International Press Review: Merkel’s China Trip and Germany’s Submissive Bosses

translations from Chinese and German by JR. Links within blockquotes added during translation

-

Xinwen Lianbo, CCTV, August 31, 2012

Beijing Youthnet (北青网), August 31, 2012, 0715 local time (China)

Contrary to Thursday, which was packed with a political agenda, Friday is the day which is about “cultural tourism” and “economic cooperation trips”. Although this is Merkel’s sixth visit to China, this is the first time that she visits the Forbidden City. The scheduled fourty minutes of sightseeing let this German chancellor learn about Chinese history and culture first-hand, and deepen her comprehensive understanding of China.

与30日在北京密集的“政治日程”安排相比，默克尔今天的行程可以说是“文化之旅”和“经济合作之旅”。看点很多，可以用三个“首次”概括。今天上午温家宝总理将陪同默克尔一起参观故宫。虽然默克尔已经六次访问中国，这还是她首次到访故宫，预定40分钟的参观时间将让这位德国总理亲身领略中国历史和文化，加深她对中国的全面了解。

After the visit to the Forbidden City, Chief State Councillor Wen Jiabao personally accompanies Merkel on her trip to Tianjin, on the high-speed Beijing-Tianjin railway, which is the first time for Merkel to travel on a Chinese high-speed train. Concerning this, Merkel, herself from a great country of high-speed trains, says that this trip lets her experience China’s rapid development.

结束对故宫的访问之后，温家宝总理将亲自陪同默克尔乘坐京津高铁赴天津访问，这将是默克尔首次乘坐中国的高铁。对于来自高铁技术大国的默克尔来说，这次中国的高铁之旅相信可以让她感受到中国的快速发展。

The third “first”: this is Merkel’s first visit to Tianjin. Before, Merkel visited several Chinese cities, including Nanjing, Xi’an, and Guangzhou, but she is going to Tianjin for the first time. Tianjin is also Wen Jiabao’s hometown. During yesterday’s meeting with Merkel, Wen said that these Sino-German government consultations would be the last during the tenure of the current Chinese government. This means that if nothing extraordinary happens, this visit by Merkel will be the last one during which Wen will greet her in his capacity as Chief State Councillor. Merkel says that her stay as a guest in Wen’s hometown will be a memorable visit for her.

第三个“首次”：这是默克尔第一次到访天津。之前，默克尔已经访问过包括南京、西安、广州在内的多个中国城市，但天津还是头一回去，而且天津也是温家宝总理的故乡。昨天，温总理在与默克尔会面时就表示，这次中德政府磋商将是本届中国政府任内最后一次了。这意味着如果没有特殊情况出现的话，默克尔本次访华将是温家宝作为总理最后一次接待她访华。在这样一次访问中，默克尔到温总理的家乡做客对于她来说将是一次值得回忆的访问。

An important reason for Merkel to visit Tianjin is that Tianjin has become a focus of German companies in northern China. According to statistics, until July this year, 334 German-invested companies have been approved in Tianjin, and accumulated contractual investment is at more than 2.1 billion US dollars. Germany has also become the European country with the most companies investing in Tianjin.

默克尔之所以要访问天津，有一个重要原因是天津目前已成为德国企业在中国北方的主要聚集区。据统计，截至今年7月，天津累计批准德国投资企业334家，累计合同外资额超过21亿美元。德国也成为欧洲国家中在天津投资企业数量最多的国家。

During the time in Tianjin, Chief State Councillor Wen and Merkel held an hour of talks with Chinese and German entrepreneurs. This arrangement had been made during several of Merkel’s previous visits to China, too. In July 2010 and in February this year, when Merkel visited China, Wen held talks with Chinese and German entrepreneurs in Xi’an and Guangzhou, together with Merkel. This reflects the importance the two [heads of government] attach to listening to the comments and suggestions from entrepreneurs from both sides, concerning the development of Sino-German economic and trade cooperation. As for Merkel’s visit to China this time, an important goal is to further strengthen economic and trade cooperation with China. There are not only many entrepreneurs accompanying Merkel, but on Thursday, after the Sino-German government consultations, the two countries signed 13 agreemens concerning electric vehicles, biotechnology, climate protecton and other areas. The value of cooperation for the companies reached nearly seven billion US dollars.

在天津期间，温总理将和默克尔一同与中德企业家举行历时1个小时的座谈，这样的安排在以往默克尔的访华行程中多次出现。2010年7月和今年2月默克尔访华期间，温总理就曾与她一起在西安和广州同中德企业家座谈，这体现出两国总理非常重视听取双方企业界人士有关中德经贸合作发展的意见和建议。而默克尔本次访华的一个重要目的，就是着眼于继续加强与中国的经贸合作。随同默克尔来访的不仅有多位企业家，而且在30日中德政府磋商之后，两国签署了涉及电动汽车、生物技术、气候保护等领域合作的13项协议文本，有关企业、公司则达成的商业合作总金额接近70亿美元。

There is an important item on Chief State Councillor Wen’s and Chancellor Merkel’s agenda in Tianjin; they take part in Airbus Tianjin Company‘s ceremony, as the 100th A320 plane is completed. The Airbus assembly line in Tianjin is the first comprehensive one of this aircraft company outside Europe, a product of Airbus cooperation with Chinese companies. Both [heads of government] are witnessing the moment when the 100th plane since August 2008 leaves the assembly line.

在天津期间，温总理和默克尔总理有一项重要的日程安排是共同出席空客天津公司第100架A320飞机的下线仪式。空中客车在天津的这条总装线是空客公司在欧洲以外的第一条飞机总装线，是空客和中国企业合作的产物。从2008年8月开始组装首架飞机，到今年8月正好赶上第100架飞机下线，两国总理将共同见证这一时刻。

This production line is a win-win product for China and Europe. Airbus Tianjin Assembly Line general manager Shang Luguo said in an interview before that one of this projects biggest successes has been that it trained more than 400 Chinese technicians to master the world’s most advanced aircraft production technology. At the same time, it promoted China’s aviation industry’s development. China is currently conducting its own big-aircraft development program, and is learning from aircraft-building peers’ experience. This was very important for China, and this assembly line [in Tianjin] provided China with an opportunity to learn, which showed its importance.

这条生产线对于中欧来说是互利双赢的产物。空客天津总装线总经理尚鲁国之前在接受采访时就曾表示，这个项目取得最为重要的成就之一就是培养了400多名掌握世界最先进的飞机总装技术的中国员工，同时，推动了中国航空制造产业的发展。中国目前正在进行自己的大飞机研制计划，向同行学习飞机制造经验对于中国来说十分重要，而这条生产线为中国提供了一个学习的机会，可见它的重要性。

Also, China and Germany signed the “second-term Airbus China Assembly Line agreement”, and a purchasing agreement about 50 A320 aircraft at 3.5 billion US dollars. Wen and Merkel witnessed the signing of the contracts. Earlier, there were reports saying that Airbus expected purchases of 100 planes, but in fact, China bought only 50.

另外，昨天中德双方昨天还签署了《空客中国总装线二期框架协议》，以及价值35亿美元的50架A320飞机采购协议，温家宝和默克尔见证了协议的签署。之前，有报道说，空客方面预计中方订购的飞机是100架，而实际上中方购买的数量是50架。
-

Reuters, August 31, 2012

The European Commission has until next Friday to decide whether to launch an investigation into a complaint brought by European solar firms and people familiar with the case believe it may well go ahead and do so.

On Thursday, Merkel told reporters after talks with Wen that she favoured negotiations over confrontation in the matter, comments that were welcomed by the Chinese premier but stoked concern in the European industry.

But on Friday she appeared to row back on her conciliatory tone, saying Chinese solar firms needed to recognise that subsidies, such as bottom-rate bank loans, distorted competition and violated European law.
“We are not out of the woods yet,” she said. “My plea is that everyone be transparent, that they lay their cards on the table about how they produce.”
-

Der Spiegel, international online edition, August 31, 2012

The chancellor’s course on China, in fact, has slowly come to resemble the business-first policies pursued by her predecessor Gerhard Schröder. He almost surely approves of the lovely images of her visiting the Airbus plant in Tianjin, where she made a stop just before flying back to Berlin. The factory visit took place a day after a contract was signed for 50 new planes ordered by the Chinese.

[...]

Merkel, in fact, seems to have become almost completely domesticated by the economic gains made by the Asian superpower. She still, of course, addresses points of bilateral contention — during a press conference with her host Premier Wen Jiabao she requested that German press correspondents be treated better following repeated incidents of hassling. Beyond that, however, Merkel appeared overly considerate of a single-party dictatorship that pays little mind to human rights, neither at home in China nor elsewhere in the world.
-

Financial Times Deutschland, August 31, 2012, 1720 local time (Germany): Germany’s Submissive Bosses (Deutschlands devote Chefs)

When it comes to lobbying during the German-Chinese economic forum in Tianjin, it was Wen Jiabao and Angela Merkel who taught Peter Löscher and a few others some lessons. “Are there deficits in equal treatment for foreign companies in China?”, Wen followed up on Löscher’s vague opening statement, on which [Löscher] only goody-goody said: “I see it as a sign of trust that we can bring these issues forward with you personally.”

In Sachen Interessensvertretung waren es beim deutsch-chinesischen Wirtschaftsforum in Tianjin Wen Jiabao und Angela Merkel, die Peter Löscher und anderen ein paar Lektionen erteilten. “Gibt es in China denn auch Mängel in Sachen Gleichbehandlung für ausländische Unternehmen?”, hakte Wen nach Löschers vagem Eingangsstatement nach. Woraufhin der nur artig sagte: “Ich sehe es als Zeichen des Vertrauens, dass wir diese Themen bei Ihnen persönlich vorbringen können.”

It wasn’t the only moment when Wen or Merkel were compelled to actively encourage the top managers to complain. [...]

Es war nicht der einzige Moment, in dem Wen oder Merkel die Topmanager aktiv zu Klagen ermutigen mussten. [...]
-

Handelsblatt, August 31, 2012

[China's] market may be the world’s biggest one – but the Chinese government continues to hamper investors. In the chancellor’s presence, German company bosses vented their furustrations. There are many reasons to complain.

Der Markt mag der größte der Welt sein – doch die chinesische Regierung stellt Investoren weiterhin Hürden. In Anwesenheit der Kanzlerin machten deutsche Firmenchefs ihrem Unmut Luft. Anlässe zur Klage gibt es viele.

____________

Related

» Independent Innovation, May 29, 2012
» Industriousness and Wisdom, January 9, 2011

____________

Hu Jintao’s Africa Forum Speech: Talent Exchange, People-to-People Diplomacy, and no Bullying

Chinese party and state chairman Hu Jintao announced on the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation’s 5th ministerial-level meeting’s opening ceremony in Beijing on Thursday that China would provide 20 billion US dollars in loans to African countries during the next three years. This is twice as much as China’s commitment of three years ago, writes the BBC‘s Mandarin website. China had offered loans both on the Cooperation Forum’s 2006 and 2009 ministerial-level meetings. These two-days events are held every three years.

In 2006, Hu had announced 500 million US dollars in loans, and in 2009, chief state councillor Wen Jiabao announced ten billion (probably – the BBC apparently forgot a number of zeros) US dollars. Before the meeting this year, Chinese trade minister Chen Deming (陈德铭) wrote in an article that Sino-African bilateral trade had reached a historic record high of 166 billion US dollars.

Foreign ministers, officials in charge of foreign trade, and UN Secretary General Ban Kyi-Moon, as well as the African Union’s outgoing chairman Jean Ping took part in the opening ceremony on Thursday.

From the script of Hu’s speech in full, as published by Phoenix Media (Hong Kong):

China and Africa have cooperatively set up 29 Confucius Institutes or Confucius Classrooms. In a “20+20 cooperation plan”, twenty renowned universities from China and twenty renowned universities from Africa have built relationships between each other. China and Africa help each other in international affairs, united collaboration has become closer, the two sides cooperate closely on issues such as United Nations reform, reacting to climate change, sustainable development, the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round and other major issues, to protect developing countries’ common interests, to promote the democratization of international relations, to promote a direction in the international order which will be fairer and more reasonable.
中非双方合作在22个非洲国家设立了29所孔子学院或孔子课堂。中非20对知名高校在“中非高校20+20合作计划”框架下结为“一对一”合作关系。中非在国际事务中互帮互助、团结协作更加紧密，双方在联合国改革、应对气候变化、可持续发展、世贸组织多哈回合谈判等重大问题上密切配合，维护发展中国家共同利益，促进国际关系民主化，推动国际秩序朝着更加公正合理的方向发展。

[...]

Compared with six years ago, the international situation has changed greatly. Peace, development and cooperation remain the trends of our times, but there are clearly unstable and undetermined factors in the international trends. They remain affected by the global financial crisis, rising and falling international and regional hotspots, and an unfair and unreasonable international political and economic order which still affects and restricts global peace and development. Many developing countries’ development momentum is growing, but also facing difficulties and challenges.
同6年前相比，国际形势又发生了很大变化，和平、发展、合作仍然是时代潮流，但国际形势中不稳定不确定因素明显增多，国际金融危机影响犹存，国际和地区热点此起彼伏，不公正不合理的国际政治经济秩序依然影响和制约着世界和平与发展。广大发展中国家发展势头不断增乾但仍面临很多困难和挑战 。

After remarks of China being the world’s biggest developing country, and Africa consisting of the world’s greatest number of developing countries, as well as words of gratitude for African support in China’s development during the past six decades, Hu stated a number of promises, many of which are mentioned in a report on the BBC Mandarin website.

China also pledged to help in African human-resource training and provides 18,000 government scholarships, as well as dispatching medical staff to Africa, writes the BBC Mandarin website. China would [continue to] help to increase African agricultural technology and to improve individual countries’ customs systems and trade facilitation, Hu is quoted. China would also support African-Union peace-keeping missions, provide financial support for military development [to that end], and provide training for African-Union peace and security staff.

Hu called for a new situation in a Sino-African strategic partnership:

China and Africa should closely coordinate their cooperation in international affairs. We want to jointly protect the UN Charter’s purposes and principles, advocate the democratization of international relations, promote harmonious and balanced global development, oppose bullying of the weak by the strong, the strong bullying the weak, leaning on ones wealth to suppress the poor, we will strengthen discussion and coordination, take care of each others mutual concerns, join hands in reacting to global climate change, food security, sustainable development and other global challenges.
开创中非新型战略伙伴关系新局面，中非应该密切在国际事务中的协调和配合。我们要共同维护《联合国宪章》宗旨和原则，倡导国际关系民主化，推动和谐均衡的全球发展，反对以大欺小、恃强凌弱、倚富压贫，加强磋商和协调，照顾彼此关切，携手应对气候变化、粮食安全、可持续发展等全球性挑战。

People-to-people diplomacy plays a role, too. As the fourth item of five, non-governmental or

people-to-people friendship shall establish a solid public-opinion basis. China proposes to carry out “Sino-African people-to-people friendship actions”, to support and encourage bilateral non-governmental organizations, cooperation in the exchange between women and the young, to create a “Sino-African News Exchange Center” in China, to encourage exchanges and activities between Sino-African bilateral news media people, support the exchange of news people between news organizations of both sides, to continue the implementation of “Sino-African joint research and exchange plan”, and sponsorship of 100 projects of exchange and cooperation between academics and researchers.
第四，增进中非民间友好，为中非共同发展奠定坚实民意基础。中国倡议开展“中非民间友好行动”，支持和促进双方民间团体、妇女、青少年等开展交流合作；在华设立“中非新闻交流中心”，鼓励中非双方新闻媒体人员交流互访，支持双方新闻机构互派记者；继续实施“中非联合研究交流计划”，资助双方学术机构和学者开展100个学术研究、交流合作项目。

Not everything is as smooth as Hu’s speech on Thursday might suggest. Zimbabwe, one of China’s closest allies (and whose president, Robert Mugabe, is definitely more interested in democratization of international relations), is investigating persistent reports of rampant abuse of workers by Chinese employers. But then, the statement came from Zimbabwe’s minister of labor and social welfare, who is a member of the Movement of Democratic Change (MDL) – and the MDL is definitely the weaker half of Zimbabwe’s uneasy “coalition” government between president Mugabe’s cronies and the once oppositional MDL.
____________

Related

» Enhancing Zhou Enlai’s Convivial Diplomacy, February 20, 2012
» Universal Values, Competing Interests, July 16, 2011
» Namibia’s Vision 2030, March 26, 2010
» Old Comrades never Cheat, Aug 27, 2009
» Is AGOA Good Enough, Aug 5, 2009

____________

Culture is a Low-Carbon Industry: the 17th Central Committee’s “Cultural Decision”, Implemented on the Ground in Shijiazhuang

The latest leg of my translation of the CCP central committee’s “cultural decision” document, plus more links concerning that document, can be found here.

The following is a translation of an article by Shijiazhuang Daily (石家庄日报), published online on Friday. The article isn’t part of the actual document, but is meant to describe the document’s implementation “on the ground” in Shijiazhuang.

Shijiazhuang is the capital of Hebei Province.

Main Link: http://www.sjzdaily.com.cn/main/2011-12/02/content_1443135.htm

By this newspaper’s reporter, Yue Jinhong (岳金宏). The other day, in order to carry out and implement the spirit of the 17th Central Committee’s Sixth Plenary Session, the provincial 8th Party Congress and the 9th City Party Congress and to promote the provincial capital’s great cultural development and great bloom, member of the city’s municipal committee’s standing committee and propaganda bureau director Sun Wanyong (孙万勇) came to the Animated-Cartoon-Building project¹⁾ in  Gaocheng City‘s Qiaodong District, for on-site inspection and exploration.
日前，为贯彻落实党的十七届六中全会、省第八次党代会和市第九次党代会精神，推进省会文化大发展大繁荣，市委常委、宣传部长孙万勇就我市文化产业发展、文化项目建设等情况到藁城市、桥东区、动漫大厦项目现场等地进行了实地调研。

At the building, Sun examined the progress on-site and listened to reports about the project’s development. Sun Wanyong granted affirmation to the planning, orientation and progress and pointed out the major tasks in the work on the building’s outside design, the childrens’ theme restaurant design, the deepening of the career experience hall’s rearrangements, etc..
在石家庄市动漫大厦暨中国动漫衍生产品集散交易中心项目现场，孙万勇实地查看了施工现场，听取了项目进展情况汇报。孙万勇对大厦的整体项目立项、定位及工作进展予以肯定，指出下一步要重点做好大厦的外立面设计、策划动漫主题儿童餐厅、深入修改职业体验馆等工作。

In Gaocheng City, Sun Wanyong successively visited the Tuntou Palace Lantern village²⁾, and Hebei Renowned Musical Instruments Co., Ltd. (formerly China Drumbeat Factory). In a discussion that followed, he gave the existing foundations of Gaocheng City’s cultural industry rather high ratings. He demanded that Gaocheng City should conscientiously explore the ways of transformation from a big to a strong city of civilization, to continue to increase the engagement in the cultural causes, to actively guide the development of lantern, musical instrument etc. trades’ healthy development, to continue to write the great chapter of the cultural industry’s development, to adminstrate the cultural cause for the people and the masses well, and to be good pioneers at the entire city’s cultural construction.
在藁城市，孙万勇先后深入屯头宫灯专业村、河北名华乐器有限公司（原中华鼓乐厂）进行实地调研。在随后举行的座谈会上，孙万勇对藁城市已经拥有的文化产业基础给予较高评价。他要求藁城市认真研究怎样实现从文化大市到文化强市的转变，继续加大对文化事业的投入力度，积极引导宫灯产业和鼓乐厂等文化产业健康发展，继续做好文化产业这篇大文章，多为人民群众办好文化事业，在文化建设上当好全市排头兵。

On November 30, in Qiaodong District, Sun Wanyong successively inspected the History and Culture Gallery at Minsheng Road, Letai Center, Zhongshan Warring States Cultural and Artistic Research Institute and other locations, and listened to reports from Shijiazhuang Space Animation City, Splendid International City and other projects, as well as a general report about Qiaodong’s general cultural construction. After listening, he pointed out that Qiaodong had always attached importance and priority to cultural construction, had incorporated cultural construction in its economic and social plans, and had marched to the forefront within the city. In its future work, Qiaodong District should play its cards in the areas of history and culture, originality, and in the cultural market well, brightly put the goal of a strong cultural district forward, make use of the good existing foundations, master the construction of its projects, achieve great breakthroughs, achieve great development and bloom for the entire city, and contribute to Shijiazhuang’s well-being.
11月30日，孙万勇到桥东区调研文化建设情况，先后察看了民生路历史文化长廊、勒泰中心、中山战国文化艺术研究院等地，听取了太空动漫城、锦绣国际城等项目以及桥东区文化建设总体情况汇报。孙万勇在听取情况后指出，桥东区历来重视文化建设工作，将文化建设摆上了重要位置，纳入了经济社会整体规划，在市里走在了前列。在今后的工作中，桥东区要打好历史文化牌、打好文化创意牌、打好文化市场牌，鲜明地提出建设文化强区这一目标，利用好现在的基础，抓好项目建设，争取有大的突破，为全市实现文化大发展大繁荣、建设幸福石家庄做贡献。

At the end of his exploration, Sun Wanyong emphasized that the 17th Central Committee’s Sixth Plenary Session had called for the great development and bloom of culture, and marked a new stage in our country’s cultural construction. Culture is an industry low in resource consumption, with no great negative impacts on the environment, a typical case of a low-carbon, green economy. To carry out and implement the spirit of the 17th Central Committee’s Sixth Plenary Session, our city has already made it clear that by 2015, the cultural industry’s development shall become a pillar of [Shijiazhuang's] national economy. The entire city’s propaganda and cultural systems must establish a strong political conscience, an awareness of the overall situation, a sense of responsibility and opportunity, a high degree of cultural consciousness and cultural self-confidence, closely connect to our city’s reality, by high standards and vigorous measures plan and promote cultural reform’s development, continuously strengthen cultural development’s overall strength and competitiveness, and make efforts to initiate the new situation of our provincial capital’s cultural reform and development.
调研结束后，孙万勇强调，党的十七届六中全会吹响了文化大发展大繁荣的号角，标志着我国文化建设进入了一个新的发展阶段。文化产业资源消耗低、环境污染少、科技含量高，是典型的低碳经济、绿色经济。为贯彻落实党的十七届六中全会精神，我市已明确提出，至2015年要把文化产业发展成为国民经济支柱性产业。全市宣传文化系统要树立强烈的政治意识、大局意识、责任意识和机遇意识，树立高度的文化自觉和文化自信，紧密结合我市实际，以更高的标准、更有力的措施谋划和推动文化改革发展，不断增强文化发展的整体实力和竞争力，努力开创省会文化改革发展的新局面。

____________

Notes

¹⁾ Shijiazhuang is trying to build itself into a cartoon harbor of the vast country (i. e. China), China Radio International (CRI) reported in August 2009. Some pictures and English remarks were made available by Hebei’s provincial government in 2010 and in 2011 respectively. The Animated-Cartoon Building is scheduled to become – or to include – a place for exhibiting and trading cartoons, and according to a schedule published by Hebei News Net in October this year, that place will be ready for business early in 2012.

²⁾ Tuntou Palace Lantern Village is described in a China Radio International article / broadcast of 2008 here.

____________

Related

» Cartoons: Lord Yegong Loves the Dragon, June 16, 2010
» Obituary: Hua Junwu, 1915 – 2010, June 14, 2010

____________

China, Myanmar, WTO: Dependence, Low-End Exports, and Friendly Consultations

The government has suspended work on the controversial Myitsone dam as a result of widespread public protest over its likely environmental and social impact,

reports the Myanmar Times.

Myitsone Dam under Construction, Wikimedia Commons (click on photo for source)

China News Service (中国新闻网) reported on Sunday (October 2, 2011, 00:41 GMT) that

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei (洪磊) told a press conference today that the Myitsone electric plant project is a joint Sino-Chinese project which went through scientific demonstration and strict examination. The matters concerned should be properly handled through friendly consultations between the two sides.

中国外交部发言人洪磊今天回答记者问时说，密松电站是中缅两国的合资项目，经过了双方的科学论证和严格审查。对项目实施过程中的有关事宜，应由双方通过友好协商妥善处理。

Q: According to reports, Myanmar’s parliament announced on September 30 that during president Thein Sein’s tenure, the Sino-Myanmarnese cooperative  Myitsone electric plant  project will remain shelved. What is the Chinese side’s comment on this?

据报道，9月30日，缅甸联邦议会宣布吴登盛总统在其任期内搁置中缅两国密松电站合作项目。中方对此有何评论？

A: The Chinese government has always supported Chinese companies in developing cooperation with companies abroad, based on the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and demanded that Chinese companies should perform in strict accordance with those countries’ law and regulations, to fulfill their responsibilities and obligations, and urges governments in pertaining countries to guarantee the Chinese companies’ legal legitimate rights and interests. The Myitsone power plant is a project jointly invested by China and Myanmar, and went  through the scientific demonstration and strict examination of both sides. The matters concerned should be properly handled through friendly consultations between the two sides.

中国政府一贯支持中国企业本着相互尊重、平等互利原则同其他国家企业开展合作，并要求中国企业严格按照所在国法律法规履行责任和义务，敦促有关国家政府保障中国企业的合法和正当权益。密松电站是中缅两国的合资项目，经过了双方的科学论证和严格审查。对项目实施过程中的有关事宜，应由双方通过友好协商妥善处理。

Also on Sunday (Saturday, 18:07 GMT), People’s Daily‘s Bangkok correspondent Ji Peiyuan (暨佩娟) quoted Myanmar media:

According to Myanmar media reports, Burmese parliament announced on September 30 that during president Thein Sein’s tenure, the Sino-Myanmarnese cooperative  Myitsone electric plant  project will remain shelved. Thein Sein said: “Myanmar’s government is elected by the people, therefore, we have to pay attention to the will of the people. We are obliged to focus on settling the people’s worries and misgivings.”

Thein Sein said that the Myitsone electric plant  project could harm [or destroy, 破坏] the natural landscape, the livelihoods of the local people, the private capital in the cultivation of rubber plantations and crops, and collapsing dams, caused by climate change, could also damage the livelihoods of the people near the Myitsone plant, and further down the river. He also said that the Myanmar government would consult with the Chinese government to avoid harming Sino-Myanmar bilateral relations and friendship.

Myanmar Myitsone hydropower plant is worth 3.6 billion US dollars, and is about 200 kilometers away from Tengchong County in Yunnan Province. and is a major hydropower by the China Power Investment Corporation, in the region of Myanmar’s Irrawaddy River. It’s located in the Kachin mountainous region and to be developed at the 干流河段 section of the Irrawaddy River, with a capacity of six million kilowatts.

The rest of People’s Daily’s report reflects the statement made by Chinese foreign ministry Hong Lei (see this post’s initial paras).

The BBC reported that a letter by president Thein Sein had been read out in parliament, announcing the decision to suspend the project. The project had fuelled fighting between the army and ethnic Kachin rebels. The BBC quotes its South East Asia correspondent Rachel Harvey as saying that the decision appears to be further evidence of the new leadership’s desire to seek legitimacy by being more open to public opinion.

Both continuing the project in the long run (completion was originally scheduled for 2019), and its abandonment, would pose many problems. Continuation would reportedly have a negative impact on biodiversity, as frequently reflected by organizations like the Burma Rivers Network, it may come with side effects as many other mega dams from the Aswan Dam in Egypt to the Three-Gorges dam in China have, and rebel movements in the region could make the Myitsone project vulnerable to sabotage. Besides the mythological weight the river carries, forced relocations, and the loss of means of livelihood also seem to have driven opposition.

But Mynamar may have good reasons to keep consultations with Beijing as friendly as possible. Even if Yangon (or Naypyidaw) flatly refused to pay damages (if legally obliged to do so), business with its powerful neighbor would suffer. China sees itself a s a victim of trade protectionism, and this case, if it becomes a high-profile bone of contention, would add to that.

On the other hand, the further process may also make it clear to Beijing that mere deals with third-world countries’ regimes may not be sustainable. If China’s rulers understand that is a different question. Protectionism and resource nationalism had been on the rise and hampered Chinese business, official Xinhua news agency reported in September, citing an Ernest & Young report. Obviously, China was a “victim” of trade protectionism (贸易保护主义最大受害者).

There is grumbling among China’s academia, too. On the tenth anniversary of China’s accession to the WTO, People’s University (aka Renmin University) professor Gu Genliang (贾根良) questioned China’s foreign trade approach of importing high-end products and exporting low-end products (进口高端产品并出口低端产品).

By exporting hydropower to China, Myanmar would follow a path similar to the one Gu Genliang deems harmful. China, Gu Genliang (and many other Chinese people, academics or not) feel that they are being exploited, especially by America, of course.

[Update, April 11, 2012: the linked website, Utopia, is currently offline.  Apparently, Wu Genliang's article can also be found here.]

Gu also fears foreign blackmail:

We are mired in heavy dependence on foreign resources and on on our own cheap exports. Large-scale low-end exports consume a lot of energy and natural resources, which led to our country’s dependence on foreign energy and resources which not only made the prices for these sources explode, which transferred the fruits of our people’s hard work into the hands of energy-exporting countries, but also has the potential of making us suffer from foreign countries’ embargos, thus carrying a huge security risk. At the same time, while our country is so reliant on foreign resources, it is ridiculous that we are exporting large quantities of rare earths and minerals coal, etc. at low prices.

第五，深陷对外部资源的严重依赖和本国资源廉价出口的陷阱。低端产品的大量出口是以大量消耗能源和自然资源为基础的，这导致了我国对外能源和资源的高度依赖，这种高度依赖不仅导致了能源和资源的价格暴涨把我国人民辛苦劳动的成果转移到资源出口国手中，而且潜伏着遭遇外国对我国实施资源禁运的巨大经济安全风险。同时，令人感到荒谬的是，在我国深陷对外部资源的严重依赖的同时，我国的大量资源如稀土、煤炭等却被大量地廉价出口。

The WTO ruled in July that Chinese export restrictions on certain raw minerals violated global rules

Gu spells out the conditions under which China’s WTO membership could still be useful – or those under which it should consider leaving the organization.

Myanmar is still a long way from even joining.

But maybe, at least, it will stop exploiting China’s dependence on energy, and pull the plug on the Myitsone project for good.

____________

Related

» The Government had little Choice, Asia Times, Oct 4, 2011
» Vietnam: Under Threat of Invasion, April 29, 2009

-

Updates / Related

» Aung San Suu Kyi Cautious, BBC, Oct 3, 2011

____________

Blogging: Pondering on Podcasts

A Stack of Logs, August 2011

Once in a while, I’m using radio  – mostly shortwave radio – as a source or as an appetizer for thought when writing a post.  Sometimes, there is a post about shortwave radio itself – when it comes to Deutsche Welle (Voice of Germany), the Voice of America‘s (VoA) Mandarin service, China Radio International (CRI, foreign radio) or China National Radio (CNR, domestic radio) for example. It could be nice to post short recorded clips in addition to what I write. The most obvious way would be YouTube. I do have a cheap digital camera, so making badly-arranged videos would be feasible, even if the picture doesn’t matter at all, as the message is on the soundtrack. However, being the ecologically-aware blogger I am, I’m not so fond about the useless data flow and corresponding carbon dioxide emissions such videos would generate.

Audio podcasts could provide the answer. However, WordPress would require an upgrade before I could post podcasts,  either video or audio files, and while I’m aware of YouTube as a free video platform, I don’t know a free platform for publishing audio files.

Then why wouldn’t I start a domain of my own, and rent some server space from somewhere else?

WordPress is very convenient in that they allow me to blog anonymously. That’s one of several reasons why I like WordPress, and why I avoid platforms like Facebook.  After all, Germany is by no means as free an environment for bloggers as is America, for example. Legal harassment is always a possibility in my country. By paying for an upgrade, my anonymity would be less perfect than now.

In short: I’d like to keep things as they are, plus posting some audio files. If you can tell me a platform where I can post audio files for free, just as I could post videos for free on YouTube, let me know.

Don’t ask what JR can do for you – ask what you can do for JR.

Foreign Office “Africa Concept”: Universal Values, Competing Interests

German chancellor Angela Merkel‘s focus was on trade, not on aid, during her visits to Kenya, Angola and Nigeria this week, Deutsche Welle reported on Friday. Sales of eight patrol boats to Angola had been a bone of contention in Germany’s federal parliament, and a new “Africa Concept”, published by the foreign office (or foreign ministry) last month, had been put into question by aid organizations for putting trade before aid.

One of the older concepts - school in Wuga, German East Africa, photo between 1906 and 1918 (Wikimedia Commons / Bundesarchiv, click on picture for source)

-

Foreign Office “Africa Concept”

The following are keywords or -lines from the German foreign office’s Africa Concept, published a month ago. The page numbers refer to the digital pages (per mouseclick), not to the page numbers on the hardcopy leaflet. The first link (page 3, “Germany’s Africa policy is based…”) applies for all following pages, too. The full text behind the link is in German.

• page 3: “Germany’s Africa policy is based on universal values, and led by interests. It takes into account that people in Africa are responsible for their continent in the first place”, June 15, 2011

• page 5: partnership on equal footing

• page 6: our partners, first and foremost, are those who share these values.

• page 7: good governance.

• page 7: “Reduction of tariffal and non-tariffal trade barriers and measures which distort trade is significant to carry Africa’s development potential into effect. [...] The federal government therefore supports Africa’s efforts for regional economic integration and the WTO negotiations in the Doha-Round framework. [...] Germany supports the further opening of European markets for African products.”

• page 8: German dependence on natural resources: coltan, wolframite, platinum, oil, gas, sources of renewable energy.

• page 10: African Peace and Security Architecture (AU), conflict prevention and conflict resolution.

• page 13: good governance, democracy, separation of powers, open societies.

• page 14: “Learning by Ear”, Deutsche Welle, in cooperation with UNESCO.

• page 15: good foundations for sustainable growth. G 6%, inflation usually one-digit.

• page 16: income disparities.

• page 16: 800 mn Euros in support of sustainable development, private sector as partners for Germany’s exporters, export credit guarantees, and agreements on the protection of investment.

• page 17: microfinance.

• page 19: climate protection, bio-diversity.

• page 21: crude oil imports particularly from Nigeria and Algeria; 18 per cent in Germany’s imports are from Africa.

• page 22: making energy usable within Africa – power plants and grids.

• page 24: Germany as Africa’s third-largest partner for development. Funding for development cooperation to be increased to 0.7 per cent of GDP by 2015.

• page 25: health and water conservancy.

• page 26: elementary education, further education, R&D, university cooperation, vocational training.

• page 29: the 2007 EU strategy.

• pages 27 – 30: United Nations / G8 / G20 framework.

• page 31: measuring achievements and efficiency.

-

While Martin Wansleben of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce expressed hope that chancellor Merkel would promote free access to African natural resources – those to which Chinese companies were seeking exclusive access -, VENRO, an NGO alliance, criticized the Africa Concept for putting trade first, rather than overcoming poverty and hunger.

All the same, we welcome the first-time compilation of an inter-departmental concept by the federal government. This provides an opportunity for a concerted, development-promoting policy. We also welcome that the concept sets out from the continent’s potentials, rather than remains stuck with the descriptions of civil wars, corruption, and hunger. Still, [Africa's] reality is at times euphemized.

VENRO’s Ulrich Post also saw potential and existing competing interests within the concept, when it comes to securing energy or natural-resources supplies.

Welthungerhilfe secretary general Wolfgang Jamann pointed out that market protectionism can make sense, during certain stages of trade development. In that light, too, trade was over-emphasized vs development, according to critics.

Neues Deutschland, formerly East Germany’s government mouthpiece, pointed to exploitation of African fishing grounds by EU trawlers, and European agricultural exports which were destroying the livelihoods of African farmers. Sustainable development in Africa would remain impossible under such circumstances, despite the concept’s suggestions to the contrary.

Oil was an obvious factor in chancellor Merkel’s visit to Angola and Nigeria, but in Kenya, too: a port on the Kenyan island of Lamu is likely to be a safer port for Southern Sudanese oil exports than North Sudan’s Port Sudan, given that the two Sudanese states’ relationship isn’t exactly friendly these days, writes Manfred Bleskin, in an editorial for N-TV television.

While both N-TV and the New York Times referred to a Chinese role in the port’s construction, or to Chinese backing, neither suggests that the port will be for exclusive Chinese use. The relevant Chinese companies are now looking into the place’s potential to ship South Sudanese oil – against cultural, societal, or environmental odds.

German importers may wish to make use of Port Lamu, anyway.

____________

Related
Manmohan Singh: Address to Ethiopian Parliament, Facebook, May 26, 2011
Horst Köhler: Full of Trade, May 27, 2010
Africa, where the Worlds meet, March 8, 2010
Is AGOA Good Enough, August 5, 2009
Kofi Owusu and the German Keyboard, June 20, 2009

Hydropower: Dam if you Do, Dam if you Don’t

The Three Gorges Dam

is being subjected to a level of public criticism not seen in China since construction of the project began in 1992,

David Bandurski of the China Media Project (CMP, Hong Kong) noted on June 1, and explained that

One important reason for this, of course, is that the State Council is debating the passage of a “Three Gorges Follow-Up Work Plan” (三峡后续工作规划) and a “Yangtze Middle and Lower Reaches Water Contamination Prevention Plan” (长江中下游流域水污染防治规划), exposing a number of serious issues with the Three Gorges Dam Project. Media have seized on this as an opportunity to probe deeper into the project and its impact (including the history of its approval).

Zipingpu Dam (紫坪铺水利枢纽), Sichuan Province (Wikimedia Commons - click on this picture for source)

Chinese news coverage may be more critical than ever (except, possibly, the run-up phase to approval by the “National People’s Congress” which eventually passed the project by an unusually narrow margin of “only” two thirds, but the debate never really ended. Another dam, the Zipingpu Reservoir some 5.5 kilometers away from the epicenter of the Wenchuan Earthquake of 2008, was also discussed by Chinese geologists, with the BBC‘s Chinese service in 2009, and, in March this year, on the China Society for Hydropower Engineering (中国水力发电工程学会) website. Chen Houqun (陈厚群), an elder at the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, pointed out that while coal accounted for some seventy to eighty per cent of China’s energy mix, China’s leaders had pledged to raise the share of non-fossil sources of energy to 15 per cent before 2020.

China’s potential for hydropower was irreplacable (我认为我们国家的国情，大力发展水电起到了无可替代的作用), Chen suggested, while he acknowledged that given that the rivers ran from China’s west to its east, and given that western China was exactly the region where earthquakes were most likely to strike,  “seismic safety” was an unavoidable issue in the development of hydropower (水电的抗震安全是不可避免的问题).

Nuclear energy, too, is an energy sector where the bureaucracy behind it and the media are trying to alleviate concerns (which may be great or small in China, as the thread of this Sinologistical blogpost demonstrates). China News informed its readers, also in March this year, that in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, full consideration of earthquakes and other natural disasters’ influence had been given to the Fangchenggang nuclear plant’s choice of location.

As far as smaller solutions than the Three Gorges megaproject of the 1980s and 1990s are concerned, China might at least be interested in foreign technology, provided that financial support from respective government is provided. That’s what the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research website suggested on March 24.

____________

Related
» Zipingpu Dam, Wikipedia
» Copenhagen: Stop Bitching, December 18, 2009

Northern Germany: Dustclouds Rolling

If recent years’ springs and summers were meteorologically typical for most of the year, we could expect olive trees to grow here within decades. But every winter would probably kill them again. It seems to me, based on more recent experience, that Northern Germany’s climate is moving towards a two-season climate now, without real springs or falls – it’s been warm or hot from April through August or September, and cold for the rest of the past few years.

Osterwiese - Bremens sixteen-days easter market, opened on April 15.

Precipitation in general is down a lot, and the last rain, except for a few drops that wouldn’t even make you want to shelter, was some five weeks ago, The “water balance” (rain minus evaporation) for Germany in general has been negative since March 1 this year.

Hedges, shrubs, and trees: reaching deep and thriving.

In our region, this seems to have a bad effect especially on oaktrees, which are greening only scarcely, and on all kinds of plants with short-reaching root systems.

A sand storm near Rostock, on the Baltic seacoast, led to a crash of up to eighty cars on the motorway Autobahn 19 on April 9th, with ten deaths and at least 97 injuries. Today, I heard several dust cloud warnings for Lower Saxony’s (the federal state neighboring and surrounding Bremen)  autobahns on the radio, and as it was one of the never-start-thinking radio stations, they kept issuing jubilant weather forecasts – for the weekend and beyond, no rain is expected either.

That doesn’t look like a promising year for farmers. One  can water square meters, but not hectares, during a long dry period.

This post marks the end of my ten-days break from posting. It  wasn’t exactly consistent, but still relaxing.

Now I’ve brought my feedreader back to life. But I don’t feel like writing something about China yet. I might start with something Adam Cathcart appears to have been doing in recent days: reading, reading, reading.

And if you haven’t been to Pingtung Country (屏東縣), Taiwan, and aren’t likely to get there anytime soon, the best thing next to going there yourself might be to read this Pingtung-County-sponsored travelogue by Michael Turton.

Another cool and dry morning: moonset, sunrise, April 2011. Day temperatures go beyond 20 degrees C. now, while the latest night frost was only three nights ago.