China, Brazil pledge to boost strategic partnership

Beijing (China)—China and Brazil on Wednesday in Brasilia pledged to promote their strategic partnership during a meeting between Wu Bangguo, China’s top legislator, and Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), told Lula that China was ready to work together with Brazil to improve the partnership between the two countries.
“My visit is aimed at further promoting Sino-Brazilian ties,” Wu said, adding that China had always attached great importance to developing the relationship with Brazil, and regarded Brazil as a partner and friend.
Wu, who arrived here Tuesday, said he and Aldo Rebelo, president of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, had signed a memorandum of understanding on setting up a regular exchange mechanism between the two countries, which symbolizes a new phase of substantial cooperation between the two parliaments.
Further agreements on Sino-Brazilian economic and trade cooperation will be signed to push forward the strategic partnership, Wu said.
As the largest countries in the eastern and western hemispheres respectively, China and Brazil have common interests in international affairs, and hold the same or similar views on dealing with major international or regional issues, he said.
Strengthening Sino-Brazilian ties not only conforms with the fundamental interests of both countries, but is also conducive to regional and world peace, stability and prosperity, he said.
To enhance the solidarity and cooperation with developing countries, including Latin America nations, is the cornerstone of China’s foreign policy, he said.
Brazil, a country wielding significant influence in Latin America, plays an important role in the development of Sino-Latin American relations, Wu added.
Lula pledged to spare no effort to strengthen the strategic partnership with China.
The two countries have maintained good cooperation not only in economy and trade, but also in multilateral fields, he said.
“As early as in 2004 when Brazil recognized China’s market economy status, I had made it clear that I hoped the two countries to become cooperative partners in the World Trade Organization,” he said.
The Brazil-China cooperation based on mutual benefit should set a good example for other developing countries, Lula said.
He spoke highly of the six agreements on economic and trade cooperation which are ready for endorsement during Wu’s visit, saying the documents would help reinforce the strategic partnership between Brazil and China.
Lula also praised the establishment of a regular exchange mechanism between China’s NPC and Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies.
The Brazilian government will encourage more MPs to visit China so that they could contribute more to the further development of the bilateral relationship, Lula added.

—People’s Daily, Daily Mail news exchange item

Nepal welcomes China’s plan to extend Tibetan railway to Nepalese border

Beijing (China)—Visiting Nepali Deputy Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Wednesday hailed China’s plan to extend Tibetan railway to Nepalese border, saying it will greatly facilitate bilateral trade, tourism and people-to-people contacts.
“We welcome China’s plan to extend the new railway to China-Nepal border. There are several reasons behind this,” Oli, who is also Nepali Foreign Minister, said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region, said on Sunday that China’s newly-built railway to Tibet will be extended to the border between China and Nepal.
According to current plans, a branch line will be built next year from Lhasa to Xigaze, the region’s second largest city located at an altitude of about 3,800 meters and some 270 kilometers from Lhasa. The project is expected to take three years.
Currently, land transportation between Tibet and neighboring Nepal and India is not easy. Nyalam located in Xigaze is the only border crossing that boasts a highway.
“The extension of railway line up to Nepal-China border will greatly facilitate bilateral trade, tourism and promote people-to-people contacts thereby further solidifying the foundation of bilateral relations,” Oli said.
The availability of direct railway services will make our trade less expensive, competitive and reliable, he said.
Oli said that Nepal has a long history of political, economic and cultural exchange with Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
“Though we share more than 1,400 kilometers of border, we have never encountered any border related problems,” he said. “Nepal conducts its trade with China mainly from Tibet.”
Oli disclosed that Nepal was planning to establish a Special Economic Zone in Panchkhal, Kabhre District that is about 60 kilometers away from Nepal-China border.
“With this railway facility, the Nepalese products manufactured in that zone will have greater access to the Chinese markets in addition to the traditional market in Tibet,” he said.
On bilateral relations, Oli said that Nepal-China relations have stood the test of time and have always been cordial, friendly and cooperative.
“There is no problem in bilateral relations,” he said. “I believe that China’s phenomenal economic development will have a positive bearing on the process of our economic development.”
As a close friend, Nepal sincerely expects increased flow of tourists and investment from China as well as greater market access to its products, he said.
Oli labeled his ongoing China visit as “ the first high-level contact between Nepal and China after the restoration of democracy in Nepal.”
He hailed the visit as “successful”, saying his exchange of views with senior Chinese leaders have proved extremely useful in further cementing the age-old ties between the two countries and peoples.
Oli is paying an official visit to China from Aug. 26 to September 2 at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.
Apart from Beijing, Oli’s other stops include Lhasa, capital of southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Chengdu in southwest Sichuan Province and Shenzhen, an economic hub in South China.

—People’s Daily, Daily Mail news exchange item

Beijing court sentences HK journalist to five-year imprisonment for espionage

The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court Thursday has sentenced Hong Kong resident Ching Cheong, a journalist for Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper, to five years in prison for spying for Taiwan.
According to the verdict, Ching Cheong is also deprived of political rights for one year and personal property worth 300,000 yuan (about 37,500 U.S. dollars) has been confiscated.
“The penalty is a mitigated one considering that after Ching Cheong was detained, he voluntarily confessed to more espionage activities than those the state security departments had known about. He also gave up his notebook computer, which contained evidence of espionage, to the authorities,” according to a document released by the court.
According the document, when he worked in Taiwan as a journalist for Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper, Ching Cheong became acquainted with two people from a Taiwan foundation, one surnamed Xue and another Dai.
The court learned the foundation was actually an espionage organization, and Xue and Dai were deputies, of which Ching had full knowledge. The court heard that at the request of Xue and Dai he supplied information involving state secrets and intelligence he received from contacts in Beijing to Xue and Dai via fax and email from May 2004 to April 2005. Using an alias, he accepted 300,000 HK dollars in payment from the organisation.
A court official said Ching’s procedural rights had been fully guaranteed. Ching himself and his two lawyers defended his case. He has the right to appeal.

Fires and drought ravage southwest China

SHANGHAI—A major drought affecting millions of people in southwestern China was being called “the worst in a century” Thursday, as state press reports said searing temperatures had set off uncontrollable fires.
Fire fighters and more than 1,500 residents were battling forest blazes that had consumed 67 hectares (165 acres) in the northern part of Chongqing municipality since Wednesday, a report by China Radio International said.
Officials in Chongqing were calling the drought the worst in a century as a total of 21 million people had found themselves affected, with more than seven million of them without adequate drinking water.“It’s the biggest drought in 100 years,” the Wen Hui Bao newspaper quoted Chongqing vice mayor Chen Guangguo as saying, while an official with the disaster relief office in Chongqing agreed. Over 1.2 million hectares (3.3 million acres) of farmland were short of water, and direct economic losses from crop failures and 97 fires now totaled more than 6 billion yuan (750 million dollars), said He Lingyun, director of the city disaster relief office..
Less than two weeks ago state media had called it southwestern China’s worst drought in 50 years, but concerned officials were sounding the alarm this week as temperatures again started soaring. On Thursday temperatures in most of Chongqing hit between 40 and 42 degrees C, (104 and 108 degrees F) the Central Meteorological Office in Beijing told AFP. In neighboring Sichuan, the provincial government has called on residents to plant alternative crops such as potatoes to help make up for financial losses.
The mercury has previously reached highs of 44.5 degrees C this summer, making it one of the hottest on record, with the drought lasting as long as 96 days in some parts of eastern Chongqing, the Wen Hui Bao newspaper said.
The Sichuan Provincial Meteorological Administration has predicted that hot searing weather will continue as the central and eastern parts of the province are not expected to see any relief before Saturday. Some 4,000 people have been mobilized to fight a forest fire that is spreading rapidly through the drought-parched timberlands of southwest China’s Chongqing municipality, a local forestry official said on Thursday. Soldiers, fire-fighters, armed police and local residents are fighting the blaze, which has already burned for more than 26 hours ravaging an area of 66 hectares, said the source with the municipal forest fire prevention office.The fire began at around 1:00 p.m. Wednesday in Yakou Village, in Yubei District, about 40 kilometers northeast of downtown Chongqing, and soon spread to neighboring Beibei District, the source said.Three 20-meter-wide firebreaks have been made to stop the blaze from spreading to residential areas, said the source.
No casualties from the fire have been reported, according to the official.—Agencies

China to undertake soon $794 million highway project in Pakistan

BEIJING—China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), a state-owned construction firm has completed the feasibility study of Karakoram Highway project, for its renovation and expansion.
“ Administrative and financial arrangements are being worked out with the Pakistani authority to initiate the project as soon as possible, “ said sources with China’s Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (ASAC) here Thursday. Talking to APP, the sources said they have sent proposals to relevant institutions in Pakistan for a formal contract. The two countries have already signed a memorandum of understanding to pave the way for practical operation of the project.
The total estimated cost of the project is $794 million. It was suggested that 90 percent of the cost will be met by the balance of the preferential export buyer’s credit ($500) committed by the government of China in November, 2003 while the remaining 10 percent will be financed by the government of Pakistan. Other potential sources will be sought in case of any shortfall.As per understanding, CRBC will be in charge of the design and reconstruction of the highway as the general contractor. At the first stage, the 335-kilometer road between the Raikot bridge and the Khunjerab mountain pass will be rebuilt and upgraded. The two sides have agreed to complete the drawing of the blue print, listing the work items and signing commercial contracts by the end of October, and try to start working by the end of the year.The Karakoram Highway is the only overland connection between China and Pakistan at present. The 809-kilometer highway, whose location is 600 to 4,700 meters above sea level, was built in 1978 for special geopolitical reasons. It is largely broken due to lack of maintenance and the earthquake in late 2005.During President Pervez Musharraf’s visit to China in February this year, the two sides reached an agreement in principle to upgrade the Karakoram Highway.
According to the ASAC’s sources, width of the highway will be expanded from 10 meters to 30 meters, and its transport capacity will be enhanced three time.