Hello and welcome to this edition of on Saturday, July 14th. I'm Zheng Chenguang in Beijing.
Hello and welcome to this edition of on Saturday, July 28th. I'm Zheng Chenguang in Beijing.
Let's take a look at some of the major events that have happened in China and around the globe during the past week.
Stay tuned.
CHINESE President Hu Jintao visited the southwest municipality of Chongqing last weekend to inspire locals to fight the flood and summon up confidence in rebuilding homes.
Hu Jintao inspected the destroyed houses in the worst-hit Shapingba District and inquired after local officials about the losses and the post-disaster recovery.
The president encouraged a crowd of locals gathered on the street to get over the disaster.
"You have been through great hardships. The once-in-a-century rains and floods have destroyed your homes and washed away your belongings. I feel sad for you all. But we must have the determination and courage to get over this disaster."
The president asked local officials to provide enough meals, clothes, accommodation, medication and clean water to the public, and to spare no efforts in rebuilding roads and recovering the drinking water and electricity supply.
THE UNITED Nations has refused to accept a letter from Chen Shui-bian to the UN secretary general, in which the Taiwan authorities applied for UN membership under the name of Taiwan.
China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Wang Guangya, said the UN decision has maintained the solemnity of the UN Charter and upheld the dignity of the world body.
"According to the UN Charter, as well as relevant provisions of the UN Security Council and UN General Assembly, only a sovereign state is qualified to apply for UN membership. The decision to reject the letter was made in accordance with Resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly, which determined that the United Nations adheres to the one-China policy. The Chinese government highly appreciates the UN decision."
Meanwhile, Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, says the European Union sticks to its one-China policy and that EU member states will not support Taiwan's attempts to join the United Nations.
THE EUROPEAN Union has voiced its hope to strengthen its partnership with China to secure the safety of Chinese produced consumer goods exported to the European market.
Speaking during her visit to Beijing, EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said China and the EU have agreed to intensify cooperation on consumer goods safety, enforcing a dedicated rapid alert system.
Praising Chinese authorities for taking a serious attitude towards goods safety, Kuneva said they will continue to provide the Chinese with specific information to track down and investigate alerts into certain products.
The EU and China signed a memorandum of understanding in their cooperation in consumer goods safety last January, providing the basis for bilateral cooperation in this field.
THE FOREIGN ministers of Egypt and Jordan undertook a historic visit to Israel on Wednesday to formally present an Arab peace plan, saying they were extending "a hand of peace" on behalf of the region.
The Arab ministers arrived as representatives of the Arab League, the first time the 22-member group has sent a delegation to Israel.
The peace plan envisions full recognition of Israel in return for lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war and subsequently occupied.
For his part, Olmert told reporters in Jerusalem that his country is looking forward to discussing the Arab peace initiative.
A SECOND team of UN nuclear experts left for North Korea on Thursday to monitor the shutdown and sealing of the country's sole plutonium-producing reactor.
The six-member team left Vienna for Beijing on Thursday evening, and arrives in Pyongyang on Saturday.
Ryszard Zarucki is heading the delegation.
''We will stay at the nuclear facilities there for about two weeks.''
Officials said the team would put agency seals on parts of the complex that have been closed, and supervise the installation of surveillance cameras, whose recordings will be regularly downloaded and analyzed.
IAEA inspectors are also working to verify the status of two unfinished reactors, a spent fuel reprocessing facility and a fuel fabrication plant.
And that concludes this edition of . Remember, if you have any comments or suggestions, or would like to listen to any of our programs online, you can visit our website at: .
I'm Zheng Chenguang in Beijing. Thanks for listening. Stay tuned for more on China Radio International.