05/20/2010 Source: Agencies

A college professor accused of organizing a swingers club and holding private orgies in China was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison, in a case that touched off national debate about sexual freedom, the Associated Press reported.

Ma Yaohai, 53, was convicted and sentenced on charges of group licentiousness for participating in group sex parties, said an official from the Qinhuai District Court in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.

Ma, along with 21 other people, was arrested and charged last year – the first time anyone has been charged under a 1997 law in a case that has snagged huge public interest with its titillating details. It also generated debate about sexual freedom in a nation trying to reshape its own modern morality.

The China News Service reported that the other 21 were given lighter sentences, ranging from probation only up to three years, because they demonstrated ‘good attitudes’ by pleading guilty.

The maximum sentence for the crime was five years in prison.

Ma’s attorney Yao Yong’an said his client, who was the only one to plead innocent, plans to appeal the verdict.

Prosecutors had accused Ma, a computer science professor at Nanjing University of Technology, of organizing a swingers club, where members met online and gathered in private homes or hotels for group sex parties.

But Ma had maintained that he committed no crime, arguing that his activities involved consenting adults meeting in non-public places.

His defiance seemed to strike a chord in an era of relative sexual freedom, where extramarital affairs and prostitution are common – drawing support from those who believe the authorities should stay out of the bedroom.

Chinese have debated whether the country’s laws on sexual behavior were outdated in a society that undergone stark changes in its attitudes toward sex.

Sociologist and sex expert Li Yinhe, who had been among the most vocal public defenders of Ma, said she was disappointed in the court’s ruling, adding “Ma Yaohai shouldn’t be sentenced at all.”

With rising prosperity and an easing of government controls on personal freedoms, China has moved toward a more progressive view on sex, though attitudes remain more traditional in the countryside than in urban centers.

05/17/2010 Source: Xinhua

The recent slump in Chinese equities has turned the stock market into an attractive investment option for investors. Pan Weiting says there is no better place to put her money than in stocks.

Pan shelved plans to buy an apartment after real estate prices jumped the most on record and the government banned loans for third homes to cool the economy. Interest on the 400,000 yuan she has in her bank account is being eaten away by rising inflation, and the country’s regulations limit her investment choices to property or domestic equities.

“The stock market is the best choice at the moment,” said Pan, a 27-year-old Shanghai accountant. “Even the bank staff advised me against depositing more money.”

Government leaders sought to deflate a speculative bubble that London-based property broker Knight Frank LLP said sent property prices up 25 percent in the fourth quarter by curbing mortgage loans. It left people in the nation with the world’s biggest savings with few places to put their money.

US investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co expects China stocks to rally more than 40 percent in a year while Robeco Group, an asset management company in the Netherlands, forecast a second-half rebound.

“It becomes a question of who is the least ugly girl at the fair,” said Victoria Mio, a Hong Kong-based senior fund manager at Robeco, whose firm oversees $194 billion worldwide. “There is some migration occurring and the shift will accelerate with a few months of negative interest rates.”

As much as $59 billion, about a third of the housing transaction volumes in the 35 biggest cities in 2009, may be diverted from property to equities this year, according to Citic Securities, China’s biggest listed brokerage.

China’s $7.2 trillion of corporate and household savings is being eroded as inflation rises. The nation’s inflation rate is forecast to climb 3.4 percent this year, according to the median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg on May 11.

The Shanghai Composite Index has declined 17 percent this year, the world’s second-worst performer among the 93 gauges tracked by Bloomberg. It’s happened on concern the government will keep tightening monetary policy to contain inflation and avert asset bubbles. “Chinese stocks would be their first choice for investment because they may remain cautious about the property market in the short term,” said Shi Lei, a Beijing-based analyst at Bank of China Ltd, the biggest foreign currency trader. “The fixed deposit would be their last choice.”

But Zhang Qi, an analyst at Haitong Securities, said the capital diverted from the property market was unlikely to alter the near-term weak momentum of the stock market. “We do expect a certain amount of capital to flow into the stock market but the impact is not going to be strong enough to change the current weak trend in the market,” he said.

However, logistics company owner Hu Jielin says Chinese equities are still the best investment choice. He spent 9 million yuan buying apartments in Shanghai, where average home prices have risen threefold in the past five years, according to data from Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co and eHomeday.com.

Hu, 33, said he would not buy more property given the government’s curbs. Instead, he plans to double his stock investments in the next six months to 3 million yuan.

“Property prices are probably going to take a breather with the current tightening,” said Hu. “Currently stocks look the best bet.”

For Pan Weiting, equities also trump home ownership for now. She doesn’t plan to resume her search for an apartment in Shanghai’s eastern Pudong district until prices decline by 20 percent.

“It’s always good to own the roof over your head but you’ve got to be able to afford it. For now, it’s out of my reach,” she said.

China’s Courts to Diversify Jury Pool

05/17/2010 Source: Xinhua

Outspoken, honest, and trustworthy — these are among a list of criteria as lower courts around China started to pick a new five-year-term jurors this year. In addition, more will not be Communist Party or government officials.

In a bid to improve the jury system, which is in its fifth year of reform, China will implement stricter juror selection rules and continue to diversify the jury pool, the country’s senior court officials said.

About 54,000 people will be selected for a “pool” of juror candidates this month, in a process that has taken place every three years since 2005. After the retiring batch replaced, China will have roughly 80,000 jurors, taking part in criminal and civil cases at lower courts.

“We need jurors who can speak out for justice. And we need jurors of different ages, ethnicities, and from different sectors,” Zhou Zemin, head of the political department of the Supreme People’s Court, told Xinhua at a judicial seminar in the southeastern Fujian Province over the weekend.

China started to widen the use of jury trials five years ago. Under the current system, jurors can sit on a panel of three with professional judges and exercise almost equal power.

Unlike their British and American counterparts who decide matters of fact only, Chinese jurors decide on both factual and legal issues. But in practice, inexperienced jurors commonly take a back seat and stay silent while professional judges arbitrate cases.

Officials say the jury reform has made strides, but imminent problems need to be solved, juror pools being one.

Huang Zhendong, chairman of the Internal and Judical Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress, said attention should be paid to the number and quality of jurors.

“We need to raise the sense of responsibility of jurors and improve the system to appoint and remove jurors,” Huang said.

Critics say the jury pool should include more trusted and capable citizens who are not officials in the Party or the government.

Zhou gave no breakdowns by profession of the current jurors, but he said it was necessary to pick jurors from a wider pool that could represent different sectors of society.

The lower courts will announce the pool selection to the public and chosen candidates need to be approved by the local legislature.

Officials say approved jurors will undergo comprehensive training after being selected. Among the courts in which jury trials are practiced, half have applied a random selection process to call on jurors to participate.

According to the Supreme People’s Court, the number of jurors — roughly 77,000 — has risen to more than a half of the number of lower court judges. Jurors sit in on about 20 percent of cases in the lower courts.

05/12/2010 Source: People’s Daily

Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc will enhance its position in China through strategic partnerships and possible mergers and acquisitions (M&A) with competitors and peers, a top company official said on Tuesday.

Vanessa Lau, group chief financial officer of Alcoa’s Global Flat Rolled Products Division, told China Daily that the move will help Alcoa to own a smelter in China.

At the same time, Alcoa would also look at acquiring or forming partnerships with Chinese aluminum producers who have access to hydroelectric dams or other sustainable green programs.

“We have always considered going upstream. It’s a continuous process for us to talk to potential parties (for possible tie-ups or acquisition). A potential partner has to live up to our sustainability image,” said the CFO.

At present, Alcoa – the world’s third-largest aluminum producer behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal – has 26 smelters in different locations across the world.

No specific timeframe has, however, been set for the deals. Lau said Alcoa could also consider an organic growth path or a combination of organic and inorganic growth.

Owning a smelter in China will help Alcoa to move its operations upstream, a process that involves mining and refining of bauxite, the most commercially mined aluminum ore.

Bauxite ore is refined into a white powder called alumina, which in turn makes the aluminum used to produce the world’s cars, planes, houses and mobile phones.

Alcoa is currently involved in the downstream process, which involves smelting, casting and fabricating.

A smelter that has access to hydroelectric source translates to low energy costs. Historically, the most lucrative aluminum smelter plants have been located near hydroelectric dams or have access to large reserves of cheap natural gas.

Aluminum smelters need access to decades of low-cost energy to be profitable. In China, aluminum producers face difficulty in securing low-cost electricity from coal-fired power stations.

She said global aluminum consumption is forecast to grow by 10 percent this year, with growth largely driven by China.

Partnerships with Chinese producers are not uncommon for Alcoa.

On Feb 12, 2009, Alcoa and Aluminum Corporation of China announced that they would jointly explore opportunities to expand their commercial relationship.

In 2009, Alcoa recorded revenues of $18.4 billion.

Prices for aluminum have been moving upward since the first quarter of 2009, largely on strong Chinese government stockpiling, hedge fund demand and a weak US dollar.

China, the biggest consumer of the metal, cut purchases after record imports last year as local smelters resumed production.

Aluminum prices are likely to correct from current levels, but it’s not expected to return to the low prices of late 2008 and early 2009. Some of the gains since then will last, said a report by Moody’s Investors Service.

05/12/2010 Source: Xinhua

A man who served 11 years of a 29-year prison sentence for murder was freed Monday after he was convicted of killing turned up alive, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The Higher People’s Court in Henan Province confirmed on Sunday that the man thought to be the killer, Zhao Zuohai, is in fact innocent, and that the procedure for compensation according to national regulations will be launched.

In 1997, Zhao was involved in a fight with another villager, Zhao Zhenshang, who then vanished as he feared further violence. His family reported Zhao Zhenshang was missing, and he earned his living collecting garbage.

In 1999, the authorities found a headless body believed to be Zhao Zhenshang. Zhao Zuohai was detained and confessed to the killing.

Zhao Zuohai’s wife, Zhao Xiaoqi, remarried after her husband was jailed. She said that the police locked her in a local factory, beat her for a month and forced her to confess her husband’s crime, the Beijing News reported.

Zhao Zuohai’s relatives said he has scars due to police torture that led to his “confession”.

The case raises public concerns about the police’s use of torture to extract confessions, and the authorities are investigating these allegations.

In addition, the judges who handed down the guilty verdict will be punished, according to Zhang Liyong, chief judge of the Higher People’s Court.

Zhao’s daughter is reportedly filing a claim of one million yuan ($146,434.32) for torture and miscarriage of justice.

05/07/2010 Source: People’s Daily

Top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo met in Beijing with Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Worker’ s Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Wu, member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), spoke highly of Kim’s visit, the fifth in the 21st century.

The 60 years of China-DPRK diplomatic relations has been a period that witnessed major changes in world situation, and the two peoples and the two countries have worked hard with joined hands over the 60 years, Wu said.

He said China-DPRK ties have stood tests and seen constant development in the 60 years.

The meetings of the two countries’ leaders and their discussions of bilateral relations are of vital significance for the development of bilateral ties in the future, he said.

Wu said he believes that with joint efforts, the two countries will surely write a new chapter of bilateral relations in the next 60 years.

Kim agreed with Wu’s remarks on bilateral ties.

The comprehensive development of DPRK-China relations conforms to the fundamental interests of the two parties, the two countries and the two peoples, and there are reasons, foundations and responsibilities for the two sides to enhance friendly exchanges, he said.

The Party and government of the DPRK will, as always, attach importance to and support deepening exchanges and cooperation between the two parliaments, he said.

Kim paid an unofficial visit to China from May 3 to 7 at the invitation of Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese president.

05/07/2010 Source: Xinhua

China will work to make the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) a key voice of Asia and more globally represented, the BFA’s newly-elected secretary-general Zhou Wenzhong said Sunday.

Zhou, a veteran Chinese diplomat, said that for the first time, the BFA’s new board of directors has several members from other continents, including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

This created conditions for the forum to be more globally represented, Zhou told Xinhua before the BFA wrapped up its annual conference on Sunday in Boao in south China’s island province of Hainan.

The forum represents Asia’s consensus and it belongs to the whole Asia, said Zhou, who will take the post from Long Yongtu, former deputy trade minister of China.

The three-day conference, with the theme of “Green Recovery: Asia’s Realistic Choice for Sustainable Growth,” concluded Sunday. It attracted about 2,000 political and business heavyweights and experts from Asia and around the world.

Established in 2001, the BFA is committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries even closer to their development goals.