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KLMNO THE WORLD


Iraqiworshipers, troops killed in


church takeover DEATH TOLL COULD REACH 21


Attackers wanted to free prisoners, officials say


BY ERNESTO LONDOÑO AND AZIZ ALWAN


baghdad — At least seven Iraqi Christian worshipers and seven Iraqi security forces were killed Sunday night after commandos stormed a church in Baghdad where a band of suicide bombers had been holding parishioners hostage, Iraqi and U.S. military officials said. As Iraqi troops stormed the


CHINA PHOTOS VIA GETTY IMAGES Luo Jingjing, left, and Jin Zhixun at their store in Yiwu, China. One section of Yiwu has so many such shops it’s called “Christmas Village.”


Plastic Santas, currency pressures AsU.S. pushes issue, China’s smallmanufacturers say yuan’s appreciation already hurts


BY KEITH B. RICHBURG


yiwu, china — Christmas these days comesmostlyMade inChina. But the producers of those plastic Santas,artificial treesandbrightly paintedbulbs are fretting thishol- iday season over falling profits — and worried that next year could bring evenworse tidings. The concern, they say, is the


exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Chinese currency, the renminbi, commonly called the yuan. Since mid-June, when China, in response to U.S. and international pressure, an- nounceditwouldallowits curren- cy to float within a narrow band, the renminbi has appreciated roughly 2.5 percent in value against thedollar. That amount is far too little, say


many American critics, including economists and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress who are pushing for a far greater appreciation — somewhere be- tween 25 and 40 percent — and whowant to use the threat ofU.S. trade sanctions to get the Chinese government’s attention. But the small-scale manufac-


turers and wholesalers who bring Christmas to U.S. department stores and shoppingmalls say the currency has already shifted too much. And their concerns are at theheart ofBeijing’s reluctance to takemoredramatic action. “If the renminbi keeps appreci-


ating, our prices have no more roomto drop,” said CaiQin Liang, 38, who has been making Christ- mas ornaments and handicrafts formore thanadecade. It is small manufacturers such


as these that the Chinese govern- ment says it is worried about as it resists calls for a larger andmore rapid appreciation of the curren- cy.Officials inBeijinghave consis-


tently said that any reform of the yuan must be gradual to avoid widespread disruption — mean- ing they fear small-scale produc- ersmight beput out of business.


Backing inBeijing These manufacturers have a


powerful ally in the Ministry of Commerce, which represents their interests inside the central government. Ithas constantly and publicly taken a harder line in arguing that the value of the ren- minbi is just right, as opposed to the Central Bank, which has pushedfor anappreciation. To help make their case in the


United States, Chinese leaders and economists have alsowarned thatU.S. consumers couldsuffer if Chinesemanufacturingplantsare forcedout of business. Cai, also vice chair of the local


Christmas-accessories merchants association, agreed. “The renmin- bi appreciation is a double-edged sword,” he said. “It won’t just af- fect theChinesemanufacturers. It will also affect the customers, more importantly. They’ll have to paymore for the same stuff.” In theUnited States, the debate


is over whether China manipu- lates its currency, buying dollars to keep the yuan artificially low andthevolumeofChineseexports high — in the process increasing its trade imbalancewith theUnit- ed States andmaking it harder for theU.S. topull out of recession. But here in Yiwu, a thriving


tradecityofabout2millionpeople in Zhejiang province near China’s east coast, the view looks far dif- ferent. Unlike Guangdong prov- ince in the south,which has large- ly shifted to producing higher- end, higher-tech products such as cellphones, laptops and iPads, Yiwu has emerged as the center of China’s small-scale, low-endman-


ufacturing — socks, zippers, bat- teries,plastic baby toys. One section of the city, spread


over several square blocks, is known as “Christmas Village,” stacked with some 260 look-alike shops offering all the accoutre- ments of modern-day American Christmas—the plastic snowmen and reindeer for the front lawn, stockings for the chimneys and brightly painted ornaments for the trees. The red suit with white fur trim worn by most suburban mall Santas probably came from one of these shops inYiwu. But unlike with a laptop or an


iPad, the profitmargin on a Santa suit or a Christmas tree ornament is simplynot that big. “The price is not very high, so


wemakeupfor it inquantity,” said GongYueQuan, 41,whose compa- ny makes and sells small, do-it- yourself toy parts such as tiny coloredpompoms andpipe-clean- er stems. He said it now costs about 4.5 renminbi (about 68 cents) tomake a bag of pompoms thatmight sell intheUnitedStates for as little as$5. “It’s impossible to keep drop- ping theprice,”Gong said.


A lot like Christmas October is normally the time of


year when Christmas orders are shipped to their overseas destina- tions, and on a recent visit Yiwu was bustling with workers pack- ing and stacking boxes. About 80 to 85 percent of these Christmas goods are for export, since Christ- mas is not widely recognized or celebratedinChina—except forat the big-city hotels, restaurants andbars that cater to foreigners. This is also the time when the


manufacturers should begin tak- ing orders for Christmas 2011. But there is an uncertainty, they said; without knowing what the ex-


change rate will be, they are hesi- tant to take anyneworders. Sun Lijian, an economist with


Fudan University in Shanghai, saidhethinks therecentapprecia- tion of the Chinese currency means that its value is already reaching a breaking point for many small companies. If the ren- minbi appreciates above 6.5 ren- minbi tothedollar,Sunsaid, “they will have zero profit and they’ll go bankrupt.’’ Gongandother smallmanufac-


turers said they have also been hit byincreasedshippingcharges, ris- ing energy fees and higher costs for labor. After a series of factory strikes by low-paid workers last spring,andwithfearofmorelabor unrest, local governments recent- ly raised the minimum wage — including here in Zhejiang prov- ince, which now has one of the highestminimumwages inChina. “With the raw materials, the


laborcosts, thecargofeesgoingup and now the renminbi apprecia- tion, it’s really hard to do busi- ness,” said Huang Hongying, 50, who runs a company with her husbandmaking plastic products such as inflatable backyard pools, pool toys andrafts. In the past, Huang said, her


profitmarginoneachproductwas around 5 to 6 percent. Now, she said, it’s less than 2 percent. “I hope the American government doesn’t put toomuch pressure on China,” said anothermanufactur- er, Tyrone Tian, 40,whose compa- ny sells rafts andinflatable boats. “We just want some stability


between the dollar and the ren- minbi,” Tian said. Any further ap- preciation,hesaid, “willbeadisas- ter forChinese exporters.” richburgk@washpost.com


KHALIL AL-MURSHIDI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES


Staff researcherWang Juan contributed to this report.


DIGEST TURKEY


Dozens are injured in suicide bombing At least 32 people were injured


Sunday in Turkey after a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in the heart of Istanbul. No group has claimed respon-


sibility for the attack, but Turkish analysts have speculated that the suicide bomber was connected to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or to one of the group’s offshoots. A unilateral ceasefire declared by the PKK expired Sat- urday. The explosion took place about


10:30 a.m. in the city’s busy Tak- sim Square. The target of the attack was a police bus parked at the head of Istiklal Street, a com- mercial and entertainment hub. Fifteen law enforcement officers and 17 civilians were injured, two of whom were in critical condi- tion. “We think the attacker at- tempted to enter a police bus and detonate thebombinside, but the explosives went off earlier,” said Istanbul Police Chief Huseyin Capkin. The area was cordoned off to


car and pedestrian traffic in case of more explosions. The last terrorist attack in


PHILIPPE LOPEZ/ AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES


Performers are seen suspended above the stage during the closing ceremony of theWorld Expo 2010 in Shanghai, a six-month exhibition of culture and technology.


Istanbul took place in June in a suburban neighborhood and tar- geted a military bus, killing three soldiers and a 17-year-old girl. Someanalysts alsohave specu-


lated that al-Qaeda is to blame for the attacks. Last week, Turkey detained dozens of suspected al- Qaeda members. Sunday’s attack bears a similarity to the 2003 suicide bombings that killed 30 people in front of the British consulate in Istanbul.


—Gül Tüysüz RUSSIA


First sanctioned protest is held Advocates of freedom of as-


sembly in Russia held their first sanctioned demonstration in Moscow on Sunday. Nine previ- ous attempts, dating to July 2009, were broken up by police. Sun- day’s was the first demonstration to be scheduled after the appoint- ment of Sergei Sobyanin as the


new mayor ofMoscow. The turn- out of police — in helmets and bulletproof vests — was heavy, but the rally of about 1,000 pro- ceeded without interruption for an hour in front of the Tchaik- ovsky ConcertHall. The protest was part of an


effort called Strategy 31, after Article 31 of theRussian constitu- tion. It guarantees the right of assembly but is routinely ignored by the government. Organizers have planned a demonstration for the last day of every 31-day month. Thedemonstration brought to-


gether leaders of several newcivil society groups, old democratic stalwarts from the 1990s, and extreme nationalists. —Will Englund


SOMALIA


Parliament approves new prime minister Somalia’s parliament ap-


proved a Somali-American as the country’s prime minister, but some are questioning whether he will be able to make a difference in the war-ravaged country under attack from al-Qaida-linked mili- tants. Mohamed Abdullahi Mo- hamed, who has taught at a com-


munity college in western New York, is expected to name a cabi- net in the coming weeks. Lawmakers voted by a show of


hands297 to92Sunday in favor of Mohamed, said Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden, speaker of the transi- tional parliament. The Somali government con-


trols only a small part of the capital,Mogadishu. It has accom- plished little since its inception in 2004andthe country hasn’thada fully functioning government in nearly two decades. “Somalia is not America,” Ami-


na Nur, a mother of seven chil- dren, told the Associated Press, referring to Mohamed’s time spent in theUnited States. “Like many overseas Somalis


that came from Western coun- tries after the collapse of the government in 1991 and are now parliamentarians and govern- ment officials, he doesn’t know the difficult situation of the coun- try and cannot lead an effective cabinet in the terms of the setting a comprehensive security plan to combat al-Shabab and terrorists,” Nur said. Mohamed was nominated on


Oct. 14 by President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed but the vote on the nomination was delayed several times because of a disagreement between the president and the


speaker over procedure. The president wanted lawmakers to vote by a show of hands, while the speaker preferred a secret ballot. —Associated Press


Missing businessman’s body thought to be found: A missing Canadian businessman’s rental car was found Sunday completely burned with a corpse in the trunk, police in southern Mexico reported. Investigators are work- ing to determine whether it is the body of Daniel Dion,whowas last seen about a week ago in the Pacific Coast resort city of Aca- pulco.


Danish leaderwants pan-ArabTV stations stopped: The leader of Denmark’s populist Danish Peo- ple’s Party, on which the govern- ment relies for support, said in a newspaper interview published Sunday that pan-Arab television channels al-Jazeera and al-Arabi- ya should be stopped from broad- casting to the country. Pia Kjaers- gaard, leader of parliament’s third-biggest party, accused the channels of sowing hatred againstWestern society in immi- grant communities. The center- right governing coalition said it did not support her views about the stations.


—From news services


Iraqi security forces and wellwishers surround an Iraqi youth after his release from a hostage situation at a church in Baghdad.


Our Lady of Salvation Church in the upscale Karradah neighbor- hood shortly after 9 p.m., some of the assailants detonated suicide vests, said Lt. Col. Eric Bloom, a U.S. military spokesman. Themayhem underscored how


dangerous the Iraqi capital re- mains as a deepening political crisis continues. Iraqi lawmakers remain at an impasse over who is entitled to lead the next govern- ment after the March 7 parlia- mentary election. Many Iraqis fear that the impasse could sow instability and violence as the U.S. military mission here winds down. Between 20 to 30 people were wounded in the attack and subse- quent rescue operation to free the approximately 120 hostages at- tending evening Mass, Bloom said. He said all the attackers were gunned down, but an Iraqi official saidsomewere in custody. Bloom, who got the casualty numbers from the Iraqi army, said the death toll could rise. An Iraqi security official said at least 21 civilians and troops were killed. Theassailants,armedwith gre-


nades, rifles and at least one car bomb, turned a relatively secure neighborhood into a battle- ground. The operation was ap-


parently carried out in a failed effort to secure the release of prisoners in Iraqi custody who belong to the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq. The attack Sunday began


around sunset at a branch of the Baghdad stock market located near the church. Gunmen lobbed grenades and exchanged gunfire with guards at the exchange, kill- ing two, an Iraqi police official said. As Iraqi security forces moved


in, the assailants jumped in a car, drove it to the entrance of the Our Lady of Salvation Church, got out and detonated explosives inside the vehicle, authorities said. Sunday Mass was being held


inside the Assyrian Christian churchwhenthe gunmen, report- edly wearing explosive vests, ran inside. Hussain Abdul Amir, 35, who


lives nearby and witnessed the attack, said the gunmen did not appear to be Iraqi. “Their accent was not Iraqi,” he


said. He said the gunmen were de- manding the release of al-Qaeda in Iraq inmates in Iraqi custody. Other witnesses and officials


quoted by Iraqi television sta- tions supported that account. Iraqi police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to talk to reporters. Residents in the area ran for


cover as Iraqi security forces and a small team of U.S. military officials set up a security perime- ter outside. The hostages were held for


about two hours, during which lengthy exchanges of gunfire and explosions were heard in the area.


Shortly after 9 p.m., Iraqi elite


troops stormed the church and killed the four gunmen. It was not clear whether hostages, security forces or bystanders were hurt during the operation. “We were able to assassinate all


the gunmen,” a police official said minutes after it was over. “They were all wearing suicide vests.” londonoe@washpost.com


MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2010


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