Accident

Nine arrested over pipeline blast

Nine people have been taken into custody in connection with a oil pipeline explosion that killed 55 people in Qingdao, Shandong province, and residents still awaited solutions on Nov 26 to potential danger.

Seven of the nine people detained are with Sinopec, which owns the pipeline, and two are from the Huangdao Development Zone, the zone authority announced on Nov 25.

Eight oil containment booms have been preventing the remaining crude oil from contaminating the sea, and the oil is being collected in storage tanks, Sinopec said.

The accident investigation team sent by the State Council is conducting an investigation into the explosion and will make public the causes and punishment to the people found to be responsible, the authorities said.

Air

China calm in face of US overflight

China stressed on Nov 27 its ability to "effectively manage and control" its newly declared air defense identification zone, a day after it calmly handled an unannounced US entry into the zone.

On Nov 26, China monitored two US B-52 bombers that entered the zone without informing Beijing, the Defense Ministry said.

The Foreign Ministry said on Nov 27 that other air defense identification zones will be set up "at the right time when preparations are ready".

Responding to the US flights, Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said: "The Chinese military monitored the entire process, carried out identification in a timely manner and ascertained the type of US aircraft.

"China is capable of exercising effective control over this airspace."

Carrier

Carrier embarks to South China sea

China's sole aircraft carrier left for the South China Sea on Nov 26 on a mission to test its crew and technical capabilities.

The Liaoning's voyage comes amid rising tensions between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands, as well as lingering territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

But a military expert said the move is aimed at testing the nation's first carrier in open sea with large waves and fewer civilian ships.

The Liaoning left its home port Qingdao in Shandong province in the morning.

It is the first time the carrier has embarked on a cross-sea training voyage since it was commissioned into the People's Liberation Army navy last year, Liaoning Captain Zhang Zheng said.

The vessel was escorted by two missile destroyers, the Shenyang and Shijiazhuang, and two missile frigates, the Yantai and Weifang.

Zhang said the voyage will test the carrier's equipment.

There are several possible courses for the voyage from Qingdao to the South China Sea and it is unclear which the Liaoning will take.

Japan's Jiji News Agency said that the vessel may sail close to the Diaoyu Islands or the Miyako Islands in Okinawa.

Employment

1.12 million seek government jobs

Competition for government jobs has become fiercer, with the same number of job seekers taking the national civil service exam on Nov 24 as last year, but for fewer job opportunities.

Experts said a record number of college graduates entering the labor market this year plus increasing transparency in the recruitment of civil servants has led to the situation.

About 1.12 million applicants took the annual civil service exam, but only 19,000 will be hired by the central government, according to the State Administration of Civil Service. About 1.52 million people had qualified to take the exam.

About 7,200 people competed for the most popular position as a researcher with the State Ethnic Affairs Commission.

Investment

Directory will detail relaxed rules

The Chinese government is relaxing its grip on the level of enterprise investment that requires its approval, with as much as 60 percent no longer needing central authorization.

At a news conference on Nov 25, Lian Weiliang, vice-minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, said a new version of the directory of investment projects requiring government approval will be issued soon.

The move comes 10 days after the release of a historic reform document charting China's course for the next decade.

China Daily-Xinhua

President Xi Jinping on Nov 24 visits a victim injured in a pipeline blast in Qingdao, Shandong province. Huang Jingwen / Xinhua

(China Daily European Weekly 11/29/2013 page2)