IV. International
(11-17-08)
.
China warned Tibetans
that the door to
Tibet
independence was firmly shut and would remain so, after
a meeting with envoys for the Dalai Lama and ahead of a
watershed gathering of leading Tibetan exiles.
.
A teenage boy who many
believe is the reincarnation of the Buddha has
re-emerged from the jungle in southern
Nepal,
attracting thousands of devotees, officials said. Some
came as far away as India to see him
.
Gong Li (Memoirs of Geisha), who married in 1996,
has long lived outside China and most recently in
Hollywood. She caused a furor in China for embracing her
husband’s citizenship (Singaporean tobacco tycoon Ooi
Jhoe Soeng). They call her a traitor in China for doing
so.
.
She is far from the first star to give up her Chinese
nationality. Hong Kong-based action superstar Jet Li now
holds US citizenship as do director Chen Kaige and his
movie star wife Cheng Hong. Zhang Ziyi (star of
Memoirs of a Geisha) holds a HK citizenship allowing
her to travel easily while remaining a Chinese national
. China
announced an aggressive
$586 billion economic stimulus package (the largest
in its history) at a time when it is struggling with
increasing social unrest due to factory closings and
rising unemployment.
.
In a plan that
economists compare to the New Deal, the government said
it would ease credit restrictions, expand social welfare
services and launch an infrastructure spending program
that would include the construction of new railways,
roads and airports.
.
The stimulus funds, to be used through 2010, represent
roughly 15% of China’s yearly GDP. China last year
accounted for 27% of global growth, more than any other
nation. Economists say the package may have a positive
but modest global impact, softening the US recession and
global downturn. What is most important is that China
won’t become another drag on the world economy.
.
The number of protests in China is rising. They range
from rural protests over land grabs to the recent unrest
in South China over factory wages and dismissals. Many
involved outrage over heavy-handed tactics by police or
the wealthy for taking advantage of ordinary citizens.
.
In the weeks of global
financial crisis, Chinese officials declared they
were not affected. As factory closings increased,
corporate earnings dive, and stock market losses
continue to mount, the Communist Party’s confidence
has changed to fear.
.
There is a perception that the economy is in trouble.
For the CCP, the crisis is both economic and political.
In recent weeks, local governments have put up special
loans for ailing companies and initiated severance
payments for workers who have already lost their jobs.
.
The economic devastation has been worst in the
industrial centers of S. China, areas that had thrived
in recent decades by producing the electronics,
clothing, toys and furniture that fill retail stores in
the US. With export orders falling and rising raw
material and labor costs, more than 68,000 small
companies nationwide collapsed in the first half of 2008
and about 2.5 million jobs lost.
.
China’s top envoy to
Taiwan
(Chen Yunlin) landed
in Taipei to conclude accords on new direct links,
shipping routes and other economic issues, spawning
strong protests from Taiwanese opposed to closer ties
with Beijing.
.
Pres. Ma Ying-jeon of the Nationalist Party said
he wants to ease hostilities with
China.
Chen’s visit is in line with Ma’s policy of putting
political differences aside to build trust by
cooperating on practical business issues. Pres. Hu
Jintao appears to favor a moderate approach.
.
Analysts said China sees its improved business ties as a
way of winning over the Taiwanese public as well as
boosting the sagging popularity of Ma’s Nationalists in
hopes they will be reelected in 2012. The United States
welcomes cross-trait dialogue as a means of soothing
tensions.
.
The
US thwarted a suspect
shipment from
North Korea
to Iran by persuading the Indian government to deny
clearance for a North Korean flight to travel through
Indian airspace, US officials said. The US suspected the
Ilyushin-62 jet was carrying sophisticated technology (ballistic
missile parts) that could be used in a program for
WMD.
.
Kim Jong-Il’s public appearances suggest he did not have
the brain surgery he was widely rumored to have
undergone to repair damage from a stroke he may or may
not have suffered in August.
.
South Korea
has
co-sponsored a UN resolution condemning North Korea for
alleged human rights abuses for the first time. This is
a departure from a decade of liberal rule in South Korea
when it avoided taking a stand on the issue for fear of
straining ties with the North and its efforts to resolve
nuclear standoff.
.
In the latest ranking of perception of government
corruption by Transparency International, the
Philippines
dropped 10 notches from 131st in 2007 to 141st
(tied with
Cameroon, Iran and Yemen)
in 2008 out of 180 countries surveyed.
.
The global financial turmoil is taking a heavy toll on
its major conglomerates, e.g., the Lopez and
Gokongwei holding companies, which reported sharp
declines in net profits due to heavy foreign exchange
and market losses.
.
The Commission on Human Rights admits it is
unable to protect the people who approach them to report
alleged human rights abuse. At the same time it is
calling on people to help improve monitoring of the
abuses.
.
An Indonesian
teen died of bird flu raising the death toll in the
country hardest hit by the virus to 113, health
officials said. The latest death comes amid an ongoing
dispute between a SE Asian country and WHO over sharing
samples of the virus from its patients to monitor
whether the virus is mutating to a more dangerous form.
. Three
Islamic militants condemned to death for the 2002 Bali
bombing that killed 202 people at the resort in Kuta,
popular with western tourists were executed by firing
squad. Security forces are on the alert across the
country amid fear of reprisal attacks.
.
PT Bumi Resources, Asia’s biggest exporter of
power-station coal will spend Rp 8.25 trillion ($696.2
million) to buy back shares to boost its falling stock
prices and ease concerns its recent slide could disrupt
the site of its parent company’s stake.
.
Will
India
of the 21st century produce its own Barack
Obama? This is the title of a debate program on a
leading Indian TV channel. Ever since the US
presidential election, the question keeps popping, “When
will India have its own Obama?”
. India
became the 4th country to scale this historic
milestone after a Moon Impact Probe with the
national tri-color painted successfully on the human
surface.
.
The Honda Civic hybrid enabled the country’s
first hybrid car and surprised the market this month
with a 40% price discount, and is now mulling on paying
back customers who had bought it at the original price.
.
Violence mars the start of crucial state elections that
may determine whether an early general election is
called.
. Pakistan’s
defense minister (Chaudhury Ahmad Muktar) cautioned the
newly appointed head of US Central Command (Gen.
David Petraeus) that launching further missile strikes
in the troubled tribal areas would increase tensions
between the two countries.
. Two
suicide bombers attacked pro-government tribesmen and
security forces in Pakistan’s volatile Northwest killing
19 people. This is the region where Pakistani troops
have clashed for months with Islamist insurgents allied
with Taliban and al Quaeda involved in attacks on US and
NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
.
A new election law banning parties with a religious
identity from contesting upcoming general polls in
Pakistan is putting the army-backed government and
Islamic parties on a collision course.
. . More than
3,000 children from the subcontinent vanish every year
from school and forced into arranged marriages. It is
particularly prevalent in Pakistan’s communities whose
parents arrange children to marry first cousins.
