DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “UNITED NATIONS REJECTS ‘MEDIA SPECULATION’ THAT JUDGES RECEIVED INSTRUCTIONS TO DISMISS CASE BEFORE EXTRAORDINARY CHAMBERS IN COURTS OF CAMBODIA” plus 9 more

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

Support for the independence of the judiciary is a fundamental principle that the United Nations upholds in Cambodia as elsewhere.  The judges and prosecutors at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) must be allowed to function free from external interference by the Royal Government of Cambodia, the United Nations, donor States and civil society.

It follows that the United Nations categorically rejects media speculation that we have instructed the Co-Investigating Judges to dismiss Case 003.  It similarly follows that the United Nations will not comment on issues which remain the subject of judicial consideration, nor speculate on actions that should or should not be taken by the judges or prosecutors in any case.  As is normal practice, the United Nations will also not comment on internal United Nations administrative or staffing processes related to the ECCC.  The United Nations will ensure that the international component of the ECCC, including the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges, has sufficient resources to undertake its work.

The announcement made by the Co-Investigating Judges on 29 April 2011 that they have decided to conclude their investigation in Case 003, is an interim procedural step.  Issues related to that decision will be the subject of further consideration by the Co-Investigating Judges, the Co-Prosecutors and the Pretrial Chamber.  Any other proceedings that may be initiated by the Co-Investigating Judges will also be subject to the independent judicial process.

The Co-Investigating Judges are not under an obligation to provide reasons for their actions at this stage of the investigation in Case 003.  Consistent with the civil law system of the Kingdom of Cambodia, judicial investigations at the ECCC are not conducted in public, and all persons participating in a judicial investigation must generally maintain confidentiality.

The Co-Investigating Judges must ultimately issue a Closing Order in Case 003 which, in relation to each suspect, either sends him or her to trial, or dismisses the case against him or her.  The Closing Order must include reasons, which will appropriately be available for public scrutiny.  Speculating on the content of the Closing Order at this stage does not assist the independent judicial process.

The United Nations, working closely with donor States, will continue to strongly support the work of the ECCC.  The ECCC is currently preparing to commence the trial in Case 002 on 27 June 2011.  The accused in Case 002 are the four remaining leaders of the Khmer Rouge, including Khieu Samphan, the former Head of State; and Nuon Chea, "Brother Number Two" to Pol Pot.  Their trial will be of true international significance and deserves the ongoing, strong support of the international community.

PHNOM PENH, June 13, Kyodo - Despite a troubled economic slowdown at home, Japanese investments in Cambodia are growing, with nine companies starting businesses in the country in the first five months this year, a report said Monday.
According to investment statistics provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, by the end of May nine Japanese companies, mostly manufacturers, had Cambodian approval to invest $142 million and another 14 other companies are applying for approvals.
In 2010, only six Japanese companies applied for and got approval for investments.
Yuji Imamura, a JICA expert who is also an advisor to the Investment Environment Improvement to the Council for the Development of Cambodia, told Kyodo News that Cambodia is one of the four Asian countries attractive to Japanese investment, along with Bangladesh, Laos and Myanmar.
He said political stability, low labor costs, labor-intensive export processing and domestic market import substitution are attractive factors for Japanese investors.
Last month, Minebea Co. joined with other Japanese companies to construct a main factory in Phnom Penh with capital investment of $59 million.
When compared to investors from China and South Korea, Japanese direct investors are considered small, late comers, but are welcome particularly with their emphasis on manufacturing such as electrics, home appliances, garments, sports and medical goods and automotive parts.
Chinese and South Korean investors have mostly focused on energy, real estate and construction.
By yearend, Japanese companies are expected to invest $211 million into Cambodian operations and will employ as many as 36,000 workers, according to figures provided by JICA.
Chinese investment in Cambodia to date amounts to $7.74 billion and South Korean investment is at $3.9 billion.
Although much Japanese foreign investment in Asia has been in China, Malaysia, Thailand and other more developed countries, Imamura said Japanese manufacturers now need to find ''new locations to survive and Cambodia is one of the promising countries.''
Among Japanese manufacturers already in Cambodia are Yamaha Motor Co., Suzuki Motor Corp., Ajinomoto Co. and Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd. and assemblers such as Sony Corp., Nikon Corp., Olympus Corp., and Brother Industries Ltd. are also interested in investing in Cambodia, Imamura said.
Since the early 1990s, Japan has been the largest donor-country to Cambodia, if not the biggest direct investor.
==Kyodo

BEIJING, June 15 (Xinhua) -- The election of Taiwan's leader will not change the schedule of the seventh round of cross-Strait talks, the date of which is yet to be announced, a mainland spokesman said Wednesday.
Yang Yi, spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks at a press conference in response to a question regarding whether talks between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan will be postponed due to the election of Taiwan leader early next year.
Negotiators from both sides are mapping out details of agreements that are likely to be signed at the seventh round of talks between the two sides, Yang said.
The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), two organizations respectively authorized by the mainland and Taiwan to handle cross-Strait affairs, has held six rounds of talks.
The two organizations resumed talks in 2008 after a nine-year suspension.
During previous talks, the two sides signed a number of agreements that allowed more efficient cross-Strait travel and strengthened economic ties.

The following are China news stories moved by Xinhua News Agency as of 16:00 GMT, June 14:

TOP STORIES
*China's central bank to give more prominence to price control
BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank said Tuesday that it would give more prominence to stabilizing the overall price levels to keep the financial system secure and stable.
*China urges South China Sea issue to be resolved by directly related countries
BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday that the South China Sea issue should be resolved by directly related sovereign countries through friendly consultation and negotiation.
* China Focus: Genomics institute outpaces the world
SHENZHEN, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Many people were surprised when BGI (formerly Beijing Genomics Institute), a Chinese genomics institute, sequenced a strain of E. coli bacterium responsible for the outbreak in Germany that killed at least 18 people earlier this month.
* China Exclusive: Oldest fortification damaged due to lack of adequate protection
ZHENGZHOU, June 14 (Xinhua) -- China's oldest fortification, a 30-km-long earthen wall, was partially destroyed by a construction company's bulldozers, which has caused archeologists to warn that ancient structures remain at risk due to the lack of strong measures to ensure their protection and preservation.
* May CPI growth hits 34-month high, PPI up 6.8 pct
BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, rose 5.5 percent year-on-year in May, the highest rate in 34 months, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.

BUSINESS & FINANCE
*Harbin Pharmaceutical Group to build new plant after pollution scandal
HARBIN, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The main plant of Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, a major pharmaceutical company in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, signed a project agreement with Acheng District government of Harbin Tuesday, to jointly build a new production plant following a recent pollution scandal that erupted over its waste emissions.  
* China hikes bank's reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points
BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The central bank said on Tuesday it would raise the bank's required reserve ratio (RRR) by 50 points from June 20.

FEATURES
* China Focus: Chasing profits, tinfoil industry creates lead poisoning problem in E. China
HANGZHOU, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Yang Xingshu has been suffering from frequent headaches for years, but only after getting a blood test did he realize that they are likely caused by a high level of lead in his blood.
Working in a tinfoil processing workshop in the township of Yangxunqiao in Zhejiang Province, the 42-year-old migrant worker has spent more than ten years toiling here.

BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Dow Chemical Co., the largest U.S. chemical maker, said Tuesday that its sales in China totaled 1.04 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of this year.
The figure accounted for 42 percent of sales in the Asia-Pacific region which totaled 2.485 billion U.S. dollars and 8.5 percent of the global total in the first three months, said Peter Sykes, President of Dow Greater China, at a news briefing in Beijing.
He did not provide the year-on-year growth rate of the sales in the first quarter. The company's sales reached 4.02 billion U.S. dollars for the whole year in 2010.
He said Dow has registered an average annual growth rate of 20 percent in sales in China since 2000. However, the company's sales would likely soon slow to around 15 percent annually, he said.
China is currently the second largest market for Dow, only after the United States. Peter Sykes expected that China would exceed the United States to become the biggest market in 10 to 15 years.
He said the company's priority for this year was to build more collaborative partnerships, he said without elaboration. The company will also expand its sales network to the north and west in China, he said.
When asked whether Dow has considered listing on the upcoming international board in Shanghai, he said there was no intention at the present stage.

Sino-African relations: expert
BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State's remarks to liken China's presence in Africa as "new colonialism" aims to estrange relations between China and African countries, said a leading Chinese expert on African studies Tuesday.
The comment made by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aims to maximize the U.S. interests in Africa and ensure its interests will not be eroded, said He Wenping, director of the African Studies Office of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The "new colonialism" talk lacks historical evidence or comprehensive and powerful facts and the United States is viewing the growth of Sino-African relations through some outdated "cold war mentality," He said.
The United States is again smearing China's aid to Africa and its normal business activities there, He said.
On one hand, the United States is rebuking China over "robbing" Africa of resources, on the other hand, it is expanding investment in Africa's resources sector and importing more oil from Africa.
Sixteen percent of the United States' oil imports came from Africa in 2006. The proportion is expected to go up to 25 percent in 2015, according to the U.S. National Security Council.
Exxon Mobil Corp., for instance, has banded other investors to invest to into laying an oil transportation pipeline in Chad to facilitate oil exports to the United States. The pipeline project, of which the cost stood at 3.7 billion U.S. dollars, is so far the largest private investment in infrastructure in the African areas to the south of Sahara.
China's current oil imports from Africa, however, is less than one third of the United States' oil imports from the Africa.
It's also baseless to say China is exploiting the African market through sales of cheap goods as the low-priced goods actually provide "affordable" commodities to Africans and improved their livings, He said.
It's a fact that China's strong competitiveness in textile industry has affected the textile sectors in some African countries, but China has been imposing textile exports quota limits on itself to help some African countries restructure textile sectors.
There is no attached conditions in China's investment and aid to Africa, reflecting the country's clear stance of not interfering in African countries' civil affairs and fully respecting their independently-chosen growth paths, He said.
The cap of "new colonialism" should never be put on China, said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in his visit to seven African countries in June 2006.
"China had suffered about 110 years of colonialism since the Opium War in 1840. The Chinese people understand the pains brought about by colonialism and know colonialism should be battled against. This is one of the reasons that we have long been supporting liberation and revival of the African nations," Premier Wen said.
Hillary Clinton made the remarks on June 11 during the recording of a television program in Lusaka, capital of Zambia, on China's increased influence in Africa.
She said she was concerned that China's foreign assistance and investment practices in Africa have not always been consistent with generally accepted international norms of transparency and good governance.
"We saw that during colonial times, it is easy to come in, take out natural resources, pay off leaders and leave...And when you leave, you don't leave much behind for the people who are there. We don't want to see a new colonialism in Africa," she said.
Analysts said America has been worrying about warming Sino-African relations, believing the healthy relationship might challenge the U.S.-dominated global political and economic order.
It's not the first time for China to be criticized of "new colonialism" and such rebukes are increasingly prevailing in some western countries, especially some original colonizers of Africa.
A report by U.S. think tanks, including the RAND Corporation, the Heritage Foundation and the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations claimed China was one of the largest rivals for the United States in Africa in the future and urged for full strategies to weaken China's influence in Africa.
Sino-African trade topped 126.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2010. Africa became China's fourth largest investment destination with 1 billion U.S. dollars of investment last year.
China remitted 312 deals of debts to African countries, totaling 18.96 billion yuan (about 2.93 billion U.S. dollars) from 2000 to 2009, official statistics show.

BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The following are some Chinese cultural news items in brief:

TIBETAN DOG TO BE ON SCREEN AT ANNECY CARTOON FESTIVAL
China's first cartoon film featuring Tibetan mastiffs has been selected to compete in the 2011 Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France.
The film, co-produced by China Film Group Co. and Japanese Madhouse Studio, will vie for awards in the feature films category of the festival, which runs from June 6 to 11 in the French town of Annecy, according to the Chinese company.
Combining original Tibetan sceneries with Japanese animation style, the film, which took four years to finish, is the first Sino-Japanese animated co-production.
The cartoon tells of an adventure story of a boy and the Tibetan mastiff he saved and will hit the big screen in China on June 28.

TIBET TO BUILD LIBRARIES IN ALL MONASTERIES
Tibet will build libraries in 480 monasteries this year and in all the region's monasteries by 2015,  in a move to enrich the cultural life of monks and local residents, said a spokesman with the region's press and publication bureau on Tuesday.
The project will be assisted by the country's General Administration of Press and Publication, said the spokesman.
"Apart from Buddhist scripts, we need to read books about technology, literature and social science to keep up with the times," said Doje, a lama of the Sera Monastery in Lhasa, capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region.
The Sere Monastery is among the five monasteries that already have libraries in Tibet.
The monastery, which was built in 2007, has over 10,000 books mainly in the Tibetan language covering literature, Buddhist classics, laws and regulations, history and health care.

ONLINE GAME EXPO TO OPEN IN SHANGHAI IN JULY
ChinaJoy, which is believed to one of the world's biggest online game shows, will be held in Shanghai next month, organizers said on Tuesday.
The show, which has already been held annually in Shanghai eight times, will run from July 28 to 31 this year in the eastern business hub, said a spokesman with the expo's organizing committee.
More than 70 overseas companies and government agencies from 20 countries will attend the exhibition, also known as the China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference.
ChinaJoy is one of the world's three largest game shows. The other two are the American Electronic Entertainment Expo and Tokyo Game Show, according to Jiao Yang, director of the city's press and publication bureau.
The expo is co-organized by General Administration of Press and Publication of China and the municipal government of Shanghai.

HARBIN, June 14 (Xinhua) -- A major international trade fair kicked off Tuesday in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province bordering Russia.
The China Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair (HTF), held in the provincial capital Harbin, has attracted more than 110,000 domestic traders, and attendees from about 80 foreign countries and overseas regions, said Tan Yuhong, a spokesman with the fair.
Covering an area of 86,000 square meters, the fair features 3,000 exhibition booths, including sections for green food, the biological industry, traditional Chinese medicine, furniture, tourism and also special exhibitions for Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Russia, Tan said.
The five-day event is organized by the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Council for the Promotion of International Trade, along with the local governments of Heilongjiang and Harbin.
Since its debut in 1990, the annual event has attracted 1.6 million company representatives and officials and led to deals valued at up to 100 billion U.S. dollars, according to the official website.
As Heilongjiang is where Russia borders China, the fair is also a major platform for economic and trade exchanges between Chinese and Russian merchants. Commencing one day prior to President Hu Jintao's visit to Russia, organizers believe the fair will set a record in trade volume.
Two-way trade volume reached about 60 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, and China has become Russia's largest trade partner.
Viktor Basargin, Minister of Regional Development of Russia, said the frequent meetings between Chinese and Russian leaders have provided positive signs to boost border trade.
"I believe President Hu's visit to Russia will bring new energy for the bilateral development, including the development across border," he said.
According to the organizers, the trade volume between Heilongjiang Province and Russia jumped 35 percent year-on-year to 7.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, taking 12.5 percent of China's total.
Former Russian Ambassador to China Igor Rogachev said in a letter that the HTF helped cooperation across the two countries' border.
The fair not only demonstrated creative production modes, latest production equipment and product models, but more importantly, provided a platform for concluding contracts, seeking partners, and finding funding supports, he said.
"Such deeds will promote the investment and economic prosperity between China and Russia, strengthen our cooperative partnership and also improve the comprehensive investment environment between the two countries," he added.

BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- A new round of heavy rain has started to batter several southern regions, causing more deaths and triggering floods and landslides which had forced over 55,000 people to evacuate their homes as of late Tuesday, local authorities said.
Torrential rain began to lash Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guizhou and Anhui provinces Monday evening and Zhejiang Province Tuesday morning. The rain is forecasted to last till Friday in some regions, according to local meteorological authorities.
More than 53,000 people had been evacuated from their homes in Hubei City of Xianning, as downpours had raised the level of a local river by five meters as of 7 p.m., local authorities said.
Previous heavy rainfall had already caused widespread destruction in Xianning, leaving dozens dead and over 100 injured.
Three people were killed by lightning in Guizhou late Monday and Tuesday, where more than 2,700 were evacuated from areas at risk of flooding.
Heavy downpours and hailstorms also hit the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Monday night, killing four people and nearly 1,000 farm animals.        
Flooding and landslides triggered by an earlier two rounds of rainstorms had left 105 people dead and 63 more missing in the south over the past 10 days, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Monday.
The Wuhan Central Meteorological Observatory issued four rainstorm alerts from Monday night to Tuesday morning to get residents in Hubei to brace themselves for the torrential rain.
Twenty-four counties and cities in Hubei have received over 50 mm of rainfall over the past day and the precipitation in Gong'an and Yingcheng has reached nearly 100 mm, said Xu Shuangzhu, chief weather forecaster at the observatory.
In the already hard-hit Yueyang city in Hunan, the new round of rain further damaged the embankments of several reservoirs, and last week, flash floods and landslides caused by the largest rainstorm in 300 years killed 29 people and left 20 missing.
City authorities have ordered the repair of the damaged embankments, checks on all reservoirs for problems, and the evacuation of downstream residents who might be in danger.
In the city of Huangshan in southern Anhui, water overflowed from 35 reservoirs and exceeded the warning levels in 124 reservoirs, according to the city flood control and drought relief headquarters.
The agency has also ordered precautions and checks for potential geological disasters and the relocation of threatened residents.

NANNING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Eight people were killed and six other injured after a truck carrying flammable chemicals exploded in a parking lot Tuesday afternoon in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local authorities said.
The blast occurred at around 6:30 p.m. in the Litang Township of Binyang County when workers were unloading the truck which carried flammable chemicals including potassium chlorate and carbon powder, said a spokesman with the county government's information office.
A preliminary investigation showed that workers' carelessness may have triggered the explosion, said the spokesman.
The fire from the blast engulfed over 20 cars at the carpark, which used to be a gas station, said the spokesman.
Two people were severely wounded and four suffered slight injuries, he said.
The fire has been put out and further investigation is underway.