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  Xia Zuhai, headmaster of Minzhu Elementary and Secondary School. Photo: Liang Chen/GT  Xia Zuhai's "Mao Zedong Thought" school in Huaiyang county, Henan Province Photo: Liang Chen/GT Xia Zuhai, 49, a passionate promoter of Mao Zedong Thought, has spent the past 19 years promoting "red education" among students in his self-run primary and secondary school, despite a constant barrage of criticism on his controversial teaching methods. Xia launched Minzhu Elementary and Secondary School in the suburbs of Huaiyang county, Henan Province in 1996. He built the school while harboring the ambition of "shaping students' good moral character" through Mao Zedong Thought. Differing from other teachers, Xia is less concerned about students' academic performance. Instead, he places a high value on students' capability to practice the core values of Mao Zedong Thought. "The most important thing is to shape students' go...

Shao Zhanwei.[File photo]   A deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's legislature, died of a heart attack in Beijing on Wednesday morning during the ongoing NPC annual session, sources said. The legislator, Shao Zhanwei, is also mayor of Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. Shao, born in February 1956, became mayor of Hangzhou in February 2011, according to the official website of Hangzhou government.   Read More @ Source

North Korea's supreme military command announced Tuesday that it would nullify the Korean War Armistice Agreement signed in 1953 and vowed stronger countermeasures in response to ongoing jointly military exercises being conducted by the US and South Korea. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the North Korean People's Army said on state TV that North Korea had decided to halt the efforts of its delegates at Panmunjom, where the two Koreas usually meet for negotiations. The US and South Korea are staging a series of war drills that started on Friday and will run until April 30. North Korea was also reportedly preparing for a large-scale conventional military drill. Analysts said North Korea was reacting to the US-South Korea joint war games to spell out its anger, at a crucial time when Pyongyang faces unprecedented international pressure for its nuclear test on February 12. "The North Korean foreign policies of the Kim Jong-un era continue to focus on improving relati...

Chinese marine surveillance ships continued regular patrols in territorial waters surrounding the Diaoyu Islands on Wednesday, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said. A fleet made up of the Haijian 51, Haijian 23, and Haijian 27 spotted Japanese ships sailing in the waters and therefore infringing on China's sovereignty, an SOA statement said. The marine surveillance fleet monitored the Japanese ships' movements, took photos of the ships and urged them via radio to leave the Chinese waters, the statement said. Read More @ Source

File photo taken on March 16, 2012 shows Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez greeting his supporters on his arrival at the Simon Bolivar International Airport of Maiquetia, Caracas, Venezuela. Venezuelan government confirmed President Hugo Chavez's death on March 5, 2013. Photo: Xinhua Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died Tuesday in a military hospital in Caracas, Vice President Nicols Maduro announced on the national radio and television. With tears in his eyes, Mature addressed Venezuelans from the Doctor Carlos Arvelo military hospital, where Chavez passed his last two weeks after he came back from Cuba on February 18. "At 4:25 pm the commander President Hugo Chavez deceased," he said, calling the event a "historical tragedy" and urging Venezuelans to be vigilant for the peace of the country. Accompanied by key members of the Executive Cabinet, Maduro offered thanks to the friends of brother countries. "In this time of sorrow, we thank y...

Natural disasters across China claimed 14 lives and left another five people missing in February, as well as affected nearly 13 million people, the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) announced on Wednesday. Disasters forced the evacuation of 13,000 people and toppled more than 1,600 houses, according to a statement jointly released by the MCA and the National Commission for Disaster Reduction. The disasters caused direct economic losses of 4.92 billion yuan (791.05 million U.S. dollars) and affected about 1.46 million hectares of farmland, rendering a total of 90,100 hectares unharvestable, according to authorities. Eighteen earthquakes measuring greater than four on the Richter scale occurred in February, the ministry said. The number of major disasters decreased slightly compared to previous years, according to the ministry. Read More @ Source

BEIJING – The Chinese government announced Tuesday that its GDP growth target will remain around 7.5 percent this year to leave room for economic restructuring. The target is intended to help create jobs and improve people's well-being, Premier Wen Jiabao said while delivering his last government work report to the opening session of 12th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. This marks the second consecutive year for the world's second-largest economy to target 7.5-percent growth. In 2012, the government cut its growth forecast from 8 percent for the first time in eight years. Wen warned of the profound and persisting impact of the global financial crisis, as well as the unstable recovery of the world economy, as major threats to China's economic growth. However, the premier cited the considerably increased capacity of China's manufacturing industry, significantly improved infrastructure, a high savings rate and a large workforc...