b-time10

TILMAN ARETZ’S BLOG [http://taretz.blogspot.com]———Chronology of events in Greater China in 2010

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Chronology of events in Greater China in 2010

Jan. 1: A free trade area comprising of the PRC and six ASEAN states (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,

Singapore, and Thailand) comes into effect; thousands participate in a demonstration for universal suffrage in

Hong Kong and demand the release of jailed PRC dissident Liu Xiaobo 劉曉波; an explosion in the Xinping

Fireworks (xinping huapao zhizao youxian zeren gongsi新平花炮制造有限責任公司) factory in Pucheng County蒲

城縣 (Weinan City 渭南市, Shaanxi Province) claims 9 lives

Jan. 4: With the official opening of Burj Khalifa in Dubai with a height of 829.8 m, Taipei 101 loses its status as

tallest building in the world

Jan. 5: AP reports that PetroChina scrapped a deal signed on Sept. 6, 2007 to buy Australian LNG; a fire in the Li-

sheng Coal Mine立勝煤礦 in Tanjiashan Town譚家山鎮 (Xiangtan County湘潭縣, Hunan Province) kills 25;

a mine collapse in the Wanli Pit 萬裏井 of the Dayang Coal Mine 大陽煤礦 owned by the Lanhua Group 蘭

花集團 in Jincheng City 晉城市 (Shanxi Province) kills 6, the management attempts to cover up the accident

afterwards

Jan. 6: The Pentagon approves the sale of advanced Patriot air defense missiles to Taiwan; the PRC government

urges the US to cancel the deal

Jan. 6–17: PRC Minister of Commerce Chen Deming 陳德銘 visits Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Mozambique,

and Tanzania

Jan. 9: In a by-election to the ROC Legislative Yuan for Taoyuan county, Taichung county, and Taitung county, the

DPP wins all three seats, voter turnout below 50 percent in all three districts; another acid attack in Yau Ma Tei

油麻地 (Kowloon 九龍, Hong Kong) injures 30

Jan. 11: The PRC conducts a test on ground-based midcourse missile interception technology

Jan. 12: Eight members of a PRC peacekeeping mission in Haiti—a diplomatic ally of the ROC—are killed in the

catastrophic earthquake which devastated the Caribbean island Hispaniola; Google announces it was no longer

willing to censor its PRC search engine Google.cn after some Gmail accounts of human rights activists in the

PRC were hacked

Jan. 12–14: PRC FM Yang Jiechi 楊潔篪 visits Saudi Arabia

Jan. 13: The PRC’s Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan 中國社會科學院, abbrev. CASS)

confirms that the ancient tomb uncovered in Anyang is indeed the burial place of Cao Cao 曹操 (155-220);

Hong Kong police arrest a 23-year-old suspect in the Dec. 12 (2009) acid attack

Jan. 15–16: German FM Guido Westerwelle visits the PRC, holds talks with his PRC counterpart and PRC Premier

Wen Jiabao 溫家寶

Jan. 16: A moderate 4.0 magnitude earthquake rattles Guanling 關嶺 (Anshun City 安順市, Guizhou Province), 3

dead

Jan. 17: PRC FM Yang Jiechi holds talks with his Japanese counterpart Okada Katsuya 岡田克也 in Tokyo, Japan

warns the PRC against starting gas production in a disputed field in the East China Sea

Jan. 19: Huang Songyou 黃松有, former judge at the PRC Supreme People’s Court (zuigao renmin fayuan 最高人民法

院), is sentenced to life in prison by the Langfang City Intermediate People’s Court (Langfangshi zhongji renmin

fayuan 廊坊市中級人民法院) in Hebei Province for embezzlement and taking bribes

Jan. 21: CHINA DAILY (Zhongguo ribao 中國日報) reports that 300,000 more people have to be relocated because of

the Three Gorges Dam and its huge reservoir; the Shehong County People’s Court (Shehongxian renmin fayuan 射

洪縣人民法院) in Suining City 遂寧市 (Sichuan Province) sentences dissident Zhou Yongjun 周勇軍 to 9

years in prison

Jan. 22: A flooding in the Longneng Coal Mining Co. 隆能煤礦有限公司 in the Taiyangshan Development Zone

太陽山開發區 in Wuzhong City 吳忠市 (Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region) claims 7 lives

Jan. 24: Ad-hoc National Convention of the DPP in Taipei

Jan. 25: PRC Vice Premier Li Keqiang 李克強 arrives in Switzerland for a 4-day visit to attend the World Economic

Forum in Davos

Jan. 25–30: ROC President Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 visits Honduras and the Dominican Republic (on Hispaniola),

with stopovers in the US (San Francisco, Los Angeles)

Jan. 25–Feb. 7: PRC FM Yang Jiechi visits Turkey, Cyprus, the UK, France, and Germany


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Jan. 26: The PRC MOFA warns the Obama administration risked damaging ties with the PRC if it proceeded with an

arms package deal to Taiwan; the first round of talks between the PRC and the ROC about an Economic Co-

operation Framework Agreement (liang’an jingji hezuo jiagou xieyi 兩岸經濟合作架構協議, abbrev. ECFA) takes

place in Beijing, the ROC delegation is headed by SEF Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian 高孔廉, the PRC

delegation by ARATS Vice Chairman Zheng Lizhong 鄭立中; envoys of the Dalai Lama arrive in Beijing for

talks with the PRC government; four more people are sentenced to death by the Municipal Intermediate

People’s Court of Urumqi (Wulumuqishi zhongji renmin fayuan 烏魯木齊市中級人民法院) over the 2009 ethnic

unrest; five pro-democracy lawmakers (Alan Leong 梁家傑 and Tanya Chan 陳淑莊 from the Civic Party, and

Leung Kwok-hung 梁國雄, Albert Chan 陳偉業 and Raymond Wong 黃毓民 from the League of Social

Democrats) in Hong Kong’s LegCo resign in a bid to press Beijing for universal suffrage; three firefighters die

following two explosions in the Changjin Firecrackers Plant 長津鞭炮廠 in Taolin Town 桃林鎮 (Linxiang

City 臨湘市, Yueyang City 岳陽市, Hunan Province)

Jan. 27: PRC tennis player Li Na 李娜 defeats Venus Williams from the US 2-6 7-6 7-5 and reaches the women’s

singles semifinals at the Australian Open, the previous day Zheng Jie 鄭潔 from the PRC had reached the

semifinals as well by her victory over Russian player Maria Kirilenko 6-1 6-3 (both lose their semifinals on Jan.

28); a blast in the unlicensed Chunhua Firework Factory 春花花炮廠 in Chaohao Village 朝號村 (Shandai

Town 善岱鎮, Tumote Left Banner 土默特左旗, Hohhot City 呼和浩特市, Inner Mongolia) kills 6

Jan. 28: ROC First Lady Chow Mei-ching 周美青 arrives in the US for a visit in her capacity as honorary head of

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (yunmen wuji 雲門舞集)

Jan. 29: The US government announces plans to sell a package of arms worth US$ 6.4 billion to Taiwan

Jan. 30: Qian Lihua 錢利華, director of the PRC Defense Ministry's Foreign Affairs Office, summons the defense

attache of the US Embassy in Beijing to lodge a stern protest over the planned US weapons sales to Taiwan;

SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung 江丙坤 says it would be too early for SEF and ARATS to set up offices on

both sides of the Taiwan Strait; PRC dissident Wang Dan 王丹 warns that ECFA could threaten Taiwan’s

democracy and human rights

Jan. 31: A 5.2 magnitude earthquake in the area of Moxi Town 磨溪鎮 (Anju District 安居區, Suining City 遂寧市,

Sichuan Province) / Tongnan County 潼南縣 (Chongqing City) claims one life; the International Federation of

Journalists (IFJ) releases the report China Clings to Control: Press Freedom in 2009 in Hong Kong stating that the

PRC intensified its clampdown on domestic and foreign media in 2009

Feb. 3: PRC FM Yang Jiechi and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner hold talks in Paris, Yang is received by

French President Nicolas Sarkozy the following day; the government of Switzerland says it would grant asylum

to two PRC Uighur inmates from Gitmo (= Guantanamo Bay, Cuba)

Feb. 7: Xinhua News Agency (xinhua tongxunshe 新華通訊社) reports that more than 3000 dinoraus footprints were

discovered at a construction site in Zhucheng 諸城 (Weifang City 濰坊市, Shandong Province), belonging to at

least six different kinds of dinosaurs and probably more than 100 million years old

Feb. 8: CHINA DAILY reports that during a 10-day emergency crackdown more than 170 tonnes of melamine-tainted

milk powder were discovered in the PRC; the PRC’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (gongye

han xinxihuabu 工業和信息化部, abbrev. MIIT) issues new guidelines requiring individuals who want to set up a

website to meet regulators and present identification

Feb. 9: The Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court (Chengdushi zhongji renmin fayuan 成都市中級人民法院) sentences

dissident Tan Zuoren 譚作人 who investigated whether shoddy construction contributed to deaths in the 2008

Sichuan earthquake to 5 years in prison; Taiwanese activist Freddy Lim 林昶佐 visits Rebiya Kadeer in her

Washington office and again invites her to visit Taiwan; the Food Safety Commission under the PRC State

Council (guowuyuan shipin anquan weiyuanhui 國務院食品安全委員會, abbrev. FSC) is established and headed by

PRC Vice Premier Li Keqiang

Feb. 11: The Beijing Municipal High People’s Court (Beijingshi gaoji renmin fayuan 北京市高級人民法院) rejects the

appeal against Liu Xiaobo’s jail sentence; the Kenya-based maritime agency Ecoterra announces that the

Taiwanese fishing vessel “Win Far 161” which had been hijacked by Somali pirates near the Seychelles has been

released for a ‘relatively small ransom’, three of the 30 crew members died in captivity from malnutrition,

disease and neglect; Ecoterra claims that the hostages’ respective authorities provided no assistance in attempts

to facilitate humanitarian relief

Feb. 17: Five US warships—the aircraft carrier “USS Nimitz”, “USS Chosin”, “USS Pinckney”, “USS Sampson”, and

“USS Rentz”—dock in Hong Kong for a port call


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Feb. 18: US President Obama receives the Dalai Lama in the White House Map Room, not in the Oval Office; the

following day the PRC summons Jon Huntsman, the US ambassador in Beijing

Feb. 23–March 2: Zimbabwe’s FM Simbarashe Mumbengegwi visits the PRC

Feb. 24: Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. 四川騰中重工機械有限公司 pulls out of a deal to

buy the Hummer brand from General Motors

Feb. 25: A 5.1 magnitude earthquake in the area between Lufeng 祿豐 and Yuanmou 元謀 (Chuxiong Lolos

Autonomous Prefecture 楚雄彝族自治州, Yunnan Province) injures 23

Feb. 25–26: A high-profile Israeli delegation led by Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon visits the PRC and holds

talks with PRC officials including Dai Bingguo 戴秉國

Feb. 26: A firework explosion kills 21 at Shiqiaotou Village 石橋頭村 (Junbu Town 軍埠鎮, Puning City 普寧市,

Jieyang City 揭陽市, Guangdong Province)

Feb. 27: In a by-election to the ROC Legislative Yuan for Taoyuan county, Hsinchu county, Hualien county, and

Chiayi county, the DPP wins three seats and the KMT one, voter turnout below 45 percent in all four districts

Feb. 28: Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu—the PRC’s Panchen Lama—is appointed member of the CPPCC National

Committee

March 1: Flooding in the Luotuoshan Coal Mine 駱駝山煤礦 in Haibowan District海勃灣區 (Wuhai City烏海市,

Inner Mongolia), 32 dead

March 2: US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and White House adviser Jeffrey Bader arrive in Beijing for

talks aimed at improving US-PRC relations

March 3–13: Third session of the 11th CPPCC National Committee in Beijing

March 4: NPC Spokesman Li Zhaoxing 李肇星 announces a 7.5 percent hike in PRC military spending

March 5–14: Third session of the 11th NPC in Beijing

March 6: A truck loaded with people headed for Samye Monastery 桑日寺 crashes in Samye County 桑日縣

(Lhoka Prefecture 山南地區, Tibet), 26 dead

March 9: The PRC and India formally agree to join the COP15 international climate change agreement

March 11: Wang Ching-feng 王清峰, Minister of the ROC Ministry of Justice (fawubu 法務部, abbrev. MOJ), is

forced to resign because of her opposition against capital punishment

March 12: Seven fishermen from the PRC are abducted from two fishing boats off Cameroon’s disputed oil-rich

Bakassi peninsula by a group called Africa Marine Commando (released unharmed on March 17)

March 14: An unfinished building partially collapses in Guiyang 貴陽 (Guizhou Province), 7 construction workers

are killed

March 15: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrives in Shanghai for an official visit to the PRC, meets his

counterpart Yang Jiechi and PRC Premier Wen Jiabao; a fire in the illegally operated Dongxing Coal Mine 東興

煤礦 in Xinmi City 新密市 (Zhengzhou City 鄭州市, Henan Province) kills 25

March 17: Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa breaks off negotiations with the PRC’s Eximbank (jinchukou yinhang進

出口銀行) about obtaining financing for a hydroelectric project because of ‘mistreatment and rudeness’

March 18: PRC lawyer and human rights activist Gao Zhisheng 高智晟 resurfaces near Wutai Mountain 五台山

(Shanxi Province)

March 19: Rio Tinto announces it signed a non-binding US$ 1.35 billion deal with Chinalco to help develop a

massive iron mine in Guinea

March 20–30: PRC VP Xi Jinping 習近平 visits Russia, Belarus, Finland, and Sweden

March 21–27: ROC President Ma Ying-jeou visits the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Nauru, the Solomon Islands,

and Palau, with refueling stopovers in Guam

March 22: The 3-day trial against four Rio Tinto employees charged with bribery and commercial espionage begins at

the First Intermediate People’s Court of Shanghai Municipality (Shanghaishi diyi zhongji renmin fayuan 上海市第一

中級人民法院); Google announces it stopped censoring search results in its PRC site Google.cn, the following

morning the PRC State Council Information Office (guowuyuan xinwen bangongshi 國務院新聞辦公室, abbrev.

SCIO) criticizes Google’s decision

March 23: PRC Vice Premier Hui Liangyu 回良玉 meets Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad in the West Bank city of

Ramallah

March 23–25: Afghan President Hamid Karzai visits the PRC, holds talks with PRC President Hu Jintao 胡錦濤,

PRC Premier Wen Jiabao and NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo 吳邦國, three bilateral agreements on trade and

economic cooperation are signed


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March 24: The four Rio Tinto employees are found guilty; on March 29 they are sentenced to prison terms ranging

between 7 and 14 years

March 25: PRC Vice Minister of Commerce Jiang Zengwei 姜增偉 arrives in Taiwan for a 5-day visit; a gas burst in

the privately-owned Jiuli Coal Mine 九里煤礦 in Fengjie County 奉節縣 (Chongqing) claims 7 lives

March 28: Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Zhejiang jili konggu jituan 浙江吉利控股集團) signs a binding agreement

with Ford Motor in Göteborg (Sweden) to buy Volvo for US$ 1.8 billion; the collapse of a recycling pool at a

sewage treatment plant in Luochuan County 洛川縣 (Yan’an City 延安市, Shaanxi Province) pollutes the Luo-

he River 洛河 in Shaanxi Privince with ca. 1000 tons of oil sludge; the documentary “Torn Memories of

Nanjing” by Japanese activist Matsuoka Tamaki 松岡環 is shown at the 34th Hong Kong International Film

Festival (March 21–April 6)

March 30: Taiwanese fishing trawler Jih-chun Tsai No. 68 (richuncai 68 hao 日春財 68 號) is attacked and captured by

pirates off Somalia’s coast

March 31: An explosion in a mine operated by the Guomin Mining Co. Ltd. 國民煤業有限公司 in Yichuan

County 伊川縣 (Luoyang City 洛陽市, Henan Province) kills 19 workers

March 31–April 1: Second round of ECFA negotiations in Dasi 大溪 (Taoyuan County, Taiwan), the ROC site is

represented by Huang Chih-peng 黃志鵬, head of the Bureau of Foreign Trade in the Ministry of Economic

Affairs (jingjibu guoji maoyiju 經濟部國際貿易局, abbrev. BOFT) and the PRC side by Tang Wei 唐煒, head of

the Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Department in the Ministry of Commerce (shangwubu Tai Gang Ao si

商務部台港澳司)

April 1: Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili holds talks with top PRC officials in Beijing, including FM Yang

Jiechi and State Councilor Dai Bingguo; 9 persons perish in a fire in the Quanzigou Coal Mine 泉子溝煤礦 in

Longmen Township 龍門鎮 (Hancheng City 韓城市, Weinan City, Shaanxi Province)

April 3: The PRC coal carrier Shen Neng 1 (shen neng 1 深能 1) runs aground on Douglas Shoal 15 km outside

shipping lanes and spills fuel oil which pollutes Australia’s Great Barrier Reef off Queensland state; refloated on

April 12

April 5: A conference in Hua Hin (Thailand) attended by PRC Vice FM Song Tao 宋濤 and the PMs of Cambodia,

Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam about dams in the PRC affecting the Mekong River begins; 115 workers are pulled

out alive of Shanxi’s Wangjialing Coal Mine 王家岭煤礦 at the border of Xiangning County 鄉寧縣 (Linfen

City 臨汾市) and Hejin City 河津市 (Yuncheng City 運城市) after a flooding had trapped 153 workers on

March 28 (final death toll 38); televised debate in Taiwan between BOFT head Huang Chih-peng and KMT

legislator Lai Shyh-bao 賴士葆 against former DPP legislators Chuang Suo-hang 莊碩漢 and Julian Kuo 郭正

亮 about ECFA; former Japanese PM Aso Taro 麻生太郎 arrives in Taiwan for a private 4-day visit

April 6: Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng 韓正 arrives in Taipei for a 4-day visit; Japanese drug smuggler Akano

Mitsunobu 赤野光信 is executed in Liaoning

April 7: A landslide at the Shunjiang Quarry 順江採石場 in Ledu Township 樂都鎮 (Emeishan City 峨眉山市, Si-

chuan Province) claims 14 lives

April 8: US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner visits the PRC for talks on a long-running dispute over the PRC

currency

April 9: Japanese nationals Takeda Teruo 武田輝夫, Ukai Hironori 鵜飼博德, and Mori Katsuo 森勝男 are

executed in Liaoning for drug smuggling and trafficking

April 9–11: BFA annual conference in Boao; the Taiwanese delegation is led by Fredrick Chien 錢復

April 12: PRC President Hu Jintao arrives in Washington to participate in the Nuclear Security Summit, meets US

President Barack Obama; PRC authorities reject a request for medical parole for jailed dissident Hu Jia 胡佳

April 14: A 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Gyêgu County 玉樹縣 (Gyêgu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture 玉樹藏族

自治州, Qinghai Province) kills 2220

April 15–16: BRIC summit in Brasilia (Brazil)

April 17: PRC President Hu Jintao returns to the PRC to inspect the Qinghai earthquake disaster area, cutting short

his scheduled visit to Brazil, Venezuela, and Chile

April 19: Fifth Northeast Asia Trilateral Forum in Nara 奈良 (Japan)

April 19–26: Hubei Province CCP Chief Luo Qingquan 羅清泉 visits Taiwan with a one-thousand-strong

delegation

April 25: Televised debate on ECFA between ROC President Ma Ying-jeou and DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen 蔡

英文


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April 28: French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives in Beijing for a 3-day visit to the PRC; opens France’s expo

pavillon in Shanghai on April 30

April 29: The FINANCIAL TIMES reports that the PRC agreed to build two additional new 650 MW reactors at the

Chashma Nuclear Power Plant in Pakistan; KMT Honorary Chairman Lien Chan 連戰 meets TAO Director

Wang Yi 王毅 in Shanghai

April 30: Four convicts on death row are executed by gunshot in three Taiwanese cities, first executions in the ROC

since Dec. 26, 2005; in an interview with Christiane Amanpour aired on CNN ROC President Ma Ying-jeou

declares that ‘we will never ask the Americans to fight for Taiwan’

May 1–Oct. 31: World Expo 2010 in Shanghai (“Better City, Better Life”), the Taiwan Pavillon is opened by former

ROC Premier Liu Chao-shiuan 劉兆玄, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin 郝龍斌 as well as former KMT chairmen

Lien Chan and Wu Po-hsiung 吳伯雄 also attend the opening

May 2: A Sinopec-owned pipeline leaks 240 tonnes of oil on farmland and roads near Jiulong Township 九龍鎮

(Jiaozhou City 膠州市, Shandong Province), 220 tonnes are subsequently recovered

May 3: North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-il 金正日 arrives in Dalian 大連 (Liaoning Province) for a 5-day unofficial

PRC visit, holds talks with PRC President Hu Jintao in Beijing on May 5

May 4: TSTA opens an office in Beijing

May 5: Taiwan’s National Space Organization (guojia taikong zhongxin 國家太空中心) successfully launches a

Sounding Rocket VII (tankong qihao 探空七號) from the Jioupeng Military Base 九鵬基地 in Pingtung County

into space, reaching a height of 289 km

May 5–10: Huang Xiaojing 黃小晶, governor of the PRC’s Fujian Province, visits Taiwan with a 2000-strong

delegation

May 7: The Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association (haixia liangan lüyou jiaoliu xiehui 海峽兩岸旅遊交流協會

/hailühui 海旅會, abbrev. CTEA) opens an office in Taipei

May 8: PRC President Hu Jintao attends celebrations for the 65th anniversary of the end of WWII in Moscow, meets

Russian PM Vladimir Putin

May 10: Former ROC Premier Liu Chao-shiuan embarks on a 9-day visit to the PRC, covering Shanghai, Hangzhou

杭州 (Zhejiang Province), and Beijing

May 12: Two years after the Sichuan earthquake PRC authorities start accepting applications from families of 17,921

victims listed as missing to allow them to be declared dead; former ROC legislator Her Jyh-huei 何智輝 is

acquitted by the Taiwan High Court (Taiwan gaodeng fayuan 台灣高等法院)

May 13–14: Second round of PRC-US talks on human rights in Washington

May 16: By-election for five LegCo seats in Hong Kong, boycotted by all pro-Beijing parties and Chief Executive

Donald Tsang 曾蔭權, voter turnout 17.1 percent; former secretary-general of the National Security Council

(guojia anquan huiyi 國家安全會議) in the ROC Presidential Office Su Chi 蘇起 reveals in an interview that Tai-

pei and Beijing had secret unofficial communication channels, the ROC Presidential Office confirms Su’s state-

ment

May 17: The Higher People’s Court of Shanghai (Shanghaishi gaoji renmin fayuan 上海市高級人民法院) rejects the

appeal of three Rio Tinto employees against their sentence

May 17–22: WHA in Geneva, Taiwan attends as observer under the name “Chinese Taipei”, represented by DOH

Minister Yaung Chih-liang 楊志良

May 20: PRC Vice FM Cui Tiankai 崔天凱 calls the sinking of South Korea’s warship “Cheonan” (天安號 [tian’an

hao]) on March 26 ‘unfortunate’, PRC MOFA Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu 馬朝旭 calls on both Koreas to exercise

‘restraint’

May 22–26: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner visit the PRC

May 23: Tsai Ing-wen is elected for a second two-year term as DPP chairwoman, garnering 87,244 votes (90.29

percent) against contender You Ching 尤清 (8416 votes/9.71 percent), voter turnout 58.63 percent; Tsai

Ing-wen announces her candidacy for mayor of New Taipei City 新北市 [before Dec. 25, 2010: Taipei County];

a head-on collision between a truck and a bus en route from Tianjin to Harbin 哈爾濱 (Heilongjiang Province)

at an expressway in Liaoning’s Fuxin City 阜新市 on a section undergoing road maintenance kills 32; a

passenger train from Shanghai to Guilin 桂林 (Guangxi Province) derails in Dongxiang County 東鄉縣 (Fu-

zhou City 撫州市, Jiangxi Province) after landslides covered the tracks, 19 dead; a bus plunges into the Hulan

River 呼蘭河 in Qing’an County 慶安縣 (Suihua City 綏化市, Heilongjiang Province), 15 dead

May 23–28: Sichuan Province CCP Chief Liu Qibao 劉奇葆 visits Taiwan at the invitation of the KMT


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May 24: Li Gang 李剛, deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in HKSAR (zhong-

yang renmin zhengfu Xianggang tebie xingzhengqu lianluo bangongshi 中央人民政府香港特別行政區聯絡辦公室),

meets opposition lawmakers Emily Lau 劉慧卿, Albert Ho 何俊仁 and Cheung Man-kwong 張文光 of the

Democratic Party; a head-on collision between two busses on a highway in Hechi 河池 (Guangxi Province)

claims 10 lives

May 24–25: Second round of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (Zhong Mei zhanlüe jingji duihua 中美戰

略經濟對話, abbrev. S&ED) in Beijing

May 25: DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen calls the ROC a ‘government-in-exile’ (liuwang zhengfu 流亡政府)

May 26: Li Gang meets Wong Pik-wan 黃碧雲, deputy convener of the Alliance for Universal Suffrage (zhongji

puxuan lianmeng 終極普選聯盟) in Hong Kong

May 26–31: Indian President Pratibha Patil visits the PRC (with stops in Beijing, Luoyang, and Shanghai), holds talks

with PRC President Hu Jintao on May 27

May 28–June 3: PRC Premier Wen Jiabao visits South Korea, Japan, Mongolia, and Myanmar

May 29: Third PRC-Japan-ROK Summit Meeting with PRC Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese PM Hatoyama Yukio鳩山

由紀夫, and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Jeju 濟州島 (South Korea), the PRC refuses to censor

North Korea over the Cheonan sinking

May 30: The PRC rules that evidence with unclear origins, including confessions obtained under torture or duress, is

inadmissible at court

June 1: Three judges of the Lingling District People’s Court (Linglingqu renmin fayuan 零陵區人民法院) in Yongzhou

City 永州市 (Hunan Province) are shot and killed by a gunman who commits suicide afterwards, three other

judges are wounded; PRC MOFA Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu says that Beijing is firmly opposed to Taiwan signing

any FTAs with foreign countries

June 2: The Chinese University of Hong Kong 香港中文大學 bans its students from erecting a replica of the 1989

Tiananmen “Goddess of Democracy” (minzhu nüshen 民主女神) on campus

June 3: The Referendum Review Committee of the ROC Executive Yuan (xingzhengyuan gongtou shenyi weiyuanhui 行政

院公投審議委員會, abbrev. gongshenhui 公審會) rejects a referendum initiative about ECFA proposed by the

TSU; MAC Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan 賴幸媛 arrives in Hong Kong for a 3-day visit

June 4: Several thousand people attend a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong to commemorate the Tiananmen Massacre

anniversary; former student leader Wuer Kaixi吾爾開希 is arrested in Tokyo after he entered the PRC embassy;

in a soccer friendly match the PRC defeats France 1-0 in Saint-Pierre (Reunion)

June 7: Former Arkansas governor and 2008 candidate for the Republican US presidential nomination Mike

Huckabee arrives in Taiwan for a 3-day visit

June 8: PRC MOFA Spokesman Qin Gang 秦剛 reports that a North Korean border guard shot and killed three

PRC citizens at the border town of Dandong 丹東 (Liaoning Province); PRC FM Yang Jiechi meets Myanmar

FM U Nyan Win in Beijing; the Taipei District Court (Taibei difang fayuan 台北地方法院) acquits former ROC

President Chen Shui-bian 陳水扁 on the charge of embezzling diplomatic funds

June 9: The Sichuan Provincial High Court (Sichuansheng gaoji fayuan 四川省高級法院) upholds the sentence against

Tan Zuoren

June 9–12: PRC Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang 張德江 visits Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Greece, and Austria

June 9–13: PRC President Hu Jintao visits Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan

June 9–16: Zhejiang Provincial Governor Lü Zushan 呂祖善 visits Taiwan, leading a delegation of more than 500

people

June 10: The TSU files a lawsuit against 12 members of the ROC Referendum Review Committee at the Taipei

District Court; CCTV reports that North Korea would severely punish the border guards who shot dead three

Chinese on June 8

June 11: Tenth SCO summit in Tashkent (Uzbekistan); the Taiwan High Court reduces the life sentences for former

ROC President Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-chen 吳淑珍 to 20 years in prison; Chen Shui-bian’s son

Chen Chih-chung 陳致中 withdraws from the DPP; the Taipei Film Commission withdraws eight movies from

the Shanghai International Film Festival after noticing that organizers of a recent TV festival in Shanghai

identified a Taiwanese TV series as originating in “Taiwan, China”

June 12: Former Japanese PM Hatoyama meets PRC State Councilor Liu Yandong 劉延東 in Shanghai; former

ROC President Lee Teng-hui 李登輝 warns that ECFA will jeopardize Taiwan’s sovereignty and recommends a

referendum


7

June 13: Third round of ECFA talks in Beijing

June 14: A new cross-strait route between Taipei’s Songshan Airport (songshan jichang 松山機場) and Shanghai’s

Hongqiao Airport (Shanghai hongqiao guoji jichang 上海虹橋國際機場) is launched; Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin

meets Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng in Shanghai

June 14–24: PRC VP Xi Jinping visits Bangladesh, Laos, New Zealand, and Australia

June 15: 23 persons are killed when a mountain collapses over a construction site for a hydroelectric project in

Jintang Township 金湯鄉 (Dardo County 康定縣, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture 甘孜藏族自治州,

Sichuan Province); a new direct cross-strait flight route between Hualien and Fuzhou 福州 (Fujian Province) is

inaugurated; two chartered planes evacuate 195 PRC nationals from Kyrgyzstan to Urumqi; over a 3-day period

Beijing sends a total of 9 planes to take more than 1200 PRC citizens home

June 17: NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo meets the secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference

(OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu in Beijing

June 19: The Third Cross-Taiwan Strait Cultural Industries Fair opens in Xiamen 廈門 (Fujian Province), the

opening ceremony is attended by NP Chairman Yok Mu-ming 郁慕明

June 21: The PRC and Australia sign trade pacts worth more than US$ 8.8 billion, expanding their energy and

resources trade ties; a blast of explosives stored underground in the Xingdong 2 Shaft 興東二礦井 in Weidong

District 衛東區 of Henan’s Pingdingshan City 平頂山市 extinguishes the lives of 47 workers; the mine had

been operating illegally since its permit expired on June 6

June 23–25: PRC President Hu Jintao visits Canada

June 24: ARATS Deputy Chairman Zheng Lizhong and SEF Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian hold talks about the

“early harvest list” (zaoshou qingdan 早收清單) in the Grand Hotel in Taipei; Hong Kong’s LegCo approves the

enlargement of the Chief Executive Election Committee (xingzheng zhangguan xuanju weiyuanhui 行政長官選舉

委員會) from 800 to 1200

June 26: Tens of thousands of protesters rally in Taipei against ECFA, participants include former ROC President

Lee Teng-hui, former ROC VP Annette Lu 呂秀蓮, DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen and other DPP heavy-

weights

June 28: A landslide buries Dazhai Village 大寨村 (Gangwu Township 崗烏鎮 , Guanling Bouyei Hmong

Autonomous County 關嶺布依族苗族自治縣, Guizhou Province), 99 dead; Taiwanese tennis player Lu

Yen-hsun 盧彥勳 defeats American player Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon Men Singles 4-6 7-6 7-6 6-7 9-7

and qualifies for the quarter-finals (where he is eliminated two days later by Serbian player Novak Djokovic 6-3

6-2 6-2), the first Taiwanese male to reach the last eight at a Grand Slam

June 28–30: Fifth round of Chiang-Chen talks between SEF and ARATS in Chongqing

June 29: SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung and ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin 陳雲林 sign ECFA and an agreement

on the protection of intellectual property rights

July 1: Xinhua News Agency launches a 24-hour English news channel called “CNC World News”

July 3: More than 9000 square metres of toxic waste water from the Zijinshan Copper Mine 紫金山銅礦 in Shang-

hang County 上杭縣 (Fujian Province) belonging to the Zijin Mining Group 紫金礦業集團 spill into the Ting

River 汀江, killing thousands of tonnes of fish

July 4: A shuttle bus of Wuxi Xuefeng Steel Company 無錫雪豐鋼鐵公司 in Wuxi 無錫市 (Jiangsu Province)

catches fire, 24 dead (including the arsonist)

July 7: Former Chongqing police chief Wen Qiang 文強 is executed by lethal injection for accepting bribes, rape and

shielding criminal gangs

July 7–20: NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo visits France, Serbia, and Switzerland

July 8: Violence erupts in the ROC Legislative Yuan over the ECFA review, several lawmakers sustain injuries

July 8–11: Sixth Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum (diliujie liang’an jingmao wenhua luntan第六屆兩岸經

貿文化論壇) in Guangzhou 廣州 (= Canton, Guangdong Province)

July 9: The DPP legislative caucus walks out of the provisional ROC Legislative Yuan session called to review ECFA

in protest

July 12: Former KMT Chairman Wu Po-hsiung meets CCP Chairman Hu Jintao in Beijing

July 13: Three senior judges of the Taiwan High Court are arrested on corruption charges, ROC investigators raid

Her Jyh-huei’s residence in Miaoli and discover that he has fled

July 15: German Chancellor Angela Merkel begins a 4-day visit to the PRC


8

July 16: An explosion of a pipeline transporting crude oil from a ship to a storage tank in the Yellow Sea off Dalian

port causes a fire (extinguished only after more than 15 hours) and results in a serious spill of 1500 tonnes of

oil, a nearby pipeline also explodes, oil shipments from the PRC’s north to the south are disrupted; Judicial Yuan

President Lai In-jaw 賴英照 tenders his resignation over a corruption scandal involving Taiwan High Court

judges, ROC President Ma Ying-jeou accepts his resignation on July 18

July 18: PRC President Hu Jintao’s son Hu Haifeng 胡海峰 arrives in Taiwan for a secret visit, meets agricultural

experts

July 23: On the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting in Hanoi (Vietnam), US Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton states that the US have ‘national interests’ in the South China Sea

July 24: The Yi River Bridge伊河大橋 in Tangying Village湯營村 (Tantou Town潭頭鎮, Luanchuan County欒川

縣, Luoyang City, Henan Province) collapses after heavy rainfall, at least 49 dead

July 25: PRC FM Yang Jiechi warns the US not to internationalize the issue of the South China Sea

July 25–Aug. 4: PRC FM Yang Jiechi visits Austria, Mexico, Cuba, and Costa Rica

July 26: Dalian Vice Mayor Dai Yulin 戴鬰林 claims the oil spilled had been contained and stopped from reaching

international waters

July 27: Mudslides from Ermanshan Mountain 二蛮山 triggered by torrential rain bury part of Shuanghe Village 雙

合村 (Wangong Township萬工鄉, Hanyuan County漢源縣, Ya’an City雅安市, Sichuan Province), 20 missing

and feared dead

July 28: An explosion triggered when a chemical pipeline carrying ethylene in an abandoned plastics factory ignited

kills 13 in Nanjing 南京 (Jiangsu Province); flooding sweeps 7000 chemical barrels—3000 of them filled—into

the Songhua River in Yongji County 永吉縣 (Jilin City 吉林市, Jilin Province), most of them are recovered

within four days

July 29: The ROC MOFA reiterates its claim that the South China Sea—including the Spratly Islands (nansha qundao

南沙群島), Paracel Islands (xisha qundao 西沙群島), Pratas Islands (dongsha qundao 東沙群島), the Macclesfield

Bank (zhongsha qundao 中沙群島) as well as the surrounding waters—are ROC territory

July 30: A bomb attack in the taxation office in Changsha’s Furong District 芙蓉區 kills 4; main suspect Liu Zhui-

heng 劉贅衡 is caught on Aug. 8 in Quanzhou 全州 (Guilin City, Guangxi Province)

July 31: A bus falls off a cliff in Xuanhan County 宣漢縣 (Dazhou City 達州市, Sichuan Province), 13 dead; an ex-

plosion in the dormitory area of the Liugou Coal Mine 劉溝煤礦 in Yicheng County 翼城縣 (Linfen City,

Shanxi Province) claims 17 lives; hundreds of protesters rally in Hong Kong and Guangzhou for the pre-

servation of Cantonese language and culture, PRC police detain three participants

Aug. 1: Taiwanese golfer Yani Tseng 曾雅妮 wins the Women’s British Open

Aug. 2–8: A 300-member delegation from Hunan visits Taiwan

Aug. 8: Rain-triggered mudslides block the Bailong River 白龍江 in Zhouqu County 舟曲縣 (Gannan Tibetan

Autonomous Prefecture 甘南藏族自治州, Gansu Province) and cause severe flooding in the narrow valley,

1472 dead, in the aftermath PRC Premier Wen Jiabao repeatedly visits the disaster area

Aug. 10: The PRC successfully launches the remote-sensing satellite “Yaogan X” (yaogan weixing shihao 遙感衛星十號)

on a “Long March 4C” carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (Taiyuan weixing fashe zhongxin 太

原衛星發射中心)

Aug. 11: The Referendum Review Committee of the ROC Executive Yuan again rejects a referendum initiative about

ECFA proposed by the TSU, former ROC President Lee Teng-hui condemns the decision as undemocratic

Aug. 14: Three more Taiwan High Court senior judges are suspended

Aug. 16: An explosion in the fireworks factory Huali Industrial Co. Ltd. 華利實業有限公司 in Wumahe District

烏馬河區 (Yichun City 伊春市, Heilongjiang Province) kills 33

Aug. 17: The ROC Legislative Yuan ratifies ECFA after the KMT majority voted down all 18 DPP motions

Aug. 18: PRC President Hu Jintao meets Singaporean President S. R. Nathan in Beijing; GM and SAIC sign a deal in

Shanghai about cooperation on engine production and transmission technology; a mudslide hits Puladi Town-

ship 普拉底鄉 in Gongshan Drung Nu Autonomous County 貢山獨龍族怒族自治縣 (Nujiang Lisu

Autonomous Prefecture 怒江傈僳族自治州, Yunnan Province), 38 dead

Aug. 19: A bomb blast in Xinjiang’s Aksu 阿克蘇 kills 7

Aug. 21: PRC state media report 6 people were arrested for distributing milk powder containing melamine; the Yalu

River 鴨綠江 bursts its banks near Dandong after heavy rains


9

Aug. 23: South African President Jacob Zuma arrives in Beijing for a 4-day visit; a former police officer takes a bus

with tourists from Hong Kong hostage in Manila, after an 11-hour standoff local police forces storm the bus, 8

passengers and the hostage-taker are killed in the shootout

Aug. 24: A Henan Airlines (Henan hangkong youxian gongsi 河南航空有限公司) Embraer E-190 with 96 on board

from Harbin crashes in heavy fog shortly before landing near Yichun Lindu Airport (Yichun lindu jichang 伊春林

都機場) at the outskirts of Yichun 伊春 (Heilongjiang Province); 42 dead

Aug. 26–30: North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-il pays an unofficial visit to the PRC, meets PRC President Hu Jintao

on Aug. 27 in Changchun 長春 (Jilin Province), also travels to Jilin and Harbin

Aug. 29: In Hong Kong, about 80,000 angry protesters denounce the Philippines for their handling of the Aug. 23

Manila hostage drama

Sept. 1: A landslide buries Hedong Village 河東村/Dashifang Village 大石房村 (Wama Township 瓦馬鄉, Long-

yang District 隆陽區, Baoshan City 保山市, Yunnan Province), 24 dead

Sept. 1–4: The PLA’s Beihai Fleet (Beihai jiandui 北海艦隊) conducts live ammunition naval exercises in the Yellow

Sea 黃海 near Qingdao 青島 (Shandong Province)

Sept. 2–8: PRC Minister of Culture Cai Wu 蔡武 visits Taiwan

Sept. 5: PRC state media report that authorities of Anhui province covered up a cholera outbreak for 12 days after

Aug. 16

Sept. 7: The PRC fishing trawler “Minjinyu 5179” (minjinyu 5179 hao 閩晉漁 5179 號) collides with Japanese patrol

ships near the Diaoyutai Archipelago 釣魚台列島 (Jap. “Senkaku Islands” 尖閣諸島, also called the “Pinnacle

Islands” in English), skipper Zhan Qixiong 詹其雄 is detained (released on Sept. 24)

Sept. 9: During a meeting with former head of the Munich Conference on Security policy Horst Teltschik ROC

President Ma Ying-jeou suggests that both sides of the Taiwan Strait might consider the past experience of

interaction between West Germany and East Germany

Sept. 11: PRC authorities detain nine Vietnamese fishermen near the Paracel Islands (released on Oct. 12)

Sept. 12: ECFA comes into effect

Sept. 13–18: PRC Vice Minister of Public Security Chen Zhimin 陳智敏 visits Taiwan and hold talks with ROC

government officials, the ROC keeps the visit secret

Sept. 15: Second PRC-Vietnam Public Security Ministerial Meeting on Cooperation Against Crime (Zhongguo gonganbu

han Yuenan gonganbu dierci hezuo daji fanzui huiyi 中國公安部和越南公安部第二次合作打擊犯罪會議) in

Beijing, attended by PRC Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu 孟建柱 and his Vietnamese counterpart Le

Hong Anh 黎鴻英

Sept. 20: PRC authorities arrest four Japanese nationals working for the construction company Fujita 株式會社 near

Shijiazhuang 石家庄 (Hebei Province) and accuses them of entering a military zone without authorization and

videotaping military targets (three of the detainees are released on Sept. 29, the fourth on Oct. 9)

Sept. 26: Russian President Medvedev arrives in Dalian for a 3-day official visit in the PRC

Sept. 21–29: CCP politburo member Li Changchun 李長春 visits Estonia, Montenegro, Ireland, and Iran

Sept. 27: Russian President Medvedev and PRC President Hu Jintao hold talks in Beijing and celebrate the

completion of a 999-km oil pipeline between Angarsk and Daqing, several political and commercial deals are

signed on the occasion; the One Side One Country Alliance (yibian yiguo lianxian 一邊一國連線) is established in

Taiwan and headed by Chen Chih-chung, with members in the ROC Legislative Yuan and the city councils all

five ROC special municipalities

Sept. 30: The Committee of Appeal the ROC Executive Yuan upholds the Referendum Committee’s denial of a

TSU request to put ECFA to a referendum

Oct. 1: The PRC successfully launches a “Long March 3C” rocket carrying the lunar probe “Chang’e-2” (chang’e yihao

嫦娥二號) at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (Xichang weixing fashe zhongxin 西昌衛星發射中心) in Xi-

chang 西昌 (Sichuan Province); Chang’e-2 enters the moon’s orbit on Oct. 6 and circles about 100 km above

the surface, taking pictures of possible landing locations

Oct. 2–9: PRC Premier Wen Jiabao visits Greece, Belgium, Italy, and Turkey

Oct. 4–5: 8th ASEM in Brussels, on the sidelines brief meeting between PRC Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese PM

Kan Naoto 菅直人

Oct. 4–9: UN climate talks in Tianjin

Oct. 6: 13th EU-China summit in Brussels (Belgium)


10

Oct. 8: Jailed PRC dissident Liu Xiaobo is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, PRC MOFA Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu

comments the move may harm PRC-Norway ties

Oct. 9: ROC President Ma Ying-jeou urges the PRC to release Liu Xiaobo

Oct. 10: CCP politburo member Zhou Yongkang 周永康 attends the military parade marking the 65th anniversary

of North Korea’s ruling Workers Party of Korea 朝鮮勞動黨 in Pyongyang 平壤

Oct. 10–13: PRC Defense Minister Liang Guanglie 梁光烈 visits Vietnam

Oct. 15: 12 workers of the Chinese-run Collum Coal Mine in Sinazongwe (Zambia) are wounded when mainly

Chinese managers shoot randomly at workers protesting poor working conditions

Oct. 16: A coal and gas outburst in the Pingyu Pit No. 4 in Yuzhou City 禹州市 (Xuchang City 許昌市, Henan

Province) kills 26 miners; a passenger bus crashes in a mountainous region in Dulan County 都蘭縣 (Haixi

Mongol Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture 海西蒙古族藏族自治州, Qinghai Province), 10 dead; Chinese

nationalists rally in Chengdu 成都 (Sichuan Province), Xi’an 西安 (Shaanxi Province) and Zhengzhou and

Japanese nationalists in front of the PRC embassy in Tokyo, protesting the other side’s claim over the Diaoyu-

tai/Senkaku Islands

Oct. 18: At the end of the 4-day meeting of the fifth plenary session of the 17th CCP Central Committee, Xi Jinping

is appointed vice chairman of the CCP Central Military Commission

Oct. 19: ROC President Ma Ying-jeou says he would be ready to move toward political dialogue with the PRC once

the remaining economic issues are resolved; at least 1000 Tibetan students protest the loss of their language and

culture in Tongren 同仁 (Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture 黃南藏族自治州, Qinghai Province),

also known as Rebkong

Oct. 22: TAO Director Wang Yi tells a conference in the US that Taiwan’s participation in international organizations

has to first be approved by Beijing

Oct. 23: Delegations of the PRC and Taiwan miss the opening ceremony of the 23rd Tokyo International Film

Festival after the PRC team led by PRC official Jiang Ping 江平 insisted the Taiwanese to add the word “China”

to its name, Jiang threatened to block Taiwanese films in the PRC market after his demand was rejected

Oct. 24: US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner holds talks with PRC Vice Premier Wang Qishan 王岐山 in

Qingdao

Oct. 25: Organizers of the Tokyo International Film Festival apologize to the Taiwanese delegation; ROC National

Police Agendy Director-General Wang Cho-chiun 王卓鈞 embarks for a 8-day PRC visit; the water level at the

Three Gorges Dam reaches its maximum height of 175 m; the Shanghai-Hangzhou High-speed Railway (Hu

Hang keyun zhuanxian 滬杭客運專線) with a length of 202 km and a top speed of 350 km/h starts operating

Oct. 28: Construction of a 530-km railway between Mohan Port 磨憨口岸 (Mengla County 勐臘縣, Xishuangban-

na Dai Autonomous Prefecture 西雙版納傣族自治州, Yunnan Province) and Laos’ capital Vientiane begins

Oct. 29: 13th ASEAN-PRC summit in Hanoi 河內 (Vietnam), attended by PRC Premier Wen Jiabao

Oct. 30: Tens of thousands of people participate in the Eighth Taiwan LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans-

gender) Parade in Taipei

Oct. 30–Nov. 3: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon 潘基文 visits the PRC, meets PRC President Hu Jintao on

Nov. 1 without mentioning human rights

Oct. 31: Direct flights between Taipei’s Songshan Airport and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport 羽田空港 begin; former

Japanese PM Abe Shinzo 安倍晉三 visits Taiwan, meets ROC President Ma Ying-jeou

Nov. 1: A national census is started in the PRC (concludes on Nov. 10)

Nov. 3: An 21-km intercity subway system linking Guangzhou and Foshan 佛山 is inaugurated

Nov. 4–7: PRC President Hu Jintao visits France and Portugal

Nov. 5: The Taipei District Court finds former ROC President Chen Shui-bian, his wife and 19 co-defendants not

guilty of bribery and money laundering; a mass collision in heavy fog on an expressway near Zhangshu 樟樹

(Yichun City宜春市, Jiangxi Province) claims 19 lives; a fire in the Jilin Commercial Building 吉林商業大廈 in

Jilin kills 19

Nov. 6: The Taipei International Flora Exposition opens (running through April 25, 2011)

Nov. 9: British PM David Cameron arrives in Beijing for a 2-day visit; joined by about 50 top business leaders;

CPPCC Chairman Jia Qinglin 賈慶林 arrives in Astana (Kazakhstan) for a 3-day official goodwill visit

Nov. 11: The ROC Supreme Court (zuigao fayuan 最高法院) uphelds the guilty verdict in the corruption case against

former ROC President Chen Shui-bian and his wife, sending them to prison for 11 years plus 8 years in another

bribery case in a final ruling


11

Nov. 12: PRC President Hu Jintao attends the fifth G20 Summit in Seoul 漢城, meeting the presidents of South

Korea, the US, and Russia at the sidelines

Nov. 12–27: The 16th Asian Games take place in Guangzhou

Nov. 13: PRC Premier Wen Jiabao visits Macau; Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker Albert Ho is denied entry to

Macau, preventing him from participating in protests against Wen

Nov. 13–14: 18th APEC economic leaders meeting in Yokohama 橫濱 (Japan); Chinese representatives: Hu Jintao

(PRC), Donald Tsang (Hong Kong), Lien Chan (Taiwan)

Nov. 14-15: Former US President Bill Clinton visits Taiwan and meets ROC President Ma Ying-jeou, commending

Ma’s cross-strait policies and ECFA

Nov. 14–24: PRC VP Xi Jinping visits Singapore, South Africa, Angola, and Botswana

Nov. 15: A fire in a 28-storey residential high-rise building under renovation in Shanghai’s Jing’an District 靜安區

kills 58; the laying of tracks for the 1318-km high-speed railway connecting Beijing and Shanghai is completed;

KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung 金溥聰 files a lawsuit against PFP Chairman James Soong 宋楚瑜 for

accusing King of manipulating elections with fabricated polls

Nov. 16: A prototype of the C919 passenger jet developed and manufactured by the Commercial Aircraft

Corporation of China (Zhongguo shangyong feiji youxian zeren gongsi 中國商用飛機有限責任公司, abbrev.

COMAC) is presented at the 8th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai

Nov. 20: Joseph Guo Jincai郭金才 is ordained bishop at the Pingquan Catholic Church平泉天主教堂 in Chengde

承德 (Hebei Province), the Vatican protests

Nov. 21: Flooding in the Batian Coal Mine 八田煤礦 in Weiyuan County 威遠縣 (Neijiang City 內江市, Sichuan

Province) traps 22 workers and later 7 rescuers, all 29 are pulled out alive on Nov. 22

Nov. 22–25: PRC Premier Wen Jiabao visits Russia and Tajikistan

Nov. 23: PRC MOFA Spokesman Hong Lei 洪磊 urges both Korean states to ‘do more to contribute to peace’ after

North Korea’s deadly shelling of South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island 延坪島

Nov. 24: The Vatican threatens Guo Jincai with excommunication

Nov. 25: The PRC again calls on the relevant parties to make joint efforts to safeguard peace and stability of the

Korean Peninsula; 9th Prime Ministers Meeting of SCO in Dushanbe (Tajikistan)

Nov. 26: Sean Lien 連勝文, son of former ROC VP Lien Chan, is shot and wounded in the face on a KMT election

campaign rally for New Taipei City councilor candidate Chen Hung-yuan 陳鴻源 in Yonghe 永和 (Taipei

County), a bystander named Huang Yun-sheng 黃運聖 is killed in the shooting, the perpetrator named Lin

Cheng-wei 林正偉 is arrested

Nov. 27: Three-in-one elections for the ROC’s special municipalities—the KMT wins the mayoral races in Taipei,

New Taipei City and Taichung, the DPP prevails in Tainan and Kaohsiung, DPP share of valid votes 49.87

percent (KMT 44.54 percent); PRC State Councilor Dai Bingguo and PRC envoy Wu Dawei 武大偉 travel to

Seoul and discuss the recent events with South Korean FM Kim Sung-hwan 金星煥; Dai and Wu meet South

Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Nov. 28

Nov. 30: The Chairman of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly Choe Thae-bok 崔泰福 visits Beijing

Dec. 2: Former ROC President Chen Shui-bian is transferred from Taipei Detention Center 台灣台北看守所 in

Tucheng 土城 (Taipei County) to Taipei Prison 台灣台北監獄 in Gueishan 龜山 (Taoyuan County) to

formally begin serving his sentence, having his head shaved and being subjected to a nude full-body search

Dec. 3: The ROC Central Election Commission (zhongyang xuanju weiyuanhui 中央選舉委員會, abbrev. CEC) ap-

proves the TSU’s proposal for a referendum on ECFA to be forwarded to the ROC Executive Yuan’s

Referendum Review Committee; former Japanese PM Mori Yoshiro 森善朗 arrives in Taipei for a private 2-day

visit

Dec. 6: The Taiwan High Court rules that former ROC President Chen Shui-bian has to stay behind bars for 17½

years; PRC President Hu Jintao warns US President Barack Obama that tensions on the Korean peninsula could

spiral out of control if not dealt with properly

Dec. 6–8: PRC VP Xi Jinping conducts an inspection tour to Chongqing, praises Chongqing’s CCP head Bo Xilai 薄

熙來 for his crackdown on organized crime and government corruption

Dec. 9: PRC State Councilor Dai Bingguo visits Pyongyang, meets North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il; a committee

believed to work closely with the PRC Ministry of Culture announces it awarded the first “Confucius Peace

Prize” (Kongzi hepingjiang 孔子和平獎) to KMT Honorary Chairman Lien Chan, in Taiwan Lien denies any

knowledge of the affair or having plans to accept the prize; the 5.419-km-long Jingyue Yangtze River Bridge 荊


12

岳長江公路大橋 linking Bailuo Township 白螺鎮 (Jianli County 監利縣, Jingzhou City 荊州市, Hubei

Province) and Yunxi District 雲溪區 (Yueyang City 岳陽市, Hunan Province) is put into operation

Dec. 10: The ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo with an empty chair for Liu Xiaobo is boycotted by the

PRC and 18 other countries (Afghanistan, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Pakistan,

the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sudan, Tunisia, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Vietnam); access to web-

sites of international media like BBC and CNN is temporarily blocked in the PRC; ROC President Ma

Ying-jeou urges the PRC to release Liu Xiaobo

Dec. 13–17: Cambodian PM Hun Sen pays an official visit to the PRC

Dec. 13: Beijing Deputy Mayor Ji Lin 吉林 arrives for a visit in Taipei; Falun Gong practitioners in Taiwan file a

lawsuit against Ji for the abuse of Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing

Dec. 15: DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen tells DPP officials not to encourage protests during ARATS boss Chen

Yunlin’s upcoming visit in Taiwan

Dec. 15–19: PRC Premier Wen Jiabao visits India and Pakistan

Dec. 16: The High Court of HKSAR (Zhonghua renmin gongheguo Xianggang tebie xingzhengqu gaodeng fayuan 中華人民共

和國香港特別行政區高等法院) sentences 24-year-old Lo Ching-ho 盧證濠 to 13 years in prison for

throwing acid on pedestrians in a string of attacks between 2008 and 2009

Dec. 17: An explosion of a truck transporting fireworks in Tiechong Village 鐵衝村 (Hengshi Town 橫市鎮, Ning-

xiang County, Changsha City, Hunan Province) extinguishes 12 lives

Dec. 17–18: A cross-strait trade fair takes place in Taipei

Dec. 18–25: ROC Premier Wu Den-yih 吳敦義 visits Burkina Faso

Dec. 20–22: Sixth round of Chiang-Chen talks between SEF and ARATS in Taipei

Dec. 23: PRC FM Yang Jiechi announces that BRIC accepted South Africa as full member (BRIC henceforth called

“BRICS”)

Dec. 25: The Taiwanese trawler “Shiuh Fu No. 1” (xufu yihao 旭富一號) is captured with 26 crew by pirates off

Somalia’s coast in the Indian Ocean (released on July 17, 2012); Kaohsiung County is integrated into Kaohsiung

City, Taipei County is upgraded to special municipality and renamed New Taipei City, Taichung City and Tai-

chung County as well as Tainan City and Tainan County are merged and both upgraded to special municipality

Dec. 27: Philippine authorities arrest 14 ROC and 10 PRC citizens during a racketeering raid, deports all of them to

the PRC on Feb. 2, 2011 at the PRC’s request

Dec. 28: PRC State Councilor Liu Yandong visits Colombia; a three-wheeled vehicle carrying schoolchildren plunges

into a creek in Songjiang Township 松江鎮 (Hengnan County 衡南縣, Hengyang City 衡陽市, Hunan

Province), 14 pupils die

Dec. 29: The SCIO publishes a white paper on corruption

Dec. 30: The BEIJING MORNING POST (Beijing chenbao 北京晨報) quotes Xi Guohua 溪國華, Vice Minister of the

PRC Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as saying that only state-owned major Chinese tele-

communications operators were licensed to provide Internet phone services linking telephones and computers

Dec. 31: The DPP files lawsuits to invalidate the Nov. 27 elections of the Taipei, New Taipei City, and Taichung

mayors

Abbreviations in this file Abbrev. Meaning———Chinese translation [Hanyu Pinyin, traditional characters]

AP Associated Press———Meiguo lianhe tongxunshe 美國聯合通訊社

APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation———Yatai jingji hezuo 亞太經濟合作

ARATS Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait———haixia liang’an guanxi xiehui海峽兩岸關係協會,

abbrev. haixiehui 海協會

ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations———dongnanya guojia lianmeng 東南亞國家聯盟, abbrev. dong-

meng 東盟

ASEM Asia Europe Meeting———Ya Ou huiyi 亞歐會議

BFA Boao Forum for Asia———Boao Yazhou luntan 博鰲亞洲論壇

BOFT Bureau of Foreign Trade———jingjibu guoji maoyiju 經濟部國際貿易局

BRIC Brazil, Russia, India and China———Baxi, Eluosi, Yindu, Zhongguo 巴西、俄羅斯、印度、中國

BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa———Baxi, Eluosi, Yindu, Zhongguo, Nan Fei 巴西、俄羅

斯、印度、中國、南非


13

CASS Chinese Academy of Social Sciences———Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan 中國社會科學院

CCP Chinese Communist Party———Zhongguo gongchandang 中國共產黨

CCTV China Central Television———Zhongguo zhongyang dianshitai 中國中央電視台

CEC Central Election Commission———zhongyang xuanju weiyuanhui 中央選舉委員會

COMAC Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd.———Zhongguo shangyong feiji youxian zeren gongsi 中國商

用飛機有限責任公司

CPPCC Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference———Zhongguo renmin zhengzhi xieshang huiyi 中國人

民政治協商會議

CTEA Cross-strait Tourism Exchange Association———haixia liangan lüyou jiaoliu xiehui 海峽兩岸旅遊交流協

會, abbrev. hailühui 海旅會

DOH Department of Health———xingzhengyuan weishengshu 行政院衛生署

DPP Democratic Progressive Party———minjindang 民進黨 = minzhu jinbu dang 民主進步黨

ECFA Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement———liang’an jingji hezuo jiagou xieyi 兩岸經濟合作架構

協議

EU European Union———Ouzhou lianmeng 歐洲聯盟

FM Foreign Minister———waijiao buzhang 外交部長/waijiaobu buzhang 外交部部長

FSC Food Safety Commission under the PRC State Council———guowuyuan shipin anquan weiyuanhui 國務院

食品安全委員會

HKSAR Hong Kong Special Administrative Region———Xianggang tebie xingzhengqu 香港特別行政區

IFJ International Federation of Journalists———guoji xinwen gongzuozhe lianheheui 國際新聞工作者聯合會

/ guoji jizhe lianmeng 國際記者聯盟

KMT Kuomintang———Zhongguo guomindang 中國國民黨

LGBT Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Transsexual———nan tongxinglianzhe, nü tongxinglianzhe, shuangxing-

lianzhe, bianxingzhe 男同性戀者、女同性戀者、雙性戀者、變性者

LNG Liquefied Natural Gas———yihua tianran qi 液化天然氣

MAC Mainland Affairs Council———xingzhengyuan dalu weiyuanhui 行政院大陸委員會, abbrev. luweihui 陸委

會

MIIT Ministry of Industry and Information Technology———gongye han xinxihuabu 工業和信息化部

MOFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs———waijiaobu 外交部

MOJ Ministry of Justice———fawubu 法務部

NPC National People’s Congress———quanguo renmin daibiao dahui 全國人民代表大會

OIC Organization of the Islamic Conference———yisilan huiyi zuzhi 伊斯蘭會議組織

PLA People’s Liberation Army———Zhongguo renmin jiefangjun 中國人民解放軍

PM Prime Minister———zongli 總理

PRC People’s Republic of China———Zhonghua renmin gongheguo 中華人民共和國

ROC Republic of China———Zhonghua minguo 中華民國

S&ED China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue———Zhong Mei zhanlüe jingji duihua 中美戰略經濟對話

SCIO Information Office of the PRC State Council———guowuyuan xinwen bangongshi 國務院新聞辦公室

SCO Shanghai Cooperation Organization———Shanghai hezuo zuzhi 上海合作組織

SEF Straits Exchange Foundation———haixia jiaoliu jijinhui 海峽交流基金會, abbrev. haijihui 海基會

TAO Taiwan Affairs Office———guowuyuan Taiwan shiwu bangongshi 國務院台灣事務辦公室

TSTA Taiwan Strait Tourism Association———caituan faren Taiwan haixia liang’an guanguang lüyou xiehui 財團法

人台灣海峽兩岸觀光旅遊協會, abbrev. Tai lü hui 台旅會

TSU Taiwan Solidarity Union———Taiwan tuanjie lianmeng 台灣團結聯盟

UK United Kingdom———Lianhe wangguo 聯合王國

UN United Nations———lianheguo 聯合國

US United States———Meiguo 美國

USS United States’ Ship———Meiguo haijun zhanjian 美國海軍戰艦

VP Vice President———fu zongtong 副總統

WHA World Health Assembly———shijie weisheng dahui 世界衛生大會

WWII Second World War———di’erci shijie dazhan 第二次世界大戰 [File last edited/updated on Thu, Nov. 8, 2012]

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