News » Society » Qatar seeks $5bn China investment

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• Qatar seeks $5bn China investment
• VIDEO: China's new use for chicken manure
• Could chicken waste help power China?
• Bird flu `epidemic' sparks chicken cull
• Manila fears for 5 as shoal ship sunk
• The Philippines yesterday alleged that a Chinese vessel accidentally rammed one of its fishing boats north of a disputed South China Sea shoal, killing one and leaving four others missing.
• Provinces shaken by killer quake
• 6 killed in floods
• Fishing collision
• 2 dead, 100 hurt in 5.7-mag quake
• Manual docking success for China's space trio
• 19 billion yuan budget for space program
• Chinese oceanauts break another deep-dive record
• Tourists swept to their deaths in swollen river
• Chinese premier arrives in Argentina for official visit
• 5.7-magnitude earthquake hits Yunnan and Sichuan
• VIDEO: Dalai Lama: 'Mao saw me as a son'
• China's first manual space docking successful
• Shenzhou-9 spacecraft 140 m away from Tiangong-1
• Chinese submersible refreshes national dive record by surpassing 7,000 meters

Qatar seeks $5bn China investment Posted: 24 Jun 2012 07:58 PM PDT Qatar says it is applying for a licence under China's Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor programme to invest in its capital market.

VIDEO: China's new use for chicken manure Posted: 24 Jun 2012 06:03 PM PDT Martin Patience visits a chicken farm on the outskirts of Beijing in China, where the birds' manure is being used to create energy.

Could chicken waste help power China? Posted: 24 Jun 2012 06:42 PM PDT Could avian waste help China's quest for sustainable energy?

Bird flu `epidemic' sparks chicken cull Posted: 24 Jun 2012 12:54 PM PDT

Manila fears for 5 as shoal ship sunk Posted: 24 Jun 2012 12:54 PM PDT

The Philippines yesterday alleged that a Chinese vessel accidentally rammed one of its fishing boats north of a disputed South China Sea shoal, killing one and leaving four others missing. Posted: 24 Jun 2012 12:54 PM PDT

Provinces shaken by killer quake Posted: 24 Jun 2012 12:54 PM PDT

6 killed in floods Posted: 24 Jun 2012 10:07 AM PDT DOWNPOURS have left at least six people dead in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region over the past three days, local authorities said yesterday. Floods that had been triggered by the rainstorms have affected the lives of more than 450,000 people, destroyed some 1,000 houses and inundated almost 17,000 hectares of land used for crops, a spokesman said.

Fishing collision Posted: 24 Jun 2012 10:06 AM PDT THE Philippines said yesterday that a Chinese vessel accidentally rammed a Philippine fishing boat north of the Huangyan Island in the South China Sea, killing one person and leaving four others missing. The fishing boat had set out from the northern Philippine coastal town of Bolinao last Monday and was reported to have sunk two days later, Office of Civil Defense chief Benito Ramos said. "Of the eight fishermen aboard, four were plucked out of sea only yesterday, but one of them died in a hospital," Ramos said. "Four more are still missing."

2 dead, 100 hurt in 5.7-mag quake Posted: 24 Jun 2012 10:06 AM PDT AT least two people died and 100 others were injured when a 5.7-magnitude earthquake jolted southwest China yesterday, local authorities said. The casualties were reported in the county of Ninglang in Yunnan Province and neighboring Yanyuan County in Sichuan Province. Local authorities have sent 300 tents, 500 quilts and 500 cotton-padded clothes to Ninglang, said Bai Yong, director of Yunnan Provincial Civil Affairs Department's disaster relief section. Telecommunication networks in the county's Yongning township were cut. The Yunnan Provincial Seismological Bureau has sent a team to the area. The quake struck the border of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces at 3:59pm, and was followed by a 3.3-magnitude aftershock two minutes later. The epicenter was in an area where the Yi ethnic group live. A spokesman with the Yanyuan County government said many houses in the countryside had collapsed.

Manual docking success for China's space trio Posted: 24 Jun 2012 10:01 AM PDT Three Chinese astronauts successfully carried out a manual docking of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft with the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module yesterday. Astronaut Liu Wang, assisted by colleagues Jing Haipeng and Liu Yang, began to maneuver the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft to dock with the Tiangong-1 space lab module at 12:48pm and the connection was made some seven minutes later. About one and a half hours earlier, Shenzhou-9 parted from Tiangong-1 to a berth point 400 meters away from the module. A highly sophisticated space maneuver, manual docking requires the astronauts to connect together two orbiters traveling at 7.8 kilometers a second in space without a hitch. Shortly after the docking, the smiling and waving astronauts greeted the ground crew via video link. "The manual docking was beautifully conducted. It was very accurate and swift, " said Liu Weibo, who is responsible for China's astronaut system. The manual docking was completed in just 7 minutes, 3 minutes faster than automatic docking, said Liu. Liu Weibo said the success was due to three factors. Liu Wang had fully grasped the sophisticated manual docking technologies and his psychological status was sound, the three astronauts had worked in close cooperation, and the domestically made docking system was reliable. The astronauts, 343 kilometers away from Earth, were greeted by Chinese oceanauts from the Mariana Trench, 7,020 meters beneath the Pacific Ocean. They sent a message saying: "We hope the manual docking is a great success and wish for brilliant achievements in China's manned space and manned deep-sea dive causes." Wu Ping, a spokeswoman for China's manned space program, told a press conference in Beijing that the three Chinese astronauts had already re-entered the space lab module to continue their scientific experiments. The spacecraft and the space lab were previously joined together in an automated docking last Monday. "The automated docking and manual docking are both essential and they serve as a backup for each other," said Zhou Jianping, designer-in-chief of China's manned space program. The manual docking was a significant step for China's manned space program as China had now fully grasped the space travel, space walk and space rendezvous and docking technologies that are essential to building a space station, Zhou said. The Shenzhou-9 is due to part from the Tiangong-1 in four days and take the three astronauts back to Earth on Friday, setting a record for China's longest space travel. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

19 billion yuan budget for space program Posted: 24 Jun 2012 10:01 AM PDT CHINA has planned a 19 billion yuan (US$3 billion) budget for its space rendezvous and docking missions, a spokeswoman for China's manned space program said yesterday. Wu Ping told a press conference that the budget covers the ongoing Shenzhou-9 spacecraft manned space docking mission, previous missions conducted by the Shenzhou-7 and Shenzhou-8 spaceships, as well as a mission to be carried out by Shenzhou-10 next year.

Chinese oceanauts break another deep-dive record Posted: 24 Jun 2012 10:00 AM PDT CHINESE oceanauts again broke the country's dive record in a manned submersible by going deeper than 7,000 meters beneath the sea yesterday. The Jiaolong, China's manned submersible named after a mythical sea dragon, reached 7,020 meters below sea level at about 11am local time during its fourth dive into the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean. The submersible began to dive four hours before and was back on mother ship Xiangyanghong 09 some 11 hours later. The oceanauts, Ye Cong, Liu Kaizhou and Yang Bo, worked for almost three hours on the sea floor, collecting water samples and sediment and placing markers on the bottom. Since arriving at the area earlier this month, the Jiaolong has succeeded in reaching depths of 6,671, 6,965 and 6,963 meters in its previous three dives from June 15 to 22, far surpassing the national record of 5,188 meters it set last July. "It has been proved during the four times of dive that the submersible is stable in function and the capabilities of the team performing the test dives are improving gradually," said Liu Feng, commander at the scene. "The breakthrough of diving deeper than 7,000 meters will enable China to conduct scientific surveys in over 99.8 percent of the world's seabed areas," said Liu Cigui, director of the State Oceanic Administration. The submersible will attempt two more dives into the Mariana Trench, the world's deepest place, and is expected to return to China in mid-July. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Tourists swept to their deaths in swollen river Posted: 24 Jun 2012 09:58 AM PDT TWO tourists, one from Shanghai and the other from east China's Shandong Province, died in rain-triggered mountain torrents in neighboring Zhejiang Province on Saturday. A group of 10 adventurers who knew each other via the instant message service QQ, arrived in Wencheng County in Wenzhou from Shanghai on Saturday. They encountered torrential rain in a mountain valley near the Dongsandian Reservoir on Saturday afternoon. The group had divided themselves into two teams. The tragedy happened when the team leader in a group of six was swimming to the other bank of a river but was swept away by swift torrents near a waterfall, a team member surnamed Fan said. Another member jumped into the swollen river to try to rescue him, but was swept away as well. The group's only cell phone was broken and it was several hours before they could alert police. The bodies were recovered at 2am yesterday. A lack of experience and preparation combined with the bad weather was to blame for the incident, Wencheng police said. Only two members of the six-member team had previous experience, and no one in the group had walked the route before. They had planned their trip through online maps. All the surviving eight group members were safe and were staying in Wencheng, said a police spokeswoman surnamed Zhou. Four members of the group were Shanghainese and most of them were over 30 years old, Zhou said. The Shanghainese victim lived in the Pudong New Area. There have been calls for the government to regulate such activities to ensure that anyone taking part has the necessary training and proper equipment. Shanghai authorities are researching rules and regulations on outdoor sports clubs and potentially dangerous activities such as rock climbing, bungee jumping and outdoor exploration and they are expected to be announced sometime this year.

Chinese premier arrives in Argentina for official visit Posted: 24 Jun 2012 01:34 AM PDT CHINESE Premier Wen Jiabao arrived Buenos Aires yesterday for an official visit to Argentina. In a written speech released upon his arrival, Wen said the two countries have seen frequent high-level exchange visits, deepening political mutual trust, and fruitful cooperation in such sectors as economy, trade, culture, education, science and technology since the establishment of diplomatic ties 40 years ago. The two countries have also enjoyed good coordination on international and regional issues, he said, adding that China is willing to work with Argentina to promote mutually beneficial cooperation. The Chinese premier said he expects to exchange views with the Argentine leaders on bilateral ties as well as on international and regional issues of common concern. Wen arrived here after concluding his two-day official visit to Uruguay.

5.7-magnitude earthquake hits Yunnan and Sichuan Posted: 24 Jun 2012 01:33 AM PDT A 5.7-magnitude earthquake jolted the border of southwest China's Yunnan and Sichuan provinces at 3:59pm today (Beijing Time), said the China Earthquake Networks Center. The epicenter, with a depth of 11km, was located at the border area between Ninglang county of Yunnan and Yanyuan county of Sichuan at 27.7 degrees of north latitude and 100.7 degrees east longitude. No information about casualty has been available.

VIDEO: Dalai Lama: 'Mao saw me as a son' Posted: 24 Jun 2012 02:18 AM PDT The Dalai Lama has been speaking about his encounters with the former Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong.

China's first manual space docking successful Posted: 23 Jun 2012 11:18 PM PDT A manual docking between Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module has been successful at about 12:55pm today. The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and Tiangong-1 lab module has been conjoined again, Xinhua news agency reported. It means China has completely grasped the space rendezvous and docking technologies and had the fundamental abilities to build a space station. Shenzhou-9 spacecraft stopped 140 meters away from the orbiting space lab module Tiangong-1 this noon before astronauts put the spacecraft under manual control from the previous auto-control mode for manual docking.

Shenzhou-9 spacecraft 140 m away from Tiangong-1 Posted: 23 Jun 2012 09:08 PM PDT SHENZHOU-9 spacecraft stopped 140 meters away from the orbiting space lab module Tiangong-1 this noon. Astronauts are expected to put the spacecraft under manual control from the previous auto-control mode, and use control handles to operate Shenzhou-9 for the final docking.

Chinese submersible refreshes national dive record by surpassing 7,000 meters Posted: 23 Jun 2012 06:34 PM PDT CHINESE oceanauts refreshed the country's dive record in a manned submersible by going deeper than 7,000 meters beneath the sea after a successful test dive in the Pacific Ocean this morning. The Jiaolong, China's manned submersible named after a mythical sea dragon, succeeded in diving 7,015 meters below sea level at around 11am local time during its fourth dive into the Mariana Trench. The dive started at 7am local time today in heavy rain. The three oceanauts, namely Ye Cong, Liu Kaizhou and Yang Bo, sent greetings from the bottom of the blue sea to the three astronauts who are expected to conduct a manual docking of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft with the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module. "We wish for a great success of the manual docking and brilliant achievements in China's manned space and manned deep-sea dive causes," said the oceanauts. The oceanauts had succeeded in reaching the depths of 6,671, 6,965 and 6,963 meters in their previous three dives from June 15 to 22, well surpassing the record of 5,188 meters last July. "It has been proved during the four times of dive that the submersible is stable in function and the capabilities of the team performing the test dives are rising gradually," said on-scene commander Liu Feng. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now