September 18:
Beijing is consolidating environmental oversight to "shake up the vested interests of different government agencies," Yang Weimin, deputy head of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Finance and Economic Affairs said. The plan will allow the Ministry of Environmental Protection to oversee provincial governments’ environmental policies and publicly shame provincial party committees that overlook green issues. The National Audit Office and National Bureau of Statistics will start auditing officials’ environmental records. Responsibility for protecting China’s environment is currently scattered among several government agencies, creating bureaucratic loopholes. Management of agricultural and forestry land, for example, which is now under two departments, will be combined, South China Morning Post reports.
September 21:
The China Railway Group-led consortium will build a high-speed railway between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The venture, called XpressWest, will travel the 230 miles separating the two cities at 150 mph, Clapway reports. “This is the first high-speed railway project where China and the U.S. will have systematic cooperation,” Yang Zhongmin, a deputy chief engineer with China Railway Group said in Beijing. “It shows the advancement of China-made high-speed railways.” Negotiations on the project began four years ago, and $100 million initial capital has already been raised. Another comparable a private venture seeks to link Dallas and Houston in Texas, and California is in the nascent phases of its own high-speed railway project.
September 22:
A Chinese JH-7 fighter-bomber made an unsafe pass near a US RC-135 Rivet joint reconnaissance aircraft on September 15 in the Yellow Sea approximately 125km east of Shandong Peninsula, said a Pentagon spokesperson. "The pilot reported that he felt the [Chinese] aircraft passed in front of his nose in an unsafe fashion," he said, adding that there were two JH-7s shadowing the Rivet Joint. China believes it is legitimate to intercept foreign aircraft within its 200 mile exclusive economic zone. The Shandong peninsula is a strategic area for the PLA naval forces; its North Sea fleet is docked in Qingdao as are its nuclear submarines. Senator John McCain said the intercept was part of China’s "pattern of aggressive behavior in the Asia-Pacific region,” Reuters reports. In August 2014, a Chinese warplane flew within 7-10 meters of a U.S. Navy patrol jet and barrel rolled over the U.S. aircraft.
[Editor’s note: This “unsafe maneuver” underscores the need for a joint code of conduct for unexpected aerial encounters, which was supposed to be signed during Xi's U.S. visit, SCMP reports. It could be an annex to the military-to-military agreement ensuring operational safety between surface naval ships signed in April 2014.]
September 25:
On September 18, at least one North Korean soldier crossed China’s border into Changbai, Jilin and fired shots at a civilian vehicle, injuring three people, one critically,United Press International reports. Beijing has confirmed that at least two Chinese were injured in the incident, Yonhap reports. An unconfirmed source said one of the victims died at the hospital and the DPRK soldier(s) are in hiding. Incidents of violence, often involving North Korean soldiers crossing into China, have increased of late. In April, North Korean soldiers killed three Chinese in Helong, Jilin, and last December North Korean soldiers killed four ethnic Korean-Chinese.
September 26:
China and South Korea plan to build a joint industrial complex near the border with North Korea, according to South Korean Ambassador to China Kim Jang-soo. Kim made the remarks during his visit to Jilin’s Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, where ethnic Koreans account for about 30 percent of the population, the The Korean Herald reports. Kim held talks on building the complex with Zhang Anshun, the Communist Party secretary of Yanbian, but did not announce when construction would begin. Kim said that bilateral relations "are at an all-time high," with 370 South Korean companies operating in Yanbian.