The Lion Awakes
News at a Glance
今天的中国新闻
A compilation of Headlines + Brief Summary from Chinese & International Publications relating to China.
Just 5 Minutes each day to be up-to-date on the News of China
Combined with Kaixin’s boutique SITE SEARCH ENGINE, it is a unique source of knowledge about China"
China News Archive
From 2008
China Daily
Green energy program drafted
BEIJING: The government has formulated a 10-year program under which clean energy will account for 15 percent of the total consumption mix by 2020, a top official has revealed.
To realize the goal, the government will invest billions in the construction of nuclear power stations, wind farms, solar power plants and research of renewable energy technologies, said Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration.
ABC TV - Catalyst (Incl. video of programme)
China is gearing up for the fastest deployment of nuclear energy in history, fuelled by Australian uranium.
At least thirty new reactors are planned to be built in the fifteen years. Nearly all will be Pressurised Water Reactors, the most common type in the world.
But one will be the first commercial Pebble-Bed Reactor, a radically different Chinese design that researchers claim is ‘meltdown proof’ and ‘inherently safe’.
As Australia debates whether we should build our own reactors, one thing is clear: our nuclear future is inextricably linked with China.
Catalyst visits two reactors in China to search for answers, in the first Australian science TV report about the practicalities of making nuclear energy in the world’s most populous nation.
Mark Horstman: Do you believe pebble bed reactors are the safest form of nuclear?
Professor Wu Zongxin: I think so. It is most recognised by the international nuclear community.
Mark Horstman: So in the future, new reactors could all be pebble bed reactors?
Professor Wu Zongxin: No, I don’t think so.
Narration: The Professor laughs, because he understands the commercial realities. Another ten water-cooled reactors will be built before the first pebble-bed is even up and running.
And what does this mean for Australia?
Professor Zhang hopes that one day we will use pebble-bed reactors from China. But for now, he’s surprisingly frank about our own nuclear capability.
Prof Zhang Zuoyi: It’s better not to use nuclear energy for Australia. Because for nuclear you need a lot of infrastructure, you need a lot of experienced people you should be careful. I think the best way is you can share the uranium. I think it is the best way. You just get money and you don’t need a lot of work.
China doing all it can in global affairs
BEIJING: China will use its full repertoire of diplomatic skills to deal with international affairs, but there may be issues beyond its influence, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has said amid growing global expectations of China exerting a greater role in world affairs.
As the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) - China's top legislature - convenes this week, foreign policy remains in the spotlight over a series of thorny affairs.
China's stand on the Iran nuclear program, its efforts to help rekindle the stalled Six-Party Talks on resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, and how it handles challenges such as climate change are on the list of contentious issues.
US Ambassador: 2010 to be good for Sino-US ties
BEIJING: The United States Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman said Monday that this year would be a good one for bilateral relations.
The two countries would "come together quickly" and "focus on global issues during the rest of this year," Huntsman said in an interview with Xinhua.
"We've had some issues about which we've disagreed, but we have always been able to solve our problems and move on to the bigger issues," he said.
All nations allowed for RMB use in cross-border trade
Overseas regions for implementing the pilot program of RMB use in cross-border trade will be expanded to include all nations and regions and not limited to Hong Kong and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) members anymore, Xinhua News reported.
Meanwhile, all enterprises eligible for foreign trade in the five pilot cities would be allowed to use the yuan in cross-border transactions, according to a meeting held in Guangdong province on Sunday.
Five major Chinese cities -- Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Dongguan -- were chosen to participate in a pilot program for cross-border RMB trade settlement starting in July 2009. Except for Shanghai, the other four cities are from Guangdong province.
Leaders listen more to netizens' voices
BEIJING: Top Chinese leaders are attaching greater importance to voices from cyberspace by engaging directly with netizens.
On Saturday, Premier Wen Jiabao answered netizens' questions about hot-button issues like hefty housing prices and unemployment during an online chat on the central government's website (www.gov.cn).
Wen said the nation's 400 million netizens represent a cross-section of society, so listening to opinions via the Internet provides a new way to gather advice.
Kaixin – Democracy with Chinese characteristics?
Democracy takes root in rural areas
Farmers find their opinions matter in an experiment on grassroots decision-making. Hu Yinan reports from Dengzhou, Henan.
In most places with a population of more than 2,000, a handful of voices against such a proposal may have gone unheard. Not in Heilong, where residents have been given a far greater say on village affairs thanks to historic measures rolled out in rural areas across Dengzhou county, Henan province.
It meant Zhang and a dozen others were able to veto the project during a villagers' meeting. Instead, only residents who directly benefited from the new roads had to pay.
"For the first time, our opinions mattered," said the 60-year-old, who heads a family of 10, including several grandchildren.
The democratic experiment in Dengzhou, a large farming area in China's most populous province, symbolizes both the spontaneous grassroots efforts to boost democracy in the countryside and the challenges they face.
The groundbreaking measures, which have been in place since 2005, are the brainchild of Liu Chaorui, the county's Party chief, and are based on the belief that consensus - the basis of stability - can only be achieved through compromise.
Spot price surge puts China at disadvantage in iron ore talks
Iron ore's spot price in the Chinese market has surged to an 18-month high after the Spring Festival holiday, placing Chinese negotiators in the uphill price talks with major iron ore producers in an even more difficult position, the daily China Business News reported on Monday.
China to develop low-carbon economy
BEIJING - China's top economic planning body has confirmed the government will take concrete actions to develop a low-carbon economy after it pledged to substantially reduce carbon intensity at last year's Copenhagen Conference.
China would include the low-carbon targets in the 12th five-year plan for national economic development (2011-2015) to build an energy-saving, ecologically friendly society, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a report to the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC).
China to lead world real estate developers
In the next five years, the world will see all of its top 10 real estate developers coming from China, real estate tycoon Wang Shi predicted at a forum on Sunday, Sina.com.cn reported.
Wang, chairman of China Vanke Co, the country's largest property developer by market value, made the remarks at the closing ceremony of China Entrepreneur's Forum, held in Yabuli, Heilongjiang province.
Guangdong, others richer than some countries: blue paper
An increasing number of provinces in China are richer than some countries, according to a blue paper published Sunday by China's top think tank.
Guangdong province, China's economic powerhouse neighboring Hong Kong, led Chinese regions in overall gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008, followed by Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in east China, said the blue paper.
The Wall Street Journal China RealTime Report
A New Role for Beijing’s Panchen Lama
The Chinese government-backed Panchen Lama has joined a group of leading citizens that advises the nation’s legislature, part of an effort to raise his public profile.
Gyaincain Norbu, installed as the high-ranking Tibetan Buddhist cleric as a child in 1995 and now 20 years old, has been playing a more prominent public role as a religious leader and supporter of Communist Party rule in recent years, after previously staying out of the spotlight.
A Zambian View on Chinese Firms
It’s been an active start to the year for economic ties between China and Africa.
In January, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming visited Ethiopia, Mozambique and Tanzania, while Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi touched down in Kenya, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. And last week the foreign ministers of South Africa and Zimbabwe as well as a Zambian delegation headed by President Rupiah Banda all arrived in Beijing for visits.
The New York Times
New Scrutiny on Censorship Issues for U.S. Companies in China
BEIJING — On the surface, Amazon.cn resembles its global siblings, selling everything from Harry Potter books to sex toys. But a few searches of what the Web site proclaims is “the world’s largest Chinese online bookstore” reveals limits to this literary universe.
Amazon’s U.S. headquarters declined to comment on the issue of censorship, saying only that the company was obliged to abide by the laws of the countries it which it operated. It does not, for example, sell Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” in Germany, where the book is banned.
The Australian
Giants of Asia-Pacific locked in a complicated relationship
NOTHING so vexes strategic analysts, not only in Asia but all over the world, as the confusing nature of the relationship between the US and China.
As these trends mature, it is unclear if the US will decide that continuing to make China rich is in its own national interests. The US-China relationship is going to become more complicated. Those many pro-China voices in the Australian debate, especially those at the Australian National University, have no answer to why accommodating China on all points, which seems to be their policy, would produce a good outcome for Australia.
Asia Times Online
Hummerless Tengzhong in expansion zone
By Syed Fazl-e-Haider
KARACHI - Suolang Duoji, the Chinese businessman whose efforts to buy the Hummer brand from American motor giant General Motors collapsed last week, is having no such problems as he expands his empire in another direction – Pakistan.
His Sichuan Tengzhong Group has also proposed to separately set up a string of other special zones, including a Pakistan-China Economic and Technological Development Zone, a real-estate economic zone and a tourist economic zone, all in the same province.
Feud boils at Hong Kong’s 'canteen for the rich'
By Kent Ewing and Olivia Chung
HONG KONG - Fook Lam Moon, a privately held restaurant group synonymous with exclusive and hugely expensive eating, is concocting its own special version of Hong Kong's favorite business meal - a family feud. This city that loves money, food and gossip now has all three, served up at one of Hong Kong's rare Michelin-recognized eateries.
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