News » Society » Top Chinese security official makes surprise visit to Afghanistan

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• Top Chinese security official makes surprise visit to Afghanistan
• Top Chinese security official makes surprise visit to Afghanistan
• Taiwan ship visits waters off Diaoyu
• Hairy crab time
• Child killer tells police he tried to commit suicide
• Rainy days ahead across the country
• Foreign-funded companies total 436,800 in China
• U.S. audit watchdog in tentative deal to observe in China: official
• China urges Philippines to mend ties after row
• Have You Heard…
• Defenses down as Pentagon chief gets rare visit to naval base
• Burma man 'admits Mekong murders'

Top Chinese security official makes surprise visit to Afghanistan Posted: 22 Sep 2012 08:04 PM PDT TOP Chinese security official yesterday made a surprise visit to Afghanistan, the first one by a Chinese leader in nearly half a century. Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, arrived at Kabul airport late in the afternoon. The four-hour visit had not been announced by Beijing due to security concerns. It followed a two-day trip of Zhou to Singapore, where he met Singaporean leaders on bilateral ties. Zhou, who is in charge of security and justice affairs, had planned to go to Turkmenistan. It marked the first time in 46 years that a Chinese leader set his foot on the soil of Afghanistan, a war-torn country neighboring China. The last visit was made by late Chinese leader Liu Shaoqi in 1966 when he was the President of China. During the past half century, Afghanistan was afflicted with series of military coups and two major wars commenced by the former Soviet Union and the United States respectively. The country is still the front line in the US-led war against terrorism and undergoing daily bombing and bleeding. In Kabul, Zhou held a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "It is in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples for China and Afghanistan to strengthen a strategic and cooperative partnership, which is also conducive to regional peace, stability and development," Zhou was quoted as saying in a written statement released by the Chinese delegation upon his arrival. Zhou said the Chinese government fully respects the right of the Afghan people to choose their own path of development and will actively participate in Afghanistan's reconstruction. China and Afghanistan established diplomatic relations in 1955. The two countries decided in June to upgrade their ties to the level of a strategic and cooperative partnership at a meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Karzai in Beijing, marking a new step for the development of bilateral relations.

Top Chinese security official makes surprise visit to Afghanistan Posted: 22 Sep 2012 08:04 PM PDT TOP Chinese security official yesterday made a surprise visit to Afghanistan, the first one by a Chinese leader in nearly half a century. Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, arrived at Kabul airport late in the afternoon. The four-hour visit had not been announced by Beijing due to security concerns. It followed a two-day trip of Zhou to Singapore, where he met Singaporean leaders on bilateral ties. Zhou, who is in charge of security and justice affairs, had planned to go to Turkmenistan. It marked the first time in 46 years that a Chinese leader set his foot on the soil of Afghanistan, a war-torn country neighboring China. The last visit was made by late Chinese leader Liu Shaoqi in 1966 when he was the President of China. During the past half century, Afghanistan was afflicted with series of military coups and two major wars commenced by the former Soviet Union and the United States respectively. The country is still the front line in the US-led war against terrorism and undergoing daily bombing and bleeding. In Kabul, Zhou held a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "It is in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples for China and Afghanistan to strengthen a strategic and cooperative partnership, which is also conducive to regional peace, stability and development," Zhou was quoted as saying in a written statement released by the Chinese delegation upon his arrival. Zhou said the Chinese government fully respects the right of the Afghan people to choose their own path of development and will actively participate in Afghanistan's reconstruction. China and Afghanistan established diplomatic relations in 1955. The two countries decided in June to upgrade their ties to the level of a strategic and cooperative partnership at a meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Karzai in Beijing, marking a new step for the development of bilateral relations.

Taiwan ship visits waters off Diaoyu Posted: 22 Sep 2012 09:40 AM PDT A CIVILIAN ship from Taiwan on Friday entered the waters around the Diaoyu Islands and left after being threatened by Japanese ships, Taiwanese media reported yesterday. Ta Han 711, a working platform ship, was approached by Japanese Coast Guard vessels from in front and behind when it entered the waters 22 nautical miles off the Diaoyu Islands, the media said. Japanese ships warned the Taiwanese ship in Chinese, saying it had entered Japanese territorial waters. However, the Taiwanese ship responded by saying, "Diaoyutai (Diaoyu Island) belongs to us. We are coming to recover territory, please don't disturb." Wong Chu, the first mate of the ship, said they intended to supply water and food to ships from the Chinese mainland in the waters around the Diaoyu Islands. After they failed to contact the mainland ships, they decided to go to the islands. Reports said the ship was threatened by four Japanese ships along with Japanese aircraft. Under the escort of Taiwanese coast guard ships, vessels from the two sides did not collide nor did a stalemate develop. Ta Han 711 returned to Keelung on Friday night after circling the Diaoyu Islands five or six times, according to the reports. Tension between China and Japan has escalated in recent days, after the Japanese government announced its "purchase" of part of China's Diaoyu Islands, triggering fierce anti-Japanese sentiment in both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. Separately, Former Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said he felt sorry for the Chinese people in a recent interview with Chinese media in Japan, criticizing certain politicians in his country for poor decision making over the Diaoyu Islands issue.

Hairy crab time Posted: 22 Sep 2012 09:38 AM PDT A hairy crab farmer surnamed Jin pulls up his first catch of the year on Yangcheng Lake yesterday in Jiangsu Province. An estimated 3,000 kilograms of crab were caught and then transported to cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Chengdu on the first day of harvest. Many gourmands believe the best hairy crabs come from Yangcheng Lake. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Child killer tells police he tried to commit suicide Posted: 22 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT A MAN who killed three children and injured another 13 in south China on Friday has told police investigators he had attempted suicide because he was frustrated with life. Wu Yechang used an ax to attack 16 children at a care center on Friday afternoon in Pingnan County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Three of his victims died after treatment failed. Wu had earlier contemplated suicide on Friday as a result of frustrations in both his life and work, but changed his mind as he thought it would be a "meaningless" death and decided to do something "big," according to police. He then bought an ax and roamed the streets. When he saw the care center, he broke in and began to slash everyone he saw, Wu told police. Wu had been jobless since he returned home to Pingnan from Guangdong Province, a major manufacturing hub that attracts migrant workers. Officers said Wu does not have a record of mental illness, but experts will be brought in to determine whether he has a mental disorder. The care center's manager has also been detained. Most of the injured children are in a stable condition although one child is in intensive care for excessive blood loss, according to doctors.

Rainy days ahead across the country Posted: 22 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT RAIN is expected to fall across many parts of China in the next three days, the national observatory said yesterday. Strong rainfall will pelt some parts in Tibet Autonomous Region, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi and Fujian through Monday, the Central Meteorological Station forecast. Light to moderate rain is forecast for parts of Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions in the coming three days, it said.

Foreign-funded companies total 436,800 in China Posted: 22 Sep 2012 09:17 AM PDT Source: Xinhua BEIJING, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) — A total of 436,800 foreign-funded enterprises had set up shop in China by the end of June, an increase of 68.55 percent from 2002, according to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC). Their registered capital has more than doubled over the past decade to hit 1.79 trillion U.S. dollars as of the end of June, according to a SAIC seminar held Friday. The number of domestic enterprises surged by 78.57 percent from 2002 to 12.65 million, with combined registered capital amounting to 65.9 trillion yuan. China has also seen a boom in private business. Individually-owned businesses expanded by 63.87 percent from 2002 to 38.96 million by the end of June, with registered capital reaching 1.78 trillion yuan during the period. SAIC deputy head Liu Yuting said the administration will step up efforts to help these enterprises understand government polices and market conditions, as well as assist them with anti-counterfeiting and trademark protection efforts.

U.S. audit watchdog in tentative deal to observe in China: official Posted: 22 Sep 2012 09:21 AM PDT Source: Reuters By Dena Aubin | Photo: 21 CBH (Reuters) – U.S. authorities have reached a tentative agreement to observe official auditor inspections in China, moving a step closer to better oversight in that country, an official at a U.S. audit watchdog group said on Friday. The plan to allow U.S. observers in China will be a "trust-building exercise" that could lead to more cooperation, Lewis Ferguson, a board member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, said in prepared remarks. The PCAOB announced in May that it was close to an agreement to observe audit inspections in China. The watchdog has been trying for years to gain access to China to address a rash of accounting scandals at Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges. Since 2010, U.S. investors have lost billions of dollars on China-based companies listed on U.S. exchanges after questions were raised about the companies' accounts. "We are working toward and have tentatively agreed on observational visits," he said, without spelling out when the tentative agreement might become final. The observers will watch Chinese officials' examination of audit firms' quality controls, but not detailed reviews of specific audits, he said. The PCAOB still faces some hurdles before it is allowed to participate in joint inspections in China, Ferguson said in the remarks to a financial reporting conference in Irvine, California. China wants the PCAOB to rely on Chinese inspectors, arguing that any action by a foreign regulator on Chinese soil raises sovereignty concerns, he said. Talks have been complicated by attempts by the PCAOB and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to get documents from China for ongoing investigations, Ferguson said. Auditors in China say this would be a violation of Chinese state secrets law to turn them over. If no agreement on inspections is reached, audit firms in China could be subject to sanctions, including losing their PCAOB registration, Ferguson said. Audit firms that register with the PCAOB are legally obligated to cooperate with inspections, Ferguson said. Even if their local laws restrict such cooperation, they can still be sanctioned, he said. "We believe the Chinese authorities are aware of the seriousness of this matter and we are hopeful that we will be able to work out satisfactory arrangements," he said. The PCAOB, created by the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley law after accounting scandals at Enron and WorldCom, inspects and disciplines auditors of companies listed on U.S. exchanges, including offshore-based companies. GLOBAL AUDIT PROBLEMS CITED Separately, Ferguson said audit firms outside the United States are making basic errors and relying too much on corporate managers' estimates for their audits, he said. "Auditors are supposed to challenge management, and the PCAOB would like to see more auditors do so," he said. After seven years of international inspections, the PCAOB has also found problems in global firms' quality controls, he said. Quality controls have come under scrutiny following accounting scandals at clients of the Big Four accounting firms that include Japan's Olympus Corp, India's Satyam Computer Services and Italy's Parmalat. The four biggest audit firms – Deloitte, Ernst & Young KPMG and PwC – audit most of the world's large multinational companies and market their ability to provide uniform quality across the globe. BDO, RSM International and Grant Thornton also operate large global audit networks.

China urges Philippines to mend ties after row Posted: 22 Sep 2012 09:24 AM PDT Source: AFP BEIJING — Chinese leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping has told a visiting Philippine envoy that he hopes ties hurt by a territorial row can recover, state media said Saturday. Vice President Xi told Philippine Interior Secretary Mar Roxas that tensions between the two countries had "eased" after a blow-up over a disputed island in the South China Sea, Xinhua news agency reported. Trouble flared in April when vessels from the two countries became engaged in a stand-off over the rocky outcrop known as Scarborough Shoal. Both sides later agreed to withdraw their boats, defusing some of the tension. "I hope this (situation) will not appear again and again, allowing bilateral relations to return to the track of normal development," Xinhua quoted Xi as telling the special envoy of Philippine President Benigno Aquino at a trade fair in southern China on Friday. "China-Philippine relations have encountered some difficulties. However, through effective communication between the two sides, the situation has already eased," Xi said. In Manila, a government statement quoted Roxas as saying the two had had "a frank and candid exchange of views". It said both sides "expressed their desire to resolve outstanding issues while moving forward with their bilateral relations". "(The) discussions were constructive and the talks were conducted in a cordial atmosphere," Roxas added. The talks in the city of Nanning came after Aquino failed to secure a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Russia earlier this month. Xi is widely expected to succeed Hu as leader of China's ruling Communist Party at an upcoming party meeting, then take over as president in March next year. China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, which is believed to hold vast amounts of oil and gas, is a rich fishing ground and is home to shipping lanes vital to global trade. But the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan also have claims to parts of the sea, some of them overlapping. China is also locked in a territorial dispute with Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea, which Japan administers and calls Senkaku but China claims and knows as Diaoyu.

Have You Heard… Posted: 22 Sep 2012 09:13 AM PDT Have You Heard…

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Burma man 'admits Mekong murders' Posted: 21 Sep 2012 11:23 PM PDT A suspected Burmese warlord and five other men admit murdering 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong river at a trial in China, state media say.

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