Turbulent 2008 sees failing confidence

Christmas lights on London's Regent Street

The number “eight” usually means good fortune and luck in Chinese culture. But reflecting on the events of 2008, many people are doubting the good omen the number brings.

China has experienced a turbulent year, from snow storms, floods, earthquakes, milk powder contamination to recent business collapses due to global economic downturn.

The success of the 2008 Olympics and the election of Barack Obama have stood out to be the few inspiring and encouraging events of the year.

Globally speaking, 2008 has turned out to be a year of gloom and doom. It was exemplified by the global impact brought around by the Wall Street financial crisis, and the latest Middle East bloodshed which has left nearly 400 Palestinians dead.

Failing businesses and confidence have spoiled the year-end festival mood in the West, especially in the UK.

Economic recession in Britain is biting its retailers so hard that they are collapsing at a speed nearly as fast as the falling of a decommissioned building after the explosive is detonated.

Latest big British retail brands which have been affected by the downturn include children’s wear retailer Adams and music, DVD and games seller Zavvi.

Zavvi became the 3rd victim within 48 hours following the fall of menswear retailer The Officers Club and tea and coffee specialist Whittard last week.

Some 350 British retail companies have reportedly folded during the 3rd quarter of 2008, according to a UK insolvency service. The figure is 39% higher than a year ago. And 15 more big British relaters are predicted to meet the same fate by mid January.

Zavvi's demise is a domino effect of the closedown of the general store Woolworths, a subsidiary of which was supplying Zavvi.

Woolworths was due to celebrate its 100th birthday next year, but the ill-fated company has failed to survive the downturn and will be consigned to history by January 5.

Woolworths is clearing out all its high street stores across the UK. Its store window notice announcing "last five days" reflects well the declining British economy and creates a psychological blow to anyone passing by.

Losing in competition to online retailers and supermarkets is one reason why many high street sales are plunging. The loss of sales is why some of them have been forced into administration.

Offering Christmas sales had become the only option left for UK high street retailers to make the last-ditch profits of the year. If retailers fail to make money during the Christmas, there is a slim chance they will make it through the upcoming year.

For those who are in secure employment such as teachers and doctors, this Christmas offers a unique chance for them to enjoy a shopping spree. However, it has turned out to be the most depressing Christmas for those who have lost their jobs or are feeling uncertain about their future.

This misery was touched upon by Queen Elizabeth II as she started her annual Christmas speech. "Christmas is a time for celebration, but this year it is a more sombre occasion for many," she said.

Many people are enjoying shopping in the West End of London. For some, it is also a nice day out to feel the festival atmosphere. "I made a trip a few days ago to London, I have to say the Christmas lights on Regent Street this year are not as good as before, also only high-end stores were well decorated," said a resident from the outskirts of London.

The media in the UK does not help the gloomy situation at all. Job cuts and failing businesses are breaking the news and making the headlines nearly every day, painting a bleaker picture and sinking consumer's confidence to an all-time low.

British people have been warned of an economic slump deeper than expected. As a result, thousands of people have lost their jobs; an average 1,600 people will become jobless every day in 2009; house prices are predicted to fall 10 percent in 2009; more people are expected to claim social benefits. Even animal sanctuaries in the country have been inundated with dogs and cats as their owners discard them due to financial difficulties.

Church leaders in the UK have attempted to lift people's spirit during these dark times. Some have urged people not to base their happiness upon materialistic gains and try to see the light of hope at the end of the tunnel.

But their religious epithets will do little to comfort those with bills to pay.


Copyright Dongying Wang,

Visa bars poor nations from UN climate talks

Visa problems have prevented representatives of some of the world's poorest countries from attending the 12-day UN climate change conference, which is to be concluded on Friday in Poznan, Poland.

This has compromised the global event’s role as a half-way stage for the formation of a new climate framework next year in Copenhagen to replace the outgoing Kyoto Protocol in 2012.

It reflects badly on the worldwide determination to tackle climate change, which poses the biggest threat to poor countries.

This occurred despite the host country and the Schengen region having a full year to prepare its consulates, according to a latest news release by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED ).

There are only three Polish Embassies in sub-Saharan Africa; in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. This means that most African delegates have to travel to these countries to obtain their visa or fly into another European country before heading to Poland with a Schengen visa. A Malawian government representative was denied entry on arrival in Europe and had to return to Africa.

Delegates from many of the world’s least developed countries and small island developing states had also faced similar problems in obtaining visas. One Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP) journalist in Pakistan was denied a visa outright.

However, the IIED news release failed to offer an exact number of delegates whose travel plans had been affected. It also did not give any reasons as to why Poland and other Shengen nations delayed or rejected visa applications.

"We feel very frustrated, and think the delay for our delegation to attend the fourteenth session of the UN Climate Change Summit will gravely affect us," said Ben Donnie, head of Liberia's five-man delegation which was held up in Nigeria for a week before the Polish Embassy there granted them visas.

"Surely, this will affect our representation. We want to be there ourselves for all the sessions. Although, as head of the delegation, I have been receiving e-mails about what is happening in Poznan from the summit secretariat, this is not enough. We should have been there from the beginning to make our input and meet with colleagues."

Saleemul Huq, IIED’s climate change head, said: "The first week of the conference includes several strands of important negotiations and the absence of media, NGO and government representatives from the countries most vulnerable to climate change has meant that their concerns have been slipping from the agenda."

"We have lost count of the number of people from such nations that have been unable to attend the full two week conference because of the excessive time taken to process their visa applications,” Huq said, adding that “if this happens again at next year's meeting in Copenhagen, it will be a serious impediment to getting a deal that is fair and equitable."

As a response, Thomas Becker, Denmark's chief negotiator said that: "There are some things we are not in control of but at least the visa we can handle. There won't be any barriers for that. I hope no-one will be sitting back at home because of visa or travel barriers."

There was another ironic scenario. A recent protest by climate change activists forced the closure of London's Stansted airport and left some delegates heading to the Poznan conference stranded.

Jeremy Hinton was due to travel from Stansted to the UN conference, but his flight was cancelled. "It's easy to sympathise with what they're trying to achieve, but [I have] no sympathy with the way they're going about achieving it," he told the BBC.

A BBC environment correspondent, Richard Black was also delayed by the protest and was unable to report from Poland until the following day.


Copyright Dongying Wang

Read the Chinese version of this article on Global News Watch

Low-carbon economy calls for greater scientific input

Facing global economic downturn and the urgency to deal with the climate crisis, many countries have realised that to become stronger in science and technology remains of key importance.

The UK took a remarkable step recently to earmark £250 million ($US367 million) for training more scientists and engineers.

The country's funding body for science and engineering, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), announced that the huge spending will be used to set up 44 new training centres across the country to train over 2,000 PhD students over the next five years.

The efforts are sought to find solutions to public concerns such as climate change and energy issues. Each research centre will concentrate on a specific area, such as security, biomedical engineering and sustainable environment, and 17 of the centres will be working closely with businesses to train industrial doctorates.

British Minister of State for Science and Innovation Paul Drayson said that Britain “needs scientists and engineers with the right skills to find answers to challenges of an ageing population, economic recession and the effects of global warming, build a strong economy and keep us globally competitive.”

China is another country which has also embarked on recently new initiatives to promote sustainable development.

Based on its 22-year-old experiment with sustainability practices, the country designated last week 13 areas in 10 municipalities and provinces to pioneer and trial innovative notions and mechanisms leading to a low-carbon economy.

Chinese Science and Technology Minister Wan Gang said these demonstration zones will explore how to integrate efforts to cut emissions and increase energy efficiency into the strategies outlined for local development. Doing so, the National Climate Change Programme could be put into practice locally, he said.

By 2006, there were more than 21.7 million Chinese scientists and technical professionals, the largest number for any individual country.

Read the Chinese version of this article on Global News Watch

Copyright Dongying Wang

World News Review launches Chinese version

World News Review today launched its Chinese version site by joining efforts with another English blogger tvnewswatch. The Chinese site will highlight news and information on the two English blogs which is not available but maybe of interest to readers in China.

The joint initiative, titled Global News Watch (GNW) , is a further manifestation of news having no national boundaries. It aims not only to increase cross-language information exchange, but also bridge communication between Chinese and English-speaking journalists, bloggers, Internet users, and language learners.

There will be a link added to the bottom of any news which is chosen from the two blogs to be translated into Chinese. Meanwhile, readers of the Chinese news will also be directed by a link to the original English version of the story.

GNW is inviting like-minded bloggers, newspeople, readers and linguists to join the scheme. Please get in touch if you can assist in translation, proofreading, editing and e-marketing.

World News Review concentrates on sustainable development issues, blogs what's happening today with further analysis and research, and draws distinctive conclusions to inspire debate and discussion. It reports China to Western readers with information not available in Western media and also looks into China's situation with an international perspective to represent a big picture.

tvnewswatch is a cutting-edge news blog. In some cases, it even beats big names like CNN and BBC in terms of posting of breaking news.

It keeps an eye on broadcast and print media and reports news events by comparing different coverage. In this aspect, it provides a unique insight into bias and different reporting styles. tvnewswatch is unparalleled and stands out as an irreplaceable source of media and journalism research.

Objectivity and timeliness are the two key criteria of good journalism shared by the two bloggers. This has inspired the creation of the joint Chinese site.

Can solar car world trip motivate leaders?

Solar taxi in Beijing

It's easy for anyone not attending the ongoing Poland UN Climate Change Conference to imagine the excitement of those watching Louis Palmer driving his solar-powered car to the venue.

His arrival on Thursday marked the completion of the first global trip by this innovative mode of transport.

Since July 2007, Palmer has driven the zero-emission car 52,000 km through 38 countries in a little over 17 months. It runs at a maximum speed of 90km per hour, and consumes 8 kWh of electricity per 100 km. This means it only uses one fifteenth of the equivalent energy needed by an average 4X4 vehicle.

Palmer's trip made an astonishing story in media across the world. Surely, it is not only a live demonstration of the practicality of solar energy, but also a strong manifestation of the urgency and importance of the increased application of clean energy.

The Poznan meeting is a half-way stage for next year's formation of a new global climate change roadmap to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which is due to expire in 2012. The effectiveness of the new mechanism is down to the determination and courage of those attending the meeting.

It would be spellbinding to see how they actually respond to Palmer's enterprise. Would they just be thrilled and exhilarated? Or can they be stimulated and even encouraged to enforce reforms in policies and businesses in their own countries to embark on a low-carbon economy?

Energy has become the top issue facing all countries, whether it is about pollution caused by burning fossil fuels as seen in China, a key element in the national security as highlighted in the US, or an essential concern in people's everyday life due to its critical shortage in Africa.

Along with solar power, other clean alternatives, such as wind, biomass and geothermal heat, are instrumental to solving these issues detailed above. The question now is, how far each country is willing to take them?

So as said by Palmer, "Admittedly, as a regular citizen I cannot change the world, but I can demonstrate to the world just how dire the global climate situation has become and how many sophisticated solutions to lower the greenhouse gases already exist, which bring with them many other advantages. "

Copyright Dongying Wang

China counts on rural markets to boost economy

China kicked off Monday a four-year scheme to subsidize the selling of household appliances to its massive rural market, as part of its effort to shore up domestic demand and ease the impact of global economic depression.

The stimulus plan, called "electronic products go down to villagers", is targeting more than 200 million rural households, and expected to generate 920 billion yuan in sales (US$131 billion) over four years.

This initiative has been on trial since late 2007 in the populous Shandong, Henan and Sichuan Provinces as well as Qingdao city. The 20% subsidies offered by the government have prompted a rise of 40% in sales in these areas. China plans to roll out the successful scheme in every rural area by February 2009, bringing with it a lower subsidised rate of 13%.

China's three decades of reform and opening-up has dramatically improved the lives of villagers. As a result, an average of 8 million impoverished people in China shook off the poverty annually from 1978 to 2007.

Purchasing power in rural China has gradually risen. Nowadays it is commonplace to see villagers using mobile phones and computers, and even driving cars. These luxurious goods were not at the top of their priority during the 1990s. What available cash they had was used to purchase color TVs, fridges and washing machines. The symbols of wealth among rural families in the 1980s were bicycles, sewing machine and watches.

Televisions have played a far more important role than other consumer white goods as it helps rural China get to know the outside world. When the first televisions arrived in rural parts of China in the mid 1970s, they created great excitement. Often, they were communal television sets, bringing audiences of excited villagers together to share a completely new experience. At that time, there was only one television set available for every 1,600 people in rural China.

Today, 95% of rural families possess a television. This contrasts with urban families, a third of which own more than one television; Urban ownership of fridges is three times that of rural communities; and the proportion of washing machine users is double.

The four-year national plan aims to increase the use of household appliances in rural China to the 2000 level in urban areas.

China-brand manufacturers have actively engaged in the plan. Foreign brands like Siemens, Panasonic, Nokia and LG also set to join their Chinese counterparts and explore the vast business opportunities in China's rural areas.

The knock-down effect of the financial crisis has taken a toll on China's economy, which relies heavily on exports of a large amount of household appliances. In one example, growth of its colour TV exports alone during the 3rd quarter of this year were pulled back by 11% from a year earlier.

The national export prospects for the last quarter of 2008 are looking bleak, as demands in the West are not thought to be as strong this Christmas.

Some 60% China’s exports are destined for the United States, the EU and Japan, all of which are suffering from serious economic recession.

China forecasts that its 2008 foreign trade will rise by 20% from the 2007 level, reaching US$2.6 trillion. However, the country lowers down its foreign trade growth expectation for 2009 to 8.5%.

The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects 2009 report has warned of the biggest contraction of global economy in 2009 ever since the 1930s.

It also highlights that the globalization has left developing countries to face higher borrowing costs and lower export growth from a crisis started in the developed world.


The photo is from A partial history of television in China

Copyright Dongying Wang

For reproduction of this article, please email: wdy21century@gmail.com