Timeline China (D) 2000-2004
Return to home
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 4, In
China the State Development Planning Commission announced that
private enterprise should be put on "equal footing with state-owned
enterprises."
   (SFC, 1/5/00, p.A6)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, In China the
state-controlled Catholic Church ordained 5 new bishops while the
Pope elevated 12 prelates in St. Peter's Basilica.
   (SFC, 1/7/00, p.A14)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 15, In China 5.9 and
6.5 earthquakes hit in Yunnan province and 4 people were killed.
   (SFEC, 1/16/00, p.A25)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 18, In China the
Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang,
convicted 13 Uigher defendants of separatism, murder, robbery and
illegally dealing in weapons. 5 of the convicted were sentenced to
death.
   (SFC, 1/25/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 18, Steven Leung (52),
a SF Bay Area entrepreneur, was found unconscious in a Beijing
karaoke bar and transferred to a hospital where he was diagnosed
with irreversible brain damage. Leung was flown home and died at
Stanford Hosp. on Feb 3.
   (SFEC, 1/30/00, p.D2)(SFC, 2/5/00, p.A16)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, It was reported
that the number of Internet users in China had more than doubled
over the last 6 months from 4 to 8.9 million, most of them young
single men.
   (SFC, 1/20/00, p.C16)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, In China it was
reported that some 700 investigators had gathered over the last 2
months in Xiamen, formerly called Amoy, to investigate corruption
and the smuggling of some $9.5 billion worth of goods.
   (SFC, 1/21/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, In China the State
Bureau of Secrecy issued a 20-article circular that banned
discussion of state secrets on the Internet, in e-mail, and in chat
rooms or bulletin boards. Content and service providers were also
required to undergo a "security certification" prior to operation.
   (SFC, 1/27/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, The US and China
agreed to resume normal military ties.
   (SFC, 1/28/00, p.D2)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan, Li Jinhua, auditor
general of China, reported that $15 billion in public funds destined
for poverty relief and water conservation projects had been
embezzled in 1999. It was also reported that 14 officials were being
investigated for embezzling $57 million in funds intended to
resettle people displaced by the Three Gorges Dam projects.
   (SFEC, 1/30/00, p.A25)(SFC, 5/6/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 10, Ji Pengfei, one of
the last of China’s old guard, died at age 91. His 6 children
included Gen. Ji Shengde.
   (SFC, 7/18/00, p.A14)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 17, In China
authorities detained Chen Zixiu (60) for heading to Beijing to
protest for the Falun Gong. She was unable to pay a fine of $120 and
was beaten and died on Feb 21. The government denied mistreatment.
   (SFC, 2/29/00, p.A14)(SFC, 3/1/00, p.A13)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 21, China warned
Taiwan that a prolonged lack of negotiations could provoke a
military attack.
   (SFC, 2/22/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 25, The US sharply
criticized China for a marked deterioration in human rights.
   (SFC, 2/26/00, p.A10)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, In Louyang city
Jin Xiangwu stabbed to death 3 children after they failed to pay 30
cents in his video arcade. Xiangwu was convicted and executed in
April.
   (SFC, 4/19/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27-2000 Feb 29, Some
20 thousand workers battled police and soldiers in Yangjiazhangzi
due to loss of work and alleged corruption at a local molybdenum
mine. The facility had closed last November and in Feb. workers
received $68 for each year they had worked there.
   (SFC, 4/5/00, p.A10,14)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb, Rescue Bear 0001
arrived at the Animals Asia Foundation in Chengdu, China. He was
named Andrew by the Hong Kong philanthropist who donated $1 million
to create the animal sanctuary. Andrew (15) died in 2006 from a
liver cancer likely related to years of being tapped for bile fluid.
   (SFC, 2/16/06, p.A14)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, In Beijing 2,900
delegates from 32 provinces and regions gathered for the 10-11 day
session of the Ninth National People's Congress. During the session
Hu Changqing, a former official in Jiangxi province, was scheduled
to be executed for taking bribes worth $658,000.
   (SFC, 3/4/00, p.C1)(SFEC, 3/5/00, p.A22)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, China introduced a
$111.1 billion budget that cut its deficit and added funds for
military spending.
   (WSJ, 3/7/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, In China Hu
Changqing, former vice governor of Jiangxi province, was executed
for corruption.
   (SFC, 3/9/00, p.A10)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 10-2000 Mar 11, Public
sentencing rallies took place in the Aksu region of Xinjiang and 11
Muslim Uighur members of a terrorist group were executed. The
Uighurs of the region made up nearly half of Xinjiang’s 20 million
population and had been struggling against Chinese rule for several
years.
   (SFC, 3/20/00, p.A14)(WSJ, 3/20/00, p.A1)(Econ,
9/6/08, p.54)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, In China an
official was sentenced to death for embezzling $1.4 million that was
meant to help relocate 1.3 million people displaced by the Three
Gorges dam project.
   (WSJ, 3/15/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar, Rebiya Kadeer (54)
was convicted of revealing state information to "foreigners." She
had sent official Chinese press reports to her husband in the US.
Her appeal was later rejected and she was sentenced to 8 years in
prison.
   (SFC, 12/12/00, p.B3)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 1, Groundbreaking
ceremonies for the Grand National Theater in Beijing were cancelled
due to petitions against the design. Paul Andreu of France had won
the design contest with a $361 million project in the shape of a
"pearl" or "duck’s egg."
   (WSJ, 9/6/00, p.A24)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 1, In Nanjing 4
unemployed youths broke into the home of Jurgen Hermann Pfrang (50),
an executive for DaimlerChrysler, and stabbed him to death along
with his wife and 2 children. The 4 were found guilty of murder and
robbery on 7/14/00 and sentenced to death.
   (SFC, 7/15/00, p.A13)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 12, China’s Pres.
Jiang Zemin arrived in Israel to support commercial defense
relations between the two countries.
   (SFC, 4/13/00, p.A15)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, In China the
Communist party announced that Cheng Kejie, a deputy chairman in the
national legislature, was expelled and charged with amassing $4.5
million in bribes and kickbacks.
   (SFC, 4/21/00, p.A20)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, In China Li
Chenglong (48), deputy mayor of Guigang city, was executed. He had
been convicted of corruption during his term as Communist Party
secretary of Yulin city between 1991 and 1996.
   (SFC, 4/24/00, p.A14)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, A human rights
group reported that China had banned 9 books published by Zhong
Gong, a school of the qi gong traditional slow-motion exercises.
   (SFC, 5/6/00, p.C1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â May 6, It was reported
that Jin Wenchao, a former soldier and head of a Chinese
construction firm involved in the Three Gorges dam project, had
disappeared with over $120 million.
   (SFC, 5/6/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â May 6, The Chiang Mai
Initiative (CMI) was set up to help East Asian cash strapped
countries defend their currencies in times of trouble. The
initiative came in response to the 1997 East Asian financial crises.
ASEAN, China, Japan, and South Korea launched the multilateral
arrangement of currency swaps (CMI).
   (WSJ, 5/5/05,
p.A12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Mai_Initiative)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, It was reported
that Li Fuxiang (47), a top Chinese finance manager, leaped to his
death from the top floor of a hospital a week earlier.
   (WSJ, 5/15/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â May 16, In China’s
Liaoning province some 5,000 retired or laid-off workers in Liaoyang
clashed with police following protests over non-payment of pensions
and wages.
   (SFC, 5/17/00, p.A18)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, China and the EU
agreed to open markets.
   (SFC, 5/20/00, p.A8)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â May 24, The US House voted
237 to 197 to grant China permanent normal trade status.
   (SFC, 5/25/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, The China
Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) was founded in Beijing.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Philharmonic_Orchestra)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29-2000 May 31, North
Korean leader Kim Jong Il visited China and met with Pres. Jiang
Zemin and the ruling Communist Party’s inner circle. He received
promises of free food and other material assistance.
   (SFC, 6/2/00, p.A16)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â May 30, Mou Qizhong,
entrepreneur and former "reform hero," was sentenced to life in
prison on charges that included defrauding a Chinese state bank of
$75 million.
   (SFC, 5/31/00, p.A14)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, At least 74 people
were reported killed in Sichuan, China, from floods and mudslides
following torrential rain and hail.
   (SFC, 6/10/00, p.A24)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, Guo Chaoren,
president of China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, died at age 65.
His books included "Sprint to the Summit," "Tibet in the Past
Decade," and "African Diary."
   (SFC, 6/16/00, p.A34)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 22, In China an
overloaded ship capsized on the Yangtze River in Sichuan province
and 59 people were either killed or missing. Separately a Yunshuji-7
turboprop was struck by lightning in Hubei province and all 42
people aboard were killed. 4 people were missing.
   (SFC, 6/23/00, p.D3)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, China’s government
announced a $48 million emergency plan to fight the drought in the
northern provinces of Shanxi, Hebei, Gansu, and Ningxia.
   (SFC, 6/29/00, p.C6)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, In Taiwan Pres.
Chen Shui-bian told visiting Americans that he accepts that there is
"one China."
   (SFC, 6/29/00, p.A10)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, In Urumqi, China, 3
separatists were executed by firing squad immediately after a public
sentencing.
   (SFC, 7/13/00, p.C4)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, Chinese press
reported that an investigation of Gen. Ji Shengde was concluded and
that he would soon be indicted for corruption totaling $12.5
million.
   (SFC, 7/18/00, p.A14)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, Three days of
torrential rains over central China left at least 22 people dead in
Sichuan. Thousands of buildings, 17 bridges and 7 hydroelectric
power stations were damaged. In Guangxi Zhuang a bus fell into the
Liujiang River in Liuzhou and at least 65 people were killed.
   (SFC, 7/8/00, p.D8)(SFC, 7/10/00, p.A9)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, In China it was
reported that 6 members of a Uighur separatist group were executed.
   (WSJ, 7/12/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, In China a
mudslide following heavy rains killed at least 119 villagers in
Ziyang county in Shaanxi province. The death toll was later raised
to 213 with another 23 killed in the Liangshan area of Sichuan
province.
   (SFC, 7/17/00, p.A13)(SFC, 7/21/00, p.B7)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, It was reported
that an attack force of 700,000 ducks and chickens, trained to hunt
and eat insects at the sound of a whistle, were placed in the
locust-plagued fields of China’s Xinjiang province.
   (SFC, 7/15/00, p.A24)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, Chinese Pres.
Jiang Zemin and Russia’s Pres. Putin denounced the US proposed
missile defense program as a violation of the 1972 ABM treaty. They
also vowed to strengthen a strategic partnership between their
countries.
   (SFC, 7/19/00, p.A10)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, In Beijing some
100 people were rounded up in a scattered protest marking the first
anniversary of the banning of Falun Gong.
   (SFEC, 7/23/00, p.B16)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, It was reported
that the Songhua River had completely dried up under the drought
that has ruined 35 million acres. 16.2 million Chinese were left
short of water.
   (SFC, 7/29/00, p.D8)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, A Beijing court
sentenced Cheng Kejie (66) to death for corruption. He was a former
deputy chairman of the national legislature and headed the southern
region of Guangxi from 1990-1998. Over the last week 48 people were
executed for drug trafficking. Kejie was executed in Sept.
   (SFC, 8/1/00, p.A10)(SFC, 9/15/00, p.A14)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, It was reported
that a number of large Chinese companies were on the verge of
bankruptcy even as the government planned to bail out its money
losing state sector by making more companies public.
   (WSJ, 8/1/00, p.A8)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, Liu Yong, Chinese
Communist Party member and head of the Jiayang Group, was arrested
for corruption in Shenyang.
   (SFC, 10/11/01, p.C2)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17-2000 Aug 23,
Farmers in Fengcheng, China, rioted in opposition to high taxes and
other issues.
   (SFC, 9/5/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, In China’s Yunnan
province an earthquake in Wuding county left 177,000 people homeless
and 211 injured.
   (SFC, 8/26/00, p.A9)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, Four Chinese
students and a man whose sister was killed in the Tiananmen Square
massacre filed a suit in NYC against Li Peng, head of the Chinese
Parliament, for human rights abuses.
   (SFC, 9/1/00, p.A16)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, In China’s Fujian
province police arrested a Catholic priest, 20 nuns, 2 laymen and a
seminarian in Luoyuan county. Rev. Liu Shaozhang (38) was reported
to have been severely beaten and that parishioners bought the
release of 2 nuns.
   (SFC, 9/2/00, p.C16)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, Some 20,000 Chinese
farmers attacked government offices and official’s homes in Jiangxi
to protest high taxes.
   (WSJ, 8/30/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, Typhoon Maria
struck 2 southern Chinese provinces between Huizhou and Shanwei and
killed 47 people with $223 million in damages.
   (WSJ, 9/6/00, p.A1)(SFC, 9/9/00, p.A22)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Over 30 coal miners
were killed in an explosion in Datong, China.
   (SFC, 12/25/00, p.B6)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, The government of
China’s Shaanxi province appropriated 123 Zhong Gong properties and
land worth $36.5 million.
   (SFC, 9/9/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, A truck carrying
explosives blew up in Urumqi, China. 100 casualties were reported.
   (SFC, 9/9/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, The US Senate
voted 83-15 to end trade restrictions on China. The vote also
removed a fiscal obstacle to Beijing’s 14-year drive to join the
WTO.
   (SFC, 9/20/00, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/20/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, In China an
explosion at the Muchonggou Coal Mine in Shuicheng, Guizhou
province, killed 118 miners.
   (SFC, 9/28/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, Pope John Paul II
on China’s national day, canonized as martyrs 87 Chinese believers
and 33 European missionaries killed between 1648 and 1930. He also
canonized Mother Katherine Drexel (d.1955), a Philadelphia heiress,
who became a nun.
   (SFC, 10/2/00, p.A12)(Econ, 12/18/10, p.78)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, In China Falun Dafa
staged one to the biggest Tiananmen Square protests since it was
banned 14 months earlier.
   (WSJ, 10/2/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, The Nobel Prize in
literature was won by Gao Xingjian (60), an exiled Chinese writer
living in Paris. His novels include "Soul Mountain," based on a 1986
walking tour along the Yangtze River.
   (SFC, 10/13/00, p.A16)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, The Chinese press
endorsed the building of a $12 billion river project to divert water
from the Yangtze north to the Yellow River.
   (SFC, 10/19/00, p.C3)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 18, A human rights
group reported that 3 members of Falun Gong died after their arrest
by Chinese police. 57 Falun Gong members have died under police
custody during the 15-month crackdown.
   (SFC, 10/19/00, p.C10)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 26, In Beijing at
least 100 Falun Gong sect members were dragged from Tiananmen Square
following a protest one the year anniversary of a government ban of
the cult.
   (SFC, 10/27/00, p.A21)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 27, China’s state
media reported that auditors had found over $11 billion in
mismanaged funds in government offices and businesses.
   (SFC, 10/28/00, p.A14)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, In China some 6
million census takers began the 5th national census.
   (SFC, 10/14/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, Courts in southern
China sentenced 11 people to death for their role in a giant
smuggling ring, the Yuanhua Group, that moved some $6.4 billion in
goods with the complicity of mayors, police and customs officers.
   (SFC, 11/9/00, p.C2)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, China singed an
agreement with the UN for cooperation and training on individual
rights and the rule of law.
   (SFC, 11/21/00, p.A13)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 21, Pres. Clinton
agreed not to punish China for exporting missile components to Iran
and Pakistan after China promised to end future technological
cooperation with countries seeking to develop missile weaponry.
   (SFC, 11/22/00, p.A20)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov, Liu Dalin, a
pioneering Shanghai sexologist, authored "Sexual culture of 20th
Century China." He argued for an open-minded approach to sex.
   (SFC, 12/31/00, p.B7)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, It was reported
that Gao Changli, head of the Chinese bureaucracy that controls the
legal system, was relieved of his duties, apparently as part of a
crackdown on corruption.
   (SFC, 12/2/00, p.A13)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, A shopping mall
collapsed in Dongguan, China, and scores of people were killed.
   (WSJ, 12/4/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, China fired the
boss of Fijian province amid an antigraft drive.
   (WSJ, 12/13/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 16, Brilliance China
Automotive Holding introduced its new Zhonghua car. It boasted an
Italian design, Japanese engine, and German electronics and
suspension.
   (SSFC, 12/24/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 25, In China’s Louyang
city as many as 309 young people were killed at a disco fire.
   (SFC, 12/26/00, p.C6)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec, Tan Guangguang, a
Chinese scholar with recent visits to the US, was arrested on
suspicion of spying.
   (SFC, 4/10/01, p.A11)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Martin Booth authored "The
Dragon Syndicates," a history of the Chinese criminal societies
known as the triads.
   (WSJ, 8/4/00, p.W7)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Bill Kong, Chinese film
producer, released “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” He had wooed
Hollywood for a year to front half of the film’s $15 million budget.
   (WSJ, 9/14/05, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â China’s Premier Zhu Rongji
said Beijing will no longer be livable in 35 years due to sand dunes
93 miles away and converging at an annual speed of 2 km.
   (SSFC, 8/12/01, p.A21)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â China's Pres. Jiang Zemin
launched the "Three Represents" program: the party must represent
China's advanced productive forces, its advanced culture and the
interests of the overwhelming majority of the people.
   (Econ, 11/15/03, p.41)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â China launched its “great
development of the west” program (often referred to as the “Go west”
policy).
   (Econ, 12/3/05, p.39)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â China banned the sale of
video game consoles citing their adverse effect on the mental health
of its youth. The ban was lifted in 2014 on a temporary basis.
   (Reuters, 1/7/14)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â China planned to build
1,000 hotels for tourism growth for a total of 4,500. The government
expected visitors to increase to 54 million from 46 million in 1995.
The hotels were to be built in the poorer central and western China.
   (WSJ, 6/11/96, p.A10)
2000 Â Â Â Â Â Â In Ningbo, China, the
Geely Group began producing cars. By 2006 the plant was producing
180,000 cars a year.
   (WSJ, 11/7/06, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Chinese lawyers began
using “variable interest entities” (VIES), a type of corporate
architecture, to shift sensitive assets into special legal entities.
   (Econ, 9/16/17, p.65)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â The WHO ranked China 4th
from the bottom of 191 countries in terms of fairness of its medical
coverage.
   (WSJ, 12/5/05, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â In China coal mine
fatalities were estimated to be between 5,000 and 10,000 per year
with an average of 13 miners killed per day. Miners earned about $50
per month.
   (SFC, 12/25/00, p.B6)(NW, 10/28/02, p.44R)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 10, China sent rats
into orbit aboard its "Sacred Ship" Shenzhou II, powered by a Long
March rocket.
   (SFC, 1/11/01, p.A16)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, China’s state
media reported at least 27 people dead from a New years Day blizzard
in inner Mongolia.
   (SFC, 1/12/01, p.A18)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 16, China’s Shenzhou
II unmanned space craft landed after 108 orbits.
   (WSJ, 1/17/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 23, Five people
believed to members of Falun Gong set themselves on fire in
Tiananmen Square. One woman and her daughter (12) died. In August 4
people were convicted of murder for organizing the self-immolation.
A judge found that they had spread the notion that members could
achieve nirvana through self-immolation.
   (SFC, 1/24/01, p.A12)(SFC, 8/18/01, p.A11)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 24, The Chinese lunar
calendar marked this as the new year, 4699.
   (SSFC, 1/28/01, p.CN3)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, China’s cabinet
approved a 700-mile rail line to link Lhasa, Tibet, and Qinghai
province.
   (WSJ, 2/9/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, Gao Zhan, a
US-based scholar, was detained at Beijing airport by Chinese
authorities. She was formally charged as a spy on April 3. [see Mar
27]
   (WSJ, 3/28/01, p.A1)(SFC, 4/4/01, p.D14)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 25, Chinese officials
in Shenzhen detained Li Shaomin (44), an associate professor of
marketing at Hong Kong’s City Univ.
   (SFC, 3/31/01, p.A11)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, The US State Dept.
issued its annual report on the status of human rights and cited
"unconfirmed but credible" reports from China of continued use of
torture by police to obtain coerced confessions.
   (SFC, 2/27/01, p.A10)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 28, China gave a
qualified endorsement for a UN-sponsored human rights treaty. It
backed away from a guarantee of workers rights.
   (SFC, 3/1/01, p.A8)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, China was reported
to consume a little over 6% of the world’s total 75.5 million
barrels per day of oil.
   (WSJ, 3/1/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, In China 37 members
of the banned Falun Gong were sentenced to prison terms of 3-10
years. Most had been convicted of "using a cult to obstruct the
law."
   (SFC, 3/3/01, p.A12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, China announced a
17.7% increase in defense spending.
   (SFC, 3/6/01, p.A12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, It was reported
that Chinese psychiatrists have decided to stop classifying
homosexuality as a mental illness.
   (SFC, 3/6/01, p.A11)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, In China an
explosion at an elementary school in Jiangxi province left 37
students and 4 teachers dead. 42 people, mostly students, were
killed in a schoolhouse explosion in southern China; parents said
the students had been forced to make fireworks by school officials.
Teachers, to enhance their meager salaries, had forced students to
make firecrackers during their lunch breaks. Prime Minister Zhu
Rongji said the blast was caused by a "deranged suicide bomber."
   (WSJ, 3/7/01, p.A1)(SFC, 3/8/01, p.A1)(SFC,
3/9/01, p.A14)(AP, 3/5/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 13, In China four
writers were detained a few months after they had formed the New
Youth Study Group for discussing political change in China. In 2003
Xu Wei (28) and Jin Haike (26) were sentenced to 10 years in prison
for subverting state power. Yang Zili (32) and Zhang Honghai (29)
were sentenced to 8 years. Wei and Haike were released On March 12,
2011, after completing their jail terms.
   (SFC, 5/30/03, p.A16)(AP, 3/13/11)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 16, Explosions rocked
residential buildings in Shijiazhuang, a mill town in China’s Hebei
province. At least 18 people were killed. The deaths soon mounted to
108 with 38 injured. Police later arrested Jin Ruchao (41), a deaf
man, who reportedly confessed to the bombings.
   (SFC, 3/17/01, p.A10)(SSFC, 3/18/01, p.D1)(SFC,
3/24/01, p.A11)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, The Taiwan United
Daily News reported that a senior Chinese colonel had defected to
the US.
   (SFC, 3/23/01, p.D4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, Pres. Bush met
with Chinese Deputy Premier Qian Qichen and said the US would
support Taiwan’s military needs.
   (WSJ, 3/23/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, In its first
specific accusation against a detained U.S.-based scholar, China
said Gao Zhan had confessed to spying for foreign intelligence
agencies. The US denied employing her as a spy. Gao, who had been
detained on Feb. 11, was released the following July. In 2003 Gao
Zhan admitted to illegal profits of over $539,000 from selling 80
microprocessors to the Chinese government. [see Feb 11]
   (WSJ, 3/28/01, p.A1)(AP, 3/27/02)(SFC, 11/27/03,
p.A3)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, China reported
that its population stood at 1.26 billion, an 11.7% increase over
the last decade.
   (SFC, 3/28/01, p.D4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, It was reported
that the forests of China’s Yunnan province had dropped from 50%
coverage in 1949 to less than 10% today.
   (SFC, 3/30/01, p.A17)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 1, A US Navy EP-3
surveillance plane with 24 aboard collided with a Chinese fighter
jet over the South China Sea and was forced to land on China's
Hainan island. The fighter jet crashed. Chinese pilot Wang Wei
parachuted out of his F-8 jet but had not been found. Zhao Yu, a 2nd
pilot, later blamed the US plane banked and hit Wei’s plane. None of
the 24 crew members was hurt, but they were held prisoner by the
Chinese for a tense 11 days.
   (SFC, 4/2/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/2/01, p.A1)(SFC,
4/4/01, p.A13)(SFC, 4/7/01, p.A13)(AP, 4/1/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, Pres. Bush demanded
that the Chinese release the US Navy crew and spy plane that had
made an emergency landing on China’s Hainan Island.
   (SFC, 4/3/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/3/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, US diplomats met
with 24 US crew members held by the Chinese military on Hainan
island. Colin Powell issued a statement of regret over the loss of
the Chinese pilot involved in the incident. Powell also sent a
letter to China’s chief foreign policy official outlining ways of
settlement.
   (SFC, 4/4/01, p.A1)(SFC, 4/5/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, Wang Zhizhi of
China, 7 feet and 1 inch tall, made his NBA debut for the Dallas
Mavericks. Wang Zhizhi became the first Chinese player to play in
the NBA when he took the court for Dallas against Atlanta. He scored
six points and grabbed three rebounds as the Mavericks beat the
Hawks 108-to-94.
   (SSFC, 4/15/01, p.A17)(AP, 4/5/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, Pres. Bush
expressed regret over the loss of a Chinese pilot in the Apr 1
collision with a US spy plane.
   (SFC, 4/6/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, US officials
announced some progress toward the release of 24 military personnel
in China and hoped to establish a joint US-China commission to
examine the April 1 collision of a US spy plane and Chinese jet.
   (SFC, 4/7/01, p.1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, China rejected
statements of regret and continued to demand a US apology for the
April 1 collision between a US spy plane and Chinese jet.
   (SSFC, 4/7/01, p.C1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, Sec. of State Colin
Powell expressed sorrow for the Chinese pilot lost on Apr 1, but the
Chinese continued to demand that the US apologize reiterated a
demand that the US stop all military surveillance off the Chinese
coast. US officials said Pres. Bush was sending a letter to the wife
of a missing Chinese fighter pilot as a humanitarian gesture. The
pilot's plane had collided with a US spy plane, forcing the spy
plane to make an emergency landing in China.
   (SFC, 4/9/01, p.A1)(AP, 4/8/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 12, The 24 crew
members of a US spy plane arrived in Hawaii after being held for 11
days in China. Pres. Bush blamed the Chinese for the midair
collision of the US spy plane and a Chinese jet and rebuffed demands
to end reconnaissance flights off the coast of China. In 2006 it was
revealed that Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi ambassador to the US,
negotiated the release of the crew on behalf of Pres. Bush.
   (SFC, 4/13/01, p.A1)(AP, 4/12/06)(WSJ, 10/11/06,
p.D10)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, In China a 5.9
earthquake hit Yunnan province and at least 7 people were killed.
42,000 homes were destroyed in the Shidian area.
   (SFC, 4/21/01, p.A24)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, Chinese police
opened fire on villagers who opposed high local taxes and fees in
Yuntang. 2 were killed and at least 18 wounded.
   (SFC, 4/20/01, p.A16)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 17, US envoys arrived
in China to resolved issues of the US spy plane collision with a
Chinese jet.
   (SFC, 4/18/01, p.A12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 18, US negotiators
said China agreed to discuss the return of the US spy plane
following a day of unproductive talks.
   (SFC, 4/19/01, p.A10)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, US and Chinese
negotiators failed to reach any agreement over the US spy plane. The
Chinese showed video images from flights last year and the US
presented a written proposal for the return of the plane.
   (SFC, 4/20/01, p.A14)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, In unusually blunt
terms, President Bush warned China that an attack on Taiwan could
provoke a U.S. military response.
   (AP, 4/25/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, China offered to
allow US officials to inspect the US Navy spy plane on Hainan
Island.
   (SFC, 4/30/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, Foreign Minister
Tang Jiaxuan returned to China from Russia with a draft accord for
relations with Russia.
   (SFC, 5/4/01, p.D2)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, US technical
experts examined the US spy plane on China’s Hainan Island.
   (WSJ, 5/3/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, In China a
landslide in Wulong County buried a 9-story building where 76 of 95
residents were home. 65 bodies were recovered.
   (SFC, 5/4/01, p.D2)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, US experts,
following 3 days of inspections, said the US spy plane on China’s
Hainan Island could be repaired and flown home.
   (SFC, 5/5/01, p.D1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, China rejected a US
plan to repair EP-3 the spy plane and fly it away.
   (WSJ, 5/9/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, It was reported
that China’s "Strike Hard" anti-crime campaign had resulted in at
least 801 executions in the last 3 weeks of April.
   (SFC, 5/19/01, p.A8)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â May 20, In China 20 miners
were feared dead in a gypsum mine in the Guangxi region and another
38-39 were trapped in a coal mine in Sichuan. The miners in Sichuan
were working a prison-run mine.
   (SFC, 5/21/01, p.A10)(SFC, 5/22/01, p.A11)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â May 20, In China 14 people
were executed in 2 cities for robbery and murder.
   (SFC, 5/21/01, p.A10)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â May 26, Wu Jianmin (46), a
Chinese-born American writer, was arrested on charges of collecting
information that endangered security. He was released and expelled
Sep 28.
   (SFC, 8/2/01, p.A7)(SFC, 9/29/01, p.B1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, It was reported
that US Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld had virtually cut off all
Pentagon contacts with the Chinese armed forces in displeasure over
the spy plane incident. Rumsfeld announced that he had given limited
permission to resume military-to-military contacts with China due to
the progress in the resolution of the spy plane incident.
   (SFC, 6/4/01, p.A10)(SFC, 6/5/01, p.A12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 5, It was reported
that the ecstasy drug was a big hit in Chinese night clubs. It had
begun filtering in from Hong Kong in 1998.
   (SFC, 6/5/01, p.A12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 5, In China 13
children were killed in a fire at a kindergarten dormitory in
Nanchang.
   (SFC, 6/6/01, p.C3)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, The US and China
agreed on a final plan for the removal of the US spy plane from
Hainan Island.
   (SFC, 6/8/01, p.A16)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, China published new
rules on genetic engineering. The government took broad oversight
over the industry and required clear labeling on genetically altered
foods.
   (WSJ, 6/8/01, p.A13)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 14, A forum in China
inducted Uzbekistan as the 6th member of a regional group (the
Shanghai Five) that included China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan. The 5-year-old group hoped to counterbalance US
influence and fight Islamic separatism.
   (SFC, 6/15/01, p.D6)(WSJ, 6/14/01, p.C11)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, The Shanghai Five
member nations (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia),
having admitted Uzbekistan, signed the Declaration of Shanghai
Cooperation Organization.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Cooperation_Organisation)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 16, He Qinglian (44),
Chinese economist, fled China after security agents broke into her
office in Shenzhen.
   (SFC, 7/3/01, p.A8)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 21, Jailed Falun Gong
members attempted a group suicide in a Chinese northeast labor camp.
10-14 reportedly died by hanging.
   (SFC, 7/4/01, p.A11)(WSJ, 7/5/01, p.A8)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, Typhoon Chebi
killed 73 people in China’s Fujian province and left 83 missing.
Damage was estimated at $425 million.
   (WSJ, 6/26/01, p.A1)(SFC, 6/27/01, p.D3)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, In China 7 members
of a North Korean family took refuge in the Beijing office of the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees and claimed fear of deportation.
   (SFC, 6/27/01, p.D3)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, It was reported
that Wang Guoqi, a Chinese doctor seeking political asylum, had
presented a written statement to US authorities that he had taken
part in harvesting body parts from executed prisoners in China.
China meanwhile observed UN anti-drug day by executing dozens of
people for drug crimes. China denied the accusations.
   (SFC, 6/27/01, p.A10)(SFC, 6/29/01, p.D4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 29, A new $2.4 billion
700-mile railway project was begun to connect Lhasa, Tibet, to the
Chinese interior.
   (SSFC, 7/1/01, p.A18)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, China’s Pres. Jiang
Zemin announced that the Communist Party will allow private
businessmen to become members.
   (SFC, 7/2/01, p.A8)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, Parts of the US spy
plane were flown out from China’s Hainan Island.
   (WSJ, 7/3/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, It was reported
that China had executed 1,781 people over the last 3 months.
   (SFC, 7/7/01, p.A8)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, It was reported
that record droughts persisted in Afghanistan northern China, North
Korea, Mongolia and Tajikistan.
   (SFC, 7/13/01, p.D4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, The IOC awarded
Beijing, China, the honor of hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics.
   (SFC, 7/14/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, China convicted Li
Shaomin (44), a Chinese-born American business professor, of spying
for Taiwan and ordered his expulsion.
   (SSFC, 7/15/01, p.A12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, China’s Pres.
Zemin arrived in Russia for a state visit. A treaty of friendship
and cooperation was planned.
   (SFC, 7/16/01, p.A9)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, In northwest China
an illegal cache of explosives blew up in Mafang and 41 people were
killed.
   (SFC, 7/17/01, p.A7)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, In Moscow Russia
and China agreed to plan a $1.7 billion pipeline for oil from
Siberia to northeastern China.
   (SFC, 7/18/01, p.C4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, In China’s Guangxi
province the Lajiapo and Longshan mines flooded and 81 miners were
killed. Immediate news was covered up. In Aug 20 company employees
and 70 suspected gang members were arrested for the coverup. 11 mine
officials and 4 county political leaders were arrested.
   (SFC, 8/7/01, p.A7)(SFC, 8/15/01, p.A7)(SFC,
9/1/01, p.A10)(SFC, 9/1/01, p.A10)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, It was reported
that China planned to buy 38 Russian Su-30 MKK ground attack jets
worth $2 billion.
   (SFC, 7/20/01, p.D4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, A Chinese court
sentenced two US residents to 10 years in prison on charges of
spying for Taiwan. China released Gao Zhan and Qin Guangguang two
days later.
   (SFC, 7/25/01, p.A1)(AP, 7/24/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, US Sec. of State
Colin Powell met with China’s Pres. Zemin and reached agreement to
restart a formal dialogue with the US on human rights and weapons
proliferation.
   (SSFC, 7/29/01, p.A12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, Four American
Senators met with Pres. Jiang Zemin in China and warned him that the
continued sales of sensitive missile technology would trigger an
arms race and boost internal US support for a missile defense
system.
   (SFC, 8/9/01, p.A10)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, It was reported
that the US had decided to pay China $34,567 to cover the costs of
the spy plane that was detained on Hainan island. China had asked
for $1 million and rejected the offer.
   (SFC, 8/10/01, p.A12)(SFC, 8/13/01, p.A12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, China received its
new $120 mil Boeing 767-300ER aircraft following retrofit in San
Antonio, Tx. In Oct Chinese experts discovered high-tech listening
devices hidden in the plane. Purchase of the plane was 1st announced
in Aug 2000.
   (SFC, 1/19/02, p.A4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, In China Chen
Qiulan, an arrested Falun Gong member, died of a heart attack at a
detention center in Daqing, Hailongjiang.
   (SFC, 9/1/01, p.A10)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, China said that it
was spending $8.4 million to set aside forests in the southwest to
help save some 1,000 remaining wild pandas.
   (SFC, 8/17/01, p.A14)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, In China Wu
Liangjie, an arrested Falun Gong member, died after falling from the
window of a police office in Baicheng, Jilin province.
   (SFC, 9/1/01, p.A10)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, It was reported
that Chinese authorities had removed Khenpo Jigme Phuntsog (68), a
Tibetan monk, from his Serthar religious academy in the Larung
valley of Sichuan province. The move was seen as an effort to reduce
the 6-7 thousand monks and nuns living in the area.
   (SFC, 8/21/01, p.A7)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, It was reported
that surveys had indicated that two-thirds of China’s 1.26 billion
people were infected with hepatitis B.
   (SFC, 8/23/01, p.A9)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, The Chinese
government reported that some 600,000 people have been infected with
AIDS with nearly as many from selling their blood as from sexual
contact.
   (SFC, 8/24/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 8/24/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, Brian Regan (38),
retired US Air Force master sergeant and cryptanalyst, was arrested
by the FBI at Dulles Int’l. Airport on charges of spying. In 2002
Regan was accused of trying to spy for Iraq, Libya and China. On
February 20, 2003, Regan was found guilty of three charges of
attempted espionage including two counts of attempted espionage
related to attempts to sell information to Iraq and China, and one
count of gathering national defense information. He was acquitted of
attempting to provide US secrets to Libya. On March 20, 2003, Regan
was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
  Â
(http://cicentre.com/Documents/DOC_Regan_1.htm)(SFC, 8/29/01,
p.A6)(WSJ, 2/15/02, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, It was reported
that some 3,000 people had been executed in China since Pres. Zemin
announced a crackdown in April.
   (SSFC, 9/9/01, p.A18)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, A Chinese captain
went down with his freighter in the Taiwan Strait as Typhoon Lekima
lashed the area.
   (WSJ, 9/26/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, In China Wu
Jianmin, a Chinese-born American writer, was released from jail and
expelled. The state media said he had confessed to his crimes of
spying for Taiwan.
   (SFC, 9/29/01, p.B1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 10, In China a state
court sentenced over a dozen key officials in Shenyang for
corruption.
   (SFC, 10/11/01, p.C2)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, China put limits
on air travel to citizens of 19 countries, mainly in the Middle
East.
   (SFC, 10/13/01, p.A10)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, China executed 2
Muslim separatists in Yili, Xinjiang province.
   (SFC, 10/18/01, p.C2)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 18, Pres. Bush arrived
in China for the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in
Shanghai. The agenda was economic development and trade
liberalization.
   (SFC, 10/18/01, p.A9)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, China officially
joined the WTO after ministers in Qatar approved its membership.
China became a full member on Dec 11, 2001, 30 days after its
parliament ratified the agreement and informed the WTO.
   (www.china-un.ch/eng/qtzz/wto/t85612.htm)(SSFC,
11/11/01, p.A14)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 11, Taiwan officially
joined the WTO after ministers in Qatar approved its membership.
   (SSFC, 11/11/01, p.A14)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, Chinese police on
Tiananmen Square detained some 35 foreigners who protested the
crackdown on the Falun Gong. The protesters were all expelled from
the country.
   (SFC, 11/21/01, p.A1)(SFC, 11/22/01, p.A21)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov, China held its 1st
national AIDS conference in Beijing.
   (WSJ, 12/19/01, p.A12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov, China’s 4 largest
producers of Vitamin C formed the Vitamin C Chapter of the China
Chamber of Commerce of Medicines and Health Products.
   (WSJ, 2/10/06, p.A16)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, China’s official
entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO), approved in Qatar on
Nov 10, became effective.
   (Econ, 12/10/11,
p.45)(www.china-un.ch/eng/qtzz/wto/t85612.htm)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, The Beijing First
Intermediate Court sentenced 6 people to prison for 3 to 12 years
for downloading material from the Internet on the banned Falun Gong
spiritual movement and passing it along.
   (SFC, 12/24/01, p.A4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 16, In China a weekend
bombing killed 5 people.
   (WSJ, 12/17/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 27, Pres. Bush
permanently normalized trade relations with China.
   (WSJ, 12/28/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Ian Buruma authored "Bad
Elements," a look at China’s dissidents, their convictions, and the
country’s problems with self-identity.
   (SFC, 11/26/01, p.A17)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Gordon C. Chang authored
"The Coming Collapse of China." He predicted that the People’s
Republic would fall by the Olympic Games of 2008.
   (WSJ, 8/8/01, p.A10)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â The ballet Raise the Red
Lantern premiered in the spring. It was based on a 1991 film of the
same name directed by Zhang Yimou.
   (WSJ, 4/3/02, p.A16)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â China ratified the Int’l.
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), endorsed
by the UN in 1966.
   (http://tinyurl.com/zrw2bt6)(Econ, 3/19/15, p.48)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â A Chinese law prohibited
medical institutions and personnel from performing gestational
surrogacy services, in which an embryo created from a couple is
implanted into another woman who carries the baby to term. In 2011 a
couple spent nearly a million yuan ($160,000) and illegally enlisted
two surrogate mothers to help have the four boys and four girls.
   (AP, 12/30/11)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â China’s health ministry
struck homosexuality off its list of mental diseases.
   (Econ, 4/30/15, p.39)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â In China Zhengzhou city in
Henan province unveiled plans for a new city and hired Japanese
architect Kisho Kurokawa to design Zhengdong New District and its
main showcase buildings. Completion was scheduled for 2015 at a cost
of $25 billion.
   (Econ, 1/7/06, p.40)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Amnesty Int’l. reported in
2002 that at least 3,048 people were executed in 31 countries in
2001. China accounted for at least 1,781. 90% of the executed were
from China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US.
   (SFC, 4/10/02, p.A12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Shi Zhengrong, a Chinese
solar engineer, started Suntech to manufacture solar cells. In 2005
it became the first Chinese solar firm to go public. By 2007 the
company was the world’s 3rd largest in the field. In 2013 it went
bankrupt.
   (Econ, 6/2/07, SR p.16)(Econ, 3/30/13, p.68)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â There were some 720,000
passenger vehicles sold this year in China. Sales were expected to
climb to 900,000 units in 2002.
   (WSJ, 7/3/02, p.A9)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Some 5,670 Chinese miners
died in accidents in this year.
   (SFC, 4/3/03, p.D1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Hu Jintao (59) was
reported to be in line for the leadership of the Chinese Communist
Party.
   (WSJ, 1/3/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 15, China reported
that at least 50 miners were killed in 3 separate mine accidents.
   (SFC, 1/16/02, p.A7)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 19, It was reported
that China had imposed new Internet controls and required service
providers to screen all e-mail messages for political content.
   (SFC, 1/19/02, p.A4)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 23, It was reported
that China was moving 17,000 settlers to a traditionally Tibetan
region.
   (WSJ, 1/23/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 24, The US imposed
sanctions on 3 Chinese entities accused of giving chemical and
biological arms technology to Iran.
   (WSJ, 1/25/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 25, Chinese PM Zhu
Rongji visited Bangalore and said: You are number one in software,
and we are number one in hardware. If Indian software and Chinese
hardware work together, we can create a force that will be number
one in the world.
   (SSFC, 1/27/02, p.A24)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 29, In China Xu Zerong
(David Tsui), a Hong Kong-based historian, was sentenced to 13 years
in prison for providing classified historical documents, pertaining
to Chinese operations during the Korean war, to unspecified overseas
parties. Zerong (57) was released on June 23, 2011, from Guangzhou
Prison in southern Guangdong province's capital city.
   (SSFC, 2/3/02, p.A17)(AP, 6/23/11)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12-2002 Feb 13, The
Chinese lunar calendar marked this as the new year, 4700, the Year
of the Horse.
   (SFC, 2/12/02, p.A14)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 14, In China 41
foreigners were arrested and later expelled following pro Falun Gong
demonstrations on Tiananmen Square.
   (SFC, 2/16/02, p.A14)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 20, President Bush, on
the final leg of his Asian trip, arrived in China, where he urged
President Jiang Zemin to respect religious freedoms.
   (AP, 2/20/07)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 21, Pres. Bush met
with Pres. Zemin in Beijing and both agreed to work on the
reunification of North and South Korea. They disagreed over controls
on exports of missile technology. Pres. Bush answered questions in a
live broadcast and reaffirmed the US right to protect Taiwan.
   (SFC, 2/21/02, p.A12)(SFC, 2/22/02, p.A12)(WSJ,
2/22/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, Laid-off workers of
the Daqing Oilfield Co. began massive protests for re-negotiation of
early retirement packages. Some 86,000 of 260,000 workers had been
laid off since 1999. Daily protests hit as many as 50,000 workers.
   (WSJ, 3/14/02, p.A1)(SFC, 3/20/02, p.A9)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, In China Falun Gong
members cut into a cable network in Changchun and broadcast its
messages for some 50 minutes.
   (SFC, 3/8/02, p.A12)(WSJ, 3/8/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, China announced a
17.6% increase in defense spending.
   (SFC, 3/7/02, p.A7)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, China allowed 25
North Korean asylum seekers to leave the Spanish Embassy in Beijing
for South Korea by way of the Philippines.
   (WSJ, 3/18/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 20, China deployed
military police to at least 2 northeast cities to quell labor
protests.
   (WSJ, 3/21/02, p.A1)
2002 Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, It was reported
that a massive dust storm spread from northwest China to South
Korea. It was largest recorded since records began 130 years ago.
Trans Pacific winds carried the dust clouds west.
   (SFC, 3/30/02, p.A20)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, It was reported
that China’s Jilin province was experiencing its worst drought in 20
years. Some 5 million acres were affected and dry soil reached a
depth of 7 feet. Shandong province was also affected.
   (SFC, 4/6/02, p.C10)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, China reported
that some 850,000 people were infected with AIDS at the end of 2001.
   (SFC, 4/12/02, p.A8)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, In South Korea an
Air China jet Boeing 767, CA-129, with some 166 passengers crashed
into a mountain near Kimhae. 122 people died in the crash.
   (SFC, 4/15/02, p.A3)(SFC, 4/16/02, p.A7)(AP,
4/15/07)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, China’s VP Hu
Jintao (59), heir apparent, stopped in Hawaii on his way to meet
with Pres. Bush.
   (WSJ, 4/29/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, China’s VP Hu
Jintao (59), heir apparent, rang the bell at the NY Stock Exchange
and viewed ground zero.
   (WSJ, 4/30/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr, There was a bomb
blast in Chengdu, China. Tibetan monks Lobsang Dhondup (28) and
Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche were detained. Dhondup was executed Jan 27,
2003.
   (SFC, 1/28/03, p.A6)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, China’s VP Hu
Jintao met with Pres. Bush. Jintao said the Taiwan issue could hurt
relations and defended China’s record on human rights.
   (WSJ, 5/2/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, China’s VP Hu
Jintao met with Mayor Brown in SF and set a visit to Intel prior to
his departure back to China.
   (SFC, 5/3/02, p.A8)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, Two explosions
killed at 34 miners in China’s Guizhou and Hunan provinces.
   (SFC, 5/8/02, p.A13)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â May 7, A China Northern
Airlines with 112 people crashed off the northeast coast. Flight
6136 was an MD-82 enroute from Beijing to Dalian. Xinhua news later
reported that it was due to an act of sabotage by a passenger who
lit a fire on board.
   (SFC, 5/8/02, p.A15)(Reuters, 12/7/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â May 16, The state phone
industry was divided into 2 competing parts: China Telecom and China
Netcom.
   (WSJ, 5/16/02, p.A12)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â May 30, It was reported
that China was embarking on a program to inoculate its poorest
people against hepatitis. Half of the population was reported to
have had the disease with 120 million long term carriers.
   (WSJ, 5/30/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 12, In China more than
200 people have died in some of the worst flooding in years. Crops
were destroyed and vast areas were under water.
   (AP, 6/12/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 13, In China at least
223 were reported dead and 320,000 homeless from Xinjiang to
Hubei provinces following weekend rains and flooding.
   (SFC, 6/14/02, p.A16)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 16, In China at least
24 people were killed and 13 injured when a fire swept through the
packed Lanjisu Cyber cafe in a university district of Beijing, in
the city's worst fire since 1949. Windows were barred and the only
door was locked. The unlicensed owner was arrested.
   (Reuters, 6/16/02)(SFC, 6/17/02, p.A7)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, A gas explosion
ripped through the Chengzihe coal mine in Jixi in northeast China
and killed 111 miners.
   (Reuters, 6/20/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 22, In China an
explosion at a gold mine in Fanshi County, Shanxi, killed 46 miners.
An initial cover-up was attempted.
   (SFC, 6/29/02, p.A14)(SFC, 7/2/02, p.A8)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, Chinese basketball
star Yao Ming was selected first overall by the Houston Rockets in
the NBA draft.
   (AP, 6/26/03)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, In China it was
reported that at least 46 people were killed in the northern
province of Shanxi when an electrical fire ignited explosives in a
gold mine.
   (Reuters, 6/28/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, Chinese police
found Wang Bingzhang, a pro-democracy activist and US resident, in
Guangxi Province. He had been recently kidnapped with 2 others in
Vietnam.
   (SFC, 12/21/02, p.A10)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, In China a blast in
the Fuqiang mine in Songshu trapped 39 miners. There was little hope
for survivors.
   (SFC, 7/6/02, p.A14)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, In southern China
13 people were killed when a wall being demolished at a vegetable
market crumbled after heavy rain, burying vendors and workers under
a mound of rubble.
   (Reuters, 7/7/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, In China a gas
explosion at a coal mine killed 44 miners at the Dingsheng mine in
northeastern Heilongjiang province.
   (Reuters, 7/9/02)(SFC, 7/9/02, p.A10)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, Chinese officials
reported that nearly 1,000 schoolchildren in northeast China were
rushed to hospital after being vaccinated in late June for
encephalitis and two senior officials were arrested and charged with
negligence.
   (Reuters, 7/12/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, In central China a
downpour of giant hailstones, some the size of eggs, killed 15
people and left hospitals overflowing with head-wound victims.
   (Reuters, 7/20/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, The number of
Japanese who have died after taking diet pills imported from China
has risen to four and 124 have fallen ill, Kyodo news agency
reported quoting a Health Ministry report.
   (Reuters, 7/20/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, Chinese police
have formally arrested Liu Xiaoqing, one of the country's most
famous film stars and 2-time winner of the prestigious Hundred
Flowers Best Actress award, on suspicion of large-scale tax evasion.
Liu was queen of Chinese cinema in the 1980s and is best remembered
for playing Qing Dynasty Empress Dowager Cixi in the film "The Reign
Behind the Curtain."
   (Reuters, 7/25/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, It was reported
that the regional Chinese governments of Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan
had agreed to develop an area to be called "The China Shangri-La
Ecological Tourist Zone" across 50 counties next to Meili Snow
Mountain.
   (SFC, 7/26/02, p.A15)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, The Chinese
government awarded an Australian consortium a 25-year natural gas
supply contract in Australia's biggest-ever foreign trade deal.
   (AP, 8/8/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, China reported 70
people dead from landslides and flooding in Hunan province.
   (SFC, 8/10/02, p.A9)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, In China rescue
crews pulled the bodies of 7 workers from a flooded mine in the
central Chinese province of Henan. One more was recovered the next
day.
   (AP, 8/11/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, China’s Science
and Technology Daily reported approval of a home-grown AIDS drug for
the first time that will end the dependence of Chinese with the
disease on imported medicine. Jiduo Fuding was developed by the
Northeast General Pharmaceutical Factory.
   (Reuters, 8/10/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, In southwest China
a massive wall of mud and rock unleashed by heavy rains slammed into
villages, burying 67 people in the second deadly landslide to strike
the area this week.
   (Reuters, 8/16/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17, In China 3 days of
floods and landslides caused by mountain torrents swept through
southeastern Zhejiang province, killing at least 21 people.
   (Reuters, 8/17/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, China evacuated
some 600,000 people around the swollen Lake Dongting in Hunan
province.
   (WSJ, 8/23/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, Russia and China
gave their backing to the Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse-gas
emissions.
   (AP, 9/3/02)(WSJ, 9/4/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, China reported that
flooding had killed 1,532 people this year.
   (SFC, 9/5/02, p.A11)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, In southeast China
typhoon Sinlaku was weakening as it churned inland after triggering
fierce winds and heavy rain that killed 23 people, toppled homes and
uprooted trees.
   (Reuters, 9/8/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, In China 38 (49)
people died and hundreds were hospitalized with food poisoning after
eating breakfast snacks, sesame cakes, fried dough sticks and fried
glutinous rice balls, in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing. A man
jealous of a business rival later confessed to spiking his
competitor's breakfast snacks with rat poison. The man was convicted
and sentenced to execution.
   (Reuters, 9/14/02)(Reuters, 9/17/02)(WSJ,
9/17/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 10/1/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, North Korea
announced it had made the city of Sinuiju on its border with China a
"special administrative region," a move South Korean media said was
the first step towards creating a new economic zone. The project was
soon mothballed after its first governor, Yang Bin, was jailed in
China for tax evasion. Yang Bin was formally sentenced in July 2003
for 18 years, and was fined for 2.3 million renminbi.
   (Reuters, 9/19/02)(Econ, 10/2/10,
p.45)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Bin)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, In Inner Mongolia,
China, a staircase guardrail gave way at a school, killing 21
students.
   (Reuters, 9/24/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, The National
Intelligence Council said China, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria and Russia
will have 50-75 million HIV-infected people by 2010, more than any
other 5 countries.
   (SFC, 10/1/02, p.A5)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, Wu-chi Liu (95),
China-born scholar, died in Menlo Park, Ca. His books included "A
Short History of Confucian Philosophy" and "An Introduction to
Chinese Literature." He was also the senior editor of "Sunflower
Splendor," an anthology that encompassed 3,000 years of Chinese
poetry in translation.
   (SFC, 10/18/02, p.A26)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 10, China sent Zhu
Xiaohua (53), its most senior financial official nabbed for
corruption, to jail for 15 years, but spared him the executioner's
bullet after he confessed to taking bribes prosecutors knew nothing
about.
   (AP, 10/10/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, Yao Ming (22), a
7-foot-5 basketball player from China, arrived in Texas to join the
Houston Rockets.
   (WSJ, 10/22/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, In China rescuers
fought to save 29 miners trapped underground after a coal mine
explosion in the northern province of Shanxi killed 21. China's
death toll from mining accidents up to July this year was 3,620, up
4.8 percent from a year earlier
   (AP, 10/25/02)(Reuters, 10/26/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 28, It was reported
that 200 farms in China tap 7,000 live, caged bears for their bile
in an excruciating process. Owners slice into the bears to milk bile
from their gall bladder with a tube. Bear bile is viewed as a
panacea in traditional Chinese medicine. Many bears do not survive
the initial operation and few live longer than 10 years, less than
half the average life expectancy.
   (Reuters, 10/28/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 29, China and the
United States have agreed to resume military-to-military ties with
plans to hold talks at senior level in the near future.
   (AP, 10/29/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, China signed a
landmark agreement, “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the
South China Sea,” with ASEAN (Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines,
Vietnam) on avoiding open conflict in the disputed South China Sea
Spratly Islands. Indonesia objected and Taiwan was barred from
signing.
   (Reuters, 11/4/02)(Econ, 5/22/04,
p.40)(www.aseansec.org/13163.htm)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, China finished
blocking the Yangtze River at the Three Gorges Dam, paving the way
for the world's biggest hydroelectricity and flood control project
to come on stream next year.
   (Reuters, 11/6/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, The ASEAN group
(Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos,
Vietnam, Brunei, Thailand and Myanmar) ended a 2-day conference in
Cambodia that was also attended by representatives from China,
Japan, and India and South Africa.
   (AP, 11/5/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, China's President
Jiang Zemin opened the Communist Party to businessmen to preserve
its grip on power as he kicked off a congress at which his
generation of leaders is due to retire.
   (Reuters, 11/8/02)(Econ, 3/10/07, p.9)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, China's Communist
Party congress held a preliminary vote for a new crop of leaders
expected to replace President Jiang Zemin and other party chieftains
this week.
   (Reuters, 11/12/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, Delegates to
China's Communist Party Congress confirmed that Jiang Zemin would
step down as party chief and make way for a new generation of
leaders this week.
   (AP, 11/13/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 14, Chinese Communist
Party chief Jiang Zemin ushered in a new generation of leaders under
Hu Jintao in the first orderly succession since the party took power
in 1949.
   (Reuters, 11/14/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, Hu Jintao replaced
Jiang Zemin as China's Communist Party leader.
   (AP, 11/15/03)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 27, China arrested
flamboyant flower magnate Yang Bin (39), a Dutch national, on
charges of fraud and other commercial crimes, just two months after
North Korea named him head of a new free-trade enclave.
   (AP, 11/27/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, In Beijing Russia’s
Pres. Putin and Jiang Zemin signed a 13-page declaration calling for
a "multi-polar" world and peaceful solutions in Iraq and North
Korea.
   (SFC, 12/3/02, p.A8)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, Shanghai will host
the 2010 World Exposition after bidding fiercely to organize an
event expected to fuel millions of dollars of investment, Expo
officials announced in Monaco.
   (Reuters, 12/3/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, Entertainment giant
Vivendi Universal signed an agreement to build a Universal Studios
theme park in booming Shanghai, beating much-fancied Walt Disney Co
to the punch.
   (Reuters, 12/7/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 24, Chinese
pro-democracy activist Xu Wenli was released from a prison in
Beijing and flown to the United States.
   (AP, 12/24/03)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 30, China launched its
Shenzhou IV spacecraft in a test launch to prepare for manned space
voyages.
   (SFC, 12/30/02, p.A8)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 31, In China a
German-designed magnetic-levitation train hit 260 mph on its maiden
run between Shanghai and Pudong airport.
   (SFC, 1/1/03, p.A10)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec, China signed a
preliminary agreement with Indonesia aimed at halting the trade in
illegal logs.
   (WSJ, 12/23/03, p.A12)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec, In Guangdong province
up to 26 people were killed and 100 injured following a tornado and
severe hailstorm.
   (SFC, 12/28/02, p.A24)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â China banned the novel "K:
The Art of Love" by Chen Hongying following a lawsuit by a British
woman who said the book insulted her late parents. The book was
based on letters and journals of Julian Bell (d.1937), a nephew of
Virginia Woolf, and his affair with poet named Lin.
   (SFC, 12/13/02, p.K2)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Chinese writer Jiang Benhu
(b.1964), a former member of the intelligence services, authored
“Jiemi” under the pseudonym Mai Jia. In 2014 it was translated
into English under the title “Decoded.”
   (Econ, 3/22/14, p.84)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Adeline Yen Mah authored
"A Thousand Pieces of Gold: A Memoir of China’s Past Through Its
Proverbs."
   (SSFC, 11/3/02, p.M1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Andrew J. Nathan and Bruce
Gilley authored "China's New Rulers." A 2nd edition was published in
2004.
   (Econ, 3/27/04, p.82)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â David Sheff authored
"China Dawn," a close-up look at the young men building Internet
infrastructure in China.
   (WSJ, 3/12/02, p.A24)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Joe Studwell authored "The
China Dream," the story of American business woes in China over the
last 700 years.
   (WSJ, 3/19/02, p.A20)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â China and ASEAN agreed to
a China-ASEAN free-trade area to be implemented in stages up to
2015.
   (Econ, 3/31/07, SR p.8)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, China’s state
security bureau requested information from Yahoo! about the creator
of an online forum. Yahoo! complied with the notice and another one
and authorities soon detained democracy activist Wang Xiaoning. Mr.
Wang (62) was released on Aug 31, 2012.
   (Economist, 9/8/12, p.42)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â In China the International
Trade City Mall opened in Zhejiang province. The giant 4-story mall
had 30,000 stores across 18 million square feet, the equivalent of
350 football fields.
   (SFC, 12/8/06, p.A31)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â China began constructing a
$3.2 billion railroad to Tibet, to be completed in 2007.
   (SFC, 11/5/03, p.A13)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â China announced a $5.25
billion East-West natural gas project. A Western consortium backed
out in 2004.
   (WSJ, 8/4/04, p.A11)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Citigroup paid $70 million
for a 4.6% stake in Shanghai Pudong Development, China’s 8th largest
bank. In 2006 it pushed to raise the stake to 19.9%.
   (Econ, 5/20/06, Survey p.21)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Bankers looted some $483
million from the Bank of China in the southern Guangdong province
and then fled the country.
   (WSJ, 8/4/03, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â China took over its whole
portion of the Internet naming system as part of its program to
control Internet access.
   (WSJ, 2/13/06, p.A9)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Tencent Holdings PLC, a
Chinese Internet company, designed a virtual currency payment system
for users in its virtual world. The system caught on and users began
trading it at a discount to the yuan. In 2007 Chinese ministries and
the central bank waged a crackdown on the QQ coin in order to
prevent money laundering.
   (WSJ, 3/30/07, p.B1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â In Taiwan a language
Romanization system known as tongyong pinyim was introduced. The
Chinese favored the hanyu pinyim phonetic system developed in the
1950s.Â
   (Econ, 6/7/14, p.46)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â China's exports totaled
$325 billion.
   (Econ, 12/20/03, p.98)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â China surpassed the US as
Taiwan's top trading partner.
   (WSJ, 4/20/04, p.A18)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â China surpassed the US to
become the world's largest beer market by volume.
   (WSJ, 3/10/04, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/904, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Nissan launched a joint
effort in China with car manufacturer Dongfeng.
   (Econ, 6/12/10, p.71)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â The SARS-COV virus jumped
from a horseshoe bat to a person (possibly by way of some
intermediary). From 2002-2003 the outbreak killed 774 people
worldwide.
   (Econ, 3/14/20, p.15)(Econ., 5/2/20, p.10)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Official Chinese
statistics said some 7,000 miners died in accidents in this year.
   (SFC, 4/3/03, p.D1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â A UN analysis of timber
statistics for 2002 showed China's reported import of logs from
Indonesia to be 200 times higher that the figures reported by
Indonesian customs.
   (WSJ, 12/23/03, p.A12)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 5, Chinese media
reported that an unmanned Chinese space capsule had returned safely
to Earth.
   (AP, 1/5/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, In northern China
an explosion ripped through a coal mine, leaving 34 people missing a
day after a blast in a neighboring province killed 8 miners.
   (AP, 1/11/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, In northeast China
a gas explosion tore through a coal mine, killing 16 workers at a
facility in the same city where another blast killed scores of
miners last year.
   (AP, 1/21/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, A Chinese company
began distributing generic drugs for an anti-AIDS cocktail.
   (SFC, 1/29/03, p.A5)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan, China ended a
"100-day campaign" to hunt down North Korean refugees. 3,200 were
deported and another 1,300 awaited deportation. A Christian
sponsored underground railroad reportedly helped some 300,000 North
Koreans escape their homeland.
   (SFC, 2/15/03, p.A14)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan, BYD Auto Co., Ltd.,
the automotive subsidiary of the Chinese multinational BYD Co Ltd,
was founded following BYD Company's acquisition of Tsinchuan
Automobile Company in 2002. By 2020 BYD was the world's largest
maker of electric cars.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYD_Auto)(Econ.,
8/15/20, p.20)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan-2003 Dec, In China
there were more than 58,000 protests, many of them over land rights
disputes, across the country.
   (Reuters, 6/29/05)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Lunar Chinese
New Year 4701, the Year of the Ram, began.
   (SFC, 1/31/03, p.A23)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, In northeastern
China, fire tore through the Tiantan Hotel Harbin, killing 33 people
at the start of Chinese New Year.
   (AP, 2/2/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, In China Xinhua’s
first SARS report was issued for leaders’ eyes only. By this time
there were already some 300 cases and 5 deaths dating back to
November 2002.
   (Econ, 6/19/10, p.43)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, In China state
media reported that scientists had discovered a massive underground
lake, some 35 billion cubic feet, in the arid northwest beneath the
Taklamakan desert.
   (AP, 2/9/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 10, A Chinese court
convicted U.S.-based dissident Wang Bingzhang on spying and
terrorism charges and sentenced him to life in prison.
   (AP, 2/10/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, From China it was
reported that an unidentified illness, 1st noted in Nov., has killed
at least five people in Guangdong province, left hundreds
hospitalized and sent health officials scrambling to find its
source.
   (AP, 2/11/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, In China Ma Sanli
(b.1914), a master performer of the traditional Chinese art of
crosstalk, a rhythmic, often humorous mix of dialogue and
storytelling, died.
   (AP, 2/11/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 19, China
outlined plans for an enormous, 30-50 year project to carry water
from the country’s water-saturated south to its arid north. The
project was 1st conceived by Mao Zedong in the 1950s.
   (AP, 2/19/03)(SSFC, 9/5/04, p.A16)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 24, In China
accidents in 3 coal mines killed at least 49 miners and left 10
others missing.
   (AP, 2/25/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 24, A
devastating earthquake shook western China, killing at least 268
people, injuring some 2,000 and flattening homes, schools and other
buildings near the Silk Road oasis of Kashgar. The death toll soon
rose to at least 266 people, with another 2,000 injured.
   (SFC, 2/26/03, A8)(AP, 2/25/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 25, China
issued its first group of long-term residency permits to 46
foreigners, letting them live in the country for up to five years.
   (AP, 2/25/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, The Chinese
government committed itself to helping its poorest citizens,
unveiling a new budget aimed at helping the countryside and
maintaining growth. Defense was budgeted a 9.3% rise, the lowest in
14 years, and plans were made to abolish the agency in charge of
five-year plans.
   (AP, 3/6/03)(SFC, 3/6/03, p.A14)(WSJ, 3/6/03,
p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, Hu Jintao was
chosen to replace Jiang Zemin as the president of China.
   (AP, 3/15/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 16, In China Wen
Jiaboa (60) replaced Zhu Rongji as premier.
   (SFC, 3/16/03, p.A16)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 17, Chinese police
found 28 baby girls hidden in suitcases aboard a long-distance bus
in southern Guangxi, apparently being smuggled for sale. Police
later arrested 10 people involved in the scheme.
   (AP, 3/22/03)(WSJ, 3/24/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, Doctors in Hong
Kong reportedly identified the deadly pneumonia virus as belonging
to the paramyxoviridae family. The severe acute respiratory illness
(SARS) had killed at least 11 people and left hundreds ill. The
outbreak is believed to have began in southern China in November.
Later reports held that it could be a coronavirus, part of a group
that cause the common cold. Many people treated with corticosteroids
later developed an irreversible bone disease called avascular
necrosis. By July 12, 2003, SARS killed 812 people worldwide.
   (SFC, 3/15/03, p.A8)(SFC, 1/19/02, p.A4)(WSJ,
4/3/03, p.B1)(WSJ, 12/23/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 20, China demanded
that military action against Iraq stop immediately and said the
initial attack was "violating the norms of international behavior."
   (AP, 3/20/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, A gas explosion
killed 28 people and trapped 45 others in a coal mine in northern
China.
   (AP, 3/22/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, Students in China
staged a rare state-sanctioned protest as hundreds of thousands
around the world staged another day of rallies denouncing the US led
war in Iraq.
   (AP, 3/30/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, Chinese experts in
hard-hit Guangdong province told the scientists they have found a
rare form of airborne chlamydia in some of their SARS patients,
raising the possibility that more than one germ may be involved.
Other Chinese cases suggest the disease might be passed by touching
something tainted by a sick person's mucous or saliva.
   (AP, 4/5/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, In eastern China a
fire roared through a food processing plant, killing 21 workers.
   (AP, 4/6/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 9, China closed the
People's Armed Police Hospital in Beijing due to SARS.
   (SFC, 4/26/03, A3)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, Amnesty
International said at least 1,526 people were executed worldwide
last year, with 80 percent of all known executions carried out in
China (1,060), Iran (113) and the United States (71).
   (Reuters, 4/11/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, US, Chinese and
North Korean officials announced talks in Beijing to try to resolve
standoff over North's nuclear program.
   (AP, 4/24/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, SARS deaths
totaled some 154 with at least 3,412 affected in 22 countries. A
World Health Organization team disclosed that there were unreported
cases of the SARS virus in Beijing's military hospitals and that
investigators have been barred from releasing details.
   (SFC, 4/16/03, p.A3)(AP, 4/17/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, After reporting a
nearly tenfold increase in SARS cases in the capital, China
announced the sacking of its top health official and the capital's
mayor from key Communist Party positions. The number of infections
in Beijing soared from 37 to 346.
   (AP, 4/20/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, China (13) and
Hong Kong (6) reported 19 new deaths from SARS.
   (SFC, 4/22/03, A3)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, Beijing closed all
its primary and secondary schools until at least May 7 due to the
SARS epidemic.
   (SFC, 4/23/03, A16)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, A Chinese fuel
tanker, "Daqing 767" carrying a 1000 tons of oil, sank and 3 crew
members were missing after the vessel collided in heavy fog with
another ship off China's southeastern coast.
   (AP, 4/24/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, China shut down a
major hospital in Beijing and put more than 2,000 employees under
observation for severe acute respiratory syndrome. The global death
toll from SARS surpassed 260
   (AP, 4/24/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, Nuclear talks in
Beijing ended after U.S. officials said North Korea claimed to have
nuclear weapons and might test, export or use them.
   (AP, 4/25/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, Beijing reported
180 new SARS infections and 5 deaths. Some 2,000 people at the
People's and Ditan Hospitals were quarantined.
   (SFC, 4/26/03, A3)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, The crew of a
Chinese fishing boat noticed a periscope drifting listlessly above
the surface of the water. The fishermen notified the People's
Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) which promptly dispatched two vessels to
investigate. When they boarded the Ming-class 361 on April 26, they
found all seventy personnel slumped dead at their stations. It was
later believed that the crew was suffocated by the sub’s diesel
engine.
   (The National Interest, 8/30/19)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, Health ministers
from across east Asia came up with a joint plan to fight SARS during
a meeting, and hundreds of medical workers in Beijing were forced to
sleep in their offices because of hospital-wide quarantines. The
death toll climbed to 122 and a new 1,000-bed Beijing hospital was
built in 5 days.
   (AP, 4/26/03)(SSFC, 4/27/03, A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, In China's central
Hunan province a wagon overturned and tumbled into a gully, killing
16 people and injuring seven others. In Beijing theaters, cafés and
karaoke bars were closed as 126 new SARS cases were reported. Total
confirmed cases in China rose to 2,914 with 131 deaths. 26 of
China's 31 provinces were infected.
   (AP, 4/27/03)(WSJ, 4/28/03, A1)(SFC, 4/28/03, A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, The US and North
Korea held direct talks for the first time in months, meeting for a
half-hour on the sidelines of a six-nation summit in Beijing
designed to resolve the standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
   (AP, 8/27/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, China reported 9
more deaths and more than 200 new cases, most of them in the capital
Beijing.
   (AP, 4/29/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, China reported an
accident on a diesel-powered submarine that killed all 70 sailors
aboard [see April 25].
   (AP, 5/2/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, China said there
were 160 new infections and 9 new deaths, similar to totals in the
past several days. It has now recorded 4,280 cases, the bulk of the
world's total. Beijing closed its schools for another 2 weeks.
   (AP, 5/5/03)(WSJ, 5/5/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 13, In eastern China a
gas explosion ripped through a coal mine, killing at least 63 miners
and leaving 23 others missing 1,500 feet underground.
   (AP, 5/14/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, China threatened
possible execution or jail sentences for people who cause death or
injury by deliberately spreading SARS.
   (WSJ, 5/16/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 17, In southern China
heavy rainstorms caused flooding killing 45 people and causing
millions of dollars in damage to homes and crops.
   (AP, 5/20/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 23, Researchers from
China and Hong Kong identified a coronavirus in 3 wild mammals, palm
civets, a raccoon dog and a ferret badger, sold in the live-animal
food markets of South China.
   (SFC, 5/24/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 20, In northern China
a powerful gas explosion at the Yongtai mine, an unlicensed coal
mine, killed 25 miners.
   (AP, 5/26/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 23, Flooding in a coal
mine in central China trapped 15 miners,
   (AP, 5/26/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 24, In China Chen
Yongfeng (20), was arrested in Wenzhou on charges of killing and
dismembering 10 people, who had made their living picking through
garbage.
   (AP, 5/30/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 26, China's Pres. Hu
Jintao arrived in Moscow for talks with Pres. Putin.
   (SFC, 5/27/03, p.A12)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 28, China’s President
Hu Jintao called for a "multipolar world" and a strategic
partnership with Russia to counter US dominance, and oil executives
signed a preliminary deal for pipeline to carry Siberian oil to
China.
   (AP, 5/29/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, In St. Petersburg,
Russia, Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi and Hu Jintao, the new
president of China, agreed in a summit to work at defusing tensions
over North Korea.
   (AP, 5/31/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, A Chinese
freighter sank in the Baltic Sea. It carried 66,000 tons of
fertilizer and leaked over 55,270 gallons of diesel oil. Some 38,000
gallons were recovered.
   (SFC, 6/3/03, p.A3)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May, In China’s Jingbian
County, Shaanxi province, authorities moved to confiscate some 1,600
privately held oil wells following orders from the central
government. Tens of thousands of investors had stakes in over 4,000
oil wells valued at about $850 million. A county-run company took
over oil production and in 2005 struck a deal with Yanchang, a
regional state-owned company to assume control.
   (Econ, 8/4/12, p.39)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May, Sun Dawu, owner of an
agricultural conglomerate in China’s Xushui county, was arrested for
illegally accepting deposits from local residents. Mr. Sun had
recently accused rural state-owned banks of financial oppression and
kickbacks. He was convicted in October and given a 3-year suspended
sentence and a fine of $12,000.
   (Econ, 1/3/04, p.26)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 1, China began filling
the reservoir behind its gargantuan Three Gorges Dam, a major step
toward completion of the world's largest hydroelectric project.
   (AP, 6/1/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, In southern China a
coach bus drove off a highway and plunged into a river, killing 12
people.
   (AP, 6/6/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, In southern China
13 school children were reported missing after their ferry sank in
rapids on the Qingshui River in Guizhou province.
   (AP, 6/8/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 8, China began
building one of the world's longest bridges. The 22-mile, $1.4
billion bridge across Hangzhou Bay, linking Shanghai to the port of
Ningbo, was set for completion in 2009.
   (AP, 6/9/03)(SFC, 7/9/03, p.A16)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, China said it will
move 42,000 soldiers to civilian jobs this year as part of efforts
to shrink the world's largest military.
   (AP, 6/20/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 23, India's PM Atal
Bihari Vajpayee, making the first visit to China by a leader of his
nation in a decade, told his Premier Wen Jiabao that he hoped for
friendship and trust between the nuclear-armed former rivals.
   (AP, 6/23/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, The WHO lifted its
warning against travel to Beijing due to SARS.
   (SFC, 6/25/03, p.A7)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 29, Hong Kong and
China signed a free-trade agreement, the Closer Economic Partnership
Agreement (CEPA).
   (AP, 6/29/03)(Econ, 6/30/07, SR p.11)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, China began a new
$15.7 billion investment fund as an alternative to its dilapidated
pension system.
   (WSJ, 8/26/03, p.C1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, Landslides in
central China caused by torrential rains killed 21 people as river
waters ran at their highest level in more than a decade,
   (AP, 7/6/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, A coal mine
explosion in northeastern China killed 22 people and injured 6
others.
   (AP, 7/6/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, In China a
mudslide left 50 people missing in Sichuan province.
   (AP, 7/13/03)
2003      Jul 14, In China
Yang Bin (40), a Chinese-born Dutch citizen, was convicted of fraud
and bribery and sentenced to 18 years in prison. The orchid-selling
tycoon was once ranked by Forbes magazine as China's second-richest
businessman.
   (AP, 7/14/03)(SFC, 7/15/03, p.A11)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, In China a
mountain on a tributary of the Three Gorges gave way killing 13
farmers. A large tongue of land was sheered into the water and a
resulting wave crashed over 20 boats killing 11 fisherman.
   (WSJ, 8/29/07, p.A12)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, In southern China
a bus plunged more than 300 feet off a cliff, killing 23 people.
   (AP, 7/21/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, In southwest China
a magnitude-6.2 earthquake toppled thousands of mud-brick houses in
a mountainous area, killing at least 16 people and injuring more
than 300 others.
   (AP, 7/22/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, In northern China
a blast ripped through a fireworks factory in Wangkou, killing 29
people and injuring at least 141.
   (AP, 7/29/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, China's foreign
reserves reached a record $356 billion.
   (Econ, 8/30/03, p.54)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, China said that
newspapers run by county level governments and Communist Party
committees would be axed by the end of September except for those
with an advertising revenue of over 4m yuan ($480,000) annually.
   (Econ, 10/4/03, p.42)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, In China’s Qiqihar
city one person died and 43 people were injured after construction
workers broke open several barrels of World War II mustard gas
abandoned by Japanese troops. In 2010 a Tokyo court rejected
compensation claims by a group of Chinese plaintiffs, who demanded
the Japanese government pay 1.43 billion yen ($16 million) in
damages.
  Â
(www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-08/12/content_254104.htm)(AP,
5/24/10)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, In northern China
a gas explosion ripped through a coal mine, killing at least 33
miners and leaving nine missing.
   (AP, 8/12/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, Chinese
researchers reported that they had created hybrid embryos of human
and rabbit DNA as a source for stem cells.
   (SFC, 8/14/03, p.A3)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, In Shanxi
province, China, there was a gas explosion in a coal mine where 27
miners were working. At least 25 were killed.
   (AP, 8/20/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, In northern China
a bus swerving to avoid an oil truck ran off a highway and plunged
into a ravine, killing 27 people.
   (AP, 8/23/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, A hidden cache of
fireworks exploded in a town in China's southeast, killing at least
20 people in the 2nd such disaster to strike the same county in one
month.
   (AP, 8/27/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, State media
reported that China will cut an additional 200,000 soldiers as part
of efforts to modernize its armed forces.
   (AP, 9/1/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, Typhoon Dujuan
slammed into the southern Chinese coastal city of Shenzhen, killing
at least 20 people and causing extensive damage to parts of the
country's showcase economic development zone.
   (AP, 9/3/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, The official Xinhua
News Agency reported that heavy flooding in northern China has
killed 38 people with another 34 people missing since Aug 24.
   (AP, 9/2/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, In Inner Mongolia a
locust plague, Oedaleus decorus asiaticus, was reported to have
affected some 47 million acres of grasslands.
   (WSJ, 9/2/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, Two South China
tigers, the first ever to leave the country, arrived in South Africa
as part of a project to save the endangered species.
   (AP, 9/3/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, In China Typhoon
Dujuan killed at least 32 people.
   (WSJ, 9/4/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, China signed
agreements with Russia and four Central Asian neighbors (Uzbekistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan) in an effort to strengthen a
7-year-old security alliance and encourage economic links across a
largely undeveloped region.
   (AP, 9/23/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, The Chinese
government permitted US educators and a British prep school to
operate a school for kindergarten and high school students. A ban on
foreign-run elementary and middle schools remained in force.
   (SFC, 12/26/03, p.D1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, Wal-Mart opened a
superstore in Namchang, China, and over 100,000 jammed the aisles.
The company 1st entered China in 1996 through a joint-venture
agreement.
   (WSJ, 10/17/05,
p.A1)(www.wal-martchina.com/english/walmart/history.htm)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, In China new rules
took effect that eliminate a requirement for couples to get the
permission of their employers before they tie the knot.
   (AP, 10/1/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, China was reported
to have taken the first step toward recognizing the Himalayan
territory of Sikkim as a part of India, resolving a long-standing
border dispute. Sikkim, located between Nepal and the kingdom of
Bhutan, was an independent principality before it was annexed by
India in 1975.
   (AP, 10/8/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, In central China an
underground flood in a coal mine trapped 18 miners.
   (AP, 10/10/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 11, In China the 16th
Communist Party Congress began in Beijing. The 4-day meeting
included debates on reforms toward private property, a more stable
legal system and measures to encourage private investments.
   (SSFC, 10/11/03, p.A3)
2003      Oct 12, In China Ma
Yong (43), was arrested and accused of robbing and killing 12 women
in southern China over a five-month period, preying on job seekers
in the boomtown of Shenzhen. Duan Zhiqun (20), his female partner,
was arrested Oct 23.
   (AP, 11/11/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, In southern China
an explosion in a coal mine killed 7 miners, while the bodies of 4
miners killed in an underground flood were pulled from a shaft in a
central province.
   (AP, 10/12/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, China's ruling
communists closed a secretive 4-day meeting aimed at pushing ahead
with market reforms and said a revision to the country's
constitution had been endorsed.
   (AP, 10/14/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, In China Shenzhou
5 launched into orbit with air force Lt. Col. Yang Liwei (38)
aboard, making China the third nation to put a human in space on its
own, after the former Soviet Union and the United States. The launch
was made from the space center at Jiuquan. His capsule landed in
Mongolia the next day.
   (AP, 10/15/03)(SFC, 10/16/03, p.A3)(SSFC,
7/15/07, p.D5)(Econ, 10/24/09, SR p.13)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, Chinese officials
reported that accidents in China's mines and factories killed 11,449
people in the first nine months of this year despite a nationwide
safety crackdown.
   (AP, 10/23/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, Soong May-ling
(b.1896), aka Madame Chiang Kai-shek, died in NYC. She became one of
the world's most famous women as she helped her husband fight the
Japanese during World War II and later the Chinese Communists. In
2009 Hannah Pakula authored “Madame Chiang Kai-shek and the Birth of
Modern China.”
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soong_May-ling)(AP,
10/24/03)(SSFC, 12/27/09, Books, p.E3)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 24, Chinese President
Hu Jintao became the first Asian leader to address Australia's
parliament.
   (AP, 10/24/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 25, In northwestern
China powerful twin tremors, minutes apart, killed nine people and
leveled houses in Gansu province.
   (AP, 10/26/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 3, In China Yang Zhiya
(Yang Xinhai, Yang Xinhua), an ex-convict dumped by his girlfriend,
was arrested in northern Hebei province for the stabbing murders of
67 people and 23 rapes. Xinhai was sentenced to death on Feb 1,
2004. He was executed Feb 14.
   (AP, 11/15/03)(AP, 2/1/04)(AP, 2/14/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, Chinese tycoon
Aikelamu Aishayoufu was reported to be missing. His Xinjiang Hops
Co. ran up liabilities totaling $100 million.
   (WSJ, 11/5/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 11, In Beijing former
President Clinton called on China and the US to overcome their
differences on trade, saying the two powers must learn to work
together to conquer common threats like AIDS, terrorism and global
warming.
   (AP, 11/11/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 14, China and India
began 1st ever joint naval exercises.
   (SFC, 11/13/03, p.A7)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 22, In China a gas
explosion at the Sundian coal mine in Hunan province killed 14
people, while 9 were still missing.
   (AP, 11/24/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 24, The US Dept. of
Commerce said it would impose tariffs on Chinese-made television
sets that it ruled were being sold below fair market price in the
US.
   (SFC, 11/27/03, p.C3)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 29, China said it
broke diplomatic relations with Kiribati after the tiny Pacific
island nation opened ties with rival Taiwan.
   (AP, 11/29/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov, In China Jiang Lijun
(39) was sentenced to four years in prison for posting Internet
articles calling for the overthrow of the Communist Party. In 2006
it was reported that Yahoo's Hong Kong unit gave authorities a draft
e-mail that had been saved on Jiang's account. Yahoo also provided
information in the cases of Li Zhi and Shi Tao.
   (AP, 4/19/06)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov, Drought conditions in
China's Hunan province forced Changsha, the provincial capital, to
institute rolling blackouts.
   (Econ, 3/27/04, p.43)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, A strong earthquake
rumbled through a swath of western China's mountainous Xinjiang
region, killing at least 11 people and collapsing hundreds of homes
in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture near the border with Kazakhstan.
   (AP, 12/1/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 5, Shanghai's
government reported that its population has surged to more than 20
million people, soaring by 3 million over the past year amid a flood
of job seekers from other parts of China.
   (AP, 12/5/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, In the beach resort
of Sanya, China, Miss Ireland, 19-year-old Rosanna Davison, won the
Miss World competition. Second place went to Miss Canada, Nazanin
Afshin-Jam, while the host country's Miss China, Guan Qi, took
third.
   (AP, 12/6/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, Shanghai reported
plans to ban bicycles from its major roads next year, banishing
China's most popular form of transportation to make more room for
cars.
   (AP, 12/9/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao visited with Pres. Bush for talks on trade, Taiwan and other
issues.
   (WSJ, 12/9/03, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 10, It was reported
that China was forcibly repatriating some 100 North Korean refugees
each week and the 852 were detained in camps awaiting deportation.
   (SFC, 12/10/03, p.A16)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, In China's far
northwest a coal mine fire in Urumqi killed nine miners, and rescue
efforts were hampered by repeated gas explosions.
   (AP, 12/13/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao arrived in Mexico in a bid to extend a string of recent
diplomatic and economic successes in North America. In 2002 China
shipped $6.3 billion in goods to Mexico, undercutting many local
goods.
   (SFC, 12/4/03, p.A22)(AP, 12/12/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, Chinese Premier
Web Jiabao sought to assure Mexican leaders that their country's
economy is not threatened by China's lower wages and cheaper goods,
saying the two nations are partners, not rivals.
   (AP, 12/13/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 15, From China it was
reported that Liu Dalin (71), founder and curator of the Chinese
Sexual Culture Museum, was moving his collection from Shanghai to
Tongli. His 3,700 items covered 6,000 years of human sexuality in
the world's most populous nation.
   (AP, 12/15/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 17, China Life,
China's biggest life insurer, debuted on the NY stock exchange.
   (Econ, 12/20/03, p.104)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, China said it has
issued rules restricting exports of missile, nuclear and biological
technologies that can be used to make or deliver weapons of mass
destruction.
   (AP, 12/20/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 22, China put forth
legislation to change its constitution to protect private property
rights for the first time since the 1949 communist revolution, a key
step in making capitalism its economy's driving force.
   (AP, 12/22/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 23, A blowout occurred
at a natural gas field near Chongqing in Kaixian County. Fumes from
the gas well in China's southwest killed at least 233 people and
forced some 41,000 to flee a 10-square-mile death zone. Technicians
capped it Dec 27.
   (AP, 12/25/03)(SFC, 12/27/03, p.A8)(SFC,
12/29/03, p.A3)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 25, China announced
steps to reduce overexpansion.
   (SFC, 12/26/03, p.A3)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 26, In northern China
a fire raced through coal mine in Wu'an, a city in Hebei province,
killing 26 miners.
   (AP, 12/27/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 27, China announced
its first suspected SARS case since July.
   (AP, 12/27/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 29, China reported
that the China State Shipbuilding Corp. has broken ground on what it
says will be the world's biggest shipyard, a high-tech facility
capable of producing cruise ships and natural gas tankers at the
mouth of the Yangtze.
   (AP, 12/29/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 30, In northeast China
an explosion at a fireworks factory in Tieling, Liaoning province,
killed at least 29 people. Authorities soon ordered more than 2,000
fireworks factories closed after a series of fatal explosions
"sounded warning bells for the industry."
   (AP, 12/30/03)(AP, 1/3/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 31, China offered to
allow Taiwan to fly unlimited numbers of direct charter flights to
the mainland in 2004, if the island's government agrees to allow
Chinese airlines to do the same the following year.
   (AP, 12/31/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â In China journalists Chen
Guidi and Wu Chuntao authored “Will the Boat Sink the Water,” a look
at peasant life in southeast China. It sold some 250,000 copies
before authorities took it off the shelves. Pirated copies continued
to sell. In 2006 it was translated to English.
   (WSJ, 7/6/06, p.D8)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â China’s President Hu
Jintao launched his “Scientific Outlook on Development.”
   (Econ., 3/7/15, p.45)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â China moved to revitalize
the old north-east industrial bases following rising unemployment
and mass protests.
   (Econ, 1/3/15, p.31)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â In China for the 1st time
in over two decades people in Beijing got their names on ballot
papers without official backing in elections to district people’s
congresses.
   (Econ, 11/11/06, p.48)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â China began building wire
fences on major defection North Korean routes along the Tumen River.
Since September 2006, China began building wire fences along the
Yalu River.
   (AP, 10/16/06)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â China Central Television
launched a 24-hour news channel.
   (Econ, 2/6/15, p.42)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â The Shanghai Tatler
magazine was set up by owners of the Hong Kong Tatler, modeled on
London’s Tatler.
   (Econ, 1/3/04, p.27)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â The China Banking
Regulatory Commission was carved out of the central bank.
   (Econ, 10/29/05, p.72)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â In China Hony Capital, a
private equity firm, was founded by John Zhao. By 2012 it was
China’s leading private equity firm.
   (Economist, 9/1/12, p.69)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Chinese Internet users
protested the beating to death in jail of a man arrested for failing
to carry the right identity documents. This led to the scrapping of
a decades old law giving police sweeping powers to detain anyone
suspected of staying without a permit in a place other than his
registered home town.
   (Econ, 4/29/06, p.30)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â China executed 726 people,
nearly two-thirds of the world's known court-ordered executions, and
violated its own law by killing at least one man for a crime
committed at age 16, according to a 2004 report by Amnesty Int'l.
Publicly admitted executions in China soared to over 7,000 this year
due to a “strike hard” crackdown on crime.
   (AP, 4/7/04)(Econ, 4/28/07, p.69)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Yang Xiuzhu, a senior
Chinese official who oversaw construction projects in the booming
eastern province of Zhejiang, got wind that anti-corruption
investigators were looking into her affairs. She boarded a flight to
Singapore. A few days later Yang changed her name and flew to New
York. Local authorities said in 2004 she accepted kickbacks from
property developers of more than 250 million yuan ($40.62 million)
China filed an arrest warrant for her through Interpol and in 2005
she was detained in Amsterdam. As of 2014 she was still in the
Netherlands.
   (Reuters, 8/27/14)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Coca-Cola test-marketed
its “fruit pulp orange” drink in China and began rolling it out
across the country with great success.
   (Econ, 3/3/07, p.68)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â William C. Hsiao, senior
professor of economics at Harvard, launched a program in Xinlian,
China, to help residents monitor and publicize the quality of health
care. Village doctors in China made most of their money selling
drugs.
   (WSJ, 2/13/07, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â In China the local
government of Hongwei acknowledged the seriousness of local
pollution and called on Daqing Lianhua, a subsidiary of PetroChina,
to relocate villagers.
   (Econ, 9/29/07, p.47)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â In 2005 estimates of
Chinese labor unrest for 2003 noted some 60,000 protests with a 17%
annual increase over the past decade.
   (WSJ, 4/18/05, p.A16)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â China signed the WHO’s
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control but did little to cut
smoking. Tobacco taxes accounted for some 7.5% of fiscal revenue at
all levels of government.
   (Econ, 7/9/16, p.36)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â The world’s first
electronic cigarette was invented in Beijing.
   (Econ, 6/13/15, p.44)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Chinese researchers at the
State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology of the China Agricultural
University introduced human genetic coding into the DNA of Holstein
dairy cow embryos, then transferred the embryos into cow surrogates.
This followed years of testing on mice. By June, 2011, over 300
cloned cattle lived on an experimental farm in suburban Beijing,
with new calves delivered every week.
   (Reuters, 6/16/11)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â In 2006 China said its
first confirmed human death from bird flu was in 2003, two years
earlier than previously reported, showing that the virus was present
on the mainland before the latest outbreak was first disclosed
elsewhere in Asia.
   (AFP, 8/8/06)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â China's growth rate for
the year was measured at 9.1%.
   (WSJ, 1/21/04, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â India changed its verbiage
on Tibet to say that the Tibet Autonomous Region is part of China as
opposed to the previous description of Tibet as an autonomous region
of China.
   (Econ, 11/18/06, p.16)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â The Lao government signed
a 30-year agreement with a Hong Kong-registered company to set up a
1,640-hectare special economic zone built with expertise from China.
The population of the Golden City in Boten peaked at 10,000, but
dwindled to 2,000 in 2011 after China’s foreign ministry warned
citizens not to gamble there.
   (Econ, 5/28/11, p.46)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, China began running
the world's 1st commercially operated maglev train in Shanghai. The
German-built system spanned 18 miles.
   (SFC, 1/10/04, p.E4)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, Hong Kong began a
de facto free-trade agreement with mainland China.
   (SFC, 10/15/05, p.C1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In China a fire
broke out on an overcrowded bus along an expressway that connects
Shanghai with the eastern city of Nanjing, killing at least 12
people and injuring 14.
   (AP, 1/3/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In China a
landslide crushed five houses, killing at least 14 people in
northern Shanxi province.
   (AP, 1/4/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 5, China confirmed its
first SARS case since an outbreak of the disease was contained in
July and authorities ordered the emergency slaughter of some 10,000
civet cats and related species after tests linked a virus found in
the animals to the patient.
   (AP, 1/5/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, China began a mass
eradication of some 10,000 civet cats to stem a suspected link to
SARS.
   (SFC, 1/7/04, p.A14)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, Chinese state media
reported that authorities had dismissed 44,701 police between August
and November in 2003 for lacking job qualifications, corruption or
other offenses in a campaign to raise policing standards.
   (AP, 1/8/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 10, China reported a
3rd suspected SARS infection involved a 35-year-old man in Guangdong
province.
   (AP, 1/11/04)(WSJ, 1/13/04, p.D5)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 12, It was reported
that China might inject $40 billion into its Industrial and
Commercial Bank. 2 other state-run lenders, Bank of China and China
Construction Bank, split $45 billion in transfers from foreign
exchange reserves a week earlier.
   (WSJ, 1/12/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, The Chinese
government confirmed two more SARS patients, bringing the total
number this year to three.
   (AP, 1/17/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, The Chinese New
Year (Lunar Year 4702) ushered in the Year of the Monkey. In Korea
the event is called Solnal and in Vietnam it is called Tet. The
Chinese New Year marked a traditional time of settling debts.
Migrant workers in the Chinese construction industry were reportedly
owed over $40 billion in back pay.
   (WSJ, 1/19/04, p.A1)(SFC, 1/22/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, China's President
Hu Jintao arrived in France, with European ministers considering
Beijing's request that they lift an arms embargo imposed after the
killing of Tiananmen Square protesters in 1989.
   (AP, 1/26/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 30, The Chinese
government said audits aimed at ferreting out corruption in China
uncovered $8 billion in misused or embezzled funds and widespread
irregularities that produced "serious losses" of state assets.
   (AP, 1/30/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 31, China’s
oil-refining boss signed a deal to buy crude oil from Gabon. Pres.
Hu Jintao visited Gabon the next day.
   (Econ, 2/7/04, p.45)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, China reported 5
more cases of the avian influenza virus.
   (SFC, 2/2/04, p.A4)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, A lantern festival
marking the end of China's Lunar New Year celebrations erupted into
a stampede, killing at least 37 people and injuring 15.
   (AP, 2/5/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, Chinese state-run
media reported regulators have given preliminary approval for a
private airline to be set up in the southwestern city of Chengdu.
   (AP, 2/6/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, Culturecom Holdings
Ltd. of Hong Kong unveiled a DVD player and word-processing device
built with chips developed by Chinese computer scientist Chu
Bong-foo. Chu found a way to put Asia characters in position to
command binary code.
   (WSJ, 2/9/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 10, The US broke
ground for a new U.S. Embassy compound in the Chinese capital,
billed by the American government as the largest State Department
project ever built on foreign soil.
   (AP, 2/10/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, A gas explosion in
a coal mine in southern China killed 24 miners.
   (AP, 2/11/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, Wang Huaizhong
(57), a former Chinese provincial vice governor, was executed in
Shandong province for taking more than $600,000 in bribes.
   (AP, 2/12/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 14, China executed
Yang Xinhua (38), a man convicted of murdering 67 people, in what
media said might be the country's longest killing spree in modern
history. Yang was convicted of 67 killings and 23 rapes in Henan and
three other provinces. His crime spree began in 2001 following
release from a labor camp and ended with his capture in November.
   (AP, 2/14/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, In northeastern
China a fire swept through a shopping center, killing 51 people and
injuring dozens more. Hours later, a fire in a temple in the
country's southeast killed 39 people. The 2 blazes killed at least
93 people.
   (AP, 2/15/04)(AP, 2/15/05)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 23, In northeastern
China a coal mine explosion killed at least 24 miners as rescue
workers scrambled to find 13 more trapped miners.
   (AP, 2/24/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 23, Envoys from 6
nations gathered in Beijing for talks on the North Korean nuclear
crisis.
   (WSJ, 2/24/04, p.A1)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 28, It was reported
that China’s foreign exchange reserves were $730 billion.
   (Econ, 2/28/04, p.72)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 29, In central China a
bus carrying migrant workers to faraway factory jobs plunged off a
mountain road, killing 12 and injuring 35.
   (AP, 2/29/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, An explosion in an
unlicensed coal mine in northern China killed 28 miners.
   (AP, 3/3/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, In China
authorities shut down water supplies after a combination of
synthetic ammonia and nitrogen from the Sichuan General Chemical
Factory leaked into the Tuo River. Nearly 1 million people were left
without water for drinking and bathing.
   (AP, 3/5/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, China's Premier Wen
Jiabao addressed the 2,904-member legislature and turned attention
and resources to the hundreds of millions of citizens who work the
land.
   (AP, 3/5/04)(SFC, 3/06/04, p.A10)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, China handed its
enormous military a double-digit spending increase in a show of
support. According to China's 2004 budget, military spending for the
PLA will rise 11.6 percent this year, an increase of $2.6 billion.
   (AP, 3/6/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, in China's Muslim
Xinjiang region the No. 2 Mine of the Hami Coal Co. flooded. 25
managed to escape while rescuers worked desperately to save
survivors. Rescue workers saved 15 coal miners trapped in a flooded
shaft, but seven miners were still missing.
   (AP, 3/8/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, China's parliament
began discussing a constitutional amendment that would protect
private property for the first time since the 1949 communist
revolution.
   (AP, 3/8/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, China reported that
it would scrap the 8% tax on farmers' crops over the next 5 years.
The vestige of feudalism was established 4,000 years ago during the
Bronze Age.
   (AP, 3/9/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, Chinese state
media reported that a 1,930-mile railway project to link China and
Europe was announced by Kanat Zhangaskin, vice president of the
Kazakhstan National Railway Co.
   (AP, 3/12/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, China took
symbolic steps toward a more capitalist society, amending its
constitution to protect private property rights and formalizing a
former president's once-unthinkable legacy, inviting entrepreneurs
to join the Communist Party.
   (AP, 3/14/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 16, China declared
victory in its fight against bird flu, saying it had "stamped out"
all of its known cases, while a factory worker in Thailand became
Asia's 23rd victim of the virus.
   (AP, 3/16/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, Chen Zhongwei
(74), a Chinese surgeon credited with pioneering the process of
reattaching severed limbs, died. Chen successfully reattached the
severed right hand of an injured factory worker in 1963, in the
first operation of its kind.
   (AP, 3/27/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, China's Foreign
Minister Li Zhaoxing, arriving home from North Korea, saying his
three-day trip yielded an agreement from that country's reclusive
leader to "push forward" toward a third round of talks on its
nuclear program.
   (AP, 3/25/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, China promised $122
million to Pres. Skerritt in return for revoking Dominica’s
recognition of Taiwan.
   (Econ, 4/10/04, p.29)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, China issued a
major ruling on how Hong Kong chooses its leaders, saying the
territory must submit proposed political reforms to Beijing for
approval.
   (AP, 4/6/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, In China PM Wen
Jiabao suspended plans for a huge dam system on the Nu River in
western China due to environmental concerns.
   (SFC, 4/9/04, p.A10)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 10, A coal mine
explosion trapped five miners underground in a northeastern Chinese
city where more than 150 miners have been killed in the past year.
   (AP, 4/10/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, China’s People’s
Bank, in an effort to slow the growth in money supply, raised bank
reserve requirements from 7 to 7.5%, the 3rd increase in 8 months.
   (Econ, 4/17/04, p.71)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, Authorities in
Shanghai announced that divorced couples who remarry will be allowed
to have a second child.
   (AP, 4/13/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, China began
offering free AIDS tests to anyone who wants one and free treatment
for infected people who can't afford.
   (AP, 4/14/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, Yu Zhendong, a
fugitive Chinese banker accused of helping embezzle $485 million
from his state-owned bank, was returned to China by U.S.
authorities.
   (AP, 4/16/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, A Chinese
newspaper reported that China over the last few months had arrested
nearly a dozen military officers — including at least four generals
— on charges of spying for rival Taiwan.
   (AP, 4/16/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, In Chongqing,
China, leaking chlorine gas exploded at a chemical plant, killing at
least 7 people and forcing 150,000 to flee their homes.
   (AP, 4/17/04)(WSJ, 4/19/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 18, North Korean
leader Kim Jong Il crossed into China in a special train for a
summit to discuss the North's nuclear weapons program with the
Chinese president.
   (AP, 4/18/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, North Korean
leader Kim Jong Il reportedly held talks with Chinese President Hu
Jintao about the North's nuclear arms program and requests for
economic aid.
   (AP, 4/19/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, China urged North
Korean leader Kim Jong Il to rethink his demands for a written U.S.
pledge not to attack, saying only a softer line can ease the
standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
   (AP, 4/20/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, Yang Xiuzhu,
former vice-mayor of Wenzhou and vice-director of China’s Zhejiang
Provincial Construction Bureau, fled abroad as investigations began
on bribery charges. She was believed to have taken bribes of 253.2
million yuan (US$30 million).
   (http://tinyurl.com/aza8m)(Econ, 6/4/05, p.42)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, Chinese state
media reported that from April last year, about 50 to 60 infants
died from malnutrition after being fed a milk formula with virtually
no nutritional value.
   (AP, 4/20/04)(SFC, 4/21/04, p.A8)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, China confirmed
two cases of SARS and said the mother of one patient has died,
apparently the first SARS fatality in the country since July.
   (AP, 4/23/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, Mainland China
dealt a crushing blow to Hong Kong's hopes for full democracy, when
its most powerful legislative panel ruled the territory won't have
direct elections for its next leader in 2007 or for all its
lawmakers in 2008.
   (AP, 4/26/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, The Chinese
government said it had shut down a U.S. visa information center in
Shanghai because of complaints of overcharging.
   (AP, 4/28/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, It was reported
that China planned to consolidate some 35,000 rural cooperatives
over the next 3 years to about 3,000. The government estimated
cooperative bad loans at 26% of the total loans.
   (WSJ, 4/27/04, p.A16)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr, China released Chen
Gang, a factory worker who helped to organize a strike during
China's 1989 pro-democracy protests.
   (AP, 11/20/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, Shanghai Tobacco,
maker of Panda and other cigarette brands, embarked on a campaign to
extend Panda beyond the political and military elite. WHO statistics
held that China accounts for 30% of the 5.5 trillion cigarettes
consumed daily world-wide.
   (WSJ, 5/26/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, A car packed with
explosives went off as a bus carried Chinese engineers to a port
project in remote southwestern Pakistan, killing 3 of them and
injuring 11 other people.
   (AP, 5/3/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, Pakistan and China
signed a deal for the construction of a nuclear power plant, the
second such plant to be built in Pakistan with Beijing's help.
   (AP, 5/4/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, In central China
shelves stacked high with garlic collapsed and killed 15 workers at
a cold-storage warehouse in Zhenghou.
   (AP, 5/6/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, British-based
SABMiller launched an unsolicited HK$4.3 billion ($550m) bid for
Harbin Brewery, China’s 4th largest brewer.
   (Econ, 5/8/04, p.61)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 9, The Chinese
government warned that AIDS is continuing to spread and estimated
that there were some 840,000 carriers of the disease.
   (SFC, 5/10/04, p.A3)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 17, China and
Kazakhstan agreed to build a 744-mile crude oil pipeline to send an
initial 10 million tons of Kazakh oil to Xinjiang by 2006.
   (WSJ, 6/17/04, p.A16)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, An explosion and a
fire at two coal mines in northern China killed at least 22 workers
and trapped 25.
   (AP, 5/19/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 26, African and Latin
American leaders meeting in China urged rich countries to fight
terrorism by sharing wealth, not through military intervention.
   (AP, 5/26/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 30, In southwest China
a landslide triggered by torrential rains buried a village in
Guizhou province, killing 8 people.
   (AP, 6/1/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, Newbridge Capital,
an American private equity firm, became the 1st foreign financial to
gain control of a Chinese bank with an 18% stake in Shenzhen
Development Bank and majority control of the board.
   (Econ, 6/5/04, p.70)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May, In Fujian province
angry mobs in Fuan city gutted at least 3 villas of wealthy
residents accused of defrauding investors in an informal network of
unregistered credit associations known as biaohui.
   (Econ, 7/17/04, p.46)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May, A Japanese consulate
worker in Shanghai committed suicide. Japanese newspapers later
reported the official took his life because Chinese officials were
pressuring him for secret information, using a "woman problem" as
leverage. China accused Japan of deliberately smearing China's
international image.
   (AP, 1/1/06)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 1, Anheuser-Busch
offered HK$5.58 per share for China’s Harbin Brewery Group Ltd. 2
days later SABMiller withdrew its HK$4.30 offer.
   (WSJ, 6/4/04, p.A3)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, A Chinese state
newspaper said 1 baby died and 20 were hospitalized with severe
malnutrition in eastern China after drinking low-quality milk
powder, two months after a nationwide crackdown on fake infant
formula.
   (AP, 6/9/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, It was reported
that China had ordered water prices increased for the 1st time since
the founding of the People’s Republic due to strains on supplies
from development.
   (WSJ, 6/15/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, In Beijing, China,
4 days of talks on North Korea’s nuclear program ended with a
promise for further discussion.
   (SSFC, 6/27/04, p.A24)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, The European Union
denied China's request to be officially recognized as a market
economy, saying that an assessment of the Chinese economy showed too
much state interference and poor corporate governance.
   (AP, 6/28/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, A pilot Confucius
Institute program, designed to promote the study of Chinese abroad,
was established in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The first Confucius
Institute was then established in Seoul on Nov 21, 2004. The 75th
was established in Cracow, Poland, in 2006. In 2017 there were some
500 institutes in 140 countries.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius_Institute)(Econ, 3/25/17,
p.37)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, China began
censoring telephone text messages to “block the dissemination of
illicit news and information.”
   (SFC, 7/3/04, p.A2)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, Shanghai police
raided the apartment of Randolph Hobson Guthrie III in a joint
US-Chinese operation against pirated DVDs. They seized 210,000
pirated DVD copies.
   (WSJ, 3/7/05, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, It was reported
that the bid price for a car license plate in Shanghai had surged to
$4,133 in May.
   (WSJ, 7/13/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, The official
Xinhua News Agency said Chinese authorities have shut down 700
pornographic Web sites in less than two weeks as part of a massive
campaign to clean up the Internet.
   (AP, 7/27/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Aug 4, In China a school employee with a history of schizophrenia
slashed 15 students and three teachers with a kitchen knife at a
Beijing kindergarten, killing one child and leaving terrified
classmates covered in blood.
   (AP, 8/4/03)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6-2004 Aug 8, Up to
100,000 rock and rollers crowded a remote desert venue in China's
isolated Ningxia province over the weekend for a three-day festival
featuring the nation's oldest and best bands.
   (AP, 8/9/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, In southwest China
a 5.6 earthquake killed four and injured nearly 600 in Yunnan
province. More than 125,000 people were left homeless and cracked
walls in reservoirs posed a threat to villages downstream.
   (AP, 8/12/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, Huang Jingao,
chief of Fujian’s Lianjiang County, posted on open letter on the
Internet accusing colleagues of confiscating land from peasants and
selling it a below-market prices to developers in exchange for
bribes. In 2005 Jingao was sentenced to life in prison following a
year-long campaign by party authorities to silence and discredit
him.
   (SFC, 11/11/05, p.A3)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 13, Typhoon Rananim
weakened to a tropical storm. The death toll from Rananim rose to
115, after it slammed into the China's southeastern coast.
   (AP, 8/13/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, General Motors
said it will start making Cadillacs in China this year, joining a
race by foreign luxury car brands to sell to the country's newly
rich elite.
   (AP, 8/16/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, In China villagers
in an eastern province dug with farm tools to search for 24 people
missing in massive landslides unleashed by Typhoon Rananim.
   (AP, 8/16/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17, A US research
institute said India is projected to outpace China and become the
world's most populous country by 2050, growing by 50 percent in the
next 46 years to reach more than 1.6 billion people.
   (AP, 8/17/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, China said it
would offer 10-year residency permits to “high-level” foreigners,
who bring in important investments or business skills.
   (WSJ, 8/23/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, It was reported
that China recorded its 1st ever agricultural trade deficit, $3.73
billion, for the 1st half of this year.
   (WSJ, 8/23/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, China evacuated
hundreds of thousands of people as Typhoon Aere lashed neighboring
Taiwan, triggering landslides and disruption and leaving at least
seven people feared dead and one missing.
   (AFP, 8/24/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, Typhoon Aere
crashed into mainland China prompting the evacuation of nearly a
million people, as the death toll climbed to 35 after a mudslide
killed 15 villagers in Taiwan.
   (AP, 8/26/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, Liu Xiang
(b.1983), Chinese hurdler, set a record and won Olympic gold in
Athens in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 12.91 seconds
equaling the 1993 time of Colin Jackson.
  Â
(www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-08/28/content_369582.htm)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, It was reported
that SABMiller was investing $82.2 million to build a brewery in
Dongguan, Guangdong province, China.
   (WSJ, 8/27/04, p.A10)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, The World Bank
estimated that pollution is causing China and annual 8-12% of its
$1.4 trillion GDP in direct damage.
   (Econ, 8/21/04, p.56)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, The first Chinese
tourists to visit Paris, French, on an official tour group were
treated to a full taste of its charms.
   (AP, 9/3/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, In southwest China
at least 90 people were killed and 77 were missing after some of the
worst rainstorms in recent years triggered landslides and flash
floods.
   (AP, 9/6/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, In southwestern
China floods unleashed by torrential rains have killed at least 161
people and left dozens more missing, prompting authorities to put
the massive Three Gorges hydroelectric project on alert.
   (AP, 9/7/04)(WSJ, 9/7/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, Li Yuanjiang, the
former editor-in-chief of one of China's biggest newspapers, the
Guangzhou Daily, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for taking
bribes. Guangzhou is the capital and the sub-provincial city of
Guangdong Province in southern mainland China. The city was formerly
known internationally as Canton, after a French language
transliteration of the name of the province in Cantonese.
   (AP,
9/11/04)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangzhou)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, Former President
Jiang Zemin turned over his last major post as chairman of the
commission that runs China's military to his successor, Hu Jintao
(61), completing the country's first peaceful leadership transition
since its 1949 revolution.
   (AP, 9/19/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, Russia's embattled
Yukos oil giant raised the stakes in its bitter standoff with the
Kremlin as the company slashed supplies to China in a move analysts
said was designed to cause maximum embarrassment in Moscow.
   (AP, 9/20/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, China's PM Wen
Jiabao hailed a series of agreements with neighboring Kyrgyzstan
including an agreement on the thorny issue of the countries' common
border.
   (AFP, 9/21/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, In southwest China
a swollen river swept a bus off a bridge, and about 30 passengers
were missing.
   (AP, 9/25/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, Ma Chengyuan (77),
former president of the renowned Shanghai Museum, died. He saved
priceless artifacts from marauding Red Guards during the Cultural
Revolution.
   (AP, 10/10/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, G7 ministers met in
Washington DC. Chinese officials were invited to attend for the 1st
time.
   (Econ, 10/2/04, p.11)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, US President George
W. Bush told Chinese President Hu Jintao in a phone conversation
that he supports reunifying Taiwan with the mainland but warned
against "any unilateral attempt" to do so.
   (AFP, 10/7/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, French President
Jacques Chirac declared that France was a natural trade partner to
China and, amid a flurry of air, rail and energy deals.
   (AP, 10/9/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, In Shanghai,
China, the Houston Rockets, featuring Yao Ming, played an exhibition
basketball game against the Sacramento Kings. Advertisers paid some
$10 million to sponsor the game and another in Beijing.
   (WSJ, 10/15/04, p.B1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, Russia and China
settled a dispute over their 2,700-mile border during a visit by
Pres. Putin.
   (WSJ, 10/14/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, China formally
arrested Zhao Yan, a New York Times researcher, who was detained Sep
16 for allegedly leaking state secrets. The crime could be
punishable by death.
   (AFP, 10/21/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, In central China a
gas explosion ripped through a coal shaft at the Daping Mine in
Henan province killing at least 77 miners. Dozens miners were
missing.
   (AP, 10/21/04)(AP, 10/23/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, Senior Indian and
Chinese officials met in New Delhi, India, to discuss a long-running
border dispute between the two countries.
   (AFP, 10/20/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, The EU revamped
its trade rules. Nations with more than 15% of European market share
of any goods were set to lose their discounted tariffs. China and
India were expected to be the main losers.
   (WSJ, 10/20/04, p.A15)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 21, China and Japan
planned emergency talks over energy rights in the disputed waters
between them.
   (WSJ, 10/21/04, p.A17)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 21, Fu Hegong sneaked
into a Beijing kindergarten to rob it. When he was discovered, he
smothered a teacher with a quilt and killed a 5-year-old boy by
hitting him with a fire extinguisher. In 2005 Hegong (31) was
sentenced to death.
   (AP, 9/10/05)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 24, In China the
Golden Resources Shopping Mall, the largest in the world, opened in
the Haidan district of Beijing.
   (www.csmonitor.com/2004/1124/p01s03-woap.html)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 25, China’s state
press reported that the population will grow to nearly 1.5 billion
over the next 20 to 30 years.
   (AFP, 10/25/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 27-2004 Oct 31,
Violent clashes in a village in central China killed 7 people and
injured 42. Police imposed martial law in Langchenggang, Zhongmou
County, in Henan province after the fighting between hundreds of
rioters that pitted Muslim Chinese against non-Muslims.
   (AP, 11/1/04)(WSJ, 11/2/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 28, China's central
bank raised interest rates for the first time in 9 years in a
surprise move that was aimed at guiding a heated economy onto a path
of slower growth. The rate increase .25% to 5.6%.
   (Reuters, 10/28/04)(Econ, 11/6/04, p.12)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 28, China and Iran
signed a memorandum of understanding for an oil and gas agreement
worth tens of billions of dollars.
   (WSJ, 11/1/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 30, A burst of
poisonous gas in a coal mine in northeast China killed 15 miners at
the Xilutian Mine in Fushun, a city in Liaoning province.
   (AP, 10/31/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 6, China's central
bank said it would take a "gradual and safe" approach to loosening
the yuan-dollar peg.
   (AP, 11/6/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, China’s state media
reported that China will selectively reduce spending to help trim
its ballooning fiscal deficit.
   (AP, 11/8/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, Taiwan's leader,
making a new appeal to China to hold talks, urged the communist
giant to ban the development and use of weapons of mass destruction.
   (AP, 11/10/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, Japan's navy went
on alert when a submarine was detected in Japanese waters between
the southern island of Okinawa and Taiwan. Japan soon determined
that it was Chinese nuclear submarine and incident strained
relations between two of Asia's biggest economic and military
powers.
   (AP, 11/13/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 11, It was reported
that Beijing this month cancelled its bicycle registration
requirements, a move viewed by the state press as highlighting the
nation's full fledged entry into "car society" and the demise of the
bicycle as a "transportation tool."
   (AFP, 11/11/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 11, It was reported
that large swathes of southern and eastern China are in the grip of
their worst drought in more than 50 years, prompting calls from the
countries top leaders for better management of water conservation.
   (AP, 11/12/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, It was reported
that Japan and China owned about a quarter of outstanding US
Treasury debt. They held $723 and $172 billion respectively.
   (WSJ, 11/12/04, p.C4)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, China’s state
media reported that shortages of coal and electricity are expected
this winter.
   (AP, 11/15/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, In Maryland the
first US small office of the Chinese Confucius Institute opened at
the Univ. of Maryland. By 2009 there were over 60 such facilities
across the country offering Chinese culture to the American public.
  Â
(http://english.people.com.cn/200411/19/eng20041119_164443.html)(Econ,
10/24/09, SR p.10)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, In China a fire at
a complex of iron mines in Shahe, Hebei province, left 68 dead. Most
of the miners were suffocated by smoke.
   (AP, 11/26/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 21, In northern China
a Bombardier CRJ-200 passenger plane crashed in an ice-covered lake
seconds after takeoff, killing all 54 people aboard and one person
on the ground after an apparent midair explosion.
   (AP, 11/21/04)(WSJ, 11/22/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 22, Chinese President
Hu Jintao met with Fidel Castro in Havana for talks focusing on the
broadening ties between Cuba and China.
   (AP, 11/22/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 25, In China Yan
Yanming (21) broke into a high school dormitory in Ruzhou with a
knife and killed 8 students. A series of knife attacks have hit
Chinese schools in recent months. Yanming was executed Jan 18, 2004.
   (AP, 11/26/04)(AP, 1/20/05)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, In central China
an explosion tore through a coal mine, sending smoke from air vents
and trapping at least 166 miners in tunnels and shafts below without
communications. The death toll was later confirmed at 166.
   (AP, 12/1/04)(Econ, 12/4/04, p.43)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 29, Southeast Asian
nations (ASEAN) and China signed an accord to create the world's
biggest free trade area by removing tariffs for their 2 billion
people by decade's end.
   (AP,
11/29/04)(www.ey.com/global/content.nsf/Thailand/Home)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, It was reported
that United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) has forged a $100 million
agreement with Sinotrans to take direct control of its international
express operations in China's largest and most important cities by
the end of 2005.
  Â
(www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2004/11/29/daily33.html)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, Miss Peru, Maria
Julia Mantilla Garcia, an aspiring high school teacher, was crowned
Miss World 2004 In Southern China.
   (AP, 12/4/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, China and Germany
signed contracts worth $2.1 billion for Airbus jets and other
industrial goods. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called for an end to
a 15-year-old European arms embargo on China.
   (AP, 12/6/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, A Beijing newspaper
reported that 9 out of 10 Chinese calling into a suicide-prevention
hotline in the capital are getting the busy tone, adding that
nationwide four people were killing themselves every minute.
   (Reuters, 12/6/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, IBM and China’s
Lenovo Group planned a joint PC venture. Lenovo was expected to pay
some $2 billion for a majority share of IBM’s PC business. Lenovo
announced a $1.75 billion cash and stock deal to acquire a majority
interest in IBM’s PC business.
   (WSJ, 12/7/04, p.A3)(SFC, 12/8/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, DragonMart, a 1.2km
dragon-shaped mall in Dubai featuring Chinese products, opened its
doors to the public as the biggest Chinese shopping mall outside of
China.
   (www.dragonmart.ae/HelpFAQs.html)(Econ, 4/14/12,
p.78)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, China’s Premier Wen
Jiabao repeated that China will move gradually to a flexible
exchange rate.
   (WSJ, 12/9/04, p.A14)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, The European Union
and China agreed to boost relations, but the EU made clear there can
be no early lifting of its 15-year-old arms embargo until Beijing
improves its human rights record.
   (AP, 12/8/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, China reported that
its monthly trade surplus widened in November for the fourth
straight month, hitting $9.9 billion as exports surged at an annual
rate of nearly 46 percent.
   (AP, 12/9/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 10, A US trade panel
gave final approval to anti-dumping duties of up to 198 percent on
imports of about $1.2 billion worth of wooden bedroom furniture from
China.
   (AP, 12/10/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, China ended
restrictions limiting foreign retailers to joint ventures.
   (WSJ, 12/14/04, p.A13)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, In southern China
a flood at a mine trapped 36 workers in Guizhou province.
   (AP, 12/12/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, China dropped
geographic restrictions against foreign insurers.
   (WSJ, 12/13/04, p.A14)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, The Chinese
government said China and Russia will hold their first joint
military exercise next year.
   (AP, 12/13/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, China said it will
impose duties on its exports of textiles and apparel in an effort to
alleviate the impact of eased restrictions effective Jan 1.
   (SFC, 12/14/04, p.D3)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 17, It was reported
that China paid out $15 billion per month to keep the yuan fixed at
8.277 to the US dollar.
   (WSJ, 12/17/04, p.A14)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 17, It was reported
that China’s growing power industry was causing global concern over
mercury accumulation in the world’s water and food supply.
   (WSJ, 12/17/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 25, In southern China
villagers of Da Lang battled police in a riot after security forces
beat a resident to death.
   (SFC, 12/27/04, p.A3)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 30, China accused the
US of pressuring Israel not to return armed drone aircraft that were
sent back for upgrades following their purchase in the 1990s.
   (WSJ, 12/31/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â In China Jiang Rong’s
novel “The Wolf Totem” became a best seller. It was about the
struggle for life on the Mongolian grasslands during the 1966-1976
Cultural Revolution. In 2005 the Penguin Group purchased rights for
an English version.
   (SFC, 9/7/05, p.E3)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mark Elvin authored “The
Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China.”
   (Econ, 7/10/04, p.74)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Bruce Gilley authored
“China’s Democratic Future: How It Will Happen and Where It Will
Lead.”
   (Econ, 6/26/04, p.83)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â In China the Ant Financial
Group was founded as Alipay, a trusted payment platform for
Alibaba's shoppers and merchants.
   (Econ., 10/10/20, p.20)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Chinese President Hu
Jintao visited Latin America and said that he hoped 2-way trade in
the region would reach $100 billion by 2010.
   (Econ, 8/15/09, p.20)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â China introduced new
identity cards with embedded microchips. Software limited the use to
standard characters. In 2006 a police official moved to ban
problematic characters, thereby limiting people’s choices in names.
   (Econ, 4/15/06, p.44)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â In China some 130 mainland
securities companies lost 15 billion yuan (almost $2 billion) under
a falling stock market, a dearth of new flotations and bad
management. Losses for 2005 were later estimated to be even higher.
   (Econ, 2/11/06, p.69)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â China experienced some
74,000 protests involving over 3.7 million people, up from 10,000 in
1994 and 58,000 in 2003.
   (Econ, 10/1/05, p.38)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â In China Li Shiming, a
corrupt and rapacious local Communist Party secretary in Shanxi
province, beat up a farmer and cleared his land for a housing
development [see Sep 23, 2008].
   (Econ, 8/22/09, p.38)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â China’s national tax
revenue of $318 billion came mostly from business taxes. The average
Chinese paid $16 in income tax. Authorities in 90 Chinese cities
turned some sales receipts into lottery tickets to encourage
customers to demand trackable invoices.
   (WSJ, 3/31/05, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â China and Hong Kong
entered into a Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The
phased agreement eliminated tariffs on Hong Kong exports and by 2005
created 29,000 jobs in Hong Kong.
   (WSJ, 10/19/05, p.A11)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â China’s 2004 economic
growth rate was revised up to 10.1 percent from 9.5 percent
following the completion of an economic census in 2006.
   (AP, 1/10/06)  Â
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Chinese car sales reached
2.3 million making it the world’s 4th largest car market. It was
expected to overtake Germany in 2005 and Japan by 2010.
   (Econ, 4/23/05, p.61)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â In China Jack Ma, founder
of Alibaba, set up an online payments system called Alipay.
   (Econ, 1/1/11, p.55)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â A report by the World
Health Organization (WHO) said some 600 people were killed daily in
traffic accidents in China.
   (SFC, 12/7/07, p.A25)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Chinese made shoes
accounted for 82% of all shoes sold in the US. US quotas had been
abandoned in 1982.
   (WSJ, 6/7/05, p.A13)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â China invested almost $150
million in Sudan this year.
   (Econ, 10/28/06, p.54)
2004-2005Â Â Â A Russian built nuclear reactor was
scheduled to begin operating in Lianyungang, a coastal city
northwest of Shanghai.
   (SFC,12/30/97, p.B2)
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