Diplomatic Relations

Chinese legislature adopted a law on diplomatic personnel that would apply to over 5,000 Chinese diplomats in 254 foreign missions. The law would place restrictions on diplomats' marriage, forbidding Chinese diplomats with foreign spouses to serve overseas.

Terrorism

Extradition

Six Chinese Uighurs detained by the US military as terrorist suspects at Guantánamo were released to Palau, where they would stay while seeking a permanent home elsewhere. Seven Chinese Uighur detainees remain confined at the naval base, along with 208 other men.

Reparation for War Crimes

Japan's Nishimatsu Construction Company reached a settlement with Chinese labourers who sued in a Tokyo court for forced labour during WWII. The Japanese company would pay 250 million yen into a fund to compensate 360 Chinese plaintiffs.

Use of Force

Law of the Sea

A coal-laden Chinese cargo ship with 25 crew members was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, about 700 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. As Chinese naval vessels steamed towards the ship, a Defence Ministry official said China would not rule out the use of force to rescue the Chinese crew.

On 28 December 2009, a FM spokesman announced that the hijacked ship and crew had been released, reportedly after paying US$4 million in ransom.

Treatment of Aliens

Death Penalty

Akmal Shaikh, 53, was arrested in September 2007 at an airport in Urumqi for carrying a suitcase containing 4 kg of heroin and was sentenced to death in October 2008 by a Urumqi court, becoming reportedly the first British citizen to be executed in China. British officials and human rights groups, apparently convinced that Mr. Shaikh was psychotic, have worked to save his life, pointing to his outlandish statements as convincing proof of his insanity, eg "I am the chosen one here to deliver world peace,... All I know is that Abraham has shown me my home in seventh heaven and I have met all the prophets.” Of course, by that standard, many British and American celebrities should long have been committed to asylum. (Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck come easily to mind.)

Ma Zhaoxu, a Chinese FM spokesman, responded that China's Supreme People's Court is reviewing the sentence, but stupidly added that translation service had been provided to the accused and that the accused had said that he and his family members had no history of mental diseases. Someone needs to tell Mr. Ma and his colleagues that no one with half a brain would care about what the accused said when that man's sanity is in question, nor would a Chinese translation make any difference!

Territory -- Indian Border

A FM spokesman expressed China's "strong dissatisfaction" over Indian PM Manmohan Singh's visit to the disputed border region of "Arunachal Pradesh". China has claimed that the region has historically been part of Tibet and China.

Law of the Sea

A Chinese non-governmental organisation called on the Chinese legislature to veto the Sino-Japanese "Principled Consensus" on East China Sea, denouncing it as sell-out of Chinese sovereignty.

Terrorism

As if its hands are not full with fighting the West yet, Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation now declared "jihad" against China for what it called "injustice and oppression" in Xinjiang. "The state of atheism is heading to its fall. It will face what befell the Russian bear," proclaimed Abu Yahya al-Libi, al-Qaeda's third most powerful figure.

United Nations

China's deputy representative to the UN explained China's position on the share of UN expenses among members. He stressed that China's share of UN expenses had increased threefold from 2001 to 2007.