Mandriva Linux

Years in China:	2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Centuries:	20th Century · 21st century · 22nd century
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
Years:	2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Contents 1 Events 1.1 January 1.2 February 1.3 March 1.4 April 1.5 May 1.6 June 1.7 July 1.8 August 1.9 September 1.10 October 1.11 November 1.12 December 1.13 See also 2 References

[edit] Events

[edit] January

• January 25 - China's worst snowstorm since 1954, delays traffic, and causes massive power outages in central and southern parts of the country. According to Chinese news agency Xinhua report, 133 killed by 2008 China blizzard with snowstorm during January and February.^[1]
• Republic of China legislative election, 2008

[edit] February

• East Asian Cup 2008
• Women's East Asian Cup 2008
• Edison Chen photo scandal
• The price of food continues its sharp rise, jumping by as much as 23% from January. ^[2]

[edit] March

• 2008 National People's Congress
• 2008 Tibetan unrest
• People's Republic of China presidential election, 2008
• MLB China Series
• China Open 2008 (snooker)
• Republic of China presidential election, 2008

[edit] April

• Miss Tourism Queen International 2008
• April 28 - 2008 China Railways train T195 accident
• Protests in London, Paris and San Francisco during 2008 Olympic Torch Relay.
• 2008 Demonstrations against Carrefour supermarket chain
• Tanker An Yue Jiang containing arms sold to Zimbabwe refused entry into Southern Africa.

[edit] May

• 2008 Chinese motorcycle Grand Prix
• President Hu Jintao visits Japan, meets with Yasuo Fukuda, makes speech at Waseda University.
• May 12 - The 2008 Sichuan earthquake takes place, killing over 70,000 people.
• May 20 - Ma Ying-jeou and Vincent Siew, both of the Kuomintang Party, sworn in as President and Vice President of the Republic of China.

[edit] June

• Meetings between the PRC and ROC take place, improving Cross-strait relations.
• Summer 2008 South China floods
• The Chinese government buys Mount Toromocho Copper Mine in Peru for USD$3 billion, with potentially two billion tonnes of copper ore. The deal was brokered by Chinalco, a PRC-government owned company.^[3]
• The Republic of China (Taiwan) reasserts claim to the Diaoyutai Islands. ^{[4] [5]}
• China's national soccer team is victorious over the Australian Socceroos team during the FIFA World Cup qualifier at Sydney Olympic Stadium for the first time in history. The resulting 1-Nil defeat for the Socceroos was their first home defeat in a World Cup qualifier in 27 years. ^[6]
• June 10: The 270 ton sport fishing vessel Lien Ho of Taiwan suffered a collision with a Japanese patrol vessel, Koshiki, and subsequently sank, while in the disputed territorial waters around the Diaoyutai Islands that have been claimed by Japan and Taiwan (ROC). The Taiwanese crew who were aboard the vessel claims that the larger Japanese frigate deliberately crashed into them; their assertions are backed up by recently released video footage.^[7]
• June 13: Gas leak kills six and injures 28 at Chinese fertiliser factory (Wikinews)
• June 22: Controversial journalist Lu Keng passes away at age 89.
• June 28:The 2008 Guizhou riot takes place following the alleged cover-up by authorities over the death of a teenage girl.

[edit] July

• July 1: A jobless Beijing resident Yang Jia killed six police officers in a Shanghai police station.
• Resumption of Weekend Cross-strait charters between Taiwan and Mainland China after 59 years.
• Six party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program continue in Beijing.
• July 4: Chinese Wikipedia unblocked by government (Wikinews)
• July 10: Migrant workers riot in Zhejiang province in Eastern China for three days, which originated from quarrels between workers and police. ^{[8] [9] [10]}
• July 17: The Chinese National People's Congress holds a press conference and releases mid-year financial statistics on the nation's GDP. ^[11]
• July 21 - Bomb blasts in Southern China, targeting commuter buses. ^[12]
• Typhoon Kalmaegi strikes areas in China.
• Chinese officials claim to have foiled a terrorist plot against the Shanghai Stadium ^[13].
• July 28: Typhoon Fung-wong strikes Fujian, China.

[edit] August

• August 3: The International Olympic Committee and Chinese organizers announce that all Internet restrictions have been lifted for media covering the Beijing Games.
• August 3: A total solar eclipse is visible from China.
• August 4: 2008 Xinjiang attack
• August 8: 2008 Summer Olympics
• August 26: 2008 Guangxi chemical plant explosions

[edit] September

• 2008 Summer Paralympics
• September 2: Further flooding occurs in coastal China. ^[14]
• September 5: Investigation and trial of former ROC President Chen Shui-Bian over corruption charges.^{[15] [16]}
• September 7: Hong Kong legislative election, 2008
• September 8: 2008 Shanxi mudslide
• The 2008 Chinese milk scandal, a food safety incident involving milk and infant formula which had been adulterated with melamine, broke on 9 September.^[17]
• September 20: Fuhua Mining Co. Ltd., coal mine accident (3:30 am - 1930 GMT Friday) in Hegang City, Heilongjiang, where 5 miners were killed, and 27 trapped.^[18][19]
• September 21: 2008 Shenzhen club fire
• September 27: Shenzhou 7 Zhai Zhigang first Chinese person to spacewalk

[edit] October

• 2008 Chinese Grand Prix
• October 20: Windows Genuine Advantage introduced onto Chinese language computers, causing issues for the large majority of users in China running a pirated copy of Microsoft Windows
• October 21: Zhang Mingqing (張銘清), Beijing official for the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, was attacked by Taiwan Independence activists.^{[20] [21] [22] [23]}
• October 23: Chinese dissident Hu Jia wins European Union human rights prize
• October 30: Evermore Office suite 2009 downloaded 5.3 million times since Microsoft began its anti-piracy measures with Windows Genuine Advantage.^[24][25]

[edit] November

• Miss International 2008
• 2008 Tennis Masters Cup
• November 3: Chen Yunlin 5-day visit to Taiwan
• November 7: 2008 Shenzhen anti-police riot
• November 9: 2008 Chinese economic stimulus plan
• November 14: The Chinese fishing vessel FV Tianyu No. 8 was seized by Somali pirates while fishing off the coast of Kenya.^[26][27]
• November 17: 2008 Longnan riot
• Lien Chen meets Hu Jintao at APEC Peru 2008, highest level cross-strait exchange since 1949
• November 25: Dongguan toy factory riot^[28]
• November 28: Wo Weihan executed on spying for Taiwan charges

[edit] December

• December 3: Red Flag Linux begin installation in cafe
• December 13: The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea meet in Fukuoka, Japan for a trilateral meeting promoting political ties. ^[29]
• December 14: Hong Kong acid attack injures 46 people. ^[30]
• December 17: The MV Zhenhua 4, a Chinese fishing boat owned by China Communications Construction, was hijacked by Somali pirates on the way back to Shanghai, but deterred as crews radioed for help. The 30 crew members fought for four hours after nine pirates armed with rocket launchers and heavy machine guns boarded the ship. A Malaysian warship, Sri Indera Sakti and Malaysian military helicopter arrived and fired on the pirates, who fled the scene. No crew members were injured.^[31][32] The crew used water cannons, molotov cocktails and beer bottles to defend against the pirates, whom were fully armed.^[33]

[edit] See also

• 2008 Chinese export recalls
• 2008 South China animal consumption incidents

[edit] References