China Chronicles August 24, 2012
- Impact of train coupling hurts 24 passengers
AT least 24 passengers were injured when two trains were hooking up carriages yesterday afternoon in Jiamusi, a city in northeast Heilongjiang Province.
The Harbin Railway Bureau said five passengers are still being treated for bruises at a hospital while other passengers with minor injuries have been sent home by the bureau.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation, the bureau said, adding that people responsible for mishandling the trains will be punished.
- 3 killed, 5 injured after trucks plunge off collapsed bridge in NE China
THREE people were killed and five others injured early this morning after four trucks they were travelling aboard plunged off a collapsed bridge in a northeast China city, police sources said.
The accident occurred at about 5:30 am when the approach ramp of the Yangmingtan Bridge spanning over the Songhua River collapsed in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province.
The 15.4-km long bridge was open to traffic in November last year. The collapsed part, which measures 100 meters in length, fell from a height of 30 meters. - 3 killed, 5 injured after trucks plunge off collapsed bridge in NE China
THREE people were killed and five other injured early Friday morning after four trucks they were travelling aboard plunged off a collapsed bridge in a northeast China city, police sources said.
The accident occurred at about 5:30 a.m. when part of a bridge collapsed in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province.
The bridge, 100 meters long and 30 meters high, was put into use in November last year. - _IGP2741
zhongjianren76 has added a photo to the pool:
- Taiwan evacuates 3,000 as Tembin nears
TAIWAN authorities evacuated more than 3,000 residents from mountainous areas yesterday as a powerful typhoon approached the island and threatened to dump torrential rains that could unleash deadly landslides.
By late evening, Taiwan's weather bureau said Typhoon Tembin was packing winds of 155 kilometers per hour off the the island's southeast.
It said the slow-moving storm would probably make landfall around noon today and predicted up to 1 meter of rain in several eastern counties.
Mindful of a devastating typhoon three years ago that took 700 lives, authorities say thousands of resucers equipped with rubber boats and amphibious vehicles have been put on alert to help with relief efforts in areas impacted by Tembin's fury.
Authorities closed schools and ordered workers home in the eastern city of Hualien, where all flights were canceled. Schools were closed in Taitung and in parts of Kaohsiung county in the south.
Farmers were urgently harvesting crops ahead of the storm's arrival, and many homes and businesses in eastern Taiwan boarded up their windows to try to minimize damage.
Outdoor events to mark a special Qixi Festival were also canceled.
- Taiwan evacuates 3,000 as Tembin nears
TAIWAN authorities evacuated more than 3,000 residents from mountainous areas yesterday as a powerful typhoon approached the island and threatened to dump torrential rains that could unleash deadly landslides.
By late evening, Taiwan's weather bureau said Typhoon Tembin was packing winds of 155 kilometers per hour off the the island's southeast.
It said the slow-moving storm would probably make landfall around noon today and predicted up to 1 meter of rain in several eastern counties.
Mindful of a devastating typhoon three years ago that took 700 lives, authorities say thousands of resucers equipped with rubber boats and amphibious vehicles have been put on alert to help with relief efforts in areas impacted by Tembin's fury.
Authorities closed schools and ordered workers home in the eastern city of Hualien, where all flights were canceled. Schools were closed in Taitung and in parts of Kaohsiung county in the south.
Farmers were urgently harvesting crops ahead of the storm's arrival, and many homes and businesses in eastern Taiwan boarded up their windows to try to minimize damage.
Outdoor events to mark a special Qixi Festival were also canceled.
- Universe is 'dark' in 100b years
Astronomers should feel lucky they have a space full of stars, galaxies and other objects to study after Nobel Prize laureate Brian P. Schmidt suggested that the universe would eventually fade away.
"Human beings will look to an empty universe in 100 billion years, as all the galaxies will fade away except the Milky Way we live in," said Schmidt during the 28th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union held in Beijing from August 20 to 31.
Schmidt shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics with Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess for providing evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Before their discoveries, it was commonly thought that the expansion of the universe was slowing down.
Schmidt and his partners discovered that billion-year-old exploding stars and their galaxies are accelerating away from their reference frame.
Their discoveries led to research on dark energy, a hypothetical form of energy that permeates all of space and tends to accelerate the expansion of the universe. "Unless dark energy suddenly disappears, that will surprise us as we can't really think of a reason why - the universe will continue to expand more and more quickly and eventually fade away," Schmidt said.
Eagerly searching for life signals in the universe, human beings - if we still exist - will feel lonelier in a dark universe in 100 billion years.
"Our Milky Way will still be here and merge with some nearby galaxies," Schmidt said, "but other things we see today will not be able to reach us in the future. Every galaxy beyond the Milky Way will disappear." At that time, astronomers will all be unemployed because there will be nothing to work at, he said.
"The universe does what it does and I'm here to measure, not to judge," he added.
- Universe is 'dark' in 100b years
Astronomers should feel lucky they have a space full of stars, galaxies and other objects to study after Nobel Prize laureate Brian P. Schmidt suggested that the universe would eventually fade away.
"Human beings will look to an empty universe in 100 billion years, as all the galaxies will fade away except the Milky Way we live in," said Schmidt during the 28th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union held in Beijing from August 20 to 31.
Schmidt shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics with Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess for providing evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Before their discoveries, it was commonly thought that the expansion of the universe was slowing down.
Schmidt and his partners discovered that billion-year-old exploding stars and their galaxies are accelerating away from their reference frame.
Their discoveries led to research on dark energy, a hypothetical form of energy that permeates all of space and tends to accelerate the expansion of the universe. "Unless dark energy suddenly disappears, that will surprise us as we can't really think of a reason why - the universe will continue to expand more and more quickly and eventually fade away," Schmidt said.
Eagerly searching for life signals in the universe, human beings - if we still exist - will feel lonelier in a dark universe in 100 billion years.
"Our Milky Way will still be here and merge with some nearby galaxies," Schmidt said, "but other things we see today will not be able to reach us in the future. Every galaxy beyond the Milky Way will disappear." At that time, astronomers will all be unemployed because there will be nothing to work at, he said.
"The universe does what it does and I'm here to measure, not to judge," he added.
- HIV infection rate soars among men in their 50s, 60s
UNSAFE sex outside marriage and less watchfulness about infection has sent the number of men in their 50s and 60s with HIV or AIDS skyrocketing in the past decade in China, where the HIV/AIDS population reached about 780,000 as of last year.
Men aged 50 to 64 accounted for 13.6 percent of the country's total HIV-positive cases reported last year, a sharp increase from 1.6 percent in 2000, according to a report by the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Men above 65 accounted for 7 percent of the total HIV-positive cases reported in 2011, rising from 0.34 percent in 2000, the report said.
Among new HIV-positive cases reported nationwide, those over the age of 60 accounted for 8.9 percent in 2010, a sharp rise from 2.2 percent back to 2005, Wu Zunyou, an official with the center, told the Beijing Times.
Experts told the newspaper that the dramatic rise in older men in China infected with HIV is because many are retired and less busy but still have sexual desires, while their spouses' level of desire may be dampened after age of 60.
Many older HIV carriers or AIDS patients paid for sex without using protection, and some don't worry about the damage of AIDS because they believe the virus takes 10 years to incubate, experts told the newspaper.
The country had 48,000 new HIV-positive cases last year and a total of 28,000 people died of diseases related to AIDS, the report said.
The number of people who died of AIDS-related diseases is on the rise. In 2010 the death toll was 26,000, up from 20,000 in 2009. Wu said deaths are rising because many patients are diagnosed with AIDS too late.
Among the total 780,000 HIV carriers and AIDS patients by the end of last year, women accounted for 28.6 percent. The number of AIDS patients was 154,000, report shows.
Sexual transmission is now the major cause of HIV infection as 76.3 percent of the total HIV-positive population is infecte! d due to sexual activities, a sharp rise from 33.1 percent in 2006, Wu told the newspaper.
By the end of September, about 75.8 percent of HIV-positive cases were reported from Yunnan, Henan, Sichuan and Guangdong provinces, the Guangxi Zhuang and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions, according to the report.
College students
The report also shows a sharp increase in people aged 20 to 24, mainly college students, who were infected by HIV as they accounted for 49 percent of the total of HIV-positive cases last year, compared with 20.3 percent in 2006.
Students account for 1.64 percent among HIV-positive cases in 2011, rising from 0.96 percent in 2006, report shows.
The country is still facing great challenges in AIDS prevention.
About 25 percent of drug abusers share syringes, 32 percent of prostitutes don't use condoms every time they are with a client, and 87 percent of gays in sexual relationships had sexual activities with two or more partners within six months, the report said.
China will strengthen AIDS-prevention measures to reduce new infections by 25 percent and reduce the death rate from AIDS by 30 percent by the end of 2015, Wu told the newspaper.
- HIV infection rate soars among men in their 50s, 60s
UNSAFE sex outside marriage and less watchfulness about infection has sent the number of men in their 50s and 60s with HIV or AIDS skyrocketing in the past decade in China, where the HIV/AIDS population reached about 780,000 as of last year.
Men aged 50 to 64 accounted for 13.6 percent of the country's total HIV-positive cases reported last year, a sharp increase from 1.6 percent in 2000, according to a report by the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Men above 65 accounted for 7 percent of the total HIV-positive cases reported in 2011, rising from 0.34 percent in 2000, the report said.
Among new HIV-positive cases reported nationwide, those over the age of 60 accounted for 8.9 percent in 2010, a sharp rise from 2.2 percent back to 2005, Wu Zunyou, an official with the center, told the Beijing Times.
Experts told the newspaper that the dramatic rise in older men in China infected with HIV is because many are retired and less busy but still have sexual desires, while their spouses' level of desire may be dampened after age of 60.
Many older HIV carriers or AIDS patients paid for sex without using protection, and some don't worry about the damage of AIDS because they believe the virus takes 10 years to incubate, experts told the newspaper.
The country had 48,000 new HIV-positive cases last year and a total of 28,000 people died of diseases related to AIDS, the report said.
The number of people who died of AIDS-related diseases is on the rise. In 2010 the death toll was 26,000, up from 20,000 in 2009. Wu said deaths are rising because many patients are diagnosed with AIDS too late.
Among the total 780,000 HIV carriers and AIDS patients by the end of last year, women accounted for 28.6 percent. The number of AIDS patients was 154,000, report shows.
Sexual transmission is now the major cause of HIV infection as 76.3 percent of the total HIV-positive population is infecte! d due to sexual activities, a sharp rise from 33.1 percent in 2006, Wu told the newspaper.
By the end of September, about 75.8 percent of HIV-positive cases were reported from Yunnan, Henan, Sichuan and Guangdong provinces, the Guangxi Zhuang and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions, according to the report.
College students
The report also shows a sharp increase in people aged 20 to 24, mainly college students, who were infected by HIV as they accounted for 49 percent of the total of HIV-positive cases last year, compared with 20.3 percent in 2006.
Students account for 1.64 percent among HIV-positive cases in 2011, rising from 0.96 percent in 2006, report shows.
The country is still facing great challenges in AIDS prevention.
About 25 percent of drug abusers share syringes, 32 percent of prostitutes don't use condoms every time they are with a client, and 87 percent of gays in sexual relationships had sexual activities with two or more partners within six months, the report said.
China will strengthen AIDS-prevention measures to reduce new infections by 25 percent and reduce the death rate from AIDS by 30 percent by the end of 2015, Wu told the newspaper.
- High-rise building under construction catches fire in Dalian
A high-rise building under construction catches fire in the high-tech zone of Dalian City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, yesterday. A fire broke out at the high-rise building in Dalian yesterday afternoon, with casualties not clear yet and the cause of the fire under investigation.
- High-rise building under construction catches fire in Dalian
A high-rise building under construction catches fire in the high-tech zone of Dalian City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, yesterday. A fire broke out at the high-rise building in Dalian yesterday afternoon, with casualties not clear yet and the cause of the fire under investigation.
- Team set up to probe cop-prostitute nexus
An investigation team has been established by the Xi'an City Public Security Bureau in northwest China's Shaanxi Province to look into a case where policemen are accused of working with prostitutes to catch and fine their clients, the bureau announced yesterday.
The team was set up after a program by the Shaanxi Broadcast and Television Station stirred public anger. The program showed how policemen caught "Johns" and took them to a nearby police station from a shady massage parlor and then sent back the prostitutes to the parlor.
According to the TV program broadcast on Tuesday, a migrant worker surnamed Zhang told reporters that a masseuse of the massage parlor offered her services for a low price late one night.
But as they walked out of the parlor for their rendezvous, a plainclothes policeman caught him and fined him 3,000 yuan for engaging in illegal sexual activities, Zhang revealed.
"I felt like I was being scammed. I was just walking with that young woman on the street and we hadn't started anything yet, so how come the police knew that she was a prostitute and I was buying sex from her?" Zhang asked.
He said he was asked to pay the money and leave the station, but didn't receive any receipt for the fine. He paid another visit to the parlor some days later and, to his surprise, found that it was still open. The police had not taken any action.
Reporters of the TV station hid near the massage parlor for several days and a young woman working there told one of the undercover reporters that they offered all kinds of sexual services.
In the program, an unlicensed van carrying two policemen, one dressed in uniform and the other in plainclothes, would visit the parlor late at night. The two cops would catch a prostitute and her client, take them to the vehicle which then headed to a nearby police station.
But strangely, after the van took a young woman and her client away at about 10pm on August 10, the woman was sent back to the massage parlo! r just 15 minutes later. With the van parked near the police station, a man was recorded handing a wad of cash to another man in a police uniform.
The program was broadcast over 1 million times online with angry netizens asking: "Are cops working with prostitutes to make money from the Johns?"
In response, Zhao Xiaoqi, vice director of the Xi'an City Public Security Bureau, told media that an investigation team has been set up to look into the case.
"We have asked all police stations to identify the policemen caught in the program and to punish them."
- Team set up to probe cop-prostitute nexus
An investigation team has been established by the Xi'an City Public Security Bureau in northwest China's Shaanxi Province to look into a case where policemen are accused of working with prostitutes to catch and fine their clients, the bureau announced yesterday.
The team was set up after a program by the Shaanxi Broadcast and Television Station stirred public anger. The program showed how policemen caught "Johns" and took them to a nearby police station from a shady massage parlor and then sent back the prostitutes to the parlor.
According to the TV program broadcast on Tuesday, a migrant worker surnamed Zhang told reporters that a masseuse of the massage parlor offered her services for a low price late one night.
But as they walked out of the parlor for their rendezvous, a plainclothes policeman caught him and fined him 3,000 yuan for engaging in illegal sexual activities, Zhang revealed.
"I felt like I was being scammed. I was just walking with that young woman on the street and we hadn't started anything yet, so how come the police knew that she was a prostitute and I was buying sex from her?" Zhang asked.
He said he was asked to pay the money and leave the station, but didn't receive any receipt for the fine. He paid another visit to the parlor some days later and, to his surprise, found that it was still open. The police had not taken any action.
Reporters of the TV station hid near the massage parlor for several days and a young woman working there told one of the undercover reporters that they offered all kinds of sexual services.
In the program, an unlicensed van carrying two policemen, one dressed in uniform and the other in plainclothes, would visit the parlor late at night. The two cops would catch a prostitute and her client, take them to the vehicle which then headed to a nearby police station.
But strangely, after the van took a young woman and her client away at about 10pm on August 10, the woman was sent back to the massage parlo! r just 15 minutes later. With the van parked near the police station, a man was recorded handing a wad of cash to another man in a police uniform.
The program was broadcast over 1 million times online with angry netizens asking: "Are cops working with prostitutes to make money from the Johns?"
In response, Zhao Xiaoqi, vice director of the Xi'an City Public Security Bureau, told media that an investigation team has been set up to look into the case.
"We have asked all police stations to identify the policemen caught in the program and to punish them."
- Cash woes put Monkey King project in a limbo
A county in north China's Shanxi Province is struggling to complete a sightseeing project at a site associated with the Monkey King, the main hero of the Chinese literary classic, Journey to the West.
The project developer has spent more than 60 million yuan (US$9.4 million) creating scenes based on descriptions in the novel, but only managed to complete a four-story tourist reception center and plant trees on some barren hillsides, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Qiang Junkui, an official in charge of the project, said hundreds of millions of yuan are still needed to complete the project. Loufan County Tourism Bureau director Liang Junjie said local government didn't support the project because it believes the tourist resort may not be as lucrative as previously assumed.
"The Monkey King is just a mythical figure and Loufan County and its surrounding areas don't have any scenic spots. It is hard to put Loufan on the tourist map," he said.
Xinhua said Ru'nan County in central Henan Province had also suspended construction of a park dedicated to Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, the Chinese Romeo and Juliet described in ancient folklore.
County officials said the park investor has pulled out of the project, leaving a mess for local authorities to clean up.
In recent years it has become common for rural areas to try every effort to prove their links to celebrities and popular figures, thereby hoping to earn big bucks from the sightseeing projects. However, some projects have been forced to stop due to lack of funds while others failed to garner much attention, Xinhua said.
- Cash woes put Monkey King project in a limbo
A county in north China's Shanxi Province is struggling to complete a sightseeing project at a site associated with the Monkey King, the main hero of the Chinese literary classic, Journey to the West.
The project developer has spent more than 60 million yuan (US$9.4 million) creating scenes based on descriptions in the novel, but only managed to complete a four-story tourist reception center and plant trees on some barren hillsides, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Qiang Junkui, an official in charge of the project, said hundreds of millions of yuan are still needed to complete the project. Loufan County Tourism Bureau director Liang Junjie said local government didn't support the project because it believes the tourist resort may not be as lucrative as previously assumed.
"The Monkey King is just a mythical figure and Loufan County and its surrounding areas don't have any scenic spots. It is hard to put Loufan on the tourist map," he said.
Xinhua said Ru'nan County in central Henan Province had also suspended construction of a park dedicated to Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, the Chinese Romeo and Juliet described in ancient folklore.
County officials said the park investor has pulled out of the project, leaving a mess for local authorities to clean up.
In recent years it has become common for rural areas to try every effort to prove their links to celebrities and popular figures, thereby hoping to earn big bucks from the sightseeing projects. However, some projects have been forced to stop due to lack of funds while others failed to garner much attention, Xinhua said.
- Low-altitude airspace ban set to be relaxed
CHINA will relax the ban on the use of low-altitude airspace across the country starting in 2013, national air traffic authorities said yesterday.
A series of reforms will be implemented in five to 10 years, creating an independent airspace market under some government guidance, said Zhu Shicai, an official with the state air traffic control commission.
Zhu made the remarks at the two-day 2012 China Low-altitude Economy Summit, which began yesterday in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.
"The new policy suggests that the biggest obstacle facing the opening up of China's low-altitude airspace has been cleared," Zhu said.
China has launched pilot projects in its northeastern, southern and central regions, as well as seven pilot cities, to open airspace below 1,000 meters to general aviation flights.
The seven pilot cities are Tangshan, Xi'an, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Kunming and Chongqing.
New regulations on airspace planning and operation as well as applications for general aviation flights will be issued this year, simplifying the use of low-altitude airspace, Zhu said.
Further opening up of the airspace is expected to promote the general aviation industry, including the purchase and use of private planes.
China's low-altitude airspace is controlled by the Air Force and the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Private flights currently need to go through time-consuming and complicated procedures to fly in low-altitude airspace.
- Low-altitude airspace ban set to be relaxed
CHINA will relax the ban on the use of low-altitude airspace across the country starting in 2013, national air traffic authorities said yesterday.
A series of reforms will be implemented in five to 10 years, creating an independent airspace market under some government guidance, said Zhu Shicai, an official with the state air traffic control commission.
Zhu made the remarks at the two-day 2012 China Low-altitude Economy Summit, which began yesterday in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.
"The new policy suggests that the biggest obstacle facing the opening up of China's low-altitude airspace has been cleared," Zhu said.
China has launched pilot projects in its northeastern, southern and central regions, as well as seven pilot cities, to open airspace below 1,000 meters to general aviation flights.
The seven pilot cities are Tangshan, Xi'an, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Kunming and Chongqing.
New regulations on airspace planning and operation as well as applications for general aviation flights will be issued this year, simplifying the use of low-altitude airspace, Zhu said.
Further opening up of the airspace is expected to promote the general aviation industry, including the purchase and use of private planes.
China's low-altitude airspace is controlled by the Air Force and the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Private flights currently need to go through time-consuming and complicated procedures to fly in low-altitude airspace.
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