Tag Archives: China

Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor Saturday praised the Hong Kong Police for maintaining Hong Kong’s rule of law, integrity as well as law and order. Attending the passing-out parade of the Hong Ko… read more

Five people are still missing after a fishing boat capsized in waters off Dalian in northeast China’s Liaoning Province Thursday night, local authorities said Saturday. Dalian maritime research and rescue center received reports at 11 p.m. Thursday, s… read more

China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region hired 44,500 pre-school bilingual teachers in 2017, speaking both Uygur and Mandarin. It brings the total number of pre-school bilingual teachers across the region to 70,000. In 2017, Xinjiang took measures to … read more

The Djibouti Logistics Support Base of the People’s Liberation Army conducted a live-fire exercise on Thursday with its heavy-duty weapons, according to the Chinese military.

Several wheeled tank destroyers and wheeled infantry fighting vehicles from the base in the Horn of Africa took part in the exercise at a local shooting range and fired dozens of shells, according to a news release published late Friday by the PLA Navy, which administers the logistics support base.

Infantry practiced assault maneuvers with the armored vehicles, it said. It quoted Senior Captain Liang Yang, commander of the base, as saying that the move was intended to verify the combat capability of troops and their weapons and to improve their adaptability in the local environment.

The PLA established its Djibouti Logistics Support Base, the first of its kind for the Chinese military, on July 11 and put it into formal operation on Aug 1.

Located in Djibouti City, the African nation’s capital, the base will support the Chinese military’s naval escort, peacekeeping and humanitarian missions in Africa and western Asia, the Navy said. It will also help China improve its capabilities in international military cooperation, joint exercises, emergency evacuations and overseas rescue.

It will enable the nation to better guard the safety of international strategic maritime passages with other countries, it said.

President Xi Jinping, also chairman of the Central Military Commission, had a teleconference with troops at the Djibouti base this month during an inspection of the CMC Joint Command Headquarters in Beijing. Xi told them to gain a good reputation for Chinese soldiers and to contribute to regional peace and stability.

On Friday, Premier Li Keqiang met with Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh in Beijing. Calling Djibouti a major partner in East Africa, Li said China is willing to work with the nation to make use of each other’s advantages to foster economic cooperation and to build a regional hub of trade and logistics.

RYB Education Kindergarten, a well-known chain of preschools, has been the focus of a huge public outcry since Thursday. [Photo/Weibo]

China’s top education authorities ordered on Friday an immediate inspection of all kindergartens across the country amid a number of reported child abuse cases.

The recent cases reflect management problems in some kindergartens, and education authorities at all levels must attach greater importance to preschool education, establish a regular supervision mechanism for the operation of kindergartens and improve the accountability system to punish those involved in child abuse, the Education Steering Committee of the State Council, China’s Cabinet, said in a statement.

At least three incidents have been reported this month in which children were assaulted or were suspected of being abused.

In the most recent case, RYB Education Kindergarten, a well-known chain of preschools, has been the focus of a huge public outcry since Thursday.

On Wednesday night, some parents whose children attended the Xintiandi branch of RYB Education Kindergarten in Beijing’s Chaoyang district called the police, alleging that their children were pricked with needles and fed unidentified white pills at the kindergarten. Some claimed that their children were molested or forced to strip as punishment, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Beijing police and the education commission said they were investigating the case but had reached no conclusion.

RYB Education Inc, the parent company of the Xintiandi branch kindergarten, said in a statement on Friday that the accused teachers had been suspended and the company was cooperating with police.

Its shares slumped by 42 percent at the opening of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, almost wiping out all of the 44 percent rise in the stock since its IPO in September.

In response to rumors on social media that the Xintiandi branch’s headmaster is a family member of an active-duty soldier at a regiment of the People’s Liberation Army, and that the soldier was involved in the abuse case, the Ministry of National Defense said on Friday that a preliminary internal investigation found no involvement of any PLA staff in the case.

“The headmaster of the kindergarten is a family member of a veteran,” said Feng Junfeng, political commissar of the regiment. “So far, we’ve found that no one from the regiment has ever participated in the operation of the kindergarten or been involved in sexually assaulting children.”

Feng said the regiment will assist the investigations, and if the accusation about the PLA is proved to be false, those who made the accusations should be held legally liable.