介绍:
This is NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news.
China's Internet watchdog has taken the rare step of commenting on an ongoing court case by issuing a statement about a controversial online pornography trial.
Four executives from the Shenzhen-based Qvod Technology Company are accused of distributing porn for profit and may face up to 10 years in prison.
During their trial in Beijing earlier this month, prosecutors said the defendants knowingly allowed users to upload and download illicit videos to the now-defunct Qvod website. All four deny the allegations.
The judge's verdict is pending. However, the case has been one of the most-discussed topics among Chinese Internet users, with many saying the charges are too harsh.
The interest has been so intense that the Cyberspace Administration of China surprised many observers, by issuing a statement about the trial.
The statement asks Internet users to support the judicial organ during the live open trial.
According to Chinese law, websites are legally liable for their content.
The Cyberspace Administration of China said all Internet-based service providers must bear legal responsibility for their content, which is a fundamental principle of the governance and development of China's Internet.
The administration said it firmly supports the legal investigation into the case. It hopes that Internet users stick to the bottom line in expressing opinions online and support the judicial organs handling of the case.
This is NEWS Plus Special English.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection has dismissed a resurfacing hypothesis that nuclear radiation due to the burning of uranium-containing coal is the primary cause of smog.
The ministry said in a statement that nuclear radiation has no correlation with smog, and the country's atmospheric radiation is stable with no uranium-rich particle detected.
The hypothesis first emerged in 2013 as an Internet article claimed that some coal mines in Inner Mongolia contained radioactive substances, including uranium, with their half-life extending over more than a hundred million years.
The article said these substances enter the atmosphere as radioactive powder, when coal is burned, and they are the primary cause of smog.
Experts participating in research led by the ministry found that the content of Uranium-238 in coal and waste rock samples in the region are as the same level as the national average.
The authority said the Uranium mine in the area has not been exploited, and neither has the coal mine which lays more than 100 meters beneath the uranium mine.
The authority said the ration level has been stable, with no uranium-rich particles detected. The experts said the atmospheric radiation level is absolutely normal, and exerts no influences on human health.
This is NEWS Plus Special English.
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