NMGBMZBWG » china

Four detained for shopping mall fire in NE China

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:23:17 +0000

Two security guards and two electricians have been detained in connection with a shopping mall fire that left one dead on March 28 in northeast China\’s Jilin Province.

The four were detained for dereliction of duty. The mall\’s legal representative surnamed Sun and one manager were put under house arrest, Song Hongfeng, head of the Changchun municipal fire brigade, said Thursday.

"The electricians failed to remove the safety hazards and the security guards left their post and failed to notice the fire until being alerted by a long-distance surveillance system," Song said.

The fire broke out at 7:50 p.m. Sunday at Tianyuan shopping mall in Changchun, the provincial capital, and was put out on Tuesday morning.

Wang Haijun, a security guard in his thirties, was found dead Tuesday by firemen clearing the debris after the fire.

Police are still investigating the accident.

Source:Xinhua

Google\’s China partner says re-evaluation not out of political pressure

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:22:17 +0000

China\’s major web portal Sina.com said Thursday it was re-evaluating cooperation with U.S. Internet search giant Google, but not because of political pressure.

An officer in charge of public relations at Sina made the remarks in response to recent foreign media reports that Google\’s partners in the Chinese mainland were facing political pressure to abandon the search engine after it rerouted Chinese-language search services to Hong Kong.

The officer told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that they were rethinking the relationship because Google was apparently not meeting Sina\’s standards for foreign partners.

"All partners of Sina must abide by Chinese laws and regulations as well as have long-term plans to operate in China," the officer said.

Google\’s withdrawal to Hong Kong came on March 23, more than two months after it voiced dissatisfactions over censoring search results in the Chinese mainland and intentions to leave the market.

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In information age, we need \’Web spokesmen\’

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:21:17 +0000

Before the advent of the Internet, news was limited to sporadic coverage of major events. But the use of Internet publishing opens the window on ordinary issues that affect people\’s lives instead of just providing information on events deemed newsworthy. Through the employment of a relatively new phenomenon, the Web spokesman, information is provided directly to the public instead of journalists only.

"If there were Web spokesmen, the rumor of the earthquake in Shanxi would not have aroused much fear," one newspaper reported on Feb 25. By means of direct dialogue and real-time communication, a Web spokesman can release the authoritative and correct information in time, answer people\’s concerns, reassure the public and keep order.

Some areas do it well. On the eve of Spring Festival, the Web spokesmen of Hechuan District of Chongqing City had a dialogue with over a thousand Internet surfers. During the discussion, they talked about several things that concern the public: public works projects in 2010, city sewage treatment fee collections, public security and transportation during the Spring Festival.

On Feb. 22, when the spokesman was out of town in Changsha city, he opened the computer in the hotel, started the video camera, and answered questions from Internet surfers.

With notebook in hand, publishing the news in any time at any place, the Web spokesman has become an excellent tool to promote open government, deal with public opinion, respond to crisis and build brand image. They are by no means inferior to the news publishing system and news spokesman that are still popular to the public.

Internet news publishing is a fresh and exciting area. Based on the Internet and using multimedia technology to communicate with the public, it reflects both new concepts and new images. By means of new forms of media such as QQ, forums, blogs, twitter, etc, the Web spokesman may interact with people to a high degree.

The quality of news publishing is further assured if the Web spokesman masters the basic techniques of Internet opinion guidance and is fluent in netspeak. Internet news is best published between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., prime time for Internet users. Besides, the Internet news has convenient operation modes and flexible means, reduces the use of resources and helps to protect the environment.

Internet news is effective and plays an important role in enhancing the government\’s ability in the information age. The 17th CPC National Congress put forward that the people\’s rights of knowledge, participation, expression and supervision should be guaranteed and enforced. Internet news publishing is an important means to achieve this objective.

When public events, sudden events and mass events come, we must have the ability to know about the facts and public opinion in a timely manner. We must analyze and do the first news publishing, push on the handling of events in three days, continually publish news to guide opinion, and carry out timely and effective crisis management. By scientifically analyzing the public opinion and answering what the people are most concerned about, we can grasp the right of speech and deal with the events effectively.

An authoritative investigation of over 3,000 people shows that more than 80 percent of them hope that their district, city and province could have Web spokesman; 64.5 percent of them think the Web spokesman shows the government pays high attention to public opinion. This shows the support of the public for Internet news publishing. It is believed that such support will be further strengthened with the improvement of Web spokesman mechanism.

(The article in original Chinese language is written by the leader of the propaganda division of the Internet bureau of the news office of the State Council)

By People\’s Daily Online

Drought-hit Chinese region issues fire ban ahead of Tomb-sweeping Day

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:20:17 +0000

The government of south China\’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region issued a fire ban Saturday ahead of the upcoming Tomb-sweeping Day, in a bid to prevent forest fires against the backdrop of a prolonged drought.

According to the ban, tomb-goers are forbidden to burn paper money or incenses and to set off fireworks in forest zones from April 3 to 17.

They are also banned from burning straws, leaves, charcoal and others in forest zones.

Violators will be fined or even detained and prosecuted, according to the ban.

As of Wednesday, the drought, which began in southwestern China last year, has left 19.4 million people with water shortages and affected 6.48 million hectares of farmland in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangxi and Chongqing, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

It is a tradition for Chinese to visit family graves during the Qingming or Tomb-sweeping Day, which falls on April 5 this year. Memorial activities range from burning paper money to setting off fireworks.

In 2008, the government made Tomb-sweeping Day an official holiday in response to public appeals.

Source:Xinhua

7 die after workshop ceiling collapse in E China

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:19:17 +0000

Seven people were killed and one injured Friday morning after a workshop ceiling collapsed in east China\’s Jiangsu Province, local authorities said Saturday.

The ceiling of a workshop of China International Marine Containers Group (CIMC) in Jiangsu\’s Nantong City fell in at around 5:50 a.m., burying eight workers, said a spokesman with the municipal government.

Five people were rescued from the debris and sent to a local hospital, where four of them died. The injured was in a stable condition, he said.

The bodies of the three others were found at around 8 p.m., the spokesman said.

Nine people were doing interior construction work in the 10-meter high workshop of CIMC, a leading container manufacturer in China, when the accident occurred. One of them managed to escape.

The municipal government and police were jointly investigating the cause of the accident, he said.

Source:Xinhua

Senior diplomats from China, Japan, S Korea hold 5th consultation in S Korea

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 02:50:17 +0000

Senior diplomats from China, Japan and South Korea on Saturday held their fifth round of trilateral consultation in South Korea\’s Jeju Island.

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue, South Korean Deputy Minister Lee Yong-joon and Japanese Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Sasae Kenichiro attended the consultation.

During the meeting, the three parties discussed the future direction of the three-nation cooperation, and exchanged views on arrangement of this year\’s meetings and events within the trilateral cooperation framework, and major regional and international issues of common concern.

The three parties agreed that, in line with the consensus reached by leaders of China, Japan and South Korea, the three nations will make efforts to deepen their cooperation in various fields, strengthen the good momentum of the trilateral cooperation, enrich the connotation of the partnership among the three nations and push the trilateral cooperation forward to gain more progress.

South Korea is the coordinating country of the three-way cooperation in 2010. It will host the third trilateral leaders\’ meeting of China, Japan and South Korea, and the fourth three-way foreign ministers meeting.

Source:Xinhua

Rescuers enter flooded mine in north China

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 02:49:17 +0000

Ambulances are standing by with medical staff to ensure immediate treatment once the trapped miners are rescued at the Wangjialing Coal Mine in Xiangning County, north China\’s Shanxi Province, April 3, 2010. Seven rescuers entered the flooded shaft at 1:12 p.m. on Saturday with boats and other floatation devices to start the search for 153 trapped miners. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)
Thirteen rescuers, including six divers, had entered a flooded mine in north China\’s Shanxi Province to search for 153 miners that had been trapped for a week, rescue headquarters said Saturday afternoon.

The team of rescuers were sent down to explore the flooded shaft in the Wangjialing Coal Mine, Xiangning County at 1 p.m. to prepare for a large scale operation, said a spokesman with the headquarters.

The divers were carrying underwater cameras to film the environment in the shaft, he said.

Early Sunday morning was the soonest timing when a large-scale rescue operation could be launched, he added.

A total of 283 rescuers are in the mission, while 158 ambulances, one for each trapped miner, are standing by with 156 medical staff to ensure immediate treatment once the trapped miners are rescued.

Water level in the mine has dropped by 5.3 meters since the flooding happened. Rescuers are draining 2,000 cubic meters of water per hour.

Rescuers said they heard the trapped miners banging on a metal pipe at 2:15 p.m. Friday.

An iron wire was found attached at the end of a drill pipe, which was used to pump out water and send down food, when it was lifted to the surface at 3 p.m..

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Chinese VP hails relations between Chinese, Russian ruling parties

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 02:48:17 +0000

Relations between Chinese and Russian ruling parties are indispensable to the Sino-Russian relations of strategic cooperation and partnership, visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping said here on Tuesday.

Xi, who is also member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), made the statement when attending the opening ceremony of the second round of strategic dialogue between the Chinese and Russian ruling parties.

Since inception, the Sino-Russian relations of strategic cooperation and partnership has been developing in a strong and sound manner against the backdrop of an increasingly complicated exterior environment, said Xi.

In recent years, the CPC and the United Russia party, having formed a mechanism of all-round and multi-layer exchanges, as well as a relationship of strategic cooperation, have played an increasingly important and unique part in promoting the advancement of bilateral ties.

The second round of Sino-Russian inter-party strategic dialogue, under the theme of "Chinese and Russian ruling parties\’ responsibility in post-crisis era," is of vital pragmatic significance for the two parties to strengthen capacity building, enrich the connotation of exchange mechanism, and further elevate the level of inter-party strategic cooperation, said Xi.

Boris Gryzlov, Chairman of Russian State Duma and the United Russia Supreme Council, read a congratulatory message at the opening ceremony from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, also chairman of the United Russia.

Exchanges and cooperation between United Russia and the CPC have reached a whole new level, said Putin. The inter-party dialogue fully demonstrates a highly responsible attitude from both parties to seek the well-being of the peoples of the two countries.

Putin said he believed a successful dialogue would provide a strong momentum for deepening the relationship between the two parties as well as the two countries.

The Chinese vice-president also laid a wreath to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier after the opening ceremony, attended by some 100 representatives from the two parties.

Xi, who arrived in Russia on Saturday, is on a four-nation European tour which will also take him to Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Source: Xinhua

Accused pleads guilty over fatal CCTV inferno

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 02:47:17 +0000

Journalists question the legality of the closed-door court hearing

A former chief of the new China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters pleaded guilty to the charge of causing an accident with dangerous goods at a Beijing court on Tuesday, more than one year after a fire ripped through the extravagant building in the heart of the capital.

Xu Wei, the former head of the CCTV\’s construction office, and 20 other suspects charged over the fire, face up to seven years in prison and fines, if convicted.

The closed trial is expected to last three to four days at the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People\’s Court.

According to the Beijing Evening News, Xu, who was the first of the group to go on trial, pleaded guilty to the charge on Tuesday.

An illegal fireworks display started the blaze in the 30-story building in Beijing\’s central business district on Feb 9, 2009. A 27-year-old firefighter was killed and eight others were injured in the blaze.

The economic loss incurred by the fire, one of the fiercest in the capital\’s recent history, was estimated at more than 160 million yuan ($23.44 million).

Among other suspects on trial is Sha Peng, the manager of a media company, who allegedly helped Xu buy the fireworks and organize their display. The designer, producer, and transporters of the fireworks have also been charged.

According to the prosecution, the accused ignored the law and caused a severe accident by setting off fireworks without a valid permit and are, hence, criminally liable.

In February this year, the State Council said an investigation into the incident revealed the firefighting systems in the brand new CCTV tower were dysfunctional.

The television network and its contractors had failed to fix broken emergency sprinklers and did not carry out various other tasks that could have brought the fire under control.

The water pump also failed while the fire was raging because the contractors had violated safety procedures and drained reserves of firefighting water for construction purposes, the investigation showed.

The State Council said a total of 71 people have been found responsible for the fire, of which, 44 would face criminal charges while 27 would receive Party and administrative penalties.

Former officials with the construction and work safety supervision authorities are among the 44 facing criminal charges and will be tried for dereliction of duty for not preventing the illegal practices that led to the accident.

Among the 27 who received administrative punishments are Zhao Huayong, former CCTV president, who was demoted, and Li Xiaoming, vice-president of CCTV, who was sacked.

Reporters waiting outside the courthouse questioned the legality of the closed-door hearing of the high-profile case. Chinese law stipulates that trials should be open to the public, except for cases involving national security, individual privacy, minors or other specific cases.

Source: China Daily

School killings reveal mental health woes

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 02:47:17 +0000

A man alleged to be mentally ill stabbed eight school children to death and injured five others on Tuesday in Fujian province, a tragedy which experts said once again points to inadequacies in the treatment of such people.

Police arrested the man identified as Zheng Mingsheng, a former community doctor in Nanping city, according to Huang Zhongping, spokesman for the city\’s public security bureau.

Zheng, born in 1968, is a native of Nanping and used to work at the Mazhan community clinic before he resigned in June 2009, Huang said.

Zheng is said to have a history of mental illness, and local reports said he was fired by the community clinic for mental health problems.

"Sometimes he acted abnormally but we never imagined he would do such a cruel thing," a community resident said.

The attack happened at 7:20 am at the entrance of Nanping Experimental Primary School.

Zheng charged into a group of students wielding a 25-cm knife, witness Gan Guiping, the school\’s PE instructor, told China Daily.

"They don\’t allow me to live and drive me crazy. I will not spare them," Gan recalled Zheng as shouting repeatedly.

He said the attack lasted less than a minute, and three died at the scene.

"After being stabbed, some of the students rose, stumbled a few steps and then fell," Gan said with tears in his eyes.

"I saw them die in front of me."

Cai Luyan, director of the school\’s moral education section, said the attack took the students by total surprise.

"A boy in Grade 1 was stabbed to death in front of his mother," Cai said.

Zheng was subdued by passers-by and school security guards, said Wu Jiachong, owner of a store who called the police.

The school, which has 2,000 students, was closed for the day and the students were taken home by their families, Xinhua News Agency reported.

"My mind went blank when my son\’s teacher called me at 8 am, saying he had been stabbed," said Lu Yanping, mother of 12-year-old Liu Luyi, at the intensive care unit of Nanping People\’s Hospital

"He is still in critical condition."

Police will release details of the investigation as soon as possible, local authorities said.

The local government has assigned 20 therapists to the school to deal with possible post-traumatic stress, said Liao Hanren, deputy head of the municipal education bureau.

Classes are scheduled to resume Wednesday, and psychological counseling will be provided, Liao said.

The latest tragedy again highlights the threat to social security posed by the lack of treatment for the mentally ill. Only one in five such patients gets professional treatment in the country, which has more than 16 million people suffering mental problems, experts estimated.

They blamed low awareness of the possible danger and widespread discrimination against the mentally ill for the situation.

A national mental health law, first drafted in the 1980s, aims to provide the mentally ill with legal protection and subsidized health care.

Once passed, patients without family support will have access to free shelter and treatment provided by the government.

Pang Yu, a doctor at Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, a leading psychiatric hospital in the country, said the legislation has been shelved because of the huge funds required.

Currently, only a few prosperous provinces and cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong have drafted regional regulations on mental health.

Patients largely depend on families for help, financially and psychologically, Pang noted.

"Without national legislation and government funding, the problem cannot be solved," he noted.

So far legislation exists for only one disease, AIDS, for which patients have access to free treatment and drugs.

That costs the central government several billon yuan each year, official figures show.

Source: China Daily