Wen Jiabao

Il  governo cinese ha annunciato un taglio, entril 2020, della Co2 prodotta del 40-45% . Se così fosse sarebbe una novità decisiva per le sorti della Conferenza Onu e della salute del pianeta. In realtà, il dato di riduzione va inteso rispetto ai livelli di gas serra emessi nel 2005 e che la riduzione riguarderà un altro parametro: l’intensità carbonica. Un’unità di misura inventata da Pechino tesa ad agganciare il taglio dei gas serra alla crescita economica. L’intensità carbonica calcola la quantità di Co2 prodotta per ogni unità di prodotto interno lordo. La riduzione, dunque, aumenta o cala seguendo l’andamento dell’economia. Non si tratta quindi di un taglio inderogabile. Non essendo prevedibile l’andamento del Pil nei prossimi anni, anche le riduzioni quindi sono ipotettiche.

Resta il valore dell’annuncio. Che costringe le gli altri paesi inquinatori a scoprire le loro carte. Anche se, va detto, che la decisione cinese apre le porte, per le potenze emergenti, a un taglio “fai da te” delle emissioni climalteranti.

Dopo Washington ora anche Pechino mette sul piatto impegni e dati. E il vertice Onu di Copenhagen sembra cambiare profilo. Oltre a Obama, nella capitale danese ci sarà il premier cines Wen Jiabao, che alla Conferenza sul clima non sarà più nella scomoda posizione di imputato. Ora, anche la Cina sembra avviarsi, con lentezza però, verso la strada delle tecnologie verdi. Forse ha capito che avere la leadership ambientale equivale ad avere la leadership globale.

La Maison blanche a annoncé hier mercredi 25 novembre 2009 que le président américain Barack Obama se rendrait à Copenhague le 9 décembre pour le sommet des Nations unies sur le climat. Il y présentera les objectifs américains : réduire de 17 % les émissions de gaz à effet de serre d’ici 2020 en comparaison des niveaux de 2005, 30 % d’ici 2025, 53 % d’ici 2030 et 83 % d’ici 2050. Cet objectif est identique à celui du “Clean Energy and Security Act “, approuvé par les représentants en juin. En prenant pour référence l’année 1990 et non 2005, il ne correspond qu’à une réduction de 4 % d’ici à 2020 et 22 % à l’horizon 2030.

La Chine a annoncé par ailleurs aujourd’hui qu’elle sera représentée par le premier ministre Wen Jiabao. Il y présentera la volonté de la Chine de baisser son ” intensité carbonique “, c’est-à-dire la quantité de gaz à effet de serre par point de PIB, de 40 % à 45 % d’ici 2020 par rapport à 2005. Une formulation décidée pour ne pas compromettre la croissance économique.

Les autres objectifs annoncés :
Union européenne : 20 % de réduction d’ici à 2020 (par rapport à 1990), voire 30 % en cas d’accord global.
Australie : baisse de 25 % (par rapport à 2000)
Japon : baisse de 25 % (par rapport à 1990)
Brésil : baisse de 36 % à 39 % par rapport aux prévisions de 2020.

Des délégations de 192 pays et plus de 60 chefs d’Etat doivent se rendre à Copenhague. Le sommet se déroulera du 7 au 18 décembre 2009. Il doit donner une suite au protocole de Kyoto sur les gaz à effet de serre, qui prend fin en 2012.

Références
Dépêches
LeMonde.fr avec AFP, Reuters et AP
Les Echos avec AFP
LeFigaro.fr avec AFP
LeMonde.fr avec AFP et Reuters

Articles
BBC : ” Obama vows greenhouse gas emissions cuts “
Le Monde : ” Climat : les Etats-Unis et la Chine abattent leurs cartes “
NYTimes : ” U.S. and China to Go to Talks With Emissions Targets “
WSJ : ” China Unveils Target for Carbon Dioxide Cuts “

The Empty Suit strikes again. This time he’s bowing and scraping to the Chinese Communist Premier. Fresh from kowtowing to the Japanese Emperor and well-rehearsed, Obama doubled over for Wen Jiabao, again acutely embarrassing himself, though I truly don’t believe he’s smart enough to realize what a horribly huge gaffe this actually is other than the obvious – that no head of state bows to another head of state.

Doesn’t this guy have any handlers with any savvy at all, or are they all complete toadies and afraid to confront His Almightiness? Asians, and most of the world in fact, see subservience as weakness. That’s exactly how Barry Hussein comes off, as weak, ineffectual and subservient.
His denial of American exceptionalism. Apologizing for America being the greatest country on Earth for fanciful and fancied affronts. His image of himself is hip, slick and cool. Most of the rest of us see him as self-aggrandizing, vapid and ineffectual. His ideological drive to subvert the government, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the will of the American people, engenders a word I won’t use here but it starts with ‘T’ and ends with ‘N’. His popularity is dropping like a runaway elevator. He has a Congress scrambling for political cover and a Senate which is about to be launched into a major battle in the closing weeks of this year, with little or no chance of passage of a monstrous attempted enslavement of the American people by January.

Next year will be pivotal. A mid-term election year in which no less than a full third of the Senate face re-election. Having to face an ever more aware and even more angry and irate populace. Many will be wondering whether walking the plank for Harry Reid, whose own re-election bid is in serious doubt, or for Nancy Pelosi, with a less than 21% popularity rating, or a President whose every word is beginning to be seen as something to joke about, will be worth the price. For a price there will be.

2010 is shaping up to be a political bloodbath not seen since the unlamented days of Jimmy Carter, or the 1994 Contract for America introduced by Newt Gingrich only four weeks before the election.
This one is stacking up to be every bit as punishing for the DeMarxists. With the country staggering under unprecedented debt, a flat-lined economy which not even government book-cooking can make look good, and unemployment not seen since the 1930’s. And the only answer Obama’s goofballs have is massive taxation to ’somehow’ create jobs?

The electorate in this country is livid. They are boiling mad. But even worse for DeMarxists, they have become educated on the issues. They see through the hope and change and see changes they do not want and will not tolerate. The Democrats see the resurgence of a revitalized CONSERVATIVE Republican party and this frightens them as well. Because they well know that Conservative ideals and ideas work every time they are tried.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2009

Hegang, China

A deadly gas explosion has killed at least 42 miners and trapped more than 60 others, in a Chinese mine on Saturday. The incident occurred at about 2.30 a.m. when 528 people were working hundreds of feet underground. Rescue workers reported that about 400 workers successfully escaped the mine. The Xinxing mine is in Heilongjiang province, which borders Russia and is owned by the Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group.

A rescue team of about 156 personnel is working on the site to retrieve the trapped workers. The fact that the blast has destroyed the mine’s ventilation and communication system, is making the relief and rescue mission more challenging. The impact of the blast shook the nearby buildings and partially damaged some of them. The falling debris of the buildings left some of the escaping survivors unconscious.

The Chinese Vice Premier, Zhang Dejiang who reached the accident site, met the injured, while Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have personally issued instructions about the rescue work. China has recently and historically, been witness to some of the world’s deadliest mining industry disasters.

China is one of the NPT-recognized nuclear power states but still relies for about 80% of its power needs on thermal power, fueled by coal. Despite a recent government drive to clamp down on the small, unsafe operations where most accidents occur, lax safety standards and strong demand for coal makes these mines the deadliest in the world. The official sources have reported a 12% drop in fatalities in mines in the first seven months of this year over the last year after the smaller operations were closed down. In 2008 alone, more than 3,000 people died in mine floods, explosions, collapses and other accidents in China.

Denninger is always good for an amusing read. Here are two open letters he penned recently to the Chinese emperor, and after that, the American one. The facts and numbers – as one can expect from good old Karl – are pretty much on the dot, but it’s how he pieces the bits and pieces together that makes him such a good read (though a vitriolic one).

First, excerpts from his open letter to Premier Wen:

Then, just for balance, Karl follows up with a reality check to Obama in “An Open Letter to President Obama”:

You could have made quite a splash over there in China – and made a difference for all Americans.  But instead, you did nothing of the sort – you simply continued the sell-out that has been going on for the last two decades in the so-called “strong relationship” between China and America.

That “strength” has included selling China advanced radar technology allowing them to shortcut 20 years of development time off their ICBM targeting, making their nuclear weapons far more lethal to potential targets – including targets in the United States.  It has included turning a blind eye to the blatant and outrageous technology rip-offs that go on over in that nation every day.  You won’t see them because your Presidential Motorcade will never be allowed in the street markets found all over the nation, but if you were, you’d see literal millions of unlawfully-made copies of US-created software and music sold openly while the cops stand by to protect the vendors instead of enforcing internationally-agreed to laws that the Chinese pay only lip service to.  And it has included granting virtually tariff-free “trading” status to a nation that forces poor farmers off their land and into sweatshop factories, away from their families where they are paid a buck a day in US equivalent wages, turning out products for sale in the US.

And let’s not forget who these companies are.  They’re the WalMarts, Apples and Nikes of the world – many of them huge American firms.  Oh not directly – that would bring these firms under US labor and regulatory stricture.  No, they’re “independent companies” owned by Chinese slave-drivers who instruct their employees to lie when the “auditors” from WalMart and Apple show up, telling them to a single employee that they’re “complying” with reasonable wage and hour laws under penalty of losing their job, being blacklisted forever and literally starving to death.  Since there are no whistleblower protections in China (it is, after all, a Communist government) the big US companies can claim to be “responsible” while in the background you hear the slave-driver’s whip crack – and everyone smiles (except the Chinese worker who is being outrageously exploited.)

You ought to know something about this, given your heritage.  Kenya featured prominently in the global slave trade until the British put a stop to it.  There’s nothing like a bit of history to screw up the revisionism that finds its way into American Politics, is there?

You ran on a populist platform and won on the basis of “hope and change.”  But hope and change is not working at WalMart while offshoring the production of our various consumer goods to China where the replacement for our US workers are paid a buck a day.  Indeed, many of the 8 million American jobs lost since the top of the employment market in mid-2007 will never come back, simply because the small and mid-sized businesses that once dotted the landscape have been destroyed by this “offshoring” activity.  It is clearly not possible for a US supplier or vendor to compete with $1/day wages or anything approaching it, yet this is the “competitive supplier” environment over in China and elsewhere.

The Truth is that America and China are locked in a deadly embrace.  They’re not buying our Treasury Debt to be nice or “support” us.  They’re buying because we have exported our inflation to them for more than two decades, and they’re desperately trying to prevent it from destroying them.  See, when you make $1/day (or $2/day) inflation is the difference between eating and not eating, and hungry people have a habit of reaching for pitchforks.  Since there are about 1 billion of them (ordinary Chinese) and a much smaller number of military and leadership, well…. you do the math.

But that “buying” of our Treasury Debt has fueled your (and your Republican cronies) desire to spend beyond all reason.  This distortion has allowed the government to blow money it does not have for more than a decade without watching interest rates ratchet inexorably upward, as happened to Bill Clinton and those before him.

The problem is whatever can’t continue forever won’t, and if you’ve been induced to borrow “interest only” (as our government always has) and the interest rates start to rise you can be bankrupted even if you stop borrowing.  Your refusal to recognize that nobody can survive for long when you take in only half of what you spend, borrowing the rest, is an outrage and insult to anyone with an IQ larger than their shoe size.

Speaking of outrages, let’s go down the list of current ones.  We can start with the SIGTARP report on AIG and their counterparties.  While AIG might have been free (under the law) to sell “insurance-like contracts” with no capital behind them, there is nothing that forced The NY Fed (and The Federal Reserve generally) to allow regulated bank-like entities to purchase those swaps and count them as “money good hedges.”  Yet the very boob who apparently did that, along with intentionally overpaying counterparties, was appointed by you to head the Treasury.  I suppose none of us should be surprised at this revelation by Mr. Barofsky, given that one of Timmy’s qualifications to head the Internal Revenue Service was that he didn’t even bother paying his own taxes.  You do realize the example this set for other Americans, right?  Is that wise, given that the government is undoubtedly going to try to extract more and more tax money from the rest of us in the years to come?

Then there are people like Lloyd Blankfein, who yesterday “apologized” for “participating in things that were clearly wrong.”  I know you created a “government-wide task force” as of yesterday to “fight financial fraud”, but somehow I doubt we’ll see the person who made a public admission yesterday of “participating in things that were clearly wrong” in the dock.  Indeed, yesterday we were treated to a revelation that Sacramento is suing a bunch of banks for bid-rigging and kickbacks – suspiciously similar to what apparently happened in Jefferson County Alabama, in which JP Morgan/Chase agreed to a fine and “foregone profits” of nearly three quarters of a billion dollars – while “not admitting guilt.”  Pardon my cynicism, but I’ve yet to see anyone willingly hand over nearly 3/4 of a billion dollars unless they’re concerned that they might lose a lawsuit or worse, be found guilty in a criminal trial.  It would seem to me that this “task force”, if it really is intended to do something productive, would start at the top – with Racketeering prosecutions aimed at our largest financial firms.  But that’s not going to happen, is it?

Speaking of “OCCE” (operating a continuing criminal enterprise), what about drug companies?  There’s a bit of a problem there too, no? Are not the drug companies one of the beneficiaries of your alleged “Health Care Reform”?  After all, you’re not going to strip them of their re-importation protection, are you?  Why not?

Far more important however is where a ”gentlemen” (Kindler) wound up after not one but two criminal guilty pleas by Pfizer for the same crime.  He was elected to the board of the NY Fed.  Are you as proud of Pfizer’s record as is Mr. Kindler is as their former CEO and General Counsel?  It appears so – not only does your “health care” proposal not bar deals with drug companies that have twice pled guilty to the same felony, not only is Pfizer still operating as a corporation (where any “natural person” who did the same sort of thing would be sitting in the hoosegow) but in addition you’ve sat back silently while their CEO is appointed to one of the chief banking regulatory positions in The United States!

Here’s the problem at the end of the day Mr. President.

You were elected on a platform of “Hope and Change.”  In point of fact the only change we got is the change at the bottom of our pockets – all the rest of our money has been siphoned off by the very same robber barons and banksters that have corrupted our nation for decades.  You’ve done exactly nothing to prosecute them for their previous actions or prevent them from doing the same things in the future.  Nearly a year after your election Citibank served upon the American people a 29.9% “rate jack” on their credit cards – an “atomic bird” served up by one of the largest financial firms in The United States, and one that the government now owns a large stake in.  This was a slap in the face of Americans by THE GOVERNMENT – that is, YOUR ADMINISTRATION.

You claim to be for the working class people in this country, yet you bow down to China paying people $1/day to assemble junk products, from capacitors that explode (found in literally millions of pieces of electronics) to melamine-laced “food products” to poisonous toothpaste to corrosive drywall that destroys wiring, plumbing, and, allegedly, the lungs of US Citizens.

We continue to hear that we “must reform health care” yet just recently Pfizer pled guilty to a criminal felony that it previously, years ago, pled guilty to before. Nobody went to prison, and the fine levied was less than 1% of the firm’s market capitalization.  A mere cost of doing business.  These are the “engines” of Americans’ health you wish to protect with laws that force we the people to pay for the development of drugs and medical devices that are then used worldwide – without the rest of the world paying “their fair share” for the developments that save their lives.  We’re a generous people but don’t you think such charity should be by choice rather than extracted at gunpoint?

You refuse to step in and force The Fed to be audited, even though you could get behind Representative Paul and demand it happen.  Why?  Is it because you’re protecting the very people who ripped us all off?  There are those who believe the true purpose of your Chinese trip is to find a way to pry open the doors in China so our Banksters can loot them, since the blood all seems to be gone from Americans – the vampires simply drank too much and killed us all.  There’s one small problem with that plan, if indeed it is your intention - in China they shoot people for the sorts of things that the banksters did over here.  Call it a “feature” of Communism if you’d like.

Let’s face it: America may need some protectionism.  Americans can’t be expected to compete with $1/day – or $2/day – in wages.  While this “looks good” for a little while as prices come down just as business profits look good when you fire people in the quarter you do it (witness the last two quarters of “earnings”) those employees who lost their jobs can’t buy anything in the future, as their income has evaporated!  They wind up on the dole, and this drives our budget deficit from 20% of our Federal Budget to roughly 50%.  The pegs and forced buying of Treasuries that have allowed this to happen won’t last forever, and when (not if) they snap they will force a Federal Government default.  Thus, my statement in the open letter to China’s Premier – we’re not going to pay you.

Some have claimed in comments I received that my views in that letter are some sort of jingoistic orgasm.  Nothing could be further from the truth; my views are simply an expression of mathematical fact.  Math is the only true science.

Speaking of the math, I’m sure you’re aware that about half the nation loved you at the time of your election and the other half hated you.  That’s a “feature” of American politics, of course.  But I would be concerned for your job security down the road if you don’t change course.  After all, the SEUI and UAW both were strong supporters, as were the “ordinary people” who bought into your “hope and change” mantra.

The problem is that you haven’t kept any of those promises.  Your “stimulus” didn’t, your “Recovery Czar” has refused to certify the jobs “saved or gained” numbers (that’s because they’re flat lies, as is obvious from the employment situation report’s household survey) and a huge stock market rally aside, there hasn’t been any real turn in the economy.  Instead Wall Street is feasting on the destruction of the dollar, which is a direct consequence of your policies – spending more than one makes eventually destroys confidence in the strength of your balance sheet, and the puerile acts of a Fed Chairman who you claim to support for re-appointment in his futile attempt to keep the musical chairs game going isn’t helping matters.  You could stop this tomorrow by demanding that Bernanke raise rates to a mere 2% immediately or you’ll replace him with someone who will – after all, his reconfirmation has not yet occurred, and your nomination can be withdrawn.  You could fire Timmy and direct Mr. Holder to prosecute all of the crooks on Wall Street that stole the hopes and dreams of millions of Americans, then looted their retirement accounts on top of it.  While your admission of the obvious this morning – that “too much debt could lead to a double-dip” sounds good, the fact of the matter is that it is your administration that has piled on most of this debt – and continues to do so.  Are you admitting – in advance – to what’s to come next year?

Best of luck to you Mr. President – from where this commentator sits, given the underlying realities of the economy and exploitation of our working class and your willful blindness to the mathematical realities of our fiscal and economic situation, you’re going to need it.

Tibet, Taiwan e diritti umani i temi cari a studenti e blogger

di Beniamino Natale

PECHINO – Studenti nazionalisti, blogger contestatori, madri di piazza Tiananmen: tutti sembrano avere qualcosa da chiedere al presidente americano Barack Obama, il più amato dal mondo e anche dai cinesi. Obama sbarcherà in Cina per la sua prima visita ufficiale domenica sera a Shanghai e nei giorni seguenti incontrerà il presidente Hu Jintao ed il premier Wen Jiabao a Pechino. Ding Zilin, la fondatrice delle Madri di Piazza Tiananmen, ha chiesto con una lettera aperta al presidente americano di intervenire presso le autorità cinesi per “salvare” Liu Xiaobo, l’ intellettuale in prigione da quasi un anno per aver promosso il documento pro-democrazia Carta 08.

“Liu Xiaobo non solo ha promosso i principi democratici con coraggio, passione ed insistenza, ma ha anche combattuto per questi principi con moderazione e ragionevolezza”, ha affermato Ding nella lettera. “Il fatto che la polizia possa, con la sola forza bruta, privare un cittadino del suo diritto alla libertà di parola e della sua stessa libertà personale, e che questo possa avvenire nel Ventunesimo secolo in grande Paese come la Cina, deve risultare intollerabile ai leader di tutte le nazioni civili, ed in particolare al leader del Stati Uniti d’ America”, ha aggiunto la Madre di Piazza Tianamen, il cui figlio di 19 anni fu ucciso dall’ esercito cinese il 4 giugno del 1989 nel massacro che mise fine al movimento democratico degli studenti.

Uno dei più popolari autori di “blog” cinesi, conosciuto col nome di battaglia di Beifeng, ha detto di aspettarsi da Obama un pronunciamento su “alcuni casi estremi di violazioni dei diritti umani” che si sono verificate in Cina. “Inoltre – ha aggiunto il blogger rivolto al presidente americano – dica questo al presidente Hu (Jintao): ‘per favore, abbatta il Grande Muro di Fuoco (l’ apparato di censura che limita l’ accesso dei cinesi ad Internet, ndr), che interferisce con la nostra libertà di espressione”. Domande scomode verranno poste ad Obama anche dagli studenti nazionalisti, che sono stati mobilitati per partecipare ad un incontro col presidente che si terrà lunedì prossimo a Shanghai.

Alcuni siti ufficiali, tra cui quelli dell’ agenzia Nuova Cina e del Quotidiano del Popolo, hanno aperto forum sui quali si possono “suggerire” le domande da rivolgere al presidente. “Incontrerà il Dalai Lama o rispetterà i sentimenti del popolo cinese?” propone un internauta intervenuto sul sito web del Quotidiano del Popolo riflettendo nel contenuto e nel linguaggio la posizione ufficiale cinese, secondo la quale il leader tibetano è un pericoloso secessionista. Altri suggeriscono di rivolgere al presidente domande su Taiwan – “quando gli Usa abbandoneranno la legge su Taiwan? – con riferimento alla normativa che li obbliga ad intervenire militarmente a fianco di Taipei in caso di attacco militare cinese. Altri temi favoriti dai suggeritori sono le dispute commerciali ed il protezionismo, anche questi cavalli di battaglia del governo di Pechino.

I pochi che si discostano dalle domande “politicamente corrette”, vorrebbero chiedere ad Obama la sua opinione sul campione cinese di pallacanestro Yao Ming, che in America gioca nella Nba per gli Houston Rockets, e cosa il presidente pensa del romanzo autobiografico del proprio fratellastro Mark Ndesandjo, che lo presentato all’inizio della settimana a Shenzhen, nel sud della Cina, dove vive con la moglie, una cittadina della Repubblica Popolare.

Fonte: www.ansa.it

President Obama today urged Chinese President, Hu Jintao to allow his nation’s currency, Yuan to rise in value following strains over trade between the two economic giants.

US Dollar-Chinese Yuan

Mr. Obama while speaking after a summit in Beijing, made the U.S. expectations public. While voicing the U.S. expectation, that China will let its currency resume its climb against the dollar soon, the U.S. President was cautious to stop short of raising concerns that China is keeping its currency artificially low to boost exports.

The Chinese government keeps a tight leash on it’s currency exchange rates. The rates for Yuan (CNY) have moved in a narrow range of 6.78 (August 27′ 09) to 6.86 (July 23′ 09) against the USD, which provides immense trade benefit to Chinese exporters.

With the unemployment rate peaking at a 10.2% level, Obama is also under pressure to ensure protection of domestic industries against Chinese onslaught.

The Chinese President while avoiding any direct reference to the currency issue, conveyed Beijing’s displeasure in a camouflaged fashion at new US tariffs imposed on Chinese-made products including tyres, steel pipes among others.

The U.S. President is also set to meet the Chinese PM Wen Jiabao, tomorrow where he is likely to discuss the issue of allowing Yuan to appreciate against the US Dollar. IMF MD, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, also raised similar sentiments today in Beijing when he said that a stronger Yuan would be in the interests of China and the world.

Industry analysts also feel that Yuan should be let to move in lines with the forces of demand and supply, a belief which is very unlikely to be echoed in any fashion by the Communist regime in Beijing.

NowPublic

Klimakonferansen i København er over før den har begynt. Forventningene om at verdens ledere skulle brette opp armene og ofre politisk kapital for å redde verden er snudd til skuffelse. Aftenpostens Ole Mathismoen kjører i dag saken om hva som skjer med verden med en global temperaturøkning på fire grader. Det er ikke hyggelig lesning. Tidsskriftet Foreign Policy følger opp med en Cluedo-aktig gjennomgang av de mistenkte i “Who Killed Copenhagen?“

Barack Obama:

While a host of European leaders, from Gordon Brown to Angela Merkel, have publicly stated their intention to attend Copenhagen and committed to carbon reductions, Obama has stonewalled. Earlier this year the president traveled to the Danish capital to lobby (unsuccessfully) for Chicago’s Olympic bid. But he hasn’t committed to heading across the pond to lobby for the planet’s future.

Wen Jiabao:

Whether or not the there is logic to this argument, the way China has presented it has surely not signaled that it is open and willing to negotiate. (“Developed countries must lead the way with transforming their unsustainable production and lifestyle,” China’s top economic minister recently said.) Such finger-pointing at the West has only fueled suspicion of China on Capitol Hill, giving U.S. cap-and-trade skeptics another reason for inaction.

Harry Reid (majoritetsleder i det amerikanske senatet):

But Pelosi managed to do her part — and had Reid fast-tracked or rushed a vote, the world wouldn’t be waiting. If any single body bears blame for Copenhagen’s faltering, it is the Senate — and if any single person is responsible for the Senate, it is Harry Reid.

Jairam Ramesh (Indias miljøminister)

He contends that “no country in the world” is as vulnerable to [global warming]’s effects as India, with its long floodable coastline and monsoon-dependent crops. But he has refused to have India agree to binding international targets, arguing that developed economies should do more instead — butting heads with dignitaries such as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and with Copenhagen negotiators along the way.

Tom Donohue (president for US Chamber of Commerce)

The chamber has been front and center in efforts to convince legislators to just say no to cap-and-trade legislation, arguing that measures enacted now to save the planet wouldn’t be worth the upfront cost to the U.S. economy. The chamber, for instance, has been one of the backers of a fake grassroots group called “Energy Citizens,” which, according to its press release, held rallies to “to aim a loud message at those states’ U.S. senators to avoid the mistakes embodied in the House climate bill.”

En stor, varm takk til dere alle for innsatsen. Dette går riktig vei.

For mer oppmuntrende lesning: Her finner du Dyadebloggens samlede innlegg om klima

From the Telegraph:

What is more unexpected is that it is China that has an appetite for the father of modern capitalism, while the West is rediscovering Marx.

Smith’s first masterpiece, the Theory of Moral Sentiments, has been translated into Chinese for the first time, and Chris Berry, professor at Glasgow University, where Smith wrote the book, will next week deliver lectures on it at Fudan University in Shanghai.

China’s Premier, Wen Jiabao, has said he often carries the work – which preceded his more famous work The Wealth of Nations – in his suitcase when he goes abroad. Prof Berry said the earlier book emphasised the importance “not only [of] their material prosperity but also their moral welfare”.

Wen Jiabao,  premier ministre de la république de Chine et  Vladimir Poutine, premier ministre de la fédération de Russie  ont participé  à une soirée de gala organisée au grand palais du peuple à Beijing dans le cadre  du  60e anniversaire de l’établissement des relations diplomatiques entre les deux pays. La Russie est le premier pays à avoir concrétisé des relations diplomatiques avec la Chine, après la fondation de la république populaire de Chine le 1er octobre 1949.

 Le premier ministre Wen Jiabao et le premier ministre Vladimir Poutine

Le premier ministre Wen Jiabao avait organisé  une cérémonie de bienvenue pour son homologue Vladimir Poutine compte tenu que c’était la  première visite officielle en Chine de Vladimir Poutine depuis sa prise de fonction en tant que premier ministre en mai 2008. Les deux hommes d’état ont également assisté à la signature de 12 accords, y compris des accords sur le gaz naturel et le pétrole. Les deux pays ont organisé plus de 200 activités d’échanges culturels dans environ 20 provinces, régions autonomes et municipalités de la Chine.

CHINA-AFRICA Strategic Partnership

Your Excellency President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak, Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government, Your Excellency Mr. Jean Ping, Chairperson of the AU Commission, Your Excellencies Heads of Delegation, Ministers and Ambassadors, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to join you in the beautiful coastal city of Sharm El Sheikh on the occasion of the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). This conference gives us the opportunity to renew friendship and explore ways to further cooperation. As the Premier of the co-chair country of the conference, I would like to extend, on behalf of the Chinese government, a warm welcome to all the participants and express sincere thanks to the government of Egypt for the thoughtful preparations and arrangements it has made for the conference.

Achievements

Since its founding nine years ago, FOCAC has played a major role in guiding and promoting the development of China-Africa relations and become a bridge of friendship and a platform of cooperation between China and Africa. In the three years since the Beijing Summit in particular, the two sides have worked together to build the new type of strategic partnership featuring political equality and mutual trust, economic win-win cooperation and cultural exchanges. Together, we have opened a new chapter in China-Africa cooperation.

We have enhanced political mutual trust. The two sides have had more frequent high-level exchanges and stepped up diplomatic consultations and strategic dialogue. African countries have given even stronger support to China on issues concerning China’s core interests. China and Africa have cooperated and coordinated with each other on major international and regional issues and jointly safeguarded and expanded the common interests of developing countries.

We have strengthened economic cooperation and trade. Last year, China-Africa trade exceeded 100 billion U.S. dollars and the number of African countries trading with China grew to 53. China has begun construction of the six economic and trade cooperation zones in Africa. Nearly 1,600 Chinese enterprises have started business in African countries with a direct investment stock of 7.8 billion U.S. dollars. Project contracting and labor services cooperation between the two sides have been expanding, and financial cooperation is gaining momentum.

The increase in China’s assistance to Africa has produced practical results. Despite the impact of the international financial crisis and the many difficulties we face at home, we have honored the commitments we made at the Beijing Summit in an all-round way. Our assistance to Africa has been doubled. The plan to cancel 168 debts owed by 33 African countries is near completion. The 5 billion U.S. dollars of concessional loans will be fully in place soon. The China-Africa Development Fund, whose first tranche reached 1 billion U.S. dollars, has become operational as scheduled. These measures have not only added to Africa’s capacity for self-development but also helped African countries in their effort to counter the financial crisis.

We have witnessed vigorous people-to-people exchanges. Exchanges and cooperation between China and Africa in culture, education, health and human resources training have grown rapidly. By the end of this year, China will train a total of 15,000 people of different professions for African countries. Interactions among the youth, women and sister provinces and cities have been more frequent. All these developments have led to deeper mutual understanding and stronger traditional friendship between China and Africa.

World Envy

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends, The rapidly growing relations and cooperation between China and Africa have attracted the world’s attention in recent years. I would like to point out that it was not just a few years ago that China suddenly started its presence in Africa or Africa started its support for China. As early as in the 1950s and ’60s, China and Africa fought shoulder to shoulder in the historic struggle against imperialism, colonialism and hegemony and worked side by side in the hard endeavor to revive our respective national economies. The Tanzania-Zambia Railway, the Chinese medical teams and the young Chinese volunteers in Africa are vivid examples of China’s selfless assistance to this continent, while Africa’s tremendous effort in helping restore China’s seat in the United Nations, the successful Beijing Olympic torch relay in Africa and Africa’s generous donations to the victims of the Wenchuan earthquake in China give full expression to the friendship of the African people toward the Chinese people. The Chinese government and people respect the right of African countries to independently choose their social systems and support the African people in exploring development paths that suit their national conditions. We firmly believe that Africa is fully capable of solving its own problems in an African way. The economic cooperation and trade between China and Africa are based on mutual benefit, win-win progress, openness and transparency. China has never attached any political strings to its support and assistance to Africa, and nor will it do so in the future. China welcomes the active involvement of other countries and international organizations in Africa’s development so that we can jointly promote peace, development and progress in Africa.

The Impact of China-Africa Partnership

China-Africa relations have withstood the test of international vicissitudes and maintained the momentum of robust growth. Our relationship is based on mutual support, particularly during times of adversity. It is guided by the core principle of mutual respect and equality. It is driven by our joint endeavor to pursue mutually-beneficial cooperation and common development. The world today is undergoing unprecedented changes and adjustments. We are all developing countries and face both rare historic opportunities for faster development and complex global challenges. We should enhance mutually beneficial cooperation. Cooperation between us will enable us to bring out our respective strengths and achieve common development. Cooperation between us will encourage the international community to pay greater attention to Africa and help it attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at an early date. Cooperation between us will catalyze South-South cooperation and enhance the collective standing of developing countries in the international political and economic architecture. Cooperation between us will promote democracy in international relations and justice in the international order and contribute to the effort of building a harmonious world of enduring peace and common prosperity.

Challenges Facing African Countries

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends, Like other parts of the world, Africa is faced with various global challenges, including the financial crisis and climate change. Your task of meeting the MDGs has been made more difficult by the financial market volatility, sharp economic slowdown, drastic decline in foreign capital and the turmoil in some countries and regions in Africa. And your effort to achieve sustainable development has been seriously threatened by the frequent floods and droughts, the spread of desertification, extinction of some species, drop in food production and environmental degradation caused by climate change.

Africa is home to one seventh of the world’s population and has more developing countries than any other continent. Africa’s development is indispensable to development of the world economy. As a true and tested friend, China fully understands the difficulties and challenges facing Africa. We call upon the international community to have a greater sense of urgency and take more concrete steps to support Africa’s development. First, the international community should not waver in its resolve or weaken its effort to help Africa meet the MDGs. It should take credible steps to honor the commitment of assistance to Africa and actively foster an enabling external environment of international economy, trade and finance. Second, the international community should have a keen appreciation of African countries’ pressing need for stronger capacity in adapting to climate change, understand and support their legitimate concerns and demands, and help them better meet the climate challenge in the larger context of enhancing Africa’ s ability for achieving sustainable development. Such a holistic approach will help Africa realize all-round and balanced development. Third, the international community should show more understanding of the special difficulties facing Africa in addressing such global issues as food security, energy security and epidemic diseases, and render them greater support and assistance.

The Strategic Thrust

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends, Under the new circumstances, China is ready to deepen practical cooperation with African countries in diverse areas and push forward in an all-round way the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership. I wish to make, in this connection, the following proposals:

First, strengthen strategic coordination to uphold common interests. The two sides should maintain high-level exchanges, engage in closer political dialogue and consultations and step up coordination and cooperation on major global issues of mutual interest, so as to increase the voice and representation of developing countries in the international system and jointly build a more just and reasonable international political and economic order. China will, as always, speak up for Africa and safeguard the interests of African countries on international occasions. We will make greater effort to share strategies and experience with African countries in meeting global challenges and help them enhance capacities and achieve self-development.

Second, meet the MDGs and improve the livelihood of the African people. Economic development, poverty eradication and improvement of people’s lives are top priorities for African countries. China will continue to increase assistance to Africa and reduce or cancel debts owed by African countries within the realm of its capabilities. We will restructure our assistance programs to better meet the needs on the ground. We will put more emphasis on agriculture, education, health, poverty reduction and clean drinking water and other areas that are vital to people’s well-being when providing assistance, and help Africa attain the MDGs at an early date.

Third, enhance economic cooperation and trade to realize mutual benefit and win-win progress. The strong economic complementarity between China and Africa offers us broad prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation. We should work hard to increase trade, speedily reverse the trade downturn since the beginning of this year and increase export of African goods to China. China will encourage more enterprises to invest in Africa and ask them to shoulder more social responsibilities and live in amity with the local people. We will combine economic cooperation and trade with technology transfer and take active steps to train technical and managerial personnel for African countries.

Fourth, promote people-to-people exchanges to solidify China-Africa friendship. Both China and Africa have a rich and splendid culture. The two sides should step up cultural exchanges and mutual learning, encourage the organization of culture festivals, art exhibitions and sports events, and support closer interactions among non- governmental organizations, news media and academic institutions. China will continue to support Africa in developing education, health, science and technology and other social programs. We welcome African countries to participate in the Shanghai World Expo to showcase Africa’s development achievements in various fields.

Fifth, expand areas of cooperation and advance FOCAC institutional building. China is willing to increase involvement in the settlement of issues concerning peace and security in Africa, provide more support to African integration and expand cooperation with sub-regional organizations in Africa. We will work with you to promote FOCAC institutional building, strengthen cooperation between the functional departments of the two sides within the FOCAC framework, and enhance and expand FOCAC’s role in promoting and guiding China-Africa relations.

Practical Steps for Mutual Development

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends, The Chinese people cherish sincere friendship towards the African people, and China’s support to Africa’s development is concrete and real. Whatever change may take place in the world, our friendship with Africa will not change, our commitment to deepening mutually beneficial cooperation and achieving common development with Africa will not change, and our policy of supporting Africa’s economic and social development will not change. During the next three years, the Chinese government will take the following eight new measures to strengthen China-Africa cooperation:

First, we propose to establish a China-Africa partnership in addressing climate change. We will hold senior officials’ consultations with African countries from time to time, and enhance cooperation on satellite weather monitoring, development and utilization of new energy sources, prevention and control of desertification and urban environmental protection. We have decided to build 100 clean energy projects for Africa covering solar power, bio-gas and small hydro-power.

Second, we will enhance cooperation with Africa in science and technology. We propose to launch a China-Africa science and technology partnership, under which we will carry out 100 joint demonstration projects on scientific and technological research, receive 100 African postdoctoral fellows to conduct scientific research in China and assist them in going back and serving their home countries.

Third, we will help Africa build up financing capacity. We will provide 10 billion U.S. dollars in concessional loans to African countries, and support Chinese financial institutions in setting up a 1 billion U.S. dollar special loan for small and medium-sized African businesses. For the heavily indebted poor countries and least developed countries in Africa having diplomatic relations with China, we will cancel their debts associated with interest-free government loans due to mature by the end of 2009.

Fourth, we will further open up China’s market to African products. We will phase in zero-tariff treatment to 95 percent of the products from the least developed African countries having diplomatic relations with China, starting with 60 percent of the products within 2010.

Fifth, we will further enhance cooperation with Africa in agriculture. We will increase the number of agricultural technology demonstration centers built by China in Africa to 20, send 50 agricultural technology teams to Africa and train 2,000 agricultural technology personnel for Africa, in order to help strengthen Africa’s ability to ensure food security.

Sixth, we will deepen cooperation in medical care and health. We will provide medical equipments and anti-malaria materials worth 500 million Yuan to the 30 hospitals and 30 malaria prevention and treatment centers built by China and train 3,000 doctors and nurses for Africa.

Seventh, we will enhance cooperation in human resources development and education. We will build 50 China-Africa friendship schools and train 1,500 school principals and teachers for African countries. By 2012, we will increase the number of Chinese government scholarships to Africa to 5,500. And we will train a total of 20,000 professionals of various fields for Africa over the next three years.

Eighth, we will expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges. We propose to launch a China-Africa joint research and exchange program, which will enable scholars and think tanks to have more exchanges and cooperation, share development experience, and provide intellectual support for formulating better cooperation policies by the two sides.

Conclusion

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends, Egypt was the first African country to enter into diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. The establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Egypt 53 years ago opened a new era in China-Africa relations. Today, Egypt is playing host to the 4th FOCAC Ministerial Conference, which will mark a new starting point in China-Africa relations. There is an African proverb which says, “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” There is also a Chinese saying that goes, “As distance can test a horse’s strength, so time can reveal a person’s heart.” I am convinced that as long as China and Africa go hand in hand with an enterprising spirit and cooperate on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, we will seize opportunities and overcome challenges to take the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership to a new level, and make China-Africa friendship and cooperation even more fruitful.

In conclusion, I wish the 4th FOCAC Ministerial Conference a crowning success!

By Wen Jiabao

(Wen Jiabao is the Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. This Speech was delivered at the Opening Ceremony of the 4th Ministerial Conference of The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Egypt on 08 November 2009. Subheadings were added by Mayihlome Editorial for ease of reference)

We at the Yetiblog love Japan. We have so much to be thankful for from this tiny island, such as Nintendo and bukkake. My first reaction was to treat this video was like Telemundo, much funnier when left untranslated.

However, the title “My Boyfriend Is The President” suggests a whole new world of amazing and hilarious possibilities. Enjoy the Pope’s Pikachu voice, a bizarro Hillary Clinton, and some Putin-on-Kim Jong-il gay action. [Ed. Note: My favorites are the guy riding a Segway across the sky yelling “Gyuuuuuun!” at 0:28 and the anime sweat drop on Bill Clinton at 0:49]

(via Wonkette)

Over 120 years ago, Africa became the subject of an extended land-grab orchestrated by European powers. The first ‘scramble’ for the continent subjected the majority of African citizens to foreign rule from the 1880s onwards.

Now, a second race to utilise the continent’s riches (or develop them - depending on your perspective) is in full swing. But this time instead of using heavy-handed tactics, the ‘colonisers’ come baring gifts.

China’s pledge of $10bn in aid to the continent is the latest manifestation of China’s increased interest in Africa.

The media coverage of this act has been treated very differently by Chinese and Western press.

The Chinese press has focused on the completion of their pledge on aid made in 2006, and the gratitude of the premiers of those countries included.

Some sections of the western press however, have discussed the hidden agenda behind the aid - namely to facilitate Chinese business interests.

China is not the only country that uses aid to further their own position. Many European countries, Russia and the United States in particular are all guilty of doing the same on a smaller-scale.

Equally, the IMF and World Bank loans, which are presided over in the main by western countries, are subject to strict conditions that dictate countries must open their borders to foreign goods and trade. In effect, these conditions allow the western business model to thrive in those countries and open up a new market for western goods. Some view this as exploitation and a ‘new colonialism’.

Al-Jazeera contends that Chinese companies are becoming more successful in Africa than western companies because they do not tell the countries they invest in how to run themselves. Instead they are just concerned with the mutual benefits of their business deal – in short their deals are based on an equal footing.

The western media however, accuses Chinese companies of supporting governments that are known abusers of human rights and of not aiding the development process by setting targets. The Chinese view is that just because Chinese companies are doing business in particular countries, it does not mean they support the activities of those countries’ governments.

Perhaps the more serious charge however, is that the Chinese tend to import their own labour to work on the joint projects rather than utilising the local labour and spreading the wealth into the country.

Regardless of the opinions, the fact remains that the Africa countries are once again not at the forefront of their own destinies.

KAIRO. China wird in den nächsten drei Jahren den afrikanischen Ländern zehn Milliarden US-Dollar als Vorzugskredite gewähren.

Das sagte Chinas Regierungschef Wen Jiabao bei der Eröffnung des vierten chinesisch-afrikanischen Gipfels in Scharm el-Scheich (Badeort in Ägypten).

„Wir werden Afrika helfen, sein Finanzpotential zu steigern“, betonte Jiabao.

Politiker und Unternehmer aus China und den afrikanischen Ländern werden bei dem dreitägigen Gipfel wirtschaftliche und andere Formen der Zusammenarbeit besprechen. China interessiert sich unter anderem für den umfassenden afrikanischen Markt zum Absatz seiner Waren sowie für Energieträger aus den afrikanischen Staaten.

Quelle:

RIA Novosti

Wen Jiabao looks at a statue of Mao's son, frozen in stone -- note the unruly Chinese official in the background snapping his own momento

I had always imagined that this bust looked down upon a valley.  Now it appears it looks at a wall.  Fortunately Wen Jiabao had respectful — yet somewhat loaded — words for the dead, stated in a “轻声 [light/simple]” voice：“岸英同志，半个世纪了！我代表祖国人民来看望你。祖国现在强大了，人民幸福了。你安息吧 [Comrade Anying, half a century has passed!  I represent the people of the motherland who come to see you.  The motherland is now strong, the people are happy and prosperous.  You can be at peace!]”

This kind of thing almost certainly made the North Koreans uncomfortable.  (Photos of this ceremony confirm it, too.)  I can only imagine what the North Koreans imagine themselves saying to the dead of 1950-53.   “We rebuilt our country, but it’s still divided; we have the bomb, but the people are starving.  The Generalissimo’s kid is in power and the army steals from the peasants.  But fortunately — and this should be familiar — the Chinese are here to guarantee our security and they brought some grain.”

But somehow, China paying homage to Mao’s would-be heir, had China gone the quasi-monarchist route of the DPRK, assuages North Korea’s politics of succession.  Of course we pay tribute to our dead princes!

Perhaps it is also worth noting that Mao Anying was killed in a napalm raid by an American jet.  Having spent a few harrowing hours last year in a dark room the U.S. National Archives watching black and white film footage of such strikes (a veritable and gory “greatest hits” reel, in fact, which went on and on and on), I suppose it makes sense that the North Korean airforce yesterday sent representatives to Beijing.

Of course, instead of a reflection on the shameful lack of communist air strength in the Korean War, Wen Jiabao’s visit to Mao Anying’s tomb was interpreted instead as a way of harkening back to the Mao years in the way one is supposed to: “You worked hard and sacrificed your life for the revolution, and the revolution has now succeeded in making China powerful.”  It’s a reprise, essentially, of “China has stood up,” even if, in this instance, one foot is on DPRK soil.

Now back in time to the airport:

This photo from the very interesting web resource KoreaXin reinforces that Kim Jong Il is huggable, but also that he was using his left arm quite well in early October.

Why doesn't the PLA General hug and kiss his KPA counterpart? Awkward!

For some reason I neglected to mention or analyze musical selections, always significant in moments like this: 在机场举行了隆重的欢迎仪式。朝鲜人民军军乐队奏中朝两国国歌，鸣礼炮２１响。  In other words, we had the two countries’ national anthems (safe choices, as they are both anti-Japanese), and a 21-gun salute (perhaps using Chinese munitions from Liaoning arsenals).

The star of the Cultural Revolution-era film sensation “the Flower Girl,” known universally among Chinese of a certain age, was on hand to give flowers to Wen at the airport.  Here she is on September 11 in Pyongyang singing the praises of the 150-day struggle campaign:

The Flower Girl

Wen also went to the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang, where he mingled with overseas Chinese resident in the DPRK, as well as students studying in the country.  (One of the aspects I failed to mention in my previous translations of Chinese netizen comments on North Korea was their fascination with the low cost of studying at universities there.  Chinese youth are nothing if not pragmatic in looking for life choices.)

Then they drove around some more, where, according to the CCP’s “Gaotai” website, North Korean civilians not only sang and danced under both countries’ flag, but shouted pro-Chinese slogans while Wen and Kim waved at them in a passing vehicle.

Maybe the Chinese will be so kind as to arrange similar treatment for President Obama in Beijing?  I can only imagine the kind of humorous modification the Beijing residents would do to the slogans.

Then Wen Jiabao met some Young Pioneers, who gave him a red hankerchief.  This gave Wen an opportunity to say some very nice things about Kim Il Song, China’s bosom friend: ：“深切缅怀朝鲜人民的伟大领袖、中国人民的亲密朋友金日成主席 [We deeply cherish the memory of the great leader of the Korean people, the close friend of the Chinese people, Chairman Kim Il Song]！”

At the meeting with Kim, Wen really laid it down: 温家宝在致辞中代表中国政府和人民，向朝鲜政府和人民致以诚挚的问候和良好的祝愿。温家宝说，中朝建交六十年来，无论国际风云如何变幻，中朝两党、两国和两国人民相互理解、相互支持、相互帮助，推进中朝关系不断向前发展，为维护本地区和平与稳定作出了积极努力。In other words, it’s all about mutual assistance.  The two parties understand each other intimately and will remain unshakeable no matter what big international winds (e.g., the US) blow.

In revisiting the sources on this, I was surprised at how relatively open the discussion has become on the Chinese internet about North Korea.  Obviously there’s no voice like One Free Korea, but this Sohu blog entitled 废话一筐 has pure disdain for how the North Korean media tried to spin Wen’s visit as a trip to”come seeking advice” from Kim Jong Il.  In some ways, Chinese contemporary nationalism and the alliance with North Korea, on the terms that North Korea needs at least, are incompatible.

But I was also struck at how much music and movies filled an important gap in the discourse.  Here, swiped in its entirety from a Huaqiao (Overseas Chinese) BBS, is an analysis of the North Korean opera, “Dream of the Red Chamber” produced and performed for Wen Jiabao:

黛玉香销玉殒，宝玉愤离尘世。 昨天访问朝鲜的中国总理温家宝一下飞机，朝方特意请《卖花姑娘》中花妮的扮演者洪英姬献花。下午，朝鲜领导人金正日亲自陪同到访的中国总理温家宝欣赏了朝鲜版《红楼梦》歌剧。　　朝鲜版《红楼梦》是中朝传统友谊的象征之一。早在60年代，这出歌剧就在朝鲜轰动一时。它是在与中国有深厚渊源的、朝鲜前领导人金日成的亲自指导下创作而成的。当年，中国前领导人邓小平曾与金日成共同观看。 《红楼梦》在朝鲜家喻户晓。83年版红楼梦电视剧，曾多次在朝鲜电视台播出，收视率极高。可以说，关于红楼梦，朝鲜人和我们有着不少相同的的记忆和感情。 在中朝建交60年和中朝友好年之际，金正日特意要求“把红楼梦歌剧加以润色公演，并作了几十次宝贵的教导。”开演前，朝鲜姑娘用颤抖的声音，深情地向观众如此介绍。 新版《红楼梦》场次如下： 第一场：大观园之春　　第二场一景：潇湘馆　　第二场二景：月夜之情 　　第三场一景：读书写字　　第三场二景：宝玉受罚　　第三场三景：宝玉养伤 　　第四场一景：花满大观园　　第四场二景：寂寞大观园　　　　第五场一景：黛玉病损　　第五场二景：宝玉娶亲 　　第六场：黛玉灵堂 　　拉开序幕，悠扬的音乐和幻美的布景，立刻把观众带入如梦如幻的仙境。细看下去，更让人惊叹。谁能想到，在中国以外的地方，居然还会有对红楼梦情节、人物把握得如此细腻。 故事以宝黛爱情为主线，虽然牺牲了贾家荣盛衰败的内容，但改编之后也属合理顺畅，整个故事一气呵成。整台节目历时两个半小时。剧情随着黛玉香销玉殒、宝玉愤然离开这个“只追求荣华富贵的社会”而达到高潮，这倒是与朝鲜的意识形态暗合。 感人之处，难用笔墨形容。只见剧场内的女性观众都在悄悄抹泪，男性观众也不少低声叹息。但接近尾声时，还是忍不住潸然落泪。 《红楼梦》本是中国特色，在中国拍过电影和电视剧，有过舞剧、越剧和京剧等等。尽管很受青睐，却从未做到像朝鲜版那样催人泪下。本博秦全耀认为，显然朝鲜把《红楼梦》拍成了卖花姑娘，宝玉和黛玉如同那受害的“花妮”。 今年是中朝建交60周年，两国将今年定为“中朝友好年”，因此金总书记下令重新排演现代版《红楼梦》并亲临指导当然是为了向国内外展示“重视对华”的姿态。有日本媒体称朝鲜为了核试能得到中国的理解，可以说《红楼梦》是块很好的敲门砖。《卖花姑娘》献花，《红楼梦》催泪，这是何等的悲情公关凄惨组合。 中国人最喜欢什么呢？眼泪。早在1972年，一部《卖花姑娘》的电影就曾把10亿中国人哭了个举国流泪。虽然“莫斯科不相信演泪”，但中国人正相反，哭才打动人，在他们心里眼泪是金。因此谙熟中国特色的金正日总书记便亲临指导对症下药，一定要把《红楼梦》拍得比《卖花姑娘》还要惨，还要催人泪下。 “欲送登高千里目，愁云低锁衡阳路”，“男儿有泪不轻弹，只是未到伤心处”。这是出自昆剧《林冲夜奔》里的一段唱词，后一句几乎人人知晓。由此可见中国人的特性正如所言伤心就落泪，而且还一哭就高潮，“泪飞顿作倾盆雨”。投其所好，金正日明白，哭比笑好，哭才是对中国最好的卖点。

The Xinhua dispatch on the opera performance (via the PRC’s embassy in Pyongyang) offers these tidbits [my commentary is in brackets]:

Wen [Jiabao], who arrived here Sunday for a three-day visit, held friendly talks with Kim before the show [a la Zhou Enlai's small talk with Nixon before watching "Red Detachment of Women" with the charming Jiang Qing, who the younger Kim Jong Il doubtless admired, in 1972].

Under the instruction of late DPRK leader Kim Il Sung, DPRK artists adapted A Dream of Red Mansions for the stage in the 1960s [quite possibly a specious assertion given the juche trends of the era]. They had presented the opera to many Chinese leaders of the older generation, including Deng Xiaoping [who, according to a reliable collaborator, North Koreans generally hate].

In 2008, DPRK top leader Kim Jong Il instructed that the opera be further improved and put on stage again as a major event for the China-DPRK Friendship Year. Kim [of course] offered much guidance for the opera and watched its rehearsal and performance on several occasions [which was probably more work than the simple, but not insignificant sign-off on the New York Philharmonic's repertoire for their concert last February 2008 in Pyongyang].

The Chinese classic, written during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) by Cao Xueqin [he ancestrally from neighboring Liaoning province, on the edge of what was once Koguryo], is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Chinese literature.

China offered help in the adaptation and performance of the opera, which is considered a good example of China-DPRK cultural exchange and cooperation [which is not to be confused with sadae juui, or "flunkeyism."  Better a bit of Qing dynasty elite culture than Chinese rock music flowing across the border.]

And then we have this Arirang performance with the completely unsubtle slide saying “Grandfather Wen [father's father], we are very happy to see thee!”  (In other words, the formal version of the word “you” is used in spite of the fact that he’s supposedly a family member.  Best to go with the respectful form of address here.)

via Ifeng/Phoenix reporting (click image for story in Chinese)

A few days later this image turned up, with a few quizzical remarks by the Chinese: “不知是什么年代的古董摄影机，拍摄时会发出巨响.”  Indeed — in just what era are their North Korean counterparts operating, anyway?

click image for link to story

Related posts:

“Wen We Meet Again,” NK Leadership Watch, October 8, 2009.

“Wen’s DPRK Visit Rich in Content, Weighty in Outcome,” Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang website, October 6, 2009.

“Tenacious Excrement and Koguryo Ur-nationalism in North Korea,” Sinologistical Violoncellist, November 2, 2009.

E’ ricominciato oggi, a Pyongyang, il trattamento di nuovo materiale combustibile per la produzione di ordigni atomici. Questo annuncia il regime quando oramai mancano pochi giorni alla missione di Obama in Asia: la tensione sale e la questione del disarmo nucleare diventa sempre più spinosa. Ottomila barre di plutonio, riprocessate all’interno del reattore Yongbyong, significano circa sei bombe a idrogeno potenzialmente in grado di distruggere il pianeta. Lo stesso reattore, due anni fa circa, era stato in parte smantellato, unitamente all’accordo raggiunto con Usa, Cina, Russia, Giappone e Corea del Sud.

Ricordiamo che il 25 Maggio di quest’anno è stato effettuato un test atomico particolarmente potente (molto più dell’esercitazione datata Ottobre 2006, che indignò l’umanità intera), esaltato come <<un successo>> dal governo nordcoreano quale garanzia di autodifesa. Ne è seguito un dialogo col Premier cinese, Wen Jiabao, in cui Kim Jong-il, primo ministro della Corea del Nord, ha dato il placet a un rinnovato intreccio di relazioni con le superpotenze. Il presidente Obama, quattro mesi or sono, ha scartato l’ipotesi del conflitto, in favore di una compattezza di legami con la Russia contro <<le ambizioni nucleari>>: speriamo dunque che mister Yes, we can agisca in questo senso molto più concretamente di quanto non stia facendo in Afghanistan.

I. Bececco

La 4e conférence ministérielle du forum sur la coopération Chine-Afrique -FCCA- se déroulera  à Charm El-Cheikh, en Egypte, les 8 et 9 novembre 2009, en présence du premier ministre de Chine, Wen Jiabao, du président de la république arabe d’Egypte,  Hosni Moubarak

Le président de la république arabe d’Egypte Hosni Moubarak

ainsi que plusieurs dirigeants africains. Créé en 2000, le FCCA  est devenu un lieu incontournable permettant  à la Chine et à l’Afrique de dialoguer et de coopérer tout en enrichissant les secteurs  de coopération entre les deux parties. A l’occasion du sommet du FCCA organisé à Pékin en novembre 2006, le président de Chine, Hu Jintao avait déclaré  la mise en place d’un plan d’aide massif en faveur des pays africains, comprenant des mesures liées à l’investissement, au commerce, ainsi qu’à d’autres secteurs essentiels de coopération.

Indian-Chinese PM

India is playing host to the ninth trilateral meeting between India, Russia and China starting Oct 27, at Bangalore. The meeting will discuss ways to expand cooperation in regional and international issues like the global financial crisis, terrorism and UN reforms. The Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will meet his counterparts, Sergei Lavrov of Russia and Yang Jiechi of China, during the talks.

“At the forthcoming meeting in Bangalore, the three foreign ministers will discuss regional and international issues and will explore ways of strengthening trilateral cooperation,” the external affairs ministry said here (New Delhi) Friday.

Source: samaylive.com

Though the meeting is quite significant in itself given the involvement of the Cabinet Ministers, all eyes will be on the bilateral meeting between the Indian Minister and his Chinese counterpart. The bilateral discussion between the two leaders becomes more important given the recent issues that have cropped in the relation of the two Asian economic gaints. The main issues of contention in recent times have been the the reports of Chinese incursions and strident assertions over Arunachal Pradesh by Beijing as well as issue of seperate visas to Kashmiri residents.

The meeting between the Indian and Chinese foreign ministers will be preceded by talks between the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit at the Thai resort city of Hua Hin, likely on Saturday.

Meanwhile on Oct. 21, (Wednesday) the Chinese Ambassador to India, Zhang Yan, dismissed concerns over comments made by his country’s foreign ministry with regard to Kashmir who on Tuesday was almost echoing the Pakistani stance on Kashmir.

In a press briefing Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu called Kashmir an issue left over by history that should be resolved properly through dialogue and consultation between India and Pakistan. 

While trying to downplay the statement in light of the upcoming dailogue the Chinse Ambassador said:

China has recently also shown displeasure over the visit of Indian Prime Minister and Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh to which the India has voiced severe discontent.

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