Week of June 21, 2002
Week of June 21, 2002
The U.S. and China This Week
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DOMESTIC: Internet Café Crackdowns Expand Around Nation
Over the week China has expanded its clampdown on unlicensed Internet cafes
after a deadly fire killed 25 people at the Lanjisu Cyber Café in
Beijing. The fire is considered Beijing’s worst in more than 50 years
and the high death toll, of mostly students, was due to locked exits and
bars across the second-story café, trapping the Internet users inside.
Two teenage boys have been arrested for starting the fire using gasoline
to ignite the blaze. The boys, 13 and 14 years old, stated they decided
to commit arson and seek revenge after the owner of the café wouldn’t
allow them to enter and surf the web.
As Beijing’s Mayor Liu Qi warned the owners of thousands of illegal
Internet cafes that they would be “severely punished,?authorities in Shanghai
and Tianjin city announced stiff new measures governing such cafes.
While access to the internet is growing more popular among China’s younger,
more computer savvy generation, thousands of illicit internet cafes have
popped up all around the nation offering people an environment to send
e-mails, chat on-line, and play computer games.
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DOMESTIC: Hong Kong Initiates Sweeping Government Changes
A government plan to restructure Hong Kong’s administrative accountability
by creating a new layer of political appointees was voted on and passed
late Wednesday night. By July 1, fourteen new “political officials?
will assume key portfolios, formulate policy, and report directly to Hong
Kong’s Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. Tung’s nominations for the
new positions have already been sent to Beijing for approval, which has
irritated several opposing voices who believe the sweeping changes will
ultimately mean more control for Beijing over Hong Kong.
Supporters of the new government structure believe it will increase
accountability in a civil servant environment that is currently insulated
from any fallout from poor policy decisions. Tung has also openly
commented that the current civil service resists changes and takes too
long to implement his ideas. Critics, however, feel that without
popularly elected individuals in power positions, true accountability will
be never be attained.
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DOMESTIC: Over a Hundred Dead in Mine Blast
A gas explosion ripped through the state-run Chengzihe Coal Mine Thursday
morning killing a total of 111 coal miners. The mine, located in
Jixi city, Heilongjiang province, is a fairly large operation with 5,500
workers and produces some 1.1 millions tons of coal annually, according
to the Xinhua news agency. China’s State Administration of Coal Mine
Safety has ordered the closure of ten coal mines under the Jixi Mining
Administrative Bureau.
Though the general manager of the mine was reportedly inspecting work
underground during the time of the blast, questions continue to linger
over safety precautions and again highlight China’s abysmal record where
thousands of miners die each year. Authorities have waged a series
of high-profile campaigns to close unsafe mines, but are unable to halt
the thousands of illegal operations that are often protected by corrupt
local officials and willing workers who are attracted by the relatively
high wages.
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The U.S. and China This Week
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Last updated: 17 January 2001
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