News » China » China reiterates resolution to maintain territorial sovereignty

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• China reiterates resolution to maintain territorial sovereignty
• Toll-free roads to take Chinese home this Spring Festival
• Xi urges wide publicity of CPC national congress spirit
• China suspends rural school closures
• Chinese alcohol maker apologizes for contamination
• Chinese vice premier reacts to blocking of HIV sufferer's surgery
• Official probed over sex video
• China to end reliance on organ donations from prisoners
• Mixing it up with Ibsen
• Brushes with life
• Tutor sacked over student death in Qingdao
• Businessman seeks $11m yuan for wrongful verdict
• China to continue working for fairer, more democratic global governance system
• Tibetan children back home after medical treatment in Anhui
• Modern Water Painting joins past with present
• China’s arduous road to low-carbon development
• DPRK warns of 2nd Yonphyong Island shelling
• Japan appoints new ambassador to China
• China may increase tax on natural resources
• Ang Lee turns unfilmable 'Life of Pi' into spectacle

China reiterates resolution to maintain territorial sovereignty Posted: 22 Nov 2012 09:59 AM PST No external pressure can shake the strong will and determination of the Chinese government and people to maintain territorial sovereignty, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said here Thursday.

Toll-free roads to take Chinese home this Spring Festival Posted: 22 Nov 2012 09:57 AM PST In two-and-a-half months, Chinese people will celebrate the Spring Festival, China's most important traditional festival for family reunions and a time when most people make homebound trips.

Xi urges wide publicity of CPC national congress spirit Posted: 22 Nov 2012 08:15 AM PST Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has urged wide publicity to promote the spirit of the 18th CPC National Congress.

China suspends rural school closures Posted: 22 Nov 2012 04:06 AM PST China has suspended closing or merging rural schools following a sharp decrease in pupil numbers because many dropped out.

Chinese alcohol maker apologizes for contamination Posted: 22 Nov 2012 05:09 AM PST Chinese alcohol producer Jiugui Liquor Co. on Thursday apologized to consumers and investors after quality supervisor found excessive levels of a toxic chemical in a sample of its product.

Chinese vice premier reacts to blocking of HIV sufferer's surgery Posted: 22 Nov 2012 02:07 AM PST Vice Premier Li Keqiang has instructed the Ministry of Health (MOH) to guarantee the right to medical treatment of people living with HIV, according to a notice posted on the ministry's official website late on Wednesday night.

Official probed over sex video Posted: 22 Nov 2012 04:23 AM PST CHONGQING - A probe into a district official by disciplinary authorities in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality began Thursday after he was allegedly exposed in a sex video by microbloggers on the Internet. A government source confirmed that a preliminary investigation found the sex video posted by Ji Xuguang, who registered with his real name on China's twitter-like website of Sina Weibo, had not been modified. However, the source said it was not yet confirmed whether the man in the video was Lei Zhengfu, a district official in Chongqing, as Ji claimed in his microblogs. Ji, who identified himself as an investigative journalist on the website, uploaded seven microblogs, including the sex video on Tuesday night. It showed a man looking like Lei having sex with a woman. Ji claimed that Lei kept an 18-year-old mistress. According to Ji, Lei, incumbent secretary of the Beibei District Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), denied he was involved in the sex video, which was filmed in 2007. He was then vice secretary of the district CPC committee. He claimed the video must have been "modified with photoshop software." "Lei told me over the phone that he was willing to 'make friends' with me, when I called him to check his reaction," said Ji in one of his microblog messages. Ji said he received an anonymous phone threat after he made contact with Lei over the phone. Ji's microblogs have been forwarded on several popular Internet websites and forums. A microblogger coded "Tianjindewuliao" said "people are overlooking on corrupt officials everywhere." Chinese netizens' morale in hunting down corrupt officials via the Internet has been boosted. Web condemnation from the public led to the removal of safety official, Yang Dacai, from the northwestern Shaanxi province, in September, and urban management official, Cai bin, in southern Guangdong Province, in October. The former was caught wearing different luxury watches in pictures posted on the Internet, while the latter was exposed to own 22 homes, far outpacing his salary. Ji said the video and the details of Lei's scandal and corruption evidence was first exposed by a man called Zhu Ruifeng on media.people.com.cn. Ji then investigated and called Lei to see his response, before forwarding Zhu's materials on his own microblog. Ji added he had handed all the video material and other evidence on Lei's problem to Chongqing discipline investigators. Previous probes into officials involved in sex scandals has often led to evidence of corruption. A tobacco official in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Han Feng, was found guilty of corruption in 2010 after his diary detailing sexually explicit tales was posted online allegedly by one of his mistresses. Calls to Lei by Xinhua went unanswered.

China to end reliance on organ donations from prisoners Posted: 22 Nov 2012 04:23 AM PST GUANGZHOU - China's reliance on organ transplants from condemned prisoners will end within two years after a human organ donation trial project proved successful, a senior official said. From March 2010 to the end of September 2012, the trial consisted of 465 donation cases, which resulted in 1,279 organs being donated by members of the public, said Huang Jiefu, vice minister of health. He was speaking in the capital city of South China's Guangdong province on Wednesday. The move means there will be less reliance on the use of organ donations from prisoners that have been sentenced to death. According to a report by chinanews.com, the project, jointly established by the ministry and the Red Cross Society of China, resulted in more than 100 cases being performed in Guangdong. The province had the most number of donations. In 2007, China's State Council, or the Cabinet, issued its first regulations on transplants, banning organizations and individuals from trading human organs. The 2011 amendments to China's Criminal Law also introduced three clauses dedicated to organ-related crimes, under which convicted organizers of organ trafficking activities may face fines or prison terms of more than five years. Under the law, criminals convicted of "forced organ removal, forced organ donation or organ removal from juveniles" could face punishment for homicide.

Mixing it up with Ibsen Posted: 22 Nov 2012 04:23 AM PST Diehard fans of Norwegian master playwright Henrik Johan Ibsen mustn't miss avant-garde theater director Wang Chong's latest production, Ibsen in One Take in Beijing. It's about the last hours of a common Chinese man who thinks about his whole life before he dies. The play has integrated representative characters, themes and classical lines from Ibsen's works. "It's a quick introduction to Ibsen. Even if one has never read his works, one can easily understand the play," says Norwegian playwright Oda Fiskum, who wrote the English script for the play. She has lived in Beijing for more than six years. Fiskum says Ibsen's works focus on the complicated inner world of human beings, because psychological conflict of characters is a primary theme throughout his plays. So she emphasizes such theme in the play and tries to present the essence of Ibsen's dramatic works. "It's not a very positive play. The protagonist leads a difficult life. The questions he encounters might also be faced by other young people, such as relations with their parents, professional life and relations to women," she says. It's the first time that Fiskum has written an English script for a Chinese theater director's works. The play is performed in Chinese after translation. She's also written some Chinese scripts. "It's a very interesting cooperation. Such cooperation between home and abroad is rare in China, due to barriers of language and cultures. I can communicate with her very well because we're both bilingual. It's more efficient," Wang says. "Wang works in an intuitive way and he doesn't follow any rule or recipe. He's not afraid to change stuff, or express his own idea. That's quite unusual, and that's what makes him distinguished," Fiskum says. ""To write the play is like playing a jigsaw," she says. "I picked a lot of lines, characters and elements of various plays by Ibsen and integrated into the new script. None of them is direct quotes, but they are still recognizable as people are familiar with the lines." Another distinction of the play is that it's a live movie, and everything is in one take. The audiences only have to watch the big projector in front of them, while a cameraman is capturing all moves of performers on the other side of the stage. Wang has adopted such multimedia in his works for several times. "We use only one take to show one life of a person and the essence of Ibsen. It's a new understanding of movie shooting and theater," he says. Fiskum says she talked to many Chinese young people, including Wang, 30, so that the script will be as truthful as to the young people. "It's difficult to decide the title of the play and Wang and I have changed the name nine times. We had to come up with the new title in the end, which squeeze all we want to express into it," she says. "In China, theater is very new and is to find its form, while in Europe, it's more established. What I write is not for Chinese or for Europeans only, I want it to be equally relevant to both," she says. "I hope the play will make people think about their parents, families, lovers and life."

Brushes with life Posted: 22 Nov 2012 04:23 AM PST His brush gives life to the orchids. His brush brings out the soul of spring. Where his brush fondles, the rain appears to kiss a lotus flower. Painter Yan Keqin reveals a rhythmical and twinkling world of mountains and flowers with a flexible and mythical mixture of only ink and water. "It's very difficult to paint all in ink. Nowadays many people don't even dare to try. In the pursuit of the highest realm of ink painting, he has bravely used black ink to portray a world of colors," comments Xing Shaochen, chief researcher with the China National Academy of Painting. Based in Wuxi of Jiangsu province, home to a panel of master artists who've made up a tower of strength for Chinese art, Yan Keqin is continuously inspired by the city's cultural heritage and charming sceneries. He is never tired of rendering his reflections down on paper in the past decades. But surprisingly, Yan has barely received professional training in painting. The head of Wuxi broadcasting corporation's recent ink painting exhibition at the National Art Museum of China wowed critics, who say he has outstripped professional level. More importantly, as many agree, he has manifested the spirit of Chinese literati painting. The so-called literati painting originated in the middle of Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and reached its climax in Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. It used to refer to art works created by literati or scholar-bureaucrats. That's how it got its name. But the definition has expanded as it becomes a more established genre of art. Literati painting, according to Peking University's professor of aesthetics Zhu Liangzhi, is now a reference to artworks that convey a "unique literary mood". The subjects of literati painting are often natural images such as orchids, bamboos and mountains, from which Chinese poets of all times traditionally find a spiritual resonance. Unlike professionally-trained artisan-painters who paint for the market, literati paint to solely express their philosophical reflections about life. Led by their instantaneous inspirations rather than skills, they care more about how their paintings feel than how they look. Therefore, their creations often appear as freehand brush stokes without necessarily looking exactly like the original objects they attempt to portray. Just like in Chinese calligraphy, the painter's mood, temperament and personality are reflected through the rhythm of the strokes that vary in strength, thickness and density. This impressionistic and liberal style -- or xieyi in Chinese -- has been one of Chinese art's most important aesthetics traditions. But since the early 20th century, Chinese artists have been noticeably divided as to whether it's necessary to incorporate or even fully apply Western realistic painting skills during art education and creation. The introduction of new materials, techniques and ideas has surely enriched Chinese painting, says China Artists Association's chairman Liu Dawei. He says he feels sad that xieyi is losing its charm and position. But he respects Yan, who has given xieyi a glimpse of hope as he persisted in inheriting the traditional values of Chinese ink brush painting. Yan says simplicity is the core value of xieyi as it lies in the spiritually ethereal world of ancient literati, who believe that the whole world could be reflected in a single flower. He says nature is traditionally a source of inspiration for literati painters and thus a close contact with the nature is essential. But Peking University's professor Zhu sees more in Yan's art creations. "Yan's understanding of ancient Chinese philosophy and art is definitely one of the best among contemporary painters. He often impresses me with his knowledge on ancient art like calligraphy and gardening. This has surely contributed to his achievement in painting," Zhu adds. Contact the writer at hanbingbin@chinadaily.com.cn.

Tutor sacked over student death in Qingdao Posted: 22 Nov 2012 04:23 AM PST A university tutor in East China has been sacked over an incident in which a drunken student plunged to her death. Liu Xiao'ao, a freshman at Qingdao Qiushi College, died after falling from a fourth-floor restaurant toilet window at about 10:30 pm on Oct 27. The 19-year-old had been having dinner with four other students and six teachers before the accident, and they had drunk up to 48 bottles of beer, the Peninsula City News reported. A postmortem examination found excessive alcohol levels in Liu's blood, and dismissed the possibility of murder, police said. The student's father blamed the college for allowing his daughter to drink too much. On Wednesday, the college, in Shandong province, issued an apology on its website, saying that it has reached a compensation deal with Liu's family. The president of the college received a serious warning from the city government, while a teacher, who was not named but was at the dinner that night, was dismissed, the statement said. anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn

Businessman seeks $11m yuan for wrongful verdict Posted: 22 Nov 2012 04:23 AM PST A former business owner who spent eight years in prison has filed an application with a court in North China's Hebei province for a record 69.8 million yuan ($11.2 million) in compensation for a wrongful verdict after he was found not guilty on appeal, Beijing Times reported on Thursday. Jiao Zhanjun, who was owner of Daren Pharmaceutical Co in Anguo city, stated the compensation included the loss of his business, including the company and a hotel, and the cost to his physical and mental health. The company was one of the largest suppliers of Tongrentang, a top producer of traditional Chinese medicine in China. The court said it can compensate Jiao only 120,000 yuan for the loss of his freedom in prison according to the law. Jiao was detained in 2001 for suspected tax evasion and sentenced to four years in prison by the court in 2003. The sentence was changed to three years with four years' reprieve in the same year after Jiao appealed. After eight years of appeals, another court in Hebei province ruled last year that Jiao and Daren Pharmaceutical Co were not guilty because of a lack of evidence to prove their tax evasion. The court in Baoding judged the ruling effective at the end last year.

China to continue working for fairer, more democratic global governance system Posted: 22 Nov 2012 12:53 AM PST China, the world's largest developing nation, has been tirelessly urging equal participation in global affairs by all nations, and advocated more effective global governance and proper representation of developing nations in international institutions.

Tibetan children back home after medical treatment in Anhui Posted: 22 Nov 2012 12:13 AM PST Nine children from Tibet?s Lhoka Prefecture left for hometown after receiving careful treatment for congenial heart disease for over 10 days at a hospital in Anhui Province on Nov 15.

Modern Water Painting joins past with present Posted: 22 Nov 2012 02:23 AM PST The China National Academy of Painting bridges the gap to the country's past with its "Modern Water Painting" exhibition.

China’s arduous road to low-carbon development Posted: 22 Nov 2012 01:19 AM PST China has made remarkable achievements in the fields of energy saving and emission reduction and will not swerve from its current road of low-carbon development. • Exclusive release: China's Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change • BASIC issues joint statement on climate change

DPRK warns of 2nd Yonphyong Island shelling Posted: 22 Nov 2012 01:19 AM PST The Democratic People' s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Thursday warned of a second Yonphyong Island shelling as Seoul prepares commemoration for the 2010 shelling, the official news agency KCNA reported.

Japan appoints new ambassador to China Posted: 22 Nov 2012 01:19 AM PST The Japanese government officially approved the appointment of Masato Kitera as its new ambassador to China at a cabinet meeting Thursday morning.

China may increase tax on natural resources Posted: 22 Nov 2012 01:19 AM PST China may raise a tax on natural resources and also collect duty on the use of water by companies to enhance resource conservation and environment protection, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.

Ang Lee turns unfilmable 'Life of Pi' into spectacle Posted: 22 Nov 2012 01:19 AM PST Ang Lee's new visual feast "Life of Pi" hits Chinese cinemas today, but its IMAX version will only run for a week.

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