News » Society » Beijing, nearby regions face 'dangerous' air quality
News » Society » Beijing, nearby regions face 'dangerous' air quality |
- Beijing, nearby regions face 'dangerous' air quality
- 4 pupils die in rush to get to class
- Australia finds largest meths haul
- China's aircraft carrier makes Qingdao its home
- Mok knows where she belongs ... on stage
- Execution date set for Mekong drug gang
- 4 pupils die in rush to get to class
- Parents urge change in the law to allow gay children to marry
- Fewer officials at legislature session
- Luxury in decline as frugality drive bites
- Taiwan travel rights loosened
- Online porn crackdown puts lid on 225 websites
- New food scare as report says tainted rice sold
- China Vanke Posts Strong 2012 Profit
- Pirelli to pump $200m into Chinese plant
- Have You Heard…
- China's aircraft carrier makes Qingdao its home
- Mok knows where she belongs ... on stage
- Execution date set for Mekong drug gang
- 4 pupils die in rush to get to class
| Beijing, nearby regions face 'dangerous' air quality Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:30 PM PST THE air quality in Beijing and nearby regions hit dangerous levels today, Beijing's environmental authorities said. Calm winds, temperature inversion, pollutants transformed from eastern and southern regions and large-scale dust from Inner Mongolia are behind the hazardous air pollution in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and east China's Bohai Bay, the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center said today. Readings for PM 2.5, or airborne particles measuring 2.5 microns or less in diameter that can deeply penetrate the lungs, reached more than 400 micrograms per cubic meter, or Level VI, which is considered "dangerous." Smog in southern Beijing reduced visibility to 900 meters earlier this morning. |
| 4 pupils die in rush to get to class Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:24 AM PST Four students were killed in a stampede at an elementary school in central China's Hubei Province yesterday and late last night three seriously injured pupils were still being treated in hospital. A total of 11 students were hurt in the accident at around 6:15am in Qinji elementary school in Laohekou City. Four of them died after emergency treatment, according to local government news portal www.ihk.gov.cn. The three in hospital were said to have no major organ damage and their vital signs were stable. An initial investigation found that the students had been in a rush to attend an early class but the gates of their dormitory were still shut. Witnesses said hundreds of students had crowded on stairs linking the first and second floor waiting for the supervisor to open the gates. Pictures posted online showed that the iron gates had been partly damaged in the stampede. There is only one exit on the first floor of the school's temporary dormitory, which used to be a four-story teaching building. Five hundred students boarded at the 900-pupil school. Eight officials, including the head of the local education bureau, and two school officials, including the headmaster, have been removed from their posts and placed under investigation, local government officials said, citing dereliction of duty. The two school officials and four others have also been transferred to judicial departments, Xinhua news agency reported. China National Radio said that the deputy mayor of Laohekou, who wasn't named, burst into tears when making a public apology at a press conference. Officials from Xiangyang City, which administers Laohekou, are dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy. In November, 33 students at an elementary school in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province, were injured in a stampede when they rushed back to their classrooms from the playground after a sports lesson was canceled because of rain. They collided with younger students going down the stairs as they were trying to climb up. No one was seriously injured. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Australia finds largest meths haul Posted: 27 Feb 2013 06:57 PM PST Australian police announce the country's largest-ever seizure of the drug methamphetamine, hidden in a shipment from China. |
| China's aircraft carrier makes Qingdao its home Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:27 AM PST China's first aircraft carrier has docked at its new permanent base in the eastern port of Qingdao. The Liaoning left the northeast port of Dalian, where it had docked for 11 years for refurbishing, at around 9am on Tuesday for the first sea trials of the year and arrived at its new home yesterday morning. There had been much speculation about where the aircraft carrier would call home since it officially entered service on September 25. "The anchoring means the naval base for the aircraft carrier in Qingdao is in official operation after four years of construction," the People's Liberation Army Navy said in a statement. The voyage indicated that the aircraft carrier no longer needs any shipyard adjustments and that its electronics, engines and hull were fully qualified, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. The carrier tested its weapon systems during the voyage from Dalian, the navy said, and will take part in further experiments and training at Qingdao. Since its delivery to the PLA Navy, the Liaoning has undergone a series of sea trials and experiments, including successful test flights of carrier-borne J-15 fighter jets. "The successful landing and takeoff in November is still the primary mission for the carrier. In the next step, the jets will take off and land with weapons loaded, as well as at night," said Li Jie, a researcher with the Naval Military Art Studies Institute. Qingdao is home to China's Northern Fleet, responsible for operations in the Yellow Sea, the Sea of Japan, parts of the East China Sea and the Bohai Sea, about 150 kilometers from Beijing. The port has the country's longest breakwater to guard against storms, and is ice-free all year. Liu Jiangping, a Chinese naval expert, said Qingdao, with its harbor area of 5 million square meters and water 25 meters deep, is the ideal home for the Liaoning. Yalong Bay off Hainan Island had been one of the candidates to house the aircraft carrier, but the plan was abandoned because the bay was a popular tourist spot, said Li. The Liaoning is a refurbished Soviet-era carrier purchased from Ukraine. While the Liaoning doesn't yet have an aircraft complement or battle group, the carrier program has been the most eye-catching element of China's naval buildup, which also includes ballistic missile submarines, modern destroyers and a new generation of stealth missile frigates, the first of which was launched on Monday at Shanghai's naval shipyard. |
| Mok knows where she belongs ... on stage Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:25 AM PST KAREN Mok wrestles with what's been a life-long question for her on the title of her first English album, "Somewhere I Belong." The Hong Kong pop diva has a half-Chinese, half-Welsh father and her mother is half-Chinese, quarter-Iranian and quarter-German. It's easy to see why Mok cannot pinpoint one ethnic identity. So where exactly does she belong? Mok says her home is on stage, wherever she performs. "It's about what I do, when I feel comfortable, that's when I'm doing what I love most, that's singing, that's when I'm performing on stage, and just singing my heart out, sharing my emotions," she said. "So that's where I belong." After 16 successful Mandarin/Cantonese albums, Mok is venturing into English lyrics and a mix of music styles. The album is her first attempt to cross from pop to jazz. She sings classic jazz tunes, as well as Chinese and Western pop songs. Mok made the album in China with Asian musicians and added a traditional Chinese stringed instrument, the guzheng, to the background of some tracks. The 42-year-old has been on the Asian entertainment scene for more than 20 years. She's starred in over 40 films and is the first Asian female artist to star in a Broadway show, cast as Mimi in the 10th anniversary Asian tour of "Rent." Mok is currently promoting "Somewhere I Belong" in Asia. Later this year, she will appear in Keanu Reeves's directorial debut, "Man of Tai Chi." |
| Execution date set for Mekong drug gang Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:24 AM PST
They will be given lethal injections in Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan Province, Kunming Intermediate People's Court said yesterday. The three accomplices were named as Hsang Kham from Thailand, Yi Lai, stateless, and Zha Xika, a Laotian. The court has arranged for the consulates of Thailand and Myanmar in Kunming, as well as the convicts' relatives, to meet with the men. After the execution, the court will hand over their remains, wills and personal belongings to relatives or consulates. Naw Kham and his gang were found to have masterminded and colluded with Thai soldiers in an attack on two Chinese cargo ships, the Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8, on October 5, 2011, on the Mekong River. Under Naw Kham's instructions, several of his gang members were also found to have kidnapped Chinese sailors and hijacked cargo ships for ransom. The gang was broken up in early 2012 in a joint operation by police from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand after the murders triggered calls to rein in crime in the border region. Naw Kham and the three gang members were sentenced to death on November 6. Two other members of Naw Kham's gang, Zha Bo and Zha Tuobo, received a death sentence with reprieve and eight years in prison, respectively. Dubbed "the Godfather," Naw Kham was boss of the largest armed drug trafficking gang on the river which flows through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. |
| 4 pupils die in rush to get to class Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:24 AM PST Four students were killed in a stampede at an elementary school in central China's Hubei Province yesterday and late last night three seriously injured pupils were still being treated in hospital. A total of 11 students were hurt in the accident at around 6:15am in Qinji elementary school in Laohekou City. Four of them died after emergency treatment, according to local government news portal www.ihk.gov.cn. The three in hospital were said to have no major organ damage and their vital signs were stable. An initial investigation found that the students had been in a rush to attend an early class but the gates of their dormitory were still shut. Witnesses said hundreds of students had crowded on stairs linking the first and second floor waiting for the supervisor to open the gates. Pictures posted online showed that the iron gates had been partly damaged in the stampede. There is only one exit on the first floor of the school's temporary dormitory, which used to be a four-story teaching building. Five hundred students boarded at the 900-pupil school. Eight officials, including the head of the local education bureau, and two school officials, including the headmaster, have been removed from their posts and placed under investigation, local government officials said, citing dereliction of duty. The two school officials and four others have also been transferred to judicial departments, Xinhua news agency reported. China National Radio said that the deputy mayor of Laohekou, who wasn't named, burst into tears when making a public apology at a press conference. Officials from Xiangyang City, which administers Laohekou, are dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy. In November, 33 students at an elementary school in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province, were injured in a stampede when they rushed back to their classrooms from the playground after a sports lesson was canceled because of rain. They collided with younger students going down the stairs as they were trying to climb up. No one was seriously injured. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Parents urge change in the law to allow gay children to marry Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:00 AM PST MORE than 100 parents of gay and lesbian children have signed a letter calling for same-sex marriage to be made legal in China. In the letter, posted online, they say: "Some of our children have lived with their same-sex partners for nearly 10 years. They love and take care of each other, but when one of them gets sick and needs a legal signature for emergency surgery, his or her partner cannot even sign as a family member." It adds: "As their parents, we are often worried as homosexuals cannot legally get married so they would meet difficulties when adopting a child, signing for medical surgeries, and even purchasing apartments." On Tuesday, two women identified as "Jiu Jiu" and "A'ya" went to a marriage register center in Guangzhou to apply to be married, but their request was immediately rejected, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported. An official is said to have told them: "Only a man and a woman can apply for marriage here. This is written in the Chinese marriage law." The women told the newspaper they were disappointed at the response but had decided to hold a wedding without marriage certificates. The previous day, Ma Yuyu and Elise Liao had gone to a Beijing registry to apply but were also turned down. The official told them Chinese law did not recognize a marriage between two women and then he "quickly retreated into a back room when they tried to discuss gay marriage with him," the newspaper said. "The two separate cases have shown that the two lesbian couples are desperate to express their need to get married," said an official surnamed Hu with PFLAG China (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Hu said more than 100 parents had joined an online discussion group run by the organization where they frequently expressed dismay that their children could not get married. They had decided to publish an open letter online to urge a change in the law. "It is ridiculous that our children don't love the opposite sex but they have the right to marry them," the letter said. |
| Fewer officials at legislature session Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:00 AM PST More migrant workers, women and young people have been elected to the 12th National People's Congress, China's national legislature, while there are fewer government and Party officials. The 11th NPC Standing Committee confirmed the credentials of all 2,987 elected deputies yesterday. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party's Central Committee, and the other six members of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee's Political Bureau - Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli - were elected as NPC deputies. They join 401 workers and farmers, who were also elected deputies. The younger generation is well represented. Among them is Chen Ruolin, at 20 the youngest deputy, who was born in December 1992. She won a diving gold medal at the London Olympics last year. Also born in 1992, Tie Feiyan, a road toll collector in southwest China's Yunnan Province, was dubbed "the most beautiful girl born after 1990" by admirers online as she had once rescued people from drowning and had adopted an abandoned infant. They are among 699 female deputies. Meanwhile, 1,042 deputies are government officials and leading Party cadres. All the deputies were elected from 35 election units representing 34 Chinese regions and the People's Liberation Army in December and January. The biggest difference compared to previous elections was that deputies were elected this year using the same population ratio for both rural and urban areas, said Wang Wanbin, deputy secretary general of the NPC Standing Committee. Each rural NPC deputy used to represent a population eight times that of an urban deputy between the 1950s and the 1990s, when the country had a dominant rural population. Among the elected deputies, there are 36 from Hong Kong and 12 from Macau. Thirteen deputies have been elected to represent Taiwan. The 11th NPC Standing Committee's last bi-monthly session ended yesterday. The first annual session of the 12th NPC is due to start next Tuesday. The session adopted in principle a report on the work of the NPC Standing Committee, which will be submitted to the upcoming session for deliberation, said Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee. |
| Luxury in decline as frugality drive bites Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:55 AM PST SALES of luxury goods on the Chinese mainland, a fast growing market for the sector in recent years, are on the decline as the country fights corruption and extravagance. "Sales have dropped a lot," said a salesman at a Parker pens store on Shanghai's Fuzhou Road. The salesman, who declined to be identified, said that in the past customers purchased pens as gifts and sales of those costing more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,591) were good. But in the past month, which included the traditional Spring Festival, usually a good season for expensive goods, many luxury brands have been feeling the winter chill. Guo Ming, an expert in luxury watches in Shanghai, said: "Some who had planned to buy high-end watches worth more than 100,000 yuan as presents turned to items valued at between 30,000 yuan and 40,000 yuan. "Those luxury items are no longer a favorite. Low-key luxury goods have become more popular instead," he added. Sales of some high-end watch brands dropped as much as 30 percent last year in China, according to industry insiders. China's new leadership has vowed to fight corruption and launched a frugality drive across the country. A number of official corruption scandals have been exposed in recent months. Last Friday, Yang Dacai, former head of the provincial work safety administration in Shaanxi Province, was kicked out of the Communist Party. Last year, luxury wristwatches that Yang was spotted wearing earned him the nickname of "Watch Brother" and raised concerns about corruption, as it was believed that a public servant could not possibly afford so many expensive watches. Some luxury brands are reported to have decided to stop or slow their market expansion in China. However, Zhou Ting, dean of the Fortune Character Institute, which specializes in lifestyle studies of the rich in China, remains optimistic. She said: "The anti-corruption move has had a great impact on luxury goods. But entrepreneurs in booming cities or towns are becoming luxury consumers." The adjustment in the luxury brand market was to be expected given its rapid market expansion in China in recent years and the effect of the country's anti-corruption moves, Zhou said. |
| Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:00 AM PST AUTHORITIES on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will allow residents from more mainland cities to visit the island as individual tourists this year, a Chinese mainland spokeswoman said yesterday. Expanding the list of eligible cities will be done in a prudent, step-by-step manner, Fan Liqing, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said in Beijing. The mainland's Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Strait and the island's Taiwan Strait Tourism Association will work out the details, Fan said. The associations said they will focus on travel safety and the quality of tourist services for mainland visitors. Asked to comment on Taiwan's proposal to open two small military-controlled islands close to the mainland, Fan said the opening of more scenic sites would be a good thing for both sides and beneficial to further exchanges. An overall ban on mainlanders traveling to the island was lifted by Taiwanese authorities in July 2008. However, mainlanders at that time could only travel to the island as part of tightly run tour groups, business trips, academic visits and trips related to family affairs. Taiwan first opened the door to individual tourists from mainland cities on June 28, 2011. However, this was limited to residents of Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen. The list of eligible cities was expanded to 13 on April 1, 2012. The mainland was the largest source of tourists to Taiwan last year, accounting for 36 percent of all visitors. |
| Online porn crackdown puts lid on 225 websites Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:00 AM PST A CRACKDOWN on Internet pornography has resulted in the closure of 225 websites that were found to have distributed obscene content, the State Internet Information Office said yesterday. More than 30,000 blog or microblog accounts were also closed during a campaign that started late last month, according to a statement released by the office. Photo-sharing, video-sharing and gaming websites that were not registered with the government were among those closed, the statement said. More than 79,000 tips regarding over 450 websites were received during the campaign, the statement said. The office, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security, is investigating enterprises that illegally allow providers of obscene content to obtain Internet access, as well as people who run pornographic websites, according to the statement. The industry and information ministry will also launch a nationwide campaign to crack down on unregistered websites and those that operate using forged licenses or illegal Internet access. A separate campaign to prevent gaming and video-sharing websites from offering obscene content will also be carried out. The office urged tougher measures to punish website operators that profit from spreading obscene content or offering illegal Internet access. |
| New food scare as report says tainted rice sold Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:00 AM PST TENS of thousands of tons of cadmium-laced rice may have entered the market in south China's Guangdong Province since 2009, a newspaper reported following an investigation. Government-owned Shenzhen Cereals Group bought the tainted rice in 2009 from state-run and regional grain reserves in Hunan Province, a major rice producing region in central China, Nanfang Daily reported yesterday. Quality inspectors found as early as 2009 that the rice contained excessive levels of cadmium and ruled the rice could only be used for industrial purposes such as making industrial alcohols. Cadmium is a metal harmful to the kidneys and intestines and can cause cancer. The Shenzhen Cereals Group disposed of only 100 tons of the tainted rice, or about 1 percent of the total, and sold the rest to rice noodle makers and wholesalers at discount prices, the newspaper said. After months of investigation, the report traced the tainted rice to the Guangdong capital of Guangzhou and Dongguan City, a key manufacturing hub in the province. Lab tests showed all the samples bought randomly in Guangzhou contained excessive cadmium levels. Several rice noodle factories in Dongguan admitted having purchased hundreds of tons of problem rice, the paper reported. Several granaries in Hunan reportedly said it is widely known that rice grown there has high levels of cadmium. Chen Jian, manager with the grain reserve in Hunan's capital Changsha City, was cited as saying that the air, soil and water is polluted so it affects the rice. "Even the super-high quality rice has problems with heavy metals," he told the newspaper. According to an official, surnamed Wang, with the grain reserve in Hunan's Xiangtan City, its major clients include Jinsiqi, one of the biggest rice and noodle makers in Guangdong, and Zhujiang Beer. Jinsiqi bought at least 700 tons of rice every month, he said. Sources told the newspaper the rice sold to Jinsiqi and Shenzhen Cereals Group was stored in the same warehouse. The grain reserves have their own inspection department and few buyers would ask for checks from an independent party, Wang was cited as saying. Such loopholes in safety supervision allow problem rice to enter markets around the nation, the paper said. Rice suppliers in Hunan blamed the Shenzhen Cereals Group, saying the company only cared about getting the rice at a cheaper price. The Shenzhen Cereals Group didn't comment on the report. |
| China Vanke Posts Strong 2012 Profit Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:56 AM PST  Source: Wall Street Journal by Esther Fung China Vanke Co., the nation's largest property developer by market value, reported a 30.4% rise in net profit in 2012, thanks to a sales rebound in major cities during the second half of the year. Net profit for the 12 months ended Dec. 31 rose to 12.55 billion yuan ($2.01 billion) from 9.62 billion yuan a year earlier. That is slightly slower than the 32% growth rate in 2011. Revenue rose 43.7% to 103.12 billion yuan. Much of the strength came as government regulators eased up on housing-market controls in the second half of the year to ensure adequate credit to first-time home buyers. Beijing had put curbs on second-home purchases and squeezed credit to developers, but they were seen as hurting buyers as well as speculators. Developers also benefited after the government cut interest rates and boosted liquidity in the market to combat a slowing economy. In the second half, Vanke's net profit rose 33.6% to 8.87 billion yuan from 6.64 billion yuan a year earlier, according to Wall Street Journal calculations. Analysts said the government could clamp down on the market again in the months ahead as the sales rebound pushes prices higher. Premier Wen Jiabao said last week that China will continue to combat speculative housing demand and keep market tightening measures in place, adding that a trial real-estate tax program will be expanded beyond the current two cities of Shanghai and Chongqing. Mr. Wen's remarks were widely interpreted as a sign of Beijing's concern that a renewed rise in home prices could threaten the economy and social stability. But Vanke played down the potential for problems, saying it has been focusing on sales of smaller apartments that have less appeal for speculators. "No matter what changes we see in the policy environment or the market itself, there will be steady demand from people who want to buy homes for their own use," Vanke said. Last year, 90% of the homes the company sold last year were in the small and midsize segments of the market. Vanke also said that the domestic market will remain its focus, even as it searches for opportunities outside of mainland China. Last week, the company announced a plan to team up with U.S.-based Tishman Speyer Properties on a residential project in San Francisco, its first in the U.S. Last month it said it is investing in another residential development in Hong Kong. The plans for offshore investments come after Vanke disclosed plans to move its foreign-currency "B" shares from the inactive trading on the mainland to a listing in Hong Kong. It said this would boost trading as well as the company's global profile. |
| Pirelli to pump $200m into Chinese plant Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:51 AM PST  Source: By Li Fangfang (China Daily) Pirelli & C SpA, the Italian tire giant, is planning a $200 million investment to make China its largest global manufacturing center by 2014. "By 2014, our manufacturing base in Yanzhou, Shandong province, the only one in Asia-Pacific, will become the biggest in the world for Pirelli," he said. "From 2012 to 2014, we are investing around $200 million in China, the world's largest vehicle market." Pirelli reported a turnover of 353 million euros ($468.4 million) in Asia Pacific in 2011, and it is expecting a 23 percent year-on-year growth in 2012, helped by rising demand for more expensive vehicles in China. "The Asia-Pacific market contributes 7 percent of our global turnover, and we are targeting to increase that," added Borgo. The world's fifth-largest tire maker established its Yanzhou plant in 2005, with a first production line manufacturing truck tires. In 2007, it added a passenger tire production line with a 5 million annual capacity, with its tires exported around the world. "We hope to double that production capacity of passenger car tires to 10 million by the end of 2014," said Borgo. The company built a motorcycle tire production line in 2012, delivering 1 million more tires, mostly exported to Japan and Australia. The company's overall $200 million investment will also include considerable spending on helping the Italian brand expand its dealer network across China. "We have seen strong consumption growth in second- and third-tier Chinese cities, and so we will increase our distribution coverage beyond first-tier cities and provide more end user access to our products," said Borgo, adding planned distribution outlets will "be linked with 4S (sales, spare parts, service, survey) car stores" in high-income areas. Pirelli's tires are traditionally considered high performance products, normally finding their way onto the wheels of some of the world's most desirable marques such as Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Porsche. It currently holds a 20 percent global share of the premium tire sector, putting it in pole position to benefit from China's booming demand for luxury vehicles and SUVs. "China's vehicle market is the most promising, especially for luxury vehicles. Its luxury car industry is expanding rapidly and has become the most important market for high-end auto brands," said Borgo. Statistics show that although China's passenger vehicle sales growth slowed to 7.1 percent in 2012, luxury car sales surged more than 20 percent. The SUV sector remained the highest single growth area, experiencing a 25.5 percent rise on 2011. "China's automobile market has grown tremendously, especially in the luxury car segment. This market will continue to increase, as will the premium tires market," said Borgo. He said that his confidence in the market also comes from the fact that more luxury cars are being made locally. China's Chery Automobile Co Ltd sealed a 17.5 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) joint venture project with British luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover in November, with plans to make 250,000 passenger vehicles under Jaguar, Land Rover and Chery brands, starting from July 2014 in Jiangsu province. Italian manufacturer Fiat SpA and its Chrysler Group LLC subsidiary also signed an agreement with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co in January to produce its Jeep SUVs in China. The world's largest automobile market since 2009, China is also considered its largest tire market. Statistics show that its total tire production in 2012 is expected to reach 483 million units, a growth of between 5 and 7 percent on 2011, accounting for almost a third of global output. Xiang Hanxue, a tire industry analyst with research firm Forward Business and Intelligence Co, predicted China will reinforce its leadership in the sector by yielding more than 550 million units of tires by 2015. |
| Posted: 27 Feb 2013 08:47 AM PST Have You Heard…   |
| China's aircraft carrier makes Qingdao its home Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:27 AM PST China's first aircraft carrier has docked at its new permanent base in the eastern port of Qingdao. The Liaoning left the northeast port of Dalian, where it had docked for 11 years for refurbishing, at around 9am on Tuesday for the first sea trials of the year and arrived at its new home yesterday morning. There had been much speculation about where the aircraft carrier would call home since it officially entered service on September 25. "The anchoring means the naval base for the aircraft carrier in Qingdao is in official operation after four years of construction," the People's Liberation Army Navy said in a statement. The voyage indicated that the aircraft carrier no longer needs any shipyard adjustments and that its electronics, engines and hull were fully qualified, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. The carrier tested its weapon systems during the voyage from Dalian, the navy said, and will take part in further experiments and training at Qingdao. Since its delivery to the PLA Navy, the Liaoning has undergone a series of sea trials and experiments, including successful test flights of carrier-borne J-15 fighter jets. "The successful landing and takeoff in November is still the primary mission for the carrier. In the next step, the jets will take off and land with weapons loaded, as well as at night," said Li Jie, a researcher with the Naval Military Art Studies Institute. Qingdao is home to China's Northern Fleet, responsible for operations in the Yellow Sea, the Sea of Japan, parts of the East China Sea and the Bohai Sea, about 150 kilometers from Beijing. The port has the country's longest breakwater to guard against storms, and is ice-free all year. Liu Jiangping, a Chinese naval expert, said Qingdao, with its harbor area of 5 million square meters and water 25 meters deep, is the ideal home for the Liaoning. Yalong Bay off Hainan Island had been one of the candidates to house the aircraft carrier, but the plan was abandoned because the bay was a popular tourist spot, said Li. The Liaoning is a refurbished Soviet-era carrier purchased from Ukraine. While the Liaoning doesn't yet have an aircraft complement or battle group, the carrier program has been the most eye-catching element of China's naval buildup, which also includes ballistic missile submarines, modern destroyers and a new generation of stealth missile frigates, the first of which was launched on Monday at Shanghai's naval shipyard. |
| Mok knows where she belongs ... on stage Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:25 AM PST KAREN Mok wrestles with what's been a life-long question for her on the title of her first English album, "Somewhere I Belong." The Hong Kong pop diva has a half-Chinese, half-Welsh father and her mother is half-Chinese, quarter-Iranian and quarter-German. It's easy to see why Mok cannot pinpoint one ethnic identity. So where exactly does she belong? Mok says her home is on stage, wherever she performs. "It's about what I do, when I feel comfortable, that's when I'm doing what I love most, that's singing, that's when I'm performing on stage, and just singing my heart out, sharing my emotions," she said. "So that's where I belong." After 16 successful Mandarin/Cantonese albums, Mok is venturing into English lyrics and a mix of music styles. The album is her first attempt to cross from pop to jazz. She sings classic jazz tunes, as well as Chinese and Western pop songs. Mok made the album in China with Asian musicians and added a traditional Chinese stringed instrument, the guzheng, to the background of some tracks. The 42-year-old has been on the Asian entertainment scene for more than 20 years. She's starred in over 40 films and is the first Asian female artist to star in a Broadway show, cast as Mimi in the 10th anniversary Asian tour of "Rent." Mok is currently promoting "Somewhere I Belong" in Asia. Later this year, she will appear in Keanu Reeves's directorial debut, "Man of Tai Chi." |
| Execution date set for Mekong drug gang Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:24 AM PST
They will be given lethal injections in Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan Province, Kunming Intermediate People's Court said yesterday. The three accomplices were named as Hsang Kham from Thailand, Yi Lai, stateless, and Zha Xika, a Laotian. The court has arranged for the consulates of Thailand and Myanmar in Kunming, as well as the convicts' relatives, to meet with the men. After the execution, the court will hand over their remains, wills and personal belongings to relatives or consulates. Naw Kham and his gang were found to have masterminded and colluded with Thai soldiers in an attack on two Chinese cargo ships, the Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8, on October 5, 2011, on the Mekong River. Under Naw Kham's instructions, several of his gang members were also found to have kidnapped Chinese sailors and hijacked cargo ships for ransom. The gang was broken up in early 2012 in a joint operation by police from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand after the murders triggered calls to rein in crime in the border region. Naw Kham and the three gang members were sentenced to death on November 6. Two other members of Naw Kham's gang, Zha Bo and Zha Tuobo, received a death sentence with reprieve and eight years in prison, respectively. Dubbed "the Godfather," Naw Kham was boss of the largest armed drug trafficking gang on the river which flows through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. |
| 4 pupils die in rush to get to class Posted: 27 Feb 2013 09:24 AM PST Four students were killed in a stampede at an elementary school in central China's Hubei Province yesterday and late last night three seriously injured pupils were still being treated in hospital. A total of 11 students were hurt in the accident at around 6:15am in Qinji elementary school in Laohekou City. Four of them died after emergency treatment, according to local government news portal www.ihk.gov.cn. The three in hospital were said to have no major organ damage and their vital signs were stable. An initial investigation found that the students had been in a rush to attend an early class but the gates of their dormitory were still shut. Witnesses said hundreds of students had crowded on stairs linking the first and second floor waiting for the supervisor to open the gates. Pictures posted online showed that the iron gates had been partly damaged in the stampede. There is only one exit on the first floor of the school's temporary dormitory, which used to be a four-story teaching building. Five hundred students boarded at the 900-pupil school. Eight officials, including the head of the local education bureau, and two school officials, including the headmaster, have been removed from their posts and placed under investigation, local government officials said, citing dereliction of duty. The two school officials and four others have also been transferred to judicial departments, Xinhua news agency reported. China National Radio said that the deputy mayor of Laohekou, who wasn't named, burst into tears when making a public apology at a press conference. Officials from Xiangyang City, which administers Laohekou, are dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy. In November, 33 students at an elementary school in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province, were injured in a stampede when they rushed back to their classrooms from the playground after a sports lesson was canceled because of rain. They collided with younger students going down the stairs as they were trying to climb up. No one was seriously injured. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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