Pay-TV turns off China football fans

China's enthusiastic band of football fans have failed to sign up to watch the English Premier League on a new pay-per-view format.
Top-flight English matches were previously available for free on television and had a potential audience of 30 million.
But that changed when broadcaster WinTV bought the rights to broadcast Premier League games in China for three seasons, starting this year.
WinTV now admits it has managed to attract only 20,000 customers willing to pay the 588 yuan (£39; $80) annual fee.
A company spokeswoman said it was proving difficult to persuade Chinese football fans to pay to watch matches that were previously free.
"We're just trying to promote this concept, the idea that people should pay for this kind of service. It will take some time," she said.

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WinTV, a previous popular football channel, has decided to change their price of showing football games from free to an anual (US) fee of $80. This change has cuased many football fans to not watch the channel, shifting the numbers of veiwers from millions to thousands. Former fans are upset and do not understand why they have to pay for something that was offered free the previous year.

China unveils 'Water Cube' venue

Beijing Olympic officials have officially unveiled the bubble-wrapped National Aquatics Centre.

Nicknamed the "Water Cube", the imposing £72m venue is clad in a honeycomb of transparent cushions and was funded by overseas donations.

Li Aiqing, president of the company behind construction, said: "The whole project is complex and unique.

"After five years of effort, we are very, very happy. It is one of the biggest swimming centres in the world."

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At least 6,700 tons of steel and 1,300 tons of welding rods were used in the construction of the "Water Cube." But a crack was found on a diving platform, which needs to be fixed. Once it is opened, 42 gold medals will be awarded at the venue in the swimming, diving and synchronised swimming events.

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Taking the right steps to protect IPR

China is taking the right steps to prevent intellectual property rights (IPR) violations, though it needs more time to achieve progress.
This is what European Union (EU) Tax and Customs Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said in Beijing Monday.

It's true that 80 percent of the counterfeit goods seized on EU borders in 2006 came from China. And it's true too that IPR protection is a major issue for EU businesses.
But Kovacs said the Chinese government is taking proper legislative steps to stem the flow of counterfeits both at home and abroad.
"We have already witnessed a decrease (in counterfeit goods from China)," he said. "I do hope that not in the long but in the medium term there will be some progress so that the proportion from China will decrease (further).

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There has been a problem in the past with goods found on the border of EU being counterfit. Rules to enforce the consequences for counterfit goods have been put into action and are becoming more stern about this crime.

Weather Chills China's Economy

Jeffrey Schwartz, the CEO of McDonald's' (MCD) China operation, boarded a plane on the morning of Jan. 28 in Shanghai for what should have been a routine flight to Beijing. But with some of the worst winter weather in memory hammering the country's transportation network, there are no routine flights in China these days. Schwartz didn't arrive in the Chinese capital till that night. "That hour-and-45-minute journey took me 12 hours," he says. "It was the snow."

Millions of people throughout China are suffering far greater hardships. One of the worst snowstorms to hit China since the government began keeping records in 1950 has wreaked havoc throughout the country. At least two dozen people have died in accidents and 827,000 people have been displaced. Heavy snowfall has caused gridlock at train stations and airports, just two weeks before the Chinese New Year begins and hundreds of millions of Chinese return home for the holidays.

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The major snow storms are causing inflation and power shortages in China. The weather has created transportation problems for travelers, and has hindered the shipments of coal, which is required to fuel China's power plants. According to the Civil Affairs Ministry, the snowstorms have cost $3 billion in damages.

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Environmental Protection

THESE days China's environmental bureaucrats know how to talk the talk. They readily admit that pollution is poisoning the country's water resources, air and soil. They acknowledge that carbon emissions are soaring. If only, they lament, the government would give them the means to do something about it.
For all its green promises in recent years, the Communist Party has done little to build a bureaucracy with the clout to enforce environmental edicts and monitor pollution effectively. As long as they deliver economic growth without too much public protest, officials can still expect promotion, however polluted their areas.

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The polution problem in China has begun to become a big issue. Water and other important resources are being polluted by the unhealthy air. SEPA, the governments toothless watchdog, is noticed as weak and are unable to correct the pollution problems occuring in China.

Transport Chaos in Snow-hit China

The heaviest snow in decades is continuing to
cause chaos
across China ahead of the busy Lunar New Year holiday, state
media report.

Road and rail links have been cut, thwarting tens of millions of travellers
trying to return home.

The snowstorms, which began on 10 January, are the worst for half a century
and have affected nearly 80 million people across 14 provinces.

Reports so far say more than 50 people have been killed in the cold, 25 when
a bus slid from an icy road in Guizhou.

Houses and agricultural land have been destroyed, leading to economic losses
totalling 22.09bn yuan ($3bn, £1.5bn), the official news agency Xinhua said.

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This article is of great importance in China. In a country of over a billion people, smoothness of transportation is a key element to the infrastructure of China. This is a great setback for the people and government of China with the oncoming holiday season.

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Chinese business leader 'corrupt'

The Chinese authorities say they have launched a corruption investigation against the former head of the oil company Sinopec.

Chen Tonghai resigned last June, officially for personal reasons.

But state television now reports that Mr Chen took what it described as huge bribes, and abused his position to benefit his mistress.

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President Hu Jintao has made "made tackling rampant corruption one of his top priorities." Mr. Chen has been expelled from the Chinese Communist Party for breaking many of the party's rules. Some of his infringements included taking bribes and abusing his power.


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Assessment Complete

Work Related Incidents

Dozens of Chinese officials are to be prosecuted or punished over fatal accidents in the workplace - where 100,000 Chinese die each year.
Works Minister Wang Wei announced that prosecutors would consider cases against 78 managers and officials, and 105 had already been disciplined. The move comes after inquiries into five incidents where 189 people died.

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Work related incidents account for over 100,000 deaths every year in China. The government does not want to admit this for fear that it would be a bad publicity for China, as the summer olympics are to be held there in 2008.

Future Chinese Leaders

They smiled and stood ramrod straight as they were introduced to China, and the world, at a news conference in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

But despite their promotion, there is still plenty of time for things to go wrong before their expected elevation to the top posts in 2012.

It is still possible for dark horses to appear in the next five years, the game is still open Dr Steven TsangOxford UniversityChina is not good at making sure anointed leaders actually make it to the top of the political pile - several have died before being promoted.

The two men were introduced along with other members of the standing committee of China's politburo, a new line-up chosen at the end of the Chinese Communist Party's 17th Congress.

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Mr. Xi and Mr. Li are expected to become China's new leaders in the year 2012 because they are the youngest members of China's politburo. In the past, however, China hasn't done a great job of promoting it's new leaders, causing the public to question their impending leadership.

Chinese Imports

In recent months, the number of unsafe products imported to the United States from China — ranging from seafood and pet food to toys and toothpaste — has grown steadily. Chinese-made products have accounted for more than 60 percent of recalls this year, said Scott Wolfson, spokesman for the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission. So far they have recalled 338 products overall this year, Wolfson said.

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The number of unsafe products being imported from China has increased. China at first denyed this, but have now admitted that their food and drug safety situation was not satisfactory. With the 2008 summer olypics coming to Bejing, China is concerned about this bad publicity.

China growth reaches 13-year high

Increased exports and a boom in the construction industry helped the rapid expansion during 2007.

But officials warned that overheating remained a danger, despite a slight slow-down in the fourth quarter.

Inflation is also a serious concern, with many Chinese people hit by recent dramatic increases in food prices.

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Over the past year the Chinese economy has grown by 11.4%, which is its fastest growth rate reached in the last thirteen years. To control inflation, the government has introduced a range of price controls to help the prices of ordinary goods, particularly food, stay controlled.

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Human rights questions remain for China

With a year to go before the 2008 Olympics get under way, questions linger over China's efforts to improve its human rights record.

Observers and pressure groups have criticized the efforts of the Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since Beijing won the bid in 2001, rejecting assertions by both that the Games will lead to lasting positive change in the world's most populous nation.

After praising Beijing's preparations as "excellent across the board," the IOC official charged with overseeing Beijing's preparations, Hein Verbruggen, sparked further anger from advocacy groups with his recent comments that, "...the way the Games are being used as a platform for groups with political and social agendas is often regrettable.''

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There was some talk by Chinese leaders in Bejing that the Olympics would be part of the process to help develop human rights. While some don't believe this, the article does say that the 2008 Olympics will be a good opportunity for China to "show the world China's great achievements in the economy and infrastructure and to demonstrate their diplomatic clout."

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Severe snow hits central China

Unusually heavy snow has left at least 16 people dead and brought transport chaos to large areas of central and eastern China, state media said.

Worst hit is Hubei province, where crops have been destroyed and roads blocked by the heaviest snow seen in the area for 16 years.

More than 7.8 million people there have been affected by the weather, a local official told Xinhua news agency.

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This large snow storm has caused many transportation complications and power outages, in addition to the deaths of sixteen people. Meteorologists say there is more snow to come in the next two days.

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Assessment Complete

China on Track to Beat USA

This year, China's
Internet population looks on track to surpass that of the US, making it the
world's largest online community.

The Chinese government
announced that the country's Internet population has risen to nearly 210 million
people. China's online population grew 53 percent from the 137 million that was
reported around the same time last year.

China promotes Internet use only for peaceful,
business, and education purposes, blocking the public from viewing material
deemed as pornographic or critical of the communist regime. Not so America which
is a democracy in every sense of the term.

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China will soon pass the USA for the largest internet population for a specific country. While there are far more Americans with access to the internet at their homes, China's population is more apt to use an internet cafe to access the internet. This is a milestone on China's path to becoming a World Power once again.

Britain, China seek joint effort on climate change

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's visit to China switches to environmental issues
Saturday, as he seeks to boost co-operation between the two nations on tackling
climate change, senior Downing Street officials said.

In a Statment From
Gordon Brown

"It is an urgent, complex issue that demands a
comprehensive global and national response. China is as committed as Britain to
achieving this.

"Only by acting now and working together to cut global
greenhouse gas emissions can we leave the world a healthier and safer place for
future generations.

"Neither the UK nor China has any choice but to meet
this challenge."

China -- on course to becoming the world's largest
emitter of greenhouse gases -- opposes signing up to internationally agreed
reductions and is instead pushing for more help from richer nations in creating
"green" energy

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China is the world's leading country in population and also in greenhouse emisions. China is headed in a new direction as far as trying to team up with Great Britain to help control its emisions and help preserve the environment.

Keeping the faith in China

At an underground church service in China, you pray as quickly as
you can -and hope the police do not come running in.

At the end of an alleyway in the north of Beijing, 40 Chinese

Christians gather in a small classroom. At the beginning of

the service , they bow their heads and pray.

Their priest, Zhang Minxuan, stands in frontof them. Twenty years ago he was a

barber with no interest in religion. Then he got into trouble with the Communist

Party and was jailed. After that he became a Christian. So that makes what we find

in the southern city of Nanjing quite a surprise.

China has its own thriving bible makers - the Amity Printing Company.

Every day the firm prints offaround 9,000 bibles. But the factory is only allowed to

supply bibles to the official state-approved church - not to the underground church.

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China actually has a state-approved Catholic Church where the bishops are selected by the

Communist Party and masses are monitored by state-officials. It appears that Christians in

China have the opportunity to worship but under the conditions of the state. It's that or risk being jailed for worshiping on your own terms

China in anti-corruption struggle

Addressing the problem would be a "long-term, complicated and difficult
struggle", he told the Communist Party's anti-corruption watchdog.

The practice is prevalent throughout the ranks of China's bureaucracy.

Mr Hu warned last year that the party's "very survival" depended on how
it tackled the issue.

The all-pervasive corruption is seen as a major source of social
discontent across the country - which the authorities fear could develop into
unrest.

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Mr. Hu is concerned with fixing the corruption in China in order to help the Communist party survive. Some things he wants to improve are the education system and the checks and balances. He also thinks there should be tougher punishment for "corrupt officials".

Product Problems

THE annual Hong Kong toy fair is one of the shop windows in which China has displayed its growing industrial prowess over the years. Starting from almost nothing 30 years ago, an expanding array of anonymous factories across southern China has used the show to display inexpensive (if not particularly innovative) toys to buyers more interested in low cost than high quality. The result has been a steadily expanding global market-share, now over 60%. But at this year's fair, which opened on January 7th, there were signs that the fun is over. Costs are rising fast and a series of product recalls, one of which prompted the boss of a toymaking firm to commit suicide, meant the mood at this year's show was very different.

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At this year's Chinese toy fair, the atmosphere was very different than in past years. China's dominant toymaking industry hit a snag last year when toys were recalled for health and safety issues. Many verification and testing labs were popular at this year's toy fair due to the recalls from last year.

Violent Punishments

CHINA'S leaders love talking about all the indicators that show China leading the world. Whether it is growth rates, production figures or trade volumes, officials relish any chance to unleash a barrage of dazzling statistics. They are less gung-ho about another category where China leaves the world trailing: use of the death penalty. Indeed, the number of Chinese criminal executions remains a state secret.

Foreign human-rights groups make valiant efforts to scour local press reports and tally the sums, but reckon they hear about only a fraction of the cases. In 2006 Amnesty International, a human-rights lobbying group, counted 2,790 people sentenced to death in China and 1,010 executed. Other groups put annual executions at 7,500 or more. Even per head, using low estimates, China probably outstrips every country but Singapore. It also has a greater number of capital offences than anywhere else: more than 60. These include murder and other violent crimes, but also smuggling, drug trafficking and many “economic crimes” such as bribe-taking, embezzlement and even tax evasion.

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China is among the top countries using the death penalty as punishment for crimes. Chinese officials have hidden these numbers from public reports so that they don't seem so inhumane. The Chinese officials are feeling some pressure as other countries move towards other forms of punishment for crimes, but don't expect changes in their laws anytime soon.

Prime Minister visit boosts India-China ties

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has ended his three-day visit to China having secured agreements to strengthen economic and military links.

Mr Singh met Chinese President Hu Jintao on the final day of his official visit to the capital, Beijing.

On Monday, Mr Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to expand trade and hold more joint military exercises.

But India pressed China to address an increasing trading imbalance.

Mr Singh's trip to Beijing was the first by an Indian prime minister in five years.

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The visit was said by Mr. Hu to be "short but productive." The two countries are working towards a better trade relationship.

IN 2005 two American senators introduced a bill into Congress that threatened to slap a tariff of 27.5% on all Chinese imports unless the yuan was revalued by the same amount (their estimate of how much the currency was undervalued). That legislation was dropped, but several other China-bashing bills are still working their way through Congress and accusations about “unfair” Chinese competition will surely play a big role in this year's presidential election. Many American politicians and economists talk as if the
yuan was still fixed against the dollar. Yet on current trends, by the time the next president enters the White House the yuan could be within spitting distance of the magic figure demanded in 2005.

It may appear as if Beijing has caved in to Washington's demands. But the main reason why China is allowing the yuan to rise faster is because its policymakers believe the benefits to China from a rising currency now outweigh the costs. Beijing's top concern today is inflation, which rose to 6.9% in November. On January 9th the government announced tighter price controls on a range of products. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) increased interest rates six times in 2007, but this is unlikely to squeeze inflation, which has been driven largely by a jump in food prices caused by supply-side shocks. A faster pace of currency appreciation offers a more powerful weapon: it will help to reduce imported inflation, especially of food and raw materials. By reducing the need to intervene to hold down the currency, it will also curb the build-up of foreign-exchange reserves and hence monetary growth.

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The Chinese government controls the value of the yuan. If the chinese government chooses to retard the value, it unfairly gives China an advantage for supplying exports. This could slow down inflation in China and feul their growth while other countries currencies are not controlled completly by the government. Because of this, some US legislators proposed a bill to tax Chinese imports to the US 27.5% in order to level the currency differences. The bill wasn't passed, however, Chinese officials inflated the value of the yuan.

Beijing's Joy at Taiwan's Democracy

There is certainly no love lost between the rulers of the People's Republic of China and President Chen Shui-bian over on Taiwan, the island Beijing considers a breakaway province. Again and again, theCommunist regime has been infuriated by Chen's efforts to push the island closer to independence, completing its transformation from an exiled regime — the Republic of China, with its pretensions of ruling the mainland — into an entity completely separate from China, a fully sovereign nation called Taiwan. And so, on Saturday, one could almost hear the cheering in China after Chen's Democratic Progressive Party suffered a humiliating loss in Taiwan's legislative elections. Just almost. The Chinese have learned to keep their feelings to themselves over Taiwan.

The Communists have learned that trying too hard to influence
political affairs on the raucously democratic island only backfires. The
Kuomintang (KMT), which favors closer ties with China, won 81 of Legislative
Yuan's 113 seats, soundly defeating Chen's independence-leaning Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP), which took 27. The win also gives momentum to KMT
presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou over DPP rival Frank Hsieh in the March 22
vote. Chen Shui-bian called it the worst setback in the history of the DPP, and
took responsibility by resigning as the party's chairman.

In 1996, when Taiwan held its first direct presidential election, China fired missiles
into the strait that separates the island from the mainland in an attempt to
bully voters into not supporting the independence-leaning candidate Lee
Teng-hui. The act had the opposite effect and instead helped boost support for
Lee; he won by a large margin. Since then Beijing has slowly been learning its
lesson. "Whenever Taiwan has a big election, if Beijing makes a remark about
local politics in Taiwan [it] will have a counterproductive effect," says Andrew
Yang, secretary general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, a
Taipei-based think tank.

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Bejing has been concerned in the past about Taiwan's attempts, lead by President Chen Shui-bian, to gain full independence from China. Saturday in the Taiwan elections, however, Chen's Democratic Progressive Party lost in the legislative elections. The people of Bejing are very happy about this loss.

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