, restrictions on childbirth, a large number of unmarried men and a rise in organised crime all contribute to make children a lucrative commodity. The government has stepped up efforts to combat the trade in recent years. They claim to have rescued around 2,000 children this year and have set up a website so that parents can identify and claim their missing children. According to Xinhua 1,714 people were punished for abducting and trafficking children in the first ten months of this year.
  
  
• Andrew Jacobs at the International Herald Tribune reports on an article published in the state-run magazine Outlook (瞭望Liaowang) about China's secret prisons. The report details a system of 'black jails' used to deter petitioners from bringing their complaints to Beijing.
  
  The article claims that at peak times as many as 10,000 retrievers roam the capital searching for petitioners to place in one of 73 secret prisons. The article also points out that it is turning into a 'chain of gray industry' as the whole affair can be quite lucrative.
  
  Although the right to petition to central government is enshrined in the constitution, it reflects badly on the local governments that are being reported on. It is these local governments who run many of the prisons.
  
  A Human Rights Watch report recently prompted the Foreign Ministry to deny the existence of black jails in China. Due to the officially backed nature of Outlook, some hope that the publication of this article is a sign of changing opinions within China's leadership as to the validity of these prisons.
  
  
• 6 in 10 Taiwanese oppose the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with China according to a poll by National Taiwan University. The trade treaty, supported by President Ma Yingjiu, is designed to improve trade and create jobs. However, popular feeling is running against China and this has been used by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party which claims that the agreement will reduce Taiwan to the status of a local government in future negotiations with China.