Thousands evacuated, trains halted as Typhoon Hato approaches China

Thousands of people were evacuated Tuesday in parts of south China in preparation for the arrival of Typhoon Hato, set to make landfall Wednesday.

The eye of Hato, the 13th typhoon to hit China this year, was recorded 415 km southeast of Zhuhai, Guangdong Province as of 9 p.m. Tuesday. It is expected to move northwest at speeds between 20 kph and 25 kph, according to Guangdong provincial meteorological bureau.

The coast between Zhuhai and Yangjiang should prepare for the typhoon to make landfall on Wednesday morning, it said.

Fishermen and fish farm workers have been evacuated from the coast.

Train services on the Guangzhou-Nanning line will be suspended starting 5 a.m. Wednesday, said railway authorities in neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Nanning is the regional capital.

High-speed trains linking Shenzhen with the eastern provinces of Fujian and Jiangxi will also be canceled. In coastal Fujian, more than 4,000 fish farmers and their families have returned to shore and all fishing boats returned to harbor Tuesday.

The typhoon is expected to bring heavy rain to Guangdong and Fujian. Huge waves as high as ten meters are expected in the South China Sea as the typhoon moves past, according to the State Oceanic Administration.

Guangdong’s flood relief agency said Hato could cause severe damage because it is growing stronger as it nears shore. The typhoon also comes at a time when the Guangdong coast was busy with tourists and fish farm workers. The agency warned of possible severe flooding in low-lying areas.

On Tuesday, southwestern province of Guizhou has also started disaster alert measures ahead of the typhoon’s arrival.

From Tuesday to Friday, Guizhou will see rainstorms in its western and southern areas, according to the provincial meteorological bureau. Some regions are expected to receive over 300 millimeters of precipitation.

The provincial disaster relief office has issued warnings for natural disasters.




China on yellow alert for rainstorms

China’s national weather observatory issued a yellow alert for rainstorms on Tuesday as heavy rain is expected in most of southern China and parts of northern China over the next 24 hours.

From Tuesday to Wednesday, torrential rain is expected in parts of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Shanxi, Hebei and Liaoning provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC).

Some regions will receive up to 190 millimeters of precipitation, the NMC said.

The center warned local authorities to limit outdoor activities and take precautions against flooding and geological disasters.

This year’s 13th typhoon, Hato, is expected to make landfall in Guangdong on Wednesday, bringing torrential rain and gales over the coming days.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.




Informants to get more cash rewards over food, drugs scandals

Chinese authorities announced Tuesday a raise in cash rewards for whistleblowers who report on food safety, drugs, cosmetics, health products, and medical equipment.

The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) and the Ministry of Finance stated that a single tip-off will be rewarded with up to 500,000 yuan (about 75,000 U.S. dollars) instead of the previous limit of 300,000 yuan.

The regulation also states that informants who are insiders in the product’s development, manufacture, sales or applications could be rewarded with extra cash on top of the new limit.

It also states clearly that the identities of informants should be strictly protected. Anonymous reporters will get a code from food and drug supervisors as a way to claim rewards.

Food safety, long a headache for Chinese customers, poses a severe challenge for quality watchdogs due to the vast amount of food on sale and the limited number of supervisory staff.




More Chinese people go to the gym

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Documentary notes gains to rule of law

A six-part political documentary exploring the advances made to China’s legal system over the past five years is winning praise from analysts and viewers since it’s first episode aired Friday.

The documentary, named The Rule of Law in China, is being broadcast one episode a day by China Central Television. It summarizes the improvements to China’s rules of law under the leadership of President Xi Jinping since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November 2012.

Jiang Guohua, a professor of law at Wuhan University, said that under the leadership of the CPC, China has made great progress in advancing the rule of law.

“Just as it is mentioned in the political documentary, advancing the rule of law is the basic characteristic of modern nations,” he said.

This has great significance on a number of issues, including promoting economic growth, maintaining social security and boosting clean governance, said Wang Ruolei, an associate professor of politics and law at the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC.

Authorities should constantly try to improve the legislation process and ensure that the people could get “a sense of gain” from building a law-based country, government and society, he said.

The president has attached great importance to promoting the rule of law and has pledged on numerous occasions to build a law-based socialist country.

“To implement the rule of law as the basic strategy, and accelerate the building of a law-based socialist country, we should make laws through proper procedures, enforce them strictly, administer justice impartially and ensure that everyone abides by the law,” Xi said in a speech on Dec 4, 2012, to mark the 30th anniversary of the implementation of the current Constitution. The speech came soon after he became general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in November.

In his speech, Xi vowed to ensure everyone enjoys extensive rights in line with the laws; to protect the rights of the person, property and politics; and to safeguard their economic, cultural and social rights.

While presiding over a group study of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in February 2013, Xi raised the goal of developing a law-based country, government and society.

“We should exercise governance and administration in accordance with the laws, develop a law-based country, government and society simultaneously, and thereby bring the rule of law to a new state,” he said.

The CPC convened a plenary meeting of its central committee in October 2014 to further promote the rule of law. It was the first time a plenary session of the CPC Central Committee had taken the topic as its central theme.

In a statement released after the plenary session, the Party said it will further emphasize the role of the Constitution in China’s legal system. It also aims to improve judicial independence, promote procedural justice, professionalize judicial officers, and build a law-abiding government.

During a visit to the China University of Political Science and Law in May, Xi said that a comprehensive advancement of the rule of law is a long-term and significant historic mission, which is related to the people’s happiness and the development of the Party and the country.

He called on universities and colleges to step up research into the rule of law and other fundamental matters that involve legal issues to help improve the nation’s socialist system with Chinese characteristics.

In his speech to mark the 95th anniversary of the CPC in July 2016, Xi vowed to guarantee the authority of the Constitution and laws. No organization or individual is privileged to act beyond the Constitution or the laws, and all acts in violation of the Constitution or the laws must be investigated, he said.

Comprehensively promoting the rule of law is one of the “Four Comprehensives”-a strategic blueprint drawn up by Xi to create paths to realize the national rejuvenation. The other three are comprehensively building a moderately well-off society; comprehensively deepening reforms; and comprehensively promoting stricter governance of the Party.

Last year, the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee made a total of 10 laws, revised 24 laws and adopted six decisions on legal issues. By the end of December, there were 256 current effective laws, apart from the current Constitution, according to the China Law Society.