新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 20:00 2016/02/07（在线收听）

The Beijing Hour

Evening Edition

Shane Bigham with you on this Sunday, February 7th, 2016... Chinese Lunar New Year's eve...

Welcome to the Beijing Hour, live from the Chinese capital.

Coming up on the program this evening...

The Chinese government expresses "regret" over North Korea's satellite launch Sunday morning, but is urging all concerned parties to remain calm and resume dialogue as soon as possible...

There are now 26 confirmed deaths in the quake zone in southern Taiwan. Scores of people are believed to be trapped in the rubble of toppled buildings in Tainan City...

And Chinese people across the country and around the world are enjoying family reunions as they wait for the annual CCTV Spring Festival Gala to begin...

Entertainment Weekly will be heard in the second half of the program...

All of that coming up in the next hour, but first, just a reminder there are several ways to reach out to us here on the Beijing Hour.

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Top News

North Korea satellite launch Reax update

China has expressed regrets over North Korea's launch of an earth-observation satellite on Sunday morning, calling for calm to avoid further escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

In response to a question on North Korea's announcement on the launch of its Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying was quoted as saying "North Korea should be entitled to peaceful use of outer space, but this right is currently restricted by United Nations Security Council resolutions."

The spokesperson said China is regretful that the North insisted on launching the satellite despite universal opposition from the international community.

Hua called on all sides to "remain calm, act cautiously, and not make any moves that could further increase tensions on the peninsula, and make joint efforts to safeguard regional peace and stability."

The Chinese officials is also calling for the resumption of dialogue between North Korea and the international community as soon as possible.

South Korea has denounced the North's rocket launch, calling for stronger sanctions against Pyongyang.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye says North Korea's missile launch was an "intolerable provocation."

Park told an emergency meeting that it "is a serious challenge to the peace of the world in addition to that of Northeast Asia."

"North Korea's long-range missile launch is an act attempting to heighten the capacity of its missiles, which is a means of carrying nuclear weapons, along with the capacity of its nuclear programme. This is a serious challenge to the peace of the world in addition to that of Northeast Asia region and an act of disregarding any talks (with other members of the international community) and developing its missile abilities only to maintain its regime."

In a briefing following the meeting, Deputy Chief of South Korean Presidential Office of National Security Cho Tae-yong said Seoul strongly denounces Pyongyang's provocative act and called for sanctions from the UN Security Council.

"The (South Korean) government will from now on make all efforts to elicit powerful sanctions from the UN Security Council and continue to make necessary pressures on North Korea so that it cannot help but change itself. Also, our government will prepare its military to full readiness and take effective measures under the South Korea-US alliance."

Just hours after Pyongyang's satellite launch, South Korea's Defense Ministry said that the country and the United States had agreed to launch official talks on the deployment to the Korean peninsula of an advanced U.S. missile defense system, called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.

The South Korean Defense Ministry said that Seoul and Washington have agreed to begin talks on a possible deployment of the missile defense system in South Korea.

South Korea's deputy defense minister for policy Yoo Jeh Seung made the announcement in a joint briefing in Seoul with United States Eighth Army Lieutenant General Thomas Vandal.

Yoo said the talks on the missile system are aimed at bolstering South Korea-US defense capabilities in the face of escalating threats from the North.

"If the THAAD system is deployed to the Korean Peninsula, it will only be operated in regard with North Korea, and it will contribute to the multi-layer missile defence that will strengthen the existing missile defence capacities of the South Korea-US alliance in countering North Korea's missile threats."

If deployed, Seoul would offer costs for the site and infrastructure, while Washington would cover costs for the deployment and maintenance of the system.

Seoul's defense ministry believes that it can shoot down an estimated 2,000 DPRK ballistic missiles.

Also, it's been announced that South Korea and the United States will stage their largest-ever joint annual war games in March.

South Korea says this year's Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises will involve a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the North's rocket launch "unacceptable" and in violation of several UN resolution.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the government will lodge a strong protest against Pyongyang's rocket launch, adding the North's actions threaten international peace.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon called North Korea's missile launch "deplorable."

In a statement, Ban reaffirmed his commitment to working with all sides in reducing tensions and achieving the verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

At the request of the United States, South Korea and Japan, the UN Security Council will soon hold closed-door consultations.

Taiwan Quake Updates

Rescue efforts continue in Tainan, more than 24 hours after a strong earthquake shook the island.

At least 26 people are known to have died in the quake, which struck at about 4 a.m. on Saturday, at the beginning of the Lunar New Year holiday.

24 of the dead, including 6 children, were found in the collapsed Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building.

Earlier today, an 18-year-old man was rescued after being trapped for over 24 hours inside the ruins of the commercial-residential block.

"Hang in there. We are drilling in and will soon be there. No need to panic. You have to save your energy."

The man has been taken to hospital, but details about his condition are not available.

Still, Rescuers are racing against time to save more than 120 people still trapped in the rubble.

Tsang Chi-wen with the Tainan Municipal Fire Department says they still need time to locate around 30 of the residents trapped deep in the debris.

"We're still in the process of search and rescue operations. At the moment we're still looking for signs of life in the surrounding collapsed walls, that's what we're looking for."

The building's lower floors pancaked on top of each other in the quake and then the whole structure toppled.

Captain Hsieh Gen-chou is leading an on-site search team.

"In the ninth floor of the B Building we've found a male survivor. Right now we're in the midst of digging through the debris. He was buried by the wall when it collapsed. We're already broken open the wall, and we're digging in two areas."

At the same time, relatives of those still trapped are waiting for their loved ones to be rescued.

The families gathered next to the collapsed building to watch the ongoing rescue efforts.

Yue Qing-sheng is among them.

"We have two apartments on the sixth and eighth floor, that means (they) are in the deeper parts (of the debris). Of course our (rescue) schedule will be slower than others but we can understand it, because it can't be fast. Nothing can be achieved by rushing things."

The government emergency center says ten buildings in the city have collapsed and five others are tilting at alarming angles.

China's Forex Reserves Continue to Drop

China's central bank has said the country's foreign exchange reserves continued to decrease last month.

Figures from the People's Bank of China show the country's forex reserves dropped by close to 100 billion US dollars from December to 3.23 trillion at the end of January.

The decrease was slightly lower than a month-on-month decline of close to 108 billion registered in December, which was the sharpest monthly fall on record.

Many Chinese have reunion dinners to celebrate Chinese Spring Festival

Many Chinese families are preparing their reunion dinners as they are waiting for the annual CCTV Spring Festival gala.

In Jiuquan City, Gansu Province, Ding Shangyong has invited over 60 relatives to celebrate the festival.

Ding says he is the fourth generation to inherit the culture of making a traditional feast. But he says the tradition in China is slowly being lost, and that's a shame.

"The local villagers west of the Yellow River have such feasts as well, and it has a hundred-year history. However, after China opened up to the outside world in the 1970s, various cuisines could be seen in Jiuquan City, and the traditional feast seems to have disappeared."

According to Ding, local residents believe that five dishes in a feast indicate five blessings that will descend upon the house, eight dishes indicate a completely stable and safe life, nine dishes indicate longevity and ten dishes indicate perfection.

Different regions in China have a variety of ways to celebrate this important day, but the very thing they share in common is "family reunion."

Chinese lunar new year celebrated around the world

Anchor:

Activities have been held across the world to celebrate Spring Festival, also know as Chinese Lunar New Year.

People from all walks of life have taken to the streets to participate in the activities.

CRI's Li Jianhua has more.

Reporter:

The Spring Festival is the most important holiday for the Chinese people; this year, the Lunar New Year has become an international celebration.

In Europe, many countries are participating in the celebration of Chinese Spring Festival, including Britain, France, and Belgium.

Festivities are in full swing as citizens visit Manchester's Chinatown, home to the UK's second largest Chinese community.

The city has organized a series of themed events and activities, and hundreds of lanterns have been put up in major commercial strips and the town hall plaza, which will be lit on the night of Feb. 12.

Anne Latham, a manager of House of Fraser department store, says this year's celebration is bigger than last year's.

"Every year in Manchester, we celebrate Chinese New Year. This year we've gone bigger than last year, the whole city has gotten behind it and we all celebrate it. The House of Fraser this year has really joined in the culture because our sister company is Chinese, so we'd like to make sure that we're involved in every way."

Activities including a parade, dumpling making, and writing with Chinese brushes have been held in Brussels and Paris.

In America, to welcome the Year of the Monkey, children mostly from Chinese American families put on monkey face paint and masks and performed an act from the Beijing Opera classic "Journey to the West."

In addition, Universal Studios Hollywood's celebration of the Chinese New Year has attracted crowds from around the world.

In South Africa, a dinner party has been held at the Chinatown area of the capital, Cape Town, with Chinese people and local residents attending a party that featured Chinese-style food.

Manuela Lotti was there.

"It's just wonderful to be together with our Chinese community in Cape Town. The food was amazing. The atmosphere was wonderful. Everybody was so excited."

Sydney, Australia, the sister city of Guangzhou, has celebrated the Chinese New Year with a traditional ceremony to mark the beginning of the year of monkey.

The celebration started with dignitaries, including the Lord Mayor of Sydney, taking part in a traditional eye-dotting ceremony to "bring the lions to life."

Chinese-Australians have all made their new year's wishes.

"I wish to have good grades and my family is still healthy and just good luck in general."

"In many ways and this year is the fire monkey so it's going to bring lots of energy, positive energies and that's perfect"

After the ceremony, the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge were lit in the color red in an historic first for the city's Lunar New Year celebrations.

This year's Chinese Lunar New Year falls on Feb. 8.

The main traditional celebrations include eating reunion dinner with family, giving red envelopes, and watching the Spring Festival gala.

With the development of technology, sending instant messages and cyber-money gifts have also become a part of the celebrations.

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua.

Chinese famous monkey king actor participates in Fire Monkey event in New York

Actor Liu Xiao Ling Tong is in New York to participate in a Spring Festival celebration.

Just ahead of the arrival of the Year of Monkey, the actor gave his best wishes to the Chinese audience.

"Hello everyone, I'm actor Liu Xiao Ling Tong. Best wishes to the audience of China's Central Television. Happy Chinese new year."

Liu shot to fame after playing the Monkey King 30 years ago in the TV series "Journey to the West."

The TV show was adopted from one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, telling the story about a monk making a trip to "the Western regions," escorted by his three disciples, including the Monkey, the Pig and Friar Sand.

Overseas Travel by Chinese Mainlanders Reaches New High during Spring Festival

Anchor:

As people prepare to mark the Year of the Monkey, the majority of people in China use the holiday to reunite with their families.

However, in today's modern society, millions of people are also choosing to do away with tradition, instead spending the holiday traveling overseas.

CRI's Luo Bin has more.

Reporter:

It's estimated nearly 6 million overseas trips are going to be made by Chinese people during this Spring Festival.

Leading online Chinese travel agency Ctrip has released its tourism outlook for the holiday, suggesting over 60 percent of its customers who have booked trips during the Spring Festival are planning to travel overseas.

Eight of the top 10 most popular overseas destinations are in Asia, with Thailand, Japan and South Korea high on the list.

Lu Yang is a spokesperson for Ctirp.

"Our latest data show that about 60 percent of Chinese travelers using our services will spend the Spring Festival traveling overseas, a record in recent years. This is the first time that more people choose to travel overseas than spending the holiday in China."

The China National Tourism Administration estimates Chinese people made 120 million overseas trips last year, with nearly 5.2 million of them taking place during the Spring Festival holiday, representing an increase of nearly 10 percent year-on-year.

These figures are in sharp contrast to what things were like here in China some 40-years ago.

74-year-old Wang Yanjun is a retired public servant in Beijing.

He says an overseas trip in the 1970's was simply unimaginable.

During that period, most people in China didn't have a passport, and would be unlikely to get one.

Wang Yanjun notes the politics of the time also meant that only people on official government trips were allowed to go abroad.

He notes even travelling within China was looked upon as suspect.

"Chinese people in the 1970s had no idea of traveling. If you told people you had plans to travel, they would think you were running away from your duties. People who loved traveling around were considered as those who are always loafing around and doing nothing."

But after the start of the reform and opening-up policies in the late 1970's, the situation began to change.

In 1983, ordinary people in China were first given the ability to travel to Hong Kong or Macao for family visits on package tour.

This was the first time average Chinese people were allowed to leave the mainland since 1949.

From there, China's tourism market began to emerge, with Thailand becoming the first non-Chinese territory people from the mainland could visit in 1988.

Nearly 30-years later, things have changed dramatically.

Rapid economic development and the relaxation of government restrictions on overseas travel mean that Chinese tourists can be seen almost everywhere in the world today.

China became the world's largest outbound tourism market and the largest spender in 2012.

In 2014, the number of overseas trips made by Chinese tourists exceeded 100 million for the first time.

Also in that year, Chinese travelers spent a record 165 billion RMB, a 28 percent rise year-on-year.

The situation has convinced many countries to open up their doors even wider to Chinese tourists.

Guan Cheng, is professor with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The 42-year old says he and his family have traveled extensively overseas, and says they plan to spend this Spring Festival in United States.

He says the reason he's chosen the US is due to a new visa extension policy which allows Chinese tourists to travel to the U.S. for up to ten years on a single visa.

"Many countries have relaxed their visa policy. I remember when we were in college, traveling overseas was almost impossible. Take the U.S. and Canada as an example. They would just refuse you when you wanted to apply for a travel visa. They were afraid what you really wanted was to immigrate to these countries, and not travel."

Malaysian authorities are among those looking to cash in on Chinese tourists as a measure to boost tourism.

Under new rules set to take effect on March 1st this year, any Chinese citizen travelling to Malaysia for less than 15-days will no longer need a visa.

In making the decision, Malaysian tourism authorities say they're hoping to draw around 8 million tourists from China every year over the coming five years.

They expect this could help generate revenues in Malaysia worth around 3-billion US dollars.

Romanian tourism authorities have also announced plans to ease visa rules for Chinese travelers in the next couple of weeks, cutting the time it takes to get a visa to Romania down to less than a week, provided they're travelling as part of a tour.

The World Tourism Organization of the United Nations says it fully-expects Chinese outbound tourism to continue growing, benefiting not only the economies of destination countries, but also helping promote better cultural exchanges and understanding.

For CRI, this is Luo Bin.

High-end technical talents in high demand in China

Anchor:

Veteran technical workers and engineers are in demand in China as the country upgrades its manufacturing sector.

CRI's Guo Yan reports.

Reporter:

The phone lines are running hot ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year at the China office of the world's largest professional networking platform LinkedIn.

Job seekers are scanning the horizon for new opportunities and many of them are in the manufacturing sector.

Cecilia Wang, head of the LinkedIn Think Tank notes that talented technicians are badly needed in the upgrading of the　manufacturing sector.

"When China is turning from a low-end producer to a manufacturing giant, three types of talents are badly in need. First of all, they need technicians with edge-cutting technology. Secondly, they also favor well-educated factory workers and engineers. Thirdly, the talents most needed at the moment are versatile ones. Since many industries are undergoing upgrading and integration, companies are eager to recruit people with working experience in different sectors and with different backgrounds."

China's manufacturing activity contracted for the sixth straight month in January, with its manufacturing purchasing managers' index or PMI edging down to just over 49.

Many Chinese factories are struggling with oversupply, fiercer competition, and weak demand.

The government has unveiled a ten-year national plan, "Made in China 2025", designed to upgrade the country's manufacturing sector.

Global recruitment service provider ManpowerGroup said the plan will take time to feed into the job pipeline.

The company's quarterly report showed the manufacturing, finance and real estate sectors will take a mild pace in their recruitment.

They also listed the sectors posing great potential.

Jason Wang is managing partner of Experis, Manpower Group China.

"High-end CNC machine tools and robots, shipping equipment and also the biopharmaceutical and high-performanced medical, aviation and aerospace, I think those industries are all very prospective."

Official data shows that China created over 13 million new jobs for urban residents last year, exceeding target of 10 million.

For CRI, this is Guo Yan.

Haidi election atones accord

Haiti's President Michel Martelly has reached an agreement with parliament to form a caretaker government when he leaves power this weekend without an elected successor.

The move is expected to calm violent protests rocking the capital.

Martelly is set to leave office on Sunday.

In announcing the accord, Martelly called for peace.

"Regardless of this accord, everyone has to be vigilant. Because we have to realise that there are people who are not covered by this agreement. For that I call on the responsible parties to make every effort to maintain stability in this country. So all leaders, especially those who make use of violence, should understand that every time there is violence, Haiti takes a step backwards."

Organisation of American States said under the agreement due to be signed later on Saturday, parliament will elect an interim president for a four-month term.

The interim president's primary job will be to quickly hold a presidential election, which should happen in April, with the new elected leader taking power in May.

Port-au-Prince has seen almost daily protests by both opposition and government supporters since January.

Many opposition politicians are convinced the first round vote was riddled with fraud that favoured ruling party candidate Jovenel Moise.

The government denies the allegations.

Present at the signing, the president of the National Assembly, Jocelerme Privert, said his chamber of government is to be held accountable for the transition of power.

"The signing of that accord from the National Assembly is for an exceptional situation. The institution of the Republic is charged with the political destiny of our country. This agreement also presents a major responsibility. In this case, the Parliament has the great responsibility at this time to guarantee stability, the continuance of the republic and national cohesion."

Haiti has struggled to build a stable democracy since the end of the Duvalier family regime in the 1980s.

EU foreign affairs chief to visit Iran

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says she is planning a visit to Iran.

Mogherini is expected to talk with Iranian leaders on economic issues including energy and trade. 

The diplomat said issues concerning immigration and the tensions in the Middle East will also be a part of the talks.

Mogherini has yet to fix a date for her visit.

Later this month, she will host Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Brussels.

Iran and world powers reached an agreement in July last year where Iran pledged to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. 

Implementation of this agreement started on January 16th.

Super Bowl 50 begins Sunday in the US, drawing tons of attention

The Super Bowl is set to begin on Sunday in San Francisco.

The time just coincides with Chinese lunar new year this year.

The Denver Broncos are pitted against the Carolina Panthers for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

The two teams are primed to provide a grand finish worthy of a landmark Super Bowl 50 and cap a season of celebration by the National Football League (NFL).

Matthew from Sacramento is a die-hard fan of the Broncos.

"The Broncos going to win for sure because Peyton Manning's going to go out with a bang. He deserves that ring, it's his last year. And when he gets that ring, he's going to retire. He deserves it. He's been in a team that wasn't really playing with him, and that's what it is. We have the number one defense, we're 92 in the Super Bowl when it comes to number one defenses and we're going to win that."

It is estimated that 190-million Americans and a worldwide TV audience will tune in for the game, as Carolina's top-ranked offense will clash with Denver's number one defense.

Rio Carnival enters 2nd day, attracts millions of revelers

Despite economic distress and concerns over the Zika virus, the parade at the Sambadrome was packed on the second day of Rio's riotous five-day Carnival.

Street parties have filled the city with music.

On Saturday, around 1 million people lined the streets for the classical Cordao do Bola Preta, the city's oldest street party, along its traditional route through town.

Thousands gathered for one of the most traditional blocos, the Banda de Ipanema, which meandered its way through the streets of one of Rio's most well-heeled neighborhoods.

The municipal government has advised revelers against kissing each other for fear of spreading Zika virus.

Municipal police say they have received 120 reports of robberies in the main venues of carnival celebrations.

Weather

Beijing will be clear tonight with a low of -4; sunny tomorrow with a high of 12.

Shanghai will be cloudy with a low of 2; sunny tomorrow with a high of 13.

Chongqing will be clear with a low of 6; cloudy tomorrow with a high of 16.

Lhasa, cloudy with a low of -3; snow early tomorrow but it won't last. the high will be 14.

Elsewhere in Asia,

Islamabad, cloudy tomorrow with a high of 22.

Kabul, cloudy, 2.

In the Southern Hemisphere.

Sydney will be cloudy and 27.

Brisbane, clouds, 28.

Perth, cloudy, 40.

And finally Auckland will have slight rain with a high of 25 degrees Celsius.

That's it for this holiday edition of the Beijing Hour. Stay tuned for Entertainment Weekly.

Recapping out top headlines before we go...

The Chinese government expresses "regret" over North Korea's satellite launch Sunday morning, but is urging all concerned parties to remain calm and resume dialogue as soon as possible...

On behalf of the Beijing Hour team, its Shane Bigham in Beijing. Tune into the next edition of the Beijing Hour. Let's open a window to the world together.