Henan Province plans four nuke power stations

The photo shows the architectural rendering for the nuclear power station to be built in Nanyang in Henan Province. [File photo]

Central China’s Henan Province has planned to build four nuclear power stations to ease the populous province’s pressing demand for electricity and to continue optimizing the structure of local energy consumption during the country’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

The four nuclear power stations will be set up in Nanyang, Xinyang, Luoyang and Pingdingshan. But construction can only start when the country lifts the ban on new inland nuclear power facilities due to safety concerns.

Under the province’s plan for energy development (2016-20), nuclear power, wind power and distributed solar power will join natural gas and non-fossil energies to reduce the percentage of coal in the local energy consumption structure.

As per the plan’s requirements, by 2020 consumption of non-fossil energies will account for at least 7 percent and natural gas for 7.5 percent in the province’s total energy consumption.

While urging the continued optimization of the local energy structure, the plan also requires the total installed capacity for power generation to increase to 87,000 megawatts by 2020, a 30 percent increase over that of 2015.




Mainland tourists injured in Taiwan bus accident

About 21 tourists from the Chinese mainland were injured Saturday in a bus accident in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, according to the island’s tourism authority.

All the injured, including seven children, have been taken to hospital.

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Central China province reports new H7N9 case

Central China’s Hunan Province has reported another human H7N9 avian flu case, bringing the total number of infections in the province to 19 this year, including five fatalities.

The male patient, 37, was diagnosed in Changsha City, the province’s capital. He had contact with poultry before falling ill and is in a critical condition, according to the Health and Family Planning Commission of Hunan province.

The public are advised to avoid direct contact with poultry and wear masks when symptoms such as headache, fever, coughing and chest congestion appear.

H7N9 is a bird flu strain first reported to have infected humans in China in March 2013. It is most likely to strike in winter and spring.




The Malta declaration on migrants

There are two main problems with the EU’s decisions on migrants at Malta.

The first is the EU has effectively shifted the responsibility to stem the rapid flow of migrants across the Mediterranean to the Government of National Accord in Libya. This government is struggling to exert its control over Libya, which remains a deeply divided country with a rival government in Tobruk and areas of the country under tribal and rebel control. No doubt it will welcome the money promised to strengthen its coastguard and for related purposes, but can it spend it nationally to achieve the EU’s aims? Will it be tempted to spend it for other purposes related to its own difficult position?

The second is the request for a policy to return people who have  already arrived  in the EU following illegal migration. How are they going to do this? Why do they bring people in to the EU in the first place if they want to take them back to countries like Libya? Will it be legal to require people to leave? What will they do if they refuse?

It is difficult to believe this statement will work to stop the flow. It is also difficult to see how it squares with the EU vision of itself as a home to welcome migrants as outlined by Mrs Merkel last year. How does this differ from Mr Trumps wish cut numbers crossing the Mexican frontier?




People returning to work may battle post-holiday blues

Yang Guang, a 31-year-old game developer, took his bride to the Maldives and Hong Kong for a monthlong honeymoon four years ago. When he returned, Yang hardly remembered how to build his 3D characters.

“I was thrilled at first. Almost a month doing no job at all,” Yang recalled. “But going back to work from that, I found myself completely lost. It took me a month to pull myself together.”

Experts in modern society have developed a term for what Yang went through-”post-holiday syndrome”. It describes the little blues and, in some cases, depressions one tends to feel after spending a period of time away from work. Some get anxious, some find it hard to concentrate, others just cannot fall asleep.

People all over the world seem to have problems dealing with such downs. They start to search for articles like “how to cope with post-holiday syndrome” after major holidays like Christmas, New Year, and in China, the Spring Festival.

Zuo Lin, a Beijing-based psychotherapist specializing in treating depression with group therapy, said there is no easy cure.

“For some, the cause can be simple. For others, it might have a more profound root,” Zuo said, adding that the Spring Festival may remind people of past trauma and sometimes make it worse. In her 40s, Zuo was forced by her parents-in-law to give birth to a second baby.

“But I don’t want it. I have my plans for my work. It might not qualify as a career, but I still treasure it,” Zuo said. She had to talk to her professional peers to get these negative feelings off her chest.

Yuan Shengchen, 25, was bored sitting at his desk on Friday, the first business day after the weeklong Spring Festival, during which he drove around Beijing’s suburbs.

Working for a State-owned publishing house headquartered in the capital, Yuan’s job is fairly detail-oriented and attention-consuming-he has to remember all 88 editors’ individual requirements and convey them precisely to four printing houses, and make sure the latter turn over the work on time.

Yuan said a vacation, even a short one, can greatly blur his memory.

“I never have any ‘mornings’ on vacation. My days always start after noon,” Yuan said. Yet on a workday, like this Friday, he had to get out of bed before 6 am. His office is in Chaoyangmen, close to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while he lives in Shangdi, the very northern part of the city.

Yuan basically did nothing that day, as his contacts at the printing houses were still on vacation. He was lingering in the office, sat for a while, then stood up for a quick walk.

“The first day is always slow. I’m counting down to five o’clock.”