IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Fresh rules for charities

Charity organizations in China will be required to publish regular financial reports and tighten their internal management, according to the new rules announced by the Ministry of Civil Affairs that seeks to improve transparency.

Under the new regulations, charity foundations will have to provide detailed reports on donations and spending. If a charity project extends beyond three months, then it must publish quarterly financial reports, and a comprehensive report for public scrutiny at the end of the project. Donors may also seek information on how their money has been spent.

Charitable foundations are prohibited from carrying out or sponsoring any profitable activities.

Defense

Advanced patrol vessel launched

China launched its largest and most advanced patrol vessel Haixun 01 in Wuhan, Hubei province, on July 28, to step up the efforts being taken to protect China's marine sovereignty and improve rescue efficiency in coastal waters.

The new flagship is the first patrol vessel capable of completing both maritime surveillance and rescue missions, according to a statement from the Shanghai Maritime Bureau, which will manage the ship.

The vessel is responsible for cruising China's territorial waters, searching and saving lives at sea, investigating maritime disputes, monitoring oil spills and conducting emergency disposal, the statement said, adding that the vessel can also tow ships and put out fires on other boats.

The 5,418-ton ship is 128.6 meters long. It can sail 37 km an hour, and has a maximum sailing distance of 18,520 km without refueling. It is expected to be in service by the end of the year.

Technology

Satellite imaging improved

China's first high-resolution, remote-sensing satellite for civilian use, Ziyuan III, was put into service on July 30, marking a breakthrough in the country's drive to map the Earth from outer space.

Launched on Jan 9, the satellite was delivered to its primary subscriber, the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, on July 30.

"Ziyuan" is the Chinese word for "resources".

Unlike the Ziyuan I and II satellites, which produce only two-dimensional images, the new satellite can produce three-dimensional images thanks to three cameras attached to it at different angles.

Environment

Desertification threatens railway

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world's highest rail system, is being threatened by desertification on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as a result of global warming, experts said. About 440 km of the 1,956-km railway is in areas affected by desertification, Wang Jinchang, a senior engineer with the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Co, said.

Research has shown that soil erosion threats have risen sharply in the rivers and wetland from Golmud and Lhasa, and the amount of affected track has almost doubled from 2003 to 2009.

Touted as the "Road to Heaven", half of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was built in areas at an elevation of about 4,000 meters, crossing mountains, ravines, the Gobi Desert and frozen earth.

Safety

Food, medicine cases in limelight

Though the number of cases involving food and medicine safety has increased considerably, it also reflects a more focused approach by the legal authorities in China to check such instances, the Supreme People's Court said.

Courts across the country have handled 688 cases related to fake medicines in the first six months of this year, up nearly 70 percent from last year. The number of cases concerning fake medicines in 2011 rose by 275 percent from 2010, according to the supreme court. The number of food safety cases heard by courts stood at 330 at the end of June, nudging close to the entire total for 2011. The number of food safety disputes in 2011 was 216 percent higher than in 2010.

Culture

New characters found on relics

Archaeologists from China have discovered six new characters from the oracle bone relics that were housed in a museum in Lushun, Liaoning province.

Song Zhenhao, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who heads the team of experts researching the inscriptions, described the new findings as another breakthrough since such inscriptions were discovered more than 110 years ago.

He said no new characters from oracle bone inscriptions had been reported in the 32 years since the Compilation of Oracle Bone Inscriptions was published in 1980. Inscriptions written on tortoise shells and animal bones represent the original characters of the Chinese written language.

China Daily

(China Daily 08/03/2012 page2)