30th of October 2010
The Lion Awakes
Daily News, Culture & Current Affairs about China
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China Daily
SPECIAL FEATURE - Anatomy of the currency war
The buzzword "currency war" has been making headlines around the world in recent months since the Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega coined the phrase for the first time in September.
An army of experts and officials declared their thoughts on the issue as more and more economies joined in the intervention over exchange rates. Here we try to map out the cause and developing progress of the episode and work out a possible finale.
Japanese statements violate China's sovereignty
HANOI - Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue accused Japanese representatives here Friday of violating China's sovereignty and territorial integrity through statements to the media during the summit meetings between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its partners.
The Japanese side also made untrue statements about the content of a meeting between Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers held earlier in the day, he said.
Hu said the Japanese move ruined the atmosphere for leaders from the two sides to conduct talks in the Vietnamese capital.
Chinese Health Minister takes the lead in blood donation
BEIJING - Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu donated blood on Friday in Beijing and called on health workers to take the lead in blood donation, in a move to ease the country's blood supply shortage.
China concerned over Clinton's remarks on Diaoyu Islands
BEIJING - China Friday voiced concern over and strong dissatisfaction with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent remarks concerning China's Diaoyu Islands.
"The Chinese government and people will never accept any word or deed that includes the Diaoyu Islands within the scope of the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu.
After her meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara in Hawaii Thursday, Clinton said the Diaoyu Islands fall within the scope of the US-Japan security treaty.
"The Diaoyu Islands have been an integral part of Chinese territory since ancient times. China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands," Ma said.
As a bilateral agreement reached during the Cold War, the US-Japan security treaty should not harm the interests of third parities, including China, the spokesman said.
He urged the United States and Japan to do more to boost regional peace and stability.
US-Sino ties not zero-sum game: Clinton
WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday rejected the view to apply "a zero-sum calculation" on US-Sino relationship, insisting the two countries are working together for a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship in the new century.
Kaixin OpEd - Now, who was it that said, "Speak softly, but carry a big stick."
Wen proposes enhancing ASEAN Plus Three co-op
Hanoi - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Thursday that the cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN Plus Three) has withstood severe challenges and become stronger.
It has consolidated its function as a main channel in East Asian cooperation and become a symbol of East Asian countries' cooperation for mutual prosperity, Wen said.
Wen made the remarks at the 13th ASEAN Plus Three Summit held in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.
The premier said that all sides should boost the establishment of an East Asia free trade area with the ASEAN Plus Three as the main channel, as well as deepen cooperation in the financial, agricultural, infrastructure facilities building and education sectors.
He said coordination on global issues such as climate change should be strengthened.
China, India are partners rather than rivals: Indian PM
HANOI - China and India are friends and partners, not rivals, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Friday at a meeting here with his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao.
Bilateral relations between China and India have witnessed steady development since the two countries established diplomatic ties 60 years ago, bringing tangible benefits to both countries and their peoples, Singh said.
He said the Indian government highly valued China-India relations and India was willing to join in a concerted effort with China to strengthen their high-level exchanges as well as consultations at all levels, to expand reciprocal cooperation, and to enhance their coordination in global and regional issues.
Singh welcomed Chinese companies to invest in India, and also encouraged Indian enterprises to expand their business in China.
Wen said the world was not only large enough for the development side-by-side of both countries, but offered enough areas in which both sides could cooperate.
As China and India were the world's two most populous countries with long histories, their cooperation and development were of great significance to the whole world, Wen said, adding both sides should unswervingly maintain their friendship, promote political trust, and steadily consolidate their strategic cooperative partnership.
Kaixin OpEd - It is a natural alliance in Kaixin's opinion. If the China & India can achieve a strong bi-lateral partnership it will have interesting consequences for the world.
China, France likely to sign nuclear, aviation deals
BEIJING - China and France expect to sign a number of cooperative documents in civilian nuclear energy and aviation, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying said in Beijing on Thursday.
Fu made the remarks at a news briefing on Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to France and Portugal from November 4 to 11.
China and France have conducted fruitful cooperation in civilian nuclear energy and aviation, Fu said, citing the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station in south China's Guangdong province and the Airbus 320 Final Assembly Line in Tianjin.
China holds a positive attitude to expanding nuclear and aviation cooperation with France, she said, adding the two sides were discussing how to broaden cooperation in these fields.
Chinese insurers up joint venture stakes
BEIJING - An increasing number of joint-venture life insurers are diluting their shares in foreign stocks in favor of domestic ones, banking on local insurers expanding more quickly.
Land delivers crop of future security
For villages that have struck it lucky, limits still exist. Hu Yinan reports from Zhejiang.
Fu Yongchang struggles to recall the last time he plowed his field or planted crops. All the ageing farmer remembers of those days is his old, rickety wooden house and the smell of the pigs, ducks and chickens he shared it with.
It has been more than two decades since the 65-year-old swapped tilling for teaching by taking a job at a school in his native Tengtou village, Zhejiang province.
Fu, who retired in 2006, is one of 830 people in this community who today can only loosely be described as farmers, China's officially recognized "socially vulnerable group" who live off the land, make minimum incomes and almost never stop working.
Residents here gave up their land to the village committee long ago in exchange for fixed monthly subsidies, the chance to retire when they want and inclusion into fully incorporated healthcare and education systems.
Few officials at the time would have guessed the move would indirectly help the village to become a major eco-tourism destination.
Tengtou, which was named in 1993 as one of the Global Ecological 500, an honor bestowed by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) on areas that have made distinct contributions to environmental protection, is the only village to have a pavilion in the Urban Best Practices Area at the ongoing Expo 2010 Shanghai.
Tengtou Tourist Information Website
Ancient Art of Papermaking
Ma Lingzhong prepares bark for papermaking at a museum in Yangxian county, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, Oct 27, 2010. The 73-year-old man is one of the the few people who have the knowledge of the whole process of China's ancient art of papermaking, pioneered by Cai Lun, a craftsman of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220). He learned the skills from his family and now works in a museum near Cai Lun's tomb in Longting town of Yangxian county to show visitors the ancient art.
(Click on the Photo to see a series on this ancient craft)
October snow covers Tianshan Gorge - VIDEO
Tianshan Gorge Resort is 40 kilometers away from Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. It concentrates forests, valleys, lakes, grasslands and glaciers, welcoming about 300,000 visitors a year.
If you are lucky enough to encounter a herder and his sheep, feel free to stop and have some random chat with him. Be sure to take some photos as well.
China Daily reporter Feng Xin takes you to have a fun tour at Tianshan Gorge when it is covered by some October snow.
Chinese Zodiac
Jewellry
Global Times
US return brings uncertainty to Asia
Asia's integration process is picking up momentum with the 10-member ASEAN meeting that widens into the 16-nation East Asia Summit, which opened Thursday in Hanoi.
The most intriguing part of the summit is probably the return of the US to Asia and the reaction of China.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is on her way to the summit, is scheduled to give a speech on the leadership of the US in the Asia-Pacific region today in Honolulu.
What she is going to talk about was not yet known by the press time, but it is crystal clear she is setting the tone for her Asia trip and what her country is going to sell in Asia.
The US is attending the summit as a special guest, yet it claims to be a leader in the Asia-Pacific region.
Apparently, the US is not a humble guest. And it provokes speculations about the kind of leadership the US is going to play.
The legitimacy of the US leadership in Asia is indeed questionable. Without the involvement of the US, economies in Asia have been doing well in the backdrop of the world financial crisis. And now they are making their way toward regional integration.
With the theme of "ASEAN: from vision to action," the 17th ASEAN Summit and related summits between the bloc and partners focus on ASEAN community-building and cooperation enhancement.
The ASEAN region, which boasts a total population of about 584 million and a combined GDP of $1.5 trillion, has set up a goal to establish an ASEAN Community by 2015.
However, the 10-member group is confronted with a number of problems including a development gap, border disputes and emerging global challenges. And the return of the US is another uncertainty that may further complicate the situation in the region.
The rising of China has been playing a positive role in pushing forward the integration of Asia in recent years. ASEAN and China set up early this year the world's largest Free Trade Area embracing developing countries that covers a population of 1.9 billion people and involves a trade volume of $4.5 trillion.
China has adopted a good neighbor policy, but it is not enough to solve its territory disputes with some Asian countries. China needs more efforts to implement its principle of shelving differences and seeking joint development.
Restoring paradise 
On a September morning, Li Minguo, co-founder of Seeds of Heaven & Beyond Biodiversity Development Center in Yunnan Province wanted to visit her husband's grave on Bulang Mountain. Starting her red Paladin, she realized she hadn't driven for a long time.
"When Josef was here, I seldom drove car by myself. He drove for me," Li told the Global Times.
It is a two-hour drive from her home in Jinghong city, Xishuangbanna, to Bulang Mountain where her late husband, German biologist, environmentalist and rainforest expert Josef Margraf is buried. He died of a heart attack on January 26 this year.
Margraf is buried near an oak tree, symbolic for his love of trees and the 3 million trees the Seeds of Heaven Center planted in the area during the last two years.
After arrival, Li lay down next to the oak tree. She seemed to be at peace. By her side was a bottle of red wine.
"Josef relished red wine a lot," Li said with smile on her face. "We used to stay awake for a whole night, drinking and talking."
She looked at his gravestone, which forms a triangular together with a rock and an oak tree.
"A triangle is the most stable structure. The stone, tree and gravestone represent vigor, qi and spirit separately," Li said.
Looking around, one could see poplar, elm, walnut, camphor, fir, bamboo, orchid and other trees and flowers growing vigorously on the mountain.
In 2008, the couple rented six square meters of what was wasteland on the mountain from local villagers.
Rainforest dreams
"We planned to make it into an artificial rainforest, to restore the local biodiversity system," Li said.
Dialogue - A 30 Minute Current Affairs Programme on CCTV - 9 (In English) where current issues are discussed by experts from China and Internationally:
Inclusive growth of next five years
Beijing vows to keep a lower but steady GDP growth rate in the next five-year plan. The blueprint is compared to a more sustainable strategy of inclusive development.
The consensus is generated at a landmark conference of the Chinese communist party that comes to a very fruitful conclusion on Monday. The strong visible hand of the central government has helped bail out a big continental economy in times of financial meltdown.
But is the Chinese mode of development healthy enough to sustain a sizable economy that will be based more on its domestic consumption and environmentally friendly manufacturing? How shall we examine the sense of global responsibility for China as its economy continues to pull the world economy out of recession?
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Questioning the Yuan’s Rise to Global Status
China’s push to increase the international use of its currency, the yuan or renminbi, continues to attract fascination and skepticism in equal quantities.
As Paola Subacchi of the Chatham House think tank noted in a recent paper, “The attempt to create an international and eventually fully convertible currency through a policy-driven process is unprecedented—nothing like this has ever been tried before, even partially.”
China’s Blood-Stained Property Map
China’s property sector, with its forced evictions and sometimes bloody confrontations, has long been described as something akin to a war zone. Now a team of online volunteers, led by an anonymous Chinese blogger, has launched a map-based project that brings that simile into stark relief.
Called “the Blood-Stained Housing Map,” the project uses Google Maps to plot violent housing evictions and land grabs across the country.
Kaixin OpEd - There is probably two sides to many of these allegations but there is no excuse where it is happening. It is good to see the Chinese people taking control of the issue and exposing it.
Daimler Project Soothes BYD’s Doldrums
But there has been one bright spot for the automaker this year: Daimler AG’s decision to tie up with BYD to create a new electric-car joint venture for the Chinese market.
Video: Hong Kong Bankers Brawl, for Charity
Bankers usually fight it out in the markets rather than in the boxing ring. But in the name of charity, 12 highly competitive Hong Kong financiers got their boxing gloves on last night, pitting themselves against each other for six minutes of glory. Following six months of gruelling training and some major lifestyle changes for these boxer-bankers, the annual fundraiser raised about HK$1 million for Operation Smile.
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