介绍:
Chinese Nobel laureate Mo Yan has called for more policy and financial support from the government for parents who have lost their only child.
Mo Yan says the one-child policy that took effect in the late 1970s slowed population growth and eased pressure on resources. But it caused great difficulties and problems for parents who have lost their only child.
Traditionally, Chinese people rely on their children to support them in old age. When a sole child dies, elderly parents can find themselves in dire circumstances.
In many areas, one-child families get a monthly allowance of a mere 5 yuan, or 80 U.S. cents under a policy established in the early 1980s.
Mo Yan has submitted his proposal to the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference which concluded last week.
China's one-child families can only get a total of 840 yuan until their children reach 14 years old, which can hardly cover living costs.
Mo says those who have lost their only child face an even worse situation, especially in rural areas.
Mo proposed that parents who have only one child should be included in the government pension and medical insurance system, and that financial support to them should be improved.
He says when they lose their ability to work, they should enjoy the same wage and treatment as government civil servants.
China substantially increased the subsidy for parents who have lost their only child in December last year.
Urban couples who have lost their only child and with the woman aged 49 years and older get 340 yuan per person per month. That is an equivalent of 54 US dollars.
At least 1 million Chinese families lost their only child, with the figure climbing by 76,000 a year.
59-year-old Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012. One of his fictions "Frog" tells the story of a rural obstetrician who carried out thousands of abortion operations under the one-child policy.
China has the largest senior population in the world, and by 2050, one-third of the Chinese population will be more than 60 years old.
This is NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Ding Lulu in Beijing.
Chinese Internet firm Tencent plans to buy a 15 percent stake in JD.com, a major online direct sales company in China.
The purchase is expected to take place before JD launches its initial public offering in the United States.
The purchase represents more than 250 million outstanding JD ordinary shares, and it will cost Tencent more than 215 million U.S. dollars.
In return, JD will take over Tencent's two business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer platforms.
The cooperation is dubbed as overall business collaboration in e-commerce business. It aims to win leverage in the competition with another Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba, which owns and operates the country's largest online purchase platform.
In addition, Tencent will offer JD high level access points at WeChat and Mobile QQ to boost JD's growth in physical goods e-commerce.
WeChat and Mobile QQ are two of the most popular communication mobile applications developed by Tencent.
You're listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Ding Lulu in Beijing.
William "Wild Bill" Guarnere, one of the World War II veterans has died at the age of 90. Guarnere's exploits were dramatized in the TV miniseries "Band of Brothers".
Guarnere died at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. He was rushed to the hospital early on Mar. 8th Saturday, and died of a ruptured aneurysm Saturday night.
His son, William Guarnere Jr., says his father had a good, long life.
The U.S. miniseries was based on a book by Stephen Ambrose. It features the members of Easy Company, 506th Regiment, and 101st Airborne Division. It followed the company from training in Georgia in 1942, through some of the war's fiercest European battles till the end of the war in 1945.
Its producers included Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Guarnere was portrayed by the actor Frank John Hughes.
Guarnere's combat exploits earned him his nickname. He lost a leg while trying to help a wounded solider during the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive in the West. It was the largest and the most costly battle fought by the U.S. Army in World War Two.
His commendations included the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.
In 2007, Guarnere helped write a nationally best-selling memoir called "Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends".
This is NEWS Plus Special English.
Relief may be on the way for a weather-weary United States with the predicted warming of the central Pacific Ocean brewing this year that will likely change weather worldwide. But it won't be for the better everywhere.
The warming is called an El Nino. It is expected to lead to fewer Atlantic hurricanes, more rain and a milder winter for the United States.
But meteorologists say, worldwide, it can be quite a different story.
Globally, it can mean an even hotter year coming up and billions of dollars in losses for food crops.
An El Nino is a warming of the central Pacific once every few years from a combination of wind and waves in the tropics. It shakes up climate around the world, changing rain and temperature patterns.
Scientists say it is too early to say how strong this El Nino will be. The last four have been weak or moderate and have fewer effects on weather.
Scientific studies have tied El Ninos to farming and fishing problems and to upticks in insect-born disease, such as malaria.
You're listening to NEWS Plus Special English. You can access our program by logging onto NEWSPlusRadio.cn. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing us at mansuyingyu@cri.com.cn. That's mansuyingyu@cri.com.cn. Now the news continues.
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