China Conflicted on Its Stance Toward the North

The unusually robust U.S. measures to North Korea’s latest threats have complicated the response of China’s new leadership to Pyongyang.

Many observers see evidence that the leadership is increasingly frustrated by the failure of its North Korea policy, and concerned about the prospects of another military clash on its border, analysts say. But those concerns are still outweighed by military commanders’ desire to maintain Pyongyang as a strategic buffer against the U.S.—a desire that has intensified as a result of the U.S. “pivot” toward Asia.

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Jeremy Page, Wall Street Journal via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/Z2mmbMk7aXg/

Could China and Japan see a spring thaw in relations?

The first shoots of a possible spring thaw in China’s relations with Japan are sprouting after more than six frosty months of a territorial dispute that has pushed the two Asian neighbors to the brink of military confrontation.

In reciprocal, though unofficial, gestures, cultural envoys from both sides are exchanging visits this month in a resumption of such ties that could herald a relaxation of diplomatic tensions, observers here say.

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Peter Ford, Christian Science Monitor via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/tppHk2aB0sU/

Air Pollution Linked to 1.2 Million Premature Deaths in China

Outdoor air pollution contributed to 1.2 million premature deaths in China in 2010, nearly 40 percent of the global total, according to a new summary of data from a scientific study on leading causes of death worldwide.

Figured another way, the researchers said, China’s toll from pollution was the loss of 25 million healthy years of life from the population.

The data on which the analysis is based was first presented in the ambitious 2010 Global Burden of Disease Study, which was published in December in The Lancet, a British medical journal. The authors decided to break out numbers for specific countries and present the findings at international conferences. The China statistics were offered at a forum in Beijing on Sunday.

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Edward Wong, New York Times via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/nR5_BVtlWXY/

Apple’s Apology in China Marks a Rite of Passage for Foreign Brands

Apple Inc (AAPL). Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook apologized to Chinese consumers after two weeks of being lambasted by state-run media for arrogance and poor customer service. The company’s offense? It failed to replace the back covers of iPhones after repairing electronics inside.

Corporate mea culpas have become a rite of passage for international companies criticized by China Central Television, including Volkswagen AG, Carrefour SA (CA) and Yum! Brands Inc (YUM).

The network beamed its program on Apple to more than 1 billion people just hours after Li Keqiang, who has pledged to root out consumer abuses, was named premier. The state-run People’s Daily followed with more than a dozen articles at a time when China struggles to cope with poisonous food, air pollution, government corruption and thousands of dead pigs floating in Shanghai’s drinking water.

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Edmond Lococo, Bloomberg News via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/DuYwjgLeK2k/

Four more rare bird flu cases reported in China

China reported Tuesday that four more people in one province were seriously sickened by a bird flu virus new to humans while cities along the eastern seaboard stepped up public health measures to guard against a disease that has already caused two deaths.

The health bureau of eastern Jiangsu province said in a notice on its website that three women, aged 45, 48 and 32, and an 83-year-old retired man, from different cities in the province, were all critically ill with the H7N9 virus, a diagnosis confirmed by the provincial disease prevention center.

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Associated Press via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/dkOT9XNBz9g/

Tibet Landslide Rescue Work Suspended

Rescue work at the site of a landslide that buried 83 miners in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region was suspended on Monday for fear of further slides.

By Monday afternoon, rescuers had retrieved 36 bodies from the site of the massive landslide, which happened on Friday.

Rescue work was later suspended after geological experts found four cracks with lengths of more than 600 meters on the mountain top, posing risks of a subsequent landslide.

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Xinhua News via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/ectYiZN0UAQ/

Chinese companies pull out before strict IPO audit deadline

A record number of Chinese companies lining up for initial public offerings (IPOs) terminated their applications in the latest round of IPO investigations that require financial reports be filed to the top securities regulator before March 31.

A total of 76 applicants abolished their IPO plans between March 25 and 29, compared with a record of 48 that withdrew applications in about three months since January, Monday’s China Securities Journal (CSJ) reported, citing the latest data from China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

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English.news.cn via CHINA US Focus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ChinaUsFocus/~3/w_QG9j60zC0/