UK's focus ought to be EU

According to British media reports, the United Kingdom has held informal discussions with some of the members of the planned Trans-Pacific Partnership to explore the possibility of joining the group to boost its exports after it leaves the European Union.

Law needs to prevent tech giants from taking liberties with users

ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT, the leading domestic mobile payment service provider, Alipay released to users their annual billing records, yet a sentence in smaller font, which authorizes it to analyze users' data for other use, was found in its electronic agreement with the default choice being "I agree". China E-Commerce Research Center, a Hangzhou-based independent think tank, comments:

Even one bad apple can spoil tourist spots

AFTER A WRITER complained about a guesthouse in Shuangfeng Forest Farm in Hailin, Heilongjiang province, the local tourism bureau swiftly carried out an investigation and fined the owner of the guesthouse 59,000 yuan ($9,069) for fleecing tourists by charging exorbitant prices for rooms, services and food. Shenzhen News commented on Thursday:

These winter blue days must not be taken for granted

SO FAR THIS WINTER, the masks that used to be a common sight at this time of year have been less evident as the number of days with blue skies in Beijing and its surrounding regions has been much higher than in the recent past. China Youth Daily comments:

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Time to forget nuclear buttons at desks

Following almost a year of a war of words between Washington and Pyongyang, US President Donald Trump and Democratic People's Republic of Korea's leader Kim Jong-un are threatening each other with the nuclear buttons at their desks at the onset of the new year, which doesn't seem to augur well for 2018.

Are women-only parking lots gender biased?

Editor's note: During the New Year holiday, a photo of a women-only parking lot with larger space and a logo of a high-heeled shoe at a highway service station in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, went viral online, sparking a debate on whether such facilities are discriminatory toward women. A transportation expert and a writer with China Daily share their views on the issue:

China, EU lead fight against emissions

Countries around the world are applauding China's emissions trading system (ETS) development plan, which demonstrates the country's resolve to put its commitments under the 2015 Paris climate agreement into practice, through policies and measures that will reduce emissions.

US moves threaten to foil Sino-US trade ties

There were a lot of uncertainties a year ago over China-US trade and investment ties given what Donald Trump had said during his presidential campaign, in particular his claim that he would impose 45 percent punitive tariffs on imports from China and name China a currency manipulator.

Peninsula opportunity should not be spurned

Although the signs of easing animosity on the Korean Peninsula are welcome, the offer of talks from Kim Jong-un may represent merely a transient change of tone, rather than a shift in policy, and his overture is likely to come with a price tag.

Misjudged appeal to public

Should a performing troupe pay a scriptwriter for his or her work it has been performing? The answer should be in the affirmative as the playwright enjoys the intellectual property right to the work he or she wrote. This is common sense.

Entrepreneurial spirit requires healthy business environment

IN A VIDEO widely circulated via social media, the head of a company which owns a ski resort accused the local government in Yabuli of Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang province, for "bullying" and "deliberately making difficulties for" the resort, and appealed to the higher authorities to look into the matter to create a fair business environment. Thepaper.cn commented on Wednesday: