Human Rights - Torture

Hong Kong

Over 400 torture claimants who arrived in Hong Kong in the first 10 months of 2009 had no identity documents (after throwing them away on before arrival), making it difficult to remove them if they fail to establish their claims. As a result, these claimants may be able to stay in Hong Kong.

Climate Change

China's State Council announced that, as a "voluntary action on the part of the Chinese government" "based on national conditions", China had set the target to reduce carbon intensity (amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of economic output) by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 compared with 2005 levels. While the announcement was seen as "a great step forward", the target fell short of the 50 or 55 percent cut many countries had hoped for and was something that China's existing policies would have attained anyway. Given China's GDP growth, the projected cuts in carbon intensity would mean China's overall emission levels would still grow 72 to 88 percent by 2020.

Taiwan

Diplomatic Protection

After the Myanmar military detained several foreign fishing boats for alleged illegal fishing that included four seamen from Taiwan and one from mainland China, a FM spokesman said China has urged authorities in Myanmar to protect the safety and legal rights of the fishermen. He declared that the Chinese government had always attached high importance to protect the security and legal rights of all Chinese, whether they were from the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan. Later, China passed on the names of the four Taiwan fishermen to Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation.

Taiwan

Law of the Sea

Taiwan published its revised baselines for territorial sea which did not cover the islands of Kinmen and Matsu, leading to suspicions that Taiwan conceded the territorial waters to mainland China. The ROC Government later declared that it would announce the baselines for the two islands in the future.

Reparation for War Crimes

Treaty

Japan's Sendai High Court dismissed claims of Chinese plaintiffs for damages against the Japanese Government and companies for forced labour during WWII on the ground that China has waived all claims for war reparation in the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement. A Chinese FM spokesman said China strongly opposed the "arbitrary" interpretation by the Japanese court of the Joint Statement and called the interpretation "illegal and invalid".

See previous post.

Territory

China and Vietnam completed demarcation of their land boundaries and signed demarcation agreements.

Use of Force

Liu Zhenmin, deputy Chinese ambassador to the UN, proposed that the countries involved in the patrol of the seas off the Somali coast should divide up "areas of responsibility" to patrol more efficiently.

Tibet

Territory

Any time a Chinese government official, or a FM spokesman, tries to draw comparison between a Communist Party policy and an historic event in the West, a PR disaster appears in the making. How many people outside China would equate Chinese rule in Tibet with Abraham Lincoln's emancipation of slaves? Yet, Qin Gang found enough audacity to lecture to President Barrack Obama:

“President Obama, as a black president, certainly knows well the great significance of the U.S. Abolition Movement initiated by President Lincoln. The old Tibet in the reign of Dalai enforced dark serfdom and he was head of Tibetan serfdom. In 1959, China completely abolished serfdom, which was a great step forward in the human rights cause. Such a move is of the same nature as the abolition of slavery by President Lincoln in the U.S. President Obama should understand better the Chinese Government's position against Tibet independence and Dalai's separatist activities on the international stage."

Hong Kong

Use of Force

Following reports of an attack of Somali pirates on a Hong Kong vessel, a FM spokesman said China's naval escort fleet could provide necessary protection to HK vessels if need be.

Outer Space

Reversing China's long-standing opposition to space weaponisation and lending support to the US suspicion over China military expansion, General Xu Qiliang, the PLA air force chief, made some hot-headed remarks such as China's plan to build weapons in space is a "historical inevitability". But later the same General Xu denied China's development of an anti-satellite laser weapon site in Xinjiang, saying it was for peaceful purposes.

Territory - Indian Border

Tibet

Despite China's "firm opposition", the Dalai Lama visited Tawang in the disputed border region between China and India. The Dalai Lama had announced that the territory belonged to India and dismissed China's opposition by saying, "The Chinese government considers me a troublemaker, so it is my duty to create more trouble."

Law of the Sea - Exclusive Economic Zone

Against Chinese opposition, a US naval commander vowed to continue surveillance in parts of the South China Sea claimed by China as its exclusive economic zone. The US maintains that EEZ remains open to regular foreign commercial and military traffic - including "routine surveillance work".