China Chronicles March 4, 2013
- Underpass explodes in Shenyang, casualties unclear
AN explosion hit an underground passage in front of a shopping mall in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, at around 9am today.
Though it remains unknown about the casualties, the huge bomb, scattered windows, bloods stained on grounds showed no optimism, local news portal, www.nen.com.cn.
The shock wave of the blast could be felt one kilometer away, local residents said. A witness wrote on Weibo.com that passersby were blown away.
Firefighters have rushed to the scene near the Shenyang New World Department Store, and police have condoned off the Zhonghua Road.
Traffic police at the scene suggested it a coal gas pipeline explosion, but a further probe is still under way, the report showed.
- Car stolen with baby inside
A private car with a two-month-old baby inside was stolen on street-side in Changchun, northeastern Jilin Province, about 7:20am today, China Central Television reported.
Local police has launched a citywide search.
The baby's custodian, whose relation to the infant is unclear at present, reportedly left the sedan without unplugging the car key, causing the car to be stolen with the infant onboard.
Police are urging for tips through all media channels to help find the baby and car. - Sonntag , 03. Maerz 2013 ; 009
- China - Film Stills #9
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- Officers on board for Peace-13
Chinese naval officers are seen yesterday on a ship among a fleet sent to Karachi in Pakistan to join a multinational naval drill. The exercise, named Peace-13, is scheduled to start in the North Arabian Sea today and end on March 8. Navy from fourteen countries including China, Pakistan, the United States, Britain and Japan will take part in the exercise.
- Chocolate bars, cake not up to standard
Ikea chocolate cake, Kraft cheese, Shiseido sunscreen cream and Nestle Crunch chocolate bars were among substandard products destroyed or sent back by China's quality watchdog in its latest checks.
The furniture retailer, still smarting from a horsemeat scandal that led to it withdrawing food products from its stories, had 1.87 tons of its almond chocolate cake imported from Sweden fail tests for containing an excessive level of coliform bacteria, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
They were imported by Ikea Shanghai in January but have now been destroyed.
There was no one available for comment at Ikea Shanghai yesterday.
A batch of cream cheese imported from the United States by Kraft Foods Shanghai was also destroyed because it had expired.
However, Kraft Foods China said that the batch was imported as samples, not for sale, and the quantity - 41 kilograms - was very small.
Some 2.7 tons of Nestle Crunch chocolate bars were found to contain sorbitol, a sweetener that can cause bowel problems in large amounts.
The products, imported from Italy by the Shanghai Cortti Food Co, were destroyed.
Cortti is not an authorized Nestle dealer, and the bars were not imported by Nestle China nor sold by the company on China's mainland, Nestle Shanghai said.
A type of Shiseido sunscreen cream imported from Japan by the China Duty Free Group Co Ltd was destroyed for containing cadmium.
Exposure to a large amount of cadmium can lead to poisoning. Inhalation may harm the respiratory system, liver and kidneys, and cause osteoporosis, doctors said.
The products that failed were among 247 imported food and cosmetic items found to have quality-related problems in January. They included beverages, chocolate, biscuits, baby formula, cakes, snacks, tomato sauce and brandy.
They had expired or had excessive bacteria, heavy metals, additives or banned substances, had registered high acid l! evels or had labeling problems.
Zhang Xiaojing, a Shanghai consumer, said: "I have been used to all this, bacteria and excessive amounts of some substances, and now it seems that only poisonous cases would be a big deal."
- Lawmakers support reform of labor camp system
AHEAD of the Chinese national legislature's annual session, which opens tomorrow, lawmakers have backed reform of controversial labor camps in which people can be sentenced to up to four years' "re-education" by police without trial.
The labor camp system, known as laojiao, was "a disgrace to China's national image and required urgent reform," as it runs against the principles of lawful governance and justice which the country pursues, said Yang Weicheng, a deputy to the National People's Congress and a lawyer from Shandong Province.
Deng Hui, an NPC deputy and law school dean from Jiangxi Province, said the labor camp system violated various laws, including the Law on Legislation and the Administrative Penalty Law. It was also a deviation from a human rights convention the Chinese government had signed, he said.
"The reform of the labor camp system is imminent and inescapable," Deng said.
The labor camp system was established in the 1950s to consolidate the newly founded People's Republic of China and rectify social order. It allows police to detain people, usually charged with minor offenses, for up to four years without an open trial.
Although it has helped maintain social order over the past several decades, its downside has also emerged. As an extra-judicial penalty, it is prone to abuse by the police. It also runs counter to increasing legal awareness among the public and China's endeavor for the rule of law.
An NPC deputy and legal expert from Fujian Province, Dai Zhongchuan, said: "To some degree, the labor camp system makes people live in fear. It's an unchecked and unsupervised measure that can deprive and limit people's freedom outside court, making it extremely liable to be abused by power."
Calls for the system's reform have been running high for years. Several recent high-profile cases have put it even more under the spotlight.
In one recent case, Tang Hui, a woman in central China's Hunan Province, was sentenced to internment in a ! labor camp after demanding tougher penalties for the seven men convicted of abducting, raping and prostituting her 11-year-old daughter.
- Advisers begin annual session
The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, convened its annual session in Beijing yesterday.
About 2,200 members of the 12th CPPCC National Committee from different sectors across the country will discuss major issues concerning the country's development during the session, due to end on March 12.
New leaders of the top advisory body will also be elected at the session.
At the opening meeting in the Great Hall of the People, CPPCC Chairman Jia Qinglin delivered a report on the work of the committee's Standing Committee over the past five years.
Jia said the CPPCC should "actively assist the Party and government in the work of getting the people to voice their demands, coordinating their interests, and safeguarding their rights and interests."
The chairman said the top advisory body must "firmly stay focused on the themes of unity and democracy" to consolidate social harmony and vitality.
An editorial in yesterday's People's Daily, the Party's flagship newspaper, said the Party should tolerate different opinions or even sharp criticism.
It said that all democratic parties and CPPCC members should tell the truth, give forthright admonition and good suggestions to the Party, and be its outspoken and loyal friends.
Jia said the political advisory body should maintain close contact with CPPCC National Committee members from Hong Kong and Macau to get them to play positive roles in building their special administrative regions.
Exchanges and cooperation with Taiwan should be enhanced to cultivate more common interests for the peaceful growth of cross-strait relations, the chairman said.
Founded in 1949, the CPPCC consists of elite figures from Chinese society willing to serve the think tank for the government and the country's legislative and judicial organs.
- Stars stand out at Great Hall meeting
FILM star Jackie Chan joined other celebrities at yesterday's meeting of China's top advisory body, among some 2,200 members making suggestions to the government.
Nobel literature prizewinner Mo Yan and basketball star Yao Ming also attended the annual meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
The 58-year-old Hong Kong actor, famous in the West for the "Rush Hour" series and "Police Story," kept a low profile outside the meeting.
"I have no way of speaking now, we don't have enough time to elaborate," he told a scrum of reporters opposite Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
Chan, wearing a black shirt and glasses, said merely that he was "very happy" before boarding a bus with Mo Yan.
Towering basketball star Yao was hard to miss as he joined other members to pack into Beijing's cavernous Great Hall of the People alongside top Party and government leaders.
The CPPCC members include prominent citizens such as scientists, business owners and artists.
The members said they would suggest moves to raise farmers' incomes and promote scientific talent as well as administrative reforms to reduce corruption.
- Jail call for dairy industry's 'black sheep'
A LAWMAKER has urged strict legal supervision for China's dairy industry, suggesting that "black sheep" should be sent to prison.
Zong Qinghou, a beverage magnate and also a deputy to the National People's Congress, was speaking following the detention of at least 45 people by Hong Kong authorities for violating new limits on the purchase of baby formula.
"Taking Hong Kong as a mirror, we can see the inadequacy of lawmaking and law enforcement in food safety on the Chinese mainland," Zong said.
From March 1, people leaving Hong Kong can take no more than two tins of infant formula with them.
"Since Hong Kong can jail buyers of baby formula milk, why can't the mainland authorities adopt strict laws in this regard and send those black sheep to prison?" Zong said.
Authorities say 99 percent of baby formula on the mainland meets quality standards.
"Yet, so many people still rush to purchase milk powder from overseas, which shows that they still lack confidence in mainland's milk industry," said lawmaker Peng Weiping from east China's Anhui Province.
In 2008, melamine-tainted formula caused the deaths of at least six infants on the Chinese mainland.
Zong said legal supervision was the most fundamental way to rebuild public confidence in the mainland's dairy industry.
- Film director seeking to raise awareness of pollution
BESIDES posing health hazards, Beijing's notorious smog is taking its toll on people's spirits - at least according to a leading Chinese director.
"Cornered by the terrible weather, I have nowhere to go," said film director Chen Kaige, a newly elected member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. "I am unable to focus on my artistic creation."
Smog has shrouded many parts of the country since the beginning of 2013. Beijing experienced only five days with clear skies in January.
Chen cited the death of a prized jujube tree two years ago as evidence of the worsening environment in Beijing. "If a tree dies like this, how can humans fare any better?" he said.
Chen vowed to raise more awareness on environmental pollution in his new role as a political adviser.
- 香港，流水嚮
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A pick-your-own strawberry farm in Hong Kong; NEX-5 + SEL50F18
- Night time noodle maker
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- Purple Water Lilly
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- Water Lilly 2
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- Chinese model at Zhujing park
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- Prague Cafe in LiJiang, Yunnan, China 中国云南丽江
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This is a nice place to have Coffee. I spent hours here during my last visit to LiJiang, The service was good and the food was great.
- 玉龙雪山 Jade Dragon Mountian
- Sonntag , 03. Maerz 2013 ; 059
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