China train crash due to Signal design flaw

Wen Jiabao went to the crash site to assuage public anger

Serious flaws in a signalling system caused a fatal collision on China's high-speed rail network, officials say.

Thirty-nine people died when a train ran into the back of another which had stalled on a viaduct near Wenzhou after lightning cut its power supply.

The system "failed to turn the green light into red", said An Lusheng, head of the Shanghai Railway Bureau.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who has been visiting the crash site, vowed to "severely punish" those responsible.

"The country's development is for the people, so the most important thing is people's lives," Mr Wen told reporters at the scene.

"No matter if it was a mechanical fault, a management problem, or a manufacturing problem, we must get to the bottom of this.

"If corruption was found behind this, we must handle it according to law and will not be soft."

Mr Wen earlier promised to take steps to improve safety on the high-speed rail network - one of the government's flagship projects which it hopes highlights China's development.

Six carriages derailed and four fell between 20m to 30m (65ft to 100ft) from the viaduct after Saturday night's crash, which injured nearly 200 people.

The accident came just four years after the country's first high-speed trains began operating.

Rail experts had warned against the rush to build the world's longest and fastest high-speed rail network in record time amid safety concerns.

There are allegations that corners were cut during construction because of corruption, raising questions about infrastructure across the country.

The BBC's Martin Patience in Wenzhou says it is difficult to get to the truth because of a lack of transparency and accountability.

There is a real sense that things are perhaps being built too quickly and that safety is being jeopardised in the process, our correspondent says.

'Public relations disaster'

Mr Wen's visit to the crash scene comes amid growing public outrage at the accident.

Internet users and relatives of the victims have been angered by the government's apparent unwillingness to answer questions about the crash.

This has led to accusations of government "arrogance", amid suspicions of a cover-up.

The authorities have moved quickly to stem media coverage, urging reporters to focus on "extremely moving" stories, saying the overall theme should be "great love in the face of great disaster".

Chinese media have been ordered not to question the official line on the accident, but several newspapers have published editorials criticising the railway ministry.

In an unusually scathing editorial published in both its English and Chinese versions, the state-run Global Times on Wednesday said the government's handling of the accident aftermath was a "public relations disaster".

"The relationship between the government and the public is like that of a ship and water. Water can keep the ship afloat or sink it," it said.

Some relatives of victims, who include two Americans and an Italian, have reportedly refused compensation and instead demanded to be given answers.

The accident is seen as a blow to China's hopes of selling trains abroad in a bid to become a high-tech exporter.

Shares in Chinese rail and train builders have fallen sharply since the crash.

Can China save Europe?

Greece's recently approved austerity plan might not resolve deeper questions over how the country will repay its debts beyond this summer, but it appears one of the world's biggest investors still has faith in the country and and the greater eurozone. After all, it would be too risky not to.

Earlier this week, just days before the Greek Parliament approved austerity measures amid talks of a possible default, China said it would keep investing in Europe's sovereign debt. Premier Wen Jiabao told reporters that the country actually increased the purchase of government bonds of some European countries and hadn't scaled back its euro holdings.

These acts "show our confidence in the economies of Europe and the eurozone," he said.

China's backing isn't all that surprising. It was only earlier this year when the Asian giant supported debt-ridden Spain by signing $7.3 billion in deals that included investments in everything from energy to banking to oil. And it was around this time last year that China pledged to make more than a dozen major commercial contracts for business in Greece.

The value of these purchases may very well be in flux amid debt problems that have put many investors on alert, but that's beside the point of China's voracious appetite. China has more to gain than lose by investing in Europe's future. Even as misery and uncertainty mounts in the region, the eurozone is still China's largest export market (accounting for roughly 20% of total shipments) and it's in its own interest to contain the crisis.

"They're not really concerned about short-term volatility," says Domenico Lombardi, senior fellow specializing in international monetary relations and global currencies at Brookings Institution.

Besides, as China expert Barry Naughton of the University of California in San Diego, pointed out earlier this year: The risks are relatively low since the European Union and the European Central Bank will likely swoop into the rescue if things get really bad.

Wednesday's $41 billion worth of budget cuts and asset purchases was part of a large-scale bailout launched last year to help debt-troubled Greece pay its loans. The European Union and the International Monetary Fund had required Greek lawmakers to pass the plan before releasing its next round of rescue payments.

China's foreign-exchange reserve, worth more than $3 trillion, is by far the biggest in the world and is viewed by politicians and corporate executives as a key source of capital. It's unclear just how much China has boosted its holdings of European bonds, as leaders keep the breakdown of its holdings secret. But just by saying it will invest in Europe, China indirectly calms markets and helps stabilize the euro, and in a way, sends a message to the world at large that it's a good global neighbor willing to help in times of crisis.

Longer-term, the Chinese have been looking to diversify its massive reserves away from the volatile U.S. dollar. To be sure, the euro has also seen its share of peaks and valleys throughout the crisis but the currency is still the most practical alternative to the greenback, says Lombardi, whose research has focused on the ongoing European crisis.

This surely isn't the last time we'll hear the Chinese back the eurozone. If and likely when financial instability rumbles in other parts of Europe in the coming months, we'll probably hear from the Chinese again.

Outspoken Chinese activists silent after release

Chinese authorities released prominent human rights activist Hu Jia Sunday, days after freeing renowned dissident artist Ai Weiwei.

"A sleepless night -- Hu Jia arrived at home at 2:30. He's safe and I'm very happy," Zeng Jinyan, Hu's wife, said in a Twitter post Sunday morning. "He needs to rest for a while."

Hu, 37, denounced China's human rights record in a series of articles ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was later sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for "inciting to subvert state power." Ai, the conceptual artist turned government critic, was released Wednesday on bail after authorities detained him for nearly three months for tax evasion, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The seemingly positive news, however, has been dampened by the noticeable silence of both once-outspoken activists.

While Ai declined to answer questions from reporters outside his home early this week, police Sunday guarded entrances to Hu's apartment compound and patrolled surrounding streets. Zeng, his wife, appeared unreachable via phone or the internet.

Zeng told CNN Friday that authorities started 24-hour surveillance on her several days before Hu's expected return. In an interview last December, she predicted a virtual prisoner's life for the couple in their housing complex, called Freedom City.

"Hu Jia told me that he won't change, and police told him they may put him under house arrest in that case," she said. "I'm prepared for it."

"As long as there's no democracy or the rule of law in China, our situation won't change at all."

Last year's Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, also a rights activist, was convicted of the same crime as Hu. Liu is still serving an 11-year jail term.

Activists say the Chinese government, worried about potential uprisings inspired by the Arab Spring, has been increasingly tightening its grip on freedom of expression, targeting not only political dissidents but also intellectuals and artists.

Guo Jian said he has noticed such chilling effects from his studio at the Songzhuang art village, not far from Hu's home.

The veteran artist has been working on a startling installation piece that shows the very symbol of state power being bombed and razed. In the still-untitled diorama, model warplanes hang by thin threads fly over a miniature Tiananmen Square. The heart of Beijing is dotted with bulldozers and tanks, with the iconic Tiananmen Gate and Chairman Mao's mausoleum smashed and half-destroyed.

"The police have sent someone to say, don't show your work or don't let other people know about it," he said. "They're really worried about what I'm doing."

Guo, 48, says for the first time in his 20-year career, police now visit him regularly and plainclothes agents sometimes shadow him on the streets.

Pointing to his unfinished diorama, Guo says the authorities' outdated mentality and methods -- silencing perceived dissent through intimidation and detention -- only reinforce the message in his work: the potentially explosive consequences of suppressing people's voices for too long.

While he feels heartened by the release of fellow-artist Ai and activist Hu, Guo remains concerned about the current crackdown and doesn't see it ending anytime soon.

"Even though we got someone back, the fear is there," he said.

Attorney: China frees 4 detained associates of dissident Ai Weiwei

Four detained associates of China's recently imprisoned dissident artist Ai Weiwei have been released by the Communist government, Ai's lawyer told CNN Saturday.

The attorney, Liu Xiaoyuan, didn't talk with the four associates, but he asserted that his source about their release is reliable, he told CNN.

"Some of them are still keeping their cell phone off. They've just been released, so they might still feel terrified," Liu said.

Ai was released on bail Wednesday -- apparently with conditions -- after he spent nearly three months in prison on charges of tax evasion, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Ai was not available to comment on the release of the four persons connected with his case, his attorney said.

The release of the four associates occurred Thursday and Friday, Liu said.

Wen Tao, a journalist who was taken away on April 3 -- the same day as Ai -- was released Friday night, Liu said.

Hu Mingfen, Ai's accountant, and Liu Zhenggang, the designer in Ai's studio, were released on Thursday, Liu said.

Liu said he didn't know the charges against these three associates of Ai.

The fourth associate, Zhang Jinsong, Ai's driver, was bailed out by Ai's mother on Thursday, Liu said. Zhang faces a charge of "reselling foreign exchange for profiteering," Liu said.

Beijing police have accused Ai of evading a "huge amount" of taxes, Xinhua reported in May, more than a month after he was detained.

Beijing police told state media that Ai was released on bail because of his good attitude in confessing his alleged crimes and also said he was suffering from a chronic disease. Authorities didn't elaborate.

Ai is an uncompromising, outspoken critic of Chinese policies and is renowned as a conceptual artist, particularly for designing the Bird's Nest stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics -- against which Ai later urged a boycott because he said China was using it as propaganda.

Ai has said he is willing to pay the taxes he allegedly evaded, police told Xinhua.

Investigators have also accused Ai's company of intentionally destroying accounting documents.

Observers in Beijing say it may not be coincidental that Ai's release on Wednesday took place on the eve of Premier Wen Jiabao's upcoming visit to Hungary, the United Kingdom and Germany, where Ai enjoys wide support among artists and politicians.

Ai also has accused the Chinese government of trying to silence dissidents.

He was seized April 3 while planning to board a plane to Hong Kong and later accused of economic crimes, a move that prompted international condemnation and added to criticism over China's controversial record on human rights.

Some commentators said they believe the arrests of Ai and his associates may have been launched in response to fears over the unrest that has swept the Middle East.

More than 130 activists have been detained in China since February following the government crackdown, according to Amnesty International.