News digest

Advanced sonarjoins MH370 hunt

The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has entered a new underwater phase with the addition of two specialized ships as part of the attempt to locate the jetliner almost seven months after it disappeared.

Flight MH370 went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 with 239 people onboard. No trace of the Boeing 777-200 has been found despite a massive air, sea and underwater search.

Authorities have since used technical data to focus the search on the southern Indian Ocean to the west of Western Australia, along a long, thin arc from which the plane emitted its last satellite "handshake".

Australia has been spearheading the hunt for the plane, which is believed to have come down after mysteriously diverting off-course, leaving search teams with a daunting task that has been beset by false leads and initial confusion to the continued frustration of grieving relatives.

The latest phase, to begin in early October, will see two ships, Fugro Discovery and the Malaysian-contracted GO Phoenix, send sophisticated sonar systems about 5,000 meters below sea level to search the ocean floor using sound waves, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said.

Cultural institutemarks 10 years

Hundreds of officials, international students and Beijing residents gathered over the weekend of Sept 27-28 at Hanban, the Confucius Institute headquarters, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the organization.

The inaugural Confucius Institute Day featured a series of cultural events, including salons, lectures, dancing, Peking Opera and folk music. The events were open to the public.

Vice-Premier Liu Yandong attended the opening ceremony on Sept 27, bringing congratulatory letters from President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

Xi noted in his letter that during the past decade, as Confucius Institutes have taught the Chinese language, they have played a key role in promoting positive relations with other countries.

Confucius Institutes not only belong to China, but also to the world, and the Chinese government and people will go on supporting their development, Xi said.

Li said in his letter that he hoped that Confucius Institutes would continue to promote Sino-foreign cooperation, improve teaching standards, deepen cultural integration and make greater contributions to global cultural diversity and harmony around the world.

Smugglers busted withiPhone 6 handsets

China is cracking down on smugglers bringing Apple iPhone 6 smartphones into the country ahead of their official release, with officials on Sept 28 reporting the seizure of 453 of the devices in Shanghai.

Hundreds more were seized during three separate raids before Sept 25 and Sept 27 in Hong Kong, Xinhua News Agency said.

The latest haul was found in the luggage of two passengers arriving at a Shanghai airport from Tokyo, one of them Chinese and one of them Japanese, the Shanghai customs agency said.

Hundreds more have been confiscated from passengers who did not declare them at customs, the agency said.

Apple delayed its original plans to introduce the iPhone 6 in China this month but did not comment on reports that it still had not received Chinese regulatory approval.

Tougher penalties forofficials accepting gifts

Government officials who accept gifts or money will face criminal charges and could go to jail if a draft amendment to the law comes into force, according to legal experts.

Chen Xingliang, a professor of criminal law at Peking University, said the measure is included in a draft amendment to the Criminal Law, which has undergone eight revisions since it was enacted in 1979.

The proposals would impose harsher penalties on officials who abuse their positions amid the continuing anti-graft campaign, he said.

Under the current rules, officials are charged with the criminal offense of bribery only if they accept money or gifts and use their official powers to benefit those who have provided the inducements. Officials are not charged with bribery if they accept money or gifts but do not provide assistance.

If the draft amendment is approved by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislative body, officials who accept money or gifts will be prosecuted even if they have not abused their powers to benefit others.

Ministry tightens ruleson child foster care

Foster parents who care for abandoned children with disabilities will in the future have to live in communities that offer a good level of medical care and have special education and rehabilitation facilities.

These are among measures in a new regulation on foster family management that was released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Sept 26 and is expected to take effect on Dec 1.

"It is a further move to protect children's welfare," said Chen Rifa, a spokesman for the ministry.

The regulation will further guarantee the rights of abandoned children and help them to integrate into families and society, according to Xu Jianzhong, deputy director of the ministry's Social Welfare and Donations Department.

"Compared with the current regulation, which took effect in 2004, the new one sets stricter qualification standards for foster parents," Xu said.

Xi takes firm lineon reunification

President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China's "firm and unwavering stance" on national reunification on Sept 26 to a visiting delegation from Taiwan.

He stressed that the fundamental policy of "peaceful reunification, one country and two systems" is the best way to realize national reunion.

"Despite the fact that the relationship between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan is facing new problems and new circumstances, the long-term trend of peaceful development between the two sides will not change," Xi told the delegation of pro-reunification groups at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The delegation was made up of representatives from 25 parties and organizations in Taiwan, including the New Party, the New Alliance Association, the Alliance for the Reunification of China, the Labor Party of Taiwan and the China Tide Association.

The 80-strong delegation, the first of its kind, was on a six-day visit to Beijing and Nanjing. Members visited sites marking Japanese wartime aggression and an exhibition in Zhongguancun, Beijing, which is known as China's Silicon Valley.

Calling on both sides to strengthen mutual confidence and work for the nation's rejuvenation, Xi said its revival is linked closely to the future of both sides and that Taiwan's future lies in national reunification. Without national prosperity, Taiwan cannot prosper, he said.

Second space lab,new astronauts on way

China will soon have two space laboratories in service and is selecting engineers to join its third batch of astronauts, a senior space official said on Sept 26.

"The Tiangong-1 space lab is in good condition, its equipment is functioning normally and fuel is sufficient for further operations," Wang Zhaoyao, director of the China Manned Space Agency, told a news conference in Beijing on the third anniversary of the Tiangong-1 mission.

"We will closely monitor the lab's condition and arrange experiments for it so that its lifespan can be extended for as long as possible."

Wang said scientists believe that Tiangong-1 is capable of working in space for a considerable period, long enough to await the launch of and coordination with Tiangong-2, which is due to be put into orbit in 2016.

"Our scientists and engineers are planning some experiments and tests to be performed by the two space labs," Wang said.

He Yu, head of the space laboratory systems research team, said equipment on Tiangong-1 has been so reliable and stable in the past three years that there has been no need to activate backup equipment.

China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/03/2014 page3)