"A grave threat": China lashes out at the nuclear ambitions of a key U.S. ally, Japan

 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning criticized Japan's "growing" nuclear ambitions this Friday.

Trump rejects accusations that Russia and China are helping Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he does not believe the allegations that Russia and China are helping Iran.

The U.S. is trying to beat Russia and China to become the first to send a nuclear reactor to the Moon, The New York Times reports

 NASA has accelerated its program and now aims to deliver the unit to the satellite's south pole by December 2030, whereas the Russian-Chinese project is scheduled for 2036.

"Immediately and completely": China calls for an end to pressure and sanctions against Cuba

 Gaza, Palestine, and Ukraine were among the key topics addressed by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng at the UN General Assembly.

Reports indicate that China improved Iran's "aim" against the U.S. in the Middle East

 Satellite imagery and intelligence support from Chinese groups* have reportedly bolstered Iran's ability to control traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and strike U.S. bases in the Middle East with greater precision, CNN reported on Friday, citing anonymous sources familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments on the matter.

Xi proposes to Trump "writing a new chapter" between China and the US

 Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed a toast during the state dinner held at the White House, where both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to closer ties across various areas.

US, China extend trade truce as bigger deal takes shape — Bessent

 The US and China have agreed to extend their trade truce by two months, through January 10, giving negotiators more time to explore a broader economic agreement, Reuters reported.

China condemns Trump-signed law tightening sanctions on Russia and expanding trade restrictions on Iran, Bloomberg reports

 China's Ministry of Commerce said Beijing "consistently opposes" unilateral and secondary sanctions that are not approved by the UN Security Council and have no basis in international law. 

US intelligence warns that the F-35 fighter jet sale contract to Saudi Arabia could put sensitive technology at risk of leaking to China

 According to The New York Times, citing US officials familiar with internal assessments, US intelligence officials have warned that the proposed $24 billion deal to sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia could potentially put sensitive aviation technology at risk of espionage by China.

Iran used Chinese satellite images for July attack on US base in Jordan - WSJ

 The Wall Street Journal reports, citing US officials familiar with details of the incident, that Iran used Chinese satellite images to carry out its attack that killed three US soldiers in July.

China warns North Korea on potential U.S. attack

China warned North Korea it would maintain neutrality should Pyongyang launch an attack against the United States and added it would block any joint U.S.-South Korea attempts to overthrow the Kim Jong Un regime.

US, Japan, Australia Urge Binding Code for South China Sea

The United States, Japan and Australia expressed "serious concerns" Monday over disputes concerning the South China Sea, while calling for a halt to land reclamation and military actions in the area that could increase tensions or cause permanent environmental damage.

China hopes that the US could seriously consider the "double suspension" proposal: FM

China and the United States, as two permanent members of the UN Security Council, should enhance mutual trust and strengthen dialogue and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday.

U.N. Security Council passes tough new sanctions on North Korea

The United Nations Security Council voted Saturday to enact tough new sanctions on North Korea over its continued pursuit of long-range missiles and nuclear weapons.

UN to Vote Saturday on US-Drafted Resolution to Cut North Korean Exports

The UN’s main body will convene at 3:00 p.m. (19:00GMT) in New York to hold talks on "Non-proliferation/Democratic People’s Republic of Korea," according to its daily program.

China stocks plunge rattles Asian markets

Chinese shares plummeted more than eight percent within an hour of trade on Monday in the face of a global sell-off, despite Beijing authorising its state pension fund to invest in stocks in its latest attempt to shore up markets.

China warns of festival air pollution caused by fireworks

China's environment watchdog on Tuesday demanded local governments take measures during the lunar New Year celebrations to lessen pollution caused by fireworks.
Local governments should limit fireworks displays, expand restricted areas and reinforce check-ups if weather conditions are not suitable for pollutants to disperse, said the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Setting off fireworks is a Chinese New Year tradition, but pollutants generated by fireworks such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, worsened air quality in many Chinese cities last year.

The ministry asked local governments to designate time and area for firework display, review retailers' qualifications and promote environmentally-friendly fireworks.

Fireworks are not the only tradition the Chinese have to give up for better air quality. The government has also urged people to burn less incense in the temples.
  Source:Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
3/2/15
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China to ban use of Tibetan sky burial for tourism. (Some travel agents have shown disrespect to the tradition)

China has set out to make a new law to regulate the traditional Tibetan practice of sky burial, which involves feeding bodies of the dead to birds. Official sources in Tibet have indicated that the use of sky burial sites as tourist attraction may be banned.
"It will be the first time for Tibet to regulate sky burials using legislation, which shows respect and offers protection to the millennium-old tradition," the official media quoted Samdrup, an official with the standing committee of the regional People's Congress.

The Regional People's Congress of Tibet, the local legislature, recently passed a bill to better regulate sky burials, covering issues like management of the site, environmental protection and qualification of ritual hosts. The purpose is to "better protect sky burials".

Chinese government has stopped the use of burial sites for tourism on several occasions in the past three decades, but the local officials have allowed it from time to time for developing tourism, sources said.

State media said that the traditional ritual has become controversial after tourists guides began leading tour groups to view the ceremony. There have been complaints that some travel agents have shown disrespect to the tradition. Tibetans and Mongolians cut bodies of the dead, and feed them to vultures and other predatory birds. It is regarded an act of generosity and a ritual that allows the soul to ascend to heaven.

The Tibetan government issued a provisional rule in 2005 that banned sightseeing, photographing and video recording at such burial sites, or publishing reports and pictures describing the rituals.

The law has been violated extensively as thousands of tourists crowd around the burial sites to watch the traditional practice. Even some monks are known to be involved in guiding tourists to the burial sites for collecting donations for their shrines. 
   http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/China-to-ban-use-of-Tibetan-sky-burial-for-tourism/articleshow/46004209.cms
   24/1/15---
Related:

• China accelerates tourism development in Tibet

• Tibetans enjoy splashing fun on bathing festival

• Double threat for Tibet (Climate change and human development are jeopardizing the plateau’s fragile environment.)

• Tibet's intangible heritage well-protected, says official

Beijing: Pollution goals missed

Beijing closed or removed 392 polluting factories in 2014, according to the municipal people's congress, which opened on Friday.

A total of 30 industrial relief and cooperation platforms and 53 related programs were launched to pull the polluting companies out of Beijing in the past year, mayor of Beijing Wang Anshun said in a government work report.

Another 300 factories are expected to be closed in 2015. 

Although efforts have been taken in 2014, Beijing failed to meet a key pollution reduction target last year with annual average density of PM2.5 down 4 percent, less than the 5 percent target, Wang said.
  Source: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
23- 24/1/15
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Related:

• China's air quality dire but improving (Greenpeace)

• Beijing city raises subsidies for scrapping polluting vehicles

• China will destroy 5,000,000 cars this year to battle air pollution (Polluting vehicles to be scrapped)

• Air pollution champion: China burns more coal than rest of world combined

• Measures taken to tackle heavy air pollution in N. China

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• Beijing issues rare air pollution alert

China's air quality dire but improving (Greenpeace)

The skies of China's notoriously smog-filled cities saw a marginal amelioration last year, according to figures released by Greenpeace Thursday (Jan 22), but pollution remained far above national and international standards...
    
China's cities are often hit by heavy pollution, blamed on coal-burning by power stations and industry, as well as vehicle use, and it has become a major source of discontent with the ruling Communist Party. Retired senior officials have acknowledged that it may kill as many as half a million people a year.
    
Levels of PM2.5 - airborne particulates with a diameter small enough to deeply penetrate the lungs - fell year-on-year in 71 of the 74 cities monitored by the ministry of environmental protection, the figures showed.
    
But in China's most polluted city, Xingtai, they still averaged 131.4 microgrammes per cubic metre. In Beijing, they were 83.2 microgrammes per cubic metre, and 52.2 in Shanghai, the country's financial centre. By comparison, New York's PM2.5 level averaged 11.2 last year and Tokyo's was 15.8 for the fiscal year ending in March 2014, the most recent figures available.
    
The World Health Organization recommends a maximum average exposure of 25 microgrammes per cubic metre in a 24-hour period, and 10 microgrammes per cubic metre over a year. China's own standard is 35 microgrammes per cubic metre over a year.
    
The statistics released by Greenpeace were based on official data from China's ministry of environmental protection. It makes current levels available online but does not publicly release historical data or averages. The figures were compiled by Fresh-Ideas Studio, the operator of a popular pollution monitoring app.
    
The numbers showed that Xingtai, in the northern province of Hebei, enjoyed a 15.3 per cent improvement, with Beijing levels falling 7.7 per cent and Shanghai dropping 14.0 per cent. Xian, home to the Terracotta Warriors, saw the most dramatic decline at more than 27 per cent.
    
But despite the drops none of the 74 cities achieved the WHO recommended annual mark, with the least polluted, Haikou on the island of Hainan, averaging 22.4.
    
A TOUCH OF SMOG

The environmental campaign group also released a short film on the subject by renowned director Jia Zhangke, whose award-winning 2013 movie A Touch of Sin was denied a Chinese release by the country's censors.
    
Smog Journeys tells the story of two families, one in China's coal belt and the other in Beijing, showing how neither wealth nor education can defend against smog. It closes with a child in Beijing drawing pictures on dust-covered cars of a world he hopes to live in, complete with a radiant sun.
    
"The character setting is meant to point out that no one gets to be different when it comes to smog," Jia said in an interview posted by Greenpeace on YouTube. "One thing that fascinated and shocked me the most was the fact that even on smoggy days, people still live their lives as usual."
    
Public discontent about the environment has grown in China, leading the government to declare a "war on pollution" and vow to reduce the proportion of energy derived from fossil fuels. But it has shied away from pledging to cut total national coal use.
    
One factor contributing to the decline in parts of northern China is likely to have been the car use restrictions, factory closures and public-sector holidays imposed during a November meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Beijing.
    
The result was stunning skies popularly dubbed "APEC blue" by online commentators mocking their temporary nature, and even Chinese President Xi Jinping himself used the phrase in a speech.
    
Pollution is a perennial issue on Chinese social networks, with users on Thursday poking fun at efforts by officials in the southwestern city of Chongqing to clean up dirty air by banning residents from smoking bacon, a traditional method of preserving pork - the latest scientifically dubious theory about its cause.
    
Environmental activists called for further steps to reduce pollution, cutting coal use and shifting towards renewables.

"Clean air is a basic necessity for healthy living," said Yan Li, Greenpeace East Asia's head of climate and energy. "It's sad if children grow up with more smog than clean air and blue skies, as depicted in Jia's film. Bringing back clean air needs to be a priority and it requires urgent action."
    
In a commentary piece for the Lancet, a leading medical journal, China's former health minister Chen Zhu and environmental officials said "that between 350,000 and 500,000 people die prematurely each year as a result of outdoor air pollution in China".
- AFP/xq
[channelnewsasia.com]
22/1/15
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Related:

• Beijing city raises subsidies for scrapping polluting vehicles

• China will destroy 5,000,000 cars this year to battle air pollution (Polluting vehicles to be scrapped)

• Air pollution champion: China burns more coal than rest of world combined

• Measures taken to tackle heavy air pollution in N. China

• Beijing issues rare air pollution alert