Former Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai stands trial at the Jinan Intermediate People's Court in Shandong province on Aug 26. Xie Huanchi / Xinhua

Two customs officers at Beijing Capital International Airport display 24.6 kg of cocaine that was found in the luggage of a Hong Kong resident on Aug 27. The case set a new record for the quantity of a drug seizure by Beijing Customs. Cao Boyuan / for China Daily

Law

Prosecutors seek hefty penalty for Bo Xilai

Prosecutors called for heavy punishment for former Chongqing Party chief Bo Xilai because of what they say is his lack of remorse, as the court completed the corruption trial on Aug 26.

Bo, 64, a former member of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Political Bureau, stood trial over five days until Aug 26 in Jinan Intermediate People's Court, Shandong province, for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power. He denies all charges.

On the final day of the trial the prosecutors said Bo had committed "extremely serious crimes" and had refused to confess.

Legal experts said the case marked a new level of judicial transparency in China, as much of the court transcript was posted online.

Experts call for details on rumor cases

As police execute their nationwide campaign against online rumors, experts have urged relevant departments to offer more details of cases being investigated, insisting that the process of tackling rumors should also be transparent.

Beijing police confirmed with Sina Weibo, China's largest micro-blog service, on Aug 25 that Liu Hu, a journalist, had been detained on allegations of criminal fabrication and disseminating rumors online. Liu works for Xinkuaibao, a media company in Guangdong province.

However, police did not give any details on the case, such as which rumor Liu was supposed to have fabricated. Instead, they merely said the journalist's detention was in accordance with the law and that investigations were continuing.

Diplomacy

China backs UN on chemical weapons

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said his country supports the United Nations Secretariat in investigating the reported use of chemical weapons in Syria. China takes a very serious view of the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, Wang said.

"China's position is that no matter who uses chemical weapons, we firmly oppose such an action."

China supports the secretariat in conducting an independent, objective, fair and professional investigation in accordance with relevant UN resolutions to find out the truth as soon as possible, he said.

A political resolution is the only way out of the Syrian issue, he said, adding that the top priority is to convene a second Geneva conference on the Syrian issue at an early date.

China seeks to cement ties with Singapore

Beijing said it hoped Singapore can play a constructive role for peace and stability in the region, as it welcomed the country's prime minister, who had been caught in a media storm over his remarks about China.

Premier Li Keqiang, welcoming his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong, said China is determined to seek peaceful development.

But the country's will to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity is unswerving, Li said, referring to territorial disputes with some neighboring countries.

Lee said in May that "China will calculate that any gains from a non-peaceful approach to territorial disputes will have to be weighed against broader implications for its reputation and standing in the world".

Li said in the meeting that China has always called for talks on territorial issues by the parties involved, and any move that may complicate and magnify the situation is "undesirable".

Regulation

Supervisors must fix loopholes: analysts

After a trading glitch sent the Shanghai Composite into a historical buying frenzy on Aug 16 and sparked an investigation by China's securities regulators, analysts say the regulators are at a loss on how to fix the deficiencies.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission said on Aug 18 that it was opening an inquiry into state-controlled Everbright Securities Co, suspended from trading on Aug 16 after it said an error in its trading system led to 7.2 billion yuan ($1.18 billion; 5.38 billion euros) in unintentional stock purchases. The surge in orders pushed the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index by 5 percent in two minutes on Aug 16 before it ended 0.6 percent lower.

On Aug 25 a bourse spokesman said risk control measures will be improved to prevent similar incidents from happening. The regulatory commission said it had finished investigating Everbright and would announce its findings as soon as possible.

Extra watch proposed to combat graft

Experts have suggested bringing in third-party supervision to prevent corruption in State-owned enterprises after a senior executive of China's biggest oil company was placed under investigation for alleged graft.

The country's top disciplinary watchdog announced on Aug 26 that Wang Yongchun, vice-president of the China National Petroleum Corporation, is being investigated for a possible "severe discipline violation", a term that generally refers to corruption.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China gave no details.

Information on the company's website shows that Wang became a leading executive of the corporation, a state-owned enterprise and one of the world's major oil producers, in April 2011, after working in the industry for more than 30 years.

Sellers of poor goods in the firing line

A draft law amendment unveiled on Aug 26 has proposed raising the compensation that business owners must pay if they intentionally sell substandard products.

The draft amendment to the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests requires business owners who are aware of a product's flaws but sell it anyway to pay up to three times the monetary loss to affected consumers if the products and services cause severe health problems or death.

If the flawed products cause no major health problems, the compensation would be three times the retail price, the draft says.

Environment

Concerns of growth at cost of quality of life

Most urban residents worry that China's economic growth will come at the expense of the environment, according to a survey, details of which were published on Aug 26.

Of more than 3,000 urban residents interviewed by telephone nationwide in July, 78 percent said they care about the country's economic development. However, 71 percent said they worry the country's fast growing economy will destroy or damage the environment, according to the survey, conducted by Canton Public Opinion Research Center of Guangzhou.

Another 62 percent said they believe the country's economic growth will have little impact on improving people's living standards.

As the country's economic growth slows, 49 percent said they worry their lives will be affected, and 44 percent said they are not worried at all.

(China Daily European Weekly 08/30/2013 page2)