Hello and Welcome to News and Reports on China Radio International.
In This Edition
?China says it firmly opposes Japan's moves to gratuitously escalate the situation in Diaoyu islands.
?The death toll from a landslide in China's Yunnan rises to 43.
?Three days of mourning have been announced in Pakistan's Balochistan after a series of blasts.
?And with the 85th Academy Award nominations announced, Steven Spielberg's drama "Lincoln" crowned as the Oscar's frontrunner with twelve nods.
Hot Issue Reports
?Shinzo Abe: No Room to Negotiate Stance on Diaoyu Islands with China
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said there is no room to negotiate their stance on the Diaoyu Islands with China.
The comments come as the Japanese cabinet approved a stimulus package which includes extra defence spending.
CRI's Shen Chengcheng has more
"Japan's stance on safeguarding the country's territory as well as its maritime rights has not changed, on this issue, there is no room to negotiate with the Chinese side. I also hope we can go back to a relations of mutual benefit and improve Sino-Japanese ties."
Some observers say Abe's latest contradictory comments shows that Abe is speculative on improving ties with neighbors.
Zhu Jianrong is a professor with Japan's Toyo Gakuen University.
"The latest comments by Abe suggest that he's still testing the waters to form new relations with China and South Korea."
Tensions over the Diaoyu dispute increased this week after fresh reports of fighter jets from both sides flying over the disputed area.
Japanese media is reporting Japan's Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets to head off several Chinese military planes in its Air Defense Identification Zone near the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
China's Defence Ministry confirmed the Chinese side scrambled two J-10 jets after two Japanese F-15 jets stalled a Chinese portal plane in the East China Sea.
China's Foreign Ministry says it is "routine" for a Chinese military surveillance plane to patrol the airspace over that area.
China Central Television reported Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga denied a report by Japanese media, which claimed the Japanese government was considering strengthening confrontation measures with China.
Some military experts predict if tension keeps increasing, a small scale conflict cannot be ruled out.
Military expert Li Jie.
"If the Japanese side is not restrained, accidental conflicts could happen, because Japan's F-15 jets are rather advanced, they're really fast, so incidents could happen if jets from two sides get real close."
More recently, Japanese Self-Defense Force has conducted two joint military drills with the US near the Diaoyu island.
For CRI, I'm Shen Chengcheng.
?Death Toll Rises to 43 in SW China Landslide
The death toll from a landslide which hit a village in southwest China's Yunnan Province has risen to 43 after one more body was retrieved.
A total of 46-people are believed to be buried in the landslide.
The landslide happened in the village of Gaopo in Zhenxiong County, which is located 5-hundred kilometers northeast of Yunnan's capital Kunming.
Wang Jiayin is a local official.
"All the heavy equipment, including bulldozers and trucks have all been dispatched to the scene and have started to remove the debris. We've also deployed county level firefighting troops and police, they've now arrived and started rescue operations."
Meantime, China's Ministry of Land and Resources has activated a level-2 emergency response after the latest land slide in Yunnan.
A team of experts with the Ministry is on their way to assess the disaster area and help determine what could have casued the landslide.
Less than 3 months ago, 19 people in a nearby county were killed in a similar landslide.
Geological experts said the slide was casued by a series of earthquakes a month before and some other environmental factors including continuous rain and the mountain landscape.
It is feared rescue efforts may be hampered by the approaching weather conditions which is expected to see some light snow and below freezing weather conditions in the coming days.
?Pakistan Blasts Victims Mourned
Three days of mourning have been announced in the Pakistani province of Balochistan after a series of blasts in the provincial capital Quetta.
Four separate explosions have left over 100-people dead in Pakistan.
The death toll stands at 116.
235-others have been hurt in the blasts.
Three of the blasts were centered in the city of Quetta.
"This is extreme cruelty. Nothing can be more cruel than what has happened. A Muslim is bombing another Muslim. What can be worse than this?"
The bombed area is predominately Shiite Muslim, and an extremist Sunni Muslim group is taking credit for at least two of the explosions.
Balochistan is plagued by both a separatist rebellion and sectarian infighting between Sunnis and Shiites.
The Taliban and armed groups that support them also carry out attacks in the province, particularly in areas near the Afghan border.
Pakistan's military has long been engaged in battles against those militant groups.
Both Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf have strongly condemned the attacks.
Friday's attacks follow a car bombing on Thursday which hit a paramilitary check post in northwest Pakistan, leaving 11 people dead and 50 others wounded.
?Afghan President Met Leon Panetta on US Troops Withdrawal
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has met with US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at the Pentagon.
Both men are expressing an optimistic note about the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops by 2014, and its impact on Afghan security.
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
"After a long and difficult path, we finally are, I believe, at the last chapter of establishing an Afghanistan, a sovereign Afghanistan, that can govern and secure itself for the future."
For his part, Karzai says he has confidence in his country's own security forces.
"I can assure you Mr. Secretary that Afghanistan will, with the help that you will provide, be able to provide security to its people and to protect its borders so Afghanistan will not ever again be threatened by terrorists from across our borders."
Karzai is due to meet with President Barack Obama later on this Friday.
The two leaders are expected to discuss the details of the withdrawal of U.S. troops, and whether the U.S. plans to withdraw completely.
The White House has not ruled out a complete withdrawal.
A number of lawmakers in Afghanistan say they're worried about a complete U.S.
Withdrawal, saying it could trigger a civil war.
?Japan's PM Announces Economic Stimulus Package
Japan's Cabinet has endorsed a stimulus package worth 20.2 trillion yen, or some 227 billion US dollars, to revive its struggling economy.
The package aims to create jobs, spur growth and end chronic deflation against a strong yen.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"With this stimulus, we intend to push up the GDP to 2-percent and create about six hundred thousand jobs."
The stimulus package includes a number of major construction initatives, such as repairing ageing roads and school buildings.
There will also be incentives for businesses to boost investment.
Currently Japan's debt burden is already the worst among major economies.
The government bond yields have been on the rise.
Thomas Byrne is with Moody's Investors Service.
"Japan has more growth problem than its debt problem. If Japan can get its growth rate up by taking structural reforms, probably a weaker yen is one element of this package structural reforms. Then Japan can grow out of its debt problems over a long period of time."
Japan's economy has been hurt by a dip in exports amid slowing global demand and subdued domestic consumption.
?China's December Inflation Rises to 2.5 pct
The National Bureau of Statistics says the full-year consumer price index for China in 2012 has come in at 2.6-percent.
At the same time, the NBS is reporting December's inflation has increased 2.5-percent.
That's up from the 2-percent level seen in November.
At the same time, the Producer Price Index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level, decreased 1.9-percent in December.
For more on the latest stats, CRI's Paul James spoke earlier with Shen Hong, China Bureau Chief of Dow Jones Newswire.
?Draw for Australian Open Announced; Sydney International Update
In tennis where the opening draw for the first grand slam of the season - the Australian Open - has been announced.
Chinese favorite Li Na's first round opponent will be against Sesil Karatantcheva, While Zheng Jie will face fellow countrymen Zhang Yuxuan. Peng Shuai will square off against Rebecca Marino.
World number one and defending champion Victoria Azarenka is facing Monica Niculescu. Azarenka says that winning the previous Australian Open had helped her being more self-confident.
"It definitely brought up more attention and for me personally just kind of a self believe, you know, the statement that I did it and it brought me a lot of confidence and, you know, knowing that I would love to repeat this feeling again.
The number two Maria Sharapova will go up against Olga Puchkova.
For the men, defending champion Novak Djokovic is beginning his campaign against Paul Henri-Matthieu. Djokovic says he prepares for the Australian Open just like for any other tournament.
The routine more or less generally is the same, you know, I have the same team of people for the last six, seven years and we nurtured this friendship and, you know, also this cooperation that has been very successful. So, I'm glad that I have a really good team that helps me to improve every year and helps me to, you know, maintain the focus and commitment to the sport. So, they are really important to me and I am glad to have them around."
The two seed meanwhile, Roger Federer battling Benoit Paire.
US Open Champion Andy Murray taking on Robin Haase in the first round with a potential semi-final clash with Federer there.
The main event will get underway on Monday.
?Times Journalist Says Return to Competition is What Motivates Armstrong
The on-going saga in the Lance Armstong case is continuing.
The New York Times journalist Juliet Macur, who broke the Lance Armstrong confession story says his return to competition is what motivates him.
"Lance really wants to compete. This is basically what this guy has done since he was just a kid growing up in the suburbs of Dallas. He did graduate high school, but just barely because he wanted to be a professional athlete and he made millions because of it and he earned the adulation of millions of people around the world because of it and because of his cancer foundation and right now he has none of that. He can't compete.
The interview with Oprah is scheduled to air on January 17th. Speculation is continuing to what exactly he might say.
Of course, Armstrong has always denied charges of doping and has never been proven to have tested positive.
?Oscars Nominations
The 85th annual Academy Award nominations have been announced, with director Steven Spielberg's drama "Lincoln" crowned as the Oscar's frontrunner with twelve nods.
The film which stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones was nominated for best picture, best director, the lead actors also had nominations.
Lewis spoke about how long it takes for him to get in character for his films.
"It takes me a long time but that's because I prefer to take time. I enjoy taking time. I see no reason not to take time. When I am interested in something enough to take part in this I'm quite happy to give my life over to it as far as I'm able to."
Anne Hathaway won a Critics' Choice trophy for Best Supporting Actress. She was also nominated for an Oscar for her role in "Les Miserables."
"I was aware when we were making 'Les Miserables' of how rare it was to be on the same musical page as everyone because normally on a film everyone has their own eye product that they are listening to and it was a wonderful, and being in the same musical place every day was a wonderful way to create unity and just a sense of simpatico."
Close behind was Taiwan-born Ang Lee's fantasy film "Life of Pi," getting eleven nods mostly for it's effects, but also for best picture and director.
"Argo", Austrian drama "Amour," "Zero Dark Thirty, Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," indie film "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "Silver Linings Playbook" are also up for best film.
In terms of best director, the biggest snubs this year were Ben Affleck for "Argo," Kathryn Bigelow for "Zero Dark Thirty" and Tom Hooper for "Les Miserables..
?Star Reactions to Oscar Nominations
And now to some star reactions to this year's Oscar nominations.
The youngest actress to get an Oscar nomination was the star of independent film "Beasts of the Southern Wild" nine year old Quvenzhane Wallis.
The youngster, who was chosen out of 4000 girls for the part, says she it was half asleep on her couch when her name was announced.
"Well I was half asleep so part of my body was excited. I saw my name just scrolling down. On the inside I was excited but I was just watching it scroll. And Boom! all you hear is stuff just talking about the movie, Benh, me, producers and all that."
Meanwhile, former winner and best actress contender for her role in tsunami disaster film The Impossible, Naomi Watts, almost missed the announcement:
"I wasn't going to watch it because we got no love from the BAFTAS..... but in the end I was awake in bed and the temptation was too great."
On a different note, British actress Dame Judi Dench, who plays agent M in Skyfall says she's very, very sorry that the film was snubbed in the major categories.
Shanghai Daily
"110 hotline too often misused, abused"
Improper calls to the 110 Shanghai police hotline remain a headache for operators as the service completed its 20th year of operation on Thursday.
Shanghai police receive 35-thousand calls on average every day but 58 percent of them are not valid because they are made by people seeking inappropriate consultations, calling in repeated information, dialing a wrong number or even engaging in harassment.
On Tuesday, a local police station got a call saying a shopkeeper was trying to chop up a resident in a dispute, which caused two officers to rush out of the station.
But when they arrived, they found only a spoon in the shopkeeper's hand.
Most improper calls are complaints.
There are 301 operators at the police call center, and 80 percent are women with an average age of 29, who among them can speak nine foreign languages.
Last year, Shanghai police received nearly 13 million calls and more than 4 million of them required action.
On a record day, the operators picked up 75-thousand calls - one call per 2.5 seconds.
Police officials reminded locals that calling 110 to deliberately report false information or disturb the public order can result in serious punishment such as detention.
Global Times
"Wives of gay men appeal to annul"
A court-issued report Thursday claimed there has been a rise in the numbers of married women who later discovered their partner is gay and asked for an annulment rather than a divorce to avoid social stigma.
Those women believe that if the marriage is annulled, then their status would revert to "single," rather than divorced, which can better protect their rights.
LGBT activists say this reflects an age-old societal bias against women.
Hu Zhijun, the executive director of PFLAG China, an organization for gay people and their relatives, says that behind the appeal to annul the marriage is discrimination against divorced people.
Hu says if you are labeled as divorced, especially for women, you will suffer from societal pressure.
But he adds that it is inappropriate for a homosexual person to intentionally conceal their gay status.
However, the court pointed out because of the sensitivity to these issues and lack of law and theory in this field, it would be impossible to approve the annulment of the marriage.
It is also difficult to gather concrete evidence to back up the plaintiff's allegations.
Reuters
"Singapore goes green with Lunar New Year red packets"
Clean and green Singapore is going even greener this Chinese New Year, recycling 2-S dollar bills for red packets of money alongside the printing of new ones.
Giving out the little packets, with crisp new notes during the Lunar New Year, which falls on February 10 this year, is a long-standing tradition.
Adults typically give them to children, older relatives and unmarried siblings to wish them good luck for the coming year.
As well as printing millions of brand new 2-dollar notes as it has done in the past, the Monetary Authority of Singapore says it will issue older notes that look as good as new and encourage the public to use them.
Singapore only needs around 50 million $2 notes in circulation.
Printing the excess notes just for the Lunar New Year consumes 10 metric tons of ink and uses enough electricity to power an entire apartment block for six months.
Most of the notes find their way back into the banks soon after the New Year festivities anyway, as people put them in their savings. |