FORMER KMT VICE CHAIRMAN DIES

Chiang Pin-kung， former vice chairman of the Kuomintang （KMT） party， passed away on December 10 in Taipei， the KMT said in a statement.

Chiang was also the former chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation （SEF） and former vice president of the Taiwan-based Council of the Summit for Entrepreneurs Across the Taiwan Straits.

Born in 1932， Chiang was elected vice chairman of the KMT and SEF chairman in 2003 and 2008， respectively.

Founded in the early 1990s， the Chinese mainlandbased Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits（ARATS） and the SEF are authorized by the mainland and Taiwan to handle cross-Straits affairs.

Heads of the ARATS and SEF conducted eight rounds of talks and signed 18 agreements to develop crossStraits relations while Chiang served as SEF chairman， a post he resigned in September 2012.

Reducing Chemical Pollution

Beijing Youth Daily December 5

According to Xinhua News Agency， a chemical company in Taixing City of east Chinas Jiangsu Province has buried nearly 8，000 tons of dangerous chemical waste in local villages， causing serious pollution to farmland. Local soil has turned black 50 centimeters deep beneath the ground. The economic cost to decontaminate the soil will be enormous， not to mention the damage to local villagers health. Local police transferred more than 30 suspects involved in the case to the procuratorate department.

China is a large producer of chemical products， and how to properly dispose of chemical waste has been a serious challenge. In recent years， however， environmental protection has been given increased importance and tougher punishment has been put in place for actions that harm the environment. With the establishment of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment earlier this year， stricter regulations will be enacted to curb pollution.

Scientifi c innovation is the most reliable and effective way to fundamentally solve the problem. Chemical products should go through special disposal using technologies which make them harmless.

At present， many chemical companies have backward technologies. Relevant departments should shut down companies that generate serious pollution and provide financial support or tax-reduction for those willing to realize hazard-free disposal through technological upgrades.

Heritage Protection

Oriental Outlook December 13

A countrys cultural heritage is the root and soul of its history and culture. Since reform and opening up 40 years ago， China has made remarkable achievements in cultural heritage protection as a legal system governing heritage protection has come into being. The number of people working in the cultural heritage protection industry increased from 26，000 at the start of reform and opening up to over 160，000 at the end of 2017.

In 1985， China became a state party to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and two years later， the first batch of six Chinese sites were listed as World Heritage Sites， including the Great Wall and the Palace Museum. Today China boasts 53 World Heritage Sites， the second most in the world.

China has made innovative attempts to carry out heritage protection in the past decades. The Great Walls structure， for example， is extremely diffi cult to protect as it spans a vast territory. Thus， the government， non-governmental organizations and individual volunteers have worked together in the process.

At present， a consensus on cultural heritage protection has been formed， but how to encourage ordinary people to pay attention to and participate in heritage protection is still an urgent task. From a longterm perspective， institutional and legal arrangements are needed to mobilize the participation of the whole society.

Chinese people need to enhance their respect for history and culture， and protect cultural heritage in accordance with the law in order to safeguard protections carried out by their predecessors.

4K Dawns

Guangming Daily December 5

China Central Television recently launched a 4K resolution channel and formulated a plan for 4K development.

Looking back on the history of the fi lm and TV industry， technological advancement has led to revolutions of aesthetics and the entire industry. From silent movies to talkies， from black-and-white to color， every technological advance has reshaped the industry.

4K， which refers to a display device or content having horizontal resolution of 4，000 pixels， will bring fundamental changes to documentaries.

As 4K imposes higher standards on budgets and technology， more blockbuster documentaries will be produced， enabling the genre to become more industrialized. The number of works will be reduced but the quality will improve. Only projects with creative and market potential will get investment.

However， it should be noted that 4K can guarantee technological standards but it cannot add wings to lackluster productions. The core competitiveness of a documentary remains its creativity and elegant presentation.

TV documentaries produced in the past 30 years are of lower quality than those produced using 4K， while fi lm documentaries have a similar quality as 4K ones.

Hopefully 4K will bring more opportunities and expand the space for development of documentaries in the future.

HUAWEI CFO RELEASED ON BAIL

Meng Wanzhou， Chief Financial Offi cer （CFO） of Chinas Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.， was released on bail on December 11 by a Canadian court.

Meng is provisionally detained by Canadian authorities at the request of the United States as she was transferring fl ights in Canada on December 1.

She was accused of lying to fi nancial institutions about the use of a subsidiary to sell to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. Mengs lawyer denied the charge.

Meng will be allowed to stay in her Vancouver home until her next court date on February 6 and as the United States formally fi les an extradition request by January 8.

Born in 1972， Meng is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei. She joined Huawei in 1993 and worked her way up from secretary to CFO of the company in 2011 and vice chairman in March.

“It is in the interests of both sides to settle their differences， as they are economically intertwined.”

Chinese Consul General in San Francisco Wang Donghua， in a signed article titled A Welcome Pause in U.S.-China Trade Dispute， carried by the San Francisco Chronicle on December 11

“I am mostly interested in the economic transformation of China. In a very short time， so many people came out of poverty and China became a major force in a couple of decades. It was a great achievement.”

Guven Sak， Managing Director of the Ankara-based Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey， in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency ahead of his attendance at the Understanding China Conference scheduled for December 16-18 in Beijing

“In the future， we will further promote South-South cooperation on climate change and green development along the Belt and Road， and contribute more to efforts to address climate change and the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.”

Chinese Ecology and Environment Minister Li Ganjie， in an interview with Xinhua News Agency ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference held from December 2 to 14 in Katowice， Poland

“China played a positive role that was in keeping with the‘wide-ranging nature of the summit， which aims to promote joint solutions to the common problems that countries face today.”

Enrique Dussel Peters， head of the China-Mexico Studies Center at the National Autonomous University of Mexico， commenting on Chinas role at the 2018 G20 Buenos Aires Summit held on November 30 and December 1