China :: Commentaries

Flash Before the launch of the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft, Tiangong-1 will have to adjust its flight path to match that of Shenzhou-8. They must be flying at the same altitude and at nearly the same speed. During the initial phase, ground control will be in charge, but as the two crafts come closer together, an automatic pilot will take over. Heading for the target - The rendezvous procedure begins when Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 are 10-thousand kilometers apart. The first step is handled by ground control. They will make several adjustments to the orbit of the craft as it approaches Tiangong-1, the lab module. Zhang Bonan, chief designer of Chinas spaceflight program, said, "According to our current plan, there will be about 4 adjustments to the spacecrafts orbit, in order to lead Shenzhou-8 to the target. When the distance between the two vehicles is less than 50 kilometers, sensors and communication equipments attached to the craft will be able to c...

Rescuers are working at the site of Xialiuchong coal mine in Hengyang city of central China's Hunan Province on October 29, 2011. [Xinhua] October for Chinese miners has been a mournful month. Since National Day, six major accidents have taken place, killing 101 and making up a third of all major mining accidents reported so far this year, according to new statistics released Sunday by work safety officials. China's State Administration of Work Safety and State Administration of Coal Mine Safety issued a new directive for regional authorities urging increased safety precautions for miners. The memo is accompanied by new statistics detailing death tolls in various accidents reported this year. The announcement was issued one day after a coal mine gas explosion in Hunan Province killed 29, this year's worst by official reports. The report attributes floods and gas outbursts and explosions as the predominant causes for this year's major accidents, accounting for 17 of the ...

Flash A man's home is his castle, as the old phrase goes. This castle just happens to be made out of thousands of plastic bottles. Argentina's province of Misiones, with its striking red soil, is one of the country s poorest areas. But behind what may seem like a bizarre entranceway in the city of Puerto Iguazu, is the story of one man who has carved out his fame in plastic bottles.

Flash The Shenzhou-8 will perform Chinas first space docking mission with the Tiangong-1 space lab - otherwise known as Heavenly Palace. Successfully mastering the technology to carry out such a complex procedure is one of the key steps towards building large orbital platforms -- and flying missions beyond low earth orbit. Space docking technology requires two vehicles to enter the same orbit and eventually -- and carefully -- come together. Any wrong moves or bad calculations could lead to disaster. For any permanent base in space, the ability to dock is vital for the transport of crew, supplies and maintenance equipment. The actual docking procedure is completed in four stages: Guided by a ground control center, the docking craft first adjusts its orbit several times until its under 100 kilometers away from the target vehicle. At this point, the automatic docking systems on both vehicles kick in -- slowly bringing them closer together until theyre o...

Flash China's first space lab module Tiangong-1has completed a 180-degree turn-around to prepare itself for the upcoming docking with spacecraft Shenzhou-8, which is ready to launch on Nov. 1st in northwestern desert area. China.org.cn and Sina.com present the 3D imitating process for you. Tiangong-1 lab module is expected to perform China's first-ever rendezvous and docking with Shenzhou-8 after the spacecraft's launch. The rendezvous and docking technologies are considered crucial for China's manned space program. Once China has mastered the technologies of rendezvous and docking, it will be equipped with the basic technologies and capacity required for the building of a space station.

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Playing With Pumpkins at Colchester Zoo in the UK As part of the Halloween festivities, many zoos in the United States and other parts of the world provide pumpkins to the animals in captivity. This practice is an aspect of environmental enrichment, and encourages natural behaviors such as foraging and play. Popularly known as "Boo at the Zoo," visitors can watch the antics that take place when these giant goodies arrive on the scene. Often they contain the animals' favorite cuisine, such as crickets and cockroaches for the meerkats, or meat for the big cats. A meerkat climbs out of a shaped pumpkin on Oct. 27 at the zoo in Hanover, Germany. (Jochen Luebke/AFP/Getty Images) Meerkats inspect a shaped pumpkin on at the zoo in Hanover. (Jochen Luebke/AFP/Getty Images) Lion mother Binta (L) and her babies Joco (R) and Zari inspect a shaped pumpkin filled with pieces of meat at the zoo in Hanover. (Jochen Luebke/AFP/Getty Images) Kutchani, a four-year-old female African Lion,...

Post-quake rehabilitation and rebuilding work has been progressing smoothly since a major earthquake jolted southwest China three years ago, according to a report issued by researchers Thursday. Qiang-style homes in Shuimo Town, Wenchuan County. [Photo: Corey Cooper / China.org.cn] Launched by the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development and Norway-based Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies, the document features a three-year-long monitoring and research report on the recovery of quake survivors' lives. Thanks to the rehabilitation and rebuilding efforts, housing facilities and living conditions in the quake-hit region have been remarkably improved, especially in rural areas, and the urban-rural difference in infrastructure has decreased greatly, the report said. As of August this year, 99.4 percent of quake survivors had been sheltered with permanent houses, it said. The unemployment rate in the quake zone, which was calculated according to the standar...

Friday, Oct. 28, 2011 What internationally renowned, longtime New York resident turns 125 this Friday, Oct. 28? THEN Oct. 28, 1886, U.S. President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty in New York. A gift from France, whose given name is "Liberty Enlightening the World," Lady Liberty is given to recognize the friendship forged between France and America during the American Revolution. French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi designs the statue, which the French people fund through donations. An interior iron structure is designed by Gustave Eiffel, who goes on to build the Eiffel Tower. The French deliver the statue to the American ambassador in Paris on July 4, 1884. To bring the statue to the United States the 151-foot-tall, 225-ton statue is dismantled into 300 pieces and sent in 214 crates. Unfortunately, in America, a lack of funds to construct a pedestal for the statue delays reassembly. Only after publisher Joseph Pulitzer decides to use his...

The new policy to control entertainment programs that are broadcast on satellite TV is aimed to improve quality and curb unnecessary reproduction, said China's TV watchdog. The reason for the policy is that a number of shows are "overly entertaining and of low taste," said a spokesman with the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) in a statement Thursday. The programs on the SARFT list are dating shows, talent contests, talk shows as well as reality shows. According to the SARFT policy, each of the country's 34 satellite channels will be limited to broadcasting two such programs each week and can broadcast a maximum of 90 minutes of content defined as entertainment every day during prime time -- 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. A number of entertainment programs are simple reproductions of popular ones and some tried to attract audiences through low-taste contents such as gossip and exposure of privacy. Doing so is not only a waste of resources but also bad f...

China respects and upholds human rights, and China's Constitution has comprehensive stipulations on the fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens, says a white paper released Thursday on the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics. The state has promulgated a series of laws and regulations and has developed a comparatively complete legal system to protect human rights, according to the white papertitled " The Socialist System of Laws with Chinese Characteristics ." The state ensures the citizens' right to subsistence and development, personal rights and property rights, freedom of religious belief, of speech, of the press, of the assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration, the right to social security and education, as well as other economic, political, social and cultural rights, according to the white paper, Xinhua reported. The Constitution stipulates that Chinese citizens enjoy the freedom of religious belief. No state organ, pu...

Colorful trees herald the autumn splendor to come at The Pool in Central Park near West 102nd Street. Most of the park is still green, but leaves of change are spreading. The Department of Parks and Recreation expects full fall colors around Nov. 10. (Amal Chen/The Epoch Times) According to a map that tracks the changing leaves across the state made available by I Love NY, the state tourism board, Albany, Buffalo, and Rochester areas were at full peak on Tuesday. By Wednesday, the map changed drastically with the majority of the state pushing past the peak. This weekend will be the last to appreciate peak foliage in upstate New York, according to I Love NY, with final appearances in the Finger Lakes and Hudson Valley regions. From Tuesday to Wednesday, New York City's status changed from midpoint to nearing the peak of autumn transformation. (New York State Economic Development Corporation) ...

The Chinese government issued a white paper on the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics Thursday. Released by the State Council Information Office, the white paper introduces the establishment, components and features of the socialist system of laws and hails the establishment of the system asan important milestone in China's development of socialist democracy and the legal system. Governing China by law and building a socialist country under the rule of law is a fundamental principle for the Communist Party of China, says the white paper. "A socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics has been solidly put into place," the white paper says. "It is an important milestone in China's development of socialist democracy and the legal system, and showcases the great achievements of reform, opening up and the socialist modernization drive." Thesocialist legal system of laws with Chinese characteristics, which is based on the conditions and re...

A police officer stands in floodwaters in a street, near the Chao Praya river in Bangkok, on Oct. 26. Bangkok residents have been warned that incoming floods could last for four weeks. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images) BANGKOKBe it floodgate control or mass sandbagging, measures continue to be taken against the massive floodwaters that are now feared will inundate all of Bangkok. Thailands prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, said on Tuesday that the government had switched to crisis mode, the day before a massive runoff of floodwater arrived in Bangkok and a coming high tide due on Friday. The massive floodwaters are most likely to overpower barriers and floodgates that protect Bangkok; it is highly possible that water will spill into the areas of central and the outer rings of Bangkok, Shinawatra said in her national televised address on Tuesday night. According to a Thai government website, Minister of Science and Technology Plodprasop Suraswadi said that if Bangkok does...

The world's population is expected to reach 7 billion on Monday, four years later than once predicted largely thanks to China's family planning policy, according to the country's top population experts. A nurse takes care of newborns at No 1 People's Hospital in Xiangyang, Hubei province. China's family planning policy has slowed the rapid growth of population. [Photo by Gong Bo/Xinhua] Population growth has rocketed. It took just 13 years for 1 billion more people to live on the planet, yet only at the dawn of the 19th century did a billion people first inhabit the Earth, according to a report by the United Nations Population Fund. Baby No 7 Billion will probably be born in the Asia-Pacific region, where the population growth rate is the highest in the world. China's family planning policy, which limits most mainland couples to one child, has prevented 400 million births since 1979, according to the National Population and Family Planning Commission. The risi...

A selection of the 'Spice' pictured in a shop in north London, on August 28, 2009. Spice was made a Class B drug in December 2009. Possession of Class B drugs carries a maximum five-year jail term. Spice is a mix of psycho-active chemicals and herbs and has been linked to mood swings and paranoia. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images) Suppliers of so called "legal high" drugs should be required to prove their products are safe before being allowed onto the market, recommends a report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). Current legislation is struggling to handle the growing number of potentially harmful drugs, the majority of which are legally shipped from China and sold on the internet by students and others wanting to make a quick buck, according to the report published on Tuesday. Roger Howard, chief executive of the UK Drug Policy Commission, an independent think tank on Drug policy, welcomed the ACMD report, which recommends tweaking the 1971 Misuse of ...

A Wenzhou native with Italian citizenship who was severely injured in the July 23 high-speed train crash underwent critical surgery on Tuesday morning at a hospital in Shanghai. Giovanni Pan in Shanghai Changzheng Hospital on Monday. He suffered injuries to his neck, spine and lungs in the July 23 train crash in Wenzhou, and his girlfriend died. [Photo/provided to China Daily ] Giovanni Pan, a 22-year-old amateur boxer, had a two-hour operation on his neck, said Shao Xiaolan, a nurse in charge of his ward in Shanghai Changzheng Hospital. Pan has undergone treatment since the train crash. He was hospitalized at Wenzhou People's No 2 Hospital before he was transferred to the Shanghai hospital on Oct 21. "The surgery went quite smooth and turned out successful," said a doctor in charge of Pan's recovery who identified himself only by his surname Mao. Mao said Pan was conscious after the surgery, and was in stable condition by the afternoon. Pan suffered severe injuries t...

A U.S. Postal worker holds a stack of Netflix envelopes at a Post Office sort facility on October 24, 2011 in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) NEW YORKNetflix Inc., the one-time technology industry darling, saw its shares tumble again on Tuesday due to customer defections, mounting costs, analyst downgrades, and business missteps. The Los Gatos, California-based movie rental and digital streaming service company fell by more than 34 percent on the Nasdaq Stock Market Tuesday. Its shares (Nasdaq: NFLX) have declined by more than 72 percent over the last three months, after approaching $300 per share in July. It closed Tuesday at $77.37 per share. Pressure on Netflixs shares came from the companys announcement this week that it lost 800,000 subscribers in the third quarter, from 24.6 million to 23.8 million as of Sept. 30. In addition, Netflix said that total subscribers in the fourth quarter will likely fall short of the 24.9 million predicted by analysts. Fal...

Following a series of death threats against him, a Pakistani judge was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia, according to media reports on Tuesday. Judge Pervez Ali Shah had sentenced Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri to death earlier this month for murdering Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer in a high profile case. After handing down the sentence, Shah received death threats from several Islamic militant groups, according to Pakistan Today. The death threats have forced Shah to leave Pakistan along with his family for Saudi Arabia, said the special prosecutor for Qadri trial, Saiful Malook, according to the publication. Malook added that Islamabad had arranged security and lodging for the judge in Saudi Arabia. Though security was provided to the judge and his family, the government, acting on reports from intelligence agencies, opted to send him abroad, he said. The assassination of Taseer made international headlines, Qadri was his bodyguard and shot the governor more than two dozen times with an a...

Jets' defensive players Aaron Maybin (51) and Darrelle Revis (24) celebrate Revis' fourth quarter interception against San Diego. (Nick Laham/Getty Images) NEW YORKAfter finishing off the Chargers Sunday with arguably their most encouraging win of the season the Jets (especially Ryan) seemed pleased heading into their bye week. Said the head coach on Monday, on the Jet's website, I tell you the secondary played really well. When you look at the way Cromartie played he was great. Ryan also praised cornerback Kyle Wilson and the other corner (kiddingly referring to star Darrelle Revis) before being asked about San Diego tight end Randy McMichael's less-than-complimentary comments. After being told McMichael blamed the loss more on how badly the Chargers played than how good the Jets were, a smiling Ryan simply quipped, Stay classy San Diego. The quote was of course made famous by actor Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy character but could be applicable to the Jet...

Flash China's top legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), opened its bimonthly session Monday to read a variety of draft law amendments concerning civil procedure, military service and other areas. A report on the results of review of the draft amendment to the Military Service Law said that the draft amendment has perfected the resettlement system for demobilized servicemen, who will be given preference when they register for the civil servant examination. Licensing authorities for construction projects will be given criminal sanctions if their actions violate the law, according to the draft amendment to the Law on Occupational Illness Prevention and Control submitted to the NPC Standing Committee for its second reading at Monday's session. Legislators also reviewed, for the first time, the draft amendment to Civil Procedure Law, which allows the government and non-governmental organizations to represe...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at the GM Powertrain plant in Tashkent, Uzbekistan October 23, 2011 (Kevin Lamarque/AFP/Getty Images) On the eve of President Obamas trip to the Asia-Pacific next month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has outlined the administration's vision for U.S. engagement in the region. Clintons definitive statement, titled America's Pacific Century and published on the Foreign Policy Magazine website, has been largely well received. It is described by one analyst, David Rothkopf, from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, as a foreign policy initiative that is likely to be seen as the most successful and significant of the Barack Obama-Clinton foreign policy era. While many of the initiatives are not new, the essay further consolidates the Obama administrations change in strategic direction, with Secretary Clinton stating up front that the future of politics will not be decided in Afghanistan or Iraq, but in Asia. The United S...

Samuel L. Jackson as Martin Luther King Jr. in a scene from "The Mountaintop" by Katori Hall. (Courtesy of Joan Marcus) NEW YORKSamuel L. Jackson is a wonder in Katori Halls drama The Mountaintop, now at Broadways Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. Playing slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the actors performance soars far above an often lackluster script. The playwright is so intent on getting specific points across, she sacrifices the contextual flavor of the person and specific moment in time shes selected. The story takes place on the night of April 3, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn., hours before Kings assassination. Returning to his room at the Lorraine Motel after his famous Ive Been to the Mountaintop speech, a tired King tries to prepare for the next days events. Kings solitude is interrupted by Camae (Angela Bassett), a hotel maid bringing him coffee. Seeking a pretty face and someone to talk to, King invites her to stay and chat while they share ciga...

China's Communist Party chiefs ended their annual policy meeting this week with a decision on cultural reforms as the world's second largest economy seeks to maintain its culture amid globalization and enhance its soft power abroad. The communique issued after the meeting said culture is the source of national unity and creativity, an element of national competitiveness and a pillar of economic and social development, and that Chinese people are eager for a rich cultural life. It is the first time in years that China's ruling party, the world's largest with 80 million members, has held a plenary session of its 365 most senior officials to call for a shift in focus from the booming economy to addressing the voids that success has left. China's top leaders agreed that the cultural reforms must aim to promote the "socialist core values," which is the soul of China's push to build a prosperous nation, according to the communique. Their move to redefine cul...

Flash One of Ireland's most successful boy bands, has finally announced that they'll be calling it quits with a new single expected to hit radio in November and a farewell tour next May. Irish pop band Westlife perform for Queen Elizabeth at the Convention Centre in Dublin May 19, 2011. Westlife members Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan have announced the break-up making sure to confirm the decision as being "entirely amicable." The boy band has been around for 14 years and sold an incredible 44 million albums worldwide. The new single "lighthouse" is expected to hit airwaves November followed by a "Greatest Hits" collection to arrive in stores before Christmas. The farewell tour is tentatively scheduled to commence May, 2012.

China has started to build its largest scientific device, the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS), according to a statement from its launching ceremony Thursday. A perspective drawing of CSNS project inDalang County of the city of Dongguan in Guangdong Province. [File photo] The CSNS is a tool to utilize neutrons to probe the structure of the microscopic world, which "functions like the x-ray when scanning the human body," said Chen Hesheng, director of the Institute of High Energy Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The device mainly consists of an H-linac and a proton rapid cycling synchrotron and is designed to accelerate proton beam pulses to strike a solid metal target to produce spallation neutrons, according to Chen. The CSNS will help China's research into flammable ice and radiation therapy for tumors, said Chen. "The building of CSNS will mutually benefit the already built synchrotron radiation source and advanced nuclear reactor in Chin...

A whale shark, nearly six meters (20 feet) long, swims near the surface of the plankton-rich water near the Philippines. (Scott Tuason/AFP/Getty Images) Approximately 2,000 sharks were slaughtered in a marine sanctuary off the Pacific coast of Colombia, an act condemned by the government, according to news reports on Thursday. Colombias presidential adviser for the environment, Sandra Bessudo, condemned the killings, which took place off Malpelo Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site, according to The Guardian. When the divers dove, they started finding a large number of animals without their fins. They didn't see any alive, Bessudo said, according to the newspaper. Russian research divers found hammerhead, Galapagos, and silky sharks dead and discarded in the water, Bessudo said. Fishing boats flying the flag of Costa Rica were spotted entering the marine zone illegally. She added that the sharks were caught for their fins, which would be then sold to Asian markets to produce shar...

The latest news where a 2-year-old girl got run over twice and ignored by 18 passers-by has triggered fierce condemnation from international society and again shed light on Chinese notorious state of mind of indifference. Famous ancient Chinese doctor Xue Ji once said : first day your skin dies and numbs, the second your muscle dies and cant feel anything even stabbed by needle. Nothing can stimulate a dead nervous system, nothing can touch indifferent mind. The disease of indifference is highly contagious, one to ten, ten to hundred and so on. But what is the cause of the infection, and why is it raging in nowadays China? The post translated from ifeng tries to approach the issue in the following 4 aspects. Utilitarianism education takes away the instinct of watching out for peers Not long ago an old man in Shenzhen Futian village fell and died on the street when he was taking a walk in his community, nobody dared to lend a helping hand for fear of the Peng Yu Case tragedy (Peng Yu ...

Related reading: Nuclear security on the table for cross-Straits talks TIANJIN - Two organizations representing Taiwan and the mainland are expected to sign a cross-Straits nuclear power security cooperation agreement at the new round of talks on Thursday. Chen Yunlin (R), president of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), shakes hands with Chiang Pin-kung (L), chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), before talks began in north China's Tianjin Municipality, Oct. 20, 2011. Negotiators of ARATS and SEF held a new round of talks here on Thursday. This is the seventh round of talks between the two sides over the past three years. (Xinhua/He Junchang) "Nuclear power safety is related to the health of every...