News » Politics » China sends ships near disputed island after Clinton's veiled warning

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• China sends ships near disputed island after Clinton's veiled warning
• China's 'Big Four' banks to add RMB3tn in new loans this year
• China releases official Gini index after a decade
• Ang Lee hopes to bring Taiwan to the world stage
• Rise of e-commerce means bleak outlook for traditional retailers
• Google told to pay Chinese writer US$800 for copyright violation
• Chinese marine economy to hit 10% of GDP by 2015
• Chinese enterprises expect mild profits in 2012
• TSMC remains world's No.1 contract chip maker in 2012
• Stomach bug most common illness from Taiwanese abroad
• The US to probe shrimp disputes with China, 6 countries
• MediaTek extends partnership with UK graphic chip designer
• Soft fruit: Taiwan minister contrite after 'bananas and guavas' remarks
• 600 punished as China recovers RMB105.6bn in mishandled funds
• Former Taiwan finance minister appointed to HK economic body
• China's banking regulator to monitor shadow financial products
• In China, Widening Discontent Among the Communist Party Faithful
• Mourners Honor Former Chinese Leader Zhao Ziyang
• Kachin Ceasefire Ignored
• Pow! by Mo Yan – review

China sends ships near disputed island after Clinton's veiled warning Posted: 19 Jan 2013 04:40 PM PST China sent ships around the Japan-controlled Diaoyu islands on Saturday, in response to a veiled US warning to not create problems. Three Chinese surveillance vessels sailed around the islands in the East China Sea, which Beijing claims as its own, for nearly five hours on Saturday.

China's 'Big Four' banks to add RMB3tn in new loans this year Posted: 20 Jan 2013 03:59 AM PST China's "Big Four" state-owned banks will increase new loans by a total of about 3 trillion yuan (US$480 billion) this year, the Chinese-language China Securities Journal reports. The interest rates ...

China releases official Gini index after a decade Posted: 20 Jan 2013 03:59 AM PST China's National Bureau of Statistics on Jan. 18 released the Gini coefficient — an index measuring income inequality — for the years 2003-2012. The numbers reveal, as has already been an ongoing is...

Ang Lee hopes to bring Taiwan to the world stage Posted: 20 Jan 2013 03:11 AM PST The greatest benefit of winning an Oscar for his 3-D box office hit Life of Pi would be to get the chance to thank Taiwan under the global spotlight, Taiwan-born director Ang Lee said in Taipei Saturd...

Rise of e-commerce means bleak outlook for traditional retailers Posted: 20 Jan 2013 03:07 AM PST The rising popularity of e-commerce in China is evident in the recent store closures of traditional retailers, including those in the department store and hypermarket sectors. The Wangfujing Yokado ...

Google told to pay Chinese writer US$800 for copyright violation Posted: 20 Jan 2013 03:07 AM PST The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court has ruled that Google should pay compensation of 5,000 yuan (US$800) to novelist Mian Mia for scanning her works for addition to its online library withou...

Chinese marine economy to hit 10% of GDP by 2015 Posted: 20 Jan 2013 02:47 AM PST China is aiming to expand its marine economy output to 10% of its GDP by 2015, according to a government plan issued on Jan. 17. The plan, issued by the State Council as an outline for China's marin...

Chinese enterprises expect mild profits in 2012 Posted: 20 Jan 2013 02:47 AM PST Chinese listed enterprises are expecting soft performances for last year despite a warming economy in recent months. As of Tuesday, 1,045 A-share listed companies had released their performance estim...

TSMC remains world's No.1 contract chip maker in 2012 Posted: 20 Jan 2013 02:31 AM PST Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing remained the world's largest contract chip maker in 2012, raising its sales by 18% from the previous year, market information advisory firm IC Insights said Wednesd...

Stomach bug most common illness from Taiwanese abroad Posted: 20 Jan 2013 02:19 AM PST Stomach complaints are the most common reason given by Taiwanese who request medical assistance while traveling overseas, especially during the Lunar New Year holiday, the Taiwan office of Internation...

The US to probe shrimp disputes with China, 6 countries Posted: 20 Jan 2013 02:19 AM PST The US Commerce Department announced on Jan. 18 that it is launching countervailing duty investigations on frozen warmwater shrimp from China and six other countries. The investigations are in respon...

MediaTek extends partnership with UK graphic chip designer Posted: 20 Jan 2013 02:11 AM PST Taiwanese chip designer MediaTek has signed a new licensing agreement with graphic chip designer Imagination Technologies Group, extending its partnership with the British company to the television ma...

Soft fruit: Taiwan minister contrite after 'bananas and guavas' remarks Posted: 20 Jan 2013 02:11 AM PST Taiwan's culture minister, Lung Ying-tai, wrote a letter to the country's legislature on Jan. 17 to "affirm lawmakers' hard work on reviewing budgets for the ministry." The letter is seen as a form of...

600 punished as China recovers RMB105.6bn in mishandled funds Posted: 20 Jan 2013 02:11 AM PST China's top auditors on Wednesday announced that the government has recovered 105.6 billion yuan (US$16.8 billion) in mishandled funds that were discovered during a 2011 audit. By the end of October ...

Former Taiwan finance minister appointed to HK economic body Posted: 20 Jan 2013 02:11 AM PST Christina Liu, a former finance minister of Taiwan, has been appointed a member of Hong Kong's newly established Economic Development Commission. Liu is among the 22 non-official members of the agenc...

China's banking regulator to monitor shadow financial products Posted: 20 Jan 2013 02:11 AM PST China's banking regulator has said at a 2013 work conference that the government's top task this year will be to strictly control three types of risks, the most notable among them being business-relat...

In China, Widening Discontent Among the Communist Party Faithful Posted: 19 Jan 2013 09:00 PM PST The Communist Party's new leaders are being confronted by challenges from a constituency that has generally been the party's most ardent supporter: the middle class and well-off.

Mourners Honor Former Chinese Leader Zhao Ziyang Posted: 19 Jan 2013 02:30 PM PST Zhao Ziyang visited students protesting on Tiananmen Square before the June 4, 1989 massacre. (Weibo.com) Eight years after the death of Zhao Ziyang, the former Chinese premier and General Secretary of the Communist Party who resigned after the Tiananmen Square massacre, hundreds of mourners flocked to his house to pay their respects. This year, in stark contrast to years past, authorities didn't try to stop the mourners.  On the early morning of Jan. 17, mourners from all walks of life who came to pay their respects swarmed to No. 6 Fuqiang Alley in Beijing, the house of Zhao Ziyang at the time of his death.  There have been police cars and guards on duty outside the residence, but visitors were not stopped.  "This year, I directly feel more people coming, apparently more, the yard crowded with visitors," said Wang Zhihua, husband of Zhao's daughter Wang Yannan, to Voice of America.  Li Huanjun, a human rights activist in Beijing, agreed, adding that, "a crowd of them left, immediately followed by another crowd. I estimated there were hundreds of them; many of them had left before my arrival." Remembered for Sense of Humanity Among this year's mourners was Hu Jia, a democracy activist who was sentenced to three and half years in jail in April 2008. He was charged with "subverting state power," a vague charge that is roughly equivalent to what used to be called "counterrevolutionary activity." Hu stayed under house arrest for two years after his release from jail. This was his first visit to Zhao's house in five years.  Hu said Zhao chose human nature over "Party nature" at the critical moment, aware of the price he would pay, in reference to Zhao's attempts to head off the massacre of students in 1989. Hu said he deeply admired Zhao for his courage. Though current leaders are not directly responsible for the Tiananmen massacre, they still belong to a privileged class, said Hu. He doesn't think the privileged leaders will have the wisdom and courage to change the reality of one-party dictatorship in China.  He said, "We can't wait. We must do it."  There is no hope for reform from above, in his opinion. "Change is never granted by the Communist Party. It's all about how many rise up, how many awaken to the dictatorship and fight back," Hu said.  Bao Tong, Zhao's policy secretary who is still under house arrest, said though he is unable to pay his respects to Zhao in person, he never forgets the anniversary.  Bao said Zhao was different from others because he treated human beings as human beings. Other party leaders treated humans as tools, puppets, labor, or military forces. As for resolving or redressing the Tiananmen massacre, he said, it's not just the responsibility of Party leaders, but is the responsibility of every Chinese person. Jiang Blocked Funeral After Zhao's death on Jan. 17, 2005, party officials consulted their superiors about Zhao's funeral.  Leaders, like National People's Congress Chairman Wan Li, Qiao Shi, and Tian Jiyun, vice chair of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, asked the central leadership to hold a state funeral for Zhao Ziyang appropriate to his rank, according to Di Suo, wife of Hu Jiwei, the former president of People's Daily. The central leadership wanted to hold a formal funeral for Zhao, but former party head Jiang Zemin opposed it.  Under pressure, Party head Hu Jintao and premier Wen Jiabao gave up on honoring Zhao. Jiang feared the June 4 event would be reevaluated.  Jiang and Li Peng, who was nicknamed the "butcher of Beijing," made the decisions for June 4 1989.  Related Articles Would-be Reformer Zhao Ziyang's Death Again Passed in Silence Aid Mobilized on the Eve of Haiti Hurricane Season After the Tiananmen Papers were published, Jiang and Li forced every member of the Politburo to take a stance on the June 4 event, and to pass a resolution that promised that the June 4 event would never be re-judged. In the period following the massacre Jiang, hands covered with the blood of the Tiananmen students, rose from Shanghai Committee Secretary to the highest level of power in the regime. chinareports@epochtimes.com The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 21 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Kachin Ceasefire Ignored Posted: 19 Jan 2013 02:59 PM PST Ethnic rebels in Burma's northern Kachin state claimed the military was continuing to fire at their bases on Saturday despite the government's announcement of a unilateral ceasefire a day earlier. The government had announced Friday that the military would end its offensive at dawn Saturday in the key Lajayang area, where the battle between the two sides has been most intense in recent weeks. "Actually, there is still fighting around this area today," La Nan, spokesman for the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), said, referring to Lajayang, where battles erupted after Christmas Day when rebels rejected a government demand to stop attacking military convoys delivering supplies to the army base. He said government forces staged an artillery attack on KIA's Third Brigade from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and that fighting was also continuing in other areas. "We have said that the government must stop its military offensive operations if it really wants to get on with political discussions for peace," La Nan said. Several rounds of talks have been held between the Kachin rebels, who are fighting for greater autonomy in resource-rich Kachin state, and the government, since fighting reignited a year and a half ago but they have yielded little outcome. Since late December, fighting has escalated near the rebel headquarters of Laiza, along the border with China. Tens of thousands of ethnic Kachins have been displaced by the fighting after a 17-year cease-fire between the government and Kachin rebels collapsed in June 2011. Many of them are in camps in or near Laiza, which rebel forces said came under heavy military attack, including air strikes, which terrorized the local population and were condemned by the United States and the United Nations. The exact number of casualties in the recent fighting is not known, but the government said Friday that 35 soldiers had been killed and 190 injured in a series of ambushes by the rebels since 2011, in the first official death toll for the military's side. Hopeful Despite continued fighting, Thein Sein was hopeful peace talks would resume. He said he had ordered the military to stop its offensive and appealed to the rebels to also stop firing. "We already offered to work for peace with the KIO [Kachin Independence Organization, the political wing of the KIA] and we invited them again today to hold peace talks," he said. "I believe that we will have peace soon." Thein Sein also appealed to other armed ethnic groups to hold peace talks with the government. "Any armed group that wants peace is welcome to initiate peace talks with the government anytime." Thein Sein had ordered a halt to military offensives against ethnic rebels last year and promised to work toward national reconciliation following decades of military rule in Burma but fighting has been ongoing in Shan, Kayin, and Kachin states. The continued fighting had led to questions on how much control Thein Sein, a general during the previous military regime, exerts over the country's army Since Thein Sein took office in March 2011, Burmese authorities have signed peace agreements with 10 armed ethnic groups, including ceasefires with Karen and Shan groups last year. Reported by Win Naung Toe, Myint Oo, Tin Aung Khaine and Zin Mar Win for RFA's Burmese Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.

Pow! by Mo Yan – review Posted: 19 Jan 2013 11:00 AM PST Mo Yan's Pow! may not be politically engaged but it is a highly enjoyable, absurdist romp of a novel Mo Yan's Nobel prize win last year thrilled the Chinese government, but outraged advocates of free speech. As the Nobel committee was praising Yan's by turns "hallucinatory" and "realist" fiction, one prominent Chinese critic branded its decision an insult not just to literature, but to humanity. Best known internationally for his 1987 novel Red Sorghum – which boldly tackled China's humiliation under Japanese occupation – Yan has since gone on to defend, as he did in his Nobel acceptance speech, "necessary" censorship. Meanwhile, his later novels have privileged bawdy fairytales over sober realism – as with his 1996 novel Big Breasts and Wide Hips – prompting critics to accuse him of airbrushing the tragedies of Chinese 20th-century history. These accusations could all be leveled at Pow!, first published in China 10 years ago, which is an erotic, absurdist romp through the life story of Xiaotong, a boy obsessed with meat. But while it's true that Pow! doesn't land any blows on the Chinese regime – keeping its fire firmly trained on oafish village leaders and corrupt town officials – what remains is still a rich, original and highly rewarding novel. The story – confessed by Xiaotong to a silent, benign and extraordinarily well-endowed old monk who communicates by twitching the hairs in his ears – recounts not just his own rise to fame as a legendary meat-eater and womaniser, but that of his village as home to the first industrial-scale meat factory in China. Yan creates extremely powerful characters, especially Xiaotong's mother, whose struggle to raise him after his father quits town with another woman is the most moving strand of the story. And, pleasingly for a novel about meat, Howard Goldblatt's translation is frequently poetic – making countless passages about shining entrails, greasy pig heads and steaming pots of dog flesh all but waft off the page. Mo Yan Fiction China Chris Cox guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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