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Author Archives: GovWorldMag

Beijing to reward informants on spying

Beijing citizens who provide useful information on spying are eligible for a cash reward of up to 500,000 yuan (US$72,460), according to a policy that went into effect Monday.

Informants can pass information to authorities through calling a hotline, sending letters or visiting the city’s state security bureau.

After collating the information, the bureau can offer rewards ranging from 10,000 yuan (US$1,448) to 500,000 yuan (US$72,460) based on the reports’ usefulness.

Personal information of informants will not be disclosed without their consent, and informants can also seek protection from security authorities if they or their close relatives are in danger due to informing.

However, informants will be punished if they deliberately slander others, or invent and spread false information.

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East Asia

Syria

Some of you want to talk about Syria and want to know why I have not written about it. The main purpose of this website is to raise issues I am pursuing for constituents and for the wider nation. The aim is not to mirror the concerns of the media all the time, or to try to repeat what they do. Nor am I going to post items which assert that the main news media have got this story of the missile attack factually wrong.

I aim to present news, not recyle olds in the way so many media journalists do. That is why I have wanted in the last few days to highlight Network Rail’s losses on derivatives and foreign currency borrowing, because you cannot see or read that elsewhere . That is why I have sought to provide background and new analysis to the policy work and exchanges underway over Gibraltar, Brexit and Scotland.

I have not so far sought to intervene in the recent debate about Syria. This is mainly a matter for the USA, the country that decided to take limited military action against the Assad regime. It does not look as if Mr Trump wants ro get involved in a major way in the Syrian civil war, which is probably wise.

As I have pointed out before I do  not back either  Sunni or  Shia. I have no view on who could best govern Syrian and reunite it around a peaceful governing policy that can  bring  people together. I have no love of the barabric attacks on his own people by Assad, but nor do I have any time for one of his main opponents, the terrorist movement ISIL. I am also aware that there are other unpleasant murderous groups at large who also do not deserve our support.  I have heard previous UK ministers in the  Coalition argue we need to help so called moderate  rebels.  So far there is no evidence of a powerful enough group who could both defeat ISIL and Assad simultaneously and then rule a peace loving country thereafter. One of the reasons the West’s interventions have been sporadic and so far unsuccessful is trying to find a side we want to win the war.

Mr Obama threatened Assad  if he used chemical weapons but  failed to enforce his threat. Mr Obama allowed Russia to take a much more prominent role in suppport of Assad, making it  more dangerous and difficult for the west to intervene militarily.

I suspect Mr Trump will not wish to extend his  military involvement, and will hope Assad will now desist from using chemical ordnance. Presumably were Assad to use chemical weapons again there would  be further US attacks.  The aim seems to be to try to get more of the protagonists  into talks. Recent events will clearly disturb efforts for there to be more collaboration between Russia and the USA to fix world problems. Mr Trump hopes that Russia will  now exercise more discipline over Assad, and will see the need to seek a peaceful political solution to Syria’s riven factions in conjunction with others around the negotiating table. Let’s hope that works out.

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John Redwood MP •

Baidu, hospital sued over ad after woman’s death

Edward Hospital in Urumqi [File Photo] 

Baidu is facing fresh accusations of publishing misleading advertising after the death of a woman who had surgery at a hospital she found using the tech giant’s search engine.

Zhang Rui, 27, fell from the window of her apartment in September less than a month after undergoing an operation on her nose at Urumqi Edward Hospital, a private hospital in the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

She had visited the clinic after a search on Baidu ranked it at the top of a list of hospitals that excel in treating nasal conditions, according to her fiance, Yang Weifang.

The woman’s parents have filed a lawsuit against both the hospital and Baidu with a district court in Urumqi, and are demanding 674,000 yuan ($98,000) in compensation.

Hong Li, the attorney representing the family, said a lawyer acting for the hospital contacted him on Wednesday, hoping to reach a settlement, but that they “are not interested in reconciliation and will continue with the lawsuit.”

Zhang visited Edward Hospital on Aug. 27, experiencing sinus problems and hoping to be treated before her wedding day. She was diagnosed with rhinitis and underwent surgery on her nose that day.

However, Yang said his fiancee experienced acute pain and nosebleeds, and was unable to sleep for three days after the operation.

Hong said she became depressed and anxious, adding that on Sept. 13, she went to Urumqi Fourth People’s Hospital and was diagnosed with a psychological disorder.

Two days later, she died after falling from a window of her apartment in Urumqi, with her family suspecting that she may have killed herself.

Hong said Edward Hospital had failed to properly diagnose and treat Zhang, and did not provide remedies for the side effects she experienced from the surgery, which ultimately led to her death.

Baidu is also liable, as its search engine provided the information that resulted in Zhang visiting the hospital, Hong added.

An employee at the hospital’s administrative office declined to comment on the case.

Zhu Wei, a law researcher at the China University of Political Science and Law, said paid online search services are classified as advertising in China, and service providers such as Baidu should clearly label any paid listings.

According to screen grabs provided by Hong, Edward Hospital was marked with the Chinese character for “advertisement” in the search results.

However, the attorney added, search engines are also required to inspect the certificates of their advertisers and are prohibited from providing false information in search results under Chinese law.

Zhang’s case comes nearly a year after Baidu faced similar accusations over its ad policies from the parents of Wei Zexi, a computer science student in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, who died of cancer after undergoing a controversial “immune therapy” in Beijing that he found using the search engine.

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East Asia