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Senior U.S. diplomats visit China to patch up ties
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China on Tuesday urged the United States to work to push bilateral ties back to normal track as two senior U.S. diplomats came to Beijing with hope to ease tensions between the two countries.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Jeffrey Bader began their visit in Beijing from Tuesday to Thursday before going to Japan.
China\'s foreign ministry has so far given few details about the visit. The U.S. embassy in China has no plan to hold a press conference as usual.
"We will have a press release as soon as we get further information about the detailed arrangements," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said, declining to disclose whom the two U.S. diplomats will meet.
But Qin repeated at the regular news briefing that the responsibility of the setback of the Sino-U.S. relations lay with the U.S. administration.
"We urge the U.S. side to earnestly observe the principles laid down in the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques and their joint statement, respect China\'s core interests and properly handle sensitive issues, and work with the Chinese side to push relations back on a healthy and normal track," Qin said.
The United States angered China with its decision to sell arms to Taiwan and President Barack Obama\'s meeting with the Dalai Lama regardless of China\'s objections. China has repeated that the U.S. move would severely harm its core interests.
Steinberg\'s trip was widely seen as a U.S. effort to mend ties with China at a time when they need to cooperate on a range of global issues, including the economic downturn, climate change and trade liberalization.
U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Monday that the two sides would discuss "bilateral, regional and global issues" during the visit, which would be "an opportunity to refocus on the future."
Steinberg and Bader are expected to talk about the Iran nuclear issue as Western powers are weighing sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
But Qin said there is still room for diplomatic efforts and the parties should work to maintain and promote the process of dialogue and negotiations for a proper resolution of the Iran nuclear issue.
Also on Tuesday, a senior Chinese official said Sino-U.S. relations were experiencing a "spring chill" at the beginning of 2010 and suggested more cooperation and "less containment" in bilateral ties.
"The Americans need to understand that the China-U.S. relationship is like a car with two drivers. The Chinese and Americans both have wheels and brakes, so they have to talk with each other to drive the car forward on the right track," said Zhao Qizheng, spokesman for the annual session of China\'s top political advisory body.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said earlier that "a good China-U.S. relationship benefits both China and the United States as well as their peoples."
Wen said Saturday that China did not want 2010 to be "an unpeaceful year" for trade and economic relations with the United States.
The United States should be responsible for the current retrograde bilateral relationship with China, said Zhao Qizheng, spokesman of the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People\'s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Tuesday.
Zhao made the remarks at a press conference of the top political advisory body\'s annual full session, which will open Wednesday.
Two senior U.S. diplomats are to embark on a three-day visit to China this week, but will the visit break the deadlock between the two countries?
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg and Jeffrey Bader, senior director for Asian affairs at the U.S. National Security Council, will pay the visit from Tuesday to Thursday.
The United States Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman said Monday that this year would be a good one for bilateral relations.
The two countries would "come together quickly" and "focus on global issues during the rest of this year," Huntsman said in an interview with Xinhua.
The United States expressed hope on Monday that ties with China will return to normal as quickly as possible.
There should be more cooperation and less containment in Sino-U.S. relations, which suffered a "spring chill" at the beginning of 2010, said a spokesman for China\'s top political advisory body here Tuesday.
Zhao Qizheng, spokesman for the third session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People\'s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), made the remarks at a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.
Zhao said since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1979, the China-U.S. relations had developed rapidly with the volume of bilateral trade expanding more than 100 times as well as a lot of cultural, political and economic exchanges, which benefited both sides.
U.S. President Barack Obama seemed to have some new thinking on the relations, but two events, which happened during the first 20 days of 2010, had chilled the China-U.S. ties, said Zhao, referring to the Obama administration\'s arms sales plan to Taiwan and Obama\'s meeting with the Dalai Lama despite strong opposition from China.
He said Obama\'s meeting with the Dalai Lama "seriously disturbed" the Sino-U.S. relations, while the arms sales to Taiwan "seriously violated" three joint communiques between China and the United States and harmed China\'s national security and cross-Strait peace and stability.
The annual plenary session of the CPPCC National Committee will open Wednesday and more than 2,000 top political advisors are expected to make suggestions and proposals on state affairs.
The United States should be responsible for the current retrograde bilateral relationship with China, said Zhao Qizheng, spokesman of the annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People\'s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Tuesday.
Zhao made the remarks at a press conference of the top political advisory body\'s annual full session, which will open Wednesday.
(Xinhua)
Tibet official hails Panchen Lama\'s new position in top advisory body
A high-ranking official of southwest China\'s Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday applauded the new position of the 11th Panchen Lama in the top advisory body, saying people of all ethnic groups in Tibet feel happy for that.
"His participation in social activities and holding of social positions are of great significance for demonstrating the role of the living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism and encouraging more believers to participate in state affairs," said Hao Peng, executive vice chairman of the Tibet regional government.
He made the remarks while meeting with an international media delegation organized by the State Council Information Office.
The 11th Panchen Lama, Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, one of the two most senior living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, became a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People\'s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country\'s top advisory body, on Sunday.
On Feb. 3, he was just elected vice president of the Buddhist Association of China.
"Since he was enthroned in 1995, the 11th Panchen Lama has made great improvements in both Buddhist studies and cultural knowledge and has demonstrated the demeanour of a senior living Buddha in Tibetan Buddhism," Hao said.
"He is deeply loved by people of all ethnic groups in Tibet, and they are happy for his position in the CPPCC National Committee," he said.
"I hope he can carry forward the tradition of loving the motherland and religion, as the 10th Panchen Lama did, in his future participation in social affairs, and make greater contribution to development of Tibetan Buddhism," he added.
Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu was approved by the central government as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama in November 1995 after a lot-drawing ceremony among three candidates in the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa.
Mass Detention of over 5500 Farmers in Ahmedabad
Farmers protesting Nirma Factory and Limestone Quarry in Mahuva detained; Chunibhai Vaidya, Veteran Gandhian, Kanubhai Kalsaria, MLA and SanatBhai Mehta, ex Finance Minister among those detained
Over five thousand farmers from the Mahuva area in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat have been detained and prohibited from taking out a peaceful rally protesting the government’s sanction for a Nirma factory and limestone quarry in their area.
The farmers were enroute to the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, from where they intended to start a peaceful march to Gandhinagar to submit their petition, signed by 11,111 affected individuals in their own blood, when the buses and other vehicles they were using were stopped by the police. The farmers have been taken to Shahibagh in Ahmedabad and have been detained in police grounds. Several hundred protestors who reached the Sabarmati Ashram directly were also whisked away in police vans and blocked from taking out the march.
These farmers from Mahuva area in Bhavnagar district are protesting the decision by the Government of Gujarat to sanction a cement plant by Nirma Ltd, which includes 288 ha. of land for the factory and another 3000 ha. for a limestone quarry. Mahuva area has among the most fertile lands in Gujarat, where farmers grow three crops, and export dehydrated onions and numerous other fruits. Moreover, the numerous onion dehydrating plants (turnover Rs. 300 crore) & cotton gins (turnover Rs. 3,500 crore) provide employment to an additional 10,000 people in the factories.
The cement plant which the government proposes to build in the area will employ only 418 people for an investment of 2500 crore (Rs. 2.5 billion), but will end up devastating around 50,000 land owners, farmers & farm labourers, besides polluting the air and destroying the pristine coastal & inland ecology. It was only in the last few years that the Government had invested tens of millions of public money to construct structures for water conservation & prevention of salinity ingress in this very area.
The farmers of the area have been protesting the government policies for over a year, and have been facing the combined wrath of the government and company goons for doing so.
POSCO: Tribal Dispossession, Environmental Destruction
Analytical Monthly Review, published in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, is a sister edition of Monthly Review. Its February 2010 issue features the following editorial.
Orissa is the poorest State with an official estimate of 39.9 per cent of people living below the poverty line, yet in regard to proposed investment it stood at second position after Gujarat. According to Assocham Investment Meter, recorded investment proposals in Orissa reached Rs. 2,00,846 crore in 2009. The cause is the availability of rich mineral resources such as coal and iron ore along with cheap availability of manpower. Steel and power were among the sectors which attracted maximum proposed investments in the state.
So vast a project of necessity strains the nation’s less than coherent institutional framework, and in the process illuminates today’s ruling forces and the way in which they go about achieving their aims. The elements of the assault are familiar: dispossession of tribal cultivators and the despoiling of the environment.
1.25L suicides in ’08, 14 every hour in India
India reported 14 suicides every hour during 2008 — a year, which saw a total of 1,25,017 people of different ages take the extreme step due to various reasons, ranging from family problem and illness to bankruptcy and poverty.
Though the year reported an increase of 1.9% over the previous year’s (2007) total suicide figure (1,22,637), there was a marginal decline in suicide among farmers, a trend which has continued since 2006.
As compared to 17,060 farmers’ suicide in 2006, the year 2007 witnessed 16,632 suicides which further declined to 16,196 in 2008. This decline is mainly due to lesser number of farmer suicides in Maharashtra, the worst state in terms of such incidents over the years. While 4,238 farmers in the state committed suicide in 2007, the figure for 2008 was 3,802 with the Vidarbha region being the focal point of this reportedly debt-driven act.
The other states with a history of a large number of farmer suicide — Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh — however continued to see an increasing trend.
According to the latest data, compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for 2008, Karnataka with more farmer suicides replaced Kerala in the list of top five states having the dubious distinction of reporting such acts over the years.
A definite trend was also noticed among different states which, perhaps, speaks volumes about the ‘psychological state’ of people than their actual difficulties.
Incidentally, it was not the comparitively poor states like Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh, which witnessed suicides in higher numbers. The dubious distiction, in fact, went to the comparitively richer states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Poverty was surprisingly not the major instigator as more number of people committed suicide due to family (23.8%) and health problems (21.9%) than love affairs, bankruptcy or sudden change in economic status, dowry disputes and poverty.
Analyzing the suicide figures for 2008, NCRB observed that social and economic causes led most of the males to commit suicide whereas emotional and personal causes mainly drove females to end their lives. The overall male:female ratio of suicide victims for the year was 64:36. However, the proportion of boys:girls suicide victims (upto 14 years of age) was 49:51.
Among the states, though West Bengal had reported the highest number (13.3%) of suicides during the year 2006, its share went down to 12.1% in 2007 and declined further to 11.9% in 2008. Five states — Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh — accounted for 64.6% of suicide victims in the age group 60 years and above.
The number of suicides in 35 mega cities reported an increasing trend from 2004 to 2007. But 2008 saw a decline — 13,071 from the previous year’s figure of 14,336. Four metropolitan cities — Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi — reported higher number of suicides. These four cities together accounted for almost 45% of the total suicides reported from the 35 mega cities.
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