Extradition
Terrorism

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman urged Albania to expatriate five Uygur Guantanamo detainees that had been transferred to Albania. He said they were "East Turkistan" terrorist suspects and should not be given political asylum.

See previous post.

Law of War

The UN Security Council approved a presidential statement expressing shock and distress at Israel's bombing of a UN post in Lebanon that killed four military observers. The statement was watered down from China's original draft and avoided any condemnation of Israel. Israel accepted the statement and expressed "deep regret" for the incident.

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Law of War
International Organisations

China strongly condemned an Israeli air strike in Lebanon that killed a Chinese United Nations observer. The Chinese Foreign Ministry demanded that "the Israeli side open a comprehensive investigation, apologize to the Chinese side and the victim's family and help the Chinese side in carrying out the mourning activities."

Consular Protection

The Chinese Government evacuated 170 citizens from Lebanon, including 37 Hong Kong residents, since the Israeli assault on Lebanon on July 12. A Chinese Foreign Ministry official said that the Government had not charged any cost on Chinese citizens in past evacuation operations.

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Human Rights -- Refugees

China allowed three North Korean defectors who were seeking asylum in the US consulate in Shenyang to go to the US, which was the first time Beijing has allowed North Korean defectors to seek asylum in the US.

Human Rights -- Torture

The Supreme People's Procuratorate issued a regulation which outlines 42 offences of abuse of office. The regulation defines torture and sets out eight circumstances in which cases of torture should be investigated, including beating, binding, freezing, starving, exposing suspects to severe weather, severely injuring suspects, and directly or indirectly ordering others to use torture.

Investment

The Chinese Government issued a set of rules aimed at restricting foreign investment in the property sector. The rules prohibite foreigners that have resided in China for less than a year from purchasing residential properties for their personal use.

International River

China and the North Korea signed an agreement to facilitate transportation and environmental protection of the border river of Yalu.

See previous post.

Extradition

The Chinese and the US police cooperated to expatriate 119 illegal Chinese immigrants by chartered flight to China's Fujian Province.

Human Rights

China issued a regulation which would ban the sale of human body parts and require transport of bodies to and from China to be approved by several governmental authorities. The Chinese Ministry of Health denied reports that organs for transplant in China have been taken from executed criminals.

Use of Force
United Nations

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution which condemned North Korea's recent missile launchings and demanded that the country suspend its ballistic missile programme. Japan and the US, the principal sponsors of an original tougher draft, agreed to drop the reference to Chapter VII of the Charter to forestall a veto by China. Wang Guangya, China's permanent representative to the UN, said after the vote that China had acted persistently to serve two major objectives of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the unity of the Security Council.

See previous post.

Use of Force

A Chinese delegate to the UN expressed deep concerns over the crisis in Lebanon and condemned Israel's attack on Lebanon as disproportionate use of force that violated Lebanon's sovereignty. He said that "to respond to violence with violence" is no solution.

Diplomatic Law

A spokesman of the Chinese embassy in Japan denied a Japanese news report that Chinese military attaches made contacts with Japanese military officials and engaged in espionage activities. He said the normal working contacts by Chinese military attaches with Japanese defence officials complied fully with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Hong Kong
Private International Law

Mainland China and Hong Kong signed "the Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters by the Court of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Pursuant to Choice of Court Agreements between Parties Concerned". Hong Kong's Secretary for Justice said the Arrangement would "strengthen Hong Kong's position as a regional center for dispute resolution". A senior judge of the Supreme People's Court expressed hope that recognition and enforcement would be extended to other matters such as labour and matrimonial cases.

Use of Force
United Nations

China and Russia introduced a draft resolution on North Korea in the Security Council which covers many of the same demands that the Japanese draft did, but which does not resort to Chapter VII or propose sanctions against North Korea for non-compliance. Chinese ambassador to the UN also confirmed that he would veto the Japanese resolution if it were put to a vote. Meanwhile, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman criticised the Japanese threat of a pre-emptive strike against North Korean missile bases as "pouring oil on fire" and "extremely irresponsible and incomprehensible."

See previous post.

Diplomatic Protection
Hong Kong

A senior Chinese diplomat said Chinese embassies and consulates dealt with over 30,000 cases of consular protection, including about 360 cases relating to Hong Kong and Macau that involved over 600 individuals. He said that the Hong Kong and Macau governments were in close coordination with the Foreign Ministry's Commissioner's Offices and Chinese embassies and consulates in the protection of Hong Kong and Macau compatriots.

See previous post.

Use of Force
United Nations

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that a draft Security Council resolution urging sanctions over the missile test of North Korea is an overreaction. "The draft resolution will harm the peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asian region and hurt efforts to resume the six-party talks and split the UN Security Council," she said. Meanwhile, China introduced a draft Security Council presidential statement which called for the concerned parties to work together on the early resumption of the six-party talks on Korean Peninsular nuclear issue.

See previous post.

Law of the Sea
Dispute Settlement

China and Japan ended the sixth round of East China Sea talks and agreed in principle to set up a maritime hotline to deal with unpredictable situations in the area.

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Use of Force
United Nations

China opposed a draft Security Council resolution introduced by Japan which called for sanctions against North Korea for its missile test-firings. China believed that the Security Council could best make a unanimous and firm response to DPRK "through a presidential statement with strong messages".

Border
Trade

China and India opened the 4,300-metre high Nathu La Pass 44 years after a border conflict led to its closure. Historically the leading trade route between the two countries, the Pass will for now provide duty-free passage for 29 kinds of Indian commodities and 15 types of Chinese goods from 1 June to 30 September each year. Border trade between China and India could rise from $100 million now to $3 billion by 2015 through Nathu La alone.

Law of War

A senior Chinese diplomat explained why China agreed to the disposal in China of the chemical weapons abandoned by Japan during World War II. He said that, out of safety concerns, China agreed to the destruction of the weapons in China on the condition that Japan undertook to abide by the law in China and ensure human and environmental safety. He also complained about the slow progress in Japan's disposal of the abandoned weapons. He pointed out that, while 37,499 weapons had been recovered so far, Japan had not destroyed any one of them.

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Law of War

Experts from Japan and China unearthed 31 Japanese bombs, including 7 chemical weapons, in Ning'an City in China's Heilongjiang Province. The recovery was carried out according to the 1997 UN Chemical Weapons Convention and a bilateral memorandum in which Japan agreed to provide all the necessary funds, equipment and personnel for the retrieval and destruction of all the chemical weapons abandoned by Japan in China by 2007. The Chinese Foreign Ministry estimated that Japan abandoned at least 2 million tons of chemical weapons in China. More than 2,000 Chinese people have been killed by abandoned chemical weapons since the war ended in 1945.

See previous post.

Extradition

Australia's attorney-general said Australia and China had begun talks on an extradition treaty which would speed up the repatriation of allegedly corrupt Chinese officials. He said that, while China's death penalty could hinder repatriations, "corrupt officials should not profit from it by fleeing to another judicial system."

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Environment

A top Chinese environmental official admitted that, although China had joined over 20 environmental conventions and signed bilateral agreements with over 30 states, China's ability to perform those treaties "urgently needs enhancement."

Extradition

China ratified an expatriation treaty with Spain, the first treaty of its kind China has concluded with an EU member. According to the treaty Chinese nationals who are convicted in Spain can be returned to China to serve jail sentences and Spanish convicted criminals in China have the same right.

See previous post.