Mar 29—China-based network: international infiltration

WASHINGTON (AFP) – An electronic spying operation based primarily in China has infiltrated government and private computers in 103 countries around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, The New York Times has reported.

Citing a report prepared by Canadian researchers and due to be issued this weekend, the paper said the system was being controlled from computers based almost exclusively in China.

However the researchers said they could not argue conclusively that the Chinese government was involved, according to the report.

The investigation by specialists based at the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto started when the office of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader, asked them to examine its computers for signs of malicious software.

Their work led them to a broader operation that had infiltrated at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries in less than two years, The Times said.

Many of these computers belonged to embassies, foreign ministries and other government offices, as well as the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan exile centres in India, Brussels, London and New York.

The researchers said they believed that in addition to the spying on the Dalai Lama, the system, which they called GhostNet, was focused on the governments of South Asian and Southeast Asian countries, the paper noted. ...


Mar 28—China believed to be behind cyber spy network

TORONTO (MSNBC / AP) -- A cyber spy network based mainly in China has tapped into classified documents from government and private organizations in 103 countries, including the computers of Tibetan exiles, Canadian researchers said Saturday.

The work of the Information Warfare Monitor initially focused on allegations of Chinese cyber espionage against the Tibetan community in exile, and eventually led to a much wider network of compromised machines, the Internet-based research group said. ...

The IWM is composed of researchers from Ottawa-based think tank SecDev Group and the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies. The group's initial findings lead to a 10-month investigation that has been summarized in the report, "Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network." It will be released online Sunday.

The researchers detected a cyber espionage network involving over 1,295 compromised computers from the ministries of foreign affairs of Iran, Bangladesh, Latvia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Barbados and Bhutan. They also discovered hacked systems in the embassies of India, South Korea, Indonesia, Romania, Cyprus, Malta, Thailand, Taiwan, Portugal, Germany and Pakistan. ...


Mar 29—Britain warned of cyber attack from China

London (IBN) -- China has gained capability to shut down Britain by crippling its telecoms and utilities, a report claimed on Sunday.

Intelligence chiefs have told the government that equipment installed by Huawei, the Chinese telecoms giant, in BT's new communications network could be used to halt critical services such as power, food and water supplies.

According to a report in The Sunday Times, the warnings coincide with growing cyber warfare attacks on Britain by foreign governments, particularly Russia and China. ...


Mar 29—China sees electronic spying as area where it can defeat America

China decided to focus its efforts on cyber intelligence and information warfare more than a decade ago after it identified a key area where it could compete with America.

Daily Telegraph (Malcolm Moore in Shanghai) -- "Thanks to modern technology, such as the development of information carriers and the Internet, many can now take part in fighting without even having to step out of the door," noted Wei Jincheng, a military strategist, in the Liberation Army Daily newspaper in 1996.

While China cannot compete with the US in defence technology or conventional warfare, Mr Wei foresaw that the country's 300 million internet users could be marshalled into armies of hackers.

"The rapid development of networks has turned each automated system into a potential target of invasion. The fact that information technology is increasingly relevant to people's lives means that those who take part in information war are not all soldiers and anybody who understands computers can become a 'fighter' on the network. The public can participate," he said.

His idea was adopted by the highest levels of command. Major-General Wang Pufeng, the former director of strategy at Beijing's military academy, noted: "In the near future, information warfare will control the form and future of war"...


Mar 29—Pentagon report harshly critical of China's military

Honolulu Advertiser -- A new assessment of China's military power issued by the Pentagon last week is notable for a subtle but distinct shift in tone, being more firm and candid than in previous appraisals. The review stopped short of accusing the Chinese of being devious or lying but was headed in that direction.


Mar 29—Britain could be shut down by hackers from China intelligence experts warn

Daily Telegraph (Alastair Jamieson) -- Ministers have been warned that a new £10bn communications network being developed by BT is vulnerable to a potential attack from within the Communist state because it uses equipment supplied by Chinese telecoms firm Huawei.

Although the risk of anyone in China exploiting the capability is currently low, intelligence experts believe the impact of any such attack would be very high. Computers at the Foreign Office and other Whitehall departments were attacked from China in 2007 and the threat from foreign governments and big companies is believed to be greater than that posed by terrorists. ...


Mar 27—China posturing to become leading superpower

The Tribune-Democrat (Zachary Hubbard) -- All eyes are on Capitol Hill, where Congress is keeping the public’s attention sidetracked by defending corporate bailouts and sniveling about executive bonuses at AIG. Meanwhile, China has been quietly maneuvering to secure its position as the world’s leading superpower.

The ancient Chinese warrior-philosopher Sun Tzu said, “Loot a burning house.”
By this he meant you should kick your enemies when they’re down. The Chinese leadership understands this. It has been kicking Americans in our collective behinds for some time now.

Unfortunately, neither Congress nor the media pays it much attention. ...

China has taken advantage of the global economic slump to buy strategic assets needed to fuel its growth, such as oil, minerals and metals. The Washington Post reported on March 17 that, “Chinese companies have been on a shopping spree in the past month, snapping up tens of billions of dollars worth of key assets in Iran, Brazil, Russia, Venezuela, Australia and France in a global fire sale set off by the financial crisis.”

To undergird its global quest for resources, China will need a capability to project power globally. On Nov. 17, the BBC reported China may soon be building aircraft carriers to strengthen its already substantial naval capability.

The article quoted Maj. Gen. Qian Lihua of the Chinese Defense Ministry’s Foreign Affairs staff, who said if China develops aircraft carriers, they will not be used for “global reach.” Maybe the Chinese short-term goals do not include global reach, but its navy must eventually move in that direction to ensure that its flow of critical economic resources remains uninterrupted.

If China’s short-term goals for aircraft carriers do not include global reach, then why build them now? ...


Mar 28—CHINA - There’s Plenty Of Blame For All

Money for Nothing: Nationalist angst directed at the United States has also rattled China's government

Newsweek (Melinda Liu) -- The latest recession-fueled outburst of America-bashing in China might worry Washington, but it's even scarier to the rulers in Beijing. Millions of ordinary Chinese are in trouble, and they're asking why their government is continuing to prop up the United States, the country that practically everyone blames for creating the global economic crisis. Never mind what would happen to the roughly $2 trillion in Chinese foreign reserves that are invested in U.S. securities if Beijing suddenly tried to cut America loose.

Seeking to placate the domestic critics, China's leaders are hardening their stance toward the Americans. Last week China's Central Bank Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan called for the greenback to be replaced with a new reserve currency controlled by the International Monetary Fund. That proposal came on the heels of Premier Wen Jiabao's pointed expression of  "concern" for the safety of China's U.S. holdings amid the current turmoil. The tough talk is expected to continue as China demands a greater say in international financial matters at this week's G20 summit in London.

But the anti-U.S. hard-liners--"economic nationalists," as they're known in China--are far from satisfied. Wang Xiaodong, a prominent member of the movement, scoffs at the idea of replacing the dollar with a new IMF-backed reserve currency. "Isn't the IMF also under the control of the United States?" he asks, with a conspiratorial grin. He says Beijing should simply quit buying U.S. T-bills and invest the money at home instead, building up China's own infrastructure, defense forces and social services. Wang is one of five authors of a new book, "Unhappy China," which sold 100,000 copies in just 11 days after its release in mid-March. The book takes Beijing to task not only for coddling the Americans but also for neglecting national defense. Wang and his cohorts say China needs to beef up its Navy if it continues buying up natural resources everywhere from Australia to Africa. "All those commercial contracts mean nothing unless we have aircraft carriers to back them up," says Wang, "That's why so many younger Chinese are asking for a strong Navy."

A new Pentagon report says China is already headed in that direction. ...


Mar 28—Bestseller targets China's angry youths

BEIJING (Financial Times, Kathrin Hille) -- China is unhappy. So much is clear as a book stating just this and recommending a confrontation with the west as a remedy has conquered the country's bestseller lists and triggered a fierce online debate over China's place in the world and its identity.

Unhappy China argues that the country should stand up to the west to claim its rightful place as a global power, and it looks to a patriotic young generation as a source of national strength and unity. ...

Song Qiang, one of the book's five authors, says that for a rising power such as China, there are only two choices open to it: to become a hegemon or to get cast aside. "I'd rather choose the first," he said in an interview.

Wang Xiaodong, another of the authors, argues that the financial crisis has proved that the US has failed in world leadership and that "we can do it better". Even without the crisis, he believes China must become a superpower. "For a country as big as China, the need will arise to secure sufficient resources," he said.

The nationalism of China's "angry youths" shocked many in the west when they protested against the rejection of their Olympic torch run in Paris, attacked the western media for alleged bias and lies in its coverage of unrest in Tibet and called for a boycott of the French retailer Carrefour's outlets in their country.

For the book's authors, they are China's only heroes and these views sell. Unhappy China jumped to the top of the bestseller list of dangdang.com, the online bookstore, soon after publication on March 12. As the initial 100,000 copies were selling out quickly, the publisher rushed to print another 50,000 this week.
 
In the country's lively internet blogosphere, the book has created a stir. On Qihoo, a search site, a hunt for the book title returned more than 1m listings.

All main web portals and social networking sites have their own Unhappy China forums where supporters and critics face off. ...


Mar 28—2nd Chinese ship to patrol South China Sea

People's Daily -- China Yuzheng 45001, the largest fishery administration ship in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, had reached Xisha Islands and would assist China Yuzheng 311 in patrolling the South China Sea for at least 15 days, China Daily reported Saturday. "China Yuzheng 45001 will assist China Yuzheng 311 to patrol the South China Sea to curb illegal fishing activity and safeguard China's ...




Mar 27—China's hi-tech 'death van' where criminals are executed and then their organs are sold on black market

Daily Mail Online (Andrew Malone) -- Death will come soon for Jiang Yong. A corrupt local planning official with a taste for the high life, Yong solicited money from businessmen eager to expand in China's economic boom. ...

He confessed and was sentenced to death. China executed 1,715 people last year, so one more death would hardly be remarkable.

But there will be nothing ordinary about Yong's death by lethal injection. Unless he wins an appeal, he will draw his final breath strapped inside a vehicle that has been specially developed to make executions more cost-effective and efficient.

After trials of the mobile execution service were launched quietly three years ago - then hushed up to prevent an international row about the abuse of human rights before the Olympics last summer - these vehicles are now being deployed across China.

The number of executions is expected to rise to a staggering 10,000 people this year (not an impossible figure given that at least 68 crimes - including tax evasion and fraud - are punishable by death in China).

According to undercover investigations by human rights' groups, the police, judiciary and doctors are all involved in making millions from China's huge trade in human body parts.

Inside each 'death van' there is a dedicated team of doctors to 'harvest' the organs of the deceased. The injections leave the body intact and in pristine condition for such lucrative work.

After checking that the victim is dead, the medical team first remove the eyes. Then, wearing surgical gowns and masks, they remove the kidney, liver, pancreas and lungs. Little goes to waste, though the heart cannot be used, having been poisoned by the drugs.

The organs are dispatched in ice boxes to hospitals in the sprawling cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, which have developed another specialist trade: selling the harvested organs.

At clinics all over China, these organs are transplanted into the ailing bodies of the wealthy - and thousands more who come as 'organ tourists' from neighbouring countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.

With more than 10,000 kidney transplants carried out each year, fewer than 300 come from voluntary donations. The British Transplantation Society and Amnesty International have condemned China for harvesting prisoners' organs.

Laws introduced in 2006 make it an offence to remove the organs of people against their will, and banned those under 18 from selling their organs. But, tellingly, the law does not cover prisoners.

'Organs can be extracted in a speedier and more effective way using these vans than if the prisoner is shot,' says Amnesty International.

'We have gathered strong evidence suggesting the involvement of Chinese police, courts and hospitals in the organ trade.'


Mar 27—Extra police sent to quell China riot

GANCHEN, China (UPI) -- China has deployed riot squads to a township in Hainan province to curb street clashes among residents of two villages, police officials said.


Mar 28—Vatican to talk religious freedom with China

Vatican City (Independent Online) -- A papal commission on relations with Beijing is to meet next week to review the position of the Church in China, the Vatican said Saturday.

At a previous meeting in March last year the commission reasserted the Vatican's wish for "constructive dialogue" with China, which has no relations with the Holy See and has set up its own official "patriotic" Church.


Mar 28—China’s Olympic Legacy: No More International Torch Relays

Phayul / WSJ -- In the run-up to last year’s Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China staged the most ambitious international torch relay to date, a month-long tour spanning six continents, following by a three-month, zig-zagging journey through more than a hundred Chinese cities.


Mar 29—China police station attacked near Tibetan areas

BEIJING (AFP) – A police station in a part of northwestern China near Tibetan-populated areas was attacked early on Sunday, leaving two police officers hurt, state media reported.

The brief dispatch by Xinhua news agency said the incident occurred in Xining, capital of Qinghai province, which neighbours Tibet and has a substantial Tibetan population.

It gave no other details besides saying the incident was under investigation.


Mar 27—China Baoshan Iron & Steel profit down 49.2 pct

SHANGHAI (AFP) – Baoshan Iron & Steel, the listed unit of China's biggest steel maker, reported that its 2008 net profit plunged 49.2 percent due to steep falls in demand and high costs.

The listed subsidiary of Baosteel Group Corp warned its operations would continue to struggle because China's steel industry has been left reeling by the global financial crisis.

"China's steel firms will face challenges in the long run, including an overcapacity problem and high costs," Baoshan Iron said in a statement late Friday.


Mar 28—China-Australia relationship: defence, spying and big business

ABC -- Relations between China and Australia are strained on several fronts, with embattled Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon under fire for accepting free trips to China and the Federal Government blocking a major Chinese investment in Australia.


Mar 28—Australia Labor Suffers From China Syndrome

Defence India -- The Defence Minister's undeclared trips to China come as China is doing everything it can to take a huge stake in Australia's natural resources; after Kevin Rudd's "secret meeting" with China's propaganda chief has made a bad impression; as the Prime Minister's longstanding Sinophilia makes people suspicious; and as Australia is championing Chinese efforts for a greater say within the IMF.


Mar 29—Australia says opposition fanning anti-China mood

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australia's centre-left government accused the opposition of pandering to anti-China sentiment Sunday and dismissed concerns about Beijing's influence over senior ministers as "absurd".

Amid intense debate in Australia over moves by Chinese state-owned entities to buy into the country's vast resource base, the conservative opposition has put the spotlight on several ministers' links to China.

Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull has accused Prime Minister Kevin Rudd -- a Mandarin-speaking former diplomat and avowed Sinophile -- of acting like a "roving ambassador" for Beijing. ...


Mar 28—China: Trade with LatAm up 40 percent last year

China's central bank chief vows to help Latin America amid surging trade with region

MEDELLIN, Colombia (Associated Press, Frank Bajak) -- Trade between China and Latin America reached a record of more than $140 billion last year, the governor of China's central bank said Saturday, and pledged to help ease the economic crisis's impact on the region.


Mar 28—China's Zhou uncertain on economy, urges reforms - Update4

MEDELLIN, Columbia (Reuters, Daniel Bases and Patrick Markey) -- Chinese Central Bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Saturday it was uncertain whether China's economic slowdown had ended and he urged more financial reforms in the face of the worldwide slump.

Speaking before the Inter-American Development Bank meeting, Zhou said he expected the G20 summit of leading industrialized and developing nations to discuss finance and regulatory measures, including those involving development banks, when they meet in London next week.

China is facing a challenge to its economy as demand slows in the United States and Europe amid the global crisis. Exports have dropped from year-ago levels in the last four consecutive months, including a 25.7 percent drop in February. ...

Zhou spoke in the Colombian city of Medellin, where Latin American financial leaders gathered to discuss the slowdown. The Chinese official said he hoped to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who is scheduled to attend the IADB summit on Sunday. ...


Mar 29—Foreigners can't truly cash in on China's booming markets

BOSTON (St. Louis Post-Dispatch / AP, Mark Jewell) -- If you've been watching the headlines, ... China's stock market is up about 22 percent this year ... Here in the U.S., the Standard & Poor's 500 index remains down about 8 percent. But don't worry -- the boat you missed to China wouldn't have made you rich.

U.S. investors' main access to China's market is through mutual funds that invest there. And the funds with the heaviest China stakes are largely breaking even. The average year-to-date loss is less than 1 percent for the 34 U.S. mutual funds that have "China" in their name or keep at least 20 percent of their stock holdings in China, according to Morningstar Inc. ...

Stocks traded on Chinese exchanges -- including those that make up the Shanghai Composite -- remain largely off-limits to foreigners. ...


Mar 27—French visits to patch up ties in China

PARIS (AFP) – France is sending its parliament speaker and a former prime minister to China, the first in a series of visits intended to bring about a thaw in relations after a row over Tibet, officials said Friday.


Mar 28—China and EU reschedule joint summit

Deutsche Welle -- The European Union says it has rescheduled a summit with China which was called off last year due to a row over the Tibetan spiritual leader. The EU says leaders from the bloc will now meet with their Chinese counterparts in Prague on May 20. China pulled out of a summit scheduled for last December in retaliation for French President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama.


Mar 29—China's UK Ambassador: China Not Seeking Dollar Replacement

LONDON (Nasdaq / Dow Jones, Laurence Norman) -- The Chinese ambassador to the U.K. said Sunday that China isn't calling for a replacement of the dollar as the world's main currency.

Speaking to the British Broadcasting Corp. ahead of next week's Group of 20 industrial and developing nations' summit, Ambassador Fu Ying said recent comments by Chinese central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan calling for a new global reserve currency were meant as a contribution to an old debate...


Mar 27—China Blamed For Homeowners' Nightmare

500M Pounds Of Drywall Imported During Housing Boom, Now Homes Are Rotting From The Inside Out

CBS News (Armen Keteyian) -- A document obtained by CBS News shows that by 2006, 228 million kilograms - about 500 million pounds - was imported into the U.S. from 20 companies in China.

Normally drywall is made purely from the stone-like mineral gypsum, and emits no gas or odor. But health officials now suspect at least some of the Chinese product was contaminated with dangerous chemicals, chemicals that have not only damaged homes also but raise unknown health risks.

Robert Gary is one of several lawyers who have filed class-actions lawsuits against Chinese drywall manufacturers. He called the failure of U.S. product safety regulators "a national disgrace."


Mar 27—Group to sue Johnson & Johnson in China

BEIJING (UPI) -- Lawyers in Beijing plan to file suit against Johnson & Johnson, claiming the U.S. home products giant's products hurt children in China.

Lawyers said they would file a complaint in April on behalf of 80 families. In addition, attorney Cui Baoyu said, "we are considering class action … because of the huge number of victims involved."...


Mar 28—Official: Angola, China to strengthen financial co-op

People's Daily -- Angolan Vice Foreign Minister Exalgina Gamboa said here on Friday that Angola and China are to strengthen financial cooperation with the latter financing Angola's ongoing national reconstruction program. Exalgina Gamboa made the remarks after the opening of the 4th session of the Angola-China Bilateral Commission, saying that the Chinese government has promised to grant an additional ...


Mar 28—China as a Partner, Not as a Threat

The Moscow Times -- China's growing economic and military might is changing the balance of power between Moscow and Beijing.


Mar 28—China marks "emancipation" of Tibet with new holiday - UPDATE 1

BEIJING (Reuters, Jason Subler) -- China marked its inaugural Serfs' Emancipation Day on Saturday with testimonials by Tibetans on the merits of Communist rule, denunciations of the Dalai Lama and vows to crush any attempts at independence.

The Dalai Lama's government-in-exile said that the Chinese government's holiday was offensive and provocative.

"This day will be observed by Tibetans throughout the world and especially those in Tibet as a day of mourning," said the statement by Tibet's exiled cabinet, the Kashag.
It added that Beijing's assertions that the old Tibet was feudal and repressive were a "blatant distortion".

"The best judge of whether they have been 'liberated' is the Tibetan people. They vote with their feet and lives by crossing the Himalayas to seek freedom and happiness outside of their 'liberated' Tibet," it said.


Mar 27—In image war over Tibet, China deploys own lama

BEIJING (McClatchy Newspapers, Tim Johnson) -- In the propaganda war to implant its views of Tibet as widely as possible, China increasingly is deploying a lanky 19-year-old Tibetan with rimless glasses, a hint of a mustache and a husky voice.

Beijing anointed the Tibetan, Gyaltsen Norbu, more than a decade ago as the latest incarnation of the Panchen Lama, the No. 2 leader in the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy, even though many Tibetans consider him a fake.

Rarely seen in public, the Panchen Lama is suddenly all over the news. On a newscast Friday, he exalted the ruling Communist Party for pulling Tibetans from "very miserable lives" before a clampdown by China 50 years ago this month.

Earlier this week, the Panchen Lama praised the party's "wise leadership" in an editorial under his name in the People's Daily newspaper, the party mouthpiece.

Observers of China's news media describe the appearance of the Panchen Lama as an integral part of a broader media blitz to shape domestic public opinion about Tibet .

" The Communist Party is pulling out all the stops," said David Bandurski, a researcher at the China Media Project at the University of Hong Kong. "This is one of the most aggressive propaganda attacks it has launched in recent years."

Beijing installed the disputed Panchen Lama in 1995, whisking away a different boy who the Dalai Lama said was the proper reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in 1989. The other boy has never been seen again, and supporters of the Dalai Lama consider him a political prisoner. ...


Mar 28—China's Panchen Lama on religious freedom

WUXI, China (AFP) -- Beijing's choice as the second highest Tibetan spiritual figure told an international Buddhist gathering on Saturday that China now enjoys religious freedom and promotes world peace.

More than 1,700 Buddhist monks and scholars from about 50 countries and regions were participating in the event, according to organisers.

However, notably absent was the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and one of the world's most respected Buddhists, who organisers said was not invited.


Mar 28—China vows 'severe crackdown' on Tibet separatists

AFP -- China vowed on Saturday to "severely crack down on any separatist activities" in Tibet as it launched a new national holiday marking the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising in the Himalayan region.


Mar 29—China State Media: Tibet To Be Reopen To Foreign Tourists

BEIJING (Nasdaq / AFP) -- China will reopen Tibet to foreign tourists on April 5, state media said late Sunday, easing restrictions imposed during the anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule.


Mar 28—China's Grieving Parents Mobilize

Washington Post (Ariana Eunjung Cha) -- Those with children hurt or killed in various tragedies pose a special challenge to nation's Communist Party.


Mar 29—China calls for vigilance in disease outbreak

BEIJING (AFP) – China has called on medical personnel nationwide to go door-to-door to help curb an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease that has killed 19 children so far this year, state media said Sunday.

Health Minister Chen Zhu urged local medical workers to "visit every village and even every household to detect hand, foot and mouth disease quickly," Xinhua news agency said.

Zhu issued the call on Saturday during a teleconference on disease prevention in the central provinces of Henan and Hubei and the eastern province of Shandong, three areas most affected by the outbreak.

Xinhua said that as of Friday, officials had reported 41,846 cases of the highly contagious disease, which breaks out early each year in China.

The cases of the disease, to which young children are most vulnerable, were reported across 30 provinces and regions....


Mar 28—Lost radioactive component found in NW China city

People's Daily -- A missing radioactive component from a nuclear scale has been melted in a smelter in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the local government said Friday. A lead ball, containing Caesium-137, was lost Monday when workers disassembled a 53-year-old production facility at the Shaanxi Qinling Cement Co. in Tongchuan City for failing to meet environmental protection standards, according to the ...


Mar 28—Reservoir collapses in south China city

People's Daily -- A small reservoir collapsed at about 10 p.m. Friday in Xinglong Town of Wanning City, southernmost China's Hainan Province, with ensuing floods bursting a sideline road toward the province's eastern expressway and lashing two cars away, the city government confirmed Saturday. Three people inside the two cars, who fell into the water in the accident, have been hospitalized. ...


Mar 29—China punishes 13 officials for river pollution

BEIJING (AP) -- Thirteen officials in central China have been punished after a chemical company contaminated a river with arsenic, state media reported Sunday.

The officials were punished after a section of the Dasha river was found contaminated by arsenic in August last year. Water quality tests showed the concentration of arsenic was nearly 900 times greater than what was deemed safe...


Mar 28—China shaken by 4.2-magnitude earthquake

BEIJING (UPI) -- China's seismological network says the country's northern region was rattled by a 4.2-magnitude earthquake Saturday.