CRI 中国国际广播电台 2010-04-10

Broadcasting Time: 07:00-08:00, GMT+08:00, 2010-04-10

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

In This Edition

Signs of instability linger in Kyrgyzstan as President Kurmanbek Bakiyev refuses to relinquish 1 power after clashes that left at least 75 people dead.

Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveils a new generation of centrifuges as the country's latest achievements in its nuclear program.

The 16th ASEAN Summit concludes in Hanoi, Vietnam with a chairman's statement which shows strong commitments of all member countries to build a sustained ASEAN Community in 2015.

And China's central government-owned enterprises plan a new round of re-grouping in an effort to further improve their competitiveness.

Hot Issue Reports

Kyrgyz opposition 2 forms interim 3 government, president refuses to step down

Signs of instability linger in Kyrgyzstan, as President Kurmanbek Bakiyev refused to relinquish power after clashes that left at least 75 people dead.

The Health Ministry 4 of the Kyrgyz interim coalition 5 government said more than 1,500 others were injured and the death toll 6 could rise.

The interim government led by former Foreign Minister Roza Otunbayeva was formed on Thursday. Otunbayeva announced the new government controlled four of the seven provinces and it would rule the Central Asian nation for six months before calling new elections.

She said the interim government is trying to locate Bakiyev, who had fled to southern Kyrgyz state of Jalalabad, and wants to negotiate with him.

"Negotiate just regarding the resignation, not about other things. To appeal, like now, ex-speaker appealed that he should resign. His business is finished in Kyrgyzstan and so all those people who have been killed and who got wounds, they are victims of this regime. I think we will see how the dynamics 7 of these events will go. But if he will continue to do such destructive actions, then certainly we will react."

Meanwhile, Bakiyev refused to step down. However, he also admitted that he was not able to alter the current political situation.

In an interview with the Al Jazeera, Bakiyev was emphatic 8 that he was still the elected leader of the nation.

"Yes I am still the President, there have been tragic 9 events happening in our country. Disorder 10, people walking around with weapons. They are trying to take, they want to take over the government. They cannot do this. Nine months ago eighty percent of the people, the population, voted for me and things cannot change so quickly."

On Thursday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a telephone conversation with Kyrgyz interim leader Otunbayeva, urging the Kyrgyz people to refrain from violence and offered the country humanitarian 11 aid.

On the same day, US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said a U.S. diplomat 12 met with Otunbayeva, delivering a message it hoped that calm will be restored in a manner consistent with democratic principles.

Iran hails new achievements in its nuclear program

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday hailed the recent achievements made in the country's nuclear program.

In a ceremony held in Tehran marking Iran's annual National Nuclear Day and broadcast live from the state TV, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled the first sample of the third generation of centrifuges, which has a separation power six times that of the first generation.

"Today, Iranian scientists have mastered the entire nuclear technology domain 13. It does not mean that we are at the peak, but there is no obstacle ahead of our scientists when it comes to (nuclear) science."

Referring to the threat of sanctions by the West over the country's disputed nuclear program, Ahmadinejad said the language of threat will not slacken Iranians from gaining their rights.

And he stressed its nuclear program is solely 14 for peaceful purposes and intended to generate electricity for its population.

Six powers hold talks on Iranian nuclear issue

Earlier, ambassadors from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany met in New York behind closed doors to discuss possible steps over the Iranian nuclear issue.

After the meeting, Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations told the media that it is time for Iran to start negotiating.

"I don't think any of us want to impose sanctions. What we want to have is a diplomatic solution, and all sorts of constructive 15 proposals have been made to Iran. So if Iran wants to negotiate, they should start negotiating."

China's UN Ambassador Li Baodong told reporters that negotiations 16 were "constructive" and that the "dual 17 track approach is actually focused on diplomacy 18."

The United States and other western countries have been pushing for a fourth round of UN sanctions to restrict Iran's nuclear efforts, which they say are aimed at developing nuclear weapons.

Iran has denied the western accusation 19 and stressed its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes and intended to generate electricity for its population.

ASEAN summit concluded in Vietnam

The 16th ASEAN Summit concluded in Hanoi,Vietnam on Friday with a chairman's statement which shows strong commitments of all member countries to build a sustained ASEAN Community in 2015.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dun made a declaration at the end of the two-day conference of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, saying the flood of government spending and easy credit has played a major part in growth.

"We emphasized the connection between economic development goals with environment protections and to ensure social welfare as well as pushing for education and human resource development. At the same time, enhance the East Asia economic and financial cooperation, contribute to the global efforts for economic recovery and sustainable development."

Southeast Asian leaders also endorsed 21 a $700 million regional credit guarantee scheme to help deepen Asian bond markets.

The plan will be put forward for approval at a ministers' meeting in May that will also include China, South Korea and Japan.

S.Korea expresses regret over N. Korea's decision on scrapping 22 tourism deal with Seoul

South Korea has expressed regret over North Korea's decision on scrapping cross-border tourism deal with Seoul.

Through its state media, the North earlier announced plans to freeze some of South Korea' s assets in Mount Kumgang, expel South Korean personnel there, nullify tourism deal with South Korean company Hyundai Asan.

"Tours of Mt. Kumgang by people at home and abroad will soon start through a new business enterprise."

Seoul's Unification Ministry spokesperson Chun Hae-sung said that the South Korean government "feels very regretful", and required Pyongyang to withdraw these measures.

He reiterated 23 that the North's unilateral move violated agreements set between the operators and governments of the both sides, and also infringed 24 international practices.

"The South Korean government has a stance that the Mount Kumgang and Kaesong tours issues have to be solved through dialogue."

Tours to Mount Kumgang was launched in 1998 and run by South Korea 's Hyundai Asan Corp. However, the tours were halted in 2008 soon after a South Korean female tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier.

Death Toll from Flooded Coal Mine in North China Rises to 25

The death toll from a flooded coal mine in northern China has risen to 25, as rescuers continue their search for 13 more miners still unaccounted for after 13 days.

DNA 25 tests will be used to identify the dead, and rescue teams are racing 26 to locate the miners still missing in the unfinished Wangjialing mine in Shanxi province.

Rescuers installed more pipes to pump out water, and ventilating the pit to discharge gas that had built up. But the rescue in one section was difficult as the water level has not dropped quickly enough and it is located adjacent to a disused shaft 27 full of water and toxic 28 gas.

Luo Lin, head of China's Administration of Work Safety, said rescuers were doing all they could.

"We are speeding up the discharging of water in the mine and increasing the intensity 29 of the search operation. Our goal is to find all of the workers trapped in the mine. At the same time, we are helping 30 all of those workers already lifted out of the mine to recover."

Rescue workers pulled out 115 miners alive on Monday, who survived more than a week eating tree bark and drinking filthy 31 water underground.

Most of the rescued miners are in a stable condition. Many have been transferred to larger hospitals in the provincial 32 capital Taiyuan for better treatment.

Light News

Surging Land-Transferring Fees Complicates 33 the Efforts to Curb 34 House Price Hikes

The Ministry of Land and Resources of China has released its Communique on Land and Resources in 2009 which reveals that land-transferring fees in 2009 total 1.6 trillion yuan, up by 63% on the previous year.

Zhang Wanli, official of the Ministry of Land and Resources, believes that the skyrocketing land price in China's tier-1 cities is the major reason behind the surging land-transferring fees.

"Last year, the staggering growth rate of land-transferring fees concentrated on such tier-1 cities as Beijing and Shanghai which are witnessing the ever-rising land price."

House prices of commercial residences are hitting new records repeatedly.

It is widely believed that land-transferring fees are the major source of local government revenue, so the land price is driven up, hence the resulting escalating 35 house prices.

Liu Suichen, senior official of the Ministry of Land and Resources of China, reiterates 36 that the government is improving its policies concerning land transfer, in an attempt to curb the momentum 37 of ever-climbing house prices.

He also sends a reassuring 38 message that the Ministry of Land and Resources will save no efforts to produce more government-subsidized houses.

House Price Skyrocket at Beijing Spring Property Fair

The Beijing Spring Property Fair has opened, bringing housing prices of the capital to another high.

The fair is considered the benchmark for Beijing's property market of the year.

According to organizers, the average price of properties within the fifth ring road is over 25 thousand yuan, or 3.7 thousand US dollars per square meter, twice the price of the same period last year.

High property prices have challenged the nerves of home buyers and investors 39 coming to the fair.

"I guess it will be more and more difficult to find a cheaper one. It seems the trend is going to keep upward."

"Even though I really want to invest, I think there will be some potential risks if I invest now."

Qing Hong from Policy Research Center of Urban and Rural Housing Development, warned that the bubble in the real estate market is now very severe.

"The price increase is quicker than the rate of savings 40 and rentals 41 increase, accumulating instability factors in the real estate market."

Regrouping of China's Central Government-Owned Enterprises Under way to Improve Competitiveness

China's central government-owned enterprises are facing a new round of regrouping this year in an effort to further improve their competitiveness.

Economists 42 say regrouping is only the first step towards that goal. They advise the enterprises to put more effort into research and development to create globally-influential brands.

Boy Crisis in China

A recent survey by the China Youth and Children Research Center shows that some of Chinese boys are physically 43 less able than previous generations, and unable to accept their social responsibilities.

People described this trend as a "boy crisis" whereby boys are becoming less masculine.

Child psychology 44 expert Sun Yunxiao explains that the reason for the "boy crisis" is mainly because the teachers and parents have paid less attention to the gender 45 differences.

"In most primary and middle schools, teachers treat boys and girls in the same way. They always ask the boys to behave as well as the girls. In my opinion, allowing a boy to go into primary school before the age of six could be a disaster."

Sun adds that not only has the school not paid much attention to the gender differences; family education also has a big influence on raising a boy.

While fathers seem to pay much less attention to raising a boy, sometimes mothers over-protect their boys.

How do young boys themselves look at the issue? Ma Lu is a 24-year-old student at Hong Kong Baptist University.

"I admit that the appearance of many boys has become androgynous. At the same time, girls are becoming more and more independent and some of them are also boyish. But personally, I don't worry much about the phenomenon. What a man looks like can not indicate whether he has lost his masculine characteristics. As long as he is mentally strong, he is a real man."

Protest at offices of film distributor for documentary on dolphin slaughter 46

A group of Japanese protesters staged a rally in Tokyo against the distribution of an Oscar winning documentary "The Cove 20," a gory 47 depiction 48 of dolphin slaughter in the Japanese fishing village of Taiji.

About 30 protesters held Japanese flags and banners calling on the distributors of the documentary to stop the release of the movie in Japan in summer.

Shuhei Nishimura, the organizer of the protest, called the Japanese distributor of the documentary "cultural terrorist" and demanded to meet with its representative.

"We will block the distribution of the movie and we will protect this country. If the country does not protect life, spirit and pride of its people, we will have to protect them by ourselves."

Taiji hunts about 2-thousand dolphins every year for meat, less than other places, but is singled out in part because of its "oikomi" method of herding 49 and killing 50 them near the shore.

"The Cove" refers to Taiji and its dolphin fishing as "a little town with a really big secret."

The documentary has not yet been released in Japan, but is due to start showing in June at 20 to 30 cinemas nationwide.

Media Digest

Out of the New York Times: A growing number of brides and grooms 51 are tying the knot on cruise ships and sailing off into the sunset with their entire wedding party in tow.

According to the Cruise Lines International Association, cruise weddings have increased 60 percent in the last decade. Carnival 52 Cruise Lines expects some 2,200 couples will marry aboard its ships this year paying anywhere from almost $1,200 US dollars for a basic civil ceremony to about $1,800 dollars for a deluxe 53 romance package with a one-and-a-half-hour reception and a celebratory ice carving 54. Norwegian Cruise Line offers an onshore wedding by a canal in Venice or at a colonial chapel 55 in New Orleans during a port of call for about $2,500 US dollars.

However, Travel agents recommend booking a room on a different deck from the rest of the guests and planning some private shore excursions to ensure some honeymoon 56 time alone.

From the Daily Mail out of the UK: A teenager in the US has taken his mother to court for logging on to his Facebook page and reading about his personal life.

Denise New has been charged with harassment 57 after her 16 year old son said he wanted criminal charges filed against her for her "snooping". The teenager claims his mother changed his password on his Facebook account after he accidently left his computer on. He also said she posted slanderous 58 comments and changed the password to his email so he can no longer receive updates on his page.

Mrs. New said she was simply performing her parental 59 duties, and looking at the Facebook page, was the same as going through his room. Her son disagreed and has asked not to have further contacts with her.

From the Global Times based in China, some paper napkins used in Beijing restaurants have been tainted 60 with chemicals and are unsafe, according to a food-packaging expert.

The expert said that while high-star and chain restaurants can boast reliable paper napkin suppliers that monitor napkin quality, "those small and medium restaurants buy their napkins at random 61 at market."

Analysts 62 also conducted a nine-year long research project on disposable dishware, and found some of the containers used in the restaurants for take-out are unsafe. Cost cutting measures by restaurants are said to be the blame for the usage of poor quality napkins.