China Chronicles June 22, 2012
- Surreal corner@Shanghai
Jimmy101cactus has added a photo to the pool:
20120608
Minox B-710180
Adox CHS 100
Rodinal 1+50/10min.20℃
JOBO tank with DIY 8x11 reels/version III - Potala facade
Sophie et Fred has added a photo to the pool:
- Tibetan wood carving
- Vietnam warned over isles claim
China summoned Vietnam's ambassador yesterday to protest a new law designating a pair of South China Sea island groups as Vietnamese territory.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun told Ambassador Nguyen Van Tho that China had sole jurisdiction over the Nansha and Xisha islands and Vietnam's inclusion of them under its maritime law was illegal and invalid, reporters were told.
"China expresses its resolute and vehement opposition," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei quoted Zhang as saying.
Zhang also said: "China demands that Vietnam cease and correct its erroneous actions and do nothing to harm China-Vietnam relations and the peace and stability of the South China Sea."
The law approved by Vietnam's National Assembly yesterday says that all foreign naval ships passing through the waters must notify Vietnamese authorities.
Meanwhile, China is consolidating administration over the Xisha, Nansha and Zhongsha islands in the South China Sea.
The government has approved a new entity, Hainan Province's Sansha City administration, to replace three separate management offices, giving a boost to development in the area and "better protecting Hainan's marine environment," a spokesman for the Civil Affairs Ministry said yesterday.
The State Council, or China's Cabinet, has approved the establishment of the prefectural-level city of Sansha to administer the three island groups and their surrounding waters. The government seat will be stationed on Yongxing Island, part of the Xisha Islands, according to a ministry statement.
The spokesman said the setting up of Sansha City will help to improve China's "administrative management on Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands and their future development."
He added: "It is also conducive to protecting the oceanic environment of the South China Sea."
China was first to discover and name the reefs, islets and the surrounding waters of island groups, and has exercised sovereignty control continuously ov! er the a rea, he said.
Authorities in China's southernmost Hainan Province have taken a series of steps to bring tourists to the Xisha islands.
Elsewhere in the South China Sea, government ships from the Philippines and China have now been engaged in a standoff for more than two months at Huangyan Island.
Last weekend, the Philippines withdrew its remaining two ships because of bad weather, and China said it would pull out its fishing boats - sparking hopes of an end to the standoff.
However, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said on Wednesday he would send ships back after the weather cleared if the Chinese ships had not left by then.
Hong said yesterday the two sides were working to ease tensions and called on Aquino not to make provocative statements.
Hong said the Philippine warships' harassment of Chinese fishermen in early April caused the Huangyan Island incident.
- Hermes says bags from official outlets genuine
ALL Hermes bags purchased from official outlets are genuine, Hermes China said in a statement yesterday.
It was responding to customer concerns after a fake production ring in which company employees were said to have been involved was busted in France.
It is thought that many of the counterfeits were sold to Chinese customers.
Helen Lu, a Hermes China spokeswoman, told Shanghai Daily that Hermes could assure customers that all bags purchased from official outlets were genuine, including those in the three Shanghai stores listed on the company's website.
But customers who had bought their bags online or abroad would not be able to check their authenticity, she said.
"According to our company's regulation, we don't offer authenticity checks in China. And we don't offer checks for bags customers have bought through other channels either," Lu said yesterday
An employee at the Hermes store at Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport was reported to have said customers could go to France to check if their bags were genuine.
Hermes China said the employee's answer was not put in a proper way, and that it was investigating the incident.
Last Thurday, French police said they had dismantled a "sophisticated counterfeit Hermes handbag syndicate," seizing fake products worth US$22.7 million and arresting 12 people in Paris and Lyon.
The ring produced counterfeits of several of its bags in undercover workshops and sold them through a distribution network in Europe, the US and Asia, Hermes said.
"The operation concludes a one-year investigation following a Hermes complaint based on clues and abnormal behavior identified through the house's internal monitoring systems," it said.
Hermes added: "Two former Hermes employees, who had been dismissed, are suspected to have organized this network in which a few current Hermes employees could also be involved."
- another day in the park 3
- China raises administrative status of South China Sea islands
THE Chinese government has raised the administrative status of the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha Islands in the South China Sea from county-level to prefectural-level, according to today's statement.
The State Council, or China's cabinet, has approved the establishment of the city of Sansha to administer the three island groups and their surrounding waters, while the government seat will be stationed on Yongxing Island, part of the Xisha Islands, according to a statement from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
The council has abolished the county-level Administration Office for the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha Islands, which was also stationed on Yongxing Island, the statement said.
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