新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 20:00 2013/10/04

The Beijing Hour
 
Evening Edition
 
 
 
Rebecca Hume with you on this Friday, October 4th, 2013.
Welcome to this shorter holiday edition of the Beijing Hour for the national day holiday, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this evening.
China and Malaysia set to upgrade their bilateral ties
Investigation now under way following police shooting of a woman on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.
China Sea typhoon death toll hits 6
Italy marks a day of mourning after boat sinking tragedy
First... lets get a check on the weather...
 
 
Weather
 
 
Beijing will be clear tonight; the low of 14 degrees, tomorrow will be sunny with highs of 23.
Shanghai will be cloudy tonight; the low of 19 degrees Celsius, and tomorrow will be cloudy with a high of 26.
Lhasa will see slight rain tonight, the low of 6, and tomorrow will be cloudy with a high of 18 degrees.
Elsewhere in the world, and staying in Asia:
Islamabad sunny 33
Kabul, sunny 31
Over in Oceania
Sydney, overcast 27
Canberra, overcast, 22
Brisbane, sunny 27
Perth, moderate rain 20
To Europe now
London, moderate rain 18
Paris, overcast 22
In Africa
Cairo, sunny 28
Nairobi, overcast 27
Monrovia, thundershowers 28
Johannesburg, Sunny 27
And in North American
New York sunny 25
Washington, sunny 29
Houston sunny 31
Toronto sunny 19
Finally, on to South America, and Rio de Janeiro will be sunny with highs of 27 degrees Celsius.
 
 
Top News
 
 
China and Malaysia to upgrade bilateral ties to new level
 
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak have agreed to upgrade bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Xi Jinping is in Kuala Lumpur for an official state visit to Malaysia.
Malaysia is the second stop of his South East Asian trip after Indonesia.
Xi Jingping says China supports Malaysia to be a driving force of stability and prosperity in the region.
"We agreed to strengthen communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks, and committed to maintain and promote stability and prosperity in this region."
China has been Malaysia's largest trading partner for four consecutive years, while Malaysia has been China's largest in the 10-member ASEAN for five years in a row.
In 2012, two-way trade soared to a record high of 94.8 billion dollars, accounting for nearly a quarter of China's total with ASEAN countries.
And the two leaders have agreed to set a new target for biliteral trade.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak .
"In today's meeting we discussed about how we can achieve a new target in terms of our two way trade between our two countries, which is set at 160 billion U.S. dollars by the year 2017."
After Malaysia, Xi Jinping will head to Bali to attend the APEC summit.
 
 
Expert say China-Malaysia trade has great potentials
 
Anchor
As economic ties between China and Malaysia grow stronger, a leading Malaysian economist contends two-way trade still has a lot more potential for growth.
CRI's Alex Aucott has more.
Reporter
Tham Siew Yean is an economics professor at the University Kebangsaan in Malaysia.
She contends that on-top of the biliteral trade figures continuing to grow, so is the structure of trade between the two sides.
"So we find that in Malaysia-China trade, there is a shift. If we come and look at the previous data, in terms of the types of goods that have been exported and imported. I think in the older days it was more resource-based, wood and wood products, I believe. Now it is electrical and electronics."
Tham says Malaysia welcomes investment from China, which she contends will help Malaysia become a regional financial hub.
"Malaysia is very interested in becoming an Islamic financial hub. I think that is something that can contribute to us and the development of China. I think Malaysia has investment interests in China and China has also increasing investments in Southeast Asia. So there is potentials in both countries to grow and develop."
Tham notes China and Southeast Asian countries are also looking to expand a free trade zone, which she says will further promote biliteral trade between China and Malysia.
"So I believe we can maybe accelerate. Services liberalization is progressive as in the AFA's agreement. So we can upgrade in terms of opening more sectors. We can deepen our commitments in the same way in the investment. I think if we upgrade the agreement in terms of services and investments, it will promote investments and services trade, besides just goods trade."
Tham also says one of the areas Malaysian authorities are looking toward China more for is the service sector, which is fast becoming a pillar of the Malaysian economy.
For CRI, I am Alex Aucott .
 
 
callin on economic integration among Southeast Asian region
 
Strenthening economic ties with Southeast Asian countries is on top of President Xi Jingping's agenda during his maiden tour to the region.
During his stay in Malaysia, Xi Jinping also called on China and ASEAN members to deepen cooperation, push forward regional economic integration and create favorable conditions for development.
To that end, CRI's Nathan Wakelin King spoke earlier with Dr. Chen Gang, Research Fellow at the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore.
(1003 PIK callin)
It's Dr. Chen Gang, Research Fellow at the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore, speaking with CRI's Nathan Wakelin King.
 
 
IMF Chief Says Shanghai Trade Zone A Pilot Area for China's Economic Transition
 
Anchor
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde says the Shanghai Free Trade Zone should serve as a pilot area for China's economic transition.
CRI's Jordan Lee has more.
Reporter
Less than a week before releasing new global growth forecasts, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde makes a speech about the new transition in the global economy.
According to Lagarde, the emerging markets drove the global recovery for the past five years, but growth momentum is slowing.
Moreover, the external environment is becoming more challenging, partly due to the anticipated exit from easy monetary policies in the US.
To prevent these economies getting stuck in low gear, Lagarde suggests some needed policy responses, including currency depreciation, liquidity provision, and structural reforms. Lagarde also specially offers advices for China's economic growth.
"China needs to keep moving to a growth path based less on credit-which hit 180 percent of GDP this year-and more on higher productivity, higher incomes, and higher consumption. This means liberalizing interest rates, ramping up financial sector oversight, opening up protected sectors to private initiative, and further strengthening the social safety net."
In Lagarde's opinion, the newly opened Shanghai free trade zone is a pilot area for China's economic transition.
"By the way, I encourage you to look at what is happening in what's called Shanghai trade zone, this new initiative. That's a pilot area where a lot of I just mentioned. It's probably going to happen."
Lagarde says although the global outlook remained subdued, signs of growth appear in advanced economies. Japan's stimulus policy seems to be working, and the U.S. housing sector is improving. But the US government needs to fix its finances for the long term.
The US government shutdown follows a budget standoff between President Obama and Congress.
But a worse problem looms.
The US is up to its borrowing limit and will run out of money without agreement to lift it.
Lagarde notes that failure to raise the debt ceiling would seriously hurt US and the world.
"The government shutdown is bad enough, but failure to raise the debt ceiling would be far worse, and could very seriously damage not only the U.S. economy, but the entire global economy. I personally have neutral trust in policy makers and I hope very strongly they will find a way to resolve the issue. We hope the 'mission-critical' to be resolved as soon as possible."
Lagarde's comments were echoed by the US Treasury, which says a debt default could lead to a financial crisis as bad as 2008 or worse.
For CRI, I'm Jordan Lee.
 
 
Obama cancels trip to Asia due to government shutdown
 
U.S. President Barack Obama has cancelled his trip to Asia next week due to the government shutdown.
Secretary of State John Kerry will lead U.S delegations to both countries in place of the president.
The White House described the cancellation of Obama's Asian trip as quote -another consequence of the House Republicans forcing a shutdown of the government-.
The US President originally planned to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Indonesia.
Obama has already cancelled two planned visits to the Philippines and Malaysia earlier this week, other two stops in his planned trip to Asia.
In a speech on Thursday, Obama said that the government shutdown could end immediately if House Republicans would hold a vote on a short-term spending bill without partisan attachments.
"There are enough Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives today that if the speaker of the House, John Boehner, simply let the bill get on the floor for an up or down vote, every congressman could vote their conscience, the shutdown would end today. So my simple message today is: call a vote!"
Barack Obama is also calling on Republicans to support raising the debt ceiling.
The last debt ceiling debate this past year sent shocks through the markets, despite US lawmakers eventually raising its borrowing limit before the deadline.
It led to a historic credit downgrading by Standard & Poors, one of the world's big-3 credit rating agencies.
If the US defaults, traders are warning it could freeze the credit markets, on top of forcing US interest rates to rise for its own borrowing costs.
The US is set to hit its debt ceiling in just under 2-weeks on October 17th.
 
 
Investigation underway after Capitol Hill shooting
 
An investigation is now under way following the shooting of a women on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.
The shooting happened when the woman's car tried to ram through security gates at the White House.
White House police responded by opening fire as she sped off towards Capitol Hill.
The incident ended with the female driver shot dead and two officers injured.
A one-year-old girl who was also in the car was unharmed.
Law enforcement officials identified the driver as 34-year-old Miriam Carey, of Stamford, Connecticut.
Police and the FBI are reported to have sealed off and searched a house in Stamford, Connecticut, believed to be the woman's home.
Jerome Roberts lives close by.
"Ah it's just crazy, every day, things are happening closer and closer to home, so it's just pretty scary. People that don't appear to look like they would do things like that and it happens. You get wary."
The incident comes just two weeks after a mentally disturbed employee entered the Washington Navy Yard with a shotgun, killing 13 people before being shot dead.
 
 
S China Sea typhoon death toll hits 6
 
Rescuers have retrieved 2 more bodies from the South China Sea, bringing the death toll to six in the aftermath of Typhoon Wutip.
Another 56-remain missing.
Rescuers have now expanded their search areas and launched underwater searches.
Police have identified three of the six fishermen's bodies.
Three fishing boats sank off the waters around the Xisha Island due to Typhoon Wutip on Sunday.
So far 268 fishermen have been rescued.
 
 
Italy marks a day of mourning after boat sinking tragedy
 
Flags are flying at half mast in Italy as the country marks a day of mourning following the deaths of more than 100 migrants who drowned off the coast.
Meantime, search efforts have resumed to recover the bodies of some 200 of those who are still unaccounted for.
The vessel, carrying a total of over 500 African migrants capsized off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.
It's being reported the ship caught fire, with passengers reportedly throwing themselves into the sea to escape the smoke and flames.
Over 150 have survived.
In wake of the latest incident, the Italian government is calling on its European Union partners to take more collective responsibility.
Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, responded to the incident.
"This is a disaster. The attribution of responsibilities is necessary. We can't leave one or two countries alone with the problem. This is a European problem and I once again repeat my call to all members of the European Union, to accept responsibility for this refugee tragedy."
Italy has traditionally been one of the main destinations for migrants from north Africa.
The small Italian island of Lampedusa was innondated by refugees from Libya, Tunisia and Algeria at the height of the so-called Arab Spring.
 
 
Japan's nuclear authority summons TEPCO boss over leakages problems
 
Japan's nuclear watchdog has summoned and reprimanded the head of the crippled Fukushima power plant.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority says the power plant's operator, TEPCO was inept to address the repeated problems of contaminated water leakages.
Kat/suhiko Ikeda, adnimistrative head of the agency, has ordered TEPCO's President Naomi Hirose to ensure better on-site management to prevent human error.
"The problem at TEPCO's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was caused due to its failure to take basic precautionary measures. I must say the onsite management at TEPCO's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is becoming extremely poor."
Ikeda has warned Hirose that lacking manpower is not enough of an excuse and the operator must do whatever it takes to contain the problem.
A day earlier, the company said some 400-litres spilled when workers overfilled a storage tank without a gauge that could have warned them of the danger.
So far thousands of tons of radioactive water have leaked, much of it into the Pacific Ocean.
 
 
China's Zhong Rong Group Unveils Plan to Restore Crystal Palace in London
 
Anchor
There's been a proposal for another multi-million-dollar investment in the UK from China.
This time, Chinese developer Zhong Rong Group has unveiled a new plan to restore the Crystal Palace, which was formerly one of the icons of London in the 19th century.
CRI's London correspondent Tu Yun has more.
Reporter
The original Crystal Palace, venue for the 1851 Great Exhibition - which was the first World's Fair - burnt down in a fire in 1936 after being relocated to South London in 1854.
Nearly eighty years later, a Chinese national is proposing putting up some 800-million-US-dollars to try to restore it.
"We've been carrying out studies on the Crystal Palace and on how to make it even more perfect and functional."
Ni Zhaoxing, a newcomer to the Forbes Billionaires List this year, is Chair of Shanghai-based developer Zhong Rong Group.
The group already has three glass and steel buildings in Shanghai.
"I have over ten years of experience in developing this kind of buildings. I'm also a collector, having collected a lot of works of art from both China and Europe. We want to make the new Crystal Palace an architectural art work and the palace for works of art."
Ni Zhaoxing says the modern version of English architect Joseph Paxton's glass house is expected to regenerate the 180-acre park site, accommodating cultural events such as concerts, exhibitions and screenings.
The plans include the full restoration of the park, based on the original Victorian design.
London Mayor Boris Johnson says the proposal by Zhong Rong Group stands out from other plans.
"There have been previous proposals. There have been ideas about fair ground attractions, and ski slopes. But this is I think the one that does justice to the spirit of Paxton's original vision."
The project would be the 4th major investment plan by Chinese developers in London this year.
Chinese firm ABP has already agreed to invest 1.6-billion-dollars to redevelop the Royal Albert Dock.
Ping'an Insurance has agreed to a 400-million-dollar purchase of the Lloyd's building.
The Dalian Wanda Group has put together a luxury hotel development plan worth more than one billion dollars.
The Zhong Rong Group's new Crystal Palace project could create more than two thousand jobs and attract wider investment into the local high streets.
Boris Johnson expects the new project to be a landmark for London.
"This is about a new project that's going to recreate a 21st Century version of the Crystal Palace, which will be an amazing cultural landmark for London. I think it is a beautiful idea. This isn't an act of nostalgia. This is where I'm looking forward and is adorning our city with something that's going to be absolutely world-class."
The investor has submitted a request for an exclusivity agreement to the local council as the land owner.
A planning application could be submitted as early as next autumn.
If all approvals are given, work could start on site in late 2015.
For CRI, I'm Tu Yun in London.
 
 
Taiwan companies focus on the mainland in international expanding
 
Anchor
More and more companies from Taiwan are starting to tailor their development strategies with the mainland in-mind.
CRI's Lucy Du explains.
Reporter
Advantech is listed in the world's top three automatic control companies.
When Chen Shunlang, General Manager of Advantech China, first came to Kunshan, Jiangsu, in 1999, he favoured the legal environment and governmental management concept. This led to him building their manufacturing park in the area.
"First of all, the location of Kunshan is very close to Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai, only one-hour drive. Another reason is that we believe in the credibility of the local government. Their words match their actions. Their communication and management are based on laws instead of personal connections. So when encountering problems, we have laws to rely on."
Years later, Advantech established 39 offices in 18 countries and numerous agents in over 80 countries.
Chen says the mainland plays a vital role in their overseas development, since it is now the largest market for electronics.
Just like Advantech, Cheng Shin Rubber also set their base in Kunshan. Threr they built the largest professional testing tracks for tires in Asia.
Zeng Yaode is Special Assistant to the General Manager of Cheng Shin Rubber, China.
"We see tar when looking at the tracks. But there are differences between the tar as well. We have tar used for highways in Germany. Highways there do not set speed limits. So this tar is rougher. There are also tiles roads in Belgium. Many European roads pave tiles. But our paving is different from one another. Professionals know the reason for such differnet designs."
Cheng Shin Rubber is also the produer of one of ten best tires in the world – Maxxis Tires. Maxxis provides tires for over 2 million cars in more than 150 countries.
Zeng says that they must acquire key technology of their own when competing with international brands.
"First, we must have our own brand name. Second, we also need technologies. The key to a famous brand is technology. Automobile companies must recognize our technology up to their standards. So we build one testing center, one research center, as well as a manufacturing base and a thorough system of production quality control."
Since July last year, the Chinese mainland has approved over 80 thousand investment projects from Taiwan, with a total capital of 56 billion US dollars.
For CRI, this is Lucy Du.
 
 
Fifa to make announcement on Qatar 2022 move to winter
 
Senior official from FIFA said is unlikely for the soccer's governing body to reach a decision at their meeting in Zurich about a winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
FIFA's Vice-President Jeffrey Webb added that to make a snap judgement about switching the dates of the tournament would be "irresponsible".
"It's very important, very important, I think it is important because it is a historic decision. Obviously I think the decision of December 2, 2010 obviously for FIFA is an opportunity to make sure that the programme for Qatar is correct and in good form."
The vote, in December 2010, which handed one of the world's biggest sporting events to the tiny desert kingdom where temperatures reach 50 degrees in summer shocked many people.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has supported such a move and has been quoted as saying that he hopes to have a decision in principal by Friday.
This would avoid clashing with the Winter Olympics and take in two international breaks causing marginally less disruption.
Qatar has said it is happy to accommodate a change in the dates, while insisting it can still stage a good tournament during the summer months.
The issue of human rights in Qatar is also likely to be raised at the meeting following concerns over the treatment of thousands migrant workers in Qatar.
 
 
 
That's it for this edition of the BJH
A quick recap of the headlines BEFORE WE GO...
China and Malaysia set to upgrade their bilateral ties
Investigation now under way following police shooting of a woman on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.
China Sea typhoon death toll hits 6
Italy marks a day of mourning after boat sinking tragedy
On behalf of the Beijing Hour team, this is Rebecca Humes in Beijing hoping you join us for our next edition of the Beijing Hour to open a window to the world together.