Support circle Officers of the Tongling battalion of the Armed Police Force's Anhui provincial brigade share a light moment in a psychological counseling event on Tuesday. Photo by Liao Fuan / for China Daily

Beijing

ROK returns drug suspect to China

A suspected Chinese drug lord, Cui Yongsen, was detained by police in the Republic of Korea and returned to China during a joint crackdown on transnational drug trafficking, China's Ministry of Public Security said on Monday.

The ministry said that the operation was another success under the drug crackdown initiated by China and 23 countries in July.

Cui - the suspected head of a drug cartel based in Northeast China's Jilin province - was accused of smuggling methamphetamine, also known as ice, and opium from other countries and selling the drugs in China from 2009 to October 2010, sources with the ministry said.

Cui fled to the ROK in January 2011 after five members of his gang were captured by the police. He was captured by the ROK police at a construction site in Kwangju city on Aug 9 and sent back to China on Aug 18.

Passports become more accessible

Residents without a Beijing hukou, or household registration, and university students from other regions will be able to make an appointment to apply for passports, or travel documents for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, via an online platform, instead of returning home to apply for the documents, the municipal exit and entry administration said on Tuesday.

The platform will be online on Sept 1.

Applicants should log in to the administration's page to make the appointment, according to Lin Song, an officer at the administration.

The migrant population and university students in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will be able to apply for passports and travel documents through local authorities, the Ministry of Public Security said on Aug 22.

Toll waiver from Sept 30 to Oct 7

Passenger vehicles will get a free pass on expressways in Beijing from Sept 30 to Oct 7, according to the Beijing Capital Highway Development Group, a State-owned company responsible for the construction and operation of expressways in the capital.

Passenger cars with seven seats or less, as well as motorcycles, will get a free pass through toll roads, bridges and tunnels during Spring Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day, Labor Day and National Day, according to a notice by the State Council.

It will be up to local governments to choose whether to remove tolls on airport highways, the notice said.

The Ministry of Transport said that starting from the National Day holiday this year, the toll exemption policy should be implemented for passenger cars nationwide.

Measures against West Nile boosted

China is boosting epidemic prevention measures against the West Nile virus, which recently prompted a public health emergency in Dallas County, Texas, the top border quarantine watchdog said on Tuesday.

Chinese border quarantine officers have enhanced inspections of travelers arriving from the United States, and offered advice on epidemic prevention to those leaving for the US, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

The recent outbreak of the disease, said to be the largest ever seen in the US, had infected 1,120 people and killed 43 across the country by Saturday, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

People infected with the West Nile virus suffer a sudden onset of fever, headaches, nausea, dizziness and muscle weakness.

Taiwan

Cross-Straits forum held

Experts from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan met at a cross-Straits forum in Taipei on Monday, highlighting the service industry's new opportunities arising from the mainland's drive to stimulate domestic consumption in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Song Xiaowu, president of the mainland-based China Society of Economic Reform, said the mainland and Taiwan can work together to explore the potential of the service sector.

He said that the island can use its expertise to tap the vast mainland market, including offering home care services for the rapidly aging population.

Wu Chung-Shu, president of Taiwan's Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said the mainland and Taiwan should be more open to economic cooperation.

Shanghai

City wants more int'l schools

Shanghai wants to attract more international education companies to the city to meet the needs of the rising number of foreign residents, city officials said.

Shanghai currently has 32 international schools for foreign children, which have more than 24,000 students enrolled, according to Shanghai Municipal Education Commission.

"Most of these schools are located in the Pudong and Minhang districts. In the future we'll gradually adjust the layout of international schools. More schools will open in other districts to meet the demand of the rising number of foreigners who live and work in the city," said Yang Weiren, an official from the commission's international exchange and cooperation department.

Yunnan

19 may face trial over mine blast

Nineteen people who were responsible for a deadly coal mine accident that occurred in Yunnan province last November have been transferred to judicial authorities, according to a report released on Tuesday by the State Council's investigation team.

The accident occurred at the Sizhuang Coal Mine in Shizong county on the morning of Nov 10, when a powerful gas explosion hit two underground platforms.

The accident killed 43 people and caused 39.7 million yuan ($6.3 million) in losses.

The report suggested that 13 others who were also responsible for the accident be given disciplinary punishment. The Sizhuang Coal Mine must pay 5 million yuan in fines and be shut down, it added.

The investigation team blamed the accident on illegal operations, lax safety supervision, dereliction of duty and inadequate accident prevention measures.

Xinhua China Daily

(China Daily 08/29/2012 page2)