China promised yesterday to tighten a crackdown on product piracy -- a key source of tension with Washington -- and improve enforcement cooperation with foreign governments ahead of President Hu Jintao's (
The government shut down 17 production lines making pirated DVDs and CDs last year and six this year, said Yan Xiaohong (閻曉宏), deputy commissioner of the National Copyright Administration of China.
"We are very tough in our measures," Yan said at a news conference.
China is widely regarded as the world's top source of illegal copies of music, movies, software, designer clothes, medicines and other products. Such fake products are still widely available despite repeated government crackdowns.
US officials say unauthorized goods cost legitimate producers worldwide billions of dollars a year in lost potential sales.
They have been pressuring Beijing for stiffer penalties and to shut down factories and stores linked to counterfeits.
Hu is due to visit the White House on April 24 and Beijing has reportedly been preparing initiatives to ease trade tensions ahead of a meeting with US President George W. Bush.
Beijing wants to "strengthen cooperation with international authorities," said Zheng Shaodong (
"We hope to strike hard against international intellectual property rights infringements to maintain legal rights, and international and economic and trade orders," Zheng said.
US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez was due to arrive in Beijing late yesterday for trade talks that he said would include the status of China's anti-piracy enforcement.
Yan said that in a recent investigation of disc manufacturers Chinese authorities pulled the licenses of six companies and halted production at eight more, including one company in Beijing and another in Guangdong Province.
Other punitive measures against counterfeiters include fines and warnings, he said.
Authorities are offering rewards of up to 300,000 yuan (US$36,000) for tips on illegal production lines, Yan said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from