WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Pentagon said Monday that five detainees at U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, want to confess to conspiracy charges for planning the 9/11 attacks. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the "architect" of the attacks, and four co-conspirators asked a military judge if they could withdraw all pending motions and plead guilty, Pentagon spokesman Gail Crawford told reporters. The judge accepted the request but ruled that "competency hearings" are first needed for two of the five, Mustafa al Hawsawi and Ramzi bin al Shibh, because "questions exist as to their competency to stand trial," he said. Meanwhile, Denis McDonough, a senior adviser to President-elect Barack Obama, told media that no decisions have been made by Obama about what to do with the 255 inmates presently held at Guantanamo. "There is no process in place to make that decision until Obama's national security and legal teams are assembled," he said. Sources close to Obama team said the incoming administration is considering putting some of the inmates on trial in existing federal courts, setting up a special national security court to deal with cases involving sensitive intelligence, and releasing other inmates.
BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- China will take measures to boost economic and social development in Tibetan regions in four provinces, according to a notice about a meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao. Wednesday's executive meeting of the State Council, the country's Cabinet, discussed how to support development in the Tibetan regions of Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu provinces. Tibetan regions in these areas are autonomous where Tibetans and people of other nationalities live together. The regions are the important plateau ecological barrier that cover the head-stream area of major rivers, such as the Yellow, Yangtze and Lancang. The ecological environment in these areas are fragile with natural disasters occurring frequently. Infrastructure remained less developed, which hindered the development in these areas, the meeting said. Measures should be taken to protect and build the ecological environment and improve people's living standard in these areas, and to make the income of urban and rural residents approach or reach the average level in western China by 2012 and approach national average by 2020. Moreover, public services including education, public health and medical services should be improved in these areas, and infrastructure construction should be carried out to better support development.
BANGKOK, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The first Chinese charter plane organized by Chinese government landed Saturday afternoon at U-Tapao airport, some 180 kilometers from Bangkok to bring back home Chinese tourists stranded in Bangkok due to anti-government protestors' siege of the two Bangkok airports. The first flight from China Eastern Airlines, a A300 airplane, arrived at about 4:30 p.m. local time (0930GMT) at the small and crowded military airport to board 261 passengers back to Shanghai. It will be followed by four other charter planes, from the China International Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines. The five planes will take the first batch of some 1,400 stranded Chinese back to Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, hopefully to take off on late Saturday. Chinese tourists, once stranded after the closure of airports in Bangkok, arrive at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, in Shanghai, on Nov. 29, 2008. The 46 tourists returned to Shanghai on Saturday aboard a Dragonair flight. They had to drive to Phuket island, more than 1,000 km south of Bangkok, to be flown to Hong Kong and then the Chinese mainlandChinese Ambassador to Thailand Zhang Jiuhuan, who arrived at the airport to receive the first flight, said that the Chinese government has arranged the second batch of planes to fly to Thailand on Sunday. At the airport, which the Thai government made a make-shift international air departing port, over 10,000 passengers flooded into the airport since the morning, causing heavy traffic jam on ways from Bangkok towards the airport. Nearly 100,000 passengers have missed flights since People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protestors besieged and shut down Bangkok's two main airports Suvarnabhumi International Airport and Don Mueang domestic airport on Tuesday. The total number of the affected travelers could hit 300,000 as the two airports remained closed, Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat said Saturday. The total of stranded Chinese, including those from Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, was estimated at about 4,000, according to the Chinese Embassy here.
BEIJING, Nov. 17 -- Chinese banks should be alert to the risks of growing bad loans and narrowing profit margins amid a worsening global financial crisis and domestic interest rate cuts, a senior banking regulator has warned. China Banking Regulatory Commission Vice Chairman Jiang Dingzhi told a financial forum in Beijing on Saturday that China's banking system, despite being generally healthy, faces growing risks. "Our judgment is that losses at overseas financial institutions will widen further, and capital shortfalls will become more serious," Jiang said "The financial crisis won't end in the near term. So we should not turn a blind eye to the risks " Jiang said, warning that the first risk China may face in the coming years is "exported inflation" from developed economies. He said many developed economies have taken quick action to inject huge liquidity and credit into their banks to stabilize financial systems and it is likely that the banks will export capital to developing countries such as China (through direct investment or loans). "That may cause high inflation (for us) and we should keep a close eye on cross-border capital flows," said Jiang. Jiang also warned that bad loans, especially in the real estate sector, are the second risk that China's banks are confronted with. "Bad loans are already showing an upward trend, especially in the property market where the mortgage default risk is growing at an accelerating pace," Jiang said, without elaborating. Jiang also said Chinese banks may encounter growing losses from their overseas investment as the global financial crisis remains "far from over". The government said earlier that Chinese banks suffered "very limited losses" overseas as their exposure to bankrupt global financial companies was not much. Jiang said Chinese banks also face narrowing profit margins as the central bank cuts interest rates to boost the slowing economy. Banks are encouraged to lend after the government announced a 4 trillion yuan (586 billion U.S. dollars) stimulus plan a week ago. The People's Bank of China has cut interest rates thrice this year after economic growth cooled to 9 percent in the third quarter, the slowest rate in five years. He said the banks will see declining profits next year as lower interest rates shrink margins and loan defaults may increase. However, Jin Liqun, chairman of the supervisory board of China Investment Corp, said Chinese banks should continue market-oriented reforms despite the risks. "All these risks cannot be used as excuses to defer further reform in the banking system," said Jin at the forum. "Only with market-oriented reforms can our banks further build up their capabilities in profit-making and risk-prevention." Jiang said China's banking system remains "in good health" with all major indicators at their best levels ever. Banks' total assets, 59.3 trillion yuan at the end of September, were five times the level of 10 years ago when the Asian financial crisis erupted, he added. And banks reduced their average bad-loan ratio to 5.49 percent at the end of September, from 6.3 percent at the end of March. "These sound indicators are the basis of our confidence to battle financial crisis," Jiang said.
CHONGQING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- China has approved the establishment of a bonded area in southwestern Chongqing Municipality in an effort to boost the opening and development of central and western regions. Chongqing Vice Mayor Huang Qifan said Tuesday at a press conference here that the first inland bonded area had been approved by the State Council, or the Cabinet. The 8.37-sq km Cuntan Bonded Area centers both the Cuntan Harbor and the Jiangbei International Airport. The bonded area will be completed in 2015. "The Cuntan Bonded Area will be built into a multi-functional area with most advanced logistics and preferential policies," Huang said. "It will also become an accelerator for the opening upof central and eastern inland cities." The Chongqing Bonded Area Development Company and the area's administration commission will start operation on Thursday. Huang did not reveal the investment for the bonded area or its operation time. Bao Zichuan, chairman of the company, said the bonded area will focus on harbor business, air transport, foreign trade, export-oriented processing and commodity displays. Enterprises in the bonded area will enjoy such preferential policies as tax rebates for exports and free tax for trading within the area. So far, China has established ten such free trade zones in the coastal areas from north to south.
DESTROYER WUHAN, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese naval fleet en route to the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia for an escort mission against pirates completed its first replenishment at sea Tuesday. The fleet, two destroyers and a supply ship, has entered the Indian Ocean after a four-day voyage which set sail from China's southernmost island province of Hainan. In the afternoon, the supply ship Weishanhu successfully refueled the two destroyers Wuhan and Haikou with several hundred tons of oil, an operation that an official for fleet support described as "highly efficient." The fleet will cruise for about 10 days before arriving in the Gulf of Aden to join a multinational patrol in one of the world's busiest sea lanes endangered by surging piracy. The recent pirate attack on a Chinese fishing vessel has raised great concern of the Chinese government and people. Statistics showed that some 1,265 Chinese commercial vessels have passed through the gulf so far this year and seven have been attacked. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions calling on all countries and regions to help patrol the gulf and waters off Somalia since June. The latest resolution authorized countries to take all necessary measures in Somalia, including in its airspace to stop the pirates. A helicopter of the Chinese naval fleet attends a landing exercise at night on Dec. 28, 2008, while the Chinese naval fleet heads for the Gulf of Aden. The Chinese naval fleet including two destroyers and a supply ship set off on Dec. 26 for waters off Somalia for an escort mission against piracy
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Zhou Yongkang (2nd R, front), member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the central government delegation, inspects a police van in Bose, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Dec. 13, 2008. Zhou was in Guangxi to extend the central government's congratulations and good will to the people of Guangxi, one of China's five minority autonomous regions. BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese leader Zhou Yongkang continued his visit in Bose City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Saturday as locals held celebrations for the 50th birthday of the autonomous region. Zhou was in Guangxi to extend the central government's congratulations and good will to the people of Guangxi, one of China's five minority autonomous regions. Zhou Yongkang (2nd L, front), member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the central government delegation, talks with rural left-behind children, whose parents are both working in the cities, at a village in Bose, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Dec. 13, 2008. Zhou was in Guangxi to extend the central government's congratulations and good will to the people of Guangxi, one of China's five minority autonomous regions. Zhou, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Saturday morning presented a floral basket to a monument in commemoration of revolutionary martyrs killed in the Bose Uprising in 1929. The event marks the establishment of the CPC's armed forces in Guangxi to fight against local warlords, as well as the growth of the CPC's power at its early stage. Following decades of construction and development, Bose has developed into an industrial center, producing aluminum and electricity. During his visit to the Guangxi branch of the Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (CHALCO) in Bose, Zhou encouraged the company to research and develop more innovative technology to boost the development of the company and Guangxi's economy. Zhou also inspected a water control project in Bose, which was built two years ago for the purpose of flood control, irrigation and electricity production. Zhou has been staying in Guangxi since Wednesday when he led the central government delegation to attend the celebrations marking the 50th founding anniversary of the minority autonomous region. The autonomous region was founded on Dec. 11, 1958 and has 12 ethnic groups. The total population in Guangxi by the end of 2007 was more than 50 million, one-third are of the Zhuang ethnic minority.
BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council, or Cabinet, passed a long awaited medical reform plan which promised to spend 850 billion yuan (123 billion U.S. dollars) by 2011 to provide universal medical service to the country's 1.3 billion population. The plan was studied and passed at Wednesday's executive meeting of the State Council chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao. Medical reform has been deliberated by authorities since 2006. Growing public criticism of soaring medical fees, a lack of access to affordable medical services, poor doctor-patient relationship and low medical insurance coverage compelled the government to launch the new round of reforms. According to the reform plan, authorities would take measures within three years to provide basic medical security to all Chinese in urban and rural areas, improve the quality of medical services, and make medical services more accessible and affordable for ordinary people. The meeting decided to take the following five measures by 2011: -- Increase the amount of rural and urban population covered by the basic medical insurance system or the new rural cooperative medical system to at least 90 percent by 2011. Each person covered by the systems would receive an annual subsidy of 120 yuan from 2010. -- Build a basic medicine system that includes a catalogue of necessary drugs produced and distributed under government control and supervision starting from this year. All medicine included would be covered by medical insurance, and a special administration for the system would be established. -- Improve services of grassroots medical institutions, especially hospitals at county levels, township clinics or those in remote villages, and community health centers in less developed cities. -- Gradually provide equal public health services in both rural and urban areas in the country. -- Launch a pilot program starting from this year to reform public hospitals in terms of their administration, operation and supervision, in order to improve the quality of their services. Government at all levels would invest 850 billion yuan by 2011 in order to carry out the five measures according to preliminary estimates. The meeting said the five measures aimed to provide universal basic medical service to all Chinese citizens, and pave the road for further medical reforms. The meeting also decided to publish a draft amendment to the country's regulation on the administration on travel agencies for public debate. It also ratified a list of experts and scholars who would receive special government allowances.
BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao said the country's trade unions should play an active role in promoting coordinated labor relations on Tuesday. Addressing a symposium attended by the newly-elected leaders of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) and representatives of the 15th national congress of the ACFTU, Hu said trade unions should listen to the employees and voice their opinions. He called on trade unions to earnestly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of employees and coordinate labor relations to promote social stability. He added that trade unions need reform and should explore new solutions to deal with problems. Chinese President Hu Jintao (2nd R) and Vice President Xi Jinping (1st R) talk with representatives of the 15th national congress of the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) in Beijing, capital of China, on Oct. 21, 2008 Hu said the country should give more resources to trade unions to facilitate innovation, in which the working class should be the driving force. ACFTU's president Wang Zhaoguo also attended the meeting. He was elected president during the first session of the 15th ACFTU Executive Committee on Monday. It will be his third tenure. China has the largest number of trade union members in the world, with membership increasing from 123 million in 2003 to 209 million this year. "China's trade unions should unswervingly stick to building trade unions with Chinese characteristics," Vice President Xi Jinping said at the opening ceremony. The congress is held every four years. The previous session convened in Beijing in September 2003, with more than 1,600 deputies present.