China :: Asia

A MALAYSIAN businessman has claimed that he was taken round several police stations and badly beaten up by police who also took RM13,000 (S$5,000) of his money. Mr Chia Buang Hing, a framemaker, said he was kicked and stepped on until he vomited blood, and threatened with more charges when he protested. He claimed that the series of brutalities took place at the carpark and toilet of a police station in Selangor, the Petaling Jaya police headquarters and outside the magistrate's court in Selangor. 'I was beaten up outside the court after I made a complaint to the magistrate,' the 34-year-old claimed. The businessman, who recounted his alleged ordeal last Friday, has filed a report against the police and is now considering taking further action. On Sunday, two policemen, aged 25 and 27, from the Damansara police station were arrested after Mr Chia identified them from a line-up.

Pakistan’s ruling party in crisis negotiations By Associated Press Wednesday, December 29, 2010 ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s U.S.-allied ruling party is scrambling to keep its fragile coalition government in power as its senior leaders meet with two dissident political partners, urging them to rejoin the Cabinet. The Pakistan People’s Party-led government faces a crisis with the secular Muttahida Qaumi Movement party quitting its two cabinet posts but remaining in the ruling coalition for now, while the Islamist Jamiat Ulema Islam party defected to the opposition benches in recent days. Interior Minister Rehman Malik, a senior PPP lawmaker held crisis meetings with MQM and JUI leaders late Tuesday, urging them to support an increasingly unpopular government. JUI leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s spokesman Hafiz Hussain Ahmad said Wednesday their party would only return to the government if Zardari sacked Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Key Pak coalition party to withdraw cabinet ministers KA...

Trendpk.com: Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that a $25 to $30 billion Chinese investment is expected in different sectors of the country. Addressing a press conference on Chinese premiers visit, he said Pakistan and China inked 13 agreements and Memoranda of Understanding on cooperation in economy, energy, banking, security and technology. He said China would give a grant of dollar 229 million for flood affected road network and agriculture sector leading to provision of rice processors and latest technology of cold storage. He said the Chinese government would extend soft loan of $400 million while another $10 million cash amount would be provided to be disimbursed as compensation to the flood affected families. Kaira said that a $10 billion trade agreement would be signed in Saturdays business summit with the Chinese businessmen. A total of 500 scholarships to the Pakistani students will be offered to enable them to learn C...

Fresh from India, Wen builds Pakistan trade ties — "China's massive investment in this time proves two things. One is that China is a genuine ally of Pakistan, and second, it is a clear signal to the U.S. that if the U.S. supports India against China, China will support Pakistan." ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani and Chinese businessmen signed deals worth $15 billion on Saturday as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao demonstrated Beijing's assertive trade diplomacy on a visit to Islamabad. The 18 deals signed by the private sector added to nearly $20 billion worth of agreements concluded by the governments of the two countries during Wen's trip, which came hard on the heels of his visit to Pakistan's rival, India. The latest contracts cover cooperation in oil and gas, mining, space technology, heavy machinery manufacturing, seafood, oceanology and electronics. While boosting trade and investment has been the main focus of Wen's visit -- the first in five years by a ...

Japan Plans Military Shift to Focus More on China Seaman Cheng S. Yang U.S. Navy, via Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images An American worked with Japanese sailors last week on the aircraft carrier George Washington. By MARTIN FACKLER Published: December 12, 2010 Recommend Twitter Sign In to E-Mail Print Reprints Share Close Linkedin Digg Mixx MySpace Yahoo! Buzz Permalink TOKYO — In what would be a sweeping overhaul of its cold war-era defense strategy, Japan is about to release new military guidelines that would reduce its heavy armored and artillery forces pointed north toward Russia in favor of creating more mobile units that could respond to China ’s growing presence near its southernmost islands, Japanese newspapers reported Sunday. The realignment comes as the United States is making new calls for Japan to increase its mili...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will identify North Korea as a threat and call China's military activities a concern in a review of its defense policy that will include plans to beef up its ability to cope with Beijing's rise, a newspaper reported on Monday. The update of the National Defense Program Guideline, the first since 2004, is expected this month as Japan confronts China's military build-up and North Korea 's deadly shelling of a South Korean island. The review will be the first since Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) took government last year. "To organize our own defense capabilities is something that our country certainly needs to do. This does not directly link to posing a threat to another country," Kan told a news conference. The guideline will outline a new stance called "dynamic defense capability" which will call for deterring China around Japan's southern islands, while also responding...

What if Indonesia beat Malaysia 4-0 - or more - in the second leg of the AFF Suzuki Cup? Malaysia may have a comfortable three-goal advantage from the first leg but it's definitely not impossible for Indonesia to claw back from the dead and overturn the tables. And this is precisely why coach K. Rajagobal is preaching caution - it's not over until the fat lady sings. ('What has Datin Rosmah to do with all this??') I believe over-confidence won't be a problem with Malaysia. However, they'll have to contend with a wounded tiger that now has nothing to lose. And a hostile crowd that is bound to be abusive... fanatical supporters who place the blame for the 3-0 defeat on the laser beam morons. (Would the result be different had there not been this incident?) But despite the expected pressure and onslaught, I feel Malaysia will come out tops. That's because this team has one very crucial characteristic: they know how to defend. It's something they h...

Three Chinese detained by South Korea over illegal fishing have been freed following protests from Beijing and were preparing to return home Saturday, the coastguard said. Their 63-ton boat overturned and sank in the Yellow Sea on December 18 after ramming a 3,000-ton South Korean coastguard vessel. Two Chinese crewmen were killed. The three crewmen were detained for hampering a crackdown by the coastguard on another Chinese trawler. Four South Korean officers were wounded when the fishermen attacked them with iron pipes, clubs and shovels. A diplomatic dispute began after China demanded that South Korea pay compensation for the sinking of the fishing boat and punish the coastguards involved. Seoul's foreign ministry said it would act calmly to settle the row and the fishermen were later freed without charge. South Korea is eager to secure China's help to restrain North Korea, which launched a deadly bombardment of a South Korean island last month. "We decided not to ind...

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, December 17. — Photo by AP ISLAMABAD: China on Saturday announced a $10 million grant for the citizens compensation programme for flood victims and a $400 million concession loan to help meet their needs. Speaking at the National Disastrous Management Authority (NDMA), Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said China would continue to help Pakistan in the post-disaster phase of the floods. China would also provide resources and technical support to Pakistan for disaster prevention and forecasting technology. He said China had the expertise in dealing with situations like the Attabad lake and would send its experts to address the perils arising from the lake along the Karakoram Highway. Jiabao said provision of disaster control and forecasting technology would help in better handling such situations in the future. He said the major areas to be covered in his visit included the repairing of damaged infrastructure, roads and th...

Watch Video Play Video Ealier, we talked on the phone with Professor Gui Yongtao from Peking University. He talked about the effect of Japan's new policy on the security situation in Northeast Asia. Japan revamps defense guideline Japan has adopted a more proactive guideline for defense, including a new fiscal program for the next 4 years. & Editor: Zhang Pengfei | Source: CNTV.CN

Watch Video Play Video Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his Pakistani counterpart, Yousuf Raza Gilani, held talks in Islamabad on Friday. The leaders aimed to deepen the strategic partnership of cooperation between the two countries Wen Jiabao arrived in Pakistan on Friday to start an three-day official visit. The premier said the two nations enjoy a profound friendship that has laid a solid foundation for bilateral relations. He added that enhancing friendly ties not only meets the fundamental interests of both countries, but also contributes to peace and stability in Asia and the world. Ministers from the two countries signed a series of agreements in various fields, including trade, infrastructure, agriculture and energy.

Watch Video Play Video China and Pakistan have fostered a very close relationship over the decades. On top of political and military exchanges, trade ties are expected to be boosted during Premier Wen's visit. My colleague Wang Guan has a recap of the events that defined China-Pakistan relations in 2010. It's been called a 'time-tested, brotherly relationship'. China and Pakistan, bonded by common geopolitical interests in the region, have supported each other over the past few decades. After the recent floods in Pakistan which were the worst in the country's history, China sent a total of 250 million US dollars in aid in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. It was China's largest-ever donation of humanitarian aid to a foreign country. Likewise, after a devastating earthquake in northwestern China, Beijing found Islamabad to be one of the biggest donors of relief supplies. Gregory Tsang, Current Affairs Commentator, said, 'Throughout the years, the two s...

Watch Video Play Video China is calling for the start of negotiations to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. Calling the situation 'extraordinarily complicated' and 'sensitive', Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu warns that if bloodshed occurs, the people on the Korean Peninsula would be the first to suffer. She says it would also destabilize the region and endanger neighboring countries. Jiang Yu says countries in the region and the international community want to avoid escalation, and see dialogue rather than confrontation. She says China firmly opposes any action that may lead to escalation of tensions or destabilization in the region. The spokeswoman calls on all parties involved to make constructive efforts to solve disputes through peaceful means. Related stories DPRK warns against S. Korea exercise on Yeonpyeong island 2010-12-17 Russian, ROK diplomats discuss situation on Korean peninsula 2010-12-16 China hopes all parties can stablize Kor...

Rahul Gandhi, son of India's ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi. – Reuters (File Photo) NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi, widely seen as an Indian prime minister-in-waiting, believes Hindu extremists might be a greater threat to his country than Islamist militants, a leaked US diplomatic cable showed Friday. Gandhi, scion of India’s Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, told US Ambassador Timothy Roemer last year that there was “some support” among Indian Muslims for militant groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba – blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks. “However, Gandhi warned, the bigger threat may be the growth of radicalised Hindu groups, which create religious tensions and political confrontations with the Muslim community,” said the cable released by website WikiLeaks. The opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to respond to the leaked comments, with spokesman Prakash Javdekar accusing Gandhi and his Congress party of bias. “They don’t know what India is and what th...

Watch Video Play Video India's central bank left key interest rates on hold today after six increases since March. But it also warned that the risk in its inflation outlook is to the upside, and unveiled steps to address persistently tight liquidity. While the central bank has forecast the wholesale price index will ease to 5 and a half percent by the end of the fiscal year in March, rising global commodity and energy prices pose upward risks. The Reserve Bank of India has been the most aggressive major central banks in Asia this year, lifting key lending and borrowing rates by 150 and 200 basis points, respectively, as surging prices spurred by rising food costs undermine purchasing power in an economy growing at nearly 9 percent. Editor: Xiong Qu | Source: CNTV.CN

Residents of Christmas Island watched on helplessly as the 16m wooden fishing vessel drifted closer to the jagged limestone cliffs, as it was pummelled by huge swells. Witnesses reporting seeing children as young as three being tossed into the raging ocean. One man said he rushed to the cliffs after hearing the screams, along with his 20-year-old son and as many life jackets as they could muster. They tied life jackets to ropes and threw the ropes to the terrified asylum-seekers. It was horrendous we were pulling the ropes up and then it would go limp. Unbelievable horror, he said. The Australian via Daily Telegraph Simon Prince, who lives nearby, told Associated Press: When the boat hit the cliff there was a sickening crack. All the people on board rushed to the land side, which is the worst thing they could do, but I dont think anybody could swim. I think there were about two lifeboats on board this thing. It was just horrible: people getting crushed, bodies, dead children. The whole...

We have, as a nation, been truly sold down the river of no return by Mahathir. Change, and complete change, is the answer. By Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim Malaysia is, ethically speaking, in dire straits. Mahathir founded his administration on corruption, lies and subterfuge. He lied to the nation about the many schemes that were blatantly dishonest. Worse, they were criminal, such as gambling with the EPF money, your money and mine, to corner the international tin market, and later the countrys reserves to speculate on the currency market, pitting himself in the latter case against George Soros. The country lost billions. Mahathir succeeded in planting and nurturing a culture of impunity and disinformation that, even long after he left office, has continued to flourish. Of course, the man who cut his business teeth minding a stall at the Pekan Rabu in Alor Setar during the Japanese Occupation can explain all this away by saying that whatever he did, it was done in the national interest. W...

AFP/Getty Images Overall during his time in India, Mr. Wen will be working to improve political relations. We were impressed that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao managed to slip a visit to a New Delhi school into his India itinerary. But the rest of Mr. Wen’s schedule seems to mirror what his India visit is really all about: To talk business. Unlike with other heads of state who recently came to India – including U.S. President Barack Obama and French President Nicholas Sarkozy – we can expect minimal rhetoric from Mr. Wen on India’s cultural heritage, for instance. And, of course, forget any references to India being the world’s largest democracy, one of Mr. Obama (and Mr. Sarkozy’s) favorite buzzwords. Western heads of state this year have come to woo India, partly in a bid to create jobs at home. Mr. Wen’s priorities are different. TIME's person of 2010

AFP/Getty Images Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong aren’t the only cities in the greater China region contending with politically problematic property bubbles. Housing prices are becoming a headache for authorities in Taipei, as well. While property prices on the rest of the island are fairly manageable, prices in Taipei and surrounds have taken off, with home prices rising 9.13% on-year in the second quarter of the year. The average home price is now more than 11 times the annual household income of an average person. That is partly because Xinbei City, the area surrounding Taipei and Taiwan’s largest metropolitan area by population, is filled with people who have moved there to work in Taipei. There are both economic and political implications: The property price boom will feed through to the broader economy in some measure via inflation. And in 18 months, when presidential elections roll around, many of Xinbei City’s 3.9 million residents and Taipei’s 2.6 million residents–in total mo...

Chief Executive Donald Tsang delivers a speech entitled 'Hong Kong: Gateway to China and East Asia' at a forum organised by HSBC India and The Economic Times in Mumbai, India Friday. Gis Photo Chief Executive Donald Tsang, who completed his India visit on Friday, invited the business leaders of the neighboring country to set up bases in the city. He addressed a forum, a business luncheon and meeting officials of Maharashtra, a prosperous western state of India. Highlighting the strengths of Hong Kong as an international business and financial center, Tsang encouraged Indian firms to set up their bases in the city and take advantage of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, the unique free trade pact between Hong Kong and the mainland, to expand business. The Chief Executive addressed a symposium - Hong Kong: Gateway to China & East Asia forum co-organized by HSBC India and the Economic Times, the largest-circulated financial daily of that country. I...

Global behemoths have different demands for 'ultra low cost' vehicles India's Tata Motors created history when it launched the Nano - the world's cheapest car - in March 2009. Global vehicle manufacturers have since been scrambling to develop their own low-cost cars in an attempt to tap the strong growth potential in emerging markets including India and China. The question is how will these efforts pay off, and how can they be applied to India and China? The case to develop low-cost cars in India is definitely a very strong one. Indians are highly cost conscious, giving importance not only to the retail price of a car, but also to factors like fuel efficiency and running costs while making their purchase decisions. The emergence of a large middle class, estimated at about 300 million, together with a young population with big aspirations, present an almost ideal customer base. India's relatively low labor costs coupled with an improving supplier base all...

The rise of China and India is believed to be the most remarkable phenomenon of the 21st century. The international community admires their achievement, especially their economic resilience and the great potential they have showed during the global financial crisis. China, India and other emerging economies have strengthened their communication and coordination on a number of major international issues such as climate change, reform of the international financial system and the Doha Round of trade talks. They have strived to give a greater voice to developing countries at international forums, too. Sino-Indian ties continue to develop at a smooth pace. The two countries have forged a strategic partnership for peace and prosperity, and established strategies to further deepen relations for mutual benefit. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India. The two countries have reached common ground on living, working and prosperin...

KABUL: British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday told reporters in Kabul that 'real progress' made this year in the nine-year Afghan war must be made 'irreversible' in 2011. '2010 was without a doubt a year in which we made real progress. 2011 must be the year in which that progress becomes irreversible,' he told a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. 'There's no scope for complacency... but I'm cautiously optimistic we have the right strategy. We are now a year into that strategy. We have put in the right resources to back it up,' Cameron said. 'President Karzai gives me confidence that our plans for transition are achievable,' he said, referring to plans to begin drawing down troops next year and end NATO's combat mission by the end of 2014. 'We are going to make it happen.' Britain has almost 10,000 troops in the war-ravaged country, the second largest contingent after the United States, wit...

Malaysi's Prime Minister Najib Razak insists Malaysia is run by ‘very competent’ leaders, and some drooling morrons KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak insisted today that Malaysia is run by “very competent” politicians, contrary to remarks allegedly made by Singaporean officials in a WikiLeaks expose. The prime minister was referring to the leaked US State Department cables which reported Singaporean senior government officials as saying in 2008 and 2009 that Malaysia’s “decline” was due to “incompetent politicians.” Najib ( picture ) became prime minister in April 2009. “I assure you that Malaysia is not run by incompetent politicians but by very competent politicians,” he said when officiating the opening of AUO Sunpower Corporation Sdn Bhd’s manufacturing plant in Alor Gajah today. The WikiLeaks’ leaked information were published in two major Australian news publications on December 12 — The Sunday Age and The Sun- Herald . The expose in the Sunday Age disclosed dis...

HONG KONG: Hong Kong police say they have dealt a major blow to a notorious triad group, after a territory-wide series of raids rounded up dozens of people including a suspected gang leader and core members. Thirty-six suspects, including a 56-year-old alleged ringleader and other senior members of an unidentified crime syndicate, were arrested in a city-wide operation on Monday night, Hong Kong police said. Dozens of police and immigration officers raided multiple locations in the heart of the southern Chinese city, including four nightclubs. Sixteen men and 20 women, aged between 22 and 63, were arrested for various offences, including managing brothels, drug trafficking and immigration-related crimes, police said. '(We) believe this operation has netted several core members of the triad society and successfully dealt a blow to the triad society active in the Kowloon West region,' the police said in a statement, referring to a neighbourhood in the teeming metropolis. This i...