Trade

A MOFCOM spokesman said that China firmly objected to the US Department of Commerce' final ruling over the first anti-dumping, anti-subsidy case against Chinese coated paper. He said the decision "obviously violated US law and the common practice of US Department of Commerce".

See previous post.

Trade - Intellectual Property

China's top legislature began deliberating on the approval of an amendment to the TRIPS agreement to enhance access to medicines for developing countries. The amendment allows countries to override patent rights when necessary to export life-saving drugs to developing countries that face public health crises but cannot produce drugs for themselves.

Later, the legislature ratified the amendment.

Intervention in Internal Affairs
United Nations

China blocked an effort by US and European countries to have the Security Council condemn Myammar's violent crackdown on protesters. Ambassador Wang Guangya told council members that the conflict in Myanmar was a domestic one, saying, "The situation there has some problems, but does not constitute a threat to international and regional peace.” Following the adoption of the Security Council presidential statement, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said the Myanmar issue should be resolved with the efforts of Myanmar's government and people and through consultation.

Taiwan
United Nations

Shortly after the General Committee of the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly refused to include the issue of Taiwan's application for UN membership in the agenda of the assembly, China's UN Ambassador Wnag Guangya said, "The United Nations is an international organization whose membership requires statehood. As a part of China, Taiwan is not eligible to apply for UN membership."

Later, after the General Assembly approved the general committee's recommendation, Wang pointed out that General Assembly Resolution 2758 has long resolved once and for all China's representation in the UN politically, legally and in terms of procedures. "The political and legal meanings of this resolution are integrated and clear-cut," he said. "The scope of China's territory has never been changed since the founding of the United Nations. China's representation in the United Nations certainly includes Taiwan."

See previous post.

Trade - Intellectual Property
Dispute Settlement

A Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said China regrets that the US has appealed to the WTO for the second time to set up an expert panel to investigate US complaints that China is failing to do enough to protect intellectual property rights. He said that China firmly opposed accepting obligations that went beyond what is prescribed in the TRIPS agreement, and believed that other developing members would not accept the outcome of such an attempt.

See previous post.

Human Rights - Religious Freedom

A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman slashed the 2007 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom by the US State Department which criticised China's religious situation, saying "China is strongly resentful of and resolutely opposes the report which runs counter to the fundamental principles of international relations and openly interferes in China's internal affairs."

See previous post.

Taiwan

A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman voiced strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to the US plans of arms sales to Taiwan and urges the US to immediately cancel the plans. She said the sales would seriously violate its commitments to China made in the three Sino-US joint communiques, in particular the joint communique signed on Aug. 17, 1982, and constitutes wanton interference in China's internal affairs.

Taiwan
United Nations

In response to the characterisation by the UN Secretary General of Taiwan as "part of the PRC", the US Government reportedly wrote to the UN Secretariat that the US does not accept that position.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Taiwan's application for UN membership is legally impossible. "In light of Resolution 2758, it is not legally possible to receive the purported application for membership," he said.

See previous post.

Human Rights - Refugees
Responsibility of International Organisations
Hong Kong

A Hong Kong human rights group said that the UNHCR Hong Kong office stopped issuing status certificates for asylum seekers, making it difficult for them to prove their identities, which was in breach of UNHCR guidelines.

Trade
Dispute Settlement

China asked for consultation with US over its countervailing and anti-dumping measures on Chinese-made coated paper. It marks the first time that China individually seeks a resolution under the dispute settlement system of the WTO since it joined the body in 2001.

See previous post.

Human Rights - Death Penalty

A vice president of the Supreme People's Court said that was an "evident drop" in the number of death sentences since the Court reclaimed the power to review capital sentences at the beginning of 2007. The number of cases in which the Supreme People's Court refused to allow death penalty was "relatively large", he said. He said the number of death sentences in 2006 was the lowest in the last ten years and the number in the first half of 2007 continued to drop from the same period in 2006.

See previous post.

Trade
Dispute Settlement

A WTO panel was formed to investigate the complaints by the US and Mexico against China's subsidizing of its industrial exports through tax breaks and other incentives. A Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman said the US and Mexico "attempt to mix up the self improvement in China's tax laws and regulations with the fruits of the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism" and vowed that "China will not change its way of self perfecting tax laws and regulations in accordance with the demands of its social and economic development".

See previous post.

Taiwan
United Nations

The Chinese UN Ambassador Wang Guangya wrote a letter to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, condemning an attempt by "a very few" countries to request the General Assembly to consider the Taiwan's application for UN membership. The attempt "wantonly tramples on the purposes and principles" of the UN Charter and General Assembly resolution 2758, "seriously violates China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, gravely intervenes in China's internal affairs and seriously hurts the feelings of the 1.3 billion Chinese people," Wang said.

In response, the Foreign Ministry in Taiwan said that resolution 2758 did not define the relationship between Taiwan and China and that Taiwan did not intend to challenge PRC's membership in the UN.

See previous post.

Reparation for War Crimes

The Maebashi District Court of Japan dismissed a lawsuit filed by former Chinese forced workers and bereaved families, who demanded 460 million yen in compensation from the Japanese government and companies for suffering endured during WWII. The court refused to support the plaintiffs' argument that the 1972 Japan-China Joint Communique has no intervention into individuals' rights for compensation.

See previous post.

Trade

A senior Chinese trade official said that the recent anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations by the US against Chinese goods violate rules of WTO. He said the US investigations and the measures that it might take against Chinese goods will lead to double taxation, which is banned by the WTO.

Extradition
Taiwan

Pursuant to the 1990 Kinmen Agreement, Taiwan repatriated two mainland hijackers to the mainland following their serving of prison terms in Taiwan, whilst the Fujian police repatriated 19 Taiwanese criminal suspects to Taiwan.

Diplomatic Protection
Consular Protection

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said China will study legislation on consular protection for overseas Chinese. A senior official at the Foreign Ministry said the number of cases in which Chinese citizens get in trouble abroad has exceeded 30,000 a year. Meanwhile, the department of consular affairs of the Foreign Ministry issued a revised version of a brochure on consular protection and assistance. A centre for consular protection was also created in the Foreign Ministry.

See previous post.

Taiwan
United Nations

In response to a letter from "a handful of countries including the Solomon Islands and Malawi" to the General Assembly president requesting the inclusion of "participation of Taiwan in the UN" into the agenda of the 62nd General Assembly, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that, as a part of China, Taiwan is completely not qualified, in whatever name, to participate in the United Nations for which statehood is a requirement.

See previous post.

Trade - Intellectual Property
Dispute Settlement

A Commerce Ministry spokesperson said that China regrets that the US requested the WTO to set up a dispute settlement panel to solve the intellectual property rights disputes between the two sides. He said that China is opposed to any WTO member's move of making developing members shoulder extra obligations through dispute settlement system.

See previous post.

Finance

Chinese Ambassador to the US, Zhou Wenzhong, wrote to a US senator to address the concern about a news report that China would threaten to sell US dollars and trigger a dollar crash. A Chinese banking official also made remarks on China's international monetary policy in response to the report.

Extradition

The Kunming Intermediate People's Court sentenced a former government official to life imprisonment for taking 40m yuan in bribes. The court said that, whilst his offence was serious and deserves death penalty, the punishment was lessened as the accused voluntarily returned to China after fleeing to Singapore.

Arms Control

Responding to reports that Chinese-made arms were found in the insurgent Iraq, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said China adheres to three principles in arms export, "beneficial to the legitimate self-defense capability of receiving state; not detrimental to peace, security and stability of the region and the world at large; no interference with the internal affairs of receiving state." He also said that China never sells arms to any non-state entities or individuals.

Genocide

Following the Security Council's unanimous adoption of Resolution 1769 authorizing deployment of AU-UN hybrid operation in Darfur, China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya said the international community should promote the political process on the Darfur issue while deploying the peacekeeping operation. Noting that a root cause for the Darfur crisis is poor development in the region, Wang called for more attention to rehabilitation, reconstruction and development in Darfur.

See previous post.

War Crimes

The US House of Representatives approved a non-binding resolution urging Japan to "formally acknowledge, apologize and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner" for coercing thousands of women, mainly from Korea, China and the Philippines, to work as sex slaves for its World War II military. Japanese officials said their country's leaders, including current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, had apologized repeatedly.

Human Rights - Election
Hong Kong

Human Rights Monitor asked the Human Rights Committee to deliberate on the green paper on constitutional development by the Hong Kong Govrnment. It criticises the Hong Kong government for stressing the validity of a reservation made by the British colonial government when it ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1976.

Trade
Dispute Settlement

The United States requested the WTO to establish a dispute settlement panel to deal with China's industry subsidies. "China has taken a positive step by repealing one of the subsidy programs we challenged, but much more needs to be done." said a USTR spokesman.

Since the end of 2006, the US has filed four cases against China with the WTO, more than any other country.

See previous post.

Diplomatic Protection

Responding to an attack on Chinese nationals in Peshawar in northwest Pakistan, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said China had requested Pakistan to "carry out immediate investigation, bring the criminals to justice, properly treat the wounded and deal with the aftermath, and take concrete and effective measures to strengthen the protection over Chinese citizens in Pakistan so as to avoid recurrence of similar cases."

Taiwan
United Nations

The UN office of legal affairs rejected a letter signed by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian adn sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asking for the island's admission to UN in the name of "Taiwan". A UN spokeswoman cited Resolution 2758 of the General Assembly and said it was impossible for the global body to accept Mr Chen's application.

Criminal Jurisdiction
Hong Kong

The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court imposed death sentence on a mainland contract killer who murdered a Hong Kong businessman in Hong Kong in 2002. The mastermind of the killing, a Hong Kong resident, was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Human Rights - Slavery

In the wake of revelations that children and men were coerced to work in inhuman conditions in Shanxi's brick kilns without pay, China's lawyers' association urged the legislature to introduce a new criminal charge for slavery, saying that none of the existing criminal legislation covered the crimes in Shanxi.