China

India is concerned about Chinese plans to divert the river’s waters. So far, Beijing has avoided discussing the issue with New Delhi. An expert talks about the thorny issue, which could lead to open conflict or renewed cooperation between the two nations.

Fishermen will no longer be able to slice off shark fins on board. A ban is already in place against tossing the fish back into the water after removing its fin. Every year, 73 million sharks are slaughtered this way, 4 million in Taiwan alone.

Higher prices affect in particular food. Pork prices jump 57.1 per cent over June 2010. The authorities fear rising social tensions.

As inflation rises and the shares of China’s big banks lose value, Moody’s issues a warning against “bad debt”. The crisis of China’s economic boom appears irreversible. Experts believe that the country’s model of development must change to empower ordinary Chinese vis-à-vis the state.

International public opinion is concerned that the young people’s revolt is sliding towards fundamentalism. Many religious authorities fear for the fate of Christians. The Synod of the Middle East, held a few months before the "jasmine revolution", raised many issues that have become buzzwords of Arab youth movements. Maybe for now Islam will win, but the Arab world is changing and the Church is committed to this change.

Fr Joseph Huang Bingzhang, who is politically connected and ambitious, is the candidate. The Holy See told him on several occasions that it was opposed to his ordination. The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association plans more unlawful ordinations.

Bishop Pei Junmin received an order to attend the Episcopal ordination in Shantou on 14 July. The candidate has no papal mandate. His priests are defending him from forced deportation.

The media frenzy originated from Hong Kong television channel ATV, which interrupted broadcasts with news of the death of the leader, president from 2003 to '93. Jiang is very ill and his influence is strong in the choice of the new generation of leaders in 2012.

Beijing praises Nepali police crackdown against Dalai Lama supporters. For China’s new ambassador to Kathmandu, demonstrations by Tibetan activists do not count. China and India are competing for the economic control of South Asia.

China’s foreign minister fails to find common ground with the Philippines’ secretary of state who is visiting China. Their discussions centred on the Spratly and Paracel Islands. A huge anti-Chinese demonstration is planned for tomorrow in Manila and the main cities of the United States, Canada and Australia.

Ai Weiwei’s “release” is a smoke screen used to daze the West. The truth is that the repression in China is continuing and, indeed, worsening. Large multinationals, which have sold the human rights of Chinese people and their own values for cash, are co-conspirators. The denunciation of the great Chinese dissident.

Chinese milk has a low protein level and high levels of bacteria. “What is produced from garbage is garbage,” one critic says. Ordinary people are concerned in the wake of the melamine-tainted milk scandal. The government lowers safety levels because producers cannot meet stricter standards. Some 70 per cent of milk producers would go out of business if forced to meet them.