Briefings - 1210. page

In an interview with Nanfang Weekend, Wu Guanzhong, a prominent 89-year-old contemporary painter spoke out against various issues in the art community. He said that the commercialized education system erodes the quality of education. Teachers’ evaluation process is a waste of time and money; it is full of personal connections and not effective. He is calling for closing the state-owned art associations and institutions, saying they have become corrupt and unproductive. “Events organized by these places are just like the prostitution industry, which is purely money driven.” Wu said, “The art community has been politicized. The artworks are way overpriced and the Art centers only collect junk artwork.” He concluded that there are all sorts of issues in the art community, including education, facility, contest, and market. “The existing system is the cause of it all.” Wu said he is speaking the truth and wants to speak up more when he is able.

Source: Nanfang Weekend, January 9, 2008
http://www.infzm.com/culture/whtt/200801/t20080109_34385_1.shtml

According to a Xinhua News Agency [1] report, the Health Bureau of Shandong Province openly admits that there have been 981 patients with Hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) in Linqi city. On May 19, a 14-month old baby died from it. A 2 year old was reported to have died on April 29. There were  only 293 patients on May 11, 2007.

In recent years, the conflicts between hospital’s medical staff and patients have been intensifying. Patient’s violent attacks have frequently resulted in the hospital staff being injured. The spokesperson from the Ministry Of Health recently requested that police be depolyed to the hospitals to protect the hospital staff. Analysts pointed out that the basic cause of tension between doctor and patient is the inadequate healthcare system and China’s declining moral values.