China Reform Monitor: No. 933

November 10:

Three out of four soldiers have been shot dead with an automatic rifle and 800 bullets after they went AWOL from a military base in Shulan, Jilin. The Shulan police station issued an urgent warning to banks and jewelry shops to be on alert after the soldiers went missing. The South China Morning Post identified the four men, who fled the military camp in the early morning hours, as a 23-year-old officer and three soldiers aged from 18 to 19. One was an artillery technician, two were gunners, and the other was a signaler. When police found them in Yingkou, Liaoning, the hometown of two of the four, a shoot-out ensued and three of the deserters were killed and one injured along with a police officer that was wounded when the soldiers returned fire. There was no mention of why the men had deserted.

“China has adopted a special policy to increase cooperation to Bangladesh in all sectors especially in economy, trade, agriculture, education, infrastructure development, science and technology,” Communist Party of China (CPC) politburo member Liu Qi told Bangladeshi President Zillur Rahman. The expanded assistance, which includes increasing the number of scholarships for Bangladeshis to Chinese universities from 50 to 500, was covered in the United News of Bangladesh. Rahman called on China to move ahead with the Bangladesh-Burma-China road link to increase trade between the three countries. After reaffirming his country’s commitment to the “one China Policy,” Rahamn said Bangladesh “needs more help from China,” reports unbconnect.com.

November 11:

Rebels from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an ethnic armed group in Burma, have destroyed a section of railway linking Mandalay to Myitkyina in Kachin State in northern Burma. China is building a $2.6 billion oil and gas pipeline that is expected to become operational by 2013 and is beginning work next month on a $20 billion railway from Burma’s coast on the Bay of Bengal to Yunnan Province that will pass through the disputed region. KIA sources said there were more than 160 armed clashes between the Burmese military and the KIA last month alone, during which 14 KIA rebels were killed and 26 wounded. Burma's The Irawaddy reports fighting between rebels and government troops will pose difficulties for China’s efforts to complete infrastructure projects in Burma and has already created thousands of refugees along the China-Burma border.

November 13:

CPC Chairman Hu Jintao has met with Lien Chan, honorary chairman of the Kuomintang, in Hawaii and reaffirmed the “1992 Consensus” as the foundation for cross-Straits relations. The two met on the sidelines of the 19th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economic leaders’ meeting. Lien, Taiwan’s APEC envoy, praised the progress made in the peaceful development of cross-Straits political ties, reciprocal trade arrangements and social interactions since 2008. Hu noted “major and positive changes” and recognized new prospects for peaceful relations between Beijing and Taipei, the official China Daily reports. He urged both sides to recognize that the “1992 Consensus,” is essential for future cross-Straits dialogues and said the “peaceful development of cross-Straits ties serves the interests of all Chinese,” while opposing Taiwan independence. The consensus, reached by non-governmental groups from both sides under official authorization, seeks common ground while reserving differences.

November 16:

The Xinjiang government will build 59 new reservoirs among the Tianshan, Kunlun, and Altay mountains to store run-off from glaciers melting due to climate change, the official Xinhua News Agency reports. To relieve water shortages and flooding, the reservoirs will collect water from the melting ice in spring and summer and direct it towards irrigation. Xinjiang has large glacial resources but water from melting ice accounts for only 40 percent of the water used by people living in the southern Tianshan Mountains and less for those living in the northern Tianshan Mountains. Construction on the first reservoir in Aratax, Kashi in the Kunlun Mountains began early last month with a total investment of 8.67 billion RMB ($1.37 billion). Xinjiang currently has about 500 reservoirs, but few have been built in mountains to store water from melting glaciers.