Japan found Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane in frozen string beans imported from China Yantain Beihai Food Corporation. A woman in Tokyo was hospitalized after eating the string beans. Testing of unopened string bean packages of the same brand showed elements of DDT.
Source: BBC, October 15, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/simp/hi/newsid_7670000/newsid_7672400/7672456.stm
Confucius Institutes are instrumental in bringing China and Africa closer, reported Xinhua. There are 21 Confucius Institute in 13 African countries. 10 of them have started operation with 2,000 students, the remaining in preparation stage. The State headquarters of Confucius Institutes in Beijing have provided significant support to these Confucius Institutes in terms of Chinese teachers, financial support of over $3 million, donations of over 30,000 textbooks and multimedia items.
There are 271 Confucius Institutes throughout the world in 77 countries and regions.
Source; Xinhua, October 7, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-10/07/content_10159634.htm
Chinese companies have invested in over 140 projects and created 11,000 jobs, quoted Xinhua from Zambia Times. Investment tends to concentrate on agriculture, machinery processing, mining and tourism, totaling over $80 million.
Source: Xinhua, October 6, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2008-10/06/content_10156158.htm
According to a recent 2007 Survey on Internet Usage by Juveniles issued by China Youth Social Service Center (CYSSC), 85.6% of population between 9 and 16 has experiences of Internet. The proportion among urban young Chinese is close to 90%, while the figure in rural area is as high as 69.4%. 71.9% of those surveyed accessed Internet from home. 58.50% of the questioned claimed that they use Internet mainly for entertainment.
The survey, targeting 7,700 juveniles falling in the age group and their parents and teachers in 10 provinces including Beijing, Shanghai, and Chongqing, was conducted jointly by CYSSC, Youth Center under Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS), and China Youth Political Academy between August and November of 2007.
Source: Xinhua, October 15, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-10/15/content_10195758.htm
Urgent notice was sent overnight on October 13 by six state agencies to immediately take milk powder and liquid milk of all brands off the shelves. Supermarkets, department stores, groceries stores, and urban and rural retails booths are ordered to stop selling those made by September 14 and send for inspection. Only those satisfying the new regulation are allowed to return for sale after relabeling. The state agencies include Ministry of Commerce, Administration for Industry and Commerce, and General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. This new order is a contrast against last week, when major brands of liquid milk were still under extensive sales promotion.
Source: Xinhua, October 14, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/health/2008-10/14/content_10190442.htm
More than 1,000 protesters gathered in front of a Shanghai court on Monday in support of Yang Jia who is appealing against his conviction for stabbing policemen. Confronting the police brutality against individuals who attempted to enter the close-door trial, hundreds roared out slogans such as “down with Communist Party”, “down with Fascism”, and “long lived Yang Jia.”
From 9 am to noon, more than 100 protesters were arrested by police, who were stationed outside the court to prevent the people from talking about their views of the case or taking interviews from many journalists present among the crowd.
Yang Jia, 28, was sentenced to death last month for killing 6 policemen as a revenge for being wrongfully mistreated overnight in October 2007 on suspicion of stealing a bicycle. Grassroot Chinese people have shown overwhelming supports for the young man as police being Beijing’s iron fist against ever growing massive domestic social unrests.
Source: Epoch Times, October 14, 2008
http://epochtimes.com/gb/8/10/14/n2295692.htm
Ministry of Education of China released a direction through its website on October 8, asking all colleges to further enhance the development of teachers of political thoughts and theory. The direction requires that all colleges have at least one political teacher for every 350-400 students. The Ministry also asks that all colleges establish independent teaching and research department of political thoughts and theory directly under the leadership of the colleges.
New political teachers must be Chinese Communist Party members and assume the position as the coordinator of the students. Those who are not consistent with the Party in political principles and directions can not teach in political class.
Source: Xinhua, October 9, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2008-10/09/content_10167942.htm
BBC reports on October 7 that Liberia and Senegal ordered to temporarily ban the import of milk products from China, joining other eight African countries that issued similar orders earlier. Liberia minister of commerce says such ban is a preventive measure. There is no milk product imported from China at the moment in Senegal. Senegal authorities say that the country can not wait to take action until the problem products spread to Senegal.
Source: BBC, October 7, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/simp/hi/newsid_7650000/newsid_7657300/7657318.stm