'UFOs spotted over east London'

Of course, they may have just been Chinese lanterns, often seen during lantern festival in China throughout February. But the sight of very bright lights drifting silently towards London in Britain had people stop and stare with puzzlement. At around midnight UK time on Friday 3 bright lights in formation could be seen heading on a bearing of 240° toward London from the east. 

The lights glowed a strong orange and no sound emanated. Witnesses stood around a gasp and out came the camera phones. "They're not helicopters or planes, they're making no sound," one person said. Moments after the first wave of three passed by, two more lights silently floated to the west. Then a single extremely bright light, heading in the same direction passed overhead. A car stopped, the occupants yelling out, "What is it?" The answer, unknown. It may have been aliens, but the most likely explanation is candle-lit Chinese lanterns. Though why someone would launch such things at midnight on the 25th of June is a puzzle in itself!

tvnewswatch, London, UK

William Hague conducts Q&A on Twitter

Britain's Foreign Seceretary conducted a Q&A session on the micro-blogging website Twitter on Thursday and said he hoped to engage with the public again via the social networking site. "I have enjoyed the frank questions and the chance to respond," William Hague said at the end of more than hour of responding to questions posed to him about his current visit to Pakistan. "I hope to do this again soon," he added.

He admitted that it was "challenging to fit everything into 140 characters!" but said many questions had raised some interesting points. Arriving in Pakistan on Wednesday 23rd June, the Foreign Secretary said he was due to meet with the Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani as well as his Foreign Minister during his 3 day visit [APP]. It was "important to build a long-term partnership between our nations," he said on a Twitter post. In Karachi he met with business leaders and visited the Stock Exchange. "Commerce and trade are crucial for the future of Pakistan," Hague proclaimed in a tweet sent on Thursday. 

Many asked Britain's Foreign Secretary about the continuing conflict in Afghanistan and the possibility it would only increase the terror threat. "Will the continuing Afghan war create 100s of potential Trafalgar Square bombers, in the mould of the Times Square bomber?" one Twitter user asked. Hague insisted that the continued military action was necessary. "Troops and civilians are working with Afghan govt to stop this happening in future, safeguarding security for whole region," he said in response.

Asked about the opium production in Afghanistan, William Hague said, "[the] UK supports Afghan Drug Control Strategy. Includes law enforcement action, capacity building, developing alternative livelihoods."

Another Twitter user asked how fighting a war in Afghanistan was protecting residents in the UK and claimed evidence suggested the opposite was true. Again, Britain's Foreign Secretary said that the war was necessary. "If int'l forces left now, threat to region would rise; Taliban could again take control in some areas and al Qaeda would return," Hague said.

Some were evidently concerned at Pakistan having reportedly signed a civil nuclear deal with China and asked William Hague what the UK's position was with regards to the deal. "[We are] aware of reports suggesting that China and Pakistan may be considering renewed civil nuclear cooperation," Hague said, "We have not seen details of any potential arrangement and urge all Nuclear Suppliers Group member states to abide by the relevant guidelines."

While answers were brief, it was interesting to see Britain's Foreign Secretary engaging with people through the Internet directly. Not all MPs use social media, but Twitter is fast becoming a forum through which politicians are helping put democracy into action. While some feeds are from aids, such as President Obama, others are posting the tweets themselves. So far William Hague has 18,333 followers, not as high as Barack Obama's 4,353,240, but significant for a British politician of a newly formed government.

tvnewswatch, London, UK

From the Bogside to the Beanfield & Beijing

Perhaps one bit of news than has dominated British media in the last week, apart from the World Cup, is the release of the Saville Report which after 12 years and a bill of some £200 million released its findings surrounding the events in Northern Ireland known as Bloody Sunday or the Bogside Massacre. Thirteen people died on 30th January 1972 at the hands of the British Army with a fourteenth dying of their injuries several weeks later. The event was a catalyst in Northern Ireland's troubles and became a key element in boosting the popularity within the Catholic community for the Provisional IRA. Over thirty years later much of the violence has stopped. Most para-military organisations have laid down their arms and only a few splinter groups are resolved to continue their fight with the bomb and the gun.

The Saville Report was received well from the families of the victims and those who had campaigned for the truth. The report found that no warning had been given to any civilians before the soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment opened fire. None of the soldiers fired in response to attacks by petrol bombers or stone throwers and some of those killed or injured were clearly fleeing or going to help those injured or dying. Most pointedly the report said none of the casualties was posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting. The report said that many of the soldiers lied about their actions but that the events of Bloody Sunday were not premeditated. Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, and member of Sinn Fein, was present at the time of the violence, the report said. McGuinness was "probably armed with a sub-machine gun" but did not engage in "any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any justification for opening fire" the report said. McGuinness, said to have been the IRA's second-in-command at the time, denied that he was carrying a weapon on the day. Meanwhile, lawyers representing the unnamed soldiers disputed the findings of the report.

Britain's Prime Minister said he was "deeply sorry" and that the killings were "unjustified and unjustifiable" [BBC]. This certainly brought comfort to the families of those who died and the 17 who were injured. But for others it has stirred up a painful past. The following day Lord Tebbit who survived the IRA bombing of Brighton's Grand Hotel in 1984 which left 5 dead and 31 injured. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Lord Tebbit said, "If the victims of Bloody Sunday deserved a public inquiry, so do those of the Brighton bomb". In a further scathing reaction to the idea, suggest by Cameron, that no more expensive inquiries would follow, Lord Tebbit added, "Some victims, the peace process seems to imply, have superior rights to others."

In many respects Lord Tebbit is right. History should not be forgotten or be whitewashed. Costly though it is, and with a risk of stirring up bad feelings, the truth must be sought and set down to set the record straight. But all too often it takes concerted efforts by families to force governments and authorities to acknowledge fault or wrong doing.

In 1985, ITN journalist Kim Sabido stood in a beanfield in Wiltshire and said that there must be a public inquiry into the events he and his crew witnessed, the beating and arrest of travellers who had attempted to make their way to Stonehenge to set up a free festival. "What I have seen in the last thirty minutes here in this field has been some of the most brutal police treatment of people that I've witnessed in my entire career as a journalist. The number of people who have been hit by policemen, who have been clubbed whilst holding babies in their arms in coaches around this field, is yet to be counted. There must surely be an enquiry after what has happened today." There has been no such enquiry to date, and while twenty-one of the travellers were successful in their case against Wiltshire Police for wrongful arrest, assault and criminal damage and awarded £24,000 in damages, the judge refused to award them their legal costs, thereby significantly reducing the amount received.

The Battle of the Beanfield has been seen by some as an example of the state flexing its muscles against whom it saw as subversives. Even the police acknowledged that many of the techniques employed during the events of 1985 had been learnt during the policing of the miners' strike that had started the year before. The Police Review of June 8 1985 reported "The Police operation had been planned for several months and lessons in rapid deployment learned from the miners' strike were implemented."

Some incidents of police brutality have been investigated however. In April this year the Metropolitan Police released a report into the death of Blair Peach, a protester who died in April 1979. In June 2009, the Metropolitan Police Authority decided to publish the original internal police inquiry into Blair Peach's death by the end of the year. As of December 2009, the Crown Prosecution Service was reviewing the internal report and said it would advise police as to whether further action should be taken. The reports into the death of Blair Peach were published on the Metropolitan Police website on 27 April 2010. The conclusion was that Blair Peach was killed by a police officer, but that the other police officers in the same unit had refused to cooperate with the inquiry by lying to investigators, making it impossible to identify the actual killer [BBC].

The shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by anti-terrorist police in 2005 was investigated by the IPCC [Independent Police Complaints Commission]. However findings of two reports released by the IPCC have not satisfied the family and failed to answer many questions as to what led up to the shooting of an unarmed civilian in the mistaken belief he was a suicide bomber. This was not the first time a suspect had been misidentified and shot. Stephen Waldorf was mistaken for escaped criminal David Martin and shot several times by police.

State violence against civilians has also occurred in other western democracies. And many families of the victims have found the seeking of the truth just as difficult. The Kent State shootings in 1970 left 4 unarmed students dead and 9 others injured. On May 14, ten days after the Kent State shootings, two students were killed (and 12 wounded) by police at Jackson State University. On June 13, 1970, as a consequence of the killings of protesting students at Kent State and Jackson State, President Nixon established the President's Commission on Campus Unrest, known as the Scranton Commission, which he charged to study the dissent, disorder, and violence breaking out on college and university campuses across the nation, The Commission issued its findings in a September 1970 report that concluded that the Ohio National Guard shootings on May 4, 1970, were unjustified. The report said, "Even if the guardsmen faced danger, it was not a danger that called for lethal force. The 61 shots by 28 guardsmen certainly cannot be justified. Apparently, no order to fire was given, and there was inadequate fire control discipline on Blanket Hill. The Kent State tragedy must mark the last time that, as a matter of course, loaded rifles are issued to guardsmen confronting student demonstrators." There was no forthcoming apology from the then president however.

In non-democratic countries the truth is even harder to establish. In China the 4th of June comes and goes with no mention in the media of the events of 1989. The Tiananmen Square massacre, as it has become known, saw the bloody crackdown by government troops leaving hundreds if not thousands of students dead. The Chinese govenment refuses to discuss the event nor admit the true number of those killed, injured, jailed and persecuted. A public inquiry into those events will be a long time coming despite efforts by the Tiananmen mothers to seek the truth. They have attempted to identify the dead and a map of the dead has been compiled. But the real truth behind the events and the numbers who died may never be known. Even as a book outlining some of the decisions made by Beijing authorities, and due to be published in Hong Kong was halted this week for spurious reasons [Reuters].

Costly though such inquiries may be, and contentious maybe the findings, it is probably better to make an attempt to establish the truth than to cover up the past.

[pictured above: Father Edward Daly attempts to lead shooting victim Jackie Duddy to safety during the events of Bloody Sunday in 1972, A blooded traveller is led away by police following the Battle of the Beanfield in 1985, and victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing 1989]

tvnewswatch, London, UK

Back in Blighty!

tvnewswatch has returned to Britain after a year in China. However it has taken a little time to get things up and running hence the lack of posts over the last week. Obtaining a new broadband account is not as easy as flicking a switch. After an order was placed it took 7 days to become active, and so far appears to work fine. At least access is unrestricted; there are no Internet blocks as seen in China. However the Internet is still not without its problems. Twitter went down late Monday causing many people to 'lose' all their tweets. Twitter claims all will soon be put right soon [Daily Mail]. 

The most noticeable difference on arriving in London from Beijing was the clean air. Despite a week of mostly cloudy weather it has been relatively warm. While Beijing has seen humid conditions and temperatures in the 30s, London has experienced an average daytime temperature of around 20°C. Traffic on the M25 was relatively light despite continued roadworks to widen the London orbital motorway. In fact the most obvious difference between London and Beijing is the lack of cars on the roads, and indeed the fewer people on the streets.

Streets are noticeably cleaner, there is no spitting and people queue. There was no lingering followed by a mad rush as the Post Office opened its doors this morning. Instead, customers formed an orderly line and filed in without any panic whatsoever. Of course, not everything is perfect. For the smoker the continuing ban in pubs, bars and restaurants still creates consternation, though non-smokers are no doubt happier. There is no waitress service in British pubs, something commonly seen in other countries including China. But drink is most certainly cheaper. 

China is not known for having a drinking culture. People may have a beer with their meal but it is often relatively weak compared to foreign products.The alcohol content of Chinese beer is often around 3% or less. At a street food stall a 500 ml bottle of TsingTao will cost around 5 RMB [£0.49 / $0.73]. This may rise to 15 or 20 RMB in a restaurant [£1.47 / $2.19]. It is only at certain bars that foreign beers and cocktails may be found. Most are, of course, targeting foreign expats and tourists. Those located around Qianhai lake to the wst of the Forbidden City may charge more than 50 RMB for a 330 ml bottle of TsingTao, even more for foreign beers or wine.

But even in Sanlitun, and outlying areas where many bars are located, the prices are still comparatively high. Even during 'Happy Hour' the cheapest pint of Strongbow [cider] or Guinness will still cost around 30 RMB [£2.97 / $4.39] a pint [568 ml]. Outside of 'Happy Hour' this can rise to more than 60 RMB [£5.94 / $8.78]. In comparison many British pubs rarely charge more than £3 a pint. For example in the J.J.Weatherspoons chain a pint of Strongbow is only £2.35 [23.71 RMB / $3.47]. At a privately owned pub in London with live music the price was slightly more at £2.60 [26.23 RMB / $3.84], but still less than the prices seen in Beijing. For cocktail fans there isn't so much choice, though.

Many people have often said how cheap China is. It is, if you want to live like the locals. For expats this is perhaps more difficult. Living without Guinness, French wine, cheese, Marlboros, cream and proper bread is all too possible, but many westerners find living without such familiar commodities uncomfortable. There are many stores providing such products in Beijing, and many other cities across China. However the cost is either the same or a great deal more than seen back home. Some prices also make little sense and seem to point to high import tariffs. 

Anchor New Zealand butter is a particular example. At Jenny Lou's in Beijing a 225g pack will cost 13.90 RMB [£1.37 / $2.03]. However in Britain a 500g pack will only cost £2.38 [24 RMB / $3.51]. This would make a 225g pack £1.07 [10.79 RMB / $1.58]. Not a huge difference, but consider the distance travelled. It is over 18,000 km from New Zealand to the UK. Beijing is only 10,000 km from New Zealand. French products are extremely expensive. A 250g round of Coeur de Lion Camembert costs around 64 RMB [£6.34 / $9.36] in Beijing. In Britain the price is around £2 [20.18 RMB / $2.95]. French wine will often see high price tags varying from 50 to 150 RMB a bottle [£4.95-14.86 / $7.31-21.95]. In France itself a bottle may cost as little as a couple of Euros [16.72 RMB / £1.65 / $2.44], but even in Britain a reasonable bottle of wine can be bought for only £3 or £4 [30.27-40.35 RMB / $4.43-5.90].

So what is cheap in China? Basic vegetables, if bought at the local market as opposed to the superstore, can be exceedingly cheap. But there is not always the same choice as seen in the west. In London it is as easy to find Pak Choi or Chinese cabbage as oranges, lemons and limes. But even in Beijing the choice is often limited. Outside big cities the choice of products falls away dramatically. The hunt for specialist products to make Thai, Japanese or Indian cuisine will often be a lost cause.

Noodles and rice are often cheap, and oil is readily available and not cost prohibitive. Street food is very cheap. Rou Chuan [肉串] literally meat sticks, are served across the city. Extremely popular, they consist of several pieces of meat skewered onto a stick and barbecued often with chilli and cumin. Five sticks may cost as little as 10 RMB [£0.99 / $1.46]. A popular noodle dish known as Mi Xian [米线], or rice noodles, will often be less than 10 RMB. But few westerners can live for long on noodles and meat sticks.

Getting around is very cheap of course. Even taxis in Beijing are very economic with a standard fare starting at 10 RMB [£0.99 / $1.46]. The subway is 2 RMB [£0.19 / $0.29] for any journey while buses are less than half that with some journeys costing only a few jiao amounting to only pennies [One yuán or RMB (元) also known colloquially as a kuài (块 - "piece") is divided into 10 jiǎo (角) or colloquially máo (毛 - "feather"). One jiǎo is divided into 10 fēn (分)].

Britain can be expensive. Eating out is often considered a luxury, taxes are high, and many continue to complain at the television licence fee. But there is choice and fewer restrictions on the individual. Cigarettes are far more expensive than seen in China, but perhaps that might be considered a good thing. Internet access is unrestricted and 8 Mb broadband is fast becoming the norm and at half the price charged in China. Beijing is exciting and fast becoming a more cosmopolitan city. But it is far from cheap, and nowhere near the world city it might claim to be. It is perhaps no surprise that Beijing came 114th place in Mercer's Quality of Living listings. In terms of it's Eco listing it fell even lower at 181st place. In comparison London fell in at number 39 in the Quality of Living standard and number 63 in Mercer's Eco rating.

For those wondering, Blighty is English slang for Britain, derived from Hindustani and harking back to the days of the Raj.

tvnewswatch, London, UK

tvnewswatch is heading home...

After a year in China tvnewswatch is heading back to Britain. While there have been many things that make China uncomfortable, the Internet for one, the experience has been fantastic and educational. Many expats in Beijing and around China that use Twitter have made the experience all the more fulfilling.

A particular thanks to @SirSteven, @beijingboyce, @beijingdaze, @betsydrager, @maggierauch, @ullrich, @islandchic & @charlieflint who have tweeted interesting news and events going on in Beijing and elsewhere in China.

Good luck to you all. Thanks also to those that have encouraged tvnewswatch with the blog. The news and analysis will continue...

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

A quiet day on Tiananmen Square

It was a quiet day on Tiananmen Square today, a scene very different from 21 years ago when the army moved against pro-democracy demonstrators which left hundreds dead. Any protest would have been swiftly dealt with however. Anyone entering Tiananmen Square was subject to a body search and all bags had to be sent through X-Ray machines. Such measures have been in place for months, but there was also a higher than usual police presence.

Armed police SWAT teams could be spotted to the south of the square while soldiers and regular police patrols kept a watchful eye in the main square itself. However despite being surveyed by countless cameras and no doubt dozens of plain clothes security officials, the atmosphere was far from tense. Tourists gathered under umbrellas to protect themselves from the summer sun and temperatures well into the 30s. Visitors to the square posed for photographs and it seemed just like any other day in central Beijing.

In fact the security was much less than seen in previous years. Last year plain clothes officers swarmed the square preventing filming by foreign television crews. But while an Associated Press cameraman was allowed to film Friday, there is not the same interest in the anniversary this year. Ten and twenty year anniversaries gain far more attention than the random years in between. Nonetheless, authorities in China still keep a lid on any dissent or talk about the so-called Tiananmen Square massacre. 

A cartoon which was published by the Southern Metropolitan Daily newspaper on Wednesday showing a young schoolboy drawing a picture on a blackboard that appeared to be a pastiche of the famous “tank man” picture from 1989 was quickly withdrawn. It had been published by the Guangzhou-based paper as part of a World Children’s Day feature but it obviously rattled some nerves in official circles [Telegraph blog]. 

The Internet which saw a particular tightening during last year's anniversary has changed little. Sites that were blocked such as Twitter, Facebook and Blogger remained so. Search terms that are off-limits also returned the usual error, though Google's new secure [https] search engine was available and enabled easier searches for Tiananmen Square related enquiries.

While protests are allowed to proceed relatively unhindered in Hong Kong, mainland China hopes people will forget. This is unlikely to happen. The Mothers of Tiananmen continue to press for the truth. But any action is hidden from public view. 

On Thursday night in Beijing, the leader of the Tiananmen Mothers' group held a brief candlelight vigil at the spot in western Beijing where her son was killed in the crackdown. However a line of police kept the media away, and Ding Zilin and her husband were surrounded by strangers who appeared to be blocking any filming of the event. "I didn't know any of them," the husband, Jiang Jielian, said afterward by phone. "We went there alone."

Even after 21 years it is difficult to determine how many died in what has become known as the Tiananmen Square massacre. The official figure is 241 dead, including soldiers, and 7,000 wounded. The highest estimate as declared by the then Soviet Union is 10,000 dead made up from both civilians and soldiers. A PLA [Peoples' Liberation Army] defector, citing a document circulating among officers, claimed 3,700 had died. Hundreds most certainly perished. Others were persecuted, many fleeing to other countries. Some still remain locked up, languishing in Chinese prisons.

 
The failure of the Chinese government to come clean and to straighten out its record on human rights continues to weigh heavy on its international image. Bloggers and those calling for reform are still locked up, merely for asking for change. On Christmas Day last year Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years for organising a movement called Charter 08 which called for reform.

The South China Morning Post urged Beijing to reconsider its position on the 1989 protests in an editorial published Friday. "The crackdown will not be forgotten. Beijing should have the courage to deal with it openly, fairly and compassionately, so that June 4 no longer casts a shadow over China's achievements."

This is unlikely to happen any time soon. Jiang Yu, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, reiterated the government's position on the 1989 protests. "About the political issue you mentioned ... there has already been a clear conclusion," she said, "The development path chosen has been in the clear interest of the Chinese people." [Washington Post]

There was a clear reminder of the path the Chinese people should follow in Tiananmen Square on Friday. A large electronic screen displayed a message which read, "Unswervingly follow the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics and courageously advance" [坚定不移地沿着中国特色社会主义道路奋勇前进]. 

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

Beijing on alert as Tiananmen anniversary nears

Democracy campaigners marched through central Hong Kong on Sunday but there are no signs of dissent on Beijing's streets as the 21st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre approaches. On Saturday 13 activists were arrested for erecting a Tiananmen Square remembrance statue in a busy shopping district in Hong Kong but all were later released on bail.

The march came ahead of an annual candlelit vigil this Friday. Last year the event year drew about 150,000 people who gathered to mark the anniversary of China's bloody crackdown on protesters near Tiananmen Square in 1989. Protests over the weekend in Hong Kong only drew an estimated thousand demonstrators however [AFP / Daily Mail].

Last year in China, authorities tightened control of the Internet ahead of the anniversary. Popular email services GMail and Hotmail were blocked for a time and Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites were also blocked. Facebook and Twitter remain blocked and the restrictions have become tighter over the last year.

In what might be a sign that the authorities may be tweaking the so-called Great Firewall of China, some users in the country found that searches for pornography were less restrictive than usual [Telegraph blog]. An image search for 'porn' returned dozens of hardcore images instead of the usual place markers or a block on the search altogether. It is possible this may be just a glitch, as has often occurred before,

On Beijing's streets there appeared to be a higher than usual police presence. Armed SWAT teams could be seen around the city some standing by shiny black Hummers. While protests are unlikely, the authorities are seemingly keeping a watchful eye for anything unusual.

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

Woman sues Google after being hit by a car

A woman in the US is suing Google after she claims Google Maps issued incorrect directions which sent he onto a busy road where she was hit by a car. Lauren Rosenberg is demanding $100,000 from the company in a case filed at the US District Court's Central Division in Utah. Rosenberg is also taking legal action against Patrick Harwood, the man who hit her.

The plaintiff had searched for walking directions on her Blackberry from 96 Daly Street, Park City, Utah to 1710 Prospector Avenue, Park City, Utah. The 1.9 mile [3 km] route led Rosenberg along Main Street into Dear Valley Drive, a major highway also known as State Route 224. A clear warning on the site states that "walking directions are in beta" and to "Use caution – This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths". 

The website also posts a disclaimer which reads, "These directions are for planning purposes only. You may find that construction projects, traffic, weather, or other events may cause conditions to differ from the map results, and you should plan your route accordingly. You must obey all signs or notices regarding your route." However such warnings are not always displayed on mobile devices and Rosenberg believes has a case. 

"The Defendant Google expects users of the walking map site to rely on the accuracy of the walking directions given," said Rosenberg's filing. "As a direct and proximate cause of Defendant Google's careless, reckless and negligent providing of unsafe directions, Plaintiff Lauren Rosenberg was led onto a dangerous highway, and was thereby stricken by a motor vehicle, causing her to suffer sever permanent physical, emotional, and mental injuries, including pain and suffering," it added [V3 / Mashable / Search Engine Land]

The action has been described as ludicrous by some. "If Google told you to jump off a cliff, would you?" one headline read in Fortune read. One can only hope the courts display more common sense than the woman concerned. Google has yet to comment on the filing.

This is not the first time Google has attracted attention over sending people in the wrong direction. As a joke, users attempting to get directions which required the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean were instructed to swim the vast expanse of water. The so-called 'Easter-egg' was later removed. A simple crossing of a road in Sydney attracted attention after Google Maps suggested a 10 km route which also resulted in a $3 road toll [Register].

As regards Ms Rosenberg's filing, Microsoft might consider themselves lucky she was using Google Maps and not Bing. Their walking instructions also send pedestrians onto State Route 224 where the hapless plaintiff encountered Patrick Harwood's car.

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

Beijing nightlife, an expat's paradise

China is perhaps easy to criticise, to pick holes in and to find fault with. There are inconsistencies and contradictions as the nation tries to move into the 21st century. Every country has its faults, and China is no exception. But while there are many aspects of life in China which are uncomfortable there are many things which make life exciting and pleasurable.

The Internet may offer a world of frustration, especially for expats who are used to going anywhere on the world wide web. But away from the virtual world there are many distractions that can make life, at least in the big cities, an interesting experience. Beijing is well known for being steeped in history. The Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Great Wall, Temple of Heaven and countless museums are a major draw for tourists. The parks are pleasant to walk in, especially in summer, and some such as Beihai and Jingshan offer fantastic views of the city.

But beyond the obvious tourist destinations there are the bars, restaurants and clubs which offer an escape to Beijingers, expats and tourists alike. Most bars are clustered in the east of Beijing around Sanlitun, though there are a few hidden gems scattered about in other parts of town. Once virtually unthinkable in China, the bar scene in Beijing is vibrant and exciting. Drinks are not cheap however. Most ordinary Chinese would be shocked at buying a 330 ml bottle of Tsingtao for between 30 and 50 RMB [£3-5 /$4-7]. But for expats and foreign tourists, price is less an issue.

The bars are sometimes simple drinking establishments, but many offer food and entertainment. Some are themed such as Paddy O'Sheas, an Irish bar which offers Guinness, though at prices many Irish would scoff at [60 RMB / £6 / $8.80 a pint/568 ml]. Many are sports' bars. Large TVs displaying sporting events from around the world draw in large crowds especially on big occasions. Others of course try to attract customers with live music.

The Den is one of the few bars to open 24 hours a day and also offers the longest 'happy hour'. A noisy sports bar, it is always crowded with mostly foreign clientèle. Drinks are cheaper than many other places and food is good. There are 'secret' bars, such as the Fubar, hidden in the basement of the Stadium Dogs hotdog café. Billed as Beijing's first speakeasy, customers enter the bar by pressing a switch which slides back a faux wall. A novelty attraction maybe, but the great cocktails and atmosphere also help pull in the customers.

There are specialist bars, such as the Ichikura, an establishment which offers dozens of different kinds of whisky. A German bar, slightly off the beaten track, is popular not only amongst foreigners, but also the Chinese. Der Ladgraf offers a wide range of beers from a Köstritzer Schwarzbier to a Weihenstephaner wheat beer. Their extensive menu also keeps clients from going hungry.

Of course there are the bars that set out to entertain. Whether its the Mao Club which pumps out rock music from domestic bands or the rather expensive but eclectic mix of bars along the Qianhai lake, there is always something going on. The Lan Club will keep people dancing well into the early hours with heavy club mixes and live entertainment. The Nashville, situated in the north-east of town, offers a more rock and sometimes country feel. Its regularly billed Phonograph Band strike out western hits from the 1960s through to the 90s from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Oasis.

On a lighter note there are places like the CD Jazz Bar or the neighbouring Blues Café & Bar. Or if the mood takes you there is always KTV, or karaoke. Not so popular in the West, karaoke is fantastically popular in China. Even the smallest of towns have a KTV bar. But this is unlike the karaoke seen in Britain where drunk patrons embarrass themselves in front of dozens of strangers as they struggle to perform Robbie Williams' Angels. In China it's a more sober affair. Groups of friends will hire a room and each take it in turn to sing their favourite songs. And here singing means singing. There is not the screeching and sarcastic efforts seen in the West. In China this is serious, but nonetheless entertaining fun. Customers may of course purchase drinks and food is also on offer, sometimes as a buffet or delivered to your room.

If there's anything one misses about China, it is its bars, food and entertainment. 

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

Gulf leak "worse than Exxon Valdez"

The amount of oil that has spilled from BP's blown-out Gulf of Mexico well has exceeded the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. And according to findings released Thursday from a US government panel, the oil could be flowing at a rate nearly four times BP's recent estimates [Reuters / AP].

The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, hit Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled an estimated minimum 10.8 million US gallons [40.9 million litres, or 250,000 barrels] of crude oil. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters ever to occur in history. 

The latest disaster occurred when the an explosion struck the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20 this year. As a result of the explosion oil began to gush into the Gulf from the sea bed. Flow rate estimates vary widely, because some of the plume is apparently remaining well below the surface. Every day between 700 and 13,600 tonnes of oil pours into the Gulf unchecked and several efforts by BP to stem the flow have failed.

Estimates vary

BP's current estimate is that of over 5,000 barrels [210,000 US gallons; 790,000 litres] to as much as 100,000 barrels [4,200,000 US gallons; 16,000,000 litres] of crude oil is issuing into the Gulf each day. The exact spill flow rate is uncertain however. Estimates of the total amount of oil spilled are 450,000 to 930,000 barrels [19,000,000 - 39,000,000 US gallons; 72,000,000 - 148,000,000 litres]. Experts fear that due to factors such as petroleum toxicity and oxygen depletion, it will result in an environmental disaster, damaging the Gulf of Mexico fishing industry, the tourism industry, and the habitat of hundreds of bird species for years to come.

On Thursday BP continued in its effort to cap the leak 1,500 metres below sea level. After an 18-hour delay to assess its efforts and bring in more materials, BP resumed pumping heavy drilling mud into the blown-out well. Officials said it could be late Friday or the weekend before the company knows if the procedure known as a top kill has cut off the oil that has been flowing for five weeks.

Early Thursday, officials said the process was going well, but later in the day they announced pumping had been suspended 16 hours earlier. BP did not characterise the suspension as a setback. Eric Smith, associate director of the Tulane Energy Institute, said the move did not indicate the top kill operation had failed. Even if BP make progress, the log term repurcusions look dire. The company itself faces litigation and the damage to the environment could be long lasting.

Lasting damage

Almost 20 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, a team of scientists at the University of North Carolina found that the effects were lasting far longer than expected. The team estimates some shoreline Arctic habitats may take up to 30 years to recover. In fact only yesterday the Exxon oil disaster claimed another victim after Nuka, a gray-whiskered otter plucked from Prince William Sound soaked in oil in 1989, was put down. A visiting veterinarian determined the otter's condition had worsened rapidly. However Nuka was old for a sea otter, at least 21, one of only three otters still alive in captivity that had survived Alaska's Exxon Valdez spill. 

Nuka had struggled with immune-system problems, poor skin and fur, and seemed unable to groom herself properly, which meant she ate more than normal to avoid hypothermia. While no one could say what caused her problems, they were consistent with early exposure to petroleum. As such Nuka came to represent the kind of risks oil spills pose for marine life. Oil has been linked to heart defects in fish, reproduction problems in whales, and cancers and immune-system trouble in creatures throughout the food chain [Seattle Times].

Recent spills

This year there have been four major oil spills. On January 23, 2010 the oil tanker Eagle Otome collided with a barge in the Sabine-Neches Waterway at Port Arthur, Texas [Wiki]. There are disputes over the amount of leaked oil in that incident, varying from between 1,000 and 11,000 barrels [158,984 litres to 1,748,000 litres]. In April, shortly before BP grabbed the headlines, the Chinese tanker Sheng Neng 1 ran aground off the coast of Australia [Wiki]. As a result of the grounding, the fuel tanks of the vessel were punctured, allowing fuel oil to leak from the vessel. The oil slick measured at least 3 kilometres long causing damage to parts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The damage was considerable despite the relatively small, around 3 tonnes, of oil discharged. 

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park spokesman David Wachenfeld said that the Sheng Neng 1 created the largest grounding scar on the Great Barrier Reef known to date. The scar was roughly 3 kilometres long and 250 m wide. Some damaged areas have become completely devoid of marine life. There are concerns that there could be considerable long-term damage to the reef and it will be 10 to 20 years before the reef returns to the state it was in before the incident

Most recently a collision between the tanker, Bunga Kelana 3 carrying light crude, and bulk carrier, MV Waily; on Tuesday resulted in 2,500 tonnes [18,250 barrels / 2,800 litres] of oil being leaked into the sea in the Singapore Strait. Although the cleanup is ongoing, it appears no additional oil is leaking from the vessel.

While large, the BP spill has not yet surpassed that of the biggest to occur in the Gulf of Mexico, though depending on estimates it is coming close. In 1979, a drilling rig in Mexican waters, the Ixtoc I, blew up, releasing 140 million gallons of oil [Wiki]. The well cap in that case took 10 months to seal [List of oil spills].

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

Wen Jiabao in Seoul to discuss crisis

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrives in the South Korean capital of Seoul today [Friday 28/05/2010] and will meet President Lee Myung Bak and Japan's Yukio Hatoyama. The focus of the discussions are likely to revolve around the building tension between North and South Korea. China's premier will likely be pressured to acknowledge that North Korea torpedoed a the South Korean warship Cheonan. 

China has failed to make any significant statement on the issue while the rest of the international community has condemned the attacked and given their tacit support to South Korea. Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun would only repeat a call for "restraint" by both sides and said China had no "firsthand information" on the sinking.

Protests

The sinking of the Cheonan warship by a North Korean torpedo fired from a submarine on March 26th resulted in the deaths of 46 sailors. Half the crew were saved. The incident has angered many South Koreans who want revenge. In Seoul Thursday thousands spilled onto the streets calling for retaliation. An estimated 10,000 people including war veterans rallied in the city. "Let's kill mad dog Kim Jong-Il!" they shouted as some protesters burned a large North Korean national flag. Experts in the Korean martial art taekwondo used their feet to smash wooden boards bearing the slogans "North Korea" and "Revenge" [Sinchew].

Evidence

Few countries have disputed the investigation report's findings which revealed "overwhelming evidence" that North Korea had attacked the Cheonan. North Korea have dismissed the findings as a "fabrication", China have said little, and Russia is sending a team to verify the findings of the report. Others have accepted the evidence that North Korea was behind the attack [Report - PDF]

Tensions rose a little further on Thursday. North Korea scrapped a pact aimed at preventing accidental armed clashes with South Korea at their flashpoint sea border. Meanwhile South Korea's navy staged an anti-submarine exercise in its first show of strength since the confrontation began [BBC].

Diplomacy

China wants to avoid a conflict on the Korean peninsula. According to Shen Dingli, vice dean of the Institute of International Affairs at Shanghai's Fudan University, China is concerned that taking South Korea's side may provoke North Korea into further escalations and even lead to war. Any conflict would greatly affect China. The two countries share a 1,415-kilometre border and an alliance going back to China's 1950 entry into the Korean War. China's two-way trade with North Korea amounted to $2.7 billion last year, comparatively small to the hundreds of billions of trade with the rest of the world. A conflict would likely lead to significant problems for China. If it did not ally with the US, Europe and other Asian countries a massive export trade could be compromised. By ostracising North Korea, China risks unravelling a long history of partnership and trade. A war would undoubtedly lead to an influx of refugees across the border and into north China [Business Week].

Bringing China into the international fold will be difficult. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remained optimistic however as she conducted a whirlwind diplomatic mission to Japan, China ans South Korea. Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday at the conclusion of two days of talks, she said, "We expect to be working together with China in responding to North Korea's provocative action and promoting stability in the region." But several days later China still remains mute. "They won't be able to ignore the truth," South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan said Thursday at a joint press conference with Hillary Clinton in Seoul. 

Risks

While China decides what side to play with, other countries have made their choice clear. The US military is preparing exercises with South Korea in anti-submarine maneuvers and interdicting vessels. The US has about 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of its Korean War involvement in the 1950s. "This is the worst situation we've had since the (1950-53) Korean War," said Yang Moo-Jin, of Seoul's University of North Korean Studies. "Military conflict cannot be completely ruled out." The two Koreas appear to be on a collision course and to have "neither the will nor a strategy to exit from this very extremely difficult phase," he told AFP, saying the crisis could be ended only by the United States and China [Hindustan Times].

Some analysts say that a conflict would likely be limited and not escalate. Peter Beck, a North Korea specialist at Stanford University's Asia-Pacific Research Center, said, "We have to take the threat of further escalation very seriously. Maybe things have to get worse before they get better. Given the tough stance that Seoul, with Washington's support, has taken, Beijing's role is more and more critical to pull the parties back from the edge."

Daniel Pinkston, Seoul-based analyst with the International Crisis Group, said the situation is "pretty serious but I still think the likelihood of escalation into a full-scale war is low". Despite all the noise coming from from Pyongyang, US officials say they've seen little physical evidence that North Korea might actually be preparing to go to war. Just hours after Seoul blamed the North for the sinking of the Cheonan, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il publicly ordered his armed forces to get ready for military action, according to sources quoted in The Guardian. But two US national security officials, asking for anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said they were not aware of any intelligence reporting on significant military mobilisation or redeployments inside North Korea. 

The North Korean military is always on the move somewhere, one of the officials said, but at the moment whatever movements are being noted by Western intelligence agencies are regarded as not particularly threatening. A third US foreign policy official, who also asked for anonymity, told Newsweek's Declassified that US agencies are picking up "nothing of extreme concern" in what North Korean forces are currently doing. 

Many expect more sabre-rattling however. "I think more provocations could be coming," Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr., a professor of international relations at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, said. "The next ones will be very different though, because Pyongyang would like to catch us 'off-guard'." Bechtol, a former senior analyst for Northeast Asia on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, saw a range of possibilities for North Korea to keep nerves jangling in the region. "I see more tension at the Kaesong Industrial Complex," a collaborative economic venture with Pyongyang in North Korea, "perhaps some saber rattling over the loudspeaker broadcasts that the South will be starting up again soon, possible ballistic missile tests, and yes, perhaps even another nuclear test."

History repeated

But he does not see an massive escalation. "I do not see an artillery barrage from the DMZ [De-Militarised Zone] coming - unless the North Koreans really want to start another war, which I doubt," Bechtol added. Bruce Cumings, a longtime scholar on Korea and Japan who chairs the Department of History at the University of Chicago, said everyone needs to take a deep breath. "I think this is being blown way out of proportion," Cumings said. "In 1999 there was a bigger incident in the same place where 30 North Koreans died and 70 were wounded, and the North Koreans chose not to respond --probably because Kim Dae Jung [who pursued reconciliation with the communists] was president, and they were making plans for the June 2000 summit."

The sinking of a South Korea frigate, "was probably related to their anger over the [current] South Korean president going back on 10 years of reconciliation," Cumings said, as well as the US-South Korean Foal Eagle naval exercise just off its shores. "Of course it is reprehensible that they killed 46 sailors, but the boat was in disputed waters," Cumings said, where clashes have been frequent.

In three previous engagements, "North Korea's aging naval ships have taken a pounding from South Korea's far more modern and better-armed vessels," The Washington Post's Blaine Harden and June Lee reported after the March incident. Kerry Patton writing on the Examiner website states that the Cheonan sinking while a major act of aggression, is not as uncommon as many would like to believe. The DMZ which separates the two Koreas witnesses continuous acts of aggression. The difference between annual incidents and this most recent is the magnitude of the event. Even with such magnitude, this should be construed as a test.

Warnings

Alex Jones of Prison Planet entered into the blame game as he accused the US of complicity in arming North Korea [Prison Planet]. Others meanwhile are predicting WW III. According to one report, Sheikh Imam Rashid, Chief Imam and Spiritual leader of the Salawatia Muslim Mission in Ghana has predicted World War III will break out within a week if the United Nation's fail to use diplomacy to resolve the brewing tension between North and South Korea [Peace FM / Citi FM]

The Imam says that if the US military were to attack North Korea, it was likely that Iran would strike somewhere in the Middle East and Hezbollah would see its goals through of waging war this summer against Israel. If this were to occur, the United States would have little resources to support Israel and the likeliness for the entire world witnessing World War III would be paramount, Sheikh Imam Rashid says.

The possible scenarios that could play out are many. North Korea may back down at the threat of hostilities, or capitulate should a conflict occur. But there are real dangers that anything more than a measured response could quickly escalate drawing other countries into a messy war. The media, as is often the case with such events, is playing up the situation. But some of the scaremongering is real.

Reunification sought

North Korea, sometimes referred to as the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea], is seeking reunification and claim that the south is being run with the help of 'imperialists'. The country's official website states: "Korea is an independent and sovereign state, but the South is still controlled by the imperialist interests and the US troops .If any South Korean citizen tries to visit North Korea crossing the big concrete wall, he'll be killed by the american [sic] soldiers. The 'Security Law' in South Korea forbides [sic] to any South Korean citizen to talk or read about the North or else he'll be punished with jail or even death penalty."

"Since the end of the War, one of the main worries of the Great Leader Kim Il Sung and the Dear Leader Kim Jong Il was the Unification of the Korean families," the site states and quotes 'The Great Leader', "'To unify the divided country in this moment is the supreme national task of all the Korean people, and we cannot wait just one moment to achieve it."

North Korea's aim is clear, their resolve is more difficult to gauge. And despite the speculation and analysis, it it difficult to predict an outcome. Asia correspondent for the LA Times, who has reported extensively in the region and is currently based in Cambodia, says we should learn from history. "It's difficult to compare such different societies and cultures as those in Cambodia and North Korea, but the lesson is clear," Donald Kirk writes. "There can be no real compromise with the Kim regime. The history of regimes such as Cambodia's under the Khmer Rouge is that they do not willingly yield, do not suddenly adopt humanitarian policies and do not give up the props of their rule, notably their weapons."

"It's wishful thinking to expect North Korea to shift its policies or honor any agreement on much of anything, including its nuclear weapons program. It took an upheaval to bring about relief from suffering in Cambodia, and it will take another on that scale to reform North Korea."

China's position

But by taking on North Korea, one may take on it's large friend, China. Kim Jong Il's visit to Beijing shortly after the sinking of the Cheonan saw the leader being welcomed with open arms. Wu Bangguo, China's top legislator, spoke of the two countries writing "a new chapter of bilateral relations in the next 60 years" [Xinhua]. 

Meanwhile Hu Jintao, China's president, said, "the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK is the common treasures of the two governments, parties and peoples, and it is the historical responsibility of the two sides to push forward their friendship with the progress of the times and from generation to generation" [Xinhua]. With such stated bonds China's position is truly difficult as it tries to evaluate what course it should follow. 

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

Atlantis wraps up history for shuttle

Space shuttle Atlantis has touched down safely at Kennedy Space Center, bringing to a close a long history of manned space flight. STS-132 touched down at 08:48 ET local [12:48 UTC/GMT] after 186 orbits around Earth and a journey of 4,879,978 miles [7,853,563.31 km].

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

The Times launches paywall site

The Times and Sunday Times newspapers have launched redesigned websites, as it prepares to charge for online content. The new site, thetimes.co.uk, will replace its current website Times Online. Users will be obliged to pay £1 [$1.43] for a day's access and £2 [$2.87] for a week's subscription starting in June. It is a move that will be watched by the news industry.

Times Editor James Harding said it was time to stop "giving away" journalism in the two newspapers. However he said News International was "clearly aware" they were taking a big step.

Talking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Harding said, "Our feeling is that it is time to stop giving away our journalism. That's because we feel that we are undermining the value of our journalism, undermining the value of the Times and undermining the perception that journalism and news has a value."

Even News International expects to lose up to 90% of its online readership. "I think we are going to lose a large number of readers who are window shoppers," he said. Recent figures show that The Times and Sunday Times had about 1.22 million daily users.  The Wall Street Journal, also owned by News International, has one of the most successful paid-for sites with about 407,000 electronic subscribers. But some analysts point out that the WSJ offers specialist content, and that charging for general news is a different business model.

In a survey of 1,592 people living in the UK by Entertainment Media Research, more than 90% said they were unwilling to pay to access a range of news websites offered by The Times.

The new site has been completely redesigned and is far less cluttered than the old one. "It looks a lot like a newspaper, which I don't think we're apologising for," said Tom Whitwell, assistant editor of The Times. When charging begins, The Times' stories will no longer be visible in search engine results, which often provide the biggest source of traffic for any website.

Douglas McCabe, an analyst at Enders, said The Times sites were likely to attract a lot of initial interest from curious readers. "But it's what [the traffic] looks like in six months' time that matters," McCabe said.

News Corporation, the parent company of The Times, has said that its other titles, The Sun and The News of the World, will begin charging for their online content later this year. Rebekah Brooks, the company's chief executive, describes this as a "defining moment for journalism".

[BBC/FT/Times/Guardian/Telegraph blog Aug2009]

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

Wasting time & money on the Happy Farm

To western users of Facebook, the online game Farmville will be quite familiar. The game in which players build up a virtual farm has become increasingly popular. In China too there is growing number of Internet users becoming addicted to its version of the game. Called Happy Farm, there are millions of Chinese players immersed in watering virtual plots, growing virtual crops and stealing virtual vegetables.

There are are wide number of reasons put forward as to why so many have been drawn in by this farming game. Most people playing live in the cities. Their roots once lay in the country and some have likened it as an attempt to recreate their past. Some have disparagingly said that while one can take the peasant out the farm you can't take the farm out of the peasant. Players themselves talk of escapism but others say it's like real-life. "It's a way to experience life," one man told state-run media recently [Newsweek]. 

Happy Farm arrived in China in 2008 and now some 80 million people play the game daily. This number accounts for around 20% of the country's Internet population. And some are definitely spending just a little too much time in this virtual landscape.  According to Global Times, the English Language daily here in Beijing, there are more than 15 million urban Chinese who spend more than five hours a day on their happy farm. There is increasing concern that such addiction can lead to more than a few social problems. There is loss of production. In offices around the city there will be thousands of hours wasted daily on Happy Farm. But such addiction can follow these white collar workers home. And it has even led to divorce after husbands or their wives spend so much time growing virtual crops they neglect to nurture their marriage [Techcrunch / Telegraph / China Smack]. 

The game, which is free, is played across social networking sites like Facebook or their Chinese equivalents such as kaixin001.com or xiaone.com which means that virtual farmers can visit each other's farms, trade livestock and generally admire each other's handiwork. But players can also use real cash to buy virtual goodies, everything from special tools to windmills, exotic animals to better seeds. And just as westerners have been drawn into the game and parted with large sums of money, many Asians have too. In Taiwan one man recently accused Facebook of deceiving him into spending nearly $100 on his virtual farm [Asia One].

While some are happy to live in a virtual world, others are even prepared to spend money to turn that virtual world into reality. Mr. Liu, a white-collar worker who lives in the Pudong district with his family, rents a piece of farmland in the suburbs for a 3, 000 RMB [$439] membership fee. Every weekend the whole family drives to their actual 'happy farm' to water, weed and fertilize real crops. At least at harvest season they have something to show for their time spent on their farm as they bring home vegetables they have grown [People's Daily]. Many may be content to waste their time in happy farm but few will have little to show for their indulgence. 

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

165 feared dead in India plane crash

More than 160 people are feared dead after plane crashed in southern India early this morning. The Air India Express flight IX 812 is believed to have overshot the runway and burst into flames. Around 165 passengers were believed to be on board the Boeing 737-800 [similar to that pictured above] which was arriving at Mangalore from Dubai. "Around 160 people are feared dead in the crash. Only Six to seven might have survived," Home Minister of Karnataka, V S Acharya told CNN-IBN.

Firefighters were making efforts to rescue the survivors but were delayed in reaching the scene due to the hilly terrain. Twenty-five ambulances were dispatched to the crash site. Heavy rain is also hampering rescue efforts. 

Sources at Air India told CNN-IBN that the length of the runway is comparatively small. The cause of the accident which happened at 06:30 local time has yet to be ascertained but bad weather cannot be ruled out.

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

Beijing Zoo menu stirs controversy

A restaurant at Beijing Zoo has angered animal rights campaigner and conservationists for sending the wrong message after it was reported the establishment served exotic animals on its menu. The Bin Feng Tang [豳风堂餐厅] restaurant, which is situated in Xizhimen Waidajie in the Xicheng District of Beijing, sells around 100 different animals according to the Chinese newspaper Legal Evening News. Customers may indulge in deer tendon, antelope soup, ants, scorpions and peacock meat. But on the more contoversial side is the sale of hippopotomus, crocodile, alligator and shark fin. Prices range from 400 RMB [$58] to more than a 1000 RMB [$146] .

The restaurant manager seemed somewhat surprised at the recent interest, saying that the menu had been relatively unchanged in years. Indeed one comment on a review website claiming the restaurant was "really excellent" and the "wild animals' meat ... delicious" dates back to 2008 [Chineseeye]. Recent or not the news is not going down well. “How would you feel, watching animals imprisoned in a limited space while eating their siblings?” asked Zheng Yuanjie, a well-known author, on his blog. 

The zoo restaurant apparently has the requisite licence from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry and is quite legal because none of the species on the menu are endangered. The restaurant has insisted the animals are not sourced from the confines of the zoo, but this has not appeased animal welfare groups. “The zoo is where we teach children to be nice to animals,” Qin Xiaona, head of the Capital Animal Welfare Association told the daily Global Times. “How can we do this after eating them?”

"It is utterly inappropriate for a zoo to sell such items," said Ge Rui of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. "One of the zoo's missions is to foster love of animals and a desire to protect them. But by selling the meat of caged beasts, this zoo stimulates consumption and increases pressure on the animals in the wild. It is socially irresponsible."

Chang Jiwen, a legal expert at the China Academy of Social Sciences who is trying to draft an animal protection law, said: "Although it is legal, I don't think it is humanitarian. It is very inappropriate and immoral of them to sell such products. It is against the aim of the zoo."

Animal welfare is a difficult concept to push in China. Dog can still be seen on many menus despite increasing hostility to the idea of eating 'companion animals'. Crocodile and shark's fin, while expensive is not unusual. And scorpions, sea horses and locusts are a familiar sight on Wangfujing's famous food stalls. As for the Bin Feng Tang, they say they may revise their menu after the negative publicity [Guardian / CSM].

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

Was S.Korea sinking an 'act of war'?

The US definition for a "act of war" is any act occurring in the course of a) a declared war; b) an armed conflict, whether or not war has been declared, between two or more nations; or c) an armed conflict between military forces of any origin [Cornell Univ]. However, while speaking at a Pentagon press conference Defence Secretary Robert Gates refused to characterize the sinking of a South Korean naval ship by a North Korean torpedo as an 'act of war'. He said the US will consult closely with the South Koreans, but it's up to them to determine the next move. "The key thing to remember here is that this was an attack on a South Korean ship and the South Koreans need to be in the lead in terms of proposing the way forward," Gates said.

It is a difficult move for the US and indeed South Korea. Striking back in any military capacity, while understandable, might provoke an 'all-out war' as North Korea has threatened. With the north believed to hold nuclear weapons and with strong ties to Beijing, this issue is likely to end with piecemeal sanctions and harsh words but little else.

With 30,000 US service members stationed in South Korea, Gates was pressured to address the possibility of becoming embroiled in a conflict. "If there were a problem in Korea our main arms would be the Navy and the Air Force," Gates said. But such a conflict would stretch the US military significantly. The United States is already in a long running conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the proposition of getting bogged down on another front is not pleasing.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters Thursday there was no interest in seeing the Korean peninsula "explode", but he said there needs to be a meaningful response. "Clearly this was a serious provocation by North Korea and there will definitely be consequences because of what North Korea has done," Crowley said.

The South Korean warship Cheonan sank mysteriously in March killing 46 and leaving 58 survivors. But it has taken weeks to establish the cause. An international team of investigators concluded that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine was responsible for the explosion that ripped the 1,200-tonne corvette in two. "The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine. There is no other plausible explanation," an official report into the incident said [Report: PDF].

Britain and the US immediately threw their support behind the report's findings. Britain's foreign secretary William Hague said, "The UK and international partners are committed to working closely with the Republic of Korea as they consider an appropriate multilateral response to this callous act." The White House has described the attack as an act of aggression that constituted a challenge to international peace and security. 

The issue is set to dominate the agenda during Hillary Clinton's Asian tour, which began yesterday [BBC]. Kurt Campbell, America's most senior diplomat for Asia, said that a "central issue of discussion" for the US Secretary of State's talks with Chinese officials would be "their assessments of developments in North Korea and their reaction to the report". However China has been mute in their response only saying that "all parties should exercise calmness and restraint, properly deal with relevant issues, and avoid escalation of the situation."

South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak told his security council the sinking of the Cheonan on 26 March had violated the UN Charter and the 1953 armistice which effectively ended the Korean War. Ordering "systematic and resolute counter-measures against North Korea so that it cannot repeat this reckless provocation", he nonetheless stressed the need for caution. "Since this case is very serious and has a grave importance, we cannot afford to have a slightest mistake and will be very prudent in all response measures we take," he said.

But his Defence Minister Kim had harsher words saying the North had "surpassed the limits" set on the two states by the armistice and "for those acts, the government will definitely make sure North Korea pays." To the north a spokesman from the National Defense Commission of the DPRK rejected the conclusion of the report as a "fabrication" and warned that any retaliation would lead to an "all-out war". That is unlikely to happen, but tensions in the region have certainly raised. The sinking of the Cheonan may well have been an act of war, but to respond in kind might bring the world that much closer to another world war [BBC / Times / Telegraph / Xinhua / Fox].

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

Thailand faces uncertain future

After a long stand-off between demonstrators and Thai authorities, the military was finally ordered in to shift the Red Shirts yesterday. While not as bloody as some expected, there are still many challenges ahead for prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. 

Bangkok is under curfew as are several other parts of the country following Wednesday's crackdown. Soldiers cleared thousands of anti-government protesters from their fortified encampment in Thai capital but it may not end the movement against the Abhisit regime.

Around 40 people have died since troops ringed the protesters last week, with at least 14 more deaths on Wednesday. The government say they are confident that with protest leaders arrested and their main protest site demolished, stability will be restored. But by sending in troops to break up a largely civilian protest risks further inflaming a volatile situation. There are already reports from other parts of the country of protests and violence directed against the government. In the north-east protesters have attacked government buildings and the mood was said to be tense in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

Reporting dangers

As well as protesters, some journalists have also been caught up in the violence. Among the dead on Wednesday was a 45 year old Italian photojournalist Italian Fabio Polenghi, while three other reporters, a Dutch journalist, an American and a Canadian photographer, were among scores of people injured. Chandler Vandergrift [pictured above, lying with an injured soldier], a Canadian documentary-maker in his 20s working in Bangkok, suffered shrapnel injuries to his head, legs and arms after a grenade exploded less than 70 metres from him, said freelance photographer Nick Nostitz. "He needed brain surgery. Doctors don't really know yet, but they believe he might be handicapped," Nostitz said in an interview with Canwest News Service.

Vandergrift is the second Canadian to be injured in Bangkok in the last week. Calgary journalist Nelson Rand, 34, was seriously wounded last Friday when he was struck by three bullets in his leg, abdomen and wrist. Two journalists have been killed and several wounded while covering the political unrest. The Dutch man was identified as Michel Maas, who works for Dutch television and newspapers as well as Radio Netherlands Worldwide. He took a bullet in his right shoulder but was said to be in relatively good condition. An army bullet hit him from behind as he was running away according to reports. "I really had no time to be shocked. When the army attacked I started running. I felt a hard blow but didn't realise I had been hit by a bullet. I was given a lift to the hospital on the back of a scooter," Maas said. Last month Hiroyuki Muramoto, a Japanese cameraman working for the Reuters news agency, was fatally shot though the findings of the official investigation into his death have never been released.

Some journalists have said that they were being deliberately targeted and that in some cases attempts had been made to steal cameras from photographers. Thomas Fuller, a reporter for the International Herald Tribune, described how opposition figure Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdipol was shot in the head as Fuller was interviewing him. Fuller told CNN that he was standing only a few feet away from Sawasdipol when he was shot. Sawasdipol was transported to hospital but later died of his injuries. The attacks on media personnel has angered journalist organisations. "The right to information is more important than ever when a country is in crisis, as Thailand is at the moment," Reporters Without Borders said. "International law clearly states that journalists cannot be military targets. We are outraged to see the media being repeatedly targeted by both the army and demonstrators. We urge the Thai government to restore order without delay and to lift the media censorship." [Freemedia / RNW / Vancouver Sun / RSF].

Curfew

Despite the curfew there are continuing attacks in Bangkok. Some protesters have fanned out across the city looting shops and setting fire to key financial targets, among them a bank and major shopping centre and the city's stock exchange. The curfew imposed across almost one-third of the country includes a block on cash dispensing machines and a temporary government takeover of some TV channels.

While such measures might be regarded as sensible in order to thwart violent retaliation from the Red-shirts, the move could also fan the flames of discontent. The government has offered a political solution, a road map that might take both sides into talks in dissolving parliament and calling fresh elections. But this dispute runs deeper, to the very nature of Thai democracy, and that debate has split opinion within families and the government, even within the army and the protesters themselves.

Divisions

Speaking to those that travel to Thailand regularly or have a strong connection with the country brings some perspective of the divisions. One young man who has visited Thailand several times over the last decade and is currently learning the language, spoke to tvnewswatch. "I think that the problem with Thailand is that the Thais never like to lose because they feel insulted if they do not win.They always accuse the opposite party of being corrupt or fiddling the elections if their own party has lost, and yet they are so nationalistic that they would refuse to have international observers like the UN supervising the elections," Robin Chakrabarti said.

"Both of my [language] teachers are supporters of opposite sides, so they would probably not like each other if they met, but I like both of them," he said, "It is a pity that politics can divide people so much. I hope that the problems do not gradually spread to more areas otherwise it will be like the Roundheads and Cavaliers, but in a different century and place." One of his language teachers had returned to the UK recently and Robin talked of her reaction. "My Thai teacher had also been in the area near the Skytrain station and Ploenchit Plaza, which is where there are several huge shopping malls are, a couple of weeks ago and had to escape an invasion of the shopping centre by Red-shirts," he said.

Many tourists had also to escape the area. "One English guy who had just got back from Bangkok a few days ago said that the Skytrain was shut down and he found it hard to get a taxi because they had disappeared to avoid being shot at," Robin told tvnewswatch. "He could hear gunfire and at one point he saw barricades with burning tyres etc, but when he arrived in the area where all the cheap backpacker guesthouses are, everything was OK except it was not normal because whereas usually the place is swarming with tourists with their backpacks, there were very few people about and most places were nearly empty." 

Locals not involved in the protests were struggling to make a living, but the volatile situation was making things difficult. "The local people who rely on tourism had put on a street party in Khaosan Road, the main tourist ghetto in the Banglumphu area, to encourage foreigners to stay, but there were not many about," he said.

Fractured past

The politics behind the protests cannot be simplified. For news organisations it can be too easily described as a conflict of class or of ideology. "The BBC reporter the other day wrongly described it as a fight between the rich and poor, but it is a lot more complicated than that," Robin said. "Thaksin [Shinawatra] was the legally elected Prime Minister, but had gradually become more and more powerful and built up resentment due to his selling off of a Thai telecom satellite [company] to Singapore, and also making sure his own family controlled or owned a lot of things in the country," Robin explained. "He himself had become a billionaire from business and owning an airline etc. However, he was a strong leader, got rid of drug dealers, and tried to crush the Muslim separatists in the south, but many people thought he was corrupt."

"He was ousted in the military coup by the Yellow-shirts while he was on a trip to America, which was not democratic. There was a General Sonti who took over when the coup took place, but they didn't like him and so there was somebody else chosen. Even though General Sonti was Muslim he did not manage to stop the violence in the south and it got worse. From what I have heard, but it may not be correct, Abhisit [Vejjajiva] was elected, but some people claim that the election was rigged and that he was chosen by the people in the army who were already in charge."
Uncertain future

In the short term Thailand may quieten down, but whether confidence returns to a lucrative tourist industry is far from clear. Thailand relies heavily on tourism and Thaksin was seen as being far more open than his successor. "Some Thais thought that he [Thaksin] was selling out Thailand to foreigners and giving foreigners too many rights," Robin says, "However, without the foreign investment from one million Brits on holiday each year, the Thai economy would lose by at least ten percent [of its annual GDP]." 

Thailand has been gripped by a paralysing political crisis ever since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted from office in the 2006 military coup. Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva was chosen as prime minister in December 2008, and some Thais hoped the protests had finally come to an end. But the political schism was far from over. In March 2010 the pro-Thaksin Red-shirts launched new protests aimed at bringing the government down.

Two months on, central Bangkok has been rocked by violence, bloodshed and destruction of key buildings. Analysts and some participants say the problem goes far beyond Thaksin, and is about how much say ordinary people are allowed to have in the formation of their government. The past 24 hours may have shown that the government can still impose its will. Whether it has quelled the anger or simply stoked it remains to be seen.

Thailand has had more than its fair share of crises. The SARS epidemic created panic in the country and the avian flu also affected the economy. "Nearly all chickens had to be slaughtered and you could only buy chips in KFC for a few months," Robin remembers. The tourist industry was also hit markedly by the military coup and the 2006 tsunami. The latest trouble does not bode well. "I hope Thailand gets over this present crisis and does not lose its charm as being a country of smiling friendly people," Robin said.

In a televised address late on Wednesday, Abhisit Vejjajiva said he was "confident and determined to end the problems and return the country to peace and order once again". Peace is what every Thai wants, but many also want fresh elections. Abhisit may not concede to this demand so readily however [Boston / BBC].

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China