According to the law, Chinese citizens or companies are prohibited from co-producing films with overseas organizations or individuals engaged in activities that damage China’s national dignity, honor and interests, sabotage the social stability, and harm the Chinese people’s feelings.

Any person involved in the preceding activities will be banned from film production in China.

Chinese films are already subject to a number of regulations that prohibits the depiction of smoking and time travel, while state television and internet videos are banned from depicting “uncommon sexual relationships and sexual behaviors” such as gay dating.

The post China Bans Filmmakers Who “Hurt National Dignity” appeared first on The Nanfang.

WiFi was supposed to be introduced on the trains during this past Spring Festival travel rush. However, according to one National People’s Congress delegate, one aspect of China’s technology is simply incompatible with another. As part of the Henan contingent, Chinese Academy of Engineering scholar and NPC delegate Wang Mengshu told reporters that he doesn’t recommend WiFi on high-speed trains because it has a negative impact on the train’s communication systems.

If that wasn’t enough, Wang reasoned that WiFi on trains is a bad idea because of the exorbitant cost as well as the fact that it tends to break down soon after being installed. Aside from technical issues, Wang argues that, “It’s much better for everyone to just look out the window. Why bother with WiFi?”

We should point out that high-speed rail service in China has now been extended to overnight runs, allowing passengers to contently look out the window day or night.

The post Plan to Feature WiFi on High-Speed Trains Has Been Derailed appeared first on The Nanfang.

At a symposium held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of Basic Law in Beijing, NPC Standing Committee legislative affairs commission vice-chairman Zhang Rongshun explained the purpose of the quarter century-old law. “It’s not a tool to be manipulated in order to wrest the ruling power from China and make Hong Kong an independent political entity,” said Zhang.

Others supported the view that the Basic Law was not designed to give Hong Kong more political independence. Deputy head of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies Rao Geping said the intention to isolate the Basic Law from the Constitution or confuse their relationship is nothing but an excuse to turn Hong Kong into an independent or semi-independent political entity.

This isn’t the first time Hong Kong has been told to adopt a “state concept”. In 2004, a Xinhua editorial titled “Constitutional developments in Hong Kong should be safeguarded to follow the direction laid down by the Basic Law” explained how “misunderstandings” under Basic Law should be fixed:

If such misunderstandings were not clarified by law, the right not told from the wrong, interference not removed, the principle of “one country, two systems” would not be implemented in an all-round way, and the democratic system development concerned by the Hong Kong public will not be carried out in the direction set forth by the Basic Law.
…
This move also indicates that any issue or dispute pertaining to Hong Kong constitutional development must be resolved within the framework as defined by the Basic Law, and the NPC Standing Committee is responsible to correct, in accordance with the Basic Law itself, any stance or action that is inconsistent with the Basic Law.

The Basic Law is Hong Kong’s mini-constitution. It was adopted in 1990 by the Seventh National People’s Congress of China and took effect on July 1, 1997, when Hong Kong was handed back to Chinese rule by the United Kingdom.

The post China Warns Hong Kong that Basic Law is Not a Tool for More Political Autonomy appeared first on The Nanfang.

A sinkhole opened up in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, on January 24. It turns out it was created by a basement built illegally by Li Baojun, a representative of China’s National People’s Congress. The sinkhole forced 15 residents to be evacuated from their homes while a four-story house teetered precariously to one side. The hole was so wide it stretched out into the road in front.

Li had previously been penalized for making illegal renovations to his home last July.

Li had not obtained authorizations to build the basement, and many concerned residents had called the local chengguan hotline but their calls were not answered.

Crews have spent three days filling the 1.900-square meter hole with sand and cement. The street has since re-opened, and repairs are underway to fix the teetering home.

Related:

• No Elevator for Your 5th Floor Walkup? Man Builds His Own (Illegal) One
• Guy Builds a Forest on a Guangzhou Apartment Building to Hide Illegal Floors
• Demolition Begins on Hidden Forest House in Guangzhou
• Dongguan “castle in the sky” becomes latest controversial structure
• Police officer busted for having a decked-out illegal gambling den in Shenzhen

Photos: China News Network, iFeng

The post NPC Rep Builds Illegal Basement 18 Meters Deep, Leads to Massive Sinkhole appeared first on The Nanfang.

The prostitution crackdown in Dongguan ensnared its highest catch yet when Liang Yaohui, a deputy in the National People’s Congress (NPC), was forced to vacate his seat before being arrested for running a prostitution ring on the afternoon of April 14, the SCMP reported.

Liang was voted out of the NPC by the eighth session of the Standing Committee of the 12th Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress this past Monday. Shortly afterwards, Liang was arrested by Dongguan police, who respectfully waited for the wheels of justice to begin rolling in sequence.

Liang is the owner of the Crown Prince Hotel, a 5-star establishment located in Dongguan. His arrest is just the latest in a long string of announcements. To date, this is the fallout  from the Dongguan prostitution crackdown:

• 865 arrests made
• 541 pimps smacked
• 62 criminal rings busted
• 2,925 hotels, sauna and massage centers closed
• 854 pornographic websites now hands off
• 36 police officers involved of which 9 are in criminal detention, 13 face disciplinary action, 14 are under investigation
• 1 Deputy Mayor and Head of the local PSB, Yan Xiaokang, sacked
• a boyfriend and girlfriend mistaken for a prostitute and her john during a raid, released
• around 800,000 people, or 10% of the city’s population, leaving the city en masse
• 50 billion yuan of the local economy lost
• 1 Dongguan mayor who claimed he “didn’t know the problem was so bad“, befuddled
• 1 super-group power ballad sung, hurts so good

With so many announcements, we are all awaiting the future when Dongguan is cleansed of all of its vice so that it becomes just like any other normal town in China and has the same normal reasons not to go there and not engage in nefarious acts you wouldn’t do in your own town. It’s only fair.

Photo: Dayoo

The post NPC Member Latest Casualty of Dongguan Prostitution Crackdown appeared first on The Nanfang.

In China, I bet [people] would have immediately broken into and looted the surrounding convenience stores/supermarkets.

A tiny pellet of a country, with nothing [few resources], being able to beat the shit and piss out of Russia and China…is not without reasons…

In Japan, the cars yield to the people. In China, the cars can’t wait to run over your body, even if you have the green light and the car is making a turn.

Without bringing up anything else, on the character exhibited when fasting disaster, we really can’t compare.
Even when there is no disaster, for simply sitting in a seat or using the toilet, we’re capable of fighting and arguing over.

We won’t post some of the more negative (read: ignorant) comments posted on Weibo, but you can read them for yourselves here. Of course, ignorance isn’t just a trait found in China. But such is the reaction when disaster befalls a nation that is despised by a great many Chinese people for its historical atrocities.

On a positive note, Premier Wen Jiabao addressed the Japanese earthquake at the close of the National People’s Congress yesterday:

It was only at the very end of his nearly 2.5-hour press conference on Monday that Premier Wen Jiabao turned his attention to Japan. He first asked if there were Japanese journalists among the gathering of hundreds (there were), then said he didn’t want to take a question from them, but had something to say. Wen offered China’s “deep condolences” to Japan.

Wen meets with reporters once every year, at the close of the National People’s Congress. He takes a pre-screened selection of questions from journalists from China and other countries. This year no Japanese reporter was called on. Instead, Wen made a statement.

“China is also a country prone to earthquake disasters and we fully empathize with how they feel now,” Wen said. “We will provide more as Japan needs it and we want to continue to help as necessary.”

Some (such as Slate) are arguing that as one of the world’s richest countries, Japan doesn’t necessarily need cash donations, if you wish to help. Instead, the country will likely need blood, which you can donate at any Red Cross in the PRD (there are many).

The post Chinese people respond to the devastation in Japan appeared first on The Nanfang.