CRI中国国际广播电台 News & Reports, 2012-09-29（打印版）

The parliament of Spain's powerful but heavily indebted region of Catalonia votes in favour of holding a referendum on the region's independence.

Yang Jiechi touched upon the ongoing Diaoyu Islands' disputes and the upcoming national congress of the Communist Party of China.

A large portion of Yang Jiechi's speech focused on the Diaoyu Islands'disputes with Japan. He explained in detail how the islands in the East China Sea are part of Chinese territory.

Yang said Japan seized the islands in 1895 at the end of the Sino-Japanese War and forced the then Chinese government to sign an unequal treaty to ceding the islands and other Chinese territories.

He said the Japanese government's unilateral action to purchase the islands seriously encroached upon China's sovereignty and gravely trampled on the principles of the UN Charter.

"The unilateral move by the Japanese government to purchase the islands has seriously violated China's sovereignty. It's a brazen denial of the outcome of the World War II. It poses a serious challenge to the post-war international order and the principles of the UN Charter. The moves taken by Japan are totally illegal and invalid. They can in no way change the historical fact that Japan stole the Diaoyu Islands and affiliated islets and that China has sovereignty over them. The stance of the Chinese government to safeguard its territorial sovereignty is resolute and steadfast."

Yang says,after World War II,according to the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and other international documents,the Diaoyu Islands and other Chinese territories occupied by Japan were returned to China.

"We advocate keeping good relations with our neighboring countries, and increasing contacts with them. We will be working to establish mechanisms with Asian countries to ensure political trust and cooperation, and solve differences."

"The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China will open soon. We are firmly confident that the conference will surely push China's reform and opening-up as well as its modernization to a new stage."

China's top political advisor Jia Qinglin says that Japan should realize the seriousness of the current situation, squarely face the dispute over the Diaoyu Islands and correct its mistakes as soon as possible, so as to avoid further damages to China-Japan ties.

Jia made the remarks during a meeting with delegates of Japanese people from various circles in Beijing, including former Japanese Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the Association for the Promotion of International Trade, Kawano Yohei

"China and Japan are important neighbors. Everyone here is a delegate of Japanese political, economic and cultural circles. You are also old friends of the Chinese people."

Jia said this year's 40th anniversary of the normalization of ties should be an opportunity for better developing Sino-Japan relations. However, despite China's repeated solemn representations, Japan has insisted on "nationalizing" the Diaoyu Islands, putting relations with China into an unprecedented and severe situation.

He called on all Japanese people to work with the Chinese side to return China-Japan ties to the track of sound development.

"Today, I come to Beijing with colleagues commited for the development of the two countries' friendship. We have met with you this spring. Compared with the situation at that time, a lot of things have changed. We find the current situation deplorable."

The sixteen passengers and three crew were aboard the twin-propeller Dornier aircraft, which was owned by private firm.

The comment comes amid media reports claiming that China is picking up natural resources to fuel the Chinese economy, the so-called colonialist resource-grabbing in Africa.

"We do not deal with China as a colonial power. We deal with China for mutual benefit. We have resources that need to be exploited. And we think we should exploit them jointly with them. We believe that they have technology that's appropriate to ours. And we don't feel in any way that this is colonialism at all. It's fair exchange of value."

Africa has become one of China's top investment destinations, with more than 2,000 Chinese enterprises investing in the continent. Accumulated investment from China surpassed 40 billion dollars by the end of 2011.

"We also want to make sure that when the Chinese come here, unlike the colonists, we have value addition. We add value to our products. So forget the idea that China is imposing colonial exploitation. No. It is free and mutual, mutually beneficial. It's not for anybody to determine our frame. We determine our friends."

According to the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies, Africa's oil export to China accounted for 13 percent of Africa's total over the past century and more, while the figures for the United States, and the European Union were 30 percent and 37 percent, respectively.

At the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in July in Beijing, China pledged 20 billion US dollars in credit for Africa over the next three years.

The parliament of Spain's powerful but heavily indebted region of Catalonia has voted in favour of holding a referendum on the region's independence.

The vote was held minutes after Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said Catalonia could not hold a referendum without first consulting with the rest of the country.

After the vote, Oriol Junqueres, leader of pro-independence left-winged Esquerra Republicana party, welcomed the result:

"We have always supported independence and we are therefore happy after this result, very excited and satisfied. We are convinced we can go on till the end of this process and do it all right, permitting Catalans to express their will democratically and leading them to constitute Catalonia as a new state of Europe."

But Alicia Camacho, member of Spain's ruling People's Party, said independence from Spain is not an option for Catalonia:

Catalonia's regional government says it pays 16 billion euros more to the Spanish state than it receives in transfers.

China's permanent representative to the World Trade Organization Yi Xiaozhun says China will hold firm on its opening-up policy, despite global uncertainties and domestic slowdown.

"This principal is reflected in China's Twelfth Five-Year Plan. We will continue to implement the mutually beneficial and win-win opening-up strategy. This will again offer tremendous opportunities to foreign companies."

"Given the size of the interdependence between China and the world economy, there is no way to address either Chinese issues without support of other partners. And many of the other problems cannot find a solution without China's participation."

The Secretary of China New Energy Chamber of Commerce says anti-subsidy complaint by European solar equipment manufactures is groundless.

EU ProSun, an alliance of European solar equipment manufacturers, on Tuesday filed an anti-subsidy complaint with the European Commission. It urged the launching of a probe into China's solar industry.

"Most Chinese solar manufacturers doing international business are listed in the US. They conduct their accounts with international standards. Therefore, their financing and cost are totally transparent. And I think some European companies' charges are baseless."

Insiders say both China and Europe's solar industries are mutually dependent. Zeng Shaojun called for negotiations between two sides.

In late July, EU ProSun, led by a German company, filed an anti-dumping complaint with the European Commission against Chinese major solar companies. It prompted the regulator to start an investigation earlier this month.

The National Energy Administration requires local authorities to make plans for establishing solar generation demonstration centers by mid next month.

South Sudan has just confirmed an oil and security deal with its neighbor Sudan at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.

In his address to the assembly, South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar said under the new agreement the two sides hoped to resolve differences on security, border issues and oil:

"We are hopeful that the new agreement with the Sudan will lead to the resolution of our differences on security, borders and the use of petroleum infrastructure."

The deal however, does not fully address the key issue of who takes Abyei, a highly symbolic and fiercely contested border region.

"Abyei is a part of South Sudan. I wouldn't like even a single inch of Abyei to be even given away, to be given to the northerners - let's say the Arabs. Abyei is part of the South and we believe we should conclude that Abyei is part of the South for the near future to come."

The two countries reached the deal in Addis Ababa, the seat of the African Union, after three weeks of negotiations in Ethiopia.

Beijing's traffic authorities have warned that traffic jams could seriously clog Beijing's roads ahead of the upcoming eight-day national holiday, as millions of people are head into and out of the capital for the holidays.

Beijing's traffic authorities warn that motorists need to reconsider hitting the roads ahead of the eight-day long holiday. This week was one of the worst for traffic this year in Beijing. According to the Traffic Performance Index which measures congestion on a scale of Zero to 10, the city hit 9.1 during the evening rush hour on average this week.

The worst traffic of the year so far occurred on the rainy Tuesday night in the capital, a city notoriously vulnerable to even the slightest rainfall. The index reached a peak of 9.8 by 6:30pm that day, and vehicles were crawling along in the rain at just 13 kilometers per hour. A taxi driver grumbles that he was caught up by a heavy traffic jam this week.

"I think this week's traffic situation is as worse than the terrible traffic jam in 2010. My car was just parked on the road. It took me four hours to cover a length of three kilometers yesterday."

Motorists and bus passengers are being told to expect more of the same. On the traffic control bureau's website, bjjtgl.gov.cn, the authorities warn that the capital will see "more serious and widespread gridlock" Friday.

Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which is Sept 30 this year, is a traditional time for family reunions, and the National Day holiday, which begins on October 1st, is a major travel season. With the two connected this year, the capital has seen an unusual surge in inbound and outbound traffic. Statistics show that highways linking Beijing with Hong Kong and Macau, Tibet, Chengde, Hebei Province, and Kaifeng, Henan Province, were all overstressed during last year's National Day holiday.

During the holiday, an average of 1.55 million vehicles is expected to travel each day on the city's 17 highways with tolls, a over thirty percent increase from ordinary days.

In order to ease the congestion, the local traffic control center has come up with a few ideas, even though they might not be much help. Sun Lingling is the Deputy Director of the Beijing Traffic Control Center.

"We activated an emergency plan before the evening rush hour everyday this week. Based on the changing situation, we have a series of traffic easing methods to update accordingly. We suggest that motorists bypass the heavily congested intersections and ring roads as well as the roads near big shopping centers."

Beijing's highways will exempt small passenger cars from road tolls for the first time during the holidays. But Beijing's local traffic bureau is highly recommending residents adopt public transportation, especially subways, ahead of and during the holiday.

China's urban management "chengguan" officers have been drawn into a fresh controversy after staring down illegal vendors in central China's Hubei Province.

A squad of 20 chengguan officers stared in silence at illegal vegetable vendors along a road in Wuhan, forcing the vendors to leave out of a sense of embarrassment and fear.

Some people are in support of the action, praising the officers on Weibo for using their eyes instead of their fists. However, others have called the new method "emotional abuse", saying they should be focusing on improving the vendors' awareness of relevant laws.

Wang Kaiyu, a renowned sociologist in Anhui, says the "horrible stares" show the officers are actively exploring non-violent law enforcement tactics.

China has completed a cultural project aimed at building at least one reading room in every rural administrative village in the country.

As of the end of August, a total of 940 million books, 540 million copies of newspapers and 120 million copies of audio and video products had been distributed to these reading rooms.

The farmers' reading room project serves the country's efforts to close the cultural gaps between urban and rural areas.

Authorities say the project is also acting as an important platform for lifting the scientific and cultural literacy of people living in rural areas.

The farmers' reading room project was first piloted in the country's western regions of Gansu and Guizhou in 2005, and was expanded on a national scale starting in 2007.

Industry specialists will look at the benefits of libraries lending ebooks in a move publishers say will have 'serious implications' for the book trade.

The review will look at the benefits of ebook lending in libraries, as well as demand for the service and its possible consequences, including its effect on publishers.

Many publishers are nervous of making their books available for e-lending, particularly given that there is no recognized system for payment - an issue that has prompted an outcry from authors.

However, he said it was "a long way short of the strategic vision which local authorities and libraries need from the government with libraries across the country facing the threat of closure.

According to a new survey- toilet paper, spare underwear, chocolate and an iPod are among the belongings most women carry with them at all times.

Painkillers, sunglasses and nail files are also most likely to be found deep in the recesses of women's handbags, alongside more predictable items such as money, a make-up bag and a diary.

42 percent of British women say that someone looking in their bag is as intrusive as reading her personal emails or text messages.

Meanwhile men report feeling nervous, scared and intimidated by the contents of ladies' bags with one in five British men claiming to have never even considered taking a peek inside one.

According to Cadbury, who conducted the research, the fact that a woman views her handbag as a sacred place that should be treated with the utmost privacy, shows how special the hidden treasures within are.

CRI中国国际广播电台 News & Reports, 2012-09-29（在线收听）