CHINA: China Now Leads World in Diabetes Cases

Published: March 25, 2010

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HANOI — After working overtime to catch up to the West, China now faces a new problem: the world’s biggest diabetes epidemic.

One in 10 Chinese adults already have the disease and an additional 16 percent are on the verge of developing it, according to a new study. The finding nearly equals the U.S. rate of 11 percent and surpasses other Western nations, including Germany and Canada.

The survey results, published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, found much higher rates of diabetes than previous studies, largely because of more rigorous testing measures. With 92 million diabetics, China is now home to the most cases worldwide, overtaking India.

“The change is happening very rapidly both in terms of their economy and in terms of their health effects,” said David Whiting, an epidemiologist at the International Diabetes Federation, who was not involved in the study. “The rate of increase is much faster than we’ve seen in Europe and in the U.S.”

Chronic ailments like high blood pressure and heart disease have been steadily climbing in rapidly developing countries like China, where people are moving out of farms and into cities, where they have more sedentary lifestyles.

Greater wealth has led to sweeping diet changes and increasing obesity rates, a major risk factor for Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all diabetes cases among adults.

“As people eat more high-calorie and processed foods combined with less exercise, we see an increase of diabetes patients,” said Huang Jun, a cardiovascular professor at the Jiangsu People’s Hospital in Nanjing, who did not participate in the study.

Previous studies over three decades have shown a gradual climb in China’s diabetes rates. The sharp rise in the latest study, conducted from 2007 to 2008, is largely explained by more rigorous testing methods, said the lead author, Dr. Wenying Yang from the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing.

Earlier nationwide studies relied only on one blood sugar tolerance test, while this survey of nearly 50,000 people caught many more cases by checking levels again two hours later, an approach recommended by the World Health Organization.

The study did have some limitations, sampling more women and city residents — 152 urban districts compared with 112 rural villages. Dr. Yang said she was alarmed by the findings, and the Chinese Ministry of Health has been alerted. She said there were plans to promote a national prevention strategy.

Diabetes occurs when the body is unable to regulate blood sugar. It is a major risk factor for heart disease, which is the biggest killer in China.

“I don’t think it’s unique to China, but it’s certainly a concern that the rates are high,” said Colin Bell, a chronic disease expert at the W.H.O.’s regional office in Manila. “It emphasizes the need for strong prevention and treatment programs.”

The Asia-Pacific region was highlighted in another study last year estimating that it would be home to more than 60 percent of the 380 million diabetes cases globally by 2025.

The Associated Press

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RUSSIA & US: Ripple Effect Of U.S.-Russia Nuke Pact

S. KOREA: S. Korea Ship Sinks Near Maritime Border With North

March 26, 2010

By Mark Memmott

Update at 12:55 a.m. ET. The Associated Press now reports from Seoul that:

"Military officials say a South Korean navy ship has sunk off an island not far from North Korea. An official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said early Saturday (local time) that the ship sank some four hours after it began taking on water. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, in line with department policy."

Also from Seoul, Doualy Xaykaothao reports for NPR that South Korea's president held an emergency meeting at the Blue House (South Korea's equivalent of the White House) and that there is an investigation under way into whether the ship was hit by a North Korean torpedo. It's unclear, she adds, whether the reports about a shot being fired by a South Korean vessel refer to the ship that has been sunk or to another South Korean ship in the area.

Our original post:

"A South Korean Navy ship is sinking off the west coast near (the country's) maritime border with North Korea," according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, saying it gets that news from South Korean Government officials. It adds that "officials also said South Korea fired a shot at an unidentified vessel toward the North."

Reuters says other South Korean media are reporting that the ship was "possibly ... hit by a North Korean torpedo and (that) several sailors were killed."

The Associated Press reports the ship may already have sunk. Yonhap says it has a crew of 104, and that at least 58 have been rescued.

South Korea's Cabinet is holding an emergency meeting, the news agency also says.

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THE KOREAS: S. Korea Ship Sinks In Waters Off N. Korea

03.26.10, 01:34 PM EDT

By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press 

SEOUL, South Korea -- A news report says a number of South Korean sailors died when their military ship sank off an island not far from North Korea.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency cited an unidentified naval official early Saturday as saying there were some deaths. The military says it cannot confirm the report but says 58 of the 104 crew members on board the ship that sank late Friday were safe.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Military officials say a South Korean navy ship has sunk off an island not far from North Korea.

An official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said early Saturday that the ship sank some four hours after it began taking on water. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, in line with department policy.

The official said at least 58 of the 104 crew members have been rescued. There was no immediate confirmation of casualties. A rescue operation was still under way.

The cause of the sinking was not immediately clear.

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THE KOREAS: Sunken Warship Raises Korea Tensions

The Korean Peninsula ranked high on most Davos participants' lists of the world's most dangerous flash spots. Reports today that a South Korean warship has sunk at night in part of the Yellow Sea disputed by the two Koreas is a significant raising of the risk level.

The vessel, possibly either a guided-missile-carrying frigate or a corvette (Update: it is a corvette, the Cheonan), with a crew of 104, went under following an explosion in the stern. The cause is unknown but the BBC is reporting that a torpedo was involved. South Korean media say authorities in Seoul are investigating whether it was a torpedo attack from North Korea. (Update: South Korean officials have played down early reports that the sinking may have been the result of North Korea attack, saying it is premature to ascribe a cause to the incident.)

Pyongyang has been building up its coastal defenses, particularly artillery and rocket launchers, since the end of last year. In January, it designated six zones on either side of the peninsula as naval firing zones and its guns shot hundreds of shells out to sea during military exercises, prompting South Korea to open fire on one occasion.

One interpretation of all this is that Pyongyang is trying to keep Seoul and Washington guessing over quite what level of security threat North Korea represents; this year's annual U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises earlier this month were scaled down. Pyongyang may also be looking for a bargaining chip to reestablish the six-nation nuclear talks that have stalled since North Korea pulled out, sensing that Beijing's currently tetchy relations with Washington open up an opportunity that it may be able to exploit with its unpredictability.

Another interpretation is that Pyongyang, in the throes of a long-term succession transition, needs an external distraction from the internal consequences of its disasterous currency reform last November that stoked inflation and caused supply shortages exacerbating the increasingly biting effects of U.N. sanctions imposed last June after missile and nuclear tests.

Deadly maritime exchanges between North and South Korea have occured on several occasions over the years. They are part of the tension of a game in which North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il repeatedly plays a high-risk hand. He looks now to be holding fewer cards than ever. At some point he will overplay his hand.

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CHINA & US: Sino-US tensions show no sign of easing

Zhong Shan, vice-minister of commerce, visited Washington.[ZHANG JUN / XINHUA]

Updated: 2010-03-26 06:58

By Li Xiaokun and Ding Qingfen (China Daily)

BEIJING - There are no clear signals of an easing in trade and political tensions in Sino-US relations despite the hope generated by the visits of two Chinese vice-ministers to Washington.

Vice-Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said in the US capital on Wednesday that Beijing will reform its currency regime gradually and keep the exchange rate stable.

Rejecting mounting US calls to allow the yuan to rise more quickly, Zhong said changing the exchange rate was not the way to fix a huge bilateral trade gap, and that it could upset the global economy.

"Revaluing the renminbi is not a good recipe for resolving problems," he told the US Chamber of Commerce.

"It is in nobody's interest - China's, the US' or other countries' - to see big ups in the renminbi or big downs in the dollar," Zhong said.

He asked Washington not to blame others for its own problems, "otherwise, the outcome would just be the opposite".

Zhu Min, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, also said on Thursday that Beijing will refine its exchange rate regime but declined to set a timetable.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said it was critical for China to allow its currency to rise.

"We can't force them to make that change," he said in an interview with CNN. "But it is very important that they let it start to appreciate again. And I think many of them understand that," he said.

US Senators are crafting a law that would slap import duties on Chinese goods to offset what they believe is the low value of its currency.

The sponsors of the bill, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, also want the Barack Obama administration to formally label China a currency manipulator in a semi-annual Treasury Department report due on April 15.

Referring to Vice-Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai, who was on a transit visit in Washington earlier this week, the Foreign Ministry said on its website that he received promises from high-level US officials that Washington "attaches great importance to China's stance and concerns on issues related to Taiwan and Tibet" and would "cautiously handle the sensitive issues".

Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Thursday at a regular press briefing that the visits aimed to "clarify China's positions and policies and listen to opinions from all quarters in the US" to seek a solution to the current problems.

Shi Yinhong, an expert on American studies at the Renmin University of China, said the latest developments are not a clear signal of mending ties.

"Washington should take positive steps (to show its sincerity). For instance, whether it will go ahead with the move to label China a currency manipulator in April is crucial in defining bilateral relations."

Huo Jianguo, dean of the Trade Research Institute affiliated to the Ministry of Commerce, urged Washington to tread cautiously. "The US government should be sober-minded on the issue of labeling China a currency manipulator. It should not be carried away by domestic political pressure," he said.

This year, the two countries have had spats over issues related to Taiwan, trade and human rights. Adding to the tensions was Google's decision on Tuesday to exit the Chinese mainland market.

Two other US companies appeared to have joined Google on Wednesday.

The two Internet services providers said they would halt registration of Chinese domain names because the Chinese government has begun demanding pictures and other identification documents from their customers.

Shi said the exits are individual decisions.

"Maybe some are for political reasons while some are just for business purposes," he said. He added that as long as China's economic and investment conditions remain good, foreign firms would stay.

Derek Scissors, research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told China Daily that one or two Internet companies following Google's departure could not change the whole business environment.

"In determining whether this is an issue of Internet restrictions or a broader issue, it is much more important whether different kinds of American companies - in agriculture, banking, entertainment, and so on - are also reconsidering their China business.

"Thus far, that does not seem to be the case," he said.

Ai Yang and Cheng Guangjin in Beijing,Tan Yingzi in Washington contributed to the story

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