Tag Archives: China

The oldest female giant panda in a breeding base in southwest China’s Sichuan Province has died at the age of 34, the base announced Thursday. Su Su passed away on Friday from multiple organ failure after a drop in activity and appetite since late May… read more

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in China has announced the six winners of this year’s Climate Solver Award on June 7 to recognize the country’s innovative solutions in tackling the ever-complicated issue of climate change.

The six award-winners, unveiled at a sideline event during the ongoing eighth Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM8), are involved in solar energy, bio-fuel, motor systems, construction materials and seawater desalination.

Two special prizes were awarded to MetaSpace Corp for its low-carbon air dome technology and bike-sharing company MoBike for its low-carbon transportation model.

If the award-winning technologies can reach their expected market share by 2026, they are expected to cut annual carbon emissions by more than 206 million tons.

“China is the world’s largest energy consumer and greenhouse gas emitter, and its actions will significantly affect the global response to climate change,” said Chen Xin, WWF’s director for climate and energy projects.

“The exciting new technologies we see this year are successful examples of low-carbon technologies, and we believe that they will be able to help the world move from a fossil energy era to a more sustainable future,” she said.

The WWF Climate Solver program works in four regions in Northern Europe, China, India and South Africa, focusing on carbon innovation for small and medium-sized enterprises and helping them solve problems, barriers and challenges they face in the promotional process, as well as making them suitable for the market, explained Stefan Henningsson, senior adviser for WWF’s Global Climate and Energy Initiative.

Our goal is to promote low-carbon innovation technology to achieve business models sooner and wider, attempting to achieve a more low-carbon future, he said.

The WWF Climate Solver Project was launched by the WWF Swedish office in 2008 and officially landed in China in 2011. As of 2017, a total of 25 Chinese low-carbon innovative technologies have obtained the title of climate solvers in total.

The alpacas were selected by Chinese experts from one of the biggest alpaca farms in Australia. [Photo/Chinanews.com] Seven hundred alpacas have landed in China in the biggest single order of the animals from Australia. The chartered cargo flight f… read more

Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense of China. [File photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]

China has resolutely opposed the latest U.S. military report that distorts China’s legitimate development in military and security sectors and is meant to spread the so-called “military threat from China”.

The U.S. Department of Defense recently published its Annual Report to Congress on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2017.

The report summarized the developments in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) organizational reform, highlighted China’s new weapon’s capabilities, China’s regional maritime claims and presented its interpretation of the situation across the Taiwan Strait.

China’s Ministry of National Defense (MOD) spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian refuted late on June 6 the allegations in the Pentagon report. He said that China has resolutely adhered to its path of peaceful development and its defensive-orientated national defense policy.

“China will not seek military expansion or sphere of influence; China will remain a resolute power to preserve world peace,” Sr. Col. Wu said.

The Pentagon report said that “China has continued construction at its military outposts” in the South China Sea islands. It also highlighted civilian passenger aircraft landings on newly built airfields on a handful of these islands and reefs.

Sr. Col. Wu said that China will resolutely safeguard its national sovereignty and security concerning the East China Sea and South China Sea while preserving regional peace and stability.

In comparison, “the United States wants to enhance military deployment in this region. The U.S. military frequently sends vessels and aircraft to conduct close-in reconnaissance along China’s borders, resulting in regional tensions,” said the MOD spokesperson.

The U.S. report stated that “China’s published military budget omits several major categories of expenditure, such as R&D and the procurement of foreign weapons and equipment”. Wu insisted China’s defense budget had always been “transparent” and that China’s military reform, ordnance development and construction of cyberspace defense capability was “legitimate and reasonable.” He rebutted the accusations in the Pentagon report as “pure speculations.”

The Pentagon report includes a chapter on “U.S.-China Military-to-Military Contacts”, saying the “defense contacts and exchanges provide opportunities to explore and expand cooperation in areas of mutual interest and to manage competition constructively.”

Sr. Col. Wu acknowledged that China was aware of the American special attention towards military exchanges between the two countries. He maintained that a healthy military-to-military relationship was in the “common interest” of both countries.

“We hope the United States will reasonably and objectively treat China’s development in national defense and military, move toward China to enhance ties, carefully implement the major consensus reached by two heads of state, and facilitate the development of the ties between the two militaries,” said the MOD spokesman.

Sixty social media accounts will be shut down for disseminating commercial speculation, vulgar content and other reasons, according to a statement released by the Beijing Cyberspace Administration on Wednesday.

Seven social media platforms, including Sina Weibo, WeChat, Tecent and Baidu, provided the accounts, most of which dealt with celebrity gossip－including the well-known China’s No 1 Paparazzi Zhuo Wei, which has released information about celebrities’ private lives and sex scandals many times.

Some of the other offenses listed by the administration included publishing fake information or releasing personal celebrity information to gain public attention. Some of the information had negative social impacts, it said.

The administration said internet service providers should increase their control of information released by users and immediately stop the spread of information deemed illegal based on the cybersecurity law that took effect on June 1.

The new law, adopted in November by the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, aims to better shield key information infrastructure and citizens’ personal information against hackers and data thieves.

The law will not infringe on privacy or restrict free speech online, the administration said, adding that it targets information made public by internet users, not personal communications.

On Wednesday afternoon, Sina Weibo released a statement that social media is an important platform for communications between celebrities and their fans. Accounts that spread rumors should be shut down to protect the rights of the celebrities and Sina Weibo users, it said.

In April, Sina Weibo account Liuyishou posted an article saying that two actors－Li Yifeng and Yang Mi－had an extramarital affair. Li’s studio released a statement rejecting the rumor.

Although Liuyishou posted an apology, the article had been reposted more than 100,000 times and had damaged the public image of both Li and Yang, the statement said.

In 2013, judicial authorities said for the first time that spreading rumors on the internet could be punished as a crime of provoking trouble. But that has not deterred some from starting and spreading rumors.

“Some rumors not only disturb public order but undermine the core values of society,” said Qiao Xinsheng, professor of law at Wuhan-based Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.