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Call for closer ties in peacekeeping

A Chinese envoy has called for enhanced collaboration and coordination between the United Nations and regional organizations in peacekeeping.

Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, made the remarks in a Security Council debate on regional partnership and its evolution in UN peacekeeping, which focused on the way the UN works with African regional groups.

In recent years, the UN and regional and subregional organizations such as the African Union have collaborated more closely in peacekeeping, and that has yielded results in operations in Darfur in Sudan, Somalia, Mali, Central African Republic and South Sudan, Liu said.

"The UN needs to further strengthen cooperation with regional organizations such as the AU in strategic planning, deployment, communication and coordination of peacekeeping operations, so as to effectively support African regional organizations in their efforts to maintain regional peace and security."

China urges nationals to leave Libya

China has called on its nationals to leave Libya, citing deteriorating security.

It suggested that business people, corporate staff and contract workers in foreign companies "leave Libya as soon as possible" as militant clashes in Tripoli and Benghazi are escalating, a statement on the website of the embassy in Tripoli said.

Many Chinese businesses had already suspended their operations and reduced their staff. Nearly 800 Chinese nationals have left Libya since May, the embassy said. There are still about 1,000 Chinese nationals in the country.

There has been a drastic escalation of violence in Libya since the turmoil in 2011 that toppled its former leader Muammar Gaddafi. The recent battle between Islamist fighters and pro-secular militias around Tripoli's international airport has killed at least 97 and wounded more than 400, and paralyzed most air traffic in the country.

Player has eyes fixed on gold

Uganda's top junior badminton player, Daniel Mihigo, has intensified preparations for the Youth Olympics in Nanjing next month.

"I have stepped up my training and I am running a lot, doing gym work and playing," Mihigo said on July 29 at Kampala Club, where he is training.

Uganda will send six athletes to the Games, which open on Aug 18.

"I am working very hard because I'm hungry to win a medal for my country," said Mihigo, 17. "I know the event will not be that simple especially since there are good badminton players from China and Indonesia who will be taking part."

OSI group to fund food safety campaign

US-based OSI Group, owner of the Shanghai food company accused of selling expired meat, said it would invest 10 million yuan ($1.62 million) on a three-year food safety education campaign in China and establish an Asia Quality Control Center to regain market confidence.

Shanghai Husi Food, a food supplier for a number of global brands such as McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks, was accused by a television station last week of using expired meat as well as forging production dates to extend shelf time.

The case soon spread from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong and Japan, and also provoked wide public anger.

David G. McDonald, president and chief operating officer of OSI Group, said the company is conducting an internal investigation, and that issues had already been found that are inconsistent with its internal product requirements and policies.

"We will fully cooperate with Shanghai FDA on the investigation," he said.

Uygur extremists 'training in Middle East'

Muslim extremists from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have traveled to the Middle East for training and some may have crossed into Iraq to take part in the upsurge of violence there, according to China's special envoy for the Middle East, Wu Sike.

China has repeatedly expressed concern about the upsurge in violence in Iraq and the march of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which has seized much of the north of the country as Baghdad's forces there collapsed.

ISIL, alternately translated as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, has proclaimed the establishment of a caliphate on land it has captured in Syria and Iraq.

Wu, who has just returned from the region, said China is extremely worried about the role of extremist groups in the fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Tough accountability code issued for officials

Auditors nationwide are to keep a close eye on officials in three key areas of accountability: government debt, natural resources and implementation of the central government's frugality campaign, according to a guideline released on July 27.

Officials will be held accountable for decisions that result in grave economic losses, massive spending of State assets, serious damage to the environment, and serious harm to public interests, the guidelines said.

Jointly drafted by seven commissions and departments, including the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's top anti-graft watchdog, it said it will hold responsible officials from all public sectors, including Party and government agencies, state-owned enterprises, and public institutes.

US visa delays likely to continue, says embassy

Delays issuing United States visas are likely to persist as the computer problems causing them have not yet been resolved, according to Nolan Barkhouse, a spokesman for the US embassy in Beijing.

"Our records system has been experiencing significant performance problems, including outages, since July 19," he said.

Barkhouse added the visa service returned to working online last Wednesday, but it is still operating at a significantly reduced capacity.

"The delay will continue until the document backlog is cleared," he said.

Problems affecting the US State Department's central visa and passport database mean applicants around the world face delays.

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There have been fears that Chinese students planning to attend college in the United States will not be able to obtain visas in time for the start of term. However, an overseas study adviser says they may not be affected.

"If the system can return to full operation by early August, then I think there's still time for Chinese students to apply for and get their visas," said Wang Jing, director of the US section at Chivast Education International, an overseas study consultancy in Beijing.

Alarm bells ring over illegal sales of GM rice

Claims that genetically modified rice that has not been approved for sale in China is being supplied illegally in a number of provinces have triggered alarm.

China Central Television reported on July 26 that three of five bags bought at a supermarket in Wuhan, Hubei province, were found to contain GM rice, after being analyzed at the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine.

Hubei Agricultural Bureau held an emergency meeting and said it will cooperate with local police to crack down on the illegal sale and cultivation of GM seeds.

A manager at a food-processing factory in Shanghai, speaking anonymously, told CCTV that the cultivation of GM rice is becoming widespread and some rice grown in Hubei, Hunan, Anhui and Fujian is genetically modified.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/01/2014 page3)