SINODAILY.Com brings you daily news about China in the 21st century. 07-FEB-07 en-us Beijing (AFP) Feb 06, 2007 - China said Tuesday it had no plans to radically change its reliance on coal and other dirty fuels, as it insisted the responsibility for global warming rested with developed countries. In the first official Chinese response to a stark UN report issued last week on climate change, foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu appeared to take aim at the United States as she highlighted the importance of the Kyoto Protocol.]]> Xichang, China (XNA) Feb 05, 2007 - China successfully put a navigation satellite into orbit early Saturday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The carrier rocket, Long March 3-A, blasted off at 0:28 a.m. ( Beijing Time). The satellite separated from the rocket about 24 minutes later. Data from the Xi'an satellite monitoring center showed that the satellite had accurately entered its orbit.]]> Beijing (AFP) Feb 1, 2007 - China insisted Thursday it did not want an arms race in space but refrained from commenting on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's claims that its satellite-destroying test had broken international law. China's foreign ministry refused to react directly to Abe's comments that Beijing had violated an international space treaty when it shot down one of its own satellites with a missile on January 11.]]> Beijing, China (XNA) Feb 02, 2007 - China's State Council has endorsed plans to launch the second-generation of the country's oceanic survey satellites, the state's top ocean research official said on Thursday. The "Haiyang-2" (Ocean 2) series of satellites, a crucial component of China's civil spacecraft program, would be used to collect data on offshore wind fields, ocean circulation, tides, and sea surface temperatures, said Sun Zhihui, director of State Oceanic Administration.]]> Beijing (XNA) Feb 06, 2007 - Thirteen domestic designers have vied to design for the moon rover used in China's Chang'e I Moon Orbiting Project. The remote-controlled moon rover shall be used to perform experiments and send data back to the earth following the moon orbiting project, said Ouyang Ziyuan, moon probe program chief scientist.]]> Washington (AFP) Feb 06, 2007 - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday he was very troubled by a recent Chinese anti-satellite weapons test because of what it says about Beijing's strategic outlook. China on January 11 shot down one of its own orbiting weather satellites in space with a ballistic missile, acknowledging the test nearly two weeks later only after it provoked an international outcry. "I think that the Chinese ASAT test is very troubling," Gates told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.]]> Mahe, Seychelles (UPI) Feb 06, 2007 - Britain and France fought over the Seychelles Islands in the 19th century, not for its natural beauty but because of the strategic location on the important trading route to the East Indies. Today, more than ever before, the Seychelles archipelago is caught in the web of global politics. On Feb. 9 and 10 President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China will pay an official State visit to the Islands after a tour of eight African countries.]]> Beijing (AFP) Feb 03, 2007 - China's state-run media Saturday played down fresh warnings on climate change issued by a UN scientific panel, with centrally-controlled television news ignoring the issue altogether. China Central Television in its Friday night and Saturday news broadcasts failed to mention the report by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) that called for international action to slow down global warming.]]> Beijing (AFP) Feb 6, 2007 - Skating has been banned on the melting ice of Beijing's lakes, trees are blossoming early and people are shedding their heavy clothes as China experiences its warmest winter on record. The temperature in the capital hit 16 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, far above the historical average of just below freezing for this time of year and the highest since records were first compiled in 1840.]]> Beijing (AFP) Feb 6, 2007 - A devastating drought and unusually high temperatures have left 300,000 people short of drinking water in northwest China, state media reported Tuesday. The drought has hit the densely populated Shaanxi province, where January rainfall was up to 90 percent below the average level from previous years, the Xinhua news agency said.]]> Pretoria (AFP) Feb 07, 2007 - Chinese President Hu Jintao said Beijing's deepening involvement in Africa should result in a "win-win" situation after talks Tuesday in Pretoria with the head of the continent's economic powerhouse. South African President Thabo Mbeki and Hu put the seal on their burgeoning relationship by signing a raft of trade agreements after a two-hour long meeting, with both stressing the importance they attached to strong ties.]]> Monrovia (AFP) Feb 01, 2007 - President Hu Jintao of China cancelled Liberia's debt as he visited the West African country Thursday, ahead of the most delicate stage of his African tour in Sudan. Thousands of people waving flags lined the road from Monrovia airport into the capital where Hu and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf held talks and signed accords.]]> Madrid (AFP) Feb 05, 2007 - After four days of pitching for custom by laying out their "sustainable" development credentials, tourism professionals brought the curtain down Sunday on Madrid's 27th FITUR international trade fair. With the multi-billion sector worth a double figures slice of gross national product to countries as large as hosts Spain, 13,190 firms from 170 countries eagerly showed off their wares to more than 250,000 professionals and members of the public.]]> http://www.terradaily.com/terradaily.xml]]>