Charity is not just publicity

Chinese tycoon and philanthropist Chen Guangbiao has proclaimed, with a typical maverick gesture, that Chinese millionaires are also big spenders when it comes to helping those in need. In full-page advertisements in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Chen invited 1,000 "underprivileged" New York citizens to have a free lunch with him at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park on Wednesday and promised to give each of them $300 cash.

Welcome move across the Straits

The June 25-28 visit of Zhang Zhijun, head of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, to Taiwan is the first of its kind since 1949. In more ways than one, it is a landmark effort by mainland authorities to resolve cross-Straits issues in a peaceful way. Zhang's visit to Taiwan is also notable for its timing, schedule and significance.

The World Cup made in China

Chinese soccer fans have to simply accept that the chances of the national men's team playing in the World Cup finals again (after 2002) is at best slim. Perhaps a joke doing the rounds best illustrates this fact: A fairy promises Chinese people to make their one wish come true. Some people ask her to make the world a peaceful place, free of wars. The fairy seems embarrassed and doesn't respond. Then some soccer fans request her to send "our men's soccer team to the World Cup finals". The fairy says: "Well, let's talk about world peace!"

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Craze for gaokao champions 状元热 (zhuang yuan re)

From the Chinese press

Protect heritage sites' legacies

Moving up industrial value chain

Although China witnessed a record trade surplus in May, according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, pressures remain on foreign trade growth.

'Referendum' has too many votes to be credible

The 6.22 "civil referendum," organized by the Public Opinion Program (POP) at the University of Hong Kong and the Center for Social Policy Studies at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University on behalf of the secretariat of the "Occupy Central" campaign, is now a complete mess. Even before physical voting began on June 22, close to 600,000 online votes had already been cast in the preceding two days.

Cage power to reduce abuse

EVEN WITH A NUMBER OF VICE-MINISTER-LEVEL officials and a vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference placed under investigation for abuse of power in recent weeks, and Liu Tienan, former director of the National Energy Administration, sued by prosecutors, the anti-graft campaign will continue with the same momentum until officials have the awareness they need to toe the line when it comes to the exercising of their power.

One small cross-Straits step

Chinese mainland chief of Taiwan affairs Zhang Zhijun embarked on his trip to Taiwan on Wednesday. To paraphrase Neil Armstrong's moonwalk quote: one small step for Zhang, one giant leap for cross-Straits relations.

Cartoon

Fine twist in Sino-US military ties

China is participating in the US-led 2014 Rim of Pacific military exercise for the first time since it started in 1971, indicating improved Sino-US military ties. Among the fleet of multiple nations taking part in the joint military exercise are four Chinese navy vessels - the Peace Ark hospital ship, Qiandaohu depot ship, Haikou missile destroyer and Yueyang frigate.

Resolve South China Sea issue first

Maritime disputes are testing the wisdom of the Chinese government and have prompted it to handle its ties with the United States with utmost caution to ensure that China's peaceful development continues uninterrupted.