China orders strict anti-Bird Flu steps

BEIJING—China ordered already strict anti-bird flu measures tightened on Monday following two new outbreaks in poultry, while Romania said it would destroy 2,000 farm birds after finding the virus in hens and North Korea tightened border controls.
“There is a growing threat to human health,” Yin Chengjie, a deputy Chinese agriculture minister, said at a news conference.
Yin warned that the disease’s virulence, or its ability to cause illness, appeared to be increasing. He pointed to rising numbers of cases in ducks and geese, while earlier outbreaks were limited to chickens.
“It shows the increasing virulence of avian influenza,” he said.
Yin and other officials announced new rules requiring local Chinese officials to set up disease-warning networks and to stockpile disinfectant and other emergency supplies. Officials who fail to pinpoint and report outbreaks quickly face firing or jail.
The regulations, approved by the State Council and published yesterday in major Chinese media, provide a “strong legal means” to shore up the country’s drive to control and stamp out such major outbreaks as bird flu, Yin said.
Although the document mainly targets bird flu, Yin said it also applies to other animal contagions like foot-and-mouth disease.
It prescribes that veterinary authorities at various levels should have contingency plans, details the role of emergency response offices and specifies procedures for epidemic surveillance, information gathering and reporting.
No one except the competent veterinary authorities under the State Council can release information on major animal epidemics. Information will be provided in an accurate and timely manner.
The responsibilities of forestry and veterinary departments in jointly monitoring the source of terrestrial wild animal epidemics are set forth.
Any act of delaying or failing to report an outbreak, or concealing the real situation, will be severely dealt with.
In case of a major animal epidemic, different measures including culling, disinfection, quarantine and closure of animal product markets must be applied to different areas based on how far they are away from the infected site.
Servicemen and police should support the epidemic control work.
In case an animal outbreak is likely to infect humans, health departments should monitor vulnerable people and adopt preventive and control measures in the afflicted areas. Health and veterinary authorities should share information in a timely fashion.
Cao Kangtai, director of the State Council Legal Affairs Office, yesterday said the regulations summarize China’s expertise and experience in combating major animal epidemics in recent years.
The latest outbreaks, reported on Sunday, were in North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Central China’s Hubei Province, and killed a total of 3,676 chickens, ducks and geese. Authorities culled 7,000 birds to contain the outbreaks, Xinhua said.
This year, the mainland reported 21 outbreaks of bird flu in nine provinces and autonomous regions, including one in which migratory birds were infected, Yin said.
Cumulatively, bird flu killed 144,624 head of poultry, prompting the culling of another 21.18 million, he said.
  (The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item)
 

99% Chinese firms never donate to charity

BEIJING—No more than 100,000 Chinese companies, a merely one percent of the country’s total ten million registered firms, have had a history of making donation to charity, said Chen Xinnian with the National Development and Reform Commission.
But the rest 99 percent enterprises that never engage in charity work feel unfair to be called “parsimonious”. They complain of the current tax law under which corporations’ donations are exempted from income tax if the amount is within 3 percent. The ratio is 30 percent for individuals.
“It’s not we don’t have goodwill, but charitable work does not deserve corresponding result under present tax law,” said Wang Jianlin, chairman of the board of Dalian Wanda Group, a famous company in northeast China’s Liaoning province. “The more you donate, the more tax you have to pay”.
“Given the low ratio of tax exemption, enterprises in China lack the economic incentive to donate,” said Xu Yongguang, vice-chairman of China Charity Federation.
It is estimated that by the end of 2004, about 5 billion yuan (US$617 million) had been donated to China’s charitable organization, accounting for 0.05 percent of the gross domestic product. In comparison, it was 2.17 percent in the United States.
“Despite differences of national conditions, such a large gap should set us thinking,” said Xu.
Wang Zhenyao with Ministry of Civil Affairs’s Disaster Relief Department attributed this to an under-developed tax policy.
“People in our country have not realized they can enjoy tax exemption if they make donations, which is one of the reasons why the tax policy is lagging behind.” said Wang.
“Even if one knows that making donation can get tax exemption, he may give it up because of too much red tape to go.” added Wang.
Speaking on his own experience, he said he once went through 10 official procedures in two months in order to get 50 yuan (US$6.16) tax exemption for his 500 yuan’s personal donation (US$61.6).
“The procedure could frustrate anyone who try to regain tax exemptions from donation,” Wang said.
However, any donations made by foreign-funded companies in China are totally exempted from tax. In 2003, the State tax watchdog allowed full tax exemption on donations to only seven designated charity organizations.
“We are negotiating with taxation and financial departments to work out the new tax reduction system for donations,” Wang said.
At the two-day China Charity Conference, began Sunday, Chinese government promised to provide a convenient and standardized service in donation-related tax reduction and exemption.   (The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item)

China gears up for high-speed rail plan

BEIJING—Six Japanese companies led by Kawasaki Heavy Industries are in the final stages of talks to supply China with 60 high-speed trains, according to Japanese media reports.
To improve its railway network, China is planning to spend more than $80 billion for a high-speed system covering about 12,000 km (7,500 miles), Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported.
Germany's Siemens has already won an order for 60 eight-car trains from China, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday.
It said a contract worth 669 million euros ($785 million) was signed in Berlin during a state visit to Germany by China's President Hu Jintao a week ago.
The trains are to be used initially on the Beijing-Tianjin route from 2008 and extended to other high-speed routes later on, according to a Siemens statement.
The trains have a total length of 200 metres and can hold more than 600 passengers, China Daily reported.
As part of China's rail expansion plans, the Kawasaki-led Japanese group, which includes Itochu, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Corp. and Marubeni, is expected to win a contract for 60 Shinkansen "bullet" trains.
According to a report by the Nihon Keizai business daily, the Chinese Ministry of Railways said in October it would place an order for 100 high-speed trains to run at up to 300 km/h on raised tracks.
The ministry singled out Japanese and German firms as prospective vendors. The other 20 trains are from a previous order.
The Nikkei report said the Japanese trains to be delivered will be based on the Hayate, a model operated by East Japan Railway on the Tohoku line.
It said the trains likely would run between the industrial city of Wuhan in Hubei province and the coastal city of Guangzhou in Guangdong province.
Chinese firm CSR Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co. will build the trains, while the Japanese firms will supply parts and transfer technology at the request of the Chinese government, according to the Nikkei report.
The Nikkei said the train deal was not a sure thing.
Vice-Minister of Railways Hu Yadong was quoted by China Daily as saying on Sunday that express trains with a speed of 200 kilometres per hour are expected to start running next year, while those with a speed of 300 kilometres an hour will be used on parts of the nation's railway lines.
According to the ministry's programme, China will build 10,000 kilometres of new passenger railways and 2,000 kilometres of high-speed railways by 2020.
Although the ministry is slow in unveiling the construction plan of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, competition for the huge project is becoming increasingly intense among Japan's Shinkansen, France's TGV and Germany's ICE - high-speed trains considered to have the most advanced high-speed rail technology available in the world.
The railway, reported to measure more than 1,300 kilometres in length, involves a 100 billion-yuan (US$ 12 billion) investment, seen as the second largest project after the Three Gorges Project in terms of investment.
While building more rail tracks and trains, the Ministry of Railways has also sent technicians abroad to study driving techniques for high-speed trains, in efforts to increase their speed for the sixth time.
Sixty-two train drivers aged 28 to 41 have been selected from among the seven local rail administrations.
The nation's latest railway speed increase was launched on April 18 last year, with the speed on major lines raised to 160 kilometres per hour.

 

Pak singer makes debut in China
From Max Lee

BEIJING—Asad Qizalbash, with an spotlight-illuminated Sarod, a music instrument in his arms attracted a large number of Chinese audience at the 7th Asia Art Festival, held last week in Foshan, south China’s Guangdong Province.
Being the sole and unparalleled player of Sarod in Pakistan, Asad has toured many countries. This time, he was invited at the festival by the Chinese Ministry of Culture to make his Chinese stage debut.
Originating from a 16th-century Indio-Persian instrument, Sarod is a classical instrument that makes stunning resonance. “You can hear your heart echoing to it,” Asad said proudly in an interview with Chinese media.
“Nowadays, most young people are interested in pop or hip-hop music rather than this kind of folk music. For those who are, they are just too poor to learn it, so my plan is to open a school and teach them for free”.
“Pop music is borrowed, so it’s transient. But traditional music is deeply rooted in our soul and heart, (so) it’s immortal,” he added passionately.
Asad who accompanied the Pakistani troupe said,” The Chinese government has done a good job to create such a good platform for Asian artistes to exchange and promote folk art.
Director General National Council of the Arts Muhammad Naeem Tahir who led the troupe told newsmen their artists including Arif Lohar staged a thrilling performance at the Festival. More than 500 artists from 20 Asian countries appeared at the state, showcasing the diverse cultures of the participating nations.
Pakistan signed Foshan’s declaration along on the occasion with other 20 region countries, pledging to promote traditional folk art. The declaration underlined the need of giving boost to cultural exchanges that could be an effective channel, upholding peace and tranquility in the region.

 

China wants next UN chief to be Asian
From Max Lee

BEIJING—China wants an Asian to succeed Kofi Annan as UN Secretary-General when his term runs out next year, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
Declared candidates to date include Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, currently visiting Beijing, and Sri Lankan peace negotiator Jayantha Dhanapala.
“Asian people haven’t taken the important post for 34 years and Asia is the most populous continent,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news conference, referring to U Thant of Burma, now Myanmar, who served from 1961 until 1971.
“We think the next secretary-general should be picked from Asian nations”.
Those who have expressed interest in the job also include South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon and East Timor Senior Minister for Foreign Affairs Jose Ramos-Horta.
No formal rotation system exists among the world’s continents, but UN members generally agree the next secretary-general should come from Asia.
The UN secretary-general is appointed by the 191-nation General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council, where a candidate needs the approval of nine of the 15 members and can be vetoed by any of the five permanent member states.
China is one of the five and another permanent member, Russia, has said it will back an Asian, but American ambassador to the UN John Bolton has said it is looking not only in Asia for Annan’s successor.
Outgoing Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski has also indicated he might run for the job..