News & Reports 2011-10-01

 Broadcasting Time: 07:00-08:00, GMT+08:00, 2011-10-01

 

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

 

In This Edition

 

International comments continue to flood in following China's launch of its first space lab module Tiangong-1.

 

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will pay an official visit to China later this month as part of the regular meeting between the premiers of the two countries.

 

Typhoon Nesat downgrades into a tropical storm after swirling through China's southeast coast and hits Northern Vietnam, forcing 20-thousand people to evacuate.

 

Eurozone inspectors abandon their meeting at the Greek Transport Ministry due to mass protest against economic austerity measures.

 

 

Hot Issue Reports

 

Successful Launch of Tiangong–1 Draws Widespread Attention

The successful launch of China's first space lab module Tiangong - 1 has drawn worldwide attention.

 

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his congratulations on the launch.

 

"I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate the successful launching of Tiangong, this module for Chinese space station. With the addition to successful launch and programs of Shenzhou, I hope that with this spirit, China will make a huge contribution."

 

Mikhail Titarenko, president of the Russia – China Friendship Association and head of the Far East Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke highly on the rapid development of China's aerospace technology.

 

"The active participation of China in the space exploration is not only an important part of the history of mankind exploring outer space, but also a signal indicating that China will make further achievements."

 

The successful launch of Tiangong-1 also draw the attention from media around the world.

 

Meanwhile CNN says the test reflects China's technological advances, funded by its rapid economic growth and facilitated by the military's ballistic missile program.

 

BBC news echoes CNN's points by saying that there's a sense of great optimism. It's not driven so much by science, but by the desire to develop new technologies.

 

An article of Reuters says the successful launch of Tiangong -- 1 has paved way for the establishment of China's first space station in the near future. It shows China's increasing power in the aerospace area, as China is bridging the gap between forerunners United States and Russia in manned space engineering.

 

Russian Premier Vladimir Putin to Visit China in Mid October

 

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will pay an official visit to China from October 11th to the 12th, as part of the regular meeting between the premiers of Beijing and Moscow.

 

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei says President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders will meet with Putin to discuss bilateral relations and international and regional issues.

 

"This round of the meeting will review the achievements of bilateral cooperation made since the last meeting between the two heads of state. It will help in the execution of agreements signed by the two countries' leaders during President Hu Jintao's state visit in June. It is also in the agenda that the two leaders will lay down a blueprint for the next stage of bilateral cooperation in a number of key areas.

 

Prime Minister Putin's visit is the 16th meeting as part of the premiers' meeting arrangement, which was initiated in 1996 between the two countries.

 

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Neighborhood Cooperation Treaty.

 

Putin announced last weekend that he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev would swap places and is certain to win next year's presidential election.

 

S. Korea's Ruling Party Chief Visits DPRK

South Korea's ruling party chief, Grand National Party chairman Hong Joon-pyo, traveled to North Korea to visit an industrial complex jointly managed by its estranged neighbor.

 

Hong said he hoped the visits could reduce the tension between the two sides.

 

"The inter-Korea relationship has been blocked and I think it's a politician's duty to break the blockage."

 

However, the symbolic trip by the Grand National Party chairman did not lead to meetings involving senior North Korean officials as initially speculated.

 

The joint industrial complex in the border town of Kaesong was opened in 2003. It stands as the last-remaining symbol of reconciliation between the two wartime enemies as they remain hostile following two deadly border incidents last year.

 

S. Korea, U.S. in Joint Military Exercise

South Korean and US troops held a joint live-fire exercise in Pocheon, in South Korea to mark the 63rd anniversary of the nation's National Defence Day.

 

Choi Ik-hwan, Battalion commander of South Korean Army, said the purpose of the exercise was to strengthen the joint operation strategy between South Korean and the US military, and to strengthen South Korea's army and air force defence systems.

 

"This exercise gave us an opportunity to confirm once again that we can surely win over any enemies when we combine South Korean and the US military strength with our strong firepower."

 

A total of about 1,300 soldiers from both militaries were involved in the exercise.

 

The United States has 28,500 troops regularly stationed in South Korea.

 

Protestors Took to Streets to Fight against the Saleh Regime

Gunfire hit a protest camp in southern Yemen, after fighting in north of the capital broke a truce aimed at ending the worst violence since a revolt against President Ali Abdullah Saleh began eight months ago.

 

Elsewhere in Sanaa, protesters took to the streets for another day of demonstrations in a revolt against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

 

Hundreds of demonstrators marched through the streets chanting anti-government slogans, as they waves flags and banners against the leadership.

 

"We took to the street to support the legitimacy of the revolution and bring down the constitutional legitimacy, which is always used as an excuse by this corrupt regime."

 

South of the capital, in the protest hotbed of Taiz, activists said their protest camp, where demonstrators have camped out for months to demand Saleh's removal, was under attack.

 

Meanwhile, Saleh has said he will not stand down as promised if his opponents are allowed to stand on elections to succeed him.

 

Saleh returned to Yemen last week after spending three-months recovering from an assassination attempt.

 

A truce halted a week of fighting that killed more than 100 people and revived fears that Yemen, would tip into civil war.

 

Typhoon Nesat Has Downgraded into Tropical Storm and Is Headed towards Vietnam

Typhoon Nesat has downgraded into a tropical storm after swirling through China's southeast coast and is now barrelling towards Vietnam, forcing 20-thousand people to evacuate.

 

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai ordered people in the disaster-prone areas to move to safety.

 

"All families in the dangerous areas must be evacuated to shelters on higher ground before the typhoon comes."

 

Southern Vietnam has already seen 8 people killed by the worst floods in the past 10 years.

 

The flood has displaced more than 100 households and flooded over 3,500 hectares of rice fields.

 

In China, rain caused rivers in southernmost China's Hainan island and coastal Zhejiang province to reach flood alert levels.

 

Heavy downpours spawned by Nesat swept Hainan, southwestern Guangdong, southeastern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and eastern Zhejiang in the past two days.

 

Nesat damaged sections of seawalls in China's Guangdong Province and Guangxi, which alarmed the local population and seriously disrupted local transportation services.

 

Over 3,000 schools have been closed in Guangxi at the wake of the Nesat.

 

In the island province of Hainan, Nesat has killed one person and displaced some 450,000. The innitial estimate of economic loss totals $5.8 billion yuan or $900 million US dollars.

 

Eurozone Troika Inspectors Abandon Meeting after Protesters Occupy Ministry

Eurozone inspectors abandoned their meeting at the Greek Transport Ministry after protesters took over the government building to protest against economic austerity measures.

 

Officials from the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission, known as the troika, arrived in Athens to discuss an eight billion euro aid that Greece needs to avoid bankruptcy next month.

 

Hundreds of civil servants have been staging protests by taking over government ministries, preventing international auditors from continuing their review of the country's austerity program.

 

Union representative Yannis Arkadis said they were determined to maintain their stance.

 

"The civil servants have shown everyone and society that they cannot be controlled by the political leadership but that they are people that when it is required and, as long as it is required, they will join the battle and, for that reason, the battle will continue until the end."

 

Greece's Socialist government agreed to a range of unpopular pension cuts, lay-offs and taxes last week to lure back the so-called troika, who suspended talks earlier this month after disagreements on the steps needed to plug fiscal gaps.

 

The international inspectors are set to comb through new austerity plans for at least a week.

 

Most analysts expect they will approve the next tranche of aid, although many expect Greece to have to default in the coming months.

 

Qantas Baggage Handlers Strike Causes Flight Disruptions at Sydney Airport

Qantas Airline ground workers and engineers are once again on strike over pay issues and working conditions in Australia, causing disruption to some 8,500 domestic and international passengers' flights at Sidney airport.

 

Qantas says the industrial action has left 39 flights delayed and two cancelled.

 

Mick Pieri, of the Transport Workers Union, one of the two unions taking action, says the strikes will continue until a fair deal is reached.

 

"We'll keep taking these actions while they're talking to us, but don't be surprised if we do end up with a 24 hour stoppage,"

 

But Qantas spokesperson, Olivia Wirth said industrial action will have no impact on the negotiations.

 

"We remain very much committed to the negotiations and we would ask the union to come back to the negotiating table. All this strike action does is damage the business, damage our passengers and damage the ongoing feasibility of Qantas employing 35 thousand people."

 

Qantas says more than 25,000 passengers had been affected by the unions' industrial action over the past month.

 

Earlier this week, thousands of international travelers faced delays in Australia because of a strike by customs workers.

 

Philippine Immigrant Maid Wins Landmark Hong Kong Case

Hong Kong's High Court has ruled that a domestic helper from the Philippines should be allowed to apply for permanent residency in the city.

 

The court rules that an immigration provision, excluding the city's hundreds of thousands of foreign maids, is against the Hong Kong Basic Law.

 

The case was launched by Evangeline Banao Vallejos, a longtime foreign domestic helper, who sought a judicial review after her bid for permanent residency was rejected.

 

Mark Daly, Evangeline's lawyer, says he is pleased with the court's ruling.

 

"We're thankful for comments that affirm the rule of law. The common law approached during interpretation and the judge refer to the importance of the public having confidence in the judiciary."

 

The current immigration provision rules that foreign residents can obtain permanent residency after seven years living in Hong Kong, though foreign maids are excluded from the provision.

 

Hong Kong's domestic workers have a guaranteed minimum wage of 3,740 Hong Kong dollars a month, and one day off each week. Their working conditions are better than other countries in Asia with large numbers of domestic helpers, such as Singapore.

 

About 290,000 foreign maids are now working and living in Hong Kong.

 

Beijing Design Week During National Day Holiday

Low carbon and environmental friendliness are never outdated themes when it comes to designing products for everyday use. At this year's Beijing Design Week, designers from all over the world have not only brought many innovatively designed products, but also have enlightened people that contemporary designs should have a greater aim to protect the environment.

 

Let's take a closer look with our reporter Liu Min.

 

Can clouds be transformed into ice cream? Well, such a fairytale thought has now been realized with an ice-cream machine that produces ice-cream snowflakes using nanotechnology. Facing the mounting global warming problem, the machine's designer, Zoe Papadopoulou of London, says she wants to remind people that if we don't protect our planet, then one day we probably will no longer be able to eat ice cream.

 

"This proposal we invented will modify the clouds to snow-ice-cream flavored snowflakes-so that we can engage the general public in more specific scientific research (in this area)."

 

This year's Beijing Design Week and the first Beijing International Design Triennial are running from September 26th to October 3rd. The organizer says Beijing is expected to move towards becoming a culture-enriched capital with better developed technology-driven design industries, while Chinese design brands will play a more influential role on the world stage. The ultimate goal is to help "Made in China" transform to "Designed in China."

 

As part of the Design Week events, a Beijing Design Exhibition is being held at the National Museum of China. A design team called Good Buddy, consisting of 45 designers from all over the world, is displaying works ranging from home appliances to fashion products. The exhibit organizer, Qiu Chunlai from Tsinghua University, says all the designs reflect one concept-recycling.

 

"Take a look at the fashionable purses behind me. In fact, they are made of waterproof cloth which is used on trucks. Every year, the designers collect the old cloth from truck companies in Europe, and then they come up with new designs annually using these materials."

 

Designers from China have also expressed their own ideas through innovative works. For example, a collection of ground lights covered by empty mineral water bottles with a small note inside has impressed many visitors.

 

"I hope that the small lamps can light up every adult and child's hope for the future. These notes are written by students who live in remote villages in China. I hope more people can reach out to help these kids realize their dreams through joint efforts."

 

A bunch of plastic bags are designed to be ground lights, and above them is a piece of grass. The designer says it simulates a bad environmental situation underground, which in turn calls for a low-carbon lifestyle.

 

"This is a scene that I want everyone to take a look at. Tearing up a piece of grass, you'll find the soil is no longer as clean as we thought. It may be congested with all kinds of trash. I hope people can pay more attention to the details in their lives so that we can have a better environment in the future."

 

Low carbon is one of the themes of the Beijing Design Week campaigns. More than 130 activities will be held with more than 30 international events and over 90 Chinese exhibitions.

 

The festival venues include about 100 design landmarks in Beijing, such as Tsinghua University, Yonghe Park, China Design Market, Dashilan and Sanlitun Village. The central focus will be Tiananmen Square which will house a large-scale installation to be unveiled on October 1st in recognition of the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

 

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.

 

The Yellow River Temple

 

The Yellow River Temple, a spectacular new landmark beside the Yellow River, China's mother river has made its debut at the "Thanksgiving Mother River" event of the Third China Ningxia International Culture, Art and Tourism Fair. After 11 months of construction, the Temple provides an opportunity to showcase the history and dynamic cultural traditions of Ningxia in Northwest China.

 

Wei Tong has more.

 

Located 80 kilometers away from Yinchuan, the capital city of Ningxia, the Yellow River Temple stands on the Jinsha Bay, namely the Golden Sand Bay at the upper reaches of Qingtong Gorge. Covering an area of over 65,000 square meters, the complex comprises three main groups of constructions displaying ancient archways, temple halls and over 108 pieces of ingenuous bronze wares.

 

Feng Qinduo, the Chief Designer of the Yellow River Temple, says the idea is to unmask the history and cultural aspects of the Yellow River.

 

"The design of the Temple complex was based on five concepts: the ancient culture of sacrifice, Chinese culture, bronze art traditions, the royal temple gardens and traditional cultures."

 

The Yellow River Temple Archway is a prominent landmark, rising 15.8 meters above ground and spanning 45 meters in width. It stands at the entrance of the complex.

 

In ancient times, archways such as this were generally made out of wood and stone. This represents the first attempt to construct archways by using bronze and the Yellow River Temple Archway is regarded as the largest of its kind in the country.

Three other archways engraved with the cliff paintings of the ancient Western Xia Dynasty or adorned with domes typical of the Hui minority group, stand beside the Yellow River Temple Archway.

 

Feng Qinduo says these archways symbolize the cultural spirits of Hui group, the ethnic group where majority of the population are Muslims.

 

"The Temple is based in Ningxia, which is an autonomous region of the Hui group, so Islamic symbols are used in the architecture. If the Temple was in Xinjiang, then I would use the cultural elements of the Uyghur."

 

As the main structure of the complex, the Yellow River Temple sits on a circular platform and carries a roof with four square corners.

 

The architectural style follows the ancient Chinese philosophy that views heaven as a circle while the earth is a square. The lower two levels of the circular platforms are made of marble stones, each decorated by intricately carved 12 animal zodiacs.

 

A giant Ding, which is an ancient Chinese container with three legs, is placed on the top level of the Temple, referring to the legend that Yu the Great had cast nine dings during his reign which symbolized the nine states of ancient China.

 

Weighing 8.9 tonnes, the Ding named after the Yellow River is regarded as the biggest Ding in the Yellow River Basin.

 

Apart from the Temple and the Ding, another unique structure in the complex is the Pavilion Bestowed by Heaven and Earth.

 

Feng Qinduo explains where this name comes from.

 

"It is called the Pavilion Bestowed by Heaven and Earth. The inscribed board on the front door reads Bestowed by Heaven and that on the rear door reads Bestowed by Earth. As the old saying goes, the Yellow River flows from the heaven. If it had not been for the Yellow River, Ningxia would not have been named as the prosperous land of the northwest."

 

Rising 38 meters above ground and spanning 32 meters in diameter, the Pavilion is a wood and brick structure, resembling the style of the 'Hall of Prayers for Good Harvest' in Beijing and the 'Yellow Crane Tower' in Central China's Wuhan City.

 

The Pavilion has three levels with each level painted in different colors: blue, representing the sky; yellow, standing for the Yellow River and green, symbolizing the earth.

 

In Feng Qinduo's design, the Pavilion also reflects the idea of harmony.

 

"A seismograph and a globe are situated on the sides of the Pavilion. What lies between the heaven and the earth are Yin and Yang, which bring harmony to the earth."

 

Standing at the top of the Yellow River Temple and looking beyond, the Yellow River and the Jinsha Bay stretch out to the far distance in the shape of a Tai Chi diagram.

 

The Yellow River, which flows through a vast area of Ningxia, brings some best agricultural lands to the region. Zhang Yi, an official from Ningxia thinks the Yellow River brings life to the region and therefore residents in Ningxia will show respects to their mother river.

 

For CRI, This is Wei Tong.