IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Water levels remain dangerously high

The Hunan government has mobilized 302,700 people to conduct flood control work on levees covering 2,000 kilometers in Hunan province, as major waterways remain at dangerously high levels, despite heavy rainfall having subsided. The provincial water resources authority said the level of the Xiangjiang River, a major tributary of the Yangtze River, has dropped to 39.07 meters in Changsha, down from a record-high 39.44 meters on July 2. According to forecasts, the water level will remain above the warning level for three more days in Changsha, the provincial capital, and the neighboring cities of Xiangtan and Zhuzhou.

Bilingual news app a highlight of cooperation

China-Russia Headlines, a bilingual mobile news app produced by China Radio International and Russian news agency Rossiya Segodnya, has started to provide news and information about the two nations' ties. The two companies provide news in written, audio and video formats, said Wang Gengnian, director-general of China Radio International. It was launched in Moscow on July 3. The new media project helps students learning Chinese and many others who are interested in China to better know the country, says Christina Borovikova, a junior at Moscow Normal University who is studying Chinese. She says there is still only a limited amount of information about China on Russian websites.

Princess sees enhanced UK visa process

Britain's Princess Anne witnessed on July 4 how hard the British embassy is working to woo Chinese visitors, as a Chinese athlete obtained a visa for the United Kingdom in a matter of minutes. Embassy officials visited the training site of China's national track and field team, with sprinter Su Bingtian being given his UK visa, enabling him to attend the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in London next month. Princess Anne observed the whole process and talked with Su. According to the British embassy, the average processing time for a nonsettlement visa in the year ending March 2017 was seven days, compared with a 15-working-day service standard.

New app to evaluate Party members

A grassroots Party committee has unveiled an online management system that includes a mobile app to supervise and evaluate Party members, in response to calls from the Party leadership to embrace the Internet Plus era. The Communist Party of China Committee of Tongsheng neighborhood in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, launched the system on June 27, three days ahead of the Party's 96th anniversary. Residents can access the system that includes seven subsystems, including evaluation and appraisal from people within and outside of the Party, online and via the mobile app.

Tencent sets limits for online gaming

All-night gaming marathons will soon end for some Chinese youngsters after internet giant Tencent began limiting daily playing times on its smartphone smash hit King of Glory on July 4 to "ensure children's healthy development". Young players will be restricted to one or two hours on the mobile online multiplayer battle game, which boasts 80 million daily users, as concerns grow in China that long periods online are posing a serious threat to the health of the country's youth. State media reported in April that a 17-year-old gamer in southern Guangdong province suffered a type of stroke after spending 40 consecutive hours playing King of Glory.

Tall ancestors found in Shandong tombs

Archaeologists have found evidence of unusually tall and strong people who lived in East China 5,000 years ago. Measurements of bones from graves in Shandong province show the height of at least one man to have reached 1.9 meters. Since last year, archaeologists have been excavating the ruins of 104 houses, 205 graves and 20 sacrificial pits at Jiaojia village in Jinan, Shandong. The relics are from the Longshan culture, a late Neolithic civilization in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, named after Longshan mountain.

Ministry cracks down on waste pollution

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection said on July 4 it had launched a campaign to crack down on pollution from imported waste processing. The monthlong campaign starting on July 1 comes as the country saw serious pollution caused by a number of small companies processing imported waste. Inspectors will focus on whether enterprises have illegally transferred waste imports, among other things.

Students eager to start businesses

Students in China are eager to start businesses and hope that their colleges can provide more opportunities to foster entrepreneurship, according to the result of a survey published by a university alliance on July 4. The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Alliance of China surveyed students from 130 colleges, and more than 80 percent of students said they are willing to start businesses.

Sightings of endangered bird are on the rise

An increasing number of Chinese mergansers, an endangered bird species dubbed the "giant pandas of birds", have been spotted in China over the past three years, a survey found on July 4. A total of 1,084 of the birds were spotted in the winter of 2016, according to a survey released by the Chinese Bird Watching Societies Network. The figure was 634 and 441 in the winters of 2015 and 2014, respectively.

Xi urges Trump to honor US pledges

China hopes the United States will appropriately address issues regarding Taiwan by honoring the "One China" and the three key bilateral joint statements made to date, President Xi Jinping told US President Donald Trump in a telephone conversation on July 3. The conversation came at a time when two-way ties have been strained by Washington's recently unveiled plan to sell arms to Taiwan and the incursion of a warship into Chinese territorial waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea.

Li oversees swearing-in of more than 60 officials

Premier Li Keqiang oversaw the swearing-in of 62 officials to 39 departments under the State Council on July 3, the second such event to highlight compliance with the country's fundamental law. All of the officials were appointed between September and May. State Councilor Yang Jing announced the start of the ceremony at about 11 am before all participants stood up to sing the national anthem. In September, the first group of 55 officials under the State Council, China's Cabinet, pledged to uphold the Constitution. Li called on all officials to remember their oaths and perform their duties in accordance with the Constitution. He also said the officials should work diligently for the people, while remaining earnest and steering clear of any corrupt actions.

India told to withdraw troops immediately

China has demanded that India immediately withdraw border troops that have crossed into Chinese territory, and cautioned India to avoid a "more serious situation and consequences". Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the remarks on July 5 as Indian troops remained on Chinese soil after crossing the Sikkim section of the China-India border last month.

Distorted historical dramas criticized

A Chinese historian has said TV series aired in recent years that exaggerate or tamper with stories related to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) for entertainment purposes have incurred widespread condemnation from the public. The vulgar and falsified plots of such TV dramas are at odds with history, according to Sun Liping of the Party History Research Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

BRICS builds cooperation

BRICS countries will continue taking measures to further strengthen multilateral exchanges and cooperation on education, according to a declaration signed in Beijing on July 5. The five member nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - agreed to "reiterate support for the BRICS Network University to collaborate in the fields of education, research and innovation, and encourage universities to participate in the BRICS University League" in the Beijing Declaration on Education. They also said they will encourage more teachers and educational administrators to learn from the experiences of other countries in improving teacher quality and performance, and promoting the development of education through international exchanges.

Gas blast kills 5 and injures 89

A gas pipeline explosion in Songyuan, Jilin province, on July 4 left at least five people dead and 89 injured, 14 of whom were in critical condition, the local government said on July 5. The explosion occurred at about 2:45 pm when workers were repairing a section of pipeline that had a gas leak. The blast affected patients and staff members in a nearby hospital. Most of the injured suffered burns, bone fractures or bruises.

Military World Games commission set up

The Executive Commission for the Seventh Military World Games was set up on July 5 in the Hubei province capital of Wuhan, where the games will take place in October 2019. The commission held its first meeting on the same day to discuss the timetable for the games' preparation, according to a news release from the Central Military Commission's Training Management Department. It will be the first time for China to hold a Military World Games, which is a multisport event for military athletes organized by the International Military Sports Council.

Drill improves skills of aircraft carrier crew

China's aircraft carrier battle group carried out a full drill in first-degree combat readiness on July 1, the highest level of a four-tier defense readiness protocol, the Defense Ministry said on July 3. The drill was to strengthen coordination among the fleet's vessels and planes, and improve the skills of the crew and pilots in different marine regions under real combat situations, according to Gao Zhaorui, the fleet's chief of staff. The fleet includes the CNS Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier; guided-missile destroyers CNS Jinan and CNS Yinchuan; and guided-missile frigate CNS Yantai. The group set out from Qingdao, Shandong province, on June 25 for routine trans-regional exercises.

Official demoted for disciplinary violations

Zhang Xiwu, former deputy head of China's State-owned assets supervisory authority, has been demoted for "serious disciplinary violations", the country's top anti-graft authority announced on July 3. Zhang, 59, has been removed from his position as deputy head of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and from his Party positions, and has been demoted to a bureau-level, non leadership post, according to the Communist Party of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The CCDI said he will no longer serve as a delegate to the 18th CPC National Congress and his ill-gotten gains will be confiscated.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 07/07/2017 page2)