Building Ban for Olympics

All building sites in Beijing will be shut three weeks before the start of the Olympic Games, as the city tries to clear its skies of pollution.

Digging, pouring of concrete and outdoor spray-painting will also be banned under plans announced by the Environmental Protection Bureau.

The move follows mounting concern that athletes may suffer from Beijing's noxious atmosphere.
Olympic chiefs have already voiced concern over the issue.

President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge had previously warned that he would postpone certain endurance events if pollution levels were excessive.

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Pollution in China has become a very serious problem, and now experts believe it will have an effect on the olympic athletes if the pollution continues to increase. Beijing promised to have a clean enviornment for the olympics but now the pollution has become so bad that it is hard to see from block to block. So China is stopping all building sites three weeks before the Olympics in order to try to fix the problem.

China's Military Spending

China says it plans to increase military spending by nearly 18% this year, to 417.8bn yuan $59bn; £30bn).

The figure was revealed ahead of China's annual parliamentary session, which begins on Wednesday.

Just before the announcement, the US released a report criticising China's military spending, and voicing concern over advances in space and cyberspace.

China rejected the Pentagon report as a "serious distortion of facts" that could harm its relations with the US.

"It breaks international norms... We do not pose a threat to any country. The US should drop its Cold War mentality," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

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China says it will increase their military spending by more than 18 percent this year. The U.S. denounced this new spending policy and China responded by saying that the U.S should drop their Cold War mentality. China says the spending will primarily go to the national defense funds but even so, this is a scary thought for the U.S.

Toy Recall

This is funny because the truth really is that running with scissors is less dangerous than playing with Chinese made goods.

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China to press North Korea

Rice urges China to press N Korea

Ms Rice met President Hu Jintao during her visitUS Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged Chinese leaders to put pressure on North Korea to move ahead quickly with nuclear disarmament.

She was speaking during a two-day visit to Beijing, her first for over a year.

Ms Rice met President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, and held talks with foreign minister Yang Jiechi.

She also used the visit to raise the issue of human rights and criticise Taiwan's plans to hold a referendum on UN membership.

Ms Rice told reporters that she had held "very good discussions about a number of issues" with her Chinese counterparts.

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Condoleeza Rice met with Hu Jintao to urge China to press N. Korea to stop their nuclear program. This would be a huge step if China agreed to discourage N. Korea's nuclear program. China holds a huge deal of international influence and power and can be the most deadly force in the world if need be.

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China Pollution

China to log its worst polluters

Beijing hopes the survey will give a clear picture of pollution in China. China has begun an ambitious project to survey the country's major sources of pollution.

Factories, farms and other polluters will have to declare how much, and what kind of pollutants, they discharge.

The government admits it will be difficult to get companies to supply accurate data, so it is offering them immunity from fines and prosecution.

But even with this incentive, some say the system has flaws which will make it difficult to get accurate information.

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China is taking the responsibilty of their pollution. This is a very honorable thing for China to do especially after all the controversy about the Olympics and their poisonous dumplings. Maybe this will start a new world trend of logging pollution.

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Chinese Black Market

Five men are to appear in court in China charged with producing fake receipts that could have cost the state billions of dollars, state media said.

The men are accused of forging over one million receipts worth a total of $147bn (£72bn) at a factory in Guizhou province.

Police identified the fraud after seizing a batch of the fake receipts in August 2007.

It is the largest such case in over 50 years, a local security official said.

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This definately won't help China's inflation crisis. China has a lot of issues they need to reslove right now with the 2008 Olympics, the Darfur Crisis and the Chinese food crisis. There is an official black market of false reciepts in China and this is something that Chinese law enforcement need to stop.

2008 Olympics

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Who can trust Chinese food?

The US delegation has said it is planning to bring its own food for American athletes.

At a news conference in Beijing, a senior official, Kang Yi, said it was a pity that the US had apparently decided not to trust China's food.

Ms Kang insisted that the food served to athletes at the Olympics would exceed international health standards.

For China, a good Olympic Games means cheering spectators, record-breaking performances and athletes and fans all sitting down to enjoy some good Chinese-made food.

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After the incident regarding the toxic Chinese dumplings, America has decided to bring it's own food to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Who can blame them? America has enough problem with terrorists as it is. We don't need to get involved with this new form of Chinese bio-terrorism.

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Chinese Winter Wonderland

The severe winter weather that has caused chaos in China in recent weeks has cost the economy more than $15bn (£7.6bn), says the Chinese government.

Homes, businesses and crops across the country have been damaged by the heavy snowfall, which is the worst China has experienced in five decades.

In addition, electricity and water supplies have been cut and rail services have had to be suspended.

The freak snowstorms have killed at least 107 people across the country.

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The severe snow storms in China is expected to cost 15 billion dollars. 107 people died because of the storm, 90,000 square miles of farmland was damaged and millions of insurance claims are pending. Electric workers are struggling to repair power supplies in most of the country.

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China's dilemma over Darfur

China has worked hard over the past few months to show it is doing all it can to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.

It has appointed a special envoy, sent peacekeeping troops to the region and embarked on a publicity campaign to persuade others it is being responsible.

This was done in part to prevent anyone linking China's close relationship with Sudan to the Olympics Games.

But for Steven Spielberg it was still not enough.

His decision to withdraw as artistic adviser to the Games' opening and closing ceremonies will be seen as a huge blow.

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Beijing and Khartoum have always had economic and military ties, and now, there is a crisis in Sudan's Darfur region. China imports two thirds of Sudanese oil estimated at 500,000 barrels a day. China is also Sudan's largest arms supplier, indirectly linking China to this crisis. China wants to be seen as a "responsible" nation because of the upcoming 2008 Olympics in Beijing. However, Steven Spielberg thinks China isn't doing enough to resolve the crisis and has withdrawn as the artistic advisor for the Olympics.

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Rotten Food: Poisoned on Purpose?

Dumplings poisoned 'on purpose.'

Chinese dumplings which were laced with pesticide and made at least 10 Japanese people ill were probably poisoned on purpose, Japan's health minister says.
The frozen dumplings were contaminated with a highly toxic organophoshate pesticide methamidophos.

"Judging from the circumstantial evidence, we'd have to think that it's highly likely to be a crime," Yoichi Masuzoe told reporters.

The issue has triggered intensive media coverage and public alarm in Japan. Japanese police say they want to work with their Chinese counterparts to investigate how the dumplings, known as gyoza in Japan, were poisoned.

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Japanese officials now believe that the toxins found in the Chinese made dumplings were put there intentionally because of circumstantial evidence. China, however, still denies that the dumplings are unsafe at all, but they recalled the product anyway. Could this be the beginning of terrorist activities in China? Causing the illness of ten Japanese people could be a very serious biological terrorist attack.

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