OCTOGENARIAN SCIENTIST’S DEEP DIVE
2018-06-25
Well-known geologist Wang Pinxian, 82, was on board Chinas domestically produced submersible Deep Sea Warrior on its fi rst voyage in the South China Sea from May 11 to 23, making him the vehicles oldest passenger. During the voyage, Wang dove to a depth of over 1,400 meters three times and conducted more than eight hours of underwater research each time.
On his dives, Wang found a cold seep biogroup consisting mainly of feather duster worms and sea mussels and discovered a special biogroup of cold water coral and sponges.
Wang has been conducting research on marine micropaleontology for decades and has made creative contributions to the development of marine geology in China. He is a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at the School of Ocean and Earth Science of Tongji University in Shanghai.
The Deep Sea Warrior voyage was a fi nishing touch on a research mission on the history of the South China Sea launched in 2011, which is expected to shed light on the formation and evolvement of the sea.
Regulating Short Video Platforms
Legal Daily May 29
An 8-year-old boy in Xian, capital of northwest Chinas Shaanxi Province, recently imitated a prank on a video-sharing app by sticking adhesive tape to the frame of a door. As a result, his 6-year-old brother was tricked and tripped, seriously injuring his teeth and jaw.
Short video platforms have taken off in China recently, with their users numbering around 353 million in 2018. However, while many users seem satisfi ed with these platforms, they are plagued by instances of vulgarity and pornography, and cases of injury caused by people imitating short online videos.
These individuals should be responsible for their own injuries because they chose to ignore the risks. But if those imitating videos are children, their guardians should be held accountable. Yet the short video platforms also have their share of responsibility in such accidents.
According to a regulation enacted in 2016, video streaming websites should adopt a classification system for their content and label their content accordingly. The platforms are essentially responsible for reviewing their content before publishing it. Problems caused by the imitation of online videos indicate that service providers have failed to review their content strictly enough and to warn users of potential risks. As the short online video industry thrives, companies are focused on scrambling for a larger share of the market rather than regulating their content.
The government should overhaul the industry to make it more rational, healthy and better regulated while the platforms themselves should not disregard laws and regulations when trying to attract customers and pursue profi ts.
Training General Practitioners
Oriental Outlook May 31
The general practitioner—a doctor who is trained to provide primary healthcare to patients of either gender and any age—is a new concept in China. And the training of general practitioners is becoming increasingly urgent as part of Chinas ongoing medical reform.
The latest round of medical reform introduced in 2009 aimed to adopt a multilayer diagnosis and treatment mechanism. Diseases are categorized according to their severity and accordingly treated at different levels of medical institutions.
The success of the reform depends on the quality of community-level medical institutions because if patients can bring their chronic illnesses under control with the guidance and treatment of general practitioners at these institutions, then the pressure on large hospitals will be reduced. General practitioners make up the majority of medical staff at community-level hospitals, and so increasing their number and improving their competence are crucial for the development of Chinas medical industry. At present, 500,000 new general practitioners need to be trained to meet the goal of five practitioners for every 10,000 people in China, which was set by the State Council in January.
To make up for the shortage, 76 universities in China had set up general practitioner degrees by the end of last year, after the Peking University Health Science Center established the fi rst such courses in 2011. Community-level hospitals need to carry out more training sessions to teach general practitioners how to create diet and exercise plans for patients to manage their health issues.
Improving Intelligent Manufacturing
Peoples Daily May 28
With the digital transformation of the global manufacturing industry, intelligent manufacturing has become an important means of fostering new growth drivers in China, allowing the country to build itself into a manufacturing power.
Intelligent manufacturing refers to a system highly effi cient, green, Internet-based and customized, incorporating the design, manufacture and recycling of products based on new technologies such as big data and the Internet of Things.
In recent years, Chinas intelligent manufacturing has taken shape, with investment increasing in research and development and breakthroughs made in core technologies. However, the competitiveness of Chinas intelligent manufacturing is still inadequate compared with developed countries.
Chinas traditional manufacturing industry is undergoing transformation and upgrading. Many enterprises are at the middle or low end of the industrial chain, lacking resources and impulse to switch to intelligent equipment. Even those enterprises which are using intelligent machines are at a preliminary stage in intelligent manufacturing.
It is thus imperative to recognize the revolutionary effect of intelligent manufacturing on industrial growth and use modern technology to transform traditional production methods.
Innovation should be promoted to independently develop key technologies and equipment such as industrial robots, intelligent sensors and control systems. A customer-based business model needs to be established to learn about consumer demands through means such as Big Data analysis, to better meet their requirements and add value to products.
Enterprises should be encouraged to use innovation from other countries to improve their competitiveness as well.
VETERAN TREE PLANTER
Wang Chengbang, a resident of Korla City, northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has been devoted to planting trees for over 50 years.
When Wang arrived in the city in 1956 as a military recruit, he was disappointed with the vast barren deserts, given that the city is only 70 km south of Chinas largest desert, the Taklamakan Desert. He made a decision to plant trees in the region.
Wang began by planting trees in the military camp in his spare time. Since retiring in 1994, he has made tree-planting his full-time job. On being told by doctors that he only had a few months to live after being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005, he made up his mind to plant more trees. Defying the diagnosis, 13 years later, he is now 82 years old.
“Ive been living in Xinjiang for more than 60 years now,” Wang said.“My wish is still to grow more trees and leave a greener Xinjiang for the next generation.”
“Both countries should adopt more positive policies to facilitate personnel exchanges and make conditions better for cooperation between the two countries instead of acting in an opposite manner.”
Hua Chunying, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responding to reports on U.S. scheduled limits on some Chinese student visas at a press briefi ng in Beijing on May 30
“With the new dedicated museum, local residents and visitors will enjoy long-term opportunities to appreciate the exquisite Palace Museum collection, to be curated in a comprehensive and in-depth manner with Hong Kong characteristics.”
Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, at a ground-breaking ceremony for the Hong Kong Palace Museum on May 28
“It is common for trout to be sold as Atlantic salmon, but they are different. Labeling should be regulated so consumers know what they have bought.”
Gu Zhongyi, a nutritionist at Beijing Friendship Hospital of Capital Medical University, in response to a China Central Television report saying that approximately one third of salmon sold on the Chinese market is produced at a fi sh farm in northwest Chinas Qinghai Province
“Libraries along the land and maritime Silk Road routes had unbalanced development and exchange experiences. The alliance will drive the common development of the industry.”
Han Yongjin, Curator of the National Library of China(NLC), commenting on an NLC-initiated alliance of more than 20 libraries from countries and regions along the Belt and Road routes which will cooperate on document sharing, classics protection and digitalization