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China hosts Asia security conference

China hosted a major regional summit in Shanghai on May 20 and May 21 as part of an effort to facilitate Asia-wide security discussions.

The largest number of leaders in the 22-year history of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, or CICA, will attend the summit.

While Asia has become the world's most economically dynamic region and is closely watched in the world's power landscape, security cooperation has been a weakness. The region faces a slew of traditional and non-traditional security threats, ranging from terrorism to economic instability.

US must 'get used to China's rise'

Chinese and Western observers seemed to reach a consensus on May 21 over President Xi Jinping's proposal to establish a new framework for security cooperation in Asia, as he also sent a veiled warning to Washington.

"To beef up a military alliance targeting a third party is not conducive to regional common security," Xi said without mentioning the United States when delivering a keynote speech at a regional security forum in Shanghai on May 21.

Provocation and escalation of tensions for selfish interests should be opposed, he told participants at the fourth Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, including representatives from Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Instead, Beijing is urging Washington to get used to China's rise and take a proper role in the region, which is the world's economic engine but is also prone to security threats.

Deals cement Beijing, Moscow partnership

A record-breaking 49 agreements were reached between Beijing and Moscow on May 20, covering political, trade and military areas in a move to further strengthen the Sino-Russian partnership.

President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin also issued a joint statement on the future of bilateral relations.

The two countries would expand local currency settlement for bilateral trade, cross-border investment and financing, and strengthen exchanges to formulate macro-economic policies, the statement said.

Putin, who is visiting Shanghai for an Asian security summit, is accompanied by a huge delegation of high-ranking officials and business leaders.

Xi announced the agreements during a joint news conference after talks with Putin.

Although a long-awaited natural gas deal remained to be signed, both sides vowed to continue efforts.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, "Talks will continue and substantial progress has been reached, but there is still work to do on price."

The total value of the deals signed remained unclear, but Putin's presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told ITAR-TASS news agency that the package would set a record.

Pandas make delayed journey to Malaysia

Two pandas loaned from China arrived in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur early on May 21 after a month-long delay amid tensions between the two countries over the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner.

Female panda Feng Yi and male partner Fu Wa were being transported from the Dujiangyan base of Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan province and flown to Malaysia on May 20 night by MAS Kargo. The airline is a cargo division of parent company Malaysia Airlines.

Panda breeders Li Caiwu and Yang Haidi accompanied the animals and will stay with them until they are used to their new environment.

Cybertheft allegations by the US are 'absurd'

Washington's reasoning behind the indictment of five People's Liberation Army officers for spying is absurd, said the Chinese ambassador to the United States.

The US justified the move by claiming that the officers stole confidential business information and sensitive trade secrets of US companies. Washington defended its own attacks on other countries' cyberspace as a means to safeguard national security.

"I don't know how they can make a distinction between such activities," Ambassador Cui Tiankai said in an interview with CNN aired on May 20.

"How do they explain the attacks on Chinese companies, universities and even individuals? Is that for national defense? Or is that for other purposes?"

Beijing denounced the US indictment as "purely ungrounded and with ulterior motives" and demanded that the US withdraw the indictment. Beijing announced it would suspend work on a joint cybersecurity working group.

The Ministry of National Defense warned that the US move would endanger military relations.

Security reviews on tech products

China will review a cyber security to keep national security and protect public interest, the State Internet Information Office said on May 22.

The review will target IT products, services and suppliers of information systems related to national security and public interest, according to a statement from the office.

The policy aims to prevent a supplier from taking advantage of its product to illegally control, disturb or shut down computer systems of its users, as well as gather, store, process or use information of its users, the statement said.

Making sure technology used for the Internet and computer systems are "safe and under control" is vital to China's national security, economy, social developments and people's legitimate rights and interests, Jiang Jun, the office's spokesman, said on May 22.

Migrants to China on increase

China is working closely with the international community to deal with challenges posed by changing migration patterns, including an increase in the number of people heading to the country.

There were 685,775 migrants to China in 2010, an increase of 35 percent from 2000, according to the 2013 World Migration Report.

The Chinese version of the report was released in Beijing by the International Organization for Migration on May 19. The number of foreigners holding residence permits in China in 2010 rose by about 29 percent compared with the figure for 2006.

William L. Swing, director-general of the organization, of which China has been an observer country since 2001, said Chinese authorities had been seeking expertise from other nations through the organization to better manage the trend.

Vietnam riots 'threaten ties and investment'

Anti-China riots in Vietnam will hurt the confidence of investors and damage relations, experts said, as thousands of evacuated Chinese workers arrived home on May 20.

A total of 3,553 workers arrived at Xiuying Port in Haikou, Hainan province, after traveling for nearly 20 hours. Beijing has sent charter flights and four vessels to evacuate Chinese workers in Vietnam, where violence targeting foreign companies has left at least four Chinese nationals dead and more than 100 others injured since May 13.

China Metallurgical Group Corp said on Tuesday that four of its workers were killed last week in the riots.

Zhang Ji, head of the foreign trade department at the Ministry of Commerce, said the violent protests had caused enormous economic losses, damaging the healthy development of bilateral trade.

Fund to boost maritime Silk Road

Investment of 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) will support projects related to China's maritime Silk Road development, relevant parties said on May 19.

The city government of Fuzhou, capital of east China's Fujian province, signed an agreement with the China-Africa Development Fund and the Fujian branch of the China Development Bank to jointly set up a fund.

Yuan Jianliang, governor of the bank's Fujian branch, said the three parties will support projects that will boost Fuzhou's role as a hub on the Silk Road.

A 21st century maritime Silk Road was proposed by President Xi Jinping during his visit to Indonesia in October. Since ancient times, the sea route from ports in Fujian to overseas markets allowed China's silk, ceramics and products to be traded to the world.

Yang Yimin, mayor of Fuzhou, said the city will facilitate the building of a transport network and step up cooperation with Southeast Asian countries.

He said the fund will support projects such as setting up marine aquaculture farms and industrial parks in Southeast Asian countries.

Toxins in shoes, clothes of sports brands

Soccer wear and shoes from three international sports brands, all of which are major producers of apparel for the upcoming World Cup in Brazil, were found to contain toxic chemicals, according to a report issued by Greenpeace on May 19.

In its report, the environmental organization said it bought sporting goods from Nike, Adidas and Puma in 16 countries and regions across the world and conducted tests on them from March to May. It found that 81 percent of the three brands' soccer shoes and 35 percent of their soccer performance shirts had chemical residues, including plasticizer and perfluorinated compounds.

Among the tested products, the perfluorooctanoic acid index of an Adidas soccer boot named Predator had more than 15 times the standard amount of the acid, the report said.

The perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, is often used to make textiles waterproof and is difficult to degrade, said the report, which added that the chemical could impact fertility after a long period of human contact.

Xi vows support for Afghanistan

The upcoming run-off for the Afghan presidential election and the newly declared summer offensive by the Taliban have not stopped Afghan President Hamid Karzai from visiting China again.

His four-day trip to China underscored Kabul's eagerness for support amid security challenges in the war-torn country, most notably the withdrawal of US and NATO troops by the end of the year and its ongoing presidential elections.

China will provide help within its reach to Afghanistan's reconstruction and jointly develop the Silk Road Economic Belt with the Central Asian country, President Xi Jinping told Karzai on May 19.

Terrorist group behind attack

A group on the United Nations' terrorist list was confirmed to have masterminded a deadly incident in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region last month.

The East Turkistan Islamic Movement was identified as orchestrating the attack in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi on April 30, killing three and injuring 79, the provincial publicity department said on May 18.

ETIM member Ismail Yusup, who lives outside China, planned the incident, it said, and on April 22 ordered 10 associates to launch the attack. Eight days later, the gang set off explosives and slashed people with knives at the exit of the South Railway Station of Urumqi around 7:10 pm.

President Xi vows to punish Urumqi bombers

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to punish terrorists and spare no efforts in maintaining stability in response to the fatal explosions in Urumqi in the morning of May 22.

Police will step up patrols and security control over possible terrorist targets and prevent ripple effects, Xi said in a statement.

Xi asked local authorities to solve the case fast, put the injured under proper care, and offered condolences to families of the victims.

The Chinese government will continue to work hard in fighting terrorism and try its best to safeguard social stability, he said.

The explosions, which hit an open air market in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, have left 31 dead and more than 90 injured.

A working group led by Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun left for Xinjiang to supervise the investigation and handle the aftermath.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily European Weekly 05/23/2014 page2)