NEWS & WEIBO COMMENTS

Xi Jinping Caricature Published by State-run Media

On February 19， a cartoon depiction of President Xi Jinping outfitted in a grey jacket and a pair of blue trousers triggered widespread discussion of new attitudes about publicizing Chinas top leadership. The infographic， published by qianlong.com， a news portal administered by the publicity department of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC）， chronicled Xis major moves since he took office as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in November 2012. Adored by many netizens， the cartoon made headlines on major websites and went viral on microblogs soon after it was released. “The infographic， which was published the day after Xinhua ran a lengthy article detailing Mr. Xis activities， appears to be part of a continuing effort by the government to present a lighter image of the Chinese leadership，” a New York Times blogger commented that day. Since taking office， President Xi has strived to stay in touch with the Chinese public.

Russian Spiderman in Shanghai

Recently， two Russian climbing enthusiasts， Vadim Makhorov and Vitaly Raskalov， claimed to have conquered the unfinished Shanghai Tower， providing both video and photo evidence online： a birds eye view of Shanghai from atop the 650-meter structure. The pair previously received major public attention upon successfully reaching the summit of the Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt last March. For their follow-up， the duo evaded guards and made their way to the top of Chinas tallest building without safety gear and accomplished their ultimate mission – to peer down and take pictures from the acme. Commentators even started to wonder if the pair is going to commercialize their newly internationalized careers.

Quotes

“The tragedy of the Nov. 22 Qingdao oil blast should never happen again. No experience gained at the cost of life will be tolerated.”

— Huang Yi， spokesman for the State Administration of Work Safety （SAWS） addressing the 2014 work safety scope on February 18. The explosion ripped through residential and commercial roads in the Huangdao district of Qingdao， Shandong Province， on November 22， 2013， leaving 62 dead， 136 injured and direct economic losses of 750 million yuan （$122.7 million）.

Memorial Days