News & Reports 2010-11-14

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In This Edition

Leaders from 21 Pacific Rim 1 economies converge 2 on Japan for an annual summit with free trade on the top of the agenda.

Chinese Premier 3 Wen Jiabao announces China will launch a series of measures to help boost the development of less-developed Portuguese-speaking countries.

Iran and the U.S. welcome the formation of a new Iraqi government that saw both the Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Kurdish President Jalal Talabani return to power.

China's sporting dominance was unchallenged as it swept 19 out of 28 gold medals on the first full day's competition at the 16th Asian Games.

Hot Issue Reports

APEC Summit Concludes

Chinese President Hu Jintao calls for a balanced growth for long-term economic development in the Asia-Pacific region in a proposal made at the 18th Economic Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum 4, which opened in Japan on Saturday.

Premier Wen Makes Concrete Proposals at China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries Trade Cooperation Forum

Delivering a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Forum, Premier Wen Jiabao announced a series of measures China is going to take to further boost multilateral cooperation with the Portuguese-speaking Countries.

"Financial institutes on the mainland and Macau will set up a China-Portugal Cooperation and Development Fund worth one billion US dollars. The Chinese government will provide Asian and African counterparts of China-Portugal Forum with preferential loans worth 1.6 billion RMB. China will also pour in more assistance in terms of training and medical care."

Wen said China is willing to contribute to helping 5 less-developed Portuguese-speaking nations.

"The eight brothers of the Forum are at different stages of development, and it is the common responsibility of all the Forum members to help the less-developed Portuguese-speaking countries expedite development and lift themselves out of poverty, to which China is willing to contribute."

Premier Wen Jiabao not only proposed these measures, but also quantified them, which demonstrates that cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries is pragmatic.

Premier Wen Jiabao stressed the development should also be pursued in a harmonious 6 way. The cooperation should benefit the local people so that everyone enjoys the fruits of development. No one will be left out.

Jiang Changjian, professor of International Relations at Fudan University, took an in-depth view of this diversified 7 cooperation.

"Diversified cooperation has three tiers of meanings. First, cooperation scope has been expanded to encompass 8 not only trade but also investment and human resources. Second, cooperation partners have been enriched. China is not the only one working for the development of these countries. Third, cooperation approach has been enriched. In terms of human resources training or even fighting against trade protectionism, we can join our hands to cooperate."

The Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries was created in Macao in 2003, with the joint 9 participation 10 of seven Portuguese-speaking countries: Angola, Brazil, Cape 11 Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Timor-Leste.

Since its founding, China has provided 3.5 billion yuan worth of aid to these nations. About 230 million yuan of debt has also been canceled in form of all the interest-free government loans that were owned by five of those countries.

Iran and US React to New Iraqi Government

Iran and the U.S. reacted to the formation of a new Iraqi government that saw both the Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Kurdish President Jalal Talabani return to power.

Ahmad Jannati, the head of the Guardians 12 Council, one of Iran's top clerical ruling bodies, praised al-Maliki.

"Under God's will, the Iraqi people showed their wisdom and vigilance."

President Barack Obama, meanwhile praised Iraqi moves to form an "inclusive" government, but the two-day-old deal was already looking fragile after Sunni lawmakers walked out of parliament, clouding the possibilities for working with al-Maliki.

At a news conference in Seoul, Obama praised the progress.

"All indications are that the government will be representative, inclusive, and reflect the will of the Iraqi people who cast their ballots 13 in the last election. For the last several months, the United States has worked closely with our Iraqi partners to promote a broad-based government. Now Iraq's leaders must finish the job of forming their government so they can meet the challenges that a diverse coalition 14 will inevitably 15 face."

Members of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc 16 accused al-Maliki's Shiite coalition of breaking promises under the deal, aimed to overcome an eight-month deadlock 17 and allow the creation of a new Iraqi government.

Signatory States Parties Commit to Cluster Munitions 18' Ban

Representatives from the signatory states of the Convention on Cluster Munitions has ended a four-day summit with pledges to take concrete measures to push ahead with effective and timely clearance 19 and destruction, moving a major step towards full implementation 20 of the treaty.

The Vientiane declaration, entitled "no cluster munitions: from vision to action", is the main theme of the First Meeting of States Parties to the CCM in Vientiane, Laos' capital.

The landmark 21 meeting adopted the agenda, including the 2010 Vientiane declaration, Vientiane Action Plan, Work program 2011, reporting formats 22 for article 7 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, all of which aimed to protect civilians 23 throughout the world from future use of cluster bombs and to improve the lives of those already impacted.

A Belgian delegate says the convention made concrete progress.

"This first practice meeting indeed created the momentum 24 to register new signatures of the convention, new ratifications 25, and concrete announcements and indeed in a number of cases also a finalization 26 of stockpile destruction."

According to the Vientiane action plan, within one year of entry States Parties with cluster munitions stockpiles will have a plan in place for the destruction of stocks including a timeline and budget and begin physical destruction as soon as possible.

The Second Meeting of States Parties to the CCM is set to be held in Lebanon's capital city of Beirut on September, 2011.

The CCM prohibits the use, production, development, acquisition, stockpile and transfer of cluster munitions, sets deadlines for their destruction and clearance of contaminated land, and obliges states to support survivors 27. The 2008 treaty banning cluster munitions have so far been signed by 108 countries and ratified 28 by 46 countries.

NOC Observers Look to Learn the Ropes in Guangzhou

Observers from NOCs of different countries and regions have visited Guangzhou during the Asian Games, where they hope to learn lessons from the city in hosting large-scale sports events.

Katarina Witt, Chair of the Munich 2018 Bid Committee, said it was an important experience to come to Guangzhou for they can learn a lot through seeing how everything was organized, such as the opening ceremony.

"Yesterday was already how everything was organized. Getting into the venue 29, then being at the venue, the opening ceremony and then everything how it was organized coming back. It went off smoothly 30, and this is always a great thing. When you just feel like you are welcomed, everybody is here with open arms and everything is really well-organized. I'm sure, for the athletes, they will have best conditions."

With only two years to go, organizers for the 2012 London Olympic Games hoped their Guangzhou trip may help them solidify 31 their knowledge and acquire expertise 32 and knowledge in specific fields.

James Macleod, a representative of the London Olympic Organizing committee of the Olympic Games, has just visited the athletes' village for the Asian Games.

"It was very high-standard. We are very impressed by the services provided there. We are trying to do similar in London. We have a very compact village in part of the Olympic Park. So the athletes will be very close to the venues 33. So they can well compete."

The Korean city of Inchon, host of the next Asian Games in 2014, has sent staff members, including 13 managers, to stay here up until the end of the Games.

And they have actually been involved in various jobs in the Guangzhou Games ever since preparations got underway.

Shin Yong-suk, External Relations Chairman of the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee, with the experience here and high technology, the 2014 Games can bring something new to the Asians.

"We may have not as big as spectacular opening ceremony, but we are going to show Inchon and Korea's high-tech 34, electric technology within our stadiums. We expect to have ever great Asian Games before."

Asian Games Day One Round Up

China's sporting dominance was unchallenged as it swept 19 out of 28 gold medals on the first full day's competition at the 16th Asian Games on Saturday. CRI's Paul Ryding was at the Games and earlier sent in this report.

Cholera 35 Rattling 36 Haiti

As international health workers warned of a growing cholera epidemic 37 in Haiti, residents of the capital expressed growing concerns about the spread of the disease that already claimed 800 victims.

The United Nations said up to 200,000 Haitians could contract cholera. Over 11,000 patients have been hospitalized since the outbreak began more than three weeks ago.

This camp in the Vaudreuille neighborhood is located in Cite Soleil, a large slum on the outskirts 38 of Port-au-Prince.

Fear is apparent among the camp's residents; Martine Guerrite is one of them.

"We are very scared of cholera. A lot. They have put this tank of water there for us, and told us that it has been treated. Since I have no other choice, we drink it. We used to use an Aqua tab tablet to sterilize 39 it even though it tastes harmful."

The devastating 40 quake in January made some 1.5 million people homeless. Living conditions make people extremely vulnerable to the disease as they live in overcrowded camps with a scarcity 41 of safe drinking water.

Patrick Joseph, a community leader, says this camp is also just a few minutes drive away from a waste dump.

"Where they are dumping the garbage waste is just in the centre of three villages: Vaudreuille, Bassan, Martial 42 and then a fourth village called Repatriate 43 surrounds the space of the dumping waste."

When the outbreak began, the United Nations, foreign non-governmental agencies and foreign governments like Cuba rushed medical teams, medicines and clean water supplies to the main affected 44 areas and health authorities launched a nationwide anti-cholera hygiene 45 campaign.

Car Exhaust Hazard

As the world's biggest carmaker and consumer of automobiles 47 since 2009, China has seen car exhaust fumes 48 quickly rise to become the biggest polluter in major cities. Reducing air pollution from exhaust gases has become the toughest challenge China has to tackle in the fight to clean up the country's air.

For the first time, the Ministry 49 of Environmental Protection has published the figures for motor vehicle exhaust emissions 50. The total amount of fumes discharged from motor vehicles in 2009 was more than 50 million tons, and of the 113 key cities for environmental protection, the air quality of one third does not reach the required standards. Acid rain and heavy smog occur frequently in some major cities.

An editorial in the China Daily expresses its concern over the ever growing automobile 46 industry. It says the total number of cars will reach 200 million nationwide by 2020. The pressure is growing to deal with air pollution caused by exhaust fumes discharged from cars.

Apart from upgrading technology to reduce the amount of fumes emitted from cars and the manufacture of motor vehicles using alternative fuels, the article says it is necessary to intensify 51 publicity 52 to raise awareness 53 of environmental protection issues among citizens.

The editorial also points out that the government at all levels needs to have incentive 54 policies to encourage residents to use public transit 55 and other environmentally friendly alternatives, such as bicycles. More investment also needs to be put into public transportation to make it easier for residents to travel by bus or subway.

Urban planners must change their mentality 56 and stop repeatedly widening roads to make room for motor vehicles. Instead, more money and effort must be shifted to public transportation development. The article concludes that clean energy and public transportation are necessary to achieve cleaner air in cities.

What has life got in store in Spring?

A roughly shot amateur singing video clip has recently become extremely popular among China's Internet users. The picture shows two migrant workers sing the pop rock melody, "In Spring". Without any decorations, one plays the guitar, and the other sings with passion. Their friends shot the footage by cell phone. They are not handsome young men but plain migrant labor 57 workers with half-body naked and the background of the video is just a shabby room they rent with only beds and an old table, on which empty beer bottles are scattered 58.

Some of the lyrics 59 go like this, if one day, I become old and have nothing to rely on; please leave me in the time river alone; if one day, I pass away quietly, please bury me in the spring. The video has moved many netizens from the common people as the two singers to government officials such as Zhou Qiang, the Communist Party Secretary of Hunan Province. Many are wondering why the amateur performance could touch many people so deeply.

Many critics published their opinions of their so-called unreasonable 60 popularity. Cao Xugang is one of them, who wrote an article on the Shaanxi Huashang Daily trying to decode 61 the phenomenon. He says it is far more than just a song. What people have gotten from the cover is the similar experience, which evokes 62 sympathy, no matter if they are common or noble.

The article says in the past three decades, China gained tremendous progress with reforms and opening up, however, the pain is also apparent behind the glorious achievements. Along with development, numerous social problems have emerged, such as fake milk powder and compulsory 63 house removals. With millions of rural people flocking to big cities, their dreamland has become the origin of their misery 64, says the article.

Cao says public actions after the touching 65 moment is more important. He hopes society doesn't stop with just an emotional feeling, but people take actions to resolve social problems and make all citizens live warmly in spring.