Ver anúncio na página da Câmara Municipal de Faro.

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A China poderá estar a viver a pior seca dos últimos 50 anos. A Austrália está também a viver a pior onda de calor de sempre (de que há registo humano, naturalmente). Este tipo de fenómenos extremos está a acontecer com cada vez maior frequência. A isto não será alheia a alteração climática.

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China is suffering another natural disaster -- this time, the worst drought in half a century. The land is parched and the irrigation dams have dried up. Crops and livestock are dying.

Water levels in some Chinese rivers are well below their average with 50 to 80 percent less rain than last year.
China on Thursday raised the drought-emergency-alert level from orange to red and allocated an additional $44 million dollars on top of the $13 million in emergency aid already released.

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The Tech Transfer Trap

If the Obama administration hopes to coax China to take action on global warming — and if the administration wants to give the U.N. climate negotiations a chance of success — it will need to solve the thorny problem of technology transfer. If it does so, however, it may face a quarrel with the clean-tech industry, one of its closest allies in the business community.

In the U.N. climate talks last month in Poznan, Poland, technology transfer emerged as one of the key stumbling blocks. China demanded that the United States and Europe agree to a strategy of transferring to developing nations a wide variety of energy-saving and emissions-reducing technologies to developing nations.

Ler resto em ClimateProgress

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O Presidente do Observatório da China, Dr. Rui Lourido (simultaneamente Coordenador Cultural da UCCLA) participou na preparação do China-Europa Fórum (que se realizou em 7-14 de Julho de 2010, em Macau e Hong-Kong). Essa reunião preparatória decorreu em Frankfurt, em finais de Dezembro de 2008. Foi convidado a falar sobre o papel do Observatório da China e da UCCLA e da situação de Macau como ponte de relacionamento multissecular entre a Europa e a China. Nele propôs e foi aprovado, a realização de um workshop, a realizar em Lisboa, enquadrado no futuro Fórum.

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The President of the Observatory for China, Dr. Rui Lourido (simultaneously UCCLA Cultural Coordinator) participated in the preparation of the China-Europe Forum (held on 7-14 July 2010, in Macau and Hong Kong). This preparatory meeting was held in Frankfurt, in late December 2008. He was invited to speak on the role of the Observatory for China and UCCLA and the situation of Macao as a bridge between the centuries-old relationship of Europe and China. In it he proposed and was approved on a workshop to be held in Lisbon, included in future Forum.

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O Presidente do Observatório da China (simultaneamente Coordenador da UCCLA), Dr. Rui Lourido, participou no meetting da rede internacional de prestigiadas Universidades e Centros de Investigação com departamentos dedicados aos estudos sobre o Oriente - East Asia Net, em Veneza, no início de Dezembro de 2008.
Nele teve a oportunidade de apresentar e divulgar as relações e o trabalho do Observatório da China e da UCCLA (nomeadamente em Timor e Macau).

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The President of the Observatory for China (both UCCLA Coordinator), Dr. Rui Lourido, participated in the international network meetting of prestigious universities and research centers with departments dedicated to Eastern Studies - East Asia Net, in Venice in early December 2008.
Him had the opportunity to present and promote the relations and the work of the Observatory for China and UCCLA (notably in East Timor and Macau).

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After Saturday’s sputtering end of the U.N. climate talks in Poznan, Poland, it’s clearer than ever that the fate of the post-Kyoto negotiations will depend on whether China can be coaxed to adopt some sort of carbon emissions limits. But as this tug of war plays out in the next year and beyond, what’s most important is not what China says on the diplomatic front but what it does on the home front.

Ler mais em Climate Progress...

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The AP reports today from Shanghai:

BYD presented the vehicle, known as the F3DM, in a ceremony in the southern city of Shenzhen…. The vehicle can run up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) on its electric engine, and when it runs low on power shifts to a back up gasoline engine. Its battery can fully charge in nine hours from a regular electrical outlet, or much faster at BYD’s own charging stations, the company said in a statement.

The car will sell for 149,800 yuan ($22,000), about the same as many Chinese-made mid-sized cars, it said.

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China produces dreadful trade figures, in a blow to the world economy

Shutterstock

JUST how worrying are the figures, published on Wednesday December 10th, showing that China’s exports and imports plunged in November? Exports fell by 2.2% last month from a year ago; imports plummeted by an astonishing 17.9%. One analyst sums up the news as “a shock figure”.

The gloom is spread all over the place. Exports dropped across all big traded goods and all parts of the world. Exports to America fell by 6.1%; those to the ASEAN countries, which had grown by 21.5% in October, fell by 2.4%. The faster decline in imports meant that China’s monthly trade surplus reached a record $40.1 billion. Exports last fell in 2001.

Ler no "The Economist"

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Um livro de referência, agora editado em Portugal, escrito como um guião conciso de uma viagem desde os primórdios da formação do país até à trasformação em superpotência económica.

Stephen G. Haw começa por explicar as civilizações pré-históricas de há quatro mil anos atrás, seguindo para o desenvolvimento do comércio das sedas. Aqui encontramos a origem das principais invenções da era pré-moderna - o papel, a pólvora, a bússola magnética -, que seriam transmitidas da China para o mundo ocidental. Das gloriosas dinastias Tang e Song, durante as quais nasceriam as grandes cidades chinesas, passamos ao período de declínio e do esforço ocidental para dominar este território gigante. Finalmente, Haw percorre os anos conturbados e as vitórias da Revolução Chinesa, bem como as mudanças progressivas que foram ocorrendo desde os anos setenta até aos dias de hoje, nomeadamente a transferência dos últimos territórios sob controlo ocidental para o Governo chinês e o desenvolvimento fulminante da economia do país.

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China 'faces mass social unrest'

Chinese authorities have already had to deal with workers' protests

Rising unemployment and the economic slowdown could cause massive social turmoil in China, a leading scholar in the Communist Party has said.

"The redistribution of wealth through theft and robbery could dramatically increase and menaces to social stability will grow," Zhou Tianyong, a researcher at the Central Party School in Beijing, wrote in the China Economic Times.

"This is extremely likely to create a reactive situation of mass-scale social turmoil," he wrote.

in BBC

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China fears fast-rising unemployment could trigger social unrest

Companies in two Chinese provinces, Shandong and Hubei, have been told they must seek official consent if they want to lay off more than 40 people.

The order highlights the Chinese authorities' concern over mounting job losses.

As China's main external markets plunge into recession and export orders shrink, layoffs have multiplied in the country's big manufacturing regions.

ler BBC

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South China Morning Post

During the period of reform, Beijing also accomplished the goal of securing the return of Hong Kong's sovereignty to the motherland in 1997 and Macau's in 1999, though relations with the breakaway island of Taiwan have been rocky. [...]

On November 24, 1978, under the dim light of an oil lamp, 21 farmers in Xiaogang village in the eastern province of Anhui marked their fingerprints on a contract that divided community-owned farmland into plots for individual households.

The contract stipulated that if their arrangement was discovered and any signatory thrown in prison, the others would raise their children until they turned 18.

The controversial move, initially attacked as a return to capitalism, triggered a wave of revolutionary changes leading to the system of 30-year leases on land plots, and marked the beginning of the mainland's historic process of opening and reform.

Last month, in what was called a ‘landmark policy document’, the ruling Communist Party's Central Committee agreed to allow small farmers to sell their right to till the land.

At the time the Anhui villagers were turning their backs on collective farming, entrepreneurs in the Pearl River Delta began setting up small factories to provide original equipment manufacturer (OEM) services to businesses in Hong Kong. Dajin Textiles in Shunde, Guangdong, is believed to be the first OEM factory established in the area, at a time when foreign trade was strictly regulated.

Through political wisdom or sheer good fortune, the two groups' bravery in challenging political taboos was endorsed by the Communist Party under reformist leader Deng Xiaoping.

The Xiaogang model was soon copied by thousands of villages across the province, and the Shunde experiment was said to have eventually prompted the top leadership to designate four ‘special economic zones’ in 1980. They were Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen. In 1985, a further 14 port cities were opened to overseas investment. These were the first to receive foreign capital and technology, and have since been leading China's export boom.

It is tempting to say that changes might have taken place even earlier, when the disgraced Deng made a political comeback after the death of chairman Mao Zedong and the downfall of the Gang of Four, Mao's political allies, in 1976. Back then, the pressing need for change, no matter how painful, was obvious. The mainland was just emerging from the shadow of the devastating Cultural Revolution, and decades of economic and social mismanagement had impoverished the country.

Before a crucial party plenum to set the country's new course, Deng's men launched an ideological debate on the so-called ‘criterion of truth’ to prepare for change.

The tide began to turn for good at that meeting - the Third Plenum of the 11th Chinese Communist Party Central Committee - in December 1978. Deng, then vice-premier, wrested power from the conservative faction headed by Hua Guofeng, the party chairman who remained staunchly faithful to Mao.

With the victory of the Deng credo - ‘practise is the only test of truth’ - the meeting marked the turning point in the party's central policy theme away from the idealism of socialist revolution towards economic development, thus ushering in the era of opening and reform.

‘Thirty years of reform and opening up have brought about historic changes in China's development and created the fastest major growing economy,’ said Chi Fulin, executive president of the China Institute for Reform and Development.

Deng's reform suggested a loosening of central controls on economic life, undertaken in a spirit of pragmatism and gradualism as an antidote to Mao's ideology of class struggle. Similarly, it heralded China's integration into the global economy.

Since then, market-oriented reform has been the common thread running through transfers of political power from Deng to former leader Jiang Zemin and President Hu Jintao, although internal power struggles have occasionally slowed the pace.

There was debate on the pace of reform between the reformist camp, headed by Deng, and some conservatives headed by Chen Yun throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Deng prevailed, however, and set the course of reform in stone with his famous 1992 south China trip.

Mismanagement of the economy and internal power struggles helped trigger nationwide pro-democracy protests, and the consequent bloody military crackdown on student demonstrators in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, was a major setback for China's reform and diplomacy.

Power struggles also led to the sacking of two top reformist party officials and Deng's hand-picked political successors, Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, for being sympathetic to political liberalisation.

Despite facing continuous challenges at home and abroad to one-party rule, China's Communist Party remained politically secure, avoiding the widespread collapse of socialism in the 1990s. The mainland's economic boom began in the countryside in 1978, lasted through the 1980s, and was followed by today's urban, industry-led growth.

The mainland has seen booms in almost all sectors of the economy and society, including foreign investment, trade, financial markets, consumption, travel, overseas study, military modernisation and foreign relations. There is also a booming interest in western culture and a new, modern lifestyle that incorporates foreign movies, fashion and design, and even religion - from home-grown Confucian philosophy to Buddhism and Christianity.

From 1978 to last year, the mainland's gross domestic product grew by 9.6 per cent annually from $216US.5 billion to $3US.6 trillion. Fiscal revenue grew 45-fold from 113.2 billion yuan ($128HK.5 billion) to 5.1 trillion yuan, greatly increasing national strength.

Material life for the general population has never been better, with a staggering 300 million people lifted out of poverty during this time. The World Bank hails that as the biggest poverty-reduction effort in history and the country's greatest contribution to world development. Today China is the world's fourth-largest economy, holding $1US.9 trillion in its coffers - the wealthiest by that measure. It is the third-largest trading nation and a favoured recipient of foreign direct investment.

China's economic and political clout is growing so rapidly in some regions, such as Africa, that critics have labelled Beijing a ‘neo-colonialist’. This record of development has become an inspiration to many around the world as developing economies turn to China in search of solutions to their own developmental difficulties.

With its recent hosting of the spectacular 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and a Chinese astronaut's historic spacewalk, the nation appears to have created an image for itself of a global power second only to the United States. Beijing has played an increasingly significant leading role in many important international organisations and global affairs. Its support during the current global financial turmoil, for instance, is strongly sought by western nations.

During the period of reform, Beijing also accomplished the goal of securing the return of Hong Kong's sovereignty to the motherland in 1997 and Macau's in 1999, though relations with the breakaway island of Taiwan have been rocky.

Of course, the cost of the economic miracle should not be discounted. The environmental damage has been staggering, the gap between rich and poor is growing - most citizens lack sufficient health and retirement programmes - and corruption has never been reined in. More worrying, the economic boom has not brought systemic political reform and rule of law to an increasingly sophisticated economy and society, as many had hoped.

‘Compared with the forceful and well-paced economic reform, political reform has not yet started - which obviously results in an income gap and strains society,’ veteran dissident Dai Qing said.

Despite its economic success, she said, the mainland still faced risks and formidable challenges, and its future success rested on the fundamental reform of its political system and introduction of the rule of law.

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«The Washington Post reports the story today, “Chinese Consumers Eager to Excel at the American Pastime“:

Long known for high saving rates, China’s middle-class consumers are starting to spend like their American counterparts. Of China’s 11.4 percent growth in the gross domestic product last year, the largest segment, 4.4 percent, was in consumer spending. That sector still represents just 38 percent of China’s overall GDP, roughly half the percentage in more developed countries, but in the eyes of retailers that means more opportunity….

Meanwhile, some Chinese consumers are also adopting the biggest vice of American consumers: debt. Mesmerized by a banquet of Western-style financial products, some Chinese consumers are juggling multiple credit cards, consumer loans and installment plans to buy an ever-increasing quantity of cars, washing machines and vacations.»

ler mais... em Climate Progress

Comentário: se o modelo a seguir pelos consumidores chineses fôr o norte-americano, então o futuro reserva-se muito sombrio para todo o planeta!

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By Michael Bristow BBC News, Beijing

As industrial output drops, workers are being laid off

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao says the effect of the global financial crisis on China is "worse than expected", according to reports.

It is the first time the premier's personal view on how the crisis is affecting China has been made public.

His words come days after the country announced a $586bn (£370bn) stimulus package to avoid the economy slowing.

BBC

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La crise des subprimes et ses conséquences pour les systèmes financier et bancaire, ainsi que sur l’économie réelle, sont actuellement, et très naturellement, l’objet de toute l’attention des médias. Cependant, ceux-ci se sont essentiellement focalisés, pour l’instant, sur la situation des pays occidentaux, Etats-Unis au premier chef, et Union Européenne ces dernières semaines. Il est certain que ceux-ci sont les plus concernés par la crise, ils en sont à la fois le siège premier et, pour l’instant, les principales victimes. Cette crise est néanmoins destinée à devenir mondiale, et ses répercussions se feront également sentir dans les pays en voie de développement. La République populaire de Chine a déjà commencé, de manière particulièrement aigüe ces dernières semaines, à en ressentir les premiers effets.

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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said developed countries should change their "unsustainable lifestyles" to tackle global warming.

Mr Wen said richer nations should help poorer ones solve the global problem.

United Nations climate chief Yvo de Boer said rich countries had to transfer cleaner energy technologies to developing nations.

The two were speaking at a two-day conference in Beijing discussing climate change.

Mr Wen said the international community must not waver in its determination to tackle climate change.

But he made it clear where the main responsibility lay.

Developed countries had a "responsibility to tackle climate change and should alter their unsustainable lifestyle", he said.

'Weightier problem for us'

Among others, Chinese officials have previously suggested that rich nations use 1% of their gross domestic product to pay for the transfer of clean energy technologies to developing nations.

While promising China will play its part, Mr Wen said his country faced a more difficult task than developed countries.

He said it took rich countries several decades to get round to saving energy and cutting greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming.

"China has to solve the same problem in a relatively much shorter period," he said.

China has so far declined to place a cap its greenhouse emissions.

Technology transfer

Mr de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, also said richer nations should pay more to tackle the problem.

"If international technology transfer happens, countries like China will be able to take action which is not affordable to them at the moment," he said, speaking at the same conference as the Chinese premier.

He urged developed countries to speed up the transfer of these technologies.

The current treaty that tries to limit greenhouse gas emissions - the Kyoto Protocol - runs out in 2012.

Negotiators will start discussing what will replace it in Poland next month.

in BBC

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CHINA will invest nearly $A445 billion in its overburdened rail system as a stimulus measure aimed at blunting the impact of the global financial crisis.

The investment is part of plans to extend the country's railway network from the current roughly 125,502km to nearly 160,900km by 2010, Shanghai's Oriental Morning Post reported.

The Beijing News quoted a rail official as saying that, while the network needed extending, the massive investment was also intended to help lift the nation's economy as it suffers amid the global woes.

"New rail investment will become a shining light in efforts to push forward economic growth," railway ministry spokesman Wang Yongping said.

China's economy recorded its slowest growth in five years at 9.0 per cent in the third quarter of 2008.

The situation has looked increasingly dire in recent days with export-dependent factories closing and laying off thousands of workers, with warnings from industry heads of much worse to come.

The China Daily newspaper said the rail

investment plan had been approved by the State Council. About 1.2 trillion yuan ($A252 billion) had already been allocated, it said.

The paper quoted a government policy adviser saying the plan was similar to China's successful strategy for warding off the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s.

"In 1997, we dealt with the Asian financial crisis by stimulating domestic economic growth through investment in the construction of highways," Zheng Xinli said.

"This time the money will go to improving the rail network."

China's railway network is one of the most extensive in the world, but has come under pressure as the nation's economy has boomed, giving millions more the opportunity to travel.

Among them, more than 200 million migrant workers are estimated to have left their homes in the countryside for work in urban or coastal areas.

The vulnerability of the rail network was laid bare last winter when fierce snowstorms crippled

China's transport systems, stranding millions of passengers trying to return to their homes during the peak Chinese New Year travel period.
in News.com.au

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October 24th 2008, by Iris Liu - COHA

In late September, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez visited China as his second stop on a multi-continent diplomatic mission. Cuba was his first stop, followed by China, Russia, Belarus, France and finally Portugal. During his brief time in Beijing, Chávez met with several high ranking Chinese officials, including President Hu Jintao. The two countries signed several mutual cooperation agreements involving education, sports, trade, telecommunications, and most importantly, oil.

The Oil Deals

President Chávez has repeatedly asserted that he envisions China as an important global oil consumer. Some of the agreements reached by Caracas and Beijing will boost Venezuela's oil exports to China. By expanding China's share of Venezuela's oil consumption, the South American country could decrease its heavy dependence on the U.S. market, which has been the largest consumer of Venezuelan oil. According to the Venezuelan media, the two countries will cooperate to build four tankers and at least two refineries. The first refinery will be located in the oil-rich Orinoco Belt in Venezuela and the other in China's coastal province of Guangdong. Venezuela's state-run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) will be responsible for shipping the oil to its Asian counterpart. Additionally, the two nations will double the amount of capital invested in existing development projects jointly undertaken by Beijing and Caracas beginning a few years ago, from $6 billion to $12 billion. China will contribute two-thirds of the funds, with an allotted amount going toward increasing Venezuelan oil exports, according to Chávez. The South American leader's goal is to further diversify Caracas' petroleum client base through reaching an output of 500 thousand barrels of crude per day (bpd) to China by 2009 and to double that figure by 2012. Ultimately, the Venezuelan president optimistically hopes to become the top oil supplier to China.

Same Summit, Different Attitudes

President Chávez does not hide his intentions to strengthen a political alliance expand upon economic ties with China, which are already quite strong. China is about to launch the first Venezuelan satellite, the Simón Bolivar, on November 1, 2008. Moreover, the Southern American country leader has tried to link the two geographically remote countries together through a shared ideology; he has claimed that he is a "Maoist." During a trip to China in 2004, Chávez said that if Simón Bolivar and Mao Zedong had met, they would have been good friends for they upheld the same humanitarian ideals. Regardless of Chávez's grandiose statements, Beijing has remained cautiously careful regarding its relationship with the Venezuelan leader. When asked about Chávez's visit to China in a press conference staged by the foreign ministry in Beijing, the spokesperson Jiang Yu answered that bilateral ties between China and Venezuela were "normal state-to-state" relations.

Rhetoric aside, Venezuela also revealed more to the press about the detailed strategy on which the two countries will cooperate in the energy sector. For example, President Chávez disclosed the plan regarding the joint construction of four oil tankers as well as the expansion of a joint investment fund. On the other hand, China's official news agency, Xinhua, has used vague language to describe China-Venezuela relations. The oil cooperation between the two countries regarding oil refinery and transportation is collaborative in every aspect. Since the Venezuela-China agreement only represents four percent of Chinese imported oil, other countries' trade relationships with Venezuela will not be adversely affected, Beijing clarified.

Ler mais....

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China e Índia não escapam aos efeitos da crise económica

Banco Central Indiano cortou os juros sem aviso. Pequim divulgou ritmo mais baixo desde 2003.

Bruno Faria Lopes com agências Diário Económico

A crise financeira mundial já contagiou as duas maiores economias emergentes do mundo. Ontem, o banco central da Índia cortou inesperadamente as taxas de juro, pela primeira vez desde 2004, para combater a desaceleração da economia indiana. Na China, o maior contribuinte para o crescimento mundial, a economia cresceu 9% no terceiro trimestre deste ano, o ritmo mais baixo desde 2003.

“Isto irá abalar a confiança e mostra que ninguém está imune”, afirmou o economista Ben Simpfendorfer, do Royal Bank of Scotland, em Hong Kong.

No início da crise financeira, em Agosto de 2007, vários economistas apontavam que os países emergentes – em especial os BRIC (Brasil, Rússia, Índia e China) estavam menos correlacionados com as economias desenvolvidas e que, por isso, resistiram melhor à crise, funcionando como o novo motor da economia global. Mais de um ano depois, contudo, os sinais de abrandamento nos gigantes emergentes asiáticos começam a ser bem visíveis.

Na China, o crescimento de 9% registado entre Junho e Setembro foi o mais baixo desde o surto de pneumonia atípica em 2003. A contribuição do comércio para o crescimento caiu para metade nos primeiros nove meses do ano – à imprensa chinesa, um porta-voz do instituto estatístico chinês admitiu que o crescimento das exportações poderá abrandar “substancialmente”. Na província de Cantão – o coração industrial da China – o Governo está a estudar a criação de um fundo de apoio aos trabalhadores desempregados, cuja contestação social não pára de aumentar.

Na Índia, o corte nos juros feito pelo banco central – de 9% para 8% – surge após a descida nas previsões do Fundo Monetário Internacional (FMI). Devido à crise, o FMI reviu o crescimento de 2008 para 7,9% e de 2009 para 6,9% – a economia indiana deverá ter crescido 9,3% em 2007. “O corte de 100 pontos base é um reconhecimento de que nem tudo vai bem com a história do crescimento indiano”, comentou Nandkumar Surti, da JP Morgan India

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Situated on the banks of the Paraná River, Rosario is a mid-size city located approximately 300 kilometers north of Buenos Aires. Its strategic location makes it one of Argentina’s main hubs for international and domestic shipping, which has prompted the emergence of hundreds of local businesses to meet the needs of the city’s one million inhabitants. Many of the owners of these businesses commute from the peripheral southern edge of the city to do business in the vibrant center. Unlike their Bolivian, Paraguayan, and Argentine neighbors, they speak Chinese and hold Chinese passports.

Resto do artigo aqui

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Simpósio Internacional Comemorativo do 3º Centenário da Morte
de Tomás Pereira, S.J.

NA LUZ E NA SOMBRA DE UM IMPERADOR

TOMÁS PEREIRA, S. J. (1645-1708), O IMPERADOR KANGXI E A MISSÃO JESUÍTA NA CHINA

Lisboa 10-12 de Novembro de 2008

Macau 27-29 de Novembro de 2008

O objectivo deste Simpósio é analisar um momento tão decisivo quanto controverso da história da Missão Jesuíta na China durante o reinado (1661-1722) de um dos mais destacados e esclarecidos soberanos chineses. É sabido como os interesses culturais, curiosidade científica e sensibilidade política do Imperador Kangxi (1654-1722) conduziram à admissão e permanência dos Jesuítas na Corte imperial, numa atitude de abertura que culminou na publicação do Édito de Tolerância de 22 de Março de 1692 permitindo a difusão e prática do Cristianismo na China. Demonstrou, com este gesto, o Imperador Kangxi uma invulgar abertura ao Ocidente da qual resultou não apenas o florescimento da Missão Católica e a confirmação da respeitabilidade do saber ocidental na China, como assegurou a frágil situação de Macau enquanto entreposto europeu no Império.

Para tal, foi decisiva a contribuição do Jesuíta Português Tomás Pereira (1645-1708), como o demonstra a transcrição do texto do próprio Édito de Tolerância, de par com um significativo elogio imperial, na sua pedra tumular. Também a Tomás Pereira se ficou a dever um esforço de apaziguamento da famosa controvérsia dos Ritos Chineses, resultante das animosidades político-religiosas geradas no Ocidente que acabaram por alterar a inicial atitude de benevolência do Imperador para com a Missão Católica na China.

Trabalhando na Corte do Imperador Kangxi durante mais de trinta anos (1673-1708), Tomás Pereira não só logrou manter uma relação pessoal, única e privilegiada, com o Imperador, como se impôs como um músico inovador e um hábil mediador das relações sino-russas. Tendo ocupando, pro interim, o cargo de Prefeito do Tribunal das Matemáticas e assumindo o papel de efectivo representante e protector da Missão Cristã na Corte imperial, a ele se ficou ainda a dever a construção da nova Igreja de Nantang em Pequim.

Adoptando uma perspectiva interdisciplinar e recorrendo a fontes primárias, o presente Simpósio pretende revisitar a vida e a obra de Tomás Pereira no contexto da Missão da China, da política chinesa e da cultura da Corte do seu tempo.

Tomando como fonte de inspiração para o futuro este momento ímpar de diálogo entre a China e o Ocidente, assinalar-se-á deste modo a passagem do 3º centenário da morte do Padre Tomás Pereira, cujo intelecto, dedicação, lealdade e autoridade moral, o tornaram num dos mais influentes e respeitados Jesuítas do círculo íntimo do Imperador Kangxi.

mais, aqui

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Livros
China em força na Feira de Frankfurt

Pequim, 14 Out (Lusa) - Mais de uma centena de editoras chinesas participam na 60ª edição da Feira do Livro de Frankfurt, preparando o terreno para 2009, o ano em que a China será o país tema do certame.

Trata-se da maior feira mundial do género e decorre de 15 a 19 de Outubro, tendo como país tema a Turquia.

A delegação chinesa, constituída por 108 editoras e 234 profissionais do sector, apresentará em Frankfurt "mais de 5.300 títulos relacionados com politica, economia e literatura, disse a Administração Estatal de Imprensa e Publicações.

Dois dos títulos, dedicados ao violento sismo de Maio passado na província de Sichuan, que causou mais de 80 mil mortos e desaparecidos, serão lançados durante a Feira, em inglês e chinês.

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Fonte: Agência LUSA

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Portugal, China agree to expand cooperation

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates met with Wang Gang, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC), on Monday and the two pledged efforts to expand exchange and cooperation in various fields between the two countries.

[23-09-2008] [ People's Daily Online ]

Socrates congratulated China on its successful hosting of the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics, which he said has manifested China's outstanding organization ability and displayed its achievement in sports and other fields.

Portugal and China, as each other's all-round strategic partner, should further enhance their pragmatic cooperation, said the prime minister. He expressed the wishes that China would make Portugal an important platform for cooperation with Europe and Africa.

Socrates urged both sides to step up efforts to explore potentials in trade cooperation, saying Portugal encourages more local firms to invest in China and Chinese investment is welcomed in Portugal.

During their meeting, Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, spoke highly of the stable development of China-Portugal relations and their ever-expanding cooperation in trade and cultural exchange.

Wang, who is also vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said China appreciates Portugal's adherence to the one-China policy, its opposition to "Taiwan independence" and the fact that it does not support "Tibet independence" in any form.

The next year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China-Portugal diplomatic relations, and China would like to take the opportunity to deepen trade and cultural cooperation with Portugal and promote their ties to a new height, Wang said.

Wang said China attaches great importance to its relations with Europe and it hopes Portugal, an important member of the European Union (EU) and China's reliable friend and partner in the EU, would continue to play an important role in pushing forward the China-EU relations.

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CHINA TO BE WORLD'S TOP MANUFACTURER OF GREEN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY
By Jim Efstathiou Jr.
Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- China, the world's biggest greenhouse- gas emitter, is poised to lead world production of solar cells, wind power turbines and low-carbon energy technology. China is already the world's largest renewable-energy producer as measured by installed generating capacity, according to a report today from the Climate Group, a coalition of companies and governments that support solutions to global warming. The country is also the world's top manufacturer of solar cells and will be the leading exporter of wind turbines by 2009. China's position as a renewable-energy consumer and manufacturer runs counter to its ranking as one of the world's biggest polluters and the country's rapid expansion of coal-fired power generation. About 75 percent of China's electricity comes from coal, said Changhua Wu, China director for the Climate Group, who is based in Beijing.

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Parte 1 de 7. Seguir sequência de vídeos: parte 2
Embora talvez algo tendencioso, vale a pena ver este documentário.

“Today, China is the second largest consumer of oil, just after the United States. But with one of the highest rates of growth on the planet, its energy needs are increasing seven times faster, while its reserves are depleting. China is unable to produce the oil it needs today. It has to import half of it. In the next three years this number will increase to two-thirds, if not its whole economy will collapse. Lacking its own source of oil, China is dependent on the rest of the world. Hence it’s imperative to find new countries to provide it and secure these supplies in an increasingly unstable world. In this crusade for black gold, China is already in direct conflict with the current greatest consumer of the world’s oil: the United States.

BATTLE FOR OIL investigates the new world geopolitics that is emerging around the needs of both the world’s leading superpower and the world’s fastest growing economy to secure future supplies of oil.

Chinese oil companies are signing deals in countries like Venezuela, Iran, Sudan, Chad and Angola. In exchange, China has given its support to these countries, either building infrastructure or using its influence to support them at the United Nations. Now, U.S. companies are finding that doing business in some oil producing markets is rapidly changing.” (text taken from here)

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«The nearly simultaneous arrival of China and India to places of prominence on the world stage represents a tectonic shift in global affairs with few parallels”.These two giants, with 40 percent of the world's people between them - as much as the population of the next 20 largest countries combined - have long slumbered in the shadows of Europe, Japan, and the United States, which dominated world affairs during most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. [...] While commentators have compared their rise to the end of the cold war, the more apt analogies are less recent: civilization-changing events such as the rise of the Roman Empire or the discovery of the New World. And even those are pale historical comparisons since they touched only a fraction of the human populations of their day.»
In “State of the World 2006 – special focus : China and India” WorldWatch Institute

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The specter of serious power shortages across China this summer looms larger as more provinces are reporting problems. According to BP’s Statistical Review China is a very inefficient user of energy. Couple this with drought-induced shortages of hydro-power, the recent earthquake, various kinds of price caps on power and coal, and efforts to improve China’s abysmal coal mine safety record, and one has the perfect recipe for power shortages in a economy that is growing at 10 percent a year.

Beijing obviously will pull out all stops to ensure that shortages do not mar the August Olympics, even at the cost of slowing economic growth. In June Chinese aluminum exports jumped 43 percent. Chinese aluminum smelters are estimated to consume as much power as 100 million people. Already power for the aluminum industry has been cut by 10 percent.

The real issue is what will happen after the Olympics. During the major power shortage four years ago, China stepped up oil imports to keep many enterprises functioning with backup power generators. Given the much tighter coal and oil market that exists in 2008, any increase in imports likely would result in still higher world prices.

China’s economy, however, may be in more trouble than Beijing is letting on with rosy forecasts of at least a 10 percent increase in GDP during 2008. While China’s exports are still growing prodigiously – 17.6 percent year on year in June – this was down from 28.1 percent in May. Outside observers are beginning to question whether or not China’s years of unprecedented growth are coming to a close. The Chinese economic miracle has been built on cheap energy, which permitted inefficient plants coupled with cheap labor, a cheap Yuan, and cheap transportation to capture much of the world’s manufacturing.

Beijing maintains that its domestic market is so large that it can weather any economic downturn in its OECD customers. All these assumptions, including the course of Chinese oil imports, may well be tested before the year is out.

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Entrega à Cruz Vermelha dos donativos recebidos na Conta de Solidariedade, para com as vítimas dos sucessivos sismos na China, após 12 de Maio

Palavras do Presidente do Observatório da China, na cerimónia que decorreu na biblioteca do Palácio de Conde d'Óbidos, a 23 de Junho de 2008, em nome de todas as instituições envolvidas:

Foi com consternação e profunda mágoa que tomámos conhecimento do grande terramoto que abalou a China, principalmente a província de Sichuan (com epicentro em Wenchuan), mas também Yunnan e Gansu, no dia 12 de Maio. Este cataclismo com 8 graus de magnitude na escala de Ritcher e as sucessivas réplicas, provocaram mais de 70 mil mortos, 17.415 continuam desaparecidos e 374 ficaram mil feridos. Esta área possui cerca de 1,3 milhões de quilómetros quadrados e nela habitam mais de 200 milhões de pessoas, muitas das quais viram agora o seu quotidiano gravemente afectado. As perdas económicas são avaliadas pelas autoridades chinesas em 73 biliões de dólares.

Perante esta devastação o Observatório da China tomou a iniciativa de abrir uma conta de solidariedade, que foi desde logo apoiada pelas seguintes Instituições, que gostaria de mencionar:

• Câmara de Comércio e Industria Luso-Chinesa (Secretária Geral Profª Fernanda Ilhéu),
• Fundação Jorge Alvares (General António Adriano Faria Lopes dos Santos),
• ICODEPO (Instituto para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Portugal-Oriente, Prof. Machado da Silva),
• Liga dos Chineses em Portugal (Sr. Y Ping Chow),
• Liga da Amizade Multissecular Portugal-China (General Maia Gonçalves),
• UCCLA (União das Cidades Capitais de Língua Portuguesa, Secretário Geral Dr. Francisco Lopo de Carvalho).
  
  Esta conta de solidariedade hoje encerrada, foi devidamente autorizada pelo MAI

• Quero agradecer ao Sr. Presidente da Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa Dr. Luís Eduardo da Silva Barbosa, o protocolo que assinou com o Observatório da China, e no âmbito do qual, terá a gentileza de transmitir este muito modesto donativo, à Cruz Vermelha da República Popular da China, para apoio às vítimas.
  
  Em nome das as instituições envolvidas
  Rui D’Ávila Lourido,
  (Presidente d’Observatório da China)
  
  Lisboa, 2008-06-23
  

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O «novo» Observatório da China: A bonança, depois da «tempestade»

Artigo sobre O OBSERVATÓRIO DA CHINA
Jornal PONTO FINAL, de Macau
João Paulo Menesesputaoya@hotmail.com

Há dois anos era apresentado o Observatório da China (OC), juntando oito investigadores em assuntos da China, que se tinham encontrado num dos encontros da Arrábida. Dois anos depois, a associação adquiriu uma dinâmica muito especial – para o padrão deste tipo de organizações – e registou na sua brevíssima história algo de inusitado entre o associativismo português: não só a direcção mudou entretanto, como surgiram duas listas nas eleições realizadas no ano passado.As eleições foram – tanto quanto o PONTO FINAL pôde apurar – um pouco turbulentas, mas nem a presidente cessante nem o seu substituto querem desenvolver o assunto. No blogue de Jin Guo Ping, que é actualmente vice-presidente (macaulogia.blogspot.com), podia ler-se, logo após, que «o acto de votação decorreu num clima de grande civismo». O Observatório nasceu em Dezembro de 2005, com estatutos publicados no Diário da República, foi apresentado publicamente a 5 de Julho de 2006 e dez meses depois já tinha eleições.Dora Martins, que foi a primeira presidente, diz que não comenta o processo eleitoral no OC; já Rui Lourido, o novo presidente, limita-se a dizer que «após a anterior direcção ter ficado demissionária, esta direcção foi eleita em Maio de 2007, com a proposta de reforçar o Observatório da China, como um projecto colectivo, e transparente ao serviço da promoção da investigação e divulgação do conhecimento e dos Estudos Chineses sobre a China».

Chegar ao Brasil

Rui Lourido aproveitou para explicar ao PONTO FINAL os propósitos da nova direcção do Observatório da China. Ou seja, da formulação geral, para o concreto. Fala por exemplo «numa atitude cívica virada para o exterior. De promoção de iniciativas não só científicas mas também culturais, sensibilização dos portugueses para a Civilização chinesa e por inerência de respeito das minorias étnicas em Portugal. Mas também de envolver a comunidade chinesa em Portugal (o Presidente da Liga dos Chineses em Portugal é nosso vogal do Conselho Fiscal)». Como exemplos, destaca a posição que o OC tomou, repudiando a intenção de Maria José Nogueira Pinto de criar uma zona para o comércio dos chineses em Lisboa ou a conta de solidariedade que abriram para ajudar as vítimas dos recentes terramotos na China.Neste ano realizaram-se também iniciativas de carácter cientifico, de que Rui Lourido destaca duas conferências internacionais, um colóquio no Brasil («a primeira iniciativa que nos aventurámos a organizar no estrangeiro, e que foi um sucesso pela participação de conferencistas e de estudantes») e a presença numa rede de contactos, a East Ásia Network.(Através da página http://www.observatoriodachina.org/ os leitores podem ter mais informação sobre o que faz e o que quer fazer o Observatório).

Quatro vezes mais associados

Rui Lourido admite que «o Observatório da China é a mesma organização desde a sua constituição, mas temos de reconhecer, desde Maio de 2007, que o OC tem incrementado quantitativa e qualitativamente as suas actividades, vindo a crescer muito, tendo hoje quatro vezes mais associados que então».Dora Martins, a primeira presidente, disse ao PONTO FINAL que não está completamente desligada da realidade do Observatório, «só um pouco mais afastada por motivos profissionais». Sobre o futuro, esta investigadora em assuntos chineses diz que «gostaria que o OC diversificasse as áreas de estudo não se cingindo à história e a Macau. Por outro lado, parece-me que seria mais interessante o OC convidar para as suas actividades investigadores e sinólogos externos ao OC e não quase exclusivamente aos próprios membros do OC como acontece na actualidade».A isto contrapõe Rui Lourido com alguns dos projectos mais imediatos: «na abertura do novo ano escolar um ciclo de palestras sobre a China e a Ásia na Biblioteca Museu da República e Resistência, em Lisboa; a conferência sobre a “Transferências de tecnologia nos Mares da China, o caso particular da artilharia Naval” a 4-5 de Dezembro de 2008, em associação com a Academia da Marinha em Lisboa; a exposição itinerante As grandes Viagens Marítimas da China, estará patente em Faro (Outubro) e em Famalicão (em Dezembro), com as respectivas quatro palestras em cada cidade e outras iniciativas culturais associadas; finalmente incrementar a acção dos dois núcleos do OC. no estrangeiro. Em Macau, representado pelo Prof. Rogério Puga (Universidade de Macau), e outro no Brasil, representado pela Profª Fátima Hanaque (Universidade do Estado da Bahia)».O OC tem cinco grupos de trabalho em áreas específicas (Ambiente e Recursos Energéticos, Economia e Gestão Empresarial, História, Política e Relações Internacionais e Sociedade e Cultura) e quer aumentar novos grupos de trabalho sobre os seguintes temas: Macau, Lusofonia e língua chinesa.

O novo presidente

Rui Lourido (Rui D’Ávila de Fontes Alferes Lourido) é mestre em História Contemporânea pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa (estudou também no Instituto Europeu, em Florença, mantendo a ligação como investigador, e onde está inscrito para o doutoramento sobre "Os Europeus nos Mares da China: Comércio e Pragmatismo em Macau entre 1600-1683"). Historiador, trabalha na Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, dedicando-se à avaliação e identificação do património.A sua especialização são os descobrimentos portugueses e o Oriente (a sua tese de mestrado incidiu sobre a História dos Descobrimentos e da Expansão Portuguesa no Sécs. XV – XVIII). Tem investigado a ligação ao Brasil.Colaborou com a Comissão Nacional para a Comemoração dos Descobrimentos Portugueses e com o Centro Científico e Cultural de Macau em Lisboa.Foi um dos fundadores do OC e continua a estudar a língua chinesa.Tem 52 anos e nasceu em Évora.(informações recolhidas a partir de http://ruilourido.blogspot.com/2006/07/curriculum-vitae.html)
Postado por Ponto Final às 7.7.08
Marcadores: Nº 1577 - Segunda-feira 07 de Julho de 2008

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The International Peace Studies Dual Campus Master Programme is a shared initiative between the Nippon Foundation and the University for Peace, in collaboration with Ateneo de Manila University, which aims to provide students from Japan and other Asian countries with an opportunity to pursue a peace studies post graduate degree with a content-based language-training module. This offers the support for individuals who do not have a proficient command of English to work in this increasingly common international language and to become comfortable in their professional abilities as they gain academic skills. As part of the programme, students have also the opportunity to apply their academic and practical knowledge through a four-month internship at the end of the Master courses.The reception of applications to the Dual Campus Master Programme on International Peace Studies is currently open. Students accepted in the programme will be automatically granted full scholarships provided by the Nippon Foundation. A full scholarship includes: tuition fee, the language module, academic materials, and air travel and living expenses during the period of studies. Description of the ProgrammeThe Dual Campus Master Programme on International Peace Studies is designed to enable students from diverse cultures and backgrounds to attain a deep understanding of the central issues of peace and security which will determine the future of humanity. Through their coursework, participants in the programme broaden their base of knowledge and engage with the major concepts, themes, and debates within international peace and conflict studies, preparing themselves for work with NGOs, governments, aid agencies, the UN and other organizations where a deep understanding of theses issues is critical. Scholarship and Job are posted at http://cambodiajobs.blogspot.comThe programme provides students with the required theoretical and practical post graduate education to contribute to the work of building international peace. Furthermore, it empowers students to conceptualize the key challenges faced by the international community, and the most promising potential areas and courses of action through an interdisciplinary and multicultural programme. In this 19-month intensive academic programme, the students undertake courses at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines as well as at the San José UPEACE headquarters in Costa Rica. It is accomplished in three terms which start at the end of the language-training module. The Dual Campus M.A. programme has been planned primarily for receiving students from several Asian countries where English is not a widely used language, such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Exceptionally, students from other Asian countries may be admitted.

Read more:
http://cambodiajobs.blogspot.com/2008/06/scholarship-for-master-programme-on.html

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