News » Society » China media: Gu Kailai and islands

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• China media: Gu Kailai and islands
• Chalco Swings to Net Loss
• Japanese Land on Disputed Islands as Protests Fuel China Tension
• Have You Heard…
• Undersea cables mark first for rivals
• The first undersea telecoms cables linking Taiwan and mainland territory have been completed, a company official said yesterday, as ties between Taipei and Beijing continue to warm up.
• Muslims in celebrations to mark end of Ramadan
• Search sparks rumors of killer still at large
• Protests throughout China following Japanese landing on Diaoyu Islands
• Students in loving offer of free hotel rooms
• High-tech overpass fails to impress city residents
• New hospital pioneers reforms in health care
• Gu Kailai jailed for China murder
• Anti-Japan protests across China
• 2 killed as Typhoon Kai-Tak hits S China
• China strongly opposes Japanese rightists in Diaoyu Islands
• Rainfall to hit north China as heat wave to continue in south
• Chinese protest against Japanese ascending Diaoyu Islands
• Hainan hotel fined after food poisoning sickens 141 people
• Japanese activists land on Diaoyu Islands

China media: Gu Kailai and islands Posted: 19 Aug 2012 08:08 PM PDT Morning newspaper round-up: Relative quiet on Gu Kailai's trial and anti-Japan protests sparked by a territorial row.

Chalco Swings to Net Loss Posted: 19 Aug 2012 12:15 PM PDT Source: Wall Street Journal By Chuin-Wei Yap and Amy Li SHANGHAI—Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., also known as Chalco, said Friday it swung to a net loss for the first half of the year, as falling aluminum prices, a slowing domestic economy and higher expenses took their toll. The unaudited result, included in an interim earnings briefing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange ahead of the formal release of the company's first-half figures on Aug. 24, bodes ill for Chalco's full-year outlook as it confronts oversupply and weak overall economic growth. "At current aluminum prices, the profit for the second half is unlikely to be materially better than the first half," Barclays Research said in a note Friday. London Metal Exchange three-month aluminum futures are down 22.6% from their peak this year in March. Domestic prices have shed 10.4% since the start of the year. China's biggest alumina and aluminum producer by output said its net loss for the six months ended June 30 totaled 3.25 billion yuan ($512 million), reversing from a net profit of 413 million yuan a year earlier. Revenue was up 9% at 71.70 billion yuan, compared with 65.97 billion yuan a year earlier. As it struggles with weakness in the aluminum sector, Chalco has been looking to diversify its operations, including a high-profile attempt to buy Mongolia coal miner SouthGobi Resources Ltd. However, that push is also looking increasingly fraught with challenges. On Tuesday, SouthGobi Chief Executive Alexander Molyneux told Dow Jones Newswires the company sees "no clear way forward" for Chalco's $920 million offer given the political opposition to the deal in Mongolia. Ulan Bator suspended SouthGobi's mining licenses in June, citing national-security issues, and unveiled a new law to cap foreign investments in strategic sectors including resources, moves widely seen as aiming to block state-owned Chalco from completing a deal. "While the business model for Chalco's aluminum business appears significantly challenged, its attempt to diversify into other commodities, [such as] coal and iron ore, is expensive and fraught with risks, in our view," Barclays said. Aluminum producers are also facing challenges in securing bauxite, a key raw material for aluminum production. Indonesia, China's top bauxite supplier, in mid-May introduced a 20% export tax on 65 unrefined mineral types including bauxite.

Japanese Land on Disputed Islands as Protests Fuel China Tension Posted: 19 Aug 2012 12:18 PM PDT Source: Bloomberg News  By Ma Jie and Frederik Balfour Ten Japanese yesterday landed on an island in the East China Sea claimed by both Japan and China, fueling a dispute between Asia's two biggest economies in a region that has no shortage of territorial spats. The tit-for-tat mission by Japanese nationalists, including some legislators, came days after a group of mostly Hong Kong activists were arrested and deported for their own visit to the island in the chain known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan. Demonstrators gathered in several cities in China and in Hong Kong to protest against what they said was Japan's illegal occupation of the outcrops and detention of Chinese citizens. Tensions are rising over the islands — and the right to the energy reserves and fisheries that go with them — after Japan said it was seeking to buy some owned by a private individual. China called the move unlawful. The dispute has soured ties at a time when Japan is mired in a similar row with South Korea, while China is embroiled in spats with Vietnam and the Philippines over the oil-rich South China Sea. Japan's announcement that is trying to purchase some of the islands "lays down a marker that will leave no ambiguities on what is Japanese sovereign territory," said Carlyle Thayer, a professor emeritus at the Australian Defense Force Academy, University of New South Wales. "One of the most important foreign policy issues facing Japan is China's rise and growing assertiveness." Japanese and U.S. military officials will meet on Aug. 23 in Washington to discuss strengthening maritime defenses around outlying islands, the Nikkei newspaper reported yesterday. The talks will in part consider China's expansion of sea power, it said. The Japanese government also intends to replace its ambassador to China after he criticized the proposal to purchase the islands, the Yomiuri newspaper said, without citing anyone. Risky Business Pushing back against China has its risks, as Japan found in 2010 when its coastguard clashed with a Chinese trawler in the disputed waters and arrested the captain. That sparked a diplomatic standoff, souring relations for months. China restricted supplies of rare-earth minerals needed by Japanese manufacturers for electronic gadgets and hybrid cars, the New York Times reported at the time. Japan should immediately stop actions that undermine China's territorial sovereignty, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement on its website yesterday. Chinese protesters took to the streets yesterday in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Hangzhou, Harbin and Qingdao, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Before 9 a.m., more than 100 people had gathered near Japan's consulate in Guangzhou, the capital of southern Guangdong province, Xinhua said. In Shenzhen, protesters overturned Japanese cars, including police vehicles, Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper reported on its web site. Mannequins Trampled In Hong Kong, hundreds of people marched in a protest organized by the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions. "Japan is very bad, China is very good," said a 70-year- old retiree clutching a miniature Chinese flag and who would only gave his first name as Nelson. "We protest against Japan entering our land." Demonstrators trampled on miniature mannequins of Japanese soldiers dressed in World War II uniforms while the crowd chanted "Diaoyu belongs to China. Get rid of Japanese militarism." Growing public anger over the Diaoyu group shows the pressure on Chinese leaders to take action, according to commentaries carried in Hong Kong papers. "The mainland public have pointed the finger of blame at the Chinese government's weak defense of territory," the Ming Pao newspaper said, according to a translation of the editorial on the British Broadcasting Corp.'s monitoring service. "China's constant forbearance towards Japan's actions in the Diaoyu Islands is no longer accepted by its people." National Humiliation The Chinese government had brought national humiliation by surrendering territory, while at the same time repressing its own people, Koo Sze-yiu, one of the 14 activists deported by Japan, told the South China Morning Post in an Aug. 18. article. Given previous attempts by the Hong Kong group to sail to the islands were blocked by local authorities, it seems last week's successful attempt had the backing of the central government, Zhou Yongsheng, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, told the paper. Japanese news reports said the police had considered filing charges of illegally entering Japanese territory and damaging government property after some of the Hong Kong activists threw bricks at coast guard vessels. Instead, seven were deported by air and the rest sailed out of Japanese waters under escort. In yesterday's landing, a flotilla of vessels with about 150 Japanese on board sailed from Okinawa prefecture's Ishigaki last night, making landfall early this morning. Television footage showed them raising the Japanese flag. No Permit Ten people landed on the isle and swam back to their boats after two hours, a coast guard official, who declined to be identified citing official policy, said by phone. The group hadn't broken any law under the coast guard's authority, he said. While a permit is needed to visit the islands, Japanese police haven't made a decision on what to do with the people who made the landing, an official in the Okinawa force said. Nobody answered phone calls to Ganbare Nippon, the organizer of the visit. China's growing assertiveness and military capabilities are coupled with a sense of historical grievance over Japan's invasion and occupation of the country as well as territorial concession imposed by stronger foreign powers. China claims the Diaoyu islands were unjustly handed back to Japan after the U.S. ended its postwar occupation of Okinawa in the early 1970s. Taiwan, which became the breakaway Republic of China after nationalist forces retreated there after losing the civil war, also claims the Diaoyu islands. History Lesson Chinese activists who sailed to Diaoyu on Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in 1945 a week after the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, planted both Chinese and Taiwan flags, according to photographs of the event. "What consequences will a country produce if it gets extremely bigoted and fearless?" asked an editorial in the Communist Party's People's Daily newspaper yesterday. "The historical lessons should not be forgotten. The anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender in World War II is a mirror and people can see clearly that history and reality are difficult to separate." The article was signed by Zhong Sheng, a pseudonym that translates as Voice of China. The latest sign of China's increased assertiveness is its decision to set up a military presence by the People's Liberation Army in the city of Sansha in the Paracel Islands, a grouping that is jointly claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam, Thayer said. "Until now the PLA has stayed out of the South China Sea, but when they announced the garrison by the Central Military Commission, that's pretty serious stuff," he said. South Korea Territorial disputes are also undermining attempts by the U.S. to replace bipartite alliances with Japan and South Korea with a three-way regional alliance, he said. South Korean President Lee Myung Bak reignited rancor with Japan on Aug. 10 when he visited islets in the Sea of Japan. Both nations claim the Liancourt Rocks, called Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean, which lie 87 kilometers (54 miles) east of the closest South Korean territory and 158 kilometers from the nearest Japanese land. Japan recalled its ambassador to South Korea in protest after Lee's trip.

Have You Heard… Posted: 19 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT Have You Heard…

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Muslims in celebrations to mark end of Ramadan Posted: 19 Aug 2012 09:53 AM PDT MUSLIMS across China celebrated Eid al-Fitr yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan, a season of fasting and spiritual reflection. In northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, tens of thousands of Muslims of various ethnic minorities, including Uygur, Hui and Kazakh, could hear imams preaching in the capital of Urumqi as the first rays of sunlight appeared. The morning prayer service on Eid al-Fitr, the fast-breaking festival, is one of the most important prayer ceremonies Muslims attend each year. "Ramadan is the most auspicious month of the year, and Eid al-Fitr is like New Year's for us Muslims," said Ma Yucheng. He came to Khan Tengri Mosque in Urumqi at 6:30am in order to secure a good seat for the ceremony. After the communal prayer, the 34-year-old, like most of his fellow Muslims, visited a local cemetery to honor his deceased relatives. Muslims sweep and clean the tombs of their relatives and leave food offerings before returning home for family gatherings. Ma said his family spent the past week amassing all sorts of delicacies, including fried sweets, nuts, fresh fruits, bread and freshly butchered sheep. His family will enjoy a feast to mark the first meal eaten during daylight in a month. Urumqi's public transport authorities added several temporary bus lines yesterday for the convenience of Muslims traveling to mosques and cemeteries. The local government declared Eid al-Fitr a three-day public holiday to give residents enough time to attend religious services and visit relatives. For Li Xuejun, imam at the Hebayan Mosque in Urumqi, the three-day holiday will be busy, as he hopes to visit elderly, disabled and sick Muslims in his community, bringing them gifts and reciting the Quran for them. "My priority now is to make sure all Muslims in the community enjoy a proper festival," said Li. The mosque in the old Silk Road city of Kashgar, the largest of its kind in China, saw nearly 5,000 Muslims attend the morning prayer service. Xinjiang's population exceeds 21 million, with more than half of them Muslims. The region has 24,000 mosques. During Ramadan, the ninth month of the year on the Muslim calendar, Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from sunrise to sunset, in an effort to show their devotion to their faith. Children, the elderly and the sick do not have to fast. In Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and other Muslim-populated regions, Muslims donned festive outfits and crowded into local mosques. The regional government of Ningxia, one of the country's major Muslim-populated regions, has extended the public holiday from Saturday to tomorrow this year, giving Muslims four days to enjoy the festival. Ningxia is home to about 10 percent of the country's 20 million Muslims. The Islamic Association of China held a tea party at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Vice Premier Hui Liangyu attended.

Search sparks rumors of killer still at large Posted: 19 Aug 2012 09:28 AM PDT RUMORS that serial killer Zhou Kehua is still alive were dismissed by police in Chongqing yesterday. The rumors began after police closed access to the southwest municipality's Gele Mountain. The online rumors claim that the killer must still be at large in the mountain area where police and military personnel had been searching before his final shootout with police. However, police said they were just searching for any hideouts Zhou may have used for further clues to the killer's activities. Chongqing authorities, meanwhile, said the closure of the mountain was "for the prevention of mountain and forest fires in the hot season." Zhou, 42, once China's most wanted man, died in a Chongqing alley on the morning of August 14 in an exchange of fire with police officers. The gunman, who had killed 11 people over the past eight years, usually targeted people who had withdrawn large sums of money from banks. Police confirmed Zhou's identity after a DNA test. The two officers who shot Zhou dead told reporters they had resumed their normal duties. Answering questions as to why their police numbers didn't match the ones they were wearing when interviewed on television after the shooting, they said those uniforms had been borrowed from colleagues. They had been in plain clothes during the hunt for the man once described as the country's most dangerous fugitive. Meanwhile, the questioning of Zhou's girlfriend Zhang Guiying, 20, is continuing. Zhou is said to have phoned her before and after each robbery and lawyers say she could face the death penalty if she is found to be the mastermind behind Zhou's criminality. Zhou is said to have spent the money he stole on Zhang and on his family - an ex-wife and son.

Protests throughout China following Japanese landing on Diaoyu Islands Posted: 19 Aug 2012 09:26 AM PDT CHINA has expressed its strong objection to Japanese rightists landing on the Diaoyu Islands yesterday, and is urging an end to actions that seek to undermine its territorial sovereignty. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the illegal actions of the Japanese had violated China's territorial sovereignty, and senior ministry officials had lodged solemn representations to the Japanese ambassador to China. "The Japanese side should properly handle the current issue and avoid seriously damaging the overall situation of China-Japan relations," Qin said. A total of 150 Japanese politicians and members of right-wing groups went to waters around the Diaoyu Islands to mourn soldiers who died in World War II, and 10 of them landed on the Diaoyu Islands yesterday morning. In a number of Chinese cities, people took to the streets in protest at the landing, including in the southern city of Shenzhen where small groups of demonstrators overturned cars of Japanese brands and shouted slogans denouncing Japan's claims over the islands. In Shenzhen's downtown area, protesters gathered at the SEG Plaza at around 9am, holding Chinese national flags and shouting about defending China's territory before they began a march along major roads. By 11am, about 1,000 protesters had gathered and tempers flared as a Japanese restaurant was damaged and a Chinese police car, a Japanese model, was overturned. Police are investigating both incidents. No casualties were reported and by 2:15pm the protesters had dispersed. In Beijing, several demonstrators protested near the Japanese Embassy, continuing protests there since last Wednesday. They held signs reading, "Return our Diaoyu Islands" and "Safeguard the Diaoyu Islands." More than 100 protesters gathered near the Consulate-General of Japan in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, holding Chinese national flags and banners reading: "Defend China's territory over the Diaoyu Islands." They also shouted: "Japan, get out of the Diaoyu Islands!" At 9:40am, they began marching through the city, returning to the consulate at around 10:30am, where some staged a sit-in at the gate of the compound. The crowd had dispersed by early afternoon. In Harbin, in northeast Heilongjiang Province, hundreds gathered at Dragon Tower Square, a city landmark. The protest had been organized online, and some local residents were lending support by giving protesters Chinese flags and drinking water. A march along the city's major roads was led by two cars flying Chinese flags with more people joining the march as it went on. In the capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, about 100 protesters gathered at a square near the Shenyang city government building and marched to the Consulate-General of Japan. Some wore clothing bearing the Chinese characters for "China." In Hangzhou, in southeast Zhejiang Province, several hundred people gathered near Wulin Square in the city's central business district with pictures of the Diaoyu Islands printed on banners. At around 9:30am, they began to march, shouting: "Return the Diaoyu Islands to us!" More people, mostly students and the elderly, joined the protesters as they marched. In Ji'nan, in east China's Shandong Province, more than 2,000 protesters marched toward Donghuan Plaza singing China's national anthem as they held up banners and national flags. They also used the demonstration to speak out against Japan's two-day detention of Chinese nationals after they arrived at the Diaoyu last Wednesday to assert China's sovereignty over the islands. At 10am, more than 1,000 protesters in the coastal city of Qingdao in Shandong Province marched toward the Consulate-General of Japan there. "Get out of the Diaoyu Islands!" they shouted. "Defend China's sovereignty over the islands!" In Taiyuan, in north China's Shanxi Province, more than 1,000 people marched on Yingze Street, one of the city's main thoroughfares. There were also protests in other cities, including Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Changsha and Guiyang. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Students in loving offer of free hotel rooms Posted: 19 Aug 2012 09:00 AM PDT COLLEGE students in Zhengzhou City, capital of central China's Henan Province, are booking 200 hotel rooms so families of migrant workers can meet up on Chinese Valentine's Day, or Qixi Festival, on Thursday. The idea occurred to 12 undergraduates majoring in construction and engineering at Zhengzhou Jiaotong University after they finished a month-long job at a construction site, where they worked with migrant laborers every day. "The living conditions of migrant laborers are really tough. They eat from lunchboxes at the construction site and sleep in a bunkhouse with dozens of fellow workers," said Wang Xuhui, one of the students. Many migrants are away from their families while they make their living in the city, sometimes for years, said Wang. "We want to provide a more comfortable environment for the migrants to unite and spend the festival with their spouses or other family members." But he said the primary purpose was to draw more attention to the status of migrant laborers. The total cost of renting the rooms is estimated at 18,000 yuan (US$2,840). The students earned about 12,000 yuan through their part-time construction site job, and the rest is from the money for living expenses the students receive from their parents. Wang said they chose to rent the rooms on Chinese Valentine's Day to make their action more meaningful as well as bring more attention to the traditional Chinese festival of love. However, since extending their offer online last Thursday, only 10 migrant workers have contacted them to apply for the free rooms. This may be because few migrant laborers use the Internet, said Fu Haipeng, another student involved in the plan. "And many migrants don't believe it. They think it's just a pie in the sky," Fu said. The students have begun to distribute a leaflet with the aim of "recruiting" workers. A worker surnamed Tan expressed gratitude for the offer but said he had got used to the accommodation at construction sites and was also too shy to take part in this kind of "romantic" activity. Wang and Fu said they will go through with their plan no matter how many migrants respond. "If there is money left over after the festival, we will use it to buy phone cards so they can communicate more with their faraway families," Wang said.

High-tech overpass fails to impress city residents Posted: 19 Aug 2012 09:00 AM PDT AN overpass built at the cost of 50 million yuan (US$7.87 million) in south China's Shenzhen has been widely criticized over the state of its high-tech facilities. The overpass, constructed from materials used in the aerospace industry and called the "spring flower" after its shape, was equipped with thousands of high-quality LED screens and the latest solar panels as well as two lifts and four escalators. But the costly screens and elevators haven't worked for a long time and the overpass was always filled with water, according to online posts. Local Nanshan District denied having spent 2 billion yuan on the project, as some online posts had claimed, but promised to "make improvement and renovation for the current problems," according to an online statement. "The overpass was over fancy and luxurious, but wasn't practical at all, a resident told Xinhua news agency. The "spring flower" was built as a landmark before the city hosted the 2011 World University Games, the Shenzhen urban construction authority said. It was an urgently built project to improve the city's image, it added. The district government said the overpass was built in a busy area where there were two major roads, office buildings and residential communities, which raised the cost. Xinhua said the problems might have arisen because local authorities hadn't figured out who should be taking responsibility for the structure.

New hospital pioneers reforms in health care Posted: 19 Aug 2012 09:00 AM PDT A new hospital affiliated to the University of Hong Kong is adopting the Hong Kong public hospital management system in the neigboring Shenzhen City in a bid to seek way for reforms in the public health care. The Chinese government is pushing for reforms in the public health care which is known for long queues and poor service. The hospital, founded by Shenzhen government with 3.5 billion yuan (US$555 million) in investment, first directs each patient to see general physician and will transfer patient to specialists if it is needed, according to People's Daily. Appointment is required for out-patient service at the hospital. Its pilot operation since July showed the practice works well. Currently, the hospital's 300 out-patient quota every day is always booked. People going to the hospital said it helped cut down on the waiting time. One service for general physician is 130 yuan, a package covering the registration, common testing and medications for less than one week. The price is worked out according to data from three big hospitals in Shenzhen and will be re-evaluated after one-year trial, hospital officials said. The procedure of seeing GP first has made a more reasonable use of medical resources, as the problems of 90 percent of patients are solved by GP. The hospital is the first on the Chinese mainland to buy professional insurance for all doctors. Should any medical dispute takes place, the insurance company will handle compensation. The doctors are paid up to 1 million yuan a year, officials said.

Gu Kailai jailed for China murder Posted: 19 Aug 2012 08:22 PM PDT The wife of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai is given a suspended death sentence for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood.

Anti-Japan protests across China Posted: 19 Aug 2012 10:25 AM PDT Anti-Japanese protests take place in cities across China after Japanese nationalists raised their country's flag on disputed islands.

2 killed as Typhoon Kai-Tak hits S China Posted: 19 Aug 2012 02:22 AM PDT TYPHOON Kai-Tak left two people dead, two missing and forced 530,000 people to be relocated as of noon today, according to official figures. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Commission for Disaster Reduction, the typhoon destroyed about 4,200 houses and damaged another 17,300 in south China's Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The deaths and missing persons were all reported in the severely-hit Guangxi. According to statistics released yesterday, the typhoon has caused economic losses of 608 million yuan (about US$95.6 million) in the region.

China strongly opposes Japanese rightists in Diaoyu Islands Posted: 19 Aug 2012 02:00 AM PDT CHINA strongly opposes Japanese rightists landing on the Diaoyu Islands today, and urges Japan to put an end to its actions that seek to undermine China's territorial sovereignty, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement today. The illegal actions of the Japanese rightists have violated China's territorial sovereignty, and senior officials from the Foreign Ministry have lodged solemn representations to the Japanese ambassador to China, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in the statement. "The Japanese side should properly handle the current issue and avoid seriously damaging the overall situation of China-Japan relations," Qin said. A total of 150 Japanese lawmakers and members of right-wing groups went to waters around the Diaoyu Islands to mourn soldiers who died in World War II, and 10 of them landed on the Diaoyu Islands this morning, according to media reports.

Rainfall to hit north China as heat wave to continue in south Posted: 18 Aug 2012 09:16 PM PDT THE National Meteorological Center (NMC) said today that strong cold air will hit north China in the next two days, bringing heavy rainfall to the region, while scorching weather will persist in the south. The cold air will arrive between Monday and Tuesday from Mongolia and cause temperature drops and heavy rains in most parts of north China, with downpours hitting some areas, said the NMC. Rainfall will also sweep western parts of Yunnan province and the Sichuan Basin in the next 24 hours, as well as parts of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and Jiangsu provinces, said the weather agency. Meanwhile, the NMC maintained the blue high-temperature alert today, forecasting that temperatures will surge above 35 degrees Celsius in east of the Sichuan Basin, parts of Chongqing Municipality, and Guangdong and Hubei provinces and most areas south of the Yangtze River. Among these regions, the southwestern Sichuan Basin, most parts of Chongqing, and central Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces are expected to see temperatures climb to 37 or 39 degrees Celsius during the day. The center uses a four-tier color-coded heat warning system, with red being the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Chinese protest against Japanese ascending Diaoyu Islands Posted: 18 Aug 2012 09:09 PM PDT PEOPLE in a number of Chinese cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Hangzhou, Harbin and Qingdao took to the street this morning to voice their opposition to Japanese activists' landing on the Diaoyu Islands. Around 8:50 am, over 100 protestors started to gather near the Consulate-General of Japan in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, holding China's national flags and banners reading "Sworn to defend China's territory over Diaoyu Islands." They also shouted loudly "Japan gets out of the Diaoyu Islands!" In downtown Shenzhen, protestors gathered at the SEG Plaza around 9:00 am with China's national flags in their hands and shouted to defend the Chinese territory. The Japanese coast guard confirmed that nine Japanese activists landed on the Diaoyu Islands early today, Japanese media reported.

Hainan hotel fined after food poisoning sickens 141 people Posted: 18 Aug 2012 07:02 PM PDT A five-star hotel in south China's Hainan Province was fined 618,000 yuan (about US$97,200) yesterday after 141 people was sickened by food poisoning Sunday, according to local food safety watchdog. The Sanya City Food and Drug Administration also confiscated materials used to make food that allegedly sickened vacationers. The 141 vacationers were sent for medical treatment after their breakfast from 7 am to 10 am in the Howard Johnson Hotel on Sunday. Salmonella was detected in samples from the suspect food. The municipal government of Sanya, a city known as a tourist resort, has called for supervision of food security in its restaurants, including those in hotels, to be strengthened.

Japanese activists land on Diaoyu Islands Posted: 18 Aug 2012 06:54 PM PDT THE Japanese coast guard has confirmed that at least nine Japanese activists landed on the Diaoyu Islands, local media reported. The coast guard's patrol vessels found at least nine people landed on Diaoyu Islands at around 7:30am today, according to the NHK. They arrived at the waters near the Diaoyu Islands early this morning with a group of 150 Japanese activists and 21 vessels. The group plans to hold a ceremony for people died in the war in 1945, and then investigate fishery conditions in the waters near the Diaoyu Islands in order to declare the islands are Japanese territory. China yesterday lodged solemn representations with Japan as the group comprising some Japanese lawmakers and members of right- wing groups plan to go to the Diaoyu Islands waters to hold activities. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang said that China has urged the Japanese side to immediately stop the action that seeks to undermine China's territorial sovereignty. The arrival of the Japanese activists came after 14 Chinese activists arrived at the Diaoyu Islands by a Hong Kong fishing vessel to assert China's territorial claim to the islands last Wednesday. They were illegally arrested shortly after and were released last Friday.

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