News & Reports 2011-10-29（打印版）

The head of the European bailout fund Klaus Regling, visits Beijing amid speculation that debt-stricken Europe is seeking help from China.

Floodwaters threaten the central business district of Bangkok as Thailand suffers the worst flooding in more than five decades.

South Korea and the United States agree to jointly develop strategies to deter future provocations by North Korea.

China conducts its first trial flight of a passenger plane powered by a mix of biofuel and traditional aviation fuel.

After months of talks, Euro zone leaders have finally reached a comprehensive deal to tackle the region's sovereign debt crisis.

The leaders are beginning attempts to persuade China and other developing economies to invest in the rescue fund.

As Shen Chengcheng reports, experts from China say all parties should participate in the bailout effort.

One element of the deal reached by the Euro zone leaders, is to raise the region's bailout fund, or European Financial Stability Facility, to about one trillion euros.

The chief of Europe's bailout fund Klaus Regling is now visiting Beijing to discuss possible terms for raising money from China.

His visit comes just a day after euro zone leaders struck a last-minute deal in Brussels to contain the region's debt crisis.

"Now we may have new instruments, which we are designing now. And we will see who participates in those new instruments. I cannot say today, and certainly far too early to say what kind of amounts might be in visits. I cannot answer that question today."

After meeting Chinese leaders, Klaus Regling said there were no formal negotiations and would be no deal now.

China has not announced publicly it would invest in the fund, although it has repeatedly expressed confidence that Europe can overcome its two-year-old debt crisis.

However, Regling is very optimistic and says China has been a regular buyer of EFSF bonds in the past.

"That's also my experience talking to the Chinese authorities that they are interested in finding attractive, solid, safe investment opportunities. And I am happy that EFSF bonds have been considered to be in that category in the past, and therefore I am optimistic that we will have also a longer-term relationship because we will continue to provide safe, attractive investment opportunities."

China also owns an estimated $800 billion US dollars worth of euro assets in its $3.2 trillion US dollars foreign exchange reserves.

Fu Ying, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister says she expect China and EU can work through the crisis together.

"We do not think that Europe will just collapse. We hope that by fighting this crisis the mutual understanding and mutual trust between China and Europe can be enhanced, and the cooperation between us can be deepened. We hope that this crisis can be an opportunity for all of us to make progress."

She believes China can participate in the process of recovering the economy of Europe in many ways, beside purchasing bonds.

"We can help through several platforms, like the G20, and the IMF, and through other forms of cooperation as well, which is important to the future of the Sino-EU relations."

Earlier, Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao says China still needs to carry out serious studies before any decisions on investment.

In Thailand's capital of Bangkok, floodwaters are now moving toward the central business district of the city, as people are scrambling to get out of harm's way.

The floods have forced a large number of manufacturing companies to shut down in central Bangkok, including some big Japanese manufactures based in the country.

"With the Thailand floods causing a number of Japanese companies to shut down, this is having quite an impact of their operations. This damage is then going though the supply chain and affecting not only Japan but all ASEAN countries."

Japan says it will allow Thai employees of Japanese companies based in Thailand to work in Japan temporarily for six months.

With a 5-day national holiday now taking place in Thailand, officials are urging people in Bangkok to travel to other places in the country to avoid the flooding.

The city's main bus terminal and the only functioning airport are packed with people trying to get out of the city.

The Don Muang Airport, which handles most of Thailand's domestic flights, has been shut down, after two dykes in northern Bangkok breached, swamping the airport.

As such, Thai transport companies have been putting more buses on the roads to handle the surge in traffic.

But despite the rising floodwaters, some are choosing to stay and protect their homes and businesses.

"People are hoarding food, there's no food left. I tried to get food from the market but there are no food supplies."

So far, Thailand's worst flooding in over half a century has killed more than 370 people and forced some 100-thousand others from their homes.

Violent protests have erupted in central Tunisia, following the announcement of the country's first election results after the Arab Spring.

Hundreds of people, who support an opposition party, marched through the town of Sidi Bouzid, protesting against the cancellation of seats won by the party.

Election officials said they were cancelling the seats won by the Popular List party because of campaign financial violations.

Official results show that Tunisian Islamist party Ennahda has secured nearly 42 percent of the votes, meaning it has 90 seats in the 217-member parliament.

"This day is a day of victory, this day is a day of pride, this day is a day of humility, this is the day when Tunisians spoke with one voice in order to realise the aims of their revolution."

Ghannouchi went on to say that the rights of every Tunisian will be protected by the new authorities.

"We give our promise to them to continue in realising the aims of the revolution in Tunisia that is free, independent, developing and prosperous and where the rights of God, the Prophet, women, men, the religious, the non-religious are assured, because Tunisia is for everybody."

Ennahda officials have promised it will neither ban alcohol, nor stop tourists from wearing bikinis on the beaches.

Coalition talks with the secularist Congress for the Republic party and the leftist Ettakatol party has already begun.

The US and South Korean defense chiefs have agreed to complete a joint counter-provocation plan against North Korea by this year.

At their annual bilateral security meeting in Seoul, the U.S. and South Korea declared that any North Korean aggression "is not to be tolerated".

"Together, we will ensure a strong and effective alliance deterrence posture including the United States' nuclear umbrella so that Pyongyang never misjudges our will and our capability to respond decisively to nuclear aggression."

His South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan-jin says the U.S. has pledged to immediately provide reinforcements to the South in emergencies.

"The United States will immediately deploy overwhelming troop reinforcements in time of emergency. The current level of U.S. troops based in South Korea will be remained and joint military drills on the peninsula, including islands near the western sea border, will be strengthened."

Although envoys from Pyongyang and Washington met in Geneva this week, Panetta repeatedly brands North Korea "a serious threat", as the U.S. military casts a cautious eye on the diplomatic engagement, and fears it to be short-lived.

China's first airplane to use biofuel has made its inaugural flight, jetting off from the Beijing International Airport.

The two-hour-long maiden flight comes as Chinese airlines struggle to find ways to keep costs down and reduce carbon emissions.

He Li, Vice President of Air China, says the flight is a significant step for the China's airline industry.

"This inaugural flight is a very important step. It is a milestone for the Chinese airline industry. It will help us greatly to reduce carbon emissions and give us more choices for aviation fuel."

He reveals that the biofuel could be used in commercial aviation in China within three or four years.

China is on track to become the world's largest aviation market in the coming decades - and Beijing is actively promoting alternative fuels to clean up its environment and curb growing reliance on imported oil and gas.

China's state-owned oil company Sinopec says it plans to increase diesel production during the upcoming two months to alleviate the diesel pinch felt in many parts of the country.

"We plan to increase the refining volume of crude oil in November to a total of 18.4 million tons."

Huang says the volume will be a record high and the company will further increase the production in December.

"Consumers should have confidence in China's oil refining capacity. With the gradual increase in production volume and supply and yet no big increase in demand, we believe the diesel shortage in certain parts of the country will be alleviated soon."

China has been facing renewed pressure over shortfalls in diesel, with gas stations scouring the country for supplies and lines growing at filling stations in major cities.

The energy shortage mainly affects economically-richer provinces, such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hubei and Hunan.

Diesel shortages arise every September and October, the traditional peak months for diesel use in the world's fastest-growing economy.

However, this year's diesel supplies are tighter than usual after authorities cut retail prices for gasoline and diesel by 300 yuan per ton in early October.

A 13-year-old boy named Ferhat Tokay is the latest person to be pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building around 108 hours after Sunday's earthquake in Turkey.

Tokay was rescued from the site of a 6-storey building in the center of Ecris, the town worst hit by the quake.

Thousands of people are staying in shelter provided by the Turkish Red Crescent at the town's soccer stadium, living on soup and bread handed out by aid agencies.

"Food distribution is working well. Thanks to our government. They're trying their best but I don't know what it'll be like in the coming days as it keeps getting colder."

"Our government is doing as much as it can, and we are thankful, but our tents are too thin. We're freezing."

As Halloween approaches, New Yorkers and visitors are buying costumes, carving pumpkins and getting into the spirit of the season.

In Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood, thousands of people are touring the Blood Manor haunted attraction.

Inside an old warehouse, 40 actors dressed as ghouls, zombies, psycho-killers, and clowns guide visitors through a maze of body parts, hanging pigs, and blood-spattered walls.

Jim Faro, who created Blood Manor with two partners, says the interactive tour has become a popular holiday attraction.

"I think people like horror movies. They live vicariously. They know they can't get hurt. They know it's only make-believe. But they get to experience something that in their normal lives they don't and we think Blood Manor is a very unique experience."

The haunted attraction industry is worth approximately 6 billion US dollars and people who visit Blood Manor pay up to 45 dollars each.

Halloween is believed to have its roots in an ancient Celtic festival which celebrated the end of harvest. The evening of October 31st is also believed to be a time when the dead could make contact with the living.

Beijing residents now have the opportunity to watch western pop concerts, top-ranking operas and plays, as well as world famous ballets without going abroad. They can also enjoy excellent original performances based on Chinese culture and history which are produced by Chinese artists.

Born and brought up in Beijing, Li Yu can still remember the shows her parents took her to see when she was a little girl.

"I remember that my parents took me to watch the performances of the Russian Circus and the Cinderella Ice Ballet, as well as concerts by Hong Kong and Taiwanese singers. Because shows were rare back then, I can still remember the small details. These days, things are different: thousands of shows are put on stage and we can watch as much as we like."

The past few years have witnessed a sudden blowout of all kinds of commercial live shows in Beijing, including pop and classic music concerts, operas, dramas and various other performances.

More and more foreign artists come to Beijing to give performances, which are often well received by Chinese audiences. This means a large number of companies that specialize in planning commercial shows have entered the market. Ge Hua Live Nation Ltd. is one of them. Li Bing is the management director.

"There are more and more high-quality shows being performed by overseas artists, and they are also successful in the box office. For instance, the Eagles' concert in March early this year. Originally, the target audiences we expected were the foreigners working in Beijing. But the fact is, it's the Chinese audience that contributes the major portion of the ticket revenue. This result indicates that the Beijing audiences expect first class performances and have the ability to appreciate them."

As one of the high art forms, opera has been gaining popularity among Chinese audiences in recent years. Foreign theater troupes flock to Beijing. In addition, the domestic theaters are also making their versions of these classical operas. Ren Yi from the National Center for the Performing Arts, says they have staged their own version of 11 world famous plays.

"Opera is called the crown of arts. Over the past two years, we've made a number of western classic plays as well as some original ones. Thanks to our work on arts popularization, we now have a group of loyal audiences. In the past, only Turandot could succeed at the box office, but now the operas like Tosca, Rigoletto and The lady of the Camellias are also well received. "

Several factors contribute to a successful performance, and a qualified audience is definitely one of them. According to Ren Yi, the world famous conductor Valery Gergiev is surprised that audiences in Beijing have such wonderful taste in art and can thoroughly understand him and the Tchaikovsky's work.

As China's cultural center, Beijing is worthy of its name: with 295 stages available, more than 10 thousand shows every year, and a large number of high quality audiences catering to varied tastes, among the thousands of performances, there must be one that you like.

Kim Lee, the American wife of "Crazy English" founder Li Yang, has filed for divorce after she went online to expose her experience of suffering domestic violence in September.

Beijing Chaoyang District Court has accepted the case in which Lee demands custody of their three daughters and an equal division of the couple's property.

In the lawsuit, Lee says she was deeply hurt when her husband told the media that he married her not because of love but only to do an experiment on studying American family education.

After theatrical debate, the Toronto City Council voted this week to ban the consumption, possession, and sale of shark fins.

The move was opposed by the city's mayor, Rob Ford, and questions were raised about the bylaw's legal validity, but the motion was approved by a 38-to-4 vote.

Soup prepared with shark fins is a costly delicacy that is often featured at Chinese weddings and other ceremonial occasions.

Many immigrants to Canada from China settle in Toronto, so the city has an unusually large number of Chinese restaurants and grocers. But many animal protection groups, including Wildaid, say that the value of shark fins is contributing to a substantial decline in shark populations worldwide. WildAid estimates that 73 million sharks are captured and cruelly killed every year for their fins.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday after major indexes surged following agreement reached by European leaders to tackle the region's debt problem.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.2 percent to 12,231. The Standard & Poor's 500 added 0.04 percent to 1,285. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.1 percent to 2,737.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 lost 0.2 percent to 5702. Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.1 percent to 6346. And CAC-40 in Paris was down 0.6 percent to 3349.

News & Reports 2011-10-29（在线收听）