Roundup - 07/01/2010

• Cold weather is continuing to cause problems across much of China. Food prices are rising due to transportation issues and fears that the cold will damage crops, the price of vegetables has risen 10% in just a few days in some areas according to AFP.
  
  Industrial power usage has been rationed across much of central China. Disrupted delivery of coal to power stations and high energy demand due to the weather has meant that coal reserves are tight. Only ten days supply of coal is in storage rather than the fifteen days that government guidelines have set as a safe level. However, local governments have stated that residential power needs are primary and will be protected at all costs. So far fears of a repeat of early 2008 have been averted. In 2008 a similar cold spell combined with clumsy attempts to manipulate energy prices led to widespread power cuts across the country.
  
  
  
• Former Czech President and founding member of Charter 77, Vaclav Havel, has entered the Chinese embassy in Prague to protest the sentence of Chinese dissident and co-author of Charter 08, Liu Xiaobo.
  
  Charter 77 was launched 33 years ago yesterday and Mr. Havel and two other former dissident chose to mark the anniversary by handing a letter to the Chinese ambassador. However, the embassy did not open its doors to them and they were forced to use the letterbox.
  
  Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years on Christmas Day for inciting subversion of state power. He has appealed his sentence but campaigners say there is little hope of it being overturned.
  
  
  
• A Tibetan film maker has been sentenced to six years in jail. In a statement made in Washington his family said that Dhondup Wangchen was sentenced on Dec 28^th after a trial in which he was denied access to a lawyer.
  
  Dongdup Wangchen taught himself how to make films and set off on a journey across his native Tibet conducting a series of interviews and filming daily life. While there he was caught up in the violent protests in March 2008 during which he was arrested and charged with subversion of state power.
  
  According to Gyaljong Tsetrin, his exiled cousin, Dhondup has contracted Hepatitis B while in detention.
  
  
  
• China has offered a US$7.16 million grant to Kenya to assist with infrastructure development. China said in November that it would give US$10 billion in concessional loans over the next three years.
  
  The BBC has reported that China is offering to help develop a second port at Lamu. This port would provide a new route for the export of oil from Southern Sudan to China. Sudan will soon undergo a referendum as to the future of the country. It is possible that Southern Sudan may break away making a southern trade route to Sudan a key strategic goal for China.
  
  
  
• The US has confirmed that it will allow a controversial arms deal with Taiwan to proceed. Lockheed Martin will sell an unspecified number of Patriot air defense missiles to Taiwan in spite of strong protests from the mainland. The deal is part of a US$6.5 billion arms deal negotiated by the Bush administration. Patriot missiles are capable of shooting down most Chinese ground-to-ground missiles.
  

Roundup - 05/12/2009

• Taiwanese voters in 17 cities and counties are heading to the polls in local government elections. Analysts say that the vote will be a crucial mid-term test for President Ma Yingjiu. Allegations have already begun to fly over voteybgef cxz`a-buying in many areas and some reports say that prosecutors have sued 76 people and detained 150 over voting irregularities.
  
  
  
• Another three people have been sentenced to death for their roles in riots in Xinjiang in July. Eight people have now been sentenced to death since Thursday in addition to the nine who have already been executed. Of the three new sentences two were given to ethnic Uighurs and one to a man with a Chinese name. One other person was sentenced to life in jail and three others received prison sentences.
  
  
  
• China's official death toll from the H1N1 virus has risen to 200. 194 of the deaths were recorded in November. The figure jumped recently after the central government warned local governments not to doctor figures in order not to improve their image.
  
  
  
• General Motors has announced that it is planning an new venture with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. to build cars in India. It also announced that it is reducing its stake in the Chinese company to 49%, thereby giving SAIC a controlling stake. The move comes after Chicago-based GM was was forced to go to a bankruptcy court during the economic crisis. SAIC will be the first major Chinese company to produce cars in India for the Indian market.
  
  
  
• Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, has said that China is interested in exporting some of its manufacturing to Africa. China's focus in Africa has so far been on acquiring natural resources. This has led to accusations that it is merely mirroring the colonialist economic system. However, Mr. Zoellick says that after meetings with Chen Deming, China's Minister of Commerce, he believes there may be opportunities for the World Bank and China to cooperate on developing Africa's industrial base.