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Alex Salmond is the First Minister of the Scottish Government in Edinburgh, Scotland’s equivalent of the Prime Minister. He is proud to be the first member of the Scottish National Party to hold the post after his party won the 2007 elections to the Scottish Parliament.

The First Minister is currently in China on an official visit, the first by a senior Scottish politician since his predecessor Jack McConnell sported the kilt here in Shanghai in 2006. On Tuesday evening in the Westin Hotel Mr Salmond welcomed several hundred guests to a reception on behalf of Scotland’s best-known export product, Scotch Whisky.

“Scotland is known the world over as the home of whisky, and has been producing this iconic quality product for hundreds of years,” said the First Minister. “The true international appeal of whisky has never been in doubt. Besides the appeal of our national drink,” he added, “the Scottish economy also offers attractive opportunities for Chinese businesses and we look forward to continuing to deepen and strengthen our connections with this wonderful country.”

Scotch Whisky is one of the great worldwide marketing success stories of the past two decades, in particular the top of the range Scotch Malt Whiskies. The Scotch Whisky Producers have succeeded in placing their product at the very peak of the luxury drinks market, and it has made huge inroads into what was formerly the preserve of French Cognac - indeed France itself is now the second-biggest export market after the USA. From a situation where only around half a dozen brands were available in Scotland in the early 1970s, there are now hundreds of different brands available in a range of ages and finishes.

A decent acquaintanceship with Scotch Malt Whisky has become an essential prerequisite for any world citizen who wishes to project an image of sophistication. Over 40 different whiskies were available for tasting at the reception, at which a special bilingual introduction to whisky production and whisky appreciation was given by Charles Soong of the Edrington Group, owners of two of the best-known brands in the market - The Famous Grouse Blended Whisky and The Macallan range of malts.

The SNP government is keen to project a progressive image of Scotland that blends the contemporary and the traditional, and it was very fitting that Mr Salmond should be piped into the reception by a lady piper, Zoey Maciver, who works in Beijing and regularly appears at events in the city.

Scotland is keen, too, to emphasise her cosmopolitan historical roots, and the guests were subsequently entertained by Celtic Harpist Katie Targett Adams, who also lives and works in Beijing, and speaks fluent Chinese. Katie sang a classic Teresa Teng ballad, Yue liang dai biao wo de xin, followed by one of the greatest love songs of Scotland’s finest poet, Robert Burns: My love is like a red, red, rose.

Also on the agenda was one of Scotland’s other well-known exports, the game of golf. The First Minister drew laughter from the audience by graciously acknowledging that China too lays claim to having invented the sport - a claim that is backed up by contemporary paintings dating back almost a thousand years to the Yuan and Song dynasties - although it seems to have been a game for ladies only at the time!

Education and high-tech manufacturing are also a focus for the visit. Education Minister Fiona Hyslop is also part of the delegation, while the First Minister was particularly keen to emphasise the potential of new clean energy sources as a source of potential partnerships between Scotland and China.

“Scotland has a coastline of 11,000 kilometers, while China’s coastline extends to 17,000 kilometers,” said Mr Salmond. “The two countries share a lot in common. Power is the future, and we hope to encourage joint developments in offshore wind, wave, and tidal generation.”

Scotland has a wealth of resource in high-tech and specialist manufacturing. Alan Henderson, managing director of Gas Sensing Solutions, a Cumbernauld Company, seized the opportunity for a photo-shoot with the First Minister to highlight the company’s new Carbon Dioxide Sensor, a device no bigger than two coins.

We have a strong commitment to China and I have been working with the Chinese for twelve years,” said his fellow director Dr Des Gibson. “We have a host of interests here - for example the automotive industry has significant potential for our sensor.”

While Mr Henderson will continue with the delegation on its trip to Beijing to visit customers there, Dr Gibson will be heading further north to Changchun, the center of China’s automotive industry. In having had the foresight to extend its ambitions beyond the obvious targets of Beijing, Shanghai, and the Pearl River Delta, Gas Sensing Solutions has understood the value of being a trend-setter rather than a follower. As such it serves as a perfect role model for other ambitious and enterprising Scottish companies.

As one of America’s most famous cheerleading troupes performed at a park in downtown Shanghai on Friday morning, puzzled bystanders were more likely to associate it with the city’s new flagship Barbie store than flourishing Sino-U.S. ties.

Waving pompoms and gyrating in blue and white costumes and replete with white cowboy boots, the official dance troupe of the Dallas Cowboys (a National Football League team) practiced tai chi with elderly Chinese, and swapped dancing tips with hua-gu (flower drum) dancers.

“We’re hoping to mix our cultures a little bit,” said Meagan Sharp, 20. “We’re going to give them our pompoms and let them play around and see what they can take from us, and maybe try to add our power and punch to their gracefulness.”

The girls, who go by the moniker America’s Sweethearts, are as famous as it gets in cheerleading circles. They have at least two movies named after them - the first starring Jane Seymour in 1979 - as well as a recent reality TV show called “Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders: Making the Team”.

While their forebears performed for the U.S. troops in South Korea to celebrate Christmas in 1979, the troupe had never visited China - until American Airlines (AA) flew them over to celebrate its third anniversary in China.

The aim of the weeklong jaunt, which ends on Saturday, is to break down cultural and other barriers using sports and entertainment as a hammer, said Victor Lee, AA’s Greater China regional director.

“It’s good to get people from our home base in Dallas to mix with people here,” he said. “On a broader level, all kinds of sports can be without borders, and we want to show how everyone can participate and enjoy them, even if they cannot understand or play them.”

Similar to Major League Baseball’s historic China debut a year ago - when the San Diego Padres played a two-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Beijing - the emphasis was on fun and cultural integration.

Lee said the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC) were made for Shanghai, if not made in Shanghai.

“They are full of passion, enthusiasm and energy, and Shanghai has that kind of character in China. It’s a booming city looking to the future, and the people are very receptive to this kind of cultural impact,” he said.

Three-year veteran American Sweetheart Tobie Percival, who put China on her to-do list after watching last year’s Beijing Olympic Games, was shocked at the sight of metropolitan Shanghai.

“I wasn’t expecting all the skyscrapers,” she said. “I was thinking more like this park, kind of more greenery and trees, that kind of thing. But no matter which direction you look in, there’s a high rise.”

Whitney Isleib, 21, said she could see cheerleading taking off here in a big way as China starts to integrate U.S. trends with its own.

“I definitely think it could get incorporated into Chinese sports. I think the Chinese would love to learn cheerleading. I mean, I saw their kicks. They’re getting pretty high.”

“We’ll definitely have some competition in the future.”

China sent its first modern cheerleading squads to an Olympics when it played host in August. It is also starting to branch out from the traditional State-led sports system by embracing the U.S. college sports model, a move being pioneered by Beijing’s Tsinghua University.

Percival said the squad would be taking home more than just the cuddly blue Shanghai Expo 2010 mascots they got during a gift exchange with the local drum dancers, some of whom were in their late 60s.

“We’ll try to incorporate as much of what they do as we can. It’s definitely amazing to blend different cultures and traditions into what we do, because we like to be diverse and include everybody,” she said.

The DCC’s maiden appearance in China was, to all intents and purposes, an unqualified success.

“This is quite different from Chinese culture,” said Fan Guangfa, a middle-aged Chinese man who climbed up a lamppost to get a better view. “But I wish they would come here more often.”

Some things got lost in translation, but the message of cultural exchange, however garbled, ultimately made its way to the masses.

“Wow,” said one man from Xi’an, Shaanxi province, who was carrying his grandson on his shoulders. “American Airlines’ stewardesses are really stunning, aren’t they?”

When the toddler grows up, the difference between the two will no doubt be much clearer.

The Group of Eight (G8) environment ministers agreed on Friday to a series of measures on climate change, biodiversity, and the “green economy” at their final meeting in the Sicilian city of Siracusa, paving the way for approval by leaders at the annual G8 summit in July.

Italian Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo, who hosted the meeting, said she was “extremely satisfied” with the outcome of the three-day meeting from Wednesday to Friday.

“We have defined in a clear and frank manner the principles on which the heads of state will have to spend time at July’s G8 (summit),” she said.

Prestigiacomo said ministers had agreed on the need for “urgentactions” on climate change and had set out five issues to be thrashed out by G8 leaders: short and mid-term targets, long-term targets, comparison of efforts between countries, financing and international governance.

The meeting was designed to forge consensus for a global deal on climate change in the post-Kyoto era.

At the gathering, environment ministers from leading industrialized and developing nations discussed the issue of low-carbon technology, strategies against climate change, and how the fight against global warming can help revive the global economy. On Friday, the ministers signed the “Siracusa Charter” intended to slow the rate of species loss.

Prestigiacomo said the ministers were “convinced” of the need to persuade heads of state to take urgent action to safeguard biodiversity, and had agreed there was a “need to redefine post-2010 biodiversity objectives immediately.”

The meeting’s final outcome document also included points on the “green economy,” which Prestigiacomo described as “a new sector that can open spaces on the market and create jobs.”

Regarding greenhouse gas emission, industrialized and emerging economies must reach an agreement on the issue and forge an alliance on the use of green technologies, she said.

“Each single country must contribute to the reduction of gas emissions and a global deal is possible only if there is a general agreement,” Prestigiacomo said.

The meeting brought together countries responsible for more than 40 percent of the world’s carbon gas emissions. The G8 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, South Korea, Australia and Egypt were also invited.

The final document on Friday will be forwarded to the G8 summit to be hosted by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in July. The results of the Siracusa forum also paves the way for the United Nations meeting in Copenhagen in December, which aims at sealing a global deal to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

At the Siracusa meeting, great attention was also given to the role of the United States after President Barack Obama’s new environmental approach raised hopes for reaching a global deal against climate change.

Washington has acknowledged the need for a new CO2 emission regulation scheme. Next week a larger climate meeting will take place in Washington, where 17 nations will take part.

Stefano Pogutz, environmental management professor at Bocconi University in Milan, hopes that the “new Obama administration will push for a global climate deal.”

“The United States should become the driver of a post-Kyoto era,” he said. “Barack Obama’s recent agreement with Mexico on renewable energies sets the right trend and there are high expectations for the international climate change summit in Washington.”

Carlo Andrea Bollino, economics professor at Rome’s LUISS University, said that “Obama’s new strategic vision is the real novelty of the Siracusa meeting. He promised that the United States will never again hinder global climate agreements like Kyoto and this is a big step forward.”

Cooperation between Chinese and Latin American media is an important part of bilateral relations between the two sides, said China’s top publicity official here Monday.

Liu Yunshan, head of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) Central Committee, made the remark during a meeting with media from nine Latin American countries held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Liu expressed a wish to strengthen cooperation between Chinese and Latin American media, saying it will have a profound influence on relations between the two sides.

Liu said maintaining and developing normal relations between China and all Latin American countries are in the common interests of both sides and in conformity with historical trends.

During the meeting, Lazaro Barrero Medina, president of the Granma newspaper of Cuba, recognized the achievements China has made in its 30 years of reform and opening-up to the outside world.

He said the delegation of Latin American media is willing to witness the new face of social and economic development in China.

The delegation is here to discuss ways to expand media cooperation with relevant Chinese authorities.

Latin American media members are visiting China at the invitation of the Information Office of the State Council.

The delegation consists of people from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.

Enhanced mutual understanding and trust is needed for the world to have a more objective view and knowledge of China, Wang Chen, minister of the State Council Information Office, said Monday.

To achieve this, the channel for mutual communication between China and the international community should increasingly be expanded, he said.

In a speech to the Third World Forum on China Studies, which started in Shanghai yesterday, Wang, an honorary chairman of the event’s organizing committee, said China’s future and fate “is increasingly linked with the world’s future.

“As indicated at the recently concluded Beijing Olympics, China’s development and the world’s prosperity rely on each other,” he said.

Enhanced understanding and mutual trust, unbiased media reporting and expanded personnel exchanges will help the world understand the real China, Wang said.

The forum, jointly organized by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and the Shanghai municipal information office, provides domestic and overseas scholars a new platform to study developing trends in China, he said.

With the country’s rapid development in recent years, China studies, which originated from Sinology, have expanded to include economics, politics, education, social and military affairs and foreign policy, rather than just focusing on literature, history, philosophy and archaeology.

The forums discuss the global significance of China’s development and its past, present and future with the aim of achieving peaceful coexistence and mutually beneficial relationships.

More than 100 scholars from overseas and 200 from various provinces of China are attending this year’s forum entitled: “Common Challenges, Common Efforts: Working”.

“It represents a great opportunity to exchange ideas in a wide variety of panel discussions and to familiarize ourselves with each other,” David Shambaugh, professor and director of George Washington University’s China Policy Program in the United States, said.

“This forum not only affords the opportunity for those of us from outside China to meet each other, but also for us to interact with our Chinese colleagues.

“Some of the best brains and leading experts in many fields in China are in attendance, and it offers a great opportunity to listen, learn and get to know each other,” he said.

A consignment of cholera drugs and equipment worth nearly 4.7 million U.S. dollars from World Vision-Canada has arrived in Zimbabwe, as the outside world intensified efforts to help stem the outbreak, New Ziana reported on Thursday.
The consignment consists of oral re-hydration salts, aqua tablets, pediatric intravenous fluids, body bags and generators, among others. United Nations agencies said cholera has killed over 2,200 people and infected more than 40,000 in the Southern African country, where the health and sanitation systems have collapsed due to an economic crisis.

Speaking soon after delivery of the goods at Harare International Airport on Wednesday, World Vision cholera manager Wilfred Sikukula said the drugs and equipment would benefit at least two million people over a period of three months in 29 districts across the country.

He said the target population were children who are the most vulnerable. “It could not have been done this quickly without the help of the Canadian International Development Agency in partnership with World Vision-Canada. We really want to appreciate the work being done by our partners in assisting to combat the outbreak in Zimbabwe,” Sikukula said.

Meanwhile, a fresh cholera outbreak has hit the mining town of Mashava in Masvingo Province amid reports that the disease had claimed nine more lives in the province over the past seven days, bringing the provincial death toll to 110 since the outbreak began in August.

New reports of cholera were reported at Bossmine near King Mine in Mashava on Wednesday and health officials were busy deploying teams to raise awareness in the affected districts.

Masvingo provincial health promotion officer Kenneth Kasima confirmed the nine fatalities, but said the situation was under control. He said the hardest hit district was Bikita with Mashava recording a fresh outbreak of the deadly disease.

The financial crisis of the last few months and the ensuing economic downturn are putting enormous strains on the once booming ocean shipping industry.

Benefiting from the past several years of expanding shipping volumes and building ever-larger ships to meet increasing demand to move containers, the shipping industry is now starting to seize up as the demand substantially weakens.

As a result, major container shippers, bulk operators and port authorities in China are suddenly suffering badly as the slumping export sector passes on the impact of slumping worldwide demand.

Shanghai, one of the world’s busiest ports, has cut its container traffic target for the year by 5 percent, blaming this on the global financial crisis and an economic slowdown.

With a container volume of 26.15 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last year on the back of over 20 percent growth, Shanghai surpassed Hong Kong for the first time in 2007 to become the world’s No 2 container port, second only to Singapore.

However, such phenomenal growth has been tempered by the ongoing global economic recession. Total container throughput in Shanghai is expected to reach 28.5 million TEUs, less than its earlier target of 30 million TEUs. The port attributed the slowdown to the drop in export volumes and sluggish domestic demand, according to Chen Xiyuan, president of Shanghai International Port Group Co (SIPG), operator of China’s busiest container port.

Chen said container exports to the US, which account for 20 percent of the city’s total export volume, have slid 7.8 percent in the first nine months of this year.

In addition, shipping fees have been dropping like a stone, Chen said. The shipping price from Shanghai to Europe, for example, has fallen from $1,000 to $200 per container since the beginning of this year.

With the Baltic Dry Index (BDI), a measure of commodity-shipping rates, tumbling 90 percent off its May peak, many shipping companies in China are reportedly keeping their ships idle, because the current prices can barely cover their costs.

The situation is just as grim at shipyards. As slowing economic growth cuts demand for steel, coal and iron ore, demand for ships is also falling. According to shipbrokers Clarkson, global demand for container ships has fallen by nearly 50 percent this year.

China is among the hardest hit countries. According to a recent report from China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC), Chinese shipyards experienced a 34 percent drop in new ship orders in the first nine months of this year, as compared to the global average of 27 percent.

This trend is expected to continue as global trade growth is projected to continue its downward spiral. In its recent forecast, the International Monetary Fund projected that world trade growth would slow to 4.9 percent this year and 4.1 percent next year, due to reduced demand for imports as a result of the overall weakness of the global economy. The volume of trade growth could begin to contract for the first time since 2002, industry experts said.

On the other hand, China’s domestic demand is also softening, given that the global economic recession is extending its tentacles into many industrial sectors, which has added to the woes of ship operators. China’s steel and real estate sectors, in particular, have registered a significant slowdown. Major steel manufacturers in China announced 20 percent cut in production on sluggish market demand and plunging prices.

However, some are more optimistic regarding the industry’s future prospects. Liu Zuoliang, chairman of Shanghai Tongsheng Investment Group, said with the completion of Yangshan Deepwater Port this December, Shanghai is well on track to realize its ambition of becoming an international shipping hub. The deepwater port is believed crucial for expanding the city’s container handling capacity.

Third-phase expansion of the deepwater port is expected to wrap up and it will open to ships and traffic by mid-December, bringing the port’s annual handling capacity to 12 to 15 million TEUs with 16 berths in all, project developers said.

Meanwhile, construction of the port’s western section will start next year and is slated for completion with 10 to 12 berths by 2013.

While Yangshan Port has also experienced some slowdown, from the projected 9 million to a little over 8 million TEUs in throughput this year, Liu still expected the port to be highly competitive given its international-standard hardware and services. The outlook remains upbeat because Yangshan Port has been operating well above its designed capacity, Liu said.

“It is recognized internationally that ports operating at 70 percent of their designed capacity are comparatively healthier, so even with the slowdown setting in, we believe the container volume at Yangshan Port can be maintained at a proper level.”

Thomas Beatie — the transgender “pregnant man” — welcomed his second child, a healthy baby boy, Tuesday morning, according to ABC’s 20/20.

It was a “natural childbirth,” 20/20 reports.

Beatie and his wife Nancy have not yet decided on the boy’s name.

Beatie’s wife will be breastfeeding their son, as she did with their daughter, Susan, who was born last June, according to 20/20.

Beatie announced last November that he was expecting his second child, telling Barbara Walters that he did not go back on the male hormone testosterone after his daughter was born so he could have another baby.

“I feel good,” Beatie said at the time.

Can you guess whose baby bump this is?

Born a woman named Tracy, Beatie had his breasts surgically removed and legally changed his gender from female to male, he first revealed on The Oprah Winfrey Show last year.

Although he took hormones and lived as a man, he said he kept his female sex organs in hopes to get pregnant one day.

He said his pregnancy was a “human desire” and that as a person he has “the right to have my own biological child.”

Beatie said being pregnant did not make him feel more feminine.

“It doesn’t make me want to go and shave my legs or something,” he told Winfrey. “I’m a man, I just happen to be a pregnant man.”

China has witnessed a decline of 44 percent in new shipping orders on a yearly basis during the January-November period, compared with a fall of 37 percent worldwide, and analysts predict a continuation in the downward trend over the next two years given the sluggish shipping industry around the globe.

According to a report by shipping research company Clarkson Research Studies, in the past 11 months China has won ship building orders with a dead weight of 54.26 million tons. South Korea recorded 65.97 million tons, while Japan registered only 17.92 million tons.

The sharp decrease in China is attributed partly to the slackened shipping industry worldwide and partly to the category of ships the nation specializes in building. Chinese ship manufacturing companies excel at producing bulk freighters but demand for this type has fallen significantly in the last year.

Analysts said the global shipping sector has entered into crisis but that the ship manufacturing industry will face even harder times in years to come.

The report also shows that China, South Korea and Japan are the top three ship manufacturing nations worldwide, whose ship manufacturing in 2007 accounted for 23, 33 and 28 percent respectively of the worldwide total.

German shoppers looking for the perfect Christmas tree may be disapppointed, as growers say a shortage in exporter Denmark means demand is outstripping supply.

Despite the recession, consumers say they are more concerned with finding the perfect tree than worrying about the price. Joanna Partridge reports

SCRIPT:

Shopping for a Christmas tree - and decorating it - is a vital part of preparations for the festive season for many families.

But any Germans still hoping to buy a special big tree for their home may be disappointed.

The Nordmann fir is one of the most popular species.

Denmark is one of the biggest producers - exporting millions of trees each year to countries like Germany, France and Britain.

But Peter Uehre from a German Christmas tree school says a shortage in Denmark means there aren’t enough big trees available to meet demand, a trend likely to continue for another few years:

SOUNDBITE: Peter Uehre, Test supervisor at Christmas tree nursery, saying (German):

“There are subsidies for agricultural land but there weren’t any subsidies for land used to grow Christmas trees. So the stock was felled and cleared away, so people could get these subsidies, and at the moment there aren’t enough young trees. So I think supply is quite tight for the bigger, up to two-metre high trees.

Tree producers in Denmark are planting more trees, but a Nordmann fir needs ten years to grow and Uehre expects the price to rise again in the meantime.

Here at this Christmas tree store in Berlin, the Nordmann fir is also the customers’ favourite.

And despite the financial crisis, these shoppers are more concerned with finding the perfect tree than the price:

SOUNDBITE: No name given, Customer, saying (German):

“We bought the most suitable tree, which is cheaper than the one we really liked. But the one we really liked was too big.”

SOUNDBITE: Mike Krause, Customer, saying (German):

“I think this would be the wrong place to save money. Maybe it’s better not to buy so many tasty treats - plus your figure will thank you for it.”

And even in the middle of a recession, it seems tradition prevails - and consumers are still prepared to spend their money on a tree to bring the festive season into their home.