In news related to the Ebola virus, on October 17, 2014, the Municipal Health Bureau in the city of Ningbo announced that the temperature of the Nigerian man who had been quarantined earlier returned to normal. On the afternoon of October 16, after landing from Taiwan around 6:00 pm local time, the Nigerian man was found to have a slight fever and was taken to a Ningbo hospital for observation.
Medical Facilities to Conduct Self-Examinations of Readiness for Ebola
On October 16, 2014, China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission issued a directive requiring that, by October 31, hospitals, clinics, and emergency centers are to complete a self examination of their readiness for handling Ebola.
China’s State Media Touts Three “Highlights” of Li Keqiang’s Russian Visit
China’s state media, People’s Daily published a commentary on Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Russia to attend the 19th regular meeting between the prime ministers of China and Russia. The article touted the strategic cooperation between China and Russia. It listed three highlights of the visit’s accomplishments. The first highlight was that "the potential for Sino-Russian relations is far from exhausted. Take the economic and trade exchanges [as an example]. Russia expects that, next year, trade with China will reach US$100 billion; it will reach US$200 billion by 2020. Mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation is just one of the highlights of Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Russia."
China Defines “Occupy Central” as a Serious Social and Political Event
Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong said, on October 14, that "Occupy Central" is a serious social and political event in that it violates the "one country" principle, challenges the central authority, ignores the Basic Law, and is an illegal activity in flagrant violation of the existing laws of Hong Kong.
In China, 82 Million People Live in Poverty
China Suspended Applications for the Issuance of Corporate Bonds
The China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has suspended the acceptance of corporate applications for the issuance of new bonds. The official reason for the suspension is that the authorities are developing new rules but there is no set date to resume accepting applications.
Beijing Suffers Intense Haze
From Oct 7 to Oct 11, Beijing suffered five days of intense haze. A large portion of Northern China was also the victim of haze. In many places, the visibility was below 1 km (0.6 mile). Sometimes it was even below 500 meters (0.3 mile).
The Hong Kong based South China Morning Post reported that, in order to create a clean sky during the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Beijing, "employees of government departments, quasi-government institutions, and organizations in Beijing will be granted a six-day holiday starting on November 7 and continuing through November 12." "The meeting will be held on November 10 and 11. The ministers of 21 Pacific-rim governments will meet from November 7."
People’s Daily published an article stating that China’s current smog treatment is ineffective. There have been many theories on the cause of the smog, but no one knows exactly which one is the real culprit. On the simpler pollution treatment issue, local governments are not synchronized. The central government has established a coordination mechanism with six provinces/autonomous regions/cities to treat the air pollution. It includes Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia. However, different local government have different regulations. For example, Hebei’s fine for pollution discharge is only 20 or 30 percent of the amount of fines in Beijing. Some companies would rather move to Hebei to pay the penalty than spend money to treat the pollution.
The local environmental protection agencies do not have enough power to enforce pollution treatment regulations. Many big pollution offenders also contribute a substantial amount of taxes to local governments. As a result, the local governments protect them.
Source:
1. South China Morning Post Online, October 10, 2014
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1613232/beijing-marks-apec-summit-extra-public-holiday-moves-cut-pollution
2. People’s Daily Online, October 10, 2014
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/1010/c1001-25801921.html
People’s Daily on North Korea’s Unification Proposal
When South Korean President Park Geun-hye spoke at the Dresden University of Technology in Germany on March 18, she made several proposals on the steps to take toward the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula. On October 10, North Korea countered with the idea of establishing the "Democratic Confederate Republic of Koryo (Korea)."
People’s Daily interviewed some think tankers about North Korea’s proposal. Their analysis was that North Korea was afraid that Park’s "Dresden Proposal" would unify the country on an economic basis, which would mean the "peaceful revolution" of North Korea. Therefore North Korea countered with the proposal of a federation system. The think tankers felt that both sides realize that war will not resolve the problem of the peninsula. The two sides should reach an "independent and peaceful unification." However the issue of "independence" remains as the key.
Source: People’s Daily, October 14, 2014
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2014-10/14/content_1487567.htm