PROMISING PING—PONG CHAMPION

Sun Yingsha， a 17-year-old Chinese Ping-Pong player， won the womens singles and womens doubles titles during the International Table Tennis Federation （ITTF） World Tour—Japan Open in Tokyo on June 18.

This was the fi rst time she had taken part in an international Ping-Pong event. Nonetheless， Sun defeated a number of veteran players at the tournament. Her coach Huang Haicheng said Suns performance was beyond his expectations.

Sun was born in Shijiazhuang， capital of north Chinas Hebei Province， in 2000. At the beginning， her mother just wanted to make her strong through playing table tennis. Later， Suns talent in the sport was discovered.

Sun began receiving professional Ping-Pong training when she was 5 years old. At the age of 10， Sun became a player on the provincial team of Hebei. Making progress in leaps and bounds， Sun was chosen as a reserve player for Chinas national team in 2015. Sun started to play for China in offi cial games this year.

Discarding Nonsense Programs

Xinhua Daily Telegraph June 16

Recent years have witnessed a lot of variety shows in the guise of sports competitions or fun making， involving jokes， tricks， taunts and the like， with the participation of movie stars， with a view to winning high audience ratings and website hits. Some entertainment programs import foreign models regardless of Chinas basic national conditions. All are intended to make big money.

Usually， when a certain “nonsense game”makes a splash， a string of games online and offl ine will begin to copy it， sweeping the whole or a certain part of society. It seems that such programs do not cost much money， but in fact they account for too many TV production resources and too much broadcasting time on certain channels.

TV variety shows should try to do good for the public， promote culture and encourage innovation. This is the requirement put forward in the 23rd Shanghai TV Festival.

In June， the State Administration of Press， Publication， Radio， Film and Television issued a formal notice demanding online shows and movies resist star worship， nonsense games and extravagant activities. Actually， this is also becoming a consensus among TV and movie producers.

Reducing imported recreational models， vitalizing cultural programs and focusing more on public welfare should be the guidelines for Chinas movies， TV programs and variety shows. Only in this way can these programs help spread Chinese culture and serve the public.

A Hard Starting Line

China Newsweek June 19

Some private primary schools in Shanghai prepare strange test questions， like those found in civil servant tests or math competitions， for parents who intend to send their children to these primary schools after they finish kindergarten. Parents are required to report their jobs and also their own parents jobs， plus their academic qualifi cations. Once a student enrolls， the parents are required to pay about 30，000 yuan every year， much higher than in public primary schools. Still， parents are rushing to private schools， as these schools provide better-quality education， which can enable their children to get into good junior middle schools.

However， as there are not so many private primary schools in Shanghai， only parents who can pass their tests and afford the schooling fees are likely to win the limited seats. Besides， rich families tend to purchase homes within the districts of excellent public schools， so that their children can still go to relatively good schools if they are not accepted by private schools. Meanwhile， poor families， who cant afford expensive school district homes， can only send their children to ordinary schools. As a result， the gap between the rich and the poor appears when children are very young and is further solidifi ed as they grow up.

Private primary schools only account for 10 percent of Shanghais primary schools， but they have stirred up anxiety among parents， some of whom have posted their concerns online. Although parents dont know how the curriculum differences between private and public schools will affect their childrens future development， still they scramble to get their children into private schools.

This collective anxiety refl ects the uneven distribution of education resources， parentsexcessive worry and also the utilitarian mentality of the society as a whole. The key is to develop a more stable social environment where people wont need to depend solely on their childrens education as a means of insuring against future uncertainty.

Caring for the Elderly

Guangzhou Daily June 19

Recently， a video went viral online which shows some women in their 60s in Luoyang of Henan Province jostling with young people for a basketball court so that they can practice square dancing. Another popular video shows a group of old people jogging together on roads in Qingdao of Shandong Province， disrupting traffi c. Public opinion thus seems not so friendly toward the elderly these days. We do not deny the impropriety of their behaviors. However， behind these cases， there is an undeniable issue. China is home to more than 200 million people above the age of 60， so is it ready for the aging of its population？

The fundamental reason for both cases is the lack of public space in cities， or fl awed distribution of the space. In Qingdao， local traffi c authorities later found a place for the jogging group in a school， and soon everyone got along well with each other.

The State Council has issued a decision on caring for the elderly， and a lot of welfare is provided. For instance， old people above the age of 65 will have a free physical examination every year.

Indeed， such services are necessary， but caring for the elderly should also include more public resources for them to do exercise and have entertainment. If urban development can give more heed to the elderlys demands in this regard， then confl icts similar to those mentioned above will naturally diminish then disappear.

PROPERTY TYCOON RETIRED

Wang Shi， the 66-year-old founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vanke Co. Ltd.， announced on June 21 in a statement that he had given up his seat on the board.

Wang is famous in China， as his company has become a property giant over the past decade. Wang has attracted public attention not only for his billionaire status， but also for his charity and ascent of Qomolangma， also known as Mount Everest.

The announcement of a revised board of directors marks a critical turning point in a two-year struggle for control of Vanke. In 2015， Baoneng Group started a series of share purchases in a bid to acquire Vanke， which caused strong resistance by Wang and his management. On June 9， Evergrande Group， another key Vanke shareholder， announced the transfer of its shares to Shenzhen Metro Group， making the latter the largest shareholder and putting an end to Baonengs acquisition plan. Yu Liang， President of Vanke， will be reappointed as an executive director of the company.

“We firmly believe the economic conditions of BRICS [nations] will be better under our joint effort.”

Xiao Jie， Chinese Finance Minister， speaking in a media interview on the sidelines of the BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Shanghai on June 19

“The unique form of governance that is exercised in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region （SAR） has been largely successful. China， the United States， and other nations—most importantly， the people of Hong Kong—continue to benefit from the unique ‘one country， two systems framework.”

Kurt Tong， U.S. Consul General to Hong Kong and Macao SARs， speaking in a media interview ahead of the 20th anniversary of Hong Kongs return to China

“We are making efforts to build Peking University into a great university which should not be measured by various numbers， but could instead be valued for its contribution to cultivating outstanding people and driving social progress.”

Lin Jianhua， President of Peking University， speaking in his address at the establishment of an alumni association of the university in Geneva， Switzerland， on June 18

“It is expected that rapid development in homegrown hardware technologies， supported by homegrown software， will lead to a stronger research and engineering test capacity in many fields.”

Fu Haohuan， Deputy Director of the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi， Jiangsu Province， after the centers Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer was confirmed to remain the worlds fastest such device