The Beijing Hour
Morning Edition
Paul James with you on this Wednesday , October 2nd.
Welcome to the abbreviated edition of the Beijing Hour as part of this National Day holiday, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this morning...
Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to begin state visits to Indonesia and Malaysia later on today.
US President Barack Obama is pointing the finger at House Republicans for the current US federal government shutdown.
The Annual UN General Assembly debate has come to a conclusion for this year.
Traffic here in China has been spiking amid the current National Holiday.
Weather
Beijing will be clear today, with a high of 23 degree Celsius and a low of 9.
Good news is Beijing is likely to see this kind of nice and cozy day in the next couple of days. Sunny, high temperature around 24, and also not very chilly at night.
Shanghai will be cloudy to overcast with highs of 27 degrees Celsius and lows of 16.
Lhasa will see showers with highs of 17 and 5 degrees Celsius at the lowest.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia
Islamabad, sunny, 32.
Kabul, sunny, with a high of 28.
And in North America
New York, overcast, with a high of 26 degrees.
Washington, sunny, highs of 29.
Houston, thundershowers, 29
Honolulu, showers, 29
Toronto, overcast, 23
Finally, on to South America,
Buenos Aires, overcast, 17.
And Rio de Janeiro will see thundershowers with highs of 31 degrees Celsius.
Top News
What overseas Chinese feel about China-Indonesia relations
Anchor
Chinese president Xi Jinping is about to embark on his first Southeast Asian tour since taking office later on today.
Xi Jinping is set to visit Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as attend an informal forum of the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum in the resort island of Bali.
As the two countries have enjoyed fast growth for the past few years, many young Chinese people are choosing to study and work in Indonesia.
CRI correspondent Wang Xiao is now in Jarkarta.
Reporter:
25-year-old Chinese girl Yang Liming has been living in Indonesia for almost 5-years.
She finished university in the capital, Jakarta, and found a job there after graduation.
Talking about what drew her here, she says it's a long story beginning with her family.
"My grandparents are natives of Fujian province, but they came to Indonesia to do business. My mother was born and brought up here. Then my mother went back to China and got married. So it's amazing that I can come back to Indonesia for study."
This country is no stranger to her, because her mother always told stories about the place where she was brought up.
So when Yang arrived, she quickly got used to local life, and thought people here were nice and friendly.
"The first day of lunar year is also celebrated here. The local people no matter if they are of Chinese descent or not would go to China-town to buy lanterns, set off fireworks and celebrate the festival together. And they say 'Have a thriving and happy new year' to everyone who looks Chinese. "
Yang is only one of many Chinese who come to Indonesia with dreams.
With the rapid development of economic relations between the two countries, lots of Chinese companies have invested in Indonesia and established branches.
You Qinghe is a Junior college student at President University of Indonesia, majoring in business management.
He has designed a clear career path and has decided to stay here for another 5-years.
"We as overseas Chinese students are very competitive in the job market here, because we can speak English, Chinese and Indonesian. So I plan to enter a Chinese company here after my graduation and work hard."
The China-Indonesian trade corridor has been growing rapidly in recent years, developing from 26.6-billion US dollars in 2009 to an expected 80-billion by 2015.
Chinese foreign direct investment into Indonesia last year reached 2.2-billion dollars.
The close economic relations not only help many Chinese people fulfill their dreams, but also help local Indonesians have better lives.
What's more, tourism has played a leading role in Indonesia, becoming one of China's most important Southeast Asian markets.
Based on data from Indonesian ministry's information center, more than 700-thousand Chinese tourists visited Indonesia last year, and 400-thousand this year between January and July.
For CRI, I'm Wang Xiao.
Xi Jinping's new type of major power relationship
Anchor
Since taking office in March, Chinese president Xi Jinping has been actively travelling around the world.
As part of many of his stops, Xi Jinping has floated several new ideas that may define China's relationship with the rest of the world.
To that end, CRI's Zheng Chenguang earlier spoke with Tao Wenzhao, researcher with the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
…
That was Tao Wenzhao, researcher with the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, speaking to CRI's Zheng Chenguang.
Obama blames Republicans for government shutdown, defends Obamacare
U.S. President Barack Obama has issued a new statement, pointing the finger at House Republicans for the current federal government shutdown.
"Republicans in the House of Representative refused to fund the government unless we de-funded or dismantled the Affordable Care Act. They've shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans. In other words, they demanded ransom just for doing their job."
At the same time, Obama is also moving to defended his signature health care law, known as Obamacare.
Obama says Republicans in Congress "chose" the government shutdown that "did not have to happen."
Obama has made the comments from a televised speech from the Rose Garden at the White House.
The US government went into partial shutdown on Monday after lawmakers were unable to come up with a new federal budget.
This has left hundreds of thousands of US federal government employees without work.
Americans are the big losers in government shutdown
Anchor
The unprecedented shutdown of the federal government in the United States has led to more than a quarter of the federal employees out of work.
The overall economic cost of the shutdown is estimated at over 300 million US dollars per a day.
Our Washington correspondent Xiaohong has more.
Ann:
Tuesday, October the first, is the first day since the US federal government entered a shutdown in 17 years. While law makers are busy pointing fingers to each other over the failure to pass a budget that has led to the scenario, the public is furious.
“I'm very angry about it.”
“You know the frustration is because it seems that it could be avoided.”
“Trim down their paycheck. Not mine!”
As a result of the government shutdown, over eight hundred thousand federal workers, more than a quarter of its entire workforce, are forced to lay off, for a period of time that no one can predict. One of them has this to say.
"We'll have to look into using our savings account, whatever is there. We'll have to look about, maybe putting off our mortgage payment."
Meanwhile, the hustle and bustle at the National monuments, museums and zoos are gone. Some four hundred national parks are closed.
A 63-year-old retired man told a local TV station that his dream vocation is now destroyed by the government shutdown.
"The Grand Canyon is something I wanted to see as a child. And now I'm 63 years old. I'm gonna see it for the first time. But now I'm gonna get there and I can't see it."
Some analysts have put the price tag for the government shutdown at some 300 million US dollars per a day. And the world renowned rating company Moody said in its report that if the shutdown lasts three to four weeks, it will cost the US economy about 55 billion dollars.
CBS anchor Bob Schiff points out that the American people are the big losers in the shutdown crisis.
"There will be debate in the days to come about who's fault to all of this was, which party won. All I know is the big losers are the American people."
Both the Senate and the House are in session on Tuesday, trying to put forward some kind of a resolution. However, the American people say they are not going to trust them. Opinion polls the approval rate of the Congress stood at only 10%, the lowest in history.
For CRI, I'm Xiaohong in Washington.
Annual debate of 68th session of UN General Assembly concludes
The annual debate of this year's UN General Assembly has come to an end.
More than 130 heads of state and government, as well as ministers, delivered their views on regional and international affairs.
General Assembly President John Ashe says member states are "responsible for the implementation of action by working to create a post-2015 development agenda"
The week-long general debate, which opened on September 24th, has provided the heads of state an opportunity to weigh in on the shape of the world's development strategy.
When it comes to the situation in Syria, many delegations expressed concerns about the dire humanitarian situation.
Many have called for a negotiated solution at a forthcoming conference in Geneva.
DPRK calls for closure of "UN Command" on Korean Peninsula
North Korea has issued a new call for the dismantling of the UN Command on the Korean Peninsula.
The DPRK contends the use of the United Nations made is an abuse of the organization.
The statement has been made to the now-closed General Assembly in New York.
North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Pak Kil Yon has described the UN Command in Korea an outdated abuse of the name of the United Nations.
"The only way to bring about lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula is to bring the US hostile policy to an end. The United States should abolish its hostile policy respecting the sovereignty of the DPRK, replacing the armistice agreement with a peace mechanism, dismantling the UN command with no further delay and lifting all sanctions and military threats."
The UN Command was the umbrella name for the American-led coalition which fought against North Korean and Chinese troops during the Korean war from 1950 to 1953.
The UN Command still exists on the Korean Peninsula, though it is made up almost exclusively of US and South Korean troops.
Israel, Iran exchange harsh words over nuclear project
Israel's prime minister says his country will never allow Iran to get nuclear weapons.
At the same time, Benjamin Netanyahu is dismissing the new Iranian president's "charm offensive" as a ruse.
Netanyahu has told the UN General Assembly that Israel's future is threatened by a "nuclear-armed" Iran, and is calling on the international community to maintain sanctions against Iran.
"I've argued for many years, including on this podium, that the only way to peacefully prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons is to combine tough sanctions with a credible military threat, and that policy today is bearing fruit".
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is calling Netanyahu a liar who requires deception to promote his policies.
"This is his nature, to lie... Over the past 22 years, the regime, Israel, has been saying Iran will have nuclear arms in six months."
Iran continues to insist its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only.
Abe announces first national sales tax hike since 1997
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced a plan to increase the national sales tax in a bid to cut down the country's runaway debt.
It will be the first tax increase in Japan since 1997.
"In order to maintain confidence in the country and pass sustainable social security to the next generation, I have decided to raise the sales tax rate of the central and local governments from five percent to eight percent on April 1, 2014."
It is estimated the tax increase will help the Japanese government raise over 80-billion US dollars a year.
Meanwhile, to avoid a spending slump, Abe is also set to announce an economic stimulus package worth 5 trillion yen or more.
Abe says he hopes the tax hike and stimulus package will help to put the country's economy back on a path of recovery.
Currently, Japan's public debt which is more than twice the size of the Japanese economy.
Japan is carrying the heaviest debt load among the developed economies.
The country's budget deficit now stands at around 10 percent of GDP.
It's debt pile grows every year by nearly the size of the combined GDP of Greece, Portugal and Ireland.
More Afghani Women Signing up to be Police Officers
Increasing numbers of women are signing up to join Afghanistan's National Police Force.
However, many are also complaining they're finding themselves the victims of stigma and prejudice, on top of attacks by the Taliban.
Sediq Sediqi is a spokesperson for the Afghan Interior Ministry.
"The Afghan Ministry of Interior is planning to recruit some 10-thousand female police for the next year. And we have been trying to ensure we get the support of all stakeholders, many organizations – governmental and non-governmental – to help us with the recruitment process, and we are hopeful to see that objective met be the end of 2014."
As part of the recruitment drive, hundreds of women are going through police training at centers across Afghanistan.
Simpler investment environment attracts overseas firms
Anchor
A growing number of international companies are now looking to expand into the newly-unveiled Shanghai Free Trade Zone, hoping to look forward to less red tape and less restrictions.
CRI's Su Yi has more.
Reporter:
Swedish bearing maker SKF has just spent 100 million yuan building a delivery center in the Waigaoqiao area, which is part of the new Free Trade Zone.
The company now plans to move some of its services currently based in Singapore to Shanghai.
Michel Zhao is the communication director of SKF Asia Regional Headquarters.
"If we ship our products from Singapore to Shanghai, it takes at least a week. The new center in Shanghai will save a lot of time. Simplified customs procedures in the zone will also help us shorten our transportation time."
The local government in Shanghai says the new customs procedures in the FTZ will reduce processing time by 60 percent.
From Shanghai, SKF will be able to ship its products, worth about seven billion yuan a year, to Japan and South Korea.
"The free trade zone will keep us from having to settle customs tariffs immediately. That will save a lot of money. At the moment, when overseas clients want to order products from us we cannot respond immediately because products have to pass through customs first -- that takes time and costs money."
Authorities in the Shanghai FTZ are also set to suspend some of the regulations that discourage foreign companies from re-investing their local profits.
Tay Lin Siau, general manager of J. Lauritzen Shanghai, says it could be a crucial move to encourage foreign investment.
"I think they are looking forward, as I said, to more simplified procedures, more freedom in trading as well as less restrictions, especially in the foreign exchange part. So that if they can use, they can exchange more RMB, actually use RMB into more expansion domestically, especially manufacturing sector. They need RMB to build factories, roads, so for infrastructure uses, this would be a big plus for them."
The new regulations will also see manufacturers in the zone exempted from duties on the import of equipment.
Another key policy of the FTZ is the Foreign Investment Access Special Management Policy, or commonly known as the Negative List.
The negative list is designed to try to give foreign investors more freedom to set up businesses.
It allows them to operate according to a not-to-do list, rather than a to-do list.
The Shanghai Free Trade Zone opened up on Sunday.
For CRI, I'm Su Yi.
Scandinavia-China Dialogue concert held in Stockholm upon National Day
Anchor
A Scandinavia-China concert has been held in Stockholm to mark China's National Day.
The main artists are blind Chinese flautist Wu Jing and her teacher Jan Bengtson from the Swedish Royal Orchestra.
CRI's special correspondent Chen Xuefei has more.
Ann:
Wu Jing is currently studying with Jan Bengtson, chief flautist at Swedish Royal Orchestra. She said that this was a concert aiming at a dialogue in music between China and Sweden. It is also a celebration of China's National Day.
"As you know Oct. 1 is China's National Day, so we choose a special song the Love of the People's Republic to present it to our motherland."
Wu Jing also acted as a host herself with both Swedish and Chinese.
The two artists have played both Chinese and Swedish music. The Chinese music include Jesmine Flower, (music 5") The Sea, my Homeland (music 5"), Butterflies Love (10 ") and the Melody of the Yangtze River (10), with flutes and accompanied by Piano, Cello and Violin.
Born in Huangqiao Taixing,Jiangsu province, Wu became blind when she was just 15 months due to eye cancer. But she has been studying hard and trained even more than many normal children with flute, sport and languages. She came to Sweden in 2008 to study and work at promoting cultural exchanges between Sweden and China.
Bengtson explained how they came up with the idea of mixing Chinese and Scandinavian music.
"We try to find music both from China and Scandinavia, so we can make a mix . Just let the music meet and see what will come out, just an experiment. For me it is fantastic, a lot of them reminds of Swedish folk music, so it will be a good symbol. "
The performance really won a lot of applauses and was well commented.
Emily Reinson is one of the 300 audiences who attended the concert.
"I think it is a perfect mix of the Chinese and Swedish and it is a kind of similar type of music, but you can hear the melody is a little bit different. So I think it is very beautiful blend."
For CRI, this is Chen Xuefei reporting from Stockholm.
Traffic volumes spike on National Day
China's public transportation network has been seeing its travel peak as the 7-day National Day Holiday gets underway.
Passengers are cramming into the lobbies of railway stations across the country.
China's railway network is expected to carry more than 10 million people during the holiday.
Highways are also witnessing a surge in traffic.
The Chinese government has scrapped the expressway tolls for cars with seven seats or fewer during the holiday.
To handle the sudden surge of crowds, tourists attractions have taken various measures such as adding more ticket offices.
The peak is expected to last until Saturday.
That's all we have time for on the show as well.
Recapping our top headlines....
Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to begin state visits to Indonesia and Malaysia later on today.
US President Barack Obama is pointing the finger at House Republicans for the current US federal government shutdown.
The Annual UN General Assembly debate has come to a conclusion for this year.
Traffic here in China has been spiking amid the current National Holiday. |