CRI 中国国际广播电台 2010-03-07

Broadcasting Time: 07:00-08:00, GMT+08:00, 2010-03-07

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

In This Edition

China says more emphasis will be placed on improving people's living standards this year as the country continues to fend 1 off the economic downturn.

Foreign ambassadors say they impressed by the economic growth objectives and foreign policies laid out in China's government work report.

Turkey warns the United States that there will be negative diplomatic consequences if it doesn't impede 2 a congressional panel's decision to recognize the killings 3 of Armenians in 1915 as genocide.

And The United Nations promises to provide quake-hit Chile with 10 million dollars from an emergency fund.

Hot Issue Reports

Gov't to Stress Improving People's Living Standards in 2010

China's economy increased by 8.7 percent in 2009 for a faster-than-expected recovery thanks to a raft of effective stimulus 4 measures to combat the ill effects of the global financial crisis.

In the ongoing 5 session of the National People's Congress, government leaders say they will put more emphasis on improving people's living standards this year as the country continues to fend off the economic downturn.

Foreign Ambassadors Attend the Opening NPC Session

The 3rd session of the 11th National People's Congress kicked off on May 5th at the Great Hall of the People.

Among the attendees are many foreign ambassadors to China. The diplomats 6 are keen to know what the country has accomplished 7 in the past year and how its policies will play out in 2010.

The foreign ambassadors say they are highly impressed by the economic growth objectives and foreign policies laid out in the Chinese government's work report.

Herve Ladsous, France's Ambassador to China, says he has strong faith in the country's economic prospects 8.

"The high degree of optimism about economic growth; but I think China has shown last year, despite this crisis, it performed very well. There is no doubt that it will do the same this year."

Ante Simonic, Croatia's Ambassador to China, says he is stunned 9 by China's economic surge and believes that the country will play a bigger role in creating a better, post-crisis world.

"Peaceful and successful world, but a harmonious 10 world, too. It's fascinating. A new world order is emerging, and China is one of the driving forces that are creating a better world."

Fernando Reyes Matta, Chile's Ambassador to China, highly applauds what he says is a transparent 11 government work report.

"For one side, that is successful aspects connected with last year; but on the other side, what is the challenge China has confronted. That's very important, because in my opinion, it is a very honest report to the nation, to the People of China."

Murat Salim Esenli, Turkey's Ambassador to China, says he appreciates the actions the Chinese government has taken to come to grips with the financial crisis.

"In my opinion, China responded to it very accurately 12 and very effectively, because when you look at the performance of China, it not only helped the country as a whole, but at the same time it helped all the other countries, which have been adversely 13 affected 14 by this crisis."

Jon Huntsman, the U.S. ambassador to China who took office last year, stresses the significance of Sino-U.S. relations.

"The relationship is very sound. We have disagreements from time to time. We have issues that we need to work on. But for 30 years, the China-U.S. relationship has gone up and up and up and become more and more important to the rest of the world."

More countries are turning their attention to China as its economy forges ahead, despite the quagmire 15 of the economic crisis. Their leaders are staying abreast 16 about what China has been achieving, what problems it faces and how its officials are dealing 17 with them. They also recognize that in the process, China has become more open and transparent on many fronts.

Govt. Promotes Women's Participation 18 in Political Affairs

Chen Zhili, Chairwoman of All-China Women's Federation 19 and Vice 20-chairwoman of the NPC Standing 21 Committee, says her organization has launched a project to cultivate talented women and actively 22 promote them to participate in political affairs.

Chen made the announcement in advance of International Working Women's Day on March 8th.

"As an important part of the strategy of reinvigorating China through human resource development, talented women include talents in all social circles such as professional women, entrepreneurs and cadres in the government and the Party. As long as the more potential women are cultivated and the related policies are promoted, the policy of equality between men and women can be implemented 23 well."

The project started last August and will last three years. It will focus on the research of the development patterns of career women to better tap the talents of this group in China.

Industry Upgrading Is the Only Way for Resource-Oriented Enterprises

Li Peixing, a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC, says boosting the upgrading of the nonferrous metal industry is the only way to ensure the sustainable development of China's resource-orientated enterprises.

Li, who is also Chairman of the Board of Gansu Baiyin Nonferrous Metal Group, says the nonferrous industry is a resource-orientated sector 24 where technological 25 innovation is a must in developing a recyclable economy.

Such an economy is one that stresses clean production and the limited use of industrial pollutants 26.

"The per-capita demand of nonferrous metal in China increases 10 to 20 percent annually 27, but the country is facing a severe shortage of this kind of resource. Under these circumstances, the upgrading of the whole nonferrous industry is of utmost importance. The core task is to renovate 28 traditional methods of production through technological innovation."

Li says a plan outlined last year by the central government to adjust and revitalize the country's nonferrous metal industry has brought about new opportunities for the sector's development.

Li says his company, for example, has saved a great amount of energy and managed to reduce its waste discharge with the support of the government policy. This helped Gansu Baiyin Nonferrous Metal Group earn a 20 to 30 percent increase in profit last year.

Li says the company plans to invest some 6 billion yuan, or about one billion U.S. dollars, in technological innovations over the next three years to boost the efficient use of resources.

Light News

Turkey Warns of Negative Consequences Following US Resolution on Genocide

Turkey has warned the United States that there will be negative diplomatic consequences if it doesn't impede a congressional panel's decision to recognize the killings of Armenians in 1915 as genocide.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would assess what measures it would take, and called the resolution a "big mistake."

"Yesterday the decision of the Committee, unfortunately, has made a very negative impact from two perspectives. First of all, the judgment 29 on historical events by parliamentary process was a big mistake. In fact the process yesterday itself showed this mistake very clearly to all of us."

Davutoglu said the U.S. move not only risks slowing down but also could completely jeopardize 30 the Turkish-Armenian peace process.

He reiterated 31 Turkey's goal to normalize relations with Armenia but urged the U.S. to give a clear stance on the process.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said in a statement that "Turkey will not be responsible for the negative outcomes of this vote."

Turkey also temporarily recalled its ambassador to the United States for consultations 32. The move happened minutes after the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee approved a resolution to label the massive deaths of Armenians under Ottoman rule during World War I as "genocide."

Turkey and Armenia have been bogged 33 down in the row over this issue and have had no diplomatic or economic ties since Armenia declared independence in 1991.

In October, the two countries signed historic deals on normalizing ties and reopening their borders after decades of hostilities 34.

Chile Prosident Welcomes Chinese Aid

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has welcomed two million dollars' worth of emergency aid from China, saying it is not easy to cross the world, and that this demonstrates China's genuine willingness to support Chile.

It is the first time China has sent a cargo 35 plane to South America carrying purely 36 aid supplies.

The flight, which arrived in Chile early Friday, brought 10,000 blankets, 700 tents, 100 generators 37 and two water purification facilities, with a total weight of 90 tons. The aid materials were collected within just one day from several Chinese cities.

It represented the furthest geographical 38 distance that China has sent aid and the furthest geographical distance from which Chile has received assistance.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has promised to provide quake-hit Chile with 10 million dollars from an emergency fund.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon made the pledge in the Chilean capital of Santiago, saying the UN will also establish a working group to look at the country's most urgent needs.

"I'm here to express my solidarity 39 of the United Nations, of the international community to the people and government of Chile who have been victimised by this natural disaster."

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet thanked the world community for all the support it has provided.

"What's better than having the company, the solidarity, the brotherhood 40 of the world community, and knowing that they too are taking actions to help those that need it most? And in this way, be able to, step by step, brick by brick, begin the country's reconstruction 41."

Gordon Brown Defends Decision to Invade Iraq

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown defended his country's decision to invade Iraq, Friday, testifying before an inquiry 42 on the war that deposing 43 Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do.

"I believe we were making the right decision for the right cause. I believe I had sufficient information before me to make a judgment. Of course, I wasn't trying to do the job of the Foreign Secretary or trying to second-guess something that had happened at other meetings. I was looking at the issue on its merits, and as I've said to you before, I was convinced of the merits of our case."

Brown insisted that all diplomatic efforts had been exhausted 44 before the decision was taken to invade. He denied suggestions that his predecessor 45 Tony Blair and US President George Bush had effectively decided 46 to go to war before the British cabinet was given a chance to debate the matter.

Brown also dismissed claims that as treasury 47 chief during the Iraq war and as prime minister in the Afghanistan conflict, he choked military budgets, sending British soldiers to war without adequate equipment.

"I think if you look at the question of expenditure 48 in Iraq, you've got to start from this one fundamental truth, that every request that the military commanders made to us for equipment was answered. No request was ever turned down."

The inquiry is Britain's third and widest-ranging examination of the conflict, which triggered huge protests and left 179 British troops dead before the country's forces withdrew from Iraq last year.

Protesters Demand Release of Former Bosnian Vice President in UK

Thousands of Bosnians have protested in front of the British and Serbian embassies in the capital Sarajevo.

Protesters waved Bosnian flags and held banners, demanding the immediate 49 release of a former vice president Ejup Ganic who is being detained by Britain.

Avdo Hebib is President of the Bosnian War Veteran Union during the demonstration 50.

"We can not tolerate this. We can't tolerate the hypocrisy 51 of the ritish government, because we suffered during the war. It is an insult to Bosnian fighters, and it is an insult to the whole of Bosnia."

The 64-year-old former Bosnian vice president was arrested on Monday in London on a Serbian arrest warrant.

Serbia claims he committed war crimes during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. While Bosnia denies the claim, saying the United Nations war crimes tribunal had previously 52 dismissed the allegations.

The High Court in London on Friday gave Serbia six more days to present evidence against Ganic before judges decide whether to release him on bail 53.

Bosnia has accused Serbia of manipulating Great Britain and using the arrest warrant to appease 54 nationalists at home who are angered because in trial after trial at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, Serbs have been found guilty of committing most of the war crimes in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.

Media Digest

Global Times: Gov't Must Start New Round of Reform for Economic Growth

After decades of reforms and opening up, China's economy has experienced unprecedented 55 growth. However, it is also high time to start a new round of reforms in order to maintain healthy development, according to an editorial in the Global Times.

The paper says a major achievement of the reforms from 1980 to 2000 was the reduction of the government's role in economic activities. But during the past few years, the government's intervention 56 in economic activities has been on the increase. The government spends more than 42 percent of its income on investment, whereas few other countries spend more than 10 percent.

Meanwhile, some powerful groups and their control of government policies has emerged in the China in recent years, particularly since the global financial crisis in 2008. The situation has reached the edge of a crisis and urgently requires a new round of reforms.

The paper explains that in order to attract investment, local governments have lowered land prices and provided a variety of preferential policies for investors 57. This means that local governments favor high capital investment and exclude those which require intensive labor 58. The editorial notes that in this way the behavior of local governments is almost the same as that of commercial companies, which has not only weakened the government's public functions, but also opened the door for special interest groups to take advantage.

The editorial warns that almost all the reforms since 1978 have resulted from the creation of unsustainable systems and near crisis situations. The nation's current structural 59 imbalance has placed the Chinese economy in a dangerous situation where a large current account surplus indicates that there has been a wasteful 60 accumulation of money as well as serious inflationary pressure, while the falling consumption-GDP ratio means that the economy is growing, but not developing.

Furthermore, the editorial argues that the hidden truth is that the benefits of economic growth have not been equally allocated 61 among citizens but fallen into the hands of businessmen and officials.

Therefore, the editorial suggests that the government must start a new round of reform whose core is the denationalization of the economy and the democratization of politics. The former will eliminate the foundation of the government's commercialization, while the latter will limit the control of powerful corporations over the government.

The Beijing News: Accelerate the Reform of Official Cars' Use

In this year's "two sessions", one proposal from The Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang includes the reform of official car use. The suggestion is to create an administrative 62 system to control the use of cars within the government through rigid 63 financial controls.

Statistics show the output of the government is increasing rapidly at about 100 billion yuan annually, most of which is spent on official cars, a cost that is increasing by 20 percent annually. The cost of an official car ranges from 60 thousand yuan to as high as 100 thousand according to data from an official investigation 64.

An editorial in the Beijing News argues that it is not necessary for officials to use so many cars. In most private corporations, senior management staff and employees all use public transport on and off duty. In compensation they receive a transportation allowance. The editorial argues the civil service should do the same as it is effectively no different from other organizations.

Some local governments prefer to apply for more administrations fees simply to increase the benefit of their own officials. However, all drafted budgets should be scrutinized 65 by the deputies of the People's Congress.

According to Chinese law, the main responsibilities within all-levels of the National People's Congress are examination, approval and supervising the process of budget implementation 66. The People's Congress can only control the use of official cars satisfactorily if they make full use of their own power. Expenditure for official cars should be approved by the local-level people's congress.

The editorial urges tougher examination of such applications and suggests that during this process members of the local people's congress should give voice to their opinions, and not be afraid of exercising their powers. Only this way can public funds be directed towards the public, and away from the greedy hands of corrupt 67 officials.