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News » Society » Xi'an police pressure rioters to surrender |
- Xi'an police pressure rioters to surrender
- Taiwanese fishing boats leave Diaoyu Islands after protest
- China media: Wang verdict
- 13 dead, 7 trapped in coal mine accident in NW China
- 75 Taiwan fishing boats sail to Diaoyu Islands
- China's super-rich feel slowdown
- Taiwan boats in islands protest
- China's surveillance ships enter waters near Diaoyu Islands
- Japanese official in Beijing for talks aimed at mending ties
- 5 protest suspects surrender
- Combat role nears for aircraft carrier, say experts
- 30 mainland tourists hurtin Taiwan coach crash
- 40 hurt in brawl at plant that assembles iPhone 5
- Chongqing's ex-police chief jailed for 15 years
- Probe at kindergarten over charging VIP fees
- Coffee shop's new outlet deletes the word 'temple'
- One-child policy prunes China's family trees
- Chinese Court Sentences Ex-Police Chief to 15 Years
- China’s Galloping Horse, Reliance team up to buy Digital Domain
- Have You Heard…
| Xi'an police pressure rioters to surrender Posted: 24 Sep 2012 08:50 PM PDT POLICE in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, yesterday published the photos of nine suspects who committed vandalism during an anti-Japanese protest. Police urged the suspects to turn themselves in for a lenient punishment and called on local residents to provide clues to their whereabouts. The nine suspects were caught by surveillance cameras as they smashed cars and damaged other people's properties during the September 15 protest against Japan's illegal purchase of China's Diaoyu Islands. Protests took place in many Chinese cities on September 15 and 16. Some turned violent as rioters smashed Japanese-made cars and Japanese-run businesses, forcing many Japanese companies to suspend their operation in China. |
| Taiwanese fishing boats leave Diaoyu Islands after protest Posted: 24 Sep 2012 08:41 PM PDT TAIWANESE fishing boats that sailed to the Diaoyu Islands to protest Japan's "purchase" of part of the islands completed their voyage this morning and have set sail for home. Local media reported that the boats finished their protest at 9:15 am and are expected to return to a port in northeast Taiwan's Yilan county at noon tomorrow. The boats assembled about 20 nautical miles away from the Diaoyu Islands at 5 am today. They then made their way to the islands while evading Japanese vessels that attempted to stop them with water cannons, pushing to an area located three nautical miles away from the islands. Although the boats originally numbered 75, they were joined at sea by other boats from different parts of Taiwan, raising the total number to about 100 vessels. Organizers said the voyage was made to protect Taiwanese fishing rights in nearby waters and to protest Japan's "purchase" of part of the Diaoyu Islands. The Japanese government announced a plan to "purchase" part of the islands earlier this month, despite opposition from the Chinese government. Local authorities in Taiwan have also protested the move. |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2012 09:06 PM PDT Morning newspaper round-up: Muted coverage of the verdict and sentencing in the Wang Lijun case. |
| 13 dead, 7 trapped in coal mine accident in NW China Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:51 PM PDT THIRTEEN miners were confirmed dead and seven remained trapped after a locomotive that transported them to ground slipped down a pit in northwest China's Gansu Province early this morning, the provincial administration of work safety said. The locomotive with 34 workers aboard its two carriages slipped down and overturned 150 meters further at 0:25 am when a steel wire powering the vehicle up a 28-degree 704-meter-long slope broke 80 meters away from the entrance of a colliery pit in the city of Baiyin, the agency said in a new update. A total of 27 workers at the Qusheng Coal Mining Co. have been taken out of the pit, but 13 of them were dead, it said. The rescue operation is still underway. The coal mine, which began operation in 2003, has a designed annual production capacity of 90,000 tons. |
| 75 Taiwan fishing boats sail to Diaoyu Islands Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:46 PM PDT A fisherfolk waits to leave for China's Diaoyu Islands at a port in Yilan, southeast China's Taiwan, yesterday. A total of 75 fishing boats from Taiwan sailed to the Diaoyu Islands yesterday afternoon from the port in Yilan. The boats will sail around the Diaoyu Islands in a move to protect the fishing rights in nearby waters. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| China's super-rich feel slowdown Posted: 24 Sep 2012 06:58 PM PDT Nearly half of China's 1,000 richest people saw their wealth fall last year amid economic slowdown, according to the Hurun Rich List. |
| Taiwan boats in islands protest Posted: 24 Sep 2012 09:25 PM PDT Dozens of Taiwanese boats sail to disputed East China Sea islands in a brief protest, as top Japanese and Chinese diplomats meet to ease tensions. |
| China's surveillance ships enter waters near Diaoyu Islands Posted: 24 Sep 2012 10:19 AM PDT TWO Chinese marine surveillance ships sailed into waters near the Diaoyu Islands again yesterday to undertake a rights defence patrol and carry out law enforcement activities, the State Oceanic Administration of China said. It was the second time Chinese ships had entered the area near the islands after surveillance ships sailed there last Tuesday to exercise China's administrative jurisdiction over the islands. "The Haijian 46 and Haijian 66 are carrying out the legitimate activities in accordance with relevant laws of the People's Republic of China," the administration said in a statement. Five Chinese ships were patrolling around the islands yesterday morning and two entered an area 12 nautical miles from the islands that was also "patrolled" by Japanese ships at around 6am, Japan's coast guard said. The Japanese ships reacted with "high alert" measures to ask the Chinese ships to leave via radio but this was rejected. "China has just exercised its administrative jurisdiction over the islands and its surrounding waters by conducting the patrol," the administration said. Besides the two surveillance ships, there were nine Chinese fishery patrol ships near the islands. Meanwhile, a group of fishermen from Taiwan said that as many as 100 boats escorted by 10 Taiwan Coast Guard vessels were headed for the area yesterday. Taiwan television showed boats bound for the islands leaving the port of Suao in heavy rain. News reports said bad weather could delay their arrival, which had been expected late last night or early this morning. The Taiwan fishing group said their boats would sail around the islands to reassert their right to fish there and did not rule out trying to land on the rocky isles, Reuters reported. Sino-Japanese relations deteriorated sharply after Japan illegally bought the islands from so-called private owners earlier this month, sparking anti-Japanese protests across China. Worries are simmering that the row could hurt the economic ties. China is Japan's largest trading partner. In 2011, their bilateral trade grew 14.3 percent to a record US$345 billion. Tokyo's Nikkei China 50 index, composed of stocks of Japanese companies with significant exposure to the world's second-largest economy, has shed around 1.3 percent on concerns over the dispute. Bank of America Merrill Lynch said Japanese carmakers saw a 90 percent drop in showroom traffic and a 60 percent fall in sales in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, the largest market for Japanese brands, since the beginning of the anti-Japan protests, according to Reuters. Some 40 Japanese troops and 2,200 US Marines, meanwhile, are conducting a joint drill on and around the US territory of Guam aimed at improving their ability to defend remote islands, Japan's defence ministry said. The exercise which began on August 21, runs until Wednesday. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Japanese official in Beijing for talks aimed at mending ties Posted: 24 Sep 2012 10:18 AM PDT THE Japanese government has sent its deputy foreign minister to China on a two-day trip to repair ties frayed over the Diaoyu Islands. Chikao Kawai arrived in Beijing yesterday afternoon, and is expected to hold talks today with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun. "As requested by the Japanese, China agrees to receive Kawai to visit from September 24 to 25," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei announced at a press conference yesterday. "China will state its solemn position on the Diaoyu Islands, urge the Japanese to correct its wrongdoing and make efforts to improve ties," Hong said. |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2012 10:18 AM PDT FIVE people in south China's Shenzhen City have turned themselves in to police after local authorities received tip-offs regarding property damage during anti-Japanese protests earlier in the month. On Saturday, police posted photos of 20 people alleged to have destroyed public and private property during the protests on September 16. The local police bureau said it had solid evidence the 20 had committed vandalism, and urged them to surrender to the police. It also offered a reward for any information. By Sunday night, the authorities had received more than 350 phone calls offering information on the 20 suspects and five of them had since turned themselves in, the bureau said yesterday. Protests flared in dozens of Chinese cities on the weekend of September 15 and 16, just days after the Japanese government's Diaoyu Islands "purchase." Some protests turned violent, resulting in damage to Japanese cars and businesses and the temporary closure of Japanese-funded companies. A man surnamed Li, one of the five who surrendered, told reporters he regretted vandalizing a police vehicle. Another suspect, surnamed Wang, said he regretted vandalizing a Honda vehicle. In northwest China's Xi'an City, police are seeking information they hope will lead to the arrest of a man who turned to violence during a September 15 protest. Police published photos online of a man smashing a Toyota car with a steel lock. He is also said to have attacked its owner, leaving him unconscious for days. |
| Combat role nears for aircraft carrier, say experts Posted: 24 Sep 2012 10:17 AM PDT CHINA'S first aircraft carrier could soon be accompanied by destroyers and frigates to form an aircraft carrier fleet with combat abilities, Chinese military officials and experts said yesterday. The Liaoning held a flag-raising ceremony on Sunday afternoon in an indication that the day for its official commissioning was fast approaching. The ceremony came as tensions with Japan rose over the Diaoyu Islands. "China will have more variable ways, both strong and soft, to solve the disputes in the East and South China seas," Qiao Liang, an air force major general, said yesterday. Li Jie, a researcher with the China Navy Military Academy, also said the aircraft carrier would play an important role in China's handling of island disputes and safeguarding its maritime interests. China's newly developed 052D missile destroyers will be the most suitable company for the aircraft carrier, said Hu Siyuan, a professor with the National Defense University PLA China. The 160-meter-long destroyer is equipped with 130 millimeter caliber cannon and has two vertical launch systems to set off Redflag-9B missiles. Hu said the destroyer is similar to the US Aegis-level destroyers in fighting ability and more powerful than the Japanese navy's major warships. Meanwhile, the Jiang Kai-II frigate which has a helicopter pad, may also join the carrier fleet. The No. 88 ship that accompanied the carrier during its sea trials is expected to be its depot ship. China's J-15 fighters that analysts say are match for US F-18 Hornet fighters would probably be used on the carrier. Many photographs have been published that show the plane on the carrier's deck. The carrier will also be equipped with a defense system able to launch attacks on missiles, aircraft and approaching vessels, experts have said. A US aircraft carrier is normally accompanied by two missile cruisers, two frigates, two nuclear-driven submarines and a depot ship. "The carrier will be most probably under the direct orders of the Chinese Navy headquarters rather than by the major Navy forces and be commissioned in different sea territories of China," Hu said. China has three major Naval forces - the East China Sea, North China Sea and South China Sea fleets. Li has also said the vessel could be commissioned in different fleets. The nation's first carrier, refitted from former Ukraine vessel Varyag, left port on August 10 last year for its first sea trials and since then has regularly been successfully tested in both the Yellow and Bohai seas. |
| 30 mainland tourists hurtin Taiwan coach crash Posted: 24 Sep 2012 10:13 AM PDT THIRTY tourists from the Chinese mainland were injured when their coach overturned in Taiwan's eastern Hualien County yesterday afternoon. Four were seriously hurt. Among the seriously injured was 57-year-old Zhai Shuangjing, who suffered internal bleeding in her chest. Zhai's husband, Jiao Lianhe, suffered minor injuries. He accompanied her as she was transferred to Hualien Hospital for treatment. Another two female tourists, identified as Liu Guanglan, 57, and Hou Guizhi, 76, suffered serious injuries in the chest and head respectively. A fourth tourist, Liu Tieji, 51, sustained a serious back injury. The other tourists, who suffered various minor injuries in the accident, are being treated in medical facilities in Hualien County. Four tourists in the group were unhurt. Authorities said the tourists were part of a 35-person tour group that was organized by the Beijing-based China International Travel Service. Their coach overturned at around 4:20pm. Late last night, local traffic authorities clarified that one tourist did not make the trip, leaving the total number of tourists in the group at 34. The tour group had arrived in Taiwan on September 20 and had initially planned to leave the island for home this Thursday. Extra staff have arrived at the hospital to assist in various matters after the accident, according to local authorities. |
| 40 hurt in brawl at plant that assembles iPhone 5 Posted: 24 Sep 2012 09:42 AM PDT Forty people were injured in a brawl which broke out at a Foxconn factory in north China's Taiyuan City on Sunday night. Three are in a serious condition, but most of the others were only slightly injured, a government official in Taiyuan said yesterday. The Foxconn Technology Group, which assembles Apple's new iPhone 5 and makes components for top global electronics companies, said the plant had been closed while an investigation was carried out. It was not immediately clear how long the shutdown would last at the plant, which employs about 79,000 people. "The plant is closed today for investigation," Foxconn spokesman Louis Woo told Reuters yesterday. "We want to offer enough time for workers to calm down." The Taiyuan government official, however, denied media reports that there had been a halt in the plant's production work, and said the factory was still in operation yesterday, Xinhua news agency reported. Police said workers began arguing over a personal matter at around 11pm on Sunday and the situation soon erupted into an all-out brawl involving around 2,000 workers. Pictures posted online showed windows and doors smashed and cars overturned. Around 5,000 riot police were mobilized to quell the violence, Xinhua said. An initial investigation found that workers from Shandong Province had clashed with others from Henan Province. In a statement yesterday, Foxconn said the incident escalated from what it called a personal dispute between several employees in a privately managed dormitory, and was brought under control by local police at around 3am. "The cause of this dispute is under investigation by local authorities and we are working closely with them in this process, but it appears not to have been work-related," Foxconn said. Online comments, however, suggested the factory's security guards may have been to blame, Reuters said. In a Weibo posting, Jo-Liang said four or five security guards beat a worker almost to death, while another user, Fan de Sa Hai, quoted a friend from Taiyuan as saying guards beat up two workers from Henan, which led other workers to set quilts on fire and toss them out of dormitory windows. The unrest was the latest in a string of incidents at plants run by Foxconn, the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co and the world's largest contract maker of electronic goods. Drawing attention as a supplier and assembler for Apple products, the Taiwan-based company has faced allegations of poor conditions and mistreatment of workers at its operations on China's mainland where it employs a total of about 1 million workers, and it has been spending heavily recently to improve working conditions and raise wages. Foxconn does not confirm which of its plants supply Apple, but an employee told Reuters that the Taiyuan plant is among those that assemble and make parts for Apple's latest iPhone 5. |
| Chongqing's ex-police chief jailed for 15 years Posted: 24 Sep 2012 09:37 AM PDT The former police chief of Chongqing City was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday on charges of defecting, abuse of power, taking bribes and other crimes. Wang Lijun told the court he would not appeal the sentence, which was lighter than the 20-year term suggested in sentencing guidelines. The Chengdu City Intermediate People's Court in southwest China's Sichuan Province noted Wang's cooperation in exposing the crimes of others, especially in the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood by the wife of Chongqing's former Party chief Bo Xilai, actions which merited a lighter sentence. The court heard that on November 15, 2011, Heywood was found dead in his hotel room in Chongqing. Wang told the court that Bogu Kailai had told him she poisoned Heywood, but he concealed the fact from officers he assigned to the case. However, in February this year, after Wang's relationship with Bogu soured, Wang revealed Bogu's involvement. Police re-investigated and Bogu was charged. Earlier that month, Wang's positions and duties had been adjusted and his close aids illegally interrogated, the court heard, and that was when Wang entered the US Consulate General in Chengdu asking for political asylum. The court also heard that from January 2010 to February 2012, when director of the Chongqing Public Security Bureau, Wang instructed staff to use technical investigation measures against many people without obtaining legal approval from authorities. From September 2008 to November 2009, Wang, as executive deputy chief and then chief of Chongqing Public Security Bureau, had accepted bribes to illegally release four suspects who had been detained, the court found. Wang's actions in reporting the involvement of Bogu in Heywood's murder, providing evidence and willingly assisting in the reinvestigation, played a key role in cracking the case, the court said, and the penalty for the crime of bending the law for selfish ends should be lighter. After his defection, Wang turned himself in and confessed to his crimes, which also merited a lighter penalty. He also produced important clues for exposing serious offenses committed by others. This also merited a lighter penalty, the court ruled yesterday. |
| Probe at kindergarten over charging VIP fees Posted: 24 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT BEIJING police are investigating a privately owned kindergarten said to have illegally collected money from parents under the name of VIP fees. It is alleged that parents were told to pay 150,000 (US$23,790) to 300,000 yuan to win a place for their children. In return, education fees would be waived. The sum would be returned when the children left the school, but until then the kindergarten could use the money as it saw fit, yesterday's Legal Evening News reported. But when parents heard that the contract between the Tongzhou District Harvard Cradle Kindergarten and a local property company was about to end, they asked for their money to be returned to them. According to the newspaper that was rejected and they were told they would have to pay education fees if they wanted their money ahead of time. But the kindergarten head surnamed Wang dismissed the allegation, saying only one parent didn't get his money back. He refused to say why he had raised funds in this way, the paper said. An official with the Tongzhou education commission office said: "We are just in charge of the public-owned kindergartens. The pricing of the private-run ones is the job of pricing departments." Pang Biao, a Beijing lawyer, said that by raising funds and not charging fees it was a case of illegal fundraising. |
| Coffee shop's new outlet deletes the word 'temple' Posted: 24 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT STARBUCKS China yesterday renamed a newly-opened outlet near one of Buddhism's most famous temples after a wave of controversy over what critics called a "cultural invasion." The coffee shop in Hangzhou had opened as the Lingyin Temple Starbucks, leading some people to believe it was located inside the renowned temple. However, the company said in a statement yesterday that the coffee shop was actually in the Lingyin scenic area, about 20 minutes' walk from the temple's entrance. It said the outlet would now be known as the Lingyin Starbucks. Wang Shan, deputy director of the Lingyin office of the West Lake Administration in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, said: "Actually, the coffeehouse is a long distance from the temple. It is located in the tourist service area on Lingyin Road outside of the temple, as part of the supporting facilities." The temple's administration urged the cafe to change its name to make it clear it was not located inside the temple. In a heated online debate, critics said the US chain's commercial style would spoil the serenity that an oriental Buddhism temple should embrace. Supporters, however, said that the talk of an "invasion" was misplaced as the outlet was not inside the temple but on a nearby commercial street where a KFC restaurant and a shopping mall had been open for more than six months. The incident follows calls in 2009 to stop an earlier "cultural invasion" when the Seattle-based coffee chain had to move its outlet out of Beijing's Forbidden City seven years after it opened. Critics urged closure of the outlet they said was a "humiliation" for a culture exemplified by the ancient buildings. |
| One-child policy prunes China's family trees Posted: 24 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT FAMILY trees are proliferating on the Internet, becoming popular with young people working out the complexities of Chinese family dynamics, yet their presence has triggered worries about the possible disappearance of traditional kindred bonds. The family trees have reminded people of the changing dynamic brought about by China's one-child policy. "I finally understood all the family relations and names for relatives after I saw the chart," said Xiaoxue in an online comment. "I've saved it on my computer to remind me to call my relatives in the correct way." The "correct" way is a bit more complicated than simply using the words "aunt" or "uncle." Each relative has a unique nickname based on age or position in a family hierarchy, making it easy to be confused by the abundant and complicated relations. An uncle on the father's side of the family is known as shu shu in Chinese, while an uncle on the mother's side is referred to as jiu jiu. Xiang Ningjie, 23, who works in southwest China's Chongqing, was easily able to recall the names of his closest relatives, including 10 uncles and six aunts. Xiang said he spent a great deal of time with his family as a child. Luo Xian, 22, a woman from the same city, said that although she knows how to refer to her family members, they don't care about the titles very much. "I believe the appellations should be simplified. Maybe people can use shu shu to refer to all of their uncles, no matter which side of the family they are on," Luo said. In recent years, the one-child policy has loosened, and one-child families have been allowed to have another child in many rural areas. But young parents in some cities don't plan to have more children because of career demands or the pressures of daily life. The structure of modern-day Chinese families has therefore undergone significant changes, with families becoming smaller and family trees much simpler. "Since the 'single-child generation' era has arrived, kindred relations will become simpler and will face the prospect of fading away," said Wang Zhongwu, a sociology professor at Shandong University. However, Kong Lingshao, 58, a 76th-generation descendant of Confucius, doesn't think the problem is so serious. "Even though many young people are from one-child families, there are still some people from rural areas where parents are permitted to have two children, so the number of relatives will perhaps be reduced but not disappear," he said. |
| Chinese Court Sentences Ex-Police Chief to 15 Years Posted: 24 Sep 2012 08:55 AM PDT  Source: Wall Street Journal By Jeremy Page BEIJING—China moved toward concluding its political crisis and setting up a once-a-decade leadership change, when a court handed a 15-year jail sentence to the former police chief of Chongqing city who triggered turmoil in the Communist Party elite. "Wang, Chongqing's former vice mayor and police chief, was charged with several crimes and received a combined punishment for all offenses," Xinhua said. Mr. Wang could have faced the death penalty, according to lawyers and legal experts. Instead, he was treated with relative leniency because prosecutors noted several mitigating factors in his case, including the help he provided in convicting the wife of his boss, Bo Xilai, for the murder of a British businessman. The court's announcement clears the way for Chinese authorities to declare their decision on whether to press criminal charges against Mr. Bo, the former party leader of Chongqing, who has been under investigation by the party's internal disciplinary body. Mr. Bo, once a candidate for promotion to China's top leadership this year, advocated a strong role for the state in the economy and society, and courted controversy by overseeing a Maoist revival movement as Party chief of Chongqing. U.S. officials should be relieved that Mr. Wang escaped execution, as the Obama administration faced criticism from some Republican lawmakers earlier this year for not offering Mr. Wang asylum either on humanitarian or intelligence grounds after he fled to a U.S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu in February. The party leadership is expected to announce soon the dates for a plenum—a meeting of the roughly 300-strong Central Committee—followed by a bigger meeting, the 18th Party Congress, at which President Hu Jintao and other leaders are due to retire from their party posts. Those meetings were both expected to take place in the fall, but party insiders say announcement of the exact dates has been delayed by internal debate over how to deal with Mr. Bo. Some observers expect an announcement this week because a weeklong public holiday begins Oct. 1, China's National Day. Several hotels housing the 2,270 delegates to the Congress, which usually lasts about a week, said they hadn't been given exact dates for the meeting, but had reserved rooms for most of October. One hotel said it had reserved rooms for delegates from Oct. 15 to 31. Another said Oct. 11 to 25. The Congress has been held as early as September and as late as November in the last 15 years, but the timing has always been announced in late August or early September following a meeting of the Politburo—the Party's top 25 leaders. Mr. Bo's supporters have argued that he should face internal disciplinary measures but shouldn't be subjected to criminal charges, which would almost certainly result in a prison term, given China's conviction rate of about 98%. But the likelihood of Mr. Wang going to trial appeared to increase last week when an official account of the proceeding suggested that Mr. Bo had interfered in the case of the murdered Briton, Neil Heywood. That account, published by the state-run Xinhua news agency, didn't mention Mr. Bo by name but said the unnamed leader of the party in Chongqing had rebuked Mr. Wang and slapped him in the face after being told that Mr. Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, was a chief suspect in the murder. Ms. Gu was convicted of the murder last month and given a death penalty with a two-year reprieve—a sentence that is typically commuted to life imprisonment in China. On March 26, The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that the British government had asked Chinese authorities to investigate Mr. Heywood's death, and to describe his links to the Bo family as well as Mr. Wang's allegations. Preparations for the party congress may also have been delayed by a two-week absence from official duties this month by Vice President Xi Jinping, the man expected to take over from Mr. Hu, which party insiders have blamed on a back injury sustained while swimming. Mr. Xi reappeared last weekend and has made two high-profile public appearances since, including a meeting with visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in an apparent bid to quell rumors about his health and to burnish his diplomatic credentials. State media reported that in the meeting with Mr. Panetta, Mr. Xi described as a "farce" the Japanese government's purchase of the Senkaku islands, which China calls Diaoyu and claims as part of its territory, from private owners this month. Also last week, Mr. Xi met Southeast Asian leaders and government ministers at a trade fair in China and sought to reassure them that Beijing was committed to a peaceful resolution of disputes with neighboring countries, according to state media. "We are firm in safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity and are committed to resolving differences with neighbors concerning territorial and maritime rights and interests peacefully through friendly negotiations," said Mr. Xi, according to Xinhua.   |
| China’s Galloping Horse, Reliance team up to buy Digital Domain Posted: 24 Sep 2012 08:52 AM PDT  Source: Los Angeles By Richard Verrier A joint venture led by Chinese film and TV company Galloping Horse has submitted a winning bid to acquire one of Hollywood's leading visual effects studios. The bid potentially marks the latest acquisition of a U.S. media company by a Chinese firm. China's Dalian Wanda Group recently purchased AMC Entertainment, the nation's second-largest theater chain. The offer, made at an auction in New York on Friday, is subject to approval by the Bankruptcy Court, which will review the proposed sale at a hearing on Monday. The bid is significantly higher than a previously announced offer from private investment firm Searchlight Capital Partners to buy Digital Domain's production studios for $15 million. "This is a great day for Digital Domain," said Digital Domain Chief Executive Ed Ulbrich. "Our new partners have incredible strength and reach in the global entertainment marketplace. They are powerful strategic partners that understand our business and our clients' business. Their support enables us to continue creating the highest quality entertainment and advertising and puts us in the strongest financial position that Digital Domain has ever been in." Ivy Zhong, vice chairman and managing director of Beijing Galloping Horse Film Co. Ltd., said, "Digital Domain is a legend in the industry, known for its world-class quality of work and creative talent. We are thrilled to have found a partner in Reliance MediaWorks that is as committed as we are to ensuring Digital Domain's continued excellence and success." Reliance has been steadily expanding its influence in Hollywood, buying post-production companies and in 2009 striking a partnership with Steven Spielberg to provide financing for DreamWorks Studios. Digital Domain previously established a partnership with Reliance MediaWorks last year to open studios in London and Mumbai and to offer a variety of post-production services. "We have had a wonderful working relationship with Digital Domain over the years and we could not be happier to take it further through the joint Galloping Horse – Reliance acquisition," Venkatesh Roddam, chief executive, Film & Media Services, Reliance MediaWorks, said in a statement. Beijing Galloping Horse and Reliance MediaWorks have a combined value of more than $25 billion. Florida-based Digital Domain Media Group filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code earlier this month. The company has been squeezed by rising competition in the increasingly global effects business, fewer film projects and rising expenditures from new efforts, particularly the recently founded animation studio in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The studio opened this year with the help of large financial incentives from the city and state. Founded in 1993 by "Titanic" and "Avatar" director James Cameron and other partners, Digital Domain has created effects for more than 90 movies, including "Titanic," "Tron: Legacy," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and the "Transformers" films. Cameron no longer has a stake in the company.   |
| Posted: 24 Sep 2012 08:49 AM PDT Have You Heard…   |
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