Chinese media say labor disputes up 60 percent in first 3 months because of economic woes

October 9th, 2009 BEIJING - The Chinese government will safeguard the rights and interests of foreign news media, President Hu Jintao said Friday at the opening ceremony of the World Media Summit, attended by about 300 representatives from over 170 media outlets from all over the globe. Hu said: "We will continue to make government affairs public, enhance information distribution, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of foreign news organisations and reporters, and facilitate foreign media coverage of China in accordance with China's laws and regulations." Foreign media coverage of China is growing in terms of its scale, scope and range, which "has played an important role in helping people around the world understand the development and changes in China", he said.

September 24th, 2009 China faces new US trade complaint over paperBEIJING — A U.S. labor union and three paper companies have filed a new trade complaint over imports of Chinese paper, possibly fueling tensions between Washington and Beijing amid disputes over tires and other goods.

September 14th, 2009 China says tire spat shouldn't hurt US tiesBEIJING — China tried Tuesday to allay fears of a trade war with Washington over tire tariffs, saying it will press a World Trade Organization case against new U.S. duties but wants to avoid harming relations.

September 14th, 2009 China calls for WTO talks on US tire tariffsBEIJING — China accused Washington on Monday of violating World Trade Organization rules by raising tariffs on Chinese tires and demanded talks in the WTO on the latest and most acrimonious in a string of trade disputes. "The American side's imposition of protective measures on Chinese tires violates WTO regulations," Commerce Ministry spokesman Yao Jian said in a statement.

September 3rd, 2009 Hawaii gov: Budget woes may prompt 'restructuring'HONOLULU — Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle is warning of a "fundamental restructuring" of state government because of continuing budget woes.

August 26th, 2009 BEIJING/TOKYO - A new survey has revealed that the Chinese and the Japanese are seeing each other a bit more positively than last year. The survey, jointly sponsored by the China Daily and Genron NPO, a Japanese think tank, found that a majority of people in both countries believe Sino-Japanese relations are important.

August 2nd, 2009 Budget woes challenge day-labor centersPHOENIX — Until a day-labor center opened nearby, jobseekers in Keenan Strand's north Phoenix neighborhood used to drink from people's hoses, urinate on walls and duck behind bushes to escape triple-digit heat while waiting for work. Now the economic downturn is threatening the 6-year-old day-labor center and others like it around the country.

July 11th, 2009 BEIJING - Eighteen months ago, when unrest had broken out among Tibetans in western China, the Chinese government had banned foreign reporters in the region, but in stark in contrast the administration changed their tactics to tackle the Urumqi unrest. The Chinese propaganda officials used several Western PR tactics of media management to effectively ward off perceptions of the state's involvement in the ethnic violence in Urumqi, the capital of China's western Xinjiang Province, where 156 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured in riots, the csmonitor.com reports.

July 7th, 2009 Uighur supporters in US blame China for riotsWASHINGTON — An exiled Uighur (WEE-gur) leader is blaming the Chinese government for the rising tensions and ethnic violence in China. Rebiya (ruh-BEE-yuh) Kadeer (kuh-DEER) spoke to Uighur supporters at a rally in downtown Washington on Tuesday.

July 2nd, 2009 Obama: More work needed to create new jobsWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he's still "deeply concerned" about the continuing loss of jobs across the country. He said that developing both a short-term and longer-term solution to America's economic woes is "one of the things that I'm most focused on." Obama also told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday he feels his administration has stabilized the housing and financial markets, while he acknowledged that more work needs to be done in the area of job creation.

May 5th, 2009 Officials: Chinese ships approach US vessel at seaWASHINGTON — The Pentagon says Chinese ships came dangerously close to a U.S. surveillance ship in a possible repeat of an incident two months ago.

March 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India may soon be allowed to export basmati rice to China, Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai said here Thursday.

January 19th, 2009 TOKYO - Tokyo stocks opened lower Tuesday as investor sentiment remain jittery about global economic outlook. In the first 15 minutes of trading, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 92.59 points, or 1.12 percent, from Monday to 8,164.

January 9th, 2009 LONDON - Julia Foster from Essex, a county on the southeast coast of England, is still pondering whether she should spend an already booked holiday in March in the French resort of Nice. A trip to France is not uncommon for her - she visits the country at least three times a year on long holidays or one-day trips - this year, however things are different.

January 2nd, 2009 KOLKATA - The global economic slowdown has taken its toll on the Chinese economy as exports and equity markets are down, but things may turn around in the second half of 2009, a Chinese diplomat said here Saturday. 'Worst is not yet over.