Support one China ‘principle’, says Xi
Live streaming sites shut
BEIJING, May 24: Chinese President Xi Jinping urged a business lobby for Taiwan enterprises on the mainland to support the “one China” principle and contribute to unity between Beijing and Taipei, state media said on Wednesday.
China regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be recovered by force if necessary, after defeated Nationalists fled there in 1949, following the loss of a civil war to the Communists.
Beijing remains deeply suspicious of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who took office just over a year ago, believing she wants to push the island toward formal independence. She says she wants to maintain peace with China. China welcomes Taiwanese investment, Xi told the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland in a letter on its tenth anniversary, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Xi urged the body to make “unremitting efforts to contribute to the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese people (and) wide unity with Taiwan compatriots (by) supporting the one China principle,” Xinhua added.
“Both sides of the Strait share an inseparable common destiny,” Xi said in the letter, read to a meeting of around 400 Taiwanese in Beijing by Zhang Zhijun, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office, the news agency said.
In the past, the business lobby, which groups about 130 Taiwanese business associations across China, has pushed for greater engagement with Beijing in Taipei.
In 2012, it met then Taiwan President Ma Yingjeou to push for permission for Taiwan citizens to become full-fledged members of the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference, an advisory body to the ruling Communist Party.
But the effort failed, relegating Taiwan businessmen to honorary positions.
China punishes companies:
Chinese authorities have punished dozens of companies involved in live online broadcasting and shut down numerous hosting platforms for showing content that was pornographic, related to gambling or involved content considered superstitious and harmful to minors.
Almost half of China’s 730 million internet users use live video streaming sites and apps, according to authorities. The live broadcasting market was worth 21 billion RMB ($3 billion) in 2016, an increase of 180 percent from the year before, according to market research company iResearch.
In its latest crackdown on the industry, the Ministry of Culture said Wednesday that it had shut down 10 hosting platforms and given administrative punishments, including fines, to 48 companies. It also said it had ordered closed more than 30,000 studios producing content. Most individuals’ studios consist of their bedroom or living room, but there are some businesses set up to provide multiple broadcast spaces.
Lawyer force-fed medication:
When human rights lawyer Li Heping returned to his home in Beijing after a two-year incarceration, his wife did not recognise the frail white-haired man standing in her hallway.
“He is only 46 years old, but I thought he was an old man,” Wang Qiaoling told AFP. “He had lost 15 kgs (33 pounds) and looked completely different.”
Wang, speaking on Li’s behalf because she said he remains under strict police control, alleges her husband was force-fed medication and sometimes chained for long periods during his detention in the neighbouring city of Tianjin.
Best known for defending blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng, Li also represented members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual sect, environmentalists and victims of forced eviction.
The Beijing Global Law Firm partner was detained by police during the so-called “709 crackdown” in the summer of 2015, when some 200 legal staff and activists were rounded up.
Mockery & anger in China:
When Chinese student Yang Shuping described how she ditched her five pollution masks upon discovering the “oddly luxurious” air of the United States, she drew a fierce online backlash, indignant newspaper columns and even a rebuttal from her hometown.
On Wednesday, the official Xinhua news agency’s English-language Twitter account broadcast a live-stream from Kunming, with two reporters interviewing passersby about air quality and whether they wore pollution masks.
“As you can see, most of the people don’t wear masks, but some do,” one of the reporters said.
China’s foreign ministry also weighed in, saying it was aware the issue was being widely discussed online, and that any Chinese citizen should “make remarks responsibly”.
Delivering her commencement address at the University of Maryland on Sunday, the psychology and theatre graduate said that back home, she was forced to wear a face mask every time she went outside to prevent falling sick.
21 held over HK-China bridge:
Hong Kong’s corruption watchdog has arrested 21 government contractors for running suspected fake tests on concrete used to build a multi-billion-dollar-bridge that will connect the city with Macau and mainland China.
The controversial project — described as a “white elephant” by its critics — has already suffered building delays, pushing back its opening date from 2016 to late 2017, while multiple workers have been killed in construction-related accidents.
Authorities in the southern Chinese city said Wednesday they have asked for “comprehensive examinations” to “ascertain that the strength of concrete would meet the contract requirements”.
“In view of the seriousness of the matter, relevant departments will follow up this matter seriously so as to ensure that the quality of the works meets the required standards,” a government statement said.