State publishes human rights plan

The second government action plan focusing on human rights was published on Monday.

The National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2012-15), published by the State Council Information Office, provides guidelines in goals, missions and measures to respect and guarantee human rights and to enable every citizen to live with dignity.

Under the plan, all rights are guaranteed by law in lawsuits and law enforcement, and it pledges that no one will be forced to incriminate himself.

Steps will be taken to prevent gaining confessions by torture and collecting evidence through illegal methods. Prosecuting authorities will pay greater attention to the self-defense of criminal suspects at the stage of approval for arrest, and should carry out an interview if a criminal suspect requests one.

In addition, the action plan also includes economic, social and cultural rights, civil and political rights and human rights education.

Language festival promotes learning

An Internet survey on "the top 10 changes in the past decade" started on Saturday to mark the 10th anniversary of the Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Program.

Residents in the capital who are willing to participate in the survey, which will last through Sept 16, can visit the website of Beijing Foreign Language Radio am774.com to choose from more than 50 candidates. Participants will have the opportunity to win awards.

Over the weekend, the Beijing Foreign Language Festival 2012 was held at Chaoyang Park. The two-day festival was held to encourage people in the capital to get involved in learning foreign languages.

Following up on the festival, seven departments of the Beijing municipal government, 13 districts and counties and several universities, including Communication University of China and Capital Normal University, will also hold foreign language activities.

Rules tightened for new drivers

New drivers who have had their licenses for less than one year will need to have drivers with at least three years of experience with them when traveling on expressways, the Ministry of Public Security said on June 19.

The traffic management bureau under the ministry said that new measures would see traffic police strengthen control measures, mainly in the exits and entrances to freeways.

The revised draft would increase the punishment for intentionally covering license plates, even with paper or leaves, the ministry said.

At present, the ministry is actively collecting opinions on the new regulations from local regions.

Taiwan

Rainstorms cost agriculture $18m

Heavy rains that started to hit many parts of Taiwan on June 10 have caused estimated losses of NT$548 million ($18 million) to the agricultural sector, according to figures released by the island's agricultural authorities.

Statistics showed that as of Monday, Taiwan's crop losses due to rain amounted to NT$356 million, with more than 14,000 hectares of cropland damaged.

The island's livestock sector suffered more than NT$10 million in losses from rain, with the deaths of around 700 pigs and 70,000 chickens.

Moreover, the fishery sector recorded losses of around NT$82 million and the forestry sector recorded nearly NT$4 million in losses.

Rain-triggered disasters also left six people dead and forced the evacuation of more than 8,100 people.

Tibet

Ancient Tibetan scriptures revived

A scripture collection center in the Tibet autonomous region has digitally preserved, printed and published more than 300 ancient Tibetan scriptures with the help of modern technology.

The scriptures have been collected since 2007 at a collection center in the Sera Monastery in the regional capital of Lhasa. Funded by the monastery and Jokhang Temple, the center has employed 14 specialists to assist in the preservation of the ancient documents.

"The scriptures were collected from different monasteries and libraries in Tibet. Most of them are manuscripts, and the content is obscure and difficult to understand," said Gyaltsen Jampa, a specialist with the center.

He said many of the scriptures are severely damaged, and some are illegible.

"When we find a missing page or a blank space in the scriptures, we write it on the blackboard and have a discussion about the missing part," he said.

After finding the missing parts, the specialists use scanners to store digital versions of the damaged documents and repair them.

After digitizing the documents, they are printed out for further preservation, said Guan Quejia, a researcher at the Institute of Ethnic Studies under the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences.

Shaanxi

Officer suspected of drunken driving

A traffic police officer in Weinan, Shaanxi province, was placed in confinement and under investigation after a 65-year-old man was struck by an alleged drunken driver.

Liu Jincun, captain of the urban squadron of the city's Gaoxin brigade, was allegedly driving the car that hit the man about 8:10 pm on Saturday.

Passers-by stopped the driver from fleeing and found that he smelled of alcohol.

The injured man suffered from a concussion and broken bones, according to the doctor who treated him.

"He is in stable condition, but it will take a long time for him to recover," the doctor said.

According to a police officer with the Gaoxin brigade in charge of the case, they had to wait for results of a blood test to see if the officer was drunken driving.

China Daily - Xinhua