介绍:
This is Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news.
Following the implementation in January of harsher rules against bribes and gifts, provincial governments are abolishing special accounts that have been misused by officials to hide ill-gotten gains.
In August, the Guizhou government joined at least three other provinces in canceling a special bank account that officials had used to deposit money and remain under the radar of graft investigators.
The first "clean governance accounts" were established in the 1990s to reduce corruption while protecting the privacy of officials. Over a dozen provincial-level governments had established such accounts. The provinces of Sichuan and Gansu, as well as the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, recently eliminated them.
Usually, the accounts are managed by the local discipline inspection authorities and banks. The names of the depositor and the sum are not disclosed, and the money is turned over to the local treasury.
Zhuang Deshui, a professor at Peking University, explained that the accounts were designed as an outlet for officials who are remorseful.
However, some officials have misused the service. Many use the account as an umbrella or safe haven. For example, some corrupt officials only deposit bribes when they face an investigation.
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This year will witness 7.6 million students graduating from universities and colleges across China. This summer is also the first employment season after the universal two-child policy came into effect. As a result, female graduates are facing more severe competition and pressure in job hunting.
Overt and covert gender discrimination floods recruitment notices. Examples of more explicit discrimination include "only male", "male preferred", "married mother preferred", "higher educational background for female candidates", "appearance and height required" and "obligations of no marriage and no reproduction in certain years".
However, even covert discrimination can be quite obvious, such as when employers inquire about female applicants' marital status and thoughts on family planning, or stress that the position requires frequent overtime and is therefore more suitable for men.
According to a 2014 survey conducted by the Women's Studies Institute of China, WSIC, 86 percent of female graduates in Beijing, Hebei and Shandong say they have experienced gender discrimination while job hunting.
Marriage, childbearing and employment are all women's rights, and are protected by law, explained Ma Yan, a researcher with WSIC. However, Ma said, childbearing does increase costs to employers. For example, in the wake of the universal two-child policy, many local governments have extended mandated maternity from one month to three.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
China has launched a new high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging satellite from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province.
The Gaofen-3 satellite was launched off the back of a Long March 4C rocket. It was the 233rd flight mission by a Long March carrier rocket.
This is China's first Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging satellite that is accurate to one meter in distance. It covers the globe with an all-weather, 24-hour observation service and will be used for disaster warning, weather forecasting, water resource assessments, and the protection of maritime rights.
With 12 imaging modes, the high-definition observation satellite is capable of taking wide pictures of earth and photographing detailed scenarios of specific areas.
Gaofen-3 is also China's first low orbit remote sensing satellite that has a lifespan of eight years. It is able to provide high-definition remote sensing data for its users over long periods of time.
Since the inception of the Gaofen project in 2013, China has had an increasingly clear view of the planet.
Launched in April 2013, Gaofen-1 can cover the globe in just four days.
Gaofen-2 was sent into space in August 2014 and is accurate to 0.8 of a meter in full color and can collect multispectral images of objects 3 meters or longer in length.
Gaofen-4, launched late last year, is China's first geosynchronous orbit high-definition optical imaging satellite and the world's most sophisticated.
The Gaofen-3 and the Long March 4C rocket were developed by the China Academy of Space Technology and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, under the guidance of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
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China's military is likely to deploy the Type-96B tank as the pillar of its tank fleet, replacing most of its old models.
Military observers say the excellent capabilities of the Type-96B qualified it to be the backbone of China's tank force.
The Type-96B is the strongest variant of the Type-96 family and is truly an advanced, third-generation main battle tank. The army will use it to replace the old tanks including the Type-59 and Type-69 models.
The latest developments came as the Type-96B delivered impressive performances in the Masters of Automobile and Tank Hardware competition, also known as the Tank Biathlon, held recently in Moscow.
China sent several Type-96B tanks to take part in the tank competition, the most watched part of the Russia-hosted International Army Games. The eight-day individual part of the competition involved 54 teams from 17 countries, with the Chinese delegation scoring the highest.
The Chinese military had more than 7,000 tanks in active service by the end of last year, and the majority of the armored force is still equipped with tanks made several decades ago.
However, experts say it is unrealistic for the Chinese military to purchase and deploy the new tanks on a large scale due to their high price and limited production capacity.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
A Chinese woman has received 1.7 million yuan, roughly 260,000 U.S dollars, for a wrongful murder conviction that put her behind bars for 13 years.
The court in Yunnan Province ruled that Qian Renfeng's confession was made under duress and that she was not guilty of the murder charge she was convicted for in 2002.
Qian was working at a nursery where a toddler died of food poisoning and two other children were hospitalized.
Qian, who had prepared the children's meals that day, was forced into confessing that she had mixed rat poison into the food. It was on the basis of this forced confession that she was found guilty of murder.
In 2013, procurators in the province reopened her case. The investigation took almost two years. Last year, the procurators ruled that there was a lack of evidence to support the conviction, and advised the provincial higher court to rehear the case.
In December last year, the higher court quashed the sentence, ruling that it lacked sufficient evidence to determine guilt beyond reasonable doubt. She was exonerated and released.
Qian had filed for up to 9 million yuan, roughly 1.5 million U.S. dollars, in damages.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to newsplusradio.cn. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. 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.
The designer of the tall, lane-straddling bus Song Youzhou has said the bus can run smoothly despite doubts raised in some quarters. The bus, known as the Transit Elevated Bus, allows cars to pass beneath.
The feasibility of the vehicle was questioned after a test run last month in Hebei Province.
The bus is 22 meters long, 8 meters wide and 5 meters tall. It is designed with a passenger area high above the ground, with a capacity of 300 people.
The legs of the bus reach over lanes of ordinary traffic, creating a sort of moving tunnel. Vehicles less than 2 meters high can pass beneath it.
The bus was designed to relieve traffic pressure on roads. But media and internet users have questioned whether the bus will work as expected, because some vehicles are taller than two meters and the huge vehicle can face many challenges on the road.
According to Song, more than 90 percent of the vehicles in cities are salon cars and SUVs which are within 2 meters in height. He said most of them can run under the bus, thus helping to improve the utilization rate of roads.
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Though tipping is not widely practiced on the Chinese mainland, some restaurants in the economic powerhouse of Shanghai are now facilitating rewards for waiters through scanning a QR code, usually for 3 to 5 yuan, roughly 45 to 75 US cents.
Using a loudspeaker, a barbecue store in Shanghai suggests that customers are welcome to tip through online payment platforms including WeChat, in recognition of the good service they receive.
At the entrance to another restaurant, an eye-catching poster pledges a 10 yuan coupon to those who have given tips of up to 3 yuan.
Another store, which is part of a restaurant chain, also joined the trend in encouraging tipping, as a means to improve service.
A restaurant worker said she received as many as 60 tips a day for her excellent service, which brings her 3,600 yuan extra a month. She said she felt a sense of self-worth through the tips.
But one customer said she was embarrassed to give 4 yuan in cash to a waiter but was happy to scan a QR code to transfer the money via her cellphone. But there are also customers who are clearly not ready for the practice simply because tipping is not a must in China.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
A college student from East China says her dream is to see more Chinese women succeed in their ambition to become entrepreneurs.
Twenty-one-year-old Hong Xinyu was China's representative at the Girls-20 Summit in Beijing. She told the international gathering that her plan is to open a workshop to help women who are unable to go to college get training in management.
Hong said Chinese women still don't have enough opportunities to achieve career success. One important reason is that many of them lack management ability and entrepreneurship.
Twenty-four young women joined this year's Girls 20 summit. They were chosen for their experience, ambition and learning ability among more than 1,700 applicants from G20 member countries.
The Girls20 was established in 2009. It is an organization based in Canada that is devoted to promoting greater female participation in the workforce around the world.
The head of Girls 20, Farah Mohamed, said China stands out internationally for producing impressive examples of women who are in power, particularly in business.
Eight of the world's top-10 richest self-made women are from China, compared with two from the United States.
Zhou Qunfei, who heads touch-screen maker Lens Technology, stormed to the top of the list with her 8 billion U.S.-dollar fortune.
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