IN BRIEF (Page 2)

HK leader speaks at anniversary event

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor provided glimpses into her vision for Hong Kong's future on Oct 9 during an event held as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations for the China Daily Hong Kong Edition. In her keynote speech at the China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable luncheon, which gathered 340 distinguished guests, including diplomats and leaders in the public and private sectors in the special administrative region, Lam referred to the theme of the forum, "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area from the Belt and Road Perspective: Opportunities and Challenges". Lam said the topic was "a most timely and relevant one "that is "inspiring", bringing together "two critically important national development strategies". "Much synergy can be derived from interactions of both, particularly in shaping the future of Hong Kong," she said. She stressed the importance of upholding "one country, two systems" to enable the SAR to benefit from its strategic edge and make the most of opportunities that the Belt and Road brings.

Technology feat points to futuristic weapon

China has developed electromagnetic launch technologies that allow the People's Liberation Army to build a futuristic naval weapon described as game-changing - an electromagnetic railgun to launch high velocity projectiles. According to a news release from the PLA Naval University of Engineering in Wuhan, Hubei province, Rear Admiral Ma Weiming, the university's top researcher, has designed electromagnetic launch systems as part of "a key national defense program". More than 100 Chinese experts in the field, including 40 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, who attended a briefing praised the achievement. Ma's team mastered the cutting-edge technology. Engineers continue to make breakthroughs in this regard, having designed several pieces of equipment and techniques that, according to the university, no one else in the world has created. This is the first time that the Chinese military has officially confirmed its railgun program, though the release did not give further details about it.

China welcomes Manila's yuan move

China welcomes the issuance of yuan-denominated bonds in China by the Philippines, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Oct 9. Hua told a daily news briefing in Beijing that she believed the issuance will help deepen financial and investment cooperation between the countries, promote infrastructure construction in the Philippines and push forward bilateral relations. The Philippines plans to "test the debt market" in China by issuing yuan-denominated bonds starting around November, Xinhua quoted Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez as saying.

Postal industry to be strengthened

China will strengthen its fast-growing postal industry, an official said on the 48th World Post Day on Oct 9. The industry, mainly postal and courier services, has seen revenue nearly triple since 2012, and the courier sector has been the world's largest in delivery volume for three years, said Ma Junsheng, head of the State Post Bureau. However, the industry faces problems in many areas, including delivery channel safety, vehicles and employee interests, Ma said.

150 are detained for ticket scalping

Railway police detained about 150 suspects nationwide for scalping, or reselling, train tickets during the recent eight-day national holiday, according to a statement released on Oct 9. The police sent around 1,740 officers to major rail stations - especially those near popular tourist destinations - in an operation aimed at minimizing the illegal resale of tickets, the statement said. They also tightened security aboard trains and at stations, the statement said.

7 fined for chasing protected antelope

Seven people were fined a total of 105,000 yuan ($15,830; 13,420 euros; ￡12,000) for chasing Tibetan antelope on a nature reserve in the Tibet autonomous region, the local forestry department said on Oct 8. On Oct 4, a group of seven tourists in two SUVs drove off a public road and into the Siling Co Nature Reserve in Nagchu prefecture, said Deng Zhonghua of Lhasa's public security bureau. The reserve, covering 18,936 square kilometers including Serlingtso Lake, is the world's largest habitat for black-necked cranes. The reserve is also home to about 30,000 Tibetan antelope, a first-class State-protected species. The police tracked down the group in the vehicles on Oct 6, then handed the case over to the local forestry department. Each person was fined 10,000 yuan for breaking the Wild Animal Conservation Law and 5,000 yuan for breaking nature reserve regulations. The person in charge of the area was disqualified from the annual excellence assessment and will not receive an allowance for three months.

Hospital reforms aim for better care

China will carry out reforms at public hospitals to optimize medical care resources, according to a decision made at a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Oct 9. Reforms in the pricing of medical services will continue to move toward price adjustments to better reflect the expertise of medical workers, the panel determined. One or two cities in provincial areas where the comprehensive medical reforms are being tested will be chosen for medical insurance payment reform, covering all medical care institutions and services. The government will also designate more than 100 disease categories for an insurance payment-by-category reform. "The medical care reform is not only a major project to improve public well-being but also a major economic measure," Li said. He said the public hospital reforms should be pushed forward across the board, and the reforms of medical care partnerships should be tested in multiple forms to better serve "healthy China" with better and more convenient healthcare services.

Xi, Putin cite group's 60 years of service

President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin sent congratulatory messages on Oct 9 to the Russia-China Friendship Association on the 60th anniversary of its founding. Xi said in his message that over the past six decades, the association has adhered to the principle of friendship in managing relations with China, actively carried out people-to-people exchanges and contributed significantly to promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples. Calling the association an important force in cementing and developing China-Russia ties, Xi stressed that the key to sound relations between states lies in amity between the peoples. China-Russia relations have reached a new historical starting point, Xi said, expressing his hope that the association will open up a new chapter in promoting exchanges between peoples of the two nations and make greater contributions to strengthening people-to-people bonds, fueling the development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination at a high level. In the message released by the Kremlin, Putin said: "The association was there through almost the entire modern history of Russian-Chinese relations, which have now reached the level of an all-embracing trusting partnership and strategic cooperation."

Science vessel returns from Arctic expedition

The Chinese icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, docked in Shanghai on Oct 10 after completing its eighth Arctic expedition, the Polar Research Institute of China announced. The vessel traveled through the central and northwest shipping lanes along the Arctic rim for the first time, completing China's first circumnavigation of the top of the world. The vessel departed from the exploration base in Shanghai on June 20 with 96 crew members. It traveled 20,000 nautical miles in 83 days, including 1,995 nautical miles through ice formations, according to the institute. He Jianfeng, vice-captain of the team and chief scientist of the expedition, says China traversed the northeastern shipping lane along Russia's northern coast in 2012, from the Bering Strait to northern Europe. Seven survey stations were established on floating ice bodies during the journey for further scientific research.

Deployment of new type of light tank confirmed

China has confirmed the deployment of a new light tank, which observers say will suit combat operations on plateaus. A photo of the tank on snowy ground is on display at an exposition in the Beijing Exhibition Center, as part of a display showing achievements made by China over the past five years. The caption accompanying the picture says it is a new type of light tank, without giving details. This is the first time the Chinese military has officially published a picture of the tank. Developed by China North Industries Group Corp, the country's biggest maker of land armaments, the light tank is equipped with a hydropneumatic suspension system that ensures good maneuverability and survivability in mountainous regions. Its main weapon is a 105-mm gun that is able to fire both shells and guided missiles, according to weapons observers, who said the tank's main task is to fight on plateaus even at very low temperatures, and that its weight ranges from 25 to 35 metric tons. By comparison, a main battle tank, such as the United States' M1 Abrams and China's Type 99A, weighs up to 65 tons. Du Wenlong, an equipment researcher at the PLA Academy of Military Science, said the vehicle was designed to operate in China's southern regions and on plateaus.

6,187 punished for violating austerity rules

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the country's top anti-draft body, said on Oct 10 that 6,187 officials were punished in September for violating the Party's austerity rules. The officials were involved in 4,506 cases. Awarding an unauthorized allowance or bonus was the most common misdemeanor, followed by giving or accepting gifts and misuse of public vehicles.

Official: One-China principle essential

Peace, stability and the development of cross-Straits relations are only possible by upholding the one-China principle and opposing "Taiwan independence", a mainland spokesman said on Oct 10. Ma Xiaoguang, of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remark in response to a speech by the island's leader, Tsai Ingwen. Ma reiterated the mainland's stance and stressed that any proposal made by the island's leaders must be conditioned on the understanding that Taiwan and the mainland belong to one China.

Debtors who default will be exposed

Central government authorities have issued a notice ordering officials across the country to establish online platforms to expose debtors who fail to honor their credit obligations. The notice, issued by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Supreme People's Court and the China Banking Regulatory Commission, ordered authorities to complete provincial-level online platforms by the end of this year and to make the public aware of these websites within two years.

Network opens news center

The China Global Television Network opened a state-of-the-art news center on Oct 10 to provide better coverage for a global audience. The CGTN app for Android and Apple users was also upgraded with a new interface and additions, such as customized news and live broadcasts covering selected CGTN programs about domestic and world politics, economics, technology and culture. The news center, based on a cloud computing system, aggregates information for reporters and editors by monitoring news from 25,000 media agencies and 70 national news agencies worldwide.

Better test developed to detect liver cancer

Scientists in China have identified DNA markers specific to liver cancer, which are expected to greatly improve accuracy in diagnosis of one of the most common cancers in China. Using the new technology, doctors can provide a diagnosis and prognosis to patients with liver cancer through simple blood tests. That could decrease the chances of a misdiagnosis by more than half, according to Xu Ruihua, director of the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, who has led the research. After five years of research, involving over 100 researchers from different institutes, the scientists identified methylation in DNA circulating in the blood that is related to liver cancer. Methylation, like genetic mutation, is an abnormal genetic change that can cause cancer, Xu said. Using samples of circulatory system DNA from 1,098 liver cancer patients and 835 healthy people for comparison, they constructed a diagnostic prediction model that showed high diagnostic specificity and sensitivity, Xu said in the study, which was published in Nature Materials, a science journal, on Oct 9.

Pilot program aims to protect young netizens

Shanghai has launched a pilot program to protect the growing number of young netizens from cyberfraud and internet addiction. The program, initiated by the Shanghai Information Security Trade Association, invites network security professionals to train teachers from more than 20 primary and middle schools across the city how to teach courses on cybersecurity. It also offers a brochure and an online platform where parents and students can access guidelines and information on cases. Through teachers and parents, the program aims to educate young netizens - among the most active users of online games, open Wi-Fi and social networking - who are the most vulnerable to cyberfraud and internet addiction. According to the latest report by the China Internet Network Information Center, at the end of 2015 as many as 287 million netizens in China were under 25 years old, with 134 million under 18. Of the reported victims of internet fraud, the youngest was 11 years old.

US urged to stop 'wrong behavior'

Beijing urged the United States to stop its "wrong behavior" after a US naval vessel was warned away from China's territorial waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea on Oct 10. The Chafee, a US guided-missile destroyer, made an unauthorized entry into the nation's territorial waters, the defense and foreign ministries said. China dispatched a guided-missile frigate, two fighter jets and a helicopter "in an emergency response" and warned the US ship to leave, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. China is "resolutely opposed" to the unauthorized entry, and has lodged "solemn representations" to the US, according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

Guideline speeds access to drugs

Drugs developed in other countries are expected to be available for use on the Chinese mainland more quickly under a new guideline released by the central government. Authorities in China will now accept data collected from clinical trials conducted outside the mainland for applications to register drugs and medical equipment, according to the guideline on reforming approval procedures, which was released by the State Council. The data must be collected from clinical trials conducted at more than one center and must meet Chinese regulations for registration of drugs and medical equipment, the guideline said. Under current regulations, food and drug authorities cannot accept clinical trial data collected from overseas, and new drugs being developed overseas should finish their first phase of clinical trials overseas before developers can apply to start clinical trials on the mainland, according to Wu Zhen, vice-minister of the China Food and Drug Administration. This has delayed the availability of some major drugs on the Chinese market, he says.

China launches satellite for Venezuela

China launched Venezuela's second remote-sensing satellite, the VRSS-2, on Oct 9. A Long March 2D carrier rocket blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China to place the satellite into orbit, according to a news release from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the major contractor for China's space programs. It was the 252nd mission for the Long March rocket family. The satellite is the Latin American nation's third. The previous two were also developed and launched by China.

(China Daily European Weekly 10/13/2017 page2)