Timeline China 2005-2040
Return to home
2005 Jan 1, The
1974 Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA), which had restricted Chinese
textile exports, ended. This forced Cambodia to face fierce competition
from rival exporters. This led to the loss of some 30,000 jobs in
Mauritius.
(www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/February06/Features/feature2.htm)(Econ,
2/19/05, p.42)(Econ, 10/18/08, p.58)
2005 Jan 1, China was forecast for
8.1% annual GDP growth with a population at 1.3 billion and GDP per
head at $1,360.
(Econ, 1/8/05, p.90)
2005 Jan 6, A baby boy delivered
in Beijing became China's 1.3 billionth citizen.
(AP, 1/6/05)
2005 Jan 6, Chinese authorities
bulldozed Silk Alley, a 20-year-old landmark in Beijing. Traders felt
the motive was to eliminate competition for a new indoor complex soon
to open next to the alley, to be named Xiushui, which was the name of
the old market.
(Econ, 1/15/05, p.39)
2005 Jan 15, China and Taiwan
agreed to allow the first direct flights since 1949.
(AP, 1/15/05)
2005 Jan 17, Chinese news reports
said authorities have arrested dozens of government officials and
others accused in a scheme to steal 7.4 billion yuan ($900 million)
from a state bank through fraudulent loans.
(AP, 1/17/05)
2005 Jan 17, Zhao Ziyang (85),
former Chinese leader (1980-1987), died after 15 years under house
arrest. He was ousted as China's Communist Party leader after
sympathizing with the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests. In
2009 a secret recording of his insights regarding the 1989 protests
were translated edited and published by Bao Pu: “Prisoner of the State:
The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang.”
(AP, 1/17/05)(SFC, 1/17/05, p.B4)(Econ, 1/22/05,
p.82)(Econ, 5/23/09, p.88)
2005 Jan 19, The Chinese
government ordered a halt to construction at 30 big construction
projects, including two at the massive Three Gorges Dam, due to alleged
violations of environmental protection regulations and other concerns.
(AP, 1/19/05)
2005 Jan 24, China and India
opened a first round of "strategic dialogue", as their regional and
international influence surges despite a nagging border dispute.
(AFP, 1/24/05)
2005 Jan 24, China's vice
president expressed a strong desire to increase economic and diplomatic
cooperation with Mexico while meeting with Mexican lawmakers.
(AP, 1/24/05)
2005 Jan 26, The World Economic
Forum, the global business meeting that attracts world leaders and
Hollywood stars, opened in Davos, Switzerland. A Chinese economist said
that China has lost faith in the stability of the US dollar and would
seek to broaden the exchange rate for the yuan to a more flexible
basket of currencies.
(AP, 1/26/05)(SFC, 1/27/05, p.C1)
2005 Jan 26, China’s central bank
said a nationwide personal credit database will be available across the
country by the end of the year. The database was launched in January,
2006, and included records of 340 million individuals.
(WSJ, 1/27/05, p.A10)(WSJ, 1/17/06, p.A15)
2005 Jan 27, It was reported that
Japan’s trade with China in 2004 exceeded its trade with the US for the
1st time. This included figures for Hong Kong.
(WSJ, 1/27/05, p.A10)
2005 Jan 29, Chinese jetliners
touched down in Taiwan, completing the first nonstop flights between
the rivals since a bloody civil war split the two sides 56 years ago.
(AP, 1/29/05)
2005 Feb 1, China lent Russia $6
billion to help finance the nationalization of OAO Yukos. The loan was
in effect a forward payment for some 48 million metric tons of crude
oil.
(WSJ, 2/2/05, p.A2)
2005 Feb 2, China and Russia
agreed to set up a new body to consult more closely on security issues.
(AP, 2/2/05)
2005 Feb 5, Central bank governor
Zhou Xiaochuan said China is committed to revamping its foreign
exchange regime and further relaxing its capital account controls.
(Reuters, 2/5/05)
2005 Feb 9, Ethnic Chinese
communities across Asia celebrated the start of the lunar year 4703,
the Year of the Rooster, with visits to crowded temples and family
banquets.
(AP, 2/9/05)(SFC, 2/9/05, p.A1)
2005 Feb 14, A gas explosion in
China's northeast Sunjiawan mine killed 214 people in the deadliest
mining disaster reported since communist rule began in 1949.
(AP, 2/15/05)(AP, 2/14/06)
2005 Feb 19, China's state news
said North Korea no longer wants to negotiate with the US and 4 other
nations in an effort to ease the standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear
program.
(AP, 2/19/05)
2005 Feb 21, A Chinese newspaper
reported that the China Construction Bank is investigating the
disappearance of $8 million, in the latest big embezzlement case to hit
the country's scandal-ridden state banks.
(AP, 2/21/05)
2005 Feb 26, China state
television said China will gradually open its capital account in 2005,
another step in its plan to make the yuan currency fully convertible.
(AP, 2/26/05)
2005 Feb, China issued a
government document that allowed private investment in any business not
banned by law.
(Econ, 3/19/05, p.72)
2005 Feb, China said that 10
regions had begun a pilot project in green GDP assessment, in an effort
to assess environmental costs in development.
(Econ, 10/22/05, p.43)
2005 Feb, Vietnam signed an
agreement with the World Society for the Protection of Animals to phase
out its bear bile farms, where an estimated 3,000 bears were held for
their bile. In China an estimated 7,000 caged bears were milked for
their bile.
(SFC, 4/25/05, p.A8)
2005 Mar 2, In northern China a
cache of explosives at the home of a coal mine manager blew up in
Kecheng, killing him and at least 10 others including 2 children at a
nearby school.
(AP, 3/3/05)(SFC, 3/3/05, p.A6)
2005 Mar 5, China's foreign
exchange chief said a sharp appreciation of China's yuan is unlikely
and the currency will be kept in a small range as the country gradually
implements a more flexible exchange rate.
(AP, 3/5/05)
2005 Mar 6, China convened its
National People’s Congress.
(WSJ, 3/7/05, p.A1)
2005 Mar 6, Shanghai became the
1st Chinese city to levy a capital gains tax on the sale of private
property held for less than a year.
(Econ, 3/26/05, p.73)
2005 Mar 7, China said it will
keep controversial exchange-rate controls and hold down industrial
investment this year as it tries to rein in surging growth and restrain
inflation.
(AP, 3/7/05)
2005 Mar 8, China unveiled a law
authorizing an attack if Taiwan moves toward formal independence,
increasing pressure on the self-ruled island while warning other
countries not to interfere.
(AP, 3/8/05)
2005 Mar 9, Senior officials said
China will use taxes from its fast-growing eastern cities to help pay
for rural social programs as it tries to close a widening divide
between rich and poor.
(AP, 3/9/05)
2005 Mar 14, China's parliament
enacted a law authorizing force to stop rival Taiwan from pursuing
formal independence.
(AP, 3/14/05)
2005 Mar 15, Hong Kong press
reported that Zhang Enzhou was removed as president of China
Construction Bank (CCB), China’s 3rd largest bank, allegedly for taking
bribes.
(Econ, 3/19/05, p.79)
2005 Mar 16, China's central bank
tightened mortgage lending rules to raise the cost of borrowing for
home loans in an effort to cool the sizzling property market.
(AP, 3/17/05)(WSJ, 3/31/05, p.A9)
2005 Mar 19, A blast at the Xishui
Colliery in Shuozhou, in a major coal-mining area in China’s Shanxi
province, left at least 60 miners dead.
(AP, 3/20/05)
2005 Mar 23, Chinese President Hu
Jintao stepped up pressure on North Korea to return to nuclear talks,
telling its visiting premier that dialogue is the only way to settle
the dispute.
(AP, 3/23/05)
2005 Mar 23, Chinese state media
reported that already severe water shortages are worsening due to heavy
pollution of lakes and aquifers and urban development projects with a
big thirst for water, such as lawns and fountains.
(AP, 3/23/05)
2005 Mar 26, in Taiwan about a
million people marched through the capital to protest a new Chinese law
that authorizes an attack on the island if it moves toward formal
independence.
(AP, 3/26/05)
2005 Mar 28, Hu Xiaoliam was
appointed the 1st female head of China’s State Administration of
Foreign Exchange (SAFE). The regulator will oversee new trading and
price quotes in 8 currency pairs through the interbank China foreign
Exchange Trade System (CFETS).
(Econ, 4/2/05, p.68)
2005 Mar 29, It was reported that
China’s influence in Africa was expanding rapidly. Chinese projects
included the rebuilding of Nigeria’s railroad network; the paving of
roads in Rwanda; ownership of copper mines in Zambia; timber operations
in Equatorial Guinea; supermarket operations in Lesotho and numerous
ventures in other African countries.
(WSJ, 3/29/05, p.A1)
2005 Mar 29, In eastern China a
truck loaded with chlorine overturned on a highway after a tire burst,
spewing fumes that killed 27 people and left another 285 hospitalized.
(AP, 3/30/05)
2005 Mar, A Chinese cabinet think
tank issued a report that said unless China overhauls its medical care,
“economic development, social stability and public support for reform”
will be impacted.
(WSJ, 12/5/05, p.A1)
2005 Mar, The British-based
Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) described a timber-smuggling
chain bringing 300,000 cubic meters of merbau, a valuable hardwood,
from Indonesia’s Papua province to China.
(Econ, 3/26/05, p.42)
2005 Apr 3, Residents in China’s
Zhejiang province clashed with police officers and workers sent in to
quell their protests over pollution from chemical factories. As many as
60 cars were destroyed and some people were reported killed.
(SSFC, 10/2/05,
p.C1)(www.christusrex.org/www1/news/nyt-4-14-05b.html)
2005 Apr 4, China's foreign
ministry called in Japan's ambassador to Beijing to express its
"indignation" at Tokyo's approval of nationalist school history
textbooks.
(AP, 4/5/05)
2005 Apr 4, Shanghai, China's
largest city, enacted a new rule requiring home owners to pay off their
mortgages before selling property, the boldest measure yet in new
efforts to cool surging real estate prices.
(AP, 4/7/05)
2005 Apr 5, Amnesty International
said China accounted for the majority of executions reported worldwide
last year, but the true frequency of the death penalty is impossible to
count because many death sentences are carried out secretly.
(AP, 4/5/05)
2005 Apr 5, China's top industrial
safety official said the number of deaths in China's accident-plagued
coal mines surged by nearly 21 per cent in the first three months of
this year despite a national safety crackdown.
(AP, 4/5/05)
2005 Apr 6, A government official
said China plans to build 40 nuclear power plants over the next 15
years, making them the main power source for its booming east coast.
(AP, 4/7/05)
2005 Apr 6, Colombia's president
met top Chinese leaders during a visit to boost trade, seek financing
for an oil pipeline and to promote sales of Colombian coal to fuel
China's booming economy.
(AP, 4/6/05)
2005 Apr 6, Under pressure to stem
a rising tide of textile imports from China, the European Union's
executive unveiled guidelines for imposing curbs on a country which
already has 20 percent of a $400 billion market.
(AP, 4/6/05)
2005 Apr 9, Chinese PM Wen Jiabao
arrived in Bangalore on the last leg of a 4 nation South Asia tour for
talks with Indian leaders expected to boost trade and narrow
differences.
(AFP, 4/9/05)
2005 Apr 11, China reported
rioting in Dongyang after 2 older women were killed in a clash with
police during a pollution protest.
(WSJ, 4/12/05, p.A1)
2005 Apr 11, India and China
agreed to form a strategic partnership to end a border dispute and
boost trade in a deal marking a major shift in relations between the
Asian giants.
(AP, 4/11/05)
2005 Apr 12, China said it will
soon begin “trial sales” of hitherto untraded stocks it holds in
publicly traded companies.
(WSJ, 4/13/05, p.C16)
2005 Apr 16, Protesters in
Shanghai threw stones and broke windows at Japan's consulate and
Japanese restaurants as tens of thousands of people defied government
warnings and staged demonstrations against Tokyo's bid for a permanent
UN Security Council seat.
(AP, 4/16/05)
2005 Apr 18, Australia and China
agreed to start talks on a free trade pact. Visiting PM John Howard
also announcing Canberra's recognition of China as free market economy.
(AP, 4/18/05)
2005 Apr 21, Tradeable shares on
China’s 2 stock exchanges were reportedly worth $150 billion, about the
same as Denmark’s stock exchange.
(WSJ, 4/21/05, p.A1)
2005 Apr 21, In China a chemical
plant blast in Chongqing left 19 people missing.
(WSJ, 4/22/05, p.A1)
2005 Apr 21, Zhang Chunqiao (88),
a member of The Gang of Four, died. Beginning around 1965 the Gang of
Four were able to manipulate the Chinese media and youth to leverage
their positions over party moderates, such as Deng Xiaoping. Mao’s
death in 1976 ended their influence and led to their imprisonment and
trial in 1980-81 for their role in the Cultural Revolution, during
which some 34,800 people died.
(SFC, 5/11/05, p.B7)(Econ, 5/21/05, p.90)
2005 Apr 21, In Zambia at least 51
people were killed in a blast at a Chinese-owned mining-explosives
factory in Chambisi.
(WSJ, 4/22/05, p.A1)(WSJ, 2/2/07, p.A1)
2005 Apr 22, Japan's PM Koizumi
apologized for his country's World War II aggression in Asia in a bid
to defuse tensions with regional rival China, but a Chinese diplomat
dismissed the remarks, saying "actions are more important" than words.
(AP, 4/22/05)
2005 Apr 23, The leaders of China
and Japan met in an effort to end a dispute over Japan's World War II
aggression that has badly damaged relations between them. They met on
the sidelines of a summit for Asian and African leaders in Jakarta.
(AP, 4/23/05)
2005 Apr 24, In northeast China
rescuers worked to free 69 coal miners trapped in a flooded mine at the
Tengda Coal Mine, run by the local government in Jiaohe, a city in
Jilin province.
(AP, 4/24/05)
2005 Apr 26, Lien Chan, the leader
of Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party, arrived in China on an 8-day
trip for the first meeting between the party of Chaing Kai-shek and the
communists since both sides split amid civil war nearly six decades ago.
(AP, 4/26/05)
2005 Apr, Chinese journalist Shi
Tao was sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegally providing state
secrets to foreigners. He had detailed how his newspaper colleagues
were instructed not to commemorate the 15th anniversary of 1989
pro-Democracy action. He was identified by his e-mail address provided
by Yahoo.
(WSJ, 9/8/05, p.A16)
2005 May 4, In China 178 birds
were found dead at Bird Island in Qinghai province in a lake that
served as a major area for research on migratory water fowl. They were
killed by the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu virus. The number of dead
birds was later raised to 1,500 with bar-headed geese among the most
dead.
(WSJ, 5/23/05, p.A11)(SFC, 7/7/05, p.A5)
2005 May 4, Chinese authorities
confined residents in Yanqing, 50 miles north of Beijing, to their
homes following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in cattle.
Numerous farms were put under quarantine.
(WSJ, 5/24/05, p.A10)
2005 May 7, China and Japan agreed
to try to improve strained ties and meet soon to discuss a disputed gas
field.
(Reuters, 5/7/05)
2005 May 7, After extensive use of
H2OIL fuel additives for over 15 years, China will begin manufacturing
F2-21 nanotechnology fuel additives. H2OIL's first overseas plant in
Tianjin opened under a joint venture agreement with PetroChina's Huafu
Oilfield Chemical Company. F2-21, developed by H2Oil president Richard
Hicks, is a mixture of water, shampoo and baby oil that forms
nano-sized globules which explode in an engine’s combustion chamber
helping the gas to burn more cleanly and completely.
(www.h2oil.com/press.shtml)(SFC, 3/23/06, p.C3)
2005 May 9, In northern China
nearly a dozen homes built into hillside caves were buried when the
soil above them collapsed, trapping 24 people.
(AP, 5/10/05)
2005 May 11, In northeastern China
a gas explosion at a coal mine killed nine miners.
(AP, 5/12/05)
2005 May 13, A senior Chinese
official met with President Fidel Castro during a visit aimed at
cementing political and economic ties between the two communist nations.
(AP, 5/14/05)
2005 May 19, In northern China a
large gas explosion in a coal mine left at least 51 workers trapped. 40
bodies were later found and 10 remained missing.
(AP, 5/19/05)(AP, 5/22/05)
2005 May 20, Chinese state media
reported China is to lift a decades-old ban on mainland tourists
visiting political rival Taiwan. Ultimately, however, it was up to the
Taiwan government to decide whether the floodgates should be opened.
(Reuters, 5/20/05)
2005 May 20, In northern China 20
people died in mine explosions in two neighboring mines in Shanxi
province.
(AP, 5/22/05)
2005 May 21, China ordered
emergency measures to prevent an outbreak of avian flu after
investigators said migratory birds found dead in a western province
this month were killed by the virus.
(AP, 5/21/05)
2005 May 23, In Shenzhen, China,
16 buildings toppled near the Hong Kong border in what state media said
was the largest urban demolition blast ever in China.
(AP, 5/23/05)
2005 May 25, China rolled out the
red carpet for Uzbekistan's Pres. Karimov, underscoring the importance
it places on curbing the rise of Islamic militancy as it welcomed the
authoritarian leader criticized in the West for a bloody crackdown on
protesters. China signed a $600 million joint oil venture with
Uzbekistan.
(AP, 5/25/05)(WSJ, 5/26/05, p.A1)
2005 May 26, China’s Xinhua news
agency reported that China has developed vaccines that block the spread
of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu among birds and mammals.
(AP, 5/26/05)
2005 May 30, China scrapped
concessions meant to avert a trade war with the US and Europe,
withdrawing a plan to sharply increase export duties on Chinese-made
textiles that are flooding foreign markets. The turnaround followed new
import controls imposed by Washington and the EU, which China's
commerce minister called a violation of WTO rules.
(AP, 5/30/05)
2005 May 31, China said reporter
Ching Cheong of The Straits Times, Singapore's main English-language
newspaper, has admitted to spying for a foreign intelligence agency.
Cheong’s wife said he was arrested April 22 after a source gave him
documents about purged former Communist Party leader Zhao Ziyang, who
died this year.
(AP, 5/31/05)(WSJ, 5/31/05, p.A1)
2005 Jun 1, China began levying a
5.5% tax on residential property sold after this date. It would only be
applied to property sold fewer than 2 years after its purchase.
(WSJ, 5/26/05, p.A10)
2005 Jun 1, China called a
resolution by Brazil, Germany, India and Japan to expand the U.N.
Security Council, and hopefully give them permanent seats, "dangerous"
and hinted it would use its veto power if necessary to block final
approval.
(AP, 6/1/05)
2005 Jun 1, In southern China
heavy rain triggered floods and mudslides, leaving about 200 people
dead or missing.
(AP, 6/1/05)
2005 Jun 2, Chinese, Indian and
Russian foreign ministers, meeting in Vladivostok, agreed to intensify
joint work against terrorism and underscored their common approach to
international affairs.
(AP, 6/2/05)
2005 Jun 4, It was reported that
the death rate on China’s roads, according to the WHO, was 680 per day
plus 45,000 injuries. American traffic deaths in contrast were at 115
per day.
(Econ, 6/4/05, p.25)
2005 Jun 4, Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld said China is not a threat to the US but is building
up its military without being threatened by any other country. The US
commerce secretary warned China of a potential political backlash in
Washington amid tensions over mounting Chinese trade surpluses, surging
textile exports and rampant product piracy.
(AP, 6/4/05)
2005 Jun 4, Australian officials
said a senior Chinese diplomat has sought Australian government
protection for himself and his family, claiming he faces persecution if
he goes home. Analysts said Chen Yonglin's defection could muddy
Canberra's relations with Beijing.
(AP, 6/4/05)
2005 Jun 5, The Chinese government
said 3 days of flooding triggered by torrential rains killed 204 people
in China's south and desert northwest and left 79 missing at the
beginning of the country's summer flood season.
(AP, 6/5/05)
2005 Jun 7, In Australia 2 Chinese
defectors, one of them a diplomat who walked away from his post, claim
that China is running a spy network in Australia and other Western
countries.
(AP, 6/8/05)
2005 Jun 9, Chinese officials
signed preliminary agreements to invest about $1.5 billion in
construction, timber, agriculture and other industries in Russia.
(AP, 6/9/05)
2005 Jun 10, China resolved a
trade dispute over textiles with the EU.
(WSJ, 6/13/05, p.A3)
2005 Jun 10, In northeast China a
torrent of water rushed down a mountain and hit a primary school in
Heilongjiang province, killing 91 people, most of them students, and
leaving another four people missing.
(AP, 6/12/05)
2005 Jun 10, In southern China a
fire raced through the top three floors of a hotel, killing 31 people
and injuring 15 others.
(AP, 6/12/05)
2005 Jun 11, In northern China an
attack on a shantytown left six people dead and wounded 48 others.
Villagers had disputed compensation offered by officials for their land
and occupied the proposed site in 2004. Authorities have arrested more
than 100 people and began investigating two Communist Party officials
following the attack.
(AP, 7/11/05)(Econ, 6/25/05, p.40)
2005 Jun 15, China's biggest
automaker, FAW Car Co., warned that its first-half net profit could
fall by more than 50 percent amid sluggish sales, rising costs and
government moves to tighten credit for buying cars.
(AP, 6/15/05)
2005 Jun 17, Bank of America
signed an agreement to buy a 9 percent stake in state-owned China
Construction Bank for $3 billion, the largest single purchase of stock
in a Chinese bank by a foreign financial institution.
(AP, 6/17/05)
2005 Jun 18, It was reported that
rising waters in China's central Dongting Lake, one of the nation's
largest freshwater bodies, are forcing millions of rats into
surrounding farmlands where the rodents are ravaging crops.
(AP, 6/18/05)
2005 Jun 19, China’s Xinhua news
agency reported that the China Regulatory Commission had approved 42
more companies to take part in a state share reform program. 4 maiden
companies were named a month earlier.
(WSJ, 6/20/05, p.C16)
2005 Jun 21, China appointed
Donald Tsang as Hong Kong's new leader for the next 2 years. The
veteran civil servant expressed confidence the territory will become
more democratic.
(AP, 6/21/05)
2005 Jun 22, Xinhua News said
flooding triggered by torrential rains killed at least 27 people and
forced the evacuation of more than 300,000 in a mountainous region of
southern China.
(AP, 6/22/05)
2005 Jun 22, It was reported that
China's Pearl River estuary is so badly polluted the fish that once
thrived in its waters have virtually vanished.
(AFP, 6/23/05)
2005 Jun 23, Chinese state-run oil
firm CNOOC Ltd. said it is confident its $18.5 billion cash offer for
U.S. producer Unocal will prevail in the takeover battle with Chevron
Corp.
(AP, 6/23/05)
2005 Jun 24, China’s government
said flooding and mudslides have killed at least 567 people across the
country in the past two weeks, with more heavy rain forecast in the
southern province whose factories are the heart of the country's
booming export industries.
(AP, 6/25/05)
2005 Jun 25, In southern China
thousands of students rioted at Jiujiang Institute, a university
jointly run by the military, to protest high university fees,
overcrowded dorms and unappealing cafeteria food.
(AP, 7/2/05)
2005 Jun 26, Thousands of Chinese
rioted in a dispute sparked by a lopsided roadside brawl, set fire to
cars and wounded six police officers in Chizhou, eastern Anhui province.
(Reuters, 6/29/05)
2005 Jun 28, China said it will
begin filling its strategic oil reserve by the end of the year.
(WSJ, 6/29/05, p.A13)
2005 Jun 28, Avian flu has killed
5,000 wild birds in China's northwest, the World Health Organization
said, five times the number previously reported by the Chinese
government.
(AP, 6/28/05)
2005 Jun 28, In Madrid a Tibetan
group presented a criminal case against top Chinese officials for
genocide and crimes against humanity, seeking to take advantage of
Spain's laws on international human rights crimes.
(AP, 6/28/05)
2005 Jun 30, Chinese President Hu
Jintao visited Russia and is expected to bolster ties with Beijing's
former rival in hopes of quadrupling their trade turnover to up to $80
billion a year by 2010.
(AP, 6/30/05)
2005 Jun 30, China overtook Japan
as the world’s largest holder of foreign exchange reserves. The
combined China and Hong Kong reserves stood at $833 billion.
(Econ, 9/17/05, p.80)
2005 Jun 30, The EU and China
plunged into a 2nd trade row, this time over shoes, but Brussels said a
deal was still possible over Beijing's surging footwear exports.
(AP, 6/30/05)
2005 Jul 1, China and Russia
issued a declaration demanding respect for the right of all countries
to develop free of outside interference.
(SFC, 7/2/05, p.A14)
2005 Jul 2, A gas explosion at an
illegal coal mine in central China killed 19 workers.
(AP, 7/3/05)
2005 Jul 4, In China protests
began at the Jinxing Pharmaceutical plant in Xinchang, a town about 125
miles south of Shanghai, by local farmers angry over pollution.
(AP, 7/19/05)
2005 Jul 5, An alliance of Russia,
China and central Asian nations called for the US and coalition members
in Afghanistan to set a date for withdrawing from member states,
reflecting growing unease over America's regional military presence.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization includes China, Russia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
(AP, 7/5/05)
2005 Jul 6, China unveiled its 1st
index of manufacturing-purchasing activity.
(WSJ, 7/7/05, p.A11)
2005 Jul 6, In northeastern China
a bomb exploded in a shopping mall, injuring 47 people but causing no
deaths. Xinhua News said Ma Yuanxi, had fled China after being
suspected of murder but sneaked back into the country seeking revenge
in a dispute with another man.
(AP, 7/6/05)
2005 Jul 8, In China Exxon Mobil
Corp., Saudi Aramco and top Asian refiner Sinopec signed a $3.5 billion
deal to expand a refinery in south China, sealing what they called the
country's largest oil project.
(Reuters, 7/8/05)
2005 Jul 10, China said torrential
rains in the southwest have killed 65 people over the past two weeks
and forced more than 428,000 to flee their homes in flood-prone areas.
(AP, 7/10/05)
2005 Jul 11, An explosion in a
coal mine in China's far west killed 41 people, with another 42 still
missing.
(AP, 7/11/05)
2005 Jul 18, China evacuated over
600,000 people from coastal areas after typhoon Haitang slammed into
Taiwan, killing up to four people.
(Reuters, 7/18/05)
2005 Jul 20, Haitang was
downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it moved into
southeast China, leaving a trail of destruction. The death toll in
Taiwan and in China rose to 15.
(AFP, 7/20/05)
2005 Jul 21, China scrapped the
yuan's peg to the US dollar and tied it to a basket of currencies
revaluing the yuan by 2.1 percent and leaving the door open to further
rises.
(Reuters, 7/21/05)
2005 Jul 21, Airbus said it has
received an order for 20 of its twin-aisle A330 passenger jets from Air
China, in a deal worth about 3.2 billion euros ($3.9 billion) at list
prices.
(AP, 7/21/05)
2005 Jul 22, Taiwan will allow
computer maker Lenovo Ltd. to become the first mainland Chinese company
to establish a subsidiary on the island in a significant step forward
in commercial ties between the two rivals.
(AP, 7/22/05)
2005 Jul 23, Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe arrived in Beijing for a visit expected to include a plea
for oil and food to aid his state's failing economy.
(AP, 7/23/05)
2005 Jul 25, North Korean and US
negotiators held a rare one-on-one meeting in Beijing amid a flurry of
contacts between delegations to the six-nation talks aimed at
persuading the communist nation to relinquish its nuclear program.
(AP, 7/25/05)
2005 Jul 26, Chinese health
officials reported that over the last 4 weeks an unidentified illness
has killed 19 farmers and sickened 80 in southwestern China after they
butchered sick pigs or sheep. The pigs in question were infected with
streptococcus bacteria, a common pathogen in humans and domestic
animals.
(AP, 7/26/05)
2005 Jul 26, Six-party nuclear
disarmament talks opened in Beijing after a 13-month boycott by North
Korea, and the communist nation's envoy said his country was ready to
work on eliminating atomic weapons from the Korean Peninsula.
(AP, 7/26/05)
2005 Jul 27, North Korea said it
would give up its nuclear weapons only after the alleged US atomic
threat is removed from the divided peninsula and relations with the US
are normalized.
(AP, 7/27/05)
2005 Jul 29, Xinhua News said
China plans to sign a deal next month to buy 50 Boeing 787 Dreamliner
jetliners in a deal worth $6 billion.
(AP, 7/29/05)
2005 Jul 30, The death toll in
China from a mysterious pig-borne disease continued to rise, with
several more cities affected. Sichuan province in southwestern China
has launched a campaign to educate poor, illiterate farmers not to
slaughter sick pigs or eat their meat after an outbreak of swine flu
hit about 100 villages and killed at least 34 people.
(Reuters, AFP, 7/30/05)
2005 Jul 30, In southern China a
brick wall collapsed at a festival, killing seven people and injuring
22. The wall fell during the opening ceremony of an annual "torch
festival" celebrated by the Yi ethnic minority in Yunnan province's
Yuanyang county.
(AP, 7/31/05)
2005 Jul, Li Guang, a teacher in a
teacher in China’s northwestern Changhe township, was sentenced to
death for raping 23 fourth- and fifth-grade students.
(AP, 6/13/07)(AP, 6/13/07)
2005 Aug 1-2005 Sep 2, An American
man and 11 Chinese citizens were arrested in a counterfeit medicine
scheme that spanned 11 countries and involved millions of dollars worth
of fake drugs.
(AP, 9/8/05)
2005 Aug 3, China's UN ambassador
said the US and China have agreed to work together to block a plan to
expand the powerful UN Security Council.
(AP, 8/3/05)
2005 Aug 5, China’s government
said Ching Cheong, a Hong-Kong based reporter, has been charged with
spying for Taiwan. China accusing him of obtaining huge amounts of
classified information under an alias.
(AP, 8/5/05)
2005 Aug 5, Baidu.com, a Chinese
search engine, went public on Nasdaq and closed up 354% at $122.54.
(SFC, 8/6/05, p.C1)
2005 Aug 6-2005 Aug 8, Tropical
Storm Matsa hit China’s eastern province of Zhejiang. 13 people were
killed since it hit the mainland as a typhoon. Beijing's Municipal
Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters was preparing to evacuate
as many as 40,000 people in the mountains north of Beijing as Tropical
Storm Matsa approached.
(AP, 8/9/05)
2005 Aug 7, In southern China
rescuers attempted to reach 123 miners trapped in a flooded coal mine.
(AP, 8/7/05)(AP, 8/9/05)
2005 Aug 9, China’s official media
reported that 123 miners trapped in south China have little chance of
survival. One body was recovered the next day.
(AP, 8/9/05)(AP, 8/11/05)
2005 Aug 9, Australia’s Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer said Australia and China are negotiating an
agreement to allow Australia to export uranium to China for peaceful
purposes.
(AP, 8/9/05)
2005 Aug 11, Beijing ordered an
investigation into the cause of a flood at a coal shaft in southern
China. Hopes of finding survivors among the 122 miners still trapped
underground all but disappeared.
(AP, 8/11/05)
2005 Aug 11, Yahoo agreed to pay
$1 billion in cash and turn over its Chinese operations to Alibaba in
return for a 40% stake in the Chinese e-commerce company. Jack Ma
started Alibaba.com in 1999 to support small business people in China.
(WSJ, 8/12/05, p.A1,B1)
2005 Aug 12, Liu Jinbao, a former
president of state-owned Bank of China's Hong Kong branch fired in May,
2003, received a suspended death sentence for embezzlement in an
apparent effort by Beijing to help restore faith in its scandal-plagued
banks as they prepare to sell shares abroad. Mr. Liu was convicted of
embezzling $1.8 million with others plus and additional amount for
himself.
(AP, 8/12/05)(WSJ, 8/15/05, p.A11)
2005 Aug 16, A university
professor in Shanghai said is he is offering China's first class on
homosexuality and gay culture and that several hundred students have
applied for the 100 openings.
(AP, 8/17/05)
2005 Aug 16, A top Indian official
said Indian and Chinese oil firms will sign agreements aimed at bidding
jointly for foreign oil and gas projects and reducing cut-throat
competition.
(AP, 8/16/05)
2005 Aug 17, China announced a
broad crackdown on all media harmful to young people.
(Econ, 8/20/05, p.33)
2005 Aug 17, Researchers from
Greenpeace Int’l reported that toxic waste from electronic devices
discarded in the US and dismantled in China and India was posing a
sever problem around Guiyu, China, and New Delhi, India.
(SFC, 8/17/05, p.C3)
2005 Aug 18, British bank Royal
Bank of Scotland (RBoS) announced that it would lead a consortium to
buy a 10-percent stake in Bank of China for 3.1 billion dollars (2.5
billion euros).
(AP, 8/18/05)
2005 Aug 18, China and Russia
began unprecedented joint military exercises involving air, sea and
land forces, as commanders from both nations insisted the war games
weren't meant to intimidate other countries.
(AP, 8/18/05)
2005 Aug 20, Protesters demanding
the closure of an eastern China battery factory they say is spewing
lead into the environment clashed with police, and dozens of people
were injured.
(AP, 8/21/05)
2005 Aug 23, China submitted
legislation to cut income taxes on its poorest workers.
(WSJ, 8/24/05, p.A9)
2005 Aug 24, Chinese share prices
surged after the government issued new market guidelines and pledged to
push ahead with shareholding reforms.
(AP, 8/24/05)
2005 Aug 24, In southern China a
bus swerved to avoid an oncoming bicycle and veered onto a roadside
crowded with pedestrians in Shenzhen, killing 19 people and injuring 16.
(AP, 8/24/05)
2005 Aug 25, Thousands of Chinese
and Russian troops wrapped up their historic first joint military
exercises with a mock invasion by paratroopers on China's east coast.
The eight-day exercises with 7,000 Chinese troops and 1,800 Russians
underscored growing military ties between the former Cold War enemies.
(AP, 8/25/05)
2005 Aug 25, In China Monsignor
Xie Shiguang (88), the bishop of Mingdong, died of leukemia. He was
first arrested in 1955 by Chinese authorities "because of his loyalty
and obedience to the pope," and released a year later. He was next
arrested in 1958 and stayed in jail until his release in 1980. Xie was
also jailed from 1984-1987, and finally for two years starting in 1990,
and was kept under surveillance by authorities until his death.
(AP, 8/27/05)
2005 Aug 28, A committee of
China’s male-dominated parliament amended the Law on the Protection of
the Rights and Interests of Women. It made sexual harassment of women
unlawful and stipulated that equality between men and women is a basic
state policy.
(Econ, 9/3/05, p.38)
2005 Aug 30, It was reported that
China's top lender, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, is selling
a 10 percent stake to investment bank Goldman Sachs, American Express
and the German insurer Allianz. ICBC is also shedding $17.3 billion in
bad loans to prepare for an overseas listing.
(AP, 8/31/05)(Econ, 9/3/05, p.67)
2005 Aug 30, In China tobacco
smugglers from Shangdeng were intercepted by authorities from nearby
Yantang and 2 smugglers ended up killed. Shangdeng residents sacked the
Yantang City Hall in response.
(SFC, 12/9/05, p.A25)
2005 Aug 31, The Chinese
government signed an agreement with the UN human rights agency to
collaborate on reforming China's legal system in preparation for
adopting a key UN treaty on civil and political rights.
(AP, 8/31/05)
2005 Aug 31, A government
newspaper reported that China is suspending production at 7,000 coal
mines, nearly one-third of the nationwide total, in a safety crackdown
on the accident-plagued industry.
(AP, 8/31/05)
2005 Sep 1, Nearly 600,000 people
were evacuated as Typhoon Talim plowed into southern China, forcing
authorities to shut down schools, highways and airports.
(AP, 9/1/05)
2005 Sep 1, The United States
slapped extra curbs on Chinese imports, hours after talks on a formula
to deal with China's surging textile shipments ended in failure.
(AP, 9/1/05)
2005 Sep 2, China said it plans to
end a 1998 prohibition on direct sales on Dec. 1, clearing the way for
such companies as Avon Products Inc. to expand into its booming market
for cosmetics and other consumer products.
(AP, 9/2/05)
2005 Sep 2, China’s government
said torrential rains and flooding from Typhoon Talim killed at least
10 people and left 15 missing in eastern China.
(AP, 9/2/05)
2005 Sep 3, Chinese President Hu
Jintao postponed his official visit to Washington next week due to
Hurricane Katrina.
(AP, 9/3/05)
2005 Sep 5, China said the death
toll from last week's Typhoon Talim climbed by 13 to at least 95 on the
mainland, with another 30 people missing.
(AP, 9/5/05)
2005 Sep 5, China and the EU
reached an agreement to unblock some 77 million garments held up at
European borders after Chinese textile imports broke through 2005 quota
limits.
(AP, 9/5/05)
2005 Sep 6, China’s state media
reported that Muslim separatists in western China have carried out 260
attacks in the past decade, killing 160 people and injuring 440.
(AP, 9/6/05)
2005 Sep 7, European Union
governments backed a deal to unblock Chinese textiles held at EU
borders, ending a trade dispute that saw some 77 million garments pile
up after imports broke through 2005 limits.
(AP, 9/7/05)
2005 Sep 8, Chinese President Hu
Jintao arrived in Canada for his first state visit, celebrating 35
years of diplomatic ties and rapidly expanding trade and energy
agreements with Canada.
(AP, 9/8/05)
2005 Sep 9, China deployed a fleet
of 5 warships near a gas field in the East China Sea, a area that is
disputed by China and Japan.
(SSFC, 9/11/05, p.A12)
2005 Sep 9, It was reported that
China Telecom has started blocking access to Skype, a popular Internet
telephone service that is threatening its long-distance revenue.
(AP, 9/9/05)
2005 Sep 10, Chinese President Hu
Jintao urged Canada to expand its investment in the Asian giant and
pledged to improve living standards in the world's most populous
country.
(AP, 9/11/05)
2005 Sep 11, Typhoon Khanun made a
direct hit on Taizhou city in prosperous eastern China after nearly a
million villagers and farmers had been evacuated from flimsy coastal
and hillside huts to safety.
(AP, 9/11/05)
2005 Sep 12, An official said
China will no longer consider death tolls and other relevant
information about natural disasters to be state secrets in a move aimed
at boosting government transparency.
(AP, 9/12/05)
2005 Sep 12, The new Hong Kong
Disneyland theme park on Lantau Island opened. Zeng Qinghong, China’s
vice-president, presided over opening ceremonies.
(SSFC, 9/18/05, p.C2)(Econ, 9/17/05, p.44)
2005 Sep 12, In Mexico Chinese
President Hu Jintao promised Mexican leaders that he would crack down
on the millions of dollars worth of Chinese contraband entering their
nation, goods that undermine Mexican businesses ranging from sandal
makers to religious icon sellers.
(AP, 9/12/05)
2005 Sep 13, Pres. Bush met
briefly with Chinese Pres. Hu Jintao in NYC on the sidelines of the
opening session of the UN General Assembly. Bush sought China's help to
stop nuclear weapons programs in North Korea and Iran and won a pledge
from President Hu Jintao to step up pressure on Pyongyang.
(SFC, 9/14/05, p.C1)(AP, 9/13/06)
2005 Sep 13, Negotiations aimed at
ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program resumed in Beijing after a
monthlong recess, but prospects for progress were uncertain as
Pyongyang remained insistent on its right to use civilian atomic
technology.
(AP, 9/13/05)
2005 Sep 15, China’s Pres. Hu
Jintao spoke at the UN and called for a “harmonious world.”
(Econ, 11/19/05, p.23)
2005 Sep 19, China's state media
reported that its family planning agency admitted that officials in the
eastern province of Shandong had carried out forced abortions and
sterilizations. Time magazine last week reported that at least 7,000
people in Shandong were forcibly sterilized earlier this year by
officials under pressure to limit the growth of the country's massive
population.
(AFP, 9/19/05)
2005 Sep 19, An Indonesian warship
fired on a Chinese fishing fleet it suspected of using illegal nets,
killing one crew member and wounding two others in the Arafuru sea off
Papua Island.
(AP, 9/21/05)
2005 Sep 23, The People’s Bank of
China said the yuan would be allowed to fluctuate by 3% a day against
the euro, yen and other non-dollar currencies, compared with a 1.5%
previous limit. Movements against the dollar remained limited to 0.3%.
(Econ, 10/1/05, p.71)
2005 Sep 25, China’s government
said it is imposing new regulations to control content on its news Web
sites, another step in its ongoing effort to police a rapidly expanding
Internet population.
(AP, 9/25/05)
2005 Sep 25, A group of
pro-democracy lawmakers from Hong Kong crossed into mainland China for
the first time since being barred for criticizing Beijing after the
Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989. They put their case for electoral
reform directly to a Chinese communist leader for the first time, but
complained that they were rebuffed.
(Reuters, 9/25/05)(AFP, 9/25/05)
2005 Sep 26, China's navy
commissioned the first in a new class of domestically designed and
built warships. The missile frigate Wenzhou, named after a port city in
eastern China, entered service at a ceremony attended by East China
Fleet commander Zhao Guojun.
(AP, 9/27/05)
2005 Sep 26, Typhoon Damrey
slammed into southern China's resort island of Hainan, killing at least
two people, collapsing houses and sweeping away rice, rubber and banana
crops.
(AP, 9/26/05)
2005 Sep 28, China announced
color-coded emergency measures to avert or handle an influenza pandemic
amid fears that a deadly strain of bird flu could mutate and infect
millions of people around the world.
(AP, 9/28/05)
2005 Sep 28, It was reported that
General Electric has agreed to pay $100 million for a 7% stake in
China’s Shenzhen Development Bank.
(WSJ, 9/29/05, p.A2)
2005 Sep, In China the Univ. of
Nottingham opened a $68 million branch in Ningbo. Britain’s Univ. of
Liverpool also began a joint-venture university with China in Suzhou.
(Econ, 11/12/05,
p.46)(www.liv.ac.uk/newsroom/press_releases/2005/10/china.htm)
2005 Sep, Chinese surgeons at
Guangzhou General Hospital performed a successful penis transplant.
They were forced to remove it after 2 weeks because of psychological
problems experienced by the man and his wife. Guangzhou is the Mandarin
for Canton.
(SFC, 9/20/06, p.A2)(Econ, 11/11/06, p.18)
2005 Oct 1, Tens of thousands of
Chinese marked the 56th anniversary of Communist rule in Beijing's
Tiananmen Square with the country enjoying the benefits of two decades
of rapid economic growth but still facing deep-seated social problems.
(AP, 10/1/05)
2005 Oct 1, China and Japan ended
2 days of talks with no resolution on their territorial dispute in the
East China Sea, which focused on oil and gas deposits straddling the
border.
(Econ, 10/8/05, p.52)
2005 Oct 4, China’s state media
reported that raging floodwaters spawned by Typhoon Longwang along the
southeastern coast swept away at least 80 paramilitary police officers
and washed away two buildings at a military training school.
(AP, 10/7/05)
2005 Oct 8, In eastern China 22
passengers were killed when a bus plunged into a river in Zhejiang
province as the National Day holiday week wound down.
(Reuters, 10/9/05)
2005 Oct 11, China's ruling party
said communist leaders have approved an economic plan aimed at easing
the growing and politically explosive gap between its rich and poor.
(AP, 10/11/05)
2005 Oct 12, A rocket carrying two
Chinese astronauts blasted off from a base in China's desert northwest
Gansu province, returning the country's manned space program to orbit
two years after its history-making first flight.
(AP, 10/12/05)(Econ, 10/15/05, p.46)
2005 Oct 12, In eastern China a
man armed with homemade guns opened fire at a primary school, injuring
16 students before escaping.
(AP, 10/13/05)
2005 Oct 13, Chinese archeologists
reported their find of a 4,000 year-old container in northwestern China
of noodles made from millet.
(SFC, 10/13/05, p.A2)
2005 Oct 14, A trade delegation of
some 300 Chinese officials and business executives visited SF for the
1st Hong Kong-Guangdong Business Conference USA.
(SFC, 10/15/05, p.C1)
2005 Oct 15-2005 Oct 16, The G20
group of rich and developing nations met in Xianghe, China. They
sounded the alarm over high oil prices but barely touched on the role a
stronger yuan could play in easing world economic imbalances.
(AP, 10/16/05)
2005 Oct 16, In China top US
economic officials, led by Treasury Secretary John Snow and Federal
Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, began talks with their Chinese
counterparts on rancorous economic issues, including Beijing's currency
controls and its huge and growing trade surplus. This is the 17th
meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Economic Commission since the forum was
founded in 1979 to thrash out economic issues.
(AP, 10/16/05)
2005 Oct 17, China’s Shenzhou 6
capsule carrying astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng landed before
dawn by parachute in China's northern grasslands after a five-day
mission.
(AP, 10/17/05)
2005 Oct 17, Two days of
U.S.-Chinese trade talks ended with no response by China to an
ambitious American proposal to reform its financial sector and open its
markets wider to foreign products, while also moving faster on currency
reforms.
(AP, 10/17/05)
2005 Oct 17, Deutsche Bank AG and
private bank Sal. Oppenheim said they would acquire a combined 14%
stake in China's Hua Xia Bank in a deal worth 272 million euros ($326.4
million).
(AP, 10/17/05)
2005 Oct 17, Ba Jin (100), one of
China's most revered communist-era writers who attacked the evils of
the pre-revolutionary era in novels, short stories and essays, died of
cancer in Shanghai. He is best known for his 1931 novel "Family," the
story of a disintegrating feudal household. Ba Jin also translated the
Russian writers Ivan Turgenev and Pyotr Kropotkin.
(AP, 10/17/05)
2005 Oct 18, An environmental
watchdog alleged that Chinese logging companies in Myanmar have
illegally exported huge amounts of timber in collusion with the
military government and ethnic guerrillas, destroying ecologically
unique forest areas.
(AP, 10/18/05)
2005 Oct 18, World Bank President
Paul Wolfowitz prodded China to give more power to the people for the
sake of sustaining strong economic growth.
(AP, 10/18/05)
2005 Oct 19, China’s government
said some 2,600 birds have been found dead of bird flu in northern
China's grasslands, amid reports of new outbreaks in Europe and Russia.
(AP, 10/19/05)
2005 Oct 19, In China Tan Kai was
taken into custody in the eastern city of Hangzhou. He was detained
after he opened a bank account as part of efforts to register an
environmental group, "Green Watch." He went on trial in May, 2006, on
alleged charges of stealing state secrets, which stemmed from repairs
he did on a computer belonging to a member of the provincial Communist
Party committee.
(AP, 5/15/06)
2005 Oct 22, China’s legislature
agreed to cut income taxes on the country’s poorest workers. The cutoff
point to pay taxes was raised from 800 yuan to 1600 yuan ($198) per
month.
(WSJ, 10/24/05, p.A13)
2005 Oct 22, A bird flu outbreak
killed 545 chickens and ducks in central China and prompted authorities
to destroy 2,487 others.
(AP, 10/25/05)
2005 Oct 23, In southern China an
explosion at a coal mine killed 15 miners and injured 3.
(AP, 10/24/05)
2005 Oct 25, A UN official said a
bird flu outbreak sickened 2,100 geese in eastern China and killed
about a quarter of them, the country's second outbreak reported in a
week.
(AP, 10/25/05)
2005 Oct 25, A Canadian court
approved a $4.2 billion takeover of PetroKazakhstan by China's largest
oil company, China National Petroleum Corp., clearing the final
potential obstacle to China's biggest foreign acquisition yet.
(AP, 10/26/05)
2005 Oct 25, In southwest China a
stampede on a stairwell at an elementary school in Tongjiang killed
seven children and injured 37.
(AP, 10/26/05)
2005 Oct 25, Carlyle, a
private-equity firm, paid $375 million for an 85% stake in Xugong,
China’s leading maker of construction machinery and became the 1st
foreign buyout group to gain control of a big Chinese company.
(Econ, 11/5/05, p.71)
2005 Oct 26, Toyota Motor Corp.
said that its joint venture with China's biggest automaker plans to
build a 3rd plant in China with annual production capacity of 200,000
passenger cars.
(AP, 10/26/05)
2005 Oct 26, Former Vice President
Rong Yiren (89), a textile magnate who joined with China's communists
and helped launch Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms, earning the
nickname "Red Capitalist," died in Beijing.
(AP, 10/27/05)(Econ, 11/5/05, p.94)
2005 Oct 27, In Honk Kong the IPO
of China Construction Bank raised $8 billion from foreign investors for
a 12% stake. Ahead of the float CCB sold a 9% stake to Bank of America
and a 5.1% stake to Temasek, a Singapore investment agency.
(Econ, 10/29/05, p.71)
2005 Oct 28, China's President Hu
Jintao flew to North Korea to meet with reclusive leader Kim Jong Il
ahead of new nuclear talks and was greeted by cheering crowds of
thousands on a rare visit by a leader of the North's last major ally.
(AP, 10/28/05)
2005 Oct 31, China's Pres. Hu
Jintao arrived in Vietnam on a mission to expand booming trade ties
between the communist nations.
(AP, 10/31/05)
2005 Nov 2, China’s government
made public the results of a 2-month investigation into conflicts of
interest in the coal industry and found that 4,578 government officials
illegally held stakes in coal mines, where corruption and other abuses
contributed to thousands of deaths each year.
(WSJ, 11/3/05, p.A10)
2005 Nov 2, Chinese scientists
said they had gathered evidence that shows a giant object in the center
of our galaxy is a super-massive black hole.
(Reuters, 11/3/05)
2005 Nov 3, North Korea's
abduction of Japanese citizens decades ago took center stage at the
opening of talks in Beijing between the former bitter enemies.
(Reuters, 11/3/05)
2005 Nov 4, China reported its
fourth bird flu outbreak in three weeks, saying that 8,940 chickens
died in a northeastern village despite a nationwide effort to contain
the virus. The discovery prompted authorities to destroy about 370,000
birds.
(AP, 11/4/05)
2005 Nov 5, More than 50,000
people flocked to the opening day of a racy sex festival in southern
China in a sign the conservative nation is shedding its sexual taboos.
The three-day event began in the southern province of Guangzhou. It
featured lingerie shows and adult toy exhibitions as experts and local
authorities sought to convey information about the dangers of unsafe
sex.
(AFP, 11/7/05)
2005 Nov 5, US industry officials
said the US and China have reached a tentative agreement to limit
imports of Chinese clothing and textile products into the United States.
(AP, 11/5/05)
2005 Nov 6, China said it had
asked the World Health Organization to help it determine whether the
death of a 12-year-old girl last month was caused by bird flu.
(AP, 11/6/05)
2005 Nov 6, In northern China an
explosion at a coal mine killed 13 miners and left three missing at the
Taiping Colliery in Shanxi province's Qingxu County.
(AP, 11/6/05)
2005 Nov 6, In northern China a
cave-in at a gypsum mine killed 27 workers and trapped 20 others. The
mine collapse occurred in Xingtai, a city in Hebei province, and
affected two other nearby mines.
(AP, 11/7/05)
2005 Nov 7, Chinese authorities
ordered all live poultry markets in Beijing to close immediately and
went door-to-door seizing chickens and ducks from private homes, as the
government dramatically beefed up its fight against bird flu.
(AP, 11/7/05)
2005 Nov 8, Chinese President Hu
Jintao arrived in Britain for a 3-day state visit that will include a
banquet dinner with Queen Elizabeth II and trade talks with PM Tony
Blair. Jintao faced protests from human rights campaigners upon his
arrival in London.
(AP, 11/8/05)
2005 Nov 8, The US State
Department issued its 7th annual report to Congress on religious
freedom. It cited Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam as restricting religious freedom.
(AP, 11/8/05)
2005 Nov 9, Chinese President Hu
Jintao met Prime Minister Tony Blair as business leaders signed $1.3
billion in contracts and human rights protesters demonstrated outside
Blair's office.
(AP, 11/9/05)
2005 Nov 10, China reported that
its trade surplus surged to $12 billion in October, the highest monthly
total this year, as exports continued to outpace imports.
(AP, 11/10/05)
2005 Nov 10, Authorities in China
said they have quarantined 116 people in northeastern Liaoning province
after two new outbreaks of bird flu there.
(AP, 11/10/05)
2005 Nov 10, Russia captured the
world chess team championship with a last-minute, come-from-behind
victory over the surprised Chinese team.
(AP, 11/11/05)
2005 Nov 11, In an elaborate,
nationally televised gala at a Beijing sports arena to mark the
1,000-day countdown until the Games, senior Chinese leaders introduced
their Olympic mascots: cartoon renditions of a panda, fish, Tibetan
antelope, swallow and the Olympic flame, each one the color of one of
the Olympic rings.
(AP, 11/11/05)
2005 Nov 11, In Beijing the US and
North Korea urged each other to make concessions as a round of
six-nation talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear programs concluded
with no sign of progress or a date to meet again.
(AP, 11/11/05)
2005 Nov 13, China's President Hu
Jintao has arrived in Spain for the final leg of a European trip
dominated by trade, but was again set to be dogged by protests over his
country's human rights record.
(AP, 11/13/05)
2005 Nov 13, In China's northeast
a series of explosions at a chemical plant in Jilin, Xinhua, killed
five people, left dozens hospitalized and forced more than 10,000
others to flee their homes fearing contamination and more blasts.
Benzene leaked into the Songhua River and forced officials to close the
water supply to Harbin. News of the leak was kept secret for days.
(AP, 11/14/05)(AP, 11/25/05)
2005 Nov 14, It was reported that
Liu Qibing, a trader handling Chinese strategic commodity reserves, had
shorted some 100k to 200k tons of copper. Copper prices moved up in
response.
(Econ, 11/19/05, p.81)
2005 Nov 14, China reported a new
case of bird flu in poultry in the country's east, its ninth outbreak
since Oct. 19.
(AP, 11/14/05)
2005 Nov 14, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger arrived in China on a six-day mission to promote
California products and encourage Chinese officials to crack down on
the piracy of copyrighted music, movies and software.
(AP, 11/14/05)
2005 Nov 16, Chinese President Hu
Jintao arrived in Seoul for talks with South Korea's president and an
annual meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders, the first time in a decade a
Chinese president has visited South Korea.
(AP, 11/15/05)
2005 Nov 16, China reported its
first three confirmed human cases of bird flu as the government raced
to vaccinate billions of chickens, ducks and other poultry in a massive
effort to stop the spread of the virus. 2 cases were confirmed in the
province of Hunan in central China and one in Anhui in the east.
(AP, 11/16/05)
2005 Nov 17, Chinese President Hu
Jintao assured a Pacific Rim forum in South Korea that there is nothing
to fear from his fast-developing country, which he said has great
potential to contribute to global peace.
(AP, 11/17/05)
2005 Nov 18, China and Chile
signed a free-trade agreement on behalf of their nations, the first
between China and a Latin American country.
(AP, 11/18/05)
2005 Nov 19, President Bush
arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese leaders. Bush and other
Pacific Rim leaders urged Europe to show new flexibility on farm
subsidies, an issue that has stalled global trade negotiations. The 21
APEC leaders promised to boost cooperation on fighting terrorism and
preparing for a possible flu pandemic. They endorsed a roadmap for
lifting trade barriers across APEC member countries and launched an
initiative to protect intellectual property.
(AP, 11/19/05)(SFC, 11/19/05, p.A8)
2005 Nov 19, A US official said
China will buy 70 Boeing 737 airliners as President Bush arrived on a
visit expected to include discussion of Beijing's surging trade surplus
with the US.
(AP, 11/19/05)
2005 Nov 20, US President George
W. Bush pressed President Hu Jintao to rein in China's swelling trade
surplus and push forward currency reform after calling for greater
religious freedom. Hu Jintao has rebuffed Bush's calls to allow greater
religious and political freedom but promised to show more flexibility
on Sino-US economic disputes.
(AP, 11/20/05)
2005 Nov 20, China reported two
new outbreaks of bird flu in which almost 3,700 poultry died and more
than 7,000 were culled as provinces hit by the deadly virus tightened
preventive measures.
(Reuters, 11/20/05)
2005 Nov 21, China ordered already
strict anti-bird flu measures tightened following two new outbreaks in
poultry, while Romania said it would destroy 2,000 farm birds after
finding the virus in hens and North Korea tightened border controls.
(AP, 11/21/05)
2005 Nov 22, China’s northeastern
city of Harbin said its water system will be shut down for four days to
check for contamination from a Nov. 13 chemical plant explosion,
setting off panic buying of bottled water among its 3 million residents.
(AP, 11/22/05)(AP, 11/25/05)
2005 Nov 22, A woman farmer in
east China died from bird flu after contact with sick poultry, becoming
the third confirmed human case in the country and the 2nd confirmed
fatality.
(AFP, 11/23/05)
2005 Nov 24, A man in south China
was sentenced to death for leading a gang that kidnapped 38 children
and sold them to other families for adoption.
(AP, 11/25/05)
2005 Nov 24, In China a slick of
river-borne toxins from a chemical plant explosion flowed into Harbin
as the government dug wells after shutting down its water system to
protect residents. A 50-mile-long patch of water carrying toxic benzene
began entering Harbin, a city of 3.8 million people in China's
northeast, before dawn. A chemical plant explosion Nov. 13 in the
nearby city of Jilin spewed toxic benzene into the Songhua River.
(AP, 11/24/05)
2005 Nov 24, In southwestern China
an explosion at the Yingte Chemical Company in Dianjiang killed one
worker. This prompted fears of a 2nd benzene leak and warnings to
residents not to drink river water.
(AP, 11/25/05)
2005 Nov 25, Pushing China's
foreign exchange reform ahead by another step, the central bank carried
out its first currency swap deals with local banks in a move that could
help bring more flexibility to the market.
(AP, 11/25/05)
2005 Nov 25, China's Ministry of
Agriculture confirmed a bird flu outbreak in Zalantun city in northern
China's Inner Mongolia bringing to 23 the number of outbreaks of the
disease.
(Reuters, 11/25/05)
2005 Nov 26, A magnitude 5.7
earthquake shook part of central China, killing at least 15 people,
injuring more than 450 and destroying hundreds of buildings.
(AP, 11/26/05)
2005 Nov 27, Running water was
restored in Harbin, China, a city of 3.8 million people where a
chemical spill forced a 5-day shutdown. Officials warned it was not
immediately safe to drink.
(AP, 11/27/05)
2005 Nov 27, In northeast China
coal dust caught fire at the Dongfeng coal mine in the city of Qitai
while 221 miners were working underground. The final death toll reached
171. In 2007 the owner and four employees of the mine were sentenced to
prison terms ranging from 3 1/2 to six years.
(AP, 11/28/05)(AP, 12/06/05)(AP, 12/22/07)
2005 Nov 30, Dalianhe, China, shut
down its water system as a toxic slick caused by the Nov 13 chemical
plant explosion at Jilin arrived on the Songhua River.
(AP, 11/29/05)
2005 Nov 30, SF mayor Gavin Newsom
signed a new memorandum of agreement with Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng, the
8th since the 2 cities forged a formal relationship in 1980.
(SFC, 12/1/05, p.B10)
2005 Nov, China decided to
implement int’l. accounting standards. Rules to this end went into
effect in January 2007.
(Econ, 1/13/07, p.63)
2005 Dec 1, Thousands marched in
anti-AIDS rallies in India's plagued northeast, while China rolled out
a campaign targeting millions of migrant workers to mark World AIDS Day.
(AP, 12/01/05)
2005 Dec 2, Manfred Nowak, the
first UN torture investigator to visit China said that abuse was still
widespread and authorities subjected detainees to electric shocks,
beatings and sleep deprivation. He also accused the government of
obstructing his work.
(AP, 12/02/05)
2005 Dec 2, China’s state news
said police in southern China have arrested 16 people allegedly
involved in kidnapping and selling baby girls as young as newborns to
foreigners.
(AP, 12/03/05)
2005 Dec 2, Jiamusi, a second city
in northeast China, shut down a water plant on a poisoned river,
fearing contamination from the approaching toxic chemicals. The slick
on the Amur River, which is fed by the Songhua River, originally 50
miles long, now stretched for 90 miles.
(AP, 12/03/05)
2005 Dec 2, In China 16 workers
were killed and 42 others trapped in two separate coal mine accidents.
(AFP, 12/03/05)
2005 Dec 3, Economic officials
from the world's richest countries resumed their pressure on China to
adopt a more flexible exchange rate as they concluded a meeting in
London.
(AP, 12/3/06)
2005 Dec 4, Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao arrived in France for a four-day visit. The Chinese government
and the European aircraft manufacturing consortium Airbus signed a
cooperation agreement at a public ceremony in Toulouse that may pave
the way for the opening of an aircraft assembly plant in China.
(AFP, 12/04/05)
2005 Dec 5, China ordered 150
Airbus single-aisle A320 airliners, more than twice as many plane
orders as the company's U.S.-based rival Boeing Co. snagged from China
last month.
(AP, 12/05/05)
2005 Dec 6, China reported that a
10-year old girl in the Guangxi region had tested positive for bird
flu, its 4th case of the deadly H5N1 strain.
(WSJ, 12/7/05, p.A1)
2005 Dec 6-2005 Dec 7, In southern
China police allegedly killed as many as 10-20 protesters in a dispute
over land use in Dongzhou. Villagers were angry over land confiscations
and plans to construct a wind power plant. Armed police sealed off the
village following the violent clashes. State news later reported 3
villagers killed and 8 wounded.
(AP, 12/09/05)(SFC, 12/9/05, p.A15)(SSFC, 12/11/05,
p.A2)
2005 Dec 6, In China Wang Wei, the
vice mayor of Jilin, was found dead. He was in charge of the
environment affairs and had denied that the Nov 13 explosion in a
petrochemical plant had caused any environmental damage.
(WSJ, 12/8/05, p.A15)
2005 Dec 7, In northern China an
explosion tore through the Liuguantun coal mine in Hebei province and
killed at least 91 workers. Police arrested seven people accused of
responsibility for a coal mine disaster.
(AFP, 12/11/05)
2005 Dec 8, China announced a
fifth human case of bird flu, a 31-year-old female farmer who fell ill
after contact with dead birds but has since recovered.
(AP, 12/08/05)
2005 Dec 9, In Beijing, China, the
US ambassador for fighting international slavery said that many North
Korean refugees who flee to China every year end up as sex slaves and
China often sends them back for punishment.
(AP, 12/09/05)
2005 Dec 10, China’s Ministry of
Railways signed an agreement to let an American subsidiary of
Shanghai-based TZG Partners operate a luxury train service that will
cross the Tibetan plateau. Custom carriages will need oxygen levels
adjusted for the high altitude.
(WSJ, 12/12/05, p.A17)
2005 Dec 10, In Dongzhou, China,
residents of the southern village near Hong Kong described a tense
standoff in the area with thousands of armed troops patrolling the
perimeter and blocking anyone from leaving. Frightened villagers said
they were either hunkering down at home or arguing with police, who are
refusing to return the dead to their families. Police had opened fire
on demonstrators there on Dec 6.
(AP, 12/10/05)
2005 Dec 10, China and Portugal
vowed to boost their economic cooperation in resource-rich former
Portuguese colonies in Africa as the premiers of the two nations
attended a business conference in Lisbon.
(AFP, 12/10/05)
2005 Dec 10, Miss Iceland, Unnur
Birna Vilhjalmsdottir (21), an anthropology and law student and
part-time policewoman, was crowned Miss World on the southern Chinese
resort island of Hainan.
(Reuters, 12/10/05)
2005 Dec 11, China’s government
said the commander of forces that shot and killed people protesting
land seizures in a southern village has been detained, as police in
riot gear patrolled the community and appealed for order.
(AP, 12/11/05)
2005 Dec 12, The Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said China surpassed the
US as the world's top exporter of laptop computers, mobile phones and
other information and communications technology devices in 2004.
(AP, 12/12/05)
2005 Dec 14, The Walt Disney Co.
announced its first film production in China, adding to its efforts to
break into the booming Chinese entertainment market.
(AP, 12/14/05)
2005 Dec 15, In China's northeast
Patients leapt from the windows of a burning four-story hospital to
escape a blaze that killed at least 39 people in Liaoyuan.
(AP, 12/16/05)
2005 Dec 15, Kazakh President
Nursultan Nazarbayev ceremonially opened the taps of a new pipeline
carrying oil from one of the region's greatest energy powers to one of
its hungriest consumers, China.
(AP, 12/15/05)
2005 Dec 18, Chinese state media
published the names of three villagers killed by police during a
protest over the seizure of land for a power plant and provided a rare
and vivid account of the small-town politics that led to the bloody
confrontation.
(AP, 12/18/05)
2005 Dec 18, In China authorities
ordered a smelter in Shaoguan to halt the discharge of waste into the
Bei River that contained an unusual amount of cadmium.
(SFC, 12/22/05, p.A9)
2005 Dec 19, A World Bank fund
signed deals to buy pollution credits from two Chinese chemical
companies for $930 million under a plan that lets richer countries meet
commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions by paying for reductions in
poorer economies.
(AP, 12/19/05)
2005 Dec 20, China said its
economy is much bigger and less dependent on exports than previously
reported, issuing new data that analysts said make its roaring growth
look easier to sustain and could encourage even more foreign investment.
(AP, 12/20/05)
2005 Dec 22, China's southern
business capital of Guangzhou rushed to ensure water supplies as a
toxic spill from a smelter flowed toward the city of 7 million people
60 miles north of Hong Kong. Yingde, a smaller city nearby, stopped
drawing drinking water from the contaminated Bei river. The spill from
a smelter in Shaoguan pushed up levels of the heavy metal cadmium in
the Bei to 10 times acceptable limits.
(AP, 12/22/05)
2005 Dec 22, A toxic spill from
China reached Khabarovsk, and the region's governor appealed for calm
in the Far Eastern Russian city, where residents have crammed their
apartments with bottles, pails, pans and even bathtubs full of fresh
water.
(AP, 12/22/05)
2005 Dec 22, In southwestern China
a gas explosion at a road construction site killed 42 people in Sichuan
province.
(AP, 12/22/05)
2005 Dec 23, China’s government
announced that it has dismissed two provincial deputy governors and
prosecuted 96 officials blamed for six high-profile coal mine accidents
that killed a total of 528 people over the past 13 months.
(AP, 12/23/05)
2005 Dec 23, In China's
southwestern city of Chongqing Xu Wanping (44) was sentenced by a court
after being convicted of subversion charges. He was convicted and
jailed for 12 years for organizing anti-Japanese protests on the
mainland.
(AP, 12/25/05)
2005 Dec 23, In China’s Henan
province a blast triggered a fire that swept through a long-distance
bus, killing 11 passengers and seriously injuring three. Chinese police
later detained the suspected architect of a bus bombing designed to
kill his wife.
(Reuters, 1/4/06)
2005 Dec 23, Yao Wenyuan (74), the
last surviving member of the Gang of Four, died. The Gang of Four,
reportedly given its name by then-Chinese leader Mao Zedong, directed
the purge of moderate party officials and intellectuals during the
1966-1976 Cultural Revolution.
(AP, 1/6/06)(Econ, 1/14/06, p.84)
2005 Dec 24, China and North Korea
signed an agreement to jointly develop offshore oil reserves.
(AP, 12/24/05)
2005 Dec 25, In China a fire at an
unlicensed bar killed at least 26 people and injured eight in
Zhongstan, which abuts Macau west of Hong Kong.
(AP, 12/26/05)
2005 Dec 26, News reports said
China has closed 2,411 coal mines for safety violations, and will start
requiring mines to post safety bonds. 12,990 mines were ordered to
suspend operations for safety inspections.
(AP, 12/26/05)
2005 Dec 27, In China Tian
Fengshan, former minister of land and resources, was sentenced to life
in prison on charges of taking $545,000 in bribes from 1995-2003.
(AP, 12/27/05)
2005 Dec 27, US financial services
giant Citigroup Inc. said it plans to increase its stake in China's
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank to 19.9 percent, the maximum legal
holding for a single foreign bank in a local lender.
(AP, 12/27/05)
2005 Dec 28, Police blocked a
Chinese family from holding a news conference in Beijing to publicize
complaints of police brutality in their village. The Fengs and a fellow
villager complained that police in Xiong County, 50 miles from Beijing
in Hebei province, beat two of them and refused to pursue complaints of
rape and assault.
(AP, 12/28/05)
2005 Dec 28, In China 17 coal
miners working at the Fanjiasi mine in Dianwan town, Zuoyun county,
were trapped by flooding. On Dec 31 eight were confirmed dead.
(AFP, 12/31/05)
2005 Dec 29, China’s Premier Wen
Jiabao warned in a speech against land seizure abuses. The speech was
published Jan 20, 2006.
(WSJ, 1/21/06, p.A1)
2005 Dec 29, Reporters at a
Beijing newspaper known for covering sensitive topics walked off the
job after editor Yang Bin was removed this week amid efforts to tighten
press controls.
(AP, 12/30/05)
2005 Dec 29, China’s government
said about 300 million people living in the vast countryside drink
unsafe water tainted by chemicals and other contaminants in its latest
acknowledgment of mounting risks from widespread pollution.
(AP, 12/29/05)
2005 Dec 29, China confirmed its
7th human infection, and third human death, from bird flu, after health
officials revealed a factory worker (41) died from the disease over a
week ago.
(Reuters, 12/29/05)
2005 Dec 30, State media said
Chinese police have closed 598 Web sites in a crackdown on pornography,
but online gambling and fraud are growing.
(AP, 12/30/05)
2005 Tim Clissold authored “Mr.
China,” an account of how Chinese partners cheated Asimco out of
millions. In 2008 Jack Perkowski, who ran Asimco for 13 years, authored
“Managing the Dragon: How I'm Building a Billion-Dollar Business in
China.”
(Econ, 1/26/08, p.80)
2005 Robert Lawrence Kuhn,
investment banker, authored “The Life and legacy of Jiang Zemin.”
(WSJ, 3/9/05, p.B1)
2005 China produced 260 films this
year compared to 425 in America and over 800 in India.
(Econ, 4/29/06, p.69)
2005 China appointed Zhang Qingli,
a Han Chinese, as Tibet’s party chief.
(Econ, 3/22/08, p.29)
2005 Over 31 million Chinese
traveled abroad, but most were border tourists going to Hong Kong and
Macao. Just 1 million visited Europe and only a handful made it to the
US and Canada, which still restrict Chinese visitors.
(Econ, 6/24/06, p.74)
2005 In China more than 6,000
people died in accidents in it's coal mines and petroleum industries in
this year, with the proportion of those killed in major disasters
rising sharply.
(AP, 2/10/06)
2005 China surpassed the US in
exporting the most technology wares around the world.
(Econ, 12/17/05, p.58)
2005 A Chinese government
think-tank declared medical reforms to be “basically a failure.”
(Econ, 11/19/05, p.45)
2005 China’s government in 2006
said AIDS surpassed hepatitis B to become China's third-deadliest
infectious disease in 2005. Some 130 million Chinese carried the
hepatitis B virus. The UN estimated that 55,000 people were infected
with HIV from commercial blood and plasma donations.
(AP, 2/13/06)(Econ, 11/18/06, p.45)(Econ, 1/20/07,
p.51)
2005 China's Health Ministry
reported almost 34,000 food-related illnesses, with spoiled food
accounting for the largest number, followed by poisonous plants or
animals and use of agricultural chemicals.
(AP, 4/13/07)
2005 Japanese investment in China
reached $6.5 billion, more than a tenth of the total received by China
this year.
(Econ, 10/7/06, p.30)
2005 The Paris-based Press Freedom
Index ranked China at 159th out of 167 countries.
(www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=554)
2005 Intel planned to complete a
new $375 million chipset assembly plant in Chengdu, China.
(SFC, 5/31/05, p.C1)
2005 Burger King introduced its
hamburger operations in China.
(Econ, 10/25/08, p.78)
2006 Jan 1, In China a new policy
took effect that allowed listed companies to grant stock options to
senior executives and certain employees as incentives.
(WSJ, 1/6/06, p.A8)
2006 Jan 2, China’s Xinhua News
reported that the nation’s GDP grew 9.8% in 2005.
(WSJ, 1/3/06, p.A14)
2006 Jan 4, In China’s central
province of Hunan a mismanaged silt clean-up project allowed the
industrial chemical cadmium, which can cause neurological disorders and
cancer, to flood out of a smelting works and into the Xiangjiang River.
(AFP, 1/8/06)
2006 Jan 5, China’s government
announced the closing 5,290 coal mines in a safety crackdown on the
world's deadliest mining industry.
(AP, 1/5/06)
2006 Jan 5, In China Feng Bingxian
(59), a businessman who led investors against the government seizure of
oil fields in northern China, was convicted along with 2 co-defendants
of organizing illegal protests and sentenced to 3 years in prison.
(SFC, 1/6/06, p.A3)(WSJ, 1/6/06, p.A8)
2006 Jan 5, In China an oil spill
occurred at Gongyi city in neighboring Henan province when a frozen
pipe broke, causing six tons of oil to spill into a tributary of the
Yellow River.
(AFP, 1/8/06)
2006 Jan 5, In western China
violent blizzards have forced the evacuation of 97,000 people in a
largely Muslim region of Xinjiang, as the nation braced for its worst
winter in 20 years.
(AP, 1/5/06)
2006 Jan 6, In China a farmer
angry over a court ruling set off a bomb in a courthouse in Gansu
province, killing himself and four other people. Qian Wenzhao (62) was
angry over a ruling in a property dispute involving the house of his
late son and daughter-in-law.
(AP, 1/7/06)
2006 Jan 7, China's ruling
Communist Party called on its members to do more to fight widespread
corruption and politically explosive problems such as unpaid back wages
for migrant workers.
(AP, 1/7/06)
2006 Jan 8, State media said China
will invest more than $3 billion over the next five years to clean up
the Songhua River, a key source of drinking water for tens of millions
of people that was polluted in November by a toxic spill that flowed
into Russia.
(AP, 1/8/06)
2006 Jan 9, Bolivian
President-elect Evo Morales met with Chinese President Hu Jintao in
Beijing and called China an "ideological ally," a day after he invited
the communist country to develop Bolivia's vast gas reserves.
(AP, 1/9/06)
2006 Jan 9, China and Japan agreed
to hold new talks to resolve a dispute over gas deposits in the East
China Sea that could help ease their increasingly strained relations.
(AP, 1/9/06)
2006 Jan 9, China’s
state-controlled oil company CNOOC Ltd. said it is paying $2.3 billion
for a 45 percent stake in a Nigerian oil field.
(AP, 1/9/06)
2006 Jan 11, New customs figures
indicated that China's trade surplus surged to $101.9 billion in 2005,
more than triple the $32 billion gap recorded the year before.
(AP, 1/11/06)
2006 Jan 11, The WHO said 2 more
people sickened by bird flu in China have died, bringing the total
number of humans killed by the disease in the country to five.
(AP, 1/11/06)
2006 Jan 12, China’s government
released a white paper outlining its African policy.
(Econ, 1/21/06, p.44)
2006 Jan 12, Chinese Foreign
Minister Li Zhaoxing gave four million US dollars to Dakar within hours
of his arrival in Senegal, the latest west African country to have
recently ditched Taiwan in favor of mighty Beijing.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006 Jan 12, EU governments
refused to ascribe market-economy status to 13 Chinese shoemakers,
opening the way for duties to be imposed on their imports to Europe.
(AP, 1/12/06)
2006 Jan 13, A Hong Kong newspaper
reported that North Korea's secretive leader Kim Jong Il is on a
two-day visit to the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.
(AP, 1/13/06)
2006 Jan 14, In southern China
scores of protesters were wounded and a girl was killed as hundreds of
police used electric batons and tear gas to quell a land protest.
(AP, 1/15/06)(WSJ, 1/17/06, p.A1)
2006 Jan 16, Chinese state media
reported that foreign currency reserves rose 34% last year to a record
$818.9 billion.
(SFC, 1/17/06, p.C5)
2006 Jan 16-2006 Jan 18, In
southwestern China workers protesting the sale of a factory in Chengdu
clashed for three days with baton-wielding police. According to
Boxun.com, an overseas-hosted Chinese-language Web site, the factory
was worth $37 million, but was going to be sold for $9.9 million.
(AP, 1/23/06)
2006 Jan 18, In China senior
envoys from the United States, North Korea and China held a
"beneficial" meeting on the stalled six-party talks on Pyongyang's
nuclear program.
(AFP, 1/19/06)
2006 Jan 18, In China alarmed by
the spread of bird flu beyond East Asia, nations pledged nearly $2
billion to fight the disease, far exceeding expectations at the
fundraising conference in Beijing. The US promised $334 million, Japan
$155 million, and China $10 million.
(AP, 1/18/06)(Econ, 3/25/06, Survey p.19)
2006 Jan 20, Taiwan allowed
students and tour groups to fly direct to China for the first time in
the third annual installment of symbolic Chinese New Year flights aimed
at warming tense relations with the mainland.
(AP, 1/20/06)
2006 Jan 22, Xinhua News reported
that US-based General Electric has won an 196-million-dollar bid to
help build China's West-East Gas Pipeline.
(AP, 1/22/06)
2006 Jan 23, Saudi King Abdullah
met with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing, amid efforts by China
to secure overseas oil and gas reserves for its power-hungry economy.
(AP, 1/23/06)
2006 Jan 23, China's Ministry of
Health announced the country's 10th human case of bird flu infection
after a 29-year-old woman from the southwest of the country was
diagnosed with the H5N1 virus.
(Reuters, 1/23/06)
2006 Jan 23, Belgian brewer InBev
NV, the world's largest brewery by volume, said it has agreed to buy
the largest brewer in China's Fujian province for 614 million euros
($740 million).
(AP, 1/23/06)
2006 Jan 24, China shut down Bing
Dian, a newspaper supplement known for its in-depth reporting on
sensitive issues, the latest measure by the communist government to
tighten control over the media.
(AP, 1/25/06)(Econ, 2/4/06, p.39)
2006 Jan 24, FedEx Corp. said it
would take over local distribution from its Chinese joint-venture
partner DTW Group in a $400 million buyout.
(WSJ, 1/25/06, p.A2)
2006 Jan 25, Google Inc. launched
a search engine in China that censors material about human rights,
Tibet and other topics sensitive to Beijing, defending the move as a
trade-off granting Chinese greater access to other information.
(AP, 1/25/06)
2006 Jan 27, China's biggest
lender, state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, signed a
$3.78 billion investment deal with Goldman Sachs Group Inc., American
Express Co. and Germany's Allianz AG.
(AP, 1/27/06)
2006 Jan 28, Beijing prepared to
usher in the Lunar New Year with bang, after authorities lifted a
12-year ban on fireworks.
(AP, 1/28/06)
2006 Jan 28, China’s state-owned
CNOOC began gas production at the Chunxiao field near the disputed
border region with Japan.
(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.A13)
2006 Jan 29, The Chinese New Year
ushered in the year of the Dog. As many as 10 million dogs were
slaughtered annually for food consumption in China. Fireworks
explosions killed 36 people and injured hundreds more in China as
traditional Lunar New Year celebrations led to much mayhem as well as
joy across the nation.
(SSFC, 1/29/06, p.A3)(AFP, 1/30/06)
2006 Jan 30, Feng Xiliang (86), a
US-trained journalist, died in Beijing. In 1978 he helped to launch the
China Daily, the communist government's main English-language newspaper.
(AP, 2/2/06)
2006 Jan, Mani Shankar Aiyar,
India’s petroleum minister, visited China and signed a series of
cooperation agreements.
(Econ, 1/21/06, p.59)
2006 Feb 1, In northern China a
blast at the Sihe Coal Mine, the subsidiary of a state-owned coal mine,
killed 23 workers and injured 53 others in Shanxi Province.
(AP, 2/1/06)
2006 Feb 8, China's Ministry of
Health announced one more human case of bird flu, bringing the number
of the country's confirmed cases in humans to eleven.
(AP, 2/8/06)
2006 Feb 10, China's Ministry of
Health said a woman had died of bird flu in the central province of
Hunan, the eighth person killed by the virus in the country.
(AP, 2/10/06)
2006 Feb 14, In southern China
toxic wastewater was flushed untreated into a river, prompting the
government to cut water supplies to 28,000 people in Guanyin for at
least four days. A power plant on the upper reaches of the Yuexi River
in Sichuan province was to blame for the pollution.
(AP, 2/20/06)
2006 Feb 14, The Bush
administration announced it will step up enforcement of US trade laws
governing China, following a top-to-bottom review of America's trading
relationship with the Asian giant.
(AP, 2/14/06)
2006 Feb 15, China announced a
plan to combat widespread pollution and leave a better environment for
future generations, citing the need to stave off possible social
instability.
(AP, 2/15/06)
2006 Feb 15, Gunmen on a
motorcycle killed three Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver in
a remote tribal region of southwestern Pakistan.
(AP, 2/15/06)
2006 Feb 16, In China Li Datong
said the Bing Dian newspaper supplement, known for hard-hitting
coverage of sensitive issues, will resume publication March 1. However
he and deputy editor Lu Yuegang were removed from their posts and
transferred to the News Research Institute, another department of the
China Youth Daily.
(AP, 2/16/06)
2006 Feb 16, Two shipping
accidents off eastern China's Fujian province left 61 sailors missing.
(AP, 2/17/06)
2006 Feb 19, Pakistani President
Pervez Musharraf arrived in China on a visit that analysts said would
focus on anti-terrorism cooperation, trade and technological assistance.
(AFP, 2/19/06)
2006 Feb 21, Japan's trade
minister arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao,
the highest-level contact between the two countries since relations
soured last October.
(AP, 2/21/06)
2006 Feb 21, The Chinese
government issued a plan with promises to spend more on schools, health
care and aid for farmers in the poor countryside, where communist
leaders worry about potentially explosive unrest over poverty and other
problems.
(AP, 2/21/06)
2006 Feb 22, In China Yu Dongyue,
a man who was jailed for throwing paint on Mao Zedong's portrait
overlooking Beijing's Tiananmen Square during pro-democracy protests in
1989, was released after nearly 17 years in prison.
(AP, 2/24/06)
2006 Feb 22, Wu Hao, Chinese
filmmaker, was detained for allegedly working on a documentary film on
Christian churches not recognized by the Chinese government. Wu had
returned to China in 2004 after 12 years in the US. He was released on
July 11.
(WSJ, 7/3/06, p.A1)(AP, 7/11/06)
2006 Feb 23, China warned Hong
Kong’s new Cardinal Joseph Zen that he should avoid mixing religion and
politics.
(WSJ, 2/24/06, p.A4)
2006 Feb 23, China’s Lenovo Group,
the world’s 3rd largest computer maker, announced it was introducing
low-priced desktop an notebook computers in the US and other countries.
(SFC, 2/24/06, p.D1)
2006 Feb 23, In China a coal mine
explosion in eastern Shandong province killed 15 miners and injured 12
others. The mine belonged to the Zaozhuang Mining Group Co.
(AP, 2/23/06)
2006 Feb 25, China Xinhua News
reported that an orphanage director and nine other people in Hengyang
had been sentenced to prison for buying and selling scores of infants
who were adopted by foreign parents. Another 22 officials were fired in
the case in Hunan province.
(AP, 2/25/06)
2006 Feb 25, China warned of the
threat of a massive avian flu outbreak among birds in the country as it
reported two new human cases, a girl in eastern Zhejiang province and a
woman farmer in neighboring Anhui province.
(Reuters, 2/26/06)
2006 Feb 27, In China the trial of
17 members of the Three Ranks of Servants church began in the
northeastern city of Shuangyashan. The trial involved the alleged
killings of 20 members of Eastern Lightning, one of China's many
unregistered church groups.
(AP, 2/28/06)
2006 Feb 27, China’s Commerce
Ministry said Avon Products Inc. has received approval to become the
first company to resume direct sales in China following an eight-year
ban.
(AP, 2/27/06)
2006 Feb 27, Taiwanese President
Chen Shui-bian terminated the governmental committee responsible for
unifying with rival China, significantly deepening tensions with
Beijing and defying opinion in Washington. The National Unification
Council had been inactive for 6 years.
(AP, 2/27/06)(Econ, 3/4/06, p.38)
2006 Feb 28, Chinese President Hu
Jintao denounced the Taiwanese president's decision to scrap an agency
dedicated to uniting Taiwan with the communist mainland, and warned
that Beijing will not permit the self-ruled island to pursue formal
independence.
(AP, 2/28/06)
2006 Feb 28, Bob Fu, a US-based
activist and a Chinese legal scholar, said leaders of an underground
Chinese church, who are accused of killing of 20 members of a rival
group, were tortured into confessing in a crackdown on unofficial
religious organizations.
(AP, 2/28/06)
2006 Feb, China’s main television
and film regulator banned TV shows and movies that blend animated
characters with live-action actors. The move was aimed to nurture local
animators.
(SFC, 2/24/06, p.E10)
2006 Mar 1, China moved ahead with
3 new internet address suffixes in the Chinese language, as national
variants to .cn, .com and .net.
(Econ, 3/4/06, p.61)
2006 Mar 3, A US trade envoy said
China is failing to do enough to prevent growing product piracy and
could be forced to answer formal complaints over it in the World Trade
Organization if it doesn't take more aggressive action.
(AP, 3/3/06)
2006 Mar 4, A government spokesman
said China's military budget will rise 14.7% this year to $35.3
billion. China’s National People's Congress, largely a rubber-stamp for
decisions taken at the top level of the Chinese Communist Party,
approved a 14.7% increase in military spending to 35 billion dollars
(27 billion euros). Although this is paltry compared to the 419 billion
dollar (325 billion euro) US defense budget in 2006, the Pentagon last
year estimated that China's defense spending was two to three times the
publicly announced figure.
(AP, 3/4/06)(AP, 8/17/06)
2006 Mar 5, Premier Wen Jiabao
opened the annual session of China's figurehead parliament with
promises to spread prosperity to the restive countryside and
predictions of fast but steady economic growth.
(AP, 3/5/06)
2006 Mar 5, Chinese Commerce
Minister Bo Xilai said on Sunday that anti-dumping duties by the
European Union and U.S. threats of more trade complaints contradict the
spirit of free trade and add to global protectionism.
(AP, 3/5/06)
2006 Mar 6, A Chinese lawmaker
called for police to tape interrogations in possible death penalty
cases following widespread complaints of confessions being forced by
torture.
(AP, 3/6/06)
2006 Mar 8, Chinese officials
promised to crack down on seizures of farmland for redevelopment that
were fueling unrest, saying as many as 1 million farmers lose their
land each year and are paid too little for it. Communist leaders
launched China's most ambitious initiative in decades, promising
billions of dollars in social spending and farm aid to help the 800
million people in its neglected countryside catch up with its booming
cities.
(AP, 3/8/06)(AP, 3/10/06)
2006 Mar 8, Xinhua News reported
that a court in southern China has sentenced 16 officials to jail terms
of up to six years in connection with The Aug 7, 2005, coal mine flood
that killed 123 people.
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, A German minister
claimed that deadly bird flu was moving closer to infecting humans in
Europe after two more cats died of the virus. China reported its 10th
human fatality.
(AFP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 9, A flood at a mine in
southwestern China killed 7 miners and injured 3 others. In central
China a coal mine explosion and fire killed 3 miners and left six
others missing.
(AP, 3/9/06)
2006 Mar 11, A Chinese activist
who documented villagers' claims of forced abortions and sterilizations
was detained while trying to report the beating of his cousin. Chen
Guangcheng, his older brother and his cousin were taken away in a
police van and other vehicles from their home village of Dongshigu in
Shandong, as they were on their way to file a police report.
(AP, 3/12/06)
2006 Mar 13, News reports said the
world industrial-standards association has rejected China's
controversial wireless encryption standard for global use.
(AP, 3/13/06)
2006 Mar 13, Liu Zhijun, China’s
minister of railways, announced $25 billion plans to build two new
high-speed train lines linking Shanghai with Beijing (1320km) and
another linking Shanghai and Hangzhou (175km). Plans included the use
of magnetic levitation technology that can reach speeds of 260 mph.
(AP, 3/13/06)(Econ, 3/25/06, p.69)
2006 Mar 14, Premier Wen Jiabao
vowed to crack down on seizures of farmland for redevelopment, a source
of rising rural anger in China, but stopped short of saying whether the
communist government might allow farmers to own land. The 10-day
session of the National People’s Congress closed as delegates approved
a budget that promised more cash for farmers and a new 5-year economic
plan.
(AP, 3/14/06)(Econ, 3/18/06, p.42)
2006 Mar 14, EU trade chief Peter
Mandelson told China to remove barriers on imports of European goods if
it wants to be recognized as a market economy by the 25-nation bloc.
(AP, 3/14/06)
2006 Mar 14, China refused to take
back 39,000 citizens who have been refused entry to the US and are
languishing in detention centers.
(WSJ, 3/15/06, p.A1)
2006 Mar 14, China and Russia
objected to a tough UN Security Council statement backed by the United
States, Britain and France calling for a report in two weeks on Iran's
compliance with demands that it suspend uranium enrichment.
(AP, 3/14/06)
2006 Mar 15, In China 8 aphorisms
by Pres. Hu Jintao were issued on a $1 poster with plain, black Chinese
characters above a photo of the Great Wall: Love, do not harm the
motherland. Serve, don't disserve the people. Uphold science; don't be
ignorant and unenlightened. Work hard; don't be lazy and hate work. Be
united and help each other; don't gain benefits at the expense of
others. Be honest and trustworthy, not profit-mongering at the expense
of your values. Be disciplined and law-abiding instead of chaotic and
lawless. Know plain living and hard struggle, do not wallow in luxuries
and pleasures.
(AP, 3/16/06)
2006 Mar 15, In southwest China a
boat carrying people home from a fair capsized while crossing a river
leaving at least 27 dead.
(AP, 3/15/06)
2006 Mar 17, A Chinese court
dropped charges against a Chinese researcher for The New York Times who
was accused of leaking state secrets, about a month ahead of a visit by
Chinese President Hu Jintao to Washington. Zhao Yan, who worked for the
Times' Beijing bureau, was detained in September 2004.
(AP, 3/17/06)
2006 Mar 17, A Chinese court
jailed teacher Ren Ziyuan (27) for 10 years for publishing
anti-government views on the Internet, continuing an official crackdown
on Web-based dissidents.
(AP, 3/17/06)
2006 Mar 17, Yuan Baojing, a
Chinese tycoon once worth more than $360 million, and two accomplices
were executed by lethal injection. Yuan (40) was convicted last year of
hiring a hit man in a failed plot to kill a business partner who had
caused Yuan's company to lose $11 million in futures trading.
(AP, 3/18/06)
2006 Mar 20, A Chinese cargo ship
hit an anchored freighter and sank off South Korea's west coast,
killing at least three Chinese crew members.
(AP, 3/20/06)
2006 Mar 21, Chinese President Hu
Jintao and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on to
deepen energy cooperation, as Russian gas giant Gazprom said it would
look to meet some needs of oil and gas-hungry China.
(Reuters, 3/21/06)
2006 Mar 25, The Vatican's foreign
minister said that the "time is ripe" for the Holy See and Beijing to
establish diplomatic relations, and confirmed it is ready to move its
embassy from Taiwan.
(AP, 3/26/06)
2006 Mar 26, The Chinese partner
of Time Warner’s consumer products unit said the studio division plans
to open some 200 stores in China over the coming years as demand for
branded merchandise increases in China.
(Reuters, 3/26/06)
2006 Mar 28, In China new
regulations viewed on the Health Ministry's Web site forbade the buying
and selling of organs and require that donors give written permission
for their organs to be transplanted.
(AP, 3/28/06)
2006 Mar 29, State media reported
that China has arrested 76 officials and recovered about $510 million
in misused funds following a national audit.
(AP, 3/29/06)
2006 Mar 30, China said it would
spend 1.2 billion dollars cleaning up the Songhua River following a
major chemical spill last year that contaminated water supplies for
millions of people.
(AFP, 3/30/06)
2006 Mar 30, The Bush
administration said that it is filing a trade case against China before
the World Trade Organization in a dispute involving auto parts from the
US and other nations.
(AP, 3/30/06)
2006 Mar 31, In China Hu Jia, a
prominent AIDS activist, said he would sue the government for
improperly detaining him. Jia, released on March 28, accused Chinese
security forces of abducting and holding him for 41 days.
(AP, 4/1/06)
2006 Mar, China announced the 1st
retail fuel price increases in 8 months. Beijing taxi drivers believed
that the government’s fear of wildcat strikes was the main reason why
they were not allowed to install 2-way radio systems.
(Econ, 4/8/06, p.44)
2006 Apr 1, Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao arrived in Australia for a visit aimed at finalizing a uranium
supply deal and speeding up free trade negotiations between the two
nations.
(AFP, 4/1/06)
2006 Apr 1, In eastern China a
blast at an explosives plant killed at least 20 workers and injured
two. Nine workers were missing.
(AP, 4/2/06)
2006 Apr 3, Australia agreed to
sell China uranium for nuclear power stations despite concerns that
Beijing could divert the material to atomic weapons.
(AP, 4/3/06)
2006 Apr 4, Wen Jiabao arrived in
Fiji as the first Chinese premier to visit the Pacific islands, seeking
to deepen China's influence in the region and contain Taiwan's
diplomatic clout.
(AP, 4/4/06)
2006 Apr 8, The Rolling Stones
made their debut in mainland China with a censored, but still raucous,
concert in Shanghai.
(AP, 4/8/07)
2006 Apr 8, Harley-Davidson Inc.
opened its first dealership in China, with promises to bring its
trademark easy-riding attitude to bikers in the world's most
sought-after market.
(AP, 4/8/06)
2006 Apr 10, It was reported that
China has agreed to open a corridor through its tightly restricted
airspace. This could save airlines $30 million a year in fuel and trim
an average half hour off flight times between China and Europe.
(WSJ, 4/10/06, p.A3)
2006 Apr 10, In China an explosion
in a hospital parking garage killed at least 30 people. The blast
occurred in an underground garage at a hospital for the staff of the
Xuangang Coal and Electricity Co. Ltd. in Shanxi province's Yuanping
county. Local authorities found explosives at the site.
(AP, 4/11/06)
2006 Apr 10, In northwest China a
truck crashed into a minivan and a passenger bus after its brakes
failed, killing at least 26 people and injuring 24.
(AP, 4/10/06)
2006 Apr 12, Google Inc. CEO Eric
Schmidt defended the search engine's cooperation with Chinese
censorship as he announced the creation of a Beijing research center
and unveiled a Chinese-language brand name.
(AP, 4/12/06)
2006 Apr 12, In southern China
thousands of villagers clashed with police over government plans to
tear down sluice gates built for irrigation, leaving one woman dead and
several people injured.
(AP, 4/13/06)
2006 Apr 13, China's controversial
choice for a Tibetan holy figure made his first major appearance before
an international audience, saying Tibetan Buddhists should be patriotic
and "defend the nation."
(AP, 4/13/06)
2006 Apr 13, Chinese
Vice-President Zeng Qinghong met with Lithuanian Foreign Minister
Antanas Valionis in Beijing. Zeng said the relations between China and
Lithuania are developing smoothly with frequent high-level contacts and
fruitful cooperation in economic and cultural sectors.
(http://news.xinhuanet.com)
2006 Apr 15, China announced
tariff cuts on imports of fruit and fish from Taiwan, offering the
self-ruled island new trade concessions in an effort to boost sentiment
for uniting with the communist mainland.
(AP, 4/15/06)
2006 Apr 15, China reported that
the orbiting capsule of its Shenzhou VI spacecraft, which was launched
into space six months ago, has returned to earth after orbiting 2,920
times.
(AP, 4/15/06)
2006 Apr 18, Chinese President Hu
Jintao arrived in Washington state, toured the Redmond campus of
Microsoft and had dinner at the home of MS Corp. Chairman Bill Gates.
(AP, 4/19/06)
2006 Apr 20, Pres. Bush welcomed
Chinese President Hu Jintao to the White House as the two leaders
embarked on talks aimed at cooling tensions over a yawning US-China
trade gap. Bush urged Hui Jintao to make trade concessions, improve
human rights and exert more influence over North Korea. The 2 leaders
broke no new ground on sensitive issues.
(AP, 4/20/06)(SFC, 4/21/06, p.A1)
2006 Apr 20, China denied it is
engaged in industrial espionage in Canada, calling accusations by
Ottawa's foreign minister baseless and irresponsible.
(AP, 4/20/06)
2006 Apr 21, Chinese President Hu
Jintao wrapped up his US tour with a visit to Yale University in New
Haven, Conn.
(AP, 4/21/07)
2006 Apr 21, An official from
China's social security fund was executed on charges of spying for
rival Taiwan. Government employees were then required to watch a video
about the case.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Apr 22, Saudi Arabia and
China signed defense, security and trade agreements in Riyadh on the
first day of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit.
(AP, 4/22/06)
2006 Apr 24, The annual Goldman
Environmental Prizes were awarded in San Francisco. The winners
included Craig Williams (58) for helping to persuade Congress to order
the Defense Dept. to consider alternatives to incinerating chemical
weapons; Tarcisio Feitosa (35) of Brazil for his campaign against
rampant logging; Olya Melen (26) of Ukraine for her suits forcing the
government to scale back a large canal project impacting wetlands; Yu
Xiaogang (35) of China for his reports on damages caused by new dams;
Silas Siakor (36) of Liberia for his documentation showing how logging
was used to fund civil war; and Anne Kajir of Papua New Guinea for her
work to get reimbursements from logging companies to peasants.
(WSJ, 4/24/06, p.B7)
2006 Apr 27, China's central bank
raised interest rates by .27% in the government's strongest move yet to
cool an economy verging on overheating. The news sent resource stocks,
oil and commodity prices lower around the world.
(AP, 4/27/06)(Econ, 4/29/06, p.43)
2006 Apr 27, In Nigeria President
Hu Jintao said China wants a "strategic partnership" with Africa,
seeking to add a new political dimension to a blossoming economic
romance.
(Reuters, 4/27/06)
2006 Apr 28, Chinese President Hu
Jintao signed an oil exploration contract with Kenya, the latest in a
series of deals designed to keep Africa's natural resources flowing to
China's booming economy.
(AP, 4/28/06)
2006 Apr 28, It was reported
Baiyangdian Lake in northern China's Hebei province was choking for its
life. Large-scale fish deaths have occurred regularly since the 1980s
as excessive amounts of untreated industrial waste water and raw
sewage, coupled with drought and constantly falling water levels, have
left fish farms decimated.
(AFP, 4/28/06)
2006 Apr 29, A coalition of
Chinese Web activists launched a petition decrying censorship of the
Internet and challenging the legality of government information
controls on China's more than 100 million net users.
(Reuters, 5/1/06)
2006 Apr 29, In northwestern China
a gas explosion at a coal mine killed at least 30 miners and left eight
missing at the Wayaobao Coal Mine in Shaanxi province.
(AP, 4/30/06)(AP, 5/1/06)
2006 Apr 30, China successfully
tested a locally made magnetic levitation train, the first time the
country has achieved the feat without using foreign technology. The
20-ton test maglev train ran steadily on a 1,400-foot experimental line
in the provincial capital of Chengdu, the capital of southwestern
Sichuan province.
(AP, 5/1/06)
2006 Apr, China’s PM Wen Jiabao
visited Cambodia and announced aid for roads, dams and other projects
for up to $600 million.
(Econ, 3/31/07, SR p.14)
2006 Apr, China and Turkmenistan
signed a gas-supply deal. Operations of the pipeline was scheduled to
start in 2009.
(WSJ, 9/28/06, p.A8)
2006 May 2, China's official
Xinhua News Agency said glaciers in western China's Qinghai-Tibet
plateau, known as the "roof of the world," are melting at a rate of 7
percent annually due to global warming.
(AP, 5/2/06)
2006 May 3, China's state-approved
Catholic church installed a bishop without Vatican approval, the second
this week.
(AP, 5/3/06)
2006 May 3, Owners of a coal mine
in China's central Henan province falsely claimed that five workers
were killed and seven injured in a blast, when 66 miners were
underground. An investigation by the county government later revealed
that 10 workers were killed and 18 were injured in the accident which
occurred in Yegou village.
(AP, 5/8/06)
2006 May 4, The Vatican
excommunicated two bishops ordained by China's state-controlled church
without the pope's consent, escalating tensions as the two sides
explored preliminary moves toward improving ties.
(AP, 5/4/06)
2006 May 4, Chinese weather
specialists used chemicals to engineer Beijing's heaviest rainfall of
the year, helping to relieve drought and rinse dust from China's
capital.
(AP, 5/5/06)
2006 May 5, In central China
explosions rocked two Internet cafes in Hefei, the capital of Anhui
province, killing two people, injuring four.
(AP, 5/6/06)
2006 May 5, The US State
Department disclosed that Albania has agreed to take in five Chinese,
ethnic Uighur detainees, held at Guantanamo Bay. They were flown to
Albania the next day.
(AP, 5/5/06)(WSJ, 5/6/06, p.A1)
2006 May 6, Chen Li (b.1929), a
Chinese journalist and former editor-in-chief of China Daily, the
communist government's main English-language newspaper, died in Beijing.
(AP, 5/8/06)
2006 May 7, China's official Roman
Catholic church named a new bishop, reportedly with papal approval, as
Beijing rejected Vatican criticism of the unauthorized ordination of
two other bishops.
(AP, 5/7/06)
2006 May 8, In China Bai Ningyang
(19) walked into a Gongyi kindergarten in central Henan, locked the
door and set fire to two gasoline cans. Local authorities said 13
children and one teacher were injured in addition to three students
killed. Ningyang was captured the next day.
(AP, 5/10/06)
2006 May 9, Authorities said
Chinese and US had agents seized more than 300 pounds of cocaine in
March smuggled from Colombia in the country's largest ever cocaine
bust. Nine people involved in a drug ring were arrested in southern
China.
(AP, 5/9/06)
2006 May 9, Cuba, Saudi Arabia,
China and Russia won seats on the new UN Human Rights Council despite
their poor human rights records. Two rights abusers, Iran and
Venezuela, were defeated.
(AP, 5/10/06)
2006 May 9, Officials said Iran
will supply crude oil and equity investment to build an oil refinery in
Indonesia that will supply China and provide Iran with a secure outlet
in the face of possible sanctions.
(WSJ, 5/10/06, p.A8)
2006 May 10, In southern China a
gas blast at the Aotian Coal Mine in Sichuan province killed 11 people
and injured nine.
(AP, 5/11/06)
2006 May 13, In central China a
shaft collapsed in an iron mine, trapping eight miners 420 feet
underground at the Dalongshan Iron Mine near Anqing City.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 15, China's official
exchange rate broke through the psychologically important 8 yuan per
dollar level, its highest level in more than a decade, in a move
traders said might signal Beijing's willingness to allow its currency
to appreciate faster.
(AP, 5/15/06)
2006 May 16, Yang Tianshui, a
freelance writer, was sentenced to 12 years in prison amid one of
China's most severe media crackdowns since the 1980s. Yang was
convicted after being accused of posting articles on foreign Web sites,
receiving money from abroad and helping a would-be opposition party.
(AP, 5/16/06)
2006 May 17, Following a meeting
of the State Council China announced a series of policy measures to
rein in prices. These included levying profits taxes on real estate.
(WSJ, 5/19/06, p.A6)
2006 May 17, Some 620,000 people
were evacuated from southern China as Typhoon Chanchu, the strongest
storm to hit the region at this time of year, churned towards the
coastal province of Guangdong.
(AP, 5/17/06)
2006 May 18, China reported a ban
on Ao Mei Ding, a breast-enlarging liquid that was approved for general
use in 2000. Some 300,000 women were injected with the liquid and some
reported so much pain that they had their breasts removed.
(SFC, 5/19/06, p.A17)
2006 May 18, In northern China an
underground flood trapped as 56 miners in a coal mine in the Xinjing
Coal Mine in Shanxi province. 9 mine managers were soon detained after
apparently trying to conceal the scale of the disaster. The last of the
bodies were recovered on June 28.
(AP, 5/21/06)(AP, 5/22/06)(AFP, 6/28/06)
2006 May 18, Typhoon Chanchu
pummeled southern China, killing at least eight people and leaving 27
Vietnamese fishermen missing after their boats sank in Chinese waters.
(AP, 5/18/06)
2006 May 19, Nigeria sold to a
state-owned Chinese group licenses to explore four oil blocks,
underlining Beijing's increasing drive for energy resources. In
exchange for the drilling rights, China agreed to invest two billion
dollars in northern Nigeria's Kaduna refinery. The Movement for the
Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), rejected the claim and described
the allocation as a "bribe".
(AFP, 5/19/06)
2006 May 20, China held a
ceremonial pouring of a final slab of cement for its Three Gorges Dam
in Hubei province. The 600-foot dam cost at least $22 billion.
(SFC, 5/18/06, p.A10)(WSJ, 8/29/07, p.A12)
2006 May 20, South Korean media
reported that 4 North Koreans had overpowered a security guard and
scaled the wall of a US consulate in China in hopes of gaining asylum
from their impoverished, communist country.
(AP, 5/20/06)
2006 May 22, An explosion in an
illegal Chinese coal mine in the village of Siyuangou in Henan province
killed eight miners and left an undetermined number missing.
(AP, 5/24/06)
2006 May 23, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel met the Shanghai bishop from the Chinese Catholic church
on the final day of a visit in which rights issues took center stage
alongside trade.
(AP, 5/23/06)
2006 May 24, China's government on
raised state-set gasoline and diesel prices by about 10 percent in
response to soaring world oil prices.
(AP, 5/23/06)
2006 May 25, China angrily
rejected a US Defense Department report that says Beijing is a
potential military threat, insisting that its multibillion-dollar
buildup is defensive.
(AP, 5/25/06)
2006 May 26, American
International Group Inc. said that one of its units had received
approval from local Chinese regulators to provide group insurance
there, as the world's largest insurer makes a push to boost its
business in the world's most populous nation.
(AP, 5/26/06)
2006 May 29, China and India
pledged to deepen military exchanges during a visit by Indian Defense
Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the latest sign of warming relations between
the neighbors and one-time foes.
(AP, 5/29/06)
2006 May 31, China closed 201
Hebei clinics that aborted female fetuses and offered subsidies to
families without sons to curb widespread gender engineering.
(WSJ, 6/1/06, p.A1)
2006 May, Ernst & Young
reported that China’s stock of non-performing loans added up to $911
billion, over 5 times the government’s March estimate of $164 billion.
The People’s Bank of China called the report ridiculous and Ernst &
Young soon withdrew it.
(Econ, 5/20/06, p.78)
2006 Jun 1, The Bank of China
began trading shares in Hong Kong in an IPO that raised $9.7 billion.
Options by underwriters could raise the total to $11.2 billion. Shares
closed up 15% to HK$3.40 (44 US cents).
(WSJ, 6/2/06, p.C12)
2006 Jun 3, In northeast China a
suicide bomber attacked his former wife's wedding, killing at least
eight other people and injuring five.
(AP, 6/5/06)
2006 Jun 3, In China a military
transport plane carrying 40 crashed in eastern Anhui province. All 40
people aboard were killed. 2 Beijing-backed newspapers later reported
that the plane was a surveillance aircraft carrying nearly 3 dozen
electronics experts.
(AP, 6/4/06)(AP, 6/6/06)(AP, 9/7/06)
2006 Jun 5, A top official said
China's pollution problems cost the country more than $200 billion a
year and called for better legal protection for grassroots groups so
they can help clean up the environment.
(AP, 6/5/06)
2006 Jun 6, Chinese engineers blew
up a temporary barrier used during construction of the Three Gorges
Dam, unleashing the full force of the Yangtze River upon the world's
largest hydroelectric project.
(AP, 6/6/06)
2006 Jun 7, A Chinese government
report said more than 60% of recent land acquisitions for construction
in China are illegal, with the figure rising to 90% in some cities. The
report demanded investigations.
(AP, 6/7/06)
2006 Jun 7, State-run media said
storms pummeling southern China over the past week have killed at least
46 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
(AP, 6/7/06)
2006 Jun 8, In southern China the
bank of a rain-swollen river collapsed, flooding 11 villages filled
with sleeping people and causing an unknown number of deaths and
injuries.
(AP, 6/8/06)
2006 Jun 8, Fu Xiancai (47) was
called into the Zigui County Public Security Bureau in Hubei province
and criticized for his television appearance in which he criticized the
government's treatment of people who were forced to relocate as a
result of the Three Gorges dam project. He was attacked after leaving
the police station and was paralyzed after assailants broke his neck.
On July 26 the head of the security bureau's forensics department and
another county official said that experts concluded the injuries were
self-inflicted.
(AP, 7/27/06)
2006 Jun 9, Liu Zhihua, deputy
mayor of Beijing in charge of Olympics-related construction projects,
was detained and dismissed for corruption and degeneracy.
(Econ, 6/17/06, p.48)
2006 Jun 11, Amnesty International
released a report saying China's sales of military vehicles and weapons
to Sudan, Nepal and Myanmar have aggravated conflicts and abetted
violence and repressive rule in those countries.
(AP, 6/11/06)
2006 Jun 12, In northern China a
truck carrying the coal tar fell into the Dasha river in Shanxi
province. Cleanup crews scrambled to absorb 60 tons of toxic coal tar
accidentally dumped into a river before it reaches a reservoir serving
a city of 10 million people.
(AP, 6/15/06)
2006 Jun 13, China ordered civil
servants to do without cars, elevators and air conditioning for one day
as part of an energy-saving awareness campaign. Some 1,000 new cars
were hitting the streets of Beijing every day as nitrogen dioxide
levels exceeded WHO clean air guidelines by 78%.
(AP, 6/13/06)(WSJ, 6/13/06, p.A1)
2006 Jun 14, China and Taiwan
they've agreed to launch direct charter passenger flights between them
during major holidays, a key trust-building step toward restoring
regular direct flights cut five decades ago amid civil war.
(AP, 6/14/06)
2006 Jun 14, Husky Energy, Cnooc’s
Canadian partner, announced a large gas discovery under the South China
Sea. In 2009 Husky confirmed the discovery saying the Liwan field could
ultimately produce over 150 million cubic feet per day.
(WSJ, 7/19/06,
p.A8)(http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060614/to279.html?.v=30)(WSJ,
2/25/09, p.B3)
2006 Jun 15, In China a series of
explosions rocked the Longxin Chemical Plant in the city of Longquan,
Zhejiang province, destroying two factories and threatening to
contaminate the Oujiang river, which empties into the East China Sea.
(AP, 6/16/06)
2006 Jun 15, In China students
rioted at Shengda after learning that their the word Shengda would be
added to their graduation certificates. The quasi-private college was
affiliated with the prestigious Zhengzhou Univ. and up to now had just
Zhengzhou Univ. printed on their degree certificates.
(Econ, 8/12/06, p.33)
2006 Jun 15, The Shanghai
Cooperation Organization, a Russian and Chinese-led bloc of Asian
states, said it plans to set up an expert group to boost computer
security and help guard against threats to their regimes from the
Internet. SCO members (China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) are mostly authoritarian states that
maintain tight controls on communications technology, including the
Internet.
(AP, 6/15/06)
2006 Jun 16, China's central bank
demanded that commercial banks raise reserves requirements by half a
percentage point to restrain credit and investment growth, which it
feared have been getting out of control.
(AP, 6/16/06)(Econ, 6/24/06, p.82)
2006 Jun 16, In China cleanup
crews scrambled to absorb toxic coal tar, from a June 12 spill, before
it reaches the Wangkuai Reservoir of Baoding, a city of about 10
million people. Authorities tried to slow the spread of a toxic spill
by building 51 makeshift dams along the tainted Dasha River and using
fire trucks to pump out polluted water. In eastern China an explosion
at a chemical plant in Anhui killed 16 people and injured 30.
(AP, 6/16/06)(AP, 6/18/06)
2006 Jun 18, China's PM Wen Jiabao
wrapped up a two-day visit to Cairo after meeting with Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak and signing 10 oil, natural gas and
telecommunications deals. He was also scheduled to visit Ghana,
Republic of Congo, Angola, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
(AP, 6/18/06)
2006 Jun 18, China's PM Wen Jiabao
went to Ghana, where he signed an agreement to lend the small West
African nation about $66 million to fund a number of projects. China
has leapfrogged Ghana's traditional trading partners India and Britain
to become the West African nation's biggest foreign investor.
(AFP, 6/17/06)(AP, 6/19/06)
2006 Jun 21, Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao flew into South Africa on the fifth leg of an African tour where
he is due to sign a nuclear cooperation pact and hold talks on the
thorny question of textile imports from Beijing.
(AP, 6/21/06)
2006 Jun 23, Chinese PM Wen Jiabao
arrived in Uganda, the final leg of a seven-nation African tour aimed
at boosting ties and partnerships as well as shopping for resources for
his country's fast-expanding economy.
(AP, 6/23/06)
2006 Jun 25, In southern China
flash flooding caused by torrential rain in Hunan province killed at
least 21 people with another 6 missing.
(AP, 6/25/06)(AP, 6/30/06)
2006 Jun 27, China’s government
said a law imposing fines on media that report emergencies such as
riots and natural disasters without official approval could go into
effect by October. A rights group urged Beijing to scrap it. Xinhua
News said a cache of dynamite exploded in a house in northern Shaanxi
province, killing at least 10 people and injuring 20.
(AP, 6/27/06)
2006 Jun 28, Australia's PM Howard
hailed his country's record liquid natural gas export contract with
China as a symbol of blossoming trade between the countries during an
inaugural ceremony with Premier Wen Jiabao at the Chinese gas terminal
in Shenzen.
(AP, 6/28/06)
2006 Jun 28, In northern China an
explosion at a coal mine killed at least 22 workers and injured 37.
Five more people were missing following the explosion in the Wulong
Coal Mine in Fuxin, a city in Liaoning province.
(AP, 6/28/06)
2006 Jun 29, China’s government
said Vice Adm. Wang Shouye (62), a deputy commander of China's navy,
has been dismissed and stripped of a seat in parliament for corruption,
one of the most senior military figures to be punished in a multiyear
crackdown on rampant graft.
(AP, 6/29/06)
2006 Jun 30, China's ruling party
must stamp out the rampant corruption that led to the convictions of
thousands of officials last year, President Hu Jintao said as the
Communist Party commemorated the 85th anniversary of its founding.
(AP, 6/30/06)
2006 Jun, In China a revision to
the education law abolished the key-school system. For most of the
Communist era a few key schools received extra money and other favors
to nurture pockets of academic excellence.
(Econ, 8/12/06, p.32)
2006 Jul 1, China’s new $4.2
billion, 710-mile-long railway from Golmud to Lhasa, Tibet, began
operations. Canada’s Bombardier manufactured high-tech cars for the Sky
Train with regulated oxygen levels to cope with 16,500-foot passes.
(SFC, 6/30/06, p.A18)(Reuters, 7/1/06)
2006 Jul 1, It was reported that
Chinese consumers had begun ganging up on retailers by arriving en
masse at pre-arranged times, arranged online, to push for bargain
prices.
(Econ, 7/1/06, p.59)
2006 Jul 1, China reported a new
outbreak of bird flu near Zhongwei in the Ningxia region.
(WSJ, 7/3/06, p.A6)
2006 Jul 3, China's new train from
Beijing to Tibet arrived in the ancient capital of Lhasa, ending its
maiden journey after climbing to elevations so high that ballpoint pens
and packaged foods burst.
(AP, 7/3/06)
2006 Jul 6, China’s state media
said torrential rains and a tornado killed at least 30 people as storms
battered eastern China this week, with millions more affected by
flooding and other storm damage.
(AP, 7/6/06)
2006 Jul 6, China and India
reopened the 14,000-foot Nathu La pass, an ancient Silk Road pass high
in the Himalayas, more than 40 years after it was shut by war.
(AP, 7/6/06)
2006 Jul 7, In northern China a
fire ignited explosives at a home in Dongzhai, a village in the
coal-mining province of Shanxi, killing at least 47 people, many of
them neighbors who had rushed to the scene to battle the flames. A
seven-story apartment building collapsed in the major city of Zhengzhou
in central China, killing at least two people and burying an unknown
number of others.
(AP, 7/7/06)
2006 Jul 8, China launched a Web
site, www.linese.com, offering free Chinese lessons and materials to
promote the study and use of the language abroad.
(Reuters, 7/8/06)
2006 Jul 8, In central China a
landslide at a construction site buried migrant workers sleeping in a
tent, killing 11 of them.
(AP, 7/8/06)
2006 Jul 11, China's president
issued an unusual public appeal to a visiting North Korean official to
avoid aggravating tensions with its missile test program, as the US and
Japan urged Beijing to press its ally Pyongyang for concessions.
(AP, 7/11/06)
2006 Jul 13, A Chinese reporter
who posted essays on foreign Web sites criticizing the ruling Communist
Party was sentenced to two years in prison on subversion charges.
(AP, 7/13/06)
2006 Jul 14, In China Qiu Xinhua
(47) killed the abbot of the Tiewadian temple in the northern city of
Ankang, five staff members and four pilgrims. He reportedly believed
the abbot had flirted with his wife. Xinhua was executed on Dec 28.
(AP, 12/28/06)
2006 Jul 15, A gas explosion in a
coal mine in Shanxi province killed at least 18 miners and trapped 39
others.
(AP, 7/16/06)
2006 Jul 17, In China tropical
storm Bilis left at least 612 people dead as it pounded the southeast
over the weekend, toppling houses and forcing the evacuation of a
prison and thousands of villages.
(AP, 7/18/06)(AP, 7/24/06)
2006 Jul 18, China reported its
fastest economic growth in a decade and warned that booming
construction and bank loans could fuel inflation, raising expectations
that Beijing might nudge up interest rates and possibly the value of
its currency.
(AP, 7/18/06)
2006 Jul 19, It was reported that
factories and cities in China dump some 40-60 billion tons of
waste-water and sewage into lakes and rivers each year.
(WSJ, 7/19/06, p.A1)
2006 Jul 19, Taiwan’s largest air
carrier launched the 1st direct cargo flight between the island and
China since 1949.
(WSJ, 7/20/06, p.A6)
2006 Jul 20, The UN food agency
said China became the world's third-largest food aid donor in 2005, the
same year it stopped receiving assistance from the World Food Program,
while the US and the EU remained the top two contributors.
(AP, 7/20/06)
2006 Jul 22, A magnitude-5.1
earthquake hit southwestern China, killing at least 19 people.
(AFP, 7/22/06)
2006 Jul 26, China's PM Wen Jiabao
called for urgent steps to prevent economic overheating, as the
government forecast more double-digit growth in the next quarter.
(AP, 7/27/06)
2006 Jul 26, Xinhua News said
heavy rain from Tropical Storm Kaemi caused a levee in southern China
to collapse, threatening to inundate an area that's home to 20,000
villagers.
(AP, 7/26/06)
2006 Jul 26, An unhappy China said
that Canada's decision to bestow honorary citizenship on the Dalai Lama
could hurt commercial relations between the two countries.
(Reuters, 7/26/06)
2006 Jul 27, China’s government
introduced new taxes on real estate to discourage speculation. State
media said flooding and landslides caused by Tropical Storm Kaemi have
killed at least 25 people in southern China, including six who died
when a torrent of water washed away a military barracks.
(AP, 7/27/06)(SFC, 7/28/06, p.D1)
2006 Jul 28, In eastern China an
explosion at a chemical plant killed at least 12 people and prompted
the evacuation of 7,000 others.
(AP, 7/28/06)
2006 Jul 29, Workers at Wal-Mart
stores in China formed their 1st trade union.
(SFC, 7/31/06, p.A3)(Econ, 9/23/06, p.43)
2006 Jul 30, It was reported that
China had lowered the estimated number of HIV/AIDS infected people from
840,000 to 650,000.
(SSFC, 7/30/06, p.A17)
2006 Jul, China National
Petroleum, the parent of PetroChina, took a $500 million stake in
Rosneft, the Russian oil group.
(Econ, 8/5/06, p.66)
2006 Jul, In Shanghai, China, a
financial scandal was uncovered that involved the misappropriation of
one-third of the city’s $1.2 billion social-security fund. An official
said that $2 billion had been embezzled from the fund since 1998.
Chinese investigators began looking into corruption and malfeasance
associated with Shanghai’s $1.2 billion pension fund. On Sep 24 the
probe brought down the city’s top official, Communist party Secretary
Chen Liangyu, a British educated architect. In 2007 the government made
a propaganda film titled “The Harm of Greed” featuring confessions from
11 people involved in the scandal.
(Econ, 9/9/06, p.42)(WSJ, 11/14/06, p.C14)(WSJ,
2/6/07, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/30/08, p.A9)
2006 Aug 1, Chinese official media
reported that Mouding county in Yunnan killed as many as 50,000 dogs in
a 5-day government campaign ordered after three people died from rabies.
(AP, 8/1/06)
2006 Aug 3, Typhoon Prapiroon
slammed into southern China, packing heavy rain and 75 mph winds as
authorities evacuated tens of thousands of people from their homes.
(AP, 8/3/06)
2006 Aug 3, State press reported
that China is building a 27-billion-dollar train line from Beijing to
the southern economic hub of Shenzhen and foreign investors will be
invited to join the project. The new 2,300-kilometer (1,420-mile)
railway will cut travel time between Beijing and Shenzhen, which
borders Hong Kong, from 24 hours to 10.
(AFP, 8/3/06)
2006 Aug 6, In China an explosion
aboard a bus in Hunan province's Guiyang county killed eight people,
just days after a similar explosion killed 11. Fatal explosions aboard
public buses in recent years have been blamed on both bomb attacks and
accidents with gas canisters and other dangerous cargo.
(AP, 8/7/06)
2006 Aug 6, Taiwan condemned China
after oil producer Chad switched diplomatic ties to Beijing from
Taipei, forcing Premier Su Tseng-chang to scrap his plans to visit the
African nation at the last minute.
(Reuters, 8/6/06)
2006 Aug 7, China’s state media
said the death toll from Tropical Storm Prapiroon, named after the Thai
god of rain, rose to 80 with 9 more people missing.
(AFP, 8/6/06)(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 7, An explosion at a
Chinese perfume factory killed at least seven people and left three
hospitalized.
(AP, 8/7/06)
2006 Aug 9, The American Humane
Society said it will give China $100,000 to vaccinate dogs against
rabies if it promises to immediately stop their mass slaughter in areas
where humans have died from the disease.
(AP, 8/9/06)
2006 Aug 10, Saomai, the most
powerful typhoon to hit China in five decades, slammed into its
southeastern coast, destroying hundreds of homes and battering the
region with rain and wind after more than 1.3 million people were
evacuated. It ultimately killed at least 483 people.
(AP, 8/10/07)
2006 Aug 10, Wal-Mart Stores said
it will work with Chinese government officials to establish labor
unions in all its outlets in China.
(SFC, 8/11/06, p.D2)
2006 Aug 11, Typhoon Saomai, the
strongest storm to strike China in 50 years, weakened to a tropical
depression but drenched the country's southeast after killing at least
105 people with another 190 missing.
(AP, 8/12/06)
2006 Aug 13, The death toll from
Typhoon Saomai, the strongest storm to hit China in 50 years, rose to
114 as more evacuees died when buildings used as shelters collapsed.
China’s state media reported About 17 million people in southwest China
don't have access to clean drinking water due to sustained drought.
(AP, 8/13/06)(Reuters, 8/13/06)
2006 Aug 14, In China the death
toll from Typhoon Saomai rose to 255 after scores more bodies were
pulled from the sea.
(AP, 8/14/06)
2006 Aug 15, The official death
toll in China from Typhoon Saomai jumped to 295 as fishing families
grieving the loss of loved ones said authorities were no help and had
covered up the number of fatalities.
(AFP, 8/15/06)
2006 Aug 18, China’s central bank
announced its 2nd interest rate hike in 4 months to choke off excess
investment. The benchmark lending rate rose .27% to 6.12% effective Aug
19.
(WSJ, 8/19/06, p.A4)
2006 Aug 18, The death toll from
Typhoon Saomai, the strongest storm to hit China in more than five
decades, jumped to 436 after more than 100 new deaths were confirmed in
the country's east.
(AP, 8/18/06)
2006 Aug 22, In China visiting
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said China will expand its cooperation
in oil exploration and help his country build a fiber-optic
communications network under agreements to be signed in Beijing this
week.
(AP, 8/22/06)
2006 Aug 24, In China a blind
activist who was arrested after recording complaints of forced
abortions was sentenced to four years and three months in prison. Chen
Guangcheng was convicted of damaging property and "organizing a mob to
disturb traffic" after a trial in the eastern province of Shandong.
(AP, 8/24/06)
2006 Aug 24, China reported that a
chemical spill on the Mangniu River in Jilin province was contained. A
3-mile slick had been created by a xylidine spill from a local chemical
company.
(SFC, 8/24/06, p.A3)
2006 Aug 25, Zhao Yan (44), a
Chinese researcher for The New York Times who has been detained since
2004, was cleared of charges of revealing state secrets but convicted
of fraud and sentenced to three years in prison. Xinhua News said
communities in southeastern China are straining to resettle more than
15 million people left homeless by four devastating typhoons in recent
months. A moderate earthquake jolted southwest China, killing two
people.
(AP, 8/25/06)
2006 Aug 25, In China a tanker
truck loaded with 25 tons of liquid caustic soda, colorless,
transparent corrosive liquid that rapidly burns skin and eyes, fell
into a river 3 miles away from the Xuefeng reservoir in a city within
the municipality of Weinan in Shaanxi province. It polluted a reservoir
serving at least 100,000 residents for two days until water quality
returned to normal.
(AP, 8/27/06)
2006 Aug 27, China adopted a new
bankruptcy law making it easier to restructure insolvent firms. It
became effective on June 1, 2007.
(http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/china_law_prof_blog/2006/08/revised_bankrup.html)
2006 Aug 27, State media quoted
officials saying that one-third of China's vast landmass is suffering
from acid rain caused by its rapid industrial growth, while local
leaders are failing to enforce environmental standards for fear of
hurting business.
(AP, 8/27/06)
2006 Aug 31, A Chinese court
sentenced Ching Cheong, a Hong Kong reporter, to five years in prison
on spying charges in a case that prompted outcries by press freedom
groups. In Hunan Province a mine gas explosion killed at least nine
people.
(AP, 8/31/06)(Reuters, 9/3/06)
2006 Aug, In China a project was
begun in Shanghai to treat industrial waste with iron filings, a
process which had been found to be a cheap and efficient way to clean
up polluted water.
(Econ, 12/6/08, TQ p.11)
2006 Sep 2, In China’s Guizhou
Province a mine gas explosion killed at least 8 people. Six miners died
when their pit in central Hubei province flooded.
(Reuters, 9/3/06)
2006 Sep 6, State media said
hundreds of people in northwestern China have been hospitalized with
lead poisoning that was likely caused by pollution from a nearby
smelter. The first sign of trouble in the villages of Xinsi and Moba,
Gansu province, came on Aug. 18.
(AP, 9/6/06)
2006 Sep 8, In southern China
crowds angered by alleged police mishandling of a school teacher's
death attacked government offices in Rui'an City, sparking arrests and
beatings by riot troops. Students and local residents claimed police
falsified a report and colluded with the wealthy husband of high school
English teacher Dai Haijing, 30, to have her Aug 18 death classified as
a suicide.
(AP, 9/11/06)
2006 Sep 10, China announced
detailed controls on the distribution of news by foreign news agencies,
banning all content that violates its own tight media restrictions.
(AP, 9/10/06)
2006 Sep 10, The Chinese film
“Still Life” won the top award as the 11-day Venice Film Festival came
to a close. The Chinese film was about the Three Gorges Dam project.
(SFC, 9/11/06, p.D5)
2006 Sep 11, China said it will
send 1,000 peacekeeping troops to Lebanon.
(WSJ, 9/12/06, p.A1)
2006 Sep 13, Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao vowed to continue his vast country's opening up to the
international community, notably rejecting suggestions Beijing is set
to crack down on foreign media.
(AFP, 9/13/06)
2006 Sep 14, China’s stock market
regulator made official a ban on foreign acquisitions of domestic
stockbrokers and investment banks.
(Econ, 9/23/06, p.84)
2006 Sep 14, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel said she has again raised human rights issues with
visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and urged Beijing to respect the
freedom of the press.
(AP, 9/14/06)
2006 Sep 14, Prof. Frederic Evans
Wakemen Jr. (68), leading US scholar on China, died in Oregon. His
books included “Policing Shanghai 1927-1937” (1995) and “Spymaster: Dai
Li and the Chinese Secret Service” (2004). Prof. Wakemen had taught at
UC Berkeley (1965-2006).
(SFC, 9/26/06, p.B5)
2006 Sep 15, The US joined with
the EU and Canada charging that China has erected illegal barriers to
the sale of U.S. and other foreign-made auto parts there.
(AP, 9/15/06)
2006 Sep 15, China denounced
accusations by top US officials that it was selling weapons to Iran and
North Korea amid nuclear tensions with the two regimes. State media
said at least four children, among the hundreds of people sickened by
emissions from a lead smelter in western China, are likely to suffer
permanent brain damage.
(AP, 9/15/06)
2006 Sep 16, In Singapore top
finance chiefs stepped up pressure on China to relax its grip on its
currency, warning that trade imbalances threaten a flourishing global
economy. G7 finance ministers and central bank governors also called
for a resumption of global free trade talks and a revamp of the IMF,
saying China should be given a louder voice but must also fulfill its
broader economic responsibilities.
(AFP, 9/16/06)
2006 Sep 18, Premier Wen Jiabao
said China will increase its peacekeeping force in Lebanon to 1,000 and
double the humanitarian aid it has pledged.
(AP, 9/18/06)
2006 Sep 18, The 184-nation IMF
approved reforms to increase the voice of China, South Korea, Turkey,
and Mexico to reflect their growing economic sway.
(SFC, 9/19/06, p.D2)
2006 Sep 22, In Shanghai health
officials added 3 more items to a list of toxic metals in SK-II
products, made in Japan by US consumer products giant Procter and
Gamble. P&G has pulled its popular SK-II line of beauty products
off the shelf after authorities a week earlier discovered traces of the
two toxic metals in nine SK-II products including powder, foundation,
lotion and cleansing oil products. The company said a hotline had been
set up and that all refund requests submitted by September 21 would be
honored.
(AP, 9/22/06)
2006 Sep 24, In China Chen
Liangyu, the Communist Party boss of Shanghai, was sacked for
corruption, toppling the highest leader so far in national party chief
Hu Jintao's drive to root out abuse and enforce loyalty.
(Reuters, 9/25/06)(Econ, 9/30/06, p.49)
2006 Sep 30, In Tibet Sergiu
Matei, a Romanian cameraman with an expedition climbing Cho Oyu, shot a
video that shows Chinese forces fatally shooting a Tibetan refugee who
was with a group of people trying to flee to Nepal at the 19,000-foot
Nanpa La Pass. Chinese border guards opened fire on some 75 Tibetans
making their way over a 19,000-foot-high Himalayan pass, killing a
25-year-old Buddhist nun and another person. 32 were caught and
detained. In January Jamyang Samten (15), one of those detained,
escaped to India and provided the first reported account of the fate of
the group. Some 3,000 Tibetans continued to sneak across the border to
Nepal and India every year.
(AP, 10/14/06)(Econ, 11/18/06, p.18)(AP, 1/30/07)
2006 Oct 1, China began its
week-long national day holiday, with rail stations and airports packed
and roads gridlocked around Tiananmen Square and at other major tourist
sites throughout the nation. In the southwestern city of Chongqing a
bus careened off a bridge and plunged nearly 100 feet into a river,
killing 30 people.
(AP, 10/1/06)
2006 Oct 2, Morgan Stanley said it
has acquired China's Nan Tung Bank, a deal that would give the Wall
Street giant a coveted onshore commercial banking license in China
ahead of U.S. investment bank rivals.
(AP, 10/2/06)
2006 Oct 5, China criticized newly
imposed EU antidumping tariffs on Chinese shoes as unlawful and
threatened possible retaliation.
(AP, 10/6/06)
2006 Oct 8, Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe
visited Beijing and held talks with Pres. Hu Jintao and PM Wen Jiabao.
Abe said Japan and China agree that a North Korea nuclear test "cannot
be tolerated" and that Pyongyang should return unconditionally to
six-party negotiations on its nuclear programs.
(AP, 10/8/06)(Econ, 10/7/06, p.29)
2006 Oct 10, China, which holds
the key to whether tough UN sanctions will be imposed for North Korea's
nuclear test, warned its ally that the detonation would harm relations,
but called on the UN to use "positive and appropriate measures."
(AP, 10/10/06)
2006 Oct 10, Cheung Yan (49),
founder and chairwoman of Chinese paper packager Nine Dragons Paper
(Holdings) Ltd., topped a list of China's richest people for the first
time, elbowing past two-time leader Huang Guangyu of GOME Electrical
Appliances and a coterie of CEOs at old-economy government enterprises.
Cheung, born in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province and now a
Los Angeles native, began building her fortune in 1985, when she set up
a waste-paper trading business in Hong Kong.
(Reuters, 10/10/06)
2006 Oct 11, China’s 347 central
committee members ended a 4-day annual meeting. They charted a course
to repair some of the social and environmental damage left by more than
2 decades of economic growth and approved a document on building a
harmonious China by 2020.
(WSJ, 10/12/06, p.A8)(Econ, 10/21/06, p.51)
2006 Oct 16, In northern China a
fire in a coal mine trapped 28 miners.
(AP, 10/16/06)
2006 Oct 17, A Chinese court ruled
that journalist Yang Xiaoqing was exempt from serving the remainder of
his sentence but would not overturn the lower court's conviction.
Xiaoqing, convicted of extortion for exposing local corruption, was
released on bail last month.
(AP, 10/21/06)
2006 Oct 19, China stepped up its
diplomatic efforts with North Korea, sending a personal message and a
gift from the Chinese president to the North's leader Kim Jong Il as
Washington appealed for cooperation by Asian powers on U.N. sanctions
for Pyongyang's nuclear test.
(AP, 10/19/06)
2006 Oct 20, China’s state press
said the estuaries of China's two greatest rivers, the Yangtze and the
Yellow, have been declared dead zones by the UN due to high amounts of
pollutants. The leading People's Daily reported that it would take at
least 200 years to clean up the Bohai Sea, even if no more sewage was
poured into it. Beijing published a 5-year plan for economic and
bureaucratic reforms in the capital.
(AFP, 10/20/06)(Econ, 10/28/06, p.50)
2006 Oct 22, A half-mile section
of China's Yellow River turned "red and smelly" after an unknown
discharge was poured into it from a sewage pipe in Lanzhou, a city of 2
million people in western Gansu province.
(AP, 10/23/06)
2006 Oct 24, Liu Jianchao, Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman, said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il did
not apologize for his regime's nuclear test, as some South Korean media
had reported, but is willing to return to six-party talks under certain
conditions.
(AP, 10/24/06)
2006 Oct 25, French President
Jacques Chirac and a delegation of French executives traveled to China
in hopes of expanding trade with one of the world's largest economies.
(AP, 10/25/06)
2006 Oct 26, A foreign monitoring
group said as many as 10,000 college students fought with Chinese
police in four days of protests over their academic status, damaging
cars and buildings and leaving at least 20 people injured. An
overturned truck spilled 33 tons of toxic oil into a river in northern
Shanxi province. The spill flowed into the Yangjiapo reservoir,
contaminating 70 million cubic feet of water. Water supplies to 28,000
people were cut following the spill.
(AP, 10/26/06)(AP, 11/1/06)
2006 Oct 26, China’s state
controlled Citic Group said it has reached an agreement to buy an oil
field in Kazakhstan from Canada’s nations Energy for $1.9 billion.
(WSJ, 10/27/06, p.A10)
2006 Oct 27, China’s biggest bank,
the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, went public and raised a
record $19.1 billion with an option to increase to $21.9 billion. The
previous IPO record was in 1998 by NIT DoCoMo for $18.4 billion.
(SFC, 10/28/06, p.C1)
2006 Oct 27, French President
Jacques Chirac called for closer ties with China in telecommunications,
nuclear power and other fields after Airbus's decision to open a
Chinese aircraft assembly line.
(AP, 10/27/06)
2006 Oct 28, An explosion inside a
western China coal mine trapped and killed 14 miners and burned six
others.
(AP, 10/28/06)
2006 Oct 29, China rocketed a
domestically produced communications satellite into orbit to provide
wider and more advanced television services across the country.
(AP, 10/29/06)
2006 Oct 30, Nigeria and China
signed a 8.3 billion dollar contract for the construction of a railway
line from the economic capital Lagos to Kano, the largest commercial
city in the north.
(AFP, 10/30/06)
2006 Oct 31, China's legislature
barred all but the nation's highest court from approving death
sentences, a move that state media called the country's biggest change
to capital punishment in more than 20 years. In northwest Gansu
province gas exploded in a coal mine, killing about 20 miners.
(AP, 10/31/06)
2006 Oct 31, Scientists reported
that the Fujian-strain of H5N1 avian influenza has become dominant in
southern China.
(SFC, 10/31/06, p.A2)
2006 Oct, China’s trade surplus
rose to a record $23.8 billion.
(Econ, 11/11/06, p.9)
2006 Nov 1, An ammonia gas leak in
central China killed one person, injured six and forced the evacuation
of about 20,000 residents. Ammonia gas leaked out of a broken pipe at a
chemical fertilizer factory in the Dawu county of Hubei province.
(AP, 11/1/06)
2006 Nov 2, Russia and China
indicated that they will not support a draft UN resolution imposing
tough sanctions on Iran for its refusal to halt its nuclear enrichment
program.
(AP, 11/2/06)
2006 Nov 3, Leaders of more than
40 African nations converged on Beijing for a summit at which China
will seek to bolster its influence on the resource-rich but
economically backward continent.
(Reuters, 11/3/06)
2006 Nov 4, China launched a
sweeping effort to expand its access to Africa's oil and markets,
pledging billions of dollars in aid and loans as dozens of leaders from
the world's poorest continent opened a conference aimed at building
economic ties. President Hu Jintao said China will offer $5 billion in
loans and credits, and double aid to Africa by 2009.
(AP, 11/4/06)(Reuters, 11/4/06)
2006 Nov 5, China and Africa ended
an unprecedented summit, signing deals worth $1.9 billion and pledging
to boost trade and development between the world's fastest-growing
economy and its poorest continent. The leaders of China and 48 African
nations pledged to form a new strategic partnership aimed at deepening
their political and economic ties.
(AFP, 11/5/06)
2006 Nov 5, A gas blast in
northern China killed 47 miners at the Jiaojiazhai mine in Shanxi
province's Xinzhou city.
(AP, 11/16/06)
2006 Nov 6, China's relations with
Zimbabwe are "unshakeable", President Hu Jintao said as he met Pres.
Mugabe amid accusations that Beijing's ties help shore up a pariah
regime.
(AFP, 11/6/06)
2006 Nov 7, China and Egypt agreed
to co-operate on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, state media said,
in a development that could rile the United States, a traditional Cairo
ally.
(AFP, 11/8/06)
2006 Nov 8, Indonesian troops
found detonators and 63 tons of explosive powder on a Chinese ship
anchored off Batam island after it broke down in the Malacca Strait.
(AP, 11/8/06)
2006 Nov 9, In southern China
police armed with shields, clubs and attack dogs fired tear gas on
thousands of villagers protesting what they called a land grab by
officials of Sanzhou village in Guangdong province.
(AP, 11/10/06)
2006 Nov 10, Chinese central bank
governor Zhou Xiaochuan said China will diversify its $1 trillion
foreign exchange reserves across different currencies and investment
instruments, including in emerging markets. In southwest China about
2,000 people mobbed a hospital in Guang'an City where a young boy died
after his grandfather was sent away to raise money for the child's
treatment. At least 10 people were injured in fighting with police.
(AP, 11/10/06)(AP, 11/12/06)
2006 Nov 10, Asian nations reached
their first international agreement to implement what has been dubbed
the "Iron Silk Road." Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia,
Iran, Kazakhstan, Laos, Russia, South Korea, Turkey and seven other
nations agreed to meet at least every two years to identify vital rail
routes, coordinate standards and financing and plan upgrades and
expansions, among other measures. The UN first conceived the
Trans-Asian Railway Network in 1960.
(AP, 11/10/06)
2006 Nov 11, In Beijing, China,
demonstrators angry at a crackdown on dogs staged a noisy protest,
decrying police killings of dogs and new limits on pet ownership.
(AP, 11/11/06)
2006 Nov 12, In southwest China 8
miners had died in a coal mine flood in Guizhou province. In northern
China 34 miners were killed by an explosion in a coal mine in Shanxi
province.
(AP, 11/16/06)
2006 Nov 13, The China Daily
reported that Zhou Shengxian, the head of China’s State Environmental
Protection Administration (SEPA), said that the degradation of China's
environment is reaching a critical point where health and social
stability are under threat. (AFP, 11/13/06)(AP,
11/15/06)
2006 Nov 13, The commander of the
US Pacific Fleet began a visit to China in a trip aimed at
strengthening ties between the two navies and gaining insight into the
Asian power's military buildup.
(AP, 11/13/06)
2006 Nov 14, China’s ambassador to
India set off a flap by reaffirming claim to India’s northeastern
Arunachal Pradesh state on the eve of President Hu Jintao’s visit to
new Delhi.
(WSJ, 11/15/06, p.A1)(Econ, 11/18/06, p.43)
2006 Nov 14, US Commerce Secretary
Carlos Gutierrez urged Beijing to toughen a crackdown on pirated goods
and other copyright infringements, saying failure to do so could fuel
an American backlash against trade with China.
(AP, 11/14/06)
2006 Nov 15, China said that it
and India must make "mutual compromises" on the "disputed" issue of
Arunachal Pradesh, and that it was ready to do so.
(www.hindu.com/2006/11/16/stories/2006111605831200.htm)
2006 Nov 16, Citigroup in a
consortium with IBM, China Life, State Grid and Citic Trust signed an
agreement to take control of Guangdong Development Bank.
(www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/11/17/2088082.htm)(Econ, 11/18/06, p.80)
2006 Nov 16, Juang Jiefu, China’s
Deputy Health Minister, acknowledged that human organs used in
transplants have been taken from executed prisoners and that foreign
recipients have paid large sums to avoid a long wait.
(SFC, 11/18/06, p.A1)
2006 Nov 18, In southern China
police in Dongzhou dispersed a crowd and freed 8 hostages held captive
for a week by villagers angry about the detention of a local activist.
In eastern China a stampede on a stairwell killed six children and
injured 11 at Tutang Middle School in Jiangxi province's Duchang County.
(AP, 11/18/06)(AP, 11/19/06)
2006 Nov 19, President Bush in
Vietnam sought Chinese President Hu Jintao's help on dual fronts,
aiming to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions and encourage the
Chinese people to buy more US goods. Pacific Rim leaders urged North
Korea to take concrete steps to live up to its commitments to stop
developing nuclear weapons.
(AP, 11/19/06)
2006 Nov 20, China’s Pres. Hu
Jintao arrived in New Delhi for the second visit by a Chinese president.
(AP, 11/20/06)
2006 Nov 21, In northeastern China
a bus carrying primary school students plunged off a bridge, killing
eight of the children and injuring 39.
(AP, 11/21/06)
2006 Nov 22, China reported that
the number of HIV/AIDS cases is nearly 30% higher than for all of last
year, with intravenous drug use as the biggest source of infection.
(AP, 11/22/06)
2006 Nov 23, China’s state media
reported government plans to spend about $250 billion extending the
country's expressways to deal with a surge in car ownership over the
next three decades.
(AP, 11/23/06)
2006 Nov 23, Chinese President Hu
Jintao received a red carpet welcome to Pakistan on a trip aimed at
expanding economic ties with Beijing's longtime ally, including signing
a free trade agreement between the two countries.
(AP, 11/23/06)
2006 Nov 23, In India a Tibetan
activist protesting against Chinese rule in the Himalayan region set
himself on fire outside a hotel where China's president was staying. An
official later said the activist was not seriously injured.
(AP, 11/23/06)
2006 Nov 24, China signed a
five-year free trade pact with Pakistan, promised to continue joint
development of nuclear energy, and pledged to play a "constructive"
role in resolving disputes between Pakistan and neighboring rival India.
(AP, 11/24/06)
2006 Nov 26, In China construction
of the $3.7 billion Xiangjiaba project formally began. Completion was
set for 2015. The 6-gigawatt project Xiangjiaba dam on the upper
reaches of the Yangtze River and the nearby 12.6-gigawatt Xiluodu dam
together are expected to match or exceed the capacity of the Three
Gorges dam. An explosion triggered by a gas buildup in a coal mine in
northern China killed 24 miners at the Luweitan Coal Mine in Linfen,
Shanxi province.
(AP, 11/27/06)
2006 Nov 28, Beijing’s
environmental protection agency reported that water from the Guanting
reservoir, Beijing's fourth-largest drinking source, was not fit for
human consumption or irrigation during the month of October.
(AFP, 11/29/06)
2006 Nov 29, The Texas-based China
Aid Association said in a statement 3 leaders of the Three Grade
Servant church had been put to death in northeast China's Heilongjiang
province over the past week. It said another 12 members of the
congregation had also been previously executed, bringing the total
number to 15. The case involved accusations that the Three Grade
Servant Church was involved in the murder of members of another
Christian cult, the Eastern Lightning.
(AP, 11/29/06)
2006 Nov, In China a painting by
Liu Xiaodong, one of the so-called cynical realists, was auctioned in
Beijing for $2.7 million, the highest price ever paid for a work by a
contemporary Chinese artist.
(Econ, 1/13/07, p.66)
2006 Nov, Zhou Zhengyi, a Shanghai
business tycoon, was arrested amidst the corruption probe involving the
city’s pension system. He had been released from prison in May, 2006,
following a fraud and stock manipulation case in 2003.
(WSJ, 12/11/06, p.B8)
2006 Nov, Swiss-based Novartis,
the world’s 4th largest pharmaceutical company, announced plans to
invest $100 million in a new research facility in Shanghai.
(Econ, 11/11/06, p.72)
2006 Dec 1, Chinese courts
rejected an appeal from Zhao Yan, the NY Times researcher who reported
on official corruption and peasant rights before he joined the
newspaper. They upheld the four-year prison term of activist Chen
Guangcheng, who documented cases of forced abortions.
(AP, 12/1/06)
2006 Dec 2, China’s Xinhua news
said underground water reserves in around 9 out of every 10 Chinese
cities are polluted or over-exploited, and could take hundreds of years
to recover.
(AP, 12/2/06)
2006 Dec 4, China’s state media
said Ying Fuming, a manager at the Fanchang Grease Factory in Taizhou
in east China, has been arrested for using grease from swill, sewage,
pesticides and recycled industrial oil to make lard for human
consumption. 6 children died of possible food poisoning at a boarding
school at the school in Nanyao, a village in northern Shanxi province.
(AP, 12/4/06)(AP, 12/6/06)
2006 Dec 7, Gao Qinrong (51), a
Chinese journalist jailed in 1998 after exposing government corruption,
was released 5 years early for good behavior. He maintained that he was
innocent and that he would continue trying to clear his name.
(AP, 12/12/06)(AP, 12/20/06)
2006 Dec 8, China launched its
Fengyun-2D weather satellite. Its priority mission was forecasting
weather for the 2008 Olympics.
(Econ, 12/16/06, p.42)
2006 Dec 11, China's banking
industry officially opened to full foreign competition, a landmark for
the country's financial sector and a day of reckoning for the country's
mostly state-owned banks.
(AP, 12/9/06)
2006 Dec 12, China’s state press
reported that Liu Zhihua (57), a former Beijing vice mayor in charge of
2008 Olympic construction projects, was ousted from the ruling
Communist Party for graft and faces judicial prosecution.
(AFP, 12/12/06)
2006 Dec 13, An international
expedition declared that a rare, nearly blind white dolphin that
survived for millions of years, is effectively extinct after ending a
fruitless six-week search of its Yangtze River habitat.
(AP, 12/13/06)
2006 Dec 14, Cisco Systems Inc.
announced a $50 million investment in the newly public China
Communications Services Corporation Ltd., making the US
network-equipment maker the largest foreign investor in CCS.
(AP, 12/14/06)
2006 Dec 16, US-based Westinghouse
Electric Co. won a two-year battle for a multibillion-dollar nuclear
power deal with China, edging out French and Russian rivals. Stephen
Tritch, Westinghouse Electric Co. President and CEO, said the four
plant deal was a multi-billion dollar one, but gave no specifics. Past
estimates put the deal at $8 billion.
(AP, 12/16/06)
2006 Dec 18, China’s state
television said China plans to keep an "absolute ability to control"
seven key sectors including oil and telecoms, even as it tries to
expose its creaking state-owned firms to the rigors of a market economy.
(AP, 12/18/06)
2006 Dec 18, Verizon
Communications Inc. said it and five Asian telecom companies will build
a $500 million undersea optical cable linking the United States and
China to boost communications capacity by more than 60 times.
(AP, 12/18/06)
2006 Dec 22, In China the first
talks on North Korea's nuclear program since the communist nation
tested an atomic device ended without an agreement on disarmament or a
date for further negotiations.
(AP, 12/22/06)
2006 Dec 23, The UN Security
Council voted unanimously to impose sanctions on Iran for refusing to
suspend uranium enrichment. The Security Council resolution ordered all
countries to stop supplying Iran with materials and technology that
could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs. It also froze the
Iranian assets of 10 key companies and 12 individuals related to those
programs. Iran denounced the sanctions. China’s endorsement was an
important symbolic act.
(AP, 12/24/06)(Econ, 1/13/07, p.37)
2006 Dec 24, China’s state media
announced that Du Shicheng, a top Communist Party official in the
eastern province of Shandong, had been fired for misconduct.
(AP, 12/24/06)
2006 Dec 26, Chinese and Japanese
history scholars met for the first in a series of government-mandated
study groups aimed at smoothing over differences between the Asian
powers on historical issues.
(AP, 12/26/06)
2006 Dec 27, China’s state media
reported that temperatures in China will rise significantly in coming
decades and water shortages will worsen, citing the government's first
national assessment of global climate change.
(AFP, 12/27/06)
2006 James Kynge authored “China
Shakes the World: The Rise of a Hungry Nation.”
(Econ, 4/22/06, p.80)
2006 China commenced the building
of an eco-city called Dongtan at the northern boundary of Shanghai on
the island of Chongming at mouth of the Yangzi River. The 1st phase,
expected to be completed in 2010, would accommodate 25,000 people. The
British engineering firm Arup helped in the design. Chen Liangyu,
Shanghai Communist Party chief, was a big promoter, but was sacked and
later convicted for property-related corruption. In 2009 construction
on the development was put on hold.
(Econ, 9/23/06, TQ p.20)(Econ, 3/21/09, p.44)
2006 In China the annual income
per person passed $2,000 and demand for natural resources began to grow
at a faster pace.
(Econ, 3/15/08, SR p.21)
2006 China overtook Japan to
become the world’s 4th largest spender of defense, after American,
Britain and France.
(Econ, 6/30/07, p.32)
2006 China’s trade surplus with
the US increased to $233 billion this year, accounting for almost 30%
of America’s total deficit.
(Econ, 5/19/07, p.73)
2006 In China more than 800 senior
officials were convicted this year of embezzlement, bribery and
dereliction of duty.
(WSJ, 3/21/07, p.A16)
2006 China exported 75,000
vehicles this year to over 100 countries.
(Econ, 11/25/06, p.63)
2006 Official reckoning of deaths
on China’s roads numbered some 89,000 this year.
(Econ, 2/16/08, p.32)
2006 China said 4,750 people died
in mine accidents this year, an average of 13 a day.
(AP, 3/28/07)
2006 Employees at a Chinese owned
copper mine in Chambisi, Zambia, were sprayed with gunfire while
protesting working conditions.
(WSJ, 2/2/07, p.A1)
2006 Amnesty Int’l. counted 2,790
people sentenced to death in China and 1,010 executed.
(Econ, 1/12/08, p.36)
2006 Foreign ministers of Brazil,
Russia, India and China began annual meeting as a group. In 2001 Jim
O’Neill of Goldman Sachs coined the acronym BRIC to describe these 4
developing countries.
(Econ, 4/17/10,
p.64)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRIC)
2007 Jan 1, China’s government
began requiring all companies listed on the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock
markets to prepare their accounts according to Int’l. Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS). The initial decision had been made in Nov
2005. New rules came into effect that allowed foreign reporters to go
more or less where they pleased.
(Econ, 1/13/07, p.13, 63)(Econ, 1/20/07, p.18)
2007 Jan 1, Li Zhaoxing, China's
foreign minister, signed a string of accords in Benin as part of a
whistle-stop tour of seven African nations as Beijing bolsters economic
ties on the continent. From Benin Li flew to Equatorial Guinea ahead of
visits in the coming days to Guinea-Bissau, Chad, the Central African
Republic, Eritrea and Botswana.
(AFP, 1/2/07)
2007 Jan 2, China's foreign
minister continued his whistle-stop African tour in Equatorial Guinea,
where he cancelled debt, promised aid and opened a new Chinese-built
media centre.
(AP, 1/2/07)
2007 Jan 3, It was reported that
more than a million Chinese die each year of smoking related diseases.
The toll was expected to double by 2025. A roadside bomb in southern
China killed two children who found the explosive wrapped in a package
and began playing with it in Shenzhen.
(WSJ, 1/3/07, p.A1)(AP, 1/4/07)
2007 Jan 3, China's Foreign
Minister Li Zhaoxing arrived in the central African nation of
Guinea-Bissau for cooperation talks. His 7-nation tour reflected
Chinese interest in Africa.
(AP, 1/4/07)
2007 Jan 5, Chinese police raided
an alleged terrorist camp in a western mountain region near the border
with Pakistan, killing 18 suspects and arresting 17 at a training camp
run by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). Critics accused
Beijing of using claims of terrorism as an excuse to crack down on
peaceful pro-independence sentiment and expressions of Uighur identity.
(AP, 1/8/07)
2007 Jan 5, Chinese Foreign
Minister Li Zhaoxing met with Pres. Bozize of the Central African
Republic. Zhaoxing was set to sign a series of accords as part of
seven-nation tour highlighting China's increasing interest in the
African continent.
(AFP, 1/5/07)
2007 Jan 5, Australia’s Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer said Australia and China have ratified a
nuclear agreement clearing the way for the export of uranium to feed
Beijing's giant nuclear power program.
(AFP, 1/5/07)
2007 Jan 5, In southern Nigeria
gunmen kidnapped five Chinese workers fixing overhead telephone lines.
(AP, 1/5/07)
2007 Jan 6, China unveiled its
Jian-10 multi-role indigenous fighter jet, marking a "historic leap
forward" and narrowing a technological gap with major military powers.
(AP, 1/6/07)
2007 Jan 7, Staff at a logistics
company in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province, found a human
torso in a box seeping blood but marked as carrying medicine. Two days
later, police in Beijing and Jiangyin, in eastern Jiangsu province,
found a man's head and arms. On Jan 15 state media said Chinese police
have detained a man and a woman suspected of killing a man and posting
his body parts to three different cities.
(Reuters, 1/15/07)
2007 Jan 7, The North American
Int’l. Auto Show opened in Detroit. China’s Changfeng Group Co., made
its first appearance at the international auto show in Detroit, Mich.
China numbered over 100 automakers and industry consolidation was
expected.
(Econ, 1/6/07, p.54)(WSJ, 1/3/07, p.B1)
2007 Jan 9, Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert arrived in China for a visit centered around boosting trade
ties and discussions on Iran's nuclear program.
(AP, 1/9/07)
2007 Jan 10, China said 2006 its
global trade surplus jumped nearly 75% from the previous year to a
record $177.5 billion. Lan Chengzhang, who worked for the China Trade
News, was beaten while visiting a mine in Hunyuan county in the
northern province of Shanxi and died of an apparent brain hemorrhage
the next day. His death sparked a media outcry and a police
investigation. On June 27 the Intermediate People's Court of Linfen
city in Shanxi province convicted Hou Zhenrun, the head of a small
unlicensed mine outside the northern city of Datong, for organizing a
gang of five men to beat reporter. Zhenrun sentenced to life in prison.
The five men who beat the reporters received jail terms of 5-15 years.
A sixth was sentenced to a year in jail for harboring the suspects.
(AP, 1/10/07)(Reuters, 1/17/07)(AP, 6/28/07)
2007 Jan 10, Israeli PM Ehud
Olmert, midway through an official visit to Beijing, said he received a
candid assurance from China that it opposes Iran having a nuclear
arsenal.
(AP, 1/10/07)
2007 Jan 11, China destroyed its
Feng Yun 1-C, an aging weather satellite launched in 1999, with a
ballistic missile 537 miles above the Earth. The impact created about
28% of the junk currently floating in space. The US halted such tests
in 1985 for fear of creating debris deadly to spacecraft.
(WSJ, 1/19/07, p.A1)(Econ, 1/27/07, p.38)(Econ,
1/19/08, p.26)
2007 Jan 11, Israeli PM Ehud
Olmert ended a visit to China after talks with Chinese leaders on
Iran's nuclear program and efforts to boost trade and economic ties.
(AP, 1/11/07)
2007 Jan 12, State media said
China will have 30 million more men of marriageable age than women in
less than 15 years as a gender imbalance resulting in part from the
country's tough one-child policy becomes more pronounced. In northern
China an underground gas explosion struck the Niuxinhui Coal Mine in
the province of Shanxi killing 13 people with 9 injured. Police in
southern China arrested 10 farmers in Botang in the impoverished region
of Guangxi embroiled in a dispute with a paper mill over pollution they
say is killing their crops and fouling their water sources.
(AP, 1/12/07)(AP, 1/13/07)(AP, 1/26/07)
2007 Jan 12, China and Russia
blocked the Security Council from demanding an end to political
repression and human rights violations in military-ruled Myanmar,
rejecting a resolution proposed by the United States. South Africa
sided with China and Russia.
(AP, 1/13/07)(Econ, 1/27/07, p.47)
2007 Jan 15, Bo Yibo (b.1908), one
of China's first Communist revolutionaries and a member of the post-Mao
circle of leaders known as the "eight immortals," died in Beijing.
(AFP, 1/16/07)
2007 Jan 16, Canadian Trade
Minister David Emerson signed a technology deal with China, on a visit
aimed at reinvigorating relations with the Asian superpower that have
been dented by Canada's blunt talk on human rights.
(Reuters, 1/16/07)
2007 Jan 16, Chinese search engine
Baidu.com and EMI Music launched an Internet venture that will let
users listen to streaming music for free, adding to Baidu's growing
entertainment business.
(AP, 1/16/07)
2007 Jan 17, In Nigeria rebels
released 5 Chinese telecommunications workers and an Italian oil worker
abducted in the southern delta region.
(AP, 1/18/07)
2007 Jan 18, In China hundreds of
riot police clashed with villagers protesting against an alleged land
grab by officials in the southern province of Guangdong.
(AP, 1/19/07)
2007 Jan 18, The United States
criticized China for conducting an anti-satellite weapons test in which
an old Chinese weather satellite was destroyed by a ballistic missile
on Jan 11.
(AP, 1/18/07)
2007 Jan 23, China Central
Television banned all images and spoken references to pigs in order to
avoid offending Muslims. The Year of the Pig was set to begin in
February.
(WSJ, 1/25/07, p.A1)
2007 Jan 25, China reported that
its sizzling economy grew at 10.7% in 2006, its fastest rate in a
decade, as the government struggled to contain the strains of an
export-driven boom.
(AP, 1/25/07)
2007 Jan 25, In southern Nigeria
gunmen stormed the local offices of a major Chinese oil company,
abducting seven Chinese employees and stealing a large amount of cash.
(AP, 1/25/07)
2007 Jan 26, China’s state media
said police in northern China have detained three men for the deaths of
two women last year whose corpses were sold as "ghost brides" to
accompany dead men in the afterlife. The ghost bride tradition, called
"minghun" or afterlife marriage, is common in the Loess Plateau region
of northern China.
(AP, 1/26/07)
2007 Jan 27, In China a gas
explosion in the Yile Coal Mine in the southern town of Shuitang in
Guizhou province killed at least 15 miners.
(AP, 1/29/07)
2007 Jan 30, China’s Pres. Hu
Jintao set out on an eight-nation tour of Africa. Foreign ministry
spokeswoman Jiang Yu said: “On the arms exports to Africa, China takes
a cautious and responsible attitude.”
(AP, 1/30/07)(AFP, 1/30/07)
2007 Jan 31, Chinese President Hu
Jintao arrived in Cameroon to begin his second African tour to boost
ties with a continent that has many of the oil and commodity reserves
the Asian giant needs for its ballooning economy.
(Reuters, 1/31/07)
2007 Jan 31, Canada's former
Secretary of State for the Asia Pacific region David Kilgour and human
rights lawyer David Matas released a report saying China's military is
harvesting organs from prison inmates, mostly Falungong practitioners,
for large scale transplants including for foreign recipients.
(AFP, 1/31/07)
2007 Jan, Song Tiantang was
arrested and confessed to killing 6 women and selling their bodies to
buyers of ghost brides. In the late 1990s he had been arrested for
supplying the ghost bride market by just robbing graves.
(Econ, 7/28/07, p.44)
2007 Feb 1, China’s Pres. Hu
Jintao arrived in Liberia. He held talks with Liberian Pres. Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf and address the parliament, before meeting some 500
Chinese peacekeepers. Jintao was also due to visit Sudan, Zambia,
Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and the Seychelles during his 12-day
tour.
(AP, 2/1/07)
2007 Feb 1, Zhengzhou city
authorities put Gao Yaojie under house arrest to stop her from
traveling to Washington to be honored by a charity backed by Sen.
Hillary Clinton. The retired Chinese doctor helped expose blood-buying
schemes that infected thousands with HIV.
(AP, 2/4/07)
2007 Feb 2, Chinese President Hu
Jintao offered Sudan assistance for the peaceful resolution of the
Darfur conflict but ignored Western pressure to make future aid
conditional on the progress made. Jintao agreed on closer economic
cooperation with Sudan after sealing talks with a series of trade
agreements. Jintao told Sudan's leader he must give the United Nations
a bigger role in trying to resolve the conflict in Darfur.
(AFP, 2/2/07)
2007 Feb 2, A mine explosion in
China’s Henan province killed 24 coal miners at the Xing'an coal mine.
Newspapers later reported that mining officials had said that seven
miners had died in the blast, and that mine owner Fu Faming ordered
miners back into the shaft to seal it with earth in an attempt to bury
evidence of the deaths.
(AP, 2/10/07)
2007 Feb 3, Chinese President Hu
Jintao brought his eight-nation African tour to Zambia, a copper-rich
country where China's growing clout has prompted charges of
exploitation and emerged as a volatile political issue.
(AP, 2/3/07)
2007 Feb 3, In southern China a
tour bus traveling in the wrong lane on a highway plowed into an
oncoming bus in Hechi, killing 13 passengers and injuring 75.
(AP, 2/4/07)
2007 Feb 4, In eastern China a
fire swept through a two-story building of shops and apartments,
killing at least 17 people in Zhejiang province's Taizhou city.
(AP, 2/4/07)
2007 Feb 4, In Zambia China’s
President Hu Jintao pledged $800 million in investments, debt
write-offs and a "showcase" free trade zone as he ended a tour there.
Beijing's economic juggernaut has sparked tensions in Zambia.
(AFP, 2/4/07)
2007 Feb 5, China’s president Hu
Jintao brought his eight-nation African tour to Namibia, a sparsely
populated, mineral-rich desert country that hopes to benefit from an
influx of Chinese investment and tourists.
(AP, 2/5/07)
2007 Feb 6, China’s President Hu
Jintao vowed to forge a partnership of equals with South Africa as he
held talks with his counterpart Thabo Mbeki.
(AP, 2/6/07)
2007 Feb 7, In South Africa Chin’s
President Hu Jintao promised to increase imports from Africa,
responding to fears about the trade deficit that increased as China
pumped unprecedented aid, investment and loans into the poor but
resource-rich continent.
(AP, 2/7/07)
2007 Feb 7, In central China an
overcrowded passenger vehicle returning from a wedding party plunged
off a cliff, killing 16 members of an extended family.
(AP, 2/8/07)
2007 Feb 8, State media said
officials in eastern China plan to name and shame rich families who
ignore the country's strict one-child policy and simply pay the fine
for having a second or third baby. China executed Ismail Semed, an
ethnic Muslim and member of the Uighur minority group in Xinjiang, for
alleged separatist activities. Human rights groups condemned because
they said the prosecution's case against him lacked evidence and his
confession may have been coerced.
(AP, 2/8/07)(AP, 2/9/07)
2007 Feb 8, China’s President Hu
Jintao arrived in Mozambique on the penultimate stop in his 8-nation
African tour.
(AFP, 2/8/07)
2007 Feb 9, China’s state Food and
Drug Administration vowed to probe up to 170,000 medicines produced by
manufacturers, which allegedly bribed its sacked head Zheng Xiaoyu for
production licenses. The top drug safety official was being
investigated for bribery after a number of deaths and scandals were
linked to shoddy medicines.
(AFP, 2/9/07)
2007 Feb 9, In China envoys to
international talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program
struggled to find a compromise as differences emerged over a Chinese
proposal on how to begin the disarmament process.
(AP, 2/9/07)
2007 Feb 12, China's General
Administration of Customs said surging trade surplus jumped 67% in
January from the same month last year to $15.88 billion.
(AP, 2/12/07)
2007 Feb 13, Gan Yisheng, a senior
party discipline and oversight official, said nearly 100,000 members of
China's ruling Communist Party were punished last year for corruption,
and that eradicating graft in the near future remains a huge challenge.
A Chinese business executive was sentenced to death for swindling $385
million from investors in a bogus ant-breeding scheme. Wang Zhendong,
chairman of Yingkou Donghua Trading Group Co., had promised returns of
up to 60% for buying kits of ants and breeding equipment.
(AFP, 2/13/07)(AP, 2/15/07)
2007 Feb 13, In Geneva the US
clashed with China and Russia during a disarmament debate over how to
prevent an arms race in outer space, and Washington criticized Beijing
for its recent test of an anti-satellite missile. Russia and China, in
turn, condemned the "one state" that refuses to consider a treaty
banning space weapons, a reference to the US.
(AP, 2/13/07)
2007 Feb 18, The Chinese flocked
to temples, parks and Disneyland to pray, play, eat, and celebrate the
first day of the Lunar New Year, ushering in the Year of the Pig. The
celebrations extended to March 4.
(AP, 2/18/07)(WSJ, 3/3/07, p.A1)
2007 Feb 23, It was reported that
China had established clinics to treat teens addicted to the Internet.
(SFC, 2/23/07, p.A16)
2007 Feb 26, China’s state media
said falling water levels in the Yangtze River have left 1 million
people short of drinking water.
(AP, 2/26/07)
2007 Feb 27, In China stocks sold
off sending the Shanghai composite index down 8.8% as rumors circulated
that the government was considering new measures to tame speculation.
The plunge, assisted by order routing problems on the NYSE, led to a
416 point drop in the DJIA.
(SFC, 2/28/07, p.C8)(Econ, 3/3/07, p.11)(Econ,
3/10/07, p.70)
2007 Feb 27, China’s state media
said scientists in eastern China say they have succeeded in controlling
the flight of pigeons with micro electrodes planted in their brains.
(AP, 2/27/07)
2007 Feb 27, DaimlerChrysler AG,
seeking to cut costs and boost sales in North America, said it will
start selling Chinese-made cars in that market and western Europe as it
tries to meet demand for smaller, more economical vehicles.
(AP, 2/27/07)
2007 Feb 28, An official report
said China's population grew by almost 7 million people last year.
China's National Bureau of Statistics said that the country's
population was 1,314,480,000 at the end of 2006, an increase of 6.92
million people. Numbers also showed that China will overtake the US
this year or in 2008 as the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
(AP, 2/28/07)(SFC, 3/5/07, p.A1)
2007 Feb 28, Chinese stocks
recovered following their worst plunge in a decade as regulators
shifted into damage control, denying rumors of plans for a 20 percent
capital gains tax on stock investments. A sandstorm with
hurricane-strength wind gusts derailed a train in the far west, killing
at least four people and injuring another 30.
(AP, 2/28/07)
2007 Feb, China's top leaders
approved a program to build large commercial aircraft, lending crucial
government support to plans to challenge the domination of Boeing and
Airbus in the country's fast-growing aviation market. State-owned China
Aviation Industry Corporation I, or AVIC I, planned to start making
large aircraft by 2020.
(AP, 3/19/07)
2007 Feb, In China the Roewe 750
saloon went on sale. The car was launched as part of a joint venture
between SAIC, a state-owned carmaker, General Motors and Volkswagen.
(Econ, 2/24/07, p.79)
2007 Mar 2, China demanded the
United States scrap a planned sale of hundreds of missiles to Taiwan,
warning the deal would harm regional stability and bilateral ties.
(AFP, 3/2/07)
2007 Mar 2, Scientists scanning
the deep interior of Earth have found evidence of a vast water
reservoir beneath eastern Asia that is at least the volume of the
Arctic Ocean.
(www.livescience.com/environment/070228_beijing_anomoly.html)
2007 Mar 4, China said it will
boost military spending by 17.8% this year, continuing more than a
decade of double-digit annual increases that have raised concerns among
the United States and China's neighbors.
(AP, 3/4/07)
2007 Mar 5, A Tokyo paper said
Japan, the United States and India will carry out a joint military
drill in the Pacific off Japan's coast amid concerns about China's
military build-up.
(AFP, 3/5/07)
2007 Mar 6, An explosion at a coal
mine in south China killed at least 15 workers.
(AP, 3/7/07)
2007 Mar 6, Researchers reported
in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that pollution
from Asia is helping generate stronger storms over the North Pacific,
according to new research. Satellite measurements have shown an
increase in tiny particles generated from coal burning in China and
India in recent decades.
(AP, 3/6/07)
2007 Mar 7, In China a government
directive said all pet dogs will be killed in a district of the
southwestern city of Chongqing as part of an anti-rabies campaign.
Residents of the city's Wanzhou district had until March 15 to hand
over their dogs.
(AP, 3/7/07)
2007 Mar 7, North Korea reported
that it has slaughtered hundreds of cows and pigs after an outbreak of
foot and mouth disease. The report said the sickened cows had been
imported from Tieling, China.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, Chinese lawmakers
formally introduced a hotly debated law to protect private property,
saying that personal wealth in an increasingly prosperous China
requires legal safeguards.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 9, Finance Minister Jin
Renqing said China is creating an investment company to make more
profitable use of its $1 trillion in foreign currency reserves, in a
move that could change the flow of billions of dollars in global
markets.
(AP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 9, Xinhua Finance Media
shares made their debut on the NYSE raising $300 million. Fredy Bush
(49), a US-born entrepreneur, served as CEO of Xinhua Finance Ltd., the
Shanghai-based parent of the US listed company.
(WSJ, 1/7/07, p.A1)
2007 Mar 11, In northeast China 22
miners were confirmed dead and the lives of seven others were feared
lost in a coal mine flood on the previous day. The flood occurred in a
pit belonging to the state-owned Fushun Mining Group in the province of
Liaoning.
(AFP, 3/11/07)
2007 Mar 12, In central China
villagers armed with bricks and rocks continued to clash with
baton-wielding police over rising bus fares and at least 60 people were
injured. A student died from wounds incurred a day earlier.
(AP, 3/13/07)
2007 Mar 15, China expressed "deep
regret" over a US decision to punish a Macau bank for allegedly helping
North Korea launder money, foreshadowing the difficulties of enforcing
an international agreement on the North's nuclear disarmament.
(AP, 3/15/07)
2007 Mar 16, China's legislators
passed a law providing the most sweeping protection for private
businesses and property since the nation's move toward a more
capitalist-style economy beginning in the late 1970s. The legislature
approved a law to end three decades of blanket tax breaks for foreign
investors, raising their rates to match those of Chinese companies.
(AP, 3/16/07)
2007 Mar 17, China's central bank
said it will raise key interest rates by more than a quarter point to
control a surge in bank lending and investment and to prevent consumer
prices from rising. The 0.27% point hike in one-year deposit and
lending benchmark rates will go into effect Mar 18. This was the 3rd
rate hike in a year.
(SSFC, 3/18/07, p.A18)(AP, 3/19/07)
2007 Mar 17, Two cargo ships
collided in the East China Sea, killing at least eight people. The
collision occurred off Zhejiang province between a cargo ship from
China and a Hong Kong-registered vessel. The Hong Kong ship, with 29
crew aboard, sank immediately.
(AP, 3/19/07)
2007 Mar 17, Officials in
Guatemala City said China is seeking to join the Inter-American
Development Bank, Latin America's largest financing institution, as a
way to fuel its economic development and increase its influence in the
region.
(AP, 3/18/07)
2007 Mar 18, In northern China a
coal mine explosion killed 19 with two miners still missing and
presumed dead in a mine in the suburbs of Shanxi province's Jincheng
City.
(AP, 3/21/07)
2007 Mar 20, China approved four
foreign banks to begin local currency services to individual Chinese
customers, opening up access to the country's 30 trillion yuan ($4
trillion; 3 euros trillion) in household savings and surging demand for
credit cards and other financial services.
(AP, 3/20/07)
2007 Mar 26, Chinese President Hu
Jintao arrived in Russia on his third visit as national leader, seeking
energy deals but also offering Moscow business opportunities and
international cooperation as they expand ties.
(Reuters, 3/26/07)
2007 Mar 27, State media said
China will pour billions of dollars into an airport, power plants,
roads and education to help raise the standard of living of Tibetans
over the next three years.
(AP, 3/27/07)
2007 Mar 27, United Commercial
Bank of San Francisco said it had concluded negotiations to
become the sole owner of the Business Development Bank of Shanghai. In
1992 the Business Development Bank of Shanghai was established as
China’s first foreign-owned bank.
(Econ, 4/7/07, p.73)
2007 Mar 28, In northern China an
underground gas explosion killed 26 miners in a coal mine in Linfen
city, Shanxi province. 6 workers were trapped underground after a
subway construction site for the 2008 Beijing Olympics collapsed. Hopes
for their survival were slim.
(AP, 3/29/07)
2007 Mar 30, The Bush
administration, facing heavy pressure to deal with soaring trade
deficits, said it is imposing economic sanctions against China to
protect American paper producers from unfair Chinese government
subsidies.
(AP, 3/30/07)
2007 Apr 1, A knife-wielding
Chinese tour guide injured 20 people in a stabbing-and-slashing spree
at a southwestern resort following an argument over kickbacks on
souvenir sales. Xu Mingchao (25) from the province of Heilongjiang, was
arrested following the incident.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 2, China’s first deadline
for income taxes was extended a few days because of low compliance.
Anyone earning over 120,000 yuan ($15,500) annually was supposed to
file a return. In southwestern China developers tore down a stubborn
couple's house after a three-year standoff that hindered a construction
project and captivated the nation. The couple reportedly negotiated a
deal with the real estate developer that gives them a new apartment and
a sizable compensation package.
(Econ, 4/14/07, p.49)(AP, 4/3/07)(Econ, 4/7/07, p.39)
2007 Apr 3, A state news agency
said China's government has ordered newspapers to stamp out the common
practice of demanding money from people they cover.
(AP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 5, China told banks to
increase their reserves for the third time this year, cutting the
amount of money available for lending in a new effort to cool an
investment boom that Beijing worries could lead to a financial crisis.
Chinese celebrated the annual tomb-sweeping festival, but state media
said soaring funeral costs were leading to people complaining they can
no longer afford to die.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 6, China published new
rules governing human organ transplants in its latest effort to clean
up a business critics say has little regard for medical ethics.
(AP, 4/7/07)
2007 Apr 6, A Chinese delegation
arrived in Sudan's troubled Darfur region for a 4-day visit. They met
officials and visited camps for the internally displaced.
(AP, 4/8/07)
2007 Apr 8, A Chinese ship,
Jinhaikun, and a foreign cargo vessel, Harvest, collided off the east
China coast in Taizhou Bay. 19 Chinese and one Indonesian missing in
the accident were all on the Harvest.
(AP, 4/8/07)
2007 Apr 9, State press reported
that China's farmland is becoming increasingly polluted, with
coal-dependent factories and polluted waterways causing billions of
dollars in damages.
(AFP, 4/9/07)
2007 Apr 9, China urged Sudan to
be more flexible on a plan put forward by former UN chief Kofi Annan to
bolster peacekeeping operations in the war-torn western region of
Darfur.
(AFP, 4/9/07)
2007 Apr 10, China reported a
sharp drop in its politically sensitive trade surplus and angrily
rejected US plans to file a World Trade Organization complaint over
product piracy amid pressure for Beijing to rein in its bulging trade
gap. The US filed two new complaints against China at the WTO over
copyright policy and restrictions on the sale of American movies, music
and books. China missed its deadline for announcing a total tally of
completed tax returns. Officials estimated some 1.6 million filed with
6m-7m required to file.
(AP, 4/10/07)(Econ, 4/14/07, p.49)
2007 Apr 10, In China’s southeast
Guangxi Zhuangzu region thousands of fish were reported killed this
month in a lake near Nanning due to “sharp drops in temperature.”
(SFC, 4/12/07, p.A3)
2007 Apr 11, Japanese and Chinese
leaders heralded a new era of closer ties between the two Asian powers,
moving to repair relations damaged by a harsh dispute over history and
signing accords on energy and environmental protection.
(AP, 4/11/07)
2007 Apr 13, Prominent Chinese
environmental activist Wu Lihong (39) was arrested for alleged
blackmail. Lihong has campaigned for years against the pollution of Tai
Lake which lies in the center of Yangtze Delta plain, a region known
for its natural beauty but littered with polluting light industry and
chemical factories. In August Lihong was sentenced to 3 years in prison
for fraud and blackmail.
(AFP, 4/23/07)(Econ, 5/3/08, p.49)
2007 Apr 14, A Chinese rocket
placed a navigation satellite in orbit as part of an effort to build a
global positioning system.
(AP, 4/14/07)
2007 Apr 16, In southwest China
about 450 people, including 135 school students, were hospitalized
after a fertilizer plant discharged a "huge amount" of sulfur dioxide.
A state-run newspaper said China's massive Yangtze river, a lifeline
for tens of millions of people, is seriously polluted and the damage is
almost irreversible.
(AP, 4/16/07)(AFP, 4/18/07)
2007 Apr 17, In China state media
said Ablikim Abdureyim, the son of a prominent US-based Chinese Muslim
activist, was sentenced in Urumqi, capital of the Muslim Xinjiang
region, to nine years in prison on subversion charges. Abdureyim's
mother, Rebiya Kadeer, once was one of China's most prominent
businesswomen. She was detained in 1999 and sentenced to 8 years in
prison on charges of endangering state security but was allowed to
leave for the United States in 2005.
(AP, 4/17/07)
2007 Apr 18, The futuristic No.
D460 bullet train departed Shanghai Station, heralding a new era of
high-speed rail travel in China. In northeast China at least 32 workers
were killed and two injured when they were engulfed in white-hot molten
steel in a metal factory.
(AFP, 4/18/07)(AP, 4/18/07)(Econ, 5/19/07, p.70)
2007 Apr 19, China jailed Huseyin
Celil (37), a Uighur-Canadian, for life for separatism and terrorism
and warned Canada not to get involved even as Ottawa announced it would
send its foreign minister to discuss the case. Celil was detained in
Uzbekistan in March 2006 when he was visiting relatives and sent to
China last June.
(Reuters, 4/19/07)
2007 Apr 20, Bishop Fu Tieshan
(76), the hard-line chairman of the state-sanctioned Catholic Church,
died. He sparred had with the Vatican over China's insistence on
appointing its own bishops. An upsurge of gas in a coal mine killed 11
miners in the Tao'er Coal Mine in Handan, an industrial city in Hebei
province.
(AP, 4/21/07)(AP, 4/24/07)
2007 Apr 21, A Zimbabwe cabinet
minister said the Chinese government has given Zimbabwe a 58 million
dollars financing facility that will be used to purchase farming
equipment, implements and tools.
(AP, 4/22/07)
2007 Apr 22, Zhou Chunxiu made
history as the first Chinese runner to win the London marathon as she
came home in 2hrs 20min 38sec, finishing ahead of Ethiopia's Gete Wami
and Romanian Constantina Tomescu-Dita.
(AP, 4/22/07)
2007 Apr 23, Chinese, state
television reported that President Hu Jintao has launched a campaign to
rid the country's sprawling Internet of "unhealthy" content and make it
a springboard for Communist Party doctrine.
(AP, 4/23/07)
2007 Apr 23, China’s The Ministry
of Land and Resources said agricultural land in China fell to 121.8
million hectares (300 million acres) by the end of October 2006, a loss
of 306,800 hectares since the start of the year. The ministry said that
heavy metals had contaminated about 13 million tons of grain and that
30.4 million acres is contaminated by pollution.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6582571.stm)(WSJ, 6/30/07,
p.A12)
2007 Apr 24, China's secretive
communist government said it has approved rules boosting official
transparency but added that state secrets have to be safeguarded and
social stability preserved. Eight miners were missing and feared dead
following an explosion in a mine in Handan, an industrial city in Hebei
province.
(AP, 4/24/07)
2007 Apr 24, In Ethiopia Ogaden
rebels raided a Chinese-run oil field near the Somali border, killing
65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese workers. An Ethiopian rebel group
claimed responsibility. The next day Ethiopia blamed Eritrea for the
attack. Eritrea issued a swift, angry denial. In 2008 security forces
arrested eight men suspected of involvement in the deadly raid.
(AP, 4/24/07)(AP, 4/25/07)(WSJ, 4/25/07, p.A1)(AFP,
3/30/08)
2007 Apr 25, China detained four
Americans on Mount Everest after they called for independence for Tibet
and protested the Beijing Olympics. More than 50 children were poisoned
by a kindergarten breakfast in Zhengzhou city in Henan province, in the
latest case highlighting problems in the country's food supply chain.
(AP, 4/25/07)(AP, 4/26/07)
2007 Apr 26, China said it has
banned melamine from food products after the chemical was found in
exports of vegetable protein shipped to the United States, but rejected
it as the cause of dozens of pet deaths in North America.
(AP, 4/26/07)
2007 Apr 26, Ethiopian rebels
holding seven Chinese oil workers captured during an attack this week
on an oil venture in Ethiopia said they would release them "as soon as
possible."
(AP, 4/26/07)
2007 Apr 27, China’s Premier Wen
Jiabao pledged to phase out tax breaks and discounts on land and
electricity for highly polluting industries, saying the country's
environmental situation was grim and required urgent action.
(AP, 4/27/07)
2007 Apr 27, China said it has
expelled five Americans who staged a protest against the Olympics on
Mount Everest to challenge Chinese rule over the mountainous region.
(AP, 4/27/07)
2007 Apr 27, Japan's Supreme Court
upheld a ruling denying compensation to two Chinese women who were
forced to work in military brothels during World War II. The court said
that the women had no right to seek war compensation from Japan because
of a 1972 agreement with China. The top court also overturned a lower
court ruling awarding compensation to five Chinese who were forced to
work for a Japanese construction company during the war.
(AP, 4/27/07)
2007 Apr 28, China's president
called for closer business ties with Taiwan to help squelch the
self-ruled island's pro-independence movement as he met with a former
Taiwanese opposition leader.
(AP, 4/28/07)
2007 Apr 28, China's ZTE signed a
$200 million deal with Ethiopia's state-owned Telecom Corp.
(AFP, 4/30/07)
2007 Apr 29, In China 7 suspects
went on trial in the beating death of a reporter at an illegal coal
mine in northern Shanxi province. Lan Chengzhang was attacked along
with a colleague when they went to interview Hou Zhenrun, the owner of
the small unlicensed coal mine outside the northern city of Datong on
Jan 10. He died the next day from head injuries.
(AP, 4/30/07)
2007 Apr 29, In Ethiopia 7 Chinese
oil workers and two Africans kidnapped during a rebel attack on a
Chinese oil field near the Somali border were released.
(AP, 4/29/07)
2007 Apr 30, In China a manager of
a feed company and one of the chemical's producers said that the mildly
toxic chemical melamine is commonly added to animal feed in China. The
process fraudulently boosts the feed's sales value but risks
introducing the chemical into meat eaten by humans.
(AP, 4/30/07)
2007 May 1, China lashed out at
the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia for restoring diplomatic relations
with Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as Chinese
territory.
(AP, 5/1/07)
2007 May 5, In central China an
explosion at the Pudeng mine, outside of Linfen city, killed 28 miners
and trapped others.
(AP, 5/6/07)(AP, 5/7/07)
2007 May 5, It was reported that
China has 16 of the world’s most polluted cities. The UN said dirty
air caused the premature death of some 400,000 Chinese each year.
(Econ, 5/5/07, SR p.11)
2007 May 7, State media said
China's top family planning body has warned that the country could face
a "population rebound" because the newly rich are ignoring population
control laws and because of early marriages in rural areas. In
southwestern China a bus plunged off a highway, killing 17 people
including three children and injuring 24 others.
(AP, 5/7/07)
2007 May 7, Hong Kong newspapers
reported that an unidentified animal illness has spread in two southern
Chinese cities, infecting at least 1,300 pigs and killing more than
300. The diseased pigs began dying in Gaoyao and Yunfu in Guangdong
province following Chinese New Year celebrations in February. The
illness, which killed at least 300 pigs, was soon identified as a
strain of blue ear disease. Blue ear disease, also called porcine
reproductive and respiratory syndrome, was first identified in the
United States in 1987.
(AP, 5/8/07)(SFC, 5/8/07, p.A17)(AP, 5/10/07)
2007 May 8, Amnesty Int’l. said in
a report that China and Russia are supplying arms to Sudan that are
being used to fuel the violence in the Darfur region in violation of a
UN arms embargo. China and Russia quickly rejected the report and
Sudan's government said it was "not justified." China confirmed it
would send military engineers for a planned UN peacekeeping force to
Sudan's Darfur region.
(AP, 5/8/07)
2007 May 9, China ordered
strengthened controls over its food industry after a series of health
scares with international repercussions laid bare lax standards. A
Beijing court sentenced a man to life in prison for taking nearly
$500,000 in bribes while posing as a reporter, and sometimes a top
editor, for the Communist Party's official newspaper, the People's
Daily.
(AP, 5/9/07)
2007 May 9, Japan's Supreme Court
rejected compensation claims by Chinese victims of atrocities committed
by Japan in the 1930s and 40s, which included the use of biological
weapons and a massacre in the city of Nanjing.
(AP, 5/10/07)
2007 May 10, China, criticized for
not pushing its close ally Sudan to resolve the Darfur crisis, said
that it had appointed a special representative on African affairs to
focus on the issue.
(AP, 5/10/07)
2007 May 10, A US federal jury in
California convicted Chi Mak, a China-born engineer, of passing
submarine data to Beijing.
(WSJ, 5/11/07, p.A1)
2007 May 12, A South Korean cargo
vessel sank after colliding with a Chinese freighter in heavy fog in
waters off northeast China. 16 crew were on board the 3,800-ton Golden
Rose when it sank. The crew of the Chinese ship, the 4,800-ton
JinSheng, were unharmed and returned safely to Dalian.
(AP, 5/13/07)
2007 May 14, A Chinese rocket
blasted a Nigerian communications satellite into orbit, marking an
expansion of China's commercial launching services for foreign space
hardware. The NIGCOMSAT-1 ceased functioning on November 11, 2008, due
to a power failure.
(AP, 5/14/07)(AP, 11/13/08)
2007 May 14, Taiwanese President
Chen Shui-bian named his sixth premier in seven years amid paralysis in
the island's relations with rival China and gridlock in its deeply
divided legislature. The World Health Organization rejected Taiwan's
bid for membership after Chinese officials accused the island of trying
to strengthen its claim to sovereignty.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 16, Zheng Xiaoyu, China's
former top drug regulator, went on trial accused of taking bribes to
approve untested medicine, including an antibiotic that killed at least
10 patients last year before it was taken off the market. Zheng was
fired in 2005 on charges he took up to $780,000 in bribes to approve
medicine that had not been tested to ensure its safety. He was expelled
earlier this year from the ruling Communist Party.
(AP, 5/16/07)
2007 May 17, US lawmakers branded
China and Russia the world's two biggest copyright thieves.
(Reuters, 5/17/07)
2007 May 18, China took steps to
let its currency appreciate faster against the dollar and to cool its
sizzling economy ahead of what are expected to contentious talks in
Washington over Beijing's soaring trade surplus.
(AP, 5/18/07)
2007 May 19, China’s state media
said an outbreak of a viral disease common in children has sickened
almost 900 people in eastern China but the outbreak has been contained.
The outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease began in late April in the
city of Linyi in Shandong province. In southern China thousands of
farmers rioted at a government office in Shabi township, Guangxi
region, after authorities imposed heavy fines on families that had more
children than allowed under the country's family planning policy.
(AP, 5/19/07)(AP, 5/21/07)
2007 May 20, China’s state press
said that pollution and the excessive use of chemicals in foodstuffs
are sending national cancer rates soaring. 20 Chinese women were killed
and 4 injured when a 3-wheeled tractor overturned on a mountain road in
northern Liaoning province.
(AP, 5/20/07)
2007 May 21, A Chinese delegation
led by Vice Premier Wu Yi arrived in the United States for two days of
talks that will spotlight tensions over US trade deficits with the
Asian export giant. A Chinese state fund that is buying a $3 billion
stake in US private equity firm Blackstone Group LP wants to avoid
political backlashes when it makes other investments abroad.
(AP, 5/21/07)
2007 May 22, The US and China
opened a new round of high-level economic talks with the Bush
administration pushing for concrete results and China saying efforts to
politicize trade disagreements would be a mistake.
(AP, 5/22/07)
2007 May 23, China said it was
investigating reports that toothpaste containing a potentially deadly
chemical had been exported to Central America.
(AP, 5/23/07)
2007 May 24, In southern China
residents of Bobai county angrily accused authorities of forcing women
to have abortions and vandalizing homes in a brutal campaign to enforce
birth-control policies. Government "work teams" had raided homes,
carried out mass arrests and levied crippling fines across Guangxi, a
sprawling region near the Vietnam border. Communist Party officials in
Shanghai convened a congress to install a new generation of leaders
following a corruption scandal that toppled the city's top leader. 2
days of heavy rainstorms in southwest China triggered flash floods and
mudslides killed 21 people and left 11 missing.
(AFP, 5/24/07)(AP, 5/24/07)
2007 May 25, Costa Rica health
officials said they have seized more than 350 tubes of Chinese-made
toothpaste tainted with a deadly chemical reportedly found in tubes
sold elsewhere in the world.
(AP, 5/25/07)
2007 May 25, In Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, China and the African Union launched a 150-million-dollar
project to build a new conference centre for the cash-strapped
continental body.
(AFP, 5/25/07)
2007 May 26, In northeast China a
restaurant fire killed 11 staff and diners and injured 16 others. The
fire started in the kitchen and raged through the popular three-story
Baixinglou restaurant in Liaoning province's Chaoyang city.
(AP, 5/27/07)
2007 May 29, Zheng Xiaoyu, China's
former top drug regulator, was sentenced to death in an unusually harsh
punishment for taking bribes to approve substandard medicines,
including an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths.
(AP, 5/29/07)
2007 May 29, China said it will
not be tied to targets on cutting carbon emissions as Europe and Asia
failed to agree at a 40-nation meeting on how to fight global warming.
(AFP, 5/29/07)
2007 May 29, The roof of a newly
built house in Wulanji, a northern Chinese village in Inner Mongolia,
collapsed during a celebration for its completion, killing 16 people
and injuring another 29.
(AP, 5/30/07)
2007 May 30, Chinese stocks
plunged after the government raised a tax on share trades, trying to
cool a market boom amid growing concerns about a possible bubble. The
stamp tax was tripled to 0.3%. The port city of Xiamen announced a
decision to temporarily suspend construction of a petrochemical plant
after nearly a million text messages were sent protesting its
construction.
(AP, 5/30/07)(WSJ, 5/31/07, p.A8)(Econ, 6/2/07, p.82)
2007 May 31, China’s state media
said fast-spreading, foul-smelling blue-green algae smothered Lake Tai
in eastern Jiangsu province, contaminating the drinking water for
millions of people and sparking panic-buying of bottled water.
(AP, 5/31/07)
2007 May 31, Mexico's Televisa
network, known around the world for its soap operas, said it plans to
expand in China, following the lead of taco chains and other Mexican
businesses looking for a slice of the Asian nation's market.
(AP, 5/31/07)
2007 Jun 1, On Children’s Day in
China thousands of people rallied in Xiamen to protest plans for a
Taiwanese-owned chemical factory to make paraxylene, used in polyester.
Thousands marched again the next day
(Econ, 6/23/07, p.48)
2007 Jun 1, The US government
warned consumers to avoid using toothpaste made in China because it may
contain a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze.
(AP, 6/2/07)
2007 Jun 3, A strong earthquake
shook a hilly southwestern Chinese region near the border with Laos,
killing at least three people.
(AP, 6/3/07)
2007 Jun 3, A 19-year-old Chinese
soldier died of the virulent strain of bird flu, the country's 16th
reported death from the virus.
(AP, 6/4/07)
2007 Jun 4, China promised to
better control emissions of greenhouse gases, unveiling a national
program to combat global warming, but rejected mandatory caps on
emissions as unfair to countries still trying to catch up with the
developed West. The government also said it will license no new
Internet cafes this year while regulators carry out an industry-wide
inspection, amid official concern that online material is harming young
people.
(AP, 6/4/07)
2007 Jun 5, China joined Russia in
criticizing a US plan to build a missile defense system in Europe,
saying the system could set off an arms race.
(AP, 6/5/07)
2007 Jun 5, Coca-Cola Co. at the
World Wildlife Foundation's annual meeting in Beijing announced it is
funding a $20 million project to conserve seven major rivers worldwide
and also will revamp its bottling practices to reduce pollution and
water use.
(AP, 6/5/07)
2007 Jun 6, In north China Song
Pingshun (61), head of Tianjin's advisory committee to the national
legislature, died in an apparent suicide amid a probe into alleged
bribe-taking and shady real estate deals by at least three high-level
officials.
(AP, 6/8/07)
2007 Jun 6, President Oscar Arias
announced that Costa Rica has broken diplomatic ties with Taiwan and
established relations with China, delivering a blow to the Asian
island's fragile international standing.
(AP, 6/7/07)
2007 Jun 8, In southern China
thousands of workers, mostly women, at a plastic Christmas tree factory
clashed with police after a 10-day strike.
(AP, 6/9/07)
2007 Jun 9, China said it had
rejected a shipment of pistachios from the US because it contained
ants, the latest indication the government may be retaliating as
Chinese products are turned back from overseas because of safety
concerns. Xinhua news agency said rain storms and floods have killed at
least 40 people across southern China in recent days and made thousands
homeless.
(AP, 6/9/07)(AP, 6/10/07)
2007 Jun 10, A human rights group
issued a report saying China is forcing nomadic Tibetan herders to
settle in towns to clear land for development, leaving many unable to
earn a living.
(AP, 6/10/07)
2007 Jun 10, Sweden’s telecoms
network firm Ericsson signed a framework agreement to provide $1
billion worth of networking equipment to China Mobile Communications
Corp.
(AP, 6/10/07)
2007 Jun 11, Organizers of the
Beijing Olympics threatened to cancel the contracts of companies using
child labor and violating minimum-wage rules to make Olympic-licensed
products. The country's chief veterinarian said Blue ear disease,
blamed for a surge in politically sensitive pork prices, has spread to
22 Chinese provinces and regions. State media said Chinese authorities
are investigating the widespread sale of fake blood protein to
hospitals and pharmacies, a practice that deprives patients of a
crucial medical need.
(AP, 6/11/07)
2007 Jun 11, Yahoo Inc. said China
should not punish people for expressing their political views on the
Internet, a day after the mother of a Chinese reporter announced she
was suing the US company for helping officials imprison her son.
(AP, 6/11/07)
2007 Jun 12, Australian PM John
Howard agreed to meet the Dalai Lama after opponents charged he was
afraid of offending China, drawing an immediate rebuke from Beijing.
The Dalai Lama warned major nations not to try to contain China's
economic and military rise, and urged countries like Australia to use
their trading clout to pressure Beijing on human rights.
(AP, 6/12/07)(Reuters, 6/12/07)
2007 Jun 13, State media said
China’s southern Guangdong province was rushing to shore up dams eroded
by weeks of heavy rains and high waters that already have killed at
least 76 people. State media also reported that Cheng Laifu, a teacher
in northwestern China, has been sentenced to death for raping 18
primary school girls, the second such case in the same area. He was
convicted of raping the 18 third- and fourth-grade students on 70
separate occasions between September 2001 and March 2005. The victims
were 9 and 10. Xinhua News said that in July 2005, Li Guang, also a
teacher in Changhe township, was sentenced to death for raping 23
fourth- and fifth-grade students.
(AP, 6/13/07)(AP, 6/13/07)
2007 Jun 14, Police in Henan
province said they have rescued more than 200 people, including 29
children, who were working as "slaves" in brick kilns, in a shocking
revelation of labor practices in booming China.
(AFP, 6/14/07)
2007 Jun 15, China’s state media
said as many as 1,000 children may have been sold into slave labor in
central China, enduring maiming and brutality in primitive brick kilns,
amid an expanding scandal about official neglect.
(Reuters, 6/15/07)
2007 Jun 16, China’s state media
said that a total of 548 slave laborers have been freed in the past
month from brick kilns and other illegal job sites in central China
where they were starved, beaten and forced to work 14 hours or more per
day.
(AP, 6/16/07)
2007 Jun 18, Researchers reported
that the first skull of the earliest known ancestor of the giant panda
has been discovered in China and estimated to be at least 2 million
years old. The animal, formally known as Ailuropoda microta, or "pygmy
giant panda," would have been about 3 feet long, compared to the modern
giant panda, which averages in excess of five feet.
(AP, 6/18/07)
2007 Jun 19, China’s state media
reported that the worst drought in 30 years in northeast China's
Liaoning province has left more than 1.2 million people short of
drinking water.
(AP, 6/19/07)
2007 Jun 20, China announced a
nationwide crackdown on enslavement and child labor. China's regulatory
standards chief pledged to update and boost enforcement of food safety
rules as the country faces intense international pressure for exporting
unsafe products from toothpaste to pet food ingredients. State media
said floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain have killed 36 more
people and left 13 missing in southwest and central China. A
knife-wielding man slashed four students, wounding one seriously at a
high school in Fuzhou, capital of southeastern Fujian province.
(AP, 6/20/07)(Reuters, 6/20/07)(AP, 6/21/07)
2007 Jun 20, A Dutch
government-funded agency said China has overtaken the United States as
the top emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, because of
surging energy use amid an economic boom. However consumption and
emission levels per head remained a mere fraction of America’s.
(AP, 6/20/07)(Econ, 6/13/09, p.45)
2007 Jun 21, China signed an
agreement to cancel Iraqi debt at a ceremony after a meeting between
Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani.
State media reported no more brightly dyed hair, flashy jewelry or
smoking in public for China's police while they're in uniform.
(AP, 6/21/07)
2007 Jun 22, Chinese investigators
said government labor monitors and police officers were actively
involved in the Chinese brickyard slavery scandal. A provincial
governor apologized as the government stepped up efforts to try to show
it was responding to a growing slave labor scandal.
(AP, 6/22/07)
2007 Jun 26, China launched a $1
billion fund to finance trade and investment by Chinese companies in
Africa as part of efforts to nurture commercial ties. The Chinese
government said inspectors have seized shipments of US-made orange pulp
and dried apricots containing high levels of bacteria and
preservatives. A 22-mile long bridge that its builders claim is the
world's longest sea-crossing structure was formally linked-up just
south of the business hub of Shanghai.
(AP, 6/26/07)
2007 Jun 27, Chinese inspectors,
following a six-month crackdown, said industrial oils, acid,
cancer-causing chemicals and other dangerous ingredients have been
found in thousands of foods. The government said it closed 180 food
manufacturers found to have used industrial chemicals and additives in
food products. A state news agency quoted China's chief auditor saying
auditors have found that officials stole or misused $1.9 billion
in pension funds and other government money. Cases in the latest
investigations stretched back to before 2000.
(AFP, 6/27/07)(AP, 6/27/07)(WSJ, 6/28/07, p.A8)
2007 Jun 28, In Sudan China's No.
1 oil company, CNPC, and Indonesia's PT Pertamina agreed to co-develop
a Sudanese offshore oil block, ignoring international efforts to
isolate Sudan over the crisis in its Darfur region.
(AP, 7/1/07)
2007 Jun 28, The US FDA halted
imports of 5 kinds of farm raised seafood from China after tests
revealed trace amounts of carcinogens and antibiotics.
(SFC, 6/29/07, p.B5)
2007 Jun 29, China enacted law
meant to improve workers' rights, capping a round of unprecedented
legislation by the communist government that included input from
foreign companies and the Chinese public. A French-educated scientist
was named China's health minister, becoming only the 2nd noncommunist
appointed to the Cabinet since the 1970s. Beijing banned ten types of
drugs for exaggerated effectiveness amid rising concerns of fake and
tainted products in China's food and drug supply chains.
(AP, 6/29/07)
2007 Jul 3, The US-made film
"Nanking," documenting eyewitness accounts of atrocities committed by
Japanese troops in China during World War Two, opened in Beijing.
(Reuters, 7/3/07)
2007 Jul 3, China issued
guidelines restricting organ transplants for foreigners, giving
priority to Chinese patients in the government's latest effort to
regulate procedures that have been criticized as profit-driven and
unethical. Officials said that Chinese inspectors have found excessive
amounts of additives and preservatives in dozens of children's snacks
and seized hundreds of bottles of fake human blood protein from
hospitals.
(AP, 7/3/07)
2007 Jul 4, In northeast China a
blast ripped through a karaoke parlor and bath house, killing 25 people
and injuring 33 others. It was later reported that a coal mine owner,
who ran the karaoke parlor, stored more than a ton of explosives in the
basement.
(AP, 7/5/07)(AP, 7/6/07)
2007 Jul 5, China's Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi visited Indonesia and said their countries should
cooperate to defend the interests of developing nations as they work to
enhance bilateral ties.
(AFP, 7/5/07)
2007 Jul 6, A former department
head at China's drug regulation agency was sentenced to death on
bribery charges. Cao Wenzhuang was given a two-year reprieve because he
provided evidence that helped with the investigation of other cases.
Chinese cat lovers mobilized online to save a truck load of cats from
the cooking pot. A standoff continued for hours while cat lovers spread
word of the incident online, eventually raising $1,320 in donations to
buy the whole load of some 800 cats.
(AP, 7/6/07)(AP, 7/10/07)
2007 Jul 7, A global poll picked
the Great Wall of China, Rome's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal, Peru’s
Macchu Picchu, Jordan’s Petra, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer and
Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid as the new seven wonders of the world.
The campaign to name the new wonders was launched in 1999 by the Swiss
adventurer Bernard Weber.
(AP, 7/8/07)
2007 Jul 8, China’s state media
said nearly 2,000 officials in central China's Hunan province have been
caught breaking China's strict one-child policy. State media also said
floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 26
people and left 17 missing in southwest Sichuan province in the last
week.
(AP, 7/8/07)
2007 Jul 10, China executed Zheng
Xiaoyu (63), former head (1997-2006) of its State Food and Drug
Administration (SFDA), for approving untested medicine in exchange for
cash. Zheng was convicted of taking cash and gifts worth $832,000 when
he was in charge of the state administration.
(AP, 7/10/07)(WSJ, 1/11/07, p.A1)
2007 Jul 10, The bulk log carrier
Hai Tong No. 7 went down, 375 miles northwest of Guam, where it ran
into Typhoon Man-yi. 9 of 22 crew members were dead or missing. The
ship, owned by Fuzhou Haijing Shipping, was en route from Papua New
Guinea to China.
(AP, 7/14/07)
2007 Jul 11, China's food and drug
agency announced stricter rules for approving new drugs. The government
also ordered small, loosely regulated food producers to clean up their
act.
(AP, 7/11/07)
2007 Jul 11, Nick Young, British
editor of the newsletter China Development Brief, said officials had
ordered the shut down of the newsletter for violating a 1983 law on
gathering statistics. Young had founded the publication in 1995.
(SFC, 7/12/07, p.A11)
2007 Jul 12, China’s state media
said nearly a half-million people fled a flood zone surrounding the
swollen Huai River, while high waters in the south unleashed a plague
of an estimated 2 billion field mice that were ravaging crops.
(AP, 7/12/07)
2007 Jul 13, China’s General
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said
on its Web site that frozen poultry products from Tyson Foods Inc., the
world's largest meat processor, were found to be contaminated with
salmonella. AQSIQ said other imports barred included frozen chicken
feet from Sanderson Farms, Inc. tainted with residue of an
anti-parasite drug, as well as frozen pork ribs from Cargill Meat
Solutions Corp. containing a leanness-enhancing feed additive.
(AP, 7/14/07)
2007 Jul 17, A foreman from a kiln
in north China where workers were beaten and forced to work 18-hour
days was sentenced to life in jail and another man was sentenced to
death for the beating death of a laborer. A total of 29 people were
convicted in seven different courts in Shanxi for their roles in the
slavery scandal.
(AP, 7/17/07)
2007 Jul 17, An international
think-tank said China's smog-choked cities and contaminated waterways
are leaving many people sick and unable to work, in turn fomenting
unrest and threatening the country's economic growth.
(AP, 7/17/07)
2007 Jul 18, US President George
W. Bush ordered the creation of a "working group" of top aides to
review the safety of imports from China and all around the world.
(AP, 7/18/07)
2007 Jul 20, China said it had
shut down several firms at the heart of food and drug safety scares,
including a chemical plant implicated in the deaths of 94 people in
Panama. China also said that it "strongly opposed" decisions by the
United States to initiate anti-dumping and countervailing duty
investigations on imports of some woven sacks and steel pipes from
China. Total deaths in Panama reached 116 from contaminated medications.
(AP, 7/20/07)(Reuters, 7/20/07)(AP, 5/10/08)
2007 Jul 20, In southern China a
mentally ill man wielding a wrench wounded 18 children and a teacher in
a kindergarten before fleeing on a motorcycle. Police nabbed the
attacker at his home and sent him to hospital because he had stabbed
himself in the stomach.
(AP, 7/21/07)
2007 Jul 20, A magnitude-6.1 quake
hit far western Xinjiang's mountainous Tekes county. Chinese
authorities relocated 8,250 people after the earthquake damaged and
destroyed thousands of mud brick houses.
(AP, 7/22/07)
2007 Jul 22, China’s state media
said record rainfall this week triggered floods, landslides and mud
flows had killed 152 people and forced the evacuation of hundreds of
thousands.
(AP, 7/22/07)
2007 Jul 24, Chinese officials
said the FBI and Chinese police have busted two software piracy gangs
and seized programs worth an estimated $500 million in a joint campaign
that began in 2005.
(AP, 7/24/07)
2007 Jul 24, Westinghouse Electric
Co., majority-owned by Toshiba Corp., signed a multi-billion-dollar
contract to build 4 nuclear reactors in China.
(WSJ, 1/25/07, p.A10)
2007 Jul 25, China said it will
step up inspections on the use of antibiotics in fish farms, including
chemicals that can cause cancer, after contaminants caused trading
partners to block its seafood exports.
(Reuters, 7/25/07)
2007 Jul 26, China’s state media
said flooding in the far west has killed 32 people over the last 10
days, while a central city of 9 million was on high alert as the mighty
Yangtze River approached dangerous heights. Runoff from a lead-zinc
mine polluted the Zijiang river in Hunan province, cutting off supplies
to the riverside city of Lengshuijiang and residents downstream.
(AP, 7/26/07)(AP, 7/28/07)
2007 Jul 27, In China 2 men were
sentenced to death for masterminding a plan to steal oil from an
underwater pipeline, a botched plot that caused an estimated $53
million in damages.
(AP, 7/28/07)
2007 Jul 29, Whang Joung-il (52),
a senior South Korean diplomat in Beijing, died hours after becoming
ill after eating a tuna sandwich. His death left the envoy's family and
his government asking China for an explanation.
(AP, 8/23/07)
2007 Jul 30, China tightened
credit in a new effort to cool its sizzling economy, ordering banks to
shrink the pool of money for lending by increasing their reserves for a
sixth time this year.
(AP, 7/30/07)
2007 Jul 30, China’s state media
said floods, landslides and mud flows triggered by torrential rains
have killed 652 people in China so far this year, with more heavy rains
in the forecast.
(AP, 7/30/07)
2007 Jul 31, China’s state media
reported another 27 deaths from flooding and landslides in different
parts of the country.
(AP, 7/31/07)
2007 Aug 1, In China 69 men
trapped in a flooded Chinese coal mine for more than three days were
pulled out alive, ending a terrifying ordeal in which they survived on
milk and pumped-in oxygen.
(AP, 8/1/07)
2007 Aug 2, China’s state media
reported that courts in northern China have sentenced 31 people,
including a police officer, to prison terms of up to five years
stemming from the use of slave labor in brick kilns. In east China a
rising wave in the Qiantang River, known for its strong tides, engulfed
33 swimmers and visitors walking along a levee. At least eight were
killed.
(AP, 8/2/07)(AP, 8/3/07)
2007 Aug 2, Beijing and Washington
agreed to cooperate more closely on product and food safety as the US
recalled almost 1 million toys due to lead concerns. Mattel apologized
to customers as it recalled nearly a million Chinese-made toys from its
Fisher-Price division that were found to have excessive amounts of lead.
(AP, 8/3/07)(SFC, 8/3/07, p.D1)(AP, 8/2/08)
2007 Aug 3, China asserted the
sole right to recognize living Buddhas, reincarnations of famous lamas
that form the backbone of the religion's clergy. All future
incarnations of living Buddhas related to Tibetan Buddhism must get
government approval.
(AP, 8/3/07)
2007 Aug 3, China banned
Indonesian seafood after checks turned up dangerous contamination.
Indonesian authorities called the move an apparent reaction to an
Indonesian ban on some tainted Chinese products. The Chinese
administration said Indonesian products have been found to contain
mercury and cadmium, metals that can accumulate in water and soil from
burning garbage, mining or other industrial processes.
(AP, 8/4/07)
2007 Aug 3, Lenovo Group Ltd. said
it will sell a basic personal computer aimed at China's vast but poor
rural market and priced as low as $199.
(AP, 8/3/07)
2007 Aug 4, A Hong Kong newspaper
reported that China is cracking down on cable television operators who
offer unauthorized foreign satellite broadcasts, the communist
government's latest bid to maintain its monopoly on information.
(AP, 8/4/07)
2007 Aug 7, China Daily reported
that foreign exchange and public security authorities had closed down
the operations of an illegal bank based in Shenzhen, across the border
from Hong Kong. It did business in every province of the country and in
the year and half to May had done some $544 million in unspecified
transactions.
(www.chinaknowledge.com/news/news-detail.aspx?ID=9654)
2007 Aug 7, State media said
Chinese city traffic police have an average life expectancy of just 43
years because of the dire working conditions and pollution.
(AP, 8/7/07)
2007 Aug 8, Beijing began the
one-year countdown to the 2008 Olympics. Jacques Rogge, president of
the International Olympic Committee, acknowledged that Beijing's air
pollution could force the postponement of outdoor events during next
year's Olympics.
(AP, 8/7/07)(AP, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, An international team
of researchers said the long-threatened Yangtze River dolphin in China
is probably extinct. They also said this would mark the first whale or
dolphin to be wiped out due to human activity.
(Reuters, 8/8/07)
2007 Aug 8, Researchers from
Belgium and China said a simple blood test can detect early stage liver
cancer and more accurately diagnose the disease that is a major killer
in Asia and Africa.
(Reuters, 8/9/07)
2007 Aug 9, China banned exports
by two toy manufacturers whose products were subject to major recalls
in the United States.
(AP, 8/9/08)
2007 Aug 9, A government news
agency reported that 2 former bank employees were sentenced to death
for stealing $6.7 million from their branch's vault in northern China.
Most of the money was spent on lottery tickets.
(AP, 8/9/07)
2007 Aug 9, WuXi PharmaTech, a
Chinese pharmaceutical research firm, began trading on the NYSE at $14
per share. By Sep 22 its shares had doubled in value.
(Econ, 9/22/07, p.79)
2007 Aug 11, Zhang Shuhong, who
co-owned Lee Der Industrial Co. Ltd., killed himself at a warehouse,
days after China announced it had temporarily banned exports by the
company.
(AP, 8/13/07)
2007 Aug 12, A Hong Kong-based
human rights group said a chemical plant leaked arsenic into a river in
southern China that supplies water to at least 20,000 people. High
levels of arsenic and other chemicals already have killed at least
10,000 fish in the Chongan, a 43-mile river in Guizhou province.
(AP, 8/13/07)
2007 Aug 13, According to new data
China's inflation rate accelerated to the highest monthly rate in a
decade, driven by a 15.4% surge in food prices over the year-earlier
period. Officials said China is still freeing people, including
children, forced to work as slaves in illegal brick factories, two
months after the scandal involving the brick yards was exposed. A
bridge under construction in the central Hunan city of Fenghuang
collapsed as workers removed scaffolding from its facade, killing 64
people.
(AP, 8/13/07)(AP, 8/14/07)(AP, 8/13/08)
2007 Aug 14, Toy-making giant
Mattel Inc. issued recalls for some 18 million Chinese-made toys that
contained magnets which children could swallow. Mattel also recalled
436,000 toy cars daubed with lead-based paint.
(AP, 8/14/07)(Econ, 8/18/07, p.58)
2007 Aug 15, State radio reported
that Iran has detained two Chinese nationals on charges of spying on
its military and nuclear facilities.
(AP, 8/15/07)
2007 Aug 16, It was reported that
a highly infectious swine virus, blue pork disease, had spread to 25 of
China’s 33 provinces, prompting pork shortages and an 85% increase in
pork prices over the last year.
(SFC, 8/16/07, p.A15)
2007 Aug 17, In eastern China a
dike on the Wen river in Shandong province broke, sending water gushing
into 2 mines run by the Huayuan Mining Co. in the city of Xintai. 181
miners were killed. In 2008 two managers were sentenced to 7 years in
prison for their roles in the accident.
(Econ, 8/25/07, p.58)(AP, 4/17/08)(AP, 8/17/08)
2007 Aug 17, The six members of
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held their first joint
maneuvers on Russian land in a demonstration of their growing military
ties and a shared desire to counter US global clout. The presidents of
Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
attended the unprecedented joint military exercises in Chelyabinsk near
the Kazakh border.
(AFP, 8/17/07)
2007 Aug 18, It was reported that
China faced a major shortage of skilled talent including doctors with
only 4,000 general practitioners. Lawyers numbered about 122,000. An
average of 2,200 new pilots per year will be needed to keep up with the
growth in air travel. Accountants, technicians and good managers were
also reported to be in short supply.
(Econ, 8/18/07, p.59)
2007 Aug 19, In China at least 36
people were killed as Typhoon Sepat hit the mainland after more 1.3
million people were evacuated as a precaution. In eastern China At
least 14 people died and 59 were injured when a container spilled
molten aluminum with a temperature of 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit at a
factory.
(AP, 8/19/07)(AP, 8/20/07)(AP, 8/22/07)
2007 Aug 20, In China Jia Youling,
chief veterinary officer, said that the Porcine Reproductive and
Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), aka as blue-ear pig disease, head been
brought under control. He said 257,000 pigs in 26 provinces had been
infected. 68,000 had died from the disease and 175,000 were destroyed.
(Econ, 8/25/07, p.41)
2007 Aug 20, In Okinawa, Japan,
passengers used emergency slides to evacuate a China Airlines Boeing
737-800 just minutes before the plane burst into a fireball on the
tarmac. All 165 people aboard escaped unhurt, including the pilot, who
jumped from the cockpit at the last second.
(AP, 8/20/07)(AP, 8/20/08)
2007 Aug 21, China’s government
announced that mainland citizens would be allowed to invest in Hong
Kong. State media reported that a test run of traffic controls to clear
Beijing's smoggy skies for next year's Olympic Games successfully
improved air quality. Media also reported that China will execute
people who sabotage the electricity supply, reversing recent steps to
rein in widespread use of the death penalty.
(Econ, 10/6/07, p.86)(http://tinyurl.com/2ugksh)(AP,
8/21/07)
2007 Aug 22, A distributor said
Chinese-made blankets containing high levels of formaldehyde have been
recalled across Australia and New Zealand, amid rising global concern
over the safety of products from China.
(AP, 8/22/07)
2007 Aug 23, The Bank of China
revealed that it held a $9.6 billion exposure to securities backed by
American subprime mortgages.
(Econ, 9/1/07, p.67)
2007 Aug 24, In China Meng
Xianchen and Meng Xianyou surfaced after more than 130 hours trapped in
an illegal mine in Beijing's Fangshan district.
(AP, 8/27/07)
2007 Aug 26, In Manila,
Philippines, economic ministers of Southeast Asian countries (ASEAN)
and China agreed to strengthen product standards and safety. The move
follows recalls of several tainted Chinese products from international
markets.
(AP, 8/26/07)
2007 Aug 29, China began selling
$79 billion in bonds to finance a state agency that will invest the
country's foreign currency reserves.
(AP, 8/29/07)
2007 Aug 29, It was reported that
China’s Three Gorges Dam, completed last year, faced a number of
problems including landslides and pollution accumulation in the
reservoir. The dam has also caused a decrease of silt moving downstream
causing the Yangtze estuary, which includes Shanghai, to shrink.
(WSJ, 8/29/07, p.A1)
2007 Aug 30, China’s government
said it has replaced five Cabinet ministers, including the finance
minister and the head of the secret police, just weeks ahead of a major
Communist Party meeting that will set the country's policies for the
next five years. The official Xinhua News Agency said China removed
four officials accused of corruption from its legislature. State media
said China's top legislature has adopted a measure allowing the
government to seize private homes on state-owned land, as long as
owners are compensated and properly resettled.
(AP, 8/30/07)(AP, 8/31/07)
2007 Aug 30, The Rome-based Hands
Off Cain, an anti-death penalty group, reported that more people were
put to death in 2006, 5,628, than in either of the previous two years.
China alone accounting for 5,000 executions.
(AP, 8/30/07)
2007 Aug 31, China officially put
in place systems to recall unsafe food and toys, one of its strongest
steps yet to deal with recurring quality problems. At least 12 miners
were missing after an explosion in central China. Authorities continued
their efforts to reach 181 workers trapped in flooded coal shafts for
two weeks.
(AP, 8/31/07)
2007 Aug 31, The World Trade
Organization opened a formal investigation into allegations by the US
and Mexico that China is providing illegal subsidies for a range of
industries.
(AP, 8/31/07)
2007 Aug, China’s President
visited Kazakhstan. Soon after it was announced that a new oil pipeline
would be built from Kazakhstan to China, and that a new gas pipeline
linking Turkmenistan with China would run through Kazakhstan.
(Econ, 8/25/07, p.54)
2007 Sep 2, In central Chinese 4
boats carrying the toxic chemical methanol caught fire in Wuhan,
causing one boat to sink and prompting fears of drinking water
contamination.
(AP, 9/3/07)
2007 Sep 2, Temasek, Singapore’s
state-owned investment company, said it would take a 8.3% stake in
China Eastern Airlines and Singapore Airlines announced a 15.7% stake.
(Econ, 9/29/07,
p.68)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Eastern_Airlines)
2007 Sep 3, In eastern China about
2,000 ex-soldiers took part in riots that began and spread over a
775-mile stretch in the cities of Baotou, Wuhan, and Baoji. Demobilized
soldiers are frequently rewarded for their service with government
jobs, and 6,000 of them were sent to 12 different railway schools in
July for two years of training. However, they were angered by run-down
dormitories, bad but expensive food and a lack of study materials, At
least 20 people were injured and five arrested when riot police moved
in to quell the disturbances.
(AP, 9/11/07)
2007 Sep 3, The Financial Times,
citing unnamed officials, reported that the People's Liberation Army
hacked into a computer system in the office of Defense Secretary Robert
Gates in June. China denied the allegations.
(AP, 9/4/07)
2007 Sep 4, An official said
China's environmental watchdog has closed down 400 factories since it
started a national campaign in July to tackle water pollution.
(AP, 9/4/07)
2007 Sep 5, Chinese authorities
said two late-night radio shows that discussed sex and drugs have been
banned for damaging young people and being "extremely pornographic."
(AP, 9/6/07)
2007 Sep 6, In Australia Pacific
Rim nations agreed that climate change was of "vital interest," but
officials squabbled over whether their leaders should include energy
efficiency targets in a statement at their annual summit. China’s
President Hu Jintao, on the defensive over recalls of tainted
toothpaste, pet food and toys, told President Bush that Beijing was
stepping up product safety inspections.
(AP, 9/6/07)
2007 Sep 6, Media reports said
China has created its first agency to combat corruption, a rampant
problem that the country's communist leadership has said is a threat to
their rule. State media also reported that Chinese computer hackers are
infiltrating British government networks, giving them access to secret
information.
(AP, 9/7/07)(AFP, 9/6/07)
2007 Sep 6, The US and Chinese
presidents set aside their differences on Taiwan and put pressure on
the island to drop plans for a referendum on UN membership.
(AP, 9/6/07)
2007 Sep 7, China's securities
regulator said it has approved an application by China Construction
Bank, the nation's biggest mortgage lender, to issue shares in what
could be one of China's biggest initial public offerings. Chinese
stocks broke their winning streak, with the benchmark index falling 2.2
percent after the central bank raised the amount of reserves banks are
required to hold.
(AP, 9/7/07)
2007 Sep 9, Bishop Han Dingxiang
(71), who led an underground congregation of Roman Catholics and was
repeatedly detained in China for his loyalty to the Vatican, died in
police custody. He died while being treated in a hospital for an
unspecified illness.
(AP, 9/11/07)
2007 Sep 10, Blackstone Group LP
bought a 20% stake in a Chinese chemical company in its first deal in
the country since a Chinese government fund bought into the US private
equity firm.
(AP, 9/10/07)
2007 Sep 11, China signed an
agreement to prohibit the use of lead paint on toys exported to the
United States.
(AP, 9/11/07)
2007 Sep 11, American, Russian and
Chinese nuclear experts began a rare visit to North Korea to examine
ways of disabling the country's main nuclear facilities so they can no
longer produce bombs.
(AP, 9/11/07)
2007 Sep 12, Beijing showed off
its new multibillion-dollar airport terminal, a mammoth structure of
glass and steel with a gracefully sloping roof that the owners said is
meant to impress visitors to China's capital for the 2008 Olympics.
(AP, 9/12/07)
2007 Sep 12, Li Changjiang, the
head of China's product safety agency, said the Chinese-made toys
children receive for Christmas this year will be safe, pledging that
problems over the use of dangerous lead paint will be resolved in time
for holiday exports.
(AP, 9/12/07)
2007 Sep 12, Akmal Shaikh (51), a
British citizen, was arrested in Urumqi, in China's western Xinjiang
region, with four kg (8.8 pounds) of heroin. He was later convicted and
sentenced to die on Dec 29, 2009. Supporters of Shaikh said he was
duped into carrying the drugs for a criminal gang. If the death penalty
is carried out, Shaikh would become the first national from a European
Union country to be executed in China in 50 years.
(AFP,
12/22/09)(www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=638)
2007 Sep 13, In central China a
man threw six children from a balcony of their school. A girl (9) was
killed and 2 others badly hurt.
(Econ, 9/22/07, p.58)
2007 Sep 14, China’s government
said it has ordered judges to use the death penalty more sparingly by
showing leniency for murderers who cooperate with authorities and white
collar criminals who help recoup their ill-gotten gains. Beijing also
said it will give urban Chinese who break the one-child policy a black
mark on their credit reports.
(AP, 9/14/07)(WSJ, 9/15/07, p.A1)
2007 Sep 15, In China Zhao Yan
(45), a Chinese researcher for the NY Times, was released from prison
after serving three years of a fraud conviction that was strongly
criticized by the international community.
(AFP, 9/15/07)
2007 Sep 16, State media reported
that Chinese authorities had ordered the recall of tainted leukemia
drugs blamed for leg pains and other problems, the latest crisis to
strike the country's embattled food and drug industries.
(AP, 9/16/07)
2007 Sep 18, Typhoon Wipha
targeted China's booming eastern province of Zhejiang and the nation's
financial capital, Shanghai, prompting evacuation of over 1.6 million
people as ships were recalled to port.
(Reuters, 9/18/07)
2007 Sep 17, China and the
Democratic Republic of Congo signed a draft accord in which China would
lend $5 billion to modernize Congo’s decrepit infrastructure and rich
but deteriorated mining sector. Congo’s government later announced that
Chinese state-owned firms would build or refurbish various railways,
roads and mines at accost of $12 billion.
(Reuters, 9/18/07)(Econ, 3/15/08, SR p.3)
2007 Sep 19, Typhoon Wipha flooded
streets and destroyed hundreds of homes as it swept through eastern
China, but the storm eventually weakened and caused little overall
damage in the financial center of Shanghai. One man was electrocuted.
(AP, 9/19/07)
2007 Sep 19, China’s government
froze prices that it controls for the rest of the year, in the latest
sign of mounting concern over inflation, which reached 6.5% in the year
through August.
(WSJ, 9/20/07, p.A6)
2007 Sep 20, Typhoon Wipha
weakened as it slammed China with strong winds and torrential rains. At
least nine people were reported killed as the storm destroyed thousands
of homes and triggered landslides.
(AP, 9/20/07)
2007 Sep 21, Mattel Inc,
apologized for damaging China's reputation after recent massive recalls
of its Chinese-made toys, admitting it targeted some goods that were
actually up to scratch.
(AP, 9/21/07)
2007 Sep 24, Dell Inc. announced a
deal to launch a retail presence in China by selling computers through
the country's biggest chain of electronics stores as it struggles to
capture a bigger share of the booming market.
(AP, 9/24/07)
2007 Sep 27, China issued an
evenhanded plea for calm in Myanmar, calling on all sides to show
restraint.
(AP, 9/27/07)
2007 Sep 30, It was reported that
China has banned television and radio ads for push-up bras,
figure-enhancing underwear and sex toys in the communist government's
latest move to purge the nation's airwaves of what it calls social
pollution.
(AP, 9/30/07)
2007 Sep, In China the National
Grand Theater, also known as The Egg, opened opposite the Great Hall of
the People. The opera house, a pet project of former Premier Jiang
Zemin, was designed by French architect Paul Andreu at a cost of $360
million.
(Econ, 10/13/07, p.43)
2007 Sep, The China Investment
Corp. (CIC) was launched, with $200 billion in registered capital
allocated from China's foreign exchange reserve, to mitigate the risks
in China's huge foreign exchange reserve.
(http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90884/6298585.html)
2007 Oct 2, China’s Pres. Hu
Jintao kicked off the 2007 Special Olympics in Shanghai as 7,500
athletes from over 165 countries entered the stadium before a crowd of
80,000.
(WSJ, 10/3/07, p.B3A)
2007 Oct 3, Li Heping, an
outspoken Chinese lawyer, said he was abducted and beaten for hours on
Sep 29, and accused of causing unrest by representing clients with
complaints of official corruption and police abuse. Li said he wasn't
sure if he would be able to continue working. He returned to his office
the day after the attack and found his lawyer's license was missing. A
portable hard drive and his computer memory had been wiped clean.
(AP, 10/3/07)
2007 Oct 4, President Jalal
Talabani said Iraq has ordered light military equipment from China
worth $100 million because the United States is unable to meet
Baghdad's requirements. Abbas Hassan Hamza, the mayor of the
religiously mixed town of Iskandariyah, was killed along with four of
his guards in a roadside bomb attack. Hamza belonged to Iraqi PM Nouri
al-Maliki's Dawa party. In Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near people on
line at a gas station, killing four civilians and wounding eight others.
(Reuters, 10/4/07)(AP, 10/4/07)
2007 Oct 5, Chinese medical
officials agreed not to transplant organs from prisoners or others in
custody, except into members of their immediate families. The agreement
was reached at a meeting of the World Medical Association in Copenhagen.
(AP, 10/6/07)
2007 Oct 7, Tropical storm Krosa
drenched China's southeast coast after killing five people on Taiwan
and prompting the mainland to evacuate more than 1 million people.
(AP, 10/7/07)
2007 Oct 10, Some 30 Tibetan
exiles protesting Chinese religious policies stormed the Chinese
Embassy in New Delhi, with several breaching the front gate and
chaining themselves to the flag pole inside.
(AP, 10/10/07)
2007 Oct 12, State media said
Chinese authorities plan to move some 4 million more rural residents
from behind the Three Gorges Dam in recognition of environmental and
economic problems spawned by the giant project.
(AFP, 10/12/07)
2007 Oct 13, State media said
China plans to carve a huge national park out of its vast northwest
Xinjiang region that would eclipse Yellowstone National Park in size.
(AP, 10/13/07)
2007 Oct 15,
In China 2,217 delegates listened as party leader Hu Jintao
pledged to make communist rule more inclusive and better spread the
fruits of China's economic boom. Hu said economic growth must remain
the party’s main task.
(AP, 10/15/07)(WSJ, 10/16/07, p.A1)(Econ, 10/13/07,
p.42)
2007 Oct 16,
President Bush and the Dalai Lama met with a ceremony planned for
tomorrow to award the spiritual leader the Congressional Gold Medal.
China warned that the events are bad for US-Chinese ties.
(AP, 10/16/07)
2007 Oct 17,
President Bush attended a ceremony in which the Dalai Lama was
awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress’ highest civilian honor.
China lodged an official protest over the honoring of the Dalai Lama in
Washington, while bluntly rejecting US President George W. Bush's
advice on how to handle the Tibet issue.
(AFP, 10/16/07)(WSJ, 10/18/07, p.A1)
2007 Oct 20, In China 13 foreign
and domestic companies launched the Chinese Federation for Corporate
Social Responsibility in Shanghai.
(Econ, 1/19/08, SR
p.21)(www.chinacsr.com/2006/10/20/799-cfcsr-established-in-beijing/)
2007 Oct 21,
Chinese President Hu Jintao engineered the retirement of a
powerful Communist Party rival in a move that enhanced his political
standing yet may have opened up a divisive battle to succeed him. A
fire at a shoe factory in southeastern China killed 37 people and
injured at least 20. The factory in Fujian province was operating
without a license and the owners were arrested.
(AP, 10/21/07)(AP, 10/22/07)(AP, 10/25/07)
2007 Oct 21, A Hong Kong newspaper
reported that police in the capital of Tibet clashed for four days with
Buddhist monks trying to celebrate the awarding of a congressional
honor for the Dalai Lama.
(AP, 10/21/07)
2007 Oct 22,
President Hu Jintao emerged politically stronger after the
Communist Party handed him a second five-year term, allowing him a
freer hand to manage tensions over a rising wealth gap and boost
spending on long-neglected social services.
(AP, 10/22/07)
2007 Oct 22, Bear Stearns, one of
America’s top investment banks, announced a strategic alliance with
Citic Securities, China’s largest listed brokerage firm.
(Econ, 10/27/07, p.84)
2007 Oct 24, In Beijing Costa
Rican president Oscar Arias signed several accords with his Chinese
counterpart, months after the Central American nation established
diplomatic relations with the Asian giant.
(AP, 10/24/07)
2007 Oct 24, China launched its
first lunar probe, Chang’e 1, an initial step in an ambitious 10-year
plan to send a rover to the moon and return it to Earth.
(AP, 10/24/07)(Econ, 10/27/07, p.52)
2007 Oct 25, The Industrial and
Commercial Bank of China announced that it was buying 20% of Standard
Bank in South Africa for $5.6 billion.
(Econ, 11/3/07, p.80)
2007 Oct 25,
The US government issued a flurry of product-safety recalls
affecting hundreds of thousands of Chinese-made children's toys and
jewelry amid fresh concerns about lead paint.
(AFP, 10/26/07)
2007 Oct 26,
China announced a multibillion-dollar plan to clean up severely
polluted Lake Tai, where an algae bloom forced the suspension of water
supplies to millions of people this summer. The $14.5 billion plan to
clean up the lake, in a densely populated area northwest of Shanghai,
should take five years.
(AP, 10/27/07)
2007 Oct 29, China’s Xinhua news
agency said more than 6,000 people will be forced from their homes on
the southern island of Hainan to make way for the country's newest
space launch centre. China said that it had arrested 774 people in a
crackdown on substandard goods, part of ongoing efforts to calm
international worries over the quality of the country's products. State
media said coal mining regions of northern China are reporting soaring
levels of defects in newborns, an apparent result of heavy pollution.
(AP, 10/29/07)(AP, 10/29/07)
2007 Oct 29,
Canada’s PM Harper received Tibet's exiled spiritual leader in
his office in Parliament. He presented the 1989 Nobel laureate with a
maple-leaf scarf. The next day China condemned Harper for "disgusting
conduct" for playing host to the Dalai Lama.
(Reuters, 10/30/07)
2007 Oct 31, China's worst fuel
crisis in two years spread to the capital and other inland areas, and
one man was killed in a brawl at a petrol station queue, upping
pressure on the government to intervene.
(Reuters, 10/31/07)
2007 Nov 1, China’s government for
the first time in 17 months allowed an increase of about 10% in the
retail prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene. The government also said
more than 700 toy factories in southern China have been banned from
exporting what they produce as part of a crackdown on shoddy products.
(Econ, 11/24/07, p.46)(AP, 11/1/07)
2007 Nov 5, In China construction
began on what was expected to be the world's tallest Ferris wheel. The
$99 million Beijing Great Wheel will soar 680 feet over Beijing when it
is complete.
(AP, 11/5/07)
2007 Nov 5, Ao Man-long, a former
transportation and public works secretary, went on trial charged with
taking $100 million in kickbacks in Macao, the freewheeling Chinese
gambling resort that has attracted some of Las Vegas' top casino
operators.
(AP, 11/5/07)
2007 Nov 5, PetroChina made its
debut on the Shanghai stock exchange. It sold 2.2% of its share capital
to domestic investors in an IPO that rose from 16.90 yuan to 43.96 yuan
($5.90). For a short time it was the most valuable company in the
world, but by December share value had dropped by a third.
(WSJ, 11/6/07, p.C3)(Econ, 12/8/07, p.85)
2007 Nov 6, Chinese e-commerce
portal Alibaba.com soared in its debut on the Hong Kong stock market.
It opened at $3.86 and closed at $5.09.
(AP, 11/6/07)(SFC, 11/7/07, p.C1)
2007 Nov 7, A Chinese government
publication reported that industrial discharge and household wastewater
have polluted the northern Futuo River so badly that the water is dark
red in some sections and has caused chronic illnesses among villagers.
(AP, 11/7/07)
2007 Nov 7, The US dollar fell
sharply after a Chinese parliamentarian called for his country to
diversify its reserves out of weak currencies.
(Econ, 11/10/07, p.93)
2007 Nov 8, In southwest China a
gas leak at the Qunli mine in Nayong county in Guizhou province
killed 35 coal miners.
(AP, 11/8/07)(AP, 11/11/07)
2007 Nov 9, China froze exports of
the "Aqua Dots" bead toy, following recalls of the potentially toxic
toy in the United States and Australia.
(Reuters, 11/9/07)
2007 Nov 9, China Merchant Bank,
the country’s 6th largest bank, became the 3rd Chinese bank to win
permission to open a branch in NYC.
(Econ, 11/17/07, p.90)
2007 Nov 12, China released data
that said its trade surplus had jumped to a new all-time monthly high
in October, despite government pledges to restrain export growth and
adding to pressure for action on trade barriers and currency.
(AP, 11/12/07)
2007 Nov 14, Guo Feixiong, a
Chinese dissident lawyer, was sentenced to five years in prison after
publishing a book about a political scandal and helping villagers lead
a campaign to unseat local officials accused of corruption. Feixiong
(also known as Yang Maodong), convicted of alleged illegal business
activity, was also fined US$5,300 in a district court in Guangzhou.
(AP, 11/14/07)
2007 Nov 14, China’s state media
said the amount of sewage dumped into the Yangtze River rose 3 percent
last year to a record level. An early morning blaze at a foot massage
parlor killed at least 11 people in northern China.
(AP, 11/14/07)
2007 Nov 14, A US congressional
advisory panel said that Chinese espionage posed "the single greatest
risk" to US technology, and called for efforts to protect industrial
secrets and computer networks.
(Reuters, 11/15/07)
2007 Nov 17, State media reported
that China has called on Myanmar to speed up democratic reforms, an
unusual move for Beijing, which has traditionally refrained from
criticizing the military regime.
(AP, 11/17/07)
2007 Nov 19, It was reported that
Chinese regulators in recent weeks have ordered commercial banks to
freeze lending through the end of the year. PM Wen Jiabao acknowledged
that vast amounts of currency were flowing out of China through illegal
channels. This followed the recent arrest of To Ling (43), a Hong Kong
resident, whose black market foreign exchange business handled
transactions worth more than $1 million a day.
(WSJ, 11/19/07, p.A1)(Econ, 11/24/07, p.78)
2007 Nov 20, A Chinese court
sentenced a Tibetan nomad to eight years in prison for seeking Tibetan
independence after he urged a crowd to proclaim loyalty to the Dalai
Lama.
(AP, 11/20/07)
2007 Nov 20, In China Huang
Qingnan (34), a workers’ rights advocate in Shenzhen, was severely
beaten and stabbed by thugs believed to have been hired by Chinese
companies opposed to labor activism.
(SFC, 1/7/08, p.A18)
2007 Nov 20, The Paris-based World
Association of Newspapers said imprisoned Chinese journalist Li
Changqing has been awarded the Golden Pen of Freedom, its annual press
freedom prize.
(AP, 11/20/07)
2007 Nov 20, A landslide in
central China buried a bus. Workers clearing rocks from the landslide
discovered the bus underneath rubble three days later and recovered 29
bodies, that included 28 inside the bus. The landslide raised concern
that the massive reservoir of the Three Gorges Dam, 120 miles away, was
wreaking ecological havoc in the region. The death toll later increased
to 34.
(AP, 11/23/07)(AP, 11/24/07)(AP, 12/3/07)
2007 Nov 21, Officials in the US
announced the recall of more than a half-million pieces of Chinese-made
children's jewelry contaminated with lead.
(AP, 11/21/08)
2007 Nov 22, China’s state media
reported that five Hollywood studios have sued a Chinese online service
and internet cafe they accuse of offering pirated downloads of "Pirates
of the Caribbean" and other hit films.
(AP, 11/22/07)
2007 Nov 24, More than 100 Chinese
engineers arrived in Sudan's war-torn Darfur as part of the vanguard
for a joint African Union-UN peacekeeping mission to be in place next
year. Rebels demanded Beijing pull its peacekeepers out of Darfur, just
hours after a unit of Chinese army engineers arrived.
(AFP, 11/24/07)(AP, 11/25/07)
2007 Nov 25, In China 6 people
were confirmed dead and 7 others were reported missing after an iron
tailing dam collapsed early this morning in northeast Liaoning Province.
(Reuters, 11/25/07)
2007 Nov 26, France netted deals
in China for nuclear reactors and passenger jets worth a combined
$29.62 billion on the second day of a state visit by President Nicolas
Sarkozy.
(AP, 11/26/07)
2007 Nov 27, In central China an
explosion ripped through a house where villagers in Hunan province were
illegally making fireworks, killing 13 people.
(AP, 11/27/07)
2007 Nov 27, Cessna said it will
turn over complete production of its new Cessna 162 SkyCatcher to a
Chinese partner. The base price of the plane will be $109,500.
(WSJ, 11/28/07, p.A14)
2007 Nov 28, A Chinese warship
dropped anchor off Tokyo in the communist nation's first military visit
to Japan since World War II, symbolizing improving ties.
(AP, 11/28/07)
2007 Nov 28, In central China an
explosion in a fireworks factory killed 11 people and injured eight on
the rural outskirts of Yangquan city.
(AP, 11/28/07)
2007 Nov 28, Brazil and China said
they will give Africa free satellite imaging of its landmass to help
the continent respond to threats like deforestation, desertification
and drought.
(AP, 11/28/07)
2007 Nov 29, According to a new
report released by the UN and the Chinese government the number of
people estimated to be living with HIV in China has risen to 700,000,
with increases among intravenous drug users and sex workers.
(AP, 11/29/07)
2007 Nov 29, The Bush
administration announced that China has agreed to eliminate improper
trade subsidies it was using to the detriment of US and other foreign
companies.
(AP, 11/29/07)
2007 Nov 30, The $1.2 million film
“Lost in Beijing” directed by Li Yu was released in China and made over
$1.8 million before it was censored for sexually explicit scenes in
uncut, pirated copies. Li Yu was banned from producing films for 2
years.
(SFC, 1/5/08, p.E4)
2007 Dec 1, Zhang Zilin (23), Miss
China, won the Miss World 2007 title in her own country in front of an
estimated two billion viewers around the globe.
(AFP, 12/1/07)
2007 Dec 1, China and Japan began
talks on trade and economic issues that are intended to bolster the
recent warming of their long-uneasy relations.
(AP, 12/1/07)
2007 Dec 1, The Times reported
that Jonathan Evans, the head of Britain's domestic security service,
has warned business leaders that China has been carrying out
state-sponsored espionage against vital parts of the economy.
(AFP, 12/1/07)
2007 Dec 2, China and Japan
amicably wrapped up their first high-level trade and economic talks on
Sunday by pledging greater overall cooperation, but left the touchy
issue of gas exploration in the East China Sea unresolved.
(AP, 12/2/07)
2007 Dec 5, A Tibetan woman said
that she pulled out of a beauty pageant in Malaysia after organizers,
reacting to pressure from Beijing, told her halfway through the event
that she could only participate if she added "China" to her "Miss
Tibet" title.
(AP, 12/6/07)
2007 Dec 6, A gas blast at mine in
northern China killed at least 105 people.
(AP, 12/7/07)
2007 Dec 6, A New Zealand judge
sentenced two Chinese students to 18 1/2 years in prison for the ransom
kidnapping and slaying of a fellow student, saying the two fell into
"cyber sloth" and greed during their studies abroad.
(AP, 12/6/07)
2007 Dec 7, China said it will not
consider mandatory cuts on greenhouse gases, saying the United States
and other industrialized countries should take the lead in fighting
climate change by embracing a less-extravagant lifestyle.
(AP, 12/7/07)
2007 Dec 7, The World Health
Organization confirmed that the father of a Chinese man who died of
bird flu has been infected with the virus that causes the disease,
saying it could not rule out the possibility of human-to-human
infection.
(AP, 12/7/07)
2007 Dec 9, Beijing's foreign
exchange regulator said the ceiling on foreign investment in Chinese
securities will be raised to $30 billion from $10 billion.
(AP, 12/9/07)
2007 Dec 9, Iran signed a contract
with China's Sinopec for the development of Iran's huge Yadavaran oil
field, the kind of energy deal the United States has been trying to
prevent. Hundreds of Iranian students angry over a crackdown on
activists protested at Tehran University, the second such demonstration
in less than a week.
(Reuters, 12/9/07)(AP, 12/9/07)
2007 Dec 11, The United States and
China signed two deals to safeguard the quality of food and drugs
ranging from pet food to certain types of antibiotics imported into the
US from China.
(AP, 12/11/07)
2007 Dec 11, Darfur rebel group
the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said it had attacked and taken
over a Chinese-run oilfield in central Sudan.
(AP, 12/11/07)
2007 Dec 12, China launched a
nationwide recall system that shifts responsibility to companies to
recall harmful drugs. In eastern China a fire tore through an apartment
building, killing at least 21 people and injuring two others.
(AP, 12/12/07)
2007 Dec 14, Indonesia, the nation
hardest hit by bird flu, announced its 93rd death due to the H5N1
virus. In China, the military in eastern Nanjing banned the sale of
poultry this week after a father and son came down with the disease
earlier this month. Health officials confirmed the 24-year-old man died
from the virus a day before his father, 52, became sick. It was the
country's 17th bird flu death. The WHO confirmed Myanmar's first human
case of bird flu and praised the secretive country for its quick and
open handling of the infection. State media reported a girl (7) was
hospitalized on Nov. 27 and released on Dec. 12 in good condition after
being treated with the antiviral drug Tamiflu.
(AP, 12/15/07)
2007 Dec 16, China announced
holiday changes to ease overcrowding on trains, flights and other
transport systems. The changes will bring back three traditional
one-day holidays and let workers take paid vacations at times other
than officially-set breaks.
(AP, 12/17/07)
2007 Dec 19, In Tianjin, China, Li
Baojin was convicted of taking bribes worth $760,000 from 7 businesses
between 1996 and 2006. Li was also convicted of misappropriating $1.9
million from the Tianjin prosecutor's office. Li's sentence was
suspended for two years. That means his death sentence will be commuted
to life imprisonment if he shows good behavior for the next two years.
(AP, 12/20/07)
2007 Dec 20, In China a female
tiger was found with its head, legs and skin missing at the Three
Gorges Forest Wild Animal World in Yichang city in Hubei province. The
WWF conservation group lists the Siberian tiger as "critically
endangered" and says there are only about 530 of the animals alive in
the wild.
(AP, 12/23/07)
2007 Dec 21, A Chinese radio
station reported that about 1,000 riot police fired tear gas at
protesters in southern China who were blocking an electricity pylon
near a power station in Dongzhou village they felt was built on
unfairly seized land.
(AP, 12/21/07)
2007 Dec 21, China's first fully
homegrown commercial aircraft, the 70-seat ARJ21, rolled off the
production line, marking a potential milestone for the country's
aviation program. Its first test flight was set for 2008.
(AP,
12/21/07)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACAC_ARJ21)
2007 Dec 21, Chinese archeologists
raised a merchant ship loaded with porcelain and other rare antiques to
the surface in a specially built basket. The 100-foot Nanhai No. 1,
discovered in 1987, sank off the south China coast some 800 years ago
during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).
(AP, 12/21/07)
2007 Dec 27, Shawn Wang, the chief
financial officer of leading Chinese search engine Baidu.com, died in
an accident while on holiday.
(AP, 12/29/07)
2007 Dec 28, China and Japan made
no major breakthroughs in resolving a row over natural resources in the
East China Sea, but a visit by Japanese PM Yasuo Fukuda signaled a new
warmth in bilateral relations.
(AP, 12/28/07)
2007 Dec 28, Sun Daolin (b.1921),
Chinese actor and director, died in Shanghai. He appeared in over 100
movies and plays during a career that was interrupted by the Cultural
Revolution, when he was sent to work in the countryside for 6 years.
(SFC, 1/5/08, p.B3)
2007 Dec 29, China said Hong Kong
will be allowed to directly elect its leader in 2017 and all of its
lawmakers by 2020 at the earliest, an announcement that sparked
protests by pro-democracy activists who sought an earlier date.
(AP, 12/29/07)
2007 Dec 29, In northeast China 19
miners died in a coal mine blast at the Shunfa Coal Mine in
Heilongjiang province, the latest casualties in the world's most
dangerous mines.
(AP, 12/31/07)
2007 Chris Alden authored “China
in Africa: Partner, Competitor of Hegemon.”
(Econ, 11/24/07, p.89)
2007 Bob Gifford authored “China
Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power.”
(Econ, 7/7/07, p.80)
2007 Rebiya Kadeer, prominent
Uighur exile, authored her memoir “Dragon Fighter: One Woman’s Epic
Struggle for Peace with China.” The original German publication was
made available in English in 2009.
(Econ, 8/15/09, p.77)
2007 Joshua Kurlantzick authored
“Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power Is Transforming the World.”
(WSJ, 6/28/07, p.D7)
2007 Robyn Meredith authored “The
Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What It Means
for All of Us.”
(SSFC, 7/29/07, p.M1)
2007 Susan L. Shirk authored
“China: Fragile Superpower: How China's Internal Politics Could Derail
Its Peaceful Rise.”
(WSJ, 5/17/07, p.D7)(Econ, 7/7/07, p.80)
2007 Colin Thubron, travel writer,
authored “Shadow of the Silk Road,” the story of his 8-month trip in
2003 along the silk route from China to Central Asia.
(WSJ, 8/18/07, p.P9)
2007 China established a sovereign
wealth fund backed by around $1.2 trillion in foreign currency
reserves. China moved rapidly ahead with plans to create a State
Investment Corporation (SIC) that would more aggressively invest
approximately USD 200bn of the country’s USD 1.3tr of existing foreign
exchange reserves to boost long term returns.
(Econ, 7/28/07, p.75)(http://tinyurl.com/3c6lo4)
2007 China adopted a new
bankruptcy law making it easier to restructure insolvent firms.
(Econ, 1/9/10, p.68)
2007 China said it would offer
African countries $20 billion in new financing. No terms or time period
were announced.
(Econ, 6/6/09, p.59)
2007 China surpassed the US this
year for the first time in its contribution to global GDP growth.
(Econ, 10/20/07, SR p.34)
2007 A rail line from China’s
Qinghai province to Lhasa, Tibet, was expected to be completed. The
world’s highest railroad required pressurized rail cars.
(SFC, 2/24/05, p.A1)
2007 In China the Great Wall Motor
company in Hebei province produced 108,000 vehicles this year. The
company had ambitious plans for growth. It already built cars with a
licensee in Iran and in 2006 had opened a factory in the Ukraine.
(Econ, 5/10/08, p.74)
2007 Chinese made cars were
expected to hit the US auto market.
(WSJ, 3/31/05, p.A2)
2007 China signed a deal to invest
some $3.5 billion in the Aynak copper mine in Logar province,
Afghanistan. It was said to be the 2nd largest source of untapped
copper in the world.
(Econ, 11/7/09, p.44)
2007 Accidents in China's coal
mines killed 3,786 people this year.
(AP, 1/12/08)
2007 The US with a population of
301,139,947 counted 1,498,157 soldiers on active duty (~4.9%); China
with a population of 1,321,851,888 counted 2,105,000 soldiers on active
duty (~.159%). Russia with a population of 141,377,752 counted
1,027,000 soldiers on active duty (~7.2%); These numbers excluded
paramilitary troops in China and Russia.
(WSJ, 8/30/08, p.W5)
2008 Jan 3, China issued rules
restricting the broadcast of Internet videos to sites run by the state.
(WSJ, 1/4/08, p.A1)
2008 Jan 7, China’s state media
said authorities in central China have expelled 500 people from the
Communist Party for defying the country's one-child policy. Wei Wenhua
(41), a passer-by who filmed a streetside fracas between villagers and
authorities, was beaten and killed in Hubei province. His death touched
off protests in central China, in the latest incident to underscore
public anger over abusive treatment by government employees.
(AP, 1/7/08)(AP, 1/9/08)
2008 Jan 8, China posted a
regulation dating from Dec 31 declaring war on the "white pollution"
choking its cities, farms and waterways. China said it is banning free
plastic shopping bags and called for a return to the cloth bags of old,
steps largely welcomed by merchants and shoppers. The ban takes effect
June 1.
(AP, 1/10/08)
2008 Jan 12, China’s state media
reported that accidents in China's coal mines killed 3,786 people In
2007, a toll that is a marked improvement from previous years, but
still leaves China's mines the world's deadliest.
(AP, 1/12/08)
2008 Jan 13, China took aim at
price manipulators and hoarders of goods, as Beijing ramped up its
campaign to rein in inflation which is running at its highest level in
more than a decade. The government said it has closed more than 11,000
small coal mines as part of a two-year-old safety crackdown aimed at
stemming the industry's high death toll.
(Reuters, 1/13/08)(AP, 1/13/08)
2008 Jan 13, Indian PM Manmohan
Singh arrived in Beijing for a three-day visit aimed at boosting
sometimes strained relations between the two Asian giants.
(AP, 1/13/08)
2008 Jan 14, A Chinese cargo ship
sank in high waves off western Taiwan, leaving 12 seamen missing.
(AP, 1/14/08)
2008 Jan 14, Taiwan reported that
Malawi has cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of relations with
China, which has been using its rising political and economic clout to
reduce the number of countries who recognize the island. Chinese state
media said Beijing and Malawi had established diplomatic relations late
last month.
(AP, 1/14/08)
2008 Jan 18, British PM Gordon
Brown brought a high-profile delegation of business leaders to China
for a visit focused on expanding economic ties between the countries.
Brown began a major effort to position Britain as China's premier
international business partner, offering London as a base for
distribution of the Asian nation's state fund for private investment.
(AP, 1/18/08)
2008 Jan 21, Shares in China's
banks fell sharply after news reports said its No. 2 lender, Bank of
China, might write down holdings of US mortgage securities and two
others increased reserves for possible losses. State media said a gas
explosion in an illegal mine in northern China has killed at least 20
people.
(AP, 1/21/08)
2008 Jan 22, The foreign ministers
of China and Germany said that ties between their countries had
normalized after months of stony silence over Berlin receiving the
Dalai Lama.
(AP, 1/22/08)
2008 Jan 23, In China a train ran
into group of railway workers in eastern Shandong province, killing 18
and injuring nine others.
(AP, 1/25/08)
2008 Jan 24, In China protesters
staged a rare public demonstration in Beijing over what they said were
illegal property seizures and compensation packages that fell far short
of that needed to buy new homes. Authorities said sulfuric acid had
leaked into the water supply from a chemical factory in central China,
poisoning at least 26 villagers.
(AP, 1/24/08)
2008 Jan 27, Chinese police shot
and killed two members of a "terrorist gang" and rounded up 15 others
during a raid in the restive northwestern Muslim region of Xinjiang.
Police found guns, homemade bombs, training materials and "extremist
religious ideological materials" during a raid in Urumqi.
(Reuters, 2/18/08)(AP, 3/9/08)
2008 Jan 29, In China deadly
winter storms, the worst in five decades, showed no signs of letting
up, where cities were blacked out, transport systems were paralyzed and
a bus crash on an icy road killed at least 25 people during the
nation's busiest travel season.
(AP, 1/29/08)
2008 Jan 30, China’s government
deploy nearly 500,000 army troops to assist areas troubled by winter
storms. 15 sailors drowned and another was missing after two ships
collided on China's Yangtze river.
(AP, 1/30/08)
2008 Jan 31, In China a top
agriculture official warned that snow battering central China has dealt
an "extremely serious" blow to winter crops, raising the likelihood
that future shortages would exaggerate already surging food prices.
China said it had stopped production and exports from a company whose
insecticide-tainted frozen dumplings sickened 10 people in Japan. Tens
of thousands of Chinese massed impatiently near a railway station in
Guangzhou, desperate to get on trains home for a major holiday after
days of delay caused by snow.
(AP, 1/31/08)(Reuters, 1/31/08)
2008 Feb 1, China’s government
said 3 weeks of crippling snow storms have inflicted $7.5 billion in
damages and announced a $700 million relief fund for farmers.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008 Feb 1, Chinese aluminium
giant Chinalco said it and US peer Alcoa have bought a 12-percent stake
in Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto, setting up a possible takeover
tussle with rival BHP Billiton.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008 Feb 3, In southern China
railway service inched back to normal, a day after one person died in a
stampede by frustrated train passengers who were stranded for days
because of snow ahead of an important holiday.
(AP, 2/3/08)
2008 Feb 3, Police said Japanese
investigators found insecticide on the outside of six bags of
Chinese-made dumplings in Japan after separate dumplings made by the
same company sickened 10 people there.
(AP, 2/3/08)
2008 Feb 5, Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao said "final victory" was in sight with transportation returning
to normal after the worst winter in decades, but power outages remained
a problem for millions. the former communist party boss of Olympic host
city Qingdao was sentenced to life in prison for accepting hundreds of
thousands of dollars in bribes. Du Shicheng was found guilty of taking
$870,000 worth of bribes from 2000 to January 2006 while serving as the
port city's most powerful official.
(AP, 2/5/08)(AP, 2/6/08)
2008 Feb 5, Ching Cheong (58), a
Hong Kong journalist charged with spying for Taiwan, was released from
prison in mainland China after being detained for nearly three years.
(AP, 2/5/08)
2008 Feb 6, In China the Year of
the Pig ended at midnight making way for Year of the Rat.
(AFP, 2/6/08)
2008 Feb 10, State media reported
that China has lost about one tenth of its forest resources to recent
snow storms regarded as the most severe in half a century.
(AP, 2/10/08)
2008 Feb 11, A US defense
official, an ex-Boeing engineer and two others were charged in 2
separate spy cases with spying for China involving sensitive military
and aerospace secrets, including on the space shuttle. Dongfan Chung, a
longtime aerospace worker in Southern California, was indicted for
allegedly passing classified documents to China in an elaborate
espionage endeavor that spanned two decades and exposed trade secrets
from the space shuttle, the Delta IV rocket and the C-17 military
transport aircraft. In 2010 Chung was sentenced to over 15 years in
prison.
(http://articles.latimes.com/2008/feb/12/nation/na-espionage12)(SFC,
2/12/08, p.A3)(SFC, 2/9/10, p.A4)
2008 Feb 12, China and Russia
challenged the United States at a disarmament debate by formally
presenting a plan to ban weapons in space, a proposal that Washington
has called a diplomatic ploy by the two nations to gain a military
advantage.
(AP, 2/12/08)
2008 Feb 12, US filmmaker Steven
Spielberg abandoned his role in the Beijing Olympics and a host of
prominent figures accused China of not doing enough to press its ally
Sudan to end devastating violence in Darfur.
(AFP, 2/13/08)
2008 Feb 12, In southwestern China
a bus veered off a highway and plunged down a 160-foot cliff into a
river, killing at least 21 people.
(AP, 2/12/08)
2008 Feb 13, The WTO condemned
China for the first time for taxing imports of auto parts at the same
rate as foreign-made finished cars.
(SFC, 2/14/08, p.C3)
2008 Feb 15, A restaurant fire in
eastern China killed 11 people and injured at least 4 others.
(AP, 2/15/08)
2008 Feb 17, In China an explosion
at an illegal mine disguised as a wild boar farm killed 26 people in
northern Hebei province. On Dec 31, 2009, Gao Huailiang was sentenced
to death in Hebei province, for making, selling and transporting
illegal explosives. 20 others were sentenced to prison time for running
the mine.
(AP, 2/18/08)(AP, 12/31/09)
2008 Feb 20, The US FDA inspected
a heparin production facility in China. 19 deaths and some 350 allergic
reactions had taken place among patients who received heparin sold in
the US by Baxter Int’l. In March officials identified oversulfated
condroitin sulfate, a chemical that does not occur naturally, as a
contaminant in the drug. In April the death toll linked to contaminated
heparin was raised to 62.
(WS, 2/21/08, p.A1)(SFC, 3/20/08, p.C3)(SFC, 4/9/08,
p.A5)
2008 Feb 21, Chinese state media
said authorities are using algae-munching fish to clean up one of the
country's most polluted lakes, and after their diet of toxins they will
be sold on to consumers.
(AP, 2/21/08)
2008 Feb 22, In China 4 men
pleaded guilty in a Yunnan court to producing bogus receipts valued at
$147 billion. The scam operated in 9 provinces. In 2007 almost 3,000
cases of printing fake receipts were uncovered.
(Econ, 3/1/08, p.70)
2008 Feb 23, A senior Chinese
official said the freakish winter storms that coated much of central
and southern China in snow and ice have left 129 people dead so far
this year.
(AP, 2/23/08)
2008 Feb 24, In China’s Hubei
province water plant workers from Jianli County found that the Dongjing
River, a tributary of the Han, had turned red and foamy. The pollution
forced authorities to cut water supplies to as many as 200,000 people.
(AP, 2/27/08)
2008 Feb 27, In China an early
morning factory fire left 15 people dead and three others severely
wounded in Shenzhen.
(AP, 2/27/08)
2008 Feb 28, The presidents of
resource-hungry China and oil-rich Nigeria met ahead of the planned
signing of energy deals in Beijing's latest overture to an African
nation.
(AFP, 2/28/08)
2008 Feb 28, In China at least 14
miners were missing after a cave-in at the Jianbao Coal Minein Jixi
city. The mine owners in northeastern Heilongjiang province initially
concealed the number of missing workers.
(AP, 3/12/08)
2008 Feb 29, China agreed to
release sensitive records about missing US soldiers and establish a hot
line to the Pentagon.
(AP, 2/29/08)
2008 Feb 29, US Defense Department
officials announced that they had formally agreed to implement the
long-discussed Defense Telephone Link (DTL) with China. The US and
China established a hotline between their defense ministries.
(www.armscontrol.org/act/2008_04/Hotline)(Econ,
10/24/09, SR p.9)
2008 Feb, In China poisoned food
at a snack bar in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, killed two diners
and sickened 61 others. In 2009 two migrant workers were sentenced to
death for the poisoning. Ke Bizhi was sentenced to death, while Wang
Yingde was also given death but with the possibility of it being
commuted to a life sentence if he shows good behavior over the next two
years. Zhu Yuanlin, the businessman who masterminded the plot, was
sentenced to life in prison. Another man was given 15 years for his
role in the scheme.
(AP, 2/24/09)
2008 Mar 3, The US and EU filed a
WTO case against China demanding that it loosen restraints on foreign
companies vying for a greater slice of the country's lucrative market
for financial information.
(AP, 3/3/08)
2008 Mar 4, China said its defense
spending would jump 17.6 percent this year but insisted the rise was
moderate, amid a flare-up in tensions with the United States over
Beijing's growing military muscle.
(AP, 3/4/08)
2008 Mar 4, China and Russia
scuttled a Western attempt to introduce a resolution on Iran's nuclear
defiance at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
(AP, 3/4/08)
2008 Mar 5, In northwest China a
hijacker in Xi’an armed with explosives took a group of Australian
tourists and a translator hostage before police shot and killed him. A
fire at a coal mine in northeastern China killed 17 people.
(AP, 3/5/08)(AFP, 3/5/08)
2008 Mar 5, In China at least 13
miners were missing at the Taiyuan Coal Mine in Hegang city. 43 men
were trapped when the mine caught fire, but 30 were rescued. The mine
owners in northeastern Heilongjiang province initially concealed the
number of missing workers.
(AP, 3/12/08)
2008 Mar 7, A flight crew
prevented an apparent attempt to crash a China Southern flight from
Urumqi. Officials later said a Uighur woman attempted to start a fire
on board the flight to Beijing. No passengers were injured. In northern
Hebei province 10 people were killed in a collision between a bus and a
truck loaded with coal.
(AP, 3/9/08)(AP, 3/7/08)(Econ, 3/22/08, p.29)
2008 Mar 10, China said it will
keep family-planning limits to one child per couple for at least
another decade.
(WSJ, 3/11/08, p.A1)
2008 Mar 10, Hundreds of Tibetan
exiles began a six-month march from India to Tibet to protest Beijing's
hold on the Himalayan region and China's hosting of the Olympic Games.
Indian police barred the Tibetan exiles from marching.
(AP, 3/10/08)(WSJ, 3/11/08, p.A1)
2008 Mar 11, China unveiled plans
to revamp bureaucratic government ministries and create new agencies to
help it tackle pressing issues such as nuclear energy, food and drug
safety, environmental protection and the Internet.
(AP, 3/11/08)
2008 Mar 11, Thousands of Chinese
security personnel fired tear gas to try to disperse more than 600
monks taking part in a second day of rare street protests in Tibet.
(Reuters, 3/12/08)
2008 Mar 12, Human Rights Watch
said in a report that the armies of migrant workers building Beijing's
skyscrapers and Olympic venues are being bilked of wages and placed in
dangerous conditions. China's foreign minister said Human rights groups
that cite the Beijing Games in their criticisms of the Chinese
government are violating the Olympic charter.
(AP, 3/12/08)
2008 Mar 13, In China an avalanche
buried 12 workers at a mountainous construction site for a pipeline in
the far northwest.
(AP, 3/13/08)
2008 Mar 13, A human rights group
said Chinese sales of assault rifles and other small arms to its ally
Sudan have grown rapidly during the Darfur conflict despite a UN arms
embargo.
(Reuters, 3/13/08)
2008 Mar 14, It was reported that
China had likely surpassed the US last month in its number of Internet
users.
(WSJ, 3/14/08, p.B3)
2008 Mar 14, In China a gas
explosion at a southwestern Yunnan coal mine killed 14 miners and
injured four.
(AP, 3/15/08)
2008 Mar 14, In Tibet angry
protesters set shops ablaze and gunfire in Lhasa as the largest
demonstrations in two decades against Chinese rule turned violent
months ahead of the Beijing Olympics. 18 people died in the
conflagration or from physical assaults. The government later said
losses amounted to 280 million yuan ($41 million).
(AP, 3/14/08)(Econ, 2/6/10, p.43)
2008 Mar 15, China's legislature
re-elected Hu Jintao as president, giving him a second five-year term
as leader of the world's most populous country. It also returned Hu as
head of the Central Military Commission, the body overseeing the armed
forces.
(AP, 3/15/08)
2008 Mar 15, China kept government
workers confined to their offices and ordered tourists out of Tibet's
capital while lines of soldiers sealed off streets where riots had
erupted. A Tibetan exile group said at least 30 people were killed in
protests a day earlier. Tibet's government-in-exile demanded the UN
intervene to end what it called "urgent human rights violations" by
China in the region following deadly protests.
(AP, 3/15/08)
2008 Mar 16, Premier Wen Jiabao
was appointed to a second five-year term as China's top economic
official, leading efforts to cool soaring inflation and showcase the
country to the world at the Beijing Olympics.
(AP, 3/16/08)
2008 Mar 16, The Dalai Lama called
for an international investigation into China's crackdown against
protesters in Tibet, which he said is facing a "cultural genocide" and
where his exiled government said 80 people were killed in the violence.
Internet users in China were blocked from seeing YouTube.com after
dozens of videos about protests in Tibet appeared on the popular US
video Web site.
(AP, 3/16/08)
2008 Mar 17, China denounced
attacks on its embassies by pro-Tibetan activists hours before a
deadline for rioters in Lhasa to turn themselves in and said it would
do all in its power to protect its territorial integrity.
(Reuters, 3/17/08)
2008 Mar 18, Protesters in
Australia burned Chinese flags, demanding freedom for Tibet, following
similar demonstrations in Europe and the US against Beijing's crackdown
on anti-government riots in the Himalayan region.
(AP, 3/18/08)
2008 Mar 18, In India the Dalai
Lama vowed he would resign as leader of Tibet's exiles if violence back
home worsened, just hours before his aides said 19 people were killed
in new demonstrations.
(AP, 3/18/08)
2008 Mar 19, China called the
Dalai Lama a "wolf in monk's robes" and said it was locked in a
"life-and-death battle" with his supporters after protests marking the
biggest challenge to Chinese rule in Tibet in almost two decades. Lhasa
prosecutors announced the arrest of 24 suspects on charges of
endangering state security.
(AP, 3/19/08)(WSJ, 3/20/08, p.A1)
2008 Mar 20, China sent additional
troops into restive areas and made more arrests in the Tibetan capital
Lhasa in an effort to suppress anti-government protests even as the
Dalai Lama offered face-to-face negotiations with Chinese leaders.
Tibet authorities said they had arrested dozens of people involved in a
wave of anti-Chinese violence. China forced the last remaining foreign
journalists out of Tibet, and stepped up restrictions on Internet and
radio reports from people within the country.
(AP, 3/20/08)(Reuters, 3/20/08)(AP, 3/21/08)
2008 Mar 21, A regulator said
China will shut down or punish dozens of video-sharing Web sites for
carrying content deemed pornographic, violent or a threat to national
security under rules that tighten Internet controls. China’s government
stepped up its manhunt for protesters in last week's riots in the
capital of Tibet, as thousands of troops converged on foot, trucks and
helicopters to Tibetan areas of western China.
(AP, 3/21/08)
2008 Mar 22, China said 19 people
died in riots in the Tibetan capital last week and official media
warned against the unrest spreading to the northwest region of
Xinjiang, where Uighur Muslims bridle under Chinese control. Exiled
Tibetans claim as many as 100 have died in the protests which spilled
over this week into neighboring ethnic-Tibetan areas.
(Reuters, 3/22/08)
2008 Mar 23, China attacked House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her recent meeting with the Dalai Lama,
accusing her and other "human rights police" of double standards and
ignoring the truth about the unrest in Tibet. Han residents said some
500 Uighurs protested in Khotan in the northwestern Xinjiang region. A
bombing targeted a government building in the town of Gyanbe. Chinese
authorities later arrested 9 monks for the bombing.
(AP, 3/23/08)(SFC, 4/3/08, p.A8)(AFP, 4/13/08)
2008 Mar 24, In Greece 3 men from
a free-press group ran onto the field of the stadium in Ancient Olympia
during a flame-lighting ceremony for the Beijing Olympics, evading
massive security aimed at preventing such disruptions in the wake of
China's crackdown in Tibet.
(AP, 3/24/08)
2008 Mar 24, An exiled Tibetan
leader said 2 weeks of protests against China's rule of Tibet have left
about 130 people dead.
(AP, 3/24/08)
2008 Mar 25, In Nepal police armed
with bamboo sticks stopped a protest by Tibetan refugees and monks in
front of the Chinese Embassy and arrested about 100 participants.
(AP, 3/25/08)
2008 Mar 26, China announced the
surrender of hundreds of people over anti-government riots among
Tibetans and allowed the first group of foreign journalists to visit
the regional capital since the violence.
(AP, 3/26/08)
2008 Mar 26, In China 24 people
were killed when fireworks that had been trucked to the Gobi Desert to
be destroyed exploded as they were being dumped into a ditch.
(AP, 3/28/08)
2008 Mar 27, A group of monks
shouting there was no religious freedom disrupted a carefully
orchestrated visit for foreign reporters to Tibet's capital, an
embarrassment for China as it tried to show Lhasa was calm following
deadly anti-government riots.
(AP, 3/27/08)
2008 Mar 28, China allowed the
first foreign diplomats to visit Tibet following deadly riots, as
Germany joined some other European nations in announcing its leader
would skip the Olympics opening. Police closed off Lhasa's Muslim
quarter, two weeks after Tibetan rioters burned down the city's mosque
during the largest anti-Chinese protests in nearly two decades.
(AP, 3/28/08)
2008 Mar 29, In Kathmandu, Nepal,
around 80 Tibetan protesters shouting "stop the killing in Tibet" were
hauled away in police vehicles and detained after demonstrating outside
the Chinese embassy.
(AP, 3/29/08)
2008 Mar 31, Chinese President Hu
Jintao presided over the re-lighting of the Olympic torch in Beijing,
signaling the start of an around-the-world torch relay that already has
become a magnet for protesters.
(AP, 3/31/08)
2008 Mar 31, Chinese authorities
arrested suspects in four arson and murder cases stemming from
anti-government riots that engulfed the Tibetan capital in mid-March.
(AP, 3/31/08)
2008 Apr 2, Diplomats said that
China has given the UN nuclear watchdog intelligence linked to Tehran's
alleged attempts to make nuclear arms.
(AP, 4/2/08)
2008 Apr 3, Hu Jia, a Buddhist
Chinese dissident outspoken on Tibet and other sensitive topics, was
jailed for three-and-a-half years, a conviction likely to become a
focus of rights campaigns ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
(Reuters, 4/3/08)(WSJ, 4/4/08, p.A1)
2008 Apr 3, In Tibet Wang
Xiangming, the deputy Communist Party secretary of Lhasa, said 800 had
been arrested in local violence, while another 280 had surrendered to
take advantage of a police offer of leniency. New violence broke out in
a volatile Tibetan region of western China, leaving eight people dead.
Chinese police opened fire during a "riot" in a Tibetan populated area
of southwest China.
(AP, 4/3/08)(AP, 4/4/08)(AFP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 3, A group of about 200
Uighur Muslims demonstrated against China before the Olympic torch
ceremony near Istanbul's Blue Mosque, one of Turkey's most famous
tourist destinations.
(AP, 4/3/08)
2008 Apr 6, Thousands of
anti-China protesters draped in Tibetan flags disrupted the Olympic
torch relay through London, billed as a journey of harmony and peace.
(AP, 4/6/08)
2008 Apr 7, China’s official
Xinhua News Agency said Zhang Rongkun, a Shanghai tycoon, has been
sentenced to 19 years in prison in a pension funds scandal that toppled
the city's communist party chief.
(AP, 4/7/08)
2008 Apr 7, China and New Zealand
signed a free-trade agreement effective October 1.
(www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-04/07/content_6596491.htm)(WSJ,
4/8/08, p.A14)
2008 Apr 7, A Chinese fishing boat
capsized after colliding with a South Korean cargo ship off South
Korea's southernmost island, leaving six Chinese sailors missing.
(AP, 4/7/08)
2008 Apr 7, Security officials
extinguished the Olympic torch three times as protests against China's
human rights record turned a relay through Paris into a chaotic series
of stops and starts. France's former sports minister, Jean-Francois
Lamour, said that though the torch had been put out, the Olympic flame
itself still burned in the lantern where it is kept overnight and on
airplane flights.
(AP, 4/7/08)
2008 Apr 8, China denounced
protesters who upstaged Olympic Games torch relays in London and Paris
and asked the United States to ensure the next leg in San Francisco
avoids similar mayhem. Olympic chiefs raised the prospect for the first
time of abandoning the international legs of the Beijing Games torch
relay, amid a wave of protests targeting the flame overseas.
(AP, 4/8/08)
2008 Apr 8, The riot-damaged
market in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa opened its doors amid plans to
allow foreign tourists to enter the restive region by the end of the
month.
(AP, 4/8/08)
2008 Apr 8, Intel executives said
their venture capital arm has completed its first round of investment
in China and plans to invest an additional $500 million during the next
several years.
(WSJ, 4/9/08, p.B4)
2008 Apr 9, State media said China
will ban smoking on school campuses as part of an effort to cut down on
tobacco use before the Olympics.
(AP, 4/9/08)
2008 Apr 10, In China a police
spokesman said authorities have detained 45 East Turkestan "terrorist"
suspects (Uighurs), and foiled plots to carry out suicide bomb attacks
and kidnap athletes to disrupt the Beijing Olympics.
(Reuters, 4/10/08)
2008 Apr 10, Australia’s PM Kevin
Rudd met China's premier for talks expected to touch on what Rudd has
called significant human rights problems in Tibet. Rudd said Chinese
paramilitary police will not be allowed to run alongside the Olympic
torch in Australia, after their heavy-handed tactics drew criticism in
earlier legs of the relay.
(AP, 4/10/08)
2008 Apr 11, An indignant China
said the US "seriously hurt the feelings of the Chinese people" when
Congress passed a resolution calling on Beijing to stop cracking down
on Tibetan dissent and talk to the Dalai Lama.
(AP, 4/11/08)
2008 Apr 11, Chen Liangyu, the
former Communist Party chief of China's financial capital, was
sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in a massive corruption
scandal involving the city's pension fund and state-owned companies.
(AP, 4/11/08)
2008 Apr 11, Runners surrounded by
rows of security carried the Olympic flame past thousands of jubilant
Argentines in the most trouble-free torch relay in nearly a week.
(AP, 4/11/08)
2008 Apr 11, G7 finance officials
endorsed a plan to prevent financial crises and reiterated its demand
that Beijing allow the yuan to rise. They also issued a warning to
financial markets that they won’t sit by and watch the dollar continue
to slide.
(SFC, 4/12/08, p.C2)(WSJ, 4/12/08, p.A3)
2008 Apr 12, Chinese President Hu
Jintao defended the crackdown on protests in Tibet and denied the
disturbances were linked to human rights in his first public comments
on the incident.
(AFP, 4/12/08)
2008 Apr 12, Taiwan's vice
president-elect said he and Chinese President Hu Jintao held "candid
and harmonious" talks in the highest-level contact ever between the
sides, and they had brought results.
(AP, 4/12/08)
2008 Apr 13, In Tanzania about
1,000 people cheered and marched with a team of 80 athletes and a
Cabinet minister participating in the Olympic torch relay, the flame's
only stop in Africa.
(AP, 4/13/08)
2008 Apr 14, China’s state
television said police found 30 firearms in a Tibetan monastery in Aba
prefecture of Sichuan province last month.
(Reuters, 4/14/08)
2008 Apr 15, Mike Leavitt, the top
US health official, said US food and drug regulators will start working
in China next month once Beijing gives its final approval.
(AP, 4/15/08)
2008 Apr 16, China’s state media
reported that over the last 2 days police in northeastern Gansu
province have found guns, dynamite, bullets and satellite receivers
hidden in 11 Tibetan Buddhist monasteries.
(Reuters, 4/16/08)
2008 Apr 16, In Pakistan runners
carried the Olympic flame around the outside of a sports stadium, an
invitation-only event in front of an elite, sparse crowd with heavy
security to deter any anti-China protesters or terrorist attacks.
(AP, 4/16/08)
2008 Apr 17, In India runners
carried the Olympic flame along a heavily guarded route through central
New Delhi, protected by about 15,000 police who kept Tibetan exiles and
other anti-China protesters from disrupting the ceremony. Tens of
thousands of pro-Tibetan demonstrators gathered across India to protest
the torch relay.
(AP, 4/17/08)(SFC, 4/18/08, p.A16)
2008 Apr 17, In Japan Buddhist
Monks at the ancient Zenkoji Temple decided to pull out of hosting an
April 26 ceremony for the protest-marred Olympic torch relay because of
China's crackdown in Tibet, as visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang
Jiechi rebuffed Japanese pressure over Tibet, reiterating that Beijing
sees it as an internal matter.
(AFP, 4/18/08)
2008 Apr 18,
In China 56 fishermen were reported missing as one of the
earliest typhoons to hit the region in six decades barreled down on the
southern island of Hainan. 38 swam to a reef area after their boats
were damaged leaving 18 still missing.
(AP, 4/18/08)(AP, 4/19/08)
2008 Apr 18,
South Africa's main transport union thwarted the delivery of a
controversial shipment of Chinese arms destined for Zimbabwe, saying
its workers would not offload the cargo. The Chinese ship left the
South African harbor and headed for neighboring Mozambique. Angola and
Mozambique said the ship is not welcome. China defended the cargo
against international criticism.
(AFP, 4/18/08)(AP, 4/19/08)(AFP, 4/22/08)(SFC,
4/23/08, p.A2)
2008 Apr 19,
Typhoon Neoguri swept through Macau, after it struck Hainan
island south of mainland China the night before.
(AFP, 4/19/08)
2008 Apr 20,
China unveiled a new draft food safety law that provides for
penalties of up to life imprisonment for people responsible for the
production of substandard food.
(Reuters, 4/20/08)
2008 Apr 21,
Malaysia's leg of the Olympic torch relay passed off largely
without incident with a heavy police presence netting just five
protesters and thousands of well-wishers braving torrential rain.
(AP, 4/21/08)
2008 Apr 24, China said a shipment
of arms bound for Zimbabwe will be recalled after South African workers
refused to unload the vessel and other neighboring countries barred it
from their ports.
(Reuters, 4/24/08)
2008 Apr 25, China's government
agreed to a meeting with an envoy of exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai
Lama, a step that follows weeks of calls from world leaders for
dialogue in the wake of anti-government protests in Tibet.
(AP, 4/25/08)
2008 Apr 25, China banned a
controversial type of irreversible brain surgery used to treat
schizophrenia.
(WSJ, 4/28/08, p.A11)
2008 Apr 25, In Japan protesters
waved the Tibetan flag and denounced China's rulers as the Beijing
Olympic torch arrived for the latest leg of a worldwide relay marred by
demonstrations.
(AP, 4/25/08)
2008 Apr 27, A North Korean
defector tried to set himself on fire to halt the Olympic torch relay
through Seoul, while thousands of police guarded the flame from
protesters blasting China's treatment of North Korean refugees. A North
Korean soldier defected to South Korea for the first time in a decade
across the heavily fortified border dividing the countries.
(AP, 4/27/08)(AP, 4/28/08)
2008 Apr 27, In Sudan China’s
state-owned China Water and Electric Corp (CWE) and Sino-Hydro signed a
400-million dollar (255-million euro) deal to raise the height of
Sudan's oldest dam, in the southern Blue Nile state.
(AFP, 4/27/08)
2008 Apr 28, In China a policeman
and a Tibetan activist were killed following a raid against ethnic
Tibetans in Qinghai province.
(WSJ, 5/1/08, p.A11)
2008 Apr 28, A high-speed
passenger train jumped its tracks and slammed into another train in
eastern China, killing at least 70 people and injuring more than 400 in
China's worst train accident in a decade.
(AP, 4/28/08)
2008 Apr 28, The Olympic torch
arrived in Vietnam from North Korea, where tens of thousands of
citizens were mobilized to celebrate the relay in Pyongyang in the
flame's first visit to the authoritarian nation.
(AP, 4/29/08)
2008 Apr 29, A Chinese court
jailed 30 people for terms ranging from three years to life for their
roles in Tibet's deadly riots, which triggered anti-China protests
across the globe ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
(AP, 4/29/08)
2008 Apr 29, In China a newspaper
reported that thousands of children in southwest China have been sold
into slavery like "cabbages," to work as laborers in more prosperous
areas such as the booming southern province of Guangdong.
(Reuters, 4/29/08)
2008 Apr 30, The Olympic torch
returned to Chinese soil after a turbulent 20-nation tour, landing in
the bustling financial capital of Hong Kong where officials deported at
least seven activists before the flame's arrival.
(AP, 4/30/08)
2008 May 1, China inaugurated one
of the world's longest bridges, which will provide an important new
route into Shanghai. The 36-kilometer (22-mile) structure connected
Jiaxing city near Shanghai to the port city of Ningbo in the eastern
province of Zhejiang.
(AFP, 5/2/08)
2008 May 4, China's Pres. Hu
Jintao said he was hoping for positive results with envoys of the Dalai
Lama, as talks opened, but state media kept up a barrage of attacks on
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader. In Shenzhen envoys of the Dalai Lama
and Chinese officials held a day of talks aimed at mending fences
following a wave of unrest that pushed Tibet to centre stage ahead of
the 2008 Olympics. They agreed to further contact.
(Reuters, 5/4/08)(Reuters, 5/5/08)
2008 May 4, China's Health
Ministry issued a nationwide alert after the enterovirus 71 virus, or
EV-71, which causes hand, foot and mouth disease, infected more than
4,500 children in central Anhui province. The outbreak was centered
around Fuyang city, where 22 deaths have occurred.
(AP, 5/4/08)
2008 May 5, In China, state media
said a deadly viral outbreak that preys on children has appeared in
Beijing, and the number of infections in China has grown to more than
8,000. Enterovirus 71 was blamed and went on to kill at least 43 people
with over 24,000 sickened.
(AP, 5/5/08)(SFC, 5/24/08, p.A8)
2008 May 6, Chinese President Hu
Jintao arrived in Tokyo for a feel-good visit that will use ping pong
and pandas to take the edge off more contentious problems like border
disputes, historical animosity and concerns over China's rule in Tibet.
(AP, 5/6/08)
2008 May 7, The leaders of Japan
and China agreed to resolve a territorial row and start regular summits
to ease decades of tension, pledging that Asia's two largest economies
would not see each other as a threat.
(AP, 5/7/08)
2008 May 7, China’s state media
said the number of infections of hand, foot and mouth disease has grown
to more than 15,000 with 28 deaths.
(AP, 5/5/08)
2008 May 8, A Chinese
mountaineering team took the Olympic flame to the top of Mount Everest,
a feat dreamed up to underscore China's ambitions for the Beijing games.
(AP, 5/8/08)
2008 May 11, China PM Wen Jiabao
launched Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (CACC), in an effort
to challenge the duopoly of Airbus and Boeing.
(Econ, 5/17/08, p.82)
2008 May 12, Initial reports said
a 7.8 earthquake struck central China, killing over 9,000 people and
trapping nearly 900 students under the rubble of their school. 80% of
the buildings had collapsed in Beichuan county in Sichuan province. The
death toll soon exceeded 12,000 in Sichuan province alone. 18,645 were
reported buried in debris in the city of Mianyang, near the epicenter
of the quake, whose magnitude was raised to 7.9. The Sichuan quake
ended up killing some 80,000 people. Scientists in 2009 linked the
quake to the Zipingu Dam, 5.5 km from the epicenter. In 2009 an
official tally said 5,335 students were left dead or missing.
(AP, 5/1208)(AP, 5/13/08)(WSJ, 2/7/08, p.A6)(AP,
5/7/09)
2008 May 12-2008 May 13, Chinese
police detained 16 Tibetan Buddhist monks from eastern Tibet's Mangkam
county, who were allegedly involved in a series of bombings in early
April.
(AP, 6/5/08)
2008 May 14, China’s Xinhua News
Agency said that 2,000 troops had been sent to work on the Zipingku
Dam, upriver from Dujiangyan in Sichuan province as the death toll from
the May 12 earthquake approached 15,000.
(AP, 5/14/08)
2008 May 15, China warned the
death toll from this week's earthquake could soar to 50,000, while the
government issued a public appeal for rescue equipment as it struggled
to cope with the disaster.
(AP, 5/15/08)
2008 May 16, In China a strong
aftershock sparked landslides near the epicenter of this week's
powerful earthquake, while some survivors were pulled from rubble after
being buried for four days. The official death toll rose to about
22,069, and another 14,000 still were buried in Sichuan.
(AP, 5/16/08)
2008 May 17, In China the
confirmed death toll rose to 28,881 as thousands of earthquake victims
fled areas near the epicenter, fearful of floods from rivers blocked by
landslides rattled loose in this week's powerful temblor. A
6.1-magnitude earthquake shook Sichuan province. At least 14 people
died in a collision between a bus and a tractor in eastern China.
(AP, 5/17/08)(Reuters, 5/17/08)
2008 May 18, China declared three
days of national mourning for earthquake victims and ordered a
suspension of the Olympic torch relay, as the search for survivors of
the disaster grew bleak with the confirmed death toll rising to 32,476.
(AP, 5/18/08)
2008 May 19, China stood still to
begin 3 days of mourning over tens of thousands of earthquake victims,
and the government appealed for more international aid to cope with the
country's deadliest disaster in a generation. The confirmed death toll
from the May 12 quake rose to 34,073.
(AP, 5/19/08)(Econ, 5/24/08, p.57)
2008 May 20, In China the
confirmed death toll rose to more than 40,000 as authorities struggled
to find shelter for many of the 5 million people whose homes were
destroyed in last week's earthquake.
(AP, 5/20/08)
2008 May 22, China said the toll
of dead and missing from last week's powerful earthquake jumped to more
than 80,000, while the government appealed for millions of tents to
shelter homeless survivors.
(AP, 5/22/08)
2008 May 23, China and Russia
jointly condemned a US plan for a global missile defense system at the
start of a highly symbolic visit by new Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev.
(AP, 5/23/08)
2008 May 24, In China rescuers
rushed to reach 24 coal miners trapped underground by the earthquake
almost two weeks ago, as the government sharply raised the quake's
death toll, warning it could exceed 80,000.
(AP, 5/24/08)
2008 May 25, A 6.0 aftershock hit
quake-ravaged central China killed 6 people, left dozens more injured
and destroyed some 71,000 homes. Soldiers carrying explosives hiked to
a blocked-off river to alleviate the threat of floods.
(AP, 5/25/08)(SFC, 5/26/08, p.A8)
2008 May 26, China said the
confirmed death toll had risen to 65,080 with 23,150 people still
missing. The final number of dead was expected to exceed 80,000.
officials said that the country's one-child policy exempts families
with a child killed, severely injured or disabled in the country's
devastating earthquake.
(AP, 5/26/08)
2008 May 27, Chinese officials
rushed to evacuate another 80,000 people in the path of potential
floodwaters building up behind a quake-spawned dam as soldiers carved a
channel to try to drain away the threat. A government spokesman said
the confirmed death toll in the earthquake more than two weeks ago has
risen to 67,183.
(AP, 5/27/08)
2008 May 28, China’s Xinhua News
Agency reported that torrential rains had killed 18 people in southern
Guizhou province since May 25, and that the rains were expected to
continue for 3 more days. 12 more people were reported missing. Some
6,700 houses were damaged since the rains began.
(SFC, 5/29/08, p.A7)
2008 May 31, Chinese authorities
had evacuated nearly 200,000 people and warned more than 1 million
others to be ready to leave quickly as a lake formed by a devastating
earthquake threatened to breach its dam. A Russian-designed Mi-171
transport helicopter carrying 10 people injured in the devastating
earthquake and four crew members crashed in fog and turbulence, and
authorities searched for survivors. The confirmed death toll from the
May 12 earthquake, reached nearly 69,000, with another 18,000 still
missing.
(AP, 5/31/08)(AP, 6/1/08)
2008 Jun 1, China became the
latest country to declare war on plastic bags in a drive to save energy
and protect the environment.
(Reuters, 6/1/08)
2008 Jun 2, China began paying
sums of about $144 to each parent whose sole offspring was killed in
the May 12 earthquake.
(WSJ, 6/3/08, p.A1)
2008 Jun 4, Chinese police blocked
access to a school that collapsed in last month's massive earthquake, a
day after breaking up a protest by parents of students who died in the
disaster.
(AP, 6/4/08)
2008 Jun 5, In China more than
10,000 people were moved to higher ground as water continued to rise in
a brimming lake formed by landslides from the May 12 earthquake and
another strong aftershock rocked the quake-battered region.
(AP, 6/5/08)
2008 Jun 7, In Hong Kong a routine
inspection found chickens infected with H5N1 bird flu in a poultry
market. Authorities slaughtered 2,700 birds and banned live poultry
imports from China.
(WSJ, 6/9/08, p.A12)
2008 Jun 10, A new WWF report said
China is now consuming more than twice as much as what its ecosystems
can supply sustainably, having doubled its needs since the 1960s.
(AFP, 6/10/08)
2008 Jun 10, Chinese authorities
detained Huang Qi for posting articles on his Web site criticizing the
government's response to the massive earthquake that struck Sichuan
province the month before. In 2009 he was sentenced to 3 years in
prison.
(AP, 11/23/09)(AP, 11/23/09)
2008 Jun 12, Chinese police kicked
foreign journalists out of Dujiangyan city, where the collapse of
several schools in China's earthquake drew charges of corruption from
parents of dead children.
(AFP, 6/12/08)
2008 Jun 12, Taiwan and China
agreed for the first time ever to set up permanent offices in each
others' territories as the two sides met for their first formal talks
in more than a decade.
(AP, 6/12/08)
2008 Jun 13, Chinese President Hu
Jintao said the long journey to better ties with Taiwan was off to a
good start, after the rivals signed historic agreements to set up
direct flights and boost tourism.
(AP, 6/13/08)
2008 Jun 13, A blast in a north
China coal mine left 34 workers trapped underground, after rescuers
lifted nine to safety. Heavy rains in southern China triggered floods
that killed six people and forced the evacuation of 150,000 residents.
A landslide in northern China buried a brick factory, killing 19
workers.
(AP, 6/13/08)(AP, 6/14/08)
2008 Jun 15, China’s state media
said at least 55 people have died and seven were missing in flooding
across a broad stretch of southern China.
(AP, 6/15/08)
2008 Jun 17, China's Xinhua News
Agency said recent flooding has killed 169 people in 12 provinces
following several weeks of rains.
(SFC, 6/17/08, p.A8)
2008 Jun 18, China and Japan
agreed to end a dispute over control of offshore natural gas fields and
to jointly develop the fields in the East China Sea.
(SFC, 6/19/08, p.A12)
2008 Jun 19, China’s government
raised its base price for gasoline by 17% and 18% for diesel in an
effort to diminish the nation’s appetite for fuel.
(WSJ, 6/19/08, p.A1)
2008 Jun 22, A Russian film about
a teenager surprised by the sudden appearance of the father she thought
to be dead won the top prize at the 11th Shanghai International Film
Festival. Vladimir Kott's directorial debut "Mukha" was named best
feature film in the Jin Jue Awards announced at the conclusion of the
nine-day festival.
(AP, 6/23/08)
2008 Jun 23, Anglo-Australian
mining group Rio Tinto said that it had agreed to a near doubling of
the price of its iron ore sales to Chinese steel maker Baosteel.
(AFP, 6/23/08)
2008 Jun 24, A Japanese warship
steamed into a Chinese port, the first such visit since World War Two,
in a military exchange aimed at putting relations between the former
bitter enemies on a firmer footing.
(AP, 6/24/08)
2008 Jun 25, China re-opened Tibet
to foreign tourists after claiming victory over the worst unrest there
in decades -- which led Beijing to all but seal off the area from the
outside world.
(AP, 6/25/08)
2008 Jun 28, China’s government
said Tropical Storm Fengshen killed at least nine people in southern
China. In southwest China angry villagers set fire to police and
government offices and overturned vehicles to protest how officials
handled a teenage student's death. The unrest was sparked by the death
of a 16-year-old student who was raped and murdered. Relatives said she
disappeared after being called away by three young men, two of whom
were related to officials in the county's public security bureau.
Provincial officials soon dismissed the town’s government, party and
police chiefs.
(AP, 6/28/08)(AP, 6/29/08)(Econ, 8/2/08, p.30)
2008 Jun, Cosco, China’s biggest
state-owned shipping company, won a tender to build and operate a new
container terminal at the Greek port of Piraeus.
(Econ, 8/23/08, p.51)
2008 Jul 1, In China a man armed
with a knife stormed a police station in Shanghai, stabbing officers
inside and killing 6 officers. On September 1 Yang Jia (28) was
sentenced to death for the knife attack. In northwest China 18 miners
were killed in a mine-shaft collapse at the state-owned Huisen
Liangshuijing Coal Mine in Shaanxi province. Yang Jia was executed on
Nov 26.
(AP, 7/1/08)(AP, 7/2/08)(AP, 9/1/08)(AP, 11/26/08)
2008 Jul 4, China and Taiwan
launched regular direct flights for the first time in nearly six
decades, ushering in what Beijing called a "new start" in their tense
and testy relations.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 5, In northern China an
apparent blast at a coal mine killed 21 workers at the Wujiu coal mine
outside Datong city in Shanxi province. In central China a four-story
building under construction in a suburb of Wuhan city collapsed and
killed eight people.
(AP, 7/6/08)
2008 Jul 7, In China Diana O'Brien
(22), a Canadian model, was found murdered in her Shanghai apartment.
On Jul 11 police arrested Chen Jun (18), who confessed to killing the
woman during a robbery.
(AP, 7/11/08)
2008 Jul 8, A Chinese court jailed
Xiong Zhengliang, a former anti-graft prosecutor for life, for
torturing a suspect to death. His superior was sentenced to seven years
in prison for trying to cover up the case. Liang Jiping, a deputy
director of the county's electricity bureau, was detained in May 2007
on suspicion of taking bribes. Liang died on June 1, 2007, after being
held in custody for nearly five days and in three separate places.
(Reuters, 7/9/08)
2008 Jul 8, Chinese police killed
five Muslims who were planning a "holy war" in the latest alleged
terror threat ahead of the Beijing Olympics. The five were shot dead
when police raided their hide-out in Urumqi.
(AFP, 7/9/08)
2008 Jul 9, China convicted and
then executed two ethnic Uighur men and imprisoned another 15 for
alleged terrorist links in the western region of Xinjiang.
(AP, 7/12/08)
2008 Jul 10, In China migrant
workers began a 3-day riot in Kanmen town in coastal Zhejiang province.
Three hundred military police arrived on July 13 and 30 migrant workers
have been detained. A Hong Kong-based rights group said the unrest was
centered around a migrant worker who was beaten by a security guard
while trying to get a temporary residence permit.
(AP, 7/14/08)
2008 Jul 11, Zimbabwe’s opposition
Movement for Democratic Change said a total of 113 MDC supporters have
now been killed in politically-related violence. Zimbabwe's ruling
party and opposition held a second day of talks in South Africa. A UN
Security Council bid to pass sanctions against Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe
was vetoed by Russia and China.
(AP, 7/11/08)(AFP, 7/11/08)(AFP, 7/12/08)
2008 Jul 12, North Korea agreed to
completely disable its main nuclear facilities by the end of October
and to allow thorough site inspections to verify that all necessary
steps had been taken as the latest round of six-nation disarmament
talks concluded in Beijing.
(AFP, 7/12/08)
2008 Jul 14, A Chinese migrant
worker at the Shuangqiao Garden Plaza in Wenshan county killed one
person and stabbed nine others after discovering his savings of 2,600
yuan ($380) had been swapped for counterfeit notes while he visited a
prostitute.
(Reuters, 7/16/08)
2008 Jul 14, An explosion at a
mine in northern Hebei province killed 34 miners and a rescue worker.
In November, 2009, officials at the mine were charge with moving dead
bodies, destroying evidence and paying journalists 2.6 million yuan
($380,000) not to report the explosion. In 2010 a journalist was
sentenced to 16 years in prison for taking bribes to help cover up the
disaster, which took place just 3 weeks before the Beijing Olympics.
(www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/world/asia/01mine.html?_r=1)(AP, 1/6/10)
2008 Jul 15, China voiced concern
over an International Criminal Court prosecutor's decision to seek an
arrest warrant for Sudan's president on charges of genocide in the
African country's war-torn Darfur region.
(AP, 7/15/08)
2008 Jul 16, The government of
China’s Gansu province told the Ministry of Health about an unusual
surge of kidney stones among infants who had all drunk the same brand
of milk.
(Econ, 9/20/08, p.57)
2008 Jul 17, A new company of
Chinese engineers deployed to Sudan's war-torn western region of
Darfur, boosting the number of UN-led peacekeeping troops to 8,000.
(AP, 7/17/08)
2008 Jul 20, Beijing started its
most drastic pollution-control plan, restricting car use and limiting
factory emissions in a last-minute push to clear smog-choked skies for
the August Olympics.
(AP, 7/20/08)
2008 Jul 21, In China 2 people
were killed in explosions aboard two public buses in Kunming city,
Yunnan province. On Dec 24 Li Yan reportedly confessed to his role in
the bombings as he lay on his death bed after trying to plant another
bomb. 20 miners escaped or were rescued from a flooded coal mine in
southern China but six have died and 30 remain trapped.
(AFP, 7/21/08)(AP, 7/22/08)(SFC, 12/29/08, p.A3)
2008 Jul 21, China and Russia
signed an agreement that demarcated their 2,700 mile border ending a
long running border dispute.
(WSJ, 7/22/08, p.A1)
2008 Jul 24, Iraq was told it's
not welcome to the Beijing Olympics because of a political feud in
Baghdad that angered the games' guardians and exiled a country that
arrived to a roaring ovation at the opening ceremony four years ago.
(AP, 7/25/08)
2008 Jul 29, The International
Olympic Committee agreed to allow Iraq to participate in the Beijing
games, reversing itself after Baghdad pledged to ensure the
independence of its national Olympics.
(AP, 7/30/08)
2008 Jul 30, A human rights group
said Chinese authorities have sent Liu Shaokun to a labor camp for a
year. He had posted pictures of collapsed schools on the Internet and
was detained last June for allegedly “seriously disturbing social
order.” And disrupting post-quake reconstruction efforts.
(WSJ, 7/31/08, p.A7)
2008 Jul, In China the founder of
a company involved in commodities futures trading allegedly fled to the
US with millions of dollars of customers’ money.
(Econ, 8/9/08, p.40)
2008 Jul, Japan for the first time
exported more to China this month than to America. Japan’s public
sector debt stood at 170% of GDP, the highest among the big rich
economies.
(Econ, 9/6/08, p.87)
2008 Aug 1, China’s broad
anti-monopoly law, promulgated in August, 2007, went into effect. It
became informally referred to as its economic consitution.
(www.iflr.com/Article/2017768/Anti-Monopoly-Law.html)(Econ, 3/21/09,
p.68)
2008 Aug 2, In China Zhang Jinfu
(43), a farmer, killed six and injured one in a stabbing spree in the
Hubei province village of Xuyang.
(AP, 8/3/08)
2008 Aug 2, China’s Sanlu Group, a
dairy product producer, told Fronterra, a New Zealand company that owns
43% of Sanlu, that there was problem with milk powder.
(Econ, 9/20/08, p.57)
2008 Aug 4, In western China 2
Uighur men rammed a truck into a clutch of jogging policemen and tossed
explosives, killing 17 officers, in an attack in Kashgar, Xinjiang
province, just days before the Beijing Olympics. The 2 men were
sentenced to death on Dec 17.
(AP, 8/4/08)(SFC, 8/5/08, p.A11)(AP, 12/17/08)
2008 Aug 5, A magnitude 6.0
earthquake rocked the western Chinese provinces of Sichuan and Gansu,
killing one person and injuring 23 near the site of May's devastating
quake that killed at least 70,000 people.
(Reuters, 8/5/08)
2008 Aug 6, China announced
changes to its foreign exchange rules to address surging growth in its
hard currency reserves.
(WSJ, 8/7/08, p.C12)
2008 Aug 6, The US said it will
protest to China over its decision to revoke the visa of Olympic gold
medalist Joey Cheek, an activist on the African region of Darfur where
China is accused of failing to help end the crisis. Speedskater Cheek
is co-founder of Team Darfur, an international coalition of athletes
campaigning to draw world attention to the humanitarian crisis there.
(Reuters, 8/6/08)
2008 Aug 7, Critics of China's
human rights record made sure they were not forgotten, a day before the
grand opening of the Beijing Olympics, with protest actions the world
over and in China itself. Thousands of Tibetan exiles demonstrated in
Nepal and India.
(AFP, 8/7/08)(AP, 8/7/08)
2008 Aug 7, The US Olympic team
chose Lopez Lomong, one of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan, to carry the flag
at the Olympic opening ceremony, throwing the spotlight on China's
much-criticized policy on Darfur.
(AFP, 8/7/08)
2008 Aug 8, In Beijing, China, the
29th Olympic Games, costing an estimated 40 billion dollars and
shrouded by political controversies, burst into life with a spectacular
opening ceremony at the “bird’s nest” stadium designed by Ai Weiwei.
The official slogan for the games this year was “One world, one dream.”
Actress activist Mia Farrow began Web-casting her own "Darfur Olympics"
from a refugee camp on the barren Sudan-Chad border, aiming to shame
China into using its influence with Khartoum to end the Darfur conflict.
(AP, 8/8/08)(AP, 8/7/08)(Econ, 8/2/08, p.28)(Econ,
8/2/08, p.85)
2008 Aug 8, President Bush blended
carefully calibrated political messages for China and Russia with
enthusiasm for his nation's athletes as he became the first US
president to attend an Olympics abroad.
(AP, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 9, Tang Yongming (47), a
knife-wielding Chinese man, attacked two relatives of a coach for the
US Olympic men's volleyball team at a tourist site in Beijing, killing
Todd Bachman (62) and injuring his wife on the first day of the
Olympics. Yongming then committed suicide by throwing himself from the
second story of the site, the 13th century Drum Tower just five miles
from the main Olympics site.
(AP, 8/9/08)(SFC, 8/11/08, p.A12)
2008 Aug 10, In northwest China
bombings and fierce clashes took place between police and attackers,
the second outbreak of deadly violence there in under a week. Two women
were among a squad of assailants accused of killing 12 people when they
hurled homemade bombs at government buildings and police.
(AFP, 8/10/08)(AP, 8/11/08)
2008 Aug 10, Welshwoman Nicole
Cooke handed Britain their first gold of the Beijing Olympic Games when
she won the women's cycling road race.
(AP, 8/10/08)
2008 Aug 10, Japan's Masato
Uchishiba has won his second straight Olympic gold medal, pinning
France's Benjamin Darbelet just seconds into their final match in the
men's 66-kilogram division and bringing Japan its first judo gold of
the Beijing Games.
(AP, 8/10/08)
2008 Aug 11, In China the US
remained third in the medals table at the end of the third day of
Olympic competition with three gold medals behind hosts China with nine
after the completion of 34 events, and South Korea with four. Abhinav
Bindra became the first Indian to ever win a solo gold medal at the
Olympic Games after winning the men's 10m air rifle title.
(AP,
8/11/08)(www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/14/olympicgames.shooting)
2008 Aug 11, President George W.
Bush said he used talks with China's leaders during the Beijing
Olympics to press them to use their influence with Sudan to help end
the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
(Reuters, 8/11/08)
2008 Aug 12, Knife-wielding
assailants attacked a road checkpoint in China's troubled far west,
killing three guards and raising the death toll to 31 from a surge in
violence coinciding with the Beijing Olympics.
(AP, 8/12/08)
2008 Aug 13, A Chinese team beat
the United States and clinched China's first women's team Olympic gold
in gymnastics, amid allegations that at least one member, He Kexin, of
the Chinese team was under age.
(AP, 8/14/08)
2008 Aug 13, Michael Phelps swam
into history as the winningest Olympic athlete ever with his 10th and
11th career gold medals, and 5 world records in 5 events at the Beijing
Games.
(AP, 8/13/08)
2008 Aug 15, In Beijing 2 positive
dope tests by Asian athletes overshadowed Singapore's first medal in 48
years and a podium for Malaysia with a North Korean shooter and a
Vietnamese gymnast exposed as cheats.
(AP, 8/15/08)
2008 Aug 15, Xinhua News said a
bus veered off the road and plunged into a ravine in central China,
killing 15 people.
(AP, 8/15/08)
2008 Aug 16, Carol Huynh, whose
parents fled communist Vietnam in the 1970s, won Canada's first gold of
the Olympics in the women's 48 kg freestyle wrestling. Usain Bolt of
Jamaica was crowned the world's fastest man when he raced to victory in
the Olympic men's 100 meters final in a world record time of 9.69 sec.
(AP, 8/16/08)(AFP, 8/16/08)
2008 Aug 17, In Beijing Michael
Phelps won his 8th gold medal as team mate Jason Lezak brought it home
for a world record in the 400-meter medley relay.
(AP, 8/17/08)
2008 Aug 18, State media reported
that Chinese authorities have not approved any of the 77 applications
they received from people who wanted to hold protests during the
Beijing Olympics.
(AP, 8/18/08)
2008 Aug 18, In northeast China a
gas explosion tore through a coal mine, leaving 24 workers trapped.
(AP, 8/18/08)
2008 Aug 20, In Beijing Rohullah
Nikpai of Afghanistan won a bronze medal in taekwondo. This was
Afghanistan’s first Olympic medal ever.
(http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/news/story?id=3544339)
2008 Aug 20, Hua Guofeng (b.1921),
who succeeded Mao Zedong as chairman of China's ruling Communist Party
and briefly ruled the country (1976), died in Beijing.
(AP, 8/20/08)
2008 Aug 22, Two Beijing
grandmothers remained defiant and in good spirits despite being
sentenced to one year of reeducation through labor for applying to
protest during the Olympics.
(AFP, 8/22/08)
2008 Aug 23, In Beijing Angel
Matos, a Cuban taekwondo athlete, and his coach Leudis Gonzalez were
banned for life after Matos kicked the referee in the face following
his bronze-medal match disqualification.
(AP, 8/23/08)
2008 Aug 24, The Beijing Olympics,
played out against a background of political intrigue and featuring 16
days of compelling and controversial action, drew to a spectacular
close. China's haul of 51 gold medals was the largest since the Soviet
Union won 55 in Seoul in 1988. The US won 36 gold medals and Russia
came in 3rd with 23. Jamaica ended up with 11 medals including 6 gold.
Cuba took home 24 medals, but only 2 gold.
(AP, 8/24/08)(Econ, 8/30/08, p.38)
2008 Aug 26, In southwest China
explosions ripped through a chemical plant, killing at least 11 people,
injuring dozens and forcing the evacuation of thousands of nearby
residents.
(AP, 8/26/08)
2008 Aug 27, The first outbreak of
violence in China's western region of Xinjiang since a pair of
high-profile attacks during the Olympics left 2 Chinese policemen dead
and 7 more wounded. In north China 9 miners in Hebei province became
trapped underground after the illegal mine they worked in collapsed.
Police were only informed 2 days later. All 9 were feared dead.
(AP, 8/28/08)(AFP, 8/29/08)
2008 Aug 27, China and Iraq signed
a $3 billion deal revising a prewar agreement for China's biggest oil
company to help develop the Ahdab oil field. On Sep 2 Iraq’s Cabinet
approved the deal with China National Petroleum Corp.
(AP, 8/28/08)(AP, 9/2/08)
2008 Aug 28, State media reported
that Chinese government auditors have uncovered the misuse of millions
of dollars in disaster assistance as part of an embezzlement probe
spanning 10 central government departments.
(AP, 8/28/08)
2008 Aug 29, Chinese police
investigating a spate of attacks this month in western Xinjiang
province shot dead six suspects and arrested three others near Kashgar.
(AP, 8/30/08)
2008 Aug 30, China’s tallest
building, the 101-story, 1,614-foot Shanghai World Financial Center,
opened 14 years after Minoru Mori, its Japanese developer, began the
$1.13 billion project. The family owned Mori Building Co. owned 70% of
the project.
(SFC, 8/29/08, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/2/08, p.B2)
2008 Aug 30, A 6.1 earthquake hit
southwest China's Sichuan province, killing least 36 people and turning
tens of thousands of homes into rubble and cracked reservoirs.
(Reuters, 8/30/08)(AP, 8/31/08)
2008 Sep 1, In China a new tax on
gas guzzling cars took effect in an effort to reduce fuel consumption
and fight pollution. In June the tax on fuel was increased by almost
20%.
(Econ, 8/23/08, p.54)
2008 Sep 2, Iraq’s Cabinet
approved an oil deal, signed August 27, with China National Petroleum
Corp. An American soldier died of non-combat related causes in Baghdad.
(AP, 9/2/08)(AP, 9/1/08)
2008 Sep 2, Pakistani Taliban
militants said they had kidnapped two Chinese telecoms engineers and
their entourage and would soon issue a list of demands. The engineers
went missing along with their local driver and a security guard four
days ago near the Afghan border where they had been checking an
installation.
(AFP, 9/2/08)
2008 Sep 3, Coca-Cola Co.
announced a bid to acquire China Huiyuan Juice Group in a $2.4 billion.
(WSJ, 9/4/08, p.B1)
2008 Sep 3-2008 Sep 4, In China’s
Hunan province, thousands of people demonstrated and clashed with
police in Jishou about a property company they said cheated them of
their money. News of the protests did not become public until after the
Olympics.
(Econ, 9/13/08, p.52)
2008 Sep 4, In northeast China 24
people were killed and six injured in a coal mine gas explosion, that
left 3 miners trapped.
(AP, 9/4/08)
2008 Sep 7, In China a flood
swamped the mine in Yuzhou city of Henan province trapping 23 people.
(AP, 9/7/08)
2008 Sep 8, In northern China a
landslide triggered by heavy rain killed at least 277 people, with 10
missing and presumed dead in Shanxi province's Xiangfen county. In 2009
a Chinese court jailed 12 officials for the collapse of an illegal
mining dump that triggered the landslide.
(AP, 9/8/08)(AP, 9/18/08)(AP, 6/28/09)
2008 Sep 11, China’s Sanlu Group
announced a nationwide recall of 700 tons of milk powder.
(Econ, 9/20/08, p.58)
2008 Sep 12, Shops throughout
China pulled a milk powder, suspected sickening babies, from shelves in
the latest safety scandal to rock the country's food industry.
Investigators soon detained 19 people and were questioning 78 to find
out how melamine was added to milk supplied to Sanlu Group Co., China's
biggest milk powder producer. On Sep 15 Zhang Zhenling, vice president
of Sanlu Group, read a letter of apology at a news briefing in
Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province, where the corporation is
based. China later reported that more than 6,000 babies had fallen ill
and three died after drinking contaminated milk powder. Consumer
complaints to Sanlu Group regarding its baby milk formula had begun as
early as last December.
(AP, 9/12/08)(AP, 9/13/08)(AFP, 9/15/08)(AFP,
9/17/08)(SFC, 9/24/08, p.A12)
2008 Sep 13, A fiery bus crash in
China's Sichuan province killed 51 people.
(AP, 9/13/08)
2008 Sep 16, Tian Wenhua, the
board chairwoman and general manager of China dairy giant Sanlu Group,
was fired from her posts in the wake of the tainted milk powder scandal.
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/16/content_10041638.htm)
2008 Sep 17, A packed "Bird's
Nest" National stadium witnessed the formal end of the Beijing
Paralympic Games, bringing down the curtain on a glittering 12-day
sports extravaganza.
(AP, 9/17/08)
2008 Sep 18, China announced plans
to buy shares and take other measures to support the nation’s
plummeting stock market.
(WSJ, 9/19/08, p.A8)
2008 Sep 18, The Bank of China
announced that it would take a 20% stake in the French arm of LCF
Rothschild, its first investment in a euro-zone bank.
(Econ, 9/27/08, p.77)
2008 Sep 19, Singapore banned all
dairy imports from China and the European Union demanded answers from
Beijing as the baby formula scandal, which left 4 babies dead and over
6 thousand infants ill across China, spread to liquid milk.
(Reuters, 9/19/08)
2008 Sep 20, In southern China a
fire and subsequent stampede at the Dance King nightclub in Shenzhen
killed 44 people and left 88 injured. In 2010 two bosses of the club
were sentenced to 15½ years in prison. Club general manager Lu
Jinghuang was ordered jailed for three years. 14 other club managers
received jail terms ranging up to six years. In Hubei province a
migrant worker stabbed 12 people, seriously inuring 2 of them in Shiyan
city.
(AFP, 9/21/08)(SFC, 9/22/08, p.A3)(AP, 3/31/10)
2008 Sep 21, Hong Kong authorities
said they found traces of melamine in a batch of Chinese-made Nestle
commercial milk. The next day they forced Nestle to recall the milk
line.
(WSJ, 9/23/08, p.A22)
2008 Sep 22, The number of Chinese
infants sick in hospital after drinking tainted milk formula doubled to
nearly 13,000 and the country's top quality regulator resigned in the
latest blight on the "made-in-China" brand.
(AP, 9/22/08)
2008 Sep 23, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez arrived in China to hold talks with his counterpart Hu
Jintao and sign a deal for combat aircraft in a visit likely to irk the
US. Chavez said Venezuela and China agreed to jointly build 2 oil
refineries, one in each country.
(AP, 9/23/08)(WSJ, 9/24/08, p.A25)
2008 Sep 23, In China Li Shiming,
a corrupt and rapacious local Communist Party secretary in Shanxi
province, was murdered by Zhang Xuping (18). Shiming had Zhang expelled
from school in 2003 following the imprisonment of his mother, who had
protested along with others the confiscation of land by Shiming.
(Econ, 8/22/09, p.38)
2008 Sep 24, Typhoon Hagupit
plowed into south China, killing at least 13 people, closing schools,
canceling flights, uprooting trees and bringing down billboards in
several cities. Torrential rain isolated more than 20,000 people in an
area of southwest China still recovering from a devastating earthquake
in May. Flash floods and landslides unleashed by heavy rains killed at
least 16 people in Sichuan province.
(Reuters, 9/25/08)(AP, 9/26/08)
2008 Sep 25, China successfully
launched a three-man crew into space to carry out the country's first
spacewalk, beginning the nation's most challenging space mission since
it first sent a person into space in 2003. The Shenzhou VII spacecraft
was launched on a Long March II-F rocket in western Inner Mongolia.
(AP, 9/25/08)(Econ, 9/27/08, p.60)
2008 Sep 25, The EU banned imports
of baby food containing Chinese milk as tainted dairy products linked
to the deaths of four babies turned up in candy and other Chinese-made
goods that were quickly pulled from stores worldwide. More than a dozen
countries have banned or recalled Chinese dairy products as melamine
was found in milk products from 22 Chinese dairy companies.
(AP, 9/25/08)(SFC, 9/25/08, p.A3)
2008 Sep 27, Mission commander
Zhai Zhigang floated, a Chinese astronaut, performed the nation's
first-ever spacewalk, the latest milestone in an ambitious program that
is increasingly rivaling the United States and Russia in its rapid
expansion. Fellow astronaut Liu Boming also emerged briefly from the
capsule to hand Zhai a Chinese flag that he waved for an exterior
camera filming the event. The third crew member, Jing Haipeng,
monitored the Shenzhou 7 from inside the re-entry module.
(AP, 9/27/08)
2008 Sep 28, Three Chinese
astronauts made a jubilant return to Earth after successfully
completing the country's first-ever spacewalk, an event the premier
said was "a stride forward" in China's space history.
(AP, 9/28/08)
2008 Sep 29, China kicked off its
National Day celebrations.
(AP, 9/29/08)
2008 Sep 29, British candy maker
Cadbury said it is recalling 11 types of Chinese-made chocolates found
to contain melamine, as police in northern China raided a network
accused of adding the banned chemical to milk.
(AP, 9/29/08)
2008 Sep 29, Typhoon Jangmi roared
toward eastern China after lashing Taiwan with torrential rains and
powerful winds that killed two people and injured more than 30.
(AP, 9/29/08)
2008 Sep 30, China’s state media
reported that police in northern China have arrested 27 people in their
probe into tainted milk that has sickened 53,000 children and tarnished
China's reputation abroad.
(AP, 9/30/08)
2008 Sep 30, Zhou Yongjun (41),
former student leader of the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy
movement, was seized and secretly imprisoned as he sought to re-enter
China to visit his parents. When he tried to return to China in 1998,
he was sentenced to three years of "re-education through labor" and
returned to the United States in 2002. In May 2009 he was charged with
fraud.
(SFC, 5/14/09, p.A2)(http://tinyurl.com/p6mcno)
2008 Sep, In China hepatitis C
infections were discovered after a patient who had received a
transfusion during an operation in Pingtang tested positive for the
disease. In 2009 police detained the director of the hospital, where at
least 64 people were infected with the potentially deadly liver disease
after receiving transfusions from blood collected illegally.
(AP, 4/2/09)
2008 Oct 1, Fifteen more Chinese
dairy companies were identified as producing milk products contaminated
with an industrial chemical, further broadening a scandal affecting
products ranging from baby formula to chocolate.
(AP, 10/1/08)
2008 Oct 3, Officials said
Vietnam's health ministry has discovered the industrial chemical
melamine in 18 food products imported from China and three other
countries and has ordered them recalled and destroyed.
(AP, 10/3/08)
2008 Oct 4, Taiwan's president
welcomed a US decision to sell the island up to $6.5 billion in
advanced weaponry, while China warned the move would damage relations
between Beijing and Washington.
(AP, 10/4/08)
2008 Oct 5, Hong Kong said it
found two Cadbury chocolate products contained considerably more of the
industrial chemical melamine than the city's legal limit in a growing
scandal over Chinese tainted food. China attempted to contain the
fallout from the tainted milk scandal, announcing a new survey of dairy
products showed no traces of melamine and promising to subsidize
farmers hit by the scare.
(AP, 10/5/08)(AFP, 10/5/08)
2008 Oct 8, Six central banks
jolted markets by cutting interest rates together in an attempt to
shore up confidence in the world's crisis-stricken financial system.
The US Fed reduced its key rate from 2% to 1.5%. The Bank of England
unexpectedly slashed its key lending rate by a half-point to 4.5%. The
Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 2.5%.
China also cut its key interest rates for a second time in less than
one month to 6.9%. The European Central Bank sliced its rate by half a
point to 3.75%. Sweden, and Switzerland also cut rates. Earlier in a
day Japan's Nikkei showed its biggest drop since the October, 1987
stock market crash. The IMF said the world economy is entering a major
downturn.
(AP, 10/8/08)(AFP, 10/8/08)(Econ, 10/11/08, p.100)
2008 Oct 10, A state news report
said Beijing will ban half of its 3.4 million cars from the roads
during periods of very heavy pollution. A crane at a construction site
next to a kindergarten collapsed in Zibo city, Shandong province,
killing five children.
(AP, 10/10/08)
2008 Oct 14, China unveiled a plan
to achieve universal health care. The plan hoped to cover 90% of the
population within 2 years and achieve universal health care by 2020.
State media reported that a ginseng injection contaminated by bacteria
caused the deaths of three people using the medicine to treat
thrombosis and heart disease.
(http://tinyurl.com/5f6fyb)(WSJ, 10/20/08,
p.A12)(AP, 10/15/08)
2008 Oct 15, Pakistani President
Asif Ali Zardari reached trade deals with China, raising hopes that
Beijing would help his country through difficult economic and
diplomatic times.
(AP, 10/15/08)
2008 Oct 18, Liu Zhihua, a former
Beijing vice mayor in charge of overseeing Olympic construction
projects, was given a suspended death sentence for corruption, in a
stern warning to wayward Communist officials. The sentence will be
commuted to life in prison in two years if Liu shows good behavior.
(AP, 10/19/08)
2008 Oct 18, Pakistan said that
China will help it build two more nuclear power plants, offsetting
Pakistani frustration over a recent nuclear deal between archrival
India and the US.
(AP, 10/18/08)
2008 Oct 18, In southern Sudan
unknown assailants kidnapped nine Chinese oil workers.
(AP, 10/19/08)
2008 Oct 19, China's communist
leaders announced the approval of key rural reform that for the first
time will permit farmers to lease or transfer their land in a change
aimed at raising rural incomes and speeding migration from the farm to
the cities. The policy change was approved a week ago at a high-level
meeting.
(AP, 10/20/08)
2008 Oct 20, In China, a
veterinarian said some 1,500 dogs, bred for their raccoon-like fur,
have died after eating feed tainted with the same chemical that
contaminated dairy products and sickened tens of thousands of babies
nationwide.
(AP, 10/20/08)
2008 Oct 22, China’s government
announced that the minimum downpayment on first homes would be reduced
to 20% from 30%, stamp tax would be eliminated and mortgage rates cut.
(Econ, 10/25/08, p.52)
2008 Oct 23, China arrested six
people for their alleged role in supplying contaminated milk to the
country's dairy companies, as the Health Ministry said more than 3,600
Chinese children remain hospitalized after consuming compromised
products. Scores of villagers in a remote timber region ransacked the
offices of a forestry company and fought with security guards, accusing
the company of paying too little for use of their land.
(AP, 10/23/08)(AP, 10/27/08)
2008 Oct 23, China and Singapore
signed a free trade agreement on the eve of a summit of European and
Asian leaders in Beijing. Held every two years, ASEM has no mandate to
issue decisions, but participants hope it will produce some degree of
consensus ahead of a Nov. 15 meeting of the world's top economies in
Washington to discuss the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.
(AP, 10/23/08)(WSJ, 10/24/08, p.A13)
2008 Oct 23, The European
Parliament awarded a prestigious rights prize to jailed Chinese
dissident Hu Jia on the eve of a key Beijing summit and despite
pressure from Beijing not to honor him.
(AFP, 10/23/08)
2008 Oct 24, Tokyo and Beijing
agreed to establish a hotline between their leaders to build mutual
trust, as Prime Minister Taro Aso held his first meeting as Japanese
leader with his Chinese counterparts.
(AP, 10/24/08)
2008 Oct 24, Asian and European
leaders, meeting in Beijing, called for a coordinated response to the
global financial meltdown and prepared to endorse a critical role for
the International Monetary Fund in aiding the hardest-hit countries.
(AP, 10/24/08)
2008 Oct 25, In China the 2-day
ASEM economic summit closed. 43 Asian and European leaders pledged
around $4 trillion to support banks and restart money markets to try to
stem the global crisis. This was ASEM’s 7th biennial gathering since
1996.
(Reuters, 10/25/08)(Econ, 11/1/08, p.49)
2008 Oct 26, China’s state media
said the World Bank and France have agreed to lend China more than $900
million to rebuild areas devastated by a massive earthquake earlier
this year.
(AP, 10/26/08)
2008 Oct 27, In central Sudan
kidnappers killed 4 Chinese oil workers out of nine they had been
holding hostage for more than a week. A local leader in troubled South
Kordofan state, where the hostages were abducted and killed, said the
Chinese died as a result of fighting between the Sudanese army and the
kidnappers. The next day 3 bodies and 3 wounded were flown to Khartoum.
A 4th body was found on Oct 29. The last 2 were reported found Oct 31,
one alive and one dead.
(AFP, 10/28/08)(AFP, 10/29/08)(AP,
10/29/08)(Reuters, 10/31/08)
2008 Oct 28, Namibia sold more
than seven tons of ivory for $1.1 million, in the first legal auction
of elephant tusks in nearly a decade, exclusively for Chinese and
Japanese buyers.
(AP, 10/28/08)
2008 Oct 29, China cut interest
rates for the 3rd time in six weeks.
(Econ, 11/1/08, p.84)
2008 Oct 29, A local Chinese
government acknowledged that officials knew about melamine-tainted eggs
for a month before the contamination was publicly disclosed. A Dalian
government notice said that local authorities were notified Sept. 27 of
tests by the customs bureau of Liaoning province that had found
melamine in a batch of export-bound eggs produced by Dalian Hanwei
Enterprise Group.
(AP, 10/29/08)
2008 Oct 29, In northern China a
gas explosion in a mine shaft at a coal mine trapped 29 miners at the
Yaotou mine in central Shaanxi province. 26 bodies were recovered over
the next few days and 3 remained missing. In Henan province 20 miners
were trapped after a mine flooded at the Mazhuang colliery. After a few
days rescuers gave up hope of finding any alive.
(AP, 10/30/08)(AFP, 11/2/08)
2008 Oct 29, David Miliband,
Britain’s foreign secretary, acknowledged China’s suzerainty over Tibet.
(Econ, 11/8/08, p.54)
2008 Oct 29, Venezuela launched
its first satellite from Sichuan, China. It will begin carrying radio,
television and other data transmissions in early 2009 after three
months of tests.
(AP, 10/29/08)
2008 Oct 30, China’s state media
reported that the industrial chemical melamine is commonly added to
animal feed in China to make it appear higher in protein. This appeared
to be a tacit admission by the government that contamination is
widespread in the country's food supply.
(AP, 10/30/08)
2008 Oct 30, In China 12 people
died after an elevator plunged at the Sunshine City construction site
in east Fujian province.
(AP, 10/30/08)
2008 Oct 31, In southern China a
truck driver killed 4 people and injured 20 by driving into a crowd of
high school students coming out of class. The male driver was shot dead
by police after the incident in the city of Zhuhai in Guangdong
province.
(AP, 11/6/08)
2008 Oct, Smart Union, a Chinese
toymaker founded by Tony Wu, went into forced liquidation with the
direct loss of some 12,000 jobs and the indirect loss of many more.
Flooding in June hit Dongguan and severely impacted the company’s
inventories and the following credit crunch forced it to shut down in
September.
(Econ, 1/17/09, p.63)
2008 Nov 2, China opened the final
session of the Canton Fair, the country's biggest trade show, amid
complaints that attendance has been dismal because of the financial
crisis clobbering the nation's biggest export markets in the US and
Europe. In southwest China at least 40 were killed after mudslides
engulfed several villages.
(AP, 11/2/08)(AFP, 11/2/08)(AP, 11/4/08)
2008 Nov 3, Chen Yunlin, the most
senior Chinese official to visit Taiwan since the end of a civil war 60
years ago, arrived in Taipei on a charter flight from Beijing for talks
on strengthening economic ties, as supporters of independence for the
island staged demonstrations and planned mass protest rallies against
his visit.
(AFP, 11/3/08)
2008 Nov 4, In China authorities
in Chongqing, one of China's biggest cities, vowed to crack down on
violence that has marked a rare strike by taxi drivers, and called for
an immediate return to work.
(AP, 11/4/08)
2008 Nov 4, Taiwan and China set
aside decades of hostilities and agreed to drastically expand flights
and allow shipping links across the Taiwan Strait, a potential hotspot
that has long threatened to become a war zone.
(AP, 11/4/08)
2008 Nov 6, Taiwan's President Ma
Ying-jeou made history when he met with a senior Chinese official as
tens of thousands of anti-Beijing protesters brought the island's
capital to a standstill.
(AFP, 11/6/08)
2008 Nov 7, In China hundreds of
people clashed with police in the southern city of Shenzhen, throwing
stones and setting fire to a police car after a motorcyclist died while
trying to avoid a checkpoint.
(Reuters, 11/8/08)
2008 Nov 8, Li Ximing (82),
Beijing's Communist Party boss during the bloody 1989 crackdown on
pro-democracy protests, died.
(AP, 11/11/08)
2008 Nov 9, China announced a $586
billion stimulus package in its biggest move to stop the global
financial crisis from hitting the world's fourth-largest economy.
(AP, 11/9/08)
2008 Nov 10, Iraq and China signed
the final agreement on a $3 billion deal to develop the Ahdab oil field
south of Baghdad over a 22 year-period.
(AP, 11/11/08)
2008 Nov 12, China launched a
50-day campaign against unlicensed taxis in Beijing.
(WSJ, 11/14/08, p.A10)
2008 Nov 12, Hong Kong officials
said they had found elevated levels of melamine in fish feed from
China’s Fuzhou Haima Feed Co.
(WSJ, 11/13/08, p.A13)
2008 Nov 13, China signed an
agreement in Geneva to loosen controls on financial news providers in
an out-of-court settlement of a dispute with the US, the EU and Canada.
(AP, 11/13/08)
2008 Nov 13, US Federal health
officials slapped a sweeping detention order on dozens of imported
foods from China, from snacks and drinks to chocolates and candies. The
agency said the action was needed as a precaution to keep out foods
contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine, which can cause
serious kidney problems.
(AP, 11/13/08)
2008 Nov 13, Pakistan announced
that China had offered it a $500 million aid package.
(WSJ, 11/14/08, p.A10)
2008 Nov 14, In Tibet 18 people
died after a bus overturned in Naqu district..
(AP, 11/17/08)
2008 Nov 15, In eastern China a
subway tunnel under construction collapsed in Hangzhou, trapping
workers and creating a huge crater into which more than 10 vehicles
plunged. At least 7 people died and 14 were missing.
(AP, 11/15/08)(AP, 11/17/08)
2008 Nov 17, In northwest China a
crowd of 1,000 people stormed a local Communist Party headquarters,
smashing cars and clashing with police following a land dispute. The
protesting began with just a small group of people complaining about
the demolition of their homes to make way for a new road in Longnan
city in Gansu province. Police later arrested 30 people for involvement
in a two-day violent protest, that had to be broken up with tear gas
after 74 people were injured.
(AP, 11/18/08)(AFP, 11/20/08)
2008 Nov 17, In central China
flood waters trapped workers in a coal mine in Pingdingshan, Henan
province. The next day rescuers saved 33 miners who had been trapped
for 28 hours by an underground flood. One miner died.
(AP, 11/17/08)(AP, 11/18/08)
2008 Nov 18, Belgian brewing giant
InBev announced it had completed the takeover of Anheuser-Busch to
create the world's biggest brewer. Beijing agreed to Belgium-based
InBev SA's takeover of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc.'s Chinese operations as
part of their global merger, but limited future acquisitions on
anti-monopoly grounds.
(AP, 11/18/08)
2008 Nov 19, Chinese President Hu
Jintao promised Cuba at least $78 million in donations, credit and
hurricane relief. Hu also met with a thin-looking Fidel Castro before
leaving for the Asia-Pacific economic summit in Peru. China agreed to
donate $8 million to Cuba and extend the second, $70 million phase of
$350 million in previously agreed-upon credit to renovate Cuban
hospitals.
(AP, 11/19/08)
2008 Nov 19, China and Peru signed
a free trade agreement.
(Econ, 11/29/08, p.42)
2008 Nov 19, In China Huang
Guangyu, founder and chairman of GOME Electrical Appliances, was
detained for insider trading in shares of Shandong Jintai Group, a
pharmaceutical company controlled by his brother. On Feb 12, 2010,
authorities announced charges of insider trading and bribery.
(Econ, 11/29/08, p.69)(Econ, 2/20/10, p.64)
2008 Nov 21, Chinese authorities
destroyed the home of leading rights activist Ni Yulan in front of her
distraught husband who pleaded with the government to release her from
jail. Chen Daojun, a writer and journalist who was arrested after
protesting against a power plant in southwest China, was sentenced to
three years in prison on charges of subverting state power.
(AFP, 11/21/08)
2008 Nov 22, The Yellow River
Conservancy Committee reported that one-third of the Yellow River,
which supplies water to millions of people in northern China, is
heavily polluted by industrial waste and unsafe for any use.
(AP, 11/25/08)
2008 Nov 23, In southwest China
men wielding knives and batons attacked employees at an arcade in a
brawl that left five dead and two injured in Chongqing.
(AP, 11/25/08)
2008 Nov 24, China's President Hu
Jintao arrived in Greece for a three-day visit timed to coincide with
the signing of a 831.2 million euro ($1 billion) port deal.
(AP, 11/24/08)
2008 Nov 25 Armenia won its second
straight gold medal at the Chess Olympiad in Germany by defeating China
2.5-1.5 in the 11th and final round.
(AP, 11/26/08)
2008 Nov 26, China executed Wang
Zhendong, a businessman convicted of bilking thousands of investors out
of $416 million in a bogus ant-breeding scheme.
(AP, 11/27/08)
2008 Nov 26, China cut interest
rates by more than a percentage point to 5.58%, the most significant
cut in 11 years, as the economic conditions worsened.
(SFC, 12/9/08, p.A10)(Econ, 11/29/08, p.80)
2008 Nov 28, China executed Wo
Weihan, a scientist accused of passing information to Taiwan,
triggering condemnation from his family and several countries including
the US.
(AP, 11/28/08)
2008 Nov 29, In southern China
about 300 taxi drivers went on strike in Chaozhou, smashing cars and
demanding a crackdown on unlicensed taxis in the latest protest against
illegal taxi competition in China.
(AP, 11/30/08)
2008 Nov 30, Chinese health
authorities and the UN AIDS agency pledged to fight discrimination
against people with the disease in China with the unveiling of a
massive red ribbon, the symbol of AIDS awareness, at the Olympic Bird's
Nest stadium in Beijing.
(AP, 11/30/08)
2008 Nov 30, In northern China a
coal mine blast killed 15 miners at the Changlong Coal Mine in
Heilongjiang province. 3 rescuers died the next day in a cave-in.
(AP, 12/1/08)
2008 Nov, China detained Hu
Zhicheng, an American automotive engineer, on accusations he misused
trade secrets. His case was first reported in Dec, 2009, in an
account written under a pen name that appeared on Boxun News. Zhicheng
was released in May, 2010, with no charges filed against him.
(AP, 12/17/09)(AP, 5/14/10)
2008 Dec 1, China's Health
Ministry said six babies may have died after consuming tainted milk
powder, up from a previous official toll of three, and announced a
six-fold increase in its tally of infants sickened in the scandal, to
nearly 300,000.
(AP, 12/1/08)
2008 Dec 1, In northern China 11
girls died of carbon monoxide poisoning at a school in Shaanxi
province. A news report said the girls had lit a fire to keep warm.
(AP, 12/2/08)
2008 Dec 4, In eastern China
a fire at the dormitory of a seafood company killed 11 workers and
injured 10 others.
(AP, 12/4/08)
2008 Dec 5, The US and China
pledged to work together to tackle global financial turmoil as they
wrapped up economic talks but left open whether the high-level dialogue
will continue under President-elect Barack Obama.
(AP, 12/5/08)
2008 Dec 5, In southern China
about 100 factory owners and employees held up red protest banners
outside a government building, demanding that officials help them
collect more than $13 million in debts from an electronics factory that
recently closed.
(AP, 12/5/08)
2008 Dec 6, Okay Airways, China's
first private airline, began a planned one-month suspension of
passenger service 10 days early after skittish airports insisted on
cash to refuel its planes. The airline suffered from financial and
management woes.
(AP, 12/6/08)
2008 Dec 7, China protested
strongly to France over President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the
Dalai Lama, calling it a "rude intervention" into Chinese affairs.
(AP, 12/7/08)
2008 Dec 9, In Beijing delegates
from six nations focused on a Chinese proposal on how to verify North
Korea's claims about its atomic program in talks aimed at ending the
secretive regime's nuclear activities.
(AFP, 12/9/08)
2008 Dec 9, In China activists
issued a new public call for greater freedoms ahead of the 60th
anniversary of the UN convention on human rights, but police detained
two of the signatories before it was even issued. The petition known as
Charter 08 was issued online and initially signed by 303 intellectuals.
Within a week 5,000 people added their signature.
(AP, 12/9/08)(Econ, 1/17/09, p.42)(Econ, 2/14/09, SR
p.17)
2008 Dec 13, Japan, China and
South Korea moved to ward off the effects of the global financial
crunch at a trilateral summit in Japan, while Tokyo and Seoul
criticized North Korea for stalling denuclearization talks.
(AP, 12/13/08)
2008 Dec 15, In China substances
commonly used as industrial dyes, insecticides and drain cleaners were
included on a list of illegal food additives released as part of a
months long government crackdown aimed at improving the country's
shoddy food safety record.
(AP, 12/15/08)
2008 Dec 15, In China the BYD Co.
introduced the F3DB, country’s first homegrown electric vehicle for the
mass market. The sedan was expected to be priced at about $22,000 and
introduced to the US in the second half of 2010.
(WSJ, 12/13/08, p.B2)
2008 Dec 15, Taiwanese jetliners
and cargo ships left for China to open a new era of direct air and
shipping services with the mainland, formally ending a nearly
six-decade ban on regular links between the rivals.
(AP, 12/15/08)
2008 Dec 16, Chinese agricultural
officials ordered the slaughter of some 377,000 chickens after finding
the H5N1 bird flu virus in two areas of Jiangsu province.
(WSJ, 12/17/08, p.A14)
2008 Dec 17, In Beijing the
presidents of China and Angola signed a series of agreements as the oil
rich African nation sought greater Chinese participation in its energy
and infrastructure development.
(AP, 12/17/08)
2008 Dec 17, The European
Parliament gave a jailed Chinese dissident a one-minute standing
ovation as it honored him in absentia with its top human rights award.
(AP, 12/17/08)
2008 Dec 17, An international
anti-piracy force thwarted the attempted takeover of a Chinese cargo
ship off the Somali coast, sending in attack helicopters that fired on
the bandits and forced them to abandon the ship they had boarded. The
Indian navy handed over 23 pirates, caught at sea on Dec 13, to
authorities in Yemen.
(AP, 12/17/08)
2008 Dec 20, China said it will
send two destroyers and a supply vessel to the seas off Somalia to back
international efforts to fight piracy.
(AP, 12/20/08)
2008 Dec 20, The NY Times said
China has blocked access to its Web site, days after the central
government defended its right to censor online content it deems illegal.
(AP, 12/20/08)
2008 Dec 22, China’s central bank
announced its 5th interest rate cut in just over 3 months. The
benchmark one year lending rate was cut .27% to 5.31%.
(WSJ, 12/23/08, p.A5)
2008 Dec 24, In China a gas leak
at the Ganglu Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. in Hebei province killed 17
people.
(AP, 12/24/08)
2008 Dec 25, Chinese state media
reported that 59 people in Tibet have been detained on charges that
they sought to foment unrest by spreading ethnic hatred and by
downloading and selling banned songs from the Internet.
(SFC, 12/26/08, p.A16)
2008 Dec 26, Chinese warships,
armed with special forces, guided missiles and helicopters, set sail
for anti-piracy duty off Somalia, the first time the communist nation
has sent ships on a mission that could involve fighting so far beyond
its territorial waters.
(AP, 12/26/08)
2008 Dec 26, China’s state media
reported that nearly 5,000 higher-level Chinese government officials
were punished for corruption over the past year.
(AP, 12/26/08)
2008 Dec 26, China National
Offshore Oil Corp., the country's largest offshore oil and gas
producer, signed four oil cooperation agreements with Taiwan's CPC Corp.
(AP, 12/26/08)
2008 Dec 27, An explosion in
central China's Henan province killed 15 people and injured nine
others. Explosives, used for small-scale demolition, were illegally
stored at a home when they ignited, destroying more than 10 neighboring
houses. At least 17 workers were killed and one seriously injured when
an elevator suddenly dropped to the ground at a construction site in
central Hunan province.
(AP, 12/27/08)
2008 Dec 29, Top brass from the
Chinese and Russian armies hailed closer ties in their first-ever
conversation over a newly installed military hot line.
(AP, 12/29/08)
2008 Dec 29, In China 9 people
went on trial in connection with the tainted milk scandal. This
followed the announcement of steps to compensate the families of
hundreds of thousands of children harmed by contaminated infant formula.
(AP, 12/29/08)
2008 Dec 30, A Chinese state-run
newspaper said the companies, whose tainted milk products sickened
nearly 300,000 children and were blamed in the deaths of six, will
likely pay 1.1 billion yuan ($160 million) in compensation to victims'
families.
(AP, 12/30/08)
2008 Dec 30, China’s state press
said paleontologists in east China have dug up what they believe is one
of the world's largest group of dinosaur fossils including the remains
of an enormous "platypus."
(AFP, 12/30/08)
2008 Dec 30, The Bahamas' foreign
affairs minister said China will help build a national sports stadium.
Construction will start early next year in the capital of Nassau. China
will send the Bahamas a $7.3 million grant as well as Chinese
construction workers who will build the stadium.
(AP, 12/31/08)
2008 Dec 31, It was reported that
China has delayed plans to start the central section of its massive
South-to-North water diversion project by 4 years due to environmental
concerns.
(WSJ, 12/31/08, p.A4)
2008 Dec 31, China’s state-run
Xinhua news agency reported that a pair of Chinese forestry executives
cheated thousands of investors out of 160 million dollars by selling
off "timber lands" in a barren desert region. Chairman Chen Xianggui of
Inner Mongolia's Wanli Afforestation Co. was sentenced to 11 years in
prison by a court in the region while general manager Liu Yanying
received nine years for the pyramid scheme.
(AFP, 12/31/08)
2008 Dec 31, Tian Wenhua, former
chairwoman of the Sanlu Group, one of China’s biggest dairy producers,
pleaded guilty to selling fake and substandard milk powder.
(SFC, 1/1/09, p.A3)
2008 Dec, Tanganyika Oil was
acquired by a subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.
(Sinopec) for $2 billion.
(Econ, 6/27/09, p.72)
2008 Jasper Becker authored “City
of Heavenly Tranquility: Beijing in the History of China.”
(Econ, 8/2/08, p.85)
2008 Tarun Khanna authored
“Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India are Reshaping The
Futures and Yours.”
(Econ, 1/26/08, p.80)
2008 Tubten Khetsun authored
“Memories of Life in Lhasa Under Chinese Rule.”
(Econ, 3/22/08, p.93)
2008 James Mann authored “The
China Fantasy: Why Capitalism Will Not Bring Democracy to China.”
(Econ, 10/24/09, SR p.14)
2008 The book “The Corpse Walker:
Real Life Stories, China From the Bottom Up” by Liao Yiwu, Chinese
poet, was translated to English by Wen Huang. The book was banned as
soon as it was published in China. Wen had been imprisoned for 5 years
for an epic poem published after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
(SSFC, 5/18/08, Books p.1)
2008 China became the world’s
largest emitter of carbon dioxide this year as it spewed some 6.5
billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, about 22% of the world’s total.
(Econ, 4/17/10, p.64)
2008 China executed some 1,700
convicts this year.
(Econ, 1/2/10, p.31)
2009 Jan 3, In eastern China an
explosion at an illegal fireworks factory killed 13 people in the city
of Weifang in Shandong province. A boy, Zou Chuanshuo (2) was killed
with an ax in Luoyang in Hubei province. The child's grandmother Zhu
Deqing (43) and six others were also killed. On Jan 11 authorities
arrested junk collector Xiong Zhenlin (32) in Wuhan, the capital of
Hubei province. He confessed to the murders, which included a widow who
jilted him. A Chinese court sentenced him to death on Feb 9 for the
murders. Zhenlin was executed on april 16 in the central city of
Suizhou.
(AP, 1/4/09)(AP, 2/9/09)(AP, 4/16/09)
2009 Jan 5, China launched a major
crackdown on Internet pornography targeting popular online portals and
major search engines such as Google.
(AP, 1/5/09)
2009 Jan 5, A Chinese woman (19)
died from bird flu in a Beijing hospital, but the World Health
Organization said the case did not appear to signal a new public health
threat.
(AP, 1/6/09)
2009 Jan 7, In China a court in
Hangzhou, a prosperous city in eastern Zhejiang province, sentenced
Wang Rongqing (65) to 6 years in jail on charges of subverting state
power for organizing the banned China Democracy Party.
(AP, 1/8/09)
2009 Jan 7, Bank of America Corp.
raised more money to cope with US economic turmoil by selling part of
its stake in China Construction Bank Ltd., China's second-biggest
commercial lender, for $2.8 billion.
(AP, 1/7/09)
2009 Jan 12, State media said
China has shut down 91 websites for pornographic and other "vulgar"
content, as well as a political blog portal, since announcing its
latest bid to ensure Internet morality.
(Reuters, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 12, In China a Shanghai
distributor of a popular brand of dog food said it had suspended sales
of the product following reports that dogs who ate it had died from
aflatoxin poisoning. This appeared to involve an imported product,
Optima, a brand of dog food made by Nashville, Tennessee-based Doane
Pet Care Co. It was not clear if the pet food sold in China was the US
brand.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 13, China's government
reported that exports fell at their fastest rate in a decade as the
country's trade slump worsened again in December, a decline that's led
to masses of layoffs and growing fears of social unrest.
(AP, 1/13/09)
2009 Jan 15, A police official
said Chinese authorities have detained 13 members of a gang suspected
of kidnapping and selling children, sometimes swooping by on
motorcycles and snatching them in broad daylight. Xinhua News Agency
said Su Tonghua (21) was arrested on Dec. 31. His 12 accomplices were
arrested last week.
(AP, 1/15/09)
2009 Jan 18, China’s public
security bureau of Lhasa, Tibet, launched a "strike hard" campaign
against crime, with raids on residential areas, Internet cafes, bars,
rented rooms, hotels and guesthouses.
(AP, 1/28/09)
2009 Jan 19, China warned of a
rising bird flu risk after a second person died of the virus in less
than a month, and said it could be especially dangerous as the nation
headed into the Lunar New Year holiday.
(AP, 1/19/09)
2009 Jan 19, China’s state media
reported that nearly 1,000 people have been caught cheating on China's
notoriously competitive civil service entrance exams, some with
high-tech listening devices in their ears.
(AP, 1/18/09)
2009 Jan 20, In central China a
16-year-old boy infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus died, the
country's third fatality from the disease this month.
(AP, 1/20/09)
2009 Jan 22, Asian economic gloom
worsened when China said growth plunged in the final quarter of 2008
while Japan said exports fell at a record pace in December amid
weakening Western consumer demand.
(AP, 1/22/09)
2009 Jan 22, A Chinese court
condemned two men to death and gave a dairy boss life in prison in the
first sentences handed down in the tainted milk scandal, which ignited
public anger and accusations of cover-ups.
(AP, 1/22/09)
2009 Jan 24, China announced the
death of a 31-year-old woman from bird flu, its fourth human victim
this year, sparking fears of an outbreak during the country's main
festive season.
(AFP, 1/24/09)
2009 Jan 25, In China a Richter
scale 5.0 earthquake hit an area inhabited by the Xibe people. It
destroyed nearly 200 homes and damaged nearly 3,000 buildings. The
community, originally from Manchuria, had established a frontier
garrison in Xinjiang during the Qing dynasty.
(Reuters, 1/26/09)
2009 Jan 26, China greeted the
arrival of the Year of the Ox with fireworks and celebrations, bidding
farewell to a tumultuous 2008 marked by a massive earthquake, the
Olympics, and a global economic crisis.
(AP, 1/26/09)
2009 Jan 26, China’s state media
reported that an 18-year-old man has died from bird flu in southern
China, the fifth human death from the virus in the country this year.
(AP, 1/26/09)
2009 Jan 28, China’s state media
said at least 81 people have been detained as the country launched a
security sweep in Tibet ahead of one of the region's most sensitive
anniversaries in years.
(AP, 1/28/09)
2009 Jan 28, In Switzerland some
2,500 business and political leaders met at Davos for the World
Economic Forum, as the worst financial crisis since the Great
Depression served to mute the enthusiasm of previous years. China’s
Premier Wen Jiabao and Russia’s PM Vladimir Putin blamed the US-led
financial system for the global economic slump.
(AP, 1/28/09)(WSJ, 1/29/09, p.A1)
2009 Jan 31, Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao arrived in London in the latest leg of a European tour aimed at
tackling the global financial and economic crisis and improving
relations between the trading partners.
(Reuters, 1/31/09)
2009 Jan 31, In southern China
revelers celebrating a birthday set off fireworks just before midnight
inside a bar, triggering a blaze that killed 15 people and injured 22.
(AP, 2/1/09)
2009 Jan, In Ethiopia an
inauguration ceremony was held for the new headquarters of the
53-member AU. Completion was expected December 2011. The structure, a
gift to the AU, was designed by China, managed by China, financed by
China and constructed by China.
(AFP, 1/31/10)
2009 Feb 2, A Chinese official
said an estimated 26 million desperately poor rural Chinese are jobless
after pinning their hopes on factory jobs that dried up due to the
global economic slowdown, noting that widespread unemployment could
threaten the country's social stability.
(AP, 2/2/09)
2009 Feb 2, In England a protester
hurled abuse and then a shoe at China's Premier Wen Jiabao as he
delivered a speech on the global economy at Cambridge University.
(AP, 2/3/09)
2009 Feb 4, Gao Zhisheng, one of
China's most daring lawyers, was arrested. In Jan, 2010, the Beijing
police officer who took Gao away said he "went missing" in September,
leading to fears for the lawyer's safety. On Jan 21, 2010, a Foreign
Ministry official said Zhisheng has been judged by legal authorities
and "is where he should be." This was China's first public comment on
the case. Zhisheng resurfaced in northern China on March 28, 2010,
saying he wants spend time with family and away from media attention.
(AP, 1/22/10)(SFC, 3/29/10, p.A3)
2009 Feb 5, China declared an
emergency in eight provinces suffering a serious drought that has left
nearly 4 million people without proper drinking water and is
threatening millions of acres of crops. The government published a plan
for the relocation and urbanization of farmers living near the Three
Gorges Reservoir. Some 1.4 million farmers would have to move again.
(AP, 2/5/09)(WSJ, 2/7/09, p.A6)
2009 Feb 6, It was reported that
Canada has granted Lai Changxing a work permit. Chinese authorities
have accused Lai Changxing of masterminding a network that smuggled as
much as $10 billion of goods with the protection of corrupt government
officials. Before fleeing to Canada in 1999, Lai lived a life of luxury
in China complete with a mansion and a bulletproof Mercedes.
(AP, 2/10/09)
2009 Feb 8, China’s government
said that there was no end in sight for its worst drought in five
decades. Some 4.4 million people lacked adequate drinking water in the
north as winter wheat withered.
(SFC, 2/9/09, p.A2)
2009 Feb 9, In Beijing, China, the
tower of a nearly completed skyscraper was destroyed by a fire believed
to have ignited by a fireworks display marking the end of the Lunar New
Year celebrations. It was part of the new headquarters for China
Central Television (CCTV). In 2010 a Beijing court sentenced 20 people
to up to seven years in prison over the deadly fire at CCTV's iconic
headquarters.
(SFC, 2/10/09, p.A6)(AP, 5/10/10)
2009 Feb 12, China's President Hu
Jintao arrived in Mali at the start of a four-country African tour
which Beijing insists is about strengthening cooperation and not solely
for economic gain.
(AP, 2/12/09)
2009 Feb 12, Local officials
confirmed that swaths of western China that have large Tibetan
populations have been declared off limits to foreign visitors, ahead of
the politically sensitive 50th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising.
(AP, 2/12/09)
2009 Feb 12, The Aluminum
Corporation of China (Chinalco) announced that it would invest $19.5
billion in Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto. In June it was reported
that Chinalco would not complete the deal.
(Econ, 2/14/09, p.73)(AFP, 6/4/09)
2009 Feb 13, State media reported
that China plans to create a blacklist of journalists who break its
reporting rules, adding to an array of controls used to restrict its
domestic media.
(AP, 2/13/09)
2009 Feb 13, The World Bank said
it will provide a $710 million loan to China to help rebuild areas hit
by last year's devastating Sichuan earthquake.
(AP, 2/13/09)
2009 Feb 14, China's Pres. Hu
Jintao toured the site of a new, Chinese-financed national theater in
Senegal, a day after signing a bilateral agreement promising the West
African nation over $90 million in gifts and loans.
(AP, 2/14/09)
2009 Feb 15, China and Tanzania
signed cooperation agreements worth millions of dollars during a visit
by President Hu Jintao to this east African country aimed to reinforce
ties.
(AFP, 2/15/09)
2009 Feb 15, Shots from a Russian
naval vessel sank the Chinese-owned cargo ship the New Star off
Russia's east coast. 8 the 16 crew members on board were killed. The
Sierra Leone-flagged, Chinese-owned vessel New Star had earlier fled
the Russian port of Nakhodka where it had been impounded for alleged
smuggling.
(AFP, 2/20/09)
2009 Feb 16, China’s Pres. Hu
Jintao arrived in Mauritius to sign deals worth more than 270 million
dollars to fund infrastructure projects on the Indian Ocean island. The
next day he pledged continued aid to Africa despite his country's
economic downturn, and wrapped up a four-nation visit to the continent.
(AFP, 2/17/09)
2009 Feb 17, China and Russia
signed a $25 billion energy deal in Beijing that will see the Asian
country secure oil supplies from Moscow for the next 20 years in return
for loans.
(AP, 2/17/09)
2009 Feb 18, A Chinese state news
agency said AIDS was the top killer among infectious diseases in China
for the first time last year, with 6,897 people dying in the nine
months through September.
(AP, 2/18/09)
2009 Feb 20, US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese leaders after
vowing not to let human rights block progress on the global economic
crisis, climate change and security.
(AP, 2/20/09)
2009 Feb 20, Chinese authorities
closed a chemical plant being investigated for contaminating water
supplies to 1.5 million people in the country's east. Water supplies
were restored after a five-hour shutdown. Biaoxin Chemical Company
caused "massive" tap water pollution in Yancheng, a city in east
Jiangsu province. Investigators identified the pollutant as a phenol
compound used to make products including air fresheners, medical
ointments, cosmetics and sunscreens.
(AP, 2/21/09)
2009 Feb 22, In northern China a
gas explosion ripped through a coal mine outside Taiyuan, capital of
the main coal-producing province of Shanxi, killing at least 77 miners
and trapping dozens in the deadliest Chinese coal mine accident in more
than a year.
(AFP, 2/22/09)(AP, 2/25/09)
2009 Feb 23, China’s state media
said pig organs contaminated by a banned animal feed additive have been
blamed for sickening at least 70 people in southern China. The pig
organs tainted by the steroid clenbuterol were sold last week in
markets in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province. Another 14
cases in Guangzhou were reported on Feb 25.
(AP, 2/23/09)(AP, 2/26/09)
2009 Feb 24, Tour agencies and
other industry people reported that China has closed Tibet to foreign
tourists ahead of next month's highly sensitive 50th anniversary of a
failed uprising against Chinese rule.
(AFP, 2/24/09)
2009 Feb 24, China’s state media
reported that a Chinese delegation will buy as much as $15 billion
worth of machinery, automobiles and food products while on a trip to
Europe.
(WSJ, 2/25/09, p.A11)
2009 Feb 25, Russian news agencies
quoted Chief Military Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky as saying that his
office has exposed an attempt by military officers to smuggle $18
million worth of stolen Russian weapons to China via Tajikistan.
(AP, 2/25/09)
2009 Feb 25, Danish and Chinese
warships stopped pirates attacking two different vessels off Somalia's
coast.
(AP, 2/26/09)
2009 Feb 25, In Paris an auction
of art works owned by the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent
concluded with dazzling sales of nearly $500 million. Two rare bronze
sculptures that disappeared from China nearly 150 years ago and
demanded back by Beijing, sold for millions. The Chinese businessman,
who bid $15.1 million, later refused payment.
(AP, 2/26/09)(Econ, 3/7/09, p.92)
2009 Feb 27, In China US Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense David Sedney began talks with a
delegation led by Maj. Gen. Qian Lihua, the Chinese Defense Ministry's
head of foreign affairs, marked a resumption of military consultations
after a half-year suspension.
(AP, 2/28/09)
2009 Feb 27, A Tibetan monk, in
his late 20s, was shot after dousing himself with petrol and setting
himself alight in the Tibetan-populated town of Aba in China's Sichuan
province. Police put out the fire, and the man was taken to hospital
with burn injuries to his neck and head.
(AFP, 2/28/09)
2009 Feb 28, China's legislature
enacted a tough new food safety law, promising tougher penalties for
makers of tainted products in the wake of scandals that exposed serious
flaws in monitoring of the nation's food supply.
(AP, 2/28/09)
2009 Feb, China extended
nationwide a program of government financed discounts for household
appliances. The program had been due to end in 2008, but was extended
to 9 provinces in December and was now expected to continue for 4 years.
(Econ, 2/21/09, p.44)
2009 Feb, Chinese authorities
started using fish to try to clean up Lake Taihu when they released 10
million mostly green and silver carp into the water, after the algae
tainted the drinking supply of millions of residents. In 2010
authorities planned to release 20 million more algae-eating fish into
the scenic lake ravaged by pollution.
(AFP, 2/23/10)
2009 Mar 1, China's lunar
probe, the Chang'e-1, named for a moon goddess, ended its
16-month life with a planned crash into the moon.
(Reuters, 3/1/09)
2009 Mar 1, Scores of Tibetan
monks in southwestern China marched in protest over the banning of a
prayer service, the latest incident in an apparent increase in acts of
defiance against Chinese rule ahead of sensitive anniversaries.
(AP, 3/2/09)
2009 Mar 2, A Chinese man said he
was the mystery collector behind winning bids for two imperial bronzes
auctioned last week at Christie's over Beijing's objections, and that
he made the bogus offers to protest any sale of the looted relics. The
sculptures disappeared from the Summer Palace on the outskirts of
Beijing when French and British forces sacked and burned it at the end
of the second Opium War in 1860. The sculptures date to the early Qing
Dynasty, established by invading Manchu tribesmen in 1644. The
Christie's catalog said they were made for the Zodiac fountain at the
imperial palace.
(AP, 3/2/09)
2009 Mar 2, In China a top justice
official said courts will accept the cases of hundreds of families with
children sickened in last year's tainted milk scandal.
(AP, 3/3/09)
2009 Mar 4, In central China more
than 2,000 people displaced by construction of the Three Gorges Dam
clashed with police during a protest over missing resettlement
payments, leaving 30 protesters injured.
(AP, 3/4/09)
2009 Mar 5, China fleshed out an
ambitious expansion in government spending designed to prevent the
sinking global economy from further dragging down the country's
recently buoyant growth and sparking unrest among laid-off workers and
poorer Chinese.
(AP, 3/5/09)
2009 Mar 6, A senior employee of
Taiwan's presidential office was indicted on charges of providing
classified information to rival China. Wang Jen-bing was charged with
violating the national security law by leaking documents gathered
during the last three years of former President Chen Shui-bian's
eight-year tenure. Chen Pin-jen, a legislative aid, was indicted on
similar charges.
(AP, 3/6/09)
2009 Mar 9, China's President Hu
Jintao ordered a "Great Wall" against Tibetan separatism, as extra
soldiers were deployed to the Himalayan region on the 50th anniversary
of a failed anti-Chinese uprising. Homemade bombs damaged police
vehicles in a Tibetan part of western China. Authorities expanded a
security cordon across the restive region ahead of the 50th anniversary
of a failed revolt that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.
(AFP, 3/9/09)(AP, 3/9/09)
2009 Mar 9, Chinese ships
surrounded and harassed a Navy mapping ship in international waters off
China, at one point coming within 25 feet of the American boat and
strewing debris in its path. The Obama administration said it would
continue naval operations in the South China Sea, most of which China
considers its territory, and protested to China about what it called
reckless behavior that endangered lives. China held that the USNS
Impeccable was operating illegally inside its 200-mile exclusive
economic zone.
(AP, 3/10/09)(WSJ, 3/11/09, p.A8)
2009 Mar 10, Tibetans and their
supporters rallied across the Asia-Pacific region demanding an end to
Chinese rule in their homeland on the 50th anniversary of the Dalai
Lama being forced into exile. Paramilitary police and soldiers swarmed
cities and villages in Tibet and restive western China, on the alert
for possible unrest. The Dalai Lama said Tibet had become "hell on
earth" under Beijing's control.
(AP, 3/10/09)
2009 Mar 10, The Philippine
president signed a law affirming sovereignty over islands also claimed
by China and Vietnam, sparking protests over the control of strategic
South China Sea islands. The Chinese Embassy issued a statement
expressing its "strong opposition and solemn protest" over the signing
of the law.
(AP, 3/11/09)
2009 Mar 11, In eastern China 11
people were killed and 20 were injured after a blast led to the
collapse of a former factory that was housing railway workers.
Preliminary investigations revealed the collapse was triggered when
leftover aluminium powder in the building in Danyang city, Jiangsu
province ignited and exploded just after midnight.
(AFP, 3/11/09)
2009 Mar 12, China announced plans
to assist millions of unemployed migrant workers with increases in
grain subsidies and rural infrastructure projects.
(AP, 3/12/09)
2009 Mar 13, Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao said Beijing is willing to hold talks with the Dalai Lama if
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader abandons his separatist cause, as he
defended his government's hard-line policies toward the region.
(AP, 3/13/09)
2009 Mar 14, Iran’s state TV said
Iran and China have signed a $3.2 billion gas deal to produce more than
10 tons of liquid natural gas.
(AP, 3/14/09)
2009 Mar 16, The Vatican said it
will launch a Chinese version of its website on March 19 in an effort
to bring more of Pope Benedict's message to China, whose communist
government does not allow Catholics to recognize his authority.
(Reuters, 3/16/09)
2009 Mar 18, The prime ministers
of China and North Korea discussed the nuclear situation on the Korean
peninsula as they met in Beijing amid rising tensions over Pyongyang's
atomic and missile programs.
(AFP, 3/18/09)
2009 Mar 20, China said a new WTO
report rejected the majority of intellectual property complaints made
by the US and broadly backed Beijing's stance against commercial piracy.
(AP, 3/20/09)
2009 Mar 21, In northwestern China
hundreds of Tibetans attacked a police station and government officials
despite heightened security, prompting the arrests the next day of
nearly 100 monks. The protest appeared to be in response to the
disappearance of a Tibetan who escaped from police custody in Qinghai
province.
(AP, 3/22/09)
2009 Mar 22, In South Africa the
Sunday Independent said the Chinese embassy in South Africa had
confirmed its government had appealed to South Africa not to allow the
Dalai Lama into the country for a peace conference on march 27.
Archbishop Tutu threatened to pull out of the meeting and to demand an
explanation from the authorities.
(AP, 3/22/09)
2009 Mar 23, Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan,
Chinese central bank governor, called for a new global currency
controlled by the International Monetary Fund, stepping up pressure
ahead of a London summit of global leaders for changes to a financial
system dominated by the US dollar and Western governments.
(AP, 3/24/09)
2009 Mar 23, A northern Chinese
court accepted a compensation suit against the dairy at the heart of
China's tainted milk scandal, the first court to do so.
(AP, 3/25/09)
2009 Mar 23, In southwest China
the ceiling at a chemical plant collapsed, killing 11 workers and
leaving one person trapped under rubble. A potentially lethal
radioactive material was lost after the 53-year-old Shaanxi Qinling
Cement Co. was torn down in the Tongchuan city in Shaanxi province.
Officials on March 27 said the material had been recovered.
(AP, 3/23/09)(AP, 3/27/09)
2009 Mar 25, China’s state media
said forestry officials in far western China have resorted to
scattering abortion pills near gerbil burrows in a bid to halt a rodent
plague threatening the desert region's fragile ecosystem.
(AP, 3/25/09)
2009 Mar 25, Australia PM Kevin
Rudd visited the US and urged Americans not to view China as an enemy
but as a country offering huge economic opportunities, even though its
leaders have "done some bad things in the past."
(AP, 3/26/09)
2009 Mar 26, In Ganzi, China, a
predominantly Tibetan prefecture in Sichuan province, Phuntsok Rabten
(27), a Tibetan Buddhist monk of Draggo monastery, was found dead. He
had called for protests against Chinese authorities. He had fled on a
motorcycle after police in a van discovered him distributing flyers
urging Tibetans to leave their farming plots untended.
(AP, 3/31/09)
2009 Mar 27, Chinese health
officials said that hand, foot and mouth disease has sickened 41,000
people across the country and killed 18 children so far this year.
(AP, 3/27/09)
2009 Mar 27, In China a minibus
collided with two trucks and a bus tumbled into a mountain gorge in two
unrelated crashes, killing a total of 37 people.
(AP, 3/27/09)
2009 Mar 28, Tibetans rallied
against the China’s new holiday, Serfs Liberation Day, on the 50th
anniversary of Beijing’s crushing of a Tibetan uprising that led to the
Dalai lama’s exile.
(AP, 3/29/09)
2009 Mar 29, Canadian researchers
said a shadowy cyber-espionage network based mostly in China has
infiltrated secret government and private computers around the world,
including those of the Dalai Lama. They said the network, known as
GhostNet, had infected 1,295 computers in 103 countries and penetrated
systems containing sensitive information in top political, economic and
media offices.
(AP, 3/29/09)
2009 Mar 30, Banking officials
meeting in Colombia said Argentina and China have tentatively agreed to
swap $10 billion worth of their currencies to enable South America's
second-largest economy to avoid using dollars in trade between the
nations.
(AP, 3/30/09)
2009 Mar 31, In China and official
said police have arrested nine people and revoked the license of a
livestock market owner in a case involving pork tainted with a chemical
that made 70 people sick in Guangzhou, southern China's biggest city.
Investigators determined the pork was tainted with clenbuterol and
ractopamine, banned chemicals used to make animals develop more muscle
and less fat.
(AP, 3/31/09)
2009 Apr 1, In London Presidents
Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama said Russia and the United States will
pursue a new deal to cut nuclear warheads, making good on a pledge to
rebuild relations from a post-Cold War low. The US and China agreed to
establish a "strategic and economic dialogue" group that would first
meet in Washington later this year.
(Reuters, 4/1/09)
2009 Apr 5, State media said China
has reopened Tibet to foreign tourists almost two months after imposing
a ban ahead of politically sensitive anniversaries.
(AP, 4/5/09)
2009 Apr 6, China announced it
will make improved health care services available to all its citizens
by 2020, taking aim at a system long derided as creaking and inadequate.
(AP, 4/6/09)
2009 Apr 8, In China visiting
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the world's center of gravity has
moved to Beijing, as he focused on boosting Chinese oil purchases.
(AP, 4/8/09)
2009 Apr 8, China said that it
would build a clinic in each of its nearly 700,000 villages within
three years, part of a sweeping 850 billion yuan ($124 billion)
investment in health care reform.
(AP, 4/8/09)
2009 Apr 8, China's state media
said a court in Tibet has sentenced two people to death over riots in
Lhasa last year, in what was the harshest sentence yet reported over
the deadly unrest. Xinhua said the crimes committed by the five
defendants resulted in seven deaths and the destruction of five shops
in Lhasa.
(AFP, 4/8/09)
2009 Apr 9, A Chinese court
executed two men from a Muslim minority group for killing 17 police in
an attack in China's far west that the government portrayed as an
attempt to sabotage the Beijing Olympics.
(AP, 4/9/09)
2009 Apr 10, About 30 protesters
tried to force their way into China's elite Peking University to
confront Sun Dongdong, a law professor, who said 99 percent of the
people petitioning the government with grievances are mentally ill and
could be institutionalized.
(AP, 4/10/09)
2009 Apr 10, A study was released
saying China has 32 million more young men than young women, a gender
gap that could lead to increasing crime, because parents facing strict
birth limits abort female fetuses to have a son.
(AP, 4/10/09)
2009 Apr 12, China announced a $10
billion infrastructure fund and $15 billion in credits and loans to
help its Southeast Asian neighbors face the global financial crises.
(WSJ, 4/13/09, p.A9)
2009 Apr 13, China released its
first human rights action plan, pledging to improve the treatment of
minorities and do more to prevent the torture of detainees but said
that raising living standards would remain a central goal.
(AP, 4/13/09)
2009 Apr 14, In southern China
hundreds of workers at a textile factory blocked roads, in a second day
of protests over unpaid wages.
(AP, 4/14/09)
2009 Apr 15, China fired into
orbit its second satellite in a program to build an alternative to the
global positioning system based on U.S. satellites.
(AP, 4/15/09)
2009 Apr 17, In central China a
warehouse explosion reportedly killed 18 people and injured three at an
illegal coal mine in Hunan province. State television reported that six
people were injured in the blast with 2 missing.
(AP, 4/18/09)
2009 Apr 19, The Shanghai Motor
Show opened. Porsche kicked off the show by unveiling the Panamera, the
German luxury carmaker's first foray into the sedan segment.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8007484.stm)
2009 Apr 20, In China a new
English-language paper published by the Communist Party hit newsstands,
part of Beijing's efforts to raise its profile on the global stage and
find an international audience for the party line.
(AP, 4/20/09)
2009 Apr 20, At the Shanghai Motor
Show Rolls Royce CEO Tom Purves announced that the company's new model
would be called Ghost.
(http://tinyurl.com/dfqycq)(Econ, 5/9/09, p.66)
2009 Apr 21, In China three people
were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for deadly arson attacks during
last year's rioting in the Tibetan capital.
(AP, 4/21/09)
2009 Apr 22, The film “City of
Life and Death,” written and directed by Chuan Lu, opened in China. It
depicted the 1937 Japanese assault on Nanjing.
(Econ, 5/2/09, p.43)(www.imdb.com/title/tt1124052/)
2009 Apr 24, China enacted a new
postal law propping up its China Post monopoly. It imposed new rules on
small domestic companies and severely limited the activities of foreign
owned firms.
(Econ, 5/2/09, p.65)
2009 Apr 26, Chinese Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi wrapped up a regional Middle East visit in
Damascus saying Israel should return the Golan Heights to Syria.
(AFP, 4/26/09)
2009 Apr 28, In eastern China
police freed a total of 32 people in a raid on kilns located on the
outskirts of the city of Jieshou in Anhui province. Police later
arrested 10 men for allegedly enslaving mentally handicapped people who
were forced to work at brick kilns and endure beatings.
(AP, 5/22/09)
2009 Apr 29, The prime ministers
of China and Japan pledged to lay a stronger foundation for cooperation
between the historic Asian rivals amid global economic and health
crises.
(AFP, 4/29/09)
2009 Apr 29, Taiwan said it had
persuaded China to allow it to participate in a key UN body, offering a
victory for President Ma Ying-jeou's campaign to win greater
international recognition for the democratic island. China confirmed
that Taiwan will attend next month's meeting of the World Health
Assembly in Geneva as an observer.
(AP, 4/29/09)
2009 Apr 29, China Mobile said it
would buy 12% of Far EasTone Telecommunications, a big Taiwanese mobile
operator.
(Econ, 5/9/09, p.65)
2009 Apr 30, In Beijing Japan’s PM
Taro Aso called for Tokyo and Beijing to unite in facing the world's
environmental and economic challenges, while playing down concerns over
China's military power.
(AP, 4/30/09)
2009 Apr 30, Chinese state media
reported that China has reopened its land border to tourists traveling
to North Korea after a three-year break, with a group of 71 tourists
visiting the isolated country earlier this week on a one day tour of
Sinuiju.
(AP, 4/30/09)
2009 May 3, China tightened visa
rules for citizens from the US, which has reported the second highest
number of swine flu cases in the world.
(AP, 5/5/09)
2009 May 5, China said it has
given 10 million dollars (7.5 million euros) to Zimbabwe, half of it
directly into the state coffers, to help boost the country's troubled
economy.
(AP, 5/5/09)
2009 May 5, In central China more
than 1,000 villagers clashed with police following a land dispute with
construction workers that left one person dead. Protests continued into
the next day.
(AP, 5/7/09)
2009 May 10, In China Deng Yujiao
(21), a karaoke bar waitress, turned herself in shortly after allegedly
using a fruit knife to stab Deng Guida (43), who ran a local government
office for business promotion. She had also attacked his colleague
Huang Dezhi at Badong's Xiongfeng Hotel after they tried to force her
into having sex. On May 22 the local government in the central city of
Badong posted a statement online promising her fair treatment. On May
31 the government announced that the two surviving officials had been
sacked. On June 16 Yujiao was freed.
(AP, 5/22/09)(Econ, 6/6/09, p.40)(AP, 6/16/09)
2009 May 12, The US won a seat on
the UN Human Rights Council for the first time along with Cuba, Saudi
Arabia, China and Russia, four countries accused of serious human
rights violations.
(SFC, 5/13/09, p.A2)
2009 May 15, Microsoft Corp.
announced a 3-year partnership aimed at helping make the eastern
Chinese city of Hangzhou a model for innovation and protection of
intellectual property, in the company's latest attempt to combat
rampant software piracy.
(AP, 5/15/09)
2009 May 18, In China a government
spokesman said a sex theme park that featured explicit exhibits of
genitalia and sexual culture is being demolished before it can even
open. The park, christened "Love Land" by its owners, went under the
wrecking ball over the weekend in the southwestern city of Chongqing.
(AP, 5/18/09)
2009 May 19, China’s government
Web site said Liu Youjun (46), a senior official in southern Guangdong
province, has been detained in an apparent corruption sweep that has
already targeted other major figures in the wealthy region on the
cutting-edge of China's economic reforms.
(AP, 5/19/09)
2009 May 19, China and Brazil
signed a raft of agreements in Beijing including a $10 billion loan for
the South American country's state energy company and a deal to send
oil to China amid stronger ties between the two developing world giants.
(AP, 5/19/09)
2009 May 20, EU and Chinese
leaders met in Prague to tackle the economic crisis and turn the page
on tensions over the Dalai Lama. Lingering differences cast a shadow
over the talks.
(AFP, 5/20/09)
2009 May 30, In southwest China 25
miners were killed and 20 trapped by a gas explosion at the Tonghua
Coal Mine in Anwen town, Chongqing municipality.
(AFP, 5/30/09)
2009 May 31, In Beijing US
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, aiming to persuade China that its
US investments were safe, pledged that the Obama administration was
firmly committed to ratcheting down huge deficits as quickly as it can
once economic recovery is assured.
(Reuters, 5/31/09)
2009 Jun 1, In China US Treasury
Secretary Timothy Geithner reassured the Chinese government that its
huge holdings of dollar assets are safe and reaffirmed his faith in a
strong US currency.
(AP, 6/1/09)
2009 Jun 1, China's special envoy
to Darfur met with Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir and pledged three
million dollars in humanitarian aid for the volatile region. Liu Guijin
"greeted the president for the beginning of talks in Doha between the
JEM and the government."
(AFP, 6/2/09)
2009 Jun 2, GM struck a tentative
deal to sell its Hummer brand to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy
Industrial Machinery Co.
(SFC, 6/3/09, p.C2)
2009 Jun 3, In China foreign
journalists were barred from Beijing's Tiananmen Square as an Internet
clampdown that blocked Twitter expanded to include more blogs on the
eve of the 20th anniversary of a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy
protests.
(AP, 6/3/09)
2009 Jun 3, In central China a
storm with gale-force winds killed 20 people and seriously injured 117
as it swept through Shangqiu and Kaifeng in Henan province.
(AP, 6/4/09)
2009 Jun 4, China aggressively
deterred dissent in Beijing on the 20th anniversary of the crackdown on
democracy activists in Tiananmen Square. But tens of thousands turned
out for a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong to mourn the many
demonstrators who were killed.
(AP, 6/4/09)
2009 Jun 5, In southwestern China
at least 26 people were buried when part of a mountain collapsed in a
massive landslide in a remote area of Wulong county in Chongqing
municipality. 74 people were missing, including 47 workers at an iron
ore mine, 21 local residents, two telecom company workers and four
passers-by. 27 people died and dozens were hurt when a packed commuter
bus burst into flames and was destroyed within minutes during the
morning rush hour in the southwestern city of Chengdu. Police later
said a 62-year-old unemployed man set the fire after carrying a bucket
of gasoline onto the bus.
(AP, 6/5/09)(AP, 6/6/09)(AP, 7/3/09)
2009 Jun 6, Chinese rescuers found
the body of Jonny Copp, an American mountain climber, following an
avalanche in an isolated part of southwestern China. Wade Johnson (24)
of Arden Hills, Minnesota, and Micah Dash and Jonny Copp of Boulder,
Colo., were last heard from May 20 at the base camp of Mount Edgar, a
peak of Mount Gongga. Johnson’s body was recovered on June 8.
(AP, 6/6/09)(AP, 6/8/09)
2009 Jun 6, It was reported that
Chinese aid to Myanmar totaled some $400 million over the past five
years. US aid to Myanmar was said to be worth $12 million a year.
(Econ, 6/6/09, p.59)
2009 Jun 6, Turkmenistan state
media reported that China will lend the energy-rich country $3
billion to develop its vast South Yolotan natural gas field.
(AP, 6/6/09)
2009 Jun 7, China and Japan
pledged to throw their combined weight behind efforts to revive the
struggling world economy after talks aimed at boosting trade between
the two powers.
(AFP, 6/7/09)
2009 Jun 8, The Wall Street
Journal reported that China will require all personal computers sold in
the country from July 1 to come with software that blocks access to
certain websites. The program aimed to prevent the spread of
pornography and other "unhealthy" content. On June 16 the government
backed away from the order required use of installation of the Green
Dam Youth Escort software, but the software would come pre-installed or
included with all PCs sold on the mainland as of July 1.
(AFP, 6/8/09)(AP, 6/9/09)(SFC, 6/17/09, p.C3)
2009 Jun 10, a Chinese submarine
collided with an underwater sonar apparatus towed by a US destroyer
near Subic Bay, off the coast of the Philippines. Officials later said
the collision with the sonar array connected to the USS John S. McCain
probably occurred due to a misjudgment of distance.
(AP, 6/15/09)
2009 Jun 13, In China a colorful
show of drag queens dressed in Chinese opera costumes was one of the
festivities that marked Shanghai's gay pride, the first in China where
homosexuality remains largely hidden.
(AP, 6/13/09)
2009 Jun 15, Nigerian Petroleum
Development Company (NPDC) and China's state oil firm SIPEC said they
have discovered crude oil in Niger Delta region.
(AFP, 6/15/09)
2009 Jun 16, China’s Pres. Hu
Jintao announced a $10 billion loan to the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization, founded in 2001. The SCO grouped China, Russia,
Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
(Econ, 1/30/10,
p.51)(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/16/content_11552439.htm)
2009 Jun 17, China and Russia
expressed serious concern about tension on the Korean peninsula and, in
the face of North Korea's rhetoric, joined international pressure for
it to return to nuclear talks.
(AP, 6/17/09)
2009 Jun 17, In China’s Hubei
province, the body of Tu Yuangao (24) was found in front of the Shishou
city hotel. Xinhua News later said that Tu worked as a chef at the
hotel and some believed he was killed by gangsters or by the hotel's
boss, who is related to the city mayor. The Communist Party boss of
Shishou and head of law enforcement were dismissed on July 25 for
mishandling the violent protests that followed Yuangao’s death.
(AP, 6/21/09)(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jun 17, In China 16 miners
became stuck when the Xinqiao Coal Mine flooded in Henan province. 3 of
the men were rescued on July 12.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jun 18, China's Internet
watchdog condemned the Chinese-language version of Google for
"disseminating pornographic and vulgar information."
(AP, 6/18/09)
2009 Jun 18, China angrily
denounced the recent approval by the Asian Development Bank of a
2.9-billion-dollar funding plan for India, saying the scheme encroached
on a territorial dispute between the Asian giants. China was
particularly concerned about a 60-million-dollar watershed protection
project in the Arunachal Pradesh region, where much of China and
India's territorial dispute is centered.
(AFP, 6/18/09)
2009 Jun 19, Google Inc. said that
it was working to block pornography reaching users of its Chinese
service after a mainland watchdog found the search engine turned up
large numbers of links to obscene and vulgar sites.
(AP, 6/19/09)
2009 Jun 20, In central China
hundreds of baton-wielding police dispersed protesters and cordoned off
a Shishou city hotel after a young man's mysterious death sparked
unrest [see June 17]. In eastern China an explosion at a factory
producing quartz sand killed 16 people and injured dozens in Fengyang,
a county in Anhui province.
(AP, 6/21/09)
2009 Jun 21, In China the
Danish-Swedish comedy “Original,” about mental illness, won the best
picture at the 12th Shanghai International Film Festival. It also took
the best actor award for lead Sverrir Gudnason.
(AFP, 6/22/09)
2009 Jun 23, US Trade
Representative Ron Kirk said the United States is launching a World
Trade Organization case against China over its export restrictions on
raw materials. The EU said it was joining the US in the action, which
follows failure to persuade China to reduce its export tariffs and
raise quotas on materials such as zinc, tin, tungsten and yellow
phosphorous.
(Reuters, 6/23/09)
2009 Jun 25, The EU said it will
give China up to euro50 million ($70 million) to build a carbon capture
and storage plant that will test a technology aimed at limiting climate
change.
(AP, 6/25/09)
2009 Jun 26, Dozens of China's
most prominent writers and scholars called for the release of Liu
Xiaobo (53), a dissident who was arrested after co-authoring a bold
manifesto urging civil rights and political reforms. Xiaobo, who had
been held by police at a secret location for more than six months, was
formally arrested this week on suspicion of "inciting to subvert state
power," a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail.
In southern China ethnic tensions between workers at a toy factory
sparked a brawl that left two Uighurs dead and 118 injured. Han Chinese
workers had accused Uighurs of rape.
(AP, 6/26/09)(AP, 6/27/09)(Econ, 7/11/09, p.27)
2009 Jun 27, In China a nearly
finished 13-story apartment building collapsed in Shanghai killing one
worker. Authorities soon detained nine people in an investigation into
the collapse.
(AP, 6/29/09)
2009 Jun 29, In China two
passenger trains collided in Hunan province in an accident that killed
three people and injured 60 as train cars were derailed and nearby
houses knocked over. In northeastern China one man died after part of a
bridge caved in, sending eight vehicles plunging into the river below.
(AP, 6/29/09)
2009 Jun 29, The European Union
Chamber of Commerce in China urged Beijing to reconsider implementing a
controversial Internet filter, saying it raised serious concerns about
security, privacy and user choice.
(AP, 6/29/09)
2009 Jun 29, In Zimbabwe PM Morgan
Tsvangirai's party boycotted a meeting of the cabinet on the grounds
that it made a mockery of the country's power-sharing deal. Tsvangirai
said Zimbabwe has won 950 million dollars in credit lines from China,
the largest loan secured by the unity government since it was formed in
February.
(AFP, 6/29/09)AFP, 6/30/09)
2009 Jun 30, China postponed a
plan to require personal computer makers to supply Internet-filtering
software, retreating in the face of protests by Washington and Web
surfers hours before it was due to take effect.
(AP, 6/30/09)
2009 Jul 5, In China’s far west
protesters from a Muslim ethnic group clashed with police, with
activists saying police fired shots in the air and used batons to
disperse a crowd that had swelled to nearly 1,000. Over the next few
days some 192 people were killed and over 800 wounded in protests that
roiled Urumqi, the capital of western Xinjiang province. State media
said at least 20 people have died and more than 670,000 had to be
evacuated in China after torrential rain and floods destroyed houses,
damaged roads and caused rivers to overflow.
(AP, 7/5/09)(AFP, 7/5/09)(Time.com, 7/6/09)(AP,
7/16/09)
2009 Jul 7, In China mobs of Han
Chinese wielding meat cleavers and clubs and groups of Muslim Uighur
men beat people in the streets of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang
region. The government imposed a curfew as it tried to stem communal
violence. The official Xinhua News Agency said that 1,434 suspects had
been arrested, and that checkpoints had been set up to stop rioters
from escaping.
(AP, 7/7/09)
2009 Jul 7, The Cameroonian
newspaper Le Jour said five Chinese workers were abducted off the
oil-rich Bakassi peninsula in Cameroon near the border with Nigeria.
(AFP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 8, In China hundreds of
helmeted troops in riot gear swarmed the central square of Urumqi,
capital of western Xinjiang, after ethnic riots left some 192 dead. The
city's Communist Party boss promised those behind the killings would be
executed. On July 11 China said 137 of the riot victims were Han while
46 were Uighurs and one was a Hui, another Muslim group. Uighurs on the
streets of Urumqi, and from exile activist groups disputed the new
figures.
(AP, 7/8/09)(AP, 7/11/09)(AP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 8, Australia said Chinese
authorities had detained Stern Hu, Rio Tinto Ltd's top iron ore
negotiator, as well as three other Rio employees on suspicion of
espionage and stealing state secrets, threatening to strain already
fraying ties.
(Reuters, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 9, In China a 6.0
earthquake rocked Yunnan province, killing one person and destroying
thousands of houses. More than 400,000 people left their homes
following the tremor that left at least one person dead.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, In China boisterous
crowds turned up at mosques in riot-hit parts of Urumqi, ignoring
orders canceling Friday prayers due to the ethnic violence and forcing
officials to let them in.
(AP, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 10, China’s state media
said 4 detained Rio Tinto Ltd. employees are accused of paying bribes
for secret information about China's stance in iron ore price talks. A
Chinese steel executive, also detained along with four Rio Tinto
employees, was being investigated for leaking China's "bottom line" on
iron ore prices. Chinalco denied the move was payback for a collapsed
deal.
(AP, 7/10/09)(Reuters, 7/10/09)
2009 Jul 13, In China police shot
dead two Uighur men and wounded a third on the streets of Urumqi, where
tens of thousands of troops are stationed to restore calm a week after
deadly ethnic riots.
(AP, 7/13/09)
2009 Jul 13, China's Health
Ministry ordered a hospital to stop using electric shock therapy to
cure youths of Internet addiction, saying there was no scientific
evidence it worked.
(AP, 7/14/09)
2009 Jul 15, In China the former
head of oil giant Sinopec was sentenced to death after being found
guilty of corrupt practices over many years, but state press reported
that he will likely not be executed. The Beijing court had found Chen
Tonghai guilty of graft amounting to 195.7 million yuan (28.8 million
dollars) when he served in top Sinopec ranks from 1999 to 2007.
(AFP, 7/15/09)
2009 Jul 16, Australia and China
traded warnings over Rio Tinto employees detained for spying, as the
United States urged Beijing to ensure transparency and fair treatment
for staff of foreign companies.
(Reuters, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 16, In Taiwan’s southern
city of Kaohsiung, more than 3,000 athletes and staff from 105
countries and territories marched into the World Games Stadium, a new,
eye-catching structure designed by renowned Japanese architect Toyo
Ito. China’s 100-strong delegation boycotted the opening ceremony of
the World Games in Taiwan, underscoring the limits of the historic
breakthrough in relations between Taipei and Beijing.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Jul 17, In China government
officials in Beijing descended on the Open Constitution Initiative
(OCI), a public interest lawyer’s group that challenged abuse and
corruption by state and local governments. They took away almost
everything the group owned and tax authorities ordered it to pay
$207,900.
(Econ, 7/25/09, p.38)
2009 Jul 19, In
Kazakhstan more than 5,000 ethnic Uighurs rallied in
Almaty to protest China's use of deadly force to quash Uighur protests
this month.
(AP, 7/19/09)
2009 Jul 20, Algeria’s Ministry of
Transport said the Chinese civil engineering group CCECC has won 3
contracts worth a total of 1.46 billion euros to build railways in
Algeria.
(AFP, 7/20/09)
2009 Jul 21, Several Chinese
Internet sites and parts of popular Web portals went offline amid
tightening controls that have already left mainland Web users without
access to Facebook, Twitter and other well-known social networking
sites.
(AP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 23, Chinese researchers
reported that they have produced living mice from connective tissue
cells induced to revert to their embryonic state.
(SFC, 7/24/09, p.A11)
2009 Jul 23, In China female panda
You You (pronounced Yo Yo) gave birth to the new cub at the Wolong
Giant Panda Research Center in southwestern Sichuan. This was the first
successful birth of a panda cub from artificial insemination using
frozen sperm, giving a new option for the notoriously poor breeders.
(AP, 7/24/09)
2009 Jul 23, In China a landslide
triggered by heavy rain hit a county in southwestern Sichuan province,
killing at least four people and leaving 53 others missing.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Jul 24, In China some 30,000
steelworkers in Tonghua clashed with police in a protest over plans to
merge their mill with another company. Angry employees of Tonghua Iron
and Steel Group attacked Jianlong Steel general manager Chen Guojun
during the protest and beat him to death.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 25, In eastern China more
than 3,000 villagers of Shipu town, in Zhejiang province, blocked a
highway and clashed with police while protesting alleged official
corruption in a land compensation deal.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 25, Chinese state
television launched an Arabic-language channel beamed to the Middle
East and Africa as part of efforts to expand the communist government's
media influence abroad.
(AP, 7/25/09)
2009 Jul 26, In Macao, China,
Fernando Chui (52), the sole candidate for chief executive in the
former Portuguese colony, was endorsed by a 300-member panel in the
first leadership change since Macao reverted to Chinese rule in 1999.
(AP, 7/26/09)
2009 Jul 27, President Barack
Obama in Washington, DC, opened 2 days of high-level talks with China.
Obama called for deeper US-Chinese economic cooperation and outlined a
broad agenda for a positive relationship between two countries that do
not always see eye to eye.
(Reuters, 7/27/09)
2009 Jul 28, A court in southwest
China accepted the country's first lawsuit filed by an environmental
group against a local government. The All-China Environmental
Federation had filed the suit on behalf of residents against the local
land resources bureau in Qingzhen city in Guizhou province, which sold
land to a drink and ice cream processing plant they allege is a threat
to a scenic lake area.
(AP, 7/31/09)
2009 Jul 29, China’s state media
reported that contaminated drinking water has sickened more than 2,600
people in northern China, including 59 who were hospitalized with
fevers, diarrhea, stomach aches and vomiting.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 29, In China Xu Zhiyong
(35), prominent legal scholar, was arrested in Beijing. A week later he
was accused of tax evasion. His group had tackled some of China’s most
politically sensitive cases.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xu_Zhiyong)(SFC,
8/5/09, p.A2)
2009 Jul 29, The anti-death
penalty group Hands Off Cain said the number of prisoners put to death
worldwide decreased in 2008. At least 5,727 executions were carried out
in 2008, down from 5,851 the year before. China accounted for at least
5,000 executions, or 87.3$ of the total, the same estimate as
last year.
(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 Jul 30, In China nearly a
thousand villagers gathered at government and police offices in Zhentou
township in Hunan province to highlight what they say is deadly
pollution being discharged from the Xianghe Chemical Factory in nearby
Liuyang city.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 1, China’s Ziketan town
in Qinghai province was put under collective quarantine when laboratory
tests showed it had been struck by the highly virulent disease. 2 of
its residents had recently died from pneumonic plague, which spreads
through the air, making it easier to contract than bubonic plague,
which requires that a person is bitten by an infected flea. Its
fatality rate was up to 100% if left untreated, compared with 60% for
bubonic plague. The outbreak was first detected on July 30.
(AFP, 8/2/09)(AP, 8/4/09)
2009 Aug 1, Chinese police
detained the head of the Xianghe Chemical Factory and the government
suspended the chief and deputy chief of the city's environment
protection bureau.
(AP, 8/2/09)
2009 Aug 2, China reported that
police in the northwest region of Xinjiang have arrested hundreds of
people in connection with disturbances that left at least