`24' has China on the Brain!

Trying to get a sense of China’s place in the American public consciousness—to the extent it exists at all-- isn’t easy. As we’ve seen, China barely registers in presidential campaign, and when it does (as in the Republican debate the other night) the subject tends to elicit absurdly simplistic soundbites (which ,as I write that , I realize is redundancy squared…).China, however does play a bit part in one of the most popular TV series in the US: 24, the drama in which super Agent Jack Bauer routinely saves the US from terrorists in one day ( 24 stands for 24 hours). The series is entertaining—I count myself as a fan—even though the plot lines have become increasingly, shall we say, convoluted now that the series is in its sixth season. I mean, how many different ways can Jack Bauer save the Republic from terrorists 24 hours? Well, one way is to have China, the rising superpower, play a sinister role in this season’s back story. At end of last season, China intelligence agents kidnapped Jack and took him back to China, where, according to the story, he was tortured mercilessly for two years. Why had they done this? Because Jack had shot and killed a Chinese agent at the LA consulate in his pursuit of Islamic terrorists earlier in the season (why was he shooting up the Chinese consulate in pursuit of Islamic terrorists? Never mind, it seemed to make sense at the time, even if it doesn’t now)…. At the beginning of this season, Jack is returned from the Chinese prison, looking a little worse for wear, having been tortured for two years. Nevertheless, in about five minutes he’s fit as a fiddle and tracking down terrorists again. Now, as this season draws to a close, we find that Jack’s father—a high techy, CEO kind of guy—is helping the Chinese steal a critical electronic component which will give Beijing access to all of Russia’s defense plans. How is it Jack’s father is in bed with the Chinese, and why in the world does everyone from the President of the United States to Jack Bauer care so much about //Russian// defense plans? Never mind; like I said, it’s more than a little convoluted. The highlight of this episode—at least for those of us with China on the brain—came when Jack’s father tried to kidnap his grandson (Jack’s nephew). Again, never mind the rationale or how the kid fits into the plot. The priceless bit of dialogue comes when the grandfather speaks by phone to the grandson, explaining his plans for the two of them: Jack’s father (speaking to the grandson, Josh): “…I’m taking you away from this ungrateful country, to someplace we can both start over.”
Josh: “Where?"Granndpa: “China. Within a decade, they will have surpassed this country in EVERY possible way. And WE can be part of it! I am going to give you the future I promised you when you were born.Josh: “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”“No, I didn’t think you would, but you will…”
Wow. I say this as a certified Panda Hugger (married to a Chinese woman, own a home in Shanghai, don't believe China's really a threat to anyone right now): I’m with Josh! What the hell ARE you talking about, Grandpa!!? The question of the day is, wouldn't most Americans ask the same question as Josh? Or do they, god help us, agree with Grandpa?

Spending on R&D gets boost

　　China, which last month pledged to become an innovation nation, yesterday unveiled a strategy to strengthen its scientific prowess over the next 15 years.
　　Spending on research and development (R&D) will account for 2.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020, according to the National Guideline on Medium- and Long-term Programme for Science and Technology Development (2006-20) issued by the State Council.
　　The ratio of spending on R&D will be increased to 2 per cent of GDP by 2010 from the current 1.3 per cent.
　　"By 2020, the general goal for our country's science and technology development is to dramatically strengthen homegrown innovation capacity," the plan said.
　　The targets are based on ground realities in China and the experience of other countries, said Gao Changlin, a senior researcher with the National Research Centre for Science and Technology for Development.
　　Gao, who was involved in strategic research for formulating the guideline, told China Daily that it is a global trend to increase investment in science and technology, both in developed and developing countries.
　　Most of the funds must come from State coffers rather than the private sector, he said, explaining that even in developed countries, government spending usually exceeds 35 per cent of the total spending on R&D.
　　Also in the guideline, the country envisions that by 2020, science and technology will contribute 60 per cent to economic growth.
　　The reliance on key foreign technology will decline to below 30 per cent from more than half now.
　　To achieve these goals, the blueprint details a number of policies on financial support, tax incentives and government procurement, together with a package of key projects.
　　Gao said motivating enterprises to go down the path of innovation would be crucial, adding that spending on R&D might be tax- deductible.
　　The guideline also pledges to have a mechanism of venture capital investment for startups; and encourages small- and medium-sized technology companies to go public overseas.
　　The guideline lists a comprehensive package of key technology, frontier technology and basic research programmes.
　　The 16 key programmes will address a series of urgent problems China confronts in energy, information, health and resources; and develop technologies for both military and civilian uses.
　　They include a new generation of wide-band wireless mobile communication technology, exploration of large oil and gas fields and coalbed gas, water pollution control, prevention of serious contagious diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis, manned space flights and lunar exploration.
　　In frontier technologies, China will focus on such sectors as energy, biology, information, new materials, advanced manufacturing, space development and exploration of seas and oceans.
　　In energy research, for example, advanced technologies for energy-efficient buildings, utilization of clean and liquidized coal, extraction of oil and gas from areas with complex geological structure and development of recycled energy and new energy are all given priority.
　　In basic science research, four major programmes are the study of proteins, control of quanta, nano technology and research of growth and reproduction.

China-Japan talks 'expect no breakthrough'

A new round of sub-cabinet-level talks between China and Japan is expected to open in Tokyo tomorrow, but Chinese analysts expect no "breakthroughs" for the frosty ties.
Heading a Chinese delegation, Vice-Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo is expected to fly to Tokyo today to hold two-day talks with his Japanese counterpart, Shotaro Yachi.
No specific topics have been officially unveiled, but Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported the upcoming Dai-Yachi talks are likely to touch on the Japanese leader's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine honouring 14 convicted Class A war criminals and the bilateral dispute over China's natural gas project in the East China Sea.


A major task for the talks is to break the stalemate in the soured China-Japan relations, without which the high-level meeting between the two leaders cannot go on, said Jin Xide, a researcher on Japanese studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
"So we can't expect any breakthroughs on a specific question if it hinders the development of bilateral relations from the fourth-round China-Japan strategic talks," Jin told China Daily yesterday.
China and Japan had three rounds of talks last year, the last one taking place in Beijing in October.
The last talks were stopped when Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which China, along with other Asian countries, sees as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.
China-Japan relations have cooled since Koizumi took office in 2001 and began his annual visits to the Yasukuni Shrine.
Despite repeated requests by Beijing and Seoul to stop the pilgrimages, Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine in October, triggering a further strain on diplomatic ties.
Signs have shown the icy political relations have "cooled" the growth of bilateral trade, because the bilateral relations were at a very low point last year.
Between January and August last year the trade volume of Japan and China increased by 10.3 per cent year on year at least 13 percentage points less than the growth rate between the EU, the United States and the Republic of Korea, which register at 23.7, 24.9 and 25.7 per cent respectively, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The key to improving bilateral ties is for Japanese leaders to face up to wartime history and stop visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, a move that has offended the Chinese people, said Guo Xiangang, an expert at the China Institute of International Studies.
The talks are significant because communication between the two countries still functions. "I personally feel cautiously optimistic about the outcome of the talks," he said.
On Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan told reporters at a regular news briefing in Beijing that China hopes the two sides can enhance their understanding through the talks.
"We will also reiterate our solemn stances on certain issues," he added.

Remains of Chinese victims back home from Pakistan

Officers carry the coffins of three Chinese engineer victims, who were killed by gunmen in southern Pakistan, to a hearse at Luogang Airport in Hefei, East China's Anhui province February 18, 2006. The plane, carrying the three bodies of Chinese engineers from Pakistan, arrived at the Hefei Luogang Airport. Later, the bodies were carried to the hometown of the victims by car immediately. The victims, Long Hongbao, Wei Jianping and Zhao Bin, were shot along with other three colleagues when their car was attacked by gunmen on a road in the town of Hub, some 700 km (435 miles) southeast of Quetta, the Balochistan provincial capital February 15.

Baby swimming

Three infants swim in a baby health center in Huangshi, Central China's Hubei Province February 7, 2006. Swimming is conducive to the development of babies' body systems and gets increasingly popular among young parents.

Chinese new fation,haha

China's golden monkeys make a comeback

China's golden monkeys, a species more endangered than giant pandas, have made a surprising comeback with populations quadrupling in the past two decades.

China's golden monkeys, a species more endangered than giant pandas, have made a surprising comeback with populations quadrupling in the past two decades.

The snub-nosed monkeys, which are found only in southwestern Guizhou province, have risen in number from 200 in the early 1980s to around 800, Xinhua news agency said.
Despite its growing numbers, the animal is still endangered, Xinhua cited experts saying Sunday.
Poaching and forest fires are two of the main causes for the decrease in population, according to Yang Yeqin, director of Guizhou's Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve, where most of the monkeys live.
The gregarious animals are also vulnerable to human diseases, such as tuberculosis, cholera and measles, Yang said.
Researchers believe that the number of the snub-nosed monkeys would not rise rapidly even if their habitats were enlarged.
However, the numbers would drop dramatically if their habitats dwindled, which may lead to their extinction, said the researchers.
Wildlife experts said the animals' living space must be extended, monitoring and protection of their environment must be strengthened and a breeding base should be established to save the animals.

Leaving mark on 'Great Wall' costs US$120

For about 120 dollars, visitors to China's Great Wall can now leave their mark on a fake wall built recently in the name of preventing graffiti on the genuine structure.

A view of the Great Wall of China. For about 120 dollars, visitors to the Chinese landmark can now leave their mark on a fake wall built recently in the name of preventing graffiti on the genuine structure.
For about 120 dollars, visitors to China's Great Wall can now leave their mark on a fake wall built recently in the name of preventing graffiti on the genuine structure.

The management office of the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall in Beijing built the fake wall and will charge 999 yuan (124 dollars) for carvings on each brick, daily newspaper The First reported.
With 9,999 bricks available, the marble structure could help management rake in 9.9 million yuan (1.2 million dollars).
Juyongguan's management said they were hoping to satisfy visitors' desire to leave something behind -- usually their name or words of love -- while discouraging them from carving graffiti on China's best-known cultural relic.
The Great Wall, which receives four million visitors a year, has suffered greatly from graffiti.
But the project has come under some criticism with The First newspaper citing one expert as saying many schemes to "protect" the wall are actually aimed at reaping profits from the cultural treasure.
The fake wall is located near the most-visited section of the real wall in Badaling and visitors usually travel to Juyongguan on their way to Badaling.
Less than 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) remain of the original 6,300-kilometer structure first built in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).
It was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to keep out northern tribes threatening the Chinese heartland.

Corruption in mining investment faces action

A senior work safety official yesterday vowed a further crack down on illegal investment by government officials into coal mines this year, in a drive to clean up the industry.
"As Premier Wen Jiabao has required, we will continue to strike hard at any illegal investment in coal mines by government officials," said Zhao Tiechui, vice-minister of the State Administration of Work Safety.

Two miners watch the live broadcast of Foreign minister Li Zhaoxing's news conference at a coal mine in Huaibei, East China's Anhui Province March 7, 2006. The hoped the ongoing session of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference could help them improve work conditions and raise incomes.[newsphoto]

Zhao, also director of the State Administration for Coal Mine Safety, issued the warning on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.
In his government work report to the NPC on Sunday, Premier Wen placed an unprecedented emphasis on improving work safety.
"We will conduct in-depth investigations into cases of dereliction of duty and corruption related to work safety and severely punish those responsible," Wen said.
Illegal investment in coal mines by government officials have been widely blamed for their disregard of illegal or unsafe operations in the lucrative business.
Last year, 5,938 coal miners were killed in 3,341 accidents, accounting for almost 80 per cent of the world's total.
By the end of last year, the government has forced 4,878 officials and heads of State-owned enterprises to withdraw 562 million yuan (US$69 million) of investment in coal mines as part of a special campaign.
Zhao yesterday encouraged the public to report on corrupt practices and help seek out the officials who had invested in coal mines.
"We will firmly depend on the support of the public to push ahead with the work," he said.
The senior official also emphasized that his administration will step up efforts to close down unsafe coal mines through better supervision.
To curb rampant coal mine accidents, Zhao's administration issued new safety rules for coal mines in September last year, ordering the closure of illegal mines and the suspension of those that failed to meet safety requirements.
A total of 5,243 illegal and unsafe mines had been closed down by the end of last year.
"Despite the initial progress, it cannot be ruled out that some unsafe coal mines are still in operation, and we will continue to strengthen our supervision and inspection," Zhao said.
As China's coal industry is often hitted by deadly accidents, the vice-minister said he spends at least half of his working time investigating coal mine accidents each year.
Zhao expressed his hope that the central government's greater attention on work safety will pay off with greatly improved mining safety.
Earlier, Premier Wen said the central government will allocate 3 billion yuan (US$371 million) in treasury bonds to control coal mine gases, which are a major cause of coal mine blasts.