Pak, China to launch APSCO on Friday
From Javed Akhtar ( APP)

BEIJING—Pakistan, China and five other regional countries will formally launch Asia Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) on Friday to share their experience, expertise and available resources developing space technology.
In this connection, their senior officials will formally sign an APSCO’s Convention at a ceremony to be held here at the Great Hall of the People. Other five countries are Iran, Thailand, Bangladesh, Mongolia and Peru.
Pakistan will be represented at the ceremony by the Chairman national space agency, SUPARCO Maj. Gen. (Retd) Raza Hussain. APSCO is being set up to promote capabilities of the member countries in several areas of space technology applications, said a senior official of the Asia Pacific Multilateral Cooperation in Space Technology and Applications (AP-MCSTA).
He told APP in an interview that the seven Asia-Pacific countries have conveyed approval of their respective Parliaments and the Governments to sign the APSCO Convention and to become its formal members.
Some other countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippine have also shown their intention to join this important regional body after fulfilling the necessary requirements”, he added.
As per the Article-29 of the Convention, the APSCO will come into force when at least five States of the Asia-Pacific Region, which are members of the United Nations, signed it and have deposited with the host Government their instruments of ratification or acceptance.
Recently, the Government of Argentina has also approved the Convention and asked for granting the Observer’s status, since it is located outside the geographic region of APSCO.
The Governments of Brazil and Ukraine have informed that they were also interested in joining the organization as Associate Members/Observers. Other governments of Asia-Pacific countries are reportedly reviewing the Convention and the procedure of approval is in progress in their respective Parliaments.
China, being a host country has offered to provide full financial support for the establishment and operation of the APSCO until 2006. As such, the member States are not under any obligation to make financial contributions during the preparatory phase. However, they will be required to pay their financial contributions from the year 2007.
It may be mentioned here that Muhammad Nasim Shah, former secretary SUPARCO played a pioneering role in preparing Charter and Convention of the proposed Asia-Pacific Space Agency. He was retired from SUPARCO last year and joined the AP-MCSTA Secretariat to help in accomplishing various tasks relating to APSCO.
Taking in view the immense potential of Space Technology and its spin-offs in the socio-economic uplift of the countries, three Asia-Pacific countries, China, Pakistan and Thailand had taken an initiative and jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in February 1992 for setting up the Asia-Pacific Multilateral Cooperation in Space Technology and Applications (AP-MCSTA).
According to the sources, the Asia-Pacific countries have broad requirements and cooperation objectives in the use of satellite remote sensing data in environmental studies/protection, natural resource exploitation as well as in disaster monitoring and prevention.
The benefits to be accrued to the Asia-Pacific countries by virtue of their membership to APSCO will be enormous, including creation of multilateral compatibilities among space systems by the member states that can provide enhanced capabilities in several areas of space technology applications, the sources added.

 

China issues new rules for overseas investors
From Max Lee
The Daily Mail’s Special
Correspondent in Beijing

BEIJING—China’s foreign exchange regulator has announced a new regulation relating to local citizens’ overseas fundraising and return investment. The new regulation, which comes into effect next month, will replace controversial rules promulgated early this year.
They were believed by many to have created administrative obstacles for the use of venture capital by many Chinese private companies, particularly small and medium-sized ones.
The new regulation was announced by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) yesterday. It allows domestic citizens, by using domestic assets, to set up overseas special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for fundraising purposes and make a return investment in China. It specifies the procedures and requirements.
The new regulation aims to “encourage, support and guide the development of the non-State sector, further improve the policy support system for venture capital, and regulate cross-border capital transactions by domestic citizens through SPV-based fundraising and investment activities,” the administration said in a statement. Partly to circumvent high listing standards and strict forex regulatory requirements, an increasing number of Chinese private firms have used overseas SPVs to raise funds in recent years. This method also encouraged the participation of venture capital, which relies heavily on easy exit channels.
But SAFE rules enacted at the beginning of this year, aimed at blocking capital flight and tax evasion, reportedly slowed down the overseas listings of Chinese private firms, as they contained stricter approval procedures.

 

Celebrations mark liberation of Taiwan

BEIJING—Activities on the Chinese mainland to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Taiwan from Japan have improved relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits, according to a visiting scholar from Taiwan.
Many events have been held to commemorate the victory of China’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).
Taiwan was ceded to Japan under the “Treaty of Shimonoseki,” signed by the Qing Dynasty government after it was defeated in the Sino-Japanese war (1894-95). Only on October 25, 1945, after World War II had ended, did Taiwan formally reclaim its Chinese identity.
Six decades later, Chinese officials will join the public at a big celebration ceremony in Beijing tomorrow.
“The day marks the time when Taiwan returned to the motherland,” said Wang Hsiaopo, a professor from the National Taiwan University. “The day tells us we are always Chinese”.
“There would be no reunification (of the mainland with Taiwan) if Taiwan hadn’t yet returned from Japan”.
Wang made his remarks at a commemoration conference in Beijing yesterday, attended by mainland officials and visiting Taiwan scholars and war veterans.
While emphasizing the contribution Taiwan compatriots played in national liberation, Wang said patriotism for the motherland played a key role in the victory.
“The Taiwan people had a deep feeling of patriotism while fighting against the Japanese colonialists,” Wang said.
“Today, that feeling continues to inspire people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, pushing forward national reunification”.
A photo gallery to commemorate the anniversary opens today at the National Museum of China in Beijing.

—The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
 

Singaporean PM kicks off first official visit to China
Bureau Report

BEIJING—Singaporean Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lee Hsien Loong arrived in Beijing Monday afternoon, starting his first official visit to China since he took office last year.
During the one-week-long visit, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao, top legislator Wu Bangguo and top advisor Jia Qinglin will meet or hold talks with Lee.
In an interview with Chinese media last week, Lee said bilateral relations are very good, adding that his visit will help push forward such relationship.
Bilateral relations have grown steadily over the years and expanded into more areas, more depth, he said, adding that two-way trade, investment and tourists are all growing rapidly.
In the first eight months of this year, the Sino-Singaporean trade amounted to around 21 billion US dollars, which was close to 26.7 billion US dollars of 2004, according to Chinese customs figures.
Meanwhile, the Singaporean state-owned investment giant Temasek Holdings have taken shares in two of China’s top four state-owned banks including the Bank of China and the China Construction Bank and a private bank, the China Minsheng Banking Corporation.
Such close trade and economic ties have laid a foundation for China and Singapore to lift bilateral ties. Lee said earlier this month that he will push for the Singapore-China free trade talks during this visit.
On the Taiwan issue, Lee reiterated that his country supports the one-China policy and opposes the island’s independence from the Chinese mainland.