Milestone for China's space race

Milestone for China's space race
Email Print Normal font Large font Edward Cody, Beijing
May 15, 2007


The rocket, with the satellite on board.
Photo: Reuters

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AdvertisementCHINA has launched a Chinese-made communications satellite into
orbit for Nigeria, the first time it has built a commercial satellite and put it
into orbit on contract for another country.

The launch before dawn yesterday from the Xichang space centre in south-western
Sichuan, was another sign of China's increasing prowess in space.

Its space agency, which is managed by the military, sent two astronauts into
orbit in October 2005 in China's second manned spaceflight.

The Government last week adopted a 10-year plan for expanded space exploration,
including more manned flights and unmanned probes of the moon and beyond.

Beijing's emphasis on space-based information warfare, its military-backed
program and rapid progress have caused worries in the United States.

The concern intensified after the successful January 11 test-firing of an
anti-satellite missile, which some analysts said was a risk to the satellites on
which US military forces rely for navigation and weapons guidance.

But the launch of the NIGCOMSAT-1, aboard a Long March 3B rocket, was more of a
commercial challenge, Chinese officials said. The official New China News Agency
said China secured the $US311 million ($A373 million) contract in 2004 in a
bidding process in which 21 other companies took part.

Great Wall Industry Corporation president Wang Haibo said the Nigerian contract
ushered China onto the shortlist of countries that can build, launch and
maintain a satellite for other nations. In the 1990s, China frequently launched
satellites for other countries ? but after they were built elsewhere ? and
acquired a reputation for providing these services more cheaply than other
countries. About 30 contracts have been signed for future launches, Chinese
officials said.

The new launch was seen as a symbol of China's broad network of economic
relations with Africa. As its economy forges ahead, with growth of nearly 10 per
cent a year, China has been eager to establish commercial relations with
oil-producing nations such as Nigeria.

"The satellite represents China's wish to co-operate with developing countries
in the peaceful use of outer space and to promote a closer relationship between
China and African countries," the New China News Agency said.

Nigerian officials hailed the launch as a breakthrough in getting away from
exclusive reliance on oil.

Managing director of the project Hammed Rufai said the satellite would help
Nigeria move towards knowledge-based industries. Nigeria hoped to sell
communications bands to neighbouring African countries.

Chinese officials said the geostationary satellite would provide communications
services over Africa and parts of the Middle East and southern Europe. It would
be working by the end of the year, they said, and was expected to last 15 years.

The satellite will be managed from a control station in Abuja, the Nigerian
capital.

China has an ambitious space program. In 2003, it became the third country ?
after the former Soviet Union and the US ? to launch a man into space in its own
rocket.

WASHINGTON POST, REUTERS

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Man dies after nightclub row
Email Print Normal font Large font Dan Harrison
May 14, 2007 - 7:55AM

Advertisement
AdvertisementHomicide detectives will today visit a Frankston nightclub that was
the scene of a fight on Saturday night, which left a man dead.

A 30-year-old Frankston man hit his head heavily on the road during a fight
outside the 21st Century nightclub about 11.20pm on Saturday.

He was rushed to the Alfred hospital where he underwent emergency surgery but
died about 6.20pm last night.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner.

They are urging anyone who witnessed the fight to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800
333 000 or to visit www.crimestoppers.com.au.

theage.com.au


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'Punished' for having children
Email Print Normal font Large font By Farah Farouque
May 14, 2007

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AdvertisementAUSTRALIA'S human rights chief says women are being "punished" in
the workplace for producing the next generation.

Renewing a bid for paid maternity leave to be put on the Federal Government's
agenda, the president of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, John
von Doussa, said failure to set up a universal scheme was "unfortunate policy"
and plainly wrong.

Pregnant women are legally entitled to a year's unpaid leave, but paid maternity
leave remains a matter for the employer. Two-thirds of women have no access to
paid maternity leave.

"Women are getting punished for the simple fact that they, genetically, are
those with the function to produce the next generation," Mr von Doussa told The
Age. "Why should they suffer the penalty?"

The remarks come as up to 60 women's groups prepare to meet in Melbourne next
month to build momentum on the issue.

The groups range from the YWCA to the Women's Electoral Lobby and Country
Women's Association.

Mr von Doussa said the maternity payment, or "baby bonus", had proved no
substitute for universal maternity leave as it did not help reserve a place in
the workforce for mothers who took time out.

The commission has been pressing for 14 weeks of paid leave capped at the
minimum weekly wage.

"The average time women take out is closer to 35 to 40 weeks," Mr von Doussa
said. "Australia remains one of only two OECD countries that lacks a
(compulsory) paid maternity leave scheme."

He said research showed that mothers frequently resigned when they had babies so
they could access accrued entitlements such as long service leave. While changes
in last week's federal budget would help offset child-care costs, he said a more
comprehensive plan was needed to respond to the challenges of juggling work and
home and to secure better female participation in the workplace.

"The reality is, particularly with mothers having children later, women who are
leaving the workforce to have children are a highly skilled and experienced
group," he said.

The Federal Opposition recently flagged plans to give working couples a right to
take up to two years' unpaid parental leave ? one year each. Under the policy,
parents of preschool children would also gain a right to ask their employer to
provide more flexible working arrangements.

Labour has previously committed to pursuing a mandatory right to paid maternity
leave.

Barbara Po***, the author of The Labour Market Ate My Babies, said it was
"absolutely shocking" that Australia continued to lag on something as basic as
paid maternity leave.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that while more women with children
have taken on paid work over the past decade, Australian women of child-bearing
age still had among the lowest workforce participation rates for advanced
nations.

"The participation of women ? is around 10 per cent behind many of our
first-world trading partners," Professor Po*** said.

http://www.hreoc.gov.au

=================================================
Burglar's been everywhere
Email Print Normal font Large font May 14, 2007 - 1:08PM



Advertisement
AdvertisementMelbourne police are trying to track down a burglar who rides the
city's train system selecting properties near stations to break into.

Regional Response Unit detectives say the man they are after might be homeless
yet he's believed to have committed up to 75 burglaries across Melbourne in the
past six months.

He uses the train system to seek out properties close to railway stations for a
quick getaway.

He is believed to have been involved in burglaries dating back to November 2006
at Footscray, Box Hill, East Malvern, Caulfield, Brighton, Prahran, Oakleigh,
Brunswick and Coburg, a police spokeswoman said.

"He mainly steals cash and jewellery, or small items, that can be easily
concealed while he travels on the train," the spokeswoman said.

Police said the thief was believed to have sold his booty on the street or to
second-hand dealers.

They described him as being about 185cm tall, with a thin build and brown hair,
which may by now have been shaved off.

"Police believe the man possibly resides in squats in the central business
district, as well as rooming houses in St Kilda, and may frequent mobile soup
kitchens in the city and North Melbourne area to obtain meals at night," the
spokeswoman said.

AAP

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When will China bubble pop?
David Berman, Financial Post
Published: Monday, May 14, 2007
Any way you look at it, China's investing climate is looking downright scary.
But is there a way to profit from the fear?

The Shanghai composite index's sharp rise in the past 18 months makes the
Nasdaq's glory days in the late 1990s look quaint by comparison. Last year, the
Chinese index soared 130%. This year it is up another 50%, bringing its market
capitalization nearly even with the US$13.5-trillion market cap of the mighty
S&P 500.

On the valuation side, stocks are trading at an average of 42- times earnings,
making the Chinese market the most expensive of the world's major markets.


Email to a friend

Printer friendly
Font: ****And in terms of behaviour, Chinese retail investors are showing some
of the classic signs of euphoria. Faced with low-yielding bank accounts that do
not keep up with inflation, they are pouring into domestic equities.

Lately, investors have been opening a total of 300,000 new trading accounts
every day, representing an amazing influx of investors even with China's huge
population.

No doubt, China is an emerging economic superpower whose 11% economic growth in
the first quarter justifies keen investors and a vibrant stock market -- but not
this keen or this vibrant.

Chinese officials have been trying to dampen enthusiasm for the stock market by
raising borrowing costs, to no avail. Nevertheless, Andy Xie, the former Morgan
Stanley economist based in Asia, remarked recently that China is a bubble that
will pop, and sooner rather than later.

Part of the problem, for Chinese investors and anyone else who does not want to
get caught in this oncoming train wreck, is that China's domestic stock market
will entertain just one bet right now -- that stocks will rise. With no
permitted short-selling, where investors can profit from falling stocks, there
is no other game in town.

This is about to change. China unveiled a futures exchange last year, which is
expected to introduce a product that will allow investors to bet against the CSI
300 index of China's largest companies.

Then, Chinese investors will be able to profit from a bearish outlook if in fact
the market does take a turn for the worse. Even better, the short-sellers should
provide some balance to the Chinese stock market since it will then contain
opposing views of where things are headed.

At the very least, the current mania for Chinese stocks should subside into more
cautious bullishness that will make tripledigit gains for the index a thing of
the past. Or, the sudden influx of downside bets will actually cut the index
down to size.

Admittedly, the idea of betting against China is daunting. Foreign investors
(that's us) who have a skeptical outlook on the market have been able to
short-sell the iShares FTSE/ Xinhua China 25 index fund, an exchange-traded fund
of largecapitalization stocks that trades in New York.

But the fund, like the country it mimics, has been on a tear, making the bet an
extremely dangerous and unprofitable activity.

On Friday alone, the ETF jumped 5.5% on news that Chinese authorities will allow
the country's banks to buy shares overseas. But remember: The higher Chinese
stocks rise, the scarier they look.

dberman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx




© National Post 2007
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Intel Settles Legal Dispute in China
Associated Press 05.14.07, 8:25 AM ET


Intel Corp., the world's largest chip maker, said Monday it had settled a
copyright infringement dispute with Shenzhen Donjin Communication Technology
Co., a Chinese maker of telecommunications and network equipment.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) sued Shenzhen
Donjin in 2004 for alleged copyright infringements on technology used for
touch-pad telephone systems. In 2005, a unit of Shenzhen Donjin countersued,
saying that the chipmaker engaged in monopolistic practices. The companies have
agreed to keep confidential the terms of the out-of-court settlement.

"Continuing a lawsuit doesn't benefit each company's best commercial interests,"
the companies said in a joint statement. Beijing Donjin Xinda Technology Co.,
the Shenzhen Donjin unit that filed the countersuit, also signed the statement.

The settlement comes a week before the second meeting of the U.S.-China
Strategic Economic Dialogue in Washington, where Chinese protection of
intellectual property rights will likely be discussed.

Last month, the U.S. filed two complaints to the World Trade Organization,
challenging China's lax protection of copyrights, as well as its restrictions on
the distribution of foreign movies, music and printed materials.
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China's direct investment in Africa exceeds 6 bln U.S. dollars in last seven
years



China's direct investment in Africa over the last seven years amounted to 6.64
billion U.S. dollars, a senior researcher with the Ministry of Commerce said on
Monday.

Addressing a seminar prior to the 2007 Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors
of African Development Bank Group to be held in Shanghai from May 16 to 17, Lu
Bo classified China's investment in Africa into three categories: aid,
external-trade-oriented projects and raw materials development.

According to Lu, China carried out more than 800 aid projects over the past five
decades, including 137 agricultural projects and 133 infrastructure construction
projects.

Since 2000, Lu said, Chinese enterprises had contracted to build in Africa more
than 6,000 kilometers of highways, 3,000-plus km of railroads and eight large
and mid-sized power stations.

Last year, 31 percent of China's offshore contracted engineering projects came
from Africa, Lu said.

In the 1990s, China launched more than 200 trade companies and distribution
centers in Africa. Since 2000, it set up more than 100 processing trade projects
there, Lu added.

Source: Xinhua


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