Chinese president meets Indian prime minister

Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) meets with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 15, 2009. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
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YEKATERINBURG, Russia, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao met here Monday night with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Hu said China has always striven, steadfastly and from a strategic and long-term perspective, to promote good neighborliness and friendly cooperation with India, an important neighbor of China and also a fast-growing emerging power.

The Chinese side is ready to work with the Indian side to maintain the sound momentum for development of the bilateral strategic and cooperative partnership, make greater efforts to implement the "10 strategies" reached between the leaders of the two countries, enhance mutual political trust and reciprocal cooperation in various fields, take into consideration each other's concerns and core interests, and strengthen coordination and cooperation on major international and regional issues, said Hu.

He noted that the two sides should focus on the following key areas in efforts to promote bilateral ties.

The first is to strengthen high-level contacts.

The Chinese side welcomes Indian President Pratibha Patil to visit China in the latter half of this year, and Chinese leaders are considering visiting India at a time convenient to both sides.

The Chinese side agreed in principle to establish a hot line between the Chinese premier and the Indian prime minister.

The second is to deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation of mutual benefit. The two sides should continue to tap potentials, encourage two-way investments, expand cooperation in contracted projects, and strive to realize the target of 60 billion U.S. dollars in bilateral trade in the year 2010.

The third is to work together to respond to the impact of the international financial crisis. The Chinese side will strengthen communication and coordination with the Indian side, maintain close cooperation within the frameworks of BRIC, the five developing nations and the Group of 20, safeguard the common interests of the developing countries, and strive to contribute to economic recovery and development of Asia and the world at large.

The fourth is to strengthen bilateral defense cooperation which is an important component of overall bilateral cooperation. The two sides should make concerted efforts to strengthen cooperation in this regard.

The fifth is to strengthen cultural exchanges. Both sides should make good planning and preparations for a series of activities, such as those marking the 60th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and concerning The Chinese Festival in India and the Indian Festival in China. Both sides will continue to receive each other's delegations consisting of young people, officials, and people from news media and different localities, promote friendly exchanges in various fields and at various levels through visa facilitation and increasing direct air flights.

On border issues, Hu expressed the hope that the two sides would continue to advance the negotiating process in the spirit of peace and friendship, equal consultations, mutual respect and mutual accommodation so that the border issues could be properly resolved at an early date.

Both sides should do their utmost to ensure that the border issues do not undermine the overall situation of bilateral ties, he said.

Before these issues are eventually resolved, both sides should make joint efforts for maintaining peace and tranquility along the border region, he said.

With the efforts of both sides, Hu said, the Sino-Indian strategic and cooperative partnership will see sound development and the growth of bilateral relations will bring benefits to the two peoples.

Singh said the two countries forged the strategic and cooperative partnership during his tenure as prime minister. Bilateral ties have been deepening, he said.

India will give top priority to its relations with China and is committed to advancing bilateral cooperation in various fields on the basis of progress made in the past, he said.

He expressed his appreciation for the increasingly important role China is playing in international affairs and China's important contributions to world peace and development.

He said China is not a competitor and that there is enough room in the world for the two countries to achieve development. The two countries share the desire to promote their bilateral ties and there are also potentials for them to cooperate on global and regional issues, he added.

Singh described economic cooperation as an important "pillar”of the overall bilateral relationship and said enhanced economic ties could give an impetus to the development of bilateral ties.

On military-to-military exchanges, Singh said that steady growth in exchanges between the armed forces of the two countries is to enhancing mutual trust and mutual understanding.

He also said that India and China share common interests on such issues as global trade and investment, climate change and the reform of the international financial order and should strengthen consultation and cooperation in addressing these issues.

On border issues, he said the Indian government is seeking a solution that should be fair, reasonable and acceptable to both sides. Before the issues are finally resolved, efforts should be made to ensure peace and tranquility along the border region, he said.

India recognizes the Tibet Autonomous Region as part of the territory of the People's Republic of China and will not allow anyone to carry out anti-China political activities in Indian territory, he said.

He said a healthy and stable bilateral relationship serves the interests of the two countries and also conforms to the interests of the region and the world at large.

Hu and Singh are here to attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the first meeting of BRIC, scheduled to be held in Russia's third largest city Wednesday.

Indian is one of the four observers of the SCO, a regional organization now groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The other three observers are Pakistan, Mongolia and Iran.

BRIC is an acronym for the four key emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (3rd L) meets with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (3rd R) in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 15, 2009. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)
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日本‧科學家發現‧A型流感病毒變異

（日本‧東京）據報導，日本科學家已發現部份A（H1N1）型流感病毒，已出現變異，將令人類更容易受到感染。

東京大學醫科學研究所教授河岡義裕在科學雜誌《自然》網絡版發表的文章指出，在部份A型流感病毒上發現了變異，而這個變異可能導致病毒更容易附著在人體細胞上。

英國首例患者死亡

與此同時，英國週日（6月14日）首次出現A型流感死亡病例，蘇格蘭一名A型流感患者上週六在格拉斯哥地區的一間醫院死亡，令英國成為美洲以外首個傳出死亡病例的國家。

同時，英國衛生部當天也新確認104宗新流感病例，令全國感染者總數上升至1226人。

而加拿大魁北克省週一（6月15日）亦證實第6起A型流感死亡病例，死者是50多歲的婦女，住在蒙特利爾地區。加拿大全國確此病例已超過3515宗。

日確認病例增至600宗

另外，日本九州鹿兒島週日也宣佈首宗A型流感確認病例，令日本國內的確認病例增至600宗，至今已有24個都道府縣出現疫情，全國半數以上地方淪陷。

克羅地亞及南太平洋島國所羅門，週一確診首宗A型流感病例，患者最近都曾出國。

而澳洲目前的新流感病例已逼近1500宗，當局準備近日提昇警戒級別至第二高的“持續”，賦予政府權力取消體育活動、關閉學校和限制旅遊。

中國‧北京中午似黑夜‧雷雨天百餘航班延誤

（中國‧北京）中國首都北京今日（週二，6月16日）遭雷雨襲擊，全域陷入一片黑暗之中，白晝如同黑夜。

北京首都國際機場當天早上受到雷雨天氣影響，100餘架次進出港航班延誤，10餘架航班被迫取消。

當天上午11時左右，北京上空從陰雲密佈迅速轉為漆黑如夜，雷聲不斷，如黃豆般的雨點嘩嘩落下，直到中午12時的短1小時內，共發生雷電2062次。

由於全城在雷雨交加之中陷入黑暗，當局在上午時分便被迫點亮街燈；在馬路上行駛的汽車，紛紛開車燈，而高樓內的辦公室，也燈火通明。

北京國際機場一名發言人表示，首都機場已啟動相應應急預案，做好旅客引導工作，機場整體秩序良好。

俄羅斯‧總統：美元以外‧世界需新外匯儲備貨幣 Russia calls for new reserve currencies in addition to US$

（俄羅斯‧葉卡捷琳堡）俄羅斯總統梅德韋傑夫今日（週二，6月16日）表示，世界需要一個新的外匯儲備貨幣。

他在葉卡捷琳堡召開的上海合作組織會上指出，在穩定全球金融體系方面，設立美元以外的新儲備貨幣是不可或缺的。

梅德韋傑夫此前曾提出這項建議。他的講話反映出莫斯科推動擴大國際影響力的努力，以及各國對美國預算赤字日益增加將讓美元走軟的擔憂。

梅德韋傑夫當天稍後將主辦首次金磚四國峰會，與會的包括巴西、印度和中國領導人。

中承諾提供百億美元貸款

與此同時，中國國家主席胡錦濤在上海合作組織峰會上宣佈，中國將提供100億美元貸款給組織成員，協助他們渡過金融危機。

他說：“中國決定提供組織總計100億美元的貸款，協助保持金融體系的穩定，為成員國迎抗危機作出貢獻。”

但他未透露進一步詳情。分析家指出，中國此舉旨在提昇北京在這些貧窮但具有重要戰略地位的中亞國家的影響力。

在較後舉行的首屆金磚四國峰會上，四國領導人將就國際金融改革、糧食安全等重大課題交換看法。

金磚四國指的是中國、俄羅斯、巴西和印度這4個世界最大新興市場，四國的經濟成本佔全球的15%，或60.7兆美元。

YEKATERINBURG, Russia: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says the world needs new reserve currencies.

Medvedev told a regional summit Tuesday that the creation of new reserve currencies in addition to the dollar is needed to stabilize global finances.

Medvedev has made the proposal before.

It reflects both the Kremlin's push for greater international clout and a concern shared by other countries that soaring U.S. budget deficits could spur inflation and weaken the dollar.

Airing it at a summit meeting underlined the challenge to U.S. clout.

Medvedev spoke at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes China and four Central Asian nations.

Later Tuesday he hosts a summit of the BRIC group of leading emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China.

美國‧衝破媒體封鎖‧伊朗網民Twitter發送消息

（美國‧舊金山）儘管伊朗當局企圖箝制媒體，封鎖消息，但互聯網卻衝破禁令，第一時間傳遞伊朗政局的最新進展。

很多伊朗網民利用微型部落格Twitter即時向世界發送消息，把政府壓制集會，警察與民眾衝突的消息即時發送到外界。

Twitter出現很多留言，一些人還提供另一些照片網站的聯結，讓世界同步瞭解伊朗的局勢。

伊朗示威民眾受傷或身亡的照片透過Twitter及一些照片分享網站如Flickr及視頻分享網站YouTube流出外界。

“伊朗選舉”更成了週一（6月15日）Twitter的熱門課題，世界各地很多關心伊朗時局的網民，都透過Twitter瞭解最新的進展。

THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED

Check this link out : http://tinyurl.com/rcucp

Russia, China, Central Asian nations hold summit

YEKATERINBURG, Russia – Russia played regional power broker Monday, hosting China and Central Asian nations for a summit that highlights the Kremlin's efforts to maintain clout in former Soviet territory and raise its profile in Afghanistan.

Moscow is expected to use the meeting of leaders from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to try to cement the six-nation group as a counterbalance to the U.S. presence in strategic Central Asia.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev opened the two-day meeting by saying the group would discuss the global financial crisis and the key issue it was created to address: regional security.

"Our organization has been created quite recently, but it has scored quite serious progress," he said.

Late Monday, Medvedev had what he called a "most productive and useful" meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Medvedev promised that Russia will help Afghanistan create "an efficient political system."

"We are very thankful for the assistance that Russia has given Afghanistan," Karzai responded, "particularly over the last seven years, during this difficult period of history when we have been fighting terrorism."

At a meeting later with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Medvedev said all nations needed to work together to fight terrorism.

"If we fail to unite our efforts, we'll never succeed in defeating terrorism," the Russian leader said. "We are ready for cooperation with Pakistan on all aspects of fighting terrorism."

The 8-year-old Shanghai Cooperation Organization is dominated by Russia and China and includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, with countries such as India, Iran and Pakistan holding observer status.

Medvedev also was expected to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian leader postponed his arrival in this Ural Mountains city until Tuesday, according to the Iranian Embassy in Moscow, during protests in Iran over his bitterly disputed re-election.

Amid efforts by Washington and Moscow to improve strained ties, the summit will be watched for signs of stronger support from Russia and its neighbors for American-led operations in Afghanistan. That will be a signal of the depth of Russia's determination to mend fences with the United States at a time of warming relations between the two countries.

While Moscow and its neighbors have stressed solidarity with the West on the need for stability in Afghanistan, Kremlin critics say they have used their combined clout in the past to confound U.S. efforts.

In 2005, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization supported Uzbekistan's eviction of U.S. forces from a base supporting operations in Afghanistan. In February, Kyrgyzstan announced it would evict U.S. forces from their only other Central Asian base _ a decision widely seen as influenced by Russia. U.S. officials have said there is still hope for a deal to keep use of the Manas base.

Karzai has appealed to Kyrgyzstan to let coalition forces continue using Manas, and the Afghan leader could meet his Kyrgyz counterpart for talks during the summit.

Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Sergei Prikhodko said Sunday that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has seen "more transparency" from the administration of President Barack Obama on U.S. policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan. "The niches of interaction with Western countries, including the U.S., may be widened," he said.

Russia and the Central Asian countries already have allowed the transport of non-lethal military supplies across their territory.

Prikhodko did not say what the nations might do to increase cooperation, but made it clear they want a greater say in resolving the situation in Afghanistan.

Prikhodko also said the leaders will discuss broader security issues and the global financial crisis, as well as the situation on the Korean peninsula, but that no major statement on North Korea's nuclear activity was expected.

The summit will be followed late Tuesday by the first full-fledged summit of BRIC, a group linking the emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Medvedev may repeat Russia's call for a new global reserve currency to augment the dollar, but Russia's finance minister over the weekend suggested that the dollar would remain the currency of choice for years to come.

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV,Associated Press Writer