News » Society » Zhao Hongzhu no longer holds post as Zhejiang Party chief

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• Zhao Hongzhu no longer holds post as Zhejiang Party chief
• A close encounter of the rare Siberian tiger kind
• Emphasis is on South China Sea peace, stability
• Tracing problem drinks
• Death of 5 boys in bin leads to punishment of 8 local officials
• China's richest woman loses spot
• Yang Jisheng: The man who discovered 36 million dead
• Obama urges restraint in tense Asian disputes
• Youngest China Politburo Member Takes Bo Xilai Chongqing Job
• Toys ‘R’ Us Grows in China, With ‘Tiger Moms’ in Mind
• CCTV advertising auction nets $2.55b
• Have You Heard…
• China diary: Shenzhen gets smarter
• Dormitory peepholes upset students
• Divorce costs richest woman her title
• Officials punished for 5 boys' death in dumpster
• China names new Chongqing chief
• Chinese Premier Wen meets US President Obama
• Tianjin offers 50,000 yuan to nab bird poachers
• Tianjin offers 50,000 yuan to nab bird poachers

Zhao Hongzhu no longer holds post as Zhejiang Party chief Posted: 20 Nov 2012 07:09 PM PST ZHAO Hongzhu will no longer hold the post as secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), according to a decision made by the CPC Central Committee. Zhao, born in July 1947, is currently a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

A close encounter of the rare Siberian tiger kind Posted: 20 Nov 2012 09:24 AM PST A SIBERIAN tiger has been spotted on a farm in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, forestry officials said yesterday. The tiger, believed to have been hunting for wild boar, came face to face with several workers on a forestry farm in eastern Heilongjiang on Sunday, said an official with the provincial Forestry Industry Bureau. The farm is on the sparsely populated Wandashan Mountain, where Siberian tigers have been spotted many times, but it was the first time such an animal had come so close to humans. "We had just finished work in the forest when the tiger appeared out of nowhere," said Shi Chun. The workers rushed to their tractor to avoid an attack and the tiger followed for several hundred meters before going away, Shi said. The tiger remained calm throughout the encounter, the workers said. On Monday, local authorities checked the site where the big cat was spotted and found plum-shaped pawprints, which they believe belong to an adult tiger. Yang Lijuan, a wild animal protection official with the Dongfanghong Forestry Bureau, said: "The farm is in a zone where coniferous and broad-leaved trees grow, which provides much food for the tigers' prey, such as boar and deer." Siberian tigers, otherwise known as Amur or Manchurian tigers, mainly live in eastern Russia, northeast China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. It is estimated that only about 500 live in the wild, with about 12 in Heilongjiang Province and eight to 10 in neighboring Jilin Province. The Dongfanghong bureau has stepped up efforts to increase food for wild boar, roe deer and red deer on its farms where tigers have been spotted to ensure ample prey for the endangered species.

Emphasis is on South China Sea peace, stability Posted: 20 Nov 2012 09:21 AM PST CHINESE Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday that China lays emphasis on peace, stability, free navigation and security in the South China Sea. Speaking at the East Asia Summit in Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, Wen said free navigation and security are fully guaranteed in the area. China hopes the international sea lanes across the South China Sea will be more fully used as the world economy recovers, he said. US President Barack Obama said the United States hopes to resolve regional hotspot issues through peaceful means, and will not take a position in issues concerning sovereign and territorial disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea. "President Obama's message is there needs to be a reduction of the tensions," Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said. "There is no reason to risk any potential escalation, particularly when you have two of the world's largest economies - China and Japan - associated with some of those disputes." The Philippines lodged a formal protest against summit host Cambodia yesterday, accusing it trying to stifle discussion on the South China Sea when leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met on Monday. But China defended its stand not to discuss the issue at multilateral forums. It prefers to deal with claimants on a bilateral basis. "We do not want to bring the disputes to an occasion like this," Wen said. "We do not want to give over-emphasis to the territorial disputes and differences, and we don't think it's a good idea to spread a sense of tension in this region." Several leaders at the summit raised the South China Sea issue, including a dispute over Huangyan Island, where Philippine and Chinese ships faced off in April. That prompted a firm response from China. "The Huangyan Island is China's territory," Wen told the summit. "China's act of defending its sovereignty is necessary and legitimate." Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Sunday that Southeast Asian leaders agreed not to internationalize the row over the South China Sea and to confine talks to between ASEAN and China - a claim disputed by Philippine President Benigno Aquino. Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario said his delegation had been shocked when a Cambodian official told reporters that ASEAN leaders had reached a consensus at their summit. "Consensus means everybody. I was there, the president was there and we're saying we're not with it because there's no consensus," he said. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Tracing problem drinks Posted: 20 Nov 2012 08:38 AM PST PILOT food safety traceability systems were established in cities across the country in 2010 to trace the source of problem food and drinks, including Chinese liquor, Shen Danyang, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman, told a press conference yesterday. "But we dare not say that these systems are perfect. They are just pilot systems," Shen said in response to a question on plasticizers.

Death of 5 boys in bin leads to punishment of 8 local officials Posted: 20 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST EIGHT officials in Bijie City in Guizhou Province were sacked or suspended from jobs after five boys were found dead in a dumpster, killed by carbon monoxide as they huddled inside and burned charcoal for warmth. The five boys, nine to 13 years old, were found dead on Friday along with charcoal ashes in the trash bin, 20 kilometers from their village. Those punished include four officials in charge of education and civil affairs - two vice directors of the district where the kids perished, and two officials in the children's hometown - and two school principals, the city's Party committee said yesterday. Two deputy heads of the district were suspended pending a further probe. The officials punished had not done anything to help the boys or had not even noticed that they had been missing from home and school for weeks, officials said. The boys were cousins from the same extended family, surnamed Tao, and their fathers were three brothers. It drizzled on Thursday night and the temperature dropped to a low of 6 degrees Celsius. The boys got in the dumpster to get warm, officials said. Not seen for 3 weeks Tao Jinyou, the father of one of the boys, said the five children had not been seen for three weeks after going out to play. The parents didn't know where to find them and their absence was not reported to police, officials said. The four sons of those two fathers were supposed to be under the care of an aging, blind grandmother who had difficulty caring for herself. The five cousins often loitered in town together, said Tao. "Sometimes they didn't even come home at night." Tao, who works on a farm in the area, said his son quit school two years ago and sometimes helped him herd cattle. "At first, I sent him back to school by force. But every time he'd run away again, so I knew it was hopeless." Four of the five kids were drop-outs who had performed poorly at school and the last one in school was often absent, said another father, Tao Yuanwu. Despite teachers' efforts, the boys refused to return to school. Their deaths spurred an outburst of grief from the public, who in Internet posts blamed the children's caregivers and local government for failing to take care of them. Children left behind Bijie, with a population of 7 million, is perched on craggy mountains. Many local peasants have taken jobs in bigger cities, leaving their children in the custody of grandparents or distant relatives. "We need to put the well-being of left-behind children at the top of our agenda," said Hu Jihong, deputy mayor of Bijie. "In fact, many uncared-for youngsters are wandering about the streets - some even run away to other provinces." A day before the deaths, China's new Party chief, Xi Jinping, stressed children's well-being. "People want their children to have sound growth, have good jobs and lead a more enjoyable life," he told reporters on Thursday, when the newly elected members of the Standing Committee of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee Political Bureau made a group debut. Shanghai-based academic Fu Ping said he saw a pressing need for laws to safeguard children's welfare and provide governmental aid to homeless minors. "Such laws will help ensure adequate funding to provide for needy children." Official figures show that China has over 150,000 street children, about half of whom left home over family disputes.

China's richest woman loses spot Posted: 20 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST WU Yajun is no longer China's richest woman after transferring about 40 percent of the developer's shares the couple used to own to her ex-husband, Bloomberg News reported. Wu, 48, co-founder and chairwoman of Longfor Properties, split with husband Cai Kuichao in an August divorce that cost her company shares worth over HK$20 billion (US$2.58 billion), media reports said yesterday. Wu said that on her road to success, she had sacrificed her husband, who was not among her top two priorities. "My husband might feel unsatisfied with me," she told a business magazine, China Entrepreneur. "Female entrepreneurs always face choices. For me, I place my career first, place my daughter second and the third is my husband. Once I made my choice, I started focusing on my business," she said. "My husband must regret having said, 'Whatever you do I will support.' He never expected such huge costs," she said. Wu topped the 2012 Hurun List of Self-Made Women Billionaires with a net worth of 38 billion yuan (US$6 billion) before her divorce. Her current net worth is estimated at US$4.2 billion. The businesswoman started her real estate empire in 1994 when she quit working in journalism. Yang Huiyan of Country Garden Holdings Co, daughter of the founder, is now China's richest woman with a US$5 billion fortune, according to Bloomberg.

Yang Jisheng: The man who discovered 36 million dead Posted: 20 Nov 2012 08:41 AM PST The Chinese author who uncovered 36 million dead

Obama urges restraint in tense Asian disputes Posted: 20 Nov 2012 08:08 AM PST Source: Reuters By Jeff Mason and James Pomfret (Reuters) – President Barack Obama urged Asian leaders on Tuesday to rein in tensions in the South China Sea and other disputed territory, but stopped short of firmly backing allies Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam in their disputes with China. The comments illustrate the challenge facing newly re-elected Obama in managing Sino-U.S. ties that have become more fraught across a range of issues, including trade, commercial espionage and the territorial disputes between Beijing and Washington's Asian allies. "President Obama's message is there needs to be a reduction of the tensions," Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said after the East Asia Summit in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. "There is no reason to risk any potential escalation, particularly when you have two of the world's largest economies – China and Japan – associated with some of those disputes." The comments appeared carefully calibrated not to offend either side. They follow a three-day trip by Obama to three strategically important Southeast Asian countries: old U.S. ally Thailand, new friend Myanmar and China ally Cambodia, in a visit that underlines Washington's expanding military and economic interests in Asia under last year's so-called "pivot" from conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Obama's attention was divided as he tried to stay on top of the unfolding crisis in Gaza. He dispatched Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from the summit to the Middle East for a round of troubleshooting talks in Israel, the West Bank and Egypt. A decades-old territorial squabble over the South China Sea is entering a new and more contentious chapter, as claimant nations search deeper into disputed waters for energy supplies while building up their navies and military alliances with other nations, particularly with the United States. Beijing claims almost the entire sea as its territory based on historical records, setting it directly against U.S. allies Vietnam and the Philippines, while Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also lay claim to parts. PHILIPPINE PROTEST The Philippines lodged a formal protest on Tuesday against summit host Cambodia, accusing the Chinese ally of trying to stifle discussions on the South China Sea when leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met on Monday. On Tuesday, China defended its stand to not discuss the South China Sea issue at multilateral forums. Beijing prefers to deal with other claimants on a bilateral basis. "We do not want to bring the disputes to an occasion like this," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told the summit, according to Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Fu Ying. "We do not want to give over emphasis to the territorial disputes and differences, and we don't think it's a good idea to spread a sense of tension in this region," Wen added. Several leaders at the summit raised the South China Sea issue, including a dispute over Scarborough Shoal, where Philippine and Chinese ships faced off in April. That prompted a firm response from China, Fu told reporters. "Huangyan Island (Scarborough Shoal) is China's territory," Fu quoted Wen as telling the summit. "China's act of defending its sovereignty is necessary and legitimate." The South China Sea failed to earn a single mention in an 11-page concluding summit statement read by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, a victory for China, which has sought to keep it off the formal agenda. Hun Sen lived up to his authoritarian image, taking no questions in a 29-minute news conference. He said he was too tired. Earlier, in his first meeting with a Chinese leader since his re-election, Obama said Washington and its chief economic rival must work together to "establish clear rules of the road" for trade and investment. But he stopped short of accusing China of violating those rules, a hot topic in his re-election campaign. "I'm committed to working with China and I'm committed to working with Asia," Obama told Wen in a bilateral meeting. Wen highlighted "the differences and disagreements between us" but said these could be resolved through trade and investment. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said mounting Asian security problems raise the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance, a veiled reference to tensions over Chinese sovereignty claims and maritime disputes. "With the increasing severity of the security environment in East Asia, the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance is increasing," Noda told Obama. STRAINED TIES Sino-Japanese relations are also under strain after the Japanese government bought disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China from a private Japanese owner in September, triggering violent protests and calls for boycotts of Japanese products across China. China says both disputes involve sea lanes vital for its economy and prefers to address conflicts in one-on-one talks. Hun Sen said on Sunday Southeast Asian leaders agreed not to internationalize the row over the South China Sea and to confine talks to between ASEAN and China — a claim disputed by Philippine President Benigno Aquino. A stern-faced Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario said his delegation had been shocked when a Cambodian official told a news conference that ASEAN leaders had reached a consensus at their summit on Sunday. "Consensus means everybody. I was there, the president (Aquino) was there and we're saying we're not with it because there's no consensus," del Rosario told reporters. "How can they say there's consensus when we're saying there's no consensus?" It was the second time in five months Cambodia was accused of bowing to Chinese pressure and thwarting regional debate on the issue. A July ASEAN foreign ministers meeting, also in Phnom Penh, broke down in acrimony and failed to agree on a communique for the first time, just weeks after the standoff between a Philippine warship and Chinese vessels.

Youngest China Politburo Member Takes Bo Xilai Chongqing Job Posted: 20 Nov 2012 08:05 AM PST Source: Bloomberg News Sun Zhengcai, the youngest member of the Chinese Communist Party's new Politburo, was appointed party boss of Chongqing, the southern Chinese municipality led by Bo Xilai until his ouster over a murder scandal. Sun, 49, replaces Zhang Dejiang, who was named to the party's ruling Politburo Standing Committee in a once-a-decade leadership transition that concluded last week, the Xinhua News Agency reported today. Zhang took over the municipality in March after Bo was removed and later stripped of his party membership over a case in which his wife was convicted of murdering a British businessman. Formerly agriculture minister and party secretary in Jilin province, Sun may become a top leader in the country's political transition a decade from now, according to political analysts including Bo Zhiyue, senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore's East Asia Institute. Sun got a spot on the 25-member Politburo in the transition, which saw Vice Premier Xi Jinping appointed general secretary of the Communist Party. Bo's wife was convicted in August of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood, and Bo himself now faces charges that he abused his power, made "severe mistakes" and bore "major responsibility" in his wife's murder case, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. When he took over Chongqing, Zhang said Bo had brought "great damage" to the Communist Party's image and that the country must deepen reform of its legal system. Based on his No. 3 rank in the new Politburo Standing Committee, Zhang is slated to become head of the National People's Congress, China's legislature, though no announcement has been made. Youngest Members Chongqing is one of four municipalities that report directly to the central government. The others are Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. The municipalities' party secretaries are typically drawn from the Politburo. Yu Zhengsheng, also named to the Politburo Standing Committee, stepped down as Shanghai party secretary today, Xinhua said. He was replaced by Politburo member Han Zheng, it said. Hu Chunhua, 49, joins Sun as the youngest members of the new Politburo by at least six years. The two could succeed China's new leaders in 2022, said Joseph Cheng, a political science professor at the City University of Hong Kong. Sun spent a year studying in the U.K. and has an advanced degree in agriculture, according to Cheng Li, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. In 2002, Sun was named party secretary of Beijing's Shunyi area, where many of the city's international schools and western-style villas are located.

Toys ‘R’ Us Grows in China, With ‘Tiger Moms’ in Mind Posted: 20 Nov 2012 08:02 AM PST Source: Wall Street Journal By Laurie Burkitt and Ann Zimmerman Toys "R" Us Inc. plans an online and bricks-and-mortar push in China, its top executive said, in a bet that a growing middle class will see play time as increasing essential. To ply a market where many parents would sooner buy their children books than Barbies, the retailer is stocking up on toy microscopes, building blocks and other educational toys to win Chinese parents over. The Wayne, N.J., company is launching online sales in China this week and plans to double its stores from a current 30 in the next few years, said Chief Executive Jerry Storch in an interview. He declined to give a time frame for the store expansion. "There's a huge opportunity waiting in China and we have to be part of it," Mr. Storch said. China's increasingly affluent consumers are making sure their children have plenty to play with. Sales growth in the toy market there rose 18% to nearly 54 billion yuan ($8.58 billion) in 2011, up from a year earlier, according to market research company Euromonitor International Still, some toy companies have struggled in China, where parents bury their children in school books early and where "play is a four-letter word," said Torsten Stocker, an analyst with consulting firm Monitor Group. Mattel Inc. closed its Shanghai-based flagship Barbie store in March last year, after misjudging the potential popularity of its dolls. Mattel said it is reformatting its strategy to sell more learning-focused toys. Toys "R" Us executives say they will emphasize educational toys in an effort to win over the fiercest of strict "tiger mothers." About 35% of sales in existing stores in China are tied to education, compared with 21% in the U.S., Mr. Storch said. "We've been learning from other retailers—successful and unsuccessful—and we have a strong plan in place," said Mr. Storch, noting that Toys "R" Us is also localizing its merchandise, carrying toys and brands targeted to Chinese consumers, such as the TV and movie characters Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf. Some big-box retailers have recently closed stores in China after importing alien strategies that weren't in line with what Chinese consumers wanted. Home Depot Inc. n September closed its seven big-box stores in the country. Tesco shut four of its stores in China this year. Mr. Storch said Toys "R" Us is adapting to local culture. It plans to open smaller stories of about 10,000 square feet—about a quarter of the size of many of its U.S. stores—that will fit in shopping malls, which are popular with Chinese spenders. The company is also opening "express" stores of 5,000 square feet and putting outlets of its baby clothing and furnishings store Babies "R" Us next to them. In the U.S., Toys "R" Us has been opening the two stores side by side, which has led to sales gains, Mr. Storch said. He declined to break out the number of Babies "R" Us shops the company plans to open, but said he believes there is an opportunity to increase the youth side of the business. China's baby market has been a cash cow for many companies, as new mothers—most of whom have only been allowed to have one child due to China's population controls—have been willing to dote on their babies, buying expensive clothing and other baby accessories. The U.S. toy business has been under stress in recent years. U.S. toy sales fell 2% last year to $21.2 billion, a decline that the industry attributed to the weak economic recovery, a dearth of "must have" toys and children's increasing preference for digital playthings. U.S. toy companies are looking abroad to stoke growth. Mattel recently told analysts that its expects international sales to account for 60% of its sales in the coming years, up from 50% today. Toys "R" Us has logged two years of profit declines while its annual sales of roughly $14 billion have remained relatively flat. Its earnings have been pressured by declines in the global videogame business and Europe's weak economy. The company aims to increase its market share in a stagnant U.S. market through products such as a private-brand electronic tablet geared to children 6 and younger. It also created a service where parents can download children's videos. Toys "R" Us is considering launching the tablet in China but the company isn't making any concrete announcements yet, Mr. Storch said. Mr. Storch said Toys "R" Us is revving up its advertising to improve consumer awareness in China. The company currently advertises on 10 Chinese satellite and local children's stations and is also running ads online, through video sites such as Tudou.com.

CCTV advertising auction nets $2.55b Posted: 20 Nov 2012 07:57 AM PST Source: By Wei Tian ( China Daily) Record spending at the annual advertising auction of China Central Television, a barometer of the country's economy, highlighted Chinese businesses' confidence in the consumer market next year despite slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy. The auction for advertising slots in 2013 held on Sunday by China's top TV broadcaster earned a total of 15.88 billion yuan ($2.55 billion), up 11.4 percent year-on-year. Liquor company JNC Group was the top bidder, spending 608 million yuan to secure a place for its logo for eight months on four daily slots on the clock which precedes news bulletins on CCTV 13, the broadcaster's news channel. Other liquor companies also competed fiercely during the 12-hour auction, spending a total of 3.66 billion yuan to promote their brands on CCTV in 2013, nearly 90 percent more than in the previous year. Slots in the commercial break ahead of Xinwen Lianbo, CCTV's flagship news program, remain the broadcaster's top product, drawing more than 5.4 billion yuan. Wuliangye Group Co spent 499 million yuan to secure a place on the clock which features immediately prior to Xinwen Lianbo at 7 pm, followed by 352 million yuan from Kweichow Moutai Co, last year's top bidder. "The records set this year suggest that businesspeople are fully confident about the nation's economic prospects in 2013," said Li Guangdou, an advertising expert who heads a brand consultancy in Beijing. According to Li, CCTV's advertising revenue has been growing faster than the nation's GDP in the 18 years since the auction started, at an average of 16 to 17 percent annually, but this high growth has come under pressure from the nation's slowing economic growth. In the first half of 2012, revenue in the domestic advertising market grew 4.2 percent, with television advertising increasing by 4.7 percent. Both growth rates were slower than the nation's economic expansion, which fell to a three-year low of 7.8 percent during the same period. "Companies perceived the current economic situation as a trough and bet on rebounding growth in 2013, expecting their spending on CCTV will bring more benefits in the year to come," said Xu Haoran, a brand consultant. This year's auction attracted more than 1,000 representatives from 251 domestic and overseas bidders. Apart from the dominance of liquor companies, other notable bidders included food and beverage companies, and e-commerce giants. Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd secured the exclusive naming rights of Xingguang Dadao, one of China's most popular grassroots talent shows, for 340 million yuan. Brand competition between beverage makers JDB Group and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings extended to the auction. The two ended up spending a total of almost 150 million yuan. But the outlook is not as rosy as it seems. He Haiming, deputy director of CCTV's advertising operations and management center, said most companies had cut their advertising expenditure this year as their budgets were squeezed amid slowing economic growth. "As for CCTV, this has been the busiest year in my career of more than a decade, in terms of working overtime and visiting clients," He said. Compared with the previous year's auction, CCTV had fewer prime slots to offer advertisers due to the absence of major sports events in 2013, and regulations to reduce the time advertisements can be broadcast, He said. Meanwhile, the nation's major television broadcaster faces increasing competition from provincial channels, such as Zhejiang Satellite TV, which drew 1.04 billion yuan in advertising revenue for its hit show Voice of China next year. But Xu Fan, a professor at Communication University of China, said CCTV's advertising slots would continue to be attractive among bidders due to the broadcaster's reputation and high ratings during major holidays such as the Spring Festival. Xu was echoed by He Yangqing, vice-president of Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd, who said the company would cut its spending on other media to guarantee advertising expenditure on CCTV due to its high price-performance ratio. The company spent more than 400 million yuan on advertising slots on CCTV in 2013. Meanwhile, there is still room for growth as the aggregate spending on advertising only accounts for 0.6 percent of China's GDP, compared to an average of 2 percent in developed economies, Li said. The auction also came soon after the recently concluded 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China vowed to double national income by 2020, "so there is still huge potential in China's consumer market", said He from CCTV.

Have You Heard… Posted: 20 Nov 2012 07:51 AM PST Have You Heard…

China diary: Shenzhen gets smarter Posted: 20 Nov 2012 01:10 AM PST Chinese hi-tech giants taking on US and Europe

Dormitory peepholes upset students Posted: 20 Nov 2012 02:38 AM PST A middle school in Wenzhou, eastern Zhejiang Province, installed peepholes on dormitory doors to watch students and this sparked a protest over invasion of privacy. About 470 students live in the dormitory building of Longwan Experimental Junior High School and their rooms were recently fitted with peepholes, through which teachers can see what is going on inside, the Wenzhou Metropolis Daily reported. But many students are unhappy with the peepholes. "I feel uneasy and unsafe knowing I am being watched," a girl student said. Others said they used to do anything they like in the room and now they have to go to the bathroom to change clothes. In protest, some boys blocked the peepholes with toothpaste, the paper said. He Xiaozhen, a school official, said they installed the peepholes two weeks ago to prevent students playing video games and violating school rules. It is still on a trial stage. "Advantage obviously outweighs disadvantage," said the school president, Cai Chaohui. But a Zhejiang lawyer, Jin Bingcong, said the school has infringed on the privacy of its students. "It may affect the students' psychological development and put overwhelming pressure on teenagers," He Jincai, a Wenzhou psychologist, told the paper.

Divorce costs richest woman her title Posted: 20 Nov 2012 12:54 AM PST CHINA'S richest woman Wu Yajun, president of Longfor Properties, has divorced from her husband Cai Kuichao and given Cai company shares worth more than 20 billion HK dollars (US$2.58 billion). The Hong Kong Economic Journal reported that Wu and Cai held 75.6 percent of Longfor's stocks but in August they split their holdings into 45.4 percent for Wu and 30.2 percent for Cia. Wu is still the biggest shareholder of the company. Wu topped the 2012 Hurun List of Self-Made Women Billionaires and became the richest woman in China with a net worth of 38 billion yuan. Longfor's share price rose 3 percent to 14.3 HK dollars yesterday. That means Cai's holdings are worth more than 200 HK dollars. A Longfor Properties spokesperson recently admitted to the couple's divorce, but said it would not affect the company's stock price and operation. Their shares are held by two separate trust companies since the company was listed. Cai has no duty in the company.

Officials punished for 5 boys' death in dumpster Posted: 19 Nov 2012 07:54 PM PST Eight officials in Bijie City, Guizhou Province were sacked or suspended from jobs after five children were found dead in a dumpster, killed by carbon monoxide as they huddled inside and burned charcoal for warmth, according to Xinhua News Agency. They include two vice mayors of the city's Qixingguan District where the five boys aged between nine and 13 perished, according to a decision made by the city's Party committee. The five boys were found dead last Friday along with charcoal ashes in the dumpster. They were cousins of a big family surnamed Tao, Xinhua News Agency reported today. It drizzled on Thursday night and the temperature dropped to 6 degrees Celsius, according to local weather reports. The five young runaways didn't get any help. Tao Jinyou, the father of one boy, said the five children had not been seen for three weeks after they went out to play. The parents and their teachers didn't know where to find them. Four boys were dropouts due to their poor performance at school, said Tao Yuanwu, another father. The boys were from the same extended family and their fathers were three brothers, the city government said in a press release given to Xinhua this morning. Family members and teachers had been searching for the children, who went missing three weeks ago, when their bodies were found, by a trash collector in a dumpster last Friday, said Tao Jinyou, father of Tao Zhonglin. He said the child quit school two years ago and had been herding cattle at home. In fact, four of the five kids were drop-outs and the other also cut school often. Despite their teachers' attempts at persuasion, the kids refused to return to school, saying they were getting poor grades and disliked learning, said Tao Yuanwu, father of two of the boys: Tao Chong and Tao Bo. Tao Yuanwu, a migrant worker in the southern boom city Shenzhen, arrived home only yesterday to identify the bodies. Police said the boys died from carbon monoxide poisoning, as remains of burnt charcoal found inside the dumpster indicated they might have burnt charcoal for warmth before they died. Their tragic deaths spurred an outburst of grief from the public, who blamed the children's caregivers and local government for failing to take care of the young lives. The sacked individuals also included two officials in Xinghaizijie Township, the children's hometown, and two local school principals for failing to get the children back to school.

China names new Chongqing chief Posted: 20 Nov 2012 12:16 AM PST China appoints a new Communist Party chief in Chongqing, the city once led by disgraced politician Bo Xilai.

Chinese Premier Wen meets US President Obama Posted: 19 Nov 2012 10:35 PM PST CHINESE Premier Wen Jiabao today met with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the seventh East Asia Summit in Cambodia. Leaders of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States will attend the East Asia Summit to be held this afternoon.

Tianjin offers 50,000 yuan to nab bird poachers Posted: 19 Nov 2012 10:13 PM PST The government of Tianjin Municipality is offering 50,000 yuan (US$8,020) for tips that lead to the arrest of bird poachers who poisoned many endangered oriental storks to death, the Beijing News reported. Tianjin police have started probing the case after wildlife volunteers found 22 dead storks and saved 13 poisoned storks in the Beidagang Wetland Reserve. More than 50 poachers, about half of them from other places, pose a serious threat to hundreds of thousands of migratory birds that stop for food in the wetland near Tianjin, the paper said. Many of them are "professional killers" who know the bird's habitats and follow them all the way on their route of migration, said a bird hunter named Lin Long. These people spread pesticide-laced corns over mudflats to kill swans and wild gooses and pour pesticides directly in small ponds to lure gulls and storks. A 500g pack of carbamate pesticide costs just tens of yuan but can kill 40,000 birds, the Beijing News said. Nearby restaurant owners purchase wild birds from poachers and sell them to buyers across the country. An oriental stork is priced at 200 yuan (US$32 yuan) each; a wild goose sells for 400 yuan; and a swan is worth up to 1,000 yuan, Lin told the paper. Some people may feel slight drunkenness if they eat a poisoned bird, but many are unaware of this because they also drink beer or wine, said Zhang Shuai, a wildlife protection official in Beijing. "But the toxicity of pesticides has long-lasting damage to human livers," Zhang added. Nearby villagers said at least three restaurants serve wildlife meat to customers but they all stopped serving after media reports about the slaughter of migrating birds in the wetland. Local authorities have pumped water into the toxic ponds to dilute pesticide poison. Wang Chuanwei, a lawyer, said people who kill more than four protected animals can be sentenced up to ten years in prison and have their properties confiscated according to the Chinese Wildlife Protection Law.

Tianjin offers 50,000 yuan to nab bird poachers Posted: 19 Nov 2012 10:13 PM PST THE government of Tianjin Municipality is offering 50,000 yuan (US$8,020) for tips that lead to the arrest of bird poachers who poisoned many endangered oriental storks to death, the Beijing News reported. Tianjin police have started probing the case after wildlife volunteers found 22 dead storks and saved 13 poisoned storks in the Beidagang Wetland Reserve. More than 50 poachers, about half of them from other places, pose a serious threat to hundreds of thousands of migratory birds that stop for food in the wetland near Tianjin, the paper said. Many of them are "professional killers" who know the bird's habitats and follow them all the way on their route of migration, said a bird hunter named Lin Long. These people spread pesticide-laced corns over mudflats to kill swans and wild gooses and pour pesticides directly in small ponds to lure gulls and storks. A 500g pack of carbamate pesticide costs just tens of yuan but can kill 40,000 birds, the Beijing News said. Nearby restaurant owners purchase wild birds from poachers and sell them to buyers across the country. An oriental stork is priced at 200 yuan (US$32 yuan) each; a wild goose sells for 400 yuan; and a swan is worth up to 1,000 yuan, Lin told the paper. Some people may feel slight drunkenness if they eat a poisoned bird, but many are unaware of this because they also drink beer or wine, said Zhang Shuai, a wildlife protection official in Beijing. "But the toxicity of pesticides has long-lasting damage to human livers," Zhang added. Nearby villagers said at least three restaurants serve wildlife meat to customers but they all stopped serving after media reports about the slaughter of migrating birds in the wetland. Local authorities have pumped water into the toxic ponds to dilute pesticide poison. Wang Chuanwei, a lawyer, said people who kill more than four protected animals can be sentenced up to ten years in prison and have their properties confiscated according to the Chinese Wildlife Protection Law.

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