April 16, 2008
Top headline: Wen Jiabao met with people’s delegates to discuss health care reform
Other stories on the front page
China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu demanded that CNN and host Jack Cafferty apologize to the Chinese people for slanderous comments aired on the network.
Jiang said that Cafferty’s comments, in which he called the Chinese people “goons and thugs,” were both “shocking” and “vicious” and reflected his “ignorance, arrogance and hostility toward the Chinese people.” Jack Cafferty had previously explained that he was referring to the Chinese government and not all of the Chinese people.
In response to Jiang’s accusation, CNN issued a statement saying that it will “apologize to anyone who has interpreted the comments in this way.”
In regard to a recent netizen-led call for a boycott of French goods, Jiang said, “The Chinese citizens have recently expressed their own opinions and emotions,” and that France should reflect on its actions. Jiang said she hopes that France will listen to the Chinese people and support the government’s stance, as many other countries do.
Also
- Beijing introduced a new regulation which stipulates vehicles from outside of Beijing that do not meet emissions standards will not be allowed to enter Beijing between July 20 and September 20. This is part of an effort to clean up the city’s air for the Olympics.
- The big photo shows a plane crash in DR Congo yesterday which killed 89 of the 94 aboard.
- This year’s May Day “golden week” holiday will be shortened to three days, from May 1 to May 3. Work will resume on May 4, a Sunday.
- In an interview with Xinhua News Agency, Zong Qinghou (宗庆后), the chairman of Wahaha who was accused of tax evasion, said he was cooperating with the taxation department’s investigation, and that he had already paid all of the money that was required of him. In an earlier interview, Zong said it was Qin Peng (秦鹏), Danone Asia’s China director, that reported him.
Since last year, Wahaha and Danone have been wrapped up in a business dispute that has yet to be resolved.
- Duan Chunxia (段春霞) is out of office again. Duan, a vice district director who was dismissed from office last July due to her role in the “black kiln slave” scandal, had been made assistant to the district director earlier this year. On April 14, the media reported her reinstatement, which drew considerable criticism, leading to her dismissal.
Stories on other pages
- Tang Jun (唐骏) received 1000 million yuan in stock for joining the New Huadu Group (新华都集团). Tang served as CEO of Shanda Interactive (盛大), an online gaming company, since 2004, and was director of Microsoft China from 2003 to 2004. Tang will take the place of Cheng Shusheng (陈树声), the founder of New Huadu Group, as CEO of the company. The shares he received are a “signing bonus”.
- Public service announcement: if your mobile phone shows that you have a missed call but you cannot identify the number, think twice before you call back. You could lose a few hundred kuai over that innocent call. This article reveals how people use this trick to steal money from mobile phone users.
- Beijing is experimenting with a new chemical treatment that may finally rid the city of the annoying flying tree fluff that comes around every spring.
- A woman in Dongguan (东莞), Guangdong Province, was pronounced dead by ambulance doctors, but passersby discovered that she was still alive. Doctors said that busy traffic and dim lights disturbed the diagnosis.
- An explosion in the Guangzhou subway killed a worker and left seven others injured yesterday night. No reason for the explosion is given in the article.