CRI 中国国际广播电台 2010-01-12

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In This Edition

Two scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences receive China's annual top science honor.

North Korea proposes concluding a peace treaty that would formally end the Korean War with improved ties with the United States.

Israel plans to erect 1 two massive fences along the southern border with Egypt to keep out illegal migrants and militants 2.

And Chinese writers welcome Google's apologetic move in seeking an agreement on settling the copyright infringement 3 issue.

Hot Issue Reports

China honors top scientists

China's brightest minds have been given top honors at China's National Science and Technology Conference. Chinese Premier 4 Wen Jiabao spoke 5 highly of their contribution, saying scientific innovation is the most powerful tool to fight against the global financial downturn and maintain the dynamics 6 of economic prosperity.

Foreign Scientists Win Science Award

Meanwhile, seven famous foreign scientists also won the State Top Scientific and Technological 7 Award.

The scientists from the United States, Japan, Cuba, France and Germany are being honored for their contributions to China's science and technology development.

French Chemist Michel Che has promoted the cooperation between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the France's National Center for Scientific Research.

He says he is surprised by China's fast technological development.

"From the end of the '80s and the beginning of the '90s, unbelievable developments with new techniques came in. Physics techniques came into chemistry and then there was computer science that also entered into chemistry. And that was a fantastic development. Every time I came to China, I saw something new. Now China, so you know, will be going above in many areas. Now China is in an advanced state."

The scientists also expressed their confidence in Chinese scientists' ability to win Nobel Prizes.

Biochemist Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker has promoted Sino-German joint 8 research centers and advanced exchanges and cooperation between groups of young scientists.

"In the past 15 to 20 years, China reached the level of some developed countries and built many advanced laboratories that have facilities as good as those in the United States and western Europe. It really gave me a deep impression."

The scientists also suggested that China put more effort into basic scientific research in the future.

North Korea Calls for Peace Treaty to Replace Armistice 10

North Korea has proposed concluding a peace treaty that would formally end the Korean War this year, saying that improved ties with the United States and an end to sanctions are conditions for resuming international negotiations 11 aimed at ridding it of nuclear weapons.

A statement from North Korea's foreign ministry 12 was broadcast on the state-run television KRT.

"Upon authorization 13, the Foreign Ministry courteously 14 proposes to the parties to the armistice agreement an early start of the talks for replacing the armistice agreement with a peace treaty this year, which marks the lapse 15 of 60 years since the outbreak of the Korean War."

The ministry said it would discuss reaching a peace treaty with relevant state parties in the framework of the six-party talks, and the resumption of the talks depended on building confidence between Pyongyang and Washington.

The ministry said before nuclear talks can get back on track, North Korea and the United States must improve their relationship by beginning talks aimed at signing a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War, the lack of which it said was a "root cause of the hostile relations."

In response to the proposal, the US State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley said North Korea must first return to stalled nuclear disarmament talks before Washington will discuss the call.

"The key here is North Korea has to come back to us, say yes, come back to the six party process, start working on its obligations under the joint statement and then we are perfectly 16 willing to have other kinds of discussions."

Crowley also dismissed the North's call to drop sanctions by saying the US is "not going to pay North Korea to come back to the six-party process."

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon reiterated 17 his "call for renewed efforts to solve all outstanding issues through dialogue in a peaceful manner" and said he would do everything possible to achieve that goal.

The 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce 18, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean peninsula technically 19 at war.

Israeli Approves Barrier Construction Extension Along Egypt Frontier

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved plans to erect two massive fences along the southern border with Egypt to keep out illegal migrants and militants.

The two fences will cover nearly half of the 250-kilometre border. One section will be near the Red Sea port of Eilat. The other will be in southwest Israel, near the Gaza Strip town of Rafah. Advanced surveillance equipment will be installed to help border control officers spot infiltrators.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told reporters the border fence will be erected 20 in the coming years.

"To prevent the movement of weapons, drug smuggling 21, labour migration 22 - some of those may be combined - and of course for preventing the terror activity, the state of Israel needs a fence in that region."

According to police estimates, some 100-200 foreigners infiltrate 23 into Israel each week illegally through the border with Egypt. Some of them come as labor 9 immigrants, while the rest are defined as "criminal elements" and refugees from Africa.

The structure would come in addition to a massive fence surrounding the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, as well as a separation barrier that snakes along parts of Israel's more than 680-kilometre frontier with the West Bank, drawing both Palestinnian and international condemnation 24.

Turkey, Lebanon Slam Israel

Turkish and Lebanese leaders have accused Israel of threatening peace and calling for international pressure on its possession of nuclear weapons.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri, who is on a 3-day visit to Turkey, said Israel is a country threatening Lebanon's security.

Lebanon accuses Israel of intruding 25 its airspace on a daily basis. Its state-run National News Agency reported the Lebanese Armed Forces on Monday morning fired anti-aircraft artillery 26 at Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanon's airspace.

Hariri asked for help from Turkey to stop Israeli violations 27 of Lebanon's territory.

"We should stop Israel without pushing it to or giving it the excuse to take military action. On this matter, we should all take a stand in the face of this aggression 28 that Israel is planning, especially what we are seeing occur in Palestine."

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Israel has violated over 100 U.N. resolutions, including UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, and undermined the credibility of the UN.

He also said the international community should warn Israel about its nuclear arsenal 29 as it did with Iran to show a fair approach in tackling nuclear threats in the Middle East, noting Turkey does not want any country in the region to possess nuclear weapons, be it Iran or Israel.

Light News

Freezing Weather Affecting China

Freezing weather and snowstorms are affecting much of China's Inner Mongolia region.

The snowstorms have disrupted traffic and hurt livestock 30 and farming in the region.

Villager Gong Bilige says some of his livestock have died because of the frigid 31 weather conditions.

"I suffered massively from the snow. My livestock has died. The horse was 4,000 yuan, and this cow cost me 10,000 yuan."

Meanwhile, in northwest China's Xinjiang region, more than 5,400 people have been evacuated 32 after a strong blizzard 33 hit the area and left one person dead.

The blizzard sent temperatures plunging 34 and disrupted electricity supplies and transportation in northern China.

The bitter cold has prompted authorities to order rotating shutdowns of hundreds of factories in central China to ensure sufficient power supplies for heating homes.

Other northern cities in China are also experiencing their coldest winters in 20 years.

At the beginning of this year, Beijing and Tianjin had their biggest snowfalls since 1951, causing flight delays and school closings.

Police Disrupt Drug Network in Anhui Province

Police in East China's Anhui Province have cracked an underground network producing and selling drugs and seized more than 53 kilograms of heroin 35.

Han Hao, Captain of the Narcotics 36 Corps 37 of the Public Security Bureau in Anhui Province, says it is the biggest drug network case since the founding of the People's Republic of China six decades ago.

"We caught the crime suspects when they were selling, and all the members of the international drug gang. Moreover, we destroyed the main road for drug trafficking from aboard to our province."

A total of 16 drug traffickers were caught with more than 4.6 million yuan in cash and three trucks during the raid.

Manufacturers Advised to Take Advantage of New China-ASEAN FTA

Enterprises from ASEAN member countries are advised to take full advantage of the newly-established free trade area and the robust 38 growth of the Chinese economy.

Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, director of Malaysia-China Friendship Association, made the comment while discussing the concerns of some of manufacturers in the region.

They are worried about the low marketing 39 competitiveness of their products compared with those made in other countries in the bloc 40, particularly China.

But Khan has this to say.

"I keep informing those enterprises to look at the China-ASEAN FTA with an open eye. China is a huge market with great potential, and the new FTA provides many preferential policies for their entering into this lucrative 41 market. We should not ignore this impact."

Khan says the FTA does not simply entail 42 reduced tariffs 43, but much closer cooperation and economic integration 44.

China has initiated 45 a new China-ASEAN fund of 10 billion U.S. dollars, which is believed to be advancing bilateral 46 cooperation substantially.

Khan urges countries in the region to take this opportunity to share the benefits from China's economic advancement 47.

As a result of the free trade area, China and the six ASEAN members of Brunei, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, have cut tariffs on 90 percent of imported goods.

The new FTA in Asia covers a population of 1.9 billion and accounts for about 4.5 trillion U.S. dollars in trade.

China's Auto 48 Market Expects Continuous Increase

Chinese auto sales and output exceeded 13 million in 2009, a 40 percent growth year on year.

Experts say with its per capita GDP surpassing 3000 U.S. dollars in China, the auto market can expect a golden time of development in the future.

Lin Lei is president of Sinotrust, a leading supplier of marketing solutions and credit solutions in China. He says that the market sale can increase by 15 percent this year.

"In 2010, we expect the auto market can maintain its momentum 49 of development. Though it might be difficult to reach a 40 percent increase as in 2009, we think it can grow by 15 percent. That means the auto sale and output will hit 15 million."

The Chinese government will continue to carry out its policies such as reducing vehicle purchase tax and car subsidy 50 program for rural areas to boost auto consumption.

Chinese Writers: Copyright on Internet Should be Respected

Chinese Writers Association has confirmed that it had received an apology from Google in the form of a written document.

Google admitted in the document that it had scanned books under Chinese copyright for its online library.

It promised not to scan the books without authorization from Chinese writers.

The company is now working on a complete list of the scanned Chinese books.

Some Chinese writers welcomed Google's move and called for more attention to be paid to copyright infringement issues.

Bai Ye, a well known literary commentator 51 in China, says those who publish works by others on the internet should respect the works' copyrights.

"The phenomenon of copyright infringement on the internet is very serious. We don't care how much compensation will be paid. We want to show our willingness together with other writers. Although Google is a powerful internet company, we should not ignore our rights and put the case under law. We hope Google will respect copyrights and Chinese law."

Some authors say they hope the copyright issue will prompt punishments for internet copyright infringement in the future.

Google has said it will finalize 52 the terms of its agreement with the Chinese writers by the end of March and officially sign it in the second quarter.

The Chinese writers accused Google of copyright infringement last October when the search engine used sections of their works online without their permission. They demanded that Google apologize to them as well as pay them compensation.

Property Tax may come soon

In the stock market, the prices of many mainstream 53 real estate stocks are going down, despite the A share market rising in the past few days. The reason behind the real estate sector's fall is simple: the "property tax" may come soon.

Media Digest

Beijing Youth Daily: universities should run better before donations

Zhang Lei, a Chinese graduate, has donated nearly 9 million dollars to Yale University, which set a record of personal donations in the School of Management.

A commentary in Monday's Beijing Youth Daily says the generous donation stirred hot debate among Chinese netizens. Some even used the strong word "traitor 54", while others said it was up to him to do what he likes with his money.

The article argues the real question is why Chinese universities cannot get generous donations from alumni instead of the reason that he chose an American university. It says if universities want more donations, they should first perform better.

According to Yale's website, 38-year-old Zhang Lei was a top student back in school. Now he owns an investment fund which manages 2.5 billion dollars.

In his online profile, Zhang says he wanted to change the one-way help of Yale to its alumni and to give back more. The money will help build a new campus, provide scholarship for international programs and fund Chinese-related activities at the university.

The commentary says it is purely 55 a personal issue and is irrelevant 56 to morality or ideology 57. Besides, Chinese students at Yale will also benefit.

It quotes Zhang Weiying, a famous Chinese economist 58, as saying "if our universities cannot do better, rich people in China will continue to donate to foreign universities, just like they tend to study there."

The article says lastly, that only universities with good credibility can attract more donations. Nobody wants to give their money only for managers' luxurious 59 lifestyle or a more glorious campus.

Beijing News: Ban on Newspaper in Subway Stations Causes Monopoly

Beijing Public Transportation authorities have announced that newspapers are banned from being sold in any subway stations in the city, except the Beijing Daily Messenger which can be distributed for free in designated areas. The order was made to safeguard public security in subway stations.

Subway stations in Beijing used to have newspaper stands which were later taken down for security concerns. Now peddlers sell newspapers in subway stations.

A commentary in the Beijing News says that the government has overdone 60 its efforts to maintain social security because selling newspaper doesn't pose an inconvenience to the transport system, and is not dangerous.

The author points out over five million people use the subway in Beijing every day. That makes the subway stations a battlefield for newspaper operators. Though the Beijing Daily Messenger is handed out for free to commuters, it profits from ads placed in it. The interference of the government could lead to a monopoly and unfair competition in the industry.

The article adds the ban not only damages the business of some newspapers, but also brings inconvenience to an information- hungry public.

It has become routine for subway stations to have newspaper stands in cities at home and abroad. Beijing shouldn't be an exception. It suggests that the government should designate an area for newspaper trading so that the public can easily get the newspaper they need and keep the business in order as well.