1. Chinese President holds first web chat with citizens 
2. China, Japan reach principled consensus on East China Sea issue 
3. China completes massive evacuation from quake center 
4. Beijing to restrict vehicles on road to cope with busy Olympic traffic 
5. Six trapped in flooded mine in east China confirmed dead 
6. Chinese Ambassador expresses gratitude to Danish donations and   assistance to quake-hit Chinese provinces

1. Chinese President holds first web chat with citizens

BEIJING, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao talked to Internet users Friday morning via a major news portal, the first time that the nation's leader has gone online to chat with the public.

Hu, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, was speaking through a forum of people.com.cn, the news portal of the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the CPC.

Since 9:13 a.m. when the forum told its members of Hu's visit, about 300 posts have turned up.

Their questions ranged from the country's reforms to mainland-Taiwan relations, corruption, price hikes, state asset management and supervision to his personal hobbies.

"The Internet is a major channel to gather opinion and wisdom from the public," Hu said during the chat.

"I am squeezing in time to go on-line, though I cannot surf the web every day due to my busy workload," Hu said in answer to a question.

China had the world's most net users with 221 million as of February, outnumbering that of the United States.

From the Olympic torch relay to the devastating May 12 earthquake, the web has shown that it is an impressive force to mobilize people and make their voices heard.

At a meeting early last year, Hu had said that it was vital to the country's long-term stability whether it was able to well develop and manage the Internet.

"I log on to view domestic and foreign news, to learn what interests people on the Internet and to solicit their advice and opinions about the work of our government and Party," said Hu in response to posts during Friday's on-line conversations.

"I am very much concerned about some of the problems and opinions raised," he said in the 20-minute conversation. "We must listen to the people and lean on their wisdom to do a good job."

The Qiangguo Forum was a "must-visit" website, Hu said.

The forum originates from a virtual reality community launched by www.people.com.cn to lodge protests against the U.S.-led NATO forces bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade on May 9, 1999.

It was renamed on June 19 to the Qiangguo Forum, which has the literal meaning of "powering the nation". It has more than 23,000 daily postings and the highest simultaneous webpage visits exceeded 1.4 million.

Netizens greeted the president with a flood of posts.

"Thank you, the first ever top state leader in Chinese history to talk to net users," said one participant.

"Mr. President, there is a saying among us that people support you, good officials follow you and corrupt ones fear you," wrote Yuqingshan2 at the forum after the rare on-line chat.

Some seniors officials have participated in such on-line chats previously, including several vice chairpersons of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) and former foreign minister Li Zhaoxing.

Right before this year's annual session of the NPC, the country's top legislature, Internet users raised questions and put forward proposals to Premier Wen Jiabao. At the leading www.xinhuanet.com alone, nearly 30,000 suggestions were posted and1.5 million people either posted or commented on them. Wen said at the press conference on March 19 that he kept surfing online during the session.

"I am deeply moved by so many people raising questions and making proposals to me and even sharing burdens with me," he said." The opinions showed their trust and support of the government and were also a form of encouragement and supervision."

Source: Xinhua (www.chinaview.cn)

2. China, Japan reach principled consensus on East China Sea issue

BEIJING, June 18 (Xinhua) -- China and Japan, through consultations on an equal footing, reached principled consensus on the East China Sea issue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu made the announcement here Wednesday.

The announcement included the following three parts:

I. Cooperation Between China and Japan in the East China Sea

In order to make the East China Sea, of which the delimitation between China and Japan is yet to be made, a "sea of peace, cooperation and friendship", China and Japan have, in keeping with the common understanding reached by leaders of the two countries in April 2007 and their new common understanding reached in December 2007, agreed through serious consultations that the two sides will conduct cooperation in the transitional period prior to delimitation without prejudicing their respective legal positions. The two sides have taken the first step to this end and will continue to conduct consultations in the future.

II. Understanding Between China and Japan on Joint Development of the East China Sea

As the first step in the joint development of the East China Sea between China and Japan, the two sides will work on the following:

(a) The block for joint development shall be the area that is bounded by straight lines joining the following points in the order listed:

1. Latitude 29o31' North, longitude 125o53'30" East

2. Latitude 29o49' North, longitude 125o53'30" East

3. Latitude 30o04' North, longitude 126o03'45" East

4. Latitude 30o00' North, longitude 126o10'23" East

5. Latitude 30o00' North, longitude 126o20'00" East

6. Latitude 29o55' North, longitude 126o26'00" East

7. Latitude 29o31' North, longitude 126o26'00" East

(Eds: The letter "o" in the above location points should be converted to the superscript of a small circle, the symbol of degree.)

(b) The two sides will, through joint exploration, select by mutual agreement areas for joint development in the above-mentioned block under the principle of mutual benefit. Specific matters will be decided by the two sides through consultations.

(c) To carry out the above-mentioned joint development, the two sides will work to fulfill their respective domestic procedures and arrive at the necessary bilateral agreement at an early date.

(d) The two sides have agreed to continue consultations for the early realization of joint development in other parts of the East China Sea.

III. Understanding on the Participation of Japanese Legal Person In the Development of Chunxiao Oil and Gas Field In Accordance with Chinese Laws

Chinese enterprises welcome the participation of Japanese legal person in the development of the existing oil and gas field in Chunxiao in accordance with the relevant laws of China governing cooperation with foreign enterprises in the exploration and exploitation of offshore petroleum resources.

The governments of China and Japan have confirmed this, and will work to reach agreement on the exchange of notes as necessary and exchange them at an early date. The two sides will fulfill their respective domestic procedures as required.

According to the spokeswoman, this is "an important step" to realize the common understanding of the leaders of the two countries on making the East China Sea "a peaceful, cooperative and friendly sea."

The consensus is also a mutually beneficial, win-win result that the two sides had achieved through consultation as equals and in the spirit of seeking common ground while shelving differences, she said.

The result is conducive to peace and stability in the East China Sea, to enhanced mutually beneficial cooperation on energy and other areas, to the healthy and stable development of Sino-Japanese relations, and to the fundamental interests of both countries and peoples, Jiang said.

Source: Xinhua (www.chinaview.cn)

3. China completes massive evacuation from quake center

 WENCHUAN, Sichuan, June 19 (Xinhua) -- China has finished evacuating 111,476 people from an area near the epicenter of last month's earthquake in Sichuan Province to avoid secondary disasters triggered by heavy rains.

In Wenchuan County, 72,000 people were relocated hours before the rain started on Wednesday night.

The three-day mass relocation ended at 8 p.m., just two hours before heavy rain began to fall, said the Aba prefectural work team for disaster prevention.

"Many old people were crying as they trekked out of our home village," said 51-year-old Chen Mingfeng, a resident of Longxi Village, Wenchuan.

Chen and the elderly from her village, numbering about 400, moved out of their homes above a mountain to another village on Monday morning.

"We were ready to move at any time. You see, there are rifts on the mountain everywhere," she said.

Now Chen and her family live in a tent and get daily rice rations from the local government. Although the public kitchen is still being built, she said she was grateful for all the government had done.

Xie Xiaoquan, head of the health bureau of Aba, had to disinfect toilets in the makeshift relocation center every morning and afternoon.

"This is an important task," he said. "We won the race with disasters, and we also have to ensure the residents' health."

Wu Zegang, deputy Communist Party secretary of Aba, said the risks of floods and geological disasters such as landslides will rise in the approaching main flood season.

"The top priority of our relief work is to transfer residents whose lives are endangered by secondary disasters to safer areas," Wu said.

Emergency workers have built 2,458 temporary houses and put up 34,000 tents for displaced people.

The rest of the relocated residents are from nine counties of Aba prefecture, which governs 13 counties including Wenchuan, the epicenter of the May 12 quake.

Aba is inhabited mainly by Tibetans and people of the Qiang ethnic group.

In Wenchuan alone, 15,941 people were killed by the quake, which left 7,662 missing and 34,583 injured.

Source: Xinhua (www.chinaview.cn)

4. Beijing to restrict vehicles on road to cope with busy Olympic traffic

BEIJING, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Beijing is to ban vehicles with even and odd-numbered license plates on alternate days from July 20 to Sep. 20 to help improve the air quality for the Olympic Games, the city has announced.

Exceptions to the restrictions will include taxis, buses and emergency vehicles, said a statement on the website (www.bjjtw.gov.cn) of the Beijing Municipal Committee of Communications.

The statement said the intention of the restrictions was to improve traffic flows and air quality during the Olympics and Paralympics, and to fulfill Beijing's commitment to host a "green Olympics".

In the statement, the municipal government said the measure would be enforced throughout the city until Aug.28, but only in areas within the Fifth Ring Road and three freeways connecting downtown Beijing to the airport, Badaling and Chengde from Aug. 28to Sep. 20.

The municipal government is also to ban all motor vehicles that fail to meet the European No.1 standard for exhaust emissions as well as trucks registered outside Beijing without special permits from July 1.

It is believed the temporary traffic controls will put 70 percent of cars owned by government departments and institutions in the city out of use.

To compensate motorists for the restrictions, all vehicle owners will be exempted from taxes and road maintenance fees for three months, costing the government 1.3 billion yuan (186 million U.S. dollars).

During a test of the controls from Aug. 17 to 20 last year, about 1.3 million vehicles were taken off the city roads each day and the emissions discharged were cut by 5,815 tons, according to a report by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection.

Source: Xinhua (www.chinaview.cn)

5. Six trapped in flooded mine in east China confirmed dead

HANGZHOU, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Six miners trapped in a flooded bleaching clay mine in east China's Zhejiang Province were confirmed dead on Thursday, a local government official said.

The flooding occurred at about 3 p.m. on Wednesday in Yuhang District of the provincial capital, Hangzhou, when 16 miners were working underground. Rescuers had brought 10 of them to safety, said a spokesman with the Yuhang district government.

The rescued miners were being treated in hospital.

Sources said the accident was possibly due to the safety loopholes of the mine's operating procedures.

All the pit mines in the city were ordered to suspend operations pending safety inspections after the accident.

Source: Xinhua (www.chinaview.cn)

6. Chinese Ambassador expresses gratitude to Danish donations and assistance to quake-hit Chinese provinces

H.E. Mr. Xie Hangsheng, the Chinese Ambassador to Denmark, has written more than 100 letters to the Danish Government and all Danish organizations and individuals, who have provided donations and assistance to quake-hit Chinese provinces during the last two months.

"On behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Denmark and the people in quake affected area, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to you for your donation and support to our quake relief works," writes the Ambassador.

On May 12 this year, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province in Southwest China, causing massive devastation in an area of about 100, 000 sq km and affecting a population of over 40 million with a death toll up to 69,176.

Following the quake, the Danish government has donated 3,250,000 DKK through the Red Cross, and 250,000 through Save the Children. The Danish Red Cross donated 250,000 DKK from its own fund pool, and its fund-raising effort towards the Danish general public has till June 12 exceeded 300,000 DKK. According to Chinese Ministry of Commerce, many Danish companies in China have donated through various channels in China.

The Base Camp facilities provided by the Danish Red Cross were finished on June 15 in Chengdu, capital city of China's most severely hit Sichuan province. Red Cross society staff has started to move in. The base camp can provide offices, accommodation and kitchen for over 100 people. The Danish technical team, who has been in China to set up the camp, will be back in Denmark on June 19.

The Embassy also received donations by the local Chinese Community and the Embassy's own staff, as well as Danish enterprises and ordinary citizens. The Embassy has until June 18 raised a total of over 1,300,000 DKK, among which 1,150,000 from the local Chinese community. These funds have been transferred to the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs and will be used for quake relief and reconstruction.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed," the Ambassador writes with emotion. "We will never forget your support which also contributes to a sound relation between China and Denmark."

Source: Embassy of China in Denmark (www.chinaembassy.dk)