Tigers: Bringing Countries Together

Photo Credit: Kim Sullivan Photography

With an estimated population of only 500, the Siberian Tiger is one of the most endangered species on the planet. The tigers habitat covers a vast section of Asia with a number of different countries it calls home.
Making protection in the wild a challenge to say the least.
In an effort to keep this species from disappearing forever, Russia and China have agreed to set up the first ever cross - border protection zone for a species of animal.
"... Transnational protection area will provide a wider and healthier habitat for Siberian tigers and other endangered species, such as the Far East leopard," states Yu Changchun of Jilins Forestry Department.
Siberian Tigers have been hunted to such low numbers for various reasons; their hide, meat, they pose a threat to local cattle, but it is their holistic properties to the Chinese people that cause the most harm. Killing a Siberian Tiger for medical purposes has been made illegal in 1993 but officials state that it extremely difficult to prevent all deaths. Out of the 500 tigers, only 20 are surviving in China. BBC.UK

Pack A Mask

Australia took the initiative to warn the World that breathing in Hong Kong, China is hazardous to your health and strongly urges you not to.
"People with existing heart or respiratory illnesses should reduce physical exertion and outdoor activities on days when very high pollution levels are recorded," said spokeswoman for the Australian consulate in Hong Kong told AFP. And that, "..levels of air pollution in Hong Kong may aggravate bronchial, sinus or asthma conditions."

Hong Kong's air quality has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, as the city is obviously blanked under a thick haze. The government is currently reviewing the city's air quality targets. Which was last revised 20 years ago. Blue Sky

Liars! The Dalai Lama Calls China Out.

The Dalai Lama would like US President Barack Obama to know that China lied to him on the issues dealing with Tibet and plans on 'setting the record straight' when he visits the White House.
Lodi Gyari, the chief representative of the Dalai Lama, said that China falsely claimed that Tibet's exiled leadership was seeking independence or the expulsion of Han Chinese from the region.
"Did we make a demand that all non-Tibetans be expelled from the plateau of Tibet? Never. In this day and age? We are not that stupid. When he comes to Washington to meet with the president, I don't think His Holiness would have a new message," Gyari said.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet for India 50 years ago this month as China crushed a failed uprising against its rule. SinoDaily

Coincidence? History Repeats Itself Exactly One Year Later

In a move that only this country could do, China has banned YouTube.
"YouTube has been blocked in China since yesterday," company spokesman Scott Rubin said. "We do not know the reason for the blockage, and we're working as quickly as possible to restore access to our users in China."

Chinese authorities have a history of blocking websites, even YouTube, as they are deemed politically unacceptable or offensive to their people. One year ago this month access to the site was barred in China after video clips began appearing on the site showing violent unrest in the Tibetan capital Lhasa that triggered a virtual lock down of the city by security forces.

We all remember that now don't we. ► Free Tibet From China ◄

A spokesman for the Chinese consulate in San Francisco told AFP he didn't have any information about YouTube being blocked in China. "I suspect the real reason might be that YouTube just launched a Chinese version, which would make the site much more accessible for Chinese users," he wrote. "Not a very smart idea to do that in the middle of the National Congress, and I am surprised nobody at mother company Google's China offices rang an alarm bell about this before launch." SinoDaily

Its A Bird, Its A Plane! No, Its A Bird

A woman has been diagnosed with the H5N1 form of the bird flu in central China last week. This form of the flu virus is fatal to human beings. In fact 5 people have died already this year from the bird flu in China. Because of the large poultry population that lives in such close proximity to humans, China is considered to be one of the nations most at risk from the bird flu virus. The virus is so contagious that anyone associated with the person diagnosed must be quarantined for over a week. For more information about the situation in China : Jump HERE.

China Does Not Talk The Talks

Yesterday China rejected appeals for dialogue with the Dalai Lama in an effort to avoid the resolution of the current situation in Tibet. Before anyone can sit down, or pick up a phone, China plans to eliminate the anti-China forces currently in Tibet. The day after Beijing launched its manhunt for monks, and anyone else blamed for the violence in Tibet, an editorial in the People's Daily, the voice of the Chinese Communist party, said any opposition to Chinese rule in the Himalayan region must be wiped out.
The Dalai Lama, the title China likes to refer to him as: the 'mastermind behind all of the protests', is accused of undermining the August 8-24 Beijing Olympics and gaining Tibet independence from Beijing.
On Friday, leaders in Japan and Poland joined the United States and other countries in an international appeal for restraint and dialogue. The three countries were joined on Saturday by 30 prominent Chinese writers who signed a letter to their government urging talks with the Tibetan spiritual leader. They also called on China to open Tibet up to foreign media and to allow a team of independent UN investigators to carry out a full investigation of "the evidence, the course of the incident and the number of casualties."
Apparently though, China does not seem ready to talk it out.

Free Tibet From China

Tibet remained isolated from the world Tuesday after a lock down from China was ordered after 13 people died in a violent anti-Chinese riot on Friday. While Tibetan exile groups have said that around 100 people or more were killed as China terminated the protests.
Not only did China block CNN from access to the country but foreign tourists and journalists were all ordered out and Internet site YouTube was banned completely in an effort to prevent video leaks of the hostage situation.
Premier Wen Jiabao, asked about Tibet in his annual news conference Tuesday, blamed the region's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and said protesters were attempting to spoil China's Olympic showpiece in August.
"They want to undermine the Beijing Olympic Games," Wen said. "We should respect the principles of the Olympics and the Olympic Charter. We should not politicise the Games."
He said China would "consider the possibility" of organising access to Tibet for foreign journalists but did not say when that might happen.
The unrest, and the virtual sealing off of the region, has renewed international attention on China's human rights record amid scattered calls from Tibetan activists and campaigners to boycott the Games. But while many nations have called on China to use restraint in dealing with the protesters, none have said they would boycott the Olympics.

What The United States Doesn't Understand

The UN Climate Change Conference concluded last week after a 13th unscheduled day of talks and set the bar for participating countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions for what is now called 'Kyoto II'. But the United States still remains the only major industrialised nation to reject the Kyoto treaty and will not comply to mention figures as it feels developing countries, like China, needs to make tougher emission commitments.
The senior US negotiator, Paula Dobriansky, said she had heard "many strong statements from many major developing country leaders on a greater role in helping to address urgently this global problem." But "doesn't seem it's going to be reflected in our outcome here in the declaration."
Dobriansky was loudly booed by other negotiators, and a US environmental activist representing New Guinea said to thrilling applauds:
"If you're not willing to lead, please get out of the way."
Fighting climate change will require commitments not only from developing countries but also from larger developed nations.
As a citizen of the United States, I feel that I am not in an agreement with my government over this issue. The United States is taking a back seat to a global initiative to halt a crisis that will eventually affect billions of people, especially those in third world countries all because we fear that China is not setting a high enough goal for itself.. See that's how much America believes in you, World. Aim higher then you believe you can achieve, if not we will not join any of your clubs.

To fully understand the concept of my photo above go to MySpace.com/TheChardonairs and listen to the song Captain America!

UPDATE: It is now being reported that the United States has joined in the global emissions pledge to now take part in the negotiations. The two main debatable questions to be answered are how to reduce gas emissions for developed/developing nations and what sort of commitment poor and emerging economies should take on in the future.
Yesterday, I was very upset with my country (if you couldn't tell with that last bit of sarcasm) and now I am very proud. We decided to quit dragging our feet and step up to join the world in solving our crisis.
Other commitments for change include sending the necessary technology to aid the rising economies to grow, to deal with the severe issue of deforestation (which is responsible for one-fifth of the world's greenhouse gases) and to create a U.N. fund to help poor countries adapt to the effects of climate change, such as droughts and flooding.

Who Gave China Bad Directions?

In an attempt to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, China opened its largest ever coal burning power plant on Friday.
Wait, Does that sound right?
The four (ginormous) units that make up the plant became fully operational at a time when China is roughly 70% dependent on coal-burning for their energy. The overall economy of China is struggling as a whole to be 20% more energy efficient by 2010.
In the plants defense, (Yeah I'm going there), Xinhua news agency said, "the new power plant is using 'ultra-supercritical technologies,' reducing carbon dioxide emissions drastically compared with more traditional technologies."
A brand new high tech way of burning coal and emitting enormous amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. I'm loving the sounds of that! Source.

China Improves Their GPA by 3% Yet..

I really need to improve my headline wording.
China, actually, has improved their GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
by 3%.
See China set aim to reduce their energy consumption per unit of Gross Domestic Product by 20% and cut pollution emissions by 10% between 2006 and 2010 yet..
"..We have not yet completely reached our targets and if this trend doesn't reverse, it will have a great impact on our goals." stated Xie Zhenhua, the deputy head of the National Development Reform Commission. (That's him in the photo.)
Xie said China's energy consumption per unit GDP in the first nine months of this year was 3% lower than the same phase last year.
The entire year goal is 4%.
"The results of our energy consumption and emission reduction (efforts) are starting to show."
Even though China has failed to reach its goal of 4%, I commend their continuous effort to improve their current crisis. The Chinese government has set a pace to cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve their energy consumption this past year by closing obsolete coal-fired plants and steel factories. Source.

Dubbed: The Bachelor Bomb

It has been reported today that there are.. get this... 18 million more men then women in China! And this census is not including the younger generation. These are men of a 'marriageable' age. This uneven sex population is due to selective abortions, an immediate result of the nation's one-child policy, have boosted the number of boys born in China in recent years. And the ratio is not expected to level out. By 2020 there will be approximately 30 million more men than women. Source.