HK tensions continue to simmer

On July 15, two important political reports on Hong Kong were released. The Task Force on Constitutional Development (TFCD) of the Hong Kong SAR Government disclosed a report on public consultation on the methods for the chief executive election in 2017 and the Legislative Council (LegCo) election in 2016. At the same time, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying submitted a report to the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC). It asks the NPCSC to consider whether it needs to amend the methods for selecting the chief executive in 2017 in order to attain universal suffrage. It also states that Annex II of the Basic Law should not be amended in regard to the method for forming the Legislative Council in 2016.

Letters

How to improve parenting skills

Five offbeat rules bring success to Germany

It is an age-old question: Does the soccer field offer broader lessons for life, and can big tournaments lead to changing the perception of nations? The just concluded 2014 World Cup in Brazil provides an interesting example.

Manila's double standards

The maritime agreement between the Philippines and Indonesia shows the Aquino administration is not willing to talk with China

Cartoon

End money and privilege bonuses in exams

The country's "bonus points" system for the national college entrance exam, or gaokao, is once again under scrutiny after an unusually large number of students in Henan and Liaoning provinces received bonus marks in this year's exams for their "excellent sports performance".

Plug loopholes in college exam

WHERE THERE IS A LOOPHOLE IN A SYSTEM, there will always be some who take advantage of it to cut corners.

Cut interest chain behind exam scams

While moral decline leads to open cheating when it comes to bonus marks in the gaokao, or national college entrance exams, lack of legal punishment deepens the problem by freeing those involved from fear of paying a price. Related officials, schools, teachers, students and their families have already formed an interest chain and that's worse than the scandal itself.

Learning the lessons of history

The setback suffered by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's local election should be a warning to Japanese politicians trying to change the country's pacifist Constitution and expand the military's role. The LDP lost the vote to fill the open governor's post in Shiga prefecture in western Japan, which shows Abe's move to build a full-fledged military is against Japanese voters' wishes.

More good journalists needed

In sharp contrast to the limited coverage of CCTV star anchor Rui Chenggang in the official media, social and new media are full of reports on his "being taken away by the procuratorate", with comments spreading fast and wide on WeChat.

Letters

Helicopter parents harmful to kids

From the Chinese press

Prof should pay for crime if guilty