China Chronicles June 27, 2012
- Guangdong police avert major violence between migrants and locals
POLICE in Zhongshan City, south China's Guangdong Province, yesterday dispersed an angry crowd of about 300 migrant workers protesting the handling of a teenager from Chongqing for beating a local boy.
Two villagers in suburban Shaxi Town tied up the 15-year-old, surnamed Tan, after he beat a 13-year-old local boy on Monday and hurt him in the face. Police came and took Tan in custody, a local news website reported.
But Tan's relatives and friends, about 30 of them, soon arrived and gathered in the office of the village committee in a protest. By 11pm the crowd swelled to about 300 people strong and some threw stones at the office.
Police reinforcement came to maintain order and persuade the protestors to leave. But the crowd gathered again yesterday and did not scatter until about 6pm. No one was seriously wounded in the incident. Some suffered minor injuries, local officials said.
- Over 40 wounded in wet market explosion
More than 40 people were injured in an explosion that ripped through a wet market this morning in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province in northeast China.
The explosion occurred around 6:30am at a noodle shop and the windows in nearby buildings were shattered by the blast. Many passers-by were wounded and sent to a hospital for treatment.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation.
- Chinese manned submersible starts 5th dive in Mariana Trench
CHINA'S manned submersible, Jiaolong, began its 5th dive in the Mariana Trench today morning, targeting a depth between 7,000 to 7,100 meters below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
The Jiaolong set a new national dive record on Sunday after reaching 7,020 meters below sea level during its fourth dive into the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the world's oceans.
Since arriving at the area earlier this month, the Jiaolong had succeeded in reaching depths of 6,671, 6,965 and 6,963 meters in its first three dives from June 15 to 22, easily surpassing the previous national record of 5,188 meters it set last July.
The Jiaolong enabled China to join the ranks of deep-sea faring countries. The United States, Japan, France and Russia currently lead the world in the development of deep-sea exploration technology, each possessing their own submersibles and support bases. - This is what happens to illicit drugs ...
A soldier shovels drugs onto a fire in Dehong in southwest China's Yunnan Province to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking yesterday with nearly 18,000 kilograms of drugs destroyed. Yunnan, which borders the notorious "Golden Triangle" of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, is at the forefront of China's anti-drug efforts. A total of 117 people in China were sentenced for drug trafficking across the country yesterday, including 15 who received death sentences.
- Plan to reduce minimum stay for foreign workers
China is planning a new law that will shorten the minimum stay for foreigners who come to China to work to 90 days while the period of validity for a residence permit will range from 180 days to five years.
The draft law is being discussed by the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the country's top legislature.
It stipulates that foreigners should obtain valid identity documents when they are working in China, and any unit or personnel should not employ foreigners without valid certificates.
For foreigners holding visas with a maximum stay of 180 days, the holders should hand in documents to government departments above county-level to apply for a longer stay.
The draft law also allows local governments of bordering regions to promulgate exit and entry regulations in line with agreements signed between China and neighboring countries.
The draft law was designed with the aim of curbing the illegal entry, stay and employment of foreigners and stipulating harsher punishments for people who enter or exit the country illegally.
Since foreigners need to go through screening again when they want their residency permits renewed, the new rule will raise the frequency of checks, legislators said.
Foreigners need a work permit to be legally hired, and certain groups, such as those entering on an L or F visa - referring, respectively, to students staying for less than six months for cultural-exchange programs and tourists - are not allowed to be employed in China. Foreign students are also not allowed to work here.
As of the end of last year, there were about 220,000 foreigners legally working on China's mainland, about 37 percent of the legal foreign residents. The number of foreign visitors to the country has been increasing by 10 percent each year since 2000.
The Ministry of Public Security said they seized more than 20,000 foreigners across the country last year who were illegally staying or working.
They were fined or deported! dependi ng on the seriousness of the offense.
Many of the illegal foreign workers were found in the language training, domestic housekeeping and showbiz sectors, the ministry said.
Illegal workers usually entered on a student or short-visit visa, it said.
The capital city of Beijing is currently cracking down on foreigners working illegally in China or staying in violation of visa rules.
Police say the number of illegal foreign workers in the country has been growing substantially over the past few years.
- 7 officials punished over forced abortion
SEVEN government officials in a northwest China county have been punished for forcing a woman to terminate her pregnancy seven months into the term, authorities said last night.
Feng Jianmei was forced to take an induced abortion early this month in the medical center of Zhenping County, Shaanxi Province.
Details of the case, including photos showing the remains of the fetus lying next to the mother on her hospital bed, caused shock and anger nationwide after they were posted online.
Yu Yanmei, deputy director of Zhenping who is in charge of population, was given a serious administrative demerit, the government of Ankang, which administers Zhenping, said.
Jiang Nenghai, the director of the county's family planning commission, and Chen Pingyin, as director of Zengjia Town, where Feng lives, have been sacked, it said.
Yuan Changqin, the township's top legislator, and Long Chunlai, Zengjia's deputy Party chief, both received a serious warning from the Party.
Zhang Xuesong, a township government worker, and Pan Yishan, president of the Zhenping People's Hospital, were given serious demerits.
The county government has been ordered to "pay subsidies to Feng to help with her domestic difficulties," without specifying the amount of cash.
Zhenping family planning officials grossly violated the law, damaged the image of family planning and brought about a serious negative impact, the Shaanxi Provincial Population and Family Planning Bureau said earlier.
Township authorities had claimed that Feng agreed to terminate her pregnancy after she was told she did not qualify to have a second baby under China's one-child policy.
Feng, from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, had married a villager in Zhenping in 2006 and gave birth to a girl the following year.
On June 2, Feng was forced by officials to undergo an induced delivery at the Zhenping People's Hospital.
On June 4, Deng Jimei, Feng's sister-in-law, brought the dead fetus into the wa! rd from the delivery room when hospital workers were distracted and took pictures of it, Ankang government investigators said. Then a family member uploaded the pictures online, sparking nationwide anger and an official investigation.
- South China Sea areas to be open for oil exploration
NINE offshore areas in the South China Sea are to be made available for exploration in cooperation with foreign companies, according to the China National Offshore Oil Corporation.
The nine areas collectively total more than 160,000 square kilometers, CNOOC said yesterday on its website.
Asked at a regular news briefing in Beijing if the decision would create tensions with Vietnam, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the tender project was a "normal business activity" in compliance with relevant Chinese laws and international practices.
He said China repeated its call for Vietnam to respect bilateral agreements regarding maritime disputes and to halt its gas exploitation program.
"China and Vietnam have reached many agreements regarding the settlement of maritime disputes.
"We hope Vietnam will respect these agreements and avoid taking any action that may complicate the matter," Hong said.
"China's position on disputes regarding the South China Sea remains unchanged. We are committed to properly settling disputes through negotiations and joint exploitation," he added.
Vietnam's National Assembly last Thursday passed the "Vietnamese Law of the Sea," which describes China's Xisha Islands and Nansha Islands in the South China Sea as being within Vietnam's sovereignty and jurisdiction.
Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun subsequently summoned Vietnamese Ambassador to China Nguyen Van Tho to lodge a complaint over the matter. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress, China's top legislature, has also sent a letter to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Vietnamese National Assembly to voice its opposition to the law.
Meanwhile, four China Marine Surveillance ships sailed from the coastal city of Sanya to the South China Sea yesterday to conduct regular patrols.
According to an unnamed CMS official, the team is expected to travel more than 2,400 nautical miles (4,500 kilometers) during the patrols, add! ing that formation drills will be conducted "if maritime conditions permit."
The official said regular patrols began in 2006 as part of China's efforts to protect its marine interests.
The CMS, a group under the State Oceanic Administration, is responsible for preventing the illegal use of sea areas and harm to the marine environment and resources, and for maintaining maritime order.
- Diaoyu Islands request
CHINA has again requested Japan to stop causing problems over the Diaoyu Islands and to safeguard bilateral ties.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the comment in response to a visit by Japanese lawmakers to the islands believed to be related to a Tokyo plan to purchase them.
- Gang had parts of 43 bears
Police in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have busted a gang trafficking endangered animals, seizing hundreds of bear paws, bear meat and animal carcasses during a raid of one of the ring's warehouses, local officials said yesterday. Authorities think at least 43 black bears were slaughtered for their paws. The animals and their body parts are believed to be worth 20 million yuan (US$3.15 million).
- Endangered bears slain for their paws, bile
AUTHORITIES in the area of Changbai Mountain in northeast China's Jilin Province were sent yesterday to the mountain forests to investigate the online allegation that five among 33 wild bears remaining were slain.
A writer who covers wildlife, Hu Donglin, said on the Internet that five bears, including moon bears and brown bears, were brutally killed earlier this year. Under the state wildlife protection laws, hunting the bears for games are strictly forbidden.
Illegal hunters cut off bear paws, took out bear bile, peeled off the fur and removed the meat. Partial bear bodies lay every six or seven meters on the northern part of Changbai Mountain, Hu said.
Online pictures showed only bones and large amounts of fur remaining.
Bear killers might have lured hungry bears with toxic bait when they woke and left the caves in April to seek food after six months of hibernation, Hu said.
The bile, an expensive ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, can fetch up to 150,000 yuan (US$23,565) a kilogram in a black market near Changbai Mountain while the paws, considered a delicacy, are priced at 2,400 yuan each.
A bear carcass can earn an illegal hunter more than 20,000 yuan.
Hu said only 30 moon bears and three brown bears had been found remaining in the mountain forests, and more killing would eliminate them all.
Changbai Mountain, on the border of China and North Korea, a known habitat for many wild animals, has seen an increase in illegal hunters.
Hu's posts soon got wide notice, and Internet users took up the call for "no trading, no massacre."
"Forests of the Changbai Mountain have been exploited in a savage way for more than 30 years. Our nation severely lacks wildlife animal protection rules, but issues more polices to allow bear bile farms to open," said one Internet post.
- Women took celebrities for 55m yuan, court says
TWO women were put on trial yesterday for swindling nearly 55 million yuan (US$8.64 million) and HK$2.28 million (US$293,892) from 27 Chinese celebrities, including several Olympic champions.
Wang Ti and Zhu Shuangshuang falsely claimed they could purchase luxurious houses and cars at prices below normal, but could neither deliver the properties nor return the money, officials said.
Those deceived included Yang Wei and Zou Kai, Chinese gymnasts who won gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Luo Xuejuan, a swimming gold medalist at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
The duo caused losses of up to 34 million yuan and HK$2 million, the Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court said.
Wang said 10 to 12 million yuan was lent to Xiao Qin, who was crowned men's pommel horse gold medalist at the Beijing Olympics. "Xiao borrowed the money in an attempt to be a car dealer," she said, adding that he disappeared after getting the money. Xiao hasn't made any comment, the Legal Evening News reported.
Prosecutors said the two people fabricated identities and rented several apartments in Beijing starting in 2007. They told celebrities that a developer was willing to sell the apartments cheaply.
Wang, 31, said she squandered nearly 8 million yuan and wanted to commit suicide. She claimed Zhu introduced her to all the buyers, but Zhu blamed Wang.
"Wang told me her parents were senior government officials. I even sold my house and lent 1.4 million yuan to her," Zhu said. She said she didn't know Wang's apartments were rented until she moved there.
- Music fest in debt woes
CHENGDU BigLove Music Festival ended on Sunday amid accusations that the organizer cheated money out of performers and crew members.
Chen Shu, the organizer, admitted that he hadn't paid all wages and claimed a loss of more than 50 million yuan (US$7.85 million).
The festival, held in Chengdu between June 21 and 24, was promoted as the largest in China in scale and cost. The four-day event gathered 100 groups of performers including big names like China's rock legend Cui Jian and British band Suede.
A sound technician told Shanghai Daily that many performers and crew members couldn't leave the hotel on Monday because the organizer didn't pay and couldn't be contacted. He added that many "fled" from the hotel, without paying, and paid their own airfare out of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.
"We took the emergency exit and were lucky to get in the bus with some other performers and staff members," he added. He sought anonymity because he "hasn't been fully paid and I still owe money to my friend from whom I rented the equipment."
Chen spoke to West China Metropolis Daily, based in Chengdu, and said he would not leave the city without settling all debts.
It was reported that the festival gathered more than 30,000 fans on one day, but ticket sales were as low as 200 on some days since many entered without paying. Fans said a one-day ticket, at 298 yuan, was far more expensive than other festivals.
Chen said the total cost for the festival was 60 million yuan and he was hoping to pay wages with ticket sales, which totaled only 3 million.
- Holiday Inn Binhai
China Chas has added a photo to the pool:
Binhai New Area in Tianjin is one of China's fastest-growing development areas.
This photograph is taken from the MSD-C office building in TEDA district, looking down towards the futuristic Holiday Inn, and beyond the rising towers of the Xiangluowan Business District. The centrepiece of the whole area, Yujiapu Financial District (with aspirations to be a future Manhattan) is hidden behind the office tower in the foreground. - women in the crowd
paolobarzman has added a photo to the pool:
- heroes in broad day light
paolobarzman has added a photo to the pool:
- heroes in broad day light
paolobarzman has added a photo to the pool:
- heroes in broad day light
paolobarzman has added a photo to the pool:
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