Category: China

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China Culture & History

China Irritated with ‘Slanderous’ U.N. Report on Rights

According to the New York Times, the Chinese government reacted angrily on Monday to what it called a slanderous United Nations report that alleges systemic torture of political and criminal detainees. The government said the authors were biased, untruthful and driven by a political agenda.

The report, issued Friday by the United Nations Committee Against Torture, documented what the authors described as widespread abuse in the Chinese legal system, one that often gains convictions through forced confessions.

The report recounts China’s use of “secret prisons” and the widespread harassment of lawyers who take on rights cases, and it criticizes the government’s extralegal system of punishment, known as re-education through labor, which hands down prison terms to dissidents without judicial review.

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China Culture & History

China increases police presence at Mt. Everest

The Associated Press reports:

China’s border police have significantly beefed up their presence at the base of Mount Everest amid rising visitor numbers and increasing cases of theft, prostitution and gambling, state media reported Tuesday.

The influx of people to the area has brought increased crime to the north face of Everest, and Chinese authorities last year pledged to boost the police presence following reports of thefts of food, oxygen tanks and climbing gear.

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China Culture & History

China says NO to Gun N’ Roses

No real surprise here, Chinese authorities call new album “venomous” and block access to band’s website.

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China Russia

China and Russia pledge deeper cooperation

AFP reports

Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday pledged closer cooperation to face the world financial crisis, a Chinese spokesman said.

During their 45-minute meeting, the two leaders also pledged to pursue a six-nation effort, chaired by China, to denuclearise North Korea, Liu said.

Russian media last week quoted the country’s energy minister as saying Moscow and Beijing would resume talks about oil shipments via a new pipeline next week, after they were reportedly halted over a financial dispute.

The talks on a 25-billion-dollar (20-billion-euro) loan package from China to Russian state pipeline monopoly Transneft and oil company Rosneft had been suspended due to “absurd” Chinese conditions for the loan package, Russian media had quoted a source as saying.

Categories
China Culture & History Vietnam

Chinese Navy Visits Vietnam for First Time

For the first time in their at-times turbulent history, a ship from the Chinese Navy visited Vietnam. The Chinese naval training ship Zheng He arrived at the Vietnamese central Tien Sa port in Danang yesterday Chinese state media reported.

Vietnam has hosted a number of foreign navies in recent years including ships from the United States.

Vietnam and China fought a short-lived border war in 1979.

Categories
China Cuba

China’s Hu says hola to Latin America

Much has been written about China’s adventures in Africa, but now the growing economic powerhouse is using its new-found clout in another region of the world, Latin America. In a region long accustomed to the influence of the United States, China’s entry into the politics of the Americas should prove to very interesting.

UPI reports:

Chinese President Hu Jintao Monday proclaimed his huge nation’s commitment to boosting its power in the Western Hemisphere by paying a state visit to Cuba.

To add insult to injury for lame-duck U.S. President George W. Bush, Hu flew to Cuba, a nation Bush has tried to keep in quarantine during his eight years in office, immediately after attending the Group of 20 major nations’ emergency financial summit in Washington. He flew there via a short visit to Costa Rica.

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China Russia

BRIC countries lead world decline

Brazil, Russia, China and India, the so called BRIC countries, were the foundation of the emerging markets trade during the global bull market from 2002 to 2007, as the financial crisis went global, they have also led the decline on the way down as well. Seeking Alpha provides an updated chart of the declines from their peaks for Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

As shown, Russia is down the most at -76%, followed by China (-67%), India (-56%), and Brazil (-52%).

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China Cuba Russia

Cuba Next Stop For Many

Following the G20 in Washington, DC, many of the world’s leaders – OK, many of the world’s Communist and former Communist leaders (from Russia and China) – are heading to Cuba.

Why?

Could it be that as Castro fades and his brother moves to open up the economy, these countries, long linked by ties in ideology may be looking to stregthen capitlist bonds…

Or maybe they are just after some Cuba Libres.

Categories
China

Tibetans to Ponder New Strategy

According to the New York Times:

Tibetan exiles are scheduled to meet on Monday. The first conclave of its kind since 1991. The Dalai Lama has called for hundreds of Tibetans to gather in the Himalayan town of Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile, to help decide on a new strategy for Tibet.

The Dalai Lama said this month that his drive to secure autonomy for Tibet through negotiations with the Chinese government had failed, an admission that strengthened the hand of younger Tibetans who have long agitated for a more radical approach and who have demanded independence….The rebuke, the harshest from the Chinese government since the violence last spring, contributed to the breakdown of talks between Chinese officials and envoys of the Dalai Lama that had been taking place since 2002.

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China

China’s fiscal stimulus hugely welcome

According to The Economist article:

If the 800m in China’s countryside are persuaded to spend their money rather than save it, stronger domestic consumption could give a big boost to an economy still skewed towards exports. But the government seems half-hearted in this structural shift: it has also announced a raft of measures to subsidise exports. And it is doing too little to ease the worries that make China’s people cling on to their cash: how to meet unexpected medical bills; how to pay for a good education for their children; how to provide for their old age. Government health spending especially, at less than 1% of GDP, is woefully low—and not tackled meaningfully in this package.