Area417

Today's China Pictures

My son and a Panda friend

I'm actually not sure what this animal is.

I'm told this is a Red Panda.

Elisa, J's girlfriend, takes her turn Panda-sitting.

Pictures From China

My son is studying in China. Just thought I'd share a few pictures he and his girlfriend, Elisa, took.

   Tibetans dance to techno in the town square.

 

  Tibetan monks

  Elisa

China: 35 People Under Observation For Bird Flu

Thirty-five poultry workers have been placed under obervation after 15,000 birds died of bird flu.

Seven people have died of bird flu in China and their health ministry has confirmed that country's 11th human case.

The WHO says of the 165 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans detected since 2003, 88 people have died. Most of the victims have been in Asia, although four have died this year in Turkey and two in northern Iraq.

The World Organisation for Animal Health confirmed on Wednesday H5N1 had been detected for the first time in Africa, wiping out 40,000 battery hens on a farm in northern Nigeria.

Link: China places 35 people under observation amid bird flu outbreak - Yahoo! News.

Chinese Activist Under House Arrest

Since revealing that forced abortions were occurring in his home province, Chen Guangcheng  and his family have paid dearly.

Authorities have jammed signals to and from Chen's mobile phone but they could not block calls on Friday due to a power failure. His home phone has also been cut.

Up to 30 people have been guarding Chen's house in each shift round the clock. The only visitor allowed is Chen's older brother.

Chen has been beaten twice for trying to leave his home. His wife was dragged back into the house when she attempted to leave.

Chen's whistleblowing prompted the government to sack and detain several officials in Shandong's Linyi city, state media have said.

But Chen said he has not heard of any punishment.

Officials from Yinan county, which administers Dongshigu, forcibly brought back Chen to his home from a hiding place in Beijing last September.

His freedom was restricted with officials accusing him of providing "intelligence" to foreigners about forced abortions and sterilization's as part of strict family planning rules.

Link: ABC News: Blind China activist under house arrest since Sept.

China Reports Another Outbreak Of Foot & Mouth Disease

Though the Chinese have said that outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease are rare in that country, they are now reporting the 6th outbreak  this year.

China jails another journalist

Zheng Yichun has been sentenced  to seven years for writing articles for The Epoch Times, a newspaper deemed subversive because of its ties with the Falun Gong.

Update: For a related article, read China steps up Web controls but investors untroubled

U.S. citizen detained in China is released

Xie Chunren has been released after being held for almost 100 days.

China-born Xie Chunren, 56, was arrested on May 31 while on honeymoon in Sichuan province in the country's southwest. Police told him they suspected him of involvement in activities endangering national security, allegations he denied in repeated interrogations.

Mr. Chunren believes his release is due to President Hu Jintao's upcoming visit to the U.S.

Link: U.S. citizen held for months in China returns home - Yahoo! News.

Update on Streptococcus suis in China

China has reported 215 cases of the pig-borne disease. Of those, 39 have died.

Links:  WHO report,  China's south on high alert as pig disease spreads - Yahoo! News.

The natives are restless

China's public security minister says there were 74,000 demonstrations or riots in 2004.

Link: Alarm and disarray on rise in China - Asia - Pacific - International Herald Tribune.

China charges US citizen as spy

China has had U.S. citizen Xie Chunren under house arrest for almost three months. He has been charged with spying for Taiwan.

This is not the first time the Chinese have held a U.S. citizen; David Dong has been held since 2003.

Link: China holds US citizen accused of spying for Taiwan - Yahoo! News.

Japan's apology fails to soothe China

The Chinese government isn't satisfied  with Japan's apology for past aggression and is calling for Japanese politicians to stop visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japan honors its dead soldiers.

Woman and 37 students detained for reading Koran in China

Aminan Momixi was arrested for "illegally possessing religious materials and subversive historical information." Legal counsel has been denied.

Pentagon report warns of China's expanding submarine fleet

Experts foresee China's sub fleet as larger that U.S.'s within 15 years.

China is in the midst of perhaps the largest military buildup the world has witnessed since the end of the Cold War," Richard Fisher, vice president of Washington's International Assessment and Strategy Center, a national security think tank, said at a recent hearing of the House Armed Services Committee.

Link: U.S. report warns of China sub threat - Yahoo! News.

Suicide bombing in China

The official word is that  the suspected bomber was a farmer who suffered from lung cancer.  Lots more information and links on  The Jawa Report Archives.

Outbreak of Anthrax in China

One person has died and 7 more have been confirmed to have been infected with Anthrax. An additional five people are suspected to have contracted the disease.

No new cases have been reported in the past few days.
Link: Anthrax kills one, infects up to 11 more in northeast China - Yahoo! News.

WHO urges more testing in China

The World Health Organization recommended that China run more tests on a pig-borne disease thought to be caused by the Streptococcus suis bacteria.

International experts on Streptococcus suis have also raised concerns about China's outbreak, saying it is highly unusual for so many people to fall sick and die suddenly from the disease. They recommend the strain be sent to another lab for testing.

Link: WHO Recommends China Conducts More Tests - Yahoo! News.

China arrests Hong Kong reporter as spy

Ching Cheong, who was detained by the Chinese back in April, was charged on Friday as a spy for Taiwan.

This past week also saw the government enacting new regulations limiting foreign investment in media, from publishing to movie production.

Link: China formally arrests Hong Kong reporter as spy - Asia - Pacific - International Herald Tribune.

China admits healthcare system inadequate

The Chinese Health Minister describes the country's health care system as backward and underfunded and fears its ability to deal effectively with crises such as SARS. Minister Qiang detailed the problems in an 11-page report.
Link: Report highlights sorry state of China's health sector - Yahoo! News.

Report states China working on anti-satellite systems

A recently issued report by the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense has cast an eye on China's growing space capability.

The annual report — The Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2005 – flatly claims that China is developing and intends to field anti-satellite (ASAT) systems.

In assessing China's overall military prowess, the U.S. Defense report stresses that China is "facing a strategic crossroads." Noting that China's emergence has significant implications for the region and the world, the Defense Department assessment stresses that "questions remain" about choices that China's leaders will make regarding its military might as that country's power and influence grow.

Link: USATODAY.com - Report: China working on anti-satellite systems.

China threatens to block Japan's inclusion on UN Security Council

China threatened to veto G4 countries'  (Japan Germany, Brazil and India) bid for permanent seats on what would be an expanded UN Security Council. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan charges that the G4 group does not care about small to mid-sized countries which are still developing.

I think it is more likely that China is worried about the possibility of Japan building up its military, tensions over Taiwan and North Korea, and a list of other grievances

Links:  Article from Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corp ,The Schizophrenic Superpower, Japan's Military Role: Alliance Recommendations for the Twenty-First Century,  Article by Japanese Revolutionary Communist League , Anti-Japan protests jar an uneasy Asia

The rising tide of discontent in China

Residents of Xinchang are fed up with industrial pollution in China.  Link: husunzi.

More links concerning pollution in China: China battles with industrial pollution, Surviving Success: Policy Reform and the Future of Industrial Pollution in China,

Chinese poor continue to eat diseased pigs

The Chinese government is working to educate farmers about the diseased swine, but the impoverished still eat the infected meat. Link: China educates farmers on pig-borne disease - Yahoo! News.

Related posts: Mystery illness kill 17 Chinese farmers, sickens 41 more , Update to mystery disease in China, Mystery pig-borne disease continues to take its toll in China.

Mystery pig-borne disease continues to take its toll in China

Earlier posts on this subject:  Mystery disease kills 17 and Update to mystery disease.

The number of deaths and confirmed cases of the pig-borne disease, thought to be caused by streptococcus suis bacteria, are rising.

The spreading disease is also taking its toll on local officials. The communist party  and deputy chiefs of Dongfeng were fired for failure to prevent a farmer from butchering sick animals. A quarantine official in Qingfeng was also fired. A fourth man was fired under unknown circumstances.

Chinese Health Minister, Gao Qiang , claims the disease is under control, but this does not appear to true. The World Health Organization has sent a team to get things under control, but an effective treatment has yet to be found.

The WHO has said it was baffled because if the epidemic was caused by the bacteria, it would be the first time it had struck so many people at one time. Normally, only one or two cases of the rare disease are seen.

You can see the rest of the article from Yahoo News here.

Update to mystery disease in China

See earlier post:Mystery illness kills 17 Chinese farmers, sickens 41 more

The deaths from the mystery illness have risen to 31 and the disease has spread to six more towns.
The total number of cases is now 152, with 27 in critical condition. Tolls rises as pig disease spreads

Initial results indicate that the epidemic is due to streptococcus suis.

Mugabe visits China

While the rest of the civilized world gives Robert Mugabe , the destroyer of Zimbabwe, the cold shoulder, the Chinese roll out the red carpet for him. Guess he's just their kind of guy.
Link: Under-fire Mugabe revels in welcome by China - Yahoo! News.

The Chinese version of eminent domain

This is from a story dated June 16th, but I hadn't seen this before.

In an unedited version of the three-minute video, seen by The Scotsman, swarms of young men dressed in fatigues and wearing helmets led a dawn raid against a line of trenches and makeshift tents, which the farmers had built as part of a two-year campaign against a local- government plan to persuade them to sell their land to a nearby power station. Armed with clubs and metal bars, the attackers can be seen fighting hand-to-hand with the farmers, who are wielding pitchforks and shovels.  Link: The Scotsman - Top Stories - Six die after rural unrest in China.

Mystery illness kills 17 Chinese farmers, sickens 41 more

Seventeen farmers died and 41 others became sick after butchering livestock.
Link: 17 Dead After Contact With Sick Livestock.

"Quit the CCP!" Posters Appear All over China

The Epoch Times posts photos that (they say) are posters calling on people to quit the Communist Party of China.