CRI 中国国际广播电台 2010-01-15(在线收听

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In This Edition

A Chinese emergency rescue team arrives in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to help the rescue operation after the region's worst quake in 200 years.

The Chinese government responds to Google's announcement that it might withdraw from China's market by saying the country's internet is open and welcomes international companies.

A Baghdad court has sentenced 11 Iraqis to death for planning and carrying out a series of attacks last summer, which killed at least 95 people.

And China has issued a new policy to boost employment this year.

Hot Issue Reports

 

Chinese rescue team en route to Haiti


A Chinese emergency rescue team arrived in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince early Thursday local time, to help the rescue operation after an earthquake in which up to 100,000 people are feared dead and eight Chinese are still missing. Four of the missing Chinese are peace-keepers while the other four are from a six-member working group of the Ministry of the Public Security.


Other Chinese in Haiti including more than 130 peacekeepers and those working for China's trade office, enterprises and other organizations in Haiti, are safe.

US President Outlines Haiti Quake Relief Efforts

US President Barack Obama has announced that massive relief efforts from his country is moving toward Haiti as he continues to mobilize the US response to the island's devastating earthquake.

But Obama says it will take hours "maybe days" to get the full US relief contingent on the ground, because of the damaged roads and communications.

"Even as we move as quickly as possible, it will take hours, and in many cases days, to get all of our people and resources on the ground. But it's important that everybody in Haiti understand that at this very moment one of the largest relief efforts in our recent history is moving toward Haiti."

The first US Army troops - a little more than 100 soldiers - are heading to Haiti.

The troops will find locations to set up tents and other essentials in preparation for the arrival of another roughly 800 personnel on Friday.

They come on top of some 2,200 Marines, also to be sent by the US military.

The US government is initially directing 100 million US dollars toward the relief effort, a figure Obama says will certainly grow over the year.

UN Chief Comments on Haiti Earthquake

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says a UN security guard has been pulled out alive from the collapsed UN headquarters building in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.

Ban says this is "a small miracle" in the grim search for some 100 UN personnel still trapped in the rubble of the headquarters building after Tuesday's earthquake.

"The overall picture remains still sketchy and the facts as far as we know are grim. On the overall casualty figures, we've all seen the varying estimates. It will take I think many many days. I expect before we can make even an educated guess as to the death toll I fear it could be very high."

The UN chief adds that 18 UN peacekeepers and four international police officers have been confirmed dead.

Ban also says Assistant Secretary-General Edmond Mulet will arrive in Port-au-Prince soon to take charge of the UN mission and coordinate the international relief effort.

Chinese FM: China's Internet is Open

The Chinese government has responded to search-engine company Google's announcement that it might withdraw from China's market by saying the country's internet is open and welcomes international companies.

Jiang Yu, spokeswoman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry made the remark at a regular press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

"China's internet is open. The government encourages the development of the internet industry and has tried creating a favorable environment for the internet. China's law prohibits cyber crimes including hacker attacks. As in many other countries, the Chinese government manages the internet industry according to law, while its administrative measures on the internet are in line with international practices."

Jiang says China welcomes international internet companies to conduct business in the country according to law.

Google posted a statement on its official company blog on Tuesday, indicating that it might shut down its Chinese web portal Google.cn and the company's offices in the country.

It cites a previous string of cyber attacks, surveillance activities and censorship policies by the Chinese government as the reasons.

The Chinese search engine market reached nearly 7 billion yuan, or about 1 billion U.S. dollars, in 2009. Google took 33 percent of the market in the third quarter.

China Seeks Clarity on Google's Intentions

Meanwhile, an official with China's State Council Information Office says that Chinese Internet authorities are seeking more information on Google's announcement that it is considering leaving the China market.

The official says that it is still hard to say whether Google will close its China site. The search engine's corporate development and chief legal officer, David Drummond, has said Google is reviewing business operations in China.

Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and other search engines have agreed to demands that they block access to politically sensitive material. The Chinese government has also accused Google of showing too many links to pornographic content.

Peter Barron, head of communications and public affairs for Google UK, says they have decided to change their approach to China. 

"These attacks on our system as well as the surveillance exercise that we've discovered has led us to believe that we should no longer agree to censor our results in China,"

According to the iResearch Consulting Group, the Chinese search engine market reached nearly 7 billion yuan, or about 1 billion U.S. dollars, in 2009. Google took 32.8 percent of the market revenue in the third-quarter, while Chinese search engine Baidu claimed 63.8 percent.

Google's absence would leave a huge gap in the market for other search engines in China to fill.

Iraq Sentences 11 to Death in Last Year's Ministry Bombings

A Baghdad court has sentenced 11 Iraqis to death for planning and carrying out a series of attacks last summer, which killed at least 95 people and wounded hundreds.

Judge Abdul Sattar al-Beeraqdar, a spokesman for Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, reveals further details of the sentence.

"All the 11 defendants are Iraqis. They are all civilians with no one coming from the security troops. The trial process is conducted strictly according to law."

The spokesman says the defendants have a month to appeal the sentence.

The bombings, on August 19, struck Iraq's Foreign and Finance Ministries in the heart of the capital.

The attacks came less than two months after US combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities, raising fears among many Iraqis that their security forces are not capable of maintaining security yet.

Light News

Gov't Issues New Policy to Promote Employment Opportunities for College Grads

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has issued a new policy to boost employment in China this year.

The policy gives many corporations and vocational schools preferences for hiring recent college graduates.

It also mandates that universities offer students more professional job-hunting services and adjust their academic curricula to fit the needs of the job market.
 
Mo Rong is Vice Director of the ministry's Institute for Labor and Wage Studies.

"This policy will help the Chinese job market to recover and consequently will promote a restoration of the Chinese economy which will continuously become stronger."

Statistics from the China National Center for Human Resources indicate 87 percent of the country's college graduates were able to find jobs last year despite the negative impact of the global economic downturn.

China's Internatinal Airline Passenger Volume to Increase

The passenger volume of China's international airlines is expected to increase this year.

China's Civil Aviation Administration anticipates passenger volume, cargo volume and total turnover volume to surpass last year's figures.

Li Jiaxiang, Director of China's Civil Aviation Administration, said China's civil aviation market will expand this year.

"In the first half of 2010, the growth rate of international passenger and cargo transport will increase faster than domestic growth rate. We ask all air companies to follow the change of international market and to expand their international business. We predict the growth rate of the overall airline market in 2010 will be better than the 2009 figure."

The country's air industry plans to have 208 new planes join air operation and reinforce the management of flight schedule.

In addition, China will enhance its transport capability and add more international destinations to meet the increasing passenger volume this year.

China to Boost Domestic Consumption in 2010

With the stimulus package boosting domestic consumption, total retail sales of consumer goods in China hit 12 trillion yuan last year. In the New Year, the Chinese government will take further measures to boost domestic consumption. Chen Zhe has more.

Shanghai World Expo Finished 90 Percent of Construction

 

The Shanghai World Expo organizers have finished 90 percent of the construction at the Expo site.

 

The rest of the work needs to be completed by the end of March.

 

One of the five permanent structures, the Performance Center is under internal decoration. The other four including the China Pavilion and the Expo Center are completed.

 

Tao Xiong, project manager of the Performance Center says the construction team has adjusted their working process and methods to deal with the cold snap that has hit Shanghai.

 

"We have installed protective glasses in the building ahead of our previous schedule. Therefore no matter how strong the wind is, it will not blow into the building. "

 

Other structures and facilities are also under tight construction schedules.

 

More than 30 of the 42 stand-alone pavilions, built by the participants are now undergoing internal decoration and exhibition layout.

 

Another 42 rented pavilions and 11 joint pavilions have been completed.

 

The Expo slated from May 1st to October 31st this year, will have three trial operations in April.

 

Scandinavian Countries Host Promotional Event for Expo

 

Meanwhile, the five Scandinavian countries are hosting promotional events in Beijing to showcase the unique features of their pavilions for this year's World Expo in Shanghai.

 

Representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden say they hope the Shanghai Expo will display the charm of Scandinavia in all respects and offer the Chinese a wonderful opportunity to get to know their people.

 

Trond Giske, Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry, introduced the Norwegian Pavilion.

 

"I think the construction work is on schedule, and we will finish by May 1st. This is a very interesting structure, the Norwegian Pavilion, where you have good structures that are like the trees, so there are 15 trees. And within this area, we will show parts of Norwegian nature. And as a surprise, there will be a waterfall within the pavilion. So I think going there will be like stepping into Norwegian nature."

 

Hreinn Pálsson is Expo Deputy Commissioner General and Director of the Iceland Pavilion.

 

"This is a very interesting destination that offers an interesting contrast between extremely cold glaciers and extremely hot geothermal hot springs and barren landscape. I think this is geologically very new, and this is a very beautiful landscape and nature we are offering to tourists and visitors."

 

Pavilions of the five countries are located close to each other at the Expo site.

 

The 2010 World Expo will run from May 1st to October 31st in Shanghai.

 

World's Tallest and Shortest Men Meet up to Share Experiences

 

The world's tallest man has met with the world's shortest man in Turkey during a celebration of world records.

 

At 246.5 cm, Sultan Kosen, a Turkish, is officially the World's tallest man. Kosen's record breaking counterpart, He Pingping from China, stands at a height 74.61 cm, officially making him the shortest man in the world.

 

The two met in Istanbul at the opening of a Guinness World Records road-show.

 

Kosen said that although everyone appears short to him he was shocked when he first saw He Pingping.

 

"As the tallest man of the world with 2 m 46 cm normally everybody is short to me. But this time when I saw him I got a shock. I had a hard time to see him. There is a big altitude difference."

 

Meanwhile, 21-year-old He, who lives in Inner Mongolia, simply said that he was "very excited."

 

Kosen, who suffers from a condition called pituitary gigantism, also holds the record for the largest hands at a size of 27.5cm and the largest feet at 36.5cm.

 

Media Digest

 

China Daily: Openness Benefits the Country Politically

 

Local authorities in Southwest China's Yunnan Province announced early this week that all domestic and international media are invited to cover the province's annual sessions of the People's Congresses, the legislative body, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the political advisory body.

 

The meetings are seen as the most important political gatherings each year for local officials and elites to draft their economic and social blueprints for the coming year. It is the second time that provincial authorities in Yunnan have extended the invitation.

 

A commentary in the China Daily says many other local authorities are still hesitating to open their sessions to media from other regions and countries. The basic concern is that they are afraid of media exposure on sensitive issues, which they think will put officials in an awkward position. Officials in Yunnan should be commended for having the confidence to present their issues to the media.

 

It says covering up issues is difficult in the information age, and transparency is the best way for decision-makers to make the right choices.

Increasing transparency of government affairs and wider access to information enables citizens to express their opinions on public affairs and pushes the government to improve.

 

The writer points out that many Chinese officials are media-shy and afraid that negative reporting will harm their careers. Organizers of the sessions should offer basic training to delegates to psychologically prepare them to meet with the media.

 

Beijing News: Tough Times Teach Us How to Be Grateful

 

Planes with cargo and rescue teams from around the world are heading for Haiti, which was hit on Tuesday by the most powerful earthquake in the country in two centuries.

 

An editorial in today's "Beijing News" says such disasters teach us how to be grateful to those who have helped us previously and stand by them when they experience tough times themselves.

 

The editorial notes that China itself has also suffered a couple of deadly earthquakes. The most recent one was the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008 when nearly 70,000 died.

 

Now, less than two years after the disaster, China is sending its own rescue elites to Haiti. The editorial argues no matter how different civilizations view their relationship with nature, we all are learning how to repay those who help us out in times of natural disasters.

 

The editorial further points out that people always learn something from such natural disasters. For example, a more sophisticated tsunami warning system was put in place after an earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit Indonesia in 2004. Therefore, the editorial says, disasters show us how to help others much more effectively.

 

The editorial concludes by saying that understanding how to show sympathy and how to stand together during tough times are symbols of a mature society, and that we all learn from the pain of going through such catastrophes together.
 

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/crizggjgbdt2010/105061.html