News » Society » Chemical weapons 'excuse for US'
News » Society » Chemical weapons 'excuse for US' |
- Chemical weapons 'excuse for US'
- Toss Akin goes on rape attack: paternity test unlikely to follow
- Rebels sent to asylum: group
- Hundreds of thousands of people, including dissidents, are committed each year to mainland psychiatric hospitals against their will, often as a form of punishment, a rights group said yesterday.
- Diaoyus activists in call for divine help
- Rise in road cave-ins spark urban safety fears
- Probe after police car injures pedestrians
- Hong Kong reunion for the Diaoyu activists
- Two held for altering milk production dates
- 'Wizard' convinces sons to burn mother to death
- Tests find 196 children suffering lead poisoning
- Consumers turn toward imported food
- Have You Heard…
- Citigroup Issues Sole-Branded Credit Cards in China
- China’s Banks Risk Credit Crunch
- China to spend $372 billion on cutting energy use, pollution
- Factory collapse buries 18 workers, 7 saved
- Kids suffer lead poisoning from power plant
- Factory collapse buries 18 workers, 7 saved
- China eases restriction on passport issuing
| Chemical weapons 'excuse for US' Posted: 22 Aug 2012 01:31 PM PDT Chinese state media accuse US President Barack Obama of planning to use Syria's chemical weapons as an excuse for intervening militarily. |
| Toss Akin goes on rape attack: paternity test unlikely to follow Posted: 22 Aug 2012 11:50 AM PDT TODD Akin continues to dig his way to China. The Missouri politico who gave us a lesson on rape and women's bodies (he said victims can't get pregnant if it's 'legitimate' rape - video), is the subject of a BBC headline: "Rape-gaffe candidate goes on the attack." Well, so long as he does it right, there should be no embarrassing paternity tests. (Although watch out for the vaginal dentata.)
|
| Posted: 22 Aug 2012 02:27 PM PDT Ad: The $3 Million Monster - $128.79 Avg Commission! Lowest Refunds On CB - Over $3 Million In 2011. Shocking 14 Percent Refund Rate, Over $128 To You Per Sale, Massive Daily Contests, And Recurring Commissions For Life... Promote The Hottest Offer On CB Right Now. See Video Proof: Http://gsniper2.com/affiliates |
| Posted: 22 Aug 2012 02:27 PM PDT Ad: The Real Coaching Club - These Three Real-life Internet Marketers Are Bucking The Trend, And Shunning The "push Button" Systems. Instead You'll See How We Make Real Money Online, And We'll Give You A Shortcut For You To Do It Too. We're Personally Going To Coach You To Success! |
| Diaoyus activists in call for divine help Posted: 22 Aug 2012 02:27 PM PDT Ad: Get Cash For Surveys - Mind Blowing Conversions, 75% Commissions + Earn Up To $148.50 Per Sale! Geotargeting, 1 Click Upsells, Downsells, And More! Followup Emails With Your CB Id To Make Sure You Get Credit! $50 Bonus To New Affiliates! Getcashforsurveys.com/affiliates.php |
| Rise in road cave-ins spark urban safety fears Posted: 22 Aug 2012 10:22 AM PDT A SPATE of road collapses in China, some fatal, has aroused safety fears as well as concern over shoddy infrastructure construction and poor supervision. Road cave-ins have been frequently reported since July, when heavy rain hit a large number of Chinese cities, testing the urban infrastructure. In Harbin City in the northeast, seven reported road cave-ins in nine days in the middle of this month killed two people and injured two others. Two vehicles fell into deep pits. In north China's Shijiazhuang City, 80 road cave-ins have been reported since the major flood season began two months ago. A Beijing pedestrian was injured after falling into a pit caused by a road cave-in. There have also been reports of cave-ins in the northeastern and central cities of Dalian, Changsha and Zhengzhou. Internet users have been mocking the frequent cave-ins, which they say "may trap anyone." "Please cherish people around you. When they are walking in the city, they may suddenly be gone." was one popular post. Bloggers have called for the quality of the infrastructure to be taken more seriously. China's fast development over the past three decades has seen its cities growing and roads extended in an accelerating urbanization drive. As of 2011, the urban population stood at nearly 700 million in a country where expanses of highways and number of skyscrapers are commonly regarded as two of the most important measures of success. "The weird situation of 'pedestrians worrying about their safety' is a great irony of a city's high-speed building boom," said Li Xun, deputy head of the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design. "It is also an alarm call for the city's managers." China's urban residents and its media have been questioning the management and supervision of local governments, who themselves have attributed the cave-ins to intense rainfall, extensive pipeline and subway construction and excessive extraction of underground water. Experts are urging strengthening of accountability mechanisms in local governments to avoid the recurrence of such tragedies. "Of course, we should have roads and underground facilities checked and maintained on a regular basis," said Professor Li Simin of the Urban Construction School of Hebei University of Engineering. "But we should also be clear about who should be held accountable for each of these tragedies." This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Probe after police car injures pedestrians Posted: 22 Aug 2012 10:07 AM PDT TWO officers are under investigation after their police car hit seven pedestrians and cyclists in Nanning, capital of southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Hospital sources said two of the victims were severely injured, but their injuries are not life threatening. Investigators with the Nanning Public Security Bureau said the officers were on their way back to the Jiangnan branch of the bureau at 5pm on Tuesday, when their vehicle hit the civilians on a road near Tingzi Vegetable Market. Huang Fei, one of the victims, sustained injuries to her face and is being treated at Nanning No. 2 People's Hospital. "The accident site is a bustling downtown area where I live," Huang said, "so I never thought I could be hit there, as drivers often slow down in such populated areas." Huang said the police had visited the victims and paid their medical bills. The accident hit the headlines after a posting appeared on Weibo, saying the police car hit civilians and dragged an electric bike for more than 100 meters before it stopped. The message had been forwarded and commented on nearly 10,000 times as of yesterday. Many people questioned whether the police were drunk and whether they had attempted to flee the scene. Investigators said blood tests indicated that the driver of the car had not consumed alcohol. |
| Hong Kong reunion for the Diaoyu activists Posted: 22 Aug 2012 10:05 AM PDT CHINESE activists who landed on the Diaoyu Islands last week were given a hero's welcome in Hong Kong yesterday but a video of their scuffles with Japanese police will likely aggravate tensions. The activists' battered boat was greeted by throngs of supporters as it arrived on Hong Kong's waterfront, where it was also welcomed by the other half of the group who had earlier returned by plane. The seven activists were part of a 14-person group that managed to reach the islands last week. The group included two reporters from Phoenix TV, which broadcast video for the first time of the activists' confrontation with Japanese officers. In the video, six of the activists are seen clambering over the rocky shoreline. The group wade ashore, advancing toward several dozen Japanese police officers wearing riot gear. One of them waves China's national flag as the officers watch. But as they try to go further, the police block their way. Two of them make a run for it but are tackled by the officers. Phoenix also broadcast footage of a Japanese coastguard vessel ramming the activists' boat to try to stop it reaching the island. Japan says it will prosecute any Chinese who land on the islands, while the Hong Kong activists have vowed to make another attempt, possibly as soon as in October. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Two held for altering milk production dates Posted: 22 Aug 2012 09:22 AM PDT TWO men were detained by police yesterday after they altered production dates on thousands of cartons of Mengniu milk nearing their expiry date and sold them in some cities in east China Zhejiang Province, according to a China Central Television report. Wang Sunfu, a Mengniu sales agent and an accomplice surnamed Zhao in the province's Yiwu City, bought 3,000 boxes of milk from a staff member of the dairy producer in early May, paying half price because their expiry date was approaching, the Zhejiang Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau said. Zhao surrendered himself after police detained Wang. Wang then hired people to change the production date of the milk to May 19 and June 1 from December last year and sold each box at 45 yuan (US$7.2), the normal price in cities including Yiwu and Jinhua. His fraud was uncovered when industrial and commercial authorities visited a warehouse in Pujiang County in Jinhua and found 160 boxes of milk bearing the false production date. Inner Mongolia based-Mengniu, one of China's largest dairy producers, has been under fire before for a raft of product contamination scandals. China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in December that a random sampling found excessive levels of flavacin M1 - a substance linked to liver cancer - in batches of milk products from Mengniu. In November 2011, quality watchdogs in southern Guangdong found unacceptably high levels of bacteria in Mengniu ice cream. Six months earlier, 251 pupils fell ill after drinking Mengniu milk at school in northwestern Shaanxi Province. In 2009, China's quality supervisor ordered Mengniu to prove the safety of OMP, an additive, before using it in its milk products. Experts said consuming high levels of OMP, a milk protein, could lead to higher cancer risks. In May, cows' urine was added to Mengniu milk instead of water to pass authorities' inspections. "I had stopped purchasing Mengniu products for some months after learning about its products may lead to cancer," said a customer Wu Wei living in Shanghai. She said she bought different brands of milk from time to time to avoid safety risks. "Chinese should boycott Mengniu's products together to push the company to improve," a microblogger said on Weibo. |
| 'Wizard' convinces sons to burn mother to death Posted: 22 Aug 2012 09:22 AM PDT THREE brothers in a remote village in south China's Hainan Province helped burn their mother to death after a man claiming to be a wizard told them the 61-year-old was a demon who had killed seven people. Gao Yongchuan, a self-proclaimed "legendary doctor subordinate to the Jade Emperor, Taoist ruler of heaven," was asked by Chen Zuoshan's youngest son, Hu Wensheng, to treat his mother's painful joints on June 8. Gao, 27, said a ghost living in Chen's body had triggered her disease and force-fed her a quantity of distilled liquor, to which was added the blood of pigs, chicken and dogs, in order to "have her spit out the ghost." But when the woman fell into a coma because of the alcohol Gao told his two followers and Chen's three sons to use sticks to strike her on her head and body for three hours and then burn her body in a cemetery, yesterday's Nanguo Metropolis Daily reported. "We all deeply believed in his words," Hu said. "My mother didn't bleed from her head wounds and didn't vomit after having so much alcohol. Gao said only a ghost could perform like this." Gao said Chen would "climb out if she was just buried" and had to be burned, the paper said. During the beating, Chen's daughter and several other relatives cheered Gao on, calling for him to "kill the demon." Gao, his followers - his 39-year-old brother, Gao Yongming, and Zhou Fudong, 26, Chen's son-in-law - and the brothers, Hu Wenyue, 36, Hu Wenjin, 29, and Hu Wensheng, 27, are charged with murder. |
| Tests find 196 children suffering lead poisoning Posted: 22 Aug 2012 09:21 AM PDT Nearly 200 children in a remote town in southern Guangdong Province have been found to have excess levels of lead in their blood. Their homes in Xingzi Town are just a kilometer away from a coal-fired power plant. The 196 children living in one community tested positive for lead poisoning with 95 having levels 4.5 times above the safe level, yesterday's China Business News reported. Since the town has 20 villages and 211 communities, the actual number of lead-poisoned children could be much higher, the paper said. Parents were unaware of the hazards posed by the plant until their children began to exhibit poor memory, eyesight problems, lack of appetite, vomiting and hair loss. Villagers said the nearby Xingzi River was "black and smelly" and smoke from the plant's two chimneys "cover the whole township." They said that plant workers lived in dormitories in Lianzhou City rather than at the plant and commuted by bus while some families had moved to other towns because of the pollution. In response to public anger, Guangdong Yuedian Group suspended the plant's operation and the local government offered medical subsidies from 250 yuan (US$39.35) to 1,050 yuan. But the families say the money isn't enough to cover medical bills, the paper reported. Guangdong governor Zhu Xiaoda has asked authorities to investigate and make every effort to ensure the children receive proper treatment. |
| Consumers turn toward imported food Posted: 22 Aug 2012 10:18 AM PDT  Source: By Wang Hongyi in Shanghai (China Daily) More Chinese consumers have turned to imported food and brands due to rising concerns over food safety in recent years, according a survey by international research company Ipsos. Dairy products are the most purchased imported foods, at 77 percent, followed by grains and oil, at 57 percent, and children's food, at 56 percent. The report said consumers' preferred imported foods or brands because of stricter safety controls during packaging and processing, the absence of unhealthy additives and rigorous product testing. In 2011, the total output of China's food industry amounted to 7.8 trillion yuan ($1.2 trillion), up from 47.3 billion yuan in 1978, according to the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology. "The challenges have also increased amid the food industry's robust growth. 'Lean meat powder', melamine-tainted milk, gutter oil and chemical dyed steamed buns … all of these have drawn much attention from Chinese consumers," said Jennifer Tsai, managing director of innovation and forecasting of Ipsos Marketing in China. Successive food safety crises have become a significant factor in influencing consumer habits and behavior, with 76 percent of respondents saying that this would make them seek an alternative product. Meanwhile, the report said consumers tend to choose major, international and imported brands. Gloria Gao, a 29-year-old office worker, said she stopped buying domestic milk brands two years ago. "Due to safety concerns, I would prefer to buy imported milk, although it's much more expensive than domestic milk," said Gao, who recently purchased a box of German milk online. "In recent years, we have seen endless scandals. Government supervision of food safety doesn't seem to work," she said. The survey found that raw and fresh meat and seafood, grains and oil, and dairy products are the areas of greatest concern. Online supermarket Yihaodian.com said sales of its imported products in June had increased fivefold year-on-year. Imported dairy products, biscuits and confectionery, drinks and coffee are very popular among its customers, said a statement from Yihaodian's marketing department. An employee at a branch of high-end supermarket chain City Shop in Shanghai said: "In the past, foreigners accounted for the majority of our customers. But now we see more and more local residents coming here." She said that meat and vegetables were popular with local residents shopping at the supermarket, where more than 80 percent of the goods on sale are imported. "You can buy cheaper vegetables in markets, but I really worry about safety. So I'd prefer to buy them at this supermarket at a higher cost," said a shopper. Tim Wang, general manager of Ecolab in China, sees the issue from a positive angle. "If Chinese companies recognize the problem and strengthen their social responsibility and improve product quality, Chinese consumers buying imported products will not be an inevitable trend." In addition, overseas shopping is also becoming more popular, especially among China's emerging middle class, according to another survey by Beijing-based research company HorizonKey. The survey questioned 1,059 middle-class families from the country's five biggest cities, and found that 36.6 percent of the respondents had overseas shopping experience. And more than half of the respondents said they planned to shop overseas in the near future. A total of 63 percent of respondents said they go shopping when they traveling overseas. |
| Posted: 22 Aug 2012 10:15 AM PDT Have You Heard…   |
| Citigroup Issues Sole-Branded Credit Cards in China Posted: 22 Aug 2012 10:23 AM PDT  Source: Wall Street Journal By Isabella Steger | Photo: Bloomberg Citigroup Inc. said Tuesday it issued its first sole-branded credit card in China, as international banks seek to tap China's nascent, but still tightly controlled, credit-card industry. Citi will work with state-owned China UnionPay Co. In June, a World Trade Organization Panel ruled that China's tight control over credit- and debit-card transactions discriminates against U.S. card companies. Payments companies like Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., as well as issuers, hope that the ruling could open the way for greater international participation in China's payments market. Credit-card penetration remains low in China, but that is quickly changing. Central-bank data show China had about 268 million credit cards in issue by September 2011, more than five times the level at the end of 2006. MasterCard estimates the number of credit cards in China will rise to 1.1 billion in 2025, and spending on those cards will reach $2.5 trillion. Hong Kong's Bank of East Asia was the only non-Chinese bank that offers credit cards on its own in China. Foreign banks have been allowed to issue solo credit cards since 2008. HSBC Holdings has a cobranded credit card with Bank of Communications Co., in which it has a 19% stake. In a statement, Citi's chief executive for Asia-Pacific, Stephen Bird, said: "We were the first international bank to enter the retail banking market in China in 2002…We are delighted to be once again breaking new ground in what is one of our most important markets globally." The move comes after Citi signed its securities joint venture in China with Oriental Securities Co. earlier this month, allowing it to engage in equity and debt underwriting. It also opened its 50th branch in the country this month. China is one of the fastest-growing markets for the U.S. bank, generating more than one billion yuan ($157 million) in revenue in 2011, up 40% from the previous year. |
| China’s Banks Risk Credit Crunch Posted: 22 Aug 2012 10:30 AM PDT  Source: Wall Street Journal By Daniel Inman China's four biggest banks, which rank among the world's most prolific lenders, are set to report first-half earnings, and investors are likely to gauge their health not by their profits but by how fast their loans are turning sour. While the selloff in Chinese banks has made their valuations attractive, investors appear unwilling to buy, with some concerned that the banks underreport or are slow to categorize nonperforming loans. "What worries investors is no longer the results for the quarterly reports, but actually when the Chinese banks will recognize the [nonperforming loans] and give transparency to the market," said Arthur Kwong, head of Asian-Pacific equities at BNP Paribas Investment Partners in Hong Kong, whose team manages assets worth around $4.5 billion. Mr. Kwong said his team has been reducing its exposure in recent months to the Chinese banking sector. Most banks are trading at a price/earnings ratio of up to six times estimated earnings for 2012, compared with more than 10 times for the broad Hang Seng. "Fundamentally the banks are cheap," says Mike Werner, senior analyst at Sanford Bernstein in Hong Kong. "It is going to take some time for the market to get more comfortable with the potential credit risk."  The central government has been leaning on the banks in the past years to lend more, particularly to local governments that have been using the cash for infrastructure spending to boost growth. A deteriorating economy could prompt another government stimulus package that would likely lead to more lending to already indebted institutions. "We think the China banks—especially the big [state-owned] banks—are policy tools and often bear the responsibility of national service at the expense of minority shareholders like us," said Frank Tian, assistant investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management in Hong Kong, which had $102.9 billion of assets in Asia as of June 30. "We therefore stay very cautious in this segment." Loans to exporters also are a worry, as companies selling abroad have been hit by the global slowdown due to the European debt crisis and stagnant U.S. growth. The nation's banking regulator said last week that bad loans had risen 4% from the previous quarter to 456.4 billion yuan ($71.8 billion), a third consecutive quarterly climb. That was reflected in the results of China Merchants Bank, the country's sixth-largest lender by assets, which said Friday that nonperforming loans rose 4%, and the difference between the rate at which it lends at and the rate it pays on deposits also fell. Its stock fell 2% Monday in Hong Kong, dragging down other banks listed in Hong Kong amid gloom about the forthcoming results of bigger banks. China Merchants' shares rose 0.2% on Tuesday to 24.45 Hong Kong dollars (US$3.15) Bank of China will be the first of the major banks to report, scheduled for Thursday, and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China's biggest, will report next week. Sanford Bernstein said foreign banks operating in China have recorded an increase in the ratio of nonperforming loans to good loans over the past year, which could be a barometer of how smaller local banks that have a similar loan exposure to overseas lenders are faring. China Merchants Bank said its nonperforming loan ratio was 0.56% at the end of the first half, unchanged from the end of last year.   |
| China to spend $372 billion on cutting energy use, pollution Posted: 22 Aug 2012 10:25 AM PDT  Source: Reuters Aug 22 (Reuters Point Carbon) – China will plough $372 billion into energy conservation projects and anti-pollution measures over the next three-and-a-half years, part of a drive to cut energy consumption by 300 million tonnes of standard coal, the country's cabinet said Tuesday. The government has earmarked $155 billion of the money for projects that shrink energy use, and while the plan did not detail which types of projects or sectors would benefit from the funds, a big share of the cash is expected to go to industry. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in February set an overall 21 percent energy intensity reduction target for industry from 2010 to 2015. The State Council plan said steel producers must reduce their energy use per unit of production by a quarter over the five years, coal-fired power plants by 8 percent and cement manufacturers by 3 percent. China's economic growth over the past three decades has turned it into a major importer of oil, gas and coal, and high international fossil fuel prices have contributed to huge losses at some of China's large state-owned power companies. The central government's drive to reduce China's insatiable appetite for fossil fuels is aimed at improving the country's future energy security, and is a central plank of its policy to slow down growth in greenhouse gas emissions. China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, plans to cut its CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. Over the past few years China has phased out thousands of old, inefficient factories and fossil fuel-fired power plants while becoming the world's biggest producer of renewable energy. However, greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, and according to a recent report, China's carbon output grew by 800 million tonnes to 9.7 billion last year, or 29 percent of the world's total CO2 emissions. Government officials said they expect China's greenhouse gas emissions to peak around 2030. Seven Chinese cities and provinces will launch CO2 emissions trading schemes over the next two years ahead of a national scheme later in the decade, as China seeks to move away from traditional command-and-control measures to combat spiraling carbon emissions. |
| Factory collapse buries 18 workers, 7 saved Posted: 22 Aug 2012 12:30 AM PDT EIGHTEEN construction workers were trapped underground when a building collapsed this morning in downtown Yulin, a city in northwestern Shaanxi Province. The workers were working in the basement of a former carpet factory when the cave-in happened around 10am, Yulin officials said. Seven workers have been pulled out live from the rubble. They are slightly injured and are being treated in several hospitals. Four or five may have died, but the authorities didn't confirm the death toll. Nearly 100 workers were working at the site when the accident occurred. Many fled to safety in time, according to the city's firefighting department. The site has been cordoned off and investigation is ongoing. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Kids suffer lead poisoning from power plant Posted: 21 Aug 2012 11:21 PM PDT Nearly 200 children in a small town in Guangdong Province were found to have excessive levels of lead in their blood as their homes are close to a coal-fired power plant. The plant just one kilometer away from Xingzi Town and 2 kilometers away from the Xingzi River is a major polluter in the area, today's China Business News reported. Blood tests of 196 children living in one community showed they are positive of lead poisoning and 95 children have blood lead 4.5 times above the safe level. Since the town has 211 villages and communities, the actual number of lead-poisoned children must be very high, the paper said. To sooth public anger, Guangdong Yuedian Group suspended the operation of its power plant in Xingzi Town in June and the local government offered medical subsidies from 250 yuan (US$39.35) to 1,050 yuan. But the affected families said the sum could hardly cover their medical bills and the free milk they got from the government contained worms, the paper said. |
| Factory collapse buries 18 workers, 7 saved Posted: 22 Aug 2012 12:30 AM PDT EIGHTEEN construction workers were trapped underground when a building collapsed this morning in downtown Yulin, a city in northwestern Shaanxi Province. The workers were working in the basement of a former carpet factory when the cave-in happened around 10am, Yulin officials said. Seven workers have been pulled out live from the rubble. They are slightly injured and are being treated in several hospitals. Four or five may have died, but the authorities didn't confirm the death toll. Nearly 100 workers were working at the site when the accident occurred. Many fled to safety in time, according to the city's firefighting department. The site has been cordoned off and investigation is ongoing. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| China eases restriction on passport issuing Posted: 22 Aug 2012 12:25 AM PDT SHANGHAI is among six Chinese cities which will ease a restriction covering the household registration that people must hold when applying for passports and travel passes, the Ministry of Public Security announced today. Those who work or study at higher education institutions in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will soon be allowed to apply for passports and travel passes there, even if they do not hold household registrations in these six cities, the ministry said in a statement. The new policy will take effect on September 1, the statement said. Currently, every Chinese must apply for a passport or travel pass to police in the area where he or she is registered in a household. That has caused great trouble for people who leave their hometown but do not transfer their household registration locations. The policy is being applied in the six cities because they see a large inflow of people, the ministry's statement said. Apart from the household registration certificate, identification card and temporary residence permit, an employed person will need a statement from the city's social security department confirming at least one year of payment to social security programs. A college student will need a statement from his college on the enrollment. If the pass is granted, police will issue it within 30 days of an application being made. If the application is turned down, the applicant will need to apply for reconsideration in his household registration location, the statement said. The policy is among a number of efforts to facilitate people's travel abroad and to provide equal public service to both the registered and migrant population. In the first half of this year, about 38 million Chinese traveled abroad, a year-on-year increase of 18 percent, according to the National Tourism Administration. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Update » News » Society To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
Comments