China describes Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg’s two-day fence-mending visit to Beijing as candid and in depth.

But, if there has been an improvement in ties after Steinberg’s talks with his Chinese counterparts, it was not evident at the media briefing given by the Chinese Foreign Ministry after his departure.

Spokesman Qin Gang repeated in the determined tone used in recent weeks that, if the bilateral relationship is to continue on a stable path, it is up to Washington to make amends and push the relationship back to more friendly terms.

He says Washington has to sincerely respect China’s core interests and specifically mentioned Taiwan and Tibet, referring to the U.S. arms sales to Taipei and the White House meeting with Tibet’s exiled leader, the Dalai Lama – just two of several issues that have angered Beijing.

An American embassy spokesman told VOA it is too early to assess the impact of the deputy secretary of state’s visit.

“Our goal has always been to make our relationship more mature to weather any issue good or bad, to [a point] where we can continue to the number of dialogues and numerous lines of communications we have to overcome our differences and find areas of cooperation,” he said.

His response emphases how the slightest nuances of the talks will be poured over by both sides for true their meaning and significance.

In the talks, Steinberg pressed Beijing to consider sanctions against Iran because of Tehran’s nuclear program. But, with oil interests in the country, Beijing is reluctant to upset a key ally.

And Qin again said China, which has the power to veto any UN Security Council sanctions – still believes there is room for diplomacy.

U.S. officials say they will offer clearer insight into Steinberg’s talks Friday.

The deputy secretary of state has flown on to Tokyo to meet Japanese government officials.

By Peter Simpson
Via

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu issued a statement Friday, urging the United States to, in his words, “immediately withdraw” plans for a meeting between President Obama and the Dalai Lama.

Ma indicated that the meeting could further hurt Sino-American relations, which are already strained because of a U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, disagreements over China’s currency exchange rate and U.S. concerns over Chinese internet censorship.

Zhu Weiqun, the vice-minister of the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, which handles Tibet issues, recently made the same point.

Zhu says if the U.S. leader chooses to meet with the Dalai Lama, it will threaten trust and cooperation between China and the United States.

The White House Thursday confirmed that President Obama will meet the Dalai Lama on February 18, despite China’s objections. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Mr. Obama will meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader, a fellow Nobel laureate, as an internationally respected religious figure.

The United States recognizes Tibet as a part of China, but has urged Beijing and the Dalai Lama to talk together to address differences over the region’s future.

China took over Tibet in 1950. The Dalai Lama fled to exile in India in 1959, after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in his homeland. China considers the Dalai Lama a separatist and has tried to isolate him by urging foreign leaders not to meet with him.

The Dalai Lama repeatedly has said he is not seeking independence for Tibet, but instead wants what he describes as a high level of genuine autonomy for his homeland.

China has sent hundreds of millions of dollars in development aid to Tibet, in an effort to ensure stability by actively raising living standards there. Tibetan exiles accuse the Chinese government of discriminating against and repressing their culture and religion.

Via

Australia reacted cautiously to news that Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu and his three Chinese colleagues have been formally charged.

A foreign affairs spokesman in Canberra urged Beijing to handle the men’s cases “transparently and expeditiously.”

Foreign affairs analysts say the case could further destabilize Australia’s relationship with China, its biggest trading partner.

The four Rio Tinto employees have been in custody since last July. They were detained during sensitive iron ore contract talks and the Chinese prosecutors accuse them of soliciting or accepting large bribes.

Jerome Cohen, a professor of Chinese law at New York University, thinks there is little chance the men will avoid a conviction.

“The Chinese lawyers involved in the case are very able, experienced people but, of course, being Chinese criminal defense lawyers they do not have as much opportunity to defend their clients as they would in other systems,” Cohen said. “The odds are very great now that these fellows are going to get convicted.”

Although the news that the four were formally charged came Wednesday, a date for the trial, which is expected to be held in Shanghai, has not been set.

Rio Tinto, an Anglo-Australian mining corporation, has said it is not aware of any wrongdoing by its employees.

On Thursday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said the legal rights of the Rio Tinto employees would be guaranteed.

The maximum penalty for commercial espionage in China is seven years in prison. Taking large bribes can bring a five-year sentence.

China is the world’s biggest steel producer and consumer of iron ore, much of which is exported from Australian mines.

Australia’s minerals industry has helped to insulate the country from the worst of the global economic slowdown.

Via

China is awash with images of orange and black-striped big cats as the country prepares to usher in the Year of the Tiger on Sunday.

Yet for all the traditional sentiment toward one of the most revered animals in the Chinese Zodiac, 2010 could be a make-or- break year for wild tigers in China.

Since the last Year of the Tiger 12 years ago, the worldwide population of wild tigers has almost halved to 3,200.

Zhu Chunquan is the conservation director of the wildlife protection group WWF in Beijing. He says unless action is taken now, there will be no more wild tigers in China by the next year of the Tiger.

“If no immediate action is taken to protect the wild tiger’s population and habitat, then there is a high risk of extinction in 12 years,” he said.

The South China tiger has not been seen in the wild for 25 years and is believed to be extinct.

China’s three other species are also in peril.

The WWF this week said there are fewer than 50 Chinese tigers left in the wild – and the pressure on them is mounting as the country continues its breakneck economic development.

As cities and farms expand, tigers lose places to live and food to eat. Poachers threaten both the tigers and their prey.

Compounding the threat is the illegal trade of tiger parts used in traditional Chinese medicine, which continues despite a 17-year ban on the practice.

In northeastern China near the Russian border, the struggle to bring the Amur – or Siberian – tiger back from the brink has the backing of the World Bank.

It is funding a program worth several billion dollars to boost the population to a sustainable level.

The head of the bank’s China environment program, Carter Brandon, says the survival of the species is no longer an issue of conservation but instead one of development.

“The area required for a sizable tiger population is much greater than China can put aside in the form of formal protective areas,” explained Brandon. “Protective areas are great but there’s a lot of people up in the northeast, and each tiger requires something like 70,000 hectares – 700 square kilometers – for a sustainable area for 50 tigers. That’s a huge area,” he said.

Despite the grim warnings, the WWF’s Zhu says there is room for optimism.

He says China shows the political will to save wild tigers by signing on to international agreements.

And efforts similar to those used to save the panda from extinction are now being used to help the tiger.

“With awareness increasing and also more government actions and investment and with also local communities and local forestry support, and the global community’s help, we believe the tiger’s recovery in China has great hope,” Zhu said.

The battle to save the tiger is of course not exclusive to China.

The first Asian ministerial conference on the issue was held in Thailand last week.

It set a goal of doubling the wild population by the start of the next tiger year in 2022.

And an international tiger summit will convene in September in Russia.

Via

“1235 airlines,
80,000-kilometer railway,
3,730,000-kilometer road,
and enormous number of rivers,
like blood vessels spread,
dedicated to the peak of public transport in the Spring Festival travel season,
year by year.

150,000,000 Chinese people left their family,
to cities, big cities, the capital city,
for better jobs, better schools and hospitals,
now they are on their way home.

Seeing the whistling trains come close,
please salute,
to one tenth of wandering China,
to those Chinese living elsewhere.”

– http://news.163.com/special/000137OF/chunyun2010.html

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi answers questions after a meeting with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner in Paris, 03 Feb 2010

Iran’s key allies, China and Russia, are sending divergent messages on whether to pursue further sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi warned Thursday that talk of additional sanctions is complicating the situation and hindering efforts to find a diplomatic solution.

Meantime, a leading Russian lawmaker, Konstantin Kosachyov, suggested Russia is more in agreement with Western nations calling for additional sanctions.

He told Russian state news that Iran’s recent launch of a satellite has raised concerns that the Islamic Republic could eventually fire a long-range nuclear weapon.

China and Russia, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, traditionally have opposed past efforts to punish Iran for its nuclear activity.

Western countries are pushing for a fourth round of U.N. sanctions against Iran to try to force the country to enter into negotiations.

In another development, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his country blocked at least three shipments of cargo to Iran after invoking an Australian law aimed at preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Mr. Rudd did not reveal the contents of the blocked cargo, but the Australian newspaper reports one shipment included pumps that could be used to cool nuclear power plants.

The Australian says Australia’s defense minister, John Faulkner, issued the order late last year.

Western nations fear Iran is working to produce atomic weapons, but Iran says its nuclear program is meant only for peaceful purposes.

Via

The Chinese government indicated Tuesday it is still angry over a nearly $6.5 billion U.S. arms sale to Taiwan that was announced in Washington Friday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu warned that the sale will hurt Sino-American relations.

Ma says the United States disregarded China’s firm opposition to the arms sale to Taiwan.  He says the sale will have a serious negative effect on Sino-American exchanges and cooperation on many issues, and could lead to what he describes as “unwelcome consequences.”

He also stresses that China intends to pass what he describes as sanctions on the U.S. companies involved in the arms sale.

He did not name any companies or specify what the sanctions would entail.  But some companies that could be affected include Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province and has vowed to take the separately governed island back, by force, if necessary. The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but has said it will help the island defend itself.

China immediately responded to the latest arms sale by suspending military exchanges with Washington.

In another Sino-American military issue, Ma says China is dissatisfied with the U.S. Defense Department’s just released Quadrennial Defense Review. The report analyzes strategic objectives and potential military threats to the United States.

It details China’s recent military build-up, and says a lack of transparency raises questions about Beijing’s intentions.

Ma calls those comments cliché and says China’s defense buildup is normal. He also says the U.S. report interferes in China’s internal affairs and says it will mislead public opinion.

Sino-American relations are being strained by several other issues. They include a possible meeting between President Barack Obama and Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, as well as U.S. concern over Internet censorship in China.

Stephanie Ho | Beijing

Via VOANews

The sale is a wrong decision, which not only undermines China’s national security interests and her national unification cause, but also once again hurts the national feelings of the Chinese people.

Moreover, it also will cause serious damage to the overall cooperation and relationship between China and the United States.

Frankly speaking, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan have become a chronic disease that has been disturbing China-U.S. ties for a long period of time.

In the August 17 Communique jointly issued by China and the United States in 1982, the U.S. said clearly it intended to gradually reduce the sale of arms to Taiwan both in quality and quantity, leading to a final termination of such sales.

Although those words are crystal clear, this time the U.S. once again stubbornly made a wrong decision to plan a new arms sale to Taiwan, seriously violating the principles of three Sino-U.S. joint communiques, especially those of the August 17 Communique.

Such an act violently interferes in China’s internal affairs, seriously undermines China’s national security and her national unification cause, and thus inevitably casts a shadow on China-U.S. relations.

The Taiwan issue is closely related to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, her core national interests, and the national feelings of the 1.3 billion Chinese people.

The China-U.S. Joint Statement points out that “the fundamental principle of respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is at the core of the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques that guide China-U.S. relations.

“Neither side supports any attempt by any force to undermine this principle. The two sides agreed that respecting each other’s core interests is extremely important to ensure steady progress in China-U.S. relations.”

The words are still echoing but the U.S. government broke the promise and acted in a way that seriously undermines the core interests of China.

As a result, it is totally reasonable to suspect the sincerity of U.S. pledges on “respecting each other’s core interests.”

With efforts made by compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, recent years have witnessed more frequent cross-Strait dialogues and exchanges, and closer cross-Strait economic and trade relations.

The cross-Strait relationship has started to walk on a path of positive interaction.

The U.S. has said repeatedly that peace between both sides of the Taiwan Strait is “in the interests of the United States” and it welcomes peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

It has also said, many times, that it hopes both sides of the Taiwan Strait strengthen their dialogues and interactions in economic, politics and other areas and establish a more positive and stable relationship.

However, while the entire picture of the cross-Strait relations became brighter, the U.S. made a new decision on an arms sale to Taiwan.

The decision not only runs counter to the mainstream will of pursuing development and cooperation among the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but also exposes the U.S. usage of double standards and hypocrisy on major issues related to China’s core interests.

China and the United States, both world powers, have broad common interests and important responsibilities in a series of major issues related to peace and development of each nation and all mankind.

Despite all the ups and downs over the past 30 years, the overall China-U.S. relationship has maintained forward-moving development, while common interests and cooperation between the two countries have continuously expanded.

That not only brought concrete benefits to the peoples of both nations, but also contributed to world peace and development.

Obviously, the current good situation in China-U.S. relations is a result of no easy effort, and both nations need to take extra care of it.

The global financial situation has been improved, but uncertainties remain.

It requires China, the United States and the international community as a whole to make continuous efforts in a coordinated way.

China-U.S. cooperation is indispensable in solving counter-terrorism, nuclear nonproliferation, climate change and other major international and regional security issues.

The age of our times needs healthy, stable and developing China-U.S. ties.

Defying such a historic trend and making such a wrong decision that undermines China’s core interests and the overall situation of China-U.S. cooperation, can’t be viewed as a wise action by any responsible government, no matter if it was influenced by residue of the Cold War mentality or the pressure of certain special interests.

China recently has made several solemn representations to the American government on the arms sale issue, asking the U.S. to fully assess the serious damage caused by the sale and to take China’s concerns seriously and stop the transaction.

Otherwise, the sale will cause seriously negative effects on China-U.S. exchanges and cooperation in important areas, and ultimately will lead to consequences that neither side wishes to see.

If the U.S. continues to ignore the solemn position made by China and is determined to make the wrong decision to sell arms to Taiwan, it ought to take all the responsibilities for any serious consequence caused by such a decision.

Following are the highlights of the joint statement:

CORE-INTEREST

Both sides reaffirmed the fundamental principle of respecting each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, core interests and major concerns. Neither side supports any attempt by any force to undermine the principle.

The Chinese side emphasized that the question of Taiwan concerns China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Canadian side reiterated its consistent and long-standing one-China policy, which was established at the founding of diplomatic ties. The country underlined its support for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, including the efforts from both sides to increase dialogue and interactions in economic, political and other areas.

TRADE, INVESTMENT

The two countries reiterated commitment to maintaining an open investment and trade policy, opposing protectionism in all its manifestations, reducing barriers to investment and encouraging cooperation between the two countries’ enterprises.

Both sides undertake to expedite negotiations of a China-Canada Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, to offer predictable and stable legal framework to boost confidence of investors.

The two countries also agreed on the need to encourage further growth of bilateral trade from its current levels, increasing trade in goods and services in all sectors, including energy and resources, infrastructure, telecommunication and transportation, advanced technology, tourism, agriculture and financial services. They also agreed to enhance cooperation on clean energy.

CROSS-BORDER CRIMES

The two sides pledged to strengthen cooperation on combating transnational crime and repatriating fugitives in accordance with their respective laws.

They agreed to sign a MOU on cooperation on combating crime at an early date and carry out negotiation on an agreement on the sharing of the proceeds of crime.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Both sides acknowledged that differing histories and national conditions can create some distinct points of view on issues such as human rights. They agreed to increased dialogue and exchanges on human rights, on the basis of equality and mutual respect, to promote and protect human rights consistent with international human rights instruments.

VISIT DESTINATION STATUS

China and Canada welcome two new channels to increase people-to-people interaction, through the opening of a new Chinese Consulate General in Montreal, and China’s announcement of approved destination status for Canada during Harper’s visit.

CLIMATE CHANGE

The two sides agreed to enhance policy dialogue and cooperation on climate change and clean energy technologies as a complement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol.

VANCOUVER OLYMPICS, SHANGHAI EXPO

China welcomes the approaching of Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games and will send a large team of athletes to the games.

The Canadian side expressed its support for 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Starting in May of 2010, the Canada Pavilion at the Expo will provide large numbers of Chinese citizens the opportunity to visit and enjoy numerous Canadian arts, cultural and other public events.