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• China eyes private cash for banks
• Don't look down! Rescue teams coax day-trippers to safety down rope ladders after their cable car malfunctions
• A four-figure mystery of Indians abroad
• 'China's Twitter' adopts new code
• Cannes: China arrives on and off the red carpet
• China brings jobs to Ethiopia but at what cost?
• Venus survives first-round scare despite Ormaechea Argy bargy
• On a wing and a prayer: The extraordinary hanging monasteries that cling to the sides of cliffs
• Guess who's back? Men in Black 3 knocks Avengers off the top spot as it takes in $55m in opening weekend
• KFC buckets are destroying the Indonesian rainforest claims Greenpeace
• Wen greets the tea pickers
• Villager charged after 11 males confirmed dead
• Youngsters turning to religion
• Ex-official held in girls' rapes
• Children's clothing fails tests on quality
• Foreigners to gain visa-free entry into Beijing for up to three days
• Anti-beetle wasps put into wild apple forest
• Throwbacks to earlier era
• Confucius Institute teachers can stay in US
• Philippines names ambassador amid row with China

China eyes private cash for banks Posted: 27 May 2012 06:12 PM PDT China opens up its banking system to private-sector investors, the latest move aimed at underpinning economic growth.

Don't look down! Rescue teams coax day-trippers to safety down rope ladders after their cable car malfunctions Posted: 27 May 2012 05:43 PM PDT These visitors to the Raoshan mountain scenic resort of Guilin, in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, were trapped high over the forest canopy when their cable car broke down.

A four-figure mystery of Indians abroad Posted: 27 May 2012 05:31 PM PDT The ministry of overseas Indian affairs has four confusing and disparate figures on the total number of people of Indian-origin living abroad.

'China's Twitter' adopts new code Posted: 27 May 2012 04:31 PM PDT China's most popular Twitter-like service, Weibo, adopts a new contract limiting the types of messages its users can post.

Cannes: China arrives on and off the red carpet Posted: 27 May 2012 09:13 AM PDT In Cannes, China arrives on and off the red carpet

China brings jobs to Ethiopia but at what cost? Posted: 27 May 2012 09:17 AM PDT Who really benefits from Chinese investment in Ethiopia?

Venus survives first-round scare despite Ormaechea Argy bargy Posted: 27 May 2012 03:23 PM PDT Seven-time grand slam champion Venus Williams survived a first-round scare at the French Open on Sunday. Williams eventually overcame Paula Ormaechea 4-6 6-1 6-3.

On a wing and a prayer: The extraordinary hanging monasteries that cling to the sides of cliffs Posted: 27 May 2012 02:54 PM PDT These stunning buildings appear to defy gravity as they perch precariously on the side of rocks and mountains around the world to ensure the utmost privacy during prayers.

Guess who's back? Men in Black 3 knocks Avengers off the top spot as it takes in $55m in opening weekend Posted: 27 May 2012 01:03 PM PDT Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones' sequel Men in Black 3 debuted as the No. 1 movie over Memorial Day weekend with $55 million domestically from Friday to Sunday.

KFC buckets are destroying the Indonesian rainforest claims Greenpeace Posted: 27 May 2012 11:30 AM PDT Containers purchased and tested from restaurants in Indonesia, the U.K. and China, their biggest market, have revealed the composition of Indonesia's rainforests, Greenpeace has announced.

Wen greets the tea pickers Posted: 27 May 2012 10:13 AM PDT Premier Wen Jiabao greets villagers picking tea leaves when he visited Guzhang County in central China's Hunan Province. Guzhang was a stop on Wen's three-day tour that ended yesterday with a visit to ethnic minority groups in the Wuling Mountain area. The premier called for more support in policies, funding and project planning for the area, which involves the four provincial regions of Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing and Guizhou and a population of more than 36 million. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Villager charged after 11 males confirmed dead Posted: 27 May 2012 10:12 AM PDT A MAN has been arrested on charges that he murdered 11 young men in southwest China's Yunnan Province, police said yesterday. Zhang Yongming, 56, a villager in Yunnan's Jinning County, was detained on May 9 after police found one of the missing males' telephone card, bank card and other cards at his home. Zhang is said to have lived alone in Nanmen Village in the county that is about 60 kilometers from the provincial capital of Kunming. All 11 missing males, most of them teenagers, have been confirmed as dead, Xinhua news agency reported. Police said Zhang lived in a sparsely populated area in the village and violently attacked victims who were walking alone. They say he dismembered the bodies and burned or buried them to cover his crimes. The Ministry of Public Security sent a special group of criminologists to the area earlier this month to look into the case after media reports of seven or eight teenagers going missing over several years near the village of Nanmen in the Jincheng Township. Among the missing youngsters, Han Yao, from a nearby village, was confirmed as murdered on May 10, the Kunming Municipal Public Security Bureau said. Han was reported missing on April 25, and his mother Chen Lianyan learned from nearby villagers that several teenagers had also gone missing near Nanmen Village. Police found the boy's telephone card, bank card and other cards in Zhang's home. He was taken into custody and questioned about the other youngsters. The ministry also sent an inspection team to Jinning to supervise and reinforce the investigation on May 20. Police said Zhang had been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for murder in 1979 but was released in 1997 after the sentence had been reduced a number of times. Da Qiming, director of the county's Public Security Bureau, and Zhao Huiyun, head of the township police station, have been sacked from their posts.

Youngsters turning to religion Posted: 27 May 2012 10:12 AM PDT SEATED near the gateway of a lamasery, 27-year-old Qiqige stares at the throngs of worshippers clutching burning bundles of incense as they pray. Unlike them, she has little interest in bowing to the gods. Even though she grew up in an ethnic Mongolian Buddhist family, she says she's not a follower. But she doesn't mind accompanying her aunt to Yonghegong. The college student says the aroma of incense mixed with the scent from the butter-oil lamps relaxes her, and the temple offers her an escape from life outside its red walls. Located in downtown Beijing, Yonghegong, a Tibetan Buddhist temple with a history of more than 300 years, attracts thousands of pilgrims and visitors every day. The lamasery, also know as Lama Temple, received an estimated 1.7 million visitors last year, with around 60,000 visitors each day during the peak season of Spring Festival. Liu Junhong, from Shanghai, has visited many temples across the country, but she says Yonghegong has a richer religious environment than others. "The ethnic mix of various elements of religion can be spotted everywhere in the temple, such as the co-existence of characters of Tibetan, Chinese as well as Manchu languages," says Liu, who studied classic literature at university. After three decades of reform and opening up, Chinese people's understanding of religion has changed, and young people no longer see religion as "spiritual opium," says Li Decheng, a religion researcher with the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing. "Today religion is usually interpreted in a cultural perspective, and is regarded as a personal choice or heritage of values. The change reflects that Chinese society, especially the younger generations, is becoming more inclusive," Li says. On the other side of the city is Xuanwumen Catholic Church where Tian Yu has just concluded her prayers. "My mum is Catholic. I learned to pray when I was a child," Tian says. Established as the first church in Beijing by the Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci in 1605, it had about 200 devotees. Today, the church is a major attraction for many young worshippers. The China Religion Report 2010 by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says more than 100 million Chinese are religious believers with young people accounting for a third of the total. Most young people in China receive an atheistic education, but many have converted. Zhang Yiwu, a humanity professor with Peking University, says this does not suggest the failure of atheistic education. People born in the 1980s and 1990s can barely stand the pressure of the fast-paced market economy, and convert to get a sense of comfort and relief from religious belief, Zhang says.

Ex-official held in girls' rapes Posted: 27 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT A former senior official in a central China city was detained on Saturday for allegedly raping more than 10 schoolgirls, authorities said yesterday. Li Xingong, former deputy director of the general office for the Party committee of Yongcheng City in Henan Province, was reported to have sexually assaulted more than 10 underage girls, according to an official announcement on ycs.gov.cn - the gateway website to Yongcheng. It was reported Li was caught on May 8 when he tried to meet another victim at the gate of a middle school in the city. Police seized relevant tools and evidence in Li's car and office, according to City Express newspaper. News web portal ccvic.com said Li used his power and money to lure young girls and trick them into having sex with him. He raped virgins only, and the youngest victim was only 11, the report said, adding that he obtained information about his targeted victims by paying people. Information about the young girls, including their birth dates and contacts, were found in Li's computer, as were unrelated pornographic pictures, according to the report. It also said police seized a large quantity of condoms, sexual lubricant and aphrodisiacs in Li's car and office. The scandal has sparked a heated online discussion among netizens who called for stiff penalties to be imposed on the ex-official. Sexual intercourse with a girl under 14 is considered statutory rape in China and a criminal offense. In 2009, Wu Tianxi, another Henan official, was executed after being found guilty on charges that included raping 24 teenagers.

Children's clothing fails tests on quality Posted: 27 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT AN alarming amount of children's clothing, including some produced by a Shanghai company, failed tests of color fastness, formaldehyde content and pH index, CCTV reported yesterday. Among the 63 groups of samples produced or sold by 47 companies nationwide, 21 percent failed the inspections. The samples were selected randomly from shops, supermarkets and online stores by the Beijing Consumer Association and were sent to laboratories of the China General Chamber of Commerce for tests. The Shanghai Okaidi Co Ltd, a branch of France-based Idgroup, is on the black list for poor color fastness. Another nine firms in cities such as Beijing, Nantong, Fuzhou and Guangzhou have the same problem. When children sweat, the dye in clothing with poor color fastness will bleed out of the fabric and into the skin, which can be harmful. Ten groups were found to have engaged in false labeling. According to the tag of clothing produced by the Zhuoyan Clothing Factory in Foshan, Guangdong Province, coats and sweaters were made of 100 percent cotton, but the tests found that more than 66 percent of their textile was polyester fiber. Health threats noted Polyester fiber has poorer performance in sweat absorption and air permeability, and producers use it to save cost, experts said. Some products contained excessive amount of formaldehyde. The national standard of children's clothing is at most 75 milligrams per kilogram, and some products were found to have 179 milligrams a kilogram. Excessive formaldehyde can lead to headaches, dermatitis, eczema and even malignant tumors and leukemia, doctors warned. Decomposable aromatic amine dyes, a banned material in clothing, was found in one product. It can cause cancer. "Some factories have poor techniques of production and shabby facilities, while some just want to make money without considering the harm to children," said Jiang Yanxiang, a textile engineer. He said parents should also carefully observe accessories on children's clothing, such as metal items and string, which are not allowed and can cause safety problems.

Foreigners to gain visa-free entry into Beijing for up to three days Posted: 27 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT BEIJING police will soon launch a new policy to allow 72-hour non-visa entry for foreigners in an effort to ease their travel, the Beijing Youth Daily reported yesterday. Beijing Police Chief Fu Zhenghua said the move is among new efforts planned to improve the city's service quality. Details of the new policy were not announced. The news came amid heated speculation surrounding Beijing's newly launched police crackdown against illegal foreign residents. Beijing police had just announced on Thursday that the recent crackdown had not changed the city's friendly attitude toward foreigners, according to the Xinhua news agency. Most foreigners living in Beijing have legal status and have made contributions to the city's development, a spokesman for the Beijing police reportedly said. There are about 200,000 foreigners staying in Beijing with legal permits and since 2004, 721 qualified have received a permanent residency permit issued by the Beijing police to stay in China as foreign nationals. Beijing police recently launched a 100-day campaign targeting foreigners who have entered, lived or worked in the city without the proper paperwork or permits. The spokesman said the campaign was part of the effort to battle foreigner-related crimes, as police found that most such offenses are committed by foreigners lacking legal status to stay in the country. Beijing police have increased household and street checks, requiring foreigners to present valid identification. A hotline was opened to encourage the public to report any suspected violations. Foreigners found to be violating laws may face fines, detention or deportation. The campaign is believed by many to be triggered by the detention of a British national who allegedly tried to sexually assault a Chinese woman on the side of a road in downtown Beijing on May 8. Although the British man was confirmed to have a valid travel visa, similar incidents may become more frequent if the country does not enhance law enforcement and legislation, Professor Xiang Dang of the Chinese People's Public Security University, told Xinhua in an interview. Another case in which a Russian cellist insulted a female passenger on a train on May 14 spurred increased public attention. Many netizens accused him of exhibiting a blatant disrespect for Chinese laws and citizens. The cellist was fired by the Beijing Symphony Orchestra a week after.

Anti-beetle wasps put into wild apple forest Posted: 27 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT SCIENTISTS have released 800,000 wasps into Asia's largest wild fruit forest this year, hoping they will kill many of the beetles threatening it. "It's the fourth time we have released parasitic wasps to destroy the insects eating the apple trees. The measure has so far proved very effective," said Wang Zhiyong, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Forestry. The wild fruit forest, covering 9,600 hectares, is located on Mount Tianshan along the Ili River valley in the country's far western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Having a wide variety of apple trees, it is also one of the world's largest wild apple gene pools. Fruit yields have been declining in the forest since the 1990s, when apple seedlings from east China's Shandong Province that carried Agrilus mali, a type of jewel beetle that feeds on the trunks of apple trees, were planted in the area. Pruning and spraying pesticides failed to dent the population of Agrilus mali. More than 3,600 hectares of fruit trees have been damaged, and more will wither if the pest continues to reproduce, forestry officials say. In June 2010, experts introduced parasitic wasps for the first time. So far, 2.2 million wasps have been released into the forest. The wasps lay eggs on the beetles after killing them, and their larva can later feed on the dead bodies, according to experts.

Throwbacks to earlier era Posted: 27 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT An old Citroen is on display during a classic car exhibition in Bazhou, north China's Hebei Province, yesterday along with 19 other cars. A 1927 yellow Plymouth and a Hongqi (red flag) ambulance limousine for Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China are also featured at the three-day event. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Confucius Institute teachers can stay in US Posted: 26 May 2012 09:56 AM PDT THE Hanban - Confucius Institute Headquarters - revealed yesterday that the US Department of State has renewed a guidance directive saying Confucius Institutes in the US can continue with their courses, and the institute's Chinese teachers on American campuses do not have to leave before June 30. According to an announcement published on the Hanban's website yesterday, the US Department of State on Friday confirmed the legal status of Confucius Institutes in the country and said they do not need to obtain separate US accreditation. The website also posted a copy of the original document issued by Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs under US Department of State. The new guidance directive will replace the previous one issued on May 17. "The new notice showed recognition of Confucius Institutes from the US federal government. We welcome the quick amendment by the US State Department. The surging interest in the Chinese language in the US is an irreversible trend," Xu Lin, director of Hanban, told Xinhua News Agency yesterday. The US Department of State on Friday reassured US universities working with Confucius Institutes that it would sort out a visa mess-up involving some Chinese language teachers and ensure nobody had to leave the country. New directive On the J-1 visa issue, the department said in the new directive, "Exchange visitors sponsored by university or college sponsors who are teaching in primary or secondary schools are not required to depart the United Sates at the end of this academic year, unless that was their intended date of departure." The initial directive stated that any academics at university-based institutes who are teaching at the primary and secondary-school levels are violating the terms of their visas and expected to return China at the end of the academic school year in June to apply for appropriate visas. US Department of State spokesperson Victoria Nuland said on Friday that the department would fix the mess-up "in a manner that doesn't require anybody who is still within status to leave." Nuland said the department acknowledged that "the first notice was not our best work" and that officials "have endeavored to fix this." Cui Jianxin, deputy director of Confucius Institute with the University of Maryland, said the amended guidance was welcomed and did not expect the development of the Chinese program in the next school year to be affected by what happened.

Philippines names ambassador amid row with China Posted: 27 May 2012 10:09 AM PDT Source: AFP MANILA — Philippine President Benigno Aquino named a veteran diplomat as ambassador to China amid a tense standoff over disputed territory in the South China Sea, a presidential spokeswoman said Saturday. Sonia Brady, 70, who served as ambassador in Beijing from 2006 to 2010, was named to her old post amid a growing clamour for a skilled diplomat to handle the frayed ties caused by the territorial dispute. Aquino wanted "someone who is already familiar with the politics and the culture of that country. That person can hit the ground running," said spokeswoman Abigail Valte. However Brady cannot assume her post until Congress approves her appointment, Valte told AFP. The Chinese embassy could not be contacted for comment. Aquino had originally named a family friend, businessman Domingo Lee, as ambassador last year but Congress refused to approve the posting, saying Lee was inexperienced. Relations between the two countries worsened after Chinese ships blocked Philippine vessels from arresting Chinese fishermen in the South China Sea in April. Both countries have deployed vessels near the disputed Scarborough Shoal for more than a month to press their conflicting claims to the area. China claims the shoal along with most of the South China Sea, even up to the coasts of its Asian neighbours, while the Philippines claims the shoal as being well within its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. Since then, China has impounded Philippine fruit shipments and warned tourists against visiting the Philippines while Manila has charged that Beijing is sending even more ships to the shoal The Philippines, which has one of the weakest militaries in the region, has turned to its main defence ally, the United States, for support. Aquino is due to meet with President Barack Obama in the White House in June. "This is no way in connection with the standoff (with China)," Valte said. It had been planned since Secretary of State Hillary Clinton extended the invitation during a visit to the Philippines in November, she added.