IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Nuclear submarine to be displayed at museum

China's first nuclear-powered submarine was towed to a port of the Chinese Navy Museum in Qingdao, Shandong province, in mid-October, according to the North Sea Fleet of the People's Liberation Army Navy.

The sub had navigated the world's oceans for more than 40 years. Its radioactive parts will be removed before arriving at the museum.

The decommissioning of the submarine, together with the safe disposal of its nuclear reactors and waste, indicates China is able to not only develop and operate nuclear submarines, but also to properly handle them when they retire, the Navy said.

Newer webcams are safe, maker says

Hangzhou Xiongmai Technology Co, a video surveillance manufacturer, is recalling four kinds of webcams sold in the US after a widespread cyberattack blocked access to websites there, including Twitter and PayPal.

Around 10,000 of the company's webcams will be recalled. Unidentified hackers seized control of gadgets, including the Xiongmai webcams, and directed them to launch an attack that temporarily brought down the websites.

Liu Yuexin, Xiongmai's marketing director, said the recalled webcams were manufactured before April last year and had easy-to-guess default passwords. The main vulnerability in the recent attack was that users had not changed the webcams' default passwords, making them easy to hack, the company said. It reassured the public that there is a low possibility of similar problems when using its upgraded gadgets.

SE Asia welcomes Sino-US cooperation

A report released on Oct 25 by the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations and the Center for American Progress said that Southeast Asian nations welcome China-US cooperation, preferring that to rivalry.

It found that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations expects to be in the driver's seat as the two giants collaborate in the region.

Experts from the two institutes jointly conducted field research across six nations in Southeast Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Singapore - to identify underexplored opportunities for China-US collaboration.

The report said mistrust complicates China-US relations and can obscure areas where cooperation might be possible and beneficial.

China, DPRK to build new bridges

Beijing and Pyongyang held the third meeting of a joint border commission on Oct 25, agreeing to build new bridges over the Tumen River, mainly to transport relief supplies.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the reason behind the move is that the DPRK's heavy vehicles transporting goods purchased from China have been unable to get through after heavy rains brought by Typhoon Lionrock in August devastated hundreds of homes, leaving a large number of people homeless.

The river marks part of the boundary between China, the DPRK and Russia.

Antelope rebound affects grasslands

A rebound in the population of the once-endangered Tibetan antelope has come with some unintended consequences, a conservation official said on Oct 26.

While the species' survival is more assured now, its growing numbers have put pressure on fragile mountain grasslands. The antelope population had declined to about 70,000 in the early 1990s because of poaching, but it has now reached about 250,000 nationwide, including 150,000 in the Tibet autonomous region, according to a report by the Chinese Academy of Sciences that was released on Oct 26.

The antelope was downgraded in September from "endangered" to "near threatened", dropping two levels, at the sixth World Conservation Congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Census of pollution sources readied

China is planning its second national census of pollution sources, aiming to present a clear picture of pollution and analyzing its capacity to control it, the central government said on Oct 26. There will be a special leading committee to guide the work of the second census, which is chaired by Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli. Fifteen ministry-level departments will be involved, the statement said. The census will start on Dec 31, 2017, and last for all of 2018. Data analysis and the census report will be completed in 2019.

Shanghai to improve international curriculum

Shanghai's Education Commission says it will improve its supervision of international curriculum in private schools. The commission held a conference recently on the administration of private schools, highlighting problems such as enrolling Chinese students in international programs; teaching Chinese students the international curriculum; and watering down basic courses, such as Chinese, or weakening ideological and moral lessons. The commission emphasized that policies for international schools that recruit expatriate students remain unchanged.

China Fashion Week gets underway in Beijing

The Mercedes-Benz China Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2017 opened in Beijing on Oct 25. The nine-day event consists of 78 shows and three professional contests in venues including the Beijing Hotel, 751D Park, China Central Place and the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

More than 70 designers and 90 brands from home and abroad will be featured at the event, including Ne Tiger, Ellassay, Aimer, Jefen and Peacebird.

Women's fashion will be the major focus of the event, complemented by menswear and children's clothing. Brands by independent designers will be showcased in 751D Park, while more established brands will be shown at the Beijing Hotel.

Path to jobs in rural areas to be eased

The government is loosening requirements for people applying for civil service positions in remote and underdeveloped areas in an effort to attract more applicants, according to a human resources official.

The change means that some posts will have fewer requirements related to applicants' working experience and educational backgrounds, including their education level and major, says Li Zhong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

According to the ministry, 2.11 million people registered for the public servants' exams this year. As of Oct 25, the day after applications closed, 1.36 million had been approved to take the tests. Li says the figure will continue to grow until the approval process concludes.

Palace Museum to build new Beijing branch

The Palace Museum will build a new branch museum in northern Beijing to showcase more items, as current exhibits displayed each year account for less than 1 percent of its collection, Shan Jixiang, curator of the museum, said during the International Smart Tourism Conference in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

Shan said the new site, which is 25 kilometers from the current museum, is in a picturesque area near other tourist attractions - north of the Old Summer Palace, and south of Badaling Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. The new museum will cover an area of 12,500 square meters.

New discipline rules on way for Party

The 6th Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee opened in Beijing on Oct 24 to institutionalize experience from its four-year-long anti-corruption campaign.

During the four-day meeting, two sets of internal discipline measures, stricter than ever in the reform era, were expected to be officially enacted by the CPC Central Committee. They will apply to all officials and ordinary members of the Party.

The two sets of rules reinforce norms for intra-Party political behavior and amend a previous regulation.

The session may also pave the way for the election of a new Central Committee, elected every five years, at a CPC national congress in 2017.

Media alliance focuses on Belt, Road Initiative

Representatives from 20 media organizations in 13 countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road formed a media alliance on Oct 24 at a forum in Nanjing. The move is aimed at improving cooperation in reporting on the project and facilitating experiences and news sharing.

'High income' meaning sparks tax debate

Financial and taxation experts have disputed rumors that individuals whose annual income is more than 120,000 yuan ($17,720; 16,200 euros; 14,500) are in the "high-income group" and will be hit with higher tax rates.

The rebuttal came after the rumors provoked heated public discussion.

Zhang Lianqi, a financial expert who works closely with the Ministry of Finance, said that media reports stating that an annual income of more than 120,000 yuan is the definition of the term "high-income group" is mere speculation. Zhang added that it will take time for the individual tax reform plan to be introduced.

China Red Cross offers aid to Philippines

The Red Cross Society of China will offer $100,000-worth of humanitarian aid to the Philippines after the damage caused by Typhoon Haima, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Oct 24 at a regular news briefing, adding that the Chinese government will also provide the Philippines with additional assistance. The death toll in the Philippines from the super typhoon rose to 16 on Oct 22.

Winter smog control efforts inspected

The Ministry of Environmental Protection has sent 10 teams to inspect the performance of 20 provinces or provincial-level cities in controlling air pollution. The inspections come amid calls to reduce winter smog after northern regions experienced poor air quality recently.

The inspection teams will focus on the implementation of major efforts such as shutting down illegal construction projects and polluting companies, and will review the regular inspections of local environmental teams, the ministry said.

The 20 targets for inspection include Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Henan and Liaoning, as well as southern areas such as Fujian and Guangdong provinces.

Nano-robot may aid fight against cancer

A research team from the University of Hong Kong has developed the world's first light-guided nano-robot, a submicroscopic device with the potential to travel through the bloodstream to cure sickness. The device's developers say it has the potential to help remove tumors and block the growth of cancer cells. The tiny robot was developed over three years by an eight-member team led by Tang Jinyao, assistant professor of chemistry at the university.

Satellite to improve weather forecasting

China plans to launch its latest independently developed weather satellite at the end of this year. It is said to be technically comparable to similar satellites being built in Europe and the United States.

The FY 4, one of the country's second generation of weather satellites, is the newest member of its Fengyun series. It will be placed in geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers above the earth, according to Qu Yan, deputy head of the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, which developed it.

1,171 foreign students lose govt scholarships

An official at the China Scholarship Council said an annual evaluation system has been effective in ensuring the quality of foreign recipients of Chinese government scholarships.

The evaluation system was introduced in 2002, and 1,171 ineligible recipients of money through the state-level scholarship have been screened out, said Cao Shihai, deputy secretary-general of the China Scholarship Council. Most of the suspensions or deprivations resulted from the students' bad attitude toward studies, or a breach of their Chinese universities' regulations and rules, he said.

Solar drones may stay airborne for months

Aviation researchers in China are developing solar-powered drones capable of staying airborne for at least a month, a senior designer said.

Shi Wen, head of unmanned aircraft development at the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, said his team has developed prototypes to demonstrate new technologies and equipment.

In October the team conducted the maiden flight of a giant solar-powered drone at an airport in northwestern China. Shi said the 14-meter-long aircraft has a 45-meter wingspan, wider than a Boeing 737, and can carry a payload of 20 kilograms. He said mass-produced models will eventually be able to fly for up to six months.

Forum focuses on cyberspace governance

Views on cyberspace governance, online terrorism and cyberattacks were shared at China's First International Collaborative Forum on Internet Governance, which was held over the weekend. Chinese experts and specialists from foreign countries, including the United States, France and Japan, attended the two-day event hosted by Beijing Normal University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Major currency flight unlikely in Q4, govt says

China's cross-border capital flows are expected to stabilize in the fourth quarter, and major capital flight is unlikely, because the country's economic fundamentals are strong, the nation's foreign exchange regulator said. Chinese banks saw a net foreign exchange of $28.4 billion in September, up by $18.9 billion from August, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Net forex sales stood at $243.4 billion in the first three quarters.

(China Daily European Weekly 10/28/2016 page2)