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Mole diplomacy gives panda Czech mate

Krtek, a popular Czech animated mole, will now have a panda as a good friend in its new episodes, under one of seven agreements signed in Beijing on Oct 27.

China International Television Corp and the Czech Little Mole Cartoon company will make new stories of the red-nosed mole known by almost all Czech children.

Other agreements, including on financing and civil nuclear energy, followed a meeting between President Xi Jinping and his Czech counterpart, Milos Zeman, who was on the first official visit by a Czech head of state to China in 10 years.

During the opening of the talks that reporters were allowed to observe, the two leaders frequently quoted old sayings from each other's country. Zeman said he brought an apple seedling for Xi and that he hoped the token of collaboration would blossom and bear fruit.

Observers said the visit showed a warming relationship, which was impaired by former Czech leaders' repeated clashes over issues such as the Tibet autonomous region and Taiwan.

Draft law would beef up anti-spying efforts

The power of authorities conducting counterespionage activities that involve overseas individuals or organizations should be exercised within the law to protect human rights and legal interests, a draft being reviewed by the top legislature says.

The draft of the Counter-espionage Law was to be discussed during the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from Oct 27 to Nov 1.

National security authorities should be able to seize suspected devices, but anything seized should be returned to its owner if it is found to be legitimate, the draft says. If the seized property is destroyed, the security authorities should pay compensation.

The monthly session was also due to discuss a draft anti-terrorism law that proposes the setting up of a national anti-terrorism intelligence center.

Fang Tao, an officer of the Special Police Force with the Aksu Prefecture Public Security Bureau in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, said police would be able to fight terrorists more proactively under the new law.

"At present many anti-terrorism campaigns are based on political tasks rather than the rule of law," he said.

Project on militaryspending begins

Central military authorities say they will improve the efficiency of military spending so that "every cent can be spent on the knife blade".

A pilot project has been initiated in the People's Liberation Army headquarters and military commands under which five categories of expenses, including the purchase of military training equipment and the financial management of military hospitals, will be appraised and monitored, under guidelines issued by the PLA General Logistics Department.

The project, approved by the Central Military Commission, is aimed at putting military funds to their best use, the guidelines say.

Border checksto be stepped up

China has intensified inspections and patrols in border regions to stop terrorism suspects who plan to join extreme Islamic forces, government sources say.

"Border police have stepped up efforts to prevent and combat such cases," said one government official who declined to reveal his name because of the sensitivity of the issue.

In recent years, due to the spread of religious extremism through audio and video materials, a number of young Xinjiang extremists have illegally entered Southeast Asian countries.

From there they usually buy fake passports and travel to Turkey or Syria to receive military training with extremist organizations. They then launch attacks in Syria and Iraq, the official said.

Air quality is major priority for APEC

The discharge of pollutants in Beijing and bordering Hebei province and Tianjin is expected to be cut by a third during Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings from Nov 5 to 11, thanks to air pollution control measures.

"China will take the highest-level measures to guarantee air quality during the APEC meetings," said Chai Fahe, vice-president of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.

"It is expected that the pollutants discharge in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will be reduced by 30 to 40 percent, and the air quality will hopefully be further improved."

Chai said that since June, Beijing has shut down some power stations, eliminated old vehicles and boilers, used clean energy, closed more than 300 polluting factories and upgraded technologies to cut emissions.

The capital will also restrict cars based on an odd-and-even-number rule, almost halving the number of cars on the road during the APEC meetings.

In addition, major polluting businesses will be ordered to cut production, and work on some construction sites will be suspended.

Accord reached oninfrastructure bank

A milestone agreement has been reached on setting up the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, but the absence of some major economies underscores the difficulty China faces as an emerging power in making global governance initiatives.

Twenty-one Asian countries signed an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding on the bank in Beijing.

This paves the way for the formal establishment of the bank, proposed by China, whose task will be to fund regional infrastructure projects.

In October last year, President Xi Jinping proposed setting up the bank. Since then, five rounds of talks with countries interested in the proposal have been held on establishing the multilateral lender and achieving its reported capital target of $100 billion (79 billion euros).

Private money soughtfor infrastructure

Private investors will be given wider access to infrastructure construction projects under public-private partnerships as the country seeks to shore up the economic slowdown and counter a housing market downturn.

More social funds will be admitted into electricity infrastructure projects such as hydroelectricity, nuclear power and cross-regional power transmission construction, a statement issued after an executive meeting of the State Council said.

The major telecom companies should invite private strategic investors to help finance the construction of broadband networks and the development of a satellite navigation system for civil use, it said.

In addition to railway construction, which is already open to private funds, other transport infrastructure construction such as ports, inland waterways and airports will be opened up.

The statement said the government will "break unreasonable monopoly and market barriers with reform measures" in an effort to ensure fairness prevails in protecting rights and ensuring that rules are adhered to.

Spacecraft on wayto orbit moon

China has launched an experimental spacecraft that will fly around the moon and back to Earth to test a key technology for its lunar program.

The spacecraft began its eight-day mission atop a Long March 3C rocket launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province on Oct 24.

It entered the Earth's orbit, from which it was to transfer to the moon's orbit, the China National Space Administration said. After flying around the moon, the spacecraft will land in the central area of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The launch will test a key technology to be used in the future Chang'e 5, expected to land on the moon around 2017 and retrieve soil samples.

The technology, called skip re-entry, involves the spacecraft entering the atmosphere and then being steered to exit again before making the final re-entry, the agency said.

(China Daily European Weekly 10/31/2014 page2)