China Looks Down Under

With China’s appetite for natural resources and foodstuffs ever growing, regional trading partners Australia and New Zealand are attracting fresh attention. New Zealand made news April 7 by becoming the first developed country to sign a free trade agreement with China (NZ Herald). The same week, Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd departed for his first tour of China, with rapidly expanding bilateral economic relations high on the agenda. Experts say burgeoning relations between China and its neighbors down under promise economic dividends, particularly for Australia’s mining industry and New Zealand’s farmers. They also raise political concerns, however, and threaten to bring a rise in protectionist sentiment that could undermine regional trade liberalization.

China’s new interest in Australia and New Zealand stems primarily from its need for commodities, a trend that has already brought gains to Latin America and Africa, as noted in a 2006 report from Deutsche Bank (PDF). The Economist writes that China’s hunger has been “manna from heaven” for Australia, the leading global exporter of iron ore, which is running mines at full tilt and still can’t meet heady Chinese demand. Not only has China been willing to buy up all the ore the Aussies can produce, its huge demand has spiked the price of the commodity—sending the price of fines, the most heavily traded form of iron ore, from $31.40 in 2003 to $132.20 in 2008. The prices of lump ore and iron pellets, two other commonly traded forms, have also jumped. Australian miners have reaped the benefits as the world’s leading steel manufacturers have rushed to gain access to Australia’s iron.

Full Article

On April 7, New Zealand became the first developed country to sign a trade agreement with China. China also needs to make trade agreements with Australia because of its need for iron ore from Australia. These trade agreements can help Australia's miners and New Zealand's farmers, but they do raise political concerns.

(grade this post)

China Upholds Use of Death Penalty

China says it has no plans to stop putting criminals to death. The Chinese position came in response to an Amnesty International report that places China at the top of a list of countries with the most executions. VOA's Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing.

The Amnesty International report on worldwide executions says China put to death more people than any other country in 2007, with at least 470 executions.

Last year, China reformed the way capital cases are handled, which has led to a substantial reduction in executions. Amnesty says the number of executions it could confirm fell by more than half, from more than 1,000 in 2006 to about 477 last year.

Full Article

China plans to continue using the death penalty to punish criminals. The Amnesty International report says that in 2007, China executed at least 470 people, which was more than any other country that year. The number might be higher than this however; the death penalty figures are treated as a state secret in China.

(grade this post)

China takes stake in BP

China has accumulated a stake of just less than 1 percent in BP, the British oil company, the company confirmed Tuesday, a move that raises fresh questions about Beijing's strategy for investing its huge foreign currency reserves.

BP said it was aware of the Chinese stake, which is worth about $2 billion, and that it welcomed all shareholders.

The British company declined to identity of the specific investor, but China operates the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, an arm of the central bank that manages the country's $1.68 trillion in currency reserves, which is known as SAFE. China also controls the China Investment Corp., a $200 billion sovereign wealth fund that Beijing set up last September to increase the returns on its reserves by taking greater risks.

Full Article

China now owns about one percent of the British oil company BP, which is worth about $2 billion. This ownership raises questions about Beijing's foreign currency reserve investments.

(grade this post)

US apologises to China over Taiwan fuse shipment

The US president, George W Bush, has told his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao the Pentagon made a "mistake" sending Taiwan four nuclear warhead fuses in 2006.

Nose cone assemblies containing the fuses were shipped to Taiwan as helicopter batteries.

The erroneous shipment of the fuses, which can be used to trigger warheads on ballistic missiles, was only discovered last week and has since been recovered.


Full Article


George W. Bush has apologised to Hu Jintao for sending nuclear warhead fuses to Taiwan in 2006. China demanded that the shipment be investigated and that the U.S. would stop sending military weapons to Taiwan.

(grade this post)

China may join Iran-Pakistan pipeline

China is ready to join the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline if India drops out of the $7.4 billion project, Dawn newspaper reported Tuesday quoting Pakistani sources.

The report said Pakistan had urged Iran earlier this month to make the project final by next month because of its growing demand for natural gas.

Iran informed Pakistan if India remained reluctant to join the project under pressure from the United States, Iran would then invite China to do so, the report said.

Full Article

If India drops out of the $7.4 billion gas pipeline project with Iran and Pakistan, then China will be invited to join. China is ready to do this, but it is not yet clear how the agreement will change once it is involved.

(grade this post)

China sends more divers to find missing Ukrainian sailors

China sent another 22 divers to the South China Sea on Tuesday to try and locate the 18 sailors missing after their Ukrainian ship sank Saturday.

The Ukrainian tug, Naftogaz-67, sank after colliding with a Chinese vessel near Hong Kong off the southern coast of China. Out of the 25 sailors on board, only seven have been rescued.

A total of 44 Chinese divers will now be involved in the operation to find the missing sailors.

Full Article

18 Ukranian sailors went missing after their ship, the Naftogaz-67, sank. The ship collided with a Chinese ship before sinking, and now a total of 44 Chinese sailors will be working on rescuing the missing Ukranians.

(grade this post)

China slams jail door on Olympic dissent

BEIJING–In the darkest of ironies, as the Olympic torch was lit in Athens yesterday, a court in China sentenced a man to five years in prison after he dared to say the principle of human rights is more important than the Olympic Games.

Unemployed former factory worker, Yang Chunlin, 54, gathered more than 10,000 signatures on a petition last year, appealing against illegal seizures of land from poor farmers by powerful local officials in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.

The petition letter began: "We want human rights, not the Olympics."

Full Article

The Olympic torch was lit in Athens yesterday, but at the same time, a court in China sentenced Yang Chunlin to five years in jail. The irony of the situation is that Chunlin was charged after he said that human rights were more important than the Olympics.

(grade post)

Air pollution forces star to pull out of Olympic marathon

One of the world's top long distance runners has said he will not compete in the marathon at the Beijing Olympics because China's air pollution would pose an unacceptable risk to his health and future career.

In a major blow for the Chinese authorities, who have spent vast sums of money trying to tackle Beijing's pollution problem, the world record holder, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, said he still intended to participate in the 10,000 metres but could not run in the 26-mile, 385-yard (42.2km) marathon.

Full Article

Thirty-four year old Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia has said that he cannot compete 26 mile marathon of the Beijing olympics because of the pollution in the city. Gebrselassie suffers from asthma and believes that it would be too great a risk to participate in the marathon, but he still plans to run in the 10,000 meter race.

(grade this post)

China One-Child Policy to Stay in Place

BEIJING (AP) — China will not consider changing its one-child policy for at least a decade for fear that a population surge could spark social and economic instability, the nation's top family planning official said in an interview published Monday.

Zhang Weiqing of the State Population and Family Planning Commission told the official China Daily newspaper that the one-child rule should be maintained for now.

"Given such a large population base, there would be major fluctuations in population growth if we abandoned the one-child rule now," he was quoted as saying. "It would cause serious problems and add extra pressure on social and economic development."


Full Article


It has been officially stated that the one child policy will remain in China for at least ten years, which is the end of the nations "birth-peak." The policy which was launched in the seventies has prevented 400 million births, but it only applies to a portion of the population.


(grade this post)

China's Curious Olympic Terror Threat

The dramatic news came in the midst of China's staid and boring annual legislature: a terrorist hijacking plot, perhaps meant to mar the coming Olympic Games, had been stopped. Security forces had thwarted a plot to "create an air disaster," Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, told reporters at the ongoing session of the National People's Congress (NPC). Apparently, on Mar. 7, a hijacking attempt by separatists from the Muslim-majority province of Xinjiang had been foiled. Initial reports stated that China Southern flight CZ6901 had made an emergency landing in the northwestern city of Lanzhou at about 12:40 p.m. after an apparent attempt to blow up the aircraft. The plane was en route from the Xinjiang capital Urumqi for Beijing.

The news however has been met with considerable skepticism outside China, particularly since details of the incident remain confusingly murky. According to the English-language China Daily, Bekri declined to give more details, only saying that the authorities are investigating "who the attackers are, where they are from and what their background is... But we can be sure that this was a case intending to create an air crash." Some details began to emerge later of between two and four hijackers, possibly carrying gasoline. But concrete information remained elusive.

Full Article

Steven Tsang, a China specialist at St. Anthony's College, Oxford University, notes that it seems very strange that the plane was allowed to continue to Beijing after it made its landing in Lanzhou. He also recognized that "it [is] particularly easy to blame a shadowy Islamic separatists movement in the build-up to the Beijing Olympics, possibly as a deterrent to those or any other groups who might want to disrupt the Games."

(grade this post)

Future of China's one-child policy is unclear

First they said they might do it, then they said they wouldn't. Now it seems more of a definite maybe.

At issue is the sensitive question of how best to control the growth of the largest population on Earth.

Over the weekend, an official said China was considering making changes to its one-child policy, but didn't offer any specifics. The statement by Wu Jianmin, a spokesman for the advisory body to the Chinese parliament, appeared to echo comments made last week by a senior family planning official.


Full Article


China has stated that it might change its one-child policy, which has been in place for three decades. Victor Yuan states, "I think maybe in 10 years' time we will see a turning point, where people's behavior will have changed sufficiently that there is no need to force them to have fewer children," but critics say they don't want to wait that long.

(grade this post)

China's largest bank buys stake in South African lender

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the nation's largest lender, said Tuesday it completed the acquisition of a 20 percent stake in South Africa's Standard Bank for 5.5 billion dollars.

The Chinese lender said the deal, the largest ever Chinese acquisition in the financial field, had been approved by Chinese and South African regulators, according to a statement with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The cash settlement and issue of new shares for the planned purchase, originally announced in October, was finished on Monday, it said.


Full Article


The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is helping to boost Standard Bank's expansion. This merger will allow Standard Bank to access capital which will allow it to grow into South Africa, Africa, and other places around the world.

(grade this post)

China's basketball giant Yao has successful foot surgery

China's giant centre Yao Ming underwent successful foot surgery at a Texas hospital on Monday, the Houston Rockets announced.

Yao, who will miss the rest of the National Basketball Association season, had to have the procedure to repair a stress fracture in his left foot.

"I am very relieved that everything went well with my surgery today," said Yao. "I am looking forward to getting better and starting my physical rehab as soon as the doctors say I can."

Full Article

Tom Clanton, the Rockets team doctor, performed the surgery at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. The 7' 6" Yao seems to be recovering well, but he will miss the rest of the basketball season.

(grade this post)

China's Biggest Plastic-Bag Maker Closes Down

Suiping Huaqiang Plastic Co. Ltd., China's biggest maker of plastic bags, closed down after new laws banned the use of most of its products, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing a local government official.

The company could make 250,000 tons of bags worth 2.2 billion yuan ($307 million) annually, Xinhua said, citing Liu Henglie, director of the commerce bureau in Suiping County in the northern province of Henan. Its parent is Nanqiang Plastic Industrial Co. in Guangzhou in southern China, Xinhua said.

The 20,000-worker company stopped production last month because more than 90 percent of its products are banned under new environmental rules, Xinhua said. The State Council, China's cabinet, on Jan. 9 ordered a stop to the production, sale and use of plastic bags thinner than 0.025 millimeters starting on June 1, Xinhua said.

Full Article

After environmental laws banned the use of more than 90 percent of Suiping Huaqiang Plastic Co. Ltd.'s products, the company shut down. The company made 250,000 tons of plastic bags each year, which was worth about $307 million annually.

(grade this post)

China Willing to Resume Human Rights Talks With U.S.

China's government said it's willing to resume a dialogue with the U.S. on improving human rights after a five-year halt, taking a step to prevent rights advocates from boycotting Beijing's Olympic Games in August.

``The Chinese side is willing to keep contact with the U.S. in all areas,'' Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said today at the end of a Beijing press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, neither elaborating nor giving her the chance to respond. ``We're ready to resume the dialogue.''

Chinese President Hu Jintao wants to prevent the world's largest sporting event from becoming a pressure point on issues from political freedom to China's role in Sudan and Myanmar. Director Steven Spielberg on Feb. 12 quit as an artistic adviser for the games' opening and closing ceremonies, citing his concern over China's failure to help end Sudan's ethnic conflict.

Full Article

China has said that it is willing to re-start communication with the US about human rights. China has not participated in this communication for five years, but is willing to do so to prevent boycott of the Olympics for political reasons.

(grade this post)

China finishes canal to ensure water for Olympics: report

BEIJING: Beijing has completed a water diversion canal that will provide emergency supplies to the August Olympics, state press said on Tuesday, despite ongoing shortages crippling much of northern China.

"In order to amply safeguard the security and the quality of the Games, the construction of the north-south water diversion project has been completed without glitches," the Beijing Evening News quoted city water bureau chief Jiao Zhizhong as saying.

"We have established the basis for diverting water to Beijing," he said at a Tuesday meeting on addressing the capital's water shortage.

Full Article

China has built a 210 kilometer canal from Shijiazhuang city in Hebei province to Beijing. The canal will begin operating by April, which will help the 30 percent water demand increase which is expected during the Olympic season.

(grade this post)

China to open hole in Great Firewall during Olympics

SHANGHAI -- It looks like China will have no problem living up to its promise to give the world's media free and uncensored access to the Internet during next summer's Olympic Games.

But, it will do it without loosening its grip on what its own citizens can see and hear on the web.

In an article in the March edition of The Atlantic magazine, correspondent James Fallows reveals that the Chinese Internet censorship system -- often called the Great Firewall of China -- is now sophisticated enough so that it can pinpoint specific locations in Beijing and make sure anyone who goes online from them has free and clear access to the web.

Full Article

Web sites are continually blocked in China due to media censorship. The internet censorship system, also called "The Great Firewall of China," is now sophisticated enough that specific areas can be pinpointed. This will allow foreign visitors to access the internet during their stay in Beijing for the Olympics.

(grade this post)

China reports bird flu outbreak in Tibet, human death

BEIJING (AFP) — Chinese authorities on Tuesday reported a fresh bird flu outbreak among poultry in Tibet, a day after confirming a 22-year-old man in central China had died of the deadly virus.

The agriculture ministry said 132 poultry had died of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in a village outside the regional capital Lhasa and about 7,700 birds had been slaughtered to bring the outbreak under control.

It was the second outbreak of bird flu in the Himalayan region this year.

In January, about 1,000 birds died and 13,000 were slaughtered during an earlier outbreak in Gongga county, which lies about 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Lhasa.

Full Article

The latest outbreak of bird flu in China was announced shortly after authorities confirmed the eighteenth human bird flu fatality. It was declared late on Monday that a 22-year-old man from Hunan province died from the H5N1 strain. Scientists' main concern is that the flu will change into a form which can be transferred more easily by humans, and cause a global outbreak of the disease.

(grade this post)

Fear that China will push up world inflation after prices rise 7%

Fears that China may export inflation to the rest of the world were heightened yesterday when Beijing announced the sharpest rise in the cost of living in 11 years.

With food prices rising rapidly following severe new year storms, the annual inflation rate in the fast-growing developing economy reached 7.1% last month.

Food prices were up 18% on January 2007 as blizzards took 7m hectares of agricultural land out of production and paralysed distribution systems across China.

Full Article

There are major concerns that the price rises in food in China will spread to the rest of the economy, which will be a problem for countries that import chinese goods. This will create pressure for the exchange rate of it's currency, the yuan, to rise even more.

(grade this article)

China steps up efforts to fight pollution

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will aim this year to reduce its emissions of sulphur dioxide by 6 percent from their 2005 levels as it steps up efforts to fight pollution, its top environmental official said in remarks published on Tuesday.

The official Xinhua news agency cited Zhou Shengxian, head of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), as saying that the government would close many small coal-fired power plants, as well as steel mills and cement plants, to cut emissions of the acid rain-causing pollutant.

Zhou also said the government aimed to reduce COD, or chemical oxygen demand, a measure of water pollution, by 5 percent from its 2005 level this year.


Full Article


Bejing, this year's olymic host city, along with many other cities in China, suffers from choking smog. This has been a major concern of the organizers of the Games because of its possible effects on the atheletes. China plans to cut the two pollution measures, Sulphur dioxide and COD, by 10 percent between 2006 and 2010.


(grade this article)