TV PERSONALITY QUITTING COLLEGE POSITION

He Jiong， a TV host， singer， actor and former Arabic teacher confirmed his resignation from Beijing Foreign Studies University （BFSU） on May 17 after allegations of freeloading surfaced days prior.

BFSU issued a statement refuting the allegations， saying since a 2007 staff reshuffle， He has been assigned mainly with duties related to campus image publicity.

The popular entertainer claimed that after his resignation， even if he is no longer technically a member of staff， he will continue to pour his heart and soul into the campus and will always be a member of BFSU， his alma mater. Additionally， he announced his decision to start a special fund in his name to help BFSU students who experience financial difficulties in completing their college education.

Oil and SOE Reform Interrelated

Caixin Weekly May 11

On May 4， Wang Yilin， Wang Yupu and Yang Hua were announced as the new heads of state-owned oil and gas industry giants the China National Petroleum Corp. （CNPC）， China National Offshore Oil Corp. and China Petrochemical Corp. The new chiefs will have to contend with pressures related not only to the anti-corruption drive targeting state-owned company executives， but also to improving financial performance and international competitiveness.

Since Wang Yongchun， former Vice General Manager of CNPC， was taken down for corruption in August 2013， a handful of high-level officials in the oil industry have been sacked for breaches of Party discipline or violation of the law. The performances of the three oil companies， which possess a market monopoly， have continued their downward slide since the fourth quarter of last year through the first quarter of this year， owing to falling oil prices and a sluggish global economy.

The new chiefs are tasked with reforming the national fossil fuel sector. The new round of reforms has set out ambitious goals， including opening up market access and liberating prices， removing administrative barriers to the market， restructuring oil companies， and transforming their management systems.

Success in these goals depends on the progress made in state-owned enterprise （SOE） reforms. Oil and gas reform should be predicated on that of SOEs， which involves improving corporate management structure and properly settling redundant employees. You simply cant have one without the other.

Attacked Online And Offline

China Newsweek May 18

A video of a male driver surnamed Zhang beating up a female driver named Lu Qin for recklessly switching lanes on an expressway in Chengdu， capital of southwest Chinas Sichuan Province， recently went viral on the Internet.

At first， netizens sided with Lu， condemning Zhang for his brutality. However， another video filmed by Zhangs dashboard camera changed public opinion online. The video shows that Zhang was forced to brake several times because Lu repeatedly changed lanes， even though she was clearly at risk of causing an accident.

The second video triggered a wave of criticism of Lu and a campaign to collect details about her life was mounted. Within hours， her name and home address， information on her family and unverified records of previous traffic violations were dug out and posted on forums. A netizen claimed to have found Lus hotel check-in records and even inferred her menstrual cycle based on the records. The drama has hopefully been brought to an end with Lu publishing a letter of apology for her reckless driving and violation of traffic rules.

With an increase in car ownership in China， outbursts of road rage are becoming more frequent. Even more unsettling， however， was the ensuing cyber bullying， in which Lu was characterized as an immoral slut. Humans are naturally inclined to pry into the affairs of others and search engines have facilitated such curiosity. Moreover， anonymity means netizens dont have to worry about shouldering responsibility for publishing personal details， which arguably incentivizes such behavior.

Childs Gender Determines ParentsHappiness

The Beijing News May 18

A recent survey jointly conducted by Peking University and Renmin University of China shows that parents who have sons are less happy than those who have daughters. The study shows that for parents whose sons are aged between 24 and 30 in particular， the levels of happiness reported lie far below those who have young grown-up daughters.

The findings are understandable given that families with sons shoulder heavier financial burdens than those with daughters. In China， parents of boys are supposed to buy them an apartment before marriage. The quality of life of the parents in question is sure to be materially affected by this requirement； hence their sense of happiness is diminished.

A few decades ago， however， the reverse was the case because in accordance with traditional Chinese culture， male children fulfilled the obligations to continue the family line and provide for their elderly parents.

The tendency of parents to base their happiness on their childs gender itself is questionable. It exposes the lack of social welfare guarantees in China. If everybody were to well taken care of when getting old no matter whether they have boys or girls， would the gender of ones child be of substance？ If parents of male children were not socially obligated to buy their sons an apartment， parents of children of either gender would doubtless be more equally happy.

‘GOOD AS GOLD

Xu Tao， a 26-year-old man， has recently been held up as an exemplar of morality owing to the honesty and integrity he demonstrated keeping his promise to netizens.

Three years ago， Xu， then a student at the Beijing University of Chemical Technology， raised 557，000 yuan （$90，000） by posting an online fundraising appeal for his father， who was suffering from leukemia， promising to pay back donations with interest. People had forgotten this event ever since， until one of the donors received Xus payback with 10-percent interest.

Xus father died of his disease last year. Nonetheless， Xu， now working at a chemical company in Beijing， continues to make good on his promise to refund contributions from well-wishers with his salary.

“The core of international industrial cooperation is to encourage our high-end， as opposed to outdated， manufacturing capacity to go global.”

Gu Dawei， an official with the National Development and Reform Commission， speaking at a recent press conference on the Chinese Governments efforts to enhance cooperation with other countries in the manufacturing sector

“By 2025， China will have basically realized industrialization nearly equal to the manufacturing abilities of Germany and Japan at the early stages of their industrialization.”

Miao Wei， Minister of Industry and Information Technology， speaking after the Central Government unveiled a 10-year plan to transform China into a world manufacturing power

“There arent any international principles in the way to the final democracy， so we might learn from others but cannot just copy them.”

Lam Tai-fai， a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong， calling for the approval of a constitutional reform package on achieving universal suffrage in the 2017 chief executive election

“Stable growth of the service sector is expected to offset downward momentum in the manufacturing industry， support overall GDP and provide sufficient job opportunities.”

Wang Jun， a senior economist with the China Center for International Economic Exchanges， a Beijing-based think tank， commenting on Chinas economic performance in an interview with China Daily