China protests: Panasonic suspends some operations. 17 September 2012Last updated at 10:13 ET The BBC's Martin Patience: ''The protests show that Beijing must do something to solve this dispute'' Some of Japan's biggest firms have suspended operations at some factories in China as safety concerns grow amid violent anti-Japan protests.
Panasonic said its factory in Qingdao would remain shut until 18 September, while Canon has also temporarily suspended operations at three plants. Honda, Mazda and Nissan are stopping car production for two to four days. The violence followed Japan's purchase of islands in the East China Sea which China claims sovereignty over. Boycotts? Camera maker Canon's affected factories are in the south-east of the country at Zhuhai and Zhongshan in the province of Guangdong and at Suzhou, near Shanghai. A spokesperson for electronics giant Panasonic told the BBC that the firm would continue to monitor the situation over the next two days. Continue reading the main story Japanese companies in China Burning flags. Beijing revisited after half a century. 4 September 2012Last updated at 23:35 GMT By David Willey BBC News Bicycles dominate a Beijing street in 1965 Returning to Beijing after nearly 50 years sparks recollections of a China long gone, and the memory of one very special meeting.
The circumstances of my first visit to China were curious, to say the least. A delegation of 25 journalists including a handful of Western reporters like myself had been chosen by the Communist authorities to report on the return home to China of a former warlord called Li Zongren. General Li - although I personally had never heard of him - was famous for military campaigns during upheavals inside China during the 1920s, and again during the war against the Japanese in the 30s and 40s. The general had, in fact, been acting president of China for a very brief moment during the period of political turbulence just before Mao Zedong emerged as leader in 1948. He had escaped to the US and lived in exile there like many members of the former regime. China: The paradox of foreign education. 1 August 2012Last updated at 19:20 ET By James Melik Reporter, Business Daily, BBC World Service Many thousands of Chinese teenagers go abroad to study, many to the US There was a time when Chinese students who obtained higher education abroad were considered to be the most fortunate of their generation.
After graduating from elite universities in the US and Britain, they were virtually guaranteed the best career prospects upon their return. Those students were colloquially referred to as sea turtles - returning home with the world on their backs. But things are different now. These very students are now referred to as seaweed - washed up on the shore, with little or no prospect of finding work once they return home. Shift in priorities So why are foreign education qualifications not valued as highly as they once were? "The reason employers valued them in the past has probably changed," says the regional director of the specialist recruitment company Hays. Continue reading the main story. Chinese police 'smash' trafficking gangs, frees 181. 6 July 2012Last updated at 08:42 GMT The BBC's Martin Patience: "There could be thousands, if not tens of thousands of children abducted every year" Chinese police have broken up two major child trafficking gangs and freed 181 children, officials say.
Authorities arrested 802 suspects on Monday in an operation across the country, the Public Security Ministry said in a statement. Kidnapped children are often sold for adoption, or as labour and household servants. Child-trafficking has become a serious problem in China and critics blame the one-child policy and lax adoption laws. These policies, some say, have created a thriving underground market for buying children. A traditional preference for male heirs in China has created a thriving market for baby boys, says the BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing.
In the latest operation, the children were rescued from traffickers in 15 regions and provinces, including Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, Yunnan. One child's kidnap story. US, EU and Japan challenge China on rare earths at WTO. China's leaders jockey for top posts. 12 March 2012Last updated at 21:06 ET By Michael Bristow BBC News, Beijing Xi Jinping, right, and Li Keqiang are expected to retain their seats in the party's politburo There are no opinion polls, no official candidates, not even a declared race - but a political campaign has begun in China.
Senior politicians are vying to secure promotion when the Chinese Communist Party reshuffles its top leaders later this year. Some are using China's annual parliamentary session, currently taking place in Beijing, to push their competing claims. Whoever emerges at the top of the party will have been selected by senior leaders using an unknown process at secret meetings. Chinese citizens will not be involved. But there are those who believe China's 1.3 billion people should have more say in how the country's leaders are chosen. China will begin the process of handing over power to a new group of leaders at the end of this year when the party holds its 18th congress. All the others are up for grabs. Viewpoint: A year of transition, uncertainty and change. 2 January 2012Last updated at 17:13 By Rajiv Biswas Asia-Pacific Chief Economist, IHS Global Insight China's continued economic expansion is key to the region's overall growth In the Chinese Zodiac, 2012 is the Year of the Water Dragon - marking a year of transition, uncertainty and change.
The Asia-Pacific economies certainly face considerable uncertainty as well as headwinds in 2012, with the eurozone already sliding into recession at the end of 2011, while the momentum of US economic recovery - although encouraging in recent months - remains moderate at best. The Year of the Dragon will also be a year characterised by political uncertainty, with presidential elections in the US and France, as well as leadership change in China. In autumn 2012, the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China will elect the new Central Committee and Politburo Standing Committee members. Supporting pillars Continue reading the main story “Start Quote End Quote Weak links? Risk factors. Tibetan student 'killed in third Sichuan, China clash' 27 January 2012Last updated at 16:11 Police and troops are out in force in Sichuan Chinese security forces have shot and killed a young Tibetan man in Sichuan province, Tibetan campaign groups say.
The death in Aba prefecture would be at least the third such killing this week. Police and troops opened fire when a crowd gathered to protect another man being sought for distributing leaflets in Aba, the Free Tibet group said. There has been no official comment from Chinese authorities. Officials have confirmed that two Tibetans were killed in earlier protests in Sichuan. Self-immolations The BBC's Damian Grammaticas says tensions have been rising in Sichuan, in south-west China, since a young monk died after setting himself on fire in Aba last March. His actions have led to a wave of at least 15 more self-immolations by Tibetan monks and nuns.
Continue reading the main story The Tibet Divide Campaign groups identified the dead man as a 20-year-old student called Urgen who was in the crowd. Viewpoint: Are Tibet burnings plot or policy failure? 16 November 2011Last updated at 00:18 Most of the self-immolations have taken place near Kirti monastery in Sichuan Eleven monks and nuns have set themselves on fire in ethnic Tibetan parts of Sichuan province this year.
Robert Barnett of Columbia University looks at what has caused these incidents and how China is choosing to respond. Responses to protest are basically of two kinds. The first sees protests as a stratagem or plot to damage the government. The Chinese government's handling of the self-immolations by Tibetans this year has so far been of this type, denouncing them as "terrorism in disguise" and "connected to overseas Tibet independence forces". It responded in a similar way to protests that spread across the Tibetan plateau three years ago, and to violent protests by Uighurs in north-west China in 2009, in each case accusing exile leaders of fomenting them. 'Legal education' What are the implications of these two approaches?
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote End Quote. Oblicza Chin - Absolwenci (dokument ) How China is advancing its military reach. 18 January 2012Last updated at 00:30 In recent months China's airforce and navy have rolled out new hardware As the US shifts its focus to Asia, Alexander Neill, head of the Asia Security Programme at the Royal United Services Institute, sets out the Chinese military advances challenging the regional balance.
At the Pentagon recently, US President Barack Obama announced deep cuts to the US military and set out a shift in attention towards the Asia-Pacific region, in a thinly-veiled message to China. Despite a narrative of peaceful intent, China's leaders have struggled to reassure the US over the direction of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Both countries admit that their military dialogue falls well behind other aspects of the relationship. So the shift has brought renewed scrutiny of the PLA's latest capabilities against US dominance in the Pacific. The obvious message is to deliver a powerful warning if Taiwan were to declare formal independence. 'Unrestricted warfare' Space theatre.
Controll. Economy. PL. Guangdong. Kong, or 'control', is character of the year in China. 15 December 2011Last updated at 17:11 The Chinese character "kong" generally means "control". The Chinese character "kong" has been chosen as character of the year for 2011. More than two million internet users took part in the selection, say the organisers of the state-backed poll. Kong generally means "control" and replaces 2010's "zhang" which means "price hikes".
The organisers say the choice symbolises the government's economic policy, which is aimed at keeping inflation under control. The widespread use of "kong" by Chinese people when discussing control of the internet, media and society was not mentioned in the official reports. The phrase of the year is "shang bu qi" which means "too delicate to bear a blow". China's growing importance in a globalised world economy was reflected in the choice of "debt" and "euro debt crisis" as the international word and phrase of the year. In last year's poll "zhang" was followed by the characters for "resentment", "grey", "demolish" and "death".
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