April 15:
The Philippines has lodged a formal protest at the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf over China's claims to the Spratly islands and adjacent South China Sea waters. The newest controversy in the decades-old multilateral dispute centers on formal notes sent by China to the UN secretary general in 2009 outlining the basis of its claim. China has recently reiterated its exclusive claims to all the disputed areas and their adjacent waters, much of which is actually closer to the Philippines. The Philippines claims more than fifty islands in the Spratly archipelago. Manila’s petition argues for the islands and the water surrounding them, and that China’s claim has no basis under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Vietnam and Malaysia have also submitted letters to the UN outlining their own rival claims, the Bangkok Post reports.
[Editor’s Note: Patrol boats from China’s navy harassed a Philippine oil exploration vessel in March in disputed waters near the Spratly Islands. In response Manila announced plans to pursue oil exploration in the South China Sea and upgrade a military airfield on Thitu island, the largest of the seven Spratly islands that the Philippines occupies.
April 17:
According to the South China Morning Post, President Hu Jintao has called for reforms in the development of China’s high-speed railways. During an inspection tour in Hainan, Hu called for the railroad ministry “to guarantee safety” and focus on “fighting corruption,” which has caused a public outcry over official embezzlement, safety lapses and debts. The comments follow an interview with new Railways Minister Sheng Guangzu, who said that to make journeys safer and more affordable high-speed trains would slow from a top speed of 350 km per hour to 300 km per hour and that tickets would be cheaper than initially planned. Sheng said the government would spend 2.8 trillion yuan on railway construction until 2015, which was lower than previous estimates but still 41 percent higher than in the previous five-year period. This week all local railway departments also began a 10-day safety check on all 8358 km high-speed lines across the country. China's high-speed rail network is expected to exceed 13,000 km by the end of next year and 16,000 km by the end of 2020.
[Editor’s Note: Sheng was appointed the new minister after the fall of Liu Zhijun, who allegedly took more than 800 million yuan in kickbacks on contracts linked to expanding the high-speed rail network.]
April 23:
China’s authorities seeking to isolate the restive Kirti Buddhist monastery in Tibet have imposed a ban on foreigners as well as Hong Kong and Macau residents travelling to Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture due to “the recent self-immolation of a local monk,” Ming Pao reports. Sichuan's travel agencies transmitted an “Urgent Circular of the Sichuan Provincial Public Security Department” that said effective immediately, non-mainlanders are barred from travelling to five counties in Ganzi and Aba Prefectures and that those who are already in the areas should leave. The ban will remain in place until further notice and “the armed forces will implement highway control” to enforce the measure.
For the first time since 1949, mainland Chinese students will soon be allowed to study for a university degree in Taiwan. Taiwan universities will be limited to 2,000 mainland students, which must have household registration in Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong or Fujian provinces to be eligible to attend Taiwan's higher education institutions. Chinese students are not eligible for scholarships nor can they work or stay in Taiwan after graduation. The Taipei Times reports
eight of Taiwan’s colleges took part in the Shanghai higher education fair to recruit their first year of mainland applicants.
April 25:
Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission has revised important cross-strait financial business regulations. The new rules will allow Taiwan's banks to establish branches and/or subsidiaries in China, purchase stakes in Chinese banks, and handle all financial transactions. The Commission has set three rules for Taiwan’s banks operating on the mainland: new branches may not be exposed to over 60 percent of their net worth, Taiwan's financial holding companies may not purchase a more than 10 percent stake in a mainland bank, nor can they invest more than 15 percent of their net worth in branches and/or subsidiaries in China. Overseas branches of Taiwanese banks may not make business loans in China totaling over 30 percent of borrowers' net assets, according to CENS.