CRI 中国国际广播电台 2010-01-10(在线收听

Hello and Welcome to News and Reports on China Radio International.

In This Edition:

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi says his visit to Nigeria will make new contributions to the Sino-Nigerian strategic partnership.

U.S. President Barack Obama says the country must explore all possible ways to create more jobs given last month's disappointing national unemployment figures.

Pakistan will participate in an international conference on Afghanistan in London on January 28th.

And Togo's national soccer team has withdrawn from the African Cup of Nations after a shooting attack in Angola on its bus that killed three people.

 

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Chinese Foreign Minister Visits Nigeria

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi says his visit to Nigeria will make new contributions to the Sino-Nigerian strategic partnership.

Yang has arrived in Abuja, capital of Nigeria, to start his one-day working visit on the second leg of his six-nation tour of Africa, which has already taken him to Kenya.

Yang says China will work closely with Nigeria to further promote world peace, stability and development.

"Nigeria is a very important country in Africa and in the world. And it has a played a very important role in promoting regional and world peace, stability and development. It is a very respectable role, and China pays high tribute to it."

Yang's counterpart, Ojo Maduekwe, says Sino-Nigerian relations is at an all-time high.

"I can say quite frankly that Nigeria-China relations have never been at a much higher level than what it is now. After the visit of my good friend, it can only get better and get higher."

Yang says the bilateral relationship has seen sound and steady growth since China and Nigeria established diplomatic ties 39 years ago.

He says the two countries have enjoyed growing political mutual trust and productive cooperation in economic, trade and other fields.

Yang is expected visit Sierra Leone, Algeria, Morocco and Saudi Arabia in the following days.

China Signs 1 Bln Dollars in Contracts with Turkey

China and Turkey signed nearly 40 contracts worth more than one billion U.S. dollars at the end of a forum on economic cooperation and investment in Istanbul this week.

Officials and entrepreneurs from both sides have pledged to forge closer economic and trade relations.

Zhen Chenguang has more:

Reporter:

Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming is visiting Turkey with a delegation of representatives from some 70 major Chinese businesses.

During his visit, China and Turkey have signed 38 deals covering Chinese imports of minerals, marble and other products from Turkey as well as contracts for building power plant projects in Turkey.

Chen addressed a Turkish-Chinese economic and investment cooperation forum in Istanbul and said the Chinese government is ready to provide the necessary support that will encourage Turkish investment in China.

"The trade and economic structure of China and Turkey indicates that the imbalance in mutual trade will still exist during a certain period of time. But China has no intention to pursue a trade surplus with Turkey. We hope more Turkish products will come to the Chinese market, which will help to gradually balance the mutual trade."

Turkish Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan says Turkey will make full use of its geographical advantages to attract more Chinese investments.

"It's of strategic importance to deepen cooperation in commerce with China, especially with Chinese enterprises. Now we are at a crucial period that requires us to deepen mutual understanding. According to Turkey's tariff treaty with Europe, foreign investors can enjoy zero tariff treatment if they sell their products from Turkey to Europe. Therefore, Chinese enterprises can invest in Turkey in many fields, including electronic communications, manufacturing and energy."

China and Turkey saw their trade surge from more than 1 billion U.S. dollars in 2000 to more than 12 billion U.S. dollars in 2008. Turkey' s exports stood at only about two billion U.S. dollars in 2008.

Data from China's Commerce Ministry indicate Chinese enterprises' direct investments in Turkey reached more than 300 million U.S. dollars as of the end of September 2009.

Actual investment by Turkish companies in China exceeded 100 million U.S. dollars as of the end of October.

Zheng Chenguang, CRI News.


Obama Says U.S. Must Look to Creating More Jobs

U.S. President Barack Obama says country must explore all possible ways to create more jobs given last month's disappointing national unemployment figures.

The U.S. Labor Department says the country's jobless rate was unchanged at 10 percent in December, following a decline in the previous month.

"What this underscores though is that we have to continue to explore every avenue to accelerate the return to hiring."


Obama outlined a new initiative to create technology jobs. He announced that 2.3 billion dollars in tax credits from the government's stimulus package would create some 17,000 "green" jobs.

Meanwhile, jobseekers in New York City say trying to find work in the current economic climate is difficult.

"I find when I go for the interview that there are a thousand applicants for one job, and it's very, very disheartening."


Clinton Says Resolving Jerusalem Issue Will Resolve Settlement Problem

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is calling for the resumption of Middle East peace negotiations "as soon as possible and without preconditions."

Clinton made the remarks Sunday after meeting Nasser Judeh, the Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs in Washington.

She says the two sides should tackle the issues of borders and the status of Jerusalem first. This would make the major obstacle—the dispute over Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem—easier to resolve.

"There has to be a negotiation on all of the final status issues. As Mr. Judeh and I discussed earlier, resolving boarders resolves settlement; resolving Jerusalem resolves settlement."

The peace talks stopped when Israel launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip in December 2008.

Although the continuation of Jewish settlement activities is widely believed to be barrier to restarting the talks, the Israeli government still decided to build nearly 700 new homes in East Jerusalem last December.

U.S. Middle East Envoy George Mitchell will be sent to Paris and Brussels Sunday for negotiations to relaunch the talks.


Pakistan Will Join London Conference on Afghanistan

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi says Pakistan will participate in an international conference on Afghanistan in London on January 28th.

Qureshi made the statement during a press conference after meeting his British counterpart, David Miliband, in Islamabad.

"Pakistan will participate in this conference in a very constructive, in a very positive, in a very supportive manner, because we feel that the stability and peace of Afghanistan is of vital importance to Pakistan."

Miliband said he was impressed by the country's continued efforts to fight terrorism.

"Stability, security, prosperity in Afghanistan is dependent in some part on security, prosperity, stability in Pakistan, and I think it has been a signal achievement of the government over the last 18 months or so."

Britain will also host a high-level international meeting the same day on countering religious radicalization in Yemen.


Karzai names new ministers for Afghan cabinet

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has presented a second slate of nominees to fill his Cabinet after parliament rejected 70 percent of his first picks.

Lawmakers rejected seventeen of twenty-four nominees last week. It is believed as a setback to Karzai's efforts to get his second term in office into full operation.

All the nominees announced on Saturday had not been on the first list.

Meanwhile, second Vice President Karim Khalili announced 16 ministerial candidates, including 15 to replace those rejected the first time.

"The government and the parliament of the country should try their best to decide on whatever is for the best of this country."

Karzai's credibility both at home and abroad was shaken by the fraud-plagued presidential elections in August.

He is hoping to finalize his cabinet before an international conference on Afghanistan in London on January 28.

Spanish PM resumes rotating EU president

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been inaugurated into the position of rotating European Union president in a ceremony held in Madrid.

Zapatero calls for European unity to develop economy.

"Our first objective is to make the European unity stronger and to continue developing the European economy. If we make progress with European economic unity, there will be prosperity for all of Europe."

Zapatero was joined by two other EU top executives – the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and newly appointed EU President van Rompuy.

EU has elected its first permanent president last November but the rotating six-month presidency since the late 1950s is still being kept.


Suspect in Newark Airport Security breach Faces Trespassing Charge

The man believed to have caused a security breach at Newark Liberty Airport in the United States last Sunday has been released from custody and will be charged with "defiant trespassing."

Twenty-eight-year-old Haisong Jiang was taken into custody from his home in Piscataway, New Jersey, on Friday night.

Senator Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, called the police operation "exemplary."

"This fellow is responsible for it, and as such he has to pay whatever that maximum price is."

A security video shows Haisong ducking under a rope at the airport and walking the wrong way through security to greet a woman.

The security breach closed terminal C of the airport for six hours Sunday, stranding thousands of passengers and contributing to long delays.

 

Togo soccer team withdrawn, still devastated

Togo's national soccer team has withdrawn from the African Cup of Nations after a shooting attack in Angola on its bus that killed three people.

Kossi Agassa, Togo's goalkeeper, said it was tough to play football in these circumstances.

"Today, frankly, none of the team is ready to play, we're all devastated, everyone wants to go and see their family."

The Saturday attack lasted 30 minutes, killing an assistant coach, a team spokesperson and the bus driver.

The attackers fled back into Congo after the ambush, leaving at least eight players wounded.

The Angolan information minister blamed a local separatist group, the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda, or FLEC, for the attack.

Goncalves Muandumba, Angola's Sports Minister, said the championship would go ahead with tightened security despite the attack and the absence of Togo's team.

Angola has been struggling to climb back from decades of violence. The government tries to show the world through the tournament it was on the way to recovery.


Millions in Manila Try to Touch Black Jesus Statue

Millions of people in the Philippine capital Manila have crowded streets to touch the Black Nazarene, a black statue of Jesus Christ that many believe can perform miracles.

These Catholic devotees, mostly male, wear traditional maroon shirts, throw handkerchiefs and push against each other for a chance to touch the wooden figure. The figure is believed to have been brought by Spanish missionaries from Mexico in 1606.

Many believe the Black Nazarene holds mystical powers that can wash away sins or cure illnesses.

"I started to join the procession when my son was ill with asthma, and the doctors did not know what to do. I became a devotee for nine years, and thank God my son was cured."

The Philippines, Asia's most predominantly Christian nation, is 80 percent Catholic.


Media Digest/Stock/Weather

China Daily: Good Governance Requires Citizen Cooperation

Beijing saw its heaviest snowfall in 40 years last week, forcing the municipal government to use nearly 30,000 tons of snow-melting salt to ensure the relatively smooth movement of traffic and require sanitation employees to work around-the-clock to clear roads and pavements.

But a commentary in China Daily says snow-melting salt has caused potential damage not only to asphalt roads, but also to trees on pavements and underground water. It argues that it was unrealistic for municipal officials to ask the city's more than 20,000 sanitation workers to clear 30 centimeters of snow across Beijing in a matter of days.

The commentary suggests that mobilizing all able-bodied persons to clear the snow or hiring temporary sanitation workers are the most effective ways to deal with heavy snowfall in the future.

It also notes that although some residents—especially retired people—

were willing to help clear the snow, they could not find the instruments they needed to do the job. Nor could they find someone to organize them into a group to clear snow in an orderly manner.

The commentary calls on subdistrict government offices and neighborhood committees to do the organizational work and says state-owned enterprises and government institutions at all levels should first take such action on their own.

The article concludes by saying that good governance always requires citizen cooperation. Whether a city can best organize its residents to clear snow is actually a test of its governing competence.

Beijing News: New Rail Ticketing System Requires Patience and Understanding

China's railway authorities will pilot a name-based system for train ticket sales in the cities of Guangzhou and Chengdu during the travel peak period around the Spring Festival holiday.

Passengers will be required to provide their identification cards to buy tickets issued in their names.

The long-awaited move is part of the government's efforts to crack down on scalpers who have been blamed for creating ticket shortages during past Spring Festival travel peaks when millions of migrant employees in cities head home.

An opinion piece in the Beijing News praises the move, saying that railway authorities have done a lot to introduce a name-based train ticket system.

But the commentary also says once the new system is put in place, the more complicated procedures could cause some unexpected problems. It says although railway authorities have prepared for the system's launch by opening more ticket-selling offices to save passengers time, they need to make more efforts to perfect the new system.

The commentary points out that the pilot system requires passengers' understanding and suggestions as new problems will emerge when the system is implemented. It also notes that the essential way to deal with train ticket shortages is to increase railway capacity.


The commentary says although railway officials have made many efforts to improve rail services, including the addition of high-speed trains on some popular routes, it will still take time for them to resolve the problem of overcrowded trains during the Spring Festival.
 

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/crizggjgbdt2010/105053.html