China | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

13/06/2012

* Gun Ring Involving U.S. Soldier Is Broken Up, Chinese Officials Say

NY Times: “The Chinese authorities said on Tuesday that they had detained 23 suspects here and had broken up an international gun trafficking ring that conspired with a United States soldier to smuggle firearms into China.

The Ministry of Public Security said that more than 100 guns and gun parts, and about 50,000 bullets, had been seized in the case, which is being jointly investigated with the American authorities. The announcement came weeks after United States officials arrested Staff Sgt. Joseph Debose, 29, a soldier with a Special Forces National Guard unit in North Carolina, on charges of illegal firearms trafficking.

According to the United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, customs officers in Shanghai stumbled upon the smuggling ring in August after discovering a Beretta 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun and other firearms hidden inside a stereo speaker in a U.P.S. package. After contacting U.P.S. in the United States, as well as the Department of Homeland Security, the authorities traced the package to two Chinese nationals in New York, using shipping documents and surveillance video from a U.P.S. facility in Queens. The two men eventually led the authorities to Sergeant Debose, who was acting as a gun dealer in North Carolina, prosecutors said.”

via Gun Ring Involving U.S. Soldier Is Broken Up, Chinese Officials Say – NYTimes.com.

Posted in China alert, Smuggling | 1 Comment »

Tags: beretta 9, China, illegal firearms, Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China, New York, Shanghai, United States

13/06/2012

* China football ex-chiefs Nan Yong and Xie Yalong jailed

BBC News: “Two ex-heads of China’s football league have been jailed for 10-and-a-half years each for corruption, making them the most senior football officials sentenced. Nan Yong and his predecessor Xie Yalong were both accused of accepting bribes. Nan was also fined 200,000 yuan ($31,400; £20,200) and Xie is set to have personal assets and illegal takings confiscated.

China has increased efforts to clean up the game, hit by a series of scandals.

Nan, charged with 17 counts of taking bribes, was sentenced by a court in Tieling in north-eastern China. Xie, who was sentenced in Dandong, denies the charges against him adding that he only confessed to the allegations under torture. More than 900,000 yuan in personal assets and illegal takings of his are set to be confiscated.

Several other verdicts have also been delivered in similar cases in other cities, Chinese media reported.

In Dandong, a former national team captain was also sentenced to 10 years and six months in jail and fined 200,000 yuan. Four former national team players were sentenced in Shenyang for to up to six years’ jail and fined 500,000 yuan for taking bribes and match fixing.

via BBC News – China football ex-chiefs Nan Yong and Xie Yalong jailed.

Ex-soccer chief Nan Yong begins bribery trial (wantchinatimes.com)
Report: Nike exec bribed Chinese official (upi.com)
Police deny torturing China’s former soccer chief (indiavision.com)

Posted in China alert, corruption, Good news, Illegal practices, Justice, Rule of law | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Bribery, China, politics, Prison, soccer, sports

10/06/2012

* China Passenger-Car Sales Pick Up

WSJ: “Passenger-car sales in China accelerated in May, a positive sign for the world’s second-largest economy and the largest auto market. Strong auto sales in China, a signal consumers are still buying big-ticket items, could reassure markets concerned that the country is heading for a sharp economic slowdown.

Sales in May were up 23% from a year earlier, to 1.28 million vehicles, the semiofficial industry group China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in a statement Saturday. That’s faster than Aprils 13% pace—which was itself an encouraging turnaround from the decline in the first quarter, when sales were down 1.3% from a year earlier.”

via China Passenger-Car Sales Pick Up – WSJ.com.

One small positive indicator amongst lots of negatives. See: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/06/10/chinese-economy-shows-a-second-month-of-anemic-growth/

* GM to Add 600 China Dealerships (chindia-alert.org)
China Car Sales Decline As Economy Cools (blogs.wsj.com)

Posted in Affluence, China alert, Consumer, Economics, Good news | 1 Comment »

Tags: Automotive industry in the People's Republic of China, cars, China, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, economic slowdown, economy, passenger car sales

10/06/2012

* Chinese Economy Shows a Second Month of Anemic Growth

NY Times: “The Chinese economy, widely seen until the last few weeks as the strongest remaining locomotive that could drag the global economy back from the brink of recession, showed a second month of anemic growth in May and performed even worse than the already lowered expectations of most economists.

Growth in industrial production, retail sales and investment in fixed assets like factories and office buildings was little changed from April, according to data released on Saturday afternoon in Beijing by China’s National Bureau of Statistics. Some economists had considered the April figures to be a fluke and had predicted a rebound in May, when the Chinese government began measures to rekindle growth.

April had been the weakest month in China since 2001 for growth in fixed-asset investment, and May was slightly weaker still. Before adjustment for inflation, retail sales grew even more slowly in May than in April. But retail sales were a little stronger in May after they were adjusted for inflation, which has slowed steadily this spring. Industrial production grew at a slightly faster pace in May from a year earlier, 9.6 percent, than it had in April, when growth was 9.3 percent.

And in an unexpected piece of good news released Sunday morning, China’s exports and imports both grew twice as fast last month as economists had expected. Exports rose 15.3 percent, triple the pace in April, and imports grew 12.7 percent after stalling the month before. Some economists said that if demand for China’s exports held up long enough for the Chinese government to start the many infrastructure projects approved in recent weeks, the country’s economy could avoid a more serious downturn.”

via Chinese Economy Shows a Second Month of Anemic Growth – NYTimes.com.

This overall view of the economy contrasts with the huge increase in passenger car sales. See: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/06/10/china-passenger-car-sales-pick-up/

Chinese Economy “Unexpectedly” Slows; Will the Bubble in China Babble Burst? (blogs.the-american-interest.com)

Posted in China alert, Economics | 2 Comments »

Tags: Beijing, China, economy, Economy of the People's Republic of China

09/06/2012

* China Signals Interest in Afghanistan

NY Times: “In a sign of China’s growing interest in neighboring Afghanistan after the departure of the United States and NATO led forces, President Hu Jintao met the Afghan leader, Hamid Karzai, in the Great Hall of the People on Friday and announced a new strategic partnership between the two countries.

Mr. Karzai was given special attention this week at the summit meeting of the Shanghai

Cooperation Organization, a group of six countries organized by China that includes Russia and Central Asian nations bordering Afghanistan. China is trying to ensure that a Muslim separatist group in a western region does not benefit from the Taliban when Western forces leave Afghanistan.

In a joint statement, China and Afghanistan said they would step up cooperation in security and the fight against terrorism, as well as increase intelligence sharing. No specifics were given.

A modest $23 million aid grant for unspecified projects that accompanied the new partnership indicated that despite concerns about the stability of Afghanistan after 2014, when most United States and allied troops are expected to be gone, China had no immediate plans to play a major development role.

This was Mr. Karzai’s fifth, and most prominent, visit to China. No Chinese leader has been to Afghanistan since the 1958 visit of Prime Minister Zhou Enlai. China’s major worry is the prospect of a Taliban-dominated Afghanistan lending sanctuary to the separatist group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, led by ethnic Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking, largely Muslim people in the autonomous western region of Xinjiang. The group wants a breakaway homeland in Xinjiang.

via China Signals Interest in Afghanistan – NYTimes.com.

* Iran cancels $2 billion dam deal with China

Iran has cancelled a $2 billion contract for a Chinese firm to help build a hydroelectric dam in the country, Chinese state media said on Thursday, a move that risks upsetting Beijing, one of Tehran’s most important economic and political allies.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due to visit China next week for a security summit, where he is expected to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, on Iran’s disputed nuclear programme.

In March 2011, Iran’s official IRNA news agency said China’s Sinohydro Corp. had signed a contract with Iranian hydro firm Farab to build the dam, described as the world’s tallest, in Iran’s western province of Lorestan. It was designed to support a 1,500-megawatt power station.

The Global Times, a popular tabloid owned by Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily, said the Iranian government had decided to cancel the contract. The report did not cite sources or give a reason for the cancellation.

But it quoted Iranian media reports as saying Iran’s central bank was “dissatisfied” with financing options offered by China.

From China Daily Mail blog

Iran cancels $2 billion dam deal with China « China Daily Mail.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Infrastructure, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, iran, middle-east, politics

31/05/2012

* Senior leader says to promote Xinjiang’s leapfrog development

Xinhua: “Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday called for more support to Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to achieve leapfrog development and long-term stability in this westernmost region of China. Li made the remarks at the 3rd National Work Conference on “pairing assistance” projects to support Xinjiang’s development.

Maps of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China Español: Región autónoma de Xinjiang (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

President Hu Jintao met the delegates to the annual conference and thanked them for their efforts made in accelerating Xinjiang’s development. Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice President Xi Jinping, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China CPC Central Committee, were present at the meeting. Zhou Yongkang, also member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also met with the delegates and attended the conference.

Huge achievements have been made in the past two years under a large number of pairing assistance projects for Xinjiang, especially projects concerning Xinjiang people’s well-being, said Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

Vast land, abundant resources and huge development potential make Xinjiang a major area to implement China’s strategy to expand domestic demand and the strategy to develop the country’s western regions, Li said, adding Xinjiang is also a key area to accommodate transfer of domestic industries. Xinjiang is one of the bridgeheads for China’s opening to central Asia and Europe, said Li, calling for speeding up the opening of China’s western border areas while enhancing the openness of its eastern coastal regions.

Li noted that assisting the development of Xinjiang is a long-lasting, arduous and imperative task. More efforts and higher effectiveness are needed to advance the programs concerning the well-being of local people, such as housing, employment, medical care and social insurance, while the infrastructure construction and environmental protection should be further improved, said Li. More support regarding technology, education, talented people and excellent cadres should be provided to Xinjiang, and the exchanges between Xinjiang and inland areas should be enhanced, Li added.”

via Senior leader says to promote Xinjiangs leapfrog development – Xinhua | English.news.cn.

Xinjiang and Tibet are the two areas where ethnic minorities do not see eye to eye with the Han majority. Interestingly, both are strong adherents of religion; Buddhism in the case of Tibet and Islam in the case of Xinjiang. Until and unless the central authorities can convince these minorities that they have some form of self-determination (after all both are called ‘autonomous regions’ of China), unrest will continue.

China’s ability to continue to sway Xinjiang
* Senior leader underlines infrastructure building in Xinjiang (chindia-alert.org)
China’s Restive Xinjiang Region Hit by Renewed Violence (globalspin.blogs.time.com)
Xinjiang Governor claims Pak ‘links’ to unrest (thehindu.com)
Report: Xinjiang riots claim 12 lives (upi.com)
At least 20 people were killed in China’s Xinjiang (chindia-alert.org)

Posted in China alert, Economics, education, Environment, Ethnic clash, Good news, Infrastructure, Technology | 3 Comments »

Tags: China, Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Xi JinPing, Xinjiang, Zhou Yongkang

31/05/2012

* New punishments for police abusing prisoners

China Daily: “Chinese police will face punishment ranging from demotion to dismissal if they are found to have abused inmates or connived in the maltreatment of prisoners, according to a provision published by the Ministry of Supervision on Wednesday.

Police will be fired if prisoners die as a result of their beating, corporal punishment or maltreatment, as well as their manipulation or connivance in similar misconduct, reads the provision. Dismissal also applies in cases of police found to have harbored criminal activities committed by inmates, or to have helped prisoners escape.

The provision, which will take effect on July 1, serves as a discipline guidance for police in prisons and labor camps, meaning police will face criminal charges simultaneously if their misconduct breaks the law.

In China, those who commit misdemeanors are normally placed in reeducation-through-labor centers instead of prisons. China promulgated a six-article ban governing the conduct of prison and labor camp police in 2006. It prohibits police from abusing prisoners, collecting money and belongings from prisoners families, gambling and drinking in working hours.”

via New punishments for police abusing prisoners |Society |chinadaily.com.cn.

Another sign of the Chinese government trying to establish the rule of law; part of the reform urged by Premier Wen.

Related post:

Listening and responding to voice of people

https://chindia-alert.org/2012/03/14/premier-wen-says-china-needs-political-reform-warns-of-another-cultural-revolution-if-without/

Posted in China alert, Good news, Human rights, Illegal practices, Justice, Politics, Reform, Rule of law | 2 Comments »

Tags: Abuse, China, chinese police, Corporal punishment, Crime and Justice, Human rights, Prison, Prisoner

31/05/2012

* Myanmar can be link between India, China: Indian PM

Times of India: “Looking to quell speculation about India and China taking their rivalry to gas-rich Myanmar, PM Manmohan Singh said the country was perfectly placed to play the role of an economic bridge between China and India. While Indian officials have often described Myanmar as India’s gateway to Aseancountries, this is the first time Myanmar has been spoken about by the government as a link between India and China.

English: Manmohan Singh, current prime minister of India. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While China alone accounts for more than 70% of investments into Myanmar, India stands at the 13th position in terms of its investments into the country. Despite its attempts to play a larger economic role there, India continues to be looked upon as a Johnny-come-lately whose infrastructure projects, including the ambitious Kaladan multimodal transport facility, have hardly taken off. On the other hand, Beijing is even building a gas pipeline from Myanmar to China.”

via Myanmar can be link between India, China: PM – The Times of India.

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Economics, GeoPolitics, India alert, Infrastructure, Trade | Leave a Comment »