China Chronicles February 27, 2013

• More mainlanders to visit Taiwan as individual tourists

  AUTHORITIES on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will allow more residents of mainland cities to visit the island as individual tourists in 2013, a mainland spokeswoman said today.

  Expanding the list of eligible cities will be done in an active, yet prudent and step-by-step manner, Fan Liqing, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said at a regular press conference.

• 4 kills in Hubei elementary school stampede

  FOUR students were killed in a stampede accident in an elementary school in central China's Hubei Province this morning.
  The accident has caused the death of four students and injured several in Qinji elementary school.
  The school locates at Xueji Township of Laohekou City that is under the jurisdiction of Xiangyang City.
  Relevant departments of Xiangyang have rushed to the scene to carry out rescue efforts, and the injured have been sent to hospital for treatment.
  The cause of the accident is under investigation.

• China's aircraft carrier anchors in military port

  CHINA'S first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, anchored for the first time in a military port in Qingdao, eastern Shandong province on Wednesday morning.
  The anchoring marks that the aircraft carrier bay in Qingdao, which was built following a four-year construction, has already had logistic capacities, according to a statement from the military.
  The Liaoning left the wharf of Dalian ship building company on Tuesday for Qingdao. It had conducted tests on its weapon system during the sail.
  After its delivery to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Sept. 25, the Liaoning has undergone a series of sailing and technological tests, including the flight of the carrier-borne J-15.
  

• Residency for maids case opens in Hong Kong court

  A HEARING to decide whether the hundreds of thousands of domestic workers making a living in Hong Kong can seek residency began in the city's top court yesterday.

  The case, brought by Filipina maid Evangeline Banao Vallejos, could also reopen the controversial issue of whether children born in Hong Kong to parents from China's mainland have the right to stay.

  Vallejos won a High Court ruling in 2011 granting her the right to request permanent residency status.

  The government appealed last March, successfully arguing that the authorities had discretionary power to decide who was eligible for residency and that restrictions on maids were not unconstitutional or discriminatory.

  Hong Kong's 300,000 foreign maids receive a minimum wage of HK$3,920 (US$505) a month and benefits such as one guaranteed day off a week, but rights groups say they face discrimination and a lack of legal protection from abusive employers.

  Campaigners argue they should not be treated any differently from other foreigners who flock to the city to seek work and who can apply for permanent residency after seven years.

  The hearing in the Court of Final Appeal is expected to last up to three days.

  Government officials have warned that making domestic helpers eligible for permanent residency could open the floodgates to hundreds of thousands of residency requests.

  The case could potentially reopen the issue of whether the children of Chinese mainland parents can stay in Hong Kong.

  The Hong Kong government has said the case should be referred to the central government for its reinterpretation of the Basic Law, which sets out the city's status and rights.

  Mainland parents

  If happens, the central government would also need to decide on the status of children born to mainland parents who weren't permanent residents at the time of their birth, according to Basic Law expert Professor Lin Feng.

  In 1999 the Court of Final Appeal ruled that children of people who have ! right of abode also have that right, even if their parents were not permanent residents at the time of their birth.

  Hong Kong asked the central government to "reinterpret" the Basic Law after claiming an extra 1.6 million people from the mainland could obtain the right of abode, causing a severe social and economic strain on the densely populated city.

  The central government subsequently ruled that children born outside Hong Kong were only eligible if at least one parent was already a permanent resident.

  However, in 2001 the Court of Final Appeal ruled that children born in Hong Kong to mainland parents had right of abode regardless of whether their parents were legal residents.

• Many student notebooks found to have carcinogen

  MANY student homework exercise notebooks sold in Beijing were found to contain chemicals that can lead to cancer in large amounts, a newspaper reported.

  Beijing-based Legal Evening News bought six common brands in the local market and found five contained fluorescent agents, which are bleaching chemicals that can be carcinogenic. The report didn't disclose the brands.

  But most parents interviewed were more concerned about the paper being white, smooth and even on the ends, and within their budget, than whether it was environmentally friendly, the paper said.

  Few were interested in the one brand that was tested as safe because it was considered ugly, yellow and expensive.

  "Its price is twice as much as that of an ordinary one. Sellers told me it is environmentally friendly, but who could see it?" a parent asked.

  A seller said the safe brand costs him more so he charges more. "I don't know about fluorescent agents," he said.

  The findings are not unusual, said Gong Yan, deputy professor with Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, who did the tests. "Manufacturers now use more recycled paper in their production. In order to improve the look of paper and cut costs, they eliminate the brightening process but just add fluorescent agents," he said.

  Dong Jinshi, deputy general secretary with Beijing Society for Environmental Sciences, said the chemical substances accumulate in human bodies, reducing immunity and, in large amounts, triggering cancer. Lengthy exposure can pose risks to children's sight and skin, he added.

  China still lacks national regulations on the content of fluorescent agents in students' exercise books, Dong said.
  

• Employers scramble as labor force shrinks

  CHINESE low-cost manufacturers are trying various ways to retain workers and attract new ones after the Lunar New Year holiday.

  Factory workers, mostly rural migrants, usually go home for the traditional holiday. But many take advantage of the break to find better jobs.

  The labor shortage comes as the economic recovery looks like it will worsen the problem.

  Also, China's labor force between the age of 15 and 59 shrank by 3.5 million last year. It is the first time the country has recorded an absolute drop in the working-age population in "a considerable period of time," Ma Jiantang, National Bureau of Statistics director, said last month.

  Companies have raised salaries or offered financial incentives in an attempt to retain workers.

  "Although the whole industry is still mired in gloom, we still plan to raise the workers' salary by 10 percent this year," said Tian Chengjie, vice president of Silverman Holdings Ltd, a textile company in Zibo of eastern Shandong Province.

  In a bid to get workers back, some companies chose to pay year-end bonuses after the holiday. Some promised a reward of 1,000 yuan (US$160) for each year of their service. Some companies promised rewards of hundreds of yuan if staff members brought along new workers. Some even offered hundreds of yuan to workers' parents.

  However, for many employees higher pay is not enough.

  Increasingly, migrants, especially the younger generation, demand respect and good working conditions.

  Executives at Orans Co Ltd, in Taizhou in Zhejiang Province, lined up at its factory gates and bowed when staff returned to work on Monday, the first day after the Lantern Festival.

  The respect the executives showed won praise from netizens.

  "This should not be seen as a mere show. You can only make fortunes by showing respect to the labor force," wrote a netizen under the name of "Yunjianwei" on Weibo.

  Many employees have chosen to work near their hometowns in the central and western regi! ons as many companies have relocated there in response to the country's industrial restructuring in coastal areas.

  Wan Zhong, president of Wanjia Shengshi Human Resources Co Ltd in Jinan, capital of Shandong, said, "The labor shortage could prompt low-cost manufacturers to accelerate industrial restructuring and upgrading as well as offer workers better conditions."

  
  

• Tap water back on after threat from big gas leak

  TAP water supplies resumed at 11:30am yesterday in Yongxiu County in east China's Jiangxi Province after a large gasoline leak near its water intake at a river, local authorities said.

  The Yongxiu County Tap Water Company resumed supplies as water quality at the intake on the Liaohe River met the standards after the pollution, the Yongxiu County government said.

  Tap water for 60,000 people stopped on Monday after an oily substance was reported floating at the intake.

  An initial investigation found that people trying to steal gasoline dug holes in a pipeline upstream, causing the leak, said the Jiangxi subsidiary of China Petrochemical Corporation or Sinopec. The pipeline has been shut and the leak sealed, officials said.

  The substance that leaked from the pipeline was 93-octane gasoline, officials said. The leak lasted for 12 to 18 hours, with 2 tons of gasoline leaking per hour, according to an initial investigation.

  Local environmental authorities sent straw, oil-absorbing felt and suction strands to Wucheng County to prevent the polluted water from flowing into Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake. Wucheng is located at the intersection of five rivers in the province and is beside Poyang Lake.

  Neighboring Duchang County had water supplies cut at 11pm on Monday over fears that the drinking water had been polluted. After tests showed no signs of pollution, water supplies resumed in Duchang at 9am yesterday.

• Ikea stores halt sales in 24 markets

  IKEA has expanded to 24 the number of markets where it has halted sales of meatballs over fears that they could contain horsemeat, it said yesterday.

  Meatballs have now been pulled from stores in Hong Kong, Thailand and the Dominican Republic in addition to the host of European countries announced on Monday, said spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson.

  She said a German laboratory was currently testing meatballs for traces of horsemeat, with results expected tomorrow.

  Stores in Sweden, Denmark, France and Romania withdrew meatballs from sale as a precaution. Ikea said there was no horsemeat in the meatballs served in its stores in the United States.

  
  

• Navy takes delivery of new type of stealth ship

  China's navy has taken delivery of a new type of stealth frigate that is expected to bolster the country's maritime defenses.

  The Type 056 stealth frigate was delivered to the navy on Monday afternoon at a ceremony in Shanghai.

  Navy commander Wu Shengli emphasized the importance of mastering its equipment and capabilities amid ongoing maritime disputes, according to a report in the PLA Daily newspaper yesterday.

  Last month, state media reported the armed forces had been instructed to raise their fighting ability in 2013 and "focus closely on the objective of being able to fight and win battle."

  President Hu Jintao said in November at a Party congress that China should become a "maritime power."

  Yesterday's report did not specify the ship's size, but said it possesses "good stealth performance and electromagnetic compatibility" and needed a third the number of crew members as its predecessor, the Type 053.

  The report said the new ship symbolized the start of a transformation in China's naval defense strength and more of the ships are in production.

  The vessels will mainly be used for escort missions and anti-submarine operations, it added.

  Meanwhile, the People's Liberation Army plans to carry out 40 military exercises this year to hone its combat skills and help troops ready themselves for battle with an emphasis on China's "core security-related interests," Xinhua news agency reported.

  It said the PLA would strengthen "live-ammunition and confrontation exercises" in 2013.

• Japan's speculation on Diaoyu buoys rejected

  Chinese buoys placed near the Diaoyu Islands are intended to monitor ocean conditions and should not be "played up," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said yesterday.

  Japan had speculated that the buoys were intended to detect the movement of submarines.

  Hua Chunying said they were set there to carry out maritime weather observations. "I think it does not deserve to be disputed or played up," she said.

• City of Money

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• Walking Dog in City Square

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• Air traveler barred from taking amputated leg on board

  SECURITY workers in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in the capital of Guangdong Province were astonished to find a frozen human leg in a routine baggage scan yesterday.

  The frozen leg was packed with ice in a box and the owner surnamed Huang said he put his amputated leg in the box in order to take it to his home in Chongqing in western China, today's Guangzhou Daily reported.

  "It is our custom to keep the body as a whole after death," he said.

  Since Huang could neither provide a hospital certificate nor get an approval from the flight operator, he was banned from carrying his leg to the aircraft.

  He had no choice but to give his leg to some relatives who saw him off at the airport and told them to mail his leg to him.

  "It's so rare that patients are allowed to take away their amputated limbs or removed organs," a Guangzhou doctor said.

  Huang was reluctant to disclose details, the report said.

• Air traveler barred from taking amputated leg on board

  SECURITY workers in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in the capital of Guangdong Province were astonished to find a frozen human leg in a routine baggage scan yesterday.

  The frozen leg was packed with ice in a box and the owner surnamed Huang said he put his amputated leg in the box in order to take it to his home in Chongqing in western China, today's Guangzhou Daily reported.

  "It is our custom to keep the body as a whole after death," he said.

  Since Huang could neither provide a hospital certificate nor get an approval from the flight operator, he was banned from carrying his leg to the aircraft.

  He had no choice but to give his leg to some relatives who saw him off at the airport and told them to mail his leg to him.

  "It's so rare that patients are allowed to take away their amputated limbs or removed organs," a Guangzhou doctor said.

  Huang was reluctant to disclose details, the report said.

• Europcar@Frankfurt

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  Minox BL-1217215
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• sink pipe or maybe shit pipe..

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