CHINAsia

Update
# 11 01/2010

2010 and natural calamities

NEPAL At high risk for powerful earthquake
Kim inspects army unit stressing enhancing combat capabilty
SRI lankan presidential elections: the heat is on
HAITI ENDS REScue phase
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010

In this Issue
NEPAL
Nepal at high risk for powerful earthquake ............................................................................................................... 2
Nepali PM: Visit to China plays important role.......................................................................................................... 3
Nepal to face critical shortage of doctors ..................................................................................................................3
Opposition party protest leaves indelible mark on Nepal’s economy ........................................................................4
Nepal launches campaign to help children of Haiti ....................................................................................................5
PM Nepal inaugurates Bagmati Action Plan...............................................................................................................5

CHINA
Chinese President Hu Jintao delivers New Year address .........................................................................................6
Chinese South Korean leaders exchange New Years greetings ...............................................................................7
China-ASEAN free trade area starts operation..........................................................................................................7
China, Nepal agree to lift bilateral ties to higher level...............................................................................................8
Tibet’s Sharpa people: from porters to foreign trade boses......................................................................................9
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang Answers Questions about United Nations Climate Change Conference..10

ASIA
S. Korean ex-wartime sex slave fight on, as time runs out ......................................................................................11
Thousands rally in Indonesia to express discontent with gov’t work........................................................................12
India to set up National Counter Terrorism Center by 2010 ....................................................................................13
Kim inspects army unit stressing enhancing combat capabilty................................................................................13
Philippines hopes for progress in next peace talks with MILF .................................................................................13
.
WORLD
World leaders deliver greetings as people celebrate new ......................................................................................15
World’s pending questions in 2010...........................................................................................................................16
Haiti ends rescue phase ..........................................................................................................................................19
Aftershock drives more from Haitian capital.............................................................................................................21
Haitian government,UN expect to settle quake refugees before hurricane season..................................................23
Study shows dramatic rise in natural disasters over past decade............................................................................23
New EU President calls for economic summit on first working day .........................................................................24
Russia announces anti-crisis program for 2010 .......................................................................................................24
Slow, Steady Global Recovery Seen for 2010 .........................................................................................................25

OPINIONS
Money, not government, makes for small families ...................................................................................................26
Nepal: Renewed Focus On Indo-Nepal Relations....................................................................................................28
Sri Lankan Presidential Elections: The Heat Is On ..................................................................................................29

IMAGES FROM AROUND ASIA .............................................................................................................................30

Editorial
CHINAsia Update family wishes its discerning readers a Happy New Year, 2010, and also very much wishes them,
their families and all others safety from natural calamities like earthquake.

To remain safe and unhurt we have to remain prepared for the next natural calamity. The
majority of us are not prepared to survive on our own overnight, let alone during a major
disaster. We are too accustomed to life with electricity and phones available. We cannot
even survive without a cell phone with us at all times. We need to be seriously prepared
for any calamity, disaster or being lost in the woods, know what to do and how to survive
on our own . Being prepared can reduce fear, anxiety and loss.

We need to know where to seek shelter if need be and what the safest route to get there is.
Make sure everyone in the household knows where to find safe shelter.

Set up an evacuation plan not only for you house but from your neighborhood. Establish a meeting place for all your
family members. This will save time and confusion looking for each other. Practice disaster plans often enough.
Practice your evacuation plans on a regular basis, at least twice a year. Having the entire family involved will save
lives.

Don’t try to do everything on your own but be prepared to be self-sufficient. Above all remain calm and patient.
Wish you a safe 2010. Once again a Happy New Year.

TaraNath Ghimiray
1
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
Nepal at high risk for powerful earthquake
Not many people in Nepal, realise that Nepal is among
the high risk countries in terms of earthquake occurrenc-
es. Find out more about the reason behind this and what
the damages might be if Nepal is hit with a devastating
earthquake.
Nepal is as disaster prone country. Floods, landslides,
epidemics and fires cause considerable loss of life
and property in Nepal every year. Earthquakes, on the
other hand are not so frequent, but has the potential for
causing the greatest damage. Nepal is a seismic prone
country and the risk it faces from earthquakes are very
Emergency Preperation Plan
- Explain the earthquake risk and discuss the emergen-
cy plan with your family.
- dentify the safe and unsafe places in each room at
home (and in the office). Safe places are under well-
built furniture such as heavy tables, against an inside
wall, close to door frames and supporting pillars. Also
find out the best way to escape from each room.
- Identify a safe place outside your home. The safe
places are empty fields away from buildings, trees,
telephone and electrical lines etc.
- Ask an out-of-city/country relative or friend to be your
family’s contact. Family members should call this per-
son and tell them where they are if they are unable to
go or call home.
- Teach each family member what to do during an
earthquake, and reinforce the learning by having drills.
- Show each family member how and when to turn off
the water, gas, and electricity supply at the main sourc-
es.
- Know where the nearest fire, police stations and
emergency medical centres are, as well as those who
can help you during an emergency. For example, a
neighbour who is a doctor.
- Plan for people with special needs such as babies,
the elderly, and the pregnant.
- Paste a list of updated emergency telephone numbers
on your telephone.
- Stock emergency supplies. Change the items every
six months. Stock some supplies in the office too.
- Assemble an emergency kit in an easy-to-carry bag.
Prepare one kit each for your home, car and office.
Change the items every six months.
- Learn first-aid.
- Learn to use the fire extinguisher.
- Coordinate an emergency plan with your children’s
school and your neighbours.
2
high. Past records have shown that Nepal can expect
two earthquakes of magnitude 7.5-8 on the Richter scale
every forty years and one earthquake of magnitude of 8+
in Richter scale every eighty years. The last great earth-
quake to strike Nepal was in 1934 which had a magni-
tude of 8.3 Richter. It caused considerable damage to
buildings along with great loss of lives. Since then, the
populatin in Nepal has skyrocketed, urban devlopment,
unplanned and construction practices have deteriorted.
If a similar earthquake to that of 1934 was to strike now,
it would cause a greater loss of lives and properties.
- NSET
Masons are trained on earthquake safe construction techniques by the
National Society for Earthquake Technology. Photo: NSET
During an earthquake
If you are indoors: STAY THERE and move only a few
steps to the closest previously identified safe place in
the room. DROP, COVER, and HOLD ON. Get under
a table and hang on to it. Protect your eyes and head.
Get away from windows, heavy furniture or appliances
that might fall on you. Get out of the kitchen, which is a
very dangerous place. DO NOT run downstairs or rush
outside while the building is shaking.
If you are outside: Get into the OPEN, away from
buildings, power lines, trees, and anything else that
might fall on you. If you are in the city, seek shelter
under archways or doorways but do not enter the build-
ing. DO NOT try to walk through narrow roads or gul-
lies.
If you are driving or in a vehicle: STOP SLOWLY.
Move your car as far out of traffic (and buildings) as
possible. DO NOT stop on or under a bridge, trees,
light posts, power lines, or signs. STAY INSIDE your
car until the shaking stops. Should you resume driving,
watch for cracks in the roads, fallen buildings, stones or
trees etc.
If you are in a mountainous area: WATCH OUT for
falling rock, landslides, trees, and other debris that
could be loosened by the earthquake.
For more information visit The National Society for
earthquake technology: http://www.nset.org.np/
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
NEPAL
Nepali PM: Visit to China plays important role
KATHMANDU, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Nepali Prime Minis-
ter Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that his visit to China
had played an important role to further enhance Nepal-
China relations and served as a milestone in the history
of cordial and cooperative relations between the two
countries.
“It is basically a goodwill visit and it has been instru-
mental to raise the bilateral relations to a new height,”
Nepal told reporters upon his arrival at the Tribhuvan
International Airport in the capital Kathmandu after com-
pleting his six-day visit late Thursday evening.
He said that the Chinese leaders wished Nepal to
Nepal to face critical shortage of doctors
KATHMANDU, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Nepal is likely to face
a critical shortage of doctors due to medical brain-drain
out of the country.
According to Monday’s THT Online report, dissatis-
fied with the salary and perks, a physician in the capital
Kathmandu’s Bir Hospital is packing off to the Philip-
pines.
“The remuneration provided by the government hospital
has failed to attract me to stick in the job,” said the resi-
dential doctor at the hospital requesting anonymity.
The doctor said that she was unable to survive in the in-
significantly low salary. She works 12 hours a day in the
hospital and pockets 11,000 Nepali rupees (some 148
U.S. dollars) as monthly salary.
Bir hospital is located in central Kathmandu. It was
the first hospital in Nepal. Some of the finest doctors
of the country work at Bir hospital.
Photo: Ingmar Zahorsky / CHINAsia Update
3
draft the new constitution in time and conclude the
peace process logically and successfully. “They expect
us to address our problems on the basis of inter-party
consensus.”
A press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Af-
fairs said that Nepal reiterated its stand that Taiwan and
Tibet were integral parts of China and that Nepal would
never allow its soil to be used against China.
Prime Minister had left for China on Dec. 26 at the
friendly invitation of the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Two months ago, the government had hiked the salary
of doctors by 3,500 rupees (some 47.2 dollars), follow-
ing a string of protests. But the physicians consider the
amount too paltry to motivate them.
In addition to the low salary and perks, doctors cite wan-
ton behavior of the public including the recent incidences
of attacks on hospitals and medical personnel as a de-
motivating factor for doctors to stay in the country.
Senior physicians say the rush for greener pastures
could have debilitating impact on the country’s ability to
fight diseases.
“If the exodus continuous at the present level in 10 years
the government hospitals will be emptied of doctors,”
warned Dr Kedar Narsingh KC, president of Nepal Medi-
cal Association (NMA).
The brain-drain figures unveiled by the NMA are stag-
gering. If the latest statistics is anything to go by, out of
the registered 9,000 doctors, only 4,000 are currently
serving the nation. The remaining ones have either left
the country or are in a process to emigrate.
According to the report, among those 4,000 doctors cur-
rently in the country, 75 percent of them are serving in
the private hospitals and clinics. The government hos-
pitals are virtually dry with merely 900 doctors, many of
them already heading for greener pastures.
According to NMA, the medical drain is fuelled largely
by the state inability to tap qualified and trained human
resource through salary and perks and that it lacks a
clear-cut policies in health sector.
“The government has not reviewed its health policy
since 1985 and the posting of medics is based on the
old provision,” he added.
The doctor-patients ration in the countryside, outside the
Kathmandu Valley is even more worrisome with a doc-
tor having to serve at least 30,000 patients. In the urban
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
NEPAL
Opposition party protest leaves
indelible mark on Nepal’s economy
During strikes the otherwise bustling streets of Kathmandu remain empty. Only media vehicles are allowed continue operation. Journalists
where vest in order to not be attacked by protesters. Photo: Ingmar Zahorsky / CHINAsia Update
KATHMANDU (Xinhua) -- Though the three-day gen-
eral strike called by Nepal’s opposition party, the Unified
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), ends on Tuesday,
the protest will leave an indelible mark on the country’s
economy.
Since Sunday, Nepal has not imported or exported any
goods via its land entry points, causing the nation a loss
of millions of rupees daily in revenue.
Though data is yet to come in from all entry points,
Nepal’s state-run Rising Nepal daily Tuesday said the
main customs check post at Birgunj town in southern
Nepal alone had incurred a loss of 100 million rupees
(some 13.5 million U.S. dollars) daily.
Nepal’s tourism sector, that is gearing up to attract one
million visitors to Nepal in 2011, has been hit by the
strike that saw tourists stranded in towns outside the
capital and struggling with luggage to reach the interna-
tional airport in Kathmandu to catch their flights.
In Nagarkot town, a popular tourist destination, the
Hotel Association of Nepal said due to the strike there
were only about two dozen tourists when the town has
about 60 hotels.
Thamel, the hub of foreign tourists in Kathmandu, was
also affected by the strike that shut down restaurants,
shops, markets and transport.
Budget tourists, who eat outside their hotels, had a hard
time trying to obtain food.
Tour operators fear the returning tourists will leave with
4
an unfavorable impression, that will lead to the cancel-
lation of bookings in future.
The strike also saw Nepal’s chambers of commerce
and industries deciding to implement the policy of no
work, no pay during the time industries and businesses
remained shut.
The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce
and Industry ( FNCCI) and Birgunj Chambers of Com-
merce and Industry issued press statements, saying
industries would not pay workers for the unproductive
period.
While the trade union affiliated to the opposition party is
asking for the decision to be withdrawn, if implemented,
it would hit thousands of daily wage earners who live on
a subsistence level.
The Chamber of Commerce estimates that the country
faced an industrial loss of 1.2 billion rupees (some 16.2
million U.S. dollars) daily.
One of the hardest-hit industries is Nepal’s once flour-
ishing garments industry that saw nearly 90 percent
businesses shut down in the recent past after being hit
by disturbances and unable to deliver to ordering hous-
es in time.
Kush Kumar Joshi, chief of FNCCI, also says that if
strikes continue, they would cause the flight of capital
from Nepal.
Joshi also said that they would prevent foreign investors
from setting up shop in Nepal.  

Nepal launches campaign to help children of Haiti
KATHMANDU (Xinhua) -- While the
whole world is overcome by grief
for Haiti earthquake tragedy, Nepali
private organizations Wednesday
launched a campaign to support and
help the kids of Haiti who are suf-
fering due to the catastrophic earth-
quake.
Kidzeea, a kindergarten based in
the capital Kathmandu, together
with Lovers’ Association announced
to carry on this noble movement
at a press meet in Kathmandu on
Wednesday.
Following the experts’ concern over
Nepal being listed as one of the
most vulnerable zone of earthquake
due to unmanaged, unplanned and
unsystematic city settlement, the
duo private organizations persuaded
people to share selfless love and
care world-wide on this effect.
 “By campaigning to collect fund for
Haiti children, literally we are cam-
paigning to protect our Nepalese
children,” said Rakesh Upadhya,
Managing Director of Kidzeea
PM Nepal inaugurates Bagmati Action Plan
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal
KATHMANDU: The implementation
of the ambitious Bagmati Action Plan
(BAP) — aimed at cleaning the pol-
luted holy river — began today, with
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal
laying a foundation at Gokarna.
“I dream of being able to jog along
he Bagmati banks early morning,
breathing in fresh air. I guess, so
does everyone. I urge all to support
the government bid
of restoring the Bagmati to its origi-
nal pristine condition,” said the PM at
a function today.
The BAP was prepared by a team
of experts, in coordination with the
National Trust for Nature Conserva-
tion and the High Powered Commit-
tee for Integrated Development of
Bagmati Civilisation (HPCIDBC). PM
Nepal received financial and techni-
CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
NEPAL
Keeping in mind that Nepal could
also face the same fate of Haiti, the
organizers said, “Though we are
campaigning at the moment for Haiti
children, we want to protect the kids
of Nepal from earthquake in the fu-
ture by creating public awareness.”
According to Upadhya, the campaign
will continue for ten days, collecting
funds in public streets whatever they
can support.
The organizers will send the collect-
ed funds to Haiti children adhering
to United Nations representative and
media persons, Upadhya stressed.
However, he said that they have not
written any official letter to United
Nations, but are planning to coordi-
nate with UNICEF. “We have also
consult with Amod Mani Dixit, Execu-
tive Director of National Society for
Earthquake Technology (NSET) to
support us for creating awareness in
public regarding earthquake safety
techniques,” Upadhya added.
“We have already deposited 10,000
cal pledge from his Indian counter-
part Dr Man Mohan Singh during his
India visit in August. Contrary to the
agreement of the two premiers that
a technical team would conduct a
field visit of the Bagmati in Septem-
ber, such a team arrived here only in
December.
“The four-member team started a
field visit on December 16 and re-
turned on December 18. The team,
headed by the joint-secretary of
Ministry of Forest and Environment
of India, visited the field and held
meetings with officials and experts
here,” said Mahesh Basnet, HPCID-
BC chairman.
“The technical team will submit a
detailed report soon.” The govern-
ment, has, however, started the work
with its own funds. “The work will be
started immediately, while negotia-
tions with donors continue along-
5
rupees from our side in “ lovers’
coffer” for this noble reason and we
appeal to all Nepalese citizens to
give whatever they can,” said Abhit
Pyakurel, president of Lovers’ Asso-
ciation.
According to the latest report, the
Haitian government raised the death
toll in last week’s devastating earth-
quake to 75,000 on Tuesday.
Some 250,000 people were wound-
ed and a million more left homeless,
the Haitian Civil Defense Depart-
ment said in a statement.
The small Caribbean nation is in
desperate need of tents, water, food,
medical supplies and workers, the
statement said.
   
There have been no exact figures
about casualties after a 7.3- magni-
tude earthquake hit Haiti last Tues-
day. Haitian officials estimated that
the final death toll could reach be-
tween 100,000 and 200,000. 
side,” said Basnet. The action plan
is proposed to be executed at a cost
of Rs 14 billion over five years. The
government has allocated Rs 280
million for the project.
As per a new arrangement, 0.5 per
cent will be levied on land and house
deals in the Valley during registra-
tion, to be spent on the sanitation
project. In the first phase, the project
will be implemented in the Gokarna-
Guheshwori area, constructing sew-
age canals, roads, greenbelt, check
dam and embankment within 15
months.
The Sharma and Lama Construc-
tion Company has been contracted
to undertake the project. In the first
phase, a 3.2 km sewage canal, 1.8
km road, 1.65 km embankment and
two check dams will be constructed.
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
CHINA
Chinese President Hu Jintao
delivers New Year address
BEIJING, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu
Jintao urged maintaining steady and relatively fast eco-
nomic development in a New Year address broadcast
Thursday to domestic and overseas audience via state
TV and radio stations.
He said in 2009, in the face of global financial crisis,
Chinese people of all ethnic groups united together and
firmly adhered to maintaining steady and relatively fast
economic development as the primary task in economic
work.
Chinese President Hu Jintao delivers a New Year address titled
“Jointly Create a Better Future for World Peace and Development”
which is broadcasted to domestic and overseas audiences via state TV
and radio stations, in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 31, 2009. (Xinhua
Photo)
“People’s life continued to improve and the society
was kept harmonious and stable,” said Hu in the ad-
dress, titled “Jointly Create A Beautiful Future of World
Peace and Development,” broadcast by China Radio
International, China Central Television, and China Na-
tional Radio..
Hu said that the year 2010 is the last year of the
country’s 11th Five-Year Plan period and the country
will continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy and a
moderately easy monetary policy.
Hu added that the country will stick to the guidelines
of “one country, two systems”, “Hong Kong people gov-
erning Hong Kong”, “Macao people governing Macao”
and a high degree of autonomy to maintain long-term
prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macao.
6
He said the policy of “peaceful reunification and one
country, two systems” will be adhered to and exchanges
and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait will be en-
hanced to bring more benefits to people on both sides.
“I’d like to solemnly reiterate that China will hold high
the flag of peace, development and cooperation and
firmly adhere to the foreign policy of maintaining world
peace and promoting common development,” Hu said.
He said China will develop friendly cooperation with
all other countries on the basis of the five principles of
co-existence and continue to actively participate in inter-
national cooperation on issues such as coping with the
international financial crisis and climate change.
“We will work with people of all countries to jointly pro-
mote the construction of a harmonious world of lasting
peace and common prosperity,” said Hu.
He said at this moment, there are still people in the
world who are suffering from war, poverty, disease and
natural calamities. The Chinese people are deeply sym-
pathetic and will continue to do all they can to help them.
A New Year tea party is held in Beijing, China, on Jan. 1,
2010, by the National Committee of the Chinese People’s
Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Chinese Presi-
dent Hu Jintao (C) and other leaders Wu Bangguo, Wen Jia-
bao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He
Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang, all members of the Standing
Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party
of China (CPC) Central Committee, attended the tea party.
(Xinhua Photo)
An article by Hu on Party building in a new situation
will be published in Qiu Shi (Seeking Truth), an official
magazine of the Communist Party of China Central
Committee, on Jan. 1, 2010.
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
CHINA
Chinese, South Korean leaders
exchange New Year greetings
President Hu Jintao exchanged congratulatory messag-
es with his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak on
the occasion of Friday’s New Year celebration.
In the message, Hu said China and South Korea are
good neighbors and their relations have made much
headway in recent years.
The two countries have maintained frequent high-level
exchanges, strengthened their political mutual trust,
conducted increasingly close communication and coop-
eration in various fields and carried out effective coor-
dination and cooperation on international and regional
issues, Hu said.
“During my visit to your country in 2008, we decided to
take the Shanghai Expo and Yeosu Expo as an oppor-
tunity to set 2010 and2012 as Visit China Year and Visit
Korea Year respectively,” said Hu.
China is willing to cooperate with the South Korean side
to make the Visit China Year a happy, colorful and spe-
cial event, to enhance mutual understanding and friend-
China-ASEAN free trade
area starts operation
NANNING: China and the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) kicked off the world’s largest
free trade area (FTA) embracing developing countries
Friday as businessmen and trucks loaded with vegeta-
bles and fruits thronged border markets.
Dozens of trucks, mostly carrying dragonfruit from Vi-
etnam, were waiting to be unloaded Friday morning at
the Tianyuan Fruit Trade Market, one of China’s largest
market for fruit import, at the Pingxiang Port in Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region.
“The establishment of the free trade area is really good
news for me,” said Liu Yuzhen, who has been trading
fruits for 16 years.
She now sells more than 10 tonnes of apples, pears, or-
anges and other fruits to southeast Asia every day, and
hopes her business will expand as the FTA will facilitate
the customs clearance and reduce the logistics cost.
The China-ASEAN FTA covers a population of 1 billion
and involves about $450 million of trade volume.
7
ship between the Chinese and South Korean peoples,
he added.
Lee said in his message that China-South Korean ties
have been developing rapidly since the two countries
established diplomatic relations in 1992. Currently the
relationship has been upgraded to a “strategic coopera-
tive partnership”.
The two sides should continue to enrich the content of
their relations, and expand cooperation on regional and
international affairs, he said.
South Korea thinks the success of the Shanghai Expo
in 2010 will lead to the success of South Korea’s Yeosu
Expo in 2012, thus it will give full support to the Chinese
side in its preparation, Lee said.
He also hopes the two expos will encourage the two
countries to expand cultural exchanges and practical
cooperation in the future.
Editor: Fang Yang / Xinhua
The average tariff on goods from the ASEAN countries
is cut down to 0.1 percent from 9.8 percent. The six
original ASEAN members, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia,
the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, will slash the
average tariff on Chinese goods from 12.8 percent to 0.6
percent.
By 2015, the policy of zero-tariff rate for 90 percent of
traded goods is expected to extend between China and
four new ASEAN members, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar
and Vietnam.
Vice Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said earlier the
establishment of the FTA will promote the regional eco-
nomic integration, benefiting companies and consumers.
China and the ASEAN launched their cooperation dia-
logue in 1991 and signed the China-ASEAN Framework
Agreement on Comprehensive Cooperation in 2002.

China, Nepal agree to lift bilateral ties to higher level
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Ne-
pal at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 29, 2009. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
BEIJING, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- China
and its southwestern neighbor Ne-
pal on Tuesday agreed to lift their
bilateral relationship to a higher
level by establishing comprehensive
and cooperative partnership.
The decision came when Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao and Nepali
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Ne-
pal held talks following a red-carpet
welcome ceremony for Nepal in the
Great Hall of the People in down-
town Beijing.
The newly-established compre-
hensive and cooperative partnership
signals closer ties between China
and Nepal, which used to enjoy
good-neighborly partnership.
Wen and Nepal also witnessed
a signing ceremony of two agree-
ments on youth exchange and eco-
nomic cooperation after their talks.
Nepal arrived in Lhasa, capital
of southwest China’s Tibet Autono-
mous Region Saturday, kicking off
his six-day China tour, also the first
official visit to China since he be-
came prime minister of the Hima-
layan nation in May this year.
The Nepali prime minister ar-
rived in Beijing Monday for talks and
meetings with Chinese leaders.
In the one-hour talks, Premier
Wen hailed the sound development
of bilateral ties since China and Ne-
pal forged diplomatic ties 54 years
CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
CHINA
ago, saying the two countries have
become good neighbors, friends
and partners.
Under the new circumstances, it is
in the fundamental interests of both
countries and peoples to consoli-
date traditional friendship and deep-
en comprehensive cooperation, said
Wen.
Wen urged the two countries
to further enhance cooperation in
various levels and promote non-
governmental exchanges, youth
exchanges in particular, in a bid to
make the lasting friendship deeply
rooted among the two peoples.
China will take measures to pro-
mote export of the Nepali products
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L, front) and Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal
(R, front) review the honor guard during a welcoming ceremony held for Nepal at the
Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 29, 2009. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
8
to China and encourage Chinese
firms to participate in Nepal’s infra-
structure construction, said Wen,
highlighting potential cooperation
fields on such areas as mountain
agriculture and animal husbandry,
animal and plant quarantine and
personnel training.
Wen said China respects the so-
cial system and development path
chosen by the Nepali people, firmly
supports the efforts Nepal has made
for safeguarding sovereignty and
territorial integrity, and will continue
to provide assistance for Nepal’s
social and economic development.
The Nepali prime minister ap-
preciated China’s long-term assist-
ance, saying the comprehensive
and cooperative partnership means
that the relations between Nepal
and China will be pushed to a new
height.
Nepal said his country would
advance cooperation with China in
a comprehensive manner and boost
bilateral ties.
Nepal reiterated that his coun-
try would adhere to the one-China
policy and believe Taiwan and Tibet
are inalienable parts of the Chinese
territory, adding Nepal would never
allow any force to use Nepal’s terri-
tory to conduct anti-China activities.
Nepal is due to meet with Chi-
nese President Hu Jintao and top
legislator Wu Bangguo respec-
tively on Wednesday, and then fly to
China’s financial hub Shanghai, the
last leg of his visit.
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010

CHINA

Tibet’s Sharpa people: from porters to

foreign trade bosses
By Zhang Mingyu

BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Residing in Tibet’s
Zham Town are the people of the Sharpa ethnic group
who used to live a primitive life with slash-and-burn culti-
vation before the founding of New China in 1949.
into an economic special zone, known as an “interna-
tional mountainous city” in the Tibet Autonomous Re-
gion.
The 48-year-old Director of the Bum Villagers’ Commit-
tee Norbu has witnessed the tremendous changes tak-
ing place in Sharpa people’s living environment.

“When I was young, streets were awash with barracks

or mud-and-straw huts with leaking roofs in rainy days.
Villagers had to be very cautious in doing cooking be-
cause a little spurting spark might burn up the whole
house. But now you see, from barracks to brick-and-tile
houses and to today’s reinforced concrete cement build-
ings -- How fast our local economy has grown during
these years!”

Sangdroje, 41, was a member of the second group of

students in Tibet who received education in China’s
hinterland. After completing his study in Yangzhou city,
eastern China’s Jiangsu Province, he bought a store
handling import and export commodities. Now, he has
personal assets valued at nearly two million yuan and
owns a four-storey house.

He said it is the government’s policy of encouraging

people to become prosperous that has offered him an
Photo shows a glimpse of Zham Town, a habitation for the Sharpa opportunity to challenge his fate.
ethnic group in the Tibet Autonomous Region. (Photo Source: tibet.
cn)

“I was born and brought up in my hometown. Genera-

tions of Sharpa people engaged in agriculture and ani-
mal husbandry in deep mountains and dense forests.
Without any road accessible to our town, villagers had to
walk from Nylam to Nepal by carrying their farm prod-
ucts on their backs in exchange of food. Nylam was 30
km away from the China-Nepal border and it usually
took 10 days for us to carry back a package of rice via
the mountain pass.”

“That is really an unforgettable experience in my life,”

said Dorbola, 75, director of the town’s Lixin Villagers’
Committee.

The Sharpa ethnic group, with a population of 1,200,

mainly live in Lixin Township in the Zham port of entry
on the China-Nepal border, and in Zhentang District of
Dinggye County, Xigaze Prefecture, southwestern Tibet.
“Sharpa” means oriental in the Tibetan language. The
Sharpa people have their native language without the
written form. The Tibetan language is commonly used in
their daily life.
After the democratic reform was launched in Tibet in
1959, those “porters living at the foot of the Himalayas”
began to go outside to do various kinds of foreign trade
business, such as developing border tourism and run-
ning stores or family-run hotels.
In the past decades, the former wilderness has turned
The Sharpa ethnic group, with a population of 1,200, mainly live in Lixin
Township in the Zham port of entry on the China-Nepal border, and in
Zhentang District of Dinggye County, Xigaze Prefecture, southwestern
Tibet. (Photo Source: chinatibetnews.com)
“As a child, I always followed my parents in herding in
pastoral areas on the mountain. We had to move about
in search of pastures from time to time. It was so back-
breaking in those days that we didn’t know what our to-
morrow would be like. If the government had not encour-
aged us to go out of the mountains to undertake border
trade, we would probably still have led in nomadic life
today and we could not have made so much money
even if we toiled to death,” Sangdroje added.

9
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
CHINA
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang Answers Ques-
tions about United Nations Climate Change Conference
The Climate Change Conference was just conclud-
ed. What is your comment on the conference? And
what role did China play at the conference?
A: The Copenhagen Conference is an important oppor-
tunity for international cooperation on tackling climate
change. Thanks to the joint efforts of all parties, the
conference produced important and positive outcomes.
First, the framework and principles established by the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change and its Kyoto Protocol, especially the principle
of “common but differentiated responsibilities”, were
firmly upheld. Second, new steps were taken in rela-
tion to the mandatory emission reductions by developed
countries and voluntary mitigation actions by developing
countries. Third, broad consensus was reached on such
focal issues as the global long-term target, financial and
technological support, and transparency.
Premier Wen Jiabao attended the high-level session
of the conference. This fully shows that the Chinese
government has a strong sense of responsibility to the
Chinese people, people of the world and the future of
mankind. Premier Wen Jiabao delivered an important
speech at the conference. He outlined comprehensively
the Chinese government’s position, views and meas-
ures on the issue of climate change. He also engaged
in close contacts, communication and coordination with
other parties. He called upon all sides to bear in mind
the larger interest, strengthen confidence, respect each
other and conduct equal consultations. He appealed
to all to build consensus, seek common ground while
reserving differences, and strive for achievements at
the conference in line with the principle of “common but
differentiated responsibilities” and the spirit of win-win
cooperation. With sincerity, resolve and confidence,
China made every effort and did all that was possible for
the conference. It played an active and constructive role
in pushing forward the conference along the right track,
and made important contributions to solidifying and en-
hancing international cooperation on combating climate
change.
Q: It was reported that the draft of the Copenhagen
Accord was first agreed in private among the BASIC
countries (China included) and the United States
before it was submitted to the conference, and other
countries, especially the small island states and
least developed countries were not consulted. There
was a lack of transparency. Was that true?
A: These comments do not square with facts. They are
irresponsible and are made out of hidden motives.
China had always participated in the negotiations and
consultations with a cooperative, responsible and con-
structive spirit, and maintained close communication and
coordination with all parties. As a developing country,
China firmly upheld the principle of “common but dif-
ferentiated responsibilities”, steadfastly defended the
development right and interests of developing countries
and unswervingly safeguarded the unity and coordina-
tion among developing countries. China had thorough,
transparent and unimpeded communication with other
10
developing countries. Based on full consultations with
other developing countries and the Group of 77, the
BASIC countries, which include China, India, South
Africa and Brazil, jointly presented a draft text to the
relevant parties at the very beginning of the conference.
Premier Wen Jiabao had a long meeting with the leaders
of some small island states, least developed countries
and African countries in Copenhagen to listen to their
opinions. He expressed full understanding and firm sup-
port for their legitimate demands, and stated that China
would continue to support and help them to the best of
its ability within the framework of South-South coopera-
tion and through bilateral channels. China’s position and
propositions were widely supported and appreciated by
other developing countries.
Q: Although the Copenhagen Conference produced
results, some differences still exist. Where do you
think the negotiations and related international co-
operation will go next?
A: Tackling climate change is a long and arduous en-
deavor. The Copenhagen Conference is not an end, but
a new beginning. All parties should continue to demon-
strate political sincerity, stick to the principles enshrined
in the Convention and the Protocol, follow the Bali Road-
map, and earnestly fulfill respective commitments and
honor due obligations through unremitting efforts. China
is committed to the path of sustainable development,
and will work with the international community to make
active contributions to the historical proce
Q: It is reported that on December 20, the British Cli-
mate Change Secretary Ed Miliband published an ar-
ticle on the Guardian Newspaper, accusing China of
“hijacking” the negotiations at the Climate Change
Conference in Copenhagen. Do you have any com-
ment on that?
A: Thanks to the concerted efforts of all parties, the
Copenhagen Conference yielded fruit, reached broad
consensus and won support from the vast number of de-
veloping countries. China made arduous efforts to push
forward the progress of the Conference, and contributed
to safeguarding the interests of the vast number of de-
veloping countries and adhering to the international con-
sensus, which is obvious to all and beyond any doubt.
The remarks against China by an individual British politi-
cian contained obvious political scheme to shirk respon-
sibilities towards the developing countries, and provoke
discord among the developing countries. Their attempt
will come to nothing. We urge them to correct mistakes,
fulfill their obligations to the developing countries in an
earnest way, and stay away from activities that hinder
the cooperation in coping with climate change by the
international community.
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Peoples Republic of
China
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
ASIA
S. Korean ex-wartime sex slaves
fight on, as time runs out
By Kim Junghyun
SEOUL (Xinhua) -- For a handful of grizzled South
Korean grannies, most of them getting even feebler
over the years, it never mattered if it rained or shined on
Wednesdays.
And this Wednesday, just when the nation’s temperature
dropped to a 6-year low, the freezing cold weather did
not matter either to the grannies, who once again came
out and gathered in front of the Japanese Embassy in
downtown Seoul for the 900th time.
In the record-setting 900th protest of what became
known as “Wednesday Demonstration,” the grannies,
who were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese
soldiers when their country was under Japan’s colonial
occupation, delivered the non-changing message to the
Japanese embassy, whose door remained as tight-shut
as ever: They want official apologies and legal compen-
sation from the Japanese government.
About 200,000 women are believed to have been forced into enslaved
prostitution during WWII from across greater E. Asia, but predomi-
nately Korea. Source: Hanopolis.com
“The number 900 is closer to despair than to hope, when
we think of all those past years when the issue remained
unresolved,” said an activist from the Korea Council for
the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan,
established in 1988.
“But we stand here today as if we are starting out
again,” she said. “There should never be the 1,000th
protest.”
South Korean sex slaves, whose number the govern-
ment in the 1990s said stood at 234, were among some
100,000 to 200,000 Asian women coerced to provide
sexual service to the Imperial Japanese Army, with
Tokyo’s then-military government backing rape camp
operations for 13 years.
Even after Japan’s colonial rule in August 1945 at the
end of the war, survivors of the degrading slavery, often
euphemistically called “comfort women,” had to live in
ensuing humiliation back home, where a deep-rooted
taboo against being sexually violated has long stifled
any call for justice.
11
But South Korean civic groups and individual activists
brought the issue to the surface in early 1990s, and
weekly protests have been held since Jan. 8, 1992,
which gradually grew into a bigger, more global move-
ment with activists in Japan, Germany, the United States
and South Africa joining hands.
Meanwhile, the number of South Korean survivors has
decreased, leaving only 88 women mostly in their eight-
ies and nineties.
“It’s sad that more and more grannies pass away over
the years. Hopefully the issue will be settled when
at least some of them are alive,” Park Woong-seo, a
27-year-old Seoulite, told Xinhua.
While the Japanese government has not yet extended
a proper apology and the South Korean government re-
mains reluctant to bring up the touchy issue on diplomat-
ic concerns, the Wednesday protests and global solidar-
ity have led to some significant accomplishments such
as UN’s continued call for compensation for former sex
slaves, according to Yoon Mi-hyang, the representative
of the Korea Council for the Women Drafted for Military
Sexual Slavery by Japan.
Former “comfort women” held their 900th rally yesterday in front of
the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Wednesday.
Source: Hanopolis.com
“Hopes are higher than ever, as Japanese Prime Minis-
ter Yukio Hatoyama pledged to make a law on solving
comfort women’s issues when he was still an opposition
lawmaker,” Yoon told Xinhua, adding that only legislation
would prevent politically motivated flip-flopping.
Her council will organize campaigns to push for legisla-
tion in Japan, with an aim to get 500,000 people sign the
petition, she said.
Whether new campaigns can bear fruit or not, the gran-
nies, for whom time is slowly running out, will be there
next Wednesday, rain or shine.
“Your support helps me live on, day by day. Thank you
all,” one of the former sex slaves said during the protest.
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
ASIA
Thousands rally in Indonesia to express
discontent with gov’t work
JAKARTA, Jan. 28, 2010 (Xinhua) -- People hold banners during a rally in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, Jan. 28, 2010. The demonstrators appealed to
improve their living standard.
JAKARTA, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of students,
activists and labors took to the streets in Jakarta and
some other cities in Indonesia on Thursday, criticizing
the first 100-day work of the government.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and
his supporters said that the success of the governmant’s
work could not be totally valued in the short period only.
Over 5,200 policemen, soldiers and security quards
have been dispatched to secure a peaceful rally, accord-
ing to the police chief of central jakarta district who only
gave his name as Firli.
Responding on the protests, President Yudhoyono said
that he would like to be criticized, but it was not fair to
value whether the government was successful or not
based on its work for 100 days only. “I’d like to to be
criticized, without criticism we could not move forward.
The 100-day program is not an extraordinary thing,”
said Yudhoyono in Banten province. The new cabinet
has determined directions, priorities and agenda of the
five-year term in the first 100 days of the cabinet work.
“There must be criteria, measures to determine the suc-
cess of the government,”said Yudhoyono.
Dozens of pro-Yudhoyono people also staged a rally
outside the State Palace.
Indonesian parliament inquiry team, comprising those
12
from political parties across the board, has investigated
the appropriatness of the 6.7 trillion rupiah (some 730
million U.S. dollars) bailout and the legality of the flow of
the funds.
President Yudhoyono stressed that he support the in-
quiry and dismissed a speculation that the rescue funds
were used for his presidential campaign.
Yudhoyono has warned the parliament that it cannot
easily impeach him, there were conditions that had to be
met for it.
President Yudhoyono has created stability and cracked
down on rampant corruption, overhauled police, Attorney
General Office and other legal institution.
Yudhoyono who was re-elected for his second term on
July 8 last year pledged to continue and strenghten re-
forms as his efforts to attract investment.
Indonesia’s economy had grown at an average of 5.7
percent in his first term. Indonesia’s economy is forecast
to grow 4.3 percent in 2009 and 5.5 percent in 2010,
after growing 6.1 percent in 2008.
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
ASIA
India to set up National Counter Terrorism Center by 2010
NEW DELHI: In the wake of terror threats looming in the
country, India Wednesday expressed the need of bifur-
cation of its Home Ministry to deal with internal security
better and set up National Counter Terrorism Center
(NCTC) by the end of 2010.
“Subjects not directly related to internal security should
be dealt with by a separate ministry or should be brought
under a separate department in the Ministry of Home Af-
fairs and dealt with by a minister, more or less independ-
ently, without referring every issue to the home minister.
The home minister should devote the whole of his time
and energy to matters relating to security,” Indian Home
Minister P. Chidambaram said in the national capital.
Stressing that terror attacks or even threats are mostly
hurting civilians, the minister proposed the formation of
National Counter Terrorism Center by the end of 2010,
and suggested sweeping powers for it to be the nodal
agency tackling terror in India.
“Such an organization does not exist today and it has to
Kim inspects army unit stressing enhancing combat capability
PYONGYANG (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Il, top leader of the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), in-
spected the command of Korean People’s Army Large
Combined Unit 630, the official news agency KCNA
reported on Monday.
Kim said all the soldiers of the unit have discharged their
duty in a responsible manner, guarding with high vigi-
lance, against possible aggression by enemies. He also
set tasks for the unit as guidelines to increase its combat
capability.
Kim visited the library and other entertainment and
cultural facilities. He was very pleased to hear that all
Philippines hopes for progress in next peace talks with MILF
MANILA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine government
on Saturday expressed hope that a new round of peace
talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the
largest rebel group in the country, in Kuala Lumpur next
month could reach an agreement.
Manila and the MILF ended their talks abruptly in Kuala
Lumpur on Thursday without reaching a peace agree-
ment that would put an end to decades of bloody conflict
in the restive southern region of Mindanao.
Chief government negotiator Rafael Seguis spoke on
local radio dzRH that they agreed to study each other’s
draft peace agreements seriously when they return to
the negotiating table on February 18 to 19.
Seguis said the failure to reach an agreement at their
last meeting in Malaysia does not mean the peace proc-
13
be created from scratch. I am told that the United States
was able to do it within 36 months from September 11,
2001. India cannot afford to wait for 36 months. India
must decide now to go forward and India must succeed
in setting up the NCTC by the end of 2010,” Chidambar-
am said.
“Twelve to 13 terror attacks neutralized in 2009 which
could have been like Mumbai or Delhi attacks. Sooner
than you think, there might be another crisis like the
hijack of IC-814 and we need to restructure the security
apparatus to avert such tragedies, “ he added.
The minister also said India needed more foot soldiers to
fight terrorism as the response during last November’s
Mumbai terror attacks, which claimed the lives of over
170 people, was inadequate.
“We need to recruit 400,000 policemen. They all need
to be well trained and equipped. It’s better to have no
policeman rather than having a bad one,” he said.
the soldiers of the unit have become avid readers. “The
revolutionary habit of reading established in the whole
army is an unusual feature which can be found only in
our army,” he said.
Kim also praised the unit as an exemplary unit not only
in military training, but political and ideological education
as well.
Kim also inspected the renovated Hyangsan Hotel and
enjoyed an art performance given by KPA Itinerant Youth
Art Squad, the KCNA reported.
ess is over.
“The peace process is not over yet,” he said. “We just
haven’t had the chance to talk. we have different ideas
on how to forge a peace pact.”
The MILF has been fighting government troops for dec-
ades to establish a separate Muslim state in the south of
the predominantly Catholic country. Peace talks between
the government and the MILF has broken down since
August 2008 following the aborted signing of the Memo-
randum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.
However, efforts are being undertaken by both sides to
revive the talks. A final peace deal with the government
will touch the issues of autonomy and resettlement of
the rebel group’s 11,800- strong guerrilla fighters.
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010

Editorial

14
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
WORLD
World leaders deliver greetings as
people celebrate new year
Xinhua --As people across the world are embracing the
New Year, world leaders expressed their wishes for a
better year in 2010.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak pledged on
Thursday to table two initiatives to boost the country’s
economy in the year 2010.
“It is imperative for its future prosperity that Malaysia up-
lifts itself in the global economic value chain,” Najib said
in his New Year message.
“Forging ahead means creating a knowledge-based
economy driven by high capacity for creativity, innova-
tion and added value,” he said.
Admitting that Malaysia has not fully recovered from the
economic downturn, the Malaysian leader said there
are signs indicating that the country is moving out of the
gloom as it recorded positive economic growth from the
fourth quarter of 2009.
New Zealand’s Governor-General Anand Satyanand
sees the New Year as a fitting time to highlight the coun-
try’s emerging new leaders.
In his New Year message, Satyanand said 2010 would
be significant for New Zealand. “We have sensed a
firm feeling of nationhood and of optimism that extends
beyond individual hopes, for our communities and our
country.”
“In particular we have observed the contribution of
younger New Zealanders,” he added.
The New Year break was not just a time to relax and
take time off from the challenge of the economic crisis,
he said. “It is a time to cement the bonds between those
we care about and to invest time and thought into our
relationships with young New Zealanders,” he said.
In Pyongyang, capital of the Democratic People’s Re-
public of Korea, a concert was held on Thursday to
celebrate the new year.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in his New
Year’s message on Thursday that Russia will move
forward on the path to a “smart economy” as the country
emerges from the worst recession in a decade.
Medvedev said his country will keep moving forward to
create “a strong and modern state “as well as “a stable
and smart economy.”
“We will do everything to ensure a safe and comfortable
life for everyone,” he said, calling on Russians to seize
new opportunities in 2010 as Russia’s success depends
on every single person of the country and the efforts
made by everyone for his or her family and country.
Russia, whose economy is heavily dependent on energy
resources, was hard hit by the global economic down-
turn as oil prices collapsed in late 2008. Official statistics
show that Russia’s gross domestic product shrank by
15
8.5 percent in 2009.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy also promised a “year
of renewal” in 2010 in the traditional New Year’s Eve ad-
dress to the nation on Thursday night.
He vowed to reform the pension system, to implement
carbon tax law and to preserve the manufacturing in-
dustry in 2010. “France has overcome the worst and will
also prepare for the future,” Sarkozy told national televi-
sion.
Since the economic crisis attacked Europe’s second
largest economy, the French government has thrown in
billions of euros to combat the economic slump.
“We’ll be pragmatic, watchful, reactive, and if more
needs to be done, we’ll do it,” the president said, adding
that “more initiatives will be taken” with the sovereign
fund to brace up French industry.
Nearly 30,000 police officers have been mobilized in
France to prevent public disturbances such as car torch-
ing occurred last year.
Some 8,000 police were stationed in Paris and its ma-
jor suburbs, especially on posts along the famous Av-
enue des Champs-Elysee and under the sparkling Eiffel
Tower.
Jan 1, 2010 (Xinhua) -- Fireworks explode beside the London Eye by the
River Thames in London during New Year celebrations Jan. 1, 2010. More
than 200,000 revellers gathered here from Thursday evening to Friday
morning to welcome the year 2010 amid spectacular firework displays.
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, in his New Year
speech Thursday, congratulated all Albanians on the
achievements made in the past year and wished them a
happy and prosperous new year.
Albania joined NATO in April 2009. It held a peaceful
general election in June, though its results are still being
disputed by the opposition, which claimed that the proc-
ess was manipulated.
The West Balkan country also applied for membership of
the European Union in 2009.
“The year we are leaving behind is great and blessed.
And it brings us faith, pride, hope and confidence that
next year will be more prosperous for us Albanians,”
Berisha said.
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
WORLD
World’s pending questions in 2010
BEIJING (Xinhua) -- As the world is entering a new
year, people can predict upcoming hotspot issues by
looking into current pending questions, which may lead
the directions of the world development in year 2010.
G20’S ROLE The 2010 talks should concentrate on working out a
Chinese President Hu Jintao (R5 Front) poses for photos with other par-
ticipants during the Group of 20 (G20) Financial Summit in Pittsburgh
of the U.S., Sept. 25, 2009. (Xinhua Photo)
In June and November next year, the Group of Twenty
(G20) is to hold summits respectively in Toronto, Cana-
da, and Seoul, South Korea. Is it prepared to expand its
influence to cover the fields of international politics and
security?
The G20 accounts for 90 percent of the global GDP, 80
percent of the international trade volume, and two thirds
of the world population. It was confirmed as the main
platform for addressing world economic issues at the
Pittsburgh summit in September in the United States.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has stated that
not only economic issues, but those of energy, resourc-
es, climate change, foods and poverty, are to be dis-
cussed at future G20 summits. He believes that the G20
has become the center of the world system after the
financial crisis, and is the supreme body of collaboration
for sustainable and balanced growth.
RESULT OF CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS
People walk past a globe at the venue of the United Nations Climate
Change Conference in Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, December 19,
2009. (Xinhua/Xie Xiudong)
The UN climate change conference is to be held in
Mexico in December 2010. Can it complete the tasks
unfinished in Copenhagen?
16
After two weeks of arduous marathon negotiations,
world leaders finally hatched the Copenhagen Accord, a
non-binding political document which represents the lat-
est consensus in the climate change talks.
definite legal term to clarify developed countries’ obliga-
tion for their specific second-phase emission reduction
targets according to the Kyoto Protocol. Moreover, the
2010 talks would face the job of adopting certain regula-
tions for implementing the developed countries’ promise
to financially assist the developing countries in tackling
the climate change.
U.S. PLANNED WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ
U.S.President Barack Obama meets with Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington Oct. 20,
2009.(Xinhua Photo)
The United States has planned to withdraw all its com-
bating troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010. How-
ever, the current severe security situation and unstable
political situation in the Middle East state are challenging
the U.S. plan.
Parliamentary elections to be held on March 7 will
largely decide the situation in Iraq. However, the struggle
among the Shiites, the Sunnis and the Kurds in the dis-
tribution of powers is an unpredictable element beyond
the U.S. control.
U.S. NEW STRATEGY IN AFGHANISTAN
U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a nationally televised address
at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, Dec. 1, 2009.
Obama said on Tuesday he is sending 30,000 more U.S. troops to
Afghanistan by next summer to speed the battle against the Taliban
and plans to start bringing some home in 18 months. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)
Year 2010 will be a crucial one for the United States’
strenuous efforts for success in Afghanistan.
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010

WORLD

U.S. President Barack Obama announced his revised
strategy in Afghanistan in December 2009. According
to the strategy, 30,000 additional U.S. troops would be
deployed to the war-plagued country in the first half of
2010 to wage a rapid repression of the Taliban and save
the “deteriorating” situation.
must be first established, while the U.S. says the DPRK
should first abandon its nuclear programs.
However, both parties have recently shown a willingness
to return to dialogue and coordination, in place of earlier
confrontation.

However, foreign troops are facing uncertain surround-

ings in Afghanistan. Due to their unscrupulous military
actions which often result in civilian fatalities, the Afghan
public’s anti foreign sentiment and discontent with the
government have reached the highest level since the
downfall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

IRAN’S NUCLEAR ISSUE

Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special envoy to the Democratic People’s Re-

public of Korea (DPRK), addresses a press conference in Seoul, capital
of South Korea, on Dec. 10, 2009. Bosworth said Thursday that the U.S.
and the DPRK reached a common understanding on the need for resum-
ing the six-party talks and implementing the Joint Statement of Septem-
ber 2005. (Xinhua/He Lulu)

The six-party negotiations, without doubt, are the best

A video grab image shows Iran test-firing its Sejil-2 missile. (Xinhua/
AFP Photo)
Will the international community boast wisdom and tac-
tics to break the deadlock over the Iranian nuclear issue
in the coming year?
means to settle the nuclear standoff, and all six coun-
tries have expressed the wish to reopen the talks.
Analysts say all parties should focus on building a mech-
anism of permanent peace on the peninsula when talks
resume.
PALESTINIAN DOMESTIC DISPUTES

In November 2009, the International Atomic Energy

Agency (IAEA)’s request for Iran to stop constructing
new uranium enrichment facilities was rejected by Iran.
As for another IAEA proposal which asks Iran to ship
most of its existing low-grade enriched uranium to Rus-
sia and France, where it would be processed into fuel
rods with a purity of 20 percent, Iran has adopted an
equivocal attitude.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said re-

cently that Iran did not oppose exchanging nuclear fuels
with the Western countries in Turkey. However, the miti-
gated stance still does not meet the IAEA’s request.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatallah Seyyed Ali Khamnei

stressed that his country would never give up nuclear
right, nor do anything that satisfies enemies.

Actions by the United States seem inevitable in 2010,

since the U.S. has warned of new sanctions if Iran does
not accept the nuclear fuel exchange draft by the end of
2009.

NUCLEAR ISSUE ON KOREAN PENINSULA

It is still unclear whether the six-party talks to end nu-

clear tensions on the Korean Peninsula will resume in
2010.
The main obstruction is disagreement between the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and
the United States on who should take the first step.
The DPRK insists a peaceful DPRK-U.S. relationship
File photo of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks to the media
in the West Bank city of Ramallah October 19, 2009. Anger among
Palestinians over Abbas’s original position on a Gaza war report critical
of Israel has cost him public support in a rivalry with Hamas. (Xinhua/
Reuters File Photo)

17
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
WORLD

Palestine will hold presidential and parliamentary elec-
tions in June 2010. Many hope the elections will bring
reconciliation among Palestine’s domestic factions and
lead to a restart in Palestine-Israel negotiations.
The elections previously were slated for Jan. 24, but
were postponed to June due to disputes between Pales-
tine’s different parties.
Nigel Inkster, an expert with the International Institute for
Strategic Studies, said a Conservative Party government
would adopt more practical foreign policies. Analysts say
both will focus domestic policies on deficit cutting and
employment boosting, if successful.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, faces a growing

electoral threat from Fatah, which has been gaining sup-
port among voters due to its anti-corruption and other
reform policies. However, Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas’
reluctance to stand in the elections has cast a cloud over
the movement’s prospects.

In the short run, no matter which side wins, the elec-

tions would help boost unification and settle disputes
among the Palestinian people. In the long run, only a
unified Palestinian government can restart the long-
stalled Palestine-Israel peace talks.
U.S. MIDTERM ELECTIONS
Britain’s Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, left, speaks to Afghanistan
President Hamid Karzai during a press conference at Kandahar Airbase
on Sunday Dec. 13, 2009 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Gordon Brown trav-
elled to Afghanistan for an unannounced pre-Christmas visit to British
troops which was followed by talks with Afghanistan President Hamid
Karzai. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

JAPANESE POLITICAL SITUATION

Japan will hold an election for its upper house in sum-

mer, 2010. The performance of the ruling Democratic
Party of Japan (DPJ) will affect Japan’s political stability.

The DPJ secured a landslide in the lower house election

in August, marking the first substantial transfer of power
in Japan since World War II.

Barack Obama swears in as the 44th president of the United States of

America in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. Jan. 20, 2009.
(Xinhua/Zhang Yan)

The United States will hold midterm elections in Novem-

ber 2010,to choose all House members, a third of its
Senators, some governors and state legislatures.

The elections will be an acid test for the Obama govern-

ment and the ruling Democratic Party, and can serve as
a “weather vane” of U.S. political trends.
If the Democratic Party performs well, it will help Obama
push forward his reform policies. Otherwise, the Obama
administration will lose some momentum.
Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama speaks during a news confer-
ence at his official residence in Tokyo December 25, 2009. Japan ap-
proved on Friday a record draft budget for next year that will inflate the
country’s already huge debt by about $484 billion, as the prime minister
vowed to battle on despite a scandal and sliding support rates.(Xinhua/
Reuters Photo)

BRITISH GENERAL ELECTION
Britain will hold a general election before June 2010,
with the governing Labour Party facing defeat by the
Conservative Party.
The Labour Party has ruled the country since 1997, and
more and more Britons hope to see a change to the
country’s political map.
The approval rate for the Hatoyama Cabinet has been
hurt by falsification of the DPJ’s political fund reports and
lack of progress in repositioning U.S. forces in Okinawa.
But experts say the government’s strong numerical lead
over opposition parties means it is unlikely to be threat-
ened in the short term.

A lawmakers’ expenses scandal, the Iraq War and the

War in Afghanistan have dented the ruling party’s image.
Opinion polls show the Conservatives lead Labour with a
double-digit advantage.

18
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
WORLD

Haiti ends rescue phase

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Xinhua) -- Tear stains are seen on the face of a child at the orphanage “solidarity and fraternity” in Port-au-Princes, capital
of Haiti. Before the deadly earthquake, there were nearly 100,000 orphans in Haiti. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said the
earthquake had caused a lot of separation of children from their parents, and it need time to assess the number of children orphaned in the quake.
(Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Xinhua) -- The Haitian government
has ended the search and rescue phase of the earth-
quake relief effort, after two more people were pulled
miraculously from the rubble in the devastated capital.
“The government has declared the search and rescue
phase over,” the United Nations’ Organisation for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Saturday in its
latest situation report on the relief effort, adding that at
least 132 people had been rescued.
Ten days after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit the im-
poverished country, an elderly woman and a young man
were freed from ruins here on Friday.
Marie Carida Roman, 84 years old, was dug out from the
remains of her home by her son and neighbors with bare
hands. The 22-hour rescue came after her son heard
her faint call for help on Thursday morning. The other
survivor, a 22-year-old man, was rescued by the Israeli
rescue team on the same day.
Hopes that others may have survived are fading, and
the Haitian Interior Ministry said Friday the death toll had
surpassed 110,000.
provide “speedy, sustainable and adequate” support for
Haiti.
Approving the resolution by consensus, the 192-member
body called for an early international response to the
U.N. flash appeal of 575 million U.S. dollars for Haiti.
The General Assembly urged all relevant U.N. bodies
and international financial institutions and development
agencies to offer “continued effective humanitarian, tech-
nical and financial assistance.”
Through the resolution, the assembly expressed its soli-
darity and support to the government and people of Haiti
as well as to all member states that have lost nationals
in this catastrophe.
It also paid special tribute to the staff of the U.N. and
international peacekeepers who had given their lives in
the line of duty.
Speaking to the assembly plenary session, U.N. General
Secretary Ban Ki-moon said at least 70 U.N. staff had
been killed and 146 were unaccounted for. “But we must
expect that the death toll will continue to rise,” he said.

The ministry said nearly 200,000 people were injured “Food, water, medicine, and shelter are all in short sup-
and more than 600,000 left homeless after the quake hit ply. Three million people need help. Two million people
the small Caribbean nation on Jan. 12. Haitian officials require food assistance. One million people are home-
estimated that the final death toll could reach 200,000. less,” he said.

Also on Friday, the U.N. General Assembly adopted

a resolution calling on the international community to

19
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
WORLD

Ban disputed some news reports about anarchy and
violence in Haiti, saying the security situation remained
stable. “Incidents of looting and unrest remain the ex-
ception, despite some news reports to the contrary,” he
said.
“And we need to provide jobs, not only to those who lost
their jobs last week, but to the millions of Haitians who
did not have a job in the first place,” said the U.N. chief,
who visited the country on Jan. 17.

“The United Nations is playing the principal coordinating

role, working with the government of Haiti in ensuring
security,” he said.

An injured Haitian drinks water in a temporary hospital in Port-au-

Prince, Haiti, Jan. 23, 2010. (Xinhua/Ubaldo Gonzalez)
He emphasized the need to rebuild the impoverished
Caribbean nation and “turn disaster into opportunity.”
The international community must help the Haitian gov-
ernment reconstitute itself, restore basic services and
jump-start the economy, he said.
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Xinhua) -- A girl tries to comfort a
crying boy in Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti.
To this end, the U.N. has launched a cash-for-work pro-
gram to “help Haitians help themselves” by paying them
to clear rubble from the street, distribute urgently needed
aid and build camps for those made homeless by the
quake.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan. 28, 2010 (Xinhua) -- People walk past the ruins of destroyed buildings in Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Jan. 27, 2010.

20
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
WORLD
Aftershock drives more from Haitian capital
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Xinhua) -- A frightening new af-
tershock Wednesday forced more earthquake survivors
onto the capital’s streets to live and sent others flee-
ing to the countryside, where aid was only beginning to
reach wrecked towns.
A flotilla of rescue vessels, meanwhile, led by the US
hospital ship Comfort, converged on Port-au-Prince har-
bor to help fill gaps in still-lagging global efforts to deliver
water, food and medical help. Hundreds of thousands of
survivors of Haiti’s cataclysmic earthquake were living in
makeshift tents or on blankets and plastic sheets under
the tropical sun.
The strongest tremor since the Jan. 12 quake struck at
6:03 am, just before sunrise while many still slept. From
the teeming plaza near the collapsed presidential palace
to a hillside tent city, the 5.9-magnitude aftershock lasted
only seconds but panicked thousands of Haitians.
“Jesus!” they cried as rubble tumbled and dust rose
anew from government buildings around the plaza. Par-
ents gathered up children and ran.
Up in the hills, where US troops were helping thousands
of homeless, people bolted screaming from their tents.
Jajoute Ricardo, 24, came running from his house, fear-
ing its collapse.
“Nobody will go to their house now,” he said, as he
sought a tent of his own. “It is chaos, for real.”
A slow vibration intensified into side-to-side shaking that
lasted about eight seconds — compared to last week’s
far stronger initial quake that seemed to go on for 30
seconds and registered 7.0 magnitude.
Throngs again sought out small, ramshackle “tap-tap”
21
buses to take them away from the city. On Port-au-
Prince’s beaches, more than 20,000 people looked for
boats to carry them down the coast, the local Signal FM
radio reported.
But the desperation may be deeper outside the capital,
closer to last week’s quake epicenter.
“We’re waiting for food, for water, for anything,” Em-
manuel Doris-Cherie, 32, said in Leogane, 25 miles (40
kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince. Homeless in
Leogane lived under sheets draped across tree branch-
es, and the damaged hospital “lacks everything,” Red
Cross surgeon Hassan Nasreddine said.
Hundreds of Canadian soldiers and sailors were deploy-
ing to that town and to Jacmel on the south coast to
support relief efforts, and the Haitian government sent
a plane and an overland team to assess needs in Petit-
Goave, a seaside town 10 miles (15 kilometers) farther
west from Leogane that was the epicenter of Wednes-
day’s aftershock.
The death toll was estimated at 200,000, according to
Haitian government figures relayed by the European
Commission, with 80,000 buried in mass graves. The
commission raised its estimate of homeless to 2 million,
from 1.5 million, and said 250,000 people needed urgent
aid.
Many badly injured Haitians still awaited lifesaving sur-
gery.
“It is like working in a war situation,” said Rosa Crestani
of Doctors Without Borders at the Choscal Hospital. “We
don’t have any morphine to manage pain for our pa-
tients.”
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
WORLD
The damaged hospitals and emergency medical cent-
ers set up in Port-au-Prince needed surgeons, fuel for
generators, oxygen and countless other kinds of medical
supplies, aid groups said.
Dr. Evan Lyon, of the US-based Partners in Health, mes-
saged from the central University Hospital that the facil-
ity was within 24 hours of running out of key operating
room supplies. Wednesday’s aftershock was yet another
blow: Surgical teams and patients were forced to evacu-
ate temporarily.
Troops of the 82nd Airborne Division were providing se-
curity at the hospital. A helicopter landing pad was desig-
nated nearby for airlifting the most critical patients to the
US Navy hospital ship Comfort.
The great white ship, 894 feet (272 meters) long, with
a medical staff of 550, was anchored in Port-au-Prince
harbor and had taken aboard its first two surgical pa-
tients by helicopter late Tuesday even as it was steam-
ing in.
It joined the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and other US
warships offshore, along with the French landing craft
Francis Garnier, which carried a medical team, hundreds
of tents and other aid.
The Garnier offloaded pallets of bottled water and pre-
pared meals at the city’s quake-damaged port, while US
Army divers surveyed the soundness of the main pier,
where trucks drove only on the edges because of dam-
age down its center.
The seaborne rescue fleet will soon be reinforced by the
Spanish ship Castilla, with 50 doctors and 450 troops,
and by three other US-based Navy vessels diverted from
a scheduled Middle East mission. Canadian warships
were already in Haitian waters, and an Italian aircraft
carrier, the Cavour, also will join the flotilla with medical
teams and engineers.
UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said at UN head-
quarters in New York that it’s believed that 3 million
people are affected, with 2 million of those needing food
for at least six months.
Between the UN World Food Program and deliveries
by the Red Cross and other private aid groups, about
a half-million Haitians should have been reached with
“reasonable quantities of food,” he said. “That’s still very
far short of what’s needed.”
At the hillside tent camp, set up on a golf course where
an 82nd Airborne unit has its base, the lines of hungry
and thirsty stretched downhill and out of sight as para-
troopers handed out bottled water and ready-to-eat
meals as fast as helicopters brought them in.
In one sign of normalcy, women carried baskets of cauli-
flower, sweet potatoes and sugar cane into the city from
farms in the hills. Some food and water was on sale in
Port-au-Prince’s markets, but prices had skyrocketed.
“We need money, man. I don’t have enough to buy
anything,” said Ricardo, the newly homeless man who
was seeking work and food, as well as a tent, at the golf
22
course encampment.
Looking over the food lines there, 82nd Airborne Capt.
John Hartsock said, “This is the first time I’ve seen it this
orderly.”
President Rene Preval stressed the relative quiet pre-
vailing over much of Port-au-Prince. People understand,
he told French radio, “it is through calmness (and) an
even more organized solidarity that we’re going to get
out of this.”
Concerns still persisted that looting and violence that
flared up in pockets in recent days could spread. In
downtown Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, dozens of
men, women and children clambered over the rubble of
a department store, hauling off clocks, lamps, towels,
even women’s hair extensions. Police stood nearby, not
intervening.
The European Commission’s report described the secu-
rity situation as “deteriorating.”
US troops — some 11,500 soldiers, Marines and sailors
onshore and offshore as of Wednesday and expected to
total 16,000 by the weekend — were seen slowly ratch-
eting up control over parts of the city. Marine reinforce-
ments were to help escort aid deliveries. One unescort-
ed truck was seen screeching off Wednesday when a
crowd grew unruly as its tents were being distributed.
The UN was adding 2,000 peacekeepers to the
7,000 already in Haiti, and 1,500 more police to the
2,100-member international force. That plan suffered a
setback when Haiti — with historically tense relations
with the neighboring Dominican Republic — rejected a
Dominican offer of an 800-strong battalion, according to
a Western diplomat at the UN, speaking on condition of
anonymity in the absence of a public announcement.
Other small signs of normalcy rippled over Port-au-
Prince: Street vendors had found flowers to sell to those
wishing to honor their dead. One or two money transfer
agencies reopened to receive wired money from Hai-
tians abroad. Officials said banks would open later this
week.
But Wednesday’s aftershock, the stench of the lingering
dead, and the tears and upstretched hands of helpless
Haitians made clear that the country’s tragedy will con-
tinue for months and years as this poor land counts and
remembers its losses.
After the tremor’s dust settled Wednesday, street mer-
chant Marie-Jose Decosse walked past the partly col-
lapsed St. Francois de Salles Hospital in Carrefour
Feuille, one of the worst-hit sections of town. She raised
her arms to the sky, and spoke for millions.
“Lord have mercy, for we are sinners!” she shouted.
“Please have mercy on Haiti.”
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
WORLD
Haitian government,UN expect to settle quake refugees before
hurricane season
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Xinhua) -- As the hurricane season
is approaching, the Haitian government and UN agen-
cies have called for efforts to speed up post-quake re-
construction work such as the relocation and settlement
of refugees.
Haitian President Rene Garcia Preval said Saturday that
he was upset about the coming hurricane season and
believed the best way to shelter the quake victims was
to provide them with necessary materials to help them
rebuild their homes themselves.
He denied reports that the government was to relocate
the capital city, saying sanitation in Port-au-Prince has
much improved.
- PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan. 26, 2010 (Xinhua) -- A Haitian child drinks
from a water pipe in Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Jan. 25, 2010. Life
for locals began to recover from the chaos caused by a catastrophic earth-
quake that rocked the city on Jan. 12. (Xinhua/Ubaldo Gonzalez)
John Holmes, spokesman for UN Office for the Coor-
dination of Humanitarian Affairs, said on Friday that to
guard against natural disasters likely to be brought about
by the hurricane season, it is important to reconstruct
Study shows dramatic rise in natural disasters over past decade
GENEVA (Xinhua)--There has been a “dramatic” rise in
natural disasters during the past decade, the director of
the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disas-
ters (CRED) said on Thursday.
“The number of events have gone up very, very dramati-
cally,” CRED Director Debarati Guha-Sapir said in Ge-
neva.
During the 2000 to 2009 period, there were 385 disas-
ters, an increase of 233 percent since 1980 to 1989, and
of 67 percent since 1990 to 1999, according to CRED
data.
Though earthquakes made up 60 percent of natural
disasters from 2000 to 2009, climate-related events,
23
houses, strengthen rooftops and rebuild Haiti’s meteoro-
logical early warning system.
Holmes said that the United Nations would concentrate
on helping the Haitian reconstruction work in the most
proper way to help Haitians build up capability to prevent
and combat natural disasters.
He said the world body was now distributing plastic tents
to the quake victims, and would later provide them with
makeshift houses.
Holmes also said that although medical services and
water supply have much improved, Haitian refugees are
still suffering from hunger because of the shortage of
food aid.
The Atlantic hurricane season is officially from June 1 to
November 30, and usually inflict severe calamities upon
Caribbean island nations. In August 2008, three consec-
utive hurricanes -- Gustav, Hanna and Ike -- devastated
Haiti, killing 800 and leaving more than 800,000 home-
less.
- PORT-AU-PRINCE (Xinhua) -- A Haitian child drinks from a water pipe
in Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Jan. 25, 2010. Life for locals began to
recover from the chaos caused by a catastrophic earthquake that rocked the
city on Jan. 12. (Xinhua/Ubaldo Gonzalez)
such as droughts, storms and floods, have made up the
majority of disasters overall, increasing tenfold since
data was first collected in 1950.
“Have climate-related disasters increased? The answer
is yes,” Sapir said, adding, “But it is not clear that cli-
mate change itself is an important factor.”Sapir said that
CRED lacked sufficient research to determine the role of
global warming in the increase in climate-related natural
disasters.
CRED, an international nonprofit, was created in 1971.
It is part of the Universite catholique de Louvain in Brus-
sels, and has been a collaborating center with the World
Health Organization since 1980.
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010

WORLD

New EU President calls for economic summit on first working day

(Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU)’s first full-time
President Herman Van Rompuy marked his first working
day on Monday with a call for a special summit among
EU leaders to discuss economic issues.
“This is my first official working day. I am preparing al-
ready the next European Council (summit) on Feb. 11, I
took the initiative to convene this council,” Van Rompuy,
who took office in the new year but just started his job
Monday due to the holiday, said in a statement.
According to the commission, the EU 2020 Strategy
would aim to deliver greener and socially inclusive
growth, which is built on three thematic objectives,
namely creating value through knowledge, empowering
people in inclusive societies and creating a competitive,
connected and greener economy.

“We need more economic growth in order to finance on

a sound basis our social model, to preserve our Euro-
pean way of life,” he added.

EU leaders usually meet in March, which is traditionally

focused on the economy.

It was widely expected that the special summit in Febru-

ary would not only tackle the current economic crisis, but
also start talks on a new 10-year economic plan for the
EU.

The new plan would replace the current Lisbon Strategy

which is due to expire in 2010 and proved to be a failure
if judged from the targets originally set.

The Lisbon Strategy had been designed with an aim to

make the EU “the most competitive knowledge-based
economy in the world” by 2010, which now appears to
be impossible, while its two headline targets of 70 per-
cent employment and research and development spend-
ing equivalent to 3 percent of gross domestic product European Council President Herman Van Rompuy arrives to take
(GDP) are both set to be missed. office at the EU Council headquarters in Brussels, January 4, 2010.
Faced with rising unemployment, an aging population (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
and soaring budget deficits, the EU economy needs
a new strategy to emerge stronger from the crisis and The new economic plan is expected to feature high on
embark on a fresh course towards steady growth and the agenda of EU leaders’ meetings in the first half of
job creation. this year.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, Spain, which took over the EU’s rotating presidency for
launched a public consultation in November on the new six-months in January, had said it would put the eco-
strategy, hoping to lead the 27-nation bloc towards a nomic issues at the focus of its term.
green, knowledge-based economy by 2020.

Russia announces anti-crisis program for 2010

MOSCOW (Xinhua) -- The Russian government has an-
nounced an anti-crisis program that lists social stability,
improvement in social security and continued economic
growth as priorities.
According to the program posted on the government’s
website Friday, the government plans to inject 36.3
billion rubles (about 1.21 billion U.S. dollars) in the job
market and continue to fulfill the economic stimulus
packages announced in 2009.
It will also maintain measures in support of regional
credit markets and facilitate major enterprises’ debt re-
structuring.
The government also intends to map out measures to
tap the potential of the pension and insurance systems
to activate the financial market.
The Russian government will also carry out a privatiza-
tion drive and draw foreign investment to establish joint
funds to develop agriculture, medicine, housing and
infrastructure construction.
Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) was expected to
grow 3.1 percent in 2010 while inflation was forecast to
fall anywhere from 6.5 to 7.5 percent. The jobless popu-
lation was expected to drop to 6.3 million people from
6.4 million in 2009, according to the program.

To reform the economic structure, the government will Editor: Xiong Tong
set up a fund to provide subsidies and loans in order to
resolve the problem of single-industry cities.
24
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
WORLD
Slow, Steady Global Recovery Seen for 2010
In 2010, according to a report issued by Bank of Amer-
ica’s (BofA) Merrill Lynch Global Research, the world
economy will witness a gradual, yet significant economic
recovery next year.
The Macro Year Ahead for 2010, released on December
14, projected higher-than-consensus Gross Domes-
tic Products (GDP) growth, low inflation, and a bullish
outlook for equities. It also sees a window for a strength-
ening U.S. dollar against select currencies, with a less
attractive outlook for government and corporate bonds
. rel by late 2010 and … gold top $1,500 per ounce in the
An investor looks at an electronic board showing stock information at a
brokerage house in Wuhan, Hubei province.
- Photo by FlickR User: artemuestra / Creative Commons
“We believe the global economy will gather momen-
tum in 2010,” said Ethan Harris, head of North America
economics and coordinator of global economics at BofA
25
Merrill Lynch Global Research.
The BofA Merrill Lynch Global Economics Research
team forecasts global GDP growth to be 4.4 percent in
2010 – well above the 3.1 percent predicted by the Inter-
national Monetary Fund (IMF). The team projects growth
will be led by China, at 10.1 percent, while projecting
U.S. GDP growth at 3.2 percent.
Francisco Blanch, head of commodities strategy, ex-
pects commodities will be driven by strong demand in
emerging markets. “Crude oil could break $100 per bar-
next 18 months,” Blanch said, “particularly if the dollar
weakens further against emerging market currencies.”
David Bianco, head of U.S. equity strategy, expects the
S&P 500 to appreciate about 15 percent from “global
cyclical” sectors of technology, energy, industrials and
materials. “These four (economic) sectors have high
direct foreign sales, and benefit from high commodity
prices and U.S. exports,” said Bianco.
“Despite reassuring market strength, 2009 ultimately
played out as a year of contradictions,” said Michael
Hartnett, chief global equity strategist and chairman of
the Merrill Lynch Research Investment Committee.
“The coming months,” he added, “will reveal whether
investors can move forward with confidence or whether
a policy misstep will interrupt (a) slow and steady recov-
ery.”
- Edited by LIU YU / Xinhua
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
OPINIONS
Money, not government, makes for small families
Editor’s Note:
China’s one-child policy has been in place since the
early 1980s. Officially, the families where both parents
are only children can have two children themselves,
but they face certain restrictions. On January 24, the
Beijing Municipal Commission of Population and Family
Planning (BMCPFP) announced that changes would be
made in the current “one-child policy,” but one day later,
the BMCPFP clarified that this was a misinterpretation of
the policy.
The alleged changes include abolishing the current man-
datory four year interval between the first and second
child, as well as allowing families where only one parent
is an only child to also have two children. Global Times
(GT) reporter Wu Mian interviewed Mu Guangzong (Mu),
a professor at Peking University, and Zheng Zhenzhen
(Zheng), a researcher at the Institute of Population and
Labor Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
on potential changes to the family planning policy.
Mother and child in Kunming, Yunnan China.
Photo by FlickR User babasteve / Creative Commons
GT: What is the current policy on having a second-child
in China?
Mu: Different regions in China have different regulations
on having a second-child. Yet there has been a political
promise since the early 1980s that if both spouses are
the only child of their family, they are entitled to have
two children. I haven’t yet heard of any restriction on this
issue.
The office concept of family planning, or “one child per
family,” was raised in September 25, 1980. The central
government published a letter to members of Commu-
nist Party of China and China Communist Youth League,
calling on citizens to have only one child in urban house-
holds.
26
Given the need for farming, most rural families were
allowed to have a second baby if the first child was a
girl, yet there are also certain regions that only allowed
families to have only one.
For ethnic minorities, the policy allowed farmers, herds-
men to have three babies while government officials
from ethnic minorities could have two.
In that letter, the government promised that when the
second generation of such families reached adulthood,
they would be entitled to have two children. Such poli-
cies have already been carried out in most regions in
China.
GT: What problems did the “one-child policy” cause?
Mu: Most problems are related to over-strict policy con-
trol. Single-child families appeared in large numbers,
which caused several problems. To start with, it makes
families more vulnerable to the death of children. Take
the Sichuan earthquake last year. Many parents lost
their only children to the quake. If they had more than
one child, they could at least count on the survivor.
But in this case, the policy took away their chance of
having a second hope. Most of these parents were
already past child-bearing age; the chance to have a
second child now didn’t help much.
Only children are more likely to be spoilt. They tend to
be self-centered and lack the necessary social skills,
including living skills and team spirit, which might jeop-
ardize their future development.
It also increases the difficulty of caring for the elderly.
Unlike their parents, people today don’t have siblings to
share the pressure of taking care of their parents. It is
even harder in China where the social welfare system is
not yet mature.
GT: What do you read into the changes in the new
policy? Will they greatly change the fundamental popula-
tion policy of China?
Mu: The changes are the result of a natural transition of
policy. As I mentioned earlier, it was stated in the 1980
letter that the generation produced by the “one-child
policy” could have two babies.
I think canceling the interval is a very wise move. The
interval of birth between two children was introduced to
avoid women having children too close together.
However, most parents tend to delay the birth of the sec-
ond child due to considerations of economic pressure,
health condition and timing.
By eliminating the four-year interval, it will give more
freedom to the parents, who should be the ones mak-
ing decisions in the first place. Women of child-bearing
age will benefit from it, for they will no longer need to go
through a mandatory family planning process that might
hinder their health.
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
OPINIONS

From the government side, this is also beneficial, for Yet the family planning policy in China was made under
they can now reduce the number of personnel to check the historical situation that China’s population was grow-
on the couples who want to have a second child. ing at a high rate.

As for the possible move to expand the second-child Taking the economic development and other resources
plan to families in which only one parent is a single child, difficulties into account, the government decided to curb
I don’t think it would encourage them to give birth to the population growth. The policy worked well in the past
more children. several decades, but now the natural population growth
is slowing down.
The cost of child-raising has risen significantly; unless
the government give solid economic stimulus to couples,
most of them would still tend to have fewer babies and
focus the limited resources on them.

Zheng: Beijing is not the first city to get rid of the inter-
val between births. Back in 2003, Liaoning Province
removed that part of their family planning policy. By
now, 11 provinces and municipalities have abolished the
spacing requirement. Parents are better-prepared if they
are in full control about when to have the second child.
Therefore I think this change deserves recognition.

I don’t think the possible expansion of the second-child

standard will drastically increase the population any time
soon. Whether or not to have a second child largely de-
pends on the willing of the family, not the policy.

If the families decide their financial ability is not strong

enough to support a second child, or the parents can’t
spare more time to look after him, they won’t make that
decision. The expansion simply offers people more
choice.

GT: Will the changes alleviate the problem of the aging

population in China? What are the possible outcomes?

Mu: To some extent this will help with the aging popula-
tion problem in China, but the effect is limited. It will only
help those couples that are still fertile, and it will take no
less than 20 years for their children to mature enough to
contribute to the family and society.
What I worry more is the change of family structure
under family planning. On the one hand, China’s provi-
sions for the old still largely relying on family support;
on the other hand, with both spouses the single child of
their family, they then need to support four old people by
themselves.
Having more children in the household would reduce the
pressure on the underdeveloped social welfare system,
but this is not the long-term solution. To combat the com-
ing grey-hair society, the government should still work
hard on building a better social welfare system, including
financial support, psychological support, care for their
daily life and other services that will make the lives of the
elderly easier.
GT: Although the one-child policy has greatly contributed
to the economic development of China, China has still
been criticized by other countries. What do you think of
this?
Father and son, Shanghai.
Photo by FlickR User harryalverson / Creative Commons
It has also been found that government policy is not the
only determinant on families’ decision to have children,
but that social and economic factors play a more impor-
tant role.
Young couples nowadays are very sensible. They take
economic status and career development into account
when considering whether to have another child.
Based on the survey we conducted in Jiangsu Province,
the first thing women consider is the cost of raising an-
other child, which includes both the financial burden and
the risk of sacrificing their career. To some extends, the
number of children people want to have is getting closer
to the policy requirements.
However, adjusting the policy and making it more hu-
mane would give people more freedom over this crucial
issue.
- CHINA GLOBAL TIMES

Zheng: Indeed, successful examples of curbing the

population growth without imposing formal policies can
be found in other Asian countries.

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 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
OPINIONS
Nepal: Renewed Focus On Indo-Nepal Relations
by Bhumika Ghimire
Following two high profile visits from New Delhi-Foreign
Minister S.M Krishna and Army Chief Deepak Kapoor,
the India Nepal relation is being discussed with renewed
vigor in both Indian and Nepali blogs.
Pragoti, a left leaning Indian blog, talks about “the right
scientific vision for Indo-Nepal relations”, asserting that
bilateral relations could improve if India strives for a pro-
gressive foreign policy.
Nepal’s economy has suffered severe as the borders were closed mul-
tiple times due to national protest of the Maoists. This also resulted in
tourism being crippled as transportation becomes difficult to access
during such protests.
Photo: Ingmar Zahorsky / CHINAsia Update
“As long as the Nepali Maoists continue to rely on the
Nepali people to democratically stake their claim to
power and also to implement their stated programme,
the Indian ruling establishment can not offer the logic
that the Nepali Maoists are in cahoots with the insurgent
Indian Maoists. And as long as there is enough pressure
on the Indian ruling establishment by progressive, left
and democratic forces to address the grievances and
concerns, the prospects of a progressive foreign policy
are very much alive. That would require that the demo-
cratic-minded people in the country should be strength-
ened in their fight against the violent and murderous
insurgency spearheaded by the Indian Maoists in places
like West Bengal, ….
India’s suspicions regarding the Maoist aside, another
issue that has been casting negative shadows over
Indo-Nepal relations is the border issue. Allegations
have been leveled against India for encroaching Nepali
land. United we blog for democratic Nepal features an
interview with Buddhi Narayan Shrestha, the former
Director General of Survey Department (Nepal) on the
very issue, where he presents some specifics regarding
dispute:
“The pillars, which were erected as per the Survey Map
of British India, were not found in their location. For
example, pillar no 708 at Kauwakhera of Lalboji VDC of
Kailali district was found to be 30 metres inside Nepal.
But both the local residents and the visiting CA commit-
tee concluded that this could have happened because
of the change of course of the Mohana river. Secondly,
we found some subsidiary (minor) pillars missing. For
example, new pillars numbered 407/1, 2 and 3 between
Bhajani and Lalbhoji VDC of Kailali district were not
found. In other cases, the minor pillars have been bro-
28
ken. Similarly, the 182 maps show half-km no-man’s
land on either side of the border. But no-man’s land was
not found in places like the Pyaranala area of the Par-
asan VDC in Kanchanpur district. At some places the
Indian side had encroached upon Nepali territories. In
other places, Nepal had encroached upon the border.
….”
Mr. Shrestha says that in some cases Nepal has also
encroached upon Indian land, but so far that side of the
dispute has not received much attention. Maoists are
leading the charge against India on the border issue,
they are also calling for renegotiation of 1950 Friendship
Treaty between the two countries.
In 2008, an interview with Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal
Dahal (Prachanda) was published in The Hindu, where
the treaty was discussed. Bloggers at Chennai-Based
Chinese National Newspaper (CBCNN) Blog analyzed
the interview and commented on Prachand’a assertions
that India has nothing to fear from growing Nepal-China
friendship:
Maoist leader Pushap Kamal Dahal.
Photo by: Ingmar Zahorsky / CHINAsia Update
“The idea that Chinese penetration of Nepal ought not to
be of much concern because China does not need that
country to create problems for India is laughable. Politi-
cal and military strategists look at advantage, not bare
necessity - China does not need Burma either but it has
nevertheless established military bases in that country
and is said to be actively monitoring Indian Naval activi-
ties from there. The U.S. sought transit facilities from
Turkey to launch its invasion into Iraq again not because
it was required – they achieved their objectives without
it anyway – but because it would shorten the campaign
and would have potentially made it easier. The same
is equally true in case of Chinese interest in Nepal – it
would be the height of folly for India to plan its own strat-
egy based on whether China needs Nepali support to
confront India.”
It is obvious that political turmoil in Nepal is affecting its
relationship with India. At present, various political par-
ties are using disputes with India to further their agenda;
hopefully once the rough waters smooth, Indo-Nepal
relations will be guided by mutual interest and trust.
- Global Voices / Creative Commons
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010
OPINIONS
Sri Lankan Presidential Elections: The Heat Is On
by Rezwan
On November 23, 2009 the incumbent President of Sri
Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa announced that the next
presidential election in Sri Lanka will be held on Janu-
ary 26, 2010. According to analysts he is seeking a fresh
mandate prior to the expiration of his first term in 2011
riding on his immense popularity after defeating the
Tamil Tigers in 2009. To counter Rajapaksa’s favorable
position, the main opposition party in Sri Lanka (UNP)
has formed an alliance (United National Front) to contest
at the presidential elections and nominated ex chief of
Army General Sarath Fonseka as their candidate. Fon-
seka is revered for spearheading the total annihilation
of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) and the
Tamil liberation struggle. Although there are 23 candi-
dates competing in the election, the battle between Ma-
hinda Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka is the prime focus.
As the date of election approaches, the campaigns have
grown intense and the heat can be felt also in the Sri
Lankan blogosphere. Many bloggers are rallying behind
their candidates and are engaging in strong debates with
analysis and points-counterpoints.
Mawbima Sri Lanka writes about Mahinda Rajapaksa’s
manifesto:
“President Mahinda Rajapaksa unveiled a 14-point pro-
gramme titled, ‘A brighter future’ with a promise to bring
Sri Lanka to a prominent position in Asia and the world
and work towards a political solution to the ethnic prob-
lem.”
Groundviews tried to visualize the promises by Sarath
Fonseka detailed in his manifesto which seems to call
upon voters to look forward and build a better future
together. Kusal Perera at Groundviews analyzes Sarath
Fonseka’s manifesto:
“With no commitment given to the Tamil people, Gen
(rtd) Fonseka’s manifesto could only turn to the Sinhala
South, with promises. [..]
We thus end up having an alternative candidate backed
by political parties that have no programme for develop-
ment, no programme for democracy and no programme
for reconciliation and are also into corruption, both while
in government and as political parties.
We therefore end up at this presidential election having
no alternative to choose from and not wanting to know
we would be voting for the same mess, may be dressed
and packaged better, but wanting others to believe its a
change.”
We have also seen some intense reactions from blog-
gers. Lanka Rising asserts that the theme of Sarath
Fonseka’s election campaign is nothing but ‘lying’. On
the other hand, Lanka Polity accuses Mahinda Rajap-
kasa of blatant misuse of public property and tax money
in his campaigns. Mahinda was criticized for sending
unsolicited sms messages to all mobile phone subscrib-
ers, across all networks in Sri Lanka. Sanjana Hattotuwa
at Groundviews questions Mahinda’s ad campaign on
international media websites and writes an open letter to
the president asking:
29
“ Why is it that your official campaign website has no in-
formation on campaign financing? How can I be assured
as a voter that the money being lavishly spent by you
and your campaign for re-election is not public finances?
“
Going Global looks at the campaign trail:
“Propaganda is usually illegal and mostly sponsored
through dubious means. In the case of Mahinda, he is
dictating the terms here. He controls the state and argu-
ably the legal system. He is setting the rules in a game
that Fonseka is not equipped to play in. When it comes
to campaigning its a jungle out there and the fittest
survive. And given the conditions of play it is no surprise
who is gaining the upper hand.”
Sri Lanka’s liberal democrat blogger Lefroy says:
“So who’s ad campaign is better? hmm. Hard to say.
Mahinda’s probably slightly ahead. But Sarath has done
quite well with far less money and no state power.”
Dayapala Thiranagama at Groundviews discusses which
of the candidates has got the edge:
“It appears that the election is reshaping the political
forces that existed before the war. It is also bringing to
the fore the old political problems. This election finds Sri
Lanka standing at a crossroad. It is an indictment of our
political parties that following the defeat of the Tigers
and the opportunity to win the peace, all that is on of-
fer to the voter is a choice between the anti democratic
histories and repressive nature of the competing par-
ties. At stake is nothing less than the future of our fragile
democracy.”
Lanka Polity says that the Tamils are in dilemma and
may have to choose between the lesser of the evils.
The Abyss asserts that irrespective of the prevailing con-
ditions the vote matters:
“So what if both candidates have downsides, it doesn’t
mean it would be wrong for you to decide between them.
Regardless of what you do or don’t do, you do make a
difference, more than you know. You’re acting by not
acting, you’re choosing without making a choice, you’re
voting someone in by not voting.”
Jude Fernando at Groundviews sees some hope in this
election:
“Whether or not Fonseka can win, if we work to increase
the number of votes he receives, we can hope for a
stronger opposition in the future, and we can success-
fully expand the space for democracy. We can make it
more likely that one day we will be able to hold the ruling
party accountable, and we can exert pressure to make
the next general election much more just and fair. This
is the way I suggest that we approach this election. By
struggling to build the opposition, even behind a less
than optimal candidate, we can avoid the trap of cyni-
cism and the mire of hopelessness.”
- Global Voices / Creative Commons
 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010

Asia in Images

A boy is drinking from a traditional fountain in Patan near the Durbar Square. Water as well as electricity are becoming rare commodiies in the
Kathmandu Valley. In many districts of Kathmandu water is only distributed at certain times of the day. In many rurarl districts of Nepal people
often have to walk for hours to obtain water. Photo: Ingmar Zahorsky / CHINAsia Update

Horses are seen in the snow covered grassland in Balgar, West

Ujumqin qi, Xilingol, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region, Dec. 30, 2009. (Xinhua/Ren Junchuan)

Visitors offer prayers on the first business day of the year at the Kanda
Myojin Shrine in Tokyo January 4, 2010. Many people from across Japan
visit the shrine to make new year wishes, praying for the safety of the
household, good relationships and success in business.(Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)

A woman lights a candle as she holds a child during a vigil to pay trib-
ute to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary at a war memorial
in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh January 30, 2010. Mahatma
Gandhi, father of the Indian nation, was assassinated in 1948. India
observes Gandhi’s death anniversary as Martyrs’ Day.(Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)

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 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010

LHASA, Jan. 26, 2010 (Xinhua) -- An elderly Buddhist believer holds a prayer wheel
during the replacement ceremony of prayer streamers around the Jokhang Temple in
Lhasa, capital of southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Jan. 26, 2010. Lots of
Buddhist believers write down their New Year wishes on prayer streamers and tie them
up to the five Buddhist scripture poles of the temple during a traditional ceremony to cel-
ebrate the New Year of the traditional Tibetan calendar, which falls on Feb. 14 this year.
(Xinhua/Chogo)

World’s tallest building Burj Khalifa tower opens in Dubai.

The Burj Khalifa tower is seen in Dubai, the United Arab
Emirates, Jan. 4, 2010. The 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa
tower, named after the president of the UAE and ruler of
emirate of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahay-
an, opened on Monday. (Xinhua/An Jiang)

Farmers plant rice seedlings in the fields in Jiaji Township of

Qionghai, south China’s Hainan Province, Jan. 2, 2010. The
farmers here are busy working during the new year holidays,
as it is the busy farming season for early rice planting here.
(Xinhua/Meng Zhongde)

Outside of the hustle and bustle of Dakha - Bangladesh lies a quiet park were people can walk, sit, and reflect on the beauty of creation around them.
Photo: FlickR User babasteve / Creative Commons

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 CHINAsia Update 01 / 2010

CHINAasia Update Team

Overseas Dimplomatic
Editor Correspondents
TaraNath Ghimiray

RituRaj Mate, Singapore

Photo Editor /
Designer
Ingmar Zahorsky John Tan, Singapore

Cover Photo
A poor neighbourhood shows the damage after an earthquake meas-
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before 5 pm yesterday, January 12, 2010. Credited to UN Photo/
Logan Abass

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