“I think reading on smartphones is not the equivalent
of smoking opium, as some have claimed. And it
doesn’t mean a great change in readers’ interests or
habits...The phone screen just makes reading more
vivid, and that also could let you find what you want
to read more directly.”
Ye zhaoyan, a writer, commenting on reading on your phone
at the Shanghai-based news site The Paper.“Although the cost of domestic rubbish disposal is
low, the social cost is extremely high. Why do waste
incineration plants keep burning? Because there are
many financial subsidies, and so it’s still a good deal for
them.”
Song Guojun, a lecturer at Renmin University of China,
on what keeps waste incinerators burning despite public
opposition, reported by Science and Technology Daily.Illustration by Wu Shangwen“China’s regulations on food safety are varied and
complicated, and that easily causes confusion among
enterprises - they also prefer to follow loose standards
rather than strict ones.”
Chen Junshi, a researcher at the China national Centre for Food
Safety Risk Assessment, criticises China’s food regulations, as
reported by Workers’ Daily.“More patents alone cannot be seen as the best criterion of
creativity in the country, businesses or schools...The conversion
rate of patents is the better measure of the country’s potential and
creative production. A powerful state needs both high-quality and
high-quantity patents.”
Chen Jianmin, associate lecturer at Tsinghua University, on
China’s patent boom, reported by Guangming Daily.“Farmers are economically rational. They let their children drop out
of school, because after much money and time have been invested
in schooling, a comparable return on the investment doesn’t
necessarily materialise.”
Liu Chengbin, an associate lecturer at Huazhong University
of Science and Technology, on why the dropout rate has
skyrocketed even at the middle school level, reported by China
Youth Daily.“Some say creativity can’t be taught. Maybe this is right. But we
shouldn’t forget that mistaken educational ideas and methods
can destroy natural creativity.”
Qian Yingyi, an economist, argued that students’ creativity
should be preserved, as reported by China Newsweek, the
Chinese version of ChinaReport.“We can label such projects ‘altruism via viral marketing,’ but
whether it’s really altruism is questionable, because most
people are just in it for the challenge. This is very different from
unconditional altruism, where people really show their sincerity in
helping others.”
Fang Kecheng, PhD candidate in communication studies,
writing on why viral marketing isn’t good for charity on news
portal http://www.infzm.com.“The intensive measures also bring more severe
repercussions to China in comparison with the uS and
Western Europe, since these motivations result in the
sharp rise of China’s debt, more serious overcapacity
and other structural problems, and the problem
of real estate and infrastructure bubbles is more
prominent as well.”
Chen zhiwu, a professor at Yale University, the University
of Hong Kong and Peking University, analysed lessons of the
subprime mortgage crisis 10 years after it was reported by the
news portal http://www.finance.ifeng.com.“According to successful experiences in some
countries and areas, publishing the family
property of civil servants is an effective way
to prevent corruption, and it is one of a set
of measures to tackle the currently low
efficiency of bottom-up supervision.”
Ling Hu’an, a member of the Standing Committee of
the national People’s Congress - China’s top legislature –
suggested a provision on publishing civil servants’ family
property should be added into China’s Civil Servant Law,
reported by The Beijing News.