CRI 中国国际广播电台 2010-01-24

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

In This Edition

Some of the biggest celebrities 2 from music, film, sports and politics join together for an all-star international, multi-network telethon to raise money for earthquake-shattered Haiti.

Russia and the United States will resume stalled talks on a replacement 3 nuclear arms reduction treaty in early February.

The US army has handed over the control of Iraq's largest province Anbar to the Iraqi Army, signaling the beginning for the withdrawal 4 of US troops.

And the most sophisticated supertanker ever designed and built in China gets ready for its maiden 6 voyage to the Middle East.

Hot Issue Reports

UN General Assembly Urges International Support to Haiti

The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution calling on the international community to provide "speedy, sustainable and adequate" support for quake-stricken Haiti.

Speaking to the assembly session, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon emphasized the need to rebuild the impoverished 7 Caribbean nation and "turn disaster into opportunity."

"Haiti's recovery must begin with its people, strong, resilient to get to work, rebuilding their lives and their country. We need to provide jobs, not only to those who lost their jobs last week but to the millions of Haitians who did not have a job in the first place."

To this end, the UN has launched a cash-for-work program to "help Haitians help themselves" by paying them to clear rubble 8, distribute aid and build camps for the homeless.

Ban Ki-moon also revealed that at least 70 UN staff had been killed and 146 are unaccounted for.

He added that more than 50 rescue teams from around the world had rescued 123 people alive from the rubble.

Entertainment Stars Unite for Telethon to Help Haiti

Some of the biggest celebrities from music, film, sports and politics joined together on Friday for an all-star international, multinetwork telethon to raise money for earthquake-shattered Haiti.

The two-hour show "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief," was broadcast from Los Angeles, New York, London, and Haiti.

It included musical performances by a variety of superstars, including Beyonce, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, U2's Bono and The Edge, Coldplay, Keith Urban and Stevie Wonder and was hosted by actor and director George Clooney, who helped organize the event.

Many stars such as Mel Gibson, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts, Jack 9 Nicholson and Robin 10 Williams manned telephone lines, while Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman and other actors made desperate pleas for donations.

"On that first night after the quake while the dust was still settling, a sound weaved its way through the darkness. There in the small city of Jacmel, amongst the ruins and rubble stood a lone 11 musician playing his guitar. He played for his fellow artists who are now gone. He played for the fathers who lost sons, for the sons who lost mothers, and the sisters who lost brothers. He played to make sense of the incomprehensible devastation 12 and soothe 13 his broken city."

The 7.0-magnitude quake that struck on January 12th has killed an estimated 200-thousand people, according to Haitian government fitures.

New Russian FM on US Nuclear Talks Begin

Russia and the United States will resume stalled talks on a replacement nuclear arms reduction treaty in early February.

Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister told reporters that he expected the remaining questions to be resolved "rather quickly" and for the talk to resume at the beginning of next month.

"We should give up the logic 14 of the old treaty. The old treaty was concluded in a completely different era, it reflected a different balance of strategic potentials, it was concluded, by the way, in a situation when the missile defence was still being put in place - the US later withdrew from that. The new accord is being concluded at a time when the trust between our states has been greatly strengthened."

A new agreement would succeed the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, also known as START-I, which expired December 5th.

Moreover, Moscow and Washington both want to reach a new accord quickly to give credibility to their efforts to persuade Iran and North Korea to abandon their nuclear programmes.

Sergey Lavrov, also commented on Iran.

"We regret that Iran, judging by all accounts, thinks it impossible to agree on that formula which was proposed, regarding the production of fuel for the research reactor 15 in Tehran. But we are convinced that renewed efforts must be made not only in this specific question but also on the wider question of renewing talks on regulating all aspects of Iran's nuclear programme."

Iran has so far rejected a United Nations-brokered nuclear fuel exchange deal to ease the standoff over its atomic programme.

No Peace Talks without Settlement Freeze: Palestinian Negotiator

An aide to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas says that Abbas has told visiting US Mideast envoy 16 George Mitchell that Palestine will not resume peace talks without an Israeli settlement freeze.

Saeb Erekat, also the Palestinian negotiator, said Abbas reiterated 17 the position in a meeting on Friday with the US envoy.

He urged the Israeli government to drop its conditions in order to resume peace negotiations 18.

"When we say a settlement freeze that includes Jerusalem. That is not a Palestinian condition. That is rather an Israeli obligation and the same thing is applicable to our demand to have negotiations resume where we left them in December 2008."

Abbas has said repeatedly he will not resume negotiations without an internationally mandated 19 Israeli settlement freeze.

The Obama administration initially 20 demanded such a freeze as well, but relented when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resisted.

Netanyahu instead agreed to a construction slowdown in some of the areas claimed by the Palestinians for a future state.

But he said Israel will not relinquish 21 any part of Jerusalem, while the Palestinians seek the eastern sector 22 as their future capital.

US Marines Hand over Duties to US Army in Iraq

The US Marine 23 Corps 24 have handed over the control of Iraq's largest province Anbar to the Iraqi Army, signaling the beginning of an accelerated withdrawal of US troops.

The changeover ceremony took place at a base in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on Saturday.

The withdrawal of the marine has triggered concerns about the security in Iraq, where the parliamentary election will be held in March.

But US Military Commander Major General Torry A. Wolff is very optimistic about the situation.

"I think what we should all recognise is that the security which is being provided in al-Anbar is done by the Iraqi security forces and we're partnered with them to help them on a daily basis and the goal that we all seek is Iraqis securing their own election and that the election is fair, the election is free."

US President Barack Obama has ordered all but 50-thousand troops out of the country by August 31, 2010, with most to depart after the March 7 parliamentary election.

The remaining troops will leave by the end of 2011 under a US-Iraqi security pact 25.

Evo Morales Begins Second Term as Bolivia's President

Evo Morales has begun a second term as Bolivia's president by declaring colonialism dead in the Andean nation.

The Aymara Indian was sworn in wearing a sash on which traditional national figures were replaced by two 19th-century heroes of indigenous 26 resistance.

Morales says he has sought to eradicate 27 all vestiges 28 of colonial repression 29 and discrimination against Bolivia's indigenous majority.

"The colonial state died, and the pluri-national state was born. The colonial state left Bolivia as the second to last country in Latin America, but now, we have lifted ourselves, and we are headed in a good direction."

Morales obtained 64 percent of the vote in December's general elections, and his party widened its presence in Congress, enabling him to pass reforms without opposition 30.

Morales has allied 31 Bolivia with Venezuela, Cuba and Iran, and drawn 32 criticism from the United States for its ties to Tehran.

Colombian Police Frees a Kidnapped Swiss Citizen

Colombian police have rescued a Swiss citizen who had been held hostage in northern Guajira province for about two weeks.

At a news conference after her release, Manuela Fankhauser said she lives a happy life in Colombia despite the kidnapping.

"I'm just married, very happy here, living in Colombia, working here, and I love Colombia and love everything about it."

The 35-year-old Fankhauser was kidnapped 11 days ago in the town of Dibulla, about 750 kilometres north of Bogota.

Colombian authorities revealed that the cooperation of residents helped lead police to where Fankhauser was being held captive.

Police reported that a shootout occurred between police and her captors while the Swiss citizen was being rescued. One person was arrested in the operation.

Police said the captors were demanding 350-thousand US dollars for Fankhauser.

Colombia has one of the highest kidnapping rates in the world.

Light News

China's Largest Oil Tanker 5 Set to Sail

Xin Pu Yang, the most sophisticated supertanker ever designed and built in China is about to start its maiden voyage from Guangzhou to the Middle East on Sunday.

The ship is believed to be the largest oil tanker in the world, three times the size of an aircraft carrier.

The maiden voyage marks a milestone 33 that the tonnage of China's oil tanks finally breaks through 300 thousand tons.

The tanker is equipped with the world's most advanced automatic navigation system, which enables it to sail 24 hours a day without manual operation.

Li Zhixiong is an technician from Guangzhou Longxue Shipbuilding Company where the tanker was built.

"The navigation system actually can operate automatically. That is to say the ship can sail without a man steering 34 the helm. The sailing course has already been set in the electronic map so the system will adjust itself automatically if the ship deviates 35 from the course."

The vessel 36 can sail at 30 kilometers per hour even when it is fully 37 loaded.

That means it will only take 20 days for it to arrive at oil terminals in the Middle East from Guangzhou.

In addition, the tanker is able to unload its 300 thousand tons of oil within 24 hours.

The tanker also has an anti-piracy system which can send out a message for help in just several seconds if the vessel is attacked.

Shanghai Expo Axis 38 Project Completed

The Expo Axis, one of the five major venues 39 of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, has been completed.

The one-kilometer-long and 110-meter-wide pedestrian walkway will be a large, integrated commercial area for food, entertainment and exhibitions.

It will also serve as the main entrance to the Expo site and connect to some metro 40 stations and major pavilions.

Six horn-like steel structures collectively called Sun Valley will shade visitors along the Expo Axis during the summer and collect and recycle rainwater simultaneously 41.

Zhao Keping, Director of the Expo Axis project, says Sun Valley was one of the most complicated structures to build during the walkway's construction.

"So far, no other country has built such a large Sun Valley, a cable-sheet structure. So we are very excited now. It took about 1,000 days to finish the construction."

Zhao says the facade 42 of the Sun Valley structures, each about the size of two basketball courts, will be covered by LED lamps that can display more than 10,000 colors.

The Shanghai World Expo Coordination 43 Bureau says the completion of the Expo Axis project means that preparations for the Expo have entered their final stage—from construction to operation.

The World Expo will run from May 1st to October 31st.

"Song Therapy" Bolsters 45 Patients' Confidence to Conquer Disease

People can be entertained by a piece of music. And for some patients, in particular, listening to a sweet song can alleviate 46 their pains and bolster 44 their confidence to conquer disease.

The melody you're hearing is sung by an intern 1 nurse at a hospital in Southwest China's Chengdu city.

The girl, named Huang Qiao, says she once incidentally sang a song when caring for a critically-ill patient, who wanted to give up treatment.

The patient, nicknamed Grandma Li, says she felt great relief from her pain after hearing the song.

"I feel very happy when I hear the song. It's very good for the treatment of my illness."

Now the young nurse sings melodies each day to Grandma Li to try to help her recover.

And the hospital authority is considering introducing such a kind of "song therapy" to more patients and broadcasting light music in wards 47.

Italy Relocates Nomad 48 Camps in Rome

The Italian authorities have launched a campaign to evacuate 49 camp Casilino 900 in Rome, believed to be the largest nomad camp in Europe.

Marco Squicciarini, a Red Cross representative, said evacuees 50 are cooperative toward the operation.

"At the beginning they feared to leave their homes after 40 years but now there's the will to go to the new camp because those who already are there called them up and told them that they're doing well, there's hot water and electricity. So we are receiving great collaboration 51 from them."

Residents of the Casilino 900 were being moved to a camp some 30 kilometres north of Rome.

The evacuation began on Tuesday with a visit to the camp by Rome Mayor, Gianni Alemanno.

Their relocation came on the heels of similar moves of other Roma families from other parts of the capital.

Most of Italy's Roma population are nomads 52 from the former Yugoslavia.

They live in Italy without identification papers and work permits and are deprived of opportunity to study, work, or live outside the encampments.

Media Digest

China Daily: Chinese Economic Rebound 53 May Fuel Change

China's economic growth rate was 8.7 percent in 2009, and the Gross Domestic Product reached over 33 trillion yuan or nearly 5 trillion US dollars, which was faster than the government's projected growth target of 8 percent.

An editorial in the China Daily says that if the country is to capitalize on the global economic crisis as it hopes, this strong recovery should only be the start.

The paper says China is a fast-growing, developing economy that is too dependent on investment and exports. A flood of bank lending and stimulus 54 spending fueled last year's investment boom. It was necessary to cushion the Chinese economy against the global recession. And it was a sensible and effective counter measure taken by Chinese policymakers.

However, the article points out that the 30 percent growth of fixed-asset investment has made China rely more on investment for growth. And there are few signs that the country has made real progress in cutting its dependence 55 on exports, though external demand turned out to be a drag on economic growth last year.

The editorial concludes that it will take a lot of painful times for China to rebalance away from the previous growth model to embrace consumer-led growth.

Chinese People Should Just Learn from the Past with "Confucius"

The movie "Confucius" has just hit screens around China trying to win over movie-goers from the US blockbuster "Avatar."

Some critics also expect the Chinese movie to take on the mission of exporting Chinese culture and top western cultures embodied 56 in movies like "Titanic 57" and "Avatar."

But a commentary in the China Youth Daily says the Chinese people should not hold high expectations for the movie "Confucius".

Instead, the newspaper points out that the film can serve as a way for Chinese to learn from and pass on rich traditions.

It notes that the movie, starring Hong Kong top actor Chow Yun-Fat, is a biopic about Confucius, a philosopher living in ancient China dating back 2,500 years ago.

The philosopher was worshiped in ancient China as the founder 58 of Confucianism and the father of teachers. His theory emphasizes social harmony and mutual 59 benevolence 60.

The commentary says the film "Confucius" will present viewers with a vivid description of the philosopher's life and his application of his own theory.

It urges movie-goers to treat the film as a lesson to learn from China's rich cultural legacies 61 as the country at times was on the verge 62 of discarding these useful traditions.

The newspaper points out that Chinese culture can shine around the world again only after its descendents make good use of the legacies.

To this end, the article says the film "Confucius" is a good start but the road ahead is long and rocky.