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News » Society » China's Xi Jinping meets Panetta |
- China's Xi Jinping meets Panetta
- Bird flu hits Guangdong
- VIDEO: Wang Lijun 'does not contest charges'
- Tunnel collapse men free after 40 hours
- Old wounds fuel Japan protests
- Diaoyu Islands map issued
- Chinese ships sail to Diaoyu waters
- Warning of further action
- Former police chief admits trying to defect to the US
- China seeks 'new' military ties
- Navies in joint exercise
- Girl suffocates, cops say, but family has its doubts
- Case of GM rice fed kids grows convoluted
- Mainland mom jailed for lying to give birth in HK
- Protests Escalate China-Japan Rift
- Uniqlo, Aeon Shut China Stores as Island Spat Escalates
- Bo’s Police Chief Wang Admits to Defecting in Two-Day Trial
- Lenovo Makes First Software Buy to Expand in Cloud Computing
- Have You Heard…
- Japanese atrocity remembered
| China's Xi Jinping meets Panetta Posted: 18 Sep 2012 07:56 PM PDT China's Vice-President Xi Jinping meets US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta in Beijing, in his first key meeting after a two-week absence. |
| Posted: 18 Sep 2012 05:51 PM PDT THE H5N1 avian flu virus has been detected in the city of Zhanjiang in south China's Guangdong province, experts confirmed yesterday. |
| VIDEO: Wang Lijun 'does not contest charges' Posted: 18 Sep 2012 03:34 PM PDT The ex-police chief at the heart of China's biggest political scandal in years did not contest the charges against him, court officials have said. |
| Tunnel collapse men free after 40 hours Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:59 AM PDT Rescuers and officials guide one of the 16 men pulled to safety last night after they had been trapped by an expressway tunnel cave-in for about 40 hours in Longnan County in east China's Jiangxi Province. Shortly before midnight on Sunday, the tunnel, which was under construction, collapsed about 20 meters from an entrance. The tunnel is part of a 3,429-kilometer expressway from northeast China's Heilongjiang Province to Guangdong Province in the south. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Old wounds fuel Japan protests Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:38 AM PDT OLD wounds amplified outrage over a burning territorial dispute yesterday as thousands of Chinese protested Japan's "purchase" of China's Diaoyu Islands and marked the 81st anniversary of a Japanese invasion that China has never forgotten. China marks every September 18 by sounding sirens to remember the 1931 incident when Japan invaded the northeastern part of China, setting off a brutal occupation that ended only at the close of World War II. The date has been marked as the "day of national humiliation." This year, as Chinese fume over last week's Japanese "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, protests spread across the country. Outside the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, thousands of protesters shouted patriotic slogans and demanded a boycott of Japanese goods. Some burned Japanese flags and threw apples, water bottles and eggs at the embassy, which was heavily guarded by three layers of paramilitary police and metal barricades. Streams of people marched past the embassy in orderly groups of about 150 people, herded by police who urged them to remain calm and peaceful. Some carried posters of Chairman Mao Zedong, and many shouted slogans such as: "United, love China, never forget our national shame." "We believe we need to declare war on them because the Japanese devils are too evil. Down with little Japan," said Wang Guoming, a retired soldier who said he came from Linfen in Shanxi Province, 600 kilometers away, to vent his frustration. In Shanghai, many Japanese-owned or oriented shops and restaurants in the western part of the city, where the Japanese consulate is, either closed or covered any Japan-brand signs. Uniqlo, Asia's biggest clothing retailer, closed some of its outlets but opened its flagship store on Shanghai's Nanjing Road W. in the afternoon. Protests also took place in Guangzhou, Wenzhou and other Chinese cities. Japan's Kyodo News agency reported protests in at least 100 cities. Scores of Japanese-owned factories and stores in China were closed yesterday. Big name brands and retailers appeared to be suffering the brunt of the latest mass outburst of anti-Japan sentiment. Many companies said they closed fearing the 81st anniversary of the Japanese invasion would bring a fresh wave of protests. Pain from the protests was being felt in Tokyo, too, where business has slowed for the many shopkeepers catering to Chinese tourists. Many employees of Japanese retailers, automakers and other companies in China stayed home yesterday. The Japanese school in Beijing was closed on Monday, a Japanese public holiday, and yesterday. Staff were uncertain about what would happen today. Toyota Motor Corp would not reveal which or how many of its factories were closed, saying it was up to each affiliate or subsidiary to decide. Employee safety was the priority, it said in a company statement. Honda Motor Corp said its five assembly plants in China were closed yesterday and would be today, mainly to adjust production due to the anti-Japanese backlash on sales. Honda dealerships have also been damaged in recent protests, the company said. Honda's China sales account for about a fifth of its global total, with Toyota's accounting for about 10 percent and Nissan Motor Co's for over a quarter. Kobe Steel shut four of its various steel, aluminum and construction machinery plants in China, said spokesman Gary Tsuchida. Sharp Corp, which gets about a fifth of its sales from China, said its various factories were operating as usual but employees were being told to avoid unnecessary travel. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which has a big shipbuilding joint venture in Nantong, near Shanghai, also continued business as usual. Sony Corp suspended production at two factories out of the seven it operates in China yesterday. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:37 AM PDT CHINA issued a thematic map on the Diaoyu island and its affiliated islands yesterday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a routine press briefing that the map, issued by SinoMaps Press, is another concrete measure taken by the Chinese government to enhance its administration of the Diaoyu island and its affiliated islands. Last Saturday, China's State Oceanic Administration released a string of geographic coordinates of the Diaoyu Islands, including the exact longitude and latitude of the main island and 70 of its affiliated islands. It also publishes location maps, 3D graphs and sketch maps for the Diaoyu Islands. |
| Chinese ships sail to Diaoyu waters Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:37 AM PDT THREE Chinese ships entered waters near the Diaoyu Islands yesterday, Japan's coast guard said. A total of 11 Chinese vessels, 10 of them marine surveillance ships, sailed into the area around the islands, in a move that came as fresh anti-Japan protests rocked Chinese cities. Three of the surveillance ships entered waters around one of the islands between 5:20pm and 6:02pm, the Japan Coast Guard said in a statement. The 10 surveillance ships continued sailing in a fleet in the area off the largest island in the group. A Chinese fisheries patrol boat was also seen sailing near the island but later moved close to another island in the chain. The ship told Japanese vessels it was carrying out legitimate activity, as the Diaoyu Islands were Chinese sovereign territory. The 11 ships had all left the area by late last night. Earlier in the day, a Japanese government spokesman said two Japanese people had swum ashore after arriving at the islands. They arrived in a small boat, a spokesman at the coast guard in Okinawa said, and were back in their boat shortly afterward. A group of Taiwan fishermen is planning to sail to the Diaoyu Islands this week. About 60 fishing boats are expected to head for the islands on Saturday from a port in northeast Taiwan's Ilan County, said Lin Chi-shan, a co-organizer of the event. |
| Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:37 AM PDT DEFENSE Minister Liang Guanglie warned yesterday that China reserves the right to take further action against Japan in the two countries' ongoing dispute over the Diaoyu Islands. General Liang said that Japan should bear full responsibility for "heating up" the issue after the Japanese government took the decision to "purchase" the islands. He made it clear that while China would still like to see a negotiated solution, he hoped that the Japanese government would "undo its mistakes and come back to the right track of negotiations." |
| Former police chief admits trying to defect to the US Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:08 AM PDT THE former police chief of Chongqing City admitted attempting to defect to the United States and did not contest charges of bribery and illegal surveillance at his trial yesterday. Wang Lijun sought to conceal the murder of a British businessman by the wife of former Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai, according to an official account of the trial. A summary of the trial by a court spokesman fleshed out Wang's role in the murder last year, saying that Bo's wife, Bogu Kailai, conferred with him before and after the crime. Bogu confessed to the murder of her business partner Neil Heywood and received a suspended death sentence at a trial last month. But prosecutors acknowledged that Wang's cooperation was central to cracking the murder case and exposing leads to major crimes committed by unnamed others, indicating that he will likely get a lenient sentence when the verdict is announced in about 10 days. "The accused, Wang Lijun, voluntarily gave himself up after committing the crime of defection, and then gave a truthful account of the main crimes involved in his defection," court spokesman Yang Yuquan said, referring to Wang's dramatic flight to the US consulate in Chengdu in February. Yang said that Wang "exposed leads concerning major criminal offences by others, and played an important role in investigating and dealing with the cases concerned." Yang added: "According to law, his punishment may be reduced." The charges against Wang carry sentences ranging from a lengthy jail term to the death penalty. As police chief of Chongqing, Wang was known as the strong arm of the law, energetically carrying out Bo's crackdown on crime and gangs. But "he conducted technical surveillance on many people many times without getting permission, or by falsifying permission," Yang said. "This gravely jeopardizes socialist law and violated legal rights of Chinese citizens." Wang, shown on state television looking relaxed during the hearing, was also charged with receiving some 3.05 million yuan (US$484,000) in unspecified "money and assets" in return for securing benefits for unidentified people. Yang did not give details of the gifts or from whom Wang received them. Wang, 52, lifted the lid on the murder and cover-up of Heywood in February when he went to a US consulate and told envoys there about the murder. Within two months of Wang's 24-hour visit to the consulate, Bo was sacked as Chonqqing's Party chief. Wang's trial began on Monday in Chengdu with an unannounced closed-door session to hear charges of defection and abuse of power, which involved state secrets, Yang said. It continued behind closed doors yesterday in the Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu. Prosecutors said Wang "clearly knew that Bogu Kailai was a major suspect in a case of murder, and deliberately concealed that so she would not be prosecuted," Yang said. However, Wang decided to later reopen the investigation. "The defendant exposed other people's serious crimes and played a crucial role in the investigations of relevant cases, making a major contribution," Yang said. |
| China seeks 'new' military ties Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:08 AM PDT CHINESE Defense Minister Liang Guanglie has called for more efforts to promote a new type of military ties between China and the United States. Liang made the comments at a joint press conference in Beijing with visiting US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. "The two sides should, within the framework of building a China-US cooperative partnership, advance a new type of military ties featuring equality, reciprocity and win-win cooperation in an active and pragmatic way," Liang said. China and the US should explore a path of coexistence between a rising power and an established power to establish a new type of big power relations, Liang said. Panetta invited China to participate in the 2014 Rim of the Pacific Exercise. "The US Navy will invite China to send a ship to participate in the RIMPAC 2014 exercise," he said, emphasizing that the exercise hosted by the US Navy's Pacific Command is the world's largest international maritime exercise. Panetta said his country's goal "is to have the United States and China establish the most important bilateral relationship in the world. And the key to that is to establish a strong military-to-military relationship." He added: "We also discussed establishing peacekeeping exchanges between our two militaries to enhance our capabilities in this critical area." Panetta said the US intends to establish a relationship with China that is healthy, stable, reliable and continuous. "The key is to have senior-level interactions that we are engaging in to reduce the potential of miscalculation, and boost real understanding and expand trust between our countries," he said. Panetta, on his first trip to China as US defense secretary, acknowledged differences between the two countries over maritime security in East Asia, but said better ties would "advance peace and stability and prosperity in the entire Asia-Pacific region." Panetta said he and Liang had candid discussions on the difficult issues confronting the two countries, including US arms sales to Taiwan, the shift in US strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific and cybersecurity. Panetta's three-day visit to China is part of an effort to bolster military-to-military ties between the two countries and avoid the kind of on-again, off-again relationship they have had in the past. Panetta will meet Vice President Xi Jinping today and visit a Chinese naval base in Qingdao. |
| Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:07 AM PDT THE US and Chinese navies have carried out drills to combat pirates off the Horn of Africa, in a rare joint exercise between the two nations, the US Navy said yesterday. Somali pirates have attacked hundreds of ships in the Indian Ocean over the past few years, targeting everything from oil tankers to cargo ships loaded with Chinese goods. US destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill paired up with Chinese frigate Yi Yang on Monday for training in boarding, search and seizure. |
| Girl suffocates, cops say, but family has its doubts Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT POLICE have detained four people in the northern city of Tianjin in a case in which they said a two-year-old girl died on a school bus after she was molested by a 57-year-old driver. Police announced that the girl died of "suffocation in high temperatures" after she was left alone in the school bus for seven hours, forgotten by the kindergarten teachers on August 29. The driver, two teachers and a kindergarten official have been detained, the Youth Times reported. But the girl's parents are casting doubts on the police investigation since they found injures on her body. The newspaper said the last time the parents saw their daughter, she was dead, clenching her tiny fists, with eight holes in her chest as well as a wound on her face. The girl wore only her underpants, put on inside out, and the parents were shocked to see blood on the girl's sex organs. Forensic reports show the girl's hymen was damaged. Police told the parents that the driver "touched" the girl's private parts, but they said that was not the direct cause of her death, the newspaper said. The girl died of suffocation in the bus, with all windows sealed, in the seven hours, police said. "How can it even be possible that my daughter died of suffocation with so many injures on her body?" asked Xu Weisheng, the girl's father. |
| Case of GM rice fed kids grows convoluted Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT AN investigation into a widely panned US-China joint project that used dozens of Chinese children as guinea pigs for a new type of genetically modified rice is getting more and more complicated as different allegations spring up. Twenty-four rural pupils in Hunan Province are said to have been fed genetically modified "Golden Rice" in a nutrition research program led by Tang Guangwen, a professor from Massachusetts-based Tufts University. Parents said their children, aged between six and eight, had their blood drawn five times in the three-week testing period, but the whereabouts of their blood samples remains unknown, China Business reported yesterday. The school said blood samples were just for routine physical checkups and never showed the results to parents, they said. The Hengyang City Center for Disease Control and Prevention denied allegations that they ever entrusted the Jiangkou Town healthcare center to take the children's blood samples. "We neither participated in the trial nor had any clues," it said. Tang said he took blood samples to the United States. The denial of the province's CDC echoed earlier statements of the Hengyang government and Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. However, Zhang Lingling, mother of a girl in the second grade at the time, said officials with the province's CDC were present when the school held a meeting with parents to persuade them to agree to the study. Also among them, she said, was Yin Shi'an, a national CDC official listed as the third author on the paper, who is under the investigation for involvement in the project. Zhang was told that a total of 72 children were picked to have meals that were said to be nutritious. They were fed either genetically modified Golden Rice, spinach or carotene capsules, according to Tufts University. Many parents signed the agreement without going through the terms or knowing genetically modified food was involved, Zhang added. Parents of the children also expressed fears over whether there might be risks with genetically modified food. "I only learned the news a few days ago. I am very worried because it seems that no one can clearly explain what happened," said a parent surnamed Liu, whose 11-year-old was said to have taken part in the program. Parents are frustrated by slow progress of an official investigation launched in August. |
| Mainland mom jailed for lying to give birth in HK Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT A COURT in Hong Kong sentenced yesterday a woman from China's mainland to eight months in jail for lying about her pregnancy upon her entry into the city, as measures to limit mainland births are stepped up. The 26-year-old woman entered Hong Kong in late August, when she was 38 weeks pregnant, after she produced a fake medical certificate that claimed she had completed 28 weeks of pregnancy, a government statement said. At the border, the woman said she came to the city for sightseeing, but checks revealed she had previously been turned back by authorities in June for not having a hospital booking. The woman was again denied entry, but she reported sick and was subsequently admitted to a hospital. She gave birth 10 days later. "Under the laws of Hong Kong, any person who makes false representation to an immigration officer commits an offense," an Immigration Department spokesman said about the eight months sentence. "The Immigration Department will continue to step up checking at control points to prevent non-local pregnant women who do not have confinement booking from coming to Hong Kong," he said. Hong Kong, with 7million people, has been struggling to cope with tens of thousands of mainland women who arrive yearly to give birth, thereby gaining residency rights for their children. Mainlanders accounted for nearly half of Hong Kong's 88,000 births in 2010, prompting an outcry over shortages of beds in maternity wards and the soaring cost of childbirth in the city. The Hong Kong government set a quota of 31,000 mainland mothers in private hospitals this year and 3,400 at public hospitals. |
| Protests Escalate China-Japan Rift Posted: 18 Sep 2012 08:58 AM PDT
BEIJING—Protesters turned out in force in Chinese cities, escalating a territorial dispute between China and Japan, while Japanese companies again shut down stores and factories as a precaution against violence. Chinese officials said Tuesday they reserve the right to take further action to assert their claims, while a landing on one of the islands by two Japanese nationals drew a complaint from China's Foreign Ministry. The Japanese government, meanwhile, said 10 Chinese patrol boats were spotted near Japanese territorial waters around the disputed islands, adding that Japanese coast guard vessels were urging them not to get any closer. But Japan's top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, said that the large number of Chinese fishing boats reported to be heading for the area had so far failed to appear. In Beijing, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, meeting with senior Chinese military leaders Tuesday as part of broader Asian visit, renewed calls for peace. "We are urging calm and restraint by all sides and we encourage them to maintain open channels of communications in order to resolve these disputes diplomatically and peacefully," he said at a news conference on Tuesday with China Defense Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie. "It is in no country's interest for this situation to escalate into conflict that would undermine peace and stability in this very important region." Gen. Liang suggested that China is leaving military options on the table but hoped to resolve the dispute through negotiation. "We do hope the Japanese government will undo its mistakes and come back to the right track of negotiation," he said. "We reserve right to take further actions," he added. "That being said, we still hope for a peaceful and negotiated solution for this issue and we hope to work together and work well with the Japanese government in properly handling this dispute." A number of Japanese companies, including Sony Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp., shut down facilities in China on Tuesday as a precautionary measure. The crowds gathering in China on Tuesday were spurred by the anniversary of a 1931 event that provided the pretext for Japan to invade northern China, as well as continuous coverage of the islands dispute in China's state-controlled media. Both Beijing and Tokyo claim the islands, which are known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. The number of protesters appeared at least to match the number at this weekend's demonstrations, though there were no signs of the vandalism that marked those. In Beijing, a crowd of roughly 1,000 protesters hurled eggs at the Japanese embassy and held up portraits of Mao Zedong, shouting slogans such as "Smash Japanese imperialism!" The protesters were surrounded by heavily armored riot police, who used loudspeakers and megaphones to call for peace even as they said Chinese officials agreed with their concerns. At the Japanese consulate in Shanghai, hundreds gathered in front of newly erected antiriot fencing to chant anti-Japanese slogans. Police permitted groups of about 100 protesters at a time near the perimeter of the consulate. In the southern manufacturing hub of Shenzhen, several hundred protesters crowded downtown under the watchful eye of still hundreds more paramilitary troops standing guard in front of the local Communist Party headquarters. The mainly young male crowd sang China's national anthem and chanted "10,000 years of life to Chairman Mao!" "The Japanese are always bullying us," said one woman selling snacks to the crowd. "First they invade, now the Diaoyu islands." Fitch Ratings said Tuesday Japanese auto and technology manufacturers' ratings may come under pressure should the clash between China and Japan escalate or if tensions are prolonged. A Toyota spokesman declined to give details of its shutdown, but a person familiar with the matter said employees at the company's Chinese headquarters in Beijing were staying at home on Tuesday and weren't sure when they would return. Sony said it suspended two of its seven plants in China the same day, but declined to say which. Seven & i Holdings Co., which owns 7-Eleven convenience stores, closed its outlets in Beijing and the southwestern city of Chengdu. Fast Retailing Co., operator of the rapidly expanding Uniqlo chain of casual-clothing stores, said 42 of its 145 stores in China were closed Tuesday. Mitsumi Electric Co., a maker of electronic parts, said Tuesday that anti-Japan demonstrators over the weekend broke into its plant in the city of Qingdao, damaging facilities there. Part of the plant was burned down in an attack, the company said, though the extent of the damage had yet to be confirmed. Construction machinery maker Komatsu Ltd. halted all its plant operations in China on Monday and Tuesday. Stone-throwing protesters broke windows at one of its facilities on Sunday, the company said. In Japan, the top government spokesman said at a news conference Tuesday that two Japanese nationals landed on one of the disputed islands earlier in the day, according to the coast guard. Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujimura added that the two have since left the island. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei called the landing "a gravely provocative action violating Chinese territorial sovereignty" in a statement on the ministry's website. In Tokyo, about 50 protesters gathered outside Shibuya station to call for Japan to assert its claim to the disputed islands. "Protect the resources at the bottom of the sea!" read one of their signs. The demonstration was organized by Ganbare Nippon, or Hang Tough Japan, a nationalist organization that has also put together fishing expeditions to the islands. Demonstrators in Beijing on Tuesday held high red banners urging fellow Chinese to protect China's territorial claims over the islands and to oppose what is described by the government as aggressive moves by the Japanese there. About 1,000 people marched in a continuous loop past the Japanese embassy, while more than a 1,000 others looked on, taking pictures and waving Chinese flags. Hundreds of police, some clad in riot gear, formed a human shield that prevented protesters from approaching the embassy's concrete blast walls. Police prevented large groups of onlookers from forming by insisting they keep walking and not stop to take pictures. "Don't stop here, look out for your safety," police yelled through megaphones. Protesters carrying portraits of Mao were more prevalent than in days past. Protesters said allusions to the former dictator were a challenge to China's current leaders, whom many see as unable to match with action the harsh rhetoric they've directed at Tokyo in recent days. "The current government is relatively weak," said one 23-year-old watching Tuesday's protests, saying that unlike in the era of Chairman Mao, they didn't present China as a strong country to the rest of the world. He said he wasn't optimistic this would improve under Xi Jinping, who is expected to succeed Hu Jintao as president and Communist Party chief during an upcoming leadership transition. He referred to the Foreign Ministry as the "Ministry of Protest," a jab at Chinese leaders' repeated statements that they are strongly protesting Japan's moves on the islands. |
| Uniqlo, Aeon Shut China Stores as Island Spat Escalates Posted: 18 Sep 2012 08:48 AM PDT  Source: Bloomberg News Japan's Fast Retailing Co. (9983) and Aeon Co. (8267) shuttered stores in China, the world's second-biggest economy, as a territorial dispute and the anniversary of the Japanese invasion prompted thousands to protest in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities. Japan's purchase last week of uninhabited islands claimed by both countries is threatening trade ties of more than $340 billion and complicating efforts to fortify growth in both countries as the European debt crisis saps demand for exports. Protesters in China have ransacked retailers, smashed store fronts and overturned cars, with fires having damaged a Panasonic Corp. (6752) plant and a Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) dealership. "If things continue to deteriorate, a possibility, the damage could become serious, recovery might take a year or more, trade could contract," said Edwin Merner, president of Atlantis Investment Research Corp. in Tokyo, which manages about $300 million in assets. In 2011, China was the largest market for Japanese exports, while Japan was the fourth-largest market for Chinese exports. China's shipments to Japan totaled $148.3 billion last year while it imported $194.6 billion of Japanese goods, according to Chinese customs data. Shares Decline Fast Retailing fell the most of any company in the benchmark Nikkei 225 index, dropping 7 percent in Tokyo, the biggest decline since June 5. Nissan fell 5 percent, the biggest drop since May 7, and Honda (7267) Motor Co. slide 2.5 percent, the most since Aug. 1. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 0.4 percent. Japanese markets were shut yesterday for a holiday. Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara triggered the dispute in April when he said he may use public funds to buy the islands, known as Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese, from a private Japanese owner. Tensions escalated after Japan's cabinet approved the purchase of the islands for 2.05 billion yen ($26 million) on Sept. 11. China has said it doesn't accept the move. Thousands protested in front of the Japanese embassy in Beijing today, demanding control of the islands and calling for boycotts of Japanese goods. Similar demonstrations have taken place in cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Nanjing and Harbin in the past week. In Shenzhen, police fired teargas and water cannons to stop protesters from reaching a Japanese department store, Radio Television Hong Kong reported Sept. 17. Car Sales Sales of Japanese-branded passenger cars fell last month in China, compared with gains of more than 10 percent for German, American and South Korean vehicles according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. China is the world's largest car market. Toyota, Nissan and Honda all reported damage to dealerships in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao. Separately, Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Ltd. (2008) showed footage of Japanese cars that had been overturned, with their windshields smashed by protesters. Nissan halted production at two factories in China yesterday and today, spokesman Chris Keeffe said by phone. Toyota halted output at some China plants, according to spokesman Joichi Tachikawa. Mazda Motor Corp. (7261) and Suzuki Motor Corp. (7269) will reopen plants tomorrow after suspending output. Honda and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (7211) have also closed plants and neither have said when production may resume. Baidu Animation Many dealerships in China that sell Japanese cars have shut after some outlets were attacked and vandalized, said Luo Lei, deputy secretary general of the China Automobile Dealers Association. "We don't know how far damages on Japanese companies will extend while all they can do is just hold still," said Kenichi Hirano, general manager and strategist at Tachibana Securities Co. in Tokyo. "Investors will take a wait-and-see attitude toward companies related with China such as retailers and autos." Baidu Inc., China's largest search engine, and Tencent Holdings Ltd. (700), the nation's biggest Internet company, placed patriotic banners on their websites. Clicking the image above Baidu's search box took users to a separate web page with the message "The Diaoyu Islands belong to China!" and an enlarged image of the Chinese flag over the disputed area. Protesters in Qingdao ransacked a Jusco supermarket and a Heiwado Co. (8276) department store in the city of Changsha was attacked, the Kyodo News Agency reported. Jusco is operated by Aeon Co. Stores Closed Fast Retailing spokesman Aldo Liguori said by phone that there had been no reports of injuries or damage to outlets, with the company continuing to monitor the situation. A Uniqlo store in Beijing's Sanlitun neighborhood was closed with a sign posted on its front saying normal operations have been halted for the day. Seven & I Holdings Co. closed 211 stores in China and Jusco has shut 30 outlets as of today. Flights Canceled Spring Airlines, China's largest low cost carrier, canceled 10 charter flights for group tours from Sept. 23 because of reduced demand amid tension with Japan, spokesman Zhang Wu'an said by phone today. All Nippon Airways Co. (9202) said about 3,800 seats from Japan and 15,000 on trips from China have been canceled on flights through November with no services scrapped so far, spokesman Ryosei Nomura said. Japan Airlines Co. (9201) said 5,000 passengers have canceled bookings through October. In the southern city of Guangzhou, police said they detained seven people for vandalizing a Japanese-brand car on Sept. 16 and held another three for smashing an unidentified store front. The northern city of Xi'an banned "illegal" protests in some areas and said any vandalism in the name of "national interest" won't be allowed, according to a statement posted on the local public security bureau's website. Sony, Panasonic Sony Corp. (6758) shut two of its seven Chinese plants and plans to reopen them tomorrow, spokeswoman Mami Imada said by phone. Panasonic is temporarily closing plants in the cities of Qingdao, Suzhou and Zhuhai. The electronics maker is checking on damage at its Qingdao and Suzhou facilities, spokesman Atsushi Hinoki said. Canon Inc. (7751) closed two of its plants in Guangdong province and one in Jiangsu province through today to ensure the safety of employees, spokesman Hirotomo Fujimori said. No damage has been reported at the factories, he said. Hitachi Ltd. (6501) halted production at two factories in China and partially closed a third while Beijing and Shanghai office staff are working from home, spokesman Yuichi Izumisawa said today. Sept. 18 is the anniversary of the Mukden Incident, also known as the Manchurian Incident, which took place in 1931 near what is now the Chinese city of Shenyang and led to the Japanese invasion of the northeastern portions of China. The protests this month have come as economic growth in China moderated in the second quarter to the slowest pace in three years. That's already led Komatsu Ltd. (6301), the world's second-biggest maker of construction equipment, to cut its full-year profit forecast as a Chinese government campaign to rein in home prices has depressed demand. Japanese Investment The easing economic growth hasn't stopped Japanese investments in China. Foreign direct investment by companies from Japan surged 19.1 percent from a year earlier to $4.73 billion in the first seven months of 2012, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Investment from the European Union fell 2.7 percent and funds from the U.S. rose 1 percent during the same period. In 2005, demonstrations were held across Chinese cities in a row over school textbooks that critics said downplayed Japan's wartime atrocities. Demonstrators called for a boycott of goods from Japan, and some companies in the country reconsidered their investment plans for China. Still, Chinese imports from Japan surged 15.2 percent in 2006, almost triple the previous year's pace. "Sino-Japan relations are often described as hot in trade and cold in politics, but now even the trade relationship is getting cold," said Zhang Jifeng, a researcher with the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Science. "It's hard to tell which side would suffer more from cooling trade but for sure the hurt will be deep for both." |
| Bo’s Police Chief Wang Admits to Defecting in Two-Day Trial Posted: 18 Sep 2012 08:43 AM PDT  Source: Bloomberg News Wang Lijun, the former Chongqing police chief whose flight to a U.S. diplomatic post in February sparked China's biggest political upheaval in a generation, confessed to defecting during a two-day trial that ended today. The wrapping up of Wang's trial signals that China's Communist Party, which undergoes a once-a-decade leadership transition this year, will now turn to the fate of his former boss, ex-Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai. The downfall of Bo, who was suspended from the ruling Politburo in April, threw the transition of power into turmoil as China experienced its worst leadership crisis since the Tiananmen Square protests. "It looks like they are carefully closing doors left open, one by one," said Francois Godement, a professor of political science at Sciences Po in Paris who advises the French foreign ministry on Asian affairs. "It does not mean they won't purge him, but I would bet he'll never be charged in court. Even a trial of a few hours would be too sensitive and risky." Chongqing Model Wang, 52, headed Chongqing's police force from 2009 until early February. He oversaw a crackdown on gangs that raised the profile of Bo's "Chongqing model," with its focus on getting tough on crime and fighting social inequality. The campaign against organized crime, called "da hei," or "strike black," was accompanied by allegations of arbitrary arrests and beatings. Wang employed illegal "technical reconnaissance measures" against "many people on multiple occasions," the official Xinhua News Agency said today. It said he used the methods either without official approval or by forging documents. After his removal as police chief, announced on Feb. 2, Wang fled to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, where he told diplomats that Bo's wife Gu Kailai murdered Heywood, according to U.S. officials briefed on the matter. After a night with American officials that saw the consulate compound ringed by police, Wang turned himself over to government authorities. In a closed-door hearing Monday, Wang was tried on charges of defecting and abusing power. In his trial today, Wang faced charges of bribery and bending the law for personal gain. Covered Up "Prosecutors said Wang knew perfectly well" that Gu was under suspicion of homicide, "but he deliberately covered up for her," the Xinhua News Agency said today. "The circumstances are especially serious." Wang may be shown leniency because he helped investigators with the murder case against Gu and because he surrendered to Chinese authorities, according to Yang. Gu was convicted and given a suspended death sentence last month for murdering Heywood. "The accused Wang Lijun voluntarily gave himself up after defecting and provided the main reason behind his defection," Yang said in the statement. Wang was charged with taking 3.05 million yuan ($482,600) in bribes, he said. Police today cordoned off the main gate to the courthouse and reporters trying to attend the trial were barred from going inside. Bo, 63, committed "serious violations of discipline" in the case, Xinhua reported in April. He has not been publicly charged with any crime and hasn't been seen in public since the end of the National People's Congress in Beijing in March. "The real wider significance of the case is to find pointers on how Bo will be treated," said Steven Tsang, director of the China Policy Institute at the University of Nottingham in the U.K. "I am skeptical that the Bo case will be released ahead of or at the Party Congress. He will be dropped from the Politburo but a full solution over his case may take longer." |
| Lenovo Makes First Software Buy to Expand in Cloud Computing Posted: 18 Sep 2012 08:40 AM PDT  Source: Bloomberg News Lenovo Group Ltd. (992), the world's second-largest maker of personal computers, agreed to buy Stoneware Inc. of the U.S. to gain cloud-computing products in its first acquisition of a software vendor. The purchase is Lenovo's second in less than three weeks as Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing expands the company to take on rivals including Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co. in smartphones, tablets and Internet-ready televisions. Lenovo will use Stoneware to build a "public cloud" for consumers, Cohen said. The service would compete with Apple's iCloud, which lets users store music, movies and applications and access them by the Internet and wirelessly. The acquisition "helps us access and interface with users in a way that we haven't been able to do," Cohen said. "We are not trying to remake ourselves into a software company. What we're trying to do is selectively enter the software market where we can make a difference for our customers, and to support our overall strategy." Lenovo shares gained 0.5 percent to close at HK$6.35 in Hong Kong trading, compared with a 0.3 percent drop in the benchmark Hang Seng Index. They have gained 23 percent this year, compared with a 12 percent rise in the Hang Seng. Cloud Computing Lenovo, whose headquarters are in Beijing and Morrisville, North Carolina, has focused previous acquisitions on hardware. It bought the PC division of International Business Machines Corp. in 2005. Last year, the company acquired control of Medion AG (MDN), an Essen, Germany-based computer maker, and the PC unit of Tokyo-based NEC Corp. (6701) On Sept. 5, Lenovo announced plans to buy the Sao Paulo, Brazil-based consumer-electronics group known as CCE for about $147 million. Cloud computing refers to data and software stored in "clouds" of servers that can be accessed anywhere by devices with Web access, including smartphones and tablet computers. Lenovo has been in a partnership to re-sell Stoneware's software for the past two years, during which time the company's revenue doubled, Stoneware Chief Executive officer Rick German said in an interview, without supplying more specific details. Tablets, Smartphones "We hope to do far better than that as we come together," German said. The software maker is profitable and was founded in 2000, he said. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year, Cohen said. Lenovo will expand Stoneware's cloud-computing offerings to consumers in "the next couple quarters," Cohen said. Owning Stoneware will allow Lenovo to more closely integrate its software with the company's line of tablets and smartphones, Cohen said. "We'll do it in a way that the device matters," Cohen said. "We'll exploit the capabilities of the device with the software, ensuring better devices that run better in the cloud." |
| Posted: 18 Sep 2012 08:36 AM PDT Have You Heard… |
| Posted: 18 Sep 2012 03:04 AM PDT A visitor pays tribute to the 340,000 victims of Nanjing Massacre committed by Japanese troops in December 1937 in a memorial museum in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province today, which is the 81st anniversary of the 9/18 Incident. On September 18, 1931, Japanese troops attacked a Chinese army barrack in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, thus launching a full-scale armed invasion of northeast China. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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