China Chronicles February 20, 2013
- snap
gtr34rv has added a photo to the pool:
- snap
gtr34rv has added a photo to the pool:
- snap
gtr34rv has added a photo to the pool:
- China launches doping probe after WADA's drugs claim
CHINA is to investigate an allegation that virtually all the raw materials used to produce illegal performance-enhancing drugs come from China but said it remained doubtful about the World Anti-Doping Agency's statistics.
China's move followed a comment from David Howman, WADA's director general, who told reporters that "99 percent of the raw materials that are used through the Internet to make up in your kitchen or your backyard laboratory are emanating from China."
Howman's remarks immediately attracted the attention of the State General Administration of Sport, the governmental organization that runs sports in China and provides financial support for the country's anti-doping drive.
"We are shocked at Mr Howman's comment," said China's anti-doping chief Jiang Zhixue.
"We are wondering where this 99 percent came from and what is his evidence," said Jiang. "We have asked for a more detailed explanation from WADA."
However, Jiang admitted that there were problems in the country's anti-doping fight.
"There are problems, such as the illegal sale of banned drugs through the Internet. So we have decided to launch an investigation into WADA's allegation," he said.
Jiang said the investigation needed the coordinated efforts of multiple governmental departments such as in the actions taken ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Then, a number of workshops that were illegally producing materials were shut down and the supervision and control of drug sales was stepped up.
- Japanese envoy in Beijing for talks on territorial issues
A JAPANESE envoy is to hold talks with Chinese officials over territorial issues after Chinese ships' closest approach to the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
Shinsuke Sugiyama, director-general for Asian and Oceanian affairs of Japan's foreign ministry, arrived in Beijing yesterday for a three-day visit. He is due to meet Wu Dawei, China's special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs, and Luo Zhaohui, chief of Asian affairs at the foreign ministry.
The envoy will raise concerns over Tokyo's claims that Chinese naval ships locked fire-control radar onto a Japanese military ship and a helicopter in January.
On February 8, China's Ministry of National Defense denied the use of such radar and said that it was just normal surveillance of Japanese vessels and aircraft in the East China Sea.
Sugiyama is also expected to ask for China's cooperation in helping the UN Security Council impose new sanctions on North Korea, following Pyongyang's nuclear test last week, according to the website of China Central Television.
A day before Sugiyama's visit, a Chinese surveillance ship approached within a kilometer of the Diaoyu Islands, Japanese media reported. Kyodo news agency said Japan's formal protest had been rejected by China.
On Monday, three Chinese surveillance ships patrolling waters off the islands spotted Japanese ships following them. The crews broadcast a statement in Chinese and English to warn the Japanese ships that they had infringed on China's territory, and demanded they leave.
Earlier this month, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang urged the oceanic supervisory authority to enhance its law enforcement to protect China's maritime rights. Li encouraged servicemen to "sail to the deep sea, to the oceans for peaceful cooperation."
China has sped up the upgrade of its maritime surveillance equipment since the beginning of the year.
New vessels and aircraft have joined its fleet while an emergency command platform, which enables m! aneuvers in the South China Sea, has been put into use.
Liu Cigui, director of the State Oceanic Administration, said last month that China would maintain its regular patrols to stop incursions into its sovereign waters.
- China rejects arbitration attempt by Philippines
CHINA has rejected the Philippines' attempt to seek international arbitration over conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Manila's notification of the move was historically and legally incorrect and contained unacceptable accusations.
The Philippines told China last month of its plans to take conflicting claims to a tribunal operating under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. It wants Beijing's moves in the potentially oil-rich waters declared unlawful. The Philippines said it remained committed to arbitration.
- Hope fades in landslide
A rescuer uses a life detector to search for survivors in the rubble of a landslide in Kaili City, Guizhou Province, yesterday, a day after a landslide buried five people, including two children. Rescuers said later that the five were feared dead.
- Treatment first, payment later in medical bills trial
Patients will be able to pay after they receive medical treatment rather than before, as is the current practice, China's Ministry of Health revealed yesterday.
Jiao Yahui, an official with the ministry's medical administration division, said more than 20 provincial regions are carrying out pilot programs of the new payment method.
But Jiao said the "pay after" method would not be adopted nationwide in the short term due to the country's immature social credit system and insufficient medical insurance.
Currently, Chinese citizens pay up front before being operated on or undergoing other treatment. They can then apply for a reimbursement covered by medical insurance, usually more than 70 percent of the total cost.
In August 2011, there was a national outcry after a nightshift doctor in central China's Hubei Province removed stitches from a patient, who had torn tendons in his right hand, because the patient did not have enough money to pay the fees involved.
There have also been reports of hospitals threatening to withhold medication if patients fail to pay in advance.
In Shanghai, however, some community hospitals adopted the "pay after" method two years ago. In Xuhui District, that's the practice in all community hospitals.
"By flashing the smart card with each person's medical insurance, the card can do real-time recording of all tests and prescriptions," said Guan Juanjuan of the district's health bureau. "Patients only need pay after all diagnosis and treatment is fulfilled, instead of paying fees before each test."
However, people failing to pay bills are recorded in the medical insurance system and banned from the "pay after" method the next time they seek treatment.
Larger hospitals say they would have difficulty in adopting the new method, since up to 50 percent of their patients could be from provinces which have no connection with local medical insurance.
"The government only covers 5 percent of big hospitals' costs, so the! hospital must earn the other 95 percent by themselves," said Xia Lin of the Shanghai Children's Medical Center. "If promoting the method, the government should give a subsidy to cover the delayed payment of hospitalized patients."
In Shanghai, Longhua Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital is the only large hospital using the new method, but only for outpatients covered by medical insurance.
Jiao said once the new system is implemented, patients, especially those suffering extreme conditions, receive treatment first. After the treatment, patients will only pay the part that is not included in the medical insurance. The rest will be paid to hospitals by the government.
The "pay after" method was first tested in a hospital in Beijing in 2009 and was well received by patients, Jiao said.
Pilot programs are generally going smoothly in many areas, but there were still some patients "disappearing" without paying treatment fees after leaving hospital.
If a runaway patient is covered by the country's medical insurance, hospitals can get compensation from the government, but if they did not buy any medical insurance, the hospital would not be able to get the money back, said Jiao.
The system can only be promoted step by step, Jiao added. If local governments think it is feasible, then they should do it.
- US claims of Chinese hackers 'groundless'
ALLEGATIONS of Chinese hacker attacks are groundless, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Hong Lei had been asked to comment on a report by US security company Mandiant Corp stating it had traced cyber attacks waged against companies and government agencies in the United States to a unit of the People's Liberation Army.
"Groundless criticism is irresponsible and unprofessional, and it will not help to solve the problem," he said.
China had been a major victim of cyber attacks and opposed all forms of such activity, Hong said, adding that China had made and enforced laws banning such activity.
He cited a report released by China's National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Coordination Center stating that 73,000 foreign IP addresses had been linked to attacks on 14 million Chinese computers.
He said the number of attacks originating in the US ranked at the top.
Hong said China, Russia and several other countries submitted an international code of conduct on information security to the United Nations in 2011.
"China has called on the international community to make a code of conduct for cyberspace on the basis of the submission and make joint efforts to build a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyberspace," he said.
Hong said the government also objected to allegations that hacker attacks had been traced to a building in Shanghai.
Hong said he did not know how such evidence could be discovered, as cyber attacks were often carried out internationally and typically anonymously.
Virginia-based Mandiant said it traced the hacking to a neighborhood on the outskirts of Shanghai that included a 12-story building run by "Unit 61398" of the People's Liberation Army.
The unit "has systematically stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations," Mandiant wrote.
"From our observations, it is one of the most prolific cyberespionage groups in terms of the sheer quantity ! of information stolen," the company said. It added that the unit has been in operation since at least 2006.
Mandiant said: "It is time to acknowledge the threat is originating in China."
- Jiangsu, Anhui affected
EAST China's Jiangsu and Anhui provinces were severely affected by heavy snow between Monday and yesterday morning.
Nanjing Lukou International Airport reopened at 9:20am yesterday after closing for nearly 12 hours.
Authorities in the cities of Nanjing, Wuxi, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou and Changzhou postponed the start of the spring semester, set for yesterday, for a day or two. Nanjing saw 12 to 21cm of snow by yesterday morning.
As of 3pm yesterday, 309,000 residents in five cities in Anhui had been affected by the snow. Ninety houses were toppled and 114 others were damaged, causing direct economic losses of 84 million yuan (US$13.38 million). Some expressways closed temporarily. Anhui had gotten 6 to 12cm of snow with more expected today.
- Auto-chat 'chick' appeals to single children
THE popularity of a new auto-chat app with Chinese students has sparked a debate about social skills under China's one-child policy and the craze for online networking tools.
The "little yellow chick" app has attracted more than 2.2 million followers since it was launched in December on Renren, a social networking site.
Anyone can post a message to which the "chick" will respond. Although the replies are generated by sophisticated software rather than human direction, young people have been amused by its humorous and frequently surprising answers.
It has become the perfect conversation partner for many youngsters. It knows about Lady Gaga and can tell a boy to go get his love if he has a crush on a girl. It often humors its human partner by telling them they are the best-looking guy or girl in the world.
"We don't have to worry about bothering others when talking with this chick," said Chang Yue, a university freshman.
It also gives young people a channel to vent their complaints about study pressure, emotional problems and their opinions about social events.
Web users even asked it for solutions to Beijing's worsening air quality when China's capital city choked in dense smog in January.
"The app has catered to the need of youngsters to communicate with people and feel emotionally connected," said Zhou Xiaozheng, a sociology professor with the Renmin University of China.
Under China's family-planning policy, most Chinese families only have one child, and Zhou believes this feeds into the success of the little yellow chick.
"The only child in a family lacks emotional communication when they grow up, which makes them more prone to be technology dependent," the academic said.
But some also worry about what such apps say about people's alienation from conventional society.
"Not just people's loneliness in the real world, but also their lack of trust in society, has contributed to the success of the auto-reply app," said "ccllong" on W! eibo.
The chick is not the first technology of its kind to draw attention. "Xiaotu," a robot-like auto-reply app on the website of Tsinghua University's library, went viral last year after users found it cute and cunning.
Like "Xiaotu," the chick has the ability to learn. It understands the latest news events, hot words, and even dirty jokes, which it learns from online followers.
- 5 young boys left alone light straw fire, suffocate
FIVE boys ranging in age from four to six died, apparently from suffocation, in an abandoned building where they burned straw on Monday evening as their parents were busy organizing a wedding in southwest China's Guizhou Province.
It was the second case of its kind in the province within three months.
The five children were found in a deserted building that had been used for tobacco curing by local villagers in Majiang County at 5:40pm, local officials said.
Four of the boys were dead at the scene and a fifth died at the hospital. They belong to five families, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Their parents were busy with the wedding and left them alone, an initial investigation showed. They burned damp straw in the mud brick house, possibly to keep warm, which is thought to have deprived them of oxygen.
No charges had been filed in the case.
The five have already been buried according to local ethnic customs that call for deceased children to be buried quickly, officials said.
The provincial Party committee sent each victim's family 22,000 yuan (US$3,522) in cash and 100 kilograms of rice as relief assistance, state-run China Central Television Station reported.
On November 16, five boys from the same extended family, aged nine to 13, were found dead in the province's Bijie City in a trash bin.
Autopsies showed they died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Remains of burned charcoal were found inside the bin, indicating that they suffocated while trying to keep warm by burning charcoal in that cramped bin. They were living on the street after dropping out school and had not been seen for weeks. Their family hadn't reported them missing. Eight officials were punished.
- Official given 18 years in prison for graft, rape
A FORMER transportation official in southern China has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for rape and graft, a newspaper reported yesterday.
Huang Ping, former head of Humen Traffic Bureau in Guangdong Province, embezzled 980,000 yuan (US$156,898), took bribes up to 2.15 million yuan and illegally appropriated national assets involving 410,000 yuan, the Dongguan No. 1 People's Court heard recently, New Express reported. Signs of corruption came to light after police started investigating the rape, the paper said.
Huang raped a female subordinate between March 2010 and April 2011. The woman's husband found she was in her seventh month of pregnancy, though the couple had been childless for seven years. She confessed that she had been raped and the husband called police, the newspaper reported.
Eight other transportation officials were also implicated in the graft investigation, including the former transportation chief in Dalingshan and two deputy directors in Huangjiang and Xiegang.
They also were sentenced, but the report didn't provide any details. The nine went to court in October, but the court had not announced the verdicts until this week.
- where does it all meet?
- Hangzhou brigde
Comments