Beijing to have 350 day care nursing homes within the year

Beijing will have a total of 350 day care nursing homes for senior citizens by the end of this year, according to the Office of Beijing Municipal Working Committee on Aging.

Last year, Beijing launched a pilot program of day care nursing homes, where senior citizens can have access to food and day care near their homes. Some nursing homes also provide basic medical care and other activities such as painting and singing classes.

The capital city’s various districts and communities provide space for such nursing homes, and the municipal government offers facilities, while leaving their operation and management to old-age service providers. By the end of last year,

Beijing was home to 150 nursing homes, 70.7 percent of which were under chain operation.

The number of day care nursing homes is expected to reach 1,000 by the year 2020, roughly covering all areas where there is a large concentration of senior citizens.

Beijing is home to 135,400 new energy vehicles as of June

Beijing has been vigorously promoting new energy vehicle (NEV) for years to tackle air pollution. As of June, the city is home to 135,400 NEVs, with 92,300 charging piles, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of City Management.

A multi-storey NEV charging station went into operation in SOHU modern city, a busy downtown area of Beijing on Aug. 8. The station, covering more than 4,000 square meters, is equipped with 101 charging piles. More than 500 cars can be charged here daily, and online payment for charging is available.

Beijing has been building charging stations and piles around malls, traffic hubs, office buildings, highway service areas, tourist attractions, as well as regular gas stations. The city is home to 1,873 public NEV charging stations, making charging possible in a five-kilometer range within the city’s Sixth Ring Road.

According to an official of the Beijing Municipal Commission of City Management, Beijing plans to build no less than 3,000 public charging piles this year. By 2020, NEV charging facilities will be available every 0.9 kilometers in downtown Beijing, the sub-center of Beijing, the new airport and the Winter Olympics venues.

China investigates Internet giants for illegal online content

Chinese Internet authorities have opened cases to investigate three social media platforms — Tencent’s Wechat, Sina Weibo and Baidu Tieba, for not stopping the circulation of illegal online content, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said Friday.

The administration has received reports from users that illegal content, including pornographic, violent, terrorist and fake information, was being spread on the three platforms, according to a statement published on CAC website.

The illegal content is harmful to national security, public security and social order, the CAC said.

The companies are suspected of violating the country’s cyber security law, as they failed to stop the information being published and spread on their platforms, a CAC official said.

China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo, the instant messaging app WeChat, and Baidu Tieba, the popular bulletin board consisting of 19 million sub-forums, are considered the three largest communication platforms in China.

The CAC will continue to crack down on illegal online behavior and welcomes reports from the public.

Reports can be made by phone 12377 or email jubao@12377.cn.

Green Party responds to YouGov ‘ideal parliament’ survey

11 August 2017

The Green Party is renewing its call for the voting system to be overhauled following YouGov’s ideal parliament survey [1], which reveals voters favour having smaller parties better represented in parliament.

A survey of 5000 people found voters would want the Green Party to have an average of 33 seats, compared to the one MP it has now. The results would make the Greens the fourth largest party in parliament, ahead of UKIP with 29 seats and the SNP with 23. The results also revealed UKIP, Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative voters all want to see more Green MPs in parliament.

The Greens have long campaigned for the first past the post voting system to be replaced by proportional representation.

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said:

“Our broken and out of date political system is clearly failing to deliver what the country really wants. True democracy isn’t a two horse race where voters feel pressured to vote tactically. Real representation isn’t possible when millions of votes count for nothing. No one should be forced to hold their noses and vote for the least worst option rather than for who they actually believe in.

“The survey results reveal the public believes a strong Green presence in parliament is important, no matter what party they support. Even UKIP voters want to see more Green MPs.

“Electoral reform is well overdue and the Green Party will always fight for a fairer, more democratic voting system that would ensure Parliament looks like the people it it supposed to represent.”

Notes:

  1. https://yougov.co.uk/news/2017/08/11/what-does-ideal-house-commons-look/

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China puts five individuals related to fugitive Guo Wengui on trial

A trial of five individuals related to fugitive Guo Wengui opened Friday in the northeast China city of Dalian.

Qu Long, former executive of Tianjin Huatai Holding Group Ltd., and former Huatai chairman Zhao Yun’an were accused of misappropriation of funds, while the other three defendants, all ex-employees of Guo’s company, were charged with embezzlement.

According to the indictment, Zhao’s wife approached Guo Wengui through an intermediary to get Zhao out of jail in 2008. After being granted bail, Zhao promised to transfer the assets of Huatai’s major shareholder to Guo, so that Guo could take actual control of Huatai.

Without calling a board meeting, Guo directed Qu Long and other people to transfer more than 400 million yuan (about 60 million U.S. dollars) from Huatai to companies controlled by Guo.

The prosecutors also assert that Gao Song, Ma Nan and Cheng Xiuhua, all former employees of Beijing Pangu Investment Company, which Guo Wengui actually controls, forged paperwork and filed a civil lawsuit to help Guo keep the 400 million yuan.

“Through falsified agreements and a civil lawsuit, we transferred the liabilities to a company in Henan which had no loan repayment capacity to help Guo pocket the money,” Ma Nan, former legal director of Pangu, said.

The defendants pleaded guilty and expressed remorse.

They asked for leniency, saying their action was on the instruction or suggestion of Guo Wengui.

“I followed the instructions of my boss and was unaware of the hidden risks and consequences. I feel deeply regretful,” said Ma Nan.

A pre-trial conference was held, attended by the prosecution team, defendants and their lawyers. Over 40 people, including relatives of the defendants, journalists from domestic and overseas media outlets and members of the public attended the hearing, which was broadcast online.

The verdict will be announced at a later date.

Friday’s trial was the third of a series of cases involving Beijing Pangu Investment.

On Aug. 4, one of Guo’s companies, Henan Yuda Real Estate Company, was fined 150 million yuan for crimes of defrauding loans and bill acceptance. Two employees of the company were sentenced to prison terms.

Guo fled China under suspicion of multiple crimes in August 2014 and is currently listed under an Interpol “red notice” for wanted fugitives.