Raw footage from NoCommentTV of President Hu's recent trip to Cuba as part of his ongoing whirlwind tour across Latin America. Many Chinese students and future diplomats receive their Spanish language training in Cuba. In return for a performance item put up by Chinese students singing Guantanamera, Raul Castro (brother of Fidel Castro) took centrestage and sang The East is Red《东方红》which he says he learnt in 1953. The song lauds Mao Zedong as saviour of the Chinese people and was once China's de facto national anthem during the Cultural Revolution. Castro sure has lots to sing for. Yesterday's China Daily reported that China has deferred for 10 years an unspecified trade debt Cuba accumulated in 1995, and made an additional $80 million donation toward its hospital modernisation programme. more ›

Xinhua has an interesting opinion piece about the recent unbanning on mobile phones and computers in Cuba. First, the title of the article: 从免于匮乏的自由开始 meaning "Starting with the freedom from want". The political significance of the phrase "freedom from want" comes from Franklin D. Roosevelt's State of the Union address, and comes, as we say nowadays, bundled with three other freedoms: speech and expression, religion, and fear. more ›