News » Society » Moves to block SARS-type virus
News » Society » Moves to block SARS-type virus |
- Moves to block SARS-type virus
- Jumping with joy for holiday
- China moves to block SARS-like bug
- Graft suspicions tarnish trend for gold mooncakes
- Baidu CEO Li Says Mobile Web Revenue Remains Elusive in China
- Top China Leader Faces Trial
- China’s Jewelry Industry- All that Glitters is Sold
- China leaders stage show of unity after expelling Bo
- China's most advanced research ship delivered
- Bo Xilai expelled from top legislature
- 2,000 in hospital brawl after woman dies
- Too much aluminum in kids' diets, says report
- Pilot grounded after his HIV status is revealed
- Japan accused of stealing Diaoyu Islands from China
- I still love you dad, but a Mr Right is just wrong ...
- Bo Xilai expelled from the Party for crimes dating back a decade
- Date set for new central leaders
- China paves way for Bo charges
- Bird flu `epidemic' sparks chicken cull
- `Obstinate' Japan PM blasted
| Moves to block SARS-type virus Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:10 AM PDT China's top quarantine authority yesterday ordered a three-month intensified quarantine to prevent the entry of a new type of virus from the same family as SARS. In a statement, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine demanded increased body temperature monitoring and other medical inspections on travelers from Britain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, after the World Health Organization (WHO) said the new type of coronavirus, has left a Qatari citizen in critical condition in London. A man in Saudi Arabia has died of the virus. The administration requires travelers from the three nations to inform China's entry-exit inspection and quarantine institutions if they develop acute respiratory symptoms such as fever, a cough or shortness of breath. The new and potentially fatal virus in the same family as SARS - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - which was discovered in a patient in London last week appears not to spread easily from person to person, WHO said on Friday. The United Nations health agency said it was working with partners to understand the public health risk better. Global alert "From the information available thus far, it appears that the novel coronavirus cannot be easily transmitted from person to person," it said in a statement. The WHO put out a global alert last Sunday saying a new virus had infected a 49-year-old Qatari who had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia, where another man with the same virus had died. The Qatari was described as critically ill on Tuesday and is being treated in a London hospital. No new confirmed cases of infection with the virus have since been reported, the WHO said. The new virus shares some of the symptoms of SARS, another coronavirus, which emerged in China in 2002 and killed around a tenth of the 8,000 people it infected worldwide. Both patients who have so far been confirmed with the new virus suffered kidney failure. "Given the severity of the two laboratory confirmed cases, WHO is continuing to monitor the situation in order to provide the appropriate response, expertise and support to its member states," the WHO statement said. Scientists at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which monitors disease in the European Union, said initial virology results and the separation in time of the only two confirmed cases suggest the infection may have developed from animals. Such diseases are known as zoonoses. "(It) is quite probably of zoonotic origin and different in behavior from SARS," the scientists wrote in a "rapid communication" study in the online journal Eurosurveillance. The UN agency has not recommended any travel restrictions in connection with the new virus. |
| Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:10 AM PDT A girl jumps off a suitcase inside the waiting room of a long-distance bus station in Hefei, Anhui Province, yesterday, ahead of the nationwide eight-day break for China's Mid-Autumn festival and National Day. The Mid-Autumn plus National Day combo holiday runs from today to October 7, with hundreds of millions of Chinese people expected to travel. Also, for the first time in decades, Chinese drivers will enjoy a toll-free journey home during the holiday. According to the Shanghai authorities, the city is expected to receive more than 7 million visits, while more than 45,500 people will choose to travel abroad for the break. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| China moves to block SARS-like bug Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:10 AM PDT CHINA'S top quarantine authority yesterday ordered a three-month intensified quarantine to prevent the entry of a new type of virus from the same family as SARS. In a statement, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine demanded increased body temperature monitoring and other medical inspections on travelers from Britain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, after the World Health Organization (WHO) said the new type of coronavirus, has left a Qatari citizen in critical condition in London. A man in Saudi Arabia has died of the virus. The administration requires travelers from the three nations to inform China's entry-exit inspection and quarantine institutions if they develop acute respiratory symptoms such as fever, a cough or shortness of breath. The new and potentially fatal virus in the same family as SARS - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - which was discovered in a patient in London last week appears not to spread easily from person to person, WHO said on Friday. The United Nations health agency said it was working with partners to understand the public health risk better. Global alert "From the information available thus far, it appears that the novel coronavirus cannot be easily transmitted from person to person," it said in a statement. The WHO put out a global alert last Sunday saying a new virus had infected a 49-year-old Qatari who had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia, where another man with the same virus had died. The Qatari was described as critically ill on Tuesday and is being treated in a London hospital. No new confirmed cases of infection with the virus have since been reported, the WHO said. The new virus shares some of the symptoms of SARS, another coronavirus, which emerged in China in 2002 and killed around a tenth of the 8,000 people it infected worldwide. Both patients who have so far been confirmed with the new virus suffered kidney failure. "Given the severity of the two laboratory confirmed cases, WHO is continuing to monitor the situation in order to provide the appropriate response, expertise and support to its member states," the WHO statement said. Scientists at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which monitors disease in the European Union, said initial virology results and the separation in time of the only two confirmed cases suggest the infection may have developed from animals. Such diseases are known as zoonoses. "(It) is quite probably of zoonotic origin and different in behavior from SARS," the scientists wrote in a "rapid communication" study in the online journal Eurosurveillance. The UN agency has not recommended any travel restrictions in connection with the new virus. |
| Graft suspicions tarnish trend for gold mooncakes Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:06 AM PDT Gold mooncakes made their debut in the gift sector ahead of China's back-to-back autumn holiday but suspicions of corruption have been raised. Made of pure gold, the mooncake-shaped items witnessed good sales on the eve of China's traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Mooncake Festival. "Most of the buyers are groups of clients of companies and enterprises who have bought gold mooncakes as a gift," said a shop assistant in a department store in Xuanwumen in downtown Beijing. One of the most favored gift box consists of two pieces, which weigh 50 grams each. The price is 42,900 yuan (US$6,821) - equal to 429 yuan per gram. The price of standard metal bars is around 360 yuan. There are also other choices of mooncakes with various weights of gold or silver. In some stores, gold and silver mooncake giftboxes sold out on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays running from today until October 7. Mooncakes are an essential part of China's Mid-Autumn Festival. It is a holiday about family reunions and cakes are a common gift between family and friends. However, many netizens on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging service, and web-sharing site Youku, condemned golden mooncakes, as a form of corruption. "Who will put gold mooncakes on the dining table? It is just to hide corruption," said a netizen named Lantianbaiyun3215 on Sina Weibo. "The authorities should take it as a clue in fighting corruption to trace both the buyers and the receivers," said a netizen named Zhaijianhui. Amid the global economic downturn, gold is cherished more for its increasing value as an asset, as it is unlikely it will be affected by inflation, said Wu Zhengzheng, a precious metal analyst in the Chihong International Co Ltd. Gold mooncakes are not the only high-price gifts to trigger public concerns. Silver rice dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival in June, and high-end West Lake longjing tea have also come under suspicion. China's domestic gift market is estimated to be worth more than 760 billion yuan annually, of which more than 262 billion yuan is consumed by group clients, said a survey conducted by China Gift Industry Research Institute. |
| Baidu CEO Li Says Mobile Web Revenue Remains Elusive in China Posted: 29 Sep 2012 08:52 AM PDT  Source: Bloomberg News By Ari Levy Baidu Inc. Chief Executive Officer Robin Li said China's biggest Internet companies haven't yet figured out the best way to make money from mobile, and he's patiently experimenting with business models. "Exactly when it will become a material source I don't know," Li said in his keynote address. "I'm in no hurry to figure that out because we know there's lots of room for improvement" in mobile advertisements, he said. Baidu, owner of China's most-used search engine, introduced a mobile browser earlier this month for devices running Google Inc.'s Android operating system, as part of Li's effort to become the front door to the Web for smartphone users. Mobile-ad sales in China more than doubled to 2.4 billion yuan ($380 million) last year, according to research company iResearch. Beijing-based Baidu said in July that it's offering search on Sina Corp.'s mobile Web portal. That came after it agreed to offer search results of posts by users on Sina Weibo, a microblogging service similar to Twitter Inc. The company has also introduced potential money-making services like cloud storage. Still, Li said that while he's optimistic about the future of the mobile Web, the money currently being generated doesn't yet match the hype. "It's very important for us to find the right business model for the mobile Internet," he said. "We know users love the mobile Internet and we have to go with them and we have to develop things they want." Baidu rose 2 percent to $116.89 in New York trading yesterday, leaving it little changed this year. |
| Posted: 29 Sep 2012 08:57 AM PDT  Source: Wall Street Journal by Jeremy Page BEIJING—China's leadership expelled former highflying official Bo Xilai from the Communist Party and launched criminal proceedings against him, citing a litany of wrongdoing over 30 years, including taking huge bribes, abusing his power during a murder investigation against his wife and engaging in improper sexual relations with several women. The decision by the party's Politburo, announced by the state-run Xinhua news agency, came as the world's second largest economy wrestles with a host of knotty problems—an economic slowdown, a sovereignty fight with Japan over some islands, and a pending once-a-decade leadership shuffle that the Bo scandal had thrown into turmoil. There is also the issue of lingering support among the public for Mr. Bo and the populist style of government he pursued as party leader in Chongqing. There, he presided over a Maoist revival movement and heavy state spending on infrastructure and social programs. By accusing Mr. Bo of extensive wrongdoing, over his entire career, the party appears to be determined to crush that support. Another announcement Friday indicated that current and retired party chieftains have likely reached broad agreement in negotiations over the new leadership lineup. After weeks of feuding and horse-trading, the Politburo—the party's top 24 leaders—set Nov. 8 as the opening for a Congress at which President Hu Jintao and other senior figures are to retire from their party posts. The risk the leaders run with a broad judicial case against Mr. Bo is attracting criticism from members of the public who already have been wondering how he was able to rise almost to the pinnacle of power—and whether he would have gone further were it not for his former police chief. That chief, after a falling out with Mr. Bo, triggered the scandal in early February by going to a U.S. consulate and reporting evidence that Mr. Bo's wife had murdered a British businessman. Before then, Mr. Bo was a front-runner for a spot on the Politburo's powerful Standing Committee. "What we should be thinking about is how, at every step along the road, he was violating discipline. How did he climb so high? We should consider problems with the system," wrote Lei Yi, a historian, in a posting on Sina Weibo, a microblog service akin to Twitter. Differences over how to handle Mr. Bo, the son of a fabled revolutionary, are believed to have delayed an announcement on when the leadership succession would begin, according to party insiders, political analysts and diplomats. Those people say that powerful figures, thought to include former President Jiang Zemin, argued until recently that Mr. Bo should be disciplined within the party for limited wrongdoing in Chongqing rather than face criminal charges, which in China almost always bring conviction. Friday's announcement suggests that Mr. Bo's opponents, believed to include President Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao, convinced other leaders that he should face trial for serious crimes that lawyers say can carry the death penalty. Party insiders say Mr. Bo is more likely to draw a long prison sentence. Mr. Bo was dismissed from his Communist Party posts in April and put under investigation for unspecified "serious disciplinary violations" by the party's internal watchdog, which typically makes a recommendation to the party leadership on whether to file criminal charges. Xinhua said Friday that Mr. Bo's case had been transferred to "judicial organs." It gave no indication of when formal charges would be filed or when a trial might be held. "Bo's behaviors have yielded serious consequences, badly undermined the reputation of the party and the country, created very negative impacts at home and abroad and significantly damaged the cause of the party and the people," Xinhua said. It added that Mr. Bo had repeatedly "violated party discipline" over a lengthy career, dating back to his days as mayor of the northeast port city of Dalian from 1993 to 2001 and continuing through his time as governor of Liaoning province, as China's commerce minister and as party chief in Chongqing. Senior party figures have been convicted of serious crimes before, but it is extremely rare for one to be accused of serial violations over an entire career. Chen Youxi, a prominent lawyer, wrote on his microblog that "among Politburo members, Mr. Bo's crimes and punishment could set a new record." Xinhua said Mr. Bo had "abused his power, made severe mistakes and bore major responsibility" in his wife's murder case and in the case of Wang Lijun, the former police chief who fled to a U.S. consulate. Mr. Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, was convicted in August of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood. Mr. Wang this week was convicted of defection, bribery, abuse of power and "bending the law for selfish ends" by initially trying to cover up Ms. Gu's crime. During their trials, prosecutors made hardly any direct references to Mr. Bo, and no mentions of corruption, suggesting to some he would escape charges relating to economic crimes. But Friday's announcement made clear that corruption in his family had been a big part of the investigation. "He took advantage of his office to seek profits for others and received huge bribes personally and through his family," Xinhua stated. Ms. Gu also abused her position "to seek profits for others, and the Bo family accepted a huge amount of money and property from others," it said. It didn't mention any other members of the family. During Ms. Gu's trial, prosecutors said she believed Mr. Heywood had threatened her son, Bo Guagua, after they became embroiled in a business dispute over a failed property deal. Bo Guagua, who graduated from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government this year, and who friends say is still living in the U.S., didn't respond to an emailed request for comment. Zhang Ming, a political scientist at Renmin University in Beijing, said Friday's announcement was as politically significant as that of a failed 1971 coup attempt against Chairman Mao Zedong by his military chief and designated successor, Lin Biao. Mr. Zhang said he believed China's leaders were worried by recent anti-Japanese demonstrations, during which many protesters appeared to show support for Mr. Bo by carrying portraits of Chairman Mao, whose patriotic songs Mr. Bo had revived. "If they didn't take Bo Xilai's actions and announce them to the people, he would just turn into a populist leader," Mr. Zhang said. Xinhua went on to say that Bo Xilai "had or maintained improper sexual relationships with a number of women," without providing details. The investigation also found he had made "erroneous decisions in the promotion of personnel," the news agency said, and uncovered evidence that suggested his involvement in other crimes. Mr. Zhang said that citing Mr. Bo's relationships with women appeared to be an attempt to sully his reputation. "This is just to discredit him," he said, to tell Mr. Bo's fans: "Look at the person who you support." Mr. Bo has been unreachable for comment. He is believed to be under a form of house detention. A longtime friend of the Bo family said he didn't believe Mr. Bo would be executed, but most likely would face a life sentence. "If you want to be a politician, you have to think about one day it might happen," the friend said. While some observers said Mr. Bo's trial could be rushed through before the party Congress, He Weifang, a law professor at Peking University, said he thought it might not happen for several months. "I still don't think we'll find out the real facts of this case, and there is still the question of whether we would know any of this if Wang Lijun had not gone to the U.S. consulate," said Mr. He. |
| China’s Jewelry Industry- All that Glitters is Sold Posted: 29 Sep 2012 08:47 AM PDT  Source: China Daily With the rapid development of China's economy, Chinese consumers' appetite for jewelry has continued to grow, resulting in consistent sales growth in the domestic market. In fewer than 20 years, China's jewelry industry has grown rapidly, and Shenzhen, a booming city in South China's Guangdong province, has played a crucial role in leading this industry. Thanks to the influence of Hong Kong's industry, the past two decades have seen Shenzhen evolve into China's jewelry capital. Since the 1990s, the city has been acknowledged as China's biggest jewelry manufacturing base and trade distribution center. According to the Gems and Jewelry Trade Association of Shenzhen, more than 2,000 jewelry companies now call the city home, and their annual output value of more than 50 billion yuan accounts for more than 70 percent of China's overall jewelry production. In fact, the sales revenue of Shenzhen's jewelry enterprises is not just ranked first in terms of domestic market share, it makes up about one-third of China's total. But jewelers in Shenzhen are no longer content to remain the largest outsourcing base for brands from Hong Kong or other parts of the world. They are trying to reshape old business models by investing heavily in branding their own independently designed products, aspiring to upgrade Shenzhen from an international hub of original equipment manufacturers to the birthplace of famous jewelry brands. "China's jewelry industry is facing unprecedented development opportunities and its prospects are rosy, so it is the right time for Shenzhen to ride on the trend to cultivate its own famous jewelry brands," said Shi Hongyue, vice-chairman of the Gems and Jewelry Trade Association of China. Shi said that while an exquisite platinum necklace made by a Shenzhen jewelry company is currently cheaper than a silver necklace from Tiffany or Cartier, the huge price gap reflects not only the fine craftsmanship and superb quality of Western jewelry, but most importantly, the gap in brand awareness. "Promoting our own branded jewelry will ensure Shenzhen's jewelry enterprises develop more sustainability by making products of higher added-value and reducing their dependence on orders from others," he said. Shi said jewelers in Shenzhen should overcome bottlenecks constraining the development of the city's jewelry industry to achieve a better brand-building result. "Even though Shenzhen has the craftsmanship to deliver the orders of top international brands, its local brands lack independent research-and-development capability and lag behind their international counterparts in design," he said. "A price war is an unsustainable market strategy; enhancing the capability of design innovation as well as strengthening brand-building efforts are vital for Shenzhen jewelers to gain a stronger foothold, given the increasingly intense market competition." Some jewelers in Shenzhen have taken the lead in brand-building campaign. One of the most successful is Chow Tai Seng Jewelry Co Ltd, a large jewelry producer based in the city. Established in 1966, Chow Tai Seng Jewelry is now one of the largest diamond-jewelry retailers and wholesalers in China. It currently has the largest jewelry chain in the country, with more than 2,000 shops in more than 300 Chinese cities. The company posted sales revenue of 13 billion yuan in 2011, accounting for 7.1 percent of the market. Zhou Zongwen, board chairman of Chow Tai Seng Jewelry, said sales this year are expected to increase by about 30 percent over the previous year, and the company will maintain this robust growth momentum in the next few years. Zhou attributes his company's strong sales performance to its huge brand-building efforts over the past five years, which he believes have greatly sharpened his products' market competitiveness. "Brand building has a pivotal role for the expansion of consumer groups and market influence as well as increasing customer loyalty," he said. "Higher brand awareness can help a jewelry company produce products with higher added-value so as to gain more gross profit. That is why Chow Tai Seng has developed by leaps and bounds in recent years because more consumers recognize our brand." Zhou said China's major jewelry companies have been gradually accelerating the pace of brand building because they have realized that competition between jewelry enterprises in the future will be a contest of brand promotion. More and more international jewelers are eyeing China's huge market, but instead of worrying about the challenge, Zhou believes their entry has provided an excellent opportunity for domestic jewelers to learn about branding from their Western counterparts. "Some centuries-old European jewelry brands have advanced brand marketing, positioning, promotion and packaging knowledge, which is well worth learning for Chinese jewelers," Zhou said. But, he explains, apart from learning from Western competitors, brand building also needs time and patience. "Brand building is not an overnight thing, it needs long-term planning and sustained investment and a clear brand-positioning strategy," Zhou said. "I hope that by 2020, Chow Tai Seng could be a brand that is more recognized in the international market." Apart from strengthened brand-building efforts, Shenzhen's jewelry companies have also enhanced their design capability. "If we just copy outstanding design works from others instead of sharpening our own R&D capability, our company's development cannot be sustained," said Zhou Huawei, marketing manager of Shenzhen EDL Jewelry Ltd, a company specializing in the production and processing of gold and platinum jewelry. Zhou said EDL got its start in the jewelry OEM business in the 1990s, producing equipment for big-name Chinese or overseas jewelry brands, but in recent years the company has focused on the promotion of their own branded jewelry. "With rising living standards, people will pay more attention to design and workmanship, especially fashion-conscious people who are in pursuit of style and personality, so we must constantly make upgrades to our product design to meet the changing market demand," Zhou Huawei said. At the same time, he said EDL also tries its best to catch up with the trend of international jewelry design. "We hire designers from Italy, which is an important way for us to learn advanced design concepts from our Western counterparts," Zhou said, adding that China is now experiencing a severe shortage of quality jewelry designers, so experienced designers from the US or Europe are in high demand. However, despite the difficulties, industry experts are optimistic about the prospects of Shenzhen's jewelry industry. "In the next 10 years, you could see the emergence of the equivalent of top Western jewelry brands in Shenzhen," said British luxury jewelry designer Theo Fennell, whose clients include Victoria Beckham and Helen Mirren. "Chinese jewelers should have more confidence because many Western brands are making things in China and then they bring them back, so there is no shortage of skills," he said. "Gucci was a local company that used to make saddles and shoes and now it is an international brand, so before a small business develops into a huge empire, it has to start from somewhere." Fennell said that as Chinese people get richer, they will look for jewelry of better quality and design, which will force a Chinese local company to enhance their production skills. "Over time, Shenzhen will prove to the world that it is the cradle of world-class jewelers," he said. "It is only a matter of time before an international jewelry brand emerges from Shenzhen." |
| China leaders stage show of unity after expelling Bo Posted: 29 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT  Source: Reuters By Chris Buckley (Reuters) – China's leaders put on a show of unity on Saturday after their damning accusations against disgraced politician Bo Xilai, whose expulsion from the Communist Party drew an outcry from leftist supporters in a sign of the rifts his prosecution could inflame. The party buried Bo under the accusations at the same time that it announced a November 8 date for a congress that will anoint a new generation of top leaders – a lineup that Bo held barely disguised ambitions to join. On Saturday evening, top leaders gathered in the cavernous national parliament building for a National Day reception, their first public appearance since the revelation of the accusations against Bo. Premier Wen Jiabao did not mention Bo or any other controversies in his remarks to hundreds of diplomats, officials and other guests. "Looking ahead, we are full of confidence," Wen told them, adding that "no hardship will prevent us from forging ahead". The eight other members of the Politburo Standing Committee – the party's innermost core of power – also attended. Bo's downfall has unsettled their preparations for the leadership succession, and exposed high-level abuse of power after his former police chief briefly took refuge in a U.S. consulate and revealed that Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, had murdered a British businessman. State media tried to draw a clear line between Bo and the party elite he once belonged to, casting his fall as a victory for the party's determination to fight corruption. "No matter how high a position, no matter how influential, anyone who violates party discipline and state law will be sternly pursued and punished," the official Xinhua news agency said in a commentary on the case. "As a senior party official, Bo Xilai should have been a model of obedience to party discipline," the news agency said in the commentary, widely distributed by state media websites. "But instead he monopolized power and behaved recklessly, doing as he pleased and gravely violating discipline." "His misdeeds deserve their punishment." Earlier on Saturday, the party-run parliament confirmed that Bo had been removed as a delegate, following his expulsion from the party and its governing councils, Xinhua news agency reported. DEMONISATION AND DISILLUSIONMENT The party could face trouble, however, convincing skeptics that it has only recently awoken to Bo's crimes, which it traced back to his years as a city official in northeast China. Bo's leftist supporters have already revived charges that Bo is the victim of a plot to eradicate him and his populist policies. "Last night, one of the core members of the ruling party's leadership was suddenly turned into a demon," said one commentary on "Red China", a far-left Chinese-language website that has issued a stream of commentary defending Bo. "Unlike other ousted senior officials, Bo Xilai's downfall has triggered two diametrically opposed reactions in society – one of elation and relief, and the other of outrage and regret." The "Red China" site has been blocked to the many Chinese users who do not know how to get past censorship barriers. But China's version of Twitter, "Weibo", has also echoed with debate about Bo's dramatic downfall. Public support for Bo is unlikely to creep into the heavily regimented party congress, but the effort to disgrace him could foster deeper public disillusionment with the party by showing that one of its formerly favored officials was steeped in corruption. Bo, 63, is the "princeling" son of a Communist Party official who served alongside Mao Zedong. "He won support from the underdogs of society and the radical intellectuals, and maybe even some within the party and the military," said Lai Hongyi, who teaches about contemporary China at the University of Nottingham in Britain. "That's probably quite polarizing because you are not talking about just a few people but a segment of the whole of Chinese society and the establishment." After arriving in Chongqing in 2007, Bo turned it into a showcase for pro-growth economics, and ran a campaign against organized crime, policies welcomed by many of the city's 30 million residents, though his brash self-promotion irked some leaders in Beijing. Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, and his former police chief, Wang Lijun, have already been jailed over the scandal stemming from the murder in November of British businessman Neil Heywood. The official statement carried by Xinhua said that in the murder scandal, Bo "abused his powers of office, committed serious errors and bears a major responsibility". That charge appears to reflect accusations from Wang's trial that suggested Bo tried to stymie the murder investigation. The government also accused Bo of taking huge bribes and other unspecified crimes. Before Bo is charged and tried, investigators must first complete an inquiry and indict him, but China's prosecutors and courts come under party control and are most unlikely to challenge the accusations. |
| China's most advanced research ship delivered Posted: 29 Sep 2012 02:50 AM PDT Photo taken today shows the comprehensive research vessel, the Kexue (Science), in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. The 99.6-meter-long and 17.8-meter wide ship was put into service today. Powered by a podded electric propulsion system, the Kexue consumes less power, creates less noise and vibration, and is able to move at continuously varying speeds of up to 15 knots. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Bo Xilai expelled from top legislature Posted: 28 Sep 2012 11:07 PM PDT THE Standing Committee of Chongqing Municipal People's Congress has decided to remove Bo Xilai from his official post as deputy to the 11th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, the NPC confirmed today. |
| 2,000 in hospital brawl after woman dies Posted: 28 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT NEARLY 2,000 people were involved in a brawl yesterday after a woman died hours after getting an intravenous drip at a hospital in south China's Dongguan City in Guangdong Province. A Hubei native surnamed Tian, 23, died on Thursday morning about 11 hours after she was given a drip in Humen Town Taiping Hospital. She had a high fever and sore throat, Nanfang Daily reported. A number of Tian's relatives marched to the hospital in the afternoon, crying and shouting abuse at doctors. The situation soon erupted into an all-out brawl involving around 2,000 people. They smashed the windows of the outpatient clinic and damaged the iron gate, the newspaper said. Police had restored order by 12:20am yesterday. No injuries or arrests have been disclosed. Ye Kongxin, head of Humen Town, said the cause of Tian's death was being investigated. The hospital said Tian first came to the hospital on Wednesday with a high fever and sore throat, but doctors and nurses didn't find anything else abnormal when she was treated. She felt better and returned home at around 9:30pm the same day, the hospital said. However, she felt pain and tightening in her chest about 5am on Thursday. By the time an ambulance arrived some 11 minutes later she had stopped breathing. She was pronounced dead at 6:40am after emergency treatment failed, the report said, citing the local government. Tension between doctors and patients has been brewing for years in China. Many patients are unhappy about high medical fees and poor access to treatment while doctors often worked long hours for little pay. A recent poll showed barely 6 percent of health personnel said doctor-patient relationships were "harmonious" while 78 percent complained of above-average levels of stress. The survey also found that 74 percent of respondents said they did not receive due respect or trust from the public, according to Xinhua news agency. In April, a doctor was stabbed by a patient at Peking University People's Hospital, allegedly because the doctor had failed to treat the patient properly. And in September 2011, a patient stabbed a surgeon at Beijing Tongren Hospital following a dispute over treatment. |
| Too much aluminum in kids' diets, says report Posted: 28 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT MORE than 40 percent of Chinese children between the ages of four and six are exposed to excess aluminum from food additives, new research has indicated. About 43 percent of this age group eat 1.6 times the maximum daily amount of aluminum suggested by the World Health Organization, according to a survey by the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment. Children absorb the hazardous substance mainly by eating puffed-grain foods, according to the study. Exposure to high levels of aluminum can result in respiratory and neurological problems. Overall, 32.5 percent of Chinese people have too much aluminum in their diets, according to the study published in Ministry of Health newspaper Health News. The survey also showed people living in northern China consume 4.6 times the amount of aluminum taken in by people in the south, due to the former's dietary preference for flour products. Northern Chinese, who tend to eat noodles as a main dish for most meals, have an average aluminum intake of 5.1mg per 1kg of body weight, 2.6 times the recommended amount. Foods such as steamed bread, fried dough sticks and noodles are major sources of aluminum, Chen Junshi, a senior expert at the center, said. Additives containing aluminum are allowed in food processing, but producers tend to use more than required to boost taste, Chen said. Health authorities are considering stricter regulations on the use of 13 kinds of food additives containing aluminum, he added. |
| Pilot grounded after his HIV status is revealed Posted: 28 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT A PILOT with a Chinese airline has been suspended after his company was told he was an HIV carrier. Shenzhen student identified as Xiao Xiong, 19, wrote online that he had met and slept with airline captain Zhao Liang in May and they had a month-long relationship. The student said Zhao neither took any safety measures nor told him about his HIV status though Zhao had been diagnosed in 2009. In his post, the student accused the captain of "maliciously spreading the virus." Though tests revealed he was HIV-negative, the high school student said he was afraid Zhao would harm other people and reported the matter to Zhao's company, which has not been named. An manager of Zhao's airline said Zhao had been banned from flying and was undergoing hospital treatment, The Beijing News reported yesterday. "He is in stable condition and we are offering him subsidies," the manager added. Another pilot told the paper that all pilots had to pass strict physical examinations to exclude the possibility of heart attacks, mental diseases or sex-related illnesses in order to obtain a flight license. Sex-related diseases such as AIDS and syphilis have been added to the medical check list this year. A total of 28,000 people died of diseases related to AIDS in China last year, according to a report by the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention. China has 780,000 HIV carriers, 71.4 percent of them men. |
| Japan accused of stealing Diaoyu Islands from China Posted: 28 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT CHINESE Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has called on Japan to stop violating China's territorial sovereignty, and accused it of stealing the Diaoyu Islands. At the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday night, Yang said: "China strongly urges Japan to immediately stop all activities that violate China's territorial sovereignty, take concrete actions to correct its mistakes, and return to the track of resolving the dispute through negotiation." Yang also condemned Japan's "purchase" of the islands earlier this month from a so-called private owner. "The moves taken by Japan are totally illegal and invalid," he said. "They can in no way change the historical fact that Japan stole the Diaoyu and affiliated islands and that China has sovereignty over them." He added: "The Diaoyu and its affiliated islands have been an integral part of China's territory since ancient times. China has indisputable historical and legal evidence in this regard." He said Japan seized the islands in 1895 at the end of the Sino-Japanese War and forced the then Chinese government to sign an unequal treaty to cede the islands and other Chinese territories. After World War II, the Diaoyu Islands and other Chinese territories occupied by Japan were returned to China in accordance with the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and other international documents. The Chinese foreign minister said that, by taking such unilateral actions as the so-called "island purchase," the Japanese government had grossly violated China's sovereignty. "This is an outright denial of the outcomes of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and poses a grave challenge to the post-war international order and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations," he said. 'Colonial mentality' "The Chinese government is firm in upholding China's territorial sovereignty," he added. Japan's deputy ambassador, Kazuo Kodama, said at the end of the assembly session that "there is no issue of territorial sovereignty to be resolved." "There is no doubt that the islands are an inherent territory of Japan based on historical facts and international law," Kodama said. China's UN Ambassador Li Baodong then accused Japan of having an "obsolete colonial mentality." Li said Japan's so-called purchase was no different to money laundering, accusing Tokyo of buying stolen property. Li asked Japan to "discard illusions, stop day-dreaming, honor its international obligations, take concrete measures to redress its mistakes and stop all acts that violate China's sovereignty." In Beijing yesterday, China's assistant foreign minister, Le Yucheng, told a forum on the 40th anniversary of China-Japan diplomatic ties that the island purchase decision was "like lobbing an atom bomb at China." "If Japan continues to act erroneously despite advice to the contrary and keeps going down the wrong path, then Sino-Japanese relations could sink like the Titanic," Le said. In a further sign of economic fallout from the dispute, Chinese buyers and Japanese sellers of refined copper have postponed agreement on terms for 2013 shipments. Chinese and Japanese companies failed to reach a deal in talks this week, even though Japanese sellers were willing to cut price premiums by about 10 percent from last year, a Chinese executive said. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged China and Japan to let "cool heads" prevail. Clinton met Yang in New York and said it was important to cool the issue over the islands that has soured ties between Asia's two largest economies. |
| I still love you dad, but a Mr Right is just wrong ... Posted: 28 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT THE daughter of a flamboyant Hong Kong tycoon who has offered US$65 million to any man who can woo her away from her lesbian partner said yesterday that she's not upset with her father. Still, it's unlikely she will be accepting any of the marriage proposals flooding in. Cecil Chao made world headlines this week when he offered the HK$500 million marriage bounty after learning that his daughter, Gigi Chao, had eloped with her partner to France. "I'm actually on very, very loving terms with my father. We speak on a daily basis. He just has a very interesting way of expressing his fatherly love," the 33-year-old told The Associated Press. She said her father offered the reward because he was upset after learning she had a church blessing in Paris with her girlfriend of the past several years. "What this whole episode really highlights is that perhaps still, the Chinese - or in fact the Hong Kong mentality - can perhaps tolerate the 'don't ask, don't tell' view of sexuality," she said. "But as a social statement, it's still very much a sensitive issue." Hong Kong decriminalized homosexuality in 1991, but it does not legally recognize same-sex marriage. Cecil Chao is the chairman of Hong Kong property developer Cheuk Nang Holdings and has a reputation for being a playboy. He once claimed to have had 10,000 girlfriends but has never married. He's also known for his love of Rolls-Royces and for being a qualified helicopter pilot, a skill he shares with Gigi, one of his three children by three different women. Cecil Chao said yesterday that reports that his daughter had married were just rumors. He said he had received hundreds of offers from suitors since he made the offer and his daughter has probably had thousands. "I was very surprised about the reaction from around the world," said the 76-year-old tycoon, sporting gold mirrored sunglasses and a sport jacket over an unbuttoned polo shirt. "Thousands of people writing to say they want to be my in-laws." He said he's offering the money because he wants to make sure his daughter has a comfortable life in Hong Kong, which he believes will require a house worth HK$150 million. The rest of the money can be used for investments, he said. "Living a comfortable life in Hong Kong, not super-luxury, takes HK$500 million," he said. When asked whether she would accept an eligible suitor, Gigi Chao laughed off the question, saying, "We'll just worry about that when the time comes." |
| Bo Xilai expelled from the Party for crimes dating back a decade Posted: 28 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT BO Xilai was expelled from China's Communist Party and removed from public office yesterday, with the former Politburo member and regional Party chief accused of crimes ranging from corruption to sexual affairs. A statement from the Political Bureau of the Party's Central Committee said Bo's crimes dated back more than a decade, and included abuse of power, bribe taking and improper relations with several women. Bo, 63, is also accused of involvement in the cover-up of his wife's murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, an act that was instrumental in triggering his downfall. Bo's suspected law violations and relevant evidence will be transferred to judicial organs for handling, the statement said. "Bo Xilai's behavior resulted in serious repercussions and enormous damage to the reputation of the Party and the nation, producing extremely vile effects domestically and overseas, and causing heavy damage to the cause of the Party and the people," the Political Bureau said following its meeting. Murder confession The scandal was set off when Chongqing City's police chief disclosed that Bo's wife had murdered the British businessman. Bo was sacked as Party chief of Chongqing and his wife, Bogu Kailai, was given a suspended death sentence after confessing to the murder. The former police chief, Wang Lijun, was jailed for 15-years for initially covering up the murder and other crimes. The Party's 25-member Political Bureau, of which Bo had been a member, said yesterday that "investigations show that Bo had seriously violated Party discipline ... abused his power, committed grave mistakes and should be held responsible for the Wang Lijun case as well as Bugu's murder case." Wang testified that Bo ignored him when he told him of his suspicions, then boxed his ears, demoted him, and detained several of his subordinates. Investigation report The Political Bureau said Bo took huge amounts of bribes directly or through his family and "maintained illicit relationships with numerous females." It said Bo's crimes dated from his time as mayor of the northeastern port city of Dalian, through his term as commerce minister and as Party leader of Chongqing. Yesterday's decisions were taken after the meeting had deliberated over and adopted an investigation report into Bo's severe disciplinary violations, which had been submitted by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. At a meeting held on April 10, members of the Political Bureau were briefed on an investigation into an incident in which Wang Lijun entered the US Consulate General in Chengdu without permission as well as the reinvestigation into Heywood's murder. Based on Bo's mistakes and responsibilities in the two cases, as well as evidence of his other discipline violations uncovered during the investigations, the CPC Central Committee decided to suspend Bo's membership in the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau while an investigation got under way. It found that Bo seriously violated Party discipline while heading the city of Dalian and the Ministry of Commerce and while serving as a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and as Party chief of Chongqing. Bo abused his power, made severe mistakes and bore major responsibility in the Wang Lijun incident and his wife's murder case. The investigations also found that Bo took advantage of his office to seek profits for others and received huge bribes personally and through his family. Money and property His position was also abused by his wife Bogu Kailai to seek profits for others, and the Bo family accepted a huge amount of money and property from others. Bo was also found to have violated organizational and personnel disciplines and made erroneous decisions in the promotion of personnel. The CPC Central Committee said Party organizations at various levels must use Bo's case as a negative example to enhance cadre education, management and supervision, maintain strict Party discipline, improve the Party's working style, speed up the building of the system for punishing and preventing corruption, and enhance the Party's capabilities of self-purification, self-improvement and self-innovation. |
| Date set for new central leaders Posted: 28 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT CHINA'S Communist Party is to hold a national congress to appoint a new generation of central leaders on November 8. A new CPC Central Committee and a new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection will be elected at the 18th National Congress. Yesterday, the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee decided to submit the proposal to the seventh plenary meeting of the 17th CPC Central Committee on November 1. The Political Bureau meeting studied preparatory work for the November meetings and participants also reviewed the draft work report of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection to be submitted to the upcoming Party congress. The congress is a very important meeting to be held at a critical time when China is building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, and deepening reform and opening up and accelerating the transformation of economic development pattern in difficult areas, a statement from the meeting said. The congress will thoroughly examine the current international and domestic situation and take into account the new requirements for the country's development and people's new expectations, it said. The congress will draw out the guidelines and policies that fulfill the wishes of the people. It will make strategic plans for the overall advancement of reform and opening up and socialist modernization drive, as well as for the overall advancement of Party building. The congress will further mobilize the Party and people of all ethnic groups to march unswervingly along the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics, continue to advance scientific development and promote social harmony, and continue to improve people's livelihood and well-being, and strive for the building of a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way. A new CPC Central Committee and a new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection will be elected at the congress, according to the meeting. |
| China paves way for Bo charges Posted: 29 Sep 2012 01:46 AM PDT Top politician Bo Xilai is to be stripped of his seat in China's national legislature, paving the way for corruption and abuse of power charges. |
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