BBC Monitoring Quotes From China, Taiwan Press 30 Mar 07

The following is a selection of quotes from editorials and commentaries carried in 29-30 March 2007 website editions of mainland Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwan newspapers available to BBC Monitoring. Unless otherwise stated, the quotes are in Chinese. The figure in brackets after the quote indicates the date of publication on the website

"Military action against Iran would greatly harm US strategic interests"

Beijing’s Zhongguo Qingnian Bao (China Youth Daily, newspaper sponsored by Chinese Communist Party Communist Youth League): zqb.cyol.com "We believe that the new sanctions resolution passed by the Security Council is unreasonable and does not comply with the requirements of international law. It is a political resolution… Military action against Iran has not advantage for the US and its strategic interests will incur very big losses… As for the present situation, if the United States and other countries no longer set unreasonable conditions for negotiations with Iran, Iran is very willing to return to the negotiating table…" (Interview with Javad Mansuri, Iranian ambassador to China) (30)

British navy

2. "…We think that they [British navy] obviously invaded Iran’s territorial waters. We have enough information and evidence to prove this point… The reason why Britain has made a big fuss about this issue is to cover up its illegal activities. Iran will comply with the relevant provisions and procedures of international law to handle this matter in a reasonable manner…" (Javad Mansuri; same interview as above) (30)

Oil prices

Shanghai’s Diyi Caijing Ribao (China Business News): dycj.ynet.com/ "…The United States has ulterior motives on the Iranian nuclear issue. Since it is almost impossible for it to concede to the other side, it can be predicted that the Middle East will remain at loggerheads for a period of time in the future, and the situation is likely to further intensify. This has determined the overall trend of gradually rising crude oil prices. Once the situation in the Middle East clearly intensifies, it can be expected to push prices past the historic peak of 78 US dollars in 2006." (Liu Tao, financial analyst) (29)

"Japan government ‘behind honouring of war criminals’"

Beijing’s China Daily in English: www.chinadaily.com.cn "They (the documents [released by the Yasukuni Shrine]) are a systematic record of what the Japanese government and Yasukuni jointly did in honouring the war criminals… [Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe’s remarks [refuting claims that the Japanese government was involved in arranging for war criminals to be honoured at the Yasukuni Shrine] are obviously contradictory to the facts." (Interview with Jin Xide, senior researcher, Institute of Japanese Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) (30)

"Constitutional crisis shadow troubling EU"

Renmin Ribao: "…A constitutional crisis will weaken the EU’s role in global affairs… The EU must first win back public confidence to get out of the current constitutional crisis. On the one hand, it must change the situation of ‘the EU and its headquarters in Brussels being extremely distant from EU citizens, and the decision-making process there being very difficult for ordinary people to understand’, and narrow the gap between the elite and the grassroots; and more importantly, in today’s era of rapid and deeper economic globalization, all member state governments must pay attention to the resolution of public employment and livelihood issues…" (Feng Zhongping, director, Institute of European Studies, China Institute of Contemporary International Relations) (30)

Renminbi exchange rate

Hong Kong’s Wen Wei Po (Beijing-backed daily): www.wenweipo.com "…The aims of some congressmen in the United States in making a big fuss about the renminbi exchange rate issue once again is to find a scapegoat for the problems that exist in their own economy… China will not back down… The renminbi exchange rate issue is a matter within the scope of China’s sovereignty, and it will never change the pace of exchange rate reform because of US pressure. The United States should shift its pressure to changing its outdated way of resolving trade disputes, and go through the communication mechanism already set up by the two sides. Consultative dialogue in a rational manner can resolve the problem more easily." (Editorial) (30)

"Australia’s rainforest initiative not enough"

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post in English: www.scmp.com "…[Australian Prime Minister] John Howard has launched a fund to protect the world’s rainforests, an idea which, if it gains momentum, would be a valuable weapon in the battle to stop temperatures from rising… As laudable as this effort is, however, it does not abrogate Australia of the responsibility to cut its emissions of greenhouse gases…" (Editorial) (30)

"New public broadcaster should not bear the burden of RTHK"

Wen Wei Po: "…We believe that the [Committee on the Review of Public Service Broadcasting] report will help clarify the development direction of Hong Kong’s public broadcasting, it is in line with the world trend of public broadcasting operations and worthy of recognition. Looking at the recommendations in the report, the opposition to turning Radio Television Hong Kong [RTHK] into an independent public broadcaster is very reasonable. If the new public broadcaster is formed from RTHK, it will not only involve a large amount of money to transfer staff, the old culture and a host of ills at RTHK will be left intact and this will not bring a new organization, only superficial changes. Hong Kong’s public broadcasting service will still be unable to identify a clear role and position…" (Editorial) (29)

Hong Kong’s Apple Daily: appledaily.atnext.com/ "…We believe that the proposal of the review committee is not only wrong, it is terribly wrong. RTHK no doubt needs to reform and needs to advance with the times in terms of management, structure and employment policy. However, the contributions of RTHK cannot be obliterated and this credible broadcaster with 70 odd years of experience cannot be written off because of this… What reason does the review committee have to ‘kill off’ such a credible media organization?.. This will certainly do more harm than good for Hong Kong’s public broadcasting service and Hong Kong society!" (Lo Fung) (30)

Hong Kong’s Oriental Daily News: orientaldaily.on.cc "…The government’s main aim in initially setting up the Committee was to find a new path for RTHK, and now the Committee has handed this responsibility back to the government. Wasn’t it completely worthless setting up this Committee?.. Frankly speaking, we think the Committee report has no value whatsoever, because Hong Kong certainly does not lack public broadcasting organizations… Setting up a public broadcasting organization is not only wasteful, it will create chaos in media management and create unfair competition… Taxpayers will have to pay millions for this every year…" (Editorial) (29)

2. "…We think that the transformation of RTHK into a new public broadcaster will not be without difficulties, but the true problem certainly does not lie here. RTHK’s historical mission is already completed, and it should die of old age naturally. There is simply no need to let it continue. The chaotic management, unclear accounts and serious corruption in RTHK over the years show that RTHK’s time is up. We do not need to waste more money to give it a boost, let alone consider setting up a new public broadcaster…" (Editorial) (30)

Hong Kong’s Ming Pao: www.mingpaonews.com "…The Committee should not rule out the possibility of RTHK evolving into a new organization and it should not simply plan to start with a fresh slate at this stage. The correct way is to set out different options, present the pros and cons, and study public opinion before reaching a verdict. This would be fairer to the 79-year-old RTHK and its staff… In the 79-year history of RTHK, it has had a good image in the eyes of Hong Kong citizens, its database of produced video and audio is a huge cultural legacy, and existing RTHK staff are also committed to public broadcasting and talented people. This is all worth treasuring…" (Editorial) (29)

Hong Kong’s Singtao Daily: www.singtao.com "…RTHK has a large number of civil servants. If they are unwilling to accept the arrangement, can the government execute an unprecedented mass dismissal?.. In addition to financial problems, there is more likely to be quite a big price to pay politically – besides the controversy and labour dispute triggered over protection for the civil service, there is also the sensitive issue of freedom of speech. No-one can be sure whether the new organization can establish similar credibility to RTHK in the public mind…" (Editorial) (29)

Hong Kong’s Sing Pao Daily News: www.singpao.com "…Taxpayers will not agree to the rationale for the existence of two Hong Kong public broadcasters… The Committee’s report pointed out that the future role of RTHK is not within the scope of the committee review. This explanation does not hold up, and it is also irresponsible… It is unfair to RTHK staff. This is because the establishment of a new Hong Kong broadcaster will certainly take away work from the existing RTHK… Therefore, from the perspective of taxpayers and the interests of existing RTHK staff, the Committee must come up with a comprehensive study plan on whether a new Hong Kong broadcaster should be set up…" (Editorial) (29)

"Heed global warning on sinking Shanghai"

China Daily in English: "Shanghai’s skyline may look futuristic, but that future is now shadowed by recent comments that the city could be inundated by ocean water by 2050… While global warming may still be debatable for some, the deteriorating environment is a hard fact… Even if what [environmental writer for the British newspaper The Guardian, Paul] Brown and [former US vice-president Al] Gore claim about Shanghai and other coastal cities is hypothetical, it should at least serve as a warning to all of us to do something for our deteriorating environment…" (Chen Weihua) (30)

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