Trade
Fugitive Official on Trial in the US
China and South Korea Sign FTA
Yang Xiuzhu, a former Chinese official, recently appeared in a New York courtroom where she was charged with having settled in the US illegally. Yang, 68, is currently the top name on China’s socalled “Red Warrant” list of fugitive “economic criminals.” She served as deputy mayor of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, before moving abroad in 2003. According to China’s National Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Party’s top anti-corruption agency, while in office, Yang allegedly accepted around 250 million yuan (US$39.7) in bribes. Previously, Yang was questioned by Dutch police in 2005 while living in the Netherlands, and was ordered to leave the country in 2009, only managing
to remain by launching a series of legal appeals. On the eve of her extradition to China in May 2014, she allegedly used a fake passport to gain entry to the United States. The US court has yet to render its verdict, and a recent request for political asylum filed by Yang’s legal team will likely slow the process further. Given that the US has no extradition treaty with China, Yang’s ultimate fate remains uncertain.
Society
Maritime Disaster in Yangtze River 442 people drowned in the Yangtze River after the Eastern Star, a Chinese passenger liner traveling from Nanjing to Chongqing, capsized and sank on June 1. According to the ship’s captain, who survived the sinking, the accident happened at around 9:30 PM when a freak tornado hit the vessel without warning. Despite a relief effort involving over 1,000 police divers and professional rescue personnel, only 12 people survived. Since other vessels in close proximity to the Eastern Star did not sink despite the stormy conditions, some have doubted the captain’s claims and criticized official media reports supporting his
version of events that were published before an official investigation into the disaster had been concluded. Some experts have openly questioned how a 10-year-old liner with a 2,200-ton displacement could be capsized so easily, even in high winds. At press time, the government investigation into the People’s Republic’s worst-ever maritime disaster had yet to publish its findings.
Policy
Zhou Yongkang Sentenced to Life Former Politburo Standing Committee member of the CPC Central Committee Zhou Yongkang was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 11, about six months after his arrest in December 2014. The middle court of Tianjin Municipality, where the low-key trial was held, found Zhou guilty on three charges: bribery, misuse of power and revealing State secrets. According to the official Xinhua News Agency, Zhou received around 130 million yuan (US$20m) in bribes from lower-level officials and the leaders of State-owned enterprises. Given that Zhou is the biggest “tiger” so far brought down by President Xi Jinping’s far-reaching crackdown on corruption, State media have highlighted the outcome, if not the process, of Zhou’s trial. The public, meanwhile, has argued that, given his notoriety, the former security czar deserved a harsher penalty. The court, however, claimed that the sentence was appropriate as Zhou had pleaded guilty and returned the bulk of his ill-gotten gains. NEWSCHINA I August 2015
On June 1, China’s commerce minister Gao Hucheng concluded a free trade agreement (FTA) with his South Korean counterpart, ending three years of bilateral negotiations. According to media reports, the new agreement, which is scheduled to take effect before the end of 2015, covers 17 sectors, including commodities trading, e-commerce, competition policy, government purchase and environmental protection. By 2035, both countries have pledged to eliminate tariffs on around 90 percent of the imported products included in these categories, which represent 85-91 percent of bilateral import volume. The agreement also pledges to facilitate mutual financial investment. South Korean contractors, for example, will be exempted from China’s restrictions on foreign investment in the new Shanghai Free Trade Zone. Experts estimated that the agreement will help raise China’s GDP by 1-2 percent and South Korea’s by 2-3 percent. It is also expected to smooth negotiations on separate putative agreements between both countries and Japan.
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Photos by Xinhua and IC
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