30th May 09

The New York Times

U.S. Presses China for Tough Response to North Korea

WASHINGTON — The United States is pressing China to consider taking a variety of severe sanctions against North Korea, including the inspection of suspect ships and planes, as it tries to ratchet up the global response to Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test, administration officials said Thursday.

Back and Forth From Beijing

Effectively addressing China’s governance problems requires the creation of truly independent and bottom-up institutions — precisely the things that central Chinese officials have experimented with but won’t allow to mature.

Carl Minzner is an associate professor specializing in Chinese law and politics at Washington University in St. Louis and a former international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The Age

Beijing stifles dissent before anniversary

CHINA is intensifying the silencing of dissidents and students to make sure next week's 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre goes unmarked. Popular internet forums have been closed in Beijing and tightly restricted across the rest of the country. The move is a response to pressure for the authorities to atone for what happened when tanks were used to crush democracy demonstrations in the capital in 1989. Students at Beijing and Dalian universities have been banned from giving interviews to foreign media until after the anniversary.

China blamed for US net raids

The Dalai Lama's offices and computers in the Indian embassy were hacked in March, again by a group that appeared to be emanating from China (the Chinese Government denied involvement). Lockheed Martin had its computers accessed by hackers over two years seeking information on the F-35 fighter project. If hackers can penetrate a defence contractor, why not air traffic control, the electricity grid, the transport system, the financial system or a chemical plant?

Kaixin - Good Point …..not thatAmerica would never think of hacking into China’s computers., would they?Perhaps the disaster scenarios hinted at in the article will not happen because of mutual deterance. A little like everyone having nuclear bombs. The armagedon result would be out of proportion to the gain of shutting down traffic control, electricity grids and the like. Let’s hope so.

The Australian

Mt Gibson's iron ore price win over China

While the market awaits changes to the Chinalco deal, the heat is on China. Analysts believe China will eventually accept similar prices to Japan's, but the economic powerhouse is still confident it has greater bargaining power than Japan and can secure a better deal.

The Sydney Morning Herald
Seven weeks that shook the world

Twenty years on from Tiananmen Square, John Garnaut argues there are glimpses of recognition of the sins of the past. Few who were old enough to watch the news in 1989 will forget the television footage of the white-shirted man, shoulders slumped, briefcase in hand, staring down an advancing tank on Beijing's Chang An Avenue - the Avenue of Eternal Peace.

Asia Times Online

China plans for the next big disaster
By Peter J Brown

On the day before the first anniversary of the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake, China's Information Office of the State Council released a white paper entitled, "China's Actions for Disaster Prevention and Reduction". According to the white paper, frequent natural disasters in China and around the world have caused enormous losses of life and property.