More Sectors in China Open to Private Investment

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce announced Thursday that private enterprises will be encouraged to enter some of the country's previously state-owned sectors -- including power, telecommunications, rail and civil aviation. The administration distributed a notice to the administration's local branches instructing them to support private companies to fund and operate projects in the sectors. The chinese administration said it will continue to broaden access for private enterprises in other monopoly businesses where private funding is not prohibited by law. The notice came following an earlier decision by the State Council, or the country's cabinet, to encourage the development of both public and private economic sectors. (March 26, 2005)

China's Forex Chief Takes Helm of CCB

The China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) announced in Beijing Friday that Guo Shuqing has been elected chairman of the board of directors of the bank. The CCB interim shareholders' conference and the meeting of the board of directors that opened in Beijing held that Guo Shuqing has leadership experiences in both the former State Planning Commission and the State Commission for Restructuring the Economy, and worked as vice governor of Guizhou Province, vice governor of the People's Bank of China and director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. A man of strategic vision, strong sense of reform and innovation, and chairman of the bank, Guo will play an important role in promoting CCB's reform and development and the process of internationalization. The announcement says the CCB is at a critical time of reform and development, it will resolutely seize the opportunity to promote the bank's share-holding restructure process and other undertakings in an all-round way in line with the state's unified deployment. Guo Shuqing said he will certainly not let down the expectations of the state, shareholders, clients and staff of the bank. He will work closely with the whole bank and make efforts tocontinuously push forward the bank's reform and development, and build the CCB into a modern commercial bank with international competitive edge. (March 26, 2005)

Oil Companies Ink Landmark S. China Sea Agreement

Oil companies of the Philippines, China and Vietnam signed a landmark tripartite agreement in Manila on Monday to conduct a joint seismic survey of oil potential in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The US$15-million undertaking will last for a period of three years, a move Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo described as a historic breakthrough in developing an area that has been a source of conflict between the three nations into a source of energy. Arroyo congratulated the Philippine National Oil Company, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation on their successful negotiations. "It is not only a diplomatic breakthrough for peace and security in the region, but also a breakthrough for our energy independence program, because one of the elements of this program is to work on strategic alliances with our friends and allies so that we can have more supply of energy for the region and our country," Arroyo said when meeting the delegations from the three companies. The survey, which is expected to begin before the start of the typhoon season this year, will cover an area of about 143,000 square kilometers. In a joint statement, the three parties affirmed that the signing of the agreement was in accordance with the basic positions held by their respective governments to turn the South China Sea into an area of peace, stability, cooperation and development in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.Chinese Ambassador Wu Hongbo told Xinhua that the cooperative arrangement, based on mutual understanding and common interest, would set a good example for the countries concerned to resolve the South China Sea issue peacefull.. (March 15, 2005)

Japan, China row heats up over UN seat

Japan fanned the blaze of a raging row with China on Friday, by saying the lifting of the EU arms embargo on China would be a “big problem” for Asian stability. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hiroyuki Hosoda, said March 25, on the eve of a visit by French President Jacques Chirac that the lifting of the EU arms embargo on China being pushed by France would be a 'big problem' for Asian stability. Japan is wooing world leaders for a favorable consideration of its bid for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council. On Thursday, more than one million people, mostly Chinese, signed their names at the sina.com site to voice their opposition to Japan’s eligibility. Chinese Government now faces daunting pressure to be tough with Japan, analysts said. On the eve of a visit by French President Jacques Chirac, Japanese Government Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said: "Considering stability in Asia, the United States and Japan share the awareness that resuming arms exports would be a big problem." Hosoda said the issue of the arms embargo would likely be on the agenda when Chirac meets Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Tokyo Sunday.President Chirac said Wednesday he still expected an agreement to lift the ban by the end of June, despite signs the 25-member EU bloc could delay its decision. Washington has been pressuring Europe not to lift the ban. US lawmakers have even threatened to levy punitive trade sanctions on European companies if the embargo is lifted, which was imposed 16 years ago.China says the embargo is political discrimination and also a nuisance in better Sino-EU relations. Chirac, accompanied by his wife Bernadette and a delegation of French business leaders, will arrive in the western city of Osaka on Saturday and then head by train to Nagoya to see the World Exposition. (march, 2005).

“Green Olympics, Green Action” Promotional Team Gave a Lecture in CUGB

On March 23, 2005, in China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Doctor Xuyun, an expert of water resources, director of Zhongguancun International Environmental Protection Industry Promotion Center (ZIEPC), and also a number of “Green Olympics, Green Action” Promotional Team, gave a lecture on “Circular Economy: Water Resources’ Protection and Utilization”. More than 200 undergraduates as well as postgraduates from the School of Water Resources & Environment attended. After the lecture, they also communicated and discussed some hotspots with each other, such as Green Olympics, circular economy, water resources’ protection and utilization, etc. March 22, 2005 is the thirteenth World Water Day. Under the help of BOCOG, students from the School of Water Resources & Environment of CUGB developed a “Water Week” named “Water for Life Moistens the Green Olympics”. Besides the lecture, they will also hold a signing ceremony and a quiz. Meanwhile, they will develop communication and promotion activities in some middle and primary schools. They hoped that through such activities, they could improve both their knowledge and culture level, call on the public to save water so as to contribute to the Green Olympics.

Pop chinese diva Faye Wong to remarry

China's famous actor Li Yapeng and singer-actress Faye Wong will marry after this year's Spring Festival, according to one of their close friends. Pop diva Faye Wong and actor Li Yapeng, her present regular boyfriend. The friend, who works in advertising, said that Li and Wong planned to marry soon after Feb. 9 and they are now busy preparing for the wedding. The location for the wedding has not been set yet, according to the source. It might be in Beijing, where they bought their mansion, or Xi'an, where the relationship got solid. Li was not available to comment. But he admitted recently that he had spent a happy New Year's Day with Wong and he wanted to have a stable life now.

New rules in China to safeguard charms of old Beijing

A long-awaited law to protect Beijing's historical and cultural heritage was passed by the city's legislature on Friday after nearly a year's deliberation. Siheyuan courtyard homes near the Forbidden City in the center of Beijing are under protection to safeguard the charms of old Beijing. The city's legislature passed new rules on March 25 to protect Beijing's historical and cultural heritages.The Beijing Regulation for Historical and Cultural City Protection, which take effect from May 1, stipulate that the city will protect not only its more than 3,500 listed heritage sites, but also unlisted sites deemed to be of historical or cultural value. The 41-article regulations also guarantee protection for all areas of the 850-year-old capital within the city's Second Ring Road. This means that, as well as high profile areas like the Forbidden City and the old river system, the old city layout, the colours of old buildings, ancient trees and even the names of houses and lanes will have legal protection. "The most encouraging content of the regulations is that Beijing will pay more attention to protecting the old city's landscape in its entirety, rather than just focussing on scattered heritage sites," said Mei Ninghua, director of the Beijing Administrative Bureau of Cultural Heritage. Heritage guardians have long appealed for the traditional fabric of the old city to be preserved, including the old lanes and courtyards.
(03/26/2005).

China's education : Chinese Professor Tao Hongkai Helps Internet-Hooked Teens Kick the Habit

Professor Tao Hongkai was browsing the Wuhan Evening News when his attention was drawn to the story of an Internet-addicted girl and her helpless and distraught mother. Qu Qian, 17, once a top student in her class, was skipping school to get her daily fix of online gaming. It was after the mother fruitlessly called the police that she took a last-resort option: she contacted the media. Fortunately, that day in May of 2004, professor Tao put down the paper and called the family. Several days later, after a nine-hour consultation with mother and daughter, the teenager agreed to skip the Internet cafe instead of classes. Qu was good to her word. She's stayed out of the Internet cafes, today her grades are again at the top of her class and she and her mother are friends again. Sixty-year-old Tao Hongkai is a guest professor with Central China Normal University in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province, where he teaches four courses as part of what he describes as "full-fledged character education." Though Tao originally expected to perhaps help a single distraught mother and her daughter, after his success with Qu became known, he developed unexpected fame. He is now renowned - and in high-demand - as a troubleshooter-therapist for Internet addicted kids... Quite simply, he says: "We should teach our children that computers are tools... not toys." Because of his altruistic action, personal sacrifice and contribution to the greater community, Professor Tao was recently conferred the title of "Loving Ambassador in Network Civilization," by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Youth League, and his story was reported by more than 200 media outlets in China. (March 25, 2005).

Press relase : Xinhua.net

Memory : Japan should face up to history: By French expert

www.chinaview.cn 2005-04-22 01:48:38

PARIS, April 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Japan should face up to history andthe crimes its troops did during World War II, and only in this way can it win back trust among people in Asia and across the world, a French expert on Chinese studies said Thursday.

"Japanese leaders should face up to the questions hurting national sentiment of China. ... It will serve the bilateral ties,peace and confidence in Asia and in the world," Dr. Pierre Picquart, an expert on geopolitics from Paris University, told Xinhua in an interview. Dr. Pierre Picquart, who majored in Chinese studies, gave an account of the atrocities Japanese troops did in China during their invasion.

He said history books in the West seldom described the massacrein Nanjing (an eastern city in China) in 1937 when the invading Japanese troops killed between 300,000 and 400,000 civilians and raped more than 20,000 women aged from 11 to 70. "Tens of thousands of Chinese were buried alive with only theirheads out of earth. Some weeks of massacres didn't spare children.Rapes, live burials and all kinds of atrocities. Thousands of Chinese had their head cut in front of their parents..." Dr. Pierre Picquart said.

He added that there are many photos, witnesses, films and otherevidence that one needs only to look at to know the crimes. Dr. Pierre Picquart also mentioned the republication of a history textbook in Japan that minimizes the country's brutalities in Asiaduring the last century and said the Japanese government should beresponsible for distorting history and hurting the feelings of itsAsian neighbors.

He said the memory should remain alive and he compared the Chinese-Japanese ties with the French-German ties, saying they arenot at the same level.

"The German authorities declare each year that it ought not to forget the history and not to repeat the same things. Why the Japanese authorities still pay official tribute to Japanese heroeswho had massacred thousands of Chinese?

"Why do they favor the ignorance of the history ... Why are these Japanese history textbooks watered down?" he questioned.

Dr. Pierre also said Japan, while seeking a permanent membership at the UN Security Council, should first gain Asia's confidence by respecting the history. Enditem

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