BEIJING, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) — The following were the top 10 events around the world in 2009 as selected by Xinhua: 1. International naval forces jointly battle Somali pirates
Piracy continued to be rampant off the Somali coast in 2009. Nearly 40 vessels were hijacked and 500 crew members onboard have been held hostage so far this year.
China sent its first escort mission to the Gulf of Aden off Somalia on Jan. 7. Its fourth mission is now part of a multinational coalition of warships patrolling the pirate-infested area.
On Nov. 6-7, naval officers from Russia, India, the European Union, Japan and the multinational Combined Maritime Forces met in Beijing to coordinate their efforts to protect ships from Somali pirates.
2. Obama takes office, leading U.S. into era of change
On Jan. 20, Democrat Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th U.S. president, thus becoming the first African American president in the country’s history.
With the banner of “changes we believe” during his presidential campaign, Obama called for “a world without nuclear weapons” in an April address in Prague, sought “a new beginning” of relations with the Muslim world in Cairo in June, and looked to strengthen ties with the Asian countries in an Asian policy speech when he visited Tokyo in November.
President Obama brought about changes to U.S. foreign policy after he unveiled new Iraq and Afghanistan strategies, revised plans for a missile defense shield in Europe, and stressed his focus on Asia, especially on East Asia.
3. Six-party talks deadlocked after DPRK nuclear test
On Jan. 30, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced it was scrapping all agreements with South Korea preventing political and military confrontation between the two sides.
On April 14, the DPRK quit the six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula in protest of a UN condemnation on its launch of a satellite.
On June 12, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution that allowed wider sanctions against the DPRK after Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test in May and fired several ballistic missiles in June.
In a letter to the president of the UN Security Council, the DPRK said “reprocessing of spent fuel rods was at its final phase” at the end of August.
When meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Oct. 5., top DPRK leader Kim Jong Il said his country was willing to attend multilateral talks, including the six-party talks, based on progress at the DPRK-U.S. talks.
4. U.S.-Russian satellite collision calls for better space traffic management
On Feb. 10, a privately owned U.S. communications satellite collided with a defunct Russian satellite about 790 km over Russia’s Siberia, spewing a pair of massive debris clouds and sparking fears that the debris might threaten other spacecraft.
The collision between the U.S. and Russian satellites, the first “car crash” in outer space, highlighted an urgent need to better manage increasingly dense space traffic.
The U.S. satellite was owned by the Iridium satellite company, which operates a constellation of 66 low Earth orbiting satellites that provide global mobile voice and data communications.
The Russian satellite Cosmos 2251 launched in 1993 was presumed non-operational.
5. China-U.S. relations redefined
On April 1, Chinese President Hu Jintao met with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G-20) summit on the financial crisis in London.
They agreed to build a positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship for the 21st century and establish the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogues mechanism to deepen bilateral cooperation.
On July 27-28, the first round of the strategic and economic dialogues ended in Washington, with the two countries pledging to intensify bilateral ties and expand cooperation in economic and financial sectors as well as on major international and regional issues.
Hu made a five-point proposal on promoting China-U.S. relations while meeting with Obama in Beijing on Nov. 17.
6. Countries begin mass vaccination in fight against A/H1N1 flu
On June 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the A/H1N1 influenza alert to the highest Level 6, formally declaring that the outbreak had developed into a global pandemic.
On Sept. 7, China’s State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) approved the release of the initial batch of the A/H1N1 vaccine, making the country the first in the world to be ready with a vaccine against the virus.
Shortly afterward, a number of countries launched mass vaccination programs against A/H1N1 flu after Australia, Hungary and the United States approved the vaccines.
At least 11,516 people worldwide have been killed by A/H1N1 influenza since the new flu virus was first identified in April, the WHO said in a report on Dec. 20.
The virus remains active in regions across Europe and Asia, but the speed of its spread has eased, the report said.
7. Democratic Party wins landslide in Japan’s general election
On Aug. 30, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won the lower house election by a landslide, sweeping the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) out of almost unbroken power since 1955.
After the DPJ’s victory, Japan seemed to be on the road to a two-party system.
The DPJ formed a tripartite coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the People’s New Party (PNP) on Sept. 16. The DPJ-led government decided to abolish the top bureaucrats’ meetings so that it could put politicians in charge of decision-making.
In diplomacy, while maintaining Japan’s long-standing alliance with the United States, the new government sought to create a “relationship of equals.”
By urging the creation of an “East Asian Community,” Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama also wanted to forge stronger ties with neighboring Asian countries.
8. World economy slowly emerging from crisis
The world economy plunged into a severe recession triggered by the global financial crisis in September 2008. The recession dragged down the economic growth of the United States, the euro zone and Japan as well as the world’s emerging economies.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected in an October report that global output would contract 1.1 percent in 2009, the first time since World War II.
The Group of 20 (G-20) governments launched major fiscal stimulus programs to foster global economic recovery after agreeing to reform international financial institutions and tighten financial regulations at summits in London and Pittsburgh.
Through close global cooperation, the international financial market has been stabilized and major Western economies have shown clear signs of recovery in the second half of this year. The IMF predicts the world economic growth in 2010 will reach 3.1 percent.
9. Start of Lisbon Treaty opens new era for EU
On Nov. 19, Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy was chosen as the first full-time EU president and British EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton as foreign policy chief of the 27-nation bloc at a special EU summit.
On Dec. 1, the Treaty of Lisbon approved by all 27 EU members came into force, stating the EU is “heading into a new era.”
The treaty features new rules to accelerate decision-making so that the EU can respond more swiftly to global issues such as defense, energy security, climate change and migration.
The Lisbon Treaty is a simplified version of a constitution treaty that was approved by EU leaders in 2004 but was aborted due to French and Dutch voters’ rejection in 2005.
10. Copenhagen meeting ends with non-binding climate accord
Frequent extreme weather events in 2009 such as tropical cyclones and flooding aroused concerns by the international community. Some 15,000 representatives from 190 countries, including 100 heads of states or governments, gathered in Copenhagen for the UN Climate Conference on Dec. 7.
The participants were expected to renew emissions reduction targets after the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
After 13 days of hectic negotiations,the meeting ended with a legally non-binding Copenhagen Accord. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Copenhagen talks took “a significant step forward” in committing countries to responding to climate change.
