Necessary anniversary

WITH ALL MEMBERS OF CHINA'S LEADERSHIP attending the ceremony to mark the 77th anniversary of the War Against Japanese Aggression on Monday, this occasion, observed every year on July 7, is of particular importance this year.

Security on public transit

The news that the bus fire in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Saturday, which injured 32 people, was started deliberately has once again raised concerns about bus security. The motive for the arson is as yet unknown. But it is not the first time that a bus was set on fire by an arsonist. Two similar extreme cases happened in Chengdu in 2009 and in Xiamen last year, claiming dozens of lives and leaving more injured.

Visit highlighted shared values

Beijing and Seoul have reached a consensus on promoting the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization and suppressing Japanese rightist forces

Merkel visit amid mixed expectations

German Chancellor Angela Merkel embarked on her seventh visit to China since she took office in 2005. On her agenda are meetings in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, and Beijing and a mix of economic, political and cultural activities. Apart from meeting President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on July 7, Merkel will also hold talks with Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Syrian civil war a global threat

The horrific war in Syria continues to worsen and bleed beyond its borders. A cold calculation seems to be taking hold: that little can be done except to arm the parties and watch the conflict rage. The international community must not abandon the people of Syria and the region to never-ending waves of cruelty and crisis.

Letters

Abolish bonus points in gaokao

From the Chinese press

Building castles in the air

Education meets the market

Education in China is looking at a new era, an era in which vocational education and training will play a greater role in the country's education system as well as the economy.

Bigots are biggest threat to Uygur culture

The concussions created by the deadly riots in 2009 that left nearly 200 people dead in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in northwestern China, have not fully healed even in five years.

How to treat Net addiction creatively

In Daxing, a suburb of Beijing, young patients live in guarded cells behind walls topped with barbed wire. They take medication, participate in therapy and adhere to a physical and dietary regimen to treat their supposed disorder: Internet addiction. The problem and its alleged cures have become so great that in 2009, the Chinese government banned physical punishment to wean adolescents from the Internet and, before that, had outlawed the use of shock treatment to treat the disorder.

Cartoon

Thawing a budding Cold War

President Xi Jinping's visit to Seoul is a significant and proactive effort to restabilize trust in Northeast Asia