VOL. XXIV No. 8 August 2012 Rs. 10 · 2012-09-28 · Sun Yang of China attended victory ceremony of men's 1500m freestyle contest, at London 2012 Olympic Games in London, Britain

VOL. XXIV No. 8 August 2012 Rs. 10.00

Members of the Olympic Delegation of China walked into the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games in

London, Britain on July 27, 2012.

Sun Yang of China attended victory ceremony of men's

1500m freestyle contest, at London 2012 Olympic Games in London, Britain on August 4, 2012. He won the gold medal

with a new world record of 14:31.02.

16 years old swimmer Ye Shiwen gave the Chinese team a

surprise. In the women's 400m individual medley, Ye Shiwen won the gold medal and broke the world record

with a time of 4'28”43.

At the 2012 London Olympics, Lei Sheng became the first

Chinese man to win the Olympic men's foil gold,

overcoming a brave bid from Egypt's Alaaeldin Abouelkassem in the first final of the event since 1900 not to feature a European.

In the Sailing Lei Dier-level Women's Single Sculls

competition held on August 5, the Chinese player Xu Lijia, won a heavy gold medal for the Chinese sailing team, and broke the monopoly by European and American players for

long time.

During the 2012 London Olympic Games Chinese athletes

Chen Ding won the gold medal of men's 20 km race

walking. His results was 1 hour 18 minutes and 46 seconds. This is the second gold medal by any Chinese man athletes in the track and field of Olympic Games after Liu Xiang.

Li Xiaoxia extended China's domination in women's table

tennis, winning the singles final of the London Olympics.

Afterwards, she won the gold medal with her teammates

Ding Ning and Guo Yue in the competition of team event.

NEWS FROM CHINA /AUGUST 2012 3

CONTENTS

I. China-India RelationsI. China-India RelationsI. China-India RelationsI. China-India RelationsI. China-India Relations

1. Chinese Embassy in India Holds a Reception Celebrating the 85th Anniversary 4of the Founding of the PLA

2. Indian Students Participate in the Third International Children’s Art Festival of Xinjiang, China 5

II. External AffairsII. External AffairsII. External AffairsII. External AffairsII. External Affairs

1. Chinese President’s Speech at Opening Ceremony of Fifth Ministerial Conference of 5Forum on China-Africa Cooperation

2. Six-point Proposal Offered in FOCAC Beijing Declaration to Boost New Strategic Partnership 103. Chinese FM Stresses Joint Efforts with ASEAN to Maintain Peace in South China Sea 114. China Strongly Opposes U.S. State Department’s Statement on South China Sea 125. 10 Vietnamese fishermen rescued near China’s Sansha 136. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Holds Talks with the Community of Latin American and 14

Caribbean States (CELAC) Troika Delegation7. China and Bhutan Hold the 20th Round of Border Talks 148. Chinese Envoy to Nepal Designated Ambassador to SAARC 15

III. Domestic AffairsIII. Domestic AffairsIII. Domestic AffairsIII. Domestic AffairsIII. Domestic Affairs

1. Chinese Premier Warns of “Complicated, Grim” Job Situation 162. China’s July CPI Eases to 30-Month Low 163. China Will not Relax Property Control Policies 184. China Will Never Loosen its Consolidation Efforts in Rare Earth Regulation 195. Bogu Kailai Stands Trial for Intentional Homicide 22

IV. China at London OlympicsIV. China at London OlympicsIV. China at London OlympicsIV. China at London OlympicsIV. China at London Olympics

1. The 30th Olympics Open in London Dai Bingguo Attends the Opening Ceremony 242. State Councilor Dai Bingguo Visits the Chinese Sports Delegation in London 253. State Councilor Dai Bingguo Watches the Shooting Match and Meets with IOC President Jacques Rogge 264. Chinese Delegation Thanks LOCOG for Good Organization 265. Chinese Swimming Team Leader: Ye Shiwen’s Success is Expected 276. Sun Yang Wins Gold and Breaks World Record in 1,500 Meters Freestyle 287. “Super Dan” Wins Final Battle against Arch-rival Lee Chong Wei 298. China’s Zou Retains Men’s 49kg Olympic Boxing Champion 309. China: Moving out of Gold Medal Complex 3110. Liu Xiang Crashes out Olympics but Wins Respect 3211. Olympic Diving Roundup: China still Dominates but Chasers Closer 3412. China Cheers for First Tibetan Olympic Medalist 34

V. Tibet TodayV. Tibet TodayV. Tibet TodayV. Tibet TodayV. Tibet Today

1. 11th Panchen Lama Visits Liuwu New District in Lhasa 362. Tibet Looks to Improve Students’ Health 383. What’s Wrong for Tibetans to Learn Chinese? 384. Returnees Promote Tibet’s Cultural Diversity 405. A Short History of Tibetan Opera 416. Commissar Paljor at the Grassroots 437. Dalai Lama’s Way out Requires Compassion 45

4 NEWS FROM CHINA /AUGUST 2012

I. CHINA-INDIA RELATIONS

Chinese Embassy in India Holds a Reception Celebrating the85th Anniversary of the Founding of the PLA

On the evening of 27 July2012, Major General Cai Ping ofthe Chinese Embassy in India helda reception at Taj Palace Hotel,New Delhi to celebrate the 85thanniversary of the founding of thePeople’s Liberation Army.Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan,Lieutenant General Langer,Deputy Chief of IntegratedDefense Staff and DirectorGeneral of Defense IntelligenceAgency attended the reception ,together with nearly 300 guestsincluding friends from the Indian governmentand military circle, envoys and defense attachésfrom diplomatic missions in India,representatives from Chinese enterprises,students and media based in New Delhi anddiplomats of the Chinese Embassy in India.

Major General Cai Ping said in thewelcoming remarks that in the course of its 85-year development, the PLA resolutelysafeguarded national sovereignty and territorialintegrity, actively participated in nationalconstruction and economic development,continuously accelerated the transformation inmilitary affairs and made remarkableachievements in all fields. China pursues adefensive national defense policy. China isvigorously developing military exchanges and

establishing mutual trust through securitycooperation with other countries in the world.He stressed that committed to peace, cooperationand development, the PLA has activelyparticipated in UN peacekeeping operations, theescorting of the Gulf of Aden and other overseashumanitarian rescue operation. The PLA iswilling to work with foreign armed forces tomake greater contributions in building aharmonious world of lasting peace and commonprosperity.

Lieutenant General Langer recalled the longhistory of civilization of two great nations, spokehighly of the PLA’s achievements in itsmodernization and regularization. He hoped tofurther develop the friendly military ties betweenthe two countries.


Indian Students Participate in the Third InternationalChildren’s Art Festival of Xinjiang, China

From July 20 to 26, 2012, the ThirdInternational Children’s Art Festival of Xinjiang,China was held in Urumqi. With the assistance ofthe Chinese Embassy in India, an Indian delegationconsisting 9 students and a dance teacher fromBal Bharti Public School (Dwarka Branch), NewDelhi, participated in this event. The delegationwas led by Mr. Dhirendra Bhatnagar, SecretaryGeneral of the Confederation of UNESCO Clubsand Associations of India.

The Indian delegation presented traditionaldances during the festival, which were greatly

appreciated by the audience. Their participationalso boosted friendship and understandingbetween the peoples of China and India. Thisannual festival started from the year of 2010.

For this newly organized round, there were artperformances, exhibitions and visiting activitiesarranged for more than 360 participants, amongwhich 9 groups are from India, Russia,Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Mongolia andSouth Korea, and 8 groups from domestic schoolsof China.

II. EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

Chinese President’s Speech at Opening Ceremony of FifthMinisterial Conference of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation

On July 19, 2012, Chinese President Hu Jintaodelivered a speech at the opening ceremony of theFifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum onChina-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) entitled as

“Open Up New Prospects for A New Type ofChina-Africa Strategic Partnership.” The follow-ing is the full text of Hu’s speech:


Dear Colleagues,Distinguished Guests,Ladies and Gentlemen,Dear Friends,

I am delighted to meet you at the opening ofthe Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum onChina-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, aswe are gathered here both to renew the friendshipbetween the Chinese and African peoples anddiscuss ways to boost China-Africa friendship andall-round cooperation. On behalf of the Chinesegovernment and people and in my own name, Iwish to extend a very warm welcome to all thedistinguished guests coming from afar. I also wishto take this opportunity to convey through you the

cordial greetings and best wishes of the Chinesepeople to the brotherly African people!

In October 2000, FOCAC was set up inresponse to the call of the times. This initiativedemonstrates the shared desire of the Chinese andAfrican people to seek peace, cooperation anddevelopment in a changing world. In the past 12years since its founding, the FOCAC memberstates, maintaining unity and working together,have made important progress in strengtheningthis mechanism of cooperation. The theme of thecurrent Ministerial Conference is “build on pastachievements and open up new prospects for thenew type of China-Africa strategic partnership.”China and Africa should, with both current and

Open Up New Prospects for A New Type of China-Africa Strategic Partnership

Speech by H.E. Hu JintaoPresident of the People’s Republic of China

At the Opening Ceremony of the Fifth Ministerial Conference ofThe Forum on China-Africa Cooperation

Beijing, 19 July 2012


long-term needs in mind, redouble efforts to drawup a blueprint for promoting our cooperation inthe next stage and lay a solid foundation for makingnew and greater progress in growing China-Africarelations in the years ahead.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

When we met here six years ago at the FOCACBeijing Summit, China and Africa decided toestablish a new type of strategic partnership. Sincethen, important progress has been made in realizingthis vision thanks to the joint efforts of both sides.China and Africa have enhanced all-roundfriendly political relations featuring mutual respectand mutual trust. We have conducted morefrequent high-level exchange of visits and more in-depth dialogue and exchanges, and providedstronger support to each other. China’s relationswith all African countries, the African Union (AU)and other regional organizations have grown instrength. China has formed strategic partnershipsand launched strategic dialogue mechanisms withmany African countries. And China has supportedAfrican countries in independently resolvinghotspot issues in the region and advancing theprocess of African integration. China and Africahave deepened practical economic cooperationfeaturing mutual benefit. We have joined handsto fight the international financial crisis, effectivelyimplemented the eight measures for practicalcooperation announced at the Beijing Summit andeight additional measures announced at the FourthMinisterial Conference, and made steady progressin building a framework of all-round cooperation.China’s trade with and investment in Africa havebeen expanding. In 2011, our two-way tradereached 166.3 billion U.S. dollars, three times thefigure in 2006. Cumulative Chinese directinvestment in Africa has exceeded 15 billion U.S.dollars, with investment projects covering 50countries. The AU Conference Center and OfficeComplex built by China was handed over to theAfrican side. China’s assistance to Africa has been

growing steadily. China has built over 100 schools,30 hospitals, 30 anti-malaria centers and 20agricultural technology demonstration centers inAfrica. It has met the pledge of providing 15 billionU.S. dollars of lending of a preferential nature toAfrica. China and Africa have conductedincreasing people-to-people and culturalexchanges featuring mutual learning. A numberof activities have been carried out, including theChinese/African Cultures in Focus, Joint Researchand Exchange Plan, Think Tanks Forum, People’sForum and Young Leaders Forum. China hastrained close to 40,000 African personnel in varioussectors and provided over 20,000 governmentscholarships to African countries. China andAfrica have set up 29 Confucius Institutes orClassrooms in 22 African countries. Twenty pairsof leading Chinese and African universities haveentered into cooperation under the 20+20Cooperation Plan for Chinese and AfricanInstitutions of Higher Education. China andAfrican have enjoyed closer ties of solidarity andcoordination featuring mutual help and mutualsupport in international affairs. Our two sides haveworked closely on UN reform, countering climatechange, sustainable development, WTO DohaRound negotiations and other major issues. In sodoing, we have upheld the common interests ofdeveloping countries, promoted democracy ininternational relations, and we are working tomake the international order more just andequitable.

Facts have shown that the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership is the result ofcontinuous growth of the traditional friendshipbetween the two sides. It meets the fundamentalinterests of China and Africa and conforms to theglobal trend of peace, development andcooperation. The forging of this partnership hasinaugurated a new historical process in growingChina-Africa relations and added newmomentum to China-Africa exchanges andcooperation. I am confident that, with our joint


efforts, the new type of China-Africa strategicpartnership will embrace an even brighter future.


Tremendous changes have taken place in theworld since we met here six years ago. Peace,development and cooperation remain the trend ofour times. On the other hand, uncertainties anddestabilizing factors in international developmentshave notably increased. The impact of theinternational financial crisis is still with us. Regionaland international hotspot issues keep emerging.The unjust and inequitable international politicaland economic order still affects and hinders worldpeace and development. Developing countries havemaintained strong momentum of growth, but theyare also confronted with many difficulties andchallenges.

In recent years, the African countries andpeople, working with perseverance and vision,have made remarkable achievements in promotingAfrica’s peace and development. But Africa stillfaces major challenges in its developmentendeavor. The international community shouldcontinue to give high priority to enhancing peaceand development in Africa and increase input inthis area. It should respect Africa’s wish, listen toits views, address its concerns and help it meet theMillennium Development Goals at an early date.

China is the world’s largest developing country,and Africa is home to the largest number ofdeveloping countries in the world. China andAfrica, together with over one third of the world’spopulation, are an important force for advancingworld peace and development. China and Africashare a common destiny, and China-Africafriendship is cherished by the Chinese and Africanpeoples. The Chinese and African peoples havealways treated each other as equals and withsincerity and friendship, extended mutual supportand pursued common development. No matterhow the international landscape may change,China will remain unchanged in its commitment

to supporting Africa’s peace, stability,development and unity. We will give genuinesupport to African countries’ independent choiceof development paths and genuinely help Africancountries strengthen capacity for self development.We will continue to stand firm with the Africanpeople and forever be a good friend, good partnerand good brother of the African people.

In a world of profound changes, the Chineseand African peoples have high hopes for thegrowth of China-Africa relations. This means thatwe should, with a keen sense of responsibility andmission, adapt to new developments, set new goals,take new measures, and solve new problems so asto open up new prospects in building a new typeof China-Africa strategic partnership.

— To open up new prospects for a new typeof China-Africa strategic partnership, China andAfrica should strengthen political mutual trust.We should carry forward our traditionalfriendship, maintain the momentum of high-levelexchanges, enhance strategic dialogue, increaseexperience sharing on governance, do away withexternal interference, and deepen mutualunderstanding and trust. China will, together withthe international community, staunchly supportAfrican countries in upholding peace and stabilityand seeking strength through unity. China will playa positive and constructive role in African affairs.

— To open up new prospects for a new typeof China-Africa strategic partnership, China andAfrica should expand practical cooperation. Weshould expand areas and explore new ways ofcooperation. We should do more to conductcooperation in agriculture, manufacturing,infrastructure and other priority development areasin Africa. We should work harder to carry outadvanced cooperation in investment, finance,services and technology transfer and improve trademix and upgrade trade. And we should redoubleefforts to help African countries enhance capacityfor self development. Our goal is for China-Africacooperation to benefit more of our peoples.


— To open up new prospects for a new typeof China-Africa strategic partnership, China andAfrica should increase cultural and people-to-people exchanges. We should encourageexchanges and interactions between our two greatcivilizations at various levels and in various ways,strengthen exchanges in education, culture, scienceand technology, health, sports and tourism, andincrease contacts between youth, women, people’sorganizations, media and academic institutions ofthe two sides. In this way, we will provideintellectual inspiration and cultural support forChina-Africa cooperation and win even greaterpopular support for China-Africa friendship.

— To open up new prospects for a new typeof China-Africa strategic partnership, China andAfrica should increase coordination andcooperation in international affairs. We shouldjointly uphold the purposes and principles of theCharter of the United Nations, and promotedemocracy in international relations andharmonious and balanced global development. Weshould oppose the practices of the big bullying thesmall, the strong domineering over the weak, andthe rich oppressing the poor. We should step upconsultation and coordination, accommodate eachother’s concerns, and work together to meet globalchallenges on climate change, food security andsustainable development.

— To open up new prospects for a new typeof China-Africa strategic partnership, China andAfrica should make FOCAC stronger. We should,in light of the latest international developments andnew progress in the growth of China-Africarelations, develop new thinking and new forms ofcooperation to enhance FOCAC. We shouldmotivate FOCAC members and fully tap theirenthusiasm and creativity so as to enhance thecohesion and influence of FOCAC, and make it amore effective platform for cooperation.


In the past six decades and more since the

founding of the People’s Republic of China, andparticularly since the reform and opening-upprogram was launched over 30 years ago, Chinahas made remarkable achievements in its economicand social development. We will always rememberand we are grateful from the bottom of our heartfor the vigorous support and help the Africancountries and people have given to ourdevelopment effort. While the way ahead will notbe a smooth one for us, we have full confidence inChina’s future development. China will staycommitted to peaceful development. At the sametime, we will endeavor to uphold world peace andpromote common development.

In the next three years, the Chinesegovernment will take measures in the followingfive priority areas to support the cause of peaceand development in Africa and boost a new typeof China-Africa strategic partnership.

First, we will expand cooperation ininvestment and financing to support sustainabledevelopment in Africa. China will provide 20billion dollars of credit line to African countries toassist them in developing infrastructure,agriculture, manufacturing and small andmedium-sized enterprises.

Second, we will continue to increaseassistance to Africa to bring the benefits ofdevelopment to the African people. China willbuild more agricultural technology demonstrationcenters as necessary to help African countriesincrease production capacity. China willimplement the “African Talents Program” to train30,000 personnel in various sectors for Africa, offer18,000 government scholarships, and buildcultural and vocational skills training facilities inAfrican countries. China will deepen medical andhealth cooperation with Africa, send 1,500 medicalpersonnel to Africa, and continue to carry out the“Brightness Action” activities in Africa to providefree treatment for cataract patients. China will helpAfrican countries enhance capacity building inmeteorological infrastructure and forest protection


and management. China will continue to carry outwell-drilling and water supply projects in Africato provide safe drinking water for the Africanpeople.

Third, we will support the Africanintegration process and help Africa enhancecapacity for overall development. China willestablish a partnership with Africa on transnationaland trans-regional infrastructural development,support related project planning and feasibilitystudies and encourage established Chinesecompanies and financial institutions to take partin transnational and trans-regional infrastructuraldevelopment in Africa. China will help Africancountries upgrade customs and commodityinspection facilities to promote intra-regional tradefacilitation.

Fourth, we will enhance people-to-peoplefriendship to lay a solid foundation of publicsupport for enhancing China-Africa commondevelopment. China proposes to carry out “China-Africa people-to-people friendship action” tosupport and promote exchanges and cooperationbetween people’s organizations, women andyouth of the two sides. China proposes to set up a“China-Africa Press Exchange Center” in Chinato encourage exchanges and visits betweenChinese and African media, and China supports

exchange of correspondents by mediaorganizations of the two sides. China will continueto implement the China-Africa Joint Research andExchange Plan to sponsor 100 programs forresearch, exchange and cooperation by academicinstitutions and scholars of the two sides.

Fifth, we should promote peace and stabilityin Africa and create a secure environment forAfrica’s development. China will launch the“Initiative on China-Africa CooperativePartnership for Peace and Security,” deepencooperation with the AU and African countries inpeace and security in Africa, provide financialsupport for the AU peace-keeping missions inAfrica and the development of the African StandbyForce, and train more officials in peace and securityaffairs and peace-keepers for the AU.


To open up new prospects for a new type ofChina-Africa strategic partnership and jointlybuild a harmonious world of durable peace andcommon prosperity is our shared goal andresponsibility. Let us join hands and work for abright future for us all.

In conclusion, I wish the Fifth FOCACMinisterial Conference every success!

Thank you.

Six-point Proposal Offered in FOCAC Beijing Declaration toBoost New Strategic Partnership

A six-point proposal to deepen the new typeof strategic partnership was offered by China andthe involved African countries in the BeijingDeclaration of the Fifth Ministerial Conference ofthe Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)issued in Beijing on July 20, 2012.

With the aim of promoting the development ofthe new type of China-Africa strategic partnershipfeaturing political equality and mutual trust,

economic win-win cooperation and culturalexchange, the declaration suggested the two sidesfurther strengthen political consultation andstrategic dialogue, increase high-level visits,enhance the sharing of experience in governance,and respect and support each other’s core interestsregarding various issues including sovereignty,independence and territorial integrity.

The document called on the sides to increase


their exchanges and cooperation inoperationalizing Africa’s Peace and SecurityArchitecture, continuing to support and assistAfrican countries in increasing their capabilitiesfor maintaining peace and security, and enhancecoordination and other multilateral institution.

“We call on the international community tosupport the efforts of African countries andregional organizations in independently resolvingAfrican issues,” read the declaration.

The declaration suggested strengtheningChina’s cooperation with the African Union (AU),take joint measures to promote Africa’s solidarity,harmony and strength through unity, and supportmeasures for African regional integration andsustainable development efforts through the AUand the New Partnership for Africa’s Development(NEPAD).

According to the declaration, China and theinvolved African countries pledged to fully exploreand utilize each other’s comparative advantages,expand mutually beneficial economic cooperation

and balanced trade, adopt innovative ways toboost cooperation, improve cooperationenvironment and properly handle problems anddifficulties arising in cooperation.

The two sides should continue to strengthenpeople-to-people and cultural exchanges andcooperation in a bid to vigorously carry out thedialogue between China and Africa, said thedeclaration.

Finally, China and involved African countriessuggested further strengthening cooperationbetween the two sides in international affairs,taking into full account each other’s legitimateconcerns and aspirations, strengtheningcoordination and mutual support, and workingtogether to promote democracy in internationalrelations and build a harmonious world of durablepeace and common prosperity.

The FOCAC is a collective consultation anddialogue mechanism between China and Africancountries launched in 2000. This year’s forum runsfrom July 19 to 20.

Chinese FM Stresses Joint Efforts with ASEAN to MaintainPeace in South China Sea

Jakarta, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) —China called on ASEAN countries tomake joint efforts to maintain peacein the South China Sea.

“To maintain peace and stabilityin the South China Sea is the sharedresponsibility of all countries in theregion,” Chinese Foreign MinisterYang Jiechi told a joint pressconference with his Indonesiancounterpart Marty Natalegawa.

“China is willing to work withIndonesia and other ASEANcountries to fully and effectivelyimplement the Declaration on the


Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, buildmutual trust, promote cooperation, maintain peaceand stability in the South China Sea and work, inaccordance with the principles and spirit of theDeclaration on the Conduct of Parties in the SouthChina Sea and on the basis of consensus, towardthe eventual adoption of a Code of Conduct in theSouth China Sea,” he added.

Earlier Friday, Yang held talks with Indonesianpresident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to discussdeepening the all-round strategic cooperationbetween the two countries. Yang also co-chairedwith Marty Natalegawa the second meeting of theJoint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation.Yangemphasized that China attaches great importance

to the strategic partnership with Indonesia, andwill further deepen energy and food cooperationwith Indonesia.

As countries with important influence in theregion, China and Indonesia should join hands towork for sound and sustained development ofregional cooperation, Yang said.Yang said Chinawill continue to support the building of the ASEANcommunity and support ASEAN in playing theleading role in East Asia cooperation.Yang saidthat his visit to Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia onAugust 9 to 13 is aimed to promote the in-depthgrowth of the strategic partnership between Chinaand the 10-member ASEAN and to enhancecooperation on international and regional affairs.

China Strongly Opposes U.S. State Department’s Statementon South China Sea

Beijing, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) — China expressedits strong dissatisfaction and resolute oppositionon the press statement released Friday by theU.S.Department of State on the South China Sea,Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said hereSaturday.

The statement “completely ignored the facts,deliberately confounded right and wrong, and senta seriously wrong signal, which is not conduciveto the efforts safeguarding the peace and stabilityof the South China Sea and the Asia Pacificregion,” Qin said in a statement.

China has indisputable sovereignty over theNansha Islands and their adjacent waters, and hasample historical basis for this, said Qin.

China set up offices in Xisha, Nansha andZhongsha Islands, which were affiliated to theGuangdong Province, in 1959, to administrate thethree islands and their adjacent waters, said Qin.

“Setting up Sansha city is the Chinesegovernment’s necessary adjustment of the currentadministrative agencies, which is completely

within China’s sovereignty,” he said.It needs to be pointed out that China and

regional countries have worked to maintain thepeace and stability of the South China Sea, andsafeguard the freedom of navigation and trade inthe past 20 years, said Qin.

In 2002, China and Association of the SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries signed theDeclaration on the Conduct of Parties in the SouthChina Sea (DOC), which states that sovereignstates directly concerned should resolve theirterritorial and jurisdictional disputes by peacefulmeans and through friendly consultations andnegotiations, and should not take moves that willescalate and complicate the disputes, said Qin.

However, it is worrisome that certain countriesdo not respect and abide by the DOC, byundermining the basic principle and spirit of theDOC again and again in a provocative way, saidQin. “This has created difficulties for thenegotiation of the Code of Conduct (COC).”

Therefore, China, while holding an open


attitude towards the negotiation of the COC withthe ASEAN countries, advocates that partiesconcerned should strictly abide by the DOC, so asto create necessary conditions and atmosphere forthe negotiation of the COC, Qin said.

The United States on Friday voiced concernsabout rising tensions over the South China Sea,and cited China’s establishment of Sansha city andgarrison to single Beijing out for criticism.

Why does the U.S. turn a blind eye to the factsthat certain countries opened a number of oil andgas blocks, and issued domestic laws illegallyappropriating Chinese islands and waters? Whydoes the U.S. avoid talking about the threats ofmilitary vessels to Chinese fishermen by certaincountries and their unjustified claims of sovereigntyrights over Chinese islands? And why do theychoose to abruptly express concerns on and fiddlewith the issue at a moment when regional countriesare enhancing communication and dialogue andtrying to solve the disputes and calm the situation?Qin asked.

“The selective blindness and expression ofconcerns of the U.S. side run against the attitudeof ‘no position’ and ‘not to intervene’ that they haveclaimed to hold on the South China Sea issue, andis not conducive to the unity, cooperation, peaceand stability in the region,” Qin said.

At the moment, the Asia-Pacific region, arelatively stable and dynamic region in the world,is a major engine for the global economic recovery,Qin said.

The U.S. side should follow the trend of thetimes, respect the common aspiration of countriesin the region to maintain peace and stability andpromote development, respect China’s sovereigntyand territorial integrity, and make morecontributions to the peace and prosperity of theAsia Pacific, said Qin.

China and ASEAN countries have establishedthe largest free trade area among developingcountries since the two sides initiated dialogue morethan 20 years ago. The two sides have jointly facedthe challenges of Asian financial crisis, the globaleconomic and financial crisis as well as majornatural disasters, making progress in cooperationin all areas, according to Qin.

China attached great importance to the friendlycooperation with ASEAN, support the process ofASEAN integration and ASEAN’ s major role inthe East Asia cooperation, said Qin.

China is ready to work with ASEAN countriesto eliminate disturbance and further promote thedevelopment of the bilateral strategic partnership,Qin said.

10 Vietnamese Fishermen Rescued Near China’s Sansha

Guangzhou, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) — TenVietnamese fishermen were rescued Thursday aftertheir boat ran aground near China’s newly-founded city of Sansha in the South China Sea,China’s maritime authorities said Friday.

The South China Sea Rescue Bureau said itreceived a report early Thursday morning thatVietnamese-flagged fishing boat QNG92443 ranaground in waters of the Xisha islands followingan engine failure.

The ship was located at the Langhua Reef,about 60 nautical miles south of Yongxing Island,where the government seat of Sansha is stationed.

The bureau said it immediately dispatched avehicle to the site and rescued 10 Vietnamesefishermen, who were found floating at sea onpontoons, at 3 p.m.

The fishermen have been sent to YongxingIsland, the bureau added.

China started forming the government of


Sansha in mid-July. It is a prefecture-level city thatadministers the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha

islands and the surrounding waters in the SouthChina Sea.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Holds Talks with theCommunity of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)

Troika Delegation

On August 9, 2012, ForeignMinister Yang Jiechi held talks withrepresentatives of the Community ofLatin American and Caribbean States(CELAC) Troika including AlfredoMoreno Charme, Chilean foreignminister, Nicolas Maduro Moros,Venezuelan foreign minister andRogelio Sierra Diaz, Cuban viceforeign minister. Both sidesexchanged in-depth views on China’srelations with CELAC, China-LatinAmerica cooperation as well as otherinternational and regional issues ofcommon concern.

They agreed that establishing relations andconducting dialogue and cooperation betweenChina and CELAC were in the interests of bothsides and would contribute to the comprehensivecooperative partnership between China and LatinAmerica, which features equality, mutual benefitand common development. Both sides agreed toset up a regular foreign ministers’ dialogue

mechanism between China and Latin Americanand Caribbean States Troika and hold the firstround of dialogue in September. Both sides agreedto promote China-CELAC dialogues andexchanges so as to expand the pragmaticcooperation between China and Latin Americaand establish the China-Latin America cooperationforum.

On August 10, 2012, Fu Ying, head of theChinese delegation and Vice Foreign Minister andKhandu Wangchuk, head of the Bhutanesedelegation and Acting Foreign Minister of Bhutan

China and Bhutan Hold the 20th Round of Border Talks

held the 20th round of border talks in Thimphu.Fu said that China and Bhutan are linked by

mountains and rivers and share culturalsimilarities. In recent years, the two countries have


maintained political contacts, pushedforward economic and tradecooperation steadily, expandedpeople-to-people exchanges andcooperated soundly in internationalaffairs. China appreciates Bhutan’sadherence to the one-China policyand is willing to strengthencooperation with Bhutan for commondevelopment. Over the past 28 years,the bilateral border talks have madeimportant progress and peace andtranquility have been maintainedalong the border line of both countries.China hopes to make joint efforts with Bhutan onthe basis of previous talks, continue to seek fair,reasonable and mutually acceptable solutionsthrough friendly consultations and make theborder line a bridge of friendship and cooperationbetween the two countries.

Khandu noted that Bhutan attaches greatimportance to its relations with China and iscommitted to stepping up the bilateral cooperationin trade, culture, tourism and other fields. Bhutanfirmly pursues the one-China policy, thinks highly

of China’s long-term foreign policy of treating allcountries as equals, no matter large or small andgood-neighborly friendship and is willing tostrengthen coordination with China on theinternational arena. Bhutan sincerely expects theearly settlement of border issues between the twocountries and believes appropriate solutions willbe found with the joint efforts of both sides. It hopesto work with China to safeguard peace andtranquility of the border area.

Chinese Envoy to Nepal Designated Ambassador to SAARC

The Chinese government has assignedChina’s ambassador to Nepal Yang Houlan tobe the ambassador of China to the South AsianAssociation for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

The Chinese envoy submitted his Letter ofCredence to this effect to Ahmed Saleem,Secretary-General of the SAARC at his office inNepali capital Kathmandu on August 9, 2012.

In the letter to Saleem, Chinese Minister ofForeign Affairs Yang Jiechi said the assignment

is aimed to consolidate and enhance China’s friendlyrelations and cooperation with the SAARC.

China is an observer nation of the eight-member regional organization established in1985.

Saleem stressed that the organization has theresponsibility to convey positive information ofstrengthening cooperation to the world and heis willing to be committed to the development ofSAARC-China relations.


III. DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

Chinese Premier Warns of “Complicated, Grim” Job Situation

Beijing, July 22 (Xinhua) — Premier Wen Jiabaohas warned of new employment pressure amidChina’s economic slowdown, saying the countrywill face a more complicated and more severesituation in creating sufficient jobs.

China’s economy is facing several outstandingproblems with its economic growth, which willcontinue to weigh on the job market, Premier Wensaid in a speech on employment delivered at anational conference last week.

The full text of the speech was released Sundayby the State Council on the central government’swebsite.

Wen said the negative impact of the globalfinancial crisis on China’s employment will lingerfor quite some time, leading to an imbalancebetween labor supplies and demand.

He said China needs to promote employmentwhile maintaining steady and rapid economicgrowth.

“We should pay more attention to developingthe real economy, encouraging the developmentof labor-intensive manufacturing industries andthe service sector,” Wen said.

China’s economy grew by 7.6 percent in the

second quarter of this year, marking the slowestpace of expansion in three years due to sluggishexternal and domestic demand.

The premier urged authorities at all levels towork harder to create jobs, saying that expandingemployment is a top priority in ensuring andimproving people’s livelihoods.

According to Wen, 98 million jobs were createdin urban areas from 2003 to 2011 and theregistered unemployment rate in cities and townshas stood below 4.3 percent for the past nine years.

Wen said the government has helped more than28 million laid-off workers to find new jobs overthe past nine years.

More people are leaving rural areas to seek jobsin the Chinese cities, with the number of migrantworkers topping 250 million as of the end of 2011,139 million more than that of 2003, according toWen.

He called for local authorities to implementmore proactive employment policies and give morepriority to job creation when making nationaleconomic development programs and restructuringthe economy.

China’s July CPI Eases to 30-Month Low

China’s consumer inflation eased to its lowestrate in two and a half years in July, giving thegovernment more leeway to loosen credit to spurthe slowing economy.

The consumer price index (CPI), a key gaugeof inflation, grew to 1.8 percent year on year in

July, the slowest rate since February 2010, theNational Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announcedThursday.

The rate was 0.4 percentage points lower thanthe figure for June.

The Producer Price Index (PPI), a main gauge


of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 2.9 percentin July from a year earlier.

The easing inflation is believed to be a result ofthe base effect. The CPI growth rate hit a 37-monthhigh of 6.5 percent in July last year beforegradually retreating as China’s economy slowedfor eight quarters in a row.

Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of the prices used to calculate China’s CPI,edged up 2.4 percent in July from a year ago, downfrom a growth of 3.8 percent in June.

Surging vegetable prices were the driving forcefor the CPI’s growth. Rain and flooding affectedvegetable production in many places during thepeak supply season, pushing up vegetable pricesby eight percent.

Pork prices fell 18.7 percent, dragging downCPI growth by 0.71 percentage points, NBS said.

Zhang Liqun, a researcher with theDevelopment Research Center under the StateCouncil, said abundant domestic agriculturalproduction has helped stabilize prices. He calledfor more attention to be paid to severe ongoingdroughts in the United States that are expected toimpact China’s edible oil and grain prices.

Although the falling inflation rate was largelyattributed to easing food prices, Zhang said itactually reflects shrinking social demand amid theslowing economy.

Qu Hongbin, chief economist at HSBC Chinaand co-head of Asian Economic Research at HSBC,said the data suggests that China’s real economy,especially industrial enterprises, are facingincreasing deflationary pressure.

“The decline of the PPI has highlighted the grimfacts of sluggish market demand, shrinkingbusiness orders and continuing destocking,” hesaid.

Dwindling orders from Europe and other tradepartners have sapped China’s exports and,combined with a cooling property sector, slowed

the country’s economic growth rate to 7.6 percentin the second quarter, the lowest level since thefirst quarter of 2009.

At a meeting of the Political Bureau of theCommunist Party of China (CPC) CentralCommittee that was presided over by PresidentHu Jintao on July 31, authorities reaffirmed thatthey will prioritize stable economic growth andadhere to a proactive fiscal policy and prudentmonetary policy to weather current economichardships.

To boost growth, the government has loosenedthe monetary supply, cut taxes for small businessesand encouraged private businesses to invest insectors previously closed to them.

The central bank has cut its lending and depositrates twice, as well as lowered the amount of fundsthat banks must keep in reserve.

Since the easing inflation rate offers more roomfor monetary expansion, Liu Ligang, an economistwith ANZ National Bank Limited, said the centralbank will lower the reserve requirement ratio inAugust, as well as another time within the year.

But he did not take the deflation risk seriously,citing his belief that consumer prices are likely torebound slightly in the following months due to awaning base effect.

According to Wang Jun, a researcher at theChina Center for International EconomicExchange, climbing costs will cause the CPI tosurpass 2 percent before long.

The central bank warned in a quarterlymonetary policy report that consumer prices couldbounce back after August on the back of risingcosts for labor and resource-intensive productssuch as electricity, water and natural gas.

Despite expectations for a slight price rebound,analysts generally agreed that the annual inflationrate will remain below three percent, well withinthe government’s target of four percent for the year.


China Will Not Relax Property Control Policies

Beijing, July 19 (Xinhua) —China will continue to maintain afirm grip of its real estate market andconsolidate previous achievementsin bringing down home prices so asto prevent them from rebounding,according to an urgent governmentnotice released Thursday.

“Local authorities must strictlyimplement the nation’s propertycontrol policies. They should notrelax the control and relevantrequirements unauthorized,”according to the notice.

“Those that have loosened upcontrols must set straight the policies,” said thenotice, which was jointly released by the Ministryof Land Resources (MLR) and the Ministry ofHousing and Urban-Rural Development.

It also ordered local authorities to step upefforts in monitoring land pieces left idle eventhough they were sold.

The latest announcement came as the nation’shousing prices and sales both showed signs ofwarming. Official data released Wednesdayshowed that 25 cities, out of a statistical pool of 70major cities, saw new home prices rise in June fromthe previous month. The figure was drastically upfrom six cities that saw month-on-month pricegains in May.

“Fluctuations have appeared recently in theproperty market and land market. Although theyhave not changed the overall picture, thecomplexities and instabilities have increased in themarket,” said the notice.

The notice ordered that local authoritiesprioritize land supplies for affordable housing.Meanwhile, supplies for ordinary commercialresidential houses should be further increased,according to the notice.

The notice also said that the Ministry of LandResources will enhance monitoring of the nation’sland market in order to prevent the occurrence ofhigh-priced land pieces for both commercial andresidential property.

Local governments should set a reasonablestarting price for land-use- right transfers.Meanwhile, local governments should makeadjustments in advance to land auction plans ifthe land pieces involved are highly likely to seerecord bidding prices, the notice said.

Ma Xiaoming, a senior NBS statistician,attributed the recent price warming to recentinterest rate cuts implemented by the governmentto bolster the slowing economy and the alteringmind-set of home buyers who fear the prices willfurther pick up.

China has tightened its curbs on the propertysector since 2010 as home prices rocketed beyondthe reach of average wage earners. The governmenthas restricted home purchases in several citieswhile requiring higher down payments andintroducing property taxes. The clamp-down hassince cooled the market gradually.

The central authorities have reiterated their firm


stance on property market regulation many timesthis year.

Premier Wen Jiabao said earlier this month thegovernment must make unswerving efforts to

ensure house prices return to reasonable levels andblock a price rebound that would undermine theeffects of previous efforts.

China Will Never Loosen its Consolidation Efforts inRare Earth Regulation

by Lan Xinzhen

DEVASTATING POLLUTION: Su Bo, Vice Minister of Industry andInformation Technology, showcases pictures of a polluted rare earth miningsite at a press conference on June 20 (XINHUA)

Inner Mongolia’s DalahaiVillage was a place of utopianbeauty. With a landscape of lushgreen hills, exuberant grasslandsand herds of sheep and cows, thevillage used to be the quintessentialimage of a nice place to live.

Today, the quaint village isgone, replaced by a barrenlandscape void of life. Cancer casesamong the remaining localpopulace have been on the rise.

What’s the reason for thecataclysmic change? Li Guirong, aDalahai villager, puts the blame onthe discovery of rare earths.

“We knew something waswrong sometime in the late1980swhen the trees and local vegetation blossomed butdidn’t bear any fruit,” Li said. “Later, they stoppedgrowing at all.”

Rare earths, a group of 17 elements, arevaluable, non-renewable resources essential in themanufacture of a range of hi-tech products,including wind turbines, laptops and hybrid cars.

China has the richest rare earth reserves in theworld, with Baotou in the north and Ganzhou inthe south as major reserve zones.

Growing awareness of the dangers of miningrare earths has galvanized the Central Government

to act.At a press conference addressing new

government measures to control errant rare earthmining operations, Su Bo, Vice Minister of Industryand Information Technology (MIIT), outlined aseries of new government regulations to rein in thesector.

In March, a team led by Su took an inspectiontour of a rare earth exploitation site in Ganzhou,Jiangxi Province. The team was shocked by theenvironmental pollution and the cost to clean upthe area, a whopping 38 billion yuan ($5.97 billion).


“China shoulders 95 percent of global rareearth output, at the cost of polluting itsenvironment. This needs to change,” said Su.

Disputes on the Rise

To improve the local ecological environment,the Chinese Government began to take restrictivemeasures two years ago, intensifying control overthe exploitation, processing and export of rareearth.

Nevertheless, China’s regulation on rare earthtriggered groundless opposition from the EuropeanUnion, the United States and Japan. On March13, the trio lodged a joint complaint to the WTO,accusing China of breaking WTO rules on rareearth exports. On July 27, the three turned to theWTO’s dispute-settlement system to have an expertpanel investigate the issue.

The United States, EU and Japan said China’sexports controls, including export quotas andexport tariffs, unfairly favor China’s domesticmanufacturers.

Shen Danyang, spokesman of China’s Ministryof Commerce (MOFCOM), says differently.

“China has reiterated thatcurbing rare earth miningoperations and output was done forthe sole purpose of protecting theenvironment. We didn’t mean toprotect domestic industry bytwisting trade,” said Shen. “This isgoing to take time and we’re goingto face a lot of pressure, but we’regoing to fight this to the end.”

Reasons for Friction

Although China hasemphasized that its exportmanagement measures aredesigned for environmentalprotection and sustainabledevelopment, foreign buyerscontinue to oppose the controls.

“Their goal is to continue importing cheap rareearth from China,” said Gao Yunhu, DeputyDirector of the Rare Earth Office under the MIIT.

The United States has its own rare earthreserves but has shut down most rare earth mines.The EU lacks rare earth and relies on China tosupply its demand. Japan hopes to import rareearth minerals at low prices to maintain itscompetitiveness in the hi-tech sector.

China is the world’s largest producer andexporter of rare earth, accounting for 95 percentof the global output but having only 36 percent ofglobal reserves, according to the MIIT.

Spurred by surging international marketdemand, illegal mining and smuggling operationsrampant in the rare earth sector have caused theprice of the valuable resources to plunge. From1990 to 2005, China’s rare earth exports increased10 fold, but prices nose-dived 50 percent.

“China’s regulation of the rare earth sector istotally consistent with WTO rules,” said Gao.“China treats domestic and foreign companiesequally, and the price of rare earth should beadjusted by the market. China has synchronized

POISONING THE EARTH: People work busily at an illegal rare earth miningfactory near Xinguang Village of Baotou, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.They discarded mineral waste without any disposal, which seriously pollutedthe surrounding environment (XINHUA)


management and regulation in alllinks, from exploitation toprocessing and finally to export.”

WTO’s expert panel is designedto avoid unfair competition causedby trade distortions, said Ma Yu,Director of the FDI Department ofthe Chinese Academy ofInternational Trade and EconomicCooperation under the MOFCOM.

“If China only has restriction onexports and foreign consumers haveto pay a different price comparedwith domestic consumers, it isdistorting the trade. But China hasimplemented restrictive measures inall links, from rare earth explorationand processing to exports. Those measures willhave the same impact on both domestic and foreignbuyers. For the same product, they pay the sameprice. This doesn’t violate WTO rules because wehave never twisted trade,” said Ma.

China’s Stance

Four measures will be taken to clear pollutedareas around China. First, environmentalrequirements will be implemented in production,processing and exports and optimized entrycriteria in rare earth exploitation established.Second, the environment protection standard willbe enhanced and any company that fails to meetthose standards within a required period of timewill be shut down. Third, an overall environmentcheck will be conducted. Up to now, a list of 56qualified rare earth production companies has beenreleased. Finally, more advanced productiontechnology will be adopted to continuouslyimprove the whole sector’s production level,according to Su.

China will continue its rare earth supply to theworld when intensifying efforts in resource andenvironmental protection. China also hopes othercountries with rare earth resources shoulder their

AT FULL CAPACITY: Workers process rare earth products in a workshop of acompany in Quannan County, Jiangxi Province (CFP)

due responsibility in global rare earth supplies, saidSu.

“Opening up the rare earth sector is the existingpolicy. We will follow a win-win strategy ofmaintaining a reasonable amount of rare earthsupply to the international market, while at thesame time protecting the environment andresources,” said Su.

Su also said that China will continue toencourage foreign investment in the sector. Thusfar, the United States, Germany, France, Canadaand Japan have set up 38 wholly owned or jointlyfunded rare earth companies in China.

“As the next step, we will encourage foreigninvestment in environment restoration, recyclingand reuse of rare earth wastes, as well as inmanufacturing of rare earth processing equipment.This will help enhance China’s ability in protectingthe environment and resources when exploringand processing rare earth.”

MIIT and MOFCOM will continueinternational communication to clarify China’sstance on this issue. China has never intended togain any economic or political benefits with sucha minor sector as the rare earth. It will acceleratecoordination with other rare earth producing and


consuming countries to solve resource andenvironmental problems facing the sector.

“We hope to facilitate continuous improvementof rare earth technology around the world,” saidSu.

Meanwhile, China will refuse to loosen itsregulations on the sector. Dealing with rare earthpollution is a major problem that the ChineseGovernment is facing when tightening regulations.On August 6, the MIIT released the Entry Criteriaof the Rare Earth Sector, rectifying the sector fromproduction scale, processing technology andenergy efficiency. It’s widely estimated that 20percent of the production capacity will be phasedout.

Reflection

Whether China can win the WTO disputeremains to be seen.

China’s restriction on rare earth productionand export is meant to protect the environment, amove that is accepted under WTO rules, said SongHong, head of the Department of InternationalTrade at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

“But the United States, EU and Japan claimedthat rare earth was not among the list of China’sexport control products when China entered theWTO. This is quite disadvantageous for China.China promised to impose a tariff on 84 productsduring its WTO entry, but rare earth is not amongthem,” said Song.

China will continue its regulation on the sectorwhether it wins or loses in the trade friction.Shutting down polluting exploration andprocessing factories will inevitably restrict its rareearth exports. For China, the important issue isn’tin winning or losing the appeal but in reflecting

why the rare earth regulation has triggered suchan international dispute.

“The essential problem lies in the productionlink. We should reflect on why we failed inrectifying such a small sector after years of efforts,”said Tu Xinquan, Deputy Director of the WTOResearch Center under the University ofInternational Business and Economics.

Although China has exploration and smeltingquotas each year, illegal mining and illicitextraction of rare earth resources and smugglingof rare earth products through bypassing theexport quota system are common problems in thesector because we lost control of the source, saidTu.

In order to control the source of the wholesector, China should initiate a strategic plan onrare earth exploitation and a general layout for itsfurther development. Moreover, the countryshould enhance the approval threshold forstrategic resources, such as rare earth minerals, saidTu.

Any mines approved before that are not in linewith relevant government policies and regulationsshould be shut down. Industrial integration is thekey. After integrating the currently fragmentedindustry, industrial behemoths will have the senseand ability to control productivity and prices, evenwithout government restriction and supervision,said Tu.

Similar practices are quite common in othercountries, such as the iron ore industry in Braziland Australia. They enjoy a very high industrialconcentration ratio and their exports rely heavilyon price control, but they seldom receive lawsuits,said Tu.

Bogu Kailai Stands Trial for Intentional Homicide

The intentional homicide trial of Bogu Kailaiand Zhang Xiaojun began on August 9,2012 in

the Hefei City Intermediate People’s Court inAnhui Province.


The People’s Procuratorate of Hefei City,capital of east China’s Anhui Province, filed thecharges against the two in the Hefei CityIntermediate People’s Court on July 26.

Bogu Kailai and her son surnamed Bo hadconflicts with Neil Heywood over economicinterests. Worrying about Neil Heywood’s threatto her son’s personal security, Bogu Kailai decidedto murder Heywood.

She asked Zhang Xiaojun, the other defendantand then an employee of the general office of theChongqing Municipal Committee of theCommunist Party of China (CPC), to inviteHeywood to Chongqing Municipality in southwestChina and to accompany him from Beijing.Heywood stayed in Room No. 1605 of the 16thbuilding of a vacation resort, the Lucky HolidayHotel, in Chongqing.

On November 13, 2011, Bogu Kailai metHeywood in his hotel room for a drink. AfterHeywood was drunk, vomited and asked for water,she put the poison she had prepared, and whichZhang had brought along to the hotel room, intoHeywood’s mouth, which led to Heywood’s death.

The prosecuting body said the facts of the twodefendants poisoning the victim to death are clearand the evidence is substantial.

Their behavior has violated Article 232 of theCriminal Law of the People’s Republic of China;therefore, the two defendants should be heldcriminally responsible for intentional homicide,according to the prosecuting body.

The case is a joint offense with Bogu Kailai asthe principal and Zhang Xiaojun as the accessory,the prosecuting body said.

The Hefei City Intermediate People’s Courtaccepted the case according to the decisiondesignating jurisdiction made by the SupremePeople’s Court, and delivered a copy of theindictment in a timely way to the two defendantsBogu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun, and also informedthe two defendants and the close relatives of thevictim of their litigation rights and obligations.

The court notified the lawyer to meet thedefendants and gave the lawyer access to the entirecase file, fully ensuring the litigation rights of BoguKailai, Zhang Xiaojun and the close relatives ofthe victim.

The Hefei City Intermediate People’s Courtbegan the public trial on August 9, after followingthe legal procedure of issuing a notice before thetrial and making a public announcement.

During the trial, procuratorial authoritiespresented relevant evidence, witnesses appearedin court to testify, and defense counsels entrustedby Bogu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun to representthem pleaded on their behalf.

An attorney representing Neil Heywood’s closerelatives was present during the trial and madecomments.

More than 140 people attended the trial. Theyincluded relatives and friends of Bogu Kailai, ZhangXiaojun and Neil Heywood, diplomats from theBritish embassy and consulates in China,representatives from the media, deputies to China’slegislature, members of China’s political advisorybody, as well as people from all walks of life.

After Thursday’s court session, the courtannounced an adjournment and the judgment willbe announced on a day to be decided.

According to the court, four other policeofficers, who were suspected of covering up BoguKailai’s illegal conduct during the investigation intoNeil Heywood’s death, were also charged by thePeople’s Procuratorate of Hefei City with bendingthe law to achieve personal benefit.

The officers are Guo Weiguo, former deputychief of Chongqing’s Public Security Bureau, LiYang, former chief of the bureau’s criminal section,Wang Pengfei, former chief of the bureau’stechnical detection team and also former chief ofthe Public Security Sub-bureau of Chongqing’sYubei District, and Wang Zhi, former executivedeputy chief of the Public Security Sub-bureau ofthe municipality’s Shapingba District.

The court held an open trial for the officers onAugust 10.


IV. CHINA AT LONDON OLYMPICS

The 30th Olympics Open in LondonDai Bingguo Attends the Opening Ceremony

On July 27, 2012, the five rings of the Olympicsshined in the “London Bowl”. The openingceremony of the 30th Olympics kicked off in theOlympic Stadium in London in the evening.

The Chinese government’s representative andState Councilor Dai Bingguo and leaders fromabout 80 countries and regions attended theopening ceremony.

The ceremony kicked off at 21:00. British QueenElizabeth II announced the opening of the 30thOlympics at 0:18 midnight amid cheers andapplauses of the audiences.

The modern Olympics with a history of 116years of development have become the eventwhere human civilizations share and convergewith each other. Approximately 10,500 athletesfrom 204 countries and regions will compete in302 games of 26 sports. Another four athletes willcompete in the capacity of “independent athletes”.Along the Thames the 204 member OlympicCommittees of the International OlympicCommittee family gathered together once again.

The torch ignition suspense was unveiled ataround 0:30am. After 70 days of relay, the flameof the London Olympics torch which was lit inOlympia, Greece arrived outside the OlympicStadium. After the last relay by the legendaryBritish athletes including Beckham and Redgrave,seven young torchbearers ran to the center stageand ignited flame in the 7 copper petals on theground. Then the copper petals in a circlesymbolizing the 204 participating countries andregions were all ignited. The long stems attachedto the main torch rose up slowly and converged tothe huge main torch. The Olympic flame blazed

in the center of the Stadium.The US legendary athlete, 70-year-old

Muhammad Ali who once lit the main torch ofthe Atlanta Olympics was also present at theopening ceremony. Suffering from Parkinson’sdisease, Ali sat in the wheelchair to receive theother 8 flag escorts including the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He then joined the escortsand shared the Olympic glory once again.

This is the third time that modern Olympicscome to London. In 1908, the British took over theOlympics from the Italian government which wasplagued by financial difficulties and made theevent a success. Shortly after the end of the SecondWorld War in 1948, London once again hosted theOlympics so that the vessel of the Olympics sailedout again after 12 years of suspension. Today, theOlympics come to London again, bringing the once-every-four-year most prestigious sports event to thecountry which was suffering the financial crisisand injecting the confidence and hope of economicrecovery in people’s hearts.

Danny Boyle, the director of SlumdogMillionaire turned the “London Bowl” into a bigstage during the 80 minutes of show after theopening ceremony. Audiences experienced theIdyll of the British Isles, recalled the history ofBritish industrial revolution and enjoyed thedisplay of such classic British cultural, film andart symbols as Shakespeare, Mr. Bean, CharlieChaplin, 007 and rock and roll.

In the following parade, the Chinese delegationentered the stadium as the 42nd team. The men’sbasketball star Yi Jianlian walked in the frontholding high the national flag, continuing the


tradition that a men’s basketball player holds thenational flag and walks in the front since the 1984Los Angeles Olympics. The Chinese delegationcomprises of 621 members, including 396 athleteswho will compete in 212 games of 23 sports exceptfootball, handball and equestrian. During theBeijing Olympic Games four years ago, the Chinesedelegation in the home-court won 51 gold, 21 silverand 28 copper medals. In the London Olympics,Liu Xiang, Li Na, Sun Yang, Lin Dan and YiJianlian are the most eye-catching Chinese sportsstars. Xiao Tian, deputy head of the Chinesedelegation said that the goal of the Chinesedelegation is to fight hard, play to their normallevel, keep strengths in their strong games, striveto achieve the double results of scores and spiritualcivilization and win honor for the motherland.

LOCOG Chairman Sebastian Coe and JacquesRogge who has been President of the InternationalOlympic Committee for 11 years addressed theopening ceremony respectively.

“Hey, Jude, don’t make it bad. Take a sad songand make it better. Remember to let her into yourheart. Then you can start, to make it better¡-” Inthe charming night, the former Beatles lead singerPaul McCartney performed the classic songs Hey,Jude. At this moment, people forgot the differencesof nationality, race and color and expressedlonging for a better tomorrow by signing together.

Before the opening ceremony, Queen ElizabethII held a welcome reception at the BuckinghamPalace for the international dignitaries, includingnational and regional leaders. Dai Bingguoattended the event.

State Councilor Dai Bingguo Visits the Chinese SportsDelegation in London

On July 26, 2012, State CouncilorDai Bingguo, who was entrusted byGeneral Secretary Hu Jintao of the CPCCentral Committee and Premier WenJiabao of the State Council as therepresentative of the Chinesegovernment, went to the LondonOlympic Village to see the Chinesesports delegation participating in the30th Summer Olympics.

Dai Bingguo, representing the CPCCentral Committee and the StateCouncil, extended cordial greetings andbest wishes to all the athletes, coachesand working staff of the Chinese delegation. Heexpressed the hope that the Chinese sportsdelegation could carry on the Olympic spirit ofbeing “faster, higher, stronger”, live up to the greattrust of the people, and go all out to strive forexcellence and win glory for the country.

Dai said that the Olympics is the largest andthe most influential sporting event today in theworld. Four years ago, the Beijing Olympic Gameswas successfully held in China with the strongsupport of the international society. The London


Olympic Games is the first Olympics following theBeijing Olympics. China, as a member of theinternational Olympic family and the previoushost, is an active participant and a strong supporterof the London Olympics. China sent a big sportsdelegation consisting of 621 members to the LondonOlympics. “You are not only athletes, but alsofriendly envoys of the Chinese people. I hope thatyou will display a confident, open, positive,progressive image of the Chinese people, and reapa harvest in both athletic performance andspiritual civilization to be presented as the gift tothe 18th congress of the party.”

The representatives of athletes and coachesextended appreciation to the CPC CentralCommittee and the State Council for the supportand encouragement. They said that they wouldspare no efforts and work hard to live up to theexpectations and trust of the motherland and thepeople.

Dai also visited athletes’ quarters and therestaurant in the Olympic Village and had a cordialconversation with Chinese athletes.

Liu Peng, Director of the GeneralAdministration of Sports of China, accompaniedDai Bingguo during these activities.

State Councilor Dai Bingguo Watches the Shooting Match andMeets with IOC President Jacques Rogge

On July 28, 2012, State Councilor Dai Bingguo,as the representative of the Chinese government,watched the final of women’s 10m Air Rifle. YiSiling, a Chinese athlete, won the first gold medalof the London Olympics with her outstandingperformance. Dai expressed warm congratulationsto Chinese athletes and encouraged them tocontinue to win honor for the motherland.

During the competition, Dai also met with IOCPresident Jacques Rogge. Dai said that Chinasupports the Olympic cause and is willing tofurther strengthen cooperation with the

International Olympic Committee (IOC) and makegreater contributions to carrying on the Olympicspirit, enhancing the friendship among the peoplearound the world, and promoting world peace anddevelopment.

Jacques Rogge warmly welcomed Dai to attendthe opening ceremony of the London Olympics asthe representative of the Chinese government. Heappreciated the active support and participationof China in the Olympic cause. He extended bestwishes for the further success of Chinese athletesin the Olympic Games in London.

Chinese Delegation Thanks LOCOG for Good Organization

London, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) — The Londonorganizing committee overcame difficulties todeliver an excellent Olympic Games, Chinesedelegation chief Liu Peng said on Sunday.

“We had a really good experience in terms ofthe Games’ organization by the InternationalOlympic Committee and the London organizers,”

Liu said on the last day of the 17-day Games in theBritish capital.

“The organizers overcame a lot of difficultieswhen they provide the athletes with goodcompetition and living conditions,” Liu said.

Last time London hosted the Olympics in 1948,Britain was struggling in the rubble after six years


of war. No new stadiums were built forthe “austerity games”: Wembleydoubled as an athletics stadium afterorganisers poured 800 tonnes of cindersover the greyhound track.

When the Games came back toBritain more than 60 years later, theeconomy was once again in a low tideas official figures in July showed theeconomy had sunk deeper into recession.

The Games, with a price tag of aboutnine billion pounds, have 34 competitionvenues spreading across London and thesouth east including nine newpermanent venues and 25 temporarysporting venues.Liu said the volunteers alsoimpressed him.

“We felt the real hospitality and friendship fromthe host country and enjoyed the volunteers’

attentive and heart-felt services. We are reallythankful for these,” he said.The organizersrecruited more than 70,000 volunteers for theGames and Paralympic Games.

Chinese Swimming Team Leader: Ye Shiwen’s Successis Expected

The 16-year-old Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen’ssuccess at the London Games had aroused lots ofquestions from foreign medias, however, the teamleader of the Chinese swimming team Xu Qi saidthat Ye’s good result was expected.

“Ye Shiwen’s result was expected,” he said.“It is a little bit better than we had hoped, but notsurprising.”

Ye stunned the world at the London OlympicGames when she won the gold medal in the 400meters individual medley and set a world recordtime of four minutes 28.43 seconds, knocking overa second off the previous record, which had beenheld by Australian Stephanie Rice and five secondsoff her own personal best.

What made Ye’s win all the more incredible isthat she swam the last 50 meters of the race fasterthan men’s 400 meters medley winner Ryan Lochte

had done earlier.However, Xu called the camparison between

the American star and the teenger girl meaningless.“To compare Ye’s result with Lochte’s is

meaningless,” he said. “Ye was behind after 300mand she need to try her best to win the race, butLochte had already established the lead before thefreestyle and didn’t need to do his upmost.”

Some foreign medias questioned how Ye couldproduce such an incredible feat, and Xu said:“Michael Phelps won eight gold medals at theBeijing Games, and American swimmer MissyFranklin is also incredible. Why can’t China havea talented swimmer?”

“The improvement of Chinese swimming is thereward of our efforts in many years,” he added.“And we also have good coaches from differentcountries, who gave us lots of help.”


Ye Shiwen also won the gold medal in the200m medley with a time of 2:07.57 and set anothernew Olympic Games record.

“There is no doping, the Chinese team hasalways had a firm anti-doping policy,” she said.Official tests proved, however, that the accusationswere completely groundless and false.

“I think that we have good and scientifictraining: that is why we progress. I’m very luckybecause from childhood we have trained in a veryscientific way, so it is not difficult for me to workhard,” said Ye, who took up swimming at an ageof 6 after a kindergarten teacher had spotted herbig hands and directed her parents to the pool.

Sun Yang Wins Gold and Breaks World Record in1,500 Meters Freestyle

Gold medalist Sun Yang of China (C), silver medalist Ryan Cochrane ofCanada (L) and bronze medalist Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia attend victoryceremony of men’s 1500m freestyle contest, at London 2012 Olympic Gamesin London, Britain, on August 4, 2012. Sun Yang of China won gold medalwith a new world record of 14:31.02. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)

London, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) — If theswimming world is casting an eyearound for the next superstar, SunYang could well be one of thecandidates as he showed with hisstunning swim to win the 1,500 metersfreestyle and beat his own world recordin the event.

Sun won in a time of 14.31.02, eightand a half seconds ahead of his nearestrival and 3.12 seconds faster than therecord he set in Shanghai in 2011.

However, the Chinese swimmer,who went into the race with a goldmedal from the 400 meter freestyle,silver from the 200 meter freestyle andbronze 4x200 meter medley had toovercome a heart-stopping momentwhen he jumped into the pool beforethe race began.

Amid calls for quiet from the area announcerbefore the start, Sun was allowed to take his placeback on the blocks and once the race began, heswam into an early lead with Park Taehwan andRyan Cochrane giving chase.

It looked to begin with as if it wasn’t going tobe Sun’s fastest swim, as he was two seconds offhis own record place after 600 meters, but all ofthe swimmers in London have stressed that recordsare not important at the Games where the main

thing is winning gold and after 700 meters Sunwas three and a half seconds ahead of his closestpursuer, Cochrane.

The gap had widened by the 900 meter markas Sun upped the pace and began to close in onthe record time, while behind, Oussama Melloulioverhauled Park to move third.

With 300 meters to go Sun was over six secondsahead as the crowd began to cheer him home asCochrane and Mellouli were involved in a titanicbattle for second. Cochrane held on, but Sun took


the applause, the record and gold as he walkedout of the pool draped in his nation’s flag.

It was China’s fifth gold medal at these

Olympics in the swimming pool and the seventhworld record to be smashed in London.

“Super Dan” Wins Final Battle against Arch-rivalLee Chong Wei

by Bai Xu, Ji Ye

China’s Lin Dan celebrates after men’s badminton singles gold medal matchagainst Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, at London 2012 Olympic Games inLondon, Britain, August 5, 2012. China’s Lin Dan won gold medal in thisevent. (Xinhua/Ren Zhenglai)

London, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) — Everymatch has a winner.

It was just one shot, which wentacross the back line of the court. Butbecause it was the match point, fatebecame different for those at two sidesof the net.

Chinese badminton star Lin Danbeat his arch-rival Lee Chong Wei fromMalaysia 2-1 after dropping a game,and won the gold medal in men’ssingles Sunday afternoon in theWembley Arena. He is the first shuttlerto have defended his Olympic title inthe event.

The word “heart-stirring” was notenough to describe how fierce thecompetition was, as they were bothbest shuttlers in an era, topping the world rankingsalternatively.

Lin didn’t seem to be in form in the first game,lashing the shuttlecock out of the court for at leastnine times and delivering at least five returns intothe net.

Lee, the No. 1 seed, changed his directionabruptly, posing threats to the Beijing Olympicchampion with diagonal smashes. With a lapse ofLin, the set concluded 15-21.

The beginning of the second game saw the duolocked in a tug of war, before Lin began pullingahead after a long exchange and finished the set

quickly with a drop shot 21-10.Atmosphere became strained in the decider,

when shots from both players became faster andthe pair tumbled sometimes for a retrieval. Eventhe umpire began making mistakes and correctedafter being challenged by Lin.

Their scores tied from 1-1 to 19-19. Crowdcheered and waved national flags. But while theywere playing, every one was holding breath, withonly sound of the shuttlecock hitting the racket.At this time each tiny lapse could be fatal.

Lee broke the ice first by making a mistake tosend the bird into the net, and then struck the last


shot out of the court. 21-19. The audience seethedwith excitement.

The overjoyed Lin rushed around the arena forcelebration and threw his vest to the audience,while his rival sat on the court sobbing. Then thegold medalist returned to hug Lee. The song, WeAre the Champions, resonated in the arena.

“I think this medal is a recognition of my effortsin the past four years,” Lin said. “After the BeijingOlympics, I had to work harder to defend my title,as more people wanted to beat me.”

Commenting on the match just now, the 29-year-old player said that in the first game he wasperforming against the wind and wasn’t as activeas Lee. When he was in the more favorableposition against the wind, he seized the chances.

When they were tied 19-19 before the ending,“I wasn’t thinking too much,” he said. “I pinnedmy hope on my rival’s lapse.”

Lin became emotional at the topic of the “bigfour”, or the four best players in the past 10 years.“We are not only rivals, but good friends,” he said,referring to Lee, Indonisian prodigy Taufik Hidayatand Denish legend Peter Gade. “I am so lucky tohave such great and respectable opponents in mycareer, and I do cherish each opportunity playingwith them.”

While the disappointed Lee Chong Wei said,“he made less mistakes than me.”

With an ankle injury, he was so eager to winthe gold medal, which would have been the firstgold for Malaysia. “But I lost. It was very hard tobeat Lin,” he said. “There is just one Lin Dan inthe world and he is great.”

Four years ago in Beijing, the final of men’ssingles was similar, when Lee was outgunned byhis Chinese foe, to whom, however, the 30-year-old Malaysian has mixed feelings

“In fact, we are good friends,” he said. “I hopewe can be friends forever.”

China’s badminton head coach Li Yongbo satby the court while Lin was playing. “I had hopedthat my presence could give Lee Chong Wei somepressure,” he said.

After the match, the 50-year-old formershuttler shed tears. “He was just wonderful,” hesaid. “They were both really wonderful and theypresented the audience a show of the world’s toplevel.”

Li felt sorry for Lee Chong Wei. “To be frank,it was not easy for him, and the loss was such apity,” he said. “He was born in a wrong time.Without Lin Dan, he has been the championalready. They are equally outstanding.”

Earlier on Sunday, Chinese shuttler Chen Longoutplayed Lee Hyun Il 2-1 in a hard battle,snatching the bronze medal of men’s singles.

China’s Zou Retains Men’s 49kg Olympic Boxing Champion

London, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) — China’s ZouShiming outscored Kaeo Pongprayoon fromThailand 13-10 in a controversial fight to retainthe men’s 49kg champion at the London Olympicshere on Saturday.

Zou, who edged the Irish fighter Paddy Barneson Friday’s semifinal, became the first time a boxerwho has retained the title of this category.

The 31-year-old veteran took the advantage

in the first round 2-1, in which both fightersseemed reluctant to attack first.

The second round was much hotter than thefirst one, Zou defended his side better than hisopponent, ending the second quarter 4-3.

Pongprayoon made effort in the third roundto pull the score back, but Zou was more efficientto end the third and final round with 7-6,pocketing his third medal and second gold at his


three Olympic Games.The decision was met by boos from

the crowd and Pongprayooncollapsed to the floor when thedecision was announced beforeleaving the ring in tears.

“Every match was difficult, bothfor me and my opponents,” said Zou.

“Second gold medal is great forme. I’m enjoying it.”

Zou was known as the numberone fighter China, especially after heclaimed the bronze medal at 2004Olympics. He pocketed three titlesfrom 2005 to 2011 at the WorldChampionships, and those trophies put a lot ofpressure on his shoulder.

It was possibly the final Olympic show for thefather of a one-year-old son. He was to spend moretime with his wife and son after going back home.

“I’ve promised them I would bring back homeanother Olympics gold, and today I fulfilled mypromise,” said Zou.

Zou wasn’t on his top form before the final.He failed to harvest overwhelming victory in everyof his three previous matches, and his breathtaking

semifinal arose the concern of the Chinese boxingfans.

“There was too much pressure. Luckily I wonthe match after all. All I want to do now is to havea very very good rest, “ said Zou .

Pongprayoon said: “I feel that I won and Icould see that the crowd thought I won. I don’tknow why I lost. I’ve lost to him twice before andboth times I think I should have won.

“I am still really happy, still very proud to bringback a silver medal.” he said.

China: Moving out of Gold Medal Complex

Beijing, Aug. 10 (Xinhuanet) — An Olympicmedal used to harbour the hope of building a greatnation in China. The success of a single Olympicchampion often lead to the popularization of acertain sport in China. But now, things havechanged.

Liu Xiang is a super sports star and a hero inChina. His success changed people’s view ofChina’s athletics.

Despite his tragic exit at the London Olympicson Tuesday. Chinese audiences now have a much

more normal view on their champions’ successesand failures.

Audience member, London: “The Chinesecrowd is getting mature. It’s no longer thatimportant if the athlete wins a gold medal or not.Liu Xiang tried his best and he led the Chinesepeople’s enthusiasm in the Olympics. We shouldenjoy the process more than the actual result.”

Like Liu Xiang, many Chinese Olympicchampions have became icons in their field. Theirsuccess in some way has pushed the development


of China’s sports industry.China Open, started in 2004, the same year

that China claimed its first tennis gold medal inAthens 2004 Olympic Games. Eight years later,China Open has became the most premier eventin Asia and one of the top eight tennis events inthe world.

Charles Hsiung, Deputy-gen. Manager, Chinaopen promotions: “This is in fact one of the fastestgrowing tournaments in the world in tennis, andsuper star effects are quite important to ourtournaments because a lot of people when theytalk about tennis they think Li Na, they think PengShuai, they think Zheng Jie. Sports is a growingindustry in China. As the country prosper, as thepeople prosper, as we live a better life, we look for

friends and recognition. So again, it has to do withthe Chinese economy and its development over thelast eight years apart from all the things we aredoing and all the things than governments aredoing, that to enforce the course of tennis inChina.”

China now provides not only good athletes,but also good events. Winning more gold medalsdoesn’t mean everything, for in the end, sports aresomething to enjoy.

The sports industry is maturing in China.Olympic Champions play an importan part in thatprocess. China will need more of them, but not asbadly as it used to, as people now have moreconfidence in the country’s sporting ability.

Liu Xiang Crashes Out Olympics But Wins Respect

London, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) — Waiting on thestarting blocks, Liu Xiang looked beyond thehurdles to the finishing line. Several secondslater, Liu crashed into the first hurdle in his firstround heat of the men’s 110m hurdles at theLondon Olympic Games on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old Liu injured his right foot andlimped off the track, ending his hope to regainOlympic glory in London.

Everything seemed to be deja vu when theformer world record holder and 2004 Olympicchampion withdrew from the 2008 BeijingGames because of a tendon injury in his rightfoot.

But this time Liu made things different. Hehopped over the rest of the distance on his leftfoot to symbolically finish his race. He alsostopped at a hurdle and kissed it, earning arousing ovation from the 80,000 crowd at theOlympic Stadium.

“What Liu Xiang did today reflected the true

Olympic spirit,” said Chinese athletics teamleader Feng Shuyong. “Winning is not soimportant, participation is what matters.

“We’ve all seen how hard it is for him. It issuch a pity but his spirit is there.”

“I think he made a lot of efforts over the pastfour years trying to do well. But in competitivesports, anything can happen.

Liu’s spirit and sportsmanship won praise,


not only from Chinese sport officials and millionsof Chinese, but also from his foreign friends andopponents.

“I regard him as probably the best hurdler inhistory and have so much respect for him. It washorrible seeing him limp off like that so you haveto go and help people,” said British hurdler AndyTurner, who won the heat in 13.42 seconds andhelped the struggling Liu off the track at thefinish.

Turner’s respect for Liu was echoed by AriesMerritt of the United States, who set the seasonleading time of 12.93 seconds before the Games.

“It’s just a tragedy for that to happen to oneof the best hurdlers of all time,” said theAmerican. “I do not think he is injured beforethe competition. He warmed up great.Everything looked fine. I just think he had atechnical mistake. He got too close to the hurdle.He clipped it and it is really hard to recover aftersomething like that.”

Jamaican star sprinter Usain Bolt also laudedLiu Xiang a “true champion” despite hisheartbreaking elimination from Games.

“It must be hard for that to happen for thesecond time in a row. He’s a great athlete,” saidBolt, who successfully retained his Olympiccrown in men’s 100m dash by clocking 9.63seconds Sunday night.

“One of the most amazing things is that hecame back. He switched legs and started leadingwith a different leg. He’s a true champion. It’sso bad for him,” he added.

According to Feng Shuyong, Liu probablyruptured his Achilles tendon while taking off atthe first hurdle and the intensive training leadingup to the Games should be one of the reasonsthat caused the injury to recur.

“I think the problem happened with thetaking off. We all know that at the moment oftaking off the tendon sustains great pressure,”

said Feng. “The initial diagnosis from the medicalstaff is that he had a broken Achilles tendon.

“The injury is the same one he had in Beijing(2008). In the last several years he received goodmedical care, but the injury is still there. AnAchilles tendon injury is almost impossible torecover fully.” Liu was considered as a seriousmedal contender in London after he came outfrom the Achilles injury and adopted the seven-step to the first hurdle.

After winning a dramatic silver in the 2011IAAF World Championships in Daegu, SouthKorea, Liu enjoyed an all-win record as heharvested three straight wins at the start of thisoutdoor season including setting a season fastesttime of 12.97 seconds by then in the Shanghaileg of 2012 IAAF Diamond League in May anda wind-aided mark of 12.87 seconds in theEugene leg early in June.

However, the Chinese superstar has beenhaunted by injury clouds since July 13, his 29thbirthday, when Liu Xiang pulled out of the finalof Diamond League London Grand Prix withback pain.

“He felt uncomfortable after the heats. Beforewe came here, Liu Xiang sometimes felt pain inthe chest when breathing, especially duringtraining and competitions,” Liu’s long-timecoach Sun Haiping told Xinhua at southLondon’s Crystal Palace stadium on that day.“We decided to pull out of the finals just for thesake of caution.”

Just three weeks later, on their return fromGermany training camp to London, Sun revealedLiu got further injury worries.

“In Germany, Liu felt pain in the foot wherehis old injury was. The doctor there said it wasnot serious. But I don’t think so. I want toexamine it further in London because I still worryabout it,” said Sun at Heathrow airport lastFriday.


Olympic Diving Roundup: China Still DominatesBut Chasers Closer

London, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) — The 14-daydiving competitions at London Olympics ended onSaturday with the Chinese “Dream Team” baggingsix out of the eight golds on offer but its gap withthe rest of the world is shrinking.

The two events China lost in London weremen’s individual 3m springboard and 10mplatform.

Russian diver Ilya Zakharov turned overChina’s defending Olympic champion He Chongin the springboard final, while American worldsilver medalist David Boudia succeeded in hisvengeance against China’s world champion QiuBo in men’s platform event.

While divers spearheaded by Russian,American, German and British improving rapidlyin terms of difficulty and quality of moves, Chinahas no more absolute advantage in either degreeof difficulty or consistency of execution in diving,especially in men’s events.

After triumph over Qiu, who has beendominant on the World Series since 2010 in both10m platform and synchro platform and neverencountered any defeat in recent years, Boudiasaid the rest of the world are catching up with theChinese, and set feet on China dominance indiving.

“Everyone knows China is dominant in everysingle diving events. But we can win,” he said.

His opinion was joined by Britishoverwhelming favorite Tom Daley, who captureda bronze medal in platform event.

Daley said diving was an unpredictable event.Those scraped through into the final can be theones grabbing gold medals from the Chinese.

Divers of Mexico, United States, Britain haveshowed their talents during London competitionswhile emerging stars from Australia, Malaysia andCanada are seizing their berth in the battle.

China’s team manager Zhou Jihong said Chinahas some stranglehold in women’s events butgradually lost dominance in men’s events.

She said the Chinese team has expecteddifficulties in men’s events in London as they faceincreasing challenge from a raft of superb diversfrom around the globe with high degrees ofdifficulties in their dives.

“Unfortunately we lost the two titles in men’splatform and springboard as our divers didnotperform to their normal level,” she said.

“They have good techniques but need moreexperience and practices to improve their mentalstrength,” Zhou said.

The Chinese squad won five gold medals in2000, six in 2004 and seven in 2008. They mayface greater challenges four years later in RioOlympic Games.

China Cheers for First Tibetan Olympic Medalist

Xining/London, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) — She grewup herding yaks on a plateau meadow, just likemany other women from rural Tibet. Singing andpraying accounted for much of her spare time. Andit was not until 2008 that she got the chance to

watch the Olympic Games on TV for the first time.But 22-year-old Choeyang Kyi has etched her

name into history as China’s first Tibetan Olympicmedalist, having secured a bronze medal in thewomen’s 20-km race walk event held on Saturday


at the London Summer Olympics.“I had only one thought in mind

— fight! The crowds were soenthusiastic. That helped me stay inhigh spirits,” she told reporters afterthe race.

Chinese fans have hailed hersuccess, flooding her account on SinaWeibo, a popular microblogging site,with well-wishes and congratulations.

“Last night, all of the Tibetans herestayed up and watched your game onthe track. We were thrilled to see youwin a medal. Tashi delek (blessings)!Hope you can bring more glory to theTibetan people,” wrote microbloggerKelsanga.

“She smiled a lot during the final 20 km. But Iwas almost thrilled to tears,” wrote blogger“Xiaoye Q” from northeast China.

Feng Jianping, director of the Qinghaiprovincial sports bureau, hailed Choeyang as “thepride of Qinghai, of Tibetans and of China.”

Choeyang’s parents watched their daughtermake history on TV in their rural home in Haiyancounty, located in the Haibei Tibetan autonomousprefecture in northwest China’s Qinghai province.Although they were unable to understand theMandarin-speaking commentator, Gonpo Rabtenand Sonamje stared at the TV, fingering prayerbeads and chanting Buddhist sutras.

When Choeyang crossed the finish line, herparents smiled, tears welling up in their eyes.Cheers and applause could be heard breaking outin the tents that make up their herding communityon the Jinyintan pasture.

They prepared milk tea and food at home asrelatives, friends and neighbors flocked to theirhouse, bringing ceremonial white scarves to extendtheir greetings.

Choeyang said she has missed her parents agreat deal, as she has not been home for a longtime due to her training.

“My blessings go to my parents and every singleone of my supporters,” she said.

The woman, whose name in Tibetan means“the sun,” cited renowned Chinese hurdler LiuXiang as her idol.

“Liu Xiang is the model for Chinese trackathletes. He has done his best and he has my fullsupport,” she added.

FROM HORSEBACK TO TRACK

Choeyang’s uncle Haichen, who accompaniedher to the London games, said Choeyang firstshowed her athletic ability at the age of nine,becoming known in her community for herexceptional horse-riding skills.

Her parents sent her to the provincial sportsschool seven years later after she won a township-level marathon. In 2008, Choeyang was picked bycoach Yuan Dejiu to concentrate on the race walkevent. She joined the national race walk team twoyears later.

“Choeyang grew up on the plateau, which mayexplain her strong heart and breathing capacity,but what really makes her stand out isperseverance,” Yuan said. “She takes the pain inthe training and never lets up.”

To prepare for the Olympics, Choeyang trained


hard at the Qinghai Duoba National SportsTraining Base, starting her training at 9 a.m. dailyand walking about 30 km every day.

After Choeyang earned her Olympicqualification in March, Feng visited her home andgave a 50,000-yuan (7,874 U.S. dollars) subsidy toher impoverished family. She was also given a3,000-yuan monthly allowance for her training.

Qinghai sports officials said many Tibetan

children in rural areas have great athletic potential,but have not had access to proper training.

But the tide has started to turn. The proficiencyof Tibetans in sports like shooting, archery andtrack and field events has led some of them toemerge at national sports competitions.

“We will bring more exceptional Tibetanathletes to the world stage,” said Feng. “Choeyangrepresents just the first step.”

V. TIBET TODAY

11th Panchen Lama Visits Liuwu New District in Lhasa

The 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu (2nd L)visits the Liuwu new district in Lhasa, capital of southwestChina’s Tibet Autonomous Region, July 27, 2012. The 11thPanchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu on Friday visitedthe Liuwu new district, the economic and technologicaldevelopment zone and a farmer in Lhasa. (Xinhua/Chogo)

The 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu (1st L)visits the Liuwu new district in Lhasa, capital of southwestChina’s Tibet Autonomous Region, July 27, 2012. The 11thPanchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu on Friday visitedthe Liuwu new district, the economic and technologicaldevelopment zone and a farmer in Lhasa. (Xinhua/Chogo


Tibet Looks to Improve Students’ Health

Lhasa, July 18 (Xinhua) — Tibet insouthwest China is carrying out ascheme to improve the nutrition of240,000 students in its agricultural andpastoral areas, local authorities saidWednesday.

The scheme was launched inMarch in schools of 74 counties, citiesand districts across the plateau region,said Lu Mingxiu, director of theEducation, Scientific and CulturalSection of Department of Finance ofTibet autonomous region.

Pupils and junior school studentsin the agricultural and pastoral areaswill be supplied with fruit, milk, eggs and othersnacks every day, Lu added.

“Considering the traditional custom of Tibetanpeople, the school also prepares Tsamba (a uniqueTibetan staple food made of highland barley flour)and yak butter tea for the students,” said TashiNorbu, a teacher of Hor Township Central PrimarySchool.

Norbu said his school has provided apples, milkand dessert for the pupils after each meal sinceMarch to help improve the physical fitness of thestudents.

In Lhundrup county, the central primaryschool of Qangga, food supply for each meal isshown on the whiteboard in the canteen every day,Ngawang Gyaltsen, according to a cook of thecanteen.

Every student in the school should be given 150grams of meat, 500 grams of vegetables and 80milliliters of milk every day, said Gyaltsen, addingthat the quality of meals is much better than before.

Tibet remains among the poorest regions inChina as a result of its adverse environment andpoor infrastructure.

What’s Wrong for Tibetans to Learn Chinese?

On July 29, an “official” from the“government-in-exile” claimed that the “self-immolations were resulted from the hardlinelanguage policy of the Chinese government in Tibetstressing only Chinese teaching in schools” at theDalai Lama’s 77-year-old birthday celebration inTaiwan.

Here I’d like to ask why a simple language issue

could incur loss of life. And what is wrong forethnic Tibetans to learn Chinese? Obviously, it wasan attempt of the Dalai clique to blemish theChinese government, which is both unfair andgroundless.

As a matter of fact, Tibetan learning is alwaysguaranteed by law in China. The Constitution ofthe People’s Republic of China and the Law on


Ethnic Regional Autonomy both clearly prescribethat all ethnic minorities have the freedom to useand develop their own spoken and writtenlanguages. In 2005, the Stipulations of the TibetAutonomous Region for the Study, Use andDevelopment of the Tibetan Language waspromulgated and implemented in Tibet.

Losang Thume, who has been engaged inresearch on Tibetan language for 12 years said,the Tibetan language is booming now. But in theold Tibet, it had never been popularized as it istoday. Tibetan courses are offered in schools of allsorts and at different levels. In particular, Tibetanis the main language to use in primary schools ofpastoral areas and townships. And the senior highschool or college entrance examinations must betaken in Tibetan for Tibetan language courses, andscores must be reported in the transcripts. Besides,all courses of Tibetan literature and Tibetanmedicine are taught in Tibetan in universities, inwhich doctoral degrees can be conferred.

Since 2003, Tibet has implemented the long-distance teaching program under the support ofthe Ministry of Education, State Commission ofDevelopment and Reform, and Ministry of Finance.Almost all 1,400 middle and primary schools inTibet could receive the TV programs, some eventhrough the satellite equipment as well as DVDsof Tibetan language teaching materials.

In addition, the training programs for Tibetansprovided by the government have help localTibetans to master their mother tongue. As a result,the illiteracy rate of young and middle-aged peoplehas dropped from 30 percent in 2003 to 1.2 percentin 2011.

I hereby want to ask the “official”, is it the rightthing for ethnic Tibetans to learn only Tibetan inthe modern world?

As one of the 56 ethnic groups in China, Tibetanlanguage and culture have interacted with thoseof the Han and other ethnic groups. In fact, nowmany Tibetans would like their youngergenerations to learn Chinese.

Dzamla, a mother of six living in Maqu County,Gansu Province, said she often told her childrento study Mandarin in order to find good jobs.

A primary school principal in Lhasa said,“Tibetan students must grasp both Tibetan andChinese because they should learn moderntechnology apart from keeping their traditionalculture.”

”Tibetans need to learn Chinese in order tobetter communicate with the outside world.Learning Mandarin will not undermine Tibetan,instead it will enrich the Tibetan language. As earlyas the 7th century, literatures on inland science,medicine, religion and politics had all beentranslated into Tibetan, which have contributed agreat deal to the development of Tibetan languageand culture, said Gonchekya, a researcher withthe Academy of Social Sciences in TibetAutonomous Region.

In this sense, learning Chinese has become aprerequisite for the Tibetan economic and socialprogress just as learning English is so importantfor Chinese, which symbolizes people’s desire tostrive for modernization and a better livelihood.But has the “English learning fervor” destroyedthe Chinese culture?

Yet Tibetan language not only should be passeddown, but also developed in the modern era. Soare the teaching methods of Tibetan language. Dueto lack of teaching materials of science subjects,the Chinese government has provided a lot ofsupport in funds and talents for the researchprogram. Thanks to its efforts, bilingual textbooksof math from Grade One to Grade Three have beencompiled and put into use in the Tibet AutonomousRegion.

Furthermore, the Tibetan language should alsobe developed with the times. Since 1980s and1990s, the Tibetan information processingtechnology has made a breakthrough. For example,Tibetan software such as the word processing anddigital editing, type-setting and printing systemswere invented and applied. After the 21st century,


the Chinese government fulfilled the task ofstandardizing the coding of Tibetan, andlaunching Tibetan websites.

Well, has it ever happened that the languageof some small ethnic group was lost? Yes, it didhappen in history.

Since the colonists stepped onto the NorthAmerican land in the 14th century, the number ofAmerican Indians was sharply reduced withinseveral hundred years. Its culture and languagehad been extinguished, and only a few people canspeak their native language at the present time.Most of them are bilingual, if say, they can speakthe language. By contrast, Tibetan has not beendestroyed, instead, it has flourished.

It is understandable for Tibetans to have a senseof crisis in terms of their language and culturalidentity because there is a small population ofTibetans, but a big population of Hans, accordingto a Chinese scholar. But Tibetans are more longingfor development.

Just as a Tibetan scholar said:”An ethnic group

will be left deserted and in oblivion if it is backwardin culture, education and science.”

As a matter of fact, many countries in the worldhave the problem of protecting the languages oftheir ethnic minorities. The Chinese governmenthas made a role model for them in the policies ithas made and measures it has taken.

Given the above, the language issue shouldonly be discussed in the context of development,but not in the context of “cultural extinction” and“clashes between ethnic groups”. However, theDalai clique attempted to use this issue to deceivethe innocent young Tibetans and monks to sacrificetheir valuable lives. What they schemed is to drawthe attention of the world community by force andprevent the “Tibet issue” from being marginalizedin order to realize the “Tibet independence” and“separating Tibet from China”.

However, truth does not exist in the defamedreality. And the lies of the Dalai clique will nothold water.

(Source: China Tibet On line)

Returnees Promote Tibet’s Cultural Diversity

Lhasa, July 17 (Xinhua) — In an obscure alleyof downtown Lhasa is a club where returnedTibetans from overseas universities teachyoungsters English for free and provide financialand consulting services for the needy.

The club, known to the locals as “HopeCorner,” provides English training and consultingservices concerning applications for visas andscholarships from overseas universities.

Its volunteers visit orphanages and seniorcitizens centers regularly and raise funds for needystudents through college.

The club is aimed at promoting culturaldiversity and serving public interests in Lhasa,capital of southwest China’s Tibet autonomousregion.

Communication is never a problem at the club,as the volunteers are all proficient in at least threelanguages: Tibetan, English and Mandarin.

“Last week, returnees from Britain gave aworkshop about the different teaching methodsin Chinese and British classrooms,” said TseringDekyi, founder of the club. “The audience, mostlyyoung Tibetan students, were all excited and askedmany questions. You can see on their faces thedesire to learn more about different cultures.”

Tsering Dekyi taught English at a primaryschool in Lhasa before she got a scholarship tostudy at Goshen College in Indiana of the UnitedStates in 2000.

During four years in the U.S. she did not justearn a degree, but also gained ideas of serving the


public interest and promoting cultural diversity.After she returned to Lhasa in 2004, she began

teaching English at Tibet University. In thefollowing year, she founded an English salon, theprototype of today’s Hope Corner, for Lhasaresidents to learn to speak English.

“I thought the young people in Lhasa neededsuch a place to learn English and share their ideas,”she said.

Tsering Dekyi was soon joined by dozens ofpeople who had a similar background and wereas enthusiastic in public welfare projects.

“I joined the program hoping to encourageyoung Tibetans to learn knowledge and exchangeideas in a healthier environment,” said GelsangDorji, one of the co-founders of Hope Corner.

“It’s a pity many Tibetans spend long hoursdrinking liquor and singing karaoke to kill time —unlike residents in big cities like Beijing andShanghai, they have little access to culturalactivities such as operas and concerts,” he said.

Gelsang Dorji, a Columbia University graduateand now a clerk at Bank of China’s Tibet branch,was among the six earliest participants in theproject.

Today, the club has nearly 100 volunteers andhas become one of the most popular socialorganizations in Lhasa. More than 1,000 Lhasaresidents have participated in its activities over thepast seven years.

“Returnees from abroad often give lectures forfree, and citizens are encouraged to speak Englishat the club’s oral English sessions,” said TseringDekyi. “Many young Tibetan students look up tothe volunteers as idols and are eager to work ashard as they do.”

In addition to English teaching, the volunteers

have helped at least 60 needy students throughcollege. “Many of them have graduated andsecured jobs in different parts of Tibet,” she said.“Those who work in Lhasa have become volunteersthemselves hoping to repay the society.”

Sonum Dekyi was a girl of few words whenshe first joined the club to practise oral English.Now she has learned to speak loudly in public anddiscuss a wide range of topics with the volunteers.

“I hope someday I can also study abroad,because you’ll never open your mind if you stayhome all the while.”

Nyima, a lab worker at Tibet’s disease controland prevention center, joined the club to learn oralEnglish and was soon heavily involved in itscommunity services. A fluent English speaker, hehas just received an offer to study in the U.S.

“I owe a lot to the club and all its volunteers,”he said. “Out of faith and passion to build a bettercommunity, they spend so much time and effortshelping other people fulfil dreams.”

Thanks to the reform and opening-up drive,many Tibetans have had the opportunities to studyand travel abroad. At Tibet University alone, 38teachers have studied in countries including theU.S., Britain, Norway, Japan and the Republic ofKorea since 2005.

They have concentrated on physics, biology,mathematics, history, linguistics, computer scienceand medicine. Twelve of them have obtained a PhDand 26 have got master’s degrees, according to theuniversity’s foreign affairs office.

Across Tibet, about 420 people have studiedabroad over the past decade, according to figuresprovided by the exit and entry administration ofthe regional public security bureau.

A Short History of Tibetan Opera

Described by the UNESCO as “the mostpopular traditional opera of minority ethnic groups

in China” and “a comprehensive art combiningfolk song, dance, storytelling, chant, acrobatics and


religious performance”, Tibetan opera wasinscribed on the organization’s Representative Listof the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanityin 2009.

While it has survived more than 600 years’changes of history and society, Tibetan operaoriginated from a beautiful ancient tale at thebeginning.

In the 14th century, a high-ranking monknamed Thangthong Gyalpo decided to build ironbridges across all major rivers in Tibet to facilitatethe transportation and pilgrimage. He spent threeyears in raising money, but finally failed. To achievehis dream, he selected seven beautiful and clevergirls from among his followers, and created aperformance group to travel across Tibet to earnmoney by performing simple-plot song and dancedramas adapted from Buddhist stories. This isbelieved to be the source of Tibetan Opera.

During the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama, inthe 17th century, Tibetan opera matured. It wasseparated from religious rituals and became anindependent dramatic form dominated by singingand dancing, and in particular used flamboyantmasks.

As the opera matured it became increasinglycomplex in structure, containing many literary

Tibetan artists perform traditional Tibetan opera King Gesarin London on July 26, 2007. (Xinhua/Kelzang Dawa)

Folk actors perform Tibetan Opera at Norbulingka Park inLhasa, capital of southwest China’s Tibet AutonomousRegion, May 1, 2012. The traditional Tibetan Operaperformance attracted lots of citizens and tourists during theMay Day holidays. (Xinhua/Chogo)

Students of the Tibetan Opera major have a class in TibetUniversity in Lhasa, capital of southwest China’s TibetAutonomous Region, April 2, 2011. (Xinhua)

strands, with very beautiful story depictions.By the 19th century most districts in Tibet had

their own opera troupes. Tibetan opera featuresprominently in a number of Tibetan festivals andtemple fairs, some of which are specificallydesigned for it, such as the Shoton Festival.

Today, Tibetan opera withstands changes ofhistory, still thriving on stages and playing animportant role in Tibetan people’s life. It is evenset up as a major in Tibet University.

On May 20, 2006, Tibetan opera was addedon the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.


Commissar Paljor at the GrassrootsText & Photo by Zhou Aiming

I haven’t been to Tibet for many yearsbecause I am affected by altitude sickness. Yet,this time,with my friend Chen Dan who hadasked to join me, I planned to fly to Lhasa inthe middle of March, which is the mostdifficult time in Tibet. The reason why I choseto go there is that this was the only time ChenDan could spare in the whole year. Our tripto the frontier, according to arrangements byCommissar Wulho Phuchung, would startfrom Tsang in the worst possible weather, tointerview our soldiers and experience thesituation when they were busiest.

We interviewed the Sims Azalea FemaleService Team and the leader Paljor. In 2008, Paljorleading the Corps stationed in the tents, now newbarracks have been built in 2011. Our decision tointerview Commissar Paljor was due to his mannertowards the soldiers at the station.That night, it washe who hosted the dinner. He asked everyone to beseated and dined together. From his words, we couldsense a love for his brothers. No one can resist. So Iinvited him to do an interview and he immediatelyconsented.While I was busy formatting my digitalrecorder,Commissar Paljor had adjusted our plannedroute, which would save us almost a whole day. Healso drew a map for Xiao Zhao, who was not sofamiliar with the way yet. Paljor was born in the cityof Shigatse in 1974. His father came from RinbungCounty, and mother from Lhatse County. When hewas two years old, he began to remember clearly thedates and numbers.

“I was only two years and four months old whenChairman Mao passed away. At that time, my littlebrother was only two months old and still inswaddling clothes. He knew nothing but I had formeda deep impression. My mum had hung a portrait ofChairman Mao on the wall. We each wore a piece ofblack area has the longest frontier line in Tibet formost of its history,there was frontier, but the frontier

defense was weak. In the past, the Korkhas in Nepalhad invaded Tibet in 1888, in and out fromShigatse.They had harassed and attacked thecommon people, plundered the TashilhunpoMonastery, and were not driven out until the QingDynasty sent General Fu Kang’an’s troops. Suchhistory should never be repeated, as a graduatecoming from native origins, I thought the frontierdefense should have a lot of responsibility, so Idecided to choose the Frontier Corps as my career.”

Thus, he was enrolled by the Tibet Frontier Corpsahead of time as one of the first graduates draftedinto the army. He said frankly that his choice wasmuch influenced by his father, a policeman. Thoughhe only had a short time with him, the father’s wordsand acts had deeply touched the son’s soul. That year,the Tibet Frontier Corps recruited 24 college graduatesin total. The central Corps (in Lhasa)also kept some.Paljor volunteered to go to the basic level, thus hewas assigned to the office of the Shigatse Detachment.

On October 28, 1996, Paljor reported his arrivalat Shigatse Detachment with another three men. TheHead and Commissar of the Detachment had a talkwith him, asking him what he could do. He repliedthat his major was Marketing Economy Management


and maybe because it was little related with frontierdefense, he could probably do/ nothing. “What canI do? It’s not easy to tell, really!”They asked again,“Do you have any request?” “Yes”, he answered, “Idare not say it as a request. I would like to do themajor work here, no matter how hard or wearisomeit is.”

For frontier defense in Tibet, if there is no frontier,then there is no frontier management, nor frontierarmy. So the major work is frontier management.Paljor was just assigned to the office of FrontierManagement. At that time, “Nearly every office hadonly one staff member. My office had the most—two.” He smiled.

Paljor had served in the Detachment Office forone year. Then he was sent to work in the areaaround Nyalam and Dram from July, 1997, at theCounty of Saga in 1998, Dingri in 1999, becomingHead of the Dingri Lulu Frontier Inspection Stationin 2000, at Kangmar, Dingkye, Drongpa counties inthe following years, and at last, transferred to thecentral Corps in Lhasa in 2006. In the Corps, heworked as Director of the Frontier ManagementOffice for two years, then, he returned ShigatseDetachment in 2008. In October 2011, he wasassigned Commissar at Nyalam Frontier InspectionStation and began to have three stars on his shoulderstrap. “I have been working at the grassroots, thefront of the frontier. The boundary of Tibet is morethan 4000 kilometers,of which Shigatse has 1753kilometers. Among the twenty-one frontier counties,Shigatse has nine.Therefore, Shigatse is a much largerfrontier defense region than where I’ve been workinguntil today. As people say, I have almost taken rootat the base station.”

Paljor, on becoming rooted at the front, has astrict definition of Frontier Defense. During ourthreehour interview he took nearly thirty to fortyminutes to explain to me the responsibilities, missionand system of the Frontier Defense in order to relievemy ignorance and also in expectation of helpingpeople understand what the frontier police of thePRC are doing.

The frontier police having been subordinated tothe Ministry of Public Security, follows the order ofthe People’s Police and the system of active service.

When I want to find its full counterpart, Paljorexplained, “In the USA, it’s called the Coast Guard,in Nepal and other countries, it’s usually called theImmigration Office. Our frontier defense is somethinglike their Immigration Office, yet, not completely thesame, because the Immigration Office,besides frontierdefense, also sets up the Office of Entry and ExitAdministration, or, by another name, the ForeignerAdministration Office, as that in our Public SecurityBureau. Our patrol is also different from that of theLiberation Army. They are guarding our territory,but we are keeping law and order, something likethe patrol duties of the policemen on the TiananmenSquare, the purpose of which is to prevent andrepress illegal activities. In other responsible areas likeDingri or Dram, we mainly offer service in populationadministration and public security, includinghandling cases like illegal immigration, boundarymarkers or post destruction, drug smuggling, and soon.”

For frontier defense in Tibet, most outposts lieat the height of about 4000 to 5000 meters above sealevel. All year round it’s cold and dry with thin airand is known to be uninhabitable. In the past, allsupplies had to be carried by manual labor. Someother places like Drenthang and Metok,thoughhaving a nice landscape at a low altitude, are sealedoff like an isolated island by ice and snow for morethan half a year. Take the town Drenthang inDingkye County as an example, there is no othervillage out of the county seat. It will take two daysfor people to enter or leave on foot. At night, travelerson foot can only have a sleep on a piece of wood or afaggot in the wild like a dog. Along the westernboundary line is Drongpa and Saga - where if yourvehicle breaks down, you can do nothing but huddleup until you are lucky to meet another passing vehicleand you can ask the driver to take a message forhelp. If it happens to arrive at a place where there ispower and TV in the room, it is truly a bonus. Theyoung soldiers, one group after another, maintainthe posts with their youth and their health. But it isnot easy for one to stay here for more than ten years.I asked Paljor how he could do it. He answered, “Iam a native. It’s what I do and I find the more workI do the more I can learn from it. The work seems


Dalai Lama’s Way out Requires Compassionby Xinhua writer Cheng Yunjie

Beijing, July 18 (Xinhua) — Describing self-immolation as “very, very delicate political issue,”the 14th Dalai Lama has said he will “remain neutral”on the topic in order to avoid offending the relatives

of the self-immolators.The remark demonstrates that politics remains a

vital factor in the Buddhist’s decision-making process,despite the fact that he has claimed to have

endless. These days, no matter if it is a commonherdsman or a soldier, every time they see me, theymake the joke that I am their family. In 2004, mybrother and I had a vacation in Chengdu. One night,I dreamed of the snow-covered highland and the dirtroad along the frontier. My brother commented thatmy fate was destined towards being stationed atfrontier defense.”

In 1998, Paljor who had just been promoted toStaff Officer (equivalent to Deputy Lieutenant) in theOffice of Frontier Defense Management in ShigatseDetachment was commissioned to undertake the taskof sending new recruits to existing companies. Theyset out at 8 am from Shigatse on a Dongfeng truckand arrived at Saga at 12 pm, a total of 16 hours.

He remembered, “We handed out solid food andmineral water for the soldiers. At that time, the roadconditions were quite different from today’s No. 219asphalt National Road. The old road was dusty; fullof bumps and holes with many curves as well. Thetruck jolted all the way; some men vomited andcouldn’t eat anything. When we got to Saga, thesoldiers hurriedly ate some porridge and had a restright away where they could. On the second day,some soldiers stayed at Saga,while I continued to leadthe rest towards Drongpa. The altitude had reached4890 meters above sea level. I found some troops hadcracked lips so I took butter tea for them. They didn’tlike it because most of them were Han Chinese andwere not used to the taste. I told them that butter teawas medicine and if they didn’t have it, they couldnot overcome altitude stress. They had never heardthat before, so they drank it obediently and pulledthrough from their hardships to the end. I went onbringing the soldiers to the police station at Drongpa.After that, I took another four troops to the village ofChanggo in Saga.”

Paljor led the four new recruits to Changgo.“Their director and instructor both went to the Corpsfor a meeting, so I was required by my office to replacethe director for a while at the station, responsible fordaily work. Changgo has an altitude as nearly 5000meters.The wind begins at 12 am almost every day.The wind is so strong it covers all the sky and shutspeople in their houses. Soldiers can only drill in themorning before 12 am all year round. The stationdid have a TV, but the power depended on a solardish. We wouldn’t use any power in the daytime sothat we could have enough electricity to finish ourduty and then watch TV at night. A transceiver atthe station was the only tool to communicate withthe outside world, no telephones or anything else. Itis a fact that the soldiers could only look at each otherin the day and count stars at night.”

Taking advantage of his mother tongue, Paljorsoon became familiar with local herdsmen andcommon people. He organized a New Year’s EveParty and gathered all 20 men at the station,headsmen from outside, and also invited somebusinessmen from Kham. Some of them broughtsnacks and soft drink as their contribution. Everyonehad a good time and enjoyed the party that night.The station had a simple VCD, and a microphone,which, together with the TV, made a simple Karaoke.A soldier who had been in the army for two years,sung the song Return to Lhasa very well at thebeginning, but slowly went quiet, because he hadnever been to school and could not read a singlecharacter. That touched Paljor deeply. Besides this,the local folks also surprised him, “The commonpeople couldn’t dance to Disco, but they watchedand listened at first. When they caught the rhythm,they danced even better than our soldiers. It wasamazing! Everyone had fun at the party.”


relinquished his political and administrative role inthe so-called “Tibetan government-in-exile.”.

If he has devoted his mind to religion, he wouldexplain why he hasn’t explicitly forbidden self-immolation based on Buddhist doctrine. Questionslike “is it right or wrong to commit suicide forBuddhism?” should not be avoided.

“If I say something negative, then the familymembers of those people will feel very sad. Theysacrificed their ...life. It is not easy. So I do not wantto create some kind of impression that this is wrong,”he was quoted as saying by the Hindu, an IndianEnglish-language newspaper.

This inner struggle revealed by the Dalai Lamamight be able to dampen some discontent over hisdodging of core questions. But it is sad to see that hisjustification is below where it should be.

It might be better if he could temporarily put asidehis worries about the deepening sorrow of thosefamily members to concentrate on the simplequestions: what benefits do the self-immolatorsreceive? If they’ve done something wrong, nobodyelse can suffer for their faults during their endless lifecycle. If there are some merits in their self-destruction,are these merits worthy?

The Dalai Lama does have reason to care aboutthe grieving family members. The fear of deepeningtheir sorrow is not as meaningful as helping them tocope with their sadness and turn misfortune intoadvantage.

After a series of self-immolations took place inChina’ s Tibetan-populated regions, several copycatsuicides by teenagers and depressed people have beenreported. Psychologists warn that clergy immolationsare demonstrating to the public that it is permissibleto give up hope and their lives so long as they followsuit.

Tibetans who have been taught not to observeother people’s errors, as specified in Buddhistscripture, are reluctant to comment on the self-immolations by clergy and lay people, but that doesn’tmean they agree with it or support it.

According to reports, the Dalai Lama has prayedfor those who died after committing self-immolationin public and refused to call for an end of a practicethat violates a basic Buddhism doctrine — not to kill.

In the Buddhists’ eyes, the Dalai Lama is theirspiritual leader, if he reminds the followers of thedoctrine, the self-immolation tragedy will definitelyend.

It is immoral and inhumane to sacrifice otherpeople’s lives for one’s own political agenda.

While overseas splittists brand self-immolationsas a “protest of Chinese repression” and “culturalgenocide,” local Tibetans have found themselvesgaining easier and broader access to education,traveling more conveniently, living in betterhouses and continuing to maintain Buddhisttradition.

Anyone who visits Tibet can see for themselvesthe progress China has made in facilitating localdemocracy, as well as social and economicdevelopment.

Like any other country, China has its ownimperfections. The situations in Tibetan-populatedregions are no worse than elsewhere across China.From a Buddhist perspective, aren’t theseimperfections a healthy reminder for people torenunciate that which binds them to suffering andto nourish the compassion to do more good for theworld?

Playing up problems for the purpose of sowingdiscord and hatred are detrimental to freedom inBuddhism and world peace. According to theteachings of Padmasambhava, the root guru ofTibetan Buddhism, a Mahayana Buddhist mustabandon the discrimination of abodes, nations,geographies, social ranks, enemies and friends toequally benefit all beings.

Many people remember Dalai Lama’s comment“violence, even violence on the self, creates moreviolence” when Thubten Ngodup set himself on fireafter a hunger strike by Tibetan refugees in New Delhiin 1998. What’s chilling is that some die-hard anti-China forces are advocating the Dalai Lama’s silence,presuming the Chinese government is seeking theman’s help to diffuse a “domestic crisis”. But theyhave miscalculated the situation.

If the Dalai Lama’s top concern is Buddhism, thesolution to his dilemma is not in politicking, butinspiring people within his influence to exercise morecompassion and avoid more self-immolations.

Postal Regd. No. DL-SW-16/4034/12-14R.N.I. No. 47440/88

August 2012

Nyingchi Remote Medical Center which is supported by Chinese Navy General Hospital was opening at 11 July 2012 in Nyingchi County, Tibet. The establishment and opening of the Telemedicine Center is one part of the aid work to Tibet by

the hospital. Under the support and assistance of the Chinese Naval General Hospital, Nyingchi County Hospital's medical standards has been significantly improved, the number of outpatients increased by 30 times.

Documents

VOL. XXIV No. 8 August 2012 Rs. 10 · 2012-09-28 · Sun Yang of China attended victory ceremony of men's 1500m freestyle contest, at London 2012 Olympic Games in London, Britain