News & Reports 2012-07-21

 Hello and Welcome to News and Reports on China Radio International.

 

In This Edition

 

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi hails the success of China-Africa ministerial meeting, saying China-Africa cooperation brings substantial benefits to both sides.

Thousands of people demonstrate in Spanish cities against the pay cuts and tax hikes recently passed by the country's parliament.

Latest figures show overseas auto giants outperform China market in the first half of this year.

And the Olympic torch is due to arrive in London Saturday for the final leg of it's relay.

 

Hot Issue Reports

 

China's FM Hails Success of China-Africa Ministerial Meeting

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has hailed the success of the just concluded Fifth Ministerial Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

 

Yang Jiechi says the two-day meeting, held in Beijing, has forged consensuses and enhanced mutual trust.

 

"Two documents - the Beijing declaration and the Beijing action plan, have been agreed at the meeting. These two documents have outlined a blueprint for China-Africa cooperation in various fields over the next three years. The meeting has also sent a signal to the outside world that China and Africa are steadfastly committed to deepening their new strategic partnership as well as solidarity and cooperation among developing countries."

 

During the meeting, Chinese President Hu Jintao announced a package of new measures to support Africa's development and promote Chinese-African relations.

Yang Jiechi notes that the measures, covering investment, aid, social development, and African integration, are much more broader and richer in resources than before.

 

Meanwhile, Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr also speaks highly of the China-Africa ties.

 

"We highly commended this new strategic partnership between China and Africa as a successful model of South-South cooperation. The outstanding economic achievements of the PRC during the last few decades and its efforts to help African countries should be an inspiring example to the rest of the world."

 

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is a collective consultation and dialogue mechanism between China and African countries launched in 2000.

 

Egypt and China co-chaired the forum in the past three years.

 

The next ministerial meeting of the forum will held in South Africa in 2015.

 

Sino-Africa Relationship Boosting the Number of African Students in China

The number of African's coming here to China to study has been on a steady increase since 2006, after the Chinese government made a promise to give out more scholarships for African students.

 

As CRI's Nillah Nyakoa reports, Africans now make up a solid proportion of foreign students in China.

 

Accounting for seven-percent of the total number of international students in China, the number of African students enrolling in Chinese universities has been increasing.

 

In 2006, during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao promised to boost the number of scholarships for African students from 2,000 to 4,000 annually.

 

Among the students who have benefited from this declaration is communications engineering student Fred Ogenya from Uganda.

 

"What made me come here is the inspiration I got from my uncle who had a broad view of what China was. He convinced me that China was the best place to be to have an education. "

 

Since the 1950s, China has provided more than 17,000 scholarships for students from 50 African countries.

 

Liberian student Shirley Elako says she's happy with the quality of the education she's getting here in China.

 

"The fact that we have many students coming over to China is a good sign that people are satisfied with what they are getting from here."

 

Still, Shirley says there are still a lot of challenges in coming to China to study.

 

"Yes of course, the language is number one. Because we understand English but the Chinese teachers don't understand so much English. So there is a communication gap between the student and the teacher."

 

On top of awarding scholarships, China has also increased its investment in the number of Confucius Institutes in Africa.

 

Ghanaian Trade and industry Minister Hanna Tetteh.

 

"Chinese is not a language that is taught in most African schools. Indeed until recently the focus has been on English French and Portuguese. So, having the Confucius institutes and giving African students the opportunity to learn about Chinese language and culture, is going to work significantly towards helping us to understand each other better. And communication is the foundation of every other relationship."

 

Recently, Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun reported that, in addition to the over 5,000 Chinese government scholarships awarded each year, over 10,000 other African students have decided to come to China on their own to study.

 

FOR CRI I am Nillah Nyakoa.

 

Thousands Demonstrate in Spain against Pay Cuts, Tax Hikes

Thousands of people have been demonstrating in Spanish cities against the pay cuts and tax hikes recently passed by the country's parliament.

 

More than 80 separate demonstrations have been held across Spain.

 

In Barcelona, trade unions have come together to protest the austerity measures.

 

"The aggressive nature of the cuts has caused for the first time in many years all unions to unite for the same cause. To act as a single front to oppose the aggressive cuts by the Popular Party government. It is a terrible aggression towards all the country's working force. All of us are affected."

 

In Madrid, an estimated 100-thousand turned out to protest public-sector cuts.

 

"I'm here not because of not receiving a bonus, I'm here not because of my salary being cut, not even because of the loss of a day's wages. I'm here to stop things getting worse in the immediate future and I really believe that we are able to change that future."

 

Spanish police have clashed with protesters in Madrid, firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, which was trying to reach the capital's congress building.

 

The Spanish government has brought in its latest round of spending cuts and tax increases to shave 65 billion euros off the government's budgets by 2015.

 

The austerity package was unveiled last week after finance ministers from other eurozone countries agreed to give Spain a bailout of up to 100-billion euros.

 

Afghans Mark the First Day of Muslim Holy Month Ramadan

Afghans in the capital Kabul have marked the first day of Muslim holy month Ramadan alongside other Muslims around the world.

 

Food markets in Kabul were buzzing with activity as local residents bought traditional foods in preparation for breaking their first day of fasting.

 

One local resident, Fulad Mubarez said the price of food was particularly high this year.

 

"Today is the first day of Ramadan and I came here to buy some food. The price is very high and expensive in the market. Those who are poor will not be able to afford it and it's very difficult to go shopping."

 

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar which lasts 29 or 30 days.

 

Muslim men and women across the world fast, abstaining from food, drinks and smoking between sunrise and sunset.

 

Special meals and drinks are taken for breaking fast which are mostly spicy or sweet in Afghanistan.

 

Sayed Ahmad is another Kabul resident and hat seller.

 

"The holy month of Ramadan means to perform prayer, I hope everyone is able to pray. In this holy month our people should support the poor and orphans in order for God to bless them and forgive their sins."

 

More than one billion Muslims across the globe are expected to observe the holy month of Ramadan which ends with Eid al-Fitr festival.

 

Overseas Giants Outperform China Market in 2012 First-half

Chinese auto manufacturers are losing domestic market share.

 

New stats show the number of domestically-manufactured vehicles on the road here in China has dropped by 3-percent in the first half to a 41-percent market share.

 

First half sales of domestic vehicles is down 0.2-percent.

 

Meanwhile, Volkswagon has seen its sales increase more than 15-percent over the same period.

 

Significant price cuts by foreign manufacturers are being cited as one of the main reasons Chinese manufacturers are losing ground to their foreign competitors.

 

Dong Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Association of Auto Manufacturers, says purchase restrictions are also hurting Chinese producers.

 

"If more cities pose limits on purchases and if the policy kills a sales volume of more than one million vehicles, the growth of China's entire auto industry and even the whole national economy will suffer losses."

 

Vehicle purchase restrictions are currently in place in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

 

Chinese Economy still on the Up despite Fall in Inflation Rate

The downward trend in inflation here in China is drawing suggestions from economic experts about how the country's planning authorities should be moving forward.

 

CRI's Abhijan Barua has more.

 

Recently, it was announced that inflation rate in the Chinese economy had experienced a 0.8 percent drop from last year.

 

With the June inflation of 2.2 percent, the lowest in 29 months, Premier Wen Jiabao called for new measures and reforms to tackle the situation.

 

While the fall in pork prices has been one of the reasons attributed to the CPI drop, other measures have been suggested such as allowing a freer flow of the Yuan within the economy to facilitate stronger growth.

 

As the Associate Professor from the University of International Business and Economics, Liu Baocheng explains, the government's response to the inflation drop, has been to try and make more money available in the market, hoping to increase a stronger flow of the Yuan.

 

"The government has undertook to adjusting the economy by adjusting the loan and the other rates. That's why the Central bank has lowered the benchmark rate which is a very decisive move, to further reduce the capital reserve requirement with the commercial banks so they have more money to lend. Then open market operations, which if we want to reduce the rate of deflation faster, we could really pump in even liquidity into the market."

 

However, Patrick Chovanec from Tsinghua University's School of Economics and management believes despite the drop in inflation rate, the price structures are still holding up on other fronts to balance the deflation.

 

"There's a very complex picture when you look at the price situation in China. You have the raw materials which seem to be dropping, food inflation which seems to be moderating a bit, but you have wage inflation still in double digits, and you've got a lot of upward price pressure still in the chinese economy."

 

And if the inflation rate then is being balanced out by various other factors, then there's a school of thought pushing for lesser attention on just the inflation rate alone.

 

"Well I don't think it's desirable to push the rate of inflation back up again. I mean I think that really one of the reasons why central bank has been reluctant to just pour more money into the economy to get growth going is because they feel that there's still lot of inflationary pressure and it wouldn't take that much to reignite it. And inflation is bad not just because of the stress that it puts on household budgets in China, it's also the distorted price signals it sends which re-enforce the existing imbalances in the Chinese economy and prevents the kind of economic adjustment the Chinese economy needs to see."

 

Opinions seem to vary on the matter, however it appears despite the drop in inflation rate, the Chinese economy may still be a long way from shrinking.

 

For CRI, I'm Abhijan Barua.

 

Final Olympic Preparations in London

The Olympic torch is due to arrive in London Saturday for the final leg of it's relay.

 

But as CRI's Emily Hennessy reports, with only a week to go until the opening ceremony, organizers still have a few hurdles to jump before the show starts.

 

The lead up to the 2012 London Olympic Games has been fraught with controversy.

 

The British Army was forced to step in to plug gaps in Olympic security after contractor G4S failed to provide the required number of personnel.

 

Questions have also been raised as to whether the city's transportation network can cope with the huge Olympic crowds.

 

And with only a week to go, a fresh scandal has broken.

 

Thousands of British immigration, passport and border officials have voted to stage a one-day strike next Thursday, the eve of the Olympic Games.

 

British Interior Minister Theresa May has condemned the action.

 

"I think that it's shameful, frankly. They are holding a strike on one of the key dates for people coming into this country for the Olympic Games, I believe it's not right for them to hold a strike, they will risk damaging people's enjoyment of coming through into the UK. We will of course put contingency arrangements in place to ensure that we can deal with people coming through the border as smoothly as possible."

 

Despite all the controversy the show must go on.

 

The biggest anti-doping operation in the history of the Olympics is beginning at the London 2012 laboratory.

 

Kerry O'Callaghan from GlaxoSmithKline who are responsible for the operation says this Olympics will have the most extensive testing ever.

 

"Testing is happening throughout the whole period and we are going to be testing 6000 athletes across the Olympic and Paralympic Games, more than at any other games. And that means that over half the athletes will be tested, and anyone who stands on a podium. So it is an incredibly high level of testing that is going on."

 

And Athletes from around the world including China have been arriving in the UK capital for their final preparations.

 

The Chinese swim team is hoping to capitalize on their strong 2011 World Championships performance.

 

Beijing Olympic silver medalist Jiao Liuyang however says she just hopes to beat her own record in the pool when she swims in the 200m butterfly.

 

"I'm competing with myself. I think all the competitors in the final will be very good, that's why I'm only competing with myself."

 

The swim team has been preparing in the south-west British city of Bath and will move into the Olympic village on Monday.

 

For CRI, I'm Emily Hennessy.

 

Yahoo News

 

A water-only café serving filtered New York City tap water is facing a wave of criticism for its overpriced, artisanal H20.

 

Molecule, which recently opened in Manhattan's East Village, charges $2.50 per 16-ounce glass of water treated with its custom-built, $25,000 purifier.

 

It's "a cocktail bar for water enthusiasts," the Wall Street Journal said in its profile. "Patrons can order a shot of vitamins A, B, C, D and E or a mixture of roots, herbs, fruits and mushrooms blended in blasts called 'energy,' 'immunity' and 'skin, hair and nails' to add to their water."

 

The giant filtration machine "uses ultraviolet rays, ozone treatments and reverse osmosis in a seven-stage processing treatment" to create what Molecule's proprietors call "pure H20."

 

More from the café's website:

 

You can fill your own bottle at our store, or you can get 3 and 5 gallon jugs of our 'pharmaceutical-grade water' delivered to your home on a tricycle.

 

"It's about treating water a little more consciously, mindfully and respectfully," Adam Ruhf, the café's 32-year-old owner, told DNAinfo.com. "We are trying to change the way people think about water."

 

That may take some doing, at least among critics.

 

"Molecule bottled water is 'pure' nonsense," the New York Post's Steve Cuozzo wrote.

 

Cuozzo conducted a blind taste test using Molecule, Poland Spring, Evian, Fiji and unfiltered tap water. "Guess what?" he wrote. "Molecule was the only one I didn't like."

 

Public health experts say New York's tap water "is among the safest, highest quality in the world, a standard we confirm through more than 500,000 tests each year," a spokesman for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection told the Journal.

 

China Daily

 

Getting a divorce in Zhejiang province's Cixi is not as simple as signing paperwork anymore.

 

Now it also requires an appointment a week ahead of time with the civil affairs bureau's marriage registration office.

 

"We were saving about 40 percent of marriages during the three-month trial after the policy was introduced in April," said Xu Haiyan, director of the Cixi civil affairs bureau's marriage registration office.

 

Xu said couples are told to make an appointment at least seven days after they file for a divorce. More than 40 percent of those who came to the bureau to get a divorce in April, May and June didn't return for their final appointments.

 

"We're amazed by the impressive results, and the reason we're doing this is because people are likely to get a divorce on impulse," Xu said. "What we (at the office) can do at least is to give them an excuse to think again about their marriage - let the excuse be, 'We don't give divorces on the spot. Come back in a week's time' . "

 

Although the policy isn't compulsory, "divorce appointments" at the marriage registration office have been fully booked since the introduction of the policy.

Many residents give the policy good reviews.

 

Wang Huigang, a 38-year-old teacher who got married this month, said having a week to calm down is good for a couple seeking a divorce because "they may work out a better way to live with each other during that time".

 

Wang Jian'an, a 48-year-old insurance company employee, said the policy is good as long as it is not mandatory.

 

"People shouldn't be forced to think things over, for everybody has the right to get married or divorced. A week is acceptable," he said.

 

Zheng Xin, a lawyer at Zhejiang's Zhiyuanda Law Firm, says that the policy puts more responsibility on staff at the marriage registration office.

 

"They're required to determine who is divorcing on impulse and who is unshakably determined to divorce, and then apply different strategies," he said.

 

About 2.87 million couples in China got divorces in 2011, a 7.3 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

 

Reuters

 

A man in the US　Peter Kirn makes music with an unusual instrument - his own body.

 

The Kentucky native pinches two electrically charged pennies connected to a laptop via two short green wires.

 

The rudimentary contraption is held together by bits of solder and hot glue which allow him to measure the electrical currents of his body and synthesize them into melodic sound.

 

Kirn, 34, a writer of creative technology, is one of several artists performing in Berlin who are exploring new ways of composing music with the human body.

 

"As your mood changes, the skin responds because it is part of the same system as your brain, which controls the pores of your skin," Kirn told Reuters.

Fluctuating sweat levels affect the skin's ability to transmit electricity, a characteristic Kirn calls "galvanic skin response".

 

But Kirn's technique is just one way to tap into the human body's musical potential.

 

Marco Donnarumma, a 27-year-old teacher from Italy with a passion for live music, tunes into the sounds muscles make when they move. Listeners can literally hear the friction of tissue as it expands and contracts.

 

Using a sensitive microphone to amplify the low frequency sound waves a muscle emits when it is flexed, Donnarumma has learned how to produce actual rhythms by simply moving his body.

 

The technical term for listening in on the body's internal functions and converting them into melodies is "musical biofeedback", according to Claudia Robles Angel, an audiovisual artist from Colombia who played a concert at Berlin's Leapknecht sound lab alongside Kirn and Donnarumma earlier this month.

 

Complete relaxation is also what Kirn said produces the richest sound. He found that the more he tried to control his thoughts, the plainer the music became.

 

Market Update

 

U.S. stocks slumped on Friday to end the week as Wall Street was once again caught by concerns over European debt woes and bleak economic outlook.

 

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.9 percent to 12,823. The Standard & Poor' s 500 gave up 1 percent to 1,363. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.4 percent to 2,925.

 

European markets also traded lower. London's FTSE 100 lost 1.1 percent to 5,652. Frankfurt's DAS shed 1.9 percent to 6,630. CAC 40 in Paris dipped over two percent to 3,194.