The launch of China’s first totally home-built aircraft
carrier on April 26 marked a major step forward for its
military modernisation, and highlighted the technical
progress the country has made over recent decades. The
carrier is expected to enter service in 2020.Chinese
school chil-
dren are be-
ing broad-
cast online
through live-
streaming of
their classes. Parents were mixed in their feelings, but
educators and lawyers took a sharp stance against
the new practice, saying it violated students’ right
to privacy. Educator Xiong Bingqi, associate dean of
21st Century Education Research Institute, said the
classroom was a space for free expression of opinion
by both teachers and pupils, and that turning it into
a stage would put psychological pressure on both,
as well as infringing on their privacy. Shanghai law-
yer Zhou Ming voiced similar ideas, saying that ac-
cidental disclosure of personal information through
such platforms could put children at risk from sexual
predators and the disapproval of even one parent
should cause such streaming videos to be removed.
The National Development and Reform
Commission issued a notice in January, stat-
ing that high-speed train ticket prices in
southeastern coastal areas were to be adjusted
on April 21, with some raised and some lowered. This is the first price adjustment since
China Railway was granted the power to change prices, meaning that fare prices should now
fluctuate in line with market principles. However, some netizens expressed concern that
ticket prices might rocket and contended that any fare changes should follow legal provi-
sions and policies. A lecturer at Beijing Jiaotong University, Zhao Jian, said that the moder-
ate adjustment is based on construction and operating costs, but another rail expert Wang
Mengshu described this as unreasonable because the firms should concentrate on increasing
the number of passengers rather than hiking prices under the pretense of improving services.
A new code of conduct on pricing items and
services in public transport areas was published
in draft form for public comment on the web-
site of the Jiangsu Administration of Com-
modity Prices on March 21. The move is a bid to curb price manipulation in airports, bus
stations and other places where travellers have no choice but to buy ordinary goods like bottles
of water or tissues at outrageously expensive prices. Liu Xu, a researcher at the Intellectual
Property and Competition Law Research Centre at Tongji University, praised the regula-
tion but expressed concerns that the implementation might not match the theory, unless a
detailed list of problems and punishments is supplied and implemented by local authorities.
A landmark medical reform
that separates drug sales
from medical treatment at
public hospitals and scraps
the previous markup on
drugs in the old pricing
system was implemented
a month ago. China News
Service reported that many
patients said the price of
drugs has decreased. Ac-
cording to Beijing Munici-
pal Commission of Health
and Family Planning, the
patient flow at tertiary hos-
pitals has reduced by 15.
percent and patients would
gradually start going to
medical institutions at the
grassroots for treatment of
non-critical diseases.most Circulated post
Retweeted 37,642 times by May 8poll the people
Source: http://www.sina.com.cnInfluentIal
effectIve
“Congratulations! We have
been waiting several decades
for today’s success, and it is
not an easy project... How-
ever, it would be wrong or
ill-intentioned to perceive the
new vessel as evidence of a
‘China threat.”Yes, it does. (78%)
No, it doesn’t. (22%)WeChat, a popular social media platform op-
erated by Tencent, recently announced that
writers using WeChat’s public platforms can no
longer receive payments from Apple’s iOS us-
ers via the “like” button, which used to be a way
for fans to tip favourite authors for their posts.
Some said Apple’s behaviour is anti-competitive
but others argued that the relationship between
platforms and developers is just for exchanging
resources, meaning that Apple’s move does not
violate anti-monopoly regulations or count as
anti-competition regulations or laws.
Does Apple’s behavior constitute anti-competitive
competition?forbIdden
costly