Quake kills 67 people in

remote Chinese Qinghai

region
Chinese media say at least 67 people have died
and others are trapped under rubble in Qinghai
province after an earthquake said to be
magnitude 6.9.
The quake struck at 0749 (2349 GMT) 380km (240 miles) south-south-east of the city of
Golmud, at a depth of 10km, according to US Geological Survey data.
It appears that at least some of the deaths occurred in Qinghai's ethnic Tibetan town of
Yushu.
The quake was followed by two tremors measuring 5.3 and 5.2.
"Soldiers have been dispatched to save the people
buried in the collapsed houses," local official Huang

The homes are built with thick walls and are strong,
but if they collapsed they could hurt many people inside

Limin was quoted as saying by China's state news

agency Xinhua.

Zhuo De

"Certainly there have been people hurt," one resident

Yushu resident

told Reuters news agency.

"Rescuers are trying to pull them out. A lot of one-storey houses have collapsed. Taller
buildings have held up, but there are big cracks in them."
People from the Yushu prefecture highway department were frantically trying to dig out
colleagues trapped in a collapsed building, department official Ji Guodong told Reuters by
telephone.
Zhuo De, an ethnic Tibetan resident of Yushu, who spoke by phone from the capital of
Qinghai province, Xining, after contacting his family in Yushu, said dozens of people
might have been hurt.
"The homes are built with thick walls and are strong, but if they collapsed they could
hurt many people inside," he said.
AFP news agency notes that the remote high-altitude region is prone to earthquakes.
The region, which is home to ethnic Mongolians and Tibetan farmers and herdsmen, is
dotted with coal, tin, lead and copper mines, it adds.

6.9-magnitude earthquake strikes China

By the CNN Wire Staff
April 14, 2010 -- Updated 0344 GMT (1144 HKT)

The earthquake struck China's Qinghai province.

A rapid series of strong earthquakes hit China's Qinghai province early Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
At least 67 people were reported killed according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency. Many others were feared buried under debris after a 6.9magnitude earthquake struck at 7:49 a.m. local time (7:49 p.m. ET Tuesday), when many people were probably still at home.
A Chinese military official told Xinhua that the death toll was expected to rise given the damage to homes.
He said dispatched soldiers were setting up tents and transporting oxygen for the injured but affected roads leading to the airport could hamper relief efforts.
The epicenter was located in a remote, mountainous area about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Qamdo, Tibet. Qinghai borders the autonomous
regions of Tibet and Xingjiang and the provinces of Gansu and Sichuan.
The USGS also recorded two strong aftershocks -- of magnitudes 5.2 and 5.3 -- within half an hour of the quake.
Citing the China Earthquake Networks Center, Xinhua said the quake hit the county of Yushu, a Tibetan region of Qinghai with about 80,000 people.
It said residents near the epicenter reported casualties and collapsed buildings.
Karsum Nyima, deputy director of news at local Yushu TV, told Xinhua that most of the houses in the area were made of wood with earthen walls. He said
some had come tumbling down, including a Buddhist pagoda in a park.
In 2008, 70,000 people died when a 7.9 earthquake rocked neighboring Sichuan province, northwest of its capital, Chengdu.

CNN readers debate China-U.S. currency flap

By Kevin Voigt, CNN
April 14, 2010 -- Updated 0410 GMT (1210 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Is the lower value of Chinese currency hurting U.S. consumers and businesses?

Some readers say a higher yuan will hurt U.S. businesses and consumers

Others argue the yuan's artificially low value is giving China an unfair advantage

(CNN) -- Is the lower value of Chinese currency hurting U.S. consumers and businesses?
As U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jiantao discussed this controversial issue on the sidelines of the nuclear summit in Washington
on Tuesday, for weeks CNN readers have engaged in a spirited debate on the topic online.

Background: Unlike the U.S. dollar, whose value is determined by its trade in open markets, China has kept its currency pegged to about 7 yuan to the dollar.
Many U.S. politicians and business leaders say that level is artificially low, keeping Chinese goods and labor cheap and placing them at an unfair advantage.
Others argue that U.S. businesses and consumers are benefiting from low cost production and goods from China.
Many readers echo the sentiment of Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, who told CNN's Eunice Yoon on Tuesday that China is becoming a
scapegoat for U.S. woes.

Video: Analyst on China-U.S. trade deficit

"I do not think that China should be held accountable for the problems that are bearing down on American workers (and) American companies and the broad
U.S. economy," Roach told CNN. "These problems are problems of America's own doing and they reflect an unprecedented shortfall of American savings.
"Unless workers around the United States are willing to save more and put pressure on the government to save more, there's really no way around these
trade deficits, and politicians who promise worker that things are going to get better if they just get tough on China are not being straight with American
workers," he said.
Blogs by CNN's Yoon and Derrick McElheron on the topic have drawn more than 100 comments on the topic. Said poster Doug Renner: "The U.S.
government perennially grants China the trading status of `Most Favored Nation' while US businesses willingly import every product and many foods from
China. Yet our politicians complain that 'Beijing's policies are costing the U.S. jobs?' Clearly such blame is misplaced."
China-Google only a salvo: Currency battle is the real war
"Stephen Roach, is a trained economist, but is now head of Morgan Stanley Asia ... how likely is he to say something that Beijing wouldn't like?" asked a
reader identified as "rgg." "The bottom line is...the west is in a bind and the only reason China is not is that they didn't buy into the same financial models.
Granted they have their own financial skeletons in the closet, but they have the money and we don't."
One reader points out that China faces social repercussions for floating the value of the yuan on the market. "The bottom line is that if you increase the value
of the yuan by the amount it is estimated to be undervalued (estimated as high as 40 percent by the Peterson Institute) there would be no great Chinese
manufacturing base. They would be forced to compete on a level playing field and would lose badly.

Video: China: Opportunity or threat?

Video: Is China changing U.S. business?

"The only somewhat acceptable argument for maintaining the yuan at artificially devalued levels is to avoid the massive civil unrest that would take place
when all those workers are thrown out on the street because the products they manufacture would no longer be competitive." Added a reader identified as
'Strangewalk': "America needs to bring it's factories back home, and China has to allow a consumer driven middle class to develop."
How much more would you spend on Chinese goods?
Yoon's blog pointed out a comment by a Chinese manufacturer that an increase in yuan would be passed down to U.S. consumers, which begs the question:
Are American consumers willing to pay more for goods manufactured in China?
"An increase in the value of the yuan will have an overall negative affect on American citizens," said 'OffshoreMM." "There are more than 39 million
Americans living below the poverty line, trying to force the Chinese to increase the value of their currency will drive prices up for the poorest of the poor."
For one company owner in Sri Lanka, there are few good alternatives to Chinese materials. "We struggle with rising prices on raw materials like everybody
else. With a nearly endless number of national holidays and a less than gung-ho work ethic, Sri Lanka really struggles to compete.
"I don't like Chinese products at all, but do have to admit that the reason they have become the world's biggest economy is pure hard work. Now they are
running around the world securing oil and mineral rights everywhere they can in order to keep it all going, while Western countries prioritize human rights
issues(and so do I!). It is a difficult dilemma, indeed," he wrote.
Adds a reader who calls himself 'Craig': "All of this `I refuse to pay more' attitude is exactly what the Chinese want -- people's spending habits become
dependent on low prices that only China can provide through its effective subsidy on exports. Americans need to grow up and decide whether they are willing
to sacrifice a few things in order to compete on the world stage."

Greece bond issue clears

test of investors'
confidence
Greece has raised 1.56bn euros ($2bn; 1.3bn)
in an over-subscribed bond issue that was a key
test of investor confidence in the debt-laden
country.

Greek firemen took to the streets in protest at Greece's financial

crisis

The issue is Greece's first debt sale since Sunday's agreement by eurozone countries to
provide Athens with a financial safety net if it defaults.
However, Greece had to agree to pay a higher rate of return to investors to get the latest
bond issue away.
The yield on 12-month bonds was 4.85%, and on 6-month notes it was 4.55%.
This compares with a yield of 2.2% paid on 12-month bills, and 1.38% on 6-month
bonds, in an issue it made in January.
Greece's debt management agency had originally sought to raise 1.2bn euros from the
issue.
Ben May, an economist at Capital Economics, said the issue looked "pretty successful"
and was likely to ease some immediate concerns among investors about Greece's
financial health.
"It's a positive endorsement of the [eurozone] bail-out measures that went out over the
weekend," Mr May said. "But clearly the yields are still very high... so it does not really
change the underlying position that Greece has very tough times ahead."
Solvency challenge

It is thought that Pacific Investment Management (Pimco), the world's biggest investor in
bonds, may have shunned the issue.
Mohamed El-Erian, Pimco's chief executive, had earlier told the Reuters news agency
that the eurozone's rescue package did not address Greece's fundamental crisis.
"Markets have signalled that Greece faces both refinancing, or liquidity challenges, as
well as stock of debt, or solvency challenges," Mr El-Erian said.
"Based on what we know right now, we would not be a buyer [of the Greek bonds]. We
are very cautious toward Greece and we are in a 'wait and see' attitude and we would
like to see greater evidence of adjustment on Greece," he said.
Greece must raise about 11bn euros by the end of May to refinance maturing debt and
interest charges. Its overall 2010 borrowing need is 53bn euros.
Some analysts believe the latest bond issue went smoothly because the treasury bills
have short maturities.
However, Greece is soon to raise another 10bn euros via longer-term bills, which will test
investors' appetite for locking in their money for a longer period.
On Sunday, eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund agreed a 30bn euro
standby aid package that Greece can call upon should its financial crisis worsen.
However, legendary US investor George Soros said on Tuesday that the move was "just a
little step" and that Greece could still fall into a "debt spiral".
'Borrow freely'
The country's finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, said the government would
continue to tap the markets for money, rather than draw on the package.
"Our aim remains - and I believe we will continue to do it - to continue to freely borrow
from the markets, as we did today," he said.
"I stress that the Greek government has not requested the activation of this [aid]
mechanism, despite that fact that it is immediately available if required," he added.
But many analysts believe Greece's heavy debt burden means it will eventually be forced
to call on the emergency funds. Capital Economics' Mr May believes there is "a strong
chance" of this happening.