Rescuers take a rest outside a flooded coal mine in Xintai City, East China's Shandong Province, Aug. 18, 2007. One hundred and seventy-two miners were trapped in a flooded coal mine in Xintai, authoritative sources said on Saturday morning. [Xinhua]XINTAI, Shandong Province -- One hundred and seventy-two miners were trapped in a flooded coal mine in east China's Shandong province, authoritative sources said on Saturday morning.The flooding occurred at around 2:30 p.m. Friday in the coal mine of Huayuan Mining Co. Ltd (formerly known as Zhangzhuang coalmine) in Xintai City, about 150 kilometers south of Jinan, Shandong's capital.A total of 756 miners were working underground at the time of the flooding and 584 managed to escape after the accident, Xu Qinyu, general manager of the company said on Saturday morning.Downpours hit the area Friday with a precipitation of 205 millimeters, triggering flash flood and a 50-meter breach of a levee of the Wen river in the region.Floodwater from the Wen river swamped the coal mine via an old shaft. A 100-millimeter rainfall Saturday night worsened the flooding situation. The rain ended around 7 a.m. Saturday.By 8:50 a.m., the working places under the mine have been all inundated, according to the rescue headquarters.Wang Ziqi, director of the Shandong coal mine safety administration, said the trapped miners had only slim chances of survival.Most of the trapped people were from rural areas in Tai'an City and surrounding areas, said Wang Junmin, vice governor of Shandong.About 2,000 Chinese People's Liberation Army troops, armed police and miners have closed up a 30-meter section of the breached levee of the Wen river by midday Saturday.The closure of the breach is crucial to the rescue efforts and it will stop water from continuing to flow into the mine, according to rescuers.In a separate accident in Xintai, nine people were trapped in the Minggong coal mine after it flooded because of the rainstorms.Ninety-five people were working underground when the accident happened. Eight-six have been lifted alive. Rescue work is underway.Li Yizhong, director of the Administration of Work Safety and Zhao Tiechui, director of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, have rushed to the site to oversee rescue efforts.The work safety watchdog issued on Saturday an emergency notice urging coal mines to draw lessons from the Huayuan mine accident and immediately take preventive measures against rainstorm-triggered floods.Huayuan Mining Co. Ltd is a licensed enterprise with an annual capacity of 750,000 tons.Rescuers prepare to install the drain pipes outside the flooded coal mine in Xintai City, East China's Shandong Province, Aug. 18, 2007. One hundred and seventy-two miners were trapped in the flooded coal mine, authoritative sources said on Saturday morning. [Xinhua]Rescuers work outside the flooded coal mine in Xintai City, East China's Shandong Province, Aug. 18, 2007. One hundred and seventy-two miners were trapped in the flooded coal mine, authoritative sources said on Saturday morning. [Xinhua]
Huang Ju, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Vice-Premier of the State Council, died of illness at 02:03 a.m. June 2 in Beijing at the age of 69. An obituary issued by the central authorities called Huang "an excellent member of the CPC, a long-tested and faithful Communist fighter and an outstanding leader of the Party and the state." File photo of Huang Ju. Huang Ju, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Vice-Premier of the State Council, died of illness at 02:03 a.m. June 2 in Beijing at the age of 69.[Xinhua/File Photo]The obituary was issued by the CPC Central Committee, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Huang Ju, born in September, 1938, native of Jiashan, Zhejiang Province, joined the CPC in March, 1966 and graduated from the Electrical Engineering Department of Qinghua University. From 1995 to 2002, he served as member of the CPC Central Committee's Political Bureau and secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee. In November 2002, he was elected member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee at the first plenary session of the 16th CPC National Congress. Huang was approved as vice-premier of the State Council, at the 7th plenary meeting of the First Session of the 10th National People's Congress in March, 2003. From 1963 to 1982, Huang worked in the Shanghai Artificial-Board Machinery Factory, Shanghai Zhonghua Metallurgical Factory and Shanghai Petrochemical General Machine-Building Company. In this period, he was promoted from a technician to engineer and vice manager. He served as deputy director of the Shanghai No. 1 Bureau of Mechanical and Electrical Industry between 1982 and 1983. From 1983 to 1984, he served as member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and secretary of the Municipal Industrial Work Party Committee. From 1984 to 1985, he served as Standing Committee member of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and concurrently as secretary-general of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee. Between 1985 and 1986 he was deputy secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee. From 1986 to 1991, he served concurrently as vice mayor of Shanghai, and he served as mayor of Shanghai concurrently from 1991 to 1994. Between 1994 and 1995 he served as member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and Shanghai mayor.
CHENGDU: Halfway up the Longquan Mountain sits a tiny village where Fu Qing used to live with her parents.Each morning, the young girl would get up at 6:30 am and after breakfast, walk for 40 minutes along a winding mountain path to the nearest primary school.In winter, she would often become anxious toward the end of the school day, concerned she might not make it home before sunset.But these days, the 14-year-old no longer has to worry about long lonely walks on dark mountain paths.Along with 3,164 other children from Longquan Mountain, Fu now attends a boarding school in Chengdu's Longquanyi district. Exempt from tuition and lodging fees, each student also receives 130 yuan a month for meals and bus fares, and two new uniforms each year.The youngsters are all part of the Golden Phoenix Project, a pilot program that aims to provide better schooling for children from Chengdu's rural areas. Authorities in the Sichuan capital hope it will also better prepare them for urban life.Longquanyi covers an area of about 500 sq km, two-fifths of which is mountainous. About 60,000 people live in the mountains, most of them farmers.Fu's former primary school was in Chadian, a village located at the very heart of Longquan Mountain. It had just six classrooms and on rainy days, the roof leaked.Once the rain had stopped the students would have to repaint the blackboards with ink, which would get washed off in the downpour. And at the start of every semester, Fu and her classmates had to carry their desks and chairs to school, because there was no money to buy new ones.In the evening, Fu would make dinner for herself and her mother, who spent her days growing beans and fruit on the mountain. Fu's father worked at a construction site in Chengdu.The local government launched the Golden Phoenix Project in 2005 in a bid to bring youngsters like Fu down from the mountain and into middle schools in the towns.As well as providing them with financial support, the authorities allocated 160 million yuan for the construction of a boarding school, which, on its completion next year, will be able to accommodate 5,000 students.Fu is one of 1,840 students from mountain villages currently living and studying at the almost-complete school, which boasts 121 teachers, including 20 who act in loco parentis.And rather than having to repaint the blackboard after each downpour, Fu now enjoys computer studies and physical education classes when she gets to run on the rubberized athletics track, something she had never even seen before.The new school is helping provide Fu not only with an education, but also a real insight into urban living.Since she has been there, she has learned how to use a flush toilet, for example, and understand traffic lights.Her biggest dream is to finish her education and become an office worker in the city.Thanks to the Golden Phoenix Project, all middle-school-aged children from Longquanyi's mountainous areas attend boarding schools in nearby towns.The district government is now planning to spend a further 40 million yuan to establish similar schools for primary students.Zhou Jiping, head of Chengdu's education bureau, said: "The Golden Phoenix Project is just one of the efforts being made here to ensure the balanced development of urban and rural education."Children studying under the project often perform better than their peers from urban areas, he said.Over the past four years, local authorities have spent 1 billion yuan on the construction and renovation of 400 schools in rural areas. Rural students are exempt from tuition fees for compulsory education and from next year, they will also be provided with free textbooks."By doing so, we hope to give all kids in Chengdu a fair and equal start," Zhou said.
The U.S. National Academy of Sciences announced on Tuesday the election of 72 new members and 18 foreign associates in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. The election was held this morning during the business session of the 144th annual meeting of the academy, and brought the organization's total number of active members to 2,025. Foreign associates are non-voting members of the academy. The 18 newly elected, from 12 different countries, brought the total number of foreign associates to 387. Two Chinese scientists, Zhang Qifa and Li Aizhen, were among the new foreign associates. Professor Zhang is the director of National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, in central China's Wuhan. Li is from the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the advance of science and its use for the general welfare. It was established in 1863 by a congressional act signed by Abraham Lincoln. The act calls on the academy to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology
BEIJING - Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan will pay official good-will visits to Japan and the Philippines from August 29 to September 6, according to the Chinese Defense Ministry.He will visit the two countries at the invitations of Japanese Defense Minister Koike Yuriko and Philippine Secretary of Defence Gilbert Teodoro.Cao's upcoming visits aim to fulfill the consensus reached between leaders of China and the two countries and strengthen exchanges and trust in defense and security areas, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
XI'AN -- A fire burnt up trees and shrubs on a mountain that shrouds one of the most famed imperial mausoleums in the ancient city of Xi'an in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, but no damage was caused to the cultural relics, local museum officials said on Sunday.The fire broke out around 2:00 p.m. Saturday on the western part of a mountain that encased the tombs of a powerful Chinese empress Wu Zetian and her husband Gaozong in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The Qianling Mausoleum, as the tombs are called, reportedly houses the most precious possessions of the two rulers, including paintings, ceramics, calligraphy works and jewelry articles.The fire was fanned up by sandstorms which struck the area on Saturday, said Fan Yingfeng, curator of the Qianling Museum.More than 100 local villagers and 15 fire-fighters managed to put out the fire around 3:10 p.m. on Saturday. About 30 trees and a few shrubs were lost to the blaze.Initial investigation showed the fire was caused by a deserted cigarette end in the dry grasses."Although the fire didn't cause any major damage, it reflected an urgent need to educate residents in neighboring villages to guard against fire risks," Fan said.He said lessons should be learnt from the destruction of a 600-year-old Namdaemun gate in Seoul, one of the most treasured landmarks in the Republic of Korea. The two-tiered gate was set ablaze by a man upset over a land dispute.
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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao shares a light moment with children orphaned due to the death of their parents from AIDS in Shangcai County, Central China's Henan Province Novermber 30, a day before the 20th World AIDS Day which fell on Saturday. [Xinhua] ZHENGZHOU -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao paid his second visit to China's worst AIDS-hit villages in Henan Province, a day before the 20th World AIDS Day. It was Wen's fifth face-to-face talks with AIDS patients or their family members since 2003."What's your name?""Zhang Shuwan.""Do you remember how your parents were dying?""No, I don't."This was a dialog between the visiting Premier and Zhang Shuwan, a 10-year-old girl, whose parents died of AIDS seven years ago, at the Chinese Red Ribbon Home, an orphanage at the Wangying Village of Lugang Township in Shangcai County on Friday morning.Wen was accompanied by Henan's Communist Party chief Xu Guangchun and Governor Li Chengyu.Upon learning that all the orphans are studying hard and with good results, Wen said with smile: "I have come to see, because I have kept you in my mind.""You are very unfortunate for losing your parents at a young age, but you are very lucky, as well, since there are lots of people in the country who have taken care of you and showed concern for you," said the premier, advising the children to walk out of the shadow of losing parents.He expressed his hopes that these children will study even harder to make themselves useful for the people, the nation and the society, in the future. He asked them to be happy and take an optimistic attitude toward life.Afterwards, the premier sang a song together with the children. He also visited their dormitory, played table tennis, and had lunch with them.Wen first visited Shangcai County in 2005 on the eve of Spring Festival, China's traditional Lunar New Year.The county in Henan is well known for high AIDS incidence caused by illegal blood deals in 1990s. Among 38 worst AIDS-hit villages in Henan, 22 are located in Shangcai.Premier Wen Jiabao chats with children at the Red Ribbon Home, an orphanage in Shangcai County, Henan Province November 30, 2007. [Xinhua]The premier's second stop was Wenlou village, home to 373 HIV carriers, one tenth of the village population. And 360 of them have developed AIDS."I came here two years ago," Wen told some AIDS patients and medical staff, while visiting the village's clinic.Kong Chunyi, one of the patients and a worker of the village's mushroom factory, said he has been quite fine with the help of the government's special policies for this group of people.The Chinese government provides AIDS patients, who have been covered by social security umbrella, with free medicine; provides free consultation to all those who are voluntary to consult on the disease; provides free schooling to AIDS-caused orphans; and provides free consultation, medical check, and medical treatment to pregnant women from areas which have been made exemplary for comprehensive control over AIDS, so as to reduce the spreading of HIV between mother and infant; and make all AIDS patients accessible to financial assistance from the government.During his visit, the premier showed his concern for the problem of drugfastness among some patients. He asked Health Minister Chen Zhu, who was with him, to study the issue.In talks with some medical staff working with the clinic, Wen thanked them for their devotion.The premier also encouraged the patients to be confident and optimistic to face the illness.Wenlou Village is a vegetable production base, but its products do not sell well due to prejudice by some outsiders. Wen called for greater awareness about the disease among the public so as to eliminate prejudice against AIDS patients."You can tell them that the premier has eaten Wenlou's vegetable today," he told the villagers.According to the villagers, with the help of the government, great changes have taken place at the village. The village is gradually out of the shadow of AIDS. About a dozen of children in the village go to college every year."I believe that Wenlou will become better and better day by day," said the premier.In Shangcai County, there are some "simulation families" formed by volunteer "parents" and AIDS-caused orphans.On Friday afternoon, the premier visited one of them with father Hu Shaoling, mother Zhang Ping, and four orphans.In his talks with the "family", Wen questioned the "family members" carefully. "It is not a matter of money, but a matter of passion," he said, upon learning that the "mother" only gets a pay of 500 yuan (about 67 U.S. dollars) per month.The premier told the kids, "Your 'dad' and 'mum' are caring and kind people. You must study hard. Don't forget them and treat them with filial respect when you grow up."At another "simulation family", with five orphans, Wen wrote an inscription, "Study hard for a beautiful future."Later the day, Wen presided over a workshop attended by experts and local officials. In his speech, the premier urged local people to prepare for a protracted war against AIDS.On the same day, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited doctors and communities in north Beijing, talking and shaking hands with HIV carriers to encourage the people "not to be daunted by HIV."An official report released on Thursday said that China officially reported 223,501 HIV contracted cases, including 62,838 AIDS patients, by October this year while about 700,000 people are estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS.
The authorities are considering a central system to award individuals' achievements in various fields to regulate such honors now being given out by local governments and agencies, said officials."The country is forging ahead to study the setting up of a national system of honors and a government framework for awards," said Yin Weimin, minister of personnel.Research on two specific laws to administer awards and confer medals is already being carried out, Yin said in a conference over the weekend.The National People's Congress has discussed laws on systems to give out awards and medals as early as 1993, but no agreement has been reached because of the complexity of such systems, experts said."Effective government awarding methods are positive ways to motivate society to learn from the merits of individuals," said Wang Xiongjun, a researcher with Peking University."And the establishment of core honors in an award system, as national honors and medals for certain fields, will bring China in line with international standards," Wang said.Currently, China has various rules set up by government agencies to award individuals including civil servants and civilians who make contributions in certain fields, but almost all these lack detailed descriptions on awarding procedures and methods, said Wang.There have also been cases where officials were nominated for awards in controversial selection processes - sometimes involving large amount of prize money - that were said to lack transparency.For instance, judge Song Yushui from the Haidian District People' Court was up for an award worth a million yuan (5,600) in 2005 given by the Beijing municipal government for being one of the "outstanding individuals" of the year.But critics said Song should not receive such an award since her "achievements" were expected of her as a judge.To prevent such situations, there should be guidelines and principles set under an awards system, said Hua Xiaochen, an expert on public institutions with a research body under the Ministry of Personnel.The main role of an awards system is to provide examples of merit for the public to learn from and not to focus on large prizes, Hua told the Legal Daily.
Washington - China is on course to catch up with the United States and join the front ranks of world economic powers, but that is little cause for concern even among Americans, a global survey said Monday. Most respondents in 13 countries agreed it was "likely that someday China's economy will grow to be as large as the US economy," according to the opinion poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and WorldPublicOpinion.org. "What is particularly striking is that despite the tectonic significance of China catching up with the US, overall the world public's response is low key -- almost philosophical," said Steven Kull, editor of WorldPublicOpinion.org. But the poll showed there is also distrust of China to "act responsibly" in world affairs. In no country was there a majority who felt that China's economic rise would be mostly negative, but that was not because China is particularly trusted, the pollsters said. Majorities in 10 out of 15 countries said they did not trust China "to act responsibly in the world." But the same number also said they distrusted the United States. "Though people are not threatened by the rise of China, they do not appear to be assuming that it will be a new benign world leader," Kull said. "They seem to have a clear-eyed view that China is largely acting on its own interests." The Chinese themselves are among the more skeptical populations, with only half saying that their economy will catch up with the United States'. Among Americans, the percentage was 60 percent. Only in India and the Philippines did a plurality of respondents say the United States would always remain a bigger economy than China. The highest level of concern about the implications of China's economic march was in the United States, where one in three is worried. But 54 percent of Americans said that its rise would be "neither positive nor negative" while one in 10 said it would be mostly positive. Only in Iran did a majority -- 60 percent -- say that it would be "mostly positive for China to catch up." The survey included 18 countries: Australia, Argentina, Armenia, China, France, India, Iran, Israel, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States, plus the Palestinian territories. Not every question of the poll was asked in each country, so that the results for some questions covered less than 18 countries.
SHENZHEN: The first group of doctors from Taiwan took the National Qualification Examination for Physicians on Friday, three months after the Ministry of Health announced their eligibility to sit the annual test. The 262 medics were all tested in South China's Guangdong Province: 137 in Guangzhou, 120 in Shenzhen and five in Zhuhai. Cheng Hsiao-wei, who runs a cosmetic surgery clinic in Taipei, said he was a little nervous at the start of the exam but soon calmed down. "We don't have to operate medical equipment or take an oral test in Taiwan," Cheng told reporters after leaving the exam room at Shenzhen People's Hospital. Friday's exam focused on clinical procedures. It will be followed by a written test on medical theory in September. "There are many opportunities ahead as more and more Taiwanese are moving to or doing business on the mainland," Cheng said. "Therefore, the demand for Taiwanese physicians is also on the rise. But before entering the mainland market, we have to become familiar with the environment and learn from our counterparts there." Thomas Lin, a 33-year-old physician with the Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei, said he hoped the mainland would open up further to Taiwanese doctors. "It will be more attractive if we are allowed to open private clinics on the mainland after acquiring our qualifications, just like our peers from Hong Kong," Lin told China Daily. The government recently allowed permanent Hong Kong residents, who have practiced as physicians for at least five years and acquired the appropriate qualifications, to open private clinics on the mainland. "I think mainland residents will also welcome the increased competition with the entry of Taiwanese private clinics, which could help improve physicians' performance and services," Lin said. Since April, Taiwanese doctors have been allowed to apply for a one-year work permit for the mainland. At the end of the 12 months they can apply for a renewal. Wang Liji, an official with the Ministry of Health, said the decision to open up the qualification exam to Taiwanese doctors will encourage the establishment of Taiwan-funded medical institutes and open a new channel for the exchange of healthcare expertise across the Straits.