CRI中国国际广播电台 News & Reports 2012-08-05

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In This Edition

 

?China rejects criticism on its stance on Syria following the adoption of a resolution at the UN General Assembly that urges political transition in the middle east country.

 

?Defense Ministers of US and Japan discuss bilateral military relations.

 

?Julian Assange's lawyer says Britain cannot legally deny the Wikileaks founder's passage to Ecuador if the country grants him asylum.

 

?And NASA's Mars mission is about to land an exploratory vehicle on the red planet.

 

 

Hot Issue Reports

 

?China Defends Its Position on Syria

China has rejected criticisms by countries on its stance on Syria following the adoption of a resolution at the UN General Assembly that urges political transition in the middle east country.

 

China was among the 12 countries that opposed the resolution in the assembly, where no country has a veto but all decisions are non-binding.

 

Wang Kejian, deputy head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's West Asian and North African Affairs Department, says countries that made "unfounded criticism" about China's position was after their own agenda.

 

"In pursuit of their own geopolitical interests in Syria, they (countries that criticized China's position on Syria) tried to hinder or undermine the political settlement process and are trying to shift responsibility for the difficulties onto other countries."

 

The General Assembly resolution came after the resignation of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan and the failure of his six-point peace plan.

 

Long Zhou, Councilor for Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department for International Relations, praised Annan's contributions and expressed regret for his resignation.

 

"China expresses regret for Annan's decision to step down from his position as a special envoy. We understand the difficulties and challenges that Annan faces as a mediator, and respect his decision. Since he took the job, special envoy Annan has played a positive and constructive role in the push for a political solution to the Syrian issue. China appreciates his effort."

 

?Iran Declares A Close Bond with Russia and Its Policy on Syria

Iran has declared a close bond with Russia and its policy on Syria.

 

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hosein Amer Abdollahyan says there is no divergence between the positions of Tehran and Moscow on Syria, after a one-day visit to the Russian capital on Friday.

 

"I want to say that there is no divergence between the positions of Tehran and Moscow on Syria and I want to say also that the positions of the two states are logical and are based on international law, on the protection of the Syrian people and on the country's sovereignty in the face of international aggression and terrorist threats. Tehran and Moscow believe that two things are happening there: one thing is the opposition, and the other is armed terrorist groups. We both have contact with the opposition."

 

Abdollahyan told reporters that even if Syria becomes a target of an attack from other countries, it would not need help from Iran.

 

"We believe that any military aggression against Syria is not likely, from our point of view, but in case Syria becomes a target for an attack from a foreign country or a group of countries, it won't need help from the Islamic Republic of Iran..."

 

?U.S. to Delay Osprey Flights until Tokyo Confirms It's Safe

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and visiting Japan Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto have discussed US-Japan military relations and concerns about the controversial Osprey military aircraft being deployed in Okinawa.

 

The Marine Corps' MV-22 tilt-rotor troop transport's troubled past stirred safety concerns and protests on the southern Japanese island where the Pentagon intends to deploy it as part of a streamlined US military presence.

 

Panetta says the US will delay Osprey flights until Tokyo confirms the aircraft is safe. He also told reporters that he was confident in the reliability of Osprey aircrafts.

 

"We are very aware of the concerns that have been raised by Japan with regards to the issues involving the Osprey. At the same time we have tremendous confidence in this plane."

 

Morimotom who took a flight in an Osprey, says the two sides will give the utmost consideration to ensure the safety of the local population.

 

"When the Osprey is operated in Japan all the relevant issues would be discussed in Japan-US joint committee meetings. In order to solve these problems we are actively co-operating and giving the utmost consideration to ensure the safety of the local population."

 

In April, Japan and the United States agreed to shift 9,000 US Marines from the Japanese island of Okinawa to Guam and other Asia-Pacific sites as part of Washington's strategic rebalancing, or "pivot", toward the region.

 

The Osprey can fly faster and further than conventional helicopters, making it easier for US forces to respond to contingencies in areas away from Okinawa, but crashes in Morocco and Florida this year fanned safety concerns.

 

?Spain Inches towards A Full EU Bailout

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Friday his government had sent a letter to European leaders urging debate on and speed over region-wide measures to fight the debt crisis.

 

Rajoy spoke at the first news conference he has attended after the weekly cabinet meeting since he took power in December.

 

"I insist, Spain has the obligation, at least I believe so, to make a clear bet for the European Union, to give its opinion, because I insist, a good deal of what happens here also depends on decisions that are adopted elsewhere."

 

Rajoy said his government will do whatever is best for the country's interests when asked whether Spain would apply for financial aid from the European Union.

 

"I want to know what those measure are, what they mean, what their purpose is, I want to know if they are adequate and only then, taking into account the circumstances, we will make one decision or another but I have not made any decision and I will do what is best for the general interests of Spaniards."

 

The Spanish prime minister has earlier declined to say whether he would seek aid and trigger a concerted action of the European Central Bank and the European Union rescue funds to bring down Spain's borrowing costs.

 

Many analysts believe a Spanish bailout is inevitable.

 

?Spain's Civil Servants Demonstrate over Austerity Measures

Spanish civil servants continued their spontaneous protests on Friday, blocking Madrid's main streets.

 

The protest comes after austerity measures announced by the government last month which will cut their salaries and increase taxes.

 

Pedro Pomes of the independent union of public workers in Madrid said that austerity measures were not the answer.

 

"These cuts don't bring any solution to the crisis; public workers are not the problem, and we have not created this crisis. We shouldn't have to pay for it."

 

Civil servants, whose pay was cut by up to 7 percent, used their coffee break to stage daily protests outside their offices.

 

A public worker from the Health Ministry said that everyone is suffering.

 

"They raise the price of bread for everyone, they raise the price of transport for everyone, and they are raising the VAT for everyone. Cuts seem to be directed just at civil servants, but that is not true. The cuts affect everyone. This is a fight between those who are being trampled and those at the top who are ruling."

 

The Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, who had pledged not to raise VAT last month, said now he had no choice.

 

Since Rajoy won the elections last year, Spain has become the new frontline of the 2-and-a-half-year debt crisis.

 

?Wikileaks Founder Seeking Asylum

Representing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, former Spanish jurist Baltasar Garzon says the U.K. can not legally deny his passage to Ecuador if the South American country grants him asylum.

 

"Hypothetically, if asylum is granted, Great Britain can't say they won't send him. One can always say no; we are tired of seeing international conventions being breached or not agreed with by different countries. But legally, they can't do it because Ecuador is a sovereign state, a free, democratic state, exactly like the US, nothing more, nothing less."

 

Assange has been holed up in Ecuador's Embassy in London for six weeks since he broke his bail terms to request asylum by the leftist government of Rafael Correa.

 

Assange angered Washington in 2010 when his WikiLeaks website published secret US diplomatic cables.

 

Garzon said Assange's family fear that he will face torture and even execution if deported to the United States.

 

"What he is afraid of is the current situation and how it is developing in a second scenario to which I'll refer which is that in the US, where that trail would not be a fair trial in any way, with proper guarantees. In addition, it has the clear risk of being a cover or a smokescreen to send him to the US."

 

Ecuador said it would wait until the end of the London Olympic Games to announce a decision on Assange's asylum request.

 

Assange is also wanted for questioning in Sweden over sex crime allegations.

 

?Obama Says More Needs to De Done for the Middle Class

U.S. President Barack Obama says more needs to be done for the middle class after economic data showed the U.S. unemployment rate went up to 8.3 percent.

 

"We've still got too many folks out there who are looking for work, we've got more work to do on their behalf."

 

Obama pitches his own plan to keep middle class taxes low and raise rates on the very rich.

 

"The last thing that we should be doing is asking middle class families who are still struggling to recover from this recession to pay more in taxes. Rebuilding this strong economy begins with rebuilding our middle class."

 

U.S. employers in July hired the most workers in five months, but an increase in the jobless rate to 8.3 percent kept prospects of further monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve on the table.

 

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 36 percent of registered voters believe Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has a better plan for the economy, compared to 31 percent who had faith in Obama's policies.

 

Campaigning in North Las Vegas, Nevada, Romney took aim at Obama's jobs record, saying Friday's unemployment report was "another hammer blow to the struggling middle class families."

 

"This is an extraordinary record of failure. The president's policies have not worked because he thinks government makes America work. He is wrong. It is people like John that make America work."

 

?NASA's Latest Mission to Mars

US space agency NASA's Mars mission is about to land an exploratory vehicle on the red planet's surface.

 

The nuclear-powered rover "Curiosity" was launched last November and is expected to end its 352-million-mile journey on Sunday.

 

The mission hopes to unlock clues as to whether there was ever life on Mars.

 

Adam Steltzner, is one of the lead engineers for NASA on the project.

 

"The purpose of this is that we are taking a big rover to the surface of Mars. We are looking to do big science and big science requires big instruments, requires big rover and novel entry, descent, and landing system which I just spoke about. The science, the goal is to understand the past environment and present environment of Mars, to see if it has a possibility for being habitable for life."

 

In the seven minutes it takes to land, Curiosity will slow down to a complete stop with the help of a parachute, heat shield and rockets.

 

It's has been described as "seven minutes of terror".

 

The actual landing zone is located inside an ancient impact basin known as Gale Crater, one of the lowest places on Mars.

 

NASA last week successfully repositioned its Mars-orbiting Odyssey spacecraft so that it would be able to monitor Curiosity's descent and landing, and radio the information back to ground controllers.

 

?Liu Xiang Arrives in London

Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang arrived in London for the Olympics on Friday after two weeks training in Germany.

 

The 29-year-old withdrew from the London Diamond League due to pain in his intercostal muscles earlier this month.

 

After arriving at Heathrow Airport, Liu's coach, Sun Haiping, said he is happy and nervous about Liu's physical situation.

 

"The temperature here can be as low as around 10 degrees Celcius, so his injury makes him uncomfortable and upset. So, the problem seems to still be there, but we are giving him positive medical treatments. Anyway, generally speaking, his overall physical situation is alright."

 

Liu Xiang has been in good form in the past 6 months and is considered one of the gold medal contenders in the men's 110m race on August 7-8th in the Olympic Stadium.

 

Liu pulled out of the 2008 Olympics because of a foot injury, causing massive criticism.

 

The Chinese sports icon returns to the track one year after his surgery in the U.S in early 2009.

 

?2012 London Games Going Half Way

With the London Olympics going on halfway, Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the games Organising Committee predicts that the medal table overall would be a China-USA fight for number one.

 

Coe was speaking to reporters Saturday while offering assessment on how the games were going.

 

China and the United States now run neck and neck in the medal tally, with China's 53 to US 54.

 

Overall, Coe believes that the games are so far going on remarkably well.

 

"You put athletes into a good physical and mental state, you give them the support mechanisms to compete at the highest level, and you end up with nearly thirty world records at the half way point."

 

Coe suggested that in the men's 100 metre final Jamaica may claim not one the gold medal, but the silver and bronze as well.

 

The Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake, are widely expected to zoom straight into Olympic history books in the 100 metres final on Sunday.

 

Coe also complemented British fans of the games.

 

"The fans are fantastic and what's so nice about it is they're not just being generous to British competitors, they're actually recognising that there are 204 other countries out there and the generosity of spirit to all the competitors has been fantastic."

 

?Rio Mayor Says Brazil will be Ready for 2016 Olympics

A Brazilian sports official says it is still too early to estimate the cost of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

 

Meanwhile the city's mayor, Eduardo Paes, says everything is on course for the project.

 

"The challenge to both cities (London and Rio) is enormous. Of course, Rio de Janeiro has a more ample handful of infrastructure interventions from a sports equipment point of view, perhaps many things are already ready, but the city's infrastructure is surely more ample. But I want to reaffirm that all the projects we agreed on with the International Olympic Committee have already begun."

 

The assurances followed complaints about expensive accommodation, heavy traffic and other infrastructure obstacles from delegates to the recent UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio.

 

Maria Silva Bastos Marques, President of Rio de Janeiro's Municipal Olympic Company, said Rio has the potential to double its current number of hotel rooms, certainly increasing it by at least 50 per cent.

 

"We have in Rio today around 20,000 rooms, already being built or licensed, which is an advanced stage of the process, about 8,000 rooms (planned, in addition to the 20,00), all hotels ranging from three to five stars."

 

And the Brazilian organisers promised full venues for 2016, vowing to avoid the problem of empty seats.

 

Organisers of London Games were confronted with television pictures showing swathes of empty seats.

 

The gaps have been blamed mostly on officials from sports governing bodies and national Olympic committees not using their allocations of prime seats.

However it angered many fans that unable to get tickets.

 

The budget for the London Olympics is 14.5 billion US dollars.

 

?World Tango Festival Opened in Buenos Aires

More than 40,000 people from all over the world are expected to take part in this year's World Tango Festival in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.

 

Inaugurated in 1998, the festival has become increasingly popular as believed by art director of the event Gustavo Mozzi.

 

"The level gets better every year. The World Cup is very competitive, but beyond that, there is great camaraderie between the participants. And personally I think that's the main reason everybody likes to come here."

 

Tango originated in the brothels of the city's dockland in the late 19th century and burst onto dance floors around the world in the 1920s.

 

Now it is recognised by UNESCO as part of humanity's common heritage.

 

The festival officially kicks off on August 14 and runs through August 28.

 

Japan's Defense Report A Ruse: China Daily

 

An annual defense report released by Japan earlier this week is playing up its concern over China's military, including Chinese naval activities in the Pacific Ocean.

 

The report says China is likely to expand maritime activities and conduct operations and training as routine practices in waters near Japan, which Tokyo is increasingly worried about.

 

China Daily says in an editorial that such prejudice is nothing but a feeble attempt to propagate the outdated "China Threat" theory.

 

The article states that as a country with a vast territory and long coastlines, China is fully justified in enhancing its military capabilities.

 

The paper cites the Ministry of National Defense as saying that China is committed to a defensive national defense policy, and its military buildup will not pose a threat to others.

 

It says as an important player in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan should instead show greater commitment to regional peace and stability.

 

The article further points out that Asian countries are actually feeling increasingly worried about the rising influence of Japan's rightists on its defense policy.

 

It notes that Japan has become more aggressive in its maritime territorial disputes with neighboring countries, including China, and has even tried to meddle in the South China Sea issue. For example, the Japanese embassy in Manila has reportedly said that Japan would help improve the Philippine coast guard's surveillance capabilities by supplying a dozen boats.

 

The China Daily editorial warns that such trend in Japan does not bode well, as it is at odds with the generally peaceful environment in the region.

 

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People's Daily Online: Who is the Victim of US Unilateral Sanctions against Iran?

 

Earlier this week, U.S. President Barack Obama announced two sanction measures against Iran.

 

Kunlun Bank of China was included in the sanction list, accused of providing financial services to Iranian banks.

 

The United States already imposed sanctions on China's Zhen Rong Company for no reason in January, in accordance with the so-called Iran sanctions package.

 

In recent years, using Iran's controversial nuclear program as an excuse, the United States has issued several sanctions without permission of the U.N. Security Council.

 

A commentary by the "People's Daily Online" says a country has no right to impose its domestic law on other countries, also stating that a country is under no obligation to observe the domestic law of other countries.

 

However, domestic law was invoked by the US to impose sanctions on Kunlun Bank. Supporting statements are not found in U.N. Security Council resolutions on the Iranian nuclear issue.

 

The U.N. Security Council does not ban any country from conducting oil trade with Iran, and does not issue orders to cease financial cooperation with Iran.

 

The article notes that the overreaching of US jurisdiction is extra-territoriality, which is in its pursuit of international hegemony and power politics by means of domestic law.