SOCIETY

Anti-Drug Service

A police officer teaches workers at entertainment venues on how to recognize ecstasy and other drugs in Changle,Fujian Province,on June 25.

The Ministry of Public Security said that the country’s number of registered drug users had reached 2.14 million by the end of March.

About 83.6 percent of those drug users are male.Over half of the country’s registered drug users are aged 19 to 35,44.3 percent are 36 to 59,0.7 percent are under 18 and 0.6 percent are over 60.

In a bid to help recovering users live drug-free,the country registers them to arrange regular police visits.

Xinjiang Riots

A total of 24 people have been killed by rioters in a violent terrorist attack in a remote township in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,Xinhua News Agnecy reported.

The attack occurred at 5∶50 a.m.on June 26 in Lukqun Township,Shanshan County in Turpan Prefecture.Rioters killed 24 people,including two police officers.Among the victims,16 were Uygurs.

The rioters attacked the township’s police stations,a local government building and a construction site.They also set fire to police cars.Twenty-one police officers and civilians were injured.

The police shot and killed 11 rioters at the scene and captured another four who were injured.

Police authorities are investigating the incident.

Cross-Straits Pact

Negotiators from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan signed a service trade agreement on June 21.

The agreement was inked by the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and the Straits Exchange Foundation in Taiwan,which are authorized by the mainland and Taiwan,respectively,to handle cross-Straits affairs.

According to the agreement,the mainland will open 80 service sectors to Taiwan,while Taiwan will open 64 sectors to the mainland.

The sectors include those related to commerce,telecommunications,construction,distribution,environment,health,tourism,entertainment,culture,sports,transportation and finance.

Under the deal,the threshold for market access will be lowered for service providers from both sides and more favorable policies will be formulated to boost cross-Straits cooperation in the service industry.

The agreement will further normalize and liberalize service trade between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan,as well as promote the opening up of mutual markets in the service sector,the ARATS and SEF said in a joint press release.

SNOWLAND SHOW

Visitors pose for a picture at the Tibet Impression photography exhibition on its opening day on June 26 in New York City.Nearly 100 selected photos display Tibet’s natural and cultural landscapes

Copyright Protection

China’s National Copyright Administration said on June 25 that it will add Apple’s App Store,Amazon and Taobao,the country’s largest C2C online marketplace,to its copyright supervision plan in this year’s campaign against online piracy.

These online platforms will be required to report on their measures for protecting copyrights and handling complaints filed by title holders,according to a statement issued by the administration.

The administration will also extend its supervision to music videos for the first time and make an initial list of 24 major video portals to be supervised.

A four-month campaign against online copyright infringement and piracy was launched in late June.

Statistics from the administration show that from 2005 to 2012,authorities across the country investigated 4,051 cases of online copyright infringement and piracy.Of the total,299 cases were transferred to judicial authorities for handling.

BEST WISH

Students and professors attend the 2013 graduation ceremony of Capital Normal University in Beijing on June 25.Nearly 7 million college students graduate in China this year,the highest in history

Historic Documents

China’s official archives relating to Tibet in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)and documents showing an ancient financial and messaging service between overseas Chinese and relatives back home have won UNESCO recognition.

A meeting of the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Register has decided to list these two sets of documents,a statement from the State Archives Administration said on June 21.

The meeting was held from June 18 to 21 in Gwangju Metropolitan City,the Republic of Korea.

The Memory of the World Register lists documentary heritage recognized as globally significant and having outstanding universal value.

China has nine pieces of documentary heritage listed on the Memory of the World Register,includingThe Compendium of Materia Medica,the quintessential guide to ancient Chinese traditional medicine,andThe Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Internal Medicine,China’s earliest recorded medical classic.

Worldwide,299 pieces of documentary heritage from 100 countries have been listed on the register,the statement said.

Medical Aid

Disadvantaged people in China will have more access to emergency medical help now that the Central Government has set aside 500 million yuan ($81 million) for aid,the Ministry of Finance said on June 26.

The money will help those who cannot be immediately identified in an emergency and for people unable to afford the costs of emergency care.

The fund aims to help build emergency medical support systems across the country,according to a ministry statement.

Early Human Project

North China’s Hebei Province will invest 5 million yuan ($813,000) in a project to unearth early human fossils that may identify a new cradle of mankind.

The money will fund studies on early human activities and searches for human fossils at Nihewan Site in the city of Zhangjiakou,said Xie Fei,deputy head of the province’s Cultural Heritage Bureau.

A project was launched in early June to investigate what is the previously undiscovered culture hearth of the Orient while searching for human fossils to support the claim that the site has been an essential part,according to Xie.

First discovered in 1921,the site has seen excavations of ancient animal fossils and stone tools dating back 2 million years ago,which have challenged the theory that Africa was the sole origin of mankind.

Among the prominent finds was a dining site where early hunters ate their game,including elephants,as well as more than 1,000 stone balls that scientists believed had been used as weapons.

Legal Report

China currently has 230,000 practicing lawyers and more than 18,000 law offices,said a report released on June 25.

The annual report on the construction of China’s legal system in 2012 is published by the China Law Society,an academic organization of legal experts and practitioners headquartered in Beijing.

As many as 324 representative offices of 263 law offices from 21 countries and regions had been registered on the Chinese mainland by the end of 2012,according to the report.

In addition to the current Constitution,China had a total of 243 national laws,721 administrative regulations and more than 8,600 local laws or regulations as of the end of December 2012,the report revealed.

Heritage Additions

To the right are rice terraces in Yuanyang County,southwest China’s Yunnan Province.

The 37th Session of the UN Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage Committee decided to inscribe China’s Xinjiang Tianshan and Honghe Hani Rice Terraces on the World Heritage List on June 21 and 22,respectively.

China is the second largest owner of world heritage sites,with 45 on the World Heritage List,next only to Italy with 49.