April 11, 2008
Top headline on the front page: Two terrorist plots foiled
The police have thwarted two terrorist plots targeting the Olympic Games recently. The East Turkestan Independence Movement is allegedly responsible for the two plots.
According to the article, the terrorists intended to bomb various locations in Beijing and Shanghai, including government buildings, military bases and hotels accommodating foreigners. The plots also include kidnapping foreign journalists, tourists and athletes during the Olympic Games.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security, Wu Heping (武和平), said that the events proved that China’s police is capable of defeating all kinds of terrorist attacks.
Also on the front page
• The San Francisco section of the Olympic torch relay concluded successfully yesterday. The big photo showed that the arrival of the Olympic Flame was warmly welcomed by local overseas Chinese. The report said that the route change foiled plans by Tibetan separatists to disturb the procession.
• The enforcement of new rules governing store signs in downtown Zhengzhou, Henan Province has caused controversy.
Intending to improve the city’s image, the local Municipal Administration Department issued rules to standardize the size, colors and appearance of commercial signage. The authorities started tearing down signs that did not meet the requirements. Local shop owners are complaining about the regulations and questioning whether the Municipal Administration Department actually has the authority to take down signs. A woman shop owner who tried to resist the authorities was injured in a scuffle.
• Beijing will introduce a smoking ban in public places. The ban will take effect from May 1.
• Construction of the new Beijing South Railway Station has been suspended after two accidents earlier this month that killed two workers and severely injured another. Construction will resume after a period of safety training.
• China’s yuan broke the 7 yuan per dollar mark.
On other pages
• A blog article written by Liao Xinbo (廖新波), vice director of the Health Department of Guangdong Province caused controversy.
In his article, Liu said that in China, the error rate of clinical diagnosis is about 50%, and even after a comprehensive medical examination, the rate is still 30%. Despite these alarming statistics, he also pointed out that China does better than U.S. and U.K. in this regard.
For those panicking patients, his suggestion is to lower expectations for doctors.
• Spokesperson of State Food and Drug Administration Yan Jiangying (严江瑛) said yesterday that SFDA had begun to investigate Auspure Biotechnology (汇瑞生物). The Shanghai-based company is blamed for providing tainted dietary supplements that led to positive dope tests for 11 members of the Greek national weightlifting team.
Yan also said some reports from foreign media about the case are not true.