CRI中国国际广播电台 News & Reports 2012-11-03

 Hello and Welcome to News and Reports on China Radio International.

 
In This Edition
 
China's new ambassador to Qatar reiterates 1 Beijing's four-point proposal on Syria.
Germany throws political support behind the government of Mali in its effort to restore control of the northern half of the country.
Frustration 2 starts to grow in parts of the US northeast amid the power outages following super storm Sandy battered 3 the region.
And a new survey shows more foreigners are coming to China to take their MBAs.
 
Hot Issue Reports
 
Chinese Ambassador to Qatar Reiterates China's Four-point Proposal
The new Chinese ambassador to Qatar has reiterated 4 Beijing's four-point proposal on Syria, urging international support for UN-Arab League envoy 5 Lakhdar Brahimi's mediation 6 efforts.
 
The Chinese ambassador Gao Youzhen made the comments in Doha, saying China's proposal is based on former UN chief Kofi Annan's peace plan.
 
"China has been consistent in its stance over Syrian conflict. The latest proposal is the continuation of China's previous mediation efforts on the issue."
 
Gao stresses the proposal is designed to find a long-lasting solution to end the ongoing 7 unrest in Syria.
 
The proposal urges all parties to cease fighting and begin a political transition under the assistance of special envoy Brahimi.
 
Earlier, Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr said his country will hold a meeting with the Syrian oppositions 8 to reach a united vision for the crisis.
 
Violence in Syria continues as the rebels killed 78 soldiers on Thursday just hours after a wave of bombings hit the Damascus area.
 
Germany Pledges Solidarity 9 with Mali in Fighting Terrorism
The German government is throwing its political support behind the government of Mali in its effort to restore control of its northern half.
 
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, as part of a trip to Mali, says Europe needs to help restore security in Mali.
 
Westerwelle has made the comments following a meeting with Mali's President Dioncounda Traore and a delegation 10 from the country's occupied north.
 
Westerwelle says Germany stands ready to provide logistical support and training for Mali's troops.
 
"Following our visit today we are going to increase our humanitarian 11 engagement by one million euros because we want to help the people of Mali and it is very important that this is an inclusive and political approach that we have to carry out together, going in the direction of democracy and back to democratic and constitutional order".
 
Mali descended 12 into chaos 13 this March when soldiers toppled the president, leaving a power vacuum that enabled Tuareg rebels to seize the Sahara region in the country's north.
 
However, the local Tuareg leadership in the self-proclaimed state became supplanted 14 by hard-line Islamic extremists, who have since imposed strict Islamic law in the region.
 
Growing Anger over Fuel Shortage in Storm-affected US North East
Frustration is starting to grow in parts of the US northeast amid the power outages and a shortening supply of fuel.
 
Power providers are warning some areas might not have electricity for about a week.
 
There are long lines at gas stations in New York and New Jersey 15, where fights have reportedly broke out in some places.
 
"I think that we're not getting the attention because we are, you know, we are a working class neighborhood and kind of just like fend 16 for yourselves kind of thing."
 
"American Red Cross is nowhere to be found. So all these people making all these big salaries ... big salaries ... should be out there on the front lines and I am disappointed."
 
Traffic in New York City has been paralyzed, given the limited subway service.
 
Despite the problems in the northeast, the US Presidential campaign is back on.
 
Greek Journalist Acquitted 17 over Printing Alleged 18 Swiss Bank List
The Greek journalist who published a list of suspected tax evaders has been acquitted of breaching 20 Greece's privacy laws.
 
Costas Vaxevanis published a list of some 2-thousand Greeks with Swiss HSBC bank accounts.
 
That list includes a government minister.
 
Vaxevanis made the list public after the Greek government failed to use it to check for possible tax evasion 21 by rich depositors.
 
Harris Ikonomopoulos, Vaxevanis's lawyer, contends no one on the list has actually complained about a breach 19 of privacy.
 
"The question today wasn't the fate of a journalist, the question today wasn't that much the freedom of press, the question today, the issue was whether transparency, disclosure, accountability will be reinstated at last in the everyday jargon 22 of Greek political establishment."
 
The list was reportedly leaked by an HSBC employee, then passed on to then-French finance minister Christine Lagarde in 2010.
 
Lagarde reportedly handed the list over to the Greek authorities, but they took no action.
 
Rampant 23 tax evasion is seen as one of the main reasons the country finds itself in the current economic predicament it's in.
 
Greek Journalist Acquitted over Printing Alleged Swiss Bank List.
 
The Greek journalist who published a list of suspected tax evaders has been acquitted of breaching Greece's privacy laws.
 
Costas Vaxevanis published a list of some 2-thousand Greeks with Swiss HSBC bank accounts.
 
That list includes a government minister.
 
Vaxevanis made the list public after the Greek government failed to use it to check for possible tax evasion by rich depositors.
 
Harris Ikonomopoulos, Vaxevanis's lawyer, contends no one on the list has actually complained about a breach of privacy.
 
"The question today wasn't the fate of a journalist, the question today wasn't that much the freedom of press, the question today, the issue was whether transparency, disclosure, accountability will be reinstated at last in the everyday jargon of Greek political establishment."
 
The list was reportedly leaked by an HSBC employee, then passed on to then-French finance minister Christine Lagarde in 2010.
 
Lagarde reportedly handed the list over to the Greek authorities, but they took no action.
 
Rampant tax evasion is seen as one of the main reasons the country finds itself in the current economic predicament it's in.
 
New Home Prices Rebound 24 in Major Chinese Cities
New home prices are continuing to rise here in China.
 
Average prices in 100 major Chinese cities are up 0.2-percent through October.
 
This marks the 5th-straight month of new home price increases.
 
But on a year-on-year basis, average new home prices have been down for 7-consecutive months.
 
Yang Hongxu is the vice-President of E-house China.
 
"If the house price rises a little bit, or even stay as it is, the housing policy will keep its current condition. But if there is big hike, the government may intervene to curb 25 the price."
 
The increase in new home prices comes after the central bank cut interest rates and banks' reserve ratios earlier this year to try to buoy 26 the slowing economy.
 
Want an MBA Come to China!
A new survey is suggesting more and more foreigners are coming to China to take their MBAs.
 
The US-based Graduate Management Admission Council is reporting the number of non-Chinese citizens applying to Chinese Business Schools make up about 40 percent of all the programs.
 
For more on this, CRI's Peter Smith spoke 27 earlier with David Wilson, President and CEO of the Graduate Management Admission Council.
 
Provable Oil and Gas Reserves up in China
A new report on China's oil and gas sector 28 is suggesting there is going to be a dramatic increase in the discovery of new reserves in this country.
 
As CRI's Zhang Shuangfeng reports, industry officials are suggesting this should help ease China's dependence 29 on imported oil and gas.
 
According to the Ministry 30 of Land and Resources, China had nearly 94 billion tons of provable oil reserves as of the end of 2011, an increase of 23 percent over 2007. The provable natural gas reserves reached about 55 trillion cubic meters, about 56 percent more than in 2007.
 
Peng Qiming, director of the ministry's geological exploration department, attributed the improvements to two factors.
 
"The dramatic growth of the oil and gas reserves across the country is mainly due to technological 31 development and innovation in exploration and drilling. We drilled 600 new oil shale 32 wells in the northeast over the past five years, which helped us to improve the exploitation scale."
 
China, one of the world's largest energy users, added more than 11 billion tonnes of oil reserves and 5.8 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves during the past decade.
 
The country's annual oil output stands at over 200 million tonnes in 2011, and its gas output has topped 101 billion cubic meters, ranking fourth and sixth in the world respectively.
 
At the same time, the country has also seen its oil consumption surging.
 
Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology show China's dependence on imported oil rose to over 56 percent in 2011.
 
Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, said the substantial increases in geological resources will no doubt alleviate 33 the threat on China's energy security, but there are still some problems.
 
"It will depend on the quantity of how much there is and the economics. For example, if the reserve has large quantity, it will certainly help a lot. But if it is small, it will not be that significant. Second, if the cost of utilizing 34 those reserves is high, it will also be a problem."
 
The Ministry of Land and Resources predicts China's annual output of oil may exceed 250 million tons by 2030, and the annual output of natural gas is expected to reach 450 billion cubic meters.
 
For CRI, I'm Zhang Shuangfeng.
 
South-to-north Water Diversion Project to be Completed
China's massive south-to-north water diversion project is designed to take water from China's longest river, the Yangtze, to feed the drought-prone areas in the north, including Beijing and Tianjin.
 
Water will flow northward 35 via three routes-an eastern, a middle and a western route. The middle route is expected to be completed in 2014.
 
CRI's Qizhi has more.
 
Started in 2002, the construction of the middle route - located between Hubei and Henan provinces - involved 345 thousands workers from the two provinces. It is also the largest resident relocation project after the Three Gorges 36 Dam.
 
Besides the relocation, to guarantee the water quality, the government has invested some 6 billion yuan in building sewage and garbage treatment facilities. Over one thousand heavily-polluting enterprises have been shut down, including paper mills, chemical plants, and pharmaceutical 37 companies.
 
The Vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, Du Ying, says that the drive to improve water quality has achieved some success.
 
"From 2006 to 2010, all the planned short-term projects have been completed. The sewage treatment capacity increased by 96 tons per day, while the garbage treatment capacity shot up by five thousand tons per day. The old practice of pouring untreated sewage and garbage into the river has been eliminated."
 
However, he also points out that water quality in some tributaries 38 has not met targeted levels.
 
"One of the reasons is that the pollutant 39 in some tributaries is still way too much, the other is that the mechanism 40 to achieve a win-win result between water quality protection and economic development is not established. Therefore any achieved success is not solid."
 
The deputy director of the water diversion project office, Yu Youjun, says that the government will invest another 12 billion yuan into ten major projects to ensure the water quality. The projects include building sewage and garbage treatment facilities, conserving 41 soil and treating agricultural pollution and mine tailings.
 
In addition, the water quality improvement and the pollution control will be included in the achievement evaluation 42 for local officials.
 
"The State Council urges local authorities to boost efforts to treat pollution and ensure the improvement of water quality. Planed missions and targets should be assigned to relevant authorities or enterprises."
 
The middle route is scheduled to begin transferring water in 2014. Then, it will be able to transfer 9.5 billion cubic meter of clean water to the north every year. Drought problems in over 20 major cities including Beijing, Tianjin, and Zheng Zhou, will be solved.
 
For CRI, I'm Qizhi.
 
China Launches New Soil Protection Plan
Chinese government is planning to launch a national program to improve the country's soil protection.
 
The promise has been made during a State Council meeting chaired by Premier 43 Wen Jiabao.
 
The authorities are moving to strictly 44 protect farmland soil and nearby drinking water sources by bringing pollutants 45 under control.
 
On top of this, new projects are being set up to rehabilitate 46 polluted soil and to improve the supervision 47 of soil.
 
It's estimated the new plan will cost around 100-billion yuan.
 
For more on the new soil protection plan we spoke earlier with Ge Chazhong, Division Director and Professor with the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning.
 
Newspaper Pick
 
CHINA DAILY
 
Family doctors prove to be the right remedy
 
Shanghai took the lead in promoting Family doctors in 2011 when it introduced licensed 48 general practitioners 49 at community health centers in several districts.
 
This allows residents to receive medical advice and treatment in or near their communities, easing the pressure on hospitals.
 
Residents only have to pay 2 yuan each time they seek treatment at a community clinic and 15 yuan if they require a home visit.
 
Most of the medicines prescribed are also on the National Essential Drugs List and covered by insurance.
 
A survey last year by Shanghai health authorities found more than 75 percent of residents support the idea of family doctors.
 
Chinese people are used to going to hospitals for everything.
 
GLOBAL TIMES
 
Edited gov't photos spark investigation 50
 
The ham-fisted Photoshopping of a newsphoto posted on an official government website in Yunnan Province is being investigated.
 
In the picture, the faces of two ordinary-looking citizens were replaced with those of a better-looking couple.
 
the photo is about a couple presenting a banner thanking police for recovering their stolen motorcycle.
 
In the photo, not only were the local couple's faces replaced, but an image of three people was added to the background.
 
The administrator 51 has apologized for not properly and carefully supervising the source of the photo before posting it online.
 
CHANNEL-NEWS-ASIA: singapore
 
New fight needed against killer 52 malaria 53 in Asia
 
Experts are demanding more urgency in fighting malaria cases in Asia.
 
Most international efforts to defeat malaria have so far focused on Africa, where the majority of deaths occur.
 
But out of the 3.3 billion people at risk from the mosquito-borne disease, 2.5 billion live outside the African region.
 
Among those cases, the Asia-Pacific accounted for 88 per cent.
 
India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea were hardest hit.
 
Leading scientists and health experts meeting in Sydney this week at the "Malaria 2012: Saving Lives in the Asia-Pacific" conference are calling for want tougher political leadership and regional coordination 54.
 
ABC news
 
Rape 55 in marriage accused dies before trial
 
An elderly man who was being prosecuted 56 in a landmark 57 case for raping 58 his wife nearly half a century ago has died before he could stand trial.
 
The man was facing several sex charges including rape allegedly committed against his former wife in 1963.
 
The elderly man took his fight to the High Court arguing he could not be tried for an offence that was not considered illegal at the time.
 
The judge has dismissed the case after the man's dead.
 
Market Update
 
U.S. stocks fell on Friday despite of better-than-expected October jobs data as the sell-off in material and energy sectors 59 weighed down the market.
 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.05 percent to 13,093. The Standard & Poor' s 500 dropped or 0.94 percent to 1,414. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 1.26 percent to 2, 982.
 
European markets however, traded higher.
 
London's FTSE 100 rose 0.11 percent to 5,869. Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.38 percent to 7,364. CAC 40 in Paris advanced 0.49 percent to 3,492.