2018年4月16日 星期一

China comments on Japan's withholding dues to UNESCO

China comments on Japan's withholding dues to UNESCO

China said on Wednesday that it is irresponsible for Japan to pressurize the UNESCO by withholding its dues and its attempts will not succeed. Hua Chunying, spokesperson with the Foreign Ministry, made the comments at a routine news briefing. Japan is reportedly holding back more than 40 million US dollars it owes to the UNESCO after documents relating to the Nanjing Massacre were included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2015. The Nanjing Massacre is a heinous crime the Japanese militarists committed during the World War II and a historical fact recognized by the international community, Hua said. The inclusion of the documents to Memory of the World Register proves that they fully comply with the UNESCO's evaluation criteria, Hua said. "This will give full play to the positive role of the documents in helping remember history, cherish peace and safeguard human dignity." The files show the atrocities of Japanese invaders in China, who killed 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers from Dec. 13, 1937 to Jan. 1938. It is the duty of member states to pay membership fees to international organizations, Hua said, adding that Japan's words and behavior, once again, exposed its unwillingness to face up to history. "It is irresponsible for Japan to pressurize the UNESCO by withholding its dues and its attempts will not succeed." 


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Chile takes seat at UN Security Council

Chile takes seat at UN Security Council

SANTIAGO - Chile took its seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday as a non-permanent member of the international body through Dec 31, 2015.
It marked the fifth time the South American nation has been invited to sit on the council and help uphold the UN's "principles of non-intervention and respect for international treaties," Chile's foreign ministry said in a statement.
During the 68th UN General Assembly held last October in New York, Chile's bid to sit on the council received unanimous backing of fellow Latin American countries, as well as countries in other parts of the world.
In addition to Chile, other non-permanent members joining the council for the next two years included Chad, Lithuania and Nigeria.
Chile previously sat on the UNSC from 1952-1953, 1961-1962, 1996-1997 and 2003-2004.
"Chile will continue to contribute to strengthening effective multilateralism, so that the Security Council can continue to make concrete contributions to crisis prevention and resolution, which affect international peace and security in different parts of the world," the ministry said.
Chile "will act in keeping with the fundamental principles of the United Nations, such as the sovereign equality of states, non-intervention, the validity and respect for international treaties, the respect and promotion of human rights, democracy, and the peaceful resolution of conflicts," the ministry added.
Chile will fulfill its role at the council "with the conviction that the current complex problems and challenges require global solutions based on cooperation and solidarity", the ministry said.
Chile's foreign policy adheres to the same principles and values as those of the council, the ministry said.


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2017年11月13日 星期一

Capital of China's coal province bans coal sales

Capital of China's coal province bans coal sales

coal Photo: Xinhua
Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province known for coal production, has banned sales, transport and use of coal to tackle air pollution. From Sunday, companies and individuals other than major steel and power plants, are prohibited from selling, transporting or burning coal in the urban area of Taiyuan. Dou Lifen, head of the city's environmental protection bureau, said coal remains the most biggest source for air pollution in winter in the city. The ban is expected to cut coal use by over 2 million tonnes, or 90 percent of the city's total consumption. By winter, the city will renovate heating equipment for 134,000 households in rural and urban areas, replacing coal furnaces with electric or natural gas heaters. After a series of moves, including automobile exhaust and dust control, Taiyuan is expected to see reduction of PM 2.5 and sulfur dioxide by 45 percent, and days of heavy air pollution down 40 percent year on year to 22 days in 2017. 


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Care for elderly facing shortages as aging population continues to grow

Care for elderly facing shortages as aging population continues to grow

Although China's elderly care service industry has developed rapidly, it still faces several problems including a shortage of professional care workers and a lack of engagement of social forces, said an expert.Zheng Gongcheng, president of the China Social Maintenance Society, which was approved by the State Council and registered under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said at the Third China Elderly Care Service Industry Development Forum held in Guiyang, Guizhou Province on Saturday, that China has 240 million people aged 60 or above and the elderly population will increase by 10 million annually by 2035. The population of people aged 60 or above in China is expected to reach 400 million by 2035, with the number of people aged 80 and above increasing by 1 million annually, said Zheng.By international standards, a country or region is considered to be an "aging society" when the number of people aged 60 or above makes up 10 percent of the population or more.The Ministry of Civil Affairs released a report in August saying that China had more than 230.8 million people aged 60 or above at the end of 2016, 16.7 percent of the total population. According to Xinhua, the country had 140,000 nursing homes and more than 7.3 million beds at the end of 2016, with a year-on-year increase of 20.7 percent and 8.6 percent. Under China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period, the country will provide better senior care services by improving the social security system and harnessing the market. 


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Canton Fair attracts 25,000 exhibitors

Canton Fair attracts 25,000 exhibitors

Traders attend the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 15, 2017. The 122nd China Import and Export Fair, known as the Canton Fair, kicked off here Sunday. The China Import and Export Fair is held every spring and autumn and is seen as a barometer of the country's foreign trade. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin)
The 122nd China Import and Export Fair, commonly known as the Canton Fair, opened in south China's Guangzhou city Sunday, drawing around 25,000 companies as exhibitors. More than 160,000 types of products are being exhibited at more than 60,000 booths in an area covering nearly 1.2 million square meters, organizers said. Held in Guangzhou every spring and autumn, the event is seen as a barometer of China's foreign trade. China's foreign trade has maintained its momentum to stabilize and improve, after with a continuous decline in the past couple of years, said Xu Bing, spokesperson for the fair. Data from the General Administration of Customs showed the country's foreign trade volume rose 16.6 percent to 20.29 trillion yuan (3.08 trillion US dollars) in the first three quarters of this year. Exports increased 12.4 percent to 11.16 trillion yuan, while imports surged 22.3 percent to 9.13 trillion yuan. The import exhibition zone of the fair has attracted 341 companies from 17 countries and regions participating the Belt and Road Initiative, which was proposed by China in 2013 to connect the vibrant Asian economic circle at one end and Europe at the other, and then extending it further to other regions. More than 2,000 domestic manufacturers with their own brands attended the event, featuring smart, high-end, low-carbon and customized products. Haier, a world-leading home appliance producer based in east China's Shandong Province, brought its state-of-the-art models to the fair, including a washing machine that can automatically distinguish fabric and colors and a self-cleaning air conditioner able to purify air. Zhang Qingfu, a senior executive of Haier's overseas operation, said the company's "revolutionary technology" has boosted export. From January to August, export of Haier's refrigerators grew by 54 percent year-on-year and that of its washing machines increased by 29 percent, while the sales of smart air conditioners doubled. Hisense, another home appliance producer, recorded year-on-year growth of 30 percent in the overseas revenues in the first nine months. In Japan, deemed as the most inaccessible market for foreign home appliances, its sales doubled compared with the same period last year. In order to help with China's anti-poverty battle, from this event to the 128th in 2020, domestic exhibitors from poor regions will be exempted from exhibition fees and a display zone will be dedicated to products from these areas. More than 500 companies from over 800 poor counties across the country attended the ongoing fair. 


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"Cane toad sausages" created to protect native Aussie species

"Cane toad sausages" created to protect native Aussie species

West Australians are being asked to collect as many cane toads as possible as part of a radical new plan to protect the state's native bird and animal species from the voracious reptile. Scientists from Western Australia (WA) Parks and Wildlife are asking residents to collect the toads - dead or alive - so they can mince them to make cane toad sausages. Corrin Everitt, leader of the State Cane Toad Initiative for WA Parks and Wildlife, said that the cane toad sausages would be fed to the species most at risk from the toads to create a "taste aversion" - meaning the foul taste of the toad causes them to want to avoid toads altogether. "The idea is that we feed toad sausages to animals like northern quolls, and their experience in eating that sausage causes vomiting and aversion to the taste of a toad, and the smell of the toad," Everitt told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Tuesday. "The work that we have done so far is looking pretty effective ... at the moment, it's looking like between 50 and 70 per cent of the quolls that might be present in a population are taking the sausage and are learning to avoid toads." WA has remained largely unaffected by the cane-toad invasion which has devastated Queensland's wildlife, but the toad is moving west at a rate of 40 to 60 kilometers per year. Richard Shine, a biologist at the University of Sydney who helped develop the taste aversion project, said that native species were most vulnerable to the first toads they encountered. "Within a few months of cane toads arriving in an area, we get something like 95 per cent of the big goannas are dead, and similar numbers for the quolls, blue-tongue lizards and in some areas freshwater crocodiles," Shine told the ABC. "So it's really all about trying to get the sausages right in there at the front. "We can't do that across the entire landscape as the Kimberley (a national park in northern WA) is a very big space, but if we can create pockets where the native predators survive, then they can colonize surrounding areas after the toad front moves through." Researchers from the University of Melbourne are working to implement a waterless barrier on the eastern border of WA to prevent the toads, which are heavily reliant on plentiful water, from spreading in WA. 


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Canada's Ontario adopts motion designating Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day

Canada's Ontario adopts motion designating Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day

Photo taken on Oct. 26, 2017 shows the exterior of Canada's Ontario Legislative Building in Toronto, Canada. Canada's Ontario provincial parliament Thursday passed a motion designating Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day to commemorate the mass killing of 300,000 Chinese by Japanese troops in Nanjing during World War II. (Photo: Xinhua/Zou Zheng)
The legislature of Canada's east-central province of Ontario Thursday passed a motion recognizing Dec. 13th in each year as "Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day."The No. 66 motion, adopted by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, was the first of its kind in a western country.It was introduced by Chinese-Canadian lawmaker Soo Wong in a bid to acknowledge and honor the over 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre, a heinous crime committed by the Japanese militarists during the World War II."The passing of this Motion is an important step in affirming Ontario's inclusive values. It recognizes the horrors of World War II in Asia, and shows humanity for victims, survivors, and families affected by the Nanjing Massacre, many of whom live in Ontario," said Wong in a press release Thursday afternoon."My motion is very similar to what I introduced last year Bill 79. It's no difference. If passed, the motion will recognize every December 13 Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day in Ontario," Wong said in an earlier interview with Xinhua.It is important for the residents of Ontario, home to largest Asian community in Canada, to "reflect and educate" themselves about the enduring lessons of the Nanjing Massacre and other World War II atrocities in Asia as many are unfamiliar with this part of history, Wong said.This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, in which more than 300,000 Chinese lives were taken by Japanese invaders when they occupied Nanjing, then China's capital, from Dec. 13, 1937.The Bill 79 Wong introduced in 2016 also called for the designation of December 13 as Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day in Ontario. The bill passed the second reading last December, and will go through a third reading in December this year. If passed, Dec. 13 will become an official commemorative day in the province.However, the bill has encountered strong opposition from Tokyo. Japanese lawmakers reportedly have sent a letter to the Ontario government against the bill and lobbied against its third reading. Almost 100,000 signatures have been collected in Ontario Asian communities in petition to pass Wong's bill so far.Wong said she had received a postcard from Japan with no signature on it, which gives an alternative number of deaths killed in Nanjing during the World War II."We know the history, we also know the fact," Wong said.Moral obligation to tell future generations about WWII carnageThe motion the Ontario legislature adopted Thursday might be still steps away from becoming a law, it still carries great significance for Canada and for the world as a whole, as there is a "moral obligation" to tell future generations about the carnage, terror and tragedies that happened in World War II, Canadian experts said.This Motion is "of great importance" for the Chinese and other Asian communities in Ontario, said Dr. Joseph Wong, founder of Toronto Alpha (Association for Learning and Preserving the History of the Second World War in Asia)."It shows the provincial legislature for the first time recognizes that atrocities in Asia's WWII, symbolized by the horrors of the Nanjing Massacre, did occur and important enough to be remembered every year, and promoted in our education system," Joseph Wong said in a press release on Thursday."The motion does not replace Bill 79. This motion not only is important locally and in Canada as well, it is very important internationally," he said earlier, adding Bill 79 is still at the committee level in the provincial legislature.Remembering the Nanjing Massacre will not be "divisive" for Ontario's Japanese and Chinese communities as some Japanese lawmakers suggested, he said, instead it provides "a foundation" on which all Asian communities can build trust and reconciliation and peace.""As educators we have the responsibility to ensure our students understand the realities of World War II in Asia so we can have a more authentic dialogue about social justice, courage and humanity," said Gerry Connelly, an ALPHA education board member and former director of education at the Toronto district school board."This Motion for the 'Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day' is a big step in raising awareness to stimulate this dialogue," Connelly said.Karen Lin, an Associate at Solstice Public Affairs, couldn't agree more.Canadian students learn about the horrible tragedy that happened when the U.S. army dropped atomic bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, unfortunately, Ontarians have not had the opportunity to learn and understand the series of events leading up to the military action conducted by the U.S. army in Japan, said Lin in an open letter to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne recently.Neither have Ontarians had the opportunity to learn about the tragedies of the killing of many innocent lives in China, Korea, the Philippines and many other East Asian countries by a brutal Japanese military occupation, Lin said.Lin's letter was widely endorsed by more than 100 registered Chinese Canadian Organizations, registered Chinese Canadian Cultural Groups and Associations, various associations from different ethnic communities as well as many labor unions across Ontario.Many prominent Japanese Canadians such as Joy Kogawa have spoken out in support of Bill 79.Joy Kogawa, who is Japanese Canadian and an author in Toronto, said that she fully supported the bill."The facts are the facts, and it is wrong to deny them," said Kogawa, who's been awarded the Order of Canada and Japan's Order of the Rising Sun.It's time for atrocities in Asia to be as well-known as those in Europe or Canada, Kogawa said, adding she has met and argued with many Japanese people who think the Rape of Nanking did not exist.In November 2007, the House of Commons, the lower house of Canadian federal legislature, unanimously passed a motion urging Japan to offer "formal and sincere" apologies to foreign women forced into sexual servitude during World War II. Canada played a vital role in defending Hong Kong against the Japanese military invasion as part of the commonwealth during the war. 


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