China Takes Credit for Sudan Allowing UN Peacekeepers

China's special representative on Darfur says the Chinese government's dialogue with Sudan was key to Khartoum agreeing to allow United Nations peacekeepers into the conflict-ridden Darfur region. As Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing, China has become more active in trying to resolve the Darfur conflict after facing criticism for putting economic concerns above human rights.

Liu Guijin

China's special envoy on Darfur Liu Guijin said Thursday that Sudan's agreement last month to allow U.N. peacekeepers into Darfur "could not be separated" from the Chinese government's efforts on the issue.

"From the highest leader in China to relevant foreign ministry officials, we have always used our method of using our words and made use of every opportunity and channel in every aspect of work, especially with the Sudanese government," said Liu.

Khartoum for months dragged its feet on a U.N. plan to allow thousands of peacekeepers into Darfur to relieve overwhelmed African Union forces. Last month it finally signed approval for a hybrid force of AU and U.N. troops.

Liu visited Sudan and other African nations last month. He says the deployment will begin, at the earliest, at the end of this year, pending Khartoum's agreement on a date.

China has resisted sanctions against the African nation despite accusations Khartoum has supported militias responsible for mass killings and rape in Darfur that Washington has called "genocide."

President Bush has taken a "wait and see" attitude to Sudan's agreement to the U.N. deployment.

Liu says western nations should stop doubting Sudan's intentions and be more welcoming of the steps forward.

He compares Khartoum to a naughty child who needs to be rewarded for good behavior.

"It's just like a child. If you judge him to be a bad child, when he does something good you should give him a little encouragement and say some nice things," said Liu.

Human rights organizations say China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil exports and sells arms to Khartoum, is more interested in money than in human rights, an accusation Beijing denies.

Liu says China was doing its best to ensure weapons sold to Khartoum did not end up in the wrong hands.

He says attempts to politicize Beijing's hosting of the 2008 Olympics by linking it to the Darfur situation could only be due to ignorance of China's efforts to resolve the conflict or from people maintaining a "Cold War" ideology.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and two million made homeless since 2003 when rebels and government forces began fighting in Darfur.

9 missing after bridge collapse in southern China

BEIJING (AP): Rescuers searched Saturday for nine people missing since a bridge over a river in southern China collapsed after a boat rammed into it, state media reported. 

Surveillance videos showed seven people riding in cars and two workers on the bridge over the Xijiang River at the time of the collapse early Friday, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing Deng Genwei, vice mayor of Foshan city in Guangdong province. 

Divers and 10 boats were searching for the missing people, Deng said. 

An initial investigation showed that a boat overloaded with sand deviated from its original route and struck one of the bridge's support pillars, China Central Television reported. 

About 200 meters (yards) of the 1,600-meter-(yard)-long bridge collapsed, and part of the structure fell onto the bow of the boat that struck it. All 10 crew members were rescued, and two were slightly injured. 

The bridge was built in 1988 and runs over the Xijiang River, a major tributary of the Pearl River.

Chinese Police Rescue Hundreds From Slave Labor

Chinese media report that thousands of police officers have rescued more than 450 peasant workers from forced labor conditions, including children as young as eight years old. The reports say workers were abducted or tricked into working at brick kilns and small iron and coal mines, forced to work long hours with no pay and little food, and beaten if they tried to escape. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.

Video grab from local television CCTV in Beijing shows workers freed from a brick factory in the city of Hongtong in Shanxi province, 15 Jun 2007

Chinese media reported Friday that police freed the victims of forced labor over the course of the last month after mounting a massive inspection of thousands of brick kilns in China's northern Shanxi and central Henan provinces.

Chinese television showed workers crammed into filthy, small huts, where they slept on a brick floor and were locked in and guarded by fierce dogs to prevent them from escaping.

Workers were starved, given no pay, and forced to work over 14 hours a day touching hot bricks that burnt their skin. Those who tried to escape were beaten.

This freed peasant worker says there was no chance to escape. He says the moment workers tried to get away, their captors would coordinate over mobile phones to get them back.

The official Xinhua news agency says dozens of children were among those freed in Henan from the slave-like conditions. Many of them were kidnapped and sold to the kiln owners.

This kiln owner says he paid about $40 to $50 for a boy, but says he has no idea where he came from.

Another captive says laborers were lured by the promise of a high salary.

"When I asked them how much money each month, they said 1,000 yuan," he said.

Chinese media say overseers at one of the prison-like brickworks beat a man to death with a shovel for not working hard enough. A dozen other workers were reported to have died from mistreatment.

Police have arrested 120 suspects during a four-day crackdown but are still looking for three who escaped.

The slave labor case gained widespread attention after a group of 400 fathers in Henan posted a letter on the Internet saying their children had been kidnapped to work in illegal Shanxi brick kilns.

The men accused Shanxi police of turning a blind eye to forced labor in the province. One kiln owner was the son of a local Communist Party official, furthering cries of official neglect.

The police operation is still under way and Chinese media say there may be more than one thousand children still enslaved.

China Blasts Taiwan President's Support for UN Referendum

China has lashed out at Taiwan's independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian for supporting a referendum on whether the island should seek membership in the United Nations. From Beijing, Daniel Schearf reports China's Taiwan Affairs Office says any such move would not only harm China-Taiwan relations, but also jeopardize peace and stability in the region.

Chen Shui-bian (file)

The spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, Yang Yi, told reporters Taiwan's president is using the referendum for political gain and to move Taiwan towards what he called independence from China. He says the proposed referendum will create tensions between the two sides.

"The purpose of the move is to incite conflict between the two sides and cheat Taiwan people ... so Chen Shui-bian can trick votes from Taiwan people and reach de jure independence," Yang said.

Yang Yi (file)

Yang says supporters of independence have already made the situation in the Taiwan Strait dangerous, but, he says, if Taiwan applies for recognition at the U.N. as a country, things will get worse.

"If the situation continues, it will severely impact cross-Strait relations, harm compatriots on both sides, and seriously put in danger peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and Asia-Pacific region," Yang said.

China and Taiwan split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, but Beijing still claims the island as part of its territory. It has threatened to take Taiwan by force if the island declares formal independence.

Yang says China has made preparations to deter what he called any "separatist" activity, but he did not elaborate on what kind of preparations Beijing has made.

China has been adding missiles to its arsenal of several hundred aimed at Taiwan. In March, Beijing announced a 17.8 percent boost in military spending, the highest increase in more than a decade.

Chinese officials maintain the boost is to increase salaries for underpaid soldiers and upgrade equipment.

But the United States and other countries are suspicious of China's reasons for the military build-up. The United States also says China's real military spending may be three times higher than reported.

The United States has vowed to defend Taiwan if China attacks the island, and is therefore concerned about moves on either side of the strait that would upset peace in the region.

Taiwan has applied numerous times for U.N. recognition since it lost its seat to Beijing in 1971, but China's influence in the organization has prevented Taiwan from succeeding.

Taiwan's Presidential Candidates Seek Better Mainland Relations

Taiwan's 2008 presidential elections may still be a little more than 11 months away, but the campaign is well underway, with both candidates pledging to improve relations with the island's biggest security threat and largest trading partner: China. VOA's William Ide has this report from Taipei.

As in many places around the world, economic ties with China are playing an ever-increasing role in politics in Taiwan.

The mainland is potentially a military threat to the island of Taiwan, but it is also an increasingly significant economic partner. As of last June, Taiwan had invested more than $50 billion in businesses on the mainland, and it is estimated that a million Taiwanese live and work there.

Beijing's history with Taipei is complex.

After the defeat of the Japanese in World War Two, Mao Zedong's Communist army fought Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist troops for control of China. Mao won in 1949, and Chiang and his Nationalist government fled to Taiwan.

China claims the self-ruled island is part of its own territory, and threatens to take it back by force if it seeks formal independence. To back up that threat, it has deployed hundreds of missiles along its southeastern shore facing Taiwan.

Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party 2008 presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou speaks with foreign media at the party headquarters, 11 June 2007, in Taipei, Taiwan

Ma Ying-jeou, a former Nationalist Party chairman and mayor of Taipei City, is the opposition's candidate in the elections. He believes that to improve ties with China, Taiwan needs to find a way to put its disputes over sovereignty aside, and focus instead on peace negotiations with the mainland.

"The Taiwan Strait should not be a flash point in East Asia, it should be a builder-up for peace and prosperity," he said.

Speaking with foreign correspondents in Taipei this week, Ma outlined a sweeping range of changes he plans to implement if elected, including moves to lift restrictions on trade with China, allowing companies from Taiwan to invest more on the mainland. He also supports measures to allow more mainlanders to visit as tourists, as a way of boosting the island's economy.

Ma believes that Beijing wants peace and not conflict with Taiwan. He argues that as China prospers, it is becoming more sophisticated in the way it handles its relations with Taiwan and the rest of the world.

"Obviously they [China] have a big stake to lose if war really breaks out between Taiwan and the mainland," he said. "Each side will probably suffer a setback of economic development for decades."

Ma may have a better chance of reopening negotiations with Beijing, because his party supports eventual reunification with China.

His opponent, Frank Hsieh, is a member of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party of President Chen Shui-bian. Since Mr. Chen stepped into office, China has refused to talk to his administration. Hsieh admits this is an obstacle, but believes it can be overcome.

Speaking with foreign reporters through an interpreter, Hsieh said that when Mr. Chen was elected in 2000, and even when he was re-elected in 2004, China refused to talk with the DPP administration.

Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party 2008 presidential candidate Frank Hsieh speaks with foreign media, 11 June 2007, in Taipei, Taiwan

"I think that for China to accept the reality that the people have chosen a DPP president, I need to win by a larger margin this time for China to come to terms with the reality that this is actually the choice of the people," he said. "Of course though, we are assuming that China's behavior is rational, that in good reason, that they should accept the reality and engage in a dialogue with the DPP leadership."

Hsieh says he, too, will pursue policies to expand trade links with China, but also stressed the need for Beijing to give Taiwan the respect it deserves - and more room in the international arena.

Hsieh says that more than policy, attitude is the key: how Taiwan treats China, and how China treats Taiwan. He cast doubt on Ma's expectation that China is willing to co-exist with Taiwan: Beijing says there will eventually be re-unification, whether peacefully or by force of arms.

Hog Disease Spreads in China

A contagious hog disease in China that last year killed up to a million pigs, and contributed to rising pork prices, has been blamed on the "Blue Ear" virus. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.

Jia Youling (2006 file photo)

China's top veterinarian Jia Youling told reporters the highly pathogenic disease, "Blue Ear," is to blame for most of the pig deaths last year. The high fever disease is formally known as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome.

Up to a million pigs died last year from the disease.

Jia says the Blue Ear virus was discovered in the United States in 1987 and has since spread worldwide, posing no threat to humans. But it had mutated in China, making it hard to identify and becoming more deadly to pigs.

"This variation of Blue Ear disease is a completely new variation," said Jia. "It is the first time our country and the world has experienced this kind of the disease."

Chinese health officials are now working on a vaccine to prevent the virus from spreading further.

Jia said their biggest fear is that farmers with sick pigs will try to sell them quickly rather than report the illness. This could cause the disease to spread faster.

Pork prices have already risen dramatically, although Jia said he was not convinced of a direct link between rising prices and the disease.

China's Ministry of Agriculture last week said Blue Ear had already infected nearly 46,000 pigs in the first five months of this year and killed more than 18,000, while spreading to 22 provinces and regions.

The failure to spot and treat the Blue Ear disease outbreak earlier raises new fears about the safety of China's food and drug supply.

The country has had a series of such scandals, including the reported sale of tainted wheat gluten to the United States.

In the past few days, Chinese and foreign media have reported the government has found unsafe dried food, and evidence that some hospitals have used fake blood proteins in intravenous drips to treat patients.

The State Council approves a blue print for renewable energy

The Chinese government says its dedicated towards saving energy and protecting the environment. The State Council has approved a plan requesting energy-generating companies to product a certain proportion of renewable energy.

Developing renewable energy is part of the government's master plan to achieve its environmental targets.

Under the plan, the country's big fossil-fuel power stations will have to convert at least five percent of its generators into non-fossil fuel generators by 2010. The proportion of non-fossil-fuel generators in these power stations would need to double to 10 percent by the year 2020. The government limit production on enterprises which can not meet the standard.

Shi Lishan, official of National Development & Reform Commission said:"The quota system will urge power and electricity-generating enterprises to produce and sell more renewable energy, expanding the country's renewable resources market."

Renewable energy mainly contains wind-energy, solar-energy and biofuels. It's estimated that currently China can produce renewable energy in the equivalent amount of over seven billion tons of standard coal each year, almost tripling the annual output of coal. At the country's first national plan on climate change, the country confirmed its commitment to increase its proportion of renewable energy from less than seven percent at the moment, to 10 percent by 2010, and 16 percent by 2020.

China: Factory 'slaves' rescued

BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- Chinese people have rescued 31 people forced to work for a year as slaves -- given only bread and water and no pay -- at a brickworks run by the son of a local Communist Party official, state media reported on Friday.

Eight of the workers were so traumatized by the experience they were only able to remember their names, the Beijing News said, citing a report in the Shanxi Evening Post.

One laborer was beaten to death with a hammer for not working hard enough, before police swooped to set the others free, the newspaper added.

The survivors had bruises, wounds and burns all over their bodies, having been made to carry uncooled bricks and walk barefoot in the kiln, it said.

"The grime on their bodies was so thick it could be scraped off with a knife," the newspaper added.

They were guarded by dogs and "thugs" at the factory, near Linfen in the poor inland province of Shanxi, and the boss was only allowed to get away with it because of his political connections, the newspaper said.

"Local villagers said, had Wang Dongji not been Party Secretary, this brickworks which had no paperwork would have been discovered a long time ago," it said, referring to the father of boss Wang Binbin.

The foreman's son and one of the hired thugs had been detained by police, but four were on the run, the report said.

The workers are still living at the brickworks while the local government tries to get their wages.

"But the eight migrant workers who are not in their right mind have no idea where their homes are, and the local government is in the process of finding out," the newspaper said.

A similar incident was reported last year, also in Shanxi province, although the workers were only kept imprisoned for two months.

Millions of migrant workers from poor rural areas have flocked to urban areas to find work, hoping to enjoy some of the fruits of an economy clocking near double-digit growth.

Working often for as little as $2 a day or less, they have helped turn China into the workshop of the world and one of the world's biggest economies.

Many of these laborers work without formal contracts, and have little recourse to the law in case of disputes, which makes them more prone to exploitation.

MARTIN CLUB - CHARLES WYPLOSZ

Charles Wyplosz: Martin makes two important points: China's current surplus is driven by very high savings and the US cannot give orders (and, he does not say so, slap import duties as it will). He does not go the next steps, so I will oblige and do it.

If savings is the problem, and it is, what good would a renminbi appreciation do? There are some theories that exchange rate appreciation can reduce saving, but the magnitude of the effect is, at best, minute. The inescapable conclusion is that we should stop pestering the Chinese with calls for appreciation and threats of designating them as currency manipulators, as many in Washington plot to do. There is no doubt that the renminbi is not a free floating currency, but there is no international obligation to let all currencies float. Maybe the renminbi is somewhat undervalued, but that cannot be the ground for aggressive diplomacy. If it is undervalued and China sticks to its exchange rate policy, all that will happen is real revaluation through inflation. Not a great idea, I agree, but that is China's problem. Let them make that choice as an independent nation.

Much of this huge saving is invested locally, which largely explains one of the most spectacular growth performances mankind ever witnessed, with the added bonus that it benefits about one-fifth of humanity that was extremely poor when it all started. Not all of it can be invested. As Martin notes, a very low interest rate may already encourages excessive investment. So calling for Chinese firms to invest their savings is a bit disingenuous. Sure, the government could spend more, especially on infrastructure, health and social programmes. It is good to pass this sound advice to the Chinese authorities, but then it is for them to decide.

In the meantime, what can they do with this mass of savings that cannot be absorbed domestically? Invest abroad. Not in US Treasuries, but in profitable corporations. This is what they just set out to do with the creation of the State Investment Company. The first big move has been to buy a small stake, with no voting right, in the Blackstone Group. Why so timid a move? Because the Chinese know that they are not welcome in the US, they remember the groundswell of xenophobia when they wanted to buy Unocal, immediately branded a key strategic unit. Would Martin agree that we ought to welcome into the world economy the Chinese savers as well as the Chinese workers?

It is time to acknowledge that there are no rights and wrongs, but mistakes and counter-mistakes and, more importantly, huge common interests beyond healthy competition. This means sitting down and talking. Martin is absolutely right to call for dismissing the G8 as a misguided transformation of the out-of-breath G7 and setting up a G4. This is what Peter Kenen, Jeffrey Shafer Nigel Wicks and I proposed three years ago, only to fall on deaf ears. Thanks, Martin!

(Charles Wyplosz is Professor of International Economics at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva where he is Director of the International Centre for Money and Banking Studies.)

THE GAMBLING CULTURE THAT IS FUELLING CHINA'S HOT MARKET

China is an emerging economy – and history tells us all emerging economies experience hot and speculative stock markets as they develop. Excitement and volatility are nothing new to an emerging market in the Far East.

Of course, China is bigger. But it is reminiscent of Taiwan's boom and bust stock market of the late 1980s. Both countries share a gambling culture – on sporting events, card games, dice or, as it now turns out, stocks.

Having taken 25 years to reach 1,000 in late 1986, the Taiwan Stock Exchange rocketed to 12,495 by February 1990. At the peak, some 10 per cent of its population were trading daily. People stayed away from work so they could spend time investing. On some days, market volume exceeded activity on the New York and Tokyo bourses combined.

Eventually, Taiwanese regulators took action and the market collapsed to 2,560 in September 1990. The fall was painful, but the economy emerged in better shape. Since relatively few companies were listed, the impact of the fall on overall investment and production was not great. The economy was also protected by large foreign currency reserves. Local investors were stoical, looking back at the good times and regarding the experience as a lost bet.

Beijing has so far not been as bold and successful as Taipei in cooling its stock market. Last week's increase in stamp duty from 0.1 per cent to 0.3 per cent seems merely tinkering at the margin, even if it has caused shares to fall.

In terms of economic controls, the obvious thing to do would be to raise the cost of borrowing, but this would have ramifications across the economy, attracting further speculative inflows and putting more upward pressure on the currency. The suspicion is that Beijing doesn't want to see its retail investors shouldering large losses if its actions caused the market to plunge.

Perhaps the Chinese government should look to increase supply by having more initial public offerings of state businesses. One option is to accelerate the listing of H shares (Hong Kong Stock Exchange) on the A share (Shanghai stock exchange) market, which would mop up some liquidity (and improve the standard of listed companies on the mainland). But right now the government is more interested in encouraging flows the other way. It has reduced barriers to domestic investors investing overseas, which is sensible, but investors are disinclined to diversify when they think returns will be better in their own market.

Whether the government takes radical action and succeeds in cooling the stock market, or whether it ends in tears for local investors, the impact on the wider economy, as with Taiwan, may be limited. There has been a flurry of IPOs but many businesses and industries are still state-owned, somewhat immune from fluctuations in bourses. Furthermore the government has the saving reserves to invest if capital from the stock market dries up. Depending on the degree of the fall, economic growth may slow – no bad thing, as it would ease the inflationary pressures in some parts of the economy.

We would welcome a slowdown in China's stock market and economic growth as we have been concerned for some time about the rate of its rapid expansion. However, it is unlikely to prompt us to change our strategy on capitalising on China's undoubted potential. As long-time (and long-term) investors in China, we've always been more comfortable investing via Hong Kong, including H shares. In general, companies there are of better quality and better regulated than on the mainland. (That said, at least we are now seeing profit margin improvement on the mainland and real earnings growth.) So they provide a more prudent way of gaining exposure to China's growth.

It's worth highlighting that the mainland exchanges are in effect off limits. (China is still largely a closed economy for investment purposes.) We are disinterested observers, because we do not have any holdings there. That will change in time as market access and company fundamentals improve. But there's no screaming urgency for us to plunge into the mainland while we see better quality at its edges

CHINA REVEALS FIVE-YEAR PUSH TO BOOST FOOD AND DRUG SAFETY

International concern over exports of contaminated Chinese ingredients used in pet food and toothpaste has spurred Beijing to publish its first five-year plan for improving food and drug safety.

The state council's framework for regulation of food and pharmaceuticals is part of longstanding efforts to address what officials acknowledge are "severe" safety problems.

However, Beijing officials have in recent days also highlighted the international implications of incomplete inspection systems, lagging regulation and undisciplined food producers.

"Food safety is not just an issue of law enforcement, it is also related to the health and safety of the people, to the nation's image and to bilateral and even multilateral political relationships," said Li Changjiang, head of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Singapore this week banned the sale of three brands of Chinese-made toothpaste that contained a poisonous chemical, diethylene glycol. The move followed similar action by Latin American countries and a warning from US regulators that toothpaste containing the chemical could be harmful.

In April, pet food that included additives from China apparently contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine was blamed for poisoning thousands of US cats and dogs.

Worries about dangerous food and drug products have been widespread in China for years, and Wen Jiabao, the premier, has made pledges of tougher action a regular feature in his annual "work report".

The release by the state council, or cabinet, of the first "five-year plan" specifically addressing food and drug safety is intended to focus bureaucratic efforts on improving and more strictly implementing supervision of the two industries.

The plan, approved in April but not made public then, does not mark a dramatic shift in emphasis.

But it does call for the creation of systems to monitor food exports that might transmit disease and for residues of drugs in agricultural products and livestock shipments, as well for the "electronic monitoring" of food processing companies.

CHINA IS SHOULDERING ITS CLIMATE CHANGE BURDEN

Climate change is, first and foremost, an environmental issue, with an impact on the entire global community. But it is also a development issue. Climate change was caused by human development and must be resolved by development.

China has worked hard to adjust its economic structure to improve energy saving and cut emissions. From 1991 to 2005, with national energy consumption rising each year by 5.6 per cent, China sustained an annual economic growth rate of 10 per cent and lowered its energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 47 per cent, saving 800m tons of coal and cutting 1.8bn tonnes of CO2 emissions.

China remains committed to further improvements in both the way it uses existing energy sources and also the development of cleaner energy. By April 2007, the central government had approved 383 projects in wind, hydro and biofuel power generation, and the use of methane gas from coal beds. In total, they will cut emissions by 1bn tonnes. From 1980 to 2005, another 5.1bn tonnes was absorbed through extensive reforestation and better forest management.

Without China's strict family planning policies, the country's population would have increased by 138m people since 1979, resulting in an extra 330m tonnes in emissions. The policy has contributed significantly to easing the world's population expansion and curbing greenhouse gas emissions. In line with various United Nations frameworks and the Kyoto protocol, China has formulated an "action plan" for addressing the issue. The first of its kind for a developing country, the plan will be put into action this year. China has a comprehensive set of policies to take further action, which can be summed up in three steps: lower emissions, more absorption and more recycling.

Per-capita GDP energy intensity will fall by 20 per cent between 2005 and 2010, with CO2 emissions reduced accordingly. We will also act vigorously in developing cleaner energy sources such as wind and solar power, geothermal, tidal, biomass and other renewable technologies, and promote nuclear power with a view to increasing the ratio of renewable energy in the supply of primary energy to 10 per cent by 2010.

China will also address its water problems in light of global warming. The government will properly develop water resources and improve their distribution, including irrigation and conservation, and strengthen the capacity of the water system to resist climate change. China will continue to carry out its family planning policy to control population growth. We will also implement key projects in forestation, including returning farmland to forests and grasslands, and preserving natural forests, with the aim of increasing forestry coverage to 20 per cent of the country by 2010.

On other fronts, China will encourage and support scientific and technological innovation in curbing and adapting to climate change and do more in researching and developing key technologies.

Economic policy will also play a role. China is committed to improving its policies in industry, taxation, credit and investment and to using pricing to make the most of environmentally friendly policies. Such measures will also be backed by a solid legal foundation, with the adoption of the energy conservation law and the law on renewable energy as soon as possible.

The cumulative and per-capita emissions of developing countries so far have been modest compared with those of developed nations. With that in mind, any debate must take into full consideration the right of developing countries to develop and provide space for them to do so.

Take China as an example. From 1950 to 2002, China's CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels accounted for only 9.33 per cent of the global total in the same period. In 2004, its per-capita emission of CO2 caused by the burning of fossil fuel was 3.65 tonnes – 87 per cent of the world average and 33 per cent of that of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

China is committed to addressing climate change in the context of sustainable development, but it should be on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

China stands for active participation in international forums and multilateral co-operation. We have shouldered our obligation and responsibilities in the past, pushed forward the "post-Kyoto protocol" negotiations, and made strenuous efforts in all negotiations. China has also created an environment that has facilitated the progress of many projects under the clean development mechanism.

China also hopes that the developed countries can take the lead in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, and provide financial and technological support to developing countries to better meet their needs for technology transfer and co-operation, particularly in climate change observation and monitoring, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to climate change.

We believe that as long as different countries can co-operate with each other on the issue of climate change, their collective efforts can make a greater contribution to the sustainable development of the global economy and humankind.

The writer is the minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's chief economic policymaking and planning agency

China vows to release climate change plan

China will release a long-awaited "action plan" on climate change ahead of next week's G8 meeting in Germany as it seeks to mount a more aggressive international defence of its environmental policies.

China's rapidly growing economy and a surge in heavy industry in the past five years has catapulted it uncomfortably into the centre of the global climate change debate and Beijing wants to pre-empt criticism at the meeting.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency estimates that China will overtake the US this year as the world's largest annual emitter of greenhouse gases, even though its economy is less than one-fifth the size of America's. China disputes the IEA calculation, and prefers to use the measure of per capita emissions, where its large population ensures its emissions are one-fifth those of the US.

The new plan is to contain promises to increase use of renewable energy and biofuels, as well as measures to capture methane gas emissions via methods such as carbon sequestration.

China will also re-emphasise its commitment to meet a target to cut the energy use per unit of GDP by 20 per cent between 2006 and 2010.

Last year it cut energy use per unit of GDP by 1.23 per cent, below the target for that year of 4 per cent.

China's plan is also expected to expound on its existing defence of its position, as a signatory to the Kyoto accord with developing country status, which does not require it to agree to binding cuts in emissions.

Beijing argues that developed countries are responsible for most of the accumulated greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and should take the lead in reducing emissions. "Climate change caused by developed countries has already made China one of its main victims," an official from the National Development and Reform commission, the economic planning agency, said yesterday.

U.N.'s Brief Assessment of China's Development Challenges

In China, in which the population is increasing by ten million people a year, it is inevitable that demands on the infrastructure and the environment are intense. At the same time the form of governance is changing from a central planning system to a socialist market economy. In the process, disparities arise in the equity of development, for example, discrepancies arise between the coastal regions and the poorer interior provinces, between males and females, between the demands to sustain a still increasing population and the capacity of the environment and natural resources to accommodate an estimated 1.5 billion people by 2030.

Overall access and coverage of a range of basic social services has improved during the last two decades with notable progress towards, for example, reduction of infant and under-five mortality. There is almost equal enrolment of boys and girls in primary school; a rapid increase in housing stock and living space for families; and increase in access to potable water resources, to name but a few impressive achievements. Some important initiatives are also underway with respect to fuller realisation of the rights of children and women and the prevention of desertification and land degradation.

On the whole, there is more that is similar than dissimilar with other developing countries in the kinds of strategic challenges China faces in achieving various goals and implementing provisions of conventions. Some of these challenges include:

How to accelerate achievement of more regional equity and reduce inequities;

How to maintain economic growth and avoid destruction and pollution of the natural resource base;

How to expand the progress made in increasing access to basic services into higher quality and more widespread coverage;

How to bring about the consistent implementation of existing laws and filling gaps in present legislation;

How to better match gains in development of technical expertise with greater progress in managerial and regulatory competencies.

At the same time, however, there are some more systemic and probably deeper challenges associated with the overall stresses incurred in China's social and economic transition from a centrally planned economy to a socialist market economy. There are a number of instances in which national policy changes are underway or could benefit from major improvements, for example national health and nutrition; prevention and control of HIV/AIDS; environment and energy and social protection.

China is wedded to an overall purpose of increasing the well being of its people. Changing economic and social conditions over the next decade, partly spurred by leaps in technological applications, will open many possibilities for improvement in both societal and personal well being. However, there remain a host of important national goals, partly inspired by global initiatives, the sustainable achievement of which would bolster both national and international development efforts.

Poverty of China (Current situation of Poor)

10% of Chinese live in poverty

Around 48 million Chinese live below China's domestic poverty line, accounting for 3.7 % of the total population. Based on international standards, 135 million Chinese live below the general poverty line, or 10% of the population.  

The numbers come from the "Report of the Development of an Overall Well-off Society (2006)," China's first blue book to be published on building an overall well off society, Beijing Evening News reports.  

The report reveals there are 26 million needy people in China's countryside. Another 22 million living in cities subsist below minimum subsistence levels , or the poverty line. These 48 million people account for 3.7% of the total population in China.  

According to international standards, however, the needy refer to those whose personal daily expenses average below $1.  

The World Bank estimates about 135 million of Chinese live below the international poverty line. These people are the key group China should show concern for in building an overall well-off society.

Migrant workers earn monthly income of 120 dollars

Migrant laborers in Chinese cities earn an average of 966 yuan (US$120.75) per month, much more than the average farmer, but still very low compared to urban residents.  

The per capita monthly income for half of the migrant laborers is less than 800 yuan, with 19.67 percent below 500 yuan, according to a latest survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).  

Ten percent of the 29,425 migrant workers surveyed have a monthly income of 1,500 yuan.  

Migrant workers are mostly poor farmers who leave the countryside to find jobs in cities. There are more than 100 million migrant workers in China.  

The average income of Chinese farmers is about one fourth that of the urban residents earn.  

The shrinking of farmlands are producing a bigger army of migrant workers in the country and has caused many social troubles.  

The survey shows that jobs in east China are the most lucrative for migrant workers, who earn an average of 1090 yuan per month there, compared with 880 yuan and 835 yuan in the central and western regions.  

Migrant laborers spend an average of 463 yuan per month; 72 yuan on accommodation, 235 yuan on food and 47 yuan on recreation.  

To improve their professional skills, half of the respondents received vocational training , while 24.1 percent were self-taught.  

Of the 5,065 respondents who brought children with them to the cities, only 1.05 percent had seen their children drop out of school, and 49.2 percent had to pay an average registration fee of 1,226 yuan in addition to regular tuition fees.

Beijing blasts Taiwan's DPP for 'independence' move

China on Wednesday blasted the leaders of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for considering a change to the island's "constitution" which would reflect an identity separate from the mainland.

The DPP has been drafting a "normal country resolution" to amend the "constitution" of the island which still styles itself as the "Republic of China" and claims "sovereignty" over the mainland.

"Its (the resolution's) purpose is to create conditions for "de jure independence" through "constitutional" changes and referendum," Li Weiyi, spokesman for Beijing's policy-making Taiwan Affairs office, said.

"We will never allow any attempts to separate Taiwan from China to succeed."

The DPP's resolution lacks specifics but should be approved by the party on June 30 and sent to "parliament", the party's mainland policy architect said earlier this month. If the party proposes provocative "constitutional" changes, the opposition-controlled legislature will likely reject the resolution.

In an apparent divide-and-conquer tactic, Li said drafting the resolution was a "dangerous act by diehard 'independence' elements to forcefully impose their will" on DPP members.

"We have always held that the broad membership of the DPP is different from a tiny minority of diehard Taiwan "independence" elements," Li said.

"We are willing to make positive responses and engage with DPP if it abandons the 'independence' platform and stops splittist activities."

China has fostered close ties with the KMT and two other opposition parties favouring eventual reunification, but has refused to deal with the DPP leadership and the "administration" of Chen Shui-bian.

Meanhile, Li told the conference, the Chinese mainland has come to the rescue of Taiwan fruit farmers by purchasing 78 million yuan (about US$10.2 million) worth of fruit from the island province.

At the request of Taiwan's Kuomintang Party, Li said, the mainland activated an emergency mechanism, arranging for mainland enterprises to buy 300 tons of bananas and 1200 tons of oranges.

"These measures have effectively helped Taiwan farmers solve the problem of fruit oversupply," Li said.

Li pointed out that the mainland had scrapped tariffs on 15 kinds of Taiwan fruit in August 2005.

China announces new anti-porn Internet campaign

China has launched its latest campaign against Internet pornography that will also take aim at fraud, illegal lotteries and "rumour-spreading", the official Xinhua news agency said.

"The boom of pornographic content on the Internet has contaminated cyberspace and perverted China's young minds," it quoted Zhang Xinfeng, vice-minister of public security, as saying in a late night report.

"The inflow of pornographic materials from abroad and lax domestic control are to blame for the existing problems in China's cyberspace," Zhang said.

The campaign will crack down on "distributing pornographic materials and organising cyber strip shows, and purge the Web of sexually explicit images, stories, and audio and video clips," it added.

Zhang said they will target "content that spreads rumours and is of a slanderous nature" as well, though he did not provide details.

"China has roughly 123 million Internet users, most of whom are young people. The Chinese government believes they need to be protected from negative online influences," Xinhua said.

Last November a Chinese court sentenced the founder of the country's largest pornography Web site to life imprisonment.

Pornography was among the vices nearly wiped out in China under the strict and puritanical rule of Mao Zedong. But since economic reforms began and social controls have loosened, it has become more readily available.

China has an army of cyber police who patrol the Internet for unfavourable content, but their targets are more often politically sensitive subjects than pornography.

China's Porn King Gets Life in Prison

China is cracking down on Internet pornography suppliers.

Chinese authorities made an example out of Chen Hui, the 28-year-old Internet porn king, and sentenced him to life in prison. Eight others who were connected to Mr. Chen's venture were given jail terms ranging from 13 months to 10 years.

The authorities would have made Chairman Mao proud. Pornography, along with prostitution, drugs and extramarital sex, was a vice he wanted erased from Chinese society. Yet he enjoyed the perks of being a dictator. In "The New Emperors," he is described also as a porn collector, a drug addict and a "sex maniac" who had women at the ready to pleasure him.

While the rich and the almighty party apparatchiki indulge in sex, drugs and rock and roll, the law applies differently to less important, ordinary Chinese.

Like opium that brought 19th Century China to its knees, the Internet should scare the Party, and not because of subversive contents. But how does Beijing monitor 111 million users?

China's Internet censorship scheme is 'sophisticated and effective.' It uses a combination of legal restrictions and highly efficient hardware and software filters. There are human monitors, too, to see who will get jailed next.

Mr. Chen's trial began in August after prosecutors charged him with running "Qingseliuyuetian," or Pornographic Summer. He had eluded the authorities by using overseas servers and shifting them regularly. Much of his assets are believed to be in foreign banks. That may or may not do much good for him now.

"China's Department of Public Security has sent officials to supervise the trial," Xinhua news agency wrote.

China now has an "anti-pornography and anti-piracy" office. The two go hand in hand when it comes to selling pirated pornographic DVD's. An unidentified man received 12 years last week for that crime. (Read more about piracy here.)

When it comes to Internet addiction, China's Civilization Office is leading the charge to protect teenagers. Other than promoting what the Chinese are calling "green" games, it is unclear what else they can do to confine teenagers to friendly content.

But the Internet is being used for sex education, a topic neither school teachers nor parents want to talk about openly.

South China Province to Ban Keeping Of Mistresses

South China's booming province of Guangdong is drafting a law to ban the resurgent trend of keeping of mistresses, in a bid to preserve social harmony, local media reported on Wednesday.

Many Chinese businessmen keep mistresses in second homes, a tradition banished after the Communists swept to power in 1949 but which has made a comeback with nearly 30 years of market reforms.

The law, attached to legislation guaranteeing women's rights, would ban married people from setting up "love nests" to engage in extra-marital affairs, the Beijing News said.

"Adding this provision is aimed at preserving and enhancing marital stability," the paper quoted a Guangdong lawmaker, Cheng Jingchu, as saying.

China has repeatedly urged its officials to honor the sanctity of marriage after a string of high-profile corruption cases involving mistresses led to the sacking and punishment of senior cadres.

Last year prosecutors launched criminal proceedings against Beijing vice-mayor Liu Zhihua, who was denounced for taking millions of yuan in bribes and helping his mistress "seek profit" while he was in charge of Olympic venue construction.

China also sacked top naval officer Wang Shouye for graft last July after one of his mistresses blew the whistle on him for taking millions in bribes from military contractors.

Taiwan's Lee Visits Japan Despite Beijing Protest

Former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui, despised by China for asserting the self-ruled island's sovereignty, arrived in Japan on Wednesday for a trip that has already sparked protest from Beijing.

Japan said this week that the visit was for tourism only and should have no impact on its ties with China, but the 84-year-old Lee is scheduled to give speeches and a news conference in Tokyo during the 11-day stay.

Lee, who was the Taiwanese leader from 1988 to 2000, has been to Japan twice after stepping down, the last time in January 2005, but had stayed away from the capital and refrained from speaking in public.

"It'll be my first time in Tokyo in 22 years. I am looking forward to it a lot," Lee told reporters after arriving at an airport just outside of Tokyo, where he was greeted by supporters chanting "banzai" (long life).

Lee denied speculation that he may meet Japanese politicians, but did say he would visit Tokyo's Yasukuni war shrine, seen by many in Asia as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

The shrine honors Japan's war dead -- among them soldiers from Taiwan and Korea who fought for Japan, their colonial ruler at the time -- but also some convicted war criminals including wartime prime minister Hideki Tojo.

Lee's older brother died fighting for the Japanese military.

"As for Yasukuni, I have not set a time yet, but I have to see my big brother."

The former president had planned another Japan trip for September 2006, but cancelled it citing health reasons after Beijing told Tokyo it would harm their relationship.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Beijing had made a "solemn representation" to Japan over the latest visit.

"We strongly demand Japan attach importance to China's serious concern ... and not provide political stages to Taiwan independence elements or forces," Jiang told reporters.

Lee, who will be traveling with his wife, did not apply for a visa as Japan has waived visas for short-term tourists from Taiwan since 2005.

During his stay, Japan-educated Lee will also receive a prize in memory of Japanese colonial administrator Shinpei Goto, and tour a series of Japanese temples throughout the country.

Beijing has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and demanded that it accept reunification ever since 1949 when the Nationalist forces fled to the island after losing power on the mainland to the Communists.

China Sentences Former Food And Drug Safety Chief to Death

China has delivered a death sentence to the former head of its food and drug administration, for taking bribes to approve untested medicines. The court case was heard as China faces growing complaints about unsafe drugs and food. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.

A Beijing court sentenced Zheng Xiaoyu to death for taking bribes worth over $830,000 while he served as chief of the State Food and Drug Administration.

China's official Xinhua news agency announced the verdict, saying Zheng allowed substandard medicines onto the market in return for cash and gifts. It said one antibiotic approved by the regulator caused at least ten deaths.

Xinhua said the punishment was appropriate given the "huge amount of bribes involved" and the "damage he inflicted on the country and the public."

Jiang Yu answers reporters' questions in Beijing, 29 May 2007

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, says the sentence reflected the Chinese government's determination to fight corruption.

Jiang says the Chinese government has always attached great importance to the health and safety of consumer goods, especially food and drugs, and is willing to work with the international community to safeguard the quality and reputation of Chinese food products.

China's food safety came under intense scrutiny this past month, after tainted pet food from China killed animals in North America.

In the past week, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Nicaragua have pulled thousands of tubes of Chinese-made toothpaste from store shelves for containing a potentially deadly chemical used in engine coolants.

Poor quality food sickens tens of thousands of people in China every year.

The official China Daily newspaper reported Tuesday that the country will introduce its first food safety recall system by the end of the year.

The newspaper gave no details on how the system would work, but said any companies that failed to follow the new rules would be blacklisted from the Chinese market.