IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Fans mourn superhero creator Stan Lee

Chinese fans of Marvel Comics' superheroes flocked to social media on Nov 13 to mourn the loss of Stan Lee, the lead creator of iconic comic book characters such as Spider Man, the X-Men and Iron Man. Lee died in a Los Angeles hospital on Nov 12 at the age of 95. Lee often appeared in films based on his creations. In the recent release Venom, for example, Lee played a man walking his dog. Venom has been dominating China's box office charts since it opened on Nov 9. Many mourning fans sharing their sorrow on sites like WeChat and Weibo said they will watch or rewatch Venom to commemorate the late master, and expect to see him again on the silver screen in the upcoming movies Captain Marvel and Avengers 4, which also contain cameo scenes of Lee.

Compensation may grow for mental suffering

China's top court is considering raising the level of compensation for mental anguish for people subjected to wrongful legal decisions, a senior official says. The measure would better protect the legitimate rights of such people and may be paired with changes to more strictly regulate judicial conduct, the official says. "We've noticed public complaints saying the current compensation standard for mental suffering is too low to make up for the harm to people who were wrongly convicted or wrongfully detained," says Zhu Erjun, deputy director of the Compensation Office with the Supreme People's Court. "We're studying how to solve the problem, such as trying to increase the standard."

Flight aborted after runway incursion

A Delta Air Lines flight urgently aborted its takeoff after a Japan Airlines B787-900 aircraft taxied across the runway directly in its path on the afternoon of Nov 13, according to the East China Regional Administration of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The administration is investigating the incident. The Delta flight - DL582 - was scheduled to fly from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to Detroit, Michigan, in the United States. Video posted by the Shanghai firefighting department on social media showed a fire engine spraying water on the runway and on the airplane. The plane's landing gear was damaged.

Dongting Lake has expanded over 40 years

The area of Dongting Lake, China's second-largest freshwater lake, which is used for flood control, has expanded by 28.9 percent over the past 40 years as local authorities relocated shoreline residents to make more room. Since 1978, the area of the lake has increased by 779 square kilometers to 3,470 sq km, according to the Hunan Bureau of Water Resources. The lake, which links with the Yangtze River, was once the country's largest freshwater lake.

Sexual orientation led to firing, teacher says

A former kindergarten teacher in Qingdao, Shandong province, has taken the school to labor arbitration, alleging discrimination because he is homosexual. Yu Liying, the teacher's lawyer, told an arbitration committee on Nov 13 that the teacher was "fired indirectly" for his sexual orientation and demanded his job back. The kindergarten said the man resigned voluntarily. The teacher shared an article on WeChat titled "I am proud of being gay" in August, and the article was seen by some of the kindergarten children's parents who were his WeChat friends.

Extra trains needed to haul Singles Day parcels

China Railway Corp put extra high-speed trains on cargo routes to meet the increased demand for parcel delivery following the Chinese shopping festival known as Double 11, or Singles Day. It said a daily average of more than 850 high-speed passenger trains and 350 slow trains with baggage cars will be used until Nov 20 to cope with the logistical load created by the Nov 11 shopping festival. The company said around 400 high-speed passenger trains are used for "bolt delivery" - a service covering 58 cities that was launched last year by China Railway Corp and SF Express, China's largest courier - more than 10 times the number of trains used in the same period last year. Orders can be packaged on the same day they are placed, then sent to customers the next morning, according to the railway company, which started dealing with the Double 11 spending spree in 2016. For the first time, the company has set aside an entire car on each of two Fuxing high-speed trains running from Beijing to Changsha, Hunan province, through Nov 20 for courier delivery.

China's first unmanned missile boat ready

Chinese weapon researchers have good news for nations that aspire to operate a missile-capable navy but cannot afford large, expensive surface ships. They have designed an unmanned missile boat and are ready to sell it. The robotic missile-carrying boat Liaowangzhe 2, or Watcher 2, was jointly developed by Oceanalpha, a private company that makes unmanned surface vessels in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, the Xi'an Institute of Modern Control Technology in Shaanxi province and the Huazhong Institute of Electro-Optics in Wuhan, Hubei province. The vessel is the first of its kind in China and only the second in the world to have successfully fired a missile, according to a statement from China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, parent company of the Huazhong institute. It did not elaborate on details of the firing test, saying only that it was conducted off the coast in October.

Vaccine violations could bring harsh penalties

Vaccine producers could be given harsh penalties for a range of violations, with substantial fines possible, under a new draft law from China's top market regulator after a major quality control scandal earlier this year. Serious violators could have profits confiscated, certificates revoked, production suspended and face fines of up to 10 times the value of the products in question. Violations under scrutiny include falsifying manufacturing records and failing to recall products sold after quality issues or other potential safety risks were discovered, according to the draft.

Human rights report approved by UN

China has made "tangible and enormous progress in human rights", and the country is on the right path, a senior Chinese official said in Geneva, Switzerland. Zhang Jun, assistant minister of foreign affairs, made the remark on Nov 9 after the United Nations Human Rights Council unanimously adopted the report submitted by China during the third round of the Universal Periodic Review. China's human rights record was examined for the third time by the UN council's review mechanism, following previous reviews in 2009 and 2013.

Headmasters get safety training at kindergartens

Kindergarten headmasters and teachers in Beijing have completed government-provided security training to improve safety for young children, local authorities said. It's the first time that such training has covered all private kindergarten headmasters, said Li Yi, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission. The training, which is intended to improve the management of the capital's kindergartens, started in the wake of alleged child abuse at privately owned Beijing RYB kindergarten in Chaoyang district's Xintiandi community in November of last year.

Fugitive is returned from United States

A fugitive suspected of embezzling more than 28 million yuan ($4 million; 3.5 million euros; ￡3 million) was repatriated from the United States to China on Nov 14. Zheng Quanguan, born in 1957, had been the general manager of a real estate company in Hunan province. He allegedly took advantage of his leadership position to embezzle company property and fled to the US in 2015, according to the office in charge of fugitive repatriation and asset recovery.

Vice-president meets with head of MIT

Vice-President Wang Qishan met with the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, L. Rafael Reif, on Nov 12. Since China and the United States have intertwined interests, their mutually beneficial cooperation has an impact on global prosperity and stability, Wang said. Stressing the importance of trust, Wang called on the two countries to deepen mutual understanding of each other's history, culture and development. Reif said MIT cherishes its cooperative relations with China and is ready to further deepen exchanges with China and play an active role in advancing bilateral relations and friendship between the two countries.

Sun Yat-sen saluted on anniversary of birth

A ceremony was held in Beijing on Nov 12 to commemorate the 152nd anniversary of the birth of Sun Yatsen, a national hero and patriot and the pioneer of China's democratic revolution. The event was held by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, at Zhongshan Park, which is named for Sun. Sun, born in 1866 in Guangdong province, founded the Kuomintang Party and is a revered revolutionary leader who played a pivotal role in overthrowing imperial rule in China.

Shanghai tops list of cities in managing risk

Shanghai ranks first among Chinese cities in preparedness to manage financial uncertainty, according to a survey of 17 major business centers in the Asia-Pacific region. According to the "Prepped Cities Index" in a report by real estate consultancy Cushman& Wakefield, the cities of Singapore, Melbourne (Australia) and Shanghai are the top three best-prepared cities among the 17 Asia-Pacific cities it reviewed. The survey assessed macroeconomic, structural and defensive factors, as well as social indicators in built-up environments.

Private companies to be offered free legal advice

Judicial administrations and bar associations across China will set up legal teams to provide free services to private enterprises this year, the Ministry of Justice said on Nov 14. "The national activity is aimed at meeting the needs of companies, safeguarding their rights and interests and helping them improve their governance structures," said Zhou Yuansheng, a senior ministry official. The move will also help prevent legal risks, resolve disputes and improve operations, management and decision-making based on rule of law, as well as provide solid legal protection for the development of the private economy, he said.

Largest collider to probe 'uncharted territory'

China plans to complete the world's largest and most powerful particle collider by 2030, allowing scientists to open a new chapter of fundamental physics and tackle some of the greatest scientific mysteries, ranging from dark matter to antimatter. The Circular Electron-Positron Collider is a particle accelerator that will measure 100 kilometers in circumference. The collider, to be built with global collaborators, is to be over 100 meters underground, according to a conceptual design report published on Nov 14 by the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the project's initiator.

China's power use sees milder growth in October

China's power consumption rose at a slower pace in October than the previous month, data released on Nov 14 showed. The country's electricity use increased by 6.7 percent year-on-year last month, compared with 8 percent in September, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. In the first 10 months of the year, power use totaled 5.66 trillion kilowatt hours, up by 8.7 percent year-on-year and down by 0.2 percentage points from the first nine months, but up by 2 percentage points from the same period last year. During the period, electricity used by the agriculture and industrial sectors grew by 9.8 percent and 7.2 percent respectively, the NDRC data showed. The slowdown in power consumption came amid slightly slower economic growth.

Train with oranges departs for Europe

China Railway Express opened its first exclusive train for oranges on Nov 8, starting from Yichang, Hubei province, to Moscow. According to local authorities, the train uses international standardized cold-chain containers, GPS service and remote control of humidity and temperature to ensure the fresh delivery of citrus during the 16-day trip.

Charities to face severe medical-fraud penalties

The Ministry of Civil Affairs will strengthen oversight of nonprofit organizations that run medical assistance programs and warned of severe punishment for those profiting from such programs, according to a circular released by the ministry recently. The move follows scandals that some hospitals and enterprises, which claimed to offer charitable medical assistance, invited patients to "designated hospitals", where they were charged high medical fees, the circular said.

Petrochemical spill sends 52 to hospital

More than 50 people were sent to the hospital in Quanzhou, Fujian province, after almost 7 metric tons of petrochemicals leaked on Nov 4, the local government said in a statement on Nov 8. The 52 patients mainly suffered from dizziness, nausea, vomiting and throat discomfort. Ten required hospitalization, including one who fell into contaminated water. All 10 of these patients were recovering quickly. A hose from an oil tanker owned by Fujian Donggang Petrochemical Industry ruptured when it was offloading petrochemicals consisting mostly of hydrocarbon solvent at a wharf in Quanzhou's Quangang district at 1:13 am on Nov 4, the statement said.

Guidelines issued for firefighter badges

The State Council, China's Cabinet, has released new guidelines for the patterns of firefighters' rank insignia and how to wear them. A decree signed by Premier Li Keqiang is a supporting policy to the rank regulation system that took effect on Oct 27. The guideline sets the patterns for the badges of firefighters and orders that they are to be worn on the shoulder or collar. The rules took effect on Nov 7.

Beijing issues action plan to promote AI

Beijing issued an action plan on developing artificial intelligence and established an AI research institute on Nov 14 to promote the AI industry. The action plan, under the guidance of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Beijing municipal government, aims to encourage scientists in frontier research, push forward breakthroughs in AI theories, methods, tools and systems and create a deeper application of AI technologies. The action plan is an open and inclusive system that will be used to build an open AI service platform and joint labs, train talent and promote research cooperation and academic communication, says Xu Qiang, director of the Beijing Science and Technology Commission.

( China Daily Africa Weekly 11/16/2018 page2)