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News » Society » China bus crash leaves 36 dead |
- China bus crash leaves 36 dead
- 36 die in Yan'an road accident
- Bird flu `epidemic' sparks chicken cull
- EU group sees red as wine wars intensify
- A business group has criticized mainland calls to probe European Union wine imports as "protectionist," as a dispute between the major trading partners threatens to escalate.
- A golden touch
- Flood death toll 6
- 4 die in collapse
- Back from Syria
- Philippine envoy condition stable
- Accident bridge builder known
- Populations bracing for arrival of 2 typhoons
- 37 extradited from Angola in gangster crackdown
- China’s next top models bypass the catwalk for the Web
- Higher foreign stakes allowed in securities firms
- Have You Heard…
- U.S. Missile Shield Plan Seen Stoking China Fears
- Chinese Bridge Collapses, Adding to Safety Worries
- Angola deports China 'gangsters'
- 37 suspects involved in Angola crimes sent back to China
| China bus crash leaves 36 dead Posted: 25 Aug 2012 09:01 PM PDT At least 36 people die after a sleeper bus collides with a methane-laden tanker in northern China, state-run media say. |
| 36 die in Yan'an road accident Posted: 25 Aug 2012 08:19 PM PDT THE death toll from an expressway accident in northwest China has risen to 36, local police said today. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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| Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:38 AM PDT Chinese swimming gold medallists Sun Yang and Ye Shiwen, along with other gold medalists from the London Olympics, meet the public yesterday at Hong Kong Stadium, wowing the crowd with warm greetings and great performances. More than 30,000 spectators attended the "Mainland Olympic Gold Medalists Extravaganza" at which Sun Yang and local pop star Leo Ku Kui Kei sang popular song "King of Love Songs." A 70-strong Chinese mainland delegation from the London Olympics arrived in Hong Kong on Friday on a three-day visit. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:31 AM PDT THE death toll from a flash flood in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region yesterday rose to six as the last missing person was found dead, authorities said. The flash flood, triggered by rains in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, washed away nine tourists at a ravine in the Dawukou District of Shizuishan City. The three injured have been sent to a hospital. |
| Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:30 AM PDT FOUR people died and five others were injured when a fire brigade office under construction collapsed yesterday in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province. Sixteen people were working at the site when the building toppled, in the Haizhu district at midday, officials said. |
| Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:30 AM PDT THE last four Chinese United Nations (UN) military observers finished their mission in Syria and returned to Beijing yesterday morning. They had been among the last UN military observers in the country after the UN Security Council ended its 120-day observer mission there on August 19. |
| Philippine envoy condition stable Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:30 AM PDT THE Philippine government assured the public yesterday that the country's envoy to China, Sonia Brady, is in a stable condition following a stroke last Wednesday. "We are hoping for her full recovery," deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said. Valte said that the Philippine embassy in Beijing has capable workers who can keep the affairs going on a daily basis. |
| Posted: 25 Aug 2012 10:28 AM PDT HARBIN government yesterday denied reports that it could not trace contractors involved in building a bridge that collapsed on Friday, nine months after it opened, killing three people. Details of the builder of ramps that gave way on the Yangmingtan Bridge have been submitted to the accident investigation team, Huang Yusheng, secretary general of the Harbin City government, told a press conference. The company's name will be made public when results are announced, added Huang. Earlier, it was reported that Harbin authorities in charge of urban construction claimed the constructor could not be traced because the team brought together for the bridge construction had been disbanded once the project was completed. Huang said overloaded vehicles were a factor in the accident which saw four trucks hurtle 30 meters to the ground, when a 120-meter ramp tilted and fell. Three of the four trucks were heavy-duty vehicles with cargoes of lime and together weighed more than 400 tons, said the official. A seven-member team including bridge designers and other experts is in Harbin to investigate the cause of the accident, Huang said. Five people were injured in the accident. One was in a serious condition yesterday while the remainder were in a stable condition, said officials. Reports have raised suspicions that shoddy construction and poor supervision played a part in the accident. The National Business Daily reported yesterday that analysis of photographs of the scene of the accident showed the broken pieces of the ramp were filled with pebbles, wood and even bits of sacking. And a construction worker on the scene reportedly said the steel bars used in the project were too weak. The newspaper also said the junctions between box girders and support arms of the ramp were uneven. Design flaw Some experts said they suspected a design flaw was to blame for the accident. The four trucks were on the section about 3.5 kilometers from the main body of the bridge when the accident happened. The main body of the Yangmingtan Bridge and other ramps have reopened. The Yangmingtan Bridge opened to traffic in November last year. Spanning the Songhua River in Harbin, the eight-lane bridge is said to be the longest, at 15.42 kilometers, in northeast China. Local media said it cost 1.88 billion yuan (US$296 million) to build. Construction took just 18 months, a record for the province. Some reports had said that the China Railway No. 1 Group Co Ltd was the company that built the bridge. |
| Populations bracing for arrival of 2 typhoons Posted: 25 Aug 2012 09:59 AM PDT TYPHOON Bolaven is expected to enter the East China Sea today, bringing gales to eastern coastal areas, the meteorological authority forecast yesterday. Bolaven, the 15th tropical storm of the year, was located over the northwest Pacific Ocean at 5am yesterday, 1,250 kilometers southeast of coastal Zhejiang Province. It was heading northwest at a speed of 15 to 20km per hour, the National Meteorological Center said. It is expected to upgrade further to a super typhoon and enter the East China Sea tonight, according to the meteorological center of Zhejiang Province. The typhoon is expected to bring strong gales and heavy downpours to Zhejiang's central and northern coast and Zhoushan islands from today to Tuesday. Meanwhile, the year's 14th typhoon, Tembin, which stayed 200 km southeast of the coastal juncture between Guangdong and Fujian provinces early yesterday, will move southwest and linger in northeastern areas of the South China Sea over today and tomorrow, the center said. At 6am yesterday it was packing winds of up to 36.9 meters per second at its center and moving southwest at 8km per hour. Recalled to port Authorities in southeast China's Fujian and Zhejiang provinces have ordered fishing boats to take shelter as they brace themselves for the typhoons. Officials in Fujian Province have recalled to port 39,649 fishing boats. These are banned from going to sea before the typhoon alert is lifted, said the provincial flood control office yesterday. And 23,659 aquatic farm workers have been relocated to take shelter, the office said. Authorities are also sending out inspectors to reservoirs and dykes. Direct passenger ferry services from Fujian's Pingtan and Mawei to Taiwan have been suspended. Authorities in Zhejiang have ordered fishing boats to take shelter and told horticulture businesses, aquatic farms and construction sites to brace for strong gales. Tembin struck southern Taiwan Friday, toppling trees, overturning vehicles and dumping rains that swelled rivers and flooded homes and farmlands. Earlier this month, dual-typhoons Damrey and Saola left eight people dead and forced the evacuation of 1.3 million residents in coastal regions. Today and tomorrow, moderate and heavy rains are likely to hit central and western parts of regions along the Yellow and Huaihe rivers, as well as southeastern part of north China, with some rainstorms, the National Meteorological Center said. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 37 extradited from Angola in gangster crackdown Posted: 25 Aug 2012 09:55 AM PDT CHINESE police yesterday brought back 37 Chinese nationals from the southwestern African country Angola, where they had been arrested for organized crimes against other Chinese citizens, including kidnapping, armed robberies, extortions and forcing women into prostitution. Such crimes are a major concern for China, which has emerged as Africa's main trading partner and a major source of investment for infrastructure. As a result, a large number of Chinese are working and living on the African continent, but their presence has brought problems such as violent crimes among Chinese nationals, especially in politically volatile countries that provide fresh, fertile ground for Chinese criminals. The Ministry of Public Security said Beijing sent a special police force to Angola, which worked with local police in the operation that destroyed 12 Chinese gangs, resolved 48 criminal cases and rescued 14 Chinese victims. At home, domestic police arrested another 24 suspects involved in the cases, the ministry said. Following a request from Chinese authorities, the 37 suspects yesterday were extradited to China, where they will face trial on charges including kidnapping, armed robbery and extortion. They arrived in Beijing on a charter plane, the ministry said. Such crimes hurt Chinese businesses overseas and tarnish the country's image. The Chinese government also wants to be seen as being capable of protecting its citizens in foreign countries. China Police, an online news site managed by the ministry, yesterday ran three articles on crime fighting in Angola. In one article, Chinese detective Liu Feng said many poorly-educated, low-income Chinese became gangsters in Angola, and kidnapped Chinese businessmen in broad daylight for ransom. To protect themselves, Chinese businessmen in Angola hired bodyguards, purchased bullet-proof vehicles, built homes that were difficult to access and disguised themselves when they went out, the article said. The news site said there were 14 kidnapping cases in 2011 and five people died. Out of fear, many Chinese businesses closed down in the country's capital of Luanda and elsewhere. In addition to government projects, private Chinese businessmen are involved in trade, construction and food service in Angola. Another article described the experience of two Chinese women lured to Angola with the promise of well-paying jobs in a Chinese restaurant there. Once in Angola, they were forced into prostitution, the article said. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| China’s next top models bypass the catwalk for the Web Posted: 25 Aug 2012 09:34 AM PDT  Source: Reuters By Melanie Lee (Reuters) – Tian Yuan Yuan is China's top Internet model, a title she earned by promoting products from skin-tight leggings to rabbit fur bags through online shopping site Taobao Marketplace. With little to differentiate between more than 6 million electronic storefronts, models like Tian have become the main attraction. Taobao ranks the girls based on sales of the products they pitch, as well as their popularity among vendors and fans who can vote on the website. Sellers can then make an online booking to hire a girl to pose with their product. "A good model is important for sales," said 22-year-old Tian. "Both your facial expression and body language should match the style of clothing. For example, I will move and pose gently with office dresses, while I act cool in American style clothes." The leggings she modelled sold some 14,000 units in a single month. She also helped shift more than 6,000 rabbit fur bags. The models can make as much as 10,000 yuan ($1,600) a day, a far cry from the five-figure payouts top supermodels bank for a photo shoot, but a healthy sum considering average per capita full-year income for urban Chinese was just 21,810 yuan in 2011. Alibaba is not alone in offering logistical support to small online businesses. EBay Inc, for example, owns online payment service PayPal that helps small vendors accept credit card payments. But Alibaba's models-for-hire service is unusual in that it does back-end jobs such as photography as well as being a platform that supplies the models themselves. A Taobao store owner can use the free platform to search for models by price or look, or even by specific body part such as hands or legs. Models classified as "Japanese" or "Korean" tend to look younger while "European" and "American" models have more Caucasian features. "I used to rely on models provided by modeling agencies but because each agency has only a limited number of models, it couldn't meet my business needs," said Huang Shanlei, who sells lingerie on Taobao Mall. WORKING THE "OFFICE LADY" LOOK Working with Taobao models was easier because most of them were free agents with fewer restrictions on the types of assignments they could accept or on how the photographs from a shoot could be used, Huang said. Model Li Qiqi poses for different stores back to back on most days, sometimes in more than 200 outfits a day. With big doll eyes, she describes her look as "Korean office lady". "If you model on Taobao, you focus on the specialties of the outfit and the features of the outfit. You make sure you don't block it when posing," said 24-year-old Li, a Shanghai native. Another appeal for vendors is that they can find plenty of Asian models. Asian women are underrepresented among the world's supermodels, in part because few have the height to compete in an industry where 170 centimeters (67 inches) is considered short. Earlier this year an Alibaba Group executive mused on Chinese microblogging site Weibo that the pretty models advertising items for sale might also be hired to deliver the goods in person to a buyer's home. An Alibaba spokeswoman said there were no immediate plans for such a service, but the firm might later revisit the idea. Some traditional modeling agencies see Taobao's system as the way forward. "We are searching online from this year and in fact we believe this trend will be the future," said David Lim, deputy chief executive of model agency Elite Greater China. "China is the most important consumer market for many brands and definitely using Chinese models for their product promotion is natural." China's e-commerce industry is set to become the world's largest by 2015, according to Boston Consulting Group. Alibaba does not disclose transaction figures for Taobao Marketplace but its sister platform, Taobao Mall, which caters to larger businesses, is expected to see more than 200 billion yuan ($31.45 billion) worth of products traded this year, with clothes making up around 30 percent. ($1 = 6.3594 Chinese yuan) |
| Higher foreign stakes allowed in securities firms Posted: 25 Aug 2012 09:36 AM PDT  Source: Xinhua via china.org.cn The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on Friday announced plans to change its current rules to raise the cap for foreign stakes in joint venture securities firms to 49 percent from 33 percent. The changes are open to public opinion from Friday to Sept. 22. The move is in line with a promise made by Chinese authorities in May to relax foreign ownership limits in China, the statement said. The policy change follows a string of other steps taken by China to further open its financial markets and ease restrictions on foreign investors. Earlier this year, China lowered the threshold for qualified foreign institutional investors (QFIIs) and allowed them hold up to a 30-percent stake in a listed company, up from the previous 20-percent stake cap. |
| Posted: 25 Aug 2012 09:30 AM PDT Have You Heard… |
| U.S. Missile Shield Plan Seen Stoking China Fears Posted: 25 Aug 2012 09:43 AM PDT  Source: Wall Street Journal By Brian Spegele, James Hookway and Yuka Hayashi The U.S. decision to expand its missile-defense shield in the Asia-Pacific region, ostensibly to defend against North Korea, could feed Chinese fears about containment by the U.S. and encourage Beijing to accelerate its own missile program, analysts say. China's official response has been relatively muted so far. Zhu Feng, a leading Chinese security expert at Beijing University, said the U.S. announcement is "more likely to speed up an arms race." A senior U.S. official acknowledged that the Pentagon faces a hard sell convincing China's People's Liberation Army that the missile-defense architecture isn't designed to encircle them. "It sure looks like containment," the official said. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the missile defenses aren't directed at containing China. At a news conference Friday, Japan's defense minister Satoshi Morimoto confirmed that Tokyo and Washington "have had various discussions over missile defenses, including how to deploy the U.S.'s X-Band radar system." He added the government needed "a little more time" before disclosing details. The news of the U.S. plans, reported in The Wall Street Journal earlier this week, strikes a nerve in a region concerned about the growing assertiveness of China. Many in Japan feel the nation should beef up its own defense capability and strengthen cooperation with the U.S. in the face of China's military expansion and North Korea's nuclear ambitions. India is alarmed about China expanding its naval presence in the Indian Ocean. Vietnam, meanwhile, is building stronger ties with the U.S. Navy, while the Philippines, too, is reviving its security relationship with Washington amid a series of territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. However, security analysts say the strategy risks further antagonizing Chinese leaders, who are already under pressure from vocal nationalists to defend the country's strategic interests. "China will make a meal of this politically. To them it underscores their propaganda points about the pivot to Asia revealing America's Cold War mentality, that its purpose is to contain China," said Carl Thayer, an Asian security expert at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra. China's Ministry of National Defense hasn't commented directly on the antimissile plans, but Thursday sounded a cautious note, saying, "China has always believed that antimissile issues should be handled with great discretion, from the perspective of protecting global strategic stability." China's Foreign Ministry separately echoed the sentiment. China is developing sophisticated new missiles, including those potentially capable of striking U.S. aircraft carriers operating in the Asia-Pacific. Those efforts are in part aimed at denying regional access to the U.S., which could complicate Washington's efforts to defend Taiwan in the event of a conflict. Analysts say China may now be tempted to churn full speed ahead with this program in an effort to overwhelm an enhanced missile defense with firepower. "Attempting to overcome this reality would risk entering the U.S. into a race that it could not afford to wage, let alone win," wrote China security analysts Andrew Erickson and Gabe Collins in a commentary for The Wall Street Journal. The senior U.S. official said that while the system could be overwhelmed by a large-scale Chinese attack, U.S. missile-interceptors guided by the X-Bands could repulse a more limited strike, protecting U.S. bases and ships. "You don't need to be 100% effective in order to create a situation where the other guy has to change his calculus," the U.S. official said. Japan has mixed emotions about the nation's defense and its long-standing security alliance with the U.S. Finding a home for the X-Band radar won't be easy because of the growing grass-root opposition to the American military presence in Japan. Japan already hosts an X-Band radar in the northern prefecture of Aomori. At the time it was installed in 2006, it faced concerns from local residents who feared presence of the radar would make them a target for potential enemy attacks. Others were opposed to the arrival of more U.S. personnel to man the facility. The Pentagon says North Korea is the immediate threat driving decision-making on missile defense. South Korea's Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the missile-defense plans, which follow a provocative rocket test launch by Pyongyang in April. The rocket, which the North Koreans said would deploy a satellite into space, crashed minutes after takeoff. Pyongyang previously launched long-range missiles in 2006 and 2009, both of which also crashed soon after takeoff. U.S. intelligence agencies have long held that North Korea could have a missile capable of reaching the U.S. as early as 2015 or 2016. Some U.S. defense officials have said a third X-Band radar could be positioned in the Philippines, which would potentially help Washington and its allies more accurately track ballistic missiles launched from North Korea and part of China. Raul Hernandez, assistant secretary at the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs, said the Philippines hasn't been approached by the U.S. over basing an early-warning radar station there. Some analysts warn that the U.S. plan may further destabilize a region that faces volatile territorial disputes, competition for resources and growing nationalism. It may also force governments in the region to make uncomfortable choices. Sumathy Permal, a senior researcher at the Centre for Maritime Security and Diplomacy at the Maritime Institute of Malaysia, said that Malaysia values close ties with both the U.S. and China. "Malaysia may not want to upset either," she wrote in an email. Lora Saalman, a Beijing-based researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that the X-Band radar issue "cuts to the heart of China's overall military modernization and role in Asia." However, she said a land-based X-Band radar is potentially somewhat less concerning to the Chinese than a sea-based one that could be more difficult for China to evade. "So this land-based X-Band radar is not entirely a worst-case scenario for China," said Ms. Saalman.   |
| Chinese Bridge Collapses, Adding to Safety Worries Posted: 25 Aug 2012 09:39 AM PDT  Source: Wall Street Journal By Laurie Burkitt BEIJING—The ramp of an eight-lane bridge in China's northern city of Harbin collapsed Friday, killing three people and injuring five, as concern about the safety of China's infrastructure mounts. The incident was one of at least six highway bridge collapses to occur across the country since July of last year, the report said. A massive stimulus package rolled out in response to the global financial crisis led to large-scale expansions of highways, high-speed rail and the construction of giant new airports. Yet questions over the quality of infrastructure within China have been mounting recently as deaths and injuries related to failures in public projects and city systems rise. On Thursday, 24 citizens were injured when two passenger trains collided at a railway station in China's northeast Heilongjiang province—where Harbin is also located—according to a separate Xinhua report. Beijing announced last month that 77 people died after heavy rains flooded city streets, taxing the drainage system and causing many roads to cave in. In July 2011, a deadly high-speed rail collision outside the eastern city of Wenzhou prompted outrage and concern about whether a push for breakneck-speed growth has come at the expense of public safety. Chinese citizens voiced anger as news of the Harbin bridge collapse emerged Friday. One citizen on microblogging service Sina Weibo, similar to Twitter, wrote, "Are Chinese that desperate for money? Is this the China we want to show to the world?" Another person wrote on the site, "I can't help but worry about going to work every day. I have to be on the road too." Xinhua said the company that constructed the bridge project was China Railway First Group Co., Ltd, which has been pushing overseas expansion and has projects in more than 20 countries, such as Greece, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco, according to information on the company's website. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.   |
| Angola deports China 'gangsters' Posted: 25 Aug 2012 07:46 AM PDT Angola extradites 37 Chinese nationals accused of targeting other Chinese with kidnappings, armed robberies, extortion and prostitution rings. |
| 37 suspects involved in Angola crimes sent back to China Posted: 25 Aug 2012 02:48 AM PDT A total of 37 suspects involved in violent crimes targeting Chinese in Angola of west Africa were sent back to China under police escort today. They arrived in Beijing by air this morning. The suspects, all of Chinese nationality, were allegedly involved in kidnapping, robbery, blackmail, human trafficking and forcing women into prostitution, said the statement from the Ministry of Public Security. Chinese police sent a special team to Angola and, with the cooperation of local police, they cracked 12 criminal organizations and 48 criminal cases, rescuing 14 Chinese victims, the statement said. The victims also returned to China on the same flight. It was the first time Chinese police launched a large-scale action against crimes targeting Chinese in Africa, setting a new example of cooperation with African police, said Liu Ancheng, head of the criminal division under the ministry, at the airport. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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